Masters of the Universe: Man-At-Arms' Armor and Mace for Shadowdark

 

Armor of the Man-at-Arms for Shadowdark

Mythral and leather plate left over from the Eternian Epoch.

Bonus. +2 

Benefit. AC 18 (includes magic bonus). Ignore any damage dealt to you of 3 points or less. Undetected creatures do not have advantage to attack you. You can wield any weapon.

Mace of the Man-at-Arms

Mythral mace. 

Bonus. +2.

Benefit. Shoot a bolt of energy near with DEX, 1d8+2 damage (includes magic bonus to damage). 

Monster Monday: Cosmic Enforcer for Shadowdark

Cosmic Enforcer for Shadowdark

You can download a PDF here.

The Cosmic Enforcers are tasked with maintaining neutrality throughout the polyverse. They were founded by the Overlords of Trolla to witness and police the Forever War between Law and Chaos.

AC 18, HP 56, ATK 3 blaster (far) +6 (3d6) or 3 staff +4 (2d8), MV near, S +3, D +5, C +2, I +4, 

W +4, Ch +2, AL N, LV 11

Impervious. Only damaged by magical sources.

Magic Resistance. Hostile spells targeting the cosmic enforcer are DC 18 to cast.

Omens (WIS Spell). DC12. Self. ADV on all actions for 1d4 rounds.

Masters of the Universe: Pelezeean for Old School Essentials

 

Pelezeean for Old School Essentials

They are a race of mammalian humanoid creature native to the planet of Eternia. The most notable member of the race was Odiphus who betrayed his people by telling the invading warlord Prahvus where the Paleezeans kept their weapons. Unfortunately for both of them, the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull happened to be in the town, caring for an injured soldier to stop them both.

AC 8 [11], HD 1+1 (6hp), Att 1 × weapon (1d6), THAC0 19 [+0],  

MV 90’ (30’), SV D12 W13 P13 B15 S15 (E1), ML 9, AL Neutral, 

XP 10, NA 1 (1d4), TT P, Q

▶ Hide: When not wearing armor their AC is an 8 [11].

▶ Keen Hearing: They Hear Noise on a roll of 1-2 on a d6.

*If using BX Ascending their Trained Save is 12 and their Untrained Save is 15.

Masters of the Universe Revelation

Netflix dropped Masters of the Universe Revelations last week and like nearly anything in the 21st century, there is some outrage about it.

I encountered the Masters of the Universe toyline from Mattel when my buddy Barry (maybe the only kid more spoiled than I was) and I played with his He-Man, Man-At-Arms, Skeletor, and Beast-Man. I was hooked from the moment I saw their crazy proportions and I made my Mom drag me to Kay-Bee Toys to get all four. What Barry hadn't shown me were the enclosed mini-comics which were awesome.

Before the Filmation series, He-Man was the star of the Masters of the Universe but I found all the characters pretty darn cool and the cartoon's lore didn't really jive with the early mini-comics. I enjoyed the Filmation series but the introduction of Prince Adam and Orko was a little odd to my 10-year-old self. Due to some Marvel Comic 3-Packs of Conan the Barbarian and DC Comic 3-Packs of Tarzan I was already starting to dig pulp adventurers and I always preferred the story featuring a barbarian who finds a magic harness & cool weapons to Shazam-like transformation, but I watched the cartoon anyway and I consumed Masters of the Universe.

And obviously, I love Masters of the Universe since I've made so many posts about it.

Let me add something right here and now though, I'm not a Kevin Smith fan and his movies just aren't something I really dig. Maybe he was talked up to much before I saw Clerks or Mallrats or Chasing Amy or Dogma? In case you don't know Kevin Smith is Revelations showrunner and he says Revelation is a direct sequel to the Filmation series.

Also let me add that last year, largely due to the new Masters of the Universe Origins toy line, I got back into action figures. There has been "concern" among that community that Kevin isn't really a He-Man fan and that his series is supposed to subvert the character.

I went in pretty open-minded.

I've seen three of the first five episodes and I really love this show Kevin Smith and all. I won't lie to you that by the end of Episode 1 something major happens and the story goes off in a direction I didn't foresee. Also, this IS a direct sequel to the Filmation series but because of what happens it took me a few minutes to process where the story was going and I think some people might get turned off and miss out on a great story, but that's their loss.

The story, in my opinion, makes a lot of sense and really lets Masters of the Universe be about more than He-Man and Skeletor and I love that. I love it a lot. 

Orko isn't annoying and there are moments of real emotion from the nostalgia these characters experience after the events of the first episode. The status quo has changed dramatically and many of these characters, even the "bad guys" -- especially the "bad guys" are really going through something.

The one issue that might crop up is Teela's reaction to what happens and if you didn't watch the Filmation movie or know the lore you might not fully get her strong emotions. Is the show about Teela? Yes, and it's about Duncan, Orko, Evil-Lyn, Tri-Klops, Beast-Man, Whiplash, Trap Jaw, and Mer-Man through three episodes. But it is also okay that it is about Teela because this store isn't a Skeletor scheme-of-the-episode and there are real stakes involved because the people who loved it are now making it.

And I really, really love that.

Let me add that the voice cast is outstanding on every level but Lena Headey's Evil-Lyn is transcendent and her castmates include the Onion Knight, Luke Skywalker, and Batman.

I totally love this series and I hope it rises above the outrage. I do understand feeling a bit puzzled about Smith's "direct sequel" and the direction the story takes, but the property is better for it and I hope it makes a lot of people love Masters of the Universe. It certainly gave me everything I wanted in a MotU show as well as everything I didn't know that I wanted if that makes sense.

Masters of the Universe: Webstor for Godbound

     

Webstor

for Godbound Free Edition

AC: 3

HD: 7
Attack: +7 x2

Morale: 8

Move: 30

Save: 12+

Damage: 1d10 piercing, range of 300 feet, magic weapon

Effort: 4

Powers

• All Directions As One

• Disclose the Flaw

• Untouchable

• Verminous Venom

Real Name: Araneus son of Raknus

One of the last remaining members of an ancient Eternian race of Spider Warriors called the Arachna, Webstor™ was awoken from hibernation beneath Snake Mountain and occasionally allies himself with Skeletor®. In ancient times, the Arachna were an advanced dominant race until driven underground by the Snake Men™. Araneus retains much of the knowledge of his people and while seemingly savage, is an expert mathematician and strategist as well as an accomplished escape artist. He often arms himself with a grappling hook Fast Pack and uses his climbing power to escape capture!

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Hyperborea: Machismilodon

     

Sabre-tooth (Machismilodon) for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

No. Encountered: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Size: L
Movement: 50
Dexterity: 17
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 11
Attack Rate: 5 / 1 (claw x4 / bite)
Damage: 1d10+2 (x4) / 2d12+4
Saving Throw: 10 (Avoidance 8)
Morale: 10
Experience Points: 1,700
Treasure Class: - 

According to legends, the machismilodon, was gifted to Lunaqqua by Krimmr who sought her affection, and while the blue goddess gladly accepted his gift she had no interest in Krimmr in any way. To further tease the bearded warrior she decided to name her new companion, Fang. For untold decades the sabre-tooth wandered with his mistress and saw many marvels, but Krimmr's rage grew and grew and he hatched a plan to have Rel, the "God of Thieves" steal the beast from the goddess of the moons through seduction. While Lunaqqua did accept Rel's affections she saw through Kimmr's plans and seeking to keep Fang safe she created a moonbow so that he could hunt in safety on Selene, the larger of the two moons. To this day, when both Selene and Phobos are full, many on Hyperborea claim that Fang is free to return to this world and hunt while his mistress protects him from Krimmr's wrath.

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Masters of the Universe: Beast Man for Godbound

     

Beast Man 

for Godbound Free Edition

AC: 4

HD: 8
Attack: +9 x2

Morale: 9

Move: 40'

Save: 11+

Damage: 1d12+4 slashing, magic weapon

Effort: 3

Powers

• All Directions As One

• Eyes of the Cat 

• Red in Tooth and Claw 

• Lord of the Wild

Real name: Raqquill Rqazz

After being banished from his home in the Vine Jungle, the Beast Man named Raqquill Rqazz joined up with young alchemist named Keldor during a skirmish in the Beserker Islands. Like others of his race, Rqazz has the ability to control beasts and monsters. He currently uses this particular talent as chief henchmen to Skeletor, the Overlord of Evil

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Masters of the Universe: Jitsu for Godbound

    

Jitsu - Evil Master of Martial Arts 

for Godbound Free Edition

AC: 3

HD: 9
Attack: +10 x2

Morale: 11

Move: 40'

Save: 9+

Damage: 1d10+5 slashing, magic weapon

Effort: 6

Powers

• Furious Counterstrike 

On Turn
Commit Effort for the scene. 

For the rest of the scene, whenever he is hit by a normal attack and suffers damage, he gets an Instant normal attack in return at the culprit which inevitably hits.

• Steel Without End 

Constant
All your melee weapon attacks are treated as magic weapons doing a 1d10+5 damage die, including unarmed attacks. 

• The Storm Breaks 

Instant
Before the first round of combat, he gets one free bonus round before anyone else acts. Two heroes using this gift roll opposed Dexterity attribute checks, 3+ for Jitsu, to see who takes their action first.

Jitsu - Evil Master of Martial Arts

Real Name: Chopper

An intergalactic bandit, Jitsu was broken out of Prison Starr by Keldor during the Great Unrest. In gratitude, he agreed to serve the Evil Lord of Destruction and stayed with him even after Keldor's transformation into Skeletor. As a master of several forms of martial arts, Jitsu was often on the frontline in battle against Randor and his Masters. During the Battle for Gretori Bridge, he was wounded by his archenemy Fisto and had his hand replaced with a golden robotic implant by Tri-Klops. After Skeletor left Eternia for the stars, Jitsu took over Snake Mountain, ruling it with an iron fist. As deadly as he is silent, Jitsu uses his chopping power to get his evil way!

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Monstrous Monday: Eternia's Beast Men for Barbaric!

  

Beast Men for Barbaric!

Mercenary warriors from the Vine Jungle on 

Eternia's Light Hemisphere. 12/15, Move 15m/round, Armor 3, Electron Whip (2D, slashing), Combat-1, Physical-2, Stealth -1, Survival-1. 

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Masters of the Universe: Scareglow for Dungeon Crawl Classics

  

I love He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and its aesthetic has shaped much of my gaming preferences. Mattel has launched a new line of action figures, Masters of the Universe Origins and a WWE tie-in line called Masters of the WWE Universe (they are from WWEternia) plus there are two animated series in development at Netflix.

In life, Karak Nul was a shifty bounty hunter who spent years attempting to break into Castle Grayskull, obsessed with the countless legends that it contained the power to be Master of the Universe. In death, he was cursed and banished into the dimension of Infinita, forever chained to his past crimes. He was brought back to Eternia by a magical spell cast by Skeletor to locate the most evil warriors in the five dimensions. Provided with a Scythe of Doom, Nul agreed to join forces with Skeletor and quickly became known as Scareglow, thanks to his ability to burst forth and freeze his enemies with fright.

Scareglow for Dungeon Crawl Classics

Init +2; Atk scythe of doom tentacle +6 melee (1d12+1); 

AC 16 HD 6d8; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP terrify 

(DC 13 Will Save); SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +4; AL C.

Legend of Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe RPG

Power-Con, the convention of all things Masters of the Universe was held virtually this past weekend and Legend of the Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe RPG was announced for 2021. It is being published by Fandom, who own DnD Beyond and will use the Cortex Prime rules.

I'm a huge Masters of the Universe fan and have showcased it quite a bit here on the blog. My main experience with Cortex was the Marvel Heroic RPG and I wasn't too keen on how it played, but I'll give it a try. It appears that there will be an open playtest, organized play, virtual table-top and character generator, and a community content program.

I'm really happy to see how that this is a thing and I feel that Mattel has people running the property who cares about the fans.

Campaign Trail: Master of the Universe

I'm sure that I am like many Game Masters and have far more ideas than I have time to actually run them. Campaign Trails is how I intend to share those ideas and record them in case I actually get a chance to run one.

I've been a huge fan of Masters of the Universe since 1981 when I discovered them at my local Kay-Bee toy store.

The pitch for this version of Eternia has Skeletor and the Horde triumphing over He-Man and his allies. Skeletor has taken Castle Grayskull as his headquarters, trapped the Sorceress in a demonic mirror, and has imprisoned the few surviving Masters of the Universe in the dungeons of Grayskull.

In this version of Eternia, Hordak and Skeletor came up with a scheme in which the Horde committed all of their forces to attack Etheria, requiring She-Ra to ask for help from her brother, He-Man. However, Skeletor had brokered a deal with Darkdream to cross over to Etheria and trap that realm in eternal darkness. Meanwhile, the Horde attack was merely a ruse and all of the Horde forces attacked Eternia unexpectedly. 

Skeletor had discovered a spell that would seal Etheria off from Etnernia, but it required a humanoid sacrifice. Skeletor and Hordak knew that Horde Prime would want to be on Eternia to witness He-Man's defeat and the taking of Eternia. However, Skeletor and Hordak conspired against Horde Prime and used him as the sacrifice to seal the two worlds apart. It was at this point that Hordak attacked Skeletor, which the demon was expecting. In secret he had his Havoc Staff enchanted by Darkdream, which when broken would transfer a single target, in this case Hordak, to Eternia's Dark Moon.

Nearly two decades after his conquest, Skeletor rules Eternia and the entire Horde as the Master of the Universe. A small band of rebels challenges his rule, aided by Faker, whose android body holds Roboto's artificial intelligence. 

I think I'd run this with Godbound, the Heroic Fantasy Handbook for Adventurer, Conqueror, King, or even DnD 4E.

I've never run any of Kevin Crawford' games and I find Godbound very intriguing.

Masters of the Universe is Returning in a BIG Way!

Yeah, I know, DC Comics, Dark Horse, and Super7 have been giving us cool Masters of the Universe stuff for the last few years.

But we've also learned that He-Man as been cast in the upcoming feature film.

That Kevin Smith is Show Runner on a continuation of the old Filmation series.

And that Mattel is bringing the toy line back in February 2020 and even had a San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Prince Adam and He-man two figure Package.

You might notice that I'm a fan of He-Man.

I'm pretty excited about what 2020 might bring us of the Masters of the Universe.

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition: Beast Man

Warriors of the vine jungle who have hired onto the Horde.

BEAST MAN
medium humanoid (beast man), neutral evil
________________________________________________

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 13 (2d8 + 4) 

Speed 35 ft.
__________________________________________

   Str                  Dex                Con           
16 (+3)          13 (+1)         15 (+2)  
   Int                  Wis                Cha
10 (+0)          12 (+1)         11 (+0)

__________________________________________


Skills Animal Handling +3, Perception +3, Stealth +3, 
Survival +3

Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages Common, Sylvan
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

__________________________________________

Beast Master. A beast man has advantage on Wisdom (Animal Handling) skill checks.

__________________________________________

ACTIONS

Flail. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

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Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition: Cosmic Enforcer's Blaster

COSMIC ENFORCER'S BLASTER

Magic weapon (laster pistol), Very rare
• The blaster deals 3d8 force damage (range 40/120, reload 50 shots)

• When you hit with an attack wielding the blaster and roll a natural 18-20, the target is knocked back 10 feet.

Dungeons & Dragons: Aquatican Buccanneer

Warriors of the Sea Kingdoms who have hired onto the Horde.

AQUATICAN BUCCANEER
medium humanoid (aquatican), lawful evil
________________________________________________

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12) 

Speed 35 ft., swim 40 ft.
__________________________________________

   Str                  Dex                Con           
14 (+2)          12 (+1)         15 (+2)  
   Int                  Wis                Cha
11 (+0)          13 (+1)         10 (+0)

__________________________________________


Skills Perception +3, Survival +3, 

Senses Darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages Common, Primordial
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

__________________________________________

Amphibious. The aquatican can breathe air and water.

Fish Telepathy. The aquatican can magically command any fish within 30 feet of her, using a limited telepathy.

__________________________________________

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The aquatican buccaneer makes two attacks.

Long Sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) slashing damage.

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Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition: Gar Magus

The Gar are evil beings from another dimension who serve Hordak and his Horde in his effort to rule the Polyverse.

GAR MAGUS
medium humanoid (gar), lawful evil
________________________________________________

Armor Class 13 (leather armor)
Hit Points 22 (5d8) 

Speed 30 ft.
__________________________________________

   Str                  Dex                Con           
13 (+1)          12 (+1)         11 (+0)  
   Int                  Wis                Cha
16 (+3)          14 (+2)         10 (+0)

__________________________________________


Skills Arcana +5, History +5

Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12

Languages Common, Draconic, Infernal
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

__________________________________________

Spellcasting. The gar magus is a 4th-level spellcaster that uses Intelligence as its spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13; +5 to hit with spell attacks). The mage knows the following spells from the wizard’s spell list:

Cantrips (at will): chill touch, mage hand, shocking grasp

1st Level (4 slots): cause fear, magic missile

2nd Level (3 slots): darkness, hold person

__________________________________________

ACTIONS

Havoc staff. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8+1) force damage.

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Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition: Horde Trooper

The basic foot solder of the Horde!

HORDE TROOPER
medium construct, lawful evil
________________________________________________

Armor Class 16 (trooper armor with shield)
Hit Points 11 (2d8+2) 

Speed 30 ft.
__________________________________________

   Str                  Dex                Con           
13 (+1)          11 (+0)         12 (+1)  
   Int                  Wis                Cha
10 (+0)          11 (+0)         10 (+0)

__________________________________________

Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Common
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

__________________________________________

ACTIONS

Shock Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) lightning damage.

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Creature Crucible: Krux for Labyrinth Lord

Krux  for Labyrinth Lord
AL LE, MV 30', AC 8, HD 3, #AT 1 [havoc staff], 
THAC0 19, DG 1d6, SV 3 magic-user, ML 8,  Krux cast spell as 3rd level magic-users, XP 50

The Krux are one of the founding races of the Horde and legend says that they were taught their necromancy by Horder Prime itself. Typically a single Krux is assigned to a cadre of Raqquill as it's leader.

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Creature Crucible: Raqquill for Labyrinth Lord

Raqquill or Beast Men for Labyrinth Lord
AL NE, MV 35', AC 7, HD 2, #AT 1 [whip or claws], 
THAC0 18, DG 1d6, SV 2 fighter, ML 9,  XP 20

The Raqquill are mercenaries for the Horde, an mysterious organization bent on conquest. Typically a cadre of beastmen is led by the one of the skeletal wizards known as the Krux. 

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