Dear reader, I admire your dedication to my works. But take heed, such dedication also puts your life in danger. No doubt, when these scrambled notes become an elaborate codex, such books will see ban in no time. You wouldn’t believe the among of jink offered to hack my head and serve it on a Lady’s grade platter. As always, their hunt continues. Mine continues in the expanse of knowledge. Plenty of conflict bubbles and oozes beyond your surface. Ready and prepare, the safety of the multiverse always hangs in the balance. Let me serenade you with many tales. But, these aren’t tales of joy or triumph, no! Tales of woe await you.
Author’s Note: “The Editor” is back, not content with simply The Factol’s Manifesto! Plenty of things going on, the fall and rise of deities, more on the fey, dark conspiracies of intrigue, a look at my old table’s post-2008 take on the Forgotten Realms, a further looks at my zany Ravenloft-Planescape crossover and more! And of course, Baby Vecna! And as always, The Editor proves an ever unreliable narrator, as some details might be fabricated or stretched for his convenience.
As always, my travels take my throughout the known reaches of reality and beyond. Time time around, I have a few more places to examine once again. As always, there are familiar places and there are very much new ones. Travel along as we make our way through the elements and into raw darkness itself. As always, make proper preparations, as even I’m liable to find myself in danger. For a less experienced traveler, it would mark certain doom. But, for those ever brave in their desire to quest along the known and unknown planes, venture on and find unending wonder to behold. But, be warned, there is always an evil darkness lurking right around the corner. Should you tread foolishly, it will take you. And even then, I only seek it out of curiosity and study. I’ve been lucky once, surely I can escape in tact once more.
As always, I chronicle all means of places and people one might find within all know reaches of reality. Should one tip me off of some thrilling new adventure to seek, I am far from shy. As it is, I ready myself for a true journey through wildspace some day soon. However, the planes occupy the majority of my interests. As it is, I sense something I need to examine now. Or rather, I feel there is something I need to face soon. I can’t quite describe it, but I can attain that it is quite ominous. May I see you once again after it has concluded.
Author’s Note: Work and other things have held me back. But, hopefully, I’ll be able to keep myself going pretty strong during the autumn. I always seem to. So, I’m doing a return to mutilating the newer planes for classic usage via Primordium and the Entropic Gloom. Likewise, it might be fun to see what exists of The Void after its reality ensnaring tendrils are broken. Also, Planescape – Ravenloft Crossover? It must be October (or near it)!
The smoke bomb, particularly the toxic vapor. Only one group could produce something like that in such short notice, the Chymists! How desperate someone must be to turn to terror, such inadequate rubble will be eliminated from the city in due time. Mark my words, the Consortium shall rightfully reign over the future. – Gelzeer, Assistant Lead Mechanic for the Consortium of Machine, at Primus Security Foundation HQ
Despite splitting off from the world above, internal politics breeds their own issues; whether in the splendorous city proper or its bayside proxy. Various guilds vie for dominance, whether through honest or underhanded means. That’s not to safe that attempts at sales within the market can’t be a front for devious sabotage and spying… if not acts far worse. Some could argue that those who protect the city from these biased extremists are biased and extreme in their own right, favoring a repressive status quo and neutrality that inhibits both progress and tradition alike.
Even before these new issues had arisen, turmoil stewed within the city since early days. Wicked cults that twist the worst of ancient tradition, cruel slavers and exploiters masquerading as market movers and shakers and general violent madmen. None the less, the city boasts quite the strange history for one that is otherwise pretty young.
Author’s Note: I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, create a timeline as well as faction related stuff for my mini-setting. Plus, maybe an extra monster or two in an update. Also, the factions, alongside the monsters, can easily be repurposed for a more steampunk-oriented setting. Though, there’s no need to have the setting a dark and gritty urban setting deep within the ground.
Thanks for marching along with me, as we traverse the endless streams of time! While I was hoping for a few more, I’m glad all of you took the time to see how time marched on in your games.
Here is the list of contributors:
Brynvalk – Racial Feats: Faith of Brynvalk ponders making racial feats for D&D 5th Edition revolving around time and age.
Loot the Room – Chronomancy: Chris from Loot the Room discusses Chronomancy, the AD&D Chronomancer sourcebook and a look at adding elements from it into D&D 5th Edition.
Nuketown – Of Prequels and Legacies: Kenneth from Nuketown looks at two campaigns based off of a previous Greyhawk game. In this case, one set 70 years before the events of the Obsidian Bay, while the other one is 50 years after the main game.
Stay tuned for next month’s theme “Gamemaster’s Cut” from Codex Anathema! If you wish to know more about the RPG Blog Carnival, please go here!
“I want to go somewhere nicer, like The Tomb of Horrors…”
There is much more to the Barrier Peaks than a romp against alien monsters. The mechanics and workings of the downed ship are far more complex. Access cards, radioactive hallways, infested hives, among other things await our heroes as they make an… Expedition to Barrier Peaks!
Author’s Note: This is probably the longest post in this series. It’s a bunch of notes on running the module itself, as well as the technological artifacts you’ll find. The cards are in the first part, as they don’t really have much mechanical depth aside from a McGuffin.
Check out my updated take on this alongside some neat ways to change up Tomb of Annihilation (again) here!
“Yooou who reeeekindle the Flaaaame, embraaaaccceee deeaatttthhhh!”
Sometimes, the sweet embrace of death is all but impossible for countless damned souls. They are forced to continue to walk a dark path. For them, they seek to regain an essence of life and restore their shattered minds, lest they be lost to an abyss of emptiness and madness. Such a curse can be from a variety of sources; an exploitation of a life source at a deific level, exposure to/using evil magics for too long, a hex brought upon by a powerful caster or even a destructive force bent on draining life from all reality.
The Curse of Undeath is a vile magical power that breaks the soul and leaves the body as little more than a husk. These drained husks share little with their once living counterparts. They are merely corpses controlled and warped by dread energy. Any remnants of mind left in these creatures are stretched to madness and driven to violence. While many of them retain enough knowledge to fight as though could in life, it is impossible for them to engage in rational dialogue let alone interact peacefully.
Author’s Note: Dark Souls III is out and I love it! With that, here’s an optional rule for handling a curse similar to the Undead of the Dark Souls universe. If you don’t want to literally be running Dark Souls, it shouldn’t be too hard to reflavor this into a different dread curse of sorts. If you’ve ever played Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, Anthony’s chapter certainly comes to mind. One last disclaimer, these are mostly random ideas in my head, in an attempt to make a Dark Souls inspired mechanic. As such, it’s more than likely that this idea is a bit clunky. It will probably receive a revision in the future, if reader interest is there.
An Affliction of Body, Mind and Soul
As the last of life’s flames extinguish, you become less and less human. For every time you die, a piece of you is lost when you’re brought back. Only through restoring your humanity can you truly become whole. Even before the curse has truly taken hold of you, its dark power has tainted you indefinitely. You may currently look like one of the living, but heinous power seeks to transform you into one of many mindless and angry dead.
The source of the curse can be from one of several horrible events. Perhaps the Gods attempted to prolong the life of themselves and their followers by draining life essence from the planes. Perhaps an entire area was desecrated by overuse of necromancy. No matter the cause, the results will turn apocalyptic in the long run as people without souls begin to wither into deranged husks. Even before before truly becoming one of the Undead, the cursed already suffer greatly. Upon being afflicted by the Curse of Undeath, you automatically fail death saving throws when brought to 0 HP. You must still roll a Death save. Upon failure, you receive two failed saves instead. Getting a natural 1 causes three failed saves instead of two.
Image Source: Revenant – oevrlord
Based off of Dark Souls, which belongs to From Software. Made by Doctor Necrotic, for Doctor Necrotic Media.
Daemons & Deathrays 
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