#Lore24 Heritics and Other Religions #Creature24 Sheild Maidens Of Sinnat

 The Shield Maidens of Sinnat, a convent of warrior nuns who have only recently begun to emerge as a noticable irritation to the Church of the Cleansing Flame.

  The Shield Maidens come from an ancient order of Clerics and Monks who practice intervention in both Martial and Mystical arts.  They are highly trained martial artists whose only weapon beside the shield and their open hand.  Shield Maidens draw spells from the All,  Healing, Protection, Combat War, Wards and Travelers spheres.  Shield Maidens do not carry melee or missle weapons,  but are adept and perrying, blocking and dodging attacks aimed at themselves and others.  The Maidens of Sinnat are likewise adept at disturbing and canceling out spellcasting that they can see or hear, confounding Wizards, sorcerers and other spellcasters who face a Shield bearer in battle.

Shield Maiden of Sinnat

Armor: Chain or plate 5(14), -2(23)

HD d8 per level 

Int 12-18

Move 12(30)

ToHit -1 per 2 levels(+1 per 2 levels)

Atx 2x d6 open hand or by opponents weapon, SHield maidens can forgo their own attacks, or actions to interveine on behave of another.  Using only defensive tactics they may shield others from attack, counter a spell or take another deffensive action. This gives up their own turn but acts imediately during someone elses turn.

Spellcasting uses cleric progression

Random Abilities, Skills, etc...

1. Maiden uses elemental power to create earthen barriers 1d10 HD per 2 levels of caster

2. Maiden carries Defender Shield, can act on its own or under the maidens command to protect anyone within its movement range. 

3. Maiden is a master tactician and gets an extra action per round as a defensive strike.

4.  Maiden is has been gifted as a Sin Eater and can carry the souls of the dead until their bodies can be restored to life.  One soul per Wisdom point above 14

#Lore24 Subterainian Serpent Kingdoms #Creature24 The Naga

 Long ago, in a green and lush valley, lived a semi-divine species of serpent shapeshifters.  That was before the sun was stolen from them, before the black ash fell from the sky and the lush valley turned to rot.  

The Naga are a partially immortal species of shapeshifters that may take on the forms of a human, a snake or a hybrid of the two.  The Naga live extremely long lives and can regenerate themselves so long as they do not suffer physical injury sufficient to destroy their bodies.  Naga are hunted by the Cleansing Flame as impure just as other shifters.  Naga society has been fractured by the reclaiming of their valley and spread them across the realm.  Female Naga are known for there unparalleled beauty and eyes so captivating they can stop someone in their tracks. 

Armor 7(13)

HD 3d8+3 or as class

Int 16

Move 12(30) as Human 17(45) as Serpent

ToHit 17(+4)

Atx 2x d4 or by weapon  / As serpent 2d8 Constriction.

Random Naga 

1. Naga Hunter, wilderness skills hunts with a bow

2. Naga Spy, Thieving skills +15% silent movement

3. Naga Shaman.  as Cleric nature based powers.\

4. Naga Sorcerer.  Serpents/shapeshifters pathway.*

*Pathways to Power By Wolfgang Baur & Steve Kurtz. Artwork by Wm. Michael Mott. pp. 42–49, Dragon #216

#Lore24 Eating Flesh for Survival and Power #Creature24 Ghouls

 "You would be amazed at what you can do with a man's skull..." The old hedge wizard took a long draw from his knuckle bone pipe... "Its as useful as parts can get.  Once you have enough bowls and funnels, if you know what your doing you can use them for divination, long distance scrying, or summoning the odd spirit or demon."

 Pyramid of Skulls Paul Cézanne Wikicommons

 The ghouls of UslaCairne come in two forms the starving ravenous bone thin creatures roaming the Obsidian Sands, and the well fed cannibals that troll the inns of UslaCairne or grace the dinning halls of Rastapol society with their macabre wares and abilities. Either way Ghouls are a species of Para-Cannibal that thrive in the often violent and dangerous environs of the realm.  

Starvation has driven many of the Sand Ghouls to the brink of madness turning them to ravenous creatures who use their intelligence to devise traps and weapons and to survive the crushing environment.  Considered some of the best trap smiths in the realm  Sand Ghouls are often sought out as guides for tomb robbers and fortune hunters willing to risk the Obsidian Sands and who carry a large supply of meat.

The Ghouls hiding in plain sight within the communities of UslaCairne refer to themselves as Votoc.  They are nearly indecernable from humans but with slightly pointed ears and sharp thin features.  Votoc are often mistaken for half-elves, a feature that they take advantage of.  Votoc often masquerade as hedge mages, while working as spies and mercenaries for their own profit.

Sand Ghoul

Armor 6(13)

HD 4D8

Int 14

Move 12(30)

ToHit 16(+4)

Atx 2x d6 or by weapon 

Random ghoulishness

1. Trapsmith

2. Weapons crafting add d4 to damage

3. Ravenous mind shattered add d4 to HD and damage.

4. Hunting pack roll 2d6

Votoc

Armor 5(14)

HD 5d8

Int 16

Move 12(30)

ToHit 15(+5)

Atx 2 d6 or by weapon

Random 

1. Hedge mage, d4 magic items

2. Bone crafter, d4 magic items made from the bones of the dead. 

3. Soul Diviner, scrying skull, uses the bones of the dead to see beyond the world

4. Necromancer, raising mercenary armies of the dead for profit.

#Lore24 The Black Forest #Creature24 Shadow Beasts

 The Shadow Beasts hunt in the darkness, rending interlopers, and feeding the forest with blood and pain.

Armor 2(17) magic weapons, fire and light.

HD 6d8+5

Int 7

Move 17(40)

ToHit 13(+7)

Atx 3x Claw/Claw/Bite 1d8/1d8/2d8

Shadow Beasts are invisible in shadow and may move through the forest by diving into the trees and roots and reappearing within 40 ft.

#Lore24 The Black Forest #Creature24 Trees

 "Stay out of the forest if you want to live.  Yes, the creatures will kill you and scatter your bones, but thats not what you need to be afraid of.  You should be afraid of the trees.  They will pull what's left of you into the dirt and put you back together the way they like.  All the while your soul is screaming into the nothing, a plaything of the deep."

The Trees of the Black Forest

Armor 7(13)

HD 7d8

Int 16

Move 1(1)

ToHit 13(+5)

Atx 1x d12

The trees of the Black Forest are psychic Vampires, draining the souls of their victims with every attack.  If they drain a victim to death they will retain the victims soul and place it into a construct made wood and bone that replicates the appearance of the original being but is dominated by the forest.

#Lore24 Great and Small #Creatures24 Giants

The ground trembles rhythmically becoming stronger and stronger with each stride of the looming colossus.  The forest grows darker as the giants shadow blocks out the light from the Core.  Just before the clearing the looming shadow recedes and the

UslaCairnian Giants are a matter of perspective or rather of perception.  The giants are shapeshifters, capable of altering their size from as small as a mouse to as large as forty feet.  The giants are experts working with stone and fire, they are considered some of the best artificers in the realm.

Armor -4(23)

HD 10d10+2

Int 16

Move 10-20(20-50)

ToHit 8(+12)

Atx 2x d12-2d12

Giants can create up to 3 magical devices of up to 3rd level at one time.

#Lore24 Eldritch Horrors #Creature24 Necro Hydra

 Necro Hydra are vicious primordial beings that hunt the Killing Fields  of Zmei; stalking the skies and bushing victims from the dark clouds that hover perpetually over the landscape.  Legends tell of great battles between the Blood Queens army and a force of necromancers whose cabal is all but lost to history.  In a lot effort to defeat the Blood Queens forces the cabal called forth unfathomable darkness cursing the battlefield.  The Blood Queens countered the cabal magic and turned the eldritch horrors upon them, rending them into the flying undead terrors they are today.

Armor 2(17)

HD 5d8+2

Int 10

Move 10(20) fly 17(50)

ToHit 13(+7)

Atx 4x claw/bite x3  2d6/d8 poison save or additional paralysis (They eat live prey)

 

#Lore24 The Song in the Night #Creature24 The Banshee

The Song in the Night bears a cold hand. The Song in the Night makes doors slam shut and windows close tight. The Song in the Night Means death is coming and if you can hear it it she may be coming for you.

 

The inhabitants of UslaCairne are not thankful for much. The land is dangerous, often haunted or plagued with dangers just beyond the lantern's light. Just surviving the long night is often an accomplishment itself.  But there is one thing for which nearly everyone in the realm is grateful. There is only one Banshee.  Only one creature whose Song in the Night can drive men to madness, turning them into rabid animals that rage and claw and rend those around them.  Only one creatures whose voice can stop the beating of a heart, whose touch can age someone to dust.  

Those few who have encountered the Banshee and survived are left physically and psychically scared by the event.  From these scant reports the Banshee has to forms; one of a beautiful young woman, mournful and wondering, and that of a torn and vengeful spirit trapped between the physical world and the Darkness.

The Banshee

Armor -5(24) magical weapons

HD 17d8+5 (215)

Int 18

Move 21(60)

ToHit 3(+17)

Atx 1x 

1. Touch ages d100 years, 

2. Song save vs Spell or permanent insanity, 

3. Keening Save vs Death or instant death success takes 10d8 damage

4. Kiss traps the victims soul in an obsidian crystal she wears on an iron chain around her waist.

#Lore24 #Creature24 Constructs and Remnants

 

                                                         War Monster by Salomon Savery

UslaCairne is riddled with the detritus of life.  Ancient battlefields grind through the Obsidian Sands toward the Core, some buried beneath a few floating free as islands shifting across the chaos.  Along the outer ring land drawn in through the Exchange and Cleansed by the Church linger abandoned and stripped of valuables.  These places give mass to the creation of constructed lifeforms either purposefully designed and constructed by powerful magics or emerging from the pain and power as remnants.

Constructs are generally designed for a single or binary purpose such as protection or labor.  Labor constucts usually do not have direct offensive capabilities other than the tools of their trade. (ie. A mining construct could have drills or cutting blades.)  Protection constructs will have either a martial or magical weapon or ability and are limited by the HD of the construct.  (one  or ability per three HD) .

Remnants are more random by far than contructs. Created from the collected debris and fueled by the  magical and psychic disturbances of an area, Remnants are twisted amalgam of wood, metal, flesh and bone.  

Armor 0(21)

HD 5-10d10

Int 6

ToHit 15-10(+5-+10)

Atx various by weapon or power

 

Random Constructs abilities

1. Bladed weaponry d4 per 2 HD

2. Flames d6 per HD

3. Fists 2d6 per 3 HD

4. 

Random Remnants

made from

1. flesh

2. stone

3 metal

4. wood.

5. bone

6. weapons

7 roll 2x

8 roll 3x

Abilities of

1. Explosive 3d6+1d6 per HD

2. Steam blast   3d4+d4 per HD

3. Intelligent add 2d6

4. Sonic screech 1d8 per 2 HD

5. Rot touch 2d4 per 3 HD

#Lore24 Small Things #Creature24 Quixoties

 These creatures range from one to three feet tall and exist for the sole purpose of annoying and antagonizing others into fits of madness and outright insanity.   Rumored to have been brought into existence by the mind of a mad alienist, madness connected to his research, Quixote feed of the madness of living beings, drawing power from  dreams and psychic energy.  Quixoties have no true forms but polymorph into various aspects of there targets imagination.

Armor 5(14)

HD 1d8-1

Int 18

Move 21(60)

ToHit 19

Atx 1 2d4 pscionic drain

#lore24 Lycan #Creature24 Wolves

 The independent spirit of Werewolves has created an outlier of The Pack. The Church of the Cleansing Flame keeps a running bounty on all wolves within UlsaCairne in an effort to cull The Pack, but they are not succeeding in controlling that with will not be subservient. 

The Pack is organized into small cells hunting throughout the realm. Each cell is no more than half a dozen.  Two exceptions to this are the Wolves of the Black Forest and the Mountains of the Northern edge of the outer ring.  UslaCairnian Wolves are infections and as such The Pack is extremely careful to ensure the death of any humanoid prey and chooses new pack members with care and great patience.

Armor 4(15) only by silver or magic

HD 7d8+4

Int 16

Move 15(40)

ToHit 13(+7)

Atx 3x Claw/Claw/Bite 2d6/2d6/2d8 (or by Weapon)

What is The Pack doing?

1. Hunting

2. Protecting something or Someone

3. Spying/Scouting

4. Running from/Fighting the Hunters

#lore24 Steeling Power #Creature24 Warlocks

The powers of UslaCairne are dangerous.  Drawing abilities from them and siphoning power for personal gain always comes at a price.  Making a bargain with demons, elder dark forces, elementals or ancient dragons will require a toll.  Warlocks use Druid spell progression and may choose spells from Cleric or Wizard lists.  Once spells are chosen on spell can be changed out per day or a new bargain must be struck.

1. Demon: Thaumatury, summoning, illusion

2. Elder dark: Necromancy, and two psionic disciplines

3. Elemental: one elemental school,

4. Dragon: fire, Alteration, Evocation

Armor 7(Studded leather Max)(13)

HD 5d6 (d6 per level)

Int 11

Move 12(30)

ToHit  17(+3) as thief

Atx 2x any weapon or Blast of Power d6 per 3 levels.

Blast of Power

1. Demon: Infernal blast corruptive power twists and distorts flesh and breaks bone.

2. Elder Dark: Necromantic wasting 

3. Elemental: Blast of fire, water, air, or earth

4. Dragon: Fire, Acid, Cold, based on the dragon.

#Lore24 The Spirit Bound #Creature24

 Many of the young have invisible friends that entertain them when others can't, fruitful slivers of their imaginations that exist only as fiction  of an innocent mind.  Once in a while this "friend" is also a protector, and accomplice to the child, and very rarely the bond between the two is powerful enough that the invisible companion will kill for its corporeal half.

Harry Clark

Spirit Binding happens only to the very young.  Some philosophers believe that it happens at birth or before while others believe that the invisible second soul tethers itself to a corporeal person does so as the result of some profound set of circumstances of the child's life.  The entity is invisible but can affect the material world through either physical or telekinetic means. Spirit bound humanoids are not, according to the Korovastron Royal College of Magical Research, a separate species.  However the condition does almost exclusively occur in humans. The life span of which, following the studies of the KRCMR, are significantly extended through several centuries when they are not burned or otherwise executed as witches.  (A practice which has lead to the utter devastation of entire towns by the entity's mournful vengeance over its loss.)

Armor 10(11) / -1(21)

HD as Human per level / d10 per level

Int 3d6 / 7+2d6

Move 12(30) / 25(60)

ToHit as Class / 20-1 per HD (+1 per HD)

Atx per class / 2x 2d6 per 3 HD

The human side of the Spirit bound functions under normal rules for it's class.  The entity is a stealth predator that may exhibit random additional abilities

Random Abilities

1. Control Shadows: The entities power exerts a toll on the light in an area, or it can take control of its companion's shadow.

2.  Invisibility Manipulation: The entity can not only make itself invisible but also manipulate the visibility of other objects or people.

3 Telekinesis: The ability to move or manipulate objects with the mind, making it capable of causing chaos without being seen.

4 Illusions: The power to create realistic illusions, deceiving others into perceiving things that aren't actually there.

5. Teleportation: Instantaneous movement from one location to another, making it elusive and hard to predict.

6. Influence over Technology: the entity can manipulate mechanical or magical devices or even cause malfunctions, adding a modern and mysterious twist.

#lore24 Echos of the Past #Creature24 The Lost Legion

 When UslaCairne was young the Cleansing Flame burned, roiled and charred the landscape. Those that bore witness to the power of its fire bowed and payed homage to its beauty and terror.  The Apostles of the Flame learned from it the promise of the black sands and began sending forth the message of fire and drawing new land and converts to be cleansed by its searing light.  The Apostles sought to reclaim what was stolen from the Flame and reached beyond the realm steeling back tower and field, castle and hill.  Powers from beyond UslaCairne discovered these terrible, heretical acts and set a legion of men upon a battle field they knew the Flame sought. 

 

Lawrence Alma-Tadema

 

The legion vanished with every structure, tree, shrub or blade of grass  within three square miles.  The only thing left was six inches of ash.  But in UslaCairne a great army emerged on the edge of the realm.  The Acolytes of the Cleansing Flame encircling the field offered peace through the Legion's submission to the flame.  The legion refused and a great battle ensued costing many lives on both sides.  

Now there are but a few descendants of the Legion hiding amongst the fringes of UslaCairne.  They are fierce warriors and partisans ever chipping away at the foundation of the Church of the Cleansing Flame.

Armor 2(18)

HD 4d8+4

Int 14

Move 15(35)

ToHit 12(+8)

Atx 2x spear d6+4 and longsword d8+4

 

Random 

1.  Commander add d6 HD

2. Strategist add d4 Int

3.  Messenger add d4 Move

4.  Scout/Spy add Wilderness or Thieving skills

 

#Lore24 Holes in the Walls #Creatures24 Daemons of Lin

 There are holes in the world, places where things dwell; under the ground, under rocks, deep within cracks and caves, in knots in the tree that become the post that supports the wall of the house.  Inside these impossibly small places are improbably vast communities.  These are the creatures that; steel one shoe, fell a tree in the road in the middle of the night, splinter the wagons wheel so that it rolls apart three weeks later.  The denizens of the AshenWastes call them Grofeldin. They are known as Terramites in the Sorgash Mountains.  The Citizens of Rastapol refer to then as Scratlin or Gremlin denoting their worthless and vile nature.  Whatever the local name for them is the Daemons of Lin are mischievous, industrious and always come in multiples of three.

"In to the bottomless pit he fell slap." Arthur Rackham

Armor 5(14)

HD 1d8 (cubed)

Int 15

Move 12(30) 

ToHit 18(+2)

 Atx 2x 1d4  / 2x 3d8

Daemons of Lin spend most of there time as minuscule beings 3-9 inches tall engaged in theft, vandalism and random acts of violence. 

 When threatened and cornered they will usually try to talk their way out of the situation, but in a situation in which they cannot talk their way out the Daemons of Lin will bond together forming a larger creature.  When this happens three of the Daemons will rush together and transform into one larger creature, at which time their HD are multipled by each other.  (ex. 8,4,6 = 192 health.)  The Demon grows substantially in size as does which ever weapons it carries.  

Random Appearance

1. goat legs and tail

2. red skinned with small horns

3 tightly stretched skin on a bony frame

4. long pointed prehensile ears

5. exaggerated hands and feet

6. caricatured facial features of another creature

#Lore24 The Deep Dark #creature24 Shadows

 The Dark breathes from the Deep inhaling light and life, exhaling shadow and ravenous hunger.  Shadows are bred in this anti-life environment with the sole purpose dragging living energy back to the Deep Dark.

Profile of Shadow Odilon Redon

Armor 0(20)

HD 6d8

Int 11

Move 19(60)

ToHit 14(+5)

Atx 2x Claws 2d6 Plus life Drain 3d4 or 1d4 per day if riding another creatures shadow.

Shadows are semi-corporeal creatures that feed on life energy.  The more the feed the more powerful they become and the more they are able to influence the material plane.  A shadow that inflicts damage equal to 2x its HD can become a corporeal and gains control of all of the natural shadow around it, manipulating it to its will and summoning other shadows to its aid.  Fully corporeal shadows can change their form at will transforming into a darker copy of anything creature, or combination of creatures that they have seen.  Shadows are silent until they take corporeal form.

 

Random addition powers

1. Light: feeds the shadow/injures the shadow (flip a coin)

2. Can travel through natural shadow to a distance equal to its current Heath in tens of feet.

3. Can open portal to the Deep Dark allowing transport to the realm

4. Can make shadows into solid mass. 3ft cube per HD of the Shadow

#Lore24 Undeath #Creature24 The Living Dead

 Death is not always the end, sometimes the soul lingers and the shadow of death never arrives.  The living dead have carved out a place in society taking control of neighborhoods in Rastapol.  Continuing a macabre parody of their former lives, including elaborate gentile balls, they operate as the finest clothiers and haberdashers in all the realm.  Care must be taken by the living to be sure that large amounts of poisonous chemicals are removed from those clothes as the Living Dead concern is for the clothing not the customer 

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kedzie-shadows/

Armor 5(14)

HD 3d8+1

Int 11

Move 12(30)

ToHit 17{+3)

Atx 1x d8  Poison clothing  (2d4 per round)

Most Living Dead retain the skills that they possessed in life.  However, they lose the ability to speak and communicate in an elaborate pantomime of gestures and hand signals. As a result most former magic wielding Living Dead are reduced to casting spells that require only gestures and components. 

#lore24 Witches #creature24

 Witches are decended from hags, hags are decended from the Crones.  Each carrying threads of magic connected to Nature, Divination, Charms, Enchantment and Curses.  Witches do not choose to be they are born.  

John William Waterhouse

Armor 4(15)

HD 3-10D8+2

Int 17

Move 12(30)

ToHit 19-18(+3-6)

Atx 1x d4+2(Enchanted or poisoned dagger)

Curses. A witch's words have power. The threads of her ancestors carry power to her thoughts and will.  Witches can summon that power into a directed curse bringing her words to life.

Random magic

1. Casts as Druid

2. Casts as Cleric

3. Casts as Magic User

4. Casts via Parhways

5. Casts via Potions and Object Enchantments 

6. Role twice

#lore24 Sorcerers

 Sorcerers are manipulators of the threads of life. Those threads are tied to ancestors and fates. Power and magic can be passed through these threads gifting or curse later generations with a variety of magical and psychic abilities.

 

 John Willian Waterhouse The Sorseress https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_William_Waterhouse,_The_Sorceress.png

 The most common types of thread inheritances are 

1. Infernal: summoning and Illusion pathways

2. Celestial: Healing and Divination pathways

3. Elemental: Fire, Water, Air, Earth pathways

4. Psychic: pcionic pathways

5. Undeath: Necromancy, and Binding pathways

6. Archmagic: three random pathways

(Pathways to Power By Wolfgang Baur & Steve Kurtz. Artwork by Wm. Michael Mott. pp. 42–49, Dragon #216)  

#Lore24 UslaCairne #creature24 The Cleansing Flame

 UslaCairne is a disk of seething and corrupted land adrift in the heart of the Cursed Dominion.  Volcanic fields and magma lakes form the hub of the as chocked wasteland.  The land does support life in its outer ring forests and field buffered from the core by a vast desert of obsidian sand slowly drifting counter clockwise while grinding its way toward the center as it drains the life from the encircling lands.  Lands that are stolen from all the realms through complex rituals preformed by the Church of the Cleansing Flame. The Church sees the realm as more than land it is a awful and inspiring shard of divinity ideologically and literally a living god.

 

Random aspect of UslaCairne

1. Obsidian monoliths surround crumbling ruins throughout the black sand desert.  Sleeping near these obsidian spires drains d4 health per hour and anyone doing so must roll a Wisdom/Willpower save at -1 per hour of rest or suffer a corruption of the mind.

2. Ghouls and Ghasts roam the waists scavenging the desiccated dead. The closer one gets to the core the higher the ambient temperature becomes. most who explore here become more exhausted by the day and perish soon after. 

3. The City of Rastapol is the theocratic center of the realm and generally marks the southern point.  Perched on the edge of the black sands its high towers are the homes of the Oracles of the Flame.  From there vantage point they scry the will of the Cleansing Flame for the Church.

4. The Black Forest: An accident, an incident, an anomaly, land that was never intended to be taken and now cannot not be cleansed. The Forest is a parasite, a tumor growing and burrowing into the realm with a will of its own.

#Creature24 Demons

                                                                      Max Ernst  (recolored)

Demons come from the world beneath and behind this world.  They slither and crawl on the thousand lies told between traitors.  Demons rejoice in sorrow and make dreams into flesh.  They are distortions of what should be and has been. Demons will always appear as an imperfect form with some part slightly or whole wrong in form or function.

Armor  5 to -10(14 to 29)

HD d12x2d8+3  

Int 3d6

Move 5-20(10-60)

ToHit 20-HD (+1per HD)

Atx 2x d6 per 2 HD Corrupting touch 

 

Corrupting Touch result:

1. Flesh Rot: requires magical healing

2. Curse: -4 to one Ability score

3. Possesion: demon can transfer into the body of victim save vs Death

4. Corrupted Wounds:  Bleeds d4 per demon HD per round until staunched.  can only be healed through natural resources.

5. Dissolve Solids:  destroys metal, wood, etc

6. Wasting touch:  2d12 health transfers from victim to demon.  Permanent loss of health until victim draws from another through touch. (At a rate of d4 per attack) 

The demon has body parts or mannerisms from a non humanoid creature.

1 Plant                        6 Aquatic

2. Insect                     7 Reptilian

3 Arachnid                 8 Cephalapod  

4 Avian                       9 Alien

5 Mammalian            10 Mutant/hybrid

Mammal Subtable

1 Bovine                    5 Canine

2 Ursine                     6 Pachyderm

3 Rodent                    7 Prymate

4 Feline                      8 Marsupial

#Creature24 Serpents of UslaCairne

Varying in color from brilliant blue and green to deep and vibrant reds and jet black, the rock vipers of UslaCairne can be small enough to fit up a priest's sleeve or massive and capable of swallowing a horse whole. Killing these creatures is taboo to the ruling class of the dominion.

 

Arthur Rackham

 

Armor    7(13) - 2(19)     

HD  1d6 - 12d10

Int   4-14

Move  15(35)

ToHit  18(+2)  11(+9)

Atx  1x d6 - 6d10  

Random Abilities

1. Poisonous: save or addition d6 up to instant death

2. Constriction: only with 3d8 hd or larger damage equal to HD

3. Highly Intelligent: has d4 spell like abilities 

4. Shapeshifting:  Capable of transforming into a humanoid creature with reptilian features.

#Creature24 Cultists

 There are many cults across the land worshiping elder things and dark places. Each is different but much the same, zealots following mystics and charlatans with just emough power to be dangerous to themselves and others.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/16888567412508691/

Cultists fight as individuals and as mobs, swarming their opponents to subdue them for sacrafice.

Individual                                             Mob

AC 7(13)                                              AC 6(14)

HD 2d8                                                 HD 7-12d8+4

Int 11                                                    Int 8 

Move 12(30)                                        Move 12(30)

ToHit  18(+2)                                       ToHit  13(+6)

Atx 1x d6                                             Atx 3-4x d8+3

For every 7 cultists one has spell casting ability: 2 offensive, one defensive, 2 illusion/trapping spells.

Mobs will always have to spell casters.

Random Cult Foci

1. Elder things; add summoning to spell casters, One in three cultist will have mutations that race their HD by 1 and damage to d10+1

2. Cult of Nathis:  Usually appear in deep forest worshiping the Mystic Hut and the Forest Spirit Nurren. Cultists will use plant manipulation in combat and spell casters will use plant based magic.

3. Cult of Nung:  Grey robed monks whose strikes burn as flames. (Add 2d6 flame damage). Leader is a female 9th level pathway sorcerer, Province of Flame. (Pathways to Power By Wolfgang Baur & Steve Kurtz. Artwork by Wm. Michael Mott. pp. 42–49, Dragon #216)  

4. Children of the Blood Queen:  Mastery of crystolomancy, they will attempt to subdue and trap opponents in obsidian in order to slowly drain their souls.  Spell casters magic cast through and manifests through various crystal forms.

#Creature24 Cinn Báite

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/306315212172239526/

 

The cold and festering swamps of the WinterWood claim many victims, and the Cinn Baite try to claim many more posing as children stranded in the swamps they grab unsuspecting victims and pull them into the freezing muck to drown them. 

AC 4(15)

HD 4d8+7

Int 11

Move 10(20) on land 15(40) through mud and water

ToHit 15(+5)

Atx  2x d6 / Grapple +4 

Cinn Baite grab onto their victims and attempt to pull them into murky water and mud.  They are extremely strong and gain a +4 to grapple/Str contests.  Victims who loose are pulled under the mud and take 3d6 damage per round that they are submerged a new check can be made on the players turn each round. 

Random Powers

1.  Mournful stare: Looking into the eyes of a Cinn Baite save vs Spell/Charm draws all the victims attention they will drop what is in their hands and walk directly to the Cinn Baite to aid it.

2. Maddening Gaze: Save vs Paralyses or suffer a random insanity.  Duration d6 rounds 

3. Summon: A Cinn Baite can summon d6 more of its kind, appearing in 1d4 rounds

4. Travel through matter:  The Cinn Baite can submerge into the muck and reappear within 120ft the on its next turn.

#Creature24 Hunthusks

 

Reanimated corpses full of fury and fire, Hunthusks are used by Korovastrian necromancers as brute force troops.  Their powerful clawed hands cause rot to those they strike.  They can also belch out a gout of flame up to 15 feet away.  Hunthusks work in packs like wolves culling out individuals first or surrounding in ambush.

AC 7(12)

HD    4d8+4

Int 7

Move 12(30) climb on vertical surfaces

ToHit 15(+5)

Atx 2x rotting fist 2d6 - Breath Weapon Gout of Flame 3d6 reset 5-6

#Creature24 Skeldlings

 Once a great and noble species of forest elves, skeldlings fell prey to the Dark and were transformed into twisted creatures as much plant as animal.

           Brian Froud via https://pin.it/1fEsEEe

Armor 7(14)

HD 2D8

Int  11

Move 15(35)

ToHit 18(+2)

ATX 2x d4 + poison d6+2

Skeldlings hands and feet end in long claws that drip with paralitic poison that they use to keep there prey alive while they feast on their victims flesh.  (If poison damage from attacks exceeds the victims Constitution score they must save vs paralyse or be aware but unable to move.)

Skeldlings live in deep forests and are bonded with special malfora trees. The bond enables them to meld with the trees, disappearing into the trunks and reamerging from another malfora up to 100 ft away.  Both the skeldlings and the malfora are carnivorous. Skeldlings store their victims bodies in cracks and holes in the malforas' trunks. 

#Creature24 The Boatman

 

                                    Artstation https://www.artstation.com/artwork/X1k4Y

The Boatman can get you across the shores of the Dark Sea and through the grey fog, but don't pay his fair until you arrive on the other shore and don't try to cheat him.

Armor -1(21)

HD 10d10+6

Int - 16

ToHit - 10 (+9)

Atx - 2x 1d10 

#creature24 Pyrowights

                                          https://www.pinterest.com/pin/565412928226305124/
 

 Exhuming clouds of back smoke and suet, Pyrowights stalk the charred landscapes entombing what life they find in pyroclastic ash.   Somewhere between smoke, ash and concentrated shadow, Pyrowights are extremely dangerous, often swirling in and out or existence in dense mist and fog, reaching out to sear the flesh of there victims.

Armor - -1(21)

HD - 7d8+4

Int - 11

Move - 16(35)

ToHit - 13 (+5)

Atx - 2x 2d6 claw/heat damage 

Random powers

1.  Engulf: The Pyrowight rushes forward Move 20(60) and surrounds its victim in super heated ash 6d6 damage, Save vs Breath.

2. Fire burst (15ft Reach) the Pyrowight's hands shoot bolts of white hot ash. (ranged attack 5d4 heat damage)

3. Summon shadows.  The Pyrowight van summon 1d4 shadows that follow its orders.

#Creature24 The Vala

A dark bargain, and a terrible price, The Vala are sightless spell casters somewhere between a witch and a hag, who have given up the use of their mortal eyes in exchange for mystic power they could not attain on their own. 
 

 

The Vala

Armor - 3(16)

HD - 10d8+2

Int - 17 

Move 12(30)

ToHit - 12 (+6)

Atx - 1 d6/d2 staff or knife (usually poisoned for additional 4d6/paralysis/sleep)

Spells - 9th level caster. Generally 2 offensive, 2 defensive, see below 

The Vala are the spawn of an unholy alliance with the Dark Eldritch magic and witchcraft.  Having given up their sight in exchange for special gifts or powers from beyond the Veil.  Vala retain most of the original abilities and are adept at potions and charms as well as curses and spell craft. Vala function as 9th level casters.  Additional powers granted to them depend on their patrons or entities through which they have struck their bargain.

Random Patron.

1. A coven of Hags

2. An Eldritch being from the Dark Realm

3. An Infernal being (Demon or Devil)

4. An Elemental power 

 

Random Abilities

1. Prophetic visions or Oracle Divination abilities

2. Control of one or more elements

3. Corruptible Enervation (magic that feed of the natural world, and increases the strength of the casters spells)

4. Control over the Dark and its denizens

5. Spells cast with d4 additional dice of damage, or range categories

6. Increase 1d4 caster levels

 

 

#Creature24 The Lone Horseman

 

A servant of dark powers, The Lone Horseman comes in the night, tracking, hunting and killing its masters enemies. 

 

The Lone Horseman

Armor - 2(18)

HD - 7d10+4

Int - 12

Move -  20(60)

ToHit - 12(+6)

Atx - 2x Horsemans Sabre d8+4  plus 2x Trample and Bite 2d10/d8

 

When a Lone Horseman is summoned it requires a piece of its target. Its ability to locate its prey is based upon the item used.  Blood or flesh 90%, an item of importance to the victim 75%. an item cast off by the victim 50%. Magical non detection lowers the percentage by 10 per level of the caster of the non detection spell.  Items of non detection reduce the chance by 50%. (GM should make this role anytime the prey is actively attempting to hide from the Horseman. The time it takes for a Lone Horseman to track its victim is equal to 2d12 days from its summoning.  

Random hunting tactics and weaponry

1. Lasso 50ft reach

2. Horseman's Lance +3 to charging attack

3. Longbow with poison arrows d8+6 save vs Paralytic Poison

4. Travel through shadows, the horseman can ride in and out of shadows charging from impossible angles

#Creature24: A Creature a day for 2024

 During the last year working on #dungeon23 I found myself wanting to use new creatures that would surprise and engage my players and found myself creating several new creatures and races as a result.  I found myself having as much fun doing this. This year, as part of #lore24, I will be attempting a new creature a day for #Creature24.  The rules will be simple.  

1. System agnostic as much as possible.

2. Differentiated powers so that anyone picking this up can make the creature there own.

3. Adaptable rules added to this list as things always change.

 

1-1-24

The Box

                                                                                Image from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/2462974788383431/

 

 Objects owned by dark and malignant forces such and infernal or powerful undead can sometimes take on a life of there own.  Possessed by a shard of the power of its original owned The Box is as dangerous as it is feral.  Capable of reaching out and drawing its victims to it in order to drain them and transform them into deadly horrors.

The Box

Armor - 0(20)

HD - 12d8+5 

Int - 16

Move - 10(20)

ToHit - 12 (+6)

Atx - 2x d8 (10ft Reach) Save vs grapple 

The Box attacks with its red hot binding chains.  If it grapples its opponent it does an extra d6 life drain damage and draws the opponent towards its opening lid.  After a second round of grappling it will attempt to pull the victim into itself.  Where it drains 2d10 health from its victim. Once the victim is dead they are transformed into a copy of the boxes original owner.

There is a 30% chance that 1d4 creatures created by The Box are serving as its minions.  There is a 20% chance that the box contains a newly formed minion.

The Box's origins can be altered to fit different senerios with the random table below.

Origins: 

1. Undead (Vampire or Mummy)

2. Infernal (Demon or Devil)

3. Archmage (Necromancer or Alienist)

4. Elder Power (Shadow or Obomination) 

Random Additional powers

1. The Box is a spellcaster equal to its HD plus d6

2. The Box draws health from its victims regaining half of the health it drains.

3.  The Box controls the environment around it.  It's presence corrupts the surrounding land within d100 miles.

4. The Box can open portals to summon creatures based on its origin once every 10 rounds.