July 2014 RPG Blog Carnival Wrap-Up

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It's nearly Midnight, but instead of turning into a pumpkin or whatever, here's the Wrap-Up Post for the July 2014 RPG Blog Carnival.

The theme this month was Invasive Species. We had nine excellent entries, not counting our own contributions; two of which were by Leicester. Thanks to all of you who participated in this month's RPG Blog Carnival. It was quite a lot of fun to read all the very well written and thought provoking entries.

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Leicester's Ramble gave us four minor amphibious horrors that have shown up in the kingdom recently. The Rage Salamander, Thunder Frogs and Pustule Toads are bad enough, then you get the Bleeding Caecillian...ouch!

The Githyanki Diaspora blog provided a means of customizing a Githyanki Invasion using 6d6 to suit your campaign. The Githyanki are one of the truly classic Invasive Species to come out of gaming, and this is a fun set of tables just begging to be used.

The MindWeave Role-Playing Platform featured the Tulkem, a reptilian invasive species that aggressively take over territory by expanding swampland and flooding-out their neighbors and competitors.

Tower of the Archmage released their first issue of their brand-new RPG-zine The Archmage's Octavo and this inaugural issue happens to feature an invasive species! It's a free pdf, so you've got nothing to lose by checking it out, and besides it's really good stuff. There's also a map by Dyson Logos in this issue, so you know it has a great map to go with the new monster, and did I mention there are rules for handling Carousing as Magical Research for Wizards? Go Get it.

Leicester's Ramble featured a fun bit of flash fiction as a second-helping of invasive species goodness. It reminded me a bit of the old Twilight Zone and Outer Limits stories, in a good way. I'm still hoping to read another new installment of Farthing and Tig!

Over at the World Builder Blog they were Preparing for the Invasion and featured the half-devil/half-aberrant Morchia and the mind-controlling parasitic Mystauk, both statted-up for the new 5th Edition rules. Both are excellent monsters and worth taking a look at and could be converted over to another edition fairly easily.

Tales of a GM blog told us all about an intriguing invasive species...a giant albino leech that served a player character as an animal companion! I enjoyed this post a great deal as it would fit right in with Wermspittle in a heart-beat.

Eric's Gaming Pulse took on the task of presenting humanity as an invasive species in space. He raises some interesting points and postulates a setting where more highly advanced aliens hire-on humans as their preferred interstellar workforce since humans require less intensive life support systems than other species. There's some real magic to this premise and you really need to read his post if you're at all interested in a fun scifi twist on the invasive species premise.

Porky delivered a very sparse but effective set of rules for adding financiers into the mix at the table in The Rule of the Jungle and the Self-Invasive Species. It reminded me a little bit of Sir A.C. Doyle's The Lost World and similar stories along those lines where there is always someone with money getting involved, the rich investor who backs an expedition only to force their way on board and try to run things...this is another very well thought-out post well worth your time to read it over and consider how it might fit into your game.

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As for ourselves, we posted about the Black Zones, a few Aquatic Terrors for Gus L., Six Nasty Things from the Black Zones, Sickly Yellow Phantoms, Killing Frost, our Third Sewer Encounter table, the Fleshwrought Servitors of Varug, a set of paper minis for the Rilligong, a set of paper minis including several very invasive species such as the Yelg Froth, Bugs, Stompers and there was a picture of a Mucoid included in the photo of our work-space that we posted for Jack. We also did a new robot T-shirt, but those 'bots aren't particularly invasive, so never mind that.

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Thanks again to everyone who participated in this month's RPG Blog Carnival!
Next Month's Theme is: Devious Dungeons and the Host will be: Mindweave Role-Playing.

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Everything you might want to know about the RPG Blog Carnival is available all in one place, including How to Participate, How to Sign-Up to Host a Carnival, as well as some handy advice for How to Host a Carnival if your topic gets accepted. You can also browse through the Archives of Past Carnivals and check to see what's coming next.

The RPG Blog Carnival is sponsored and supported by the RPG Blog Alliance. You can find out more about the RPGBA by clicking these links:

The RPGBA site
The RPGBA FAQ

(1d6) Aquatic Terrors From the Flooded Decks (For Gus)

A Luminous Bristle-Maw

The HMS Apollyon is a massive, decaying Mega-Vessel adrift on the Seas of Fate like a vast floating Gormenghastic Megadungeon crawling with Merrow Men, Gun Wights and all sorts of other wild and demented monsters. The level of creativity and inventiveness lavished on this setting is nothing less than awe inspiring. If you've never visited the Dungeon of Signs blog before, you really ought to do so now.

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Here are (1d6) Aquatic Terrors from the Flooded Decks of the HMS Apollyon...

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1. The stagnant water in this area is oily and smells of rotten fish. By your third step through this shallow, stinking muck you notice dozens of tiny, glistening, fat yellow leeches squirming across your boots...
   

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   Tiny Yellow Leeches (5d10) [AL N, MV 20' (60'), AC 9[10], HD 1d4 each, #AT 1, DG 1 hit point per round, SV F1, ML 12 (fearless), Special: These things are tenacious and persistent. They will wriggle their way into every and any available nook and cranny in their insatiable pursuit of fresh blood. Covering them in salt causes them to burst, inflicting 1d2 damage per burst leech in a 10' radius. If captured and held inside a clear container, they can serve as a yellow-tinged light-source, but will shrivel and die within 1 day without receiving fresh blood.]

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2. There are slick, black spikes jutting out of the otherwise still waters of this chamber. There are several Archer Urchins clustered around a rusted and broken pipe spilling fresh water into the otherwise brackish stuff in here.
   

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   Archer Urchins (3d6) [AL N, MV 20' (40'), AC 46[13], HD 2, #AT 1d4, DG 1d4, SV F1, ML 8, Special: Each Archer Urchin shoots 1d4 spines out to a range of 30'. If a spine misses the intended target, there is a 60% chance that it will ricochet from a bulkhead or wall, allowing it to attack a secondary target with a penalty of -2 to hit. The spines are often poisoned, but it is more a nuisance-toxin causing dysentery, blindness, or incapacitating nausea than anything outright lethal or damaging.]

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3. Wet gray and black hoses and cables dangle from the ceiling. The shadows are a bit peculiar in here, due to all the dangling stuff. You might notice that some of those hoses have begun to sway sinuously, if you are exceptionally observant, otherwise...
   

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   Ceiling Lampreys (2d8) [AL N, MV 20' (120'), AC 7[12], HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d4*, SV F2, ML 7, Special: These things get a +2 bonus on their first attack and inflict double damage any time they roll a natural 19 or 20 to hit. On a successful attack the Ceiling Lamprey can opt to forego the damage they would have inflicted in order to wrap around their target and commit a boring attack for 2d6 damage as a free attack next round. It requires a STR of 22 to remove one of these things, but doing so inflicts 1d6 extra damage to the victim. However, if they are exposed to open flame, they will recoil and seek to escape without causing any further harm.]

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4. The floor slopes down. It gets pretty steep right up to the point where it abruptly drops off into a deep chamber-lake of cold, black water. The floor is covered with loose rust, grit and small debris, making it mildly treacherous to navigate. If someone does slip, they have a good chance to slide into the water. Nothing will happen for the first few rounds...then you see all the pretty pink, yellow and green lights swirling around them...
   

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   Glowing Piranhas (6d4) [AL N, MV 0' (120'), AC 4[15], HD 1d4 each, #AT 1, DG 1d4*, SV F2, ML 9, Special: Only 4 of these things can attack a single victim in a given round. The rest swarm about and try to prevent their meal from escaping. Their bioluminescent glands are incredibly toxic (Save -1 or suffer 3d4 damage) and can't be extracted without a lot of time and patience, though Merrow Men are reputed to have specialized tools and techniques for just this sort of thing, and they also know how to use the teeth for arrow-heads and the like.]

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5. The water in here has a definite current moving through it deep below. It's also salty. Maybe there's a connection to the outer waters deep below...
   

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   Metallicized Barracuda (2d4) [AL N, MV 0' (140'), AC 3[16], HD 4, #AT 1, DG 3d4, SV F5, ML 12 (fearless), Special: If one of these things makes a successful bite attack, the rest gain a +1 bonus to hit the same victim. They inflict double damage on anyone wearing leather or similar, soft armor-types.]

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6. There is a milkiness to the stale water. It reeks of some sort of cheese. There's also a thick mat of some sort of dark weeds just below the surface...
   

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   Sargassoan Kill-Kelp [AL N, MV 10' (60'), AC 9[10], HD 4, #AT 4, DG 1d4 each, SV F4, ML 12 (fearless), Special: Immune to mind-influencing effects, this plant-terror waits patiently for one likely victim to get close enough to it for the thing to lash out with all of its attacks at once. Once it makes a single successfully attack, it wraps around the target and begins to drag them under the water, hopefully to drown. It requires a STR of 16+ to break one strand and there are up to 4 strands to deal with before getting free. If properly harvested and dried, this stuff can make really good rope.]

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HMS Apollyon Introduction   |  HMS Apollyon 20 Questions
Dungeon of Signs blog

July RPG Blog Carnival: Invasive Species

The Theme for this Month's RPG Blog Carnival is Invasive Species and it is being hosted right here at Hereticwerks. Through the month of July we will be presenting a few posts that feature a variety of Invasive Species and we'd love to see what you have to say on the subject. Have you introduced some sort of invasive species into your game or campaign? How did it go? Have any pointers or advice for how to handle invasive species in a particular game, setting or genre?

Whatever genre you like, however gritty or glittery you prefer your games or fiction, there's all sorts of ways you could address the theme of Invasive Species. Below we've provided a few questions, examples and possible suggestions to help you get started.

Please leave a comment below with a link to your post and we'll be sure to include it in the end-of-month summary/Wrap-Up post.

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Last month's RPG Blog Carnival was hosted by Moebius Adventures and featured quite a few different answers to the question: "What's In The Hole?" Be sure to check out the Wrap-Up Post for last month's Carnival to discover a host of thing that might be waiting for your characters in that otherwise innocuous looking hole over there. There were some really great entries last month, so be sure to take a look at the Wrap-Up Post at Moebius Adventures when you get a chance!

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Invasive Species

What are some of your favorite invasive species from books, comics, web-comics, or graphic novels?
We're big fans of The War of the Worlds. And we'd definitely classify M. P. Shiel's Purple Clouds as pernicious invasive species, even if they are mostly billowing toxic vapors with a bad attitude. The Daleks from Doctor Who and the the Eddorians from Doc Smith's Lensmen series are another two great examples of invasive species from classic science fiction.


What is your favorite invasive species from the movies or TV?
We're big fans of The War of the Worlds, Invaders From Mars, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Day of the Triffids, Critters, Gremlins, The Blob, Godzilla, and lots of classic sci-fi and fantasy movies. The aliens who show up in the Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man are one of the best examples of a really sneaky invasive species--they get humanity to voluntarily board their cattle-carrier ships. The xenomorph from Alien remains one of the all-time classic movie monsters and it is truly an invasive species in every sense of the term. Zombies are often treated as though they were an invasive species, especially in the movies and on TV...would you consider zombies to be an invasive species? If you have strong feelings either way, what are some reasons/examples you could point out? What are some of your favorite movies that portray invaders from beyond and how has this influenced your game?


Do you have a favorite invasive species that was featured in a game or campaign setting?
Anyone who has played through Expedition to the Barrier Peaks can list off several classic examples of invasive species that have gone on to take their place in later editions of D&D such as the Vegepygmies and the awesome Froghemoth. It's a classic mash-up of fantasy and sci-fi. Stephen Colbert fondly remembers this module, and so do quite a lot of other old school gamers. Some of us even had a character survive this adventure.

Going back to Supplement Three: Eldritch Wizardry, the Mind Flayers were first introduced into D&D as invaders from the Underworld while a host of other invasive species such as Brain Moles, Cerebral Parasites and a host of demons were also brought into the game. Is there a classic or new monster that you feel is the ultimate invasive species?


Here are a few more questions to help give you some ideas:

• Did Owlbears take over the local forest? If so, what are your characters going to do about it?
• Are dragons native to your game-world, or are they invaders from somewhere else?
• Could the deities active in a fantasy milieu actually be invaders from another realm?
• Are the undead actually invaders from beyond the veil of death?
• Would you consider Mr. Lovecraft's various alien beings truly invasive if they preceded humanity be eons? What happens when the Mi-Go invade? John Snead might know...
• How do you handle demons and possession in your game? They pretty much define 'invasive.'
• What happens when a group of player characters introduce the equivalent of rabbits into Australia?
• Have you created a great alien space invader to menace your Pulp Sci-Fi campaign?
• Do you have some advice on how to handle the proliferation of unnatural horrors or terrible monstrosities that have been unleashed upon an unsuspecting world by irresponsible wizards?
• What if a super villain succeeded in unleashing an unstoppable army of cybernetic-alien-zombie-wombat-chickens that took over the world and wouldn't let if go?
• Do you have ideas of how humanity might cope with a far superior civilization--might we be viewed as an invasive species?
• Do you have some version of jumping carp, zebra mussels, buck thorn, gypsy moths, or something similar encroaching upon the frontiers of the player character's domains? How would a wizard deal with a swarm of locusts before it destroyed all the crops? Can your paladin halt the depredations of those moths infesting the fabric mills before your liege goes bankrupt?
• Has someone stirred-up a dragon-turtle that has now started terrorizing the near-by lake-towns? did they accidentally move the thing's eggs, or was it done deliberately as a form of sabotage?
• What sort of invasive species might be proliferating deep within the darkest recesses of the WorldNet? Are they rogue AI, disembodied spirits, damaged algorithms or something else entirely?

Not all invaders need to come from outer space, dead ruins beneath the ocean waves, or someplace exotic; some might just be people from another continent or perhaps from a different time...
While one of your own ancestors wouldn't normally be considered to be an entirely different species, the weird transformations that Joseph Curwen underwent in order to gain power and knowledge as a wizard made him enough different from his unsuspecting descendant Charles Dexter Ward to count as far as we're concerned. We also would classify John Carter from Edgar Rice Burrough's classic Barsoom series as an example of a heroic invasive species; what do you think? The astronauts who crash-land on The Planet of the Apes find themselves in the role of being an invasive species. Morbius was an invasive species of one as he pilfered the secrets of the Krell in Forbidden Planet...just as you could make a case for Alice being an invasive species in Through the Looking Glass, or the Pevensies in Narnia, and even Flash Gordon is something of an invasive species during his adventures on Mongo. If you wanted, you could probably make a case for Captain James T. Kirk being something of an invasive species unto himself since it seemed like he might well have single-handedly produced more human-alien hybrids than any dozen secret underground government labs. Sometimes we are the invaders...which opens the door to taking a look at various examples of invasions that our own species has perpetrated against itself such as the Conquistadors in South America (or was it Tamoachan?), the various colonial powers in Africa & Asia, and a host of examples from history, military history, or alternate history.

So, what are some of your personal favorite invasive species?

How have you handled invasive species in your game?

We'd love to hear about it...

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Everything you might want to know about the RPG Blog Carnival is available all in one place, including How to Participate, How to Sign-Up to Host a Carnival, as well as some handy advice for How to Host a Carnival if your topic gets accepted. You can also browse through the Archives of Past Carnivals and check to see what's coming next.

The RPG Blog Carnival is sponsored and supported by the RPG Blog Alliance. You can find out more about the RPGBA by clicking these links:

The RPGBA site
The RPGBA FAQ

Reservoir Werm (Wermspittle)

There's Something Down There...

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Reservoir Werm
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60' (20')
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 10
Attacks: 1
Damage: 3d6+Acid
Save: F6
Morale: 9

No one knows how this thing got down in the Old Reservoir. No one knows how long it's been down there. So far there has been one person who has returned from attempting to investigate the Old Reservoir. The one Tenebrotype image they were able to bring back with them is reproduced above. All anyone knows right now is that it appears to be some sort of very large wermic-thing. The Sewer Militia is assembling a team of volunteers to attempt to capture or kill the thing...

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