Magic Items: The Wolf Banes

The Wolf Banes

The Wolf Banes are a set of enchanted weapons and armour specifically for combating wolves: a spear, a shield, a scimitar, and a shortbow make up the full set:

Skinner

A scimitar +1, +2 Vs wolves. Does double damage (i.e., (1d8 x2)+2) against all wolf types and in addition, if wielded by a fighting class, allows one attack per level as if the wolves were <1HD.
xp: 800
gp: 5000

Pricker

A 7' spear +1, +2 Vs wolves; includes a cross-bar like a boar-spear. Does double damage against all wolf types and in addition, if maximum damage is rolled against a wolf, the creature must make a save Vs death or expire instantly. May be set against a charge, possibly resulting in an additional doubling of damage so that against a warg or winter-wolf it would do (1d8 x4)+2 damage.

xp: 750

gp: 4000

Comet

A shortbow +1, +2 Vs wolves. Does double damage against all wolf types and in addition, if wielded by a fighter, each arrow acts (if wished) as a flame arrow doing an additional +1 damage on striking. Unless the struck wolf makes a save at 16+ (cloth Vs magical fire), it will catch fire for 1d4 rounds, doing 1d4 damage each round (1d4+1 for winter-wolves). The wolf struck must make a morale check at -50%, and all wolves within 1" must make normal checks.

xp: 750

gp: 4500

Door

A medium shield +1, +3 Vs wolves. Causes attempts by wolves to overbear the user to fail automatically. Additionally, winter-wolf breath attack damage is halved or totally negated if the save is made, unless the user is surprised.

xp: 800
gp: 3500

Notes

The Wolf Banes set will attract a sale bonus of +10% per item over the first, so a complete set will have a sale value of 22100. However, the items are unique and derive from an ancient tribal hero who fought wolves. That tribe may still exist and may track down the current owner of any of these items. What happens then is up to the DM.

For these items, Yeth Hounds are not wolves, however werewolves are, even in human form.

Women (Amazons)

Amazons

Frequency	Rare
No Appearing	20-120
AC	By Armour
Move	12"
Hit Dice	4-7hp
% in Lair	80%
TT	Individuals K; I, Y
No of Attacks	1, 2, or 4
Damage/Attack	by Weapon
Special Attacks	Leaders
Special Defenses	Leaders
MR	Standard
Intelligence	Low to Exceptional
Alignment	Chaotic (N or G)
Size	S to M
Psionic Ability	See Below
Attack/defense modes	See Below

Amazons are human women who have abandoned their native patriarchal societies and banded together to live on their own terms.

Amazons are found in remote areas away from any male-dominated cultures: forest, jungle, and mountains are most likely, with other terrains only if very isolated indeed, for example on an island or aboard a ship.

Encounters in other terrains being with raiding parties of 10 to 60% of the lair number (so roll 2d6x10 for the lair, which is somewhere in the general region, if possible, and another 1d6 for the size of the encountered party).

Amazons are highly adept with missile weapons and a group will be armed as follows (in addition to a dagger):

d10	Weapons
1-6	Short comp. bow + spear
7-8	Spear + large shield
9	Javelin + large shield
10	Long comp. bow + javelin

All amazons are proficient with all these weapons; these are simply what a group will be armed with during a random encounter.

Due to their constant practise the amazons will attack at +2 to-hit with whichever missile weapon they possess (spears used as melee weapons receive no bonus). If fighting a group which is led by or mostly made up of human males, the amazons will attack with a berserk fury and receive double the normal number of attacks with the weapon (including bows).

They will never check morale against such a group, although leaders may call for a tactical withdrawal and if that is not possible, they will fight to the last man on the opposing side, or the last woman on their own.

Stats

If needed, an amazon’s individual stats are rolled as per DMG pp 11 and 100, “mercenaries”, thus strength runs from 7 to 16 and constitution from 9 to 18, with a minimum 4hp; other scores run from 6 to 15 and base hp is 1d3. Leader types should be rolled with 4d6 (discard lowest) in order with low scores being boosted to class minimums.

The bonus to missile fire is in addition to any dexterity bonuses and, like them, is reliant on having no encumbering weight or armour, so normal amazons dress simply in practical clothing for the terrain they are found in, although if arrayed for war 20% will wear leather armour if they have nothing better (i.e., magical armour). Shields are worn on the back while combat is at range, negating the penalty for the bulk of the large shields they prefer, and adding 1 to AC from the rear only.

All amazons, including leaders carry main weapons designed for their specific strength and these will be at half range and do only d4 damage if used by anyone of lesser strength.

8th level (superhero) amazon leader

Leaders

Amazon leaders are fighters if warriors (d6: 1-4), and clerical (5-6) of various female deities otherwise. Clerical amazons are proficient with and able to use the same weapons as above.

For every 10 amazons encountered, one will be a 1st level leader, for every 20 a 2nd level leader, for every 30 a 3rd level leader, and for every 40 a 4th level leader.

Each lair will include a warrior (tribal) queen of 5th (if less than 70 amazons encountered), 6th (if up to 90), 7th (if up to 110), or 8th (if 120 amazons are rolled).

A lair will sometimes (5%) include a magic user of 6-11th level who does not normally venture forth with the normal patrols or raiding parties.

Leaders of the 4th level upwards will have 1-3 assistants of 1-3 levels lower and of the same class (so a 4th level cleric amazon who has one assistant will have a single 3rd level cleric assistant; if she has 3 assistant they will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level). These assistants frequently carry their mistresses’ extra gear such as spare arrows and spears.

All leader types have normal chances for psionic abilities and disciplines. Leader types do not receive followers apart from the other amazons.

Companion Animals

Amazon lairs will contain 1HD of companion animal per 5 Amazons (including leaders).
Each band of amazons will have a single type of animal as rolled below:

d100	Animal
1-50	War dog
51-70	Owl, giant
71-80	Wolf
81-85	Eagle, giant
86-90	Hippogriff
91-97	Gryphon
98-99	Pegasus
00	Snake, giant poisonous

These animals will be trained to a high degree and even the snakes (a holy animal for these tribes) will be able to respond to being called by name and the queen of a specific tribe will be able to speak to animals of that type, even if they are not from the lair.

In the case of giant animals, the lair or its surrounding area will contain large numbers of the natural animal too.

If the terrain of their lair makes it reasonable, amazons will also use normal horses for mounts.

The Amazon Queen

It is rumoured that there is a Queen of the Amazons somewhere, a 12th level warrior (i.e., fighter) whose treasure includes a magical girdle that gives her the attacking bonuses of a fire giant, but not the carrying or throwing capacity. The Queen’s recurved composite bow was reputedly given to her by her goddess and requires a strength of 22 to draw it properly and 18/50 to use at all. The Queen leads a group of 300 amazons and has six assistants of levels 6-11.

Treasure

Leaders will have the normal chance of having magical items as given under “Men” in the Monster Manual but each leader has an additional 5% chance per level of having a set of bracers of defense (1-5) or of archery (6). These will be enchanted and sized for the exclusive use of females (not necessarily humans). All bow-using amazons will have at least normal non-magical bracers.

As amazons eschew the sword, they will not have any and instead will be armed with a high-quality but brittle non-magical obsidian blade with acts as a +1 dagger but will lose this bonus on any natural '1' on the attack roll.

Finally, any roll for miscellaneous weapons will be a weapon matching their main weapon (short-bow, spear, javelin, or long bow as rolled above):

d2d6	Bonus
2-7	+1
8-10	+2
11	Roll normally
12	+3

“Roll normally” - Roll as per DMG/UA and any rolled miscellaneous weapon which is of the correct type is retained; anything else indicates no magical weapon.

Magical shields will be of any size but each amazon will carry a large shield for use in the phalanx.

Girdle of the Queen G.P sale value: 5,000 Xp value: 400
Great Bow of the Queen G.P sale value: 7500 xp value: 600
The bow carries a curse for any man who owns it (it need not be carried). He will fail any saving throw against a female opponent and his female opponents will always succeed in theirs against him. This can be removed by a remove curse acting against a 50% magic resistance or by becoming a woman.

Unless the curse is lifted, amazon clerics will feel a desire to single the man out in any combat and will always give a hostile reaction.

The Phalanx

Three or more amazons can link their large shields and form a fighting phalanx. The right-hand amazon (from their point of view) gains no advantage, but the others gain the benefit of 50% cover (i.e., +4 to AC). The phalanx can advance at a maximum rate of 9" (or the slowest member), however it can charge.

A dozen or more amazons can form a circle, eliminating the single “weak point” at the right-hand end. However, movement rate for the circle is but 1". Note that the circle can face outwards or inwards.

Typically, amazons will try to have multiple rows in the phalanx so that opponents can be attacked by massed spears and an amazon lair will normally have enough long spears/pikes to enable the entire band to attack in at least two ranks and up to 5, depending on the number of amazons. The spears carried by raiding parties are not long enough to allow more than three rows to engage and the pikes stored in lairs will not be used for individual or melee combat.

All spears not in the front two rows are classed as pikes for the purposes of weapon speed.

Culture

Non-hostile men will be tolerated for a time and may be used for breeding purposes, however male children will disposed of before adulthood. Good leaders will arrange adoption, neutrals will probably sell the children to those who need or want them.

Leadership roles are by merit based on a vote. Warrior roles, however, may be decided instead by combat if the loser of a vote believes that she is the superior leader. Nevertheless, it is possible to find normal 0-level amazons in important positions within a particular group.

Amazons are defined at least partly by what they oppose - the rule of men - and as such they are not necessarily united by anything else. This can make their societies fractious, rather like Brexit voters who can only agree about one thing and don't actually get on very well outside of that.

Amazons in Greek and Roman art are almost never shown with one breast; probably they would have used a simple leather archery guard over their chests, similar in principle to the wrist bracers.

Lairs are usually abandoned settlements in the wilderness somewhere, with native architecture of any sort mixed with more classical-styled buildings that the women may have constructed mixed in.

Dwarves

Optionally, 1% of individual amazons may be female dwarves (possibly with beards).

Magic Item: The Wand of Death

The Wand of Death is one of the fabled Artefacts of Evil. It is the simplest of these devices created by some unknown god or gods in the lost past of the universe. The user simply points the wand and states the correct trigger word and a black bolt of negative energy springs forth, draining the life from everything it strikes, to a maximum of 12" (treat the beam as ½" wide).

The trigger word is chosen from among 20 combinations of syllables and each combination drains a different amount of energy from along the line, from 1 to 20 d6. This number is rolled immediately and applied to every living thing along the deadly ray's path starting with those things nearest the user. Each possible unsurprised target gets a saving throw, with those further than 1" away getting the benefit of any DEX bonus. Beyond 6", victims get +2 to their save and beyond 9" +5.

Trigger syllables will not be easily determined and the twisted black hawthorn wand may remain a mystery until Legend Lore or a sage are consulted. Even then, such work will only reveal one syllable at a time. Of course, alert characters may hear trigger words being used by whoever owned it before them.

As each victim is drained of hp, the total remaining in the ray is likewise reduced until it is completely used up or the maximum range is reached.

Any victim drained to 0 or less hit points is disintegrated.

The hit points of those creatures struck only by magical weapons are augmented such that "+1 or better to hit" are drained at a ratio of 1:2, "+3 or better to hit" at 1:4 and so on. Thus a 50 point beam which struck a solar would drain it of only 8hp.

When found the wand will have 1-100 charges and each d6 damage done will drain 1 charge. There is no way short of a wish for a mortal to determine the number of charges remaining. Any evil creature struck only by magical weapons will be able to read the number of charges by holding the wand by the handle end and concentrating for a round.

Unliving things such as walls do not block the path of the beam, although a globe of invulnerability or anti-magic sphere will. A wall of force will not.

If operation of the wand would reduce the number of charges to less than 1, the extra charges so needed are removed from the operator's levels. Thus, a 7th level cleric who summoned 10 dice of damage from the wand while it had 4 charges remaining would be reduced to a 1st level cleric, leaving the wand with 1 charge - the minimum possible.

If the operator is reduced to less than 0-level by the wand they become a formless mist (treat as invisible) which will reform in 1d6 days as a wraith.

The wand's effect on the undead is somewhat different. If an undead creature is struck by the beam then it is drained of hit points as normal, but every 4 hit points adds a charge to the wand. The remaining damage in the beam is still reduced as normal.

For example, a beam of 14 damage strikes a zombie with 9hp. The zombie is destroyed, 2 charges are restored to the wand, and 5 points of damage remain in the beam.

Although using the wand is not itself an evil act (it is an excellent weapon against the undead, for example), it is indiscriminate and accidental killing of innocents and allies is easy, leading to possible alignment drift.

Use of the wand additionally causes fear (save applies) in any being under 4th level within its range who sees it, no matter whether they are allied with the user or not.

The wand operates at 18th level (9th level spell) for the purposes of magic resistance.

The wand is an artefact and thus not subject to normal destruction; the DM should determine the single method of destroying the wand using the list on DMG p164 as inspiration.

Sale Value: 20000gp
Experience point value: 8,000xp

Monster: Stone Trolls

Stone Trolls

Frequency	Uncommon
No. Appearing	2-12
Armour Class	3
Move	12"
Hit Dice	4
% in lair	70%
Treasure type	Qx2,X
No. of attacks	1
Damage/attack	1d8+2, or by weapon
Special Attacks	None
Special Defenses	See below
Magic Resistance	5%
Intelligence	Low
Alignment	CN(E)
Size	L (8' tall)
Psionic Ability	Nil
Psionic Attack/defense modes	Nil
Level	V
XP	175+6/hp

General

Stone trolls are large, unpleasant humanoids. Not exactly evil, they do tend to be violent and are xenophobic to an extreme degree. They like meat and will cause mayhem in farming areas but rarely resort to eating the farmers themselves. They will react very aggressively to any attempt by another race (such as humans) to punish them for breaking "stupid laws".

Stone trolls normally wield large tree branches or smaller stone clubs and axes doing 1d8+2 damage. If they use other weapons such as discarded bastard or two-handed swords or polearms then they do normal damage with +2 for their strength and mass.

They are very hardy and resist magic, heat, and cold. The first is represented by 5% magic resistance against wizard-level magic, and against heat and cold they automatically take half damage, with a save indicating no damage at all. They can survive in any environment where stone is solid, but they dislike ice and will avoid walking on it if possible.

Weapon Vs Armour, Speed

The trolls' skin should be treated as field plate -1 (ie, AT 2-1) if using UA tables (or my own), and as platemail/AT 2 if using the PHB tables.

Their own weapons use the modifiers for a footman's mace, but are somewhat faster with a speed factor of 5.

Lifestyle

Appearance

They are grey and their skin resembles schist or flaky slate. Blunt weapons do half damage against them but cutting and piercing ones do normal damage. However, non-magical, non-blunt weapons which strike a stone troll must make a saving throw against crushing blow or break.

Dress is basic "caveman" style and barefooted.

Lair

In lair will be twice as many females, which fight as 2HD monsters and will generally use improvised weapons such as thrown stones (treat as sling bullets with range of 1"/2"/4") or pots and pans (clubs, successful strike breaks item on a 1-4/d6).

Young will number half the adults -1d4. They will reluctantly fight as 1-1HD monsters AC6, using improvised weapons and grappling.

Lairs are invariably underground and reached from cave entrances or sinkholes. Stone trolls are excellent climbers and are capable of hunting mountain goats.

Society

Society is "Big Man" based, with the largest male running the show. Each lair represents one extended family and when the Big Man's eldest son reaches maturity he is expected to go and capture a mate from some other cave-dwelling family and head off into the wilds to start a new family along with any of his brothers, sisters etc. who will join them.

The only really civil relationship stone trolls have is with stone giants whom they revere as demi-gods. The giant's taciturn lack of appreciation for this respect only seems to make the trolls more fervent.

A child is considered an adult when they can light a fire from tinder by clicking their fingers, indicating that their skin has hardened.

Monster: The Deathwright

Art: Eddie Campbell

Deathwright

Frequency	Very rare
No. Appearing	1
Armour Class	7
Move	9"
Hit Dice	8
% in lair	10%
Treasure type	I
No. of attacks	1 + special
Damage/attack	2d4
Special Attacks	See below
Special Defenses	Undead
Magic Resistance	Normal for Undead
Intelligence	Low
Alignment	NE
Size	M
Psionic Ability	nil
Psionic Attack/defense modes	nil
Level	VII
XP	1100+10/hp

The deathwright is the result of a failed mummification-type grab for immortality but compared to a "normal" undead mummy, the touch of the deathwright is even more sinister.

A single successful "to-hit" roll by the deathwright causes the listed damage from the impact of its unnaturally tough and strong flesh (this toughness also gives it its base AC of 7). Immediately on making such a strike, a second such roll is made and if this is successful then the creature has managed to grasp its target with both hands and the evil nature of its vitality begins to suck the life from the victim in the feared "death grip".

On each subsequent round the monster may choose to drain one level from the grasped opponent, or to let go and roll a new attack (doing 2-8 damage) against that, or another, figure.

The deathwright is turned as if it were a mummy and is immune to the things which undead are normally immune to, such as charm, cure/cause/heal etc.

The Death Grip

The hit points lost by any opponent as a result of level draining (not the normal 2d4 attack) is transferred to the deathwright, to a maximum of 64hp (the given HD is for generating the monster's state when encountered). Thus, if it drains a level from a cleric it will gain the 1 to 8hp (and CON bonus) that the cleric gained for that level; if it drains a kobold it gains 1d4 etc.

The level draining ability only works on living opponents which are native to the Inner Planes and which can be struck by +2 or lesser weapons.

The Curse of the Deathwright

Any creature which dies as a result of the level drain will return from the dead as a zombie/monster zombie within 1d10 rounds and will be automatically under the control of the deathwright.

The deathwright may turn other undead to its control in a similar way as if it were an 8th level cleric. It may also attempt to influence demons, devils, daemons, and other creatures of the lower outer planes which fit within the normal limitations of "special". It has no power over paladins of any level.

Weapon Vs Armour Rules

The deathwright's initial attack should be treated as a club and the second roll for the death grip should be treated as open hand. The monster's basic armour type is 10+3 (ie, attacks against it gain the bonuses appropriate for a target with no armour).

The thing may wear any other human armour, although this is unusual due to its intelligence and general lack of elan. If it uses anything, it is most likely to wear some magical item which has caught its eye from a victim. It will never use a shield since that would interfere with its attack method.
If it does done armour it receives an effective +2 to any armour type due to its unnaturally preserved flesh.

Appearance

The deathwright appears to be a normal human with dark, weather-beaten skin and it is quite capable of blending in with human crowds, although its knowledge of languages are likely to be either unusual or antiquated as it is never encountered in its original homeland, whose gods have shunned and banished it from their sight.

Its general appearance and slightly stiff movements may give the impression of, for example, an aged farm worker or fishing folk.

Whether there is but a single deathwright which roams the world or several similar abominations is unknown but no one has ever encountered more than one

Some memory of the royalty it once was still burns inside the mind of the creature and it will occasionally take over a lair from some monster which reminds it of the opulence it once enjoyed, hence the % in lair and treasure values. Such lairs are generally in ruined palaces or lost and abandoned underground treasure vaults.

If encountered in lair, there is a 30% chance that it will be accompanied by 1d6 skeletons, the remains of zombies it has made out of some previous encountered party. Each skeleton adds a 50% chance of a single magic item of any type, which it may still be wearing if appropriate.

Dagger, Dancing

Not quite what I meant

Appears to be a normal dagger (so it sheds no light) but radiates alteration magic. If used in the off-hand the user will feel it tugging at their grip and if let go of it will perform its actions on its own, leaving the owner to fight with a single weapon or draw a second off-hand weapon. In the latter case, the user will be able to employ a three-stage attack routine (dagger/off-hand/main). The owner could also drop their main weapon and take up a two-handed one.*

The dagger can be commanded to defend, in which case the user's AC against the first melee attack against them in the round will be raised to 0 and against all others to 7; if the user's AC is already better than this the dagger gives no extra protection. The dagger may only defend or attack in the course of any single round and can only change mode on the owner's initiative (specifically sub-step D).

The general enchantment of the dagger means that it strikes as a magical weapon but has no plus, and so will not affect any target that requires +2 or more to hit. It does however strike as if wielded by its owner, so if he or she has strength bonuses the dagger will too.

Once combat has ended (no combat within 12"), the dagger will fall to the ground inert.

These daggers may occasionally exhibit special characteristic; roll on the unusual swords table on DMG p166 with -10 to the dice.

* Clarification: the dagger must be used for at least one round in the off-hand before it will dance; it can not be simply commanded to dance from the outset of combat.

Xp value: 350. Gp value: 4000

PC Death

What PC Death often looks like from the DM's PoV

It's often suggested that PCs should only die when the death is a direct consequence of their decisions, as opposed to a run of dumb bad luck or a "save Vs death" trap or somesuch.

While I agree in the broad sense that PC death should not be whimsical; all PCs generally do share the same decision of "Let's go and face the danger" for whatever reasons. So in that sense no PC death is really the result of dumb luck etcetera any more than knowingly walking into a minefield and actually stepping on a mine is just bad luck.