Return of Beastfolk: Marine Peoples

Fisherman Engulfed by a Siren Knut Ekvall

not finished published by accident come back later

My beastmen will be all rebranded as beastfolk. My Primary school age gamers told me I was oppressing rat persons and asked if the Rat men were really all men . I've kind of thought this for a while but If 7 year olds think it It's probably time. When your murdering and robbing rat folk you don't want to make them feel bad.

So this was a popular series I always intended to make into a book and never quite finished. Today I'm doing sea beast folk (all really abhuman types in my setting) but first to recap and after sea beast folk will do the possible future ones. I envisaged 12xd12 types arranged by terrain which is broken already or a total of a hundred with revised abhuman class and abilities. Elemental Abhumans would be a add on also driven by players and a bit of Flash Gordon. Most beastfolk have huge barbarian physiques but diminutive re-skinned halfling versions also exist. Sometimes my schemata and making things fit numbers is a bit odd.

Beastmen Stuff So Far
Basic Abhuman Class - dated a bit now to be revised
Common 1 Rabbit 2 Goat 3 Lizard 4 Snake 5 Badger 6 Pig 7 Rat 8 Frog 9 Cave Bat 10 Weasel 11 Dog 12 Cat
Highland 1 Bull 2 Lion 3 Eagle 4 Ape 5 Vulture 6 Ant 7 Mole 8 Beetle 9 Horse 10 Wolf 11 Centipede 12 Crow
Aquatic 1 Fish 2 Eel 3 Gull 4 Lamprey 5 Sealion 6 Shark 7 Crab 8 Turtle 9 Lobster 10 Puffin 11 Otter 12 Squid
Underland 1 Vampire Bat 2 Spider 3 Newt 4 Axolotl 6 Salamander 7 Slug 8 Worm 9 Molerat 10 Termite 11 Armadillo 12 Cricket
Desert 1 Falcon 2 Cobra 3 Gila 4 Hyena 5 Scorpion 6 Fox 7 Scarab 8 Camel 9 Ostrich 10 Cheetah 11 Lynx 12 Jackal
Forest 1 Stag 2 Owl 3 Beaver 4 Bear 5 Grasshopper 6 Hedgehog 7 Boar 8 Hare 9 Squirrel 10 Hawk 11 Toad 12 Leopard

Fixing bats as I did them twice
Not really part of beast folk project but this thing on reptilians

Im doing more marine ones and could do more....

Marine Folk
1 Oyster 2 Anemone 3 Starfish 4 Walrus
5 Urchin 6 Dolphin 7 Octopus 8 Penguin
9 Pelican 10 Stingray 11 Seahorse 12 Manatee

Oyster Folk
Are thick stone like shelled folk with squishy grey flesh and mucous within. While well armoured they peek from a opening in their shell but will seal themselves if threatened. They are kin with an array of sea mollusk folk like clam, muscle and others. Some have bristly hair like cilia that move tiny marine plankton into their mouths. While their bodies and faces are armoured while using their thick muscular limbs the have to extend them from their shells to act as a humanoid. Some have quite colourful flesh but most are green-grey. Shy and peaceful humans have killed them for millennium to eat, for pearls or shells. Oyster folk are wary and suspicious especially of humans. Humans often kill and eat their children unaware they are in fact humanoid and intelligent. They often aided other marine races war against humans as they were easily convinced of the hairless ape menace. They often swell in reef villages living simple lives in coral huts, gathering small crustaceans and seaweed they require as they are larger than their tiny kin and need more substantial food. But they often wallow in rock pools filter feeding if they cant do better. They can be hard to see among marine rocks, many have barnacles and weed or algae growing on them. Occasionally some are able to get along with humans but they are melancholic curmudgeons. They often use shells of fallen kin as sheilds or to make weapons. These are brittle but sharp and might incorporate driftwood hafts. Such weapons also blend with marine matter on coasts.

d12 Oyster Folk Troubles
1 A evil band of elderly retired scurvy sailors have been daily scrounging on the reef and have eaten many oyster children. If not stopped the oysters will raid the fishing villagers to steal their children warns a sea-druid
2 Oyster folk live in a shipwreck that greedy adventurers want to sack, little do they know there are more oysters than they expect, after a defeat and retreat they seek young gullible adventurers as cannon fodder to help them
3 A former fish folk sunken temple has been disturbed in a storm releasing a sea demon forcing oysters to move into a river mouth where human fishermen are horrified by them. If spoken too oysters will help adventurers destroy the demon and loot the temple 
4 A evil wizard has oyster children kidnapped to make pearls which torments them. Oysters want their children back
5 A famous gourmet hires adventurers to catch young oysters for a royal feast. Some rich believe they are aphrodisiacs and demand them. Oysters want revenge 
6 Walrus folk and Oyster folk have been battling on a stretch of coast and fishermen are now avoiding it and going hungry
7 Oyster folk pirates have been attacking ships on rocky coast and have even seized a light house to misuse and wreck ships. Merchants offer a reward to stop them
8 Smugglers had a secret coast cliff base but something has taken it over and they will pay to find out who. Cave full pf contraband the state would love to seize 
9 A gang of wreckers preying on the coast disappeared. All kinds of locals secretly in the gang are missing as are many ship survivors. A reward has been offered for their return and capture
10 Someone is trading weapons for pearls with oyster folk who now have become bold and aggressive when ships pass their coral reef castle
11 Fisherman gathering worms by night on beach for bait seen lights on the reef and heard music
12 A village of pearl divers has disappeared, all of them. Find out why.

Anemone Folk
These brightly coloured fleshy humanoids have thick tentacle hair and live on rocky coastlines and reefs. Some are ethereally beautiful. Their mouth is used to eat and excrete. As they can live on land they no longer depend on stinger cells to catch prey. Some older ones will affix themselves to a reef and develop stingers and become a giant anemone. Some happily co habit with crab folk and some breeds of fish folk. They often domesticate other giant sea creatures like giant hermit crabs as mounts and use to raid coastal dwellers. They trade with many great under sea kingdoms and are famous for their great balls. Many live in great reef coral castles where the dwell and dance serenely. Mostly they avoid humans and thus seem very exotic too them. In ancient times they used their giant anemone gardens and pets to form great defences for the fish folk empire. Occasionally adventurers stumble across some ancient coastal or undersea ruin anemone folk still guard. As most do not move far from their birthplace they are very stubborn to move and might conflict with humans causing pollution or building on reefs. Anenome folk seem to not just be good at domesticating sea life they seem to be able to alter life at some basic cellular level with their alien science. They used to create giant sea monsters under commision to sea skings and fish cults

d12 Anemone Folk Troubles
1 A lighthouse building crew are being attacked by strange beautiful humanoid creatures riding war crabs and they require adventurers to communicate or drive the beings away
2 City garbage scows are being sunk by night and swollen mutilated corpses of their crews are found floating in the water. Nobody knows who or why
3 Sailors have seen strange beautiful women dancing by the reef and want to capture some. Alas some sailors died but others are curious
 4 A wizard runs a marine menagerie to study and has a sad anemone person prisoner. Anemone kin know and want to rescue them, kill the wizard and free all the creatures creating havoc in the harbour
5 Fish folk killed a colony of anemone people and now a gigantic anemone has blocked the harbour. Anemone will move it if the killers are brought to them as prisoners
6 A wizard has been spying on nude anemone folk with a crystal ball and wants adventurer guards to escort him as he tries to contact them
7 A colony of clownfish folk have been killed by human authorities enraging anemone allies who choke the harbour with giant anemones and giant kelp
8 A giant kelp barrier has choked an area of the sea and explorers have tried to cross the sargassum. Ancient wrecked ships have been raised by the giant kelp attracting treasure hunters. Anemone folk have been using the area to create some colossal sea beast
9 A major settlement drained the swamp where their sewerage was absorbed and now the waste goes into the sea. Increasing plagues of giant sea lice, stinging jelly fish and wood eating marine termites have been attacking the docklands and some think intelligent beings are behind the plagues
10 Pirates attacked and enslaved anemone folk and in retaliation a merchant ship has been lifted above the sea by giant kelp. The crew and passengers are trapped aboard and adventurers are sent to free them or negotiate with the anemone folk
11 A foolish noble youth of a sea merchant clan has gone out to the reef to marry a beautiful anemone woman and the family want him back
12 A great sea monster attacked a coastal village and investigators are sent to assess the threat. A cult have paid sea anemone folk to make them a living god to let them take over the coast and sea trade

Starfish Folk
Minions of the ancient marine empire, these creatures are able to breed rapidly and regenerate wounds making them ideal troops and workers. They also eat anything even living coral. Many varieties exist in various colours and textures of skin. Some are smooth some are covered in spiny thorns. Even if killed and dismembered the separate parts may grow into separate starfish and may even share memories. They are not clever and often are pawns of other races especially evil fish folk clans. Fish folk know their minions are often terrible at following orders and require guidance. The various tribes often act as specialist units with varying skills and weapons. As each tribe is so distinctive they stand out on battlefields. Their demon starfish ancestor is a greedy god and some human cults even worship it keeping starfish folk in pits of sacrifice. The god offers healing for servants which attracts some desperate humans. Terrible wars in ancient times featured hordes of starfish invading the land but it was fire and burning their dead that stopped them Most humans don't know this history. Some say starfish came from the stars, banished for their evil deeds by their celestial kin to the depths of the sea

d12 Starfish Folk Troubles
1 Years ago starfish folk marched from the sea and attacked. Locals defeated them and chopped them up and threw them into the sea. Now there are even more attacking!
2 A fish folk warlock has amassed a army of starfish. Working with a local cult they wish to seize a temple now land locked in human lands
3 A pirate crew recruited some starfish in their crew. A few years later the whole crew are starfish and menacing the coast with no restraint killing, robbing and eating humans
4 A cult has been breeding starfish in a secret cave, ready for a night they will murder the local people for the demon starfish cult
5 Something by night is coming ashore and breaking into the dried fish sores and smoke houses in the harbour
6 Fishermen drying their nets all disappeared, only a star shaped sign in the sand remained
7 A strange stone spire erupted from a reef. It seems to have star symbols on it and windows. Locals are curious
8 The local reef fisher folk are dependent on is covered in starfish folk devouring everything. Warriors are needed to kill them when fisher folk can scoop them up
9 Cultists have been seen going to the reef by night and nobody knows what they are up to. The cult wear strange star symbols with a maw in the centre on their purple robes
10 After the last starfish folk cull in the region a lone surviving starfish priest has been raiding the graveyards of the fisher folk by night to reanimate the dead as zombies.out of revenge. Someone must kill the zombies and catch the priest in the act
11 After the last storm a stone ruin on the beach was exposed with strange star symbols. Some beachcombers went inside and did not come out. locals are afraid
12 Locals regularly comb the beach after the storms but this year many searchers vanished. Starfish folk have been laying under the sand to grapple and eat people

Walrus Folk
These doughy folk swell in the frozen north on rocky coasts and islands and iceflows. Feed off fish, penguins and shellfish they also hunt whales, act as pirates and adventure in the pre human ruins of the frozen north. They often battle polar bear, penguin, seal and fish folk for supremacy. They also conflict with humans who dare trespass on their territory. Many males driven from their homes wander into human lands. Some end up slaves or pit fighters, but many become pirates, adventurers or mercenaries. They make the best guides in the frozen lands. They also practise handy crafts such as scrimshaw, weaving, leather work and carpentry they require to survive. Long ago they helped human kind repel the fish folk conquerors and helped fight necromancers who fled into the frozen wastes. Their ships and sleds are infamous and they value imported wood and metal from the south for whale ivory. Some go viking, raiding south lands for goods they crave like grain and beer. Walrus ivory highly offends them and they claim all as theirs to bury in a funeral rite. Some call them tusk folk. They often laugh at weak and skinny peoples of the sunlit lands. They infamously stoic and tough and can swing from jolly drunks to violent berserkers in moments.

d12 Walrus Folk Trouble
1 A walrus crime lord controls drug smuggling in a town and a rival gang want him gone. Adventurers are hired as extra muscle in a hit using a midnight docklands meeting as a ruse
2 A ship of walrus viking berserkers is seen on the horison, locals in panic
3 A diary and map of a pre human ruined city in the north describing great treasure is found, walrus guides are required to find it 
4 Explorers found a block of ice with a thing inside. Returning it to civilization it thaws out a walrus cursed by his berserker axe, if free and cursed axe removed he will be grateful and helpful
5 A villain robbed a walrus burial ground of ivory offending the walrus spirits and the tribe gather to hunt and kill the criminal and any aiding them
6 A hunter has been  selling walrus blubber, skins and ivory actually from murdered walrus folk. Most of the good users are outraged and want hunter punished
7 Walrus folk have guarded a stone age black citadel trapped in the ice for millennia but now they are inviting adventurers and helping them
8 A walrus shaman has found a cursed fur trapper shack in the tundra and says it is human responsibility to cleanse the haunted place of evil
9 A walrus wizard with crystal tusks has cursed local area with freezing blizzard winds and undead walrus warriors
10 Walrus warrior maids are having a beauty contest and will force strangers they find to judge, they are vindictive and lusty
11 A great mound of a walrus warrior king has been disturbed by looters, now a angry walrus wight stalks the night murdering locals
12 Nobody had seen walrus folk for generations till a vindictive shaman planted rune encrusted tusks which grew into a band of walrus berserks who now are on a murder spree

Urchin Folk
These hard chitinous skinned folk are covered in spiny and spikes and their frightful five toothed sphincter like orifices disgust most onlookers. They are omnivorous eating seaweed, vegetable matter ans any dead flesh they can scavenge. They dwell in fortified reef forts and have aggressive defensive mindsets forming phalanx walls if threatened. Every tribe has vastly different colours, spine appearance and personalities. Some with larger blunt spines may have sponges or algae growing on them. Smaller tentacles around their mouths with suckers feed off tiny often water born organisms. The very young lack spines and many do not recognise as urchins.Some develop stinging spines or might have colonies of smaller creatures living in between their spines and might defend their host.
Many served the undersea empire of the fish folk as heavy infantry and helped invade the surface world. Some tribes still raid ashore seeking food when their numbers every few generations grow and their colonies need to expand. They do tend to feud with crab folk who delight in eating them. Otter folk and starfish folk are ancient enemies also. Colonies build coral reef forts but smaller groups and lovers find a crevice or dig a hole to lair inside. Those that use magic favour protective spells. The often herd giant amphibious urchins as pets and for defence. They will trade but humans find them hideous and often fear them

d12 Urchin Folk Trouble
1 Clan of urchin warriors march ashore and terrorise fisher folk and docklands for some reason
2 Horrible humanoids from the deep come from the sea and make strange gestures alarming locals. Someone needs to meet them and determine if they are friend or foe
3 A fish folk wizard with his urchin warriors have taken over a lighthouse and people have heard strange chants from their since
4 Crab men and urchins have been battling over the reef scaring fisher folk. Both species have made crude alien attempts to seek aid from humans who don't like either breed
5 Urchin pirates have been raiding the coast and recently took a small human village and took prisoners as slaves to gather algae and seaweed from rock pools while urchins get drunk
6 A friendly sea otter merchant seeks help capturing hideous urchin folk to take to otter land
7 A wounded sea elf washed ashore tells of how a fish folk warlock with his urchin warriors has been waging war on the under sea peoples of area and the surface will be raided next
8 A cowardly tako octopus fairy seeks adventurers to help her rob a lair of urchin folk of their pearls from their giant oyster garden. She also likes to eat their children
9 Dead urchin folk wash ashore, dozens of them, locals are alarmed at the hideous corpses
10 After a storm where a ship was lost bodies and survivors wash ashore where hungry urchins try to eat dead and wounded unable to move, locals want to help but are afraid
11 A urchin merchant comes ashore seeking humans to help round up his sea goblin slaves who escaped. He offers exotic fish folk gold jewelry to any who help
12 A sea urchin princess has been kidnapped by crab folk who plant to feast on her next full moon. Her page servant seeks helpers to rescue the beautiful princess and the urchin king surely will reward them. The crabs live in a coral reef fortified tower

Dolphin Folk
These folk are often well regarded by humans and some come ashore to work on ships and coastlines. Colours can vary from grey to blue or green oreven pink. River breeds can be quite small and are known as dolphinlings. They tend to live in nomadic clans who hunt together. They are cheeky, playful and can be friendly. Some of the loners that come ashore are dangerous and insane, sexually assaulting and murdering for fun. Some are charlatans playing on how humans think well of them. Some claim they have healing abilities or lead cults of gullible humans. The more useful ones often work as pilots to guide ships through reefs and other marine hazards. Compared to many beast folk dolphins are acceptable and non threatening.Dolphins adapt well to trade and money making and are willing to cheat, hustle and lie to make more. It is hard to tell if their squeaks for joy are just from being happy or laughter at human fools. While they are excellent liars they can be good friends with humans. Many live on islands hunting and fishing. some human fishermen fear the competence of dolphins and some have massacred them out of rivalry. Dolphins remember this and remain wary of humans even friendly ones. Most of all they hate shark and fish folk and they aided humans fighting them long ago.

d12 Dolphin Folk Troubles
1 A dolphin peddler comes to town in a rowboat and is selling unicorn horns, cursed fish folk gold, colourful healing potions and treasure maps, quick to move on as has more suckers customers to visit
2 Dolphins come seeking help as viking fishermen came to their village and murdered half their tribe 
3 A peg-legged dolphin pirate needs help finding his treasure he buried on skeleton island, or was it mermaid island or seahag island? One of those anyway
4 A dolphin is pretending to drop treasure maps in adventurer taverns, actualy lead to lairs of his peoples enemies
5 A dolphin wants revenge on a sailor who ate his dead brothers corpse. The man is now a church leader who tells of how the gods sent him the corpse when he was starving
6 Dolphins have set up a seaside carnival with gambling, side shows, freaks from the sea in cages and athletic diving feats to amaze the crowd
7 A dolphin seeks help as fish folk with shark folk mercenaries have re occupied a ruin on the coast for some evil purpose
8 The fine finny friends are a dolphin brotherhood who offer eternal friendship to any who aid them in destroying a fish cult rampant on the coastline. Many of the cult are respectable civic leaders and dolphins don't want to get blame if things go wrong
9 Dolphins have come demanding sea tax from a local village and threaten to sink any fishing boats launched unless they get 10% of the catch
10 A scarred dolphin warrior wants to die gloriously on one more heist. He knows where a fish folk fortress is hidden on a reef and wants humans to help him sack the place and kill the fishy bastards
11 Dolphins have come to shore to warn of a cult of manta ray folk who worship a sea demon have moved into the area and seek to sacrifice dolphins and humans like the old days
12 A dolphin wizard offers magical sea weed of water breathing if they help him plunder the garden of a sea nymph

Octopus Folk
These humanoids octopus folk are feared by coastal folk and even disliked by tako octopus fairies. They are voracious servants of chaos with octopus heads and tentacle arms, the greater ones have more arms. While tako are civilized and cautious, these brutes are fearless savages who worship sea demons and chaos gods. Long ago they serve fish god cults but they turned on fish folk when their empire collapsed. Octopus folk live in caves on coasts or reefs and raid enemies on land or the sea. Ever hungry and greedy for treasure and slaves they are constantly at war. Some evil powers employ them but must not show weakness of the cunning octopus folk will turn on their masters. Often the ambush ships and sacrifice most of the crew and eat them. The unlucky ones are taken to their caves as servants and playthings. They often fight naked to intimidate their foes and often stop in battle to eat a fallen enemy rather than chase any who flee. Most undersea races fear and mistrust them.

d12 Octopus Folk Troubles
1 A pirate had his crew eaten and his treasure stolen and seeks adventurers to help recover the remains
2 A chaos octopus gladiator has been eating mutants thrown into his fighting pit by humans and has gained new mutations. Using her new abilities she escapes into the markets to kill as many as possible and escape if she can into the sea
3 Octopus warriors have raided a village seizing all the women while the fishermen were at sea. A church offers funds to rescue the women before they are eaten or worse
4 A man covered in sucker wounds washes up on the shore and when revived tells of a off shore cave where octopus folk force human slaves to mine gold from the sea floor using strange apparatus made by fish folk wizards long ago. The man dies of the bends shortly after.
5 A octopus cult have been sacrificing gold and victims to a sea linked sinkhole for generations. Locals want the cult stopped and their false god killed. In the tidal flooded sink hole a kraken and his octopus minions come every full moon for treasure and victims 
6 A octopus wizard keeps sending a water elemental to kidnap victims from a coastal town daily and a huge reward is offered for the fiend
7 A village troubled by octopus folk have caught a innocent tako they caught visiting fishermans wives while washing clothes on the rocks by the sea. The villages plan to cook and eat him but he claims to know where the octopus folk lair is and tells of great treasure hidden there from the old fish folk kingdom
8 A great octopus warrior with obsidian weapons has come ashore and will not let fishermen enter the sea unless they defeat him or give him a dozen human babies to eat
9 Sea elves come ashore seeking humans to fight octopus folk servants of a evil sea hag who wants their handsome prince to marry her
10 Strange chanting from the reef by night has been alarming locals and the tide has been rising higher than ever before. Next full moon high tide approaches and locals dread what will happen next
11 A fisherman killed a selkie who would not be his lover and now the sea king sends octopus folk to punish the humans until the villain is surrendered to him. The culprit knows why the fiends attack but the village has no idea 

12 A evil fish folk sorcerer has been kidnapping humans to turn into octopus folk sevants. Predictably they have began to attack humans when the master is not watching them, drawing attention to his evil schemes against the sea king

Penguin Folk
Oily flightless bird folk often living in frozen sea islands or rocky coasts. The smallest breeds are penguinlings and most think they are harmless and inoffensive other than their fishy smell. The larger breeds are often sailors and explorers joining human crews and working docks for fish. They have colonies world wide and trade exotic seafood their preferred currency. Fish folk hate them with passion for eating their children in their sacred spawning grounds. Some penguin folk seasonally live deeper inland to breed and some came to dwell in ruined prehuman fortresses of alien gods from pre human times. These have become dangerous albino cultists who now guard these ruins from humans. Some penguin magicians have learned the art of making iceberg citadels that wander the world and never melt. Some bring chilling blizzards with them to keep intruders away. 

d12 Penguin Folk Troubles
1 A iceberg penguin citadel ruled by a prehuman sorcerer in service to the evil elemental col demon lords has been attacking coastal shipping and destroying villagers. The kingdom has offered a reward for stopping the frozen juggernaut 
2 A penguin pirate knows the way to the prehuman ruins of Ultima Thule and offers humans join him in his quest for money and forbidden lore that wizards will pay for gladly
3 A penguinling colony has grown and the curious pests now wander the streets, stinking up the place and bringing their odd customs. Locals want someone to drive of the pint sized penguin folk. If bothered they are shocked they are unwelcome and call their larger cousins to aid them
4 A penguin offer maps of far off lands unknown to humans in return for helping her get revenge on shark folk who ate her family 
5 A penguin hero in magical ice armour with snow golem minions demands all fishing rights in area belong to their race not humans. Locals hire adventures and lie to make penguin paladin seem more evil 
6 A demon whale has been eating penguins fishing in their island waters and they seek humans to kill the weird beast
7 A penguin family had children eaten by walrus folk and they want revenge. Calling on a evil relic from the deep they call a tsunami to hit the walrus colony. A sea deity learns of the plan and warn the local humans 
8 Savage penguin chaos pirates have been seen off coast spreading mass panic
9 A penguin long lost from home has become a well liked local, somebody has kidnapped it and locals worried
10 Slavers captured the local penguin colony preventing them, from performing ancient rituals that kept a chaos kraken away from the region, now it is tearing up villages and ships
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Future?
Jungle
1 Monkey 2 Peacock 3 Dragonfly 4 Wasp
5 Mantis 6 Snail 7 Fly 8 Sloth
9 Parrot 10 Anteater 11 Panther 12 Llama

Elemental
1 Fire 2 Air 3 Earth 4 Water
5 Magma 6 Crystal 7 Stone 8 Ice
9 Mud 10 Tree 11 Mushroom 12 Grass

Grasslands
1 Elephant 2 Rhino 3 Giraffe 4 Pa
5 Ardvark 6 Porcupine 7 Chameleon 8 Antelope
9 Onager 10 11 Crocodile 12 Hippo

Straya Mate
1 Kangaroo 2 Koala 3 Playtpus 4 Echidna
5 Possum 6 Thylacene 7 Devil 8 Emu
9 Budgie 10 Wallaby 11 Wombat 12 Goanna

Other???1 Kiwi 2 Panda 3 Racoon 4 Skunk
5 Bee 6 Tiger 7 Elk 8 Cassawarry
9 Moth 10 Butterfly 11 Python 12 Yak

More?1 Bison 2 Gander 3 Duck 4 Turkey
5 Orca 6 Ibis 7 Rattlesnake 8 Hermit crab
9 Horseshoe crab 10 Swordfish 11 Nautilus 12 Manowar

Prehistoric
1 Duiatrima 2 Brontotherium 3 Glyptadon 4 Mammoth
5 Sabretooth 6 Trilobite 7 Amonite 8 Brontasaur
9 Tricerotops 10 Raptor 11 Stegosaurus 12 Tyranasaur

Exilon Game Session 4

So my new Exilon Setting and EMO rules has been pretty good. Players got hang of it quickly and made suitably interesting characters. Simplicity of system with lots of choices was good and players especially proved dangerous with my alignment mechanics.

In two games each had a player character accused of being evil by peers so players actually increased their evil alignment scores and adopted crazier oaths. You could see character grow more likely to be killed by the public or other party members as the developed odious habits. One game in last fight had players turn on each other.

I have a quick level advancement system for short campaigns and a longer campaign one. This worked well too. Still some min maxing possibilities in system but a big improvement over all.

Today several players were earlier and rolled on carousing tables in Snake City.

Barbarian crazy warrior was in a pub raided for traitors and had to bribe a judge 100gp to be let free. While in prison sold some other inmates to a gang and lived pretty well. The goat man warrior cheated at drinking contests and did pretty well. They got hired to kill a mystery beast in Fester village (see my last post for monster with plot generators for the creature i used).

Arrived and were pretty suspicious of villagers. Goat man talked to local goats and heard a cult killing chickens and goats. Locals were found dead in bed and their homes were offered to party. Asked lots of locals and searched for rumours. Goatman hid on roof by night and watched in direction of ruins the beast lived in.

Saw tentacle reach over wall and to chimneys looking for prey. Heroes attacked and some wounded by acid blood. Drove the beast off and saw full 22m long form. Bard and rogue arrived mid fight to help.Creature fled wounded to regenerate. Next day investigated a cult in town used chicken blood to lure the creature to select villagers mostly strangers or goats. Also the priest who left town had left a lot of blood behind and shrine made non holy which was suspicious. Finally invited to dinner by lord Fester who offered them money to kill bandits and kill the creature. Bard used ESP to determine the lords guilt.

A day trek to wilderness they found priests grave and marked it. Then went into mountains where they met bandits who were rebels who fled the ruined fort garrison after commander killed by lord. The priest died 12 weeks ago about time of great storm and monster arrived a few weeks later to occupy ruined castle. Made deal with rebels and arranged to call on them soon and met mountain goats who offered to fight the beast. Bard using clerical magic used augury and speak to dead on the priest to learn what the gods wanted. The land was cursed ank the gods wanted the lord punished for hubris and his evil. Took body to village and told locals and instigated mourning. Spread rumours among crowd about lord while bard implied the priest was murdered due to some unknown conflict while looking at lords manour. Rogue offered gold to bury the priest and the lord and his guard appeared to match the offer and blamed the bandits.

While some drank to mourn the tentacle returned while the rogue slept with a bakers daughter. He defended the girl and cried out while others came and drove away the beast again. Bard questioned the corpse again about the curse and the party prepared to attack the lord. Found the cult and realised they only wanted to sate the beast to spare locals which is how some cults start. The beast it turned out was loaned by sea gods to local gods to punish the land and rouse the mob against the lord. The goat warrior and the rogue the next night got on the roof while the bard rallied an angry mob around the manse house. Rogue sneaked in to find lord preying to Nergal and attacked him with a axe. Surprisingly the lord cast hold person and the goat hearing the noise rushed in to wrestle the lord priest of nergal which made spell casting hard. Meanwhile the mob attacked the ground floor with the rebels led by bard and barbarian. After a tough fight they won and had lord bound.

Drank the town dry and the rogues girlfriends father, a baker announced the marriage.

Bard called in her magistrate friend as the lord was nobility and kin of the king and a legal execution was safest for all. Sentenced to burning for murdering a priest, heresy and witchcraft. The gods were pleased and now the monster could be driven away. As party leveled up they got some new followers and marched to the ruins with three billy goats from the mountains. The party now of 14 entered the great pit under the castle and the beast confronted them. Very hard to hit and regenerate most of the followers were knocked out and only seven made it to the end. The creature went to depart as the gods fortold but the mad evil barbarian who enjoyed sacrilege tried to finish the beast off but the rogue and goat stopped him from killing the beast. It recovered and jumped into the river before death saving party from sacrilege and wrath of the gods.

Besides magical long life fuel beast turds (over 60!) they found remains of a structure in the great chasm from the dawn time. In the pyramid size construction was a control room where 40 evil priest remains with consoles in thrones. Each panel had a evil holy symbol and a grid of crystals. Deep in the machine was a furnace of flawed crystals worth a fortune  but waggon loads. A chamber of manuals written in daemon cult toungue of the outer planes provided instructions and a story to the complex. It was a apocalypse machine that 40 priests could operate if fueled by a million in gems (devalued them as used up) and the souls of several priests per day. It was determined by divination the machine was hard to destroy but devils had sabotaged it. Some hoped the machine if plane shifted could destroy a daemon world instead of Exilon. 

So party retired .

Goat man with his new girlfriend follower joined a free mountain goat folk clan.

Bard married magistrate and built a palace.

Rogue bought out a thieves guild and built palace for new family.

Barbarian went off to cause more trouble.

It's been good to actually use what I write as I write it again. The monster tables from last post worked great will try again. Investigation stuff has been almost like Call of Cthulhu.

The Creature That Ate My Village

So reader Michael Lee asked in a comment (bloggers love them apparently)
This sounds cool Chris! You mentioned a basic template that allows you to generate critters and scenarios involving them. Is this generic chart/generator going to be included in the books? Thank you as always for the great works sir!

Was not quite what I thought but wow!
See what feedback does, it gives me help making more cool shit.

Have a test version of book on Lulu for moment it might change - tried to make cost but after changing one character on front made me not set min price on item. Possibly don't buy yet unless you want to be a collector.

I know some ppl struggle with my unprofessionalism and sloppy mess "products" and I welcome free editing. Ive had 3 proofers so far on this and welcome more. Just email me a PDF with your mark ups and how you want to be credited for your free but appreciated work. I prefer UK English and am making my stuff metric too. Now you can save me from dyslexia you know you want to. My stuff is mostly free but I do it for me not obligation to anyone else and am better at quantity over quantity.

I can do maps or graphics or something in return possibly or a d100 something you can have some rights to use. I have worked in comics and magazines for years and I enjoyed having 12 sub editors and a hundred volunteers go through my stuff so yes that made me a better professional writer for over 5 years years.

Print and PDF Stuff
LuLu paperback (dont buy it but if you do send me a photo) above artwork
PDF you can print at home (do print it and send me a pic)

Stuff you can complain about or praise as i do it
Monster Book In Progress
Expert Truly Sick Book in progress
One of older versions of my stuff
and another one more like first version
i wrote in one of my non mobile year from memory of BX while playing Temple of elemental evil which gave me my taste of 3rd ed which ive never played.

I came here for monsters Dammit!
So I have long held truths about monsters reflected here

1 Monsters are the bitter venom of the gods
2 Monsters are divine beings sometimes their is a price for killing and robbing them
3 Monsters often guard not just treasure but great secrets or benefits
4 Monsters guard the best things kept from man by the gods
5 Monsters might be part of structure of the world and contain left over energy of creation
6 Some monsters are not for mortals to kill and harming them is hubris to divine
7 Some monsters just cannot be killed now come back later
8 Monsters are not always evil or malicious and might even have a use like keeping worse things away
9 Monster might have destiny and breaking it's fate might damage creation or require fixing
10 Consequences of monster killing drive more adventures than the killing of them

Then there is mating with monsters but that's for another day

Well in my current setting Exilon anyway.
I could do other versions for Psychon, Xor and Shadelport.
If format works will do a series on it.

Killing some monsters is a bad idea but at least a mini campaign could come of this.
If character owns some land or a home near effected are will take more personally responsible for later actions. Perhaps a friend or ally or follower might accidently cause the problem. Tragedy often spawns a monster or results from their death. Greek myths and Arthurian curses and gilgamesh are good references.

Flesh of the Beast
1HD per total Levels of Party a good start
Starting AC +1 per party member including followers +1 per 2 over 10
Move Max of 12 minus one per party member including followers min of 3
1in6 can go beserk also but otherwise moral at least 10
Some monsters might not be evil, they might be too dumb or even lawful

d6 Attack Forms
Dice pool closest dice to number of total HD. 8HD = d8 100HD=d100
Feel free to use lots of d6 or d4s or a +number for higher minimum damage

1 single attack equal to total dice pool
8HD = d8 100HD=d100
single ram or bite
2-4 three attacks one attack does half pool, other two divide rest
8HD = d4/d2/d2 100HD=10d4+10/2x d20+5
bite plus two claws or wing buffets or stomps
5 one does half dice pool with rest in as many d6 as possible min of d6
8HD = d4 & 4x1HP 100HD=8d6+4 and 8xd6
bite plus tentacles or creature heads heads or crab claws or spines
6 five attacks each 20% of dice pool min of d3 each
8HD = 5xd3 100HD=d100 5x 5d4
tentacles or multiple heads or crab claws or spines or stomps

Locomotion, possibly transforms to use d3 or choose
1in6 can fly at 12 +1 party member including followers
1in6 can burrow at ground Mov
1in6 can swim at ground speed
1in20 can teleport twice a day (perhaps to lair or healing spring)

Defence take first d6 abilities or choose
1in6 can regenerate roll 1HP/Round roll extra d6 for extra point on 6 and another roll repeat
1in6 can needs +1 to hit roll extra d6 for extra point on 6 and another roll repeat
1in6 immune to d4 1=fire 2=lightning 3=cold 4=poison
1in6 every hit on creature sprays d4 acid unless with blunt unarmed attacks
1in6 every metal weapon hit causes d3 damage to user
1in6 can detect invisible
1in6 anyone who killed by monster save or arises as zombie or skeleton servitor
1in10 can turn into a hill or lake or cloud or natural feature
1in10 damages non magic weapons on contact d4 1=rots or warps wood 2=rusts metal 3=weapons stick in hide if fail STR roll 4=weapon inflicts d4 on holder from heat
1in10 immune to all magic and spells
1in10 any struck by blood in melee save vs charm to love the monster,  it might claw itslef or spit bloos as an attack form
1in10 every injury drawing blood spawns a 1HD creature or warrior ready to defend it's parent 
1in10 vulnerable to be harmed by 1=one base metal 2=one type wood or herb 3=holy or blesses weapons 4=one element not already to resist to, double damage +4 to hit
1in20 resist weapon damage d4 1=edged halved 2=blunt halved 3=missiles ignored 4=unarmed ignored

Offence take first d6 abilities or choose
1in4 Breath Weapon 1 range coneand d6 per HD breath once per turn max 3 times a day damage=1/2HD save for half d6 1=fire 2=lightning arcs 3=cold ray 4=acid spray 5=poison gas 6=steam
1in6 has fold out teeth, toungue or tendril in main mouth can grapple range = HD
1in6 biggest attack or multiple smaller attacks are poison d4 1=d3 per HD if fail save 2=paralasys if fail save 2d4 rounds 3=sleep for an hour 4=lesser mutation if fail save
3=Lesser HD beings under 4HD make morale check every round in HD range
1in6 swallow victim on roll of 20, 1 extra chance per 10HD
1in6 surrounded by huge insect swarm, bugs live in monster
1in6 radiates d6 damage within 1 range of skin d6 1=fire 2=lightning 3=cold 4=acid sweat 5=poison gas 6=steam
1in10 can fire a d6 arrow like barb per round per HD range as long bow
1in10 anyone near it in combat saves vs plague
1in10 anyone striking it save or cursed as spell
1in10 can control weather once a day for an hour
1in10 if killed haunts as a ghost or spectre or invisible stalker
1in20 can call an eclipse for one turn terrifying locals and animals into thinking the world ending
1in20 can once a day call a fireball from heaven with a d6 damage per HD
1in20 intelligent 1in6 of those a spell caster of 1 level per 3HD can split into several classes if needed, needs no symbols or components but sound

d12 Body Parts take d6 creatures or one for heads, arms, legs and tail body 
Heads: roll once for one to three heads or once for main head and again for all lesser heads
roll for attacking arm type limbs and locomotive and tails separate
1 Fish d4 1=shark 2=eel 3=cod 4=pike 5=whale 6=deep sea angler with lure
2 Bird d8 1=owl 2=vulture 3=falcon 4=eagle 5=peacock 6= parrot 7=chicken 8=goose
3 Reptilian 1=Dinosaur 2=lizard 3=snake 4=turtle
4 Humanoid 1=human 2=humanoid 3=demuhuman 4=formarian or mutant
5 Omnivorous mammals 1=rat 2=pig 3=bear 4=bat
6 Hunting mammal 1=lion 2=wolf 3=tiger 4=weasel
7 Herd mammal d6 1=ox 2=pig 3=deer 4=goat 5=elephant 6=rhino
8 Slimey d6 1=green algal 2=transparent 3=blood clot 4=yellow puss 5=plant or fungal 6=shoggoth
9 Cephalopod 1=squid 2=amonite 3=octopus 4=nautilus 5=cuttlefush 6=kraken
10 Arthropod 1=crab 2=insect 3=spider 4=scorpion
11 Amphibian 1=axalotl 2=toad 3=crested newt 4=salamander
12 Mythical creature like d4 1=dragon 2=unicorn 3=demon 4=salamander or elemental

Story of the Beast
d12 Why Does The Village Have a monster problem 
1 Someone killed the monsters mate or children out of greed or cruelty
2 Wilderness fouled d4 1=water ruined 2= trees murdered 3=overgrazing 4=hunting  
3 Sinners offended a god and ignored warnings
4 Someone committed a great sin and offended all the gods
5 Something sacred was robbed, killed or destroyed
6 Terrible leader has attracted monster with malign influence
7 Someone offended a powerful magician
8 A hidden non human race was wronged by someone or communities 
9 Someone had something bad happen here and cursed everyone
10 A vile cult with dark practices unleashed the monster
11 Some idiot found a baby monster then dumped it when it got too hard
12 Someone had baby with a monster and now it is unhappy

d12 Locals Response
1 Offer reward and send heroes to deaths
2 Ignorant about monsters cause and keep angering it
3 Sacrifice victims to it to placate it
4 Sacrifice treasure to it to placate it
5 Sacrifice food to it to placate it
6 Appeal to nobles or king to fix
7 Prey to gods for forgiveness, try to find out why
8 Summon expert sages and prophets to find why monster here
9 Try to make a trap for the monster with bait
10 Offer terrible villain job of eradicating it in return for servitude
11 Put up with monster until gods give them a sign of penance
12  Sent a dream of prophecy to end the monsters wrath (possibly include adventurers or a task for them)

d12 What is the monsters curse that must be overcome?
1 The monster returns from dead if a great curse not removed or a wish spent
2 If monster killed, one of its creature kin things seeks revenge
3 If monster killed, it's patron god furious and wants revenge
4 If monster killed, gods furious and send a greater beast to punish the land
5 Killing the monster spawns a new species from the corpse who scuttle away and hide
6 Monster corpse sours the land and mutants born in area forever after
7 Killing the monster spawns a great disaster like a earth quake, flood or magical explosion
8 Killing the monster poisons the land bringing years of famine and sour land
9 When monster killed ground drops into crack, is swallowed up forming a canyon or lake or mountain on the surface and a titanic cavern beneath the earth
10 When monster killed area grows rampant with d4 1=vegetation 2=fungus 3=crystals 4=glacier
11 Monster when killed sinks into the earth and becomes a dungeon full of monsters
12 Monster melts turning region into a chaotic swamp that spawns horrible creatures and attracts evil cults and wizards

d12 What Secrets does the monster keep hidden from humanity
1  Books of long forgotten magic d4 1=lost spells 2=map of great relic 3=instructions for a artifact 4=secret of god or royalty
2 Books of forbidden lore d4 1=true name of planar being 2=necromancer book 3=elementalist book 4=evil cult book
3 Lost holy text d4 1=life of saint 2=lost holy text 3=true name of divine servant 4=location to reach mythic world
4 Legendary Item 1=magic engine of destruction 2=egg of a apocalypse kaiju 3=relic of a saint 4=artifact from pre human age thought lost forever
5 A great vent deep into the earth leading to a long hidden kingdom
6 A gate to another world or plane, without a guard only a few seals keep closed 1=world over run by demons 2=giantland 3=underworld 4=hell 5=faerieland 6=goblinworld
7 A great nest of eggs or cocoons or frozen warriors for some future event
8 Monsters organs can grant miraculous powers and strange a mutagen taint
9 A cursed relic awaiting a mortal to release 1=plague of critters 2=vile disease 3=vapours that turn locals evil 4=creates or summons monster
10 A great egg or sleeping being even more menacing than the monster awaits the apocalypse
11 Release a horde of monsters long banished from this world d6 1=giants 2=mutant dinosaurs 3=demons 4=faerie 5=formations 6=trolls 7=snakemen 8=undead 
12 Awaken souls of spirit folk who reanimate trees, rocks, water bodies

d12 Monsters Lair
1 Volcanic vent
2 Stinking sulpher cave
3 Well, lake, island or body of water
4 Crater of something that fell from the sky
5 Sinkhole connected to the ancient depths
6 Ruined castle of fortress or town
7 Ruined temple or tomb or graveyard
8 Ruined quarry or mine or non human underground ruins
9 Partially flooded cave behind waterfall
10 Frozen ice cave
11 Ancient cave filled with prehistoric art 
12 Crystal cave

d12 Monster Lair is also
1 Ferry stop on river to the underworld
2 Magic fountain
3 Location of famous horde of treasure
4 Sealed tomb of some great hero or villain
5 Entrance to the great underland cave trade routes or waterway
6 Home of a grateful spirit imprisoned and abused by the monster
7 A graveyard of ancient possibly cursed dead
8 Prison of of some trouble maker from long ago of great power
9 Node of elemental power populated by elemental's d4 1=fire 2=earth 3=air 4=water
10 Holds a magic mirror or artwork is a gate to another world or time
11 Grave of some great being from mythology perhaps who might arise again
12 Volcanic vent that leads to hell

d12 Inside the Monster
1 Sleeping mythical heroes from long ago
2 Community of survivors inside body
3 Horrible parasites live inside corpse like giant leeches or maggots
4 Vermin live on skin like giant rats, fleas or mites
5 Horrible shoggoths burst from huge boils and tumors
6 Swarm of insects and vermin darken the sky
7 Horrible odour and vile smoke, all in hex save or lose a CON point
8 Horde of treasure in stomach
9 Glowing magic organ that granted power fit for god
10 Everyone eaten by monster is whole and returned and naked
11 Intact waggon, chariot, small bridge, well, cottage or other object somehow intact
12 Broken fragment of weapon from aeons ago that could be repaired 

d12 The Monsters Nemesis
1 Antipathy and anger to one kind or d4 1=animal 2=colour 3=a holy symbol 4=flag
2 Fear d4 1=other monster 2=deity 3=small animal 4=wizards
3 Spell vulnerability 1=Invisibility 2=Illusions 3=Ventriloquism 4=Fear
4 Dislikes sunlight
5 Requires waggon loads of food stripping area bare
6 Monster has a baby or egg it cares for 
7 Monster paranoid about thieves and spies
8 Monster knows how dangerous humans are and is wary of them
9 Monster vulnerable to holy water or unholy water, halves AC
10 Monster hates particular herb and wont bite it or eat it 
11 Monster has a weakness for a treat found only among rich and civilized
12 Monster eats treasure of one type it needs and will raid for d4 1=pearls 2=gold 3=silver 4=semiprecious stones 5=precious stones 6=weapon and armour grade steel and iron

Sample Beast
OK here goes
Party of 6 3rd Lv adventurers + 4 1st Level henchmen = 22 HD total

Orkara
The thing from the sea
Plesiosaur Head, sea blue
Goblin arms with ugly fingernails, green grey
Snake for legs/lower body
Octopus body all squishy changes colour and shape
Leonine tail and butt

22 HD
AC+10
Mov 3 ground or swim
Attack bite d10+1 Clawx2 d6 or Lamprey tongue 2d4 bite then sucks a d4 blood per round

Defence
Regenerate 2HP/Round
Every hit on creature sprays d4 acid unless with blunt unarmed attacks
Immune to spells and magic

Offence
Anyone near it in combat saves vs plague once a day
Lamprey 22 range it drains villagers in sleep through chimneys

Local Links
Terrible leader has attracted monster with malign influence
Monsters organs can grant miraculous powers and strange a mutagen taint
When monster killed ground drops into crack, is swallowed up forming a canyon or lake or mountain on the surface and a titanic cavern beneath the earth
Lair has a grateful spirit imprisoned and abused by the monster
Ruined castle lair
Intact ship somehow intact inside monster
Sacrifice victims it to placate it
Hates daylight prefers deep sea or caves or night or it's ruined castle lair

Orkara is a titanic 22 meter long beast that once menaced the sea lifting whole fishing boats and swallowing like a snake which gives its torso a boat shape. One third of it's body is neck while the tail is only a meter long and hangs flat on flanks mostly and does not count on length. At night it  sends a lamprey tendril into peoples homes and kills several unless it get sacrifices. It is not very bright and thinks it is a god who deserves worship. It approves of the cairn of stones with a sacrificial post with chains on it neat it's castle home.

Characters might get asked to solve mystery and locals wont talk. The cult elders will draw the creature to a strangers inn room by throwing the chicken down the chimney. At first players may not think the lamprey tongue thing locals fear belongs to a brontosauraus size beast hiding in the trees or some water.

The lair is a ruined castle it occupied when the current lord killed dozens of peasants for not paying tax and tortured their families until the tax was paid. The fortress is scarred and pitted by acid and dead adventurers. Heroic captain of the castle is a phantom who cannot rest until the creature is dead. He may manifest and help or advise others. He will warn that if the monster is killed before the bad nobleman the kingdom will be sundered by the monsters death. Villagers have been burning monster dung as fuel that has rainbow coloured flames and sparks but burns for a week. Those in house for a week save or get a petty biological mutation. A monster poop sells for 15gp and one can make 6 torches that burn for 24 hours worth 6gp each. Monsters stomach can be removed and kept alive to still makes poop daily if fed a human or medeum size animal daily. Alchemists are interested in the body and mutant cultists seek to brew it's flesh into fermented meat based mutagenic potions.

Orkara was living beneath the sea for an aeon but offended the western ocean octopus emperor and kidnapped his daughter. As punishment he was made more hideous and banished to human lands by the octopus gods. As a favour to some human gods who wanted to punish the wicked ruler Orkara was loaned out like a mere vassal. While he is on loan the gods don't want to owe the sea gods and will punish the land if he is killed at the wrong time (before the noble). His job is to help people rise up to fight evil nobility and the monster. It could result in a new order, a religious state or give adventurers the chance to take over a region.

The wicked leader acts with kings approval and they are kin. He is a traitor supporting robber knights and bandits and has a secret police force replacing the criminal guilds.  A few rebels believe the beast and the noble are related. Priests who speak against the lord have their gods banished or get accused of being heretical. Evidence in nobles fortress would ruin him. Some omens will warn adventurers not to kill the monster or let anyone kill it. Various gods will warn locals. Perhaps evil minions of the lord or a army might attack the beast and need stopping. Greedy adventurers might crave the beasts treasure too.

I would hide the beasts true form for as long as possible and have them freak out. Perhaps they can return in a few more levels time when the omens are better.

So as a test of monster generator with story generating potential Im happy. Seriously half the game monsters could be like this. Id be happy with this and dungeon crawls with city shenanigans in between. Orkara might last 3-4 levels of adventure.

EMO Monster book?

So some readers have asked me to do more on this topic.

Had some nice feedback on my emo rule book and some good things about how that came to be. Basically had a big hit of free time lone and new laptop and doing lots of design and writing a book, 3 dungeon zines and almost finishing a book that feels like a millstone. The book was my EMO house rules for my players use. Dungeon zines on my patreon now.

Digest size is good to work with for idea-bytes and to design. Writing out spells as I did I was happy with also. Some of the topics i did can be expanded on later. Designing it and re-posting online often was good for some in progress feedback. Not intending it to be profitable was nice too. 36-43 pages is nice to do and I can print up some zines for play easily. It was good to have players using them and seeing them.

So a second book will expand some stuff like 12 character classes, druid spells 0-3rd, and some other stuff. Monk, Sorcerer, Bard, Druid classes for humans, dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling demihumans, then giants, tako, abhumans or spirit folk. I have a rough book started and still playing with it. A book with all spells plus nature and mind spells up to 7 or 9th level. A skill book would be nice too with more detail. But interest in a monster book has been main response as if I could do something new or interesting. A space book will have mutants, robots (golems), mystics (psions) and outsiders.

I have done lots of monsters in the past and variants of monsters. Recently i made a nice format that could generate variant monsters and example scenarios of the monster. That would be my ideal format for every monster but this work brevity is part of the point. So the current monster book is doing spreads detailing monster types from several eds of game but not put together in a single work. I like some BX monsters and 1st ed versions. Monster groups in first book will be most common especially animals humanoids, humans, demihumans, beetles, lizards, canines, felines, plants, slimes, undead, bears, rats and others. A later monster book will be more hybrid mythical monsters like griffons, dragons, heraldic beasts, with spreads on ogres and giants (trolls get a whole spread). A later still book would be supernatural and planar beings. Animal types go in groups obviously. Later books would have more detail as monsters more complex and have more powers. I guess demons, elementals and devils could be made my own. Heck deities and Demigods was basically a monster manual and a god book extending from that would work. I want spirits and trolls to be more interesting beings and part of my setting. Dinosaurs and Pleistocene mammals book? I like making dinosaurs some kind of primitive dragons of domestic beasts of serpentmen.

A good thing about doing these digests I can easily compile new books like spells from several separate works. They are easy to do one spread at a time, comparable to the effort of a blog. Anyway that's my current projects. I will try and have book and my dungeon zines printed for use on sundays game and the following sunday. Several players taking bards made me develop them faster than planned. I just added some extra songs and will add more.

EMO Book Here
Draft of Expert Book

Dungeon above book one of three new ones. Still a few errors i'm finding but updating as I go. Desert Ruin, Gnome hall and Wizard cave are all recyclable dungeons populated with random tables and describe factions and changes to the dungeon over time. Previews on my patreon as always and Im having a catch up on last few months.

Bards

Had to do this one as lots of bards in current game

Bard
Prime Requisite: Charm; high score grants additional spells
d6HD/2/(Average4)
Arms 2/3 Arts 6/1 Languages 2d4/1
Leather Armour
Short Sword, Dagger, Knife, Light Crossbow, Self Bow, Javelin, Hand Axe, Club, Staff, Darts
-3 unskilled weapons +1 to hit every 4 levels
Prerequisite Charm Bonus provides extra spells

Spell Casting
Spell casting can choose as per one type like a

• As wizard from a literate arcane scholar tradition using arcane magic
• As priest from a temple performer tradition using divine magic
• As sorcerer from a cult or bloodline of some entity granting arcane magic
• As druid from a cult or priesthood of nature deities and spirits

Bardic Songs
Song Duration round per level
Songs Per Day one per level 
Level 1-5 +1 Level 6-11 +2 Level +3 12-17 +4 18+ +5
I per Lv +Charm bonus radius effect command radius
Get a new song every third level
Range 1 per level radius

Bless Song + hit roll Standard beginning song
Courage Song + morale or fear saves
Work Song + skill roll
Save Song + saving throws
Endurance Song + hours per level extra march oar rowing or work
(Attribute) Song +adds to attribute once per day only, each separate song/Stat
Hero Song + to HP
Marching Song + to move rate
Guardian Song + to AC
Magic Song + to spell Lv once per person per day
Healing Song + to HP recovered at end of song once per person per day
Counter Song blocks other magical song effects such as monsters or other bards
Fascinate 1HD/Lv of living creatures with performance if they fail save

Wandering Minstrel Subclass
Arms Dagger, Short Sword
Arts - Gossip, Etiquette, Diplomacy, Streetwise, Music Lore, Carousing
+1 Fast draw Short Sword +2 Bluff +3 
Typical independent scholar bards
0 Level Wizard Magic, Candle, Whisper, read magic, detect magic
1st Level Spell: Charm Person
(+1 Comprehend Languages +2 Identify)
(+3 2nd Lv Spell: Magic Mouth)

Equipment: all weapons skilled with 20 shots of ammo if any, tool kits for skills, leather armour, hooded cloak, common robe, performing costume, instrument, scribe set, journal, wine skin, sacks, d6 days food, flints, hat, lantern, lamp oil 3d6x5gp

Playtest session

So had a good session of my new setting and house rules. Players had used the book and happy to go about doing weird stuff and enjoyed the followers stuff and oaths. Fixed some old zines and made new dungeon zine for todays game full version on patreon now). Quite happy to just toll if a room had a inhabitant 1-3 on d6. Then use random monsters and treasure. As party too three treks to finish I got to re roll contents from before.

3 players today same as previous game
John the barbarian managed to scare away his hireling
the temple bard with eunuch groom and two donkeys and a thief (later)
the arcane bard with loyal dog, two men at arms and a healer

Most of session in dungeon above killing fishmen, smashing their tablets of lore and chasing cultists. At one stage chased pilgrims into a zombie room. Teamed up with serpent man they spared who advised them of fishmen mission to recover their relic. Characters ended up cleaning out dungeon 3 times before the got relic and fled, After went to barrow hills looking for a serpent man wizard with a bounty and killed his men.

Making a few economic changes had biggest waves and issues so my economy will be askew for a while. My decades of DMing autopilot couldn't handle it. On other hand ppl were very into value of board food and stuff and making ostentatious spending. Bards threw money back to community and socialized in the city. One released her poems of 1st to 3rd level adventure and it was very successful and popular but everyone thought it was a comedy. Studied for a spell recovered from fish man documents. Sold two donkey loads of fishman lore but checked to not sell fishman demonology or bad stuff that got smashed. The other bard hung out in the temple and socialized among new peers with their "students".  The barbarian went into the forest and joined in a local hunter cult festival which involved self torment and serious thoughts.

The dungeon of random inhabitants was good for a session of exploration and re usable. Where the floor had collapsed opened more water access points some encounters could include more water creatures who could pop up close. One of the better moments was when fighter who happened to be a swimming expert was first and walked over one of the weakened floors for the first time and fell through. And failed to grab on and others failed to grab him. Current carried him about a 180 feet through rock and dumped him in the first pool room with some cuts and bruises. Ultimately it was his swim skill that saved him. Next he learned technique to hold his breath longer.

Setting aesthetically simpler and easy to get for players. Ancients meet barbarians killing wizards and cults plus dungeons. The setting design has lots of factions and conflicts. And fear of the cultists you murder in the mountains have friends who target you for stalking. Cults and wizards and professional looters practice archaeology of awful monster filled ruins seeking lore, relics and money. Ruined areas are huge sprawling cities, often with a tell mound in centre of a long lost city or civilization. So the tell near Adderfang would be known as Tell Adderfang. There are thousands of them, many are evil ruins from a age of necromancers rule and longer age of seven monster kings before that. Monsters, bandits, cults, collectors and outcasts live in such places.

When they went up to 3rd level some zero level followers took up character classes as zero level. So party ended up with 4 bards two fighters. Should get 2 more games before heading home.

The bottom pic is the in game map i drew as they explored, sometimes i fail my copy map skills. Which is hilarious and possible without a survey team measuring everything that sounds very slow.

EMO Book

Left a page blank for now but this work makes many older ones of mine obsolete and many many blog posts. Was good to update every 4 hours and have feedback on fly. Hope to use on sunday but print shops all booked up for 2 days post holidays. Also learned my top 10 words i consistently dyslexic spell wrong. Probably most spare time ive had in 6 years since i last wrote my first version of my homebrew rules.This is more like the 4th version.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WZ3Pm282TnSB17eDIILvCeQ7tR2jRYLP/view?usp=sharing

notes from this older post on my oaths will be listing a simple version on the current last page http://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2013/06/power-of-tabu-magic.html

other book will have more classes
demihumans dwarf elf gnome halfling then
abhumans changelings giants tako
druids sorcerers monks bards sorry
druidic spell list
expanded weapon lists and hitting rules
expanded movement and morale
some basic monsters and encounter tables
expanded skills
starting equiptment
cults and more premade sub classes
treasure system and common magic items

could do a pdf of all the demi and non human types all reskinned as trolls from the pre human age ive always meant to make a thing in my setting - troll wars

Dwarf = rock  troll
Elf = arcane troll
Gnome = hill troll
Halfling = hedge troll or house trolls
Abhuman = cave troll
Changeling = spirit troll
Giant = war troll

not octopus tako trolls that would be silly

terrible alignment idea for bonus spells
Law & Chaos = Arcane
Good & Evil = Divine
Neutral = Nature
Balance = Mental

if i did sf book would add
mutant robot psionic outsider
still wanna reskin my robot class as a golem

EMO Book in progress

Work in progress...
About half done
Updating a few times a day

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WZ3Pm282TnSB17eDIILvCeQ7tR2jRYLP

EMO Spread Preview

That's saving throws obviously, 2nd game on sunday
cept old players chose stuff outside this project including bards and beastmen
need to make up list of song abilities for bard but i kinda dislike classes with finicky abilities per level

Quick test of spread of my emo book I'm hoping to have basics done for my next game on weekend.

Current projects...

Still editing mutant book but now pg 47 of 80
mostly late due to life stuff but also most heavy edit making 2800 table entries written over several years more consistent so getting close. Will crank out some one-sheet dungeon adventures also as catch up for my patreons.

Probably do a gnome burrow complex and a ruined city sewer system i can use in my Exilon game

will be working on my 32 page players book
sharing features on my google docs broken right now otherwise id encourage ppl to see work as it goes. It might just be my gobbling up broadband - sharing options broken but might try my phone as a modem...

thinking a 32 pg masters book with stuff like
-treasure
-more on alignment
-combat basics
-some basic monsters
-combat effects like poison, confusion, hallucinations, madness, curses
-encounter tables (a3 sheet for exilon coming)

Future book projects include a overdesigned long stairs inspired book of modern Australian army vs dungeon dimension and Goat Quest

Silver city (Broken Hill Map/guide) for gamma oz

Revision of murder hobo book with all the village maps of evolving hobo shanty town into a castle over several years

that should last until my birthday...

gaming wise hope to keep my cthulhu game (masks) and my marvel game running and get a regular dnd...