Fiend Factory 5e. White Dwarf Issue 17: Bodach

Issue 17 Bodach

As with the previous issue, the monsters features in this issue’s Fiend Factory are “near misses” that for various reasons didn’t make it into the Fiend Folio.

First up, the Night Rider from Chris Morris (but probably not the Chris Morris of Brass Eye fame)

It’s pretty clear from the stats that these are basically Tolkien’s Ringwraiths, although I rather like the Russ Nicholson illustration that makes them look more like gaunt humans. They pretty much follow Ringwraith abilities – near blind in sunlight and having to rely on smell, emanating an aura of fear, and sometimes wield a dagger that can break off in the wearer and alter their alignment. Don Turnbull seems at a loss to understand how this could happen, which once again seems to illustrate a certain rigidity to his thought on how The Rules should work. It’s kind of odd, since this is pure Rule 0 stuff, and surely things that Don has published in the past, like the Withra, are as much subject to this as the obvious morgul blade rip-off of these guys.

From Tolkien to Frank Herbert, as Dave Tant brings us the Spice Worm.

But, my God. From Russ Nicholson’s evocative Night Rider picture to this monstrosity of perspective and composition form Alan Hunter. Is the Spice Worm vacuuming that guy up?

Once again, this is a relatively faithful attempt to adhere to the book version (although far, far too small), with the worms attracted to vibration and repelled by moisture. The worms possess sacs that contain a Potion of Inescapable Location, allowing a kind of ESP but with increasingly risky consequences for taking more than one (drinking four such potions, ever, renders the imbiber permanently blind). What’s that called in Dune? The Water of Life, something like that (it’s been a while).

Don Turnbull’s comments neatly encapsulate the style of play that I largely dislike – “Those […] who are experienced in Dave’s dungeons avoid narrow sandy corridors like the plague. Once I witnessed the attempt of a dwarf in full plate mail to ‘chimney’ up the walls to escape a Spice Worm – ah, a truly horrible end.”

What do I dislike about that? The idea of everything being dungeon-based, for one, and the amused antagonism towards the players attempting what in this case was probably a desperate action to a situation foisted upon them.

The Heat Skeleton by Nicholas Riggs is pretty straightforward, another skeleton variant in the vein* of the Blink Skeleton and the Eastern Skeleton.

Heat skeletons can heat metal, as per the spell, and are invulnerable to cold. An unusual choice, since normally heat/fire monsters are vulnerable to cold, but it makes sense that the creature is hot and so shrugs off cold. I’d think that it ought to cause fire damage with its claw attacks, though. It’s a reasonable simple variant.

*Skeletons have no veins.

Ghee Bowman’s Green Worm is really just a smaller version of the Purple Worm. I’ve done this in Lazy GM books, reducing a purple worm to Large or smaller size (I think there’s a Small or Tiny one in the Non-Terrifying Beasts of Legend freebies). Here, I actually rather like Alan Hunter’s illustration, more like the one that he did for the Giant Bloodworm in Issue 2, and not that monstrosity of composition and perspective that he did for the Spice Worm above.

And did Mr and Mrs Bowman like clarified butter so much as to name their child “Ghee”?

The Goom, by the Hobbity-named Nigel Proudfoot, is an ooze creature, but one that is sticky rather than acidic. It’s an okay idea, but in this I do have to side with Don Turnbull and query why it isn’t like a sweet dropped down the back of the sofa and covered in all sorts of rubbish that it encounters? Presumably it slowly digests it. If you’re going to make a sticky monster, this version seems more logical than the Gluey/Adherer.

And so we get to the Monster of the Weeeek! (fanfare). The Bodach, by Michael Roberts.

Yes, there’s already the death-stare dealing Bodak in D&D (but not, I note, in the 5E Monster Manual). But this is a different kind of creature. ‘Bodach’ in Gaelic actually means an old man, particularly an old peasant man, and the folklore creature is more like a kind of trickster or bogeyman. This version of the Bodach comes from Alan Garner’s Moon of Gomrath, with its chicken feet, hairy body and bald head.

Not a complicated creature to stat up, but it’s a useful and versatile one, and although borrowed from fiction, its origins are in folklore, and so has the edge over the other monsters this issue.

Although the description calls it “humanoid”, I’m assuming that this is shape rather than type, since “fey” seems to fit it a lot better. Four feet tall is more Medium than Small. There’s not a lot to go on for the statistics – it gets 1 +3 hit dice, implying a +3 Constitution bonus, and “Low” Intelligence equates to 5 -7 according to the 1E Monster Manual. I’m plumping for right in the middle. And give it pretty average stats elsewhere with no indication to the contrary.

I’ve still no clear idea how the inches of movement translate to feet – one day I’ll have to look it up, I think it’s in the DMG. However, I’ll eyeball the movement rate. It feels like it ought to have darkvision; something about the description suggests a creature of the night. The bonus to attack with a thrown spear can simply be a trait, and… that’s about it.

Bodach

Medium fey, neutral

Armour Class 14 (natural armour and shield) Hit Points 7 (1d8 + 3) Speed 30 ft., 50 ft. moving uphill

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 16 (+2) 6 (-2) 11 (+0) 7 (-2)

Proficiency Bonus +2 Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Common, Sylvan

Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

Spear Mastery. The bodach has a +4 bonus on attack rolls when using a spear as a ranged weapon. ACTIONS

Multiattack. The bodach can make two claw attacks. Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage. Thrown Spear. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) slashing damage.