Wednesday, May 16, 2018

[D&D] Flanaess Cuisine

Gary Gygax loved to talk about food and drink. As anyone who participated in the online Q&A sessions with him at places like ENWorld and Dragonsfoot can attest, he would frequently veer off on tangents about those topics, which were clearly more interesting to him than the sorts of D&D rules minutia that the fans wanted to discuss. Therefore, its no surprise that he tended to include detailed descriptions of such matters in both the D&D gamebooks and his later novels - most famously in the description of the Inn of the Welcome Wench in The Village of Hommlet and in chapter 14 of his novel Saga of Old City, in which he devotes several pages to an exacting course-by-course itemization of every item shared by Gord and Gellor at the Horn and Haunch tavern in the city of Stoink. However, those are far from the only mentions of food and drink - Gene Weigel uncovered dozens more, large and small. There are so many references to food and drink in Gary's Greyhawk works that it's possible by combining them all to get a pretty detailed picture of what he imagined the typical diet of that imaginary world's inhabitants to be.

One thing that stands out immediately is that it is strictly medieval, with all "New World" foods such as potatoes, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, chocolate, vanilla, and tobacco conspicuous by their total absence (at least in all of the references I checked). This is a bit surprising, both because Gary generally wasn't hung up on "anachronism" (and in his later years advocated moving the default technological base of D&D forward to approx. 1650 for everything except gunpowder) and furthermore because he posited a class of cosmopolitan inter-planar travelers with knowledge of other worlds, including modern-day earth, and surely could have brought back such items (similarly to how Gord purchases several bottles of 1947 Chateau Margaux Margaux from a wine merchant in Weird Way), but the consistent absence of such items can only have been deliberate. With that in mind, and aided by several Google searches, I've filled in a few blank spots in the culinary landscape based on typical European medieval cuisine.

Does any of this matter or make a difference when playing D&D? Not really - as long as you know that a "merchant's meal" costs 1 s.p. and a week's supply of rations costs 3 g.p. for "standard" or 5 g.p. for "iron" per the Players Handbook it probably doesn't affect the game to know what exactly they consist of. And yet, added detail can also make the game more immersive, and help the players to picture the imaginary world. Going into exhaustive detail on every meal the characters consume is undoubtedly overkill, and yet the bill of fare at the Inn of the Welcome Wench with its list of exotic wines and brandies is still fondly remembered almost 40 years later as the kind of detail and flavor that made Gary Gygax's version of D&D so evocative.

Breakfast: bread (loaves, rolls, muffins), gruel/porridge (semolina, groat clusters), oat cakes, herbs, berries (whortleberries ("European blueberries"), lingonberries, blackberries, black currants), jellies, honey, cream & butter; herbal tea* or small beer (There's no mention of bacon, eggs, breakfast sausages, or ham - presumably in the Flanaess such hearty breakfast fare is consumed solely by hard-laboring farmers and not by city-dwellers or travelers)

Poor fare: gruel, soups, stews ("slumgullion"), hard black bread; small beer or sour wine

Dinner/supper - common inn and tavern fare: loaves of bread, puddings, soups, stews (ragout), steak and kidney pies (hot at dinner, cold at supper), smoked meat and fish, roasted meat (pork, mutton), roasted fowl (capon), sausages, fresh fruit and nuts**, boiled eggs, cheeses, butter, honey; beer (small beer, ale, stout, milk stout), herbal tea, honey mead, wine, mulled wine

Dinner/supper - rich or elaborate fare: fresh fish (poached salmon, stuffed trout), exotic seafood (smoked eel, boiled crayfish in drawn butter, crayfish soup), roasted venison, roasted or stuffed fowl (squab, pheasant, goose), fresh greens and vegetables (mushrooms and truffles, radishes, pickles, scallions, salads), spices (pepper, saffron, ginger), rare and imported cheeses***, butter and cream, fresh fruits and berries, tarts (berry, nut, mincemeat), iced cakes; rare and imported wines and brandies****, whiskey

Travelers' fare (i.e. "standard rations"): hard sausages, dried fruit, dried fish, wheat loaves, cheese, pickled vegetables and eggs (iron rations = jerky, hard tack, hard cheese, dried nuts)

Regional variances: In Gary's works the menus are mostly the same whether the meals are being served in Stoink, Urnst, Hommlet, Veluna, or Greyhawk City. Some of that is presumably due to the characters typically dining in inns and taverns, which are likely to be more similar to each other than if they were dining in local homes (noble or peasant). Also, those locations are all centrally located along the tributaries of the Nyr Dyv, and had Gary gone into more detail on the cuisine of far-flung locales we might have seen more variety. To step outside of this "canonical" baseline, the notion of Cultural Approximations in Greyhawk suggests some fairly obvious regional specialties - waffles from the Duchy of Urnst, raclette from Perrenland, breaded veal cutlets from Veluna, haggis from Geoff and Sterich, etc.

*Tea is mildly anachronistic in comparison to the other mentioned foods (since it wasn't commonly introduced to Europe until the 17th century) but nevertheless Gary mentions it frequently, and even includes a couple of dedicated tea-houses. Characters consume a variety of different herbal teas including alder-root tea, bark tea, blackberry tea, lingonberry tea, and an unspecified "smokey-flavored tea," but never common black or green tea

**based on the list of common trees in the World of Greyhawk Guide pp. 6-7: apple, apricot, cherry, chestnut, fig, galda (Oerth-native), grapefruit, kara (Oerth-native), lemon, lime, mulberry, olive, orange, peach, pear, pine, plum, usk (Oerth-native), walnut, yarpick (Oerth-native)

***Gary describes and named several such cheeses, including smoked Okelard cheese (presumably equivalent to gouda), Kettite goat cheese, Perrenlander cheese (equivalent to Swiss), Wickler from the Yeomanry (a blue cheese), and Djekul - a creamy, smelly cheese from the land of Fruztii (presumably equivalent to something like Pont l'Eveque). Surely there are many more such cheeses in the Flanaess, making this a ripe (ha!) area for further individual development

****A wide variety of wines are named and described, giving us a pretty solid sense of the wine economy of the Flanaess. The Rhennee typically drink a harsh red wine but favor fine wine from Caporna (wherever that may be [EDIT: a town in County Urnst, on the Artonsamay River]). Likewise, the Paynim tribes drink pungent date wine, but value the wine of the Chepnoi people of the Sulhaut mountains. A strange, mildly addictive black wine comes from the Pomarj, but production of it has declined since that land was conquered by humanoids. The major wine-producing areas are Urnst (white wine and special aged brandy) and Keoland (golden wine, amber wine (served chilled), and brandy). Furyondy and Veluna produce comparatively fewer wines, but theirs are among the most celebrated - Furyondian dry white and emerald pale, and Velunan fireamber. However, the rarest and most celebrated wines of the Flanaess are produced by elves - Sunndish elves produce lilac wine, the elves of Celene a ruby wine, emerald wine (served chilled), and nectawine (made from moonberries harvested only when both moons are blue), while the elves of Ulek produce both a heady, sparkling violet wine and their unique "elixir" liqueur. Even the drow produce wine - a black wine with an earthy smell and taste like nothing else that is so strong that consuming a single gill (4 oz.) will make a human tipsy. 

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

AD&D Languages

Another big info-dump post. Here's a list I compiled of all the languages mentioned in the World of Greyhawk set and the various AD&D monster books (where creatures are mentioned as "having their own language"). The initial idea behind this was to come up with a more comprehensive version of the Random Language Determination table on DMG p. 102 but there ended up being so many languages to render that impractical (at least for the moment). So instead of a table I'm just presenting it as a raw list.

Human Languages:
Common
Baklunish (spoken in Ekbir, Ket (alongside Common), Tiger Nomads, Tusmit, Ull, Wolf Nomads, and Zeif)
Flan (spoken in Geoff (alongside Common), Rovers of the Barrens, and Tenh)
Old Oeridian (spoken in Great Kingdom (including Medegia, North Province, Rel Astra, and South Province) and Ratik, generally alongside Common)
Rhennee (spoken by the Rhennee people, alongside Common)

Human Regional Dialects:
Fruz (Suloise/Flan dialect spoken by the Frost, Ice, and Snow Barbarians and in Stonefist - 40% compatible with Suloise and Flan)
Keolandish (Oeridian dialect spoken in Bissel, Gran March, Keoland, Sea Princes, the Ulek States, and the Yeomanry, often alongside Common - 60% compatible with Oeridian and Common)
Lendorian (Suloise dialect spoken alongside Common in the Spindrift Isles - 60% compatible with Suloise and Common)
Nyrondese (Oeridian dialect spoken by peasants and shopkeepers in Almor and Nyrond (alongside Common for learned people) - 60% compatible with Oeridian and Common)
Velondi (Oeridian dialect spoken by rural folk in Furyondy, Veluna, and Verbobonc - 60% compatible with Oeridian)

Archaic Human Languages:
Ancient Baklunish (ancient version of Baklunish still spoken in Plains of the Paynims (alongside Common for traders and educated folk) - 60% compatible with modern Baklunish)
Suloise (dead language now read only by scholars)

Human Foreign Languages:
Changoli
Gondurian
Hepmoni
Jahindi
Mulwari
Olman
High Suhfangese
Low Suhfangese

Common Non-human Languages:
Bugbear*
Dwarvish*
Elvish*
Hill Giant*
Gnome*
Goblin*
Halfling*
Hobgoblin*
Kobold*
Lizardman*
Ogrish*
Orcish*

Uncommon Non-human Languages:
(Booka)
Diakk
Black Dragon*
Brass Dragon*
Copper Dragon*
White Dragon*
Gargoyle*
Fire Giant*
Stone Giant*
Gnoll*
(Grimlock)
Jermlaine
Wererat
Werewolf
Manticore*
(Meazel)
Merman
Water Naga*
Merrow (dialect of Ogrish)
(Ophidian)
Otyugh
Sahuagin
Satyr*
(Troglodyte)
Troll*
Xvart

Rare Non-human Languages:
Carnivorous Ape (rudimentary language)
Aspis
Atomie (dialect of Sprite)
Blink Dog
Brownie*
Bullywug
Centaur*
(Crabman)
Dao
Dark Creeper
(Dire Corby)
Blue Dragon*
Bronze Dragon*
Green Dragon*
Red Dragon*
Pan Lung/Shen Lung
Mist Dragon
Giant Eagle
(Firenewt)
Cloud Giant*
Frost Giant*
Storm Giant*
(Grell)
(Grippli)
Harpy
Hippocampus
Hybsil
Lammasu*
Locathah
Werebear
Wereboar
Giant Lynx
Medusian*
Mimic
Mind Flayer
Minotaur*
Moon Dog
Muckdweller
Spirit Naga*
Nixie*
Giant Owl
(Pech)
Peryton
(Qullan)
Salamander*
Shedu*
Sirine
Andro-/Gynosphinx
Criosphinx
Heiracosphinx
Sprite*
Tabaxi
Tasloi
(Thri-kreen)
(Tiger Fly)
Ice Toad
Treant
Triton
Umber Hulk
Unicorn
Worg

Very Rare Non-human Languages:
Aarakocra
Annis
Banderlog
Beholder
Derro
Djinni
Gold Dragon*
Silver Dragon*
Lung Wang
T’ien Lung
Cloud Dragon
Faerie Dragon
Dragon Turtle
Dryad*
Duergar
(Dune Stalker)
(Eblis)
Drow
Ettin*
Firefriend
Foo Creature
Fog Giant
Mountain Giant
(Githyanki)
(Githzerai)
Greenhag (dialect of Annis)
Grig
Invisible Stalker
Ixitxachitl
Ki-rin
Kuo-Toan
Lava Child
Weretiger
Foxwoman
Seawolf
Wereshark
(Meenlock)
(Morkoth)
Guardian Naga*
Nymph*
Ogre Magian*
Phoenix
Pixie*
Quickling
Svirfneblin (dialect of Gnome - 60% compatible)
Sylph*
Titan*
Wemic
Winter Wolf
Xorn*
(Yeti)
Yuan-ti

Other-Planar Languages:
Demonic
Common Tongue of Hades
Modron
Slaad

Secret/Special Languages:
Alignment Languages (nine in total)
Druidic
Ferral (Oeridian dialect now used as a secret code language among officials of the Iron League - 60% compatible with Oeridian)
Subterranean Trade Language (“Undercommon”)
Thieves Cant

Notes:
I drew a distinction between Ancient Baklunish (as described in the WOG Guide p. 16) and modern Baklunish (per the table on the WOG Glossography p. 31).

The "Human Foreign Languages" were all made up by me, based on various off-map lands mentioned in Gary Gygax's Gord novels.

The "common" non-human languages are the nine listed on p. 34 of the Players Handbook plus the three additional languages (bugbear, gnome, hill giant) that have a 2% or higher occurrence on the DMG p. 102 table, which seemed like a reasonable standard. The "uncommon," "rare," and "very rare" lists are based on the monsters' Frequency (with common monsters that don't fit the above criteria included on the uncommon list).

Non-human languages with asterisks are those included in the table on DMG p. 102.

Non-human languages in parentheses are not mentioned in the books but I'm assuming based on the nature of the creatures that they probably have their own language (and note that the DMG p. 102 table includes several monster-languages that aren't mentioned in the Monster Manual: ettin, gargoyle, manticore, naga, salamander, and xorn).

The other-planar languages are mentioned in the books and are not specific to one monster; based on these it can probably be extrapolated that each Outer Plane has its own Common language (that presumably, like the modron language as described on MM2 p. 86, is related to that plane's corresponding Alignment Language(s)).

Various monster descriptions mention the ability to speak with types of animals - burrowing mammals, woodland animals, snakes, birds, fish, etc. I chose not include any of these as languages per se.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

[D&D] Alternate Monster Names

An often-overlooked section of the AD&D Monster Manual II is its index, which includes not only its own contents but also those of the original Monster Manual and the Fiend Folio, and also lists various alternative names for monsters from all three volumes in addition to the standard names. This is interesting to me, because while some of those names are included in the monster names or descriptions, many of them are not - particularly for the Fiend Folio creatures, which it almost seems as if Gary Gygax or someone else at TSR systemically renamed, perhaps as a memory aid.

Because I think some of these alternate names are fun and in a few cases like them better than the standard ones (and especially like the world-building flavor of different people having different names for the same thing) and because while the index references the standard name for each alternative name but doesn't do the reverse, I decided it was a worthwhile exercise to go through the index to compile all of the alternate names and arrange them by the order of the books for easy reference. So now I can see at a glance that stirges are also called bat birds, ettercaps are sometimes known as spider-beasts, khargra are earth fish, osquips are rock rats, and so on. And, having done that work, I figured other people might also be able to get some use out of it, so I might as well share it.

MONSTER MANUAL:
Ape - Gorilla
Demon, Type I - Vrock
Demon, Type II - Hezrou
Demon, Type III - Glabrezu
Demon, Type IV – Bilwhr, Johud, Nalfeshnee
Demon, Type V – Aishapra, Kevokulli, Marilith, Rehnaremme
Demon, Type VI – Alzoll, Balor, Errtu, Ndulu, Ter-soth, Wendonai
Demon, Demogorgon – Prince of Demons
Demon, Orcus – Prince of the Undead
Demon, Yeenoghu – Demon Lord of Gnolls, Lord of Gnolls
Devil, Horned - Malebranche
Devil, Pit Fiend – Alastor, Baalberith, Baalzephon, Zaebos
Devil, Asmodeus - Overlord
Devil, Baalzebul – Lord of Flies
Devil, Geryon – Wild Beast
Dinosaur, Anatosaurus - Trachodon
Dinosaur, Antrodemus - Allosaurus
Dinosaur, Apatosaurus - Brontosaurus
Dinosaur, Dinichtys – Terrible Fish
Dinosaur, Lambeosaurus – Corythosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Prosaurolophus, Saurolophus
Dinosaur, Stegosaurus – Plated Lizard
Dinosaur, Triceratops - Ceratopsian
Dragon, Black – Acid Dragon
Dragon, Blue – Lightning Dragon
Dragon, Chromatic - Tiamat
Dragon, Green – Gas Dragon
Dragon, Platinum - Bahamut
Dragon, Red – Fire Dragon
Dragon, White – Frost Dragon, Ice Dragon
Dryad – Tree Sprite
Elephant, African - Loxodont
Elf, Aquatic – Sea Elf, Water Elf
Elf, Gray – Faerie Elf
Elf, Wood – Sylvan Elf
Ettin – Two-headed Giant
Eye of the Deep – Water Beholder, Marine Beholder
Flightless Bird – Emu, Ostrich, Rhea
Gargoyle, Kopoacinth – Marine Gargoyle, Water Gargoyle
Gas Spore - Rhizome
Ghoul, Lacedon – Marine Ghoul, Water Ghoul
Gnoll – Hyena Men
Golem, Clay – Clay Man
Golem, Flesh – Frankenstein Monster
Groaning Spirit - Banshee
Herd Animal – Antelope, Giraffe, Musk Ox, Reindeer
Hobgoblin, Koalinth – Marine Hobgoblin, Water Hobgoblin
Ixitxachitl – Vampire Fish
Lamprey – Leech-eel
Lion, Spotted – Cave Lion
Lizard, Fire – False Dragon
Masher – Coral Eater
Mind Flayer - Illithid
Morkoth – Wraith of the Deep
Mule – Burro
Nightmare – Demon Horse, Hell Horse
Nixie – Lake Sprite
Ogre, Aquatic - Merrow
Ogre Mage – Japanese Ogre, Oriental Ogre
Pegasus – Flying Horse
Purple Worm, Mottled – Marine Worm, Water Worm
Ram, Giant – Giant Sheep
Rat, Giant – Sumatran Rat
Remorhaz – Ice Worm, Polar Worm
Tiger, Sabre-tooth - Smilodon
Sahuagin – Devil Men of the Sea, Sea Devil, Water Devil
Satyr - Faun
Sea Horse, Giant – Water Horse
Sea Lion – Water Lion
Shambling Mound - Shambler
Shrieker – Wandering Fungus, Walking Toadstool
Snake, Amphisboena - Two-headed Snake
Sphinx, Crio- - Ram-headed Sphinx
Stirge – Bat Bird
Sylph – Air Nymph
Thought Eater – Eater of Thoughts
Treant – Moss Trunk, Shrubling, Tree Man
Troglodyte – Reptile Man
Weasel – Ferret, Mink, Stoat
Whale – Beluga, Humpback Whale, Killer Whale, Right Whale, Sperm Whale, White Whale
Wight – Barrow-undead
Will-o-wisp – Swamp Lantern
Wyvern – Poison Dragon
Yeti – Abominable Snowman

FIEND FOLIO:
Aarakocra – Bird Man
Adherer – Sticking Mummy
Aleax – Avenger
Al-mi-raj – Unicorn Rabbit, Unicorn Hare
Algoid – Algae-man
Babbler – Mutant Lizard Man
Blindheim – Light-frog
Booka – Attic Sprite
Bullywug – Frog-man
Carbuncle – Ruby Armadillo
Caryatid Column – Pillar Golem
Caterwaul – Screech Cat
Clubnek – Mutant Ostrich
Crypt Thing – Teleporting Skeleton
Dark Stalker - Dark Creeper Leader
Death Dog – Two-headed Dog
Demon, Lolth – Demon Queen of Spiders, Queen of Spiders
Devil Dog – Ice Dog
Dire Corby – Black Bird-man
Disenchanter – Eater of Magic, Magic-eater
Dragon, Li Lung – Earth Dragon
Dragon, Lung Wang – Sea Dragon
Dragon, Pan Lung – Coiled Dragon
Dragon, Shen Lung – Spirit Dragon
Dragon, T’ien Lung – Celestial Dragon
Dragon, Yu Lung – Carp Dragon
Elf, Drow – Dark Elf
Enveloper – Dough-man
Ettercap – Spider-beast
Eye Killer – Bat Snake, Snake Bat
Firedrake – Miniature Red Dragon
Firenewt – Newt Man
Fire Snake – Larval Salamander
Forlarren – Evil Nymph
Frost Man – Ice Demon
Galltrit - Gremlin
Gambado – Spring Monster
Garbug – Flying Lobster
Giant, Mountain – Summoning Giant
Giant Strider – Firenewt Steed
Goldbug – Coin Creature
Gorbel – Red Beholder
Grell – Flying Brain
Hellcat – Devil’s Familiar
Hoar Fox – Ice Fox
Hound of Ill Omen – Omen Hound
Ice Lizard – Miniature White Dragon
Imorph - Imitator
Iron Cobra – Metal Snake
Jaculi – Javelin Snake
Jermlaine – Bane-midge, Jinxkin
Kamadan – Snake Leopard
Kelpie – Seaweed Woman
Kenku – Hawk Man
Khargra – Earth Fish
Killmoulis – Grain Pest
Kuo-toa – Fish Man, Goggler
Lava Children – Volcano Men
Mantari – Air Ray
Meazel - Strangler
Necrophidius – Dance of Death, Death Worm
Ogrillon – Ogre-orc, Orc-ogre
Osquip – Rock Rat
Pernicon – Grasshopper Beast
Quipper – Cold-water Piranha
Retriever – Spider Construct
Revenant – Undead Avenger
Rothe – Subterranean Ox
Screaming Devilkin – Mephit Devil
Sheet Phantom – Sheet Wraith
Shocker – Electric Man
Skeleton Warrior – Undead Lord
Skulk – Blending Man
Slaad, Death – Lesser Master
Slaad, Gray – Executioner
Slaad, Ssendam – Lord of the Insane
Slaad, Ygorl – Lord of Entropy
Snyad - Pestie
Son of Kyuss – Worm Zombie
Stunjelly – Paralyzing Wall
Sussurus – Headless Droning Ape, Singing Ape
Svirfneblin – Burrow Warden, Deep Gnome
Tabaxi – Cat Man
Thork – Copper Stork
Thoqqua – Fire Worm, Rockworm
Tiger Fly – Man-fly
Troll, Spirit – Invisible Stalker-troll
Tween – Luck Changer
Umpleby – Electric Beast
Vodyanoi – Green Hulk, Aquatic Umber Hulk, Water Umber Hulk
Witherstench – Mutant Skunk, Skunk Beast
Xvart – Blue Goblin, Blue Kobold

MONSTER MANUAL II:
Aurumvorax – Golden Gorger
Barghest – Devil Dog
Bloodthorn – Vampire Thorn Vine
Bookworm – Paper Eater
Choke Creeper – Strangle Vine
Cooshee – Elven Dog
Crane, Giant – Giant Heron
Daemon, Oinodaemon – Anthraxus, Bubonis, Choleria, Diptherius, Typhous
Demilich – Ghostlich
Demon, Babau – Ebony Death, One-horned Horror
Demon, Bar-lgura – Leaping Demon
Demon, Chasme – Fly Demon
Demon, Nabassu – Stealer of Death
Demon, Baphomet – Lord of Minotaurs
Demon, Fraz-urb’Iuu – Prince of Deception
Demon, Pazuzu – Prince of the Air
Devil, Abishai – Reptile Devil, Scaly Devil
Dinosaur, Tennodontosaurs - Ichtyosaurus
Drelb – Haunting Custodian
Duergar – Gray Dwarf, Gray One
Eblis - Storkman
Falcon - Hawk
Firefly, Giant - Firefriend
Forester’s Bane – Snapper-saw
Formian – Ant Man, Centaur-ant, Myrmarch
Froghemoth - Tadhemoth
Greenhag - Shellycoat
Grue, Chaggrin – Soil Beast
Grue, Harginn – Flame Horror
Grue, Ildriss – Wind Terror
Grue, Varrdig - Snowman
Hordling – Hordes of Hades
Luck Eater – Eater of Luck
Lycanthrope, Foxwoman – Silver Fox, Vixen
Mantrap – Man-eating Plant
Miner – Woodland Trapper
Moon Dog – Black Hound, Night Prowler
Myconid – Fungus Man
Narwhale – Ocean Unicorn, Unicorn of the Ocean, Water Unicorn
Ophidian – Snake-man
Pyrolisk – Fire Cockatrice
Quickwood – Spy Tree
Raven – Crow, Rook
Retch Plant – Globe Palm
Selkie - Sealwere
Storoper – Stone Roper, Tar Roper
Twilight Bloom – Purple Death
Vapor Rat – Cloud Rat
Vilstrak – Marl Mugger, Tunnel Thug
Willow, Black – Evil Treant

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

[D&D] [Review] The Red Prophet Rises

I don't really do reviews. Mostly that's because I don't really buy new gaming stuff - both because I already have a lifetime supply, and because most of the new stuff I do run across tends to not be very good (or, more charitably, doesn't line up particularly well with my tastes). Nonetheless, occasionally people will give me stuff for free, and that's what happened here: one of the authors of this module (Malrex) reached out and asked if I'd be willing to read it and share my feedback if he gave me a free copy and I said yes. I gave it a quick skim-read, and found it surprisingly not-bad, and shared my thoughts with the author. And since I've already written them down, I figured I might as well post them here as well, as a review of sorts. The first part is background and summary for the benefit of people who aren't the module's author, followed by my reactions and opinions, pretty much directly copied and pasted from what I already sent to Malrex a few days ago.

The Red Prophet Rises, co-written by Malrex and Prince of Nothing, is a 40-ish page AD&D-ish adventure for characters level 3-5, published by The Merciless Merchants and available for $5 in pdf format (or $10 in print) from Drive-Thru RPG. It's a location-based adventure centering around a canyon occupied by a particularly nasty and brutish gang of cultists and a set of caves beneath their lair, of which they're at least mostly unaware, in which assorted ancient horrors dwell. There's a special horse being held captive that can become the mount of a paladin character, which is a possible hook to draw the players into the adventure; otherwise the DM is left to his or her own devices how to use this adventure (making it truly modular). The cultists in the canyon are bad guys to the core, keeping slaves and making regular bloody sacrifices to their Bull God. This is described in a fair amount of gory detail, but it doesn't go totally over the top. The level of gore is probably about on the level of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventures from the 80s. Which brings up possibly the oddest aspect of this adventure, that it's rather-inexplicably labeled as being for use with the "For Gold & Glory" ruleset which, from what I gather, is an OGL "retro-clone" equivalent to 2nd edition AD&D. This is an odd choice by the authors, because not only did I not notice any particularly 2E-ish elements in the adventure (the NPCs don't have "kits" or "wild magic" or flintlock pistols or any of that stuff, the only specialist wizards are illusionists, etc.) but the tone and style of the adventure is very far from what I think of as "2nd edition AD&D" style: it's dark and bloody, and it's also location-based and open-ended, with minimal backstory and no real "story" except what happens in play. I'm sure the authors had reasons of their own for labeling the book this way, but it seems to me like an odd choice that will probably limit their audience, because people who like the 2E flavor won't like this adventure, and the people who would be more likely to like it probably won't even bother looking at something labeled as crypto-2E. With some very minor changes in the statblocks, this module could just have easily have been released for OSRIC (the 1st edition retro-clone), for which I think it would be a much more natural fit.

And with those preliminaries out of the way, here's what I did (and didn't) like about this adventure based on my skim-reading (I can't claim to have read every word of every encounter, but I feel like I read enough to get a pretty good feel for it):

In general, I like it. I like the set-up with the obvious bad guy cultists on the surface and the more mysterious and weird stuff hidden underneath. That's a pretty standard D&D adventure trope (e.g. Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun) but it's one of my favorites, and the way they've handled it here doesn't just feel like a rehash of earlier work. I like that the villains seems really villainous but without dwelling so much on the gore and cruelty that it feels like they're reveling in or getting off on it. It feels like a situation that could be straight out of a Conan story, which for me is a good thing. I like that the canyon is described in an open-ended manner so there are several different ways the players can approach and deal with it, that there are several flavorful NPCs and potential rival factions, and that there's a suggested timeline of events to make the location seem "alive" (and not just have everybody sitting in their rooms waiting for somebody to come kill them) but that it's not fixed on rails: there are some implicit or potential "scenes" but none of them are fixed or mandatory. I like the way the room descriptions are written and organized, with an introductory paragraph followed by bullet-points enumerating special features and/or possible actions and conditions in a very user-friendly manner that seems like it would work very well at the table - better than when reading. The way the room descriptions include the possibility of different conditions depending on when and how the adventurers encounter them (e.g. that various NPCs and monsters may or may not be present) reminds me a bit of some of my favorite adventures like Dark Tower and Snakepipe Hollow (the latter a RuneQuest adventure).

On the minus side, though, it feels really overwritten to me - like they've taken a situation worth about 20 pages and filled 40 pages with it. The setup feels to me like something that should be a pretty minor adventure - that should fill one or two sessions of play - but the authors have gotten carried away and added too much to it. The adventure details 43 locations, every one of which is described sufficient detail to make it at least potentially a significant and unique encounter. This seems overdone to me: since there are so many rooms and every one of them is something new and different and active there's no real "downtime" - no rising and falling action, but rather it seems like it's "all climax." It feels to me like the authors have crammed too much into the package - that they had so many good ideas and wanted to include all of them - and I think the adventure would've worked just as well (and would probably also be easier to run) if it had about half as many encounters, or at least if there had been more "mundane" stuff mixed in as palate-cleansers to help pace the big moments.

The treasure in the adventure is the same way: all (or almost all) of the treasure is unique magic items with individual names and paragraph-long descriptions of their various functions, most including both benefits and drawbacks for their users. To me this felt like too much, not necessarily the quantity of items as the number of moving parts per item, especially in combination, and especially if the adventure is played as part of a campaign where the players will keep these items and accumulate more on top of them. I know it's conventional wisdom nowadays that generic and from-the-book magic items - +x weapons, etc. - are boring and should be avoided, but in play these things work, because the players get the benefit of them without having to actively think about them, to remember and track all of the moving pieces. Standard magic items are the background against which the unique and colorful items stand out, but when everything is unique and colorful it becomes a burden and frustration, too much to deal with.

Now I get that the authors are in kind of an odd and difficult spot because this is something that they're asking people to pay money for, so they feel the need to give the audience their money's worth in terms of density of fresh and unique stuff that feels like something most readers couldn't have just come up with on their own, and I accept that that's a legitimate concern and that they've maybe handled it in the way they felt was best (make everything special!), but I don't think that necessarily makes for the best adventure to actually sit down and play at the table with a group of friends. If I were to run this in an actual game (and the fact that I'm even thinking in that way means that they've mostly succeeded) I feel like I'd probably end up cutting about half of it out.

Of course I might use something that I cut out of this somewhere else (it's not that I think the encounters are bad, just that there are too many of them; e.g. there are two full pages devoted to a hidden alchemy lab that feel completely excessive to me in this context, but I could totally see this room being inserted into another dungeon where it would fit just fine), and other DMs who feel the same way as I do might choose to cut other encounters than I would (kind of like how everybody agrees that the Beatles' White Album would've been better as a single album but no two fans will ever agree on exactly which songs should have been included on that hypothetical album). Plus we know  that most people who buy this (or any other module) aren't going to actually run it - they're going to dream about it and hopefully draw some inspiration from it and maybe strip-mine some material out of it. So, in that regard, this grousing should be taken with a grain of salt and the authors probably know what they were doing better than my armchair second-guessing gives them credit for. Being in a position that an adventure has too much interesting stuff that you need to trim some of it out to make it manageable to is certainly preferable to the all-too-common alternative of boring adventures that offer nothing that hasn't already been seen a thousand times before or incomplete adventures that the reader/would-be DM has to effectively co-write to turn into something decent and usable.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

[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 9th level magic-user), cause fear (as wand), cause paralysis (as wand), change self, darkness (10' radius), detect invisible, dispel magic, levitate (as a 9th 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 9th 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 366th) 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%).

Saturday, February 24, 2018

[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 400th 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 15th 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.