Another holiday treat

In the same spirit as my last post, here's another preview of content that will eventually appear in The Heroic Legendarium that seems to capture that creepy Halloween-season vibe. This was originally drafted as an encounter area in a dungeon,  but in Gygaxy fashion I realized I could generalize it into a class of monster. There's some conceptual weirdness here that all makes sense in my mind, but I might not have explained clearly. Comments letting me know if you are or aren't able to follow the description here are welcome.

MIRROR-FIEND

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 12
HIT DICE: 4+3
% IN LAIR: 100%
TREASURE TYPE: D
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1 – 4/1 –4/1-10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Silver or magic weapons to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: M
PSYCHIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil/nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: V/ 320 + 5/hp

These nightmarish creatures dwell in non-dimensional space and are only able to access the Prime Material Plane when two mirrors are set up in direct opposition to as to create an endless series of reflections. When such a conjunction is created there is a 5% chance per turn that a group of mirror-fiends will be drawn to it. If so, they will initially appear in the 12th reflection deep (which is typically the very limit of where any detail can be made out by an individual standing before the mirrors) of one mirror or the other, though if more than one mirror-fiend is encountered some may appear in each mirror. When they first appear, someone looking into the mirror only has a 5% chance to notice their presence, but each round they will move 1-3 panes closer, and with each pane the chance of noticing them increases by 10% (so they will always be noticed in the first or second reflection). Moving, covering, or breaking either mirror (or plunging the area into total darkness) will prevent the fiend from approaching, but if the mirrors are again aligned within one hour the fiends will still be there, in the pane they had last reached. Otherwise, they will wander off and a new check will be made to see if a different fiend appears when and if the mirrors are realigned.

While within the reflections, mirror-fiends cannot interact with the reflections of the characters and cannot be affected by individuals in the Prime Material Plane unless they are able to reach into either the Ethereal Plane or non-dimensional space. If the fiends reach the first reflection, they can climb through the mirror into the Prime Material Plane, where they can both attack and be attacked. They will typically attempt to grapple opponents - if both claws hit the victim suffers no damage but is held fast and can only escape by means of a successful bend bars check, or a successful counter-grapple or attack (both made at -2 “to hit” and, in the latter case, limited to a knife, dagger, or similarly small weapon as the character’s arms are held). The next round following a successful grappling attempt, the mirror-fiend will lift its victim and climb back into the mirror. The fiends will usually carry victims back to them lair in the 13th reflection - passing through 1-3 reflections per round - and will then devour them with their oversized and razor-sharp teeth.

Each reflection-space looks identical to the Prime Material Plane space being reflected except that (1) any reflected beings are only silent images that cannot be interacted with, and (2) the space only exists in the area that is included in the reflection plus a few feet beyond in each direction, beyond which is pure black non-dimensional space. Beings within the reflection only appear in the reflection in which they are located, not any of the others and can only be communicated with via telepathy or similar means. If the mirrors are taken out of alignment, covered, broken, or plunged into  while a character is within the reflection then that character is trapped in non-dimensional space unless he or she has some means of traveling across planes. If the character does not move and the reflection-pattern is recreated exactly then he or she will still be present in the reflection when it reappears. Otherwise, the character will be forever lost in non-dimensional space (with perhaps a miniscule random chance of wandering into another reflection-pattern, or perhaps into the back end of a portable hole).

Even if a character who has been dragged into the mirror manages to slay the mirror-fiend, they will still face a considerable challenge returning to the Prime Material Plane, for they cannot cross through mirrors (nor can they break or move them in the reflection-space). Unless the character has some means of traveling across planes, the only ways to get back to the Prime Material Plane are (1) to force or convince a mirror-fiend to carry them, or (2) to cover him or herself with the blood of a freshly slain mirror-fiend. Each mirror-fiend has sufficient blood (a nasty-smelling, sticky black ichor) to cover up to three human-sized individuals and their possessions, but the blood only retains its potency for three turns after the mirror-fiend is slain. A blood-coated individual can pass through one reflection-level per round. If the character wasn’t keeping count it may be a matter of trial and error how many reflection-levels they must pass through to reach the Prime Material Plane, and if there are no companions there to serve as an anchor, it may not be immediately obvious which layer is actually the correct one until they try to move beyond the reflection-area.

Mirror-fiends’ treasure is always stored in their lair on the 13th reflection-level. While this lair can be reached by following the reflections in both directions from the Prime Material Plane, there is only one lair, not two. If two or more characters have entered their lair from opposite directions at the same time they will end up in the same place and temporarily can return to the Prime Material Plane in either direction, unless all of them leave in the same direction.

Mirror-fiends communicate with each other telepathically and do not speak or make any noise.

Description: These creatures generally appear as a distorted, horrible version of the individual(s) looking into the mirrors in which they dwell - their flesh is pallid, their teeth and fingernails sharp, and their eyes featureless and black. Their true, natural form is as thin and gray-skinned humanoids with sharp talons, oversized jaws and pointed teeth, and stringy white hair, but this form is only likely to ever be visible to an individual with true seeing or similar ability.

The Heroic Legendarium

Most of the 11 readers of this blog are probably familiar with the "AD&D Companion," the book of uncollected AD&D material by Gary Gygax (mostly from Dragon magazine) + original material I wrote based on or inspired by Gary's unrealized ideas and post-TSR games, that I compiled a few years ago and distributed as a pdf. I put a lot of work into that document and was pretty proud of it, but due to the nature of its contents was always leery of distributing it too widely lest I invite a Cease & Desist Letter from Wizards of the Coast or the Gygax Estate, or both.

Those same 11 readers may also remember that there was some D&D rules content on this blog (some new races, spells, monsters, magic items, etc.) that is no longer here. The two are related.

A couple months ago I began revising the Companion to remove all of the content that was directly copied from a prior source - in some cases adapting it, in other cases leaving it on the cutting room floor - as well as editing the whole thing to become OGL-compatible via OSRIC, which consisted mostly of changing references from "DM" to "GM" and not referring to AD&D or any of its rulebooks by name, but also of substituting out a few other "protected IP" terms - such as names of particular off-limits monsters, planes, locations, and characters. [A key point worth mentioning here is that in those cases where the OSRIC rules differ from AD&D - either through that work's editors' legal caution or personal preferences - I have not adapted my work to their standards and in particular have not adapted any of the alternate/substitute versions of AD&D classes found in Dangerous Dungeons (though I have pulled some names of monsters and planes from there).] Doing all of that left about 2/3 of the material from the Companion - those parts I wrote or adapted myself - all safely OGL compliant. From there I started plugging in new material I'd written since the Companion was released, as well as revising and updating the contents to reflect a couple years of additional playtesting and feedback. Some of this material has previously been posted here, but much of it is new.

That effort is still ongoing (a lot of new material exists only in rough-draft or outline form and still needs to be expanded and polished) but I'm making good progress and it seems likely at this point that within a couple of months I will have a document at least the size of the original Companion (if not larger) that consists entirely of original content - some of it adapted from other games, the rest of it original to me, but inspired by the spirit and flavor of Gary Gygax's AD&D. I'm calling this new version The Heroic Legendarium (because I obviously can't use its old name) and I think it's going to be very useful to anyone who plays AD&D or OSRIC in the manner of the original Gary Gygax-penned rules and adventures - that it really will feel like something TSR might have put out had Gary remained in control and the company not shifted directions creatively, a way for those of us who still hold onto and prefer that original creative vision to continue in that direction rather than remaining frozen in amber.

A few items from the old version are gone (Roger Moore's very long and boring article from Dragon magazine about the Astral Plane has been deleted and adapted into 2-3 paragraphs of useful info, the monsters and magic items collected from TSR's 1984-85 modules are no longer included, and neither is the Hunter class) but I feel the new material that's been added in their place all still captures the same spirit more than makes up the difference. I'm also declaring everything in the book to be "OSRIC Reference Content," so that any other OSRIC-licensed product may use and refer back to it: if someone writing an OSRIC adventure wants to use one of the classes, races, monsters, magic items, or anything else from this book they will be able to. I'm probably kidding myself about the likelihood of anyone actually doing so, but it seems kind of cool that they'll at least have the option to.

The downside (for you, not for me) is that now that I will no longer under the cloud of potential C&Ds, I'm no longer going to give it away for free - it will go up on one or more web-stores (as pdf and/or POD) and I too may get to live the dream of earning dozens of dollars as an rpg publisher. I don't have an estimated release date yet because I'm still working on the text (and haven't even begun to tackle the subsequent challenges of transforming that text into a credible publishable product) but I've made sufficient progress, and am sufficiently excited, that I wanted to share this update with all 11 of you, to let you know what I've been up to during the last few months and what's to come in the future. I hope you'll stay tuned!

[D&D] "Lost" Gygax Monsters (Part 6)

Finishing this series up with a variety of demons. All of them were introduced in Gary's Gord novels - the cataboligne in Saga Of Old City (TSR, 1985) and Necropolis (as "blue demon"), Vuron in Sea of Death, the others in Dance of Demons - and were given AD&D stats by the illustrious GT.

Note that in addition to all of these creatures from Gary's novels, the massive document that GT sent me also included a large number of creatures of his own design, or adapted from other sources, that fill in both even more of AD&D's planar cosmology and also the other continents and realms on the planet of Oerth (Gonduria, Jahind, Suhfang, etc.) that were mentioned but never detailed by Gary. This stuff is also great, and fully captures and conveys the same flavor as Gary's creations (and, given that he did some work with Gary in the post-TSR era, it's likely that Gary would have given at least some of these creations his "official" blessing had he been in position to do so) and is very much worth sharing, but I don't really consider it my place to do so here. Hopefully he will some day see fit to share them more widely himself :)

DEMON

Cataboligne

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: -3

MOVE: 9"

HIT DICE: 9

% IN LAIR: 20%

TREASURE TYPE: G

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1 – 6/1 – 6/ 2 - 8

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: +3 or better weapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 60%

INTELLIGENCE: Very

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

SIZE: L (8'+ tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: 150

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 2900 + 12/HP

Cataboligne demons are quite nasty, and often summoned to be used as guardians.  They may, at will and once per melee round, use the following abilities: animate dead (as 9^th level magic-user), cause fear (as wand), cause paralysis (as wand), change self, darkness (10' radius), detect invisible, dispel magic, levitate (as a 9^th level magic-user), magic missile (four missiles), telekinese (4000 g.p.), and teleport (no error).  Catabolignes regenerate as do trolls until they are totally slain. 

This demon has a wrinkled visage with wide, fanged mouth, yellow eyes with horizontally-slitted pupils, and horns.  Its body is gray-blue and covered by plated scales, and twin rows of triangular spines run down its back.  Its hands and feet are wickedly-clawed and its somewhat short tail ends in a spike.

Dusin

FREQUENCY: Rare

NO. APPEARING: 1 - 6

ARMOR CLASS: -2

MOVE: 9"//12"

HIT DICE: 9

% IN LAIR: 10%

TREASURE TYPE: D

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 or 1

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/2-12 or by weapon type

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Tail

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 55%

INTELLIGENCE: Average

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

SIZE: M (7')

PSIONIC ABILITY: 100

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 2600 + 12/HP

These demons are servants to Demogorgon (q.v.), and often serve as his personal guards.  They attack with their claws and vicious bite, and may sweep their tail at opponents behind them for 2 – 8 points.  They may, at will and once per melee round, use the following abilities: darkness (10' radius), detect invisible, cause fear (as wand), levitate (as 9^th level magic-user), polymorph self, telekinese (4000 g.p.), and teleport (no error).  They have a 30% chance to gate in 1 – 2 more dusins.  Dusins commonly wield +1 iron-bladed halberds.

Dusins appear as large, scaled humanoids with crocodile heads and scaly tails.  Their arms are somewhat stubby and end in clawed hands.  Their normal habitat is within the swamps of Demogorgon’s realm.  Demogorgon can field nearly 50,000 of these demons if needed.*

*See “Dance of Demons”, page 85, by Gary Gygax.

Nergel (Lord of Unlife)

FREQUENCY: Unique

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: -5

MOVE: 12"

HIT DICE: 96 hp

% IN LAIR: 50%

TREASURE TYPE: H, V

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-7/2-7

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better weapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 65%

INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius (19)

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

SIZE: L (7' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: 230

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: X/ 43,680*

Nergel is a dark and dour demon lord having dominion over the unliving.  He has the fealty of legions of shadows (q.v.) and shadow demons (q.v.) in the Abyss, and occasionally is known to be at odds with Graz’zt.

Nergel appears as a hunch-backed man with misshapen shoulders and an uneven gait.  He has slab-like cheeks around a fanged mouth; dark eyes that flash orange when he is angry, and a wattled neck.  He wears black robes and carries an ebon staff.  This staff is +3 to hit and possesses two major powers: first, its touch will slay any creature not of like or higher status to Nergel if they fail a save versus Death magic (d6+3 damage if save is made), and secondly it can instantly summon seven babau demons (once per day).  If he opts not to use his staff to attack, he may make two attacks with his clawed hands.  Nergel may also use any of the following powers at will, once per melee round: animate dead, cause fear (as wand), charm monster, charm person, clairvoy, clairaudience, continual darkness, create illusion (as wand), detect invisible, detect magic, dispel magic, ESP, polymorph self, read languages, read magic, suggest, telekinese (9,000gp), and teleport (no error).  Once each day he may summon either 3 – 18 shadows or 2 – 8 shadow demons within one round.

His realm is called Meslamtaius (level 353), and is a benighted realm with dust-covered plains and deep caverns.  It is largely inhabited by Type I demons, shadow demons, shadows, manes, skeletons, and zombies.  He is consort to Ereshkigal (q.v.).

Ojukalazogadit

FREQUENCY: Unique

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: 8 overall, but variable to -4

MOVE: Special

HIT DICE: Infinite

% IN LAIR: 100%

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: See below

DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil

INTELLIGENCE: Low

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

SIZE: L (a plane of the Abyss)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: N/A

Ojukalazogadit is a sexless, sprawling, imbecilic mass of chaotic matter that covers an entire layer (the 366^th) of the Abyss under a featureless orange sky.  Its surface is mostly a disgusting dun color, resembling ulcerous, infected flesh.  It constantly seethes, pulses, exudes vile fluids, and extrudes extremities or forms gaping maws; and the entirety reeks of decay.  Its consistency ranges from sinking morass to steel-hard chitin.  Shrieks, moans, gurgling, rending sounds, and other disturbing noises are constantly emitted by the being in a maddening cacophony.

Because of its very nature, its attacks are entirely variable—it is fully capable of attacking and devouring anything from insect size up to a behemoth.  Methods of attack range from mandibles, claws, tentacles, pseudopods, fanged mouths, adhesive mucus, acidic or alkaline secretions, poisonous vapors, and any number of other forms; all made from its mass and then reabsorbed!  Damage is, of course, variable depending on the attack.

Only the entital force of a Greater God can possibly have any lasting effect upon Ojukalazogadit, due to its sheer size and power.

Palvlag (Demon Lord of Flame)

FREQUENCY: Unique

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: -5

MOVE: 9"/18"

HIT DICE: 144 hp

% IN LAIR: 50%

TREASURE TYPE: S, T, U, V, W, X, Z

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2 – 8 (x2) or by weapon +8

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better weapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%

INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius (19)

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

SIZE: L (12' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: 244

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: X /52,050*

Palvlag, like Pazuzu and Shabriri, is a surviving proto-demon.  He appears as a type VI demon with four eyes of flaming orange.  His very blood is molten phlogiston.  There is a marked resemblance between Palvlag and Marduk, Lord of the Type VI demons, and they may be related.

Palvlag will usually attack with his claws rather than a weapon, but at times he will wield a gigantic two-handed +3 flaming sword (2 – 12 +3, +8 for STR).  He may immolate at will to inflict 6 – 24 points of damage on any creature not immune to fire attacks within a 10' radius.  He also has the following abilities, usable at will once per melee round: astral travel, darkness (50' radius), detect invisible, detect magic, flesh to stone, know alignment, pyrotechnics, shape change, tongues, teleport (no error), wall of fire, and unholy word.  Palvlag may also use wish once per day and symbol (1 each of pain, hopelessness and death).  His gaze causes insanity to anyone he wills (save vs. Spell), and thrice each day he may breathe fire from his mouth (as a red dragon) doing 66 points of damage.  He may gate in 6 Type VI demons (75% chance).  He has double normal range infravision and ultravision, and he regenerates 1 hit point every round.

Palvlag lacks the odd sense of humor common to Pazuzu and Shabriri, and he is a serious opponent in combat.

Shabriri (Demon Lord of Water & Blindness)

FREQUENCY: Unique

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: -8

MOVE: 12"//20"

HIT DICE: 155 hp

% IN LAIR: 20%

TREASURE TYPE: S, T, U, V, W, X, Z

NO. OF ATTACKS: 5

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2 – 8 (x4)/2 – 12

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better weapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%

INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius (19)

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

SIZE: L (10' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: 255

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: X/ 56,700*

Shabriri has the form of a hulking demon with horn-plated flesh and four arms ending in clawed hands.  His head has four red-glowing eyes and a fang-filled maw.  Like Pazuzu, Shabriri is a proto-demon of ancient origin and is on fairly decent terms with some daemon lords.  Also like Pazuzu, he possesses an odd sense of humor and enjoys toying with victims and following odd whims.  He may actually prolong combat with foes if he finds it amusing!

He prefers to attack and rend with his four clawed hands and bite, but this demon lord also has the following abilities, usable at will once per melee round: astral travel, cause blindness, create water, darkness (50' radius), detect invisible, detect magic, flesh to stone, know alignment, raise/lower water, shape change, tongues, teleport (no error), unholy word, and wall of fog.  In addition, Shabriri may use wish once per day and symbol (1 each of pain, hopelessness and death).  His gaze causes insanity to anyone he wills (save vs. Spell), and thrice each day he may expel a gout of negative energy stuff from his mouth that does 66 points of damage to one victim up to 1" range (save vs. Spell for ½ damage).  He may gate in 6 Type IV demons (75% chance) if pressed.  He has double normal range infravision and ultravision, and he regenerates 1 hit point every round.

 

Skurda

FREQUENCY: Rare

NO. APPEARING: 1 – 4

ARMOR CLASS: -3

MOVE: 15"

HIT DICE: 10

% IN LAIR: 15%

TREASURE TYPE: B

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10/1-10/1-6

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poison sting

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%

INTELLIGENCE: Low

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

SIZE: L (10' long)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 4050 + 15/HP

Skurda are fearsome demons that are used as guards by several Abyssal rulers, notably Graz'zt and Lolth.  Skurda have the appearance of hulking, scorpion-bodied demons with a human-like torso and arms, both covered in armoring chitin.  Their heads have compound eyes, and mandibles around their mouth.  Their arms end in fearsome pincers.

Skurda attack with their mighty pincers (Strength = 18) and tail sting.  In addition to wounding, the stinger is poison and requires a saving throw at -1, failure of which indicates death!  They may use the following powers, at will, once per melee round: Darkness (15' radius), detect invisible, telekinese (3000 g.p.), and teleport (no error).  They may also gate in another skurda (30% chance).

Verin (Vuron) (Demon Lord)

FREQUENCY: Unique

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: 0 (-4)

MOVE: 12"

HIT DICE: 96 hp

% IN LAIR: 20%

TREASURE TYPE: U, Z

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2

DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better weapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 70%

INTELLIGENCE: Godlike (22)

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil (neutral)

SIZE: L (8' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: 230

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: X/ 45,023*

Verin appears as a tall, thin, sexless albino humanoid with reddish-pink eyes.  His face is handsome, though stamped with evil, and his voice is bell-like.  He is lord general and viceroy to Graz’zt, and is utterly loyal to that demon prince.  While Graz’zt was imprisoned by Iggwilv, Verin continued to administer his realm until the demon prince returned.  Although he certainly has the demonic capacity for rage and cruelty, Verin tends to be more measured and thoughtful in his actions than most of his ilk.  He is well-versed in arcane knowledge and in battle strategy.

He wields a +4 lance in battle that is composed of milky crystal, with which he strikes twice in a round.  Any creature struck by it must save vs. death at -4 or die.  Even such as a demon lord or daemon ruler must save (but without penalty) or perish!  Those who save will still take 5 – 50 points of damage from the fell energies contained within this weapon.  He will wear armor of silvery metal into battle that gives him an AC of -4.

Verin has the following powers usable at will, once per melee round: charm person, clairaudience, clairvoyance, darkness (15' radius), detect good, detect invisible, detect magic, ESP, etherealness (self), fear (as wand), heal (3/day), suggestion, , telekinese (9,000 gp), and teleport (no error).  Once per day, he has an 85% chance of gating in 1 – 2 Type VI demons (90%) or Graz’zt himself (10%).

[D&D] "Lost" Gygax Monsters (Part 5)

Continuing with a selection of creatures native to the Outer Planes, all originally described by Gary Gygax in his novels Come Endless Darkness and Dance of Demons (both New Infinities, 1988) and again statted out for AD&D by GT, who has kindly given me permission to share his efforts here:

CACODEMON

FREQUENCY: Uncommon

NO. APPEARING: 1 – 3 or 4 - 16

ARMOR CLASS: 0

MOVE: 9"

HIT DICE: 8 - 10

% IN LAIR: 10%

TREASURE TYPE: D

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1 – 4/1 – 4/2 - 12

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 65%

INTELLIGENCE: Very

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil (neutral)

SIZE: L (6' - 8' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 2375 + 13/HP

Cacodemons are hideous monstrosities, having the worst of demonic features, which appear to have melted in places.  Their flesh seems to writhe and their eyes (of which they have 1 – 6) are lambent.  They roam the howling, distorted landscapes of Pandemonium, where they are the most common denizens.  They attack with their clawed hands and a bite from their wide mouth.  They regenerate three hit points per round starting the round after they are first damaged, reattaching any severed parts and re-growing eyes and other organs.  Only fire-based attacks do permanent damage.

Cacodemons have the following innate abilities, usable at will, one per melee round: cause fear (as wand), detect invisible, detect magic, infravision, polymorph self (3/day), teleport (no error).  Once each turn, they may give vent to a howl which combines the effects of fear and confusion.  They take half damage from acid, cold, gas, and wind attacks; and are immune to attacks of silver or any weapon of under +1 magic bonus.  If a spell directed at them does not overcome the creature’s magic resistance, there is a 50% chance that it will rebound upon the one casting it rather than merely failing to activate.

These creatures will only have treasure in their lairs.

DREGGAL

FREQUENCY: Common

NO. APPEARING: 3 - 30

ARMOR CLASS: 1

MOVE: 12"

HIT DICE: 5

% IN LAIR: 20%

TREASURE TYPE: L (x10), M, O, Q

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6 or by weapon

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 30%

INTELLIGENCE: Average

ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil (lawful)

SIZE: M (5½' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: V/ 285 + 5/HP

These beings inhabit the fuming and heat-glowing tiers of Gehenna and are considered by most other netherbeings to be amongst the “dregs” of such creatures, and hence the common appellation¹.  As they are looked down upon by most other creatures, they have a hatred of all those who are more powerful than they are (especially barghests and devils), and are bullies to those (few) that are weaker.

These creatures have the following abilities, usable once per round at will: affect normal fires, burning hands (5 pts. damage), change self, detect good, detect magic, fear (by touch), pyrotechnics, and teleport (no error).  They may be struck by non-magical weapons, but are immune to fire and poison damage.  Cold attacks do double damage to them.

Dreggals appear as rather short humanoids with spidery limbs and hoofed feet.  Their dark skin is pocked and covered with wart-like bumps, their faces are bat-like and their craniums are covered with spikes.  Their voice has a metallic quality to it.  They are sly and prying by nature, and thus very unpopular with other netherbeings.

¹As per Gary Gygax

DUMALDUN

FREQUENCY: Uncommon

NO. APPEARING: 3 - 12

ARMOR CLASS: 0

MOVE: 15"

HIT DICE: 8 (monkey, gibbon, STR: 18/76), 9 (chimp, mandrill, STR: 18/00), 10 (orangutan, gorilla, STR: 19)

% IN LAIR: Nil

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2 – 8/2 – 8/3 - 12

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 5%/HD

INTELLIGENCE: Low to average

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil (neutral)

SIZE: L (7' - 9' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VIII/ 3000 + 14/HP

The dumalduns roam in packs the chill acid swamp regions of the basalt plains of Tarterus; usually avoiding the tar pits, bubbling slime and quicksand that are the territories of the demodands.  Demodands will sometimes use them as shock troops, but they are too savagely unpredictable to serve in most other capacities.

Dumalduns have the appearance of large, dingy-furred, simian-featured monsters; their faces resembling gibbons, gorillas, mandrills, orangutans, and such.  They have vicious claws and terrible fanged and tusked maws.  Their claws are endowed with venom derived of negative planar material, and any hits scored thus require a save versus poison at –2 or death results.  As they attack they gibber and howl, causing fear (as a wand).  They have infravision and ultravision to 12".  On their native plane they are known to fashion spears from frozen acid and utilize these as weapons (1 – 8 + 2d4 acid damage).

These beasts are immune to acid and poison attacks, and take but half damage from cold attacks.  A +1 or better weapon is required to harm them.

HIPPOKERES

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NO. APPEARING: 2 - 12

ARMOR CLASS: 2

MOVE: 12" (24" charge)

HIT DICE: 8

% IN LAIR: Nil

TREASURE TYPE: Nil

NO. OF ATTACKS: 1

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3 - 12

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Charge, trample

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Low

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral

SIZE: L (14'+ long)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VI/ 725 + 10/HP

Hippokeres appear as huge (7' at the shoulder) creatures with a rhino-like body and legs (of which it has six) and a horse-like head with a long horn set over its nose.  Its skin is extraordinarily tough and damage resistant, and its mouth is filled with sharp and extremely hard teeth.  They are notably ill tempered, even among other demon beasts, and only the most powerful of Lords and Princes can successfully harness them.  They are seldom found above the 400^th level of the Abyss. If they hit an opponent while charging, damage from their horn is doubled, and a trample does 3 – 24 points of damage to any creature of eight-foot height or less.  This attack form requires at least a 2" running start.  Hippokeres take but half damage from cold, fire and poisonous gas attacks.

MAELVI

FREQUENCY: Common

NO. APPEARING: 2 – 8 or 20 -100

ARMOR CLASS: 1 [-1]

MOVE: 15"

HIT DICE: 6+6 [8]

% IN LAIR: 15%

TREASURE TYPE: C

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-5/2-5 or by weapon (+4) x2

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 40%

INTELLIGENCE: Low to average [High]

ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil (neutral)

SIZE: M (7' tall)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/ 1000 + 10/HP

The maelvis make up the largest contingent of those creatures native to the charnel and reeking planes of Acheron, whereon their mighty armies clash.  These beings usually travel about in small groups, but occasionally they will gather into great, regimented hordes under the direction of various leaders [stats are in brackets], who in turn answer to Netherlords.  These hordes meet to do battle with one another.

Maelvis possess the following abilities usable once per melee round: animate dead, cause fear (as wand), detect good, detect magic, stinking cloud.  They may be harmed by non-magical weapons, but are unharmed by acid, alkaline or poison.  They take but half damage from cold or fire attacks.

They are tall and skeletal in appearance, with rather large heads.  They are agile and their tough skin is covered in bony ridges, and they possess sharp-taloned hands, making them dangerous foes.  They generally utilize katana-like swords with saw-edged backs (Dam = d12, 2d4+1 on a backstroke) or pole arms, generally of the glaive or guisarme sort. Leaders will have weapons of +1 or +2 magical bonus.

NETHERLORD

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NO. APPEARING: 1

ARMOR CLASS: -1 or better

MOVE: 15"

HIT DICE: 11 - 15

% IN LAIR: 20%

TREASURE TYPE: A, S

NO. OF ATTACKS: 1

DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 55% - 75% (5%/HD)

INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius

ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

SIZE: M

PSIONIC ABILITY: Possible

LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: X/variable (13,000 max.)*

The Netherlords are the powerful rulers of Acheron, commanding hordes of maelvis, as well as the zombies and skeletons they have animated.  The most powerful of them is Hafdoligor Kaathbaen (120 hp; AC:  -4), Lord of the Undead, who controls large groups of skeletons, zombies, wights, and wraiths.  It is unknown whether Netherlords are native to Acheron or were powerful necromancers who migrated there from the Prime Material.

All Netherlords appear as tall (6' - 7'), gaunt humans with red-glowing eyes and wearing black armor and helm.  The armor type is variable, but always magical and always at least equal to AC -1.  They will generally wield a mace or staff of great power (such as a +2 staff of withering or +3 mace of life-stealing [as the sword]…) and their 18(00) Strength gives them a +6 bonus to damage.  They are often astride an armored nightmare of maximum hit points (AC:  -5, hit points: 54) when encountered during battle.  They are immune to energy-draining attacks and take half damage from cold attacks.

They wield the following necromantic type spells once/round at will as a 15^th level spellcaster: animate dead, cause serious wounds,  energy drain (as m-u spell, 3/day), slay living (3/day), and speak with dead.  They otherwise cast clerical spells at a level equal to their hit dice.  A Netherlord may also summon 2 – 8 mire wraiths, once each day, and will always have one maelvi leader and at least 2 – 8 regular maelvi nearby.  A few Netherlords are known as “The Lords of Evil” and are allied with the god Hextor.