No, wait. How many different parts was the Twilight Zone movie broken up into? Maybe it's Rod Sterling.
(Also I tend to imagine that he's one of the Dark Powers of Ravenloft and narrates all the ironic curse type events that happen to the darklords)
TSR Example from the worst TSR adventure module(s) ever published
No, wait. How many different parts was the Twilight Zone movie broken up into? Maybe it's Rod Sterling.
(Also I tend to imagine that he's one of the Dark Powers of Ravenloft and narrates all the ironic curse type events that happen to the darklords)
Stormonu
Legend
Ah, just as fresh as the day this thread was scuttled.
Oddly enough, I DO have a lich relic that consists of his entire skeleton scattered about - the Bones of Azurewrath.
It was actually used in my brother's campaign, where they were in a race with the BBEG, who was collecting and reassembling the bones. Sadly, the party failed to stop the BBEG, who collected and absorbed all the bones, resurrecting Azurewrath.
Oddly enough, I DO have a lich relic that consists of his entire skeleton scattered about - the Bones of Azurewrath.
### The Bones of Azurewrath
Artifact, requires attunement
Long ago, during the Dark Ages of Amberos, a mighty wizard grew in power in the Skyland Hold. The mage was named Azurewrath, and he was second only to the Warlord Volk, who ruled the Skyland Hold. He led the fiendish armies of the Skyland Hold into battle, with two powerful Balors at his side as bodyguards.
He was ultimately defeated by trickery when King Flanan of the Kingdom of Malovak, his squire James and his court wizard Ooglaa the Wise captured Azurewrath’s phylactery and offered it to the Balors under Azurewrath’s control. When a massive battle broke out over the phylactery, Ooglaa broke his staff of the magi, consuming the lich, its phylactery and the two Balors in an explosion that scattered the lich’s remains across the world and planes of existance.
The bones of Azurewrath appear to be the blackened, nearly petrified remains of a human male about 6’ 2”. The bones are individual, and the more that have been assembled, the more powerful the bones become.
The amount of power a being gains from the bones of Azurewrath depends on how much of the skeleton is present. Constant powers are always in effect. To use the lesser powers of the bones, the bones must merely be held. To gain the major powers of the bones, a spellcaster must willingly hold the bones against the area they would normally be found. Upon doing so, the spellcaster’s flesh opens, the bone is drawn in and replaces the old bone. This act also allows the spellcaster to use the lesser and constant powers as well. The process of absorbing the bone is horribly excruciating, taking one round to complete and in which no other action can be taken. There is a total of 238 bones, however, these are grouped as follows:
Left Hand (27 bones):
Right Hand (27 bones) :
Left Arm (5 bones):
Right Arm (5 bones):
Ribcage (26 bones):
Spine (26 bones):
*Left Leg (60 bones): *
Right Leg (60 bones):
Skull (2 bones):
Furthermore, when several completed extremities are combined, the following powers are gained.
Skull and Hands:
- Major Power: Double all available spell slots
Both Arms and Legs:
- Major Power: Fly on self as per the spell, at will
Spine & Ribcage:
- Major Power: Globe of Invulnerability 1x/day
Once a being possesses any one of Azurewrath’s bones, they immediately gain the sensation that they should seek out the other bones. If a bone is infused into an individual's body, they instantly gains the knowledge of the next closest bone’s distance and direction.
If the whole skeleton should be assembled outside of a host, it self animates itself to attack, with the statistics as an skeleton warrior with 6th level wizard casting ability. The animated form can use any of the powers of the assembled skeleton above.
\page
Curse. As more bones are accepted into the host’s body, Azurewrath’s Abyssmal presence becomes more well–defined. Once a host has assembled one full extremity, they begin to suffer from artifact domination. The host begins to obsess over finding the remaining bones and absorbing them into their own body. Each day, the host must make a Wisdom save DC 15 or Azurewrath's consciousness manifests, taking control of the body. For each extremity that is possessed beyond the first, the DC increases by 1.
Furthermore, gathering the bones of Azurewrath attracts the attention of the Abyss. Any person who begins assembling the bones of Azurewrath will attract to themselves unfriendly Abyssal minions who will seek to thwart the person’s actions. Eventually, this will attract the attention of the two Balors Azurewrath kept as bodyguards, who will seek to scatter the bones forever, unless they are somehow bound to the owner’s control.
Should any being ever accept into himself the entire skeleton of Azurewrath, the evil mage would instantly overtake the body, destroying the poor host’s soul. Azurewrath is an 18th wizard/15th cleric of maximum hit points with all the powers of a lich, as well as the individual powers of the bones above for the completed skeleton.
Destruction. Azurewrath’s bones can only be destroyed for once and all if the entire assembled skeleton is subjected to a retrebutive strike from a Staff of the Magi and reduced to 0 hit points by the explosion. The mage’s bones can afterward be rendered inert if one of two Balors he once ensnared manage to seize his heart before he expires.
Artifact, requires attunement
Long ago, during the Dark Ages of Amberos, a mighty wizard grew in power in the Skyland Hold. The mage was named Azurewrath, and he was second only to the Warlord Volk, who ruled the Skyland Hold. He led the fiendish armies of the Skyland Hold into battle, with two powerful Balors at his side as bodyguards.
He was ultimately defeated by trickery when King Flanan of the Kingdom of Malovak, his squire James and his court wizard Ooglaa the Wise captured Azurewrath’s phylactery and offered it to the Balors under Azurewrath’s control. When a massive battle broke out over the phylactery, Ooglaa broke his staff of the magi, consuming the lich, its phylactery and the two Balors in an explosion that scattered the lich’s remains across the world and planes of existance.
The bones of Azurewrath appear to be the blackened, nearly petrified remains of a human male about 6’ 2”. The bones are individual, and the more that have been assembled, the more powerful the bones become.
The amount of power a being gains from the bones of Azurewrath depends on how much of the skeleton is present. Constant powers are always in effect. To use the lesser powers of the bones, the bones must merely be held. To gain the major powers of the bones, a spellcaster must willingly hold the bones against the area they would normally be found. Upon doing so, the spellcaster’s flesh opens, the bone is drawn in and replaces the old bone. This act also allows the spellcaster to use the lesser and constant powers as well. The process of absorbing the bone is horribly excruciating, taking one round to complete and in which no other action can be taken. There is a total of 238 bones, however, these are grouped as follows:
Left Hand (27 bones):
- Constant Power: can cast Bane at will
- Lesser Powers: can cast Fear 3x/day
- Major Power: can cast Symbol of Pain 1x/day
Right Hand (27 bones) :
- Constant Power: opponents within 5 feet cannot benefit from healing (does not affect owner)
- Lesser Powers: can cast Inflict Wounds as 3rd level spell 3x/day
- Major Power: can cast Harm as a 7th level spell 1x/day
Left Arm (5 bones):
- Constant Powers: Chill Metal in a 5’ radius (does not affect owner)
- Lesser Powers: Ghoul Touch 3x/day
- Major Power: Paralyzing touch as a lich
Right Arm (5 bones):
- Constant Powers: Drain 1 point of Strength as per shadow in 5’ radius (does not affect owner)
- Lesser Powers: Bull’s Strength 3x/day
- Major Power: +4 magic bonus to Strength
Ribcage (26 bones):
- Constant Powers: can cast Shield at will
- Lesser Powers: can cast Stoneskin 3x/day
- Major Power: can cast Forcecage 1x/day
Spine (26 bones):
- Constant Powers: can cast Charm Person at will
- Lesser Powers: can cast Confusion 3x/day
- Major Power: can cast Project Image 1x/day
*Left Leg (60 bones): *
- Constant Powers: can cast Misty Step at will
- Lesser Powers: can cast Haste 3x/day
- Major Power: can cast Time Stop 1x/day
Right Leg (60 bones):
- Constant Powers: can cast Fog Cloud at will
- Lesser Powers: can cast Mirror Image 3x/day
- Major Power: can cast Duo–dimension 1x/day
Skull (2 bones):
- Constant Powers: can communicate via telepathy at will
- Lesser Powers: All owner’s spells receive benefit of the Enlarge metamagic feat without being increased in level
- Major Power: All owner’s spells receive the benefit of the Maximize metamagic feat without being increased in level
Furthermore, when several completed extremities are combined, the following powers are gained.
Skull and Hands:
- Major Power: Double all available spell slots
Both Arms and Legs:
- Major Power: Fly on self as per the spell, at will
Spine & Ribcage:
- Major Power: Globe of Invulnerability 1x/day
Once a being possesses any one of Azurewrath’s bones, they immediately gain the sensation that they should seek out the other bones. If a bone is infused into an individual's body, they instantly gains the knowledge of the next closest bone’s distance and direction.
If the whole skeleton should be assembled outside of a host, it self animates itself to attack, with the statistics as an skeleton warrior with 6th level wizard casting ability. The animated form can use any of the powers of the assembled skeleton above.
\page
Curse. As more bones are accepted into the host’s body, Azurewrath’s Abyssmal presence becomes more well–defined. Once a host has assembled one full extremity, they begin to suffer from artifact domination. The host begins to obsess over finding the remaining bones and absorbing them into their own body. Each day, the host must make a Wisdom save DC 15 or Azurewrath's consciousness manifests, taking control of the body. For each extremity that is possessed beyond the first, the DC increases by 1.
Furthermore, gathering the bones of Azurewrath attracts the attention of the Abyss. Any person who begins assembling the bones of Azurewrath will attract to themselves unfriendly Abyssal minions who will seek to thwart the person’s actions. Eventually, this will attract the attention of the two Balors Azurewrath kept as bodyguards, who will seek to scatter the bones forever, unless they are somehow bound to the owner’s control.
Should any being ever accept into himself the entire skeleton of Azurewrath, the evil mage would instantly overtake the body, destroying the poor host’s soul. Azurewrath is an 18th wizard/15th cleric of maximum hit points with all the powers of a lich, as well as the individual powers of the bones above for the completed skeleton.
Destruction. Azurewrath’s bones can only be destroyed for once and all if the entire assembled skeleton is subjected to a retrebutive strike from a Staff of the Magi and reduced to 0 hit points by the explosion. The mage’s bones can afterward be rendered inert if one of two Balors he once ensnared manage to seize his heart before he expires.
It was actually used in my brother's campaign, where they were in a race with the BBEG, who was collecting and reassembling the bones. Sadly, the party failed to stop the BBEG, who collected and absorbed all the bones, resurrecting Azurewrath.
Yora
Legend
People give plenty of probably deserved naughty word to The Forest Oracle.
But I feel the depth of terribleness of Journey to the Rock is rarely fully appreciated.
That thing has so much nonsensical backstory for a void of actual content, and the module goes out of its way to make sure the players can never learn any of it.
But I feel the depth of terribleness of Journey to the Rock is rarely fully appreciated.
That thing has so much nonsensical backstory for a void of actual content, and the module goes out of its way to make sure the players can never learn any of it.
Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
a few examples?
Yora
Legend
Here's the whole debacle: https://spriggans-den.com/2023/02/2...t-ridiculous-adventure-premise-ive-ever-seen/
Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
well that was convincing! Could that elaborate backstory be because this module was suppose to launch a campaign (but the follow up were never published because the first module was bad)?
(edit: quick research indicates this is unlikely... so I'm baffled why to write this big thing?)
I also agree, cool cover.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Given that it's clearly intended to be an introductory adventure - as in, the first adventure played in a campaign - I suspect all that backstory is there to give a DM something to build a homebrew campaign/setting around, if so desired, by fleshing out those extra bits e.g. the town, the mysterious wizard, etc.
That said, I don't remember whether the module ever mentions this here's-stuff-for-you-to-build-on idea in the DM-only introduction (it's been ages since I looked at this module though I have it here somewhere).
Demetrios1453
Hero
I was reading up on this after seeing the mention here, and while, yes, it does seem pretty weird, badly designed, and railroad-y, I'm seeing a lot of criticism in various articles on it that the wizard has been puttering about for millennia instead of doing anything. This seems to be based on the statement that the city has "passed out of living memory", which people are misinterpreting as the city has been gone so long that no records or memories of it exists. "Passed out of living memory" just means that people remember it existed, but no one still living actually saw it, walked its streets, or had at least heard of it while it was around (basically, as another example, "World War I is passing out of living memory."). Granted, this meant the wizard waited a century or so, which still isn't that good, but it isn't the millennia that critics are accusing him of.
Stormonu
Legend
I absolutely hate B8, the thing is a mess.
It does note in B1-9 - In Search of Adventure, that that module was originally a one-round tournament (maybe at Gencon?) where apparently parties could select one of the three paths to take. Not that there's any hints or foreshadowing what sort of challenges is along the three paths, you just have to blindly pick and hope you choose one your party can handle. Overall, it's still pretty non-nonsensical (puzzles that don't have a logical means of correctly figuring them out or encounters where the party is WAY out of their league where only blind luck will prevent a TPK), EXTREMELY railroady and all-in-all, not much fun to run. I tried running it back in the 90's for a group, and we just gave up on it because it wasn't any fun at all.
It does note in B1-9 - In Search of Adventure, that that module was originally a one-round tournament (maybe at Gencon?) where apparently parties could select one of the three paths to take. Not that there's any hints or foreshadowing what sort of challenges is along the three paths, you just have to blindly pick and hope you choose one your party can handle. Overall, it's still pretty non-nonsensical (puzzles that don't have a logical means of correctly figuring them out or encounters where the party is WAY out of their league where only blind luck will prevent a TPK), EXTREMELY railroady and all-in-all, not much fun to run. I tried running it back in the 90's for a group, and we just gave up on it because it wasn't any fun at all.
