Pictures of kobolds

Some pictures from the last session, because I know how you love pictures, +Peter V. Dell'Orto:


We used Chris's grey minis for the townsfolk, since he didn't have too many generic serfs handy. This one, well, shows the level of law enforcement of the village, though I think we had Barney be a serf.


Kobold barbarians at the gate. Unlike serfs, Chris has lots of kobolds—and we didn't have to dip into his plastic D&D minis.


Here the kobolds are breaking through, and the guards are holding them back. Since Caleb was back at the South Gate, Chris handled the guards, while John of course played Kim. The village wall is three hexes thick at the bottom but only one thick at the top, and made of earth. The village itself is from Judges Guild Village Book II, page 59, with a wall drawn around it, and the action here happened in hex 3310 of that map.


Again, the unpainted guys are the serfs. Chris, however, had lots of sheep.

Also in the picture: John has a Crown Royal bag for a dice bag, which are the best ones. Mine's the battered blue one that I've had for almost thirty years. Yeah, Barney Fife was a serf, and he panicked like all the other serfs. The action here happened at roughly hex 2209.

In a thoroughly unrelated note, Emperor's Choice has put the Arduin PDFs back up on RPGNow.

What the hell is a tarakk?

Last session, I briefly mentioned my players killed a tarakk. I didn't explain what a tarakk is. I'll do that and give some stats. It plainly isn't my creation; mine either have simple names (e.g., hellshot) or are in a constructed language (e.g., ōkanrôyos). I'm sure "tarakk" came about because Dave Hargraves thought it sounded cool.

Tarakks appear in Welcome to Skull Tower, I think on page 63 if you actually have a copy. I have the Arduin Grimoire Trilogy PDF, which gives page ranges, and I did some deduction of how much a page in the Trilogy was in the original (it's a 2:1 ratio, though I can't remember which had denser pages at the moment). Arduin, for those who don't know, was an early fan add-on to D&D, and was over-the-top, with classes going into the hundreds of levels. It was a little like Rifts for D&D, if you think about it. It's monsters are in the same vein; air sharks are the first one. They're exactly what's on the tin.

Tarakks, Arduin stats:

Tarakk

HD: 3+1 to 9+1 AC: 3 Speed: 9” (12” charge)
DEX: 7 – 14 Number: d6 Size: same as giant horned lizard
Attacks: Tarakk attack with 2 claws for d4 to d12 each, 1 bite for d12 to 3d12, or 1 breath of fire (a cone 30’ to 90’ long and 5’ to 15’ wide) that is equal in damage to its own hit dice. Once per day, it can “shoot” its 6d10 spearhead sized/shaped spiny scales in all directions, each hitting like a light catapult shot.
Looks: A cross between a dragon and a giant horned toad (lizard), it is wingless, and can change color like a chameleon.
Notes: They are 100% fireproof, and not very Intelligent (3 to 8). Their favorite food is horseflesh. Its fiery breath is usable 4 times daily, but only every 3rd melee turn. They are known to lie 50% of the time. 

The one chained to the treasure chest wasn't a big one, so here are its GURPS stats:

Tarakk

A cross between a dragon and a big horned toad, it is wingless, and can change its hue like a chameleon. 

ST: 7	HP: 7	Speed: 5.50
DX: 10	Will: 10	Move: 4
IQ: 3	Per: 10	Weight: 60 lbs.
HT: 12	FP: 12	SM: 0
Dodge: 8	Parry: n/a	DR: 3

Bite (13): 1d-3 cutting. Reach C.
Claws (13): 1d-3 cutting. Reach C.
Fire Breath (13): 1-yard-wide × 10-yard-long cone of fire does 1d burning. Ten-second recharge between shots.
Spines (9): 1d-2 impaling to anyone in close combat; this is a free attack each turn at +2 to those attacking from behind. Reach C. Once a day, the tarakk may shoot its spines at everyone in a 1-yard radius at skill 13. It then needs a full day for its spines to regenerate, so it can no longer use them in close combat for that time. 

Traits:  Acute Taste and Smell 4; Breath Control 3; Chameleon 5; Cold-Blooded (50°); Discriminatory Smell; DR 30 (Limited, Heat/Fire); Enhanced Move 0.5 (Ground Move 6; Costs Fatigue, 2 FP); Quadruped; Wild Animal.
Skills: Brawling-13; Climbing-10; Innate Attack (Breath)-13; Innate Attack (Projectile)- 13; Stealth-10 (Becomes 15 if moving or 20 if not): Swimming-13.
Class: Dire Animal.
Notes: It loves to eat horses, and will attack them first. From Welcome to Skull Tower, p. 63. 

I figured that something with an effective Stealth-20 is going to get a first blast if it can figure something's coming. It was waiting to unleash its spines when it died; everyone had swarmed around it in its last second.

Arduin

A short note to both my readers: sadly, no Arduin PDFs are on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG any longer. I have no idea if this is a short-term deal, but I'm glad I have my PDF of Arduin Eternal, even if my players have yet to run into any of the monsters (and yes, I have Arduin monster lairs placed, including air sharks, of course).