I had a work trip out to the west coast this past week, so I
spent a lot of time in airports and on airplanes, so I brought along my recent
acquisition – a print version of the 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons
& Dragons boxed set, Return to the Tomb of Horrors – I love this adventure,
Bruce Cordell can do weird horror, and truly evil villains. I use a few plot points from this adventure
for inspiration in my current DCC Road Crew game, and I loved re-reading it
cover to cover.
One of the more evocative monsters in RTTOH is the Vestige – a swirling
black cloud of undead dreams that will consume the minds of any it touches. And it’s nigh unkillable, so even high level
characters should run…
I’m converting this for my DCC game, trying to keep
the spirit of it. We’ll take the AC 10
and up it a little bit to AC 13, roughly keep the equivalent of the 20 HD and
100 hit points, we don’t need to get too fiddly with old AD&D protections
and abilities, DCC allows us to simplify the stat block significantly, while
still keeping the creature a source of terror for both characters and players. Making it immune to physical harm and giving it a bit of magic resistance makes it a scary foe.
DCC magic being more variable makes the monster a little less scary than the original, but it's unique having an Intelligence drain, a huge d30 die roll on the Undead Critical Hit chart, a lof of immunities and resistances -- it's still scary enough, I think.
Got any ideas on how to use this insubstantial cloud of death? Drop me a note at archadethered@gmail.com.
Vestige
When hundreds of souls die a horrible death, their unquiet souls can coalesce into a Vestige, an unliving undead dream that brings terror to any that behold it, and it's ghostly miasma can rip a victim’s soul from its body if their victim does not flee.
Vestige: Init
+3, Atk ghostly tendrils +12 melee (2d6); AC 13; HD 20d8 (90 hp); MV Fly 30’;
Act 3d20; SP impervious to non-magical damage, incorporeal, immune
to cold, charm, sleep and paralysis, magic resistance (-2 to
spell checks directly targeting the vestige), resistant to fire and electricity, sense living souls, whispers of terror; SV Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +12; AL C; CR U/d30.
The vestige is a dream that has taken the shape of a cloud of unquiet
souls, and while it cannot see, it will drift towards any living soul within
100’ to devour its essence – any creature within 20’ that can hear it’s whispers
of terror must make a DC 18 Will save or become afraid, suffering a -1d penalty
to all checks for an hour, and if they fail the save by 5 or more, be forced to
flee for 2d6 rounds. If its victims can get
far enough away, they can thwart its relentless pursuit.
Manifesting as a drifting cloud roughly 20’ in diameter, it can attack with
tendrils that can reach up to 10’ away, causing damage that chills the flesh
and torments the soul. If it engulfs a
victim, it starts draining their essence as a free action – make a DC 18 Will
save or suffer 1d6 Intelligence drain.
If a victim is reduced to 0 Intelligence, their soul is absorbed by the
Vestige, healing it 2d6 hit points if harmed, and the victim’s body will molder
into dust in 2d6 rounds.
As a dream, it is beyond physical harm, only magic can damage it, and if
magical weapons are wielded against it, the damage it suffers is only the
magical bonus of the weapon.
Nice!
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