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Torture Devices

How can you have a good dungeon without torture devices? I find it amusing when I read of dungeons that have no pain and misery being inflicted on any of the inhabitants. What would be the point of such a place? As an ancient Lich I take offense to such nonsense.  Dungeons are painful places for those who are brought there against their will. Yet such devices tend to get ignored.  

I had to do a little research on this thing you call the internet. Such magic does not exist in Zanzia. Not yet at least. I will have to work on  it. But I scrounged up a few images of some important devices and techniques that I believe should be included in your dungeons in the event that some of your delvers are foolish enough to be captured alive!

Iron Maiden

One of my favorite torture devices is called the iron maiden. This wonderful device has so many uses…. But anyway it is an inexpensive tool for inflicting pain and agony. So you should get one….or perhaps two…you cannot be too careful.

The iron maiden picture above is a fine example. Check out the look on that guys face as he is being put into the box. Priceless! Below is another image. Unfortunately….it is unoccupied. That will change soon I am sure. 

The Rack

I had a little more trouble finding good free images for this excellent tool for the extraction of information. To be honest, Iron Maidens, rarely extract much information. Usually once the person is put in the box they are not talking very much. But the rack is different. You have much more time to talk while you are stretching the person.

Dismemberment

Dismemberment is also a valuable technique. While it is not torture per se it is good entertainment. And it can be torture if done properly and with loving care.

Dismemberment

Burning Alive

And lastly…..for those of you too cheap to buy good tools….. there is always fire.

Whatever torture devices that you choose be sure to include some or all of these techniques and tools in your next dungeon. You will not regret it. 

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More Frontiers of Space Material Coming

I realize that it has been a while since I released the Frontiers of Space. But I have not forgotten it. I love Traveller and Cepheus Engine and I intend to do more work in that area. Some of the  products that I am working on include:

  • Adventures 
  • Alien Races
  • Spacecraft 
  • Worlds

I have been busy on other projects lately such as development of this blog. But I will be getting back to business soon. If you have ideas or comments please leave them here.

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Which Guests to Invite: Monsters

Guests in your dungeon are so important. Just having mindless minions provides little entertainment. If you really want to hear screams from your delvers you need a better class of monsters.

Dungeons and Dragons has existed now for about five decades. Your players probably already know what to expect from monsters that exist in your games. It is time to dig deeper. Much deeper. There are many great sources for monsters outside of the core books for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons or even for Dungeons and Dragons 5E. That is what this post is about. 

There is a very good source of books called the Tome of Horrors from Necromancer Games. Each of these thick books is filled with glorious new friends that could populate your catacombs, temples and tombs. I, myself, prefer undead. Of course….I am undead. So that is kind of expected. But these four books have a lot more than just undead in them. They have monsters to fit just about any occasion. 

These books are not written specifically for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1E. In fact, each of these books, is written for a different game system. But all are basically D20 systems are and fairly similar. In any event it is not difficult by any means to modify these monsters for use in your game system. And it is definitely worth it. I guarantee that nerdy rules lawyer sitting to the left of your dungeon master screen will not have memorized all of the details of these babies. They will not know what just hit them when you unleash these creatures into your games. And that is when the real fun begins.

 

If you want to look at these books or purchase any of them you can find them on Drive Thru RPG using the following links:

Tome of Horrors

Tome of Horrors II

Tome of Horrors III

Tome of Horrors IV – Not available on Drive Thru RPG

Bringing the right guests to the party makes things more enjoyable for everyone. Well, everyone but your delvers, right? But who cares about them anyway. If you really want to paint the tomb walls red then bring these new friends to the game for proper introductions……

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Speaking of Traps……

Now that we have brought up the subject of traps it might be wise to discuss their use a bit. In my mind….and of course… I am always right….. there are only a few appropriate ways to use a trap:

  • Confinement
  • Channeling
  • Injuring
  • Killing

Confinement

Some traps should be used to catch your prey. This is useful if you intend to torture your delvers later at your leisure either to get valuable information or just because you enjoy it like I do. Either reason is perfectly acceptable. Cages, portcullis, falling blocks and falling walls do well for this sort of thing.

Channeling

Channeling traps are wonderful ways to feed your minions. Dropping iron walls, iron portcullis, stone blocks, rolling boulders are all good methods for forcing players to go places they might otherwise not choose to go. Sometimes I like to invite some particularly nasty friends to occupy certain quarters of my dungeons and then offer them free meals by forcing delvers to come visit them. It is a win-win situation if you ask me. My friends usually think so too.

Injuring

Injuring traps are useful on occasion. Sometimes it is just not prudent to slay everyone who wanders into the dungeon looking for treasure. Sometimes you want to question them before you put them to the sword. Arrow traps, pit traps, dart traps are useful for this kind of thing.

Killing

And these traps are of course…the really fun ones. Crushing rooms, flooding chambers, poison gasses, poisoned darts and arrows, crushing stone blocks and poisoned spike pits. These are absolute treasures. There is just nothing as exciting for a member of the undead as to see a freshly killed humanoid with surprise still on their face. It is a beautiful thing I assure you. 

Malcon with his hood off
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And for Dungeons and Dragons 5E:

For Dungeons and Dragons 5E you need the core books. The 5th edition core books include the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide and Monster Manual. These  books are really well made. Unlike the original 1st Edition books that fell apart at the binding from use over the years these 5th edition books are sturdy. And the artwork inside of them is nothing short of awesome by comparison to the books of long ago.

Of course, the AD &D books had a flavor all of their own. They were in black and white. They had cartoons that brought humor to the game. But to make these 5E core books Wizards of the Coast must have spent a great deal of money on artists. 

You can tell just from the cover art that the Dungeons and Dragons 5E books have some incredible images and they do. They are full color and are full of fine artwork. These books have extensive tables as well.

I love the beholder picture on the cover of the monster manual. Each of the monsters inside this book have a full color image as well as extensive stats and ecology information for the creature. The Player’s Handbook has a wide variety of classes and options for each. There are extensive spell lists and descriptions as well. And the Dungeon Master’s Guide has everything the budding dungeon master might need. These products are high quality. And they are kind of expensive. I got mine off of Ebay. Drive Thru does not appear to offer the 5E core books. Or at least I could not find them there. 

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What is a dungeon without traps?

A dungeon without traps is like an invitation for delvers to come steal all of your personal belongings and kill all of your house guests. Let’s face it. No matter how much you threaten your minions…. they have to sleep sometime. Unless, of course, your minions are undead like mine. But sometimes even my undead minions are not all that observant. It pays to have deadly traps to guard entrances that you would prefer to go unused, to guard treasures that you wish to hold on to, to guard tombs that you would prefer unopened and to just plain kill anyone stupid enough to mess with you. 

And while I am the foremost expert on all things Zanzian as well as all magic….. Even I have to call in an expert once in a while. My go to expert for traps? Grimtooth the Troll of course. He has written a number of detailed books on the subject. Granted…many of these wonderful tomes were not written specifically for 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. But they are easily adapted to this purpose. And if you are playing later editions they will fit perfectly into your games right now.

These blurry images were taken from Joe Mohr’s kitchen table. I think the camera man was shaking in fear while taking them. Wise. Very wise indeed. For these tomes as well as the other fine products from my good friend Grimmy are dangerous in the wrong hands. Fortunately my hands are the wrong hands. And so could be yours. Check them out at these links:

Grimtooth’s Traps Too

Grimtooth’s Traps Bazaar

Grimtooth’s Traps Lite

The Wurst of Grimtooth’s Traps

Grimtooth’s Traps

Grimtooth’s Traps Fore

Grimtooth’s Ultimate Traps Collection

Grimtooth’s Traps Ate

Grimmy has a few other books available but these ones are filled with wonderful devices to confound, torment and ultimately destroy your adventurers. And that is the point isn’t it? Total destruction? I mean.. why settle for anything less. I wouldn’t.

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If you are going to play Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition then you need these:

Since this web site is about old school role playing I guess we should start with the basics. If you want to play Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition then you need these:

But, if you are not lucky enough to have the originals there are alternatives. As you can see from the picture above which was taken from my kitchen table I had to replace my Dungeon Master Guide. The first one fell apart. This one is not in much better shape. My original was the copy with the Efreeti Lord Captain on the front of it. Yes, it had that big evil devil looking dude on the front. Naturally my mom freaked out when I brought that one home back in the late 70s. 

These can be purchased in a number of formats from Drive Thru RPG. You can use the following links to look at the options and prices should you wish to acquire them.

Players Handbook

Dungeon Master’s Guide

Monster Manual

In addition to those original three books there are two others which will prove quite useful. Both add a significant number of monsters and potential adversaries to your adventures.

The Monster Manual II and the Fiend Folio are essential tools for the would be Dungeon Master. Both came out shortly after the original three books and added a few hundred monsters in each volume. Many of these monsters are quite interesting and will challenge your adventurers. These can also be purchased or browsed by using the following links:

Monster Manual II

Fiend Folio

Eventually you may want to expand your selection of magic items, spells and character classes. In that case you may want to look at this last book. The Unearthed Arcana adds some nice magic items and spells. It also adds some character class options. 

Unearthed Arcana

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Malcon the Firebringer column

Hello, my name is Malcon the Firebringer. I am widely considered the most powerful Lich in Zanzia. I was invited here by Joe Mohr to give tips to would be dungeon masters on how to baffle, confuse, torment and ultimately destroy the adventurers that plague us both. These delvers are exceedingly irritating. They kill my guests, they set off my traps (or worse….they disarm them) and they steal my treasures. I have been enduring this sort of behavior for well over a hundred years now. Ever since the time that I first tried to steal the throne of Zanzia….but I digress…. 

Typing on this keyboard is very difficult, by the way, for someone with bones for fingers. So excuse me if I get right to the point of the matter. Killing delvers is my passion. Total party kills especially please me. This column is here to give you advice on how exactly to bring this about in an efficient and pleasing manner. 

In the coming installments of this column I am going to focus on some useful tools that you as a dungeon master will find useful in your quest to destroy those vermin that invade our dungeons and catacombs. I will also be discussing other subjects as they come into my mind that may help you cause mayhem and chaos in the lives of your delvers. I hope that you shall find this activity as amusing and entertaining as I do.

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The Zanzian Campaign Part Two

My current group started as five players playing five characters. It is a fairly balanced party. There are two fighters, a cleric, a magic user and a thief. There are two humans, two half orcs and an elf in the group. This is an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition campaign. Unfortunately, work demands and schedules, have reduced my number of players from five to two. Sometimes a third player, who was one of the originals, returns when he is in town. 

The group has completed the Malcon campaign (until he returns of course) and then embarked upon an adventure in the Astral Plane. After completing that adventure they returned to their keeps only to find an immediate threat to their estates. A dark and mysterious castle appeared almost over night. It towers above their keeps from a mountain that also did not exist when they last visited home. At the request of the king they are now investigating this castle.

The adventures traveled to the top of the mountain and found the drawbridge and towers manned by fire giants. They defeated a large party of fire giants inside the castle’s main hall. And then they defeated more of them guarding a staircase. They found a secret tunnel leading into caves intertwined with molten lava. Inside of these caves they engaged a party of Salamanders and then defeated a group of Scorpion Men. They are resting and healing their wounds now before continuing their exploration of this mysterious castle.

And now….the adventure continues……

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The Zanzia Campaign

The Adventurers of my Zanzian campaign started as a party of five. Two half orc fighters, a human magic user, a human cleric and an elven thief began the quest to defeat the greatest threat to the kingdom….Malcon the Firebringer. Malcon has been a plague upon the land for more than one hundred years. He was once the Grand Seer of Zanzia. He was a loyal adviser to the king. And then he betrayed the king and tried to seize the throne for himself. This led Zanzia into a bloody civil war in which undead and unholy armies were unleashed upon the land. 

Malcon The Firebringer

But Malcon was defeated.  His nemesis was his best friend. The great Paladin Antoviniuos led the Zanzian army and crushed Malcon’s siege of the then capital city of Zanzia….The City of Onm. But not before Malcon crushed the city and killed the king and queen. Only by the grace of of the gods did an heir survive this siege. Malcon’s army was defeated and he was imprisoned in a volcano in the Dragonteeth mountain range only known as the mountain of fire.

But Malcon has returned. During the hundred years that he was imprisoned he became a powerful Lich. Gnomish explorers near the volcano inadvertently broke the magical seals which kept Malcon imprisoned. Once released he again resumed his campaign of terror.  But again he was defeated. This time by a group of adventurers. About ten years ago a powerful group also led by a great paladin defeated Malcon once more. But this group only thought that they had destroyed the Arch Lich. While they destroyed his physical form they failed to destroy his phylactery. He laid low for a while to rebuild his forces. And then he again rose up to threaten the land.

This new group of adventurers has yet again set upon the quest to challenge this fiend and put an end to his terror. These explorers visited the Oracle of Gula to get answers for the king as to who was responsible for the many problems that began plaguing Zanzia. They then stormed the Temple at Domi and defeated an important ally of Malcon. Shortly afterwards they destroyed another important ally of the Lich. An ancient vampire named Aandoran was building another undead army for Malcon with the aid of an ancient evil artifact….a pipe organ that creates undead. And then they traveled to the Mountain of Fire to challenge Malcon the Firebringer himself. 

Again the Lich was defeated. And again his life force survived as his phylactery was not destroyed. And so it exists today. Malcon again is biding his time. He waits. He watches. And he rebuilds. And again he will rise up and terrorize the kindgom.

Fortunately for us…..Malcon has agreed to write a column here on my blog while he plots his revenge in order to help dungeon masters with their endless quest to kill, maim and destroy those nasty delvers in their own campaigns.