Wormskin 5 and Cross-Class Subterfuge out now in PDF!

Missives from the Necrotic Gnome!

Two new releases have crawled out of our dungeons in the last week:

1. Wormskin Issue Five by Gavin Norman, Greg Gorgonmilk, and the usual coterie of rascally collaborators. The latest instalment in the chronicles of Dolmenwood, this issue unveils the sinister cabal of sorcerers who dominate the Wood's arcane energies -- the Drune. Also details 7 hexes around the region called Hag's Addle and describes the titular hag and her lair in depth. The issue is rounded off with four new monsters: boggin, brambling, drune, flammbraggyrd.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/205196/Wormskin-Issue-5

(The print edition of Wormskin 5 is in progress. It should be available in the next week or so.)

2. Cross-Class Subterfuge by Greg Gorgonmilk. A short but eminently usable pamphlet containing guidelines and charts for those whose tastes chafe against the traditional Thief class. These rules describe a means of dissolving the Thief class and redistributing its sneaky abilities to other character types. Now the whole party can know the joys of moving silently and hiding in shadows!

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/205430/CrossClass-Subterfuge

Jungle Megadungeon: More Dead Snake-Cultists

Here's a few more monsters which may be encountered in the surface areas of the jungle megadungeon, where the ruins of a snake-cult temple are located. In the two fungus-infested mummies presented, we begin to see a "twisted biology" theme coming through. The main megadungeon is envisaged to be the lair of a long-dead vivimancer, with experimental life-forms having oozed out into the surrounding jungle, over the centuries since the labs have been abandoned.

Eater-of-Snakes

HD 7+4, AC 6 (bronze breastplate), Att: bronze warhammer (1d8+2) or snake vomit, Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 10, Al LE, XP 900

The corpses of eunuch high priests, bodies swollen to grotesque proportions on a diet consisting solely of whole snakes -- a great honour among the cultists of Thaa. In death, their organs were removed and the body cavity filled with mummified snakes. Interred in robes of gold and silver thread (worth 250gp undamaged) and great, bronze breastplates, they remain in a state of undeath, ready to defend their tombs against intruders.

Snake vomit: three times per encounter, an eater-of-snakes can vomit forth a stream of writhing, snapping-jawed, mummified snakes, targeting characters within 10’ and a 90° cone. Characters in this area suffer damage equal to the eater-of-snakes’ current hit point total, with a save versus breath weapons for half damage.

Mushroom-Head Mummy

HD 3 (suffer double damage from fire, but emit screech), AC 8, Att: 2 × throttling (1d6), Mv 120’ (40’), Ml 11, Al C, XP 65

Mummified snake-cultists whose rest has been disturbed by the incursion of fungal mycelia. Their cloth-wrapped bodies are now riddled with fungus, a great, garish bloom erupting from the top of the head. These corpses are now under the control of the mushrooms, which cause them to rise from the grave, if disturbed by light or sound. The mushrooms seek to attack and kill any creatures they come across, providing more fodder for their mycelia.

Note that mushroom-head mummies are not undead and thus cannot be turned.

Screech: if damaged with fire, the mushrooms inside the mummy let out an ear-splitting screech, causing 1d3 damage to all within 30’ and triggering a check for wandering monsters.

Puffball Mummy

HD 5+2 (suffer double damage from fire), AC 8 (spore cloud when hit), Att: 2 × throttling (1d6), Mv 90’ (30’), Ml 11, Al C, XP 460

Blessed members of the snake-cult who, in death, were ritualistically mummified and placed in tombs among the temple complex. Over centuries, fungal mycelia have crept into their coffers, infecting the corpses. Light or sound will cause them to rise from their graves, bent on attacking those who disturb them. The mummies’ bodies are now little more than grossly swollen husks filled with fungal spores. A dust of spores drifts from the crowns of their heads and their bodies are fit to burst, if damaged.

Note that puffball mummies are not undead and thus cannot be turned.

Spore cloud: when a puffball mummy is damaged, a great cloud of fungal spores are released. All within 10’ of the mummy must save versus poison or breathe in a lungful of spores. This has two effects: 1. 1d6 choking damage for three rounds; 2. the spores take root and grow inside the victim. Unless cured by magic (e.g. cure disease), one thus afflicted swells up, over the course of a month, and then dies, being entirely taken over by the puffball fungus (effectively becoming a puffball mummy).