Cooperative Dungeon IV: Update

[Trainz]

Jackals are like coyotes, lightly-built wild dogs. Hyenas are much larger and more agressive.
I think Trainz intended the hyena-headed gnolls to be interlopers, while the jackal-headed statues are remnants from the tomb's original construction, part of the quasi-Egyptian theme. One of the best-known ancient Egyptian gods was Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the dead, who obviously appears prominently in Egyptian tomb decoration.

Very perceptive, that was very precisely my intent. Also note that the gems on the tomb (room 1) are lapis-lazuli, which were renown to be extensively used in ancient Egypt jewelry.

I recomend using those same gems in the treasures of the inner tomb, to enhance the theme, and the fact that they're 10 g.p. each will make it suitable for EL3 treasures (divide the amount of gold you wanted to give out by 10 (minus magic items) and that's the number of lapis-lazuli you include).

Mark is the one that suggested the theme for this CD, gnolls, outer and inner tomb included. I think that was a very good idea, because this adventure so far looks SWEET ! Well done guys !

 

[Trainz]

Thanks, Wycen!

I guess a Babau demon with a jackal head and covered in mummy wrappings would *really* confuse the heck out of any metagaming munchkins. Something to keep in mind for whomever wants to tackle #21...

That is a fabulous idea. Look at it, the picture already has the leg and arm bracelets found in egyptian art. The PC's would think they are facing the avatar of some evil god, at level 3 ! Way to freak them out ! And the critter's spell-like abilities would only enhance that idea !

 

[Phineas Crow]

I guess a Babau demon with a jackal head and covered in mummy wrappings would *really* confuse the heck out of any metagaming munchkins. Something to keep in mind for whomever wants to tackle #21...

The babau demon could be wearing a jackel head shaped mask and/or helm...

And since its available, I'll take room 21.

 

[tarchon]

What if Toth Nekamek is being "reborn" as a Babau demon? The object of power that' supposed to be in #21 could be the sarcophagus that makes this transformation possible...

I was thinking exactly the same thing. In the old 1st ed. MM, very evil souls could become something like demon grubs after death and advance to become greater demons.
A bitter Toth might resent the cruel joke of fate, bringing him back to his former tomb as a hideous babau demon.

 

[tarchon]

The babau demon could be wearing a jackel head shaped mask and/or helm...

And since its available, I'll take room 21.

"Holy crossovers, Batman! - it's a jafa!"

 

[der_kluge]

This is just a request, but when we create CD5, can we base it off something other than these flat, two-dimensional boring dungeons?

 

[Wycen]

"Holy crossovers, Batman! - it's a jafa!"

Beat me to it.

For Room 7, as I pointed out in the text for Nazgra, she's sort of an apprentice, so when we have a more complete picture we can figure out who her master might be.

 

[tarchon]

The babau demon could be wearing a jackel head shaped mask and/or helm...

And since its available, I'll take room 21.

Hmm... might have to hide the horn in the nose of the jackal.

 

[Phineas Crow]

Hmm... might have to hide the horn in the nose of the jackal.

naw... horned jackels are way cooler than regular jackels...

 

[Conaill]

On the topic of homebrewn versus SRD creatures...

To what extent is it ok to "customize" standard SRD creatures? For example, we had a Smoke Mephit in CD 3, which was just a cosmetic modification of one of the other mephits. And I did add some decidely nonstandard features to the Caretaker in CD 3 as well.

To be concrete, I was thinking of having a swarm of Ushabti (funeral figurines), based on the Rat Swarm in the SRD. Now, I could just take the Rat Swarm stats completely as-is. Even the Filth Fever attack makes sense, in a "curse of the mummy" sort of way. But to be more correct I should really add some Construct traits, such as the lack of Con score and all that comes with that (immunity to anything requiring a Fort save, etc.)

How much of a hassle are these alterations to the editing crew? I assume changing names and minor features is ok. But there's a continuum from that all the way down to having my own homebrewn Tiny Construct Swarm which only barely resembles the rat swarm anymore.

What do you think? Assuming balance and copyright issues are not a problem... how much customization is acceptable for this project?