Diplodocus had crazy scale variety (and weird colors maybe)

 Tesosaurus, the lady, has awesome info on menanocites (spelled?) fomDiplodocus.  The whole yt is super interesting  

https://www.iflscience.com/what-color-was-diplodocus-first-ever-sauropod-fossils-with-melanosomes-bring-us-a-step-closer-to-finding-out-81869

Mega details here-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYTwE4IXYKQ

Tenkar’s 3 layer encounter

 Excellent examples

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqSeGMi5S1I&t=313s

Like, lauer 1, what they see and hear. 

• a goblin in forest waving dirty white cloth. 

Layer 2, the truth

• Really he is singnallimg his trine to circle and attack you

Layer 3, what happens when retreats or oddball dice

• He retreats… but into a trapped deadfall. Scared but he must maintain.  

Or… 3 goblins arguing. But rly they are scared of a big monster.  If they retreat from party, end up dragging party into big monster they were running from. 

G3 ideas maybe... maybe... Knights of Myth Drannor

Link to the Knights of Myth Drannor: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Knights_of_Myth_Drannor

 Thanks to ashockney who mentioned them here, what a cool idea: https://www.enworld.org/threads/leading-up-to-and-then-running-g1-g3-for-3-5-advice-needed.123718/

 can spice it up a little, and possibly add some much-needed support, by introducing a competing party...say the Knights of Myth Drannor. Very typical of the FR, and would make for many cool cameos. It would be very unlikely that someone wouldn't want to get involved from the various power groups in the FR, and identify/partner with the Drow and their mission. Perhaps even an all-elven strike force sent to eliminate the threat....and they're not too friendly with any non-elves, for that matter.

 So how would the knights appear at the right time? 

• They were scrying on the progress, and realized they had to make way to G3 area b/c the kid's party was doing so well. 
• Maybe a powerful wizard tported them there. 

Here's a fun run through, whole website dedicated to Against The Giants to: https://www.againstthegiants.com/chapters/chapter_3/day1part4meetsnure/

• Note, that was interesting to make them think the pyrohydra was a straight Dragon.
• ANOTHER HYDRA(?). Yep confirmed on Day 2, there is another one in these guys ran at least. I was already planning for a second one myself. 
• OhhoooOOOhhhh, they are using normal hydra, b/c 5e didn't ahve pyroHydras.
• proof: “Remember to burn them!” and shoots a bolt of fire at the hydra, while Fennuris follows with flaming arrows. ADC then summons a fire elemental that swiftly dispatches the hydra.
• Leomund's tiny hut
• Gnolls with Ballista (this was near the Ombi bad dwarf)
• Fire salamanders swim in lava
• Bone batons? 
• 
  

G3 thoughts on Giants... 5e comparing to 2e statblock

UPDATE, read this  (referencing 3e HP increase) and this, by Superdan.  

Well I knew giants had crazy high HP in 5e, but I just got around to comparing damage... and well, giants hit like 3 or 4 times as hard (including frequency) in 5e, while characters may or may not have 3 or 4times the HP. Damn the changes through versions. 

Conclusion, yeah, I probably need to sometimes tone down the number of giants from 1e and get closer to how many they suggest in 5e I guess. Even though the party is over-leveled a bit, still, gotta watch out. 

https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Hill_Giant

also comparing to a green dragon, and the dragon does WAY more melee damage than a hill giant in 2e. Which I tend to agree with, so what the heck is going on in 5e? I swear, they just buffed everything that looked like a human regardless of size:

https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Green_Dragon_(Creature)

SO the 2e hill giant is doing 

• 1-6 or by weapon (2-12+7), I think that means 2-12+7 with a typical weapon. ~13 dmg avg maybe, But only one attack. 
• Hurling rocks for 2-16 (2d8)  for ranged. ~avg 9 dmg i think. 

5e hill giant gets two melee attacks so

• 3d8+5 times 2 ~~~18 dmg on avg times TWO though. And you hit WAY more frequently in 5e. 
• 3d10+5 for one ranged attack, avg 21 dmg. 

D&D style Random Tables motherload

 Found this: https://www.reddit.com/r/BehindTheTables/wiki/index/

Great guy/people. Linked to this:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1epTggIiQUm3UjNphLvZYDzcMKDskEdg9/view

Tenkar’s… 3 mega dungeons

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNRFuBSMLx0

• Stonehell - BX feel.Easier for new DM. 
• Castle of the Mad Mage - based on Gygax castle.  Is adnd and is Gonzo, weird.  But great .
• Barrowmaze - a maze under a barrow. Undead. I have heard lots.

More great megadungeons in comments = 

• Arden Vul and Rappan Athuk
• AV is more than 780 pages, ouch. 
• Rappan Athuk has a Sword and Wizardry version, but it started life as a 3rd/3.5ed D&D mega-dungeon, just for context. (There is also a 5e version too)
• Ardun Vul (which I own in print and have yet to fully read) I'd likely need to run through an AI service just to bring it to manageable pieces I could digest in my lifetime ;) I ran some Rappan Athuk about a decade ago using S&W, and it was a blast.
• I'm running Stonehell as my first megadungeon. It's extremely easy to use at the table for a new GM.
• I love Stonehell, some of the most memorable Adventuring I have ever experienced, but it utterly falls apart on Level 10 - though I doubt that many will ever get that far.

I might try the easiest one out as the kid to DM, if he would. Or maybe I'll DM again. 

DnD Blogger, and EEG backstory like cool crazy stuff

ELDER ELEMENTAL GOD

EEG = Elder Elemental God, the one that appears in the G3 module. It might or might not (Gygax says not) the same as the Elder Elemental Eye or Tharizdun. But the author of the blog says he thinks they are the same. 

The Gygax quote from 2003 that says:

There is far less written about the Elder Elemental God than there is the Elder Elemental Eye (Tharizdun), presumably because Gary Gygax had not developed the idea until later, when writing WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun.

The question need be asked: If the Elder Elemental Eye was Tharizdun, was the Elder Elemental God Tharizdun?

"No, the Elder Elemental God I envisaged as an entity of vaguely Chronos-like sort, a deity of great power but of chaotic sort, and not always highly clever in thought and action. Big T on the other hand is the epitome of pure, reasoning and scheming evil. Eclavdra, being more of the mold of Tharizdun, would prefer to have as "master" a powerful deity she might hope to influence, thus the EGG."

Gary Gygax ("Col_Pladoh"), 10th January, 2003, Q&A with Gary Gygax Part I, Enworld. 

• That quote comes from -> I just read this, as it ties heavily into G1-G3, and we're nearing the end of G3, super good reading/summary: https://davidleonard-greyhawkmusings.blogspot.com/2020/10/on-green-god-and-elder-evil-part-2.html
• Here is the generic "elder evils" link on his blog site. 
• Found part 1: https://davidleonard-greyhawkmusings.blogspot.com/2020/09/on-green-god-and-elder-evil-part-1.html

BTW, I love his quote, Byron always had good stuff: 

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more”
― Lord Byron

Not the EEG, but I can stomach this picture. From here. 

MY ANALYSIS / EXPLANATION

So the confusion is that the symbol, the triangle with the point down with the inverted Y in it (through it?) is mentioned in G3, with the EEG, but also later they mention that same symbol in some other situations not precisely the EEG. Wikipedia I think had it listed under the Elder Elemental Eye and somewhere about Tharizdun. So some authors are saying they are the same, Gygax is saying not the same. So, how do we deal with this? Maybe:

• OPTION 1 - we say that the followers of such a mysterious evil entity ... entities... don't really ever know which one they are following. They get the symbols confused just like we do today. 
• similar to real religions, sometimes they absorb pieces of other religions. They tie things together to get more worshippers. 
• Kinda like "Oh, you want to keep doing Halloween... yeah we are totally OK with that. And (later) here's All Souls Day and All Saints Day, by the way". 
• Except, whoops, that whole thing might be wrong, according to this scholar. Halloween might be Christian first. Maybe. See here.
• Michael says: “This is a really interesting question. Is it a pre-Christian festival as some scholars maintain or is it just, as the name implies, the eve of all hallows or all saints”    “Now, our sources for this are all late, they all come from Ireland and they all come from when the Irish had been Christians for 500 years. So, I think enormous pinches of salt are needed when asserting if Halloween is a pre-Christian festival that was co-opted by the Christian Church.”
• Or in Japan, the sort of mix of Buddhism and Shintoism... I mean I guess they are separate, but it seems like a lot of people do both. Bad example maybe, a better example is the way Buddhism has Hell scenes... but so does Christianity and Judaism and etc.. Somebody borrowed from somebody else way back when, I would bet a lot on that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naraka_(Buddhism).  
• I've also read that older deities become demons when referenced in other religions or later religions. Easy to see why, in some cases, with the child sacrifices and other utterly horrible things that actually happened (with archeological evidence) in the past. See here and here.  
• As in, the symbol got mixed up and shared amongst many cults. 
• OPTION 2 - Or maybe they are all aspects of the same God-being-thing. It certainly doesn't need to be neat, and it's more interesting if it is mysterious and messy, IMO. 
• A simple real life comparison is the holy trinity in Christianity, I think. 

OTHER STUFF

 I better read all of this: https://davidleonard-greyhawkmusings.blogspot.com/2020/10/history-of-south-east-part-10-uncertain.html 

• So I'm looking for Elder Evil God part 1 (found it, link above). But when I found that History of South East ... the black Ziggurat art got my attention: 

Kung fu movies - Shawscope vol. 4

 Have you seen a movie with lightsaber nunchucks man fighting a Darth Vader ripoff? 

Or how about a D&D themed fire breathing wizard?

Maybe an Ultraman wannabe cool suit guy? 

Look no further than these insane movies from the Shaw Bros. , featuring

• Suprr Inframan
• Oily Maniac
• Battle Wizard
• Twinkle twinkle little star
• Black magic
• Black magic 2
• Bat without wings
• Bloody parrot

Love the 1970s vibing music on the trailer, top fking notch. Tarantino- esque. 

Maybe here https://www.amazon.com/Shawscope-Limited-Alex-Cheung-Kwok-Ming/dp/B0FSSS1HQW

Better here https://www.arrowvideo.com/p/blu-ray/shawscope-volume-four-limited-edition-blu-ray/17489455/

See trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcB7Lnu8wcg

D&D Inspiration - tree roots forming Arches - Nurse Logs

 

see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBwb6--iG18&pp=ygULbnVyc2UgdHJlZXPSBwkJJQoBhyohjO8%3D

The picture says it all. This guy is in Canada and says this happens with nurse logs and nurse stumps even. Basically, old logs end up being a useful spot for new trees to start growing due to no competition at that moment (maybe 10-20 years after it fell?). In this picture, there are 3 trees that were all on the same log, so they have these arches in a row. Over a very long time the roots get bigger and bigger and eventually should close the gap (a LONG time). 

How's this apply to D&D? 

• Foxes, wolves, bears, etc. like to sleep under them in Real Life he says. 
• I can see fey creatures hiding in them easily. 
• Snakes and other venomous or poisonous things could be lurking. 
• Goblins could easily hide in there, ambush. 

Another type. 

The other type is where the tree grows over a (stump?) and eventually has a hollow part in the bottom. Reminds me a lot of cypress trees that get hollowed out over time (or did they indeed grow that way partially b/c of a nurse stump??? It'd have to be natural stumps though, so I kinda think cypresses are different). 

Tenkar’s Cavern - dungeon design

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayYBNCc-9VY

(And this has overlap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llvjPbJdFro)

He’s got some good stuff. Here he says 3 main things, OSR especially-

• Loops
• Telegraphing
• And breathing life into the dungeon (make it alive)

Loops, ok… hidden passages etc. And loops in paths coming back to familiar rooms. 

• Give a shorter but more dangerous route option, make it obvious. 
• Longer route is ok, but torch timers. 

Telegraphing

• Pit trap
• Dust patterns shift
• A faint draft rises from cracks
• Scratched stone that hints at past victims
• The torchlight disappears into blackness beneath the flagstone
• Other trap
• Scorch marks
• Dampness
• Dried blood or a dried corpse from before [mine, used before]
• Monster nearby 
• Strange smells
• Claw marks
• Half eaten meals
• A rhythmic thumping echo 
• Treasure
• A glint under the rubble
• A recent footprint 
• Soot(?) that isn’t as old as the rest . ??? [couldn't follow him here]

Make it alive. Motion

• Dripping water
• Distant clanging
• Warm or cold air currents
• Rats bolting past in fear of something 
• Chanting from deeper holes

Make it alive, Factions and territory

• Factions n territory 
• Ex, goblins avoid undead rooms. 
• Ex a cult in lower levels. 
• A beast that denies passage

Rooms exist in 3 states, normal, disturbed, or reacting. Example… patrols doubled bcuz party. Boss moves new area. Smoke alters navigation bcuz they made fire. 

NKHerping guy goes to S. africa

He just went. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVPvIIOECmI&t=838s&pp=0gcJCSMKAYcqIYzv

• Up close elephants. 
• Giant scorpions.
• Whip scorpion (wait, we have em in west texas?! In th US)

G3 next time - including the horrible 3 squid-monsters (not squids)

 Have it so some other mobs moving in trying to take over? Or is it too soon. ?

Maybe do more pyrohydras plus giants same time. 

Read this blog about the temples and Eclavdra and connections to Keep'Borderlands, oh man such good stuff, G3 is going to be memorable for sure: https://davidleonard-greyhawkmusings.blogspot.com/2020/10/on-green-god-and-elder-evil-part-2.html

g3 ideas next time

• a door puzzle to open. gotta punch giant-height button. think like a giant. 
• drow main villain "appears". maybe in a crystal ball speaking to them or similar. 
• main drow wants to bribe them, when seen face to face. her side. Lol, the party won't go for it But she'll try.

• Plasm, https://www.completecompendium.com/appendix/plasm/ Have Drow summon one. It's SUCH a cool monster fight, I think it'll have to be very separate from the tentacle wall, huh?

• Magical weapons have limited effectiveness on the creature. Each blow from a magical weapon causes only its magical damage, ignoring the normal weapon damage and any Strength bonuses. For example, a +5 holy avenger would inflict only 5 points of damage on a plasm.
• So how to beat, other than spells? I think I'd allow +2 magic weapons to do 8 damage, and +1 to do 4 dmg. BUT WAIT, it loses a HitDie every round it's not healing up from fire. And in 2e it only heals 1 HP a round (maybe I'd do 2 HP for 5e). 
• ***but when it looks at the Energy BOW, it is scared! The Bow starts to hum loudly! It wants to attack it! 
• The Energy BOW does full dmg to it, special like!
• Oh, and it'll die in X number of rounds anyway, if not sitting in fire. See details in statblock below. 
• But the DROW might cast a Fireball at it?! At the least, there will be a fire lava type thing in the room it will be touching during the start of the encounter... make it obvious, this is how it feeds itself.  

• 
  
  

  
  

• Statblock for 5e will be (of my own design based on that 2e link):
• Giant version of it (we have a giant skellie in the kid's rm)
• No. appearing 1d4
• AC is 18
• Hit Dice are 12 so... we'll go with max of that for 5e =
• 72 HP
• To Hit: +10
• Dmg/att (2 att.s): 4d6 claw (each)   (((up from 3d6 in 2e)))
• Special att: Elemental cloud, see below.
• No magic resist.
• 12' tall.
• XP = ~9,000~
• Special defense: 
• Magical weapons have limited effectiveness on the creature. Each blow from a magical weapon causes only its magical damage, ignoring the normal weapon damage and any Strength bonuses. For example, a +5 holy avenger would inflict only 5 points of damage on a plasm.
• For 5e, we'll say +2 magic weapons to do 8 damage, and +1 weapons to do 4 dmg.
• ***but when it looks at the Energy BOW, it is scared! The Bow starts to hum loudly! It wants to attack it! 
• The Energy BOW does full dmg to it, special like!
• On any plane except the Ethereal and the creature's own home plane, a plasm loses one Hit Die per round from energy drain, vanishing into nothingness when dead. However, a plasm can feed on its own element, and regenerates damage at the rate of 1 hit point per round when feeding on that element. A feeding plasm can do nothing else that round.
• Fire spells feed it, we'll go with 5HD for fireball in 5e, but if upcast (Warlock) it'll gain more. AD&D2e_Example: a fireball cast by a 5th level mage gives a fire plasm a bonus of 5 Hit Die, a 6th level fb from a wand would give 6 Hit Die (in AD&D 2e terms). 
• Elemental Cloud: Once per turn, a plasm can “spend” 10 of its hit points to create an elemental cloud. This cloud is 30 feet in diameter and is centered on the plasm. Except for the plasm, any creature within the cloud suffers 20 points of damage per round; a successful saving throw vs. breath weapon halves the cloud's damage. The cloud lasts 1d6 rounds. Normally, a plasm uses this attack form when fleeing, though if it has gained extra Hit Dice as a result of opponents' foolish element-based attacks, it may choose to “spend” its hit points with very little provocation.
• Ecology: Plasms, being extraplanar creatures, have no place in the environments of the Prime Material Plane, but can serve as destructive forces. Plasms derive sustenance from bits of their respective elemental matter. 

Eclavdra notes

• https://dungeons.fandom.com/wiki/Eclavdra
• [she] switched their [her house] allegiance to The Elder Elemental God, so a fire Plasma makes even more sense. 

More clues

• Wax stamp on scrolls same as before. 
• Name of Eclavdra seen.
• Another weird hidden shrine to evil is coming yeah? What is around that shrine?

This scene in room 10 is ... horror. (He draws it in "Rm 9", west wall, due to perspective) 

Yes, room 10 with the three ghastly tentacle monsters eating self-sacrificing creatures of nearly every race is disturbing. Why do they just stand there letting it happen?!?! Quote:

The wall to the east shows a scene of various creatures crawling, then creeping, up to huge, vaguely squid-like creatures with 10 hairy tentacles. In the forefront of this mass self-sacrifice are elves and men, but there are also dwarves, gnolls, orcs, trolls, halflings, ogres, goblins, etc. amongst the crowd. Those near the monsters are being torn apart and the bloody gobbets eaten as dainty morsels. There are 3 of these ghastly things, mottled in various shades and tints of purple and violet.

 

More Jack Vance stuff - D&D's magic, Gibbering Mouther

 Just read this, says it all probably. : https://screenrant.com/dnd-magic-vance-dying-earth-dungeons-dragons-wizard/

I'm finally getting aroudn to reading stuff myself, see a post 2 or 3 back, very very very entertaining and interesting so far. 

Gibbering mouther origins might be Jack Vance. In the first Dying Earth story, he mentioned a thing "all eyes". And then look at this old book cover: