Elephant Centaurs

Rippped from The Fantasy Trip Facebook group is Henry Cobb's Man-Elephant

Man-Elephant (3-hex)

ST 30 DX 11 IQ 7 MA 10 Trunk(as whip), tusks(as halberd), two hands(various), Hide(stops 2 hits) -4 DX on all if multiple attack forms used in the same turn.

I believe it was intended to model Robert E. Howard's creation from "The Tower of the Elephant".  

I thought it was was an excellent model for the Pachyaur (Elephant centaurs) from Dragon Kings, the spiritual successer to Dark Sun.  

That said I have always wanted stats for Wayne Douglas Barlowe's Thype from the back of his Guide to Extraterrestrials.

There is very little information about the Thype in Barlowe's book unfortunately and only two other illustrations depict them.  One is in a market with a Thype walking away and another the Thype is traveling along side a lake leading a headless creature that I originally took for Larry Niven's Puppeteer based on other illustrations but seems to have an incorrect number of limbs to be a match.

Well we don't have much to go on but here's what I've got.

Fantasy Trip 

Thype Mercenary (36 points)

ST 10 DX 14 (11) IQ 11  MA 12 (8)

Weapon:  Saber 2d-2 (2d-1)

Armor: Scale (chainmail) 3 hits (melee attacks at -1 DX to hit Thype Mercenary)

Talents: Fencer (Saber), Swords & Knives, Crossbow, Literacy, Quickdraw, Alertness, Recognize Value, Business Sense

Thype Trader (32 points)

ST 9 DX 10 IQ 13 MA 14

Weapon:  Quarterstaff 1d+2

Armor: none

Talents:  Crossbow, Quarterstaff, Running, Charisma, Driver, Recognize value, Business Sense, Literacy, Assess Value, Area knowledge (trade routes)

Thype Player Characters 

ST 8  DX 8  IQ 9  with 8 points to spend.  MA 12

Thype must purchase Architect/Builder, Armorer, Business Sense or 2 IQ points worth of Mundane Talents at character creation as they are a practical people first.  If a 1 IQ talent is picked then another talent from the above list must be selected so that 2 IQ worth of talents is purchased.

Though Thype make good sailors they are rarely good swimmers so saves vs drowning are always 1 die more difficult for them (this penalty is eliminated by the diving talent).  Furthermore the Swimming talent costs 2 points for a Thype to purchase (the diving talent cost is unaffected).

Thype attention to detail means that they can build faster, cheaper, or better.  They have a unique IQ 10 talent that they may purchase for 1 point.  Thype craftsman.  It allows any physical thing the Thype builds by himself to take either only 75% of the time, cost only 75% to make, be worth 125% of normal value.  For group projects 50% of the workforce must have this Talent for it to be effective. The GM may rule that only one of these options is possible.  Potions and magic items are not the purview of this Talent  

Lastly Thype hands are three fingered and Thype find it difficult to use bows therefore they prefer crossbows.  However the crossbow often needs to be modified from the design used by humans.  In places where Thype tend to live this is no problem.  Otherwise increase the cost of a crossbow by 50% to preform a modification.  Thype shoot bows with a -2 DX and unmodified crossbows with a -1 DX.  In both cases they will complain endlessly about the inferior human design.

Lizardmen

Some Fat Dragon games Liz men

A real joy to paint up.

I've been playing Rappen Athuk with the kids and an old friend using D&D 5e.  When we got to the 3rd level of the mouth of doom they ran into a demon that really didn't have a description for.  So I whipped up this mini using some files from thingiverse and meshmixer.  Turned out pretty good and far easier than I thought it would be.

Restarting

Guess starting a new job and a new blog at the same time is a bad idea.
So from here on it'll be a bit less structured and more just whatever hobby thing I happen to be doing or thinking about.
Ready?
Go.

Miniatures.  I'm obsessed with them.  It was miniatures that got me back into gaming after being away for years.  Specifically Confrontation miniatures.  Sometimes they're a bit cartoony but that's sort of the appeal.  

It doesn't hurt that they're painted gorgeously either.

I was surprised to find I enjoy painting miniatures as an adult.  And there is a long list of truly wonderful miniature manufacturers out there, many of them small companies of only a few people. 

Of course my work has been stymied by rearranging the house but, with a new airbrush (that I'm learning to use), and an indoor place to airbrush, production should be up again soon.

Unusual Bugbears

Bugbears…

1.       Billbog:  Gray-brown long sparse hair, big scar across face.  Wields a switch -2 dam (min 1) +1 initiative.  Is perpetually grumpy about stuck doors and instructs in repair.  “Learn by doing.” Swack!

2.        Gipgak: Gangly with yellowing gray hair.  Wields pitchfork.  Perpetually hungry and easily distracted/diffused with a free meal.

3.       Frofil: Bushy brown hair, needs to cut fingernails.  Wields mace missing studs on one side.  Likes gambling and speaks in a toothy grin.

4.       Drod: Black hair, wry expression.  2-h sword.  Believes nothing she’s told.

5.       Silwig: Rust colored hair, big nose. Wield club covered in glue and glass.  Always drinking from magical wooden cup that perpetually fills with barely palatable swill.  Wants to know, “What’s going on here,” but doesn’t listen to answer.

6.       Drigldrak: Dark gray hair, Squints.  Wields massive thigh bone of unknown origin.  Utters “Not me I’m with child,” in falsetto during combat and chuckles.

7.       Bluod:  Tan hair, tall.  Wields giant oak soup spoon shouting “Have a taste”.

8.       Jif:  Pale gray hair, hangs in front of eyes.  Wields 2-h cleaver.  Delays fighting with arguing.

Daddy, where do bugbears come from?

Well, ehem.  You see when a daddy bugbear and a mommy bugbear love each other...

Actually we'll work that out in a bit.  Lets start with some basics.

Bugbears are 7-8 foot tall hairy goblinoids.  They are strong and exceeding quiet for their size.  Where goblins are more mischievous in nature bugbears are malevolent.  Cruel deaths, dismemberment, and disfigurement are their calling cards.  And stealth is a matter of pride.  Their enemies are met with strength and deception.

Bugbears build no cities, farm no lands, neither craft arms and armor nor sew clothes.  While they have been seen to pen animals for food, build crude huts and patch bits of cloth or armor together, the efforts are careless, temporary, and crude.  They do not give much thought or care to any labor.  Any possession a bugbear owns that is not makeshift was most likely either stolen, won in combat, or made by a subordinate non-bugbear (since they know better than to trust the handy work of their own kind).

They live in desolate and abandoned places.  Haunt might be a better word.  They leave bones and dust and ruin undisturbed.  They admire faded frescos, dim paintings, crumbled stone, and sagging glass.  The rooms and passages of a dead or displaced people are ideal to a bugbear.

Bugbears form large groups called clans though it is almost a requirement that there be lesser humanoids, commonly goblins, that can be subjugated into foraging for food.  A truly powerful leader is needed to keep tendencies of insubordination and inevitable power struggles from escalating in such a group.  Smaller groups of bugbears or individuals are much more common, and they will often seek out goblins to handle menial tasks.

It is a common punishment in bugbear communities to chain problem individuals.  Manacles are attached to the arms, feet, or neck and chains, bells, or both are bound to the bugbear.  The inability to be quiet can drive a bugbear mad. 

Bugbears believe themselves to be evil ghosts given form.   Only the cruel and malicious bugbear will be reincarnated after death.  Those that do not cause enough strife or who are loud will be trapped in the realm of spirts.  Shamanic bugbears are called ghost eaters among their kind and it is from devouring these disappointing ghosts that their power derives.  Worth noting is that undead often ignore or are indifferent to bugbears.  Ghosts, wraiths, banshees, etc.  treat them as like spirts.