2 Weeks Until the Treasure Tome!

And 3 Hours Until ACKS To Grind

Oct 14, 2024

Friends, Aurans, countrymen - we are now a mere 14 days from the launch of the ACKS II Treasure Tome, the fourth book in the ACKS II rulebook trilogy.

Treasure Tome

The ACKS II Treasure Tome has over ONE THOUSAND magic items for use in your D20 fantasy campaigns and a gorgeous cover by the modern-day Frazetta, Michael Syrigos. Click the link or the image below to sign up at the preview page. The crowdfunding goes live on October 28, 2024. There’s several early bird rewards and limited tiers, so don’t miss the first 24 hours! Then read on for a sneak preview of two of my favorite items in the book.

Sword +1, Haunted: In the polished blade of this sword +1 can be seen the reflection of a small hideous face. The blade is haunted by the spirit of a boggart, a small Chaotic faerie that delights in tormenting the blade’s owner. The boggart is naturally invisible, allowing it to act freely or even attack without being seen, but will be spotted by the spell discern invisible or if it reveals itself to taunt the wielder. It will almost never directly attack the wielder or his companions or interfere in combat, preferring more devious methods to immiserate its ‘master’. The boggart strikes whenever the Judge feels would be most irritating to the wielder (and amusing to a malicious faerie), typically every 1d8 days. The Judge can roll on the Boggart Vexations table for each instance or come up with their own delightfully cruel torments. The boggart cannot be permanently slain or incapacitated while the sword is intact, and its attention continues until the blade is destroyed or passes into other hands. If the sword is simply abandoned, the boggart will continue acting against its former owner for an additional 1d4 vexations before losing interest. For boggart statistics, see the ACKS II Monstrous Manual, p.128.

Spear +2, Summit’s Skewer: This spear +2 has a fulgurite tip with a shaft made of charred wood. When the spear has a charge, the tip will occasionally glow from an internal spark. If the wielder speaks the command word ‘fly’ while the spear is charged, the spear will momentarily crackle with electricity. If thrown in this state, the electricity will ripple over the weapon in midair; on a successful attack throw, the target struck will take 3d6 electrical damage with no saving throw allowed, while a 60’ bolt of lightning will erupt out the other side of him in the direction of the spear’s travel, dealing 3d6 electrical damage to all it strikes, with a successful Blast saving throw preventing half.

The spear may be recharged by taking it into a storm and allowing it to be struck by a natural lightning bolt — the wielder hopefully surviving the blast. A typical lightning strike deals 8d6 electrical damage, with a Blast saving throw preventing half, though some may be larger: for 1 in 6 lightning bolts, the damage is increased by 1d6 additional dice (9d6 to 14d6 total). Waving the spear in the air in a thunderstorm for a turn has a 1 in 6 chance of drawing a bolt, raised to 2 in 6 if doing so from a well-elevated position. The spear has a 50% chance to contain a charge when found.

ACKS To Grind

I’ve launched a new YouTube show called ACKS To Grind. To date, I’ve been joined by Rick Stump, Brian Neumeier, and Jonathan Oldenburg.

Today I’ll be joined by The Prince of Nothing. Prince is well-known within the OSR community for creating the No Artpunk Contest as well as for his feisty blog and bloody-mind gaming reviews. Game designers know him and fear him for his audacity at rating some OSR products with merely 3 stars.

John N McGowan will be a guest next week (OCT 21), with John C. Wright, Tom Kratman, James Young, Jeffro Johnson, Red Room, and more coming thereafter!

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Arbiter of Worlds