Sandtrap
Sandtraps sit quietly in the desert or in subterranean passages, awaiting their prey. They usually don’t attack unless their prey fall for their ambush, unless of course they are particularly hungry. Their corrosive slime allows them to eat through stone, creating the sand needed to hide within.
Huge Aberration
HD: 13d8 + 50 (120 hp)
Initiative: +10
Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares)
Armor Class: 21 (-2 size, +3 Dex, +9 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+13
Attack: Slam +12 melee (1d6+5)
Full Attack: Slam +12 melee (1d6+5) and bite +8 melee (3d4+2)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft. (5 ft. with bite)
Special Attacks: Engulf, Corrosive slime
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +5
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 11
Skills: Hide +13, Listen +13, Move Silently +12, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic neutral
Advancement: 14-18 HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: —
Engulf: Using sand-coated flaps, a sandtrap can suck a large or smaller creature in its body as a standard action. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If it wins a grapple check,, it gains hold of the victim, and can attack with a +4 on the attack roll.
Corrosive Slime: Per round, sandtraps deliver 2d6 acid damage, 4d6 vs. metallic creatures or objects, 8d10 vs. stone. Metallic armor and weapons become useless in their maws.
Sine they eat through stone, they are found in soily subterranean dwellings, rather than in stony passages.
Posted in Creature and tagged subterranean by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Staff of G’raff
The transmutation on this quarterstaff provides an additional 5′ reach, as it has been enchanted by an extend reach spell.
This staff is generally made of a rare spotted wood, part of the reason for the normal price of 15,000 gp.
Faint transmutation; Craft Rod or Staff CL5.
Legions of young mages wielded Staff of G’raffs during the MageWar waged in the Phyloctaete, as they could be easily created from wood harvested our of the Border Forest on the eastern edge of the nation. Now that so many mages have fallen, and the spotted trees of the border wood have become scarce, so too has the Staff of G’raff.
Posted in Magic Item and tagged staff by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Issue 9
Claw/Claw/Bite is a resource for storytellers and gamemasters to help create thrilling worlds of adventure for your players to test their mettle in. In each issue, you’ll find new characters, creatures, magic items, encounters, and locations for use in your campaigns. We also include little nuggets that will enrich your world with cool details and intriguing features.
Our goal is to be a “one-stop shop” for you, the gamemaster. With little or no tweaking on your part, you will be able to drop any game element from Claw/Claw/Bite into your adventure setting and run it how you see fit. All of our creations are designed for d20 fantasy rules. And of course, all of our everything is carefully reviewed and balanced to fit into your game without disrupting your play balance.
This issue of Claw/Claw/Bite includes
* Four new creatures, including a new True Dragon: the Deep Forest Dragon
* Several new campaign locations
* Two new encounters
* New weapons, magic items, and special materials
* Two new spells
* New NPCs: a dead king and a triumphant new wizard-king
* Two historical events
Download a preview at unicornrampant.com and the full issue at rpgnow.
And, of course, don’t forget our previous issues!
Posted in news and tagged CCB issue by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
The Fall of Vandor’s Prominence and Rise of the Ten Princedoms
The autumn following Vandor’s death brought new peril to the land he left at death’s door. His ten princely heirs could not agree as to how they wanted to rule the land. His eldest son Hanik fell into an unknown illness, and could not keep the other brothers from squabbling over the remaining land. They argued, armwrestled, boxed, fenced, and displayed feats of archery to contend for the prize. The boys were at the edge of bringing their house down in complete war, when Djander, the trusted counsel to their father the king, suggested that they each have a turn at running their own region of the kingdom. He gave them each a year to prove their worthiness as king by ruling a single Princedom.
In the end, the islands were given self-governing status, and each son took control of one of the administrative regions of Vandor, in the hopes of proving their worth to each other and their people. This has proven a difficult challenge, as the people have begun to move away to the Republic of Esrun with its doctrine of individual freedom and merchant riches, the Kingdom of Altæa with its charismatic Queen Aeynn, and to the Phyloctæte, as it moves into a new era of promising peace under the half-elven mage Feryn Dyndle.
This exodus means that the once-kingdom’s power is being drained by these neighboring nations, either to fight their wars, colonize new lands, or to strengthen their markets at home. The next months will see a tenuous peace as the boys try to follow in their father’s footsteps as ruler of Vandor. Djander will be watching, trying to minimize the meddle while preventing all out war.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged event, history by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Vandor’s Memorial Service
All of Vandor’s seven thousand residents, peasants and knights alike, gathered for the memorial service for King Han Vandor. The service ran three days, the first of which was a fast, the second a feast, and the third the burial. The event took place just outside of Vandor Estate outside of Hanton, the capital of the present-day Vandorn province.
Under the towering castle, the festivities ran the full three days — even though the first day was one of fast, the butchers worked hard slaughtering pigs, and the prep-work was completed for the rich dough used in the gigantic savory pastry known as Vandor Pie. The second day saw many toasts, as all in attendance were asked to say a few words, if even within their local groups. On the third day, the prayers were said, his body was lowered into a site in the family mausoleum at the back end of the Vandor Estate.
Over each of the three days, his ten sons, the future rulers of their own provinces, gave speeches praising their father and honoring his memory. His daughter was nowhere to be seen at the festivities, and various rumors circulated as to her whereabouts, ranging from her being a vagabond living in the streets of the neighboring Phyloctæte to her being dead.
The following are excerpts from the Ballad of Vandor
(as sung by the bard Torsten Danattaway)
this land had never a leader
not of the kind of man before
a man who would drink a liter
then outwit invading hordes
han vandor, han vandor
van-dor, van-dor,
left his life at death’s door
tomorrow will never be more
happier than the days of
van-dor, van-dor
left his life at death’s door
yesterday will never be more
happier than the days of yore
with you, as goes our land
into the hands of squabbling sons
who in your wisdom know must stand
hand in hand brother in brother
van-dor, van-dor…
Torsten is still working on a version of the song for print, a new technology emerging out of the industrious merchant class of the Republic of Esrun to the southwest.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged event, history by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Guacna: ancestor stones
The presence of these idols allows these ancestors to protect and care for their descendents through various magical abilities. As the guacna are sometimes carried into battle as a type of magical standard, they can be useful for offense or defense.
The powers of the different guacna vary depending on the qualities of the ancestor to which they are linked. For example, a guacna made for a mighty hunter in a village might provide the hunters of that village with a +2 profound bonus on survival checks when hunting, or provide the benifits of the endurance feat. If he was a skilled archer, the guacna might provide a +1 profound bonus to attack and damage rolls with bows made in it’s presence. If the ancestor was a skilled healer, it might provide a bonus to heal skill checks, or perhaps automatically stabilize wounded and unconscious members of the tribe in it’s presence.
Crafting a guanca upon the death of an important person follows the standard rules for wondrous magic item creation.
Presented below is an example of a Naahaogo guacna.
Guacna of Baniha Long-horn
Baniha was a warrior of great renown, and over his lifetime defended his village of mountain goat people against the ice kobolds from the east, the humans from the south, and the dwarves from the west. So numerous were his battles against these people that he became very skilled at hunting and killing them. Upon his death a guanca was constructed to honor him, and to let him continue to help his descendants.
Any Naahaogo within 60 feet of Baniha’s guacna is granted his bonuses to damage against his favored enemies. They receive a holy +3 bonus against kobolds, a +2 bonus against humans, and a +1 bonus against dwarves. Additionally, sentinels near his ancestor stone receive a +2 bonus to spot and listen checks.
Posted in Character, Magic Item and tagged wondrous item by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
thugs and muggers
Comprising the lowlife that make the city streets unsafe at night, examples of this type of criminal element can be found in any human city of sufficient size.
Thug or Mugger CR 1/2
human warrior 1
any Evil Size Medium humanoid
Init: +1 Senses: Listen +0, Spot +0
Languages: common
AC: 15 (+4 armor, +1 dex) touch 11, flatfooted 14
HP: 8 (HD 1d8+1+3)
Fort: +3 Ref: +1 Will: +0
MV: 20 ft.
Attack: +2 club (1d6+1) or +2 lt crossbow (1d8)
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +1 Grapple: +2
Abilities Str 13 Dex 11 Con 12 Int 8 Wis 10 Cha 9
Feats: toughness
Skills: intimidate +3
Possessions: hide armor, club, dagger, light crossbow, 5 bolts, small sack.
Posted in Creature by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Wastaru
Wastaru is the name of the western continent on most maps and globes of the world. This continent is analogous to the New World in our mythology.
Geography
The south end of Wastaru is characterized by a long tail of a peninsula, along which lie a string of active volcanoes. Cartographers have often noted the dragon-like shape to the land as they reach the end of the dot connecting the coastlines.
A central spine of geologically young mountains clusters in the center of the continent.
On the north end of the continent is a series of glacial islands. The water is cold, and travel by ship is often fraught with danger.
Bestiary
The creatures of the Wastaru (pronounced wa-STA-ru) differ from those of the Farghoal and other continents of the world. Loxodons replace elephants, tightly organized societies of prehistoric humans and demi-humans thrive, and in the vast subterranean passages, dark elves, deep gnomes, and twisted dwarves worship occult powers thought long dead and unimagined on other continents.
Orcs are replaced with gorks, a cross between gnolls and their pig-faced orc brethren. Gorks worship a dark power that gives them damage resistance, making them more fierce than their ancestors. A might-makes-right societal view means that only the most vicious survive kind enough to procreate. As such, the youngest gorks have an even stronger damage resistance.
Lizard men are represented by Sslahs. They are hunted down by gorks for use as meat, so they tend to stick to the deep swamps where they hatch, living off the small creatures there.
Hunders are more sinister than their normal kobold cousins, needing less sleep and having twice the appetite. They wander the surface at night and burrow into shallow caves or occupy hollow lava flows to escape the sunlight during the day.
In the gulf formed when the peninsula ripped off of the mainland. The water stays about 10 degrees warmer than the water out in the open oceans.
The Emerald Sea can be found off the southeast coast of the continent. The Litlos Islands can be found in the Emerald Sea.
Civilization
The southern peninsula and areas surrounding the Marsh Tides is occupied by three races of humans known as the Shal-shekti, the Kalah, and the Zhazune. These races vie for control of these lowlands.
(These three races will be detailed in a later post)
Other humans and races (seaworthy elves and dwarves) have colonized portions of the continent, though many of these have met with ill fates. There are remote colonies along the northern and eastern seaboards.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged continent, Location, Wastaru by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Press Attack
“En guard!”
This feat allows a combatant to follow a melee opponent who is attempting to retreat. A character with this feat, if they have not taken a map move on their turn, can take a 5 ft. step to follow an opponent that they threaten.
It is not possible to use this feat wearing armor that slows ones movement, or while encumbered.
Requirement:
Dexterity 15, Dodge, Mobility. Cannot be used while the character’s movement is reduced for any reason, or while wearing medium or heavy armor, or while encumbered.
Benefit:
Normally, a character cannot move when it is not their turn. This feat allows a character who did not make a move on their turn to take a swift five foot step in pursuit of someone that they threaten. This feat can only be used once per round.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged feat by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.