Elemental Evil: Barrage, Harbinger of Stone for D&D 5th Edition [UPDATED]

Inexorable is the best word to describe the Harbinger of Stone.  He is accustomed to the weight of entire worlds and intimately understands the power that binds them together...and tears them apart.

BARRAGE, HARBINER OF STONE                                                                                     Large monstrosity (human), neutral evil                                        ________________________________________________

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 310 (20d10 + 90) 

Speed 40 ft., burrow 40 ft.
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   Str            Dex         Con           Int         Wis         Cha
22 (+6)     10 (+0)     21 (+4)     12 (+1)    14 (+2)     11 (+0)

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Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from
nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious
Senses darkvision 60ft., tremorsense 60ft., passive Perception 12 Languages Terran

Challenge 13 (10,000 XP)

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Earth Glide. The harbinger can burrow through nonmagical, unworked earth and stone. While doing so, the harbinger doesn't disturb the material it moves through.

Siege Monstrosity. The harbinger deals triple damage to objects and structures.

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ACTIONS

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Multiattack. The harbinger makes two melee attacks.

Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 32 (4d12 + 6) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 33 (5d10 + 6) slashing damage. 

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage. 


Temblor (Recharge 5-6). The harbinger shakes the very foundations of the earth it stands upon. Each creature within a 30 foot radius of the harbinger must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 54 (12d8) bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Prime Materials: Righteousness, a magic long sword for D&D 5th Editiont

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Weapon (long sword), legendary (requires attunement)

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon and it deals radiant damage.

In addition, while attuned to the long sword you gain advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) and Dexterity (Initiative) rolls, but you gain disadvantage on Wisdom (Insight) rolls.  

Righteousness was named by Kurtus of Daggerford, a paladin of Tyr.  Kurtus claimed that as he faced certain doom at the hands of the vampire, Xeera Nyl, Tyr gifted his blade with an enchantment that turned the tide of the battle and allowed him to destroy the Blood Queen of Illefarn.  While the blade was buried with the paladin, his tomb was soon robbed and Righteousness again stalked the Realms.

On Being a Gamemaster: GM's Day and Remembering Gary

I wish I was enjoying today more, but a nasty sinus infection came upon me yesterday and I'm lucky to still have my voice.

If I was feeling better, I'd consider setting up a one-shot for my kids tonight, but we'll probably just watch Survivor.

While I've grown to appreciate Mr. Gygax's genius, it was a few years into my gaming career that I really was exposed to his work.  When  I started we were playing ADnD 2E and most of the Gygaxianisms had been washed away.  In fact, the vast majority of our group hadn't played ADnD 1E and Todd, our DM, wasn't even keen on us looking at those books.

So, my first real introduction to him was, unfortunately, Dangerous Journeys.

I can't say too much about DJ, we only tried playing it once and I'm sure a longer attempt would have been more enjoyable.  But, overall it didn't shine well enough for me to pick it up (though I was a college student with little money) and that one attempt left a huge bad taste in the group's mouth.

Mythus, however, was a different story.  For me, a setting based on Earth with fantastic elements was pretty new and I loved that its "underdark" was a reflection of the Earth's exterior.  I truly lament never picking up that setting or the Necropolis book Necromancer Games published for 3.X.

I was, thankfully, smart enough to pick up the Castle Zagyg book the Trolls published, and while I haven't looked at it in a few years, it rests with a place on honor on my shelf.

Recently, I've been picking up many of the classic modules Gary wrote and have a much better appreciation for them than I would have a few years ago.  Thank you DnDClassics.com

Cheers to you Gary!

And Cheers to all Game Masters out there!!

My Realms: Fort Buckler

On the western edge of the Quivering Forest stands Fort Buckler, founded just over fifteen years ago as a home base and training ground for rangers of the Green Stride.

The Fort was a reward to Ranger Captain Eva Montcleef and her apprentice Sienna Rose Himler after aiding the wood elves of Green Hall in defeating K'takla the Demon Bear.

Eva eschewed traditional ranger training techniques and envisioned a larger scale training ground to swell the ranks of the Green Stride and to supersede the typical master and apprentice system that was well established.

In fact, her first recruit for the Fort is current Ranger Captain Jonas Hector, who took the mantle following Eva's death at the claws of the black dragon, Glamdroomechas.  While Hector strongly felt that Sienna Rose deserved the role, she decided it was time to move on from the Quivering Forest and joined an adventuring company with her lover, Arin Redwolf.

Hector is a gifted instructor and under his watch the ranks of the Fort grew to seventeen rangers and for the last several years, residents gladly claimed the forests and farms surrounding Phlan have never been safer.

However, over the last three months, the goblins of the Foulwater tribe have moved into Glamdroomechas' lair and began coordinated strikes throughout the area, going so far as to captures slaves to sell in the Underdark.

The Green Stride has lost seven of its rangers in that same period and is currently down to the Captain, three veterans and six novices.  With the help of some adventurers from Phlan they've discovered than an oni named Shoggoth has taken control of the Foulwater tribe and is responsible for the vicious attacks in the area and they are formulating a strike to shatter the tribe.

The Fort itself was built to house, comfortably, thirty people, but could hold double that for a short time.  Its walls and building are built from stout redwoods and the Forts name comes from Eva's explanation of the outpost as a "small but versatile shield for the people outside of Phlan's walls."
One interesting feature of the Fort is the Covenant, essentially a shed where any unidentified scrolls, books, or items are stored.  The Covenant is maintained by the bard, Esme L'Braun, who splits her time between the Fort and Melvaunt.

DnDClassics.com Releases for 3/3/15

This week's new releases on DnDClassics.com are:

(A shout out to this great thread on RPG.Net).

Adventurer's Vault 2 (4e)
Dragon #372 (4e)

Dungeon #171 (4e)

Dungeon #172 (4e)

Also a big thanks to the terrific spreadsheet about all of the releases created and maintained by Jurgen Hubert (creator of Urbis)

My A to Z Them Reveal...

And this year it will be the A to Z of How I Learned to Love Dungeons and Dragons.  An alphabetical look at how DnD entered my life and left a lasting impression.

Sign up here!

The OSR and a Bad Rap

So Stacy Dellorfano and the RPGPundit have been discussing "Why does the OSR have a bad reputation among women?" and I thought I'd weigh in.

Before we proceed, a few things about me, I'm not into the OSR much these days, DnD 5th Edition is my game of choice, but I still mine all eras of DnD for inspiration.  Also, I don't know many people who are into the OSR in the first place and in the second place, none of them are women.

I have been a gamer since Fall 1991, my first group was comprised of Barry, Kurt, Todd, Richard and I, all guys.  Eventually it would grow to include Mark M., Bob, Mike, Jonathan, and Aaron, more dudes.  Now back in those days, it was hard for us to find girls who were into gaming.  And we looked.  Sure, Richard was that guy who you were unsure you wanted around a girl because he could be a disrespectful ass, but we would have gladly welcomed ladies into the group.  And yeah, we joked and were rude, but none of us would have put up with harassment.

My second major gaming group which could be as large at 18 people, had 2 women, my future wife and a co-worker's wife.  Again, we didn't have an opportunity to recruit many women, and we tried with two wives of our married friends, but it wasn't right for either.  Again, harassment would have been unwelcome.

My third major gaming...experience (I run events as a store manager and I'm in charge of about 7 groups and run or play in 3 of them), thankfully has more women.  Out of 50 players, we now have about 7.  Now none of these groups are OSR, all our DnD 5th Edition.  Harassment of any kind is unwelcome and has not been an issue.

Now, my only experience with the OSR is really online and for months I quietly hung out at Dragonsfoot.  When I started this blog, I saw someone else promote their blog on that site and followed suit, doing so for a few weeks, even getting several positive comments.  Eventually, I decided to promote the blog on there again and was chided publicly for it after many months.  What put me off though were the hangers-on who chimed in to...kind of...swim around the big fish who was upset with me.  It was shocking and I felt like I was in elementary school again.  I didn't like it.  I walked away from Dragonsfoot and began moving away from the OSR.

Now, realistically, I was moving away from the OSR anyway.  I was looking for my perfect DnD, not capturing some nostalgic play style.  I don't know that there is a bad way to play, simply bad ways for me to play.

But my point is that I don't think the bad eggs in the OSR are merely targeting women.  Their bad eggs, who are grumpy or exclusive or just plain ass hats, just like any group has amongst their ranks.  The guys we all know, in one way or another, and we dread when they enter the conversation.  No good will come from them.

I'm not disputing anyone's experiences and am sympathetic to anyone who feels excluded for any reason, my experience just shows me that some in the OSR are more inclusive than others.