#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 9, Room 5

 This Gallery has four major exists, two on the right and two on the left.  Taking the first on the left takes the party down a slightly down-sloping hall.

This long hallway has many magical sigils that glow every 10 feet on the ceiling.  Stepping into the light of a sigil has a random effect.

The following effects occur unless the character makes a save vs. Spells.  Roll a 1d20 for the effects of each sigil. There are 10 total sigils.

1. The character is granted the power to cast a spell of their choice once.
2. The character is granted a +2 bonus to all saving throws for 1 hour.
3. The character is healed of all damage.
4. The character is surrounded by a protective aura that grants them resistance to all damage for 1 minute.
5. The character is cursed with a -2 penalty to all attack rolls for 1 hour.
6. The character is blinded for 1d4 rounds.
7. The character is deafened for 1d4 rounds.
8. The character is paralyzed for 1d4 rounds.
9. The character is poisoned for 1d4 hours.
10. The character's non-magical equipment is destroyed.
11. The character is trapped in a magical force field for 1d4 hours.
12. The character is attacked by a swarm of insects.
13. The character is attacked by a pack (1d4+1) of wolves.
14. The character is attacked by a group (1d6+1) of goblins.
15. The character is attacked by a troll.
16. The character is attacked by a dragon (this is actually an illusion, a second save vs. Spell to disbelieve).
17. The character is granted a limited wish.
18. The character is granted the power to fly for 1 hour.
19. The character is granted the power to understand all languages for 1 hour.
20. The character is granted the power to see in the dark for 1 hour.

A successful save means nothing happens, positive or negative. 

This hall ends in a large double door.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 9, Room 4

Room 4 can be found on either side of the entrance of the Gallery of Room 2.

Room 4a is to the left and Room 4b is to the right.

These rooms appear to be some sort of guardroom or wayroom. 

It is long abandoned. There are some basic weapons here; a dagger, a sword, and a few arrows.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 9, Room 3

 Room 3 covers the 13 alcoves on either side of this gallery (26 total).

Each alcove features the bust of an ancient dwarven king.  Their names and lineages are inscribed along with their accomplishments.  The dates go back to the dwarven mountain kingdom when the mountain was to the north.

Of the 26 busts, at least five have been completely destroyed. Another eight had secret panels, but those have all been looted centuries prior.  All have damage.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 9, Room 2

The level opens up to a large open gallery. The design is dwarven, but has been modified. The gallery is over 600 ft long.

This room is filled with the shadows of dwarven lords and wizard students. They seem to be from different times since they do not interact at all with each other.

Hidden among these shadows are four (4) Spectres.  

These are former minions of the Vampire Queen in life and serve her still after death.

The specters have normal treasure E x4. 

There are also Type A, C, D here as well, but no magic items. The Vampire Queen has used all of those.

On each side of the gallery there are multiple alcoves and exits.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Artist Edition

 A couple of art Kickstarters this weekend. Both are pretty well known for their witches.

Larry Elmore: The Complete Elmore Volume III hardcover book

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larryelmore/larry-elmore-the-complete-elmore-volume-iii-hardcover-book?ref=theotherside

There is not a D&D player who doesn't know the art of Larry Elmore. I am not even sure what I need to say here.

It's Larry. It's his D&D art. Buy it. 

Broomsticks & Brushwork

A collection of ink illustrations celebrating witches from around the magical world.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kesingersketchcraft/sketchcraft?ref=theotherside

This one just looks fun. 

All sorts of little witches. I would have LOVED to grab an original commission, but I can't easily part with $850.  

But it all looks like fun.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 9, Room 1

 These stairs take the party down to level 9. The temperatures are much cooler now. 

As the stairs descend (at least 200 ft) there are other staircases. Many are broken, but other still look viable. These others usually lead to dead ends, lairs of monsters (use Wandering Monsters), or fall into darkness.

The feeling here should look like a broken and destroyed kingdom of stone.  This is more of the original dwarven mountain and has been less "renovated" by the Vampire Queen.  There are also areas of the original Citadel of Necromancers here too, under the devastation of the mountain.  Dwarven character will be able point out at least four different types of structures here: the original stone of the island, the dwarven mountain, modifications by various wizards and necromancers who lived here, and finally, modifications from the experiments of the Vampire Queen herself.

The Necromantic aura of the upper levels mixes with the demonic ones of the level above and something else that even the most learned magic-user can't quite identify.

Every 6 turns roll for wandering monsters as normal. There is a 25% chance that the monster encountered is a "Shadow" version. It looks like the shadow of the monster. It attacks, but it has no physical form so it can't damage or be damaged. Every 3 turns a "Shadow Wizard" will be spotted. This is a dead wizard or student who does not know they are dead. They go about their business as if it were a normal day for them. They do not damage or interact, but they are creepy.

The Blizzard of Summer 2023!

One of the best things about blogging and writing about games for so long is I have gotten to meet so many really great people and made some really great friends.

Two such are Tim Knight over at Hero Press and Pun Issac over at Halls of the Nephilim. Both are great guys, and we all have many intersecting interests in RPGs, comics, and movies.  So it is no real shock then when we decide to go over and play in each other's sandboxes.

Over the summer, they graciously allowed me to use two of their iconic characters, The Acrobatic Flea and The Web Archivist, for The Wasted Lands.

Now they have returned to honor and built versions of my misanthrope villain, The Refrigerator, for their own respective supers games, along with tweaks to make him work in their worlds. 

• The Refrigerator of Knight City: Villains & Vigilantes (mod)
• The Refrigerator of  Carbide City: 5th Evolution

Both are great takes on my villain, and I love the additional little details they have both added. 

What is the point of having an iconic character if you can't share it?