Monster Monday - Gibbering Eyes

As I continue to slog through my "haunted house," I am looking deep inside more soul for twisted things. One such creature that has spewed from the depths is the Gibbering Eyes. Take a look for yourself:

© Jack Badashski, 2016 

find him on RPGNow

Gibbering Eyes

HD: 4 + 4

AC: 1 (18)
Attacks: Bite (1 hp)

Save: 13

Special: Eye rays, gibbering, spit

Move: 3

CL/XP: 8/800
In addition to using gibbering or spit, the gibbering eyes can use 1d4 eye rays per round:
1. Darkness 15-Foot Radius, as the spell, it targets one person, who gets a save to negate the ability

2. Obscuring Mist, as the spell

3. Telekinesis as the spell 

4. Sleep as the spell, except one target, who gets a save

5. Feeblemind as the spell

6. Heat Metal as the spell

7. Hold Person as the cleric spell

8. Lightning Bolt as the spell

All eye rays are cast at 4th level proficiency (so a Lightning Bolt would do 4d6 damage)

Gibbering: All creatures within 60' of the sound of a gibbering eyes must make a save or be confused (per the spell).

Spit: A gibbering eyes can spit up to 30' a glob of acid for 2d6 damage.

The stuff of nightmares. 

Monster Monday - Old Crawler!

(From Monstrosities): An "old crawler" is a withered human hand severed at the wrist, black and mummified in appearance.

I am still working on my "haunted house" module. And it is still Halloween season, so a creepy monster is mandatory.

http://assets.atlasobscura.com/article_images/7719/image

Old Crawler (Monstrosities pg 361) fits so well into the "haunted house," that I can't help use it. I intend to have them create an ambiance. "The party hears a scratching skitch-skitch-skitch sound." But they never see the crawlers following them in the walls. They are minions of whatever is "The Evil" of the house. They attack stragglers or loners, and retreat before the group arrives. They will ratchet up paranoia throughout the house.

I really like this creature. The remind me of Crawling Claws from 2e, with a bit more punch. Gangrenous rotting? Disgustingly fun. But, I think it can be more than that. . .

How about a mummy version? A hand jumps out of the darkness and contaminates an adventurer with Mummy Rot? Adventurers won't even suspect mummy rot for hours if they aren't in a pyramid.

Maybe there was a forgetful mage that programmed Old Crawlers to show him the way to his lab. These crawlers now show anyone that isn't aggressive the path. Would your players attack on sight and lose the guide? I know mine would.

There was once a lich who removed his own hands. He needed them separate from his body to complete a profane ritual. Adventurers destroyed his body, but not phylactery or crawlers. Now he has the ability to cast spells through his old hands and his new body.

A wight had his hands removed by a very skilled warrior, and died soon after. Now his old crawlers search for living beings to destroy without an intelligence behind them. So far, they have created three new wights, and the number will grow if adventurers can't find the source of the infestation.

Over 1000!

Silver Bulette had its 1000th download earlier today! Thank you to everyone who has checked out our work so far!

What's Up With Mord Mar pt 2 (GAMEHOLE!!!)

Yesterday, I teased that something cool is happening at Gamehole Con with Mord Mar. I am running a game at 10 am on Friday, in S&WL. GHC has horrible data entry skills, so here's what they actually have as the event description:

Welcome to the megadungeon, Mord Mar. This players choose where the adventure goes! Everyone will roll 1st level characters and they will be allowed in other Mord Mar games!

I promise that's not what I sent in . . . But, here's the deal with GHC Mord Mar. I have been working on 1-page adventures in and around Mord Mar. We are calling them "Bounty Board Adventures" for now. Several of these will be available to be chosen for the adventure(s) at GHC. I am hoping to have at least four done, and really pushing for five. Which adventure do the players want? I don't know. Go looking for the lost shield of a dwarven clan? Or hunt down a thief? Maybe rescue a lost person? We'll see where they go . . . Here's the "cover" of the first that I have been working on.

Monster Monday - Flowershroud

In my quest to write a horror module before Halloween, I have been searching high and low for monsters that can instill dread. In S&W Monstrosities, page 173, I found such a thing, the Flowershroud. "A flowershroud is a carpet-like floral growth . . . move slowly from place to place when it is seeking new food . . . carnivorous plants that hunt down their prey." (excerpt by Matt Finch.)

This fits well into my horror theme. Flowershrouds look like any other garden, but can hunt you down. The normal is the strange. I can't wait to utter the words "it's probably just your imagination, but the flowers look closer to you than they were."

I know that I said a Ghost Ship module was my next project. But, I have found the setting too limiting. I haven't exactly decided where the horror/suspense will take place, but I know that it needs to be on land. I will probably do a castle or mansion (how original, right?). The flowershroud will be a great garden or greenhouse surprise. Don't even be shocked if they show up as potted plants in some fair maiden's bedroom.

Looking at their use for a wider campaign, I can see flowershrouds having a symbiotic relationship with a dryad. The dryad wants her tree protected, and has planted a flowershroud to make sure that nothing gets too close.
Imagine an ancient flowershroud that has a giant bee hive embedded in it. The flowershroud roams the land, carrying the bees to new pollens, and in return the bees help slow down prey for the flowershroud.
Another option to pair the flowershroud is with an undead. A particularly deranged necromancer may have planted a flowershroud on the back of a giant crab exoskeleton. He entwines the dark energies of necromancy with the strange nature of the flowershroud, making them a singular force. These hybrids are what guard the entrance to his home.

I'm expecting the follow-up to What's Up With Mord Mar to come today as well. Stay tuned!

What's up with Mord Mar?

I have been doing a lot of posts lately that have little or nothing to do with Mord Mar. I feel like an explanation is in order.
As many of you know, I have co-founded a digital (and hopefully someday print) RPG products company. This will someday be the instrument that brings Mord Mar into the wider world. But, recently this has driven me to push away from Mord Mar.
A couple of contests have been completed. It wasn't best to set the pre-determined monsters inside of Mord Mar. Besides this, the word limit imposed in the contests limited the ability to expand lore inside of the modules.
My next (solo) project is a Halloween module. I hope to have it done by October 1-10. Again, the setting precludes the use of the megadungeon. I could evoke the suspense and creepiness. But, that's not the flavor of Mord Mar. At least not where I am at in development and writing. . .

There is good news for those of you looking for more Mord Mar. The writing experience of this summer has drastically improved my abilities. When you finally get to see Blood Pharaoh, you will agree. Pulling away from Mord Mar has helped me to rediscover myths and legends that will be incorporated in different places of the megadungeon. The world around Mord Mar is expanding. Instead of just Var Nae and Stonemire, we now have Redstone, Gilramore, a temple of Hephestus and other cities and ruins to explore.

Having these other places allows me to give Mord Mar a lore and history outside of the dungeon itself. Over time, they will influence each other.

For those of you travelling to Gamehole Con, I am running a Mord Mar game Friday at 10 am. Come check it out if you are interested. Expect another blog on the subject soon. (There will be an exciting reveal IMO)

Why I got away from New School

It's early Sunday morning, and I can't sleep. I'm not aware enough to work on one of the 4 projects I have going, so a new blog post it is!

I played Pathfinder for a long time, and D&D 3.X for a while before that. But, I became tired of it. Here's a list of reasons why I moved away from 3.X as my primary game:

1. I don't have 10 hours to make a character anymore. I can paint some minis, or work on a module, or hang out with the kids. Those hours are just too precious now.
2. I want to get through more than one combat in a session. Tactics are fun, don't get me wrong. One combat, two at the most in a four hour session just doesn't move the game forward.
3. There are too many options. Although this is the reason for #1 and #2, it must be stated separately. 3.5 died from it. Pathfinder is in the death throws from it. Starfinder will suffer the same fate - sooner or later. 
4. I was tired of buying books. There are at least 25 PF hardcover books. And probably double that in softcover. There are somewhere around 60 hardcover 3.5 books. Don't get me wrong, I probably have 20 S&W hardcovers. But only one of them is a rule book.

I'm sure there are more reasons, but, like I said, I'm tired. But, the positives of switching to an OSR system outweigh the negatives of staying in the PF era:

1. Five minute character creation rules! I have made 15 characters at conventions in the past year or so. None of them took from playing time! 
2. Combats only take up as much time as character creation. It's quick and deadly. I don't have to count out squares, or worry about attacks of opportunity. I can just roll some dice and let luck happen. There is still strategy in the OSR; it is much more abstract. 
3. There are plenty of options without being overwhelming. A lot of the OSR rules sets are comparable (if not directly compatible.) In S&W there are 9 classes in the Core Rulebook. Doing a quick "OSR class" search on RPGNow brought up another 2200+ items. I'm sure that they aren't all actual player classes, but even if 10% of them are, there are way more classes than for PF and 3.5 combined.
4. I can buy exactly 0 books and play. Seriously, Frog God Games is amazing at giving out their rules set. Core Rules;  Complete Rule Book; Swords and Wizardry Light (all of those are links to the FREE downloads of the rules, directly from FGG.)
5. I can easily convert 1e to S&W. They are essentially the same system. S&W doesn't have gnomes, and the XP chart is a bit different. There are a few other small changes, but nothing that stops me from using Keep on the Borderlands or Temple of Elemental Evil in S&W.
6. Megadungeons are easier to run in OSR. 
7. I can play with 2 people or 20. The rules don't care at all. Can you image a 20 player Pathfinder combat?
8. The OSR conventions are better. NTRPG and GaryCon are the best conventions in the country. 
9. I don't have to look up a rule or feat every 20 minutes.
10. (Comment if you get the joke!) Everything! Everything, Everything!