Weird Monster Wednesday The K'nyanian Guardian Beasts From The Haunted Caverns For Your Old School Campaigns (Revised)

 The K'nyanian guardian beasts are an unholy combination of humanoid flesh, arachnid and insect genetic stock wrapped around a core of weird nearly demonic horror. They are the product of
 the K'nyanian empire a vast underground culture  filled with strange beasts and a highly advanced telepathic civilization who worshiped Cthulhu, Yig, Shub-Niggurath -and, until a certain incident, Tsathoggua. The K'nyanians had attained immortality &  subjugated other humanoid races before them. They  had the technology to biologically modify vanquished races and other life-forms and reanimate the dead for use as slaves, and could dematerialize and rematerialize at will. The underground people also engaged in sadism, depraved practices, horrid rites  and unspeakable things such as random body modifications and mutilations of other slave species as entertainment   The K'nyanian guardian beasts were a living security system used to watch over & guard certain above ground assets. They were the ancient servants of the K'nyanians watching over the mines and deep places of the forbidden civilizations of  K'nyan especially their underground mining, vast tunnel systems, and their near surface and above ground works.  They are extremely dangerous creatures capable of unspeakable violence & capable of rapid procreation should the need arrive.

These beasts have been operating in remote locations of Old Earth since the last Ice Age & jealously guard the vast cavern systems & caves of the K'nyanians. They are able to change their metabolism to operate in a wide variety of conditions from the deserts of accursed Atlantis to the icy realms of Old Earth. These guardian beasts can easily adapt & survive in the wastelands of the post apocalyptic world but they don't like the various death lands and deeper wastes because of the extreme conditions and lack of easy victims .

The K'nyanian Guardian Beasts From The Haunted Caverns

Number Encountered : 1d2
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Size :Large
Movement : 40
Dexterity: 11
Armor Class: 2 (18)
Hit Dice: 10
Number of attacks: 3 claw, claw, bite or special bite (see below)
Damage 1d6, 1d6, 2d6
Saving throw: 12
Morale: 9
Experience: 2,500
Treasure : Q,R
Specials:

• 13 in 12 spell resistance Vs CA 12 spell casters. For every CA level less then 12, the chance in twenty increases by one (+1). 
• Surprises on a 3 in 6 chance 
• Immune to cold attacks but very vulnerable to fire attacks 
• Regenerates as a troll due to its partial fungal nature 
• Victims who receive a bite are webbed and infected with young. Save vs poison to avoid being paralysis. 
• Immune to any mind effecting spells and mind control spells as well because of the fungal nature of the beast's intelligence. 
•  The beast may choose to infect victims with a special bite that only does 1 to two points of damage but the victim must save vs. Death or be paralyzed. The victim will be taken to a nearby underground lair and infected with 1d10 eggs. 
• Anyone who escapes the beast may be stalked and sent telepathic images of horror and depravity of the beast's past victims.
• These beasts have terribly evil intelligence and may stalk as well as kill those who slay their kind. These horrors share a telepathic rapture and know what others of their kind know in a 12 kilometre radius.   

The so called Primordial beasts have been used by the  The K'nyanians for thousands of years as guardians for their operations upon accursed Atlantis and thousands of other worlds. They have the characteristics of many creatures but are actually horrors unique to themselves. They make their homes in wide variety of locations and easily adapt to a wide variety of conditions but often enjoy cold or inhospitable climates with nearby human settlements. The beasts enjoy feasting on human and near humanoid victims who stumble into their clutches.  They will strike a a lone victim or stalk a party picking off the adventurers one by one sadistically.
These horrors have a bite which places the victim into a near death like state unless save vs. poison is rolled. The victim is given a strange poison that not only keeps them alive and suffering but protects them from the cold. The beasts produces a special webbing that can hold a man sized creature stationary and protected against extreme cold. The beasts feed on their charges and lay 1d10 eggs within the victims who are conscious when the young eat their way out of them. This does 1d4 points of damage per round as the worm like young burst forth from the victim after feeding upon the marrow of the bones of the poor wretches.
 The beasts often hunt down witnesses and other special victims that they single out. The creatures uses their inhuman senses to ceaselessly track their targets. They are able to project into the minds of their victims images of suffering prey and friends that they often take. Those who witness such sights will be at -2 on all rolls as the telepathic horror of these images takes it's toll on the sanity and mind of their charges. Only a save vs wands may lessen the impact of such horrors.
These horrors can live hundreds of years and amass a fortune in artifacts and gold from past victims. They know that rumors of such treasure bring adventurers and fool hardy explorers but these are not the only treasures to be had. 

Many alchemists will pay good gold for samples of the beast's flesh and sections of its webbing. These are made into potions of regeneration and protection from cold. There is a 10% chance of those who use such things taking on certain characteristics of the beast or even becoming one themselves.

  

Adapted from the public domain Roger Corman film The Beast From Haunted Cave
 & now updated for my new OSR campaign.

The K'nyanian Guardian Beasts From The Haunted Caverns For Your Old School Campaigns (Revised)

 The K'nyanian guardian beasts are an unholy combination of humanoid flesh, arachnid and insect genetic stock wrapped around a core of weird nearly demonic horror. They are the product of
 the K'nyanian empire a vast underground culture  filled with strange beasts and a highly advanced telepathic civilization who worshiped Cthulhu, Yig, Shub-Niggurath -and, until a certain incident, Tsathoggua. The K'nyanians had attained immortality &  subjugated other humanoid races before them. They  had the technology to biologically modify vanquished races and other life-forms and reanimate the dead for use as slaves, and could dematerialize and rematerialize at will. The underground people also engaged in sadism, depraved practices, horrid rites  and unspeakable things such as random body modifications and mutilations of other slave species as entertainment   The K'nyanian guardian beasts were a living security system used to watch over & guard certain above ground assets. They were the ancient servants of the K'nyanians watching over the mines and deep places of the forbidden civilizations of  K'nyan especially their underground mining, vast tunnel systems, and their near surface and above ground works.  They are extremely dangerous creatures capable of unspeakable violence & capable of rapid procreation should the need arrive.

These beasts have been operating in remote locations of Old Earth since the last Ice Age & jealously guard the vast cavern systems & caves of the K'nyanians. They are able to change their metabolism to operate in a wide variety of conditions from the deserts of accursed Atlantis to the icy realms of Old Earth. These guardian beasts can easily adapt & survive in the wastelands of the post apocalyptic world but they don't like the various death lands and deeper wastes because of the extreme conditions and lack of easy victims .

 
The K'nyanian Guardian Beasts From The Haunted Caverns

Number Encountered : 1d2 
Alignment: Chaotic Evil 
Size :
Large: L 
Movement : 40 
Dexterity: 11 
Armor Class: 2 
Hit Dice: 10 
Number of attacks: 3 claw, claw, bite or special bite (see below)
Damage 1d6, 1d6, 2d6 
Saving throw: 12 
Morale: 9 
Experience: 2,500 
Treasure : Q,R 
Specials:

• 13 in 12 spell resistance Vs CA 12 spell casters. For every CA level less then 12, the chance in twenty increases by one (+1). 
• Surprises on a 3 in 6 chance 
• Immune to cold attacks but very vulnerable to fire attacks 
• Regenerates as a troll due to its partial fungal nature 
• Victims who receive a bite are webbed and infected with young. 
• Immune to any mind effecting spells and mind control spells as well because of the fungal nature of the beast's intelligence. 
•  The beast may choose to infect victims with a special bite that only does 1 to two points of damage but the victim must save vs. Death or be paralyzed. The victim will be taken to a nearby underground lair and infected with 1d10 eggs. 
• Anyone who escapes the beast may be stalked and sent telepathic images of horror and depravity of the beast's past victims.
• These beasts have terribly evil intelligence and may stalk as well as kill those who slay their kind. These horrors share a telepathic rapture and know what others of their kind know in a 12 kilometer radius.   

The so called Primordial beasts have been used by the  The K'nyanians for thousands of years as guardians for their operations upon accursed Atlantis and thousands of other worlds. They have the characteristics of many creatures but are actually horrors unique to themselves. They make their homes in wide variety of locations and easily adapt to a wide variety of conditions but often enjoy cold or inhospitable climates with nearby human settlements. The beasts enjoy feasting on human and near humanoid victims who stumble into their clutches.  They will strike a a lone victim or stalk a party picking off the adventurers one by one sadistically.
These horrors have a bite which places the victim into a near death like state unless save vs. poison is rolled. The victim is given a strange poison that not only keeps them alive and suffering but protects them from the cold. The beasts produces a special webbing that can hold a man sized creature stationary and protected against extreme cold. The beasts feed on their charges and lay 1d10 eggs within the victims who are conscious when the young eat their way out of them. This does 1d4 points of damage per round as the worm like young burst forth from the victim after feeding upon the marrow of the bones of the poor wretches.
 The beasts often hunt down witnesses and other special victims that they single out. The creatures uses their inhuman senses to ceaselessly track their targets. They are able to project into the minds of their victims images of suffering prey and friends that they often take. Those who witness such sights will be at -2 on all rolls as the telepathic horror of these images takes it's toll on the sanity and mind of their charges. Only a save vs wands may lessen the impact of such horrors.
These horrors can live hundreds of years and amass a fortune in artifacts and gold from past victims. They know that rumors of such treasure bring adventurers and fool hardy explorers but these are not the only treasures to be had. 

Many alchemists will pay good gold for samples of the beast's flesh and sections of its webbing. These are made into potions of regeneration and protection from cold. There is a 10% chance of those who use such things taking on certain characteristics of the beast or even becoming one themselves.

•   
  
  Adapted from the public domain Roger Corman film The Beast From Haunted Cave & now updated for my new OSR campaign.
  

Review Of Fire on The Velvet Horizon By Scrap Princess & Patrick Stuart For Your Old School Campaigns

There are monster books and then there's Fire On The Velvet Horizon which is one part punk aesthetic artwork & six parts monster book from the depths of the soul of an adventurer whose seen deep into the recesses of the human abyss. Someone showed up at my house today with this book and handed it too me, they made me promise to review it. Well Justin I keep my promises and here's the review you were promised. Fire On The Velvet Horizon is one hundred pages of brain melting monster candy done in Scrap Princess's frenzied  art style along with Patrick Stewart's prose. The book clocks in at one hundred and twenty one pages
GRAB IT HERE

How the hell do you describe the one hundred monsters that are within this book? Well its sort of an in monster and adventure  book all in one. Full  of a monsters that slowly crawl off of the page and quietly rams themselves into your back brain. These are original, weird, and more then creepy monsters who come to life at each turn of the page. I'd probably put this book at about the level of a Red & Pleasant Land, the artwork is punk and dark acid aesthetic warped through a blender of nightmare fuel. There isn't a single stat in the book but the creatures really do get under your skin in a odd alien way.


This book is more artifact then actual Monster Manual, its a book of monsters in fact over a one hundred of them but these are things that have their own internal rules of play within their descriptions. These things are the stuff of nightmare that you might see just before you wake up from sweat induced fever. Are they well done? Absolutely! Are they original? Very much so! But where can you use these horrors? They each have their place within the frame work of their own reality. I can easily see using these horrors in a place like Carcosa or the back end of some ancient Lovecraftian nameless abattoir setting.

This is a book for people who love monsters and by monsters I mean the really weird things that lurk between the cracks of reality and the horrors of some demented dungeon master's mad ravings. There are three reasons to use this book :

• One you want monsters that are violently weird, original, and very strange to build an adventure around. These are creatures that can do exactly that, monsters that you can build entire adventure frame works around. 
• These are horrors and creatures that feed into the realms of fantasy and dark imagination. 
• The horrors of this book have an internal consistency that breeds its own mythology around the contents of Fire On The Velvet Horizon and that makes the book beg to be used at the DM's table. 

But is the book actually good? Well its a book that demands the reader's attention and imagination sparking off ideas for adventures just in the reading of it. Fire on the Velvet Horizon is dark and original in its bold strokes of internal mythologies. Many of the creatures are odd and very dangerous found in only the remotest areas.

After spending part of the day going through this book I can honestly say I've never seen any other bestiary or old school monster book quite like Fire on The Velvet Horizon. It weird and truly wonderful book of  monsters that kicks soon much ass. I can see using this book to generate entire campaigns around it. Five out of five for this new school monster manual, Fire On the Velvet Horizon hits all of the right buttons for creativity, originality and DYI Dungeons and Dragons!