The hallway leads to another room. There is an opening on the right and one to the left.
In this room are 3 Giant Pythons.
How they got here is anyone's guess, but they attack the party as soon as they enter. They do not have any treasure.
The opening to the right leads back to Room #12. The opening to the left leads on to the rest of the level.
--
Today's monster comes to you because I needed to reinstall Python 3.11.2 on my computer for work.
A late entry today; really busy at work.
My Last Sunrise 2 - Women of Horror - 28mm Minis for TTRPG
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/badsquiddogames/my-last-sunrise-2?ref=theotherside
I like these minis, they have a really cool Hammer Horror vibe to them.
So much great stuff here I can't decide what level to pledge at!
I should at least get a Vampire Queen right.
Further down the hall there is a cell to your left.
This cell is filled with a thick green haze/mist. Visibility, including dark vision and infravision, is reduced to 1 foot.
After 1 round the mist will start to poison the PCs. They must make a saving throw vs. Poison or be rendered unconscious. Any unconscious PC will loose 1 point of Con every turn until they are taken out of the mist. Any character reduced to 0 Con dies. An unconscious character will revive in 1 turn and be back at normal Con with 1 hour of rest per Con lost.
I the character makes the save, their Con loss is 1 point per hour. These characters will regain Con at the rate of 1 point every 30 mins of rest.
There are three skeletal remains from previous victims here. They have 200 gp, 300 sp, 55 cp, five gems of 5 gp each, and a dagger +1.
Continuing through the door of Room #23, the hallway continues there is a cell on your immediate right.
Inside this room are three (3) large Giant Crab Spiders. They have maximum hp. Their bite has poison as per the B/X rules.
There is a glow coming from a portal 10' from the ground. If the PCs stay in this room for longer than 1 hour three more crab spiders will appear.
--
Another dip into my Monster and Treasure Assortment tonight!
I have a little project going on, and it would be nice to make a formal introduction to the NIGHT SHIFT Veterans of the Supernatural Wars Role-Playing Game.
What is NIGHT SHIFT Veterans of the Supernatural Wars?
NIGHT SHIFT Veterans of the Supernatural Wars is a modern urban fantasy role-playing game with horror roots but with multi-genre elements as well. It is designed to be played the way you want, from light and fast to gritty and complex. It also features of examples of play thanks to our various Night Worlds. So you can be a student in Chicago's only school for Magical Youths and partake in various magic-fueled hijinks, all the way to a post-apocalyptic Earth where the forces of Good and Evil battle it out in the skies above and the streets below. Or to play a supernatural creature that just wants to live and get by in a world full of humans trying to hunt them down.
Play it silly, straight, dangerous or just fun, NIGHT SHIFT can do it.
Wait. What is a Role-Playing Game?
Role-playing games have a LONG history. But the modern role-playing game (RPG) began, roughly, in 1974 with the publication of the Dungeons & Dragons rules. You can read more about what a role-playing game is in this excerpt from the NIGHT SHIFT core rules book.
NIGHT SHIFT Veterans of the Supernatural Wars is self-contained. Meaning every rule you need to play is found in the covers of the core book. You will need dice (available nearly everywhere now), some paper, some pencils, but most of all some good friends to play with. No computers, no phones, and if your internet goes down, you can still play!
What Can I do With NIGHT SHIFT VSW?
Anything you want! As a multi-genre game NIGHT SHIFT VSW is open to all sorts of situations and ways to play. Have a favorite TV show, movie, or book series? NIGHT SHIFT VSW with its varying degrees of play difficulty (Cinematic, Normal, and Gritty) allows the players to set the tone of the game.
Players take on the roles of various characters of their own creations. It's the game of Chosen Ones, Survivors, Witches, and Something Weird. YOU decide what you want to play and how to do it.
NIGHT SHIFT is an urban fantasy, horror, and dark modern supernatural game that uses a brand new system of old-school mechanics inspired by and derived from the original, basic, expert, and advanced versions of the World's Most Famous Role Playing Game. It allows you to mimic all the tropes of just about any film, TV series, or novel you like.
All of the following are possible with NIGHT SHIFT VSW:
What is Old-School Play?
Old-school play in RPGs refers to a style of play that emphasizes fewer rules and more freedom to play. This is why NIGHT SHIFT VSW is complete as a single book. Players familiar with new RPGs can still do all the same things they had done before or want to do, now it just depends on how they all want to do it. It is more about how you play with each other rather than how you play with the rules.
But if you want more details here is co-Author and lead designer Jason Vey on what Old-School play means for NIGHT SHIFT VSW over on his blog for Elf Lair Games.
Sounds Great! How Do I Get Started?
Well, start with some friends who all want to play. One person (maybe you!) will be the Game Master or the one that builds the adventures that everyone goes on. They are like the writer, director, and producer of a movie or TV show. As everyone gets more familiar with the rules you switch off Game Master roles so everyone has a chance to build your new world. Unlike watching a movie or reading a book, everyone playing gets to decide what is happening in the world.
You can certainly buy the NIGHT SHIFT VSW core rules and supplements. But in the meantime here are free resources to get you started right now.
Not to mention all the free NIGHT SHIFT content found on the authors' personal blogs and websites.
If you are a fan of physical books you can get NIGHT SHIFT VSW directly from the publisher or if PDFs are your thing you can buy NIGHT SHIFT VSW from DriveThruRPG.
We hope to see you on the NIGHT SHIFT!
Returning to Room #20, the characters can now go to the right (previously left).
This hallway leads to a closed door. The door is not locked. Inside is a circular chamber. There is a door just like the one the PCs entered on the other side.
On the walls above the characters are 2 Gargoyles. As soon as the PCs are all in the room, they will swoop down and attack.
Behind a loose stone near their roosts is their treasure hoard. There is C x2 treasure, as well as an additional 1,000 gp in assorted gems.
Everyone knows I love horror. I watch more than I can ever review here to be honest and don't always talk about the ones I enjoy.
Case in point I rather love "American Mary." It is so twisted, and really Katharine Isabelle (the star as Mary) is just so great to watch in everything she is in.
But the real stars of the movie are the directors (and occasional actresses) Jen and Sylvia Soska, aka the Soska Sisters, aka the Twisted Twins.
They were having a special on their Etsy webstore before closing it down for a bit and I knew I needed something.
Well, I got it over the weekend, and I am pretty happy.
I mean really? "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" "Blessed Be!!" "Wanna Join our Coven?"
How could I possibly say no!
Yeah sorry for the glare, but I wanted to get them into frames before I scratched them.
They would also make great "live-action" stand-ins for my two blood witches Kimbra & Kelleigh.
Now I need to find a place on my game room walls to hang them. Though knowing the Soskas they would want me to hang these with a meat hook!
Going straight takes the characters to a large room with wooden doors. There is an eerie glow from the inside of the room.
This is a storage chamber for various items needed to keep and feed the monsters here. All the food is long gone, but there are a few normal weapons here as well as the following magical ones.
A sword +1 / +2 vs Lycanthropes.
A gem of light (casts light 3 times per day) This is causing the glow.
A shield +2
A dagger +1
A mace +1 / +2 vs Undead
Finding these items is worth 1,500 xp total.
This room is a dead end.
Did quite a bit of work on my Basic Bestiaries last week. Mostly edits and some large-scale moving around of content. I am close to publishing yet, though I have more art for BB1.
Here is where I am on content.
So, nearly 600 monsters are complete, and nearly 1,000 total started in one form or another.
A couple of things.
Basic Bestiary I has shrunk while Basic Bestiary III has grown. I moved over about 20-25 creatures from I to III since they fit better.
Also, you might notice Basic Bestiary IV, aka Dragons. I have talked about it, but not much. Mostly because I kept it closer to my chest, but really because so little of it was done.
This project grew out of something my oldest had been working on for a while, a book about dragons we were calling "Here There Be Dragons." It has been an on-again, off-again project for a while (ok 11 years) but I was leaving it in the hands of a then 11-year-old to work on. We resurrected it a while back and I have been slowly converting material from it to my Basic Bestiary format. But that is not all, I also want to come up with a good monster stat block that will really take advantage of how awesome (in all senses of the word) dragons are. I experimented with this one, but it is not 100% where I want it to be yet.
I love the idea of Dragons getting their own book. I mean if I am going to do a book of Undead and Demons then Dragons really should get their own too.
In addition to the stat block, I have other issues to work out. Should Tiamat be in the Demon book or the Dragon book? Right now she is in both. What about one of my favorites, the Piasa Bird? Is it a dragon?
Next year, 2024, is not just the 50th Anniversary of D&D but it is also the Chinese year of the Dragon. Feels like to me that an Old School monster book about dragons would be perfect.
I just need to get my ass moving on these.
I am also ditching the current covers I have for them and looking for something new. Still figuring out what to use. I want the same artist for all four and they must feature the creature types covered. Still searching.
BTW if you want some cool dragon content now, Bruce Heard has a bunch up on his blog.
This room is another semi-circular chamber, like Room #12. The room has a hallway to the left, and the hallway continues straight.
This room, like Room 12, shows signs of a recent battle. There is a dead orc here with a usable sword, non-magical. He has a pouch of 23 cp that his "killers" missed. There is a poison dart in his neck.
The orc is lying on top of a trap trigger; this is what killed him. Moving the orc will trigger it again.
Finding the trap and disarming before it fires is worth 50xp. After it fires, it is only worth 0 xp.
Moving down the hall another 10', there is another cell on the left.
This room was recently sacked by the group in room 18. There are three dead orcs here. If the party searched they will find a potion of healing that was missed.
Taking the left turn you continue down the hallway there is a door to your immediate right (18), and another further down to the left (19). The door to the right is open.
This is a much larger cell, and inside are 6 Human Fighters (level 3, Chaotic). They all wear platemail (AC 4) and carry swords (1d8+1). Their hp are 16, 13, 11, 11, 10, 9.
Fighter #1 (16hp) has a dagger +1 that he will use if combat is going against them.
They have a total of 250 pp, 800 gp, 1,250 ep, 220 sp, and 3,000 cp. This is the group that has been looting the dungeon ahead of the characters. Adjust their number and hp as needed.
So new Kickstarters up from the last week or so. All are doing well and certainly don't need my signal boost, but I feel obligated to do so.
MythCraft | A Complete TTRPG Universe and Game System
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/quasigrant/mythcraft-rpg?ref=theotherside
MythCraft aims high. It looks great and the team certainly put a lot of love and care into it. What I am hearing most about it is the detailed character-building rules and options. Indeed it looks quite fun to be honest and the game is attractive as hell. They are going all out here.
It *might* just be another Fantasy Heartbreaker, but even if it is, it is still detailed enough to have my attention. There is a Quick Start here, and I am quite excited for them.
There is a lot, and I mean A LOT of material here and there is no way I can do it justice, but check them out and see for your self.
Can You Play A Witch? Yes! In fact the witch is one of the four classes (out of 11) that they are featuring here. You can see her on the cover, upper left.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allthewitches/all-the-witches?ref=theotherside
I interviewed the project lead and "head witch" Emmapanada yesterday. Well this one came screaming out the gate and was funded in under 3 hours!
What else can I add? I love the art and I am really looking forward to seeing this one become a reality.
Can You Play A Witch? Yes! Correction. HELL YES! That's what this game is all about and honestly, I am all here for it.
Shadowdark RPG: Old-School Gaming, Modernized
The current darling of the Old-School crowd. It is fun, I have had the QuickStart since Gary Con last year and played around with it. The production values here are top notch, so it is certainly a very attractive set.
It is fun yes and has a lot going for it. I think it lives somewhere in between DCC and OSE. Though I do admit I can't really see what this does for me that OSE can't do. Still, I know this will be fun for the right groups.
Can You Play A Witch? Yes, but you will need to grab her from the Cursed Scroll #1 zine to add her.
Lots of great games out there!
The hallway continues a bit and then turns to the left, but before that, there is another cell on the right.
The doors are open. Inside this cell are three orcs with swords. They are searching the cell, but have not found anything, they attack the party.
They have normal amounts of treasure for wandering orcs.
--
The orcs come from a portal on the second level.
Something special today. I had the chance to talk to Emma, aka Emmapanada, the lead designer of the RPG "All the Witches" that is Kickstarting today. What is "All the Witches?" Well, let us find out!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allthewitches/all-the-witches?ref=theotherside
Tim Brannan/The Other Side: It is my pleasure today to be interviewing the team that is currently Kickstaring a new Witch-based RPG, “All The Witches.” Which you can find here, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allthewitches/all-the-witches
Today I am talking with Lead Designer Emma for today’s launch.
Before we get into all the questions, please introduce yourself and tell us all what your role is on this team.
Emma: My name is Emma, also known as Emmapanada! I use they/she pronouns and I’m the Creator, Lead Developer, Lead Game Designer for All the Witches. I’ve been playing TTRPGs for a little over 10 years now, and I started creating systems in September of 2020. I’ve been working on All the Witches since about December 2021, and I’m incredibly excited to have it finally come to Kickstarter!
TB/TOS: What are some of your favorite games? Why?
Emma: Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition has a special place in my heart, because it was the first TTRPG I played long term. My friends and I would play every Saturday in College for 12-14 hours, and it was an absolute blast. Dnd 5e was starting to get playtested when we were playing, so we were way behind the times, but it was a ton of fun. Once I started playing more systems, I really fell in love with Kids on Bikes because sneaking around town hunting for ghosts and cryptids is really fun and stressful, and World of Darkness holds a special place in my heart because it was the first game I played with my partner.
TB/TOS: That is great, I also rather enjoyed the World of Darkness, as well, and Kids on Bikes is great fun. Tell us a bit about this game and what backers should look forward to when they get it.
Emma: Absolutely! All the Witches is an original Tabletop Roleplaying Game with some deck-building mechanics utilizing the standard array of dice except for the D100. In the system, you have 5 attributes that any skill checks made during gameplay will fall under. Those attributes are Power, Agility, Soul, Mind, and Endurance. When you try to make a check, your GM will tell you what attribute they think that check relates to, and then they'll tell you to roll a certain die. In this system, the die you roll determines the difficulty of the check, and you succeed on the check if you roll at or below the corresponding attribute's rank. So if your GM tells you to make a D10 Agility check, and your Agility is rank 4, then you succeed on rolling a 4 or below. As you play the game, your Attributes will rank up, and over time you'll automatically pass certain levels of difficulties for checks because you Attribute rank is higher than the value of the die.
The deck building comes into play during encounters. Your deck is made up of number cards from either the Minor Arcana of a Tarot Deck, or from a deck of playing cards. At the start of the game, you'll have 5 cards in your deck that numerically equate to each of your Attributes' ranks. When you enter an encounter, you'll draw three cards from your deck and when it's your turn, you'll play a card from your hand. The card you play determines the number of Actions you get in that turn. If you play a 4 of Swords, then you have 4 actions that turn. You can use actions to cast spells, move, interact with objects, attack, or use abilities. As you play the game you'll add more numbered cards to your deck, some special face cards that give you special abilities on your turn, and as you reach certain parts of the game the suits of the cards you play will come into effect.
Our goal as a team is not to create an entire world in All the Witches. Instead, our plan is to feature 3 regions of the world and flesh them each out with rich detail. Groups that play All the Witches can start off in one of these regions and have entire adventures there, they can go and travel to the other regions to explore, or they can collectively imagine what the rest of this world might look like and build things together to make their stories truly theirs.
The three regions that All the Witches will feature are:
-Tane: A dense forest region that once thrived with life and beauty. Long ago, some adventurers slew a great spirit that resided in Tane, and its death sent the entire region into a spiral of corruption and Discordance. Not many live there now because the region is extremely toxic and dangerous, but those that do rely heavily on Witches to keep their towns free of corruption, poison, and dangerous creatures. Groups that start here will often find themselves fighting against the very nature around them in order to survive.
-The Golden Islands: A large chain of islands that house two civilizations that couldn't be more opposite to one another. The United Islands of Sunder are a free people that use magic to sail the seas, explore the unknown, and keep the treasures they find. Darkhammer on the other hand is a society with strict rules that uses magic to strengthen and protect their ships and trading routes. These two come into conflict often, and groups that start here will find themselves fighting people from either civilization in order to survive.
-Cyllynys: A verdant gem in the northern seas, Cyllynys is a small nation with a big impact on the world at large. Settled long ago by a diverse array of peoples, its earliest history is shrouded in myth and legend; ancient monuments of mysterious origin dot the landscape. The people of Cyllynys have, since their earliest days, put a tremendous value upon knowledge and wisdom, and this led to their development of steam technology. Now, that same technology threatens to take over the traditions and ancient monuments that once meant so much. Groups that start here will face a changing nation, and the tensions that arise because of that change.
We're committed to being a digital-only product with our Kickstarter launch for a number of reasons:
1. We're a small TTRPG project and printing generally takes up about a third of a project's entire budget. In a COVID world where a lot of groups are currently playing digitally, we think that money can be better spent on accessibility resources to help people learn and play our game. We're hoping to build a website to help people with character creation and upkeep, to incorporate links into our PDF that lead to short, professionally produced videos explaining certain portions of the rules for people that struggle learning systems just from reading text, and more.
2. Due to the world wide paper shortage the past few years, a number of TTRPG projects have been delayed, and we think that as a small project we should do what we can to encourage others to seek a paperless route. We hope to show the TTRPG industry what all can be done with your project when you aren't focused on physical prints of your books.
3. Because we're focusing on a digital product, we'll be able to include a lot more to enhance the player experience. With each purchase of All the Witches, we'll be including various music files, portraits for NPCs and Characters, digital maps, and more.
Since this is a digital product where everyone will get all the resources that are made, there will only be a few pledge levels on the Kickstarter itself. The main pledge level will be $30, and that will get you the PDF as well as all other digital resources such as musical tracks, character and NPC portraits, maps, stream overlays, stream assets, emotes, and more. There will be a $50 pledge level that's for those that want to support the book a little more, and for those that pledge at that level there will be thank you pages dedicated to them at the back of the book with fun art. Then there will be a $200 pledge level that will get a personalized thank you at the back of the book, and a Character/NPC portrait will be made based on them.
TB/TOS: What do you all feel makes All The Witches different from games currently on the market? What do you say makes it special? Or, bottom line, why should people want to buy this game?
Emma: On top of having a unique rule system that I think will surprise a lot of people, our commitment to being a wholly digital game gives us the opportunity to do a lot that other games aren’t doing. With the release of our game, we’re also sending backers tools to help enhance their online roleplaying experience including original orchestrations that tables can use in their games, NPC and Character tokens, emotes, stream overlays and assets, and professionally produced videos to help people learn our system who have a hard time learning just by reading. Additionally, since we’re digital, after release we can continue making new content for All the Witches and releasing it for free in content patches to the PDF. I like to think of All the Witches as a living TTRPG, because I have plans to keep updating it after release at no additional cost to those who have already purchased the book.
TB/TOS: Tell me a bit more about the deck-building mechanic. This is a feature of a few games, but not really a lot.
Emma: I talked a bit about the deck-building mechanics above, but it’s a really hard system to incorporate into a TTRPG without those mechanics becoming the sole-identity of the rules. I wanted to find a way to have deck building, but also have it be balanced with the rest of the system without stealing the spotlight from the other mechanics. It took me a long time to figure out, but I think I found a really great way to do it, and I’m excited for everyone to see the ways deck building influences the entire system and what it brings to it as a whole.
TB/TOS: What sorts of games do you see others playing with these rules? In other words, what can players do in this game?
Emma: There are so many different kinds of games that people can play with All the Witches. Groups can use All the Witches to have a magical school simulator where you live as students, recruit new professors to your schools, meet new students, establish new traditions, and more. They can use the system to play an entire campaign centered around the magical sport that we’ve created called Ryndarost. They can follow a traditional story of adventure and fighting monsters that have been brought about due to the corruption in the world. They can even become heroes that ease the corruption in the world through a special mechanic called a Harmonization Ceremony! The goal is to build a system full enough that a group can take it and use it for any kind of story that they’d like to explore about Witches, and I think we’ve got a really amazing team in order to bring that vision together.
TB/TOS: The art so far in All the Witches looks amazing. What is the diving vision here on the art and how does that influence the game design and vice-versa?
Emma: That’s incredibly kind of you to say! I think art is one of the most important things for an indie TTRPG, and it absolutely helps bring life to the world. I’m not an artist, but working with artists causes me to think about how things look visually, because they ask me a lot of questions, and that causes me to have to make a lot of stylistic decisions about the system that have an impact on everything. Do Witches use a staff or a wand? What do they look like and what are they made of? Do Witches have to have them in order to cast magic? What benefits does using a staff or wand give to a Witch that they wouldn’t have normally? One simple question often branches off into so much more, which helps our team develop a fuller and more cohesive game.
Because I’m not an artist, I’ve been working alone for a lot of this pre-Kickstarter process to pull together cool images to help give life to All the Witches. But hiring Nala Wu has been incredibly helpful, and they’re expertise has already proven invaluable. They’re going to start working fully on all the art for All the Witches after the Kickstarter, but they helped me put the cover and the landscape pieces together, and those pieces bring so much life and character to our game that I’m excited to see what we’re able to make together next once we have our funding.
TB/TOS: Who would you say All the Witches is for?
Emma: All the Witches is a game made for those who grew up escaping into worlds of fantasy and magic that have felt abandoned by those world’s creators. We are here to give you the tools and resources to explore a world full of magic and adventure with stories built by you and those you love. Escape into a new world of fantasy and magic built by a team of Queer and BIPOC writers and designers.
TB/TOS: What are your future plans for this game?
Emma: If all goes according to plan and we successfully fund and are able to fully create and release All the Witches, the plan is that I’ll periodically keep updating the game with new content that will be released for free to everyone who owns a copy of the PDF while I continue working on my next two unannounced TTRPG projects.
TB/TOS: And, for the benefit of my audience, well, and me (!), who are all of your favorite witches or magic-using characters?
Emma: I grew up on Final Fantasy games and RPGs, so Vivi from Final Fantasy IX will always have a special place in my heart on top of Morrigan from Dragon Age: Origins!
TB: And finally, where can we find you all on the internet?
Emma: You can find us on Twitter @allthewitches_ to keep updated on everything going on, and you can find my personal account @emmapanada!
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.
 |
| 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.
Continuing on the hallway opens up to a large semi-circular chamber. The hallway continues on beyond the chamber and there is another hallway to the right.
There are signs here of a recent battle. There is blood on the ground and spent arrows.
There are no bodies and no treasure.
Continuing down this hallway, there is another cell on the right.
The door to this cell is open. Inside are three Zombies. Two are visible in the center of the cell, and the other is propped up against the wall and blends in.
The first two will attack per normal, the other will not attack until the characters are within arm's reach (5 ft). The third zombie is the experiment, it has a bit more intelligence and cunning for an undead corpse and can move faster. It surprises on a roll of 3 or less on a d6 and can attack at any point with its initiative rolls. It attacks as a 3HD monster and has the respective XP.
The zombies have no treasure.
This cell is around the corner on the right. The cell door on the right is open and inside is a glowing portal.
Standing in the room is a human woman. She has two crystals in one hand and is furiously writing notes. She speaks to the party very excitedly, but her language is unknown. She ignores whatever the party says to her; she is too excited about whatever it is she writing.
She is really only interested in this portal. She has no treasure to mention. If she is attacked she jumps through the portal and runs off.
If the characters follow, the portal will close behind. Take the character sheets from the players and hand them their new Castles & Crusades character sheets for the same characters.
You come to a turn in the hallway. It turns to right, but before it does, there is another cell door on your left. These cell doors are open.
This room is empty. There are signs of a recent battle. A pile of bones that look like they belonged to a couple of dire wolves is here.
There is no treasure in this room.
--
There is still a group of ahead of the party and they dealt with the skeletal dire wolves.
Continuing down the hall there is another cell on the right.
This cell appears to be used as a storage area. There are several chests, all are empty except for two.
Chest #1: has a Small Bag of Holding inside. The bag itself is empty.
Chest #2: Is actually a Mimic and it is starving.
The mimic itself has no treasure.
Well...not exactly a Mail Call Tuesday today. Though it will be sometime in June/July. But I had to mention these.
ReAction, the company that makes action figures for various properties in the style of the old Kenner Star Wars figures (3.75" scale), has a new series coming out.
Wave 1 of their Dungeons & Dragons line has some very familiar faces.
There is the Sorceress (D&D Moldvay Basic), the Efreeti (DMG), and the Githyanki (Fiend Folio) in the first wave for preorder now.
Damn it. Just when I was in a good place NOT to give WotC any money out of protest for the OGL shenanigans.
Anyway. As someone who really went hardcore with D&D with the Moldvay Basic (my first proper D&D) and writes so much about witches, I am morally obligated to buy the Sorceress. I owe it to that 11-year-old I once was. Besides, she is certainly popular.
The other figures also look great.
The Efreeti also has another advantage. At 3.75", that translates to 18.75' in D&D 3/4/5 scale. So I could use it as the Efreeti Pasha. It would have a certain level of "street cred" to use the same figure as the front of the DMG for it. Everyone in my current gaming groups knows all about 1st Ed AD&D, so to them, pulling this guy would have the same effect as pulling out Tiamat or Orcus.
All three of these figures have also, in one form or another, have had premium statues made of them. The Efreeti and the Githyanki from Wizkids and the Sorceress, in her modern guise of Seoni, from Dynamite. These figures are a lot cheaper.
You should be able to preorder these anywhere.
I am getting mine from Super7, which has better shipping. But I have seen them at Entertainment Earth as well. They will likely be on Amazon soon. Of course you could order them from your FLGS or FLCS.
These are not the same scale as the new D&D Cartoon figures, but they are close to last year's NECA Skyla and Kelek figures. Come back around in June/July, and we will see.
This cell is locked and boarded up. Movement can be heard inside. There are two doors here, the cell and the doors behind it.
Inside this room is an ancient and immortal Grimlock. The Grimlock is very old and blind. The magical experiments done on him have made him immortal, hungry, and insane. It will attack as long as there is no light greater than torchlight.
Last week I posted This Old Dragon #91, which listed many outcasts devils for the AD&D 1st Edition game. Among these was Malarea (an obvious play on Malaria, and pronounced Mahl-ah -ree -ah). Of course, I wanted to learn more about her, but there is precious little about her in the article. So I started my deep dive.
This is almost, but not quite, detailed enough for an In Search Of... style post, but it is perfect for a Monstrous Monday.
What Is Known
The Dragon article reveals that she is a former Duke (Duchess) of Hell. She wanted to be counted among the consorts of the Archdukes of Hell, even to the point where she had assaulted an unnamed Duke's consort and would kill all the other consorts to get her way. She is violent and erratic.
At some point after her exile to Avernus, she sought out the courtship of the up-and-coming Bel only to be rejected by him.
She is described as:
... tall, human-like female with huge black wings, which tower 6 feet above her own head when furled; in short, rather like an erinyes. Her eyes are fiery red, her hair long, greasy, and black, her body sleek but powerfully muscled and of a faintly luminescent, "ghostly" white hue. Her hands have long claws, and she has large, vampire-like fangs.- Dragon Magainze (91), October 1984, p. 24
And...that is largely it to be honest. She has stats in Dragon 91 and a mention in Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants Of The Nine Hells for D&D 3.5.
So let me look into who might have been likely to interact with her.
Connections
Bel
The former Archduke Bel was once her quarry, but he had rebuffed her. This had to have made her even more furious than being rebuffed by any of the other Archdukes. After all, Bel was essentially just an elevated Pit Fiend, and she was an Archdevil. I would imagine that she would do anything to see him defeated or humiliated in some way.
Malagard
These two share similar names and some physical appearances, but they are quite different. I mention her here because, for a bit, I considered making them the same person. The deeper lore of both prevents this, really.
Tiamat
We know that Malarea went out of her way to avoid Tiamat. This was back in the AD&D 1st Ed lore when Tiamat was the ruler of Avernus. It has since been retconned that Zariel was the ruler, and Bel overthrew her. So maybe, from this point of view, Malarea avoided Zariel.
Zariel
The former and current ruler of Avernus is the former Angel Zariel. If we follow the 4e and 5e notions that all the Erinyes were former angels, it stands to reason that Malarea was also one. Malarea and Zariel are physically strong, given over to fits of rage and violence, and have similar appearances and backgrounds. Are they the same? Again, I am going to go with no. Both have elements in their backstory that are largely incompatible. Malarea seeks to be counted among the consorts of Hell. Zariel wants to destroy all the devils and rule Hell on her own.
Malarea Today
What would Malarea be up to today? I imagine her status has not changed much. While there have been great upheavals in Hell in the last 40 years, change still moves slowly for the most part.
Large Fiend (Diabolic, Baalseraph)
Frequency: Unique
Number Appearing: 1 (1)
Alignment: Chaotic [Lawful Evil]
Movement: 90' (30') [9"]
Fly: 240' (90') [24"]
Armor Class: -1 [20]
Hit Dice: 21d8****** (116 hp)
Large: 21d20****** (137 hp)
To Hit AC 0: 6 (+14)
Attacks: 1 weapon or 2 claws, 1 bite, wing buffet
Damage: Weapon +2, 1d4+2 x2, 1d4, 1d12
Special: Baalseraph powers and immunities, magic resistance (70%), regeneration (1 hp/ 2 rounds), spell-like abilities (see below), summoning, +2 or better weapons to hit
Save: Monster 21
Morale: 12 (NA)
Treasure Hoard Class: See Below
XP: 15,250 (OSE) 15,750 (LL)
Str: 17 (+2) Dex: 17 (+2) Con: 13 (+1) Int: 16 (+2) Wis: 14 (+1) Cha: 14 (+1)
From Dragon Magainze (91), October 1984, p. 24-25:
Malarea is a bitter and envious devil. She despises many of the consorts of the Nine Hells and desires (to the point of mania) to join their ranks. If she has to slay them all to claim her rightful place among them, she will do so unhesitatingly, but rude defeats on the occasions of her bold, direct assaults in the past have made her more cautious.
Malarea remains a fiercely combative, fractious devil, given to sudden berserk rages and wild physical attacks. This temperament cost her a consortship or other position in the hierarchy of the hells, and has undoubtedly earned her her present exile. She has learned little, however: if she recognizes an archdevil, duke, or unique greater devil, she will pause to ascertain their situation and intentions before she attacks - but she almost always attacks eventually, except when faced with impossible odds. Lesser devils and intruders are her prey - she will attack any such creatures immediately, swooping at them to bite (1d4 damage) and strike with a lance, spear, or other weapon gained from a previous victim, or bare-handed with her iron-hard claws (1d4+2). Malarea is a strong flyer, and often buffets airborne opponents with her great wings, or rams into them at full speed (1d12 damage).
Malarea can use the following spell-like powers at will, one at a time and once per round: pyrotechnics, produce flame, wall of fire, detect magic, dispel magic, detect invisibility, hold person, and polymorph self. She can shed fear in a 2' radius at will (save vs. spell to avoid), and can cast a delayed blast fireball (5d6) three times per day.
Malarea appears as a tall, human-like female with huge black wings (28' wing span), which tower 6 feet above her head when furled; in short, she is like an Erinyes. Her eyes are fiery red, her hair long, greasy, and black, her body sleek but powerfully muscled and of a faintly luminescent, ghostly white hue. Her hands have long claws, and she has large, vampire-like fangs. She
is usually encountered wearing some gaudy trophy of a previous victim - a gleaming necklace or jeweled belt, but she cares nothing for the value of such items and will carelessly discard one for another of gaudier appearance
This was Malarea as of the mid-1980s and 1st Edition AD&D. We know from the Fiendish Codex II that she was still an outcast as of the mids 2000s and 3rd Edition D&D. She seems to be too strong willed and angry to have changed her status.
How desperate is she today? Would she even approach Zariel for her consortship? I can see Malarea considering it but not Zariel. Besides, both devils are far too angry at their own situations.
I think if I were to update her some more (and I have an event coming up in my games that would fit the bill) I might make her the captain of the Erinyes. Her name has Latin roots (sorta) so I might rename her into something with Greek roots. Her name is close enough to Megaera ("the jealous one") for me to work with. I have done a lot of work with the Erinyes, the Keres, and the Dirae, so I am "in the market" for a leader of this group of devils. Someone other than Glasya. I just need to figure out who Tisiphone and Alecto are. Alecto, in particular, will be a challenge since some of her myths overlap with Nemesis's.
This works in another way since the Eriyes/Furies were said in Ovid's Metamorphoses to guard the gates to Dis. In D&D geography, this would put them in Avernus.
Now I just need two more unattached archdevils.
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