Monster: Yixan

Yixan*
Armour Class: 2
Hit Dice: 3+3**
Move: 180’ (60’)
Attacks: 1 bite
Damage: 1-8 + special
No. Appearing: 2-20
Save As: F4
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: (K)
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 125

Malevolent beasts, yixan resemble long-necked, half-starved coursing hounds sheathed in blue-black scales as hard as iron. Their eyes are the cold green of witch-fire, and their long and narrow muzzles are lined with teeth as sharp as razors.

Possessed of a dim and malignant intelligence, yixan prefer to hunt in pairs or packs. Their claws, while sharp, are not used for attacking; their bite is venomous, requiring a save the round following a successful attack or else the victim suffers 2-8 additional points of damage. One in ten yixan cause paralysis with their venom as well as hit point damage, lasting for four turns. A magical weapon is required to harm a yixan.

Monster: Lindwurm

Lindwurm
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 6**
Move: 150' (50')
[flying 210' (70')]
Attacks: 1 bite
Damage: 2-16
No. Appearing: 1 (1-3)
Save As: F6
Morale: 9
Treasure Type: E
Alignment: Chaotic
XP Value: 725

A type of dragon-kin closely related to wyverns, a lindwurm is a long, sinuous and rather snakelike creature. It has a horned, dragonlike head and broad fanlike dragon wings, but no limbs. A lindwurm may have scales of any colour, but its colouration has no bearing on its breath weapon or alignment. Though somewhat smarter than wyverns, lindwurms are even more savage and will attack any prey that they believe they can overpower (though they may be bribed with sufficient food or treasure).

A lindwurm attacks by biting, and three times a day may use a breath weapon of acidic venom: the breath takes the form of a 60' x 20' cone that deals 6-24 points of damage and inflicts a -4 penalty to all dice rolls for two hours if a save vs. poison is failed.

Pick Your Poison

I adore the Red Box, I really do. BEMCI in general rocks my socks (except for the I part). But one place where I do feel the need for a little more variety is in how it handles poisons; so, I've been tinkering with those a bit.

Because I've been mulling the notion over for a day or so now, I offer up a handful of unusual poisons. Some are relatively harmless, some rather more insidious. Admittedly most of these are pretty brutal to inflict on Red Box PCs, but it's no worse than "save or die"; in the next day or two I hope to post up a list of lesser and more "low level" poisons.

Needles in locks, smeared on weapons, dropped into someone's morning grog; whatever works!


Nightsable: Named for the black and gold variety of rose from whose sap the poison is distilled from, nightsable is a dark amber-coloured and stickily resinous substance. If a saving throw against poison is failed, nightsable puts the victim into a deep sleep for 2-8 hours, during which the victim suffers wild and often horrific dreams.

Ur'tik'ti: Surprisingly enough, this thin pale syrup -- though made from the fist-sized jeweled land urchin -- is not extracted from the urchin's spines, but instead from a combination of the "coral" (the gonad) and lymph of the creature. A failed saving throw against the effects of ur'tik'ti causes the victim to suffer a -4 penalty to all rolls for the next 12 hours.

Prime Tincture: A magical poison, prime tincture (or ffessa) has four variations, as would be expected for a poison composed of concentrated elemental essence. All four look identical -- a perfectly colourless fluid -- and evaporate to leave a faintly-shiny but still potent residue. Ffessa deals 6d6 points of damage (air, earth, fire or water) over six rounds, one die of damage at a time.

Hllak: An unlikely and unpleasant combination of the venom of the scarlet scorpion and distillate of cinnabar crystals, hllak is thick, grainy, and virulently red in colour. A failed save against a dose of hllak causes a mosaic of symptoms: 1-6 hours of paralysis, 2-16 points of damage, and a lingering weakness (-2 penalty to all rolls for 24 hours). Against spellcasters hllak has an additional and terrible effect -- it cuts off a spellcaster's access to one randomly-chosen spell until an antitoxin is found and administered.

Jade Mushroom Powder: The deeply verdant jade mushrooms may be effective healing, but their spores are crippling whether served in food or mixed with oil as a binder for needle or blade. The emerald-black spores cause a -4 penalty to the poison save, and the victim must save or die as the spores burst in their bloodstream or gut. A successful save still results in 9d6 points of damage.

Monster: Stonestar

Stonestar
Armour Class: 1
Hit Dice: 2+2*
Move: 9' (3')
Attacks: 1 ray
Damage: 1-10
No. Appearing: 1 (1-6)
Save As: F2
Morale: 10
Treasure: Special
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 35

Stonestars are fleshy, five-lobed and radially-symmetrical creatures resembling a three-foot diameter starfish with a hard, calcined shell that resembles tiny nodules of stone and iron.

Usually clinging to a wall or ceiling by the hundreds of cilia-like suckers on its underbelly, a stonestar will fire a ray of energy from its central mass at any living creature that passes within ten feet. This ray provokes bleeding and liquifies flesh; even if its prey should flee, a stonestar will descend from its perch to absorb the liquids from the wounds it succeeded in inflicting through its ventral surface. A stonestar's camouflage makes them difficult to detect against their native stone, resulting in a -3 to all attacks made against them as they slowly shift about.

Within a stonestar's body is a soft, pearl-like organic “gemstone” with a value of 5gp per hit point of the stonestar.

First Level Spells: Firedge / Icedge, Detect Magic Potential

Firedge / Icedge
Range: 20'
Duration: 1 turn
Effect: Adds damage to a weapon

A simple elemental enchantment, this spell bestows a bonus to damage the next time a weapon with the spell cast upon it is used in battle. The weapon will do an additional 1-4 hit points of either fire or cold damage, chosen by the magic-user at the time the spell is cast.

For every two additional levels of the magic-user, another strike is added to the enchantment.


Detect Magic Potential
Range: 0
Duration: 2 turns
Effect: All potential subjects within 60'

A variant of detect magic, detect magic potential will allow the magic-user to see all living beings in range with the potential to use spells outlined in a glowing aura. the spell will not reveal casting ability, but only indicates that the potential is present; a mighty wizard in disguise will have an identical glow as a young child suitable as an apprentice.

On lethality, poisons, and character death.

One of the reasons I don't think I make a very good "old-school" DM is that I'm not terribly keen on PC deaths.

I've had some spectacularly amazing and stupid PC antics that led to death, deaths that I still recount years later; these are just fine, bring 'em! But I've never been much keen on save-or-die poisons, lethal traps (that didn't have one way out if the PCs just paid enough attention), and utterly no-win situations. It's never been a great draw for me or for my players.

Without a doubt, this particular leaning has only been fed in recent years by the lion's share of my DM duties being one-player games. You don't really want instant-death scenarios in a one-player game in my opinion -- your player doesn't even have a buddy they can confer with before they trip that trap or poke that (undead) corpse in the shiny robes. There are more entertaining ways to cause a lone PC grief than just killing them.

Now, I'm also quite certain that the hardcore old-schoolers will gladly argue that point. Hey, if it works for you, right on! But I don't see it working for me and my players, which is also right on. And by disliking lethality I don't mean that I fudge the dice constantly or avoid challenging (and/or potentially lethal) encounters, either; I've dealt with gamers like that and it gets annoying. It's the instant kills that I prefer to not use.

Extreme PC stupidity, on the other hand, surely deserves pain and angst and yes death, if it comes to that. Without a doubt.

... I should write up a few poisons and post them here sometime.

Monster: Ivory Scarab

Ivory Scarab
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 1*
Move: 90' (30')
[burrow 60' (20')]
Attacks: 1 bite
Damage: 1-3
No. Appearing: 6-18
Save As: F2
Morale: 8
Treasure Type: Nil
Alignment: Neutral
XP value: 13

These six-inch beetles travel in small swarms and are notable for their bone- or ivory-coloured carapaces, stout clawed legs, and strong mandibles surrounding an awl-like probiscis.

Once an ivory scarab makes a successful attack, it attaches to its victim and plunges its probiscis into the victim's flesh, draining 1 hp per round until dead or removed (requiring a successful Strength check). Every two rounds an ivory scarab remains attached, the mild venom in its bite dulls the victim's reactions and inflicts a -1 penalty to all rolls.

Magic Item: Tears of Ivory

One evening while working at his forge, Jie Chue was presented with a token of a former client's appreciation. Setting aside hammer, tongs and blade, he accepted the gift. Within the bundle was an alicorn.

This distressed Jie Chue, though he made no outward sign; with honest graciousness, he gave his thanks and bid good evening to his guest.

The following morning Jie Chue forged a weapon that would not harm.


Tears of Ivory: This slim, slightly-curved dagger is forged with blade and hilt all of one piece of steel, the grip wrapped in plaited silver wire, and inlaid along both sides of its blade with thin and delicately-etched slices of alicorn in the shape of a stylized unicorn's horn.

The dagger cannot be used to attack; it simply will do no damage. However, each day Tears of Ivory may be touched to wounded individuals to grant healing, to a maximum of 8 hit points total per day. Carrying Tears of Ivory grants its owner a +1 bonus to saves against poison.

Monster: Xenthrek

Xenthrek*
Armour Class: 3
Hit Dice: 3***
Move: 120' (40')
Attacks: 1 claw or by weapon
Damage: 1-6 or by weapon
No. Appearing: 1-4
Save As: C4
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: Nil
Alignment: Chaotic
XP value: 80

Xenthreks are magical constructs resembling skeletons carved from transparent crystal. they are usually but not always human in shape (though human-like xenthrek may exhibit some animal features), and inside their glittering “bones” roils foaming liquid flame. Unnaturally quick, xenthrek gain +3 to their initiative rolls.

Most xenthrek attack with their clawlike hands, but some have been equipped by their creators with crystalline weaponry. A successful attack on a xenthrek shattered their crystal structure and releases a gout of liquid flame that scorches for 1-6 hit points of damage for two rounds.

Fire gives a xenthrek hit points equal to the amount of damage dealt; they are immune to cold. A magical weapon is required to damage a xenthrek.

Monster: Fire Jelly

Fire Jelly
Armour Class: 8
Hit Dice: 1*
Move: 40' (20')
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-4
No. Appearing: 3-18
Save As: F1
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: Nil
Alignment: Neutral
XP value: 13

A translucent, red-orange amoeba, a fire jelly is roughly the size of a human head. It attacks by engulfing or extending a pseudopod, and its fiery touch causes 1-4hp of damage and will set organic materials on fire on contact. A fire jelly crawling on metal objects will cause them to melt within 1-6 rounds.

A fire jelly takes double damage from cold, and no damage from piercing weapons; bludeoning weapons deal half damage. Fire attacks will cause it to divide into two 1/2 Hit Die monsters.