The Dungeon Master's Scrolls · Issue #14

Friends — issue #14 is, no exaggeration, the strongest mailbag we've ever had. Three full features, four worthy runners-up, and (because you asked!) the return of Norman's CR-O-Tron with a brand new ability checklist. Every monster on this page was sweated over by a real DM at a real table. Send your designs — handwritten is fine, typed is better, art is gravy — to Norman c/o the address on the back cover. Keep rolling! — Norman Aldritch, Editor & Chief Mimeographer

The Pale Delver

contributed by Marcy Penhallow of the Karn Underdeeps campaign (Davenport, IA · DM since '78)

[pencil sketch: long-limbed,
eyeless thing crouched at the
edge of a stone shaft]

"I drew the eyes wrong on purpose — there aren't any." — M.P.

Frequency: Very Rare
No. Appearing: 1 (always solitary)
Armor Class: 4
Move: 12" / climb 15"
Hit Dice: 6+3
% In Lair: 80%
No. Attacks: 2 claws + 1 bite
Damage: 1-6 / 1-6 / 2-8
Special Atk: Tremor-sense; ambush surprise on 1-4
Special Def: Immune to gaze attacks (no eyes!)
Intelligence: Average (8-10)
Alignment: Neutral (hungry)
XP Value: 475 + 6/hp

Marcy's DM Tip: The Pale Delver is not a fight monster — it is a tension monster. Roll its tremor-sense check secretly while the party debates loudly in a corridor. Then describe the small sound of pebbles falling from above. That is the whole encounter, ninety percent of the time. The other ten percent your fighter rolls a 1 and you get to use the bite damage.

☆ playtested 4×
at Marcy's table —
nobody died yet!

Witherbough, the Mourning Oak

contributed by Dale (Whisk) Richter of the Bloodstone Vale campaign (Akron, OH · runs Wednesdays at Brubaker's basement)

[pencil sketch: huge sorrowful
oak with weeping bark and
two hollow eye-knots]

"He used to be a treant. He remembers it sometimes."

Frequency: Unique (one in Bloodstone Vale)
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 0 (deep bark)
Move: 3" (slow & sorrowful)
Hit Dice: 10
% In Lair: 100% (rooted)
No. Attacks: 2 branch-slams
Damage: 2-12 / 2-12
Special Atk: Wail of Mourning — save vs spells or stand weeping 1d4 rounds
Special Def: Regen 1 hp/rd in soil; half damage from non-fire
Intelligence: High (13-14)
Alignment: Chaotic Good (grieving)
XP Value: 1,400 + 12/hp

Whisk's DM Tip: PLEASE do not let your players just attack Witherbough. He answers riddles. He knows the name of every adventurer who has died in the Vale since 612 IR. If your fighter starts swinging anyway, that is on the fighter — but try to give them one good chance to put the axe down. The wail is meant to interrupt combat, not punish it. I had a real moment at our table when Brendan's paladin lowered his sword and sat down to listen. that's the whole point of the monster!!

The Brass Carillon

contributed by Eli Strausburg of the Iron Concord campaign (Pittsburgh, PA · two-year campaign, brass-and-clockwork setting)

[pencil sketch: tall brass
automaton with seven bells
for a head — three legs]

"It does not want to hurt you. It wants to tune itself against you."

Frequency: Very Rare (factory-made, 14 known)
No. Appearing: 1-2
Armor Class: 2 (riveted brass plate)
Move: 9"
Hit Dice: 8
% In Lair: n/a (mobile)
No. Attacks: 4 striker-arms
Damage: 1-8 (×4) — bludgeoning
Special Atk: Resonance Toll: ring bells, save vs paralyze or stand still 1 rd
Special Def: Immune sleep/charm/illusion; vulnerable to thunder (×2 dmg)
Intelligence: Low (5-7) but extremely patient
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
XP Value: 900 + 10/hp

Eli's DM Tip: The trick is the bells warn the players first. Before initiative, narrate one low chime from the largest bell. Then a higher one. Then a third. That's three rounds of "what is that sound?" before the Carillon even comes into view. By the time it walks around the corner your players have already built the monster in their heads — bigger and scarier than what you put on the page. this works every time

Eli! send the
full faction —
I want the
foundry too →

From The Slush Pile — four more we couldn't bear to hold for #15 —

Murklight Sprite

contributed by Patty Vance of the Mistwood Marches campaign (Tacoma, WA)

AC 5 · HD 1-1 · MV 6"/fly 18" · #AT 1 lantern-touch · DMG 1-3 + blindness 1 rd · SA dim every light source within 30' · AL Chaotic Neutral · XP 28+1/hp

Patty's note: "They snuff torches one at a time. Then a lantern. Then the campfire. THEN they attack. Let the party feel the dark coming."

Tomb-Mite Swarm

contributed by Greg Albers of the Black Hollow campaign (Lincoln, NE)

AC 8 · HD 3 (as swarm) · MV 6"/burrow 3" · #AT swarm bite · DMG 1-4 auto each rd in same square · SA ignore armor < AC 6 · AL Neutral · XP 110+3/hp

Greg's note: "They eat grave wrappings. They are not evil — they are doing a job. Reward parties that figure that out."

Saltbore Worm

contributed by Lisa Tolman of the Pellan Wastes campaign (Tucson, AZ)

AC 6 · HD 4+2 · MV burrow 12" · #AT 1 grab · DMG 1-10 + swallow on nat 20 · SA ambush from sand, surprise 1-3 · SD half dmg from piercing while burrowed · AL Neutral · XP 245+5/hp

Lisa's note: "Drop one tracking-die on the sand when it surfaces — it tells you where the next strike is coming from. The players will love it, I promise."

Cinderheart Mastiff

contributed by Doug Mahaffey of the Burning Coast campaign (Bridgeport, CT · plays with his two sons)

AC 5 · HD 3+3 · MV 15" · #AT 1 bite · DMG 2-7 + 1-4 fire · SA bark deals 1-2 dmg in 10' cone (heat-shock) · SD immune fire; double dmg from cold · AL Lawful Evil (loyal) · XP 175+4/hp

Doug's note: "My boy Toby designed the bark. It is silly and I love it and so will your players."

Reader Mail — A Selection

From Janice K., Eugene OR: The Mournful Lichgate you printed in #12 saved my whole module. My players spent an hour talking to it. Thank you, Hal Foreman, wherever you are.

From "Two Brothers in Bayonne": We made the Brass Carillon out of an old TV antenna and seven bells from a craft store. It stands in the basement now. The dog hates it.

From Norman: Keep them coming. Hand-drawn maps to the back of the envelope. Postage is going up next month, fair warning — get them in the mail this week if you can.

a faint hint: there is one more creature in this issue, but the editor hid it. Ctrl+E on a real keyboard, friends.