D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: Ides

Continuing my syncretism of the Roman and Norse myths, I wanted something that covered several different concepts. Possibly one of the recognizable beings from Norse mythology are the Valkeries. These warrior women come down from Valhalla and take the honored dead back to Odin's hall to train for the final battle of Ragnarök.  They are central to Wagner's Ring Opera and have even made their way in places like the Marvel movies, Xena, and Charmed. But they are not particularly Roman.

Scandinavian women had far more freedoms than Roman women, who could not even leave their homes unescorted. So how do these fierce women warriors get reclassified in my Black Forest mythology? By combining similar creatures from both Roman and Germanic myths.

One of the first things that struck me when I first read the Deities & Demigods was how similar many creatures were across the myths and times. For example, take the Norse Valkeries and the Finnish Air Maidens.  One of the things I looked into was were they related. Rereading the Kalevala leads me to believe there is a connection, that the Air Maidens were the Valkeries for the Finns and Lapps. I also investigated the notion of the anthropomorphic representations of the various Scandinavian countries, ie Lady of the Mountains (Iceland). Ola Nordmann (Norway), Holger the Dane (Denmark), and Mother Svea (Sweden). This anthropomorphism reminds me of the Genus Loci we also see in Greek and Roman myths. 

Romans had psychopomps, which is the type of gods/goddess the Valkeries were. These include Hermes/Mercury, Charon, and even Hecate. But I have other plans for these sorts of creatures. Instead I want to look to other spirits that exist between the realms of mortals and gods. The Roman Nymphs and the Germanic Idis. 

These creatures are often depicted as lesser Goddesses. Linguistics have tried tying idis/ides to Deus for example with no real success. Nymphs are also depicted as the offspring of some god, goddess, or titan. Ides have also been described as the offspring of or the mothers of the jötunn.

There is just enough blurring of lines here between all of these creatures that they could, through many nights of campfire tales and bedtime stories, to get them to blend into one creature.

The Ides of these myths are Demigoddesses. Their task is to protect and guide heroes under the will of Unser Vater. They combine aspects of the nymphs, Idis, Valkeries and other local female divinities. 

IDES (Demi-Goddess of Protection and War)
Demigoddess

ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 18" / 36" (with winged steed)
HIT POINTS: 90
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8/1d8 (sword)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Healing touch, Radiance
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Radiant aura
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%

SIZE: M (5'10")
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral (Good)
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All
SYMBOL: Glowing Sword
PLANE: Erde (Prime Material)

CLERIC/DRUID: 8th Level Cleric
FIGHTER: 10th Level Paladin
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 15 I:15 W: 16 D: 18 C: 18 CH: 20

Ides appear as warrior women in the peak of health. Looking upon them, they radiate power, strength, and divinity. There is no doubt of their divine lineage. Some sages claim they are the spirits of the brave who died in battle; others say they are the offspring of Jäger or Jägerin. Others still claim they are the spirits of the land, given life and purpose by the humans and gods around them.

The ides are good fighters who can attack twice per round with their long swords. Their radiant aura (which is why men say they are the daughters of Jäger) does damage to undead creatures and constructs at the rate of 1d8 per round to any within 30 ft. 

They are also healers, able to cast spells as an 8th-level cleric and they have the lay on hands abilities. They can heal with a touch for 2d6 hp of damage three (3) times per day. 

Their task is to aid heroes. They can help them in battles or heal them. The hero must enter the area where the ides resides. Each one is tied to a particular area that usually (but not always) is related to some natural feature of the land. So a valley, or the area near a lake. The ides also bring the spirits of the dead back to Himmel. It is rumored that an ides will help a brave warrior three times in their lifetime. When the third time is complete the next time they see the ides will be when they are taken to Himmel. 

They are nominally under the control of Unser Vater, but they can be summoned by the Goddesses Siege and Glücke. Under times of war, they can also be called by Jägerin.

When summoned by Jägerin, they become known as Die Kriegerin, the Goddess of War. At this time they can leave their areas and ride off on winged steeds to join in whatever battle they are needed. 

Links

• One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• The Monsters
• My overview and rules for these postings
• Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar
• Alp
• Die Hüne
• Jötunar
• The Gods
• Unser Vater, Father of the Gods
• Sisters of the Dawn, Liebhaberin and Ôstara
• The Mother Goddesses Herde Oberin, Mutter Natur, and Großmutter
• The Divine Twins
• Hüne Vater, Großvater, and Großmutter

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: Clash of the Titans, Die Hüne

One of the many features this mythology shares with the Greek, Roman, Norse, and many, many other myths across the world is the idea of the Chaoskampf. This is idea that the gods (representing order) are a younger generation to the Titans or Giants that represent chaos. It is through this battle that order is brought to the universe. It is a deeply held idea and can be found in many mythologies in the world. It even makes it way into various D&D-related products.

I am not here to debate such profound insights. I am here to say how this manifests within my syncretized mythos. 

Die Hüne

Die Hüne are the Titans and the Giants of both myths.  Primordial beings of great power that the gods defeated but still trouble them.  In this myth, the Gods fought Die Hüne and brought order out of chaos. These are not just giants and titans. These creatures are the demons of this mythology.  They are beings of primordial chaos. 

In my mind, they combine giant, elemental, and demon. The Gigantes of Greek myth (not AD&D) were more monstrous creatures.  The jötunn of Norse myth likewise were more demonic. As time passes, these titans and jötunn become more human-looking until we have something like the giants of D&D. 

My goal with Die Hüne is to return to those older, more monstrous giants. Given that this mythology is half-Roman, these people will have been familiar with some of the tales of Goliath, the Anakim, and others from Jewish mythology.  So maybe some of those tales entered into their thinking.

For these monsters I can use my write-ups for the Jötunn and my classifications of Die Hüne from previous posts.

Hüne Vater

Hüne Vater is the father of the current generation of the Gods. He killed his father and was, in turn defeated by his own son. He is the leader of Die Hüne. Before his defeat, he cursed the gods and all humankind with death. In Proto-Indo-European myths, he is the Archdemon.  He sits imprisoned in exile. 

This is a complex figure. He combines aspects of both the Roman Saturn and the Norse Surtr. He is the leader of the Primordial Chaos beings. If anything, he represents the future which is death. Surtr plays an important role in the Norse Ragnarök. Saturn/Chronus is often depicted as an old man with a scythe or sickle, an image that gives us both the anthropomorphized Father Time and Death. This why my Hüne Vater curses gods and mankind alike with old age and death. The gods have their apples to protect them. 

He is a destroyer. He killed his own father (Großvater) and impregnates his mother (Großmutter) to bring about the Hüne and the new generation of gods. He would also have aspects of Satan and Angra Mainyu. He is chaos, fire, and destruction. He wants nothing more than to destroy everything.

HÜNE VATER (Primordial Titan)
Intermediate God

ARMOR CLASS: -7
MOVE: 36"
HIT POINTS: 300
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d10/2d10 
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Aura of the Inferno
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Blinding Defense
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%

SIZE: L (25")
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Any Evil
SYMBOL: An open flame
PLANE: Hölle

CLERIC/DRUID: 5th level Druid
FIGHTER: 15th level Fighter (Barbarian)
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 25 I: 14 W: 15 D: 18 C: 25 CH: 10

Hüne Vater is the father of the Hüne (Titans) and the first generation of Gods. He is chaos incarnate and is the element of fire. He lives only to destroy everything around him. He was defeated by the gods under the leadership of Unser Vater.  He is imprisoned in Hölle where he is guarded by the gods Hüter (Protector of the Dead) and Helga (The Ghost Queen), and a myriad of monsters. 

It is said that Hüne Vater created the sky and the Earth out of his parents, but this was not an intentional act of creation but one that happened due to his own destructive influences. Later Unser Vater would bring order to the universe.

If free from his prison, he can attack with two massive fists. He is surrounded by an aura of flame that can do 2d8 hp of damage to anyone within 60' of him.  Once every three turns, he can also fly into a berserker-like rage and make two additional attacks. 

Hüne Vater is not worshipped in the traditional sense. Berserkers call on him for their murderous rampage. He can be the patron for Chaotic Evil Warlocks. These warlocks are given access to any fire-based druid spell.

Großvater & Großmutter

Großvater and Großmutter are the names given to the quasi-anthropomorphic manifestation of the Father Sky and Mother Earth of the Die Hüne (the Titans/Jötunn).  Großvater was destroyed by his son Vater Hüne to make the night sky. Großmutter never fully recovered from her attack by Vater Hüne and is now still, but not dead. She ceded most of her power to her daughter Mutter Natur.

Links

• One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• The Monsters
• My overview and rules for these postings
• Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar
• Alp
• Die Hüne
• Jötunar
• The Gods
• Unser Vater, Father of the Gods
• Sisters of the Dawn, Liebhaberin and Ôstara
• The Mother Goddesses Herde Oberin, Mutter Natur, and Großmutter
• The Divine Twins

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: The Divine Twins

 This is really a fabulous October. We have five weekends, a full moon near Halloween, a Friday the Thirteenth (today) AND a total Solar Eclipse in some parts of the country tomorrow.  In celebration of tomorrow's solar/lunar event, I thought it would be good to discuss my God of the Sun and Goddess of the Moon, as well as other Divine Twins.

The Divine Twins in the Black Forest Mythos

The motif of the Divine Twins is one that comes up again and again in most religions and myths. Usually they are the children of the main sky God, and they serve complimentary functions. Other twins are heroes who have many adventures with the gods.

Jäger and Jägerin

These gods are my syncretized versions of the Roman Apollo and Diana with the Norse Freyr and Freyja. They are the gods of the Sun and Moon respectively. Their names mean "Hunters" to help stress the importance that hunting, more than war, is to these people. They also see these gods as Nature gods, so sometimes they are depicted with stag horns.  Curious note. The Norse and Germanic peoples of this time measured time in "Nights" not days. So these combined gods are both the stewards of time.

When needed, Jägerin can don the armor of war and gather Die Kriegerin, the Goddesses of war (much like the Valkyries).  They are also the patrons of the arts bringing music and poetry to the people. 

When the moon eclipses the sun, it is said that Jägerin has put up her shield to protect her and her brother in battle. 

JÄGER (God of the Sun, Music, Hunting)
Intermediate God

ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 18" / 36"
HIT POINTS: 300
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8/2d8/2d8 + Fire
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Sunbolt
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Firey Aura
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%

SIZE: M (6' 2")
ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (mostly Good)
SYMBOL: Sun Disc or Bow
PLANE: Himmel

CLERIC/DRUID: 10th Level Druid
FIGHTER: 20th Level Fighter
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 20 I:18 W: 18 D: 20 C: 20 CH:20

Jäger is the god of the Sun but is not the sun. He rides his chariot across the sky, searching for the best game to hunt. His tales of his hunting prowess are matched only by tales of his amorous exploits. He is married to Liebhaberin, but both gods are free to choose other lovers as they see fit. He is the model of youth in his prime.

As the god of the sun he can cast any light, fire, or sun-based spell as a 10th-level spell caster and spells he can cast as a 10th-level Druid. His main weapon is his bow. He can fire three arrows per round each hitting a different target. If he chooses, each (or any) arrow can burst into flame for an additional 1d8 points of damage. Additionally he can fire a Sunbolt for 1d10 points of damage. He can also wreathe himself in the Aura of the Sun. This causes Blindness to any that look at him and 1d8 hp of damage to any with 5' of him every round.

He is often accompanied by a group of deathless hunters. These are men who died while hunting or who wished not to move on to their afterlife after death. They hunt in ghostly processions across the land. Anytime a person sees a falling star, they know a new hunter has joined Jäger's ghostly party. Each acts as 10th level fighter and are similar to spectres.

Additionally, he is the god, or rather patron of, music. When not hunting, he can be found singing or playing an instrument.

Animal: The hunting dog or stag
Rainment: (Head) a solar disc or a crown of antlers (Body) Simple hunting garments
Color(s): Yellow, Gold
Holy Days: Every day at sunrise and noon
Sacrifices: Animal sacrifice at sunset. Animals are then eaten by congregants.
Place of Worship: Any open space.

JÄGERIN (Goddess of the Moon, Poetry, Hunting, War)
Intermediate Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 18" / 36"
HIT POINTS: 300
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8/2d8/2d8 + Chill
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Moonbow
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Aura of Madness
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%

SIZE: M (6' 1")
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (mostly Good)
SYMBOL: Moon disc or Bow
PLANE: Himmel

CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: 20th Level Fighter
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: 10th Level Witch
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 20 I:18 W: 18 D: 20 C: 20 CH:20

Jägerin is the Goddess of Moon, hunting, poetry, and war. she drives her chariot across the sky as does her brother. On the days of the Solar eclipse she is holding up her shield to protect him. On days of the Lunar eclipse he is providing her protection.

Like her twin brother, Jägerin can attack with a bow. Her arrows do 2d8 and can also add an extra 1d8 hp of chill damage. She can surround herself with an Aura of Madness, any who come within 10' of her will attack anyone else but her.  She can cast any spell relating to night or the moon as a caster of the 10th level and as a 10th-level Witch.

Jägerin also has a retinue of hunters with her. These wild women will run through the forest with her in a blood lust for the hunt. They are not dead, but they are no longer alive either. Each acts as a 7th-level fighter and can transform into an animal. Wolves are most common. When needed though, she can call on her Hunt and don the armor of war. These wild women are then known as Die Kriegerin, or the Goddesses of War.

Like her brother, Jägerin is also the patroness of the arts, in this case poetry. She is equally as lascivious as her brother. One tale is told how she boasted she could hunt and kill as many animals as a group of men hunting in the wood. The all agreed to set out in the morning to hunt and return by night fall. Jägerin spent the night having sex with all the hunters and making them too tired to hunt the next day. She was able to go to the wood and hunt at her leisure, easily beating all of them.

Animal: The hunting dog or stag
Rainment: (Head) a moon disc or a crown of antlers (Body) Simple hunting garments
Color(s): Yellow, Gold
Holy Days: Every moonrise
Sacrifices: Animal sacrifice after sunset. Animals are then eaten by congregants.
Place of Worship: Any open space.

Siege and Glücke

These are the Goddesses of Victory and Luck, respectively. 

SIEGE and GLÜCKE (Goddess of Victory and Luck)
Lesser Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 18" / 36"
HIT POINTS: 150
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8/1d8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Change Outcome
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Change Outcome
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%

SIZE: M (6' 0" and 5'19)
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral (Siege) and Chaotic Neutral (Glücke)
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All
SYMBOL: Spear
PLANE: Himmel

CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: 10th Level Fighter (Siege)
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: 10th Level Thief (Glücke)
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 16 I:18 W: 18 D: 20 C: 18 CH:18

These goddess are not worshipped in the strictest sense, but are called on often enough to grant favors to mortals. Siege is the Goddess of Victory; she represents success through skill and determination. Glücke is the Goddess of Luck; she represents success through luck and happenstance. 

Both Goddess can offer a boon to a mortal in the form of gift of Success. Mortal with this gift can re-roll any missed attack, ability check or saving throw and take the better of the two rolls. Most mortal only get this gift once in their lives. Others, such as the hero twins Magni and Muthi, get this boon often. 

Magni and Muthi

Magni and Muth are the Demigod hero twins of this myth. They are two fun and adventure-loving brothers whose tales are often used to teach moral lessons but also entertain. They typically begin with the brothers getting kicked out of their home because their mother (usually described as a hideously ugly witch but also described as the best cook in the world) is tired of them breaking things. The brothers devise a scheme to either get rich, get drunk, or find some maiden to bed. They often run afoul of some person in power, a barkeep, angry husband, father, and/or brothers. The more they try to solve their problems, the more (comical) trouble they get into. Magni is the Strongest Man alive, and there is nothing he can't lift or break. Muthi is the Bravest Warrior known, and he fears nothing, no man, demon, or god. Their tales will sometimes emphasize how much Magni is afraid of something or how something is too heavy for Muthi.

In the end, the brothers usually come out ahead. They get the money, the ale, and the girls and will be seen headed home, where their mother has made them a fantastic meal. They are mischievous but rarely evil. They only kill monsters and prefer to make fools out of human or divine opponents. 

It is said they are deeply in love with Siege and Glücke, but can't make up their minds about who is in love with whom.  

The only time the brothers fight each other is when they have their eyes on the same woman. And in these tales, the moral is always the same. While fighting each other, they lose the girl to someone else, and they return home to a scolding by their mother.

MAGNI and MUTHI
Demigods

ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 12" 
HIT POINTS: 110 (Magni), 120 (Muthi)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d10/1d10/1d10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil

SIZE: M (6' 1" Magni) (5' 11" Muthi)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: NA
SYMBOL: NA
PLANE: Erde (Earth)

CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: 18th Level Fighter (Barbarian)
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: 10th Level Thief
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
S: 25 (Magni) 18 (Muthi) I:10 W: 8 D: 18 C: 20 (Magni) 25 (Muthi) CH: 19

Magni and Muthi are twin brothers. They are not worshipped in the traditional sense but are demi-god heroes of these myths, and their stories are told to children (about how they fight monsters) to adults (how they stop evil people and their sexual exploits). 

Magni can add +7 to his to hit and damage rolls due to his strength. Muthi is unaffected by any sort of fear, mundane or magical. This also extends to giving him +3 against any save vs. magic.

Characters encountering Magni and Muthi will often find them "mid-scheme." That is whatever it was they were trying to do has already failed spectacularly, and now they are either running from the authorities or an angry husband/father/brother. 

--

Links

• One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• My overview and rules for these postings
• Unser Vater, Father of the Gods
• Sisters of the Dawn, Liebhaberin and Ôstara
• The Mother Goddesses Herde Oberin, Mutter Natur, and Großmutter

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: The Mother Goddesses Herde Oberin, Mutter Natur and Großmutter

Three more Goddesses today for my Black Forest Mythos. All are "mother" Goddesses and have quite a lot of control. Herde Oberin is the wife of Unser Vater and represents the home and hearth. She has aspects of Juno/Hera and Frigg as well as Hestia. Mutter Natur, or "Mother Nature" is the anthropomorphized Nature.  The last is Großmutter or "Grandmother", who is Gaia in the Greek myths. She is the mother of the Gods but is also the mother of many of the other creatures in these myths, including the Álfar.  

I am undecided whether Großmutter and Mutter Natur are not aspects of the same goddess. Often times you see gods and goddesses getting reduced as the pantheons age.  BUT also you see gods and goddesses splitting off.  In this case, I am keeping them separate for now but keeping in mind they might in fact be the same being.  Mutter Natur could be an aspect of Großmutter that is in an easier-to-understand concept for these people.

Herde Oberin

Herde Oberin is the wife of Unser Vater and one of the trinity of Goddesses which includes Liebhaberin the Maiden and Helga the Crone.  She represents the Mother aspect of the trinity and is the protector of the home and hearth and the family.  She is responsible for all things that happen within the home.  Unser Vater may be the chieftain of the gods, but in the home, her word is law. Spells and prayers to protect a home or children always invoke her name.

She combines aspects of Frigg/Frigga, Hera/Juno, and Hestia. She is not a jealous sort as is Hera/Juno because she is the regal queen who knows how to get what she wants/needs through her own power. 

HERDE OBERIN (Queen of the Gods)
Greater Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 1
MOVE: 12" 
HIT POINTS: 350
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3d8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Magic
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Commanding Presence
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%

SIZE: M (5' 6")
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (mostly Good)
SYMBOL: Distaff
PLANE: Himmel

CLERIC/DRUID: 20th level Cleric
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nile
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 15 I:20 W: 23 D: 20 C: 20 CH:25

Herde Oberin is the Queen of the Gods, wife to Unser Vater, and mother to many of the younger gods. She is the rule of the home and hearth where her word is law. She provides order and calmness to the gods and their dealings. She is the peacemaker between the gods, but they all fear her wrath. 

She prefers not to attack anyone, god or mortal, but when threatened, she can. She can cast any cleric spell at the 20th level of ability. She also wields a distaff that she can use to strike anyone for 3d7 hp of damage. Within her home on Himmel she also has a Commanding Presence. She can speak and any mortal who hears her will obey. Gods and other divine beings are allowed a saving throw. Undead, constructs and other creatures normally immune to the effects of mind-affecting magic are destroyed when she uses her commanding voice.  Likewise, she can use any Power Word spell once per day.

Herde Oberin is part of a Trinity of Goddess who see the well-being of mortals from birth to death. Liebhaberin the Maiden sees life begin, Herde Oberin the Mother sees life grow and flourish, and Helga the Crone sees life end and takes the souls beyond.  In this manner, they interact with the Fata Norne.

Animal: Dog or cat
Rainment: (Head) circlet or crown (Body) Simple garments
Color(s): White, 
Holy Days: Summer and Winter Solstices
Sacrifices: A small bit of food and drink left out at night
Place of Worship: The home

Mutter Natur

The Goddess of Nature and the Earth. She is the Mother of Ôstara, and she holds the same place in these myths as Demeter/Ceres. Likewise she has a mystery cult dedicated to her as Demeter did with the Eleusinian Mysteries. From the Germanic/Norse people she takes on aspects of Frigg (like Herde Oberin) but also of Woden/Odin do to her mystery cult. As Odin knew many secrets, so too does Mutter Natur. 

Mutter Natur is the goddess that druids would worship. Her mystery cult is comprised of a type of early European Celtic type of Druid adapted from the La Tène culture of Europe.

MUTTER NATUR (Goddess of Earth and Nature)
Greater Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 1
MOVE: 18" / 24"
HIT POINTS: 300
NO. OF ATTACKS: See below
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Blight/Bless
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Blight/Bless
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 60%

SIZE: M (6' 1")
ALIGNMENT: Neutral 
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (Farmers, Druids, Mystery Cultists)
SYMBOL: A circle
PLANE: Prime Material

CLERIC/DRUID: 25th level Druid
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 11 I:20 W: 24 D: 25 C: 20 CH:20

Mutter Natur is the Goddess of the Earth, Nature, and all growing things. If Herde Oberin is the Goddess of Domestic life then Mutter Natur is the Goddess of all things wild. She is the daughter of Großmutter and the mother of Ôstara. She waxes and wanes with the seasons. 

She does not attack, but she can summon any weather of her choosing to hinder or even destroy anyone that would cause her harm. This can include spells like Gust of Wind or Lightning Bolt. She can also cast spells as a Druid of the 25th level.  At her choosing, she can also have a continuous Blight or Bless aura about her that extends to 60'.

Mutter Natur has a mystery cult. This cult resembles the practice of Druids and Shamans. Here, great secrets are revealed to the members and only the members.  To divulge these secrets results in a loss of all status and power. Some even say that the Earth itself will open up and swallow anyone before they can reveal these secrets. To date no one knows what these secrets are outside of her cult and none within will risk her wrath.

Animal: All
Rainment: (Head) circlet of flowers in the spring, leaves in the fall (Body) Simple garments
Color(s): Green
Holy Days: Equinoxes
Sacrifices: Animal sacrifice at the Equinoxes. Animals are then eaten by congregants.
Place of Worship: Any open space

Großmutter

While she is called Grandmother, she is more appropriately the mother of the Gods,  Die Hüne, and many of the other creatures in this myth. She is equal to the Greek Gaia and the ancient Tiamat. Her brother/husband/lover Großvater is destroyed by their son Vater Hüne to make the night sky. Großvater is equal to Uranus/Ouranos in Greek and Roman myth and Ymir in Norse.

GROẞMUTTER (Goddess of Creation)

Intermediate Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: NA
MOVE: NA
HIT POINTS: Infinite
NO. OF ATTACKS: NA
DAMAGE/ATTACK: NA
SPECIAL ATTACKS: NA
SPECIAL DEFENSES: NA
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 100%

SIZE: Varies
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: None
SYMBOL: Infinity sign
PLANE: All

CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
S: - I: - W: - D: - C: - CH: - 

Großmutter is the creatrix goddess and has no physical form save for all the Earth people walk on. She can communicate to others via dreams or other sending. It is said she can talk directly to gods, but her voice would destroy any others that hear it.

It is believed that Mutter Natur may be her aspect in an anthropomorphic form, and this is one of the many secrets learned in her secret Mystery cult.

--

Links

• One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• My overview and rules for these postings
• Unser Vater, Father of the Gods
• Sisters of the Dawn, Liebhaberin and Ôstara

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: Sisters of the Dawn, Liebhaberin and Ôstara

Two sister goddesses today who might, in fact, be the same goddess depending on who you talk to and when you talk to them.  I'll detail that more below, but let's discuss them as two separate Goddesses for now.

These Goddesses cleave closer to their ancient roots than their Norse ones. In addition to Roman and Greek influences, these Goddesses can be traced back to their Mesopotamian antecedents, with Astartē, Ishtar, and even Isis as their inspiration. Primarily, this is due to the vital importance Spring has had throughout time to an agricultural society.

Ôstara

She is the goddess of spring, rebirth, and the dawn. She is the daughter of Mutter Natur and one of the gods that has retained her old name.  Her title is "Geliebte," which means "beloved." She is celebrated on the Spring Equinox when she rises with the dawn to wake up the world from its long winter slumber. She goes to the underworld in the Fall and world weeps and sleeps, but not before her bounty is brought into the world in form of her harvests.

Ôstara is one of the overtly Pagan goddesses in this pantheon. She retains much of her earlier character and strongly aligns with Persephone/Proserpina in the Spring and Dionysus/Bacchus in the Autumn. 

ÔSTARA (Goddess of Spring)
Intermediate Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 1 / -5
MOVE: 18" / 24"
HIT POINTS: 200
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d10/1d10 
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Radiance of Dawn
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Blinding Defense
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%

SIZE: M (5' 4")
ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (mostly Good)
SYMBOL: An egg or rabbit
PLANE: Himmel

CLERIC/DRUID: 15th level Druid
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: 7th level Bard
WITCH/WARLOCK: 8th level Witch
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 17 I:18 W: 18 D: 20 C: 20 CH:24

Ôstara is the Goddess of Spring and Rebirth. She is the maiden that heralds the dawn and new beginnings. She is a peaceful Goddess but terrible to her enemies. She always appears as a young woman wearing a garland of flowers and dressed in bright yellows and blues.

She can charm any animal as per the spell with no chance of saving throw, they will all do her bidding to defend her if she but asks, even to the death. Afterward, she will raise them back from the dead to perfect health and maximum hp. She can also raise dead on any mortal once per day.

She prefers not to attack, but if she is she can cast her Corona of Dawn once per day. This power blinds all within 100' of her and deals 6d6 fire damage to those within 30' of her. Any who make their saves take half damage.  This power also acts as a shield, providing her with -5 AC.  She can also strike with a beam of searing light for 1d10 points of damage twice per round. 

While she would rather not attack any living creature, she has no such qualms against the undead or demons.

She is the wife of Jäger and sister to Liebhaberin. She is honored by druids and witches who look to the return of spring.

Ôstara grows the Golden Apples of Immortality. Her sister then will give them to gods or mortals of her own choosing. 

Sphere of Control: Spring

Animal: Lambs, Rabbits
Rainment: (Head) Bare (Body) Simple white garments
Color(s): White, Green
Holy Days: Spring Equinox
Sacrifices: Burning incense and apples.
Place of Worship: Any open area, fields of grains

Liebhaberin

The goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. Where Ôstara brings life back to the land, Liebhaberin brings it to young lovers. She is the ever-young, ever-beautiful goddess of spring. She is the morning star seen after the Spring Equinox. She has aspects of Aphrodite/Venus and aspects of both Freya and Iðunn. She, along with Ôstara, keeps the Golden Apples that keep the Gods forever young and immortal. No human (likely rendered "No Man") may eat of them. (To further confuse the myths here I am going to say that because of the "No Man" statement, a woman may eat of these apples and give them to a man. That's how they explain away Adam and Eve.) 

Liebhaberin is also the patron goddess of all nymphs and dryads. Her retinue is occupied only by the most beautiful nymphs. 

LIEBHABERIN (Goddess of Beauty, Love, and Sexuality)
Intermediate God

ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 18"
HIT POINTS: 220
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Emotional damage
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Charming 
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Pact of the Beloved (see below)
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%

SIZE: M (5' 6")
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (mostly Good; lovers)
SYMBOL: The Morning Star
PLANE: Himmel

CLERIC/DRUID: 10th level Cleric
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 4th level Illusionist
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: 9th level Bard
WITCH/WARLOCK: 6th level Witch
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 16 I:16 W: 18 D: 18 C: 20 CH:25

Liebhaberin is the Goddess of Beauty, Love, and Sexuality. She is the ever-young maiden. While her sister Ôstara stirs life back into the Earth and nature, she does the same for lovers.

She can appear as whatever the person viewing her most desires and can charm any mortal with no save. 

Due to ancient pacts between the gods and all living things, no mortal or immortal that has ever been loved can bring her harm in any way. This includes direct attacks and even area-of-effect magics. Since everyone has been loved by someone at least at one point, this effectively makes her invulnerable. Undead, constructs, and mindless elementals are immune to this. Demons are also immune to this and are enraged by this.

Like her sister she is loathe to engage in violence. She can touch a person and they feel whatever emotion she chooses. Her tactic is often to calm an aggressor or make them fall in love with her or someone nearby. She can also cause jealousy and rage; a common tactic when she dealing with a number of hostile mortals. 

She keeps the Golden Apples of Immortality, which are hers to give to whoever she pleases. 

Many Gods, Goddesses, and mortals claim to be her lover, and this is all likely true, but she can't limit herself to just one lover.

Sphere of Control: Sex, love, beauty
Animal: Rabbit
Rainment: (Head) Bare (Body) Simple white garments or bare
Color(s): White, Red
Holy Days: Mornings, Weddings
Sacrifices: Libations
Place of Worship: Any area of natural beauty, the bedroom.

One Goddess or Two?

One of the crucial things to consider when making a new pantheon, even one with historical basis, is that gods are not compartmentalized easily. For example, Apollo is the God of music, archery, and the Sun. Pan is also the God of music. Hellios is also the God of the sun. This is because we are looking back at these myths through our times. Apollo rose and fell (but mostly rose) in importance over the centuries. This is even more true of the Egyptian myths. Gods rose, fell, were merged, split apart, and more.  

What does this have to do with these two?

Simple, these two goddesses could have been one goddess. They could have been aspects of the same goddess.  They could be sisters, mother and daughter, or something else. Gods can be a lot of things at the same time that mortals can't be.  I had considered making them Divine Twins, but that role is being served elsewhere.

So, where does that leave me? Simple I go back to my rules. I follow what would work best for an AD&D game. I will keep them separate for now, but knowing full well, they could be combined into one goddess as time goes on.

I like my gods to be messy and have some unnecessary overlap. 

Plane

Until I come up with something better, the Plane these Gods all live on is called Himmel, the German word for Heaven. 

Where is Himmel? Well if you ask the worshipers, they will look at you strangely and point up. Beacuse where else would it be? 

Consequently, the land of the dead and the place of evil is Hölle (Hell, but it also sounds like hole).

Where either of these is on the Great Wheel cosmology is anyone's guess. I am not sure yet myself. I *like* the great wheel, but I am not beholden to it. At least I don't think I need to be even if not using it violates my Rule #1.

Links

• One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• One Man's God series
• Deities & Demigods II: Part 1, Hecate (stat block construction)
• Monstrous Mondays: D&DGII The Monsters of the Black Forest Mythos
• My overview and rules for these postings
• Unser Vater, Father of the Gods

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: Unser Vater

Kicking off the first of my posts about the gods of the Black Forest Mythos. For more details on this project and the background on who these gods are, please see the links section below.

Unser Vater

Unser Vater ("Our Father") is the chieftain of the gods. He is the father figure in both a spiritual and literal sense. He is the sky god and it is possible that this syncretic Norse-Roman god has a bit of other gods in his mix, including various Celtic and maybe even Christian beliefs. But make no mistake here this is a Pagan god.

This figure, like the Jupiter and Thor he is syncretized from, is the god of the sky, storms, especially lighting, and he is the one who defeated the Hüne (giants/titans) in the battle of the gods. 

He is temperamental and reacts more often than acts.

UNSER VATER (Father of the Gods)
Greater God

ARMOR CLASS: -2
MOVE: 12"/24"
HIT POINTS: 400
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 6-72 (6d12) (Thunderbolt)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 80% (see below)

SIZE: M (6')
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All (mostly Good)
SYMBOL: Lightning bolt on a grey sky
PLANE: ??????

CLERIC/DRUID: 14th level druid
FIGHTER: 25th level fighter
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 10th level Illusionist 
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: 10th level Bard
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 25 I:16 W: 18 D: 20 C: 22 CH:25

Unser Vater, "Our Father," is the chieftain of the gods. He rules because he is strong and powerful.  He keeps Der Hüne at bay and protects those who pay him homage. He tries to be good and just, but he has a temper that can rage out of control.  He can usually be calmed by his wife, Herde Oberin.

This god appears as a tall, muscular man in his late middle age. He has grey-white hair and blue-grey eyes. He has a quick laugh and an even quicker temper. His appearance is that of a former warrior turned father figure.

He attacks with his thunderbolts, which he can hurl twice per round. He knows many of the secrets of magic and can also cast spells as a 14th-level druid and a 10th-level illusionist. No weapon or spell hurled through the air can harm or touch him. He is surrounded by a whirlwind that acts as a 15HD air elemental. He can summon up to 6 (1d4+2) additional 10HD air elementals at will. 

Unser Vater makes few demands on his worshipers other than to honor his name and remember that even in peace, war is always nearby. His followers are most often warriors, farmers in need of the rain he provides, and sailors. Heads of the household, male or female, invoke his name as their authority over others. Rangers and any who hunt giants are also his followers. They invoke his name on their hunts, and there is a 5% chance (10% if on his holy days/times) that he will offer a boon of +1 to hit until the next sundown. 

Sphere of Control: Storms, Rulership
Animal: Eagle
Rainment: (Head) Bare (Body) Simple white garments
Color(s): White, Grey, Red
Holy Days: Red Sunsets, Thursdays
Sacrifices: After storms, goat
Place of Worship: Any elevated area

--

Notes

I obviously need to flesh this guy out some more. BUT I want to do that as part of some actual play. The original Deities & Demigods had the advantage of working with myths that were (in many cases) thousands of years old. My myths are less than two years old but build on some solid and even old, ideas.

I am still determining what their home Plane is in AD&D. The Greeks and Romans had Olympus, and the Germanic and Norse people had Asgard. I am considering these in terms of my Rules for this. I can stick to history, but it must conform to AD&D first, somewhere near Olympus and Gladsheim.  Right now, if you were to ask me what one of his Pagan worshippers would say, well they would just point up to the sky.  I will cheat and look into the Manual of Planes for these answers.  But in a future post. 

 Additions I have made to the classic AD&D D&DG's stat block are to include a "WITCH/WARLOCK" line for class level and the information from the table in the back of the book for other details. I had considered doing some other details from AD&D 2nd Ed and D&D 3rd Ed, but in the end, I dropped those ideas when it became obvious that AD&D 1st Ed style would work best for me. 

These gods will not have Psionic powers. I have nothing against them (I love them, in fact), but the notion does not fit well with them.  This is a case where my Rule #2 overrides Rule #1.

My goal is to have a PDF of all of the gods of this Pantheon ready by the end of the month in D&DG format.

Links

• One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• One Man's God series
• Deities & Demigods II: Part 1, Hecate (stat block construction)
• Monstrous Mondays: D&DGII The Monsters of the Black Forest Mythos
• My overview and rules for these postings

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

#RPGaDay2023 Favourite CONVENTION purchase

 There have been a few to be honest. But my most memorable was the purchase of the Mage Knight Apocalypse Dragon back at Gen Con 2011.

Shown here after I got it home with the Aspect of Tiamat and Orcus.  AoT takes up 3x3 squares, Orcus 4x4. The Apocalypse Dragon takes up 7x7.

This beast was originally going to be Tiamat in my games.  But later on WotC would release their own monstrous Tiamat. 

Tiâmat and Leviathan

What about that Apocalypse Dragon?  I still want to get my money's worth out of him.  So he has been redubbed as Leviathan.  Fitting, given the history my games have had with him.  I will need to revisit my stats for him, though. 

This gives me a chance to use both dragons.

Gen Con 2011 was also the same year I picked up all of the Mayfair Demons sets for AD&D 2nd Edition. I might need to go back to those and see if they had a Leviathan write-up. Might be fun.

I also should adopt as much as possible from the Mage Knight rules.

#RPGaDay2023 Most memorable character DEMISE

I tell this story a lot, but it is a great story.

I have played exactly 1 ninja my entire gaming life.  His name was (horrible I know) Oko-nishi.  My lame attempts at a Japanese-sounding name.  In my defense at what I knew was bad I made him a half-orc.  It must have been around this time I made him using the AD&D 1st Ed Oriental Adventure rules.  

My then DM and I had worked up a D&D combat simulator (we called it BARD), and we plugged him in with 9 other characters.  He was attacked by a Black Dragon (or Red, I can't recall) and killed. The dragon kept attacking him and only him.  We had not worked out all the errors. In the end, he had been reduced to something like -70 hp.  My DM offered to let him be ok or keep him dead. 

We enjoyed watching it so much and getting the mental image of this stupid dragon jumping up and down on my dead ninja that I felt it was a waste to say it never happened.

I never played a ninja or a half-orc again.

#RPGaDay2023 First RPG GAMEMASTER

 Another one that has been on my mine a bit lately.

My first Gamemaster was myself really. We all kind of taught ourselves how to play back then and I didn't have older brothers or friends that played.  But that changed when I got to Jr. High.

My first real DM was Jon Cook and we played this hybrid version of Basic (B/X) D&D and 1st Edition Advanced D&D. 

In a lot of ways I guess I am still chasing that high.

This Old Dragon: Issue #87

I mentioned the collection I got from my old DM and a few Dragons in it. As it turns out, this is the only one I had not done a "This Old Dragon" for. So. Let's go back nearly 40 years ago this month to a very different time. "When Doves Cry" by Prince dominated the airwaves, But I am sure I was listening to a lot of "Piece of Mind" by Iron Maiden. I was going through Module A1, mixed with a lot of Grimtooth's Traps. I had seen Ghostbusters about a dozen times by this point and wanted more and more horror in my D&D games. On the shelf was Issue #87 of This Old Dragon!

I am very certain that when this issue was new I was at my DM's house for his birthday (which is today by the way!) playing some D&D.  This might have even been the rather infamous session where I was carrying my D&D books in one hand, a large chocolate shake in the other and I tripped falling face first into and through their storm door. Made a huge mess. Thankfully (or maybe this was a sign), I did not have glasses yet.

On to the magazine at hand.

I will freely admit this is not one of my favorite covers. After seeing so many great covers from this time period, this one felt too "Cartoony" to me. Granted, it works with the article inside quite well, that is not something that can always be said about Dragon.

Kim Mohan's Editorial is up first. It covers the very dangerous ground of TSR's/Dragon Magazine's relationship with Tolkien Enterprises.  Basically saying there isn't one and they can't really say much more than that.

Letters section covers PBM and DragonQuest questions.  One of the great things about these older Dragons was how willing they were to cover other games. 

Nice big ad for the James Bond 007 RPG. Still, one I have never played. Another ad for Lords of Creation later on. I also never played that one but wanted too.

Forum asks questions about the Elemental Planes and Monty Haul campaigns.

Our first real article is from Dragon mainstay Katharine Kerr. Here we get Part 1 of her series Beyond the Dungeon, covering everything outside. She largely focuses on movement here for AD&D. But also what the characters should expect to find and what they are not expected to know.

Shaun Wilson is up with one of my favorite Ecology of articles, The Ecology of the Dryad. I do admit that after reading this article, I considered what it would take to have a Dryad PC race option. It lacks some of the style and personality of the Ed Greenwood articles, but it is still quite good. In fact when I had my own copy of this magazine, I cut this article out and stuck it into my AD&D Monstrous Compendium.

Len Lakofka is back with the next installment of Gods of the Suel Pantheon. This time we get Kord and Phaulkon.

The Legacy of Hortus is our cover story. The author is the same as the cover artist, Jack Crane. This covers a wide variety of fantastic plants that honestly should be used in any addition of the game. Some are whimsical, like Beebalm (a plant we have in our garden), but this one grows its own bees and cowslip with the face and heads of cows. Others are bit on the nose, like Foxglove and Dandelion. But all are rather fun. 

In Reviews, we get Jerry Epperson's opinion on the Tri Tac Stalking the Night Fantastic. Personally, I rather liked the game, but I am a fan of the source material. We both agree that the game's list of encounters is great. 

We get two centerfold sections here. The first is Whiteout, a Top Secret game adventure by none other than Merle Rasmussen himself. Like the James Bond RPG, I never played, or really even read over, Top Secret. I am no judge of this adventure but it does look fun. It is quite detailed and I could use it for other games. It is part three of a three-part series of adventures. Anyone who played it should let me know how it was/is.

Our other center section is the games listing for Gen Con 17. Lots of AD&D games listed but I am also seeing a lot of Car Wars. Some Chill, James Bond, Star Frontiers, and even some D&D.  Crazy that is all used to fit inside of Dragon.

John E. Stith has our fiction section, Simon Sidekick. Interestingly enough, it is a science fiction story about a personal AI assistant. Wow! Have you ever heard of anything so advanced Siri? How about you Alexa or Cortana?

This Dragon is early enough that we still get a proper Ares section.

Kim Eastland has Freeze! Star Law! for law enforcement officers in Star Frontiers.  Pretty good article to be honest.

Luna: A Traveller's Guide is another part of the "Luna" series Ares had been running. This one is naturally from Marc Miller. I think I need to go back sometime and collect all of these and do a special on them for Sci-Fi month. That could be fun. 

Jim Ward shows he is not be outdone and has A Field guide to Lunar Mutants for Gamma World.

Roger Moore answers some StarQuestions about the Universe game.

Nice big ad spread for the FASA Star Trek line. It is also old ads like this that make me realize how lucky I was. Illinois had, and still has some great hobby shops. They have 29 listed here. That is over 4.5 times what California had, and twice what all the neighboring states had combined. 

Gamer's Guide covers the small ads. Always a treat to look at.

Couple of pages of Wormy. Dragonmirth has the short-lived Tal an Alan comic. A three pages of Elmore's Snarf Quest.

So a good issue, but more memorable for the time period rather than all the content. 

AD&D Haul from the Jon Cook Collection

 This past weekend I went down to my old hometown to see my family for my mom's 80th birthday. She is honestly doing great, and it was a pleasure to see all my family.  I even got the chance to run into an old friend, Jon Cook.

Jon and I met in Jr. High, we both played saxophone in the school band. But it was D&D that got us to be friends. I had been playing around with my very rudimentary knowledge of D&D at that point, Jon had some AD&D books and, like me, the B/X books. So we spent our time in band class when she should have been practicing rolling up characters.

We decided to meet up because he wanted to sell me his collection!

How could I say no?

Not a huge collection, but a really great one to be honest.  It shows our strange, eclectic blend of AD&D 1st Ed and Basic/Expert D&D in a way that only 1981-1983 could produce. 

I am pleased to get all the Monster books, and it has given me an idea for some edits to Basic Bestiary. Getting his copies of B4 and A1 really took me back too. Especially his weird blend of A1 with his idea of a worldwide assassin's guild. It was also the scene of one of my first character deaths!

I think I might be most thrilled with these dice.  Those orange dice came with MY Expert set. Jon and I traded since his set came with blue, and I wanted blue. Now I have them back. They are going to go into my "Halloween" set.

Those armory dice markers are a rare treat.

Some art books that my youngest brother is going to hold on too till I see them next. He called these "Elmore Porn."

The Lejendary Adventures are like new, and I can't wait to try them out!

Another DM's screen!

Some more Dragons for This Old Dragon.  ETA: Looks like the only one I have not done here is #87.

And the infamous Grimtooth's Traps. Gods I hated it when he would pull out this book.

I can add all of these to his minis he sold me a couple years back.

Those are the real deal lead minis.  The last one was the mini I had used for my cleric Johan Werper, but back then he had a blue robe and white hair. He also had a hand. No, I did not paint him myself.

This is all rather fantastic to have.

I have already added some of these to my collection, others have gone into my "extras" pile for when people come over to play (an extra Player's Handbook is always welcome), and some others have been claimed by my youngest.  He already called dibs on the B/X books and adventures along with the Traps book. Pity his poor players.

Tomorrow is his birthday, and I know he will use the cash to buy some more train gear. This was his previous hobby before D&D and the one he and his son are really enjoying together now. 

So Happy Birthday, Jon! 

Thank you for all these books, the memories of going through the A Series with your crazy ass traps, and our own blend of Advanced and Basic/Expert rules. Your books have a loving home where they will get used all the time!