Red Cap Nightmare - A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords & OSR Deep Dive Session Report Five

'The night seems to bring peace & a break from the insanity of combat. Not so! The slavers have released a terrible vengence down upon the head of our heroes! Cha'alt red caps & night goblin forces swarm from the very fabric of the local space time continuum.. ' The party in last night's game were harried by night goblins from the desert world of Cha'alt. These are goblin tribes that have specifically been bred by the forces of the Old Ones for night time warfare. They have pitch black skin, 130 foot dark vision, enlarged fangs, jaws, & claws for crawling through the desert sands.The goblins get a +2 on all of their hand to hand attacks.
And they are capable of forming a planar psionic link with their wizard masters. Anytime that a wizard wants to look through the eyes of a night goblin scout he or she can easily. But the Cha'alt night goblin's weakness is sunlight. Their skin pops & blisters from sunlight causing 1d6 points of damage until the monsters are nothing more then piles of burning pus on the battle field. They wear light alien dinosaur armor that doesn't impede them in anyway. They are often armed with servicable but make shift short swords & cudgels with shields  made from sacavengered hulls of space craft.



DAT goblin from the AD&D Monster Manual first edition

One of the alien wizards in the service of the Slavers in last night's game unleashed a mob of Cha'alt red caps armed with war scythes! The Cha'alt red caps are summoned to the wastelands of Cha'alt by the rage & anger of the alien worms of the wasteland. Warriors & adventurering tribes on the desert world use them in lightning raids on downed star ships to take out castaways. They are semi demonic creatures on Ch'alt as well having the nature of Fey.


Red Cap 3.0 Dungeons & Dragons edition artwork that I happen to like.

They wear boots made from the hull remains of downed space craft & use war scythe forged from the cores of wrecked star ships. Their red caps are soaked in the blood of their victims along with the Cha'alt drug  xanthium-183. They are not entirely a part of the local space time continuum due to the occult effects of the mystical drug. The Cha'alt red caps flicker just outside of reality making attacks on them at -2 to hit. They have adapted well to the wastelands of California.



All of the blood that Cha'alt red caps collect is kept liquid due to the mystical effects of their caps. This is then put into a pot by the familial groups of Cha'alt red caps & brewed up into a potent form of Fey Red Zoth. Fey Red Zoth will keep a red cap high & in a state of semi mystical eufforia for 1d6 weeks. Fey Red Zoth will kill an ordinary man who takes a drink. The victim must save vs death or have his spirit forced from his body only to be devoured by the alien Fey gods of the red caps. Elves & other Fey of Cha'alt can consume Fey Red Zoth with no ill physical effects but their minds & souls will be open to the Fey abomination gods of the red caps!

The warlords of Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise often use Cha'alt red caps summoned by rengade tribes of wasteland warriors as psychological murder weapons. The souls of their enemies are reaped for the alien gods of the red caps in bizzzare drug fueled rites of abomination & horror.

Will the player characters survive against such bizarre & horrific Fey creatures?! Only time & play will tell!

Alright so the idea for the night goblins & the Cha'alt red caps comes straight from  A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords which is being used  as both guide & inspiration. I've also been inserting encounters, monsters, etc. into this campaign its worked out quite well. 


The wizards of the slaver organization not only know of other planes & worlds but they exploit such forces as disposable. They use then discard them easily all of the while using their own firces as the main raiding force.
Cha'alt red caps are worthy foes & capable of wrecking the day for a group of godbound. I wanted to make my red caps just a bit more weird & dangerous.. They also weild proper war scythes which is a big deal for me & a direct call back to the pole arm obsession of  Gary Gygax.

While all of this is going on the Hyperboreans are on the move pushing, & pull in the darkness of war in California. Using the faction rules from both Cha'alt/Godbound things happen regardless of the PC's actions. And what's happened to the gods of Earth? I recently broke out my copies of Role Aids Fantastic Treasures & started plotting that part out.

So the time table for these Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg Hyperboreans is continuing to move forward. The PC's haven't encountered this world's US military but its a matter of time. Their gonna be in for a major surprise or two! If they survive!