Saturday 19 December 2020

Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 5

 Part 5 of my adaptation of the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead into Averoigne and pseudo-historical 14th century France. Part 1 is found here.

PART I: THE SWAMP

As a working idea, I am placing this “swamp” in the Camargue of Southern France. While in Averoigne, the river Isoleil does empty into a wetland, I dermined in Part III that Averoigne itself is most likely in central France rather than southern france. However, the depiction of the swamp in this module is far closer to the Camargue than to a typical marsh. And yet, I am also working with the idea of renaming the Marais d’Tarascon to Le Village des Hiboux as that is the village in Averoigne right next to the wetlands. By the end of this series, I will resolve this conflict.

Starting the Adventure

The adventure starts in the samp, so why are they there? Back in 1994 I had the PCs on a boat tasked with delivering something (a letter perhaps?) on behalf of their lord. There was a Sea Witch on shore who raised up a storm and capsized the ship.

Obviously this scenario will not work in central France, but it works very, very well for the Camargue. The party can start off in Constantinople and be bound for Marseille which is nearby or somewhere in Spain, Atlantic France, or even Britain for that matter. The advantage of forming the party in Constantinople is that it is the most cosmopolitan city in the 14th Century. PCs can come from a variety of backgrounds (as players are wont to do) and have a reasonable chance to meet in a sterotypical dive bar. Otherwise, the party is travelling through France (possibly already in Averoigne), get caught in a terrible thunderstorm, wander off the road and end up in marshlands. The party will not be nearly as diverse or cosmopolitan but they could be related (as they were back in ’94) or childhood friends. A third choice, is to start the party in Caffa, which is the capitol of the Genoese “colonies” or trading ports in the Crimea, and have them bound for Marseille. This is my preference because that mimics the historical transmission of the Black Death which I am planning on running as a Zombie Apocalypse. It also serves as a fun easter egg. The CDC has a fascinating article entitled Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of Caffa written by Mark Wheelis at UC Davis. Apparently the Mongols under Janiberg were besieging the city of Caffa when they were struck with the black plague. Before they withdrew, they catapulted (using trebuchets) the plague-infested corpses over the city walls! So for Grymwurld™ and Averoigne, this becomes the Golden Horde catapulting zombies over the city walls! The PCs fled on a ship to avoid the plague of zombies! Alternatively, they got on a ship from Caffa that stopped over at Constantinople and then sailed for Marseille. This is actually more likely because all ships departing Caffa for the Mediterranean Sea must pass through Constantinople. I like this better because it sets up a scenario whereby the PCs could chat up the captain and/or the crew and discover the story of the horrible Siege of Caffa. A ‘history geek’ player could connect the dots and get one of those “oh no” moments.

So the PCs met up in Constantinople dive-bar and boarded ship bound for Marseille. Little do they know that this ship is infected with the Black Death. Before making landfall in Marseille, they got caught in a terrible storm conjured by a Sea Witch. The party wake up at night in a saltmarsh amongst some of the wreckage of the ship. They do not know if they are the only survivors or not. What they do know is that they must seek shelter. The sky is heavily overcast and the ground is foggy.

Swamp Encounters, The Crocodile, & The Giant Frogs

This being D&D, of course Slavicsek has to throw monsters at the party before moving on to the adventure. Is this really necessary? Going with the shipreck scenario, the party is not going to have camping equipment. They might be able to scrounge enough material to build a makeshift shelter. Theoretically they could build a raft and attempt to navigate the swamp but I would rather have them follow a path then float on the water. Especially since it is impossible in NWN to float a raft across water. But more importantly, the only thing that the encounters do is scream at the players “THE SWAMP IS DANGEROUS!” I think it would be far scarier to play up the sounds and movements in the corner of the eyes and even let them find partially eaten corpses of the crew instead of straight-up combat.

Also, by not letting the party build a shelter and forcing them instead to seek shelter it sets up very nicely the discovery of the Fairy camp. After all, by meeting the fairies at night only enhances the otherworldliness of the scene. Did the fairies rescue the party? What are they doing in the swamp?

The Fairy [Vistani] Camp

A band of travelling Elven Fairies have made camp for the night. The elves are distinct for their pale skin and hair as well as their pink eyes. They are albinos!

It is my personal theory that albinos are the source of elf lore. The Welsh fairy-dogs (cwn annwn) are albino. The white hart is an albino. In modern sub-Saharan Africa, albinos are thought to be inherently magical. The Alps is the legendary home of fairies. Depictions of elves are almost always of pale milky-white complexion. The words elf and the prefix alb- most likely derive from the same proto–Indo–European word.

Assuming that the party is reasonably polite, the elves will reciprocate with generous hospitality. This is an ancient trope both for the traditional hospitality towards strangers as well as the hypersensitvity of fairies towards politeness, respect, and hospitality. After chit-chatting, a female elf will offer to tell the party about Luc as well as the party’s fortune. Once she is finished, everyone retires for the night. The party sleeps and in the morning, the fairies and all evidence of them is gone.

If the party is gruff, they will not get the fortune. If they are rude or hostile the elves will attack. In the original module, four of the Vistani are 4 HD (21 hp) and three of them are 1 HD (4 hp). They are all AC 14, Attack +3, and damage is 1d8. Alignment is Neutral/Evil. Against a party of 1st level characters, a Total Party Kill (TPK) is unavoidable. And that is as it should be because a group of 1st level characters have no business insulting or attacking a group of seven fairies. Do they elves need to be 4 HD? Probably not. If just one of them is a sorcerer with a single sleep spell, the party is toast. And do they have to be evil? I fail to understand why. I think Chaotic/Neutral or Neutral/Neutral is more appropriate.

What is even more odd, is that attacking the Vistani triggers a Ravenloft powers check. This is typical of the 2nd Edition morality. Unlike first edition of AD&D where paladins are duty-bound to attack evil whenver and wherever possible, in 2nd Edition AD&D only evil actions count as evil regardless of whether the people committing the act are already evil… in spite of the fact that Detect Evil “detects evil monsters and characters.” (AD&D 2nd Edition Player’s Handbook premium edition p.38) This led to truly bizarre situations where a party knows for an absolute fact that an NPC is evil but yet are not allowed (according to the rules) to do anything except surveil that NPC, waiting for him to be true to his nature and commit an evil act. Well this is what I told the folks back on Usenet (alt.rec.rpg.dnd?):

“Detect Evil is literally a god-given ability to detect evil! A paladin is duty-bound to his deity to destroy evil! If a person pings on the Detect Evil radar, then not only is the paladin justified to kill the evil person, he is required to do so! Paladins possess a god-given license to kill evil.”

Enough ranting, back to the analysis of the module.

The Floating House

Remember back in Part II where I found in the Ravenloft Realm of Terror boxed set the following?

“None of the villagers ventures into the swamp willingly, but it is rumored that some outcasts live in floating houses deep within it. The shaman is not afraid to enter the swamp.”

Sure enough, on the next day [the module said 4th day but talk about a railroad!] they awaken to find the fairies gone and eventually stumble across Luc’s house on stilts. There appears to be now way to climb up. And yet the GM then reads aloud the following:

“Suddenly a rope ladder drops from the doorway. No figure steps into the light to greet you, and not even a shadow passes the open door. The ladder, constructed of wooden steps and thick rope, simply rools out with a brief clatter of knocking wood. The last step hangs just above the surface of the fetid water, inviting you to climb up into the warm light.”

A magick ladder! Wait, what?!? No, Luc does not drop the ladder and there is nobody else there. I get that Slavicsek is trying to be creepy here but this kills my suspension of disbelief. This is not a haunted castle, a posessed dungeon, or the domicle of a domain lord. It is a shack on stilts in the middle of a swamp, for crying out loud!

Not only that but Slavicsek actually encourages the PCs to be “murder-hobos” in the following:

“To the right of the door, unopened boxes have been neatly stacked against the wall. An open-topped barrel sits beside the boxes.”

The unopened boxes contain fresh food…. The stores are substantial: the PCs can eat heartily. The barrel contains fresh drinking water.

Slavicsek actually expects the PCs to rob Luc of food and water in the Land of Ravenloft Power Checks?!? Could the editor, Andria Hayday not have bothered inserting a statement explaining why a Powers Check does not apply? After all, killing Luc results in a powers check.

Well I am quite happy to report that back in 1994 the paladin in the group stopped the other PCs from taking the food and drink because clearly it belonged to Luc but that Luc was not in a position to offer it to them.

At any rate, Luc now follows the PCs around like a devouted linkboy chanting the following:

“The on descend shall evil of night the land, at near is signs of hexad this when hand.”

The Gathering Storm

“As the PCs begin to leave the swamp and approach the village of Marais d’Tarascon, the sky fills with roiling black clouds.”

Wait a minute. I thought the sky was already overcast. Or is that the fog is now replaced by storm clouds?

“For the first time, lightning plays across the heavens. Still, no rain falls. The storm simply hangs over the swamp and village, occasionally sending a bolt of lightning toward the ground or letter loose a clap of ominous thunder.”

So what I can do is replace the fog with lightning. Should there be a risk of the PCs getting struck by lightning? Nowhere in the module does it mention the possibility.

Where is La Mère des crapauds?

At this point all of you Averoigne fans are wondering ‘where is the mother of toads?’ Excellent question. Just hang on and you shall see how I bring her in. As a side note, in French toads (crapauds) are masculine while frogs (grenouilles) are feminine. I wonder why Smith chose ‘toads’ rather than ‘frogs’? My guess is that he liked the sound of Mother of Toads better than Mother of Frogs.

Click here for Part VI of this series.


Tuesday 15 December 2020

Grymwurld™ NWN Edition

Related to my series on adapting the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead module to Averoigne, I present my house rules for the Neverwinter Nights videogame: Grymwurld™ — NWN Edition. The reason being is that frankly, I find it tiring to juggle multiple game rules in my head. Back in 2000 when I switched to D&D 3rd Edition, I found it physically painful. I know, I know, hard to believe. But it is quite true. I literally got headaches from learning the new system. And it took some years to truly internalise the new system because it is so very different from all the previous versions of D&D. In 2002 I ended my last ongoing campaign because it was not fun for me at all. Also in 2002 the Neverwinter Nights videogame launched. What was and still is unique is that it comes with a fairly easy–to–learn toolset enabling the budding designer to create adventure modules, link them into campaigns, and even create persistent worlds! That toolset is precisely why there is still a strong and vibrant (albeit smaller) community of persistent worlds, custom content creators, and players today. I dabbled with the toolset at that time but dropped it in favour of running my soon–to–be ill-fated final tabletop campaign, Grymwurld: The Dark Ages™. In 2007 I picked up the toolset again and have been creating content ever since. Now I did try to get my kids into D&D when my eldest was in middle school but they preferred other games. This past summer I had better luck with my youngest who is in middle school now. The pandemic of course keeps everyone at home so he was bored. We played a number of times and even got the whole family in for a single session on my birthday. But now my youngest found a way to socialise with his friends online and lost all interest in playing with dad. Hopefully I can remedy that over the Christmas break but that remains to be seen. Since I cannot count on running a tabletop campaign, I have to focus on my NWN adventures. Therfore, going forward on this blog I will default to my quixotic attempt to make the third edition rules of NWN as Old School as I can tempered with my desire for a Sword & Sorcery + Weird Fiction + Mediæval Romance genre. So without further ado, below is the current draft of most of my “house rules” for Grym™ NWN:

GAME OPTIONS

Difficulty

For all difficulty levels:

  • PCs are subject to crtical hits except in Easy Mode.
  • PCs are subject to attacks of opportunity when using ranged weapons or drinking potions in combat.
  • There is no minimun amount of damage that PCs do in combat.
  • Monsters do normal damage except at Very Difficult where they still do double damage.

Note that all other aspects of difficulty remain, e.g. fireballs damage the party on Hardcore and Very Difficult settings.

Ruleset

I design and test with the following options selected:

  • Natural 1 always fail
  • Maximum hit points for PCs and associates at all levels.

CHARACTER GENERATION

Gender

Females of all races get a bonus of +2 to their Dexterity ability score and a penalty of -2 to their Strength ability score. If you wish to play a female with no ability score adjustment, then select the large phenotype.

Race

The only races available are the following:

Dwarf: Dwarf Humans have the same appearance as NWN Dwarves but have the following abilities: Intelligence & Wisdom +2; Strength -2. Favoured class is Rogue. Racial feats are Good aim, Small, and Weapon finesse.

Half-Elf: Half-Elves have a Charisma bonus of +2 and a Wisdom penalty of -2. Favoured class is Rogue. Racial feats are Alertness, Artist, Courteous magocracy, Nature sense, Partial skill affinity (Search & Spot), Skill affinity (Lore, Move silently, Search, & Spot), Stealthy, Trackless step, and Weapon finesse.

Oaf: Oaves are also known as hálftrollr or half-ogres. They get a bonus of +2 to Strength and a penalty of -2 to Charisma, Dexterity, and Intelligence. Favoured class is rogue. Racial feats are Epic armor skin and Weapon finesse.

Human: No changes. They still get any class as their favoured class, one extra feat and 4 skill points at character creation as well as 1 extra skill point with each level.

Class

The following core classes are the only ones available. There are no prestige classes. Please read through them carefully as there are some significant changes especially with the cleric, druid, and ranger classes.

Note that all classes get Appraise, Bluff, Intimidate, Persuade, and Taunt as class skills. This is because in NWN, the PC is always the speaker unlike Baldur’s Gate I and II where you could select the most charismatic party member as the speaker. Also, this lends a more Old School feel to the game because back in the old days, how one rôleplayed was far more important than what was on one’s character sheet.

Gallowglass: In the Averoigne campaign, they hail from Norse-Gælic Britain. They are not “barbarians,” they are raging warriors. They do not spend their time hunting, they spend it in war. Their bonus 1st level feats are Barbarian Rage, Dodge, Power attack, Shield proficiency, Weapon finesse, Weapon proficiency (Exotic, Martial, & Simple). They can never take Called shot, Disarm, Improved disarm, Improved knockdown, Improved parry, Improved unarmed strike, Knockdown, or any ranged weapon feats. They make take weapon feats in the use of the Bardiche, Dalcassian axe, Great axe, and Great sword.

Troubadour: Basically NWN Bards with the following changes — Their spellcasting is limited to bonus spells and all skills are class skills. For feats, they get Bard song, Bardic knowledge, Curse song, Extra music, Lingering music, and Rogue weapon proficiencies at 1st level. Effectively they are rogues who trade sneak attacks for limited spellcasting.

Saint: Lawful/Good saints are called Eremites, Neutral/Good ones are Sarabaites, and Chaotic/Good ones are Gyrovagues. Saints have a d12 for hit point and the best saving throws. However they have no armour, shield, or weapon proficiencies. They cast spells and turn undead as D&D clerics but also have paladin abilities such as Lay On Hands. They have access to both divine and arcane spells but none that harm living creatures. [Mediæval Christian thought placed a great deal of value on ‘lawfulness.’ Thus, I was going to limit saints to Lawful/Good but then I read about sarabaites and gyrovagues which happen to line up with David Chart’s assertion that clerics and be any version of Good alignment.]

Man-at-Arms: Standard D&D fighter but with a d12 for hit points.

Cenobite: The D&D monk but with an emphasis on ascetism, self-mortification, puzzles, stealth, and traps rather than Far Eastern martial arts. [Does this class really belong? Granted there is some overlap between Clive Barker’s Order of the Gash and the flagellants but … probably best as an NPC class.]

Ranger: A warrior who ranges widely but with no spellcasting. Typically they serve as foresters and game wardens but also as bowmen and scouts during war.

Rogue: The D&D rogue but able to use bucklers (light shields) in exhange for the loss of the Use Magic Device skill.

Sorcerer: Cannot be Lawful in alignment and may not use scrolls or wands. Otherwise identical to the D&D sorcerer. Note that since sorcerers are natural talent arcane spellcasters they are at high risk of being accused of witchcraft. [Note that this is subject to change. Ideally, sorcererous spellcasting should be limited to bonus spells just like all other spellcasters. However, since sorcerers are natural talent spellcasters it just does not feel right to force them to depend on potions, scrolls, & wands like the magi.]

Magus: The D&D wizard except that they only get bonus spells due to high intelligence. They do get all item crafting feats at 1st level. These items do not have an XP cost (unless the spell has one) but the gold (material) cost is the same as the retail price.

MISCELLANEOUS

Highly difficult traps may be detected and disarmed by anyone with enough skill rather than exclusively Rogues, e.g. Cenobites and Troubadours.

Firing into mêlée incurs a penalty of -10 to hit.

During character generation, ability scores may vary from 3 to 19.

Spellcaster’s prime requisite is raised from 10 to 14.

Armour: All armour has a 100% arcane spell failure. Dexterity bonus is capped at +6 rather than +1. Non-magical armours with an AC +9 and +10 are now available.

Helms: Great helms give a +2 and helms a +1 natural armour class bonus and both require the Armour proficiency (Heavy) feat to wear.

Multiclassing is discouraged. A such, a number of feats require class levels rather than a Base Attack Bonus or a Base Saving Throw Bonus.

Feats reclassified as epic: Point blank shot and Rapid shot

Friday 11 December 2020

Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 4

This is Part Four in my series on adapting the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead into Averoigne — the fictional province created by Clark Ashton Smith, a founding member of the Lovecraft Circle as well as the world of Cormac Fitzgeoffrey as written by Robert E. Howard.

In Part One, I explained why I am doing this as well as a bit about the first time I ran this adventure. In Part Two, I examined the introductory section of the module in detail. In Part Three, I examined the stories of the Averoigne cycle in an attempt to place Averoigne in historical France.

This post is Part Four and I shall do some analysis of the Averoigne stories and generate some ideas on what D&D rules should change to better fit not only the Night of the Walking Dead adventures but future adventures as well. The versions of D&D I will be adapting are AD&D 2nd Edition and D&D 3rd Edition as depicted in the Neverwinter Nights videogame.

RECAP OF PARTS 1, 2, & 3

I am taking Night of the Walking Dead out of Ravenloft and placing it in the pseudo-historical Earth of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard, specifically October of 1347 AD. Geographically, this adventure will take place in “Lower Averoigne” which for the time being is being modeled on the Ile de Camargue which is the largest river delta in France. I am also changing the name of Marais d’Tarascon (lit. swamp of Tarascon) to Le Village des Hiboux (the Village of the Owls) which is mentioned by Smith as being on the edge of a great marsh. The stories The Mandrake and The Mother of Toads occur in and around Les Hiboux. I intend to somehow tie this adventure into the Black Death which will become the “Black Undeath,” that is to say a plague of “zombies” instead of the bubonic plague. Some other ideas I need to flesh out are riz sang, the ‘blood rice’ grown in Les Hiboux and the mal aria (Lit. ‘bad air’) instead of malaria-infested mosquitos of the 14th C. Camargue. Shaman Brucian will be parson or vicar of The Church, the ju-ju zombie will be something else, and I may or may not allow Jean le Ripper (which I think is stupid & detracts from the story but I’m willing to be convinced otherswise). I also resolve to flesh out the NPCs by giving them Gothic motivations and conflicts.

ADAPTING D&D TO AVEROIGNE

Wherever possible, I will adapt the D&D ruleset to better fit Averoigne and Mediæval folk beliefs rather than vice versa.

Races

In Smith’s stories, the protagonists are all Human. The antagonists are Human, dwarf Human, Tiefling or Half-Elven, as well as monsters (Fairy, Vampire, &c.). I think that half-orcs could be allowed if you follow the AD&D Monster Manual’s rule that PC half-orcs pass for Human. Dwarf-Humans are small Humans rather than Tolkeinesque dwarves. I suggest a -2 strength and a +2 intelligence.  Remember that it is imperative that the half-Humans do their best to pass for Human otherwise they will be hunted down as monsters.

Religion and D&D style Clerics

The proverbial “elephant in the room.” The conventional wisdom is that it is impossible to discuss the Middle Ages or to describe a Mediæval setting without addressing religion. Although the counter argument is ‘what about Fairy Tales, Dietrich of Bern, Arthur, et alia’? But since some of the Averoigne stories have priest and monk supporting characters, we have to deal with it.

In The Colossus of Ylourgne, a pair of monks armed with holy water and crosses are unable to affect the demons and crossbows. Likewise the archbishop of Vyones is notably absent. The colossal zombie can only be stopped by Gaspard du Nord, a former pupil of the necromancer Naithaire who assembled the colossus. In The Beast of Averoigne, the bishop of Ximes and the archbishop of Vyones together send an agent to Luc le Chaudronnier, a known sorcerer, to convince him to stop the beast. Likewise none of the monks and nuns of the province are able to stop the colossus or the beast. In The Holiness of Azédarac, we learn that Azédarac while a bishop of Ximes is also a necromancer and a sorcerer which enabled his rise in the church.

What do these three stories tell us? There is a Roman Catholic Church replete with cathedrals, churches, monasteries, et cetera. Holy water and crosses in and of themselves have no effect on demonic spirits but this does not rule out D&D style turn udead which is level-dependent rather than available to everyone (as is the case in the Gothic genre). Priests, monks, and nuns are not D&D style clerics. They do not wear armour, carry maces, nor cast spells. They can turn undead but in the stories are too low-level to affect demonic spirits or colossal zombies. The Inquisition however, has a power strong enough to strike fear in the heart of sorcerers and necromancers. Smith never explains why that is though.

What then to do about D&D style clerics? First off, there is no record of ‘armoured saints’ in the history of world literature. So clerics do not wear armour nor bear arms. There are of course, a number of stories of “saints” in many religions. I am inclined to speculate that Smith thought poorly of religion and would dismiss saints of having worked actual miracles. However, I do not believe that it breaks Averoigne to allow them to either. So for now, Saints can be Lawful/Good Clerics with no weapon or armour proficiencies. To make up for the loss of arms & armour, they could be given paladin abilities (see below).

What about D&D style paladins? Just like the D&D style cleric, there is no literary record of pious warriors performing miracles. There are former warriors-turned-saints who performed miracles but only after foreswearing violence. Likewise there have and always will be pious warriors but their prayers are not more likely to be granted than any other pious person. In other words, no D&D style paladins.

How about in actual play? As a matter of fact, I did have a player who played a pacifist priest quite successfully. I will post the rules for a Culdean sometime in the future. In the meantime, I recommend the saint from the Medieval Player’s Handbook.


 

Arcane Magic

If religion is the elephant in the room, then is arcane magic the rhino?!? The magic-users (ususally referred to as “sorcerers”) of Averoigne include Gilies Grenier (The Mandrakes), Luc le Chaudronnier (The Beast of Averoigne), Azédarac Bishop of Ximes & Moriamis (The Holiness of Azédarac), Nathaire & Gaspard du Nord (The Colossus of Ylourgne), Mere Antoinette (Mother of Toads), and Sephora & Malachie (The Enchantress of Sylaire). What strikes me is that none of those spellcasters actually cast spells in the D&D sense. They all possess occult knowledge, craft potions & golems, and possess magical items if not ancient artefacts. The texts suggest that most of them know various magical ceremonies and rituals as well. This is actually an excellent design decision on Smith’s part because this is what Mediæval and Renaissance folk thought how magic works. Again I recommend the Medieval Player’s Manual by David Chart for its Cunning Man, Natural Magician, and Theurge core classes.

If you do not want to go as far as Chart did, you can do what I did: Arcane spellcasters get “0” spells per day and instead cast spells based on their prime requisite bonus. For example a wizard with an Intelligence ability score of 15 normally gets a bonus of one additional first level, one additional second level spell, and no additional cantrips. Under this system, a wizard will never get to cast more than a single 1st level spell each day regardless of level unless they raise their Intelligence. Likewise, starting at 3rd level they may cast a single second level spell each day. I also extend the spell bonus to include cantrips, e.g. 1 for Int 10, 2 at 18, etc. Now before you start howling, I give the arcane spellcasters all meta-magic and item creation feats at 1st level! So while our example 1st level wizard with a 15 Int can only cast a single cantrip and a single 1st level spell each day, they can brew potions, scribe scrolls, and craft wands. So these pseudo-historical wizards are packed to the gills with wands, scrolls, and potions. I also removed the XP cost from these items but also removed all ‘magick shoppes.’

Does this work with sorcerers and bards? Eh, not really. Sorcerers are probably best represented as with the class as is but requiring the race to be Tiefling or Cambion. Fairies would also be sorcerers but fairy PCs? Perhaps as a half-fairy (treat as a D&D Elf). However, the tiefling, cambion, or half-fairy PC is going to have trouble interacting with most people. Perhaps tieflings and half-fairies can pass for Human most of the time provided that they are not subject to close inspection. In other words, rather than horns or pointed ears, perhaps they have cloven hooves or a tail that they keep hidden. Or then again, perhaps they wear their hair long and always wear a hat. Also, since sorcerers are natural talent spellcasters they should not be able to read scrolls nor use wands and staves.

For Bards, I think it is best to remove their spells entirely but give them a bonus (+3) to their Use Magic Device skill (and make that skill exclusive to Bards) or at least given them bonus spells only.

AD&D 2nd Edition

The Medieval Player’s Manual is for the d20 System (D&D 3rd Ed.). How would we go about adapting the AD&D 2nd Edition ruleset for Averoigne?

Priests: Most priest kits will work with the following provisions — Lawful/Good, no weapons or armour, d12 hit die, and no multi-classing. Obviously certain kits like the Amazon make no sense at all.

Wizards: The Scholarly Mage from HR4 A Mighty Fortress is the best fit in my opinion.

Divine & Arcane Spells: Based on the Historical Reference Campaign Series of books, all spells take longer to cast. 1 segment takes 1 full round, 1 round takes 1 turn, 1 turn takes 1 hour et cetera. Somatic and material components are required rather than optional. PCs may only cast spells of 5th level or lower. Higher level spells are available on magic items (e.g. scrolls & artefacts) but may never be learned. The fantastic news is that the durations likewise last one step greater. A 1 round duration lasts for 1 turn, 1 turn lasts for 1 hour, et cetera.

Curing Spells: The HR books state that spells like Cure Disease give the victim a new saving throw versus poison rather than automaticaly curing the disease. Furthermore only a single affliction of that type can be cured in the victim’s lifetime. If you are going to restrict your priests to be Lawful/Good pacifists then I would not enforce this rule.

Healing Spells: The HR books state that healing spells are only 50% effective. The heal spell is not subject to this retriction because it is 6th level and only available as a miracle or as part of a holy relic.

Spectacular Spells: The HR books strongly discourage the use of spells like fireball and lightning bolt since there is no literary precedent for them. Spells should be subtle.

Other Classes

For D&D 3rd edition, the barbarian class can be used if it is renamed the Gallowglass, fighters are called Men-at-Arms, rangers are called Foresters and have no spells, but paladins are straight out. For the AD&D 2nd Edition rules see the following:

Inappropriate Classes: Barbarian (use Clansman kit instead), Druid, Monk, Paladin (see above), and Ranger (use Forester kit instead).

The Complete Bard’s Handbook: Gallant, Herald, Jester, Thespian

The Complete Fighter’s Handbook: Cavalier, Myrmidon, Noble Warrior, Peasant Hero, Pirate/Outlaw

The Complete Priest’s Handbook: Pacifist Priest & Scholar Priest only

The Complete Thief’s Handbook: Bandit, Beggar, Buccaneer, Scout, Spy

The Crusades: Monastic Warrior, Pardoner

A Mighty Fortress: Clansman, Courtier, Forester, Picaro, Scholarly Mage, Vagabond

ACTUAL PLAY

From 1994 to 2001, I used these rules for my Grymwurld™ 2nd Edition campaign. It was the most enjoyable campaign I ever ran and the players enjoyed it as much. There were some minor differences from these rules (pacifist priests were N/G, implicit rather than explicit Christianity, &c.) but for the most part as detailed above.

What emerged from play is that spellcasters who carefully planned ahead could be quite powerful provided that they were well-protected at all times. Casting a spell in mêlée was almost impossible due to the long casting times so there were always shield-men to protect them.

There were no dungeon expeditions per se but there were a lot of undead-infested crypts and tombs as well as werewolf-haunted woods.

Since 2007, I have been designing and playing adventures for the Neverwinter Nights videogame which is based on D&D 3rd editions rules. I have not used any of the rules from the Medieval Player’s Manual but I have used my house rules for wizards, sorcerers, and bards. So far it is working out just fine. The bard is functioning as an alternative to the rogue so as to give us a choice between a striker (rogue) or a buffer (bard) who also removes traps and picks locks. I have not played the pacificst priest much nor have had anyone try it in NWN. I think for it to work properly in a videogame requires a lot more work on the part of the designer. Because when I ran the tabletop campaign I had no issues whatsoever.

Designing videogame adventures is an order of magnitude or more greater than running a tabletop campaign for GMs like me who make up most things on the fly.

IN SUMMATION

The following what I did to adapt D&D (3e & AD&D 2e) to Averoigne. Note that I have not yet tried the Medieval Player’s Manual but it looks very promising, especially the way it handles divine and arcane magic.

Races: Human, dwarf Human, or Changeling (Half-Elf, Half-Orc, or Tiefling)

Classes (3e): Gallowglass (Barbarian), Man-at-Arms (Fighter), Forester (Ranger; no spells), Rogue, Saint (Cleric with healing, good, or sun domains), Sorcerer (Non-Human; no scrolls or wands), Troubadour (Bard with bonus spell only), and Wizard (Bonus spell only; Free meta-magic feats & item creation feats).

Classes & Kits (AD&D 2e): Bard (Courtier, Gallant, Herald, Jester, & Thespian), Cleric (Pacifist Priest),  Thief (Bandit, Buccaneer, Beggar, Merchant-Rogue, Pardoner, Picaro, Scout, Spy, & Vagabond), Warrior (Cavalier, Clansman, Forester, Myrmidon, Noble Warrior, Peasant Hero, Pirate/Outlaw, & Monastic Warrior), and Wizard (Scholarly Mage).

Magic: 5th level spells maximum. Healing spells are only 50% effective.

Spells: Avoid spells with spectacular effects such as fireball and lightning bolt. In AD&D 2nd Edition, this is actually quite easier because there are literally hundreds of spells to be found in the Wizard’s Spell Compendium volumes I – IV (2,174 spells in toto) and the Priest’s Spell Compendium volumes I – III.


Click here for Part V.

Thursday 3 December 2020

Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 3

In this series of posts, I am adapting the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead for placement in 14th century Averoigne and the Camargue region of France. The ruleset will be D&D 3rd Edition for the Neverwinter Nights videogame while the tabletop game will use either AD&D 2nd Edition. In this post I will evaluate Averoigne for probable placement in Mediæval France as well as cull some ideas to use in this adventure. Click here for Part I.

WHITHER AVEROIGNE?


Averoigne is the fictional province of France used as the setting for a number of short stories written by Clark Ashton Smith circa 1930 – 1941 plus a poem in 1951. CAS was a friend of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard and part of the original Lovecraft Circle. Lovecraft refers to the “evilly famous ruins of Château Faussesflammes, in Averoigne, France” in his short story Out of the Æons. Most D&D players are familiar with Averoigne from the Expert D&D module X2 Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay. Like Howard, Smith had an eidetic memory also known as ‘photographic memory’ which served him quite well. And also like Howard, he was a prolific poet and his stories have a poetic quality to them. Sometime prior to 1912 he was introduced to the works of Baudelaire and was moved so much by them that he then taught himself French and translated all but six of the poems in The Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs du Mal).

There have many attempts to place Averoigne in real-world France. None of course have been successful, but it is a fun exercise nonetheless. Auvergne appears to be the most popular choice, followed by Aveyron but both are popular due to being in the Occitan region of Southern France as well as the similarity of the the names. I agree that it falls within the traditional region of Occitania but I place it centred on the Rhone river with Vyones being Avignon (Avinhon) and Ximes being Nimes. The Isoleil being the Rhone and the marshes below Les Hiboux being the Camargue. Granted, I am also using name similarity for the two largest cities of Averoigne but more importantly I am identifying the marshes as the Camargue. Regardless of where Averoigne fits best, the Camargue is the great river delta and wetlands of France so the best place for the Night of the Walking Dead.

The End of the Story

First published in the May 1930 edition of Weird Tales. You may read the story here. This story takes place shortly before 1798 so not all detail will apply to the Middle Ages. In the story we learn of the Forest of Averoigne and a great highway that runs through the district. The Benedictine Abbey of Perigon is found within the forest glade. The protagonist Christophe Morand is a student come from Tours on his way to his father’s estate near Moulins. Tours is in the North but there are seventeen different Moulins according to Wikipedia. However, the largest Moulins became part of Auvergne prior to 1798. Moulin-Mage is in Occitania proper and is a better fit in my opinion. Moulins, Allier is in the far Northwest part of Auverne and I have a hard time beliving that young Christophe travelled so far past it. However, given that the Moulins in Auvergne is the largest Moulins in France, it is the default Moulins. Which means that if Christophe had meant Moulin-Mage, he would have specified it. And for exactly the same reason, Smith would have specified Moulin-Mage rather than just ‘Moulin’ if he wanted his audience to recognize the name at all.

So while it would seem that the mystery of ‘where Averoinge is’ is now solved, it bugs me a bit so I want to research this a bit further.

Chateau des Faussesflammes stands on a hill across from the Abbey. Vyones is the principal town of Averoigne and there is a cathedral there. The chateau is hundreds of miles away from the sea. My theory has been that Vyones is a stand-in for Avignon, however Avignon is less than a hundred miles from the sea. Even if Fausseflammes were a day’s ride from Vyones, it would still be substantially less than “hundreds” of miles away.

The Satyr

First version completed in the early spring of 1930 and can be found here. The second version did not get published until 1948 and can be found here. Since of the bulk of this story was the second Averoigne one, I am putting it here.

Averoigne is called a ‘province.’ Raoul, Comte de la Frenaie is the protagonist and has a rapier. Rapiers came into use sometime after 1450.

A Rendezvous in Averoigne

First published in the April/May 1931 edition of Weird Tales. The story may be found here. The protagonist of this story is Gerard de l’Automne, a trouvère. What is interesting here is that a trouvère is not a troubadour per se, but rather a Northern French version. That is to say, a wandering “minstrel” who composes verse in one of the Langue d’oïl (Northern French) dialects rather than the Langue d’oc (Occitanian or Southern French) of the troubadours. Gerard is a “guest of the Comte de la Frênaie, whose high castle held dominion over half the surrounding forest.” In this story, Vyones is a “quaint cathedral town … which lies so near to the ancient wood of Averoigne.”

“Somewhere in this wood there was the ruinous and haunted Chateau des Faussesflammes; and, also, there was a double tomb, within which the Sieur Hugh du Malinbois and his chatelaine, who were notorious for sorcery in their time, had lain unconsecrated for more than two hundred years.”

In the course of the story, it is not clear if Gerard remains in the Forest of Averoigne or if he stumbles into the Realm of Faërie. Given that so many fairy stories involve folk getting lost in the deep woods, it is perhaps better to think of Averoigne Forest existing both in our world and the Fairy World simultaneously. I am not sure what the significance of the name Frênaie is, but it means ash tree orchard in French. Also, it is worth mentioning that troubadours and trouvères were at their peak in the 13th and 14th centuries.

The Maker of Gargoyles

First published in the August 1932 edition of Weird Tales. Click here for the source. This story takes place in Vyones when the cathedral was newly built. Note that it is in the Gothic style with gargolyes. The two finest gargoyles were “wrought by the stone-carver Blaise Reynard, a native of Vyones, who had lately returned from a long sojourn in the cities of Provence….” Which of course tells us that Averoigne is not Provence. The current archbishop is Ambrosius which tells us that Vyones is an archbishopric at that time. The year is 1138 and Vyones is once again noted as the principal town of Averoigne. There are also two nunneries and a monastery in the town. The Averoinge Forest which is bordering the town is “ill-famed.”

The Mandrakes

First published in the February edition of Weird Tales in 1933. The source is found here.

Gilies Grenier the sorcerer and his wife Sabine, coming into lower Averoigne from parts unknown or at least unverified, had selected the location of their hut with a careful forethought.

The hut was close to those marshes through which the slackening waters of the river Isoile, after leaving the great forest, had overflowed in sluggish, reed-clogged channels and sedge-hidden pools mantled with scum like witches’ oils. It stood among osiers and alders on a low, mound-shaped elevation; and in front, toward the marshes, there was a loamy meadow-bottom where the short fat stems and tufted leaves of the mandrake grew in lush abundance, being more plentiful and of greater size than elsewhere through all that sorcery-ridden province.

This is where I first got the idea that the Isoile was the Rhône and that Averoigne in situ, straddled the Rhône unlike any historical provinces, counties, or districts. Note that there are no wetlands of any significant size in Auverne nor Aveyron. Which means that Lower Averoigne must be the Camargue which is the only wetlands of note in Southeastern France.

“Oddly enough, considering the temper of the Fifteenth Century, when magic and witchcraft were still so widely reprobated, he and his wife enjoyed a repute by no means ill or unsavory. No charges of malefice were brought against them; and because of the number of honest marriages promoted by the philtres…”

This also suggests to me a bit more tolerance towards magic in Averoigne than the rest of France.

The Beast of Averoigne

First version; June 18, 1932. This version was rejected by Weird Tales. Read it here. This takes place in the summer of 1369. The narrator was tasked with delivering a letter to priest of Ste. Zenobie which was close enough to allow him to travel and back within one summer day and also referred to as within five hours away. The “gates of La Frênaie and Ximes” is mentioned but those ‘gates’ could be castles or walled towns. There is a Benedictine convent at Ximes, so it must be a walled town rather than a castle. The beast has been hunting in the environs of Perigon, Ximes, Ste. Zenobie, La Frênaie, and to the shores of the river Isoile which means that all of those places are on the same side of the shore.


 Which means that this map from X2 is wrong! There is no way the beast would go out of its way to hunt in La Frenaie when it is busy in Ximes, Perigon, and Ste. Zenobie when in fact the story clearly has the beast hunting in all four areas. Thus the map at the top of this post best fits this story.

The third narrator, Luc le Chaudronnier posesses the:

“… ring of Eibon, which I had inherited from my fathers, who were also wizards. The ring had come down, it was said, from ancient Hyperborea; and it was made of a redder gold than any that the earth yields in latter cycles, and was set with a great purple gem, somber and smouldering, whose like is no longer to be found. And in the gem an antique demon was held captive, a spirit from pre-human worlds and ages, which would answer the interrogation of sorcerers.”

Finally in his fifth Averoinge story, Smith links it to his Hyperborean Cycle of stories.

Ximes is a bishopric and has a Benedictine convent. What is interesting is that the town marshal and a priest from the household of the Bishop of Ximes together approach Luc, a known sorcerer, and ask for his help.

“You, Messire le Chaudronnier,” they said, “are reputed to know the arcanic arts of sorcery, and the spells that summon or dismiss evil demons and other spirits. Therefore, in dealing with this devil, it may be that you shall succeed where all others have failed. Not willingly do we employ you in the matter, since it is not seemly for the church and the law to ally themselves with wizardry. But the need is desperate, lest the demon should take other victims; and in return for your aid, we can promise you a goodly reward of gold and a guarantee of lifelong immunity from all inquisition and prosecution which your doings might otherwise invite. The Bishop of Ximes, and the Archbishop of Vyones, are privy to this offer, which must remain secret.”

So now we have two stories in which the local clergy are pragmatic concerning spellcasters rather than automatically dismissing them as heretics and witches. (Chaudronnier is French for coppersmith or bronze-worker.)

The ingredients of the powder were named in the Book of Eibon, that manual written by an old Hyperborean wizard, who in his day had dealt with ultra-mundane spirits akin to the demon of the comet; and had also been the owner of the ring.

This suggests to me that Luc possesses the Book of Eibon as well as the ring. These are prehistoric artefacts, so it is quite remarkable that he has them!

I must also point out that here in 1369 there is an archbishop in Vyones but no mention of the French pope. So as much as I would like to equate Vyones to Avignon, it is not a good match. Unless of course in the Earth of Averoigne, the papacy stayed in Rome the entire time….

The Holiness of Azédarac

First published in the November 1933 edition of Weird Tales. Please click here to read the story. The story starts off with references to “the Ram with a Thousand Ewes” (Shub-Niggurath), Dagon, Derceto (Derketo), Lilit (Lilith), Iog-Sotôt (Yog-Sothoth), and Sodagui (Tsathoggua); placing it firmly within the Lovecraft universe. The reference to the Book of Eibon and its Hyperborean script refers to Smith’s Hyperborea stories. Derketo is a real-world Semitic deity and also appears in the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard.

The Inn of Bonne Jouissance is a little more than halfway the distance from Ximes to Vyones on the highway that runs through the Averoigne Forest. Vyones is identified as a ‘cathedral city’ which is to be expected since it has an archbishop. The year is 1175. Brother Ambrose goes back to 475 and then returns to 1230 where the Inn of Bonne Jouissance has become the Inn of Haute Esperance. He returns to 475 still holding onto the Book of Eibon as far as I can tell. It is not at all clear how the book ends up in the hands of Luc le Chaudronnier prior to 1369.

The Colossus of Ylourgne

First published in the June 1934 edition of Weird Tales. The source may be found here

This is the original story of the colossal zombie which later appeared in the Expert D&D Module X2 Castle Amber. The story begins thusly:

“The thrice-infamous Nathaire, alchemist, astrologer and necromancer, with his ten devil-given pupils, had departed very suddenIy and under circumstances of strict secrecy from the town of Vyones. It was widely thought, among the people of that vicinage, that his departure had been prompted by a salutary fear of ecclesiastical thumbscrews and faggots. Other wizards, less notorious than he, had already gone to the stake during a year of unusual inquisitory zeal; and it was well-known that Nathaire had incurred the reprobation of the Church.”

This is important to note because while arcane spellcasters in Averoigne have real power, they also are vulnerable to the Inquisition. In none of his stories does Smith explain how this is possible, so that is up to the GM to determine.

“People said that he [Nathaire] was fiend-begotten, like the fabled Merlin: his father being no less a personage than Alastor, demon of revenge; and his mother a deformed and dwarfish sorceress. From the former, he had taken his spitefulness and malignity; from the latter, his squat, puny physique.”

This quote suggests that Nathaire was a dwarfish Cambion — which to us means that there should be dwarfish Humans, Cambions, and dwarf Cambions available as NPC if not PC races.

“He had travelled in Orient lands, and had learned from Egyptian or Saracenic masters the unhallowed art of necromancy….”

This is as reference to Hermeticism, school of magical beliefs alleged to have been founded by the Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus, expaned upon by the Ptolemaic Greeks in Egypt, lost and then revived by the Arabs.

“Once, in the third year after his coming to Vyones, he had been stoned in public because of his bruited necromancies, and had been permanently lamed by a well-directed cobble.”

This is important to note that despite Nathaire being a high-level wizard specialising in necromancy, he was unable to cure himself of his injuries nor for that matter, were there any “clerics” or “temples” around to heal them either.

“Despite his minikin stature, his deformity and ugliness, he possessed a remarkable power, a mesmeric persuasion…”

This suggests a very high charisma ability score. In D&D 3rd edition (d20) parlance, he would be a sorcerer rather than a wizard. Nathaire had ten pupils which I would treat as henchmen. In the AD&D and AD&D 2nd edition rules, Nathaire must have a charisma of 17 or greater to have that many henchmen. A mage with a 17 charisma? I think making him a charisma-based caster like the 3rd sorcerer makes a lot more sense.

This story takes place in the late spring of 1281, placing it between The Holiness of Azédarac and The Beast of Averoigne. Nathaire and his pupils vacate Vyones for:

“This destination, it somehow became rumoured, was the ruinous castle of Ylourgne, beyond the werewolf-haunted forest, in the outlying, semi-mountainous hills of Averoigne.

… and the nearest abode of living men was a small Cistercian monastery, more than a mile away on the opposite slope of the valley.”

So now we have a Cistercian monastery in addition to the Benedictine monastery at Perigon and the Benedictine convent in Ximes.

We also learn that the ruins of Ylourgne were that of a great castle abandoned centuries ago (no later than 1081). The castle once consisted of a moat, drawbridge, barbican, a high massive donjon, chapel, and great hall. This is remarkable given that the majority of castles built in France during the 11th century and earlier were made primarily of wood! Undoubtedly, Ylourgne had been built to subjugate and protect Averoigne expecting lengthy sieges given the stone construction. Given that it ultimately failed and was abandoned, there is definitely a story there!

While Nathaire directs his henchmen and their familiars to contruct the colossal zombie-golem, a couple of monks from the neighbouring monastery come to spy. When he sees them he say:

“Return to your kennel, ye whelps of Ialdabaoth, and take with you this message: They that came here as many shall go forth as one.”

This is significant because Ialdabaoth or Yaldaboath is one of the three names for the chief archon or demiurge which the Hermeticists believe created the Human race but not the rest of the world. They believed that the god of the Old Testament was Yaldaboath also known as Sama-el which means ‘blind god’ in Aramaic. Ironically, the demiurge came to be equated with Satan or Lucifer whom Nathaire is accused of serving.

Illustration of the familiars entering the nostrils of the corpses, by none other than Clark Ashton Smith himself!

Nathaire then directs two “familiars” who are desribed in terms suggesting demon-shaped shadows, to enter the bodies of two corpses through the nostrils. They do as commanded, pick up the hornbeam crosses dropped by the frightened monks and drive them off. This tells us a couple of things. First, that animate dead involves demonic spirits possessing the corpses like they do in the television series Supernatural. Second, that unlike the tradition of evil creatures afraid to go near any cross, these zombies can use crosses as weapons! As we read in many of the Averoigne stories, crosses, holy water, et cetera do not have the inherent power found so common in Christian lore.

“Gaspard, though he came of a well-to-do family, was at that time in straitened circumstances; for his devotion to a somewhat doubtful science had been disapproved by his father. His sole income was a small pittance, purveyed secretly to the youth by his mother and sister. This sufficed for his meagre food, the rent of his room, and a few books and instruments and chemicals; but it would not permit the purchase of a horse or even a humble mule for the proposed journey of more than forty miles.”

Ever wonder why your 1st level wizard is so poor? It is because your family does not approve of your vocation! Note also that Ylourgne is more than forty miles away from Vyones.

“Much of his journey lay through the great, lowering forest, which approached the very walls of Vyones on the eastern side and ran in a sombre arc through Averoigne to the mouth of the rocky valley below Ylourgne.”

This tells us that the infamous Averoigne Wood is on the eastern side of Vyones but it does not tell us if it arcs over the north or the south. This also suggests that Ylourgne is to the northwest or southwest, given that the arc of forest ends in the mouth of the rocky valley below Ylourgne. Assuming that I am interpreting that quote correctly and that the arc is 180 degrees or less, which means that all maps (including the one at the top of this post) found on the Internet are wrong!

“This valley was the fountain-head of the Isoile, which had dwindled to a mere rivulet.”

So in all likelihood, Ylourgne is in the northwest since it is the source of the Isoile. Assuming of course, that the Isoile flows south towards the Mediterrean Sea. At this stage I must point out the (rather) obvious difficulty of mapping out Averoigne given the scant information so far. It is made more difficult given the existing fan-drawn maps of Averoigne, however accurate or inaccurate they may be. What I notice that all the maps have in common is an assumption that the semi-mountainous hills are assumed to be in the east (suggesting the Alpine foothills) and the marsh in the south or southeast (suggesting the Camargue). Given that the Rhône originates in the Rhône Glacier in the Swiss Alps (which also feeds Lake Geneva), it is very easy mentally equate Averoigne with the Rhône river valley, disregarding the scale entirely as well as the highly traveled Rhône even during the Middle Ages. So I once again, cannot help but wonder if Smith took his inspiration from there as well?

The Chateau of La Frênaie is the first named place the colossus passes by after departing Ylourgne. Then Ximes which must be on the Isoile since “the wooden Virgin that he flung into the Isoile above Ximes.” Then he attacks Perigon and then Ste. Zenobie.

“Back and forth, in an irregular, drunken, zigzag course, from end to end and side to side of the harried realm…”

This tells us that Averoigne is self-contained, surrounded by wilderness or if the colossus does not cross the Isoile, then one side. Although the text does not mention it, I doubt that Nathaire would not have directed it to cross the river. Also note that Averoigne has been referred to as a ‘district,’ a ‘province,’ and now a ‘realm.’ Perhaps Smith has simply been poetic the entire time, envisioning Averoigne as a region rather than a specific political unit. After all, there is never a mention of who the lord of Averoigne is.

“Nearing the gates of Vyones at sunset, Gaspard du Nord saw behind him, through gaps in the ancient wood, the far-off head and shoulders of the terrible colossus, who moved along the Isoile, stooping from sight at intervals in some horrid deed.”

This tells us that Vyones lies on the banks of the Isoile or very near it. Most likely on the banks, given how many Mediæval towns and cities lay on rivers.

Now, as the twitching fingers descended towards him, he emptied the contents of the pouch in the giant's face, and the fine powder, mounting in a dark-grey cloud, obscured the snarling lips and palpitating nostrils from his view.

Anxiously he [Gaspard] watched the effect, fearing that the powder might be useless after all, against the superior arts and Satanical resources of Nathaire. But miraculously, as it seemed, the evil lambence died in the pit-deep eyes, as the monster inhaled the flying cloud. His lifted hand, narrowly missing the crouching youth in its sweep, fell lifelessly at his side. The anger was erased from the mighty, contorted mask, as if from the face of a dead man; the great cudgel fell with a crash to the empty street; and with drowsy, lurching steps, and listless, hanging arms, the giant turned his back to the cathedral and retraced his way through the devastated city.

He muttered dreamily to himself as he went; and people who heard him swore that the voice was no longer the awful, thunderswollen voice of Nathaire, but the tones and accents of a multitude of men, amid which the voices of certain of the ravished dead were recognizable. And the voice of Nathaire himself, no louder now than in life, was heard at intervals through the manifold mutterings, as if protesting angrily.

Climbing the eastern wall as it had come, the colossus went to and fro for many hours, no longer wreaking a hellish wrath and rancour, but searching, as people thought, for the various tombs and graves from which the hundreds of bodies that composed it had been so foully reft. From charnel to charnel, from cemetery to cemetery it went, through all the land; but there was no grave anywhere in which the dead colossus could lie down.

Then, towards evening, men saw it from afar on the red rim of the sky, digging with its hands in the soft, loamy plain beside the river Isoile. There, in a monstrous and self-made grave, the colossus laid itself down, and did not rise again. The ten pupils of Nathaire, it was believed, unable to descend from their basket, were crushed beneath the mighty body; for none of them was ever seen thereafter.

How cool is that?!? The colossus does not immediately collapse into a putrid pile; rather it seeks to bury the various corposes it comprises. And when it cannot, it digs its own grave and lies down on its back thereby smothering and crushing Nathaire the necromancer and his ten necromantic henchmen!

The Disinterment of Venus

First published in the July 1934 edition of Weird Tales. The story opens up at the Abbey of Perigon sometime after 1550. While a story worth reading, there is nothing of note for our purposes.

Mother of Toads

First published in the July 1938 edition of Weird Tales. The R-rated original version can be found here. The PG version which is what got published can be found here. Both are worth a read because Smith did more than just cut out the R-rated parts in the second version.

“Her witchcraft had made her feared among the peasantry of that remote province, where belief in spells and philtres was still common. The people of Averoigne called her La Mere des Crapauds, Mother of Toads, a name given for more than one reason.”

Once again Averoigne is referred to as a province and note that it is remote and backward which literally puts it off the beaten path. The witch’s hut is in a marsh within walking distance of the village of Les Hiboux (Fr. ‘The Owls’). This is undoubtedly the same wetlands as the one in The Mandrakes, being in Lower Averoigne.

The Enchantress of Sylaire

First published in the July 1941 edition of Weird Tales. The source may be found here. In this story, Anselme the second son of the Comte du Framboisier has come to live in the great wood of Averoigne to forget the demoiselle Dorothée, only daughter of the Sieur des Flèches. At first I assumed that their parents lived outside of Averoigne but when Anselme commented to himself “She was lovely as any chatelaine of the great castles of Averoigne.” So this tells us that A) there are ‘great castles’ in Averoigne, B) Anselme has been to most if not all of these great castles, and C) the Comte du Framboisier and the Sieur des Flèches hold land if not castles in Averoigne or nearby.

The enchauntress Sephora wears a “bodice of vernal green velvet” which tells us the story takes place in the 1500s or 1600s most likely. However, Anselm found her garments to be ‘oddly antigue’ so this may well put the story much later. Her dress is a clue of course as is her insistence on being carried through a cromlech. Sephora is a fairy!

Sephora tells Anselme that the Druids raised the cromlechs which of course we know now that these stone structures predate the druids.

Sephora receives some visitors who turn out to be Anselme’s old flame Dorothée des Flèches and two sergeant-at-arms armed with longbows. Longbows?!? Hang on a minute! If a bodice is ‘oddly antique’ then what are the longbows? Why are they not armed with muskets? Unless Smith made a mistake in describing Sephora’s garb, writing ‘bodice’ when he meant kirtle instead. Tight kirtles were fashionable for women in the second half of the 14th century and into the early 15th. Longbows were mostly an English weapon but they persisted into the 16th century.

The Oracle of Sadoqua [Tsathoggua]

A fragment by Smith which can be found here. Ron Hilger wrote a posthumous collaboration here.

Averonia is the Roman name for Averoigne. The Roman officer Horatius is the protagonist and he is desperately seeking the Oracle of the dread god Sadoqua [Tsathoggua]. Sadoqua is “believed to slumber eternally underground in a cavern amid the deep forests of Averonia.”


IN SUMMATION

Averoigne

Is most likely a province having been called a district, region, and a realm only once each. I have found no evidence that the province maps directly to a historical one or even a region for that matter.

Likewise there is no evidence that Averoigne is situated in Southern France for that matter (unless I missed something). All of the names are from the Northern French, the architecture is Gothic rather than Romaneque, and the Abbey of Perigon is hundreds of miles from the sea.

Averoigne is backwards, provincial, and superstitious but also romantic, glamourous, and sensual. A place where time move slowly if at all. There are castles and ruined stone castles but no gunpowder. There are definite elements of fairy, sorcery, and remnants of prehistoric Hyperborea. One might call it “Grimm’s Fairytales for Adults.”

All of the above make it is the perfect setting for Dungeons & Dragons.

Placing Night of the Walking Dead

The AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead takes place on the edge of a swamp with French-speaking villagers. Either it takes place in the Lousiana bayou of the United States or in the Ille de Camargue in France. I choose the latter. Does this mean that Lower Averoigne is in fact the Camargue? Not necessarily. All that is necessary is that RQ1 takes place in the same France as Averoigne and the same world as Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Mac Art, Turlogh Dubh O’Brien, and Cormac Fitzgeoffrey. However, for the time being I am going to see if I can merge the village of Les Hiboux with the Marais d’Tarascon and somehow tie in the Mother of Toads.

D&D Implications

Playing D&D in Averoigne requires some tweaks to the ruleset of all versions. I will go over these in the next post. In the meantime, here is a teaser:


Click here for Part IV.

Tuesday 1 December 2020

Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 2

I absolutely love this painting by Robh Ruppel! I almost hate to admit it but this painting is the primary reason I bought the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead. Up until this point in 1992, TSR had never published an illustration of zombies that looked as horrible and fearsome as this! Say what you will about the so-called “watered-down” version of D&D to placate the Satanic Panic, this picture beats everything prior to it!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am going to adapt Night of the Walking Dead to 14th century Averoigne for both my tabletop game as well as an adventure for the Neverwinter Nights videogame. In this post I am going to analyse the module as written by Bill Slavicsek to seek a thorough understanding. My philosophy is to understand the rules as written before changing them. (I didn’t start following that philosphy until the last decade of so but it serves me well today) but that does not mean I will not make note of “suggested” changes. Well… how about I make the changes tentative as I strive to understand the module…? *Sigh* I am an ‘old dog’ who learned to DM with the D&D White Box + Greyhawk rules in 1977 and have a very difficult time to learn the “new tricks” of using the Rules As Written.

INTRODUCTION

For the DM

This module is designed for 4–6 players of levels 1–3. Since my adaptation will be for a single player with three henchmen (effectively 4 players), it would seem the party should be 3rd level. That is too high level for my taste. I like to start campaigns at 1st or 2nd level. However, I do want the characters to be truly veterans and not just fresh out of “boot camp.” If they are 1st level, I will let them have maximum hit points. Regardless of whether they are 1st or 2nd level, they can have any amount of normal, non-magical equipment appropriate to 14th century Europe. If they are 2nd level, I will allow them to have access to any technology from the Old World. The one exception being gunpowder. At this point I have no desire to allow any kind of gunpowder weapons and frankly given the primitive technology of the time, I fail to see the benefit of doing so.

This adventure takes place in the Marais d'Tarascon, on the island domain of Souragne in Ravenloft. According to Google Translate, ‘marais’ is most often translated as marsh or swamp. As I mentioned in the previous post, I am placing this adventure in the historical Camargue region of France. The Camargue is the Rhone river delta that empties into the Mediterrean sea. As a river delta, it is comprised of salt marshes and brine lagoons. So rather than introducing players to Ravenloft, I will be introducing them to Averoigne.

Even though I will be placing this adventure in Averoigne, it will help us understand the design and intent of the module if we understand what Slavicsek was working from. Prior to this module, the only mention of Souragne comes from the the Realm of Terror boxed set published in 1990 by Bruce Nesmith with Andria Hayday. Here is the relevant text:

The Lord and the Law: Anton Misroi, the zombie master, is lord of this domain.

The Land: A slice of dry land covers the eastern side of Souragne, but the western two-thirds is a dark, swampy maze of waterways winding through towering cypress draped with moss. Most of the swamp region is submerged. A few solid patches of land rise out of the water, but only a handful of men know their location.

Souragne includes a sliver of ocean on its northern side. The land gives way to a band of saltwater before it meets the Ravenloft Mists a few miles offshore. A small town, Port d’Elhour, lies on the coastline east of the swamp.

The Folk: Souragnien people are very superstitious. They believe in a variety of nature gods, including the “Lord of the Dead,” who watches over the swamp. None of the villagers ventures into the swamp willingly, but it is rumored that some outcasts live in floating houses deep within it. The shaman is not afraid to enter the swamp.
Notice that Slavicsek directly lifted ‘zombie master,’ ‘floating houses,’ and ‘the shaman entering the swamp’ for this adventure.

Story Background

Tarascon: It is very interesting that Slavicsek chose Tarascon as the family name for the rulers of the small village. Tarascon is a historical city in southern France located on the east bank of the Rhone river south of Avignon and north of Arles. Since I am placing Averoigne in the Southern portion of the Rhone river valley, Tarascon automatically becomes included. How convenient! Also of note is that the Tarasque (Latin Tarasconus) gets its name from Tarascon becuase that is where St. Martha subdued the tarasque in turn allowing people to safely kill it. Perhaps Pierre Tarascon, the progenitor of this family fled Tarascon?

Plantation: There are frequent references to the Tarascon “plantation.” First off, plantation is an anchronism. In this module, it is being used as an allusion to the plantations of the American South which combined with the name ‘marais’ evokes the 18th and 19th century plantations of Louisiana. I will change it to manour or village as necessary. This farming community is “fairly prosperous” but what are its products? As it turns out, the wetlands of the Camargue are conducive to rice and a red variety of rice (riz rouge) is native. Now what if we go one step further, and call it riz sang or blood rice? There could be an entire story of how the rice from this particular manour has the colour of blood and is rich in iron!

Timeline: The module does not specifiy which season or month of the year this story takes place. For my purposes, it will take place in October of 1347 which is when the Black Death arrived in Europe. When I ran this adventure in 1994, I used it as the launching for the Zombie Apocalypse replacing the historical Bubonic Plague of the 14th century. I am a bit torn between following this adventure faithfully versus using it for the start of the Zombie Apocalypse. So this is something I need to figure out. Also, it would be pretty cool if I can also link this to Hallowe'en. At any rate, the cause of this adventure begins three weeks prior to the arrival of the PCs.

Summary: Tarascon Manour is owned by the Tarascon family consiting of twins Jean & Marcel and younger brother Luc. It appears that the brothers are all unmarried because there is no mention of any wives nor betrothed for that matter, which is quite odd since wealthy families have been arranging marriages since the dawn of time. Jean plays the role of steward to the estate and thus is the de facto lord of the manour. Marcel has no interest whatsoever in practical matters, rather his interest lie in his family’s past. Wait, what?!? He spends his time doing genealogical research? And Jean is fine with that? The idea of the idle rich is also an anachronism. Traditionally, wealthy families would get the eldest son knighted and the second son into the Church. So how did Marcel end up a layabout? My thinking is that the family sent Marcel to the University of Montpellier because that is the closest one. It is also quite possible that he discovered black magic (nigromauncie) while he was there. I thought about Eustace the Monk who learned black magic in Toledo but could not justify a middle-class family sending a son there when Montpellier is so close. The bottom line is that Marcel most likely acquired a level in wizard/mage/magic-user while there and indulged his interest in the dark arts when he returned. Why else would he be facinated by his family's past?

Shortly after returning home, Marcel discovers Pierre the founder’s journal. The journal describes the early days of the farmstead which is left to the GM to define. It also mentions the arrival of Hyskosa, a famous Vistani seer. Interestingly, Slavicsek uses the term “gypsy seers” as a synonym for the Vistani. I note this because TSR had been very careful to use gypsy imagery but to never use the word ‘gypsy.’ I guess this one slipped past Andria Hayday. To continue, the journal goes on to say that the gentleman Hyskosa told Pierre the powerful revelation of the Six Signs. Apparently Pierre sumarized the prescience but we are not told what that is. Marcel is far more interested in the notation that a scroll containing the Revelation of the Six Signs was left behind and hidded by Pierre more than two centuries ago. For some unexplained reason, Marcel came to believe that the scroll contained the secrets of power and immortality. We are told that the Demiplane of Ravenloft fueled Marcel’s obsession with finding the scroll. Of course, I am unconcerned about the rôle of Ravenloft but it is interesting to note that by this time Ravenloft has swallowed up Souragne. Neither the module nor the boxed set tells us exactly when Souragne joined Ravenloft nor why. I do not think we need any dark powers to fuel Marcel’s obsession wth the scroll given that he somehow came to believe it contains the “secrets of power & immortality.”

Meanwhile we are told that the twins have a younger brother, Luc and that their mother Claudine died giving birth. [Oddly, we don’t learn her name until we get to the discovery of the Tarascon mausoleum in the new cemetery. Another editing oversight.] Luc grew up idolizing Marcel for some reason, which suggests to me that Marcel is significantly more charismatic than his twin, Jean.

Three weeks ago Luc spies a Vistani wagon and pays a young gypsy girl named Valana to tell his fortune. [Perhaps the Vistanic are a type of Gypsy?] Luc’s fortune as it turns out, are “cryptic” directions to the “Crypt of Stars” in the old cemetery. Yeah, it really says that. (Eyeroll) Luc grabs Marcel and together the push aside the stone slab with six stars, crawl through the tunnel, push the statue out of the way, wander around the old cemetery until they spot a tomb with six stars on the door, get it? All these years of Marcel searching for a scroll of six verses but he never checked the Old Cemetery. Now the brothers break into the tomb and find the scroll. But it is Luc who reads it and not Marcel, which is bizarre given how obsessed Marcel is with reading it. During the reading, they are attacked by a “ju-ju zombie” and some other zombies. For those of you who do not recall, “juju zombies” first appeared in the AD&D Monster Manual II (1983). They are created when a magic-user drains all the life out of a victim by using the energy drain spell and can only be hit by a +1 or greater magic weapon. In the AD&D Players Handbook (1978), energy drain is the reverse of the 7th level clerical spell restoration. In Unearthed Arcana (1985), it appears as a 9th level magic-user spell and mentions the creation of juju zombies. This is important to note because this ju-ju zombie who kills Marcel was created by a mage of at least 17th level! Why was there an arch-mage in the Marais d’Tarascon? Who became the ju-ju zombie? Whoever it was became the guardian of the old cemetery in general and of the Hyskosa scroll in particular.

So what do we do with the ju-ju zombie? Given that they are created by arch-mages, there is always a story behind each one. However, I cannot help but suspect that Slavicsek choose to include a ju-ju zombie because this is supposed to be a ‘zombie’ module and did not think anything more beyond that. The reason being, is that introducing a result of a 17th level mage energy draining a person is huge! Campaign defining huge! 17th+ level are legendary archmages and everything they do impacts the world! We are talking the most powerful wizards in legend such as Merlin, Morgana le Fey, and Maugris. Did Maugris (or Merlin or Morgana) stroll into the Marais d’Tarascon and energy drain someone into a ju-ju zombie, leaving them in the Old Cemetery to guard it? I very, very seriously doubt it. So in this particular case, rather than expanding the story to fit the module, I think it is best to replace the juju zombie with an ordinary zombie (or one of my Grym zombies I'll detail later). It also takes care of the issue that 1st level characters will not have a +1 weapon between them and juju zombies require that!

Getting back to the history, Marcel is killed by the ju-ju zombie but Luc is untouched. Conviently Jean was following them from a safe distance and comes to Luc’s rescue. Jean somehow wrests Marcel’s corpse from the ju-ju zombie and leads Luc out of the Old Cemetery. Amazingly, Jean and Luc can outrun the ju-ju zombie despite being burdened with Luc’s corpse and the ju-ju zombie moving at 9." Now Luc would be unencumbered at 12" but Jean with a corpse?!? I think 6" at best! And yet somehow they escape. Does Jean have a magic weapon? Not according to the text. Also, ju-ju zombies can shoot bows as well as climb walls like a thief (92%). So why did the ju-ju not shoot Jean or follow in the tunnel? Et cetera, et cetera. But if we replace the ju-ju zombie with normal zombies, then Jean can lead them away to the far corner, double back and take Marcel’s corpse. Yeah, I think replacing the ju-ju zombie is a really good idea!

Jean takes Marcel’s corpse to Brucian, the village shaman…. Hang on a minute, shaman? Is Brucian an AD&D 2nd Edition priest [cleric] with the savage priest kit? According to the AD&D 2nd Edition PHBR3 The Complete Priest’s Handbook (1990):

“This is a shaman of a savage tribe. This character is a member of the tribe. The tribe itself is a technoligically and culturally primitive one (by the standards & in the opinions of more “civilised” cultures), but is also one which is attuned to the natural forces of the world. The Savage Priest interprets the will of his god and acts as an advisor or leader to the members of his tribe.”

This strikes me as a bit odd, so I will peel back the layers of this onion so to speak. First off, in the Realm of Terror, recall that “the shaman is not afraid to enter the swamp.”

We have every reason to believe that Brucian is in fact the very shaman who is not afraid to enter the swamp. Slavicsek made the village priest a “shaman” precisely because he was working off the summary of Souragne found in the Realm of Terror. And remember that Andria Hayday co-created the Realm of Terror and also edited the Night of the Walking Dead. So she would have been fully aware of the connection. As an astute reader, you are probably wondering if Nesmith and Hayday were thinking of the priest kit or the AD&D shaman, given that the CPH was published the same year as the Ravenloft boxed set. Well, it really does not matter. According to the AD&D DMG, shaman are just clerics with a limited spell selection and cavemen (the only humans with shaman) shaman are not limited to 7th level unlike the humanoid shaman.

But why the choice of “shaman” instead of village priest or druid, for that matter? Surely Nesmith & Hayday and later Slavicsek intended that this priest be a Ravenloft stand-in for a voodoo priest. The imagery they evoked with Sourage is a mix of antebellum Lousiana and Haiti with bayous, zombies, and French masters.

So what we have then is that Jean took Marcel’s corpse to the local voodoo priest and that priest attempted to raise Marcel from the dead but the operation failed. Raise Dead?!? That is a 5th level priest spell! Is Brucian 9th level or higher? He is after all, the shaman of Souragne…. Yet we learn later on in the module that Brucian is only 2nd level and has a scroll with two raise dead spells remaining. So the famous shaman of Souragne is only 2nd level. Okay, I can work with that. (On a separate note, if Nesmith & Hayday envisaged the shaman as an AD&D witch doctor then Brucian should also be a 1st or 2nd level mage as well.) So Jean cries out in anguish when his twin fails to revive because he somehow knows that Marcel is now the undead and not just any undead but a Zombie Lord! Meanwhile Brucian probably thinks that Marcel failed his Resurrection % check (A CON of 10 has a 25% chance of failure). Jean goes mad, thinking that he must protect Marcel from his obsession and so he snatches the Hyskosa scroll from Luc and hides it. When Jean notices that Luc mutters mixed-up sections from the scroll, he banishes Luc to the swamp. But then…

“Jean promised to locate the scroll for Marcel, swearing to search for it as long as he drew breath. Never did he reveal to Marcel that he had hidden it, nor did he reveal to anyone what his brother Marcel had become.”

Wait, what? Jean hides the Hyskosa scroll but swears to search for it?!? I suppose what Slavicsek meant to say is that Jean made a false promise to his (un)dead twin brother to search for the scroll thinking that Marcel would believe him.

“Marcel now resides in the old cemetery, intent on creating undead servants while Jean continues to search for the scroll. For three weeks Marcel has used his powers to kill villagers; when they rise, they become zombies under his control. Though Marcel does not have the scroll, he believes that an army of undead will help him taker over this island of terror. (To date, the true lord of Souragne [Anton Misroi] has not intervened.”

How can Jean continue to search for the scroll when he knows where he hid it. Why did Hayday as the editor not change this to ‘continued to promise Marcel that he was searching for it’ or somesuch? And how did Marcel end up in the Old Cemetery? Was there a funereal? There must not have been since nobody has the key to the Old Cemetery. Did Jean drag his brother’s corpse through the tunnel or wait for Marcel to rise as the Zombie Lord and stagger there himself? Why is Jean letting Marcel kill off the villagers? I get that the shock and trauma of his twin dying and rising as an undead has caused him to go mad. I could accept that Jean locks himself up in his sanctuary and does nothing while Marcel murders the village.

“The village has to content with more than just Marcel, however. Jean has become a murderer as well as a madman. He takes victims to the zombie lord as both an offering and a sign of his growing affection for the undead.”

So Jean’s coping strategy is to become ‘Jacque le Ripper’?!? And he now has a growing affection for the undead? When I ran this adventure back in 1994, my players and I found this premise ridiculous. Twenty-six years later, I still find it ridiculous. Perhaps if the writing and editing were different, I could appreciate but…. Later on we learn that Jean forces his servants to eat the flesh of some of the victims which turn them into ghouls. That is a very interesting theme but….

This is the crux of the matter — my primary criticism of this module. There are three themes that fight to be the central theme. First we have a zombie master who goes about the village at night whose breath and/or farts are so noxious that people keel over and die on the spot only to revive moments later as a zombie slave, although sometimes their rising happens much later. Second we have Jean le Ripper murdering people also night. Third, sometimes Jean gives the corpses to his brother Marcel but sometimes he feeds them to his servants, thus forcing them to become ghouls but he is too cowardly to eat the corpses himself despite his growing affection for the undead. I think this module would be a lot less confusing and hence more enjoyable if there was a single central theme instead. Zombie Lord is a great theme for an adventure. Jack the Ripper is a great story. Crazy guy feeding corpses to his servants thus creating ghouls is a great story. Why create a mash-up? Given the limited pagecount of modules, these competing central themes prevents the exploration of the supporting cast. In every Gothic story, everyone has dark secrets. In this adventure, we have… Jean? This is Ravenloft, for crying out loud! There should have been a single central theme, e.g. Marcel as a Zombie Lord with the named NPCs all having dark secrets.

So I think this is my mission here. To take a single theme (i.e. Marcel as a zombie lord) and to flesh out the NPCs to turn this into a true Gothic story. I also wish to place the adventure in Averoigne and interject some of Clark Ashton Smith’s sardonic and ironic humour into it as well.

The Hyskosa Scroll

The proverbial MacGuffin. More than two centuries ago (late 1000s to early 1100s) a Vistani (Gypsy) seer named Hyskosa had a revelation about six events that were to take place in the distant future. He wrote down this revelation in a scroll and left at least one copy in each of the Ravenloft Domains he visited (Vistani are the only ones who can freely travel between the domains). The actual scrolls are powerless nevertheless there are some like Marcel who believe that they do contain real power.

Who are the Vistani? In this module, Slavicsek uses Vistani and Gypsy interchangeably. Throughout the Ravenloft publications, the Vistani are a stylized and sterotypical depiction of late 19th century Romani (1850–1920) given their use of the vardo (wagon). This is the image we have seen in The Wolf Man and Dark Shadows, so it should not at all be surprising to find them in Ravenloft. There are no gypsies or Romani mentioned in any of Smith’s stories set in Averoigne so we have to look to the etymology of the word ‘gypsy’ and the history behind it. According to Etymology Online it first appeared in English as a noun in 1600 and an adjective in 1620 and spelled ‘gipsy’. Interestingly it also says that in Middle French they were called ‘Bohémien’ and in Italian & German ‘zingari’ (cf. Zingara in Hyboria). Apparently in the 1400s the French either thought the gypsies came from Bohemia or confused them with the Hussite refugees (c.1419–1434). The genetics show that the Romani originated in South Asia and linguistics point to Northeast India. In 1323 they were observed in Crete and in 1360 there were Romani serfs in Corfu. According to Wikipedia they reached Bohemia by the 14th century but most likely as slaves. So it is possible, if a bit of a stretch to have Vistani as gypsies.

19th C. Vardos

Wikipedia further claims that ‘gypsy’ can refer to Tinkers and Travellers, in other words all sorts of itinerate folk. However the genetic, linguistic, and historical data on the English, Irish, Scottish, & Welsh travellers shows that these groups did not form until the 1500s at the earliest. So that leaves Tinkers of which the occupation dates to the late 14th c. according to Etymology Online. I find it highly suggestive that the arrival of the tinker occupation and the gypsies to be a very similar timeframe given that historically many tinkers were thought to be gypsies. At any rate, whether they are called ‘gipsies’ or ‘tinkers’ it is a bit of a stretch but not anachronistic to describe the Vistani as a sort of tinker-gypsy so long as we leave out the vardos.

What if the Vistani were fairies? Given the rôle that the Vistani play in this module (as we shall see), they act very much like fairies. The magically appear in the swamp, offer hospitality if treated respectfully, tell the party’s fortune, and then disappear at dawn. I think that your typical person  in the Middle Ages would call them as fairies rather than tinkers!

Adventure Synopsis

In this section of the module, Slavicsek would summarise the most likely path the PCs will take, the most likely PC actions, and the appropriate outcome. Except that he does not quite do that. In fact, what he does is tell the story of what is supposed to happen. *Sigh* As others have pointed out, this adventure leans very heavily towards the “railroad” style of RPG design. The biggest nit I have with this “synopsis” is that it presumes that the PCs can break into Jean’s townhouse. Except that the locks “are of masterful quality (-60 open locks modifier).” A 1st level thief with an 18 DEX who put the maximum 30 points into open locks has a base success of 55% but versus these locks has a -5% chance of success — in other words impossible! The party is forced to break down the door or a window with a base 50% chance of being spotted or heard with bonuses for “caution and quite” as the DM sees fit. The constable will arrive in 1d6 rounds (1–6 minutes) to arrest the PCs. I can imagine that Slavicsek wanted to raise the tension of the situation by having the constable arrive and search for the PCs in the townhouse. But why not allow the thief to unlock the door? Why bother playing a thief if you cannot show off your buglar skills? After all, he will not get to backstab any zombies….

IN SUMMATION

To recap the adaptation so far, this adventure takes place during October of 1347 AD in the Camargue region of Averoigne rather than the domain of Souragne in Ravenloft. It will be for four PCs (player + 3 retainers) of 1st or 2nd level. The manour (not plantation) will be famed for its riz sang or ‘blood rice.’ Marcel was educated at Montpellier but did not enter the seminary and instead has taken up nigomauncie. Jean is the Sieur or Mesne Lord in that he is a gentleman who holds the land in tenantcy from a greater lord most likely the Abbey of Psalmody (Abbaye de Psalmody). The Vistani are actually fairies. The ju-ju zombie will be either a be a Rotting Dead or some type of skeleton (I will detail my Grym zombies & skeletons in a future post). Brucian will be a village priest or vicar rather than a “shaman” or a witch-doctor for that matter. For the time being, I am going to put the Jean le Ripper theme on the “back-burner” until I am convinced that it is integral to the success of the module. And finally, I resolve to make the NPCs more fitting for a Gothic novel or Averoigne story by introducing motivations, dark secrets, and conflicts with the other NPCs.

Click here for Part III.