Useful or no, that thing gives me the Zagaxy horripilations!

Speyeder

Frequency: Extremely rare.
No. appearing : 1-4
Armor class : 6
Move : 6"
Hit dice : 1
% in lair : 70%
Treasure type :
No. of attacks : 1
Dmg/attack : 1-4
Special attacks :  poison
Special defenses : never surprised
Magic resistance : 40%
Intelligence : Low
Alignment : Neutral Evil
Size : S, 1 to 2 hand spans in width
Psionic ability : nil

The Speyeders appear to be arcane constructs, or else, natural creatures magically altered, which have escaped into the wider world and there found a degree of success sufficient to allow them to maintain a small but stable population. Speyeders are similar to spiders of the orb-weaving sort, save for the fact that their abdomen seems to be a large, moist and naked human eyeball.

Left to their own devices, speyeders act as would any large arachnid possessing a dim and malign intelligence.  They prey upon small rodents, birds, large insects, and unfortunate pixies.  In most cases, speyeder venom is but weakly poisonous. Creatures possessing more than 1 hit die which are bitten by a speyeder may save vs. poison and take only 1d8 damage if successful.

Magical creatures are of course, highly variable. Instances of speyeder venom causing

 hallucinations, alignment changes or spontaneous outbursts of poetry have been reported.

A rare and dangerous variant is the Mesmeric Speyeder.  From the center of their black spiral webs, these speyeders may charm into immobility any creature which unexpectedly meets the gaze of their abdominal eye.  Victims will be fed upon by the speyeder until death.  This may take weeks, as only 1d4 points of damage per day is caused by the fluid loss.

A spell exists, originator unknown, most often referred to as Speyeder Sight, which allows the caster to see through a speyeder’s abdominal eye, and also to direct its movements for a time. This turns a speyeder into an excellent spy, which may be the entire reason for the creatures existence. Because the spell is so rarely found, the full extent of its design is uncertain. Partial examples have resulted in unfortunate side effects.

----------------------------------------------------

Found a picture on the intertubes, made a monster for it. 

Will you stand before the Griffagon?

Griffagon

Frequency:  Very Rare

No. Appearing:  1-2

Armor Class: 2

Move: 9”, 120”

Hit Dice: 8-10,

% in Lair: 45%

Treasure Type: H, S

No. of Attacks: 3

Damage/Attack: 1-8, 1-8, 2-20

Special Attacks:  Gaze of Truth.

Special Defenses: Nil

Magic Resistance: Standard

Intelligence: High

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Size: L (30’ long)

Psionic Ability: Nil

With its great eagle head, mighty feathered wings, and brazen scaled dragonish body, the Griffagon is a beast of striking appearance and fearsome presence.  The origin of these creatures is uncertain and much disputed.  The Eagle-Drakes themselves are disinclined to illuminate the matter for lesser creatures, and generally eat those who persist in inquiry.

Griffagons display many of the behavioral characteristics of both dragons and griffins. They desire and amass treasure as do dragons, and crave horseflesh as do griffins.  They are terrible and unrelenting foes when aroused, aloof and superior in repose.

None who stand before the griffagon and meet its piercing gaze may speak an untruth. A Save vs Spell is necessary to break eye contact and be released from the compulsion of the beast’s transfixing stare.

 It is for this reason, along with the griffagon’s unyieldingly lawful nature, that they are sometimes sought out to render judgment in disputes wherein none of those concerned trust to human justice.

Famously, the griffagon Ahjurunduous comes to the crossroads of the Red Cobble and the Lord’s Stumble at each change of the season, and there hears quarrels, accusations or other legal considerations. He demands respect, pomp and circumstance, as well as payment, but is unbribable and unconcerned with matters of station. He is thus much loved by the peasantry of the area.

The breath weapon of a griffagon is a tremendous eagle-like scream of great, resonant power. Its effect is as that of a Horn of Blasting, save that it does damage equal to the creatures hit points as would a dragon’s. The weapon’s area of effect is conical as a red dragon’s and does structural damage to constructions as would a horn of blasting.

Apparently, Wizards of the Coast, do have something to offer me.

Once again, I step away from the intertubes, and stuff happens. I'm sure everyone knows by now that Wizards of the coast are issuing a limited print run of AD&D hard backs. The Dungeon Masters Guide, Player's Handbook, and Monster Manual.

They're showing them with a black and white cover illustration by Erol Otus currently. I don't know it that's the final art for the covers, or only place holder art.

I'm a game hoarder, so I've got multiple copies of all the TSR hard backs, and they're in good to excellent condition. I don't need fresh copies, but I'll be going to check the game stores for them in April when they come out.
They will be excellent as gifts for new gamers, and I've seen comments concerning donating copies to local libraries. A most worthy action.
And, as some uncertain portion of the proceeds will go towards the Gygax Memorial, I won't feel so bad about giving money to that card game company.

I'm sure that if this print run sells out quickly, WOTC, or their Hasbro Overlords, will seriously consider continuing, even expanding the reprints into a side line.
I'd love to get quality reproductions of all the OD&D booklets. I don't have originals of those.

When WOTC pulled the PDFs of previous editions, it was an example of faulty corporate thinking. Most likely they saw other editions as competing for gamer dollars that would otherwise be spent on new editions. In doing this, they didn't move their customer base on to the new product, they shrank it.

You don't attempt to manage your customers, you cater to them.

WOTC would be better served, and so would we, if they viewed their portfolio of older edition material as a book publisher would,and not as a game/toy manufacturer does.

They could establish an in-house Old School Game Division, turn over the management of all the material they inherited from TSR, and begin republishing old games and books. They could also build a stable of freelancers who actually understand the OSR ethos to provide new material congenial to the old books.
It would cost Wizards next to nothing to mine the trove of old material they own, and pick out choice gems for re-issue.

This would free up the rest of WOTC to pursue the Editon of the Day, card games, hackysacks, whatever.

I don't expect WOTC to ever understand the whys and wherefores of TSR era D&D. I'd rather they just didn't keep trying to convert the non-believers to the edition of the moment. It's counter productive for them, and irrelevant to us.

5E: Wizards of the Coast have nothing to offer me.

So, here comes 5E, as expected and right on schedule.

I’ve never been much of an edition warrior. This is mostly due to the fact that the inherent superiority of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons over all subsequent versions of the game is, of course, self-evident, and therefore requires no active defense on my part.

I didn’t do anything other than issue the standard grognardly snort, and roll my eyes when the news of 5E showed up in Forbes, of all places. I did go ahead and browse the forums and blogs to see what everyone had to say about it. And what WOTC themselves had to say.

I clipped a few quotes here and there that caught my attention, for one reason or another.

Robert Schwalb quoted @ ENWorld wrote: “Our primary goal is to produce a rules set that speaks to every incarnation of D&D. So if you are a diehard BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia enthusiast or have embraced 4th edition, loved 2nd edition, 3rd edition, or never moved on from 1st edition, we’re creating this game for you. Imagine a game where you can play the version of D&D you love best. And then imagine everyone plays at the same table, in the same adventure.”

“We seek to build a foundation for the long-term health and growth of D&D, one rooted in the vital traits that make D&D unique and special. We want a game that rises above differences of play styles, campaign settings, and editions, one that takes the fundamental essence of D&D and brings it to the forefront of the game. In short, we want a game that is as simple or complex as you please, its action focused on combat, intrigue, and exploration as you desire. We want a game that is unmistakably D&D, but one that can easily become your D&D, the game that you want to run and play.” –Mike Mearls

"The new edition is being conceived of as a modular, flexible system, easily customized to individual preferences. Just like a player makes his character, the Dungeon Master can make his ruleset. He might say ‘I’m going to run a military campaign, it’s going to be a lot of fighting’… so he’d use the combat chapter, drop in miniatures rules, and include the martial arts optional rules." –Mike Mearls

“Wizards of the Coast described the goal of the new iteration of D&D in the following way: "The goal of this project is to develop a universal rules system that takes from the best of every edition and get at the soul of what D&D is.”

"Our primary goal is to produce a rules set that speaks to every incarnation of D&D. So if you are a diehard BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia enthusiast or have embraced 4th edition, loved 2nd edition, 3rd edition, or never moved on from 1st edition, we’re creating this game for you. Imagine a game where you can play the version of D&D you love best. And then imagine everyone plays at the same table, in the same adventure. We aim to make a universal game system that lets you play the game in whatever way, whatever style, with whatever focus you want, whether you want to kick down doors and kill monsters, engage in high intrigue, intense roleplaying, or simply to immerse yourself in a shared world. We’re creating a game where the mechanics can be as complex or as light as you want them. We’re creating the game you want to play." - Robert Schwalb.

All of the above quoted statements sound great. They also sound like what I already do. They sound like what every gamer I know, also already does.

With AD&D as my foundation, I already mix and match rules and ideas pried from other games on a case by case, campaign by campaign basis to construct variations on The Game. I already build rulesets and alter classes to suit the play goals I, and my players, are after.

I’ve always made accommodations, within reason, for the play styles of the gamers at the table. I’ve always adjusted the mechanics to be congenial to the form of play desired. I already have everything WOTC are describing as their design goals.
And what’s more, I have the whole of the OSR, all the D&D forums, blogs and sites, and my own library of D&D publications to draw on for new ideas. That’s thousands of minds and millions of words of gaming fodder, and it’s still coming in every day.

WOTC just can’t compete with that. It’s like putting an iphone up against Deep Blue.

Even with the crowd sourcing input idea, they’re still not drawing on any ideas I don’t already have access to.

I also have to say that the invocations of ,”the soul of D&D” fall flat to me, since WOTC and the greater gaming community wouldn’t be in this situation, fractured, disconnected, and mutually hostile, if WOTC had any idea of what elements comprised the soul of D&D, or its, ” Fundamental essence”, in the first place.

Dungeons & Dragons has a long and rich life ahead of it, for many years to come, and in myriad forms. Wizards of the Coast, however, are not going to be the driving force behind it. We are.

Somebody back east is saying, "Why don't he write?"

Undead for Torch&Sixgun



The Prairie Companion.

Frequency: Very Rare
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 4
Move: 10"(100 feet)
Hit Dice: 3
% in lair: Encountered only near lair, and only after nightfall.
Treasure Type: Special, see below
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/Attack: 2-8/2-8/1-6
Special Attacks: Importunate Mutter, Life Energy Drain.
Special Defenses: Unharmed by mortal weaponry.
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Average
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Size: M
Psionic Ability: Nil

Them what die alone on the prairie, don’t always rest easy in their grave-less sleep.

Those who end their days in solitary desperation sometimes rise and seek succor in the company of the living. A Prairie Companion is such an unliving creature. Existing forever in the state of lonesome fear which filled its final moments, it is drawn to the sounds of living camaraderie.

Should a party of the living encamp within gunshot of the place a Prairie Companion met its friendless end, there is a 25% chance, (cumulative per night), that it will rise and seek company to ease its endless loneliness.

It is never the generous or the good-hearted who become deathless creatures such as the Prairie Companions, however. Rather, in life they were of the sort who blamed others for their misfortune, and bitterly resented those who possessed contentment or good fortune.

As it approaches the campsite which attracted it, the Prairie Companion will begin its Importunate Mutter. It retells the story of its demise, it pleads for help, and it explains how it was not to blame for its unfortunate circumstances. All in a soft, begging spectral voice.

All who hear the Importunate Mutter must Save vs Charm. Those who fail the Save will fall into a state of deep and debilitating despair. They will be unable to summon the will to do anything other than sit and stare into the camp fire, (if there is one), and wallow in self pity and hopelessness.

If the Prairie Companion is not destroyed or driven off, it will circle the camp, muttering, until dawn, when it will return to its unresting place.
No healing of hit points through normal rest will occur while the Prairie Companion continues its muttering. No magical spell may be memorized, or granted by higher, (or lower), Powers, while the companion circles the camp.

No character or NPC who failed his save and fell under the spell of the Importunate Mutter, will have any memory of the past nights events when the sun rises again.

Each night the party remains in occupation of the encampment, the Prairie Companion will return at sundown. Each night its muttering will become louder, and angrier. It will begin to lay the blame for its terrible fate at the feet of the party. Each night it will approach more closely to the fire in its path about the camp.

As on the first night, all present must Save vs Charm or fall into despair. Those who failed the first night suffer a -1 penalty to Save, cumulative each time the Prairie Companion returns.

The Companion will return for a number of nights equal to the number of persons present in the camp.

On the final night, ranting incomprehensibly in rage at the unfairness of its death, the Prairie Companion will enter the camp and lay hands upon a random character or NPC. If the victim is not under the spell of the Importunate Mutter, the undead must roll to hit as in normal melee. If the victim is in the throes of the despairing charm, he will take no actions to defend himself.

In either case, the victim must Save vs Death Magic, or else have his life energy drained to the dregs by the terror wight. Those who do save will still take 2D8 in damage, and forever after suffer a fear of being alone. This life draining attack is not a power the Prairie Companion may draw on at any time. Rather, it must work up to it by way of the nightly visits and muttering.

After taking a life, the companion will vanish and return no more. Until the next time a party camps within gunshot of its earthly remains.

A Prairie Companion is not harmed by mortal weaponry. Only magic, silver, or holy iron may do it damage directly. A circle of Protection will prevent it from coming into a camp, and if established prior to the companion’s first visit, also lessen the effects of the Importunate Mutter.




As for myself, I haven't written here at the Old Guard Blog for a while because I just haven't had the time or the proper muse. Too many other things have drawn my attention and energy in the last couple of months.

I saw part of Dances with Wolves recently though. That bit with Timmons the wagon driver, when they happen upon the bleaching bones of some unfortunate out there, alone on the prairie, was always my favorite bit in that movie. I thought I'd work it into Torch&Sixgun, my AD&D/Weird West homebrew.

Why don't he write? Heh,heh,heh...

Cimmeria

I remember

The dark woods, masking slopes of sombre hills,
The grey clouds' leaden everlasting arch;
The dusky streams that flowed without a sound,
And the lone winds that whispered down the passes.

Vista on vista marching, hills on hills,
Slope beyond slope, each dark with sullen trees,
Our gaunt land lay. So when a man climbed up
A rugged peak and gazed, his shaded eye
Saw but the endless vista - hill on hill,
Slope beyond slope, each hooded like its brothers.

It was a gloomy land that seemed to hold
All winds and clouds and dreams that shun the sun,
With bare boughs rattling in the lonesome winds,
And the dark woodlands brooding over all,
Not even lightened by the rare dim sun
Which made squat shadows out of men; they called it
Cimmeria, land of Darkness and deep Night.

It was so long ago and far away
I have forgot the very name men called me.
The axe and flint-tipped spear are like dreams,
And hunts and wars are shadows. I recall
Only the stillness of that sombre land;
The clouds that piled forever on the hills,
The dimness of the everlasting woods.
Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.

Oh, soul of mine, born out of shadowed hills,
To clouds and winds and ghosts that shun the sun,
How many deaths shall serve to break at last
This heritage which wraps me in the grey
Apparel of ghosts? I search my heart and find
Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.


Cimmeria, by R.E.Howard, 1932.

Posted without permission, because I really like this poem, and Howard's works in general. And he's dead, and I don't make any profit from this blog, and I want you to see it, and I think its fair use, and IP laws are strangling culture and literature to death and making us all poorer for it. And I have a sense of ennui concerning the new Conan movie. And I haven't made up any new monsters for you lately.

Beware the Killer Blink Frogs!

“I swear! It was sitting on that rock, big as a wolf! It jumped and just vanished, I don’t know where it….ARRRGGHHHH!”

Killer Blink Frog

Frequency: Vanishingly Rare
No. Appearing: 2-12, (2D6)
Armor Class: 7
Move: 6”, (walking), 220”, (blink-leap)
Hit Dice: 3
% in Lair: 80%
Treasure Type: Incidental
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/Attack: 1-2/1-2/1-6, (claw, claw, bite)
Special Attacks: surprise 3/6, first attack from rear 50% of the time.
Special Defenses: instinctively blink if hit in melee.
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Low
Alignment: Neutral Hungry
Size: S, (3’-5’ body length)
Psionic Ability: Nil

Ferocious Giant Frogs armed with cat-like slashing claws, rows of saurian teeth, and covered in a coat of damp, blackish green hair-like bristles, Killer Blink Frogs display characteristics of both Killer Frogs and Blink Dogs.

How these monstrous aberrations came to be, no one knows, and in fact, no one cares to think about it very much. Better to simply avoid the horrid things if at all possible. Or try to kill them when it is not.

Killer Blink Frogs may be encountered in areas of marsh, swamp, wetland, lagoons, and bayous, along river bends, lakes or any other area of high humidity or perpetual moisture. There have been accounts of cave dwelling Killer Blink Frogs of phosphorescent whiteness seen about underground lakes and streams.

The frogs are voracious predators and attack without warning. Anything which moves is a likely target for their hunger.

If the frog pack is well fed and not hungry, they will sit about their water source/lair and bark to each other to reinforce their standing in the group. There is only a 10% chance of the frogs feeling satiated if encountered randomly.

At any other time the frogs will sit silently waiting for a likely meal to venture within striking distance. In the case of Killer Blink Frogs, this is a greater span than for ordinary giant frogs.

Once a Killer Blink Frog has sighted a possible meal, it attacks by leaping in the targets direction. As soon as the frog’s feet have left the ground, it Blinks, disappearing and then reappearing mid-leap, and only feet away from its victim.

The frog can attack from up to 220” feet away in a single round by this method. If it hits successfully, the victim must Save vs. Crushing Blow or be knocked to the ground by the impact, and also take double damage from the frog’s claw, claw, bite attack for that round.

If the frog misses its first attack, it has failed to judge the position of its intended victim and either fallen short in its blink-leap, or overshot its mark. There is a 50/50 chance of either way.

A killer blink frog will remain in contact with its victim and continue its attack unless wounded. The frog’s instinctive reaction to being hurt is to blink away in a random direction.

Roll D4 to determine direction of the blink, 1-in front of victim, 2-behind victim, 3- to the right of victim, 4- to the left of victim. Also roll D20 to determine the distance the frog travels in feet. 1=1’, 20=20’, etc.

If the frog is not severely wounded, or if it's very hungry, it will return to the attack on its next action.

During periods of heavy precipitation, or very dense fogs, a killer blink frog pack may go prowling across country, searching for prey. The frogs slowly proceed by leap-blinking one at a time until the whole pack is present in the new location, watching for likely victims for a time, and then repeating the process if nothing toothsome presents itself.

If randomly encountered, the frogs are most likely hunting in this manner and certain to attack.

Killer Blink Frogs are hierarchical in the manner of dogs and wolves, there will be an alpha male and female frog, but they do not hunt co-operatively. Instead, if the pack becomes aware of a meal at the same time, the alpha frog attacks first. Other frogs will attack other targets, but not the same targets. Only should a frog be killed or give up its attack will a lesser ranking frog attack that target.

Though they are silent when awaiting prey or actually hunting, Killer Blink Frogs will bark loudly and excitedly when attacking.


The Ruined Tepidarium. (insertable encounter)

Near to the heart of the broken ancient city, the PCs find the remains of the city’s public baths. The building sits on a foundation dais ten feet above street level. Only the tepidarium still holds water as its connection to the aqueducts’ remains in good condition.

The pool is 40’ wide and 120’ long. It is 2’ deep in one end, and 8’ deep in the other. At the deep end, most of the marble columns which supported the roof remain standing, but near to the shallow end, the columns collapsed in the Catastrophe and two have broken and fallen into the pool.

A pack of nine Killer Blink Frogs have made their lair in the tepidarium. Six of them sit at positions between the standing pillars at the deep end of the pool, while three, smaller, (only 1 hit die) frogs hide in the shallow end of the pool amongst the column fragments.

The large frogs, #1- 17 hp, #2-12hp, #3-12hp, #4*-13hp, #5-8hp, #6-14hps. The smaller frogs, #7-2hp, #8-3hp, #9-4hp.

• Frog # 4 recently devoured an unwary wererat which had come to the tepidarium for water. As a result, some inexplicable quirk of the laws of Spontaneous Generation has conferred upon the frog the ability to infect victims of its bite with a unique and especially disturbing form of lycanthropy.
Any PC bitten by frog #4 has a 50% chance, less his Constitution score, of contracting the transformative disease. The PC so infected will become a Blinking Killer Rat-Frog at the next dark of the moon(s).

The building may only be easily entered by climbing the stairs at the shallow end of the pool

Should PCs climb the stairs and enter the remains of the building, the frogs will immediately attack.

The largest frogs will leap-blink from the far end of the pool one at a time to attack each PC as they are noticed. Only one frog per PC will attack at any time. Only if a frog is killed or driven off will a lower ranking frog attack its former victim.

The small frogs in the pool are unlikely to attack unless attacked first, or unless a PC enters the pool, for any reason. This includes falling into the pool during melee.

At the bottom of the pool at the deep end is the remains of a wheel barrow which holds a cracked ceramic jug containing 1500 gps and a four dozen short rods of ivory worth around 450 gps, as well as the skeletal remains of the man who sought to wheel his savings to the docks during the Catastrophe, and who instead drowned in the tepidarium.

These things are hidden beneath a layer of water lilies which cover the surface of the pool.

There are also present, unfortunately, 1d4 Groin Leeches, (always attach themselves to the victim’s groin, as per the HackMaster Hacklopedia of Beasts IV), Groin Leech, AC: 8, HP: 1D4-1, Move: 3” on land, 6” swimming, No. of Attacks: 1, Damage/Attack: 1-3 blood drain, release their bite only with salt or fire

Top pic is clipped from the cover art for DA2- Temple of the Frog (1986). Art by Dennis Beauvais. There's just no finding art of a hairy killer frog online, but I always liked Beauvais' work on the Dragon Magazine covers.

The second pic is just funny, so I included it. I do stuff like that.