Tag Archives: Freamon

Freamon’s Cattle

December 15, 2011 10:17 pm / Leave a Comment /

Freamon’s Cattle

AC: Almost defenseless. Three steps lower than an unarmored human.

HD 2

Attack as FTR 2

Attacks: headbutt, backwards kick.

Damage: 1-2 HP

These peaceful, stupid grazing beasts wander the mountainside and forests near the wizard Freamon’s tower at Buzzard’s Peak. They are about eight to nine feet long, three feet tall at the shoulder and short-legged (think giant dachshund).

There are several types of Freamon’s cattle which can recognized by their differing heads. These are the heads of a bird, fish, cow, pig, goat, crustacean, horse, rat and human. No matter the head type, they are all herbivores that can eat just about any grass, brush or sapling.

If killed and cooked, their meat tastes like the animal that matches the head.

Freamon was rumored to have built a zoo of exotic creatures under his tower and some believe these were his invention, as they are much easier to raise than the large variety of food such a zoo would require.

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Minor Artifact – The Butler Did It

August 24, 2010 11:00 am / Leave a Comment /

In response to Jeff’s Gameblog:

Freamon’s Magic Butler

The party has found a three-foot wood-and-metal figure with human proportions, a porcelain face and the dapper clothes of a city gentleman. Under its clothing, on its chest is a silver plate with an inscription:

Presented with great humility and devotion.

Your Eminence asked if I could, and finally I have.

All it takes is a little magic.

Yr. Most obedient servant,

Freamon, Vulture Peak, 237

When found, this figure will be a simple large doll. Once in the presence of any magic items for an hour or more, it will activate. The first living sentient creature to touch it becomes its master. Unbidden, it will tirelessly sew, sharpen, repair, cook, polish, pack and perform other minor tasks for its master. If handed an object weighing less than 5 pounds, it will hold or carry it (this includes torches). It cannot communicate, but can follow minor orders having to do with its duties. It will not disarm a trap, move ahead of the party or perform any action the PC’s should be doing themselves. It simply will not understand such requests.

The figure is powered by nearby magical items, which it drains of magic over time. For shorter adventures, it should probably drain a random magic item of its master or a companion at the rate of +1 per day (a +2 sword becoming a +1 sword overnight, for example) or one spell disappearing from a scroll. For longer campaigns, this can be extended to a week. The DM should choose a rate of magic drainage that will cause some frustration without immediately giving away the source of the problem. Items nearest the butler are drained first. Items in the surrounding environs are drained last. If no magic is present, the butler powers down and is reset. When it is back in the presence of magic items, it might find a different master.

The butler will also invoke the following powers on behalf of its master, whether bidden or not. The DM will need to decide how that works and how obvious it is to the player. These powers should drain additional magic from nearby items.

1 x I ___
1 x II ___
1 x IV ___

Note: for the life of me, something is telling me that there’s already an artifact like this somewhere in AD&D 1e. I’ve googled the heck out of it. If you know of something really similar to this, post a comment so I can revise it.

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Freamon’s Map Room

May 3, 2010 8:27 am / Leave a Comment /

This was my submission to the Design a Dungeon Room 2010 Contest. It got second prize, so it has that going for it. It’s released under creative commons, so feel free to mess with it, improve on it, etc. as long as it’s non-commercial, have fun. Please post a link to it if you do.

Freamon is named after Lester Freamon, a character from The Wire.

Freamon’s Map Room

A 25’ by 25’ room with a door on the eastern wall. In the center of the room is a 8’ by 10’ table top on a pedestal. On the table is a model of the dungeon level the party is exploring. It is made of polished wood, with silver, gold and mother-of-pearl trimming. The map model only represents walls, rooms, floors and architectural elements such as columns and stairs. In the miniature room that corresponds to this room are small, antique, hand carved figures. They represent each member of the party, including familiars, retainers, etc.

In each corner of the table is a small box. Each box has a lid on the side that can be lifted open. One box has already been opened and inside is a gem appearing to be worth 50 gold (It is only worth a few coppers, as it is made of glass). If the characters place the gem in the miniature map room, it will disappear. An identical 24-inch gem will suddenly appear in the real map room. In the remaining (closed) boxes are a scorpion, a snake and a rat. If the party opens a lid, one of these animals (determined randomly or by whim) will scamper into the maze and try to avoid capture as it makes its way to the miniature map room (takes 1-2 rounds). If the animal is somehow caught and/or killed before it reaches the miniature map room, nothing further will happen in regards to that animal.

HOWEVER, if the animal makes its way to the miniature map room, it will disappear and a giant version of the animal will enter through the door and attack, fighting to the death.  If the smaller animal is blocked from entering the miniature map room and the players leave through other means, they might run into the larger version of that animal elsewhere in the dungeon.

If a player picks up a figurine and places it in another room on the map, the player matching that figurine is immediately teleported (no save) to that room. The figurine then disappears. If a figurine is damaged in a minor way, the matching PC takes 1d4 damage. If it is destroyed, the player takes 10d10 damage. If the player takes the figurine out of the (real world) map room, the figurine loses all magic power and is simply a finely made piece of art worth 50 gp.

If the players shake the table, the ground will shake as in an earthquake. If the players break a hole in the table or destroy a model wall, thousands of beetles will crawl out of any tears or holes and begin to overrun the table. As soon as they reach the miniature map room, giant beetles will enter through the door, break down the walls, etc. and proceed to attack the players.  This swarm of beetles will have virtually no end. They will not, however, appear outside of this room in giant or normal size should the party escape. If the table is destroyed, the walls and floor of the map room will suffer a similar fate (fire, ice, collapse, etc.).

Giant Beetle (5ft): HD 3; AC 3[16]; Atk 1 bite (3d6); Move 9; Save 14; CL/XP 4/120; Special: None.

Giant Scorpion: HD 6; AC 3[16]; Atk 2 pincers (1d10), sting (1d4 + poison); Move 12; Save 11; CL/XP 8/800; Special: Lethal poison sting.

Deluxe Giant Rat: HD 5; AC 6[13]; Atk 2 claws (1d3), 1 bite (1d6); Move 12; Save 14; CL/XP 3/120; Special: 5% are diseased.

Giant Constrictor: HD 6; AC 5[14]; Atk 1 bite (1d3), 1 constrict (2d4); Move 10; Save 11; CL/XP 7/600; Special: Constrict

Note: If the DM prefers to not give away the map of the dungeon level, a generic maze can be used instead. Players teleported will land in a random room. Monster stats are per S&W Core Rules and come from the S&W Monster Compendium (Giant Rat HD adjusted).

© 2010 Chris Weller. Released for noncommercial use and remix under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ca/

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