Halloween Treats: The Flatwood Monster for Silent Legions

Flatwoods Monster for Silent Legions

AC: 3
HD: 6
Atks: Claws +4 x2 
Dmg: 1d8
Skill: +3
Special: Radioactive* 
Move: 50'
Morale: 12
Madness: 1d8
Save: 11+

*Enemies risk radiation poisoning from the monster; being hit by it or remaining near it for more than a minute or two forces a Physical Effect save. On a failure, the victim’s Constitution score decreases by one point. Only one point of attribute loss in inflicted in a given encounter will return over the next month.

"Various descriptions of the entity exist. Most describe it as being at least 7 feet tall, with a black body and a dark, glowing face. Witnesses described the creature's head as elongated, shaped like a sideways diamond, and as having non-human eyes; a large, circular cowling appeared behind the head. The creature's body was described as "inhumanly-shaped" and clad in a dark, pleated skirt-like exoskeleton, later described as a shadow.

Some accounts record that the creature appeared to have "no visible arms" due to its incredible speed, while others reported long, stringy arm"s, protruding from the front of its body, with long, claw-like fingers.

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Labyrinth Lord: Thundercat Race As Class

Thundercat for Labyrinth Lord

Requirements: None
Prime Requisite: Dex and Wis
Hit Dice: 1d8
Maximum Level: 14


Abilities Roll a d6 and gain the following special ability at 1st level.
1: Find and Remove Traps as a Thief of half your level (round up).
2: Move Silently as a Thief of half your level (round up).
3: Climb Walls as a Thief of half your level (round up).
4: Hide in Shadows as a Thief of half your level (round up).
5: Hear Noise as a Thief of half your level (round up).
6: Gain a +3 to Charisma.

A Thundercat cannot wear armor heavier than padded, but may use a shield. Additionally, they can use any weapon.

Level   XP       HD       AC0    BA    P/D    P/P    W       S   
1            0        1d8     19      12      13      14     12     17 
2        2,187     2d8     19      13      12      14     12     17 
3        4,375     3d8     18      13      12      14     12     17 
4        8,751     4d8     17      10      10      12     10     15 
5       17,501    5d8     16      10      10      12     10     15 
6       35,001    6d8     15      10      10      12     10     15 
7       70,001    7d8     14        9        9      10       8     13 
8      140,001    8d8    14        9        9      10       8     13 
9      280,001    9d8    13        9        9      10       8     13 
10    400,001   10d8   12        7        7        8       6     11 
11    540,001    11d     12        7        7        8       6    11 
12    660,001    12d8   11        7        7        8       6    11 
13    780,001    13d8   10        5        5        6       4      9 
14    900,001    14d8     9        5        5        6       4      9 

Character Crucible: Acererak, A Warlock Otherworldly Patron for D&D 5th Edition is NOW LIVE!

I've stepped back into the realm of publishing on the DMsGuild.

I've just released a new Warlock Otherworldly Patron, this one devoted to Acererak the Forgotten One, architect of both the Tomb of Horrors and the Tomb of Annihilation.

It's a 3 page PDF and is On Sale for $1.99.

You can find it here.

Counter Culture: Selling DnD vs Pathfinder

Counter Culture is, possibly, a new series where I relate my experiences as the Gaming Manager at Comic Book World, Inc., my family's two stores in Kentucky.

I've been doing my job there for almost 18 years, so I've watched the end of ADnD 2nd Edition, the rise of DnD 3, 4, and 5 and the rise of Pathfinder.

Today, I'm going to talk about my experiences selling both of them.

Many people talk about Pathfinder beating DnD, but for my stores that only occurred after Wizards of the Coast pulled the plug on DnD 4E and the period they didn't release very much.

While Pathfinder has always been a Top 3 Seller for me, it's never sold like any edition of DnD for me. I don't attribute this to not being popular, however, I attribute this to the phenomenal job Paizo has done selling directly to customers. In my experience their Subscription program has sustained them through the years and will continue to do so. While I understand how important the program is for their success, for us, it comes at the cost of numerous sales. In fact, I doubt that they could sustain the large number of supplements each year without the program.

Meanwhile, DnD 5E has been an amazing launch. I can't say that it eclipsed 3E's launch (but that was hard to do, after the death of 2E and the $20 books), but it has come close. Additionally, unlike 3.X and 4.X (I consider Essentials 4.5), the sales are growing and while we enter a period in the product's history around the time that we would previously see a ".5" edition, I'm seeing incredible sales growth as new and still returning players discover this edition. It's a real treat to see how the current DnD Team is treating the brand and making, to me, very intelligent decisions, the slower release schedule has galvanized fans and allowed them to better keep up with the product line.

Understand, while I might a preference between the two games as a player and gamemaster, I want to see both games succeed as a retailer. It's always good to have multiple choices to give to your customers.

Hackable: An ADnD Skill System Inspired by Saving Throw Priority

I had a brainstorm for an alternative to Non-Weapon Proficiencies in ADnD 2E.

Every Class, except for Wizards use their Saving Throw for Spells for any Skill check they might need to make. Wizards use their Save for Paralyzation, Poison, or Death magic. 

If a character has an appropriate Non-Weapon Proficiency (NWP, hereafter), then every Class, except for Wizards, use their Saving Throw for Paralyzation, Poison, or Death Magic. Wizards us their Save for Spells.

Additional NWP ranks add a +1 to the die roll of the Skill check.

Thieves, Bards, and Rangers get to use their Percentile Skills in addition to making a Skill check. They roll their Percentile Skill first, if it succeeds, no Skill check is necessary. But if the Percentile Skill fails, they may then roll a Skill check.

This idea is based off of ADnD 2E's Saving Throw Priority.

Product Development: Stat Blocks

I'm stepping back into the publishing arena and am developing a product for the OSR and DnD 5th Edition.

At the moment, as I work out stat blocks I'm pondering two issues.  

First, should I simply include a PDF for the OSR, in this case Labyrinth Lord and a PDF for 5E? Or should I feature dual stat blocks within the same PDF?

Second, here is the format for both stat blocks, please tell me what you think?

For the OSR
Yvelda Rivenheart (Female Hobgoblin AL C, MV 30', AC 5, HD 4 +1, #AT 1 [weapon], THAC0 16, DG 1d6 or weapon, SV 4 fighter, ML 11, XP 80)

For 5E

Yvelda Rivenheart (Female Hobgoblin AC 18, hp 97, 3 maul +9 (2d6+3), hobgoblin abilities,  Str +3, Dex +2, Con +3, Int +3, Cha +2. CR 1)

And

For the OSR

Argyle Fayde (Male Tiefling AL C, MV 30', AC 9, HD 2, #AT 1 [weapon or spell], THAC0 18, DG 1d4 or weapon, SV 2 magic-user, ML 7, XP 20)

For 5E

Argyle Fayde (Male Tiefling  AC 13, hp 33, 1 firebolt +4 (1d10), fire resistance, tiefling abilities, Dex +1, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +2. CR 1)

Opinions would be appreciated.

Gamestorming: Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortles

Growing up in the 80's and being a comic book nerd, I've always loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Battle Beasts...basically I like humanoid Animals who use martial arts and guns.

Friday, Wizards of the Coast released the Tortle Package with it's proceeds going to the Extra Life charity. You get the tortle race and some additional information on Chult. 

It's worth the $10.

After reading through it, I started realizing that the tortle race, along with lizard folk, minotaurs, arakocra, kenku, and tabaxi, formed the backbone of a Mutant Animal game. You can stick with fantasy using straight DnD 5E or you can use UltraModern5 or Modern 5E for a game closer to the inspiration, or even Hyperlanes for SF.

I'm pretty stoked about the idea, but I don't have room to start another game right now, so I'm hoping to work this out sometime next year.

At this point, I'm leaning toward a modern setting probably working with UltraModern5, but allowing at least Warlocks and Mystics. The players would be raised in the Nursery, a base owned by the CHON Corporation. Are the mutants uplifted or hybrids? What is CHON's purpose for them? Why does the Si Fan have an interest in them? And last but no least, why is the sasquatch known as Howard Bly spying on them?