Wafer Tech for Mongoose Traveller

Marc Miller’s recent work has introduced many fascinating new elements to the Official Traveller Universe. Both Traveller⁵ and Agent of the Imperium added post-humanist tech such as cloning, synthetics, and consciousness transfers that are well worth incorporating into a Mongoose Traveller game.

An experimental TL10 wafer jack. As the technology advances jacks become less and less obtrusive.

One such element is Wafer Tech, which is broadly compatible with Mongoose Traveller’s wafer jacks. In addition to allowing characters to connect directly into a computer system, a wafer jack can also be used to run wafers, which are thin chips that contain recorded skills or even personalities. In Traveller⁵, a wafer jack is a fairly common mustering-out benefit.

One benefit of introducing wafer tech into the game is that it reduces the need for the Jack-of-All Trades skill, which has been problematic for every version of Traveller. As Marc Miller himself recently explained, Jack-of-all-Trades “was meant to gap fill any skills not present in the Traveller party.” Wafer tech neatly addresses this problem without the mechanical headaches.

In Traveller⁵, use of wafers is limited by two factors. First, a wafer’s effectiveness steadily degrades and can, at best, only be used for a few weeks at a time. Second, use of wafers is mentally taxing and requires daily sanity checks. In Traveller⁵, Sanity is a seventh characteristic—familiar from Cthulhu games—used to track mental fitness. Fortunately, Mongoose Traveller introduced Sanity in the Traveller Companion and this mechanic is essentially interchangeable with Traveller⁵. All characters determine Sanity by rolling 2D, and various traumatic mental events can temporarily or permanently reduce this value.

Wafer Tech for Mongoose Traveller

Any skill provided by a wafer automatically degrades at a rate of 1 level every 5 days. After every day of using a wafer, a user must make a Sanity characteristic check. Failure reduces Sanity by 1.

Single Skill Wafers (SSW) convey temporary expertise in a single skill.

Single Skill Wafers

TL	Skill Level Conveyed	Cost (KCr)
13	2	190
14	3	200
15	4	210

Many starships carry a reserve kit of SSW for emergency use. For example, the Starjammer, a Type UF armed packet, carries five single skill wafers-14: Astrogation 3, Engineer (M-drive) 3, Engineer (J-Drive) 3, Medic 3, Pilot (spacecraft) 3.

Emergency Personality Wafers (EPW) contain a recorded personality with memories and experiences. The recorded personality essentially takes over the body of the wafer user.

The recorded personality uses all of the physical and mental characteristics of the wafer user, but has access only to its own memories and skills. The personality has several different skills with various levels:

EPW Skill Levels

TL	Skill 0	Skill 1	Skill 2	Skill 3	Skill 4	Cost (MCr)
13	2	2	1	1	0	0.95
14	3	2	2	1	1	1.00
15	4	3	2	2	1	1.05

The personality completely degrades after 7 days of use, though skill levels may remain.

The Imperial megacorporation Naasirka provides its most far-flung sector headquarters with an EPW-15 containing the recorded personality of Nashu Zisduurkhaar, a senior executive from the 1000s famed for her decisive and innovative management. Zisduurkhaar oversaw the development of the strategic plan that continues to guide her old megacorporation over 60 years later. The personality is activated to resolve any managerial disputes that cannot wait for guidance from corporate headquarters on Tauri (Vland 1817 A430998-F). The personality has all of Zisduurkhaar’s memories and conveys the skills Admin 3, Advocate 3, Diplomat 4, Leadership 4, and Science (economics) 2.

Entertainment Wafers (EW) contain a less intense personality transfer for entertainment purposes: the user feels like he is the new personality until it dissipates upon awakening from the next sleep period, but he retains memories of the experience. The cost of an EW is Cr100.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2019 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.

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Keeners Hoarser than Rooks: Groaning Spirits

The elves of Old Norumbega, it is said, forbade any of their kind from entering the Great Dungeon. Hobgoblin garrisons were posted to the shores of Black Lake to prevent any elf from violating this ban. The reason behind this prohibition is less well known, but the elves say that one of the first Elf Queens in the North was long troubled by dreams of the Dungeon, which visited her in the night with promises of lost magic. One day she and her sister, a great warrior, and her consort, a mighty wizard, ventured into the Dungeon and were destroyed somewhere in the depths. More recently, explorers to the deeper levels have reported seeing a wretched, weeping spirit whose wails echo through the pitch-black halls. None, though, have even claimed to have heard the dread keening of the Banshee Queen, which is said to bring death.

Groaning spirits (banshees) were included in the 1st edition Monster Manual (1977) as undead elf maidens with a devastating special attack: a keening that could kill those who heard it. Perhaps because of the very specific origin of this monster, or its deadly attack, groaning spirits saw fairly limited use. In 3rd edition, banshees appeared as a CR 17 creature in the Monster Manual II, a pretty significant jump in power from earlier editions. This decision makes some sense: a monster with an attack that can potentially inflict a TPK should probably be higher level. Like many of the higher CR MMII monsters, the banshee is a good concept with a shaky design. Meanwhile, the Tome of Horrors included a 3.5e version of the groaning spirit that was CR 7 and more faithful to older editions. Finally, Pathfinder responded with their own, CR 15 banshee in the Bestiary II.

I wasn’t entirely satisfied with any of these versions, and wanted something that could scale from CR 7 up to CR 17 and maybe beyond. Given that undead usually work well as a template, I ended up making a template that borrowed from the ToH and the Bestiary, as well as the standard ghost template (but without all the cumbersome ethereal mechanics).

The following text is Open Game Content.

Groaning Spirit

This translucent figure resembles a beautiful elven female with delicate features. Her eyes burn with a crimson flame and her hair is a tangled mess of its former beauty.

A Malevolent Spirit. The groaning spirit is an undead female elf, often found haunting swamps, fens, moors, and other desolate places.

Enmity for the Living. Groaning spirits are filled with hatred and seek to destroy whomever they meet.

Baleful Wailing. A groaning spirit’s primary attack is her keening, which can seriously harm or even kill the listener. If a creature survives the keening attack, the groaning spirit attacks with her incorporeal touch.

A groaning spirit appears as a translucent image of her former self.

Creating A Groaning Spirit

“Groaning Spirit” is an acquired template that can be added to any female elf with 5 or more HD and a Charisma score of at least 8 (hereafter referred to as the base creature).

A groaning spirit uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +2.

Alignment: Always chaotic evil.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to undead, and it gains the incorporeal and augmented subtypes. It also retains all subtypes except alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind (such as elf). Do not recalculate the creature’s base attack bonus, saves, or skill points. Size is unchanged.

Senses: A groaning spirit has all the senses of the base creature and gains darkvision out to 60 feet and the lifesense ability.

Lifesense (Su): A groaning spirit notices and locates living creatures within 60 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability. It also senses the strength of their life force automatically, as if it had cast deathwatch.

Armor Class: The creature’s natural armor bonus is +0, but it gains a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma modifier or +1, whichever is higher.

Hit Dice: All current and future Hit Dice become d12s.

Defensive Abilities: A groaning spirit has all the defensive abilities of the base creature as well as the following.

Incorporeal Traits: A groaning spirit is harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons, spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. It has a 50% chance to ignore any damage from a corporeal source, except for force effects or attacks made with ghost touch weapons. A groaning spirit can pass through solid objects, but not force effects, at will. Its own attacks ignore armor, natural armor, and shields, but deflection bonuses and force effects work normally against them. A groaning spirit always moves silently and cannot be heard with Listen checks if it doesn’t wish to be.

Spell Resistance (Ex): A groaning spirit has spell resistance equal to the base creature’s HD + 13 (maximum 35).

Turn Resistance (Ex): A groaning spirit has +4 turn resistance.

Undead Traits: A groaning spirit is immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and effects that require a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. It is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to its physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage. It cannot be raised andresurrection works only if it is willing.

Weaknesses: A groaning spirit gains daylight powerlessness.

Daylight Powerlessness (Ex): A groaning spirit is utterly powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flees from it.

Speed: Groaning spirits have a fly speed of 60 feet, unless the base creature has a higher fly speed, with perfect maneuverability.

Melee: A groaning spirit loses all the attacks of the base creature and gains an incorporeal touch attack that deals no damage but inflicts draining touch (see below). Because a groaning spirit has no Strength score, its Dexterity modifier rather than its Strength modifier applies to all its attack rolls.

Special Attacks: A groaning spirit retains all the special attacks of the base creature, though some of these attacks might not be usable by the creature in incorporeal form. A groaning spirit gains the special attacks described below. The save DC against a special attack is equal to 10 + 1/2 groaning spirit’s HD + groaning spirit’s Cha modifier unless otherwise noted.

Draining Touch (Su): A groaning spirit that hits a living target with its incorporeal touch attack drains 1d6 Charisma points (2d6 on a critical hit). On each such successful attack, the groaning spirit heals 5 points of damage to itself (10 on a critical hit).

Horrific Appearance (Su): Any living creature within 60 feet that views a groaning spirit must succeed on a Fortitude save or immediately take 1d4 points of Strength damage, 1d4 points of Dexterity damage, and 1d4 points of Constitution damage. A creature that successfully saves against this effect cannot be affected by the same groaning spirit’s horrific appearance for 24 hours.

Keening (Su): Once per encounter, a groaning spirit may keen as a full-round action. The keening lasts until the beginning of its next turn. All living creatures within 40 feet of the groaning spirit when it begins its keening, as well as all creatures that end their turn within that radius, must make a Fortitude save. (This save is only required once per keening.) Creatures that make their save are sickened for 1d6 rounds. Those that fail take 10 points of damage per HD of the groaning spirit. If a groaning spirit is damaged during a keening, it must make a Will save (DC 15 + damage taken) to maintain the keening; otherwise it ends. This is a sonic death effect. A groaning spirit’s keening is supernaturally powerful, and penetrates the effect of any spell of 3rd level or lower that creates silence.

Special Qualities: A groaning spirit has all the special qualities of the base creature except those that require physical contact.

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Dex +6, Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +6. As an incorporeal undead creature, a groaning spirit has no Strength or Constitution score.

Environment: Any, often as base creature.

Organization: Solitary.

Treasure: Standard.

Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature +7.

Gear: When a groaning spirit forms, it retains none of its equipment or carried items.

Sample Groaning Spirits

A banshee is the undead spirit of an elven aristocrat. The banshee had the following ability scores before racial modifiers and Hit Dice ability score increases: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 9, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 13.

Banshee CR 6

Female groaning spirit elf aristocrat 5

CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, incorporeal)

Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., life sense, low-light vision; Listen +6, Spot +6

Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan

Defense

AC 19 touch 19, flat-footed 15 (+5 deflection, +4 Dexterity)

hp 32 (5d12 HD)

Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +6

Immune incorporeal traits, undead traits; Resist turn resistance +4; SR 18

Weakness daylight powerlessness

Offense

Spd fly 60 ft. (perfect)

Melee incorporeal touch +7 (1d6 Charisma drain/)

Special Attacks draining touch, horrific appearance (DC 17), keening (DC 17)

Statistics

Str –, Dex 18, Con –, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 20

Base Atk +3; Grp –

Feats Alertness, Negotiator

Skills Bluff +13. Diplomacy +21, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +11, Listen +6, Search +5, Sense Motive +12, Spot +6, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks)

Special Abilities

Horrific Appearance (Su) The save DC is 17.

Keening (Su) The save DC is 17. The banshee’s keening inflicts 50 hp damage on a failed saved.

A banshee queen is an especially powerful groaning spirit, often created from a high-born elf. The queen had the following ability scores before racial modifiers and Hit Dice ability score increases: Str 14, Dex 8, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 13.

Banshee Queen CR 17

Female groaning spirit elf wizard 5/fighter 1/eldritch knight 9

CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, incorporeal)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., life sense, low-light vision; Listen +4, Spot +4

Languages Common, Elven, Goblin, Sylvan

Defense

AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 13
(+3 deflection, +3 Dexterity)

hp 103 (15d12 HD)

Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +8

Immune incorporeal traits, undead traits; Resist turn resistance +4; SR 28

Weakness daylight powerlessness

Offense

Spd fly 60 ft. (perfect)

Melee incorporeal touch +15 (1d6 Charisma drain/19–20)

Special Attacks draining touch, horrific appearance (DC 21), keening (DC 23)

Spells Prepared (CL 13th)

7th—prismatic spray (DC 23)

6th—chain lightning (DC 22), maximized lightning bolt (DC 19), quickened scorching ray (+15 ranged touch)

5th—cloudkill (DC 21), cone of cold (DC 21), quickened magic missile, teleport

4th—arcane eye, crushing despair (DC 20), lesser globe of invulnerability, shout (DC 20), solid fog

3rd—dispel magic, haste, lightning bolt (DC 19), empowered magic missile , slow (DC 19)

2nd—acid arrow (+15 ranged touch), darkness, detect thoughts, mirror image, scorching ray (+15 ranged touch), web (DC 18)

1st—expeditious retreat, hold portal, magic missile, shield, ray of enfeeblement (+15 ranged touch)

0—dancing lights, detect magic, daze (DC 16), light

Statistics

Str –, Dex 16, Con –, Int 22, Wis 14, Cha 19

Base Atk +12; Grp –

Feats Ability Focus (keening), Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Empower Spell, Eschew Materials, Improved Critical (incorporeal touch), Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll

Skills Concentration +21 (+25 casting defensively), Decipher Script +20, Jump +23, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +15, Ride +10, Listen +4, Search +8, Spellcraft +25, Spot +4

Special Abilities

Horrific Appearance (Su) The save DC is 21.

Keening (Su) The save DC is 23. The banshee queen’s keening inflicts 150 hp damage on a failed saved.

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15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
    • System Reference Document, Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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    • The Tome of Horrors II © 2004, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene.
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    • Angel, Monadic Deva from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
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    • Blindheim from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Roger Musson.
    • Brownie from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Bunyip from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Dermot Jackson.
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    • Death Worm from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene and Erica Balsley.
    • Decapus from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Jean Wells.
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    • Dragon Horse from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Dust Digger from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Forlarren from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Ian Livingstone.
    • Giant, Wood from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Wizards of the Coast.
    • Gloomwing from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Grippli from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Groaning Spirit from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors Scott Greene and Clark Peterson, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Gryph from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Peter Brown.
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    • Kelpie from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Lawrence Schick.
    • Korred from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Leprechaun from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
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    • Quickling from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
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    • Sandman from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Roger Musson.
    • Scarecrow from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Roger Musson.
    • Skulk from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Simon Muth.
    • Slime Mold from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Slithering Tracker from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Soul Eater from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by David Cook.
    • Spriggan from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene and Erica Balsley, based on original material by Roger Moore and Gary Gygax.
    • Tenebrous Worm from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
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    • Tick, Giant & Dragon from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Troll, Ice from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Russell Cole.
    • Troll, Rock from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene.
    • Zombie, Juju from the Tome of Horrors, Revised © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2 © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Graeme Davis, Crystal Frasier, Joshua J. Frost, Tim Hitchcock, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal MacLean, Martin Mason, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley
    • Keeners Hoarser than Rooks: Groaning Spirits, Copyright 2019, R. Dorman.

Eaters of the Dead

Although I already have several decent ghoul miniatures, the three ghouls from the “Horror” group of the Reaper Bones 4 core set really stood out. These figures follow the look of Pathfinder ghouls: bald, with pug noses, pointed ears, and hunched, loping poses. Yet again the Bones Black material does a nice job holding fine details like their sharp little teeth. I used the Reaper “Ghoul Flesh” paint which has a nice sickly greenish tone that really works well on undead of all sort. All-in-all I was pleased with how these models came out. My only complaint is that two of the figures have such wide stances that they can’t be based on standard 1″ bases.

Ghouls card from David R. Megarry’s Dungeon! boardgame (1975).

My use of ghouls in the Great Dungeon is heavily influenced by the True Ghouls of Wolfgang Baur’s classic 2e adventure, “Kingdom of the Ghouls” from Dungeon 70. Those ghouls were in turn influenced by weird fiction such as Lovecraft’s short story “Pickman’s Model,” and Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Charnel God.”

Baur created a d20 reboot of this adventure with Empire of the Ghouls (2007), an Open Design setting book that was a precursor for many of the crowdfunding/patron models to follow. I was privileged to help with proofreading and contributed some minor design for the project. Baur went on to update Empire for 4e and Pathfinder with the Imperial Gazetteer (2010). And he just Kickstarted Empire of the Ghouls: A 5th Edition Campaign vs. the Undead. I backed the project and am looking forward to seeing the newest iteration of the setting.

Eaters of the Dead

One of the more formidable factions in the Great Dungeon is the Eaters of the Dead, a mysterious coterie of ghouls, ghasts, and related horrors. While many of the Eaters of the Dead are feral, brutish undead, their ghoulish leaders are intelligent, cruel sybarites and many have cleric, fighter, or rogue levels. These ghouls worship some dark power out of the Distant West.

Below are the results of some common 3e Knowledge checks related to the Eaters of the Dead.

Eaters of the Dead Lore

DC	Dungeoneering	Geography	Local	Religion
12	The Eaters of the Dead are usually found on the Fourth Level	The Eaters of the Dead are from the Distant West, on the shores of the Inland Sea	The Eaters of the Dead employ zombies and skeletons made from the corpses of their enemies	The Eaters of the Dead are ghouls, once living creatures transformed into terrible undead that rob graves and eat flesh.
17	The Eaters of the Dead have spread across the Fourth Level and are pushing into the Third Level.	The Eaters of the Dead are cultists whose secret religion is practiced in large cities	The Eaters of the Dead are fighting a pitched war against the hobgoblins. Among the eaters are ghasts, more powerful ghouls that exude the stench of death. The Eaters are allied with the gnoll tribe.	The Eaters of the Dead paralyze with a touch, and their bite carries a disease that can turn the bitten into ghouls.
22	The main lair of the Eaters of the Dead is the twisting, bone-filled Goblin Catacombs.	The Eaters of the Dead build strange black ziggurats where they worship	Some Eaters are skilled fighters and priests. The Eaters are also enemies of the Cultists of Orcus. They are also allied with ogres and wererats.	The Eaters of the Dead are secretive cultists from the Distant West, who venerate death and worship a foul entity known as the Charnel God
27	The Eaters of the Dead have established some sort of unholy shrine of bones on the Fifth Level	The Eaters of the Dead originate in the western city of Zur-Khel-Mar	The leaders of the Eaters of the Dead include Lady Surmlaith, the priest Ulogos-Vem, and Lord Xulcaos	The Charnel God is named Mordiggian, an alien devouring god of darkness.

Ghoulish Terrain

The areas the ghouls control are often filled with strange, eldritch effects. The following text is Open Game Content.

Ghoul-Cursed Treasure CR 6

Any object possessed by the ghouls worth more than 500 gp bears a terrible curse.

Effect A living creature that assumes possession of such an object must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or immediately take 1d4 Con damage. An afflicted creature continues to take 1d4 Con damage each hour until the victim reaches Constitution 0 and dies. Only a remove curse or break enchantment spell can halt the progression.

An afflicted humanoid who dies from this curse rises as a ghoul in 1d4 rounds. A humanoid who becomes a ghoul in this way retains none of the abilities it possessed in life. It is not under the control of any other ghouls, but it hungers for the flesh of the living and behaves like a normal ghoul in all respects. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast, not a ghoul.

Ghoul-Light CR –

Magical torches similar to everburning torches emit sallow greenish light in a 30-ft radius.

Effect To undead the lit area is treated as bright illumination, but to all other creatures it is considered shadowy illumination. Normal lights are incapable of brightening the area, as are light spells of lower than 4th level.

All living creatures standing in ghoul-light feel clammy and uneasy, and take a -3 circumstance penalty on Hide checks. All Intelligent undead standing in ghoul-light receive a +3 circumstance bonus on Will saves.

Ghoul-Saint Shrine CR –

A moldering skeleton of a venerated ghoul hero, bedecked in fine livery, gold, and jewels.

Effect The skeleton radiates an aura of death out to 60 feet. A character attempting to cast any conjuration (healing) spell within this area must succeed on a DC 16 caster level check, or the spell has no effect. Any living creature with -1 or less hit points in the area must make a successful DC 15 Will save or die. Living creatures that die within the aura rise as zombies within 1 round and attack any living creatures.

The saint’s gem encrusted raiment is worth 4,000 gp.

Glyph of Fear CR 4

A nearly imperceptible magical inscription has been traced over a 10 ft x 10 ft area.

Type spell; Search DC 28; Disable Device DC 28

Trigger touch; Reset no reset; Bypass creatures of the undead type

Effect spell (glyph of warding [cause fear]; CL 5th, affected creature becomes frightened [creatures with 6 or more Hit Dice are immune to this effect], DC 14 Will shaken for 1 round)

Presence of the Charnel God CR 6

A swirling black column of darkness and cold fills a 20 ft x 20 ft area for 1d4+1 rounds.

Effect The darkness is impenetrable to normal vision and darkvision, but ghouls (including festrogs and ghasts) can see normally from within the area. Creatures outside the area, even ghouls, cannot see through it. The effect counters or dispels any light spell of 3rd or lower level. The 3rd-level cleric spell daylight counters or dispels the presence.

The cloud is charged with negative energy, and living creatures within take 1d8+9 hp damage each round (DC 17 Will save half) at the start of their turn. Undead in the area are cured rather than damaged.

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.

1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f ) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
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5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
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12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
    
    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
    • System Reference Document, Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
    • Eaters of the Dead, Copyright 2019, R. Dorman.

A Pair of Ragged Claws: Monstrous Crabs

Giant crabs have a surprisingly long history in Dungeons & Dragons, with the obvious inspiration being the giant crab from the 1961 movie Mysterious Island, which featured several of Roy Harryhausen’s stop motion animation monsters. Information on giant crabs is scattered throughout OD&D. They are first mentioned in the Underworld and Wilderness Adventures (1974) on page 11, appear on the “Swimmer Types” table on page 19, and have a brief entry on page 35, where they are described as having AC 2, Mv 6, 3 HD, and 2 attacks. Greyhawk (1975) lists their pincers as doing 2d6 each. The Blackmoor supplement (1975) provides some interesting details that aren’t picked up again:

[Giant crabs] mainly raid the underwater farms of the mermen who consider them a nuisance since the mermen can easily grapple with them and pull them off of their feet, underwater, thereby rendering them helpless. Only during the Spring do these armored giants voluntarily leave the water, and then in tremendous numbers, for mating and egg-laying. Anything found in their path is immediately attacked and torn apart. Fortunately, they rarely go inland more than a mile, and usually frequent the same hatching grounds from year to year (15).

Although giant crabs do not get a formal monster entry in the J. Eric Holmes Basic Set (1977), they are mentioned in the Sample Dungeon, where they have AC 3 and 2 HD (page 43). Giant crabs appear in the 1st edition Monster Manual (1977) with AC 3, 3 HD, and 2 pincer attacks doing 2d4 damage each. The Moldvay/Cook D&D Expert Set (1981) lists them as AC 2, 3 HD, with 2 pincers doing 2d6 each. The 2e Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) follows the 1e version very closely.

Giant crabs did not make it into 3rd edition until the Stormwrack (2005) supplement, though the Tome of Horrors included a conversion of the giant crab. I think the best version, though, appeared in Green Ronin’s Creatures of Freeport, which treated the monstrous crab much like other vermin in 3e, appearing in different size classes. Giant crabs are core monsters in both Pathfinder and 5e.

Given the prevalence of giant crabs in D&D, it was nice to finally get some miniatures of them in the Reaper Bones 4 “Dire Consequences” set. I originally thought this was going to be a very quick paint, but there are some nice details that were worth taking the time to hit, like the barnacles on its back and claws. This figure could be mounted on either a Medium or Large base, and I opted for the latter.

Green monstrous crabs can be found in the marshy estuaries of the Great Gobbo River, and have been known to use some of the smaller islands off the coast for hatching grounds. These creatures rarely exceed 5 feet in diameter. Giant crabs of enormous size and bright red shells have been reported to inhabit the Terrarium demiplane.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Crab, Monstrous

This sea creature, its body covered with a leathery carapace, scuttles about on eight legs and snaps at you with two large pincers.

Always Hungry. Monstrous crabs are omnivores and spend most of their time combing the ocean floors for food. Still others prefer to dwell in coastal waters and prey upon land-based creatures that wander too close to the shoreline. Monstrous crabs are often hunted as food by other races (particularly humans and sahuagin).

Near Water of Any Sort. Crabs can hide by digging themselves into sand and other soft ground astonishingly quickly, leaving only the thickest part of their carapace vulnerable.

Claws that Snatch. A monstrous crab will fight if cornered or hungry, using its pincers to rip and tear its opponents. When hunting land-based prey it often scoops the prey up in its pincers and heads for deep water where it submerges and attempts to drown its grappled prey.

Special Abilities

All monstrous crabs have the following special abilities.

Constrict (Ex): On a successful grapple check, a monstrous crab deals bludgeoning damage in addition to its normal attack damage.

Improved Grab (Ex): When a monstrous crab makes a successful claw attack, it deals normal damage and can attempt to start a grapple; this is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. No initial touch attack is required.

Skills: Ferocious hunters, monstrous crabs have a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Hide checks and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. A monstrous crab has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Medium Monstrous Crab CR 1

Always N Medium vermin (aquatic)

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +4

Defense

AC 15, touch 10, flat-footed 15
(+5 natural)

hp 13 (2d8+4 HD)

Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +0

Immune vermin traits

Offense

Spd 30 ft., swim 20 ft.

Melee 2 claws +2 (1d6+1)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks constrict 1d4+1, improved grab

Statistics

Str 13, Dex 10, Con 14, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +1; Grp +2

Skills Climb +9, Hide +4, Spot +4, Swim +9

Ecology

Environment any aquatic

Organization solitary or swarm (2–12)

Treasure none

Advancement 3–4 HD (Medium)

Large Monstrous Crab CR 3

Always N Large vermin (aquatic)

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +4

Defense

AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 16
(+7 natural, -1 size)

hp 32 (5d8+10 HD)

Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +1

Immune vermin traits

Offense

Spd 40 ft., swim 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +6 (1d8+4)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks constrict 1d6+4, improved grab

Statistics

Str 19, Dex 10, Con 14, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +3; Grp +11

Skills Climb +12, Hide +0, Spot +4, Swim +12

Ecology

Environment any aquatic

Organization solitary or swarm (2–6)

Treasure none

Advancement 6–9 HD (Large)

Huge Monstrous Crab CR 6

Always N Huge vermin (aquatic)

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +4

Defense

AC 20, touch 9, flat-footed 16
(+12 natural, -2 size)

hp 75 (10d8+30 HD)

Fort +10, Ref +3, Will +3

Immune vermin traits

Offense

Spd 40 ft., swim 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +11 (2d6+6)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks constrict 1d8+6, improved grab

Statistics

Str 23, Dex 10, Con 16, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +7; Grp +21

Skills Climb +14, Hide -4, Spot +4, Swim +14

Ecology

Environment any aquatic

Organization solitary or group (2–3)

Treasure none

Advancement 11–20 HD (Huge)

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.

1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f ) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.
4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.
5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You distribute.
11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.
12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
    
    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
    • System Reference Document, Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
    • Creatures of Freeport, Copyright 2004, Green Ronin Publishing; Authors Keith Baker and Graeme Davis.
    • Freeport: The City of Adventure, Copyright 2002, Green Ronin Publishing; Authors Matt Forbeck and Chris Pramas.
    • A Pair of Ragged Claws: Monstrous Crabs, Copyright 2019, R. Dorman.

The Nameless City of the Man-Apes

I painted up the “Ape Attack” figures from the Bones 4 Core Set. These are three great models: two feral Killer Apes as well as an armored, sword-wielding Ape Lord. I painted all of them with grayish fur so they could be used as either man-apes or hobgoblin war apes. All of the figures fit on a Large base and so could also be used for dire apes.

It is surprising that there are so few plastic gorilla and ape miniatures, especially since apes and dire apes were fairly common summonable monsters in 3e. I think the only other ape figure I have is the were-gorilla from the “Lycanthropes II” pack from the Reaper Bones 3 Kickstarter, which I also painted up using a similar scheme. Unfortunately, he’s quite a bit smaller than the Ape Attack models: a little small for a 2″ base but much too large for a 1″ base. Although it’s a decent enough figure, the difference between old Bones and the newer Bones Black material is pretty noticable in a side by side comparison. I thought the were-gorilla didn’t take paint as well and also had less distinct details.

The Nameless City

The man-apes of the Terrarium wander the jungles, hills, and plains of the demiplane but tend to congregate in the Nameless City, a vast ruin of gray cyclopean stone overgrown by jungle vines. The City is said to be filled with lost treasure vaults and undermined by dark catacombs. While there are several rival tribes of man-apes in the City they are united in worship of their Pallid Queen, a mummified idol said to be enshrined in one of the great echoing mausoleums. The one thing the man-apes fear are the yellow musk creepers that infest the ruins, as these deadly plants have turned many man-apes into mindless servants.

Some ten years ago the Lady Ilsabil, a fighting-woman of great prowess, emerged from the Great Dungeon along with her dwarven companions, the brothers Hagin and Munir. They claimed to have been trapped in the Terrarium for nearly five years. With their wizard and cleric both lost to the demiplane, the trio wandered the jungles until they stumbled upon the Nameless City, where they plundered a forgotten chamber filled with untold riches. Their only proof of this story were pockets and sacks of emeralds and sapphires of the greatest size and quality. Lady Ilsabil used these gems to acquire a holding of her own, where she lives still. Hagin and Munir used their fortune to outfit a mighty expedition to return to the Terrarium. They reentered the Dungeon with much pomp eight years ago and were never heard from again.

The following table for generating random features in the Nameless City is inspired by similar tables in Yoon-Suin: The Purple Land, one of the best setting books I’ve ever read. Yoon-Suin uses random tables to generate background details that pack a lot of flavor and gamability. As characters explore the Nameless City, roll three sets of 2d10, consult the Feature, Condition, and Property columns of the Features table, and then combine the results.

The following encounter table for the Nameless City is designed for 3.5e, but could be modified for 0e or 5e without much work. Most of the entries can be found in the d20 SRD, and for those that can’t I’ve supplied stat blocks below. The “Visions of the Ancient Past” is a non-monster encounter tied to a specific object found in the ruins: perhaps a small idol or artifact. The encounter uses the clever haunt rules developed by Paizo for their early Pathfinder adventures.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Nameless City Features

2d10	Feature	Condition	Property
2	Palace	Water-filled	Golden
3	Mausoleum	Water-filled	Silver
4	Arch	Water-filled	Inscribed
5	Statue	Overgrown	Infested
6	Obelisk	Overgrown	Slimy
7	Canal	Overgrown	Painted
8	Open Pit	Intact	Echoing
9	Domed Building	Intact	Blackened
10	Pool	Intact	Pearlescent
11	Residence	Partially Collapsed	Cracked
12	Large Hall	Partially Collapsed	Blackened
13	Square	Partially Collapsed	Whispering
14	Tower	Leveled	Magical
15	Pillars	Leveled	Defaced
16	Aquaduct	Leveled	Ornamented
17	Amphitheater	Sunken	Mold-encrusted
18	Baths	Sunken	Webbed
19	Fortress	Sunken	Jade
20	Temple	Undermined	Bejeweled

Nameless City Encounters

2d10	Encounter	Average EL
2	1 centipede swarm	4
3	1d3 giant lizards (monitor lizards)	4
4	1 giant crocodile	4
5	1d3 shadows	5
6	1 giant constrictor snake	5
7	1d4 guardian man-ape statues (Large animated objects)	5
8	memory moss [hazard]	5
9	2d4 ghouls	6
10	1 yellow musk creeper plus 1d4+1 yellow musk creeper zombies	7
11	2d4 man-apes	7
12	2d4 deinonychuses	7
13	1 medusa	7
14	1 black pudding	7
15	Visions of the Ancient Past (see below)	8
16	1d4+2 gargoyles	8
17	1d4 phase spiders	8
18	1 tyrannosaur	8
19	1d3 dire tigers	9
20	1 Colossal centipede	9

Guardian Man-ape Statue CR 3

Large animated object

N Large construct

Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen -5, Spot -5

Defenses

AC 14, touch 9, flat-footed 14 (+5 natural, -1 size)

hp 52 (4d10+30 HD); hardness 8

Fort +1, Ref +1, Will -4

Immune construct traits

Offense

Spd 30 ft.

Melee slam +5 (1d8+4)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Statistics

Str 16, Dex 10, Con –, Int –, Wis 1, Cha 1

Base Atk +3; Grp +10

Memory Moss CR 5

Effect Memory moss appears as a 1-foot square patch of black moss. When a living creature moves within 60 feet of a patch of memory moss, it attacks by attempting to steal that creature’s memories. It can target a single creature each round. A targeted creature must succeed on a DC 16 Will save or lose all memories from the last 24 hours. Affected spellcasters lose all spells prepared within the last 24 hours. (Only those spells actually prepared in the last 24 hours are lost; spells prepared longer than 24 hours ago are not lost.) Once a memory moss steals a creature’s memories, it sinks back down and does not attack again for one day.

Any creature who loses its memories to the memory moss acts as if affected by a confusion spell (caster level 8th) for the next 1d4 hours. Lost memories can be regained by eating the memory moss that absorbed them. Doing so requires a DC 13 Fortitude save, with failure resulting in the creature being nauseated for 1d6 minutes and suffering 1d4 points of Constitution damage.

A creature that eats the memory moss temporarily gains the memories currently stored therein (even if they are not the creature’s own memories). Such creatures can even cast spells if the memory moss has stolen these from a spellcasting creature. Any non-spellcaster that attempts to cast a spell gained in this way must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 10 + spell level) or the spell fizzles away. After 24 hours, the memories fade (including any spells not yet cast). Creatures eating the memory moss to regain their own lost memories do not lose them after 24 hours. Fire and cold kills a single patch of memory moss.

When first encountered, there is a 25% chance that the memory moss has eaten within the last day and does not attack by stealing memories. In such a case, the moss contains 2d4 spells determined randomly. When a living creature moves within 60 feet of a sated memory moss, it assumes a vaguely humanoid form and casts the stolen spells at its targets. The moss casts these spells as a sorcerer of the minimum level necessary to cast the stolen spell (save DC 10 + spell level).

Visions of the Ancient Past CR 8

Caster Level 8th; Effective HD 16

Notice Listen 18 to hear past sounds of the City

Effects

Trigger touch (an artifact in the ruins); Reset 1 day

Effect When this haunt is triggered, its effects manifest at initiative rank 10 on a surprise round. All creatures within 20 feet of the artifact can make a Listen check to notice the haunt in time to react—if a character notices it, he may make an initiative check to determine when he acts in the round. Once a haunt is active, a successful turn undead attempt against the haunt’s effective Hit Dice ends it immediately, though the character making the turn attempt must notice the haunt and must act before it in the surprise round it is activated. If the turning attempt results in a destruction result, that particular haunt is exorcised and permanently disabled. Unless the haunt is turned or destroyed, the creature who touched the artifact is overwhelmed by a riotous vision of the Nameless City in its heyday, bustling with man-apes dressed in fine garments and their pitiful human slaves. The affected creature is targeted by an insanity spell (DC 20). While the vision vanishes as soon as the surprise round is over, the insanity effect persists until the creature is restored. The artifact may be handled safely for the next 24 hours.

Yellow Musk Creeper CR 2

N Large plant

Init +2; Senses blindsight 30 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +0

Defense

AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 13
(+2 Dex, +4 natural, -1 size)

hp 22 (3d8+9 HD)

Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +1

Immune plant traits

Offense

Spd 5 ft.

Melee 2 tendrils +6 (1d8+5)

Ranged pollen spray +3 touch (pollen spray)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks create yellow musk zombie, intelligence damage, pollen spray (DC 14)

Statistics

Str 20, Dex 15, Con 17, Int –, Wis 11, Cha 9

Base Atk +2; Grp +11

SQ rejuvenation

Special Abilities

Blindsight (Ex) The yellow musk creeper has no visual organs but can ascertain all foes within 30 feet using sound, scent, and vibration.

Create Yellow Musk Zombie (Su) A victim reduced to Intelligence 0 becomes a yellow musk zombie in 1 hour under the control of the creeper that created it. If the yellow musk creeper is slain before the yellow musk zombie rises, the transformation can be prevented by the casting of neutralize poison followed by heal or restoration spell.

Intelligence Damage (Ex) As a free action, a yellow musk creeper can insert hundreds of tiny roots into the head of an entranced foe within any space occupied by the creeper. An entranced foe does not resist this attack and does not receive a saving throw to break free of its entranced state. This attack deals 1d4 points of Intelligence damage each round. A victim reduced to Intelligence 0 becomes a yellow musk zombie in 1 hour.

Pollen Spray (Ex) A yellow musk creeper can spray a tiny cloud of hypnotic pollen at a single creature within 30 feet. An opponent hit by the cloud must succeed on a DC 14 Fortitude save or be entranced for 1d4 minutes (as by a charm monster spell). Entranced creatures can take no action other than to move at their normal speed into a space occupied by the yellow musk creeper. An entranced creature resists any attempt to halt its progress. A victim within a space occupied by the yellow musk creeper stands there and offers no resistance to the monster’s attacks. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Rejuvenation (Ex) A yellow musk creeper can be killed only if its root is dug up, then burned, hacked apart, or otherwise destroyed. Reducing the creeper to 0 or less hit points puts it out of commission, allowing excavation of its roots. The main root is a Small object with a hardness of 3 and 10 hit points. The root can be affected by spells or effects that affect an area or targeted by spells that affect an individual target.

Yellow Musk Zombie CR 3

N Large plant

Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +0

Defenses

AC 15, touch 8, flat-footed 15 (-1 Dex, +7 natural, -1 size)

hp 30 (5d8+10 HD)

Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +4

Immune plant traits

Offense

Spd 30 ft., climb 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +10 (1d4+6), bite +5 (1d8+3)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Statistics

Str 23, Dex 9, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 1

Base Atk +5; Grp +15

SQ link to creator, sprout new creeper

Special Abilities

Link to Creator (Ex) A yellow musk zombie is linked to the yellow musk creeper that created it and can never move more than 200 feet from it.

Sprout New Creeper (Ex) After about 2 months of service to a yellow musk creeper, the yellow musk zombie wanders up to 1 mile away from its creator (the link to creator is broken) and dies. Where it falls, new yellow musk seedlings sprout from its head and the corpse, take root, and within one hour, a new fully grown yellow musk creeper blossoms.

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    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
    • System Reference Document, Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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