Staff of Shifting Sands Dungeon World Adventure Conversion

The Dungeon World Conversion: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1buO9riIvvxh7Pr_aLPsGltenbeuEOl2r/view?usp=sharing

The Classic One Page Dungeon:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ubZmmfqG1gKrIg3RowV7SKX26njfalpY/view?usp=sharing

Happy Holiday Delving!

Grom’s Undoing  for Dungeon World!

Conversion Notes for Dungeon World by Mark Tygart 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sxu199V7NlvIgbP7mPDtKwIIyRhcu98l

Of The Ruination of Tenamen a classic one page dungeon by Simon Bull 

https://campaignwiki.org/1pdc/2010/Simon%20Bull%20%e2%80%93%20The%20Ruination%20Of%20Tenamen.pdf 

                                                                                                                                   

Great Quotes

"It was Moloch upon the mountain of the Latins, looking with his appalling face across the plain; it was Baal who trampled the vineyards with his feet of stone; it was the voice of Tanit the invisible, behind her trailing veils, whispering of the love that is more horrible than hate."

G. K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man (referencing the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage)

In Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin there is an epigraph on a Carthaginian funerary urn that reads: "I swam, the sea was boundless, I saw no shore. / Tanit was merciless, my prayers were answered. / O you who drown in love, remember me."

By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro /, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53809379

New Monster-of-the-Week Creature

Name: Penanggalan
Type: Devourer (Desires to consume people) Powers: Body Separation, Blood Drain, Flight
Weaknesses: Fire, Decapitation
Attacks: Slam 2-harm close 2-harm area, Blood Drain 3-harm intimate restraining
Harm: 5 ☐☐☐☐☐ | 0 armor

The Penanggalan or 'Hantu Penanggal' is a creature of Southeast Asian folk mythology. "Penanggal" or "Penanggalan" literally means "detach" or "remove".

According to the folklore of that region, the Penanggalan is a detached female head capable of flying about on its own. As it flies, the stomach and entrails dangle below it, and these organs twinkle like fireflies as the Penanggalan moves through the night. In Malaysian folklore, a Penanggal may be either a beautiful old or young woman who obtained her beauty through the active use of black magic, supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means which are most commonly described in local folklores to be dark or demonic in nature. Due to the common theme of Penanggal being the result of active use of black magic or supernatural means, a Penanggal cannot be readily classified as a classical undead being. The creature is, for all intents and purposes, a living human being during daytime or at any time when it does not detach itself from its body. Sometimes they are depicted as able to move their intestines when exposed like tentacles.

A Penanggal is said to feed on human blood although local folklore (including its variations) commonly agrees that a Penanggal prefers the blood of a newborn infant, the blood of woman who recently gave birth or the placenta (which is devoured by the Penanggal after it is buried). All folktales also agree that a Penanggal flies as it searches and lands to feed. Once the Penanggal leaves its body and is safely away, it may be permanently destroyed by either pouring pieces of broken glass into the empty neck cavity, which will sever the internal organs of the Penanggal when it reattaches to the body; or by sanctifying the body and then destroying it by cremation or by somehow denying the Penanggal from reattaching to its body upon sunrise.

Revised Spiders of Ygiiz (Thanks to Logan Howard!)

Spider of Ygiiz	Group, Small, Devious, Planar
Grapple Attack	6 HP	1 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Grapple Attack

Among the first beings drawn through Ogo’s starry portal,the Spiders are not arachnids in the true sense. Spiders most resemble enormous six-legged ticks, the size of large hounds. The Spiders are perfectly black, so dark that they reflect no light whatsoever, appearing as only the absence of any color,as if reality itself had been cut away in the Spider’s form. The Spiders wait for the PCs to enter the darkened garden before attacking—springing through the air and bearing their victims to the ground. The touch of the Spiders is as cold as the void, searing targets with frostbite.A successful attack by a Spider of Ygiiz indicates the PC is grappled.If the player does not Defy Danger+DEX; the a Spider tears freezing chunks out of its victim, permitting a swarm of local natural spiders to swarm into the wound, eager to please their extraplanar allies.The Spider will Ygiiz makes a final attack attempt, crushing the spiders infesting the wound, releasing a flood of toxins (Defy danger versus DEX to escape). The target cannot be roused by allies from the toxic coma and only awakens with a successful Defy Danger versus CON save.The target may make three Defy CON attempts to awaken, but after three failed checks, the PC dies (Last Breath roll). Adapted from the classic DCC adventure "The Jeweler that Dealt in Stardust" by Harley Stroh. Instinct: Serve Ygiiz, the Demon Spider-Mother

• Grapple Prey
• Command Spider Swarm
• Infect Prey

Underdark Inspiration

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/233145/Operation-Unfathomable?src=hottest_filtered&filters=0_2110_0_0_0



Kickstarter Video: https://ksr-video.imgix.net/projects/2665113/video-712464-h264_high.mp4

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/209509/Veins-of-the-Earth

2017 ENNIE nominations for Best Monster/Adversary, Best Rules, Best Writing, and Product of the Year!

New Monster of the Week Mystery: Escape from Carcosa

https://drive.google.com/open?id=18LKroCrHC6qTXA9FLlCnp2Q10FUztBOL

Dungeon World Adventure Location Conversion:Can't Sleep—Clowns Will Eat Me

Can't Sleep—Clowns Will Eat Me 

http://trilemma.com/blog/adventures/41%20Clowns.pdf

Monsters

Doppelganger, Carnival	Solitary, Devious, Intelligent
Dagger (d4 damage)	10 HP	0 Armor
Close
Special Qualities: Shape shifting

Their natural form, if you ever see it, is hideous. Like a creature who stopped growing part-way, before it decided it was elf or man or dwarf. These Doppelgangers wander the world as inhabitants of a carnival or circus, preying on the weak and gullible whenever they go; often in the employ of a stronger monster. They like to keep intelligent mimics as pets and servants.

Instinct: To infiltrate

• Assume distorted forms from a mirror maze
• Use another’s identity to advantage
• Consume the weak

Dream Eater	Solitary, Stealthy
Bite (d10 damage)	16 HP	0 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Incorporeal

A powerful psychic monster lurks among circus performers. In its natural form, it appears as a dense cloud of darkness with glints of tiny metal spikes and the sound of something smacking its teeth. With a manipulative and deceptive nature and resistance to mind-affecting magics, it is a challenging foe and can only be found in a corrupted Circus. It makes its lair in the Circus' mirror maze and drives a town mad by preventing anyone from sleeping. Its sole drive is to sow confusion and to heighten the circus visitor’s fear, paranoia, and madness so it may safely consume a community's restful sleep until everyone is dead. It has three powers: • Mimic: Appear as anyone who has gone through the Mirror Maze • Amplify: Amplify another’s emotional state so others can feel it. • Hallucinate: Cause someone’s hallucinations to manifest as illusions experienced by everyone. It may only be damaged by magic and magic weapons. 

Instinct: Creates Madness

• Consumes Sleep
• Casts Illusions and Emotions
• Based on a monster in an Adventure Location by Stephanie Bryant "CAN’T SLEEP—CLOWNS WILL EAT ME"

Intelligent Mimic	Solitary, Stealthy, Amorphous
Bite (d10 damage)	12 HP	1 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Shapeshifter, Take an enticing form

Mimics are natural predators, born by magical means that will eat just about anything that touches them. As shapeshifters, capable of perfectly replicating the appearance of wood, stone, and metal; Mimics commonly take on the form of stairs, door frames, chest, and many other shapes. These mutant mimics though are not only capable of greater intelligence, but even of tactics and speech. Intelligent mimics care only to feed themselves, but what the food is doesn't matter to them, and smaller specimens will gladly let an adventurer go by unscratched in exchange for a bag of food. Such bribes can also be used to gain information or even guidance though a dungeon. 

(Based on a Dungeon World Tavern monster posted by Patrick Schenk). 

Instinct: Satisfy Hunger

• Bargain information for food
• Take an enticing form
• Ensnare with tongue

Magical Item

Dream Eater’s Crown (Weight: 1)

The wearer can project powerful illusions for a short period of time, but doing so takes a mental toll. Every time the Crown is used the wearer must Roll+INT. On a 10+ the Illusion succeeds, on a 7-9 the illusion succeeds but the wearer must make camp before the item can be use again, on a fail the illusion is obviously an illusion and will only fool the foolish and gullible. (Think of it as very bad CGI).

New Dungeon World Monster: Gray Philosopher

Gray Philosopher	Solitary, Devious
None (Malices: 1d4d each)	16 HP	0 armor
Far (Malices)
Special Qualities: Undead, Incorporeal

A Gray Philosopher is the undead spirit of an evil cleric who died with some important philosophical deliberation yet unresolved in his or her mind. In its undead state, this creature does nothing but ponder these weighty matters. The gray philosopher appears as a seated, smoke-colored, insubstantial figure swathed in robes. It always seems deep in thought. Flying through the air surrounding the philosopher are a number (1d8) of tiny, luminous, wispy creatures known as Malices. They have vaguely human faces, gaping maws, and spindly, clawed hands. These vindictive creatures are actually the philosopher’s evil thoughts, which have taken on substance and a will of their own. The Gray Philosopher cannot be turned by a cleric but has no attack of its own; it will not defend itself. Unlike the philosopher, Malices constantly search for victims on which to vent their petty but eternal spite. Malices do not stray more than 120 feet from their philosopher but may pass through the narrowest of openings in their ceaseless flight. A malice immune to being turned and may not be damaged while its creator exists. However, all these creatures vanish instantly if their philosopher is destroyed. When a Gray Philosopher falls to 0hp, it looks up with an expression of malicious enlightenment on its face, then vanishes with a lingering shriek of evil delight. 

Instinct: Creates Malices

• Ponders
• Generates 1d8 malices
• Only damaged by magic or enchanted weapons
• Will dissolve if given solution to problem

New Dungeon World Adventure Conversion: Shambling Throne of the Death Cult King

Will Doyle's classic one page adventure: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1W-4IrcB8Elb_xUsDYO3U2x1J6GJoDnmG

My Dungeon World Conversion: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1evg6DA2MVYxIuDliYCav2Bm3uGoQk7cz

Dungeon World Monster

Cave Fisher	Solitary, Stealthy, Hoarder
Claws (d12 damage)	12 HP	3 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Blindsight, Fire does double damage, Silence spells stun

A cave fisher is a lobster-like monster which inhabits subterranean locations and ambushes its prey using a sticky filament similar to a strand of giant spider silk. Cave fishers grow to about seven feet (2.1 meters) long and have a hard, chitinous shell arranged in overlapping armor. It has eight legs and two forelimbs that end in large pincers. Living underground, cave fishers are sightless creatures that use multiple auditory sensor organs to detect prey. These organs are located on the head and could be mistaken for multiple eyes. The creature has a large proboscis from which it shot a long (up to 60 feet or 18 meters) sticky filament.

The cave fisher hides on ledges above passageways and hunts by emitting a long strand of sticky filament, either dangling it to catch passing creatures such as bats, or shooting it at a creature as it wanders by. They can also secrete their adhesive onto their feet and anchor themselves to a ledge, wall, or ceiling once they found a good hunting location. To release themselves, they secret a substance from their proboscis that contained their blood that dissolves the adhesive.

Cave fishers can attack any creature up to man-sized, but are intelligent enough to avoid large groups, preferring to pick off scouts, loners, and stragglers. On a successful attack, the victim is stuck to the cave fisher's filament and slowly drawn up to the cave fisher's level where it is attacked with the two front pincers. Cave fishers can reel in victims weighing up to 200 or possibly 400 lbs (91 to 182 kg). Their filament is very difficult to cut, sometimes even requiring a magically enhanced blade, and any failure to do so resulted in the blade being stuck fast. 

Cave fishers have flammable blood and therefore were very adverse to fire. Casting silence on a cave fisher makes it freeze in place as it listens intently, attacking only (and much less effectively) if it is attacked first.

 Instinct: Consume

• Ambush
• Capture with Sticky filament
• Devour

Is it Grimdark, or is it Horror?

by T. Frohock

This isn’t the first time I’ve discussed the grimdark. I keep worrying the subject, like a bad hangnail. Part of it is because whenever a discussion arises about grimdark, I am asked to participate. I’ve noticed some readers tend to see an overlap between grimdark and horror. While there are numerous similarities between the two, grimdark and horror are not the same.

Since I don’t write grimdark—I write dark fantasy (what Charles L. Grant called “quiet horror”)—I wanted to discover the characteristics that sets horror apart from grimdark. However, before I could understand the differences between the two, I had to begin with clear definitions as to what constitutes horror and grimdark.


Horror is defined as literature which is written with the intention of inflicting the emotions of fear or terror. Not many will disagree with that definition. Horror can then be divided into two very broad camps of either supernatural horror or psychological thrillers. Since psychological thrillers tend to have no fantastical elements, I’m confining my discussion to the differences between supernatural horror and grimdark.

Unlike horror, grimdark doesn’t fall neatly into one clean definition. Whenever people are asked to define grimdark, the discussion frequently rolls around words like “gritty,” “nihilistic,” “realistic,” before finally descending into the classic pornography/obscenity argument: “I know it when I see it.”

I did discover two often cited definitions for grimdark—though I consider both of these definitions to be flawed.

The first comes from the Urban Dictionary, which defines grimdark as:

“An adjective taken from the root words of grim and darkness, both of which are featured in the tagline for Warhammer 40,000: ‘In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.’ It is usually used to describe a setting that would equal poor living conditions and life expectancies for those actually living in it.”

Of course, “… a setting that would equal poor living conditions and life expectancies for those actually living in it …” also describes just about every YA dystopian novel that’s been released since The Hunger Games.

However, none of us would actually classify YA dystopias as grimdark. These books generally tend to focus on young people bringing light out of darkness by having the courage to change the world around them. That is the precise opposite of the nihilism experienced in most grimdark novels. Therefore, the Urban Dictionary misses the mark for being overly broad.

The Wikipedia definition attempts to narrow the field somewhat with:

“Grimdark is a subgenre or a way to describe the tone, style or setting of speculative fiction (especially fantasy) that is, depending on the definition used, markedly dystopian or amoral, or particularly violent or realistic.”

That is closer to the mark. I would have liked that definition better if the author had stopped at “violent.” I dislike the word “realistic” being attributed to grimdark fiction. Frankly, grimdark is no more realistic than supernatural horror. The difference between the two genres revolves not around realism, but around the use of the supernatural forces in the story.

No one argues that grimdark literature cannot feature fantastical elements such as magic. Joe Abercrombie has wizards and an entire hierarchy of Magi; Mark Lawrence gives us a Dead King, who is a necromancer; Michael R. Fletcher has delusions manifesting as living, breathing creatures. If I dig around some more, I’ll find others.

After reading several grimdark novels, and one most excellent supernatural horror novel that can stand up to the comparison, I realized something very important: what separates grimdark from horror is the agency given to the supernatural.

In most grimdark literature, the supernatural is a passive force controlled by humans, whereas in horror, the supernatural becomes an active entity with agency.

A good contrast is Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself, or Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns against Christopher Buehlman’s Between Two Fires. Abercrombie’s and Lawrence’s works are grimdark while Buehlman’s novel is clearly horror.

In both The Blade Itself and Prince of Thorns the antagonists are all quite mortal. Realism is negated by fantastical elements such as the commonplace acceptance of magic. However, in both novels, the magic is a passive force manipulated by the mortals.

A superficial examination of Between Two Fires might lead one to think of Buehlman’s novel as grimdark. It has some of the hallmarks of grimdark literature: a dystopian environment in the form of the plague blazing through France in 1348; a fallen knight; amoral people are everywhere, looking to take advantage of others.

The story satisfies the “realistic” aspect of the definition, in that the bubonic plague existed, fallen knights turned to marauding in order to survive, and a dystopian society began feeding on itself. Yet Between Two Fires is clearly horror, because the supernatural forces in Between Two Fires have agency.

The very first chapter describes the angels—not the humans—and these angels are not passive. They are actively attempting to destroy human beings in order to provoke God. Uzziel brings the rains down in order to drown the crops; Beliel rises up and blows pride into the mouth of a king, thereby starting a war; then Lucifer shows up and all hell breaks loose. The angels and their machinations remain an active force, independent of mortal interference, throughout the novel.

Having humans as the story’s focal points does not necessarily make the story more realistic. I mean, let’s face it—Buehlman’s Thomas is just as mortal as Abercrombie’s Logen Ninefingers or Lawrence’s Jorg. It is not the realism of their respective stories that separates them—it is the usage of the supernatural forces within these stories.

Perhaps a better definition of grimdark would be:

“Grimdark is a subgenre or a way to describe the tone, style, or setting of speculative fiction (especially fantasy) that is, depending on the definition used, markedly dystopian or amoral, or particularly graphic in its depiction of violence. In most grimdark literature the supernatural is a passive force, controlled by humans—unlike supernatural horror where the preternatural forces are most often an active entity with agency.”

This would eliminate that niggling word “realistic” from the equation, and also establish the distinguishing traits between grimdark and horror. In the long run, a clearer definition helps grimdark to stand out as its own literary form. Once we know how to describe grimdark, we can then discuss the stories on their own merits, without confusing them with horror.

T. Frohock has turned her love of dark fantasy and horror into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. She is the author of the Los Nefilim series: In Midnight’s Silence and most recently Without Light or Guide. She currently lives in North Carolina where she has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.

Source: https://www.tor.com/2015/11/02/is-it-grimdark-or-is-it-horror/