Kaag the Hill Giant

Several months ago, I posted an encounter from my then-ongoing BX campaign involving a group of bugbears and an aranea. In it, I mentioned that the spider wanted some giant's blood for an experiment. This is the giant the PCs went after.

Kaag, the Giant of Soot Hill

AC: 3

HD: 8+ (36 hp)

Move: 120' (40')

Att: 1 (rock or spear)

Dmg: 2d6+2/2d8+3

No. App: 1

Save: F8

AL: C

For a hill giant, Kaag is an exceptional example of his breed. He is stronger and smarter than most of his kin. Kaag lives in a large hall set partway into a hillside cave. He has spent a good deal of effort to enlarge the cavern and finish the exterior building. The location is known as Soot Hill because Kaag burned all the trees on and around it to give him a better view of anything approaching. 

Like most hill giants, Kaag can be violent and greedy, but he usually satisfies these cravings by hiring out to local humanoids as an enforcer. He is paid in food (usually livestock or game), drink (barrels of ale), or treasure (he loves gold in particular).

Kaag bears humans no malice, but dislikes being disturbed. He speaks Giant, Chaotic, Orcish, Goblin, and Common. 

When Kaag fights, he can hurl melon-sized rocks with great accuracy up to 100’ (yards outdoors) for 2d6+2 damage. In melee, he wields a huge spear of unusual workmanship*. He is unarmored, but carries a large hide shield.

Kaag’s Treasure

• 3 scrolls: Protection from Lycanthropes, Protection from Elementals, and a Treasure Map (leads to a Ring of Regeneration).
• Sword +1, locate objects (shortsword)*
• 6000 gpv skulls**

The scrolls are useless to Kaag as he can speak several languages, but does not read. They are hung on the wall as decoration. (He finds the colorful inks pretty)

*The sword is too small for him to wield normally, so he has converted it to his spear point. It grants him +1 to hit and counts as a magic weapon for hitting special creatures. He has no idea of its location powers.

**The gold coins have all been melted down. Most of it coats the skulls of various creatures, including people. These are battle trophies of foes Kaag found especially worthy and sit on shelves around the cave. There are 88 skulls of human, demi-human, or humanoid origin. In addition, there are:

• 1 troll skull
• 2 cave bear skulls
• 2 ogre skulls
• 1 stone giant skull
• 1 dire wolf skull
• 1 owlbear skull
• 1 dragon skull (from a young black)

Over the years Kaag has gotten fairly skilled at the process and re-did the older ones to improve the job. The skulls are quite beautiful, if in a macabre way. If the PCs manage to befriend Kaag, he may show off his collection, boasting of his prowess in battle.

There is also a large lump of leftover gold that he re-melts when he wants to coat another skull. The lump contains 1000gpv of unused gold. It lies under a cloth among some sacks and casks (food and ale).

Khepri and the Black Oak Bugbears

A while back I did an RMA about Araneae. One of my readers, Cullen, suggested the spider could be a sort of sage. I liked the idea so much I added it to my BX campaign. The PCs recently encountered her and are off on a mission to "pay" for the information they're after. 

I thought I'd share the writeup for the encounter as one way to set such a thing up. The map is from my Roll20.

DEEP IN THE FOREST LIVES a clan of wily bugbears known as the Black Oaks. They live by hunting and periodically raiding travelers along nearby trade routes.

The bugbears also have an alliance with a clever aranea named Khepri who lives in the trees above their huts (see the "webby" tree in the upper left). She provides them with potions and advice in return for their protection and retrieving certain materials she wants for her magical studies. Khepri’s invisibility potions are much prized, as they allow the bugbears to be even more effective at ambushes.

Recently, Khepri has finished researching and learning the spell charm person and used it on the Black Oak chieftain, Brugdhaz. She is careful to only nudge his behavior in ways that don’t potentially shake her hold over him, but that may have to change.

Having Skrag as their shaman is a source of status and pride for the Black Oaks. He is a powerful magician by bugbear standards (Casts 1st level clerical and magic-user spells). Brugdhaz has always been somewhat jealous of Skrag’s standing within the clan, but the shaman has wisely avoided stepping on the chieftain’s toes, confining himself to magical and spiritual matters. The difficulty arises from the fact that Khepri wants Skrag’s secrets. The shaman mistrusts the aranea and  is unwilling to share knowledge with a non-bugbear. Skrag’s mind is very strong and her charm spell is unlikely to work against him. Also Bugbear shamans don’t have spell-books. Generations of magical wisdom is recorded on Skrag’s very skin in the form of runic tattoos. While a few tattoos are visible on his arms and legs, he covers the rest with his cloak when Khepri is around. In order to access all of the runes, Skrag must summon his fetch. A spirit ally that allows him to see through its “eyes” and read the tattoos. In order to learn his magics, Khepri will need to study his skin.

Skrag is older and not as strong as the other bugbears. He receives no damage bonus to melee attacks. He is still 2+1 HD, but only has 11hp and AC 8 (no armor).

Skrag’s Spells:

• Detect Magic
• Cure Light Wounds
• Shield
• Read Languages
• Hold Portal
• Magic Missile
• Protection from Evil
• Light

He can have any three prepared at a time.

Brugdhaz is a 5HD bugbear (33hp). He also possesses a Shield +1, granting him AC 3 with his normal armor.

All others are normal bugbears (18hp), armed with maces and axes.

Khepri has an “errand” she would like performed. In exchange for this service, she is more than happy to help the PCs with information about what they seek. She wants a vial of giant’s blood. The type of giant does not matter.

If -after successfully completing the first errand- the PCs come back to her again, Khepri will be favorably disposed toward them, and happily enter an arrangement with them again. The next task will likely be more difficult (higher level).

RMA: Aranea

While the Aranea isn't from the rulebooks' monster listings, it is in the classic module X1: Isle of Dread by Moldvay & Cook, so I feel it qualifies as a BX critter. It's probably not fair to say it's obscure, since so many people have played X1 over the years. The Aranea also was included in BECMI's Creature Catalog (AC9) and even later editions of the game, so it has some staying power.

What caught my eye about this monster wasn't its stats or its prowess in battle, but how the creature was fleshed out in quasi-gygaxian naturalism. Let us explore. First (as always) the stats:

Aranea (from X1)

Armor Class: 7
No. Appearing: 1-3 (1-6)
Hit Dice: 3**
Move:60' (20')
     -In web: 120' (40')
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d6 + poison
Save As: MU3
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: D
Alignment: Chaotic

So this fella has lousy AC, so-so HD, and only one attack. Admittedly it can force a save or die, but still not a huge threat to an expert level party. No, what makes the Aranea so fun are the extra, not necessarily combat, tidbits.

1) They can cast spells. Each Aranea is basically a 3rd level MU. Think about that. Imagine a pony-sized spider casting Sleep on a party. Or having access to Invisibility? But let's not focus just on combat spells. What about ESP? Locate Object? Or even just plain old Read Magic? This ties into the next part of the critter I liked.

2) They're intelligent. The Aranea's spellcasting ability isn't some natural talent, like a Blink Dog's teleport. They are human-level smart (Creature Catalog says INT 14). It also says "...they spend much of their time in magic research." They also have almost human-like fingers on their forelimbs, which allow them to craft and write. Which means they're GIANT SPIDERS WITH SPELL BOOKS! How cool is that?! Further, their lousy morale indicates they aren't really that interested in fighting. Possibly setting a chance to parley or negotiate? (Break out the reaction table!)

3) Bugbear Buddies. This little throwaway line in X1 tickled me to no end. "They are friendly with bugbears and often hire them to guard the forest beneath their lairs." Perhaps that's intended to only be for the Araneas on the Isle, but there are bugbears all over, so why shouldn't such a relationship be possible in other regions? I expect the bugbears would be happy with a friendly wizard living above their home and the Aranea would have more time to spend on research if it knew the territory below its home was guarded.

I can imagine a fun low-level adventure where the party must enter the bugbears' domain in order to parley with an Aranea for some valuable piece of magical knowledge or intel. Perhaps the spider sends them to retrieve some substance or grimoire in exchange for what they want? The Aranea in question could even become a recurring NPC. Their alignment is Chaotic, though. So trusting it might be another matter.