Mongoose Publishing

[Raven Blackwell]

Well, I have a mailing list that I send Word files of my Conan stuff when I am finished with it. I'm doing a collection of all my Conan stuff to date that I plan on sending on the list. If you- or anyone else- are interested on getting on the list just send me a personal message with an e-mail address to send to and I will add it to the list.
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[Yogah of Yag]

Brilliant work on the Serpent People.
Thanks, Raven.
*S-S-S-S-S-S-S*

[Raven Blackwell]

New Creature

Byakhee

“There flapped rhythmically a horde of tame, trained, hybrid winged things…not altogether crows, nor moles, nor buzzards. Nor ants, nor decomposed human beings, but something I cannot and must not recall.”

-Howard Phillips Lovecraft, “The Festival”

Large Outsider
Hit Dice: 8d10 [48 Hit Points]
Initiative: +8 [+6 Reflex; +2 Dexterity]
Movement: 30 feet; Fly 120 feet
Defense Value: 15 [+4 natural; +2 Dexterity; -1 size]
Damage Reduction: 4 [Chitin, thick skin, scales and/or fur]
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+11
Attack: Bite +12 melee (1) [1d8+6; x2 critical; 8 AP] or Claw +8 melee [1d8+2; x2 critical; 3 AP]
Full Attack: Bite +12 melee (1) [1d8+6; x2 critical; 8 AP] and two Claws +8 melee [1d8+2; x2 critical; 3 AP]
Special Attacks: Blood Drain; Enhanced Terror
Special Qualities: Enhanced Manifest, Enhanced Navigation; Improved Grab; Outsider, Scent
Saves: Fort +6; Ref +8; Will +2
Attributes: Str 18; Dex 14; Con 11; Int 10; Wis 11; Cha 10
Skills: Knowledge [outsiders and the planes] +12; Listen +8 (3); Ride +13 (2); Spot +8 (3); Survival +10
Feats: Alertness; Fly-By-Attack; Skill Focus [Ride]; Track, Weapon Focus [Bite]
Habitat/Terrain: Any terrestrial world or the Outer Dark
Organization: Mated Pair [2]; Herd [4-40]; Flock [20-400+]
Advancement: 9-12 Hit Dice [Large] Some exceptional Byakhees can acquire the Dabbler Feat as well.

(1) Includes Weapon Focus Feat.
(2) Includes Skill Focus
(3) Includes Alertness Feat

Blood Drain:With a successful Grapple test a Byakhee may fasten its mouth on a creature and begin to drain their blood. This inflicts the usual natural damage [1d8+6] and drains 1d6 Str from the victim. If the Grapple is maintained by the Byakhee the creatures continues to drain Str from their victim but inflicts no additional damage. If the creature’s hold is broken and it reattached toa victim the creature will once again take the damage as the creature’s sharp teeth tears into its flesh once more.

Enhanced Manifest: By far the most exceptional ability of Byakhee is its ability to transverse the Outer Dark. As a stanard action a Byakhee may leave the surface or sky of Earth or any other world and enter the Outer Dark or vice versa. In either case the Byakhee appears at the new location at the end of its action.

A Byakhee may take up to one Medium sized or smaller creature with it. In fact many sorcerers use Byakhees as mounts using this ability to travel to the Outer Dark and then to travel to other worlds or to any other point in their world almost instantly. The Byakhee cannot protect its rider from the vacuum and cold of the Outer Dark- the rider must provide their own protection. One means of doing so is detailed below.

Enhanced Navigation: A Byakhee knows its location at all times be it on a world or the Outer Dark between them. They can always know how to get to a place they have visited before without any chance of being lost.

Enhanced Terror:The size and unnatural hybrid nature of a Byahkee makes it a rather disturbing sight. The DC of all Terror of the Unknown checks is +2.

Improved Grab: If a Byahkee successfully attacks a creature with it’s bite or with both claws in the same round it may attempt a Grapple as a free action. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Many Byahkee use this ability to either use their Blood Drain or to fly to a great height and drop their victim or both.

Outsider: Byakhee do not age and are not affected by terrestrial poisons or diseases. They are born and bred to the traverse the Outer Dark and may survive cold and vacuum indefinitely. Their flesh is composed of biological matter though and they may be subject to critical this and Sneak Attacks.

Scent: Byakhee may detect the presence but not exact location of all creatures within 120 feet by scent alone. This increases to 240 feet if downwind of a creature and decreases to 60 feet if upwind. A Byakhee may Track by Scent alone. Note that this ability is useless in the Outer Dark.

Skills: Byakhee have a +4 bonus to Survival when Tracking by Scent.

Byakhee are the spawn of Hastur and are bred from its foul mass in the depths of Lake Hali on a world orbiting the star Aldebaran. Bred to be mounts for his mortal servants Byahkee proved to be loyal and useful servants to the cultists of the Unspeakable One. So useful that many other sorcerers learned to bind them to their will for their own uses. As Hastur has millions of these beasts at his service and can breed uncounted more that dread being seems to care little about a few pilfered nightwing horrors and they have become pretty common among those sorcerers whose power and curiosity extends beyond their own world.

Byahkee are children of Chaos and it shows. No one of these creatures are the same. Save for the feature all viable Byakhee must possess- that is of large bat like wings, claws and fanged maw- their form is a composite of Hastur’s nightmares. Decaying human flesh, insectile chitin, webbed appendages, tentacles, serpentine scales, rodent like features- all of these may or may not be a part of the beast. A few things remain constant though- a Byahkee is carnivorous and predatory liking both blood and meat from any creature including man- or even fellow Byakhee. They all will test the will of their master from time to time unless that person should have sworn service to Hastur himself. Many a weakened sorcerer has been consumed by their own star steed mount.

First generation Byakhee begin life spawned by Hastur within his watery prison on an unnamed world circling the star Aldebaran. Aquatic in larval stage they are both predator and prey as they will turn upon each other for food just as Hastur and its spawn will prey on them. Those that survive in the depths of that haunted lake, next to the ruined and ever cursed city of Carosa will emerge from the lake after their metamorphosis from aquatic state is complete and escape that world’s confines seeking other, more hospitable places away from their hungry kin. They haunt the deserted and far corners of many worlds including Earth and are s hazard for those who seek to explore such places.

Byahkee will form mating pairs when the urge takes them. Second generation offspring of Hali born Byhakee have no larval stage- instead they mature in eggs like birds. A typical Byahkee nest will have 2-12 eggs- but due to their rather unorthodox nature only about 30% or so are viable. Both Byakhee parents will guard the eggs- at least one will Byahkee will present at all times and the other only absent to hunt for itself and its mate. This is good as many sorcerers would raid a nest if they could to rear their young from birth as their mounts.

Incubation of such eggs takes 2-3 months. Upon hatching young Byahkee will devour the non-viable eggs and then demand food voraciously from their parents. Runts of the litter are usually eaten as well. After three months young Byahkee will be able to fly clumsily. By six months they are considered mature and possible competitors by the parents who will drive them from their territory.

If a Byahkee is captured before it hatches and raised by another as a mount the child’s new owner has best be well stocked in food. Young Byahkee have voracious appetites and cannot readily be tamed. Its new owner had best be strong and ruthless or the creature will not respect them and turn on them given the first opportunity to do so.
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[Raven Blackwell]

New Spell

Summon Byahkee [Advanced Spell of the Summoning style]

Power Point Cost: 8
Components: V, S, F, XP
Casting Time: One full round
Range: Interstellar
Target: One Byahkee
Duration: One round-trip journey, lasting up to one hour per level of Scholar the caster posse
Saving Throw: Will- but see below
Perquisites: Master-words and signs or demonic pact; Base Magic Attack of +4 or greater
Magic Success Roll: Sets DC for target’s Will save- but see below

This spell is a variant on summon demon designed to summon a Byakhee from the depths of the Outer Dark. It is taught to all of Hastur’s sworn adepts though over the centuries enough copies of this spell have be made that t is no longer their exclusive domain. Even the sworn enemies of the Great Old Ones have been known to make use of the star steeds.

Upon the recitation of the following incantation: “Ia! Ia! Hastur! Hastur of’ayak ‘vulgtmm, vugtlagln, vulgtmm! Ai! Ai! Hastur!” and blowing of a whistle made of Byakhee bone a star steed will be rapidly summoned to caster. Although most summoned creatures will resist a summoning Byakhee were bred to be mounts for others and most oft will opt to forgo their saving throw and arrive of their own free will.

The material focus for this spell is a whistle of made of the bone of a Byakhee which is blown during the casting. It costs 400 XP to cast this spell.

[Raven’s Rules for Sorcery handle Summonings differently than the Mongoose core Sorcery rules. The alternate version of this spell and other spells related to it will be posted on that topic at a later date]
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[Raven Blackwell]

New Alchemical Product

Space Mead

Craft [alchemy] check required to manufacture: 25
Fortitude save: DC 18
Initial Damage: 1d4 Wisdom
Secondary Damage: Paralysis

Space mead is a magical elixir that allows a terrestrial being to survive the vacuum and cold of the Outer Dark. The elixir tastes like an exquisite vintage of wine or brandy to the imbiber. It is however far too strong a brew for most mortal beings. As noted above a person imbibing it suffers damage as if poisoned. Even if paralyzed the Mead still provides protection from the conditions of the Outer Dark.

Should a person remain conscious after tasting Space Mead, they are capable of remaining in vacuum and cold for up to ten hour without penalty per each dose. If using Byakhees or similar mounts this allows a good range to the journeys between the stars, though the riders best be wise enough to carry more Mead for the return trip. While Byakhee can Manifest from the Outer Dark to any world nearby they must manually travel the distance between them though they do so at speed far outstrips the mere speed of light. The intoxicating effect of the mead helps insulate the rider of such a journey from overwhelming sensations such a journey would provide.

If a person is paralyzed by the Space Mead and remains in a terrestrial atmosphere there is a curious and unintended side effect. The person becomes subject to dreams and visions of the unseen workings in the worlds about them. Though this usually provides little more than disturbing visions and auditory sensations, a astute person can make a Knowledge [arcana] test every hour to glean some useful information to them. The person must also make a Corruption test at the end of the ten hour period of hallucinations as their mind has been exposed to the raw potency of Chaos overlong. Some sorcerers ignorant of the nature of the Outer Dark who stumble upon knowledge of Space Mead only learn of this use for the Mead.

Requirements: Two rare minerals, the extract of a nearly extinct plant, one ounce of Byahkee blood, the pollen of an extraterrestrial tree and the water of the river Avernus in the Dreamlands and twenty Power Points expended over the brewing of the Mead.

Cost: 10,000 silver luna
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[Teutonic]

Sometimes I wonder why you don`t work officaly for mongoose...

[Raven Blackwell]

Because Ian has never offered me a job......
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[Teutonic]

He shoul do, my dear.

[Raven Blackwell]

Well, I don't even think Ian reads these things despite the fact he is listed as a moderator for the site. I've seen him involved with this part of the forum maybe twice in what, 30 months? or so? I also get the impression he doesn't like me very much either....
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[bjorntfh]

Raven, I think you need to correct something on Byhakee stats... why exactly do they have ranks in Ride? They're mounts, not riders. Thoes points should probably be put somewhere else, Surivival, Spot, or Listen come to mind. Also Skill Focus [Ride] ought to be replaced as well. It jsut seems out of sorts that the mount has those skills; after all Byhakees can't give its rider the bonus it has in ride, it only applies if the Byhakee is riding something else.

Also, what maneuverability are they? Average or Good? If they can hover, it's good, if not Average. If they have Average I'd recommend replacing Skill Focus [Ride] with Improved Maneuverability (which would make them abile to hover.)
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"As always, holding Lady Luck at gunpoint."

"Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none."

[Raven Blackwell]

Byhakee are listed in the Call of Cthulhu main rulebook as having human range Intelligence and Power [this is Wisdom in the Conan system] and capable of using magic which means they are sentient beings. Thus I borrowed a page from the Decipher's inferior Tolkien RPG The Lord of the Rings (1) which gave sentient mounts like Elven Steeds and Shadowfax ranks in the Ride skill which could substituted for their rider's skill or to travel without a rider if it came to it. After all a sentient mount could assist a person mouting them, help them to dismount [willingly or no], push itself while travelling, fight while carrying a rider, attempt to avoid pitfalls by itself through rough terrain, etc. Their Ride skill represents their ability to do so. Recall Frodo clinging to Asaloth in the writen version of The Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo didn't likely have more than a single rank or two in Ride but Asaloth was the one making the skill checks there allowing them to pass through difficult terrain ahead of the Black Riders. In all of the Mythos tales involving Byhakee I've read their riders usually just hung on for dear life like Frodo and left the driving to the Elder Horror.

As far as maneuverability is concerned Conan doesn't seem to use it. Flying creatures are just listed with a Fly speed. If you want to substitue 3.5 rules for flying Byhakee are likely like Mi-Go in that their wings are better suited to the Outer Dark than terrestrial atmospheres so they would have Average maneuverability- or worse.

(1) For the real Tolkien RPG see the long out of print Middle Earth Role Playing [MERP] once put out by the non defunct Iron Crown Enterprises [ICE] and the Vala help you in your search. I haven't seen these books for years.....
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[bjorntfh]

Raven, I was crunching the numbers for Byhakees (we've got a character in game who's planning on summoning them as his regular mount) and I need to know a few details, I can't figure out how you did the skills. They have 61 skill points allocated amongst their skills and I'm trying to see if they're either missing 5 skill points (meaning that they get 6+Int/HD with 24 at 1st HD) or if they should have 5+int/HD in which case they are 6 skill points over their max.

This isn't meant to be ajudgement of your work, I love what you've done, I'm just trying to set them up by-the-book.

According to the MM3.5 outsiders get 8+Int/ skill point/level. I'd personally stat them out with the following skills: Survival +11 (ranks); Knowledge, Outsiders and Planes +11 (ranks); Knowledge, Geography +11 (ranks); Intimidate +11 (ranks); Knowledge Arcana +5 (ranks); Spot +13 (+11 ranks, +2 Alertness); Listen +13 (+11 ranks, +2 Alertness); Swim +10 (+6 ranks, +4 strength); Climb +15 (+11 ranks, +4 strength); Escape Artist +13 (+11 ranks, +2 dexterity).

The ranks in climb, swim and escape artist represent things learned in earlier stages of life while the rest are adult skills.

I'd do their feats as follows: (I'm assuming you're giving them the 2 bonus feat from favored class of their own race) Alertness, Fly-by Attack, Track, Weapon Focus [Bite], and Improved Manueverability. This should give them Good Manevuerability. If they already have Good Maneuverability replave Improved Maneuverability with Dodge to give them +1 AC.
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"As always, holding Lady Luck at gunpoint."

"Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none."

[bjorntfh]

Actually Conan does use manueverability, it's at the back of SCrolls of Skelos (p. 127, last real game info page) and they have improved maneuverability as a feat.

Also all the things you listed for a mount doing don't require a ride check: it requires a ride check for a rider to make the mount do them. If the mount chooses the rider may (at the GM's discretion) have the DC lowered or the check waived.
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"As always, holding Lady Luck at gunpoint."

"Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none."

[Raven Blackwell]

First generation Byhakee in adult form wouldn't have ranks in Swim or Escape Artist- that would be for their Aquatic larval form only which I haven't stated out because there is almost completely zero chance to encouter them in the Lake of Hali and if you did their father Hastur and their bigger brothers would most certainly be a more direct issue than a bunch of underwater nearly blind slug like beings. Second and later generation Byhakee are born via egg and never have an aquatic form- they are just smaller version of their adult selves.

As for their Feats and skills I confess that I didn't create them using any system but merely gave them skill levels that I felt represented their 'average' ability. One can take this number crunching too far. Also there are no indications that Byhakees would be Good fliers. As I recall Lovecraft portrays them in "The Festival" as being somewhat awkward in motion and they've never been offensive in any story save "The Feaster from Afar" in which one exceptional Byhakee places a hypnotic suggestion in a human's head to run until it passes out from exhaustion and then lands beside it and slowly devours it's brain. It deosn't swoop, hover, jink or use aerial tactics in catching prey- it just follows a guy in a straight line and lands when he passes out.

Since the Mi-Go are the only other prominent extra-spatial winged flyer and they are decribed in "The Whisper in the Darkness" as being clusmy atmosphereic fliers because their wings are adapted to the Outer Dark like a Byhakee's I made a reasonable conclusion that Byhakees aren't well equipped to traverse a terrestriall atmosphere. After all the terrestrial flights of the Byhakee used by Laban Shrewsbury in August Derleth's story "The House on Curwen Street" fly to the Outer Dark, fly sub-orbital and land again rather than flying straight through atmosphere. If they were superior atmospheric flyers they'd likely not have done this.

Of course recall that I've never said use my stuff religiously. You want to modify it for your game do so....but recall Byhakee are never used as anything other than mounts in any Mythos story. Nor have they ever taken a swim or escaped from manacles......
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"People think magic's a way of transforming reality- but in the end, you find that what you've really transformed is yourself."

-John Constantine, Hellblazer

[Raven Blackwell]