Swords & Wizardry: an Eldritch Horror

This post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

Shab-Ittoq, a Thing Man Was Not Meant To Know

Long before the coming of humans and their ilk, the world was ruled by ancient, eldritch beings from beyond space and time.   These beings were active only when the universe was in a particular alignment; when the universe held a different alignment these beings could not exist as we understand it and passed away eons in a state of pseudo death waiting for the cosmos to right itself.

The last shift in the alignment of the universe heralded the coming of men and their humanoid cousins, who happily assumed stewardship of the world in the absence of these alien beings.

As the universe shifted, the great island-city wherein most of these entitles lived sank far beneath the waves to settle at the bottom of the ocean; as their high priest retreated into a dark temple, one of its tentacles was severed.  Trapped beneath the rubble of the sunken city and bathed in the otherworldly energies which clung to the ruins, the monstrous tentacle mutated and took on a life of its own.

For some reason, the tentacular horror which became known as Shab-Ittoq is not bound to the same laws as is the being from which it was created, and it is able to exist regardless of how the universe is aligned.  Over the course of time, Shab-Ittoq has freed itself from its prison under the rubble of the sunken city and now it carries out the will of its parent which is made clear through powerful, psychic dreams.

Shab-Ittoq is not the only being who receives the twisted dreams of its creator; from the moment man reached a level of self-awareness, some men have been cursed with a sensitivity to the alien being’s dream-sendings.  Unable to bear the mental brunt of such alien thoughts, these men go mad, worship the eldritch beings as if they were gods, and recruit others into cults which actively work to prepare the world for when the universe is once again aligned and the monstrous beings return to re-establish their rule.  Shab-Ittoq often acts as a proxy and herald to these cultists, making appearances and accepting sacrifices on behalf of its maker.

Being composed of unearthly material and not subject to the laws of matter as we know them, Shab-Ittoq can never truly be killed.  If it is reduced to 0 HP, Shab-Ittoq will dissolve into a viscous, slimy goo which seeps through the ground to eventually find its way back to the sunken city.  Once it reaches its home,  it slowly re-forms and emerges with full HPs by the next full moon.

Shab-Ittoq: HD 10; AC 0 [19]; Atk 1 smash (3d6) ; Move 12; Save: 6; CL/XP: 10/1400; Special: swim

Swords & Wizardry: HACZ

This post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

What is HACZ?
A character’s HACZ (Hit Armor Class Zero; pronounced “hacks”) value provides an easy way to determine if an attack was successful against a given armor class, without having to reference charts or tables mid-combat.

Using HACZ
To make an attack, the player rolls a d20 and applies any modifiers (from ability scores, magic, etc.) to the die roll. The total is subtracted from the character’s HACZ value. The result indicates the lowest descending AC for which the attack would be successful.

Alternately, subtracting a descending armor class value from a character’s HACZ value will reveal the number an attack roll needs to meet or exceed in order to successfully hit that armor class.

Determining HACZ
To determine a character’s HACZ value, reference the character’s class and level on the following chart:

Level	Cleric	Fighting-man	Magic-user
1	19	19	19
2	19	19	19
3	18	18	19
4	18	17	18
5	17	17	18
6	17	16	17
7	16	15	17
8	16	14	16
9	15	13	16
10	14	12	15

For values beyond 10th level, please reference the Attack Matrix for the class in question.

Swords & Wizardry: Count Krugerov

Many years ago I introduced Count Krugerov into one of my D&D games.  Krugerov was a very bad man who was far too well versed in the necromantic arts for his own good, and in my head I always pictured him to look like Jafar from Disney’s Aladdin.

Krugerov wielded a “signature” weapon: a magical curved dagger (which I later discovered was actually called a jambiya) which increased its magical bonus with each killing blow that it landed.  I never considered the weapon to be intelligent or have an ego, nor did I ever give it an alignment.  If I were to use it in my game again, I’m pretty sure it would remain unintelligent and unaligned but it would definitely carry with it some sort of lingering malignancy; maybe its new owner would suffer from nightmarish hauntings at the hands of the blade’s victims or something.

Krugerov had a “signature” spell as well which granted him doppelganger-esque abilities at a disgusting price.

The remainder of this post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

Krugerov’s Dagger: this magical jambiya begins each day with a +0 enchantment.  With each killing blow the weapon lands, it gains a +1 bonus to a maximum of +3.  With the coming of dawn, the weapon’s bonus “resets” to +0.  Krugerov’s Dagger is unintelligent.

Krugerov’s Cannibalistic Mutation
Spell Level: Magic-user, 3rd Level
Range: Caster
Duration: 1 hour or Referee’s discretion
This spell enables the Magic-user to alter the appearance of his or her form to that of another human or humanoid being.  Exacting detail is maintained; even normally hidden or undiscovered birthmarks and blemishes will be recreated by this spell.  The material component for this spell is a chunk of flesh from the human or humanoid who is being duplicated, which must be eaten by the Magic-user as the spell is cast.