Monster review: the Rust Monster

What do you get if you grab a pair of long antenna, an armadillo-ish shell, a propeller, paddle tipped tail, set of four insect legs and an appetite for metal?  You get one of the iconic monsters of D&D, the Rust Monster!

This creature has been around since the first edition of the game striking fear into the bravest of fighters and paladins. The appearance of the rust monster has had only a few minor tweaks over the decades. They have taken away it’s playful silliness and tried to give it a bit more menacing look.

It still retains the antenna, bulbous body, armored plates and propeller/ paddle tail.

The look is iconic, yet it not the look that players remember. It is the ability this guy has. See it loves to eat corroded metal and the more ferrous the better! If it touches metal then it turns it to rust and begins to snack on it. This is why every player who is armed and armored fears this creature. It is also why I have only ever thrown it out twice in my years of gaming.

I would love to use the rust monster more often, but it just has the feel of a screw the party or single player monster. If you have been playing for a while you have a good set of metal armor, shield or weapon ( magical or not ) you certainly don’t want to lose it. Well here comes the rust monster and “boop” there goes your magical metal armor or magical weapon during the game. This can neuter a melee character in a couple of rounds. Now you have a non-armed/armored ( more than likely since they are usually in the heavy arms/armor category )  having to run at a distinct disadvantage. Not to mention a possibly very perturbed player seeing his beat stick character neutered so easily.

Heck they have even given it an actual physical attack now. It has a bite attack, albeit a puny one. Previously it only ruined your stuff with no damage. Now it can try and bite while trying to destroy your stuff. Isn’t that fun!?

There are  was around dealing with a Rust Monster. You know hit it from range. Do some magical shenanigans to it. Feed it that off weapon that you never use, but like to have just in case. Run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. That is if you are able to do any of these choices.

A look into monsters

Creatures, beasts, humanoids, demons, “living” constructs, goo, the undead and dragons; these are just a few broad groupings of the possible antagonists for the majority of D&D. They are not needed for role playing, but without them in some capacity it would be a really boring game.

 

Come with me as I dive into the minutiae of the monsters I love, hate, never or  (always want but for some reason) choose not to use in the games I run. A look into how I see D&D beasties and why they are amazing or why I avoid them like fat kids do stationary bikes.

 

The first will be the original  bane of every armored warrior out there.

 

The Rust Monster!

The Master of Mankind book review

Master of Mankind

The continuing saga of the 30K universe this time centers around the Emperor and the war in the webway beneath Terra. This is stuff that has been hinted at before but never really expounded on before this series started. My interest was piqued. Plus it was written by Aaron Demski-Bowden and so far I have yet to dislike a 30K/40K book he has written.

The story opens with a look at the story of Cain and Able. It seems lame at first and then we learn why this is a big deal. See when his first murder happened it wasn’t just a biblical tale it was also the birth of the first, but not the first chaos entity “The Echo of the First Murder” , “Ender of Worlds” or also known as Drach'yn, yup that very same one we all know from Abaddon’s sword.  From here the novel begins a slow revealing churn until a very satisfying and somewhat depressing end.

Now the story shifts to the continuing 5 year war in the webway beneath the Imperial Palace. Here the Mechanicus, Sisters of Silence and Custodes are fighting a losing war. The Emperor is stuck on the Golden Thorne to hold the doorway shut. Every battle sees them losing or holding long enough to retreat and regroup. They are battling an endless horde of demons running amok along with some World Eaters that have slipped into the webway too. Of course they drive home this is all the fault of Magnus and we see that event played out twice during the book.

We also have side jaunts with the Sisters of Silence rounding up psykers from around the galaxy in their black ships.

We have a fallen Imperial Knight house that has pulled out of prison to help fight in the webway to redeem themselves.

There a bit with the Mechanicus and Arkham Land dealing with the war, the webway, promises kept and promises broken between mars and Terra.

We have a bigger look into the Custodes, their roles, how they are all individuals but still a unified fighting force.

Then there is a lone Blood Angel who has been drug into the webway. He has been grafted with robotic limb replacements, but his body is rejecting them. Thus he is barley a functioning Astartes anymore, but still he is brought along by the Custodes.

Finally we get a look into the Emperor’s past, thoughts and grand plans.

All this stuff set against the crazy war with in the Eldar webway.

It all seems rather blah and boring until you realize that…. (spoilers ahead so stop and go read this book or not)

D&D post game 1-13-18 Part 3

Higher up into the Frost Peak Mountains

 

The parry had left Bronsilav several hours ago. They had travelled about twenty miles from Bronislav zig-zagging up the mountain. Their trek higher into the mountains was going rather well until the weather started to turn. A light snow was beginning to fall and the temperature was dropping as the day lingered into late afternoon. As the light was fading they saw a large cave and knew this must be the winter home of the giant bear Nobu. They tied off their mules and made camp within the cave.

 

The entryway opened to a large chamber littered with bones, scraps of cloth and various bits of broken equipment. Toward the rear of the chamber was a curving tunnel covered in a thin layer of ice. A handful of icicles hung over the tunnel entrance. The barbarian urged the party forward as he was looking to find and battle the giant bear. He was the only party member excited about the proposition though.

 

The thin layer of ice on the tunnel walls became much thicker as they travelled down it. The icicles on the ceiling not only became more numerous, but they also grew in length and circumference. After several hundred feet they entered another large chamber. It was coated in ice. The ceiling was covered in icicles like the tunnel before it. A tiny stream of water ran down the far wall and formed a small pool. Just to the left of that was another tunnel wider than the one they just walked through.

 

As the party began to explore this chamber a handful of icicles came crashing down from the ceiling! As they fell the party heard a series of squeaky high pitched giggles. They looked up to dodge another flurry of falling icicles and say what was behind all this. Ice imps! They had recently fought their fiery cousins weeks earlier and knew how to handle these pests. As they fought the imps continued to rain more spears of ice down onto the party. As the imps died they would screech and explode in a blast of super cold air and ice. It was more of an irritation for the party than a threat. However, it seemed all the noise the imps made wasn’t just for show. It had a purpose.

D&D post game 1-13-18 Part 2

Welcome to Bronislav

The party is greeted by a bear of a man in heavy furs. He introduces himself and Milosh and yells for his wife Rada someone else named Dimitri. He tells the party Svetlana will be along soon. He tells them to come inside the long house to get warm and to eat.

Inside the longhouse they meet Rada. A tall female with alabaster skin and adorned in robes of white trimmed with blue and wearing a snowflake pendant that matches the symbol on the bear statue. Another man, Dimitri, enters from what sounds and smells like the kitchen at the back of the house. He is easily as tall as Milosh, but half as wide. He is wiping his greasy hands on an apron and smells of heavy spices. They three of them welcome the party again and begin to pour them drinks and invite them to sit and relax. Minutes later another lumbering figure enters the long house. They are wrapped in furs with a large black bow slung over one shoulder and the rear legs of an elk or deer slung over the other. Milosh introduced the party to Svetlana, Dimitri’s wife. A woman almost as tall and thick as Milosh, but without the outgoing personality. She is very reserved and seems to keep a watchful eye on the party.

This is the entire population of the village of Bronislav, the lost village Lukas was looking to find. He never expected to find people living here though. It is both welcoming and strange.

Dinner is served and conversations and questions begin from both groups. The party learns that these people have been living here for decades, or longer. Yet they only look to be in their 30’s. They even knew the party was on their way up toward their village. They are told of the old crone lady Millicent who lives on the mountain. They are warned to stay away from her or to offer her sweets if they meet up with her. Rada is as priestess of Auril, the Frost Maiden. Milosh and Svetlana are avid followers of Malar (the bear part of the statue outside). They are not the happiest gods in the pantheon, but they are very suitable for these mountain folk. They know of a few other expeditions on the mountain that have failed over the last few years, but none of those were heading to find Thunderdelve Mountain. Oh yeah, they know of the citadel and the route to get there. Lady Millicent tends to deliver goods she recovers from travelers that run into her. She also has a knack for freezing people in blocks of ice. They are impressed with their handling of the yetis and learn that their “leader” is known as Old One Eye a large and terrible beast that Svetlana wounded years ago. It is brought up that there are white dragonborn on the mountain as they have made it to Bronislav before, but are nowhere near as friendly as the thief of this party. They attribute to the fact he is a bronze and they are chromatic in origin. They are told of a cave they can stay in on the way up the mountain, but to only keep to the front of the cave. It seems a bear they have named Nobu hibernates  far back in the cave. It would not be wise to stir him.

As conversation goes so does the night. There is more drinking ( a delicious and refreshing snowberry wine )and dining ( goat stew and fresh roast elk) . Rada talks of her goddess. Dimitri plays a few jaunty tunes on a small accordion for Rada and Milosh to dance. Svetlana sits ever watchful but does manage to do some singing during the dance numbers. It is a very cordial night, but it must end eventually.

D&D post game 1-13-18 Part 1

It had only been a couple of weeks since the party had ran off in search of treasure with their archeologist buddy Lukas and now here he was again with another tale of lost ruins and stories of treasure. This time it was the lost citadel of Thunderdelve Mountain. A keep built high in the Frost Peak Mountains by humans and dwarves over 200 years ago. It was said to be a bastion of safety for the various hill and mountain villages at the time. It was also supposed to be a refuge for any future mining taking place in the area. A possible fort and marketplace at the top of the known world. It was just that until a greedy and hungry white dragon arrived to lay the place to ruin. The dragon along with a small army of dragonborn followers captured the citadel. Only a handful of humans and a trio of dwarves are said to have survived the dragon attack. The remaining people were captured or killed. Once the survivors made it down the mountain they disappeared as did the location of the citadel.  

Now with the help of various 100+ year old maps of the region and an oral account from a 200+ year old dwarf who said to have been at the citadel during the attack…..Lukas was ready to travel up into the Frost Peaks to find archeological proof of this ruin and possibly some coin along the way.

He went off to recruit the only people that were crazy enough (or greedy enough) to accompany him on an insane trip up a mountain during the winter. He met them at the Slaughtered Hog Tavern ( and Slaughter House ).

After a story and a bit of drinking, a ½ orc barbarian, human monk and dragonborn thief were ready to travel to some small remote foothill village three/five days away from Stonekeep. They hopped a steam carriage ride for two days and then another day on mules to a small tavern, inn and trading post in the middle of nowhere (two days southwest of Ferrous Spur). They crashed. Awoke. Packed for cold weather and began a trek up into the Frost Peak Foothills.

The first day was easy since they were following an old logging trail/ Then they had to split from that and begin the task of riding and walking mules slowly up into the mountains. After almost 10 hours of crisscrossing up a mountain the party made camp. A cold but uneventful night of cold weather camping. The next day was more of the same until they reached a ravine. A ravine that spanned about three hundred feet. They stopped by the remains of a bridge that at one time spanned this ravine. They also found a small cart path leading down into said ravine. This was good sign as this location was on the maps Lukas had studied.

The party camped again since night was quickly approaching. This night Lukas regaled the group about the village of Bronislav. A small village South if Thunderdelve Mountain. If they could find the ruins of this village, then they were surely on the right track. This village should be a day North of this ravine.

D&D Pre-game 1-13-18

Granwards Atheneum within the dwarven city of Ferrous Spur……….

A figure sits hunched over a table. Stacks of books and varying sized piles of parchment surrounds him.  The wall behind him is covered in maps depicting the same area, but from various eras. He is furiously flipping pages and scrawling notes in a small leather bound book.


The light in the room is beginning to dwindle as the lanterns in the room run low on oil. A small figure moves enters the room and begins to replenish the oil in the lamps. The man at the table does not notice.


The small figure leaves and returns a few minutes later with a small tray. Upon it is a  pitcher of water a small glass and an assortment of bread  and cheese. The preferred afternoon meal for the gentleman in the room.


“Excuse me mister sir.” A small squeaky voice calls out. “I have your food. Would you like it in on the table or just here on the floor like usual?” a small gnome dressed like a barmaid stood by the table unseen behind the towering piles of books and papers.

D&D post game 12-23-17 Part 2

The hallway walls were moving closer together trying to crush everyone on the stairway. The bard and monk threw their weight against the left wall and could not stop the movement.

The barbarian cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders. He set his feet and threw a shoulder against the right wall. I began to slow its crushing movement. Having slowed the wall, the barbarian began to yell and push back on the wall. The wall stopped moving and actually started to move back to it's original position. The barbarian was single handedly disabiling the trap using his brute strength ( rolls on athletic check of 18 17 and natural 20 without modifiers = insanity! ). This gave Lukas the time he needed to discover the proper combination and open the door. Once the door rolled open, the stairway walls stopped moving together and rest back to their original position.

The room beyond was similar to the burial urn alcove room from the second tomb ( full of owlbears ). The difference being the tile mosaic picture of a large, bright possible elvish city and a small hourglass in an alcove that was slowly counting down. The party began to search the room. Once again they found various gold and silver tokens in the burial urns. Lukas noticed several tiles from the picture on the floor. He began to pick them up and place them back in the picture. The hourglass was inspected. It was a plain and nondescript looking hourglass. The sand was slowly pouring from top to bottom. It was also very much stuck in the alcove. As they were exploring the room they didn't immediately notice the semi-transparent wispy floating elvish woman phase into the room.

The monk and barbarian turned to see the floating spirit and their hands went toward their weapons. Lukas covered his ears. The bard turned and the emotion drained from his face. That is when the beautiful ghost's mouth dropped open and out came a high pitched keening wail. The bard turned white and collapsed. The remaining three bent over trying to block the sound from their ears.

After what seemed like an eternity, the wailing stopped. The monk charged at the apparition and unleashed a flurry of Ki infused punches. The bard lay dead. The barbarian stood in place, actually terrified of this ghost. Lukas rushed over to the bard.

As the monk battles the banshee, Lukas was able to spare the life of the bard, with a little magic he had picked up along his travels. The barbarian struggled to free himself of his fear of this ghost. The monk continue to throw punches trying to force the spirit back to the grave. The bard slowly sat up and was able to channel some magic to heal himself. Eventually the barbarian shook off his fear and charged in to help the monk destroy the elvish banshee.

D&D Post game 12-23-17 Part 1

After a quick pitch and a glass of the Slaughtered Hogs’ finest brew ( a mix of ale and blood from the slaughterhouse attached to the bar, it’s a thing ) Lukas Fuddered had convinced the ½ orc barbarian, human monk and elf bard to help him. They would all travel to the uncovered tombs and split anything of value found 50-50. The small party was skeptical, but a few hundred gold crowns on top of the 50-50 split sealed the deal. Lukas had a bodyguard/muscle to accompany him to the trio of uncovered tombs.

Along the way Lukas had informed the party that he believed this could be the lost tomb of the Crimson King. An ancient tribal barbarian leader who had a passion for viciousness, bloodletting and hoarding of bloodstones. The location of the tombs, the artifacts found around the area and the age of said artifacts all point to the tribe of barbarians that the Crimson King was part of and lead. If this was the case then these tombs could be full of loads of treasure and artifacts of historic value.

After a day of steam carriage travel and another on the backs of pack mules, the party arrived at the now covered and abandoned excavation site. There was a light dusting of snow covering the ground and tarps. The party dismounted and gave the area a quick once over. The main dig site was still covered by canvas tarps as were two of the three tomb entrances. However, one entrance had the tarp ripped away and it appeared that the doorway had been smashed open. The group began to police the area. They quickly noticed large humanoid footprints in the snow. They also found a few splashes of blood frozen in the snow. They also discovered what looked like a quartet of large clawed animal tracks. It was then that they heard the most horrible bellowing coming from within the uncovered tomb.

As the party looked toward the door, out charged a wild eyed ogre! He ran and stumbled past the party. Weapons were drawn but the ogre was not engaging in combat. It appeared he was in flight, but from what? That question was soon answered as the largest owlbear the party had ever seen rushed out of the tomb after the ogre. Following behind were two more owlbears of normal size (still very very large ). The beasts noticed the new smaller prey and attacked. The barbarian engaged the giant alpha owlbear while Lukas, the monk and bard faced off against the other two. Several minutes later the giant beasts had been put down and the party members had only sustained a few minor injuries.

D&D pre-game 12-23-17

We got a 2^nd game in Dec and that is always awesome!

“Hurry and get the site covered! Those storm clouds are rolling in faster than we thought!” Shouted a thin man in coveralls and a floppy hat.

Several other people in similar dress raced about pulling tarps behind them. Several more were busy packing items in wooden crates full of straw.

“Get those crates filled and get the wagons moving!” The man continued to shout as he walked around the area.

This looked to be an enormous find for the archeology guild and all thanks to a random act of nature.

Several weeks prior, in the foothills of the Frost Peak Mountains, a small rockslide quickly turned into a colossal landside of earth and stone. The only witness to the event was the local fauna. Three days later, a trio of hunters were working their way through the area and realized all this earth and stone had uncovered something, a trio of stone slabs and various bits of broken pottery. They tried move the stone slabs but they would not budge. They dug around in the loose dirt and rock and managed to recover some intact clay urns and a few metal trinkets. They made a small map to the location and continued on their hunt. They would turn the objects over to their village elders when they returned to their small village.

A week later and the objects the hunters found were at the archeological guild in Stonekeep. They were being studied and cross referenced to other pieces from the area. After a few days it was deterimed that these objects were made from one of the various long dead nomadic human hill tribes. The doors were more than likely led into small burial mounds. It was a good find and worth further investigation.

A crew of students and midlevel guild members left within days to begin to excavate the region. They would need to work fast as fall was ending the winter snows would soon begin.  A week of near constant digging managed to unveil three fully sealed tombs and a plethora of small pottery, idols to long lost gods and several small silver and gold tokens in the shapes of animals. All this  was gathered, catalouged and loaded for transport back to Stonekeep.

Now the late fall weather was finally starting to become an issue. The temperature was dropping more every day. Frost was beginning to form on the ground overnight. The leader of the excavation made the call to secure the site for the coming winter. He knew that soon this area would be under several inches to a foot of snow.