Posted on November 4, 2015November 2, 2015 by Mike Myler — Leave a comment

Mohkba Mania: Familiar Steps Haunt

Familiar Steps Haunt CR 9
XP 6,400
N haunt (25 ft. by 10 ft. alleyway)
Caster Level 9th
Notice Perception DC 20 (to hear the squeaking of a panicked rat familiar)
hp 18; Trigger proximity; Reset 1 day

Effect The familiar steps haunt is triggered when a spellcaster with a familiar enters its area. The spellcaster’s familiar wanders into the most crowded area nearby (no save), prompting its master to follow (DC 20 Will negates). Each turn spent in a square occupied by a creature of Small-size or larger prompts a Reflex save from minuscule and infinitesimal creatures (DC 25) or they are unknowingly trampled by the regular folk (1d4+3 bludgeoning damage, Fort DC 20 or knocked prone). Prone creature take triple damage from the familiar steps haunt. After being trampled by due to the familiar steps haunt, a creature must make a DC 20 Will save or be compelled to travel in a random direction (roll 1d8).

Destruction The remains of the familiar once belonging to Vagraxxa the Vivid (another mage that attempted to teleport into Mohkba against the will of the Sanctioned Arcane Practitioners) must be exhumed from the foundations of a building nearby, ground into dust, and used as a spell component in order to permanently destroy the familiar steps haunt.

Posted on November 3, 2015November 2, 2015 by Mike Myler — Leave a comment

Mohkba Mania: Hail Trap

Hail Trap CR 10

Type mechanical; Perception DC 25; Disable Device DC 30
Trigger location; Reset automatic (for 2d6+1 minutes)
Effects Atk +15 melee (10d6 bludgeoning); multiple targets (all targets not directly under cover); knocked prone (1d6 cold per round; DC 20 Escape Artist, Strength, or CMB check to escape; immunity to falling hail damage; DC 25 Reflex negates); treat area as difficult terrain; flooding after 6 rounds (see below)

Normal weather effects become deadly when the PCs are the size of a copper piece; should they be caught out in the open, the hail trap might do them in if they can’t find shelter! Though become trapped under a piece of ice from the hail trap is unpleasant, it offers some protection and can also be destroyed (hardness 1, 20 hp).
After 6 rounds the area under the effects of the hail trap becomes flooded, requiring DC 15 Swim checks to stay afloat (creatures hit by the hail trap while swimming are not trapped.)

[Submitted by Rory Toma! Tune in on Meta Thursday to read this month’ s special rules for extremely small adventurers!]

Posted on November 2, 2015November 2, 2015 by Mike Myler — Leave a comment

Mohkba Mania: Piercing Needle

Piercing Needle
Aura faint transmutation; CL 4th
Slot none; Price 14,800 gp; Weight —

DESCRIPTION
Though this long sewing needle is unremarkable upon first glance, when looking more closely you can see a blue aura emanating from the sharpened bit of metal.

This +1 dart has a range increment of 30 feet. When using a piercing needle to make an attack roll, its wielder can make a Sleight of Hand check first (opposed by a Perception check made by the target); on a success, the piercing needle only deals 1 point of piercing damage but the attack is completely unnoticed.
In the hands of a Miniscule or Infinitesimal creature, a piercing needle instead acts as a +3 lance that deals 1d6 damage piercing damage on a successful hit; on a critical hit, the piercing needle increases its critical multiplier by +1.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Magic Arms & Armor, a dozen sewing needles, lead blades; Cost 7,400 gp

[For more information on Minuscule and Infinitesimal creatures and some insight on the mechanics of the piercing needle, tune in for this Meta Thursday! —MM]

Posted on November 1, 2015October 31, 2015 by Mike Myler — Leave a comment

Mohkba Mania: Enormous Hunting Dog

When the PCs arrive in Mohkba they are barely as tall as a nail—only a quarter or half of an inch in height! Though they are unlikely to be found by the guards still looking for them, the adventurers have an entirely different problem on their hands: whatever magic Jesker the Great used to force their teleportation past the abjurations of the Sanctioned Practitioners of Mohkba, it is too powerful to be affected by any spell of 6th-level or lower. The adventurers are stuck with their new statures!

All of the party quickly realizes how small they’ve become and though there’s relief from being found by the guards, they land directly in the middle of the city watch’s dog pack den. Two dozen of the creatures—normally a friendly and encouraging sight—pose a deadly threat!

ENORMOUS HUNTING DOG CR 2
XP 400
N Medium animal (special size rules) [This upcoming Meta Thursday with a sneak peek below! —MM]
Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8

DEFENSE
AC 6, touch 3, flat-footed 5 (+1 Dex, +3 natural, -8 size)
hp 17 (2d8+8)
Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +1

OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite -1 (1d6+9 plus trample and trip)
Special Attacks bijou bashing (1d4), trample (1d4+9, DC 16)

STATISTICS
Str 23, Dex 13, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB +7; CMD 18 (22 vs. trip)
Feats Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Acrobatics +6 (+14 jumping), Perception +8, Survival +1 (+5 scent tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent

ECOLOGY
Environment any (special size rules; Mohkba Mania)
Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–12)
Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bijou Bashing (Ex) Creatures of Medium size or larger do not resolve melee or ranged attacks that deal bludgeoning damage normally when targeting a creature of Diminutive size or smaller.
On a successful hit, the smaller creature saves as though they were also being trampled by the larger creature.
If the hit was a critical hit, increase the number of the trample’s damage die by 1 per critical multiplier (from 2d6 to 3d6 for a Medium creature wielding a club or other x2 modifier weapon, from 3d8 to 5d8 for a Large creature wielding a warhammer or other x3 modifier weapon, etc.) and the DC to avoid it by +5 per critical multiplier. A creature that fails their Reflex save must make a Fortitude save (DC 5 + opponent’s attack roll) or be knocked prone. On a successful Reflex save, the smaller creature takes half the damage from the trample.
Unlike normal trample attacks, diminutive creatures are not able to make attacks of opportunity against their attacker.

Titanic Trample (Ex) Creatures of Medium size or larger receive trample as a special attack, dealing an amount of damage determined by size. They automatically make a trample attack against non-flying creatures of Diminutive size or smaller whenever they occupy the same square, avoided with a successful Reflex save (no damage).
The DC of this Reflex save increases by +2 for every leg the trampling creature possesses beyond two. Creatures that have no Fly speed that cannot be tripped (such as oozes and shoggoths) receive a +20 bonus to the DC of their Trample attack.

5E Rules

Use the regular statistics for a dog with the special size rules for Mohkba Mania. [Check back on Meta Thursday later this week! —MM]

Posted on October 31, 2015October 30, 2015 by Mike Myler — Leave a comment

Wandering Wasteland: PRANKSTER Isle

The PCs have tracked the P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. operations to the Grave Morass and sure enough, floating out on the lake of tar and sludge is a fortress where the criminal cabal has been hard at work. Now is the perfect time for the adventurers to disrupt the manufacture of a deadly biomechanical threat soon to be unleashed on Mohkba, the Klavek Kingdom, and the whole of Aventyr!

This island in the Grave Morass is 250-ft. in diameter. On its southwestern shore is a 20-ft.-radius shed made from recycled metals (Bleirvar’s Workshop), on its southeastern shore is another almost identical building (slightly smaller and more angular, 15 ft. by 15 ft.) where supplies are kept, and on the north side of the landmass is a much larger shanty (40 ft. wide and across) that serves as the barracks for P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. agents.

Anyone approaching the northern shore of the island risks alerting the guards in the barracks (PRANKSTER Hirelings and PRANKSTER thugs) and while approaching from any other direction is stealthier, there is a 50% chance the PCs trigger a tar pit trap when doing so. A patrol of one hireling and two thugs walk the perimeter of the island on a leisurely lookout every 30 minutes, keen for anomalies coming from Bleirvar’s Workshop or the intervention of the meddling adventurers that have plagued the cabal’s plans for some time now. When the party is detected, P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. pour out of the barracks at a rate of 1d4 hirelings and 2d4 thugs every round (in total there are 6 hirelings and 12 thugs on the island).

The primary targets of the PCs are the Storage shanty and Bleirvar’s Workshop. Within the former the party finds two contraband cyphers—though one is empty, the other is filled by a screaming cesspool of abominated heads and limbs about the size of a children’s doll. The biomancer spends most of the time in his Workshop, carefully tending to a vast array of esoteric equipment and machines that synthesize magic and science. These devices are quite fragile and in some cases volatile; if even one device is utterly destroyed (beyond the reach of mending) or lost in the muck of the Grave Morass, the entire production process will be halted for weeks as the P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. restart the operation.

As soon as he becomes aware of trespassers on PRANKSTER Isle, Bleirvar ceases the rituals required to incubate skurgxon in the pool of alchemical reagents outside of his Workshop (heated by the Transgression and catalyzed by mentis quie blooms taken from the Vast Swamp) to face the intruders. If his desk hasn’t been raided and emptied by the PCs already, he grabs his crystal ball and wand of animate dead (CL 7th, 7 charges) and fills the battlefield with undead to supplement whatever PRANKSTER underlings are still fighting.

Between Bleirvar’s boasts in combat (sure of his victory, he has no compunctions or modesty regarding the age of chaos and destruction his twisted creations herald) and inspection of his Workshop, the party easily conclude that skurgxon have been prepared for a terrorizing assault in Mohkba! Anyone able to detect magic easily recognizes that powerful conjuration magic—almost certainly teleport spells—was recently used several times recently, and records in the biomancer’s desk (a DC 14 Perception check) confirm that as many as 3 agents have already received their shipment of biomechanical horrors.

A few minutes after the battle ends, Jesker the Great arrives via teleport to share what he’s learned—all information the party has recently uncovered for themselves. With such a dire threat looming ahead the wizard wastes no time, casting conjuration spells in a flurry to rapidly bring the party to Mohkba to stop the P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. Unfortunately at the last minute he mumbles, “oh no, they were expecting me! Hold onto your helmets!” just as the world dissolves in white and the adventurers suddenly find themselves with a very, very big problem. [The players are in for a big—or rather small surprise. Tune in next week as the party find themselves in Mohkba! —SP]

5E Rules

Searching Bleirvar’s desk for his records regarding skurgxon deliveries requires a DC 11 Intelligence (Investigation) check.

[Submitted by Stephanos ‘netlich’ Patelis!]

Posted on October 30, 2015October 29, 2015 by Mike Myler — Leave a comment

Wandering Wasteland: Part 2

After landing in the Scorched Lands, the PCs pick up on the trail of the nefarious P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R. cabal. Heading off into the desert they find the Canyon March, a network of smugglers that help escaped slaves reach freedom. Unfortunately they aren’t the only ones traveling into the sand and the PCs are soon forced to either help defend or kill a mutant named Scowl Carver. Either way they garner a few pairs of striding boots and some valuable information on where the nefarious faction was operating in the wastelands.

Heading back to Ravine and canvassing the city doesn’t drum up any new information and though at first it seems like the criminal group has given the party the slip, that very night a host of P.R.A.N.K.S.T.E.R.S. fall upon the PCs while they sleep! Fortunately some evidence on their boots lead the adventurers to one conclusion: whatever the nefarious cabal is up to, they are active in the dreaded Grave Morass on the southern reaches of the Scorched Lands.

More dangers of the desert threaten the PCs as they travel—lethal respite offered by corpse cactii, devious merchants with equally fell gifts, the scorching Transgression [the final reveal of its full effects! —MM], magically aggressive tar changed by the passing of the Shard of the Sun, and the restless spirits of those creatures claimed by the ash, oil, and sand pit long ago—but nothing as deadly as what awaits them in the Grave Morass.

Tune in tomorrow to see how Bleirvar the Biomancer fits into Wandering Wasteland and why the PCs need to collect as many contraband cyphers as they possibly can!