The Other Side blog

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: Helga, Goddess of Witches, Ghosts and Magic

Helga is likely one of the Goddesses I have thought about the most. She is the goddess of witches, ghosts, and magic. She is the syncretized goddess of Hecate of the Greek/Roman myths and the Norse Hel and Heiðr, and the Germanic Frau Holt/Holda. This also ties her closely to Mother Goose and Grimm fairy tales.

Additionally, I have been using her as a character in my Wasted Lands games. This has allowed me to build her up from the ground up; Hecate and Hel are just her "backstory." So, part of this write-up will be based on the myths and legends and all the rules I have for them AND some in-game ideas I have had.

Helga

Helga is interesting one for me since her genesis really predates this project during a time I was working on creating new gods and goddesses for my home campaign. Some of that creation continues on in this project. In particular they formed my ideas on Großvater & Großmutter (originally Ouranus and Gaia in my home campaign). Helga though remains largely intact from that time since she was always a mix of Hecate, Hel, and a bit of Ereshkigal. She was a dark Goddess of Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts. I have even kept her name intact.

As this project grew I pulled in more details from previous work I had done, namely writings about Frau Holle and other, older myths that fit under the umbrella of "The Crone" archetype. Helga is very much the Crone, but she can appear at any age.

HELGA (Goddess of Magic, Ghosts, and Witches )
Intermediate Goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 1/-3
MOVE: 18" / 24"
HIT POINTS: 288
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: via Spell
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Death Touch
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Aura of Darkness
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Special

SIZE: M (5' 6")
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (Evil)
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Any (those who use magic, witches, undead)
SYMBOL: Image of the Goddess' face
PLANE: Hölle

CLERIC/DRUID: 20th level in each
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 20th level in each
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: 20th level Witch
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 10 I: 22 W: 24 D: 18 C: 18 CH: 20

Helga is the Witch Goddess, the Ghost Queen, and the Crone of the Trinity. She knows all secrets since they are whispered to her by the dead. Thus she knows all the secrets of magic. She is the guardian of the crossroads and the gates of Hölle, where the dead reside.

Helga will often appear as an older woman wearing simple robes of black. Her face is often hidden in shadow so that only part of it can be seen; her mouth or eyes. During the winter months, she will be seen wearing a crown of dried branches and leaves.

As the goddess of magic and witches, she knows every spell since they are whispered to her by the dead. She can cast two spells per round as she chooses. She casts as a 20th-level spellcaster. She can also command undead to do her bidding as if she were a 20th-level cleric. She can speak to the dead at will.

Helga is the mistress of magic, therefore she is immune to the effects of any spell of third-level or lower. This includes any area of effect spells. For spells of fourth-level and greater, she has a saving-throwing bonus of +3. She is also surrounded by an aura of darkness that obscures her features and provides protection. When active, she gains a +4 to saving throws and a +4 bonus to AC. This is in addition to her normal saves.

Animal: Hounds
Rainment: (Head) circlet of dead leaves and branches (Body) Simple garments of black. Robes of black
Color(s): Black
Holy Days: Samhain, Winter Equinox, Beltane
Sacrifices: Animal sacrifice at the Equinoxes. Animals are burned to ash. Milk left out each night.
Place of Worship: Graveyards and Crossroads.

Her faithful hound is Heuler, the Guardian of the Gates of the Dead.

Heuler

Heuler ("Howler") is the syncretized guardian of the Underworld ("Hölle"). He combines elements of Cerebus, Hell Hounds, and the various wolves of the Norse/Germanic mythology, in particular Garm.

HEULER
FREQUENCY: Unique
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 24"
HIT DICE: 22+88 (187 hp)
% IN LAIR: 100%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 bite, 2 claws
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 4d10 + Poison/Disease, 1d8+4, 1d8+4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Howl
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +3 or better weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
SIZE: L (18' at shoulder)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Heuler is a monstrous wolf-hound hybrid monster that stands 18' tall. His fur is soot black, his eyes burn with hellfire, and his jaws drip with poison. He is tasked with making sure none enter Hölle that do not belong, and none leave once they are inside.

He attacks with his massive jaws biting with 4-40 hp worth of damage. Each bite carries a rotting disease similar to mummy rot. Victims must save vs. Poison or contract this rotting disease. It is treated the same as Mummy Rot. He can also attack with his massive claws for 5-12 hp worth of damage each.

Three times per day, Heuler may howl to summon the dead to aid him. After he howls he will be joined by 3d12 wights who will fight whoever the beast is fighting. These wights will fight till destroyed.

If Heuler is killed then one of his pups will be elevated to the position of the new Guardian of the Gate.

A Reminder Note About Translations

I have had a few comments from people saying my translations are "off." While that is true, it is also on purpose. I am not looking for a perfect translation into modern German here. I am looking for something that common folk might have called these (See Rule #2) AND something I would have written in 1985-6 when my only resource was my High School German textbook and dictionaries (See Rule #3). So yeah, there are proper ways to translate these, but that is not what I want to do here.

Links

The Gods

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 10, Room 24

There is a secret door near the tomb of Ferner Morgenstjernen. This leads down a flight of stairs.

This is another Morgenstjernen tomb. This tomb belongs to Hilde Morgenstjernen, the Xothia or Dwarven Witch of the clan.

Her Book of Shadows is carved into the walls of her tomb. A magic-user can spend time here copying the text. There are:

1d8+3 first-level spells
1d8+1 second-level spells
1d8 third-level spells
1d6+1 fourth-level spells
1d6 fifth-level spells
1d4+1 sixth-level spells
1d4 seventh-level spells
1d4 eight-level spells.

These are worth 100 xp each per level.

There are no other treasures here.

Monday, October 23, 2023

October Horror Movie Challenge: Lost Boys (1987)

I talked about this one a bit back when I reviewed Near Dark. I have to admit that this is the movie I first thought of when I saw that Best Soundtrack was a category.

Lost Boys (1987)

Ok. So I did do this one back in 2014. A lot, if not all, of what I said then still hold true. The movie holds well. Yeah there is some fast and loose play with the rules of vampirism here, but honestly it is still a great film.

Let's talk about that soundtrack.

There are so many great hits here. Many are covers, but for some reason it works fine.

We have Roger Daltrey of the Who singing Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," and for the longest time, I preferred this version. I was on a big Who kick then.

INXS practically made this one of their unofficial albums and I think added to their success of Kick, also out in 1987. Their song "Good Times" was a cover of a 1960s song.

The big covers were Echo and the Bunnymen's cover of The Door's "People are Strange," which gave the Doors some newfound fans in my generation (yes, we knew about them before). And the big one, Tim Capello's cover of The Call's "I Still Beleive." Tim Capello is still out there touring, too, and I guess he is like one of the chillest guys ever.

The original songs include the "title song" "Lost in the Shadows (The Lost Boys)" by Lou Gramm, and the real title song, "Cry Little Sister (Theme from The Lost Boys)" by Gerard McMann.

I have a lot of really fond memories of this album that coincide with my freshman year in college. It is the soundtrack I'd put to write vampire material. Kinda wish I still had some of that stuff. It might not have been (it wasn't, I am sure), but for nostalgia value.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 27
First Time Views: 17

Monstrous Mondays: D&DGII Hautveränderer

The Romans, Norse, and ancient Germanic peoples all had many monsters that haunted their fears and tales. But they all at least one monster in common, and that was the werewolf.

The first recorded werewolves in a recognizable form in myth and legend go back to the Greeks and Romans. One could argue that the go back even further, but Greek and roman are fine for this project. Indeed we get the word "Lycanthrope" from the Romans. In particular from Ovid in his Metamorphoses and his tale of King Lycaon. The Norse and Germanic people gave us the berserker, or berserkr, meaning "Bear Shirt." These were a class of warriors that could turn into bears or had the ferocity of bears in battle.

Tales of humans turning into animals are as old as humans and animals. Many shamanistic practices are based on this. For today's monster then I am looking for less of a syncretism and more of a synthesis.

In Norse and Germanic myths, the Werewolf is known as the "werwolf" not much difference there. But in Roman myth such creatures were known as "skin changers" or "skin turners." Translate that back to German and we have today's monster, the Hautveränderer.

HAUTVERÄNDERER
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 24"
HIT DICE: 7+1 (32 hp)
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: B + Special
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 Claws, 1 bite
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4/1d4/1d6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Bloodlust, Rend (2d8)
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
SIZE: M (6')
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Hautveränderer are human fighters, most often Berserkers (qv Monster Manual, p.67), who can assume the form of a large wolf or bear. They do this by using a special skin of the animal they wish to transform into. The hautveränderer's skin must be of an animal they killed and then prepared by a shaman. They don the skin, which must be touching their flesh to transform.

They attack with two claws and a bite. Any natural 20 roll on their claw attacks will result in a rending attack, 2d8 instead of 1d4. If successful, they can make two rend attacks per round.

Hautveränderer live for battle and are subject to bloodlust once they have made a successful attack. They must make a saving throw vs. Paralysis, if they succeed, then they continue as before. If they fail, then they succumb to the blood lust and attack everything, friend or foe, until none are alive. They are allowed a new save at the start of their next attack. Success means their lust has ended. While in blood lust, they attack at +2 to hit.

Their magical hide also offers some magical protection, so only +1 or better weapons can pierce it.

If killed, there is a 10% chance that their hide survived the attack enough to be reused. Any character seeking to reuse the hide must seek out a shaman to bind it to its new owner. While killing a hautveränderer is typically a good enough reason to have this skin, some shamans might not look favorably on the one who did the killing if they were from the same clan.

They are not true lycanthropes, so they cannot pass on their curse, nor are they affected by the moon's phases.

Links

The Gods

This is another post for my RPG Blog Carnival Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 10, Room 23

This tomb belongs to Siln Morgenstjernen.

This tomb belongs to Siln, who according to her marker was the chief alchemist of the clan. This tomb appears to have been broken into at some point in the past. There is a secret alcove under the sarcophagus but it is empty.

Sunday, October 22, 2023

October Horror Movie Challenge: Viking Wolf (2022)

It's werewolf night! It's always a fun time and tonight's flick was a joint choice with my wife. She loves Viking shows and movies from Norway and Sweden, and we both like werewolves.

Viking Wolf (2022)

Originally called "Vikingulven." This one starts out great with a Viking raid on a monastery in Normandy in 1050 AD. The Vikings kill all the priests, and they rescue a wolf pup.

Fast forward to today, where we meet Thale, a 17 year-old girl who just moved to Nybo, Norway with her mom from Sweden. Thale (Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne) is a moody teen; no shock. She doesn't like this town, she doesn't like her mom (the new deputy Liv played by Liv Mjönes), and she really doesn't like her stepdad.

She sneaks out to a party and witnesses two other students get attacked by something. A girl is killed and the boy she is with is mauled.

Liv, with the help of a local animal expert, identifies the claw and bite marks as a wolf, a really large wolf. The wolf attacks continue, and while Liv is focused on the killer she completely misses the fact that her oldest daughter is changing.

They manage to kill the first wolf after it kills many people. Everyone thinks it is over until Thale begins to wolf out.

The movie is a touch slow and a bit predictable. I won't spoil the ending, but it was fun. More importantly, it gave me some fun ideas.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 26
First Time Views: 17

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 10, Room 22

This tomb is a bit different than the others. The plaque on the door claims this is the tomb of Sharis Val, son of Ferner Morgenstjernen.

Inside the tomb is largely unadorned.

The sarcophagus for Sharis Val is larger than the previous ones. Opening it, the party can see why. Sharis Val is not a Dwarf, but rather a Dark Elf.

In is hand he holds the head of a morningstar.

If a Chaotic (any Evil) character touches it they must Save vs. Spells or take 6d6 hp electrical damage. Save for half.

If a Neutral character touches it they take 2d6 points of damage, save vs. Spells for half.

If a Lawful (Lawful Good) character touches it an illusion of Sharis Val appears. He is tall dark elf. He has a damaged leg that causes him to lean to one side. It appears to be some sort of birth defect.

He explains to the adventurers who he is. He was born to a Drow matron, but his deformity caused his mother shame. She tried to hide it and instead was merciless to him, making sure that whatever he lacked in physicality he would make up for in intelligence. But it was never enough and he was cast out to die. He was discovered by Ferner Morgenstjernen a high priest of the Forge Father. Ferner took him in and together they discovered the secret of Necromium.

He will continue and tell them they had just survived the second attack by the Vampire Queen and know she will strike again. To that end they have forged a new weapon of Necromium in the style of their house emblem. If the party is seeing this illusion it means the dwarves did not stop the Vampire Queen, but they now can. Combine the two pieces, if Ferner has finished the shaft, and they will bond to make a weapon capable of destroying the Vampire Queen once and for all. The illusion fades. There is no other treasure here.

The Black Morningstar is a +3 weapon, +4 vs Undead, and +5 vs Vampires. When near undead it has a black fire aura that does an additional 1d8 to undead and 2d8 to vampires. When encountering the Vampire Queen herself this aura is increased to 2d12. Only a cleric of a Lawful (Good) god can wield it for the added aura.

GMs Note: If no member of the party is a Lawful Cleric then decide who is the most worthy to wield it.