Monster Monday - Chimera

Today I will be spotlighting the chimera. The chimera, as a D&D monster originally appeared in Monsters & Treasure (Book II of the OD&D rules set.) Gary Gygax described them as: "Combining the worst of many creatures, a Chimera has the forebody of a great cat, the hind quarters of a goat, dragon wings, and three heads. The goat's head can gore with its long and sharp horns, the lion's head can tear with its great fangs, and the dragon's head can either bite or breath fire (but with a range of only 5" and but three dice damage)." - taken from page 10 of the WotC reprint.

Picture taken from

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chimera_Picture.jpg

But, the chimera has much deeper roots than 1974. The chimera was originally a Greek myth, with a snake head (as its tail) instead of a dragon. It was killed by Bellerophon and Pegasus.
The chimera has been in every edition of D&D, always appearing in the earliest versions. But, from what I can tell, they almost never show up in adventures. They only appeared in Bloodstone Pass (1E) and Rise of Tiamat (5E.) I am sure that they show up in other publishers' works, but I don't have a list.
(EDIT: A chimera was also in Hall of the Fire Giant King, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits.)
(2nd EDIT: Mark Hughes was nice enough to do some further research and found the chimera in B4, CM6, X3, and X4.)

Using the S&W version, the chimera has one special attack, its fire breath. It deals 3d8, up to 50' and 3 times per day. The dragon head can alternately bite (3d4.) Coupling that with 2 claws (1d3), 2 goat horns (1d4), and a lion bite (2d4), you have a hit point grinder.

Chimera, being part dragon, lust and horde treasure. Particularly, gold. They are alpha-level predators, and solitary in their actions. Some describe them as nomadic (specifically in Cormanthor, a forest somewhere in the Forgotten Realms.) Most are territorial. Having examples of both nomadic and territorial chimeras makes them very versatile opponents.

I actually haven't placed a chimera in Mord Mar. Yet. Silver Bulette placed one in our last release, The Orb of Undying Discord. We had a statue that would become a chimera when the artifact was placed in its mouth. Designed for 1-3rd level characters, we set it up so the party would have several rounds to damage the creature before it could respond.

Three goats in a small village have died giving birth. This in itself is a bad omen, but the kids were malformed. One was still-borne with a lion's head, one with a dragon's head, and one with a snake's head. The villagers rely on the goats for milk, cheese, and meat. They want the curse lifted, and are willing to trade the Earth Crystal in exchange for the curse being broken.

A single survivor of the king's patrol to the south of his lands swears that a "three-headed monstrosity that dove from the sky, and breathes death in fire." Knowing that his guards are not enough to handle a creature of legend, the king offers something every brigand and ne'er-do-well dreams of, a personal, royal favor.

A known chimera lives in the Copse Forest. The king hires the party to destroy the foul beast. But, upon encountering the three-headed monstrosity, it is found to be good, as evidenced by the silver dragon head. Do the adventurers kill the unique beast for its and the king's treasure, or do they become enemies of the exposed evil king?

As the last hook brings up, the chimera is ripe for mutation. You can connect them thematically to almost any place or group or location. A white dragon for a frozen tundra, a bronze dragon as an ancient guardian of the dead. Even reverting to the mythological chimera for a Lord of Lies adventure would work. The possibilities are endless.

Monster Monday - Aboleth

It's Monster Monday time, again! Today, I am looking closely at the aboleth. They have long been a favorite monster of mine. One first showed up in the module "The Dwellers of the Forbidden City," by David "Zeb" Cook. Aboleths are highly intelligent, and have several special abilities that lend them to being a "mastermind" monster.

Creighton Broadhurst's aboleth, licensed from Rogue Genius

Using the S&W version, they have Charm Monster 3x daily, and Phantasmal Force 3x a day. They have a mucous cloud that makes people in contact with it unable to breathe air. (It is not noted in S&W that they breathe water instead, but that's typically the case.) They have 4 tentacles that strike for d6 damage each, and can cause disease.
Most versions of the aboleth note they have a very high intelligence level. However, what most early descriptions of the aboleth lack is how they communicate. 2E remedied this with the addition of telepathy (specifically Mind Link). Pathfinder moved this bar a bit further, giving them the languages: aboleth, aklo, aquan, and undercommon. 5E gave aboleths the ability to learn a creature's greatest desires if the aboloth can see it and communicate telepathically.

All of this adds up to a creature that is formidable in combat (disease, 4 attacks, force creatures into foreign environment,) able to Charm/Dominate/control other creatures, and with an intelligence to move plans forward. Aboleths are under-used.

In Mord Mar, the best known aboleth is in a fountain somewhere inside the shops district. This particular aboleth, whose name is unpronounceable with a human tongue, is not like its kin. It is content to rule over a small kingdom of orcs, gnolls, goblins, and other humanoids. It often buys and sells information with adventurers. Often it will ask for a share of a treasure horde for this information. Only twice have adventurers double crossed the aboleth.

There is another aboleth, deeper in the dungeons. In the "Grotto and Caverns" area there is an aboleth in a subterranean pond. Above her is a Mind Flayer squidhead, in an open hole in the ceiling. Ludos (the squidhead) has come to an agreement with the aboleth. In return for guarding Ludos' lair, the aboleth receives magical training. The aboleth's current enslaved roster is a cyclops, 2 ogres and a doppleganger.

An aboleth also resides somewhere to the north of Stonemire. This aboleth acts more like an aboleth "should." This aboleth delights in torturing and destroying all creatures that make their home on land. It decorates its lair with bones from its victims, including goblins, catoblepas, dwarves, humans, lizardmen and other creatures. It is rumored that a great paladin fell to this foul creature and a Holy Avenger sword is within its treasures.

 Aboleths are great creatures to throw against a thinking party. With their illusions, and charm abilities, they can make for a great encounter. They make for an even better long-term villain, pulling the strings from the darkness of the caverns below. Here are some more ideas on how I haven't used aboleths. Yet.

A dwarven king ran across an aboleth years ago. Now, his kingdom slides slowly into ruin. The king insists his decisions are for the people, but can the party prove the truth?

An elven druid found a strange egg long ago. The hatching aboleth quickly gained control of the druid, and he has been systematically destroying the land-based life in the area. Now the aboleth is hatching a plan to have the nearest village dam up the river. Even the druid is speaking for it! When the reservoir is full, the aboleth plans to destroy the dam, washing away the village, and all of the people in one easy step.

An aboleth has taken control of an orc chieftan in the hills not far from the Keep. The orcs have become more brazen, and the constabulary hires the party to find out why.

Treasure Maps

I was listening to Tavern Chat last night, and someone mentioned treasure maps. Then, while looking through OSGR, I found a podcast called Dungeon Master's Handbook. He also mentioned, in passing, treasure maps. I figured that two instances in one night deserved a blog post.

Treasure maps are an area where I greatly lack as a GM. I rarely use them, but intend to remedy that moving forward. They are way too much fun not to. Let's look at why treasure maps are so great in play:

1. They are a great visual aid. It's easy to make a treasure map: just Google and print. You can enhance the look by using different paper, or tea bags, or a lighter (with parent's help, of course).
2. They add a layer of mystery to the game. What's the treasure map depict? Who drew it? Why is it in our possession? Is it a trap?
3. Treasure maps allow the GM to plot the course of a sandbox more clearly. Once a visual is in hand, most players cannot resist hunting it down.

Treasure maps take on an extra importance in a megadungeon:

1. They can bring the party back to a place that has been "cleared out." A missed secret door, or a door that they forgot about can be the location of the treasure map.
2. It allows the players to have an idea of the theme, and design of a particular area of a megadungeon. Notes on the maps often let them know what they are facing.  "medusa here," and "fallen statue head" let them know how to plan for the area.
3. Treasure maps can foreshadow and give historical information that the party may not otherwise have. The maps can, for example, show a lost temple to Marshield that not even the clerics know about. Treasure maps can mention historical figures "King Trebor's Tomb" or "Axaclese's Stash."
4. Treasure maps have the ability to give a scope to an area, level, or the megadungeon as a whole. They can be a side-view, showing a treasure on level 6. They can be top-down, showing a particular lair on level 3. A treasure map showing the whole of a megadungeon would be a valuable thing indeed.

Treasure maps are the ultimate trick-or-treat:

1. They are not always accurate. A treasure depicted on a map may be long gone. Or, there may have never been a treasure.
2. Some groups may use them to lure the group into an ambush. The villain that the PCs keep thwarting gets mad. When he is defeated this time, he leaves a map, where he has set up the PC's "Ultimate Destruction."
3. The treasure map may lead to that Staff that the wizard has looked for since level 5.
4. The treasure map may lead to the dwarf's lost homestead/clan/religious shrine.

Treasure maps are diverse, and a lot of bang for the buck. Don't just throw that roll away the next time it comes up. Let the map and the players have a turn in the driver's seat.

Monster Monday - Monster Theme

The boss of a dungeon is an important thing. If you don't know what the boss of the dungeon is, you often end up with a "monster hotel." Today, for a change of pace, I thought I would go through a thought experiment. I am going to take a theme, and build an adventure outline based on that. Because it is Monster Monday, I will stay away from puzzles and traps.

An orcish shaman, recently uncovered an ancient tablet. This tablet pulses in the space between the Elemental Plane of Earth and the Prime Material Plane, bringing creatures to the shaman. He hopes to unlock its secrets, allowing him greater control over the creatures that keep showing up. The monsters travelling through the nearby farmlands should be enough of a plot hook to get adventurers moving.

The adventure is initially easy to populate. Orcs and worgs can be the main enemies approaching the lair. Staying thematically appropriate on the approach is easy, and mutable, depending on where the lair is. In a forest, ankhegs, ants, bear, boar (any real world creature appropriate to the terrain, really), goblins, ogre or owlbear all make thematically appropriate encounters. Adjust accordingly for swamps, mountains, or desert.
While flipping through my monster books, two creatures stood out as particularly interesting to place on the journey to the tablet: brownie (yup, the fairy) and a giant rock weasel. The brownie could be a helpful NPC to guide the party in the correct direction. And the giant rock weasel (Monstrosities, 398) is an excellent foreshadow monster. "Rock Weasels are Giant Weasels that have come into contact with potent transitive magic, becoming attuned to the elemental earths." (Monstrosities, 398,  Andrew Trent, Author)

The mythic underworld of the orc shaman appears straightforward. The elements are so thoroughly covered in D&D (and clones) that it's pretty easy to find monsters and ideas for the dungeon. Breaking into the cavern, the PCs find a fairly normal tribe of orcs. Dealing with them leads to a broken wall, which a few rust monsters live inside. The rust monsters were some of the latest creatures to answer the call of the tablet. Moving a bit deeper, we find a few hill giants, who are displeased to be answering a call from an orc, but are loyal to the master of the tablet. Deeper still, we can add any of the following: bulette, gorgon, medusa, roper, piercer, stone golem, and eventually coming face to face with the orc shaman, and the newly formed earth elemental.

Edible Monsters?

I'm working on my next release for Silver Bulette (Desktop Link), and find myself wondering what types of fantastical monsters are edible?

licensed from Fat Goblin Games

There are pretty much two criteria for "edible" things. One, it needs to be digestible. Two, it needs to not be poisonous. These rules probably hold true in a fantasy world as well. Fetid meat becomes poisonous, so undead flesh is probably out as a delicacy. Intangible things like aerial servants probably don't hold much caloric value. Something like a gelatinous cube probably has too much acid to be a viable food source. A third criteria that I am using for this project is "socially acceptable." What's edible to a starving man is completely different than what is edible to a comfortable person.

But, there are lots of things that might be edible. Take the cockatrice. Is that edible? It's basically a chicken. That can turn things to stone. Can an expert chef prepare a dish from it? How about their eggs? Gorgons are similar, with a breath weapon instead. As long as the person preparing the meal stays away from the lungs and maybe a weird gland, could it be beef stew? What about bulette? Is there soft, yummy meat under their rock-like plating?

Then there is the myriad of plants and plant-like creatures. Tangle-kelp sushi? Shrieker salad?

And the largest question that my third criterion poses is "what about intelligent creatures?" This, by far and large, makes up the bulk of "monsters" in the game: orcs, ogres, trolls, goblins (and their kin), mushroom-men, aboleth, fairies and fey, kobolds, dragons, and so on. The minotaur poses a real question, yummy beef or intelligent cow?

Is it believable to have people refuse to eat intelligent species in a fantasy setting? Would they only be opposed to eating humanoids? Would they believe that eating a superior being gives them a bit of power, and therefore pay extra for dragon meat? Would a ruthless ruler deem a particular species food because of a particular hatred for the race?

Anyone have any thoughts?

As of now, these are the creatures that I have deemed "edible"
Catoblepas
Cockatrice eggs
Dragons
Gorgons
Shriekers
Tangle Kelp

Secret Doors!

Earlier this week, Tenkar posted about secret doors. I put my 2 coppers in there, but since, Peter Dell'Orto also spent some time on the subject. So, I guess I will add to the blog chatter for the week.

I think secret doors are a good thing in D&D (and clones). I do think they are used far too much. It's my opinion that they cannot bar a quest. Nor can they hide something important to the PC's goals. It just turns into a slog of dice rolling at that point, and sucks the fun completely out of the game for a while.

Great treasure, or treasonous secrets should be hidden behind secret doors. I used the example of a shrine to a dark cult in a mansion over at Tenkar's place. A wizard may have a secret study where he keeps a copy of all of his spellbooks, in case his enemies loot his tower.

Now, this being D&D, rules are always broken. A powerful enemy like Strahd will be the exception to the rule about barring quests. There is no reason why a powerful, rich person like Strahd would not hide his coffin behind a difficult to find door. Or a lich might hide a phalacrity behind a secret door.  But, when discussing enemies of that caliber, the heroes should have magics available to help.

So, in Mord Mar, my rules for secret doors are as follows:
1. It needs an original purpose. The secret door in Pickles and Potatoes was to hide the money-counting room.
2. The current resident needs to have the intelligence to use/find/access the secret door. A single ogre will probably not know about the secret door behind his lair, but 200 goblins would eventually stumble across a secret door in their area.
3. Almost everything behind a secret door will be "gravy." That demon's hoard of treasure seem light? Might want to search for secret doors.
4. Intelligent and powerful creatures will use secret doors to their fullest advantage. The party is beating up on the powerful mage a bit to quickly? His iron golem may just pop out of the secret door, and cover his escape.
5. Often ancient things lie behind secret doors. Maybe a long-sleeping undead, or maybe a forgotten relic?
6. The lower in the dungeon you are, the more likely there will be secret doors. The "pre-dungeon" has one secret door on level 1, two on level 2, and three on level 3. The deeper you go, the more likely that a secret door is around.

Monster Monday - Guest Post - Bulette

When I included the bulette on my Facebook poll, I had forgotten that I had done an early Monster Monday about it, here. Ian McGarty stepped in and said he wanted a turn. So, here is his Monster Monday, bulette:

The Bulette

This creature has been around since the early days of Dungeons & Dragons. Tim Kask created this monster after being handed a cheap plastic toy representing Japanese monsters. This creature was first featured in The Dragon in 1976 and has subsequently been included in every version of D&D. In its introduction, it couldn’t even leap! I love the possibilities of this creature burrowing through your campaign setting and frightening your players.  In most versions, this creature is formidable (Pathfinder removed its claws) and can wipe out an unwary party. I particularly enjoy the early edition use of a variable armor class and weak underbelly for this burrowing tank. This weak underbelly was originally a weak spot behind its armor plates on its head. This creature always loves to eat halflings and horses but will only kill dwarves and elves rather than eating them (too chewy and stringy respectively I imagine). The longevity of this monster speaks to its potential. In my own campaigns, I have used numerous versions of this creature. I have made them chromatic and given them breath weapons, I have adapted them for multiple environments like snow/ice.
Many players know of my love of this creature and its fearsome attacks. I recently ran a large group of 12 players against a pair of these monstrosities. They knew they were in a large sandy area. They made a plan to lure them out and a vicious battle followed with 4 players and both creatures dead at the end. I emphasized the weak underbellies and allowed players to use their creativity and ingenuity to cause the bulette to rise up and become vulnerable for their prepared archers.
This is one of the reasons I enjoy this monster. When faced with near dire outcomes, players surprise me with their ideas and overcome what seemed to be an impossible fight.

Ian McGarty

Happy New Year!

I have been absent from cyberspace for the past few weeks. And, wow, a lot has happened! As I type this, I am listening to the inaugural video of Oldschoolgamerradio.com. It seems like a great thing has been born there. I know that my blog was linked. I know some of the blogs I read haven't been linked yet. (Looking at Castle Triskelion . . . )
The OSR Christmas happened. I don't even know who was gifted the Silver Bulette stuff. Hopefully everyone received something they enjoy. Finally, Castle of the Mad Archmage released a new Kickstarter: Musicland. It's limited to 100 in-print copies. Get on it while they are still there.

I actually was able to game! The game pictured above was run by my brother-in-law, Jason. He had 9 (!) kids under 12 years old playing in a Lite 5E Guardians of the Galaxy game! Drax, Starlord and crew defeated Krampus and freed Father Christmas and the Reindeer in time to deliver presents. I didn't play in that game, but did run one later in the night.

I ran the S&W module "It Started With a Chicken" the first module in the Splinters of Faith series, by Frog God Games. We had about 12 players, including a couple of the kids from Jason's game. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Next time we go camping, we will play part 2.

Next Monday will see the return of Monster Monday. Ian should have his entry for bulette finished. (He begged to do it when I put it on the list over at the Silver Bulette Facebook Group.)

That about covers my Happy New Year, and wrap up of 2017.