Old School Monsters

[phiwum]

I'm digging the Volts. They fill a niche of being worse than a nuisance monster but not life threatening for a prepared party, more interesting than just upping the number of rats, say.

But there's one little thing that I'm not sure about. They are a one-hex creature, so I assume they don't act like a dragonet, which must attack from the same hex. So, perhaps seven (including one from above) can attack a character at once, but they attach to the character and so there's no disengagement once they're attached. You can kill them or knock them off, but if you choose to shift, they move with you.

Does that sound right? Gonna be kinda funny to have characters trying to move about with ugly balloons stuck to them in adjacent hexes. Would you allow a character in that situation to move more than a one-hex shift?

[phiwum]

I rather like the bog mummies. They are pretty tough, since only magic weapons and attacks do damage, aside from unarmed combat. I don't have a lot of PCs with magic weapons, so I'm not sure I can throw one in yet. The Bog Rot disease is also pretty interesting. Again, it's pretty deadly because a Cleansing spell is IQ 17 and does 1d damage.

But here's my question. This is a clever critter, able to listen to the party talking and plan its attack and yet it has IQ 0. How is that supposed to work?

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by phiwum

But here's my question. This is a clever critter, able to listen to the party talking and plan its attack and yet it has IQ 0. How is that supposed to work?

That's strange. Also does non-magical fire do half damage or none?

I'm sure the players will learn from the encounter and their next group of PCs will each take the Staff spell.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by hcobb

That's strange. Also does non-magical fire do half damage or none?

I'm sure the players will learn from the encounter and their next group of PCs will each take the Staff spell.

I'd say that the text is a little odd when it says fire does half damage right before saying that only magical weapons and attacks do damage. And then it adds that unarmed attacks do damage.

So, I think there are four ways to damage a bog mummy.

(*) Fire
(*) Magical weapons
(*) Magical attacks
(*) Unarmed hits

I don't think the Staff spell for heroes is an appropriate response to this critter unless the campaign features a major infestation of the beasts.

Since new bog mummies come from dead people, you could say that they retain a bit of the memory of language from their earlier lives and have a natural instinct to ambush despite having no real intelligence. Still, it's a bit odd.

[the1weasel]

Originally Posted by phiwum

Vampire Roses are a little odd in their description . . .

The odd thing for me was the new stat/term HT. I'd never seen that mentioned before but I assume it's just speaking of hits or damage.

[phiwum]

The Stegocentipede can hit with a poison that reduces DX by 1 if a 3/ST roll is successful and by 2 else.

I assume this is a temporary condition, right? Either it wears off over time (24 hours or two weeks or something) or perhaps it can be counteracted by either magic or physicking or something. Maybe no one's tossed this critter into the fray yet, but has anyone considered how they'll play it?

[phiwum]

"The bog mummy will attack by entering HTH combat with a victim. With its great strength, a bog mummy does 1d+3 damage if it strikes in HTH combat."

Bog mummies sound awesome, if quite difficult. However, with an MA of 8, there aren't that many ways for the mummy to force HTH (and only a few players are stupid enough to accept an invitation). So, how does this work?

The bog mummies are, of course, abnormally smart for IQ 0 critters and can ambush the last guy in the party. In the right situation, this would likely lead to HTH, but there would be plenty of times when this just isn't a viable option. What then?

I'm guessing that he can make an unarmed attack as usual, though he prefers HTH if he can, but it's not clear from the description.

[Shostak]

Do you take the "back to the wall" HTH condition literally or figuratively? If a figure's rear hex is a tree, pit, or water, does that count? What about if another figure occupies the hex to their rear, making retreat into it impossible?

You could also give the Bog Mummy inherent UC II talent that allows a throw using shield rush mechanics.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by Shostak

Do you take the "back to the wall" HTH condition literally or figuratively? If a figure's rear hex is a tree, pit, or water, does that count? What about if another figure occupies the hex to their rear, making retreat into it impossible?

You could also give the Bog Mummy inherent UC II talent that allows a throw using shield rush mechanics.

I interpret back to the wall to mean there is no hex legal for disengagement. Maybe a little broader than that. A pit is legal but not desirable for disengagement. I'd say if your only legal move is a pit, then your back is also to a wall.

The whole thing is a little odd, since we don't require one to move to avoid HTH. One could rule that you can initiate HTH in any situation at all, and if the opponent has a faster MA, he can choose to retreat one hex, leaving his opponent in his now vacated hex. If he's willing to retreat into water or a pit, he's free to do so. He's not free to retreat into a hex with another figure.

If, of course, he chooses not to retreat, roll the die as one would do when he could not retreat.

Giving the Bog Mummy a shield rush (or throw) may be sensible too.

[Shostak]

Yes, a revamped set of HTH rules would be wonderful, from my point of view; the current rules preventing slower figures from entering HTH except from the rear or with those with their backs to the wall or who are willing just doesn't match with any of my experience. Even a small tweak of modifying the HTH initiation roll by 1 for slower aggressors and maybe letting a modified 6 (a 1/3 chance) give a free hit would improve things.