[4E] Feyboerian Trilobite Revealed!

I recently posted a youtube video the showed off a weird bug from Laos (coleoptera lycidae), also known as a Trilobite. The strange creature is actually a larvae of a type of 'fire fly' and more information can be found here. These bugs are found all over the world, and include a completely black version as well (video of that bug here).

If you like the bug, but think it should be bigger than a green bean, here's the house-sized version: a new monster for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Feyboerian Trilobite

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Huge fey beast (mount)
L12 Elite Soldier / XP 1400
Initiative +12
Senses Perception +10; low-light
HP 252; Bloodied 126
AC 30; Fortitude 27, Reflex 26, Will 24
Saving Throws +2
Immune to sleep, paralysis, stun
Speed 4
Action Points 1

Chomp (standard; at-will): Reach 2, +19 vs. AC; 2d6 + 5 damage, and the targey cannot also be the target of the Feyboerian Trilobite tail snap.

Tail Snap (minor; at-will): Reach 2, +17 vs. AC; 1d8 + 5, the target cannot also be the target of the Feyboerian Trilobite chomp.

Glowing Sputum (standard, encounter) • Acid: Close blast 5, +17 vs. Reflex; 4d8 + 5 damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).

Alien Manifestation (immediate interrupt, at-will): Any creature viewing a Feyboerian Trilobite for the first time is dazed (save ends).

Alignment Unaligned
Languages -
Str 22 (+12)
Dex 19 (+10)
Wis 19 (+10)
Con 22 (+12)
Int 2 (+2)
Cha 19 (+10)

The male...

yep... it's a firefly, believe it or not.

UPDATE : 2008 Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs

Progress on the upcoming Anthology continues. I'm happy to report that as of today we have received 50 nominations for blog posts and 30 submitted surveys! Thank you!

So, things are really looking good in my opinion. While the initial rush of submissions has for the most part dropped to trickle, I expect things to pick up as we get closer to the December 1st deadline for nominations.

In the meantime, I've been spreading the word about the anthology via gaming forums and direct email - although the moderators at WotC have deleted my posts about it twice, and I still have yet to hear back from Morus at EnWorld. It seems, some people don't like the idea or don't care to support it. Meh... that's OK with me. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I will press on and continue to push things forward as best as I can. I believe in this project and I'm looking forward to carrying it through.

If you share even a small part of my conviction - then please submit a RPG blog's post for nomination today! Also, let me know what you want to see in the final product by filling out our survey. Both forms have the option to be completely anonymous - should you choose to be. However, with each nomination and completed survey you send in, you have the option to also participate in a drawing for a free copy of the Anthology once it is published. It's your choice!

In the next few weeks, I'll be ramping up a call for support & volunteers to help with all the various aspects of putting this Anthology together. Anyone who is interested in helping - even if it is in the form of commentary or support via your own blog - should join Open Game Table, a working group that I set up via Google Groups. An incomplete list of things that will need to be addressed in the future include:

1. How to properly "market" this Anthology before and after it is published?
   
2. How to protect myself and the bloggers who are contributing to the Anthology legally from license, copyright, and trademark infringement?
3. What the design/layout (page by page) will look like?
4. Will there be a logo, and what will it look like? (Any volunteers?)
   
5. What will the cover art for the Anthology look like? It is possible to get a good artist to donate their work?
   
6. How many pages will it be? production costs vs. length..
7. How many editors/reviewers will be needed for a fair review of all the submitted entries?

If you want to get involved, any help you can lend is deeply appreciated. The easiest way for you to help, and the #1 priority at the moment, is by nominating someone's work for inclusion into the Anthology. Only by assembly a large body of nominations that really exemplify the best in RPG blogging will we be able to produce a book that grabs the reader's attention and, ultimately, expands our long-term reader base. Bridging the gap between the RPG blogger's community and the rest of Gamerdome - that's what we aim to accomplish.

[4E] Stranger Than Fiction: Trilobites!

Here's something to give you some ideas for bugs in your game. How about a 500-foot version of this thing that slowly makes it way through your friendly local farming village? OK, how about a slightly smaller one then? Maybe I'll put some stats together for this thing later today...



anywho... enjoy you morning coffee!

REAL-LIFE CLERICS: TSR HOBBIES needs you

This ad is from Dragon#40 (August, 1980). Classic wtf is all i have to say...

Around the blogs...

It's Saturday morning, so it must be time for The Core Mechanic's weekly RPG blog round up. Right? Right! Here's what I picked out this week among all my blogosphere wanderings...

1. General RPG Resources - MadBrewLabs rounds up everything from anywhere that is anything RPG! Bookmark that link now!
2. Random Encounter Tables continue to make the reappearance. Ya think maybe something important to D&D was dropped from 4E? Well, I do and apparently so does Amityville Mike at The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope (“Five minutes to curtain, Mr. Vargouille.”) and PatrickWR over at RPG DieHard ("Keeping Stuff Random"). Check these posts out for some insights into the pros and cons of the classic encounter table.
3. Berin "Uncle Bear" Kinsman muses about the need for specific game systems for RPG products in his post "Would You Buy System-Free Settings?". Personally, i would say 'no' - but jump over there and let him know what you think!
4. d7 over at The Seven-Sided Die asks "Is D&D possible without session prep?" - the answer is of course 'YES!', but his short post prompted so meaty discussion that is worth the read. The excellent discussion was driven by MadBrew, Greywulf, Wyatt, Dr. Checkmate, Donny_the_DM, and a few others (myself included) all chimed in with their own 2¢.
5. Zachary_the_First, over at RPG Blog II asks "Is the GM a Dying Breed?" God, I hope not... but it certainly would be nice to be a player once in a while. Jump over there to read up on what the gang is saying and see the results of an informal survey Zach sent out to 30 or so GMs he knows.
6. "AK-47s vs. Wands--Using Anachronisms in Your RPG Campaign" - over at LivingDice.com; come on... you know you want to read this one. I couldn't shake that 'evil GM laugh' all day after I read that post.
7. "Retrospective: Vault of the Drow" - Once again, Grognardia's author James Maliszewski hits home with his retrospective of the classic D3 module. He reminds the readers that Gygax could write, and that these examples of short, no-plot adventures were actually some of his crowning achievements.
8. Also, along the lines of looking back at the history of the game, 6d6 Fireball's post "D&D - History and Growth" illustrates some of the finer points of where the game has been and where it is going. In short - MORE MORE MORE than we could ever read. 4E is already slated to be over 8000 pages of rules and supplements. Take at look - there are even some charts. You can also hop over and read Oz's response to the same post ("D&D - History and Growth" at Lord Oz).
   
9. And finally.. the COOLEST thing I've seen all week was the "HWACHA!" post over at The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope. If you are going to read any of the posts I've featured here today, this is one you should watch.

Have a swell weekend!

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Nominate your favorite blog post from any RPG blog to
The 2008 Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs!
Also, if you fill out our survey - you may win a free copy of the Anthology! For more information, please visit the
Open Game Table working group.