Grim Monday: Muck Worm

Inhabiting dank, muddy areas, Muck Worms are predator adept at ambushing prey without warning. These creatures range in size from tiny inch long wigglers up to massive 15 or 20 foot long adults. The worms all have soft, flat, segmented bodies, with each segment featuring two pairs of sharp hook-like spines on either side. The creature's head has a round gaping mouth containing a long, sharp proboscis. Muck Worms dwell in damp areas and will become dessicated and die if moisture is unavailable.

Muck Worms feed on any living creature they can ambush and slay. They typical ambush prey from muddy pools or swampy areas. They are able to contract their bodies, then lash out with great force, driving their sharp proboscis into their victim and injecting an acidic poison into the wound, then wrapping their body around the target and piercing it with their hook-like spines. If their initial attack fails or the worm is sorely wounded, it can eject a cloud of noxious waste matter in a 10' radius cloud, causing anyone within the area of effect to gag and choke while within its area of effect.

Characteristics:

• Poor defense - Muck Worms are rather squishy.
• Good toughness - Though easy to damage, the Worm's primitive form makes them tough to kill.
• Good healing - Worms heal from any wound very quickly.
  
• Great camouflage - When in their native environment.
• Superb impale attack - If successful this attack injects the victim with Great damage acidic poison and allows the Worm to wrap the victim in clawing coils, doing Good damage each subsequent round.
• Noxious cloud - 10' radius cloud of choking, gagging vapors. Superb resist test or be blinded and helpless for four to six rounds.

Mask of Flame

This unusual looking mask is made from pitted and rusty iron. The face of the mask is somewhat featureless, with crude gashes cut for eyes and mouth. Each hole is surrounded by a tube-like projection that gives the mask-wearer a disturbing, somewhat mechanical look. The back of the mask is lined with padded leather, and stiff black leather straps hold it in place when worn. When the mask is donned the 'sockets' around the mouth and eyes glow with a faint reddish light, giving the mask a somewhat frightening appearance. Testing the object for magical properties reveal Great protection magic and Superb evocation magic. A Superb test of divination magic will reveal the mask's properties.

When worn the mask conveys the following upon the wearer:

• Great protection from fire and electrical attack. Attacks that manage to get past this protection have their effectiveness reduced by 50%.
• Good bonus to fire and electrical based magics. This power does not grant specific powers, but any abilities the wearer has are enhanced.
• Fiery nimbus - Upon command a nimbus of jagged, reddish lightning will being to play around the mask and its wearer. This field extends 5' in all directions, inflicting Fair electrical and fire damage upon anyone it touches. This power can be invoked thrice per day and lasts ten rounds.
• Flame Shot - The wearer can cause gouts of burning energy to shoot forth from the eyes and mouth of the mask, creating a searing column of energized flame sixty feet long. Anyone caught within this conflagration takes Great fire and electrical damage. This power can be invoked three times per day.

Roadside Meetings

"You can't get there from here." -- unknown roadside sage

Adventurers often do quite a bit of traveling, and roads make perfect locations for encounters, both mundane and unusual. The presence of a road indicates someone or something travels the route regularly, yet as a GM we often fail to consider exactly who these travelers are. A few minutes work can turn a boring, empty road into an interesting trip. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help bring your road to life:

Where does it go?

Roads connect things. Knowing what a road connects will greatly influence who or what uses it. It pays to consider not only local connections, but the bigger picture. To the locals a road might just be a way to get between two villages, but it could also be part of a byway that avoids an unfriendly tax collector or a shortcut that's only passable part of the year. Road connect not only destinations, but other roads. A villager might believe the road to the next village ends there, but a tinker or trader knows better.

The road's endpoints will help determine its course. Roads will tend to follow the easiest path between locations. Geography will play a great part in this, especially on major roads. Moving goods with draft animals or marching troops to their destination is easier on flat, open ground. Natural obstacles like rivers, ravines or mountains need to be crossed or avoided. Safety will play a role as well. A longer route through a well-patrolled area will be used more often than a shortcut through dangerous territory.

Who built it and how is it maintained?

In today's modern age, road construction is big business. In the typical fantasy campaign things may be less clear cut, but the origins of a road can add color to the scene. Was it a game trail that grew into a cart path? A significant trade route connecting cities? A road designed to move military forces along an unstable border? A bypass to avoid a hostile area? Once you know where it came from you can determine how it's maintained. Does a local government clear the verges? Is it overgrown and potentially blocked by fallen trees or rock? Is the route marked with blazes or mileposts? Are there bridges, tunnels or fords? Are they guarded? Are there tolls? Is the road patrolled?

Who uses it?

The meat of the matter, who travels this stretch of highway? The answers to the previous questions should provide some ready answers. A trade route will feature caravans, merchants and traders. A local cart path will have locals going to market, tinkers or farmers moving their harvest. A detour or bypass might have shady characters intent on avoiding authorities. Well patrolled and maintained roads will have a military presence and work crews in evidence.

Who supports the travelers?

Once you know who uses the road, you can figure out what services they might need and where they can be found. A trade route might be dotted with inns built to accommodate entire caravans. Free-wheeling mercenaries might frequent the area looking for work. On less traveled roads, accommodations might be less common, but a trading post, a farmer willing to rent a field for camping, or a traveling merchant might be more common. Busy routes will be more likely to have dedicated locals working to support the traffic, whereas on less frequented roads, travelers might be viewed with suspicion. There's also the matter of taxes, tariffs and tolls, all requiring some official presence along the route.

Who preys on the travelers?

Lastly, travelers will draw those looking for an easy mark. Highwaymen, corrupt officials, scamming innkeepers, card sharks and shady 'guides' will all appear if there is traffic to support their trade. Intelligent monsters might view the road as a good source of treasure and food. Not only will PCs traveling have to watch their backs, but they may garner suspicion from other travelers, who might view the typical adventuring party with some trepidation.

So there you have it, a few simple questions that should help develop the humble roadway into something a bit more interesting. Using these simple questions as a guide coming up with a few encounters for any roadway should be pretty easy.

Storm Swallows

This magical construct consists of a bird's nest woven from gold and platinum wire and lined with black and green silk. The nest rests upon a blackened and twisted branch from a lightning struck tree. Contained within the nest are three delicate crystal figurines, each depicting a swallow at rest. Each figurine is clear crystal shot through with flecks of some faintly glowing golden metal. If examined for magical properties the construct radiates Epic alteration, divination, and evocation magic. A Superb test of divination will reveal the device's uses and command word.

Each day the device's owner can command one of the figurines to take wing and seek out a target. The target can either be a specific geographic location, or a known person or object. The swallow construct will then fly at Great speed toward the target, using Superb location ability to set its course. Once the swallow reaches its destination it will circle the target, causing a massive thunderhead to form over the area. After ten minutes this storm cloud will lash the area within one mile of the target with an Epic strength storm, featuring hurricane force winds, fist-sized hail, and massive lightning strikes. The storm lasts one hour, and the swallow circles the area for the duration. If the swallow is destroyed the storm dissipates within five minutes. The swallow has Superb toughness and evasiveness. Any electrical or cold damage inflicted is passed harmlessly into the storm raised by the bird. When the storm expires the swallow returns to the nest. Note that once a swallow has been dispatched its target cannot be altered. Their flight range is, for most purposes, infinite.

Gold Digger

This item can be either a pest or a boon. Gold Digger is a shallow, twelve inch wide bowl carved from onyx and polished to a smooth, glossy finish. The edge of the bowl is gilded with an ornate, web-like pattern. at the bottom of a bowl a shallow coin-sized depression has been cut into the onyx. Gold Digger radiates Superb illusion, alteration and enchantment magic. A Superb test of divination magic will reveal the command words required to activate the device's magic.

To activate Gold Digger, a coin must be placed in the depression in the bottom of the bowl. Once a command word is spoken the coin becomes enchanted with a Superb illusion spell hiding its true nature. When a coin so enchanted is placed with other coins it will consume one to six coins per day, transporting them to the bowl that spawned it. This process continues so long as other coins are within ten feet of the enchanted one and the destination bowl is not full (it holds approximately 200 coins). The transport range to the bowl is unlimited. If no coins can be transported, the enchanted coin collapses into dust after 24 hours. The owner of the bowl can also destroy the coin with a command word.

An enchanted coin will reveal Superb illusion magic if examined for magical properties, and a Superb divination test will reveal the illusion to be obscuring the coin's true nature. Epic divination magic might reveal the coin's linkage to another object or its underlying nature. Attempts to dispel the coin's illusionary protection will cause the coin to collapse into dust.