Drop Wolves Art

A quick post about an old monster of mine. Remember drop wolves? Well, here’s what they look like.

Drop Wolves

(Or, at least, what a text to image AI thinks they would look like. Although maybe this pic is better for droplet wolves?)

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Wandering Monster: Consumer of Torment

Consumer of Torment (Demonic Hungry Monstrous Slug)
Solitary; 18+1 Dice, Extreme Armor, Move 9, 4 dice damage; swallow attack

A black slug 6 to 8 paces long and as wide as three men. Unlike a purple worm, it can’t charge and knock over opponents, but must bite with its enormous toothless maw to attack, but can swallow a standing human being on a critical hit.

Swallowed creatures take damage slowly, only 1 point per hour, but the demonic creature’s digestive juices bind both soul and spirit to the victim’s flesh, making them fully conscious of the entire digestion process even after death, even when only a few flecks of flesh or bone are all that remains.

Digestion lasts up to two weeks. If the victim is dead, but the Consumer is slain, the remains can be removed from the creature’s stomach. Make a roll to determine the victim’s corporeal status:

2d6 Roll	Status	Detailed Explanation
2	Very Bad	Angry Remnants, unable to do more than quiver. Fits in a small bucket.
3-5	Bad	Slithering Torso, Move 1, unable to speak.
6-8	Normal	Half-Corpse, just a torso and one random limb, either the head (able to speak) or an arm/leg (drag self across floor at Move 3.
9-11	Good	Damaged Corpse, but still intact. Max Charisma 3.
12	Very Good	Undamaged Corpse, may still pass for living being.
13+	The Best	Flicker of Life, returns to normal with magical healing.

If a victim with a flicker of life is not restored, or if the result is Corpse or Half-Corpse, the survivor is a free-willed undead. Reactions from NPCs aware of the survivor’s undead status will be worse, and the survivor’s body will continue to decay. Every month, make a 1d6 roll. On 5+, there’s no change. Otherwise, the state of decay becomes one stage worse: Undamaged becomes Damaged, Damaged loses one random limb at a time until reduced to Half-Corpse, which becomes a Slithering Torso and eventually an angry clump of flesh and bone. Even at this stage, survivors will still be aware of their surroundings, and other magic might be used to place the bound soul into some other form.

Because of the odd demonic properties, the digestive juices of the Consumer of Torment are a component of several necromantic concoctions, including life extension.

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Wandering Monster: Simple Demon

Some people might be interested in the “simple demon” I used in the Demonic Dangers pamphlet as an alternative to the detailed demons in, for example, Eldritch Wizardry. Here’s an expanded write-up.

Simple Demon (Chaotic Infernal Monstrous Beast)
1 to 2; 6 Dice, Heavy Armor, Move 12, 1+2 dice Damage, beast abilities, control flame/shadow, demonic invulnerability

Unholy, destructive beings from elsewhere. All demons combine body parts of two mundane creatures (head of one animal, body of another.) They will have the normal abilities of both types of creature. You can roll 2d6 twice on this table to select the head and the body. If doubles are rolled, use the lower half of the table.

2d6 Roll	Animal Form
2	rat (diseased bite)
3-5	toad (leap, tongue grab)
6-8	bat (winged flight)
9-11	goat (headbutt)
12	skeletal human
	If Doubles Rolled:
2s	spider (poison, climb, web)
3s	iron statue (Extreme Armor)
4s	ooze (climb, go thru cracks)
5s	snake (poison bite)

If “bat” is rolled for either the head or the body, the demon has bat-wings and can fly. For skeletal bodies, the GM can rule that arrows do only 1 point of damage. For other beast abilities, it’s the GM’s choice whether they only apply for a specific body part (bite only if head is selected, for example.)

In addition to their beast abilities, all demons can create human or animal-sized zones of fire or shadow, shape them into any form desired, or move them or other flames and shadows wherever they wish. Treat this as controlling a creature made of flame or shadow. Weapons pass through flame and shadow without damage; flame can be smothered, doused with water, or chilled with ice, and shadow can be damaged by light.

Demons take half damage from non-magical weapons, but take full damage from magic weapons, silver weapons, or blessed weapons. Holy water does 1d6 damage.

Some demons can assume an ethereal form, becoming nearly invisible and able to pass through physical material. In this form, they cannot attack directly, nor can they be attacked by physical means except by magic, silver, or holy items. An ethereal demon can pass into a physical being and attempt to take control (possession.) If the demon’s current hit points are greater than the victim’s hit points, possession works on 5+ (1d6.) Holy items and silver can drive a demon out of a possessed body, allowing the victim to regain control.

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Wandering Monster: Lumberjack Wolves

The forest really does need more custom beast threats.

Lumberjack Wolf (Aggressive Arboreal Predatory Beast)
2 to 12; 1+2 Dice, Light Armor, Move 12/6 leap/3 burrow, 1+2 dice Damage, ambush, treefelling

Pack predators with uncanny tree climbing and leaping abilities and a unnatural taste for wood. Instead of canine teeth, they have enlarged front teeth resembling beavers. Lumberjack wolves can climb trees to hide in the leaves, much like Drop-Wolves. If they ambush prey from above, it doubles their surprise chances (3+ on 1d6, instead of 5+) and does an extra 1d6 damage on the initial attack, if successful.

However, the lumberjack wolf’s preferred attack is to use deadfalls, They can chew through wood with their massive teeth, even burrow through wooden walls, With the element of surprise, they can drop logs and branches from above, doing 3d6 damage (half that on a successful save.) If they do not surprise their prey, the trap is easily avoided, but may cause other problems: blocking escape routes, destroying campsites.

If seriously threatened, a lumberjack wolf can leap into the trees to escape, jumping from treetop to treetop at Move 6 speed.

Lumberjack wolves and timber wolves are mutual enemies.

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Wandering Monster: Ash Cloud Wight

In the Cryptic Catacombs pamphlet I released on Monday, I added unique new undead to two specific rooms. For Hallowe’en season, I decided to do full write-ups of both here on the blog. I did the Ghostly Wight already. Now it’s time for the Ash Cloud Wight.

Ash Cloud Wight (Hateful Intangible Undead Cloud)
1 to 3; 3+2 Dice, Heavy Armor, Move 9/18, 1+3 dice Damage, cloud form, life drain, undead immunities

An Ash Cloud Wight is the hate-filled undead creature that remains after human beings or certain powerful undead are incinerated alive. Ash Cloud Wights are not ethereal They are swirling whirlwinds of ash and dust that smell of smoke and burning flesh. They can fly short distances, but rarely do so outdoors.

The touch of an Ash Cloud Wight drains one level, exactly as for an ordinary Wight, and leaves a red mark resembling a mild burn. Those engulfed by the wight are choked by the ash. A save vs. poison reduces this to half damage.

Because of its intangible form, an Ash Cloud Wight is harder to hit than ordinary walking corpses. It also takes half damage from ordinary weapons and attacks, but full damage from silver and magic weapons.

Because it has been killed once by fire and still retains a fiery nature, it is immune to fire. However, it takes 1d6 damage per minute from rain or other precipitation and half that from a strong wind. It cannot fly under those weather conditions.

An Ash Cloud Wight has the standard undead immunities to sleep and charm, has no need for food, water, or air, and flees the sunlight. A bucket of water can do 1 point of damage on a successful hit and prevent it from flying for 1d6 rounds.

Ash Cloud Wights have the same treasure as other Wights, but never have scrolls or potions and have 2d6 additional gems.

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Wandering Monster: Ghostly Wight

In the Cryptic Catacombs pamphlet I released on Monday, I added unique new undead to two specific rooms. But of course, a pamphlet dungeon is a very tight space, and so my room key just says “use the same stats as this monster, but change one stat.” But they deserve more detail! Especially during Hallowe’en!
So here’s a more detailed write-up of the first new undead: the Ghostly Wight!

Ghostly Wight (Hateful Ghostly Undead Humanoid)
1 to 3; 3+2 Dice, Heavy Armor, Move 9, 1+3 dice Damage, ethereal, life drain, undead immunities

A Ghostly Wight is a hate-filled spirit, similar to but weaker than a specter. Ghostly Wights are what’s left over after a moderately strong corporeal undead has rotted away to dust, but is still bound to a location, usually by a divine curse. They are frequently bound to altars or sacred spots as guardian spirits.

Ghostly Wights are partially ethereal and can pass through solid matter, but cannot turn invisible. Their wispy forms are still difficult to see, giving them an advantage on surprise (double surprise chance, or roll twice and take the best result.) They are unable to fly as a Specter does, but can leap twice as far as a human being and do not take damage from a fall.

The chilling touch of a Ghostly Wight drains one level, exactly as for an ordinary Wight. Because of its ghostly form, a Ghostly Wight is harder to hit than ordinary walking corpses. It also takes half damage from ordinary weapons and attacks, but full damage from silver and magic weapons. It has the standard undead immunities to sleep and charm, has no need for food, water, or air, and flees the sunlight.

Ghostly Wights have the same treasure as other Wights, but with an extra 1 to 3 magic scrolls.

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Wandering Monster: Ghost Paws

A surprise slightly spooky monster for October. Based on real life experience!

Ghost Paws (Ghostly Ethereal Beast)
2 to 12; 3 Dice, Medium/Extreme Armor, Move 15, 1+2 dice Damage; invisible, drain breath

Animal ghosts that prey on sleeping people. Ghost paws are generally invisible, but avoid the daylight, where there is a 5+ on 1d6 chance of spotting a dark fast-moving blur in the air. When seen this way, their effective armor is Medium. Otherwise, their armor is Extreme. They will not engage anyone during the day, but if characters move through their area, those with a High mental score (13+) have a 5+ on 1d6 chance of feeling something brush against their legs, alerting them to the presence of an invisible entity.

At night, Ghost Paws will approach a group if at least one person is sleeping. Anyone awake will have a chance of sensing their movement as noted. The spirit will jump stealthily onto a bed or walk across a sleeping bag, again, barely detectable (5+ on 1d6 chance, automatic for those with a High mental score.) If undetected, they surprise the victim automatically.

A Ghost Paws attacks by sucking the breath from their victim, doing half damage (2 to 4 points) every round automatically until attacked or the victim wakes. Afterwards, they do full damage with ethereal claw strikes, but must make normal attack rolls.

They take only half damage from ordinary weapons, but full damage from magic or silver weapons. If attacked by an ethereal creature or something able to attack ethereal creatures, they get no immunity and have no armor.

Unless guarding a haunted location, treasure will be incidental only, items left by victims.

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Zombie Corpse Conditions

So the PCs stumble on a crypt full of zombies. But zombies rot. How intact are these zombies? Roll 2d6.

Roll	Result	Result Details
2	Nearly Skeletal	Patches of flesh cling to to their bones
3-5	Badly Rotted	Most of one side is skeletal
6-8	Somewhat Rotted	One arm or half the face is missing flesh
9-11	Slightly Rotted	Bone shows through in spots
12	Fresh Corpse	Pallid, but still appears human

Slightly rotted corpses are standard zombies.

Appearance affects two things: surprise and fear. A zombie in relatively good condition can walk the streets of a town, tricking victims into believing they are just ordinary citizens until it’s too late, allowing them to get closer before attacking. Halve the encounter distance in these conditions for the listed zombie varieties.

Conditions	Allows Surprise by…
No Light	Any zombie variety
Dim Light Silhouette	Badly Rotted
Shadows or Fog	Somewhat Rotted
Dim Light	Slightly Rotted
Cloudy Day	Fresh Corpse

A Fresh Corpse zombie also doubles its chance of surprise in any dim light or fog situation (except for No Light, where all chances are standard.)

Hirelings will generally only check morale after a fight has begun, but they will automatically flee if surprised by any zombie, or even when not surprised if they can see a Badly or Somewhat Rotted zombie clearly (dim light or better.) They will also immediately flee a Nearly Skeletal zombie if there is any light at all.

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(WIP) Undead Progression Road Map: Alternate

Here's the alternate chart idea I'm trying out. You can see here that mummified dead can become revenants or vampire mummies, but not vice-versa, or that rotting undead become skeletal, but not the other way around.


So, which do people prefer?

(WIP) Undead Progression Road Map

Working on a "road map" for how the undead progress or transform into each other. Names are not final, and I may make some adjustments and improvements. For example, I guess I could add arrows to show direction (transformations are one-way.)

Unbinding the Undead

An excerpt (rough draft) from the first chapter of Our Undying Neighbors. May have to rewrite and tweak a bit.

---

Animated corpses and skeletons created by spells are a special case. They are not true undead – souls trapped between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. They are mindless automatons. However, occasionally a spell fails because of a curse on the corpse/skeleton, the location of the casting, or on the necromancer doing the casting. In any of those conditions, the GM secretly rolls 1d6$:$ on a 5+, the creation becomes accidentally undead.

Accidental undead act mindless when first created and are bound by the first set of orders given. They will obey these orders until either:

• Someone attempts to change these orders, or
• They encounter something from their past life, such as a long-lost love.

When either condition occurs, accidental undead will disobey their master if their current hit points are greater than the master’s Level + 2d6. Don’t add the master’s level if the master dies. Use the current master’s level, not necessarily the original master’s level.

The creation is still technically bound to obey; this is just a lapse in obedience. The master can command the undead again, triggering a second roll, but two successful challenges in a row, or any successful challenge after the master’s death, means the undead breaks free permanently.

Animated dead, whether mindless or accidentally undead, count as followers. Exceeding any limit on the number of followers has no effect on mindless animated dead, which will continue to execute the last order given. Accidental undead, on the other hand, will automatically break free when the master tries to acquire another follower beyond the limit.

While their master is still around to command them, accidental undead do not grow in strength. After their master dies, however, they can grow in power, which means that eventually they will break their bonds.

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Wandering Monster: Droplet-Wolves

More material inspired by nonsense from the Transformer neural network website.

Droplet-Wolves (Stealthy Supernatural Predatory Beast)
1 to 6; 2+1 Dice, Light Armor, Move 15, 1+2 dice Damage; ambush, non-locality

Unnatural wolves formed from droplets of water coalescing on the rocky outcroppings near vernal pools or waterfalls. They seem to appear from nowhere, emerging from the watery mist. This sudden manifestation doubles their surprise chances (3+ on 1d6, instead of 5+) and does an extra 1d6 damage on the initial attack, if successful.

Until droplet-wolves coalesce, they are undetectable by normal means. Even spells to detect enemies can’t pinpoint their location, but simply indicate that all the mist in the area is an enemy.

A single good hit (maximum damage on an attack) seems to immediately destroy them, but they re-materialize in a different location 1d6 minutes later, rolling for surprise again.

Because they are water-based supernatural creatures, droplet-wolves take double damage from silver weapons, magical fire attacks, or torches used as weapons.

Their lairs will be strewn with treasure equivalent to a cockatrice or manticore.

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Wandering Monsters: Drop-Wolves

A couple people really liked this line I included in the Green Bard adventure module, in the rumors section: “Vicious packs of drop-wolves hide in the treetops and attack interlopers from above.” Unfortunately, it’s just a rumor. No actual drop-wolves appear in the adventure. But even as I was writing the module, I thought, “Man, drop-wolves really need to be a thing.”

Drop-Wolves (Aggressive Arboreal Predatory Beast)
2 to 12; 1+1 Dice, Light Armor, Move 15/6 leap, 1+1 dice Damage; ambush

Pack predators with unusual climbing and leaping ability that live in dense forests, dropping down from the treetops on unsuspecting prey, including human travelers. This doubles their surprise chances (3+ on 1d6, instead of 5+) and does an extra 1d6 damage on the initial attack, if successful.

If seriously threatened, a drop-wolf can leap into the trees to escape, jumping from treetop to treetop at Move 6 speed.

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Our BLANK Neighbors

One thing on the priority to-do list is is to make a booklet/PDF like Our Infernal Neighbors and Our Undying Neighbors, but for godlings. “Godling” is my name for magical beings that grant wishes. Djinn and Efreet are thus godlings, as are Jotuns (magical frost giants,) Fae, and a few other beings. Godlings are naturally astral and live inside large, solid geographical features, where they use Hallucinatory Terrain to create fantastic otherworlds sustained by their communal belief.

One thing I haven’t decided on, though, is what to call that book. I’d like to keep the title similar to the other two in the series. I’m thinking Our Otherworldly Neighbors, but I’m not sure. Is it a good enough hint as to what the book contains?

Another option would be Our Wishful Neighbors, which perhaps is closer to the topic, but not clear enough on what the book’s really about, other than “something to do with wishes”. Is that enough? Is it better?

Dopplegangers of M113

I’ve been watching a lot of Star Trek lately. Some of the Original and Animate episodes, plus everything that aired from 1987 through 2005. I wanted to refresh my memory on old episodes, and fill in gaps for the later ones.
This gives me a lot of RPG ideas for future posts. But one thing I noticed while watching the TOS episode “The Man Trap” were similarities of the Salt Vampire to the Doppleganger illustration in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual.

They aren’t exact, but both creatures have a slightly withered or ancient look, circular mouths, and large, soulful eyes. And, of course, both are shapeshifters. Aside from believing the Star Trek monster may have influenced the 1e illustration, it makes me think maybe dopplegangers should be salt vampires, or at least this could be a partial motivation for their invasion of civilized lands.

Natural Demons

A Tenkar's Tavern post encouraged a lot of people to talk about alignment again. But I want to talk about demons. Specifically, the kind of demons that aren't really demons.

Occasionally, people will mention how some old swords & sorcery stories do not have real gods, but have various monsters that are worshipped as gods. There's a giant snake with fangs that drip a paralytic poison that can also trigger astral projection. It lives in a horrible temple, tended by crazed priests who kidnap children to feed to it. The priests harvest the venom and use it for their own purposes. The priests believe the snake is a god, or maybe they just tell worshippers this so that no one tries to stop their nefarious activities. The snake, though, might not be intelligent or even aware of its followers.

What I haven't seen anyone discuss is the fact that you can handle demons the same way. They could just be really weird mutant animals, perhaps left over from genetic experimentation after an apocalypse (as are the demons in Thundarr.) Or perhaps each demon is created by conjuration magic, called forth from a sorcerer's id, as in Roger Zelazny's Wizardworld novels. Perhaps demons are former wizards who either transformed themselves to achieve immortality and power, as would a lich, or were transformed against their will by dabbling in dark magic. Perhaps they are space aliens, as is suggested in some Clark Ashton Smith stories, or in the Cthulhu Mythos.

The reason why I was prompted to write about monster demons by Erik Tenkar's post asking whether alignment is even necessary is because alignment really isn't necessary if you are using that kind of demon. If a demon is not really supernatural, or is only supernatural in the sense of having innate magical powers, then there is no need to  link them to a specific alignment, or even to each other. Each may be a unique entity with individual needs, goals and desires. In contrast, if you want demons to be part of a supernatural menace threatening the world as part of some cosmic battle, then I think you need alignment, though what form of alignment is really up to you. If demons can be banished from this world, if holy water has an effect on them, and if PCs can choose to join demons in exchange for power or oppose their plans, then you need to be able to tag characters to show which side they are on.

It's a matter of what kind of fantasy feel you are looking for. Epic, horrific, or picaresque?

More or Less Deadly

Here's something I'e been thinking about for a while: using hit point bonuses for monsters as combat bonuses. There's a hint of this in Monster & Treasure: "Attack/Defense  capabilities  versus  normal  men  are  simply  a  matter  of  allowing one  roll  as  a  man-type  for  every  hit  die,  with  any  bonuses  being  given  to  only  one of  the  attacks,  i.e.  a  Troll  would  attack  six  times,  once  with  a  +3  added  to  the  die roll." This seems to have fallen by the wayside, and those trolls with 6+3 hit dice were later reduced to using the 6-8 HD" column on the monsters attacking combat matrix.

But there's a seeming survivor: the water weird. It attacks as a 6 HD monster, but has lower hit dice. Today's post  on the Save or Die blog reminded me, though, that the water weird's hit dice listed in the AD&D Monster Manual are specifically 3+3. Perhaps it's a coincidence that the HD and hp bonus added together equal the effective hit dice, but I'm thinking it shouldn't be, especially when using the older one attack roll per combat turn approach of the LBBs.

My possible new rule: a monster's effective hit dice for attacks equals the total of its actual hit dice plus any hp modifier. This allows us to easily describe monsters that are easy to kill but dangerous for their size: a 2+7 HD creature would have no more than 19 hit points, but would attack as a 9 HD monster, which would normally average 31 hit points. It also allows us to describe monsters that are weak in combat  but hard to kill: a 9-7 HD creature would have an average of 24 hit points and as many as 47, but would attack as a 2 HD monster.

I'd also like to keep my house rule of modifying morale rolls with the hp bonus. That 2+7 HD creature is likely to fight to the death, while the 9-7 HD creature may bolt at the first opportunity.

Spirit Monsters

So, picking up where I left off: when a person dies, they lose their spirit and roams around, normally decaying in a couple weeks, unless they have a strong unfilled desire that sustains them. Spirits are ethereal and thus can't interact physically except with other ethereal things.

There are tons of people dying every day, especially in a D&D world. But most of the dead have zero impact on the world of the living. Those that do, such as vengeful spirits, can attack other spirits, including the spirits of the living. They can basically harass people, rarely killing. The most dangerous spirits are those able to make psychic possession attacks, since a successful possession means they now have a body to use for their goals.

What does this mean for adventurers?

Adventurers kill lots of people, and surely many of the spirits of their victims long for vengeance, but that alone won't leave behind an angry spirit. Your typical bandit who picks a fight with the PCs basically gets what he always knew he'd get, someday. They same goes for things like goblins. A surprise ambush of not immediately hostile creatures might create some vengeful spirits, but they would linger in the area and eventually fade away. Figure if PCs return to the scene of the crime within a week or two, there might be something waiting: make a reaction roll, with a Very Hostile reaction meaning a vengeful spirit is present. The third or later visits get no such roll.

Slaughtering a townie in cold blood, even if the townie deserved it, might be more likely to create a roaming vengeful spirit. Make the reaction roll, but any Hostile reaction means the spirit seeks vengeance.

If a townie slain in cold blood by anyone had something important to do, the spirit comes back as vengeful on a Hostile or worse reaction, but comes back as non-hostile on a Very Good reaction. These would be remorseful spirits, guardian spirits, and spirits of warning. These may be of interest to PCs, even if the spirit isn't "out to get" them.

Disturbing ancient spirits is also a possibility. Usually, this is caused by defiling something. Make a reaction roll if PCs go treasure hunting in a still-active cemetery or desecrate a Lawful temple.

Spirits should be difficult to reason with. They are not quite the same as the person who died, more like a psychic shadow of one facet of their personality. They aren't even fully intelligent, just intelligent enough to be dangerous. Getting useful information out of them should be difficult, if not impossible. Speak With Dead or Contact Other Plane may basically "wake up" the soul of the departed to answer some questions that a mere spirit can't.

Of course, the undead aren't quite the same thing as a spirit. Undead are spirits and sometimes souls that have been bound to a dead body, or at least something vaguely physical, in the case of spectres. They are not as free as the truly dead, but as a consequence they are more dangerous, since they can attack physically. Most cannot make psychic attacks, the way a spirit can.

Uncertain Undead

On G+, I posted some work-in-progress icons for both a revision of Our Infernal Neighbors and the upcoming Ranks of the Undead. What you see here is the icon for the mummy chapter, a good segue into what I'm doing with the project.

See, when I got to the mummy chapter, I realized I'd put in more detail, compared to the other chapters. When I did the zombie-vampire and skeleton-lich tracks, I took the existing OD&D monsters as data points and filled in the "missing levels". I added a few interpretive twists, but not much. But when I did the mummy track, there was only one OD&D monster to work with, so I went to the movies instead. I made Kharis my low-level datapoint and Imhotep my high-level datapoint. That added a lot more backstory, a lot more flavor... but it makes the other undead tracks seem kind of unoriginal by comparison.

I need to insert more flavor. For the rotting undead, I made a passing reference to a bargain with "darkness" as their method of survival. I need to emphasize that more. I already mentioned plans to randomize the method of slaying a vampire permanently, and just finished writing that table. Lots of entries based on different vampire legends from different regions. The implication of the random method of permanent death is that it comes from the vampire's bargain with darkness. I'm also adding a Bargain with Darkness table for the lower pre-vampire levels. The undead gets a special power in exchange for a price, which at the moment are additional vulnerabilities similar to the vulnerability to garlic and mirrors. So, an Unhallowed might get the power to change into a rat, but can be turned by a ring of salt, exactly as a vampire is driven away by a cross. I even added "Counting Obsession" to the Price Paid table; scattering poppy seeds on the ground forces the undead with a counting obsession to gather and count them all, instead of attacking or chasing the victim, but it otherwise works using the Turn Undead roll.

For skeletal undead, I'd made a few references to their obsession with magical research, which seemed natural as something a proto-lich would do. I need to emphasize that more, possibly with a random table or two. My rewritten lich doesn't have the periapt of other versions, but I'm thinking of making that into an optional random feature (get one extra power through an arcane gem or amulet, but destroying it removes that power and possibly affects the skeletal undead itself.) I'm also toying with the idea of a random magical obsession table.

I haven't quite decided what to do to improve the spectral undead. One idea may have to do with random vengeances. Or I might find inspiration in interpreting them as an analog to another class. In a sense, vampires are the undead equivalent to fighters, and liches are magic-users. I rewrote mummies to be a little like clerics. So spectres and ghosts would be thieves, specializing in sneaking and surprise attacks. I'll have to think about that some  more.

Uncertain Monsters

Still working on the Ranks of the Undead. One of the things that slowed me down on Our Infernal Neighbors and now on this one is I wind up adding more material than planned. For example, I'm not just adding undead varieties in between the existing undead in the LBBs, I'm actually writing altered versions of all the undead. Not part of the original plan, but it meshes better with the new concept (undead that grow and change, which can be used for PC undead.)

Also, it lets me include some tweaks. For example, a vampire's aversion to garlic or mirrors is handled as Turn Undead, treating non-clerics as a cleric of half their level. But so is the rule about thresholds: a living being commands a vampire not to enter, and that is treated as Turn Undead. So is running water: vampires can cross it normally, but if a living being is on the other side of a stream, they can command a vampire not to cross the boundary.

But one of the more controversial things I'm doing is making vampire destruction methods open to experimentation. Here is what I wrote today:

"Vampire killers should check with a sage for the exact procedure [for killing a vampire permanently], or try what they think will work (staking and beheading, binding with thorns, drenching in holy water, burning to ashes.) Treat as another Command Undead attempt; if the command fails, the vampire rises again, and that procedure will never work on any vampire."

I suppose I should note that once vampire hunters stumble on the correct procedure, it will work without a Command Undead test on future vampires, but I think the intention is clear: not all the details for vampires are fixed, but may be decided during play. Not only may vampires in your world be completely different from those in mine, they may wind up completely different from what you were expecting. You may have players try several times to kill a vampire before stumbling on some really weird procedure, like shaving its head before beheading it and bathing the head in honey.

Or maybe not that weird. I may have to write a Random Sage Advice on Killing Vampires table.