Ostensible Cat

Wow, it's been a while since I last did the weekly creature feature! This time, I've got a new critter that will be making an appearance in my Sea of O'Sr Adventure the Isles of Maedsid. Maedsid will have a both very earthly Celtic/Dark Ages/IronAge/Bronze Age component to it and a more unearthly feel to it. The Isles of Maedsid were ages ago untethered from the fabric of the material plane. Over time, this has caused some dimensional degredation and the Isles have experienced ecroachment of entities from beyond the material plane. The Lethenex is one such creature. I plan on using many non-standard creatures in Isle of Maedsid. In fact, I'm going to try and use only monsters of my own devising so that the adventure has its own consistency and feel. Some of the critters that I expect to be making an appearance are the Alitae , the Arepyiai , the Six Mouthed Goo Monster , the Black Dog , and the Dead Man's Chest amongst others. As with all of my weekly crea

James M over at Grognardia asked the old school bloggers out there to tell the world about their versions of iconic D&D monsters. I've never really liked the dark elf as presented in Dungeons and Dragons. If anything they were 1) far too numerous and 2) should not be attractive by any human standard 3) just not creepy and evil enough 4) and why the hell would an underground dwelling creature have black skin? For me, the dark elves should be really creepy. You know, like in the old fairy tales where they kidnap youngsters and make houses out their bones? I don't want my dark elves to be sympathetic at all. Their motives defy human comprehension, they eat flesh of humans/humanoids, they have strange powers, speak no language comprehendible by man, etc. For me, dark elves do indeed dwell underground. They only come about at night because direct sunlight will kill them. They have pale, almost translucent skin (usually covered in much and offal) and a stringy pale yel

This week, I've got another collaboration with my six year old son Bear.  I'm particularly impressed ith the imagination on this one.  Bear has been reading my comics and apparently felt inspired by my Infinity Gauntlet collection.  He drew this one up this morning and told me how the zombies was essentially bossed around by the ghost in the treasure chest.  As per usual, I take his idea and put game statistics to it to come up with a collaborative effort.  At any rate, the Deadman's Chest is an interesting two part composite undead that combines the features of both a wrath and a zombie.  As per all of the Weekly Creature Features, the entirity of the entry excluding the art is Open Game Content.  The artwork is done by my son Bear and is property of Johnathan abd Bear Bingham and may not be used without permission.  Without further ado, I bring you the Deadman's Chest. Name: Deadman’s Chest No. Enc: 1 Alignment: Chaotic Movement: 120’ (40’) Armor Class:

This week's creature feature is once again inspired by folklore and legend.  There are many, many instances and reports of the Black Dog from around the world.  Often tied to a location or family, the Black Dog is often (but not always) an ill omen and portends bad luck or worse to befall those who encounter it.  Those familiar with stories such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of the Baskervilles  will be familiar with the legend.  Also a decent reference can be found here .  As per all the Weekly Creature Features, the below text is designated Open Game Content per the OGL version 1.0a.  Any accompanying illustrations are not Open Game Conent and are sole property of me (Johnathan L Bingham) and may not be used without permission. Name:    Black Dog No. Enc:   1 Alignment:   Neutral Movement:    120’ (40’) Armor Class:   2 Hit Dice:   4 Attacks:   1 (touch, howl) Damage:   1d4 + special, special Save:   F3 Morale:   11 Hoard Class:   nil Descriptio

This week is a collaborative effort between myself and my Six year old son Bear. The Six Mouthed Goo Monster is the first in what I hope to be many such collaborations. I mean, who else other than a six year old can come up with such bizzare and I must say pretty horrific monsters? The way our collaborations work is that Bear will draw up a monster, name it and tell me what it does. I'll then ellaborate as needed to make it a bit more workable in game terms and then translate it into stats. For the Six Mouthed Goo Monster, the guidance was that it is a horrible goo creature with six mouths and makes a scary scream at people and can change colors and bite people. Ready made myhtos type creature right there. As with all my Weekly Creature Features, the Text is Open Gaming Content. The accompanying artwork is not open gaming conent and is the sole property of myself and my son and may not be used without my expressed written permission. Name: Six Mouthed Goo Monster No. Enc: 1-8

Get your Open Game Content moster fix for OSR stlye games. Wow, I've been so busy that I didn't get a chance to do the weekly creature feature last week. Well, time to rectify that. Any rate, once again, time to plunder, exploit, and reshape folklore, myth and legend for my ends and personal amusement. Today, I present the Azebill, perhaps one of the more well known creatures from folklore that I've used here. The Azeman is a creature from the folklore of Surinam in South America. Of course in the great tradition of our role playing heritage, I've shaped the legend to fit more in line with traditional fantasy roleplaying while trying to maintain much of the flavor. At any rate, like all my weekly creature features, the monster listing is designated Open Game Content. Any accompanying artwork is not open game content and is property of John Bingham (that would be me) and not for reuse unless given explicit written permission by me (and yes, I actually intend to i

It is that time once again to plunder the riches of Myth, Folklore and Legend to present beasties for use in you campaign outside the usual suspects. Always keep them guessing. At any rate, I continue to utilize the wonderful resource Giants, Monsters and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose. Today I present the Aspis, a small draconic creature similar to the wyvern. As per usual, I've modified it a bit to make it a challenging pack hunter. The Aspis had a big weakness according to folklore, which I've modified a bit to make it more playable. As per usual, the Weekly Creature Feature is designated Open Gaming Conent and uses Labyrinth Lord statistics. Any accompanying art is not Open Gaming Content. Withour further ado: Name: Aspis No. Enc: 1-6 Alignment: Neutral Movement: 90’ (30’) Fly: 120’ (40’) Armor Class: 5 Hit Dice: 3 Attacks: 2 (claw, bite) Damage: 1d4, 1d6, poison Save: F4 Morale: 7 Hoard Class: XVIII D

I've been pretty non-content oriented with this blog since the holidays. I aim to change that this week. So I guess that's a New Year's Resolution of sorts. Today we have two creatures, the Alicanto and the Alkonost. The Alicanto comes from Chilean folklore and the Alkonost is from Russian Legend. They have of course been embellished by me quite a bit. As with all of my Critters, these are designated Open Game Content. The follow on illustrations are not open game content and are the sole property of myself. Enjoy and happy gaming! Name: Alicanto No. Enc: 1 Alignment: Neutral Movement: 60’ (20’) Fly: 150’ (50’) Armor Class: 7 Hit Dice: 2 Attacks: 1, special Damage: 1d4, special Save: M1 Morale: 6 Hoard Class: XII, XIII Description: Alicanto are incredibly rare creatures believed to be from the plane of earth resembling peacocks. These beasts are nocturnal and have an insatiable appetite for precious metals such as gold and silver. Alican

Once again, I'm going back to the well and corrupting myth and legend to make my own monsters for use with Labyrinth Lord or other Old School Retro-clones. Again, feel free to use this creature in your own campaigns or OSR Projects. The Arepyiai is another name for harpy and the name means render or slicer. In Old School fashion, I've corrupted that to make an otherworldly beast. Name: Arepyiai No. Enc: 1-4 Alignment: Chaotic Movement: 60’ (20') Armor Class: 5 Hit Dice: 4 Attacks: 2 (bite, sting) Damage: 1d6, 1d6, poison Save: F6 Morale: 11 Hoard Class: XIII Description: Arepyiai are horrific creatures not of this world. They are of up to 4' in length and combine features of an arachnid and mollusc. Arepyiai are slow moving and rely on unwary prey to come within range of their harpoon-like stings. The Arepyiai produce a pleasant sweet smelling odor that attracts prey. The Arepyiai will lie in wait and launch its harpoon at targets that come within 1

Once again gentle reader, it is that time. Yes it is the Weekly Creature Feature. Up this week is a creature from French folklore. Once again, I've adapted it and embelished a bit. As always, the creature nmae, stats and description are hereby designated Open Gaming Conent. The accompanying illustrations of the the creature is not Open Gaming Content and is copyright to Johnathan L Bingham (me) and cannot be used except with my express written permission. Name: Arassas No. Enc: 1-4 Alignment: Neutral Movement: 120’ (40’), Special Armor Class: 5 Hit Dice: 3 Attacks: 3 (claws, bite) Damage: 1d4, 1d4, 1d6, poison Save: F3 Morale: 7 Hoard Class: VI Description: A strange and hideous creature that has the body of a giant lizard and a rather feline head. The Arassas has an overall length of 6’ and is capable of scaling sheer surfaces (even upside down). This ability lets them surprise prey on a 1-4 on a d6. The Arassas has a poisonous bite; a victim must save versus

Once again, I peruse my tomes of legends, lore, folk tales, and whatnot to find interesting critters for use at the gaming table. I'm still combing through Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose. This week I stumbled across a creature from Middle Eastern Myth: the Angka. Not much detail was given, so in true Old School form, I extrapolated and made stuff up. Filling a similar role as the cocatrice and the harpy, this beast can be used to spring on your party to change the usual suspect lineup a bit. As per all of my Weekly Creature Feature critters, this is designated as Open Content, so feel free to use it as you wish: Name: Angka No. Enc: 1 Alignment: Chaotic Movement: 60’ (20’) Fly: 150’(50’) Armor Class: 6 Hit Dice: 4 Attacks: 2 (bite, mesmerize) Damage: 1d4, mesmerize Save: F3 Morale: 6 Hoard Class: XX Description: Angka appear as vibrantly colored birds with human-like facial features. Angka are soli

Here's this week's creature feature. This week is a creature that haunts the far north and stalks those foolish enough to venture into the northern wilds at night. Loosely based upon a Native American legend, this is the Amarok. As with my last creature feature, the Amarok is designated open content so feel free to use it as you wish (aside for the art which is not open content and is copyright John Bingham - me). Again stated out for use with LL, it should be a fairly simple matter for a DM to convert to suit the DM's needs. Name: Amarok (wolf) No. Enc: 1 Alignment: Chaotic Movement: 200’ (70’) Armor Class: 4 Hit Dice: 8 Attacks: 1 (bite) Damage: 1d12 Save: F4 Morale: 8 Hoard Class: None Description: An amarok is a monstrous wolf akin to normal and dire wolves. However, amaroks are much more cunning and malicious than even dire wolves (6’ at shoulder). Native to the coldest reaches of the northernmost tundra and woodlands; these beasts hunt

What I'd like to try is to do a monster a week (LL stats w/art) as well as an encounter site a week and post them here. Everything but the art will be open content (meaning, feel free to use everything except my artwork). I'll state what isn't open conent. Now, having said that, I've got a few ideas for encounter sites that I'd like to work up. Happy gaming!

Ok, so here's how I spent my lunch, creating a new critter based upon a mythological reference. Alito was a grain goddess in ancient times (her name apparently means grain or is associated with grain in Greek). Over time, Alito became associated with disease and death (don't you just love it). At any rate, in true Old School spirit, I took a limited reference and created a new group of creatures based off of this reference (similar in spirit to Medusa, the Minotaur, Gorgons, etc). At any rate, this is stated out for use with Labyrinth Lord. I am also designating the Alitae open conent, so feel free to use it as you wish (but if you happen to publish it elsewhere, I'd be grateful for attributing it to me). Please note: the artwork is not open content is is copyright John Bingham (me) 2010. Name: Alitae No. Enc: 1 Alignment: Chaotic Movement: 60’ (20’), Special Armor Class: 6 Hit Dice: 3 Attacks: 1 Damage: by weapon, disease Save: M3 Morale: 6 Hoar