Review: Dark Places & Demogorgons Cryptid Manual

If I have said it once I have said it a hundred times. I LOVE Monster books.  Any and all monster books. I even grab monster books for games I don't play.  So when Eric Bloat they head monster hunter at Bloat Games asked if I would be interested in looking over his new monster book (Kickstarting today) for his FANTASTIC Dark Places & Demogorgons I screamed HELL YES at my computer.

Now I promise to be fair here but a couple of words of full disclaimer.  First I was sent this book as part of an agreement for a review.  That is no big, I get a lot of books this way and I always try to be fair.   Secondly. Well, look above. I am predisposed to like Monster books and I already love DP&P and cryptids are a TON of fun.  So please keep all this in mind.

Dark Places & Demogorgons: Cryptid Manual is a digest-sized book weighing in at 90 or so pages.  Some bits look like redacted Governmental documents and blood splattered hunter's notebooks.  It's actually pretty cool looking if not 100% original (see Chill, Supernatural and Conspiracy X).  That being said though it is also 100% EXPECTED.  That's HOW I want my 80s monster hunting guide to look like.

The interior and the cover features two-color art (blacks and reds) on glossy pages. Now the gloss might just be my pre-copy version, or not. In any case the color, the art, and the layout are all a leap ahead in terms of style and look than all the previous DP&D books.  If this is the future of their books then the future looks good.

A little over 50 monsters fill this book.  They use the same stat block as DP&D so that also means they are roughly compatible with Swords & Wizardry (I'd say about 99%) and most other OSR-flavored games.  Given the size of the book it fits in nicely with my Swords & Wizardry Whitebox games, so I have another monster book now for that! Each monster gets a page. Some exceptions occur with the Bigfoots and the E.T.s, but still, it's a good bit for each one. 

There are also templates in the back of the book that work like the monster templates from 3.x.  So you can apply the Vampire, Werewolf or my favorite Radioactive, template (among others) to any monster.  Radioactive Bigfoots?  Hell yes!  There is also a table of enhancements and how they change your monster. So now it's Agile Radioactive Bigfoots!
There are some conditions ported over from 3.x (more or less) but very, very useful and I am happy to see them here.

Ok what are some of my favorites?  There is the Almasti, which I also used in Ghosts of Albion. They have a special place in my heart.  I'll likely include Almasti Shamen in my DP&D games like I did with Ghosts.   Old faves like the Bunyip and Chupacabra.  Holy crap there is a Crocoduck!

I have to admit I nearly shot coffee out of my nose when I first saw that.  Worth the price of the book alone in my mind.  Flatwoods Monster, all the various extraterrestrials (Nordics, Reptilians, LGMs, Greys), Hellhounds, the Hodag! (love those things!), Jersey Devils, Skin Walkers, and the Wendigo.  So plenty really and many more.  The monsters mostly come from modern cyptids, but there some classics from myths and local monsters.

This book is great really. While I may have been pre-disposed to like it, it really delivered and then some with me.  The art is great and fun. The layout top notch and the monsters are just too much fun. 

While reading it I could not help but think how well this would also work with White Star or other White Box derived game.   So even if you don't play DP&D (and you should really, it's just too much fun) you can still get a lot of enjoyment out of this book.

This book is currently in Kickstarter and you can get in for as little as 10 bucks.  Not too shabby of a deal really.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ericfrombloatgames/dark-places-and-demogorgons-the-cryptid-manual-tab

There is a lot more information on the KS page, but trust me. You want this.

Monstrous Monday: Melonheads for Dark Places & Demogorgons

One of my favorite games of 2018 is turning into one of my favorite games of 2019.

I have been given the pleasure of an advance copy of the newest book in the Dark Places & Demogorgons catalog, the Cryptid Manual.

It is not out yet, the Kickstarter begins on January 16, but it might be the best looking DP&D ever.

The book is digest sized, 90 pages and full of great illustrations.  The crew at Bloat Games really outdid themselves with this one.  The book reminds of a Chill or Conspiracy X monster book and that is a really good thing.

Expect a full review from me later this week. In fact expect a lot more DP&D goodness this week as I spend some more time with it and my Sunny Valley, OH setting.

Since today is Monster Monday. Let's find a Cryptid worthy of this book and something my Sunny Valley cast could encounter.

One of the features of the original series was the Monster of the Week episode.  This notion came from spirtual ancestor of both the show and this game, the X-Files. So going back to Mulder and Scully is never a bad plan.  For this episode, though I wanted something new, something we have not seen a lot of in the past AND something from Ohio.

Please allow me to introduce you to the Melonheads.
These creatures have been terrorizing people (reportedly) in Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut since at least the 1960s.  Really they are kind of perfect for this.

Found in the woods in and around Ohio these creatures appear as small emaciated children with giant bulbous heads.

One legend has it that a deranged doctor (Dr. Crowe) and his wife near Kirtland, OH took in some hydrocephalic children to care for. In truth, they did strange experiments on them.  Eventually, the children fought back killing the doctor and his wife and burning down the home.  They escaped into the woods where they still live to this day, terrorizing anyone that comes into their territory.

Melonheads
Armor Class: 10
Hit Dice: 2
Move: 12
Actions: 1
Morale: 4/8
Terror: 13
HDE: 2

Attack Damage: Claw (d4)
Special: Dark Vision, Hunt in Packs
Bonuses: +5 to Spot, +5 to Stealth, +2 to Listen

Pack Tactics: Melonheads are rarely encountered alone. When they are their Morale is 4. In a pack of 6 or more their moral jumps to 8.  They will attack en masse with three being able to attack a single victim at once.  Their attacks are not very effective, but with multiple creatures, they are sure to land a few.

Melonheads are not particularly strong or very bright.  They attack anything and everything that enters their territory.   Melonheads are only active at night.

Using typical 80s monster logic they mostly attack teenagers making out in the woods.

Sunny Valley, OH Episode: It's a Shame About Ray
(*Someone will appreciate that title)

The episode begins with a missing teenager, Ray. He had been out in the woods walking with his girlfriend Shanon last night. Before they got out of the woods though he was attacked by a group of Melonheads.  His girlfriend describes "creepy, dirty children with giant heads".  It is now up to our cast to find them.

The only way to stop them is to close up the mine they have been using as a home and hiding place.

Read more about these weirdos here:

• Wikipedia: Melon Heads
• Weird Ohio:  Melonheads
• The Frightening Legend of the “Melon Head” People of Ohio, Michigan, and Connecticut

Kickstart Your Weekend: Start of 2019 Edition!

New Year and a whole host of new Kickstarters to talk about so let's do it!

Retro 1E & 5E Fantasy Mini-Adventure Set 2

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/563681582/retro-1e-and-5e-fantasy-mini-adventure-set-2

More adventures from the Folio line.  But in truth, they had me at 1e & 5e.

The Streets of Avalon

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/encoded/the-streets-of-avalon

A Gothic Mega-City for 5e?  Sign me the hell up!  I love urban adventures and never get enough of them to be honest.  This one looks perfect.

Cha'alt

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vengersatanis/chaalt

Venger Satanis is back with another adventure.  This one is also designed to be 1e/OSR and 5e.  A pyramid mega-dungeon.  Venger is always pretty good with his Kickstarters so this one should rock as well.

Kingdoms of Hell

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/292543184/kingdoms-of-hell

Part RPG and part miniatures skirmish game this one looks pretty awesome too.  Frankly, I am in it for the minis.  This only includes the files for 3D Printing, not the minis themselves.  But that is fine I can print as many as I like.

To quote Lzzy Hale, "a little evil goes a long, long way."  And there is plenty of evil fun here.

Featured Artist: Luigi Castellani

Hello and welcome to my first Featured Artist post of 2019.  If you are new to this then the purpose here is simple.  I find an artist I really like and I share some of my favorite pieces with you.   The hope is you find some new artist to like and maybe buy their prints or subscribe to their Pateron or whatever.  But at the very least we all find someone whose art we can enjoy.

Today it is my pleasure to introduce you all to Luigi "Artkid" Castellani.

Luigi is an artist from Rome, Italy (where I do believe art was actually invented, but don't quote me on that! ;) ).  You will recognize his work from several of my own witch books. But most likely you will recognize him from his stock art packages or the books that use them and his art.

His art is very reminiscent of the old-school style D&D books and it could be that is the reason he is so popular with the OSR crowd.  His work has appeared in books and games by Joseph Bloch's BRW Games, OSRIC, Carcosa, and Peter C. Spahn's Small Niche Games among others.

Here is Luigi in his own words.

Like so many artists I started drawing before I got in primary school, my reference material consisted of Marvel Comics with Buscema and Kirby being the foremost inspirational artists. I first made contact with D&D, Call of Cthulhu and Traveller in 1980, and my love for gaming endures to this day. Over the years I've played or GMed a variety of systems (Shadowrun, SW D6, Pendragon, CP 2020, TORG, Bushido, Flashing Blades, Hero, MERP/RM to name a few). I'm mostly a "trad" and Old School gamer but I never liked fences and walls, gimme dice and I'll play (almost) anything. My favorite gaming artists ever are Erol Otus, Dave Trampier and Keith Parkinson.

Here are some of my favorite pieces.

You can Luigi at the following sites:

• Luigi Castellani Patreon
• DeviantArt
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Books with Luigi as "Author" on DriveThruRPG
• Books with Luigi as "Artist" on DriveThruRPG

This Old Dragon: Issue #104

Wow! A this Old Dragon? Really.  Time to get back into this.  Grabbing the Dragon that has been sitting on my desk it is ... hmmm, no cover. Well, inside it says December 1985 so that should make Dragon #104.  Rocky IV dominates the theaters, Mr. Mister and Lionel Richie rule the radio waves with "Broken Wings" and "Say You, Say Me" respectively.  It's December 1985 and this is episode #104 of The Old Dragon!

Well, my cover is gone, but my Google-fu tells me it is another Denis Beauvais piece.  This time a happy looking wizard.

Letters covers some the issues with the adventure "City Beyond the Gate" in Issue #100.  I have to agree, now in retrospect, with the errors being pointed out with Robert Schroeck's version of London.  If I do issue 100 I'll have to come back to this.

Kim Mohan's editorial covers William Dear's book "The Dungeon Master". In particular, Mohan focuses on the game that Dear played and didn't enjoy.  Me, I have a host of other issues with the book but that is not really the point of his editorial.

Nice ad for the Dragonfire software.  I often spoke about how my earliest memories of D&D and D&D experiences are contemporaneous with my earliest experiences with computers.  To me, they go hand in hand.  Back in the day, we had written our own software for the various TRS-80 computers we had.  It was fun.  You can still get the Dragonfire II software online. I am not sure of the legality of those sites though.

We come up to one of the early "theme" section of Dragon.  These became more and more popular from Issue 80 or so on hitting their height in the in late 1980s (issues 100 on).
The theme for this issue deals with Thieves, which even at this point (end of 1985) they were being referred to as "Rogues".

John C. Bunnell starts with The Well-Rounded Thief which deals with various reasons why a character would want to be a thief.   There are a lot of good ideas here (greed, professional motivation, artistic, recreational, revenge) and 99% of this article can be used with any version of D&D really.   Thieves may not have been in the Little Brown Books, but they are a staple of D&D now.

Bunnell is up next as well with Race is Ahead of Class.  This article really gave us some insight on how different races view thieves and was a preview of the Race/Class/Kit books of 2nd Edition.  Again this article can be used today regardless of your edition of choice.

What does your thief get when they pickpockets? Well, Bruce Barr has the answer in Was It Worth the Risk?  Tables of picking pockets depending on who is the mark.  The tables will feel a bit old-school for newer players, but they are pretty useful.

David "Zeb" Cook gives us a two-page preview on the new Oriental Adventures in Oriental Opens New Vistas.  It is more than just a commercial for OA, there are notes on design choices made to make this feel different than AD&D RAW.

Michael Dobson is next with Three Challenges in One where he talks about his new module X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield.   The big feature of this adventure is the inclusion of the BATTLESYSTEM combat system.  Which is odd really.  The Companion set for Basic D&D (BECMI) already had their own mass combat system called War Machine.  This adventure ended up using a hybrid of the two systems.

Meeting of The Minds updates the psionic encounter tables with monsters from Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II.

Len Lakofka is next with his Leomund's Tiny Hut feature on Specialization and Game Balance.  This covers the new features fighter got in the Unearthed Arcana.  I was not all that concerned about Weapon Specialization back then and frankly thought it was fine but I have also read that some people thought it was a game-breaker or a game-changer depending on who was talking.

Nice big ad for Gary's first book.  Sadly in one year's time he would be gone from TSR.
Ads for BATTLESYSTEM and Oriental Adventures too.

Ed Greenwood is back with another ecology article, this time The Ecology of the Ochre Jelly.  Ed had a good way of making even the lamest monsters sound interesting.

Somewhat related to the thief articles is this one from Lionel D. Smith on Assessing, Not Guessing.  Or allowing PCs to make their own value judgments on treasure.  It is a very old-school feeling formula where you determine a character's CAP (correct assessment percentage).  I might try it for my next 5e adventure just to see how it works out.

Our special section and the main feature of the issue is SUDDEN DAWN a Marvel Super Heroes module set during WW2.   I have read through it a few times over the years and it looks like fun and at 16 pages it is a good size.

Merle Rasmussen is back with more Spy's Advice for Top Secret.

An ad for some cool AD&D, Dragon and Dragonlance shirts.  I'd love to have one of those now.

Profiles covers Harold Johnson (Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan) and David "Zeb" Cook (lots).
Previews covers Oriental Adventures and connected modules.   Teased are a new Dragonlance Trilogy , Legends (which I liked better than the first trilogy), a new "unnamed" AD&D core rule book (spoilers Dungeoneers Survival Guide), the D&D Immortals set and more Gary penned Greyhawk novels.

Ares covers the best in SciFi gaming this month.

Star Law Returns by Matt Bandy covers law enforcement for Star Frontiers.

Hexes and High Guard comes to us from Jefferson P. Swycaffer and deals with space wars for Traveller.  It's a fairly short article but feels like it would work well.

Gamma World is not to be ignored they have stats for a Terminator style...er wait, an Exterminator style robot in The Exterminator by John Mau and Brian Shuler.

Ah.. here is something I really like.  The Kzinti Have Landed by Jon Slobins for the FASA Star Trek game.  Obviously about playing Kzinti in the Star Trek universe for all those Larry Niven fans out there.  I liked the Kzinti and was always disappointed they were not in the rules, but I knew why they weren't.   There is enough here to get Kzinti fans going.  Back when this issue was new I thought about a Kzinti police force (my ode to The Slaver Weapon) using the Star Law article.  The ship in the article has a solid Romulan look to it.

Marvel-Phile covers more WW2 characters including a very non-Sebastian Stan Bucky.

Gamer's Guide has small ads including two for artists to illustrate your character.

Convention Calendar covers the cons of late 1985, early 1986.

Wormy gets four pages, Dragonmirth gets one and we end with SnarfQuest.

So. If you are into thieves then this is a must-read issue.  If you like Kzinti then if you can find this issue cheap give it a go.

Want to know what I said about White Dwarf from the same time? Check out White Dwarf Wednesday for Issue #72.

First Game of 2019: The Second Campaign and Monster Monday

Got my first game of 2019 this past week.  Yes, I was still on vacation all last week but it is back to work today (Monday).

The Treasure Hunters are still exploring the Forbidden City and are about to uncover some of its secrets.  They have encountered the Yuan-ti and some degenerate Troglodytes.   They were also nearly taken out by a group of Tasloi hiding in the tree-tops.  If there was any doubt of 5e's deadliness these little Tasloi nearly took out the entire party of seven characters.

They have not run into the Blood Apes yet, so they don't have a full picture of the cult activity going on here yet.  There are also Mongrel Men to consider.

I have set my Forbidden City in the center of the Ilse of Dread.

Yeah, there are some issues with that sure. But both are by David Cook, and Tom Moldvay was involved with both (co-author on X1 and playtester on I1).  For me it is working out great.

Monstrous Monday

Whether I am ready for it or not it is Monday. That means a new monster.

I figure I might as well share another one created by my mom.
My mom?? Yes.  My dad gave me a love for bad movies, but my love for horror, sci-fi and all things weird comes from my mom.   She would tell us these horrific stories about murders, ghosts that killed, screaming monsters and more all when we were little kids. And we loved every minute of it.  We used to all jump into the car and drive as far away as Alton, IL (95 miles) to look for haunted houses or spooky cemeteries.

Here is one from her that fits with the above adventures.

Red Lizards

Living in the deepest parts of the rainforest the Red Lizard and a symbiotic life form of a giant lizard species and a moss-like fungus.  The lizard becomes red in color and the fungus appears as a green growth on the lizard's body.  They are unable to live without each other and the bonding occurs very early in life for the lizard.
The fungus on the lizard is highly voracious and will spread to anything it touches including ground, leaving a long trail of moss-like fungus behind it.  This trail usually dies in a few minutes unless it comes in contact with a living creature.
The lizard will attack any living creature for food which the reptile and fungus life-forms will share.
These creatures are often accompanied by Rust Monsters.  The rust monster is one of the very few creatures immune to the fungus and they will eat the metal left behind by fallen victims.

Special: The creature takes damage from full moonlight (or spells or items that cast moonlight).  Exposed to this light the creature takes 1d10 hit points of damage per round of exposure.

Basic-era Stats

Red Lizard
Armor Class: 2
HD: 6 (22hp)
Attacks: 2 claw (2d4), 1 bite (1d6), + fungus
THAC0: 15
Movement: 180’ (60’)
Save: Fighter 4
No. Appearing: 1d4 (1d4)
Morale: 7
Alignment Neutral
XP Value: 300

Fungus: On a successful bite attack the victim is infected with the red lizard's fungus (save vs. Poison to avoid). They take an additional 2d4 hit points of damage and a 1d4 for each hour after that until a Remove Curse spell is cast.

5th-Era Stats

Red Lizard
Large magical beast, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 33 (6d10)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
STR 15 (+2)
DEX 12 (+1)
CON 13 (+1)
INT  2 (−4)
WIS 10 (+0)
CHA 5 (−3)
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Actions

Multiattack. The red lizard makes two claw attacks and one bite attack.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.  If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be affected with the red lizard's fungus.  The creature takes an additional 2d4 hit points of damage and a 1d4 for each hour after that until a Remove Curse spell is cast.

2019: Back to Basics

Here we are. 2019.

Towards the end of 2018 I was thinking how much I miss Basic D&D. In particular B/X flavor of Basic D&D.  So with some of my left-over Christmas money, I went out and got some new Basic-era games.

Up first is Michael Thomas' own BLUEHOLM, both the Prentice and Journeymanne Rules.
Designed to emulate and then extend the Holmes edition of D&D Basic.  The version I cut my teeth on now 40 years ago.

That would be enough to keep me happy for a long time really, but it is not the only thing on my table.

Gavin Norman's B/X Essentials is a recreation and reorganization of the Basic and Expert rules.  Like those famous boxed sets (and my favorite version of Basic D&D) this version only goes to level 14.  There is a lot to be said for this.  Some really, really fun adventuring can be done at this level.   I promise a full review soon, but let me just say these books look fantastic.

Of course, you can use Jonathan Becker's B/X Companion and The Complete B/X Adventurer with these, but that is defeating the B/XE design philosophy (but still would work and be fun).

If extending your B/X experience is your bag, then pick up Mark Craddock's B/X Ascending gives you more classes and plenty of new options. 

I have to say, Mark has really stepped up his game.  This is a great looking book.

Not everything I want to do this year is 100% B/X basic, but they are still B/X related.

What is B/X without it's two most iconic adventures?  I already had Into the Borderlands, but now I got Isle of Dread updated versions from Goodman Games.  The originals work fantastically with all the books listed above and 5th edition as well.

Also on my table is an update to one of my favorite clones.

 
Dan Protector's Labyrinth Lord in it's new Advanced incarnation is really more like the D&D we played back in the day; freely mixing Basic and Advanced D&D.

Whats my plan for all of this?

Well I hope to do some more Basic-era type posts and products.  Swords & Wizardry was a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, but Basic is my true love.

So let's see what 2019 can bring us!