Monday Monsters of Rock: Cowboys From Hell & Goo Goo Dolls

We are getting great momentum on writing our second book of classic rock/pop/metal inspired monsters. Show your interest by following the project here!

Last week we announced we are previewing two per week for the next several weeks. This post has the first two creatures. As with the first book, there are two versions: one with stats for Old-School Essentials (true to B/X D&D) and one for Shadowdark (a great merger of 5th edition D&D and old-school approaches/simplicity).

Here is a link to get the prior books from our store.

Note: The previews below are early drafts to give you an idea of where we’re going. They still need to be play-tested and get two more rounds of editing. These are the Shadowdark versions.

Cowboys From Hell

Once a devil has corrupted the majority of a village, its devil lord sends in Cowboys From Hell to round up the stragglers.

Devil lords play the long game. They send a devil or three under various guises to a village and attempt to influence the town. The devils act as especially helpful neighbors–doing favors that at first have a positive impact. But they always have caveats and drawbacks long-term designed to make the people desperate. Then the people are open to working with darker powers.

But the devils will never convert all of a village’s people. So when most residents are somehow in debt or influenced by the devils, the devil lords send in Cowboys From Hell to round up the rest.

AC 14, HP 15, ATK 2 short sword +4 (1d6) or 1 lasso (double near), MV double near, S +1, D +3, C +2, I +1, W +2, Ch +0, AL C, LV 3

Lasso. DC 15 DEX or target trapped in lasso. DC 15 STR on turn to break free.

Back to Hell. In place of its attack, folds space and time, transporting itself and a lassoed creature within close range to its home realm, inside the palace of the devil lord who sent it.

Mount. The cowboy’s mount is similar to a Nightmare.

Variations

A cowboy’s home realm impacts its abilities:

1. Iron. AC becomes 18.
2. Gold/Greed. Near, up to four creatures, DC 12 CHA or lose turn, fascinated, 1d4 rounds.
3. Fire. Ignite a building within near. Can be put out with two water buckets by one action by one person. But each round it doubles in size: 2 people/actions, then 4, 8, 16 and so on.
4. Ice. Choose a target within near. DC 12 DEX or target cannot move 1d4 rounds.
5. Lava. Create a close-sized pool of lava, DC 12 DEX or 1d6 damage per round to anyone standing in it. Usually placed to herd quarry.
6. Acid. As Lava, but Acid.
7. Swamp: Stench. Living creatures that enter within near for the first time: DC 12 CON or DISADV on attacks and spellcasting for 5 rounds.
8. Stone. DC 12 CON or sword also petrifies.
9. Decay/disease. DC 12 CON or sword also causes disease where the victim loses 1 CON per day. Soul sent to devil’s realm upon death.

Goo Goo Dolls

Goo Goo Dolls have been uplifted to a form of sentience in several different ways. But their basic statistics are the same:

AC 12, HP 20, ATK 1 dagger +1 (1d4), MV near, S +0, D +1, C +2, I +1, W +1, Ch +3, AL C, LV 4

Charm. One humanoid target who can see the doll within near, DC 12 CHA or under the doll’s control for 1d4 days.

Possible Origins

1. A shoe cobbler in town started making these dolls as a side business. Unfortunately his workshop was near the town’s cemetery where a seemingly benign but very dark spirit was buried. A bit of its sentience seeped into several dolls. Most were stopped before they hurt anyone, but not all the Goo Goo Dolls have been found. Hopefully those were never corrupted.
2. A wizard wanted a way to assassinate a rival. He did so in the most insidious way. He arranged for his rival’s son to see the dolls in a shop and be charmed by them so the rival would buy one of the dolls. Once in the rival’s house, it awoke at night and took out the rival, then lost its enchantment. The other dolls may still be active and without new orders…
3. An evil entity was summoned by an enclave of wizards. (“For research.” “We can control it.”) And they did control it then banish it back to its home realm when they were done, mostly. But a small bit of its essence escaped and found a child’s doll under a guest bed left behind after a visit to the tower. It is waiting, growing in power by seeping magical residue from the artifacts and spells cast there.
4. A necromancer couldn’t bear the accidental death of his child. Because the body was too mangled, through an intermediary he hired the best tailor in a nearby city to construct a doll in his child’s likeness. The necromancer was able to bring back his child’s spirit and channel it into the doll. But he had no friends. So the necromancer repeated this process for several other children who died tragically. Some aren’t the best influence on the others…