Dragon Temple Map

As I'm sure most of you know, I used to post a lot of maps here. That stopped a while ago, mostly because (a) I just plain ran out of ideas each week, and (b) most of the new maps I do draw now are for use in my home D&D game, and I don't want to post them until my players are done with them.

But recently my friend Colin asked me to draw a map for his own D&D game. I did, and now I'm going to share it with you. Yay maps!

Colin's description:
"Ok Dragon Temple specs..Dragon theme obviously,10-15 rooms, big epic dragon statutes.  The PC's are putting a Jewel, called the Eye of Utenkia, into the Temple to keep the Lovecraftian horror known as the Maw from entering this realm and devouring everything.  Ooh-- maybe put the eye into a huge dragon skull?  Just ideas though.  Go nuts and I look forward to what you create."

Sludge Dwarf (5th Edition D&D)

A few years ago I created the Sludge Dwarfs for both Dungeon World and Labyrinth Lord. I liked them so much, that I've decided to add them to my D&D 5th Edition game. 

The Sludge Dwarves plumb the poisonous depths of the Deep Down Bellow, mining, collecting, and refining the most noxious and dangerous of alchemical substances under the earth. They sell these chemicals to the various factions of the Deep Down Bellow as well as evil wizards and alchemists on the surface world.

Sludge Dwarves are thinner and more wiry than other dwarves, with greasy green-black beards and hair. Their gray skin is mottled with scaly patches and unhealthy purple lumps. Gritty brown slime perpetually coats their clothing and gear. The sludgethrower is disgusting hand-held weapon connected by a hose to a tank full of caustic ooze worn on the user's back.

Sludge Dwarf

Medium Humanoid (Dwarf), Lawful Evil

AC: 15 (scale armor + dexterity)

HP: 30 (4d8+12)

Speed: 25’

STR: 14 (+2), DEX: 12 (+1), CON: 16 (+3), INT: 12 (+1), WIS: 10 (+0), CHA: 8 (-2)

Saves: Constitution +5

Skills: Survival +2

Damage Immunities: Poison

Condition Immunities: Poisoned

Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception: 10

Languages: Dwarvish, Undercommon

Challenge: ½ (100xp)

ACTIONS

Shortsword. Melee weapon attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) slashing damage.

Sludgethrower*. Ranged weapon attack: +3 to hit, range 35/70 feet, one target. Hit: 8 (2d6+1) acid damage. If the target is a creature it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 11) or become poisoned. A creature so poisoned can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns to remove the condition.

Poison Puddle*. Range 35 ft. The sludge dwarf uses his sludgethrower to fill a 5 ft. square with viscous, poisonous sludge. The square is considered difficult terrain. Any creature entering or starting their turn in the square suffers 2d4 acid damage and must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 11) or become poisoned. A creature so poisoned can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns to remove the condition. The square remains full of sludge until it dries out in 6 hours or is washed away with copious amounts of pure water.

*Charges. A sludgethrower’s tank holds 12 charges. Each Sludgethrower attack or Poison Puddle action uses one charge. A depleted tank takes five minutes to recharge from a sludge dwarf chemical vat.

Llama (D&D 5th Edition)

Llamas are even-mannered camelids, often raised by halflings as livestock, pack animals, and mounts. Because of their relatively small size and skill in navigating rough terrain, these animals are valued by adventurers for dungeoneering. Llamas shy away from combat, preferring to use their Spit ability to blind an attacker while they run away. They can be trained to spit on command, and llama spitting contents are popular events at many halfling festivals.

Llama

Medium beast, unaligned

AC: 12

HP: 7 (1d8+2)

Speed: 40 ft.

STR: 13 (+1), DEX: 14 (+2), CON: 15 (+2), INT: 2 (-4), WIS: 12 (+1), CHA: 7 (-2)

Skills: Athletics +3

Senses: Passive Perception 11

Languages: -

Challenge: 1/8 (25 xp)

Beast of Burden: The llama is considered to be a Large animal for the purpose of determining its carrying capacity.

Sure-Footed: The llama has advantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws made against effects that would knock it prone.

ACTIONS

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) piercing damage

Spit (Recharge 5-6). The llama chooses a target within 10 feet of it. That target must make a DC 12 Dexterity Save or be blinded for 1d4 rounds.

Eresh'Ka (a literally dead language)

Eresh’Ka

Eresh’Ka is the ancient secret language of the undead, created by the long-forgotten gods of the Neverborn. Knowledge of this language is gifted upon a creature in the infinite moment when it receives the Bleak Apotheosis of undeath. All undead, despite their mortal origins or heritage, know this language. Even non-sapient undead like skeletons and  zombies understand Eresh’Ka. The language has been compared to the echo an empty tomb, the shifting of charnel ashes, and the groaning of unhallowed earth. 

Ambitious mortals might learn Eresh’Ka from an undying patron or the ancient ghoul-hide tomes of Ur. Finding such a resource is not easy, but once the mortal has access to the language, they can learn it using the normal rules for learning a new language. (For D&D 5th Edition, this means taking the Linguist feat or spending time and money. The money buys exotic psychotropic compounds used to make the mind pliable enough to contemplate the tongue of the dead.)

Learning Eresh’Ka does not leave the mortal unchanged. As they study and contemplate the blasphemous language, the subtle touch of the Neverborn tortures their corpus, permanently reducing the mortal’s Constitution score 1. However, their Wisdom score also permanently increases by 1, as their mind is further opened to forbidden truths of the universe.

It should be noted that knowledge of Eresh’Ka does not give the mortal any special influence over the undead.

Pumpkin Knight (D&D 5th Edition Monster)

And we're back. We moved into a new house right after Gencon, and that was quickly followed up a record busy season at work. Consequentially, I've been away from the blog for a few months. That's all done now.

So, here's a monster that's been tormenting the heroes in my D&D game.

Pumpkin Knights are fey proto-creatures bound into suits of enchanted black plate armor. A flickering green witch-light glows within the jack-o-lantern that serves as the creature's head. These fey beings are often mistaken for constructs or even plant creatures.

Pumpkin Knights are created by the Archfey. They are often used as shock troopers by the Psychedelic Overlords and the armies of the Autumn Court. On the Prime, Pumpkin Knights are sometimes summoned to serve warlocks with pacts to the Archfey. They are often attracted to earthly locations thick with wicked sylvan magic.

Pumpkin Knight

Medium Fey, Neutral Evil

Armor Class: 18 (plate armor)

Hit Points: 85 (10d8+30)

Speed: 30 ft.

STR: 18 (+4), DEX: 12 (+1), CON: 16 (+3), INT: 8 (-1), WIS: 12 (+1), CHA: 16 (+3)

Saving Throws: Constitution +5, Charisma +5

Skills: Athletics +6, Perception +3

Condition Immunities: Charmed, Poisoned

Damage Immunities: Fire, Poison

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 13

Languages: Sylvan, Abyssal

Challenge: 4 (1,100 xp)

Innate Spellcasting. The Pumpkin Knight's spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). The Pumpkin Knight can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

1/day each: Fear, Invisibility, Tasha's Uncontrollable Laughter

Not of This Earth. If a Pumpkin Knight dies on a plane other than the Feywild, its body, along with all its weapons and armor, instantly falls to ashes and burnt leaves.

Actions

Flaming Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage plus 5 (1d10) fire damage.

Fire Breath (Recarge 5-6). After making a successful melee attack, the Pumpkin Knight exhales fire on that same target as a Bonus Action. The target makes a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

QAGS and Cavemen

Between renovating and moving into the new house, along with getting ready for Gencon, I have let the blog slip a bit. Things should be back to normal in August. For now, though... courage!

QAGS and Cavemen

My current project for Hex Games involves a prehistoric "Cavemen and Dinosaurs" QAGS setting (working title: Dinosaur Act). It' s mostly inspired by old Ray Harryhausen and Bert I. Gordon movies like One Million Years B.C. I'm not attempting scientific accuracy.My general conceit is to depict cavemen and dinosaurs the way I imagined them at age 12.

Plus I get to use plastic dinos and cro-mags as miniatures, so that's fun.

I'm running a test adventure for the setting at Gencon this year, and I'm letting my players make their own PCs. To help them out, I put together a big list of Cavemen QAGS Words, and now I'm going to share it with you.

JOBS

Hunter, Warrior, Scout, Shaman, Healer, Midwife, Prophet, Beast Keeper, Dino Rider, Gatherer, Crafter, Storyteller

GIMMICKS

Ancestral Weapon, Hard to Kill, Feat of Strength, Animal Friend, Sharp Senses, Loyal Hunting Dog, Fleet fo Foot, Guided by Spirits, Lucky, Inspiring Story, Great Endurance, Natural Leader, Per Dinosaur, Fertile, Burly, Handsome

WEAKNESSES

Sickly, Born Under a Bad Sign, Small, Clumsy, Monster Bait, Dull Senses, Bully, Overconfident, Prideful, Lone Wolf, Haunted, Smells Like Prey, Foolish, Bestial, Lazy, Doomed, Battle Scars, Jinxed, Past Your Prime, Ugly

SKILLS

Archery, Wrestling, Running, Leadership, Intimidation, Hallucinogens, Cave Painting, Smoke Signals, Child Birthing, Bird Calls, Boasting, Trepanning, Spear, Sling, Skulking, Snares, Wound Binding, Weaving, Skinning, Pottery, Flint Knapping, Fire Making, Weather Sense, Dog Training, Tracking, Storytelling, Listening, Tool Making, Foraging, Club, Leaping

WWPHITM?

Ron Perlman, Jason Mamoa, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Raquel Welch, Richard Kiel, Richard Moll, Johnny Depp, Paul “The Big Show” White, Nick Nolte, Joanie “Chyna” Laurer, Lucy Lawless, Danny Trejo, Jack Black, Tony Todd, Ving Raimes, Steve “Dollar Sign” John$on, Madds Mikkelsen, Benicio del Toro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronda Rousey, John Goodman, Carl Weathers, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Rosario Dawson, James Purefoy, Charlize Theron, Megan Gale, Grace Jones, Sandahl Bergman, Samuel L Jackson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Karl Urban, Chris Pratt, Rosie Grier, Lou Ferrigno, Gina Torres, Mako

Gencon Games 2015 (QAGS!)

Games registration for Gencon starts today in just a couple of hours. The Hex Games crew will be running several events this year, and I will be running four QAGS games myself.  Our games havea good history of selling out, so jump on them while you can!

You can see a list of all of the Hex Games events HERE. (You will need to log into the Gencon site.)

Meanwhile, here's a run-down of the games I am running...

UPDATE: Sweet cimmeny Crom! Within three hours of registration opening, two of my games had sold out, and the other two each had one seat left open. As of right now (seven hours after registration), only Death on a Dangerous Planet has an open seat left. This is supremely flattering.

Overall, 12 out of 20 QAGS games have already sold out. Our remaining eight games have only 21 seats left between them. Man, sign up while you can! Exciting!



Hobomancer: The Blight from Beyond (Thursday 7pm)

It’s the height of the Great Depression, and those all-American shamans known as Hobomancers ride the rails defending the soul of this great nation from all manner of supernatural evil. Something uncanny is mutilating cattle out in Big Sky Country, and now it hungers for human prey. It’s up to you to stop this unknown terror before the land is torn asunder!


Cavemen & Cro-Mags (Friday 10am)

It’s a million years in the past. Mighty reptiles prowl the volcanic jungles of a primitive Earth while fur-clad humans lurk in caves and commune with tribal spirits. A rival tribe has stolen your people’s totem, bringing doom upon your kin. You and your hunting partners must travel to the Valley of Ash and retrieve the sacred object. It’s anachronistic stone age adventure in a time that never was!


Death on a Dangerous Planet (Friday 3pm)

t’s the height of the Cold War, and a strange new planet has been discovered orbiting an exotic star. Planetary Expedition Alpha has disappeared, and it’s your mission to find them. But beware, the Soviets have sent their own teams to this dangerous, psychotropic world. You must overcome enemies both familiar and alien and secure this new world for America.


War Apes of Gorgamoth! (Saturday 12pm)

A savage time in an untamed land calls for heroes of blood and steel! Your band of bold adventurers has been captured by the dreaded War Apes of Gorgamoth. You are doomed to a short life of brutal toil in the Bloodmines unless you find the courage and strength to overthrow your inhuman oppressors. Pulp sword & sorcery action awaits!