Mu-Pan - Encounter XXII

Back from the Magic Kingdom. Much work to catch up on, but the weather was beautiful, the park not too crowded and the Candy Cane Inn (yes, I say it with pride) was excellent as usual. Two encounters today - a bit of a fight brewing between them.

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2842. The deforested hills around a sprawling castle of cream-colored stone are alive with the activity of two companies of shashu no ashigaru, three companies of yari ashigaru and a squadron of samurai in training. Further afield there are meadows of grazing sheep and fields of pulses and barley worked by busy, nervous farmers. The villagers dwell in simple huts located about half a mile from the castle. The village boasts a small tavern run by Myshulai, a raven-haired beauty with a wicked jaw and purple burn scar decorating the right side of her face. A former paramour of the lord, she is the only person known to have defied him and survived, though none know the details of their romance or parting.

The lord of the castle is Chinegan, a thin, malevolent sprite of a man with a long mustache and thinning hair pasted over a spotted scalp. Chinegan always appears swathed in silks, a poisoned dagger grasped in one hand and hidden in a long sleeve. Chinegan covets 2942 more highly than the lives of his wives and daughters, and has long been preparing his forces for an assault. His little army has been funded by a fabulous mine of peach-colored agates discovered many summers ago underneath the castle behind a dungeon wall. Dozens of peasants now labor in the dark, day and night, digging out the stones.

When not plotting the destruction of his neighbors, Chinegan amuses himself hunting outlaws in the woods surrounding his castle using a pack of three shocker lizards. The lizards are wrangled by Anq, a half-ogre who raised them from the egg and keeps them under control with nothing but his commanding voice and a series of hand movements.

Chinegan owns a treasure of 1,630 sp, 1,645 gp, a terracottage aquamanile (painted with a code that means nothing) worth 1 gp, a lapis lazuli water buffalo worth 50 gp, an amber vase worth 70 gp, a sack of agates worth 115 gp, a granite statuette of a five legged gryph worth 80 gp and twenty pounds of red (iron) dye worth 5 sp per pound, and meant for the manufacture of battle flags.

| Shocker Lizards (3): HD 1-1 hp; AC 6 [13]; Atk 1 bite (1d3); Move 6; Save 18; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Electric shock.

| Anq, Half-Ogre Bujin Lvl 6: 34 [45]; AC 4 [15]; Save 11 (10 vs death, 7 vs. poison & disease); CL/XP 6/400; Special: Follow through, ogre's ferociousness, open door on 1-4 on 1d6. Hara-ate, jingasa, kote, suneate, tetsubo (1d6+1).

| Chinegan, Bujin Lvl 10: HP 36 [55]; AC 3 [16]; Save 7 (6 vs death & poison); CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Follow through, parry death blow. Do-maru, kote, suneate, kabuto, katana, wakizashi, tanto, daikyu, 10 arrows.

MON: Red field, white gryph

2942. The gaijin warlord known as the Lord of the Granite Chrysanthemum dwells here in an unyielding safehold (the aforementioned Granite Chrysanthemum). The Granite Chrysanthemum is a castle of concentric rings protected by tall towers that encircle an inner keep. The structure is constructed on the Motherlander model and is ruled by a dwarf warlord called Inthor, a former servant of the Tiger Empress who now rules as a freelord in brazen defiance of the Jade Empress and her court. The castle is constructed of yellowish stone with roofs of red tile and ample stonecarving, as is the wont of dwarves.

Within the inner court of the castle, surrounding the keep, there is a grove of gingko-biloba trees. The gingko is harvested by Inthor's harem of maidens - all the eldest daughters of foes he has vanquished placed in Inthor's protective custody to insure the loyalty and good will of their fathers. Despite their imprisonment, the maidens are treated well. The gingko's essence is extracted by a half-mad wise woman called Gombe. Her elixirs are much sought after by shugenja, for whom they have a 1 in 6 chance of acting as a potion of mnemonic enhancement.

Inthor commands three companies of dwarf warriors armed with teppo or chu-ko-nu and masakiri. They wear Motherlander-style mail and carry shields, as does their lord.
Inthor rules over a tribe of cavemen who dwell in leather tents on the wooded grasslands surrounding the keep. The holding is rich in copper and malachite, and the cavemen are employed as able miners.

| Inthor: HP 31 [57]; AC 1 [18]; Save 4 (2 vs. magic); CL/XP 12/2000; Special: Note stonework. Platemail, shield, battle axe, dagger.

I Like This!

Just sayin'

Ryan Heshka Art and Illustration

If you like weird + pulp, you might like this.

Weird Asia Contest

To be precise China, Korea and Japan. What's the weirdest factoid about these geographies or cultures that you would like to see represented in Mu-Pan? I'm looking for the obscure here - something I probably haven't already stumbled upon myself.

Submitters of my favorite three get a free PDF of NOD 8 and credit in the text.

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Image from Alcatena's blog. 

Seriously, if there was one artist I could impress into lifelong service on illustrating the Land of Nod, it's him. Astounding creativity and attention to cultural quirks and details, all blended seamlessly into a unified style. Love it. I'll stop raving now.

Monsters of Mu-Pan III

Taking a day trip to a date farm today, and next week I'm spending a couple days at Disneyland, so posting will probably be light. Getting closer to being finished with NOD 8 and Mystery Men! - excited about that. Hopefully some glimpses at the finished pages of Mystery Men! soon.

Gyuki - Ox-Ogre (Japanese)
Hit Dice: 8
Armor Class: 1 [18]
Attack: Gore (1d8), 2 pincers (1d8)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Magic immunity, resistance to damage (10%)
Move: 12
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 9/1100

Ox ogres appear as massive crabs with the heads of oxen and the tusks of elephants. They dwell in coastal waters and only emerge to hunt.

Kasha (Japanese)
Hit Dice: 5
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Attack: 2 claws (1d4), bite (1d4)
Saving Throw: 12
Special: +1 or better weapon to hit, magic resistance (20%), stun, surprise on a roll of 1-2 on 1d6
Move: 15
Alignment: Chaos
Challenge Level/XP: 9/1100

Kasha are cat demons that prowl the fringes of civilization in search of funeral processions. When they find one, they leap from the underbrush and sieze the corpse, dragging it into the forest to devour it. The ferocity of the attack is such that, provided the kasha achieves surprise, all in attendance must succeed at a saving throw or be stunned and unable to act for 3 rounds. The kasha is exceptionally difficult to track. Kasha make their lairs in burrows beneath dead pine trees. They decorate their lairs with the jewelry and funeral shrouds of their meals. The soul of a devoured corpse cannot enter the afterlife and thus wanders the woods in which the kasha makes its home as a ghost until the kasha is destroyed.

Ninja (Japanese)
Hit Dice: 2
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Attack: Strike (1d4) or Weapon (1d6)
Saving Throw: 16
Special: Death attack, stun, spells
Move: 15
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400

Ninjas are humans that have trained themselves in the arts of stealth, assassination and illusion. When encountered on the job they wear black clothing, hoods and masks. Ninjas have all the abilities of assassins, including the assassins’ death attack, the ability to make a stunning attack as a monk and the ability to cast phantasmal force and ventriloquism.

Ninjas are armed with shuriken and wakizashi. They might also carry hankyu. Ninjas also carry a collection of powders that they can blow into their enemy’s faces. These powders can be used to blind an opponent, cause itching and sneezing (-2 to AC and to hit) or sleep (as the spell) unless a saving throw is made.

Groups of four or more ninjas are led by a 3 HD genin. If a clan is encountered, there is one genin per 10 ninjas. The clan is led by an 5 HD jonin with the ability to cast invisibility and obscuring mist. He is assisted by a 4 HD chunin with the ability to cast obscuring mist. Both jonin and chunin are capable of flipping out once per day, gaining a +2 bonus to hit and damage.

Shamshir
Hit Dice: 3
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Attack: 4 weapons (1d6) or bite (1d3 plus poison)
Saving Throw: 14
Special: Poison
Move: 15/12 (climbing)
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 5/240

The shamshir are a strange humanoid people who combine mammalian and reptilian characteristics. They have four arms and pale scales speckled with electric blue and long hair that ranges from white to gray to aquamarine. Shamshir have humanoid faces with poison sacs in their checks.

Shamshir can replace one weapon attack with a poisonous bite that deals 1d3 damage plus an additional 1d6 damage if the victim fails a saving throw. Because they are so quick, they rarely wear armor. They arm themselves with longbows and katana.

Shamshir tribes are ruled by princes called shatyas. Shatyas usually have 4 to 8 levels in bujin. Shatyas are guarded by level 2 to 4 bodyguards.

Common Names: Aehvel, Aisfimies, Alshsis, Bishl, Bisihism, Clihih, Csisei, Dieshm, Flivsi, Gesisi, Gilih, Hilxishessi, Ilxeh, Ji-Ahh, Kisssi, Melesiees, Ofesh, Oszissie, Qeehvis, Rielesi, Rissi, Sphisei

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Image of shamshir by Jason Sholtis of Underworld Ink. I cannot recommend him highly enough!

Mu-Pan - Encounter XXI

2532. As one passes through this woodland of pines and pale blue rhododendrons, they might (1 in 12 chance) be accosted by a sort of clown - a short, slight man wearing a frightful blue mask and brightly colored silks and going barefoot. The clown appears about 20 yards ahead of the adventurers, performs a series of comical acrobatics and motions them to follow him.

The clown leads the adventurers to a secret grove of tall, black pines. Black moss covers the ground and the boughs of the trees are thick with spider webs. Sitting on the ground in the grove is a porcelain bottle decorated with black moths. The bottle contains a powerful narcotic, that, when imbibed, causes one to fall instantly and deeply asleep. As a person falls into unconsciousness, they also fall through the mossy ground, which becomes spongy, then more and more insubstantial until it can no longer hold the sleeper's weight.

The sleeper passes through the ground for about 100 yards, finally emerging in an etheric chamber of mists and half-heard whispers. This chamber leads into the lair of a coven of nine witches (shugenjas, level 1d4+1) loyal to the Yozi. Like the grove above, it is lousy with spider swarms and giant spiders, as well as a tribe of twenty-five blue faced bugbears (HD 3+1) with long, golden brown fur that lightens to silvery white at the tips. The leader of the witches is Gatachru, a creature that appears to be female from the waist up and spider below. She has skin the complexion of black currants and eyes that shine like sapphires. On Gatachru's head is an ivory crown set with two large emeralds, one containing the trapped soul of a holy bujin, the other that of a sohei.

The chambers of the bugbears and Yozi cult connect to the wider underworld of demons, devils and the unquiet dead.

| Gatachru: HD 6; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d6) and bite (1d4 plus poison); Move 12 (C9); Save 11; CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Poison, magic resistance (40%), casts spells as a 6th level sohei and 6th level shugenja, surprise on roll of 1-3 on 1d6.

Deviant Friday - Grant Gould Edition

Grantgoboom is your one stop shop for geek nostalgia, as well as items for the modern geek. Though mostly movie tie-in material, he also has a neat project called "The Wolves of Odin". Check it out!

G.I. Joe: Scarlett

LOTR

SWG5: Bossk

Mark Twain

Think, if you will, about how you can put more Twain into your fantasy or sci-fi gaming. Thanks! And speaking of Mark Twain, I'll be riding on his namesake around the River of America in a few days - yay Disneyland!

V: Diana

Yes, the first reveal was pretty cool back in the day. And no, the FX didn't look any better then that now, but who cared - FX are not the point of sci-fi and fantasy. Someone please give that memo to Lucas and Spielberg, who seem to have forgotten.

Huntress Marker

Yeah, I'm pandering with this one. Sue me.

The Horror of Bayfield Lake 2

The Rocketeer

Perhaps the best translation of comic book to movie ever. Great casting as well.

Gould-McHale WOLVES Collab

Princess Leia

The Hobbit

The INHUMANOIDS

Probably as close as Saturday morning cartoons ever got to Cthulhu (except for the Real Ghostbusters episode that actually had Cthulhu and probably a dozen other things I've forgotten or never heard of ...)

THE WOLVES OF ODIN

Wolves of Odin: Update

And, after a terribly long absence from Deviant Friday ..

Red Sonja

Mu-Pan - Encounter XX

Another glimpse into Mu-Pan - tomorrow, Megacrawl 3000.

2202. The central three miles of this hex, running from north to south, is occupied by a massive wall. The wall is 15 feet side and 30 feet tall, with a 40 foot tall tower every 100 yards. The wall is constructed of ebony, semi-glossy stones and appears to have been constructed a millennium ago by the ophidians. Stairs leading up to the wall are located on the west face of the wall, and the east face shows signs of salt encrustation and heavy weathering, as though by the sea. Although not manned by any soldiers, the wall is sometimes used as a hideout by bandits. Many charred and shattered sections speak to attacks from armies on the wall. Each tower has a 1 in 20 chance of being home to a CL 1d4+1 monster.

CL | Possible Monster
2 | Aka-name, centipedes (giant), kaeru-ningen, nezumi-oni, zombies
3 | Banshee, bugbears, ghouls, lizard samurai, mogura-jin, yellow mold
4 | Bakemono-toro, ogres, ragged craws, tesso, tsurube-otoshi, wererats
5 | Doppelganger, grey ooze, jiki-niku-gaki, shamshir, spider (giant), wights

Mu-Pan - Encounter XIX

No posting tomorrow - out of town (in an airplane that hopefully will maintain its roof integrity for the entire flight). Here's a couple more encounters from the Mu-Pan map. I'm still working on the next Megacrawl episode - sorry for the delay. More Mu-Pan monsters, comic book characters, a sample chapter from the MM! book (so you can get an idea of what it's going to look like) and the Gods of Mu-Pan on the way. Busy busy. Have fun on the internet.

2032. Three leprous zombies (HD 2; bite causes disease) are chained to a large stone post carved to look like a column of koi. One zombie has an ivory pin (worth 40 gp) stuck through its left temple. This pen, when put to paper, causes the person's memories or current thoughts to pour onto the page as though a watercolor painting.

2045. A trader, Kaith by name, sits by the side of the road nursing a wounded leg. He was attacked by a wild cat two days back, and now has a bad infection and a fever. If he sees people coming, he struggles to his feet and grabs his cloak, warning people to stay away. If they continue to approach, he raises the edges of his cloak like wings and a swarm of twelve giant bats (HD 4) emerges from the unnatural darkness within. As they emerge, he becomes noticeably paler and falls to the ground. The magic cloak summons the bats, but inflicts 1d12 points of damage when it does so - the damage sustained by Kaith is enough to knock him unconscious.

Monsters of Mu-Pan II

Let's do another round of Mu-Pan monstrosities ...

On a side note - I really want to commission an illustration of the shamshir (4-armed snakey dudes), but I'm having no luck contacting artists. If you're an artist and you're up to making some bucks, let me know. If your rates are reasonable enough, I might have a couple other commissions to go along with it.

Baku (Japanese)
Hit Dice: 10
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Attack: 2 claws (2d6), gore (2d8)
Saving Throw: 5
Special: Astral and ethereal travel, +1 or better weapon to hit, protection circle, remove curse
Move: 12
Alignment: Law
Challenge Level/XP: 12/2000

A baku is an otherworldly creature that devour dreams and nightmares. It has an elephant’s trunk and tusks, rhinoceros’ eyes, ox tail and tiger paws. They constantly project a magic circle against evil and are capable of dispelling nightmares and curses (per remove curse). Baku can travel astrally and ethereally.

Harionago - Barbed Woman (Japanese)
Hit Dice: 5
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attack: 1d10 hair barbs (1d4)
Saving Throw: 12
Special: Animated hair, undead
Move: 12
Alignment: Chaos
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400

These frightening ghouls appear as lovely women with extremely long hair. Their hair is tipped with barbs and can be controlled by the ghoul and used to attack and grapple. Barbed women usually attack young men. When a young man is encountered, the barbed woman laughs at them. If the young man laughs back, the barbed woman attacks. Barbed women eat the people they kill.

Kamaitachi (Japanese)
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 3 [16]
Attack: 3 claws (1d6)
Saving Throw: 13
Special: Knock down, surprise on 1-3 on 1d6
Move: 24
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400

The kamaitachi is a bizarre monster that looks like a trio of weasels with sickle-like claws riding on a swirling wind. The monster has three “attacks”, each made by a separate weasel. The monster gets three attacks per round, and uses the first to attempt to knock its opponent prone.

Monkey Folk (Chinese)
Hit Dice: 1d6
Armor Class: 6 [13]
Attack: Bite (1d3) or weapon (1d6+1)
Saving Throw: 18
Special: High strength and dexterity
Move: 12/12 (climbing)
Alignment: Neutrality
Challenge Level/XP: B/10

Monkey folk are intelligent monkeys that dress and behave like humans. Being monkeys, they are chattery and sometimes unpredictable. Monkey folk are known for their high dexterity and strength (+1 bonuses). This strength allows them to wield weapons meant for man-sized creatures without penalty. They are expert climbers.

Large troupes of monkey folk are led by a sage (5th to 8th level shugenja). He is assisted by two apprentices (2nd or 3rd level). For every 20 monkey folk there will be a 3rd level ninja, and for every 100 a 5th level ninja. Most monkey folk wield staves or nine ring broadswords. When they wear armor, it is rarely heavier than a haramaki, but a few bodyguards will wear haramaki-do (AC 15).

Did you see the picture of Conan fighting our heroes from the '80s?

Now you have. By Jerome Opeña - check out his site!