Expanded Tables For 'Four Against Darkness' - Part 2

This post features the second set of expanded tables for 'Four Against Darkness', and covers Vermin, Minions, Boss Monsters and Weird Monsters. Once again some entries are duplicated between the tables, where they are monsters that I either felt were essential to the setting, or were simply ones I liked enough that I wanted to have them feature in my dungeons.

You can find Part One HERE

When you encounter monsters of a particular type roll a D6. On a 1-3 use the appropriate table in the rules. On a 4-6 use the appropriate table here.

Vermin

1- 3d6 rats - See 4AD

2 - 2d6 cave ants. Level 2, treasure -1. If at the end of each of the party’s actions there are any cave ants left, an additional 1d3 cave ants are added. Reactions (d6): 1 flee, 2-3 flee if outnumbered, 4-6 fight.

3 - 2d6 goblin swarmlings, - See 4AD

4 - d6 large spiders, Level 3, Treasure: Normal. Characters taking a wound must save versus level 2 poison or lose an additional life. Due to the spiders’ webbing, the party may not withdraw from this fight unless they cast a Fireball spell to burn the webs. Reactions: always fight.

5 - 2d6 snakes Level 2, no treasure. Any character wounded by a snake must save versus level 3 poison or lose 1 additional life. Reactions (d6): 1 flee, 2-4 fight, 5-6 fight to the death.

6 - d6 slimes, level 3 no treasure. Always surprise the party and attack first. Since they drop from the ceiling they attack all party members. Crushing weapons attack slimes at -1. Immune to Sleep. Reactions (d6): 1-2 fight, 3-6 fight to the death.


Minions

1 - D6+2 skeletons or d6 zombies (50% chance of each) - See 4AD.

2 - d6+3 goblins.  - See 4AD

3 - 2d6 kobolds. Level 3, treasure -1. Kobolds are led by a Kaptain. They fight at Level 5 until at least one has been killed. Reactions (d6) 1-2 flee, 3 bribe (d6 gp per kobold), 4-6 fight.

4 - d6+1 orcs. - See 4AD

5 - 2d6 death cultists. Level 3, Treasure +1. Their fanatical attack means that all defence rolls are at -1. Reactions: Always fight to the death

6 - d3 ghouls. Level 4 undead, Treasure normal. Any character taking damage from a ghoul must make a level 3 poison save or be paralysed for the rest of the battle. A paralysed character attacks and defends at -2 for the rest of the battle, or until they heal at least 1 life. Reactions (d6): always fight.


Boss Monsters

1 - Wraith. Level 5 undead, 4 life points, treasure +1. When defending from an attack by a wraith, armour and shields offer no protection. Each hit from a wraith inflicts 2 life points of damage. Reactions (d6): 1 quest, 2 magical challenge, 3-6 fight, 6 fight to the death.

2 - Death Cult Priest. Level 5, 5 life points, 1 attack, 2 treasure rolls. The priest makes 1 normal attack in their round, but in addition one random character must save vs level 4 magic or automatically lose 1d3 life points. Reactions (d6): 1 magical challenge, 2 bribe (50gp), 3-4 fight, 5-6 fight to the death.

3 - Ogre or Orc Brute (50% of each). - See 4AD

4 - Wererat. Level 4, 4 life points, 2 attacks, treasure +1. At the beginning of the battle, the wererat will summon 3D6 rats (details as per the Vermin Table). The resulting creatures will fight to the death. One character must fight the wererat each round, the others must fight the rats until they are all dead. Reactions (d6) 1-2 bribe (3d6 gp), 3-5 fight, 6 fight to the death.

5 - Chaos Lord. - See 4AD

6 - Small Dragon. - See 4AD

NB - I play it that if a Small Dragon is rolled in a situation where it's not allowed, I roll on the Weird Monsters table instead, rather than reroll the Boss Monster. It saves getting the Dragon again.


Weird Monsters 

1 - Owlbear. Level 5, 4 life points, 2 attacks, normal treasure. When an owlbear is reduced to half of its life, its level goes up one rather than down. Reactions (d6): 1-4 fight, 5-6 fight to the death.

2 - Ooze. Level 4, 4 life points, 3 attacks, treasure -1. Crushing weapons attack an ooze at -1. Immune to Sleep. At the start of the ooze’s turn if it has at least 1 life left, roll a d6 to see how many life points it recovers: 1-2 none, 3-4 1 point, 5-6 2 points. It makes this roll before testing morale. Reactions: Always fight

3 - Golem. Level 5, 6 life points, normal treasure. Each hit from a golem inflicts 2 life points of damage. Immune to spells. Reactions: 1 quest, 2 puzzle (level 1d3+3), 3-6 fight to the death.

4 - Manticore. Level 4, 4 life points, 2 attacks, treasure +1. All characters at the beginning of the battle must defend versus a level 4 missile attack as the manticore fires a volley of darts from its tail. Reactions (d6): 1 flee, 2-6 fight

5 - Giant Worm. Level 5, 6 life points, no treasure. A giant worm always has surprise and goes first. When it appears it causes a Rockfall (see Special Events table). The battle then begins. Anyone rolling a '1' when defending against the worm takes 2 life points of damage. Reactions: Always fight.

6 - Cockatrice. Level 4, 4 life points, 2 attacks, treasure normal. All characters at the beginning of the battle must save versus a level 3 gaze attack or be turned to stone. Petrified characters are out of the game until a Blessing spell is cast on them. Reactions (d6): 1 flee, 2–5 fight, 6 fight to the death.


Monster Reactions

Some monsters are listed as 'Always fight to the death' or 'Always fight', whilst others have a mixture of Fight and Fight To The Death in their reactions. In the former case the reaction affects the monster regardless of the party's actions, whilst in the latter case the Fight To the Death option only gets triggered if the party wait and see what the monster does. So try this option. The party can choose to test for a reaction if the monster has something other than Fight and/or Fight To The Death as a possibility. This works exactly as described in the rules. If this option is not possible, or if the party simply choose to attack first, still roll on the reaction table. If the result is anything other than Fight To The Death, then the monster(s) will fight as normal and test morale when they reach half strength. If the result is Fight To The Death, then that's what the monster will do. This effectively streamlines the Always Fight reactions with other reaction possibilities, and also gives a point to those monsters whose only reaction possibilities are Fight and Fight To The Death, since at the moment there's no reason for the party to ever select waiting for a reaction as an option for such creatures.

Example: Look at the Golem above. If the party encounter one, then they have the option to wait for its reaction. On a 1 or a 2 it will offer a Quest or a Puzzle, otherwise it will Fight To The Death. If they choose simply to attack, then on a 1 or 2 the Golem will fight normally (testing morale at half life), otherwise it will Fight To The Death.

And a bonus game addition ...

Tasty Snacks

The halfling's tasty snacks can be substituted for up to 5gp worth of bribe, or they can be lost in place of one item stolen from the halfling by the Invisible Gremlins.