Candlewerm [Wermspittle]

One of the first creatures one learns to Summon, Call or Bind at the Academy is a Candlewerm. The little beasts make excellent 'first servitors' for those students who've never yet had a pet or gained a Familiar. Besides carrying around candles or torches, these things can be taught simple tricks...like the time a student trained a Candlewerm to wield a wand...with rather mixed results.

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Candlewerm
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 30' (10') [Climb Walls]
Armor Class: 8 [as Leather]
Hit Dice: 1 hit point
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1 point
Save: MU1
Morale: 6 [11 if made a Servitor]

Special: Blind (Immune to visual illusions, Glamers, Figments), Able to climb vertical surfaces, Vague Empathy allows them to mostly understand a few verbal commands.

Candlewerms are among the most common, minor forms of Servitors known in Wermspittle. The little things are not suited to service as Familiar, but they are intensely loyal and surprisingly clever--if one takes the time to train them to do more than just lug around a lit candle or carry a torch in their specialized mouth-parts.

Certain obscure treatises claim that it is possible to enhance minor servitors like the Candlewerms, but few spell-casters ever make that much effort as it is considered a waste of time.

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A spell-caster may choose to invest as much as 10% but no less than 1% of their recently earned XP to enhance their Candlewerm, allowing the creature to gain additional hit dice as if advancing as a magic-user at 10% of the normal XP cost and never gaining the ability to cast spells...unless further measures are taken to elevate the simple wermic-brain of the creature...but this sort of thing is strenuously discouraged on campus...

Fleshwrought Servitors of Varug

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Fleshwrought Servitors of Varug
(Standard Order Servitor)
No. Enc.: 1 (1)
Alignment: Neutral (Inimical)
Movement: 120' (Fly/Levitate)
Armor Class: 3[16]
Hit Dice: 5
Attacks: 2 or 1 (Weapons or bite)
Damage: 1d6, 1d6 or 2d4+2
Save: F7
Morale: 12 (Suffers -4 penalty when confronted with the Sign of Drallik)

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Standard Servitor Abilities: Tactile sight (90'), Telepathy (only human languages can be used), Teleport (Once per day). Immunities/Resistances: Electrical, Poison and Gas attacks only do half-damage. Immune to Illusions/glamers, but can be Charmed and are reported to be very susceptible to Suggestion or Hypnosis.
Take double damage from bronze, bone, stone or wood weapons.

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The Fleshwrought were once human beings. Once, but no more. Their bodies were left behind on alien planes by their comrades, abandoned within unwholesome places by circumstance or design, or otherwise lost to the forces beyond the comforting boundaries of the mortal world. There they were found by the prowling hound-things of Varug and subjected to the foul ministrations of his bone-masked minions. The flesh of these forlorn and fallen adventurers has been remolded in mad and bizarre ways, restructured to eliminate their faces, extinguish their former identity, and to make them fitting slaves to the Keepers of the Bone Cages and the Lords of Squirmkeep.

The Fleshwrought are called forth by use of a variation of the Conjure Servitor spell:

Conjure Fleshwrought Servitor
Level: 4
Duration: 1d6 rounds per hit point sacrificed
Range: 10' per level of caster

This spell can only be cast if there is a sufficient amount of living flesh arranged within the Six Nested Hexagons chalked on a suitable flat surface. None of the extant sources give any hints as to what constitutes 'a sufficient amount' of flesh, so one must use their ingenuity or invest some time and effort trying to get that worked out through divination, interrogation or whatever means gets best results.

Fleshwrought Servitors called forth by this spell are not brought under the control of the summoner; that requires another spell, rite or device...or special dispensation from Varug or his cult.

If the caster has possession of one of the authentic Amber and Bone Orbs of Kilushak from before the grievous inundation, they are said to gain the option to call forth stronger Fleshwrought Servitors than usual by a simple expenditure of one's personal hit points at a rate of one hit point granting 1d4 additional hit points to the conjured servitor. Of course, those servitors that have higher HD than the summoner's level as a spell-caster tend to be much more difficult to control and have been known to devour the one who called them forth as it was far easier than the task they were assigned.

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20 Deadly Planes: An Overview

Some planes can be visited. Not these. Some planes can be contacted in order to commune with alien intelligences or to summon forth various entities. Not these. Raw and inherently hostile, these are not destinations. These are not places in which to seek enlightenment, nor to beg assistance. Nothing exists to be contacted or to answer any summons. Desolate and decaying, these are broken places, unoccupied and void regions, these sidereal abysses are extremely dangerous, but they have their uses...

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Twenty Deadly Planes: An Overview
More often than not the so-called 'Twenty Deadly Planes' are referred to by way of a common symbol. The true name(s) of these planes, if they actually have any such things, are not provided in any of the primary sources which tend to make use of 'Lesser Epithets,' or obscure hieroglyphs when not employing the common symbols. Modern scholars have adopted either the Lesser Epithets or the accepted translation of the older hieroglyphs, or use a combined version that incorporates both into something a bit more poetic sounding. Tastes vary. As do results.

These planes are only ever involved in the inflicting of damage. A wide array of Currents, Bolts, Missiles and other attack forms utilizing the highly unstable energies of these planes are detailed in dozens of primers and texts. There are also a range of Defensive Wards and Protection spells that fend off the worst effects of the energy currents drawn from these planes. There are also a number of Wall and Barrier Spells that draw upon these planes. There are no summoning, no banishing, none of those sorts of spells for these planes. Most of the primary sources also tend to gloss over the risk of madness that tends to go along with utilizing these forces in one's spells.

Table One: Twenty Deadly Planes

d20	Common Symbol	Lesser Epithet	Translated Hieroglyph	Damage Type	Risk of Insanity %
1	Roughly-etched square with three yellow droplets in the lower left-hand corner.	Crumbling Ottrabar	Clinging Yellow Ichor	Corrosive Decay	5%
2	Black trapezoid of ashes.	Ashen Wastes of Black Attush	Hot Black Ashes	Heat, Rapid Acidification	10%
3	Green zig-zags, preferably etched with acid.	Smoldering Karzig	Hot Green Vastness	Toxic, Heat	3%
4	A gray puddle.	Cold Gray Seas of Zou-Dagra	Frigid Gray Alkaline Pools	Cold, Toxic, Alkali	5%
5	Mirror shards arranged in a sort of maze.	Glass Labyrinth or Laar Perda	Transparent Mineral Growths	Telepathic, Physical Destruction	25%
6	Five green dots.	Killing Rains of Jag Nesir	Hot Green Acid	Physical Destruction (Acid)	30%
7	Fractured black ovoid.	Black Empty Zillig	Hot Dark Entropic Abyss	Hot, Psychic (Empathic Collapse)	95%
8	Single amber tear.	Temoor's Tears	Cold Yellow Acid Clouds	Cold, Acid	7%
9	Blue smear.	Schor Jangul	Toxic Blue Dust	Toxic, Destroys Language/Verbal Ability	75%
10	Gray triangle.	Gray Ice of Kan-Kumy	Cold Gray Flames	Cold, Consumes Shadow	50%
11	Screaming mouth-glyph.	Screaming Botjay	White Psychic Cacophony	Psychic, Nervous System Destruction	95%
12	Three red wavy lines.	Howling Red Ler-Bica	Cold Scarlet Winds	Disorientation, Cold	3%
13	Random brown scribbles.	Dirch Brun Fal	Dry Brown Fog	Desiccation	5%
14	Amorphous blob with burned edges.	Selinoth Yr	Smoldering White Jelly	Smothering, Acid, Heat	30%
15	Half-dissolved femur.	Red Kulva	Bone-Dissolving Red Light	Physical Destruction	45%
16	Bright yellow angle, sometimes mistaken for a poorly drawn 'V.'	Wrathful Gomaq	Angular Yellow Momentum	Extreme Physical Destruction	10%
17	Violet triangle or icicle-glyph.	Grosilz Pel	Hot Violet Ice	Hot, Cold, Crushing (Ice)	3%
18	Raw vertical slash.	Tid'urm Aneff	Silent Rainbow	Terminal Stillness	80%
19	Scattering of iron nails.	Sea of Jageld	Hot Iron Tides	Hot, Crushing, Tides	5%
20	Inverted, iridescent-black three-step pyramid.	Dim Abyss of Orgythe	Devouring Void	Extreme Aging, Draining, Ultimate Destruction	99%

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Insanity: The chance that the caster goes insane from coming into temporary synchrony with one of these planes is reduced by 5% per level above the 5th. Those driven insane by their trafficking with these highly inimical planes remain that way for as many hours as they have levels. However, upon regaining their sanity, another Save is required, failure incurs a permanent penalty of -1 to all subsequent Saves versus madness and insanity effects.

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Damage Type: These are necessarily vague and incomplete, as each instance and encounter is going to have some unique qualities to it due to the variables involved. The types of damage specified in the table above are the types of effects most commonly reported or recorded in conjunction with each of these planes.

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Notes
Attempting to Contact these planes (as per the Cleric spell Contact Other Plane, Labyrinth Lord, p. 29, or by way of one of the alternative Contact Plane spells) will require the caster to Save. Success causes 1d4 damage and a temporary loss of one spell-slot for 1d4 days. Failure causes 1d4 damage per level of the caster as well as requiring a second Save to avoid temporary insanity. Failing the second Save, roll the d% indicated, the insanity persists for 1d4 days, after which they will certainly have gained a valuable insight into the nature of these planes, as well as gaining a +1 to all subsequent Saves against incurring temporary insanity on the Risk of Insanity table above. In this specialized instance, no questions are asked or answered, instead the caster gains the ability to incorporate the contacted plane's damage type as a secondary effect of their spells for 1d4 days. If they are conversant with the Lower Forms, they can now empower one of those spells with the energies of the contacted plane. they can now consider moving on to forming a Link, but there are no known methods that have proven effective for attuning to these planes. At least not currently available within the published literature or usual sources. There are rumors of strange sects and bizarre undead entities that have mastered the intricacies of attuning themselves to these planes, but that is all unsubstantiated rumor and hearsay at the moment.

First Contact with any of these twenty planes results in an outburst of the corresponding energies, causing 4d6 damage (Plus 1d4 per level of caster involved) within a 10' radius sphere. It is very unlikely that anyone could form a reliable Link from the initial contact attempt. But it is possible. Let's say there's a 1% chance. Oh and they still need to Save or roll % to see if they are driven insane. These are Deadly Planes. Meddling with these sorts of forces are dangerous and not for the weak or muddled.

Subsequent Exposure and Making a Connection: Each subsequent attempt to contact one of these planes has a spill-over effect that causes 1d4 damage per level of the caster within a 10' radius. The % chance of establishing a connection to the plane improves by 5% (plus the caster's Prime Ability Modifier). They must make a Save during each such attempt. Failing the Save requires the caster to roll a d% and consulting the Risk of Insanity Column in Table One above. Rolling the amount listed or below results in temporary insanity.

Attempting to Attune to any of these planes results in 3d6 damage per level of the caster erupting out across a 30' radius and forcing the caster to Save at -4. Failing to Save results in the caster suffering triple damage and everyone else within the 30' radius of effect suffering full damage even if they made their personal Save.

Creating an open or unbound Link to one of these planes inflicts 1d6 damage upon everything within a 20' radius and require a Save. Failing the Save requires the caster to roll a d% and consulting the Risk of Insanity Column in Table One above. Rolling the amount listed or below results in temporary insanity. Also, those planes listed with multiple damage types inflict 1d6 of each damage type. Such a Link tends to only last for a few seconds, unless the caster fails their Save, in which case such an unbound Link may persist for 1d4 Turns, causing damage each Turn, until the Link collapses. Most sources agree on using Squares to bind such Links, so long as the Link is intended to be embedded into a Lens or similar item. The more reputable manuals and mentors will warn that the use of Triangles will cause the very agitated Link to inflict triple normal damage, with a chance (equal to the Insanity %) of forming a lingering Vortex (triple normal duration). Once a Link has been successfully formed, it can be re-formed at will at a cost of 1 hit point for every 1d4 damage caused through the link. There are quite a number of ways to incorporate Links into spells, rites, items or workings. It is considered one of the fundamentals of effective sorcery, and a prerequisite for what comes next.

Vortices formed from the energies of these planes are highly unstable and will only persist if constantly reinforced or replenished. These Vortices cannot be rendered static, nor anchored. They traverse a random course for their duration and can sometimes turn back on the originating caster. These Vortices tend to last 1 Turn per level of the caster.

Tapping these planes is far more difficult than forming a temporary Link and is best left to those with great confidence in their abilities and knowledge. Planar Taps keyed to these planes are extremely dangerous, highly unstable and have a tendency to collapse in spectacular explosions on par with fireball and lightning bolt spells. The current, prevailing trend of thought is to first establish a Link, then expand it into a full Tap once it is already mostly embedded in the designated matrix-object, most often a Lens. Attempts to embed a Tap into a melee weapon are mostly discouraged as there is no effective means available for shielding the wielder from the effects of the current of planar force flowing through the Tap.

Attempting to erect a Portal to any of these planes results in 6d6 damage for everything caught within 30' radius of the attempted portal site. Re-roll for each separate damage type listed. This effect will persist for 1 Turn per level of the caster. The Caster is required to Save at -4 or take triple damage. Those casters slain in this manner are non-recoverable. There are too many variables to take into consideration, however it is very likely that this sort of incident would indeed form one or more Vortices.

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20 Deadly Planes I: Overview   |   20 Deadly Planes II: Excerpts from a Banned Manual
20 Deadly Planes III: 20 Sample Spells   |   20 Deadly Planar Lenses

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The most common object or item making use of these energies are Planar Lenses, with Wands being a close second. Several examples of these will be detailed at the blog fairly soonish. Bujilli recently gained a wand that works off of this system in Episode 70. He just doesn't know it yet...

A Grimoire of spells and such derived from the Twenty Deadly Planes is forthcoming.

The Twenty-Fourth Entity (Thirty-Six Configurations)

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Cold and calculating, be not fooled by this being's assumed form; it is a ruse, a mask, an unsubtle disguise. It preys upon the members of an insect species that inhabit various interstitial realms. It consumes their brains, absorbing their memories, subverts their existence. It never attempts to masquerade as any of the individuals it has taken over. It is far to vain for such a ploy. It is this vanity that one can exploit to draw the entity forth, trap it thoroughly within the Cerulean Hexagon, and bind it to a pact...if such a thing is truly desired. But be warned; the Twenty-Fourth Entity is a poor host and a worse guest. It knows no limits, respects no boundaries save those imposed by triply-reinforced willpower and backed up by powerful spells. It will seek to gain your trust. It will do everything in its power to convince you to let it go free, to rescind the Hexagon. Should you do so--- [the rest of this page of the manuscript is rendered illegible due to some sort of persistent blue fungal stain at this point].

Adilak,

On the Twenty-Fourth Entity

Excerpted by permission from,

The Book of Thirty-Six Configurations

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To Call Forth the Twenty-Fourth Entity...
The sweet scent of scarab-shells and parsley, mixed with a half-measure of Purple Amber and patchouli (preferably in oil form), are called for in all the standard texts that refer to this being. Copious amounts are to be cast upon large braziers filled with blazing coals. The smoke should fill the entire chamber of art. The chalk used in inscribing the restrictive geometries is not explicitly specified, however Otrimeer of Balg has noted that the chalk crafted from the spiritually-fossilized crustaceal beasts of Pon'Du tends to work marvelously well.

The Twenty-Fourth Configuration is quite an informal thing, compared to the others. One merely forms a double dodecahedral inscription upon the floor--an entirely 2-dimensional representation--and fills the space to overflowing with the prescribed materials in the recommended forms. Child's play, really, when compared to some of the more demanding Configurations.

Boswile's Incordium Vitae has an entire 52-page sub-chapter devoted exclusively to this specific Entity. Someone really should decrypt it from the Voynick cipher he used to conceal his extensive insights into the nature and quality of this Entity in particular.

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Summon Entity of the Twenty-Fourth Configuration is a very specific variation on the Summon Entity spell which in turn is a modification of the more common Summon Demon spell, as are almost all of the Thirty-Six Configurations.

Summon the Twenty-Forth Entity
Level: 6
Duration: See Below
Range: 10'

This spell is one of six that are rather lax in their use of a special diagram (The so-called "Twenty-Fourth Configuration"). As outlined above, there is no step-by-step procedure, nor any schematic for drawing this diagram in Adilak's The Thirty-Six Configurations. Instead, in this instance, it is left up to the ingeniousness and imagination of the would-be caster.

As with all other forms of Adilak's notorious Thirty-Six Configurations, using the spell without the proper diagram will result in the spell not working at all (70%) or something else being summoned without any sort of protection, binding or pact (30%). Using the spell with an incomplete or inaccurate 'configuration' will have a slightly better chance of operating at least partly correctly (Failure: 75%, Something Else Summoned: 20%, Contact with the Entity: 4%, Success: 1%). Using a complete and correctly-configured diagram causes the spell to work 100% correctly, but then the caster still needs to define any pact and/or bargain with the entity for any service(s) desired of it. It is assumed that anyone seeking to cast such a Summons will take appropriate safeguards and make all the necessary preparations.

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The Twenty-Fourth Entity
No. App.: 1 (Unique)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (Innate Passwall/Planeshift ability)
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 9  (9th Level spell-caster, uses d6 for HD)
Attacks: 1d6+1 (tentacle-stings) or Spell
Damage: 1d4 per tentacle, or by Spell
Save: MU9
Morale: 11*

Special: Cast Dispel Magic up to 6 times per day, but only upon inanimate objects that it physically touches (treat as a tentacle-sting attack if opposed). The effect persists for 1d100 hours per item affected. Once the dispel-effect wears off, randomly re-roll (or otherwise) re-determine the magical capabilities of the affected object. There could be a Save allowed for each pre-existing ability, success permitting that particular ability to survive intact, but that's optional.

Spells Available per day (By Level): 3,3,3,2,1

Typical Spells Known

• First Level: Charm Person, Dalrin's Lesser Call, Detect Magic, Ermhalgo's Javelin, Repel/Attract Black Smoke, Shield.
• Second Level: Abstraction, Barricade (Minor), Call of the Twelve, Contraventory Injunction, ESP, Knock, Levitate.
• Third Level: Aethyric Agitation, Black Chatter, Clairvoyance, Fire Ball, Greenflames, Protection from Firearms, Shatter Bones.
• Fourth Level: Confusion, Dimension Door, Efflugent Wrath, Sottarix's Six Clouds, Wall of Scintillant Shards.
• Fifth Level: Contact Other Plane, Feeblemind, Magic Jar.

The Twenty-Fourth Entity appears in the form of an Interstitial Insectoid. This body is a ruse, an undead shell occupied by the actual Entity. This Entity is most often called upon to lend guidance and instruction in the practical skills involved in necromancy. Not the spells, but the underlying skills such as the preservation of organs, dissection, the various types of sutures utilized in reassembling cadavers, reinforcing bones, flaying of hides, reattaching ligaments, solutions for maintaining the pliability of joints, how to reduce flesh to essential saltes, the formulae for various reanimatory fluids, techniques of mummification, magical implications of certain types of burial, The Three Secret Languages of the Ghouls, and more. They can also provide access to a number of banned and censured text-books containing a wide range of necromantic lore, much of which has been lost or forgotten for decades, if not centuries. But all this comes at a price. Of course.

The Twenty-Fourth Entity requires the still-living brains of intelligent insects. It will refuse to impart any of its secret knowledge until a deal is struck and a suitable bounty of brains has been delivered unto it. Each minor secret is worth 1d4 brains, more important things are worth correspondingly larger numbers of brains. Access to some of the black grimoires it holds would be worth scores of brains. But even for a hundred brains, the Entity will only oversee the transcription and copying of a few select spells from these books, and will never consent to relinquishing them to anyone else.

In some cases, the Entity will consent to bartering spells of equal level on a one-for-one basis. All the spells are entirely necromantic in nature, even the ones that duplicate or parallel certain of the more common spells such as Hold Portal, in this case the spell calls forth a whispering cloud of skeletal hands that forcibly holds the designated doorway closed. Most of these spells are fairly simple revisions of the standard sort, and quite obviously not really worth the trouble, except to a dedicated necromantic student, who, quite frankly, ought to already have access to most of these spells.

This is a duplicitous and manipulative Entity. One given to lies and subterfuge. Its motives remain opaque and undetermined. Perhaps it is seeking after specific spells, hence the willingness to barter. No one knows for sure. All that is certain is that the Entity's demands grow increasingly steep, becoming unreasonable fairly quickly.

Should the Twenty-Fourth Entity be reduced to less than half its normal HD due to violent means, it will withdraw, leaving behind the undead form of a 9th level insectoid necromancer. It has watched and heard and knows everything that the Entity did while in control of its form. That was the bargain they struck more than a hundred years ago. The necromantic insectoid will not be pleased to have the arrangement terminated abruptly. They will seek to withdraw, using guile and lies, or misdirection and force if necessary, so that they may recover, rebuild and prepare themselves for another encounter with those who drove away its patron. They will have revenge.

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*When confronted with the Threefold Loop of Iglavob this entity suffers a -6 penalty to Morale and will seek to avoid all contact with whomever wields the enigmatic icon. However, anyone having the temerity to inflict this hateful execration upon the Twenty-Fourth Entity earns its eternal enmity...and it is an exceptionally vengeful creature...though if it is forced to abandon the current host, it is unclear what form they will take next time...

Twelve Lesser Servitors of Kudara

Of t all the myriad hosts that lurk or prowl about the threshold of the world of mortal beings, waiting for the call of whosoever would dare to become their master, if only for an hour or for the commission of one desperate act, the twelve beings recorded by Kudara within the Scroll of Seven Scintillant Shadows remain a mainstay of many a sorcerer's arcane arsenal.

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Call of the Twelve
Level: 2
Duration: 1 Round +1 round per two levels of caster
Range: 20'
Caster causes a glimmering black dodecahedral umbralith to form between their outstretched hands. The twelve-faces of the object correspond to a particular minor plane and the caster suffers 1d4 damage per round that they hold onto the thing. Once cast, the umbralith crumbles as it rolls and randomly summons forth one creature per level of the caster, each with 2 HD. Only those beings specified by Kudara can be summoned by this method. Tampering with the underlying structure of the spell is strenuously discouraged. Exploration of Kudara's spells in particular are best left to advanced students working under direct supervision.

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Kudara also provided instructions for fashioning alternative forms of Umbraliths for use in a variety of summoning operations, unfortunately much of her work was lost in the Fall of Urnassos during the Eleven Year War. Kudara herself died in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Wermspittle from Black Smoke inhalation. Quite a number of spurious works and dangerous forgeries bearing her name have cropped up ever since.

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Twelve Lesser Servitors of Kudara

1. Oltrinnugarri. Inscrutable twelve-limbed land-dwelling pseudoctopi savages with six eyes, the Oltrinnugarri wield slender wire-wrapped javelins and poisoned darts with exceptional accuracy (+1 to hit). Unfortunately the poison that coats their darts tends to be nullified by their transition into this strata of reality. They are immune to Charms and most coercive spells. When summoned, the caster can only point to a foe or a direction and get out of the way. It is rumored that if more than three Oltrinnugarri are called forth at the same time, they might have the means to hold open the connection and call more of their cold-blooded brethren through the aperture. So far there has been no record of such a thing happening, but still, one does wonder.
   
   [AL C, MV 90' (90'), AC 6, HD 2, #AT 1d4, DG 1d4+1 per javelin/dart, SV F2, ML 6]
2. Ujjaleer. A massive mound of slow-moving green sand that wails mournfully as it drifts against the wind at an odd angle. Whether it is sentient or not is pointless; this sand is highly toxic and seems to be attracted to all forms of water. It abrades everyone within a 12' radius for 1d4 damage, those so damaged need to Save at -1 penalty against the contaminants in the sand, failure indicates that the wounds inflicted by the Ujjaleer's abrasive attacks become necrotic (double previous damage), success allows the wounds to crust-over to leave gruesome scars that will throb painfully near other planar portals and the like.
3. Blue Eels. Screeching, gasping predators from a vast ocean realm, these beasts flop about fitfully outside of the waters of their home. There are those who suspect that this is a flawed transcription error, that these aren't the creatures actually intended to be called by Kudara.
   
   [AL N, MV 90' (30'), AC 6, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d4 (bite), SV F1, ML 3]
4. Pojigon. Maroon and ochre ape-things in octagon-linked chain-mail, wielding crescent-shaped bardiches, muskets and war-clubs. They are the descendants of a mercenary band of Marmosets stranded far away from their ancestral lands due to the treachery of a duplicitous abhuman sorcerer they know only by the name 'Naragol.' Punctilious and professional, the Pojigon will seek to accept the surrender of any foe they face under the command of a summoner.
   
   [AL L, MV 120' (40'), AC 4, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d6+1/3d4/1d4+1, SV F2, ML 10]
5. Glivver Pok. Garishly-plumed six-limbed weasels who chitter insanely as they seek to gnaw or claw their designated prey into gibbets of raw, red flesh. They really, really like the color red, but are not intelligent enough to attempt to barter or parley. They simply attack until killed or the summons expires.
   
   [AL C, MV 150' (50'), AC 6, HD 2, #AT 2 or 1, DG 1d4/1d4 or 1d6 (bite), SV T2, ML 8. Special: If for any reason the Glivver Pok taste the caster's blood, they gain the ability to summon themselves back to that spell-caster once again.]
6. Green Snails. Fat, bulbous green snails in iron-reinforced war-shells. They wield special dart-knives attached to their reproductive organs, which they plunge into the bodies of their opponents. Sedentary and flabby, they prefer to watch over things or to perform guard duties when possible. Each time a specific caster summons the Green Snails, they accrue an additional 5% chance of attracting the attention of the Snail's masters.
   
   [AL N, MV 30' (10'), AC 2, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 2d4+1, SV F2, ML 4. Special: Take double damage from salt-based attacks.]
7. Yiggo Bosh. Levitating yellow and white-banded anemone-things. The Yiggo Bosh despise all beings exhibiting bilateral symmetry. They can lash out in any direction, up to a distance of 10' and deliver a painful sting that ignores any organic material used as armor. Metals cause them 1d4 damage on contact. They fear mirrors and will seek to flee if confronted by reflective surfaces.
   
   [AL C, MV 60', AC 6, HD 2, #AT 1d4, DG 1d4+poison per attack (Save or take double damage), SV MU 2, ML 6 (drops to 2 if presented a mirror).]
8. Ochre Swarm. A buzzing cloud of translucent flies. They are blind, but capable to sensing body heat. they swarm their intended victims in an attempt to fill their guts to bursting.
   
   [AL N, MV 90', AC 8, HD 2, #AT 1, DG (Special), SV MU 2, ML 11. Special: Swarm Attack roll 1d4 and consult following--1) Take 2d4 damage. Save to take half. 2) Take 1d4 damage per round. If victim takes in excess of 10 points of damage, they take an additional 3d6 from ruptured stomach. Save for half. 3) Take 3d4 damage. Successful Save indicates reflexive vomiting expels swarm before it can do further damage. Victim unconscious for 1d4 Turns. 4) Take 2d4 damage. Save or take double damage.]
9. Rudigoth. Blue-salt encrusted skeletons of vaguely humanoid beings with overly-long limbs and egg-shaped and crested skulls. They flicker with the dim memory of lives exhausted in their perpetual service to merciless deities best not named. Those they slay, they take back with them.
   
   [AL N, MV 90' (30'), AC 5, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d4 +2 (cold-metal spears), SV F2, ML 10. Special: Immune to all mind-influencing spells. Cannot be turned, only destroyed.]
10. Pelx. Dun colored four-legged and four armed mice with four digits on each limb. They constantly mutter and whine to themselves, switching to another language once they realize anyone can understand them. Each of their four eyes glows with a virulent form of gray energy that corrodes magically-embedded items as though they were so much zinc in an acid bath. Their bite is poisonous, causing the victim's skin to slough off in nasty strips.
    
    [AL C, MV 120' (40'), AC 5, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d6 weapon or bite for 1d4 + Poison (Save of take 1d4 per round for 1d4 rounds as skin sloughs off), SV MU 2, ML 6]
11. Sadinax. Sixteen-foot tall, four-ton walruses who carve their great scything tusks into skrimshaw totems. Their hide is thick and heavily scarred, often deliberately scarred to show their history and to commemorate great battles, and so forth. Called forth by this spell, The Call of the Twelve, they will not deign to serve, but instead will send twice the usual number of 2' tall shaggy, spindly lemur-like hominids clad in rattan armor and wielding an assortment of smaller forms of combat cutlery. These nameless, mindless creatures charge screaming into battle, frothing at the lips and heedless of any and all threats. They collapse into frothy masses of gray foam that leaves a sweet-smelling black sediment wherever they fall in battle.
    
    [AL N, MV 120' (40'), AC 5, HD 2, #AT 2, DG 1d4/1d4, SV F2, ML n/a: Frenzied.]
12. Jonnov. Bipedal turtle-things with no visible head or face. They waddle into battle with an uncanny sense of their immediate surroundings that makes it all but impossible to surprise them. They are grenadiers and crossbow-users, preferring to keep their enemies at a distance as much as possible. Pink gill-lung palps are located beneath their arms, retracted into the shell during combat.
    
    [AL N, MV 90' (30'), AC 3, HD 2, #AT 1, DG 1d6 or 3d6 (affects 12' radius), SV F2, ML 10]

Spell: Sottarix's Six Clouds

Sottarix's Six Clouds
Level: 4
Duration: 10 minutes per level of caster
Range: n/a
The caster spews forth a dense, noisome mass of fumes from their finger-tips. The fumes coalesce into one of six different types of clouds, depending upon the specific gestures employed in casting the spell. The cloud produced by this casting tends to extend outward to a diameter of approximately 20 feet. The caster can direct the billowing mass of vapors in whichever direction they choose, by still more gestures. The cloud moves at a rate of 10 feet per round, and can extend out to a maximum of 40 feet before the cloud dissipates.

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Obscure, yet occasionally useful, despite its obvious limitations, Sottarix's Six Clouds is an uncredited revision of Dying Breath, which explains much. The caster intending to make use of this spell must first prepare themselves accordingly: First, they must not breathe in the fumes they are about to unleash, either resorting to the use of a gas mask or some spell that alleviates their need to breathe. Secondly, they must remain stationary for the duration of the spell. Thirdly, the caster must be willing and able to sacrifice 1d4 hit points of damage to their hands in order to cast the spell as presented by Sottarix.

Rumors persist of a so-called 'Seventh Gesture', the use of which eliminates the third condition. If anyone has ascertained what this gesture is, they have not published anything in any of the professional journals, nor has it passed through any sort of peer review.

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The Six Clouds of Sottarix

1. Dingy grayish-green vapors curl and swirl around the caster, obscuring them from view and causing a peculiar desaturation-effect to the visual senses of those who come into contact with the cloud. Victims who fail their Save are stricken blind for 1d4 turns per level of the caster. Those who succeed find themselves only able to see in shades of grayish-green for twice as long. In either case, those affected by the cloud suffer a lingering -2 penalty to hit the caster until such time as they receive a Cure Disease or Remove Curse. The caster's hands are permanently stained a progressively darker greenish-gray each time they cast the spell.
2. Hot, blue steam rapidly, almost explosively, fills the designated space, inflicting 1d4 scalding damage to anyone caught within its area of effect. A Save is allowed, however, success means that the damage inflicted shifts to freezing instead. Once someone is harmed by this cloud, the caster gains the ability to force the cloud to settle upon one particular victim, inflicting an additional 3d4 damage, but terminating the spell immediately. If this victim succeeds on their Save, the caster takes half the indicated damage instead.
3. Highly acidic, dense yellowish-brown fumes billow forth from the caster with a most unpleasant hissing as they roll along the ground. Those caught-up in the fumes suffer 1d4 damage per level of the caster, a successful Save does nothing, a failed Save doubles the damage. The area affected by this cloud tends to get saturated with acids that cause 2d4 damage to anyone coming into contact with the acidified area for the next 1d4 hours. The caster must Save or incur a -1 penalty to all subsequent Saves involving acids and/or damaging gasses for the next 1d4 hours, failing that Save extends the penalty to 1d4 days.
4. Deep purple smoke boils wickedly across the ground with a ponderous, thunderous rumbling. The cloud emanates Darkness (as per the spell) to the full extent of its reach. Those caught within the cloud are struck deaf for 1d4 turns and must Save or be rendered sterile, incapable of being cloned, raised, reanimated or resurrected. Failing the Save means they suffer all the above and in addition they cannot be healed by spells or potions without vomiting forth more of the deep purple smoke (affecting a 5' diameter area). The lingering unpleasantness cannot be relieved by Remove Curse nor by Cure Disease, but will eventually wear off in 1d4 days. The caster who resorts to this version of the spell automatically suffers a lingering purple derangement to their cells, making any offspring or clone they produce most likely to collapse into a non-viable tumorous mass.
5. Putrid green fog fills the designated space, causing all manner of disconcerting echoes and reducing visibility to less than 3', as well as hampering the olfactory senses of even the most hardened scavenger. This cloud is incredibly flammable, but will not ignite until the caster gives the proper gestural command. Once set aflame, the cloud inflicts 3d4 damage on everyone caught within it. If they Save, the damage is 1d4 per turn for three turns. If they fail, it is all at once.
6. Damp, sweet and sickly-smelling, this roseate nimbus of delicate vapors infiltrates every fabric, fur and most other organic materials, causing a persistent perfume-like stench to linger for 1d4 weeks. Those affected by this cloud take 1 hp of damage per round they remain exposed to it, for the duration of the spell. All things of the color red are considered effectively invisible so long as they remain within the cloud's area of effect. Those who cast this version of the spell suffer 1d4 damage each time they come into contact with the color blue for the next 1d4 hours.

| Index of Spells |

Ten Wicked Little Things (plus Dalrin's Lesser Call)

Wicked things can sometimes come in tiny packages like these minor horrors from unsavory otherplaces and dubious otherwhens. Each creature can be summoned forth via Dalrin's Lesser Call, a very minor variant of Monster Summoning. Of course, those who are familiar with that spell could also substitute these things for the usual creatures called forth by their more powerful summons, should that appeal to their sorcerous sensibilities...

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Dalrin's Lesser Call (Flawed Transcription)
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: 150 feet
Duration: Requires 1d4 minutes to take effect
The caster gains the ability to summon forth a very minor monster in exchange for a small quantity of their own blood. For every 1d4 points of self-inflicted damage the caster invests into the spell grants them either one additional 1 hp monster summoned, or gives the summoned creature 1 additional hit point. The creatures called forth obey commands of fewer than six words and dissolve into a foul black stain after half an hour or less.

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The uncorrected version of this spell is left in circulation among apprentices and other students of sorcery as a sort of test or object lesson in the making. It is rumored that Dalrin copied the original over from a banned grimoire that corrupted and twisted his mind, thus explaining his penchant for self-mutilation as a core-mechanism and component in all six of his surviving his spells. Cheap block-printed scrolls of this spell are often available for a few coppers.

Dalrin's Lesser Call (Corrected Transcription)
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: 60 feet
Duration: Immediate
The caster summons forth a number of minor monsters equal to their level. Each creature so summoned has 1 hit point per caster's Level and they persist for 10 minutes per caster's Level. In some versions of this spell the summoned creatures do not fade out when the spell expires, but rather they collapse into lumps of protoplasmic goo that dries into a dull, yellowish grit.

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This spell is never revealed to a first-year student. Until they acquire enough sophistication in their spell-work there's no point in confounding them with too many variants and alternatives to the spells they are already attempting to commit to memory.

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Ten Wicked Little Things (1 HD)

1. Bulazing. Blue-veined sagebrush-like plant-things that clump epiphytically onto any exposed flesh they can reach. They cause 1 hp of damage forcing their roots into the host's bloodsteam, then begin to purge the blood of all toxins. Effectively, this is a hostile application of Neutralize Poison (LL. p.24). The area surrounding the root-wound is rendered a distinctive splotchy blue. Those who have been touched by the Bulazing gain a +1 bonus to all reaction rolls and morale checks in relation to plant-based organisms for the next hour, unfortunately, they also reek of rotten cabbage and attract wandering monsters at double the normal frequency for the duration of the effect.
   
   [AL N, MV (See above), AC n/a, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (Root-bite), DG 1hp (See above), SV MU 1, ML 8]
2. Delve Urchins. There are six varieties of Delve Urchin listed in the Animalum Malificarum. All of them categorized by coloration patterns depicted in elegant watercolor illustrations. They exude a somnolescent venom from their spines that causes those stung to fall into a deep, restful sleep for 1d4 hours per hit point of the urchin. spell-casters often summon these things when having bouts of insomnia. they are otherwise harmless. The venom dissipates quickly and tends to evaporate before any significant quantity can be harvested.
   
   [AL N, MV 3' (1'), AC n/a, HD 1 (1d2), #AT 1 (sting+venom), DG none (Save or Sleep), SV MU 1, ML 3]
3. Tulush-Noy. Tiny bronze skeletons with scissor-like claws and horrible grinning mouths that drool a foul translucent blue ichor. The blue ichor is highly flammable. The scissor-claws are too small to inflict more than 1 hp of damage on anything larger than a mouse, but they are eager to try. Note: If using the Uncorrected Form of Dalrin's Lesser Call (see above), these creature's hit points are determined first, then the corresponding damage is inflicted on the caster automatically. All part of the service.
   
   [AL N, MV 60' (20'), AC 7, HD 1 (1d4), #AT 1 (scissor-claws), DG 1 hp, SV MU 1, ML 10]
4. Kir-Vhoff. Smoky gray globs of a buttery material that does not float,. It isn't clear whether the Kir-vhoff are extraplanar lichens, strange mold-colonies, or something altogether other. All that is known about the stuff is that it seeks out fingernails, latches on to any such that it encounters and promptly dissolves them. Those who loose finger or toe-nails to the Kir-Vhoff suffer a -1 penalty to all actions, move at half normal speed, and must keep the perpetually-seeping wounds bandaged for 1d4 weeks unless a Remove Curse or Cure Disease is used, in which case the wounds close-up in under an hour and new nails begin to grow naturally. A more robust form of Kir-vhoff are known to be bound into particular books, scrolls and instruction manuals either originating in Yukovia, or pertaining to things related to the exiled monarchs of that troubled state.
   
   [AL N, MV 3' (12'), AC 7,  HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (Nail-Bite), DG 1hp (Save or lose nails), SV MU 1, ML 3, unless within 30' of finger/toe nails in which case it's 9.]
5. Pig on the Wing. This swine flies through the air on a pair of membranous pink wings. It leaves a spotty trail of feculence in its wake, but the meat is delicious, if you can cook it before it fades away, according to certain self-declared authorities. It doesn't really have an attack, but it is well-suited to disrupting rituals, interrupting spell casts, making stairs even more treacherous and slippery, and soiling journals, workbooks and grimoires. The stains these things leave behind will permanently obscure any section of a recorded spell exposed to it, making that copy useless for anything other than a partial reference.
   
   [AL N, MV 50' (150'), AC 8, HD 1 (1), #AT 1 (dive crap), DG none (Save or Stain), SV MU 1, ML 6]
6. Nervik. Delicate, root-like masses of disembodied nerves drawn away from a richly flooded realm. The Nervik flutter and flit through the air, latching onto their victim and phasing into their body, to merge with their nervous system. Those affected by a Nervik experience momentary vertigo (1d4 minutes) before having their senses re-tuned to the bizarre undersea realm of these creatures for the next 1d4 Turns. During this time, the victim is completely unaware of their immediate surroundings and incapable of defending themselves. However, this effect is immediately broken upon their taking even 1 point of damage. Those under the influence of a Nervik are immune to all Charms, Sleep, and Suggestion spells for the duration of the bond. There is a slight chance of the observer becoming observed, with a corresponding chance that some thing that preys upon the Nervik might somehow latch onto the nervous system of the person bonded to it. But that almost never happens.
   
   [AL N, MV 30' (120'), AC n/a, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (nerve-merge), DG (See above), SV MU 1, ML 4 Note: Driven of by color yellow.]
7. Chalamigan. Pink and green phlegmy-mass that oozes slowly, obscenely through the air, never quite fully there. Should the Chalamigan  succeed in touching a victim, it will form a nasty, slimy layer across their outer surfaces, blinding them and requiring a Save against suffocation--but because the Chalamigan is not entirely manifest, a failed Save only means that the victim has passed-out.
   
   [AL N, MV 30' (120'), AC n/a, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (nerve-merge), DG (See above), SV MU 1, ML 4 Note: Those touched by a Chalamigan gain the ability to Speak with Slimes 1d4 times before the ability fades. Each time this ability is used, another Save is required, failure indicates that they have choked themselves into unconsciousness hacking up another Chalamigan.]
8. Drivi Clams. Black and brown whorled shellfish that form a layer covering just under 5', (This can be extended by investing blood/damage, of course).  The vicious little things will snap closed on anything that gets near them, causing 1 hp of damage per foot of surface traversed. A very minor nuisance, completely inedible, and reputed to cause dysentery if summoned inside a keg or wine barrel.
   
   [AL N, MV n/a, AC n/a, HD 1 (1 hp), #AT 1 (bite), DG 1hp (See above), SV MU 1, ML n/a]
9. Yovire. Three-winged tongues of bloated, unhealthy-looking grey-mauve flesh, the Yovire are considered an atrociously disgusting form of sensory vampire--they devour their victim's sense of taste--by attacking the tongue in a wet, sloppy, nausea-inducing assault. Those ravaged by the Yovire never really regain their sense of taste.
   
   [AL N, MV 5' (120'), AC 8, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (Tongue-lunge), DG (Save or vomit; see above), SV MU 1, ML 8. Note: The fit of vomiting induced by the Yovire has a 60% chance to clear ingested poisons. Recovering from their attack, regaining one's sense of taste, can take weeks unless Cure Disease is used.]
10. Zumimi Leeches. Squiggly pink leeches speckled with yellow pustules and trailing streaks of noxious slimy filth, the Zumimi Leeches are notorious for attacking the toes of their victims. They do very little real damage with their raspy bites, however their saliva suppresses the immune system of their victims, exposing them to infection, pox and parasitism. Unlike other creatures summoned by Dalrin's Lesser Calling, these things have a base 40% chance to persist past the expiration of the spell. Many a soldier confined to half-flooded trenches or forced to march through muddy fields have run afoul of these despicable little monsters, often losing a toe to the gangrenous rot brought on by untended little nicks and pricks.
    
    [AL N, MV 10' (30'), AC 7, HD 1 (1hp), #AT 1 (bite), DG (% chance of infection), SV MU 1, ML 3.  Special: Repelled by Black Smoke Residue, otherwise known as Trench-Salt.]

You might also like the three variant spells and minor monsters such as the Squiggling Sores, Scabrous Servitors, or Fingerling Demonlets featured in our recent Spell Design Challenge post...or perhaps you might like to see another dozen Exotic Bivalves from Wermspittle?

Spell Design Challenge

ASpell Design Challenge from G+: Please invent for my game a 1st level magic-user spell that summons a very, very weak demon. It's OK to invent a new monster. The spell must keep game balance; it should be on par with magic missile. Bonus points: Spell enables fun role-playing and is "showy". Stretch goal: Demon has very slight chance to "break free" and/or dominate/make unconscious the caster.

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Calling Up Minor Demon-Thingies for Fun & Profit

First off, let's take a look at Magic Missile...

Magic Missile
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: 150 feet
Duration: Immediate
A magical missile flies where the caster directs, with a range of 150 feet. At the Referee's discretion, this spell may have one of two effects:

1. The Magic-User must roll to hit the target with a +1 bonus to the roll. The missile inflicts 1d6+1 points of damage.
2. The missile hits automatically, doing 1d4+1 points of damage.

In either case, the Magic-User casts an additional two missiles for every 5 levels of experience. Thus, at 5th level, the caster is able to hurl 3 magic missiles, and 5 missiles at 10th level.

Excerpted From: Swords & Wizardry Complete (Free version available in the D20SWSRD entry.)

So any spell we make for this Challenge needs to be First Level, on par with Magic Missile, and summon up a very minor demon-thingy. There's a bonus if the spell is somehow 'showy,' and enables fun role-playing, and it would be cool if the summoned critter has a chance to break free also. The spell needs to retain whatever this 'Game Balance' thing is that they're talking about. Okay. Hold my drink while I try this out...


Xongir's Fingerling
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: 150 feet
Duration: Immediate
A smoldering scarlet tendril of wicked energy streaks out from the caster's outstretched hand to a range of 150 feet. The Magic-User rolls to hit (there's a +1 bonus) and if successful, the smoldering tendril lashes out at a victim of the caster's choosing, within the 150' range. The victim rolls to Save. If they fail, they lose a finger to the tendril (taking 1d6+1 damage, the stump is cauterized), if they succeed the tendril snaps back and severs one of the caster's fingers and the caster takes the damage. In the end, we are left with a shriveled and charred finger-bone which will slowly transform into a tiny demonlet over the next 1d6 hours. The caster gains a +1 bonus to all Loyalty Checks in regards to any Fingerling Demonlet they create via this spell. This bonus increases by an additional +1 every 3 levels of experience. If for any reason a Fingerling Demonlet has a negative reaction to their master, the horrid little thing will begin to connive and scheme to destroy them.
Loyalty check: Roll 1D%, any score over 70% means the Servitor becomes disloyal.

[Fingerling Demonlet: HD 1; AC 5[14]; Atk 1 claw or bite (1d2 x2  or 1d4); Move 6; Save 17; AL C; CL/XP 1/15. Special: Cast one first-level spell per day.]


Sidgwick's Scabrous Servitor
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 hour
A most unsanitary spell, once cast upon the designated recipient it can only be removed by a Cure Disease or Dispel Magic. Over the duration of the spell, every time the recipient takes any damage that produces bleeding, they suffer an additional 1 point of damage that goes into a clotted mass of scabs that forms near the wound(s). When the scab-clots have been able to acquire a total of 6 hit points, they tear themselves loose (inflicting 1d4 on the victim), and quickly form-up into a single, scabrous mass 1d4 inches in diameter. The Scabrous Servitor is mindless and follows the Magic-User who created it, always remaining within  3 feet of them. Unless fed each night directly from the Magic-User's own veins, the Servitor gains a cumulative bonus of +1 on their nightly Loyalty Check (roll 1D%, any score over 80% results in the Scabrous Servitor going rogue). They are most likely to attempt to escape, rather than attack their former master for fear that they will be exposed to their master's blood and brought back under control again.

[Scabrous Servitor: HD 1; AC 7[12]; Atk 1 (1d4); Move 6; Save 17; AL C; CL/XP 1/15. Special: Servitor can stop bleeding once per day by sacrificing 1 hit point to heal 1d4. Servitor regains hit points by immersing itself in fresh blood. Servitor takes double damage from alcohol.]


Squiggling Suppurating Sores of Salamak
Spell Level: Magic-User, 1st Level
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 hour (6 rounds)
Temporarily disfiguring and very uncomfortable, this spell causes a terribly itchy rash of weeping sores to spread across the victim's skin. The rash makes movement unpleasant, so the victim suffers a -1 penalty to all attacks while suffering from this spell. A set of 1d4+1 sores erupt from the reddest, most painful portions of the rash, each one inflicting 1 point of damage. Each of the sores appear like wet, greedy mouths chewing their grisly way out of the victim's flesh. At the end of the spell, each of the sores will finally chew themselves free and drop to the ground in order to squiggle away like so many flabby, blind worms. The Magic-User casting this spell can collect the Squiggling Sores, if they avoid direct contact with the things. They must feed upon diseased flesh every night, or else they will attack their creator. These things have no loyalty, only hunger.

[Squiggling Sores: (1d4+1) HD 1; AC 7[12]; Atk 1 bite (1d2); Move 4; Save 9; AL C; CL/XP 1/10. Special: Automatically Detect Disease at will. Immune to all mind-influencing attacks--they are completely mindless.]

Werm-Riddled Manuscripts (Wermspittle)

There was a formula—a sort of list of things to say and do—which I recognised as something black and forbidden; something which I had read of before in furtive paragraphs of mixed abhorrence and fascination penned by those strange ancient delvers into the universe’s guarded secrets whose decaying texts I loved to absorb. It was a key—a guide—to certain gateways and transitions of which mystics have dreamed and whispered since the race was young, and which lead to freedoms and discoveries beyond the three dimensions and realms of life and matter that we know. Not for centuries had any man recalled its vital substance or known where to find it, but this book was very old indeed. No printing-press, but the hand of some half-crazed monk, had traced these ominous Latin phrases in uncials of awesome antiquity.

The Book,

by H. P. Lovecraft

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(10) Werm-Riddled Manuscripts: Probably Forbidden, Mostly Nameless and Otherwise Suspiciously Cheap...

1. Torn and smelly, this wad of crumbling old ages is secured into a messy sheaf by a rusty pin that has been driven through the entire stack of pages as though by a hammer or lump of dense rock. None of the pages are in consecutive order and whatever sequence seems to be in effect changes from reading to reading. The thing self-randomizes, switching languages even as it takes on a different page order, even the number of pages tends to change. It costs the permanent sacrifice of one 4th Level spell slot to read this manuscript all the way through in one evening, and doing so prematurely ages the reader by 4d10 years. What the reader gains...is the ability to claim one randomly determined spell in their personal repertoire as an At Will Ability that can be used as many times in a given 26-hour period as they have levels as a spell-caster.
2. Forty-three blank pages of high-quality paper all clipped together and affixed with a note written in blood-stained Garadic script, very neatly penned with a crisp nib. The note references Thumallian's Third Trance-State. Apparently, if the reader attempts to read this manuscript while in this particular trance-state, it will reveal its secret text.
3. Sixty-seven pages torn from a madman's diary or personal journal.  Each one contains the same sequence of tight, spidery non-letters that sprawl across the page in a most disturbing, unsavory manner. The curious script employed in this manuscript cannot be read by a rational mind. One must be mad in the first place in order to decipher the thing.
4. Five neatly-folded comics sections taken from a newspaper over a hundred years out of date. The paper is yellowing from more than just aging badly. Wrapped-up in those comics is an editorial section written in one of the most vile forms of Yellow Journalism. The very paper itself is saturated in the effluent left-over from the production of Yellow Wallpaper. This is highly toxic stuff, gone even more rancid and pernicious with age.
   

   [Reading/handling the crumbling Comics Pages require a Save at -1, failure inflicts Confusion on the reader for the next 3d6 hours. Success halves the duration. Examination of the Editorial Section requires a Save at -4, failure instills a very visceral -4 Charisma reaction against all members of a particular ethnic or political group. Success imprints the victim with a -2 Reaction Modifier against two such groups. In either case, the reader's hands are permanently stained a distinct yellowish tint, they are more prone to experiencing a distracting sort of melancholy when exposed to anything political (Save or 'lose' 1d10 minutes in a distracted state, unless engaged in vigorous activity), and they suffer a permanent -1 penalty on all Saves in relation to all White Powder derivatives.]

5. An old broadsheet advertising Doktor Malinkorov's Marvelous Medicinal Mortifactant. On the back someone has carefully illustrated all the steps required to fashion a set of Illudrian bone-lamellar armor, including how to properly attune the rig to various spectra of necromantic energies that Nagrothean Censors tend to expurgate from all modern texts.
6. Twenty-Six Hundred cardamom-scented foolscap pages packed into a heavy cardboard box reinforced with thin metal bands. Each page is densely scribbled upon and most who look upon these translucent pages for the first time are tempted to pass them over as meaningless. Those who persist in their examination go on to discover that each page contains a single self-contained statement drawn-out in one continuous line.
   

   [Upon initial examination, roll an Attribute Check against INT; need to succeed to go any further. Each set of 1d20 pages examined after a successful INT check grants the reader a cumulative 1% bonus to comprehend the secrets embedded in these labyrinth-like pages. The reader may attempt to comprehend the manuscript any time they like, rolling a D% and adding-on whatever bonus they've accumulated. Success means that they are now immune to the effects of the Maze spell. Failure means that they've been trapped within the manuscript itself for as many days as they have INT. Each day trapped within the manuscript costs them 1d12 months of aging. Once a reader has failed to comprehend this manuscript, further study is considered pointless. However there are hints whispered between certain book-sellers and librarians and those who seek after strange secrets that if one were to persist to the very end that there indeed are deep secrets buried in this manuscript. Whether or not there actually are, remains a matter of speculation. At least until someone conclusively makes it through the entire thing successfully.]

7. Nine black pages edged with gold. The first three are empty. Wiped clean by tears. Do you dare to read the fourth page to find out why?
8. Mold-stained and horribly creased, this manuscript has been stuffed into a rotten canvas courier bag for several years. Only thirty-five pages remain in the bag. The rest have been lost. There is no index, no table of contents, no title page. Half the pages are illegible. What remains appear to be diagrams and formulae for attracting the attentions of some sort of extra-dimensional form of sentient mold. Each page that gets handled inflicts a cumulative -1 penalty on the reader's Save against being poisoned. The mold on these pages will require a fresh Save after every 1d4 pages examined. Should the reader fail their Save, the mold spreads into their skin. Or rather under their skin. This mold isn't particularly sentient, at least not yet, but now that someone has volunteered to be its host, it will slowly devour their INT and WIS and CHAR until it achieves a cold, cruel form of consciousness that will replace everything they lose to the process.
   

   [This is no simple parasite. It is a symbiotic organism. One that gives as good as it gets, if not better. The victim feels no pain from the process whatsoever. If anything they feel more clear-headed and awake than ever before in their life, even gaining a +1 bonus to all INT & WIS checks, and Immunity to all forms of illusion, charms and hypnosis. The mold integrates itself into the host's flesh, eventually replacing their entire skin and giving them a very distinctive appearance, one apprentice has described as being akin to "...a waxy coating over mottled patches of lint, ashes and chalk dust." Each week from the moment of infection, the host must make a Save, failure meaning that they suffer a loss of 1 CHAR point, success causes them 1d4 damage and intermittent but intense vertigo that somehow only strikes whenever they attempt to cast a spell or try to read. Upon reaching a CHAR score of 3, the host's mind, brain and body have been completely consumed, they get to re-roll all their stats and begin life as a new being. It is unclear whether their soul survives this transformation, or if it is somehow destroyed, displaced or simply replaced. The new entity that is produced by this process does seem to possess a soul, but it is definitely not the original host's, that much was proven in a battery of experiments conducted by Franidar, Murleff and Clevong under the aegis of the Grenavior Occupation. Unfortunately, most of their records were subsequently lost in the course of their trial for war crimes.]

9. Sixteen feet of coarsely-knotted rough twine securely holds together a stack of rough-edged sheets of pressed yellow-green seaweed, block-printed with a range of grotesque trapezoidal glyphs unlike anything most bibliophiles are ever likely to see in the waking world. The ink is thick upon the fibrous pages. Redolent of Purple Amber. The glyphs are generally indecipherable as they are not rational constructs, but rather a complex cluster of praeterhuman oneiro-tactile intuition-stimulae with a tendency to unlock deeply repressed memories and long suppressed trauma in those who brood upon them for more than a few minutes quick glance. The glyphs have been bound into the loose pages of this manuscript well past their tolerance for such things. They desire to be set free. Will you release them?
10. One Hundred pages of poor quality typewriter-paper wrapped-up in the entrails of three large toads. The whole thing reeks of burnt flesh -- the typewriter ribbon used for this manuscript was derived from Black Smoke. Roughly a third of the pages have been ruined by exposure to water. What remains is a first-person account of the siege of Tarlonna composed by a Morlock combat-engineer who lost more than just their left arm at that historic battle. Perusing these pages will require experience with a great deal of intellectually opaque Morlock military slang, hence why the seven publishers it was submitted to all rejected it out of hand. The rejection slips are interspersed randomly through the manuscript as bookmarks denoting sections requiring extra attention, editing and revision.

Secret Spells of the Wizard-Frog

The nice people at Last Gasp have posted a wonderfully wicked six-armed Frog-Wizard as a gesture of appreciation and thanks to various other gameratin' and bloggeratin' folks that have been encouraging and supportive of their efforts, including us. It could be a relative of Tsthahoggua. We didn't ask. Wizard-Frogs can be sensitive about such things. In any case, you should click over and take a look. It's very cool.

Below are a few spells you might be able to acquire from a Hexapedal Wizard-Frog, should your characters ever get the opportunity to make the acquaintance of one.

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1d8 Secret Wizard-Frog Spells

Arcane Adumbration
Level: 2
Duration: 6 Turns
Range: 0
The shapes of things to come are revealed in a flurry of sketchy outlines and faint images produced by this spell. The general default configuration is usually attuned to depict the classical symbol associated with any of the 4,200 Common Spells all Wizard-Frogs claim to know. Any competent caster can adjust the spell to instead give themselves some foreshadowing of relatively immediately impending events, but such rejiggering of things is left to the student as an exercise.

Bawd-Breath of Tsthathogguri-Malamala
Level: 6
Duration: 4 rounds + 1d4 rounds
Range: 30'
The caster exhales a pungent pink fog that quickly fills a thirty-foot radius. The vapors distort the senses of everyone caught up within their swirly sphere of effect, causing them to see everyone--and everything--within the pink haze as supremely beautiful, desirable and attractive. Victims can opt to Save against the effects of the pink vapors, but doing so either costs them 1 point of CHAR (permanent) or renders them sterile for 1d6 years, player's choice. This particular spell costs double.

Cloud of Tasty Flies
Level: 2
Duration: 6 Turns
Range: 120'
Flies, flies and more flies of every type, sort and hue swarm madly about the caster, providing a delicious repast for a famished Wizard-Frog. Lesser beings suffer 1d4 points of damage per turn  spent within the area of effect of the spell. Save for half damage.

Gestural Globs
Level: 2
Duration: 6 Turns
Range: 90'
The caster forms a small mass of dermal mucous in their middle-left hand. The mucous forms a thin, but pliable film that holds it together like a water balloon. With a single gesture, but a flick of the wrist, the globular mass is sent streaking out towards any target specified by the caster. Any creature under 4 HD must Save or suffocate as the gooey mucous infiltrates their mouth, nostrils and air passages. Those who make their Save do not suffocate, but instead have their movement reduced to half normal for the next 3d4 rounds. This mucous is alcohol-soluble. Some sources say it can be used in preparing a sort of absinthe-like concoction.

Jiggly Scribbles
Level: 3
Duration: 6 Turns
Range: 120'
With a few quick movements, the caster sketches out a series of swoopy, curvy lines and spirals that quickly takes on a sort of life all its own and rushes forth to swarm all over the designated target who must make a Save or become disoriented (60%) or immobilized from intense nausea and vomiting (40%). While under the effects of this spell, the victim must roll randomly to determine their target, should they attempt an attack.

Humble Murmurings
Level: 1
Duration: 6 Turns
Range: 10'
During the duration of this spell, the target cannot say anything negative about the caster, including cast any sort of damage-dealing spell. The victim is required to make a Save, failure means that they gain a -1 penalty on all Saves versus the caster's spells for the next 6 turns. A successful Save reduces the duration by half.

Pruscoorm's Palpitation
Level: 4
Duration: 12 Turns
Range: 120'
The victim sprouts a host of wriggling pink growths from randomly determined parts of their body. The writhing, fleshy growths are harmless, but distort the victim's bodily shape so much that armor, clothes, rings and the like no longer fit and must be removed or discarded. The victim will suffer 1 hit point of damage per item retained over the course of the spell, their movement is reduced to half, and all their attacks suffer a -2 penalty. Once the spell subsides, the victim must make a CHAR check or else retain some lingering sign of the pink pulpy bits that once deformed their frame. Again, they are harmless, and only have a mildly cosmetic effect, and require a slight adjustment in one's clothing.

Transmute Liquor
Level: 2
Duration: Instantaneous
Range: Touch
Caster transmutes a quantity (up to one gallon/every 3 levels) of one type of liquor into the same quantity of another form of liquor, as specified at the moment the spell is cast.

The Ninth Entity (of the Thirty-Six Configurations)

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It comes from an arid and poisoned world. A place where acid taints the rain and the very dust tries to kill all it comes into contact with. A relic, derelict world, forgotten by its one-time masters and abandoned to the unkind caress of razor-winds and the slow-motion corrosion that have done their worst to bury or obliterate all traces of the past.

It is a product of arcane sciences and technological arts. But it is also a cast-off thing, an unwanted reminder of long ago days and violent nights when fables were flesh and things were different than they will ever be again.

It is alive, in a way. Autonomous in another, yet still it is bound. A creature of artifice, a destroyer by design; it would be something other...something more. Hungry for meaning, it wanders through bitter realms and broken worlds looking, ever seeking. Always driven onward by the emptiness within, it has become a warrior in search of a soul to call its own.

Adilak (Osri Duradage),

On the Ninth Entity

excerpted with permission from

The Thirty-Six Configurations

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To Call Forth the Ninth Entity
The Ninth Configuration is to be made upon a bare concrete floor using powdered rust and broken fragments taken from a destroyed construct. Each of the inner junctures is to be drawn into a small loop within which a candle, glowbulb, or other light-source is to be placed. The outer points of the diagram are to be drawn to a razor-fine point. There are other details, but most of them are either obscured by bloodstains or obliterated by scorch-marks. The one legible footnote refers to using a spell referred to as 'The Recapitulation of The Bitter Dust of Ain,' in some manner to properly prepare the space for the formation of the prescribed diagram. A note in the margin alludes to some sort of generator, but whether or not this is necessary for the spell to work is unclear.

The Ninth Entity can be summoned, theoretically, despite the extensive damage done to the grimoires and other papers of Adilak after the purge of the Chartreuse Cantors in 1198. Of the series of Thirty-Six Configurations attributed to Adilak, only six still survive and of those only two are considered functionally complete. The Ninth is one of the more notorious fragments, an incomplete configuration that becomes something of an obsession among those devoted to the esoteric mechanics of translocation, transport and summoning.

Panzure's Panoptical Lexicon is rumored to hold an 'unapproved' version of the Ninth Configuration, which he copied from his one-time mentor's library without permission. It is believed by more than a few experts in such matters that, were one to acquire an authentic copy of Panzure's book, it would very likely make it possible to re-construct the Ninth Configuration once again. Poorly-bound forgeries of this book have been known to fetch sizable sums at auction, though some collectors have been known to wreak a terrible vengeance on those who attempt to pass such things off on them. Book selling can be a risky business at times; especially when it comes to obscure grimoires and haunted texts probably best left to the more experienced buyers and aficionados of such rare and dangerous things.

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Summon Entity of the Ninth Configuration is a very specific variation on the Summon Entity spell which in turn is a modification of the more common Summon Demon spell.

Summon Entity of the Ninth Configuration
Level: 7
Duration: See below
Range: 10'

This spell makes use of a special diagram (The so-called "Ninth Configuration"). A step-by-step procedural outline and schematic for drawing this diagram is provided in Adilak's The Thirty-Six Configurations, however most extant copies are incomplete, damaged or simply missing (often stolen by agents of unscrupulous collectors). Using the spell without the proper diagram will result in the spell not working at all (30%) or something else being summoned without any sort of protection, binding or pact (70%). Using the spell with an incomplete or inaccurate diagram will have a slightly better chance of operating at least partly correctly (Failure: 15%, Something Else Summoned: 80%, Contact with the Entity: 4%, Success: 1%). Using the complete and correct diagram causes the spell to work 100% correctly, but then the caster still needs to define any pact and/or bargain with the entity for any service(s) desired of it.

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Entity of the Ninth Configuration: The Servitor in Search of a Soul
Minor Summonable Entity
No. Enc.: 1 (Unique)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (most environments)
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 8
Attacks: 2 (weapons)
Damage: by weapon
Save: F8
Morale: 10 (7 if bound by spell)

Special Abilities: +4 on all Saves. Ambidextrous. Does not need to breathe. Regenerates 1d4/turn. Infravision to 90'.

Immunities: Unaffected by all mind-affecting magics such as Charm, Sleep, Telepathy or Illusions. Cannot be detected by ESP or other psychic abilities. Immune to Acid attacks.

Weapons: +2 Battle-Axe (does double damage on an unmodified roll of 19 or better), +2 Flexible War-Flail (wielded as a flail, but strikes as a sword or as a whip, on demand, inflicts 3d4 damage, can be used to block an opponent's attack instead of making a normal attack). Both weapons are crafted (grown?) from a non-corroding yellow metal that retains a very sharp edge.

This Entity has no name associated with it currently. It does not respond to ecclesiastical healing and cannot be Raised if destroyed. It does not eat, drink or sleep. It remembers everything it has observed (eidetic memory), but rarely shares details regarding its past. This reticence may be overcome by non-magical means (multiple CHAR Checks, Reaction Rolls, etc.).

The Entity is driven by its desire to gain a soul for itself.

If properly bound, the entity will serve faithfully for one full year, which it reckons according to the world it originated upon (roughly 246+1d100 days).