Grognard's Grimoire: The Vampires of Dwimmermount

I doubt it will come as a surprise to anyone that I loathe the domestication of the vampire that has occurred over the last forty years or so. I find nothing that is attractive or admirable in the idea of creatures who attain immortality through the consumption of the blood of others, even if the concept of the vampire is an intellectually fascinating one to me. Consequently, you're out of luck if you're expecting a sympathetic portrayal of a vampire in one of my RPG campaigns, especially my Dwimmermount campaign, where a vampire -- Doux Cyrus Agallon -- is an important NPC. Though his cooperation with the PCs has, thus far, had no obviously negative repercussions, no one, least of all the PCs, believes this state of affairs will last forever. Cyrus is a vampire: an inhuman, rapacious monster whose continued existence depends on violence against the living. Ultimately, he must be destroyed, for there is no comprising with him.

The vampires of the Dwimmermount campaign are based on those of the LBBs, but I've reinterpreted them in various ways, in accordance with the idiosyncrasies of the campaign world, most notably in the fact that one cannot be made a vampire against one's will.

The text in the quote box below is hereby designated Open Game Content via the Open Game License.

Vampire
No Enc.: 1d6 (1d6)
Lair Probability: 20%
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120' (40'), Fly: 180' (60')
Armor Class: 2
Hit Dice: 7 to 9
Attacks: 1 (see below)
Damage: 1d10, drain life energy (see below)
Save: F7 to F9
Morale: 11
Hoard Class: XVII
XP: 3,590/5,560/8,000

The vampire is a hateful undead creature created by means of an abhorrent necromantic ritual that requires the free and active consent of a human (and only a human) being to effect. The vampire survives only by drinking the blood of the living. It is immune to sleep and charm spells and can only be struck by magical weapons. If damaged, a vampire regenerates 3 hit points per round. If reduced to zero or fewer hit points, it is not destroyed but rather reduced to a gaseous form (which it can also assume at will).

A vampire is immensely strong, dealing 1d10 points of damage with each strike of its claw-like hands. Though this creature looks like a hideous, emaciated corpse, it nevertheless can exert a powerful attraction over mortal beings with its gaze, which acts as a charm person spell (save at -2 to resist). A vampire will drink the blood from a charmed victim, draining two levels with each feeding. Drinking blood cannot be done in combat and the victim will have no recollection of the event afterward. Victims entirely drained of all their levels simply die, but they may not be restored to life by any means, including resurrection. A vampire must drain a number of levels per week equal to its hit dice or it will permanently weaken, losing one hit die per week of insufficient sustenance.

Though powerful, a vampire will quickly disintegrate if exposed to sunlight. It cannot cross running water (which they cannot cross except by means of a bridge, boat, or similar construction) and impalement with a wooden stake immobilizes (but does not kill) it. A vampire is repelled by the scent of garlic or its reflection and can be turned by a cleric of sufficient level. During the day, this creature must return to a grave, tomb, or casket that contains soil from its native land or else it will lose hit die per night until it reaches 0 hit dice and fades away. Lost hit dice are restored at a rate of 1 per night of slumber in its proper hideaway.

A vampire can summon 1d10x10 rats or 3d6 wolves once per day, which arrive in 2d6 rounds to aid it. The presence of an active vampire creates a miasma that slowly spreads at a rate of 1 square mile per day up to a maximum number of square miles equal to the hit dice of the most powerful vampire in the area. Anyone within the miasma suffers a -2 to saving throws against diseases, curses, and similar effects.

Open Friday: Shameful Inspirations

I talk a lot on this blog about the literary inspirations of the early hobby, as well as my own inspirations in pulp fantasy writers, but, of course, not everything that inspires us comes from books and indeed many of our inspirations are decidedly un-literary. And sometimes our non-literary inspirations are downright embarrassing, such as the time I ripped off the plot of Shaft for a Star Wars RPG adventure set on the Wookiee homeworld.

So, what's your most shameful, non-literary inspiration for something you used in a roleplaying game?

Sage Advice Compilation

I know this has been posted on several other blogs, but I figured I'd make note of it here anyway, since some of you might not have seen it. Here's a compilation of 680 questions and answers from the "Sage Advice" column of Dragon magazine, starting with the first appearance of the feature in issue 31 and going until issue 134. That's not a complete compilation by any means, but it's a large one nonetheless and it's useful as an aid in seeing how both the questions and the style of responses changed over the years.

I'm well known as a critic of "Sage Advice," thinking the willingness to provide "official" solutions to matters not covered in the rules (as opposed to genuine omissions in them) revealed a shift in the way TSR viewed its role as publisher of D&D. What's interesting, though, is that many of the earliest responses to questions are quite humorous and reveal a certain disdain for the demands of players to have ex cathedra statements with which to bludgeon their fellow players into submission (not to mention bewilderment at the sorts of things some player felt needed answers). I didn't start reading Dragon until the late 50s or early 60s, so I missed out on many of the really amusing "Sage Advice" columns, alas.

Thanks for the Help

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions on potential names for psi-capable operatives. I got a lot of really excellent ones and I'm still sorting through them, trying to decide which one(s) I'll use. When I make a decision, I'll contact people so that I can arrange proper credit in the revised edition of Thousand Suns, along with the material compensation I promised as well.

Thanks again.

REVIEW: The Sanctuary Ruin

The Sanctuary Ruin by Eric Jones is the first adventure module released by Ludibrium Games. Like James Raggi's adventures, it's not written for a specific old school fantasy game system, although its text references both Labyrinth Lord and OSRIC as examples of the games for which it was written. Judging from the actual stats included in the adventure (which are few), I'd say that The Sanctuary Ruin was written using Labyrinth Lord for its rules, but it could easily be used for almost any class-and-level system.

The Sanctuary Ruin is available as a 10-page PDF selling for $2.99 or as a similarly lengthy printed volume selling for $6.99. The module's layout is simple and clean, using two-columns broken up with some atmospheric black and white spot art, also by Eric Jones. The cartography is similarly unpretentious and attractive. The text itself is straightforward, clear, and free from any obvious editorial problems. From a purely technical point of view, The Sanctuary Ruin is very well done.

As its name suggests, this module describes a ruined sanctuary not far from a wayshrine in a wilderness area known as the Ironwood within the Margravate of Blackmarch, which would appear to be Ludbrium Games's house setting. Not many details are provided about the Margravate or the Ironwood, making it easy for referees to drop the dungeon and surrounding locales into another setting. Indeed, the bulk of this module is taken up with the eponymous ruin, so it's really a dungeon module rather than a wilderness one, never mind a sandbox. Given that it's designed for characters of levels 1-3, that only makes sense.

The dungeon is small, consisting of 20 rooms inhabited primarily by goblins and vermin. Like everything else in this product, it's well presented and straightforward, but it lacked a hook or unique angle that made it stand out from the many other humanoid lairs I've seen in other adventure modules over the last 30 years. The same must be said of the inn, the rumors, and the wilderness encounters also included with this module and I feel bad for saying so, because The Sanctuary Ruin is well written and presented. Reading it, you can tell that its author really took his time to get everything right and he largely succeeds.

Unfortunately, what Eric Jones got right is something lots of other people have gotten right repeatedly since the dawn of the hobby. This is a standard introductory adventure and, while I can appreciate that not everyone who starts a new campaign will want to press The Keep on the Borderlands or The Village of Hommlet into service for the umpteenth time, it becomes increasingly hard for me to get excited about yet another humanoid lair on the borders of civilization, even if it's presented as lovingly as The Sanctuary Ruin is. Of course, newcomers will likely have a different reaction, particularly those who aren't as jaded as I am when it comes to the old standbys of introductory dungeons. For old timers, though, there's not a lot that makes The Sanctuary Ruin noteworthy other than its excellent production values and the obvious care to which its creator went to create it. Here's hoping we see more work from Eric Jones in the future and it will be a bit more daring in its content.

Presentation: 8 out of 10
Creativity: 5 out of 10
Utility: 6 out of 10

Get This If: You're either new to old school gaming and looking for a well-done intro module or are an old hand who simply wants a different presentation of the classic humanoid lair dungeon module.
Don't Get This If: You had your fill of humanoid lair dungeons decades ago.

Retrospective: The Kinunir

Over the course of its original version, GDW produced thirteen adventure booklets for Traveller, the first of which was published in 1979. Adventure 1: The Kinunir consisted of 44-pages and is another example of old school adventure design, being a location-based adventure. Of course, in this case, the location in question is a starship of the Kinunir class, a 1200-ton battle cruiser with a full crew of 45 (plus marines).

Adventure 1 thus includes maps for all five decks of the starship, along with descriptions of every room and area on aboard. Also included are full stats for every crew member, from the captain all the way down to a cargo clerk (and the full complement of 35 marines). The booklet provides information on the Kinunir class: its general specifications, the current dispositions of these vessels, and other stats. Taken together, Adventure 1 gives you everything you need in order to use this starship in your Traveller campaign -- everything, that is, except a fully-fleshed out adventure.

What's interesting about this booklet is that it provides four short outlines (plus rumors and library data) for adventures but each of these outlines takes up no more than a single 8½" x 5½" page of text. Most of the details are left to the referee to determine and each of them has quite different assumptions from the others, which enables the Kinunir-class vessel to be reused multiple times -- once as a prison ship, once as a derelict, etc. Like a lot of early Traveller products, Adventure 1 is an efficient little product, packing a great deal of utility between its few pages.

But make no mistake: this is not a "ready-to-go" product. Though it labels itself an "adventure," it is, as I say, more of an adventuring locale with some suggestions and resources for using it as part of an adventure. That's probably why I got so much use out of the booklet back in the day and, judging from its sales figures -- close to 40,000 copies over 13 print runs -- it was one of the most popular Traveller products ever produced. For me, Adventure 1 functioned much like a supplement, providing me with ideas I worked into my ongoing campaign. It's from these details that I formed a lasting impression of the Third Imperium as a decadent, corrupt government. One of the adventure outlines involves the characters being hired to rescue a dissident noble and senator from a Kinunir-class starship turned into an orbital prison for political prisoners; that was one of the first scenarios I ever ran in Traveller and it colored my presentation of the Imperium for years afterwards.

I often wonder whether an adventure like The Kinunir would meet with much success today. On the whole, Traveller adventures were a lot less structured in their contents in presentation than were many other adventures at the time. GDW mostly ignored the Hickman Revolution and, once it ceased to do so, the results were disastrous for the once-solid game line. Part of the appeal of even the official Third Imperium setting was the very broad way in which it was drawn, allowing for a wide variety of individual interpretation and approaches. That's why I could continue to maintain my vision of the Imperium as a corrupt regime even while continuing to use many of GDW's own products. Those products were amazingly "agnostic" on a lot of big questions until fairly late in the game's lifetime and I think that made for better and more useful products. It's a model I continue to admire, especially nowadays, when selling a world and a prefab story seem far more important than giving gamers the tools and raw materials from which to construct their own.

Orcus Posters for Sale

I know I've drawn attention to the Mark Allen's awesome illustration of Orcus before, but it's worth doing a second time, especially now that you can buy an 11" x 17" poster version of the piece for $6.50 (+$2.50 shipping). Quantities are apparently limited, so grab one soon, if you're interested in owning one of your very own.

Snowed Under

I'm still rather busy, so posting will continue to be uncharacteristically light for the next little while, though I do hope to get in some reviews soon, if nothing else. In the meantime, enjoy this little gem I found in issue 14 of Judges Guild's The Dungeoneer (November/December 1979), in which Paul Jaquays provides RQ stats for everyone's favorite barbarian aardvark.

Pulp Fantasy Library: Rhialto the Marvellous

1984's Rhialto the Marvellous is the fourth -- and final -- book of Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" series. Though called a novel, it's really a collection of three different stories of varying length, each of which focuses on the titular character, a magician of the 21st Aeon who belongs to "a group of magicians who have formed an association the better to protect their interests." The book is of particular interest to players of Dungeons & Dragons for two reasons, the first of which is its foreword, which describes spells thusly:

A spell in essence corresponds to a code, or set of instructions, inserted into the sensorium of an entity which is able and not unwilling to alter the environment in accordance with the message conveyed by the spell.

Vance likewise states that "Magic is a practical science, or, more properly, a craft, since emphasis is placed on utility, rather than basic understanding." Taken together, these comments provide additional fuel for the fire of discussion regarding the meaning of "Vancian" spellcasting and its relationship (or not) to D&D's magic rules.

The second reason gamers might be interested in this book is the third story in this collection -- and the best, in my opinion -- is the origin of Ioun Stones. The story in question, "Morreion," was originally published in 1973, in a collection called Flashing Swords! 1, edited by Lin Carter and enjoyed by Gary Gygax. By his own admission, he was so taken with both the story and the magical stones it described (which Vance always spells in all capital letters as "IOUN stones") that he imported them into Dungeons & Dragons, an importation to which Vance in fact gave his kind permission.

The first story of Rhialto the Marvellous is entitled "The Murthe" and concerns a powerful female magic-user from the past, after whose title the story is named. In the past, there was a "War of Wizards and Witches," in which the witches were victorious. However, a few surviving wizards created a cabal to strike back against their feminine foes. In this endeavor they succeeded and the Murthe was exiled "to a far star." Alas for the wizards, the Murthe proved wilier than expected and, rather than go in peace, she discovered a means to travel into the future, which is to say, Rhialto's present to exact her revenge by transforming her enemies into women under her own control. Only Rhialto and his friend Ildefonse escape the Murthe's magic and, together, they must find a means to stop her and reverse her spells.

The second story, "Fader's Waft," is lengthy and could easily stand on its own as a novella. Its plot centers on Rhialto's censure by his fellow wizards, the penalty for which is being stripped of most of his magical possessions, including his collection of IOUN stones. Rhialto becomes convinced that the events that led to his reprimand are the result of a nefarious plot against him by agents unknown and, with the aid of an unruly sandestin (are there any other kind?), he travels back in time to unravel the mystery of just what has transpired and why. Of course, things aren't as simple as that and, through the course of the story, Rhialto must contend with several temporally-based plots and counter-plots in order to get to the bottom of it all.

The final story, the aforementioned "Morreion," is a terrific story that involves the journey of Rhialto and his fellows to the literal edge of the universe in search of a former colleague who disappeared some time ago while seeking out the source of the much-coveted IOUN stones. Though a good story in itself, what makes it stand out is Vance's fanciful conception of magical space travel, in which the wizards use their powers to transport an entire palace into the outer dark. Part whimsy, part brilliance, the third story of Rhialto the Marvellous presents a vision of extraterrestrial exploration that I find very compelling and one that I can't help but wish D&D had adopted more fully. You can see glimmers of it in Gygax's conception of the Astral Plane, I think, and there's even a touch of it in -- believe it or not -- Spelljammer but neither really quite does justice to what Vance has concocted in "Morreion."

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Rhialto the Marvellous. There's no doubt that it contains some of Vance's best and most humorous prose. The interactions between the immensely powerful and self-absorbed wizards is priceless and almost worth the price of admission alone. With the exception of "Morreion," though, I can't say that the stories themselves particularly engaged me, with "Fader's Waft" being notably tedious at times. But perhaps the stories themselves aren't the point so much as Vance's luxurious prose and skill in producing dialog at once beautiful and vapid. If nothing else, the book is great inspiration for a campaign involving powerful magic-users in a decadent and dying world.

Some Sci-Fi Help

I need some ideas, so I thought I'd ask everyone for some help. What I'm looking for is a term (or terms) for a psi-powered special operative/soldier, like the Lensmen. I'd prefer if the term were "generic," which is to say, isn't some weird made-up word (like "Jedi"), but I'm open to that possibility if the word is sufficiently evocative. Bonus points to anyone who comes up with a term that works in or riffs off the classic SF term "esper."

If someone comes up with a term I like, I'll give them credit and some other goodies to show my appreciation.

Thanks in advance.