Monstrous Monday: Trolls of Hyperborea

It is getting cold here in Chicago, and that makes me want to pull out some Hyperborea. So I am going to be spending some time with the new Hyperborea this week. It is also Monstrous Monday, so let get a monster ready for that.  

My wife and I watched the new Netflix movie "Troll" recently. It was fun. It will not win any awards for originality, but it was fun. Reminded me a bit of the "Troll Hunter" movie from a bit back. We also watched the original "Willow" movie from 1988. It also had some trolls in it, though very different.  She had never seen the movie, and it had been decades since I had. It reminded me once again how much I don't care for the standard AD&D-inspired troll and prefer something closer to myth and legend.

So. Let's put this all together with something new-ish.  So here is a troll I am reworking and presented in Hyperborea format.

Troll, Jötunn

Jötunn Troll: #E 1 | AL CE | SZ L (30') | MV 40 | DX 9 | AC 2
HD 14 | #A 3/1 (claw/claw/bite) | D 1d6+5/1d6+5/2d6+5
SV 10 | ML 8 | XP 2,300 | TC D | Special: See Below

This immense rock-skinned brute wields a tree branch for a club. Their mouths are filled with jutting teeth and tusks.

Jötunn trolls are gigantic horrors. Prowling in frigid wastes, these rapacious creatures have the same insatiable appetites of common trolls but require much more sustenance because of their excessive size. Jötunn trolls stand 30 feet tall and weigh roughly 25,000 pounds. They can live for up to 1,000 years. Their most curious feature is many will have multiple heads, sometimes even sprouting a new head after several years.  It is generally believed that the older the troll, the more heads it will have.

Jötunn trolls spawn with either their own kind or with other trolls. In the latter case, there is only a 5% chance the offspring will be a jötunn troll. Apart from brief mating periods, jötunn trolls are solitary, although some cull together bands of other giants into devastating war parties that can lay waste to entire regions. Like all trolls, the Jötunn Troll can regenerate. This begins the round after taking damage, and they regenerate at a rate of 4 hp per round in temperatures near freezing.  If the temperatures are warmer, then this slows to 3 hp per round. At temperatures of 100 degrees or more, their regeneration stops altogether. They cannot regenerate from fire or acid-based attacks.

Once every 1d4 rounds as a regular attack action, a jötunn troll can emit a cacophonous roar. All creatures within a 60-foot spread of the troll must make a save vs. paralysis or become confused for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting effect. 

A jötunn troll with multiple heads has a +4 bonus on all saving throws against mind-affecting effects. In addition, whenever a jötunn troll must make a save vs. these effects, it can roll the saving throw twice and take the better of the two results.

Jötunn Trolls have highly advanced senses. So highly tuned, in fact, they can "smell" the difference between "good" and "evil" alignments, preferring to attack, and hopefully eat, those of good or lawful alignments over evil or chaos. These senses allow them to small prey as far away as 300 ft and "smell alignment" as far away as 30 ft.

Based on the "Jotund Troll" from Pathfinder

Section 15

Troll, Jotund. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Jesse Benner, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, James Jacobs, Michael Kenway, Rob McCreary, Patrick Renie, Chris Sims, F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter, and Russ Taylor, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.

One Man's God Special: Syncretism Part 4, Orcus and Dispater

This post really is a transitory one.  It takes on ideas from my One Man's God and my One Man's God Special: Syncretism and transitions it in-a-matter of speaking to my new In Search Of posts. 

Today I want to talk about syncretism, but not in the sense I have in my last few posts. I covered the basics of syncretism a while back. In two different posts syncretized the Greek and Egyptian gods and the Roman and Norse gods.  It is to the Greek and Roman gods that I turn today.  In particular, I will focus on the Roman side of the Greek One Man's God posts in OMG: Greek and Roman Mythos, Part 4 Tales of Brave Ulysses, and my attention is on Orcus. 

In Search of Orcus

Orcus, Demon Prince of the Undead

Orcus has always been a major bad guy in my and many others' games. Not just because he is a great demon lord and master of the undead, that is plenty of reason, but even more so from the very mysterious Etruscan background of the god Orcus. 

I mentioned Hades a lot in this series before. He is the God of the Underworld and was so feared that he was often never called on by name, he gains the epithet "The Rich One" and, much later on, "The Lord of this World," something that has also been later attributed to Satan. 

As Greek myths merged into Roman myths, several gods were syncretized to arrive at the Roman Pluto.  These include many gods of the underworld, the dead (but not death), and riches such as the Etruscan Atia, the Etruscan Tuchulcha, and the Roman Dīs Pater.   Mixed in all of this are the Greek Horkos and Roman/Etruscan Orcus. 

This is what is going on in our world. But what of the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons?

I'll be 100% honest here. I think the "official" history of Orcus is pure garbage. Orcus starting out as a human? No. Not in my world. Orcus was a god. Romans swore sacred oaths to him. He has a dwarf planet named for him. He was not some human necromancer. He was more.

But before I get to Orcus and what he was or is, I want to discuss Dis.

In Search of Dīs Pater

Dispater, the Iron Duke

I will admit that the AD&D Dispater was always one of my favorite devils. Looking into his official background is more appealing than it is for Orcus, largely because there is not much of it.  I think role-playing wise I molded him after the devil character from the TV series "From the Brothers Grimm" episode Bearskin. Sort of the evil gentleman devil.  

In later editions of D&D, the "Iron Duke" have become akin to an infernal arms dealer and paranoid. Certainly an interesting choice but how does that square with the Dīs Pater, or Rex Infernus, of Roman myth?

Both Dispater and Dīs Pater are very wealthy. Both are considered to be the Lord of the Underworld (or at least one of them). Dīs Pater has a connection with the dead via Pluto/Hades who he was conflated later on. Dispater's only connection with the dead is via the souls he traffics in Hell.

Like the god Orcus and later on Satan, Dīs Pater is a good of riches and "Lord of the World."  This does fit into the notions of how Dispater is currently being presented.

How the Gods Die, and are Reborn

Things with Gods never should be clean-cut. If there is nothing else I want to show here, then let it be that Gods and Demons are a messy bunch.  They live, and they can die, and they can be split up and recombined.

I mentioned in my Syncretism of the Greco-Egyptian Gods that, in some cases, scholars have pointed to the syncretism of Set and Hades in early notions of the Christian Satan. There is more than this of course (see the "messy" note above), but this is a good start for me today.

One of the themes I like to play with in my games is the conflict between the old and new gods, or more specifically, the conflict between Paganism and the rise of Monotheism. In D&D this has its manifestation in the Dawn War. 

In my games the servants of the good gods, angels, and the like, who fell became the Baalseraph or the unique devils.  Demons have various origins, but some used to be gods.

Orcus used to be a God. 

Sort of.  In my overly complicated mythologies here Orcus was an avatar of a God of the Dead. I am currently using Hades/Pluto as a stand-in here but I will come up with something later. So this God of the Dead creates an avatar and this is Orcus of Roman myth, he also has another avatar, more akin to Dīs Pater but is more of psychopomp (like Hermes or Vanth).  Here is where things get weird. This god is killed, maybe during the Dawn War, maybe before. The two avatars do not die, but rather go a little mad, each thinking they are the rightful heir to this god's mantle. Both "fall" and are "demonized." The psychopomp of Dīs Pater falls and becomes Dispater the Iron Duke.  The other avatar is demonized to become Orcus, the Demon Prince of the Undead.

Each remembers being a god, if somewhat vaguely.  For Orcus, this manifests in his desire to become a God himself and his rage to destroy all life when he can't. For Dispater, this manifests as his extreme paranoia, his desire to control all around him, and his hoarding of his wealth.

It also has one other aspect may be unique to my games.  Orcus and Dispater hate each other. It is a deep existential dread that the other has something they need OR need to destroy. Both work against the other. Their warlocks, priests, and cultists (who have rituals that are oddly similar) work against each other.  It goes beyond anything that the Blood War might suggest; it is a personal hatred they share.

What would happen if Dispater and Orcus put aside their animosity and worked together? Or worse, what if some magic was used to re-combine them back into the God they were?  I shudder to think to be honest, but there is no way that would be good for anyone.

Maybe there is a third part of this god. A Neutral Evil one that does know what they were and what roles Orcus (CE) and Dispater (LE) play in this. Who is that entity? What do they want?

I still might take a page from Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski's series, The Menagerie, and have Hades dead. This third creature, likely much weaker than the other two, would live in the remains of Hades' kingdom.

Links

• Wikipedia
• Orcus
• Dīs Pater
• Abaddon / Apollyon
• Samael
• Tuchulcha

• Campaign Wikis
• Orcus: Forgotten Realms | Pathfinder | Critical Role
• Dispater: Forgotten Realms | Pathfinder | Critical Role

• Posts here
• Vaprak and Demogorgon
• Hades and Pluto and Orcus and Dīs Pater
• Orcus for Unisystem

One Man's God Special: Syncretism

• Syncretism Part 1, The Gods of Faerûn
• Syncretism Part 2, the Greco-Egyptian Gods
• Syncretism Part 3, the Roman-Norse Pantheon
• Syncretism Part 4, Orcus and Dispater
• Syncretism Part 5, Chariots of the Gods

Mail Call: Melissa Belladonna Mini

A quick one while I work on dinner. It is still Tuesday, right?

One of the things I do love about the new crop of D&D players is how much they love their characters and the lengths some will go to show that love.  I have shared my enjoyment of Ginny Di and her Aisling, so today, I want to introduce you to Melissa Belladonna. Well, more to the point, her 25mm version.

Yeah, I can get a Tiefling mini cheaper locally, but that is not the point. The point is this is something fun.

You can get yours from Only-Games.co and they also allow you to set up your own store front and sell your own minis if you like.  I thought about it, but I really don't have the skills to make minis.

Though a little Larina to go along with Melissa would be fun.

The Acrobatic Flea for Amazing Adventures

I had so much fun doing the write-up for Tim Knight's Acrobatic Flea a couple of weeks ago for NIGHT SHIFT I thought, why not give it a try for Amazing Adventures too!

NIGHT SHIFT's Flea (dubbed Earth-NS) is a non-powered gritty street-level hero fighting the forces of darkness while working for Weirdly World News.  The Flea of Amazing Adventures is a powered hero with more emphasis on two-fisted action as behooves Amazing Adventures' own origin as a Pulp game and now itself a multiversal game.

The Amazing Adventures of the Acrobatic Flea

Sean Edward Ridire grew up reading comics about his favorite pulp action heroes; Tennessee O'Malley, Mackie Gleeson, Marie Laveau, the adventures only known as "The Fox" and Brotherhood of William St. John. Then to his surprise and joy, at age 14, his own mutant powers developed. He became superhumanly strong, could leap several meters into the air and land safely, and could climb any surface.  At 21 he moved to Knight's End to take a job as a reporter at a local TV News network. During the day he covers the news, reporting on traffic, human interest stories, and other bottom-tier assignments. But he also patrols the city as the Acrobatic Flea stopping what crime he can.

In his short time he has teamed up with other heroes such as the demon hunter known as The Paladin and the mysterious Witch Queen to fight spider mutants and defeat the evil Refrigerator. But the strangest encounter of all was meeting his own counterpart from another, darker Earth!

What adventures will the Flea have next? Only time will tell, but they will be Amazing!

The Acrobatic Flea

3rd Level Powered / 1 level Hard to Kill
Race: Human (Mutant)

Strength: 22 (+4) P
Dexterity: 20 (+4) P
Constitution: 14 (+1) 
Intelligence: 14 (+1) 
Wisdom: 16 (+2) P
Charisma: 16 (+2)

Hit Points: 25
Alignment: Lawful Good
AC: 16
BtH: +2
Power Points: 12

Sanity (SAN): 80 (Max), 80 (Current)

Fate Points: 6

Fate Die: 1d6

Languages: English (native language), French
Background: Reporter
Skills: Knowledge (Popular Culture)

Traits: Quick (Move +10, +1 to initiative)

Powers

True Strike, Jump, Spider Climb (2), Enhanced Strength +8, Enhanced Dexterity +4, cell phone (burner) 

Gear

Night vision goggles (gift from the Flea of Earth NS), costume (AC 6).

Remember, these are the final hours of the Amazing Adventures Multi-Genre RPG crowdsourcing campaign.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/amazing-adventures-multi-genre-rpg#/

Monstrous Monday: OSE and 5e books and Gruß vom Krampus

Quick one today. Feeling a bit under the weather still.

Last week I got my Folklore Bestiary from the Merry Mushmen Kickstarter.  

The books are really nice and I got the Old-School Essentials and 5e D&D versions.

They compare very well to the the earlier Twilight Fables monster books for OSR and 5e I have that kickstarted around the same time.

Both sets cover similar ground but have different approaches to what they are doing. So all four have a home now on my shelves and game table. I discussed their similarities and differences in regard to a monster I also did (but not the only one we all share) the Basajaun.

OSR/OSE versions for me, 5e versions for my kids.  It all works out great.  For me a monster book should come in 5e and OSR flavors from now on.  Or like Frog God Games is doing now in their Terrible Yule Cat with 5e, OSE and Castles & Crusades.

Gruß vom Krampus!

Greeting from Krampus!

I have a new project I am working on, something that is actually ready now, but I want to wait to get it out since it will be a big part of my 2023 Year of Monsters.

Here is a sneak peek at my new Monstrous Maleficarum.

This is not a replacement for my Basic Bestiary. It is designed to complement it and to serve a different audience.  Basic Bestiary is for the Old-School crowd and Monstrous Maleficarum is for fans of 5th edition. There will be overlap in the monsters, but each will be designed to serve what their respective audiences will like the most. The two projects will have very different looks and feel. 

Both the Basic Bestiary and Monstrous Maleficarum grew out my Monstrous Mondays, but also out of my One Man's God and certainly out of all my books and readings about Witches and Witchcraft.

Also, all profits from Monstrous Maledicarum will go to buy more art for Basic Bestiary.

I have a lot to do over Christmas break (ah...the life of an academic), so I better get on it.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Amazing Adventures

Feeling a bit under the weather this week. Likely a cold, have not had one of those in years.

But that is fine because I want to repost this one since we are hitting the last few days here.

Amazing Adventures Multi-Genre RPG

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/amazing-adventures-multi-genre-rpg#/

I have talked a lot about Amazing Adventures here and elsewhere. It is a Modern multi-genre RPG that uses the same Siege Engine as Castles & Crusades.  This is a new printing that reorganizes the material and has it cleaves a bit closer to the Castles & Crusades printings.

I am rather fond of this game ever since its first printing.  This new printing combines the Core book with the Companion, cleans up some rules, and reorganizes everything.  The CK guide for this will be greatly expanded.

I find the rules cover just about anything I want to be honest. For example, I have done a number of monsters for it:

• Neh-thalggu (Brain Collector)
• Spider Mutants
• Universal Monsters
• Count Strahd von Zarovich
• Triffids

And characters:

• Larina Nichols
• The Wayward Sisters (Supernatural)
• Willow and Tara (2018 update)
• Willow and Tara (2012)
• Libby Sawyer
• Rachel Morgan
• Zatanna
• The Refrigerator
• Giovanni "John" Zatara

So a very comprehensive game to be honest. I'd love to see this go past the $16,000 mark.

Class Struggles: The Necromancer, Part 2

I have not done a Class Struggles in a bit. Let's change that today.

The Necromancer is fertile ground for gamers.  I featured the Necromancer as one of the first Class Struggles.  There is still more to be said. Also in the last few months, I have bought at least three new necromancers. So lets see what we have.

Dragon #76 The Death Master
I spoke a lot about this one when I covered Dragon #76 in This Old Dragon and in my original Class Struggles. It really is the model I follow when creating an evil necromancer type though Len's here was a bit of an arcane necromancer with a bit of a death priest of Orcus mixed in. As I became savvier in what I knew about necromancers and the various D&D worlds I decided that Death Masters were unique to the Word of Greyhawk's Oerth. 

The Death Master became a playable class in the 3.x era with the publication of Dragon Compendium Volume 1 (there was never a vol. 2). Here the Death Master got a full 20 levels and was based directly off of Len Lakofka's class. Personally, I think a Prestige Class would have been a better choice. In fact a Prestige Class with just 13 levels like the original. I'd structure the prerequisites to need 3 levels of cleric and four levels of wizard or something like that. Sadly the Dragon Compendium Volume 1 is not just out of print, it is also not available on DriveThruRPG.  But Amazon has a copy and sometimes Noble Knight Games has them too.  

The Genius Guide to the Death Mage

Speaking of the old Death Master by Len Lakofka in Dragon Magazine. Owen K.C. Steven remembers! it! And this 20-level class for Pathfinder "feels" like that class, but it is its own thing.

This class is a stand-alone class (like most of the Pathfinder classes) complete with new powers and spells over 14 pages. In truth, it is a lot of fun. The author compares it to necromancer wizards, death priests, and undead-bloodline sorcerers, and how it is different. A better comparison is to druids. But where the druid is dedicated to life, the Death Mage is dedicated to death and the spirits of the dead.

There are five "Sub-types" of Death Mages presented. Corpse Mages, Ghoul Mages, Tomb Mages, Reaper Mages, and Shadow Mages.

There are 11 new spells. I think an opportunity was missed here to have 13 spells.

Old-School Essentials: The Necromancer

One of the newest necromancers on the block and designed specifically for Old School Essentials.  This is designated as "Play Test Material" but it really is ready to go. There have been necromancers for OSE before and there is at least one necromancer for other B/X-Basic games written by Gavin Norman already. Here the Necromancer is a subclass of the Magic-user, as would be expected, and some notes are given about using these new spells for the magic-user.  But thematically they fit with the necromancer much better. The new spells are from 1st to 6th level and there are 12 of each. I see why there are twelve of each; to fit the style and layout of what Gavin does with his OSE games. But I would have been tempted to make it a nice 13 per level myself. 

The spells are good and fit well. Some we have seen in other forms and formats over the past few years, but that does not detract from this book at all. Do you want a great OSE necromancer? Well, here it is.

The format used here could be adopted for all sorts of other magic-user type classes or subclasses like the Illusionist or Enchanter for example.

Castles & Crusades Black Libram of Naratus
I am a huge fan of Castles & Crusades and frankly, I don't think the game gets anywhere near as much love.

So I grabbed this one since it deals with darker magic and was part of the Haunted Highlands campaign (which I also enjoy). There is also the cover which is a call back to the infamous Eldritch Wizardry of OD&D. The first part covers necromancers and necromancer spells. This includes a way for normal spell casters to gain a level of Necromancer. A nice little add-on for any CK really. There is also a great spellbook in here called the "Grimoire of the Witch Queen" that makes the whole book worth it to me all by itself! That's the first half of the book. Later we get into Ritual/Sacrificial magic, magic items, and some new monsters. Given the types of games I run and the magic I like to have this is a "Must Have" book for me. The book is a tight 38 pages.

HYPERBOREA Player's Manual

I have to give special attention to my other "new" necromancer.  This one does not differ from the previous editions of AS&SH/Hyperborea. At least not that I can tell. The necromancer here is cut from the "evil cultist" mold like their warlock and has a lot of great spells and powers. It is still one of my favorites, but the new OSE one has a lot of great spells to go with their's so a combination might be in order. 

For Pathfinder we have a few choices. 

Mysteries of the Dead Side: Sacred Necromancer
This book is presented in landscape orientation for easier screen reading. We are given a 20-level base class for Pathfinder with six "Callings" (sub-types). I have to admit this got may attention since my cabal of evil necromancers is called "The Order of Six" so I could restat them as one of each type here. No new spells, but there is a fully...fleshed out...NPC. So it is worth the download really.

New Paths 7: Expanded White Necromancer
This 17-page book gives a new perspective a, GOOD necromancer that protects the dead. I like the idea, to be honest.  It comes with a complete 20-level base class and six new spells. There are also feats and stats for various undead companions. It makes for a great companion piece and counterpoint to the 3.x Death Master from Dragon Compendium Volume 1.

Special Mention: Shadow of the Necromancer

Not a class, but an adventure from friend of the Other Side Mark Taormino. This is a short adventure for 1st to 3rd-level characters. And most importantly (to me) it comes in both Old-School/1st Edition and 5th Edition D&D versions!

The adventure comes with a map, in beautiful old-school blue for the 1st ed version and full color for the 5th edition version. The module itself is 16 pages (one page for title and credits, one page for OGL , one page blank).  The adventure is a simple "strange things are going on! The PCs must investigate!" situation. It turns into "stop the minion of the Necromancer from finishing his evil plans." It's tried and true and it works fine here.  The adventure, as with many of the Darl Wizard/Maximum Mayhem Dungeons, is a deadly affair. Not as deadly as the Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen, but it is not a walk in the graveyard either. It is a fun romp and really captures the feel of old-school playing. Both versions are great and I can keep the 1st-ed version for myself and give the 5th-ed version to my kids to run.

I certainly have enough here to do an "Against the Necromancer" sort of campaign. Or even bring back my Order of the Six.