Next Amber Temple, and much later - Dimitar the Wight will be at Strahd's Castle

NEXT Amber Temple

I love this: "This arched hall rises to a height of twenty feet. You can see your reAections in the amber glaze. But the images don't mirror your movements. Instead, they wave their arms and scream silent warnings to you." 

1. Eye of Kilrog / Arcane Eye - flying around. Bat sees... something. From Arcanaloth (or from Ogre-Magi too?)
2. Ogre Mage - (CR5 to CR8 so maybe 2 or 3 of them) in the ground--- BIG GROUND AREA, like 3 rooms and a hallway all connected maybe back to the main TWO big GOlem TREASURE ROOMS. He's repairing the Amber Golems, he's chained up(?) maybe with magic chains (magical cage better). Or it's just his job. I think his room can appear anywhere, but it's a secret door down... can move around magically(?). 
1. CR8 , 3.5e version: https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ogreMage.htm
1. Has Cone of Cold 1/day. 
2. CR5 version: https://www.5esrd.com/database/creature/ogre-mage/
3. CR6 ver here: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Ogre_Mage_(5e_Creature)
4. CR7 MM2014 ver, Oni - see MM PDF. 
1. Has Cone of Cold instead of Lightn Bolt.
2. REGEN 10 yep.  
5. CR7 MM2025 ver, Oni, here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/mm-2024/monsters-o#Ogres
6. Let's USE:  AC 17, HP 117, Speed 40 ft, Darkvision 60 ft
1. Severed Limbs reattach
2. TWO-ATT, Spiked Club, Reach 10 ft ... +7 to hit, 3d6+7
3. TWO-ATT, Claw (glows magically). Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 10 ft. Hit: 10 (1d12 + 4) Slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) Necrotic damage.
4. REGEN 10 if at least 1
1. Fire and Acid deal normal dmg (prevents regen)
5. Treasure - double standard
1. +1 magic great club
6. Spells
1.  (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks
2. At Will: Inviz, Darkness
3. Gaseous Form? To retreat, dmg reduction 10, cant crit it. 
4. Cantrips (at will): acid splash, dancing lights, firesweep, prestidigitation, radiant blade
   1st level (4 slots): fog cloud, jump, venomous ray
   2nd level (3 slots): gust of wind, shatter
   3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, lightning bolt
   4th level (2 slots): banishment, wall of fire
3. Amber Golem #4 pops out of ground of one of the rooms when he's there. 
1. Kid noticed dead broken Amber Golem's amber shards sink into ground when he was walking away (corner of his eye). 
2. Arcanaloth does Wall of Fire to block them in, then the golem pops out. 
3. ***Some of (all of?) the broken amber from other Golem disappeared from the floor... it magically transports to a REMAKE GOLEM magic thing under the ground in those two rooms?!?!
1. B/C, they figured when making the golems, even if die, need them again later.
2. Similar to Flameskulls, but holy water stops Flameskulls. 
4. HAVE ANOTHER AMBER GOLEM POP UP FROM THE GROUND whenever it gets too easy for the kid. 
1. Maybe there are only 2 and they keep slowly reforming, popping up from ground.
1. If so, where'd they be right now? 
5. Lich fix up.
6. Spell library.
1. Warlock gets all ritual spells. 
7. Dark gifts?!?!
8. Vecna might be involved! He might be the statue. 
1. The broken out amber might have been a part of Vecna.
1. https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/ojyvcm/is_the_god_of_secrets_statue_in_the_amber_temple/
2. Vecna is related to Nothic formation sort of, read up. 
9. Death Slaad (see my other post)
10. Arcanaloth, name of Neferon. 
1. Arcanaloth
1. If they attack Statue, use https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/187zafe/can_the_players_attackdestroy_neferons_statue_in/

1.      A good rule of thumb for stone is to use the Wall of Stone spell, which gives AC 15 and 30 hit points per inch of thickness. (For a 10x10 panel.)

   I'd probably say the whole head is at least 6 inches thick, and has 360 hit points.

   Large thick objects tend to have damage reduction 10 as well, which means only hits that do 10+ damage do all. 

2. , I might recommend making it a puzzle where they have to either find a weak spot, or do something like knock it over to get their desired result, rather than just blast at it until the statue breaks  

11. OK-DONE*** Amber reflecting in the area he's at RIGHT NOW, your reflections wave their arms and silently scream for you to beware X5 statue area!!!
    
    

NEXT after Amber Temple done:

And maybe on way to see Undead Druid... runs into Dimitar the Wight again. 

• Undead Druid / Siabrae - Name of... XXXXXXXXXX
• Dimitar the Wight "You forgot about me, didn't you? I'll never forget what you did to me."
• Skeletal Champion CR2 figure (from Pathfinder minis, with good stats)
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/skeletal-champion/
• For 5e, Reduce AC by 1 or 2, then increase HP by 15-25 or something. 
• Use this to see CR2 comparison HP   https://5e.tools/bestiary.html#aarakocra%20aeromancer_xmm
• https://5e.tools/bestiary.html#reduced-threat%20carrion%20crawler_tftyp

• Skeletal Mage CR5 figure (from Pathfinder minis, with good stats)
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/skeletal-mage/
• For 5e, Reduce AC by 1 or 2, then increase HP by 15-25 or something. 
• Compare AC / HP to: https://5e.tools/bestiary.html#red%20wizard_rot

WAY LATER:

Final showdown, I think Dimitar the Wight will be there. I think he's Strahd's right hand man, which is how he got some power to come back after being destroyed (how many times? ... similar to a flameskull, maybe holy water destroys). 

From Dungeon Mag +1, page 18:

38. Rotating Wall. This wall rotates, allowing access to different rooms.

Somewhere in his dungeon, a "pet" Chimera? Why not. 

39. Chimera Little Closer. This fearsome beast waits just inside the room. It cannot be surprised. The chimera breathes fire on the first person entering the door, on the right flank (AC 6/5/2; MV 9”/18”; HD 9; hp 43; #AT 6; Dmg 1-3/1-3/1-4/1-4/2-8/3-12; SA dragon head can breathe fire five times per day for 3-24 hp damage (save for half damage), 50% chance/round that it uses its breath weapon; AL CE). This beast won’t leave its room.

As the first party member enters this room, a sheet of flame engulfs him! You bound into the room to find that the culprit is a creature partly goat, partly lion, and partly dragon. The monstrosity rushes you, roaring and bleating with all three heads!

The chimera possesses some treasure: 7,127 sp, 1,232 ep, a suit of dwarf-sized field plate armor, 250 pp, two rubies worth 1,500 gp each, a tiara worth 3,600 gp, and a dagger +1, +2 vs. goblins (value: 100 xp, 500 gp)

The secret door opens into the southeast corner of a 50' x 75' room. Against the opposite wall is an open casket, upon which a gaunt, coldeyed man sits leisurely. He looks very much like the devilish man depicted in a mural you saw earlier. He almost seems to be smiling. Against the western and northern walls are ten more coffins set upright; in which can be seen human skeletons adorned with shields and swords. The northeastern corner of, the room seems to have collapsed, and great heat and light come up from the pit so formed. As you survey the scene for a brief instant, the skeletons in the coffins begin to move. Seizing their swords and shields, they leap from their coffins and rush at you!

The first 10 skeletons split into two groups (AC 7; MV 12 "; HD 1; hp 8 (x3), 7,6 (x2), 4,3 (x3); #AT 1; Dmg 1-6; SD [SD=special defense, eh?] immune to numerous spells, sharpedged weapons do only half damage; AL N). Four (the strongest) go to the pit's edge  and stand there as others attack the party. The coffins are magical and have a special function: when a skellie dies, a duplicate skellie comes out of coffin(s). Same HP on new skellie and appears in a random coffin and charges back into the melee. 

 Around vampire's coffin, 5' all around, is a permanent illusion. Looks like floor, it's a pit though. Any persons charging him drop into a 30' deep pit, taking 3d6 hp damage.

After 1st fall... In addition, the pit floor slowly slides away to drop characters another 30 ft into bubbling Lava (((insta-death))) (((switch to acid?? would you smell it or the lava?))). (((OMG, Gary Gygax did this, huh?))). 

One char falling in pit dispels the illusion. But if party members are running side by side, they all tumble into the trap). 

It takes four rounds for the pit to open wide enough to drop the characters into the lava (and instant death).

...

A chest concealed by the bottom of the coffin contains 2,000 pp, 15 gems worth 300 gp each, a ring of temporal stasis (causes wearer to go into suspended animation as per the magic-user spell temporal stasis, no save), a ring of one wish, 12 nonmagical jeweled rings worth 150 gp each), a two-handed sword

+2, two javelins of lightning, an arrow of cleric-slaying, a magic-user, scroll of four randomly determined fifth-level magic-user spells, and an illusionist scroll with one seventh-level spell.

One possible way to destroy the vampire (in addition to the normal methods) would be to lock him in his coffin (either in gaseous form or as a solid body) and drop the coffin into the pit around him, which would then drop the coffin into the lava and instantly slay the vampire forever. This is also the only way to stop the skeletons from reappearing, by dropping their coffins into the lava pit and destroying the remaining skeletal bodies. Each coffin in this room has a 2,000 gp encumberance, possibly requiring several people to move each one. 

LOOT FROM A VAMPIRE:

A chest concealed by the bottom of the coffin contains 2,000 pp, 15 gems worth 300 gp each, a ring of temporal stasis (causes wearer to go into suspended animation as per the magic-user spell temporal stasis, no save), a ring of one wish, 12 nonmagical jeweled rings worth 150 gp each), a two-handed sword

+2, two javelins of lightning, an arrow of cleric-slaying, a magic-user, scroll of four randomly determined fifth-level magic-user spells, and an illusionist scroll with one seventh-level spell.