[Vanth] Moth-Man Race and Racial Class

MOTH-MAN

Ability Requirements: Dexterity 9+, [Charisma 12+ (female only)]

R&C Racial Base XP: 1,500

Moth-Men are a race from an altogether different dimension. Even they do not know their ultimate origin, as their race has travelled the worlds, planes, and dimensions since time immemorial. They arrived in Vanth through the use of their Portal Power. They are found in small clan-based settlements (5d4 males, 5d4 females, and a number of children equal to both) in out-of-the-way places, usually in deep forests, jungles, mountains, or wastes, often near ruins, centered on a location where the boundaries in time and space are weak.

Male Moth-Men are regarded by other races as appearing quite hideous, being 6’ to 7’ tall humanoids (though appearing shorter due to their hunched posture) with scrawny, boney builds; hairless, cadaverous, bald skull-like heads with large bulbous eyes that glow like headlights; clawed three-fingered hands and feet; dark grayish powdery skin; and dull grayish-white tattered moth wings.

Female Moth-Men are, on the other hand, quite beautiful by human and elven standards, being 5’ to 6’ tall humanoids with slender but buxom build; possessing beautiful human heads with fair skin and luxurious hair; lovely almond-shaped eyes with glowing red irises; cute feathery antennae; clawed three-fingered hands and feet; and beautiful, colorful, glittering moth wings.

Male Moth-Men fear and loathe other, more handsome races of men, as they fear that their females will prefer them. However, they have little to fear as female Moth-Men find their own males most attractive, and believe “handsome” men of other races are quite ugly. If anything, male Moth-Men only have to fear from ugly men of other races, as they may more resemble male Moth-Men than their own race.

Most Moth-Men are distrustful of other races, as they are usually hunted as an aberrant or mutant species on many of the worlds, planes, and dimensions they have lived; ergo, their continual nomadic way of life. Thus, they tend to live in out-of-the-way places by preference as much as by necessity. Some clans trade or even deal more regularly with other races, but these are few and far between, and usually only found where many different races congregate and thus they are not considered unusual. If attacked, Moth-Men prefer to flee, either elsewhere on their world or to another.

Moth-Men subsist off of nectar, leafy vegetation, and small animals, preferring small insects, lizards, and mammals. They are usually fairly primitive in technology, requiring few tools as their claws are lethal weapons. They prefer to lair in tree-huts, tall ruined buildings, or in caves high on mountain peaks. The only product that they tend to make is silk; they raise silk-worms and the like, and weave fine silks, which are usually reserved for their females to wear. They trade silks for fine jewelry, which again, the females like to wear.

Female Moth-Men lay silky eggs in their lairs, which after six months hatch, opening to reveal a wingless Moth-Man child. The child rarely leaves their home lair for their first six years. At about six years, the child forms a cocoon, and after another six months emerges in a winged form. Moth-Men achieve full adult size and social adulthood at age 12.

Claw Attack: A Moth-Man can make two claw attacks per round, in a combination of hands or feet, each dealing 1d4 points of damage. These attacks may be made “on the fly,” in the midst of the Moth-Man’s full flying movement, though if the Moth-Man misses an attack by less than 4 he must stop and engage the target in melee.

Detect Portal: A Moth-Man can detect any rifts or weakness in the time-space continuum. If it merely passes by one, at a distance depending on the strength of the rift, the LM should make a d6 roll for the character. If the roll is less than or equal to 1 plus the Wisdom bonus of the Moth-Man, the Moth-Man detects it. He can always spend time actively searching for a rift or weakness, in which case discovery is automatic, but this requires one minute of searching for a 10’ by 10’ area.

Flight: A Moth-Man can fly at double its normal ground movement rate.

Hypnotic Eyes: A Moth-Man’s large, glowing red eyes are quite hypnotic to most races. If the Moth-Man has surprise, those within 30’ who look directly at the Moth-Man must make a saving throw versus Spells or become stunned and unable to move for 1d6 rounds. Those who fail the save with a Natural 1 are stunned for 1d6 minutes. The only race immune to this effect is the Klengon race; if they fail their save they become enraged and must attack the Moth-Man with a bonus of +2 to hit for 1d6 rounds.

Infravision: A Moth-Man has 60’ Infravision.

Open Portal: A Moth-Man can open an inactive rift in time and space; however, this requires much time and concentration. Every hour a Moth-Man concentrates on opening the portal it rolls a d6; if the roll is less than or equal to 1 plus the Intelligence bonus of the Moth-Man, the portal opens. Every hour it tries to open a portal, successful or not, the Moth-Man suffers 1d6 points of damage. Once the portal is open, it remains open as long as the Moth-Man concentrates, plus 1d6 rounds thereafter.

Radioactive Eyes: A Moth-Man can loose a pulse of radiation from its glowing red eyes, This burst is instant, the radiation very short lived and such that remains being noted on a Geiger counter but not of any real consequence. However, any being within 10’ of the Moth-Man, within a 90’ arc from its eyes, suffers a Radiation attack; roll the Radiation Class randomly for each attack (d6): 1-3 Class 1, 4+5 Class 2, 6 Class 3. The Moth-Man can perform this attack once per day, plus one time per day per point of Constitution bonus. Moth-Men are immune to their own personal radiation, if it is somehow reflected back on them, but have no immunity to other forms of radiation. 

MOTH-MAN PROPHET RACIAL CLASS

Racial Class Base XP: 3,000

Hit Dice: d6

Fight As: Rank III

Strong Saving Throws: 5, 6

Weak Saving Throws: 2, 3

Prohibited Multiclass: None

Moth-Men Prophets are the natural-born leaders of the Moth-Men clans. It is they who lead their clans to new worlds, planes, and dimensions, seeking a new home. Both males and females may be Prophets. Other than in time of migrations, Prophets only lead their clans in major, long-term decisions; more martial Moth-Men are usually elected as war chiefs, and more earthly chiefs are elected for day-to-day issues, though both usually defer to their Prophet should he or she choose to intervene. Clan Prophets also train the new, young Prophets who are destined to lead new clans to new lands.

Augury: A Moth-Man Prophet may use the augury spell three times per day, plus once per day per level above 1st.

Charming Eyes: If a victim is stunned by the Moth-Man Prophet’s Hypnotic Eyes, the Moth-Man Prophet may attempt to charm the victim, as per the charm person spell. It may do so no more than once per day, plus once per day per level above 1st.

Contact Other Plane: A 5th level Moth-Man Prophet, if near a rift or weakness in the time-space continuum, may contact other plane as per the spell. Use of this ability more than once a week is dangerous; each use after the first in a 7-day period adds 5% to the Moth-Man Prophet’s chance of going insane.

Exodus: At 9th level and thereafter, a young Moth-Man Prophet has the ability to lead an exodus of his people, gathering followers from his home clan and other nearby clans to travel to and settle in a new world, plane, or dimension. The Prophet attracts 1d4 Moth-Men, equally divided among males and females, to his new clan per point of Charisma. Once the clan is settled in its new land, as long as the clan thrives, a new Prophet shall be born to the clan every few years, to continue the process of migration and colonization anew.

Moth Dust: A Moth-Man Prophet is covered in a fine, glittering dust or powder. It can release this powder by shaking, distributing it in a cloud in a 5’ radius around itself. Those caught in the cloud must make a saving throw versus Poison or become confused, as per the spell, for 1d6 rounds plus one round per level of the Moth-Man Prophet. The Moth-Man Prophet can release this dust once per day, plus one time per day per point of Charisma bonus.

Improved Open Portal: A Moth-Man Prophet can open any local inactive rift or weakness in the time-space continuum after one round of concentration and making a successful saving throw versus Spells. If the attempt fails, he may attempt to do so every round. Once the portal is open, it remains open as long as the Moth-Man Prophet wills it to remain open.

Improved Radioactive Eyes: A Moth-Man Prophet’s radioactive eye attack has a range of 20’ and deals Class 1d6 Radiation damage.

Terrifying Shriek: A Moth-Man Prophet can let loose with a terrifying shriek. All non-Moth-Men within 60’ must make a saving throw versus Spells or be affected as though by a cause fear spell. The Moth-Man Prophet may perform this shriek once per day, plus once per day every three levels (twice at 3rd, three times at 6th, etc.)

[Vanth] Dwarf Race and Racial Class

DWARF

Ability Requirements: Strength 9+, Constitution 12+, Charisma 16-

R&C Racial Base XP: 1,250

Dwarfs are stout, short, bearded demi-humans who average a height of approximately 4 feet and weigh about 150 pounds. Their skin, hair, and eye color ranges in all varieties of the Human norm, and they may exhibit physical characteristics of varying human ethnic types. Dwarfs spend much of their time underground, in their mines, singing and mining gems, metals, and minerals. They usually live above ground, often in a cottage or barracks with their brothers and cousins. The Dwarfs of Fantasia have the duty of mining the special diamonds found in that realm in order to provide magic dust for the Faeries.

All dwarfs are male; there are no female Dwarfs. Dwarfs reproduce in one of two ways. Most Dwarfs are hatched from eggs. These eggs are found in rich veins of minerals, metals, and gems; thus, Dwarfs mine not merely for the joy of gathering the metals, but also to find their children! All Dwarf eggs are found in clutches of 2d6 eggs; all Dwarfs from the same clutch are considered to be brothers. All Dwarfs hatched from eggs from the same mine shaft are cousins. Dwarfs can also reproduce, after a fashion, by adopting a human child and raising it on Dwarf food; the child so raised grows up to become a Dwarf. Usually, only outcast Dwarfs raise such children, but it is not unknown for kindly Dwarfs to adopt a lost child or orphan.

Darkvision: Dwarfs have the ability to see in the dark up to 60 feet.

Hardy: Dwarfs are a hardy race, and gain the following bonuses to saving throws:

+2 save versus Breath Attacks

+4 save versus Poison

+4 save versus Petrify or Paralyze

+3 save versus Wands

+4 save versus Spells or Spell-Like Devices

Short: Due to their short height, Dwarfs cannot use two-handed swords or longbows.

Stonecraft: From their experience underground, Dwarfs have a 30% chance of detecting traps, false walls, hidden construction, or noticing if passages are sloped. Dwarfs must be actively searching for these abilities to function.

DWARF FOREMAN RACIAL CLASS

Racial Class Base XP: 2,250

Hit Dice: d8

Fight As: Rank II

Strong Saving Throws: 2, 4

Weak Saving Throws: 1, 5

Prohibited Multiclass: Fighter

Bossy: A Dwarf Foreman is born, not made; his name naturally reflects his leadership status, and as such, together with his earth-born allure, he has the ability to charm Dwarf once per day per level. This ability operates as per the charm person spell cast at the Dwarf Foreman’s level, though it only works on Dwarfs. At 9th level he gains the ability to mass charm Dwarfs, as per the mass charm spell, once per day, and gains an additional use per day for every two levels above 9th (twice at 11th, three times at 13th, and so forth).

Craftsman: In addition to a random Secondary Skill, a Dwarf Foreman may choose one of the following Secondary Skills as his Primary Profession.  The Dwarf Foreman’s skill in his Primary Profession begins at 50% and increases 5% per level after 1st level. Choose one: Armorer, Blacksmith, Engineer, Jeweler, Miner, Prospector, Stonemason, Tinker, or Tunnel Runner. If he is multi-classed as a Warlock, he can instead choose from Alchemist, Dirge Singer, Lorekeeper, or Runecaster.

Pick Specialist: A Dwarf Foreman gains a bonus to hit and to damage with a club as per the weapon specialization of the Fighter class. The bonuses apply to both light and heavy picks. He does not gain the ability to choose other weapons for specialization at higher levels, and may only improve his ability with the pick.

Improved Stonecraft: From their experience underground, a Dwarf Foreman has a 50% chance of detecting traps, false walls, hidden construction, or noticing if passages are sloped. This ability can also be used to identify raw minerals, metals, and gems, and evaluate them. This chance improves by 5% every level after 1st level. A Dwarf Foreman must be actively searching for these abilities to function.

Thane: At 9th level a Dwarf Foreman is eligible to found his own Dwarf mine and settlement and settled down as Thane (Lord) of that settlement. If it is in lands already inhabited by Dwarfs, he must get the permission of other Dwarf Thanes in the area before he digs his mine and builds his settlement. As long as he has been a successful Foreman and is well-liked by the other Dwarfs of the community, he will be able to attract 5d8 Dwarfs to his banner who will be the founding core of his settlement.

[Vanth] The Scraplands

Here's what I've put together so far on the Scraplands...

The Scraplands are a region of scrub-covered hills, bleak mountains, radioactive ruins, and harsh wastelands south of the realm of the Steel Warlords. They are the home of the Numerikahns, an alien human race who settled here almost three centuries ago. They arrived in waves of colony ships of the vast, slow generation type, and brought with them an entire ecosystem and new way of life. They found Vanth already occupied by native life (and no few species of alien life as well), but were able to find a region relatively devoid of effective competition on the eastern shores of the Southern (or Salty) Sea.

The Numerikahn colonists were Neo-Catholic Objectivists exiled from or fleeing from one of the older Earthican colonies. They may have been from Gamma Terra, Gamma Delta, or even Earthica IV itself; after generations on the ships, their history was somewhat garbled and propagandized. They found a primitive robodroid society in the region, which they promptly conquered and enslaved (according to their creed, artificial life forms have no souls and thus no rights). Several decades later colony ships of Planetary Apes arrived in the region; the apes were promptly arrested as illegal immigrants and sentenced to life imprisonment. As their children had no way to gain legitimate citizenship, they too were arrested and sentenced upon birth. The apes formed a mid-level slave caste between the robodroids and the humans.

The colonists built a loosely-unified confederation of independent city-states that ruled the lands today known as the Scraplands, the Steel Warlords, the Mutant Jungles, the Forbidden Wastes, the Ape Sultanate, and the Amazon and Wooky Freeholds.  Each city ruled a large rural “province” filled with villas, plantations, oil fields, and mines worked by apes and robodroids; here and there were small private homesteads of the more independent-minded (and often isolationist) settlers.

Around 150 years ago the robodroids and apes rebelled in what became known as the Great War of Apes and Robodroids. After more than a decade of war, including the extensive use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and the hiring of amazon and wooky mercenaries on the part of the apes and robodroids, the cyborgs won. Most humans retreated to “redoubts” built deep beneath the radioactive, poisoned earth. The more isolationist groups remained on the surface or retreated to the mountains; these are the ancestors of the mutants and the Nuzark mountain-folk of the Hidden Caves.

The cyborgs, today known as the Steel Warlords, founded their own realm in the remaining fertile valley; robodroids were second-class citizens, but as they were able to lord their freedom over the enslaved humans, they remained docile. Over the intervening century and a half they have cleansed and transformed their great valley into a lush paradise where humans labor in the fields and factories under the watchful eye of their robodroid taskmasters, while cyborg lords luxuriate in decadence in their palaces, cities, and towns.  Prior to the return of the humans from the redoubts, they used to mine the minerals of the Scraplands; today they let the Scraplanders do all the work, then simply take what they want in “retributive raids” when they need it.

The planetary apes built their own realm in the jungles to the north under the leadership of the Zensunni Orangutan prophet, Zaiush ibn Zaiush; they, too, enslaved the local humans, while other humans survived in wild bands. Both groups of humans are primitive due to biological agents found in the jungles; the slave class humans are less primitive as the apes feed them fruits that counteract some of the biological agents. The wild, savage bands are of stone-age level and cannot speak, but if taken out of the jungle, they rapidly regain their intelligence, as the agents halting their development are plant-based. The apes rejected most advanced technology on principle, as it was what was used to keep them oppressed, so today their tech level is low, only around that of the late 19th century on Earth, though they have more advanced rifles, pistols, and some other weaponry. The orangutans dominate the faith as imams (teacher/priests) and through the office of the Caliph, the gorillas rule through the military under the rulership of the Sultan, and the chimpanzees serve in pretty much all other capacities.

50 years ago the worst of the poisons and lightest radiation finally faded from the southern lands, and humans once again returned to the surface. Most settlement of the land came from the three major redoubts, Fort Axler, Fort Johnstone, and Fort Matheson. The humans of the Hidden Cave Redoubts of the Nuzarks are considered more primitive, country-bumpkin cousins to the settlers descended from these three redoubts. When they returned to the surface, they discovered that tribes of mutants, descended from humans who remained on the surface, lived in the wastelands above. These, and the various robodroid settlers of the Scraplands, were all shoved onto small reservations within the first decade of settlement; muties and bots can be found elsewhere in small numbers, especially in forts and villes that enslave them, but only on the reservations are they generally free from the depredations and insults of the Numerikahns.

Technology in the Scraplands is highly variable. The inner-workings and heart of the redoubts are all generally very highly advanced, self-contained, and self-repairing (and completely off-limits save to the scientists), but the bulk of the tech used by the humans is techno-modern rather than techno-advanced. That found among the Upworlders or Settlers, which is what the settlers of the Scraplands are known to the residents below, is even more primitive; while the soldiers in the redoubts wield laser rifles, wear plastisteel armor suits, and ride ground effect vehicles, the Scraplanders usually have shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and revolvers (the Nuzark Hill-Folk have muskets), wear fedoras and dusters, and ride gas-powered motorcycles, dune-buggies, or live horses. No one trusts robodroids or any sort of thinking machines or “brain bots,” which severely limits further advancement and coordination. The most advanced robodroids usually found in use among the Scraplanders are steeds and smell-hounds of limited intellect.

Most of the new Scraplander settlements are divided into two basic forms: forts and villes. Both are little bigger than a standard village (400 to 800 souls); the Upland portions of the three big redoubts are the only town-sized settlements in the Scraplands (800 to 2,000 in the Upland portion). Forts are generally older, and are completely walled and even sometimes domed. Villes are open, like the towns of the Wild West of Old Terra. Both are usually associated with an oil field or a mine. The reason the Numerikahns settled this region of Vanth was its extreme richness in common and rare minerals and oil. The mines listed are just those of the more unusual and costly sort; coal, iron, and the common minerals abound, and can be found just about anywhere in the region.

Due to their relatively low technological abilities and the difficulties of travel in the Scraplands, the settlers built a rail system for mass transit of goods and peoples between the three major settlements. Earlier attempts to build the old road system met with disaster, as the Steel Warlords view any such developments as a threat, and the roads and their builders were summarily destroyed. Similarly, any attempt to use flying vehicles on a regular, mass scale was met with fierce resistance and ultimately failed. The Steel Warlords apparently do not view the railroad with the same attitude, as they have left it, and the Conductors, to their own devices (except when they raid certain shipments of minerals and resources they desire). They only bother motorcyclists, buggy riders, and horsemen who come too close to their border.

During the Great War of Apes and Robodroids (or G.W.A.R. as it is known) gravitic bombs decimated the more populated, western region of Numerikah, causing innumerable earthquakes and much fracturing of the earth. Thus, the Scraplands are quite hilly, with many fractured hills and broken ridges. Buggies with tall wheels and motorcycles are the only real way to travel, other than on the train or by horse or other steed. The countless arroyos, gullies, gulches, valleys, dales, and dingles across the landscape make it almost impossible to travel in a straight line. Even the rail system is much more haphazard than it appears on the map; often travelling eight to 10 miles in any five as the crow flies (not to mention the continual up and down amidst the hills and dales). Thus, the fastest one can travel even with gas and coal-powered vehicles is at best around 25 miles per hour, though a straightaway on an old blacktop road or wide flatland might tempt a driver to open it up to 60 or more…

The land is also covered in the ruins of the Numerikahn civilization. The radioactive ruins of El’Ai, Dah’Laz, Oma’Hah, and Dee’Mon are thickest, as many of the bombs used there were neutron bombs that left much of the cities intact… and to this day haunted by heavy radiation. But ruins of small cities, towns, villages, and isolated settlements can be found anywhere in the Scraplands. The similar ruins in the great valley ruled by the Steel Warlords were long ago cleared away and recycled. But one can hardly spit in the Scraplands without hitting an old ruin or relic from the G.W.A.R. or earlier.

Even older ruins are found in the sandy wastes to the south; they consist of tall ziggurats and old ruined cities replete with domes, ramps, and oil pits. These ruins were thought to have been the remnants of the old Robodroid Civilization that predated the arrival of the Numerikahns. By the time the Numerikahns arrived, the robodroids were living a primitive, savage life, divided into semi-nomadic barbarian tribes that followed the brewvelo (a form of bovine that produced alcohol rather than milk). As a way to gain control over the robodroids, the Numerikahns slaughtered and all but exterminated the brewvelo, forcing the robodroids to labor as slaves to get the alcohol they needed to thrive. No brewvelo are known to roam in the Scraplands, but they are said by legend to still be found in the lands beyond the Forbidden Wastes or perhaps in the plains south of the Lanthanide Wastes.

The jungles of the Ape Sultanate are troublesome for human-kind, as the plants there let off a biological agent that reduces the intellect of any human (including amazons, vulkins, remulans, or klengons though not including wookys, elves, dwarfs, or hoblings) within hours of first encountering it. If the victim consumes the proper fruits and vegetables that were designed to counter the effect, he can regain some or all of his intellect. If the victim leaves the jungle, too, the effect fades, though it can take days or weeks to regain full intellectual abilities (and depending on how long they were affected, the effects could be partially or wholly permanent).

[Vanth] The Steel Warlords and the Scraplands

As promised, here's the 5-mile hex map of the realm of the Steel Warlords and the Scraplands, plus a bit of the Mutant Jungles, the Ape Sultanate, and surrounding areas.

More information will be supplied soon...

Click to embiggen

Again, e-mail me if you want a better, larger version of the file...

The Mighty Land of Vanth

Well, we are getting settled in here in Virginia Beach. No luck thus far with finding a job, but at least I have my first interview coming up next week. One interview in three weeks is much better than one interview in six months by any count! And ideally, I'll get a chance to play some Labyrinth Lord tomorrow, God willing and the creek don't rise!

What with settling in and looking around and job hunting, I really haven't had the energy to work on anything for the Olden Lands. That requires craftsmanship... if I'm selling it, I want it to be my best stuff, not just something I slapped together. But the creative urge is strong, and so I've been screwing around with Hexographer, 'cause I love drawing maps.

I decided to put together the map of my version of Vanth, the world from Encounter Critical, which I intend to use with a Labyrinth Critical campaign, someday. I ran a Labyrinth Critical one-shot some time ago, and hope to build a campaign out of the setting. So anyway, here's the continental map for Vanth. Based on the official map (designed with true scientific-realism) the scale would be 12.5 miles per hex, or thereabouts, but I'm using it at 30 miles per hex.

I'm on the last few edits of my campaign area sub-map, which focuses on the Steel Warlords and the lands to the south, which after some work I'm now calling the Scraplands. That map should be up in the next few days, along with some details on what's there...

Enjoy.

Click to embiggen

P.S. I now see that Google shrank the map a bit, such that many of the names are illegible. If anyone is interested in a full-size map, just send me an e-mail.

Playboy Bunnies the RPG?

Click here to check out the whole booklet at Retronaut.

Is it just me, or does that whole booklet just scream Dungeons & Dragons Supplement V: Playboys & Bunnies? All the rules and bonuses and merit and demerit systems... it's even the right font for a D&D product... Maybe an Encounter Critical supplement for Doxies?

[Labyrinth Critical] Amazon Racial Class

Here is the Amazon Race for my version of Labyrinth Critical, based on the Amazon class from No Signal. In my LC, all non-Humans have a racial class, however, they can add one or more of the seven standard classes to this by multiclassing. By my multiclassing rules, the character adds together all the XP requirements for his race and classes and advances in level in all as a single unit. All non-Humans are limited to 12th level. Multiclass humans are limited to 15th level. Only single-class Humans are unlimited in level advancement.

Amazons [Race]
Requirement: CHA 9
Prime Requisites: STR and CHA
Hit Dice: d6
Fights As: Fighter
Saves As: Fighter

These canny warriors are all Human-like women of heroic proportions, hailing from deep in the Jungle Planets, and the jungles of the worlds they’ve colonized in secret. They are deadly as they are beautiful. They are usually led by the mightiest Amazon Swordmistress, or more rarely, an Amazon Priestess or Amazon Witch.

Amazons look like Human women of statuesque build, none standing less than 6’ tall with heroic proportions. As one should never ask an Amazon her weight, their typical weight range is unknown, save that it is usually most appropriate to cut a proper figure for her height. Skin and hair color can vary dramatically, including wild colors not normally seen in Human variations.Amazons can use all weapons, armor and shields. They may also use magic weapons, armor, potion, and rings.

Amazons begin play speaking Amazon, Common, and their Alignment Tongue.

Battle Dancer: An Amazon adds her Charisma bonus to her AC; this bonus is in addition to any Dexterity bonus. If her battle motions are complemented by appropriate musical accompaniment, she gains a +1 to +3 to her AC depending on the quality of the accompaniment.

Advanced Seduction: Though anyone can attempt to seduce a target with the normal Seduction Skill, Amazons have a more potent ability, combining standard seduction methods with ancient Amazonian secrets and judicious application of special pheromones. The Amazon may use this special seduction ability only once per day, plus a number of times per day equal to her Charisma bonus. The seduction target must be male, or of an appropriate orientation in terms of romantic interest. The chance to succeed is based on the time taken to seduce the target: one hour is an Average check, one turn a Hard check, one minute a Difficult check, and one round a Very Difficult check. If the attempt to seduce fails, the Amazon cannot try on the same target until she gains another level. If the attempt succeeds, the effect is most potent, as per the charm person spell. Beginning at 7th level she may use this ability as though it were the charm monster spell. Seduce Skill: Base = STR + INT + CHA; plus (5 + CHA Modifier) per level after 1st.

Advanced Survival: Amazons undergo intensive survival training from childhood. A Survival Skill check can be used to successfully hunt and forage enough food for once day for a number of people equal to the Amazon’s INT + WIS Modifiers plus 1d6; the number rolled on the die is the number of hours the search takes. If the roll is negative, the Amazon has a random encounter! Survive Skill: Base = INT + WIS + CHA; plus (5 + WIS Modifier) per level after 1st.

Missile Deflection: When equipped with bracers of either a mundane or magical nature, an Amazon may attempt to deflect an otherwise successful missile attack by a save vs. Breath Weapon before damage is rolled. In order to deflect missiles, an Amazon may not be equipped with shield. Also, as the Amazon’s hands must be free to deflect missiles, she will reflexively drop whatever is held as if surprised. A single deflection attempt may be attempted per successful attack, but there is no daily limit to the total number of deflection attempts per day. Any projectile that attacks vs. AC, such as normal or magical arrows, crossbow bolts, or sling bullets may be deflected. In addition, Sky God technology weapons such as gunpowder propelled bullets, lasers, or energy beams may also be deflected. Missiles from spells like magic missile or lightning bolt cannot be deflected, or projectiles of unreasonably large size such as catapult ammunition or boulders hurled by giants.

Reaching 9th Level: When an Amazon reaches 9th level she can establish a freehold called a Gynocracy. Because of her glorious deeds and renown, she will attract followers of the female persuasion (mostly Amazons, but also of other races) and Wookies (of either gender).

Amazon Multiclass Options
Amazon/Cleric = Amazon Priestess
Amazon/Doxy = Amazon Wench
Amazon/Fighter = Amazon Swordmistress
Amazon/Magic-user = Amazon Witch
Amazon/Psychic = Amazon Medium
Amazon/Pioneer = Amazon Skirmisher
Amazon/Thief = Amazon Bandit

[Labyrinth Critical] First LC One Shot

So last night we played our Saturday Night Game… actually we got to play two games. As Robbie still needed to roll up his character for the new 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign, while he was working on that, I put the players through a bit of an experiment. I’ve been toying with my own variation of No Signal’s Labyrinth Critical system, and wanted to try a quick run of the rules. So I had all the players roll up Labyrinth Critical characters for a one-shot adventure, in a campaign region I've pieced together from No Signal's Exit 42a post and Jeff Rient's Welcome to Slimy Lake article from Fight On! #6.

Circa, an Amazon from the City of Thunders (Hans)
Hudson Hugebeard, a Dwarf from the City of Blackhawk (Zell)
She That Shall Not Be Named, a Planetary Ape Chimpanzee from the Great Spineywood (Jessie)
Sssselvan the Almost-Evolved, a Lizardman from the Mercenary Coast (Robbie)

“What was that?” – Last words of the pilot of the I.S.S. Sweet Chariot

The I.S.S. Sweet Chariot, a modified and re-fitted GC-8 Interplanetary Shuttle (bought second-hand by the Second Imperial Slavers Allied League of Guilds from Xenu’s Pre-Owned Skyship Warehouse before the fall of the Vulkin Empire) was en route from the Sovereign Imperial Slavers Guilds of the North (aka the Slaver Kingdoms) laden with tribute, guild dues, and travel reimbursement claims for the Southern Concatenated Imperial Slavers Guilds when it ran into “extreme turbulence.” Or so the report was made by the ambassador from the Remulan Orbital Authority to his counterpart at Slave Market One, the capital of the Slavers Empire, for such was the assurance of the cloaked Remulan Warhawk fighter pilots who saw the whole thing through their battle screens from slightly above and behind the shuttle.

The subsequent continuation of tribute from the Slavers Empire to the ROA did little to assuage the pains suffered by the victims of the turbulence. The vast majority of them, of course, were dead. Of the four survivors, they knew and cared little for the political wrangling of the great empires, and shortly after their hard landing felt only relief at being alive and, apparently, no longer subject to the odious duress of slavery, for all of their captors were messily spattered on the insides of the shuttle cabin.

It was when the four of them stumbled out of the great rent torn in the cabin wall that their joy was turned to ashes, for they discovered that the ship had crashed somewhere south of the middle of nowhere, said location being well within the boundaries of what was more commonly known as the Forbidden Waste. The sun slowly rose to reveal rocky and sandy wastes to the north and west, strangely lush green plains to the east, arid rocky hills to the south, and to the north… well, more arid, rocky hills interspersed with more rocky and sandy wastes. Circa the Amazon thought she could see a large lake far to the north and east, though she surmised that such must, of course, be a mirage; while on the verge of her vision to the north and west, a long black ribbon through the waste, perhaps a Sky God Toll Road.

As the four slowly realized their dilemma, literally being dropped out of the frying pan into the fire, they took stock of what they possessed. Sssselvan was the first to suggest a thorough looting of the ruined vessel. The following items were found scattered between the main cabin and the cargo hold:

A tool box (missing the #10 Metric wrench);
A mace with a large red button on the hilt;
A grenade of unknown variety;
A large crate marked “One Pre-Imperial Era Earthican Machine Gun;”
A sweet portable 8-track player with five “Best Of” tapes: AC/DC, Judas Priest, Billy Squire, Iron Maiden, and Olivia Newton-John;
12 road flares;
A crate of 10 bottles of Remulan Ale;
A motion detector (with the registration number filed off, “Property of USSM Sulaco” struck through, and a tag from “Mad Matt’s Military Surplus” still stuck to the view screen);
A partial case of 14 tins of Dinty Moore Beef Stew;
A machete;
A sack of 13 light sticks (lime green);
A revolver with six rounds in the chambers and a seventh in the pocket of the erstwhile wielder;
A Mark II Laser Pistol (this with a fully-charged belt battery pack integrated with the former Cyborg slaver being forcibly removed by Circa with sharp tools and a hammer);
A holographic chessboard (depicting the New Harlem Globe Trotters versus the Chronos VII Slayers);
A shiv;
A cherry-condition Super-Hawg fresh-grown in the hawg fields of Harley Davidson V;
A GeneriCo Arms 10mm Autorifle with two fully-loaded banana cartridges;
A partially-full Hurry-Heal Hypo-spray unit;
A one-man emergency extraction self-inflating balloon pack;
And 16 bottles of Cool Springs Reconstituted Water.

Dressed only in the rags allotted them by their erstwhile masters, Hudson and She That pieced together a motley assortment of clothing and quasi-armor from the clothing remnants of their former slave and slaver companions. Sssselvan set out to mount the machine gun on the rear seat of the hawg (?!?), while Circa sat down with the toolbox and, with a screwdriver and hammer, proceeded to pry the Slaver Restraining Band off her head. She successfully removed the band, but took with it large chunks of flesh, bone, and hair. As she grew woozy from the pain and blood loss, she and Sssselvan totally missed the stealthy figures who had snuck up on the ruined vessel and secreted themselves among some large rocks fairly close by.

The cry of “Hey you, don’t move!” in heavily-accented Common was the first they knew that they had company.

“Drop all weapons and surrender!” was the second cry they heard, as two of their visitors stepped out from behind the rocks. They were tall and mean-looking Klengon women wearing horned helmets, leather jackets, blue jeans, and knee-high motorcycle boots and holding fancy crossbows.

Laughing maniacally, Circa responded, “What? How are we supposed to drop our weapons if we can’t move?”

“What? You stoopid, is that it?” was the brilliant response from the Klengons.

“I know what you are but what am I?” Circa called out, as she turned and vaporized the lead Klengon with her Mark II Laser Pistol.

Then all hell cut loose, as the other Klengons cried out, “It is a good day to die!” as they loosed their bolts at Circa and Sssselvan, who leapt for cover behind the hawg. Hudson ducked into the rent in the shuttle, drew his rifle, and started firing wildly (being more familiar with an axe than a gun). Weakened by her crazed attempt to remove the slave band, Circa was felled quickly by a lucky bolt. She That flew across the open space between the shuttle and the hawg, dove behind the hawg, and picked up the laser pistol where it had fallen; She That shot wildly at the Klengons until, in her zeal, she accidentally pulled the cable from the battery. Then, finally, as bolts fell around them thick as flies, Sssselvan finally got the machine gun working…

The clatter and thunder of the machine gun drowned out the cries of the Klengons, whose rocky cover was rapidly being reduced by the rapid-fire power of the machine gun. Just as She That got the plug back in the battery, and Hudson finally figured out how to aim his rifle, Sssselvan’s withering fire from the machine gun finished off the last of the Klengons. A Hurry-Heal dose was used to revive Circa, who immediately claimed the best leather jacket for her own (feeling naked without some kind of armor). The four discovered that the Klengons were apparently members of some gang known as the Hellkyries, from the representation of the angel-winged Klengon demoness on the back of the jackets. They decided discretion was the better part of valor and turned the jackets inside-out before they put them on. They also took the crossbows, as well as the mek’leth short swords the Hellkyries had at their belts.

Tracking the steps of the Hellkyries, Circa found five camels tied up in a canyon not too far away; there they discovered several days worth of rations, as well as a goodly supply of Cool Springs Dehydrated Water Pills (Just add water! Not to be taken internally!) After Circa threatened the herd with her laser pistol and getting no results other than further spitting and kicking, Sssselvan applied more direct methods by pressing the button on his mace and touching the biggest camel; one loud and lightning-enhanced shock later and the camel was laid out, subsequently grilled to perfection by the laser pistol, and the remaining four camels were quite docile.

Seeing that the canyon led out into the hard-packed sands of the wastes, Circa slowly led the troop on the hawg, with Hudson riding shotgun (with his rifle), followed by She That and Sssselvan on camels, each with a heavily-laden camel in tow. Later in the evening, when they figured they were perhaps halfway to the blacktop road, they were suddenly attacked by a pack of man-faced lizard-dogs, which immediately attempted to knock them off their mounts. Failing with spectacular failure, to the extent that one of them seemed to suicide beneath Circa’s hawg’s wheels, the troop thought little enough of these foes that they dismounted and proceeded to attack them on foot with the Klengon mek’leths. This is where the battle turned grossly against them, for, as they sadly discovered, while the hounds of horrific heads were no good at knocking them off their mounts, they were much better at their claw/claw/bite routine.

Hudson and Sssselvan quickly fell to the fangs and claws of the beasts, while Circa laid about with the mek’leth and slew several of the lizard-dogs. She did not see what occurred next, as she was viciously engaged, but apparently Sssselvan, his life’s blood spilling out the rent in his belly, decided to try to “take the bastards with him,” and so pulled the pin on the unknown grenade, hoping to go out with a bang. Sadly for She That, it was instead the quiet hiss of a nerve gas grenade, and she and the camels and surrounding lizard-dogs were all instantly felled by the colorless, odorless gas.

When Circa turned from the last of the dog-lizards, she found herself standing alone amidst a field of the dead, with Hudson, guts strewn all about and half-eaten by a lizard-dog, laying at her feet. Carefully observing the remnants of the further battle, she saw a strange shimmer in the twilight air around her fallen companions, the camels, and the hounds. Waiting until the cloud dissipated, she then looted her erstwhile comrades of all things needed for survival, and with a dry eye turned back to the north, to seek the blacktop highway and, perhaps, freedom…



Following the one-shot, we began our new 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign, in my home-grown setting of Varyonde. More about that soon…