Author: jstater

NOD 12 – Just in time for 2011!

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NOD 12 is ready to go. You can buy the electronic version HERE now – I’ll put the print version up for sale as soon as I get a proof copy and make sure it isn’t totally screwed up. What do you get in 144 pages?

Welcome Back to Hell – The southern portion of the Glooms, Acheron and the first two rings of Hell.

Pandaemonium V – Stats for Asmodee, Barbatos and Naamah.

Deep Denizens II – Drow, duergar, notac-ichat and svirfneblin as playable races. Art by Jon Kaufman.

The Gourmand – The PC class that takes a bite out of … no – I can’t do that bit here.

Exotic Dining – Random tables for generating bizarre feasts.

Hero vs. Villain – A new article series that presents one original villain and one rejuvenated Golden Age hero for Mystery Men! This inaugural article presents the villainous Shatter and the heroic Madame Strange. Art by Stefan Grambart.

Mutant Truckers – A mini-game using Target 10 depicting the highways of post-apocalyptic America and the truckers who drive them. Art by Bradley K. McDevitt and Chris Huth.

Hope everyone enjoys it. The projects up ahead for me – today I try to finish putting together a glimpse of the next hex crawl, the savannah of Pwenet and jungle of Cush, for Fight On! because I’ve owed them an article for the better part of a year and because part of it might relate to a project somebody else is writing for Frog God Games set in NOD (blows my mind).

The weekend will be spent converting a few more levels of Rappan Athuk to Swords and Wizardry. After that, my focus is on NOD 13, Blood and Treasure and Space Princess.

So little to do, so much time. Wait – scratch that and reverse it.

Hell South – Final Preview – Palace of Minos

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For those not up on their lore of Hell (or Dante’s Inferno, as the case may be), Minos (former King of Crete, had a bull-headed stepson) is the judge of damned souls in Hell. His brothers show up sometimes as well, but Dante just uses Minos and I went that route as well. Minos is an interesting character – son of Zeus and Europa (remember – that’s the one where Zeus masqueraded as a white bull to carry her away – bulls are a running theme for Minos), marries Pasiphae, the daughter of the titan Helios and an Oceanid named Perses. This means that Minos and Pasiphae are both, in Nod reckoning, titans. That was fun to play with.

Anyhow – Minos judges damned souls and decides which ring of Hell they should spend eternity being punished on. He also guards the narrow stairs that lead from Asphodel (ring #1 in Nod’s Hell cosmology) to Erebus (ring #2), so PCs adventuring in Hell will probably have to go through Minos if they ever want to escape. Presented below is a map of his palace, a mini-dungeon in the game that is based very loosely on Minos’ actual palace on Crete. Enjoy!

It was meant to be maze-like without really being a maze. The un-drawn dungeons below hold a labyrinth, of course, inhabited by Asterion, the original Minotaur – a rough customer to be sure. Oh – and the cover for NOD 12, which will be published a bit later today …

The Archangel Michael in action by Guido Reni (1575-1642).

Hell South – Preview 10 – Breezy Books and Sheva’s Chariot

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Finishing up NOD 12 – just a bit more work to be done on the hex crawl, then writing the OGL page – always takes a while due to all the critters from the Tome of Horrors that show up. Anyhow – a few more locales for you to preview …

40.97 Breezy Book: A skeleton lies in the grass here. The skeleton has a crushed skull and ribs and is wearing a robe of damask silk and a tasseled hat. The skeleton has two gold teeth (fangs, actually), a silver dagger on his belt and a leather pouch that holds his spellbook.

The spellbook has a wind walker trapped within it. The wind walker’s presence makes it impossible to read the spellbook, for the pages are whipped around violently, as though in a high wind. Attempting to handle the book carries with it a 2 in 6 chance per minute of ripping some pages and ruining one of the spells contained within. Naturally, the highest level spells are ruined first.

Spells: 1st – Detect magic, hold portal, magic missile, read magic, sleep; 2nd – darkness 15-ft. radius, ESP, knock, magic mouth, strength; 3rd – darkvision, haste, protection from normal missiles, rope trick, slow; 4th – extension I, ice storm, plant growth, wizard eye; 5th – cloudkill, magic jar, passwall, wall of stone; 6th – enchant item, invisible stalker, repulsion; 7th – monster summoning V.

51.101 Chariot: Having been driven from his lair on a deeper level of Hell, the lich Sheva of the Silver Hair has wandered Asphodel on a chariot pulled by two giant hyena. She has ever sought to build a network of alliances based on favors and threats that might return her to her lair, currently inhabited by the efreet Nabeel in the metallic desert of Gehenna. Many secrets are held in her lair, secrets she must reclaim to advance her grander schemes. Sheva’s phylactery is hidden within the tombs that circle the pit of Tiamat [57.99].

67.105 Skeletal Harpies: Nine skeletal harpies are roosting in a grove of trees here, nibbling at the sour fruits that hang there. The fruit look like human hearts, and have a pulpy, acidic flesh. The harpies really hunger for human flesh. Each time they score 5 or more points of damage with a bite attack on a humanoid, a layer of musculature covers their bones. When they have scored a total of 35 points of damage, they reform as true harpies, with all the powers and abilities of such creatures.

86.96 Lake of Sorrow: A long, narrow lake sits here on the savannah, surrounded by a thick tangle of briars that bear fragrant black roses. Bubbles rise and pop on the surface, bringing with them the sounds of sighs, moans and cries that hang over the still waters. The water of the lake is intoxicating, leaving people in a deep melancholy and unable to summon the will to do anything for 24 hours other than defend themselves. At the end of the 24 hours, they must pass a will save to keep from drinking again.

97.91 Double Trouble: The land descends into a series of interlocking canyons here. The canyons are barren of life, with grey, rigid, angular sides. Once per day, a chill wind begins to blow, tussling hair and tugging at clothes. It grows stronger, and soon forms small whirlwinds that combine to form larger whirlwinds that glow with a pale, cheerless light. Assume each character has a 1 in 6 chance per turn of being touched by one of these whirlwinds. The whirlwinds only last about for one hour (6 turns).

Any person enveloped by a whirlwind emerges unscathed, but with a double intent on murdering his “comrades”. The player has a 50-50 chance of playing either his own character or the double, and only he will know which character he now plays. The character and his double cannot harm one another – any attempt to do so meets with failure and crushing pain (6d6 points of damage) for the instigator of the violence.

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Image found HERE 

Merry Christmas from the Land of Nod!

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Nothing geek or game related. Just a wish for a Merry Christmas to all within the sight of my pixels!

(Well, okay, the Santa image to the right is kinda steampunk, so I guess there’s  a little something geek related).

(And I said pixels, and that’s a bit geeky.)

Oh – what the heck …

FLYING REINDEER
Flying reindeers are more than just magical beasts – they are cherished creatures of the forces of Law. They appear as large, handsome reindeer with a golden tinge to their fur and a crystalline sheen to their antlers. They are uncommonly intelligent and immensely patient, though they fly into battle with creatures of chaos at the drop of a hat. The most famous of the flying reindeer are part of the team used by Saint Nicholas to make his one-per-year trip around the world to deliver gifts and tokens to all the Lawful boys and girls in the world.

Flying reindeer are capable of using the following spells: At will – detect evil, sanctuary; 3/day – haste; 1/day – time stop. They are always under the effect of a protection from evil 10-ft radius spell.

FLYING REINDEER: HD 6; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 gore (2d6) and 1 bite (1d4); Move 15 (Fly 36); Save 11 (9 vs. abilities of chaotic creatures); CL/XP 11/1700; Special: +1 or better weapon to hit, immune to cold, turn undead as 10th level cleric, spells, smite evil 1/day (double damage if gore attack is successful, forces demons and devils to save or be thrown back into Hell), magic resistance (15%).

Image from Golden Age Comic Book Stories

Saturday Grab Bag

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Just some random nonsense. I have some leaf raking and bagging to do today, along with other household chores to prepare for the family coming over tomorrow for all the traditional festivities. Whatever you do tomorrow, do it with a little love in your heart and find a way to be happy.

From the Old Fashioned Geek-mas Dept.

When I was a young lad, maybe 12, I remember borrowing a friend’s copy of B1 – In Search of the Unknown and transcribing it on my parent’s typewriter. Not as fancy a model as this (and they still have it!), but until I finally got an Apple IIE, the typewriter was one of my most important RPG tools. Image comes from James Lilek’s Merry Kitchmas site.

From the Zeppelin Christmas Mash-Up Dept.

Fleming & John – Winter Wonderland to the tune of Misty Mountain Hop. Image and link from one of my favorite daily reads, NEVVER.

From the My Hero Dept.

I officially declare that the rest of my life will be dedicated to trying to match the greatness of this man.

From the Heart’s Desire Dept.

I’m back on the weight loss trail again. I lost 50 pounds about a year ago, and then hit a long plateau. I’m now back on the trail, trying to finally get back to my college weight of 180. Images like this are both a balm and a torment.

From the Sci-Fi RPG Challenge Dept.

Okay, so we have a couple new planets to play with. Who wants to do a non-denominational sci-fi hex crawl with one of these planets? Maybe I could set up a blog called Kepler 20-F, post a map and people could all throw their 2 credits in. No game stats, no over-arching theme other than – “Recently discovered by ‘Man’, largely unexplored, holds secrets and ruins of the ancient Keplons”. Just anything that grabs your fancy that other Referees could then use with their groups to explore. Whaddya think?

From the Thank God for Frank Cho Dept.

Yeah – just … yeah.

From the Super Short Story Dept.

I wrote a very short story for some Lulu contest. You can download it for free from HERE if you have an e-reader thingee. If not, I’ll probably post it in the near future. It’s set in the Beyond the Black Water hex crawl I did with Frog God Games, and I might look at expanding it into a proper short story.

From the Blood and Treasure Art Dept.

I leave you with an elf paladin and a dwarf cleric from Blood and Treasure, both illustrations by Jon Kaufman (Pachycrocuta). Not a bad way to end a pre-Christmas post. Maybe a post tomorrow, maybe not, definitely normal posting next week. Enjoy the day, even if it has no spiritual meaning for you.

The Queens of Elemental Earth

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This idea popped into my head today, so I explored it a bit.

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The primal earth has produced many wonders, but none so lovely (and few so powerful) as the so-called Queens of Elemental Earth. These five sisters are worshipped as goddesses by many of the folk who dwell beneath the earth and are honored by all elemental earth creatures.

The queens look like astoundingly beautiful statues of women in their natural state. They are translucent and gleam with an inner light that produces a magical aura. Within their eyes dance shimmering motes of light that affect all upon which they train their gaze. They dwell in luxurious palaces beneath the ground, served by lesser elementals and fey creatures.

While the queens are ground in neutrality, with some preference for order (i.e. Law), they are, as one might expect, possessed of a very keen appreciation for the wonder that is them. They do not like to be disobeyed or their intentions and desires frustrated, and they have no qualms about destroying lesser creatures that get in their way.

All of the queens can move through rock, stone and soil as easily as a human moves through the air. They suffer half damage from all attacks from manufactured and natural weapons.

Adamantia
Adamantia is Queen Diamond. She has a smooth body of translucent crystal with inner reflections of pink. Adamantia is the strongest and most durable of the five sisters, and she is unforgiving in her disdain of imperfection and muddled thinking. She is always under the effect of a true seeing spell and a zone of truth. She is worshipped as a goddess of clarity, truth and perfection. Her stronghold is a fortress of gleaming adamant, with every surface stark white and lit by a soft, pinkish-white glow. Her court includes elemental earth creatures as well as entities of Law and a host of human paladins that have declared her the focus of their courtly, chaste love.

Adamantia produces an aura of truth (see zone of truth above) that also acts a protection aura against chaotic creatures (per protection from evil, 10-ft. radius). Her gaze acts as a hold monster spell.

Adamantia can cast the following spells as innate abilities: At will – charm person; 3/day – break enchantment, charm monster, cure disease, dispel magic, haste (self), invisibility; 1/day – dimension door, ray of enfeeblement, strength, suggestion, wave of exhaustion. She can also cast spells as a 10th level cleric.

Adamantia: HD 21; AC -7 [26]; Atk 2 strikes (4d6); Move 36; Save 3; CL/XP 30/7400; Special: +2 or better weapon to hit, aura, gaze, earth glide, half damage from all weapons, suffers double damage from sonic attacks, immune to fire, resistance to cold (50%), magic resistance (65%), regenerate 3 hp/round.

Rubinia
Queen Ruby, Rubinia, is composed of a translucent red substance. Her hair (though it is merely sculpted on her head) appears wild and unkempt and her eyes gleam with power. She is worshipped as a goddess of fire and passion and strength. Her court includes elemental earth creatures as well as exiled or rebellious elemental fire creatures. Her stronghold is enclosed in a ruby sphere with spherical chambers that look like bubbles within the sphere and connected by curving tunnels that radiate out from her central court. Gravity is completely relative within the sphere, with people able to walk on all surfaces.

Rubinia produces an aura of weakness (10-ft. radius) that forces people to pass a saving throw or be affected per a ray of enfeeblement. Her gaze forces people to pass a saving throw or be enraged (per the emotion or rage spell, depending on which version of the grand old game you play). Enraged folk never turn their anger upon Rubinia or her servants. Her touch ages people as the touch of a ghost.

Rubinia can cast the following spells as innate abilities: At will – augury; 3/day – charm person, divination, dispel magic, haste (self), invisibility; 1/day – dimension door, flame strike, heal, heat metal. She can also cast spells as a 10th level magic-user.

Rubinia: HD 21; AC -6 [25]; Atk 2 strikes (4d6); Move 36; Save 3; CL/XP 30/7400; Special: +2 or better weapon to hit, aura, gaze, earth glide, half damage from all weapons, suffers double damage from sonic attacks, immune to fire, resistance to cold (50%), magic resistance (55%), regenerate 3 hp/round.

Esmeraude
Esmeraude, Queen Emerald, is the most sensuous and beautiful of the sisters, possessed of a green, healthy glow and a warm, though unyielding, touch. Her stronghold is a paen to love and romance, being a series of limestone caverns with jade pools, rushing streams, laughing waterfalls and gardens of flowering trees, ferns and flowers. Her court consists of elemental earth creatures, nymphs and dryads.

Esmeraude radiates an aura of blinding beauty (per a nymph) and her gaze stuns creatures for 2d4 rounds. Her kiss can grant magic-user’s the effects of a mnemonic enhancement for 24 hours, but also imbues upon them a geas that they must visit her once per year and serve her faithfully for one week.

Esmeraude can cast the following spells as innate abilities: At will – cause blindness; 3/day – cure blindness, cause fear, dispel magic, haste (self), invisibility; 1/day – charm monster, dimension door, entangle, plant growth, suggestion. She can also cast spells as a 12th level druid.

Esmeraude: HD 21; AC -5 [24]; Atk 2 strikes (4d6); Move 36; Save 3; CL/XP 30/7400; Special: +2 or better weapon to hit, aura, gaze, earth glide, half damage from all weapons, suffers double damage from sonic attacks, resistance to cold and fire (50%), magic resistance (55%), regenerate 3 hp/round.

Amethysta
Queen Amethyst appears as a woman of translucent purple crystal accompanied always by three legendary panthers with purple-black fur. She is a queen of dreams who commands a court of elemental earth creatures, succubi and illusionists. Her court is held in a palace of mottled purple walls set in a maze-like layout, with many secret chambers where visitors can rest themselves on comfortable beds stuffed with celestial goose down and sleep under silk and satin, perhaps never to wake again.

Amethysta produces a purple aura of slumber (as the daze spell) and her gaze causes confusion. Those struck by her, even lightly, must pass a saving throw or fall into a deep sleep. She can deliver a kiss that drains levels per a succubus.

Amethysta can cast the following spells as innate abilities: At will – sleep; 3/day – cause fear, dispel magic, haste (self), invisibility; 1/day – dimension door, dream, nightmare, phantasmal killer, poison. She also casts spells as a 10th level illusionist.

Amethysta: HD 21; AC -5 [24]; Atk 2 strikes (4d6); Move 36; Save 3; CL/XP 31/7700; Special: +2 or better weapon to hit, aura, gaze, earth glide, half damage from all weapons, suffers double damage from sonic attacks, resistance to cold and fire (50%), magic resistance (45%), regenerate 3 hp/round, life drain.

Zaffira
Zaffira is a bubbly, almost giddy queen of sapphires. She appears as a beautiful, young woman with translucent blue skin, her eyes like star sapphires and her hair tumbling like cascades of water down her back to her ankles. She dwells in a floating palace of sapphire walls and misty, damp halls occupied by elemental earth creatures as well as sylphs and other exiled air creatures and giant eagles. Zaffira is worshipped as a goddess of innocence, truth and courage.

Zaffira produces an aura of euphoria. Folk who enter it must pass a saving throw or be calmed, losing all desire to commit violence or even engage in argument. Her gaze causes people to break into uncontrollable laughter (per the spell).

Zaffira can cast the following spells as innate abilities: At will – hold person; 3/day – cause fear, discern lies, dispel magic, haste (self), invisibility; 1/day – globe of invulnerability, mark of justice, ray of enfeeblement, resilient sphere, strength. She also casts spells as a 12th level cleric.

Zaffira: HD 21; AC -6 [25]; Atk 2 strikes (4d6); Move 36; Save 3; CL/XP 23/5300; Special: +2 or better weapon to hit, aura, gaze, earth glide, half damage from all weapons, suffers double damage from sonic attacks, resistance to fire and cold (50%), magic resistance (65%), regenerate 3 hp/round.

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Image found HERE. Painted by Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1786).

Hell South Preview 9 – Oedipal Shrines and Anesthetic Jellies

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15.70 Overturned Wagon: A wagon with chipped and faded anatomical drawings on the bulging sides and large, solid, round wheels has overturned here. There doesn’t appear to be anyone present. Jars of preserved organs and hands fill the wagon. The jars are uncommonly thick and sealed with wax, and none of them are broken. The jars contain about 15 hearts, 20 livers, 5 gallbladders, 3 spleens and 30 hands – determine the source randomly. The body parts are preserved in a weird, anesthetic jelly that, when the jars are opened, turns out to be alive. These oozes feed on warmth, draining heat from their victims.

ANESTHETIC JELLY: HD 3; AC 9; Atk 1 touch (1d6 cold + numbness); Move 9; Save 14; CL/XP 4/120; Special: Body parts touched become numb and useless if save is failed, if deals 6 points of damage, it doubles in size.

19.78 Rebellious Garrison: There is a fortress of dark gray stone, stained with bird droppings and shaped like a cube with only a faint arched line on the bottom of one side indicating a portal, overlooking the gray-green grasses here. The fortress is 40 feet tall, wide and deep, and thorny vine (assassin vines) cling to the corners of the cube, some of them reaching as high as 30 feet. A company of vulchlings stand atop the fortress, cackling and throwing spear ineffectively at the fortress’s mistress, the malacarna Thienhela, who stands on the ground below, shaking her fist and demanding they relent and open the portal to her.

Thienhela found herself cast out of the fortress while she snoozed, her former garrison acting under the orders of a recent arrival, the incubus Daznishu. Daznishu is acting under the advisement of Kerothuar and Hanoarnah, two very ambitious imps.

Thienhela is anxious to get back inside. For one thing, she was cast out in the all-together and knows that even a malacarna cannot long survive on the Asphodelian savannah without armor and weapons. She will agree do just about anything to sway adventurers to her side, though collecting after she has regained her throne might be tricky.

22.84 Hunters: A large village of mud huts covered with thorny branches sits here. It is home to 300 gnolls and their wives and cubs. The gnolls, though normally loyal to Barbatos, now serve Flavros. Each has had one of its arms hacked off at the shoulder and replaced with a scaled, demonic looking limb that can act independently of it. In essence, a disloyal gnoll can strangle itself while it sleeps. The gnolls are miserable wretches, and especially mean spirited because of their humiliation. They have six giant hyenas in their village.

23.85 Axe Beaks: A flock of 500 demonic axe beaks (no feathers, bilious green skin, black, jagged beaks) roam this hex. Encounters with 1d6 of the birds occur on a roll of 1-2 on 1d6 made each day. If one fights 1d6 of the birds, they discover that another 1d6 birds are attracted by the noise every 10 rounds on a roll of 1 on 1d6.

30.95 Shrine of Oedipus: There is a temple here that looks like six black cubes, each 30 feet long, wide and tall. Five are laid out in a cross-formation, the sixth stacked atop the middle cube. The place is constructed of basalt blocks and the floors, clad in white tiles, are covered in about four inches of ash. Columns of black and gold swirled marble hold up the ceiling except in the inner sanctum, which has a 60-ft. high roof. The inner sanctum holds a 40-ft tall statue of Oedipus, unclad and holding a staff. The statue has empty pits for eyes. On one of the upper walls of the inner sanctum there is a large brass gong.

If two precious stones are placed in the eye pits of the idol and the gong is struck, it flashes with an image of the death of the person who strikes the gong. Determine this fate randomly:

ROLL D10 TO DISCOVER FATE
1. Dragon Breath
2. Death Ray
3. Fall
4. Fireball
5. Lightning Bolt
6. Mummy Rot
7. Poison
8. Spear Trap
9. Swallowed Whole
10. Trampled

When next the character encounters this attack, he suffers a -5 penalty to saving throws against it. If he survives, the prophecy is proved false and he suffers no further saving throw penalties against that attack form.

If the gong is struck without putting gemstones in the idol’s eyes, it acts as a monster summoning VII spell.

—

Image from Wikipedia

Happy Anniversary to Me! (And a Magic Item)

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No, not a blog anniversary. That’s in March sometime. A wedding anniversary. Number 17, in fact. If you enjoy all the nonsense I post on this blog and publish through Lulu, join me in thanking my wife, Wendy, for her support and tolerance of this very geeky, often time-consuming hobby of ours. About a decade or so ago, I had put my RPG days behind me. When some friends invited me to play some of the new D-n-D (I was so far out of the hobby that I didn’t know TSR was gone and a new version of the game in the works), I was hesitant. My wife thought I should go play with my friends. Ultimately, this led me to the new old versions of the game and convinced me I should give blogging a try. That led to the publishing and a new facet of my life – just in time for a very geeky mid-life crisis, I guess. So, this is to my bride of 17 years – I hope for countless happy years to come, but with her I’m ready for anything the world can throw at me. Except maybe rabid badgers shot out of a bazooka – who could really be ready for that?

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Now, for the game content …

Golden Bands of Bonding: These two golden rings are plain and unadorned. When slipped on the fingers of two people in love, they act as rings of protection +1. When the people hold hands, they create protection from evil, 10′ radius and sanctuary effects. When apart, the rings allow the wearers to know the general state of well-being of the other. If one is in mortal danger, the rings allow the mate to call them (as a summoning spell) to their present location. This drains the remaining magic in the rings, and they become ordinary rings thereafter. If one of the ring wearers is killed, the mate can instead use this magic to summon the person’s killer.

The Glooms – Evil Pumpkins and Dwarf Kings

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I’m about three days away from finishing the main writing on the Hell South hex crawl for NOD 12. Then I have a few articles to finish up and should be able to publish before Christmas – or maybe after Christmas. We’ll see.

10.72 Anemone Shelf: Hundreds of brightly colored giant sea anemones are attached to a wide shelf along the bank of the Acheron, about 70 feet below the surface. Equally colorful nixies dwell within these anemone, sometimes falling prey to them, but more often tending them. The nixies are led by the druid Anwyla, whose sea cave lair is hidden by the anemones. Deep within this sea cave there is a bubbling fountain of air. Bathing in this air, which carries a damp, green smell, one becomes a creature of living water. While in this form, the person can swim at a speed of 30 and is immune to cold and resistant to fire. This state lasts for a number of hours equal to the person’s constitution score.

35.99 Bothaaa: This hex holds the lair of Bothaaa, a giant, fiendish octopus spawned by Dagon himself. Bothaaa is usually in his sea cave, studying his greatest treasure, a jar that holds the preserved head of the Rivana, youngest daughter of the lich lord Piran. This head wears a crystal diadem (worth 1,000 gp). It is still alive, the body resting in Guelph in an ornate crypt. The head is sought by Dudge, the chaotic knight currently trapped in the stomach of the dragon whale Oraguldurn [7.63].

9.66 Grimserne: Grimserne is the dark city of Alberich, the king of the nyblings, a race of sorcerous, demonic dwarves. The nyblings are sore put upon by Alberich, and the shade slaves of Grimserne even more so.

Grimserne is home to 5,000 shades and 3,500 nyblings. The city is built into the sides of a massive and ever deepening pit mine from which the slaves extract copious amounts of coal, enough to fire the furnaces of Dis. The nymblings direct the slaves in their mining and then form them into great caravans who march towards the palace of Minos and the narrow stairs that lead down to the third ring of Hell. Each shade holds 300 pounds of coal in its back in canvas and leather sacks, and by the end of the journey to Dis are so spent that they often melt into the landscape, only to emerge back in their pit a few days later.

Alberich is a mighty sorcerer among dwarves. He and his people possess an unheard of skill at forging magical items, making them as easily as most craftsman make normal items, but expecting cruel payments for their handiwork and cursing the items to make sure they are not betrayed.

11.70 Prison Farm: The damned souls of 450 greedy halfling farmers toil here on a vast field, farming and tending animals under the poisonous whip of the balor Enkepis and his manes. The halflings grow bitter kale, lima beans, Brussels sprouts and pumpkins that grow to about four feet in diameter and bear tormented faces on their pale orange skins. They also tend sheep that they turn into spicy meat pies that are valued throughout Hell.

Each of the pumpkins, if one should carve a hole into it and crawl inside (gnomes and halflings can manage this) is a portal to the surface world.

13.57 Peat Fields: This hex was once a great swamp of tsetse flies and stinging nettles. It has since been drained and is now a great expanse of peat fields. Miserable shades now roam the fields, cutting the peat under the watchful eyes of gnoll overseers. The peat is destined for the lodge of Barbatos, who disdains the use of coal and thornwood. The peat moss is rank with worms, each one with the face of a damned, miserable soul.

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Image by Rackham; found at Wikipedia.