Blight Belchers
by Bruce HeardThe Heavy Belcher: This is the one
that is mentioned in Champions of Mystara. A belcher consists of a
heavy metal rod resting on a swivel so the clerics can easily point
them at a target. The rod is gold-plated and engraved with clerical
runes on its surface. The heavy belcher has a permanent power that
functions once per day (or once per period of 24 hours outside
Mystara). In order to discharge the belcher's power, a priest of
Vanya needs to utter a short prayer. (Need to check the description
of the disintegrate spell for some tweaks).
The Light Belcher: Although it looks a lot like its heavier
version, it is silver plated and works very differently. As with
the heavier version, the light belcher requires a short prayer to
activate its power. It has a maximum of 12 charges which can be
recharged, usually before leaving on a mission. If all twelve
charges have been fired, the silver plating tarnishes, blisters,
and flakes away as the rod itself begins to rust. After a few
hours, the rod disintegrates into a pile of rust powder.
The light belcher affects living tissue and organic material. When
discharged a faint aura of greyish darkness materialises a few feet
in front of the magical rod, extending to the target, causing
anything within the aura to warp, wither, and possibly die. The
aura vanishes almost as soon as it appears, except for an odious,
raspy hiss that lingers on for a moment longer.
The light belcher has two different modes of operation depending on
the cleric's prayer. The first is called the "Holy Glaive" and the
other the "Shield of Death". As their names imply, they have
specific uses on a battlefield.
The glaive enables the belcher's magic to shoot forth as far as
120' away; no attack roll is needed. The grey aura is no more than
a foot wide and tapers off at its end. The cleric must define this
target in the prayer used to discharge the belcher. The cleric
needs to have a clear line of sight to this target. The glaive
inflicts 8d6 points of withering damage. The victim gets a saving
throw vs. spells for half-damage (Dex. bonuses apply). If the
saving throw succeeds, the aura causes no further damage. If the
save fails, one part of the victim's body is severely scarred or
withers away entirely. Roll 2d6 -- 2: head (scars halve Charisma),
3-6: an arm/shoulder or a wing (destroyed), 7-11: a leg
(destroyed), 12: chest (scars; internal damage halves
Constitution). Specific withering damage requires a heal spell for
the chest or the head, or a regeneration spell for a destroyed
limb. Rolling a critical failure (a 1 on a d20) on the save means
the victim dies as the aura consumes an essential portion of its
body. Note that no one else but the target is affected when using
the Holy Glaive.
The Shield of Death instead covers a cone-shaped area of effect,
60' long and 30' wide at its further point. All creatures in the
cone automatically suffer 4d6 points of damage from the aura. A
saving throw vs. spell halves the damage; failure does not cause
any other specific damage.
In either attack form, organic material gets a saving throw vs.
spells. If it fails, the portion of the material warps and withers,
including the point of impact and all organic material within a
foot of the aura. So a direct hit on a ship's hull would cause a
three-foot-wide gap (or as much as 33' if a cone was used). The
withering aura effectively goes through intervening obstacles,
until it reaches the target defined in the prayer. If the target is
beyond range, the aura extends to its maximum range and ends
there.
Undead creatures are immune to the light belcher, as are
non-organic materials -- essentially metals and minerals and all
constructs made from these materials. So for example, an iron golem
is immune, but not a flesh- golem. A shambling mound is at risk,
but not an earth elemental. Light belchers cannot be used against a
fortress's walls but could warp the wood in a drawbridge.
Since there are different types of blight belchers, I would assume
that one out of four belchers is a heavy, disintegrating version.