A Cat of Tindalos

A Cat of Tindalos

Sunday, December 27, 2015

New Monster

Rathtar (Group, Large, Planar, Terrifying)
Bite (d8+2 damage) 10 HP, 1 armor
Forceful, Near
Special Qualities: Ravenous and relentless

("You're not hauling rathtars?" "I'm hauling rathtars." ―Finn and Han Solo}

Rathtars were large, octopus-like creatures that slithered on land. They were very dangerous creatures known for hunting in packs.

Instinct: Consume!

(From Star Wars: The Force Awakens) 


Red Mercury

Red Mercury: Urban  Legend

Safi al-Safi, an unaffiliated rebel and small-time smuggler specializing in weapons, antiquities and forged documents, sat in an open-air cafe beside the Syrian-Turkish border. He was smoking scented tobacco from a water pipe while discussing the cross-border mercury trade. ‘‘Red mercury has a red color, and there is mercury that has the color of dark blood,’’ he said. ‘‘And there is green mercury, which is used for sexual enhancement, and silver mercury is used for medical purposes. The most expensive type is called Blood of the Slaves, which is the darkest type. Magicians use it to summon jinni.’’

Another smuggler, Faysal, who said he was awaiting results of vetting by the United States government to join a Pentagon-backed force opposing the Islamic State (the program has since been dropped), continued the lesson. ‘‘It has two different types: hot and cold,’’ he said. The cold form, which other smugglers sometimes call ‘‘spiritual mercury,’’ he said, ‘‘can be found in Roman graveyards.’’ He added: ‘‘Kings and princes and sultans used to take it to the graves with them.’’

This type of red mercury, the smugglers said, has been recovered by Middle Eastern grave robbers for at least several decades. ‘‘In previous generations, old women wore it in a necklace to keep the devil’s eye away,’’ Faysal said. More recently, rich men shopped for cold red mercury as either an aphrodisiac or to improve their sexual performance.”

--The Doomsday Scam by C. J. CHIVERS (New York Times Magazine 11/19/15)

“Red mercury is a hoax substance of uncertain composition purportedly used in the creation of nuclear bombs, as well as a variety of unrelated weapons systems. It is purported to be mercuric iodide, a poisonous, odorless, tasteless, water-insoluble scarlet-red powder that becomes yellow when heated above 126 °C, due to a thermo chromatic change in crystalline structure. However, samples of "red mercury" obtained from arrested would-be terrorists invariably consisted of nothing more than various red dyes or powders of little value, which some suspect was being sold as part of a campaign intended to flush out potential nuclear smugglers. The hoax was first reported in 1979 and was commonly discussed in the media in the 1990s. Prices as high as $1,800,000 per kilogram were reported…” 
-Wikipedia

Red Mercury: Magical Items in Dungeon World

Vial of Red Mercury:    5,000 coins (often illegal) (Defy Danger or 2d8d if drunk)
Vial of Green Mercury: 1,000 coins (Defy Danger or 2d6d if drunk)
Vial of Spiritual Red Mercury:   500 coins (Defy Danger or 2d6d if drunk)
Long term exposure to any material amount of mercury is toxic.

Green Mercury Charisma Potion
Raises the Player’s Charisma to 18 until camp is next made.

Spiritual or Roman Red Mercury Graveyard Phial
A specially prepares small phial buried next to a corpse will prevent it from becoming an undead creature. The substance is poisonous if drunk (Defy Danger +CON and vomit or 2d6d)

Red Mercury Protective Amulet
Adds a +1 to all Defy Danger rolls.

Red Mercury Compass
This item will always point in the direct of the largest amount of gold nearby (GM discretion).

Red Mercury Summoning Incense            1 use          (Wizard only)
Use of this item will summon a Jinni that will serve the wizard until it is slain or dismissed.
When the ritual is complete roll+WIS:
On a 10+ the Jinni serves faithfully
On a 7-9 the Jinni serves unhappily and will seek to subvert the commands of the wizard.
On a 6 or less the Jinni attacks.

Red Mercury Jinni                                                                                                                                              Group, Large, Magical, Planar

Flame (d8+1 damage, ignores armor)
HP: 14
Armor: 4
Close, Reach
"Stop rubbing that lamp, apprentice! I do not care what you believe; it will not grant you a wish. I brought you here to show you something real, something true. See this mural? It shows the ancient city. The true city that came before. They called it Ubar or Irem of the Pillars and it was made of brass by the spirits. They had golem servants and human lovers and, in that day, it was said you could trade them a life for a favor... your life my faithful, young and very foolish, apprentice." 

Instinct: To burn!

Friday, December 18, 2015

Custom Move

Greek Fire Trap or Weapon Revised

(+ 2 to defuse if  trap if the player knows or can define historical "greek fire" to the GM's satisfaction)

When a trap or weapon spurts its ancient napalm fire at you, ROLL+DEX.

On a 10+, you find suitable cover.

On a 7-9, you dodged but choose 1 anyway:

Your weapon melts on your hand.
Your armor burns and leaves you breathless for a while.
Say goodbye to your backpack.

On a 6-, you must choose one and take 2d6 damage from the flames.

New Monster

Tomb Herd      (Solitary, Intelligent, Planar)
Strike (b[2d12] damage) 19 HP       4 Armor
Close, Far
Special Qualities: Can warp a small amount of space time (Serves Yog-Soggoth)

A Tomb Herd is a collective of extra-dimensional beings that feast on spirits in crypts by possessing a large existing statue. Its mastery of warping space time means a party can not flee an attacking Tomb Herd unless it allows that to happen. If the enhanced statute is somehow destroyed the collective will flee this plane of existence.

Instinct: Guards tombs and feeds on spirits

Crush
Party cannot flee
Can Teleport short distances

Monster inspired by the Mythos story The Tomb Herd by Ramsay Campbell and the "Weeping Angels" of Doctor Who

Monday, December 14, 2015

New Monster

Byakhee                                                                                         Group, Planar
Claws (d10+2 damage 1 piercing)            10 HP                                 1 Armor
Close, Far

Byakhee are interstellar predators that travel the vacuum of space by means of an organ called a "hune". This organ, located in the thorax of the creature, allows the creature to greatly surpass the speed of light by unknown means. The creature can also survive the interstellar vacuum unaided. If one had the means by which to survive the myriad threats space presents, than one could ride a Byakhee to anywhere in the cosmos. When travelling beyond the speed of light, the creature's metabolism is greatly increased. When descending to the surface of any given planet, it is usually to feed; it is best avoided. While on the earth's surface, Byakhee can fly at speeds up to 70 kph. The "hune" also allows them to hover on a planet's surface, using their wings for movement.

Instinct: Swoop!

Creature of the Void
Often serves Cthulhu Mythos Masters (Hastur)

Summon and Bind Byakhee for a Journey Ritual (Wizard)
Used for interstellar flight on the back of byakhee (with space mead)
Roll + Wisdom:
On a 10+ You arrive safely at your destination
7-9: You arrive near your destination
6 or less: You arrive at a location of the the Byakhee's choice.
You're in trouble.


Space Mead : A drug which places its users into a state of suspended animation. Used for interstellar flight on the backs of byakhee.

This particular recipe for Space Mead is particularly refined, primarily created with the use of giant moth pheromones, gorgon eyes , and whatever else you might like to imagine. This produces a fine, pinkish powder. When a dose of about 500 mgs is mixed with alcohol, a "dose" is created. This recipe was developed alchemist who discovered the original recipe in Golden Goblin version of Nameless Cults, which he purchased expecting hobgoblin erotica.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Hand of Glory

The Hand of Glory is the dried and pickled hand of a man who has been hanged, often specified as being the left (Latin: sinister) hand, or, if the man were hanged for murder, the hand that "did the deed."

Old European beliefs attribute great powers to a Hand of Glory combined with a candle made from fat from the corpse of the same malefactor who died on the gallows.

When the fingers of the Hand close around the proper candle (see above) and the Candle is lit, the Hand has the following powers:

• Any normally locked door, gate, portal, safe, etc. in the Candle light unlocks itself. 

• When the wielder utters an incantation (usually given as “Let all those who should be asleep be asleep, and let those who should be awake be awake.”) the Hand will cast a Sleep spell as if it was a wizard of the wielder’s level. If the wielder's wizard level would be too low then the power may not be used.

• The Candle flares up blue in the presence of secret doors, buried treasure, etc. and its light reveals any invisible creature or item.

Friday, November 13, 2015

The Man in the High Castle: Really enjoying this show

The Man in the High Castle (EW Review by Jeff Jensen)
Genre: drama, Sci-fi, Thriller; Starring: Arnold Chun, Luke Kleintank, Bernhard Forcher; Broadcaster: Amazon; Status: In Season; Seasons: 1

Posted November 12 2015 — 9:00 AM EST

A woman glimpses a better world and embarks on a journey to understand its mystery. Her adventure is ours, too, but with an ironic twist: The Man in the High Castle seizes our attention with a terrible world—though a creative cut above the usual pop culture dystopia—and gradually wins our emotions with increasingly poignant characters. The series is a bold leap into big-saga TV for Amazon and expands the scope of high-concept existentialism typified by series like The Leftovers and The Returned. It’s serious-minded sci-fi that’s stylish and strange and soulful, and only grows more rewarding over time.

Adapted by Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files) from the novel by Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle gives us an alternate reality where the Axis, not the Allies, won World War II. The year is 1962. The Eastern United States, controlled by Germany, is a rigorously policed Aryan utopia. The West seems pluralistic, but it’s all Japanese hegemony and conformity. Bravura establishing shots capture the imagination. Times Square is glitzy with neon Nazi pop. Market Street in San Francisco is a bustle of imperial culture. It’s the deeply considered details that sell you. A Nazi version of Dragnet is a hit. “Heil Hitler!” has become a chillingly glib, perfunctory greeting. In a heartbreaker of a scene, Frank (Rupert Evans), alienated from his Jewish roots, weeps as prayers are said for his executed family. His sorrow isn’t just for his loss, but for an identity he doesn’t know, and couldn’t express if he did.

Our heroine is Juliana (Alexa Davalos), a Westerner who comes into possession of a stunning forbidden newsreel, produced by an elusive subversive known as the Man in the High Castle, showing a world where the Allies, not the Axis, won WWII. Inspirational fantasy? Cruel hoax? Does this universe exist? Can it be reached? Chasing answers sends her into a post-apocalyptic wasteland between East and West, where she meets Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank), a [description redacted due to spoilers]. The oppressor characters, complex and conflicted and very well played, nurture slow-simmering intrigues: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Revenge) as a somber, peace-seeking trade minister catalyzes a subplot involving Cold War tensions between Japan and Germany and a power struggle that looms due to Hitler’s declining health. Rufus Sewell (A Knight’s Tale) as Obergruppenführer John Smith initially comes off as one of those charismatically sinister Nazis, but the story and the actor make the most of every opportunity to humanize him while keeping him menacing and mercurial. He’s playing games. To what end?

The season’s first act suffers from drag and flawed strategies for holding our attention. An assassination plot feels forced. A mannered bounty hunter (Burn Gorman) chasing Juliana is a hoot that stretches the show’s tone, perhaps too far. But then TMITHC recharges with new intrigues and shuffled relationships. Juliana, Frank, and Joe—changed by tragedy, failure, and fate—acquire more complex motivations for their search for truth. “It has to be about something more,” Juliana says at a key point in her progressively Kafkaesque odyssey. She might be wrong. But she, like The Man in the High Castle, finds meaning in the journey.

Durin's Song




Mewlip Video


The Mewlips (Poem) by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Shadows where the Mewlips dwell
Are dark and wet as ink,
And slow and softly rings their bell,
As in the slime you sink.

You sink into the slime, who dare
To knock upon their door,
While down the grinning gargoyles stare
And noisome waters pour.

Beside the rotting river-strand
The drooping willows weep,
And gloomily the gorcrows stand
Croaking in their sleep.

Over the Merlock Mountains a long and weary way,
In a mouldy valley where the trees are grey,
By a dark pool's borders without wind or tide,
Moonless and sunless, the Mewlips hide.

The cellars where the Mewlips sit
Are deep and dank and cold
With single sickly candle lit;
And there they count their gold.

Their walls are wet, their ceilings drip;
Their feet upon the floor
Go softly with a squish-flap-flip,
As they sidle to the door.

They peep out slyly; through a crack
Their feeling fingers creep,
And when they've finished, in a sack
Your bones they take to keep.

Beyond the Merlock Mountains, a long and lonely road,
Through the spider-shadows and the marsh of Tode,
And through the wood of hanging trees and gallows-weed,
You go to find the Mewlips - and the Mewlips feed.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

T-Rex: As if they weren't scary enough

A tyrannosaur bone uncovered in Wyoming’s Lance Formation, broken at both ends, was covered in “very deep groves”, paleontologist Matthew McLain of Loma Linda University said in a release. In 2010, other tyrannosaur bones were found with marks that could only have been made by another large, carnivorous dinosaur, with the tyrannosaurs being the only species of that type in the area.

The scientists say, a newly uncovered T-rex bone fossils researchings shows to a 66-million-year-old tyrannosaurus dinosaur suggests that one of the most ferocious creatures to walk the earth were cannibalistic, .

Paleontologist Matthew McLain from Loma Linda University in California, United States said in a statement that they were out in Wyoming and were carrying out excavation in the Lance Formation.

“It’s exciting that we are able to learn so much from just a broken bone with a few scratches on it. A century ago, people would have found this and just chucked it”, he said. It was covered in grooves.

The grooves clearly suggest that a few animal pulled the flesh off the bone. Researchers also noticed that the groove was located at the larger end, also it had several smaller parallel grooves near the larger one which could only be caused by the diner’s head turning when serrated edges of teeth moved across the bone.

Those serrated teeth mean the animal eating the tyrannosaur was most likely another theropod dinosaur, “and the width of the larger grooves suggests the traces were made by a tyrannosaur”, researchers write.

The fact that the only large theropods found in the Lance Formation are two tyrannosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex or Nanotyrannus lancensis – eliminates all interpretations but cannibalism, McLain explained.

“This has to be a tyrannosaur”, McLain.

 Source: Science & Nature magazine

New evidence that will be presented at Geological Society of America in Baltimore on November 1 suggests the T-Rex was a cannibal.

While examining the grooves, researchers observed that the mark was obtained while pulling the flesh off the bone.

McLain said: “Exactly who did the eating that day, in the Late Cretaceous, could still be sorted out by the same grooves”.

This approach has been used on tyrannosaurs, and McLain thinks it will work in this case, too. “And since tyrannosauruses are the only large predators in these formations, it’s pretty straightforward”. “We can now say, ‘we know what animal this came from, we know what animal was doing the biting.’ It gives us hints as to what they were up to, what their diet was – we can understand their biology more”.

It isn’t the first time that researchers have pointed towards cannibal instinct in T-Rex. They would eat their own kind.

The hunting is going to be better if you eat the other hunters.


Source: Science and Nature Magazine

Friday, October 30, 2015

3 Fiendish Funnel Starters

Three new frightening Funnel Starters by Mark Tygart, perfect for kicking off a Halloween session of Funnel World!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/164249/3-Fiendish-Funnel-Starters?src=slider_view

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Friday, October 16, 2015

New Dungeon World Compendium Class: Dunsany Dreamer

Dunsany Dreamer
If you travel to the Dreamlands and return safely; converse with a tribe of Zoogs uneaten or read the scared scrolls of Hypnos and are not driven mad you may take the following move when you next level up:

Astral Projection                                                          
When you project your mind from your body choose two to describe your mind’s form (it’s always insubstantial):
•  It’s invisible
•  It moves quickly
•  Its senses are not clouded
Your mental form can roam the physical world for as long as you like. While it does your body lies comatose. While in your mental form you have no access to your body’s senses.
Once you've taken "Astral Projection," the following moves count as class moves for you. In addition to your normal list of moves you may choose from this list when you level up:

There is no Spoon
You have a ward that is proof against arcane magic. This could be something you wear, like a bracelet or an amulet, or it could be a procedure of limited duration—a potion you prepare, symbols painted on
your skin, etc. When you are targeted by magic while under the protection of your ward, roll+CON.
On a 10+, you are unaffected by the magic.
On a 7-9, you can either suffer the effect to a lesser degree or
exhaust yourself and mark debility of your choice.

Life is Just a Dream
When you take your Last Breath, Death will always offer you a bargain, even on a 6-. If you don't keep your end of it, you'll still live, but Death will claim your soul the next time you are reduced to 0 HP.

Knowledge From Dreams
When a subject evokes the hazy memory of a portentous dream, you can sprout lore with WIS instead of INT.

Imaginary Friend
Your contract grants you dominion over a summoned Dreamlands creature. It is a Hireling that
follows your orders to the best of its abilities, describe it.
Choose a base:
* Protector +1, Warrior +2, Loyalty +2
* Adept +2, Priest +1, Loyalty +2
* Burglar +1, Tracker +2, Loyalty +2
* Minstrel +2, Warrior +1, Loyalty +2

If it dies or is otherwise unavailable, it summons itself to your side on the next sunset, alive and unharmed.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

The Gibbelin Job

Where is Danny Ocean when you need him? A new Dungeon Starter....
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9TzRoSEdGdGJFclk/view?usp=sharing

New Monster: Gibbelin Horde

Gibbelin Horde                        Solitary, Hoarder

A flurry of blows (d8x2 damage)            20 HP

Close, Reach, Far

Special Qualities: 3x normal health. Every health lost kills a zombie. -1 dmg for every gibbelin lost.

“The Gibbelins eat, as is well known, nothing less good than man. Their evil tower is joined to Terra Cognita, to the lands we know, by a bridge. Their hoard is beyond reason; avarice has no use for it; they have a separate cellar for emeralds and a separate cellar for sapphires; they have filled a hole with gold and dig it up when they need it. And the only use that is known for their ridiculous wealth is to attract to their larder a continual supply of food. In times of famine they have even been known to scatter rubies abroad, a little trail of them to some city of Man, and sure enough their larders would soon be full again.

Their tower stands on the other side of that river known to Homer—ho rhoos okeanoio, as he called it—which surrounds the world. And where the river is narrow and fordable the tower was built by the Gibbelins' gluttonous sires, for they liked to see burglars rowing easily to their steps. Some nourishment that common soil has not the huge trees drained there with their colossal roots from both banks of the river.”

“There the Gibbelins live and are discreditably fed.”

–Lord Dunsany

· Ambush with abandon and much gusto

· Lures with gems, jewels and semiprecious stones

· Inhabits the “Gibbelin Tower”

Special Rules: Fighting a Gibbelin Horde

When you fight the Horde, roll 2d6+STR:
10+ choose 2
7-9 choose 1


You avoid being caught by the horde
You land a meaningful hit, roll damage against the horde
You maintain your position in the face of the horde
You help another person escape the gibbelins

When you're caught by Gibbelins, roll 2d6+STR:

10+ You escape their grasp
7-9 You aren't mauled or eviscerated, but they worsen your position - pin you down, take a weapon away, etc.
6- The horde tears you to shreds and feasts upon your bits (roll Last Breath).

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Saturday, September 19, 2015

24 Dungeon Starters and counting....


Everything in a single google file:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7cav44145d9fklDd3p3TFFhbU1NZ0JUTlhQcDJOYUlhUUxDZHdTWlF1eElRTUlyWVRfQ0U&usp=sharing


1.The Frozen Perils of Shipwreck Bay
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9U1ZGU1dQY3JKV0k/view?usp=sharing

2.Hidden Sewer Lair of the Pied Piper
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9Vi1jZWJRWHAyTFk/view?usp=sharing

3. Raiders of the Forsaken Temple
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9STVCMTJ6WGFBbUk/view?usp=sharing

4.Terrible Secret of the Black Galleon
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9aUtUcFhBYmIyc00/view?usp=sharing

5.Catacombs of the Black Kremlin
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9dGY1djV6QkJvMkU/view?usp=sharing

6. The Forgotten Treasures of Goblin Lake
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9aGhZeTZDSmF1Wk0/view?usp=sharing

7. Pyramid of the Spider
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9RTBIaUNZR2RtdTQ/view?usp=sharing

8. Valley of the Lost
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9dzJULXc3ZnY5dG8/view?usp=sharing

9.The Treasure Pit
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9WFF5VkdDU08wVFk/view?usp=sharing

10.Lost City of Pillars
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9dVJIckxtVjdDNUk/view?usp=sharing

11. Mistah Kurtz's Jungle Emporium and Inn
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9OWd3eUFVTVFxSk0/view?usp=sharing

12. Ziggurat of Madness
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9ZWpIZ1lHMG1DRjA/view?usp=sharing

13. City of Thieves

14. Festival

15. Strangers in a Strange Land

16. Tower of Ice

17. Past Midnight in the Garden of Evil

18. Fungal Forest

19. Fallen Star

20. Castle Death

21. Trollstone Caverns

22. Sorcerer's Tomb

23. A Sacrifice for a Mosasaurus

24. Sunless Depths

Friday, September 18, 2015

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

The Treasure Pit

This Dungeon Starter was inspired by the Legends of Oak Island and the Money Pit:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9WFF5VkdDU08wVFk/view?usp=sharing

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Catacombs of the Black Kremlin

For your consideration, as Mr. Rod Serling would say...another Dungeon world adventure starter.
(Feedback always welcome!)


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9dGY1djV6QkJvMkU/view?usp=sharing