OSR sale at DriveThrurpg.com

DriveThrurpg.com is having a big sale of OSR products for the next week. All my Advanced Adventures, along with Malevolent and Benign are included.

Enjoy!

25% off of Malevolent & Benign II and Advanced Adventures Compendium 4!

I've put up a 25% off sale at Lulu for our two latest products, Malevolent & Benign II and Advanced Adventures Compendium 4! Both are the hardback versions. You can couple that with the current 15% off Lulu coupon code FIFTEEN, and get a total discount of almost 40%.

Malevolent and Benign II Now Available!

The 110-page second volume of 1e/OSRIC critters is available as a $10 PDF at rpgnow and as a $40 hardback at Lulu. The current deal at Lulu is this: use the coupon 8NBHJD6V for 20% off and then apply the free shipping coupon BOOKSHIP18. And while you're there, don't forget to pick up the Advanced Adventures Compendium Four hardback released earlier this month.

Malevolent & Benign II nearing completion...

Been a while since the last update. I'm still editing the 4th level of Arden Vul (it's a biggie) and working on Malevolent & Benign II. I've been going faster at the latter than expected and it looks like I may be finished with it by the end of the month, meaning that it could possibly come out next month in May. Here's the cover!

Updates!

Been working a lot on Malevolent & Benign II - I'm roughly a 1/3 of the way through and things are looking good for a release late this year. Also been doing work on Arden Vul, level 3 has been 2nd edited and I'm going through the last comments/changes with Rick (the author) on that today. All in all, keeping busy!

Listening to the Scorpions Blackout today. I've never been much of a Scorps fan, but this album (and the following, Love At First Sting) are both excellent examples of solid heavy rock/light metal music. Definitely worth a listen to if that's your bag.

Announcing Malevolent & Benign II - A 1st Edition Bestiary!

Happy to say that I'm about 1/3rd done with the volume II in the Malevolent & Benign series of monster books! I've been working like a monkey on it and it's shaping up nicely. And if anyone's wondering, the first one came out in 2009 and this one looks like it'll arrive at the tail end of 2018, so I guess you can count on volume three in 2027!

60 Expeditious Retreat Products for sale as Softbacks at rpgnow.com

I finally made the plunge into rpgnow.com's print on demand service. There are now 60 different titles up for sale in softcover form at their website. I've also set all the softcover orders to get the PDF version for free.

All of the Magical Society books, all of the 1e OSRIC Advanced Adventures, all of the Classified material, all of the 1st Edition Sorcery & Super Science! material, and all of the long-out-of-print 3.5 Monster Geographica books.

And of course, our 1e OSRIC monster book, Malevolent and Benign, our One on One Compendium Volume One and the newly released One on One Compendium Volume Two.

50% off Old-School PDFs for One Day Only!

I've decided to start August off with an impromptu sale. For the next 24 hours all our old-school PDFs will be on sale at rpgnow.com. Get 'em while the get'n's good!

Lulu Sale Extended for Tuesday

Lulu has extended their 30% off sale for today, Tuesday Nov 29. The code is now CYBERTUESDAY305. So if you'd like, our OSR hardback books are still for sale at a considerable discount.

Advanced Adventures Compendium 1 - AA #1-10
Advanced Adventures Compendium 2 - AA #11-20 
Malevolent & Benign: A First Edition Bestiary

Lulu Cybermonday 30% off Code

Lulu's been putting out some great coupon codes lately. The last one was buy one get one 50% off, but this one may be the best I've seen them do. 30% off your entire order. Pretty cool. It's only for tomorrow, though.

CYBERMONDAY305 for 30% off at lulu. If you plan on doing an insane amount of shopping MORECYBERMONDAY305 gets you 35% off, but you have to order at least $750 worth of books. Yeah, me neither... :)

May I recommend three hard-backed OSR products?
Advanced Adventures Compendium 1 - AA #1-10
Advanced Adventures Compendium 2 - AA #11-20 
Malevolent & Benign: A First Edition Bestiary

Want Something Urban and Horrific?

Well then, build an adventure around finding a Seeder. It's got a great vibe to it - scandalous and horrific. This would work best in the stereotypical debauched giant urban center where everyone one from the known world can be found rubbing shoulders. In a city of 100 languages, a seeder would blend in easiest. The Seeder is a critter from Malevolent & Benign.

SEEDER
SIZE: Medium (6 ft. tall)
MOVE: 120 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 7
HIT DICE: 2+2
ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE: 1-4, 1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Very rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1
LAIR PROBABILITY: 50%
TREASURE: Individual: 100-400 gp
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
LEVEL/X.P.: 3 / 110 + 2/hp

General information: The seeder is a bizarre urban predator, its attacks provoked not by hunger, but by the drive to propagate its species. The seeder is nocturnal, and it is commonly found lingering in the shadows and alleys near bawdyhouses, cabarets, and taverns. It manages to survive in the urban environment through illusion, skill at disguise, and strong instincts.

A seeder can change self at will, but it also relies upon disguises that hide its alien nature. It will commonly have several different sets of clothing, and it favors regions that promote covering the body, such as cold areas where warmth is required and very hot areas where protection from the sun in gained.

A seeder carefully selects only the most prodigious male fornicators as its victims. It lies in wait for them in the shadows. When its chosen target comes drunkenly stumbling by, the seeder attacks. It does not harm the victim, but instead grapples him and releases a soporific gas that knocks out the target while erasing short-term memories. A save against poison prevents this. Those that fail are unconscious for one turn and lose memories of the past hour.

The seeder then replaces its victim’s reproductive cells with its own. Commonly the seeder takes the victim’s money as well. A victim of such an attack is rarely aware of what has taken place, as the procedure leaves no obvious physical changes or pain, and most simply believe themselves to have been mugged. However, whenever the victim mates with a female of its species from then on, the offspring of the union is a seeder. Of course, since the seeder chooses its victims carefully, this may go unnoticed until long after the man has fathered dozens of children in cities and towns scattered all over the land.

Seeder babies initially appear to be rather ugly examples of the mother’s race. They mature quickly; after a few weeks they molt within a few hours into true seeders and attempt to escape from their parents. Seeders reach adulthood in eight months.

Cutting off the offending parts is the only way to prevent reproduction once a victim has been seeded. The only way to reverse a seeding is to cut
off the offending parts and regenerate them.

Languages: Seeders understand common, although they cannot speak it themselves. A seeder cannot speak, only emit an unnerving clicking noise.

Physical description: The seeder is humanoid in shape, but its body is black and chitinous with sharp talons at the end of its hands. Its mind is distinctly alien.

Damaged Advanced Adventures Sale!

So, as Suzi and I dig through our piles of books for the move, we've discovered some damaged copies of Advanced Adventures as well as Malevolent and Benign. Instead of recycling them, I thought I should offer them up at reduced prices - surely someone wouldn't mind a dinged or damaged copy. Most of the time, the damage is a dog-eared corner, a bad cut, a chipped-out corner, a wonky spine, or cover scuffing. The copies are completely usable at the table, they're just not good for full retail value.

So drop by our website and pick up some deals. There is limited quantities of everything.

Droth'yar

Another mount from Malevolent & Benign. Art by Claudio Pozas.

DROTH’YAR

SIZE: Large (12 ft. long)
MOVE: 150 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 5
HIT DICE: 4
ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE: 2-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: None
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to poison
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1-12
LAIR PROBABILITY: 10%
TREASURE: None
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 3 / 75 + 3/hp

General information: Droth’yar are swift, two-legged herbivores, used as mounts and beasts of burden. Droth’yar are highly adaptable, and several different breeds have evolved in different regions. Those found in arid lands are leaner and have longer legs than most, while droth’yar in areas with particularly harsh winters have been known to grow sleek coats of fur. All droth’yar are strict herbivores and regularly survive on plants poisonous to most species.

Droth’yar herds are usually led by a single dominant male. During mating season (the timing of which varies according to breed), droth’yar establish dominance by butting heads. Two competing droth’yar will fight until one dies or flees from the battle. In domestication, droth’yar are used to help plow fields, pull chariots, and transport goods between cities. They are occasionally used as mounts for soldiers, when more powerful exotic beasts are unavailable or too expensive. Droth’yar have a life expectancy of about fifteen years.

If encountered in their lair, there will be a nest for every two droth’yar. There is a 50% chance that there will be 2-12 eggs or young lizards of 25% to 50% maturity. The eggs are worth 25 gp and young droth’yar can be sold on the market for 50 gp each. An adult trained for riding typically sells for 100 gp while one trained for war sells at 200 gp.  Wild droth’yar only fight when cornered or defending their young. Droth’yar trained and bred for war are somewhat more vicious, but even they often require urging from their riders to fight.

Physical description: A droth’yar resembles an oversized lizard, bearing two thick legs but lacking forelimbs. Its head is vaguely draconic and sports a large horn which curves back toward its tail. Though a droth’yar walks upright, it keeps its neck lowered to help maintain its balance. Its tail drags behind it, nearly the same length as its body. An adult droth’yar stands about 6 feet high and is 12 feet long from its head to the base of its tail. Droth’yar have tough, mottled hides, colored in earth tones. They typically weigh in excess of 1,000 pounds.

Blight Belcher

From Malevolent & Benign and suitable for all 1E games... Art by Claudio Pozas.

BLIGHT BELCHER

SIZE: Large (20 ft. long)
MOVE: 30 ft., swimming 120 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 5
HIT DICE: 6
ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE: 1-4, 1-4, 1-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Belch
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 2-5
LAIR PROBABILITY: 5%
TREASURE: None
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 4 / 230 + 6/hp

General information: Blight belchers are equally at home on land, in salt water, or in fresh water. Their powerful tails help them maneuver in the water, while their short stocky legs allow them to move through sand, soil, and mud. Though typically found in salt water, blight belchers enjoy bathing on beaches, rolling in mudflats, swimming up inlets, and hunting in fresh water as well. Blight belcher jaunts on land eventually lead to water, lest their scales dry out.

Blight belchers are typically docile unless they are hungry or other creatures threaten their territory. Besides attacking with bite and claws, blight belchers also unleash a noxious gas once per day that works equally well underwater or on the surface. The gas cloud is 10 feet in diameter. If a blight belcher uses its breath weapon underwater, it rises up to the surface and engulfs all within a 10-foot radius directly above the blight belcher. This causes small boats to capsize, as the water that was holding the boat is displaced by the gas. Any creature failing a save versus breath weapon falls to the ground retching and gagging, unable to act for 2-5 rounds. During this period they receive no shield or dexterity bonus and may be attacked at +4.

Young blight belchers can be trained to serve as mounts. The advantages of a blight belcher mount are threefold; they can be goaded into using their breath weapons against foes (25% chance for non-war-trained belchers); they can move on land as well as in the water; and they make excellent trackers due to their acute sense of smell, which is equal to that of a hunting dog. If encountered in their lair, there is a 10% chance that there will be 2-8 eggs or young blight belchers of 25% to 50% maturity. The eggs are worth 50 gp each, and young belchers can be sold on the market for 200 gp each. An adult trained for riding typically sells for 400 gp, while one trained for war sells at 800 gp.

Physical description: These 20-foot long amphibious  beasts look like a giant cross between a salamander and an alligator. They have green-brown scales, short, stocky legs, and muscular tails.

Jellyhive

IMO, this is a great little fungus monster from Malevolent & Benign. Beyond being odd and unusual, it also provides somewhat of a reason for the proliferation and transfer of the various jellies, oozes, and slimes in the dungeon. Art by Jeff Womack.

JELLYHIVE

SIZE: Large (7 ft. wide)
MOVE: 60 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 4
HIT DICE: 6
ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE: 1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Ooze dart
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Regeneration
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
RARITY: Very rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1
LAIR PROBABILITY: 10%
TREASURE: None
INTELLIGENCE: None
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 5 / 370 + 6/hp

General information: The jellyhive is one of the stranger creatures of the subterranean world, specifically noted for its eating habits. The shelled fungus uses its probiscus to feed on various oozes, jellies, gelatinous cubes, puddings, and slimes, easily stalking and ingesting this foul quarry. When not hunting or feeding, it waits patiently or hangs from a cavern ceiling. It can climb at 60 ft. per round.

Not only does the jellyhive consume these sloppy creatures, it also cultivates them for future meals. Every time the jellyhive consumes an ooze, it saves a little portion and stores the tiny bit in a flesh-sac for the future. If ever the jellyhive finds an animal or other creature coming close, several sacs split open and shoot a few of the tiny oozes nearby. This method works out splendidly for the fungus; the oozes will devour whatever creatures they can, thereby growing larger to become new meals for the jellyhive to enjoy. If the little jellies, oozes, or puddings happen to escape, they will likely get larger on their own, and the jellyhive will probably hunt them down later.

When faced with a non-ooze opponent, jellyhives launch their wee oozes like darts to a range of 20 feet. A jellyhive has 12-22 ooze sacs, each one containing a wee ooze. These are most typically ochre jellies (their favorite food), but they can be any type of ooze, jelly, or pudding. Each ooze dart causes 1-4 points of damage upon impact. The resulting tiny ooze has 4 hp and does 1 hp of acid damage until killed or scraped off of the target. A jellyhive can launch 3 ooze darts per round, at multiple opponents if necessary. After darting all of their oozes, jellyhives will resort to biting if necessary, but fleeing is a more typical result. Jellyhives are immune to any mind-based and polymorphic magics, as well as sleep, charm, and hold. Jellyhives cannot be surprised, as they sense disturbances in the ground and air.

Two rounds after taking damage, a jellyhive begins to regenerate 2 hit points per round. Jellyhives are immune to acid damage, and there is no known ooze, pudding, or jelly that can harm them. They suffer under fire however, and are unable to regenerate fire damage.

Physical description: A jellyhive is a wide stalk covered with a dome-shaped shell and several fleshy sacs. Protruding from under the shell are several fat legs and a toothy proboscus used to suck up their prey or deliver a small bite. They have a variety of colors, ranging from dark orange to dark purple.

Stonestrider

Something fantastic for underground transport and war from Malevolent & Benign... Art by John Bingham

STONESTRIDER

SIZE: Large (8 ft. wide)
MOVE: 30 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 2
HIT DICE: 4
ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE: 2-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Ethereal push
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Very rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 2-5
LAIR PROBABILITY: 5%
TREASURE: None
INTELLIGENCE: Semi
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 3 / 135 + 3/hp

General information: Stonestriders are unusual elementals that travel through the subterranean world, seldom attacking anything but fighting back if threatened. Any creature hit by one of the legs of a stonestrider, is pushed into the ethereal plane for 1-4 rounds, during which it is are unable to interact with the material world. Stonestriders can move back and forth at will between the ethereal and material planes and, if greatly angered, a stonestrider may follow the target into the ethereal plane, where a hit from one of its legs causes triple damage.

Stonestriders get their name from their ability to move through stone as if it were not there, yet still treat it as a surface to rest their weight upon. This allows stonestriders unlimited directional movement underground, as hanging from ceilings is no different than standing on floors for these elementals. Stonestriders are occasionally used by elite dwarven cavalry. How these dwarven clans have “tamed” stonestriders is a closely guarded secret.

Stonestriders are not ridden like normal mounts but flow their semi-malleable bodies around a trusted rider. The stonestrider can initiate or end this ability in one round. While enveloped, the rider gains a +4 bonus to armor class. An attack that misses the rider within the margin provided by cover instead hits the stonestrider, provided that the attack roll is at least equal to the stonestriders armor class. The rider must depend on the stonestrider for movement just as if riding a more conventional mount, but needs no saddle. When carrying a rider, stonestriders are unable to enter the ethereal plane. Stonestriders are often used to ferry messengers or undertake scouting missions though dangerous areas, especially those in danger of collapsing. When in combat, dwarves riding stonestriders try to meld into stone and wait for a chance to strike at the leader of their foes. They often set ambushes at strange angles, dropping on foes from above, appearing suddenly out of cliff faces or reaching up from a featureless cavern floor.

The stonestrider’s strange legs allow it to navigate narrow areas as if it were a medium-sized creature (the approximate size of its ovoid body) in the rare instances when it cannot simply meld into stone or turn ethereal.

Languages: Stonestriders have a primitive telepathic ability, allowing them to communicate very limited concepts with any creature within 10 feet that has language. They have unusual minds, and any creature telepathically communicating for more than 2 turns becomes dumbfounded and unable to perform any actions for 5 rounds before regaining normal cognizance. Dwarves that continually ride stonestriders can double this duration and halve the consequences, but are inevitably considered “odd” by their peers - yet, some of the greatest dwarven leaps of genius come from those minds most touched by the unusual stonestriders.

Physical description: A stonestrider looks much like a four-legged stone spider with one featureless, ovoid body section. Although it can navigate in any direction with ease, it generally keeps the long axis of its body oriented “forward”. A stonestrider has no head, mouth, or other appreciable features, although some specimens appear pitted and worn down. The top of a stonestrider’s body stands about five feet off the ground, but its five-jointed legs arch up an additional foot or so.

An Underworld Trio

The above trio (click to embiggen) are found in the upper levels of the underdepths, living the life of itinerant traders. They'd be a good add to any campaign wherein the under ground world is explorable by more than high-level characters. All three can be found in Malevolent & Benign. Art by Claudio Pozas.

NOJA
SIZE: Small (3-4 ft. tall)
MOVE: 90 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 8
HIT DICE: 3+4
ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE: By weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%
RARITY: Very rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 2 or 4-12
LAIR PROBABILITY: 100%
TREASURE:  In Lair: 1-6k cp (25%), 1-6k sp (40%), 1-6k ep (40%), 1-10k gp (55%), 100-400 pp (25%), 4-40 gems (60%), 3-30 jewelry (50%), any 3 magic items (30%)
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 4 / 175 + 3/hp

General information: Renowned as traders in the subterranean realm, noja are a welcom sight in underground cities, carrying fungi, lichens, and other exotic wares. Their carts are pulled by a pair of undals, and they often keep 1-4 wyrdwolfs to help guard their trade goods. Noja females are known for their shrewd intellect, and noja males for their penchant for mischief. They have darkvision to 240 ft., although they prefer to use lights.

Noja shun combat, preferring trickery and magic to actual confrontation, but they can be quite adept at fighting if pressed and have a remarkable hardiness. They typically use daggers (1-4) and small bows (1-3) in physical combat.

Female noja can use the following spells: at will - augury, cure serious wounds, detect magic, feather fall, grease, haste, silence 15 ft. radius; 3 times per day -  message, sleep, tongues; once per day - confusion. Male noja can use the following spells: at will - audible glamour, detect magic, light; 3 times per day - cure light wounds, phantasmal force; once per day - improved phantasmal force, phantasmal killer. All noja spells are considered equivalent to those cast by a 10th level caster.

Languages: Noja speak their own tongue, as well as common and undercommon.

Physical description: Noja are hairy little humanoids standing 3-4 feet tall with dark brown skin covered in thick black hair. In many ways they resemble diminutive bugbears, but they favor wearing home-spun clothing in outrageous colors.


UNDAL
SIZE: Large (10 ft. long)
MOVE: 150 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 6
HIT DICE: 5
ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE: 1-8, 1-8, 2-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Charge
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 5-20
LAIR PROBABILITY: 5%
TREASURE: None
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 3 / 155 + 4/hp

General information: Sometimes called the cattle of the deep, the undal is a large, peaceful, herbivore that grazes on mushrooms, mosses, and lichens. The noja have a long tradition of domesticating undals, using them for draft animals, food, and trade. Wild undals roam the deep and are highly prized for their thin but warm fur and their impressive horns. They are generally agreeable animals once domesticated, but wild undals can be unpredictable and dangerous.

Undals enter combat with a devastating charge dealing 4-24 hit point of damage plus 1-8 points of damage from their vicious thumb spikes as they trample over their target. Once close, they flair about with thumb spikes and horns.

Physical description: The undal is a large quadruped that roams subterranean lands in large herds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the undal is its majestic crown of horns. Unlike antlers, the undal’s horns do not branch but grow from its head like hair. They have a very dense, but thin, coat. Usually white in color, some rare undal are coal black. They have sharp thumb spikes growing out of their ankles just above their long-toed feet.


WYRDWOLF
SIZE: Large (9 ft. long)
MOVE: 180 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 5
HIT DICE: 6
ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE: 1-2, 1-2, 2-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Strobe
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10%
RARITY: Rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 2-8
LAIR PROBABILITY: 5%
TREASURE: None
INTELLIGENCE: Semi
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
LEVEL/X.P.: 4 / 230 + 6/hp

General information: The wyrdwolf is a fierce pack hunter in the subterranean realm. A wyrdwolf has small claws and a jaw full of sharp fangs, but is most notable for its glowing eyes. Although rarely encountered, wyrdwolves have an unsavory reputation among underground dwellers, as they tend towards belligerent and aggressive behavior. Wyrdwolves possess darkvision to 60 ft.

A wyrdwolf attacks with savage biting and clawing. It will usually begin combat with its strobe gaze attack, hoping to disorient foes to make it easier to rip them to shreds. All creatures within 40 feet of a strobing wyrdwolf must make a save against spells or be blinded for 2-5 rounds.

Physical description: Wyrdwolves are 9-foot-long canine-like predators. They have glossy black coats of warm fur that cover thick, leathery, bone-white skin. They have small claws and glowing yellow eyes.

Blood Naga

A monster from Malevolent & Benign - a good naga for lower-level PCs. Art by Claudio Pozas.
 
BLOOD NAGA

SIZE: Large (12 ft. long)
MOVE: 90 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 6
HIT DICE: 5-6
ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE: 1-4, 1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Uncommon
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1 or 1-4
LAIR PROBABILITY: 55%
TREASURE: In Lair: 1-12k cp (20%), 1-6k sp (30%), 1-4k ep (10%), 1-6 gems (25%), 1-3 jewelry (20%), any 2 magic items (10%)
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
LEVEL/X.P.: 6 / 520 + 6/hp

General information: Blood nagas are woodland cavern dwellers, typically found alone or in small groups. They enjoy dark places, possessing darkvision  to 60 ft., and tend to be quite cautious, as they are weaker than their brethren. They are thoroughly evil, however, and their pride and cruel desires often get in the way of their better judgment. Blood nagas can see and attack into the ethereal plane.

At will, blood nagas may spit a spray of blood in a cone (1 ft. wide at the origin, 30 ft. range, 15 ft. wide at the end) that can send opponents to the ethereal plane for 1-4 rounds if they fail a save against poison. Blood nagas can only use their stinger against ethereal opponents, who must save against poison or be paralyzed for 1-4 turns. Spraying blood causes 1 hit point of damage to the naga.

Blood nagas are able to employ druidic magic at the 5th level of ability possessing four 1st, three 2nd, and two 3rd level spells per day. Their bite is fairly weak, doing only 1-4 hit points of damage, and they prefer to feast upon paralyzed prey.

Languages: Blood nagas speak their own language as well as common.

Physical description: Like other nagas, blood nagas are large snakes with human facial features. They have dull scales and tend towards grays in their almost patternless skins. They possess prominent stingers at the end of their tails, resembling a scorpion’s. Blood nagas average 12 feet in length and weigh between 200 and 400 pounds.

Spider, Primal

Here's my take on a more Shelob-like spider for old-school gaming - from Malevolent & Benign. Art by Jeremy McHugh.

SPIDER, PRIMAL

SIZE: Large (12 ft. wide)
MOVE: 60 ft., in web 120 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 0
HIT DICE: 8+4
ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE: 2-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10% (and see below)
RARITY: Very rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1-4
LAIR PROBABILITY: 35%
TREASURE: In Lair: 1-20k sp (10%), 1-12k ep (15%), 1-10k gp (40%), 100-800 pp (35%), 3-30 gems (20%), 1-10 jewelry (10%), any 3 magic items (50%), 1-4 phantasmal traveling spell books (50%), 1-4 phantasmal scrolls (50%)
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional to genius
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
LEVEL/X.P.: 7 / 2,500 + 12/hp

General information: Primal spiders consider them-selves the master arachnids. They believe they are the primogenitors of all other spiders. They are tyrannical, paranoid, hateful, despairing, and destructive. Other creatures live to serve or as feed. They are always surrounded by such servants, and any arachnid of less than average intelligence obeys their every command without hesitation, as primal spiders know and speak the language of eight legs. This includes spiders, solifugae, scorpions, whip scorpions, mites, and ticks. A primal spider can control 300 HD of unintelligent arachnids, along with 30 HD of intelligent arachnids at a single time before some will start to wander off, unaffected by the spider’s commands.

Primal spiders are hermaphrodites, and they hate one another with the vastness of the sea. Mating only happens after one spider defeats another in combat and impregnates the weaker. If the weaker survives and recovers, it lays 2-20 eggs in an egg sac it keeps attached to its body. Upon hatching, the parent spider eats all but the first four hatchlings. The hatchlings flee quickly and grow into full-sized primal spiders after 50 years. During the young stage they have 4 HD, but all other abilities are the same as an adult’s. In addition to continuing the species, primal spiders can choose to create egg sacs, containing 2-20 of any type of arachnid, at will. These lesser creatures hatch in 2 weeks and are representative of their species in all ways.

Primal spiders combine the abilities of many different types of spiders. They can weave webs as complex and intricate as an orb weaver, they can hunt and jump like the tarantula they superficially resemble, but they mostly prefer to live in large underground complexes lined with silk and filled will servants and food. They have two poison types, which they can vary at will. One causes death and the other paralyzes for 10 turns. Saves against a primal spider’s poison are made at -2. The molt remains of a primal spider are desired by assassins throughout the world, as adding the charred remains increases the effectiveness of any poison, reducing saves against it by -2.

Primal spiders have darkvision to 120 ft. and possess excellent senses. They can detect hidden or invisible creatures within 50 ft., and they can instill the fear of death in all enemies within 50 ft. at will, acting much like the fear spell. Saving against spells negates this effect, but affected creatures flee as fast as possible from the primal spider for 8 rounds and have a base 50% chance of dropping any held items (reduced by 5% per level of the fleeing creature to a minimum of 5%). Creatures with greater than 6 HD save at +1 for every HD beyond 6. A creature that has successfully saved against the spider’s fear is immune to that spider’s fear for 24 hours.

Primal spiders use phantasmal magic at the 5th level of ability possessing four 1st, two 2nd, and one 3rd level spell per day. They enjoy collecting phantasmal spell books and scrolls, sending out their minions to acquire such when information concerning a local illusionist reaches them. Such acquisitions are hostile ones, of course. They are immune to illusion/phantasm magic and have 10% magic resistance to other magic.

Languages: Primal spiders speak common and the true language of eight legs.

Physical description: Primal spiders superficially resemble tarantulas in build. Their fur is black as pitch with tips pure white. When fully extended, they cover a diameter of 12 feet. They are capable of squeezing through small openings that a medium-sized humanoid could pass through without difficulty.

Malevolent and Benign Sale ending soon

As I said in an earlier post, M&B is on sale, but the sale will end when I wake up next Monday (the 13th). Just wanted to drop a line so those who've been holding out know time is running down. Below is the information on the sale and the links. Thanks to everyone who's bought a copy!

Malevolent and Benign Hardcover is on sale at Lulu for only $32 instead of the normal $40 - or 20% off. If you prefer a softcover version at 20% off as well, go to our website and buy Malevolent and Benign Softcover for only $20.80.