Favorite game system? Well, I have two, but they are related.
NIGHT SHIFT with O.G.R.E.S. and WitchCraft with Unisystem are not just my two favorite games but also my favorite game systems to use.
Both let me play my favorite sort of game; a modern urban supernatural horror one, but they are both systems I like and have written for professionally.
NIGHT SHIFT is largely a love letter to both Old-school D&D and to WitchCraft.
I love them both.
Room 18 is a corridor leading down and away from Room 17. As the party walks down and on the corridor is filled with dark stagnant water.
The water reaches about 2 to 2½ feet deep.
Creatures can be felt brushing up against the legs of the party, but none are easily seen, and none can be caught.
The corridor is about 25 feet long and opens up into Room 19.
Well, I want to give a shout-out to the Italian blog Castelli & Chimere (Castles & Chimeras) for reminding me about it today and that the Basic Set (Caja Roja, "Red Box") was free.
You can get yours free here as well.
This game is a Spanish language version/edition of the great BECMI Red Box Basic using Labyrinth Lord as a base. Though it has far more style than just a simple clone.
It was translated back into English as Adventures in the East Mark - Basic Rule Set (Red Box), and it is also great, but the original has such a cool vibe and feel to it.
The site that supports the game, Codex de la Marca, has an absolute ton of free material. Enough to keep me busy reading for months on end.
The official site even has some material, including a Castles & Crusades SIEGE Engine version of the same rules.
In addition to the Red Box, there is a Blue Box (Expert), Green Box ("Advanced" or Companion/Masters), and a Black Box (Masters/Immortals). Each also includes a campaign guide for the East March campaign setting. I really wish I could find physical copies of all these sets, they would be a lot of fun.
Libro de Brujas?
Does this mean I'll do a "Libro de brujas" (Book of Witches) sometime in the future? I am going to have to say yes. It would make for a great "final project" for a Spanish class and really test me on what I think I know. I have also been reading a lot about Basque and other Iberian peninsula area witches of late so it would be fun to try,
To keep with the same spirit of all the Aventuras en la Marca del Este releases, I would have to make it free. Maybe keep it to a tight 32 or fewer pages.
This idea is still very far away. I need to survive verb conjugation first!
In the mean time I'll keep brushing up on my skills (such as they are) and having some fun and joy of learning something new.
Part two of Favourite Con MODULE / ONE-SHOT is also my FUNNIEST game you've played.
This one I was at Gen Con a few years back. The adventure was a Buffy/Charmed/Supernatural crossover using the Buffy RPG rules. So naturally, I had to play. Sam and Dean were grabbed quickly, and there was no way in hell I was playing Xander. But that was all fine, the character I really wanted was Piper from Charmed.
I had an absolute blast. Piper was, at the time, the snarkiest of all the sisters. So playing her was great. Ended up with the most Drama Points at the end of the game. In the course of the game, I burned through about 5 drama points, but I also had earned 6 for role-playing. Of course, having seen every Charmed episode gave me an advantage. I wish I had remembered the GMs/Director's name because I would have easily gone to one of her other games.
I still have my Piper character sheet here somewhere, and it was really fun. The GM even had taken out the Buffy logo and put the Charmed one in its place.
We all spent our whole time laughing.
Beyond the secret door in room 14 takes the party to room 17. A small passage leads to a large open chamber. A loud droning sound can be heard from all over.
Inside this room are two large Fly Demons.
Fly Demon
Armor Class: 1 [18]
Hit Dice: 8+8**** (44 hp)
Attacks: 4 claws (1d4+1x2), 1 bite (1d8) + disease
Special: Diseased bite, demonic abilities, fear, detect invisible, darkness, drone
THAC0: 12 [+7]
Movement: 90' (30')
Fly: 240' (80')
Saving Throws: D8 W9 P10 B11 S12 SS 8 (8)
Morale: 8
Alignment: Chaotic evil
XP: 2,608 (OSE) 2,000 (S&W) 3,040 (LL)
Number Appearing: 1d3 (1d6)
Treasure Type: B
Fly demons are known by a variety of names, and they may all be different species or sub-species of demons, but they all have similar characteristics if different overall appearances. All fly demons appear to be a horrid combination of humanoid and fly. Some smaller species are only 4' long, while larger ones are up to 7'. They have large insect-like wings, humanoid heads, and faces, with large multi-faceted eyes. Their bodies are like that of an insect with six limbs. Each limb ends in a horrid-looking claw.
These demons attack with their four forelimbs. Their back limbs are often used as humanoid legs. Each claw can do 1d4+1 hp of damage. Their bite, though, causes 1d8 points of damage and transmits a horrible wasting disease where the wound continues to eat away at the body converting it to dead flesh. A saving throw vs. Paralysis must be made. If successful, the victim takes an additional 1d8 of acid damage. On a fail, the disease progresses and does 1d8 hp of damage per hour until removed by a Cure Disease or Heal spell. When is victim reaches 0 hp, they will be eaten by any fly demon remaining.
Fly demons also have the following powers, usable once per day. They can cast an aura of fear in a 30' radius, detect invisible, and cast a sphere of darkness 10' radius. Their favorite tactic is to cast their fear aura and, when a victim gets closer, invoke their sphere of darkness. The fly demon can also cast the Drone spell three times per day. These demons take only half damage from electricity, cold, fire, and poison gas. Holy water will do 1d8 hp of damage to them.
All fly demons, regardless of their origin, sub-species, or even alignment, are controlled by the devil Beelzebub, the "Lord of the Flies." They will instantly obey his summons and will carry his orders even unto their own deaths. When Beelzebub is present, their morale is effectively 12.
Fly demons can speak telepathically but also do so with their insect-like mouths. Their voices drone and buzz like that of an insect. Warlocks of Beelzebub are often visited by flies of all sorts, including fly demons. The demons are instructed not to harm the warlocks in Beelzebub's pact, but they see all humanoids as nothing more than potential meat.
I have been pretty lucky, I lived in an area where my access to RPGs was rather fantastic. Even when I moved my access really only got better. So there are not a lot of RPGs I actually need anymore. Sure some I want, others I might like to have, but for the most part I am good. But there is one I would really love to have.
The UK printing of the Holmes Edition of D&D Basic.
I was such an Anglophile that I always felt that anything British made it better. Sure I since matured a bit in my thoughts, but I still love a British print.
Of course, I am not the only one here. This set has been discussed at Zenopus Archives, the Acaeum, and Dragonsfoot. I know I'll have to get in line behind a lot of people for one of these.
Still. It would be a nice piece for my collection.
Beyond the webbing leads to another small room.
This room is small. There is some evidence that this could have been a treasure room, with a handful of coins here and there.
There is a large puddle of green slime in the middle of the room and dripping from the ceiling.
This slime is larger and has 6 HD (27 hp), THAC0 13 [+6]. It is also quite hungry.
There are no other monsters or treasures here. The room is also a dead end.
My favorite Con Module or One Shot? Well, there are two, but that one I'll save for later this week.
The first one was when I ran Ghosts of Albion: Blight at ENWorld's Chicago Game Day at Games Plus a few years ago. I had a player who was WAY into his role-playing the ghost of Lord Byron. He really made the adventure come alive for everyone.
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| I am a lot grayer but also a LOT thinner now. |
We all really had a great time, and I loved how well the adventure came together and how much fun everyone seemed to have had.
Thinking about this makes me realize how much I miss playing Ghosts of Albion and Victorian Era games.
Going back to Room 2 and taking the las passage the party reaches a shorter but wider chamber. This room is also covered in spider webs.
(skipping the secret door for now)
There is a pit trap in the center of the room, 5 ft in. It can be detected. The first characters stepping into will be affected. The fall is 10 ft causing 1d6 hp of damage.
Characters trapped in the pit will need aid getting out. There are two bodies down here that have decayed to skeletons. They have a total of 45 gp on them, a sword, a mace, crumpled armor, and a dagger.
There are no other treasures of creatures here.
I thought today's post would be an excellent follow-up to this morning's RPGaDay post and last week's Gargantua post.
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| Leviathan, ready to consume a world. |
I have been thinking a lot about demons and how I want to use them in my various old-school games, which at the moment are OSE-B/X and NIGHT SHIFT. So naturally, I was going to get to one of my biggest big bads, Leviathan, since he has a history in my D&D games and my modern supernatural horror games.
It began really around 1986-1987 when my high school DM and I were gearing up for our world ending campaign we were calling "The War of Dragons" and sometimes just "The Dragon Wars." For this I did a lot of research, or what I could do in the various books on mythology at our local library, on the end of the world myths. So I read a lot about Ragnarök, Revelations, and other myths. Many had a common theme or thread of a great monster coming to Earth to destroy it only to be stopped by the forces of good. I also thought this was a good thing to do with our game. Tiamat was the obvious choice, so in my youthful hubris, I rejected that.
Later on, as things in the real world changed (most obviously, I could still get some games in over college breaks), we expanded some ideas. My "big bad" became more demonic/hellish as I began to "incorporate" (aka steal) ideas from the Hellraiser movies. This is where Leviathan enters into the picture. While up to this point, the big bad was only known as "the Beast of the Apocalypse," Leviathan gave me a name.
Years later, I would revisit the Dragon Wars and make it a bit of history for my WitchCraft/Buffy RPG epic "The Dragon and the Phoenix." One of my AD&D characters, Raven Ebonflame (named for Raven Swordmistress of Chaos, whose books I had not read yet.) Raven (my Raven) was, for practical purposes, a Vampire Slayer. I would make here one in name for my Buffy RPG and have her final battle with Yoln (the Hand of Leviathan) and Leviathan, the catalyst for this new game.
While I was more than happy to let Raven and Yoln rest. Leviathan kept coming back to me. Demanding something be done. I re-introduced him as an Eodemon and later put up some stats for him that I was never 100% happy with. Today is my day to revisit these.
Leviathan
Gargantuan Dragon (Evil, Eodemon)
Str: 23 (+5) Dex: 18 (+3) Con: 23 (+5) Int: 20 (+4) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 18 (+3)
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| Tiâmat and Leviathan |
This demonic monster appears to have the worst features of hydras, dragons, and sea monsters, all with demonic qualities mixed in. Leviathan often appears to have the body of a giant sea creature with webbed limbs ending in wicked-looking claws. A long tail is used for swimming, and anywhere between five and seven heads (accounts differ). Each head has a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth and appears to be some combination of dragons but no particular dragon (i.e. there is not a "red dragon" head).
This monster is believed to be the oldest of all the Eodemons. Leviathan is so ancient that even other demons seem in awe of “his” age and power. It is assumed that it is a "he," though there is no evidence to suggest either way. Leviathan exists only for one purpose; to feed. Leviathan is drawn to worlds with strong magic and powerful magic users. Here he spends his time in the deepest parts of the oceans of these worlds, where he begins to feed. After devouring 800,000 levels/hd of magical life, Leviathan will be strong enough to destroy the entire world. From there, he moves to a new world where he rests before starting the cycle anew.
In physical form, which many believe is only a material projection of Leviathan's true form in the Astral plane, attacks with its five heads. The heads vary in color and shape from encounter to encounter due to the chaos this monster is birthed from. The heads have the following powers. Charm: The first head's breath weapon is one of charm and domination. All creatures within a 120' long cone (60' wide at the end of the range) are Dominated. Creatures below 6 HD/Level have no save. Creatures from 6 HD/levels to 9 HD /Levels save at -2. A failed save means the affected creatures follow Levithan even to their deaths. Only a Wish or similar magic can reverse this. Plague: This head belches forth a gout of flying insects that consume as per the Creeping Doom spell. The cloud is 50' in radius. Leviathan is immune to these attacks. Famine: This cone-shaped breath weapon causes hunger and thirst among any who fail their save. Victims permanently lose 2d8 hp and 2 points of Constitution. Only a Wish can reverse these effects. War: This head belches forth a gout of burning blood that sticks to skin and burns. It does 6d8 hp of damage (save for half) to everyone in the affected area, a line 120' long and 5' wide. Death: The last head always appears to be a rotting, corpse-like head of a dragon. The head's breath weapon is a cloud 60' in radius where victims have to save vs. Death or die. Two other heads are rumored to appear when Leviathan is at his greatest power, but their powers are unknown, save they can speak in melodious voices. Regardless of function, each head can bite for 3d8 hp of damage.
Additionally, Leviathan has the following powers. Capsize: Due to his large size, he can capsize any water-based craft on a successful roll to hit. Swallow whole: Any critical hit roll of a natural 20 by a head will result in a swallow whole. Digestive acid: The acid in Leviath's many stomachs is so strong that once swallowed whole, the victim will take 4d8 hp of damage per round. Dominate and summon water-borne creatures: While in an ocean or sea, Leviathan can summon and control any water-based creature. Intelligent humanoid creatures like sea elves or tritons are allowed a saving throw. Leviathan's hide is so thick that +3 or better weapon to hit. He also has immunity to fire, electricity, and poison, magic resistance (100%), and telepathy 100 ft. He speaks the languages of demons, devils, and of the primordial gods.
Leviathan is an Eodemon, the oldest of all demonic beings. Some occult scholars claim he is the first consort to Tiamat but has since left her due to how envious he was of her power. Despite his appearance, he is not worshiped or honored by dragons.
Leviathan as a Patron: Powerful Warlocks that share Leviathan's desire for the destruction of magic and the world can become his Exarchs. The Hand of Leviathan and the Voice of Leviathan are his heralds. The Hand appears first to destroy and sacrifice powerful spell casters. The Voice proclaims the return of their lord and opens the gate to allow Leviathan to swallow the world whole. Killing these heralds does not stop the coming of Leviathan, but it does slow him down. When Leviathan destroys a world, these exarchs and his warlocks are destroyed with it.
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I am pretty happy with this. I might need to tweak the bite damage a bit.
Links
There have been a few to be honest. But my most memorable was the purchase of the Mage Knight Apocalypse Dragon back at Gen Con 2011.
Shown here after I got it home with the Aspect of Tiamat and Orcus. AoT takes up 3x3 squares, Orcus 4x4. The Apocalypse Dragon takes up 7x7.
This beast was originally going to be Tiamat in my games. But later on WotC would release their own monstrous Tiamat.
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| Tiâmat and Leviathan |
What about that Apocalypse Dragon? I still want to get my money's worth out of him. So he has been redubbed as Leviathan. Fitting, given the history my games have had with him. I will need to revisit my stats for him, though.
This gives me a chance to use both dragons.
Gen Con 2011 was also the same year I picked up all of the Mayfair Demons sets for AD&D 2nd Edition. I might need to go back to those and see if they had a Leviathan write-up. Might be fun.
I also should adopt as much as possible from the Mage Knight rules.
The room beyond is dark and filled with spiderwebs.
There is no treasure or monsters in this room. There is, however, a secret door to Room 17.
I tell this story a lot, but it is a great story.
I have played exactly 1 ninja my entire gaming life. His name was (horrible I know) Oko-nishi. My lame attempts at a Japanese-sounding name. In my defense at what I knew was bad I made him a half-orc. It must have been around this time I made him using the AD&D 1st Ed Oriental Adventure rules.
My then DM and I had worked up a D&D combat simulator (we called it BARD), and we plugged him in with 9 other characters. He was attacked by a Black Dragon (or Red, I can't recall) and killed. The dragon kept attacking him and only him. We had not worked out all the errors. In the end, he had been reduced to something like -70 hp. My DM offered to let him be ok or keep him dead.
We enjoyed watching it so much and getting the mental image of this stupid dragon jumping up and down on my dead ninja that I felt it was a waste to say it never happened.
I never played a ninja or a half-orc again.
Beyond the spider webs, there is a hidden but not difficult to find. Especially considering this series of rooms is much like the previous three.
Inside this room sitting on a pile of rocks and surrounded by spiders is the rare and ancient Aš ("Ash") demon.
Aš Demon
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Hit Dice: 8+8 (44 hp)
Attacks: 2 claws (1d6+4x2), 1 bite (1d8+4) + poison
Special: Poison, immune to fire, webs, gate demon, petrify gaze
THAC0: 12 [+7]
Movement: 150' (50')
Saving Throws: D8 W9 P10 B11 S12 SS 8 (8)
Morale: 11
Alignment: Chaotic evil
XP: 3,258
Number Appearing: 1 (1d3)
Treasure Type: B
Poison: Any creature that is bitten by the Aš must make a successful saving throw versus poison or be poisoned for 2d4+2 turns. The poison causes the victim's blood to burn from the inside. During the duration, the victim suffers from burning pain to the point where they cannot perform any actions. A remove poison counteracts this.
Immunity to Fire: The Aš is immune to fire.
Gate Demon: The Aš can gate (25% probability of success) another Aš or 1d6 fiendish spiders.
Petrify Gaze: The Aš has the ability to petrify any creature that meets its gaze. Any creature that looks directly into the Aš's eyes must make a successful saving throw versus petrification or be paralyzed until a remove paralysis spell can be used.
Many of my games are old. Most of them really. But the one I keep going back to time and time again is the B/X version of Dungeons & Dragons.
Both the Basic Set and the Expert Set were my literal Gateways to Adventure.
I also have a few different copies of remixes I have done. Various combinations and redits.
It is still one of my favorite games.
Again, going back to room 2 and moving to the next hallway.
This room is similar to the other three rooms off of this central chamber. It is long and a little wide.
Coming down from the top of this room are five large Fiendish Spiders.
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Hit Dice: 6* (27hp)
Attacks: 2 claws (1d4 x2), 1 bite (1d8 + poison)
Special: Poison, immune to fire
THAC0: 14 [+5]
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Web: 180' (60)
Saving Throws: D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 SS 11 (6)
Morale: 8
Alignment: Chaos
XP: 561
Number Appearing 1d4 (1d6)
Treasure Type U
Poison: Save vs poison or dance for or suffer "demon fever" for 2d4+2 turns. Fever, unable to focus (attack or cast spells)
Immune to fire: Fiendish spiders are immune to fire.
They drop down to attack. Their treasure can be found bound up in their webs.
