The Death Dealer

Heavy metal album covers have inspired gamers for decades, and have certainly influenced Dungeon Crawl Classics. Nothing is more obviously influenced than Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad, but it has been a while since the last issue of that worthy zine has come out.

What are we to do in the meantime?

The answer is obvious. Stat some things up using album covers as our inspiration. Therefore, without further ado, I present to you:

The Death Dealer

The Death Dealer is an un-dead reaver mounted on a great black warhorse. His eyes glow red, but no visage can be seen beneath his horned helmet. He gains a d7 Deed Die (as a warrior) and uses 1d24 on Table V for critical hits, with a threat range of 18-20.He has the power to control any horse he rides by force of will alone. He can make a ranged attack up to 60' away with the force of his gaze. This causes 1d6 damage (Deed Die does not apply), and the target of a successful attack must succeed in a DC 15 Will save or be unable to act for 1 round.

The Death Dealer wears cursed half-plate armor. Anyone who dies while wearing this armor arises 1d5 rounds later as the new Death Dealer. However, the Fumble Die for the cursed armor is only 1d12.

The Death Dealer: Init +5; Atk battle axe +1d7+2 melee (1d10+1d7+2) or longsword +1d7+2 melee (1d8+1d7+2) or searing gaze +0 ranged (1d6 plus lose action); AC 17; HD 5d12; hp 33; MV 20'; Act 1d20 + 1d14; SP un-dead traits, Deed Die, extended crit range, control horse, searing gaze; SV Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +6; AL C.

A warhorse controlled by the Death Dealer gains +4 hp and a +4 bonus to Will saves.

The Death Dealer's warhorse: Init +1; Atk hoof +5 melee (1d6+3); AC 14; HD 4d8+4; hp 26; MV 60’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +6; AL N.

DCC (and other RPG) work to date

Wrote

A Lesson From Turtles (Appendix N Adventures Add-Ons #1)

AL 1: Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror

AL 3: Through the Cotillion of Hours

AL 5: Stars in the Darkness

AL 8: Fire in the Mountain

Assassins of the Pit (DCC #68: People of the Pit)

CE 1: The Falcate Idol

CE 2: The Black Goat

CE 3: The Folk of Osmon

CE 4: The Seven Deadly Skills of Sir Amoral the Misbegotten

CE 5: Silent Nightfall

CE 6: The Crimson Void

CE 7: The Giggling Deep

CE 8: Goblins of the Faerie Woods

CE 9: Both Foul and Deep
Crawljammer: The Vault of Ash

Crawljammer: The Weird Worm-Ways of Saturn

DCC #90: The Dread God Al-Khazadar

DCC #92: Through the Dragonwall

Dispatches from Raven Crowking Vol. 1

Dispatches from the Raven Crowking Vol, 3

Dispatches from the Raven Crowking Vol. 2

Dispatches from the Raven Crowking Vol. 4

FT 0: Prince Charming, Reanimator

FT 1: Creeping Beauties of the Wood

FT 2.1: Three Nights in Portsmouth

FT 2: The Portsmouth Mermaid

Gifts of the Only (Appendix N Adventures Add-Ons #1)

HT 1: The Perils of Cinder Claws

Icon of the Blood Goddess (In the Prison of the Squid Sorcerer)

Laro Chelle the Ring Bearer (Adventures Add-On #7)

May Flowers (The Gong Farmer’s Almanac 2015 Vol 3)

Mermaids From Yuggoth (In the Prison of the Squid Sorcerer)

Raven Crowking Presents Gary Con 2017 Special: Items of Magic

Raven Crowking's Birthday Mathom 2013

Raven Crowking's Birthday Mathom 2014

Raven Crowking's Birthday Mathom 2015

Raven Crowking's Birthday Mathom 2016

Raven Crowking's Birthday Mathom 2017

The Arwich Grinder (Crawl! fanzine #9)

The Black Feather Blade (Goodman Games Gen Con 2015 Program Book)

The Imperishable Sorceress (DCC RPG/Xcrawl Free RPG Day 2013 and DCC #89: Chaos Rising)

The Mysterious Valley (D.A.M.N. #1 Winter 2017)

The Revelation of Mulmo

The Revelation of Mulmo Tentacled Edition

The Tomb of the Squonk (Pulp Weird Encounters #1: The Tomb of the Squonk and the Silent Army)

The Tribe of Ogg and the Gift of Suss

Thirteen Brides of Blood (The Gong Farmer's Almanac 2017 Vol 7)

Vance's Merry Men (Appendix N Adventures Add-Ons #1)

Co-Wrote (Two or more authors working on the same material)

50 Fantastic Functions For The D50

Angels, Daemons, and Beings Between

Angels, Daemons, and Beings Between: Expanded, Otherworldy Edition

Curse of Mistwood

DCC #89: Chaos Rising (The Imperishable Sorceress)

DCC #91.2: Lairs of Lost Agharta

Fearsome Critters

Grimic the Slaughterer (Appendix N Adventures Add-On #7)

The Perplexing Disappearances in Brambury (Appendix N Adventures Add-Ons #1)

RC 1: The Hypercube of Myt

RC 2: Death By Nexus

RC 3: The Shambling Un-dead

Converted to DCC

DCC #76.5: Well of the Worm

DCC #79.5: Tower of the Black Pearl

DCC #82.5: Dragora's Dungeon

DCC #85.5: The Curse of the Kingspire

GM Gems Hardcover Second Printing

PM 1: Temple of the Locust Lord

PM 2: Desolate Dwarven Delve

Races of Porphyra: Erkunae

Races of Porphyra: Ith'n Ya'roo

Xcrawl: Anaheim Crawl (DCC RPG Edition)

Xcrawl: BostonCrawl (DCC RPG Edition)

Xcrawl: Dungeonbattle Brooklyn (DCC RPG Edition)

Other DCC Writing Credits

AL 1-5: The Stars are Falling (bridging material)

Angels, Daemons, and Beings Between Volume 2: Elfland Edition (Forward)

Black Powder, Black Magic Vol. 3 (Varmints!: The Malcupine)

Children of the Sun

Crawl! fanzine #3 (Magic Wand)

Crawl! fanzine #9 (But He Sure Had Guts!)

Crawl! fanzine #10 (Half Levels)

Crawl! fanzine #11 (The Deep Elders)

Crawling Under A Broken Moon fanzine #7 (Bounders)

D.A.M.N. #1 Winter 2017 (Converting Material to DC and  It’s All Greek to Me!)

DCC #71: The 13th Skull (Seven Strange Skulls)

DCC #84: Peril on the Purple Planet Boxed Set (additional writing for The Purple Planet Companion and Lost Tombs of the Ancients)

DCC #91.1: The Lost City of Barako

DCC Lankhmar (additional writing)

Goodman Games Gen Con 2015 Program Book (The Black Feather Blade and one of several authors  of The Hypercube of Myt)

Goodman Games Gen Con 2016 Program Book (one of several authors of Death by Nexus)
Maiden Voyage of the Colossus (DCC stats)

Monster Alphabet

Sanctum Secorum Episode #09 Companion: Two From H.P. Lovecraft (Born of the Old Ones)

Sanctum Secorum Episode #17 Companion: A Night in the Lonesome October (The Experiment Man and The Ripper’s Blade)

Sanctum Secorum Episode #20 Companion: Tarzan of the Apes (Tarzan)
Sanctum Secorum Episode #30 Companion: Sign of the Labrys (Yeast Plagues)

Secret Santicore 2016 (Yddgrrl, the World Root)

The Gong Farmer's Almanac 2016 Vol 3 (Two Roaches for Your Adventures)

Writing for Other RPGs

Dragon Roots #0 (Be Thee for Law or Chaos)

Dragon Roots #1 (Campaign Considerations: Tropical Adventures, Faerie Encounters, Races & Paragons from the Middle World, Tribute to Gary Gygax, and What's Over There?: Temple of the Golden Ape)

Dragon Roots #2 (Campaign Considerations: Coastal Regions)

Dragon Roots #3 (Balmorphos and Campaign Considerations of Mountainous Areas)

Petty Gods: Revised & Expanded Edition (Poisoned Cup of Life, Rod of Destiny, and Twisted Crown)

The Dungeon of Crows - First 28 Rooms

The Dungeon of Crows 2 - Avatar of Yog Sutekhis

CE 9: Both Foul and Deep

Mark Gedak at Purple Duck Games is experimenting with ways to bring products to you at a reasonable cost. The most recent Campaign Element, for instance, is being sourced through Go Fund Me so that it can be releases in Pay What You Want (for the pdf version, anyway). The goal is to cover art and writing costs, as well as layout and design. All the writing is done.

CE 9: Both Foul and Deep takes your PCs into the sewers beneath a major metropolis. In addition to an example of how such a location can be set up to Quest For It (a nine-location adventure using a map designed by Paratime's Tim Hartin), you gain materials to help you create your own sewer encounters.

This includes 30 monsters (not including those who are encountered in the aforementioned adventure), diseases one can contract through exploring sewers and cesspits, and a discussion of the types of humans one might encounter in the sewers and vaults beneath the city. My recent trip to Scotland, and touring the vaults below Edinburgh, was of some use here.

If you are at all interested, I would urge you to drop by the Go Fund Me page here.

What is in this Volume?

Appendix N literature is filled with cities, glorious or decaying. Beneath the streets of these urban centers lies a region dank, foul with the effluvia of countless generations, flowing through crumbling brickwork in the malodorous darkness. If your players are anything like mine, sooner or later they will wish to have their characters delve into these fetid morasses.

This product is intended to ensure that you are ready. To that end, a small area of sewers is described, with several hooks to entice PCs into investigating. Three appendixes supply added content to expand the original area or to create sewers of your own. The last appendix is an abbreviated patron write-up of Squallas, Mistress of the Night Soil Rivers, whose domain is the sewers.

You Say 30 Monsters. Can You Give Us an Example?

Stinkdew: Init always last; Atk none; AC 12; HD 2d8; MV 1’; Act none; SP glue, wrap, digestive enzymes, vulnerable to fire (x2 damage); SV Fort +5, Ref -10, Will +0; AL N.

This fungal plant is similar to a sundew, in that it gives off a scent to attract prey, which it then adheres to and closes around to digest. In this case, the fungus gives off a horrid stench like rotting meat, which gives the thing its name. The fungus otherwise appears like a leather collection of dark rags. It can detach itself from the ground and move along slowly, in the manner of a slime mold. Stinkdews are easily avoided by characters who know what they are, but are hazardous to the uninitiated or those who might encounter them while in flight from something else. For this reason, they subsist mainly on unintelligent prey.

Any creature or object that comes into contact with a stinkdew is caught fast. On the first round, it requires a DC 10 Strength check to pull free. Each round, the DC increases by +2 and the fungus wraps more and more of itself around its victim. On the third round, the stinkdew’s digestive enzymes activate, causing 1d3 damage per round. These enzymes can digest wood, bone, paper, leather, and cloth – anything organic – but leave metal items and stone undamaged.

Even after escaping, a victim discovers that the sticky glue of the stinkdew coats him, causing a -1d on the dice chain to all die rolls until 1d3 hours have passed or the goo is washed off with alcohol. Worse, the victim stinks during this time, doubling the chances of a random encounter and making it all but impossible to surprise any creature with a sense of smell.

Stinkdews are easily burned, but that can create its own hazard in the sewers (see page XX).

(This is the least dangerous of the 30 monsters. The most dangerous....well, encounters for high-level PCs are supported.)

AD&BB Volume 2

This puppy has already funded, and needs less than $300 Australian to make its next stretch goal: patron spells in the Sorcerer's Grimoire free online tool at Purple Sorcerer!

It should be noted that the Australian dollar is generally below the US dollar, so any pledge you might choose to make is actually cheaper than it would otherwise be. 

I was asked to write an introduction for the volume, and I have seen an earlier version of the text, so I have some bias here.

But it is also my understanding that the Purple Sorcerer stretch goal means that the spells from both Volume 1 and Volume 2 would be available for making spellbooks online, as well as for making convention characters. And that is a lot of material.

The Fae Hard adventure, which is a stretch goal, will release eventually in any case. It will just take longer if the stretch goal is not reached. The Sorcerer's Grimoire goal, though, is within our grasp. 

Jon Marr's community resources are fantastic. Please help me push this over the top.

Gary Con...Looking For a Game

My son, Mike, will be coming to Gary Con with me again this year, and we are hoping to jump into some games where we can both play. I tried to make Friday my big day for running, opening some time Saturday for off-book games or just talking to people.

If we can jump in your game, please let me know!

(All plans at this point are tentative, until official scheduling is up.)

Gary Con X, Redux

I have submitted the following games to Gary Con X. Hope to see you there!

Goblins of the Faerie Wood: 0-level funnel with goblin PCs! This is what happens when the king of your tribe sends you to the witch doctor of another tribe, because he has a toothache that won't go away. Characters and two goblin classes to level into are provided.

Prince Charming, Reanimator: 0-level funnel. Your mission is to enter the ruined castle, find the place where the “Sleeping” Beauty lies, and bring her forth for Prince Charming to restore with a kiss. Characters provided.

Silent Nightfall: Level 2: Recover the Whispering Stone for the King of Elfland! Silent nightfall, now to bed/A rushlight to ward your way/Hush now child, cry not child/They listen to find their prey. Through forest they come/Down dark streets they glide/O my children lie silent/We are all safe inside. Characters provided.

The Falcate Idol: Level 2: The Cult of the Harrower is ancient, and each of the eight eyes of its spider-idol is rumored to be a moonstone gem the size of a pigeon's egg.  Moreover, somewhere within the cult's sanctuary, a pool flows from the Egg of Creation.  Characters provided.

The Thing in the Chimney: 1st level. Yuletide comes but once a year. Enjoy it (very!) early with the original DCC holiday adventure! At the waning of every year, as the sun grows closer to the horizon, and spends less time in the sky, there comes a time of terrible cold and deep snow to the lands of the north.   The world waits with hushed breath for this, the longest night of the year, to be over.  Characters provided.

Thirteen Brides of Blood: 0-level funnel. Vampires haunt the land! Erasmus Cordwainer Blood has existed for countless centuries, feeding off the blood of those villages closest to his hidden lair.This time you will seek him out, and put an end to him before he can strike! What could go wrong? Characters provided.

Gary Con X

Well, registration for Gary Con X opened while I was away in Scotland. I am now registered, but I have no idea what games to run for the convention, being rather busy catching up on overdue writing.

So, I put it out to you.....Is there anything in particular you'd like me to schedule?

Home Again, Home Again

I've explored caves, castles, ruins, tombs, and cities. Scotland is a beautiful country, and if you are ever given a chance to go, you should take it.

Now, back to work!

Offline for a Bit

As of this moment, I will be offline until mid-September. 

Scotland bound!