Quick Dungeon

A good dungeon adventure usually seems to have a semblance of direction and a coherent theme, while also being somewhat improvised.  Here’s some direction that might help you knock out an adventure quickly when you’re pressed for time.

-Dungeon map: Randomly draw one, or use a repurposed older map, or a map created by a random generator 

-Monster stats: Just use general stats from a book.  Only spend time on the Master.  Bulk up with max hp and maybe some magic or a magic weapon or an exotic guard animal.

-Mission: Pick one, something that will only involve one level.

-Dungeon level Master-the main opposition to the mission.  Why is the master there and what are their goals?  See below.

-Main encounter: Mark on the map the most important encounter and any other interesting encounters.  Don’t try to fill the map.

-Determine other monsters that are in the complex: Opposition or allies of the Master, vermin, and possible wandering creatures.  Also any traps or tricks if needed.

-Purpose of the dungeon: To set the dressing, determine what the complex was built for, or what it was originally built for and what it is used for now.

-Allow the characters an easy entry into the dungeon: Either unguarded, lightly guarded, start off inside, a secret back entrance, or some special means of entry past heavy guard.

Lists to fill out the Dungeon

-Master

Single Creature, Single Species, Multiple Creatures, Multiple Species, None Dominant, Free For All

-Status of Single Master

Absolute Control, Mindless, Insane, Indifferent, Suppressing Internal Rebellion, Fighting Another Faction

-Master Motive

Expansion, Extermination, Revenge, Pawn of Another Master, Scholar (Mundane or Arcane), Religious, Paranoid, Greedy Robber

-Status of Multiple Masters

Allied, Warring, Neutral/Treaty

-Subjects

Weaker Creatures, Subservient Species, Multiple Unrelated Species

-Vermin/Squatters/Random

None, Nest or Lair, Wandering or Hunting, Hiding

-Traps

Random-Set or Temporary, Protecting Area, Magical or Natural Phenomenon

-Corridors

Patrolled, Important Areas Guarded, Trapped and Alarmed, Empty

-Treasure

Scattered, Vaults, Hoard Room, Hidden Stash

-Centerpiece Encounter

Main Temple, Main Treasure Vault, Control Room, Throne Room/Royal Chambers, Royal Crypt

Dungeon Rooms

Armory, Audience Chamber, Aviary

Ballroom, Banquet Hall, Barracks, Bath, Bedroom, Bestiary

Catacombs, Cell, Chapel, Charnel House, Cistern, Classroom, Closet, Crematorium, Crypt

Divination Room, Dormitory, Dressing Room

Gallery, Game Room, Garden, Great Hall, Guardroom

Harem, Interrogation Room

Kennel, Kitchen

Laboratory, Library, Lounge

Mass Grave, Mausoleum, Meditation Chamber, Mess Hall, Monument, Morgue,

Museum

Observatory, Office, Ossuary, Oubliette

Pantry, Pen, Prison, Refractory

Salon, Secret Room, Shrine, Smithy, Stable, Statuary, Storage, Studio, Study

Theater, Throne Room, Torture Chamber, Training, Trophy Room

Vault, Water Closet, Well, Workroom, Workshop, Zoo

Sports Journal 10-6-13

[I wasn’t able to post on Friday because of an Internet outage.]

I couldn’t resist.  I watched the F1 race from Korea live at 12:30.  A.M.!  I must be more desperate for racing action than I thought.  I’m guessing it’s about noon wherever they’re having the race in South Korea.  It’s had to say with the dull, gray skies overhead.  Likewise, the area surrounding the track can be charitably described as quaintly bucolic.  Or, less politely as a valley of dry shrub grass and low hills.  The smattering of Korean-ish architecture around the track looks miserably out of place and cheap.  The track is brand new, but already looks old and worn out and in need of a wrecking ball.  Absolute fail from an F1 glamour standpoint.

From a racing standpoint, va-va-va-voom!  The track is filled with sharp turns, producing fairly close, dramatic racing.  The opening turn alone goes into a hard, long left that ends up sending the cars 180°.  Of course Vettel lead from the start, kept it up all the way, and finished in first.  No spoilers there.  You should be expecting this from him by now.  But, there were several well-fought battles for second (Hamilton, Raikkonen, and Grosjean) and for fourth (Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Hamilton). 

On tracks incidents included Button’s wing being damaged on the first lap (but he finished 8^th), Rosberg’s nose dropping on track and causing some spectacular sparking action, and Sergio Perez’s right front tire exploding.  There were also cool thermal cameras on Button’s and Webber’s cars, showing tire and engine temperature.  The later proved interesting when Webber’s car caught on fire.

The meeting in the waiting room after the race was illuminating in personalities.  Vettel was beaming with his first place finish.  Kimi was quiet and inscrutable as ever with his second place.  Grosjean was pleased and chatty in third.  I still can’t believe they let a camera in there like that, intruding on the driver’s private time.  Thanks to Uni-Mas’ continuous coverage without commercial interruption and some great racing, I was up till 3 A.M.  Thanks.

I’ve been able to catch most of the baseball playoffs so far, either on TV or radio (at least up until Sunday).  Unfortunately I haven’t been able to catch more than a few innings in any of them.  More unfortunately the TV coverage has been national broadcasts on TBS.  Not only does the coverage lack the pleasant intimacy of a team broadcast, since these are the playoffs, the announcers feel compelled to dissect every on-field moment in a grave and serious manner.  With their three-man booth crew, they end up constantly trying to out-do each other in hysterical hyperbole.  Also, there’s the directorial emphasis on “Goat” cam to highlight the players, and even fans, who make bad plays.  Overall, it’s just an unpleasant way to experience a ballgame. 

Then there’s the question of why these games are on TBS.  Since there’s no major network synergy or promotion, baseball effectively disappears for a couple weeks for the casual fan.  Why hasn’t the MLB figured this out?  If the MLB Network was on Basic Cable, I’d almost recommend putting all of the Wild Card and Division games there, at least they’d do a better job of broadcasting them, and viewers wouldn’t be complaining that Big Bang Theory reruns were being preempted.

On the radio, ESPN Radio somehow rises above their ESPN name to call a decent game.  Unfortunately, my local affiliate, KROD, on Saturday chose to put the station on autopilot and run local commercial breaks every 15 minutes, like right in the middle of innings.  If this happened during an NFL game, the station owner would be down there to fix it himself and fire some people.  During playoff baseball, however, who cares? 

I should talk about the actual games, but like I said, I haven’t gotten a good look in on any of them.  The action and results speak for themselves now.  Making predictions at this point is kind of pointless.  The only thing I’ve noticed is the continued furious drive by the media for replay to overturn umpiring “travesties,” and of course for the four-hour, nine-inning ballgame, by way of consequence.

Fantasy Core RPG: Magic Items

FANTASY CORE RPG
(c) Jerry Harris, 2012
Published here asOpen Game Content.
(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

I feel that magical items should never just be found lying around in a dungeon.  A magical item should be rare enough that it would actually be the object of the trip to the dungeon.  Magical items should either be in use by those with any intelligence, venerated as holy objects by those without intelligence, buried with important persons (and guarded), or lost, but rumored to be in a certain location.  Magical objects should be named and never anonymous. 

This is a short list of a few items that might be worthy of a quest, an item held by a powerful individual, a costly commissioned work of magical human artificing, or an even more costly purchase from a furtive source (dwarves, the magic black market).

Weapons

Magic weapons are created by elves, dwarves, and human enchanters.  Dwarven items will typically always work and be long lasting, and they might sell them to humans.  Stolen Elven items will certainly disappear within a day or are cursed, though gifted or lost and found items will work normally.  They will not sell them to humans.  Human made ones will inevitably break after a few uses.  Demonic tainted or Angelically blessed weapons are bonded to their wielders.  Any famous weapon may also be intelligent and potentially cursed.  They may attempt to control their wielder, or simply not work when they disagree with the wielder’s actions.

Slayer Bow: +2 Elvish Longbow, 1d8+2 damage, with no Str requirement.  With the proper command phrase, it will be +20 to hit.  This enchantment works once per encounter/turn.

Slayer Arrow: +20 to hit magic arrow, 8 damage.  Normally enchanted against a specific person or against a certain race, either requiring a personal effect of the intended target in the ceremony.  Can only be used once.  Racial Slayer Arrows, for example Orc Slayers, are usually made by the quiver by Elves or Dwarves.  Assassin arrows are usually human-made. 

Dread Axe: Dwarven made weapon.  A dread weapon excels at attacking one specific type of humanoid.  +2 enchantment, 1d10+2 damage, but max damage to the specified creature type.  Requires a piece of humanoid skin for the enchanting.  

Bane Blade: Human enchanter made sword.  +1 enchantment, 1d8+1 damage.  The sword automatically slays a type of enemy (like Orcs) with a failed DC 18 Fort Sv.  The weapon shatters on a natural 1.  Requires a piece of skin of the target race for the enchanting.  

Retaliator Blade: Human enchanter created sword.  +1 enchantment, 1d8+1 damage.  The weapon will kill a single named opponent on any hit.  Weapon immediately shatters.  (It will also otherwise shatter on a Natural 1.)  Requires a personal effect of the intended victim for the enchanting.    

Lightning Blades (Stormbrand, Electra): +3 Dwarvish swords, 1d8+3  normal damage, plus 1d6 shock damage and DC 18 Fort Sv or stunned 1 rd.

Fire Blades (Inferno, Scorch): +3 Dwarvish swords, 1d8+3 normal damage, plus 1d6 fire damage.  Causes extra fire damage after hit, 1d6/rd until extinguished. 

Holy Avenger: In the hands of a worthy paladin (at least 5^th level) in a just cause, +4 Divine enchanted sword.  It causes max damage (12 + Str bonus) on every hit.  With any other wielder, or if the paladin is dishonored or not using it in an honorable task, it is only a normal sword (1d8).

Metamorph: Elvish made assassination weapon.  A +3 sword, 1d8+3 damage, that can disguise itself as any sort of common object.  It transforms with a command phrase.  Its enchantment can be revealed with a Detect Magic spell.

Luck Blade: Elvish blade.  +4 to hit, 1d8+4 damage.  Wielder also gains a +4 bonus to all saves.

Vorpal Blades (Ripper, Cleaver, Eversharp): Elvish swords with distinctive red blades.  +4 enchantment, 1d8+4.  Decapitates with a failed DC 18 Fort Sv, but still takes damage even with a successful save.  Creatures without a head take max damage instead.

Ghost Blades (Souldrinker, Dark Avenger, Soul-Stealer): Elvish swords with a demonic taint and glowing red blades.  +4 enchantment, 1d8+4.  With a command phrase, the sword causes no physical damage, but the victim must make a DC 18 Will Sv or take 1d10 negative hp damage.  It was used to create intact bodies to necromancy ceremonies.  (Most low-level creatures will be killed after one hit; characters, important NPCs, and high-level monsters can survive up to –11 negative hp.) 

If found, a Ghost Blade will appear to be a normal sword with a red blade.  Its first taste of blood will activate its enchantment.  It will try to control the wielder when in combat.  DC 18 Will Sv to resist.  If successful, it won’t try again, but will end its enchantment the next time the character fights a more impressive opponent (trying to get the character killed to acquire a better host).  If the Will Sv is failed, it will give the character its command phrase and direct them to energy drain an opponent (or even a helpless victim or ally) once a day.  The character will lose their ability bonuses the next day, if it is not fed.  The sword can’t be gotten rid of without a Break Enchantment or similar spell.            

Black Hole Sword (Singularity): Elvish black-bladed sword with a demonic taint.  +4 enchantment.  Any hit utterly annihilates anything it hits without a magical nature, magical armor, or magical shielding (1d8+4 damage in that case) with a failed DC 18 Will Sv.  Victim still takes damage on success.  It requires a daily energy draining feeding, working the same as a Ghost Blade wanting to control its wielder. 

  

Armor

Mirror Shield: +2 human enchanted shield.  Reflects all successful magic attacks back at the caster.  Roll for shattering after each reflection, 1 in 10.

Dragonscale Armor: +8 Heavy magical armor (+4 Str and Con to wear).  Adds +4 to all Saves versus magic attacks.  Being of human enchantment, the armor will lose +1 on any Natural 18 and up hit.  It will lose its Save bonuses last, before crumbling to dust. 

Magic Items

Dynamisto-Mirror: A mirror-like device to communicate with otherworldly beings without a medium.  Can be used once per day for up to a turn.  Powered by a smear of blood and a command phrase.

Magic 8-Ball: The caster can foretell the immediate future (up to an hour), or gain information about specific questions.  The answers return in one-word replies: “yes,” “no,” “maybe,” “never,” “irrelevant,” or some other one-word answer.  May be used once per day with a command phrase.

Crystal Skull: Holds a demon, which will truthfully answer a question (if it can).  May be used once per day with a command phrase.  Breaking the skull, releases the demon. 

Magic Mirror: Holds a demon, which will truthfully show the answer a question (if it can).  May be used once per day with a command phrase.  Breaking the mirror, releases the demon.

Voodoo Doll: Sympathetic magic item for cursing.  Requires a personal affect of the victim, a specially crafted symbolic object (the doll), and a blood sacrifice in a ceremony (DC 18 Spellcheck).  It can’t kill the victim, but can inflict any sort of disabling effect (blinded, deafened, mute, hobbled, etc).  It will only work for an hour, once a day.  The cursor can be tracked during the effect by a Detect Magic spell along with a Clairvoyance spell.

Fantasy Core RPG: Jianghu Setting-Monsters-Dragons

Fantasy Core RPG

© Jerry Harris 2013

Published here as Open Game Content.

(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Jianghu Setting 

Monsters-Dragons

The dragons are in a good mood today.  Tomorrow, who knows?

There are dragons.  Four mighty and just dragons serve the Celestial Emperor.  They rule over the Seas, the Sky, the Land, and the Heavens.  They can bring rain, fair winds, agricultural bounty, and good fortune.  However, they are also in charge of natural disasters, such as drought, flood, hurricanes, earthquakes, and ill favor.  These are often seen as warnings or punishments from the Celestial Emperor.  An actual manifestation of any of these entities to anyone may be considered the strongest of omens or messages. 

What you ask is impossible.  It would be easier to ask one of the Emperor’s Dragons for this favor.

It is not unheard of for the exceptionally brave (or desperate) to undertake a dangerous journey to the palaces of these dragons to ask for their favor or knowledge, usually in return for service (as a precursor or in the future).  The Dragon of the Seas lives in the lowest depths of the ocean, the Sky Dragon in the eye of a hurricane, the Land Dragon lives under a volcano, and the Dragon of the Heavens lives on the moon (which can be reached via the Celestial Floating Bridge).  Obtaining the favor of all of these dragons might allow one to gain the Mandate of Heaven and become Emperor or perhaps immortality.

Of course, few ever actually seen these magnificent creatures, only the effects of their passing.  Generally, we refer to these people as “survivors.”

There are also lesser dragons, who rule some small domains on the earth.  They are always guarding something, such as a location or their treasure.  Their dispositions, goals, and abilities vary widely.  Beneficial ones are generally venerated, while dangerous ones are placated with sacrifices.  If they become too much of a menace, heroes will be needed to deal with them. 

In the Shang-tu area, there is a helpful (though very shy) dragon, Gemma, who guards the temple at Mount Tien, and a greedy, materialistic one, Akana, who lives in So Lake and occasionally attacks ships and the docks.  Sailors often throw a handful of gold overboard before starting a voyage across the lake, while the monks at the temple offer daily prayers to the reclusive dragon there.

Typical Lesser Dragon

HD 15, Hp 60, AC 25       

Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +5

Melee: 4 attacks per rd

2 Claw +10 to hit, 1d8 each

1 Tail +5 to hit, 1d10

1 Bite +7 to hit, 3d18

Special Powers

Still waters; the dragon sleeps.  Restless waters; the dragon stirs.  A storm on the lake; stay on land.

Akana: Wind Blast and Tidal Surge: 10d6, usually used on ships and dock buildings, once per day.

I saw the dragon once.  I think?

Gemma: Forgetful Gas Cloud: Lose all memory of the last hour and blackout 1 turn, DC 18 Will Sv, 40’ area, 3 times a day.

Can fly

Shapechange into a humanoid form.  As Gemma is actually taking the physical form of another, it is impossible to physically detect the disguise, short of magical means.  However, if physically harmed Gemma must make a DC 12 Will Sv to avoid reverting to his true form.

And there are indeed stranger things upon this earth.

Demi-human communities do not exist in this part of the world, but a few random, extraordinary travelers are not unheard of.  Likewise, Humanoid tribes (Orcs and such) are not present, but Yomi might have a few in his service for expendable purposes.  Other monsters might be natural creatures who have mutated in strange environments.  Creatures could be also be created by magical experimentation or even divine enchantment (who will be there for a specific reason).

[Jianghu man!  57 posts later.  I apologize for all of the formatting issues.  I just couldn’t get a consistent look, and I don’t know why.  Then there was the out-of-order mis-post that I didn’t notice for two days.  I would have taken it down, but it had gotten more hits than the usual daily post. 

Playtester Evan asked me why I didn’t stat-up the Emperor.  Honestly, it didn’t occur to me at the time.  The Governor, his ministers, or Yong were supposed to be the top-level villains of the setting (depending player choices).  I see the Emperor as something of a demi-god with divine weapons (or a mere figurehead man defended by a demi-god).  For the characters to face him directly, they’re going to need to be near-deities themselves with similar weapons.  That goes well beyond the scope of these simple rules.

I am still working on the Cyber-Pulp Fantasy Core setting.  I’ve made some poor choices with my priorities lately.  Also, there’s been some feature creep added to my original idea and a couple of blind alleys that didn’t work out.  In the meantime, I’ve got some classic material (read: old crap reformatted, essentially filler) that I’ll be putting up.]

Baseball Journal-Regular Season Predictions Recap

OMG!  How could I have gotten this so wrong!

I was so sure about everything, and yet half of my post season predictions are already wiped out.  At least I’m not alone in that.  Everyone else had the Washington Nationals in the World Series too.  Let’s get down to it.  I’ll be flagellating myself in between each wrong prediction, since you, dear reader, are not here to do it for me.

AL East 

I said this division wouldn’t produce a World Series winner this year, but right now the Red Sox are looking like the American League representative.  I only picked them for last.  Chris Davis aside, my pick, the Orioles, underperformed, but were competitive.  I did peg the Yankees and Blue Jays correctly.  The Rays nearly played their way out of the Wild Card, but did come through in the clutch (especially David Price’s 9-inning, bullpen-saving, play-in game performance).

AL Central 

Tigers all the way, but Verlander’s breakdown is very troubling.  The Twins were indeed, “Whatever.”  The White Sox did overachieve last year, but their pitching is still pretty good.  The Royals really did need more offense to go with their great pitching.  I was wrong about the Indians attracting a bigger crowd for their home games, but Terry Francona and a few great player acquisitions have really turned these guys around.  This is not going to be a one-team division any longer.

AL West 

Yep, the A’s won.  I don’t ask me how I got that right and everyone else didn’t.  Oh wait, it was because everyone else picked the sub .500 finishing Angels.  Ha ha ha!  (Though Trout did not have a sophomore slump.)  The Mariners and Astros were fodder for everyone, except the Angels.  The Rangers did have good pitching, that mostly ended up injured for a good deal of the season.  They did have a power outage, but this seemed to be more due to a lack of a Right Field jetstream and losing Nelson Cruz.  It’s hard to really judge how good the A’s and Rangers are given how many games they played against decidedly sub-par teams in their division.

I should feel worse about the Rangers being bounced from the playoffs, but there are several mitigating factors.  First, they weren’t eliminated by the Angels.  Second, they lost to a team that I also like, the Rays.  Third, it’s debatable if the Rangers deserved to get in.  Finally, it was only for the Wild Card spot, the cameo role and consolation prize of the current playoff format.  Look for the Rangers to, hopefully, make a couple of good moves and contend next year.      

NL East 

Let’s just move on. 

Oh, very well.  Everybody was wrong about the Nationals.  We’ll see if they get it together next year.  The Braves were a great team, but they’re smoke and mirrors team.  Come on, there’s two regulars in the line up hitting under .200.  None of their pitching is star caliber.  Their offense relies on the home run.  A Braves team at Turner Field relying on the long ball?  (Without Chipper Jones, they have to do something, and chicks dig the long ball.)  Have the walls been brought in?  Everyone else sucked as predicted.

NL Central

Or should I say, “NL Playoff Central.”  You get that nickname when you stick three teams in the playoffs.  I was wrong about the Reds taking it, definitely.  I underrated the Pirates, but after 20 losing seasons (especially the last two), how could you blame me?  The Cardinals’ great young pitching was indeed ready for prime time, bolstered by their prodigious offense.  The Cubs, meanwhile, continue on their new current 100-year rebuilding plan.  And as far as the Brewers go, my fan crush, Front Row Amy , is going to have to wait until next year, again. 

NL West 

Blurraugh!  There went my lunch.  I’m not sure if that came up because of my complete cluster foxtrot of a prediction or watching the Dodgers go “wee” in the Diamondbacks’ outfield pool in their victory celebration.   You guys still suck (as you will prove in the playoffs), and unless Ben Bernake and Fed start printing money to prop up your team, you’re going to soon go bankrupt from your payroll excesses.  (But I’m not bitter. . . yet.)  I was so right about the Dodgers this season, up to a point, or should I say, a “Puig.” 

Rockies, Padres, whatever.  The Diamondbacks were actually decent, thanks to Paul Goldschmidt’s awesomeness.  And all of the questions about the last place Giants have been answered, except how they won two World Series in three years. What they got by on last year, didn’t show up this year.  They probably shouldn’t have stood pat in the off-season, and I’m concerned they’re about to make the same mistake this off-season.

Somewhat more humble post-season reset predictions.

Apparently, Bob Costas and Colin Cowherd and probably any number of other pundits have proclaimed if the Dodgers and Red Sox aren’t playing in the World Series it will be a complete failure for the MLB.  (I jokingly said something similar in my pre-season predictions.)  This match up is apparently the only thing that can save the sport.  Anything less, will kill it.  If this is true, then the sport is already finished and just doesn’t know it yet.  If baseball must have its most popular teams from big media markets in the championship, the league will not prosper, it will collapse. 

That some ESPN tool is talking down baseball, as usual, is nothing new.  (And why a network would continue to allow any of their hosts degrade a product that they pay good money to feature is beyond me.)  But a baseball fanatic like Costas doing it, truly disturbs me.  I have some extremely sarcastic ideas on how the league could become more popular, but I fear posting them, lest someone take them seriously and attempt to implement them.  Look, I want to enjoy the playoffs, not dissect what’s wrong with baseball.  Let’s wait till the off-season for any such discussion.        

As tempting as it is to switch to the Red Sox over the Dodgers in the Series, I’m still going with Tigers to win it all.  In this scenario, they’re going to beat the Cardinals to do it.  Yes, I am counting on the Dodgers to flame out either way.

Fantasy Core RPG: Jianghu Setting-Monsters-Demons

Fantasy Core RPG

© Jerry Harris 2013

Published here as Open Game Content.

(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Jianghu Setting 

Monsters-Demons

Leave the devil alone.

From the Land of Darkness, Yomi, come demons and evil dead creatures.  These creatures serve Yomi, which is also the name of the ruler of the dead.  These are powerful creatures sent on missions to punish the wicked (often harming the innocent in the process) and to corrupt and tempt the souls of the virtuous.  (This is by the mandate of the Celestial Emperor, by the way.)  While potent, they tend to attack their prey indirectly or via proxy.  Powerful eunuch sorcerers can also summon lesser demons to directly attack their enemies, though at a heavy personal price to themselves (disfigurement, complete gender change, soul loss, etc). 

Beauty, or the lack thereof, is no indicator of character, except in this case.

Hag

Undead witches who sold their souls for power.  They are undercover agents and spies for Yomi.  They are often sent on infiltration and abduction tasks.  

HD 7d8+14, Hp 45, AC 20 (Enhanced Initiative)       

Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +6

Melee: Claw +13 melee (1d6+7)

+5 Stealth

Disguise Self: At will.  This is an illusion, not a physical change.  DC 18 Will Sv for viewer to disbelieve, but viewer must be concentrating.  If the Hag is injured, DC 18 Will Sv to maintain disguise.

Fog Cloud: At will

What do demons fear?

Lower Demon

A variably featured, roughly humanoid creature.  This is a typical cruel demon overlord.  Seldom dispatched to earth.  Only a very important task (involving no subtly) or major summoning ceremony would bring one forth.  Lesser demons will obey a higher level demon, but they utterly despise them.

Hunter

HD 8, Hp 40, AC 20         

Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +2

Melee: +1 Magic Trident 2 att, +9 to hit 1d12+1 each

(Note that Lower Demons may be differently armed or have natural weapons.  Weapons lose enchantment a day after being separated from their owner.)

+9 Track

Do not summon what you cannot control.

Spider Demon

A half-human/half-giant spider, a typical demon summoned by a eunuch sorcerer. 

HD 6, Hp 24, AC 18         

Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +2

Melee: Bite 2 att, +6 to hit 1d8 each + poison (DC 12 Fort Sv, unconsciousness immediately, 1 + Con bonus days to live, unless a venom antidote is found).

We must first discern if he is a demon, or just an evil man.

Oni

Horned, minor demons.  These usually live on the earth, using their shapechanging abilities to fool humans.  They often haunt a specific area, from deserted woods to inside the Imperial court.  Oni come in many different, bright colors with varying powers and abilities.  These creatures serve Yomi, but highly value their freedom away from his direct rule. 

HD 3, Hp 20, AC 15         

Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +1

Melee: Claw +3 to hit 1d6

Or Gore Attack charge 1d8x2

Ranged: Fire Blast 3d6 fire damage, DC 12 Ref Sv, ½ dam

Lightning Bolt 3d6 electrical damage, DC 12 Ref Sv, ½ dam

Shapechange: At will, any humanoid form.  As the Oni is actually taking the physical form of another, it is impossible to physically detect the disguise, short of magical means.  However, if physically harmed the Oni must make a DC 12 Will Sv to avoid reverting to their true form.

Telepathy: At will, read minds

Gaseous Form: At will

Teleport: Once per day, line of sight.

  

The less of a brain, the more of an animal.

Ogre

Large ugly humanoid.  This is a typical inhabitant of Yomi.  Occasionally they escape or are permitted to roam the earth.  They are not very smart and typically only look to sate their carnal desires and fill their belly (on man-flesh if possible).

HD 5, Hp 20, AC 16         

Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1

Melee: +1 Magic Club 2 att, +6 to hit 1d10+1 each 

(Requires +2 Str bonus and up to use, loses enchantment after a day for non-ogres)

Invisibility Cap, deactivates when attacking, loses enchantment after a day for non-ogres. 

Men do not rule the mountains.

Yeti

Ogre variant that haunts the Tibetan highlands.  Much like a regular ogre, but more clever.  Never speaks.

HD 4+4, Hp 20, AC 13

Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1

Melee: Claw 2 att, +4 to hit 1d6 each

Rend if both attacks hit same target + 2d8

Fear when attacks from surprise, flee for 1d4 rds, DC 12 Will Sv

Immune to cold attack, fire or heat attacks cause double damage

+9 Stealth in snow

“I bring a message from Yomi, lord of the underworld.”

Ogre Mage

An intelligent, gentile ogre and much more dangerous.  They are only sent to earth on a mission by Yomi himself for the most important tasks involving stealth and guile.  They are typically dressed in fine clothing.

HD 5+15, Hp 37, AC 18   

Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +3

Melee: Greatsword +7 to hit 3d6+7

Ranged: Longbow +2 to hit 2d6

Vulnerable to fire and acid damage, but can regenerate any other damage with 1 turn of rest.

Fly

Darkness and Invisibility at will, but must become visible to attack (0 BAB to hit while invisible)

Once a day spells, automatic success casting

Charm Person DC 15 Will Sv, 1 day

Ice Blast: Hail deals 3d8 freezing damage. DC 15 Ref Sv

Gaseous Form: Used for escape

Polymorph (into an object or harmless, small animal) 1 day, DC 15 Will Sv

Sleep Puts 4 HD of creatures into magical slumber 1 turn, DC 15 Fort Sv 

Baseball Journal 9-29-13

I haven’t talked much about the Cubs and White Sox this season, in spite of talking about so many of their games.  That’s because they’ve both sucked.  What talent the Cubs have has mostly regressed.  The White Sox’s pitching is pretty good, but they can’t hit.  I am wondering how much longer WGN will be showing their games nationally.  Not so much because of this season, but because both teams may feel they could get a better deal by showing the games locally.  More money equal more competitive.  And both teams do want to compete.

The Cubs last national WGN game on Saturday was apparently cancelled, disappointing my dad, but the White Sox were on Sunday.  From what I’ve seen the White Sox have the better stadium to watch a game and their TV production is better.  The Cubs seem to have better looking, happier fans.  For this final game of the season, the Sox had a pretty decent crowd, considering they weren’t playing for anything.  They started the game extraordinarily quiet, but by the 9^th, after several drinks, they were much more outspoken.   

The Royals looked sharp in their blue colored tops.  The White Sox went with their pinstripes instead of their throwbacks, which they wore instead on Saturday.  Thank you for that.  Hawk and Stone were a bit melancholy and apologetic about the season, but called a good game and worked pretty well together (even if they actually hate each other).

The star of the game was Paul Konerko, but not for his play.  The crowd seemed to be well aware that this might be his last game.  Konerko has said he hasn’t made up his mind yet about retirement.  He got an ovation for his first at bat and another in the second, when he was replaced on field.  Konerko also spoke to the crowd after the game and thanked them for supporting the team this year.  I remember a couple of years ago when they weren’t sure if the club would resign him, and he received similar affection in what might have been his last game for the team then.  I hope younger players are taking note of the adulation Konerko, Helton, and Rivera have received for being reasonably good guys.  (I’m looking at you, Dodgers.)

The Royals played like they were at old Candlestick Park.  There were several adventuresome fly balls that seemed to elude easy capture for them.  In an almost cartoon-like moment, the shortstop and third baseman looked at each other over a popup, waiting for the other to call for it.  The White Sox had their issues too.  In the third, there was a flyball out with one out and the Royals left the field, leaving a confused runner on first.  “I understand they want to move the game along, but there’s just two outs.” Hawk and Stone were also a bit confused until replay showed that the runner had touched Second and not retouched it on the way back to first.  That’s an out.      

The Royals would prevail 4-1, but they weren’t the only winners at the stadium today.  The Ron Kittle mascot won the mascot race for the first time this year.  He got a little help from Southpaw and the actual Ron Kittle running interference for him. 

I was anxiously watching the game for other baseball news as well, namely the Indians, the Rays, and the Rangers.  The Rays finally squeaked out a win versus the Blue Jays during the game.  The Indians seemed have things well in hand.  The Ranger game was still up in the air by the time I left.  There were two other games of note.  Henderson Alvarez of the Marlins got a no-hitter against the Tigers.  This must have been a little humiliating for our future World Series champions.  (I think they were actually swept by the Marlins.)  Of course, the Marlins almost couldn’t even get a no-hitter correctly.  They didn’t score themselves until the 9^th on a wild pitch.  That would have been an interesting game to watch, especially in the later innings.  In Houston, the Yankees and Astros went 14 innings.  Mariano Rivera did not get to play Centerfield or at all during the series.

My local radio affiliate hadn’t been broadcasting Ranger games lately on Sunday, instead opting for Fox’s Red Zone-ish coverage of the NFL.  However, somebody at the station was a knowledgeable sports fan and instead broadcast the game.  While the Angels kept it close, ultimately the Rangers biggest asset was the Angel bullpen.  Do you really expect a bunch of batting tees to hold a lead?  I was really nervous though.  I could not deal with the Rangers being bounced from the playoffs by the Angels.  Anybody, but the Angels.  6-2 Ranger win, going 15 of 19 against their hated division rival, sweeping them and the Astros in the last week of the season to go game #163 versus the Rays Monday night.  After his final at bat, Josh Hamilton got a nice round of raspberries from the crowd.  Go count your money, Josh, and try to stay out of trouble this off-season.