June 2012 Archives

Description
The vile wormhound is a truly horrible hybrid that defies accurate description. This predatory monstrosity has a distinctly canine cast to its physique while its sickly, mottled skin is decidedly amphibian in nature. The creature's "head" (if it can be called that) is where earthly comparisons fail.

Its shoulder girdle is ringed with sickening gelatinous eyes the color and texture of rotting blackberries, while the writhing anemone-like frontal mass of tentacles end in vicious poison spikes. Depending on which subspecies of wormhound is encountered, these tentacle spikes may either be projectiles or toxic barbs reminiscent of wasp stingers. In either case, the spikes are poisonous.

Ecology & Tactics
Wormhounds roam damp subterranean caverns and hunt in packs, never straying far from a water source. As a result, they tend to favor caves that are regularly fed by ground and rain water. They prefer to set up ambushes and attack from concealment. If they feel they are outmatched, then they will flee if at all possible, but if cornered, they will fight ferociously.

Wormhound young are kept in well-protected nurseries and are stationary through the first several weeks of life, as the legs take time to develop. They are no less deadly in larval form, however, as wormhounds implant their eggs in walls and ceilings of caverns, and the hatchlings will use their tentacles to grasp, paralyze and devour the unwary.

Notes
Wormhounds are vicious combat machines, plain and simple. Given the two variants, they make good ranged artillery or melee combatants. If you want to make things particularly difficult for adventurers, combine the two!

Overview
The MMP stat block included with each monster entry provides the basic information needed to run the monster in-game. The stats themselves are simple enough that converting them for use with your favorite vintage fantasy adventure game rules (such as Basic rules published in, say, 1981) should be fairly straightforward. I've also designed the block with retro-clone cross compatibility in mind.

One word of warning - I don't generally number crunch the stats too much (if at all, sometimes), so there are no guarantees of balance expressed or implied. If you have recommendations for stat changes, do let me know and I may alter them.

I came up with this basic stat block design a while back in an attempt to make an attractive, easy-to-read block that contains all the information needed to run a creature while minimizing rifling through books. It was an entertaining challenge in information design and I'm fairly happy with the result.

Main Stat Block
Armor Category (AC) – A measure of how difficult a creature is to hit. Two values are provided descending AC (lower is better) and ascending AC (in brackets; higher is better).

Health Dice (HD) – The number of eight sided dice (d8) rolled to generate the creature's health points (hp).

Movement – Distance in feet that a creature can move. The first number represents the amount of distance the creature can cover in a ten minute turn, while the second represents the distance covered per combat round.

Morale – The creature's morale. When checking morale, roll two six-siders (2d6). If a value higher than the morale score is rolled, the creature will flee. Creatures with morale of 12 will fight to the death, no exceptions.

Monster Type – The monster's general classification or family. Abomination and Undead are common examples of monster type.

Outlook – The monster's worldview, if it has one. Options are:

• Malevolent Order
• Malevolent Chaos
• Malevolent Opportunist
• Opportunist (if intelligent) -or- Bestial (if animalistic)
• Benevolent Opportunist
• Benevolent Chaos
• Benevolent Order

Experience – The number of experience points (XP) awarded for the defeat of the monster.

Attacks & Damage – The basic attacks available to the monster. Melee attacks are marked with a dagger (†), ranged attacks with an arrow (→).

Special Attacks & Abilities – Special combat or non-combat abilities the monster posesses. Melee abilities are marked with a dagger (†), ranged attacks with an arrow (→), and defensive or non-combat abilities with a diamond (♦).

To Hit Chart
Rather than having to look up combat values in a book, the combat chart is provided in the monster entry. The top row shows the target ascending AC value, the bottom row shows the target descending AC value and the center row shows the d20 roll needed to hit that value.

Saving Throw Chart
Saving throws are also provided in the monster entry. This eliminates looking up the value in a separate table and also allows the saving throws to be customized on a creature-by-creature basis.

Toxin or Disease – Use this when resisting poison, disease and instant death. In general, use this for anything that puts a creature's fortitude or endurance to the test.

Magical Devices – Use to resist the effects of magic wands and any other device that slings magic.

Ray or Gaze – Use this save when resisting the effects of paralyzing stares, ray-like breath weapons and other such effects. (Example: A medusa's gaze attack).

Blast or Breath – Explosions, fiery dragons' breath and other area effects. If you'd run away from it in slow motion in an action movie, this is the saving throw to use. In general, use for situations in which reflexes make a difference.

Spells – Use to resist the effects of spells, whether cast or read from a scroll. In general, use for attacks that require strong willpower to resist.

Other Monster Entry Notes
I've added some features to make the monster entries on this blog easy to print out and use at the table. I want to make sure that the monsters leave the confines of the website and make their way to gaming tables everywhere.

When you print a monster entry, the site header and most other extraneous stuff won't print, so you will get a page that consists solely of the monster entry, making it convenient for tossing into a folder or three ring binder.

Also, most images have both a color and black and white version which can be toggled by clicking on the image. If you want to save printer ink, or just want your monster entries in black and white, '70s style, then switch to the black & white version and print away! For true vintage RPG flavor, print them in black and white on pastel green or gold paper.

Also, note that there is no OGL content on this website. If you want to use any of the monsters from this site in a gaming product (whether for sale or not), please let me know.

Magical Monstrosity Press is an online book of beasts, art gallery and blog inspired by pulp fantasy & sci-fi, medieval bestiaries, vintage role playing game books and classic death metal album covers. 

You will find ravenous hordes of slimy monstrosities from beyond time and space and an onslaught of voracious undead here, simply because that's what I enjoy drawing. Of course, there will be other types of monsters as well, but the above two will surely outnumber them. I've always enjoyed the combination of an illustration, a block of statistics and descriptive text found in role-playing game bestiaries and this blog is in part a reflection of that.

At times I'll post a fully developed monster entry with an illustration, stat block and description (suitable for old-school dungeon crawling RPGs, modern clones and any other game system you choose to translate them to). At other times, I'll just post sketches, the occasional print-and-punch game accessory or feature an artist whose work I find inspirational 

If you have suggestions for changes to creatures I post here, or would like to see variants, let me know and I might incorporate them. Also, I'd love to hear any tales of how these monsters played at your gaming table. Post your gameplay anecdotes on the relevant monster's page if you want. I'd like to see what havoc they wreak when out in the world.

In any case, enjoy the site and let me know what you think. I welcome feedback.