Let's Make More MST3K & Build The Gizmoplex!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/makemoremst3k?ref=theotherside

I am a HUGE MST3k fan.  Back in the early days of the show, my cable provider did not offer The Comedy Channel/Comedy Central.  So when I would go visit my girlfriend in the Chicago area I discovered it and was completely hooked.  Fast forward 30 years that girlfriend is now my wife and our oldest son also loves MST3k.

We watched all the VHS tapes she had made for me and now we catch it when we can on the various streaming services we have.

So yeah, you know I am excited for this one!  I loved Joel and Mike and I think Jonah has been a great new addition to the team. I am not sure who the new host is (she will appear in a couple of episodes) but I am excited. AND Joel is back for two episodes!

We are in the Final Sacrifice Countdown now!

This issue has been on my want list for a very long time, well this weekend I finally got a copy and I could not be happier.  My copy is a little worse for the wear, but still I am happy. So let's get right to it!

This issue comes to us from November 1978, exactly one year before I would discover D&D.  The cover is a Halloween-inspired one, and frankly, I think it is great. It has a Ravenloft feel to it, five years early.  It's one of those that rewards you the more you look into it. I can't tell who did it though. I want to say Tom Wham. 

I also should point out that this isn't "Dragon #20" this is "The Dragon #20".  

We learn from Tim Kask's editorial that the price of The Dragon has gone up to $2.00 per issue. Plus they are going to a new printer for color, things look better, but there is a cost.  Out on a Limb is coming back and I guess it was "controversial."  

Up first Marc Miller talks about his game Imperium, described as "1977's Game of the Year."  He gives us a bit of history of how the game was created and it completely invokes all my Traveller Envy.  Marc follows this up with some rules addendums. 

Some reprinted editorials from Gygax; Dragon Rumbles #19. Largely about Gen Con and Origins. Gen Con is expanding and having growing pains. 

Speaking of expanding, TSR is looking for a new assistant to Gary Gygax.  You need to have good typing, spelling, and proofreading skills.  I wonder who got the job?  I have my guesses.

Mike Crane has a nice random table of various Eyes and Amulets for Empire of the Petal Throne. Easily adaptable to D&D of course, if I knew what any of them actually did. 

Nice big ad for Star Trek minis, 75mm versions at $10.95 each. 

Jerome Arkenberg is up with a great one, The Mythos of Polynesia for Dungeons & Dragons.  The format is similar to what we find in "Gods, Demigods, and Heroes."  It is detailed enough for me to do a One Man's God for it but I know so little about these myths. The gods themselves are an interesting lot. Of them all, I knew Pele and Tangoroa the best. 

Wormy is next and in full color. 

Ah. Here is the reason why I bought this issue. 

Another Look at Witches and Witchcraft in D&D by Ronald Pehr.  This article is a sequel to the article from Dragon #5, and the prequel to the ones in Dragons #43 and #114. This one is more detailed than the one found in TD#5.  This one still has the disclaimer of an "NPC Class" but offers it as a potential PC class for some DM's games.   This one also makes the connection that witches are to magic-users as druids are to clerics. The author does point out that a witch is typically neutral although individuals can be good or evil as they please.  They are not Satan/Devil worshipers even if they can summon supernatural assistance. The author points out that Cleric, Druids, and Magic-users can summon the same sort of aid.   He also dismisses the stereotype that all witches are solitary old hags indicating they need to be to work with others and in harmony with nature so a Charisma of 9 is needed at the minimum.

Presented here are 18 levels in OD&D format. They have saves and attack rolls like that of the Magic-user but require more XP, 3,000 points needed for level 2 and it scales on from there.  This witch gains several powers per level as well.  Why making a Bag of Holding comes before the more stereotypical Brew Love Potion I don't know, I do know that even I think this witch is pretty damn powerful.  

This witch also has spells up to the 8th level.  This has always felt right to me as being between the Cleric and the Magic-user.  Even in modern games where every spellcasting class has access to 9th level spells I still like the idea that Wizards/Magic-users have access to greater magics, even above my beloved witches.  She may be limited to "only" 8th level spells here, but some of these spells...damn.  "Destroy Life Level." "Wither," "Circle of Distegreation."  I don't recall if all of these made it forward to issues #45 or #114, but they are some pretty powerful spells. 

The first part covers two pages then it is continued on for a quarter page later in the magazine.  What strikes me the most is not how really overpowered this class is (it was toned down in #45 and #114), or the casual sexism in the presentation ("it provides a very viable character for ladies," it was 1978 after all), but the fact that this was the headlining article and there is no art associated with it. 

This version of the witch is the one I have typically associated with Holme's Basic set. Mostly because they share a publication time. This fits since the witch from The Dragon #5 is very obviously an OD&D witch and the one from Dragon #45 is connected to the Moldvay Basic game. Also because of the time of publication and because Tom Moldvay did a bit of the editing on that version.  This leaves the obvious connection of Dragon #114 with AD&D 1st ed.

I suppose my collection of Dragon MAgazine witches is complete, more or less. I do not have a copy of The Dragon #5, the first witch, but I do have the reprint in Best of the Dragon Vol. 1 which is identical to what was in #5.

The second reason I wanted this issue, Demonology made easy; or, How To Deal With Orcus For Fun and Profit by Gregory Rihn.  This article also calls back to The Dragon #5, in particular the article on Spell Research in D&D (also in the Best of Vol. 1).  The editor reminds us that the author, Gregory Rihn also gave us a great article on lycanthropy (again, in the Best of Vol. 1) so they feel this is a worthwhile article.  This article is good. It covers the reasons why a magic-user might want to summon a demon in D&D and then how to do it!  Take a moment to breathe that one in. The Satanic Panic was just about to happen.

There is a lot of detail here and a lot of really awesome role-playability.  I mean really if your wizard or witch hasn't tried summoning some evil from the deeper dark are they REALLY living?  There are even guidelines to what needs to be in the rituals (new vestments, items, even sacrifices) and what sort of tasks of the demon can be demanded.   

This article, plus the witchcraft one, when combined can be used to add a lot of flavor to the Warlocks of D&D 5.  

Halfway, we get some photos of the various winners of awards for 1977 at Gen Con XI. Pictures of John Holmes, his son Chris as well as awards presented by Elise Gygax to Marc Miller and Tim Kask among others.

See Africa and Die! Or, Mr. Stanley, Meet Dr. Livingstone comes to us from none other than Gary Gygax himself providing a review of the game Source of the Nile.  IT is not only a pretty detailed review but also suggests some rule corrections.  The review does make the game sound fun but this is the problem in reading 40-year-old+ game magazines. All the great stuff is long out of print and expensive as hell to find. 

William B. Fawcett gives us a Traveller variant/addition in The Asimov Cluster.  Traveller! Why must you haunt my every step! But seriously, this is the exact sort of thing I would read back in the day and make Traveller feel like this epic sweeping Space Opera.  I am sure it is. I am sure there are people (and I have read their blogs) that are just obsessed with Traveller as I am with D&D who would read the D&D articles and wistfully say "someday. someday I'll play that game and it will be as epic as I imagined."   I did play some Traveller, but mine never got epic.  I don't even know which Traveller system to start with now if I wanted to get back into it.  This is my "Sci-Fi" month. I should figure this one out.

Anyway, this article provides details on the Asimov Cluster with a lot of planets here to provide points of interest for your Traveller game.

A really cool ad for the D Series modules from TSR.  I bet these will be cool.  Followed by a preview of the Ralph Bakshi "Lord of the Rings" movie.

Lyle Fitzgerald gives us a breakdown of character death in It's a Good Day to Die (Death Statistics of D&D Players).  I should note that these are statistics only from his local gaming group. And it is not Players that are dead but rather Characters.  Though props for using this as a title 10 years before Worf would utter the same words.  Though like most things it is better in the original Klingon.   It's an interesting read and might even be a good snapshot of the times.  Maybe I'll create a poll one day to get some more data.  Not that I honestly care much about character death, I just like statistics.

Allen Hammack, a very prolific Dragon writer back in the day, has a rule variant for hidden movement in the War of the Ring game.

Finieous Fingers is up. People talk about being able to judge the generations of games by their feelings on Tracy Hickman. I also say you can make the same judgment on the generations just prior to that on their opinion of FF.  It's fun, but does not fill me with nostalgia.

The Convention Schedule fills a quarter of a page. In a couple of years, it will expand to several pages.

Our last article is about Demonic Possession in the Dungeon from Charles Sagui, a name I don't think I have seen before.  It's a good guide and, as the author points out, something not used enough in games with demons. This article presents demonic possession as sort of a trap to be found in dungeons (well, that is the title after all) and a good use of it. Reading this it is easy to expand on it a little more and get your Regan and Captain Howdy types. 

A nice big ad for the new Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook.

Back cover is an add for the Space Gamer magazine. 

Counting covers a total of 36 pages, but a lot has been packed into these pages.

It is interesting to read a Dragon from this time period when I was imprinted on Dragon from the Kim Mohan/80s period.  This one feels a little more like a White Dwarf magazine to me.  If you are curious, White Dwarf #9 was published around the same time.  

Also there is a feeling of embracing more games here.  It feels like gamers were far more open about trying out other games than with what some of the older gamers today would lead you to believe.  This is also consistent with how we all played back then.

So yeah. I paid a lot of money for this issue and I don't regret it at all really.  I still have my Dragon CD-ROM with all the PDF files, but having this in my collection is still worthwhile in my mind.

 The original Known World by Tom Moldvay and Lawrence Schick. 

The Known World Replica Map by James Mishler
It's no lie. I love maps. As a kid, I would read over maps, follow roads to see where they lead. I had a map of the city of Chicago hanging up in my room that I would just stare at and imagine what those streets were like from hundreds of miles away. I still have a map of Victorian-era London in my office that I still stare at.  Just the other night I spent hours pouring over a map of Westeros which has put me into the mood to reread A Song of Ice and Fire. 

So while back there was some new discussion about the Orginal Known World from Tom Moldvay and Lawrence Schick, the one that was the precursor to the World of Mystara of later BECMI use.  James Mishler, who also knows a thing or two about Mystara, put together a hex map of this world and I just can't stop reading it.  Such tantalizing treasures here.  Demi-orcs? So many Orc clans! A city called Keraptis? Tharks!  So many familiar names all in different places.

I know I talked about this one before but it still fascinates me.  The map covers an area about 2,400 miles east to west and 850 miles north to south. OR, about the same size as the continental United States (2,800 miles from furthest points east and west, 1,500 north to south).  

While I enjoy all of this it was largely academic interest. I mean after all I have plenty of worlds. Come Endless Darkness takes place in Oerth/World of Greyhawk, the Second Campaign is primarily a Mystara one, and Into the Nentir Vale is a solid Toril/Forgotten Realms campaign.  So my players are used to the idea of multiple universes and worlds. The characters of War of the Witch Queens are now beginning to learn about this.   So adding a new world only makes things difficult for me and really, it's not all that difficult.

Since "War of the Witch Queens" is my ode to both Basic-era D&D (currently using B/X as the rules base) AND to the many wonderful products in the Old-School scene I always felt I needed an old school world to fit the bill.  I had thought about using the BECMI "Urt" which gives me the same Mystara maps but make it a little different. Mystara we would later find out is hollow. Urt is a living planet akin to Mogo.  I do have a living planet I use in my Sci-fi games, Gaia, so I don't necessarily need another one.  Though Gaia is living in the sense there is a planetary wide consciousness as opposed to a living being.

While Urt, or even Urth, is fine, it isn't really what I want.  I want something old, or at least has a proper pedigree?  Why?  Because this campaign is not really about what I can make up. I have dozens of worlds, places, maps, you name it, but I want something different than what I can do.  

It was while reading a series of posts (links below) from Jonathan Becker on B/X Blackrazor that gave me an idea. 

Why not use this Moldvay/Schick Known World as the PC's world in War of the Witch Queens?

Sure. I should really use Mystara or Mystoerth for a proper B/X feel, but yet this map calls to me. It begs me to explore it.  It isn't the whole world, of course, it is just the known world.  Sure it's not my world.  But I also had no say in being born in Illinois and as a longing for a magical place called Chicago.  BTW Chicago did in fact live up to (and down to) my dreams of it.

I get some familiar names, remixed in new ways.  I already established my East Haven and West Haven towns and how East Haven in my "world" is in the same spot as Haven on Krynn. West Haven of course is West Haven in every world; it is a Nexus Point.  

There is a lot going on this map and it really works for me.  It comes from a time period I really want my Witch Queens campaign to be all about.   Plus it makes Glantri (and Darokin) into a Welsh-like kingdom (and BEGS me to make the ruler King Llywelyn the Great).  Gorllewin even means "West" in Welsh.  This really appeals to me. Glantrin as a Welsh city instead of a faux-Italian one?  Yeah! That sounds fun. I get to use Glantri again, but this is a very different one that the Glantri of Mystara run by xenophobic mage-Princes.  

Then there are all these other details in a map that is just 200 by 200 miles. Deep Ones living nearby? Hell yeah! Again I could spend hours on this map. I mean what the hell is Nanq-Rubbob?? I must know! Looks like some sort of Russian/Slavic Empire to the northeast. Fallen Thyatis to the west. Welsh halflings? Sounds like hobbits to me! Malpheggi Clans? Sounds like swamp hags live here next to the Deep Ones. There are those demi-orcs again. What are they? I don't know but I can't wait to find out!

And really that is it isn't it?  What is out there? I don't know, but I can't wait to find out!

Links

• Moldvay & Schick’s Known World, Atlas of Mystara
• The "Known World" D&D Setting: A Secret History, Black Gate
• Let’s Map Mystara Together, The Piazza
• The Original Known World, Adventures in Gaming v2
• Dragonsfoot Discussion
• JB's posts on B/X Blackrazor:
• Dragons of Insanity
• What Matters
• Reclamation Project
• Adventures by Lawrence Schick
• Adventures and Books by Tom Moldvay

I got a bunch in the mail this past weekend so let's have a look!

HeroForge

Up first,  Some new minis from HeroForge.

Graz'zt and my paladin Johan.  His sword, Demonbane, is on fire because it is a demon-hunting sword and Graz'zt is near.

You can get a better look at Graz'zt below.

If you click on the HeroForge link here you can even see he has six fingers on each hand!

I forgot who made this, the post on Facebook is gone, but she did a great job.

He compares well to the official mini that was made for him.

And he looks good next to my HeroForge Iggwilv.

Blue Rose Adventure's Guide

The Blue Rose Adventure's Guide is out as a DriveThruRPG POD and it looks great!

This allows you to play a Blue Rose game using the D&D 5th Edition rules. It is surprisingly complete.

You do not need the Blue Rose core rules to play this, but you do need the D&D 5th Edition rules.

A full review coming soon.

Dragon #20

And last, but not at all least, I finally got a copy of Dragon #20 with the Witch class and demonology guide.

Expect a "This Old Dragon" post on this one soon!

That's another Blogging A to Z for April for the history books. It was nice to get back into this really. I enjoy the challenge of not just blogging every day (I kinda do that now anyway) but having a prompt for the blogging.

Let's See how I did.

According to my stats my visits were up 20% over other months, except for October (which are usually up 50% to 75%).   I gained followers across social media, with the most coming from Twitter.

That's all well and good really, but for me one of the important things was I found several new blogs to follow from here on out and many more I'll visit on the Blogging A to Z Road Trip.

My goal was to get some monsters done.  I published 26 days with 24 complete monsters, 3 variations, and 1 subtype. I also 2 categories of monsters, Qliphoth with 10 monsters and Vampires with 44 types.

A is for Allip B is for Barghest C is for Cat-sìth D is for Dragon, Purple E is for Elf, Shadow F is for Faun G is for Glaistig H is for Hag, Chaos I is for Incubus J is for Jack O'Lantern K is for Kelpie L is for Lilith M is for Merrow N is for Nuckelavee O is for Orc, Desert P is for Púca Q is for Qliphoth R is for Rakshasa S is for Skeleton, Electric T is for Troll, Swamp U is for Undine V is for Vampire W is for Wight, Barrow X is for Xana Y is for Yeti, Almas Z is for Zombie, Drowned

For the visual types, here is a Pinterest board with links to each one.

Follow Timothy's board "April 2021 A to Z of Monsters" on Pinterest.

I started the challenge with over 330 monsters in my projects folder with 156 of those 100% complete.  I started with two ideas for monster books; one for normal monsters and another for demons and devils (and more).

Today I have split this all off into three books (maybe four) of normal monsters, undead, and fiends.  The fourth book is so early I am hesitant to even announce it.

I also have new cover art for all my books, even the proposed fourth book.  

By the numbers, Basic Bestiary I has (so far) 240 monsters with 220 at complete status.  Basic Bestiary II: The Undead has 178 monsters with 80 complete.  Basic Bestiary III: The Fiends has 87 entries, with 19 complete and an additional 616 proper names of demons, devils and other fiends that I need to sort through.  Basic Bestiary IV currently has a working list of 100 monsters, none are complete.

So roughly 320 100% complete monsters, more than doubling my pre-April count of 156. 

That was my true goal here.  I did not think I would walk out of this with a complete book in hand.  There is still a lot of editing to do and my target per book is still 300+ monsters.  The demons and devils book will be more; I might snarkily have 666 monsters.  So far I am within reach of that.

Will I do this next year?  At first, I was thinking no, but in truth, I did forget how much fun it was to visit all sorts of blogs outside my normal reading. Plus in terms of my goals, this was a success.  Maybe I'll do this for my Book IV.

Right now I have a lot of monsters to clean up and get ready for BBI.  

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2021/05/atozchallenge-reflections-2021.html

For my next S&S&C, I want to get to a movie that is Sword & Sorcery (and D&D) to its very core, even if most people consider it a sci-fi movie.

Star Wars (1977)

I have said it before that Star Wars (A New Hope) is the perfect Dungeons & Dragons movie.  We have a hero, a villain, a princess (who is also a hero), an old wizard, a rogue, an impenetrable fortress (the Death Star), war, magic (tell me to my face the Force is not magic) and a quest.  There are sword fights, monsters, and interesting locales. It is D&D in all but name.   They even meet the rogue in a bar! 

Sure it is another retelling of the monomyth or The Hero with a 1,000 Faces.  That's why it works so well.

I loved everything Star Wars growing up too.    I still have a couple of Boba Fetts (one I had to save proof of purchases for, one I bought) sitting on my desk.  I went from being a hard-core fan to a more relaxed one.

Not only was it out at the same time (more or less) I discovered D&D. It became so much a part of my experiences as a kid that is hard to tease out where one influence begins and the other ends. 

This is also one of the reasons I like the d20 Star Wars game over the West End Games d6 one.  For me, Star Wars and D&D are the same.  If I were to run a Star Wars game it would be with the d20/ D&D 3.x rules.

It should also be no surprise that Star Wars movie posters are the only movie posters hanging in my game room/office.

 

Gaming Content

Are you serious?  You have the Internet, right?

--

Tim Knight of Hero Press and Pun Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim along with myself are getting together at the Facebook Group I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters to discuss these movies.  Follow along with the hashtag #IdRatherBeWatchingMonsters that is if I can get my co-admins to agree this is the best hashtag for this!

It's the start of May!  Let's begin the new month like I have been doing all year long so far with a new character.

My "soft" theme for May is going to be Sci-Fi games.  I am dedicating all month to it, but a good portion of the month to be sure.  So for this I am starting with a the character I played WAY back in the day under FASA Trek.   I wanted to pull out my FASA Trek rules I got as a gift, but I forgot how damn involved character creation was for that game!  So instead I am going to pull out the newer Star Trek Adventures from Modiphius.

Plus I like the Star Ship creation rules from Modiphius.

While I am still excited about the prospect of doing my BlackStar game set in the 2350s, right now it is my "Starfleet Doctors Without Borders" idea, Mercy, set in 2295 that has me excited today.

Plus I needed to work some of the details of the titular starship, the NCC-3001 USS Mercy.

The Game: Star Trek Adventures (and some FASA Trek)

Star Trek Adventures has a lot going for it right now including a ton of material out there, support by the publisher and the rules don't have me reaching for the Tylenol.   At the same time there is a nice feel of continuity here.  I do feel like I could play any era of Trek I wanted and these rules would cover me.  Plus the Modiphius Trek has the advantage of me being able to add some material from John Carter of Mars and Dune if I later choose.  

If my only game was BlackStar then I'd add in some of the material from their new Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 be done with it.   But Mercy needs something a little different and I am going to borrow heavily from FASA Star Trek on this one. BTW the 2d20 Achtung! Cthulhu looks amazing. I am going to grab it the moment I can.

FASA Trek had a more ship combat emphasis than Modiphius Trek does.  I think for my Star Trek Mercy game that will be important.  Not that the Mercy is going to fly into combat with phasers hot, but more like they will be needed in situations where there is plenty combat happening.  I am toying with the idea of the Orion Syndicate as the big bads, but no idea just yet.  

I do know that the captain of the Mercy will be a promoted FASA Trek Character.

The Character: Cmdr. Scott Elders, MD

Scott Elders was the CMO of the USS Andromeda, the last ship I used in FASA Trek all the way back in the later 1980s.  My game play covered the time between the TOS Movies and the TNG TV series.  So that is the time I like to think of him in. 

For Mercy he has been promoted to Commander and is now the "Captain" of his own ship, the newly christened USS Mercy, NCC 3001.  Second ship in the Asclepius Class medical starships.  Something of a cross between the Daedalus Class and the Olympic Class.  The ship is designed to be a state of the art (for 2295) medical transport and emergency response. 

Though I guess given the time the registry would be more like 25xx or something.

Before I get to the ship here is her Commander.

I do like these character sheets.

The Ship: USS Mercy

The Mercy is a new ship. But unlike the Protector, she is built on tried and true technologies. 

Not a bad little ship.  

I'll do some more tinkering, but I like how these both are coming together.

Now I just need to kitbash or 3D print a Mercy starship!

Links

• New Year, New Character Posts
• Star Trek: Mercy
• Star Trek: BlackStar
• Star Trek Character/Starship Generator
• Memory Alpha Federation Starship Registry

Today is the last day of the A to Z Challenge.  

Since today's monster was a zombie I thought some Zombie music was in order.

So let's get to it!

Up first, the original Zombies.

I have to include the next big Zombie band, White Zombie.

And Rob's solo work singing about a couple of undead.

And since it IS Walpurgis Night lets have some witches, Zombie style. Plus lots of monsters in these.

Don't wory, the poor witch killed in the first video comes back and gets a kickass Harley.

Honestly I could Rob Zombie songs all night.  But we have other Zombies tonight.

Not a zombie, but rather a song about the violence in Northern Ireland from the sadly late Dolores O'Riordan and the Cranberries.

Dolores was to cover the song for the Nu Metal Band "Bad Wolves" but she died on the same day. 

There are some more I am sure!

Happy Zombie Day.

Here we are!  At the end of another A to Z Challenge. I am pretty pleased with how this all turned out to be honest.  I got a lot of monsters done and found some new blogs to follow.  I had not participated since 2016 and I was curious about how it all might be different. Well, it was. Far fewer people were in it now (no surprise) and it also seemed to have a bit less interaction.  Some sites I noticed had quite a few comments, while many others had none at all.  

I'll have to think about what I am doing for next year.  I guess it depends on what book I have coming out.  An A to Z of Demons part 2 might be in order.  But that is the future, today I want to talk Zombies!

I wanted to end this challenge with a monster I first made on one of my first computers.  This is NOT the first monster I ever made. This is, roughly, the same monster I first created on my Tandy Color Computer 3 with my first ever word processing software, VIP Writer.  I looked to see if I still had the printout, on dot-matrix paper no less, but I am afraid that is long since gone.  

Additionally, this creature was inspired by the creatures in the 1980 movie The Fog.

Zombie, Drowned
Medium Undead (Corporeal)

Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 1d8 (3d8)
Alignment: Chaotic [Neutral Evil]
Movement: 60' (20') [6"]
  Swim: 240' (80') [24"]
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 5d8* (23 hp)
THAC0: 13 (+6)
Attacks: 1 weapon
Damage: 1d8+2
Special: Undead
Save: Monster 5
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class:  X (M)
XP: 300 (OSE) 350 (LL)

Str: 16 (+2) Dex: 10 (0) Con: 10 (0) Int: 5 (-2) Wis: 7 (-1) Cha: 3 (-3)

The drowned zombie, or sometimes called a sea zombie, is the reanimated corpse of a drowned sailor.  Often reanimated via some curse or the desire of their captain to continue their mission at sea.  They will rise up from the sea at night and terrorize local coastal villages.  They seek out warm bodies to feed on. 

Similar to other zombies, these creatures though have a bit more intelligence and free will. They are subject to control over whatever animating force brought them back. If it is a curse then they will seek out whatever means they can to either break or satisfy the curse so they may rest at the bottom of the sea. 

Drowned zombies attack with whatever weapons they had in life. Their strength adding a +2 to hit and damage. They can be hit by normal weapons, but slashing and piercing weapons only cause 1 hp per hit regardless.  As undead, they make no noise until they attack. Immune to effects that affect living creatures (e.g. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells (e.g. charm, hold, sleep). 

Drowned zombies are turned as mummies or 5 HD undead.

--

And there we go!  

I did not get my Treasure figured out, nor did I figure out which XP system to go with.  OSE is in general lower than LL, I could present it as a range of values.

Will I do this again next year? No idea yet. But this was a lot of fun.

Pursuing the AD&D Monster Manual back in 1979 I could not help to notice that while most of the monsters were obviously mythology in origin, one stood out.  There are on the next to last entry stood tall and proud, the Yeti.

Now you have to remember what the late 70s were like.  Bigfoot fever was all over the place then, there were no less than a dozen movies about Bigfoot in the 70s alone. Only the 2010s exceed it.  So seeing a Yeti, who I knew was a relative, was very interesting.  At first I didn't want to use him, it seemed so "off" to me.  But over the years I have changed my mind and now I use all sorts of hominid cryptozoological creatures.   But one of my favorites might just be the Almas.

The Almas featured in my first Ghosts of Albion adventure, Almasti, found in the Ghosts RPG core rule book.  I spent a lot of time with them and decided I needed to port them over to D&D.   This version is different than the Ghosts version, but still compatible.

Yeti, Almas
Medium Humanoid (Cold)

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1d4 (1d8)
Alignment: Neutral [True Neutral]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
  Fly: 240' (80') [24"]
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 3d8+6** (20 hp)
THAC0: 11 (+8)
Attacks: 2 fists or by weapon
Damage: 1d6+2 x2 or by weapon type +2
Special: Fly, immune to cold, spells
Save: Monster 3
Morale: 8 (10)
Treasure Hoard Class:  None
XP: 100 (OSE) 135 (LL)

Str: 16 (+2) Dex: 14 (+1) Con: 16 (+2) Int: 13 (+1) Wis: 15 (+1) Cha: 11 (0)

Almas are the smaller, more intelligent cousins of the Yeti. Due to their smaller size, they do not have the yeti’s hug attack.  For every group of six Almas, one will be a shaman who has the spellcasting ability of a 2nd level winter witch.

With the aid of the shaman, an Almas can fly on the boreal winds, but only after the sun has gone down.

They are immune to normal and magical cold.  Almas speak their own language and that of giants.

Almas are usually found in lower parts of the same mountain ranges one will find the yeti.  The two groups will avoid each other, mostly due to the fact that interactions between them have caught the attention of humans and that is a far worse out for them.

--

Simple monster with plenty of role-playing power.  Plus they are fun to pull out when the players are expecting a yeti and these guys just fly away.

I have another water-spirit/fey today.  Unlike the undine, this one was on my list from day one. These creatures are from the Asturian area of Spain. I will admit, there are not a lot of X monsters out there. 

Xana
Medium Fey (Water)

Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (2d6)
Alignment: Neutral [Neutral]
Movement: 90' (30') [9"]
  Swim: 240' (80') [24"]
Armor Class: 8 [11]
Hit Dice: 4d8* (18 hp)
THAC0: 17 (+2)
Attacks: None
Damage: None
Special: Charm potion, invisibility, witch spells
Save: Witch 4
Morale: 6 (6)
Treasure Hoard Class:  X (M)
XP: 125 (OSE) 135 (LL)

Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 13 (+1) Con: 10 (0) Int: 10 (0) Wis: 10 (2) Cha: 20 (+4)

Xana are a type of water faerie that lives in cool rivers, streams, and freshwater ponds. They are described as beautiful with long curly brown or blond hair.   They are similar to other water faeries in that they prefer to spend their time in their watery lairs. 

They are social creatures, with several living in an area.  Their lairs are under the water where they are 100% invisible. 

They will leave their lairs to seek out mates.  They can take their waters and make a weak love potion that will affect one male of her choice. They get a saving throw vs. poison. If they fail they are treated as if they have a charm person spell on them.  A successful save means the potion had no effect.   The children they have from these encounters, xanín, can’t be cared for by the xana.  They will sneak into homes at night and leave their children in place of human babies.

Xanín will grow fast. The girls will seek out their mothers and join them.  The boys will tend to grow up to become sailors.

Xana can cast spells as a 3rd level witch.  They however will not attack physically. They will swim to the deepest part of their watery lairs. 

There is a rumor of a smaller xana that feeds on children.  These creatures are indistinguishable from other xana and are chaotic evil. 

--

There are a lot of water spirits and water fey out there.  How to make them all different from each other will be my goal.  

It would be disingenuous to claim that Greek and Norse Mythology were my only gateways to my obsession with Dungeons & Dragons. No. Like so many gamers before and after me my D&D games were heavily fueled by my love for Tolkein. I discovered the Hobbit around the same time I discovered D&D. So naturally while my games had a mythic feel, there was also a feeling of "leaving the Shire" to them. 

It also doesn't hurt that I am listening to Led Zeppelin while working on this.

So much of Tolkein's DNA is threaded throughout this game, Gygax's testimonials to the contrary.  

One of the most memorable creatures to me were the Barrow Wights from Fellowship of the Ring.  The Wight from Basic and Advanced D&D was a thin imitation of those creatures in my mind.

Dante and Virgil observe a wight

Wight, Barrow
Medium Undead (Corporeal)

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1d4 (1d4)
Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Hit Dice: 6d8+6* (33 hp)
THAC0: 11 (+8)
Attacks: 1 touch + ability drain or weapon
Damage: 1d6+2 or weapon type
Special: ability drain, undead
Save: Monster 6
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class:  XXI (B)
XP: 650 (OSE) 680 (LL)

Str: 16 (+2) Dex: 14 (+1) Con: 13 (+1) Int: 12 (0) Wis: 10 (2) Cha: 6 (-1)

Barrow-wights are greater undead of fierce warriors. They remember their lives from before and are fast, dangerous, and particularly deadly. They are usually encountered in the ancient burial mounds that give them their name, barrows.  Wight is an older word for a man, or more commonly, a fighting man.

The most horrific attack of these creatures is their ability to drain the life force of their victims. A successfully hit a target loses one point of the Constitution. This incurs a loss of any bonus hit points, as well as all other benefits due to the drained ability. A person drained of all constitution becomes a wight  (common wight) in 1d4 days, under the control of the barrow wight that killed them

As undead, these creatures make no noise until they attack. They are immune to effects that affect living creatures (e.g., poison). Additionally, they are immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells (e.g., charm, esp, hold, sleep).

Barrow-wights can only be harmed by magic. They are turned as 6 HD creatures, or as Spectres.

--

This is closer to the creature I remember fighting in my summers of the 80s.  

Like many of my undead, I have done aways with "level drain" and replaced it with ability drain. I just like the feel of it better and it is a threat to both low-level and high-level characters.  Undead should always be scary.

Image by Rondell Melling from PixabayAs of this writing, I have 292 monsters written and complete for the Basic Bestiary I.  I have about 10-12 more that are mostly done.  Of the total 355 entries I have, a full 43 of them are Vampires. 

Yeah. That's a lot.

I have said it before but long before I was known as "the Witch guy" I was known as "the Vampire guy." 

I have talked about my origins of the Basic Bestiary before. My love of Greek, Norse, and Celtic myth, old "monster movies" with my dad, and the day I picked up the AD&D Monster Manual for the first time.  BB is my love letter to the MM.  But it is not my first monster book, it is just the first one I am going to publish.  I have sitting on my hard drives monster books that go all the way back to my earliest days.  Some of these monsters have been revived in my various witch books.  Many have been posted here. Among the files I have here and there there is one that is really old. 

File "necro.txt" contains all the undead monsters I hand-typed from the Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, and Monster Manual II plus all the undead I could get from Dragon magazine and all the ones I made up.  There are over 150 creatures in that file.  Many of them are vampires.

Now the issue I have now is not whether to stat up all these creatures (I already have in some places) but how many to include as full monster entries and which ones are just AKAs.

So instead of posting a monster today (I did Vampires in the 2015 A to Z) I thought I might instead post the list of possible ones and see how I might combine, rearrange or otherwise categorize.

When I talked about the Undine on Saturday I mentioned large categories. Vampires will be a category in BB1.

Vampires

Vampires are among the most fearsome and feared of the undead.  Unlike most undead creatures the vampire can often pass for a living creature. Moreso they charming, both in terms of personality and in magical ability, they are physically strong (19+) and difficult to kill. Vampires exist for a long time so many are also quite intelligent (16+) and have mundane and supernatural protections in place.

As undead, the vampire has all the following features of a corporeal undead creature.  They do not need to check for morale and are immune to fear effects from spells or other creatures.  They are susceptible to the Turning effects of clerics or other holy warriors.  They are immune to the effects of  Charm, Sleep and Hold spells or other mind-affecting magic.

Vampires take 1d6+1 hit points of damage from Holy Water and it is treated as though it were acid. As corporeal undead slashing and piercing damage of weapons are largely ineffective since their damage is done to vital organs or blood loss. Vampires take no damage from mundane weapons.  Silvered piercing or slashing weapons only do 1 hp per hit. Magic weapons calculate damage per normal.  Vampires only take half damage from electrical or cold attacks. They are immune to paralysis, poison or any gas-based weapon. 

Most vampires drain blood to survive. This is done at the rate of 2 Constitution points per attack unless otherwise stated.  Vampires also regenerate 3 hp per round.

Many vampires have alternate shapes they can assume. Most common are animals of the night and gaseous forms. Others may become moonlight or stranger things. All vampires need to rest at some point.  Many are vulnerable to the light of the sun and all have at least some sunlight weakness.  VAmpires also have common items that will repel them, such as garlic, a mirror, or rice, and nearly all will be forced back by holy symbols. 

All vampires have a unique means to kill them these are detailed in each entry. Often this is what sets one type of vampire from the other.

Unless otherwise noted, all Vampires turn as Vampires.

Vampire (Base)
Vampire Lord
Vampire, Alp
Vampire, Anananngel
Vampire, Asanbosam
Vampire, Astral
Vampire, Aswang
Vampire, Berbalang
Vampire, Blautsauger
Vampire, Brukulaco
Vampire, Bruxsa
Vampire, Burcolakas
Vampire, Ch’ing-Shih
Vampire, Children of Twilight
Vampire, Dearg-Due
Vampire, Ekimmu
Vampire, Eretica and here
Vampire, Estrie
Vampire, Farkaskoldus
Vampire, Gierach
Vampire, Hsi-Hsue-Kue
Vampire, Jigarkhwar
Vampire, Kathakano (Catacano)
Vampire, Krvopijac
Vampire, Kyuuketsuki
Vampire, Lobishumen
Vampire, Moroi (Living Vampire)
Vampire, Mulo
Vampire, Neuntöter
Vampire, Nosferatu
Vampire, Ovegua
Vampire, Pĕnanggalan
Vampire, Rolang, Demonic
Vampire, Rolang, Personal
Vampire, SoucouyantVampire, Spawn
Vampire, Strigoi
Vampire, Tenatz
Vampire, Upierczi
Vampire, Vrykolakas (Burcolakas)
Vampire, Wurdalak (Vourdalak, Vlkodlak)
Vampire, Xiāng-shī
Vampire, Yara-ma-yha-who
Vampire, Zburător (Zemu, Zmeu)

--

And there you go! Clicking on the links above is like doing archeology into my ever-changing and adapting stat-block.

I did include some AKAs in the list above and those will likely just be a paragraph in the main entry of what makes them different.  AS I work the remaining monster up I am likely to discover more.

This list though makes me wonder if I need yet another Basic Bestiary just for the undead. I know I have enough.  But will it make my first book too light?

Here is where I am at right now.  Aberration (0), Beast (24), Celestial (9), Construct (12), Dragon (5), Elemental (7), Fey (73), Fiend (0), Giant (4), Humanoid (45), Monstrosity (8), Ooze (0), Plant (3), Undead (71), Vermin (0), Total (261).

Removing the 71 undead would make the book stand at 190 monsters right now.  I still have to add all those vampires, so 120+ undead creatures total?  Would make for smaller books, and thus cheaper ones. Fiends are already going into their own book, Basic Bestiary II.

What do you all think?

Got a nice treat in the mail last week.

Rahasia is one of the next adventures I will be running in my War of the Witch Queens campaign for Basic-era D&D.  I have a copy of the original B7 version, but I thought a Print on Demand would be nice to have as well.  

I was not wrong.

As with all the PoD modules from the TSR era the maps are not printed on the inside covers but rather as pages.  Not a huge deal to be honest, just make sure you buy the PDF as well and print them out at home.

I had hoped that Rahasia's letter had been cleaned up.  It hasn't. But the source version was difficult to read as well.  I had to retype it so I could have it ready for my War of the Witch Queens game.  

To get this once rare and hard-to-find adventure for just under 12 bucks (I paid $11.99 total) is a really great deal, to be honest. 

Rahasia Links

• Review: B7 Rahasia (BECMI Special)
• A to Z of Adventure! B is for Basic Adventures
• A to Z of Adventure! R is for RPGA Adventures
• Rahasia, Ravenloft and Witches (with witch stats for Karelena, Solorena & Trilena)
• Class Struggles: The Basic/BX/BECMI Witches
• Rahasia's Letter

Going to the other side of the world from where I have been spending most of my time in the A to Z of monsters to one that always fascinated me back in my younger days.  Flipping through the Monster Manual  I recognized many of the creatures from myth and story, but one was new to me (ok there were more than one, but this one stood out).  

The Rakshasa of Indian myth was new one.  I had read a total of two Indian myths by this time so the Rakshasa was new to me.  Looking at the entry in the Monster Manual you would be excused for thinking they were some sort of cat-headed humanoid.  Much like the similarity named Rakasta from the D&D Expert module Ilse of Dread. 

In my naïve understanding of the differences between what was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons vs to what I was playing Basic Dungeons & Dragons, I tried to reconcile many concepts, and the Rakshasa / Rakasta was one of the round peg in a square hole that got me thinking maybe these, in fact, different creatures and different games.

Now a day I just mix and match as I see fit.

But that was not the last time the Rakshasa was going vex my efforts. 

Soon after I reconciled the whole Basic vs. Advanced D&D thing the next question, and one that stayed with me for a while, is why aren't these guys Devils?  Certainly, they felt like devils, they were Lawful Evil outsiders. They liked Illusion magic.   I played around with that idea for a while but never got it right.  It wasn't until I dropped the whole "Demon vs. Devil" and embraced the "Fiend" idea did it come to me. WotC would end up doing the same thing in D&D 5 in 2014.

Back in 2013 I reclassified these creatures as Yaksas and I was pretty happy with this.   That is until I began my research for my One Man's God series.  For India, I went back and reread the Ramayana. Rakshasas in these are much more complicated. Especially named Rakshasa like Ravana and his sister Shurpanakha.  Plus I learned more about Yaksas.

So. Where does that leave me today?  Well.  I want to do more research, but I think the classification of Rakshasa as a fiend belonging to the group of Asuras, who are sometimes referred to as "anti-gods."

Is this my final take on it?  No.  I am still doing more research and going back to the myths and stories, but I feel like I am on a good path now.

Rakshasa
Medium Fiend (Asura)

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Chaotic [Lawful Evil]
Movement: 150' (50') [15"]
Armor Class: -4 [23]
Hit Dice: 7d8+21** (53 hp)
THAC0: 13 (+7)
Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite or special
Damage: 1d3+1 x2, 1d6+1
Special: Illusory appearance, special magic resistance, spell-like powers
Save: Monster 7
Morale: 10 (10)
Treasure Hoard Class: XVII (F) 
XP: 1,250 (OSE) 1,300 (LL)

Str: 14 (+1) Dex: 17 (+2) Con: 18 (+3) Int: 13 (+1) Wis: 16 (+2) Cha: 20 (+4)

Rakshasas belong to a group of evil outsider spirits known as Asuras.  These creatures are an ancient primordial race of fiends that are sometimes known as the "anti-gods".  Their main diet is human flesh and they use deception to get it.   They often appear as animal-headed humanoids, with baboon and tiger being the most common, but they and also appear as multi-headed demons with long tongues and huge tusks.  Regardless of the form they take a curiosity of the rakshasa is that its palms will always appear to be inverted; that is their palms on the "tops" of what humans would consider their hand and thus their fingers appear to bend backward. 

When first encountered a rakshasa will use its ESP to detect whomever the victim trusts, then use illusion to assume that form. Once the victim lets his or her guard down the rakshasa will reveal its true self and attack. They are immune to normal weapons and magical weapons below +3 only do half damage.  The rakshasa can’t be affected or detected by spells of 6th level or lower unless it wishes to be. It has a +2 on saving throws against all other spells and magical effects.  A rakshasa would prefer to avoid combat, but when they do choose to fight they are vicious, enjoying the taste of blood as they fight.

All rakshasa have the following spell-like abilities:

• At will: detect thoughts, disguise self, mage hand, minor illusion
• 3/day each: charm person, detect magic, invisibility, major image, suggestion
• 1/day each: dominate person, fly, plane shift, true seeing

Rakshasas are evil but not unintelligent. They will know when to attack and when to hold back.  A poisoned cup of tea takes care of an enemy just as well as claw to the neck.

Multi-headed Rakshasas: It is believed that the more head a rakshasa the more powerful it is.  Each head would increase the creature's HD by 2 levels and Intelligence by 1 point for each head.  Rakshasas with five or more heads become Large creatures.

--

There is likely a lot more I can say and do with these guys, but this is a great start.  I am pretty happy with this as it is, but I know I am going to discover more.

One of the things I want to establish in my Basic Bestiary II is there are a LOT of different kinds of "demons" out there.  In AD&D we basically had two, then three, major groups, demons (chaotic evil), devils (lawful evil), and the awkwardly named daemons (neutral evil).  When 2nd ed came around the publisher caved to the angry mom crowd the authors came up with the replacements Tanar'ri, Baatezu, and Yugoloths respectively.  While many of us chaffed under these names they did open all the fiends up to reinterpretation.  And that was a good thing.  Also, I preferred Yugoloths over Daemons anyway. 

As the editions continued on the "Species" of fiends also grew.  The official D&D products in the 3e era added the Obyriths and Loumara types of demons to represent to oldest and youngest races respectively (not subject to the OGL) and other companies began to add their own as well. 

I myself have added the Lilim, Eodemon, Shedim, Baalserph, and Calabim fiends.  I have a few more as well.  Personally, I like the idea of all these competing hordes of fiendish creatures, fighting each other as much as they want to fight the power of good. 

Some of the newer types are not included in the SRD or part of the OGL.  For example, I can't use Obyriths in my books. I can use Pazuzu who is described as an Obyrith, I just can say anything about his "species."  I do say he is an "Eodemon" or "Dawn Demon" which is what the obyrtihs are trying to do.  Pazuzu is from world mythology so he is fair game.  Pale Night, a very powerful obyrtih is not.

This brings me to the Qliphoth.  The Qliphoth is open in terms of the Open Gaming License. The term, קְלִיפּוֹת, itself comes from Jewish Kabbalah.  So I am free to use that.   The Qliphoth in Pathfinder have a particular background.  I want something a little different, though I am likely to keep them similar just to aid people moving from system to system.  Rereading "Eodemon" as "Obyrith" is no big deal.  Having a name refer to two completely different sets of creatures is something else.   

Borrowing from the Kabbalah where Qliphoth means "Peels", "Shells" or "Husks" (mostly husks) here is what I am saying the Qliphoth are.

Qliphoth

Æons before the first demons crawled out of the Primordial Chaos or the first Angel fell to become a Baalseraph there was a race of beings of surpassing knowledge, grace, and power. Akin to gods they were and like gods they wished to be.  Not for power or glory, but for the purpose of knowing the fundamental workings of the cosmos to become one with it.  Their success was gained when they came upon a plan to shed all that was impure, unholy, and evil in their natures and discard them.  They sluffed off this evil and became luminous beings of pure energy and light.  Leaving behind the husks of what they were, tainted with unspeakable evils as only an immortal race of super-beings can produce.  These husks began of a "life" of their own. Evil, knowing they had been discarded, and festering in the darkest parts of Chaos.  It took them millennia, and in that time other creatures had come to populate the sinkholes of evil they had called their prison and home.  They despised these creatures as much as they despised their former selves and their new selves.  The Qliphoth had been born.

Qliphoth inhabits the same areas that are inhabited by the Calabim, demons of destruction, the chaotic demons that call the Primordial Chaotic abysses their home.  They share some qualities, immune to poison, possessing telepathy, and darkvision. Like other demons, they take only half damage from electricity and fire, but also acid.  Their minds are so alien to humanoids that they are resistant to any mind-affecting magics like sleep, charm, and hold spells.  All Qliphoth are the stuff of nightmares and only vaguely resemble something the human mind can process, so a save vs. Petrify or Paralysis is required when they are first seen. If the subject fails they cannot attack for 1d4 rounds.

It is said that Qliphoth exists for one reason alone, to reunite with the begins that cast them off.  Each subtype of Qliphoth is connected to a particular individual.  If they can reunite then all of that type will cease to be.  Otherwise, they will attempt to kill and devour the being that abandoned them.  Until such time they will kill and devour anything else in their path of destruction.

The Qliphoth are named for the part of the Tree of Death they are said to have originated in. 

Nehemoth.  These are whisperers or the night specters.  They are the weakest of the qliphoth having only spirit forms.

Gamaliel. These are the "obscene ones" and appear as nightmarish distortions of human figures with exceptionally large and exaggerated sexual organs. They were the unnatural sexual urges cast off by the Luminous Ones.

Samael. These Qliphoh appear as beautiful humans but all their words are lies. They drip poison and are a horror to behold in their true form which takes the shape of nightmares.

A'arab Zaraq. These are the Ravens of Dispersion.  They appear as hideous demon-headed ravens with wings of molten lava. 

Tharirion. These are are the Zomiel, giant demons coated in dark black blood that burns to the touch. They constantly fight amonst themselves unless ordered by a stronger creature.

Golachab. These creatures are demons surrounded by fire. They constantly burn the exist only to cause destruction and pain.

Gha'agsheblah. These creatures are giants with the heads of demonic cats. They eat everything they can.

Sathariel. These creatures are heads surrounded by swirling black mists. Only their glowing red eyes can be seen.  Their riddles cause madness.

Ghagiel. Huge demons with serpents wound around them.  They are found of destroying libraries and other institutions of learning and wisdom. 

Thaumiel. The most powerful of the Qliphoth. The shadow of their former selves.  Appears as a towering beast of shadow and destructive purpose. 

--

Ok. No stat block on this one yes because I am not far enough along yet to merit one.  Plus I need to get these demons to really be scary. Right now they are not.  And I'll need to read some more Kabbalah to get a good feel about what these creatures do and how to tease them apart from other types of demons.

I have some time. This is just the first draft of these guys.

It began with Harvey. 

A little odd piece of trivia for you. Back in High School and College my knick-name was Harvey. Not because of the movie of the same name, but for other reasons too long to get into here. But people always asked me if it was because of the movie. I got tired of hearing about it so I watched the movie, as was my habit, with my dad.  He loved it of course, it had been a you man (younger than I am now) when it came out so he had good memories of it.  I enjoyed it too, but I enjoyed mostly because my dad did.  But that was my first introduction to a "Pooka."

Since then I have run into the pooka in other places. Robin Goodfellow of the Bard's Midsummer Night's Dream is another fine example. The creature always seemed perfect for D&D yet I can't find many examples of it outside of Celtic-focused gamebooks.

Púca
AKA Phooka, Puka, Pwca
Small or Medium Fey (Chaotic)

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1)
Alignment: Neutral [Chaotic Neutral]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
Armor Class: 7 [10]
Hit Dice: 2d8+2* (11 hp)
   Small: 2d10+2* (9 hp)
THAC0: 9 (+10)
Attacks: 1 bash 
Damage: 1d6-1
Special: Fey, invisibility, shape-shifter, vulnerable to cold iron
Save: Monster 2
Morale: 10 (NA)
Treasure Hoard Class: None 
XP: 35 (OSE) 47 (LL)

Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 16 (+2) Con: 14 (+1) Int: 12 (0) Wis: 10 (0) Cha: 14 (+1)

The púca (pl. púcaí) is a shape-shifting fey creature related to both goblins and to brownies. The natural shape of the púca is debated by scholars, but it is believed to be a small fey creature with animal-like features such as rabbit years, whiskers and pronounce front teeth.  It is suggested that they even have little horns.

While not an evil creature, the púca delights in causing all sorts of mischief. They can take the shape of any animal they choose from Small to Large. They can even shapeshift into a medium humanoid creature. They will appear human, or elflike, but will have some feature of an animal such as goat legs, rabbit ears, or a tail.  A favorite trick of a púca is to shift to a magnificent horse and tempt humans to ride it. Once the rider is on they burst into breakneck speeds and give their rider a terrifying ride. They will then deposit the confused and worn-out rider miles away from where they started. Another favorite trick is to shift into a small adorable animal such a baby bunny or kitten. When a human picks them up they will begin to yell at them in common speech and shift to a small, but ugly goblin. The púca delights in these pranks and never means to cause injury or harm. 

The púca prefers to avoid all combat situations. They are not strong fighters at all and will use their invisibility to stay out of most fights. They can become invisible at will and remain invisible until attacked. If force they can usually bask with a fist or head bash. The púca's innate fear of iron prevents them from picking up and using any weapon.  Iron weapons cause double damage to a púca.

Púcaí though can be bribed and even befriended if presented with their favorite blackberry wine.  A drunk púca can foretell the future in a limited fashion, resulting in anyone sharing wine and stories with one a +1 on any roll between the sunrise the next day and the next new moon. A drunk púca though is a handful as it randomly shape-shifts throughout the night.

There are tales of evil púca the eat humans or drink their blood. But this is likely some other creature. 

--

So not a creature you are going to go out to pick a fight with.  Not that you can't but there is not much point in that.  While I am keenly aware that D&D can often devolve into a game of just fighting monsters (and I have enjoyed those games in the past too), monsters don't have to exist just to be killed by the PCs.   Our púca here is a good example of that.

Double Feature!

Clash of the Titans (1981)

I can't talk about monsters all month and NOT pop in the stop motion masterpiece of Clash of the Titans.

If you come to this blog I have no doubt you know this move and this story.  So instead lets talk about the production.  Let's get good look at the casting for the gods. Laurence Olivier as Zeus, Claire Bloom as Hera, Ursula Andress as Aphrodite, Maggie Smith as Thetis. Seriously these WERE the gods in 1981. Add in relatively unknown (pre L.A. Law) Harry Hamlin as Perseus and the captivating Judi Bowker as Andromeda then our cast is set.  Throw in some Burgess Meredith for comic relief and a bunch of Ray Harryhausen stop motion creatures and you have a classic.

I am not sure if Medusa was ever depicted as a half snake-woman before this movie, but she sure was after it.  Maybe more so than anything outside of Tolkien has left it's stamp on D&D more than the Greek myths and no movie did as much as Clash of the Titans.  Even people that have never seen the movie know "release the Kraken!"

The film almost has a Disney quality to it with it's score and cinematography. Cinematographer Ted Moore had worked on a lot of 70s Bond films and two of the Sinbad movies, the spiritual forefathers to this one.

Re-watching now (and again) the story holds up and the special effects are more charming than dated. Even Bubo was less annoying in reality than in memory. 

Clash of the Titans (2010)

Ok. The Greek myths endure because they are stories that can be told and retold again and again.  A remake then should always be welcome.  And on paper this one sounds good.  First lets look at our Gods again. Liam Neeson as Zeus, ok do we even care who else is playing the gods at this point?  Ralph "Voldemort" Fiennes as Hades.  Luke Evans (Dracula Unbound, The Hobbit) as Apollo, Danny Huston as Poseidon and Alexander Siddig (Deep Space Nine, Game of Thrones) as Hermes. Ok so, this is all good.  Sam Worthington as Perseus. Ok a good actor, but lacks a certain Harry Hamlin-ness. Alexa Davalos as Andromeda, also good.

Plus we know the special effects were going to be better since this was the new age of CGI.

And...yet it all falls so flat.  Zues' "release the Kracken" doesn't have Sir Laurence Olivier's gravitas and we know Liam Neeson can deliver a line.  Hades...exactly WHY was Hades here anyway? The rest of the gods were blink an you miss them.

The Kracken was underwhelming, but still fun.  Medusa, well. Actually I liked this one. While the first medusa was a spectacle of stop motion puppetry the new one with the face of supermodel Natalia Vodianova seemed more human. It also was one of the first certainly not the last time the story made you feel properly sad for Medusa.  But that is topic for another day really.

The movie is all glitz and spectacle and no heart.  The sign where they toss Bubo from the original movie aside might have felt funny, but it is a good example of the entire film.

Still for a popcorn flick it is fun.  You can even see this as a prequel of sorts to the Greek gods in Wonder Woman.

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Game Material

Pretty much the entire movie to be honest. The original is so deeply imbedded into the DNA of 80s roleplaying it would be hard to tease out today what came from the Greek myths before this movie vs. after.

Given I kicked off this whole idea with a detailed round-up of the Orc across the editions, it behooves me to at least stat one up.  But which one?  I have a few.  In truth, there is one I have been sitting on for long while now and I should pull it out for a special occasion.  I think that day is today.  Plus I have done so many water-based creatures, time for something different.  

So here is a monster that I talked about in the first days of this blog nearly 12 years ago! The Desert Orc.

Orc, Desert

He was an orc. That was obvious. Though there was something different about him and the others.  What I had originally taken to be smaller, younger orcs were in fact elves. Orcs and elves! Traveling together across this great expanse of desert. More than that, they acted as if they were kin!  They invited us to their tents where one orc and one elf who referred to each other as “brother” went about an elaborate tea ritual where we were served first. The orc and the elf then presented to each other their cups of tea in something akin to prayer or benediction. Once they drank they turned and smiled at each other. Ritual satisfied, they turned to us. The orc, Nom’dosh Thurgash and his elven brother Nom’dosh Etain, both greeted us in the most cultured elven I have heard outside of the Silver Forests.

“Welcome fellow travelers. How may the humble members of the Nom’dosh Clan aid you?” 

- From the Journal of Larina Nix

Male Orc by Jacob BlackmonMedium Humanoid (Orc)
Frequency: Rare
Number Appearing: 2d12 (3d20) with roughly an equal number of Desert Elves
Alignment: Neutral [Lawful Neutral (Good)]
Movement: 120' (40') [12"]
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 1d8+2 (7 hp)
THAC0: 16 (+3)
Attacks: 1 weapon (halberd) 
Damage: 1d8+2
Special: Can move about in sunlight with no penalty
Save: Monster 1
Morale: 10 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: I (P) 
XP: 15 (OSE) 15 (LL)

Str: 16 (+2) Dex: 12 (0) Con: 16 (+2) Int: 10 (0) Wis: 10 (2) Cha: 12 (0)

Desert Orcs appear to be normal orcs. However, these orcs have more than just a glint of intelligence in their eyes. While their faces are still animal-like, the fierce scowl has been replaced with a stoic set to their jaw, a purpose in their eyes, and a bearing that can't be described as anything else but noble.  These orcs, with their sandblasted faces and long pale hair strike you as something new and different. 

Desert Orcs are nomads, their ancestral homes in the deserts were destroyed centuries ago by humans. Though they fought back and shook off the yokes of slavery and tyranny by the humans.  They travel with the only other people that helped them in their great revolution, the desert elves.  Desert elves and desert orcs now consider themselves as one people.  They are brothers and every clan has orc and elf members that are equal in all things. 

Once united they then discovered that they had skills that were mutually beneficial to each other. Orcs are still militaristic with small war cadres connected to powerful elf families. For an orc, it is an honor to serve since the more powerful the elf family the stronger their own cadre is respected. The stronger the orc cadre, the more respected the family is and the more likely they will get goods to trade. An elf sultan will travel without his wife for example, but never without his orc escorts.

For every 10 desert orcs, there will be a cadre leader of the 2nd to 4th level.  For every 50 there is an additional war chieftain of 5th to 7th level. For every 100 there is a marshall and for larger groups a general.  Cadres will still fight against each other in mock skirmishes, and while damage will be done they are rarely fatal.  A desert orc will never raise a blade against an elf and likewise, a desert elf will never raise a blade against a desert orc.  Over 1000 years of mutual respect and fighting side by side has torn down the ancient hatred that has infected their rest of their brethren worldwide.

Tea Ritual

There is a ritual that all desert orcs and desert elves will practice.  When camp is made the sultan of the elves and the war chieftain of the orcs will meet in their open tent. The sultan will help the chieftain remove his armor while the war chieftain prepares the tea.  When both tasks are complete, and to do this correctly requires practice so both are done at the same time. The sultan and the chieftain offer each other the tea with the renewed promise that their lines will continue to fight and honor each other. Then the remaining elves and orcs will complete their camps.  If guests are present then they are served first but no elf or orc are allowed to drink until their respective leaders complete their oaths and drink.

The only species they truly distrust are humans. They both recall the tales of depredations at the hands of the Necromancer Kings.  Although humans approaching their camps or caravans with respect will be heard.

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Ok. So yeah I did it. I made "Good" Orcs.  In fact, I made them 12 years ago.  I also did "Good" kobolds.

Orcs are like Klingons.  Yes, they were two-dimensional and evil in the TOS days, but now we are in the Next Generation and Orcs can be more.  Are violent? Of course! Do they still kill people? They sure can!  Are they inherently evil?  No. Not these orcs.  I have other orcs that are every bit as evil as are demons, but individuals can and do vary.

Likewise I am almost at a point in my games where Drow are going to split off into two separate factions, the evil demon-worshipping one and a less evil faction that wants reunification with the other elves.  

So if Orcs are my Klingons, then to use a metaphor I have been using since the early 80s, elves and drow are my Vulcans and Romulans.  Just like them the Vulcans and Romulans are now a new species, the Nivar.  I don't have a name yet for my combined elves.

I am also adding an occasional bit to some entries, "From the Journal of Larina Nix." Or how these creatures are from the point of view of an adventurer.  I figure my iconic witch is as good as any to present these details.

Much like the Merrow, this creature has been rummaging around in the back of my mind for the better part of 25 years.  I just never could get it the way I wanted it. I think today is that day! One of the true monsters of Celtic myth and legend, I present to you the Nuckelavee.

Nuckelavee
Large Monstrosity (Aquatic)

Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1)
Alignment: Chaotic [Neutral Evil]
Movement: 90' (30') [9"]
   Swim: 180' (60') [18"]
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 8d8+8* (44 hp)
   Large: 8d10+8* (52 hp)
THAC0: 9 (+10)
Attacks: 2 claws or weapon + Breath Weapon
Damage: 1d4+3 x2 or 1d8+3, 
Special: Breath weapon (fetid gas), dark vision
Save: Monster 8
Morale: 10 (NA)
Treasure Hoard Class: None 
XP: 1,200 (OSE) 1,240 (LL)

Str: 18 (+3) Dex: 13 (+1) Con: 15 (+1) Int: 10 (0) Wis: 10 (0) Cha: 4 (-2)

The nuckelavee is a monster in the truest sense of the word. It appears to be a large horse with a human rider, but closer inspection reveals the true horror of the creature.  The "rider" and "horse" are the same creature.  The "human" part has a huge grinning mouth with arms that are so long that its claws drag the ground.  The "horse" part has legs that end in both fins and hooves, giving it the ability to move about on land and the sea. The "horse" head has one huge eye in the middle of its forehead.  The entire creature is skinless and the muscles and sinew are visible. The creature is covered in black blood.

The nuckelavee hates all life and will attack anything in its path.  It prefers to stay in the salt-water sea, freshwater is treated like acid to it (1d4 hp of damage per vial), so it will not come ashore when it is raining.  It hates the smell of burning seaweed and will come ashore to put out any fires burning seaweed and kill whoever is doing the burning.

Nuckelavee will attack with their claws most times. They are capable of wielding weapons and will choose a club or spear, but they prefer to use their own claws. They are strong (Strength 18) but only average intelligence (10).  The worst attack of the nuckelavee is their fetid breath.  From their horse head, they can breathe out a fetid poisonous gas that affects all in a 60' long, 30' wide (5' base) cone. Victims must save vs. Poison.  Those at or under 7 HD must save or take 4d8 hp damage (save for half), those over 7 HD save or take 2d8 hp of damage (save for none).  Anyone failing the save will incapacitate for 2d8 rounds and unable to move or attack. 

Nuckelavee prefer the flesh of warm-blooded creatures. It ignores merrows and selkies, though they can usually out-swim the nuckelavee in the sea and outrun them on the land.  

Water Horses

The nuckelavee would be a natural enemy to the kelpie and likewise, save for the fact that nuckelavees can not enter fresh water and kelpies rare venture out into the sea. There seems to be a relationship between the nuckelavee and the each-uisge.  The nuckelavee is also related, somewhat distantly, to the nøkk, though both creatures refuse to acknowledge this.  The best way to offend a nøkk is to ask if it is a nuckelavee.  Kelpies, each-uisge, nuckelavees, and nøkks are all either descended from a common creature or have all adapted similar forms as a means of capturing prey.  

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Returning today are the Ability scores. I played around with them a bit more and have been getting some feedback so I wanted to pull them back out.  I think I am going to keep them in the stat block.

This creature is large and therefore has two lines for HD/hp.  In my games I will use the increased hp total. 

All in all I am happy with this one!

AND

If you are doing the A to Z Challenge Scavenger Hunt, you just found a Dragon!