Legend: Monsters of the River Nations: Addanc

As part of attempting to release a new monsters every week, we bring to you the Addanc. This is a cross between an alligator and a beaver. While it draws it stats from that of an alligator, it behaves more like it malicious, furry half. More important for this is that this is the first monster from the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the River Nations converted over for the Legend RPG. We plan to do more of these, if you are interested. Express your interest or your disinterest in the comments below.

And like last time, I would like to point you towards our first Legend book: Legendary Factions: Common Factions 1. This is the cumulation of the factions presented here on our website. We’d like to keep up this model of presenting the material for you first on our website and then putting it all together in a single product.

Addanc
This monster possesses the form of a crocodile plus the fur of a beaver and the behavior of both.
The addanc is a solitary predator that builds dams to create small lakes. Once its territory is defined, anything that comes near to the lake or adjoining river becomes the addanc’s prey. The beast hunts by floating just under the surface of the water and waiting for its next meal to approach, at which point it attacks with a bone-crunching bite. With the prey held tight in its jaws, the addanc attempts to drag its quarry under the water. Both industrious and conniving, this monster possesses enough intelligence to wait for its prey to be the most vulnerable. Once it attacks, it goes immediately for the kill, giving its prey little chance to resist. It cares not for its prey; it cares only for its stomach.

Like the natural beaver’s lodge, an addanc’s lair can only be accessed from below the water’s surface. The structure is a truly gruesome scene. The creature uses the possessions and remains of its victims for decoration, and the stench of decay permeates the entire lair. The adjoining dam is composed of heavy tree branches and logs while long bones of larger prey are interspersed to shore the structure. A typical addanc lair is between ten and fifteen meters in diameter and rises about 5 meters above the surface of the water.

A typical addanc is 2.3 meters long and weighs 110 kilograms.

Swimming Grapple An addanc may swim at its full swim movement while grappling an opponent as long as the addanc succeeds an opposed swim check.

STR 4d6+12 (26) CON 4d6+8 (22) SIZ 4d6+12 (26) INT 2d6 (7) POW 3d6 (11) DEX 2d6 (7)

1d20     Hit Location     AP/HP
1-3        Tail                   5/9
4          Right Hind Leg   5/7
5          Left Hind Leg     5/7
6-9        Hindquarters      5/10
10-14    Forequarters      5/11
15         Right Front Leg 5/7
16         Left Front Leg    5/7
17-20    Head/Neck        5/9

Combat Actions             2
Damage Modifier            1d12
Magic Points     11
Movement         6m/10m (swim)
Strike Rank       +7
Typical Armor: Scales. No Armor Penalty.
Traits: Excellent Swimmer

Skills: Athletics 75%, Brawn 85%, Perception 48%, Persistence 55%, Resilience 72%, Stealth 50%, Swim 110%

Combat Styles
Bite 50%, Tail Bash 40%

Weapons
Type          Size     Reach        Damage     AP/HP        Range
Bite            M         M               1d8+1d12    As for Head –
Tail Bash     L          L                1d4+1d12    As for Tail    –

Pathfinder: Get More Life From Your Monster Books with the Book of Beasts

Get more life out of your favorite monsters with Book of Beasts: Monster Variations. This collection of 21 traditional monsters are varied in ways to keep them feeling fresh and unique. Plus there are designer’s notes that take you through the various steps of modifying these monsters and the reasons behind it. This will help you in creating unique takes on old monsters for your game.

This book which will enhance your world and your game is available now at DriveThruRPG.com/RPGNow.com and Paizo.com

Legend: The Mighty Griffon

The results of a survey show that people are interested for Legend material. For what exactly is fairly evenly divided. Well, I am known for being a monster designer in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game so I figured that would be a good place to start. I’ll throw in a few NPCs as well from time to time but monsters is a good place to start.

By special request, I bring you a griffon this week. This was specifically asked for since someone wanted one as a mount. These legendary monsters make excellent mounts, if the griffon trusts you.

Before presenting the griffon on, I want to point you to Legendary Factions: Common Factions 1. This is the cumulation of the factions presented here on our website. We’d like to keep up this model of presenting the material for you first on our website and then putting it all together in a single product. It is far quicker for you to get the material you desire for your game (we saw the griffon request this morning) and it lets you know exactly what is going to be in the next supplement. And, like the griffon, we listen to your desires and give them to you when you need them. So in return, we ask that you support our efforts and pick this up. Your continued support is what makes this possible.

And without further ado …

Griffon
With the body of a lion and the head, forelegs and wings of an eagle, this great beast stands proud and majestic.

Wild griffons live in the hills and mountains. Their nests typically rest on ledges only accessible by flying. Anywhere from 4-8 griffin eggs can be found in the nest during mating season. These creatures typically are not dangerous unless someone invades their nest or it suspects the person may invade its nest.

Domesticated griffons are rare but not unheard of. The easiest way to domesticate a wild griffon is to steal an egg and raise it from birth. Of course its parents will search the rest of its life for the thief. Griffons are fiercely loyal and trust their trainers with their life. It is not unheard of for a griffon that had only one trainer to starve itself to death after the death of its trainer. Transfer of a griffon from one trainer to another (like if it is sold), can take as long as two to three months. Domesticated griffons typically serve as mounts to special knights.

A griffon can fly with two people of size 12 or less one person of size 20 or less.

STR 8d6 (28) CON 3d6+12 (23) SIZ 8d6 (28) INT 6 (6) POW 2d6+6 (13) DEX 3d6+12 (23) CHA 7 (7)

1d20 Hit Location AP/HP

1-2 Right Hind Leg 3/11

3-4 Left Hind Leg 3/11

5-7 Hindquarters 3/12

8-10 Forequarters 3/12

11 Right Wing 3/10

12 Left Wing 3/10

13-14 Right Front Leg 3/11

15-16 Left Front Leg 3/11

17-20 Head 3/11

Combat Actions 3

Damage Modifier 1d12 (STR+SIZ, compare to chart)

Magic Points 13

Movement 6m, 10m when flying

Strike Rank +15

Typical Armor: Thick Hide (AP 3, no Skill Penalty)

Traits: Flying, Formidable Natural Weapons, Night Sight

Skills: Athletics 80%, Evade 40% (60% when flying), Perception 50%, Persistence 80%, Resilience 70%, Survival 60%

Combat Styles

Bite 60%, Claw 70%

Weapons

Type Size Reach Damage AP/HP Range

Bite L M 1d8+1d12 As for Head –

Claw L T 1d6+1d12 As for Leg –

Pathfinder: The Gaming Genius “Golden Pawn” Arrived

Last year, Jon Brazer Enterprises won an award for the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the River Nations. As this is our first award, we are thrilled. We want to thank everyone that helped make this award possible. We appreciate that you believed in this book enough to vote for us and we thank you for that.

The Gaming Genius Awards, or “Golden Pawns,” are awards bestowed by the International Gamers Guild to recognize genius in the design, manufacture, publishing, and practice in the hobby games field. They are awarded at the end of August to nominees across the hobby game industry in a variety of categories that cover the excellence of the field. Learn more about them at TheGoldenPawns.org

Pathfinder: Monster Variants

Long time followers of my twitter feed might remember #MonsterTweets. They were a 140 character way of saying get this monster by using this monster stat block and add this template. As time went on I tried to make them more and more complex, but 140 characters was really limiting to what I could do.

So I began a new project: Monster Variants. Initially this started off as: take a monster, add a template and fully stat it out, but then I started coming up with taking abilities from other monsters and modifying them as needed. All in all, this project turned out to be a lot of fun. I’m almost done with the first installment and I figured I’d give you a sneak peak into what this would look like. So here is one of the monsters from my upcoming (yet to be formally named) Monster Variants project.

Bigfoot

(Based on a yeti) This creatures stands like a man, yet is half again the height and is covered with a coat of thick brown fur.

Bigfoot CR 4
XP 1,200
N Large monstrous humanoid
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +10

Defense

AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+1 Dex, +7 natural, -1 size)
hp 45 (6d10+12)
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +6

Offense

Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +9 (1d6+4)
Ranged rock +6 (2d6+6)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks frightful gaze, rend (2 claws, 1d6+6), rock throwing (60 ft.)

Statistics

Str 19, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 22
Feats Cleave, Great Fortitude, Power Attack
Skills Climb +21 Intimidate +9, Perception +10, Stealth +5; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth
SQ Alko

Ecology

Environment temperate mountains
Organization solitary, pair, or tribe (3-8)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Frightning Gaze(Su) Creatures within 30 feet that meet a bigfoot’s gaze must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or stand paralyzed in fear for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting fear paralysis effect. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the frightful gaze of that bigfoot for 1 day. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Please be sure to share your thoughts as a comment. We’d love to hear your opinions.

Legend: Download These New Factions Today

We’ve been publishing Legend factions on the web now for over a month. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and we are glad to hear that you are enjoying these factions as much as we are having making them. We’ve gotten a few requests for these to be easily downloadable and now we are giving that to you. Today we uploaded our first Legend product to DriveThruRPG. Legendary Factions: Common Factions 1 includes the four previously published factions as well as the last one below. We want to know if we should continue this style of publishing: us writing material, releasing it free on our website and then bundling it up in a PDF. If you have been enjoying these factions and you feel this kind of “try it before you buy it” publishing works for you, then we ask that you pick this up right away. Goto DriveThruRPG/RPGNow.com and download this compendium of factions.

The last of faction in this group is a sorcery order known as the Order of the Red Guard. This underground sorcery order masquerades around under a different name and guise to keep the less than favorable monarchy and public from exterminating them. Without further ado, we hope you enjoy this.

Order of the Red Guard (Sorcerer Order)

The order of the red guard tell of a day long ago when their order walked freely among their fellow men until one of their number used the order’s magic to torture over one hundred people and burn down several villages before she was stopped. The order continues its true mission, operating under the guise of being alchemists and designers of great works. This order is only called the order of red alchemy. Many know it has roots in the red guard, but few realize the red guard grimoire survives to this day.

The mission of the order remains the same: to understand ways to manipulate the world around them, to help those in need for the good of all and to seek out those willing, fit and responsible enough to learn magic. Today they must be more careful as to whom they invite to join the order. Novices are watched to insure they do not discover the order’s true identity too early. Those that do meet a sudden and accidental demise.

The order of red alchemy is known for its fiery mastery. They are called when a fire threatens the local area and when a fiery monster appears. Once a fight between a one of the order and a fiery creature erupt, the local flee since the amount of fire flying around tends to cause collateral damage. Additionally, it is customary to not watch one of the order’s magi fight since either the mage’s clothes burn off from the Firebody spell or the mage disrobes first, saving the garment for later wear. It is for this spell that order members are also considered fun to date.

Common Magic: Dragon’s Breath, Extinguish, Fireblade, Firebody, Ignite, Warmth

Sorcery Magic (Red Guard Grimoire): Animate (Fire), Banish, Damage Resistance, Protective Ward, Smother, Wrack

Novice

Novices must be chosen by one of the order’s magi or archmagi. Each magi or archmagi is allowed to choose with whatever criteria they desire, however many look for a strong intelligence and magical aptitude. Someone offered to join the order may refuse, but they are never asked a second time. No novice is told the order’s true name or is shown the red guard grimoire. Manipulation and Sorcery (red guard grimoire) are never taught to novices since the true nature of the order is kept from them.

Apprentice

The test to become an apprentice involves the extinguishing of a fire with no water. Additionally a potential apprentice must possess Lore (alchemy) and any two other order skills at 30%. While the Extinguish spell is commonly learned before one tests, it is not required. Once this test is passed, an apprentice is told the true identity of the order and magical training begins.

Adept

Adepts are also called firebearers since none are taught the Firebody spell any earlier. These Red Guardians are expected to take part in designing and overseeing construction of larger works. While the magi and archmagi cast the spells, adepts typically keep prying eyes away from the actual casting. An apprentice is considered to be elevated to adept when his Engineering and Sorcery (Red Guard Grimoire) and any three other order skills are at 50%. After mastering two of the order’s sorcery spells and three of the common magic spells, they apprentice is tested by creating as much fire as possible without sorcery while at least three novices testing to become apprentices attempt to put it out that same fire without water; whoever does better (the to-be-apprentices or the to-be-adept) receives the promotion.

Mage

Becoming a mage has more to do with being friendly with the archmagi over skill. While few become magi without having five guild skills 70% (two of which being Manipulation and Sorcery (Red Grim Grimoire)), mastering four of the order’s sorcery spells and all of the order’s common magic, such elevation has happened in the past. Loyalty and a willingness to carry out order’s bidding have triggered such elevations previously. Three of the current order’s magi attained such a level by taking part in great construction efforts and having gone above and beyond the call of duty on several occasions. One mage is said to have killed one of the monarch’s family who discovered the order’s secret, but that is largely considered a rumor.

Archmage

The three archmagi lead the order and take responsibility for seeing its continuation. Archmage Jefall disagrees discreetly with the other two, seeking to expand the order and push for its wide public acceptance. He advocates for charging the kingdom they protect with favors aimed at increasing the order’s popularity. While the other two see wisdom in his words, they do not want to take such bold action. Unbeknownst to the other archmagi, Jefall is planning to take matters into his own hands by hiring those that may cause havoc on the land just so the order would look like heroes.

Order Skills

The order offer training the in the following skills: Common Magic, Engineering, Evaluate, Lore (alchemy), Manipulation, Perception, Persistence, Sorcery (Red Guard Grimoire), any Dirk style.

New Common Spell

Firebody
Duration 5, Magnitude 4, Progressive, Touch

The creature touched becomes engulfed in flames but is not harmed by these flames. For the duration of the spell, the creature will deal an extra 1d6 points of magical fire damage atop of any damage dealt from a natural weapon. Creatures and objects that touch the engulfed creature or strike the engulfed creature with natural weapons sustain 1d6 points of magical fire damage. A creature under the effects of Firebody cannot benefit from other damage enhancing spells.

Download Legendary Factions: Common Factions 1 at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow.com today!

Shadowsfall Legends: The Gem That Caught Fire – Kurdag’s Tale Now Available

When the umbral kobold owner of the Exploding Herb alchemy shop is questioned about a magical gem that he may or may not have enchanted, both danger and bombs fly. Will Kurdag find a mortal enemy among the Hookblades? Will the neighbor’s wagon be smashed to splinters or explode into woodchips?

The Gem That Caught Fire is the second in the Shadowsfall Legends line of short tales taking place on the Plane of Shadows. This amazing story is written by infamous Ed Greenwood. It is now available in PDF, ePub, and mobi (Kindle) formats. Download today at DriveThruRPG/DriveThruFiction/RPGNow, Paizo.com, Amazon.com, BN.com, Smashwords and many more.

Also check out the first in the Shadowsfall Legends series: Pawn, Deception and Sacrifice written by Mur Lafferty. Download it today at DriveThruRPG/DriveThruFiction/RPGNow, Paizo.com, Amazon Kindle Store, Smashwords, B&N Nook and more in the near future. Download today in ePub, PDF and now in mobi (Kindle) formats. Read it today on your computer, phone or tablet.

Pathfinder and Traveller: GM’s Day Sale

The annual GM’s Day Sale begins TODAY at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow. We at Jon Brazer Enterprises wanted to let you know what we are offering at 25% off. If you have been eyeing these, this sale is not to miss.

Pathfinder

Book of the River Nations: Complete Player’s Reference for Kingdom Building (as well as the three PDFs that were compiled into this book).
Book of Beasts: Monsters of the River Nations
Book of Beasts: Wandering Monsters 1
Book of Friends and Foes: Under the Mountain
Book of the Faithful: Power of Prayer
Book of the Faithful: Worshipping Swords
Encounters and Maps: Cave of Kobolds

Traveller

All of our Mech Tech ‘n’ bot line including
Mech Tech ‘n’ bot: Fighters and Small Ships and
Mech Tech ‘n’ bot: Mech Squadrons
Player Career Pack 1
and most especially, our
d66 Compendium

Be sure to grab these and take advantage of this amazing sale while you can. Its on until March 7th so don’t miss out.

[Pathfinder] Recent Reviews Roundup (5-Star Edition)

We’ve recently got some excellent reviews of some of our books and every last one was a 5-Star review! So I thought I would share excerpts and links to them for you.

First up, we have the book that everyone loves: the Book of the River Nations: Complete Player’s Reference for Kingdom Building. The first review comes from a gentlemen named Gregg Helmberger. Here are some of the highlights from his 5-Star review:
“Therefore, anything that can make your life easier as a GM is something to buy, treasure, and recommend to others.”
“If you plan to feature a lot of mass combat, you NEED this.”
“this is excellent stuff that you will make use of”
“Overall, this is a truly exemplary resource for players and GMs using the Kingdom Building subsystems in their games.”
Thank you Gregg for your kind words. I really appreciate them.

Next up is John Benbo‘s 5-Star review of the same book. His review is much shorter, but is no less filled with love for this book. To show exactly how he felt, he titled the review “Indispensable!” I’m just going to reprint the whole review here:

When I decided to start up my Kingmaker campaign, I knew I had to have this book from the reviews I’ve read and it hasn’t let me down. My group is still slogging away through book 2 but they have already gone through 4 and half years of kingdom builing. The players have enjoyed the extra buildings and, as the GM, I’ve really enjoyed the expanded random encounter section. Additionally, being available in print makes it more convenient to flip through at the table. What also impressed me was the community support of this product by creating an excel spreadsheet that incorporated the extra material in this book. This has made the kingdom building aspect a breeze to keep track of.

The last 5-Star review we’ve received recently is for the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane from “Stark Enterprises VP“. He described this book as:

“this is a spectacular little collection of monsters.”
“There’s not a single beast in this thing that isn’t well-worth your purchase dollars.”
“The flavor text of this thing is pretty awesome too.”
“I can’t wait to see the other books in this line, just on the quality of this stuff.”
“In the final analysis, Jon Brazer’s knocked another one out of the park”

Despite all these wonderful things, its the last line in Stark’s review that really says it all, I think. Despite having received the PDF as a review copy he said, “I’ll be buying this myself when the print/PDF combo goes live … it’s that good!” Thank you. Truly, thank you.

Be sure to pick up your copy of Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane, Book of the River Nations: Complete Player’s Reference for Kingdom Building and others at JonBrazer.com, Your Local Gaming Store or at your favorite gaming website.

Legend: New Monster Called Gruff

I’m taking a break from my regular posting of a faction. I’m still working on my first sorcery faction and I need a little more time. In the meantime, I figured I’d post a monster. I noticed people talking on the Legend forums about a lack of beastmen. So I thought I would make one. Fans of RuneQuest will recognize this monster as being inspired by the Broo. However, I am drawing this monster’s personality more from two distinct sources: the fairy tale of the billy-goat’s gruff and the more recent Dresden Files book where Harry fights a number of these “fairies” as he stops a murderous plot.

I hope you enjoy this monster. I highly welcome all comments.

Billy-Goat Gruff
Best described as a half goat-half man creature, a billy-goat gruff (or gruff for short) is considered by most common folk to be a smaller minotaur. However, this could not be further from the truth. Where a minotaur avoids human contact, a gruff seeks it out, raiding human settlements for food and slaves.
A gruff village is filthy by civilized human standards. The simple huts tend to be made from the skins of various animals hunted. The village chief’s hut is always in the center of the camp and is made from the hide of the largest monster killed by the tribe. The chief is always the largest gruff.
            Dice           Average
STR      2d6+6         (13)
CON     1d6+12       (16)
SIZ       3d6+5       (16)
INT       2d6+6         (13)
POW    3d6             (11)
DEX     3d6             (11)
CHA     2d6             (7)

1d20     Hit Location           AP/HP
1-3        Right Leg                -/7
4-6        Left Leg                  -/7
7-9        Abdomen                -/8
10-12    Chest                      -/9
13-15    Right Arm               -/6
16-18    Left Leg                  -/6
19-20    Head                      3/7

Combat Actions       2
Damage Modifier     +1d2
Magic Points           11
Movement                10m
Strike Rank              +12
Armor: Horns (AP 3, Head only)
Traits: None

Skills: Athletics 60%, Brawn 28%, Evade 40%, Perception 50%, Persistence 20%, Resilience 40%, Sleight 45%, Survival 40%,
Common Magic 17%, Bestial Enhancement 2, Mobility 1

Combat Styles
Head Butt 60%, Club 60%, Spear and Shield 50%, Unarmed 28%
Weapons
Type              Size     Reach      Damage            AP/HP        Range
Club              M         S             1D6+1D2          4/4              —
Head Butt      L          T             1D6+1D2          as Head      —
Short Spear   M         L             1D8+1+1D2      6/8              —
Target Shield L          S             1D6+1D2          4/12            —