Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Foes of the Tower Lands: Weapons

Cauldronborn

Gather the dead. Render them down until body mixes with body. Pour and press the mixture into shape; armor and bone help provide structure.

The proper spells render them pliable. They make for an obedient and utterly fearless fighting force, though limited in application by their lack of intellect. They will march tirelessly, day and night. Supply is little concern while they have fresh meat within reach. Putting them onto ships is ill-advised; they cannot sail, and crews transporting them are liable to become food.

Kalis the Afflictor is famous for using them as a backbone of his armies. Beneath the Weeping Cities, the vats of the Unseen Tower churn ceaselessly. After battles, his Charnel Maidens stalk the bloody fields, choosing from among the slain. In lands beyond, his black-shrouded corpse merchants are known by their carts pulled by night steeds. Selling to them is forbidden, but they offer prices to tempt the desperate.

Strength d8 [HD 2], speed 30', AC 2 [as chain], spear or blade, morale 12.

Chimera

No two are alike. Claw, fang, beak, tail, wing, stinger--flesh is as clay to shape with the power of the gods.

Sariel breeds them with loving care, deep in the untouched places of Elys, her favored children. Others are less lucky, their makers not so kind.

Start with: horse-sized quadruped, strength d8 [HD 4], speed 40', unarmored, slam [as mace], morale 7.

Roll 1d4 exploding. Roll 1d20 that many times. Unless otherwise noted, duplicates stack.
1. Small. -1 step strength [-2 HD], +10' speed.
2. Large. +1 step strength [+2 HD].
3. Sharp teeth in 1 mouth. Bite [as sword].
4. Claws on 1 limb [as sword].
5. Thick hide. +1 AC. Doesn't stack.
6. Scales. +2 AC. Doesn't stack.
7. Extra leg. +5' speed.
8. Arm with grasping hand. For each arm after the second, 1 extra melee attack action per round.
9. One less leg. -5' speed.
10. Slithering tail. Can't be knocked off-balance.
11. Prehensile tail.
12. Stinging tail. As dagger, poisoned on 5-in-6 [save vs. poison], dead in 1 round.
13. Gills.
14. Fins. Swim speed twice movement speed.
15. Vestigial wings. Jump up to twice movement speed.
16. Functional wings. -1 step strength, fly speed twice movement speed.
17. Chameleonic. Can turn invisible while motionless.
18. Breath weapon, poison gas. As Cloudkill once per day.
19. Extra head. 1 extra action per round.
20. Intelligent, speaks.

Hekatonkhier


Among the Storm Knights who partake of the gift of Interface, few dare to tread beyond the Path of Vitra, to attempt the most radical departures from the human form. Most cannot bear the burden of existing in a body so reshaped, their minds breaking under the strain. Hungering for more, they prey on their own, tearing their brethren limb from limb for new steel to add to their hulking forms.

Though it drives them mad, they find the strength they seek. They are knights still, and so their brethren prefer to capture them alive, releasing them on the battlefield to find honorable deaths.

Strength d10 [HD 6], speed 40', AC 3 [as plate], large blade [as greatsword], morale 12. Attacks twice per round.

Jade Blight


No one remembers what mad sorcerer first unleashed it.

In shaded caves, damp ruins, and polluted battlefields, green mass spreads, feeding on rot. Those thinking themselves safely out of reach will find themselves pursued, grasping pseudopods reaching for every ounce of organic matter. What it cannot eat, it takes, filling discarded armor to walk with speed it cannot achieve on its own, taking up weapons to cripple its prey beyond fleeing.

They say if it touches you, your only hope is swift amputation.

Strength d4 [HD 1], speed 10', unarmored, touch attack, morale 12. Immune to normal weapons. Creatures touched must amputate or dissolve into more Jade Blight in 1 minute.

Blightwalker: Strength d6 [HD 2], speed 30', AC 1 [as leather], sword or touch attack, morale 12. On destruction, collapse back into Jade Blight.

Juggernaut


Engines of war from some long-forgotten past age, ramming heads formed in the likeness of great beasts atop crushing wheels. The secrets of their making are lost, but those that remain are prized. Led to battle in chains, they are turned toward the enemy and released. Their own caretakers offer prayer before them, throwing prisoners or, when desperate, their own comrades under the wheels to placate the wrathful gods within.

Under layers of iron plating, they are said to bleed.

Strength d10 [HD 6], speed 60', AC 3 [as plate], ram [as giant's weapon], morale 12.

Mimic


No one knows how they are born. They are weak at first. Small, fragile things of little intelligence, taking shape of inanimate objects for camouflage. They hunt opportunistically, snatching small animals that pass near and digesting them slowly.


As they eat, they grow, in size and in intellect. Camouflage among rocks and old pottery is abandoned to hunt in animal shape. Some, the oldest, are lucky enough to devour a human. Only then do they begin to reach their adult stage. When full grown, none can distinguish them from the real thing until they drop the mask.

The powerful will kill to acquire a young one alive, for it is said they can be made into perfectly obedient spies and assassins--provided one has enough truly loyal servants to offer as food.

Infant: Strength d4 [HD 1-1], speed 10', AC 1 [as leather], bite [as dagger], morale 4. Can assume the forms of inanimate objects. Anything that touches them becomes stuck fast and is slowly digested, 1 wound [1d6 damage] per turn.

Young: Strength d6 [HD 1], speed 30', AC 1 [as leather], bite [as dagger], morale 6. Can assume the forms of animals up to human size. Digesting prey leaves them motionless and vulnerable.

Adult: Strength d8 [HD 3], speed 30', AC 1 [as leather], weapon or unarmed strike, morale 7. Can assume any human or raun form. Digesting prey leaves them motionless and vulnerable.

Rust Beast


They have long escaped the cells of whatever laboratory first produced them, and now roam wild. Sages theorize that they were created from skrik stock. Where the bite of their ancestors paralyzed flesh, however, theirs dissolves metal, breaking it down into a form they can consume.

They are little threat to the living unless cornered. Nevertheless, armies live in fear of an infestation turned loose in their camps.

According to legend, those that manage to consume relic blades take on the ancient prowess and bloodlust of their food.

Strength d6 [HD 1], speed 30', AC 1 [as leather], bite [as dagger] or antenna, morale 5. On antenna hit, held and worn metal items dissolve into rust. Magical items resist on 5-in-6.



Singing Stone


Their name comes from the humming that surrounds them when awake, ringing ears and vibrating ribs.

There have been but a handful discovered, every one hoarded jealously by the Lords. One alone, when deployed, can turn the tide of a battle.

Strength d12 [HD 10], fly 60', AC 3 [as plate], starfire [as Fireball], morale 12. Attacks 3 times per round.

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Foes of the Tower Lands: Weapons

Cauldronborn Gather the dead. Render them down until body mixes with body. Pour and press the mixture into shape; armor and bone help provid...