Past the secret door is a small flight of stairs going up. There is an open archway that leads into another room. Inside this room are seven statues of demons.
Of the seven statues, four of them are Rock Living Statues.
Behind one of the normal statues is an exit.
In addition to August being #RPGaDay2023 it is also #30yearsofMage. I knew Mage was going to come into this at some point and today is that day!
Mage the Ascension, especially in it's 20th Anniversary Edition format is one of the coolest-looking RPGs ever.
From its leather cover, to full-color art, to the ribbon bookmark (I am a sucker for a ribbon bookmark) and gilded edges it is one hell of an attractive book.
Not to be ignored is one of my personal favorite versions of Mage, Mage for the Victorian Era.
Additionally, all the Mage books I own (all Mage: The Ascension, I unloaded Mage: The Awakening years ago) are not just fantastic to look at, they are great games too.
I do wish I could play it more often.
Going back to Room 19 and taking the last passageway again leads the party up and out of the water.
This room is large and circular, with a high ceiling. The walls are made of rough, black stone. The floor is covered in a thin layer of water. On the ceiling of this room is a glowing green portal where occasionally a frog will drop down and land in the pool below.
There is a 25% chance that a Hydrodæmon will fall per 10 mins of entering this room.
Like many of the portals here, this one is one-way. Demons come in, but can't get back out.
One of the lanterns is the trigger for a secret door.
This one I had to think about this one for a bit. I have found so many great deals over the years that it was hard to choose just one really. But in the end I think I figured it out.
The Dark Eye
I have known about this game for a while, both The Dark Eye and the original German Das Schwarze Auge. I always wanted to own the original German, having taken German in both high school and college, but not using a language for, well, longer than I care to admit, you lose it. Das tut mir leid.
The Dark Eye always attracted me as a sort of darker fantasy RPG. A game where Mirkwood is replaced by the Black Forest.
I picked the 2nd Printing of the English edition at my local game auction. I grabbed the core rules and a bunch of add-ons that I suspect came from Kickstarter. There is a lot, and it all looks so good. There is even a basic QuickStart.
I played around with it for a bit, did some characters, and did a review. I enjoyed it so much I picked the special edition leather cover as well.
But it is a really great game, and I really enjoy it. I also wish I could play more of it than I do.
A secret door in Room 21 leads to Room 22. This room opens to a small circular area where a luminescent pool of water has collected in the lower part of the room.
The water is fresh and clear. Drinking it removed your thirst for a day (the water can be bottled and taken with without loss of properties).
Bathing in the water removes diseases and heals 4d6 hp of damage. For the next hour anyone that does this also has 1d6 + their CON bonus of additional hp.
Akelarre is a demon that has kinda always been with me in one form or another. He has had a variety of names over the years, but in all cases, he has been a large goat-headed demon whose main reason for being is to corrupt witches. He is based on the various Demon-Goat creatures, mostly featured in the witch sabbat paintings of Francisco Goya.
Akelarre is the Basque word (where Goya is from) for a Witches' Sabbath. The name of both of these paintings from Goya is "Akelarre."
I wanted a new demon lord, one associated with evil witches. The role in my games in the past has largely been filled by Graz'zt and others. But I wanted someone I had more creative control over. I also wanted someone that was also like Éliphas Lévi's Baphomet. He will serve as the witches' "Dark Man" as mentioned in many witchcraft trials. In Europe that was always considered to be the Devil or a at the very least a high-level demon.
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| My print of Alelarre with Larina for scale |
Akelarre, Demon Prince
Huge Demon (Evil, demon)
Str: 18 (+3) Dex: 16 (+2) Con: 22 (+4) Int: 20 (+4) Wis: 15 (+1) Cha: 20 (+4)
Akelarre appears as a large goat-headed humanoid. On his brow is a burning crown. His heavily muscled form is covered in dark gray fur. His hands end in vicious-looking claws, and his feet are cloven hooves made of gold. He smells of animals and brimstone. His voice is high but melodious and comforting.
This demon avoids interactions with other demons and instead focuses on growing his cult on the Material Plane. He is known as the Demon of the Witches' Sabbat and he eitehr attends himself or via proxy when he can. Here, once per year, he gathers his witches for revels of feasting, sacrifices, and all sorts of debaucheries. He flies to these via magic once the sun has set. It is claimed that it is impossible to know if it is genuinely Akelarre at a sabbat, a high priest, or even a goat he has possessed for the night, save for when the sun rises. The true Akelarre will flee before the sun, a possessed man or goat will revert in the morning light.
Akelarre can fight, though he prefers not to do so. He can attack with bite and claw or a weapon. Most often, he prefers to cast spells. He can cast any Magic-User spell and has the casting ability of an 18th-level caster. He can also breathe fire 3 times per night, doing 6d8 hp of damage, save vs. Breath Weapons for half. He has a Charm gaze that can Charm Person at will, save vs. spells to negate. He can also use this power to charm animals with no save granted. Magic is needed to hit Akelarre, whether by spell or by weapons. A +2 weapon is needed. Like many demons, he is immune to mundane fire and mind-affecting magic. He takes half damage from magic or dragon fire, cold, electricity, or gas-based attacks.
As the Demon Prince of Witches, Akelarre teaches witches of the demonic traditions of their craft. He sends out demon familiars in the form of normal but evil and lascivious in nature. Offspring of these familiars and normal animals tend to be more wild and prone to attacking humans. His court comprises satyrs of the more feral natures, succubi, warlocks, and witches. He has no dealings with the undead.
Akelarre is a highly charismatic demon, and his honeyed words sound like the voice of a friend or lover promising you everything you desire and more. There is a great rivalry between the demon Akelarre and the devil Abraxas. Each seeks to find more magical tomes than the other, and they instruct their respective warlocks to do the same.
Akelarre as a Patron: Akelarre believes that the pleasures of the world are the best reward and the pleasures of the flesh most of all. He typically grants his witches and warlocks the ability to summon demonic spirits for their pleasures, the ability to conjure up feasts as needed, and of course, grants them gold on signing their pact. Witches and Warlocks of Akelarre gain a Charm Person and Glamour-like powers they can use once per day.
Licensed RPGs can either be really great or less so.
One of my favorites might sound self-serving, but it is my favorite.
I have to admit it is my favorite because everything I wanted is there somewhere. A system I love, in a time period I love and I got to work with some really great people too.
