NEXT TIME 3+ monsters, 3+ vulnerabilities. Siabrae fight

• UPDATEaw xxxxxxv—- what i go simple. Red eyes n symbol is firey (attacks) so weak to cold.
•  And blue skellie is cold dmg att, but weak to fire. 
• And yellow is electric, weak to…. Force and radiant (yeah bcuz no AOE force… but does have AOE Radiant)
• Blackend bones still… with white fog coming off
• What if twigblightPLUSskellie combined? 

• 
  
• ORIG BELOW—————-
• DRY-YELLOWISH-Twig-thorn-vine-blights and DRY-treeblights and regular Woodwoads weak to fire.
• Woodwoads - Resist piercing and bludgeoning still, regular.
• Weak to/Vuln fire, and can't regen if fire.  
• DRY-YELLOWISH is a new type I'm making up... weak to fire. 
• Resist pierce, slash, and bludgeoning. 
• Extra dry, seems brittle and crackles as move around. 
• Blights/Skellies w/ blue eyes weak to electricity or force. Symbol carved on skull, it is blue.  
• Blights/Skellies w/ red eyes weak to cold or slashing. They also have a weird red symbol carved/glowing on skull. 
• Skellies w/ blackened bones, Black with White smoke symbol on skull, weak to Radiant.

Thinking, make it so they have a lot of HP for skellies, but one blast/hit by the correct element kills in one shot no matter how weak. Need some weak to SLASHING or FORCE? 

EXAMPLE FIGHT:

• Vs. DRY
• burning hands/fire bolt from Warlock
• breathe fire from druid
• Vs. BLUE
• lightning bolt from druid
• eldr blast from Warlock
• Vs. RED
• cone cold warlock
• slashing Barbarian
• Vs. BLACKENED
• Radiant from Fighter

EXAMPLE TEST FIGHT: The monsters, VERY SLOWLY, approach in a line or something from FAR AWAY, see them a mile away so can test stuff. 

Kid needs to figure out this.  Sees a handful of them on way to big fight.  

• ARCANA check (DRUIDIC?), DC 15- read symbol and figure out weakness. 
• NATURE check, DC 15- based on physicality of monster, figure out weakness. 
• FIGHTER check??... Know Your Enemy (if kid also got the Battle Master option at level 10)? 
• SUNSWORD RECOGNIZES SOMETHING IS WEAK TO RADIANT MAYBE. I would have to DM-allow-it completely to allow the fighter to know weaknesses... it's not a normal fighter thing at all. 

• KNOW YOUR ENEMY (requires Battle Master subclass, kid was Champion so far, but can pick a 2nd at level 10)- Starting at 7th level, if you spend at least 1 minute observing or interacting with another creature outside combat, you can learn certain information about its capabilities compared to your own. The DM tells you if the creature is your equal, superior, or inferior in regard to two of the following characteristics of your choice:

CURRENT HP, AC, DEX, STR, CON, and...

• Total class levels (if any) Fighter class levels (if any)

Siabrae anti radiant, but what vuln? Not necrotic? Sonic(boring dislike)?  Piercing? How to figure out? Force ? 

Spike Stones spell, 1e AD&D, 3.5e

 Super interesting. V v good as pit trap… can put on walls (dm call).

V v good for monsters to use to defend home.  

Page121 has good yt on it.  Put on walls even better for pit.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXaSzNXwV3U

1e - gotta roll to hit every step basically. 25% chance people notice the spikes, so likely you are gonna walk into it... and if the first step doesn't hit you, the deeper you go and the more trouble you might be in. Talks about what if in a pit (and Page121 talks about, what if you put it on the walls of the pit instead of floor). 

2e - sounds like 1e: https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Spike_Stones_(Priest_Spell)

3.5e and The Pathfinder version exists, but it doesn't talk about the 75% chance you don't notice and just walk into the whole thing. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/spike-stones/ and https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/spikeStones.htm

• Notice that it does 1d8 (no roll to hit) in pathfinder. 
• But they don't mention how visible it is, no 25% AKA 75% thing. 
• Some weird stuff about feet injuries and can't walk full speed till Healed. 
• Saving Throw Reflex partial; Spell Resistance yes
• Now spell resist = yes is interesting, b/c it's so similar to Spike Growth by a regular Druid low level spell in 5e, etc. We've debated if the Spike-Growth is magical damage or normal dmg. I think magical. 
• 
  

Books Bricks and Boards has detailed reviews of DnD alts

Alts..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Etgn3TsykRQ&pp=ygUuTm90IGludGVyZXd0ZWQgaW4gZCZkIDIwMjQ_IEhlcmUgYXJlIDEwIGJldHRlctIHCQliAAYKOfT1XA%3D%3D

And his Adnd 2e overview is impressive 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Omz6gsUe8-M

NEXT TIME Undead Druid, Siabrae incoming

 Doesn’t have to be a fight.

If fight, lots of dmg resist and dmg vuln types.  

Evil berserkers and e.druids help… when die, reaction to turn into conjure fungal undead skeletons.  

See fungus, spore druid build for ideas.  

But the Siabrae,  he likes radiant… treelike.  Heals him.  Maybe just the SUNLIGHT aspect heals him… brightness out to 60 ft. Wow.  

But 2nd half of his army are fungal guys.  Radiant does dbl dmg or 1.5 dmg.  ?.?? See other post.  

Shambling Mound healed by lightning.  

Force dmg, is something resistant???

Fire resist? Maybe a super wet shambler.

Treeblight and wood woads… resist to what, piercing or slashing? SEE OTHER POST. 

Whats the good Barb gonna do, axe or energy bow?

UPDATE , maybe spore Druid, use shillelagh.  https://www.nerdsandscoundrels.com/circle-of-spores/

Sidenote on bonus action spells like shillelagh https://www.nerdsandscoundrels.com/bonus-action-spells-5e/

Circle of Spore Spells
Druid Level	Circle Spells
3rd	Blindness/Deafness, Gentle Repose
5th	Animate Dead, Gaseous Form
7th	Blight, Confusion
9th	Cloudkill, Contagion

Dnd, Magic Item Loot on a countdown timer - plus more Amber Temple custom Loot

 Instead of “save it forecer and never use it” resources… 

how about, “gotta use it in 48 hour or maybe a WEEK! Expires....” -- as in, "when you pick up this magical item, you read Draconic/magic text on it... this magic will cease to work in X number of days when you leave the Amber Temple. 

This will be more fun and get the kid to use stuff while it is still useful before end game. 

Examples

. Potion of gaseous form. 

. Powder of sneaking silently

. Potion of haste

. Oil of… etherealness.  

. Oil of Sharpness (1 hour, +3 weapon)

. Powder of Str / Dex / Con / Etc. 

AMBER TEMPLE custom Loot:

• Melee amulet of Hacking… u get once a day, an Advantage attack, plus add half your level to dmg.  
• Blast Scepter... the one that gives Fire and Lightning Resist/cast thunderwave (I'm saying cast just once a day). He gave it to the Elf Wizard NPC. 
• https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/wondrous-items:blast-scepter
• Ring of +2 Concentration on spell checks (Ring of Careful Casting)
• similar to https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/tunic-of-careful-casting
• DRUID learn the 
• the earth move-through spell, that also heals. My old custom spell. 
• the EarthMaw... 1e or 2e spell that bites and might swallow you
• Dragonborn breath 0 
• Consider:  https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/Wondrous-items/#table-belt-slot-lesser-minor
• https://www.realmshelps.net/magic/items/rods.shtml
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/robe-of-bones
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/robe-xorn
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/robe-blazing
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/vest-of-the-cockroach
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/tunic-snakeskin but ... probably better if it replaces actual armor so that the AC lines up for 5e reasons. 
• 
  
• 
  
• Consider - a super heal item (since no Cleric, give to Druid)... that heals the party once a day for 60HP in any combination for 30 ft range. Similar to the twice a day Cleric power I have on my hi level cleric. 

First edition ad&d, 1e, combat round

UPDATE, way more setail in the dragonlance adnd combat explanation  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PrpUS9DpKek&t=302s

(Simple round example) Great info https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNgh1PMBOOA

Details (he had mistakes for 40 years): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MfGDmE_lGEU&t=192s&pp=ygURQWQmZCBjb21iYXQgcmVkdXg%3D

Since we played 1e sparingly, I had forgotten or not known many things.  

50/50 firing into melee with ranged. 

You miss probably 75% of the time due to hi AC, and STRENGTH did not give plus to hit apparently only plus to dmg.  

Spells mattered more because they hit “more often” than melee.  

Rounds could last longer so interesting things might happen… time to think about stuff.  

Rounds were… slow because of that sometimes. But every hit was an omg moment.  

Other guy, Probably this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sahz7_4n_o

Chevelle new single, scifi art

 New single in 2025 is great: Rabbit Hole (cowards part 1)

Which lead me to NIRATIAS Their album from like 2021 has some cool classic scifi art. See ARTIST HERE https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chevelle_NIRATIAS_Cover_Art_2021.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

The artist is Boris Vallejo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Vallejo

CoS suggestions for newer DM or less NPC interactions - Strahd Quicker Playthrough 5e

I posted on Reddit. 

 

     I was a newish DM tackling CoS a few months ago... and it was a challenge. Two recommendations:

1. Look at d20play's playthroughs on youtube. They are mostly oldschool players in 5e CoS, so it's brief compared to many but they hit just about everything. It'll be the quickest "doing everything" play through you can find, I think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slOMyQjLftE&list=PL3sFiRJEF28GEicpp7uhHG1427z9wOelC

2. Consider getting the first edition PDF... module I6: Ravenloft (1983) ... drivethruRPG or however. It sums up what Strahd is really about. 5e adds a ton, and I mean a ton, of NPCs. Plus 5e felt way too modern, not like an ancient world from 1000 years ago. And 5e mixes up a lot of non-vampire/non-wolf stuff into it... which might be good or might start to feel non-Barovia. It was too much for me, so I cut 90% of the NPCs out and just made up my own side adventures. To each his own there. Even "Bob Worldbuilder" admitted recently he did the same thing, went with the 1e version of Strahd b/c the 300 page 5e version was just too overwhelming to ever start.

3. If you want to do "most" of the 5e content... I'll tell you what I recommend/what we have done. Many people say Deathhouse is too hard or whatever (it sounded fun to me, except at level 1 would have been too hard at the boss fight. The party at my table was already level 5 so we skipped it). Do the town of Barovia (all the main characters there), do Vallaki, but cut out as many NPCs as you don't feel like dealing with (mayor election fights in Vallaki and festivals and whatnot was not our style whatsoever, yikes). Cut out the werewolf den on the west side. Do the DragnaCarta's Bluewater Inn scene with Strahd coming and being a menace (that fan version is written very very well): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MEm_VpOd7_8Ev0xyjGwnWgdAVDAYkX_0/view Do the vampires in the coffinshop in Vallaki. Do the evil Druid area in the west (big Strahd shows up) and the Vineyard (and the wereravens, though we slimmed the wereraven family stuff down a lot). Probably do the 3 nighthags, but make sure your party is leveled correctly. Do the Amber Temple (last probably should be level 8 or 9, and bring the duskelf guy, Kasimir Velikov, as a helper NPC party sidekick), but be very careful that you don't let your party TPK in that first giant room... read up on the Arcanaloth and the flameskulls, and make sure the players can have a fighting chance. Amber temple is were we are still... almost finished with the Amber Temple, and after one more stop we'll go to Strahd's castle and hopefully the party will finish this evil vamp off!

4. Oh, and study up big time on the DarkGifts in the Amber Temple. They can be too much/change the whole course of the game if you just go by the book. Recommend only allow one per partymember or maybe none if they don't want to be grotesque, and warn them what will happen (black oily hair grows on character's face and body... forever... type stuff and worse, so they will hate their character after... so many people on Reddit say don't warn them, I think that's awful to do to your players, but that's me). Also the Sheild Guardian in the Amber Temple is probably WAY too powerful... you might want to talk to the party and say "hey, do you mind having a super NPC that will be way better than your real characters? If so, how about it only lasts till we leave the Amber Temple then it stops working", or something like that. Our party decided they will donate the Shield Guardian to a town in Barovia that needs it for protection... nice gesture.

More Vallaki tips if you want to do more there: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/jkd6o7/how_to_prep_vallaki_in_one_hour_or_less/

Wotc fired Dragonlance artist!, Larry Elmore?!?!?! What!?!?!

 https://clownfishtv.com/legendary-dnd-artist-fired-from-dragonlance-series/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMYxUaF0j58

Have they lost their fking mind??? That guy is why a huge number of people found out about and loved DnD. Well, maybe Pathfinder or some others will pick him up... love his stuff, love it. 

UPDATE: the good folks on ENworld say it's more likely it was Randomhouse who decided to use a digital artist on their new books instead of Elmore. I still say they are all out of their mind, detail and that fantasy feel is what Elmore brings every time.  https://www.enworld.org/threads/art-thread-your-personal-favorite-d-d-art-for-a-monster.709534/page-18

Dragonlance art was always some of the very best. 

This super iconic best DnD cover art ever was him too. 

More of his stuff here: https://larryelmore.com/store/EQPP/dungeons-and-dragons--endless-quest--pillars-of-pentegarn

BTW, Here are some nice artists of DnD over the years: https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/illustration/dungeons-and-dragons-documentary-art

Map Making Tools

 https://app.dungeonscrawl.com/

Lots to play with. 

• ROUGH option is fun. 
• Careful w/ layers, not obvious it is switching layers sometimes

Can't figure out:

• Once you go from square to rounded edges, I can't switch it back to square. 

Monsterous Menagerie book by Level Up is Really Good - Thoughts/Recommended Changes

I just got it. Liking it a lot,... well actually really liking it a lot. Only wishing it had way more monsters, but still very very cool.  I'd give it a 5 out of 5 stars so far, no kidding. 

https://a5e.tools/rules/monstrous-menagerie

What's it got?

1. Mostly the MM1 type monsters. Many more would be better. 
2. Variant/Types of - seems like most have one alt version, but some have two alternate versions of those monsters (only humanoid ones?), very nice. Examples:
1. Some monsters like the Gnolls and Goblins have 3 total types.  
1. Gnoll, Gnoll Packlord, Gnoll Demonfang
1. A druid Lizardfolk as an alternative to a vanilla lizardman. Nice.
2. How about a CR12 Gibbering Mouther (Called a Murmuring Worm). Very cool.  
3. A lot of fun descriptions. 
1. The book does go very much into the realm of "nothing is evil by default", so I don't agree with that, but otherwise it's great stuff. 
1. I'll be leaving out the "goblins are mean b/c larger humanoids are mean to them" type stuff. For example:
1. It’s A Living. Life is unfair to goblins. It’s the one thing they can count on. Goblins are rarely granted mercy or kindness by larger folk, and in return they rarely extend it to others.
   
2. Will get changed to something like:
1. It’s A Living- It's a Killing - they hate everyone equally. [From a goblin's point of view,] Life is unfair to goblins. It’s the one thing they can count on. Goblins are rarely granted mercy or kindness by larger folk [due to goblins' cruel and evil ways- murder is their 2nd favorite hobby after all], and in return goblins rarely extend it to others. [Don't get them wrong, they wouldn't extend mercy naturally given the chance, although they might feign mercy to get into position to steal or kill. The foreign concepts of true mercy or kindness would never cross their mind or even make logical sense among their corrupted thoughts]. 
   
2. I'll keep the awesome description extras. For example:
1. Feral Glee. Goblins take their joy wherever they can find it. An unsupervised moment to play is a prize they cherish more than food or treasure. It may not last long, but goblins can make a game out of anything, and they respond well to anyone who plays along.
2. Changing to my version, which would be something like:
1. Feral Glee-kill your pet dog style. Goblins take their joy wherever they can find it. An unsupervised moment to play [(like stuffing offal into an unsuspecting comrade's pouch or torturing a live animal/enemy)]  is a prize they cherish more than food or treasure. It may not last long, but goblins can make a game out of anything, and they respond well to anyone [they trust] who plays along. [But don't turn your back on them or they'll stab you right in your kidneys in the throws of their game or not.]
4. Encounter CR Options & Treasure/Loot left by monsters
1. Pick your CR... they'll give you more monsters and their typical allies. Very handy!
2. Lots of relevant options for treasure. 
1. The final option is always a little extreme (super treasure you probably won't hand out all the time), but otherwise very very useful and fun stuff. 
3. Example:
1. CR 3–4 is 4 to 6 goblins with goblin boss, goblin warlock, or 2 goblin specialists; 3 or 4 goblins riding worgs (or Large rats with the statistics of worgs); 3 or 4 goblins with bugbear, death dog, or ogre; 4 to 6 goblin specialists
   Treasure 100 gp, 500 sp, dented silver helmet (75 gp), a hollow book containing 2 potions of growth and 2 potions of healing, 6 +1 arrows
   
5. Legends and Lore
1. Gives DC checks to see what the party would know. 
2. Different types. Like NATURE or HISTORY for Griffons. Then ARCANA or HISTORY for Hellhounds. 
3. I LOVE IT... I do this all the time on the fly, but it's nice to have some pre-built DC checks, and especially the different types. Examples:
1. DC 10 Goblins are small humanoids. While many find them disgusting, they are clever and resourceful creatures.
   
2. DC 15 Goblins rarely attack unless they outnumber their foes. For every goblin you see, there are usually two more lurking nearby.
   DC 20 Goblins sometimes serve larger humanoids or train giant rats as watchdogs or mounts
   
6. Signs of the monsters, as you approach their area
1. These Signs are one of my favorite things in the whole book. It gives you clues, sometimes obvious, sometimes obscure, to keep things interesting for the PCs. 
1. Example: 
1. 1 DC 15 Perception or Survival check: small
   footprints
   2 DC 15 Perception or Survival check: a
   concealed trap, such as a hunting trap, pit
   trap, or tripwire
   3 A filthy campsite
   4 A looted corpse or an arrow-riddled
   game animal
   5 A dead goblin
   6 Discarded gear, such as a broken shortsword, an arrow stuck in the ground, or a
   smashed bottle
   
2. Kobold Examples
1. 1–3 DC 12 Perception check: small footprints [[[generic enough, I'd say "not human, probably not children, can't make out the rest.]]]
   4 Abandoned campfire with dirt kicked over it [[[dirt kicked over... I like the contrast to Goblins. Kobolds seem neater/more cautious.]]]
   5 Several fresh kobold corpses, savaged by some beast [[[poor little buggers... damn how'd I get a soft spot for kobolds, Meepo?!!!]]]
   6 A dragon scale, pierced as if once part of a necklace [[[fits their honoring/worship of evil dragons]]]
   7 DC 12 Perception check: A concealed entrance to a narrow tunnel [[[I like this, feels like a twist to a plain-old adventure already]]]
   8 Caltrops, tripwire that tips a torch into a puddle of oil, or other trap [[[they have gained that super-trap reputation from times of old TSR, so I like this]]]
   9 Small footprints pass over a concealed pit trap that collapses beneath 80 or more pounds of weight
   10 Hidden kobold sentry
   
7. Behavior - solo or group
1. Monsters don't all have this much (Gnolls only have solo and group, two options), but Goblins have 7 options, wow. Solo, group underground, group in grasslands/desert, group in hills/mountains, forest/swamp, etc. 
2. Some are nice setups for a new plot that can happen in your game. See red betrayal (or double-cross) option below. Really cool. 
3. They did throw in a circus fun-loving nice goblin thing, so I'll cross that out (you do what you like, I just like my evil monsters to stay as such). 
1. Gnoll Examples of Group Behavior (roll a d6, I like this)
1. 1 Performing a gruesome sacrifice to the demon
   lord that first transformed them from hyenas
   2 On a surprise raid against an undefended
   village, seeking plunder and slaughter
   3 Fighting among themselves
   4 Taking grisly trophies such as ears and teeth
   from the corpses of villagers
   5 Giggling as they hunt a human or other
   humanoid
   6 Feasting on corpses, drunk with bloodshed
   
2. Goblin Examples
1. Lone Behavior
   1–3 Scouting or patrolling for a larger group
   4 Exiled; will betray its former comrades’
   location to well-armed travelers (unless it’s
   a doublecross?)
   5 Loaded down with stolen treasure
   6 A goblin with no tribe; it knows the local
   area well
   
2. Group Behavior in Settled Land
   1 On a raid, setting fire to a barn
   2 Stealing panicky horses, several goblins to
   a horse
   3 With goods to trade
   4 Running a traveling circus or theater
   
3. Kobold Behavior Examples - they have 12 types, awesome variety.
   1 Attack on sight; armed with vials of acid or alchemist’s fire
   2 Attack on sight; armed with a jar of scorpions, snakes, or green slime
   3 Suspicious of strangers; may have set ball bearings, caltrops, or hunting traps
   4 Running with sacks of stolen food
   
4. Kobolds continued... (I can't get rid of this # easily, thx but noThx Blogger.com's text editor)
   5 Peeking from behind cover, such as high in a tree, behind a wall, or inside an abandoned building
   6 Arguing over the proper way to roll a boulder onto intruders
   7 Digging a pit trap
   8 Hiding in ambush, disguised as bushes or rocks that occasionally move around
   9 Bearing a message from their overlord
   10 Guarding a high position such as a ledge or balcony
   11 Terrified and hiding in a hole or inside burlap sacks, or just lying down covering their eyes [Not going to use this, makes them too innocent/childlike]
   12 Fleeing from a battle in which their companions were killed
   
8. Names for the monsters
1. Nice to have a few to choose from. They don't give but about a dozen, good enough. 
1. EXAMPLE for Goblins: Blacktooth, Briarbones, Dinda, Flea, Flundercork, Grimgargle, Gurp, One-Toe, Ood, Skirn, Thrunk, Vivvle
   
1. Compare Goblin examples from https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/dnd-goblin-names.php
1. nab
   sichurg
   ellas
   zrugrak
   sedge
   Mite
   Worm
   Widelegs
   Frogface
   Slimegut
2. Example for Kobolds (waaay too cutesy, going to redo probably all of them):
1. Their Kobold Names - Blimbik, Flaw, Lublub, Luckluck, Pip Nip, Queek, Skirn, Vis, Zabblescrubble, Zorna
   
2. Less cute (mine/other) Kobold Names - https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/dnd-kobold-names.php
   Nom, satt, tuks, ras, erbu, hohzu, galpi, ovni, rolbu, kuble, kex, heg, vogs, vek, mukli, erpo, diplu, ulgu, raglu, uhro

Random things in general or differences from the 2014 MM I've stumbled across:

• Skeletal Horde is a neat one under Skeleton(s)
• think of swarm of bats, but it's a 10x10 grid (Large creature) with 1d4+4 skellies. 
• The Shield Guardian takes an action to self-repair/heal 15HP, instead of auto 10HP per round. 
• What is,  Maneuver DC 15? Shield Guardian has that. 
  
• Half-Dragons
• So I don't see Dragonborn, but half-dragons are back. I think I like that. Some are probably badguys, since they are in this monster book. 
• They give 2 statblocks. Half red veteran and a half green assassin. Good info/stats I think. 
• The alt (variant) for inviz stalker is a houndlike creature, the Invisible Render. Pretty cool actually. 
• Slam Attacks - 
• Great details here: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/47920/what-is-a-slam-attack
• Examples - 
• might be a punch, like from golems
• appendage attack 
• a body tackle
• a headbutt
• whatever unarmed type of attack would make sense
• Khalkoi and maybe a couple of other unique(?) monsters I've never heard of.
  
• The  Khalkoi is a mind wasp. Looks humanoid. 
  
• Khalkoi, more commonly known as mind wasps, are parasitic predators that feed on the cosmic principles of good and evil, law and chaos. They conquer reality after reality, leaving behind deserted heavens and dead gods as they rob worlds of divine magic.
  A khalkos is humanoid in shape with an inexpressive wasp face. It is able to disguise itself psionically in order to infiltrate sacred or profane places, dooming them to destruction.
  
• A ton of stuff was shared on ENworld before official release(?): https://www.enworld.org/threads/monster-preview-thread.679876/page-8

All in all, yeah, I can see why people say it's such a good book b/c it really is excellent for DMs. 

MORE TO GET? DIDNT KNOW THESE EXISTED, Monster Manual Expanded I, II, and III for 5e:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/267678/Monster-Manual-Expanded-5E?src=also_purchased

Warduke info

 Dragon mag from 2003, #105.  So 3e … and his stats and items are insano crazy sauce good.  

See yt by Gamemasters “in dungeons and dragons,,, Who is warduke” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMXYa7EQXgY

5e, The wild beyond the witchlight brought him back (but insulted his intel). Watered down terribly  to cr5. 

Old AC1 module. 

And one other old module.  XL-1, Quest for the Heartstone.

Why does "Host" Mean Army in Ancient Writings?

 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/16mvyrp/why_are_armies_referred_to_as_hosts_in_ancient/

Sidenote: I like the O -> UE thing that happens in Spanish. I've noticed it, but didn't know how far it went. 

https://www.reddit.com/user/TywinDeVillena/ says:

     "Host" is a word that also means army, and it can be found in other languages like the Spanish word "hueste" with the characteristic diphthongation o -> ue (similar to fortem -> fuerte, or mortem -> muerte).

In both cases, the word comes from the Latin word "hostis", meaning "enemy army" or "enemy" or "army". From this etym you can find the English word "hostile" and "hostility".

In the case of the English "host", we have a convergent evolution of words with a different provenance. "Host" in the hospitality sense comes from the Latin word "hospes, hospitis", whereas "host" as army comes from "hostis", but both evolved into the same word.   

Another interesting article: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1i58mtk/why_were_medieval_armies_so_small_compared_to/

Ques was: Why were super ancient armies 50,000 mean, but later in medieval Europe, it was 10,000 men or less?

Answ by https://www.reddit.com/user/Steelcan909/: 

the ability of the state to marshal its resources and in the militarization of society as a whole.

The medieval world was filled with states that were just simply not able to muster the same amount of men under arms because of the constraints that medieval armies and societies faced compared to Roman, Hellenistic, and other Classical world states because they lacked the administrative capacity, the levels of urbanization, a highly militarized population to draw soldiers from, and the coercive political systems that the states of Antiquity enjoyed. However this level of uneven army size is mostly applicable to western Medieval Europe.

LotR cartoon, Troll, plus some influences on Peter Jackson

 UPDATE AND THIS NAZGUL SWORD SCENE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk47qO8rW4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fRCXDsiKsA

It was hairy, but it also was green and scaly (where hairless) AKA it had reptilian feet and claws. It's face was not reptilian, had a turned up nose. The hairiness is funky and interesting. I will say I never liked the tiny-nosed short-legged trolls of the Peter Jackson movies, they just didn't look troll-like. My favorite monsters in the Jackson movies were some of the side-profile goblinesque orcs (bottom of this post) and later in the Hobbit movies: Smaug (though a bit too shiny or CGI shine or whatever).

Some scenes that influenced Peter Jackson, he must have some love of this cartoon movie, as do I:

Hard to see, but the Nazgul put the sword out in front of their face just like the cartoon, (then flip them around to attack in unison). 

Sidenote, these orcs/goblins look the best IMO. 

LotR Cartoon, Landscape to Mordor filled with Horror

 Check this out, about 3/4 the way through the movie when Sam and Frodo are trekking to Mordor. What the heck are these (gigantic mountain sized??) skeletal semi-undead mountains all about? They zoom into the screen/painting to then come to a close up view of Frodo and team, in a way that indicates these are just part of the landscape and are huge. Are they?

It looks super cool, but it keeps boggling my mind because I want to know if they are gigantic or people sized. A few minutes later in the movie they show small people-sized skeletons, cartoon movement drawn style, next to the Frodo party. 

Mines of Moria had some cool stuff too.

Results, Deathslaad, extended Amber Temple - leaving Oni room, puzzles. Grimtooth's traps.

RESULTS:

The kid had a hard fight with the [upgraded] Deathslaad (with the Arcanaloth getting a few potshots in from behind... wall of fire and chain lightning, then he left). The Elf dropped twice. Fighter went down once. Barbarian got blinded (no save pathfinder style) and was stunned (stunning fist 3/day deathslaad 3.5e style) once or twice. Was kinda too close for comfort a couple of moments there... the Shield Guardian was key.  Yeah, that was a CR12 monster the way I did him, nowhere near the CR10. And with the Arcanaloth helping out, maybe a CR14 encounter? 

Final hit was epic... druid was an ankylosaurus and got a hit with the tail when the Deathslaad tried to fly up taking an AOO... thinking his high AC would protect him. Nope, and then the kid rolled four sixes, max damage! Splat, like a mosquito getting slapped, the slaad was dead on the wall.  

TRAPS SECTION BELOW

TRAPS/GRIMTOOTH'S TRAPS (and Wally-DM has many puzzles too): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mix457W7nPg 

When tports out of the me-made dungeon area/oni area... I'm using Grimtooths fake tripwire and then devising two of my own. 

RESULTS: These were a fun change of pace. He solved the flipping floor with a mage hand, carefully detecting it, then finally destroying the metal(?) wire. The barred off tport circle, he slowly figured it out and sent the druid in as an eagle. The urns were trickier b/c ... well how do you communicate acid and cold the way I was trying? Was OK, gave a few more clues... then I really liked "his guess for necrotic" instead of cold for that one, because it made more sense when he explained it plus it was more fitting for the Skeletal Mage [who had just escaped] and general theme of this area. 

TRAP DESCRIPTIONS:

• A set of passageways before you get back to the normal dungeon
• maybe some sort of failsafe against LIVING beings
• undead or constructs dont deal with it? Right b/c means Oni or Skel mage was escaping, so didnt want somebody following too close. 
• #2 room. A barred off other tport circle... it's got glowing greenish barely visible false flames licking up from it. Wall next to it, also touched by flames, has LEVER. IT's like 20 feet from guys behind barred area. Gotta hit lever. 
• ANTIMAGIC FLAMES... are all over that area, except the first 16 inches by bars. Harmless to walk in or touch. But no magic. 
• Mage hand won't work.  
• Dimension door INTO flames won't work. 
• Can dimension door in the 16 inch safe zone. then go hit lever for friends. 
• Bars are magical and stone around is magically, doesnt seem to take dmg. 
• how to get to it?
• turn into tiny animal, turn big, lever?
• long 20' stick? Could put arms through bars a little.
• Can dimension door in the 16 inch safe zone. then go hit lever for friends. 
• How did Oni get through? Secret button, DC 24. 
• IF GET PAST, go to #3.
• #3 room. If use BIG spell, then urn magically pulls magic inward. 
• Must activate all 4 (each one will glow when done correctly, for 10 minutes). Then the four big rock plates move around, revealing a tport circle big enough for four ppl. 
• Dead guy shrivelled up mostly skeletal on floor like sleeping.
• Kind looks like the "cold" head, but it's not sleep... it's cold needed.  
• Acid activated Urn. 
• Has clean skull. 
• Has mold growing on floor and side of it. Why? B/c the dead guy figurd it out, threw up in it to activate it. 
• Fire activated Urn. Blackened skull. 
• Note the everburning torches above if need. 
• Necrotic-dead Cold activated Urn. Sleeping mummy looking head with hair. Has FUR around the neck area (bcuz cold). 
• Better have magic. 
• Elec activated??? A hand grasping a stick. Scars on hand (from electr.). Urn has cracks on it, like the scars... weird pattern (more fluid than pure zigzag elec.). 
• Better have magic or static electr.
• Worried all have is big lightning bolt. Nobody has shock grasp eh? Prestidigitation for a static shock maybe is enough. 
• Room #1 is the Grimtooth fake Tripwire trap. Tunnel. You see tripwire. You see kinda like 3 different types of stone for the tunnel (middle area is the trap). 
• If jump over it, DC13 to super jump far enough. If dont jump far enough, land on spinning trapdoor and fall for 4d6.
• ((Ofcourse can just fly over. ))
• has Oil of Slipperiness so spins for hours or days. 
• Gotta find way to stop it. 
• IF CUT wire. it stops the spinning,  2 big spikes fire up from floor supporting it. 
• Maybe a big pole.
• Maybe athletics check DC 22?
•  ***can see past the middle area, curves to right and you see Bottomless pit type stuff over there UNDER the walkway. It's a clue. 

Vecna is an anagram for Vance, Jack Vance

 See wikiped for Dying Earth, series by Jack Vance. A big influence on Gygax’s magic system they say.  With Vecna being an anagram for Vance, you start to see the connection. Magic in this scifi series is based on memorization of syllables which the human mind can only hold so much. Etc. 

Personally I still like magic as magic (probably more the current dnd sorcerer style, no memorization), but I can appreciate the game aspects of the rest of it. Studying and learning magic has a cool ring to it. 

Amber temple Oni fight results

 Kid prevailed… took fair bit of dmg, so good thing he walled off the Amber golem on one side with wall of Stone spell.  

Both Onis (ovre magi) r dead. The CR “oni” reskinned Ogres did some dmg but died pretty quickly. Amber golem escaped. Skeletal Mage (underwhelming magic honestly, Pathfinder… did get a lucky scorching ray off on somebody tho) escaped.  

He liked it, a very tactical and different type of fight.  

Orc Faces in D&D and elsewhere. Details for gnolls n such. Gazetteer

 The BECMI Gazetteer num. 10, The Orcs of Thar. See BECMI Berserker’s yt. 

Statblock for orc War machine at the 8:01 time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgLtXr8Ereo&t=311s

Time 10:34 has the fun orc-speech spelled out phonetically for a PC sheet.  

THE LOOK OF THE ORCS

UPDATE, Cool, just found this... wow that blows me away. Pig-faced orcs were very common from many sources, like that Tolkien calendar. And some others I had never seen (one-eyed orcs?!), and here's the original inspiration for the DND cartoon orcs: https://grognardia.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-very-partial-pictorial-history-of-orcs.html

• That same grognardia.blogspot leads to 1976 pig faced orcs https://oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com/post/115126326617/pig-faced-orcs-attack-david-sutherland-from
• and Frazetta's https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/syfy_image_gallery_full_breakpoints_theme_syfy_normal_1x/public/tumblr_n1ggjzsyam1rsh9xbo7_1280_3.jpg
• https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e5/0d/29/e50d2927f05f9ec086827cbff15fc693.jpg

Tolkein calendar in 1975ish

Tolkein calendar: https://swordssorcery.blogspot.com/2015/10/hildebrants-tolkien-calendar-1976.html

MM 1e had them drawn as simpering and sad faced pig people.  Not intimidating.

MM 2e had them as hairy, sort of goblinesque.  With a stooped posture, clawed feet, evil eyes, and a strange small but upturned nose.  

MM 3e (year 2000) made them look like barbarian humans more than anything. The nose was skeletal, the mouth had become overly large, but very human.  

Helpful timeline of editions via wikipedia

The 1983 DnD cartoon made them reptilian but with a mammal snout and of large girth.  I like these quite a bit.  No fur.  Clearly scaled eyebrows and face… almost crocodilian.  

The BECMI Gazetteer num 10, The Orcs of Thar? Their faces were still monstrous enough on the cover.  Snouts were greatly shortened from before… 

 Mm4e (2008-2014) and 5e (2014+) went even more human-like.  …So in recent years, since the WoWarcraft (and warhammer) influences…their mouths are their defining “monstrous trait”…  they have become more toad-like or really more Hippopotamus-mouth-like with a smattering of the Incredible Hulk.  I do not much care for the Incredible Hulk/toad/hippopotamus look.  Also compare to the goblins of The Hobbit cartoon movie… they were very toadlike due to their large mouths.  

What about Star Wars - Return of the Jedi's (1984) Gamorrean guards looking very pig-orc-like (or hippo-jawed-orc?)? Including this Executioner from around 2012: 

Gamorrean Guard from Return of the Jedi in 1984

Gamorrean Executioner, approximately 2012

TABLES OF FUN STUFF / good for playin', INDEX of all on Pg. 20 of The Orcs of Thar, Gazetteer

Orc names, gnolls names, hobgob names

Dozens and dozens of names.  Orcs…

• Bone-fist
• Red-eye
• Scar-snout

Hobgobs… uumdul, uzuk, wu’hai, yagrai, zhongbai, yarlung.(a or i at end mean female). 

Horde names 

Major hordes… yellow eyes, wolf riders, night brimgers, black moons, skull smashers, etc.

Minor hordes… black axes, blood thorns, night stalkers, vile runes, deathmongers, fire spears, hell hounds, dwarf smashers, tunnel creepers, broken shield, devil swines, bloody hands

Mushrooms (Pg. 36  of the Gazetteer, The Orcs of Thar. )

• Badshroom - poison
• Fireshroom- rub together or step on, burns.  Looks like sticks.  
• Poofshroom - hear enemy step on a spears throw away. And smell.  And poof dust spores go flying.  
• Darksnap - camo. Can bite off finger.  Super old one can eat a troll.
• Gooberry - like a sundew from cave ceiling.  Biggest catch a goblin.  Small catch insects. 

Details for gnolls (Pg. 31 of the Gazetteer, The Orcs of Thar. )

• Grey spots on snout.  
• One ear flops. 
• Split lip, exposing teeth. Lip cut scar see teeth thru.
• Open mouth drooling.
• Missing fur patches.
• Mohawk. Mane. Plume or tuft.
• Bald, extra hair on shoulders.
• Big wrinkles or flabby flesh.
• Broken teeth.
• Tattoos.
• Eye patch
• Cold slimy snout
• Limoing, whining, or hiccup.
• Occasional convulsion or twitxh
• Big ears or nostrils 
• Small horns, or sm boar tusks
• Twitching or nervous attitude 
• Various ugly, seamed scars
• Wet, slimy hair under chin

Two fireballs one round - 3.5e vs. 5e Sorcerer vs. 2024 changes

Side note, Warlock2024 gets all(?) patrol spells instead of some?? I dont follow the DungeonDudes just yet: https://tabletopjoab.com/dnd-2024-warlock-changes/      and   dung.dudes:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVQGrE6wBtg&list=LL

 Apparently they got rid of the fighter action surge (multiclass) to let Sorc cast 2 fireballs per round. 

2014 also says somewhere "can cast a fireball + a cantrip" in one round with quickened spell. 

2024 says: "can cast fireball + cantrip ... or fireball + misty step" I think... if misty step is a reaction or something. 

A lot of ppl whine that the martial classes dont like sorcerers casting two fireballs in a round b/c nuke bosses. AND actually, this was back when bosses had HALF the hitpointS needed, as 2024 double HPs. 

In 3.5e, a 20th level sorcerer could actually cast 3 fireballs in a round. The thing is in 3.5e, you had to store those spells in two slots higher or something like that to quicken them. Metamagic feats. 

But in Balders Gate 3, u definitley can cast 2 fireballs in one round. So what is going on here? 

In 1e and 2e, fireballs and lightning bolts definitely did more dmg at higher level automatically... and bosses had less HP. So what is going on here? 

One forum argument is that you need to ahve 6-8 fights per day, so they try to not use up too many spells. But "most tables dont do that many fights per day" argument. 

One guy says, in regards to dung.dudes 2024 rules to put in 2014, and quickened spells: 

My House Rule for Spells in a Turn, is that you can cast a number of Spell-Slots-Worth of Spells, equal to the highest level spell you can cast.

I.E. 12th level Sorcerer can cast Disintegrate (6 Spell Levels). And then they're done for the turn.

12th level Sorcerer can cast Fireball (3 Spell Levels) then Quicken another Fireball (3 Spell Levels) [this is not something a 10th level or lower Sorcerer could do].

If you wanted to Counter the Counterspell the enemy caster would invariably cast, you needed to save 3 levels for that; so:

12th level Sorcerer could Misty Step (2 Spell Levels), Burning Hands (1 Spell Level), and Counterspell (3 Spell Levels).

10th level Paladin/2nd level Fighter, could Divine Smite twice [we took out the dumb Bonus Action requirement] (1 Spell Level x2), Action Surge, and Smite one more time (1 Spell Level), but not a fourth.

But if they did a 3rd level Smite, that's it for the turn.

Other table does it so max level 2 spell as 2nd spell, if i read correctly... ... :

In regard to bonus actions and leveled spells, I like how our table does it. Think like a bard with jack of all trades, sort of. If you cast a leveled spell on your turn (action or bonus action), you can use the other action to cast a spell of a level equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded down) minus one. So levels 1-8, it is like how it has been. Levels 9-16, you can cast a leveled spell and a level 1 spell if you have the means to do so with both action and bonus action. And 17+, any spell and a level 2 spell.

And this sounds like the best of all worlds:

Regarding Spells, I use a Homebrew Rule that allows to cast multiple Spells within the same round in general - with a BUT. For my Homebrew Rule I divided Spells into 2 categories - "Low Level" and "High Level" Spells. And these Categories shift with growing Levels because it depends on your highest available Spell Slot which is considered what. Every Spell HALF your highest Spell Slot Level (rounded down) and below is considered "Low Level" everything above "High Level". For Example, Level 7 Wizard has access to lvl 4 Spell Slots - Half of that is lvl 2, so lvl 1 & 2 Spells are low level. You can always cast multiple Spells like i said, BUT if you want to cast multiple High Level Spells within a Turn you make a DC15 Constitution Save, on a fail you gain 1 Exhaustion as the channeling of so much magic in short time drains you r energy quite a bit. The Spells are cast nonetheless, if you suceed or not. You can however cast multiple low level Spells or 1 High + low level Spells in a Round. If you trigger the mentioned Con Save successively in rounds, the DC goes up to 20. Players think twice before doing it mindlessly, because it can stack up pretty fast if your Con isn't that great while still getting the chance to pull off cool combos.

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This guy says works fine, probably have many fights a day: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/svugi4/i_let_my_sorcerer_players_use_quickened_spell_to/

And 2024 got rid of action surge workaround - https://gbtimes.com/gaming/can-you-quicken-spell-fireball/

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/105165/can-my-2nd-spell-used-with-quickened-spell-not-be-a-cantrip

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/bria94/35_question_quicken_spell_metamagic_feat/