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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 8239553" data-attributes="member: 2209"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/142535/Rappan-Athuk-Expansions--Swords-and-Wizardry?affiliate_id=17596" target="_blank">Rappan Athuk Expansions 1 - Swords and Wizardry</a>Swords & WizardryFragmented Skeleton: The foul magic binding these skeletons together may disintegrate at any moment, and even if the skeletons survive the combat, they usually fall apart after an hour. Undead Hummingbird: The darting shapes are undead hummingbirds, a wicked and terrible creation. Shade: A shade is an undead creature that rises when a living creature willingly sacrifices itself in a ritual to Orcus. White Lady: A white lady is a twisted 9ft tall monstrosity warped by the foul presence of the club it carries. The ladies are not creations of this place; rather, it is their clubs that curse them and twist their flesh into their current form. The clubs were created by a priest of Orcus many years ago as an experiment and have no goodly use. The marble table has a single twisted iron club resting on it. It is visually identical to the ones carried by the white ladies, except it looks cleaner and somehow fresher. It radiates a magical aura. An inscription next to the weapon reads: “To achieve victory, you will need to sacrifice part of yourself. The safety of the world must overrule the safety for one’s own self. Take up this weapon, and lose that which would doom you to defeat” The weapon is a trap. The first person to pick up the weapon must make a saving throw each round he holds onto the weapon. If someone holding the club fails a save, he gains a sudden understanding of his own might as his muscles bulge. The victim’s strength and constitution immediately increase by 3 points each (to a maximum of 18). The curse continues to raise his strength by 1 point each day for the next 10 days (to a maximum of 18). Over that time, the person becomes increasingly emotionally distant, focusing only on killing those who stand between him and his goals. After the 10th day, he gains the ability to regenerate 3 hit points per round, like a troll. He marches inexorably toward his goal with no regard for personal safety, destroying everything in his path. He likely is killed in short order, although that doesn’t slow him down. The corpse continues its doomed march. Over the days that follow, he violently twists and morphs until he becomes another white lady.Old Jim, Ghoul: Jim fell overboard during a violent storm “some time ago” and washed up on shore. He is now waiting for a boat to rescue him. If pressed, he tersely admits that he has not seen a single ship during his vigil. Jim survived by going to the nearby stream and filling his helmet with water and scraps of meat floating by. He built a small fire on the beach and boiled a stew using the water and meat scraps. Because the wood was driftwood, it did not attract the attention of the aelom, although Jim’s unwise choice of food explains his current condition. Alumaxis, Knight Gaunt: This is the last resting place for the former captain-of-the-guard-turned-architect, Alumaxis. A good soldier to the end, Alumaxis volunteered for the role of leader of this building site when he understood it would further the reach of Orcus in the world. What he didn’t know was the depth of deceit in the ranks of his “advisors”. As a man used to facing foes head-to-head, he did not see the treachery of the clergy until it was too late. To cover any evidence of their assassination, the clergy ordered this pyre built to honor their fallen “leader”. The captain’s body was laid to rest atop the bonfire, and he was immolated. Unexpectedly, the fire never burned itself out; it smolders even to this day, wafting smoky tendrils to remind the very stones of the dungeon what happened here. Alumaxis himself was not fully consumed by the flame. He regained his material body after being scorched, and returned to the mortal realm as a knight gaunt, an undead horror normally created when a paladin falls in righteous combat against Chaos. Orcus himself found the humor in returning his soldier to the field in such a form. Kenard, Warden of the Dead, Vampire: Along the southern wall, in a mundane but comfortable chair, flanked by two doors, sits the Warden of the Dead, a former ranger and hero who chose to be infected with vampirism to ensure the feral vampires in Area 3D-24 are never released from their prison.In an abbreviated version of a long and tragic tale, the 3 feral vampires were brothers in life; terrible and loathsome louts that beat and stole from any who were weaker than them. One day, Judith, a fair and frail maiden, was travelling to meet her betrothed, Kenard, a ranger and protector of Good Hope Forest (as it was called, long ago by the local woodsman). She never made it, as she was set upon by the foul brothers. Rather than have a shred of kindness, and just kill her quickly, the brothers made sport of her torment. Eventually, Kenard discovered the abduction, and he raced to save his future bride, but when he found the trio of brutes and his love, it was far too late to save Judith. Unable to control his monumental rage, Kenard took spear and short sword to the brothers, unleashing all his hate and fury. So powerful was his retribution, the forest itself was shocked and outraged by the display. Kenard took days to dispatch the brothers, and in that time a powerful forest spirit, Aspen, came to the site. “This cannot go unpunished, Kenard. You are a good and lawful man. You did the wrong thing. You must atone for your own sins.” And with that, the brothers rose, staggered about, and were cursed as vampires. Judith, with her last few breaths, smiled to Kenard and said, “You know Aspen to be true. Stop this hateful action, Protect. It is what you do.” “I will protect, Lady Judith. I will protect the land from such beings as those.” The brothers looked to each other, and fell upon the pair, their newfound bloodlust too overpowering to be ignored. As the pair fell to the foul vampires, Kenard’s will kept him “alive” in a sense. He too rose as a vampire, able to overpower the brothers. Feral Vampire Spawn: In an abbreviated version of a long and tragic tale, the 3 feral vampires were brothers in life; terrible and loathsome louts that beat and stole from any who were weaker than them. One day, Judith, a fair and frail maiden, was travelling to meet her betrothed, Kenard, a ranger and protector of Good Hope Forest (as it was called, long ago by the local woodsman). She never made it, as she was set upon by the foul brothers. Rather than have a shred of kindness, and just kill her quickly, the brothers made sport of her torment. Eventually, Kenard discovered the abduction, and he raced to save his future bride, but when he found the trio of brutes and his love, it was far too late to save Judith. Unable to control his monumental rage, Kenard took spear and short sword to the brothers, unleashing all his hate and fury. So powerful was his retribution, the forest itself was shocked and outraged by the display. Kenard took days to dispatch the brothers, and in that time a powerful forest spirit, Aspen, came to the site. “This cannot go unpunished, Kenard. You are a good and lawful man. You did the wrong thing. You must atone for your own sins.” And with that, the brothers rose, staggered about, and were cursed as vampires. Tabitha Mirax, Shade: With a squad of undead on hand to keep the place clean and in good repair, they performed dark rituals to allow themselves to become ghost-like creatures while retaining their memories and free will.The four shades that haunt the level are the spirits of the adventurers who built this place. While comparable to ghosts, these undead creatures are something new, a result of living creatures willingly sacrificing themselves as part of a ritual to rise again as intelligent undead.Davith, Half-Orc Warrior of Orcus, Shade: With a squad of undead on hand to keep the place clean and in good repair, they performed dark rituals to allow themselves to become ghost-like creatures while retaining their memories and free will.The four shades that haunt the level are the spirits of the adventurers who built this place. While comparable to ghosts, these undead creatures are something new, a result of living creatures willingly sacrificing themselves as part of a ritual to rise again as intelligent undead.Vallis Blacklocke, Shade: With a squad of undead on hand to keep the place clean and in good repair, they performed dark rituals to allow themselves to become ghost-like creatures while retaining their memories and free will.The four shades that haunt the level are the spirits of the adventurers who built this place. While comparable to ghosts, these undead creatures are something new, a result of living creatures willingly sacrificing themselves as part of a ritual to rise again as intelligent undead.Kenneth, Lord Darkblade von Nightkill, Shade: With a squad of undead on hand to keep the place clean and in good repair, they performed dark rituals to allow themselves to become ghost-like creatures while retaining their memories and free will.The four shades that haunt the level are the spirits of the adventurers who built this place. While comparable to ghosts, these undead creatures are something new, a result of living creatures willingly sacrificing themselves as part of a ritual to rise again as intelligent undead.Kenneth, like many evil magic-users, turned to necromancy as a way of discovering a path to immortality, which he eventually found.Kenneth Junior, Black Skeleton: ?Juju Zombie Soldier: ?Skeleton Archer: ?Black Skeleton Champion: ?Jawbone: Neither Vallis nor Kenneth has the power to properly animate such a creation, so they’ve taken a shortcut. As long as Vallis is not pinned by the Ghostbind, she can use her essence to activate the creature (Vallis assumes her incorporeal form and occupies the skeleton’s space, wearing it like armor). If Vallis is not present, one of the other shades takes control, although Jawbone loses its regeneration if controlled in this manner. Kallinstraids, Vampiric Red Dragon, Bone Dragon, Undead Dragon: ?Risen Goblin, Ghast: No one that goes into Rappan Athuk comes out the same, if they come out at all. This is just as true for monsters as it is for adventurers. These six goblins snuck into the early levels of Rappan Athuk hoping for treasure, or at least a place to hide. What they found was something darker, and in their desperate search for a way back to the surface they took to cannibalism to survive. Now they have escaped and roam the surface, their goblin appetites augmented with a hunger for flesh, bone and marrow. One turn after one of these corrupted goblins dies its flesh tightens over its frame (regenerating if needed) and with a sickening crunch the now intact body rises as a ghast. [Ravenous] Goblins that drop to 0 hit points or below rise as ghasts on the next combat round, retaining their place on the initiative order. This can be prevented by destroying the corpse with 5 points of fire damage, or pouring holy water over the corpse.Skeleton: The ‘priest’ of this foul place is the goblin Jedra, who found a book about Orcus left here by a previous inhabitant. Jedra rather liked the idea of Orcus and built this chapel to honor him. Orcus was amused by this and granted Jedra some limited power which she is using to learn to raise undead. She hopes one day to replace her raiding parties with teams of undead lead by goblins, to supply them with all the food they could want. At any time Jedra will be in the chapel, praising Orcus or experimenting on any bodies on which she can get her hands. She has so far carefully managed to raise a pair of skeletons, and is working on a corpse, this time attempting to make a zombie. Ghoul: ?Ghast: ?Coffer Corpse: ?Shadow: ?Mummy: ?Cadaver Lord: ?Cadaver: ?Strangling Ghost: ?Fear Guard: The fear guards were former temple warriors, bound to this place after death. Undead Mimic: The font is actually an undead mimic, a hideous creature that wandered into this place as a normal variety of mimic, and replaced the existing font, thinking to trap petitioners when they came to gather some of the water. The mimic waited so long, and was eventually infused with so much dark energy, when it perished from starvation it transformed into this undead version. Guardian Cimota: The former collector of these scrolls, an injured soldier and neophyte acolyte of Orcus, was slain in here by a rival over hierarchy in the lower orders of the clergy. Maintaining his soldier’s sense of duty towards his collection, the acolyte rose eventually rose from death as a guardian cimota, forever tasked to guard these scrolls. Undead Troll: This beast was a former guardian of the path to Level 3D, Section 2. After most of the living inhabitants died, the troll starved to death. The power of the chapel kept the beast from entering the afterlife, so he is confined here as an undead troll. Pyre Zombie: ?Brain-Eating Zombie: ?Zombie: ?Vampire: ?</blockquote>

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