Play Report: Sleep is Overpowered + Grymwurld™ Rules Preview

Enter Sandman performed by Metallica (Official Music Video)

Sleep is overpowered but you knew that already…

On Friday the 16th of April in the two thousand one and score years from the delivery of the Virgin, Doctor Arnauld, Sir George, Brother Alec, Aladdin the varlet, and Robert bowman met their doom in the bowels of the War-Pig Fane.

After much butchering of War-Hogs, the wayward band of anti-heroes discovered the sacrifice room in the bowels of the underground temple. It was a large room, larger than their candlelight cantrips could fully illuminate. But the shapes of the elite War-Pigs and their “high priest” were unmistakeable as was the demon idol, and the young woman about to be sacrificed. The knowledgeable doctor summoned the Sandman who put the closest elite enemies under his spell. Those pOrcs who were out of range charged while two of their number were quickly dispatched to Hell by the varlet and bowman. The priest, irritated that his ceremony was disrupted, also summoned the Sandman who ensorcerelled all of the would-be heroes. The surviving Pig-Men serjeaunts gutted the sleeping adventurers, one and all.

Debrief & Commentary

As all of you grognards and old-schoolers know all too well, the sleep spell is brutally overpowered for a 1st level spell. 4–16 hit dice worth of creatures in a 30' diametre sphere are automatically put to sleep with no saving throw. Prior to this climatic battle, I asked my son if he wanted to change the spell and give it a saving throw and he said no. Afterwards, I asked if he still wanted to keep the spell as is and he said yes. He preferred to roll up new characters and start a new campaign rather than nerf the spell.

To paraphrase John Mellenkamp, “now he’s Old School, just like me.”

The New Campaign

My son had a rogue-assassin recuperating back in the village and wanted to continue playing him and he also wished to use the same rogue-scout, and sorcerer as before because they had good stats. I agreed provided he change their names and put them in Constantinople, the largest metropolis in the known world. The DM PC became Rodrigo the Rake.

I should note that the party TPK and subsequent new campaign gives me the opportunity to switch from traditional D&D rules to my forthcoming Sword & Sorcery rules. In brief:

Simple and intuitive player-facing rules so that the PC Character Record can fit on a notecard. GM-facing rules are as detailed as necessary to facillitate game flow rather than looking up rules.

PC classes are warrior, skirmisher, sorcerer, and rogue. Within each class are a number of archetypes. Players pick one archetype for their class. Warrior archetypes are Knight (Heavy Cavalryman), Brigand (Heavy footman), and Marine (Heavy footman). Skirmisher archetypes are Ranger (Commando, Guerilla, or Sauvage), Bravo (Swashbuckler), Pirate, and Berserker. Sorcerer archetypes are Natural Philospher (Scholar), Monk (Cloistered), and Cunning Man (Wise Woman or Hedge Wizard). Rogue archetype are Assassin and Scout.

Each archetype has an assumed set of skills. Knights are master of horses, Rangers are masters of the wild, Natural Philosophers are masters of the occult, and Assassins are masters of stealth. Whenver a PC attempts to do something appropriate to their archetype I either hand-wave it or have them make a 3rd edition style Difficulty Check based on the appropriate ability score + level + 3. Actual DCs are 5 (75% chance of success), 10 (50/50), 15 (25% success) or 20 (5% chance). Players must beat the DC, not meet it. I do not have the players track their skills on their notecard because all I need to know is their archetype, level, and relevant ability score. I can calculate the rest in my head.

As for combat, each class has a Base Combat Bonus (BCB) which is added to their attack rolls, defence rolls, and initiative rolls. Warriors and Skirmishers have a BCB = 3 + level. Rogues have half of that and Sorcerers have one-quarter of the Warrior BCB. When PCs attack monsters, they have to roll better than the monster’s defence. When monsters attack PCs, the GM does not roll. Instead, the players roll their defence and as long as it meets or exceeds the monsters’s attack, the PC is not hit. Armour provides damage reduction (soak) instead of improving defence. Shields improve defence. Note that attacks must overcome defences while defences can simply match the attack.

When a creature runs out of hit points, damage is tracked as negative hit points. Negative hit points act as a modifier to Con, Dex, and Str. Death occurs when Con, Dex, or Str equals 0. Warriors and Skirmishers have a d12, Rogues a d6, and Sorcerers a d3 for hit points.

Poison is still the odd duck here. Given that hit points are spent to reduce mortal wounds to flesh wounds, glancing blows, & bruises, when does a poisonous bite take effect? It seems to me that the bite of a snake would only occur when a character has no more hit points left. As long as they have hit points, they are avoiding the bite or at worst getting scratched but not bitten. Even a critical hit with double or more damage, is just an abstraction of avoiding a death-stroke. From a literary perspective, several times has Conan felt the burning drip of venom without getting bitten. Perhaps a character who still has hit points automatically makes their poison saving throw. And of course, the bite has to overcome the damage reduction of armour. Further playtesting will sort this out.

The Morgath Idol Job

The new party is hired by one of the sons of a local duke (a contact of Rodrigo) to acquire a jade and ruby idol of Morgath that was supposed to go to the duke but was aquired by the local temple of Morgath. Morgath, being a rather generic demonic deity of some kind. The party “cases the joint” and notice that there is chimney in the temple ceiling to allow the smoke from the sacrifical brazier to escape. After supper, they shop at the Night Market to buy silk rope, a grappling hook, a wooden board, and chickens. After midnight, they arrive at the temple courtyard, distract the guard dog with a couple of chickens and climb over the wall. The assassin lassos the grappling hook to the roof, and the party climbs up. At one point they had to release the rest of the chickens to continue to distract the guard dog. Once on top, they place the board on top of the chimney, sit on the board and wait for the smoke to drive the priests out into the courtyard.

I saw no need to make any climbing checks to get over the wall or up the rope because they were distracting the dog with chickens, which by the way was hillarious. We both laughed at my description of the dog chasing the chickens. So while by the rules, I should have had the PCs make the checks, it did not serve the emerging story at all.

While the priests are coughing in the courtyard, the assassin climbs down from the roof, goes through the backdoor and arrives at a four-way intersection. He takes the left fork which leads to a number or clerical cells. He goes back to the intersection and rakes the right fork which leads to the kitchen and storerooms. He goes back to the intersection and follows the corridor to a locked door. It is a simple lock so I do not bother with an open lock check, he is a professional assassin after all. As expected, the door leads into the main temple hall. The assassin locks the door behind him. The room appears to be empty so he grabs the idol. It is much heavier than it looks and he senses that he is not alone. The assassin heads for the nearest wall in an attempt to climb it. Suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his neck and wheels around to come face–to–face with a giant spider dripping with venom! The spider had rolled a 4 on a d6 for damage, but the assassin’s light armour absorbed 3 points. Since the bite did at least 1 point of damage, I had the PC make a saving throw versus poison which he did. Based on what I reasoned above, he should have automatically made his saving throw. At any rate, being justifiably frightened of a spider whose shoulder stands at his eye level, the assassin tumbles out of the way quickly. He detaches a torch from his thigh and ignites it in the sacrificial flame. Naturally, the spider is wary of the torch but does not flee. The assassin sprints for the front door only to find that it has a heavy wooden bar across it.

What should Merciful the Assassin do? Should he try to hack at the wooden bar with his shortsword? Pick the lock of the backdoor one-handed? Yell at his friends on the roof to lower the rope? Attack the spider? Or something else?

Be sure to tune-in next time — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Would you burn hit points to hit harder?

“The man gasped agonizedly and went to his knees, but his tall mate lunged in, in ferocious silence, raining blow on blow so furiously that Valeria had no opportunity to counter. She stepped back coolly, parrying the strokes and watching for her chance to thrust home. He could not long keep up that flailing whirlwind. His arm would tire, his wind would fail; he would weaken, falter, and then her blade would slide smoothly into his heart.”
 — Red Nails by Robert E. Howard, 1936

What if you could burn hit points to get an attack bonus for one mêlee attack? How much would you burn? 1 hit point? 2 hit points?

What if you could burn hit points to get a damage bonus for one hit with a mêlee weapon? How much would you burn? 2 hit points? 4 hit points?

What if you could burn hit points to get an additional attack that round with a mêlee weapon, subject to a maximum no. of total attacks that round equal to your level? 2 hit points? 4 hit points?

What if you could burn hit points to improve your AC against a single attack (mêlee or missile)? How many hit points would you burn? 1 hit point? 2 hit points?

What if special combat manœuvres such as disarm, knockdown, bullrush, et cetera cost hit points instead of coming free at certain levels?

In this way, players can make tactical choices of whether or not to play it safe or try to end a combat quickly.

After all, hit points represent stamina and luck as well as combat skill.

An oft forgotten rule in 0D&D that should be the norm

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”
 — H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature (November 1925 to May 1927)

In 1974, the very first printing of Dungeons  & Dragons redefined what dungeons are. No longer the central keep or donjon of a castle. No longer the repurposed donjon as a prison. The dungeon beneath the castle merged with the Gothic idea of secret passageways, Roman catacombs, Parisian sewers, Egyptian tombs, and the mythical underworld of the Greeks, the Celts, Lovecraft, and the haunted house.

Dungeons are unnatural and break all the rules. Doors open freely for its denizens but are stuck fast and must be forced open by intruders. The occasional gust of wind blows out the torches and candles of the intruders. Clanking chains, ghostly moans, and all the sounds of a haunted house can be heard. Past every door and around every corner lurks a jump scare or a trap for the unwary. Untold riches and magical power await the intruders who heed the siren call but it is merely a trick to lure them in. The dungeon feeds upon the fear of the intruders. Fear is the oldest emotion and fear of the dark is the oldest form of fear.

It is f*****g dark in the dungeon! So, G*D awful motherf******g dark! Darker than the darkest overcast new moon night. Darker than the depths of the darkest ocean. It is so dark that not even the infravision of elves and dwarves can pierce the oppressive and omnipresent black void.

And yet the dungeon’s brood can see as well in the inky blackness as if it was full daylight.

Cheaters! All of them! Unfair that PCs cannot see with infravision but monsters can see hundreds of yards effortlessly! And woe to the monster who joins the party whether willingly or unwillingly for the dungeon knows the bertrayal. A monster who joins the party loses the ability to see in the darkness and doors no longer open for it. The dungeon knows and it scares the s**t of the turncoat creature. A punishment worse than death awaits all traitors!

Dungeons are not fair. Dungeons are not historical nor do they slavishly follow the laws of physics. Dungeons are (thankfully) an anomaly.

Dungeons are sinkholes of chaos and evil. The deeper the dungeon goes, the greater the depravity. Surely dungeons are hellmouths for the deepest level must be the final level of Hell!

Am I exagerating? Am I only describing dungeons in my game? Consider the following…

Torches through the editions & Real World

In this post I will examine the various ways that D&D handles torches (flambeaux & firebrands) from Chainmail up to 5th edition as well as examining historical real-world sources. I am doing this because I have always freely took rules that I like from any game to use in my D&D campaign, regardless of what edition I ran. And as a bonus I am including original content on torch-staves and brazier-staves suitable for any Old School game.

A forgotten 0D&D Rule for Fighters

Conan the Destroyer by Frank Frazetta

One of my favourite rules from TSR era D&D is that fighters get 1 attack per level of experience versus 0-level Humans and monsters of less than 1 HD. Consider the following:

Heroes attack 4 times per round, Trolls & Ogres attack 6 times per round, Superheroes attack 8 times per round, and Giants attack 12 times per round versus Normal Men. Normal Men are defined as typical soldiers.
— Paraphrased from Chainmail by Gary Gygax & Jeff Peren

“Attack/Defense capabilities versus normal men are simply a matter of allowing one roll as a man-type for every hit die, with any bonuses being given to only one of the attacks, i.e. a Troll would attack six times, once with a +3 added to the die roll.”
— D&D Book II Monsters & Treasure by Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson, page 5 (premium edition)

“Note: This excludes melee combat with monsters (q.v.) of less than one hit die (d8) and non-exceptional (0 level) humans and semi-humans, i.e. all creatures with less than one eight-sided hit die. All of these creatures entitle a fighter to attack once for each of his or her experience levels (See COMBAT).”
— AD&D Players Handbook by Gary Gygax, page 25 (premium edition)

There are two reason why I like this rule. The first is that it evokes Conan wading through an army of Picts, leaving a pile of bodies in his wake! The second is that during my years of fighting in the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA) I would watch the very best fighters mow down the novices like a scythe through wheat. When I was one of the novices, I can tell you that the attacks came so fast and furious, I was defeated before I could react. Come to think of it, the same thing happend to me during my martial arts period as well.

But why stop with 1st level soldiers? It has always struck me as odd that a 1st level fighter is such a threat to a 20th level fighter (e.g. Conan) that the 20th level guy redirects so much of his effort into defence as to reduce the number of attacks from 20 to 1 (depending on edition). It is most certainly true that masters of the martial arts fight more cautiously against another master so I support the idea of less number of attacks. But why not a continuum instead of a binary solution. Consider the following:

“A super hero, for example, would attack eight times only if he were fighting normal men (or creatures basically that strength, i.e., kobolds, goblins, gnomes, dwarves, and so on).

Note that he is allowed one attack for each of his combat levels as the ratio of one Orc vs. the Hero is 1:4, so this is treated as normal (non-fantastic) melee, as is any combat where the score of one side is a base 1 hit die or less.” [emphasis mine]

— Questions Most Frequently Asked About Dungeons & Dragons Rules, (presumably written by E. Gary Gygax) The Strategic Review, Summer 1975, Vol. 1, No. 2

Note that what Gygax is saying is that if the Orcs were instead Gnolls (2 HD humanoids) and the fighter a Superhero (8 HD), the ratio is 2:8, simplified to 1:4 so the combat is treated as “non-fantastic” meaning that the superhero gets… 8 attacks or 4? I think his intention is that the superhero gets 4 attacks per round versus Gnolls and 8 attacks per round versus Orcs.

Getting back to my question of Conan the 20th level legendary fighter versus the 1st level veteran, according to Gygax’s FAQ, a 20th level lord gets 20 attacks per round versus the 1st level veteran because the ratio is 20:1. Likewise, Conan would get 10 attacks per round versus a 2nd level warrior, 6 attacks versus a 3rd level swordsman, 5 attacks v. a 4th level hero, 4 attacks per round v. a 5th level swashbuckler, 3 attacks vs. a 6th level myrmidon, 2 attacks per round versus 7th–10th level fighters, and 1 attack per round versus fighters of 11th level or higher.

Gygax’s system of attacks per round based on the ratio of Hit Dice between humanoid combatants explains why Conan can wade through lower level fighters but fights more cautiously against his peers. Which is always what I observed and experienced first-hand in the SCA and in martial arts.

Given that this FAQ appeared before the publication of Grayhawk, why was it not included in that supplement or the AD&D rules? Obviously we can only speculate at this point, but I suspect that it has to do with fighters, paladins, and rangers getting multiple attacks per round at higher levels which first appeared in the AD&D Players Handbook in 1978. Although, Gygax did retain the attack/level when facing creatures of less than 1 Hit Die and 0-level Humans.

I like this rule so much, I shall refer to it as the “Conan” rule. The next question then, is ‘how broadly or narrowly should this rule be applied?’

Ever since the Giants in the Earth series of articles appeared in Dragon Magazine in 1979, I realised that fighters are effectively a core component of all other classes. That is, since all classes increase in combat ability, they are effectively lower level fighters as well. For example in the AD&D Deities & Demigods, Merlin is a 14 level Druid, 15th level Magic-User, and 10th level illusionist. He has no levels in fighter per se. 14th level Druids have a THAC0 of 12 exactly like a 9th level fighter. Therefore I ruled that Merlin can fight as a 9th level fighter and gets 3 mêlée attacks every 2 rounds. So from that point forward, I gave all classes multiple attacks per round based on their equivalent fighter level. The fact that I was not the only DM to do this is proven by 3rd edition doing the exact same thing. In 3e, the number of attacks per round is determined by a character’s Base Attack Bonus (BAB) rather than an arbitrary table.

Carrying this one step further, non-fighters are treated as their equivalent fighter level for determination of how many attacks per round they receive versus lower level creatures but also for high level fighters versus them! After all, what is good for the goose is good for the gander…. So if Merlin did not want to waste any spells, he could smack 9 squires per round with his quarterstaff but Syr Launcelot (Pal 20) could reprimand Merlin at 2 attacks per round (ratio of 9:20).

So this is all very good for humanoid versus humanoid combat, but what happens when it is combat versus bears or owlbears? Alligators or dragons? What Gygax calls “fantastic combat”? I think that this is where the attacks/round of high level fighters should come into play. D&D is an abstraction and it is very difficult to adjudicate how much of an owlbear’s combat ability comes from skill versus natural talent. Theoretically, an RPG could work out that difference but no edition of D&D has done that (aside from 3e allowing humanoids to take some class levels) and I  have no desire to do that as well.

So if fantasic combat relies on the multiple attacks/round rule rather than the opponent ratio, then why does Conan get only 1 attack per round versus his doppleganger instead of 2 attacks per round (AD&D fighters levels 13+)? I rule then that the minimum number of attacks per round is always what the fantastic combat rules allow for. So Conan always has a minimum of 2 attacks/round regardless of how high level his opponent is or whether it is humanoid or not.

Below is my expansion of Gygax’s rule that can be applied to all versions of D&D:

Conan Rule: “Fighters” get multiple attacks vs. lower level opponents

Abstract: Fighters get 1 attack per level per round divided by their opponent’s fighter level with a minium equal to their standard number of attacks/round. For eample, a 4th level gets 4 attacks per round versus a 1st level fighter (4:1), 2 attacks per round versus a 2nd level fighter (4:2 = 2:1), and 1 attack per round versus 3rd level fighters and higher (4:3).

This house rule is an expansion of one that appeared in the D&D FAQ  published in The Strategic Review number 2, obstensibly written by E. Gary Gygax in 1975 prior to the release of the Grayhawk expansion.

In this rule, “fighters” include the fighter class as well as the equivalent fighter level of other character classes and humanoids (creatures of roughly human size, shape, & movement). Equivalent fighter level is determined by examining the base attack capabilities of the character class (To Hit, THAC0, or BAB). For monsters, use their Hit Dice or BAB if using 3rd edition rules. For example, in AD&D clerics of 1st & 2nd level have the same THAC0 as 1st level fighters, as do magic-users of 1st–4th level and thieves of 1st & 2nd level. Therefore they are all treated as 1st level fighters for determination of attacks/round.

The number of attacks a fighter gets against lower level opponents is determened by dividing the level of the attacker by the level of the defender, drop all fractions and give a minimum attack per round of 1 or higher if the rules allow for a higher number of normal attacks per round, e.g. AD&D fighters get 2 attacks/round at 13th level, 3e fighters get 2 attacks/round at 6th level.

For example a 9th level lord versus a 1st level veteran gets 9 attacks (9 ÷ 1 = 9) while the 1st level veteran gets but a single attack (1 ÷ 9 = 0.1111). Versus a 2nd level fighter, the lord gets 4 attacks (9 ÷ 2 = 4.5), versus a 3 level fighter he get 3 attacks (9 ÷3 = 3), versus a 4th level fighters he gets 2 (9 ÷ 7 = 2.25), versus a 5th level fighter and higher he gets only a single attack per round (9 ÷5 = 1.8). Note that in AD&D the 9th level lord has a minimum attack of 3/2.

What about Great Cleave? In third edition, fighters with the great cleave feat (at 4th level or higher), upon killing an opponent may attack another opponent within range. In this way, a fighter could theoretically kill all creatures within range so long as he hit and killed each one of them in a single swing (see the pictures at the bottom of this post). However, as soon as an attack misses or does not kill an opponent, the great cleave ends. In contrast, under the Conan Rules, a 4th level fighter gets four attacks against 1st level opponents regardless of whether he hits and/or kills the opponent. Thus, these two rules can work together if you so desire.

How this will change your game: Monsters will get scarier; and the earlier the edition, the scarier they will get. But remember that in Chainmail and 0D&D, giants have always attacked 12 times per round versus “normal” men-at-arms. Now they attack 6 times per round versus 2nd level fighting-men, 4 times per round vs. 3rd level fighters, 3 times per round versus 4th level, and 2 times per round versus 6th level fighters.

High level fighters will also becomes closer to magic-users in power. A 9th level lord now gets 9 attacks per round versus that press gang of 1st level sailors instead of only 1.

IN CLOSING

For those of you who think that this rule is too cinematic or literary, consider the follow except from the book “This is Kendo” which depicts a fight scene from the film “Sanjuro.” Yes, I am aware that I am referring to a scene from a film, but this was done without any wires or CGI and was choreographed by a expert in kenjutsu (whose name I forgot).

Postscript

I want to thank Delta of Delta’s D&D Hotspot for reminding me of the D&D FAQ in Strategic Review that mentioned number of attacks based on the hit dice ratio. I do not know if I unconciously internalised this article after I read it back in 1978 and forgot the source or if I developed this idea in parallel. Regardless, it is gratifying to see that at least at one point in time, Gygax and I shared this idea.

Remembering Gary Gygax

On the fourth of March in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and eight, Ernest Gary Gygax left this plane of existence. Towards the end of his life, he was active on the ENworld boards. One of his responses could well have an epitaph:

“What do you consider the soul/spirit/heart of D&D as you wrote it?”

Wrote Quasqueton, whereupon Gygax responded:

“In as few words as possible:

• Absolute authority of the DM, rules lawyers given the boot
• Rule books seldom used by a competent DM
• Action and adventure in play
• Swords & sorcery, not comic book superhero genre material
• Group co-operation paramount for success
• Freedom to extemporize and innovate for all participants
• Reliance on archetypical models for characters
• Fellowship of those participating

Cheers,
Gary”

I am proud to say that I have been doing all of the above from my very first time as a GM in 1978. However, “Rule books seldom used by a competent DM” is a very challenging on. Now it should be obvious, but I must state that the more complex and/or counter-intuitive a game’s rules are, the more difficult it is to master the game. And yet, it is encumbent on the referee, judge, moderator, Dungeon Master, or Game Master to master the rules. After all, how can the GM be the final arbiter of the rules if they have not mastered the rules themselves?

Likewise, it breaks the flow of the game to stop and look up a rule. There is no need to deny it or sugar-coat it, it is a fact. Any player who is in the spotlight — including the GM — that stops to look up a rule slow the game down. This stopping the game is even more egregious during a fast paced part of the adventure whether it be combat or a chase. The dramatic tension is broken and it is very difficult to bring it back.

Does this mean that we should chuck our favourite version of D&D out the window and go back to playing the original 1974 rules? After all, in Gygax’s later years that is exactly what he did. He chucked Lejendary Adventures, Dangerous Journeys, and AD&D out the window in spite of being their author.

The answer is “No, you don’t have to give up your favourite version of D&D” provided that you have mastered the rules sufficiently to seldom refer to the books.

But what if you have a hard time mastering the rule of any edition of D&D? Back in 1977 and ’78, I found the whitebox rules to be difficult to understand and there was no way I was going to master them which is why AD&D was a godsend to me. And frankly, that was the case for almost all of back then, which is why John Eric Holmes offered to edit the rules, resulting in Basic D&D (Holmes Blue Book).

When Wizards of the Coast released 3rd edition, it was physically painful for me to switch to the rules. I actually got headaches rewiring my wetware to replace almost 33 years of playing very similar versions of D&D. I succeeded but I swore never to do that again. Which is one of the reasons I refuse to bother with either of those editions. Have I mastered 3rd edition? No, not quite. At least not to the level I had with previous versions.

What version then, do I play when I do run a game? Last summer I ran hybrid game which I am refining for this summer’s campaign. Why a hybrid? Because in order to “seldom use the rulebooks,” the rules have to be intuitive for me.

A Game’s rules must be intutive

This is perhaps, one of the most important lessons I have learned over the past 43+ years. If the rules are not intuitive, then it becomes more difficult to remember during the heat of play.

In closing, do not let the rules get in the way of your game.

P.S. Yeah, I will probably make my intuitive RPG publically available.

Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 11

Continuing my adaptation of the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead to Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne, Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Fitzgeoffrey stories, and the mid-14th Century Petite Camargue region of France. Part One can be found here. Note that this post is system and version agnostic. I am fleshing out NPCs useful for all version of all RPGs.

In this post I shall examine in greater detail the NPCs Mordu & Brucian and look for opportunities to flesh them out more. There is a “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” in this adventure for the PCs to figure out. If they succeed, they will have a much easier time defeating the “monster.” In order to “peel back the layers of the onion,” they must cleverly interrogate the NPCs, oftentimes repeatedly going back to the key NPCs once the PCs have new information. The riddle, mystery, and enigma are of course Marcel, Jean, and La Mère de Crapauds. The key NPCs are Brucian, Gremin, and Mordu (and possibly others). Another way to look at the NPCs are the primary group consists of Marcel, Jean, and the Mother; the secondary group consists of Brucian, Gremin, and Mordu while all of the other named NPCs are in the tertiary group. When I conduct a deeper examination of the tertiary NPCs, some may get promoted to secondary depending on how the story emerges.

“MORDU” [SHMU’EL or HARELEY?]

I put the NPC name Mordu in quotation marks because I am changing the name. At the moment I am torn between Samuel (Shmu’el) des Garennes and Harley de Warenne. As I noted in Part VI of this series, I want to replace Mordu with either Harley Warren from Lovecraft’s short story The Statement of Randolph Carter or with Lovecraft’s friend Samuel Loveman whom Warren is based on. Mordu and Warren are both occultists. Loveman was not an occultist per se, but he did posesses a library of rare first edition antique books. For our purposes, the real question is whether the replacement for Mordu should be an Anglo-Norman (Harley de Warenne) or a Sephardic Jew from Toledo (Samuel des Garennes). Although it should be noted that “Garennes” is also Northern French name so Garennes does not exactly work for Shmu’el. The advantage of going with Samuel is that it gives me a chance to toss in a reference to both the alleged black magick taught in Toledo as well as the pogroms against the Jews. Whereas using Harley is a direct reference to Lovecraft’s character who also appeared in The Silver Key and Through the Gates of the Silver Key. At this point I am leaning more towards a Norman French (Normandean?) alchemist who found refuge in Crapuad Village and is seen as an eccentric conspiracy theorist rather than Sephardic Jew who studied the Kaballah. The memory of Kalkstein from the Witcher is still quite strong, and while he is an Ashkenazi rather than Sephardic Jew, I would rather keep the reference to a Lovecraft character than suggest elements of the Witcher.

One challenge I have with the character is, ‘how to present him as a viable suspect in the disappearances and murders?’ While Louise will admit that Harley is one of her best customers, it becomes readily apparent that Harley is harmless.

I think that in order to make him a proper “red herring,” I should play up a Dr. Henry Jekyll (pronounced Jee-kul) angle. In other words, a character who oozes Law and Good. A gentle and kind soul who performs all manner of alchemical experiments in his search for “scientific” cures but also provides much needed medical care for the villagers.

So despite being a Northener, Harley was trained in medicine at the Montpelhièr School of Médecine. He is literate in Greek and Latin and is a devotee of Hippocrates, Galen, and Averroes — although he is quick to point out that the late Etienne Tempier, Bishop of Paris condemned 219 theses of Averroes’s philosphy but not his medical knowledge.

The village should think very well of Dr. Harley and view him as above reproach rather than as the town eccentric. — Again, because his primary role in this story is to be a viable suspect. Otherwise, the presence of blood liquorice will directly point to Jean as the killer–at–large.

While Dr. Harley appears as above reproach, there must be at least three clues that hint if not outright suggest a motive for murder. What could they be?

First off, his bachelorhood can be suspect. Perhaps Dr. Harley is romantically and/or sexually frustrated. Would he not be the most elgible bachelor in the village?

Is his big secret that he is actually homosexual? But that he is in denial of his homosexuality? But if that were so, I should think he would be more likely to murder young men who arouse such forbidden feelings in him rather than young women. — Or at least that is what the PCs may come to believe since it is actually Jean doing the murdering.

But coming back to the idea of the local “crank,” eccentric, or “conspiracy-theorist;” I think he can still be a well-respected medicus and alchemist that has views and beliefs that the Players will dismiss out–of–hand, exempli gratia Humorism, the idea that the body is controlled by four humors, being black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood which in turn lead to four different temperments. And also the “benefits” of bloodletting.

But there remains two design issues to overcome — the first is to determine what other clues besides the blood liquorice suggest that Dr. Harley is the killer? And the second is whether or not he is part of the Toad Mother cult and if not, what is his knowledge of it, position on it, and how others view his knowledge (or lack thereof) of it?

With regards to the Toad Mother cult, it is tempting to depict Dr. Harley as a devoted Christian who is slowly coming to the horrified realisation of an ancient pagan practice similar to Sgt. Neil Howie in the film The Wicker Man. But I have a difficult time believing that a given village would tolerate a non-comformist for very long. Either he would have to join the cult or be killed out of fear of reporting the villagers to the Inquisition. After all, the Albigensian Crusade (Crosada dels albigeses) happened right here in the province of Lengadòc (or Provença) less then a century ago.

Lengadòc or Provença? On a parenthetical note, the area around Le Petit Ròze historically has fluctuated between the Viscounty of Nimes (later Lengadòc) and the Comté de Provença. It appears that by 1348, the Viscounty of Nimes has become Lengadòc and enfeoffed to the French Crown but the entirety of the Camarga region is part of the Comté de Provença. The current soverign of Provença is Joanna I Queen of Naples. However — and this is very important — my admittedly limited research is quite contradictory with regards to who actually controls our area of interest in 1348. I imagine that the locals gave up a long time ago trying to keep track of who’s who at that level. They know that Crapaud Manoir is enfeoffed to Aigas Mòrtas and that is that. It is most likely irrelevant to even Sieur Jean that Aigas Mòrtas belongs to the French Crown but that Crapaud Manoir iteself is surrounded by land claimed by the Queen of Naples.

Getting back to Dr. Harley… if he is part of the cult, then he would not speak of it to the PCs. In fact, if pressed he would probably do his best to misdirect the PCs. It is very important to remember that the PCs are strangers, foreigners, outlanders, and outsiders. While the villagers will soon come to trust the PCs in terms of dealing with the mysterious deaths, they will worry that the PCs will inform the Inquistion and The Church. It is only after (or if) the PCs strike a deal with the Toad Mother, can anyone in the village truly trust them.

Harley de Warenne need not be an active supporter of the cult. Like most of the villagers, he sees it as a practical relationship. The Toad Mother is a very real and present force in the village. Her force can be for good or for evil. Her power is greater than theirs and if angered could wipe them all out before any succor from ecclesiastical or civil authorities (who would most likely burn them at the stake even if they did “help”). Privately he could still be a Christian who fears for his immortal soul at supporting her. But if that were true, why does he stay?

Why does anyone stay? On another parenthetical note, why do any of the non-natives (Brucian, Gremin, Harley, & al.) who are obstensibly Christian or Jewish, remain in the village subject to the authority of the Toad Mother cult? Surely the reason must be the threat of death! Anyone who discovers the truth of the Cult must either join or die. That is of course as harsh as it can possibly get, but such harshness is justified (in the cultist’s minds) because their very survival depends on staying “off the radar” of both the Inquisition and The Church. And since the Toad Mother is a very real and active force, it is not going to just be the cultists that threaten violence, it will also be the Mother herself. I can easily imagine someone trying to sneak out in the dead of night, only to become entangled by the vegetation and then surrounded by a multitude of carnivorous frogs croaking in anticipation of a feast.

Now that we know why Dr. Harley de Warenne stays, perhaps he may drop some hints of his imprisonment. In fact, this gives us the opportunity for all of the non-natives to drop some hints of their imprisonment or conversion.

But getting back to De Warenne as a murder suspect, what else besides the sanguine liquorice would point to him? Perhaps somebody in the village suspects him of being disloyal to the Cult and wants to deflect attention from Jean? Could Harley get framed for the murders? I think that later on in this series, it is worth combing through the adventure to find opportunities to plant such seeds.

Does Dr. Harley have a familiar? If he did, it would no doubt be a frog keeping a watchful eye on him. I can imagine a creepy scene where Harley glances nervously at the frog whenever the conversation steers into dangerous territory.

I already covered his game statistics in Part VI, so let us have a look at how he views the other inhabitants of Crapaud Manoir (and perhaps how they view him as well):

Harley’s Views on other NPCs

I think it is very important to cross-reference all the major NPC interactions. This helps the both the designer and the Game Master to “bring the characters to life.

Frère Brucian: Harley is aghast at what he perceives as a gross hypocrisy of Brucian. A Scottish Blackfriar preacher who has come to this village and rather than rescuing it from pagan bondage, only strengthens it. Aside from that, he respects Brucian’s intellect and education but does his best to minimise his interractions with the preacher.

Deruno le Nain: Harley has a good relationship with the dwarf (not dwarven) merchant Deruno as he depends on him for many of his provisions, especially glassware. Harley and Deruno share a fear of retaliation if they dare speak a word against the cult or about the cult to anyone. Deruno is especially careful since he travels to nearby markets to purchase his wares and is undoubtedly watched. Perhaps Deruno is always accompanied by a frog…!

Fiora: Harley has very little to say about the widow Fiora due to their lack of interraction.

Serjeaunt Gremin: Harley gets nervous and anxious when Gremin’s name is mentioned. Gremin is the village’s enforcer and will undoubtedly come for him when the Cult no longer needs him.

Jean, Sieur de Crapaud Manoir: Harley believes that Jean has wed the Toad Mother in actuality and not just ceremonially. De Warenne also believes that Jean is the eldest son of the Toad Mother. He also believes that the bond between Jean and his twin brother Marcel is supernatural and extends beyond death. Which is precisely why Jean has sank into a black malaise.

Jordi le Forgeron & Nadine: Harley believes that Jordi’s mother was very controlling in an unhealthy way when Jordi was a child. Furthermore that Jordi experienced a traumatic event which has left him very quiet but De Warenne is not sure what that trauma was. Once the PCs tell Harley of Jordi’s reaction to Luc, Harley will get quite excited and press for details.

Katha the Barmaid: Harley finds Katha to be quite tiresome. Undoubtedly the PCs will figure out that De Warenne would rather do all the talking and none of the listening much like Katha but more in a stereotypically lonely old man way.

Louise la Boulangère: Louise is an extraordinary confectionary! Harley is an admitted sanguine liquorice addict. He contends that Louise has a good heart and a gentle soul. That she puts her affections for the villagers into each of her creations.

Luc: Dr. Harley regards Luc as a sensitive soul who became posessed by a demon when he witnessed Luc’s grisly death. After all, whenever anyone suffers a terrible shock, their psychic defences are worn down and thus become open to posession. Despite Brucian’s unwillingness to exorcise the demon from Luc, Dr. Harley believes that he can use medicine and alchemy to cure Luc of the posession if but given a chance. It will of course, take considerable time and money, but it will no doubt be successful.

Marcel: Marcel was a wastrel and a rake. He had always been cruel and petty with a unhealthy fixation on black magick. It was only a matter of time before he got in over his head and got himself killed.

Marcus le Charpentier: Marcus is a staunch and upstanding freeman of the village, a pillar of the community and serves as an acolyte to Frère Brucian as needed.

Pierrot le Sacrestain: Pierrot epitomises the maxim “ignorance is bliss.” He lives in his own world and denies everything that threatens it.

Tomas Levi le Tailleur: Tomas is very accomodating and does not wish to “rock the boat.” In spite of speaking lovingly of the Marselha fashions, he has never gone there (or anywhere for that matter), at least since Harley arrived. Like most men, Tomas is good in his heart but cowardly in his actions.

FRÈRE BRUCIAN

Portrait of a Dominican Friar by Peter Paul Rubens

As I mentioned in Part IX, Brucian is a Dominican preaching Blackfriar originally from Scotland. He compromised his faith in order to protect the village from the wrath of the Mother. Brucian is wracked by guilt but does his best to hide it as well as hide the cult of the heleionoma from the PCs. He is good friends with Serjeant Gremin as they are both foreigners as well as social equals. I can easily imagine them playing chess with each other in their spare time, especially the during rainy days of winter. His standoffish attitude towards the PCs is due to the fact this parish is Christian in name only. The memory of the Crosada dels Albigeses is still strong here even if it is a century old. Brucian is however, a man of very good intentions hence his alignment/intent is Neutral/Good. He is able to traverse the wetlands to tend to Luc precisely because he has the blessings of La Mère des Crapauds.

In game terms, he is most certainly not a cleric! Remember that clerics have been repurposed as unarmoured & disarmed saints and that saints are a rare occurence. For purposes of NWN, I shall make him a Commoner but if I were using Green Ronin’s Medieval Player’s Manual by David Chart (of Ars Magica fame), I would make him a Canonist. However, for our purposes the difference between a 3e Commoner and a MPM Canonist are largely irrelevant as the latter deals primarily with political influence.

As for level, what level does Brucian need to be? For our purposes, he could be first level! In this adventure, Brucian is a source of information and motivation. He is not a combatant and there is no option of him joining the PCs in combat.

Rant: I really like the idea of 0-level NPCs as explained by Gygax in the AD&D DMG. The overwhelming vast majority of the NPCs in the world are not adventurers and do not need levels. The D&D 3rd Edition equivalent are 1st level Commoners. However, there have been many adventures written where the temple priests are always mid- to high-level adventuring clerics! And these are AD&D modules (T1 Hommlet) and Dragon Magazine adventures! My philosphy for a very, very long time has been to design areas and adventures to first be as mundane and historical as possible and only then to introduce the phantastic — in that way, the weird and magical has a greater impact due to the contrast. In a similar fashion, PCs should be able to wade through crowds of 0-level soldiers by the time they reach 4th level. So I try hard to limit the levels and/or hit dice of NPCs and monsters where I can. As an example, take the Wolf Man. A werewolf who was killed by a single silver bullet shot by a 0-level human. Does the Wolf Man need more than a single hit die?!? The fact that he could only be harmed by silver makes him almost unkillable! Oh sure, we could say that the 0-level human got lucky and scored a critical hit as well a rolling a 6 on the d6 for damage which makes a total of 12 points of damage. So the Wolf Man is a 3 hit dice werewolf? Or can we have him be just 1 hit die? What is wrong with letting the PCs take out a werewolf with a single silver-tipped arrow? After all, that is exactly what happened in the film.

Brucian’s Views on other NPCs

Mother of Toads: Brucian is quite conflicted about her. On the one hand, he is appreciative of her protecting the village (prior to Marcel’s death) and ensuring its fertility but on the other, she is a marsh nymph — a child of a fallen angel. To worhip her is to commit idolatry and heresy! But to scorn her is to invite death! And so Brucian does his best to preach the Gospel of Our Lord while acknowledging the Mother of Toads as the soverign mother of the village and its enirons. It is a very difficult line for him to walk and puts him under constant duress.

With regards to the PCs, he will not speak of her in any way until after they have met with her. Just like everyone else in the village, Brucian is afraid that the PCs will eventually alert the Inquisition even if unintentionally yet sees them as possibly helping with the latest menace.

Jean Crapaud: Prior to Marcel’s death, Brucian fond Jean to be a rather ordinary gentleman. Other than his uncanny empathy shared with his twin Marcel, Jean had not been particularly noteworthy in his virtues nor his sins. However, now Brucian is very concerned. After Marcel’s death, Jean no longer attends mass nor confesses his sins. Brucian is also concerned that Jean is neglecting his wife and mother, Our Lady of Toads although on this he is less certain. The nymph is a very lonely creature with a seemingly insatiable lust and always moans whenever Brucian visits her. The fact of the matter is, Jean avoids all contact with Brucian whatsoever. Brucian has tried writing to Jean, but nothing seems to get Jean to reply.

With regards to the PCs, initially all Brucian will say is that Jean is very busy. As the PCs prove their worth, he will share more of his concerns but cautiously and slowly.

Marcel Crapaud: Brucian never liked Marcel and judged him a wicked man. Marcel refused to attend mass or confess his sins of which there were undoubtedly many. That Marcel died as a direct result of his disobedience to Our Lord is no surprise. That his death has brought and continues to bring terror to the village is downright frightening. Surely Marcel did something to anger Our Lord so that now the village is paying the price… or that the Adversary is using Marcel to wreck havok upon the village.

But deep down, Frère Brucian fears that Our Lord has abandoned us because of our idolatry and heresy. That Marcel as a slave to the Adversary is free to wreck his vengeance and that the Mother is unable to do anything. And he blames himself for this. He who has been afraid to stand up to the Mere, afraid of martyrdom. He has been judged and found wanting. That he was sent here to rescue the idolaters from damnation and failed. Now it is time to reap what the village has sowed. Crapaud Village is now doomed like Sodom & Gomorrah.

Luc Crapaud: Prior to the incident, Luc has been a mild-mannered sheep, a gentle soul, a naïf who followed his brother around like a puppy dog. Jean was usually too busy for Luc but Marcel took advantage of him. Luc has always posessed a weak personality and always granted the last person who spoke to him too much influence. The only times Luc attended mass and made his confessions was when Brucian reminded him. Far too often, Marcel would take Luc away while on his way to church.

It would seem that Luc was the favourite of the Mother’s three living sons. He never left her hut of his own accord. It was always one of the brothers or Brucian himself who had to pull him away. In hindsight, Brucian thinks that they should have left Luc with her. He would never have been scared witless and the Mother would not be lonely.

Brucian freely gives his opinion on Luc except for the references to the Mother until after they have her support. Brucian genuinely fears for Luc’s soul and sees him as a lost sheep.

Interestingly, Brucian does not believe that Luc is posessed by a demon like Dr. Harley does. Why is that? Brucian must have some experience with lost souls. He might believe that Luc is being chased by demons or something similar to account for Luc’s attention being directed inward rather than outward like everyone else. In other words, that Luc’s spirit is in a fight which demands most of his attention or that his soul is untethered from the body or at least the tether has become extraordinarily long. In any event, Brucian prays for Luc during each mass.

The Bascolm Family: Jerald and Henrietta are faithful members of the congregation as are their children, Jerald junior and Lillin. It is a shame that despite their best efforts, we get so few travelers anymore. The guest rooms of the hospitale remain empty most of the time. In days past, pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land would stop here for the night and marvel at the dishes of sanguine rice.

Katha: Be careful with Katha for she is the village gossip. While it is easy to get her to speak, it is hard to get her to stop. And what she says is not always the truth. Katha is more concerned with a good story and shall not let the facts get in the way.

The Fairies [Vistani]:  The are the children of fallen angels, condemned to walk the earth until the Day of Judgment. As such, many but not all of what they say are lies. Take everything they say with a grain of salt.

Louise la Boulangère: “Louise is a devout and pious soul who takes great pleasure in the joy her baked goods give us. Although sometimes I wish she were not so generous” jokes the good friar as he examines his girth.

Marcus le Charpentier: Marcus is committed and devout. Brucian depends heavily upon him in assisting the services. He also does fine woodwork. Our Lady has rewarded Marcus and his wife with a bounty of healthy children.

Pierrot le Sacrestain: Pierrot (“Pete”) is a quiet, modest, and humble man who does Our Lord’s work. He is one of the meek who shall inherit the earth.

Sgt. Gremin: Brucian has a great deal of respect for Serjeaunt Gremin. A foreigner like himself (Brucian is from Scotland and Gremin from “Russia”) who has fully integrated into the village. Gremin married a local lass named Sara and steadfastly supports Sieur Jean, the Mother, and the local customs and laws. Gremin has found a home here and protects it like a sow does her piglets.

The death of Gremin’s son Marc was tragic and horrifying. His body dessicated as if eaten by a titanic spider.

Dr. Harley de Warenne: Brucian has an uneasy relationship with Harley. Outwardly, the good doctor does his duty, attends mass, and worships the Mother as necessary. But Brucian cannot shake his feeling that it is all for show. De Warenne must posess some terrible secret and/or have ulterior motives.

Brucian willingly lets the PCs believe that Dr. Harley has some terrible secrets and/or plans and will even hint at it. That is because Brucian wants the truth to come out without himself having to be the one to confront De Warenne. Is Dr. Harley capable of murder? Everyone is, be assured. Harley may well be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Deruno le Nain: Deruno also puts on a show of obeisance like Harley, but Brucian believes that Deruno’s motives are far more banal. Deruno is strictly concerned with his business providing for his family and has no further ambitions whatsoever. Brucian does not believe Deruno is particularly pious — namely that he is when it is necessary. Unfortunately this is true of most people, they only remember Our Lord when they are desperate.

Jordi le Forgeron & Nadine: The disappearance of the son Colin, is worrisome. He served at the big house. For that matter, no-one has seen or heard of any of the servants for some time now.

Fiora: Brucian checks in on her almost daily. Fiora is a widow and her daughter was working at the big house before her disappearance. Now there is no-one to look after Fiora.

Tomas Levi le Tailleur: Tomas and his family are lost sheep that shall one day return to the flock. They are good people even if they are misguided in their beliefs. By their insistent denial of Our Savior, they are condemned to Limbo at best and it breaks Brucian’s heart. He has not given upon on them.

NEXT UP

In the next post, I shall examine Gremin and other NPCs in greater detail with an eye to further developing the emerging story as well as uncovering clues for the players.

Happy Birthday Frank Frazetta!

Frank Frazetta was born on the 9th of February in the year 1928, in Brooklyn New York. Much has been written about him and his impact on popular culture, but today I am going to write about his impact on me.

I first encountered Frazetta’s work as the cover to Back to the Stone Age by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the 5th book in the Pellucidar series) and was completely blown away by his photorealistic yet fantastic style of painting. Click on the image above to see the cover in creater detail. This jpeg does not do the painting proper justice but still note the smoothness and reflectiveness of the tusks and the fur of the mammoth! The rippling corded muscles of the arms of the hero! Those are not the muscles of a steroid-addicted weight lifter, but rather hard-earned from a lifetime of conflict! All framed by the lushly dense vegetation wherein if you but look closely it soon becomes unclear what is a serpent and what is a vine!

Needless to say, I bought the book. No doubt the publisher Ace was pleased that Frazetta’s painting did the job. But not only have I no regrets at buying the book, but am grateful for being intoduced to the Pellucidar series as well as the superb craftsmanship of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Did you know that John Eric Holmes, the editor of Basic D&D was such a fan of Pellucidar that he wrote the pastiche Mahars of Pellucidar the previous year?

Or that E. Gary Gygax himself was such a fan of Burrough’s John Carter of Mars series that he referenced it several times in the original edition of D&D (1974)?

So in closing, one of the ways I am indebted to and appreciative of Frank Frazetta is his above painting introducing me to one of my favourite phantasy cycles, Pellucidar as well as one of my favourite authors, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

New Averoigne Book and Neighbouring Poictesme

I interrupt my almost excruciatingly detailed analysis, adaptation, and “re-mix” of the Night of the Walking Dead in order to bring news about The Averoigne Chronicles as well as my learning of the realm of Poictesme which was contemporary to Averoigne.

THE AVEROIGNE CHRONICLES

I do not normally promote any products or services, but in this case I am making an exception because I am genuinely excited about this book I have ordered. First off, a huge thank you to OldJoe (Jeff Hall) for alerting everyone over at the Eldritch Dark Forum. The Averoigne Chronicles was originally published by Centipede Press as a signed 200 copy limited edition hardcover which listed for $225 and is now sold out. Hippocampus Press has now released a trade paperback edition for only $20! While the book contains all of the published stories and poems it does not contain all of the fragments and earlier versions of stories which can be found over at the Eldritch Dark in the short stories section. So while I would vastly prefer a true complete collection with all of the drafts and fragments, given that there are no other Averoigne Cycle books in print, I went ahead an ordered a copy of my own.

POICTESME

Poictesme is the imaginary province or region in Southern France created by James Branch Cabell for his series of books, essays, and poems in the collection called Biography of the Life of Manuel. Apparently they were quite popular when they were written between 1901 and 1929. Clark Ashton Smith was certainly familiar with them when he joked about the two provinces being neighbours according to Kipling (John Hitz) at the Eldritch Dark Forum on a discussion of Averoigne vs. Zothique. You can read Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances for free at the Gutenberg Project. According to Wikipedia:

Figures of Earth: A Comedy of Appearances (1921) is a fantasy novel or ironic romance by James Branch Cabell, set in the imaginary French province of Poictesme during the first half of the 13th century. The book follows the earthly career of Dom Manuel the Redeemer from his origins as a swineherd, through his elevation to the rank of Count of Poictesme, to his death. It forms the second volume of Cabell's gigantic Biography of the Life of Manuel.

I have not read Figures of the Earth just yet, having learnt about it a scant hour ago. Another book, Domnei: A Comedy of Woman-Worship is set in the second half of the 13th century so that makes it closer to our period (1st half of the 14th C.). Below is what Wikipedia has to say:

Domnei: A Comedy of Woman-Worship (1913) is a fantasy novel by James Branch Cabell, set in the imaginary French province of Poictesme during the second half of the 13th century.

It forms the fifth volume of Cabell's gigantic Biography of the Life of Manuel, and tells the story of Dom Manuel's daughter Melicent, and of the disastrous struggle between her successive husbands Demetrios of Anatolia and Perion de la Forêt. Carl Van Doren characterised the book as “Mr. Cabell's highest flight in the representation of the extravagant woman-worship developed out of the chivalric code,” and as being “unified and dramatic beyond any other of the Cabell novels.”

The Gutenberg Project has the story here.

Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 10

Continuing my adaptation of the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead to Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne, Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Fitzgeoffrey stories, and the mid-14th Century Petite Camargue region of France. Part One can be found here.

In this installment, I shall look at the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of Jean becoming a Zombie Lord. As you may recall, I discussed in Part II how Jean being bitten by a ju-ju zombie is problematic because ju-ju zombies are created by the use of the energy drain spell which is 9th level! Why would an arch-mage of 17th level or greater create a ju-ju zombie and leave it in a crypt in an obscure and out–of–the–way village?

A DEEP DIVE INTO THE ZOMBIE LORD’S ORIGIN & MOTIVATION(S)

Does this adventure depend on Marcel becoming a zombie lord? Yes, absolutely! Does becoming a zombie lord depend on getting bitten by a ju-ju zombie? Not at all. According to the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix (1992) by William W. Connors (Van Richten’s Guide to Ghosts & Masque of the Red Death: A Guide to Gothic Earth) :

“They [zombie lords] are formed on rare occassions as the result of a raise dead spell cast while in the demiplane of Ravenloft.”

So a ju-ju zombie is not necessary. However, the raise dead spell and Ravenloft requirements are of course problematic. In The Crusades Sourcebook Historical Reference for AD&D 2nd Edition, the raise dead spell is not available. However, miracles are. So in this scenario Frère Brucian prays for the miracle of resurrection on behalf of Jean Crapaud. The chance of success is -2% (base 1 %, +4% for 2nd level cleric, -7% for 7th level spells). If Jean had been a Good man, he would get an additional 5% chance for a miracle. Even if we generously give a 1% chance, Jean did not roll a double-zero (00). Now the module did say that Brucian had a scroll with 3 raise dead spells on it, which leaves 2 to use on the PCs. For me that stretches plausibilty too much. I do not deem it necessary to have a couple of raise dead spells just in case two of the PCs die or one dies twice. In fact when I ran this adventure back in 1994, one of the PCs did in fact die. After the remaining party members defeated Jean, the DM-PC priest of Serapis (Greco-Romano-Egyptian Hades) performed a ceremony whereby the PCs pleaded their case to the Lord & Lady of the Dead themselves. Serapis was unmoved by Sgt. Seamus’s unjust death but Isis (Persephone / Proserpina) took pity and convinced Serapis to give them a quest whereby success would return Seamus to life. For our purposes, it is enough to say that the 1% chance of a resurrected wicked Jean failed.

The Ravenloft requirement is of course not applicable in this case since the adventure takes place in a pseudo-historical Earth. So is it enough to say that Jean rolled a critical failure on his miracle check (01) and then backed it up with another critical failure (01) resulting in the Prince of Darkness himself responding with an anti-miracle of the un-resurrection? I am not so sure about that. Because that tells us that praying for the resurrection of an evil person runs the risk of creating an undead creature. Thefore, unless the petitioner is sure that the dead person was not wicked in life, they should not take the chance? Not only do I not want to get into theological considerations but it also does not at all sound like something Clark Ashton Smith or Robert E. Howard would have written or even H.P. Lovecraft for that matter.

Instead, why not something simpler? Perhaps Jean was killed by an entombed ancestral zombie lord (or lady) who then transferred their corrupted soul into his body? Or cast a kind of magick jar spell, transferring their souls shortly before the ancestor crumbled into dust? After all, a non-embalmed corpse would leave nothing but teeth and grave wax after a century in the mausoleum due to the humid air of the surrounding wetlands. So perhaps not even a zombie lord but some kind of evil spirit tied to the remaining teeth. Perhaps this is why “Marcel” is craving human life so that (s)he arrests the decomposition process. Jean goes crazy not just because Marcel died and became undead but also because of the evil spirit that has taken posession of Marcel’s body. Something inspired by The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft perhaps…!

I definitely like the idea that Marcel is driven to murder and feeds on human corpses in order to arrest his decomposition and possibly even restore him (cf. Frank in Hellraiser).

Would Luc still have his twin connexion if Marcel was posessed? Not if the souls were switched (magick jar). If another soul was dominating Marcel then Jean would know that something was wrong — which is fine because Jean would be afraid that the foreign soul was hurting or would destroy Marcel’s soul. However, their link is empathic rather than sympathetic or telepathic so all Jean can know is Marcel’s feelings and impulses (anger, hunger, &c.). So it would not work for another evil entity to “kidnap” Marcel. Marcel must still be Marcel somehow.

So if not disposession (magick jar), then some kind of curse or disease caused by … what? Biten by an ancestor who then collapses into dust? Reading a forbidden scroll?

In either case (ancestor or scroll), a terrible secret is discovered by Marcel and Luc. One which has been literally entombed by centuries most likely by the founder Pierre de Tarascon. What terrible crime could Pierre have committed?

Perhaps Pierre was not alone when he first came to this land? Since he had to make peace with the Mother of Toads in order to domesticate the land, perhaps the price was his wife, Aradia? But if that was the case, how did she end up undead?

Or perhaps the couple did not make peace with the Mother of Toads initially? What if Aradia was a necromancer? Perhaps they brought some slaves to Le Petite Camarga to drain a portion of the wetlands. Those slaves died from the bad air (mal aria) and were animated to finish their work. Then they cross-bred the local wild rice with some Egyptian rice to create their soon–to–be–famous sanguine rice. But then they were attacked by killer frogs and animated vegetation sent by the Mother of Toads. The price of peace was the destruction of the zombies & the necromancer and the marriage of Pierre and the Mother. But Aradia the necromancer, determined to have her revenge on both her unfaithful husband and the Toad-Witch, did not remain dead but instead became undead whilst biding her time in the tomb. When Luc and Marcel discovered her, she cursed, bit, and/or embraced him as her final act.

And just to close the loop, why not connect the couple with the infamous Tarasque of Tarascon or of Noves, both of which are in Southeast France? Perhaps it was Aradia who summoned the tarasque that Saint Martha of Bethany subdued and the townsfolk (or villagers) ultimately stoned to death. Pierre and Aradia has to flee Tarascon before they were caught and executed. Perhaps Aradia animated the victims of the tarasque and took the zombies with them. All of this would have happened in AD 48 when Tarascon was under Roman rule, specifically Titus Vinius the proconsular governor of Gallia Narbonensis.

Getting back to Marcel & Luc, perhaps when they opened up Aradia’s tomb, they were shocked to discover a 13 centuries-old corpse. Marcel casts a speak with dead spell. If Aradia was actually dead, then the spell is successful. Whereas if she were undead thus “playing dead,” the spell fails. Or, the spell fails but Aradia acts as if it were successful and whispers the answers thus forcing Marcel to lean over close to her mouth, enabling her to bite him by surprise! Or to administer the Kiss of Death…!

I really like the idea of Aradia’s corpse kissing Marcel, swapping souls (or dominating Marcel), and then her corpse crumbling into dust. Luc and most any person would be horrified at watching a corpse arise, kiss their brother, and then crumble! Marcel-Aradia would then swoon and collapse at the shock of Aradia’s penetration. Luc runs to his brother Jean who then follows him back to the tomb. Jean assumes Marcel is dead and takes the body to Brucian. Frère Brucian, finding no pulse then prays for a miracle but it is not answered. Jean wails in agony at the death of his brother. Marcel is interred in the very same tomb that belonged to Aradia. Jean visits the body to mourn his brother’s death but “Marcel” speaks to him! Is Jean going mad? Marcel tells Jean of his chance to come back to the living if he can feed on the flesh of a living person. Jean denies this of course and flees. But the memory of their conversation haunts him and he can still hear Marcel’s voice in his head. Jean goes back to the tomb and speaks with Marcel again. Marcel is more insistent and pleads for flesh else he will decay and be dead forever. Jean gives in and leads one of the serfs (slaves) back to Marcel’s tomb. Marcel is grateful and proceeds to suck out the brains and vital fluids.

In other words, lift plot elements from my favourite horror film, Hellraiser and the original novella, The Hellbound Heart.

Once the serfs (slaves) are all dead but Marcel (Aradia) is not restored, Jean stops bringing victims. A heated argument ensues and Jean leaves. Marcel (Aradia) grows hungry and desperate and digs a tunnel out of the ancient cemetery. That night he (she) goes out into the village and feasts upon an unsuspecting victim — Gremin’s son! The next morning Gremin finds the withered husk of his son and has a flashback to a traumatic experience he had during his tour of duty in the Holy Land. His unit found an ancient tomb and decided to loot it only to discover the occupant was “alive.” All but Gremin were either captured or slaughtered by the walking corpse. Gremin managed to escape but only after watching his brother–in–arms get their fluids sucked out. He made the difficult trek back to camp and reported delirously what had happened. The knights in the encampment forced him to lead them to the tomb, but Gremin could not find it again.

Jean was shocked that Marcel had escaped and fed upon Gremin’s son. Since that discovery, Jean negotiated a deal with Marcel to bring him bodies. But instead of Marcel becoming human again, he became more powerful and began animating the unsuitable corpses into zombies and skeletons.

Are the ghouls necessary?

But what about the ghouls? Does Jean still force his servants to eat human flesh? Jean is at his wit’s end. He loathes himself for bringing victims to Jean but justifies it as saving both the village and his brother. 

The existence of ghouls in the original module has always been problematic. I have always found Slavicsek’s excuse of Jean being too cowardly to taste human flesh himself yet forces his servants to do in solidarity with Marcel as being distasteful (pardon the pun). It certainly is a good scene to have the PCs peek through the windows and see a ghoulish feast but does it have to be in this module? Having ghouls introduces competition for the corpses. Why would a zombie lord tolerate ghouls? A zombie lord wants to increase his dominion and cannot do that if ghouls are eating his rightful property and especially if the ghouls themselves are growing in number.

What if I removed the ghouls entirely? What then to do with the manoir house? Of course, why is there a townhouse in the first place? The purpose of a fortified manoir house is to have a fortress where the entire village can escape to in case of attack. It also serves as the residence for the local lord or administrator and the court of justice. Why would the manoir house be out in the fields?

So I can get rid of the townhouse and place the fortified manoir house between the village and the fields. The PCs can try to break into the fortified manoir house per the module but there is no need to have them witness a ghoulish dinner party (let’s save that for a ghoul-themed adventure, shall we?). It stands to reason that once Jean runs out of serfs (slaves) he then turns on his house-servants. Once they are all gone, only then does he stalk the village. The villagers have no truck with with serfs and little with the house-servants. So it is no surprise that there are only suspicions regarding the fields and big house.

Marcel’s Motivation

Since puberty, Marcel’s dreams have been haunted by Aradia. However, he did not recognise her as his ancestor but more like a succubus, that is to say with a sexual element. Her visitations also led him to search for magical tomes while at the Université de Montpellier (or at Avignon?) and to uncover his family’s history when at home. This search became an obsession which led him to the ancient cemetery and ultimately to Aradia’s tomb. Once he had learned the speak with dead spell, he became determined to speak with the ghost of Aradia and learn the truth about what happened.

Book of Eibon (Liber Ivonis)

Of course, the Book of Eibon has to have a place in this adventure if this is any kind of homage to Clark Ashton Smith and Averoigne. Ideally, the Hiscosa scroll should be a leaf taken from the Liber Ivonis (Latin translation of the Book of Eibon).

In the module, the prophet’s name is spelled Hyskosa. The Occitanian alphabet has no Y nor K, so they would spell his name as Hiscosa, Hischosa, or Hisqosa. My knowledge of Occitanian is extremely limited so I cannot offer anything close to a learned opinion. Hischosa will not work because the majority of native English speakers will pronounce the ch as in cherry rather then in achtung. I am attracted to the Hisqosa spelling because it looks quite exotic whereas Hiscosa looks rather mundane.

There is no need to give the Hisqosa page any magical properties as it is enough to come from the Book of Eibon and for Marcel to obsess over it.

NEXT UP: Click here for a deep dive into Brucian and the character Mordu–Harley Warren–Samuel Loveman (conspiracy theorist or prophet?).

Happy Birthday Robert E Howard

Robert E. Howard was born this 22nd of January in 1906 in Peaster, Texas. As a reader of this blog, you no doubt know him as the creator of Conan the Barbarian and the father of the Sword & Sorcery genre. But Conan was not his only Sword & Sorcery hero. There is also Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Cormac Mac Art, Turlough Dubh, Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, Dark Agnes de Chastillon (Red Sonja), and Solomon Kane just to name a few.

In honour of Mister Howard, I am reading the Spears of Clontarf. One of his many historical fiction stories that contained hints and suggestions of the supernatural as well as graphic violence. Nobody can describe a fight scen like REH!

Spears of Clontarf also gives us the infamous Dalcassian Axe, said to be able to cleave through mail and plate like cloth. It is a one-handed axe that does damage like a two-handed axe! In game terms, I give it a d10 for damage but restrict it to the Dalcassian Irish.

Another interesting item from the story is the contrast between the Christian Irish berserkers (Barbarians) and the Pagan Viking warriors (Fighters). The Irish eschew all armour aside from shields and tightly woven linen stiffened in vinegar (except for Turlough Dubh who fights in a full maille harness). Whereas the Vikings are armoured head to toe in maille and/or scale.

One of the characters I find fascinating is Eevin, a woman of the Dark Folk (Cruithni or Pict) who has prophetic visions and can either teleport or cast plant door because she can quickly move from the Viking “castle” to the Irish encampment and with great stealth as well. Howard told H.P. Lovecraft in one of his letters how the Picts hold a fascination with him. The Picts are the one “race” or culture that links the stories of Kull of Atlantis, Conan of Hyboria, Bran Mak Morn of Roman Britain, and probably Cormac Fitzgeoffrey of Ireland (I’m hoping to discover that in some of the unpublished fragments). Both Howard and Lovecraft subscribed to the theory that remnants of a prehistoric people gave rise to the legends of dwarves, elves, and fairies.

Howard eventually rewrote the Spears of Clontarf to give it even more supernatural elements (Eevin becomes a Sidhe) and retitled it The Twilight of the Gods a.k.a. The Grey God Passes which Roy Thomas presented as The Twilight of the Grim Grey God in Conan the Barbarian number 3. That was the very first comic book I purchased and yes indeed the name inspired Grymwurld™ and Grymlorde™.

Night of the Walking Dead in Averoigne Part 9

Continuing my adaptation of the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1 Night of the Walking Dead to Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne, Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Fitzgeoffrey stories, and mid-14th Century Petite Camargue region of France. Note that this post contains no “crunch” and thus is system and version agnostic. Part One can be found here.

Having finished my critical walkthrough of the module, I shall collect the ideas generated previously, refine them, and add some new ones. In this post I shall determine how to integrate the Mother of Toads and generate some additional sub-plots.

THE MOTHER OF TOADS

 Actually, I’m think less frog-like but fatter.

It is time to deal with the 800 lb. toad-mother in the room (to mangle mixed-metaphors). In Clark Ashton Smith’s short story Mother of Toads, the titular character is a witch or nymph who in her natural form appears as a large and very well endowed woman (with huge tracts of land) with decidedly frog-like characteristics who is lonely and/or sex-starved.

So this has inspired me to have a Heleionoma (wetland nymph) who is a manifestation of the locale’s flora & fauna. She appears as an almost inhumanly obese woman with features that are suggestive of frogs and toads, e.g. wide mouth, bulging round eyes, warts, clammy skin, et cetera. In order for Pierre the refugee of Tarascon to settle in this area, he must wed the mother of toads. All of their male offspring appear to be human (but with the “Innsmouth look”) whereas the female offspring are born as frogs. [In Northern French, the word for toad “crapaud” is masculine whereas frog “grenouille” is feminine.] The eldest son is always the heir to the land and must wed their mother. Yes, we are talking incest here.

Have you noticed that Jean, Marcel, and Luc are unmarried? Well, this is the reason why. Perhaps all heirs are forbidden from marrying anyone other than their mother, the Mother of Toads.

What is the Mother’s role in the story? First off, she is the witch that calls up a storm that wrecks the PC’s ship so that the PCs end up in her village to save her children. No doubt that she is upset and angry at their behavior but rather than giving up on them, she brought the PCs. Can she do anything else? If the PCs were to somehow find her and speak to her, could they persuade her to do anything? And if their persuasion were successful, what exactly could she do?

The land and her are interconnected, so she can animate any vegetation she chooses to. For example, if she were convinced to intervene then she could entangle the zombies when they attempt to ransack the village. As a life-giver, she could nurse the PCs back to health if they were injured. I am not sure what else she could do other than give advice perhaps. But her price is going to be sexual intercourse, being the sex-starved nymph that she is. This presents a fun rôleplaying opportunity for the GM to describe her in both alluring and repulsive terms, much like CAS did in his story.

What does Father Brucian think about her? At the very least he must acknowledge the reality of her existence. His seminary would have taught him to recognise her as a demon and so he would work very hard to free the Crapaud family from her embrace. However, he is not afraid to enter the wetlands and tend to Luc when the latter is convalescing there. Is it because he has faith that G*D protects him? Or perhaps he is one of those priests from the Early Middle Ages who reconciled with paganism rather than demonising everything that was not familiar? I have to suspect the latter rather than the former. The Mother of Toads is very real and has very real power. Smith demonstrates in The Colossus of Ylourgne that low-level monks with religious accoutrements (holy water & symbols) do not automatically turn undead, which of course D&D taught us as well. So Fr. Brucian has to take a pragmatic strategy and not directly oppose the Mother of Toads. Does he subtly oppose her or does he accept her and Christianise her? Given the Albigensian Crusade in the past century, could Fr. Brucian be a secret Cathar or a member of the Dominicans who served as inquistors? At the very least the memories of the crusade would still linger. Brucian as a Scotsman could have joined the Dominicans and eventually be assigned to Tolouse and somehow ended up here. In fact I think it is more likely for a Scotsman to have ended up here as a Dominican rather than for the Church to have transferred him here. While a form of Catharism did get a foothold in London, there is no evidence of it in Scotland. So as long as Brucian is a Scotsman, it makes the most sense that he is also a Dominican friar — but the fact that he is Neutral/Good also explains why he is only loosely attached (if at all) to the Ordo Prædicatorum.

What does the Mother of Toads think then about Fr. Brucian? She would no doubt accept him if he honoured (worshipped) her. But what if he were to attempt to proselytise her? From a Christian perspective, are nymphs in fact nephilim or angels who fell to Earth but not Hell? Do they have free will? First off, I think that the Mother of Toads as a heleionoma is probably Neutral/Neutral in alignment and intent as she is a manifestation of the land and the life upon the land. From a Greco-Roman perspective, the Mother is the daughter of Le Ròze (Fr. Le Rhône; L. Rhodanus; Gr. Rhodanós) river. Given Smith’s story as well as fairytale traditions, I think that the Mother of Toads embodies vanity, gluttony, and lust. So long as she is worshipped, flattered with praise, and gifted with food and sexual partners, she will respond in kind with her blessings. Whereas if she is denied, she will exact vengeance with a fury.

Heav’n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn’d,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn’d.

— From the play The Mourning Bride, 1697 by William Congreve.

In other words, she is good towards her worshippers and evil towards those who do not. And given that Brucian is Neutral/Good rather than Lawful/Neutral he is going to be more flexible and pragmatic in supporting and promulgating Goodness. Combined with the reality of her power over the local area, Brucian would either martyr himself by taking a hard opposition to her or flirt with heresy in order to accomodate her.

I think then this is the key: Brucian has had to compromise his religious tenets in order to accomodate the continued presence of the Mother of Toads and he feels guilty for that. He brings offerings to her and pushes Jean to satisfy her carnal desires all the while preaching Mediæval Catholic Christianity to everyone else. The heleionoma does not care one way or another what Brucian tells the parishioners, so long as she is treated as the (very minor) goddess that she is.

So what can the PCs do for her and get in return? Once they properly present themselves to her, there is the aforementioned healing & curative magicks as well as entangling the zombies (if they run to her rather than the cemetery). She could also send an army of frogs into the rice fields to fight the zombies, or at least slow them down — this seems more fitting than entangling the zombies. She could give the PCs information on the history of the manoir, the Crapaud family, and recent events. Or perhaps she could give them a potion of frog swarm summoning. Just pour the potion on the ground and a huge swarm of frogs will arrive. I rather like the idea of distracting the zombie army with an army of frogs!

IN SUMMATION

The Mother of Toads is a minor goddess who shipwrecked the PCs in order to save her village. If they approach her appropriately, she will reward them with druid spells and a potion of frog summoning.

Frère Brucian is a Dominican (Blackfriar) preacher who has compromised his faith in order to protect the village from the wrath of the Mother. He is wracked by guilt but does his best to hide it as well as hide the cult of the heleionoma from the PCs.

 Portrait of a Dominican Friar by Peter Paul Rubens

Click here for Part X wherein I perform an autopsy on Marcel, the zombie lord!