Mammoth Mummy Emerges From Its Museum

Thanks to James Mishler, I learned that the Monster Museum was a common entry in the Gold Key comics of the past. They had a "Gold Key Kids Club," and part of it was a "Draw Your Own Monster" entry, which was only for the subscriber copies. They were also used multiple times in multiple titles, but this image (along with the Giant Walking Eye) appeared in The Lone Ranger #9 and probably others.

So, that's all kind of exciting. Thank you, James, for tracking this down!

Here we have a Mammoth Mummy. Let's assume that this mummy is roughly the size of a hill giant and stat it up from there!

Mammoth Mummy : Init -1; Atk fist +8 melee

(1d8+8) or choke +8 melee (1d6/2d6/3d6/etc.) or hurled object +6 ranged (1d8+6, range 100’);

AC 14; HD 14d12+14; hp 99; MV 30’; Act 1d24; SP un-dead, infravision, crit on 20-24, damage reduction 7, vulnerable to fire; SV Fort +12, Ref +5, Will +16; AL C.

Most mummies are ponderous and slow, but the Mammoth Mummy is not. It stands at 12’ tall and weights 700 lbs., its shriveled flesh being lighter than that of a living creature of its size. Unlike normal mummies, the Mammoth Mummy does not carry the dreaded mummy rot. 

Indeed, left on its own, it will merely haunt the city streets at night, returning to its museum home during the day.

(In a DCC game, this will be a private museum, but in an MCC game, it may be a museum of the Ancients, and the city the Mammoth Mummy haunts may be no more than a ruin.)

The other special abilities are very much like those of standard mummies, save they are written on a larger scale! The Mammoth Mummy has been known to stop at taverns during its nightly haunts, and although it has no money, it is peaceful enough if served. It's name is Ptahhotep, and it knows many things about the world as it once was (in ancient or Ancient times, depending upon the game). 

The Mammoth Mummy can be used as a quest giver, a source of information that the PCs can use to Quest For It, a curiosity, an opponent, or even a rescuer coming out of the dark night and the fog. Visited in the museum, Ptahhotep is unmoving unless threatened or attacked.

Rex Finds the Beast's Wind-Pipe

The Beast: Init +3; Atk bite +5 melee (1d6+2); AC 12; HD 2d6; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP +5 stealth, swallow small creature whole; SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1; AL N.

The so-called Beast is just a goofy-looking critter with a single tooth that is no longer than a short sword. It is intelligent, and not particularly malevolent. It is, instead, good at sneaking around settled areas looking for livestock to feed on. 

If it succeeds in an attack roll by more than 4 points, the Beast can make an opposed Strength check (vs. +2) to swallow a creature no larger than a halfling whole. Swallowed creatures have a -2d penalty to any rolls, and can only use small weapons already to hand or spells. Swallowed creatures take 1d6 damage each round. If the Beast is damaged while a creature is swallowed, the swallowed creature normally takes half damage.

Rex the Strangler: Init +1; Atk by weapon +4 melee (by weapon+2) or grasp +4 melee (choke); AC 11; HD 3d12+6; hp 25; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP choke; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +2; AL L.

Rex the Strangler will certainly use weapons, but his grasp attack is feared throughout the land. When Rex succeeds with a grasp attack, he grips his opponent's windpipe and begins to choke it to death. Each round of choking (including the first) requires a Fort save. When the first Fort save fails, the opponent is unconscious. When the third Fort save fails, the opponent dies. The initial DC is 10, but the save DC increases by +4 for every additional round Rex the Strangler maintains his grip.

Escaping Rex's mighty grip requires either an opposed Strength check (vs. +4) of a Mighty Deed result of 5+. Rex is not that strong overall, but his wrists and iron-muscled fingers are superhumanly powerful.

Luckily, Rex the Strangler practices his art only upon those creatures that he views - correctly or not - as real threats to his community!

Giant Walking Eye...Relays What It Sees

Giant Walking Eye: Init +0; Atk bite +3 melee (2d6); AC 15; HD 4d12; MV 40’; Act 1d20; SP relay to body; SV Fort +4, Ref -2, Will +8; AL C.

The Giant Walking Eye roams the world of Terra A.D. (or DCC), as a gigantic red thing a good 8' tall. It relays all that it sees to the rest of its body, which hides in a nearby cave. It can transmit up to 5 miles, but usually stays much closer to the rest of it.

If the Giant Walking Eye sees something that interests it, it can summon the rest of its body. If it is attacked, its body is either automatically summoned or warned, depending upon the nature of the attacker. If the attacker is weak enough to do the Giant Walking Eye no lasting harm, it is often simply consumed.

Body of the Giant Walking Eye: Init -5; Atk grasp +8 melee (2d12 plus grab) or swat +9 melee (3d12) or kick +10 melee (4d12); AC 25; HD 10d20; MV 80’; Act 2d24; SP crit as giant on 20-24; SV Fort +14, Ref -8, Will +8; AL C.

If the eye itself is an 8' tall thing, imagine the size of the creature it belongs to. Even when you take into account that the actual "eye" portion is only about 4' in diameter, and that it is a great goggly-eyed thing, the monster itself is easily over 80' tall....and that eye is really large in proportion to its body! In fact, those stats are extremely generous to the PCs who might encounter this thing. It could easily be much, much worse.

Also, it has two eyes, and the other one is probably around here somewhere.

Also, there is probably also a giant wandering nose....with a disgusting special attack!

Virtual Gary con Recap

Ethereal Gary Con XIII ran from March 25th to 28th, and - not surprisingly - it was a virtual event. The advantage of virtual events is that, in addition to people in North America, I got to play with individuals in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Serbia. The disadvantage is that I am not just rolling out of bed at the Timber Ridge Lodge to jump into games. I am using an area that I share with my family, and that means trying to balance home and play in a way that I don't have to worry about at a physical convention.

Of course, that is all just a long-winded way of saying that I miss physical conventions.

On Thursday, I got to play Stephen Newton's Shadow Under Devil's Reef hosted by Judge Julian Bernick of Spellburn fame. I have run games for Julian twice before, but this was the first time that I got to play an adventure he was running. With enormous luck, I left the adventure virtually unscathed!

Also on Thursday, I played Slowly the sloth in Dan Steeby's The Big Bop Back to Brooklyn, using the Bronx Beasts rules, and that was a load of fun. I can't really talk about the adventure, as it isn't out yet, but I can say that the rules and action really did catch the feel of an 80s Saturday Morning cartoon. The rules for various beasts trying to be the dominant member of the pack came into play several times, and they were definitely fun to use.

On Friday, I played in Michael Curtis' To Free the King of Elfland, a sequel to the most excellent The Queen of Elfland's Son. Again, as this adventure is unpublished (and still in the playtest stage), there is little I can say. One experience along the way was both charming and fantastic. Although Michael Curtis' vision of Elfland has many points of contact with Lord Dunsany's, it is even more a thing that bears his own stamp.

(If I had been at the Con physically, I would have tried to get 3+ games in from Thursday to Saturday, so you can see how being at a virtual Con is more limiting, for me at least, than being at a physical Con. I am really, really hoping to see people in meatspace next year!)

On Saturday, I switched hats from player to judge, and ran The Fence's Fortuitous Folly (DCC Lankhmar) for Martin Saunders, Paul Gyugyi, Adrian Hermann, and Mihailo Tešić. As became a theme for the convention, the players finished with time to space, so we also did a little carousing and a second expedition.

Later that day, I ran The Dread God Al-Khazadar for Eric Rollins, Adrian Hermann, Scott McKinley, and Geoff Knox. I used these special characters, so the party consisted of Prospero, Conan, Princess Ariel, and Bilbo Baggins. To start the game, I had to get the previous tenants of WA_1 to decamp, and it was not at all easy. This was the first time something like that had occurred at a virtual convention for me, and as it was repeated on Sunday, I think I will stick to my own Discord for virtual gaming hereafter. Of course, when I ran games at AlbaCon, either they had more courteous attendees or they monitored their servers better, because the same problems did not occur.

On Sunday, I ran Apotheosis in Green and Gold, an 8th level playtest, for Chris Zank, Randall Harris, Adrian Hermann, and Jason Menard. Again I had to remove the current inhabitants of the Discord room, but, unlike the first case, the previous inhabitants were polite about it. Because this was a playtest, I won't say much about it, but fun was had,

Overall, I enjoyed the convention, but I really miss physical cons. Whether your beverage of choice is a Spotted Cow, black coffee, Mountain Dew, or just water, it is nice to share that directly while the dice roll. It is also nice to have the Con be a thing unto itself, rather than feeling like you are interrupting the weekend for your family.

Thank you to all the awesome folks who played in my games, and those who ran the games I played in, or put up with me as a player in those games! DCC folks really are the best folks.

Chess Enthusiast?

If you are a chess enthusiast, my niece has started making chessboards with pieces. Her site is Amber Resin.

If you are interested in chess, or just feel like checking it out, I encourage you to do so!

Spawn of Cyclops Con & Etc.

Spawn of Cyclops Con was the last weekend in February, so I am a bit late in posting this. However, since I was set to record Episode 109 of Spellburn the Friday after, and it discussed the convention, I decided to wait until after the podcast episode dropped. In the meantime, I discovered this nice podcast, in which a few nice words are said about my blog post about creating magic items!

I only ran one adventure this convention, Journey to the Crypts of Orderly Death, a level 3 adventure originally written for a patron at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto, and which I am currently playtesting.

On Saturday, I ran an 8:00 am game for Steve Barnett, Jason Menard, David Persinger, William Walters, and Bryce Katzman. Journey opens with a "Michael Curtis Special" - an encounter in which a character may easily die. In fact, that is exactly what occurred. 

This was the first time I had run the adventure in over a year (damn you, Covid-19!), but the group was fantastic, I soon hit my stride, and some of what followed included little bits of improv that I used in every session that weekend, and which will surely make it into the final product! I am hesitant to say too much about the adventure before it is published, but I think the players enjoyed drinks at the Fallen Angel if nothing else!

The second group, playing at 6:00 pm managed to win the "Michael Curtis" opener without any losses at all! In fact, they managed to do so well, that it was a shame that a more powerful version of flaming hands than expected took out a character near the end. Still, the players did very well, and they surprised me in the end with a well-cast holy sanctuary! This group consisted of David Dubois, Mike Dawson, Matthew Shayefar, Joe Colistro, and Jack Derricourt.

The final group on Sunday included Pete Doroshenko, Jon Wilson, Hector Cruz, Aaron Kreader, and Julian Bernick. The game started at 1:00 pm. The entire opening encounter was bypassed by a well-cast holy sanctuary, which received some mention on the Spellburn episode. I wouldn't nerf a critical if the monsters rolled one, and I won't nerf good rolls from the players either. 

Since there was a preview version of The Inn in the Forest given away as Virtual Con Swag, I didn't create anything additional for this convention. The Vecnoid, however, does appear in Scientific Barbarian #2, and I have an article in Scientific Barbarian #3, which is currently kickstarting!

Overall, I am enjoying the plethora of virtual conventions this year, but I take up the kitchen table when I run games, so I limit how much time I actually get to spend playing. I miss rolling out of bed at a hotel, showering, and then rushing forth to roll dice in person!

Down to the Final 8 Hours

The Inn in the Forest is down to its final 8 hours. The outpouring has been phenomenal, and I cannot thank you enough!

Thirsty?

It seems to be normal enough booze, but do you drink what McBones, the Skeletal Bartender, is offering you?

Roll 1d7, modified by Luck!

1 or Less: Rot Gut literally rots your gut. Take 1d3 damage immediately, plus 1d3 damage each turn that you fail a DC 15 Fort save. Once you have saved once, the danger has passed.

2: Crypt Tequila forces a DC 15 Fort save. Failure means you drop like a stone, helpless and apparently dead for 1d6 hours. Your comrades probably loot your body.

3: Ghost Rum is tasty stuff! Succeed in a DC 15 Will save or take another drink - and roll 1d7 + Luck modifier again!

4: Manna Gin! Good for a +1d10 bonus on your next spell check, if you make it during the next 1d3 hours. After that, the buzz fades. Yes, multiple drinks can stack (if you are lucky enough). Yes, any class can make a spell check, so this might even help a warrior. Yes, McBones sometimes tends bar in dungeons!

5: Bone Brandy puts a stiffener in your skeleton. Your bones cannot be broken (for example, as the result of a fall or a critical hit) for the next 1d5 days.

6: Burial Bourbon heals 1d5 damage. Better, no matter how badly you are injured over the next 24 hours, you always survive (recover the body checks are always successful without a roll...of either type; if no one rolls the body, you awaken groggy with 1 hp after 1 hour). Even if swallowed whole, you are not slain, but receive a "free pass"!

7 or Better: Super-Whisky not only brings on a warm feeling in your gut, but heals 2d12 damage and all diseases! 50% chance of it being a double-malt that also neutralizes poisons!

McBones, Skeletal Bartender: Init +0; Atk claw +0 ranged (1d4); AC 9; HD 4d6; hp 13; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP death throes; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +6; AL N.

Death Throes: It is uncertain that McBones can be truly slain. Yes, if he reaches 0 hp, his bones are shattered, but as soon as that happens the house goes dry. Even water skins within 500' are mysteriously emptied. At the same time, somewhere else, a skeleton calling itself McBones opens the bar somewhere in the multiverse. Is it the same McBones? A successor? No one knows. McBones doesn't care to discuss the matter, and he never holds a grudge.

How the West was...Weird!

Agamas Ringo, the Saturn Kid (alien gunslinger): Init +3; Atk claw +2 melee (1d4) or ray gun +4 ranged (1d12); AC 15; HD 3d10+6; hp 30; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +2; AL POD +3. Crit Die d8; Fumble Die d12.

Be glad the frame only shows Ringo's hand. The Kid is about as pretty as a skunk with the mange dressed up like a saloon girl, and smells near as good to boot!

That Ray Run gets 100 shots before it runs out of juice, and the judge should roll 1d100 to determine how many shots are left when the Saturn Kid is encountered.