Character Creation Challenge: Aradia for Wasted Lands

 All month long, I have been giving you D&D characters of various editions I have converted over to the O.G.R.E.S.-powered Wasted Lands. Today, I am really putting my money where my mouth is and creating a new Witch Queen character native to the Wasted Lands' Dreaming Age. 

So I have presented several Witch Queens for my War of the Witch Queens campaign. The conceit is that every D&D-like world has a Witch Queen. I have presented several here and even converted a couple to Wasted Lands. But today's Queen began in the Wasted Lands and rose to power here. Will she be remembered later on? Obtain some level of divinity? Likely. The Witch Queen I am giving you today is Aradia, Queen of the Witches.

Aradia is an interesting figure. "Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches," was a book by American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland. It makes the claim that Aradia was a historical figure from pagan Tuscany.  It is a similar idea that Margaret Murray's "The Witch-cult in Western Europe" would later adapt and adopt.

As fun as these ideas are, they don't hold up to the most basic academic scrutiny. Still, I like using them in my games, especially NIGHT SHIFT.  

Aradia is also great for Wasted Lands. 

Aradia, Queen of Witches

Aradia is described as the Daughter of the Roman Diana, who has many differences from her Greek counterpart, Artemis. Her father is Lucifer, who is described as a "Sun God" and is either Diana's son or brother. She seduces him and gives birth to their daughter, Aradia. In Leland's book, it is Diana, who is the Queen of Witches, and Aradia, who is akin to a witch Messiah. 

If we return to the Wasted Lands, Diana can be a Warrior/Sorceress from Minoa, and Lucifer would be a Warrior from Ashurii. Aradia learned her magic from mystics in Athenea and learned masters from Atlantis and Mu. She learned folk magic and the secret languages of plants and trees. She has traveled the world, learning magical practices. Her purpose is/was to spread beneficial magic, un-tainted by the Old Ones, to humanity. 

Aradia, then in the Wasted Lands, is the source of Witchcraft. 

Aradia, Queen of Witches

Class: Sorceress (Witch)
Level: 20
Species: Human
Alignment: Twilight Good
Background: Sorcerous

Abilities
Strength: 10 (+0) 
Agility: 13 (+1) 
Toughness: 14 (+1) 
Intelligence: 17 (+2) N
Wits: 18 (+3) N 
Persona: 20 (+4) A

Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 4
Vitality: 114
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +8/+3/+2
Melee Bonus: +2 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base)
Spell Attack: +5
Saves: +7 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer), +2 to Wits saves (Sorcerous Background)

Sorcerous Background
Enhanced Sorcery +10%, Mystical Senses, Bonus Arcane Power: Precognition

Sorceress Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (7): Empathy, Enhanced Senses, Beguile, Detect Thoughts, Teleknesis, Telepathic Transmission, Astral Projection

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Armor of Earth, Bless, Command, Glamour, Predict Weather, Sleep
Second Level: Animal Summoning, Conjure Flame, Invisibility, Lesser Renewal, Subtle Influence
Third Level: Clairvoyance, Cure Disease, Curse, Fly, Speaking Corpse
Fourth Level: Befuddlement, Conjure Fire, Plant Speech, Metamorphosis, Plant Speech
Fifth Level: Banishment, Cornucopia, Restore Life, Shadow Armor
Sixth Level: Dispel Evil, Evoke Weather, Invisible Servant, Reincarnation
Seventh Level: Ball of Sunshine, Call the Restless Soul, Wave of Mutilation, Widdershins Dance
Eighth Level: Mind Shield, Prophesy, Wail of the Banshee
Ninth Level: Breath of the Goddess, Feedback Barrier, Sleeping Village

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: Plus 10% to Spell Casting
2nd Level: Additional Spell: Damage Undead
3rd Level: Familiar: Raven
4th Level: Magical Recovery
5th Level: Grant Spellcasting
6th Level: Immunity to Spells/Magic
7th Level: Cult
*7th Level: Cease to Age
8th Level: Bestow Blessing
9th Level: Heal Corruption

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic

Gear
Staff, Dagger

Aradia in the Wasted Lands

This is the start of Aradia she was the first mortal witch, and her actions are the beginnings of witchcraft in the world. She will be remembered after the Dreaming Age end, and the Age of Humans begin. Later, scholars will claim to know of her, but those memories are something deeper and much older.

Aradia in NIGHT SHIFT

This is the Aradia that Leland wrote about and the one Murry wished was true. She is still a force in the modern world, especially when it comes to witches, whom she sees as her progeny. 

Aradia in Thirteen Parsecs

Will Aradia make it beyond the Earth and out into the Solar Frontier? Who is to say, but the Sisters of the Aquarian Order would argue that she is still a force to be reckoned with in their lives.

Aradia in Dungeons & Dragons

In my OSR/BX/D&D games she would be a Classical Witch, but she would also be a Witch Queen Patron to various Warlocks. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games. Thirteen Parsecs is coming soon.

Character Creation Challenge: Magnus Ulslime for Wasted Lands

 Heroes are often measured by the bad guys they have to face. If that is the case then Johan Werper and his line are true heroes indeed because their long time foe is a semi-immortal necromancer of the darkest dye. And you have seen him before.

Magnus Ulslime had several origin points for me that all seemed to collide at once. First there was Len Lakofka's Death Master class I saw in Best of Dragon Vol. III, a reprint of his class from Dragon #76. There was Ulslime the Chaosar (terrible name) from Module CM2 Death's Ride. And finally what I *thought* Module X6 Quagmire was about. All of these mixed in the same vat I was building classes in; my Healer, Sun-Priest, Witch, and Necromancer.  I saw my Necromancer as the moral opposite of the Healer and the Sun Priest.  Eventually, I would go to get my Profane Necromancer and Death Pact Warlocks out into the world along with my Witch.

Much like Larina is my test character for anything witchy, Magnus is my test for any sort of necromancer. Though I do not have as many versions of him as I do her.  I have featured him, though, as Necromancer for Spellcraft & Swordplay and as a Death Pact Warlock. I have also done his adopted children Runu and Urnu for both Spellcraft and Swordplay and Wasted Lands in the past. 

Magnus Ulslime

Class: Necromancer
Level: 13
Species: Human
Alignment: Dark Evil
Background: Cult

Abilities
Strength: 10 (+0) 
Agility: 13 (+1) 
Toughness: 14 (+1) 
Intelligence: 19 (+3) N
Wits: 16 (+2) N
Persona: 19 (+3) Z

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 87
Degeneracy: 33
Corruption: 7

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +7/+4/+3
Melee Bonus: +2 (base)
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base)
Magical Attack: +2
Saves: +8 to Persona saves, -2 vs Corruption

Cult Powers
Commune with Deeper Dark (1/week), Familiar (small demon), Forbidden Knowledge 38%, Mystical Senses

Necromancer Abilities
Channel the Dead, See Dead people, Turn Undead, Protection from Dead x5, Summon the Dead, Vampiric Augmentation, Suggestion x2, Command, Vampiric Touch, Beguile Spirit

Arcane Powers
Detect Thoughts, Polymath (Sage Abilities: Level 1), Incubus (touchstone), Shadow Walk (touchstone)

Spells
First level: Black Flames, Night Vision, Glamour
Second level: Invoke Fear, Paralyze Poison

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: Arcane Power: Incubus (1d6)
2nd Level: Arcane Power: Shadow Walk
3rd Level: Class Level, Sorcerer 1
4th Level: Class Level, Sorcerer 2
5th Level: Class Level, Sorcerer 3
6th Level: Class Level, Sorcerer 4
7th Level: Character ceases to age

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Death

Gear
Death staff

Magnus in the Wasted Lands

These are great stats and I am amazed with how flexible and customizable this game actually is. There is just so much going on here. It is also the first time in a character write-up I was able to really capture his childhood in a Death Cult. The only thing I did not do here is capture his early adulthood as a druid. Maybe a couple of levels of Theosophist would cover that.

Magnus in NIGHT SHIFT

If the Dark Druid can make it to the modern age, then Magnus could as well. I can see a cult trying to bring him back. I see it as sort of like a cheesy 80s movie where a bunch of teens play some record backward and summons Magnus, though I think to be true to his roots AND the 80s, he would have to be called "The Death Master."  Hmm. Maybe this is the missing piece of this 80s adventure I have been wanting to do.

Magnus in Thirteen Parsecs

I honestly have no idea if he will live this long. But maybe I will come up with something. The universe is a big and really weird place.  Though I will admit the name "Magnus" came to me while watching the Doctor Who serial "Talons of Weng-Chiang."  The bad guy in this one, Magnus Greel, was from the 51st Century. He even had a familiar of sorts, Mr. Sin.  I might have to name his quasit familiar Mr. Sin.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games. Thirteen Parsecs is coming soon.

Character Creation Challenge: Darlessa for Wasted Lands

I meant to do this character earlier and kinda forgot. Well, today is the day I fix that. When it comes right down to it, no character really represents my shift from D&D to Wasted Lands quite as well as Darlessa the Vampire Queen.

Of course, everyone here knows Darlessa. She has been featured here many times and I already did her witch stats for Swords & Wizardry and her vampire stats for Basic-era D&D. She is also the central antagonist of my Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen. She is responsible for the death of my first character, Johan, and ultimately, the cause for him to be elevated to a Saint. She even has (or had) her own Dark Domain, Arevenir.

I am using the Night Companion again for her so I can get the rules for making her a vampire. She has always been a witch, but a good case could be made for her to be a Spirit Rider, too. Maybe I'll give her a level in that later on, but today, I wanted to compare apples to apples: my OSR witches vs a NIGHT SHIFT witch.

Darlessa, the Vampire Queen

Class: Witch (Persona)
Level: 13
Species: Human Vampire
Alignment: Dark Evil
Background: Sorcerous

Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3) (+2 from Vampire)
Agility: 18 (+3) (+2 from Vampire)
Toughness: 18 (+3) 
Intelligence: 15 (+1) N
Wits: 14 (+1) N
Persona: 22 (+5) A

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: -5
Vitality: 75
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +6/+4/+2
Melee Bonus: +2 (base) +2 (touchstones) 
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base) +1 (touchstones)
Spell Attack: +7 (witch) +1 (touchstones)
Saves: +7 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer & Scholar), +3 to Wits (vampire) +1 to All (touchstones)

Witch Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (5): Succubus (6d6), Shadow Walking, Telekinesis, Beguile, Subtle Influence

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts, Black Flames, Chill Ray, Glamour, Object Reading, Armor of Earth
Second Level: Conjure Flame, ESP, Invoke Fear, See Invisible
Third Level: Clairvoyance, Create Zombies & Skeletons, Curse, Fly
Fourth Level: All-Seeing Invisible Eye, Black Tentacles, Improved Invisibility, Kiss of the Succubus
Fifth Level: Commune with Deeper Dark, Create Undead, Shadow Armor
Sixth Level: Instant Death, Zone of Death
Seventh Level: Wave of Mutilation

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: Additional Spell: Armor of Earth
2nd Level: +1 to Melee attacks
3rd Level: Spirit Guide: Undead Raven, "Lucifer"
4th Level: Favored Enemy: Lawful (Light) Good Clerics
5th Level: +1 to all attack rolls, defense rolls, spells, and saves
6th Level: Glamour at Will

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Power

Gear
Dagger

Wasted Lands Vampires

Ok! This Darlessa is much more powerful than previous versions. This is due largely to proper rules on how to make a character a vampire and how that adds to the character's power. But also Witches in NIGHT SHIFT and the Wasted Lands are a bit more powerful. Lets not forget those divine/heroic touchstones. Those add a LOT of power to the character. This is a version of Darlessa that should properly terrify a group of characters. 

Vampires in the Wasted Lands are also more akin to Akivasha of Robert E. Howard's tale The Hour of the Dragon than they are of Stoker's Dracula. Indeed, Darlessa is cut from the same cloth as Akivasha. Well same cloth, but dyed in the same dyes as various Hammer Horror vampires. 

But in native Wasted Lands, the world envisioned by Elf Lair Games' Jason Vey, vampires are more dangerous and closely tied to the powers of the Deeper Dark. This works fine for me since I have always seen Darlessa as shedding bits of her soul for power to whatever demon would grant it to her. Now, for a pure Wasted Lands game and for the publication of the Tomb of the Vampire Queen, I might go with a different name and slightly changed background. But it will be Darlessa all the same really. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Character Creation Challenge: Boudica for Wasted Lands

 Last week I heard of the passing of James Herbert "Herbie" Brennan, the prolific author of fiction and non-fiction as well as the RPG "Man, Myth & Magic." I don't have a lot to say on the matter. I have not read any of his books and my knowledge of him comes solely through my interaction with MM&M. But I did not want his death to go unremarked here.

While I have done other MM&M characters for myself, I thought for today I might revisit one I did a while back and fit both his game and Wasted Lands: Boudica, Queen of the Icini Celts.

I have a long relationship with Boudica. She was a figure I always found fascinating, especially during my time of reading an absolute ton of Celtic history, myth, and legends. Then I wrote the Ghosts of Albion RPG, and she was a central character of that franchise, though by then, she was a ghost.  So, given Herbie Brennan's fix of history and fantasy of his Man, Myth & Magic game, doing stats for Boudica was a no-brainer.  That is also true today.

Boudica for the Wasted Lands could have gone a number of different ways. Obviously, Warrior is a great choice (and what I went with in MM&M), but she didn't start out as one; she was forced into it by the Romans, who murdered her husband and raped her daughters. From NIGHT SHIFT, I could also say Survivor is good, but then again, so is Chosen One. In the end, though, the only real choice for me was to make her a Spirit Rider from the NIGHT SHIFT Night Companion and adapt that to Wasted Lands. Something the O.G.R.E.S. makes very, very easy. Trivial even.

The Spirit Rider is a person charged with the power of a particular place. Our archetype of this is Marie Laveau who is given magic by the "Spirit of New Orleans." Cú Chulainn is the Spirit Rider of mytho-historical Ulster as Fionn Mac Cumhail is the Spirit Rider of Éire. We have debated whether Merlin or King Arthur is the Spirit Rider of ancient Britain. 

Note: As an aside it never dawned on me until this moment that I *could* have Boudica as one of my Witch Queens. I mean she is not really a witch, but her Wasted Lands and Ghosts of Albion versions both have some magic.  Thoughts for another day.

Queen Boudica

Class: Spirit Rider (Briton) (from NIGHT SHIFT's Night Companion)
Level: 10
Species: Human
Alignment: Light* (*while she killed people and burned villages to the ground she was doing what she felt was right and correct. Removing an invading force from her home.)
Background: Barbarian

Abilities
Strength: 16 (+2) 
Agility: 13 (+1) 
Toughness: 18 (+3) N 
Intelligence: 12 (+0) 
Wits: 17 (+2) A
Persona: 17 (+2) N 

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 70
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +5/+3/+2
Melee Bonus: +2 (base)  +1 (Heroic Touchstone)
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base) 
Saves: +4 to Wits and Persona saves (class), +2 to Toughness saves (barbarian).

Spirit Rider Abilities
Innate Magic (10), Arcane Powers (5), Commune with Spirit of the Land, Limited Power (outside of Briton), Magic Battery

Barbarian Background Skills
Perception, Danger Sense, Scale surfaces, Nature Lore, Any Weapons

Arcane Powers (used like powers)
Beguile, Shadow Walk, Detect Thoughts, Enhanced Senses, Subtle Influence

Innate Magic (used like spells)
First Level: Armor of Earth, Mystical Senses, Command, Sense Death
Second Level: Animal Summoning (usually large war dogs), Invoke Fear
Third Level: Curse, Impassible Thicket
Fourth Level: Forest Metamorphosis
Fifth Level: Shadow Armor

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: +1 Melee Combat: Spear
2nd Level: Luck Benefit
3rd Level: Powerful Defence
4th Level: Favored Enemy: Rome
5th Level: Divine Smite

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Vengence

Gear
Spear, armor, sword

Wasted Lands Spirit Riders

Spirit Riders might not fit well thematically with Wasted Lands RAW, but in Wasted Lands as D&D, it works great. I might tweak it a bit working with Boudica here for slightly less magic and more options for combat prowess. Given that I am saying that Cú Chulainn was also one then something like his Ríastrad or Battle Frenzy would be an option. Maybe call it something like "Caomhnóir" or Guardian.

It would be fun to try out that is for sure. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Character Creation Challenge: Fear Dorich for Wasted Lands

 I got to thinking about these experiments, and I realized that I had yet to try converting a druid. I am a huge fan of druids, both as a concept and as a character class, with the 1st Ed AD&D one near the top of my list. I have done more than a few Bards, but no druid yet.

This also got me thinking about which Druid to use. I have plenty, including a few that have never seen "print" on these pages. But in the end, I am opting for an atypical druid. I am going to build Fear Dorich, the Dark Druid. 

Fear Dorich has a history in my games. I stated him up once for Castles & Crusades for a previous Character Creation Challenge, and he was the main antagonist of the Buffy adventure The Dark Druid. He is a great character with quite a lot of history with me. 

Fear Dorich, and that is not his name, It means "Dark Man," is or was a normal Druid. But in my games he is fighting the rising tide of Christianity. So he has taken it upon himself to keep the worship of the new God to a minimum by killing all the new worshipers. It is a losing battle, we all know, but that is the character I am playing here.  So he is not about grabbing what power he can to achieve those ends.

Fear Dorich, the Dark Druid

Class: Sorcerer
Level: 5
Species: Human
Alignment: Dark
Background: Animistic

Abilities
Strength: 12 (+0) 
Agility: 16 (+2) 
Toughness: 14 (+1) N
Intelligence: 18 (+3) N
Wits: 17 (+2) A
Persona: 18 (+3) 

Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 8
Vitality: 25
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 1

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+2/+1
Melee Bonus: +1 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +1 (base)
Spell Attack: +3
Saves: +4 (+2) to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer), +2 to Persona saves, -2 to magic saves if far from a source of Radiance

Sorcerer Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (2): Wild Form, Shadow Walk

Sorcerer Spells
First Level: Armor of Earth, Bless, Restore Food and Water
Second Level: Beguile Person, Invoke Fear
Third Level: Dark Lightning

Heroic/Divine Touchstones 
1st Level: +1 to combat, Scimitar
2nd Level: Precognition Power

Animistic Background
Animal Summoning 1
Speak with Plants and Animals

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Death

Gear
Scimitar

Wasted Lands Druids

This is Fear Dorich early into his career of killing members of the new faith. He already has a 1 point of corruption, and I am expecting a lot more.

Wasted Lands does an excellent job with druids; to be honest, you just have to choose your arcane powers and divine touchstones well.

He also fits in well to something else I am working on, but maybe more on that next week or even later down the line.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Character Creation Challenge: Sinéad Moonshadow for Wasted Lands

Moving out of my continuity to do something newer, but related today.  Sinéad Moonshadow is a D&D character. She began life as an AD&D 2nd Ed character from a previous Character Creation Challenge. I thought she might be some sort of witch/bard or wizard/bard mix from The Complete Wizard's Handbook.  In fact, I imagined situations where she might later run into such characters as Celene, Heather, or Raven. As the last couple of years moved on, I changed my mind about what I would do with her. Now, she is very much my eyes and voice to visit the Forgotten Realms, which I will do more of later this year. 

And then Baldur's Gate 3 happened. Sinéad was my second full run-through (my fourth starting character or something). I really wanted to see how the Wild Magic Sorcerer worked in the game, and since I was using Sinéad, I also gave her levels of Bard. Honestly it was so great I have dropped the idea of her being a witch at all and instead going full wild Magic Sorcerer and Bard.  

Honestly, the distinction between a "wild magic Sorcerer" and "Natural witch" is largely an academic one. But I am the academic that gets to make those distinctions, and I am cool with it.

So, in my updated backstory, she is a half-elf girl growing up in the Moonshae Isles. She has bursts of magic that she can't control. Even in the magic-rich Realms, this is an oddity. When she accidentally burns down a barn during a bit of uncontrolled magic, she leaves her home.  That much I always had, but where did she go? Well, now I know. Baldur's Gate on the Sword Coast. I only know a little more than that because my Realms lore could be better. 

In many ways, Sinéad is the spiritual god-daughter to Heather, both half-elves, both bards. I might need to try out a Ranger/Bard under 5e or Baldur's Gate sometime in the future.

Sinéad Moonshadow

Class: Sorceress / Sage
Level: 12/8
Species: Half-elf
Alignment: Light 
Background: Sorcerous

Abilities
Strength: 12 (+0) 
Agility: 18 (+3) A
Toughness: 16 (+2) 
Intelligence: 16 (+2) N
Wits: 15 (+1) 
Persona: 17 (+2) N

Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 3
Vitality: 87
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +8/+6/+4
Melee Bonus: +2 (base) 
Ranged Bonus: +2 (base)
Spell Attack: +6
Saves: +6 to Spells and Magical effects (Sorcerer & Elf)

Sorcerers Abilities
Arcana, Arcane Powers (4): Beguile, Detect Thoughts, Enhanced Senses, Shadow Walk

Sorceress Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts, Beast Speech, Prestidigitation, Sleep
Second Level: Eternal Flame, Invisibility, See Invisible, Unlock
Third Level: Concussive Blast, Dark Lightning, Dispel Magic, Remove Curse
Fourth Level: Control Temperature, Dimensional Travel, Renewal
Fifth Level: Passageway, Restore Life, Telekinesis
Sixth Level: Dispel Evil, Instant Death

Elf Abilities
Night Shifted

Sage Abilities
Languages (18), Lore, Suggestion, Mesmerize Others, Read Languages, Renegade skills at level 4

Sage Spells
First Level: Arcane Darts (yes, twice), Chill Ray, Gout of Flame
Second Level: Conjure Flame, Invoke Fear, Magic Locks
Third: Fly

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: 
2nd Level: 

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Magic

Gear
Longbow, shortsword, leather armor, Dog ("Scratch")

Wasted Lands as D&D 5th Ed / Baldur's Gate 3

Again I am impressed with the levels of customization here. I think this Sinéad fares well against her 5e and BG3 counterparts. I did not pick out any Heroic Touchstones for her, but I would do this to cover any Sorceress or Bard powers she is missing like her meta-magic and Bardic inspiration, though I might be able to get this with Beguile.

This is a really good version of her and really one I could see playing. I am going to obviously spend a lot more time with this character and even try her out in various other versions of D&D. But this one right now is my favorite.

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Character Creation Challenge: Raven Ebonflame for Wasted Lands

While I am done with the various versions of Johan Werper, I am still working on his family. Today, the girl that Johan Werper III fell in love with and their adventures in "Ravenloft."

Bit of a background first. The period between 1986 and 1989 or so was a transition period for me and for my games. I was leaving High School and headed to University so I wanted to wrap up a lot of different loose ends in my game world. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to merge my world with my DM's world in what would become our Proto-Mystoerth. This was also a time I wanted to do a new world, one that was more horror-focused. Eventually, I would find this with the AD&D Ravenloft campaign setting, but for the time before that we were just calling it "ShadowEarth."  This is where Johan III would end up.

Part of the problem was the girl he was in love with. A girl known as Raven.

Now I will be truthful here, my Raven (full name Morgan "Raven" Ebonflame) began as little more than a copy of the infamous Richard Kirk's "Raven Swordmistress of Chaos," a book I had seen but had never read (yet). So my mind was already primed for this character idea.

Back in 1986, my DM Michael Grenda wrote up a new class he was calling "The Riddle Master," which was essentially a Psychic-powered class that looked like a combination of a fighter and wizard. They were more than that, but that is the overall gist. It was an experiment in class creation. This was the same time I was making my first witch class. While I had made one Riddlemaster already, I wanted another one. Someone that fought undead (sorta my thing then) and in particular, vampires (very much my thing then). Combine all of these together, and 1987 Raven Ebonflame was born.  She was the daughter of my assassin character and, what I said then, an angel. Though he did not know the woman he was with was an angel. Raven then was a supernaturally strong girl with blond hair, who's task was to destroy vampires.

Look. I am not going to sit here and tell you I invented the idea of the Vampire Slayer. 

I am going to sit here and tell you the idea was not as original as some Vampire Slayer creators might want you to believe. Hey, maybe if my father and grandfather had been big-name Hollywood writers, I could make this claim. Plus, I also know at least two other creatives who did similar things and, in one case, had published their work before the Buffy movie and series.

So Raven was a slayer hmm hunter of vampires. I used the Riddle Master class for her as a test bed for what would later become the Shadow Master class. NOTE: Don't expect to see the Riddle Master, Shadow Master, or Beast Master classes anytime soon. They were grossly overpowered even if the XP per Level were excessive. 

Fast forward to the early 2000s. I would revisit my Raven using the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. She would even be a part of my Buffy "Season" The Dragon and the Phoenix. 

I did a version of the Richard Kirk Raven (her "Godmother") for Wasted Lands last year, I figure I should do my Raven now.  There is no Riddle Master analog in the Wasted Lands, so what is she? I thought maybe I could build her out XP for abilities like I did her namesake. It would be fitting given how the Riddle Master class came to be. But the more I thought about it the more I kept coming back to the same conclusion.

Morgan "Raven" Ebonflame is a Chosen One from NIGHT SHIFT.

Morgan "Raven" Ebonflame

Class: Chosen One (NIGHT SHIFT)
Level: 8
Species: Human*
Alignment: Light 
Background: Warrior (Wasted Lands p. 185)

Abilities
Strength: 17 (+2) A
Agility: 18 (+3) N
Toughness: 18 (+3) N
Intelligence: 16 (+2) 
Wits: 16 (+2) 
Persona: 18 (+3) 

Fate Points: 1d8
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 87
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +4/+3/+1
Melee Bonus: +5 (base), +2 (STR)
Ranged Bonus: +5 (base), +3
Saves: +3 to all Saves, +2 to Toughness (Warrior background)

Chosen One Abilities
Brutal Warrior, Melle Combat, Stunning Blow, Killing Blow, Supernatural Attack, Difficult to Surprise, Improved Defence, Ranged Combat, Survivor Skills (Level 2), Mental Resistance, Regeneration

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: Sense Evil
2nd Level: Favored Weapon: Sword
3rd Level: 
4th Level: Smite
5th Level: 
6th Level:  Great Smite
7th Level: 
8th Level: Destroy Undead
9th Level: 

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Protection

Gear
Longsword, leather armor, vampire hunting kit

Wasted Lands as D&D and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ok. THIS is Raven. At least this is the Raven I imagined she was when I made the character so long ago. Wasted Lands + NIGHT SHIFT gives my the perfect combination of Fantasy plus Horror that I really enjoy in my games.  Here stats are high because her mother was a freaking angel after all. 

Of course, now I am a little sad I don't get to share this one with Grenda. He would have loved it. In fact I can hear him now saying "Oh shit! That IS her!"

I am going to have to go through my various folders of characters and see who else I have in this Dark Fantasy Horror theme and see if they are as equally improved by this conversion. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.

Monstrous Mondays: D&DGII The Monsters of the Black Forest Mythos

Welcome to the first Monstrous Monday of October 2023. Monstrous Mondays are always a treat for me in October since I can really do some of my favorite monsters here. This October is special for a number of reasons.  First, we have five Mondays in October this year so that already feels like a bonus monster. Secondly, I am going to do monsters of the "Black Forest Mythos" for my speculative Deities & Demigods II project. And finally this is my first *real* entry for the October RPG Blog Carnival: Horrors, Gods, and Monsters.

Photo by Michiel Annaert on Unsplash

The Monsters of the Black Forest

A brief recap of what this project is. I speculated on a combined Roman-Norse Pantheon taking root somewhere in the Black Forest region of Germany in the 6th or 7th centuries AD. While there are some similarities between the gods I am working on and their Proto-Indo-European ancestors, I am not trying to recreate the PIE gods.  I am not doing archeology or comparative anthropology here. I am doing game design.

The goals then for this pantheon (and their monsters) are:

1. It is for use in a game first and foremost, and AD&D 1st Edition in particular
2. I want to stick as close to history as I can unless it violates #1 above. 
3. I want to write this as something I would have written in 1985-6.

Why that last rule? I want to capture the feel of what I felt was peak AD&D 1st for me.  And since today I am talking about monsters, I have a fourth rule just for them.

4. Monsters need to reflect the tales and fears people of this age would have had. 

Pretty simple, really. My idea is that the Romans fleeing the fall of Rome would have brought their gods and monsters, from house spirits to more horrible things. Same with the Germanic/Norse people. The monsters need to be scary but also fit the myths (#2) and be something that works in an AD&D game (#1).

Beware the Forest

I live in a huge metropolitan area (Chicago), I grew up in a small town, but it was still a town. My wife grew up in the country. We went to college near a very old forest (Shawnee National Forest), so I understand why people in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages feared the forest. It is where witches, goblins, and, worst of all, the Devil himself lived.  The people who made these myths lived in one largest forests in Europe, the Black Forest of Germany. I really want to lean in on that and capture WHY this is a scary ass place. Their gods are for solace in a changed world, the monsters though are a lot closer at hand.

I don't want this place to be scary. I want it to be terrifying.

Of Gods and Monsters

One of the things I loved about the Deities & Demigods was getting new insights to old monsters. Old in two senses. First, the obvious one, these were monsters from mythology. Secondly, old in the sense that they may have already been part of the Monster Manual and now get a new (or old as it were) version.  The best example of this is the Greek Myths. So many monsters in the Monster Manual (even true still today) came from Greek myths. Using them in context changes them a bit.  This was one of the things I explored in my One Man's God series. 

The same will be true here.  So to start off I want to revisit some monsters I have posted here and talk about how they fit into this new/old/different worldview. 

Aglæca

Ah. Now this one is kind of my poster child for these myths. The Aglæca, as I have built it, is the monster type that Grendel was. Grendel's mother then was an Aglæc-wif. Why poster child? Well back in grade school (pre-1980) I read this book of myths that I would love to find again. It had all the Greek myths, then Norse, and finally, it ended with Beowulf. In my young mind, there was a progression in these tales as time went on. One lead to the other in a mostly unbroken line. That isn't exactly how it happened, but for these myths I am going to assume they did.

Elves

Elves are tricky since they are an established AD&D mainstay. So there are light elves (the PCs) and there are "other" elves. 

• Elf, Álfar
• Elf, Shadow

Hag, Hyrrokkin

These hags are related to the giants/titans/Hüne.

Hüne

The Titans of Roman myth and the primordial Giants of Norse/Germanic myth. I created these just for these myths.

Kobolds

Kobolds are part of Germanic myth and the D&D interpretations have moved a bit away from their mythologic and folklore counterparts. Don't get me wrong, I like D&D Kobolds. I just like my versions as well. 

• Kobold, Drude
• Kobold, Knockers

Sennentuntschi

No reason other than it is a cool monster.

Trolls

Trolls and Ogres will be smooshed into one type of creature called a Troll. They are the offspring of the giants (Norse ideas) and are fairly elemental (Roman ideas) in nature. Though like the trolls and dwarves of Germanic myths, they turn to stone when exposed to sunlight.

• Troll, Cave
• Troll, Earth
• Troll, Jötunn

Others I am considering are: 

• Alraune
• Grýla and the Yule Cat
• Hamingja
• Schreckengeist (because it shares a genesis with this mythology).
• Titania, Queen of Faerie (but in her Germanic guise, maybe even using bits of The Elf King's Daughter for her) 
• Wight, Barrow
• Wolf Witch

This is a good start. I have some new ones for the rest of this month and I think it will be a great project.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 8, Room 25

 The exit from Room 24 takes the part to a side entrance of a long grand hallway.

The party's left (a bit of a diagonal) is the main entrance to this hall, not covered in rubble and no long accessible.  To the right is the length of this ancient hall.

This hall is ancient, even by the standard the party is used to seeing. The architecture is dwarven, even the most causal dungeoneer can see that. At the end of this once great hall is a throne of Iron and on sits a figure.

As the party approaches they can see the figure is that of a dwarven skeleton in kingly garb.  When the party reaches the dias the skeleton's eyes begin to glow and it raises a hand.  

It speaks.

"Hail, brave and mighty adventurers. You have come so far and have more to go. But rest here and hear the tragedy of House Ironhammer."

If the party pauses to hear the dwarf king's tale they will find themselves healing of their wounds, even their gear that has been damaged begins to repair.

"Millennia ago, the Vampire Queen, Darlessa the First, sought out House Ironhammer in our mountain demesnes. She commanded that we build for her a temple and tomb out of the living rock of the mountain that was greater or equal to our own. We refused her, not wanting to serve any evil. Three times she came and three times we denied her. First my Grandsire said no. Then she returned and my sire said no. Then she returned again and I told her no. But in that time her powers had grown. She said that if we would build her a stronghold she would take ours!"

"We laughed at her and her rabble of conjures. No army had ever taken House Ironhammer! Not even the giant orcs of the Black Mountains whom all dwarves will speak of with revulsion, but also begrudging respect as an enemy."

"Sadly for my people we did not comprehend what she meant by 'take.'"

"Her conjurers gathered around. And the ensorcelled the mountain. The lifted it up by it's very roots and transported it to the seas where it was dropped onto a volcanic island. The mountain of Ironhammer stuck the Island of Necromancers like a hammer on an anvil. She destroyed their ancient towers and dropped our home into a vortex of magic. A few survivors soon killed by hordes of demons. I was kept alive along with a fraction of my enslaved people to dig out tunnels and new rooms and merge the mountain with the island. Many dwarves and many necromancers died that horrible night."

"It is to you I leave this challenge. Your wounds are healed, your gear is as new, your bellies are full. Seek out this undead tyrant and slay her for good. You have the blessings of House Ironhammer and the combined arcana of the Necromancers she killed that day. Please accept the last gifts of Sharis Val."

On the dias, there are weapons appropriate for every character here. They are all +3 weapons, +4 vs. undead, and demons. 

Any Cleric or Magic-user can make an intelligence roll to know who Sharis Val was. He had been a Shadow Elf smith who had been adopted into a dwarf clan and became one of the greatest artificers and swordsmen the world has seen. His final fate was unknown till now.  

Because there is always that "one guy," if there is a fighter in the group who is REALLY into swords, then allow them a roll as well. Sharis Val is essentially the Miyamoto Musashi of this world. 

These weapons grant 2,500 xp each. 

If instead, the party attacks the skeleton they get nothing. It is a normal skeleton with 1 hp.

Wasted Lands as a Dungeons & Dragons Replacement

All month long, I have been talking (rather obsessively so) about the Wasted Lands RPG. I make no apologies for this. It is a great game, and it shares DNA with my own NIGHT SHIFT, which is just a bonus.

I talked about how I can emulate superheroes, our modern Gods and Myths, as Wasted Lands Archetypes all last week. This week is going to be all about how I plan to use Wasted Lands (with a little help from NIGHT SHIFT) as my go-to Dungeons & Dragons replacement.

I have been talking bout this topic all year too, with examples from Castles & Crusades and Pathfinder 2e.  I hope to have some good examples this week to show how well this works.

Obviously, Wasted Lands shares some DNA with D&D. NIGHT SHIFT was an OGL game and Wasted Lands grew out of that. It also shares DNA with Spellcraft & Swordplay. This is why you will find the O.G.R.E.S. and O.R.C.S. from each game (respectively) in The Wasted Lands.

If you are a backer, you already got the preview of nonhuman species so you can play the likes of an Elf, Dwarf or every stranger things. This is one of the key D&D experiences there is and it is a welcome addition for those that want them. I have already shared my two Shadow Elf, or Dökkálfar, characters Runu & Urnu. 

Can Wasted Lands replace D&D at my table? Easily. In fact, it is has been doing that for a little while now.

Can Wasted Lands replace D&D in my heart? That is a different thing, but I aim to find out.

Wasted Lands Playtest: Runu & Urnu

 One of the features of The Wasted Lands is the inclusion of the O.R.C.S. games system that first appeared in Spellcraft & Swordplay.  While the Wasted Lands uses the advanced O.G.R.E.S. for rules, it does include a chapter on using the O.R.C.S. as well. This gives the Wasted Lands a solid Old-School background and indeed a good OSR one with one of the very first clones ever made. 

I have been talking about Shadow Elves all month long, I thought it might be good to bring two of my Shadow Elf, or Dökkálfar characters to life.  I also want to compare them to their Spellcraft & Swordplay counterparts.

Runu and Urnu are reoccurring characters in my various game. They were "born" while I was walking to the Daley Plaza "El" station (which is actually underground at that point). From here I imagined two evil drow elves, exiled from their society not because they were good, but because of their perversions in necromancy. As children, they were raised by my Necromancer Magnus and became devotees of Orcus.  They became two of my first playtest characters for Eldritch Witchery. 

They are twins, already a bad sign among the drow, with Runu being slightly older than her brother Urnu. I further make their "inversions" complete by making Runu a warlock and Urnu a witch.

These are not misunderstood drow. They are evil. They are the type that reasons that if someone doesn't do what they want, they can always kill them and get their corpse to do it. 

In my playtests for Monster Mash for OSE they became Shadow Elves with Runu as a Profane Necromancer, and Urnu as a Gothic Witch. 

In the Wasted Lands, they are a Necromancer and Sorcerer, respectively. 

Runu

Class: Necromancer
Level: 10
Species: Dökkálfar

Alignment: Dark Evil

Abilities

Strength: 11 (0)
Agility: 12 (0)
Toughness: 13 (+1)
Intelligence: 17 (+2) N
Wits: 15 (+1) N
Persona: 17 (+2) A

Fate Points: 10
Defense Value: 8
Vitality: 35 (10d6)
Degeneracy:
Corruption:

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +5/+3/+2
Melee Bonus: +2
Ranged Bonus: +2
Saves: +5 to Persona based

Special Abilities and Spell-Like Abilities

Channel the Dead
See Dead People
Summon the Dead
Command (Spirits)
Protection from Undead
Turn Undead 
Taste The Grave
Death Knell
Suggestion
Vampiric Touch
Charm Spirit
Life Drain
Slay Unliving
Call the Reaper

Divine Notes: Death

Background: Outsider

Gear

Leather armor: DV 8
Dagger: 1d4

Urnu

Class: Sorcerer (Wits Aspect)
Level: 10
Species: Dökkálfar

Alignment: Dark Evil

Abilities

Strength: 12 (0)
Agility: 11 (0)
Toughness: 13 (+1)
Intelligence: 15 (+1) N
Wits: 17 (+2) A
Persona: 17 (+2)  N

Fate Points: 10
Defense Value: 8
Vitality: 30 (10d4)
Degeneracy:
Corruption:

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +5/+3/+2
Melee Bonus: +2
Ranged Bonus: +2
Saves: +5 to Magic based

Special Abilities

Arcana, Arcane Powers

Spells

1st: Bane, Black Flames, Phantom Lights, Sleep

2nd: Defile, Find Traps, Invisibility, Vampiric Augmentation

3rd: Fly, Globe of Darkness, Zone of Protection vs. Good

4th: Black Tentacles, Kiss of the Succubus, Life Drain

5th: Commune w/ Deeper Dark, Shadow Armor

Arcane Powers

1st: Arcane Bond: Runu (and spell of "self" also affect her)

4th: Exorcist

7th: Incubus

10th: Shadow Walking

Divine Notes: Death, Witchcraft,

Background: Outsider

Neither have divine touchstones since this is not their destiny.

Like this The Wasted Lands can be played as a gritty Swords & Sorcery game. 

Don't forget to check out the Kickstarter happening right now.

Wasted Lands Playtest: The Dark Elves of the Wasted Lands

 The Wasted Lands Kickstarter is up and moving along nicely.  As you can imagine from my posts here, I do have a campaign in mind and potentially my own setting. BUT that is far off and in no way official yet.

But I can play around with ideas. One thing I need to overcome first is this:

How do I get my D&D 5e players away from D&D and into the Wasted Lands?

Look. I love D&D, I do. But in the last six months, I have been turned off and looking for other options. I have presented some of those options here and I do have more. One today is can I use the Wasted Lands as a Dungeons & Dragons replacement?

Jason has touched on this topic on his blog; Will Wasted Lands Be a Retroclone? But I want to go a step deeper. And in particular, can I use the various races/species that my D&D 5 players are wanting to play? Again, Jason touches on this, Races (Species) in Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age, but while his rationale is to move WL away from D&D (and a good rationale it is too) I am using the same logic to give my players a D&D experience with better rules.

To do this I want to start out with something on my mind a lot this month, my Shadow Elves.

The Wasted Lands has al sorts of human-like species running around and to be clear these humans are not the humans like you and I. They operate in and occupy the same ecological niche as do humans and maybe, just maybe, they pass on something (DNA, Collection Unconsciousness, the Akashic Records) down the millennia to us. This is why we remember them as gods. Though not all characters will become gods, as I pointed out yesterday. 

So to kill a few birds with one stone, I want to talk about the Dökkálfar of the Wasted Lands today.

The Dökkálfar, or the Dark Elves, are not to be confused with the D&D Drow, though obviously, there are connections. Since elves, the fae and other near-immortal creatures have drifted into myth and legend there is no reason not to assume that they once lived during the Dreaming Age.

Appendix 1 of the Wasted Lands Core Rules gives us examples of how to make other species. This might change a bit, but here is how I'd implement a Dark Elf, or more to the point, one of my Shadow Elves.

Dökkálfar

Size: Medium (5 feet tall)
Vitality Die: As class.
Saves: Dökkálfar gain +1 to Persona saves, +1 to Agility saves, and +2 to save against spells and effects that read or transmit thoughts or emotions.
Move: 30 ft.
Senses: Dökkálfar have darksight, enabling them to see in near-absolute dark for up to 60 feet. This sight functions in all but the most absolute darkness; so long as there is any ambient light, they can see, albeit fine details may be difficult to discern in the darkest caverns.
Weapons and Armor: Dökkálfar are proficient with all bows and swords. They can wear armor up to chain mail.
XP Cost: 1,750

All other details are, in a sense, cosplay.

Do they have pointy ears? What color is their skin, hair, eyes? What sort of society do they have?

None of that needs to be handled by the rules. It can be determined at your table. The rules are "old school," but the spirit is "new school."  Want to play Dragonborn? Aarocka? goblins? orcs? SURE! come on in. The rules are not going to stop you.

Are these Dökkálfar the Chaotic Evil Drow that everyone loves? Maybe. Are they my Lawful Evil Drow? Could be. Are they my Shadow Elves? Again, it could be. It will depend on the campaign at hand. 

Likely I will make them similar enough to my Shadow Elves so that when I finally get done with my Tomb of the Vampire Queen adventure, I can use these Dökkálfar in place of the Shadow Elves.

Tomorrow I'll put this into practice and convert some Spellcraft & Swordplay characters to Wasted Lands.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 27

Archway 3, Room 27: The Chamber of the Vampire Queen Altar to Orcus

The central passage way leads you to the grand temple dedicated to both the Vampire Queen and to Orcus.  Though one only needs to look at the walls to see the main veneration here is to Darlessa the Vampire Queen.

There are bodies of shadow elves, centuries dead covering the floors. There is not enough here to determine what killed them.

The columns of this room are all carved to resemble the Vampire Queen as if she is holding up this temple.  The back wall is dedicated to a large statue of Orcus, though his features here are more shadow elf in nature.  

In front of the statue of Orcus are Urnu and Runu from earlier in the adventure (Room 13). They are standing admiring the statue. When they hear you come in they turn and ask you to come and admire it with them.  When the party gets to them there are three shadow elves dead on the ground. 

They tell you that they killed the guards, adherents to an ancient religion forgot even to the high elves. They point to the statue and claim it was carved from a single piece of stone and that the artist apon completion marveled at it for many days straight unmoving. At the end of the seven day he took out a knife and cut his own throat knowing he would never do something again as magnificent. (if asked how they know, they will say it is a common enough story among shadow elves.)

They point to one ruby eye remaining. They will show the party the way to next level, they have no desire to get involved with the Vampire Queen, but they want the eye. They can't get it themselves due to a religious taboo that prevents them. (this is mostly true).

They is trapped and difficult to get too.

A thief will need to climb the statue and find and remove the two traps guarding it. 

The eye itself will need to be pried loose. 

Urnu and Runu want the eye. It is very magical and has a strong aura of necromancy about it. They tell the party they wish to return it to their own homeland where it can be put back where it came from. This is all true, but the eye is an evil artifact all the same. They promise to show the party where the secret exit is.

If the party agrees they take the eye and they show them to Room 30.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 26

Room 26: The Chamber of the Blood Pool

Going back to Room 24 and taking the next left, this takes you to another dark chamber. 

This room is dominated by a large stone pool in the middle of the floor. The pool is still filled with blood.

Upon entering the candles light and six ghostly figures appear. They come into focus as they light the candles, telling the party (in Elvish) that they welcome them and must prepare them for the bath. At this they take out long wicked-looking knives and they attack.

The ghosts are Umbrals, and they are former shadow elf maidservants to the Vampire Queen.

The umbrals can't harm anyone with their knives, but the wail of lament is another story.

The walls are covered in murals that tell the tale of how the Vampire Queen came to the Shadow Elves, slew thousands (she walks on their skulls), and enslaved the others. Other murals show this bathing room where the maidservants cut the throats of other shadow elves to fill the bath, where the Vampire Queen goes in looking like a monster and comes back out looking young and beautiful again. There are a few panels where the Vampire Queen can be seen striking her servants and drinking their blood. 

The umbrals have no treasure, but there are still the remains of some gowns in a dressing nook. They have gold threads and jewels totaling 3,000 gp. 

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 25

Archway 1, Room 25: The Hall of the Dead

This archway on the far left from Room 24 leads down to a dark chamber. 

This room is filled with the bones of Shadow Elves (based on the skulls). The bones are piled high in heaps, and the floor is red-brown with what looks like dried blood. 

In the center of the room is a raised platform, on which is a sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is made of black marble, and it is covered in intricate carvings.  The writing is an ancient form of elvish with many words from the Chaotic alignment language added in. Bards, Elves and a magic can be used to decipher it.  It reads "Here lies Agartis, Commander of the Shadow Elf legions, left hand of his Dark Mistress, Darlessa, the Queen of Vampires."

If the party opens the sarcophagus inside, they will find a richly dressed warrior, who spares no time in getting up to attack.

The warrior is a Barrow Wight. He is armed with a +2 longsword and wears boots of spider climbing.

He turns as a 7 HD creature. 

When Agartis begins his second round, he will be joined by 3d4 skeletons. These skeletons also attack. They are turned as Zombies. 

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 21

Entrance to the Grand Temple

The temple is the central focus of this lair and is in the center of this Shadow Elf city.  

In the front of the temple is statue of the Vampire Queen. Close inspection will reveal the statue is of different construction than the rest of the temple (2 in 6 chance for Dwarves, 1 in 6 for all others).

This temple is influenced by Chaos and the necromantic energies that the Citadel of Necromancers were tapping into and why the Vampire Queen came here. The temple is not the source, but it is a focal point.

While in the temple, Undead are treated as one column greater (1 HD more) on the Cleric Turning Undead table. So Skeletons are turned as Zombies, and Zombies as Ghouls.

Positive magic used for healing will heal 1 less point than rolled. The notable exception are the "healing wands" from Level 5.

The aura of evil, chaos, and necromancy is quite palatable and can be felt by all.

The source of the floating light of this level originates from here.

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 6, Room 20

Moving forward to another cave (where the troll came from) the party hears voices.

Approaching the party is a Shadow Elf war band. Their leader is a 4th-level fighter and has a +1 sword.

They attack the party.

Monstrous Mondays: Shadow Elves for Old-School Essentials

I have a couple of things going on this month. First off I am still doing the #Dungeon23 challenge. The level for June is the dead city of the Shadow Elves. Also,  I am waiting for the print proof of Monster Mash II to arrive. So I figure I can do a little for both today and detail the Shadow Elf from Monster Mash I as an OSE Monster listing. 

I have done Shadow Elves before, but not as a proper Old-School Essentials monster. 

Shadow Elf

Tall, thin elves with pale gray to dark gray skin. They have jet-black hair and long, pointed ears. Also known as Umbral Elves. They live in dark cave systems and places where shadows are the strongest.

Armor Class: 6 [13]
Hit Dice: 1* (4hp)
Attacks: 1 × weapon (1d6 or by weapon)
THAC0: 18 [+1]
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws: D12 W13 P13 B15 S15 (Elf 1)
Morale: 8 (10 with leader)
Alignment: Neutral (Chaotic Neutral)
XP: 19
Number Appearing: 1d4 (2d12)
Treasure Type: C

• Infravision 90'
• Immune to the touch of Ghouls and Ghasts
• Necromancer spells. A Shadow Elf can cast one 1st level Necromancer spell.
• Leader: Groups of 15+ are led by an elf of level 1d6 + 1. The leader may have magical items: 5% chance per level for each magic item table.

Shadow Elves are often confused with Dark Elves. 

Most Shadow Elves follow the Faerie Lord Scáthaithe, The Umbral Lord.  Others have fallen under the sway of Darlessa the Vampire Queen.

Shadow Elves as an OSE-Advanced Race

Shadow elves have the following requirements and can take the following classes.

Requirements: 15 or greater on DEX
Ability Modifiers: +1 to DEX

• Acrobat: 10th
• Assassin: 10th
• Barbarian: NA
• Bard: 10th
• Cleric: 5th
• Druid: 5th
• Fighter: 10th
• Illusionist: 9th
• Knight: 10th
• Magic-User: 8th
• Paladin: NA
• Ranger: NA
• Thief: 10th
• Gothic Witch: 10th
• Profane Necromancer: 10th

I need to update my twins, Runu and Urnu, to these rules. With Runu as a Profane Necromancer and Urnu as a Gothic Witch.