More About the Encounter Critical edition of Urutsk: World of Mystery

Folks [1] have been asking for more information regarding the new version of UWoM.

1). Streamlined chargen, and I mean chargen, not design.  From random determination of personal details to procedural career dicing, one can whip up a PC in a fraction of the time by the book EC characters are generated.

2). It is a major expansion of the EC rules, while still retaining backwards compatibility.

3). It includes vehicle construction rules and combat, specifically space- and starcraft.

4). Has many tables for quickly making the setting you want to adventure in.

5). Includes roughly 20 Player Character Ethnicities / Species, with the possible inclusion of at least another six if the GM grant them.

6). Mass Combat guidelines, to be integrated with the Starblade, and Vanguard rules sets I have play tested for some number of years.

7).  A space-centric Urutsk setting, concentrating on getting characters into the Era the group most wants to game, and covering the possibility that Urutsk is not the greatest part of your interest in the massive setting.  Elemental Blood and the Patrons are still there, to be certain, but the entire 'Galaxy that Was' is available to groups to customise.

I don't want to give away anything else right now.  :D



Thanks for your continued interest,
-Kyrinn



[1] Venger, John Christman, and others

Dreaming in Real Life

A beautiful video of dreamers living the dream in a gorgeous environment.
YMMV.


Ishtar X Tussilago from Maceo Frost on Vimeo.

Beyond the Galaxy's Edge

The crew of the newly adopted Humanosphere starship, Swift Arrow, under the command of Commissar Lady Vhyks Sri (Imperial High Born and over 200 years old), have been tasked with investigating this super system beyond the edge of the galaxy.

Pushed together by the Starshock, this collection of Super Giant stars and their individual planetary systems have been reconfigured, losing a lot of mass in the process.  The surviving planets and moons now operate in a sort of stellar rosette.  The ring around the central star are moons of the gas giants which were stripped off with each of the early, catastrophic orbits.

SR10 is a crystalline rocky super planet locked with its magnetic north pole facing the star.  Along the equator, archipelago are rocked by a one-two-punch of extreme volcanism and perpetual hurricanes.  The planet is roughly 15x the size of Earth, but only 25% the expected mass, with collapse and tidal forces leading to core ignition and the extreme band of volcanoes.  The 10 designation is the number of moons.

The innermost moon is earth-sized, livable, and inhabited by a variety of Avianoids.  The observed culture is roughly Late Renaissance to Early Enlightenment, with powerful telescopes, and helioscope arrays with which they spotted the shuttle and painted it with reflected sunlight to better observe it (and possibly signal it as well).  Long story short, no face to face interaction, but the language barrier has been overcome, and communication through player-piano-type devices and phonographs have allowed the inhabitants to express their eagerness to meet the strangers.  They even demonstrated their heliocentric understanding with an elaborate clockwork orrery sent aloft in a tethered hot-air balloon.

At an impasse, the shuttle crew returned to the Arrow, but were hailed by another species, this time, reptilians.  LSS: The advanced aliens are overseers of the intelligent but pre-space species here, and ask for the ship to proceed slowly with their interactions so as to avoid culture shock (etc.)  The oddity here is that one of the reptilian types, a winged quadruped, possesses the entire Human genome in its makeup.

The plot thicks!

Hotz Space Battle Map, Starship Design, and Exploring the Periphery

I hope to have a few ships designed for an upcoming week's Sunday game using minis and the Starship Combat rules on the beautiful 6' by 3' Hotz hex map.

The PCs had their Arkay ship completely retrofitted and now we need a space based enemy force to challenge them in their new assignment of stellar cartography.  This session had them meet another far flung survivor colony, escapees from the Starshock, who had lived in isolation for over 5k years.  This society had not collapsed as much, technologically, but their oppressive society was no model for emulation.  The majority of the survivors were Hierophantic Church folk, and the balance were Psionic College personnel.  The global society had been kept in line through subliminal propaganda and other psychotronic warfare, and this lasted nearly 3.5k years until the secret had been revealed, and the faction wars erupted.  Knowing the psychotronics are in use is not much defence against them in their most aggressive form, but the factions are able to operate in a sort of faltering fashion to cause enough grief to the governing body.  The PCs walked in on this situation and quickly found out they were siding with the oppressors (although the factions weren't much better), and left to continue their cartography mission.

Their destination is a cluster of supergiant and giant stars which ad existed deeper in the former galaxy, but had been displaced to the periphery by the Starshock.  Their planetary systems were of extreme interest to the Humanosphere, and the mission takes the PCs away from the Dark Core which had lured their former captain to the brink of Court Marshal.

One Thousand 03 to 18 Attribute Scores Table

In the process of writing the Encounter Critical edition of the Urutsk: World of Mystery game setting book and rules mod, I thought to create an aid to generating characters that would have almost universal applicability.

This link takes you to a Google Docs file with the table which has 100 entries indexed with 10 columns, providing 1,000 Attribute Scores for use in any 03-18 system.

I used anydice.com to generate a string of 10 numbers generated on 1d8+1d6+1d4, which is what I am using for the EC book, sample PCs, and any NPC scores.  There are more 10's here than any other number I searched for, roughly 11% of all rolls.

I hope that you find this useful.

LINK

Super Giant Stars in a Singularity Network

The Astrogator / Warlock got a Super Giant star (being exploited by a species of synthetic starfish creatures to lens a wormhole (one of many such wormholes)) angry over its exploitation, and as its lashed out with a massive solar eruption, the plasma filament was instead sucked into the singularity, emerging not only in the other wormhole apertures, but at the source.  this was irreparable, sucking the star apart and into chunks throughout the network of wormholes.  Many ships, both invading, as well as friendly were lost.  The fleet having been recalled from Arkay space were transported through the singularity to the elemental plane of Water where the stellar fragments promptly began to explode in novae.  Moving through the superdense medium was accomplished on the fly by tuning the shields to agitate the water into a bubbly steam and allow faster travel.  Ships were lost, but he larger ones were able to escape and find a harbour of sorts in large floating coral reefs while repairs were made.

Alien, synthetic starfish were thought allied with the Dsato via their mutual master of a Cthulhoid creature akin to Pyray, The Whisperer in the Abyss.

The surviving fleet, again through the actions of the Astrogator / Warlock was able to reenter normal space.  This is where last week's game ended in the main action.

The Scout / Psylock (Psi Witch) had to end the Astrogator's service int eh Humanosphere to save her being Court Martial'd, and had her join the independent Scout Service to save her life.  Her initiation into the scouts was upon the planet Emerald Heights, down in the swamps, and consisted of the player being encouraged through the process by me and the Scout player.  The PC confronted an undead Psi-Witch Warlock and killed her by dropping the undead into a Warlock Pit of Positive energy.  The blast KO'd the PC, but she awoke with maximised HP for her level.  The Scout / Psilock's Blindfighting duel will have to wait, as the player is expected out due to Fathers' Day.

Bio-enhancements were tried by the unsung Technical crew PCs who did all of the unglamourous work that saved the fleet, and one PC was less than thrilled with his pick of four Power / Mutation rolls, ending up (I think) with Doorways, kind of like 5e Banishment spell or Gamma World's Planar Travel mutation.

We'll see how this week's session goes.

Necropolis Comic

Through a Google+ post in my stream, I discovered Necropolis Comic.
I fell in love with it, and I just had to bring it to you.
It is a Tumblr thing, but I have posted it at the bottom of this very blog.
Do yourself a favour and ogle it.
It reminds me of Wolfe's Urth of the New Sun = High Praise.

June 4 2015 Update

The Thursday group are talking about becoming land holders and the bigger game.  They are returning from the crashed ship with cryonic gear and a medical officer who they think is an android.  Slunk the formerly-Elf Warlock has mutated a bit, helped Merope to convert from Frostism (Lady Arctise) to Siltism (Lord Worm).

My Weekend crew keep going with a D&D 5e game and the Encounter Critical UWoM game I am writing.  The writing is going along nicely.  I'm working on vehicles right now.  It'll have OS conversion built in, and a much faster CharGen than EC does, even with more stuff added.

I'd like to go into more detail about ECUWoM, but I don't want to jinx or overshare: show, don't tell.

I have plans to release material for Goblinoid Games Starships & Spacemen 2e, and also use GORE for another version.

(Very) Random Encounters in Context

Based on this discussion: LINK to Tenkar's Tavern

I don't prep.  I roll encounter dice and read 3s as evidence of activity if someone is tracking, 2s as obvious recent activity or tracks (what have you), and 1s as encounter events.

Next, I grab my Koplow dice, now dubbed Quisitor dice, comprised of a Greater Than/Less Than die and a Likelihood die, roll them together and determine if something actually happens.

After I know something happens, I roll two colour dice (red through violet) and use that to stimulate my imagination/understanding of the situation, taking terrain, time of day, season, etc. into account.

If the Quisitors give me a high likelihood of an event, and the colour dice suggest it is hostile, I then roll critter dice (again, Koplow), to impromptu create a type of thing to be encountered, doing away with the need for monster lists.

Then to determine strength of encounter, I roll a d20 or something that makes sense for circumstances, then in the ten seconds or so this process took, I ask the players to roll perception or initiative, etc. to then describe the results.

Urutsk Space Age hack of Encounter Critical

Sunday Evening Game-

The crew of the HSS Arden formally sides with the first group of Arkay against the Dsato who refuse to acknowledge their existence and have incurred 40% of their sphere. Some portion of the Dsato (sided with a cantankerous group of [more] belligerent Arkay) fire a missile at the HSS Arden. The Arden's captain tells the PCs to 'F' them up.' The PCs proceed to do so, and using my mass combat rules, they take over the Dsato ship crewed by 80 with a force of 15. Taking control of the bridge and shutting off life support helped that. The Humanosphere now have a Dsato ship and have agreed with the Dsato, that this means war. The majority of Arkay have aligned/allied with the Humanosphere.

The percentage Ability Score bonuses I have in the playtest document are too high, and it was good to confirm that in play. I'm working on that and speeding up chargen a lot through easy techniques.

Other good stuff going on in the development.

Great Images for the Microgame Trilogy

Remote Mongolian Tribe of Eagle, Reindeer, and Wolf trainers
LINK

IMAGINATIVE third microgame in the FALCONSCRY and BLADESLINGER series

IMAGINATIVE is the story of the Eastern Ogres struggle.


I can see both closing out the microgames, or equally, opening up even more of them.

Do you enjoy these modular microgames?  Want more?


With these three, rather a lot can be played out, and what has been left out of the rules opens more up to each group's interpretation, which I think is  a benefit rather than a liability.

My solution for a character sheet has been to fold into quarters a sheet of paper, and write a name for each character, their Abilities, and three pieces of equipment, including their respective weapon.

The fourth quarter panel is tempting me to fill it.
Suggestions?

BLADESLINGER game two of the FALCONSCRY series of microgames

So, you looked at FALCONSCRY and said, 'That is a premise, but it ain't no game.'

Ah-ha!

For those who wanted more of the system and story, here is the Southern Warlords angle, and not what you may have thought.

BLADESLINGER

I'll post the Eastern Ogres version of the game Tuesday.

FALCONSCRY a microgame of the Yirinn versus the Imperial Vrun (and Yaesh Ogres)

After David Schirduan issued an RPG in 200 words challenge, I hopped in with Falconscry.

The link is to the right, or via this contest page.

I have two other microgames in this series planned covering the Imperial Vrun, and the Yaesh Ogres.

First Session of Space Age Urutsk Using Encounter Critical UWoM

We have:

* Yirinn Diplomat/Officer
* Western Isles Vrun Astrogator/Warlock
* Yaesh Athletics & Recreation Instructor/Doctor
* Vrun Fighter Pilot/Survival Instructor
* Khem Psilock (Psi Witch)/Scout Services

The mission is border patrol of a hostile species sphere, complicated by a second species they share the space with, and orders to attempt diplomatic relations.  The draw is advanced technology of the primary species, who happen to be aquatic.

First scene is the Fighter Pilot operating a combat shuttle with advanced electronic package.  The Scout accompanied, as did an NPC Communications, Data, and Sensors officer, and a tail-gunner Ship's Weapons.  Quick pass over a gas giant's moon captures data of a subsurface hangar and a sensor station.  Also noted a floating island in the upper layers of the gas giant's atmosphere, but they didn't investigate because fighters scrambled from the moon.  Cool flying resulted in safe return, no shots fired in anger, and a nice hangar bay landing with five percent more than needed.

Diplomatic mission resulted from the Astrogator/Warlock having contacted the guardian of the gas giant who showed interest in them.  The ammonia atmosphere cleared over the skyland and the party shuttled over and were welcomed despite the fighter pilots' displeasure.  The 'Arkay' are the Rer Koop, who have very sensitive olfactory organs like coral clusters protruding from their skulls; some exhibit glider membranes.  The voice of 'Snowcloud', the gas giant guardian entity, gifted the pilot with a creature like a cross between a scorpion and a dragonfly in amber for her fancy flying.

Not much else before the store closed.

This is not your daddy's Encounter Critical.

My Weekly Games

Thursday: The spaceport was reached and the PCs made legitimate members of civilisation with credit cards (or a chip in one case), and employment with the Free Scouts found.  The Warlock was interviewed by the Esoteric Order of Starry Wisdom (Astrogator's guild), and rated at 13.3 -- high for a beginner.  The Eldritch Knight, originally a lumberjill, was directed to the Scout Services -- not part of the Guild system -- where she was given a choice of libations; the watery looking milk in the wooden bowl did the trick and she went on a brief spirit journey, pinning the tail on the map location she would travel to and vidcord to assess the accuracy of her vision.  Some vomit was involved.

Friday: A war scenario with Abbekqorru as the foils to the Vrun, and the mercenaries fighting against, then siding with the Humanoids.  Trenches.  27 Str Armoured bear humanoids with metal claw gauntlets, etc.  The half-Orc berserk Barbarian killed the bear champion and became the group's leader, finding himself a vassal of the larger Abbekqorru force.  The orbital troop carrier the humanoids possess will continue to give them the advantage the at which Vrun would throw everything they could to gain.  The same group had made pacts with Warlock plants granting them advantages on their Archetype paths.  The green dragon bloodline Tiefling sorcerer made the beast with two backs with a night hag in exchange for knowledge of where his one eyed giant owl quest was located, and he gained a one-use magic item that would refresh his highest spell slot.  Other fun was had.

Saturday: On the starshipWarden, the crew fought about thirty tribesmen, suffering only the loss of one porter (though, I think I forgot one Round of melee for the nasties) before the savages were put down.  That took a while to run, but the session was primarily made up of chargen for two players who joined us -- one may be recurring.

Sunday: Conjunction of planets in the Av system creating dimensional weakness and the crossing over of Visitors from other planes.  A brief visit to The Machine and back to Urutsk.  Gryphon humanoids arrived and asked for help returning to their world.  A meteoroid penetrated the surface of a rocky outcropping near a lake.  The blue-green crystalline lifeform wanted to, 'Consume!'

Urutsk Extreme Orbit and 1,750 year Seasons

Not saying the science here is the action at work in the setting, but, it may help someone get a feel for the Grand Year.

LINK

Sunday March 1st 2015

Starship Security remain at their post, depleting all Imperial medical goods.  The cryotubes are giving them organ failure.  They cyborg themselves until they are virtually liches.  Nearly 2,000 years.  Their brains rot away, so they use hard drives to record everything.  They finally meet other Security Personnel, and ask to be relieved.  They eject their hard drives and 'die'.  The personalities in the drives ask to be reincarnated by the Aelbaan Ice Mage.  Two come back as Vrun (yay for them).  One comes back Dokirin, asks for a retry.  Comes back as a Yirinn-Yaesh; asks to come back.  Comes back full blooded Aelbaan.  Happy enough to be one of the Allied People.  The fourth officer comes back as a Halbean (Western Isles Vrun) and is happy, too.

Other things happened, too.

Fitting for the Setting: Trees as Aerials

A fascinating pre-article leading off to deeper reading regarding using trees as transceiver aerials (antennae).

LINK

Basic Rocket Science: Sunday Game

Sunday game saw a clone of Eleis revisiting her Frost Magic school over one hundred years since she left it in it fledgling state.  Against all expectations, it was not only flourishing, but was part of the solution for reintegrating Elementalism into the Vrun quest for Ascension (regaining space- and starflight), based upon her business decisions both before she was cryoslept and before her going off questing.

The science of cryonics was a bit of a front for the magic school, but it turned out not only to benefit the Frost folk, but the entire ship-complex.  The other Elemental groups saw that mainstreaming was the way to go, and in eh 150 or so years, a culture of Engineering has arisen in the place of wizarding in the traditional sense (which my games very rarely have).  The current big project is an orbital payload delivery rocket.

Once Eleis was genetically confirmed to be genuine, she joined the design team and brought the mixed Fire and Ice project of the Mk. 9 rocket up from 96 to 99% complete.  We diced our way through five months of setbacks and advancement, restoring corrupted data (faulty spell-code and lost libraries), and finally delivered a 100% complete theoretical project to be peer reviewed by the other Elemental colleges (the snubbed Air, for instance), and winning their approval.

A Project Security Chief was tasked with the mission to leave the ship (roughly 5 mi. underground) and find a suitable launch location and defend it for the battery of physical tests.  The expedition is now 3/4 the way to the surface, and have encountered their first real challenge in the form of a defensive construction/collapse by Sneers which completely blocks any egress.  We held it there.

Clone Waiting in the Wings

Eleis had a clone made by her forebearer, the Mummy Lich, and had a phylactery from the Wraith King, but then she had a new clone made by the Dryvv in the basalt mountains to the north west of the buried ship.  These Dryvv provided her with a chance to add spells to her book, and she added Chain Lightning, and Flesh to Stone.  They had hired her to spy for them on the buried ship.  They also asked her to deal with a mutant -- a Drider -- that they could not deal with.

Eleis tried her best to remain outside of the drider's lair, but was (at one point ) literally caught in her web, and although very cautious and using her spells well, ultimately fell prey to a net which grappled and restrained her.  It was in this state that Elis was (Person) Held, and then beheaded.  She awoke in her clone [I was thinking of the Simulacrum which is reduced in power, but Clone is at full power of that sample taken], and vowed to reclaim her possessions.

So, John, I was wrong when I said she is only 6th.  Eleis is actually still 9th on the verge of 10th level.  All you need to do is get your gear (and finish-off the drider).

My Fiend Folio: A Taste of My Tenkar's Hexa-Ma-Bob Entry

I'm writing for Tenkar's Hexa-ma-bob and I have two contiguous hexes on the coast.
These creature descriptions are taken from the TSR Fiend Folio and more or less S&W'd them for more omni-ness.

These will appear in slightly different form in the final product.

Enjoy, but please give me the credit and link back to this post if you use this stuff in public.

ENCOUNTERS-

(@) 2015 Kyrinn S. Eis

Algoid #A 1d6, AC 15 [05] HD 5 HP 20 Atk +3 Dmg 2d6 Spcl Immune to Edged and Piercing damage of less than +2 magic

    In pools of still water the skin of algae will sometimes suddenly form into a humanoid shape and attack those that drink.  The appearance of one of these creatures almost always results in attack, but, on the rare occasions when no hostilities occur, the Algoid simply observes the interlopers, unless attacked.  Sages are not certain if the Algoid is a function of the algae, the water, or some combination, and require samples to solve some of the creatures puzzles.

Assassin Bug #A 1d2, AC 15 [05] HD 01 HP 05 Atk +0 Dmg 1d6-1 Spcl 2d6 continuing damage each hour until a high-level curative spell is cast upon the victim.

    Bizarre creatures combining insectoid and humanoid features, the Assassin Bug exists to spread its eggs in the victim’s body like many other insects, but the rate of maturity of these eggs is often lethal in the first hour.  Fortunately, Assassin Bugs are most often encountered in the deepest reaches of the Black River swamplands, where the Rivermen hunt them down with great joy and celebration.

Babbler #A 1d4, AC 14 [06] HD 05 HP 20 Atk +3 Dmg 1d6+1 Spcl Sneak Attack 75% for +4 to hit and double damage.

    The wild variety are cunning and will lead hunters into traps of sinkholes, bogs, and quicksand, and can easily circumvent the defences of the common marshland homestead.  Those domesticated by lizardmen are used as steeds for the smaller strains of folk, and as shock troops accompanying Lizard Kings.  The name of the creature comes from its inarticulate usage of the Common Tongue, while its mastery or Lizardman is said to be very good, and may lure unwary Humans into a trap.  Rumours of Babblers guarding Kelpie pools is unconfirmed at this time.

Barge Horror #A 1d4 AC 12 [08] HD 02 HP 08 Atk +1 Dmg see Spcl Immune to non-magical damage; 25% armed for 1d6 damage, otherwise chokehold on hit with continuing 1d6 damage, no to hit afterwards; Undead.

    The dead sent out to sea for burial, but now corrupted and undead, these creatures wait until targets are within grasp before becoming active, and have been known to lie in wait while taken aboard larger craft until a mortician or a scholar examines ‘the remains’.  Some barges have been rumoured to exit from the Maw of Seagrave at Veyn, but most are encountered coming ashore from deep water; this fact has raised the question as to who is sending them, and what may be the greater plan.

Bonesnapper #A 1d3 AC 16 [04] HD 04 HP 16 Atk +2 Dmg 1d6 Spcl Tail sweep 1d6-1

    Degenerate Babblers with a compulsion to collect bones, decorating their lairs with all manner of them, although these collections are neatly arranged in complex patterns.

Caterwaul #A 1 AC 20 [0] HD 04 HP 18 Atk +3 Dmg 1d6 Spcl Keening screech 1d6-1 in 60’ radius.

    More of a legend than a known creature, it seems to haunt the Elven ruins in Northwold, or so the villagers of the area say.  Tales suggest that, like the Displacer Cat, the Caterwaul is indistinct and seems to double and triple in one’s vision, making it nearly impossible to strike.  Reportedly, those who (live or dead) have heard the wail of the beast develop a white shock in their hair by morning.

Corsair #A 3d4, AC 12 [08] HD 04 HP 18 Atk +3 Dmg 1d6-1 Melee or 2d6 Ranged

    Corsairs are coastal raiders rather than oceangoing pirates.  This requires that they have a good knowledge of their target waters as well as swift ships to make up for their limited range.  their craft tend to be smaller, with shallower draught, allowing both greater manoeuvrability in the waters near the shore and cliffs.  Morale is one category lower than indicated by HD, and their fighting is also generally reserved for the assault, and not in sustained combat with defenders.  The ranged attack listed is a black powder pistol, and can only be fired once per combat, although figures may have more than one loaded pistol.  Muskets may also be present, which fire a 3d6 blast which entitles its three targets in a 10’ cone a Save [Breath] for half damage.

Crabborn #A 2d6 AC 16 [04] HD 03 HP 12 Atk +2 Dmg 1d6-1 Spcl one Water Spray 1 target saves [Breath] or blinded for 1d2 Rounds :: additional spray on 5+ on d6

    It is rare to catch sight of a Crabborn; humanoids encased in natural shell armour, able to breath a powerful jet of water from internal reserves, and possessing powerful pincers.  While most are fighters, the rarer still Sorcerer is a marvel, for in time it becomes fully amphibious, and grows multiple legs as well as gaining eyestalks.

Drow #A 1d10 AC 16-19 [1d4] HD 03-05 HP 12-20 Atk +4 Dmg 1d6+1 melee or 1d6-1 ranged Spcl ranged attack is Save or Sleep as per spell; Darkvision 120’; -2 to hit and Morale in sunlight, -1 to same in bright magical light; very well organised, with leaders +1d4 levels/ HD, and in any group greater than 3, one Drow is a Wizard (male) or Cleric (female +1HD); Clerics can naturally communicate and command any spider, and Ettercap are their willing servants, while Wizards require magic to communicate and the Ettercaps have learnt to distrust the males.

Drow Halfbreed #A 1d4, AC 10-13 [06] HD 01 HP 06 Atk +0 Dmg 1d6-1

    While most are from Human stock, the predilections of Drow cannot be underestimated, leading to rather unusual offspring.  In cases of Humanoid or monster sires and mothers, their young should have a mix of the benefits and drawbacks of both parents.  These children are usually rejected and outcast.  Fully 50% of Drow Halfbreeds encountered are neutral, 25% are friendly and seeking shelter or aid, and 25% are spies for the Drow establishment.

Ettercap #A 1d6 AC 14 [06] HD 03 HP 12 Atk +3 Dmg 1d6 Spcl bite is poison, save is for +1d6-1 damage, fail is for +2d6; Spin spider silk (lines, lassos, nets, tripwire, etc.); dim but cunning

    Bipedal upright walking with long arms and slouching gait, these spider-derived humanoids are loyal to Drow females, and will obey Drow male orders within reason.  They are consummate trappers and weavers, utilising their silk secretions to the utmost for their aim of hunting and capturing for the Drow.  There are rumours that some of the most powerful Drow Clerics keep Ettercap lovers, and through dark alchemy, have birthed spider-Drow hybrids not unlike centaurs to Humans and horses.

Garbug #A 1d4 AC 15 [05] HD 03 HP 11 Atk +2 Dmg 1d6 Spcl Paralysis on failed Save; awkward flight

Giant, Swamp #A 1d3 AC 14 [06] HD 10 HP 45 Atk +6 Dmg 6d6 Spcl Hurled rocks 4d6 60’

    It is believed that only five such giants remain, but on Landfall Day each year, the tale of the Stone Rain and the casualties of this attack is told with almost religious observance.  In those days, Swamp Giants numbered a dozen or more near the coast, and more were thought to exist further up the Black River.  At no less than 10’ tall, tactics had to be developed to fell these creatures before they wiped out a platoon of riflemen.  Records indicate that

Jaculi #A 2d6 AC 14 [06] HD 01 HP 04 Atk +0 Dmg 1d6 Spcl the listed damage is only inflicted when the animal launches from a tree or other high point, and then it must crawl up again to strike anew; 75% camouflage in natural surroundings, 50% in other terrain.

    These increasingly rare snakes are very timid, but when their ground nests are disturbed, they literally fly into a fit of protective fit, with all parent animals defending the common hatchery.  Removed from their natural environments when young, the Jaculi become very personable and affectionate pets, learning instead to imitate the patterns of the hand-made world of their keepers.

Kamadan #A 1d2 AC 16 [04] HD 04 HP 18 Atk +3 Dmg 1d6 Spcl this cat-thing has 1d4+3 furred snakes growing from behind its head which strike for 1d6-1 each; one Breath weapon attack in 30’x10’ cone, Sleep as per spell, no save :: additional breath attack on a 5+ on d6.

    Most specimen sighted or killed appear most like a jaguar or leopard, although some more tiger-like sorts have been found.  Almost certainly a wizard’s creation rather than some sort of naturally occurring creature, the alarming aspect is that it now appears to a recessive trait among normal big cat populations sharing the same territory, whether due to mating, or an environmental feature as yet unknown.  Their pelts are becoming prized, and some rather unconvincing fakes have been offered in local markets.

Kelpie #A 1d4 AC 17 [03] HD 05 HP 20 Atk +3 Dmg see Spcl Drowning Charm saves at -2 or desire to drown to be with her; shapechange with limitations; half-damage from fire/heat attacks on failed save, none if save succeeds; amphibious (15’ Move) for 1d3 hours; very cunning for a plant, picking off stragglers and not showing self; appears most often as a desirable woman or more rarely as a fine steed.

    That Kelpie numbers do seem to coincide in Lizardman is indisputable, but rumours that they are transplanted from wild pools to those within Lizardman holdings is yet to be confirmed.

Kuo-Toa #A 2d6 AC 16 [04] HD 02-10 HP 08-40 Atk +2 to +7 Dmg 1d6 Spcl Mancatcher save or pinned; nocturnal surface raider or underwater only encounters and are -4 in day or equivalent magical light, less so versus other light; slavers; 50% lair nearby with 20x number encountered; 1 in 4 are Wizard-Clerics of +1d4 HD; immune to poison; most magic has minimum effect on failed save, and no effect on save; suffer maximum damage from fire/heat attacks and save at -2; Blindsight 120’; vision extends into the Astral and Ethereal planes.

    These creatures are almost purely marine in nature in the Waterlands area, but some scouts report that Kuo-Toa have been seen swimming upstream in the Black River and spotted in the Great Salt Marsh of the delta.  Rumours of sightings in the Riverwoods are increasing.  Their new moon sacrifices and wild undulations on the seafloor or within pools is both engrossing and disturbing; woe betide the victim caught in their spying!  Kuo-Toa are slavers, and their complex social structure seems to centre around the trading of slaves to curry favour with their leaders and priests.  These slaves are used to work underwater after ingesting a slime secreted in a ritual too abhorrent to discuss, and their lifespans are short if they are lucky.  Those unfortunate few who are not sacrificed to their goddess, are used as breeding stock (see).

Kuo-Toan Halfbreed #A 1 per 5 Kuo-Toa AC 12 [08] HD 01 HP 06 Atk +1 Dmg 1d6 Spcl Amphibious; half effect/benefit of listed features with Kuo-Toa; only fighters

Lizard King #A 1 AC 17 [03] HD 08 HP 32 Atk +5 Dmg 2d6 or Trident 5d6 Spcl if a strike with the trident is 5 or more than needed, the victim is skewered doing a minimum of 15 points of damage; the trident is a magic item and only functions in this fashion for a Lizard King; 3x the normal number of Lizardmen accompany a Lizard King in its territory.

    Rumours of Lizard Kings possessing Kelpie concubines cannot be substantiated, but sages are most desirous of evidence regarding this subject.

Lizardman #A 3d6 AC 15 [05] HD 04 HP 16 Atk +3 Dmg 1d6+1

    The primary variety found in the Waterlands grow a tortoise-like carapace from their skulls, providing that location one-better AC, and catfish-like ‘whiskers’ which grant them one-better Initiative in and out of the water.

Lunge Pod #A 1d6 AC 14 [06] HD 03 HP 12 Atk +3 Dmg 1d6-1 Spcl Engulf on failed [Paralysis] Save if attack succeeds

    These roughly barrel sized and shaped plant creatures begin the size of mature coconuts, and grow over years into man-eating monstrosities.  Colouration is varied, but always two-toned, with the outer casing one colour, and the lip-seams another.  The creature’s maw is a spiral of inward facing thorns, and through fluidic contraction the plant is capable of rotating or screwing these bands downward into its pitcher-pot structure where digestion takes place.  Engulfed creatures are better freed once in the pot than in the thorn bands; victims pulled by compatriots while on the bands take an additional 1d6+1 damage per Round.  The pot’s digestive juices are relatively mild, doing only 1 point of damage per Round, and this can be neutralised with baking soda.

Needlemen #A 3d4, AC 14 [06] HD 04 HP 18 Atk +3 Dmg 2d6 Spcl 75% Invisibility in pine forest Look like undead, but are really plant creatures who really hate Elves, and have a certain degree of similarity to the Scarecrows being reported in the country. Possibly Drow in origin.

Pirate #A 3d4, AC 12 [08] HD 03 HP 13 Atk +2 Dmg by weapon type Spcl Dodge in place of making an attack, must roll equal to or higher than the attacker’s roll to escape melee damage; ranged attacks and spells may only be dodged on a natural 20; only HD number of Dodges per Day.

• Different Piratical groups are briefly detailed

Qullan #A 1d6, AC 09+1d4 [09-08] HD 02 HP 10 Atk +4 Dmg 1d6+4 Spcl Confusion in 5’ radius save or roll 1d6 (1-2) Do nothing (3-4) Attack Qullan (5-6) Attack ally; two-handed broadswords are +3/+3 for no more than 5 strikes in the hands of non-Qullan afterwhich they behave as normal broadswords; Insane and ‘immune’ to all Charm/Enchantment which kill the Qullan.

    These fierce Humans are conjectured to be the victims of the ancient magical warfare of the area, resulting in the Confusion aura which has afflicted their number, preventing the formation of any sort of culture beyond that of the immediate family unit or occasional clan versus clan warfare sometimes noted from afar by hidden observers.

Qullan Leader #A 1:6, AC 16 [04] HD 03 HP 15 Atk +2 Dmg 2d6 Spcl as above

    The leaders of the Qullan seem to be individuals who can focus past their people’s aura and organise a rudimentary clan structure.  These last only as long as the leaders live, and itis not known if theis ability is hereditary and could be passed on to their offspring.  Should this be the case, it is equally possible that the Qullan could develop into allies of the Waterlanders or become implacable foes.  At present, their chaotic nature and incessant warfare keep their population low, and with that, the number of leaders.

Sandman #A 2d6, AC 14 [06] HD 01 HP 06 Atk +0 Dmg 1d6-1 Spcl Sleep 20’ radius, save or 30 minutes of unconsciousness regardless of level, waking only if injured; Immune to normal missiles.  

> Scarecrow ? Vehicles of a remote pre-invasion scouting operation.

Skulk #A 2d6, AC 14 [06] HD 01 HP 06 Atk +0 Dmg 1d6-1 Spcl 80% invisible when immobile, minus 5% for each 5’ travelled, resetting each Round; -80% to be Tracked; +6 to hit and +2d6 damage on Sneak Attack; will flee if injured, etc.

    Skulks encountered in the Northwold and Riverwood areas appear to be derived of Drow ancestry, and although they disdain the light, they do not suffer the same penalties as their ancestors, while possessing a random distribution of their innate spell-like abilities.  No Adamantine implements are found among them, but Mithril is sometimes found.

Sussurus #A 2d6, AC 14 [06] HD 08 HP 32 Atk +5 Dmg 1d6 Spcl Death Hug 4d6; Dronesong calms Undead as per Cleric of same HD.

    It is rumoured that some Sussurus are in a symbiotic relationship with other plant-creatures, furthering the range and variety of terrain these other plants can reach.

Yellow Musk Creeper AC 13 [07] HD 03 HP 12 Atk +1 Dmg see Spcl 1d6 vines attack and if the victim fails a Save versus each, they are drawn into the plant where they suffer 1d6-1 Int loss each Round.  If the Int loss leaves a victim with 1 or 2 Int at the end of a Round, they become a Yellow Musk Zombie (below).  If the Int loss exceeds the score, the victim dies, feeding the plant.  Those who are rescued before either becoming zombified or dying, regenerate the Int at 1 point per day of rest.

    Some scouts have reported that standard Undead zombies and skeletons sometimes are utilised as transport by these plants, but no such sample creatures have been captured for study.  The scent of the Yellow Musk Creeper, once encountered, is never forgotten or mistaken.

Yellow Musk Zombie AC see [--] HD +02 HP +12 Atk +1 Dmg by weapon Spcl the victim of a Yellow Musk Creeper, armoured and armed as they were in life, with only the faintest hint of their former memories and none of the personality save the most outstanding habits or behaviours.  They now only exist to transport plant so as to infect others.  Druids are treated as Clerics of one level category higher, and the YMZ as a Zombie for purposes of Turning and Destroying these creatures.  If the controlling plant in the victim’s skull is destroyed, the victim can be restored with a minimum of four weeks of complete bedrest.

    It is rumoured that YMZ victims with exceptional Int scores (17+) can be utilised by the plant in their former Class abilities, and that the most distant wilderness holds a grove commune of such creatures living in harmony with their plant masters.