Friday, November 24, 2023

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 11, Room 24

 Entering Encounter Area 24 the characters hear growling and the squawking of birds.

Room 24

Here are two Type I demons, Vrocks, fighting over a dead elf.

Vrock Demon: HD 8; AC 0 [19]; Atk 1 beak (1d6), 2 foreclaws (1d8), 2 rear claws (1d6); Move 12 (Fly 18); Save 8; AL C; CL/XP 11/1700; Special: Magic resistance (50%), darkness, immune to fire.

Type I Demon (Vrock)

Armor Class 0 [19]
Hit Dice 8* (36 hp)
Attacks 2 foreclaws (1d8), 2 rear claws (1d6), 1 beak (1d6)
Special Magic resistance (50%), darkness, immune to fire.
THAC0 12 [+7]
Movement 120’ (40’)
  Fly 180' (60')
Saving Throws D8 W9 P10 B11 S12 SS 8 (8)
Morale 10
Alignment Chaotic
XP 1,750
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type A

These demons are vulture-headed, with feathered but humanoid bodies, and huge dark-feathered wings. All can create darkness in a radius of 5-ft. and are immune to fire. They use their wings to allow both their arms and legs to be brought into combat, along with their beaked bite. Vrock demons are quite stupid, though like most demons they consider themselves to be tremendously intelligent. A Vrock has a 10% chance to gate another first-category demon to its assistance. (S&W SRD).

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Here are a couple of Turkey Demons, Happy Thanksgiving from The Other Side!

Thursday, November 23, 2023

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 11, Room 23

 Encounter area 23 is the strangest one yet.

When the characters enter the area they hear a loud metallic grating sound. A blue box, about 8 ft tall and 4ft by 4ft on base appears out of nowhere. A light shines on the top of the box.


A man in strange garb pokes his head out and looks around. He says "Oh. Hello. Sorry, but stupid question, is this Earth? I am supposed to meet someone, about a thing. Well. Two things." 

He looks around for a moment, then says "Right. Have to be off." 

He goes back into the box and it makes the same grating and groaning noise and disappears.

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Happy 60th Anniversary Doctor Who!

Please feel free to use any version of the Doctor you like.

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 11, Room 22

Encounter area 22 has another Gate. This one swirls and out stomps a giant demon. 

Room 22

This demon is an Utukku, his name is Zaidu, the Hunter and he is bound to the Vampire Queen to hunt her enemies.  Which is currently the PCs.


Tuesday, November 21, 2023

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 11, Room 21

 Encounter area 21 is a cul-de-sac with a flight of stairs down to a collection of books in a small library.

Room 21

There are scores of books. Most are mundane but there are 30 books detailing monsters enough to grant readers an additional 500 xp.

There are also five spell books with random spells.

First level: 1d10+3
Second level: 1d8+4
Third level: 1d6+2
Fourth level: 1d6+1
Fifth level: 1d4+1

Monday, November 20, 2023

D&DGII The Black Forest Mythos: References

O. Von Corven "The Great Library of Alexandria" Artistic Rendering of the Library of Alexandria, based on some archaeological evidence.
The end is nigh! I have one more set of gods I want to do for this project, and then I'll see if I can put together a PDF for everyone.  

I said I was not going to treat this as an academic work. Especially since I blatantly ignored things like real archeology, anthropology, and ethnographic studies. But I thought others might be interested in some of the legwork I did to get where I am on this today.

This is not a comprehensive bibliography, not even a targeted one. It is a catch-as-catch-can one based on the books I was reading when I started having these ideas.

References

Daileader, P. (2013). The Early Middle Ages. The Teaching Company.

Drake, J. (2020). Viking Mythology: 2 Books In 1 – The Complete Guide to Norse Mythology and Celtic Mythology Including Legends, Beliefs, Norse Folklore, Norse Gods, and Celtic Myths. Josh Drake.

D’Aulaire, I., & D’Aulaire, E. P. (1962, 1992). Book of greek myths. Doubleday Books for Young Readers.

Gaiman, N. (2018). Norse mythology. Bloomsbury.

Gosden, C. (2021). Magic: A history: From alchemy to witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the present. Picador.

Hale, J. R. (2013). Exploring the Roots of Religion. The Teaching Company.

Harl , K. W. (2011). The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity. The Teaching Company.

Harl, K. W. (2005). The Vikings. The Teaching Company.

Higginbotham, J., & Higginbotham, R. (2018). Paganism: An introduction to earth-centered religions. Llewellyn Publications.

Lecouteux, C. (2016). Encyclopedia of norse and germanic folklore, mythology, and magic. Inner Traditions.

Lewis, S. (2018). Mythology mega collection: Classic stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian mythology. Scott Lewis.

Line, P. (2015). The Vikings and their enemies: Warfare in Northern Europe, 750-1100. Skyhorse Publishing.

O’Donnell, J. J. (2016). Pagans: The end of traditional religion and the rise of Christianity. ECCO an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

River, C. (Ed.). (2018). The Ancient World’s Most Mysterious Religious Cults: The History of the Cult of the Apis Bull, the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the Mysteries of Mithras. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Voth, G. L. (2013). Myth in Human History. The Teaching Company.

Waggoner, B. (2009). The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok. The Troth.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 11, Room 20

 The creature in Encounter Area 20 looks like some sort of glowing ball floating in mid-air. In truth it is the glowing heart of an Infernal Gelatinous Cube.

Room 20

An Infernal Gelatinous Cube is a larger cousin to the common Gelatinous Cube

In addition to greater HD (10) and enhanced hp, this monstrosity has an infernal intelligence. 

It has an aura of heat that causes 1d8 hp of damage to all within 5' of it. It is also immune to fire and flame attacks. 

Sunday, November 19, 2023

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 11, Room 19

 Characters can hear a loud droning sound coming from encounter area 19 long before they see it.

Room 19

The monster is a Mezzalorn (a Wasp Demon).

Mezzalorn Demon (Wasp Demon)

Armor Class -3 [22]
Hit Dice 12* (54 hp)
Attacks 2 claws (1d6), 1 sting (2d6 + poison)
Special Magic resistance (10%), immune to poison
THAC0 11 [+8]
Movement 120’ (40’)
  Fly 120' (40')
Saving Throws D6 W7 P8 B9 S10 (12)
Morale 10
Alignment Chaotic
XP 3,400
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type A

A mezzalorn looks like a hellish giant wasp with the head and torso of a man. When reduced to half its hit points it releases a pheromone that gives it and all other mezzalorns a +1 to-hit bonus. The poison injected by a mezzalorn’s stinger is lethal if the victim fails a saving throw.