D is for Demogorgon and Demodand

Demogorgon

Reminds me of Eldritch Wizardry's cover

Every D&D players knows about Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons.  He made his appearance in Eldritch Wizardry and has been in every monster book since.  His popularity is second only to Orcus.
In 4e his story gets expanded to include this little treat, he has two head because his head gets split in two by a good god.  The two halve regenerate into two seperate heads. Cool, and creepy.  At the same time I was working on my own version of Demogorgon for Unisystem.  You can click to read it, I think it is worth the read to be honest.  I even considered reposting it for today, but that seemed like cheating.

As interesting as his official background is and even the one I created is, Demogorgon has a much more interesting history. The first time I met him outside of D&D was in Milton's Paradise Lost.

And by them stood Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name of Demogorgon.
- Milton, Paradise Lost.

He meets Lucifer in a void area that isn't Hell but a place where Chaos and Night rule.  Sounds like the Abyss to me.

Another version of Demogorgon comes from writers Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski in their Menagerie series.  This Demogorgon is more like my Leviathan or even Galactus. The series is on going (in theory) so we have not seen the heroes face off against the Demogorgon yet.  I am looking forward to it.

If I were to redo Demogorgon I'd keep most of the background I created, but maybe make him more monstrous, maybe something like a two-headed dragon, only really freaking huge.  Something like the Tarrasque is now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogorgon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogorgon_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)

And not to forget The Temple of Demogorgon.

Demodands
These guys are bastard children of demondom.  Not demons, not devils not even daemons. They appeared first in the Monster Manual II for AD&D and seem to based on the Deodands of Jack Vance or even the classical use of the term.
For my uses these are demons that have been put together from the dead scraps of other demons.  So even among demons they are reviled and despised.
No idea if I'll do three different sub races or not.  But I like the idea of them being put together from scraps of other demons.

Petty Gods

I sent my submission over to Greg Gorgonmilk for his resurrected Petty Gods project.

I can't wait for you all to meet Nox, the Goddess of Near Darkness and her minions Syla and the Fyre Fae.

White Dwarf Wednesday #59

White Dwarf #59 comes to us from November 1984.  We have one of my favorite WD covers. It is vaguely reminiscent of the Dragon #114 cover, though it predates that cover by 2 years.  I saw the Dragon one first. In any case this is still a great cover.

Ian Livingstone starts off with talking about some more changes coming to WD.  Most notable for the magazine and for my retrospectives here is the change to Fiend Factory.  Up until now the monsters have been D&D/AD&D, now they are opening it up to other systems like RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu.

Up first is a story, the Mad God's Omelette, a play on the Micheal Moorcock book The Mad God's Amulet.  I typically don't read the fiction in magazines.

Open Box has some Call of Cthulhu products, Glozel est Authentique!, Curse of the Chthonians and The Horrible Secret of Monhegan Island.  Stephen Kyle gives them 5/10, 9/10 and 7/10 respectively.

James Bond is also represented as well with For Your Information and the Gamesmaster Pack.  Bob Neville  is a bit disappointed with these giving them only a 3/10 and 4/10 respectively. Also reviewed by Phil Masters is the game based on Larry Niven's Ringworld. He likes the game mostly but finds some rather critical errors with it and gives it a 6/10 saying is lacks the depth it should have had.

We get the AD&D version of the Ninja, which is really just a re-skinned Assassin.  Not a bad idea mind you, and there are some new and noteworthy add ons, but after all this build up I was looking for something more.  I thought I had remembered this class prior to this review, but I think it must have been another ninja class and not the one in OA.

A bit on cults in Modern RPGS is next, a followup from last issue. Some neat little cults and odd religions to add to any game.

A Car Wars article on double-decker buses.

Graeme Davis has a great article on Magic Item production for AD&D.  The article is bit reminiscent of the magic item creation found in 3.x (some 16 years later).

Hour of the Tiger is an introductory adventure for Ninja characters for AD&D or Bushido.   The adventure itself looks good and is very detailed. A good introduction for ninja characters.

We also get a RuneQuest scenario dealing with a traveling caravan.  Reading it over I wish I had it back in the 2nd ed days when I was playing with gypsies in Ravenloft.

Table Top Heroes discusses brushing techniques.

Starbase discusses and intelligence agency that Travelers players can work for or against.
RuneRites discusses pit fighting.

Fiend Folio covers AD&D stats (has to be stated now) of Reavers, the evil foes of Death Knights. There are only 6 and interestingly enough for me and this month is that all the Reavers are named after demon lords.

Treasure Chest details more uses of classic spells.
Newsboard doesn't have much. Some pictures. No new product rumors.

Despite the size of the issue, there seems to be only a little actual content.


Looking for my A to Z post? Scroll down or click here.

C is for Cimeris

A full half of the demons I have researched start with the letter A or B.  No joking.  I have never figured that out really, but check out the various demonologies out there.  There are a few left of the other letters though.

For C we have Cimeris. Also known as Kimaris, Cimeies, Cimejes, Cimeries, and Tuvries  he is one of the more popular demons, appearing in the Ars Goetia,  Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, even in  Aleister Crowley's and Anton LeVey's works.

NAME: Marquis Cimeris
Symbol: See next
Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)
Movement: 120'
Armor Class: 0
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 158 hp (17 HD)
Attacks: Two-handed sword
Damage: 1d10
Save: F17
MORALE: 10
Hoard Class:
XP: 8,550

Cimeries is a great marquesse and a strong, ruling in the parts of Aphrica [Africa]; he teacheth perfectlie grammar, logicke, and rhetorike, he discovereth treasures and things hidden, he bringeth to passe, that a man shall seeme with expedition to be turned into a soldier, he rideth upon a great blacke horsse, and ruleth twentie legions.
- John Weyer, Pseudomonarchia Daemonum

Cimeries appears as a strong human male astride a large black house.  He wields a huge two-handed sword that he carries into battle, which is often.  He commands 20 legions (each legion of demons is 6,660 demons) that follow him to battle.  He can be summoned by human generals, but his price is the decimation (sacrificing 1/10) of all the General's own troops.  These men must be killed by the summoner himself.
Cimeries may also be summoned by a lone magic-user to learn the secrets of grammar, logic and rhetoric.

Not Cimeris, but close enough.

White Dwarf Wednesday will be posted later today.

B is for Baalseraph

Eldritch Witchery is my next book coming out.  It is for the Spellcraft & Swordplay game and covers some of the same ground that my last book, The Witch, did for Basic D&D.
One of the special features though of Eldritch Witchery is the inclusion of Demons and Devils much like the original (and inspiration) Eldritch Wizardry did for Original D&D back in 1976.

With my book I wanted to capture everything eldritch about the witch class.  So unlike some of my other books, this book also has a Warlock class.  It is also different from my Basic D&D book "The Witch".  Though all three classes together would make a nice full picture of the witch as she has appeared through out the history of RPGs.
Plus this book is designed to be used with the Spellcraft & Swordplay game.  It *can* be used with OD&D/S&W, but you would need to modify some things a touch.

But the biggest draw for both books is the inclusion of Demons.

 

When writing about demons, devils and the hells for D&D it is very hard to break out of the Gygaxian classifications of who is what and what is what.  A look at the history of the Succubus in D&D reveals that. So I had to make a conscious effort to break it.  I did and everything is now a "Demon".  There are many different types of demons though.

The Baalseraph are powerful demons that were once the forces of good.  They fought against their brethren and masters, becoming twisted and evil.  They were cast down into the pits (which we call Hell) and there they subjugated the demonic races already living there.

To non-gamers: The Baalseraph are the fallen Angels and gods from various myths.
To gamers: The Baalseraph are the unique "Ruling" class of devils.

In EW demons, devils and other creatures were put together and resorted in to Calabim, Eodemons, Lillim and Shedim.  The Baalseraph rule over the Shedim (Demons of Rage) with an iron fist.  They have alliances with the Lillim (Demons of Seduction) and the Eodemons (Proto-demons) and fight against the legions of Calabim (Demons of Destruction).

The rulers of the Baalseraph are Astaroth, Asmoday, Baalberith,  Beelzebub, Gressil, Sonneillon and Verrine.  I am also working up backgrounds and stats for Belial, Mammon, Mephistopheles, Moloch, and Dispater.  Once I have them all plotted and stated out I want to have seven Princes, each in charge of other courts and representing one of the Deadly Sins; somthing I have discussed before.  Belial, Moloch and Baalberith I have used before in my Ghosts of Albion games, so coming up with something brand new for them will be key.

Hopefully I can get this all sorted out this month!

A is for Astaroth and Astártē

A is for Astaroth and Astártē

Kinda looks like Nicholas Cage

I am going to begin with Astaroth because Astaroth was the beginning. At least for me and my fascination with demons.

Once upon a time there was a Goddess named Astártē.  She is more or less the same Goddess as Ishtar and related thematically to Aphrodite and Isis.
But when Christianity was sweeping the world and literally and figuratively changing all the old Gods and Goddesses into demons poor Astártē not only was demoted to demon, but changed to a male as well.  I always felt bad for Astártē because of this.

I first "met" Astaroth around the age of 13.  I was going to a fish-fry in Union, IL with my family so I brought some books to read.  In one of the those books I read about Astaroth and thought he was an interesting character.  It wasn't till later that learned about eh Astaroth/Astártē connection.
In my games I made him the son of Astártē. A Goddess I named the "Queen of Heaven".  She featured rather predominantly in my games over the years.  In my D&D and WitchCraft games "The Coven of Astártē" were a group of witches that were believed to be in league with demons.  In truth they did summon demons, but it was to figure out how to better combat them.

Here are some 3.0 stats I have been using for years.

And to celebrate my volunteering for Gorgonmilk's Petty Gods project, here is Astaroth in Petty Gods format.

Astaroth

NAME: Astaroth, Duke of Hell
Symbol: See next
Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)
Movement: 150' (240' flight on dragon)
Armor Class: 0
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 166 hp (19 HD)
Attacks: Viper (1d8 + poison), sword (1d10 + flames 1d6), breath (save vs. poison)
Damage: 1d8+poison (save or die), 1d10 + 1d6 fire damage, breath (as per stinking cloud)
Save: F20
MORALE: 12
Hoard Class: See below
XP: 10,000


"Astroth is a great and a strong duke, comming foorth in the shape of a fowle angell, sitting upon an infernall dragon, and carrieng on his right hand a viper: he answereth truelie to matters present, past and to come, and also of all secrets.  He talketh willingelie of the creator of spirits, and of their fall, and how they sinned and fell: he saith he fell not of his owne accord.  He maketh a man woonderfull learned in the liberall sciences, he ruleth fourtie legions.  Let everie exorcist take heed, that he admit him not too neere him, bicause of his stinking breath.  And therefore let the conjuror hold neere to his face a magicall ring, and that shall defend him."
- John Weyer, Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.

Astaroth is usually summoned by a magic user (he has no desire to travel to the human world on his own).  He appears to the summoner naked astride a giant black dragon (stats as a huge, ancient black dragon), though he can appear clothed as royalty if he chooses.  In his right hand he carries a long viper, in his left a flaming sword (like all devils he is left-handed).  He stands over 8 feet tall and has the strength of a Fire Giant.  His face is very attractive and he is physically fit, if  slightly overweight.
Unless the magic-user is in a protective circle Astaroth will strike him down.
His manners are extremely polite. He will converse and even gossip about various demons (save for himself).  The summoner had also better have some equally good, if trivial, knowledge to share at this point.  It is also at this point that the summoner will notice Duke Astaroth's breath.  It is simplly the foulest thing he has ever smelt.  If he reacts to the foul breath Astaroth will also consider this a breach of etiquette and contract and kill the offender.
Once the chatting is over, the summoner may ask Astaroth three questions; one about the past, one about the present and one about the future.  Astaroth will answer the questions honestly.  He will, as most Dukes, follow the letter of the agreement but not always the spirit of it.  If the Astraroth believes he is being tricked or if the questions are asked out of sequences; ie he feels a question about the past is really about the future, he will also consider this a breach of contract.  The wealth gained by the summoner will depend on the questions asked.  Astaroth brings no riches with him.
He is rumored to be the treasurer of Hell because money and riches have no allure for him, he only craves knowledge.  His interests are far and wide and he can pleasantly converse about a number of topics.  His surface demeanor though hides a deep and viscous cruelty.  On  his home layer of the Hells his dungeons are reported to filled with magic-users that have tempted to summon him and failed.  Here they are tortured for his amusement as he records all their reactions in his journals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaroth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astarte

A to Z Blogging for April and Introduction

Hello and welcome to The Other Side!  My little home on the internet.  I will have a proper post up later today.  I wanted to post an introduction to me, my blog and the various people that are likely to be here.

This blog is the "reincarnation" of my old The Other Side website from the dawn of the Web.  I like to write about role-playing games, particularly old-school ones, D&D and horror games.  I post a lot of character write-ups, I love witches and magic.

I am participating in this blogging challenge for the same reasons I am blogging to begin with; to help improve my ability as a writer. Challenges like these help stretch those creative muscles and hopefully get me to write about stuff I might not normally do.

This year I am writing about Demons.  I am going to talk about them from the point of view of a game author and a fan of horror.  I am planning to "stat-up" as many as I can.  By that I mean work out the Role-playing Game stats for the creatures so you can use them in your own games.  I am also going to try and focus on creatures that have not been seen before in any of the games I play.

So with that in mind welcome to the A to Z challenge!