Crystal Crypt Of Zhool

Crystal Crypt Of Zhool is a free mid-level Barrowmoor crypt for use with Barrowmaze or as a small set-piece in your campaign or hexcrawl. Stats are given for use with the DCC RPG, but can be easily adapted to your system of choice.

With illustrations by Johannes Stahl! johannesstahl.com

Download it here: CrystalCryptOfZhool.pdf

Nergal's Followers' Crypt

Nergal's Followers' Crypt is a free, micro-sized low-level Barrowmoor crypt for use with Barrowmaze or as a small set-piece in your campaign or hexcrawl. Stats are given for use with the DCC RPG, but can be easily adapted to your system of choice.

Map by Dyson Logos http://www.dysonlogos.com/

Illustration by Johannes Stahl https://www.instagram.com/goblin.inker/

Download it here: NergalsFollowersCrypt.pdf

Prisoners of the Gelatinous Dome DCC Conversion

This is a DCC conversion for Jeff Call's excellent one-page dungeon Prisoners of the Gelatinous Dome! Get it here: gelatinousdome.tumblr.com (direct link to download page)

Illustration by joe made this www.instagram.com/joe_made_this/

You can download a one-page PDF with all the stats here:

DCC_GelatinousDome.pdf 

These stats are recommended for a party of 4 to 6 first level DCC characters or a mix of level ones and zeroes. 

For 5+ characters, consider adding an additional member to all group encounters (cooks, thieves, gelmen). Roll on the encounter table (2 in 6) for all rooms without enemies or when noisy (use every encounter only once, except gelmen; I didn't care for the vampires, so you have to stat them yourself if you wanna use them). Don't forget to roll for room dissolution if they stay in one place for too long.

Remember also that some of the encounters, like the gregarious ochre jelly or the out-of-luck thieves don't have to result in combat if the players act clever.

OVO, GELMEN OVERLORD
Artwork by joe made this

GREGARIOUS OCHRE JELLY: Init +2; Atk pseudopod +3 (2d6); AC 11; HD 4d10; MV 10’; Act 1d20; SP divides into 1d4+1 2HD jellies when cut or electrocuted (1d6 dmg); SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +1; AL N.

DESPERATE COOKS: Init +0; Atk knife +1 melee (1d4); AC 10; HD 1d6; MV 10’; Act 1d20; SP none; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +1; AL N.

INSANE WEREWOLF: Init +5; Atk bite/claw/claw +4 melee (1d8/1d4/1d4); AC 14; HD 3d6; MV 40’; Act 1d20+2d16; SP lycanthropy (infectious if half max hp are lost and Fort vs DC16 fails); SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +3; AL L.

SENTIENT BLACK PUDDING: Init +0; Atk pseudopod +7 melee (3d8); AC 13; HD 10d10; MV 20’; Act 1d20; SP can only be harmed by fire, a 2HD (1d8dmg) part splits off when cut; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +3; AL N.

HEIST-GONE-BAD-THIEF: Init +2; Atk longsword +2 melee (1d8+1); AC 11; HD 1d8; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP thief skills as a lvl 1 neutral thief -1; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +0; AL N.

ANGRY JADE BEAR: Init +3; Atk bite/claw/claw +2 melee (1d6+1); AC 14; HD 4d10; MV 30’; Act 1d20+2d16; SP reverts to jade statue worth 5d6x10 gp, if both claw attacks hit 1d6+1 extra crushing damage; SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1; AL N.

LESSER GELMEN GUARDS: Init +1; Atk touch +3 melee (1d4 plus Fort vs. DC14 or paralyzed); AC 12; HD 1d6; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP undead-like traits, paralyzation 2d4 rounds, infravision 100’, silent, immune to crits; SV Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +0; AL C.

GREATER GELMEN GUARDS: Init +1; Atk touch +3 melee (1d4 plus Fort vs. DC14 or paralyzed); AC 12; HD 2d6; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP undead-like traits, paralyzation 2d4 rounds, infravision 100’, silent, immune to crits; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +0; AL C.

OVO, GELMEN OVERLORD: Init +3; Atk magic staff +3 melee (1d10 plus Fort vs. DC15 or permanently lose 1 point of a random physical attribute) or touch +3 melee (1d4 plus Fort vs. DC14 or paralyzed); AC 13; HD 3d10; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP undead-like traits, paralyzation 2d4 rounds, infravision 100’, silent, immune to crits; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +3; AL C.

Trigonon’s Magic Staff:

Control Trigonon’s Ooze: able to control all ooze in the dome

Paralysis Cloud: 6’ radius cloud of ooze bubbles in a 10’ range, roll d10+10, everybody in the cloud makes Fort save vs. result or gets paralyzed for 2d4 rounds

Convert Matter to Energy: attacking as staff does 1d10 plus Fort vs. DC15 or permanently lose 1 point of a random physical attribute (curable by Restore Vitality)

Wand of Teleportation: 3 charges; for every try, roll INT check (or spellcheck if caster) vs:

Location in view: DC2, minor corruption on crit fail

Familiar location: DC5 or minor corruption, crit fail: major corruption

Known location: DC10 or major corruption, crit fail: greater corruption

Seen once: DC15 or major corruption, crit fail: greater corruption

Lasso of Charm Person:

AGI check to hit, then d20 spellcheck for Charm Person (lasts only as long as they're lassoed)

Crypt of the Honored Dead

Crypt of the Honored Dead is a free, low-level Barrowmoor crypt for use with Barrowmaze or as a small set-piece in your campaign or hexcrawl. Stats are given for use with the DCC RPG, but can be easily adapted to your system of choice.

Map by Dyson Logos http://www.dysonlogos.com/

Illustrations by Evlyn Moreau https://www.patreon.com/evlynmoreau

Download it here: Crypt_of_the_Honored_Dead.pdf

Xorn for DCC

A Xorn conversion for the DCC RPG. Guest art by +Ray Otus! Check out his complete inktober art collection at https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/8RNTkB.

Artwork by Ray Otus

Xorn: Init +0; Atk slam +7 melee (1d3) or bite +7 (6d4); AC 21; HD 7d8+7; MV 30’ or burrow 30’; Act 4d20; SP camouflage, stone meld, immunity to fire and cold, resistance to electricity and edged weapons, all-around vision, smell precious metals 20’; SV Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +5; AL N.

A Xorn can use three slam and one bite attacks per round and fight up to three opponents at the same time. 

It can use camouflage to blend into stone backgrounds, gaining +5 to hide attempts. In combat, it is more likely to meld into any stone surface, then move and attack from somewhere else 1d3 rounds later, thereby gaining surprise (top of initiative order). 

While passing through stone, it can be damaged by a Shatter spell as if it was an inanimate object, and a Transmute Earth spell with a spellcheck result of 20+ on the stone area it passes through will destroy it; a successful lower result will expel it from the stone and turn its body into mud, which prevents it from merging with stone and lowers its AC to 12 for 1d6 rounds while it reforms its structure to stone.

Xorns are immune against any kind of fire and cold and get a Fort save against electrical attacks, negating all damage if successful and taking half damage if failing. They always take only half damage from edged weapons.

The Flayed King DCC Conversion

+Tim Shorts was so nice to send me a print version of his mini-adventure The Flayed King last year, and I recently ran it at a con using Dungeon Crawl Classics. Here are my monster stat conversions, used against a party of five level 1 characters.

You can get the adventure for free here: https://www.rpgnow.com/product/148003/The-Flayed-King?

Draugr

North men skeletons with chainmail, axes and a raging desire to kill the living, I suppose.

DRAUGR: Init +0; Atk axe +1 melee (1d6+3); AC 15; HD 2d12; MV 40’; Act 1d20; SP un-dead traits; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +3; AL C.

Goreth

Huge north man guardian skeleton with tattered chainmail and a shiny blue ring. And a raging desire to kill whoever wants what he’s guarding, I suppose. Wears the Ring of Kearar (see below).

GORETH: Init +2; Atk two-handed sword +3 melee (1d10+3); AC 15; HD 6d12; MV 40’; Act 1d20; SP un-dead traits; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +5; AL C.

Ring of Kearar

Since the original Ring of Raraek that Goreth was wearing was more suited for campaign play, I changed it to something easier to hand out at a convention game:

The Ring of Kearar is sentient, but not aligned. It shimmers with a cold blue light. The wearer can make any melee weapon appear in their hand. It will form in one round; changing it to another weapon is also possible in one round. It appears as if made out of blue light. It gives no bonus to attack or damage, but the damage counts as magical.

Twisted and Bloated Ghosts

I created these ghosts for an adventure I ran recently, and if you need some quick ghost stats for your DCC game, they can haunt your players, too. 

The phenomenal guest art is by +Luka Rejec - check out his blog Wizard Thief Fighter!

Twisted Ghost - artwork by Luka Rejec

Twisted Ghosts

Twisted Ghosts: Init +1; Atk lifedrain +2 melee (1d6); AC 15; HD 2d12; MV 30’ fly; Act 1d20; SP un-dead traits, life drain, create spawn, immune to non-magical/non-silver weapons; SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +4; AL C.

They are translucent, with their faces, bodies and limbs strangely twisted and bent. They are usually bound to the place where they died.

Un-dead traits: immune to sleep, charm, and paralysis spells, as well as other mental effects and cold damage.

Life drain: all damage done gets added to their hit points (characters can regain lost hp normally).

Create spawn: any living humanoid killed by their life drain rises as a twisted ghost after the next sunset or after 1d4 rounds after “bleeding out” if it is currently night. “Recovering the body” is only possible before sunset and only if the respective ghost has been destroyed.

Bloated Ghosts

Bloated Ghosts: Init +1; Atk lifedrain +3 melee (1d4 + DC14 Fort or 1d4 STA); AC 15; HD 3d12; MV 40’ fly; Act 1d20; SP un-dead traits, life drain, create spawn, immune to non-magical/non-silver weapons, half damage from silver weapons; SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +4; AL C.

They are translucent, with their faces, bodies and limbs strangely tumid and bloated. They are usually bound to the place where they died.

Life drain: all damage done (both hp and STA loss) gets added to their hit points (characters can regain lost points normally).

Create spawn and un-dead traits: as above.

Adjusting for character level:

Both of these variants should be a good challenge for a party of 1st level adventurers if the number appearing is about half the number of characters. It will be a very difficult encounter if they don’t have magical or silver weapons (or clerics), so you might drop some hints or rumors so the players have a chance to prepare if they’re clever.

Adjusting for higher level parties: For 2nd level characters, simply add +1 to init, attack, damage, stamina loss, HD and all saves. For 3rd level characters, add an additional +1 on everything.

Silver weapons:

These are not readily available, but if there in a reasonably big city or market, a character may find a weapon suitable for them if they succeed on a luck check. The price should be about 30 times as much as the normal cost of the weapon.

A blacksmith might be willing to coat any weapon with silver for 20 times the normal price of the weapon; this is but temporary: after using such a weapon in a fight against a corporeal enemy, a luck check decides if the silver coating is still functional or wore out. Fighting incorporeal enemies does not tarnish the silver coating!

Magic weapons: These are never for sale. (Well, maybe if they are cursed.)

Soul of the Serpent King

Soul of the Serpent King is a free DCC adventure, written by me and illustrated by +Luka Rejec.

It can be used as a standalone scenario for 6-8 2nd level characters or as an expansion for +Edgar Johnson's Blood for the Serpent King.

Download it here:
Soul_of_the_Serpent_King.pdf

Absorber Imp

The Absorber Imp with DCC stats and familiar rules. The guest art is by +Noah Stevens - check out his blog The Hapless Henchman!

Artwork by Noah Stevens

An Absorber Imp is a very small demon, typically about one foot tall, with a pitch black hide, a set of leathery wings, often strangely colored eyes and a head like a miniature dragon. They possess child-like intelligence but cannot speak. Their reflexes are quick, they can sense magic and they are able to fly for short periods of time.

Absorber Imps are often used by more powerful demons as retainers, and fulfill simple tasks and services for them. Still, it is possible to encounter an Absorber Imp on its own, if it was lost, trapped, abandoned, or on a mission for or even fleeing from its master. It is very rare to face two or more Absorber Imps in the same place. They don't work well with each other.

Like a lot of imps, they are not truly evil but mischievous in nature and love to play pranks or otherwise annoy their chosen victims. These pranks are never intended to be life-threatening but can sometimes be dangerous. The favorite victims of Absorber Imps are those gifted with magic powers, because they feed on magical energies.

It is not known whether their name originally stemmed from their skin's property of absorbing all light or from their more fantastic ability to absorb pure magic power. These imps can absorb any magical spell or effect in their vicinity, regardless of the intended target, area of effect or power. The original magic effect is cancelled completely and is instead stored inside the imp. The imp can store the magic of up to three spells or other magic effects at the same time for as long as it wishes, potentially forever, but it can also unleash its powers whenever it wants to. Absorber Imps can also decide to devour a magic power that they previously stored. This destroys the magic completely.

When the Absorber Imp releases stored magic, it can choose all variable aspects of its effects, like targets, as if it were the original caster of the spell, or the original user of a magic scroll or wand. If the imp has already currently stored three magical powers, it can choose to absorb a new magic effect and release one of its stored ones as one action.

Absorber Imps are immune to magic weapons and can absorb magical effects of magic weapons hitting them, including all damage, like they can absorb other magic. They can release the stored effects from magic weapons by hitting the intended target with their otherwise not overly dangerous claws.

Due to their abilities to store spells and sense magic, Absorber Imps are rare but highly priced familiars for witches, warlocks and dark mages. Although not easy, they can be befriended, especially if they are well fed with magical energy. An Absorber Imp familiar is a double-edged sword, though, because no matter how well trained, they will never stop playing pranks.

Absorber Imps can be bound into shards of obsidian, if one knows the required ritual. They will stay bound until the word of release is spoken or the obsidian is shattered. Furthermore, magic effects or damage originating from magical obsidian objects or obsidian weapons cannot be absorbed and fully affects the imps. Any damage received from obsidian weapons is a perilous and grave incident for an Absorber Imp and one of the only sure ways to permanently destroy them instead of just sending them back to their shadow realm. For these reasons, most of them are afraid or even repelled by obsidian objects of any kind.

The Absorber Imp's eyes change with the kind of magic powers it has currently stored. An absorbed fireball might turn its eyes into a fiery inferno, a friendship enchantment can make them seem trustworthy and a portal spell might transform their eyes into actual windows into time and space. Often, but not necessarily always, the eyes adjust to the most powerful magic that is currently stored. Pitch black eyes can be a tell for an Absorber Imp with no stored magic whatsoever, or an alarming signal for devastating black magic.

Absorber Imp: Init +3; Atk Claws +1 melee (1d4 + potentially stored magic attack ability); AC 14; HD 2d8; MV 20’, fly 20’; Act 1d20; SP absorb magic, release magic, vulnerable to obsidian (double damage), immune to magic, invulnerable to magic weapons; SV Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +2; AL C.

Absorber Imps as familiars

Optionally, a Judge may allow a player character with the Find Familiar spell to bond with an Absorber Imp if the rolled familiar type is demonic or if an the imp is encountered by a neutral or chaotic spellcaster without a familiar (but the spell must be known). The Absorber Imp will have the abilities and stats described above instead of the usual demonic familiar traits. As a familiar, it can freely absorb spells from its wizard, but can only absorb spells from other casters up to it’s wizard’s caster level per hour (e.g. the familiar of a 5th level wizard could absorb one 3rd level and one 2nd level spell in the same hour). In the case of absorbed magical creature abilities, substitute the creature’s hit dice for spell level. The imp’s immunity to magic and magic weapons remains intact. Absorber Imps’ familiar personality trait is always prankful.

Mire Man

In return for illustrating my brain sloth, I wrote up one of +Matthew Adams' wonderful creature designs and gave it some DCC stats, too.

Artwork by Matthew Adams

You might not believe it, but the mire man was once an elf. He still is, in a sense. A failed experiment of the elfin slime lords, a twisted hybrid of an elf and a slime. He has been an outcast for decades, dumped into the swampland surrounding the elfin slime lords' citadel, haunting the swamps and scaring away the few who dare to venture there. The mire man hates everything that has bones. His territory is marked by a countless number of strange sculptures made from the broken bones of creatures that crossed his path, from frogs to unwary travelers. He tolerates nothing but invertebrates. Worms and leeches are his only friends.

The mire man is immune to poison, charm, sleep, paralysis, stun, and polymorph. He ignores extra damage and effects from critical hits that normally damage limbs or bones. Piercing or slashing weapons only do half damage because his slime body just closes the cuts again. His limbs are extremely flexible and bendy, and can be stretched to a length of 10' each, although he usually keeps them from three to five foot long.

As a free action every three rounds, the mire man can try to call upon d20-8 leeches that automatically bite on to his foes that are standing in the mire. These start to drain blood at a rate of 1hp per round and leech. Characters can get rid of leeches by using an action to remove as many leeches from themselves as the result of an Agility check.

If the mire man is reduced to 0 hit points, his slime body explodes vigorously, splashing everybody inside of a 15' radius, requiring a DC 13 Fort save or doing 1d8 acid damage.

MIRE MAN: Init +2; Atk claw +4 melee (1d4 plus Fort DC 12 or paralyzed for 2 rounds) or bite +4 (2d4); AC 11; HD 6d10; MV 30’ in swamp only, otherwise 10'; Act 2d20; SP summon leeches (free d20-8 every 3 rounds), death splash (DC 13 Fort or 1d8 acid), stretching limbs, infravision, heightened senses, immunities: poison, charm, sleep, paralysis, stun, polymorph, critical hits on limbs and bones; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +2; AL C.

Artwork by Matthew Adams

Brain Sloths

+Matthew Adams was kind enough to supply a rad illustration for my brain sloths. 
He blogs at Rumble City.

Artwork by Matthew Adams

Brain sloths cling to cave or dungeon ceilings, drop down on hapless adventurers, pierce their skulls and attach to their brains with tentacle-thingies. Then they guide the bodies into their breeding chamber where they are filled with eggs by the enormous brain sloth queen.

BRAIN SLOTH: Init -1; Atk claws +1 melee (2d4); AC 8; HD 1d6+3; MV 10’; Act 1d20; SP climb sheer surfaces, hide on ceilings (DC 1d20+10 Intelligence check or be surprised), piercing drop (+5 attack when dropping on a head from above), brain control (after successful hit to the head, DC 20 Will save or total mind control), immune to mind control and sleep; SV Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +5; AL N.

BRAIN SLOTH QUEEN: Init +1; Atk claws +2 melee (2d6) or stinger +4 (1d8 + insert 1d4 eggs in torso, or in limbs if DC 15 Ref save is made); AC 10; HD 6d8; MV 10’; Act 2d20; SP immune to mind control and sleep; SV Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +5; AL N.

The brain sloth eggs can be removed with a cleric's lay on hands; they are a 3 dice condition.

Alternatively any character can make a DC 10 medical skill check (remember that only characters with appropriate occupations may use a d20, all untrained characters use a d10). A success means the eggs are removed and the patient takes 1d4 damage (only 1 damage on a natural 20). A failure means the eggs are removed, but the patient suffers 1d10 damage (only 1d6 damage if eggs are in a limb). A fumble results in 1d10 damage (1d6 in limb) and all but one egg removed.

After 12 hours inside of a body, the eggs will attach growing tentacles to the nervous system of their host and cause paralyzation. The gestation period is 2d4+8 days, after which the baby brain sloths burst out of the host's body.

Dworfen Kaosmobile

+Luka Rejec asked me to "stat up the noble steed" he drew for his Dworfs of Anarchy, so I did (for the DCC RPG):

Dworfen Kaosmobile: Init as driver; Atk hit and run +2+INT modifier of driver (1d6 per 10' distance of acceleration (up to 10d6), every damage die showing a 6 results in a broken bone and losing a point of Strength or Agility); AC 18 (every passenger receives +2 to AC); HD 3d8+14 (any magical fire attack that does at least 8 damage to the Kaosmobile will make it explode, doing 2d6+8 damage to every passenger); MV 100’ (turning takes 1 round); Act n/a; SP breachcruisin'; SV Fort +8, Ref as driver, Will n/a; AL C.

"The Dworfs shall ride once more into the breach. For Kaos and Light." - illustration by Luka Rejec

Check out Luka's blog Cauldrons & Clerics.

Batbanes

Sometimes called Batbane Women or simply Bat Women, some claim that these chimeras are the offspring of a single woman or group of women that were once human, but struck by a terrible curse for an evil deed they committed. Others suspect that they are the unfortunate results of forbidden experiments with devilish wizardry.

Batbane Women look like a hideous crossbreed of a human female and a bat. Most of their once human features are hidden under monstrous deformities. Leathery batwings stretch from the legs to their elongated arms, with hands and feet ending in long claws. Their mouths are full of sharp teeth and their ears are big and pointy. They are partially covered in a silky black fur, but have patches of bare skin. The hairless spots differ in size and position from one Batbane to the next, with the exposed skin often showing a sickly and pale appearance. Their faces are usually but not always hairless.

The Batbanes are capable of flying for short periods of time, and prefer to attack their prey with dives from above. They can use the claws on their feet to grab and carry away their victims, if those are not much heavier than themselves. Due to their ability to produce and perceive ultrasonic sounds, they can maneuver in absolute darkness and are almost impossible to surprise. Their instincts and behavior are very feral and although they can subsist purely on drinking blood, they tend to also rip apart and eat some of the flesh of their prey in the process of feeding. They get their main sustenance from wild animals, but prefer the more potent humanoid blood when the opportunity presents itself. They eschew the sun, sleep through the day in dark places and only come out to hunt at night.

The curse of the Bat Women is lifted during two nights per year, on the summer and winter solstice. In these nights, their bodies and minds transform back to their human origins, and they are driven to seek the companionship of other human beings. Though still feral in nature, they regain some intelligence and a rudimentary ability to speak. Some Batbanes even grow attached to certain individuals they meet during these nights and try to revisit them again at a later solstice. Usually, their new friends are totally oblivious to the Batbane's true nature. Although a Batbane in human form is generally in a friendly and social mood, they can still get very dangerous if they feel threatened. In very rare cases, when pushed too far, they may even transform back to their inhuman form before the night is over, with dire consequences for anyone nearby.

Some whisper that if a benevolent soul could unravel the original cause for their curse and redeem it, all of them would be saved from their fate, and could live free from the curse or at least die in peace.

DCC RPG stats:

Batbane: Init +2; Atk claws +1 melee (1d4); AC 12; HD 1d8; MV 30’ or fly 30’; Act 1d20; SP pick up opponents after a successful flying attack (avoid with DC 11 Fort save) and drop them from 10' (1d6 damage), never surprised; SV Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +1; AL N.

Teratic Tome DCC: Onlooker

Dead Cyclops presents a DCC RPG conversion for a monster from +Rafael Chandler's Teratic Tome. If you like this, check out the Kickstarter for Rafael's new bestiary: Lusus Naturae.


The Onlooker belongs to a class of monsters called audiences, so let's talk about those first...


Audiences

Created by the Tenebrous Halflings of the Infinite Crypt, audiences were once among the most dreaded of monsters.

When several of the Tenebrous Halflings neared death, they would perform a necromantic ritual that transferred their souls into a monstrous body that had been stitched together by their chirurgeons. Within this new body, a floating sack of flesh adorned with tentacles, each audience was a collection of diverse personalities.

The audience then continued to stalk the silent corridors of the Infinite Crypt, gathering information, tormenting lesser beings, and assembling troves of forbidden knowledge.

Then Shauva Tiridan, the mad mage, took their eyes.

A wizard of unimaginable power, she hunted down every audience and carved out its eyes to create her legion of ambulators (q.v.).

Now blind and insane, the audiences still glide through dark tunnels, but their mutilator died years ago, so they have no one to vent their rage on save for the occasional adventurer who blunders into their path. Though eyeless, an audience is nonetheless acutely aware of its surroundings, and is not penalized for blindness -- nor is it affected by illusions, or spells such as darkness.

Each audience has the power (and the intellect, and the souls) of several ancient halfling mages, but much of that strength was blunted when the eyes were taken; still, an audience is a formidable foe.

Onlooker: Init +3; Atk tentacled mouth +8 melee (1d8+2) or central maw +8 melee (2d6); AC 18 (tentacles: AC 14); HD 12d8+30 (3hp per tentacle); MV 40’; Act 11d20; SP spellcasting +12, 1/day each: Magic missile, Dispel magic, Scare, Gust of wind, Slow, Force manipulation, Polymorph, Paralysis, Magic shield, Sleep, Spider web; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +8; AL L.


The onlooker appears as a large sphere of greenish-blue tissue, from which dangle 10 tentacles of different lengths. An enormous mouth protrudes from the four-foot-wide central sphere, and each of the tentacles ends in a chattering mouth. The monster sweats a milky substances that reeks of fresh fruit.

Often found near crypts, ossuaries, or graveyards, the onlooker's eleven souls bicker and argue incessantly, debating the necromantic lore that once was their bailiwick. Now, eyeless and stripped of many powers, they float through dust-blanketed necropoleis in search of the interesting-tasting cadavers that sustain them (and occasionally serve as raw material for an experiment of some kind).

If approached, the onlooker will stop chattering long enough to bite with its tentacled mouths (3-10 points of damage) or its central maw (2-12 points); if it feels that the enemy is a dangerous enough to warrant it, the central maw can spit forth magic missiles (6d4+6, 180' range, once per day), and the ten other mouths can utter the following spells (once per day each):

1. Dispel magic 
2. Scare 
3. Gust of wind 
4. Slow 
5. Force manipulation 
6. Polymorph 
7. Paralysis 
8. Magic shield
9. Sleep 
10. Spider web

More Teratic Tome DCC goodness: 

• Acronical 
• Dreg-Stalker 
• Bothrian 
• Scavenger

All material from Teratic Tome used with permission.

Teratic Tome DCC: Scavenger

Dead Cyclops presents a DCC RPG conversion for a monster from +Rafael Chandler's Teratic Tome. If you like this, check out the Kickstarter for Rafael's new bestiary: Lusus Naturae.

Scavenger: Init +1; Atk bone dagger +0 melee (1d3); AC 10; HD 1d8; MV 60' or fly 90’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +0; AL N.

Winged humanoids with grey feathers and scabby pink faces, scavengers look like human-vulture hybrids. They reek of the carrion that they feed on.

Most scavengers cultivate symbiotic relationships with powerful predators, which can include carnivorous dinosaurs, giant spiders, or humanoids such as gnolls or bugbears.

Using its piercing caw, and taunting its targets with the few common-tongue obscenities that it knows, the scavenger tries to lure its prey towards the predator, which then attacks. After the other creature has killed the target, the scavenger picks the scraps of meat off the bones.

Though it carries no treasure, the ruqoloi itself is worth a decent amount, as its exoskeleton is valued by many apothecaries (who create various medicines from the material). A damaged corpse can fetch five hundred gold from a wealthy chemist, and an undamaged body can bring ten times that amount.

A scavenger may also attempt to lure a group of adventurers into a dangerous location, such as a trap-heavy dungeon, by dropping coins which it has looted from various corpses -- scavengers have no use for money, but do love shiny things, so these coins will usually be retrieved afterward.

In combat, scavengers use makeshift daggers wrought from bones (1-3) or any weapons they can pilfer. Their treetop nests are stuffed full of useless items (spoiled iron rations, moldy bread, a four-foot length of rope with a bloody frayed end) and a few bits of treasure.

More Teratic Tome DCC goodness: The Acronical, Dreg-Stalker, Bothrian

All material from Teratic Tome used with permission.

Teratic Tome DCC: Bothrian

Dead Cyclops presents a DCC RPG conversion for a monster from +Rafael Chandler's Teratic Tome. If you like this, check out the Kickstarter for Rafael's new bestiary: Lusus Naturae.

Bothrian: Init +2; Atk tentacles +5 melee (1d4 + poison) or weapon +5 melee; AC 13; HD 7d8+5; MV 120’; Act 3d20; SP poison (DC 15 Fort save or lose 1 Intelligence for 1d6 rounds and make a second check in next round; 10% chance that intelligence loss is permanent), spellcasting +7: ESP, Levitate, Phantasm, Wizard sense, Charm person (1/day), Forget (1/day), Scare (1/day), Word of command (1/day), Mindblade (3/day, 60' x 20' cone, DC 14 Ref save or Intelligence 1 for 1d6 rounds, no spellcasting possible); SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +5; AL L.

Elegant and formal, the bothrians are a mild-mannered race of beings that seek only to enjoy the good things in life -- to carefully slice flavorful meat and sip chilled wine while listening to music and watching their victims scream as the skin is carefully peeled away from the muscle.

Slender humanoids with octopoidal features, their smooth, moist skin ranges in hue from violet to bright green, and changes slightly with mood. Most bothrians favor damp climates, and are typically found near pools where they can soak when the mood arises. Their tentacles undulate while they speak, and many of them have pierced, tattooed, or otherwise decorated their appendages to indicate status.

If provoked, a bothrian typically tries to cause as much harm as possible, while amusing itself by using its abilities to manipulate and bewilder its intellectually-inferior foes. Bothrians have spent centuries honing their mental powers, and can use the following spelllike abilities at will: ESP, levitate, phantasm, wizard sense. In addition, it can use these abilities once per day: charm person, forget, scare, word of command.

Three times per day, the bothrian can employ mindblade, a magical attack which functions like a breath weapon with a 60 ft cone (5 ft at base and 20 ft at end); victims must succeed in a DC 14 Ref save or have their intelligence reduced to 1 for 1d6 rounds (no spellcasting possible). All abilities are performed at 7th-level mastery.

They can also attack with their tentacles; a successful hit inflicts 1-4 damage, and the victim must succeed in a DC 15 Fort save or lose 1 point of intelligence. The following round, the victim must make an additional saving throw or lose another point. Thus, a hit means that the target will lose 0-2 points of intelligence per hit. The effect is usually temporary (intelligence is restored in 1d6 rounds); however, in 10% of cases, this intelligence loss is permanent, and must be remedied somehow.

More Teratic Tome DCC goodness: The Acronical, Dreg-Stalker

All material from Teratic Tome used with permission.

Teratic Tome DCC: Dreg-Stalker

Dead Cyclops presents a DCC RPG conversion for a monster from +Rafael Chandler's Teratic Tome. If you like this, check out the Kickstarter for Rafael's new bestiary: Lusus Naturae.

Dreg-Stalker: Init +2; Atk claws +1 melee (1d8+1); AC 13; HD 2d10+2; MV 60’; Act 2d20; SP vermin; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +0; AL C

Artwork by Metalhead

An amorphous blob of tissue with sensory organs that are little more than thick pores on its oily skin, the dreg-stalker is a predator that stalks sewers and alleys.

The monster lurks below the city, surfacing at night to feed upon solitary victims: vagrants, drunkards, prostitutes, and night watchmen. Its four muscular arms end in sharp claws, which it uses to eviscerate its victims. Then the corpse is stuffed into the pulpy wad of beige tissue that is the dreg-stalker's body.

If confronted, the creature will command the vermin that follow it to attack: giant fire beetles, rats, and other small creatures will defend the dreg-stalker to the death.

Because the dreg-stalker also absorbs its victims' memories, it is highly prized by interrogators, who feed accused persons to the beast, then ask it for information (as payment for the food).

Sometimes, of course, they learn that the person in question was telling the truth, and was innocent of the crimes in question.

More Teratic Tome DCC goodness: The Acronical

All material from Teratic Tome used with permission.

Teratic Tome DCC: Acronical

Dead Cyclops presents a DCC RPG conversion for a monster from +Rafael Chandler's Teratic Tome. If you like this, check out the Kickstarter for Rafael's new bestiary: Lusus Naturae.

Acronical: Init +4; Atk serrated hooks +3 melee (2d4+2 plus DC 10 Fort save or lose one point from random attribute until slain); AC 17; HD 5d10; MV 150’; Act 2d20; SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1; AL N.

Artwork by Stan Morrison

The acronical is a large insectile predator that strides on six armored legs. Eight feet tall at the shoulder, it has a dark maroon exoskeleton and serrated black hooks at the end of both arms. It reeks of vomit.

Created by anhedonic priests many centuries ago, this nocturnal creature stalks and kills adulterers. It hunts married people who stray from the beds of their spouses, and it hunts those who fornicate with married people.

Acronicals are drawn to the scent of such persons, and can detect it from miles away. Hunting in small packs, the beasts crawl across walls and ceilings, silent and careful, closing in on their victims. They stalk everyone who was peripherally involved in the duplicity -- neighbors who turn a blind eye, innkeepers who knew exactly what was going on, and so forth. Those involved are tracked down, attacked while alone, hamstrung, and devoured by the acronicals while still alive.

Then the creatures will hunt the adulterers themselves. They will be captured, brought together, and given a chance to survive: a fight to the death, with the victor set free.

However, the creatures have no intention of living up to their end of the deal. After one has killed the other, the monster will amputate the victor's arms and legs, then sing songs of love while the fornicator bleeds to death.

Adventurers may encounter the acronical in the wild. It tends to favor caves or dungeons, where it can stage the fatal battle between lovers.

The creature leaves behind a watery orange stool, and when it is agitated, its chitin flakes off in small amounts. Heroes tracking the beast will find this evidence in its wake.

In combat, the acronical attacks with its scythe-like claws, which inflict 4-10 points of damage. Each time the monster hits, the target must make a saving throw against poison or lose a point from a random attribute (roll 1d6 to determine which attribute is affected). This loss can only be remedied when the acronical in question has been slain, at which point the attribute(s) will be restored.

All material from Teratic Tome used with permission.

Duplicator Slime

Dead Cyclops is excited to showcase fantastic guest art by +Luka Rejec for the Duplicator Slime! Check out his blog Cauldrons & Clerics!

"Shoposh of Fyr had not expected a duplicator slime attack while putting up
the new cafeteria sign in the castle courtyard." - illustration by Luka Rejec

Depending on how well nourished it is, a typical specimen of this rare creature has about the mass of a horse or more, and consists of a thick, slithering puddle of green slime interspersed with lots of eyes, bones, and sharp teeth. These eyes, bones and teeth flow around chaotically in the slime and make it quite an unsettling sight that can strike fear into the heart of the boldest adventurer.

The slime itself is of sticky consistency and can easily cling to walls and ceilings, normally crawling at a slow pace, but moving at the speed of a snake in short bursts if agitated. Sometimes, the slime drags along objects that were in its way, but due to the corrosive nature of the slime, even non-organic matter erodes with time. Organic matter is corroded after a short period and imbibed into the mass of the slime, with the exception of any bones, teeth and eyes, which stay intact and are simply incorporated into the Duplicator Slime's body system.

The Duplicator Slime usually takes the form of a puddle, but can freely change its shape, forming tentacles or other limbs, stalk eyes, gaping mouths full of teeth, and even spikes or other weaponry formed out of bones. Combined with its cat-like intelligence, it is perfectly capable of using these abilities to hunt and overwhelm prey, and can even manipulate simple mechanical contraptions like doors. It is not so much malevolent as it is curious and hungry, which does not make it any less dangerous for anyone unfortunate enough to encounter it.

It takes its name from its mythical power and seemingly insatiable desire to duplicate any being it comes into contact with before assimilating its essence. All the Duplicator Slime needs to do is to bring any part of its body into direct contact with the body of its victim. In a few short moments, it rearranges its shape to mirror the appearance of its prey, with any excess mass forming a pool at the “feet” of its newly-sculpted frame. The creature tries to make the likeness as accurate as possible, even trying to shape any equipment or weapons the victim is carrying out of bone fragments or slime. Of course, even if it matches the shape closely, it still looks like a horrible green mass of slime, eyes and bones, albeit in the form of an animal or person.

Even more confusing and hotly debated by scholars of the arcane, is the slime's capability to not only duplicate the shape of a being, but also all of its physical abilities. Many a warrior has perished when faced with his terrifying slime monster clone and a mastery of the sword that matches his own.

DCC RPG stats:

Duplicator Slime: Init -5; Atk pseudopod or bite +3 melee (1d4 + duplicate foe), or melee attack of duplicated foe (dmg like duplicated weapon, max. 1d8+modifier); AC 12 (add agility modifier of duplicated foe); HD 3d10 (increase if well nourished); MV 10', if agitated 20’, climb 10'; Act 1d20 (plus additional action dice of duplicated foe); SP duplicate foe on successful hit or touch; SV Fort +4, Ref -5, Will +1; AL N.