Mundaun's monsters are really cool

I play a lot of random, shitty little indie games you've never heard of. Don't take that first sentence too literally; I actually think of most of them are quite good. I'm fond of small projects made with a lot of heart- anything unique and interesting. One such game I played last year was Mundaun, which I heard about and thought (incorrectly) it was a survival horror game in the same style as Darkwood or Nightmare of Decay, some other small indie survival horrors- but Mundaun is quite a bit different. Not necessarily in a bad way either- and it gave me a decent bit of inspiration. The following article contains spoilers.

Mundaun is set in a very isolated region of the Alps- representing a very genuine and faithful recreation of a very small and isolated culture. The entire game uses pencil-drawn textures, and all of the in-game narration is done in the region's obscure dialect with English subtitles. It's more of a "Folkloric" type of horror, with the monsters and threats of the game being very specific to the game world itself. This is probably the best part of the game; and what inspired the creation of this blogpost.

Now to preface this; I should mention that I am obviously not a member of this culture or community this game is based off of- I think it's extremely idyllic and feels very genuine, but I am not one of them. The reason why I preface it like this is because of a concept that came out to me when playing the game; which is that the monsters and enemies of the game feel like something the people in this region of the world may have actually believed in in some way or another- a mixture of folklore and common-sense sort of stuff. I don't know if this is actually true; but it gave me a deeper appreciation for both the game's monsters and, more importantly, the concept of a "monster" in and of itself. I think the real value of the game to me was the refreshing and greater clarity over the concept of how folklore, something intrinsically based on TTRPG and fantasy-fiction writing, creates the secondary or fictional universe which we immerse ourselves in when we play games. In other words, Mundaun's monsters felt to the player and world of the game the same way werewolves, vampires, and goblins must have felt to the medieval European people that we base our fantasy fiction games on; something present and, while not insurmountable if you know what you're doing, still a danger and a threat.

In Mundaun, there are only really 3-4 monsters you encounter through the game, plus the final boss or encounter. The first are the hay monsters, slow with ranged attacks, but common and high in numbers. The second are the bee-keeper monsters, attacking you with a swarm of bees if you get too close. The third are the soldiers who can shoot you if you enter their illuminated area, the fourth are the snow beasts, who summon avalanches of snow and are more of a puzzle to avoid- considering you can't kill them in any way. Finally is the devil himself, who is more of an end-game boss in a few scripted sequences, which you can only deal with by the magic/holy lantern you get early in the game and whose importance is only revealed after piecing together a puzzle.

Now its important to remember that you don't encounter more then one type of monster at once at any point in the game. Monsters can come in groups but are usually fought solo, and you don't get anything for defeating a monster other then breathing space. It is much better to avoid them. I played this game incorrectly the first time, falsely thinking it was a survival horror game, trying to run over every hay-man with the Muvel truck to try and save up on ammo- but it's not really that kind of game. After taking the game at face value and playing it the way it was intended, these monsters really stuck out at me.

Why? Because of the thematic weaknesses and resources used to defeat them. Each monster can be fought or avoided by the player- but the method you fight each is somewhat specific to each monster. Because of their skills, location in the game world, or just general position of the player-character at the time when you fight them, you'll have different tools. What makes this so good is the realization of what is going on. The monsters are related to the life and folklore of the people who live in the region.

How do you deal with hay? You stick it with a fork or burn it- same as you deal with the hay men.
How do you deal with bees? Blow smoke at them, or put on a bee-suit.
How do you deal with enemy soldiers? Shoot them with your gun.
How do you deal with the Devil? Well- you can't directly. You'll need magic- or a little help from someone upstairs.

The monsters in Mundaun are not video game or RPG enemies to be defeated or surmounted, but a part of life, each with its own understood time and place, method, and level of danger. By the above metrics; it would seem that the snow beast is the strongest monster of all- the iconic monster of the game that can't be hurt by any weapons. Does that means cosmological the snow beast is stronger then the devil? Not really- it's a force of nature. It's the avalanche. You avoid it by staying out of the way. They even illustrate this by putting a gun and ammo at a vantage point above a snow beast and, upon shooting it, it simply gets mad and charges at you since bullets don't do anything. Why would a gun do anything against the dangers of a mountain?

You become immersed in and appreciative towards the culture and people portrayed in the game. By doing so- you understand that these monsters are not made up fantasy creatures as a bundle of stats and abilities but a reflection in part by the culture that made them. This, I think, is helpful in understanding fantasy world creatures and how people deal with or interpret them. We in the modern day are so far removed from this mythology and the cultural context that spawned it that we simply associate the monsters and their counters as being made up- silver counters werewolves because it's silver. Not because silver is a metal with many properties associated with purity, showing if food is spoiled, being used in medicine, and so on- the opposite of the danger and corruption/madness associated with someone becoming a wolf. Once again- even this isn't significant to a modern person- where as a medieval person would attribute a wolf to being a real threat, not some animal that's in constant danger of going extinct.

While it goes beyond the scale of this blogpost- I wanted to briefly mention the potential in using this style of monster and story-telling to enhance and improve TTRPGs and immersion in a fantasy settings. The idea of taking the real world thing, situation, or common fear and applying it to fantasy monsters as though they are projections are exaggerated/empowered versions of those fears and situations- even though no real world culture has to fear giant were-rats in the sewers, a fantasy culture might. And how does a fantasy culture deal with rat men? Well- they'd probably use wizards and fighters with armor and weapons- but what if instead a were-rat could be repelled by a regular sized mouse trap? It can't possibly hurt it, but it scares it and drives it away- the exact same way someone would deal with a regular rat.

[ToM] The Peaks

This place was once a great metropolis. For the Mozz, these peaks were where they build their nests; elevated off the hostile earth and within a short flight of the Great Temple's light overlooking them; this was where the Mozz who were not priests and favored of the gods could live.

These great spires poke up from the ground- sharp and steep. The only sign of the once-city are the deep grooves and notches embedded in the very stone of the spires- places where great nests and buildings were built, perilously suspended from the dusty ground beneath. Any valuable construction materials were scavenged long ago, and the wood rotted to nothing.

This place is haunted. Too many memories to pass on quietly, even from the race that spawned them. Dark energy inhabits this place; the despair and pain of the people of Mozz as they fell from grace- the seediness of the literal undercroft beneath their feet at the height of their glory- such things are not forgotten by places so easily. While the peaks act as good cover and are an elevated location to keep track of things in the valley- simply resting here is perilous.

If you camp the night here, you are assaulted by night terrors. Every character sleeping here gets either bad luck (rolls with disadvantage on their next saving throw) or takes 1 damage to their Wisdom score. Additionally, if you trek away from a fire at night in this location, you will be beset by Boogeymen.

Boogeymen (1 HD, 1d6 Cruel Weapons, Bug-Spit, Made-Of-Cloth, Playful Sadism)
Morale- 8
Numbers- 1d8+3

Boogeymen are creatures of the night- appearing from nightmares and negative emotions. They appear as bipedal beings made of decaying cloth. The boogeymen seem intelligent, but cannot speak, only capable of using some basic metal scraps, wooden spikes, and throwning rocks as weapons. Each Boogeyman is made up of thousands of squirming bugs inside of their bodies which animate them- and their intelligence is determined by the number of bugs inside them. As such, the leader of each Boogeyman group will be the smartest one animated by the most bugs- which to you will simply appear as the biggest and fattest one.

The Boogeymen leak bugs whenever they are hit. Spears and arrows do normal damage. Blunt weapons deal half damage, unless spiked or bladed. Slicing weapons like swords or glaives kill them in one hit, spilling their guts out and causing the swarming mass inside to seek cover under rocks and plants.

If a group of Boogeymen attack and grapple a character, they'll spit bugs onto them in close range. This will cause a small swarm of poisons spiders and centipedes to bite and sting them- causing 1d2 damage to a random stat.

Finally; the Boogeymen are creatures of nightmares and sadistic by nature- but aren't especially lethal. They much prefer tormenting people over actually killing them, which they seem to fail at doing with an almost childlike ineptitude. Whenever the Boogeyman could lethally strike a character, they just target someone else unless they're the only one left.

Thirsty Ghoul

Art by an Anonymous contributor

Thirsty Ghoul
HD: 3 to 5
AC: +3
To-Hit: +3
Attacks: Two Claws (1d6+1), Proboscis (1d4)
Powers: Dark Liquor, Lair

The Thirsty Ghoul is an undead creature. It is very solitary, and unlike most ghouls, has a great deal of intelligence. It is very fond of conversation; mostly with itself. The easiest way to avoid this monster is to listen for chuckles and witty observations coming from rank passages.

Like all ghouls, this creature has an unnatural hunger for dead flesh. But this one has no hunger- only thirst. It ferments the body parts of its victims and cadavers it finds, spitting their blood, marrow, and other fluids into canoptic jars in little corners of the dungeon; marked with little scratches to catalog their vintage. All of them will have a favorite vintage; perhaps the spinal fluid of a dwarf, or the lymph of a young human- it drinks these brews luxuriously with a long black proboscis- capable of punching through skin and muscle to drink blood beneath- though it much prefers room temperature. There is no quicker way to spur the wrath of a thirsty ghoul then busting up one of their "wine cellars".

If you are using a ruleset with "heroic actions" or "lair actions" for higher creatures, then this ghoul probably gets one of those.

In addition; this ghoul's attack do not paralyze. Instead, they inflict Drunkenness. All damage this ghoul deals adds up points of Drunkenness to the character wounded. Easy method; if the number of points equal your Constitution- you start flailing around and acting really drunk, getting disadvantage on anything requiring grace or thought. More granular? Bust out your favorite drunkenness or carousing table. The ghoul prefers to inflict its victims into a state of bumbling confusion, before gently removing their organs and tucking them away under some stone recess in the dungeon so one day, many decades later, they can finally savor its delicious taste; aged as fine as any wine.

20 Generic Enemy Spells

So when writing up my old encounter tables, I always tried to have a few spellcasting enemies. I often write up monsters with the explicit descriptor of spells in their stat lines, the idea being the person running a game using this content (let's face it, everyone here is a GM/DM) will substitute their own stocking rules for it.

But after doing so, I have found that there are very poor rules and guidelines in the games at least that I have read of what exactly random NPC spellcasters should have prepared. Unless it's written directly in the encounter or monster write up as having these spells/spell-like abilities it seems to be a toss up between "the same spells a player-character should have at this level" or just winging it and letting the DM decide what spells they have prepared.

So instead, I have written up a list of 20 generic spells that are applicable to NPC magicians. These include rival magic-users to the party, bandit-wizards, orc spellcasters, witches, wizard ghosts, dark cultists, and so on. Fair warning, these spells are really generic, and are meant to be applicable to NPCs that the parties interact with in the dungeon, so they are almost all combat focused. Mostly because if the 1 HD bandit rolled Floating Disk as his starting spell on the MU starting spell table it's mostly just a waste of an encounter. This list avoids that problem totally by making all the spells immediately useful in the context of how PCs will face them; almost always through combat encounters. You could also learn these spells from these characters, offering a unique vector for character advancement.

For rules; assume each monster Magic-User has a number of prepared spells they can cast equal to their HD. If the monster's description or stat-line describes them as being extra powerful (casting as though they were a higher level) or having lots of magical trinkets and artifacts or carrying a spellbook, add extra spells. If the stat-line has them described as being a poor or primitive spell caster, reduce the number of spells but with a minimum of at least one. If you suspect the monster(s) have been fighting or distracted recently, roll a d100 percentile and let the monster MU keep that percentage of their spells. Also if the PCs have done any shenanigans recently like removing vital sources of food and water or killing a bunch of monsters belonging to a specific monster group, the enemy MUs may also have less spells because of that.

Spells are cast by the enemy magic user by speaking an incantation. Because the spell is spoken; a successful hit on the enemy during casting interrupts their spell. Spells are declared during the opponent's round, but only take effect on the start of the next opponent's round, giving the players a chance to retaliate. Intelligent enemies will position guards or try to cast from a far away position so that you can't stop them. I use team initiative and hold my player's to the same rules.

Also; this list doesn't use spell levels because they're lame and I'm tired of them. However, it is roughly ascending in power. So you could say rolls of 1 to 6 are 1st level spells, rolls of 7 to 12 are 2nd level spells, and rolls of 13 to 20 are 3rd level. You could also make the difficulty of learning these spells by studying whatever the slain enemy magicians drop equal to this rough estimate.

You can also use this as a nested table to balance encounters or better control what sort of monsters would have what spells. For a low level monster magician, such as a kobold, goblin, or imp- roll a d6 for one of their spells. If they are strong enough to have more then 1 HD, then they can have another random spell- they're just going to have something small and basic. Special named NPCs or the leaders of a Witch coven etc. may get one or two better spells. For them, you can roll 1d10+10 for a random spell that is on the more powerful side of this list.

20 Enemy Spells
[1] Rust Spray
Sprays a disgusting red-brown fluid that rusts and corrodes metals. The caster chooses what to try and spray- if it hits a sword, the sword gets -2 to hit, if sprayed on armor, -2 AC. If the caster sprays it in your face; you are blinded for one round and get -4 to hit. You can choose to block this with your shield- wooden shields are unaffected, but metal shields will lose 1 point of AC.

This rust spray does work on magic items, but only gives a penalty of -1 AC or To-Hit instead. With a downtime turn of rest, you can clean, polish, and scrub the rust clean and repair your piece of equipment, which removes the negative and restores the item to full strength.

[2] Elemental Blast
Fires a bolt of elemental energy, dealing 1d6 + HD damage on a hit. This spell uses an arcane/magic to-hit roll, which is a d20 + caster's level or HD vs the target's AC, no saving throw. If the damage roll is a 6, the bolt can inflict a bonus effect.

This spell deals damage of a random element. The element is (roll 1d4) Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid. For generic casters, this damage can be random, but for themed casters like Pyromancers, Ice Witches, etc you can just assign them the most fitting element.

[3] Telekinesis
Telekinesis has three possible modes of use. The caster can use any of the three, but can only use one per casting of this spell. 

Shove the target back a square, or a short distance in theater of the mind. The shove knocks targets prone; requiring a round to stand up. Creatures get a save to avoid being tossed off a ledge/back into spikes and so on. If you get shoved back into somebody else that's the same size or smaller then you, you both fall over. If you get shoved into a wall, take 1d3 improvised damage.

Pull moves the target closer to the caster. Creatures in a backline will be shoved past the person in front of them and now be considered in the front line.

Throw allows the caster to toss a dagger, stone, or other random item as per a thrown attack. The weapon must hit with an unmodified d20 attack roll and deals the damage of the weapon if it hits. This spell cannot be cast on items held or weighed down in some way.

[4] Evil Eye
Stares at a target with evil intent. The target gets -2 against their next saving throw. This spell can also be used on unpaid retainers, lantern-boys, and untrained animals (dogs but not war dogs, etc) and will make one creature flee. Creatures who flee from fights will be very remiss to rejoin the party's exploration even if you actually manage to find them before they're eaten by something.

[5] Darkness
Significantly dims sources of light in the area- torches become as bright as candles, candles becomes as bright as matchsticks. Anyone not holding a torch experiences a negative To-Hit and can't tell what's going on. Creatures who can see in the dark aren't effected and will be more giddy to cast this spell then surface dwellers. Also I know this already a spell everyone has and uses, but I like this version better.

[6] Hex
Target creature takes 1d4 damage to a random stat. The damage is presented as a physical injury or disease as a curse would- like a great big boil appearing on their nose for Charisma or their veins turning black and getting a bit of a cramp for Dexterity, etc. This damage is recovered at a rate of 1 point per season / in between each session.

[7] Shield
Creates an energetic field around a target, making the next three melee attacks against them be made at disadvantage. The caster can place this on any target within sight distance. The caster can also split up the shield evenly among three different targets for one attack with disadvantage against each creature.

[8] Whirlwind
The caster of this spell is surrounded by a whirlwind. The whirlwind picks up dust and swirls around the caster unpredictably; causing all ranged attacks fired through the whirlwind to have disadvantage to hit. This whirlwind can be large and fierce enough to protect multiple individuals; either around the caster in a radius or a number of people = caster level for theater of the mind. This spell lasts until the caster dies or moves from where they are standing.

[9] Howl
The caster gives off an animal howl. It echoes through the air- if the caster is part of a faction, this spell has a 1 in 6 chance to call reinforcements equal to 50% of a regular patrol size, or the rest of the patrol if they were separated beforehand. If no reinforcements exist, this spell instead has a 1 in 6 chance to draw a wandering encounter in, which will roll reaction checks and can be hostile to both the magician's party as well as the player's party. Unlike other spells, this one can be sustained over multiple rounds if nobody strikes the MU to stop it- every round rolls another chance until the spell is ended, the caster is struck, or an encounter is rolled.

[10] Empower
This spell allows the caster to empower one being in their line of sight with supernatural strength. The target gains +1d6 temporary hit points, +1 AC, and +1 To-Hit and Damage as well as increasing in size and bulk. Goblins become as big as short men, orcs become as big as ogres, etc. This spell will end if the caster is killed. Those who have been empowered by this spell will be extremely tired after a battle, requiring a hearty meal or time to recover; and will have negative versions of this spell's effects until they can recover and sleep it off.

Additionally; this spell can be used on 1 Hit Point vermin or tiny creature like a spider, rat, gremlin, etc. and turn it into a 1 HD giant version as a monster with appropriate stats. The caster has no special control over the creature but the creature will generally attack someone if it is thrown at them as its transforming or if they were the pet of the caster's they'll defend them.

[11] Wrack
Magical curse that causes immense pain. Deals 1d6 damage and causes you to drop whatever you are holding. Shields have straps and aren't dropped, lanterns hung from the belt aren't released by your hand and therefore don't drop, etc. Save to resist the spell.

[12] Levitation
The caster flies up into the air and can fly around. This lets them avoid all melee attacks with short weapons; but reaching weapons like spears or whips can still hit if the ceiling is low enough. Ranged attacks can obviously still hit, but the caster gets +2 AC from flying around quickly. The spells ends if they touch the ground again- they can stay airborne (and pelt spells at you from above) for up to 3 rounds before their flight ends.

[13] Invisibility
The caster or one target they choose turns partially invisible. All of their equipment is made invisible as well. You cannot see them or their shadow either. Hitting the creature without some kind of indication in this form is essentially impossible- assume a negative To-Hit modifier of -10 with situational reductions of this penalty due to surrounding clues like footprints, their reflection that still shows up in mirrors and pools of water, their breath in a cold room, etc.

Every time the invisible creature make a successful attack in melee against someone, or any time you successful harm them, assume that 1d10% of their body is covered in blood now- reduce the penalty to hit them by this percentage. Once the creature reaches a total of 75%+ or more they are revealed enough that their location can be accurately guessed, so no penalty is applied. Assume that throwing a bucket of paint on them or marking them with glowing dust will cover 2d30% of their body in a throw.

[14] Destroy
The caster destroys 1d4 pieces of equipment. Swords shatter, armor falls to pieces, vials burst, wooden staves turns to sawdust, etc. Magic equipment is immune to this effect. This spell can also be used on an animated entity like a golem or living armor and deal (1d4)d8 + caster HD damage. If the being is intelligent, they get a saving throw. Genuinely important, well maintained items like heirlooms or things in protective cases might just be damaged by this spell instead.

[15] Toxic Cloud
This spell creates a toxic cloud of a random color. The cloud can be lighter then air (goes up) or heavier then air (goes down) at the behest of the spell caster. The cloud fills in space but is easily blown away by the wind or other wind related spells or blasts.

The toxic cloud deals 2d6 damage for every round you breathe it in. Having a facemask or covering your mouth with a bit of cloth reduces this to 1d6 damage. Characters may be able to hold their breath to run through the cloud quick enough to get out- but only characters with +2 Constitution or better can succeed at this without breathing. This spell produces enough toxic fumes to fill a large room or battlefield trench, and will slowly dissipate over the course of 3 exploration turns. The caster has no special immunity or resistance against this spell.

[16] Magic Chains
Conjures manacles and ankle-weights on a target's body, and magically connects chains from these into the nearest walls or solid objects. The creature can still attack, block, and cast spells normally but cannot move. The only way to free yourself is to be supernaturally strong to pull the chains out of the wall (+3 Strength or better), break the chains with a +2 Magic Weapon or better, or concentrate for a round to will the chains to disappear- giving you a save vs magic to dispel the chains. You cannot attack or take any other actions during your concentration round.

In addition; even after being freed from the chains you are stuck with the manacles and ankle weights. These increases the target's encumbrance by one unit or step, so an unencumbered character becomes lightly encumbered, encumbered characters become heavily encumbered, etc. If you use weight-based encumbrance, then consider 50% of their maximum weight taken up by this spell. They can be broken off with metal working tools over a turn of downtime- however this makes a tremendous noise and has a 1 in 6 chance to attract a wandering encounter.

[17] Summon
This spell conjures forth a creature of equal HD to the caster. The creature is chosen by the caster when the spell is cast, and requires total concentration. The spell takes 3 rounds. The first round begins the casting and opens the portal, the second round draws the monster through the portal, and the third round binds the monster to the caster's will. If the caster is hit...

During the first round- The portal isn't opened and the spell is wasted.
During the second round- The spell fails, but the portal is opened and energies swirl. Roll a spell cataclysm or for a random demon to come through the portal.
During the third round- The monster is summoned but the caster loses control of it- causing it to attack wildly or run away if its a fearful thing.

If the spell is successful, the monster serves the caster's side faithfully and attacks. It has no morale or never flees from combat. The monster naturally breaks apart and disappears after one day.

[18] Magic Volley
Conjures a volley of magical projectiles. This spell takes two rounds to cast- the first to conjure the projectiles, and the second to fire it. If the caster is hit on the second round, after the projectiles have been created, the spell will go haywire and everyone in the area will take 1d4 damage, save for half, as they fly around wildly.

The projectiles hit a large area, similar to a volley of arrows, emitting from the caster. Assume a 90 degree cone. The spell conjures 2d10 + HD of caster projectiles, each dealing one damage. The projectiles are distributed evenly among all targets in the area, including the caster's allies. If you spend an action raising your shield, you block a number of projectiles equal to your shield's AC bonus from hitting you. If you stand behind someone or something, they will take the projectiles that were headed for you. Cover protects you based on the percentage of your body it hides.

The projectiles are usually magical bolts of energy, but can be themed based on the caster- dealing elemental damage instead if it better fits the monster.

[19] Reflect Spell
This spell can be cast as a reaction, but only if the caster has not cast a spell in the last turn. The caster will stretch out their arms and create a silvery screen that bounces magical energies or blasts back at the sender. Spells will return at roughly the same level of power, angle, and intention as the original spell, simply reversed. So a spell in the form of a cone is sucked up and spit back out in the same cone shape, where as a spell that targets an individual will bounce back to the original spellcaster, etc.

The caster of the first spell (the spell that is being reflected) may make a save vs magic to cancel their spell out before its effect bounces back to them- if you succeed on your save, you lose your own spell but you didn't suffer its effects. If you fail, proceed as though your own spell just hit you. If this spell was used to reflect a magic blast instead, then no save is granted and the countering-caster rolls a magical attack roll +2 to see if they hit you with the reflected blast.

[20] Torment
This spell gives the target a feeling of dread. Their mind is filled with torturous images, feelings of hopelessness, and damages their very will to live. The target of this spell loses 50% of their current hit points. Save to resist the spell.

Blatant Fetish Posting- Vore

So let's talk about getting eaten alive by monsters. That's fun- happens less often then you think. There's a lot of random, specific mechanics that could be used for getting swallowed up. I've seen a few games with rules like acid damage per turn, rolls or DC's to escape, and so on.

I've had to have written a bunch of these rulesets by now in my various monster and creature write ups. Here's a unified procedure to make it easy.

Art @FinalRoar (very NSFW)

Getting Swallowed
Usually, characters are swallowed whole on an attack roll of 20 by a bite attack by a creature at least two sizes larger then the character. For instance, a human couldn't swallow a halfling whole, unless if they were some kind of weird mutant thing, but an ogre totally could. To make it a little easier, I'd argue that the bite attack does no normal damage (since it's a swallow, not a bite).

Some very large mouthed creatures, creatures with vacuum-breath, or long sticky tongues like giant frogs have a save-or-be-swallowed attack/ability they use instead. Save or be swallowed. Humanoid monsters should probably have to grapple you first.

Once you're hit with one of these; you don't get to escape. You get swallowed up. Heroic characters could avoid it in special situations; like a mighty warrior could hold the creature's mouth open with their body, a Rogue could maybe grab onto the tongue and avoid falling down into the gullet, etc.

Digestion
Now, realistically speaking, it's pretty unlikely you'd actually be conscious if you get swallowed down the throat of a giant monster- you'd suffocate before you actually got harmed by stomach acid, and digestion is too slow to really act like an "attack" anyway. But this is fantasy, and I handwave this away since a giant monster probably has a lot of air in its body cavity for you to breathe at least for the first few minutes of getting swallowed whole.

Every round after the round of being swallowed, you take 1d6 + HD of the creature. This means a 4 HD giant frog deals 1d6+4 damage per round that you're in its stomach. You get a round of grace period, to represent the acid taking time to start corroding you and to make very high HD monsters less instantly murderous, though it's still pretty dangerous to be in there more then one round!

This is a nice middle ground of the main "punishment" of getting eaten to be separated from normal combat, but also means you don't want to get eaten. Based on certain monsters like Behirs or dragons or whatever I wonder if it'd be better to try and get eaten so you can avoid their more dangerous attacks like fire and lightning breath in standard D&D- this method makes a decent amount of unavoidable damage every round pretty dangerous on its own.

Escape
Once you're in the monster's stomach, there is no easy way out. Rogues may roll to climb out of the monster's throat- otherwise you are trapped.

You may make attacks against the monster from the inside. There is no attack roll- all attacks automatically hit. You cannot use any large weapons inside the monster; you can only use daggers or natural weapons like claws. (I'd say if you're inside a REALLY big monster, then you can use a sword instead, it cool) If you're fortunate enough to have these, you can harm the monster from inside. In these cases, the battle becomes a race against time to slay the monster and cut your companion out of its belly.

On an internal attack roll of 20, you can cut a slit large enough to escape, though it doesn't necessarily kill the monster; just deals the regular damage of the attack. Once this slit is cut, the monster cannot swallow anyone else unless it can regenerate. You can also save this move for a lethal final blow; the person inside cutting themselves out and the monster dies spectacularly.

I have no idea who the fuck drew this.

Monsters - Brad Neely Inspiration

Sometimes inspiration can strike in the strangest places.

 

Going by the above picture; let's build some criteria. We're going to write up these monsters similar to the ones that we already know from the picture. So Goblins and Trolls are our baseline.

• Semi-Intelligent demihumans
• Are living creatures, nothing too inherently "supernatural"
  
• Have social groups, but are probably primitive / barbaric
• Are low to high level threats to adventuring people, but not ultra powerful

Womps (4 HD, +2 to hit, -2 AC, big fists at 1d6+1, slam bonus at +2)
Morale- 10
Number- 2d4

The Womps are a monsterous species of large fisted individuals. They are quite dull, with square heads that collect their sweat in pools on top to cool off when they think too hard. Being quite slow and stupid, they are easy to strike in combat and are not known to wear armor or use weapons. Instead, they use their fists, which are quite physically powerful.

The Womps like to crush and smash things, and deal +2 damage when slamming someone into a wall or ground repeatedly. The preferred Womp battle tactic is to isolate or knock down an opponent, and then gang up on them and slam them with their fists until they are squished flat and quite dead.

 

Twumps (3 HD, +1 to hit, +1 AC, weapons at 1d6, sponge lichen)
Morale- 12
Number- 1d8 in patrol, 3d10 in pool

Twumps are an ugly between child of trolls and goblins. They are roughly human in height, but are not strong and powerful like an orc. Instead, they are slender and lean, and have long sucker mouths fitted well for sucking up scum and lichen from underground pools and chambers where they live.

Higher then in intelligence then most other related creatures; they have a culture, language, and know the secrets of metalworking and fire. Typically, only their leaders are afforded iron armor, in which case bump up their AC to 15 for rough chainmail, but standard warriors go with cloaks and shawls of cave-creature skin. They live in semi-agricultural societies that stay around the most fertile underground chambers, and defend them to the death from intruders. Warriors and scouts outside of these chambers will carry sponge lichen; a useful source of food but also medicine. If a warrior is injured after a fight, the lichen can be put in the wound to suck up the blood and staunch bleeding; healing 1d4 hit points. Each warrior carries enough for about one use, and the party can make use of these for themselves.

 

Sklorgs (5 HD,  +3 to hit, 1d8+3 bite, ravenous, grapple+1)
Morale- 14 (9 once 'fed')
Number- 1d6 (if result is 1- it's a yellow sklorg)

Sklorgs are large headed monsters with gaping mouths filled with many sharp teeth. They are a dull red in color, but a few are yellow. The yellow sklorgs are loners, kicked out of their social groups, and may be more intelligent and reasonable then the others. Sklorgs only care about eating and as such they always attack immediately (reaction roll of 2) unless they are a yellow sklorg, in which case they have the intelligence of an ogre or troll and are mostly food motivated.

Sklorgs have hands, but prefer to only use their mouths to attack and eat. They only use their arms to grab and steady prey before biting- as a demihuman species they have increased strength and count as grappling +1 (as though they had Strength modifier of +1 for grapple contests) if their teeth are broken or mouth is forced shut, they can make a weak punch that deals 1d2 damage instead.

Once a Sklorg has done a total of 15 or more damage, they have bitten off enough flesh that they are considered "fed". They will no longer jump into swords or spears to try and bite off more flesh, but will eat anyone knocked out or held by other members of their group. If all the Sklorgs remaining alive are 'fed', roll a morale check as 9 and for every other morale check beyond that point.

Ghost Generator + New Ghost Rules

So look. D&D has a long history of undead. Undead are classic enemies. They represent a unique challenge and certain class features (like Clerics or Elf Paralysis immunity) are built around them.

Here's the thing- Undead are boring. Not in concept, mind you. But boring in execution.

There are stats for zombies, skeletons, mummies, ghouls, stitched-up corpse golem things, vampires. Zombie dragons and zombie ogres or other monsters could also fill out entire books. Those are some corporeal dead- but you also have stats for ghosts, wraiths, wights, specters, phantoms, phantasms, spirits, and a bunch of other shit. This may sound hyperbolic but I know for a fact there are geists put into the rules as a separate entity to wraiths and ghosts and shit. It's absurd.

So instead, I'm going with something a little different.

How to Fight Ghosts
Ghosts are the spirits of the dead, stuck between this realm and the next. Ghosts are created when a person's death is very traumatic, or when the body and the last rites have not been given to the deceased. Both circumstances are very likely in monster infested dungeons, and as such, ghosts are very common there.

Ghosts are nonphysical beings. Though you can "touch" them and they can touch you, they aren't really physically there. Besides, they're spirits. Normal weapons don't hurt ghosts. You need magical or silver weapons to harm a ghost- or to use magic spells. If a ghost has its HP dropped to zero, it is temporarily banished. You can't kill something that is already dead. It is gone for this adventure.

The ghost will return to its haunt after one season, on the next visit to the dungeon, or if you keep strict time records; a number of weeks equal to its HD. It also makes sense that stronger ghosts come back faster instead of vice versa, so you could make it say 2d6 weeks - HD. If this is equal to zero or a negative number; the ghost can come back in one turn instead. This makes really powerful ghosts terrifying.

Every ghost is tied to something. Usually, this is where it died or where its remains are held. Sometimes it may be an object, which could be the item it was obsessed with before its death or lead to its death. Sometimes treasures can become incredibly cursed by people trying and failing to acquire it over and over- which could add an extra challenge for anyone trying to take it out of the dungeon. This is its haunt. Once you have separated yourself from the haunt, either by leaving the area, closing doors or portals that lead to it, or having washed yourself after touching the item involved with the ghost; the ghost can no longer attack you. Some ghosts are more aggressive then others, and some especially cursed ghosts may mark anyone who they haunt for death; chasing them to the ends of the Earth unless they can finally be banished.

The chance of a ghost manifesting once you disturb or enter its haunt an X in 6 chance, where X is its activity level. Antagonizing ghosts will make them appear immediately.

In my mind, ghosts should be like a spiritual version of a trap or hazard in the dungeon. "Don't stick around too long in the deep well room; a little ghost girl will crawl out and try to kill you." This may make them sound banal, but I disagree. The dungeon has a layer of spiritual or supernatural danger inherent in the stones itself, instead of it being just based on physical traps, magical spells, and the like.

Note: In my game, magic rods are available at character generation. They are 1d6 weapons that roll d20 + Intelligence modifier and shoot out generic beams of magic energy. They count as magic weapons, meaning early game characters are capable of damaging ghosts or other magical beings that are otherwise immune to normal attacks. Without these, ghosts may be impossible for low level characters to fight. You could also patch this over with things like magic sword oils, or force the players to rely more on their exorcism rolls.

Beyond fighting them directly, the main way to work around ghosts is to ward against them. There are several forms of magic that is commonly available and reliable that deal directly with ghosts.

• Magic Charms are small pieces of paper, wood, or bone that has been painted or carved with prayers or protective symbols. If placed over a doorway, window, hole, or other opening; a ghost cannot pass through this opening.
• Incense is a more expensive form of protection. Any place where the smell and smoke of the incense is present; ghosts don't like to manifest. It smells as bad to them as good as it does to you. Very aggressive spirits can only be driven away by the most pleasant of aromas. This essentially locks down a room as long as the incense is continually burnt. If you are a Cleric or Sage traveling around with a censer; you roll 1d10 on Activity Level rolls for ghosts.
  
• Puzzle Boxes are a form of trap for ghosts. If a ghost has lost half of their hit points or more, the next successful exorcism roll can force the ghost into the puzzle box. The ghost will be trapped inside until the puzzle box is solved and opened.
• Ofrenda or more simply "Ghost Bread" is a form of food that is left behind for ghosts. Every culture has a different form; some a bone wrapped in animal fat, another will be candies in the shape of skulls or bones. If left quietly in an area of a haunt, the ghost will be busy consuming the essence of the offering and will not appear for one exploration turn. However, this will also strengthen the ghost. Ghosts who consume the offering will gain +1 HD for the next week or until the next time they are defeated/banished.
  

Certain ghosts may be able to break these rules. Ghosts without noses (the ghosts of lepers or those disfigured/tortured before death) can't smell incense and as such ignore it. Some ghosts may also travel through walls, and as such, a magic charm won't work unless plastered all over a wall like wallpaper.

Notice how all these methods are temporary. Charms put in place to hold back spirits are likely to get taken down by curious monsters or slowly worn away by the elements. Puzzle boxes are a longer term solution, but its only a matter of time before the ghost slips loose. Perhaps the box gains an aura that draws people in to solve it, or perhaps the ghost slowly unwinds the gears and pulls free the nails until they can be freed. The ghosts are also influencing things; I imagine a wall haunted by a ghost will begin to bleed or stain over time, warping and decaying away the magic charms used to hold it back. Supernatural wind picks up and rips away a magic charm just as your party approaches the portal that was sealed to another ghost; but that may feel like the DM changing the rules for drama. If all the rolls were made in advance- then it's just a measure of presentation!

So these are all well and good, but how do you actually exorcise a spirit? I don't know. Why are you asking me? Do I look like an exorcist to you?

Below is a generator to make your own ghosts. Unless otherwise stated, roll once per table.

Ghost Generator
All ghosts begin with;

• 3 HD
• AC of 10
• Can only be hit with magic
• No Morale / Never Flees
  
• Activity level of 2
• Deals 1d6 damage on a hit
• Drains one level on a maximum damage roll
  
• Alignment of Neutral

Cause of Death - 1d12 (Roll 1d10 for spirits found in dungeons)
[1] Starvation (AC +1, Level drain on a damage roll of 5 or 6) Deathly thin.
[2] Drowning (+1 HD, 1 in 6 surprise) Bloated, hair floats. Can hide in murky pools.
[3] Combat (+1 activity level, +1 damage) Wounds visible. Murder makes unquiet dead.
[4] Poison (Save or be poisoned on hit; 1d6 damage per turn) They cough ectoplasm bile.
[5] Burning (+2 to hit) Eyes glow with embers, body is half ash and smoke.
[6] Suicide (-1 activity level, always surprised) Poor lost soul. Found crying or sitting silently.
[7] Decapitation (Throws head as weapon; deals 1d4) Laughs or screams in flight.
[8] Torture (+2 activity level) The more cruel and unjust, the more wrathful the spirit.
[9] Asphyxiation (Deals 1d8 damage on hit, grapples on hit- save modified by wisdom) Visibly wrapped in what strangled them.
[10] Eaten Alive / Acid (+1 HD and AC, has morale of 9 vs specific entity) Ghosts know no fear; except this one disappears if the one who ate it is made known. Form is horribly disfigured.
[11] Matyrdom (-1 activity level, add "Lawful-" to front of alignment, immune to Turning) They must have a good reason that they are still here. May guide the living, or rarely attack sinners.
[12] Old Age (-1 activity level and HD, alignment to Oblivious) Unusual to find in a dungeon. Will confuse party members with people from its life, act out things it died when alive. Weak spirit.

Form - Roll 1d10
[1-4] Ectoplasm (Can pass through walls) The default state of most ghosts. Slightly transparent, colors washed out and pale white skin. They do not have a physical body, but they leave behind a slight residue called Ectoplasm when they are "killed".
[5-6] Vapor (Deals 1 cold damage per round within melee range) These ghosts are made of dark or foggy vapor. They are still not physical, but are deathly cold and sap your strength if you are too close. The first clue you have when they manifest is you can see your breath in the room.
[7-8] Real (Always surprise unless you know they're a ghost) These ghosts appear exactly as they did in life; creating a very convincing astral form. They have a shadow and reflection. However, you can't touch them and will pass right through; but they are more "grounded" then ectoplasmic ghosts. The only hint that these are ghosts are their wounds that killed them.
[9] Formed (+1 damage, can be harmed by nonmagical weapons max of 1 damage) You can't actually see what these ghosts looked like in life; they are invisible but create "bodies" of materials like black water, goo, dust, blood, fire, etc. Because their bodies are slightly physical, nonmagical weapons can harm them, but only deal 1 damage.
[10] Light (Add Good to end of Alignment) This ghost is made of light. They may be blinding, or just softly glowing. Only very good, pure spirits can appear this way. They can still be banished unless they are religious spirits; but act as spirit guides. At the first sign of aggression, they'll just disappear and the dazzling light just disappears from the room along with the soul.

Tragedy - 1d10
Most people who die don't become ghosts unless their deaths were especially traumatic. Instead; spirits who remain are those with unfinished business or died unjustly. Some may seek revenge.
[1] Miserable (+1 HD) The ghost was simply a miserable, unfulfilled person.
[2] Wrathful (+2 to hit) This person died especially angry, or lived a life filled with violence.
[3] Cursed (Knows one 1^st level spell; once per day) Cursed to linger after death with dark magic.
[4] Obsessed (+1 activity level) Died still chasing something.
[5] Guilty (+1 AC, morale of 14) Died with a heavy heart. Possibly on the run.
[6] Lustful (Can possess sleeping people) Desperately wants to eat, drink, fuck- to feel alive again.
[7] Loss (Wail every-other round; 1d4 damage who all who hear it) Still cries out for their loved one.
[8] Forecasted (Instead of level drain; causes affected party member to roll a 1 on their next 20) This Ghost's death was known to it before it died. Might have died in bitterly ironic way.
[9] Diseased (Instead of level drain; infects with a disease) Harried by disease throughout life. May or may not have been actual cause of death.
[10] Abandoned (Causes irritability; party member who first spots this ghost loses -1 to all reaction checks until ritually purified) This ghost was abandoned by friends or betrayed before death.

Ghostly Power - 1d10
[1] Glow (Select a random stat. On hit; drains 1d4 of that stat) Unnatural, life-sapping glow.
[2] Red Eyes (+1 to hit, save vs paralysis or can't move if you make eye contact) Destined for hell.
[3] Bound (+2 AC, slow) Tied up in chains or heavy weights. Outrun by fast walk.
[4] Whispers (Treat HD as +1 for turn undead/exorcism rolls) Stained with spiritual energies.
[5] Knocker (Morale check for hirelings) Makes the sound of footsteps, slams doors.
[6] Darkness (+2 HD, dims light sources, torch=holy symbol) Powerful specter. Fears the light.
[7] Rotten (+1 HD and activity level) This is a punishment from the Gods; appear as your corpse.
[8] Giant (+2 to hit, reach) Ghost does not appear in scale from its life. It appears unnaturally large, either due to a deep routed dysphoria from its life or due to an inflated, undying ego.
[9] Poltergeist (Can launch objects- damage based on what's around) May remain invisible and simply attack with objects nearby; must throw a pinch of salt to reveal them.
[10] Blind (+1 damage, can't see) Maybe blinded before death, or lost sight as a spirit because they saw too far beyond the veil. Flails about. If you hold breath and stand still; can't attack you.

Visage
This is what the ghost appears as. Most of the time after death, the person will appear exactly as they did in life. But sometimes they appear differently. An old man may appear as his idealized younger self, a hunter as the animal they died trying to catch, or bad people appearing more grotesque as a spirit then their real body would suggest- their soul is no longer hidden in that shell.

Roll 1d10 for a normal ghost
Roll 1d10+10 for a weird ghost
Roll 1d20 for a totally random ghost

#	Normal	Unusual
1	Man or Woman	Man/Woman in ceremonial tribal garb
2	Child	Nearly featureless stone-statue
3	Elder	Swarm of rats / bats / snakes
4	Woman in a torn bridal gown	Weird Animal Person
5	Feral, naked wildman	Gigantic Beetle
6	Demihuman	Human-shaped mark on wall/floor
7	Horse or Wolf	Animated furniture; piano with teeth
8	Vague person-shaped slime creature	Localized weather effects
9	Generic faceless wraith w/hood	(Roll Normal) Tiny imp-sized version
10	Generic Bedsheet ghost	(Roll Normal) Levitating upside-down

Ghost's Haunt Table (Optional) - 1d8
The Ghost's haunt should be the place in the dungeon where it tied, or an object closely tied to its death. This table is optional to act as a launching point for ideas.
[1] Monster's lair. It's bones are in a big pile.
[2] Blank or seemingly empty room. Died there long ago. Just appears right behind you.
[3] Pool or well in the dungeon. Either drowned there, or body dumped there.
[4] Dirty mirror. If you look too far into it you'll see it in the reflection. Then it comes after you.
[5] Stairwell. Appears with a head twisted backwards; corpse at the bottom of shaft.
[6] Graffiti scrawled on a wall. It's the last thing they wrote. If you read it out loud, they manifest.
[7] Stone altar, dried with caked blood. If you hold a blade nearby; will confuse you for the evil high priest that sacrificed them to the dark gods and attack you.
[8] Golden ring. +1 Activity level if you're wearing it. Wedding band, or is the family seal of a noble who was murdered for it. Haunts you even after you dispose of the ring; give the money to charity.

Gargriffs + Gargriff Masks

Gargriff (5 HD, +7 AC, two stone talon attacks at 1d8+1, water spout attack at 1d2 knock back on hit, swimming, protection of water lichen, fountainborn and surprises on 4 in 6)

Morale- 12 in fountain, 7 everywhere else

Numbers- 1 or 1d6

The Gargriff is a powerful monster that resides inside of ancient fountains, city plazas, old palace gardens and abandoned aqueducts. They tend to have the bodies of demons, dragons, leviathans, fish-men, crocodiles or gryphons but they always have the faces of lions and wings. They cannot fly, but can 'glide' through water faster then a fish can swim, making them incredibly dangerous in larger arenas. In small fountains, the Gargriff can only make minor use of this ability. If they have access to open water, consider them able to retreat or engage instantly- they dive under the water after each attack and can only be hit with a natural attack roll of 20 (before modifiers) unless you have a method of isolating them. They are not especially intelligent but know how to grab and drown tough targets. The Gargriffs are also made of stone, and are as such incredibly tough and dangerous.

When the Gargriff leaves water, its mouth spurts water in a constant, slow and steady stream. This water is coming from a reserve inside of its body, but it can suck up water through any part of it, which is filtered through the stone and spit back out. For this reason, Gargriff water is known to be especially pure and makes the perfect supply of fresh water in a dry dead city. This spurt can also be turned into an attack; any round the Gargriff may fire its water spurt with incredible intensity which deals 1d2 damage on knocks the foe back on a hit. Usually, they'll use this to splash people into water or off high ledges to maximize effectiveness. Each Gargriff can only use this ability twice until needing to rest with at least some of its body in a pool of water, preferably a fountain.

Gargriffs organize themselves by age. The older Gargriffs are the ones with the most limescale and lichen growing on their bodies; these Gargriffs are considered in charge and get the more 'comfortable' places on the fountain- usually the most damp place to acquire yet more water damage and staining. Additionally, this water lichen acts as a barrier which protects the Gargriff against one ice or fire spell, after which the lichen will be destroyed and protection nullified. There is a 1 in 6 chance for any Gargriff to be an “elder” with this level of buildup.

Finally, the Gargriffs are born of fountains and constructed pools, and that is where they are drawn. Even though they would be more effective in larger lakes or even the ocean, the Gargriffs can't stop themselves from roosting at old crumbling fountains. Because of how well they blend in, sitting in the centers of these fountains and spitting water all around them- they have a 4 in 6 chance to surprise a party who approaches to investigate or to take a rest.

Gargriff Masks

When a Gargriff dies, the face it was making upon its death is frozen onto its face (usually a snarl or a pathetic pained groan). The creature is made of stone, but somehow “solidifies” from animated stone after it is dead- meaning that its body becomes much more brittle and even harder to work with. For this reason, Gargriff Masks can only be made in special situations; usually when a Gargriff is beheaded with a +3 magic sword or its entire body except its head is shattered somehow. It may also be possible to use iron stakes, hammers, and chisels to slowly free the head from the carcass of a dead Gargriff but this will take a full 6 hours of labor to accomplish for a group of average humans.

The Gargriff Mask is a magic item. It is as heavy as it looks and is nearly impossible except very large and strong beings (ogres or humans with +3 Strength modifier or better) to be able to wear in any comfort. The masks cover the entire face and as such you can't wear a helmet while using it, unless one is specially constructed around the Mask. They are a highly prized magic item and even the most careful of adventurers may be tempted to fight a pack of these fearsome monsters just for the chance to get a hold of one of these.

Gargriff Mask - +1 Magic Mask

Stats- Provides +4 AC, Water Breathing, Sink in Water

The Gargriff Mask is incredibly heavy and strong. It counts as an encumbering item, as such wearing this mask counts as though you are wearing the heaviest plate armor or are overburdened with load simply due to its size and weight. The mask is also made of stone; as such it grants +4 AC, but for the purposes of magic item destructive spells or abilities only consider it a +1 magic item, as its magical power is only inherited from the creature postmortem.

Despite the Gargriff' Mask being made of solid stone with no holes, putting this on your head as a mask magically makes you able to see from its eyes, speak through its mouth, and breathe through the stone mask itself. The Gargriff mask never moves or changes expression, but your voice can be clearly heard through the rumbling mouth. It is possible to breathe through the Gargriff mask, but it can be straining since you are breathing air through its porous surface- treat your Constitution modifier as -1 for things like cross country running, sprinting in a chase, or fighting in prolonged battles as long as you have the mask on. You can recover your breath by stopping and lifting the mask one combat round, but doing so will leave you vulnerable for attack.

Due to its materials, anyone wearing this mask will sink in water. This effect is incredibly frightening the first time it happens, but this is where the true power of the mask kicks in. The hard to breath material stone can filter not just air, but also water. As you breathe in underwater, your lungs will be filled with air. This mask allows you to breathe underwater, but you are still subject to the Constitution penalty for strenuous activity. Essentially- you can breathe underwater but its similar to having asthma or a low constitution.

Groups of Gargriff Mask wearers have been known to invade underwater fortresses without warning, or act as scouts and trackers for pirate hunters- scaling the ocean floor or the lake bottom for treasures or enemies to fight beneath the murky waters no Gargriff would ever dare swim.

Stone-Box Temple

In the olden days, mysteries existed in every nook and cranny. One day, a hungry family put their last last loaf of bread in a basket and covered it with a wicker lid and a basket to keep it out of the prying eyes of the many hungry children. The next day, they opened the basket and the loaf was gone. Only a fat rat remained. The basket was closed- how did the rat get inside?

This tale inspired an entire order of monks. The holy men talked at length about the truth of the universe- and how that when any basket is closed, anything could be inside. They knew, of course, that the rat had simply bite a hole in the basket while the family slept- this story is not a literal tale. But the idea had weight. This order of monks began to meditate upon the truth; and that every stone unturned and every basket closed and hidden could hold anything- including the truth. They began to build containers in their order halls- covered pits and stone caskets that they filled with random items, water, or nothing at all. To simply guess and consider what was inside was a path towards enlightenment.

The order grew. Eventually, they built the greatest temple of the ancient world- The Stone-Box Temple. It is built into a burial mound, appearing as a mighty hill from all directions, much like it itself was a great box waiting to be opened. The inside of the Temple embody the orders ideas; stairways that lead down into mysterious darkness, doors which do not open, built flush into walls. The architects of the place had themselves buried alive, so the mysteries would be lost and as mysterious as an unopened box. You know what else is in the Temple? Boxes. Way too many fucking boxes- everywhere. The place is filled with the brim with stone cubes- hollow and with heavy lids. Some rooms are so thickly packed with them you have to walk across the lids. These monks literally believed that any box can contain the Truth- and so every single box is worth the floor space in their temple. They are all holy.

Each box in the temple requires either two men to open, or a prybar and a strong arm (+1 strength man). You can only open a maximum number of boxes each exploration turn equal to the number of boxes your party can open as above times three. So for every two men, or every +1 Strength man with a prybar, you can open three boxes per turn. Each Box is about the size of a treasure chest, Big Boxes are the size of coffins and much heavier- they take twice the effort to open.

Stone-Box Temple Room Generator

Roll once for each category to generate a room in the Stone-Box Temple.

Room Shape & Size – 1d8

[1] Basically a closet. Shelves may be carved into the wall to store a few boxes.

[2] Standard square dungeon room. Boxes are stacked along edges with no entrances.

[3] Staircase. Boxes of various sizes on all the steps. Save or fall if you move here without light.

[4] Longroom- more like a hallway, may bend at a 90 degree angle once. Boxes are shelved or spread along the floor making it hard to walk.

[5] Cubed room- same exact height to width to length. Kind of weird being inside it- like you're inside a big box. Either has a bunch of boxes all around or one big one in the middle.

[6] Temple Room. Large room with a high curved ceiling- probably near the top of the Temple's mound. Has several raised podiums you can pass under with boxes stacked on them.

[7] Tall Room. Several unreachable steps of stone, or huge "shelves" carved into the rock. May make up the central shaft of the temple. These huge shelves contain the boxes.

[8] Sprawl Room. The biggest room. Seems to be carved partially into natural chambers- only found deeper in the temple. Weird organic curves & dips in the floor = more places to put fucking boxes.

Number of Boxes – 1d8

[1] Just 1d3 Boxes.

[2] About 1d6 Boxes.

[3] Modest 3d6 Boxes.

[4] Crowded 4d8 Boxes. If the room is a Cubed Room- change to Big Box.

[5] Either 2d10 Boxes or 1 Big Box

[6] Lottery of Boxes- 1d100 Boxes OR 2 Big Boxes

[7] 4d50 Regular Boxes or 2d6 Big Boxes. This room could be a tomb.

[8] No Boxes- this room was storage. For things other then Boxes. Boxes are the main attraction, obviously, they don't go in store rooms.

Trap – 1d8

[1] About 20% of the boxes have a spike trap; save or take 1d6 damage.

[2] About 50% of the boxes have a 2 HD zombie inside. The zombie will roar and all the other zombies in the boxes will start to shuffle out; 2d6 per round until the number of boxes

[3] All of the boxes have miasmic gas- toxic ancient fumes from decaying food. You can safely open them with a piece of cloth over your face; else you take 1d4 if you're around it when it opens.

[4] One box has corrosive gas in it. Save to run out of the room in time, else take 2d6 damage and lose your armor. People opening the box get no save.

[5] One Box is a pressure plate. If you put anything heavier then a slice of bread on this box (like your hands), it sinks into the floor and the doors close for 1d4 turns. Every wandering encounter you roll in this time all attack you at once when it ends- this trap set off an alarm.

[6] Two Boxes are teleporters. The first box is a teleporter that seems to lead to another room with no exit- but in reality it is the blown up image of the inside of another box. Going in through this box means you are now tiny in the other box; remove curse or Potion of Giant Strength to cure it.

[7] No trap. The Boxes are safe here. The next room you explore is safe too.

[8] The walls are carved with box-symbols all over it, reliefs of squares carved in ancient, dedicated but unrefined hands. These boxes are punch-pillars, shooting out of the walls to give people a square wallop that pass. They can be rearmed simply by pushing them back in. Anyone who tries to rest here leans on the wall (or tries to do that tracing the outer wall thing for a maze) and gets punched.

Stone-Box Monsters

The Stone-Box Temple is a silent, sacred, abandoned place. This means that inevitable it will be filled with dangerous, powerful monsters who stalk the halls. Roll 1d6 for wandering encounters.

[1] Contorted Bones (2-1 HD, +3 to hit, +1 AC, Crooked Claw attack at 1d3, immune to slashing, undead, contortion)

Morale- N/A

Numbers- 1d6 in Box Trap, 2d6+2 Wandering

Contorted bones are the remains of ancient box-temple priests, who bound themselves for long durations or until they died within the stone boxes- not all of them died willingly in the stone cubes. Their bones are twisted and contorted over the many years; they are much shorter then they were in life and their arms hook around your shield or right outside your vision- they move and act erratically, making them difficult to track to defend against, hence they have a high to-hit bonus.

These are skeletons. They are lesser undead, and never rout from combat, but can be turned and are immune to all things undead are immune to. They are also immune to arrows and sharp weapons- swords and spears do a maximum of 1d3 damage to them as improvised weapons. Blunt weapons deal their full damage.

Additionally; these skeletons have an innate urge to hide away in stone boxes. If you escape from a combat with the skeletons nearby open stone boxes, they will close them back up again and hide inside. The box-traps in the dungeon can contain them at a smaller number then the wandering parties. While these skeletons can be within the box-traps, most of those contain well preserved zombie corpses; the skeletons were the corpses who got up and rotted away while wandering the halls.

[2] Ball Men (3 HD, +2 AC, Flail attack 1d6+2, fluid form, quick reconstitution)

Morale- 12

Numbers- 3d6+6

Appearing roughly as humanoids; they come from another dimension with no right angles or corners. Their bodies are made up of many small squishy blob balls, which if separated on taking a hit scatter around the room and turn into tiny smooth orbs of flesh that roll and bounce. The Ball Men are essentially religious extremists from that realm offended by the box temple; this is a jihad to destroy it. They don't really hate your dimension or anything, but this one place has got to go.

If anyone in your party is significantly overweight, get +2 to reaction checks for trying your best to be more like a sphere.

These beings are made of many small orbs and therefore move more like a fluid. They can squeeze through bars and holes big enough to put your hand inside. Their bodies are also made up of tiny balls. If they are hurt, they can gather these balls back up inside themselves to heal up to 1d3 damage they've taken. Inevitably some of the balls get lost under furniture, roll down hills, or get stuck in corners so its not perfect. If a Ball Man dies, all their balls turn gray and turn into glossy marbles permanently.

[3] Mighty Mason (18 Hit Points, +4 AC, +2 to hit, Sledgehammer attack at 1d10, mighty, slow, weak to fire, immune to stun)

Morale- N/A

Numbers- Just one

The Mighty Mason is an artificial creature. They were forced formed into being when the temple mound was being first built, and were created to help with the stone work day and night, as well as to hammer away stone for the creation of the stone boxes that crowd the temple. Then, once the temple was created, they still remained, and became its protectors.

They look roughly humanoid, made of a winding white and blue fabric, with a large red mask made of some unknown metal. The mask looks a bit like an opening flower with no visible facial features. They were masonry tools on their belt that are rusted to uselessness. The only part of their equipment that remains true is their sledgehammer, made of wood with a powerful metal head; the sledgehammer has symbols of longevity and immunity to aging burned within the handle.

Because the Mighty Mason is an artifical creature made with exacting ritual instructions; they are all identical. They all have exactly eighteen (18) hit points. If they are damaged at the start of each round, their fabric furls and they regain all of their lost hit points. Every round when they regain hit points this way, they increase the damage of their attack by +1 as their might grows exponentially. If you disengage from them, they will return to normal strength after one turn. The mighty mason's inexhaustible supply of stamina and strength also means they are immune to being stunned.

Because of their ability to heal themselves, only an adventuring party with at least three standard weapons (d6) rolling perfectly could destroy it. If the maximum potential damage of the party is less then 18, they'll feel the situation is hopeless and be made to run. Thankfully, the Mighty Mason is very slow as it heaves its sledgehammer around, meaning you can escape from it with a brisk walk- there is no contest to escape combat.

Finally; as both an ancient construct of magic and being mostly made of self-repairing fabric, they are weak to fire. All fire spells and attacks deal double damage against the Mighty Mason.

[4] Spear Priestess (4+2 HD, +2 to hit, +2 AC, Spears at 1d8+2, dodge, prybars)

Morale- 12

Numbers- 1d6+2

The Spear Priestess are the protectors of the temple, the role filled by women who were not as “worthy” to contemplate the mystery of what was inside the box. Instead, they were clad in funeral garb and cursed with immortality. Their ability to have children was taken from them, curved inwards, their holy feminine Azoth used to instead extend their life into immortality. They are all insane and mute, their only goals to protect the temple.

The Spear Priestesses have a long spear with one end affixed a head, and the other is flattened for use as a prybar. The entire spear is made of metal and is nigh unbreakable. The prybar end can be slotted into a stone box's lid to open it at a distance, helpful for avoiding most of the dungeon traps. These priestesses will use these spears if they suspect anyone hiding in the boxes or to realign the dungeon traps themselves, if need be.

The Spear Priestesses are also very fast. They were trained for evasion over direct conflict, after all. They can give up their attack for a turn to focus on defense; increase their AC by +4 if they spend their whole round just dodging attacks.

[5] Time Waster (6 HD, -4 to hit, +6 AC, twin blade attack at 2d6, stuns on critical strike, immune to stun, predictable)

Morale- 10

Numbers- Just one

The Time Waster is a being of magic and the many souls of the priests- the meditations and endless recitation of mystery verses led to this being. It was not formed with intelligence, and is created from a mass of psychic energies. It's body is like a ghostly specter, with many bored faces staring out of the protoplasm. It has two long blades created roughly shaped from iron supports deep within the caverns. Despite being coated with rust, they are quite deadly, though inaccurate and dull. These blades are very heavy and will stun the victim of its attack on double 6s rolled for damage if they don't kill.

The Time-Waster is a magical spirit formed from the humdrum. It can go through walls but has a set pattern. For the first turn, it appears with a ghostly moan. Then it attacks, the nearest target, then it attacks a different random target, then it disappears. On the fifth round, it reappears with a moan again- giving you a chance to attack it as it reconstitutes itself. This pattern is never broken by the creature; it is so unshakable set to this set of actions that it cannot even be stunned out of it.

While this creature is a ghost it is not ethereal and its magical plasm of a body can be destroyed with any type of standard weapon. It is more like psychic goop set into a routine.

[6] Filavagran (1+1 HD, +1 to hit, Claw at 1d3, arrow immune, spell resistance)

Morale- 9

Numbers- 1d8 in the day, 2d10 in the night

It has a long gray body with a purple, grumpy looking face. It looks like a walking worm; an incredibly skinny torso with two spindly legs leading up to its head. They barely fit in the tall ceilings of the Stone-Box Temple; they are about 9 feet tall on average. The Filavagran is so thin that hitting them with an arrow is basically impossible- even if you did it would only be a grazing hit. As such, arrows deal no damage to them unless you're using a specialist, broad arrow head.

The Filavagran are inextricably tied to the natural magic of the world. Each one knows what time it is outside; and they are more dormant during the day. At night, they travel in larger groups and stand in odd places, sometimes stretching to strange angles, as though to better act as a receptor to the magical energy of the stars and cosmos- all from inside the temple. Because of this, they seem to be resistant to all magic and spells. Count any spell that hits them as though they automatically make their saving throws. For some spells that means they are immune to them totally, for others it means they will always take half damage.

Stone-Box Treasures

Within the temple, beyond traps, monsters, and boxes any given box could contain a great treasure. Whenever any box is opened, assume a 1 in 50 chance of a minor treasure or 1 in 100 of a greater treasure. Otherwise the box is empty/filled with dust/has a zombie inside or whatever. Roll 1d6 on this list for minor, 1d4+6 for greater, or 1d10 for totally random.

 

Big Boxes have double the chance for treasure, but have a 1 in 4 chance to have a Contorted Bones encounter inside. You could also apply this to any box on a raised place or highlighted somehow.

[1] Sunblot Stone (Minor)

Looks like a smooth, off-red stone. If you hold this stone in both hands and toss it up as hard as you can, it will fly to the sun and appear as a spot on it that astrologers will see for weeks. More practically; it creates shade in your immediate area of 1d3 turns.

[2] Jumping Seed (Minor)

This tiny seed-grain is animated with a little devil inside. If placed inside a sack or granary of grain; the devil-seed will start jumping and make all the other grains jump too. If they can rip the bag or get out a crack they'll spend all night marching down to whoever tossed this grain into the bag. Grain stolen this way is sickly sweet and gives you a stomach ache out of guilt, but you could steal entire sacks of grain with this. If you make a loaf of bread with flour from even one of these seeds it will disappear the first time you take your eyes off it. You find 2d2 grains.

[3] Demiurge Wand (Minor)

Despite its powerful and imposing name, this wand is a very minor piece of magic. When waved, you can conjure a single item that can fit in the palm of your hand from nothing. The item will be made of clay, wood, or stone and cannot have any moving parts. It will be painted with shoddy, runny paint but you can make it whatever color you want. The wand crumbles after one use, but the item is real and permanent as any other piece of matter.

[4] Scrap of Infamy (Minor)

This is a small piece of black cloth; once taken from the most horrible and infamous pirate captain in the world. Anyone who sees this piece of cloth feels a sense of dread. If you take it and rip it up, you can force a morale check in a group of enemies who have 10 morale or less. Also if you wear this around you'll become very famous in the local area very quickly; but everyone will find small reasons to hate you and run you out of town in 1d3 days.

[5] Cascade Emblem (Minor)

This magical medallion was hung within a flowing river of eight years. When you wear it, you feel an incredible sense of momentum driving you forward. At the start of each adventure, add +1 to every roll you make on a d20 until you fail a roll. Then, the cascade emblem's power ends until your next adventure after at least a little downtime.

[6] Box Puzzle

This is a magical puzzle box made of stone. It has a difficulty of Hard (7). Once it is solved, you can trap a ghost inside of 3 HD or less and lock the puzzle box back up; the ghost is freed the next time the puzzle box is opened or if destroyed. It is neither a Minor or Greater treasure, as what is inside the puzzle is anybody's guess.

[7] Crown of the King of Life (Greater)

The Crown of some ancient king, roughly made of unrefined pale gold (electrum), with the tips of the crown smooshed flat and formed into leaves like it was made of clay. The crown grants dominion over a small river valley in the oldest civilization in the world; the animals there bow to its wearer and the plants grow at their command. The region is now barren and dry, its resources almost all taken from endless wars and the aqueducts set up by far newer, yet still crumbled empires.

The crown is worth 8000c from raw materials alone, not counting the magic.

[8] Diamond Gauntlet (Greater)

This single metal gauntlet is made of a brown, ocher colored metal. It is very smooth and finely made, but probably very old. On the center of the back of the hand is a large diamond, slotted into the glove. This counts as a +1 magic glove granting +1 to AC and being immune to most destructive spells and normal corrosion or rusting effects of various monsters. Also, the glove has the power to Evoke Will once per day. By evoking your will, you deal your level in bonus damage added to any spell or attack, which causes you to shine in a glowing white light from the hand.

The diamond within this gauntlet is worth 12,000c for its size and luster. Removing the gauntlet's gem will remove its ability to Evoke Will, but it's still a +1 magic gauntlet without it.

[9] Apparition Blade (Greater)

This blade of blueish green steel is designed as an ancient sword might be; a gladius or kopesh is a more fitting style for an old blade like this. This counts as a +2 magic sword, and deals 1d6+2 damage on a successful hit. Whenever you wave this sword around, you can create false images of your attack to your opponent; this throws off their guard. You can fire these projections at anyone within the range of a pike, who see you attack them from multiple angles at once. Everyone you do this to had -4 AC from all incoming attacks next round as they struggle to fend off illusory assaults.

If grinded up into powder by a water-powered millstone or a very dedicated dwarven blacksmith; this sword can be made into powdered apparition-metal. This is a powerful ingredient for the creation of invisibility potions. You could easily get 20,000c just for the powdered metal.

[10] Flying Hunters (Greater)

These are a trio of clay falcons. The falcons are each painted with a single dab of ink on the back of their tails to differentiate them, but are otherwise identical. If thrown into the air, the three falcons can be used either separately or together. If used together, they will fly in a circle around a specific target of interest to the falconer- usually a person or location that can be seen from the sky with their incredible vision. They will follow along with a moving object or living thing to let you track it from a great distance, but they can't see underwater or through heavy tree canopies.

They can also be used separately. If you use the falcons one at a time or with a whistled command, they can be used as 1+1 HD constructs with d4+1 claw attacks who will harry anyone the user wishes. However, the falcons are made of clay and can be destroyed, which spoils the magic. If one of them is destroyed, they can only be used as dive bombing attackers and can no longer circle around a target to help you see them from the ground.

The falcons are made of clay, and have no value without their magical properties.