Integrating Adventurer Conqueror King System II (ACKS II) with the legendary, chaotic, and maximum-gonzo DNA of Dave Hargrave’s Arduin Grimoires - The Deodanth & The Phraint

 In ACKS II, classes are built using a point-allocation system distributed across four categories: Fighting, Thieving, Divine, and Arcane. Demi-human races require purchasing a "Race slot" that modifies these allocations and establishes baseline racial traits. This blog post entry picks right up from Integrating Adventurer Conqueror King System II (ACKS II) with the legendary, chaotic, and maximum-gonzo DNA of Dave Hargrave's Arduin Grimoires

Deodanth concept art by Greg Espinosa for the Arduin Monster Cards,1977

Let’s build the Deodanth—Arduin's iconic, unsettling, reality-warping, predatory time-cats. In Arduin lore, they are slender, charcoal-skinned humanoid felines with silver hair, feline eyes, and a cruel, melancholic disposition. They exist slightly out of sync with time, making them lethal, agile combatants and superb ambushers.

Here is how to construct the Deodanth True-Stalker using the explicit mathematics and structural logic of the ACKS II Class Construction system.

The Deodanth Custom Race Template

To establish the Deodanth as a viable race in ACKS II, we must first build their racial modifier package. This package costs 1 Value Slot out of the character's baseline configuration.

Racial Traits & Modifiers

• Attribute Adjustments: +1 Dexterity, -1 Charisma (their cold, sadistic nature makes them deeply unsettling to normal mortals).

• Keen Senses: Deodanths possess sharp feline senses. They gain a +1 bonus to avoid surprise and can see in pitch darkness (Infravision 60').

• Predatory Agility: They gain a +1 bonus to Initiative rolls and a +1 bonus to Evasion.

• Time-Slip (Racial Ability): Once per day, a Deodanth can step slightly out of the time stream. Mechanically, this grants them a +2 bonus to Armor Class for 1 round, or allows them to re-roll a single missed melee attack roll.

• Vulnerability to Silver: Deodanths are creatures of shifting reality. Weapons forged of pure silver deal an additional +2 damage to them.

The Class Profile: Deodanth True-Stalker

The True-Stalker blends lethal, light-armor combat prowess with reality-bending ambush techniques. They are the ultimate scouts, assassins, and vanguard skirmishers.

Category Allocations (4 Value Slots Total)

• Race: 1 Slot (Deodanth Race Template)

• Fighting: 2 Slots (Fighter-style progression, excellent combat scaling)

• Thieving: 1 Slot (Basic stealth, climbing, and assassination capabilities)

• Magic (Arcane/Divine): 0 Slots

Class Progression Basics

• Hit Dice: d6 per level (derived from Fighting 2 mixed with Thieving/Race constraints).

• Armor Allowance: Narrow. Limited to leather, padded, or studded leather armor to maintain their supernatural agility. They may use bucklers but not medium or heavy shields.

• Weapon Allowance: Broad. Any one-handed melee weapon (favoring curved blades and claws) and shortbows.

• Fighting Value: Expands at the Fighter rate (+1 to hit per level).

Level 1 Class Features & Stats

1. Thieving Skills (Thieving 1 Allocation)

Because of their predatory feline nature, all True-Stalkers possess baseline thief capabilities. They perform the following skills as a Thief of equal level:

• Move Silently

• Hide in Shadows

• Climb Walls

2. Combat Maneuvers & Agility

• Backstab: When attacking a target from surprise or complete concealment, the True-Stalker gains a +4 bonus to hit and deals x2 damage.

• Skirmishing: If wearing leather armor or lighter, the True-Stalker may move at full combat speed while maintaining an active defense, granting them a permanent +1 bonus to Armor Class.

3. Saving Throws

The True-Stalker utilizes the Thief saving throw matrix, reflecting their reliance on quick reflexes and supernatural luck over brute physical endurance.

True-Stalker Level Progression Table

Level	Experience Points	Hit Dice	Title
1	0	1d6	Prowler
2	2,400	2d6	Shadow-Stalker
3	4,800	3d6	Night-Blade
4	9,600	4d6	Blood-Seeker
5	20,000	5d6	Reality-Cutter
6	40,000	6d6	Time-Slayer
7	80,000	7d6	Deodanth True-Stalker

XP Progression Note: The baseline cost for a Fighting 2 / Thieving 1 human is 2,000 XP for Level 2. Adding the custom Deodanth racial modifier slot applies a 1.2x multiplier to the XP requirements, resulting in the 2,400 XP baseline shown above.

Campaign Integration: Domain Play (Levels 9+)

When a Deodanth True-Stalker reaches Level 9, they do not build traditional feudal castles. Instead, they establish a Stalker-Nexus—a hidden, shadowed enclave typically located in deep twilight forests, ancient ruins, or planar intersections.

• They attract a dynamic force of $2d6 \times 10$ lower-level Deodanths and chaotic human outcasts seeking to learn the secrets of time-slip combat.

• Their domain income is generated primarily through specialized hunting fees, high-end assassination contracts, and the harvesting of rare planar substances rather than standard peasant agriculture.

To translate Dave Hargrave’s iconic Phraint—the lethal, hyper-logical, metallic-blue insectoid warriors of Arduin—into ACKS II, we need to mathematically capture two distinct physical traits: their naturally armored chitin and their legendary, explosive leaping ability.

In ACKS II, we build this by dedicating a high allocation to the Custom Race template, combining it with elite physical martial scaling.

The Phraint Custom Race Template

Because a Phraint’s biological advantages (natural plate-like armor and massive leaping legs) are so profound, the Phraint Race Template requires a Value Allocation of 2 Slots.

Racial Traits & Modifiers

• Attribute Adjustments: +2 Strength, -2 Charisma (their alien, hive-like, hyper-logical mindset is profoundly unsettling to mammalian races).

• Chitinous Exoskeleton (Natural Defense): A Phraint’s metallic-blue carapace provides an innate Base AC of 4 (equivalent to Leather Armor + Shield, or Scale Armor) even when completely unarmored. They cannot wear standard mammalian armor; however, specialized smiths can bolt custom-fitted plate reinforces directly onto their carapace at triple the standard cost, increasing their base AC to a maximum of 7.

• Cold-Blooded Vulnerability: Phraints suffer a -2 penalty to saving throws against cold-based attacks or environmental freezing, and take an additional +1 point of damage per die from cold sources.

• Leaping Strike (Racial Feature): A Phraint's hind legs are built like massive hydraulic springs.

  • Out of Combat: They can leap up to 30 feet horizontally or 15 feet vertically from a standing start.

  • In Combat: A Phraint can execute a Leaping Charge across a distance of up to 30 feet, bypassing frontline defenders if there is overhead clearance. If this charge hits, it deals double damage with any piercing weapon (such as their signature silver spears). This maneuver can be performed once every 3 rounds.

The Class Profile: Phraint Vanguard

The Phraint Vanguard is a cold, calculating shock trooper. They do not use magic, nor do they care for the subtle arts of thievery. They exist entirely to execute perfect tactical combat vectors.

Category Allocations (4 Value Slots Total)

• Race: 2 Slots (Phraint Custom Template)

• Fighting: 2 Slots (Elite fighter progression, maximum combat scaling)

• Thieving: 0 Slots

• Magic: 0 Slots

Class Progression Basics

• Hit Dice: d8 per level (derived from Fighting 2 allocation).

• Armor Allowance: None (rely entirely on their Chitinous Exoskeleton and shields). They may use any shield, often favoring large, light wicker or chitin bucklers.

• Weapon Allowance: Unrestricted, but they have a cultural preference for spears, javelins, and two-handed greatswords.

• Fighting Value: Expands at the maximum Fighter rate (+1 to hit per level).

Level 1 Class Features & Stats

1. Martial Supremacy

• Combat Reflexes: Phraints gain a +1 bonus to Initiative rolls due to their multi-faceted compound eyes and decentralized nervous system.

• Weapon Specialization (Spears): When wielding a spear or polearm, the Phraint gains a +1 bonus to damage rolls and a +1 bonus to Cleave rolls.

• Cleave Progress: Like standard ACKS II Fighters, when a Phraint reduces an enemy to 0 HP, they may make an immediate extra attack against an adjacent foe (up to a maximum of 1 Cleave attack per level per round).

2. Saving Throws

Phraints utilize the Fighter saving throw matrix, reflecting their immense physical resilience against poison, paralysis, and physical trauma.

Phraint Vanguard Level Progression Table

Level	Experience Points	Hit Dice	Title
1	0	1d8	Drone-Warrior
2	3,000	2d8	Sentry
3	6,000	3d8	Leaper-Blade
4	12,000	4d8	Hive-Guard
5	24,000	5d8	Myrmidon
6	50,000	6d8	Chitin-Lord
7	100,000	7d8	Phraint Vanguard

XP Progression Note: A standard Fighting 2 human requires 2,000 XP to reach Level 2. Because the Phraint race requires a 2-Slot allocation for its high-powered exoskeleton and jumping mechanics, it applies a heavy 1.5x multiplier to the XP curve, resulting in a baseline of 3,000 XP for Level 2.

Campaign Integration: The Hive-Castellum (Levels 9+)

Upon reaching Level 9, a Phraint Vanguard can establish a Hive-Castellum rather than a traditional human barony.

• Demographics: Instead of attracting random human mercenaries, the Vanguard draws a dedicated cohort of $1d4 \times 10$ lower-level Phraint warriors and $3d6 \times 10$ asexual Phraint worker-drones from their ancestral hives.

• Architecture: Hive-Castellums are vertically oriented, subterranean or cliff-side networks. They feature no stairs—only massive vertical shafts designed to be navigated entirely by the Phraints' natural 15-foot vertical leaping ability, making them completely un-navigable to mammalian siege forces.

• Domain Economy: Phraint domains are managed with cold, communistic efficiency. They ignore standard human morale laws; a Phraint peasant workforce never undergoes unrest or rebellion, but their economic output is rigidly capped by the hive's strict, non-expansionist logistical protocols.

Darkness From The Cultclassic film Legend 1986 For Sword of Cepheus 2nd Edition Rpg

 In the gritty, sword-and-sorcery framework of The Sword of Cepheus 2nd Edition, Lord Darkness from Ridley Scott’s 1986 film Legend functions perfectly as a lesser god, an arch-fiend, or a manifestation of absolute Eldritch Chaos.

True to the simulationist, highly lethal nature of the Cepheus Engine, Darkness is not just a high-stat brick to be fought in an open field. He is an environment-altering cataclysm who cannot be permanently harmed as long as night rules the world.

Lord Darkness, The Father of Night

"I am the Heart of Darkness. I command the night!"

Darkness is a massive, crimson-skinned humanoid towering over nine feet tall, sporting immense goat-like horns, cloven hooves, and a voice that shakes cavern walls. He despises innocence, light, and the sun, seeking to slay the world's last unicorns to plunge the earth into a perpetual, frozen winter.

Universal Personality Profile (UPP)

Darkness’s raw physical characteristics are immense. In Sword of Cepheus 2nd Edition, his pool tracks through standard physical attributes, followed by his mental capacity and social standing among the forces of the underworld.

• STR: 16 (+3)

• DEX: 9 (+0)

• END: 15 (+3)

• INT: 11 (+1)

• EDU: 12 (+1)

• SOC: 15 (+3) — Arch-Fiend / Demigod

Combat Pools & Defense

• Stamina: 21 (END + Athletics)

• Lifeblood: 36 (2x END + 2x Athletics)

• Armor: 4 (Thick fiendish hide and dark majesty)

Skills & Traits

Skills

• Deception-3

• Intimidation-4

• Leadership-2

• Melee Combat (Greatsword)-3

• Sorcery (Eldritch/Black)-4

• Stealth-2

Traits

• Immense Stature: Darkness is a giant-sized foe. He gains a +1 DM to all Melee attacks against normal-sized targets, but attackers gain a +1 DM to hit him due to his massive size.

• Fiendish Vitality: Darkness recovers Stamina at twice the normal rate, recovering 2 points per hour of light rest.

• Terrifying Presence: When Darkness steps from the shadows or displays his full unholy majesty, all onlookers must immediately roll an Average (8+) Willpower check (using INT or CHA/SOC depending on your exact tables) or stand frozen in fear for 1 turn, suffering a -2 DM to all actions for the rest of the scene.

Combat & Equipment

Darkness prefers to manipulate from the shadows, sending his chaotic minions (goblins, blix, hag-spawn) to do his dirty work. When forced into open combat, he relies on sheer, crushing force and unmatched black magic.

Attack / Weapon	Skill DM	Damage	Aspects
Gargantuan Greatsword	+6	4d6+3	Crushing, Reach, Two-Handed
Fiendish Claws / Horns	+3	2d6+3	Vicious
Black Sorcery (Eldritch)	+5	Varies by spell	Corrupting, Perilous

Supernatural Abilities & Weaknesses

Because The Sword of Cepheus handles magic through high-risk, gritty mechanics, Darkness’s abilities function as reality-warping violations of natural law. He doesn't use "spell slots"; his powers are intrinsic.

Absolute Vulnerability: Solinvictus (The Sun)

Darkness cannot abide the pure, unfiltered light of the sun.

• The Burning Dawn: If exposed to direct sunlight (whether natural or directed via mirror arrays), Darkness loses his Armor value entirely.

• Degradation: Every round he remains in direct sunlight, he automatically takes 3d6 damage directly to his Lifeblood, bypassing Stamina. If reduced to 0 Lifeblood by sunlight, his physical form shatters, and his spirit is banished into the void of space for a millennium.

Shadow Meld & Regeneration

• As long as he remains in total darkness or heavy shadow, Darkness regenerates 1d6 points of Stamina or Lifeblood at the end of every round.

• He can step into any shadow larger than himself and instantly teleport to any other shadow within 100 meters as a moving action.

Eldritch Sorcery

Darkness can manifest reality-altering sorcery at will without checking for corruption (he is corruption). His signature magical tricks include:

• Telekinesis: Moving heavy objects or throwing adventurers across the room with a wave of his hand (Difficult 10+ Sorcery check).

• Illusion & Temptation: He can manifest a target's deepest desires (gowns of black silk, endless treasure, tables of dark feasts) to charm an adventurer. Breaking his illusion requires an Abnormal (12+) Insight or Willpower check.

Tactical Referee Notes

If your players try to fight Darkness with traditional steel, they will die. A single hit from his greatsword can instantly drop an average, unarmored adventurer straight into their Lifeblood pool.

To run this encounter in the spirit of Cepheus’s gritty, open-world survival, the adventure should be a puzzle-crawl through his subterranean dark palace. The characters must sneak past his chaotic minions, find a way to break his alignment with the cosmic dark, and construct or realign mirrors/light sources to force daylight into his inner sanctum before he can sacrifice the setting's source of pure Goodness.

In the gritty, survival-focused rules of Sword of Cepheus 2nd Edition, minions aren’t just bags of hit points—they are opportunistic scavengers, ambushers, and vectors for nasty diseases.

Blix and Pox serve as Darkness’s eyes, ears, and primary agents on the surface world. They are weak individually, but they use stealth, poison, and numbers to drag down overconfident adventurers.

Blix, The Goblin Captain

Blix is Darkness’s favored huntsman—cruel, sycophantic, and utterly devoted to his master's dark will. He sports a ragged coat of stolen feathers and furs, wields a wicked, curved goblin blade, and uses a blowgun loaded with paralytic venom to capture prey intact for his master.

Universal Personality Profile (UPP)

• STR: 6 (–1)

• DEX: 11 (+1)

• END: 8 (+0)

• INT: 9 (+1)

• EDU: 6 (–1)

• SOC: 3 (–1) — Outcast / Goblin Elite

Combat Pools & Defense

• Stamina: 11 (END + Athletics)

• Lifeblood: 22 (2x END + 2x Athletics)

• Armor: 1 (Layered leather and filthy furs)

Skills & Traits

• Animals (Riding Beasts)-2

• Deception-2

• Melee Combat (Blade)-2

• Ranged Combat (Blowgun)-2

• Recon-2

• Stealth-3

• Craven Tactics: Blix gains a +2 DM to Stealth checks when moving through dense forest or dark caverns. If he attacks from hiding, he gains a +2 DM to his hit roll instead of the standard +1.

• Coward's Instinct: If Blix drops below half his Lifeblood pool, or if his companion Pox is slain, he must make an Average (8+) Willpower check or immediately flee the combat to save his own skin.

Combat & Equipment

• Goblin Scimitar: Skill DM +1, Damage 2d6–1 (Aspects: Slashing)

• Fiendish Blowgun: Skill DM +3, Damage 1 point + Poison (Range: 15 meters)

• Night-shade Venom: Anyone struck by Blix's blowgun dart must immediately pass an Average (8+) END check. Failure inflicts a –2 DM to all DEX-based actions for 1d6 minutes as their limbs grow numb and heavy.

Pox, The Blunderbuss Minion

Pox is a grotesque, dim-witted brute who handles the loud, destructive tasks for Blix’s hunting party. Covered in warts and filth, Pox cares only for eating, sleeping, and firing his rusted black-powder weapon into crowds of enemies.

Universal Personality Profile (UPP)

• STR: 10 (+1)

• DEX: 7 (+0)

• END: 11 (+1)

• INT: 5 (–1)

• EDU: 4 (–1)

• SOC: 1 (–2) — Dregs of the Underworld

Combat Pools & Defense

• Stamina: 13 (END + Athletics)

• Lifeblood: 26 (2x END + 2x Athletics)

• Armor: 2 (Thick, wart-covered hide)

Skills & Traits

• Athletics-2

• Intimidation-2

• Melee Combat (Unarmed)-1

• Ranged Combat (Black Powder)-2

• Stealth-1

• Foul Reek: Pox is so profoundly filthy that any character standing within 2 meters of him must pass an Easy (6+) END check or suffer a –1 DM to all actions for that round due to severe nausea.

• Thick Skull: Pox’s dense bone structure grants him a +2 DM to resist any effects that would stun or knock him unconscious.

Combat & Equipment

• Rusted Blunderbuss: Skill DM +2, Damage 3d6 (Aspects: Blast, Loud, Slow Reload)

• Spiked Club: Skill DM +2, Damage 2d6+1 (Aspects: Crushing)

• The Scrap Charge: Pox’s blunderbuss fires a spray of jagged metal, rusty nails, and gravel. It attacks all targets in a 3-meter cone. It takes Pox two full rounds to reload the weapon after firing.

Tactical Referee Notes

Blix and Pox should never fight fair. When running an encounter with them, use the following loop:

1. The Ambush: Blix fires from total concealment with his blowgun, attempting to paralyze the party’s front-line fighter or spellcaster.

2. The Shock: Pox steps out from behind a boulder or tree trunk, fires his blunderbuss to pepper the party with shrapnel, and relies on the Loud aspect to spook any riding beasts or pack animals.

3. The Retreat: While the party deals with Pox’s loud distraction, Blix uses Stealth to reposition or slip away into the dark, preparing another poisoned dart.

This tactical wilderness ambush scenario is built around the gritty, high-stakes nature of Sword of Cepheus 2nd Edition. It emphasizes the lethal threat of ranged black-powder weapons, poison mechanics, and terrain advantages.

Scenario Concept: The Bramble-Choke Hollow

Blix and Pox have tracked the adventurers to a choked, low-lying forest valley where the canopy blocks out the sun. They have set a trap at a natural bottleneck: a stream crossing surrounded by dense briars and decaying timber.

Their goal is to capture or eliminate the party, securing any pristine beasts or pure-blooded captives to bring back to Lord Darkness's subterranean court.

The Opposing Force

• Blix (Goblin Captain): Hidden in the high canopy, acting as the spotter and sniper. (See previous stats)

• Pox (The Muscle): Concealed in a hollow log at the far end of the trail, waiting to seal the trap. (See previous stats)

• Shadow-Hounds (3 Hunting Beasts): Sleek, lean, canine horrors with ink-black fur and glowing red eyes. They blend perfectly into the undergrowth and move without a sound.

Shadow-Hound Profile

• UPP: STR 8 (+0), DEX 10 (+1), END 9 (+0), INT 2 (–2), EDU 1 (–2), SOC 0 (–3)

• Stamina: 11 | Lifeblood: 22 | Armor: 1 (Shadow-infused hide)

• Skills: Melee Combat (Natural)-2, Recon-2, Stealth-3

• Traits:

  • Pack Tactics: Gain a +1 DM to hit an opponent for every other Shadow-Hound currently engaged in melee combat with that same target.

  • Dissolve into Dark: If in heavy shadows, they gain a +2 DM to all Stealth checks and can hide even while being observed.

• Attack: Fiendish Jaws (Skill DM +3, Damage 2d6, Aspects: Piercing).

The Tactical Map & Environment

The encounter takes place on a trail that narrows to a 2-meter-wide path through a marshy stream bed.

• Zone A (The Kill Zone - The Stream Bed): A 10x10 meter area of mud and shallow water. This counts as Difficult Terrain (moving through it costs double movement points). There is no natural cover here.

• Zone B (The High Canopy): Giant, moss-covered trees loom 6 meters over the stream. Blix is perched here on a sturdy limb. Climbing these trees requires an Average (8+) Athletics check. Targets in the canopy have Partial Cover (+2 to Armor against ranged attacks).

• Zone C (The Briar Thickets): Dense walls of thorny brambles line both sides of the path. They are impassable without heavy axes or machetes. Anyone forced into the briars takes 1d6 points of Stamina damage from the jagged thorns.

• Zone D (The Hollow Log): A massive, fallen ancient oak sits at the far side of the stream crossing. Pox is wedged inside it, completely obscured from view (Total Cover until he steps out to fire).

Running the Ambush: Phase by Phase

Before the map grid is laid out, the Referee rolls a secret Opposed Check:

• Blix’s Stealth-3 (+1 DEX, +2 Craven Tactics = Total +6 DM) vs. the party’s highest Recon or Observation skill check.

• If the party loses, they enter the Kill Zone (Zone A) completely unaware and are subject to a Surprise Round.

    [Zone B: High Canopy] -> (Blix hiding with blowgun)
             |
             v
[Zone C: Briars] ---> [ Zone A: The Kill Zone ]

 <--- [Zone C: Briars]
                      [ (Difficult Terrain)  ]
                                 ^
                                 |
                    [Zone D: The Hollow Log] -> 

(Pox with Blunderbuss)
                    [  & Hidden Shadow-Hounds  ]

Phase 1: The Silent Strike (Surprise Round)

Blix initiates the ambush from Zone B. He targets the character with the least visible armor or the one holding a spell-catalyst/staff.

• Blix's Turn: Fires his blowgun (+3 DM). If he hits, the target takes 1 point of damage and must immediately roll the Average (8+) END check to avoid the Night-shade Venom paralytic effect. Blix immediately uses his minor action to drop behind a tree trunk to remain hidden.

• The Shadow-Hounds use their surprise movement to sprint silently out of the undergrowth, surrounding the paralyzed or distracted target but holding their bites until the next phase.

Phase 2: The Shock and Thunder (Round 1)

Once the party reacts to the blowgun dart, Pox triggers his weapon.

• Pox's Turn: Pox steps out from the Hollow Log (Zone D) and fires his Rusted Blunderbuss (+2 DM) down the narrow path. The Blast aspect forces everyone caught in the 3-meter wide stream bed to face the 3d6 shrapnel damage.

• The Morale Factor: The Loud aspect of the blunderbuss requires any mount or pack animal brought by the party to pass an Average (8+) Animals check or bolt into the briars, destroying gear or throwing riders.

• The Hounds' Turn: The three Shadow-Hounds attack immediately after the blast, focusing on the weakest targets to drag them down into the mud. They use Pack Tactics to maximize their hit probability.

Phase 3: The Attrition and Skirmish (Round 2+)

• Blix continues to fire poisoned darts from the trees, shifting positions between shots to keep the party from pinpointing his location with bows or crossbows.

• Pox drops his empty blunderbuss (it takes 2 full rounds to reload) and draws his Spiked Club, wading into the mud of Zone A to bash anyone still standing. His Foul Reek trait now forces nearby adventurers to make END checks against nausea.

Defeat Conditions & Retreat

These minions do not fight to the death for a master who views them as disposable.

• Pox’s Breaking Point: If Pox takes more than half his Lifeblood in damage (13+ points), he panics, swings wildly, and begins backing up toward the deep forest.

• Blix’s Escape: If Pox falls, or if two Shadow-Hounds are slain, Blix drops a smoke packet or flashes a polished mirror to blind attackers for a brief second. He then uses his Stealth-3 to vanish through the upper branches, fleeing back to Lord Darkness to report the location and strength of the intruders.