2014-02-23

Phase Wanderer

Phase Wanderer
No. Enc: 1d4 (1d4)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d10 plus grab
Save: MU6
Morale: 8
Hoard Class: VII
XP: 820

Phase wanderers are men and women who, due to their perverse insistence on experimenting with particle colliders, have shifted themselves partially outside of the normal three dimensions. They now exist agelessly and eternally in a world of malevolent shadows, just outside our own.

Phase wanderers appear as shimmering distortions in the air, vaguely humanoid in shape. They surprise opponents on a roll of 1-4 on a d6.

Due to their extra-dimensional nature, phase wanderers are only damaged by gold and magical (including protonium) weapons.

The phase wanderer attacks by clutching at its target. Contact with a phase wanderer is incredibly damaging to creatures more firmly grounded in the three dimensions, and causes 1d10 points of damage. Furthermore, on a successful hit, it has a 50% chance of grabbing hold and dragging its victim out of phase.

While a victim is so clutched, the wanderer will become solid as his victim phases out and becomes translucent. During this temporary transition, the wanderer is back in phase with the normal three dimensional world, and may be damaged by normal weapons. The victim will correspondingly see his surroundings become dim and insubstantial.

The victim will take 2d10 hit points of damage per round while in the shadow dimension as his atomic structure breaks down. A successful “force doors” check will allow the victim to break free of the wanderer. Alternatively, the victim may attempt to slay the phase wanderer, and will have a +1 bonus to hit while clutched

Anyone killed by a phase wanderer will be permanently transposed out of three dimensional space, along with all their belongings (with the exception of protonium metal). The wanderer will go back out of phase once its clutched victim perishes.

Should the phase wanderer be killed before its victim dies, the victim will return to normal three-dimensional space. The wanderer’s corpse (and any belongings it may be carrying) will fully return to normal space as well, although it will be hideously dried and shriveled.

2014-02-11

Liquid Loot

Just another trap in the 4th level.  It's an example of my favorite style, the kind the players willingly set off.

8. Liquid Loot
Floating in the center of this room are three rings of blue superconducting metal.  They are nested within each other, and rotate slowly in three dimensions around a 1’ wide sphere of gold. Anyone approaching will feel the heat coming off the rings and the sphere – and in fact the sphere is molten, although that will not be obvious.

Jamming a sword, 10’ pole, or other object into the rings will merely cause them to stop spinning – they will resume once the obstruction is removed. Note that they are powerful magnets, and a successful “force doors” check is required to remove any metal stuck to them.  Further, the heat from the rings will soften most metal and burn wood – each round an item is jammed into the rings, there is a 40% chance it will be ruined.

Approaching the rings with a magnet will cause them to fly apart, doing 1d6 damage to everyone in the room as they ricochet about.

In either case, once the rings stop rotating, the molten gold within will fall to the floor, splashing all within a 10’ radius for 4d6 points of damage (save vs. paralyzation for half damage).

Once outside the rings, the gold will solidify in 1 round, and be cool enough to handle in 2 turns. It will take an additional 2 turns to pry the gold from the floor, if it has splashed all over the room. The total value of the gold present is 6,000 gp.

When nested together, the rings will resist being moved, and will heat any metal in the center to 2000° F.  Apart, they are simply strong magnets. The rings are worth 10 gp apiece if sold separately, and 100 gp if sold together.