#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 1, Room 3

Level 1, Room 3: The Grand Hall

At the foot of the stairs is a wide (30') hall that extends an unknown distance off into the darkness.  There are doorways on either side.  A slight, foul-smelling breeze hits you in the face.

The PCs will have no way of knowing this but this was the grand hall for the training of young dwarven mages. The rooms off to either sides were workshops.  The area is permitted with strange magics. From the time of the ancient wizards, to the larger dwarves and then to the rogues and bandits that explored here before the arrival of the Vampire Queen.

Character Creation Challenge: Tanith Winters for NIGHT SHIFT

One of the questions I have been asked is, can I use my various witch books/traditions with NIGHT SHIFT witches?

The short answer is YES!

The longer answer is still yes, but there are ways to do it. 

There are a few things to consider. My various witch books will not go up to the spell levels that NIGHT SHIFT does.  Even at the highest, my OSR witch books are capped spell level 8. NIGHT SHIFT goes to 9.  NIGHT SHIFT witches get to choose their powers at 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th levels (and every three levels after). My OSR witches get assigned an occult power at various levels, usually 1st, 7th, 13th, and more. 

So with this character creation challenge, I want to take on some particular examples. 

Since this is winter, let's start with the Winter Witch book.

The Winter Witch

The Winters family is mentioned (but not detailed) in the NIGHT SHIFT core. They are a rival family of the Montblanc family in my "Ordinary World" setting/Night World.

The Winters are Winter Witches, and the Montblancs are Family Witches. They are bitter rivals but keep their hostilities out of the open. 

When adapting the Swords & Wizardry-based Winter Witch book, you can substitute the powers the NIGHT SHIFT witches can choose with the Occult Powers of the Winter Witches.

Winter Witches gain the following powers in NIGHT SHIFT.

1st Level: Immunity to Cold.  The cold never bothered them anyway.

4th Level: Cool Demeanor. The winter witch adds +1 to all her cold-based attacks and spell rolls.

7th Level: Wild Form. Assume the shape of any winter animal.

10th Level: Pass Without a Trace/Free movement. The winter witch can move freely in ice or snow on foot. Never slipping, never falling, never leaving a trace of movement. Treated as having stealth skills in the ice and snow of a Survivor of equal level. 

There are other powers like "Hyperborean Apotheosis" that the Winter Witch can use, but that should be only granted at the 19th level. 

Photo by Darya Sannikova from Pexels

Tanith Winters 
4th level Winter Witch

Strength: 10 (0)
Dexterity: 12 (0)
Constitution: 14 (+1) S
Intelligence: 13 (+1)
Wisdom: 14 (+1) S
Charisma: 16 (+2) P

HP: 15
Alignment: Light (for now)
AC: 9
Attack: +0

Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (P/S/T): +3/+2/0
Melee bonus: 0 Ranged bonus: +0
Saves: +3 against spells and magical effects

Witch Abilities

Arcana, Supernatural Senses, Spells, Arcane Powers

Arcane (Occult) Powers
Immunity to Cold, Cool Demeanor

Skills
Research, Insight, 

Spells
First Level: Detect Magic, Protection from Evil, Sleep
Second Level: Knock, Suggestion

Tanith Winters is a young witch already making a name for herself among the Winters family. She has even attracted the attention of the family matriarch, Grandmother Winters.  This can be a good or bad thing.

Tanith lives in West Haven, where she has already encountered the members of the rival Montblanc family. While the Montblancs have more money and Earthly power, the Winters are an older family with more powerful magic. So at the moment, they are avoiding direct confrontation with each other. 

Other versions of Tanith can be found here, here, and here. 

You can get NIGHT SHIFT in print and pdf.  You can get my Winter Witch book in print and pdf here.

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Want to see more of the #CharacterCreationChallenge? Stop by Tardis Captain's Blog and the #CharacterCreationChallenge on Twitter for more! 

Monstrous Mondays: Monstrous Maleficarum, Issue #1

The first official issue of Monstrous Maleficarum is now out for 2023 to start my "Year of the Monster."

Monstrous Maleficarum #1

This is the first issue of my Year of Monsters, and continuing some winter and snow-themed creatures.

It is likely, given my typical thought process, that each issue will have a theme. You can be certain that there will be plenty of undead, of which this issue gives only a taste.

This issue covers the Barbegazi (Ice gnome), the Bysen (Arctic Halflings), and the Dweorgs (Ice Dwarves) and their relationships to each other. Also featured are the ancient and powerful undead, the Draugen.

All of these have been creatures I have used in the past. I have come back to them after spending some time rereading the myths of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. In particular, the tales of the Norse gods and the Kalevala. To me, these are some of the foundational tales of our hobby, and I wanted to go back to them.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 1, Room 2

Let's keep going.

Level 1, Room 2: The Stairs

The only structure left standing here is the opening to a set of stone stairs going down.

Photo by Ravi Kant from Pexels

There are 21 steps leading down.  

The 13th stairstep is trapped. If any one heavier than a small dog steps on it the stairs fold down into a ramp and everyone on the stair slides down to the first level taking 1d4 damage.

It can be located and disabled by a thief. (25 xp)

Character Creation Challenge: Jassic Winterhaven

“Some sages say we are related to dwarves because of our tendency to live underground.  Might as well say we are related to purple worms with that logic!  Others say we are akin to earth elementals. So we must be related to rocks. But I say we are really related to birds. Give me long distances to travel. Give me a song to play. Give me women to impress.  That’s what it means to be a gnome to me.”

- Jassic Winterhaven, Gnome adventurer.

I wanted to start off this year's Character Creation Challenge with one of my "scholar" characters I am using in my Monstrous Maleficarum; Jassic Winterhaven. Gnome adventurer, bard and witch (or warlock). He is charming, curious, and always in trouble.  Great for a witch that runs into a lot of monsters. 

He got his start in during my 3.0 days as an NPC. He then moved on to 4th Edition and then to 5th Edition. 

Jassic Winterhaven

We will see more Jassic this year and more Monstrous Maleficarum scholars this month.

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Want to see more of the #CharacterCreationChallenge? Stop by Tardis Captain's Blog and the #CharacterCreationChallenge on Twitter for more! 

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 1, Room 1

Her Dark Mistress, Darlessa, Vampire Queen

Ok. Let's do this.

For 2023 I have a lot going on. So what is one more thing?  I am going to be participating in the #Dungeon23 challenge.  

It is my homage to the dungeons of old and to some of my favorite monsters.

Tomb of the Vampire Queen

I will be providing more details as this goes on.  But here are the important parts for today.

This megadungeon was designed as the stronghold for Darlessa the Vampire Queen and her hordes.  After her death, her acolytes placed her body in the lowest part of her stronghold to protect her.

The tomb has the following features.

1. It was built under the ruins of a great citadel of wizards. Magical energies still flow through it.
2. Darlessa's clan of enslaved dwarves dug deep into already occurring natural caverns and dungeons to expand her base.
3. The site sits on the confluence of many ley lines and "witch ways."  So monsters wander in from different dimensions, worlds and planes, but can not as easily get out.

I will do this for B/X era (circa 1981-82) D&D. So OSE and Labyrinth Lord will also work. I will fill in more details and even try to put my meager map-making skills to the test.

Level 1, Room 1

The ground floor of the ancient Citadel of Wizards.  This golden archway still stands though the walls around it are long since gone. The runes are unreadable due to fire and age. Passing through the archway gives the characters a sense of unease.  The Morale of hirelings and henchmen is reduced by 2 points.

Before you are remains of the ancient keep of the Citadel. It's basalt walls still stand. Visible in the open doorway (10' wide, 20' tall) is a staircase leading down.

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Let's see where this takes us!

Various Updates: Year of the Monster, Mega-dungeons, and the OGL 1.1

Lots of little things going on here during this time between 2022 and 2023.  I am not sure what day it is or even the time, but hey, here we are.

Hastur, Ifrit Princess, and 3 Goblins in a trenchcoat.
Painted by my wife.

Year of the Monster

I have made some oblique references to this, but 2023 is going to be my Year of the Monster. Going back to my earliest roots of this hobby and talking more about monsters and monster-related topics. So more monsters for NIGHT SHIFT, more Monstrous Maleficarum, and a few other projects I have in my back pocket.

#Dungeon23

So this is one I just found out about. The idea is neat. Detail a new room every day for a 12-level mega-dungeon in 2023. I have never really been a fan of mega-dungeons, BUT as a writing exercise, I can see how it would be fun.  I would want to have a theme and do it for Old-School Essentials. Though I have not made up my mind just yet.

New Year, New Character

I have done this for the past two years, and it was fun.  I had an idea for this year but have run out of time to do it right. Have to think some more about this one.

OGL 1.1 and One D&D

Well. Once again, people are freaking out. Here is exactly everything we know for sure about the new OGL coming out when the next version of D&D is released.

• It will be called "The Open Gaming License 1.1."

And that is it. 

Everything else is, at best, speculation and, at worst, Chicken Little style running around fear mongering.  My personal plans are not changing. I will still publish under the OGL 1.0a, and still use the 3.5, Pathfinder, and 5e SRDs as I see fit.

Other Items

More "This Old Dragon" and other regular features. I am undecided on The April A to Z Challenge yet, and I am pretty sure I will not do another 100 Days of Halloween. But who knows.

Hope everyone is having a great Holiday Season.