MARTIANS

Public Domain Image

Init +0
Melee Atk
 • tentacle +3 (1d6)
AC 12
HD 3d10
MV 10
ACT 1d24 + 2d20
Fort -4
Ref -1
Will +7
AL C

“A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather. Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly.” — H. G. Wells, The War Of The Worlds

Martians are a strange race of conquerors hailing from, as their name suggests, the planet Mars. The martians are reasonably strong, even though they move sluggishly in Aerth’s gravity, but they primarily rely on their strange fighting machines in war.

Though technologically advanced, over the eons their physical forms have degraded and atrophied into primitive cephalopodic shapes. They are so devolved that they no longer have a proper digestive system, instead simply absorbing their victims’ blood directly into their bodies through the use of glass pipettes.



MARTIAN WAR MACHINES
Init +5
Melee Atk
• 1d10 tentacles +10 (1d12, 20’ reach)
Ranged Atk
 • Heat Ray (Ref Save DC 14, 3d30 damage)
AC 20
HD 10d20
MV 60
SP black smoke
Fort n/a
Ref +5
Will n/a
AL C

The martians travel from planet to planet by launching themselves across space in large canisters, fired from enormous cannons buried underneath the red planet’s surface. The machines they use are large and terrible, standing higher than a church, and weighing several tons. Their machines have three tentacular legs, with dozens of thinner tendrils dangling down and acting as hands or fingers. From the central mass of the machine is a strange hood, in which the martians pilot the machine. And finally, extending on an odd tube, is the martians’ greatest weapon: the heat ray.

Black Smoke
The martians also make use of a strange compound known simply as black smoke. Some martian fighting machines are equipped with this in addition to a heat ray or instead of it. When canisters of the substance are dropped, a black gas spreads about 500’ in all directions (at a rate of 100’ per round), requiring anyone within that area to make a DC 14 Fort Save each round or take 2d16 damage.



Adventure Hooks

• Whilst exploring a network of underground caverns, the party accidentally stumbles across a large metal cylinder, buried in the rock for millions of years. Within the crashed ship, martians wait dreaming in cryosleep…

• The party is transported to Barsoom, the dreamlands of Mars, and must help a clan of green martians fend off invading martians.

• A meteor streaked across the sky the other night, landing in the nearby woods. Strange hammering noises and greenish lights have been emanating from the crash site.

• A sorcereress has recently been employing giant tripodal war machines, things that are clearly not of Aerth. The local lord has hired you to investigate and find out where she is getting the horrific weapons.

• A group of beastfolk have begun worshiping the corpse of a martian as their god, and through their faith have managed to bring it back to life in an undead state. Their “god” is now instructing them in how to construct fighting machines and produce the black smoke. The beastfolks’ early attempts are crude, but deadly.

• In a nearby valley, strange sounds of battle have been heard from the deep woods, and occasional flashes of light have been seen. Deep in the woods, a group of Mi-Go face off against the martians. It is an excellent opportunity to steal some alien technology, and if the party were to help one side or the other, who knows what rewards they may obtain...




Written by Tristan Tanner of The Bogeyman’s Cave — check it out!

MINING BOT

Init +1
Ranged Atk
 • plasma arc +2 (1d10, 10/20/30)
AC 18HD 4d8 +3
MV 20
Act 1d20
SP surface cling, vulnerable to cold, TK, aqua-adaptation
Fort +8
Ref +4
Will--
AL N

Working in groups of six or twelve, the non-verbal mining bots were brought from beyond this world to extract a particular ore of your choice, gold, silver, zinc, cobalt, etc. Their plasma arc mining tool happens to make an effective weapon.

Their 'feet' remain in contact with the ground at all times, as they slide along to move. They can also moving right up walls and across ceilings with the same ease as moving on the ground.

They do not function well in the cold, and take double damage from attacks of extreme cold or the like. They have a simple programming, but their Controller can re-program them as needed.

If discovered, they will attempt to flee. If they are pursued, they will turn and fight in an attempt to completely eliminate their pursuers entirely.



This creature was created using Monster Extractor IV: Aliens & Manufactured Beings, available from RPGNow.

SCOUT DRONE — DEVICE OF SELVOTH AZAVATO, BLOODSPORT RECRUITER

Init +0
Ranged Atk
 • darts +4 (1d6)
AC 14
HD 6d14
MV fly 40
Act 1d20
SP Immune to magic
Fort +4
Ref +2
Will --
AL N

Selvoth Azavato's Scout Drone hovers over civilized regions, seeking any sort of fight or conflict to observe. It can recognize folks carrying weapons and armor, and assume they may be on their way to a fight. It can differentiate between a drunken brawl in an alley between amateurs and a battlefield fight between skilled, experienced fighters.

Once it has found outstanding combatants, uniquely powered individuals, or even terrain that makes a fight more interesting, it will send a homing signal back to Selvoth Azavato, while tracking those individuals so that Azavato can recruit them for bloodsport games back in the Magenta Dimension.

If it's not obvious so far, the PCs are the most interesting combatants that the drone has detected in a long, long time...



This creature was created using Monster Extractor IV: Aliens & Manufactured Beings, available from RPGNow.

HEYU - SELVOTH AZAVATO'S SERVANTS

Init +1
Melee Atk
 • club +6 (1d6+2)
AC 18
HD 3d6
MV 30
Act 1d20
SP Double damage from acid/corrosives
Fort +1
Ref +4
Will --
AL N

These multi-limbed constructs are conditioned to obey Selvoth Azavato. He uses them to do any and all labor that might be involved in his mission, as well as to defend him if when the need arises.

With their many limbs, they can perform multiple tasks at one time (but still just have the the one Action Die; so the more things they are doing the slower they are doing them). They have a high Strength, which should be rolled for each of them on the usual 3d6, but with a 4-point bonus.

They have a tendency to confuse or forget details of their instructions, frustrating Azavato and his plans.

A Heyu's club can be energized to cause stun damage only, which is recovered at a rate of 1 hp per Turn. In this case, 0 hp would mean unconsciousness, not potential death. A Roll The Body check could be used to see if the character wakes up early and has a chance to "play possum" if they wished.



This creature was created using Monster Extractor IV: Aliens & Manufactured Beings, available from RPGNow.

LE-09 — PLANET SHAPERS

Init -3
Melee Atk
 • flail +4 (1d6)
AC 16 (21)
HD 7d14
MV 40
Act 2d20
SP Double effect from Cold
Fort +8
Ref +1
Will --
AL C

Designed to be a bodyguard for the leader of the Planet Shapers mission, LE-09 has suffered damage to it's negatronic brain in the warp-jump to this world, and has gone wandering off beyond it's normal operational parameters. This might be the world's first clue that something is not right, leading them to the Planet Shapers.

The creature has a literal photographic memory, normally used in exploring a world in preparation for it's being terraformed. It is primarily powered by solar energy, and without access to it's usual off-world power back-ups, LE-09 becomes listless or immobile between midnight and dawn, taking approximately two hours of sunlight before it regains full operational function. It gets secondary power from the ethereal dimension, though this energy maintains it's memory banks and other programming, and is insufficient to allow LE-09 to move about.

Mimicking it's masters, it will attempt to eat people, roaming in search of humans to prey upon, even though it does not need to eat substances from this world for sustenance.

It can activate additional armor by "using" an Action Die (no roll required, it just uses up one Die on that round). However, this system is also faulty, only kicking in (after the Action Die has been "spent") on a 1-in-5. The armor will remain up for no more than 2d5 rounds, requiring another Action Die if the creature decides to again activate the armor.

Consider LE-09 as having a Stamina of 21 for any purposes where that would be relevant.


This creature was created using Monster Extractor IV: Aliens & Manufactured Beings, available from RPGNow.

CLASHBOT — PLANET SHAPERS

Init -2
Melee Atk
 • fists +5 (1d4)
AC 13
HD 7d8
MV 30
Act 2d20
SP Immune to magic, immune to acid
Fort +2
Ref +5
Will --
AL N

The gung-ho Clashbots are used by Planet Shapers as a military defense force to protect their operations. They are appropriately aggressive for their task, and highly agile*, but have not been extensively programmed for all possible situations.

When on patrol, they can get inquisitive and stray off task. Any such patrol encountered in the wild should be considered to be distracted by something on a 2-in-5.

* If you need to roll an Agility score for this monster, add 4 to the result to reflect the heightened Agility.


This creature was created using Monster Extractor IV: Aliens & Manufactured Beings, available from RPGNow.

BLUR BONES

Init +7
Melee Atk
 • life-drain +4 (1d5, special)
Ranged Atk
 • aging +4 (1d5 years, 10' cone, 20' length)
AC 15
HD 3d10 (17 hp)
MV 40
Act 2d20 + 1d16
SP intangible, impossible speed, crazy clever, mulligan
Fort n/a
Ref +11
Will n/a
AL C

Psychotically fast, these un-dead skeletal constructs seek to destroy all living creatures they encounter.

If they give up Action Dice to get more movement, they can give up each Die individually, gaining an additional movement for each one. So, if they gave up all of their Action Dice to move, they would have a speed of 160 for that round.

Their life-draining touch transfers the hit points lost by the target to themselves (they cannot exceed their total possible hp, which is 30).

They are intangible due to constantly vibrating at a high frequency, except for the remainder of the round after they use either of their attacks. Even then it takes a DC 10 Reflex Save on top of an attack to hit them successfully.

Unlike many constructs, they have genius-level cunning and intuition. They can intuit many capabilities of any creature they face after a round or two, and will be prepared appropriately if possible. To help reflect this, they get one re-roll per encounter (a second chance on a Save, attack roll, damage roll, etc.). Referees willing to do so, may instead impose this re-roll on the players, the creatures "forcing" them to re-roll a successful attack, or the like.

They cannot be affected by things that force a Fortitude Save or a Will Save.


Whipped into life using Monster Extractor II: The Un-Dead

BONECAST DRAGON

Init +5
Melee Atk
 • claw +9 (1d8)
 • bite +9 (1d12)
 • tail slap +9 (1d16)
AC 23
HD 8d12 (48 hp)
MV 50
Act 3d20, plus 1d24, 1d20 & 1d16 for spells
SP spells (+4), necrotic breath weapon (2x/day, DC 18), Damage Reduction 3, Luck Sap, Ash Cloud
Fort +8
Ref +6
Will +12
AL C

Summoned by a powerful cabal of wizards working in conjunction, a Bonecast Dragon is composed of graveyard bones animated by the spirit of a destroyed demon. The wizards may or may not find their will subverted, with the Dragon pursuing its own goal and not theirs.

The necrosis breath literally decays the flesh of those caught within it. It looks like tendrils or snakes of black smoke silently rushing out from the Dragon's mouth, weaving through the 60' range as if seeking the living, evaporating once they reach full range. Those in range of the attack and aware of it can either attempt to dodge these tendrils by means of a Reflex Save for one-third damage, or resist physically by a Fort Save for half damage. Clerics of an appropriate faith may opt to completely avoid the breath's effects with a Will Save. The breath attack does 1d6 damage (rolled once) applied to Strength, Agility and Stamina (always a minimum of 1 against anyone in the range).

Ash Cloud: Once per Turn, the Bonecast Dragon can create a funnel of crematory ash by giving up an Action Die (either an Action Die or all spell dice). The funnel is 30' across at it's base and extends upward 40' with an upper width of 60'. The Dragon maintains it by concentration, giving up an Action Die each round to do so. Any living creature within the effect takes 1d4 Stamina damage each round, until they are no longer in the effect, then taking 1 point of Stamina damage the following round. The damage is halved if the target can make a DC 18 Fort Save. By giving up an extra Action Die, the Dragon can move the funnel up to 50', striking every living creature in it's path.

Once per day, the Bonecast Dragon can cause one of it's melee strikes to drain 2d3 points of Luck from the target of the strike (in addition to normal damage). It can decide to engage this effect after rolling the attack. If the attack happens to be a Critical Hit, it can forgo the usual Crit result, and instead drain the target of all of their Luck.

Spells                   
1st: Darkness, Word of Command
2nd: Invisible Companion, Ray of Enfeeblement
3rd: Animate Dead, Speak with the Dead

The Action Dice used for spells may only be used for a single spell per round. If the 1d24 roll fails, the 1d20 die can be used to attempt to enact the same spell, if desired. And should that fail, then the 1d16 can be attempted. In any case, a single successful spell is the best the creature can achieve within any given round.


CREATION
Wizards combining their powers to create a Bonecast Dragon compare their combined spellcasting checks to the following chart. Each Wizard must be able to cast the spell "Create Bonecast Dragon" with the same mercurial magic result, or with no mercurial magic result (a mixture of the same result and no result also works). Preparation takes one week per Wizard and the casting must be completed at midnight.

 1-30  Failure. For each Wizard: make a Fort Save vs. DC 20 or die, spell is lost for 1d30 months; 2 rolls each of Minor, Major and Greater Corruption; unable to cast any spell for 1d8 days.

31-40  Failure. For each Wizard: Spell is lost for 1d30 months, 1 roll each of Minor, Major, and Greater Corruption.

41-50  Failure. Spell is lost for 1d24 weeks for each Wizard.

51-60  Failure. Spell is lost for 1d6 weeks for each Wizard.

61-70  Success, creature as given above, but subtract 25% HD, drop 2 from spellcasting, drop the DR, and drop to 1 use of necrotic breath.

71-80  Success, creature as given above.

81-90  Success, creature as given above, but add 50% more HD, add'l +3 to spellcasting, add'l 3 to DR, and 2 extra uses of necrotic breath.

100+   Success, creature as given above, but add 100% more HD, add'l +8 to spellcasting, add'l 7 to DR, and 5 extra uses of necrotic breath.

Once a Bonecast Dragon has been created, there is a psychic test of wills between the creature and it's creators. Each Wizard must make a contested Will Save vs. the Will Save of the Dragon. As long as at least one Wizard beats the Dragon, the Dragon bows to it's creators. If only some Wizards succeed, they can attempt to shut out those Wizards who fail their check by making opposed Will Saves against each other. If those Wizards who failed against the Dragon also fail again in this test, they can in no way command the Dragon, though they may be able to apply other means to sway the demon-spirit that powers the Dragon.

MACRO-METALLIC AMOEBA

Init -2
Melee Atk
 • move over +5 (1d24)
Ranged Atk
 • Kirby beam +5 (1d16, 80' line, 20' wide)
AC 12
HD 8d12+8
MV 70
Act 2d20 + 1d16
SP slow healing
Fort +11
Ref +3
Will +7
AL N

While two have never been seen together, their sightings and the stories about them suggest there is more than one Macro-Metallic Amoeba. It is broadly accepted that they are compiled of lesser dws from the life-vats of the deceased(?) sorceress Vala.

They appear as a gigantic mass of mercury with a volume in the region of 80,000 gallons and a resting circumference of approximately 86 feet. They move by extending numerous pseudo-pods, creating an undulating effect. They can deliberately move over objects and creatures to damage them, pounding them with these pseudopods, but their general movement is not as damaging as that.

They can extend up to six pseudo-pods at a time, with which to grab, shove, block, etc. They are not mindless, but whatever "animal" impulses (beyond survival) or reasoned goals they may possibly have are completely unknown.

The beam they emit as a ranged attack damages living matter less than inert materials, which suffers 3x damage per blast, when relevant. Living things are knocked prone by the blast, unless they make a successful Reflex Save vs. DC 15.

The Macro-Metallic Amoebas are slow to heal, regaining only 1d4 hp per week.


Produced using Monster Extractor III: Giants & Giant Creatures

HUSKS OF JOSIAH

Init +2
Melee Atk
 • grab +4 (1d4 +special)
Ranged Atk
 • rocket bombs (1d4x1d12, 100' range, 10' sphere)
AC 13
HD 4d8+6
MV 30
Act 1d20
SP easily staggered
Fort +4
Ref +3
Will n/a
AL N

The Husks of Josiah were left behind on this world on a stopover by a far-flung intelligent race. Subsequently, they were put to use opportunistically by unknown hands, who installed the bomb launching device. Mindless, they are open to suggestion from anyone (though this won't be obvious when they are encountered). Clear orders must be given; they won't break away from a fight from such comments as "I wish these things would just leave us alone!" or the like.

Each Husk is different; some may have insect-like heads, while others have dinosaur heads or even proterozoic-type heads. All known Husks have human-like bodies. They may be dressed in anything from tatters all the way up to formal wear.

After any round in which they take damage, there is a 1-in-5 chance that they will lose their movement action on the next round. This means they can then use their Action Die as normal or for movement, limiting what they can accomplish in that round.

When they grab an opponent, they deal increasing damage for each round the grab is maintained, by pumping toxins into the air around their target. It is assumed that the target is struggling to break their grip. They simply make a new grab attack each round, if it misses, the grip is broken. Each round it is maintained after the first adds an additional 1d3 points to the damage roll. Anyone attempting to break away and flee once a grip is established uses the grab attack total as the DC of a Strength-check to break away.

Each husk holds up to five rocket bombs.

PAPER SPIDER

Init +6
Melee Atk
 • paper cut +8 (0; poison)
AC 22
HD 1d4
MV 20
Act 1d20
SP poison, paper thin
Fort +0
Ref +4
Will +0
AL N

A paper spider is as deadly an assassination tool now as it was 1000 years ago. The means to create one is known to precious few, and closely guarded, it is said, by a single family, who create them for pay without concern for whom they may be used against.

Deceptively simple, they are literally made from paper, much thinner than parchment, and often left between the pages of books. There they can wait, perhaps for centuries, until the page they are resting on is turned to, whereupon they leap at the reader. They move with lightning quickness, almost-unerringly finding exposed skin, and by the tiniest of paper cuts they deliver the poison they were infused with upon their creation.

Most lose their enchantment and are again nothing more than mere paper, after they strike. Most—but not all...

Needless to say, more than one wizard has tried to eliminate his rivals through the use of paper spiders. They have also been left under dinner plates or goblets for nobles, and in rolled messages meant only for the eyes of leaders, from kings to ship captains to captains of the guard.

A few sample poisons that the paper spider is well suited for are:

• Bearbug saliva (Fort Save DC 12; partial paralysis on success, lasting 1d4 minutes; complete paralysis on failure, lasting 4d8 minutes. Partial paralysis can be in the lower extremities only [1-3] or in all extremities [4-5])

• Bearbug musk (Fort Save DC 16; 2d5 Stamina damage)

• Nalvaengur blood (Fort Save DC 18; 1d4 Agility damage for success, otherwise 1d6 Agility and 2d3 Intelligence damage)

• Bhlestic bile (Fort Save DC 13; coma; subsequent save each month or death; reversing the coma requires rare herbal tinctures)