Tomb of the Rocket Men!

Gusty over at Dungeon of Signs has been running a contest for a map of the Tomb of the Rocket Men. This is my take on it! If I ever run the thing myself I will absolutely jam pack that pristine rocket with cosmic horrors.

Prismatic Wings

I desperately want a better word for butterfly than butterfly to use in this post. Butterfly is like the limpest name for a critter that, at least in my campaign, is big and scary and cast spells willy-nilly. Lepidopterans sounds too formal, and using foreign words just seems cheap. However, the Russian babochka is far and away the coolest sounding word for them I could find.


The wizards of Ig don't wear pointy hats. Wizards wear robes and capes and turbans and queer haberdashery of iridescent moth-wing  This is because butterflies and moths are natural spell casters not out of any knowledge of their own, but due to the markings on their wings. The pattern of colorful scales on their wings form mandalas, sigils, and the true names of all things. A solitary normal butterfly or moth is harmless, but a sufficiently large swarm (rabble) resonates magically, so many wings brushing together builds up an esoteric charge that can be released at any shock to the group. The spells released scale in proportion to the amount of number of individuals in the rabble. A wizard wearing specially fashioned robes, cloaks, or masks will find his mystical abilities heightened by the wings.

Moth-wing Gear
Any gear crafted from butterflies or moths is lumped together in the catch-all of "moth-wing." This type of clothing can only be crafted by a wizard, and at no small cost. However, a wizard wearing a full suit gains a +3 to resist offensive spells and +3 to all spell checks as well as providing several mystical abilities. Moth-wing provides no bonus to AC.
Moth-wing Hat: Often taking the form of a turban bedecked in scintillating wings or simply the decapitated head of a giant moth hollowed out and made into a cap. A moth-wing hat provides a +1 bonus to all spell checks and saves. The wearer can also be used to cast Speak with Insects 2/day Cost: 400gp and 5 HD in butterflies/moths
Moth-wing Cloak: Usually made from giant wings sewn in a fashionably gaudy cape. A moth-wing hat provides a +1 bonus to all spell checks and saves. The wearer can also cast Color spray 1/day. Cost: 600 gp and 10 HD in butterflies/moths
Moth-wing Robes: A moth-wing hat provides a +1 bonus to all spell checks and saves. The wearer can also cast Featherfall 2/day. Cost: 900 gp and 15 HD in butterflies/moths




Butterfly Rabble: Init +4; Atk none (but see SP); AC 9; HD 1d8+; MV fly 40'; Act special; SP random spells, half damage from non-area attacks; SV Fort +0, Ref +6, Will +0; AL C.

For DCC the rabble can cast a random spell of a level up to the number of HD they have. It casts this spell with a spell check bonus equal to half its current HP. For mores standardized systems, consider it to have spell slots equal to a magic user of equal HD, with the spell taking up as many slots as possible.

Carapace Crafting

Spurred to action by Anarchycore and challenged by the inestimable Ian Johnson for what you see below. I present two systems for crafting weapons and armor from giant insects!

The Boring Way
Kill a number of HD of bugs of the appropriate armor class, spend some gold on other necessary materials like straps and hooks, and spend days equal to the AC bonus crafting and BOOM armor. This is boring. Don’t use it.

Armor Type	Type of Insect	Cost (gp)	HD required
Leather	AC10+	10	3
Studded Leather	AC11+	23	4
Hide	AC12+	15	5
Scale Mail	AC13+	40	6
Chainmail	AC14+	75	7
Banded Mail	AC15+	125	8
Half-Plate	AC16+	225	9
Full-Plate	AC17+	600	10
Shield	AC12+	5	2

The Epic Risky Way
Each slain giant insect can be carved down to its raw material (chitin) for crafting. Each carcass breaks down into chitin plates equal to its HD-1d6 (the Beat to Death by Ruffians Tax). A certain amount of chitin is required for each type of item, but extra plates may be included in the attempt. Each extra plate increases the chance of success by 5%. All materials are consumed whether the attempt is successful or not.

Armor Type	% to Craft	Materials required
Leather	40	4
Studded Leather	35	5
Hide	30	6
Scale Mail	25	7
Chainmail	20	8
Banded Mail	15	9
Half-Plate	10	12
Full-Plate	5	15
Shield	50	2

Weapon Type	% to Craft	Materials required
Battleaxe	20	5
Blackjack	85	2
Blowgun	85	2
Club	80	3
Dagger	70	2
Flail	60	3
Handaxe	60	2
Javelin	50	3
Lance	40	4
Longbow	40	5
Longsword	50	5
Mace	75	3
Polearm	20	4
Shortbow	50	5
Short sword	70	3
Spear	45	3
Staff	70	2
Two-handed sword	20	5
Warhammer	45	5
Dart	80	1 (per 6)
Arrow	75	1 (per 4)

Edge-cases of Supreme Insight
If the crafter rolls 99~100 some quirk of the crafting process or the material has created an item of incredible quality. Weapons counts as +1 to hit and damage. Armor counts as one rank better.

Magical Sandwiches

2. Ham and Save or Die, save or die
3. Aboleth Tartine, counts as potion of ESP
4. Witch Hoagie, cursed!
5. Dragon Dagwood, causes dragon breath!
6. Vampire Sub, lose 1d4 hp from bloodloss
7. Goblin Dip, catch a disease
8. Beholder Club, eyes project antimagic field for one hour
9. Elfaletta, succulent but lacking in substance
10. Sloppy Jackalwere, Polymorph Self
11. Grilled Ooze, you just ate a grey ooze
12. Ethereal BLT, counts as oil of etherealness
13. Flumpher-nutter, Stinking Cloud
14. Gorgon BBQ, 10’ cloud, save vs. spell or turn to stone
15. Myconid Burger, it’s vegan! Trip balls for 1d6 hours
16. Devil Torta, save versus spell or change to CE alignment
17. Unicorn Wrap, regain all HP, if you call that living
18. Kobold slider, disagrees with you terribly
19. Doppleganger Dip, it looks delicious, but it’s not! Take the form of a random being within 100’
20. Blue Chicken club, your head takes on the appearance of a large blue chicken
21. Reuben sandwich, perfect in every way
22. Crow gyro, you feel nauseous for the next 1d6 hours
23. T-rex steak and entire loaf of bread, save versus poison, on a fail you throw it all up, on a success you gain 1d3 points of Strength
24. Fried Brain, any mindflayers within 5 miles can inerrantly track the smell of your breath
25. Monty Cristo, gain 1d10x250 gp and xp

For +Ian Johnson's ANARCHYCORE full-frontal Santicore rip-off plus insult comedy plus random RPG content wunderthread. I drew the lidless eye of +Claytonian JP who requested this mess.

Insect Mounts

On the plains of Ig horses are a rarity. The predation from giant insects have all but driven large mammals from the plains. The few left are much smaller than horses found on other worlds and tend to stick to forests and other areas where they’re awarded some cover against attacks from the sky. The only group to make much use of them are the elves. Humanity makes use of an array of giant vermin as their mode of transport. Instead of warhorses the warriors of Ig ride destrier beetles, ravagers crash titanic stag beetles through enemy lines, and sorcerers ride flying trilobites over the mundane people below.

The destrier beetle is related to the giant stag, but a more mellow temperament and smaller frame was bred into the line centuries ago. They lack the tremendous horns and mandibles of their wilder kin, but make far better mounts. They range in size from that of a pony to larger than an ox. Destrier beetles bred for war have exaggerated thorax plates which mounted warriors use as added protection.

Destrier Beetle: Init +0; Atk mandibles +1 melee (1d4); AC 15; HD 3d8; MV 50’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will -2; AL N.

The warg spider is an enormous eight-legged beast. These are incredibly dangerous and expensive creatures, but they are a terror in battle. They make huge leaps in combat. It takes years to correctly train such a beast and great care must be taken to ensure that their hunting instincts are always kept in check. While not eating many owners cap their fangs with dull scabbards to discourage attacking passers by. Like a hunting falcon, a warg spider must never be allowed to go hungry. Being the size of a large horse this is very costly.

Warg Spider: Init +3; Atk fangs +3 melee (2d8); AC 14; HD 3d6; MV 60’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will -2; AL N.

The giant stag and rhinoceros beetle share similar niches. Both make formidable armored juggernauts, but rhino beetles are nearly double the size of stags. Stag beetles use their scything jaws to crush human foes and wrestle other insects to the ground. A rhino beetle can destroy a wall in a single charge, and the especially large specimens carry howdahs full of warriors. Both breeds are driven to a frenzy by playing a beetle drum, an instrument that emulates the breeding call of a female.

Giant Stag Beetle: Init +2; Atk mandibles +4 melee (3d6); AC 15; HD 3d8; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will -2; AL N.

Giant Rhinoceros Beetle: Init -2; Atk horns +3 melee (2d4+2); AC 17; HD 3d10; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will -2; AL N.

Flying trilobites must be summoned and controlled by a wizard, but are second to none as a ranged weapons platforms. The smaller specimens also make excellent aerial scouts. Their thick carapace also makes them almost impenetrable to normal weapons. The creature’s greatest weakness is low speed and agility.

Giant Aerial Trilobite: Init -3; Atk slam +3 melee (2d4); AC 17; HD 5d8; MV 20’ fly 120’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +3, Ref +1, Will -2; AL N.


Flitting delicately across the sky, the warmoth is a lepidopteran large enough to carry a man aloft. They are the steeds of the powerful, bred to match the colors of the rich and noble. Warmoths are difficult mounts to control. Like their tiny kin, warmoth flight is erratic. Mounted warriors are all but tied to their steeds, and drive them forward with flaming thuribles.


Warmoth: Init +3; Atk buffet +3 melee (2d6); AC 17; HD 3d8; MV 30’ fly 150’; Act 1d20; SV Fort +1, Ref +3, Will -2; AL N.

No one rides mantids. Mantids will eff you up.

The Swamps of And

West of Ig are the swamps of And. The numberless rivers of this land are fed by the heavy snow melt of the Dark Mountains and hundreds of tiny springs. To the west, sitting on a plateau above the surrounds land is the cloud forest of Lom. The entire region is saturated. To the north high moors are interspersed by peat bogs. The farther south one travels the more the swampier the ground becomes. At the coast the land breaks up into a jumbled mess of islets and deltas.

And is lightly populated in comparison to Ig. The land is too rough and the local fauna too vicious to support much civilization. Andish villages are usually ramshackle affairs built on bamboo piles to keep them above water during the rainy season. Others are floating communities that drift across shallow lakes, peopled by fishermen and reed-weavers. The common dietary staples are fish and rice, which grows well in the dank climate. The people of And breed dogs of all sizes. Huge war dogs, scent hounds, terriers in endless variations of coat and color. Every town cultivates a favorite breed. Most are highly prized outside of And. And is also riddled with ruins, forgotten cities, and waterlogged catacombs. The back-country is almost entirely unexplored.

Things in And
Jungle cults
Swamp monsters
The Cloud Cities of Lom
Apocalypse moths
Xerterax the Unliving
Children turned into catfish
Psychic vultures

Introducing MECHA NAM

I've been tapping away at a scifi mecha RPG, sort of Starship Troopers with more grit. I call it MECHA NAM, but that's a placeholder name for now. Picture man-sized powered suits stomping through jungle planets fighting enemy mecha for meaningless hills to make ideological points for the generals back home.

Players roll up characters with simple histories, inspired by Traveler, detailing the tours of duty they took part in before the game begins. The rules are designed with squad-based action in mind, with each character's skills adding to the total efficiency of the group. It uses a die pool system with d6's. It's currently incomplete, with the glaring omissions being how to get rid of Stress Dice, what guns you start with, and who exactly it is you're trying to kill. These changes will appear soon! If all goes as scheduled I'll be playtesting this thing next Monday with my meatspace group.

Interested? Read MECHA NAM here!

Epic LEGO mecha by tattun.