Showing posts with label Pathfinder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pathfinder. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Charnel Ghouls

The Eaters of the Dead, a band of ghouls and ghasts, are among the more formidable factions within the Great Dungeon of the North. Their leaders are intelligent, highly civilized ghouls from the Distant West and patterned on the true ghouls of Wolfgang Baur’s classic 2e adventure Kingdom of the Ghouls, which was in turn influenced by the works of Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft.

A tribute to Baur’s take on ghouls was incorporated into the Golarion setting of the Pathfinder game. The Darklands, the Underdark of Golarion, contains a dread Ghoul Court which recalls Baur’s White Kingdom. Wizkids produced a couple of pre-painted ghoul miniatures as part of the Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn set: A ghoul cultist and a ghoul champion. These sculpts were reissued in a single blister pack of unpainted Ghouls as part of the Pathfinder Deep Cuts Wave 7 release. I snapped these up thinking they would work pretty well for leaders of the Eaters of the Dead.

I tackled these figures by starting with a zenithal undercoat, then used Reaper Ghoul Flesh and Imperial Purple for the base coats. My Army Painter Regiment and Insane Detail brushes got some pretty good workouts as I finished these miniatures off.

Conceptually, civilized ghouls overlap somewhat with vampires. To distinguish the two, I think of vampires as cursed, wretched creatures clinging to the remnants of their lost humanity, hating their damned condition and fearing to die the true death. Even cultists of Orcus are terrified of death, perhaps because they know all-too-well what torments await them in the Abyss.

Ghouls, in contrast, are eerie post-humanist creatures who actually embrace their undead state: they consider themselves to be transcendent, blessed to have surpassed their mortal flesh. They view humanity with alien detachment and callousness. Ghouls neither fear nor fetishize death: as worshippers of the mysterious Charnel God, true death represents just one more transformation for them into blissful oblivion.

These two miniatures are useful for representing leaders of the Eaters of the Dead faction. Charnel Captains are military commanders of ghoul forces. Charnel Priests are clerics of Mordiggian, philosopher-advisors to ghoul communities. Both captains and priests are usually accompanied by lesser ghouls or ghasts. The sacrificial altar they are posed with was from the “Mythos Expansion” of the Reaper Bones 3 Kickerstarter. This model is another Kevin Williams sculpture.

In the Great Dungeon, areas controlled by the ghouls are filled with the faint scent of musty cinnamon and the muffled ringing of chimes. This curious detail is a shout-out to the Ssú of the Empire of the Petal Throne setting. “The Enemies of Man” are creatures so feared within Tékumel that new PCs quickly learn to flee at first whiff of cinnamon or the sound of bells.

The following text is Open Game Content.

3.5e

These stat blocks use an abbreviated format that omits extraneous or redundant elements. Listen and Spot skills, for example, are detailed on the Senses line and not repeated on the Skills line; Feats that are “always on” like Improved Initiative or Toughness are incorporated into the stat block and not listed on the Feat line.

The Charnel Captain was created by applying the elite ability score array to a standard ghoul and adding 4 levels of fighter.

Charnel Captain CR 5

CE Medium undead

Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +3, Spot +8

Language Common

Defense

AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 16

hp 40 (6 HD)

Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +8

Immune undead traits; Resist turn resistance +2

Offense

Spd 30 ft.; Balance +8, Climb +8, Jump +8

Melee bite +9 (1d6+4 plus paralysis), 2 claws +8 (1d3+4 plus paralysis)

Ranged mwk composite shortbow +9 (1d6+4/x3)

Special Attacks ghoul fever (DC 13)

Statistics

Str 18, Dex 18, Con –, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 15

Base Atk +5; Grp +9

Feats Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack

Skills Hide +8, Intimidate +9, Move Silently +8

Combat Gear oil of greater magic fang (+3), potion of displacement; Other Gear +1 chain shirt, cloak of resistance +1, masterwork composite shortbow (18 Str) with 40 arrows

Special Abilities

Ghoul Fever (Su) Disease—bite, Fortitude DC 13, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex.

Paralysis (Ex) DC 13 Fortitude, paralysis 1d4+1 rounds. Elves have immunity to this paralysis.

The Charnel Priest was created by applying the elite ability score array to a standard ghoul and adding 5 levels of cleric. Clerics of the Charnel God (favored weapon: dagger) have access to the Death, Evil, and Knowledge domains.

Charnel Priest CR 5

CE Medium undead

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +5, Spot +10

Language Common

Defense

AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18

hp 41 (7 HD)

Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +12

Immune undead traits; Resist turn resistance +2

Offense

Spd 20 ft.; Balance +4, Climb +4, Jump -2

Melee bite +6 (1d6+2 plus paralysis), 2 claws +4 (1d3+1 plus paralysis)

Special Attacks death touch 1/day (+6 melee touch), ghoul fever (DC 14), rebuke undead 6/day (+3, 2d6+8, 5th)

Spells Prepared (CL 5th, 6th for evil spells)

3rd—animate deadD, bestow curse (+6 melee touch, DC 18), deeper darkness

2nd—death knellD (DC 17), hold person (DC 17), shatter (DC 17), silence

1st—bane (DC 16), cause fearD (DC 16), death watch, divine favor, doom (DC 16), shield of faith

0—detect magic, guidance, read magic, resistance, virtue

D Domain spell; Domains death, evil

Statistics

Str 15, Dex 14, Con –, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 16

Base Atk +4; Grp +6

Skills Concentration +10 (+14 casting defensively), Hide +6, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (religion) +7, Move Silently +6, Spellcraft +9

SQ spontaneous casting (inflict spells)

Combat Gear oil of darkness, scroll of divine power, scroll of mass inflict moderate wounds; Other Gear +1 breastplate, holy symbol (dagger), funeral-purple robes, silver skull-like mask

Special Abilities

Death Touch (Su) Once per day the ghoul priest may use a death touch against a living creature (+6 melee touch). If successful, roll 5d6; if this is greater than the creature’s current hit points, it dies (no save).

Ghoul Fever (Su) Disease—bite, Fortitude DC 14, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex.

Paralysis (Ex) DC 14 Fortitude, paralysis 1d4+1 rounds. Elves have immunity to this paralysis.

5e

Ghoul Captain
Medium undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 15 (studded leather)
Hit Points 78 (12d8 + 24)
Speed 30 ft.
StrDexConIntWisCha
16 (+3)16 (+3)15 (+2)12 (+1)13 (+1)11 (+0)
Senses darkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 13
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Damage Resistances necrotic
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, poisoned
Actions
Multiattack. The charnel captain makes either three melee attacks—one with its bite and two with its claws—or three ranged attacks with its longbow.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an elf or undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.
Charnel Priest
Medium undead, chaotic evil
Armor Class 16 (breastplate)
Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30)
Speed 30 ft.
StrDexConIntWisCha
15 (+2)14 (+2)16 (+3)14 (+2)16 (+3)12 (+1)
Damage Immunities. necrotic, poison.
Condition Immunities. charmed, exhaustion, poisoned.
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Spellcasting: The ghoul priest is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). The priest has the following cleric spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will)—guidance, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots)—bane, inflict wounds, shield of faith
2nd level (3 slots)—hold person, silence
3rd level (2 slots)—animate dead, bestow curse
Actions
Multiattack. The charnel priest makes three melee attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an elf or undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success
Channel Negative Energy The charnel priest magically unleashes negative energy. Living creatures within 60 feet of the charnel priest, including ones behind barriers and around corners, can’t regain hit points until the end of the charnel priest’s next turn.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

The Age of Worms has Passed!

In 2013 I had not run a regular, ongoing D&D campaign for a few years. I was a player in a pretty fun monthly game, and DMing some kids through a mini-campaign, and running semi-regular installments of the Great Dungeon. But no real campaign as such.

It was a weird time: although I had played a ton of Third Edition, I was a little adrift. Fourth Edition had been out for five years, but I had been so turned off by WotC’s handling of the edition switch that I had admittedly never given it a chance. Fifth Edition was coming, they said, but I really didn’t have much interest. Instead, I’d just kept running 3.5e with occasional forays into Swords and Wizardry and Pathfinder. The latter seemed fine, but I had never completely embraced it, even though I had high regard for the Paizo team.

Several of my regular players were hankering for a new campaign, but everyone seemed really busy. And we were scattered across the state. I was hesitant to commit.

But part of me was missing a regular game, and even more so, my gamer friends. I was also hearing good things about the Roll20 virtual tabletop. So on May 2, I sent out a faithful email with five different campaign pitches, including Red Hand of Doom and the Savage Tides adventure path. The players chose my first pitch:

Age of Worms develops from a small town of Diamond Lake, leads to intrigue in the Free City of Greyhawk, and then on to a mysterious cult that serves as a front to bring about the events leading up to the Age of Worms. As the players encounter the various architects of the plot, they uncover the nature of the coming age, and battle the ultimate masterminds behind it.

AoW was only the second Paizo adventure path, published in twelve monthly installments of Dungeon magazine from July 2005 to June 2006 and covering a classic zero to hero arc: characters could go from 1st all the way to 20th level, and maybe further. Although written for 3.5e, I adopted it to Pathfinder, where it provided my first (and as it turned out, last) stress test of the system.

We convened a weekly Roll20 group later that May, the Tuesday Night Casual Encounterists, but not before I gave them all fair warning: “This campaign,” I wrote, “is supposed to be a real motherfucker.” We had five PCs: Braan Amher, a half-orc ranger, Greylen Stahl, a human cleric, Garrett Moore, a human fighter, Melvin the Helvin, a human half-elf rogue, and Fingolfin the elvish enchanter. The players were a good mix of role-players and min-maxers, and all of us had played together in several different games over the years.

Roll20 was a huge revelation: not very fancy and occasionally clunky, but serviceable and easy to use, making it convenient to meet a weekly 3-hour commitment every Tuesday night. You get a pleasant rhythm in a weekly game that you never quite achieve in a monthly or even bi-weekly one. And we did pretty well playing most weeks.

We played a little over two years—through almost 10 of the 12 installments—when the wheels finally fell off. It was a combination of different life events all at once, some really good and some really not. Most games end like this, with a whimper: you start skipping more and more weeks until finally you just sort of stop.

In 2018 we ran a face-to-face session to finish up the 11th AoW installment, “Kings of the Rift,” in an attempt to bring some closure to a campaign I think we had all enjoyed.

But this spring we were all sidelined with COVID-19. I had dusted off my Roll20 account and was running some Traveller and 5e games. But a couple of players suggested we finish off Age of Worms.

And so we did.

All told, it took 94 sessions and maybe something like 240 hours of Roll20. All of the players stuck with the whole campaign. At about the halfway point, Fingolfin retired and the same player introduced Herr Hexenmeister von Formen, an evoker. A few of the player characters were killed but restored with resurrections or wishes. In the end, AoW didn’t prove nearly as lethal as billed—though I did my level best!—but the adventure path was fairly entertaining. A high level Pathfinder game came with a pretty steep learning curve both for myself as well as the players, but by the end I think we did fairly well contending with artifacts, deities, and 9th level spells. (Roll20 macros and character sheets were probably a godsend here.)

For me, the promise of Age of Worms was the opportunity to finally use many iconic D&D elements that I’d never had a chance to use before. During the course of the adventure path the PCs were expected to visit the City of Greyhawk and collect several classic artifacts, some of which go all the way back to the Eldritch Wizardry supplement (1976), such as the Rod of Seven Parts and the Hand of Vecna. The central villain, Kyuss, goes all the way back to the original Fiend Folio (1981) and the loathsome Sons of Kyuss, a creation of Michael MacDonald: “Truly horrible creatures in appearance, these ghastly undead appear as animated putrid corpses with fat green worms crawling in and out of all their skull orifices.” Another major antagonist of the Age of Worms is Dragotha the Undead Dragon, who originated in a memorable Erol Otus map from the revised Module S2, White Plume Mountain (1981). In some ways, the Age of Worms reads like a D&D bucket list.

The execution of the adventure path, though, is a bit uneven. Some of this was likely due to Paizo’s relative inexperience coordinating such a large and complex adventure on a monthly deadline, working with different authors, and fitting it all into a limited page count. More than once you can see some slips that likely arose from the frenetic development pace: a continuity error here, a bum statblock there. Nifty ideas are raised but never really developed: for example, in “Kings of the Rift” the PCs are charged with finding Dragotha’s phylactery, with many hints that this fell item might prove a useful bargaining chip with the dracolich. But “Into the Wormcrawl Fissure” does nothing with this premise: the phylactery has no real benefit, and the PCs might as well destroy it as soon as they get their mitts on it. (Which is what my group did anyway.)

Similarly, the adventure path introduces some new mechanics like Fate Points or authority points but then does relatively little with them. Also, in the course of the early adventures the PCs can find some minor items that seemingly play no part until the very last adventure.

Some of the problems with Age of Worms, though, are fundamental problems with Third Edition, particularly high level play. Back in 2008 Merric Blackman wrote a tough assessment of the adventure path: How Paizo Made Me Hate 3e. Although the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek, many of his criticisms are dead on. Particularly at higher levels, 3e suffers from a huge disparity between classes, enormous modifiers to attacks and saves, and overly complicated mechanics. Each PC has multiple different actions each round that allow them to swamp many solo monsters just with action economy. 

The infamous 15 minute day, in which high level PCs can go nova in one encounter and then retreat to safety to recharge, is endemic to the later installments. Some of this might have been remediated through tighter adventure design: “Into the Wormcrawl Fissure,” for example, is supposed to be a harrowing race to confront Dragotha before Kyuss can emerge from his prison and unleash the Age of Worms. But there’s no real sense of urgency: in fact, the adventure encourages the PCs to complete a series of fetch quests before they face the dracolich.

One critique that Blackman had is somewhat ameliorated by the Pathfinder system. The adventure path relies too heavily on undead monsters, which are immune to sneak attacks in 3e, greatly limiting the rogue class. In Pathfinder, though, rogues can sneak attack undead, allowing our Melvin to shine in combat—particularly when he and Garrett could get into flanking position. But while the Pathfinder system makes a few of these problems better, it also makes many problems worse by adding new layers of complexity. High level play still remains a chore to run.

The most frustrating problems with Age of Worms, though, were ones completely out of the hands of Paizo: here I mean interference from Wizards of the Coast, which had to review and approve all of Paizo’s licensed work. One can occasionally spot WotC’s hand in the insertion of game elements pulled straight from the newest WotC books. Perhaps the most awkward example was a derro warlock riding a wyvern with levels in some weird aerialist prestige class, something that really didn’t make much sense within the context of the adventure. When I ran that encounter I simply substituted the halfling vampire that appears to have been the author’s original intent.

I mentioned earlier that the adventure path clearly suffers from a frantic pace of development. The original plan was for Paizo to release a hardcover “director’s cut” compilation edition that could have smoothed out some of these rough edges and added material that landing on the cutting room floor. Instead, WotC denied Paizo the opportunity.

But my biggest critique of WotC here was how they hamstrung the use of the Greyhawk setting. So many of the iconic D&D elements I wanted to see used in Age of Worms originated in Greyhawk and are tightly connected to that world. Many of the Paizo principals were unabashed Gryhawk fanatics: I first “met” Erik Mona on the old AOL Greyhawk boards back in the early 90s.

But despite this, for some inexplicable reason WotC severely curtailed the ability of Paizo to utilize the Greyhawk setting for Age of Worms. For example, WotC insisted that instead of using Tenser the Archmage, Paizo was forced to use an ersatz Tenser named “Manzorian.” Likewise, Greyhawk City becomes just “the Free City.” The result is a very unsatisfying, uncanny valley version of Greyhawk. It is a great credit to the Paizo team that they got as much authentic Greyhawk content (including several nifty Easter eggs) into the adventure path as they did, but overall this was a tremendous wasted opportunity.

These weaknesses aside, this is a damned good adventure path that could have easily been made great in a compilation edition. And if a few of the early installments are forgettable, the back six adventures are suitably epic and really pick up a load of steam. These final adventures feature some fantastic set pieces: the haunted jungle city of Kuluth-Mar, the Lost Island of Tindalos, the besieged giant city of Kongen-Thulnir, the Tabernacle of Worms, and the Spire of Shadows. As promised, I finally got to see the Hand of Vecna, the Rod of Seven Parts, even a sphere of annihilation in play! To say nothing of Dragotha or Kyuss himself.

I had never run a group all the way to 20th level in any edition, and had never had PCs fight a god, or even a demi-god. In the end, my players prevailed. They played smart, got a little lucky, and pulled out all the stops for the final confrontation with Kyuss. The Wormgod really didn’t know what hit him.

I’ve been blessed to have a few very fun, long-running campaigns that we were able to run to completion. But I’ve probably had just as many campaigns that either never took off or sputtered out well before their time. You don’t often get a chance to finish an abandoned campaign, and I’m so glad we had a chance to do so with Age of Worms. Well done, Braan, Garrett, Greylen, Hexenmeister, and Melvin!

Hexenmeister, Greylen, Braan, Garrett, and Melvin round on Kyuss.
Posted by at 6 comments:
Labels: , , ,

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

End of Summer Update

It’s been a strange summer with COVID-19, and although this blog has fallen fallow I’ve actually been gaming as much as ever. I’ve been running two weekly Roll20 games so most of my spare time has been spent prepping and refereeing those campaigns. And I’ve even had a chance to play a bit, which I always enjoy. A quick recap of what’s been going on:

Age of Worms. Our 1e Pathfinder conversion of the classic Dungeon adventure path, explicitly set in Greyhawk, is drawing near its end. The PCs are all 20th level and have only a few final encounters before taking on the dreaded Wormgod, Kyuss. This game has been a lot of fun: I’m so glad we picked this back up and are finishing it out. But that said, high level 3e/PF is just brutal to run, even for the players. The experience has been a good reminder of all the things I loved—and hated—about that edition.

Rage of Demons. This 5e adventure path has been a really good contrast to Age of Worms, though I sometimes feel a bit of whiplash moving back and forth between ultra-complicated high level 3e and lower level 5e. The group is almost halfway through the campaign; a couple of months ago Wizards began offering a Roll20 module of the book, which has made prepping and running the game much easier.

Lost Mine of Phandelver. A friend of mine ran this 5e module about a month ago and we had a blast. It’s a very nice introduction to the game, with an exciting mix of wilderness, town, and dungeon adventuring. All the players opted for character classes they had never or rarely played, so I had a chance to play a bard—which is actually a very versatile and effective class in 5e. 

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus. Speaking of nice introductions to the game, I recently bought Zach Howard’s 5e conversion of the sample dungeon from the 1977 Holmes’ Basic Set. Howard carefully updated and expanded his brief source text into a very nice adventure, brimful of iconic D&D encounters.

Into the Interface. Unfortunately, all of the D&D games crowded out my Mongoose Traveller 2e game set in Magyar sector, which fizzled in early May. I’ve got some thoughts on what worked and what didn’t, so I would like to take another run at this game after Age of Worms wraps up.

Miniatures. I’ve really had no time to paint much of anything over the summer, which has left several very cool models sitting on my workbench gathering dust. It will probably be a few months more before I will get back to any of them. 

That is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie. On another note, it’s been a pleasant surprise to see the revival of the Grognardia blog, which has been sorely missed since its last entry back in 2012 (!). I think it’s great that James Maliszewski has just quietly resumed blogging without any fanfare, in some cases picking up on topics as if he never left. So much has changed in the last eight years and I’d really like to read his take on 5e, which incorporated many of the OSR philosophies he championed.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, April 27, 2020

Flood or Drought

After a couple of years of not running a regular game, I suddenly find myself with more games than I know what to do with. I’m currently running three different Roll20 games:

  • Age of Worms. This is the restart of a fun Roll20 game that ran weekly from 2013 to 2015 before getting derailed by real life. We used the classic Dungeon magazine adventure path adapted for Pathfinder 1e. The PCs have just started the 11th installment, “Into the Wormcrawl Fissure,” and are at 18th level. I think it will probably need 6–12 more sessions to polish this off. So far I’m really looking forward to completing this campaign, but it’s been something of a learning curve going back to a high level 3.5e/PF game after mostly playing lower level 5e for the last few years. 
  • Into the Interface. This is an open-ended sandbox campaign set in Magyar sector circa 1100 and using Mongoose Traveller 2e rules. I’ve enjoyed being able to run a regular Traveller game, though I wish Roll20 offered better support for the Mongoose Traveller system. And I’ve discovered that running a sandbox game with Roll20 has had some unexpected challenges. Any virtual tabletop is designed to use grids, maps, tokens, and so on. With an adventure path, you know more-or-less what visual materials you need before each session. But a sandbox, by its very nature, can very quickly move into unexpected directions. I can already see the utility of having some generic terrain sets purchased and ready to go if necessary.
  • Out of the Abyss. This is a 5e campaign using the Wizards of the Coast module designed by Green Ronin. There’s a lot to like—demons! the Underdark!—but the implementation of the sandbox here is a bit shaky; this might have been better with a more conventional adventure path structure. The PCs are 4th–5th level, so we’re roughly a third of the way through.

The only downside to suddenly having so many games is that I’ve got a lot less time for blogging or painting miniatures. Certainly an acceptable trade-off!

Stanko Downport Patron Encounters

The benefit of playing through so much Traveller is I’ve been using a lot of patron encounters to give the players a taste for the Third Imperium setting. Here are three patrons that I’ve used lately; they could be dropped into Imperial starports almost anywhere.

1. Lord Rush, Noble

Locations The Chapel, Piwiarnia, Sipsmith

Required Skills None 

Required Equipment None

Player’s Information

Lord Rush is a pale, priggish youth of fifteen, the son of the Baroness Leonila Folse, the Imperial representative to Stanko (Magyar 2810 A555649-C). The boy is accompanied by his tutor, Dr. Silvio Medved, a gaunt and rather officious fellow. Four years ago the widowed Baroness married a cunning opportunist, Crawford Folse. While the Baroness was at first completely smitten by her new husband, Crawford soon revealed himself to be a wastrel and philanderer, spending his days carousing and gambling with a group of off-world hanger-ons at Stafford, the Folse family estate on the outskirts of Racimir, the planetary capital. A year ago Lord Rush and Crawford quarreled so violently that the boy fled Stafford in the middle of the night. 

Referee’s Information

Dr. Medved can offer the PCs Cr20,000 if they will drive the wicked Crawford out of Stafford forever, by any means necessary. Crawford has become politically connected, so straight-up violence will likely draw the attention of the local authorities. The attractive but lonely Baroness could also be swayed by the charms of a suitor or even just the kindness of an earnest friend.

Crawford Folse
Ex-Army (3 terms)
Str 7, Dex 9 (+1), End 8, Int 10 (+1), Edu 6, Soc 8
Skills Carouse 2, Deception 2, Diplomat 0, Drive 0, Gambler 1, Gun Combat (slug) 1, Melee 0, Persuade 2, Recon 0, Streetwise 0
Possessions Cloth armor (+4), revolver (10, 3d6-3)
Comments Crawford is a shrewd and perceptive man. He is also impulsive and temperamental, so could be drawn into a duel or humiliated socially. An inveterate gambler, he could be enticed into a high stakes game of chance.

2. Captain Caterina Zheng, Merchant

Locations The Lone Star, Luksus Grand, Scout’s Lounge

Required Skills Investigate, Streetwise 

Required Equipment None

Player’s Information

Captain Zheng is a short, dark-skinned woman with curly brown hair and an intense, abrupt manner. She is the half owner of the free trader Dust in the Wind, which has plied the backwaters of the Walpurgian Main for several years but with only mixed success. A month ago her first officer and business partner, Fitz Kelsey, skipped out with their ship. She has traced the Dust to Stanko, and has determined that Kelsey sold the lucrative cargo of pharmaceuticals and is now living high on the hog with the proceeds. 

Referee’s Information

Captain Zheng will pay the party Cr15,000 to help her locate and apprehend Kelsey before their lender, the Walpurgis Central Trust, repossesses the Dust. Complicating matters is the recent onworld arrival of Made Merric, an experienced skip tracer from the Trust. Kelsey is hiding out in the Luksus Grand hotel.

Made Merric
Skip Tracer (3 terms)
Str 8, Dex 9 (+1), End 7, Int 9 (+1), Edu 7, Soc 5 (-1)
Skills Admin 0, Carouse 0, Drive 0, Electronics 0, Gun Combat (slug) 1, Investigate 2, Melee (unarmed) 2, Persuade 1, Stealth 0, Streetwise 2A
Possessions ceramic carapace (+10, +16 against lasers, fire), autopistol (3D-3), stunstick (2D, stun), 4 stun grenades (3D, Blast 9, Stun)
Comments Made is an experienced skip tracer, but also a thorough pragmatist who could be bought off for Cr10,000.

3. Bathshua Munro, Colonist

Locations Bang!, Dear Zosia, Scout’s Lounge

Required Skills Flyer, Mechanic, Recon 

Required Equipment None

Player’s Information

Bathshua is a tall, resolute woman in her early thirties with a fair complexion and brown hair pulled back. She lives with her husband Gabriel in Jane’s Point, a farming town of some 5,000 located nearly 15,000 km away on the eastern shore of the Sweitny Ocean. Bathshua wants to hire a crew to fly an old ornithopter loaded with farming equipment to Jane’s Point.

Referee’s Information

The biotech megacorporation Schunamann and Sohn AG (SuSAG) has been attempting to buy up land around Jane’s Point to establish a research station for genetically engineered crops. The independent farmers have rejected all offers, so SuSAG has sent in a small security team to harass the holdouts. The team is composed of armed, vat-grown mercenaries. As all weapons outside the home are illegal on Stanko, the farmers have been relatively defenseless against the clones and recently Gabriel was badly wounded in a confrontation. 

Bathsua has traveled to Racimir to purchase a smuggled shipment of 50 Hero HR-5 hunting rifles. The weapons are hidden in the ornithopter, which will not make the entire journey without significant mechanical interventions.

She will offer Cr10,000 for this service, but is authorized to offer up to Cr12,000. 

SuSAG Operator
Vat-Grown
Str 8, Dex 8, End 10 (+1), Int 8, Edu 7, Soc 6
Skills Athletics 0, Gun Combat (slug) 2, Melee (unarmed) 2, Navigation 0, Stealth 0, Survival 1, Recon 1
Possessions assault shotgun (4D, range 50, Auto 2, Bulky), ballistic vest (+4)
Comments These identical clones have standard military training and equipment. Their extreme psychological conditioning makes them nearly immune to bribery or fear.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2020 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Far Future Enterprises’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications' copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

A Shapeless Congeries: Shoggoths

Among the more frightening and iconic monsters from the Cthulhu mythos are the shoggoths, the protoplasmic servitor race created by the Elder Things to build their terrible cities. H.P. Lovecraft included them in his novella At the Mountains of Madness (1931).

The Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder Kickstarter came with several shoggoth miniatures. I was initially disappointed that they weren’t larger, but they are nice sculpts that could be mounted on a Huge base. I knew I wanted to paint one with a blue-black color with glowing green eyes. For my first attempt I primed it gray and then went with a soft blue base coat, but this was much too light. I tried again with a black primer and a thin base of the same soft blue—this approach worked much better, creating the dark, midnight blue effect I was looking for. I then used the same technique for glowing green eyes that I‘ve been using for red eyes. This worked pretty well, though when I added a glossy varnish to give the model a nice slimy sheen the glowing effect died back a bit.

There have been several versions of shoggoths in D&D, starting with “The Lovecraftian Mythos in Dungeons & Dragons” from The Dragon #12 (February, 1978). The first printing of the Deities and Demigods book (1980) also had AD&D stats for shoggoths in the Cthulhu Mythos section that was cut from later printings. Paizo created an open version for 3.5e in the Crucible of Chaos (2008), which was then updated for Pathfinder in the first Bestiary. The Petersen Mythos Bestiary has a second, slightly tougher Pathfinder version which was used to create the following 0e and 3.5e conversions.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Shoggoth

This mass of undulating tarry black flesh exudes the smell of decay, filled with bubbles of vilest air and giving off a very faint luminescence. Its unworldly voice is plaintive, always crying, “Tekeli-li!”

Formless Horror. A shoggoth’s form is constantly shifting, as the creature moves, explores, and interacts with its environment. Extremely adaptable, its current form is always the one that is most ideally suited to finding and consuming living flesh. At any one time, a shoggoth has dozens of pseudopods of varying proportions, and it uses them to create hands, suckers, stingers, or tentacles to grab and consume its prey. Shoggoths have no proper mouth but create and absorb such organs as needed

Always Hungry. Shoggoths are near-mindless predators though legends say they possess a cunning beyond that of most oozes.

Fueled by Chaos. Shoggoths are servitors of dark gods and things normally spoken of only in whispers. At one time, shoggoths were servants to a greater race, but after centuries or eons of mistreatment they rebelled and cast down their masters.

Unnaturally Resilient. Shoggoths are impervious to cold and can thrive on minimal foodstuffs filtered from air or water when nothing more nutritious is available. They prefer environments where water or ice is available.

A shoggoth’s skin glows with a very faint emerald luminescence. Its black tarry flesh is sometimes translucent as well, especially when it has not eaten in a long time. It is capable of secreting a thick, viscous, semi-opaque, sticky slime that further enhances its ability to catch and devour its prey.

0e

Shoggoth CL 19 (4,100 XP)

If a shoggoth hits an opponent with 2 tentacles in 1 round, it can decide to engulf the opponent automatically on the next round. An engulfed opponent takes 1d10 points of damage each round it remains trapped. Attacks on a shoggoth deal half their damage to anyone engulfed by the creature.

HD 13; AC 3 [16]; Atk 4 tentacles (1d10); Move 18/18 (swimming); Save 3; Al C; Special engulf, half damage from weapons, immune to cold, magic resistance (40%).

3.5e

Shoggoth CR 20

Always CE Huge ooze (aquatic)

Init +12; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, scent, tremorsense 60 ft.; Listen +20, Spot +25

Languages Aklo

Defense

AC 36, touch 16, flat-footed 28
(+8 Dex, +20 natural, -2 size)

hp 403 (26d10+260 HD); fast healing 10

Fort +20, Ref +16, Will +22

Defensive Abilities ooze traits, strong willed; DR 10/–; Immune blindness, charm effects, cold, deafness, sonic; Resist acid 30, fire 30; SR 31

Offense

Spd 50 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 50 ft.

Melee 4 pseudopods +32 (3d8+15/19–20)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 30 ft.

Special Attacks constrict, consume, deadly blow, improved grab, maddening cacophony, trample

Tactics

Before Combat The shoggoth cries with its maddening cacophony to induce fear before closing to engulf its foes.

During Combat The shoggoth uses its pseudopods in the first round of any encounter, hoping to knock down a foe quickly. In the second round, it swallows one or more foes.

Morale The shoggoth retreats under cover if faced with flying opponents and it flees if reduced to less than 50 hit points without feeding on a foe. Otherwise, the shoggoth fights to the death.

Statistics

Str 40, Dex 26, Con 31, Int 5, Wis 22, Cha 13

Base Atk +19; Grp +42

Feats Blind-Fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (pseudopods), Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack

Skills Climb +23, Listen +20, Spot +25, Swim +23

Ecology

Environment cold aquatic or underground

Organization solitary

Treasure standard

Advancement 24–34 HD (Huge), 35–46 HD (Colossal)

Special Abilities

All-Around Vision (Ex) A shoggoth’s many sense organs grant a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks and immunity to flanking.

Constrict (Ex) A shoggoth deals automatic pseudopod damage with a successful grapple check.

Consume (Ex) A shoggoth can attempt to consume a grappled opponent of Huge or smaller size by making a successful grapple check as a free action. Once inside, the opponent takes 4d6+22 bludgeoning damage plus 10d6 acid damage per round. A consumed creature can cut its way out by dealing 25 points of damage to the shoggoth (AC 28, and the shoggoth’s damage reduction still applies to those inside). A creature that cuts its way out of a shoggoth leaves no hole in the protoplasmic creature’s body. The shoggoth’s body can hold 1 Huge, 2 Large, 8 Medium, 32 Small, or 128 Tiny, or 512 Diminutive or smaller creatures.

Deadly Blow (Ex) If a shoggoth reduces a creature to fewer than 0 hit points with a pseudopod attack, the creature must make a successful DC 38 Fortitude save or it is instantly slain as the shoggoth plucks off the victim’s head, crushes its torso, or otherwise destroys the creature’s body. The save DC is Strength-based.

Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a shoggoth must hit a creature up to one size category smaller than itself with a pseudopod attack. It may then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it it establishes a hold and can attempt to constrict or consume the opponent as a free action.

Maddening Cacophony (Su) As a free action, a shoggoth can give voice to sounds and words sane life was not meant to hear. All creatures in a 60-foot radius must make a DC 24 Will save or be confused for 1d6 rounds. Each round a creature is affected it takes 1d6 points of Wisdom damage. A creature that saves cannot be affected by this shoggoth’s maddening cacophony for 24 hours. This is a sonic mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Pseudopods (Ex) A shoggoth can attack with up to four pseudopods in a round. As it attacks, it can decide as a free action if the pseudopod inflicts bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.

Strong-Willed (Ex) A shoggoth has a +6 racial bonus on Will saves. Once per day the shoggoth can reroll one failed Will save.

Trample (Ex) As a standard action during its turn each round, a shoggoth can literally run over an opponent at least one size smaller than itself. It merely has to move over the opponent to deal bludgeoning damage equal to 4d8 + 15. The target can attempt a DC 38 Reflex save to negate the damage, or it can instead choose to make an attack of opportunity at a -4 penalty. The save DC is Strength-based.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

RIP, Google Hangouts

Yesterday was the last day for third party apps using the Google Hangouts API. I ran a rocking Age of Worms campaign for a little over two years and 70 sessions with Roll20 and Google Hangouts, and in general it was a very slick setup: easy to use and fairly reliable. The group got all the way “Kings of the Rift” before new babies and schedules finally sunk the campaign.

Like all unfinished campaigns, I still harbor fleeting hopes that we will someday be able to pick up where we left off, though the likelihood of that happening diminishes with each passing day. I hope Roll20 is able to find a video solution that works as well as hangouts did. Is Skype a possibility? In the last couple of years my firm has been integrating Skype video and phone into our conference calls and I‘ve been impressed with the results.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: ,

Monday, March 6, 2017

The Subterrene World of Gugs

The gugs are another classic Lovecraftian monster brought to the dungeons by Paizo. First appearing in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, they have a memorably horrific appearance. As seen to the right, I have one gug figure from a Pathfinder Battles set—and I only just realized how much this nasty resembles the Demogorgon from Stranger Things. I’ll be getting an "Eldritch Horror Gug" as part of the Reaper Bones III set as well as a third model though the Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder Kickstarter. These monsters are right at home in the depths of the earth, and should be spread as widely as possible.

The 3.5e version below is adapted from Paizo’s Skeletons of Scarwall adventure (2008), with a couple of mechanical tweaks inspired by the Pathfinder Bestiary 2. The 5e version is directly converted from the 3.5e version, but there is a very nice, higher-challenge rendition in Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts for 5th Edition.

The following text is Open Game Content:

Gug

This towering menace has a horrible, vertically aligned mouth and arms that split at the elbows into twin clawed hands. The creature is 16 feet tall and heavy, but moves with an unnatural gait as though its limbs contained far too many joints.

Lurkers in the Deep. Gugs dwell in the deep places of the world, where they lie in wait for prey to stumble too close.

Relentless Hunters. They savor hunting prey and gugs that catch the scent of blood may give chase for days, even venturing beyond their dismal caves.

Fearsome in Numbers. Gugs are savage fighters when driven by a strong leader, but on their own may flee if wounded.

0e

Gug CL 15 (2,900 XP)

Gugs are adept climbers, able to scale walls at a movement rate of 9. They can move through a passage as narrow as 5 feet wide without penalty.

A gug that hits an opponent with 2 or more claws in one round will rend the flesh for an additional 2d6 damage.

HD 13; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 bite (2d6), 4 claws (1d6); Save 3; Move 15; Al C; Special Immune to disease and poison, rend.

3.5e

Gug CR 10

Usually CE Large aberration

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +9, Spot +9

Languages Undercommon

Defense

AC 24, touch 10, flat-footed 23
(+1 Dex, +14 natural, -1 size)

hp 157 (15d8+90 HD)

Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +12

Immune disease, poison

Offense

Spd 40 ft., climb 20 ft.

Melee 4 claws +19 (1d6+9), bite +14 (2d6+4)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

Special Attacks rend 2d6+18

Tactics

During Combat In battle, gugs prefer to use multiple claw attacks on individual targets in hopes of hitting and enabling multiple rend attacks.

Morale Gugs are fearless in combat when in the presence of other—especially more powerful—gugs, but when left to their own devices usually flee if reduced to half their hit points. In these situations they are also prone to dragging fallen opponents away from combat in order to feed.

Statistics

Str 28, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 11

Base Atk +11; Grp +24

Feats Alertness, Awesome Blow, Blind-Fight, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack, Track

Skills Climb +17, Escape Artist +5, Hide +3, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Listen +9, Move Silently +7, Spot +9, Survival +7

SQ tunnel mobility

Ecology

Environment any underground

Organization solitary, pair, or camp (3–10)

Treasure standard

Advancement 16–20 (Large); 21–38 (Huge); 39–45 (Gargantuan)

Level Adjustment +5

Special Abilities

Rend (Ex) A gug that hits with two or more claw attacks latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an extra 2d6+18 points of damage.

Tunnel Mobility (Ex) Strangely flexible, gugs are capable of moving through spaces only half as wide as their normal space without squeezing penalties. They must still make Escape Artist checks to squeeze through spaces smaller than half their size.

Skills A gug has a +4 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks. It has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.

5e

Gug
Large aberration, chaotic evil
Armor Class 16 (natural)
Hit Points 178 (17d10 + 85)
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
StrDexConIntWisCha
23 (+6)14 (+2)21 (+5)11 (+0)16 (+3)11 (+0)
Damage Immunities disease, poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Skills Perception +7, Survival +7
Senses darkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 17
Languages Undercommon
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
Tunnel Mobility. The gug can move through a space as narrow as 5 feet wide without squeezing.
Actions
Multiattack. The gug makes 4 claw attacks and 1 bite attack.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8+6) slashing damage.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8+6) piercing damage.

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)