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Showing posts from November, 2024

Throwback NPC: Mary Sawyer (Who Had a Little Lamb)

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The party first met Mary Sawyer and her ram companion, Aries while traveling through the Checkerboard Kingdoms with Jill, wife of King Jack . The group was on its way to the pasture of the Cow That Jumped Over the Moon so they could ask the Man (although they would later learn that it was Men) in the Moon if he had seen what had happened to Jack after he fell from the Hill. Mary was investigating several missing people and suspected Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue of engaging in human trafficking to replace sheep they had irresponsibly lost/killed/allowed to die. A brief battle ensued that resulted in the two erstwhile slavers being brought to justice and Cedron acquiring the Witching Cloak. Mary Sawyer : female Grimmlands Human Ranger 4 CR: 4     Medium Humanoid (Human) HD: 4d8+4 (24 hp) Init: +3     Spd: 30'     AC: 17 (Masterwork Studded Leather Armor, Masterwork Light Wooden Shield, +3 Dex); t: 13, ff: 14 Attacks: (B...

Romulus' Test of High Sorcery  - The Soulforge

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8th Day of Hiddumont, 348 AC Romulus looks out over the road, surveying the path ahead and begins walking. Fog rises from the ground, quickly enshrouding everything within sight. He steels himself, mentally preparing for whatever his next trial might be. As the mist clears, he finds that he stands within a thick forest that has recently suffered from a forest fire. Despite the winds howling, the dead trees are strangely still, their twisted branches frozen mid-gesture, reaching for the night sky. All around, dense thickets of leafless branches surround you. Solinari’s silvery moonlight barely touches this place through the entwined canopy, and yet there is no lack of illumination. An eerie yellow fog rolls across the scorched earth, smelling of sulfur. Bestial cackling rings out from behind a nearby tree, then crescendoes around you from all directions.  A white-furred hyena-man wearing tattered clothes lumbers from the tree line, their long arms swinging madly back and forth. Th...

Romulus' Test of High Sorcery - Day Three

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7th Day of Hiddumont, 348 AC The night passes quietly in peaceful comfort. The next morning in the Tower of Wayerth is quiet and a sense of tension hangs in the air. None of the other Aspirants are anywhere to be found, perhaps having already started their tests. As the long, isolated hours pass, the sun rises and falls. Romulus takes a walk around the empty moonlit courtyard.  Coming back from his walk, he glances into the grand hall where the leaders of the Conclave gather. The Hall of Mages is an immense obsidian chamber with a 60' ceiling. Twenty chairs sit in shadows, while one central chair gives off a cold, white glow - the hall's only light source. All twenty-one chairs face the north wall. The longer he looks into the room, the larger it seems. Despite not declaring for any Order, he can sense the history of the place, spells of incredible power woven by the world's greatest mages, and the critical decisions made about the future of the Conclave.  As he turns away...

The Test of High Sorcery (Day Two)

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06 Hiddumont 348 AC (06 Sep 1342) Morning comes, just as it always done. The stewards who escorted the Aspirants to their rooms the night before arrive and lead each to breakfast. On the way, the hopefuls are informed that senior wizards from each Order will be interviewing them later in the day. Each Aspirant will be given time to prepare spells if they haven't already done so and that their Tests will start soon after. Romulus is the first to arrive in the dining hall and piles his plate high with stacks of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and sausage. He, Ra’ziir, and Shadow about their evening. He explains that his room had a well-stocked bookshelf that he picked through until he found a book about fungal growths in alpine forests. But tucked in between the pages, he had discovered hand-written notes about the Tests themselves. He explains that every Test presents several challenges that examine the depth of a mage's knowledge and use of magic. While they are more-or-less what you w...

The Turducken

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There are several "monstrous" versions of the Turducken out there. This is a more grounded version of the bird as if it were a real-world animal. The Turducken is a medium bird weighing 15 to 25 pounds. It has a large, round body with stubby wings and a fan-shaped tail. Their feet are webbed. Most notably, they have three heads. The center head is that of a turkey, flanked by those of a duck and a chicken. Their diet is varied, consisting of aquatic plants, grasses, small vertebrates like frogs and salamanders, mollusks, and insects. Turducken CR: 3     Small Magical Beast      HD: 5d8+10    Hp: 34 Init: +0    Spd: 10', fly 40' (clumsy), swim 20' AC: 13 (+1 size, +2 Natural), t: 11, ff: 12 Attacks: (BAB +5; Grap-3); +6 Claws: 1d4-4 and +1 Bite: 1d2-4 and +1 2 Bites: 1-4 SA: - - SQ: Darkvision 60', Low-Light Vision, Multiple Heads Align: N     Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will...

Mur-Deer

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I was driving home along Minnesota's North Shore today when "Murder... Mur-Deer" popped into my head today. While you could use the Dire Elk or Legendary Animal template to achieve the same results, I thought I would take a crack at putting stats to the pun. Mur-Deer CR: 6     Large Magical Beast HD: 12d10+72     Hp: 137 Init: +1     Spd: 60'     AC: 16 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +7 Natural); t: 9, ff: 15 Attacks: (BAB +12; Grap +30) ; +20 Gore: 3d6+10 (18-20/×3) or +20 Kick: 3d8+10 (20/×2) SA: Augmented Critical SQ: Darkvision 60', DR5/Mistletoe, Low-Light Vision, Scent Align: N     Saves: Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +6 Str: 31, Dex: 13, Con: 23, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha: 5 Languages: None Skills: Listen +10, Spot +9 Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Iron Will, Mobility, Run, Spirited Charge (b) • Augmented Critical (Ex): The Mur-deer's Gore attack threatens a Critical Hit on natural 18-...

The Unstoppable Mr.Darcy

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I t started out as an idea for a quick, hopefully humorous one-shot. Over the course of the last year as other, similar material became available, it has grown into a short, but full-blown campaign. Based on the one-page RPGs " Pride and Extreme Prejudice " and " Trapped in a Cabin with Lord Byron " combined with " Sentai & Sensibility " and a smattering of the " d20 Anime " by Guardians of Order and d20 Paragon , I find myself continuing to expand on what was supposed to be a bit of a spoof set during the Napoleonic War. The party, based on the quartet of sisters from P&EP, hail from the Campbell family. Borrowing from Sentai, I think I have settled on the Mecha to be magically powered, summoned by magical combs the girls have, each linked to an iconic British animal - Bull, Raven, Boar, and Stag. By activating their magical focus, they first transform into superhuman warriors, armed with powerful melee weapons and armored in distincti...