Ethyria & Beyond + d&d5.5 notes

Sadly, I'm down to 2 players again and headhunting again. Mostly from older ppl having older ppl dramas, one person vanished off the net. I do like running a weekly game as I tend to clean more and get ahead on house arranging, so that's appreciated. Some of the different players taught me lots about the modern game I hadn't picked up in 5 years of playing. Current gang want minis and exact square stuff. Which has a plus effect of sorting my minis again and getting my robot/spaceship/ruin building running again. 

Also learning some of the differences in 2014 vs 2024 d&d. I was shocked that Command spells work on undead now. Grappling under unarmed attacks has a size limit rule not in the grapple on its own section. So still learning stuff. Sometimes you can see that design has made some combo abilities do wild stuff, others are accidents, and players can do strange stuff with. The more splatbook stuff you mix, the more crap isn't compatible and breaks.

Getting the hang of monsters. My versions I run from my head are often different. A d4 hp poltergeist now has 22 in the current version, but the Cyclopaedia version I disliked and one with 4 hp i found). The old-school hierarchy of ghoul 2d8 < wight 3d8 < 4d8 wraith < spectre 6d8 < ghost is now ghoul 5d8 < spectre 5d8 < ghost 10d8 < wraith 9d8+27 < wight 11d8+33

I wonder if Yuan-Ti have 4 pages and lizard folk 1 is because Yuan-Ti are protected IP (with no basic stat block only only two boss types - you just use bandit or whatever, not amphibious, which changes Saltmarsh a bit too). Why does d&d amphibian mean stuff biology does not? I have been writing my own monster comp a long time but THE MONSTER OVERHAUL probably did most like what I would do but different. Id like to slate clean some stuff like single sheet pages with bugs, worms, lizards, amphibians, spiders, birds, flightless birds, herd animal etc, with a separate format for special monsters with lots of lore and powers. More monsters should be unique one-offs, even if they start as another species +mutations or +elemental taint. Some modern adaptations are weaker, much like lots of spells. 

Learning monster strengths again has had some moments like Oldschool erinyes vs 5th ed erinyes. Learning to deal with player defences and trying to grasp the power each level represents and not be over too fast. Despite the learning curve and my knowing 5 or 6 other versions, we got lots done and a go at Bastions.

I'm a player in Ravenloft currently and hope to finish that and start a new campaign and character. I think my priest learned some stuff and had an arc of learning humility and about the banality of evil.

I did get a player of Ethyria ask which of the campaign books of D&D5 I'd run - probably Rime of the Frostmaiden or Saltmarsh.. Since saying i wouldn't get any more so I got 4 more books, which I'll review. I do think figure work and clothes are superior in later books.

I would have liked a whole book on adventures in hell, and it could hook into every other setting. An Egyptian book like Theros would be nice. An adaptation of an old product done as well as Saltmarsh, like a desert-themed book, would be nice. A fey and or shadowfell book would be nice. I don't want to play IP plane hopping. 

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Omiros Firehair, the satyr, priest of Heliod and adopted sibling Kiren an elemental Monk, monk of Heliod had visited one entrance of the labyrinthe and met minotaurs who told them to piss off but an olderone offered them free passage if they wanted to explore a a haunted area. So far, they faced a room of flayed human skins, an iron living statue and an erinyes devil, the worst enemy they faced yet. 

So with one party member, the Centaur bard had to leave, but they were keen to rest and go on. In the hall of flailed skin with two doorways they could see a dead minotaur and through the other door a blood fountain with a zombie drinking and being healed. Kiren quickly tried slipping past the zombie, but Omiros was in heavy armour and a bit clumsy. When the zombie turned, Kiren attacked from behind and killed it, and then they realised the dead minotaur was moving in. He was a bit tough but as usual, Kiren's elemental technique let him pin down a single foe well. Omiros purified the well and felt the good divine vibes of gods approval.

Found a hall with urns in niches, and Omiros went in as he was a priest and saw a jar float off a shelf for the burning hands killed a weak poltergeist, leaving a black sooty smudge with a clean human silhouette inside. Some kind of ghostly aura surrounded the broken urn. The poltergeist was going to throw the jars at enemies to have the jar spirits curse them. Omiros considered using them, but a bit of risk in moving and using and not really a good priest thing to do.

Found a staircase with relief carving of slaves in chains with nose rings being led by minotaurs. They stepped into it sure the stairs linked to a passage they passed earlier. A shadowy minotaur came from the wall asking: "who do you serve?"

Omiros babbled something flippantly and then realised this was a serious moment because 3 more minotaur shadows appeared from the art. There was a fight that wasnt too bad but Kiren lost some strength.

There were two more passages in the area, stairs aup and a long hall with red colums. They whent the long path and found a minotaur statue and a fancy javelin. Omiros went to the stairs and laid low while Kiren snatched the javelkin and ran. The lights flickered, the bull statue bellowed and released fog. Kiren got away and was impressed the javelin could scratch rock but he felt it made him bloodlusty. Omiros was happy to try and kept it.

The last room was a shrine of some unfamiliar bearded god fighting and eating babies with a glistening sickle in his hand. Omiros nabbed it and a black phantom from the underworld formed and Kiren attacked it. His usual fire fists didnt work well so he switched it to thunder power which was better. It was a fearful being he couldn't grapple with his elemental arts.

So they went to the exit after a rest and two minotaurs were guarding. They excitedly bellowed, and the adventurers approached them in a friendly manner with a wine bottle. Omiros threw the bottle to them as two more minotaurs came and their old priest came. Kiren bolted past all of them and down the stairs outside, and Omiros fireballed them. He was not a fan of their bloody war god and thought them untrustworthy despite Kirens' charming advances that seemed to be responded. He managed a second and killed the priest and injured the others. He was a bit surprised they were still alive and moved right into them. Meanwhile, Kiren lured two to him and the minotaurs charged with their axes and made bonus horn gores leave Kiren more battered than his whole career and knocked him back 10 feet. They managed to finish off the minotaurs and grabbed some gold and a silver medallion, and a rod. As they fled and looked back, they saw how huge the place was.

Omiros jumped on Kirens' back and they galloped all the way home to the polis of Kastros. They set to work selling stuff and got a crowd wherever they went. Priests renewed requests for written documents to complete translations of ancient books. They identified items and explained divinations revealed the gods are silent on what sin the ancients committed, but they have determined the curse that keeps the labyrinth haunted is based on 12 monsters, transformed from ancient courtiers involved in the fall.  

There was:
Spear +1 +2 vs humans
Sheild +1 +1 save vs draconic breath attacks
+2 Sickle
+2 Berserker Javelin (cursed and tries to atune to the wielder)
Rod a one-use rod of cancellation vs magic items or an effect

As the king awarded them permission to build bastions, they decided to adopt the ancient tower with an entry to the underworld ferry in the cellar. They set up a workshop with stonemasons and carpenters to work on repairing the structure. They wanted a tavern, and I said you can have a normal bar without staff or magic beer or special buffs, which they did. Built barracks, armourer, walls and well-appointed bedrooms. Had 10 staff and quickly met traders form local villages and the wild folk of the eastern woods.

I think they could probably expand bastions and more low-level types with lesser FX that can be upgraded later. A starting feat letting you have one might be good at 1st lv. 

When they popped back home after the first week they heard a giant clibed over the mountain and demanded the hounds of Geryon be released. A hellhound and son of Cerebus the underworlds guard dog (aka Spot) had been captured and locked in the city arena.

I intend to give them a checklist of cursed monsters and for language recovery.
Now the dungeon is only hours away since the Sphynx gone and any idiot can go try making money in a dungeon. The party have got idea there are secrets of the gods about the past civilisation and their gods hidden by senior priests.