#MonsterMonday - POP-001 Preview

I am on call this week, so I have prepared a couple of posts in advance. I won't be playing this week, so hopefully I can catch you up with the playtest progress. 

This is #MonsterMonday. 

I have 10 main monsters and creatures selected for this adventure. Several are unique. The first monster the character encounters is the Guardians. Here is a preview. 

Iron Temple Guardian

18’ tall iron statues with massive crowns. 

AC: 4, HD: 9 (41 HP) Att: 1x fist 1d6 or 1x kick 1d8 or 2x ensnare or 2x push. THAC0: 12, MV 90’. SV: D8 W9 P:10, B10, S12, ML:12, AL: Neutral, XP: 3,000 NA: 1d4, TT: 2x 500 GPS diamonds (the eyes). 

Guardians are more determined than aggressive. They are usually set to guard an area such as the temple grounds, hence the name. These creatures are larger and more versatile than Iron Golems, but lighter and lankier. They can guard, pursue, or attack as commanded. 

Mundane damage immunity: Requires silver or magical weapons to damage. Blunt and non-metal weapons will bounce. Sharp metal weapons will be absorbed and heal the Guardian for HP equal to the maximum possible damage for that weapon.

Energy Immunity: Immune to fire and cold.

Healed by fire: Each HP of fire damage restores one HP. 

Energy vulnerability: If struck with fire and cold in the same round, they heal as per above but then take thermal shock damage. Thermal shock damage is equal to the maximum possible damage from the cold attack.

Mind Jolt: Scrying or mind reading will be ineffective as they don’t have minds. The caster must save vs. Paralysis or be stunned for the attempt. 

Bonus XP: If a player role-plays a bouncing weapon, give them 50 XP each time. 100, if it is truly funny. 

They pursue at half-normal speed and only use pushing or ensnaring attacks unless attacked, in which case they switch to kicking and punching. They will only punch or kick armed and aggressive attackers. If they flank a target, they switch to ensnaring and pushing again. 

Ensnared creatures are carried by the Guardian. This causes no damage and up to 2 characters can be ensnared. The target(s) can wiggle out of the Guadian’s grip on a successful DEX check or after three rounds of trying. The escaping victim can either slide to the ground or ride on the Guardian’s back or crown. Riding characters won’t be attacked once they escape unless they attack the Guadian again. Up to 3 people can ride the Guardian’s back and one more in the Crown. Typically they are not controllable, but wiley characters can direct them by making reasonable suggestions. 

If an ensnared or riding character successfully attacks the Guardian, they will be dropped and kicked (2d6 falling damage, plus a kick attack).  

Pushing moves a target 6 feet in the direction of the Guadian’s choice and does no damage. 

If an Iron Temple Guadian is destroyed by thermal shock, the parts can be gathered up and placed in a fire to restore the creature. This takes all day and the fire must be kept lit for it to work. This will place the Guadian under the fire-keeper’s command. If many people tend the fire, the last one to add fuel will be in command.  

POP-001 is meant for OSE. You can pick up a copy of Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome and Advanced Fantasy Referee's Tome at DriveThruRPG. 

Session 0b: The Land of Adventure

This particular run is called “The Hunt”. It transports special tradesmen and craftsmen to the supporting cities and towns of the Capital Region. The Hunt’s secondary purpose is a yearly survey of the road to ensure there is nothing to inhibit the normal caravan runs. The Hunt contains 14 wagons, 64 men-at-arms, and 6 cavalrymen to protect the wagons. This includes Mercy, Tilly, Misha, Garven, and Kayleb. Tilly and Mercy are assigned to the cavalry while Misha and Garven are assigned the first and last wagons. 

There are 6 mighty 24-foot-long wagons for passengers. Each wagon has an awning and carries tents for camping. There are 4 16-foot wagons, heavily loaded with various goods and cargo for the trip. The caravan has a pair of small kitchen wagons that are little more than rolling ovens. A 12-foot larder wagon carries food. There is a massive war wagon that is the core of the defense. The war wagon is 3 levels high and is covered in metal plates and leather hides (AC 4). 

The war wagon has 6 crossbowmen stationed inside at all times. Each of the other wagons has 1 or two archers or crossbowmen, except the larder and kitchen wagons which have no defenders. The vanguard is made up of 3 mounted men and 6 unmounted men-at-arms. There is a matching group of defenders at the tail of the caravan. The caravan doesn’t have enough men to completely rotate the guards and passengers are encouraged to act as an ad-hoc watch. Mostly, they tend to fire and drink late into the night, which is better than nothing.  

Much of “The Hunt” is high pageantry. The road is well-maintained, well-mapped, and largely free of bandits or raiders. The local bandits avoid all caravans. There is a slight risk of pirate ships as even the pirates avoid the area. 

The main concern is that the road crosses the equator, in the shadow of the Butter-Ripple Needle. 

What the hell is the Butter-Ripple Needle? 

The Butter-Ripple Needle marks the East Pole and was the last Space Elevator built by the High Men and the Iron Men. The four Space Elevators ring the equator. They are ancient. They are commonly known as the Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla, and Butter-Ripple Needles in the vulgar language. They were built during the Great Silence when the High Men stopped writing, so the original names are unknown. (Actually, the internet decided and these are their real names.) 

The route will cover 25 six-mile hexes or 150 miles. As mentioned before the area along the road is well mapped, so there is no hex crawling on the road. Off the road is a different story. 

The first town on the road is Iron Tree, 18 miles from the Canvasary. The next stop is the port of Western Gate, two more hexes away. Before the mid-point of the journey is a farming community named Bounty. It is hardly a town, merely a hex-sized collection of farms. 

This a milk run that the party will turn into an adventure. 

POP-001 is meant for OSE. You can pick up a copy of Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome and Advanced Fantasy Referee's Tome at DriveThruRPG. 

Session 0a: The Party as the core of the Scenario

I am back to playtesting POP-001, Revenants of the Lost Temple. While on hiatus, I realized I was working backward. I was building a world, instead of an adventure. It’s much easier to think of this from the perspective of the player characters. Basically, what is everyone doing? 

Session 0a: The Party as the core of the Scenario

There are 7 characters taking part in this adventure. The adventure takes place along the western coast of an unnamed country. The goal is to follow the road from the south to the north, from the High Canvasary to the Capital Region. Half the party is being paid to guard the caravan and the other half are paying customers, riding with the caravan. 

Here is a list of characters supporting the caravan:  

Mercy and Tilly, Fighters, 5th level (Detailed here) 

Misha, Magic User, 4th level

Garvin Peace-Bringer, Cleric, 4th level. 

The paying travelers are:

Alice, Elf, 4th level

Alex, Bard, 4th level

Bartholomew, Thief, 4th level.  

The characters met at the High Canvasary. Alex and Alice are a couple while Bartholomew is a mutual friend. Bart is much younger than everyone else. After talking, these three tried to gain employment with the caravan. Since they had already traded money with Kayleb the Caravan Master, he refused to refund them or hire them. Kayleb is a cheapskate. 

Bart, Alex, and Alice have slightly unusual backstories. 

Alex the Bard is from our world and time, specifically Orocovis, Puerto Rico. I was expecting a wild backstory, but instead, I got something thoughtful. Alex had a book that allowed him to travel from his time and place to the Peninsula of Plenty. He used the book to bring in coffee plants. Strangely, coffee is not rare or popular on the Peninsula. He also brought several bottles of booze.  

What he has is nothing special. He also lost his book at about the time he met Alice. Bart has acquired it, but it seems useless to the thief. 

Alice, a native Elf has glommed onto bits of Alex’s world without actually understanding it. She is carrying 25 letters, she is being paid to deliver mail like a mailman. She finds the idea of hand-carrying letters interesting and profitable. She is charming enough to score a drink or meal at either end of her trips in addition to the 10 silver coins she charges for the service. She will charge less, sometimes even nothing if she has at least only paid delivery in the area. Alice thinks the idea is cool. The Kingdom does have a carrier service, but they will open your mail. 

As mentioned before, Bart has Alex’s book. He didn’t steal it but found it interesting and slightly useful. He has traveled to Puerto Rice several times. If asked, Bart will return it. Bart had a habit of swiping horses, he used potions of Animal Control. He has found it is easier to offer to transport horses than steal them. One is less likely to get hung that way. He is traveling to the Capital Region for more potions. 

Bart has a bounty on his head. He encountered some men using magic to steal people and horses. He killed them all with his Animal Control potions. He uses Alex’s book to elude bounty hunters. The bounty keeps growing as more bounty hunters disappear as if they stepped out of the world.  

Tilly and Mecry have their own post and will be skipped. 

Misha the Magic User is a tough one. She often acts as a spy and scout with her spells. She loves being alone. Bart has gravitated toward her as he wishes to know more about magic. They aren’t great friends, but they drink and dine together often. She has been to Puerto Rico several times but doesn’t realize it. 

Garvin is the official deed keeper for Tilly, Misha, and Mercy. He keeps a journal for them all. He is also their financial advisor and agent. It’s an unpaid job but he does require them to tithe with the Southern Orphanage. The three women ensure Garvin keeps a little money and eats daily. He would rather eat dirt himself to feed and clothe the less fortunate. Tilly and Mercy enjoy the company of the children while Misha does not like children at all. This is part of the reason why Misha dines with Bart so much. 

POP-001 is meant for OSE. You can pick up a copy of Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome and Advanced Fantasy Referee's Tome at DriveThruRPG. 

Fooling Around with Deck Plans

I've been straightening out the workspace to have my laser and 3D printer ready to go at all times while maintaining a painting and modeling area. If I can manage it, I'd also like to have a small table for all of the ongoing game stuff. 

If big enough, I'd have a permanent setup of Star Smuggler ready to go. 

I keep playing this game, and I've broken it the rules in so many ways. On my next playthru, I plan on using this set of deck plans for my ship. 

This is my Devilfish ship simplified for Star Smuggler. It's 4 times bigger than the original game's ship. The original game created the opportunity to purchase a second, third or fourth ship, but never a larger ship. 

Having run multiple ships at the same time, I know the rules break due to "out-dicing" the enemy. Simply put, the preprogrammed enemies can't split their fire effectively so multiple ships break the game. 

To counteract this, I would create a tiny fleet of enemy ships so you aren't merely facing the Scout, the Battleship, Hoppers in space, and the handful of reskinned Antelopes. 

Speaking of Star Smuggler (again), there is another game called Star Smuggler on Drivethru RPG. I was thinking of checking it out. 

#MechaModay for September 2nd - The Archer and The Locust

 #MechaMonday is here and I am leading with my two favorite mechs - The Locust and The Archer. 

It's been years since I have painted and I started right in with camouflage. We'll see how that goes. I'll get better pictures up soon. 

The reason I like these two mechs is you can get a 2:1 movement ratio. Sure there are pairs of variants that do not have this ratio, but you have to look for them. You can start advancing with the Locust zig-zagging while the Archer lumbers along behind. 

Thanks to the variants, you can pretend to be something you aren't by moving slightly slower. This shouldn't work by the rules, but it sidesteps the rules by repetition. If they see you move 8" and 4" every round, they will assume that you will in the future. The rules don't assume for player assumptions.   

This creates many possible attack positions for the pair: 

• The Locust can move in lockstep with the Archer, forcing your opponent to pick between a sure kill on the closer Locust or trying to kill the distant Archer.  
• The Locust can dash through the enemy and end up at their rear or better, a flank. 
• The Archer can dash forward and end up slightly in front of the slowing Locust.  
• The feint is a good gambit, where the Locust moves to one side dragging the enemy around so the Archer can turn to face a different foe or objective.  

This combo is costly in terms of Locusts but you can wreck formations, cut off individual mechs or make fancy powerplays with low-end mechs. Personally, I like the satisfaction of getting the Archers in front of the Locusts because my opponent has to sweat the dice to kill an Archer while worrying about what the Locusts are really doing. Even if they aren't doing anything.  

The Archer Slide Show

The Locust Slide Show

You can pick up a copy of this game on DrivethruRPG, but if you hit up brick-and-mortar stores, you can get the physical copy with minis.