The party may have destroyed the Dread Silkworm, a half-giant-caterpillar-half-god monster… but there are still more creatures devouring the juju garden, and a mission to fulfill.
This episode opens with rounds 8-14 of a brutal gruelling battle! The Dread Silkworm may have fallen, but it is far from the only threat that the party was facing!
This is an AI-free episode of Swords Against Madness.
Cast
This episode includes performances by:
Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore
Music in this Episode
From the Free Music Alliance:
King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive
Used with special permission:
Combat Cookie Tin by Jon Cohen
From Pixabay:
Aggressive Metal (Sinister) by Brightest Avenue
Cybertech (Tense News Background) by Tune Tank
“Stylish Blues Rock (Wild West)” by Brightest Avenue
“Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode
Magical Ritual Shaman Amazonian Indian by Denis-Pavlov Music
Night Detective (no beats) by Amaksi
Interstellar Dark by Lumine Wave
Undeadwood: Weird West RPG
Sometimes folks head out West, and just fall off the edge of the world.
They end up here. Wonkatonkwa County.
They just show up, confused, frightened, missing a year off their life with no idea where it went. A place full of walking dead, prehistoric monsters, black magic.
t takes a special kind of grit to make your way here. You gotta be crazy, or nearly so just to make sense of what you are seeing. And if you weren’t crazy before, circumstance will be happy to oblige you.
Best thing to do is get yourself a gun, and sober up the preacher so that he can give it a proper blessing, then find yourself something to hold on To. A bible. A bottle. It don’t really matter which…
After all, You ain’t in Texas anymore.
Undeadwood: Weird West is a dark weird west game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It embraces some of the stranger, more offbeat elements of American Folklore. Along with the devils, ghosts, cursed treasure, and mad scientists, you can expect to see hodags, jackalopes, and thunderbirds. My goal is to play a game that has all the action and grit of a pulp Western story from Lariat or Triple-X, but fused with the humorously macabre of The Addams Family or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Played using 2d6. And featuring work from some of the greatest artists to ever grace the pages of pulp western magazines.
Now available on DriveThruRPG
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Episode 27: Silkworm
The party attempts to help the Nilkin clear the Ravenous Caterpillars from their sacred garden, only to find the threat is much greater than anyone anticipated.
Mythic Game Master Emulator throws a number of crazy curve-balls at the PCs this session, showing just how wild and unpredictable it can make a game become…
…Especially when you are willing to truly let your imagination run wild with the prompts it creates.
This is the first fully AI free episode of Swords Against Madness.
Cast
This episode includes performances by:
Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore
Carl White from The Lone Adventurer
This episode includes two home-brewed monsters.
Ravening Caterpillar
Ravening Caterpillar: HD: 4; AC: 4 [15]; Att: bite (d6) or silk (ranged, entangle); SV: 15; Special: poison spines, regeneration; MV: 3; AL: Neutrality; ML: 7; No. Appearing: 1d4; CL/XP: 8/900
poison spines: any creature attacking a ravenous caterpillar with a melee or natural weapon takes 1d2 damage and must save (at +2) vs. poison or die.
regeneration: regains 1 hp at the beginning of every round, cannot regenerate damage done by fire or acid.
Silk: has a range of 60′. A hit target is entangled and may not move unless it first makes a save to break free.
The Dread Silkworm
The Dread Silkworm: HD: 6 (27 hp); AC: 4 [15]; Att: bite (d8) or silk (ranged, entangle); SV: 15; Special: poison spines, regeneration, spells; MV: 3; AL: Neutrality; ML: 10; No. Appearing: 1 (unique) CL/XP: 11/2,400
poison spines: any creature attacking a ravenous caterpillar with a melee or natural weapon takes 1d2 damage and must save vs. poison or die.
regeneration: regains 1 hp at the beginning of every round, cannot regenerate damage done by fire or acid.
silk: has a range of 60′. A hit target is entangled and may not move unless it first makes a save to break free.
spells: Casts spells as a 5th level Druid. Spells prepared: 1st level: Faerie Fire, Entangle, Darkness; 2nd: web; 3rd: plant growth
Music in this Episode
From the Free Music Alliance:
King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive
From Pixabay:
“Zulu Sunrise” by LumineWeave
“Acid Lands” by Emmeraan
“The Wanderer” by OB-LIX
“Deep Forest” By NNChannel
“Brain Implant” by Soundbay
“War Metal” by Lite Saturation
“Suspense Tension Background” by DELOSound
“Heavy Cyberpunk Metal” by Bertsz
“Stylish Blues Rock (Wild West)” by Brightest Avenue
“Outlaw’s Reckoning” by Moodmode
“Dark Marimba” by Grand_Project
“Valhalla” by Nakaradalexander
“Acidcore” by Jumping Bunny
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Episode 26: The Nilkin
The Party joins the mysterious wild halflings, the Nilkin, in their village in hopes that the local shaman might be able to help them find the planar travel device. The Nilkin are not as firendly as they might seem, and have a dangerous task that needs doing.
This episode of Swords Against Madness includes a discussion of the Dungeons & Dragons module Hot Springs Island by Jacob Hurst et al. at Swordfish Islands.
This age-of-sail tropical island hexcrawl has set the standard for me for adventure design and I used many of its monsters and encounters in designing Nar. It consists of two books: A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island and the Dark of Hot Springs Island, although some of the dungeons included are also sold separately as The Lapis Observatory and Toxic Elvish Smut.
Monsters mentioned in today’s episode included:
Kuji Bird: HD: 3+3; AC 2 [17]; Bite: 1d4; MV: 12; SV: 16; AL: N; ML: 7; CL/XP: 3/60
Kujibirds have naturally ocurring gold feathers and talons. A kuji bird’s body is worth 300gp.
Wild Halflings: HD: 1d6; AC 6 [13]; Atk: sling (1d3) or short sword (1d6); SV: 19; AL: N; ML: 8; CL/XP: B/10
Plant Zombie: HD: 2; AC 5 [14]; Atk: slam (1d6); SV: 17; AL: N; ML: 11; CL/XP: 1/15
Music in this Episode
From the Free Music Alliance:
King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive
From Pixabay:
“Dark Intentions” by UniversField
“Zulu Sunrise” by LumineWeave
“Technology Game App Marimba informational Music” by Denis-Pavlov Music
“Hyper Adventure Action” by Sonican
“Bloom, Spice Mirage” bu ODennehy
“Dark Magic Music” by Onetent courtesy of Pixabay
Generated with Suno
Reign of Shadows
Eternal Nightmare Initiation
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Episode 25: The Devouring Wilderness
Miria, Edryk, Raxon, Berle, & Kale brave the untamed norther jungles of Nar, to find that the wilderness itself seems to hunger for them…
This episode features a reinterpretation of the Vine Horror from the epic Dungeon Crawl Classic RPG module Sailors on the Starless Sea, a legendary module that helped define DCCRPG and secure it as the most popular Old-School RPG around.
It also features my Swords & Wizardry adaptation of the Kuji Bird from the equally epic (and edition agnostic) D&D module Hot Springs Island.
Creatures in this Episode
Strangling Vine: HD: 2; AC: 6[13]; Atk: vine (1d3 + grab); Special: grab, strangle; MV: 5; SV: 17; AL: N; ML: 10; CL/XP: 3/60
When a strangling vine hits with a vine attack the target becomes tangled in the vine. They automatically take 1d3 damage on the strangling vine’s turn until the Strangling Vine is destroyed, another character spends a round cutting them free or they take an action and succeed a saving throw to break free on their own.
Kuji Bird: HD: 3+3; AC 2 [17]; Bite: 1d4; MV: 12; SV: 16; AL: N; ML: 7; CL/XP: 3/60
Kujibirds have naturally ocurring gold feathers and talons. A kuji bird’s body is worth 300gp.
Wild Halflings: HD: 1d5; AC 6 [13]; Atk: sling (1d3) or short sword (1d6); SVL 19; AL: N; ML: 8; CL/XP: B/10
Music in this Episode
From the Free Music Alliance:
King Edward by Mister Smith (CC-BY) from the Free Music Archive
From Pixabay:Underwater Mysterious Ambient by Harumachi MusicAwesome Pink Floydish Guitar by Palle1958Dark and Suspenseful Atmosphere by SoulProdMusicWords of a Sermon No One will Hear, Ambient Nod to Elanor Rigby by ODennehyWestern Duel Rock by Abydos MusicIron Cathedral by JYProjectA Place of Calm and Wonder by UniqueCreativeAudioMidnight Quirk by Top-FlowOminous Tones by UniversFieldDeadite Ash vs Evil Dead Song by Anon
Generated with SunoReign of ShadowsEternal Nightmare Initiation
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Episode 24: The Pirate’s Tale
With the help of the All-Knowing, Miria delves into the terrors of Haalu’s mind to learn more about the cruel and enigmatic Master.
This episode includes an encounter with a monster that in Swords and Wizardry is referred to as a Carrion Worm. Other pseudonyms have included the Carcass Crawler, Corpse Worm, and Tentacled Horror, but they all refer to one classic and horrifying Dungeons & Dragons monster: The Carrion Crawler.
The Carrion crawler gets multiple attacks around, each doing only 1hp, but each requiring a save or the unfortunate character becomes paralyzed. On a bad round, the Carrion Crawler can paralyze an entire party, and finish them off at is leisure. They are one of the most feared terrors of D&D for good reason!
The Music in this Episode includes:
“COMBAT COOKIE TIN” by Jon Cohen, used with permission
“King Edward” by Mr. Smith (CC-BY) couresy of the Free Music Archive
“Bury it Deep” by Alana Jordan courtesy of Pixabay
“Ominous Tones” by UniversField
“Dark Intentions” by UniversField
“Dark Magic Music” by Onetent courtesy of Pixabay
“Serpentine” by SoularFlare