Monster of the Day

[Christopher R Taylor]

On to more ordinary monsters found in most bestiaries, given my twist.  At some point I'll be putting out a second volume of the Jolrhos Bestiary, with the more usual monsters as they appear in my campaign setting, such as orcs and giant spiders.  Speaking of, here's a giant trap door spider:

 

Ambush Spider

 

Val Char Cost

 25  STR   15

 17  DEX   14

 25  CON  15

 16  BOD   6

  2   INT    -8

  5   EGO  -5

 20  PRE  10

 16  PD     8

 10  ED     4

  4   SPD  20

  8   REC   4

 30  END   2

 28  STN   4

 10  MAN -2

 

OCV:    6

DCV:    4

OMCV: 2

DMCV: 2

 

14m RUN   2

  4m SWIM 0

  6m LEAP 1

Characteristics Cost: 106

 

Cost Power

 -2     Mana (10) (-2 Active Points)

  6     Huge, many legs: Knockback Resistance -6m

  5     Eight Legs: Extra Limbs  (4)

  2     Eight Eyes: Increased Arc Of Perception (240 Degrees) with Normal Sight

  6     Keen Senses: +2 PER with all Sense Groups

 37    Sense Vibrations: Spatial Awareness (Unusual Group), Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees)

 15    Chitin: Resistant Protection (6 PD/4 ED)

 14    Digger: Tunneling 2m through 6 PD material

 20    Bite: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6+1 (3d6 w/STR)

 15    Venom: Entangle 2d6, 2 PD/2 ED, vs CON, not STR (+1/2), Transparent to physical attacks (+3/4) (45 Active Points); Life Support vs poison negates (-1/2), 8 Charges (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Only if bite does Body damage (-1/4), Linked (Bite; -1/4)

 10    Webbing: Entangle 1d6, 3 PD/3 ED (20 Active Points); Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4)

  1     Web Line: Flight 2m (2 Active Points); Gliding (-1), OIF (-1/2), Only to move with webline (-1/4)

Powers Cost: 129

 

Cost Skill

 13    Concealment 14-

Skills Cost: 13

 

Total Character Cost: 248

 

Pts. Complication

 10   Physical Complication:  Large (Infrequently; Slightly Impairing)

 15   Physical Complication:  Animal Intelligence (Infrequently; Greatly Impairing)

Complication Points: 25

 

Ecology: Ambush Spiders can be found in any climate and area that has soft enough ground to dig.  Snowy Ambush Spiders will dig in the ice and snow, Desert Ambush Spiders will use the sand, reinforcing the interior with a layer of sand-covered webbing.  These creatures are solitary like most spiders.

 

Other than their gigantic size, Ambush Spiders are much like any trapdoor spider.

 

The Ambush Spider needs at least a ten mile radius to hunt in and will rarely be encountered in numbers unless it has young or is breeding.  A brooding Ambush Spider will tend to hide in its lair and open to feed only when great hunger is upon it.

 

Personality/Motivation: Simple animals with basic animal motivation.  Their desire to surprise comes not from any particular whim but effectiveness in hunting food.

 

Powers/Tactics: Ambush Spiders dig a pit just large enough for them and a victim and then cover it up with their webbing.  To the top of this webbing, they apply grass, dirt, rocks, and even small shrubs to disguise it with uncanny ability, then lurk under it, waiting for someone to come near.  

 

Under this trapdoor, the Ambush Spider can sense movement nearby it with great skill, and will dash out to attack by surprise, then pull the victim under the trapdoor to devour it.  This attack tends to be very effective, since the victim will usually be half DCV and the Ambush Spider’s poison is very swift acting.

 

The Ambush Spider only has a paralytic poison, and is not as tough as many giant spiders.  Also, Ambush Spiders have no clinging ability and are not nimble on webs, as they spin their webs only to line its lair or to use as an anchor to climb from.

 

Campaign Use: These can be a surprise in any area that the Ambush Spider can manage to dig in, something only a keen observer is likely to spot.  Ambush Spider hides are poor for armor, but they do have considerable silk, 4d6 meters of silk can be collected from a nest and an adult Ambush Spider, worth d6 silver a meter.

 

Appearance: Ambush Spiders are very furry and colored much like their surrounding area: white in snowy areas, tawny and tan or reddish in deserts, brown and reddish in forests, etc.  They have small abdomens and a raised cluster of eyes to peek out of their trapdoor if need be.  Ambush Spiders are gigantic, with a body five feet or longer and legs spanning ten feet across.

 

[NuSoardGraphite]

I would think that vampire tree would have a vulnerability to fire based attacks.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of The Jolrhos Bestiary, I hope you find it useful and interesting! 

[Christopher R Taylor]

This one won't be in any volume of the Bestiary for a while.  Volume 2 will be more ordinary stuff (horses, orcs, dragons, etc) you see in other books, just my take and the official Jolrhos writeup.  That's not for a while down the road as its not very pressing - any bestiary includes these creatures.  But some time in the future I might put out a volume 3 of the exotic, consisting of very odd creatures and things found in more obscure areas and other parts of the world than where the adventures I run usually take place.

 

This would be one of those creatures, the Harvester of Eyes.  It came about by doodling while playing a Star Wars RPG session and the song of the same name by Blue Oyster Cult.  I haven't fully worked out the details for the biology etc, but its an outdoor monster, and it attacks by stealing eyes.  Literally, it blinds targets and adds their eyes to its mass.  Each set of eyes it steals makes it tougher and harder to hurt.  If the creature is killed, the eyes go back to its victims, provided they are still alive.

 

Harvester of Eyes

 

Val Char Cost

  5   STR   -5

 13  DEX    6

 11  CON   1

  6   BOD  -4

  6   INT    -4

 12  EGO   2

 15  PRE    5

  6+ PD      3

  8+ ED      5

  4   SPD  20

  6   REC   2

 30  END   2

 14  STN  -3

 

OCV:    5

DCV:    5
OMCV: 3

DMCV: 5

 

12m RUN   0

  4m SWIM 0

  4m LEAP  0

Characteristics Cost: 56

 

Cost Power

 21    Hover: Flight 12m, Invisible Power Effects (Invisible to hearing; +1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (21 Active Points)

  3     Resilient: Resistant Protection (1 PD/1 ED)

  5     Heat Sight: Infrared Perception (Sight Group)

  5     Night Sight: Ultraviolet Perception (Sight Group)

 10    Many Eyes: Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees) with Sight Group

  6     Many Eyes: +3 PER with Sight Group

  5     Tentacles: Extra Limb (1)

 20    Tentacle Lash: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1 1/2d6 (2d6 w/STR) (25 Active Points); Reduced Penetration (-1/4)

  5     Force Barrier: Resistant Protection (2 PD/2 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (7 Active Points); Costs Endurance (-1/2)

  6     Disorient: Drain OCV 0 1/2d6, Area Of Effect Nonselective (4 2m Areas; +1/4) (6 Active Points)

 50    Steal Eyes: Major Transform 7d6 (Character into character with no eyes, Death of Harvester or magic), Improved Results Group (+1/4) (87 Active Points); Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4)

 27    Add Eyes: Aid  Force Barrier, Disorient 2d6, Increased Maximum Effect x2 (24 points total) (+1/2), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1), Expanded Effect (x4 Effects simultaneously) (+1 1/2) (48 Active Points); Linked (Steal Eyes; -1/2), Only if Transform is successful (-1/4)

 10    Add Eyes: Aid  Body, Stun 1d6, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1), Expanded Effect (x4 Effects simultaneously) (+1 1/2) (21 Active Points); Linked (Steal Eyes; -1/2), Only if Transform is successful (-1/4), Increased Maximum Effect (10 points total) (-1/4)

Powers Cost: 173

 

Cost Skill

  4      +2 OCV with Steal Eyes

Skills Cost: 4

 

Total Character Cost: 233

 

Pts. Complication

 20   Distinctive Features:  Made of eyes and tentacles (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

 15   Physical Complication:  Animal Intelligence (Infrequently; Greatly Impairing)

 10   Physical Complication:  Small (Infrequently; Slightly Impairing)

  5    Vulnerability:  1 1/2 x Effect Sight Flash Attacks (Uncommon)

Complication Points: 50

 

 

[Burrito Boy]

You had me at Blue Oyster Cult.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I put out a pack of Hero Designer files of all the monsters in the bestiary due to some interest I'd seen but it doesn't seem to be selling, I wonder if people just don't know its out there or aren't all that interested.

[Scott Baker]

I put out a pack of Hero Designer files of all the monsters in the bestiary due to some interest I'd seen but it doesn't seem to be selling, I wonder if people just don't know its out there or aren't all that interested.

I'm not sure how well the character packs, in general, sell. I do know it's very difficult to find anything in the store with the search function currently disabled.

[Markdoc]

I put out a pack of Hero Designer files of all the monsters in the bestiary due to some interest I'd seen but it doesn't seem to be selling, I wonder if people just don't know its out there or aren't all that interested.

 

Probably a little from column A, a little from column B. Other friends who have published stuff with Hero have made similar comments. I'm a fan of HD personally, but with regard to sales, you are looking at a target market of "people who use Hero system, who also use HD, who also buy support material (primarily GMs) who are also running a fantasy game, who also want new monsters". There'll be a few exceptions (Star Hero GMs or MHI GMs, for example, who want new monsters/alien beasts) but that's your core market and to be perfectly honest, it's a pretty small one.

 

cheers, Mark

[Christopher R Taylor]

Getting more sales from the HDC pack last quarter, maybe just took some time to take off.

I got a really nice review for the Jolrhos Bestiary on RPGDrive Thru:

 

If you are the GM of a Fantasy HERO game, or really any heroic level HERO game that would benefit from monsters, you need this book. It is far better than any of the official bestiary, and includes many classic RPG monsters as well as a host of original creatures that will give you plenty of ideas. The art is rather naff, if charmingly old school, but that doesn't matter because what you care about is the write-ups, and they are very well done. The creatures are presented one to a page for easy printing, the mechanics are well done, and the background information given is actually useful.

TL;DR: This book is an essential for any Fantasy HERO GM's library. Buy it now.

 

[John Desmarais]

Probably a little from column A, a little from column B. Other friends who have published stuff with Hero have made similar comments. I'm a fan of HD personally, but with regard to sales, you are looking at a target market of "people who use Hero system, who also use HD, who also buy support material (primarily GMs) who are also running a fantasy game, who also want new monsters". There'll be a few exceptions (Star Hero GMs or MHI GMs, for example, who want new monsters/alien beasts) but that's your core market and to be perfectly honest, it's a pretty small one.

 

cheers, Mark

 

I think this probably hits the mark pretty close.  One of the constant hazards in the market is products that only appeal to a niche within the niche.  

[Christopher R Taylor]

Although these days I'd say its less a hazard than in the past.  Paperless electronic publication makes it much cheaper to get product on the "shelf" and keep it there and the size of the storage space combined with ease of searching makes it more useful to have small niches covered.  In other words, you can put out little products only a few people are interested in and not hurt yourself in terms of business because you're not taking up space that other more lucrative products might have been.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Hmm a bunch of the art went away so I replaced it with a different image storage site.  Hopefully these stick around.

[Ninja-Bear]

 

And now, a classic. I wanted to have these critters in my game, but not as clones of the old D&D monster. It always cracked me up that these things terrified players more than even a horrendous lethal monster like a dracolich. You can always get a res, but if your +3 sword of whupass got destroyed, its just gone! My version is based on a crab, and it is comfortable in water as well as land.

 

I like creatures of this sort, they give the GM a way of handling too much gear and giving players something to watch out for (and find ways to defeat differently).

 

Rust Beast

 

Val Char Cost

20 STR 10

13 DEX 6

17 CON 7

12 BOD 2

6 INT -4

10 EGO 0

18 PRE 8

17 PD 8

11 ED 4

3 SPD 10

7 REC 3

35 END 3

32 STN 6

 

OCV: 5

DCV: 4

OMCV: 3

DMCV: 3

 

10m RUN -2

6m SWIM 1

0m LEAP -2

Characteristics Cost: 75

 

Cost Power

6 Low, Dense Body: Knockback Resistance -6m

18 Dense Body: Resistant Protection (7 PD/5 ED)

4 Rust Effect: Resistant Protection (4 PD) (6 Active Points); Only vs weapons that can rust (-1/2)

16 Sense Metal: Detect Metal 11-/10- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Range, Sense

5 Heat Sight: Infrared Perception (Sight Group)

3 Keen Senses: +1 PER with all Sense Groups

6 Aquatic: Life Support (Breathe Water; Safe in High Pressure)

8 Digger: Tunneling 4m through 4 PD material (12 Active Points); Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2)

10 Bite: Killing Attack - Ranged 1/2d6

18 Rust Touch: Drain BODY 3d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (37 Active Points); Only vs ferrous metal (-1/2), No Range (-1/2)

20 Rust Form: Drain BODY 2d6, Damage Shield (+1/4), Persistent (+1/4), Constant (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (50 Active Points); Only vs ferrous metal (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Always On (-1/2)

Powers Cost: 114

 

Pts Skills

4 Combat Skill Levels: +2 OCV to hit foci with Rust Touch

Skills Cost: 4

 

Total Character Cost: 193

 

Pts. Complication

15 Physical Complication: Animal Intelligence (Frequently; Slightly Impairing)

10 Physical Complication: No Fine Manipulation (Infrequently; Slightly Impairing)

10 Negative Reputation: Hated, Frequently (Extreme; Known Only To A Small Group)

Complication Points: 35

 

 

Ecology: Rust Beasts are crablike creatures that dwell primarily underground and in caves. They can be found rarely in ruins and other dark, lost places, but only near water of some sort. Rust Beasts lay clutches of dozens of eggs that are encased in a metallic shell, then forget them. The young that hatch eat their way through the metal and consume it as their first meal, then face life alone.

 

Personality/Motivation: Rust Beasts are animals and have typical animal motivations. They do seem unusually attracted to metals and lust after them even to a self destructive degree.

 

Powers/Tactics: Rust Beasts attack by tapping a piece of metal with a long antennae-like appendage. This causes instantaneous rusting in the immediate area, sufficient to utterly destroy some items. Each time an item is touched, it rusts more until it is corroded so completely it falls to pieces and is devoured happily by the Rust Beast. Rust Beasts are able to bite for a modest amount of damage as well, and will do that if cornered or frightened.

 

Rust Beasts tend to corrode any metal that comes into contact with them in any vigor, such as hitting them. This can be damaging to weapons, especially over time. Note, inanimate objects never recover drained Body, so they must be healed magically or repaired. So the rusting damage that the Beasts do stays, weakening items permanently. Rust Beasts are fairly durable, especially against the metals they can rust.

 

Campaign Use: Rust Beasts are a method of limiting equipment escalation and damaging gear requiring cost and time to repair. However, they also are an excellent guardian for areas or items. Players often seem unwilling to attack and are more frightened of this creature than something significantly more dangerous.

 

Rust Beast Chitin has a high level of metal in it and is 25% heavier than normal but grants +1 rPD

 

Appearance: A Rust Beast looks much like a very large horseshoe crab, over four feet across. From the head extend two large antennae, and the whole thing is a brownish red rusty color.

 

 

I could see this as a bane of dwarven mines. Could they infest mines?

[Christopher R Taylor]

That would definitely annoy miners, having these things show up and eat their way through your ore.

[CaptnStrawberry]

But wait!  Spock would show up, commune with the beasties, and work out a compromise (perhaps the dwarves would leave junk ore in designated spots).  Oops, wrong genre.

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.  I like that is seems biologically possible, unlike that positively goofy D&D critter.

[Scott Baker]

But wait!  Spock would show up, commune with the beasties, and work out a compromise (perhaps the dwarves would leave junk ore in designated spots).  Oops, wrong genre.

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.  I like that is seems biologically possible, unlike that positively goofy D&D critter.

Based off of a plastic toy.

[Christopher R Taylor]

No kill I!  But feed me your phaser.

[NuSoardGraphite]

How come the Ylmanitar have no skills? They get three languuages and thats it? No social skills? No athletic skills? What do the fnnish myths say about the air maidens in the regard? Do they like to sing and dance?

[Christopher R Taylor]

All the monsters have a lot more skills than are listed, but it wasn't worth the space or the points to give orcs folk dancing and pottery making.  I tried to strip the monsters down to what would be worth reasonable point value when interacting with characters, and assumed any cultural or personal stuff the GM could fill in.