#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 23

 This cell looks like it is the same size as the others, but it begins to shift and change.

This effect is an illusion and a very powerful one. This illusion makes the room look larger on the inside than it is. Additionally, there is an effect that will confuse anyone inside.  The room's illusion is not related to the creature inside and a save vs. Magic will reveal the room for what it is. 

The inhabitant of this room takes advantage of this illusion.  Inside this room is a Will-o-the-wisp.

AC 3 [17], HD 5+1 (22 hp), Att 1, life drain, THAC0 15 [+4], MV 90’ (30’), SV D11 W11 P12 B13 S15, ML 12, AL Chaotic, XP 575, NA 1 (1d4), TT see below.

This is not the Will-o-the-Wisp normally encountered. This is an undead creature. While it has high HD it is a single creature and has low hp. It can be turned by a cleric as a 5HD creature.  The creature can only be hit by magic.  Its low AC is due to its size, its erratic movement, and its magical protection.

The wisp leads characters into this room and uses the illusion to keep victims confused and scared. It then feeds on the life energies of those trapped. It can't drain the victims directly and has to wait till they start to die of other causes.

The Wisp does not collect treasure, but there is a lot material left from former victims. The only way to find it though is make the save vs. spells to stop the illusions.

--

I am reworking Will-O-the-Wisps for my Basic Bestiary. This is a rough draft.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 22

 This cell is locked and the door feels stuck.  A combined strength of 28 is needed to force it open.

This room has a large blue portal that leads to a different dungeon. Someone has been using this as a storage room. There is a treasure chest with 5,000 gp inside! There are two large Bags of Holding. Many mundane swords, daggers, longbows, arrows, and shields.  There is also food that seems to be fine (it is) but none of it is recognizable. It tastes weird but is perfectly healthy to eat.

If DMs wish they could have the inhabitants of this realm making a deposit. They are closely related to lizardmen.  They are not expecting to fight and have a morale of 6.

Not a Mail Call Tuesday (But Just as Good!)

I was recently at my FLGS, and I decided to pick up some old friends.

Like many gamers my age, I started with a wide variety of D&D books. A Basic book here, an OD&D book here, and an AD&D book here. In my case, I started with a lot of D&D Basic (B/X) books. I picked up my AD&D books later on.  So my first AD&D books were Deities & Demigods and the Fiend Folio. I only later grabbed the PHB, DMG, and MM and when I did, they were "newer" Easley/Orange spine covers.  I wanted mine to be different from my then DMs. 

Also, like many gamers my age, I lost them in one of the many, many moves during my university days. This was sad, but I had my 2nd Ed books so I could still at least play.

When I got to a point where I could settle down and get them back, I bought back the original covers. But I always missed the "Trinity" of the orange spine ones.  Well, I decided it was well past time to fix that.

I now have the original covers, picked up around 2000 or so. The WotC reprints. And now the Orange Spine ones.

All are in really good condition. I have others, like my softcover Monster Manual and Players Handbook from England and my first-printing PHB and DMG. But those are all safely tucked away from light. 

And I had the mini versions of these covers, so that was one of the reasons I was not rushing to get new copies of these. But I figured I really should get them.

They were not cheap, much more expensive than when I re-bought the original covers in the early 2000s, but honestly, they are really worth it to me.

I have to say, it does put me in the mood for some AD&D 1st Ed! I think I even have some goldenrod character sheets around here as well.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 21

This cell is just down the passageway from the last room.

This cell is empty.

Monstrous Monday: Basic Assumptions about Basic Bestiary

With the OGL fiasco settled (for now), I have returned to work on Basic Bestiary. In truth, I have enough to publish right now; I just need some art for...well, most of them. 

I was recently (this last weekend) going through an old hard drive I rebuilt (ugh...never buying a Seagate drive again), and I found some files from 2013. One, in particular, was filled with monsters I had written for a Pathfinder project that was never picked up. It has about 170 monsters on it but the point of view is of a fantasy Earth.  Many of these creatures already have similar entries in BB. Other ideas went on to live in Monster Mash and Monstrous Maleficarum. But many of them are still good and worth giving new life to. 

This leaves me with two conundrums.  Both relate to a basic assumption I am making about Basic Bestiary.

When I was working on Basic Bestiary, I focused on the monsters of myth and legend, especially the cool, lesser-known monsters. Many, if not most, of these creatures are very much tied to a specific location and cultural set of myths. The assumption is then I would be crafting these using an Earth-based or Earth-like frame of reference. Something that many publishers try to avoid.

So Conundrum 1 is "How do I make Angels work?" D&D has angels. I have a lot more. They are very much tied with the myths, legends, and stories of various real-world religions.  They are the biggest section of BB I still need to finish.  My wife suggested I move them over to my demon book and make it "2024 problem." There is a certain amount of logic to that. Angels and Demons are more alike to each other than they are to say to dragons or goblins.  It might be a good idea to move them on over. It would reduce the total monster count right now, but this new batch I found would more than make up for it.

Conundrum 2 deals with my Earth-centric focus. One of the monsters I found was a very Norwegian-focused Troll. Another was a very Algonquin-focused.  Do I clean those up or lean into them? Classic wisdom suggests I make it all more generic, but other publishers have had some solid success keeping an Earth focus. I am thinking of leaning into them to be honest. So when I say a monster is from Norwegian mythology and tales readers can know where to put it in their own worlds. 

I know. I keep finding ways to over complicate this project, and I have been doing it for so long I nearly lost my window to publish.  So I think I am going to try to wrap this up soon. I'd like to be done with this one and maybe even BBII by this year.

One can hope.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 20

This door looks like it leads to another guard room (like 19 before it).

 The floor of this room is trapped. If a pressure plate is stepped on the floor gives way and all occupants slid down (away from the door) to the next level below.

A thief can find this trap, but not disable it. They can however avoid it.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 19

Turning to your right the hallway continues on.  On the corner to your right there is, if the proper rolls are made, a secret door.  This is very similar to Room #7.

This room is found behind a secret door in the corner of the hallway, not on the flat walls. 

This room appears to have been a guar room. There are chairs for three with a small table and weapons on the walls.  There are slots in the wall where guards can watch both hallways.

This room has been untouched by the waves of denizens here. There is a axe +1, short sword +1, and 2 +1 crossbow arrows stored here for the guard's use in addition to some normal items. There had been food but it has since rotted away. 

Finding these treasures is worth 2,300xp.