Thursday 31 December 2020

Monster: Amnizu

Monster: Amnizu

Amnizus are administrator and guardian devils that oversee the passage of souls into Hell.

Wednesday 30 December 2020

Monsters: Abishais

Monsters: Abishais

Abishais are gargoyle-like devils created by Tiamat, the Queen of Chromatic Dragons. Because of that, they are color-coded.

Monday 28 December 2020

Alchemy: Dungeonscape Elixirs

Alchemy: Dungeonscape Elixirs

Let's convert alchemical items from Dungeonscape for D&D 3.5.

Sunday 27 December 2020

Alchemy: Elixir Recycling

Alchemy: Elixir Recycling

Have you ever played Might and Magic VI, VII, or VIII? In those three games, alchemical potions are split into five tiers, and each non-basic potion is created by combining two potions of the previous tier. A couple of days ago, this mechanic has inspired me to create an elixir recycling system from my Metatronic Alchemy system. It would allow an alchemist to use existing potions to save some money and time. I'm pretty sure that the first draft of this will be revised multiple times in the future, because it'll probably break something.

Saturday 26 December 2020

Alchemy: Drow Poisons

Alchemy: Drow Poisons

Let's convert the normal, not magic-infused poisons from Drow of the Underdark.

Friday 25 December 2020

Alchemy: Drow, Last Gasp, and Abortion

Alchemy: Drow, Last Gasp, and Abortion

I've been asked to create an alchemical pregnancy cancellation elixir. Let's also add a forgotten elixir from Complete Adventurer and alchemical items from Drow of the Underdark.

Thursday 24 December 2020

Martial Arts: Complete Warrior Styles

Martial Arts: Complete Warrior Styles

While we're on the topic of martial arts, let's convert the combat styles from Complete Warrior. The Net and Trident style basically is the Retiarius style from GURPS Martial Arts: Gladiators with a generic name, so it does not require a conversion.

Wednesday 23 December 2020

Martial Art: Way of the Ascendant Dragon

Martial Art: Way of the Ascendant Dragon

A martial style based on a monk archetype for D&D 5E that I found by accident.

Tuesday 22 December 2020

Monsters: Legendary Animals

Monsters: Legendary Animals

Monster Manual II features several legendary animals, who basically are potent versions of normal
animals created by the force of nature. I've already converted the legendary ape, so let's finish the rest.

Sunday 20 December 2020

Pantheon: Fey Deities

Pantheon: Fey Deities

D&D fey have a quite extensive pantheon of deities that weren't really described in much detail. AuldDragon has done a great job creating very detailed entries for most of them. I'll just take a paragraph for each one, link to the original post, and provide all the mechanical information relevant to my GURPS games. I like how the pantheon has intersections with the elven, gnomish, centaur, and even draconic pantheons.

Saturday 19 December 2020

Monster: Shark-Kin

Monster: Shark-Kin

The shark-kin are something like an ancestor species of the sahuagins. I remember finding them in ENWorld's Creature Catalog and using them in my underwater D&D game. Now it's time to convert them to GURPS. Seems like a decent racial template for an aquatic game.

Friday 18 December 2020

Pantheon: Heliophagi

Pantheon: Heliophagi

Heliophagi are demon lords from the Dominions video game series. They hold power over darkness and some other aspects, depending on the heliophagus in question. After I converted the shadow demon from D&D, I realized that there is nothing stopping me from introducing the heliophagi in my D&D-like setting. Shadow demons appear when essence of a demon slain outside of the Abyss fails to reform properly. Thus, the shadow demons fall outside of the tanar'ri/obyrith/loumara/spider-demon classification. What happens if a demon lord is slain outside of the Abyss and fails to reform properly? A shadow demon lord, or heliophagus, happens. Makes sense to me.

Thursday 17 December 2020

Monster: Ripper

Monster: Ripper

Another D&D monster from my old notes. I've actually used it in two different games, and in both of
them it got killed by a single knife stab to the eyes.

Wednesday 16 December 2020

Monster: Lystrosaurus

Monster: Lystrosaurus

A very simple dycinodont template I've found in my old documents, tuned-up, and reformatted.

Tuesday 15 December 2020

Solo GURPS: Alas Mirayra, Session #2

Solo GURPS: Alas Mirayra, Session #2

Let's continue the journey of Alas Miraya, the almost-dead fire elf bloodrager. A short session.
Session #1 - link.
Session #3 - link.

Sunday 13 December 2020

Alchemy: Adventurer Elixirs

Alchemy: Adventurer Elixirs

Now, let's create elixirs based on the spells from the previous post and convert two alchemical items from Complete Arcane that I have missed. Now we caught up properly.

Saturday 12 December 2020

Sorcery: Adventurer Spells

Sorcery: Adventurer Spells

Some spells from Complete Adventurer for D&D 3.5 ported over to sorcery.

Friday 11 December 2020

Alchemy: Some Elixirs I Missed

Alchemy: Some Elixirs I Missed

Apparently I declared some of the D&D books "converted alchemy-wise" too early, because some alchemical items for some reason were moved to the magic items sections. So, let's catch up. This post will cover elixirs from the Arms and Equipment Guide, Book of Vile Darkness, and Complete Scoundrel.

Thursday 10 December 2020

Monster: Derro Magister

Monster: Derro Magister

Pathfinder RPG's Occult Bestiary features several monsters that are just "normal monster, but psychic".
The derro magister is one of them. I decided to omit his cytillesh stare ability, because he can accomplish everything that ability does with his psychic powers. Keeping them both would be redundant.

Friday 4 December 2020

Monster: Metalmaster

Monster: Metalmaster

While I still have not enough free time to run another solo session, let's tackle another request. The
metalmaster is a magical slug that can create magnetic fields. Cool!

Thursday 3 December 2020

Monster: Synesis

Monster: Synesis

I've been asked to convert some psychic monsters from Pathfinder's Occult Bestiary. The first one on
the list is synesis, the first of the aeons I had to convert, so this was quite difficult. The others should be easier, but there's no more psychic aeons.

Tuesday 1 December 2020

Alchemy: Undead, Kings, and Birth Control

Alchemy: Undead, Kings, and Birth Control

I've gotten a request to write up a birth control elixir. That's not enough for a single post, so let's also convert an oil from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics and alchemical items from Libris Mortis for D&D 3.5. The holy water sprinkler from Libris Mortis is identical to the aspergillum of high power from the aforementioned Dungeon Fantasy book. I'll assign the Libris Mortis elixirs to the dark alchemy specialty.

Monday 30 November 2020

Monster: Thunder Wolf

Monster: Thunder Wolf

Before I continue my solo game, I have to convert this obscure D&D creature to GURPS.

Thursday 26 November 2020

Solo GURPS: Alas Mirayra, Session #1

Solo GURPS: Alas Mirayra, Session #1

The previous solo game didn't go far, so let's try another one. This time, I might create some more setting-specific and system-specific tables to roll on. Let's see how it goes this time.
Session #2 - link.
Session #3 - link.

Friday 20 November 2020

Sorcery: Assorted Spells VII

Sorcery: Assorted Spells VII

Just several new sorcery spell with no common theme. Some are based on spells from the Might and Magic video game series.

Thursday 19 November 2020

Sorcery: Elemental Whips

Sorcery: Elemental Whips

GURPS Magic has the Lightning Whip spell. Let's make other elemental-flavoured whip spells.

Wednesday 18 November 2020

Tuesday 17 November 2020

Alchemy: Scoundrel Elixirs

Alchemy: Scoundrel Elixirs

Finally, let's convert alchemical items from Complete Scoundrel.

Monday 16 November 2020

Alchemy: Mage Elixirs

Alchemy: Mage Elixirs

Complete Mage also had several alchemical items that need conversion.

Sunday 15 November 2020

Alchemy: Adventurer Elixirs

 Alchemy: Adventurer Elixirs

Now, let's convert alchemical items from Complete Adventurer for D&D 3.5.

Saturday 14 November 2020

Alchemy: Some New Alchemical Items

 Alchemy: Some New Alchemical Items

Let's convert alchemical items from the Arms and Equipment Guide for D&D 3.0. Some of them later were reprinted in Drow of the Underdark. It's been a long while since I posted any new alchemical items, so I'll probably make multiple posts on this topic. Luckily, there's more than enough material to convert.

Friday 13 November 2020

Multi-Hex Figures and Bombardment

 Multi-Hex Figures and Bombardment

One of my players asked me an interesting question - what happens to a multi-hex figure (p. B392) in an Area Effect attack with Bombardment (p. B111)? Can it really be hit only once? Should it be attacked once per hex it takes up? I have found nothing official on this matter, and apparently nobody has asked this question on the forums as well.

My suggested ruling:
1) Count the number of hexes the figure takes up in the affected area.
2) Look up this number in the Linear Measurement column of the Size and Speed/Range Table (p. B550).
3) The number in the Size column will be the effective Rate of Fire of the attack. Do not add a to-hit bonus for this effective Rate of Fire, just use it as a cap of how many hits are possible. I suggest assigning "virtual" Recoil 2 to Bombardment attacks, but maybe it could differ from attack to attack.

Thursday 12 November 2020

Alchemy: Some New Poisons

Alchemy: Some New Poisons

This post describes the conversions of poisons from Arms and Equipment Guide for D&D 3.0.

Wednesday 11 November 2020

Monsters: Chitine and Choldrith

Monsters: Chitine and Choldrith

This post will convert two related creatures from the Forgotten Realms setting - the chitine and the choldrith. Both are spider-people, but different.

Tuesday 10 November 2020

Monster: Banelar

Monster: Banelar

Banelars are nagas from the Forgotten Realms setting. They have very weak tentacles that they use to
manipulate items (usually wands), and a poisonous stinger. They look very cool, in my opinion.

Monday 9 November 2020

Monsters: Asabis

Monsters: Asabis

The Forgotten Realms setting has a minor race of lizardmen that dwell in the desert. The asabi also
have a larger, stupider subrace called the stingtails. Despite the name, they do not have any stingers.

Sunday 8 November 2020

Monster: Fang Dragon

Monster: Fang Dragon

Fang dragons lack a breath weapon, but instead possess larger fangs, a more agile tail that ends with
two blades, and poison.

Saturday 7 November 2020

Alchemy: Scoundrel Poisons

Alchemy: Scoundrel Poisons

This post will describe the conversion of various poisons from Complete Scoundrel for D&D 3.5. Some of them are pretty exotic.

Grafting: Vile Deformity

Grafting: Vile Deformity

I converted quite a lot of content from the Book of Vile Darkness, but I forgot something - vile deformity. In my games, this self-mutilation uses the same rules as grafting, so let us stat up some vile deformities as grafts.

Friday 6 November 2020

Treasure: Special Materials IX

Treasure: Special Materials IX 

A long time ago, I converted all the special materials from Pathfinder. Let's convert some special materials from D&D 3.5 too.

Thursday 5 November 2020

Monster: Vaath

Monster: Vaath

And this is the last monster from the Book of Vile Darkness. I've always overlooked this one, but now
that I read through its entry more thoroughly I can see that it's one of the most terrifying monsters to encounter. Luckily, they dwell in Carceri, and who wants to be there?

Wednesday 4 November 2020

Monsters: Kythons

Monsters: Kythons

As described in the Book of Vile Darkness, the kythons (not to be confused with the kytons) were created by a group of powerful fiends trapped on the Material Plane. The exact type of the fiends is not mentioned, but the fact that the kythons speak Infernal suggests that those fiends were devils. The kythons are basically zergs/xenomorphs/tyranids (much closer to the latter - they even grow organic weaponry). Just look at the illustrations! Mechanically, I decided to cut down on the energy immunities and resistances, because being immune to two types of energy and almost immune to the rest isn't very fun.

Monday 2 November 2020

Monsters: Vile Undead

Monsters: Vile Undead

Book of Vile Darkness also has two new undead creatures. Let's convert them.

Sunday 1 November 2020

Monsters: Vile Devils

Monsters: Vile Devils

Book of Vile Darkness has two new devils - the insectile kocrachon and the dinosaur-like (I don't see theresemblance on the picture) ghargatula. None of them were updated in any of the following books.

Saturday 31 October 2020

Monsters: Sentient Undead and Corrupted Creatures

Monsters: Sentient Undead and Corrupted Creatures

Book of Vile Darkness has three new templates. The first two (bone creature and corpse creature) are just skeletons and zombies, but sentient. In GURPS, just take the normal skeleton or zombie lens and remove the mental disadvantages that are not appropriate. The third template is the corrupted creature.

Friday 30 October 2020

Monsters: Vile Demons

Monsters: Vile Demons

Let's convert the demons from the infamous Book of Vile Darkness. For some reason, it reprints the
babau from the Monster Manual. In addition, all the demons except the shadow demon get updated in the Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss.

Thursday 29 October 2020

Monsters: Loumara

Monsters: Loumara

Fiendish Codex I for D&D 3.5 introduced two subtypes of demons - the loumara and the obyriths. Unfortunately, the book provides only two examples for each categories. In this post I will convert both the loumara from that book.

Wednesday 28 October 2020

Solo GURPS: Agor Widepalm, Session #2

Solo GURPS: Agor Widepalm, Session #2

Let's continue to story of Agor Widepalm.
Previous sessions:
Session #1 - link.

Tuesday 27 October 2020

Monsters: Creatures of Stone

Monsters: Creatures of Stone

Let's finish converting the creatures from Races of Stone to be done with the entire Races of X series. At least with races and monsters from it. The earth whisper is a very interesting monster, in my opinion. I've used it both in D&D and GURPS games.

Monday 26 October 2020

Monster: Sibyllic Guardian

Monster: Sibyllic Guardian

Let's finish the bestiary from Complete Psionic. Sibyllic guardian is an archon surrounded by blood-red
glyphs (if you read the description) or blue (if you look at the picture) glyphs. Possesses both magical and psionic abilities.

Sunday 25 October 2020

Monster: Spectral Savant

Monster: Spectral Savant

Spectral savants are psionic ghosts, usually telepaths. They were introduced in Complete Psionic. I
decided against turning them into a lens. Just use this template and slap on whatever psionic abilities you want.

Saturday 24 October 2020

Powers/Hazard: Faerzress

Powers/Hazards: Faerzress

Faerzress is a type of magical radiation that suffuses many parts of the Underdark in the Forgotten Realms setting. It serves both as a source of mutations and as an environmental effect that interferes with teleportation and divination. Cool! Let's convert it to GURPS.

Friday 23 October 2020

Powers: Theurgy

Powers: Theurgy

In D&D slang, a theurg is a class that combines the powers of two different spellcasting classes, such as the mystic theurg (arcane/divine), psychic theurg (divine/psionic), soulcaster (arcane/incarnum), etc. In my setting, there are many different power sources, but taking two separate Sorcerous Empowerment advantages, for example, to make an arcane/divine theurg is a very suboptimal thing to do. However, I like the concept of such supernatural power blending, so let's try to come up with some rules for that to make such concept more attractive.

Thursday 22 October 2020

Racial Templates/Monsters: Races of Stone

Racial Templates/Monsters: Races of Stone

Let's convert races from Races of Stone. Goliaths are a quite interesting race, and the feral garguns are their more savage offshoot. The stonechildren were first printed in the Miniatures Handbook, but then reprinted in Races of Stone as a "playable" race.

Wednesday 21 October 2020

Racial Templates/Monsters: Races of Destiny

Racial Templates/Monsters: Races of Destiny

Races of Destiny has quite many new races, and most of them I have already converted. Let's do the rest.

Tuesday 20 October 2020

Racial Templates/Lenses: Races of the Dragon

Racial Templates/Lenses: Races of the Dragon

Races of the Dragon for D&D 3.5 has no new monsters, but has one new race, one new template (lens, in GURPS), and reprints another lens from Draconomicon. Let's convert them.

Monday 19 October 2020

Racial Templates/NPCs: Races of the Wild

Racial Templates/NPCs: Races of the Wild

Since I did some Races of the Wild content, let's also convert the actual races from that book (that were not converted before), and the sample NPCs.

Sunday 18 October 2020

Monsters: Friends of the Wild

Monsters: Friends of the Wild

Since I touched Races of the Wild in the last post briefly, let's convert the rest of the creatures from that
book. Brixashulties are halfling-bred goatlike creatures. Chordevocs are halfling-bred hawks with Vibration Sense. Elven hounds (a.k.a. cooshee/cu sidhe) are normal dogs, but with some extra abilities tacked onto them to make them more "elven".

Saturday 17 October 2020

Monsters: More Dire Animals

Monsters: More Dire Animals

Let's convert some dire animals from the Monster Manual II for D&D 3.0. The animals are dire toad, dire hawk (later reprinted and updated in Races of the Wild), dire snake, dire horse, dire elk, and dire elephant.

Thursday 15 October 2020

Solo GURPS: Agor Widepalm, Session #1

Solo GURPS: Agor Widepalm, Session #1

I bet that many of you have heard about solo roleplaying, but not many have tried that. The most well known "GM emulator/oracle" probably is Mythic GM Emulator, but there are many others, such as the Adventure Crafter. They all have their upsides and downsides, so it's up to you to decide which one to use. It's your game after all. Here, I am going to use MGME with one of its modifications - Variations 2, and maybe use additional toolkits. Hopefully, this will show people what this entire thing looks like.

Tuesday 6 October 2020

Sorcery: Body Control Spells V

Sorcery: Body Control Spells V

Let's make some new Body Control spells, even though Body Control is one of those colleges that already have many spells. Bear Hug and Catfall probably work as Animal spells too.

Monday 5 October 2020

Sorcery: Earth Spells V

Sorcery: Earth Spells V

Let's make some earth spells for all you geomancers and terramancers out there. Destroy Earth is useful for digging and removing stone obstacles. Earthbind is a powerful binding spell. Rockwalking lets the subject cling to stone walls. Resist Earth and Mass Resist Earth should be useful when fighting earth elementals, stone golems, or neanderthals. Sandstrider and Mudwalker are two spells that should be helpful when traversing difficult terrain. Walk on Dust is a specialized form of Walk on Air. Digger is a fantastic movement option.

Sunday 4 October 2020

Sorcery: Force and Gravity Spells

Sorcery: Force and Gravity Spells

I haven't made any sorcery spells in a while, so let's make some. In my games, I use a slightly altered magic college structure, adding several colleges. Colleges of Force and Gravity are among the new ones. While they share many spells, they still feel quite different.
Contragrav Flight and Personal Contragrav Flight are gravitic flight spells. Laminate Force Field is a variant of the Armor spell that protects better against shaped-charge warheads and plasma bolts. Ripple Sense and Ripple Message allow gravity wave-based communication. Mass Sense grants an exotic sense that lets the subject navigate the surroundings. Protection from Force is a spell that protects from force attacks.

Saturday 3 October 2020

Monsters: Vlish

Monsters: Vlish

And here we have the vlish (I don't know the correct plural form). They are floating gasbags with some
magical abilities from the Geneforge series. Cool!

Friday 2 October 2020

Monsters: Wingbolts

Monsters: Wingbolts

And here we have wingbolts from the Geneforge series. Look like mutalisks.

Thursday 1 October 2020

Monsters: Glaahks

Monsters: Glaahks

Glaahks are magical creations from the Geneforge series. Their only remarkable feature is their
poisonous stingers.

Wednesday 30 September 2020

Monsters: Artilas

Monsters: Artilas

The artila is the only creation I remember from playing Geneforge 1. Reading about them made me like
them even more. Who doesn't like scaly worms that spit acid and have multiple variations?

Tuesday 29 September 2020

Monsters: Roamers

Monsters: Roamers

Let's return to Geneforge monster conversions, we don't have many left. Roamers are quadrupedal
creations whose dog-likeness depends on the iteration of the game. They have several varieties that do not differ that much.

Monday 28 September 2020

Sunday 27 September 2020

Monsters: Elemental Weirds II (Fire and Water)

Monsters: Elemental Weirds II (Fire and Water)

And here we have the rest of the "traditional" elemental weirds.

Saturday 26 September 2020

Monsters: Elemental Weirds

Monsters: Elemental Weirds (Air and Earth)

Elemental weirds are... weird, but I like them a lot. While they are not very powerful by themselves,
they can summon allies and are potent spellcasters. It seems that they work better not as enemies, but as quest givers. This post contains two out of six elemental weirds from D&D 3.5.

Saturday 19 September 2020

Monster: Shadow Eft

Monster: Shadow Eft

Shadow efts are monsters from Complete Psionic. They are native to the Plane of Shadows, where they
feed on the psychic residue. Finally, a chance to use some necropsi abilities from Pyramid #3-99!

Friday 18 September 2020

Ultra-Tech: Handtech

Ultra-Tech: Handtech

GURPS Ultra-Tech has finger paws (p. UT218) that allow some quadruped uplifts with no fine manipulators to manipulate things more precisely. But what if we need more options? What if somebody wants to play an upliften parrot and thinks that a beak and talons are not enough?

Saturday 12 September 2020

Monsters: Element Creatures

Monsters: Element Creatures

Manual of the Planes for D&D 3.0 features a set of templates that turn normal creatures into
elementals. Basically, they are the elemental variants of the "celestial/fiendish" templates. I decided against making them into lenses, but to just convert the example creatures by combining the normal creatures with some traits of the elemental creature. I did use the air element squids in one of my games. They are strong.

Friday 11 September 2020

Monsters: Avatars of Elemental Evil

Monsters: Avatars of Elemental Evil

Monster Manual IV brings us four new elemental beings - avatars of elemental evil. Basically, they are
Large elementals with some extra abilities that make them significantly more dangerous than their normal peers. I like 'em. Strangely, they lack the Evil subtype.

Thursday 10 September 2020

Monster: Taint Elemental

Monster: Taint Elemental

Here we have the last of the "true" elementals from D&D 3.5 (as in elementals that have size/age/power
categories). Taint elementals use the taint system from Heroes of Horror that I adapted to GURPS in the past. Also, they can teleport for some reason.

Wednesday 9 September 2020

Monsters: Elemental Stewards

Monsters: Elemental Stewards

Complete Psionic has four small elemental outsiders that basically live to serve psionic characters.
Arctine (ayy lmao)
and tempestan
Why? I don't know, it doesn't make much sense. Same goes for many things from that book.

Tuesday 8 September 2020

Monsters: Elementite Swarms

Monsters: Elementite Swarms

Elementites are tiny elementals with intelligence on par with insects. Traveling in swarms, they annoy
planar travelers.

Monday 7 September 2020

Monster: Shadow Elemental

Monster: Shadow Elemental

Back in the day, I did a conversion of D&D shadow magic. Let's touch up the shadow elemental
template from that post and turn it into a proper monster entry.

Sunday 6 September 2020

Monster: Storm Elemental

Monster: Storm Elemental

While D&D 3.5 dropped the quasielemental planes, the storm elemental still makes an appearance
there. I guess it's supposed to be something different from the lightning quasielemental.

Saturday 5 September 2020

Monster: Ectoplasmic Swarm

Monster: Ectoplasmic Swarm

Ever wanted to surprise the player characters with a swarm of spiders that can envelop and pin them in
a single second with no active defenses allowed? Even if they are insubstantial? Here's exactly what you need, but be prepared for the players to throw dice at you.

Friday 4 September 2020

Monsters: Astral Constructs

Monsters: Astral Constructs

A long time ago I wrote up the D&D metacreativity power as a GURPS psionic power. I provided a
basic astral construct template there, but now I see that some changes are required. But in addition to that, let's convert the astral construct variants from Complete Psionic.

Thursday 3 September 2020

Lenses/Monsters: Half-Elementals

Lenses/Monsters: Half-Elementals

Half-elementals to the genasi are what half-celestials are to aasimars or half-fiends to tieflings. Cool, but sort of obscure.

Wednesday 2 September 2020

Monster: Smoke Paraelemental

Monster: Smoke Paraelemental

And now we have the last of the paraelementals - the smoke paraelemental that borrows the belker's
smoke claws ability.

Tuesday 1 September 2020

Monster: Ooze Paraelemental

Monster: Ooze Paraelemental

Ooze paraelementals are water elementals, but acidic. There's also some other minor differences there.

Monday 31 August 2020

Monster: Magma Paraelemental

Monster: Magma Paraelemental

Here we have the magma paraelemental. Something of a blend between the earth and the fire
elementals.

Sunday 30 August 2020

Monster: Ice Paraelemental

 Monster: Ice Paraelemental

One thing that I disliked about the Great Wheel cosmology in D&D 3.0+ is the removal of the
paraelemental and quasielemental planes. But at least WotC decided to keep the paraelementals. I decided to remove the ice paraelemental's ability to chill metal and make them slower. I think they make more sense like this.

Saturday 29 August 2020

Monsters: Guardian Familiars

 Monsters: Guardian Familiars

Compete Warrior for D&D 3.5 has only 3 new monsters. More than expected from such a supplement. All three are guardian consturcts that can be taken as familiars.

Friday 28 August 2020

Alchemy: Alternative Elixir Forms

 Alchemy: Alternative Elixir Forms

Metatronic Alchemy already has quite many different elixir forms that should satisfy most players and GMs. I've added some more, like paints, dehydrated potions, and alchemical capsules, but the possibilities do not end there! Let's create meta-modifiers for variant elixirs described in Complete Arcane for D&D 3.5.

Thursday 27 August 2020

Monster: Rainbow Dragon

 Monster: Rainbow Dragon

This dragon's scales shine with all the colors of a rainbow. A large ruffled frill runs down both the top and bottom of its neck, giving way to a pair of sail-like wings that it holds together above its back, almost like the sail of a dimetrodon. A bony ridge that resembles a crown rises behind its nostrils, and two smaller frills give the appearance of finlike ears.
Rainbow dragons are among the most powerful of chromatic dragons. It is rumored that Tiamat created them to act as liasions between her other children. Their resistance to the various energy types employed by chromatic dragons lends credence to this theory.
The small, iridescent scales of a wyrmling rainbow dragon range in hue across the full spectrum. As it ages, its scales grow larger and the colors more brilliant. A rainbow dragon smells like hot metal.
Rainbow dragons tend to lair in ruins and caverns in flat, brightly-lit regions, such as plains and deserts. Rainbow dragons are extremely territorial, and frequently patrol areas they've claimed to eliminate intruders. They enjoy demanding tribute from nearby humanoid settlements, sometimes offering protection against other chromatic dragons which they would have driven off anyway.
Although rainbow dragons can subsist on nearly anything, they prefer to eat vibrantly colorful things or things displaying a wide range of colors.

The description was taken from ENWorld's Creature Catalog. This dragon should not be confused with an even more powerful prismatic dragon from the Epic Level Handbook. I've actually used a rainbow dragon in one of my games, but it never directly confronted the PCs. I can already feel the pain of reformatting this post in this apalling new interface.

Tuesday 25 August 2020

Monsters: Kyshakks

 Monsters: Kyshakks

This is the last fire creation from the Geneforge series. Kyshakks are plated lizards that can breathe
electricity.

Monday 24 August 2020

Monsters: Drayks

 Monsters: Drayks

Let's return to statting up Geneforge monsters, there aren't that many left. This post will detail drayks,
drakons, and their variations. To look up what they are supposed to do, play Geneforge or read that game's wiki.

Sunday 23 August 2020

Powers/Sorcery: Clerical and Divine Empowerments in Action

 Powers/Sorcery: Clerical and Divine Empowerments in Action

One of my patrons asked me to write up an example of clerical and divine empowerments in action. That's quite understandable, as those abilities are somewhat complex and confusing. Let's try to make things more clear!

Tuesday 11 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells X

 Sorcery: Least Spells X

At last, we have conversions of Technological, Water, and Weather spells from GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells. I've found converting spells from that book quite fun despite often just representing their effects as a made up perk.

Monday 10 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells IX

 Sorcery: Least Spells IX

This post describes conversions of Plant, Protection and Warning, and Sound spells from GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells.

Sunday 9 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells VIII

 Sorcery: Least Spells VIII

Now, let's convert Movement and Necromantic spells from GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells.

Saturday 8 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells VII

 Sorcery: Least Spells VII

Now, let's convert Meta and Mind Control spells from GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells. Adjuration ended up being quite expensive. I guess it is reasonable to assume that it will only be case via hardcore improvisation.

Friday 7 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells VI

Sorcery: Least Spells VI

This post converts Light and Darkness, Knowledge, and Making and Breaking spells from GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells.

Thursday 6 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells V

Sorcery: Least Spells V

GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells has a surprising number of Healing spells. In addition to them, I will convert Illusion and Creation spells from that book.

Wednesday 5 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells IV

Sorcery: Least Spells IV

Food spells and Gate spells from GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells!

Tuesday 4 August 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells III

Sorcery: Least Spells III

Even more spells converted from GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells. In addition, I decided to convert Staff from GURPS Magic that I deemed impossible to convert before.

Monday 3 August 2020

Monsters: Fyoras and Cryoas

Monsters: Fyoras and Cryoas

This post details some fire/cold creations from the Geneforge series. Basically, fire/cold-breathing
raptors. Pretty cool nonetheless, I like them.

Wednesday 29 July 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells II

Sorcery: Least Spells II

There's a lot of new spells in the new book. It will probably take twelve or so posts to convert them all. But at least I am motivated to do something!

Tuesday 28 July 2020

Sorcery: Least Spells I

Sorcery: Least Spells I

GURPS Magic: The Least of Spells came out not long ago. After buying it I felt that I spent my money well - this is one of my favorite books despite the standard magic system not being used in my games. It's time to convert the plethora of cantrips into Sorcery. Don't forget to buy the book, it's worth it, especially if you use Magic-as-Skills!

Monday 27 July 2020

Sorcery: Dungeon Fantasy Spells

Sorcery: Dungeon Fantasy Spells

Have you read Fantastic Dungeon Grappling? You should. Aside from a nice streamlining of the Technical Grappling rules and providing the rules for swallowing people whole for the first time, it has a short section with new spells. Let's convert them (and two Kickstarter DF spells) (one, two) into Sorcery spells.

Monday 20 July 2020

Monsters: Clawbugs

Monsters: Clawbugs

Clawbugs are scorpion-like battle creations from Geneforge. Plated clawbugs have thicker armor, but are slower. Stinging clawbugs have poison. Cool.

Sunday 19 July 2020

Monsters: War Tralls

Monsters: War Tralls

Let's do a couple of Geneforge write-ups. War tralls are yet another variety of the big guy creation. But now we got the boring creations out of the way and can make the more interesting ones.

Saturday 18 July 2020

Ultra-Tech: UAC BFG-9000

Ultra-Tech: UAC BFG-9000

Let's stat up the other energy weapon from Doom with the Beam and Blaster Design System article and TheRyujinLP's houserules. It's not going to be 100% authentic, but representing all the tracer beams stuff is a big hassle - let's settle on a single-shot weapon that needs 3 seconds of charging to fire an explosive projectile that contains TL9 C-cell worth of energy.