Friday, July 25, 2014

Calydonian Boar and Upcoming

QuasarDragon Games will soon be releasing our first adventure, PO1, but in the meantime, here is a new monster for any old school role-playing campaign. It may or may not appear in any future QD products.  In addition to the normal open game content usage, you may use the text and art, if you like, as long as you give me (Dave Tackett) credit and provide a link to Quasar Dragon Games.


Calydonian Boar

Frequency:               Unique
No. Encountered:     1
Size:                         Large
Move:                       150 ft
Armour Class:           0
Hit Dice:                    14 (100 hp)
Attacks:                     1
Damage:                   5d6
Special Attacks:        None
Special Defenses:     See below
Magic Resistance:     75%
Lair Probability:        Nil
Treasure:                   None
Intelligence:              Low
Alignment:                Chaotic evil
Level/XP:                  9/5850+18/hp
Source:                     Greek Mythology



"Swift as the word, she sped the boar away, / With charge on those devoted fields to prey. / No larger bulls th' Aegyptian pastures feed, / And none so large Sicilian meadows breed." Ovid - Metamorphoses.


First sent by the the goddess Artemis to lay waste to Calydon in Aetolia after its king neglected to honor her, the calydonian boar was killed, but could easily be recreated by her or any other vengeful deity. The size of a large rhinoceros, this boar is destruction incarnate. It exists to destroy anything and everything within its range, starting with animals, but sparing neither plants nor man-made objects.  It does not eat, drink, or sleep. 

The calydonian boar can only be hit by weapons of +1 or greater, regenerates 3 hit points per round, and is immune to spells that target "animals" as well as all mind influencing spells (Charm, Sleep, Hold, etc.) except illusions. The boar is immune to natural fire and takes only half damage from magical fire. It can breathe fire, but does not use this ability in combat, using it only to destroy crops and buildings.

The original calydonian boar was slain in a great hunt in which many of the great heroes of the time took part. This could be recreated to allow the PCs to meet potential friends and rivals.

Original art by Fedor Flinzer, modified by Dave Tackett.


All monster statistics are Open Game Content, including, but not limited to, the stat block from “frequency” through “source.” All references to spells, and other pre-existing open game content referred to in the text is Open Game Content.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Treatise of Twisted Terrors

The Treatise of Twisted Terrors is an unofficial supplement for old school renaissance role-playing games and can be used with any old school RPG or modern clones. It contains seventy new and re-envisioned monsters for your campaign. These monsters are from the myths and legends of numerous cultures to bring new challenges to players, both experienced and novice. This is an OSR Compatible product.

Available at DriveThruRPG for only $2.00!


http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse.php?manufacturers_id=7039

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Isle of Misfit Monsters

Below are three monsters that were rejected form the Treatise of Twisted Terrors due to a lack of available public domain art.  The formatting is a bit different online, but not too different from the supplement. All open game content may be used as allowed by the Open Game License.  The text descriptions may be used as long as credit is given (preferably with a link here).



Armouchiquois
Frequency:                  Rare
No. Encountered:        1-40
Size:                             Small
Move:                          150 ft
Armor Class:              5
Hit Dice:                      1+1
Attacks:                       1
Damage:                      by weapon
Special Attacks:          Nil
Special Defenses:        Nil
Magic Resistance:       Standard
Lair Probability:         35%
Treasure:                    See below
Intelligence:                Average
Alignment:                  Neutral
Level/XP:                    2/140 + 1/hp
Source:                        Native American folklore



Ugly, suspicious, and downright weird, the hoppers were nonetheless good friends in our travels through their lands. In exchange for a few trade items, they acted as guides and guards, quickly leading us through what would have otherwise been very treacherous wilderness. I’m glad we met them, but I’m still having nightmares of their bizarre hopping and hooting calls” - - from The Journals of Eurylochos the Traveler.

Weird, froglike humanoids, armouchiquois stand about three feet tall and have disproportionately long legs. They are surprisingly strong, equal to an ogre, and this, along with their long legs, allows them to hop great distances. They can hop as high as ten feet.

They have a sallow skin color and sunken, nearly skeletal facial feature. All told, they look like small, sickly, frog-men. Despite their unintelligent appearance, they have surprisingly strong mental powers, leading many to become magic users, illusionists, bards, and other spell using classes.

They tend to live in isolated clans, far from large scale civilizations. Although they seek little contact with other races, through trading they will have weapons and armor similar to neighboring peoples, most typically spears and short bows.

Treasure: Individuals: 2d4 gp: Lair: 20d10 sp (50%), 1d6 jewelry (75%


Armouchiquois are likely to be allies, trading partners, and/or sources of information. They may well be the only demi-humans in large territory controlled by hostile humanoids (orcs, gnolls, etc). Unknown even to them, armouchiquois are a sub-species of human and are therefore subject to any spells that effect typical humans. Roughly 5% of them will have class levels, typically being low-level magic users, similar intellect based classes, or rangers.

=======================================================================
Eloko
Frequency:                  Uncommon
No. Encountered:        1-200
Size:                             Small
Move:                          60 ft
Armor Class:              7
Hit Dice:                      1
Attacks:                       1
Damage:                      1d4 or by weapon
Special Attacks:          See below
Special Defenses:        Nil
Magic Resistance:       Standard
Lair Probability:         20%
Treasure:                    3d6 silver per eloko
Intelligence:                High
Alignment:                  Chaotic evil
Level/XP:                    2/45 + 1/hp
Source:                        African mythology



The weird, grass-man had attacked a lone scout, apparently underestimating her combat skill. It did not live long enough to be questioned.” - from The Journals of Eurylochos the Traveler.    

A bizarre, cannibalistic humanoid race, the eloko are dwarf sized, but instead of hair, they have grass growing all over their bodies. Their snouts are elongate with prominent, sharp teeth, causing them to look a bit like mammalian kobolds with grass for fur. They reside in deep forests and dress in clothes made out of leaves.

Eloko are most commonly encountered in hunting patrols of 2d6 eloko (70 % chance). These are very aggressive as they are already out hunting for human flesh. They will attack immediately, first using their charm bells, then attacking with ranged weapons, before closing for melee as a last resort. Occasionally a hungry eloko will go off on its own and attempt to use its charm bell to acquire human meat (10% chance). Lone eloko prey upon the weak and will never attack an armed group. The remainder of encounters (20%) will be with an eloko village. Surprisingly, these are often the least dangerous encounters as the eloko will frequently trade their non-human meat and forest fruits for weapons and coins. They are typically armed with a wide assortment of random weapons acquired by trade or by theft. At least 25% of eloko will be armed with spears or short bow,

The most potent weapon possessed by the eloko are their charm bells. These magic items can be used to cast a potent charm spell two times a day. This functions as the magic user spell charm person, but with one important difference. Victims charmed by the eloko bell will do anything the caster asks, typically allowing the eloko to eat the alive. They have one charm bell per 10 eloko or fraction thereof.

Eloko subsist on forest game and rare forest fruits, especially berries, but prefer human meat when they can get it. Eating the flesh of sentient beings is so important to the eloko that they will frequently deny having eaten anything else. 


Eloko are another race that can help add an element of the exotic to distant regions.  In their home region, they may fulfill a role similar to that of orcs or goblins elsewhere but they act and feel quite different. 

=========================================================================

Attercroppe
Frequency:                  Very rare
No. Encountered:        1-12
Size:                             Small
Move:                          60 ft
Armor Class:              3
Hit Dice:                      2
Attacks:                       1
Damage:                      1d4
Special Attacks:          Poison
Special Defenses:        Nil
Magic Resistance:       Standard
Lair Probability:         50%
Treasure:                    See below
Intelligence:                Average
Alignment:                  Chaotic evil
Level/XP:                    3/80 + 1/hp
Source:                        Saxon mythology

I’ve always been a bit leery of snakes and when one rose up on a pair of hind legs and hissed something at me, I reacted without thinking and kicked the damn thing as hard as I could. Fortunately my boot was heavy enough that it smashed in its head. When I took the corpse over to Peiraios’ tent to see if he knew what the creature had been, I could not wake him. He had been bitten by this creature, or as I fear, another of its kind.“ - from The Journals of Eurylochos the Traveler.

The attercroppe (“little poison head”) is a small poisonous fairy-snake with humanoid limbs and an insatiable cat-like curiosity. They are extremely malevolent towards humans, humanoids, and demi-humans, except for elves and fairy folk of all kinds. 

A nocturnal creature, they tend to sleep through the day in their small boroughs (indistinguishable from normal snake holes on the surface). They live near rivers and in forests where other fay beings live.

An unarmed human will almost certainly be bitten (save vs poison at -1 or die) unless they can distract them long enough to flee. The best way to distract an attercroppe is to toss an unusual or shiny object to it, which should give the person a few seconds to hastily exit the area.

They can speak common in a hissing voice, but no one has ever heard them say anything except “what’s that?”

Attercroppe are minor, but dangerous nuisance encounters for characters travelling through darker fay lands. Of course, if one of the characters, or better yet players, has a snake phobia, then they might be a more common monster.  Experienced adventurers will often leave out many worthless shiny baubles to distract these unseelie fairies. Either the attercroppe will run of with some of the “treasure” or it will be mesmerized by all the fascinating items.  Either way, it’s better than being bitten in your sleep.


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Designation of Product Identity and Open Game Content:
Open Game Material:
All monster statistics are Open Game Content, including, but not limited to, the stat block from “frequency” through “source.” All other references to game rules are also open game
Product Identity:
All text descriptions of the creatures are Product Identity to the extent permitted under the OGL and to the extent such material is subject to copyright, except for any text language derived from the SRD which is Open Game Content. The phrases “The Journals of Eurylochos the Traveler,” is Product Identity. 


OGL

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