Raven Crowking's Nest

Sunday, 5 April 2015

Finding Monsters in My Adventures

As a complimentary post to this one, the following can be considered as an aid for judges who are interested in locating a particular creature in an adventure (or other product) that I have written. As with the previous entry, I will attempt to update this blog post periodically after new adventures have been released for some time into the wild. This list is not complete. It is not even up to date for all of my published material so far. But it is a start.

LAST UPDATE: 17 July 2019

If enough creatures related to a specific adventure intrigue you, please consider supporting the publisher in question.

Although I have done several conversions for Goodman Games (Tower of the Black Pearl, Well of the Worm, Dragora’s Dungeon, Xcrawl: Dungeonbattle Brooklyn, Curse of the Kingsire), I have not included creatures from these adventures. They are good adventures, though, and I recommend them. Be aware that the Xcrawl adventure has different base assumptions from core DCC. Likewise, I have not included adventures where I was aiding another, such as The Perplexing Disappearances in Brambury by Brave Halfling. Again, that doesn’t mean you should avoid those adventures. I simply didn’t want the appearance of taking credit for the work of others. Where individual authorship is clear, I have included a product.

To break up the wall of text, the following is separated alphabetically:

E: The Ebony Stag; Ectoplasmic Filaments; Elder Kindred; Elemental Wind Grue; Elf-like Fey; Elven Skeletons; Emissary of Nimlurun; Empara; Empousa; Eohippus; Erasmus Cordwainer Blood; Erinyes; Eurayle; Evil Bird Swarm; Evolved Otyugh; the Experiment Man; Extra-Dimensional Hornet; Eye of Uburtosis.

G: Gaoler’s Skeleton; Gatekeeper; Gaulmurk, the Ogre-Sorcerer; Gelatinous Slime Mold; Gelid Tentacle; General Miriamum; Gentleman Clubber; Ghoul, Durdarian; Ghoul, Portsmouth; Giant Ants; Giant Bee; Giant Black Widow; Giant Bloodworm; Giant Conch Stomach; Giant Dire Mole; Giant Flatworm; Giant Frog; Giant Hornets; Giant Leech; Giant Muckworm; Giant Mutated Snapping Turtle; Giant Rabbit; Giant Salamander; Giant Spider; Giant Talking Rat; Giant Vampiric Fleas; Giant War Turtle; Giant Wasp; Giant Wolf Spider; Gigantic Crab; Gigantic Invertebrate; Gingerbread Men; Glitterjaws; Globlin; Glowing Violet Fungus; Gnarl-Gnarl; Goblin Animal Trainer; Goblin Guardsman; Goblin Knight; Goblin Leader; Goblin Sheep; Goblin Steed; Golden Angels; the Goremera; Graceful Wormfolk; Grallistrix; Grandfather of the Forest; Great Black Bear; Great Butterfly; Great Guardian; Great Horned Owl; Greater Larvae; Greater Mummy; Green-white Centipede; Grendel; Grey Humanoids; Grey Ones; Grimperrault, the Sea Dragon; Grunkle; Grydris, Alpha Female Ape-Woman; Guard; Guardian Brood; Guardian of the Deep; Guardian Slime; Guardians of the Temple; Guttersnake.

I: Ice Spider; Icon of Tsathoggua; Ifhane, Goblin King; Impenitent; Impenitent Abbot; Incabulus; Incabulus Spawn; Invisible Guardian; Invisible Lunar Creature; Ipotane; Ironroach Swarm; Ivrian the Unkind.

J: J'Aleth, Empress of the Elder Kindred; Jabbering Skull; Jabberwock; Jackal; Jailor's Assistant; Jane Johnson; Jarnath; Jelly Ants.

K: Kala Môr; King George; King Kroll; the Klarashton.

L: Lady Orialle; Lamia; Lamprey Swarm; Land Bat; Land Bat Swarm; Large Crocodile; Large Slug; Large Spider; Large Tree Spider; Lesser Hag; Librarian's Ghost; Lillit; Living Flowstone; Lizard; the Loathly One; "Lord" Urtokki, Azith Sorcerer; Lunar Centaur; Lunar People; Lurk.

N: Nick Cutter, the Iron Axeman; Night Soil Catfish; Nightmare Fleas; Nutkins.

O: One-Legged Tin Soldier; the Only; Ontothere; Ooloi; Ophiotaurus; Orange Slime; Ornithomimus; Otyugh.

Q: Qophu.

S: Sabre-Tooth; Salamander; Salt Hounds; Satrampa; Satryx; Saturn Cat; Saturnian Ape-Men; Sauropod (Small and Large); Savages; Scarlet Bones; Scarlet Succubus; Scarlet Worm Swarm; Scions of Logos (Tiny to Huge); Sea King; Sea Witch; Seal; Segmented Worm; Selden Esh; Selenites; Sending of Sliggeth; Septic Monkey; Servant of Darkness; Servitor; Severed Hands; Sewer Troll; Sewer Worker; Sewer Zombies; Shadow Creatures; Shaft Crawler; Shimmer Lizard; Shoggoth; Sir Amoral the Misbegotten; Skagaart; Skin Flake; Slaugh; Sleeping Beauty; Slime Crawler; Small Cavemen; Smoke Rat; Smuggler; Snailtaur Guard; Snailtaur Potion Master; Snow White; Snowmen; Sons of the Dragon’s Teeth; Sorcerer’s Skeleton; Sotark the Destroyer; Soul Hunter; Spawn of Yagzarrid; Spider; Spider Sisters; Spinner Queen; The Spinwoman; Spiked Tortoise; Ssethmariss; Star, Lesser and Greater; Stegosaurus; Stellar Ghoul; Stiltman; Stinkdew; Stomoan Shaman; Stone Ape-Man Guardian; Stone Dragon; Strangling Vines; Suanggi; Sugar Plum Faeries; Swamp Light Faerie; Swarm of Corpse Parts.

U: Um, the Hook-Nosed Gobbler; Un-dead Beauty; Un-dead Crocodile; Un-dead Fiddler; Un-dead Flying Monkey; Un-dead Guts; Un-dead Horror; Un-dead Horror (same name, different monster); Un-dead Imp; Un-dead Mormurg; Un-dead Runners; Un-dead Skeleton Man; Un-dead Slaves; Un-dead Stepsisters; Underbelly Stalker; Unicorn; Unicorn (different from the first); Urstah, the Star Drinker; Ussa-La, Space Princess.

V: Valgazur, the Bone Dragon; Vanth; Vatta; Venomous Serpent Swarm; Venomous Snake; Vermillion Rat; Very Large Men; Vile Drop-Crawler; Vine Warriors; Violet Goblin; Void Stalker; Void Wolf; Vos the Spell-Thief; Vulture-Griffons, Vuthmal Swarm.

W: The Walking God; Walrus; Walrus,Giant; Waspmires; Waste Viper; Water Nymphs; Whisperer; Whisperer of the Void; Whispering Shades; Wild Cat; Wild Pig; Wise Rabbit; Wood Viper; Wooden Guardians; Wormwalker.

X: Nothing for X. Something to fix in future adventures!

Y: Young Wolf Spider Swarm.

Z: Zanatar; Zardu and Zarya; Zombie Bride; Zombie Groom; Zug.

Wednesday, 1 April 2015

Locating Monsters in this Blog

Currently down for repairs. Please stand by.

So here is the deal. You will notice some problems with line breaks in this list, which I thought I could resolve by importing it into Microsoft Word, and then updating the blog post from the Word file. Unfortunately, what instead happened is that the import changed all of the existing links.

So I am now in the long process of repairing those links, and will update this post as the work is done. Sorry for the inconvenience.

To make “characters” easier to find, I have separated them out: Agamas Ringo, the Saturn Kid; Angar, Son of Ormgeld, father of Grendel; Asbolus; Assassinator of the Gods; Ayesha; Azubal, Goblin Vampire; Baal Zymymar; Balrog; Beaus; Bilbo Baggins; Breckinridge Elkins; Buffy Summers; Calibos; the California Raisins; Cap’n Kidd; Captain Jack Sparrow; Celation; Charity Desire; Child of Light; Chiron, Aspect of; Conan the Cimmerian; Conan the Cimmerian (younger); the Crimson Renegade; Cryonax (Prince of Evil Cold); Dalek Supreme; Death Cart; Death Dealer; Death Dealer's Warhorse; Doc Savage; the Doomed Hero; Dragotha the Undead Dragon; Drowned Maid; Edward's Horses; Egrinn; Elemental Princes of Evil; Eternally Hungry Caterpillar; Euryale; Gearon; Gilbert Malévol the Fox; Gilmar's Ghost; Glory McGraw; Gwangi

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

The Dreaded Tarrasque

When TSR released the AD&D Monster Manual II, the Tarrasque was unleashed. The Monster Manual II was a collection of monsters, either written or compiled by Gary Gygax, as was the original. The Tarrasque was a monster to end all monsters, something to let even the highest-level characters break into a cold sweat.

The problem with the Tarrasque in DCC is that it has already been done.

Bear with me. I ask you to consider Mr. Goodman’s The Emerald Enchanter, Mr. Stroh’s Colossus, Arise!, and REDACTED’s NOT OUT YET. Each of these adventures contains an encounter that is a spiritual successor to the Tarrasque.

From Mr. Goodman, we learn that it is allowable to create DCC monsters that the PCs don’t even have a chance to affect. And it is okay to just say a monster does XdY damage to a PC – no attack roll or save required. From Mr. Stroh we learn that sometimes a monster is going to get free environment-altering effects in addition to its attacks. (The Thing in the Chimney used the same for the Cinder Claws, albeit to a lesser extent, when it appeared in time for Christmas 2012. There is nothing new under the sun.) In REDACTED by REDACTED we see that REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED, which is close enough to the idea of the Tarrasque that I hesitate to throw my hat into this particular ring.

So, keep playing through the upcoming DCC adventures. When NOT OUT YET has been out long enough to give people a chance to play it through, I may revisit this topic. And, no, I am not going to reveal the identity of REDACTED at this time. I don’t wish to spoil any surprises. I will just say that I am not the author.

Monday, 23 March 2015

A Sore for Sight Eyes: The Gazeball

David VC descirbes “A Gazeball, a floating eye/gas spore hybrid that paralyzes you and drains your Intelligence until it explodes, after which 0-2 new gazeballs emerge from your skull...” For Dave and your reading (and gaming) pleasure, I therefore present:

Gazeball: Init –2; Atk Slam +2 melee (1d3) or infect –4 melee (0); AC 8; HD 4d8; fly MV 10’; Act 1d20; SP symbiotic spores, reproductive spores, slime, infestation, explosion, immune to mind-affecting, half damage from bludgeoning; SV Fort –5, Ref –4, Will –2; AL N.

A gazeball is a fungal horror which appears to be a large eye, floating in midair, perhaps due to some form of levitation. Rhizomatic growths at its apex appear almost like a crown of eyes, each at the end of a short tentacle-like growth. In fact, pustulant sacs in the gazeball’s mass create a volatile gas that provides lift, and the “crown of eyes” are designed to incubate, and eject the spores of, a secondary symbiotic fungi. The gazeball can shoot a line of symbiotic spores up to 30’ (Ref save DC 15 or suffer 1d3 temporary Agility damage).

When a target is paralyzed, or can barely move due to the symbiotic spores, the gazeball uses another growth to deposit its own spores on the victim. These spores are laid in a thick coat of slime over the victim’s face. The slime can be broken down by alcohol, or dissolves on its own after a period of 2d10 minutes. While the slime is present, the victim is blinded. During this period, the spores travel into the victim’s skull, where they infest the brain (a DC 20 Fort save prevents this from occurring). If the slime is washed off within the first 10 rounds, the victim gains a +1 to +10 bonus to the save, with the highest bonus indicated it is washed off within a single round.

The gazeball’s spores cause 1d3 Intelligence damage immediately upon infestation, and then cause 1d3-1 points of Intelligence damage each day thereafter. When damage causes a PC to fall to 10 Intelligence or less, the character’s entire head becomes tender. Thereafter, there is visible cranial swelling. If a victim falls to 0 Intelligence, roll 1d3-1. On a result of 1-2, the victim’s skull explodes, revealing new gazeballs equal to the number rolled (1 or 2) with 1 HD each. On a roll of “0”, the victim manages to defeat the infection, and slowly returns to normal. Otherwise, the infection can only be cured by magic or clerical healing (4 HD result or better).

A gazeball’s slam attack is only used in self-defence. The fungal creature is not looking for a meal, but for the chance to reproduce.

Finally, when damaged there is a percentage chance equal to the total damage taken that a gazeball will explode due to the weakening of the gas pustules. This causes 1d3 damage to all targets within 30’, who must also succeed in a DC 5 Fort save to avoid infestation with the gazeball’s spores. If there is an open flame within the radius of the blast, it causes a secondary explosion for 2d6 damage (Reflex save DC 10 for half damage; characters who take 6+ damage are set on fire). Each point of fire damage counts as 5 points when determining the chance of explosion.

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Hook's Croc

Now we come to a rather interesting, and open-ended request.

DDogwood says, "I want to see a monster like the crocodile from Peter Pan - it prefers to eat its victims bit by bit, over a long period of time. For example, the first time you encounter it, it might bite off a hand. Then it escapes, but starts stalking its victim. Days later, it might attack again and take the rest of the arm. A few days after that, it takes a foot. Of course, the missing limbs can't be restored unless the monster is slain."

Okay.

I am of the opinion that the goal is two-fold here. One is to strike fear into the hearts of the players (or, at least, their characters) and the other is to pay tribute to an awesome denizen of our childhood memories. I am therefore going to include some sensory clue that the monster is nearby, like the ticking of the clock in Peter Pan, and I am going to build the creature as a giant reptile. It is important that the sensory clue is similar enough to something else that the players have doubts whether it is the "crocodile" or a "clock" they "hear".

Mechanically, we need a way to bring the PCs into contact with the same monster repeatedly. Unlike Captain Hook, the PCs are not stuck forever in the Neverland. Our monster must have the means to follow its chosen target.

It requires not only a means to appear, but also a means to escape. Perhaps Captain Hook didn’t kill the crocodile because it was Pan’s creature. Perhaps it was impossible. But most PC groups would simply have made an end of it if they could. So we need to make that difficult.

Our design parameter s also include eating a victim a little bit at a time, and the opportunity to heal those little bits (only) after the creature is slain. The sense of being diminished is important for fear, and we are looking at a creature designed to promote fear. Because of the healing requirement, I am not going to have the creature eat its victims physically – instead it will eat little bits of the victim’s soul that correspond to parts of the body, leaving the body whole but with those parts eaten becoming unresponsive.

Let’s start, then, with the crocodile from Peter Pan, and then introduce our new creature.

Hook’s Crocodile: Init –3; Atk bite +5 melee (3d4); AC 20; HD 5d8; hp 25; MV 20’ or swim 40’; Act 1d20; SP camouflage, ticking, swallow whole, lunge; SV Fort +4, Ref –2, Will –4; AL N.

Hook’s crocodile is an enormous saltwater crocodile that haunts the Neverland. When Peter Pan cut off Captain James Hook’s right hand, he fed it to the crocodile. The crocodile liked it so much that it has been following Hook ever since in hopes of getting the rest.

This crocodile gains a +5 bonus to all attempts at hiding, lower than that of typical giant reptiles because of the loud ticking noise it makes…the result of a clock it once swallowed, and which is still undigested, echoing in the crocodile’s innards.

On a natural 19-20, the crocodile can swallow its victim whole. The victim takes 1d6 damage each round, but may attempt a DC 20 Strength check to force his way out. This is something that has happened before, and will happen again, according to J. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

The crocodile can also lunge forward in the first round of combat, covering a move of 40’.

According to some authorities, even if Captain Hook did manage to defeat the crocodile, Pan would simply resurrect it. Possibly with another Hit Die or two.

Soul Hunter: Init +0; Atk bite +5 melee (special); AC 20; HD 5d8; hp 25; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP transport through shadows, surprise, soul consumption, soul binding; SV Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +5; AL C.

The soul hunter is an extradimensional creature that subsists off of the souls of its victims. Its bite passes through flesh without harming it, but tears off a small piece of the victim’s soul, causing 1d3 points of Strength, Agility, or Stamina damage and rendering part of the body useless. The damage reflects the effect of the bite – 1 point of Agility damage might indicate that a few fingers are rendered useless, but, eventually, as the damage adds up, the victim is able to use less and less of his body. The player can choose which ability, from among the three, to take the damage from.

(Some sages and theologians theorize that the soul is suffused throughout the body, so that when an amputee feels “phantom limb pain”, he is in fact feeling the remnant soul which has no bodily housing. The action of the soul hunter is the opposite; the housing remains, but parts of the soul are taken.)

The soul hunter needs very little “food” to survive. After each attack, it retreats into shadows and disappears. This allows prepared characters to attempt a free whack. Thereafter, it is attuned to its current victim’s soul, and cannot feed off of another until the victim’s entire soul is consumed. Every 1d5 days, the creature will crawl out of some shadowy area, attack until it has successfully caused its victim damage, and then retreat again.

So long as the soul hunter lives, the damage it causes cannot be healed or undone, short of divine intervention (DC 20). Such divine intervention also severs the soul hunter’s bond with its victim, and it is free to choose another. If the soul hunter is slain, its victim recovers the ability damage normally. Because the soul hunter is bound to a specific victim, it always knows exactly where that victim is, and can track it through shadows with complete accuracy. Even blinding the creature cannot prevent the soul hunter from knowing exactly where its victim is.

The soul hunter’s appearances are preceded by a strong smell of beer, which only the victim can perceive. This gives the victim 1d5 rounds to prepare, but doesn’t prevent the soul hunter from appearing suddenly from shadows, surprising on a 1 in 4 chance. This scent is disguised in taverns and similar locations, and the smell of normal beer may easily be mistaken for the soul hunter’s approach.

The soul hunter’s ability to move through shadows, travelling from any shadowed area to any other shadowy area, anywhere, can be foiled only by full illumination, so that there are no shadows which it can use. Otherwise, even weak shadows allow the creature to pass by using an Action Die, and stronger shadows allow it to pass using a normal move.

The soul hunter looks like a shadowy crocodile, with glowing eyes. Its legs are longer than those of a true crocodile, however. If reduced to 0 hp, it melts into shadows, never to be seen again.