Friday, July 29, 2022

Transformers: Dream Reaver for Tiny Frontiers - Mecha & Monsters

   




Dream Reaver 

Trait: Wrathful
Drive: Natural Born Killer

Structure: 6

Fuel: 10

Striker System: Agile Dodge

Sensor System: Holographic Emitters - Passive

Weapon Systems: Big Glowy Sword, Rapid Fire Lasers

Defense System: Reinforced Materials

Movement System: Emergency Power, Flight Engines


Dream Reaver is a 4th Generation Assassin for the Decepticons going all the way back to her great-great-grandmother. After an intense battle with Wheeljack that sidelined her for 8 months she has been campaigning Soundwave for a chance to exact her revenge against him against Rumble and Frenzy's advise.



Thursday, July 28, 2022

Transformers: Sunderbolt for Valor Knights: The Electrocube War



Sunderbolt for Valor Knights

HD: 5
HP: 37
Level: 5, Warrior
Vehicle Form: F-22 Raptor
Luck: 5
Evade: 16
Attack Damage: 2d6
STR: 1        INT: 2        WIS: 2
DEX: 5       CON: 3      CHA: 0

Plasma Ranged Weapon: Works just like Plasma Melee Weapon but with a ranged attack.

Killer Instinct: A natural d20 roll of 18, 19, or 20 is a critical hit and deals double damage.




Tuesday, July 26, 2022

BX 5: Troll

I love the OSR but I also think DnD 5E is a good game with some great ideas and when I've tried to introduce it to my group there are house rules I bring in to make it closer to what they like. 

This has led me to work on a variation B/X DnD or Labyrinth Lord or Old School Essentials with 5E's bounded accuracy and Proficiency system for Attacks, Skill Checks, and Saving Throws. Maybe this is an exercise in futility but I think it's something that might make OSR games more palatable for our table and at the moment I'm calling it BX 5.

Here are some guidelines I'm using:

I'm using B/X's Ability bonuses, Ascending AC, and 5E's Proficiency system, other than that though I'm choosing to hew closer to B/X than 5E. I'm even questioning using ability scores adding to damage. Shadow of the Demon Lord dispensed with those and I really like it.


Troll for BX 5

No. Enc.: 1d8 (1d8)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 15
Hit Dice: 6+3 (45)
Attacks: 3 (2 claws, bite)
Attack Bonus: +5
Damage: Claws 1d6+2, Bite 1d10+2
Saves: Str +2, Dex +0, Con +6, 
            Int -1, Wis+0, Cha -3 
Skills: Perception +3
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: XIX
XP: 600

Trolls have the ability to regenerate damage they receive. After 3 rounds have passed since they received damage, they will regenerate 3 hit points each round. Fire and acid damage cannot be regenerated by a troll. If a troll loses a limb or body part, these parts will attempt to crawl or squirm back toward the main portion of the body to reattach. A troll can reattach a severed member instantly by holding it to the stump. Due to this powerful ability to regenerate, trolls cannot be permanently destroyed except by fire or acid. If a troll is damaged enough to be killed (reaches 0 hit points) the troll will continue to regenerate and stand again to fight after 2d6 rounds.

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Deadlands: Creeper for Savage Worlds

        


The Reckoners are willing to cultivate and twist plants as often as animals. Creepers are one of those plants that the Reckoners have twisted and they are often used to guard significant places to their dark masters in forests and swamps.



Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, 

                   Strength d8, Vigor d10


Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d8, Notice d8, 

           Stealth d6, Survival d8


Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 8


Edges: Assassin, Dodge, Quick


Special Abilities:

• Hardy

• Size 1

• Thorny Vine: Str+d6





Saturday, July 16, 2022

Deadlands: Nephilim for Savage Worlds

       


There are powerful beings in the Hunting Grounds including some that consider themselves "gods", their powers so potent that they can bind servants who exist solely to do their bidding. However, their powers require believers as the gods are truly  parasites who draw most of their power from the humans that fear and obey them. These servants to tend  their god's commands and some have dubbed them "angels" and their power can be terrifying in its own right. Many gods forbid their angels and believers to commingle as a primary commandment but there are those that choose their own desire over the master's and their progeny are known as nephilim. Most of them are quickly discovered and brutally slain with their parents, but some manage to survey and there are even a handful of clans of them in the world Most of them are destroyed when the god discovers the forbidden relationship, but some have managed surive and there are even a handful of clans in the world. Most nephilim are between 8 and 9 feet tall and have horns of various shapes upon their skull and many have been twisted due to their fear of being destroyed and their anger at being denied a normal life.


Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, 

                   Strength d12+2, Vigor d12


Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d10, Intimidation d8,

           Notice d8, Stealth d8, Survival d8


Pace: 8; Parry: 12; Toughness: 10


Edges: Alertness, Block (Improve), Brawny, 

            Brute, Sweep (Improved)


Gear: Club (Str+d4)


Special Abilities:

• Horns: Str+d4

• Size 2





Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Deadlands: Warhog for Savage Worlds

      



Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), 

                   Spirit d12+2, Strength d12, 

                   Vigor d12


Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d12, Notice d6


Pace: 8; Parry: 8; Toughness: 10 (2)


Edges: Arcane Resistance, Berserk, 

             Fleet-Footed, Mighty Blow


Special Abilities:

• Armor: +2

• Hardy

• Tusk: Str+d8, may charge



Deadlands: Eden Dupont for Savage Worlds

     



Eden is proof that the Black Circle, the secret alliance of the Whatelys, Mina Devlin, and Baron Simone LaCroix, works. Eden was sent to Mina to be trained in witchcraft, then she was infected as a lycanthrope or rougarou by her Devilin kin, and finally sent to be trained as one of the Baron's protectors for a three year contract. When her time was over she had become a potent witch, vicious lycanthrope, and terrifying warrior with the added benefit of having plenty of dirt on both Mina and the Baron which impressed Wilhelmina enough to send her to Heaton Hill, a place that Endor Whately saw as being important in the coming years. 

Meanwhile, Eden, an intelligent, observant, and ambitious woman, had plenty of information on her family's matriarch to pursue her plan to first replace Wilhemina as head of the family and take control of the Black Circle itself. What Eden knew that no one else did was that Endor Whately, her favorite cousin, had foreseen an apocalyptic battle in the region of Heaton Hill, Wyoming. A battle that would reshape the Black Circle and her family completely.

Eden Dupont
Wild Card

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d12, Spirit d8, 

                   Strength d8, Vigor d8


As Werewolf: Agility d8, Smarts d12, Spirit d8, 

                      Strength d12+3, Vigor d10


Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d8, Intimidation d8, 

           Notice d10, Occult d13, Stealth d6, 

           Shooting d6, Spellcasting d12, Survival d8 


As Werewolf: Athletics d10, Fighting d12+3, 

                       Intimidation d10, Notice d12, 

                       Occult d12, Stealth d10, 

                       Spellcasting d10, Shooting d8, 

                       Survival d10


Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6


As Werewolf Pace: 8; Parry: 11; Toughness: 9 (2)


Edges: Arcane Background (Witch), 

            Danger Sense, Fleet of Foot, 

            Tough As Nails, Whately Blood


Gear: Arcane Colt Frontier (Range 12/24/48, 

          Damage 2d6+1, RoF 1, AP 1), 

          Dagger (Str+ D4) 


Special Abilities:

• Armor: 2 (As Werewolf)

• Fear (-2) (As Werewolf)

• Low-Light Vision


Powers: Banish, Beast Friend, Beguile, Summon, Zombie

     Power Points: 15   





Sunday, July 10, 2022

Micronauts: Baron Karza for Warpstar!




Baron Karza for Warpstar!

Actions per Round 3
Weapon Blaster Gauntlet
Weapon Skill 11
Weapon Damage M2d6+1E
Armour 2d6+2
Scientist 11
Warp Lord 13
Stamina 35
Warp Glyphs Enhance, Etheral Shield,
Hammer, Master, Scry, Stutter, Unquiet,
Warp Blast

Description - Over 1,000 years ago, Chief Scientist Karza trained the young royal, Arcturus Rann, to fly using glider wings. However, in one class, he cut Arcturus' wings, forcing the youth to grab onto Karza in order to stop falling and they landed safely, if somewhat unceremoniously. 

   Although not actually named, it was quite evident that Karza later used the Master Assassins to climb the tower where Arcturus' quarters were, but they were noisy and the youth was alerted before they could reach him. Arcturus engaged them in combat using his wings, but the assassins all died before they could reveal their master's name. 

   Concerned by the apparent conspiracy against the royal house, Arcturus' father, Lord Dallan Rann, then commanded Karza to train his son to be the first Micronaut. Arcturus was Karza's only pupil during this time. 

   Arcturus later left on his 1,000-year journey into the Microverse and discover new worlds. Upon his return he learned that Karza had usurped the throne and murdered his father. After an epic battle, Karza was banished from the microverse.

   In his new home, the Baron has fashioned a base out of the remains of Citadel Steel Jag, at the southwestern tip of the Duchy. There he studies magic and plots his conquest of the microverse.



Thursday, July 7, 2022

Savage Worlds: Necroscope's Wamphyri

     



Wild Card

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d10, Spirit d10, 

                   Strength d12+1, Vigor d12


Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d12, Gifted d10,

           Notice d10, Stealth d10, Shooting d6, 

           Taunt d8


Pace: 8; Parry: 8; Toughness: 12 (2)


Edges: Arcane Resistance (Improved), 

             Brawler (Bruiser), Danger Sense, 

             Dodge (Improved), Fleet-Footed, 

             Humiliate, Improvisational Fighter, 

             Mighty Blow, Nerves of Steel (Improved), 

             No Mercy, Sweep (Improved)

         

Special Abilities:

• Armor: 2

• Bite/Claws: Str+d8

• Fear (-2)

• Infection

• Infravision

• Invulnerability: Wamphyri can be slain by 

  sunlight or  decapitation or fire and its best 

  for at least two of these. They may be Shaken 

  by other attacks, nut never wounded.

• Regeneration: Slow

• Sire: Anyone who is wounded by or intimate 

  with a wamphyri has a 50% chance of 

  becoming one in 1d4 days.

• Wall Walker


Powers: Beast Friend, Boost Trait, Confusion,Mind Link, 

               Mind Reading, Mind Link, Shape Change, Speed

   Power Points: 25





Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Deadlands: Bear Creek Monster for Savage Worlds

     




Wild Card

“The Indians have a tradition concerning a strange, serpent-like creature inhabiting the waters of Bear Lake…. Now, it seems this water devil, as the Indians called it, has again made an appearance. A number of our white settlers declare they have seen it with their own eyes. This Bear Lake Monster, they now call it, is causing a great deal of excitement up here”


Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d8, 

                   Strength d12+2, Vigor d12


Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d10, Notice d8, 

           Stealth d10


Pace: 3; Parry: 7; Toughness: 15 (3)


Edges: Berserk


Special Abilities:

• Armor: +3

• Aquatic: Pace 10

• Bite: Str+d8

• Fear (-1)

• Size 4





Deadlands: Senso for Savage Worlds

    



A lost love can make a man do crazy things...terrible things...unspeakable things. The Reckoners recognize talent when they see it and the only thing worse than failure is talent without direction, without meaning, without a mission. War saw what Yubi did without real direction when his beloved Shika was taken from him. He savored the vengeance and bloody death that followed in his wake. The Reckoners needed new agents if they were to be free, finally free of the Hunting Grounds and Yubi could be molded and even controlled...at least compared to Stone. Yubi was broken and ready to commit seppuku but War wouldn't let him die...not until he made it to the western United States...not until he showed Yubi fresh Hells of blood and shit and despair...but wait...Yubi WAS dead and in his place rose Senso, War's new disciple...in fact his namesake and destruction would follow in his wake.

Senso
Wild Card

Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d10, Spirit d12, 

                   Strength d12, Vigor d10


Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d12, Notice d8, 

           Riding d10, Stealth d10+4, Shooting d6, 


Pace: 8; Parry: 10; Toughness: 9 (2)


Edges: Chill O'The Grave, Fast As Death, 

             Improved Block, Improved First Strike,

             Iron Jaw, Quick, Silent As Death, Stichin'


Gear: Katana (Str+d6+1), Wazikashi (Str+d6)


Special Abilities:

• Armor: 2

• Burrow (6")

• Fear (-2)

• Fearless

• Low-Light Vision

• Hardy

• Harrowed

• Undead




Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Deadlands: The Hellfire Kid and Brimstone for Savage Worlds

   



Eustace Decatur's Pa was Major Harrington "Hardcase" Decatur, a decorated war hero whose actions at Satan's Rock with the U.S. Calvary was the stuff of legend. Sadly, the man that raised little Eustace, now missing an arm and an eye from his metal-worthy actions and self-medicating with whiskey, did little for the boy except beat him senseless. Eustace's mother, Virginia, had found a man just like her father and was no help for the poor boy. At fourteen it was expected he would head to military academy like his Pa and Pappy, but Eustace didn't want anything to do with the cripple that scarred him or the old fool who wasn't much kinder and ran away from home.

It wasn't long before he fell in with Urtha Lewellyn's Iron Raptor gang where he realized he enjoyed giving a beating far more than taking one. Sadly, Eustace, now going by the Wildfire Kid due to his flaming read hair, had been shaped far too well into a remorseless thug by his past. Urtha's bright blue eyes seemed to find Eustace at most times and she delighted in causing discord between him and her current beau, Lyle Hunt. Lyle was the first person he murdered for what he wanted but it wouldn't be his last by a long shot. 

Three years later, he took over the gang after beating Urtha to death when he felt she had been looking too long at their newest member, a former Confederate scout who went by Ash. He told Ash the only reason he was still alive is that he needed his expertise with TNT and warned him not to step further out of line or else. The other Raptors were appalled at his actions but too scared to challenge him and it didn't hurt that Eustace was far better at dreaming up schemes to get them plenty of money than Urtha was. In truth, most of the gang had plenty stashed away and the prevailing opinion was it was time to hang things up and head out before the heat caught up to them. Eustace would never admit it but Urtha tried to get him to see that too before he killed her because the gang was the closest thing to a family he ever had even though his childhood trauma shaped him into a man at least as vile a man as his Pa.

Two months later Eustace was planning on hitting a train that had a fair amount of Federal gold when he killed a man for his horse, an Arabian as black as night, named Stone. This was the last straw for the Raptors as they couldn't tolerate Eustace's erratic and destructive actions any further. They ambushed him as they arrived at their hiding spot in some caves in a valley close to the rail line they were casing. Their shots ripped Eustace and his horse apart and then they doused them both in lamp oil and set them on fire. 

Eustace's and Stone's screams filled the night for far longer than the gang expected as they each went their separate ways. A manitou named Veng found the Wildfire Kid's corpse and brought him back into the world only to discover how willful and ornery Eustace was. In less than a week Eustace, now calling himself the Hellfire Kid, had mastered his Harrowed powers and even forced Veng to find a manitou to bring back Stone who he christened Brimstone. It was just Brimstone and the Hellfire Kid now and he wouldn't have it any other way.

His first victims were his former gang. He killed them all slowly savoring their fear and pain for as long as he could. He also caused the train they were casing to derail, but he didn't care about the gold, he just wanted to sew chaos. Within the first two months of this new existence the Hellfire Kid paid visits to his Ma and Pa and his Grammy and Pappy killing all four and burning their homes down with his own hellfire.

The world had failed Eustace Decatur and he was going to make it pay.


The Hellfire Kid
Wild Card

Attributes: Agility d12, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, 

                   Strength d10, Vigor d12


Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d10, 

           Intimidation d10, Notice d8, 

           Occult d6, Riding d12, Shooting d12,

           Thievery d10


Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 11 (1)


Edges: Ambidextrous, Beast Bond, 

             Champion (Unholy), Combat Reflexes, 

             Danger Sense, Dead Shot, Harrowed,

             Hellfire, Hell Stead, Nerves of Steel, 

             Quick, No Mercy


Gear: Bowie Knife (Str+d4), Colt Peacemaker 

          (12/24/48,  2d6+1, RoF 1), Tomahawk 

          (Str+d4+1)


Special Abilities:

• Armor: 1

• Fear (-1)

• Fearless

• Harrowed

• Undead



Brimstone
His Hell Steed
Wild Card

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, 

                   Strength d12+3, Vigor d12


Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d8, Notice d6, 


Pace: 10; Parry: 6; Toughness: 10 


Edges: Counterattack, Fleet-Footed


Special Abilities:

• Fearless

• Kick: Str+d4, to the front or rear as desired

• Size 3

• Undead





Monday, July 4, 2022

Savage Worlds: Astaurions

  


Astaurions are said to be a type of chimera that is descended from the minotaur of Greek and Roman mythology. According to noted expert Clayton Appleswift, a tenured fellow at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missour, the Astaurions were protected by Poseidon in Ancient Greece and even worshiped by certain mystery cults in Rome during the reign of Nero. Further articles, published by Anton Wessely Leeds of Miskatonic University in New England, claim that these creatures are four-armed shapeshifters who have acted as bodyguards to witches throughout Europe and the Middle-East for millennia after making blood-pacts to prominent magi and enchantresses throughout history. Leeds points to the "Jersey Devil" in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey as possible sightings of the horrid creatures. Leeds argues that their poor treatment by the Gods of Ancient Greece forced them into pacts with "black-hearted crones and hellburnt sorcerers to survive the ignorance and fear of humanity all of these long centuries".

For their own survival Astaurions are almost always indebted to a witch or sorcerer and it is very, very rare that you will encounter even two of them at once.

ASTAURION

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, 

                   Strength d12+4, Vigor d12


Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d10, 

           Intimidation d8, Notice d8, 

           Shooting d8, Stealth d6


Pace: 8; Parry: 8; Toughness: 10 (2)


Edges: Arcane Resistance, Block, Brawler, 

            Fleet-Footed, Sweep, Two-Fisted


Gear: Rupertus Pepperbox (2d4)


Special Abilities:

• Armor +2

• Fearless

• Horns: Str+d4

• Low-Light Vision

• Resilent: Astaurions can take one Wound 

  before they are Incapacitated.

• Size 3: Astaurions stand over 7' tall and have 

  the mass of a bull.

• Shape Change: Astaurions can assume a 

  particular human form over the course of 

  3 rounds (18 seconds).




Sunday, July 3, 2022

3d6 Dungeneers: Design Diary Part 2


I don't know if 3d6 Dungeoneers will stick but I'm trying to decide between the following presentations:

3(d6) Dungeoneers 

versus

3d6 Dungeoneers

Any thoughts?

I'm looking at the Skill list and deciding between using the terms from the OSR or making them more general. I'll probably use something more general so Initiative and NPC Reactions could become Combat Reflexes and Social Interaction.

I'm also looking at how another of Mike Pondsmith's games deals with "class abilities" via Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.'s Special Abilities such as Combat Sense, Interface, or Authority.

If I went that direction I would probably do something like this:

Fighters have an ability to do extra damage either as a flat bonus, say +2, or bump up the die type of the weapon, say from 1d8 to 1d10. This will depend on if it is a separate from Skills.

Thiefs could roll 4d6 and drop the highest for "Thief Skills" or for Saving Throws, which I'm calling Resists right now. In my mind, Thief's having the best Saves is far more appealing to me than being a "skill monkey".

I could give Clerics back Turn Undead or I could remove them. I know that ODnD only had Fighters, Clerics, and Wizards but maybe the Cleric just doesn't work?

Wizards could then get the sole ability to cast spells. I don't know if I want that though? Why can't just anyone cast spells? But that exploration really informs how OSR adjacent I want to be. Wizards give up a lot to cast spells in most OSR games, yet more modern games have shown us options for other classes can compete with Wizards.

I still have a lot to settle. 



Monster Monday: Obstrevoi for Shadowdark

  You can download a PDF here.