Moving on down from the glowing portal in Room #19 there is another door to the right of the party.
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| Jason Glover - Free Art Assets |
This room is empty save for the bodies of what are believed to be other adventurers. Their weapons are gone but a care search will find a Potion of Heroism and a Potion of Healing (1d6+1). (Finding these is worth 50 xp to the party).
Likewise, their valuables such as coins are gone.
Frantically working on a lot of updates behind the scenes here. But one I want to address that I am looking forward too is what am I doing with the games I run.
Presently I am still in the middle of three different D&D 5e games. They are all part of my Come Endless Darkness mega-campaign:
All are presently 5e.
My plan is to convert one to Castles & Crusades and the other to Pathfinder 2e.
The obvious choice here is to convert The Second Campaign to Castles & Crusades since it has a lot of old-school 1st material. The next obvious choice is to convert my Into the Nentir Vale to PF2 since it is a broader mix, and I think it is funny that D&D 4 is once again losing out to Pathfinder.
I am not sure how much I'll talk about them online. BUT I do want to talk about how the conversions go.
So in each case, I will grab a PC or NPC from them and see how they convert. I will post that since that is something people will be interested in. In fact, as I am writing this, I am thinking of two PCs in particular that would really make good examples of conversions.
I also might post the Big Bad for each in their new stats. The Second Campaign is overtly about Demogorgon, but I had always thought they would not actually encounter him. The Nentir Vale is all about Orcus.
In any case, it should be a lot of fun.
Making another right, we come up on encounter area #19. To your immediate left is an opening to a small room.
In Room 19 there is a glowing portal. From the portal 1d4+2 Goblins are coming through. These goblins look similar to the previous ones.
The portal opens from a nighttime world with several moons in the sky. Other goblins can be seen in the distance. The portal is one-way, Goblins can come into this world, but they cannot go back.
Let the characters explore the portal as much as they like, but there is no way to go through it.
Turning right (for now) the PCs enter encounter area #18. The hallway is the same stone as before, but it is somehow darker. The hall is 20 feet wide and extends some 60 feet into deepening darkness.
Standing in the hall, seemingly waiting for the PCs is a small group of goblins.
The goblins are not waiting, but they are not surprised either. They have come up from the lower rooms to investigate the noise. There 1d4+4 goblins here. They are all 1-1 HD (4 hp each, or 1d6). They have shortswords, short bows, and wear leather armor.
If combat goes against them after the first round, one will flee down the hall to bring back reinforcements that arrive in 2d4 turns.
The OGL 1.1/2.0 drama has thrown me for a loop. Not gonna lie.
My whole "Year of the Monster" was built on a foundation of doing monsters of various types all year. I still can, but I need to pivot.
Case in point. I have been silent for the last few days so I can get at least one of my planned monster books out. I am scraping nearly everything and dumping all the art I would use for other projects into it. Hopefully, I'll have something soon.
I also admit that my enthusiasm for some other plans that were going to extend into 2024 is critically low.
Even if WotC/Hasbro does some serious backpedaling, my trust is low, and my expectations are non-existent. This is disappointing because I have enjoyed all editions of D&D. I have also enjoyed writing for all editions of D&D. But I am, right now, not willing to support Wotc/Hasbro and the new version of D&D and my support of 5e is going to be minimal here.
I am though looking forward to some Pathfinder 2nd Ed discussions and deep dives. Also, I am going to try to feature more smaller publishers here. See what they have to offer. Even ones still doing 5e. It's not their fault that Hasbro is doing what they are doing.
So bear with me in this pivot phase.
Past the last two rooms, the grand hall splits left and right.
There is a grand statue of the Vampire Queen. Inspection will reveal that the statue is made of newer material than the surrounding walls.
Notes: Things should start picking up.
I have seen lots of great maps online for others, and I thought maybe I could share mine. ;)
This room is identical to Room 15 across the hall.
This includes a similar specter with the same warning. Though this ghost seems angrier. If the ghost is touched or attacked, it will become a bloody specter and attack. This is a true undead.
Bloody Spectre. AC 7. HD 3 (13 hp). Att# 1. Chilling touch 1d6. Special: Silver or magic is required to hit. Turned as a Ghoul (3 HD). No treasure.
Note: If the PCs encounter Room 16 before Room 15, then swap the contents so that this is always encountered after the first specter.
