Carrion Mage

Here’s an undead ghoulie inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft that I posted in the Dragonsfoot ClassicD&D forums sometime ago; yes, I am Strange Vistor lurking there.  

"The nethermost caverns," wrote the mad Arab, "are not for the fathoming of eyes that see; for their marvels are strange and terrific. Cursed the ground where dead thoughts live new and oddly bodied, and evil the mind that is held by no head. Wisely did Ibn Schacabao say, that happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain, and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes. For it is of old rumour that the soul of the devil-bought hastes not from his charnel clay, but fats and instructs the very worm that gnaws; till out of corruption horrid life springs, and the dull scavengers of earth wax crafty to vex it and swell monstrous to plague it. Great holes secretly are digged where earth's pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl."

 -- H.P. Lovecraft, The Festival

Carrion Mage*

Armor Class:         3                                  No. Appearing:     1

Hit Dice:                  11–14**                      Save As: Wizard: 11–14

Move:                        120’ (40’)                   Morale:                    11

Attacks:                    1 Touch or                 Treasure Type:     F 
                                   1 Spell

Damage:                  1–8 + paralysis         Alignment:             Chaotic 
                                     or by Spell or
                                     by engulfment

Carrion Mages are undead created when the specially prepared body of a dead Chaotic magic-user is devoured by scavengers, such as worms, beetles or other vermin.  The scavengers, dominated by the dead magic-user’s will, assume a human form made up of a swarm of the vermin that feasted on the spellcaster’s dead flesh.  Carrion Mages always return to their former lair or can be found wherever they are needed to further their nefarious schemes.  A carrion mage is still able to use spells as it did while alive, which makes it a formidable adversary.

Carrion Mages will always clothe themselves as though they were still alive, using gloves and a waxen mask of their former face to complete the illusion.  Carrion Mages can even speak, though their voice is the dry rattle of multitudinous insect parts rubbing together or the whisper of countless worms sliding over one another.  Once the carrion mage’s true nature is revealed, however, all characters must save vs. paralysis or flee in abject fear; those who make the save still suffer a –1 to all rolls while within the carrion mage’s presence.

A carrion mage may also shed it's human shape altogether to enable it to engulf characters as an Insect Swarm (B37) with increased Hit Dice.

Carrion Mages can only be damaged by fire, spells or magical weapons, all of which will only do half damage.  They are unaffected by charm person, hold and sleep spells.  Note that morale is given as 11, but if a carrion mage finds itself in actual danger, either from adventurers or some other threat, they may disperse the individual vermin that make up their gestalt form, which will scurry away into the darkness, disappear down tiny crevices or otherwise affect an escape.  A carrion mage can reform its horrid swarm body in a number of hours equal to its hit dice.

Supplemental/Supporting Information on Carrion Mages:

Cleric Turning Table

Cleric Level	Carrion Mage
1	--
2	--
3	--
4	--
5	--
6	--
7	11
8	9
9	7
10	T
11+	T

This entry goes on the Cleric vs. Undead table (Expert Set, page X5), after the entry for Vampire.  As you see above carrion mages cannot be destroyed by a cleric, only turned.  If at higher levels (15–36), a ‘D’ result is possible the carrion is dispersed rather than destroyed.    In any case, if a cleric gains a T or D result when attempting to turn an undead spellcaster, like the Carrion Mage, the undead may make a saving throw vs. spells to avoid the effect entirely.

SIXTH LEVEL MAGIC-USER SPELLS

Carrion Reincarnation                                                                           Range: 0’

                                                                                                                            Duration: 24 hours
If a Chaotic magic-user is killed before the expiration of this spell, regardless of how his body is disposed of, he will rise from death as a carrion mage in one year and a day.  Only burning the body to ashes can prevent this gruesome resurrection.

Additional Comments:

Unlike Advanced D&D, the Vampire is the high-end of undead fiends in Basic/Expert D&D and I have always wished for something more, like AD&D's Lich, an undead magic user.  So the Carrion Mage was my answer, inspired by Lovecraft.  Carrion Mages are meant to be the scheming, plotting heart of terrible events in a campaign, always at the center of a complex and convoluted plan to bring local civilization to its knees and under the carrion mage's heel.

I've also toyed with a version called a 'Carrion Faithful' that's an undead cleric cursed (blessed?) by some eldritch horror for the cleric's dutiful service to a writhing eternity of service to its loathsome, inhuman master(s).  Swap out the origins and substitute Cleric spells for Magic User's and you're done.  Mix, match and dispatch; player characters, that is.

General Update #2 and News About Basic Edition D&D

I had hoped to bring you a substantive post today, but the one I was working on was a look back at previous campaigns in an attempt to draw out the things I did right, but it wasn't feeling right for some reason.  Still can't really put my finger on it but in part I believe it's because I want this blog to be about moving forward and moving on, not the past.  So that rather massive post is history, in every sense of the word.

So that decision has left me without a post and for that I apologize.  And perhaps I should have just let that be, and not posted this filler piece, but while looking around on the web for some inspiration on what to write about I dropped by my favorite online shops and was delighted to see that the Basic Edition D&D rulebook is a top seller; No.1 and No. 2 respectively at RPGNow.com and DriveThruRPG.com.

I am so amazed and happy about that, I just had to say something.

Ring of Spell Holding

This intricate gold band, when slipped on a character's finger, extends the duration of a spell in effect on the character indefinitely - as long as the ring is worn.  Only spell effects that have a duration other than 'Instantaneous' can be so held.  If the ring is removed once the spell's normal duration has expired, the spell effect ceases immediately.  Eighty-five percent (85%) of these rings work on Magic-User spells only.  Rarely (15%), such rings will work with both Magic-User and Cleric spells.  One such ring can maintain only a single spell effect, so if a character has Flight, Protection from Evil and Bless in effect when the player indicates that the character puts on the ring, the player must specify which of the effects will be held.  The other effect(s) dissipates normally at the end of the spell's normal duration.

WoTC Makes Basic-edition D&D Avavilable Again!

 

I thought I might post a magic item or two today; hoping to get into a regular rhythm here (Tues-Thurs-Sun) but it turns out I really have something much better to write about!

Today Wizards of the Coast has started re-releasing the .pdf versions of previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons, including Moldvay's edition of the D&D Basic Set Rulebook!  Previously they had only released the Mentzer (BECMI) edition of the D&D Basic Set.   This is a quality scan and has been nicely cleaned up, unlike the pirate fan-scans available out there, and the text is selectable as well.  The price is acceptable too, only $4.99 for the rulebook.  I bought my original hardcopies in the boxed sets for $12.00 each back in the day, of course that included the cheapo dice-set with crayon to fill-in the numbers and an adventure module (B2 and X1 respectively).  Now all I need is the matching Expert volume and I am good-to-go!

This is terrific news for those of us die-hard Basic/Expert fans.  And a step in the right direction by WoTC.  Perhaps they've been paying attention after all...?

As the D&DClassics.com site has been up and down due to traffic here's a backup link to the Basic Rules, just in case...

The Huntsman

Huntsmen are humans who have left the comforts of civilization for the challenges of surviving in the wilds.  They often protect rural communities from wild animals, beasts and monsters.  Because of their wilderness survival skills and the power of their animal companions huntsmen often can be found in adventuring parties.

The prime requisites for a huntsman character are Strength and Intelligence.  If a huntsman has scores of 13 or better in both Strength and Intelligence, the character will gain a 5% bonus to earned experience.  If the huntsman's Strength is 13 or better and his or her Intelligence is 16 or better, the character will earn a 10% bonus on earned experience.

RESTRICTIONS: Huntsmen use six-sided dice (d6) to determine their hit points. They may wear nothing more protective than leather armor, and may not use a shield. They may, however, use any type of weapon.  A huntsman’s combat ability progresses as a Cleric.  A huntsman character must have a minimum Intelligence score of 9.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: If a huntsman surprises a target, usually by making a successful Move Silently or Hide in Terrain roll, he gains a +4 bonus to hit and inflicts double damage with any ranged weapon during the surprise round.  At 3rd level huntsmen may tame and train an animal companion who will fight for and beside them.  Only normal or giant animals can be tamed and the animal’s hit dice cannot be greater than the huntsman’s level.  A huntsman's skills includes learning how to plan ambushes and set snares, survive in specific environments, move silently in natural settings, hide in terrain, read tracks, remove snares, pitfalls and other natural traps and spot ambushes, and how to hear noises in the wild better than other humans.

Advancement:

Level
1	0	Skinner
2	1440	Trapper
3	2880	Wrangler
4	5760	Seeker
5	11520	Tracker
6	24000	Stalker
7	48000	Hunter
8	96000	Huntsman
9	192000	Master Huntsman
10	336000	10th level Master Huntsman
11	480000	11th level Master Huntsman
12	624000	12th level Master Huntsman
13	768000	13th level Master Huntsman
14	912000	14th level Master Huntsman

  

Huntsman Skills

Character Level	Read Tracks	Detect Ambush/Trap	Set-up Ambush/Trap	Move Silently	Survival	Hide in Terrain	Hear Noise
1	15%	10%	20%	20%	87%	10%	1-2
2	20%	15%	25%	25%	88%	15%	1-2
3	25%	20%	30%	30%	89%	20%	1-3
4	30%	25%	35%	35%	90%	25%	1-3
5	35%	30%	40%	40%	91%	30%	1-3
6	45%	40%	45%	45%	92%	35%	1-3
7	55%	50%	55%	55%	93%	45%	1-4
8	65%	60%	65%	65%	94%	55%	1-4
9	75%	70%	75%	75%	95%	65%	1-4
10	85%	80%	85%	85%	96%	75%	1-4
11	95%	90%	95%	95%	97%	85%	1-5
12	96%	95%	105%	96%	98%	90%	1-5
13	97%	97%	115%	98%	99%	95%	1-5
14	99%	99%	125%	99%	99%	99%	1-5

Most of the above skills should be self-evident save one, Survival.  Survival is a huntsman’s ability to forage for food, build shelters, or find their way in the wilderness.  Should the huntsman use this skill to hunt, a successful roll means they have found enough food to feed 1d6 individuals.  The player should specify the type of terrain in which their character is skilled in Survival; Polar, Temperate, Tropical or Arid.  Usually the terrain type should match the campaign setting but this need not be the case.

If the hit dice of a huntsman’s animal companion are less than his level, a huntsman can control additional animals as long as the combined total of companion hit dice does not exceed the huntsman’s level.  Additional animals should be of the same type, say a pack of hounds or pair of giant ferrets, as mixing animal breeds only results in trouble.

At 9^th Level a huntsman can build a lodge, attracting 2d4 1^st level huntsmen to learn under the master.  These hunters are completely loyal to the owner of the lodge and should be replaced if lost to death or when they leave after achieving 3^rd level (Wrangler).  The DM should roll a d6 to determine the number of weeks before a likely replacement candidate appears.  As the presence of a hunting lodge reduces the likelihood of wild animal attacks and helps to control the population of monsters rampaging through an area, huntsmen are welcomed by rulers of all stripes in helping to clear and control former wilderness.