Monstrous Monday: Tribute to Jonathan Thompson

Something a little different today and altogether too sad.

Normally I spend today doing monster write-ups, reviews of monster books, or even updating my slow progress on my Basic Bestiary. But today I want to talk about something else.

Last week Jonathan Thompson passed away.  He was well-known, and well-liked, by many in the RPG community. 

I met Jonathan through our mutual love of the Victorian period. We became fans of each other's RPGs as well.

I helped a very, very tiny bit with the newest version of Gaslight, with some of my material making into one other Battlefield Press book.  Mostly though he had come to me for advice and edits on the 3.x and 5e monsters he had been working on.

Among other thingshe was due to publish my "Darwin's Guide to Creatures, Mythical and Mundane." A monster manual for the Victorian era and for Gaslight in particular. 

It got pushed back a few times but he had approached me over the summer to get it updated. I was going through Covid at the time and could not get back to him. When I could he had developed health issues of his own.

I typically ran into him at Gen Con. Out of thousands of people there, we always would run into each other. We typically hit the food trucks and chatted about things.  We had, over the years, continued to talk about monsters, the Victorian era, and more. I find it sad that I am no longer going to get to that.  

There is a Go Fund Me set up to cover his expenses. I urge all my readers to send whatever they can. 

His family are in my thoughts and hopefully, I can send some donations their way.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 27

The hall turns to the right and opens up into a large area. 

This room was obviously a torture chamber. There are still racks, stocks, and other implements of torture still to be found here.

There are still two victims here who have been unable to leave, Two Wraiths.

These wraiths are not allied and will attack the party without regard for other.

There is some treasure here the wraiths have collected from previous victims. Both have Treasure Type E.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 26

Turning to your right the hallway continues on a bit.  On the corner to your right, there is, if the proper rolls are made, a secret door.  This is very similar to Room #7 and Room #Room 19.

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 guard 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 dagger +1, two-handed sword +1, and 2 +1 sling bullet stored here for the guard's use in addition to some normal items. There had been food, but it has since rotted away. Additionally, there is a bag of gold pieces, 14 GP.

Finding these treasures is worth 2,714xp.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 25

Opening this door is much easier, it feels like it had been opened already and not properly locked.

 Inside this room is a pack (3) of Ghouls.

They are currently eating the remains of two goblins. They will stop and attack the party, but the party will get +1 to their initiative rolls.

They have standard treasure for ghouls and what ever the two goblins had.

Kickstart Your Weekend: The Mapweaver's Guide

Ok, this is an entirely new one to me, and it looks fantastic.

The Mapweaver's Guide: A TTRPG Campaign Sourcebook

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chaospixiemagic/mapweaver-rpg?ref=theotherside

It is a new TTRPG guidebook and campaign based on the author's world and books. You can check out the first book here, Windswept (The Mapweaver Chronicles) by Kaitlin Bellamy. 

From the campaign:

While The Mapweaver's Guide was initially intended to be a D&D5E supplement, the current upheaval with Wizards of the Coast and their OGL has forced me to take a bold step I never intended, but am still ridiculously excited about: Making MY OWN Mapweaver RPG System! This project will encompass all of it. The new world, the new mechanics, the new stories we can tell together! And you get to be a part of it all from DAY 1!

The adventure may be frightening ... after all, trying something so new so quickly often is. But isn't that what makes tabletop storytelling so wonderful? Against all odds, we tackle something massive together. Now, you are all my adventuring party. My companions. And we can take on this quest as a team! Let's slay some publishing dragons, map uncharted paths, and bring home some illustrated and hardbound loot!

Wow! Ambitious, but I admire her enthusiasm and her creative vision, so this could be a lot of fun. There is only one way to find out and that is get this published. She has some great stretch goals and I love the art.

I said I wanted to support more small and independent creators this year, so here is a FANTASTIC example.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 2, Room 24

 Moving down the passageway the next cell is on your right.

The doors to this room are wide open. 

It appears there had been a fight here, and not that long ago. There are three dead goblins and one dead human. The bodies have been looted, but there is a 1 in 6 chance for all characters (or a 3 in 6 for thieves) that someone will find a Potion of Healing on the human.

Otherwise, this room is empty.

--

The part of adventurers that is ahead of this party started about three to four days before this group. They are others, but they are all slowing being picked off.

Sympathy for the Succubus, Part 4: In Search of the Sutherland Succubus

I have stumbled on some new information so I have decided to combine an older feature, Sympathy for the Succubus, with a newer one, In Search of, for something new.  In particular, my search for the roots of the succubus in D&D. 

You can see my first three parts here:

• Sympathy for the Succubus, Part 1
• Sympathy for the Succubus, Part 2
• Sympathy for the Succubus, Part 3

Today I want to explore one of the "urban legends" of the early days of D&D. The David Sutherland III succubus art from the AD&D 1st Ed Monster Manual.

Let's start with what everyone knows or thinks they know. 

Two 1977 Publications. What do they have in common?

Oh, Sheila!

Sheila Mullen

Sheila Mullen was the Playboy Playmate of the month for May 1977.  Certainly, the time period was right. The Monster Manual was published in December 1977. There are even a few pictures that *could be* right. The one to your right is a cropped version of the biggest contender. 

This notion has been taken up by many modern writers, bloggers, and chroniclers, myself included.  

• Halls of the Nephilim's Succubus Sunday (part of his Succubus Sunday series) 
• With the original from Stephen Poag
• Dragonsfoot, Succubus Pic in MM/Research can be fun, sort of
• Black Gate, Art of the Iconic Female #2; The Succubus
• Thomas Denmark's homage to the Sutherland Succubus, using the Sheila Mullen pose.
• A Sucubus que saiu da Playboy, this features the Sutherland art and the Sheila Mullen picture in question.
• And some from the Power Score blog, though not 100% directly related to this search:
• Dungeons & Dragons - A Guide to the Succubus
• A Tribute to The Succubus
• A Guide to Nocticula, Demon Lord of Assassins, Darkness, and Lust
• And my own additions to this urban legend.
• Eludecia, the Succubus Paladin for Basic-era games
• In Search of Nocticula

Likely the source of all of this is the Blog of Holding. Which only claims that the "body of one of these original succubi was copied from a Playboy centerfold."  Sheila Mullen was a centerfold for 1977, making her the likeliest of choices.

Except that is *mostly* wrong.

Sweet as Honey

The date of 1977 is right, but the month was October. And it wasn't a centerfold.

I apologize for not remembering who it was that first clued me in on this idea, but it sent me down a rabbit hole of searching. 

This issue is rather famous for having an interview with Barbara Streisand. I posted the cover above. The centerfold/Playmate is Kristine Winder, who sadly passed in 2011 at 55 from breast cancer. But neither she nor Sheila Mullen lived on in the pages of the Monster Manual. 

No, that honor belongs to Honey Wells.

Miss Wells was featured in the "Ladies of Joy" pictorial by John Bowers, with photography by Robert Scott Hooper. It featured women in "the world's oldest profession." 

As you can see here with the Sutherland Succubus, her photo is a good match.

Honey Wells and the Succubus. Covered for your protection as much as mine

We don't know much about Miss Wells here. Save for what she tells us.

So there is no real way to research Miss Wells here. I doubt that is even her real name. Not to mention that this is a 45-year-old article, so much could have happened since then. If alive, she would be in her mid to late 60s now.

Which is too bad. I wonder if she ever knew that her pictorial inspired this art and that art was held in such fond memories of an entire generation of gamers.

Now I will concede that the succubus pic is likely inspired by Honey Wells and Sheila Mullen. The hands and hair fit a similar pose on Miss Mullen (pictured above), and the overall pose is Miss Wells.

Sadly David Sutherland passed away in 2005, so I can't approach him and confirm. Indeed, it was also more than 45 years ago, and any memory is likely blurred. 

Though it is comforting that Sutherland, Wells, and yes, Mullen have a bit of D&D Immortality to call their own.