MARTIANS

Public Domain Image

Init +0
Melee Atk
 • tentacle +3 (1d6)
AC 12
HD 3d10
MV 10
ACT 1d24 + 2d20
Fort -4
Ref -1
Will +7
AL C

“A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather. Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly.” — H. G. Wells, The War Of The Worlds

Martians are a strange race of conquerors hailing from, as their name suggests, the planet Mars. The martians are reasonably strong, even though they move sluggishly in Aerth’s gravity, but they primarily rely on their strange fighting machines in war.

Though technologically advanced, over the eons their physical forms have degraded and atrophied into primitive cephalopodic shapes. They are so devolved that they no longer have a proper digestive system, instead simply absorbing their victims’ blood directly into their bodies through the use of glass pipettes.



MARTIAN WAR MACHINES
Init +5
Melee Atk
• 1d10 tentacles +10 (1d12, 20’ reach)
Ranged Atk
 • Heat Ray (Ref Save DC 14, 3d30 damage)
AC 20
HD 10d20
MV 60
SP black smoke
Fort n/a
Ref +5
Will n/a
AL C

The martians travel from planet to planet by launching themselves across space in large canisters, fired from enormous cannons buried underneath the red planet’s surface. The machines they use are large and terrible, standing higher than a church, and weighing several tons. Their machines have three tentacular legs, with dozens of thinner tendrils dangling down and acting as hands or fingers. From the central mass of the machine is a strange hood, in which the martians pilot the machine. And finally, extending on an odd tube, is the martians’ greatest weapon: the heat ray.

Black Smoke
The martians also make use of a strange compound known simply as black smoke. Some martian fighting machines are equipped with this in addition to a heat ray or instead of it. When canisters of the substance are dropped, a black gas spreads about 500’ in all directions (at a rate of 100’ per round), requiring anyone within that area to make a DC 14 Fort Save each round or take 2d16 damage.



Adventure Hooks

• Whilst exploring a network of underground caverns, the party accidentally stumbles across a large metal cylinder, buried in the rock for millions of years. Within the crashed ship, martians wait dreaming in cryosleep…

• The party is transported to Barsoom, the dreamlands of Mars, and must help a clan of green martians fend off invading martians.

• A meteor streaked across the sky the other night, landing in the nearby woods. Strange hammering noises and greenish lights have been emanating from the crash site.

• A sorcereress has recently been employing giant tripodal war machines, things that are clearly not of Aerth. The local lord has hired you to investigate and find out where she is getting the horrific weapons.

• A group of beastfolk have begun worshiping the corpse of a martian as their god, and through their faith have managed to bring it back to life in an undead state. Their “god” is now instructing them in how to construct fighting machines and produce the black smoke. The beastfolks’ early attempts are crude, but deadly.

• In a nearby valley, strange sounds of battle have been heard from the deep woods, and occasional flashes of light have been seen. Deep in the woods, a group of Mi-Go face off against the martians. It is an excellent opportunity to steal some alien technology, and if the party were to help one side or the other, who knows what rewards they may obtain...




Written by Tristan Tanner of The Bogeyman’s Cave — check it out!

FLESH NIGHTMARE

Init +5
Melee Atk
 • hammer hand +7 (1d6+2)
 • pours down throat (1d4 Stamina)
AC 11
HD 6d12+3
MV 70 special
Act 4d16
SP magic to hit
Fort +3
Ref +9
Will +1
AL N

The fleshy nightmare is a large, hovering sphereoid shape of doughy flesh, roughly the volume of three humans, with a single, human-sized arm protruding from it, a hammer-like shape in place of it's hand

If the creature can close and come into direct contact with a foe, it can pour down their throat, suffocating them. Roll a Strength for the creature on 5d6, reducing this total by 1 for every 5 points of damage the creature has lost or goes on to lose. For every round after the first, the Stamina damage is inflicted. A target that reaches 0 Stamina has suffocated.

While the creature is in sight of someone, it can move up to 70 feet per round. It cannot give up it's Action Dice to extend the range when observed. But if the creature is not within sight, it can change position by 70 per round (140 if giving up Action Dice), without regard to walls and other barriers. It just is hovering in a new location.

Magical items, weapons and spells are required to damage the flesh nightmare.



This monster was created using Monster Extractor V: Deadly Monsters Now! — available through RPGNow.com



BONUS!
BASIC STATS!

Move: 260 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 6+1
Armor Class: 8
Treasure Type: Q
Alignment: lawful evil
Attacks: 4 hammer blows
Damage: 2-7

The fleshy nightmare is a large sphereoid shape of doughy flesh with a human-sized arm protruding from it, with a hammer-like shape in place of it's hand. They can make four hammer attacks per round. They can attempt to smother a victim by pressing into them, doing 1d6 Constitution damage unless the victim is successful at a Saving Throw vs. Turn to Stone. They can only be hit with magic weapons or spells.

Constitution damage will return at a rate of 1 point per turn of rest or negligible exertion. At the referee's discretion, 0 Constitution means death, coma, or other life-threatening state.

NEARLY PEOPLE (2)

Public Domain Image

Init always 10
Melee Atk
 • tussle +0 (1d4)
 • by weapon -2 (-1d)
Ranged Atk
 • by weapon -1d (-2d)
AC 9
HD 1d4
MV 20
Act 1d20
SP startle, magic suppression. familiar budding, disturbance
Fort +1
Ref +0
Will +1
AL N

Some say they were the first sketch draft of humans. Some say the Gods got drunk and were just fooling around with the building blocks of life...

The Nearly People exist in the dim corners of the world eking out a pitiable life of grubbing for food and shelter, and surviving just long enough in most cases to procreate.

They stand about two feet tall. Nearly People are so bizarre in appearance, in movement and in manner, that when first encountering them non-Nearly People must make a Will Save vs. DC 13 or lose an action and audibly gasp.

Some Nearly People can speak the common tongue. They tend to be capricious and often spiteful, but can be useful guides when magic is an obstacle or threat, given their ability to absorb it.

Any magical effect or enchantment that a Nearly person can touch, or is touched by, is reduced in effectiveness by half. Further, the Nearly person can exert their will to completely extinguish the magical effect, either for a short duration of time or permanently. They must make a Will Save vs. a DC of 10 + the caster's level + 1d8. If they make the Save, the effect is neutralized for 1d24 rounds. If they can make the Save and exceed the DC by 5 or more, the magic is completely negated from an active spell or enchantment. If hit by a fireball, and they make the Save, the adjustment is applied to all targets in the area of effect, since the effect is contiguous. They will have this effect on magic weapons that hit them. They do not need to use an Action Die nor take an action to initiate this effect, it simply happens as part of their inherent nature.

Nearly People can generate familiars of a sort from their very bodies. It takes them 1d4 days to generate up to 1d6 familiars of their own, which follow the standard rules for familiars, except that when the familiar dies, the Nearly person keels over into a coma for 1d100 days.

Their presence tends to disturb Dwarfs and Elves the most, creating the following temporary effects for those races, rolled anew for each change of circumstances in the course of an adventure* (roll 1d6):

 1) Initiative is reduced by 2 steps on the Dice Chain; all attacks are at -2 until the affected PC has been hit 1d4 times in combat.
 2) Luck is suppressed, reduced by half for this phase of exposure.
 3) Subject cannot sleep well, and suffers a cumulative -1 to all Action Dice each 48 hours.
 4) Subject does not eat well, suffering a -1 Stamina for any day they cannot succeed on a Fort Save vs. DC 15.
 5) Subject obsesses about having Nearly People along... Becomes increasingly irrational regarding Nearly person (RP).
 6) All perception and skill checks are made at -1d cumulative per 3 days.


* Such as: Journey to quested site / Exploring site for object sought / Object obtained, exiting site / Return to home, which represents 4 circumstances, thus calling for 4 such rolls.

NEARLY PEOPLE (1)

Public Domain Image

Init always 0
Melee Atk
 • tussle +0 (1d3-1)
 • by weapon -3 (-2d)
Ranged Atk • by weapon -4 (-3d)
AC 8
HD 1d4
MV 20
Act 1d20
SP othersenses, Luck confusion, float
Fort +0
Ref +0
Will +0
AL N

Some say they were the first sketch draft of humans. Some say the Gods got drunk and were just fooling around with the building blocks of life...

The Nearly People exist in the dim corners of the world eking out a pitiable life of grubbing for food and shelter, and surviving just long enough in most cases to procreate.

They stand about two feet tall and at a distance can pass as human toddlers. They have senses that no other humanoid possesses or has only in a comparatively diminished degree, such as thermoception, chronoception, familiarity perception, and magnetoception and others. The exact distribution of other senses varies from individual to individual.

These senses are at the disposal of the Judge to employ as she sees fit, such as having a Nearly person alert a party to the "smell" of an ambush the next morning, or the "sound" of a trap on the other side of a door. Get as weird as you like with this... Give the players info they could have no other way to obtain, but couch it in weird sensory terms.

Some Nearly People can speak the common tongue. They tend to be capricious and often spiteful, but can be useful guides when facing a threat or obstacle of an otherworldly or psychotronic nature, given their extraordinary senses.

Half of all Nearly People can float or nearly almost fly. They can move 1d4 feet per round in any direction in the air, minus 5 feet of downward movement, if given a boost of some sort to get them going. For all Nearly People, when falling they fall at 5 feet per round, taking no damage when impacting the ground or other surface.

They tend to drain the Luck from Halflings, but can restore or even boost Luck, as well. For every 6 hours of proximity roll 1d6:

 1) All Halflings in the party lose 1d6+1 Luck, as if Burned with no benefit.
 2) All Halflings in the party lose 1d4+1 Luck, as if Burned with no benefit.
 3) All Halflings in the party lose 2 Luck, as if Burned with no benefit.
 4) All Halflings in the party gain 1 Temporary Luck
 5) All Halflings in the party gain 1d5 Luck
 6) All Halflings in the party gain 1d3 Luck; this is a permanent raise (Max. 18) if they are currently at their full normal Luck.

SKULL SACK

Init +0
Melee Atk
 • explosive discharge +4 (1d6+2, 30' radius)
 • bite +4 (1d8+1)
AC 11
HD 4d6
MV 70
Act 1d20
SP strategic, branded, voice thief
Fort +3
Ref +1
Will +3
AL L

This demon appears as a human skull within a vast, empty sack of human flesh. The skull slides across the ground, dragging the excess of flesh behind it. When it speaks, the voice is muffled by the flesh, but intelligible.

It is a crafty thing, using terrain to it's advantage at all times, enabled by it's remarkable speed. Any attack made against it should be rolled with a spare six-sider. On a result of the high half of the range of numbers, the skull sack gets a +5 AC. Based on the circumstances and the actions of the PCs, the Judge should feel free to adjust which numbers invoke the extra AC.

The skin of the demon can exude a viscous, amber liquid, which will explode in exposure to air. A single attack die roll is compared to all ACs within the area of effect, and all so hit will take the damage rolled.

Anyone bitten by the skull sack is bruised by the teeth pinching them through the sack of flesh. This bruise will not vanish, except by extraordinary means, for the next 1d8 months, effectively branding the individual. This doubles the likelihood of encountering demons and those allied to demons in that time.

Additionally, those bitten by the skull sack will immediately and completely lose their voice for 1d14 days. Additional bites will not lengthen the time. Extraordinary acts may reduce this time frame or eliminate it completely. Stolen voices can be used by the skull sack.

With daemonic arrogance, the skull sack seeks either to control or to destroy everything it encounters, as if all of creation existed for it alone, deferring only to demons of a higher order.


This monster was created using Monster Extractor V: Deadly Monsters Now! — available through RPGNow.com

XERELVU, THE INVISIBLE DEMI-GOD OF DEATH (THE 101st MONSTER)

Init +18
Melee Atk
 • touch +9 (2d10, Fort Save vs. DC 16 or lose all hp)
Ranged Atk
 • flame throwing +8 (2d30, 10' wide line, 50/100/200)
AC 24
HD 10d20+50
MV 50
Act 1d30 + 2d24
Magic Resistance 85%
Worshiper's Alignment: Any (C)
Symbol: A Bloody Hand
Native Plane: The World (Áereth, for example)
Class Equivalencies: Clr 5, War 8, Hlf 4
Favored Weapons: caestus, swordbreaker, any sword, barehands
Unholy Creatures: Lawful races and tribes, dragons, giants, pregnant creatures
SP invisible, murder-derma , indeterminate form, demi-god, two-weapon fighting, un-dead control
Fort +15
Ref +20
Will +18
AL C

Xerelvu ascended to demi-god status when the god of death was impressed by the carnage the former adventurer had caused. Also known as the Right-Hand of Death, Xerelvu eternally seeks recruits for the Army of the Dead.

When a PC has killed 100 creatures, Xerelvu will soon appear, place an arm around that character's shoulders and invite them to join the Army of the Dead. Acceptance will mean joining the Army for eternity upon the death of the character, serving Chaos while alive without the slightest tolerance for Law nor Neutrality. This may create a dramatic schism in the adventuring party, which should be fun for those who can handle it. Why not have a spectacular blow-up that the survivors can move on from...? They're sure to meet or recruit new friends and cohorts, eh?

When Xerelvu lays an arm on your shoulders, it might at first feel as if a heavy snake has been laid upon you. Then you might notice that it feels like a human, bone-thin arm with two — or is it three!? — elbows twisting along your shoulder blades. Then before you're done, it may feel like a warm pudding is soaking into your jerkin.

To touch the demi-god unbidden is to die, unless a successful Fort Save vs. DC 28 is made.

Xerelvu is aware of and can command or control any and all un-dead creatures within 5 miles.



New Weapons

Caestus* . 1d7 . 8 gp
Swordbreaker** . 1d4 . 6 gp

* Can be used to negate a hit at the cost of an Action Die on the following round. It cannot be used in this way if the hit was a critical hit, nor if the attack roll exceeded the caestus wearer's AC by 4 or more.
** On a critical hit, or any hit where the attack roll exceeds the target's AC by 4 or more, if the opponent is using a sword, dagger, or similar weapon, the wielder of the swordbreaker may chose to break their foe's weapon, instead of rolling for a critical hit result as usual.