The Rocks on the Other Side Book of Beasts

By J Alan Erwine

The core rulebook for the Rocks on the Other Side RPG introduced you to a few beasts that you could use in your game. The Rocks on the Other Side Book of Beasts gives you nearly 70 beasts that you can use in your game. Included in this book are the beasts from the original rules, plus many many more. You now have all kinds of mutated animals, plants, and monsters that you can challenge your players with. Sentient molds, undead, giant cockroaches, mutated ants, twisted trees, intellifungus...these are just some of the challenges for your players. Open the book, and find all kinds of ways to terrify their characters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nomadic Delirium Press
• Release date: Jul 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215091449

J Alan Erwine

J Erwine was born Oct. 15, 1969 in Akron, Ohio. Early in his life he was exposed to science, and specifically astronomy. From there on, J's passion turned to science fiction, a passion that's never died. Due to family issues, J eventually found himself in Denver, Colorado, where he still lives (well, right outside now.) From the time he could put subject and predicate together on paper, J has been writing stories. None of those early stories exist anymore (thankfully), but that passion for writing has never waned. After several years of rejection, the story Trek for Life was eventually sold to ProMart Writing Lab editor James Baker. It wasn't Asimov's, but it was a start. Since that time J has sold more than forty short stories to various small press publishers. In addition ProMart also published a short story collection of J's entitled Lowering One's Self Before Fate, and other stories, which is still available. ProMart also published a novel from J entitled The Opium of the People, which sold a few copies before going out of print. The relevance of the novel after the events of September 11th caused J to self-publish the novel, as he felt the story had a lot to say in the new reality we now find ourselves living in. Now, this same book has been re-released by Nomadic Delirium Press. Eventually J would become an editor with ProMart. Then, after the untimely death of ProMart editor James Baker, J would move on to ProMart's successor Sam's Dot Publishing. J also spends most of his time working as a freelance writer and editor. J's novel was voted a top ten finisher in the 2003 annual Preditors & Editors contest, and his short story The Galton Principle won a ProMart contest for best story over 5,000 words. In addition, a number of his stories have been voted "best of" in various issue of The Martian Wave and The Fifth DI… and have been included in Wondrous Web Worlds Vols. 2, 3, 4, and 6. In 2009, the Ephemeris Role Playing Game was released. J is the co-creator of this game, and has written numerous supplements for the game. J has now sold three novels and four short story collections, all of which are still available from various sources, including Smashwords. J currently lives with his amazing wife, three wonderful children, three cats, and a very quiet turtle.

Book preview

The Rocks on the Other Side Book of Beasts

A Rocks on the Other Side RPG Supplement

By J Alan Erwine

Published by Nomadic Delirium Press at Smashwords

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Copyright 2023 Nomadic Delirium Press

http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, website, broadcast, etc.

Cover Illustrations by Alexis Erwine

Nomadic Delirium Press

Aurora, Colorado

INTRODUCTION:

The Rocks on the Other Side Book of Beasts features all of the beasts that were first introduced in the core rulebook, as well as beasts that have been introduced in adventures that have been produced so far. In addition, numerous new beasts have been added to the collection, beasts that should terrorize characters of all levels.

You may note that a few of the stats have changed for some of the beasts that were introduced before this supplement. This book should be considered the accurate stats for every beast in the game so far.

Keep in mind that many of these creatures are mutations of normal creatures, and as such, they may not look exactly like the normal creature. They could have extra legs, antennae, or whatever other bizarre mutations you might want to add. Please feel free to be creative, and scare the heck out of your players!

EXPLANATION OF TERMS:

Within each creature listing are several abbreviations. This section gives you an explanation of those terms. Many are similar to the abilities that a character might possess, so complete explanations are not given.

INT: Intelligence

CS: Common Sense

CHA: Charisma

STR: Strength

AGIL: Agility

END: Endurance

AB: Total Attack Bonus

DB: Total Defense Bonus

Health: The amount of damage a creature can take before it dies.

Type of Att: The preferred method of attack a creature will use in combat. Sometimes there will be several listings in this category, as creatures might have a variety of methods of attack.

Damage: The number and type of dice rolled for each attack to determine the damage inflicted by a successful attack.

Skills: This lists the skill points the creature has in a variety of different skills. These numbers have already been modified by the creature's attributes, so the game master does not need to worry about doing this.

Special Abilities: This section will list any special abilities, or special attacks, or defense forms that a creature might have.

Experience: This part of the listing tells you how much experience is awarded for defeating the creature.

Following each beast’s listing is a brief description of the creature, which can include its physical attributes, its way of thinking, where it might be found, how it might fight, and anything else that is especially important for that particular creature.

Important note: During Spring, all animals receive a +3 attack bonus. This includes both normal and mutated animals.

ANIMAL, MUTATED

INT: -2

CS: -2

CHA: -4

STR: +2

AGIL: no change

END: +2

AB: +1, and any strength change needs to be factored in

DB: +2

Health: endurance change needs to be factored in

Type of Att: no change

Damage: needs to be adjusted based on new strength score

Skills: need to be adjusted for changes in attribute scores

Special Abilities: Contamination

Experience: 50% higher

Description: This isn’t an actual creature that can be encountered. Instead, this is a template that can be applied to any normal animal. The animal’s attribute scores are adjusted based on the above numbers. Because they’re mutated, they receive an additional +1 attack bonus, and a +2 defense bonus. In addition, any attack by these animals that hits needs to be considered a mild radiation exposure. Otherwise, the animal’s attacks and defenses are the same as a non-mutated animal, but bonuses need to be adjusted based on the new beast’s attribute scores.

ANT, GIANT

INT: 6

CS: 14

CHA: 10

STR: 22

AGIL: 12

END: 22

AB: +12 (+3 str, +1 mutation, +8 hand to hand combat bonus)

DB: +10 (+2 mutation, +2 exoskeleton, +6 level)

Health: 3d8+9

Type of Att: Bite

Damage: 1d8+3

Skills: Appraise 6, Balance 18, Climb 16, Concentration 11, Direction Sense 14, Hand to Hand Combat 8, Hide 7, Intimidate 4, Search 16, Sense Motive 4, Stealth 3, Tracking 17

Special Abilities: Hive mind, Contamination, Continue to fight

Experience: 550

Description: A giant ant is a three foot long version of its lesser cousin. However, most normal ants will tend to be non-combatant, this is not true of giant ants. These creatures are vicious, and they will almost always attack, although fire can usually deter an attack.

Giant ants are rarely found alone. They are almost always in groups of four or more. The closer they are to their anthill; the more ants will be encountered. Giant ants have very powerful senses, and they can almost always tell when others are about. For this reason, it is virtually impossible to surprise the ants.

During combat, giant ants will attempt to bite their victims, with as many ants as possible focusing on one victim, doing everything they can to overpower the enemy. If a giant ant bites for the maximum amount of damage (11 points), they have grabbed the character with their mandibles, and they do an additional 1d12 points of crushing damage, and since they will still be holding their victim when the next round of combat starts, the victim must attempt to grapple their way out of the ant’s hold, or they suffer another 1d12 damage each round until they free themselves, they die, or the ant dies.

The ants have a very strong exoskeleton which