Wraiths

A single stone out of place is all it takes. A tendril of darkness will worm it’s way in, and coil itself around the corpse like a lover. Such a tether denies the spirit rest. Beneath the barrows, they forget who they were. The honest mistake of a twisted stone becomes a deliberate betrayal.

Draped in their funeral panoply they emerge under cover of night - seeking those who denied them rest. Sunlight banishes them to their tomb - and opening that to the sky would destroy them utterly.

They are careful to never be seen emerging - and to open all of the barrows is sure to invite more restless dead.

Those they slay are bound to them as thralls, and will rise with them every night - a poor imitation of what they were promised in death.

HD 2* / AC as Unarmoured / Damage as Weapon, applied to Constitution.

*Incorporeal - Cannot be harmed bar by Silver Weapons (Quadruple price, -1 to hit corporeal foes) and Magic.

A single stone out of place is all it takes. A tendril of darkness worms it’s way in, and coils itself around the corpse. Like a lover. Such a tether denies the spirit rest. Beneath the barrows, they forget who they were. The mistake of a twisted stone becomes a betrayal.

In their funeral panoply they emerge - seeking those who denied them rest. Sunlight banishes them to their tomb - and opening that to the sky would destroy them utterly.

They are careful to never be seen emerging. Opening all of the barrows is sure to invite more restless dead.

Those they slay are bound to them as thralls, and will rise with them every night - a poor imitation of what they were promised in death.

HD 2* / AC as Unarmoured / Damage as Weapon, applied to Constitution.

*Incorporeal - Cannot be harmed bar by Silver Weapons (Quadruple price, -1 to hit corporeal foes) and Magic.

Expanded, revised & collected:

US itch

Giants

The only art left to the giants is self mutilation.

The ruins they haunt are filled with blacksmiths, poets and sculptors, trapped in bronze cages. All eventually starve.

HD 10 / AC as Unarmoured / Damage 2d6

Expanded, revised & collected:

US itch

Orcs

There is never an orc.
There are always orcs.

Within the belly of each is a burning nugget of iron. Carve off a limb and embed a slug of iron. Wait a week as muscle forms, cramping in agony around a splinter of white-hot pain.

Their black blood ruins metal, corroding it beyond repair. Arms and armour used against them will be useless in 3 days.

Left in the Sun, they die in hours.

At night they slink from the mountains for meat and metal.

HD 1 / AC as Armour / Damage as Weapon

Expanded, revised & collected:

US itch

Druids

our mouths are full of soil
hands beneath these hills
grasping flint and barrow
worm-sinews

road-breaker
fort-burner
legate-eater

the woods are deeper than
maps and dreams and empires

HD 2 / AC as Unarmoured / Normal Damage - 1 Spell from Vivimancy or Cunning Craft

Spell schools from ‘Wonder & Wickedness’ and ‘Marvels & Malisons’ respectively.

Expanded, revised & collected:

US itch

Minotaur

To make a minotaur, start with clay. Form a pot in the shape of the head of a bull. The mouth must be wide enough to scrape the temples as it is pushed over the head.

Once donned, the wearer cannot eat. Their moans of hunger will echo through the pot, distorted into braying and roars. As they grow more emaciated, the remaining flesh becomes harder, turning all but the surest blows. They will be able to tear men in half.

They cannot see through the pot, and so swing their clay heads left to right, listening for you.

Now loose them into your labyrinth to stumble and squat and hunt in the dark.

This is one of the paths a man could walk to leave mortality behind.

HD 4* / AC as Unarmoured / Damage with Advantage

*Supernatural HP

Expanded, revised & collected:

US itch

A Weapon is not a Tool

fuckin about with a heavily houseruled OD&D for no particular reason.
No thieves, no clerics, magic users powered by Wonder and Wickedness
the issue is this leaves only 2 classes, and only 1 getting unique stuff on a per character basis.
so - give Fighters a reason to not just wear Plate:

• Fighters wearing no armour add 4 to their saving throw rolls vs Wand/Ray & Breath Weapons
• Fighters wearing Leather/Light armour add 2 to their saving throw rolls vs Wand/Ray & Breath Weapons
• Fighters wearing Plate/Heavy armour subtract 2 from their saving throw rolls vs Wand/Ray & Breath Weapons

and then give them choices to make with weapons - obviously, this doesn’t have to be mechanical, but i think it helps some players. they’re all meant to be broadly comparable and useful in different situations.

All weapons deal 1d6 damage - light weapons with disadvantage, heavy weapons with advantage.

• Battle-Axe - Medium - May sacrifice 3 damage from an attack to attempt a weapon/shield strip. Roll a second attack - if successful, a weapon or shield can be ripped from the grip of the opponent.
• Club - Light - Forgo damage to attempt to stun - after a successful attack, target attempts to save vs paralysis - failure results in them losing their combat round. Further strikes against them are at +2.
• Crossbow*- Medium - Ignores armour, 1 round reload.
• Dagger - Light -Throwable, usable in grapple situation.
• Flail - Medium - Ignores shields.
• Greatsword - Heavy - Upon a killing blow, the wielder can roll another attack. This effect can be triggered multiple times.
• Hand-Axe - Light - Throwable. If 4+ damage is dealt, the Hand-axe bounces, ‘attacking’ again.
• Polearm*† - Heavy - Grant a nominated adjacent ally -2 AC.
• Poleaxe* - Heavy - AC of targets treated as 7 when attacked.
• Javelin - Medium - Throwable.
• Longbow* - Medium - +1 to hit per round spent aiming.
• Mace - Medium - Increases AC of those struck by 1 to a maximum of 7.
• Quarterstaff* - Light - Opponents must save vs Breath Weapon to approach, failure resulting in an automatic hit with this weapon.
• Shortbow* - Medium - Can split move and fire (i.e. move fire move).
• Shortsword - Light - Riposte twice.
• Sling - Light - Can be used to launch grenades.
• Spear† - Medium - Wielder may choose hold their attack until someone tries to approach them - they then roll an attack first.
• Sword - Medium - Riposte once.
• Two-Handed Axe* - Heavy - If a 6 is rolled for damage, roll another d6 and add the result. This effect can be triggered multiple times. Increase the wielders AC by +1.
• Warhammer* - Heavy - Those struck are thrown backwards if unable to make a save vs paralysis. Use the damage rolled to determine distance minus the HD of the creature struck.

† denotes a weapon with reach, being able to strike from behind another

* denotes weapons requiring two hands

Riposte: Attacks against the wielder which score below 7 (before AC is applied) result in the wielder being able to attempt a counter-attack, resolved normally.