Wednesday 21 December 2011

Mikelmerck - a Monstrous update (or mini-bestiary)


A is for Algae - nasty stuff that is hard to detect.  Apart from being slippery, it has an additional hazard attached to it.  Any metal or organic substance it touches begins to turn to green slime (saving throw). It can be killed with fire or extreme cold, and the transformation process can be arrested by the use of a cure disease spell.

B is for Badger - highly territorial and believed to carry disease.  As a result, farmers hunt them relentlessly.  They fight back, but will retreat if they can.  It's true about the disease.

Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 1

Attacks: 2 claws (1d3), bite (1d6)
Saving Throw: 14
Special: None
Move: 6


is also for Wild Boars - again a hunted beast that fights back.  In this case, they do not die easily.

Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 3+3
Attacks: Gore (3d4)
Saving Throw: 14
Special: Continues attacking 2 rounds after death
Move: 15
Boars continue to attack for two rounds after they are actually killed before they drop dead.


C is for Changeling fey - like for example, the Shifty Gan.

D is for Dawners.  The dawners are what is left of the oldest humans.  Forced away from civilisation, they live a brutish life in isolated pockets.  Over the centuries, their culture (if it ever existed) has degenerated and they are only rarely seen.  They do not like strangers but sometimes hunt other humanoids for their own mysterious purposes.

Armor Class: 6 [14]
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: Weapon, usually spear (1d6) or slings (1d4)
Saving Throw: 17
Special:  Dawners will always try to hide and ambush rather than confront directly.  In general they will aim to pick off the weak and retreat with their prey.  They are intelligent and canny hunters.
Move: 12


E is for Ettin - these dimwitted two-headed giants argue constantly and have no chance of setting up an ambush - nor it must be admitted, any desire to either.  Permanently greedy, they can be a great bane to livestock.  Canny villages have sometimes managed to frighten ettins away by threatening them with something nastier.

Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 8+2
Attacks: Weapon (2d8)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Throw boulders
Move: 12
They throw rocks for 2d8 points of damage.


F is for Fey - the ever-present boundary crossers of Mikelmerck.  Warrior bands sometimes cross into the Duchy as part of their initiation rites. 

Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 1+1
Attacks: Sword (1d8) or 2 arrows (1d6)
Saving Throw: 17
Special: Immune to some magic, but vulnerable to cold iron
Move: 12


is for Guardian ghosts.

H is for Horse - or more usually the Duchy pony.  Jet black and hardy, these unflappable beasts have been used for centuries to carry lead down mountains and farmers up dales.  For nobles, horse-breeding is a permanent interest and the study of pedigrees is considered a proper subject for the aristocracy.

Horses are AC 7 [12], with Duchy ponies having 4 HD, movement 14 and Noblebloods having 3 HD, movement 21.  The phlegmatic Duchy pony is always gets a save v fear the first time it sees something new.

L is for Lycanthropes.  In Mikelmerck these are werewolves for the most part.  They are also rare, which is a great relief to anyone who has met one.

Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 4+4
Attacks: Bite (2d4)
Saving Throw: 13
Special: Lycanthropy
Move: 12


N is for Nixie.  Nixies are river spirits who infest the Roosh.  Endlessly curious, they are usually friendly, but can be capricious - as well as prone to forgetting that most species need air to breath.  Nixies do not live long away from water and they like new playthings.

Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 1d4 hit points
Attacks: Weapon (1d6)
Saving Throw: 18
Special: Charm
Move: 6/12 (when swimming)

One in ten of them has the power to cast a powerful Charm Person (-2 on saving throw) that causes the victim to walk into the water and join the nixies as their slave (1 year). Casting Dispel Magic against the curse has only a 75% chance of success, and once the victim is actually in the water the chance drops to 25%.


P is for Pheasants.

S is for Sheep.



2 comments:

  1. I like this approach. Short but still sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anything that needs to be expanded on can happen when it needs to. If that makes sense.

    ReplyDelete