Showing posts with label Marvel Monsters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marvel Monsters. Show all posts

Sunday, January 22, 2012

HELLCOW! ; an undead beastie for your OSR Games!

The wife and I went to see Underworld today, which got me thinking about vampires in games which gave me a crazy idea!!!
                                               
HELLCOW

AKA: Bessie, Blood-Beast, Cowled Cow, Farm Killer, Recreant Ruminant
No. Enc.: 1 (believed to be unique)
Alignment: Chaotic
AC: 3 (16)
HD: 7
Attacks: Bite (1d8 + level Drain), Butt 1d8
Saving Throw: F9
Morale: 10
Move: 240' (80') Fly: 180' (60')
X.P.: 2,8000
     Whispered legends tell of a dark night when the Lord of Vampires was unable to find a human victim to feed upon, one farmer had failed to lock up his favorite cow; Bessie, the Lord of Vampires took his fill from the poor beast, and it wasn't milk he was after! The farmer finding his beloved cow dead the next day couldn't bear to eat her so he buried her. Three nights later, Bessie Returned!!
     Bessie doesn't have quite the powers of a regular vampire, but for a cow she is one tough cookie, the fact that it was the Lord of Vampires himself that created her has given her some unusual abilities. First and foremost it wasn't believed that regular cattle could become vampiric, she proves this wrong. Her vampiric state has increased her intellect, though still below the average human in intelligence she is smarter than a regular cow (can set up ambushes; seek out specific targets etc…)
     Hellcow is immune to charm, hold and sleep spells. Electricity and cold does only half damage, she is unaffected by normal weapons, and regenerates 2 hit points per round. Like regular vampires she must take refuge from the sun during daylight hours and once in awhile she must sleep in an old barn to maintain her powers' vitality. Like other vampires she can assume gaseous form at will and can grow large bat-like wings enabling her to fly. Bessie can feed upon humans and cattle, but prefers to feed upon farmers, possibly due to some resentment towards her former owner who left her out that cold night so long ago. It is believed that Bessie cannot create more of her own kind. Bessie can summon 1d10x10 bats when underground, although she seldom goes underground. If she can summon wolves, she has never done so; perhaps being a cow in her previous life makes her uncomfortable around them. Bessie has on rare occasions exhibited the Charming Gaze of a vampire but those attempting to resist it get a +2 bonus to their roll, because..well she's a cow! Bessie has the other abilities and weaknesses of vampires with the addition that a weapon forged from a milk pail will strike her as though it were a magic weapon!
     Legend has it that Bessie's vampiric blood-infused milk has various restorative properties to those who drink it. It can purportedly Cure Diseases and even Restore energy levels lost from the attacks of other undead creatures (possibly even Bessie's own attacks) although its full effects are unknown.
Bessie has a distinctive laugh,"hahahamoooo!"
                                                     
Based on the Hellcow character from Marvel Comics, no copyright infringement is intended!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

I Unleashed Shagg upon the World!!


SHAGG


No. Enc.: 1 (Unique Construct)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 180'/60'
Armor Class: 0
Hit Dice: 36
Attacks: 3
Damage: Alot! 
Special Attacks: Slamming Fists!, Crushing Stomp!
Save: F18
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: None
Special Abilities: Wielding Cosmo-Gamma Electro-Magnetic waves!!!

66' high, 241' long! The massive construct known as Shagg is a near unstoppable force of power and destruction. If that wasn't enough it wields powerful Cosmo-Gamma Electro-Magnetic Waves which can apparently alter reality… Yikes!!
Shagg has lay dormant in plain sight for centuries. Shagg appears as an enormous seemingly inanimate sphinx statue. An unwitting Scholar accidentally activated this construct and it proceeded to go on its preprogrammed path of destruction. The scholar was somehow able to explain to Shagg that its activation was an accident and not part of its "Master Plan". Shagg then used its powers over "Cosmo-Gamma Electro-Magnetic Waves" to repair all the damage it caused and then returned to its inanimate statue form. *whew*

Ok, clearly I statted up Shagg as more of a gag or a DM plot device than anything else, still it is fun to look at these old comic monsters from the early 60's.

Shagg was first seen in Journey Into Mystery #59 (1960)

Save me from The Weed!!

How's that for a title that made you think of something else?!  I'm sure "Weed" had a different connotation back in 1962.
Anyways I haven't posted any critters in awhile and I thought this one would make for a fun write-up. This is primarily worked up for Mutant Future, but with some minor tweaking it would work fine for an unexpected threat in a Labyrinth Lord game.  If I ever get to run Planet Algol, I might could see using this beastie in the Slime Lands also.

The WEED
No. Enc.: 1 (possibly a unique beast)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: Immobile
Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: as mutation
Damage: as mutation
Save: L10
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XIV
Special Abilities/Mutations: Neural Telepathy, Empathy, Fragrance Development, Epidermal Photosynthesis, Full Senses (sight), Possession.

     The Weed is a newly awakened sentient mutant plant with extremely limited mobility. It has a high intelligence and a wide array of mental powers including telepathy. The Weed can overpower others mentally, and force them to do its bidding. The Weed's main vulnerability is that it must be rooted in fertile soil. The Weed considers all of humanity to be nothing more than slaves meant for it to conquer. It hopes to create an army of minions to force its will upon the stupid mammals and beasts that walk the earth. In time it will have a much larger hoard, as well as, servitor minions, but for now it has a limited area of influence. It will consider other intelligent mutant plants, like Brain Plants which it may be related to, a threat to its supremacy and will work to have its minions destroy any and all that they come across.

Adapted from Strange Tales # 94  1962
(please note the stat block above heavily relies on the Brain Plant write up in the MF core rules)

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Simian Saturday : GORGILLA!

 I've gotten a couple of requests for this one, Trey over on From the Sorcerer's Skull blog in particular expressed an interest, so without further ado I present:
Gorgilla The Monster Of Midnight Mountain
No. Enc.: 1 (Unique Beast)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 150'/50' (when charging he can leap 60' upward or across) Swim 120'/40'
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 18 +3
Attacks: 3 (clubbing fist/clubbing fist/bite) + see below!
Damage: 1d10 +10/1d10+10/3d4 (+ see below)
Special Attacks: Rending (if Gorgilla strikes his opponent with both hands he does an additional 1d12 points of rending damage). If Gorgilla charges and strikes, he has grappled with the opponent, and there is a 50% chance it has been overborne. Such overbearing inflicts 2-16 points of damage and enables Gorgilla to automatically inflict biting damage as well. Against small foes (7' or less) he can attempt a stamping attack, each huge foot inflicting 5d4 crushing damage. Gorgilla is able to uproot trees of up to70' height, 6' or less diameter and use them as a club or even a battering ram to knock down barriers.
Save: F18
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: None (course you could always put some cool stuff in his lair, but treasure tends to not interest him).
Special Abilities: Keen senses (surprised only on a 1), Rending attack (see above), Stamping attack (see above), Overborne attack (see above).

     Gorgilla is a 24' tall half-man/half-ape living in the wilderness far from civilization. According to some he is smarter than the average ape, and has been reported to exhibit an almost human-like intellect. He is savage when angered and attacking him would be a most foolish endeavor. There are those that have reported being helped by him. There is a tale of a group of adventurers that sought out Gorgilla in the hopes of capturing him for a wizard's unknown purposes. They instead encountered a fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex, and would have surely perished, had not Gorgilla appeared and attacked and killed the fearsome predator. In gratitude the adventurers left Gorgilla alone and returned to the angry wizard empty handed. Others have reported seeing Gorgilla far out to sea swimming effortlessly, a group's sea vessel was attacked by a ferocious sea beast and Gorgilla swam up and slew the beast, then swam away. Few sages give any credibility to these wild tales. Some sages have speculated that Gorgilla is the result of some magical experiment that has escaped into the wilds. Others say he is a mutant beast, which gained its height and intelligence from strange radiations. Still others say Gorgilla is the missing link from the past dating back to the time of the ancients. No one really knows for sure…

Please note I HEAVILY based this write-up on the AD&D Module WG 6 Isle of the Ape; Gargantuan Ape write-up by Gary Gygax!!! I know many folks don't have access to that old classic adventure so I used it to work up Gorgilla. I just didn't want anyone to think I'm taking credit for work originally done by the master himself. -Good Gaming

Gruto the Creature from Nowhere!

I seem to be on an old school giant Marvel Monster kick lately. Dave B. was kind enough to send me a link to some more beasties from that bygone era and requested that I work up some more. So I chose Gruto for my next write-up.


Gruto the Creature from Nowhere

No. Enc.: 1 (on his homeworld/plane greater numbers of his species will be found)
Alignment: Lawful
Movement: 120'(40')
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 9
Attacks: 1 (slamming fist, he will only use this attack in dire emergencies of self defense or to save another, he abhors physical violence, preferring to use his hi-tech devices to avoid confrontation.)
Damage: 2d8 (fist)
Save: F8
Morale: 8
Hoard C lass: (usually only carries his Paralysis Rod and Hologram Emitter on his person, in his ship all kinds of cool tech can be found, nothing of a harmful offensive nature however, XVIII is a good starting point replace magic items with tech equivalents). 
Special Abilities: He has several hi-tech devices that he can rely upon.
Paralysis Rod – the rod functions as a wand of paralyzation.
Hologram Emitter Crystal – When activated this duplicates the effects of the Mirror Image spell, creating 1d4 duplicates of the user that will last until attacked or 6 turns have passed. It will take 6 more turns for the device to recharge in order to be used again. The Crystal possesses charges like a wand.

     Gruto appears as a 12' tall massively muscled green scaled humanoid. His people are peaceful and good. Long ago they discovered advances in technology (or magic if that's how you roll) that enabled them to better themselves and their society. Gruto was chosen by his people to journey to other worlds and share this knowledge for the betterment of all. Unfortunately his vessel was damaged during transport and he has crashed in the wilderness. During the crash he suffered an injury which has caused him amnesia. Still a good and lawful being he doesn't remember who he is or why he is on this strange world. Locals have seen him and assuming he was a horrible monster reacted in fear. Gruto has fled deeper into the wilds, lost and confused.

Christian did a recent post in his Destination Unknown blog about violence in RPG games, I chose Gruto with that post in mind. This encounter is meant to be all about "not all is as it seems" and players shouldn't base their characters actions solely on appearances. While violence could be used to "stop" Gruto, that is the wrong approach for this encounter. Gruto could be a great potential ally to a party. If they can help restore his memory and help him get back to his crashed ship, he can repair it and would no doubt be grateful and reward the party with some cool stuff. However, if they attack him they have missed a great opportunity. Perhaps some locals spotted Gruto, assumed he was a horrible monster (mutant troll?) and have begged/hired the party to get rid of the beast. To be extra challenging you could even say Gruto's devices give off an aura that inhibit detection spells and such so that Know Alignment and detection magics don't work on him. Gruto is presented as an alien with hi-technology, you may not want to go that route for your Labyrinth Lord games, so simply make him a dimensional traveller who used magic instead of technology.  I wanted to stick close to the original creature as presented in the comics so I kept the tech in.  I plan on using Gruto in that Planet Algol Campaign that I've been wanting to run.  : )
Gruto first appeared in Journey Into Mystery #67, April 1961

Sunday, April 11, 2010

I Defied GOMDULLA The Living Pharaoh!

     In doing research for my recent Gorlion post and another upcoming beastie I found a pretty wild (some would say silly) monster. I first came across this beastie many years ago in the pages of Dragon Magazine (oh how I miss the old Dragon mag. coming to my mailbox on a monthly basis *sigh*); anyways the monster was statted up for the Marvel Super Heroes RPG (now called FASERIP I believe). Back then there was no internet and I had a habit of using (scavenging) everything I could find for my games so I converted it to my AD&D campaign. My players loved it, well until it trounced half the party (very close to a TPK, they assumed it was "just" a giant mummy). I've long since lost those gaming notes, but Labyrinth Lord is so easy to use I decided to convert this monster to that system.

So without further ado I present…

GOMDULLA; the Living Pharaoh
No. Enc.: 1 (Unique?)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90'(30')
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 12+3
Attacks: 1 (fist, or telekinetic attack)
Damage: 6d6 fist, or 3d6 telekinetic boulder attack
Special Attacks: Telekinesis (using a special form of telekinesis he can mentally hurl rocks up to a range of 120' for 3d6 damage, he can also use this ability against living creatures but they are entitled to a save).
Save: F12
Morale: 12
Hoard Class : XVIII +5,000 gp, also if your campaign allows for ancient tech items, this is a great place to put them!!
Special Abilities: unaffected by Sleep, Charm, or Hold spells. May only be harmed by magical weapons, spells, and fire based attacks (energy weapons dull full damage!). Levitation 3x per day as the spell.

Optional : Gomdulla does have a weakness, in addition to being rather slow moving, on one of his feet, hidden deep beneath the layers of bandages is a small stud, which if pressed will render him immobile and put him in a stasis-like state.

In a forgotten corner of a lost desert lies a ruined ziggurat, somewhere deep inside an ancient evil slumbers…

     There is much speculation as to what exactly Gomdulla is. It appears to be a 20' tall giant humanoid wrapped in ancient wrappings like a mummy. Legends say Gomdulla came from another world and found the air of this world burned his skin, so he wrapped himself in special wrappings to protect himself. While he has some of the immunities of traditional mummies, he does not have their mummy rot attack ability. Nor has he ever been successfully turned by a cleric. Some sages have speculated that Gomdulla is not a living or unliving being at all but is in fact a construct (Robot) from another world sent here to conquer. Others have called him a mutant noting his abilities of telekinesis and levitation ,as well as, his size and the fact that he has only three fingers and a thumb on his right hand yet has four fingers and a thumb on his left hand.
Have fun with this one! If I get to run a Planet Algol Campaign I may just have to use this guy.  Maybe the party is in dire need of some Radiation Crystals or other hi-tech treasures, sounds like they need to seek out The Ziggurat of Gomdulla! Also I haven't done the stats, but Gomdulla would fit in just fine in an Encounter Critical game. Course you could just make him a giant mummy for your regular fantasy games, but I like to insert the unexpected and unusual in my games.
Good Gaming! -B
 
Gomdulla is copyright Marvel Comics and first appeared in Journey into Mystery I#61/1 (October, 1960).

4/12/10 Update     I found another cool picture of Gomdulla (or at least his precursor)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Simian Saturday: Gorlion

Well its Simian Saturday once again, Thanks for all the great comments on the War Chimps I did last Saturday. I figure you can never have enough Ape-based beasties to choose from for your gaming fun, so being a big Jack Kirby fan, I worked this one up for your party slaying pleasure!
The Gorlion; one time foe (ever so briefly) of Dr. Druid.


Gorlion
No. Enc.: 1 (1d6 rarely)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 150'/50' (+ can Leap for 30')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 3 (Claw/Claw/Bite)
Damage: 1d4/1d4/1d8
Special Attacks: Rending (if the gorlion strikes its opponent with both hands the beast does an additional 1d8 points of rending damage)
Save : F4
Morale : 9
Hoard Class : Usually have no personal treasure but are often guarding the treasure and lairs of other more powerful beings (especially sorcerers). If guarding another creature's treasure use appropriate Hoard Class for that creature.
Special Abilities: Keen senses (surprised only on a 1), Leaping attack (if there is enough room can leap for 30'), Rending attack (see above).

The Gorlion is part ape, part lion. Whether these are sorcerous hybrids (like Owlbears, etc.), otherworldly beasts or mutant monsters is unknown. What is known is that they are fearsome foes and exhibit an uncanny cunning not normally found in such savage beasts.

     I can see several uses for these beasts, first off they'd make for a cool guardian beast in a sorcerer's lair, sure it's a repeated theme, but it works, plus the party might not be totally surprised by an Ape guardian, but one that is a mixture of ape and lion now there's a surprise. Add in their fast movement and leap attack that will quickly nullify the party's ranged attacks and you've got a group of adventurers in potential trouble quickly, especially if the Gorlion makes some good to hit and damage rolls (claw,claw,bite …REND!). They could be used in this way in "regular" fantasy RPG's (Labyrinth Lord), or other OSR games, Planet Algol etc. You could also do the Gorlions as mutant beasts in your Mutant Future Campaigns, maybe a whole pack of them to make things interesting.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Armak (Mutant Future NPC/Villain)


Armak

Str: 20 (+4)   Dex: 16 (-2 AC)  Mutant Homo Erectus
Con: 17         Int: 7                   Alignment: Neutral
Will: 11         Cha: 8                 AC: 6 Hit Points: 162
Mutations: Increased Strength (+3d6 damage), Gigantism (9' tall, +1 damage dice), Increased Constitution (+2 vs. poison)
Weapons & Gear: Skins, Furs, Large Club (1d6) (totals 5d6+4 with club) yikes!!!
     Little is known about Armak's background, he is apparently a mutant Homo erectus. According to camp fire tales he was once a normal human named Arnald who fell victim to Brain Lashers, they used their Ancestral Form mutation to de-evolve him to a cave man state. He was brutalized and mistreated by the Brain Lashers for years, until a Homo Erectus Lord named Lok-eye led a rebellion against the Brain Lashers, Lok-eye (with help from a nearby Entiog tribe) was able to defeat and drive away the Brain Lashers, that unfortunately is when things only got worse for Arnald. Lok-eye made the Brain Lasher's Homo erectus slaves into his own minions and began to eye the lands of a nearby group of Pure Strain Humans; they were Thorites, worshippers of the ancient god Thor. Time and again the Thorites had defeated Lok-eye's dim witted Homo erectus minions. Seeking a stronger minion, Lok-eye began to experiment on his followers many died, but Arnald lived, he mutated and found himself much stronger and tougher than ever before, though his already shattered mind was even more fragmented, he somehow had come to believe that he was Armak the First Man, the original cave man if you will. Initially he served Lok-eye but after getting a major beating by the Thorites (he fell from the top of an ancient structure of the ancients, and would have died if not for his mutant constitution), he fled into the wilderness.



Armak is very loosely based on the Marvel Comics villain Armak from Thor #231.