I've been working on statistics for some of the monsters I'm using in the Hammersong's Legacy Campaign Setting, and I thought I would offer up some of these monsters for your review. You will find that some of them may look familiar. In some cases, the monsters I'm creating exist in other D20-based fantasy games, but have not yet been statted up in Swords & Wizardry. One of the following is based on a planetary romance novel now in the Public Domain. Please feel free to check out the following and let me know your thoughts on these monsters.
Banth
The banth is a ferocious leonine carnivore that prowls hills in search of prey, its protruding green eyes ever attentive to its environment as it hunts. Roughly the size of a horse, this ten-legged beast’s long lithe body is powerfully muscled and almost hairless, save for a great bristly mane about its thick neck. The beast’s head is predominately mouth, with jaws which can open to a point far back of its tiny ears, revealing several rows of long needle-like fangs.
Banth: AC 0 [19]; HD 10; Atk: bite (2d6), four claws (1d8); ST: 5; SP: none; MV: 15; CL 11; XP 1,700.
Barghest
A barghest is a lupine fiend that can take the shape of a wolf or a goblin. In its natural form, it resembles a goblin-wolf hybrid with terrible jaws and sharp claws. As whelps, barghests are nearly indistinguishable from wolves, except for their size and claws. As they grow larger and stronger, their skin darkens to bluish-red and eventually becomes blue altogether. A full-grown barghest is about six feet long and weighs 180 pounds. A barghest’s eyes glow orange when the creature becomes excited. Once per day, a barghest can choose to emanate an aura of crushing despair, forcing all within thirty feet to make a saving throw or suffer a -1 on all attack rolls and saving throws for the next ten minutes. In addition, a barghest can cast charm monster and dimension door, each once per day, and only takes half damage from non-magical weapons. When a barghest feeds on the corpse of a recently slain humanoid, it devours both flesh and life force, preventing mortal magic from restoring life to the victim. For every three corpses devoured, the barghest gains one additional Hit Die, and improves its Armor Class by one.
Barghest: AC 2 [17]; HD 6; Atk: bite (1d6), two claws (1d4); ST: 11; SP: change shape, crushing despair, charm monster, dimension door, feed on life force, half damage from non-magical weapons; MV: 12; CL 10; XP 1,400.
Boalisk
The boalisk resembles a normal constrictor snake measuring about 25 feet in length. The results of crossbreeding large constrictors with basilisks, these giant snakes possess the basilisk's petrifying gaze, which turns anyone meeting its eye into stone, unless they make a success saving throw. A boalisk hunts by grabbing prey with its mouth and then squeezing with its powerful body, inflicting 2d6 damage each round.
Boalisk: AC 4 [15]; HD 5; Atk: bite (1d8); ST: 12; SP: constrict, petrifying gaze; MV: 9, climb 9, swim 9; CL 8; XP 800.
Cyclops
The cyclopses are a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of its forehead. The average cyclops stands 9 feet tall, weighs 600 pounds and often fights with a giant greataxe or club. Every cyclops possesses the ability to gain glimpses of possible future events. Once per day, the cyclops may act on this insight and elect to reroll an attack roll or a saving throw, taking the better of the two results.
Cyclops: AC 0 [19]; HD 10; Atk: giant greataxe or club (3d6); ST: 5; SP: insight; MV: 12; CL 11; XP 1,700.
With Regards,
Flynn
PDF
Posts
2 comments:
These monsters make me look with even greater interest to the release of your setting.
I know I recommended that you proceed with using S&W as the native system for your Hammersong's Legacy setting, but I hope you plan on a MyD20Lite statted version too!!
The thought of releasing multiple versions of the setting had crossed my mind. I want to see how well the S&W book is received in terms of the setting first. If people like the setting, then it should be worthwhile, to me, to go through the work of creating a MyD20 Lite version.
The initial idea behind Hammersong's Legacy was to create a 4E campaign setting for a friend of mine. Sadly, when he stopped showing interest, I was already too involved in the process to want to let it go, but at a loss as to what system to write it up for. I just knew that I wanted to see this effort to its completion. S&W was the best suggestion, with some good reasons behind it, so that's the direction I'm currently going.
It has always been my belief that a good setting (like Traveller's Third Imperium, for example) can exist independent of the rules system, and that the mark of a good rules system is that it can be adapted to a good setting without breaking either the system or the setting. In some ways, Hammersong's Legacy is my attempt to create a good setting under this definition.
Hope This Helps,
Flynn
Post a Comment