Free Character Sheets! Guardians, Freebooters, and Raiders!

So I'm wrapping up 3 more free character sheets. I found myself fiddling with the Guardians sheet a lot, there are so many ways that the Gifts, Powers, Special Abilities, Limits, Issues, and Gadgets can be layed out on the sheet. Since this is a "Basic Character Sheet" series inspired by the very simple character sheet in the classic Moldvay Red Box D&D set I decided to leave it a bit more generic. If I get feedback on the sheets I can modify them or make more detailed forms. Perhaps even fillable PDF's in the future.

Here are links to the PDF's:

Guardians

Freebooters

Raiders!

Colonial Troopers Free Character Sheets!

In preparation for Kublacon I made several character sheets. For this one I went back and forth with Steve Perrin the author of Colonial Troopers to get this character sheet right. It is a balance between simplicity and all the information you need to play.

Here is a link to the free PDF:
COLONIAL TROOPERS CHARACTER SHEET

Miniatures for Colonial Troopers? And a Free Battle Mat!

 It's been a while since I talked about the little sci-fi game Colonial Troopers. A surprisingly consistent seller despite the lack of promotion. I have not forgotten this game! I'm working on a character sheet for it right now as well as an expansion book that fleshes out space combat and provides lots of encounter locales and adventure hooks. More on that later.

Right now Colonial Troopers is all about ground combat in powered armor against vicious aliens to protect the colonies of the great Terran Empire that are under constant siege from hostile forces. And for that it might be handy to have some miniatures for those situations you need to visualize the specific placement of the Troopers and their foes. These toys popped up in my Amazon recommended list and is a near perfect collection of figures for the game.

It comes with 35 figures. 15 Marines and 20 Aliens. Each of them come in 5 styles.

The scale isn't ideal compared to your typical RPG miniatures, they are somewhat large. I don't know the exact scale. But for the price they work great as a visualizing tool for ground combat.

Here is the link (my sales associate link so I might get half a penny if you buy them here):http://amzn.to/2qU6023

Here is a free Battle Mat I used for these photos

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan shares a special place in my memory along side The Isle of Dread as one of the first adventure modules I played.

This ass kicking illustration by Jason Thompson of a group of adventures making their way through the Hidden Shrine is a real treat. It was recently featured in the Dragon+.

I haven't read Dragon magazine since it went all digital. I think I stopped reading during the 3.5 era sometime before the print edition went extinct, but if this is an example of the kind of content it contains I might consider subscribing again.

http://www.dragonmag.com/5.0/#!/article/114737/103426456

Beastie of the Week: Shahatha

In celebration of Mermay (an event many artists participate in May where they post drawings of Mermaids everyday on Instagram and other social media) here is an aquatic race of sea people I created long ago for my high school D&D game called the Shahatha. I always envisioned them as related to the sahuagin and merpeople as elves (of Middle-Earth) were to dwarves and men. They have an ancient past and built fabulous cities under the depths long before mankind walked the earth. Eventually their society fell into decadence and decay, now they are a shell of their former great civilization. But, they are still formidable foes and dream of one day returning to their time of glory.

A drawing from my high school D&D campaign (recently colored in Photoshop).

Shahatha
HD 4+1
AC 5[14]
Atk 1 weapon (1d8), claws (1d6)
Move 1 (Swim 18)
Save 14
CL/XP 5/170
Special: Magic resistance 80%, breathe water, sonar, sea-song. Females have spells (see below)

Shahatha are an elder race of sea people; predecessors of the triton and the merfolk and cousins to ancient kuo-toa and sahuagin. They appear to be an amalgamation of human and fish with shark-like teeth. They have large radial fins from the top of their head to the end of their tail reminiscent of a sailfish. The legs and feet end in large flippers. They have long curved claws on their hands and membranes that stretch from their elbow to their hip that helps them swim swiftly and navigate in turbulent water. The males are almost faceless while the females have colorful plumage and attractive but cruel visages.

They live in salt water, sometimes at considerable depths, and rarely come to the surface world except on rare occasions to plunder and capture slaves.  These beings are thoroughly chaotic/evil.  Their society is highly organized, and their lairs are often guarded by sharks or other fearsome sea monsters.  Some shahatha may have entangling nets used to ensnare opponents.

Shahatha are similar to mermen and tritons, but for their more fishlike and crueler appearance.  They are a much more magical race entirely and are very resistant to magic (80%).

They have sonar which allows them to see regardless of how dark it is, and a sea-song that summons giant sea creatures within a mile radius to their aid (usually arriving in 2-8 rounds) and can cause panic in normal sea animals.  The females are the leaders and have spell casting powers. Treat females as 5th level magic-users (Spells: 4 x level 1, 2 x level 2, 1 x level 3).

Common spells:
Level 1
Charm Person
Magic Missile
Protection from Good
Shield
Sleep

Level 2
Darkness, 15 ft Radius
Detect Good
ESP
Invisibility
Mirror Image
Phantasmal Force
Strength
Web

Level 3
Dispel Magic
Haste
Hold Person
Lightning Bolt
Monster Summoning I
Protection from Good, 10 ft Radius
Protection from Normal Missiles
Slow
Suggestion

Another high school drawing

Warriors of the Red Planet Character Sheet

Kublacon is coming up Memorial day, that's next weekend May 26. I've been working on some character sheets for the various OSR games to give out to anyone who purchases games from me at the con.

This version is a modified one of an old Swords & Wizardry sheet I made long ago when I first started this blog. I'll be posting more to come.

Here is a link to the high res PDF version.

Beastie of the Week: Vulture Harpy

I managed to draw a Beastie of the week just before the weekend, and a first draft of stats which I think could work very well as a slightly amped up version of the regular harpy.

HARPY, VULTURE
Abomination

HD 4
AC 6[13]
Atk 2 talons (1d4) and weapon (1d6)
Move 6 (Fly 18)
Save 13
CL/XP 5/120
Special: Terror, Flight, siren-song

The vulture harpy is a much fiercer, tougher cousin to the common harpy. From a distance they appear very similar, but up close their fearsome countenance and unholy gaze is unmistakable. They let out a blood curdling screech as they attack their prey. This screech causes terror, make a saving throw or be at -1 to all attack and save rolls for 2d8 rounds.

Vulture harpies have the upper torso of a human female, but their face, lower body, and wings have the sickening appearance of a vulture.  Like the common harpy their song is a charm that draws its victims to the harpy (saving throw applies), and the harpy’s touch casts the equivalent of a charm person spell (again, saving throw applies).

Is HeroQuest the Greatest Board Game of all Time?

This reviewer certainly thinks so!

A cloaked figure wanders through the crowded tavern, unheeded by all. Suddenly he casts back his hood: it is the Bard! He has come to tell of the greatest thing ever to happen to a table surface: Heroquest!

Feel the excitement! Taste the fear! Heft your Broad-soad in celebration of the pinnacle of all that is, was, and could ever be in the arena of fantasy adventure games!

The best thing about HeroQuest is...everything!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8sl2uC46A

Beastie of the Week: Undead Giraffe

Undead Giraffe
HD: 4
AC: 15
Atk: 2d4
Save: 12
MV: 12”
CL/XP: 4/200
Special: sadness

Seeing an undead giraffe scrounging for food it cannot even digest and enjoy causes the viewer to experience extreme sadness. Save or lose motivation to do anything for the next 2-7 hours. Failed save will result in moping about, wandering aimlessly, and an unwillingness to engage in activity other than weeping.

When a giraffe is slain as a trophy by a cowardly hunter using unnatural means such as a magic weapon or spell there is a 1 on 20 chance that the giraffe's soul will not depart. In these cases a corrupt cleric can use a raise the dead spell which will not restore the giraffe but instead creates an undead.

Can be turned by a cleric as a ghast.

An undead giraffe tries to satiate its unbearable hunger by feeding on the dry limbs of a dead tree, if there are no dead trees then it will feed on any living creature it can catch.

There is a cursed pocket dimension called Gloom where undead creatures are cursed to roam, seeking for those things that brought them happiness in life. They exist forever unsatisfied in this barren wasteland. The plains of this haunted realm has many undead giraffe wandering its savanna.

Pet Peeve: Blogs With Great Names...Wasted!

Sometimes when I have what I think is a really good, or dare I say, great idea I check to see if there is a blogspot with that name just in case I need it someday...

So often I'll find blogspots with freaking awesome names that are being utterly wasted, and it really frustrates me. I wish Google would release unused blogspots after a period of time, with appropriate notices to the owners of course. Here are just a few I've recently found.

Wouldn't it be neato to have an OSR blog called old school DND? Nope! Taken
oldschooldnd.blogspot.com

Oh, what about an OSR blog called OSR? Well screw you.
http://osr.blogspot.com/

I know how about a Star Wars fan blog called Docking Bay 94, after the famous scene in A New Hope where the Millennium Falcon is parked? Sorry!
http://dockingbay94.blogspot.com/

Dungeoneer is a pretty good name, how about that? Nope you're SOL!
http://dungeoneer.blogspot.com/

I wonder what the person who owns greyhawk.blogspot.com is doing with it? Oh, right NOTHING

I bet someone created an awesome Chainmail fan blog and scored http://chainmail.blogspot.com/, NOPE! Their prices may not be cheap, but their spelling certainly is.

Seriously the list goes on and on. Just test any cool name you can think of and it's almost a sure bet someone is wasting it.

Dungeons of Wonderland!

I've always loved those two weird offshoot D&D adventures Gary made inspired by Alice in Wonderland. I think Wizards of the Coast could benefit from having a little more of that fun adventurous spirit in their D&D line. They are just so married to Forgotten Realms and generic fantasy adventure paths.

One of my "someday" projects is to make an Old School DND style book called Dungeons of Oz that treats the land of Oz the way Gary interpreted Wonderland. Someday...