Gog and Magog for Advanced Era Games

Don't you love it when you are doing a bit of research on a couple of different things and suddenly you read one thing and all these disparate threads come together as a nice whole?  Jung used to call it Synchronicity.  I say that if you bury your head in something for long enough your research numbed brain will see connections everywhere.  In either case this is some thing that clicked for me the other day.

I was doing research on the the original Balor/Type VI demons in 1st Ed AD&D and how there are only six of them.  The DMG lists them as Balor (their leader and the largest), Errtu, Ndulu, Ter-Soth, Alzoll, and Wendonai.  Wendonai.  Doesn't exactly fill you with fear does it.  Since I am using the OGC Balor as the basis of my own Baalor in my games I wanted to expand them a bit.  So these names are purely off limits (save for Balor).

That tied in with all the myths I have been reading (well, since forever) of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales (er Walesland?).  There was a Balor there too.  Only he was a giant with one eye on his forehead and another on the back of his head. I was reading about all these giants when I came across Gogmagog.

I had been familiar with Gog and Magog and Gogmagog because of an off-hand reference on Doctor Who years and years before.  I had scribbled down that Gog and Magog were akin to Ogres, but divine.  I choose ogres because of something the Doctor said "Gog, Magog and Ogre",  pronounced 'O-gree'.  In the book of Revelations Gog and Magog were the ultimate enemies of God's people.  Though to be fair Gog and Magog hopscotch all over the Bible and one is never really sure if they are individuals, peoples, or lands.  Gog and Magog also appear in the Qur'an as a monster (the monster of Gog and Magog) or again as a land.

Recently I reread the Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.  The chief of the Balrogs was a being known as Gothmog.  I knew I was on to something.  Obviously Tolkien, a professor of English literature and languages (especially Old English) knew of Gogmagog. In some early versions of Tolkien's work Gothmog is even described as a "son of Melkor and the ogress Fuithluin",  Later a "Gothmog" was also the orc in charge of Mordor's army in the Return of the King.  Obviously named after the Balrog (and less confusing than Glorfindel of Rivendell vs. Glorfindel of Gondolin).

All of this though has given me some ideas.

Here they are using OSRIC and  LL Advanced  Edition Companion.  All text below is considered Open for use under the OGL.

Section 15: OSRIC Chapter V copyright 2007-08 by Stuart Marshall, Chris Hopkins, James Boney, Robert Ross, Jeremy Goehring, Mike Davison, Daniel Proctor, B. Scot Hoover, Chris Cain, Bill Silvey, Floyd Canaday, Vincent Frugé and Matthew James Stanham.
Advanced Edition Companion, Copyright 2009-2010, Daniel Proctor. Author Daniel Proctor.
Adventures Dark and Deep^TM Bestiary, Copyright 2011-2013 BRW Games, LLC.
Gog and Magog for Advanced Era Games, Copyright 2015 Timothy S. Brannan.

Gog and Magog
Class F Standard Order (true) Demons
Frequency:  Very Rare (Unique Demons)
No. Encountered:  2
Size: Large, 13' (Gog), 13' 5" (Magog)
Move: 60 ft; 150 ft flying (AA:III)
Armor Class:  -3 (Gog) / -4 (Magog)
Hit Dice*: 10d8+10 (Gog), 10d8+21 (Magog)
Attacks: 1 bite or by special attack
Damage: 1d12+4
Special Attacks: Flaming great sword (2d8) (Gog) or Flaming great axe (2d8) (Magog) + 3d6 fire
Special Defenses: +2 or better magic weapon to hit
Magic Resistance: 75%
Lair Probability: 0%
Intelligence: High
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 9/3,750 + 13/hp**

Gog and Magog are two unique demons of the same sort of Balor.  While they are larger and more aggressive than their kin, their natures preclude them from ruling large numbers of lower demons as their brethren might.   Gog and Magog are described as "brothers" and this has never been proven by any occult scholar.  They share a physical similarity to each other.  Gog is large, predominantly red in color with black hair and beard. He wields a large flaming sword in battle.  Magog is larger, predominantly black in color with red hair and beard.  He wields a large flaming great axe.  Either causes an extra 3d6 points of fire damage per hit.
Gog and Magog can also use the following powers at will: detect invisibility, detect magic, dispel magic, fear (as the wand), pyrotechnics, read languages, read magic, suggestion, telekinesis (600 lbs.), and symbol (despair, fear, sleep, and stunning).   A +2 or better magical weapon to hit.
Unlike other demons, Gog and Magog cannot gate in lesser true demons.  Instead they may summon 2d6 demonic Ogres each.  These creatures appear as normal ogres save that their skin is red and they are immune to fire, poison, sleep and charm spells.  They also need a +1 or better magical weapon to hit.  Demonic ogres always have the maximum hitpoints for ogres.
Much like other demons, these two will bicker and fight and even plot against each other.  However when confronted with a common foe the will work together to defeat them.  They are completely loyal only to each other. They are often found in each other's company.
They are most often found on the Material Plane, the summoning ritual for one will also summon the other and only rarely in the Abyss.
They are violent, aggressive and constantly angry.  Neither is much for planning, but when pressed they are good strategists and have been used as generals by stronger Demon Lords and Princes.  They have even been known to serve the Baalseraph Ahriman, also known as Angra Mainyu.  A common tactic among the Demon Lords that engage their services are to choose a location and let the brothers go.

*Many "Advanced Era Games" use a d8 for monster HD. I prefer to use a d10 myself.
** Adjust according to your preferred system.

Monster Guides over at The Power Score

The Power Score, a great blog that could use some more attention has been doing some great D&D monster guides.

In these Sean has been taking various monsters and looking at their growth and changes across as many editions of D&D he can as well as supplementary products.

So far he has covered:

• Pit Fiends
• Tiamat
• the Succubus
• the Githyanki

Plenty of art and comparisons between the editions.
The thing I like is he treating the editions as evolving understanding of the monsters.

So pop over and check these out. A leave a comment or two. That's the neighborly thing to do really.

Witch spells for Nox

I have expanded on my write-up on Nox, Goddess of the Near Dark, for the Petty Gods project.

Here are some new spells for followers of Nox and a new minion.

As always the material below (except the art) is released as Open under the terms of the OGL.

Section 15: "Witch Spells for Nox" Copyright © 2015 Timothy S. Brannan.

Summon Fyre Fae
Affiliation: Nox, Goddess of Near Dark
Level: Cleric (Nox) 3, Magic-User (Wizard) 3, Witch 3
Range: 150’ + 50’/level
Duration: Special (see below)
By means of this spell the cleric or witch may summon a Fyre Fae, a small pixie like creature the glows much in the same way as a Will O’ The Wisp.  The cast beeches a boon from Nox, who knows the location of hidden things, and summons the fyre fae to find what they seek.  The caster must be specific in what they are looking for and it must be within the range of the spell.  So for example a caster can ask “please help me find the key to unlock the door to the Dungeons of Dragoth-umar” if the key is within the range, then the fyre fae will find it and return to the caster. Requests like “help me find the safest route” or “help me find the way home” may not always have the most direct route, but they will lead the caster in generally the correct direction.
The duration of the spell is equal to 10 minutes plus 1 minute per level of the caster.  The spell though will always end once the last rays of the sun are gone and true night has started.  When the spell ends the fyre fae will disappear.
Attacked fyre fae also disappear.  Casters that summon the minions of Nox and attack them will also discover that they will no longer be allowed to summon a fyre fae.

Summon Gloaming
Affiliation: Nox, Goddess of Near Dark
Level: Cleric (Nox) 5, Magic-User (Wizard) 5, Witch 5
Range: 50’
Duration: Permanent/till dispelled
The followers of Nox know that her power lies not in light or dark but in the shadows and near dark in between.  While many know of the playful fyre fae that serve Nox, few know of her other servitors, the Gloamings.
A gloaming is a shadow-like creature that often takes the shape of a large, but indistinct animal. The gloaming summoned will attack a group of creatures that the caster chooses.  The gloaming will attack until the creatures or itself are dead.
The caster may summon 1 gloaming + 1 per every other level.  A summoned gloaming does not have the fear causing effects of a naturally occurring one.

Gloaming*
Armor Class: 14
Hit Dice: 5*
Alignment: Neutral
No. of Attacks:  2 claw / 1 bite + Fear
Damage: 1d4/1d4 1d6 + 1 point Strength loss + Fear
Movement: 45'
No. Appearing: 1d6, Wild 1d10
Save As: Fighter: 6
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: None
XP: 660

A gloaming is a shadow creature that is typically found in wild, untamed places.  Mostly discovered in the time between sunset and the full dark of night these creatures appear to be large, but indistinct shadow creatures. They are on four legs and stand about 3’ to 4’ high with a massive head. The only features that are distinct are their eyes which glow amber, red or green.  Sometimes confused with hell hounds, a gloaming is an undead creature. It is the undead creature of a large predatory animal, but it does not attack on sight.  Typically a gloaming will radiate an aura of fear (as per the spell, cast by a 5th level caster) to scare off interlopers.  Failing that they will attack with a claw/claw/bite routine.  Only on a successful bite attack will a gloaming drain 1 point of strength.
A gloaming is an undead creature and can be turned as a 5 HD creature (or as a Wraith, depending on your system of choice).

New Monster: Urhag

She came to me in a dream.  

I could tell by her voice that she was of regal bearing and intelligence, but at first I could not see her.  I was looking out over a darkend grey and cold plain.  In the far distance I saw mountains; mountains I know I had never beheld before with mortal eyes yet no less real.  In the sky above flew beasts, for that was the only world for them.  They appeared as mad paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, a mass of flying, winged semi-human creatures.  Their appearance was as women, save shamefully unclothed, though it was difficult to see this from the filth that covered them.  The smell was worse than any charnel house I could recall; the decay of death, the reek of excrement, and the sour odour of unwashed sweaty bodies.   Their hair was wild. Their teeth were long, yellowed and many were broken.  This is how I knew I was still in the dream. Such details would have escaped me given their distance. In truth, I wanted to be no closer to these hideous creatures.  Their eyes burned red like coals of hellfire.

I watched as they flew and they attacked and ate other beasts in sky.  They were aware of me and my companion, but made no move towards us.

"What are they?" I asked and I turned to meet my unseen companion.  To my shock she appeared as they did, save she was not a filthy degenerate creature, but a woman of regal bearing. She had the same clawed hands, the same large bat-like wings and most horribly the same eyes.

"They are Ur-hags." she had said.  "They are our sisters."

- From the Journal of Larina Nix

I have been rereading H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" a story that both fascinated me and frustrated me in my youth.  For my group of gaming friends and our extended group of their older brothers, it was always an unspoken, but a well-understood rule that it didn't really matter what Lovecraft story you began with, but your last one had to be "Kadath".  So I am rereading it for the first time since 1987.

It is just as phantasmagorical as I recalled. Reading it now is also a treat that I have better understanding of the mythos and the creatures mentioned throughout are now well known to me.
But one creature captured my attention that I had not seen before and forgot.  The Urhags.
That night I had a dream about Maleficent, so I knew I had something here.

I checked various games that cover Lovecraft-type monsters such as The Realms of Crawling Chaos, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea and various Call of Cthulhu books but only found one mention of them in H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands.   They are interesting, but I kinda liek what I came up with a little more.  These urhags are released from their Dreamlands origins and brought closer to Ur-Hags.

"High over its jagged rim huge ravens flapped and croaked, and vague whirrings in the unseen depths told of bats or urhags or less mentionable presences haunting the endless blackness."

- H.P. Lovecraft, Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

Here is my take on the urhag.  In "Basic Era" format to use with The Witch.

The follow is considered Open under the terms of the Open Gaming License.
OGL Section 15: "Urhag" Copyright © 2015, Timothy S. Brannan

Urhag

	Degenerate	Noble
Armor Class:	3 [16]	4 [15]
Hit Dice:	5*+2 (25 hp)	8*+13 (50 hp)
No. of Attacks:	2 claw, 1 bite; stench	2 claw or weapon, spell
Damage:	1d4/1d4/1d6	1d4/1d4 or by weapon type
Special:	Stench, Magic, see below	Magic, Harmed by iron, see below
Movement:	30' / 90' fly	30' / 90' fly
No. Appearing:	1	1
Save As:	Witch 5	Witch 8
Morale:	7	9
Treasure Type:	Special	Special
Alignment:	Chaotic (Evil)	Chaotic (Evil)
XP:	by system	by system

Scholars debate the relationship between the races of hags. While many look to the vile and evil Night Hags as their progenitor, scholars who have pierced the veil between Reality and Dream claim that such a progenitor race is known as the urhags.

The Urhags are found in two basic varieties, the Degenerate and the far less common Noble.

The Degenerate Urhag appears to be a hideously ugly humanoid woman. She appears naked, but covered in filth, with long clawed fingers, wild hair and inhumanly long feet and toes. What is the most curious feature of the urhag are her large bat-like wings.  One is immediately reminded of a harpy; which scholars also claim are an offspring of this creature.  The urhag does not speak, but only screams and shrieks.  The urhag can attack with a claw/claw/bite routine which is their most typical attack.  They are also surrounded by a horrible stench. Characters within 10' of the Urhag must save vs. Poison (Constitution, Fortitude) or suffer a -2 on all attacks against the creature.  The urhag may also cast spells as a 3rd level witch.  Spells that attack and due damage are preferred over all others.
Urhags are immune to all cold-based effects and are immune to cold and cold based spells. Dengerate urhags are carnivorous and their preferred  source of meat is humanoid flesh.  They are able to enter the dreams of people sleeping in their territories; usually within 300 yards.  Through this special attack the urhag will Charm a sleeping male into breeding with them. Once complete the urhag will then wake thee male to kill and eat him.  They prefer to wake their victims because they enjoy hear the sounds of their screams.  Within 3 months the urhag will lay a leathery egg in which a juvenile urhag will emerge. The new urhag will not expect any care or succor from her mother; in fact the mother is just as likely to eat her offspring as she did her offspring's father.

The Noble urhag is a different creature, though no less evil.  Like the degenerate urhag, the noble appears to be a winged woman with long taloned hands and feet.  Noble urhags also have horns growing from their heads that often causes them to be mistaken for some sort succubus or other demonic creature.  While not demonic, the noble urhag is still quite evil.  While the degenerate urhag is hideous and covered in filth, the noble urhag is regal, attractive, and clothed in only the fines wares. Her features are sharp and possibly indicate a relationship to the fae that other, more common hags, share.   The noble urhag can be harmed by iron in the same fashion that fae are; iron weapons cause +2 damage and +1 to hit.
The noble urhags can cast spells as a 7th level witch.  She may also take the occult powers of a Malefic or Faerie tradition witch.

While the degenerate urhag is indiscriminate about her choice of mating partners, the noble urhag prefers only the finest quality human males.  They do not care for elves since elves do not dream in the same manner as do men.  Also noble urhags do not always eat the men the lay with.  Some prefering to return to the same male time and time again as instinct drives them to reproduce.

Unlike common hags urhagss of either sort are not tied to a particular locale or environment.  Degenerate urhags do prefer colder wastes and demon-haunted lands and the noble urhag prefers temperate forests there are no restrictions on either.
Unlike night hags, urhags are not interested in the transport of souls or the outer planes.
Urhags can, in theory form coveys as other hags do and maybe even with other  hags, but none have been observed doing so.

The OSR Scarecrow

Here is the only OSR Scarecrow you need.  This is the Scarecrow from The Witch.
(Yeah I am a little late on the snark here, term start and I have a conference to go to this week.)

Scarecrow
AC: 9 [10]
Hit Dice: 3d8* (14 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 Limbs
Damage: 1d6/1d6
Special: Paralyzing Gaze, Triple Damage from Fire based attacks
Movement: 30’
No. Appearing: 1 (always in lair)
Saves As: Fighter 3
Morale: 12
Treasure: None
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 75

Scarecrows are basic guardians similar to golems, but not nearly as powerful. Like typical scarecrows, their bodies are made of straw and cloth. The stumble about their assigned area poorly and attack most anything that wanders through it. Some Scarecrow Guardians are bound to a post. A Scarecrow can use their paralyzing gaze to imprison any trespassers (save vs. Paralysis, fail means victim remains rooted to the spot).
Scarecrows are assigned to protect a particular area. They never leave the area, even when chasing an intruder. They will attack anything, humanoid or animal like in appearance that walks into its territory unless otherwise instructed by their creator.
A scarecrow is immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, disease and similar effects. They are not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, energy drain or death from massive damage.
Fire Vulnerability: Because of their straw bodies, Scarecrows are extremely vulnerable to attacks from fire. They take triple damage from all fire attacks.
In addition, a scarecrow guardian will catch fire easily after any attack that would normally ignite mundane items. A scarecrow on fire receives 2d6 damage each round (do not double this damage)


All content is designated as Open for the Open Gaming License.
Art is from the Public Domain
Section 15 OGL Copyright Notice

The Witch, Copyright ©2012, Timothy S. Brannan
"Scarecrow" Copyright ©2014, Timothy S. Brannan

Another Great 5e Weekend

It is the the first weekend of Fall (more or less) and that means a lot of yard work for me including cleaning up my wife's garden.  I don't mind. I love getting all the fresh veggies.

But this weekend was also a great 5th Edition D&D weekend.

Began our time picking up a couple copies of the newest Monster Manual.

The new Monster Manual is a damn attractive book.  Like so much of D&D5 it reads like a "greatest hits" of D&D.  Yest there is still plenty of room for more books especially a Fiend Folio.

Tonight the family explored the temple in Castle Amber.  They might more of the crazy Ambers and manged to get one character turned to stone.  Fortunately for the paladin, the sorcerer still had a wand of negation that could undo one magical effect.  So our paladin was back.

But the dice were cold tonight and we stopped after a couple of hours.  Still, more fun to be had at Castle Amber.

Amazing Adventures: Spider Mutants

Spider scary the crap out of people. Despite the fact that we out-mass a spider by several orders of magnitude I have seen tiny spiders send 200lb+ grown men into paroxysms of fear.
So imagine what giant spiders can do?
How about giant mutant spider?
How about giant mutant spiders mixed with dogs, rats, bats or wolves?

Yeah. That is the recipe for fun.

Mutant Spiders

They could be the result of arcane experiments, mad science gone unchecked or aliens from another world.  In any case a mutant spider spells trouble for the PCs.




Mutant Spider-Dog

NO. ENC: 2-8
SIZE: Medium
HD: 4d8 (16 hp)
MOVE: 40 ft., 20 ft. (climb)
AC: 16
ATTACKS: Bite (1d8)
SPECIAL Poison, Web, Twilight Vision
SANITY: 1d6/1d8
SAVES: P
INT: Animal
ALIGN: Neutral (Evil)
TYPE: Animal (Aberration)
XP: 100 + 5/hp (180)

The Mutant Spider Dog looks like a large spider with the head of a dog.   It's eight legs end in a hook like appendage and gives it a distinct "clicking" sound when in runs.
The Mutant Spider-Dog is a carnivore and it's preferred meal are humans.

Web and Poison as per Large Spider.

Gigantic Mutant Spider
NO. ENC: 1-2
SIZE: Large
HD: 10d8 (40 hp)
MOVE: 20 ft., 10 ft. (climb)
AC: 20
ATTACKS: Bite (1d12)
SPECIAL Poison, Web, Twilight Vision
SANITY: 1d8/1d10
SAVES: P
INT: Animal
ALIGN: Neutral Evil
TYPE: Animal (Aberration)
XP: 1350 + 10/hp (1750)

Giant Mutant Spiders are true monsters.  Often towering 20' or more they can combine the features of a number of different animals with spiders.  Like all mutant spiders the preferred food for these creatures in the warm flesh of humans.

Want to battle these creatures?  Support the Amazing Adventures Kickstarter and you can!

Kickstart Your Weekend

With record numbers of families hitting Gen Con this year this next Kickstarter is not a huge surprise.

The Baby Bestiary by Andreas Walters
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/metalweavedesigns/the-baby-bestiary

Infant and young versions of classic monsters.

This is exactly something my kids would have loved a couple of years ago and it would make a great gift to a younger gamer.

The art so far looks great. They are offering a book, a calendar, desktop wallpapers and post cards.
They have 3 weeks left and are already funded. So check them out.

New Monster: Web Witch

Today is my mom's birthday.

Why should you care?  Well it was my mom that introduced me to the weird world of sci-fi, horror and the macabre.   Her idea of a bedtime story was telling about a haunted schoolhouse where the floors still were stained with the blood of two boys that killed each other in a knife fight.  Or of a man who was so sick of his nagging wife that he chopped her up and buried her in the garden, only to have the flowers grow with her face on them.  She introduced me to Dark Shadows and "documentaries" on Bigfoot and Atlantis.  Though to be fair I think my dad introduced me to the Twilight Zone and I know my love of bad horror movies comes from him.

So here is a creature she had to share with me last week.  It works well for D&D but I think she had more of a pulp feel for this.

Albino Spider by Mooki003

Web Witch

	Human Form	Spider Form
Armor Class:	8 [11]	5 [14]
Hit Dice:	3*+2 (15 hp)	3*+12 (25 hp)
No. of Attacks:	1 poison dagger	1 bite
Damage:	1d6 + Poison	2d6 + Poison
Special:	Magic, see below	Invisibility
Movement:	30'	20' Web 40'
No. Appearing:	1	1
Save As:	Witch 3	Fighter 3
Morale:	8	10
Treasure Type:	Special	Special
Alignment:	Chaotic	Chaotic
XP:	160	185

The web witch is a female humanoid that can also take the form of a huge spider.  Not a lycanthrope, the web witch can shift between forms once per round as often as she likes.  In her human form she appears as a smallish woman (possibly of elf decent) with very pale skin, long white hair and eyes with a reddish tinge.  She will typically wear a long black dress or gown that appears to be made of silk. It is, but her own spider silk.  When in human form she can be mistaken for a vampire.  Despite the ability to use witch magic a web witch cannot form a coven with other web witches. Though it is speculated that she may be able to do so with other witches and/or hags.
In her human form she use magic as a 2nd level witch including the use of magic items usable by a witch.  GMs should pick out which spells the web witch has access to.
In her spider form she appears as a huge white spider with red eyes.  When sitting in her web she can make herself and the web invisible until touched.  The web itself is made up of stick long black strands of spider silk.  The web witch can move about in spider form invisible as per the invisibility spell. She can speak in this form, but not use magic.
A favored tactic of the web witch is to pretend to be a damsel in distress and lead a party of adventures into her maze of webs where she can shift form and feed on them.  She will keep any treasures she can find including magic items, but items such as swords, armor or other weapons she will discard, magical or not.
Once per year a web witch will capture a humanoid male for breeding. Three months later she will lay a clutch of eggs. She injects a different poison into the male to paralyze him and place the clutch in his mouth.  After one month the clutch will hatch and 10-100 (10d10) baby web witches will devour the male from the inside out.  The hungry web witches will then turn on each other til only about dozen survive (2d6). They will reach maturity in one year and transform to their human shape for the first time.

The silk of a web witch is much prized by wizards as a superior ingredient for their web spells. Creatures need to have a Strength of 15 or higher or be 6 HD or higher to break free.
The venom of the web witch is also valued.

There is no known relationship between the web witch and the fabled Queen of Spiders or the Dark Elves.

There are rumors of more powerful web witches that can use even greater witch magic.

"Web Witch" is copyright 2014 Timothy S. Brannan.
All monsters stats and text below is considered OPEN under the guidelines of the OGL.

Yog The Monster from Space

It's 1975.  I am sitting down to a night of hopefully watching a monster movie on KPLR-TV out of St. Louis. Our baby-sitter for me and my younger sister is my older sister Terri and my older brother Pat*.  (It could have been my other older brother Mike.)

Anyway this movie had been advertised all week and I wanted to see it.  I was already watching Dark Shadows at this point and had seen a Godzilla movie.  Saturday came around and I got to watch a little bit of it; till my older sibs turned it off.  I remembered bits and pieces of it for years, but never knew the title.

A couple years back I asked people on Facebook.  All I could really remember was a giant octopus/squid, tentacles that reached out an grabbed people, and it all took place on an island in the South Pacific.  No luck.  I tried searching in back issues of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. No luck. The biggest problem was I didn't remember enough of the movie to give people enough clues to work on.

Well thanks to my friend Dr. Theda at his eponymous Crypt I was able to piece the last bits of it all together.

The movie that has been bugging me for nearly 40 years is "Yog Monster From Space"!

I bought from a less than reputable website which I have to admit I feel a little bad about.

I got it in the mail last night and popped it in to make sure it worked. It did. It is the movie I remembered. The music and the sound effects were the clincher. The DVD looks like a VHS transfer (complete with "tracking" issues!). The cover was run off on someone's ink jet.

But sure enough this was the movie in question.

Yeah. I paid real money for this.

The way I see it I now have piece of mind. I know what the movie was and now I can finish watching it.
I am like Odysseus at the gates of Ithaca. My long search is over.

So of course what do I actually do last night?  Stayed up and watched Pacific Rim again!

Now I need to add more Kaiju to my games.

A to Z of Witches. K

K is for Kiki and Kikimora

Two related witches.

Kiki is from one of my favorite Studio Ghibli movies Kiki's Delivery Service.
Hayao Miyazaki is a master.  He not only knows his witches, but he also knows how to do an animated movie for children that can also appeal to adults.

Kiki is a 13 year old witch who is ready to do her year of training away from home.  Everyone knows witches are real and they are an accepted part of life.  Kiki's mom is the local potions mistress and her father seems to be a normal mundane human.
We got this movie back when my oldest son was still a baby and he loved it. But not at much as me I think.

Kiki's Delivery Service is not about being a witch though, it is about finding out your own strengths and finding out that what is inside you is everything you need to succeed.

I know there are debates between people that prefer one version or the other.  For myself I like the 1998 version with Phil Hartman as Jiji the cat.  Yeah he seems like he is from the same litter as Pokemon's Meowth and Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

There have been rumors of a live action Kiki for years.  I hear about them and then loose track.
Here is the trailer from the newest one.  I am not sure if we will see it in the States or not, but I easily recognize all the scenes.




One thing is sure. The actress playing Kiki looks spot on to me.  That nice mix of youthful excitement and cautious naïveté.

On the other side of the spectrum we have the Kikimora, a female house spirit from Slavic lore.  She looks like a small humanoid chicken (not the first female spirit to be connected to a bird) and will do house work if left alone.  If bothered she will break dishes and keep children up at night.
In other tales she is believed to be more witch like she is also the bringer of nightmares in children.

She shares many similarities with the brownie and leprechaun.

If I were to write this creature up for Pathfinder I would give her 2 or 3 HD and access to one Hex.

Kikimora
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 2d8 (8 hp)**
No. of Attacks: 2 claws
Damage: 1d3, 1d3
Special: Spell-like abilities
Movement: 60’
No. Appearing: 1 per house
Saves As: Witch 3
Morale: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 25

The Kikimora is a house fae distantly related to brownies, sprites and, some say, hags.  The kikimora certainly looks like a small hag creature. It stands 1½' to 2' tall and dresses in the garb of a peasant woman. Her face is brown and wrinkled, giving the impression of actually being a shrunken apple.  Her nose is abnormally long and gives the appearance of a beak.  Her feet when visible are those of a chicken.  She carries a broom with her and sweeps where ever she goes.
The Kikimora is is naturally shy and prefers not to attack. She will attack animals if they bother her and humanoids if cornered.  If ignored she will perform small chores around the house. Sweeping, mending clothes and quieting crying babies at night so parents can sleep.  If a household suspects they have a kikimora they can appease it by leaving out a bowl of warm milk sweetened with honey.  Though other sages claim the best way to keep one is to also leave out strong spirits (such a vodka or brandy) and cigars out on holidays.  The kikimora will sleep in the next day (having drunk all the spirits) but this ensures the family protection and service till the next holiday.
If discovered and acknowledged with anything other than milk she will break dishes, pinch babies in the night and cause nightmares in children by whispering in their ears.
A kikimora will prevent a house from becoming the home to a brownie, boggart, poltergeist or a bloody bones.
A kikimora can also cast spells as if she were a 2nd level witch.



Supernatural AtoZ

Mecha vs. Kaiju

Back when True20 was still new there was a "campaign world" created for it; Mecha vs. Kaiju.  It eventually spun off into a full blown product.

I talked about it more recently when Pacific Rim came out.

Well True20 sadly never got the traction it should have, but there is a new system to fill it's niche, Fate, and new Mecha vs. Kaiju for it.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1171175182/mecha-vs-kaiju-a-sci-fi-anime-rpg-for-fate-core

If it is anything like the True20 it will be ridiculously fun.
Though it looks like to me this not a simple conversion, but a complete rewrite to fit the Fate rules.
If that is the case then this stands to be a really, really fun game.

If it does for Fate what it did for True20 in my mind then this is an easy winner.

I have been dying to do something with Fate and this just might be the thing I need.

Mecha vs. Kaiju True20 Version
The game is set up much like other True20 books.  You have your three archetypes/characters (Adept, Expert, Warrior) and a host of new feats and powers to choose from.  Some are campaign-specific but almost all could be used anywhere else.  In fact there is enough here that the main feature of MvK is readily apparent; you don't have to do games about fighting giant monsters all the time.  Now of course the main plot and thrust of this game is fighting giant monsters, but I can easily see some adventures of exploring monster islands, contests between cocky pilots, mad scientists, children with newly awakened psychic powers.

When I first read this game my thoughts went first to Godzilla, but you can do Akira here as well and any number of other "Neo Tokyo" genres.  Plus it is compatible with a host of True20 books I already have, so adding cyberpunk, horror or even comedy is easy.

If you don't like the campaign background you can leave it, but I think you would be missing out on something really fun if you do.

This might in fact be my favorite True20 setting.

30 Day D&D Challenge, Day 23: Least Favorite Monster Overall

Day 23: Least Favorite Monster Overall

Maybe Drow.  They have been so fetishized and munchkinized over the last couple of decades I feel that they are completely over used.  Not that I couldn't have some fun with them, but I would want to do something very different than anything I have done before.

30 Day D&D Challenge, Day 22: Favorite Monster Overall

Day 22: Favorite Monster Overall

Wow. No idea.  I love using Undead and Demons, Devils and all that.  But for me the best monster to use is one that has a connection to the characters. Someone they can really hate and not just want to defeat but NEED to defeat.  That works for nearly any monster, as long as I work on that connection.

30 Day D&D Challenge, Day 20: Favorite Monster (Humanoid/Natural/Fey)

Day 20: Favorite Monster (Humanoid/Natural/Fey)

Odd choices. I do like fey creatures. It is all the celtic myths and stories I have read over the years as well as A Midsummer's Night Dream.  If I had to pick one I would say Hags. For the obvious reasons to be sure, but also I reclassified Hags in my games to be more faerie like. Yes they are still ugly, mean old crones that will rip out your arms and love to eat children.

One of the hags I "created" for my witch book was the synthesis of these ideas.  The Wood Hag is a new hag type, but all the ideas came from fairy tales of hags, the Wicked Witch archetype and some things I read in "Man and His Symbols" by Carl Jung.

Wood Hag (Makava) Basic Era

Armor Class:	2 [17]
Hit Dice:	8d8+8** (45 hp)
No. of Attacks:	2 claws/1 bite
Damage:	claw 3d6, bite 2d6
Special Attacks:	Witch spells
Special Qualities:	Dark vision 60’, Iron Vulnerability
Movement:	40’
No. Appearing:	1 (90%) Solitary or 3 (10%) Hag Covey
Saves As:	Witch 10
Morale:	9
Treasure:	4d6 CP, 6d8 SP, 8d8 GP, Gems: 50% 1d8, Magic 50% any 1d6, +1 2 potions
Alignment:	Chaotic (evil)
XP:	1,700

Wood Hag (Makava) 3.x
Large Monstrous Humanoid/Fey (Hag)
Hit Dice	8d8+8 (45 hp)
Initiative	+2 (Dex)
Speed	40ft.
AC	17 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural)
Attacks	2 claws +12, bite +12
Damage	claw 3d6, bite 2d6
Face/Reach	5ft. by 5ft/10ft.
Special Attacks	Blood drain, Spells
Special Qualities	Dark Vision 120ft., Fast Healing 5, Iron Vulnerability
Saves	Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +8
Abilities	Str 20, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 9
Skills	Concentration +12, Hide +10, Knowledge (Witchcraft) +9, Listen +8, Spot +8,
Feats	Alertness, Blind-Fighting, Combat Casting, Fear Resistance
Climate/Terrain	Any Forest
Organization	Solitary or Covey (3 hags of any type plus 2-12 trolls)
Challenge Rating	6 or 13 (covey)
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Always Chaotic Evil
Advancement	As witch

The Makva, or the Wood Hag, is a relative of the other Hags and possibly the Night Hag. The Makva makes her home in the deepest forests where she feeds on unsuspecting travelers. She is particularly fond of children. Her normal appearance is very hag-like, tall (7’ tall), green skin with black hair, although some have been spotted with green or red hair. She also has long clawed hands with nails as hard as iron talons. Their mouths are filled with rotting black teeth and foul breath. The Wood Hag can appear as kindly grandmother, or a fetching young wood nymph as she chooses. The wood hag loves nothing more than to temp men of good character into a wanton embrace and then switch back to their normal form before killing them. She is also fond of attacking people as they sleep in the woods.
The wood hag is more solitary than the other Hags. More often than not a wood hag will be found alone. Wood hags often employ trolls to protect their homes and for mutual protection. At any given time there will be 2 to 12 trolls around the wood hag’s home. They will fight for the wood hag, but they are not commanded to do so. They will retreat or flee if the combat goes against them. The wood hag will also ally her self with evil witches and warlocks. They have also been known to consort with demons and vampires as well. Makva do not get along well with Night Hags. Some have theorized that Makva were once part of the Night Hag “society” but were removed for being too chaotic.
Wood Hags have often been confused with witches and many of the tales told to frighten children about witch have been about wood hags. It is almost certain that the tale of Hansel and Gretel could have been about a wood hag (or even the witch Baba Yaga). Makva are believed to live up to 800 years, but this has never been confirmed. They have been known to keep harpies as pets. Wood Hags usually have a grove of Elder trees growing nearby.

Combat
The wood hag is very strong (strength 20) and will attack with her claws and a bite. She is also a competent spellcaster and may use spells from the witch’s spell list.
Spell-Like Abilities: The Makva can also employ the following spell like powers three times per day at will: ray of enfeeblement and magic missile. They can cast an Advanced Illusion four times per day and can use the following powers at will, Know Alignment, Polymorph Self and Sleep. Wood hags are immune to Sleep, Charm, and Hold spells.
Blood drain (Su): The bite of a Wood Hag also drains blood. Any successful bite hit can permanently drain one point of Constitution unless the victim can make a Fortitude save (DC 13). Any character drained to zero will become a wraith haunting the woods around the wood hag. Constitution points can be healed normally.
Vulnerability (Ex):A Makva cannot touch iron and takes extra damage from weapons made of pure or cold forged iron. Weapons made from this material grant an additional +3 to hit and damage per hit.


Section 15: Wood Hag (Makava) Copyright 2013 Timothy S. Brannan

Darwin's Guidebook of creatures, Mythical and Mundane for the Gaslight RPG

So I have been quietly working on this:

Art by Nolan Segrest

Darwin's Guidebook of creatures, Mythical and Mundane for the Gaslight RPG.

It is the first Victorian age monster book I have ever done.

The Gaslight RPG is a late Victorian Age Setting for d20 and Savage Worlds from Battlefield Press.
The Second Edition game will be out soon. along with another book I co-wrote, Dr. Challenger's Guide to the Unknown.  I did a whole bit on the Hollow Earth which was wicked fun.

Darwin's Guide was fun, but a lot harder than expected.
The design goal was easy enough.  Write a monster book with some common monsters, do it for the Victorian age, but write it in the style of Charles Darwin.

Since I am a fan of Darwin I went back to his most popular works, "The Voyage of the Beagle", "On the Origins of Species" and "The Descent of Man".  I also read his autobiography and a couple biographies.
Darwin was an interesting man and soon it became obvious there is no way he would have accepted a world that had magic in it.  He was too rational, too ordered.
Soooo I had to cheat. A lot.

In the end I hope the book is pleasing for Game Masters and players.  I hope that through this book you pick up one of his books.

Not sure when this will hit the shelves.  The publisher is in control of it now.
But expect a lot more from me on it when it comes up.

Reveiw: Castles & Crusades Monsters

I love monsters. I love monster books. My first introduction to AD&D was via the 1st ed Monster Manual and I was instantly hooked.  So these tomes always have a special place in my heart.

Castles & Crusades actually has a number of monster books.  Each has a slightly different focus.
The Castles & Crusades Monster stat block is a nice combination of Basic's simplicity, 1st AD&D's comprehensiveness, and some 3.x style rules.  Saves are simple (Physical, Mental or both), AC is ascending and there is a "Challenge Rating" stat and XP all factored in.  Honestly it really is a synthesis of the best of D&D. Grabbing a monster from another source and converting on the fly really could not be easier.

Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure

This is the main monster and treasure book for C&C.  Here you will find what I call the "classic" monsters from the great Monster Manual.  If you are familiar with 3.x then these are all the monsters from the SRD in C&C's format.  There is plenty of new text here though to make this more than just another SRD-derived book.  Like all the C&C books the art and layout is great.  I have the physical book, the pdf and a printout of the PDF and all read great.

This book though is more than just a monster book, all the treasure and magic items (normally found in a Game Master's book) are here.  This is a nice feature really.  One place to have your encounter information.

This really is a must have book for any C&C fan. 128 pages and full of everything you need.

Castles & Crusades Of Gods & Monsters

A collection of gods and monsters from various myths and legends. It immediately reminds you of the of Deities and Demigods, but it is closer in format to the earlier Gods, Demigods and Heroes.

The myths are well represented, though there are a few oddities. The Greek and Roman myths are separate and the demi-human myths could have been left out, but that being said, the book is top notch.  There is also a section the gods and monsters of the C&C Campaign world of Aihrde.  I am particularily happy about the inclusion of the Celtic myths since that is what I am most likely to use.

I did like all the new spells for clerics of the various gods. That was a good touch. Of course there are also plenty of new magic items.
144 pages.


Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual

A fantastic collection of monsters from the original Fiend Folio, Monster Manual 2 and various publications. All revised to be used in in Castles & Crusades. Not a "must have" book, but certainly a "you will really, really want it and kick yourself if you don't get it" book.


It is a fantastic edition to my C&C collection and I am very glad I bought it.
Actually the more I have it, the more I find myself turning to it.

The nicest feature of this book is the inclusion of a DMG style index of the monster stats from here and from Monsters & Treasure. So now hundreds of monsters are at your finger tips.
If there is ever a "Second Edition" of C&C, I'd like to see this book and Monsters & Treasure combined into one volume.
144 pages.


Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure of Aihrde

At first I was not going to get this book.  I had all three of the other monster books and this one seemed a bit redundant.  But this one had something the others didn't; Demons and Devils.  I don't want to say that this is the only reason I got it, but they were conspicuously absent from all the other books.
Of course this book has more, a lot more, than just that.

I did enjoy all the new dragons and like it's "parent" book, this book has a bunch of new treasure.
Some of the monsters are world specific, but nothing that can't be worked around. In truth most of these monsters are all brand new to me and that is worth the price of the book alone.  Even most of the demons, devils and dragons are new.  Likewise for the treasure.
176 pages.

May Monster Maddness: Monster Books

Monster Books

I can't beleive I almost forgot this today.  It is still Thursday where I am sitting.

So I am presently working three books with monsters.

Eldritch Witchery, which you all know about which includes all the demons and devils I have been talking about since February for the Spellcraft & Swordplay game.

Here There Be Dragons, is the book I am working on with my son.  It has all sorts of dragons, dragon like creatures and some new classes for Advanced Era Old School Games or OSRIC.

Lastly, and the one that I have been working on the most, is Darwin's Guide to Creatures.  It is for the Gaslight game, so both d20 (3.x era) and Savage Worlds.

Each one has a different focus, different feel and almost no overlap between the books.  I think there is one creature in both the Darwin's Guide and EW, but they are presented very differently.

So all in all I figure over the last 3 months I have written the stats and or backgrounds for some 400+ monsters.  I am getting a touch burned out by them to be honest!  But hey, you do what you can and I hope that all those years of reading monster books and my public library as a kid will now pay off.



Enjoy this? Please check out the other monster posts today!

May Monster Maddness: Dracula

Dracula is an old favorite here at The Other Side.
I have seen just about every movie featuring the Count, read scores of books about him and I was even in the play back in High School.

So it is with some excitement and trepidation that I report on the new series coming to NBC.

The trailer looks interesting and I am glad it is set in the Victorian Era rather than modern times.



The trailer looks good, and it seems to be a retelling of the Dracula novel and/or play.  There is a character named "Browning" in the cast that I am sure is a nod to Todd Browning.

It stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers from The Tudors as Dracula, so that is a good start.
Sure he is a bit young looking, but that is not a big deal.
I see they are going with the "immortal love" angle from recent movies though.  Not fond of that idea BUT it does give Drac a reason not to kill Mina right away and prolong a series.

I would have preferred to see to see this on Showtime or HBO, but hey at least we are getting something right?

I am looking forward to this.  Should be on the air about the same time True Blood takes their season finale.

Enjoy this? Please check out the other monster posts today!

Monsters: Demon vs. Dæmon and Daimôn

In many RPGs the words "demon" and "dæmon" often lumped together into the same group or groups of creatures.  This reflects a Judeo-Christian bias in popular thought that a "demon" has to be an evil, malign creature.  This was not always the case with dæmon.  in the ancient Greek tradition these creatures were something more along the lines of creative, benevolent spirits.

The dæmon is most famous to AD&D players as being the Neutral Evil race found between the Abyss, home of the Demons and Hell, home of the devils from Monster Manual II.  I liked the idea of more variety to the fiends but thought about these guys in terms of what a normal human would think of them.  That is how does one say "demon" vs. "dæmon"?  That was the start of my disappointment in them as a D&D monster type.  They would later change the name Yugoloth, the only time I felt the 2nd ed name changes were an improvement.

Other games have taken the concept the other direction and made the "demon" more like the classical "dæmon" and had the name mean anything that came from somewhere else.  Also not preferable really.

I had forgotten about all of this until recently when I started working on demons for Eldritch Witchery.

Dæmons seem to be much creative, if chaotic types.  Somewhat like what Deborah Harkness has in her books, A Discovery of Witches.  But in truth her Dæmons feel more like Fae or Changelings to me.  Moving mine more to the "outsider" type I get a race that is very chaotic, but not really evil.  In a sense what Jim Butcher has done with the Fae  in the Dresden Files and maybe a little of what Kim Harrison has done (or is doing) with Demons (the ancient enemy of the fae) in her Rachel Morgan books.
More to the point I have a race I can swap with Slaadi.

Slaad began their life in the pages of the Fiend Folio as inhabitants of the Chaotic Limbo.  Trouble with the Slaad were that know one played them Chaotic Neutral. They always ended up as Chaotic Evil.  Plus Slaad are not open and are not found in the SRD.  Dæmon's though are chaotic, can be good or evil and somehow in my mind fit the idea of a creature living between the Chaotic Good fae (and planes of Olympus in the old D&D cosmology) and the chaotic evil demons living in the Abyss.

I have not detailed many dæmons yet except for a Personal Dæmon, which is a bit like a familiar dialed up to 11.  Given that they need more conceptual work I am not expecting dæmons to appear in Eldritch Witchery.  But do expect the monsters-formerly-known-as-daemons-or-yugoloths to appear as a demon type.  Too bad I can't use Slaad, but hey.

And just to make matters more confusing I think the ruling class of dæmons are known as daimôns.

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