This room is down the hall and to the left.
Inside this room is a Lesser Iron Golem. It is like an iron golem in all respects, but only has 4HD and it does 1d8+1 points of damage per hit.
It instructed to attack, the problem was it attacks everyone even its makers. So they left it here.
There is double treasure type E scattered about the floor of this room.
Once again, I am participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, but this year I wanted to do something a little different than more normal witch or monster-related postings.
This year is the 60th Anniversary of my favorite sci-fi show of all time, Doctor Who!
I thought it would be fun to celebrate all things Doctor Who next month.
Not 100% sure what I'll talk about, but I know I have plenty to work with.
Continuing down the hallway there is another cell on the right (where the ghosts seemed to have been running too).
This room also has two more Wraiths. They appear to be two adventurers in the process of looting a corpse. The corpse is now only old bones.
The wraiths will break their loop and attack the characters.
The skeleton has a rusted sword, tattered clothes, and a dagger in its back. There is a bag with 15 gp in it.
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the GoFundMe page for the funeral expenses of Jonathan Thompson.
Pinnacle Entertainment has now set up a bundle on DriveThruRPG to help aid in more of his family's expenses.
Jonathan M. Thompson Memorial [BUNDLE]
(not an affiliate link)
This bundle has close to 150 titles valued at $644.54, all yours for $25.
There is a wide variety here too. Old-school OSR, lots of Savage Worlds, even some Chivalry & Sorcery. Or, in other words, a lot of Jonathan's favorite games.
So please pick this up. Lots of great titles, and the proceeds go to help a grieving family.
Continuing down the hallway, you see two figures leaving the cell on the left.
The figures are two Wraiths and they are leaving the cell, as they have done 1000 times since they died. They are vaguely humanoid. One appears to be a male fighter and the other a female wizard or cleric.
When they spot the PCs they will attack.
There is a small hoard of treasure in Cell #14. Items from previous victims. They used to be adventurers themselves but are now dead.
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| Not the art I will use for Lilith, but it is cool. |
One of the goals for all my Basic Bestaries is to provide players of whatever version of the Great Game they are playing (pre-2000) and their clones a useful and complete stat block for their games. Another goal was to add what I felt were the best options for new school (post-2000) play. Generally speaking this has worked out well enough with a few extra notes added. But I have come to place where things have gotten messy. That is, how should I denote XP gained.
There are minor differences between all the various clones and even in the versions of D&D itself on how XP should be calculated and/or displayed for defeating a monster.
Let's take an example, the Aglæca from a previous Monstrous Mondays.
Here is the stat block.
Aglæca
Large Humanoid
Frequency: Very Rare
Number Appearing: 1 (1)
Alignment: Chaotic [Chaotic Evil]
Movement: 180' (60') [18"]
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 8d8**+16 (52 hp)
HD (Large): 8d10**+16 (60 hp)
Attacks: claw, claw, bite
Damage: 1d6+4 x2, 1d8+4
Special: Cause fear, magic required to hit, regenerate 1 hp per round, infravision, sunlight sensitivity.
Size: Large
Save: Monster 8
Morale: 12 (12)
Treasure Hoard Class: XIX [D] x2
XP: 1,750 (OSE) 1,840 (LL)
Ok, a few things first. Items in RED are AD&D/OSRIC and some Swords & Wizardry add-ons to what would be a Basic D&D stat block. Items in GREEN are "new school" add-ons like ascending AC and the XP values for OSE and Labyrinth Lord. I also want to point out one other item I have discussed in the past using different die types for size categories. This is something from D&D 5 (and in the SRD). Not only does it make sense, it also replicates something I was doing in AD&D 1 anyway (though I only used d6, d8, and d10). It helps solve a lot of issues with hp spread and size.
But...there is a consequence of this.
So my issue recently has been one of XP calculation. I want a book that can be used by players of AD&D and Basic D&D, as well as OSE, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, OSRIC, and Basic Fantasy. The trouble is they don't all line up with XP point calculations. And more to the point even something like my Aglæca here is a Large creature, so it's hp, and thus it's XP value, will be greater in AD&D and OSRIC than they would by the book.
What should I do about this?
Solution 1: List Them All
I did this above with just OSE and LL above. It is comprehensive but unwieldy.
S&W CL: 10 / XP: 1400
OSE: 1750
LL: 1840
BF: 1015
B/X: 1250
OSRIC: 1150
Advanced: 1150
The OSRIC and Advanced could be collapsed into one (and should). My d10-based hp calculations do make some of these a little different.
This works, but like I said, it is unwieldy.
Solution 2: The Point Spread
In truth DMs/GMs always tweak their numbers. So why not a point spread? Something like this:
Min: 1015
Mean: 1365
Median: 1250
Max: 1840
Smaller. And provides a nice spread without going into details for each system (though the calculations are from all the systems).
Of course, when I publish, the B/X and Advanced numbers have to be removed.
I am also considering a median value or even a weighted mean. And despite my desire to do so, I doubt I'll add anything like a standard deviation. (ETA: I added the Median)
Solution 3: The Big Table
I could provide a huge table in the end with all the monster and all their XP calcs.
It wouldn't be that difficult since that is already what I have.
It will likely be some combination of "all the above."
Next task. Reorganize the stat-block for easier reading.
Taking the Right-hand turn in the chamber, you move about 20' in, and another cell is on your right.
This cell is large and empty save for the glowing light coming from it.
Standing in the light for a full turn will heal 1 hp of damage. Characters can be healed for a total of 1d6+1 hp in this manner.
