New B/X Extra-planar Creature: Jikibria

This is another of the creatures from my Fifty Fiends project.

JIKIBRIA (pron. ji-kib-BREE-uh)

ATTACKS/SPECIAL ABILITIES Diseased Touch. Although a successful touch attack of a jikibria does no hp damage, there is a possibility it will cause as many as 6 diseases in a victim. The victim gets a saving throw vs. each effect, and contracts all those with failing rolls. 1. leprosy: lose 1d3 hp per day (from bleeding) and unable to heal naturally until cured 2. lycanthropy: as wererat 3. mummy rot: as a mummy 4. plague: loss of 1d3 points of Constitution and unable to get restful sleep (cannot recover lost hp or memorize spells) until cured 5. rabies: loss of 1 point of Intelligence per day until cured 6. tuberculosis: –2 on all attack rolls, +2 AC penalty, and exhaustion (cannot recover lost hp or memorize spells) until cured Once a creature has been touched by a jikibria (whether it failed any of its saving throws or not), the creature is immune to the touch of all jikibriae for the remainder of the encounter. A single disease cannot be contracted multiple times (e.g., in future encounters with jikibriae before previously contracted diseases are healed). A single cure disease spell will remove all of the diseases. Once cured, lost ability points are regained at a rate of 1 point per day of full rest. Cause Disease. In lieu of making its touch attacks, a jikibria may use the spell cause disease as a 6th level cleric. This ability is usable as many times per day as the jikibria wishes. Any creature that is currently afflicted by a jikibria’s tuberculosis is immune to this ability. Disease Immunity. Jikibriae are immune to all disease, both of a standard and magical nature. Disease Deflection. In addition to being immune to disease, a jikibria deflects all instances when a disease might otherwise come in contact with it, shirking off the disease magically on a chosen target within a 120' range. This is done as a free action at the moment the jikibria and the disease (or disease effect) come into contact with one another. Targets of the deflection are permitted a save vs. breath to avoid the jikibria’s deflection. If the target fails, it is still permitted any saving throws normally allowed to avoid the original disease or disease effect. Summon. Two times per day, a jikibria may summon 1-2 other jikibriae with a 30% chance of success. DESCRIPTION/ECOLOGY Appearance. A jikibria would measure nearly 7' tall, if it were able to stand upright. Instead, the gangly jikibria hobbles at a nearly unbelievable speed. The skin of the hairless jikibria is sickly gray mottled with putrid yellow, and the entire creature is surrounded by a sort of membrane sack that is a nearly-transluscent green. This sack is vestigial and self-healing, and while it provides some protection for the jikibria, it affects neither the jikibria’s Armor Class, nor attacks made against it. Ecology. Jikibriae hail from the 149th layer of the Abyss—a feverish, diseased place where the air is thick and humid. This layer is known by two names—“Innapih” by those who know its ruling demon prince by the name “Asag,” and as “Ganzer” by those who know the ruling demon prince by the name “Nergal.” Languages. Jikibriae speak abyssal, celestial, and common.

HOME: Innapih/Ganzer (the 149th layer of the Abyss) SERVES: Asag/Nergal (Demon Prince of Sickness) ARMOR CLASS: 2 ARMOR CLASS: 4 HIT DICE: 6** MOVE: 240'(80') ATTACKS: 1 touch DAMAGE: Disease NO. APPEARING: 1-3 (1-6) SAVE AS: Fighter:6 MORALE: 7 TREASURE TYPE: B ALIGNMENT: Chaotic (CE) RESISTANCE/IMMUNITIES ACID: Normal COLD: Half ELECTRICITY: Half FIRE: Half GAS: Half IRON: Normal MAG. ENERGY: Normal POISON: None SILVER: None REQ. “T.H.”: +1 or better PSIONIC ABILITIES PSIONIC LEVEL: 6 (30 PSPs) Attack modes: all Defense modes: all Psychometabolic: all

New B/X Extra-planar Creature: Holsohr

This is one of the creatures from my Fifty Fiends project.
Please note, it also uses one of my new psionic Treasure Type designations.

HOLSOHR (pron. HOLE-sore)

ATTACKS/SPECIAL ABILITIES Silent Scream. Although the holsohr are voiceless, they are able to emit a silent “roar” of sonic distortion in a 60' long radius and a 180° arc. All creatures caught within in the area take take 4d6 damage; a successful save vs. breath halves this damage. This ability is usable 3×/day. Phobia Aura. In addition to possessing the telepathic devotion phobia ampli cation, holsohr are always surrounded by a 30' radius effect equal to that ability. All creatures caught within the area must make a psionic saving throw or suffer the effects for a duration of 2 turns. Phobia Reflection. This ability is similar to the illusionist spell alter self, except that all creatures that view the holsohr will see it as the living embodiment of their greatest fear. A psionic saving throw results in the creature being able to see the holsohr as it truly is. This ability is usable 3×/day and has a duration of 1 hour (6 turns). Cause Nightmares. At will, a holsohr may touch a sleeping victim and cause it to have nightmares. On a failed psionic saving throw, the sleeping victim will be wracked with nightmares and restless sleep. When the victim wakes, it will have gained none of the ben ts from such a period of sleep (e.g., natural healing can- not take place, spells cannot be memorized, etc.). If the victim is woken, the nightmares will be disrupted and the victim may then return to restful sleep. The holsohr must be in the same plane as the actual body of the victim for this ability to work (e.g., the holsohr may not reach into the Prime Material from the Dream Plane to use this ability). DESCRIPTION/ECOLOGY Appearance. These dreadful creatures are a horror to behold. A holsohr’s body is generally humanoid in form, but its extremities feature bird-like hands and feet, its arms and torso are covered with feathers, and it wings are composed of long feathers. The head of a holsohr appears as a human skull with sunken eyes and a ghastly, fang-filled, vertically- set mouth that extends down its elongated neck. Ecology. Holsohr are native to Melas Oneiros (the Black Dream realm of the Dream Lands)—the place where the most terrifying and dreadful of nightmares are born. In fact, it is believed that the holsohr themselves were born into existence from nightmare. Holsohr prowl through Dream in search of the unattended bodies of dream travelers, through which the holsohr may escape from Dream into the plane occupied by the sleeper, in order to bring chaos, confusion and mayhem to the waking world. The holsohr are the sworn enemies of both baku and zowls. Languages. Holsohr are voiceless, communicating via a form of sign language (unique to the holshor). They do, however, understand common, auran, celestial, nocturne, primordial, and supernal.

HOME: Melas Oneiros (the Black Dream Realm of the Dream Lands) SERVES: Phobetor (Demon Prince of Nightmares) ARMOR CLASS: 2 HIT DICE: 7+7* MOVE: 60'(20')/180'(60') ATTACKS: 2 claws/1 bite DAMAGE: 1-6/1-6/1-8 NO. APPEARING: 1-3 SAVE AS: Fighter:7 MORALE: 11 TREASURE TYPE: W ALIGNMENT: Chaotic (CN) RESISTANCE/IMMUNITIES ACID: Normal COLD: Half ELECTRICITY: Half FIRE: Half GAS: None IRON: None MAG. ENERGY: Normal POISON: Normal SILVER: None REQ. “T.H.”: +1 or better PSIONIC ABILITIES PSIONIC LEVEL: 7 (35 PSPs) Attack modes: ego whip, id insinuation Defense modes: mind blank, thought shield* Telepathic: D) thought concealment*, phobia amplification* Psychoportative: D) dream travel* * Costs no PSPs to use.

The Planes of Nakara

In (slowly) developing the Basic Atlas of the Planes, I'm trying to make sure I look to Eastern influences as well as Western (mainly because these resources act to support the foundation of the Basic Psionics Handbook. Nakara is the hindu concept of hell... arguably 21 or 28 layers (I'm going with 28), where each layer reflects a particular type of sin. I'm leaving the sin references out, and taking some latitude with the appearance of the layers since the sources don't really describe them. So here's where I've ended up for now...

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1. Tamisra (Darkness). A realm similar in appearance to the Prime Material Plane, except that it is consumed by total and complete magical darkness. No forms of light (magical or normal) function here, even for the briefest periods of time.

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2. Andhatamisra (Blind-darkness). This realm consists of a massive winding web of underground tunnels and caverns, with no natural sources of light. While magical and normal lights work here, any time a fresh source of light is illuminated, all within sight of it must save vs. spells or be permanently blinded (until it is negated by cure blindness or remove curse).

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3. Raurava (Fearful/Hell of Rurus). This realm appears as an expansive jungle broken by massive active volcanoes and rivers of flowing magma. This realm is populated by savage serpent-like rurus.

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4. Maharaurava (Great-fearful). A cracked and barren realm with no life or sustenance to speak of, save for the kravyadas (flesh-eating rurus that appear as human/animal hybrids).

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5. Kumbhipaka (Cooked in a Pot). A rocky realm pocked by a seemingly infinite number of pits filled with boiling oil. A putrid cloud hangs over the entire place, and the smell of burning hair and flesh is pervasive.

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6. Kalasutra (Thread of Time/Death). This realm is made entirely of copper and extremely hot, heated by fire from below and the red hot sun from above.

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7. Asipatravana/Asipatrakanana (Forest of Sword Leaves). A metallic forest where everything is composed of metal, and the trees have razor-sharp swords for leaves. This realm is populated by whip-wielding yamadutas who will attempt to beat any creature they encounter.

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8. Shukaramukha (Hog’s Mouth). A massive prison complex guarded by yamadutas with fists so powerful they are able to liquify anything they squeeze.

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9. Andhakupa (Well with its Mouth Hidden). A great forest at the bottom of a great pit. The forest is overrun with birds, animals, reptiles, mosquitoes, lice, worms, flies and other creatures that attack endlessly all intruders to the realm.

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10. Krimibhaksha (Worm-food). The main feature of this plane is a 100,000 mile diameter lake filled with worms (instead of water). Anyone who dies here is reborn as a worm who must spend every spare moment devouring worms, or be devoured by the other worms (to be reborn again as a worm).

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11. Sandamsa (Hell of Pincers). A massive dungeon complex filled with unimaginable sums of gold. The demons dwelling here torture prisoners with red-hot iron tongs. The realm is overseen by an omnipotent presence known as The Great Rakshak.

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12. Taptasurmi/Taptamurti (Red-hot Iron Statue). A landscape of red-hot iron populated by iron golems armed with iron whips.

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13. Vajrakantaka-salmali (The Silk-cotton Tree with Thorns like Thunderbolts/Vajras). A thorny, brambled realm that surges with electricity.

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14. Vaitarni/Vaitarna (To Be Crossed). A river that both occupies its own plane while forming the boundary of Naraka (accessing all layers of the Nakara at one point or another). The river is filled with excreta, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails, bones, marrow, flesh and fat, and it is lined on both banks with fire. The realm is populated by fierce, flesh-eating aquatic beings that spit boiling oil.

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15. Puyoda (Water of Pus). An ocean of pus, excreta, urine, mucus, saliva and other repugnant things. Its waters surge and it difficult to traverse without swallowing (accidentally) its disease-riddled waters.

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16. Pranarodha (Obstruction to Life). A forested realm where yamaduta archers hunt to kill all humanoid intruders to the realm.

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17. Visashana (Murderous). A rocky, mist-filled realm is populated by whip-wielding yamadutas who attempt to beat to death any creature of status. It is believed that the great maker of chaotically-aligned astras (the weaponsmith that made Pashupatastra for Kali and Trishul for Kali) calls this plane home.

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18. Lalabhaksa (Saliva as Food). A sea of semen, devoid of any plant-life.

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19. Sarameyadana (Hell of the Sons of Sarama). A massive kennel populated by 720 ferocious dogs (the sons of Sarama) with razor-sharp teeth, who act in service to their yamaduta handlers.

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20. Avici/Avicimat (Waterless/Waveless). A barren, craggy realm filled with razor-sharp, wave-shaped rocks, and a peak 100 miles high at its center. Visitors to this realm become weaker the longer they remain away from their home plane. Each fall causes cuts that cannot be healed while the intruder remains on the plane, but neither does the intruder die from these cuts (though those so injured often beg for death).

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21. Ayahpana (Iron-drink). A steamy, rocky realm strewn with rivers of molten iron. The yamadutas that inhabit this realm will stand on the chests of captured victims and force them to drink this molten iron.

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22. Ksarakardama (Acidic/Saline Mud/Filth). This realm is similar in appearance to the Slime Pits of the Abyss, but with muck and filth instead of slime.

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23. Raksogana-bhojana (Food of Rakshasas). A great jungled realm that is home to the rakshasas (tiger-like asuras). The ruler of this realm, Bha Hsankarh, is believed to be the progenitor of both the rakshasas and the rakastas.

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24. Shulaprota (Pierced by Sharp Pointed Spear/Dart). This realm is composed of an almost endless sky, spotted by an occasional small floating island featuring a small outcropping of trees. The realm is populated by ferocious carnivorous birds like vultures and herons with razor sharp beaks.

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25. Dandasuka (Snakes). While the geography of this realm varies wildly, its climate ranges from tropical to sub-arctic. It is pervasively pocked with snake pits and dens, and populated by seven-hooded snakes.

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26. Avata-nirodhana (Confined in a Hole). A vast prison realm of caverns lined with dark wells and hidden crannies, and filled with poisonous fumes and suffocating smoke.

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27. Paryavartana (Returning). This realm appears as a vast forest filled with small-to-medium sized trees. It is populated by hard-eyed vultures, herons, crows and similar birds which attempt to pluck out the eyes of every living (non-avian) creature.

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28. Sucimukha (Needle-face). This realm appears as a massive landscape stitched together from the flesh of all manner of creatures. The yamadutas here are armed with massive needles, and each of their victims becomes part of the ever-expanding patchwork landscape.

Temple of the Rats: Background Information

The Temple of the Rats was originally constructed in the name of the ancient goddess Inaenu (pron. in-NAY-new)—a goddess of fire and war whose followers and cults have long since disappeared. (The original name of the temple has also long been forgotten, for it was not “the Temple of the Rats”).

It is held that the temple was once a place of great dignity, for the followers of Inaenu were stout warriors who feared little and killed many in her name. These warriors met their undoing, however, when they faced the armies of an evil leader known as “The Red Lord.” The Red Lord enlisted the aid of a powerful wizard who spread a fog of fear over the battlefield. The followers of Inaenu deserted the battle and came running back to the temple.

Such a sin against Inaenu was punishable by death. She chose to spare their lives, however, but turned them into rats, and offered the temple as a future place to stay. They expressed their gratitude and pledged their undying allegiance to Inaenu. The goddess had no need of such cowards among her followers, so she left the temple to the abandon of its residents and it fell into disrepair.

It was no wonder that Dabothuda, the demon prince of rats took the temple under his watch. And so, it became of place of evil. A fair number of adventurers have tried to rid the temple of its evil, but it is said that many of them were turned into wererats and now call the temple their home.

In recent weeks, there has been a growing number of wererat raids on local villages near the temple. Given that so many of the villagers are being wounded by the wererats (and becoming lycanthropes themselves), it is likely that the creatures are growing in number and the temple is the center of this growing problem.

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Dabothuda*
(demon prince of rats and wererats)
Titles: Lord of Secret & Hidden Places, Master of the Wandering Mind, Destroyer of Obstacles

ARMOR CLASS: 0
HIT DICE: 12 (66 hp)
MOVE: 180'(60')
ATTACKS: 2 claws/1 bite
DAMAGE: 2-12/2-12/2-12+disease
NO. APPEARING: 1 (unique)
SAVE AS: Dwarf:12
MORALE: 11
TREASURE TYPE: 5,000,000 cp
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic

PSIONIC ABILITIES (see the Basic Psionics Handbook)
PSIONIC LEVEL: 12 (60 PSPs)
Attack modes: ego whip, id insinuation, mind thrust, psionic blast, psychic crush
Defense modes: intellect fortress, mental barrier, mind blank, thought shield, tower of iron will
Psychometabolism: D) complete healing; S) cell adjustment, chameleon ability
Clairsentience: D) aura sight, catacognition, hypercognition, precognition, psionic divination, psionic true seeing* (always on), sensitivy to psionic impressions; S) 360° vision* (always on), clairvoyance, danger sense, detection of good/evil, detection of magic* (always on), know direction, know location, piercing vision* (see below)
Psychokinesis: S) control light, control sound
Telepathy: S) mind link* (wererats only), D) animal telepathy* (rats and wererats only), conceal thoughts
Psychoportative: D) probability travel

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Dabothuda, the demon prince of rats, resides on the 15th level of the Abyss—Choohon, a writhing and tunneled place of ruin populated by vermin of all types, but which is particular rife with rodents. It is rumored that Dabothuda keeps as many as 500 different lairs, each of which contains a chest holding 10,000 cp, and all of which are nearly impossible to find.

Dabothuda has two different forms, either of which he may assume at will: 1) a giant black rat that walks erect, or 2) a massive black wererat (both forms stand approximately 10' tall). In either form, Dabothuda’s claw and bite attacks do the same damage. On any successful bite attack, Dabothuda’s victim must save vs. paralysis or contract lycanthropy; unless cured, human victims will become a wererat in 2d12 days, and non-humans will die.

In either form, and in lieu of a physical attack, Dabothuda may opt to use a psionic ability or attack. Additionally, once per day, Dabothuda may summon up to 8 wererats to serve him.

Dabouthuda is always surrounding by a sphere of darkness that extends to a radius of 15'. This darkness may not be dispelled by any magical or psionic means, nor may a light of any type (normal, magical, psionic or otherwise) even penetrate it. Additionally, the darkness effect negates all special vision abilities (e.g., infravision and ultravision), except for darkvision. Dabothuda, however, possesses a unique clairsentient minor devotion known as piercing vision; this ability allows Dabothuda to see in under any light condition to 120', as if there was no impediment whatsoever (including the interior of his own sphere of darkness). This ability is always on and costs no PSPs to use. Additionally, Dabothuda possesses the clairsentient major science psionic true seeing to a range of 120'; this ability is always on and costs no PSPs to use.


Dabothuda is immune to poison, disease, and cold, and takes only half damage from acid, electricity, fire and gas. A magical weapon of +1 or greater is required "to hit" him, but Dabothuda is affected normally by iron weapons, silver weapons and magic missiles.

New Oe/1e/BX Monster: Eye Slime

This is a monster that I intend to include in PA2: Spawn of Xumaltet, the follow up to PA1: Vault of the Faceless Giants, and precursor to PA3: The Jahnu Prophecy.

From the definite extraplanar bent these adventures are taking, you can probably tell this is all going to be related to the Basic Guide to the Planes. This is really going to play a big part in the Xumaltet adventures (yes, plural adventures).

Xumaltet is really going to be more of a hex crawl as a module, with small self-contained (but very interwoven) adventures (the majority of which will be designed to play out within a single game session). Xumaltet will answer this question from Vault of the Faceless Giants... "Are there other planar rifts?" For now, that's all I'll say.

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EYE SLIME

These horrid creatures appear as a tentacled slime littered with staring eyeballs. The eye slimes were originally created by Juiblex to aid in his quest for dominance of the 99th plane of the Abyss. However, over the ages, many of these abominations have slipped into the Material Plane, mostly from the Slime Pits (the 457th layer of the Abyss, Juiblex’s home realm where they eye slimes are bred). In combat, an eye slime lashes out against a single opponent with a barrage of tentacles, doing 2d4 points of damage on a successful “to hit” roll. On a natural 20, the eye slime will succeed in grappling its opponent, and do an additional 1d6 points of squeezing damage. Every round thereafter, the eye slime will continue its hold, doing 1d6 points of damage per round until the victim or the eye slime is dead. A +1 or better weapon is required “to hit” an eye slime, and they take half damage from bashing weapons. Additionally, they are immune to acid and cold, though the latter will slow them to half movement for 2d4 rounds. Because an eye slime has 360° vision, it is never surprised except by invisible creatures (or similar), and thieves get no bonus for striking them from behind. However, an eye slime saves vs. blinding effects with a –5 penalty.

Oe/1E STATS FREQUENCY: Very rare NO. APPEARING: 1-3 ARMOR CLASS: 4 MOVE: 12" HIT DICE: 4 % IN LAIR: 25% TREASURE TYPE: Nil NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8 SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard INTELLIGENCE: Average ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil SIZE: M PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil Attack/Defense Modes: Nil BX STATS ARMOR CLASS: 4 HIT DICE: 4-8* MOVE: 180'(60')//60'(20') ATTACKS: 1 DAMAGE: 2-8 or special NO. APPEARING: 1-3 SAVE AS: Fighter:4 MORALE: 10 TREASURE TYPE: Nil ALIGNMENT: Chaotic

Free PDF: Planar Primer (BX/LL)

Some of you may have noticed the Basic Psionics Handbook doesn't really introduce the concept of planes for a BX audience that's gamed most of their lives without them. I had originally intended to include an plane-related appendix, but it because so big it was going to end up being as much info as the entirety of the psionics book. That led me to working on a supplement I'm tentatively titling PX2: Basic Atlas of the Planes. It's really going to take me some time to finish this up (another year or so probably). So in the meantime, I've put together a Planar Primer that I hope suffices in the meantime. It includes an introduction to the planes of existence, an overview of the planar cosmology, a schematic of planar interaction, an introdution to travel & encounters on the Astral and Ethereal Planes, and information on plane-related magic.

Go to RPGNow and get a free PDF
of the Planar Primer!

Planes Week Bonus – New Monster: Notenac

The other day on Google+, many of you likely saw my post of the illustration below (as well as the sketch, and the source material that inspired it). I went ahead and wrote it up, and decided to include it as part of my "planes week" posts.

NOTENAC

DESCRIPTION Though it is rumored that these terrible creatures originate in the Abyss, some think it more likely they hail from the lower plane of Lethe, the Realm of Forgetfulness. The true threat of the notenac are its dreaded touch attacks. In addition to the 1d4 of lashing damage each appendage does on a successful “to hit” roll, a failed save vs. spell against their touch causes the victim to forget everything he or she knows, including who they are, who and what they know, and their skills and abilities. Affected classed characters attack and save as if they were a 1st level character, while non-classed creatures attack and save as if they only had 1 HD (or as a Normal Man for creatures with fewer than 1 HD). Furthermore, any spellcasters who had memorized spells prior to a failed saving throw will have all of their spell slots emptied for the day, and will be unable to memorize any additional spells until the condition has been removed. This forgetful state may be nullified by the spells remove curse or dispel magic. In addition to being able to become invisible at will, notenac also have the following spell-like abilities which they may use 3×/day each: animate dead (7 HD), lightning bolt (7d6), and haste (self only, 1 turn duration). Notenac are immune to cold, electricity, and poison, and a +1 or better weapon is required to harm them. Description: The gray scaly, ape-like torso of the notenac features six tentacular arms, each tipped with a pair of small tendril-like fingerlings, and the two toes on each of its feet are upturned. Its furry, oversized head features a smooth, shiny-black shell covering its forehead, a pair of large, bulging black eyes, and a trio of massive teeth set in a fish-like mouth. A scent of burned flesh permeates the air around a notenac, and can often carry as far as 120' or more.

Oe/1E STATS FREQUENCY: Very rare NO. APPEARING: 1-3 ARMOR CLASS: 2 MOVE: 9" HIT DICE: 7+7 % IN LAIR: 10% TREASURE TYPE: C NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4 (×6) SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below MAGIC RESISTANCE: 25% INTELLIGENCE: Very ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral SIZE: L (20' long) PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil Attack/Defense Modes: Nil BX STATS ARMOR CLASS: 2 HIT DICE: 7+7** MOVE: 90'(30') ATTACKS: 6 tentacles DAMAGE: 1-4 + special (×6) NO. APPEARING: 1-3 SAVE AS: Dwarf:7 MORALE: 11 TREASURE TYPE: C ALIGNMENT: Chaotic

New BX/LL "Planar" Class: The Sauteur

So I guess I'm making this "planes" week on the blog. Following Sunday's post about the hierarchy of the Abyss, and Monday's post with the new Abyssal vermin creatures, I'm using today to introduce a new character class — the sauteur (the French word for "jumper"). For a while, I've been considering the idea of several new character classes, each dedicated to one of the chakra/discipline groups (per the in-progress Basic Psionics Handbook). And given that I've decided to make this week dedicated to planar posts, I figured it was time to flesh this one out.

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THE SAUTEUR

Please note that this character class requires use of Old School Adventures™ Accessory PX1: Basic Psionics Handbook.*

The sauteur is a mystical combatant capable of subverting the physical limitations of the Prime Material Plane, and accessing the powers of psychoportation.

The prime requisites of a sauteur are Strength and Wisdom. If a sauteur has a score of 13 or greater in both Strength and Wisdom, the character will gain a +5% bonus on earned experience points. If a sauteur has a Strength of 13 or greater AND a Wisdom of 16 or greater, the character will earn a +10% bonus on earned experience.

Sauteurs use the same attack and saving tables as fighters.

RESTRICTIONS: Sauteurs determine their hit points with six-sided dice (d6). In order to access his or her abilities, the sauteur must be able to “tune” his or her body into wavelengths of the various planes of existence. Metal armor and shields disrupt this ability. Therefore, a sauteur is restricting to wearing only hide or leather armor, and may use only hide or wood shields. They may use any weapon, and are permitted the same magic items as fighters. Sauteurs may not progress beyond 14th level of experience. A sauteur must have a minimum score of 9 in Constitution.

When a sauteur reaches name (9th) level, he or she may choose to build a fortress. If the sauteur has access to the major science of probability travel, he or she may construct that fortress on any plane accessible by the sauteur. The sauteur will not attract followers. However, planar natives may be hired by the sauteur to serve in the fortress. Should the sauteur’s means allow, he or she may build additional outposts in other planes as well.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Through concentration, study, and practice, sauteurs have learned to attune their bodies to the wavelengths of the various planes of existence, allowing them to harness the power of psychoportation. As sauteurs rise in level, they gain access to major sciences and minor devotions in the psychoportative discipline. Because the sautuer dedicates himself to both the physical and the mystical, sauteurs earn PSPs at a much more restricted rate than mystics, gaining only 2 PSPs per psionic level. Sauteurs are subject to the same “character time” requirements as other psionicists for the daily regeneration of PSPs—an undisturbed meditative period (usually about an hour) after a full-night (8 hours) of rest.

As the sauteur rises in level, a number of other special abilities are gained as outlined below:

See into the Ethereal. This allows the sauteur to see directly from the Material into the Ethereal Plane.

Strike Planar Natives. Through a “partial phasing" of his or her body, the sauteur is able to make a melee strike against a native of a specified plane that would otherwise require a +1 magical weapon “to hit” (e.g., at 7th level, the sauteur would be able to strike an elemental with a normal weapon).

Strike Planar Natives with Bonus. As Strike Planar Native above, except the sauteur strikes with +1 bonuses on “to hit” and damage rolls against the specified planar native. Alternately, this ability allows the sauteur to make a melee strike against a planar native that would otherwise require a +2 weapon “to hit” (but without the +1 “to hit” and damage bonuses).

Note Regarding Psionic Combat Mode Vulnerability
For the purposes of psionic Combat Modes, sauteurs are considered to be psionic individuals. However, sautuers cannot possess Combat Modes (as they fall outside the psychoportative disciplines to which they have access). This makes sauteurs particularly susceptible to psionic attacks! For DMs running psionic campaigns, this vulnerability should be kept in mind when designing encounters for characters of the sauteur class.

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* And before you ask, I'm still working on it, but it's VERY close. I hope to release it in the next couple of months!

New Monster Double-shot: Abyssal "Vermin"

In yesterday's post, I wrote about my take on the demons and the demon lords of the Abyss. Today, my new monster features takes a look at what I'll refer to affectionately as "abyssal vermin." The concept of demon larvae and demon locusts aren't necessarily new ones, and I'm mainly looking at adapting them for BX/LL with my eye on a future "planes" book.

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ABYSSAL LARVA

DESCRIPTION Those men, who in their mortal life, were particularly sinful, selfish, and evil, sink to the lower planes after death and are incarnated as abyssal larvae—the fetal forms from which many demons (particularly quasits and imps) are “grown.” Abyssal larvae appear as puffy, bloated human-headed maggots of a pale and sickly whitish-yellow color. The acids used to digest food are always present in the fangedmouth of an abyssal larva. Therefore, the bite of one of these creatures deals 2 points of acid damage in addition to the bite itself (which does 1d4 points of damage). The mind of an abyssal larva is particularly warped, providing it protection from all mind-affecting abilities (e.g., charm, fear, illusions, etc.).

Oe/1E STATS FREQUENCY: Common NO. APPEARING: 10-60 ARMOR CLASS: 7 MOVE: 6" HIT DICE: 1 % IN LAIR: 100% TREASURE TYPE: Nil NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4 SPECIAL ATTACKS: Acid damage (2 pts. per bite) SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard INTELLIGENCE: Low ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil SIZE: 6' long (M) PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil Attack/Defense Modes: Nil BX STATS ARMOR CLASS: 7 HIT DICE: 1* MOVE: 60'(20') ATTACKS: 1 bite DAMAGE: 1-4 + acid (2 pts.) NO. APPEARING: 2-12 (10-60) SAVE AS: Normal Man MORALE: 7 TREASURE TYPE: Nil ALIGNMENT: Chaotic

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ABYSSAL LOCUST

DESCRIPTION Those abyssal larva that mature, but are not chosen by higher demons to be bred as a particular race of demon, mature naturally into abyssal locusts. The larval coloration becomes replaced by a variety of deeper, jewel-like tones (ranging from sulphur yellow to putrid jade green to blood purple). Additionally, the mind of the larva degrades, causing the chaos of its mind to be calmed, thereby eliminating any sort of immunity to mind-affecting abilities. The forelimbs of an abyssal locust are razor sharp, doing 1d4 each. Furthermore, if all 4 forelimbs attack a single target successfully, the abyssal locust may choose to pick up any victim of human size or smaller and carry the victim away at a speed of 2/3 normal for anything dwarf-sized or smaller, and 1/3 normal for any victim larger than a dwarf. This makes abyssal locusts quite desirable as aerial support to other demons.

Oe/1E STATS FREQUENCY: Rare NO. APPEARING: 5-20 ARMOR CLASS: 6 MOVE: 6"/18" HIT DICE: 1+1 % IN LAIR: 20% TREASURE TYPE: Nil NO. OF ATTACKS: 4 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/1-4/1-4/1-4 SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard BX STATS ARMOR CLASS: 6 HIT DICE: 1+1* MOVE: 60'(20')/180'(60') ATTACKS: 4 forelimbs DAMAGE: 1-4/1-4/1-4/1-4 NO. APPEARING: 1-4 (5-20) SAVE AS: Normal Man MORALE: 8 TREASURE TYPE: Nil ALIGNMENT: Chaotic

My BX Take on the Demons and Demon Lords of the Abyss

As I've mentioned before, I've realized that what makes sense as a followup to the Basic Psionics Handbook is some sort of "Basic Planes Manual." It actually started as an appendix to the psionics book, but I realized the space was limited, and with all I wanted to include, it warranted its own book.

A while back, I also mentioned (in a G+ comment, I think) how I really liked how Tom Moldvay handled his hierarchies of planar creatures (mostly elemental planar creatures) in Lords of Creation, and that I was going to borrow that model for the planes book.

One of the things I've been working on lately is a hierarchy for the Abyss. I know that demons are not ones to submit to a hierarchy, but it's really more to organize the strength of the demons (from weakest to strongest) so that DMs can (at-a-glance) know which demons would make suitable foes for their players (based on level, monster HD, special abilities, etc.). With that in mind, I set about trying to define the hierarchy. I took some cues both from LL and from the AD&D MM, as well as expanded the demon lords a bit to include some classic Sumerian names. Here's where I ended up.



You'll see that I don't use the same strict HD limitations for order as the LL AEC. Instead, I use a more discriminating line based on whether or not the demon has psionics. (That's not an available cutoff point for the AEC, since there are no psionics there). It also makes something like the marilith more formidable in my system than in LL. Thus MY Mason-Dixon line for standard vs. higher order demons.

As a support to the above, I started to work out my own cosmology around the different layers of the Abyss (again, with some nods to the D&D history of the Abyss, but while trying to create unique and/or OGL-able versions of the names) to "place" the demons and demon lords with their own realms. And here's what that looks like so far.



This is all work in progress, but I'm to a point where I'm done fiddling with this for now, can slide it to the back burner, and get back to the more pressing/ongoing things that SHOULD be occupying my attention.

Finalizing my Planar Cosmology & Schematic Drawings

For a while now, I've been contemplating how I would depict the planar cosmology should I follow up the Basic Psionics Handbook with a Basic Guide to the Planes.

As I've looked at some different resources and iterations (and D&D has gone through A LOT of planar iterations), I thought I'd turn to the guy who was supposed to write the original book about planes for D&D—Steve Marsh. (For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, just as the manuscript was being readied for a 1986 publication date, Gygax was forced out of TSR, all Gygax-related projects were immediately shelved, and the book was never published. UGH!)

Mr. Marsh has two different cosmologies he uses: one he uses for D&D games, and one he uses for non-D&D games. The one he uses for D&D relies heavily on his old concept that the various inner planes are like sheets of paper in a box. I've always been enamored of the cubic structure that came from Mr. Marsh's tetrahedral structure of the inner planes (the cubic one is the one that Gary expanded upon in Dragon #73 in his Sorceror's Scroll article for that issue, "The Inner Planes." (You may recall the full color page cutout that you could cut and assemble into the cube.) In Mr. Marsh's drawing from 2005 (the first link above), I really like the idea that the Shadow and Dream planes be part of the cosmology, and that moving "upward" (to the Upper Planes) brings you closer to ideals and positivity, and that moving "downward" (to the Lower Planes) brings you closer to decay and negativity.

Based on the above, I've put together a planar cosmology that I think covers all my bases, and in a way that supports the way I think of the planes interacting. I've also put together a schematic of travel between the planes. This may morph over time, but right now, I'm feeling pretty good about them.