Swords and Wizardry: Saurus

SAURUS for Swords and Wizardry

Hit Dice: 3
Armor Class: 6 [13] 

Attacks: Weapon (1d10)
Saving Throw: 14
Special: Ferocious
Move: 9

Alignment: Neutral 

Challenge Level/XP: 3/60 

   The ferocity of the Saurus allows it to fight until it reaches -5 hit points before it dies.

   The Saurus form one of the core species of the Lizardmen race, created by the Old Ones to be the warriors and guardians of their society. When the Temple-Cities are on the warpath, it is the Saurus who make up the hardened core of the fighting forces. This is of no surprise, for the Saurus were created solely for the purpose of warfare and nothing else. They are large and ferocious predator-warriors, so single-minded in their duties that they have no concept of personal thought, individuality or personality.

A Good Day

Got a day off, hanging out with my kids. They mostly did homework, but we were together.

Started reading the Star Trek Playtest Files from Modiphius.

And got the Early Access files for the Unity RPG.

Really, really good day.

So far, I like what I've seen of the changes made to the 2d20 system for Trek (I'm in the Next Generation era). Seems very smooth and I hope it play as well as it reads.

Unity has exceed my high expectations for it. The Early Access PDF is very professional and has great artwork. The rules are yelling at me to run them, and soon. The are like a neat marriage of DnD 4E and 13th Age (and no grid necessary).

More soon.

Shadow of the Demon Lord: Tommy-Boy

I picked up Of Monstrous Mien for Shadow of the Demon Lord yesterday. We all know I like to make and adapt monsters, so I thought I'd give this new PDF a whirl and build something:

I chose a Medium Monster and these were my random rolls:
Origin: Mutated by magical energies run amok!

Beast-like. The monster’s body is parallel to the ground with its head at the front and supported by 5 legs. 

Eyeless

Brachiation. The monster has hook-like hands or feet and possibly a prehensile tail. It can clamber through branches with ease, gaining the Climber trait.

Warty. The monster’s hide is a mass of thick, wart- like protuberances that increase its Defense by 1. 

Pincers. The monster can attack with powerful pincers. When the monster gets a success on an attack roll with the pincer, it can use a triggered action to grab the target.

Semi-sapient features. The monster’s features are disturbingly human. The monster gains the Frightening trait and increases its Difficulty by one step. 

Here is it's write-up:

They say Leena Pickens always wanted a baby boy, though some say Ole Cedric beat her everytime she gave him a girl, all twelve times. Some even say that Old Cedric threatened to leave her and her girls if she couldn't give him a right heir.

Most agree, Leena visited that crazy Wise-Man on top of Gray Peak. Salazar of Gunt some call him. The Green Wand to others, including a few of the working girls 'round these parts. But some of the older folk, they remember him as Thurgood the Mad. Yeah, the one who rode with the Orange Delvers. Yeah, him.

It seems poor Leena just couldn't due with another daughter nor being left behind by Ole Cedric. Sadly, they say she traded with Salazar or the Wand or the Mad One for some magic.

What did she trade? I'd rather not guess.

But soon enough she was rounder than she ever been and she assured Ole Cedric so much that he decide his boy would be named Thomas, after his Da. Leena and Ole Cedric talked about their little Tommy to anyone and everyone.

But then the night came and the birth turned bad. Some say that two midwifes fainted at the mere sight of little Thomas. Leena didn't survive the birth, not surprising.

The poor woman gave birth to monstrous thing that night at the very stroke of midnight. Many say it literally tore it's mother apart and climbed up to the ceiling of their farm house. Most agree that it swung about like some beast out of one of the Empire's Zoos in the good old days. It seemed more spider than man, except for it's face, which was that of an innocent babe with more than a passing resemblance to Ole Cedric.

Yep, they all agree that little Tommy-Boy tore into the whole bunch there that night. It's horrible body, covered in livid warts, running parallel to the ground, with too many legs ending in wicked pincers and a baby-face that nearly matched it's daddy. Except for the eyes. It didn't apparently need 'em, 'cause it certainly didn't have any.

Ole Cedric finally got his boy or I guess his boy finally got Ole Cedric.

TOMMY-BOY          DIFFICULTY 15
Size 1 frightening monster
Perception 12 (+2); dark sight
Defense 14; Health 20
Strength 13 (+3)   Agility 9 (-1)   Intellect 7 (-3)   Will 13 (-+#)
Speed 10; climber
Climber A kobold is impaired while exposed to 
   direct sunlight.

ATTACK OPTIONS
Pincers (melee) +3 with 1 boon (1d6+2 and can use a triggered action to grab the target)

SPECIAL ATTACKS
Frenzied Attack The monster attacks two different targets with its 
   natural weapon, making each attack roll with 1 bane.

 

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Apes Victorious: Terminator T-800

"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop EVER until you are dead!"

- Praxis telling Captain Claudi Dane how deadly the Terminator is.
The Terminator itself is part of a series of machines created by Skynet for infiltration-based assassination missions, and while an android for its appearance resembling a human, it is described as a cybernetic organism for consisting of living tissueover a robotic endoskeleton.

Skynet has been quietly observing the Earth's simian overlord from it's base in the ruins of the western part of what used to be the United States. For the moment content with it's success for the near eradication of humanity.

By Jason Edmonton

T-800 for Apes Victorious

No. Enc.: 1 (1-3)

Movement: 150' (50')
Intelligence: High

Psionic Potential: 3d4, inactive

Hits: 7d8
Armor: -4
To Hit: 18
Save: G7
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d10 (Pistol or Rifle)
Morale: 12
XP: 1490

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Shadow of the Demon Lord: Kobold

Barely clearing 3 feet in height, kobolds have scaly hides that range from dark, rusty brown to a rusty black. They smell of damp dogs and stagnant water. Their eyes glow like a bright red spark and they have two small horns ranging from tan to white. Because of the kobolds' fondness for wearing raggedy garb of red and orange, their non-prehensile rat-like tails, and their language (which sounds like small dogs yapping), these fell creatures are often not taken seriously. This is a fatal mistake, for what they lack in size and strength they make up in ferocity and tenacity. 

KOBOLD          DIFFICULTY 1
Size 1/2 kobold
Perception 10 (+0); shadowsight
Defense 13 (soft leather); Health 8
Strength 8 (-2)   Agility 12 (+2)   Intellect 9 (-1)   Will 8 (-2)
Speed 10
Sunlight Vulnerability A kobold is impaired while exposed to 
   direct sunlight.

ATTACK OPTIONS
Spear (melee) +2 (1d6)
Sling (medium range) +2 (1d3)

Pack Fighting When the kobold attacks a target within the reach of

   another creature with Pack Fighting that is friendly to the kobold,

   it makes the attack roll with 1 boon. Otherwise, it makes the

   attack roll with 1 bane.

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Shadow of the Demon Lord as an OSR Game?

As is self-evident on the blog, I've reignited my exploration of the OSR and I'm really enjoying myself. I'm a huge fan of Swords and Wizardry Complete (my 12 year old daughter is SO excited to get her new hardcover), Labyrinth Lord,  Adventurer Conqueror King, Moldvay/Cook DnD, and the DnD Rules Cyclopedia.

However, earlier today in the Shadows of the Demon Lord (SotDL) G+ Community, +Robert Schwalb talked about a more traditional fantasy book for his extremely awesome game (go buy it, please, I'll wait).

It reminded me of an observation I made several months ago: I think Shadows of the Demon Lord fits the mold of an OSR game at least as much as it does of a New School Game. It's hard hitting, thematic, emphasizes role playing and creativity, and easy to start playing in about 10 to 20 minutes.

In fact, since I enjoyed running Dwimmermount with ACKS so much, I intend to run the second session with SotDL and report back on it.

Adventurer Conqueror King and Dwimmermount

I run a DnD 5E game on Fridays. Last week the players hit 20th Level and destroyed Azathoth. Yeah, Azathoth. They had their reasons.

Last night we did a one-shot of Adventurer Conqueror King and they explored about 1/3 of the 1st level of Dwimmermount.

One of my players has been playing since ADnD 2E, one player has played since DnD 4E, and two players have only played DnD 5E.

We used randomly rolled Pre-Gens from this PDF.

I took a few minutes before the game to go over the ACKS rules AND to emphasize that you aren't limited by your sheet to do something. I made it abundantly clear that creativity and exploration were as important as combat.

As an aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Dwimmermount and cannot recommend it enough. I hope to run within it's halls again.

I did use two house-rules, when a 1st Level spell is cast, roll a d6, on a 3-6, the spell slot is not expended. I also gave the characters 10 additional hit points. I don't know that they needed it, but since it was a one-shot, I didn't mind them and I don't think they impeded play.

I think they were starting to get the hang of the Old School approach by the time we finished.  They all had a good time and were willing to play it again. That's really all I can ask for.