Defensive Gear 2009

This is a summary of all the armor-related articles from 2009. It's part of my project to provide index articles to the blog, making it easier to find useful stuff. Labels are useful, but sometimes a summary is better.

• Ironhead - a frightening helm bearing a painful curse.
• The Dragon Slayer's Shield - a potent defensive artifact and a trophy display.
• The Silken Net of Spiders - a cloak with an affinity for arachnids.
• Cloak of Asps - and another with a thing for serpents.
• Avian Helms - a set of helmets with bird-like attributes.
• One Liners - includes a magical cloak with unique properties.
• Windcaller - another cloak (I'm sensing a pattern here). This one is attuned to weather magic.
• Shrieking Helm - a noisy defensive item with a colorful tail.
• Gloomwall - a potent shield with a shadowy nature.
• Mask of Flame - a strange, primitive iron mask with a fiery aspect.
• Face of Stone - this heavy helmet provides the wearer with several different 'looks'.
• Stonetoe, Stormfist and Ramwall - Three short takes on boots, gloves and shield.
• Bonesmasher Belt - potent waist-wear for anyone hunting the undead.
• Demon Tail Spaulders - shoulder armor with a mind of its own.

So there you have it, 16 assorted pieces of armor. Since this list is relatively short, and there's some cross-over anyhow, I'll go ahead and list the various clothing items here as well:

• Creeper's Cloak - the perfect gift for the budding cat burglar.
• Belt of the Swashbuckler - a nice toy for any swordsman.
• Gloves of the Cat Burglar - another thief-focused item.
• Slitherfoot - serpent-like footwear that's just a little weird.
• Mindbender's Girdle - a potent artifact of mental magic.
• Cloak of Wings - a cloak that grants the power of flight.
• Hands of the Alchemist - the ideal tool for an alchemist or poisoner.
• Shadowfoot - Stealthy footwear. Apparently thieves are quite well-dressed, this is the third thief-oriented item.
• Wormskin - a creepy cloak inspired by, well, worms.
• Leafwrap - a woodsy cloak.
• Patchwork Cloak - a jester's cloak with a magical flare.

That's 11 magical pieces of garb, enough to stock a small closet.

It's kind of fun to go back through the archives and reread some of the old posts I haven't thought about in a while. As with the bestiaries part one and two and the weapons summary, there's some good and bad in this list. I hope you find something useful here.

Killing Things 2009 - Weapons

This is a summary list of all the weapons articles from 2009. Much like part one and part two of the bestiary, my goal here is to make it easier to find stuff from last year's articles. Here's the list in chronological order:

• Blastbone  - A potent weapon against the undead.
• Ahtep's Blade  - A sword for the paranoid adventurer.
• Butterfly Axe  - A basic goblin-slaying weapon.
• The Blade of One Thousand Fangs - A bloodthirsty sword with a real bite!
• Seraphim Sword - A powerful holy blade.
• Demon Bone Flail - And in counterpoint, a horrible demonic weapon.
• A Deadly Trio - Three short takes on various weapons, scimitar, hammer and spear.
• Rod of Mirrors - A magical rod with the ability to absorb and reflect spells.
• Witching Blade - A ritual weapon, perfect for the curse using wizard.
• One Liners - A collection of short takes, including a couple of unusual weapons.
• Ghostmaker  - A weak weapon with a terrible power.
• Touch Flesh  - A short sword capable of bypassing the toughest armor.
• Plainsman's Bow  - A potent ranged weapon with a beast theme.
• Sunlash  - A flail that traps the power of the sun itself.
• Liberator's Hand  - A potent charm and morale affecting item designed for a leader.
• Thorn  - A natural weapon with plant-based powers.
• Spirit Chaser  - A spear designed for the hunt.
• Dragonmaw Axe  - A potent axe imbued with draconian powers.
• Starfall  - A bow that captures the powers of the heavens.
• Dwarf Fist  - A powerful weapon with Dwarf-enhancing abilities!
• The Blood Seekers - A set of daggers with a thirst for blood.
• Sliverstone  - A unique staff made from thousands of stone slivers.
• Ransomer  - An odd weapon with a potent entrapment power.
• Stave of the Woodland Warder  - A perfect weapon for the outdoorsy type.
• Flesh Carver  - A dagger that grants great power, but only at great cost.
• Living Weapons  - Combat tools for aquatic races.
• Magic Missile  - A variety of unique arrows.
• Ice Maul  - A chilling warhammer.

So there you have it, the 28 weapons of 2009. Much like the bestiary, there's some bad mixed in with the good. Overall I'm pretty pleased with this set of articles. Hopefully you can find something useful here. Next up on the index list, armor.

The 2009 Bestiary - Part Two

Part One can be found here. The bestiary is a wrap up on all the creature articles from last year. Each article is referenced with a direct link and brief description for easy browsing. Tags are good, but sometimes a quick list is a good thing. Here are the rest:

• If you're decorating a wizard's tower, Living Drapes might be just the thing.
• Storm Swallows are constructed creatures with a shocking punch.
• The lowly Muck Worm is an underestimated dungeon pest.
• My own take on Mud Men, minor elementals with a thirst for the life energies of living creatures.
• Insidious Plants introduces a variety of flora that aren't really creatures in the usual sense.
• The parasitic Mind Eaters are a threat to sanity and intelligence.
• Sun Gliders are a pretty basic desert predator. Hey not everyone can be a super-monster.
• If you need a predatory plant for a swamp, Strangler Moss might be just the thing.
• And if you need a creature for the river that feeds the swamp, there are Giant Hellgrammites.
• Parachute Spiders are a lurking jungle predator.
• The Saguaronid is a plant-based desert dwelling carnivore.
• The Screwfish is a threat to unwary ocean swimmers.
• Need a guardian for a sandy tomb or beach front temple? Sand Constructs might be a good fit.
• Revenant Spiders are deadly necromantic hunters.
• The Door Haunts are extra-dimensional creatures suitable for a weird horror setting.
• Why populate the forest when the entire forest is a living Shadow Wood?
• When is a ghoul not an undead? When it's a Jungle Ghoul.
• The Drone Swarm is a step up from the average cloud of summer mosquitoes.
• The floating Sea Star is a potential threat to any passing ship.
• Shade Flock http://rpgdump.blogspot.com/2009/10/shade-flock.html is a manifestation of the plane of shadow.
• The lowly Mageworm is a magical pest with a big appetite.
• The Desert Wight is a potent undead foe.
• The Eye of the Demon is an artifact manifested by the Watcher with a Thousand Eyes.

If my count is right, and I managed to actually catch every creature post from the last year, these two articles cover 41 different creatures. There are a few stinkers in there (every bestiary needs its Flumph!) but on the whole I'm fairly pleased with most of these. I hope you find something useful for your own gaming here. If you do, please drop me a comment, I love to hear about anyone making use of these humble offerings. Good gaming!

The 2009 Bestiary - Part One

I got tired of digging around in blogger via tags to locate specific creature articles from last year, so I decided to create a year end wrap up covering all the various creatures and critters from last year. Hopefully this list, along with the one-liner descriptions will serve as a useful reference. The links below represent the creatures from January through June of 2009 and are in chronological order. Enjoy!

• Horrid Minions introduced Fungal Brains and Zombies, creatures that appeared in the Brother's Revenge adventure arc.
• Mishta's Mouse is a magically constructed familiar.
• Velvet Worms are creepy nocturnal worms inspired by a real life creature.
  
• Deadly Maladies introduced a couple nasty parasitic organisms from an old tropical dungeon game.
• Mishta's Stalker is a deadly serpent construct.
• The Gunja are restless undead spirits, intent on achieving final peace.
• The Tomb Guardian is a magical construct designed to use an adventurer's own body against them.
• Another creature based on real life, Giant Shrews are just nasty.
• The Crevice Creature is a lurking aquatic horror.
• Snow Monkeys are primitive primates suitable for cold northern climates.
• The Carnivorous Water Lily was something I used in my One Page Dungeon entry from 2009.
• The Demon Spawner is a malevolent demonic being that uses mind-controlling parasitic worms.
• The Venomous Water Spider was another creature from my One Page Dungeon.
• The desert dwelling, burrowing Sand Diggers are suitable for any hot and dry setting.
• The Malevolent Head is alive, sort of.
• If you're in need of a minor demonic summoning, then Hell Crows might fit the bill.
• Awww what a cute puppy! When the puppy is a Serpent Dog, not so much.
• The gigantic but decentralized Carnifungus can serve as both creature and locale.

Finally, no bestiary would be complete without my favorite monsters!

So there you have it, the first six months of 2009. I was expecting to finish off the entire year in one article, but the list is longer than I thought. I'll get the next part up soon!

Oooh Spooky!

Halloween is almost upon us, which means:

1. People are buying lots of candy.
2. People are thinking about horror-themed games.

Since I can't do much about the first (other than recommend Milky Way bars, one of my personal favorites), I thought I'd do something about the second. Here's a culling of past articles and ideas that might be useful for a horror themed game.

• Curses are a good place to start. My personal favorites are the Crawler's Curse  and the Curse of Crows. Two troublesome maledictions with a horrific theme.
• Taking a psychological approach, the Demon Vial offers a different view on horror, where the possessor must face an assault delivered through dreams and visions.
• The Demon Spawner  provides a potent foe with a horrific nature.
• Have a horrible foe lined up and need some props for them? Consider arming them with the Demon Bone Flail or setting them up with the Circlet of Mental Mastery, two magic items with a dark tone suitable for horror.
• Need to make your zombies and ghouls more potent? Consider infecting them with a nice disease or giving them a poisonous touch. My personal favorites from these categories are right here.
• Need a cast? Consider adapting the Jungle Ghoul, Door Haunts, Revenant Spiders, or Mind Eaters to your campaign.
• Finally this adventure arc isn't necessarily straight up horror, but there are certainly horrific elements to the story, particularly the Horrid Minions that appear in the adventure.

So there you have it, a dozen or more ideas for your horror-themed game. Go forth and terrify!


(and don't forget the Milky Ways)