While Scylla has not attacked for at least one minute, it is indistinguishable from a little girl wearing a white dress.
Quick Learner.
If Scylla spends at least one minute studying and observing a creature, she learns how many hitpoints they have, their armor class, their strength, constitution, dexterity, and wisdom scores. Scylla has advantage on attack rolls and charisma checks against a creature she has studied. In addition, for 24 hours she can accurately mimic that creature saying any basic one syllable word such as “hello,” or, “yes.” As per the Mimicry trait.
I’m a Monster!
As an Action, Scylla can revert from her smaller human disguise into her true form, which is that of a small human with six tentacles ending in dog heads where her legs should be. (In her disguised form the tentacles are retracted and hiding under her dress) In this form, she is gargantuan sized and has an extra +30 feet of movement in all of her speeds. In addition, she gains access to her frightful presence and tear apart attacks. When not in her monstrous form, any attacks that use her dog heads seemingly come from the ground, where her dog heads have burrowed around her to strike. Scylla has six dog heads, and can only ever use those many dog heads in attacks at a time. She regains the use of any dog heads that haven’t been used for a bite, Sic’Em, Sentinel or Tear apart or that currently aren’t being used at the start of her turn.
Mimicry
Scylla can perfectly imitate any sounds or words she has heard within the last twenty four hours. A creature hearing them can make a DC 20 wisdom (insight) check to discern if the sounds are real or not. Scylla has also memorized certain sounds and common words, such as a baby crying, the crackling of fire, and a Little girl yelling, “I’m a monster!”
Innate Spellcasting
Scylla’s innate spellcasting ability is intelligence (spell save DC 20, +10 to hit with spell attacks) and she can cast the following spells, requiring no material components.
at will: Magic Missile, Hunter’s mark, Pass without Trace
1/day: Harm, any spell she learned using the learn spell reaction.
Deadly Precision
any attack Scylla makes against a creature that hasn’t taken a turn in combat yet is automatically a critical hit.
Amphibious
Scylla can breathe both air and water.
Actions
Multiattack.
Scylla makes two bite attacks. She then uses either Sic’em or Sentinel.
Bite.
Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 50 ft., one target. Hit: 2d6+15 piercing damage and the target is grappled and pulled thirty feet towards Scylla.
Sic’Em.
Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 120 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6+8 bludgeoning damage and the target is restrained (escape DC 23) by two of Scylla’s dog heads. At the start of a restrained creature’s turn, they take 1d8+8 piercing damage as Scylla’s dog heads bite at the restrained creature. A restrained creature moves with Scylla.
Sentinel.
One of Scylla’s dog heads moves to a place within 300 feet of Scylla. Scylla does not need to see this location. Scylla can see and hear out of the dog head and make bite attacks centered on it, one attack per turn. As a bonus action on her turn, Scylla can use the dog head to pull herself to its location, instantly traveling there. The dog head cannot leave the area within 300 feet of Scylla and lasts for one minute. Scylla can have an amount of Sentinels equal to the amount of dog heads she has not already grappling a creature with Sic’Em or Tear apart.
Tear Apart (Monstrous form only) (recharge 6).
Scylla uses four of her six dog heads to grab and tear at a creature within 30 feet of her. That creature must make a dexterity saving throw or become restrained (escape DC 23) and take 14d10 bludgeoning and slashing damage (half each) or half on a success. If they fail the saving throw, on Scylla’s next turn they take the damage again. This happens for up to three rounds. If a creature is reduced to Zero hitpoints from this attack, it is torn into several pieces and dies instantly. A creature restrained by Sic’Em has disadvantage on this saving throw, and Scylla only needs to use two extra dog heads instead of four.
Reactions
learn spell
when Scylla sees another creature cast a spell, she can memorize the spell, adding it to her list of one day use spells. Once she casts the spell, she forgets it.
legendary actions
Scylla can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Scylla regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
bite
Scylla makes a bite attack.
Fetch!
Scylla rushes in a direction of her choice, moving up to half of her speed, not provoking opportunity attacks. Any creature within ten feet of her must make a DC 23 dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
Taunting Laughter (costs 2 actions)
Scylla laughs maniacally at one creature within 30 feet of her, angering and frightening them. That creature must make a DC 20 wisdom saving throw or become enraged and determined to fight and Kill Scylla, ignoring all other dangers. A creature that fails this Saving throw by 5 or more is instead Frightened of Scylla.
some philosophers believe that evil does not exist, and that “Evil,” is simply a moral view differing from your own. Those Philosophers are wrong, for Evil does lurk right beneath the waves…
Ancient poems warn of a narrow channel of water so treacherous that death touches all who approach. Sailors must choose to risk their ship, traveling close to the monstrous whirlpool Charybdis, or instead hug the rocky shoals where dwells a creature some say is made from the nightmares of all men.
Scylla, they call her, Horror of the Sea. No ship that dares sail in her waters goes unscathed. Those that cling to survival whisper panicked tales of enormous black tentacles tipped with slavering hound heads ravaging whole ships to splinters with pitiless precision. Though it's her laughter, they say, that's most horrible; child-like, delighting in blood soaked murder as men are dragged into the dark abyss.
Poets have tried to romanticize this beast, to provide some humanity to her monstrosity. They write she was once a beautiful Naiad, wronged by a jealous priestess and transformed. Yet the old poems say she was born this way, beget by gods full of jealousy and loathing; dropped into the sea to terrorize mankind.
Would that she had remained in the sea, but the nightmare has come ashore. Dragged by dog-headed tentacles she roams our streets, plucks us from our beds, and fills the night with disturbing laughter. Scylla has come, and not even the gods can help us.
hopefully I’ll have V.1 of Charybdis done by tonight, I’m going to see the new Godzilla movie tho so I’ll be busy for a bit.
after I finish up with Charybdis, i’m thinking about what I should do next… perhaps Baba Yaga or Ratatoskr.
Which Godzilla movie? Godzilla Minus One? That movie was epic.
Godzilla: a New Empire. It was great besides the fact my two favorite Kaijus (Titanus Scylla and Titanus Tiamat) both died and didn’t even pose any threat to Godzilla.
hopefully I’ll have V.1 of Charybdis done by tonight, I’m going to see the new Godzilla movie tho so I’ll be busy for a bit.
after I finish up with Charybdis, i’m thinking about what I should do next… perhaps Baba Yaga or Ratatoskr.
Which Godzilla movie? Godzilla Minus One? That movie was epic.
Godzilla: a New Empire. It was great besides the fact my two favorite Kaijus (Titanus Scylla and Titanus Tiamat) both died and didn’t even pose any threat to Godzilla.
Oh okay. The only Kaiju movie I've ever seen is Godzilla Minus One and it was incredible. My friends and I watched it last New Year's.
Balors are horrifying foes on their own, but they can be worse. Imagine the relief of your party once they’ve defeated a demon greater than much in the multiverse, and they know that it has the Death Burst ability so they stand clear… only to be consumed by a massive explosion because the balor has a barrel of gunpowder on its back. Classic RPG trope that they’ll never suspect.
I have been working on my Huckleberry Finn/River Styx idea and I already have a ton of ideas worked out for episodic encounters and exploration which is great because that fits the riverboat adventure aspect well. I'm thinking about turning it into a Domain of Dread because that would fit the grim atmosphere of the Styx. It also is the best way to fit this idea of mine into Dnd as far as I can tell. The main problem I have is coming up with a good Dark lord. Here are my ideas so far:
My best idea right now is to actually have two Dark lords who are trapped in a never ending Martins and Coys/Romeo and Juliet style family feud. The two Dark lords are the last remaining members of each family filled with hatred and rage for the other Dark lord but they don't even know why their families began feuding in the first place. Both have committed terrible atrocities in their struggles against each other, and they barely notice the folks trapped in their domain. They are just trampled in the conflict and the nature of the domain causes them to harbor hatred and resentment towards their fellow people. The problem with this one is that I would really like it if the Dark lord was more closely tied to the River because it literally runs through the whole setting.
To draw more from the Styx aspect, maybe the Darklord is based on Charon? I like this idea a lot, but I can't think of a good way to actually use it.
The last real idea is the Devil. You know, the one that challenges boys to fiddle duels, dances with witches in the woods, burns holes into the ground by tramping in circles, Brews whiskey in the woods, and all in all is really not a nice guy. He still lacks a major connection to the river though and he doesn't have the tortured aspect that is fundamental to Darklords.
Now I'm leaning towards making this place its own setting rather than a Domain of Darkness. The problem here is how to make sense of the strong connections to the underworld that comes with the River Styx. Are the characters dead?
I also think I will include a general fear of witchcraft. Most magic is feared and "witches" can be killed on the spot and are blamed for all sorts of misfortunes. This is somewhat hypocritical though because folk magic is widely practiced.
Another thing about the landscape. In Hades, there were actually a bunch of different hellish rivers. Styx, Phlegethon, Lethe, Archeron, and Cocytus. Each river will be included in this setting as either a section of the main river, which is Styx, or a river that branches off of the main river. For example, the river of memory is Lethe. Lethe is a section of the Styx near the bottom of the river and it is swampy and full of bayous. The biggest town along the River is built here, New Oldtown, which is inspired by New Orleans. Voodoo style monsters and magic clots the mud of this part of the river, swing dancers forget themselves in enchanted jazz played by possums and dolphins (don't ask, it will make sense when this is finished), and drunkards try to drown their sorrows and memories in spirits brewed by actual spirits. The dead don't stay buried in New Oldtown. The music is so loud their bones rattle out of the graves and dance all night. Their bones thirst for the whiskey drawn from the Lethe's waters. Gambling also runs rampant here.
Sorry about the huge chunk of text, but I wanted to see if any of y'all had any thoughts or ideas?
Hi Dark! Now about New Oldtown, I actually made a statblock for a voodoo god, Baron Samedi, on the last page, and they happen to be a god of both the dead as well as parties. I might make his wife and also goddess parties as well soon, Maman Brigitte.
and about the possible darklords? Well I heard you say last of their family and I would like to add something to that. Last Living in each family. The others are all undead, possibly those are the atrocities they both committed. Their hatred for each other caused them to kill anyone that got in their way or tried to stop them, including their own families. Or perhaps they have reanimated each other’s families after killing them, which is the atrocity that made them darklords? And for a connection to the Styx, the river that became the Styx in the Domain was once where they both hid the bodies of the families, and its power reanimated them, binding them and the two darklords to the river. They might have to stay near or on the river to keep command of their undead legion. Perhaps someone they both knew in life became a Merrenoloth and sort of worked for both of their sides after they became darklords, and is the key to their defeat? The Merrenoloth ferries their dead and them from one side of the river to the other and is a neutral force. Another idea, the Merrenoloth’s boat could be its own sort of dungeon, maybe it’s like a key sort of place in the domain and something happened there (maybe the first meeting of the two darklords in life) and because of it, if the Boat is destroyed or otherwise in disrepair, the entire domain could start to metaphorically and possibly literally fall apart. Maybe the Domain is only as strong as is the hatred of the two individuals, and if they sort of somehow like made a temporary truce or something, the entire place is thrown out of whack and lets people come and go as they please? (I’m assuming if it was a domain of dread that would be the main goal, to get out)
Your Baron Samedi statblock is great and I'll probably use it for the boss of the Lethe Bayou. His connection to the Darklords might be that he was a double agent who taught both of them how to use witchery to enslave the spirits of the enemies. Now he parties in the hellscape he helped to create, reveling in his own destruction and folly.
The idea for them to be the last living members of the families who you the undead remains of the other family in their feud is pretty epic. I'll be using a lot of this.
I'm thinking about running this as a campaign on Dndbeyond. Would you be interested in joining?
OH absolutely! Everything you come up with is epic! I’d love to join.
I’m already stirring up some ideas for a character. I’ll probably play something I don’t play as often, like maybe a fighter or a sorcerer. (Or maybe even a bard!) I usually play warlocks, druids, monks, and rogues.
So, I'm running a homebrew campaign I adopted from a dead thread. The premise is a ragtag bunch of adventurers making their way through a dense fog-laden valley in search of the son of their wealthy benefactor. So far, they have narrowly escaped drowning in a sea of mud, fought off opportunistic scavengers, weathered demented images of their closest family members and friends dying in front of them, endured the abduction and physical torture of one of their own (via PM duet), and are now fighting one of the BBEGs in a pocket dimension, surrounded by innocent villagers that are all being used as cattle for blood sacrifices.
I've already got an idea of what the villains will be, as well as a general idea of how the layout is going to work. My biggest issue is filling in the blanks.
Since you all sound like fellow sadists, keen on emotionallly torturing your players, I figured this was the place to be for ideas on making the trek from point A to point B as cruel and entertaining as possible.
1st, yes, I do indeed believe everyone here is a sadistic monster, so you’re in the right place.
Is there anything specific you need ideas for? I’m assuming you mean they haven’t started the fight yet, and will be giving you a quick idea off of that.
that crowd of villagers? They know someone in that crowd. Someone they didn’t see die in front of them before. That person will die. That person cannot (probably, maybe give them a bit of hope) be saved. They do not know the exact location of that person. Whenever the Party finds the person (who could possibly be very important or just a lovable but not that important side character) they see them on the verge of death, or as they are just being struck down. Now, if you are kind enough, make them uncertain about whether they are going to live or not (if they heal them significantly, maybe they do survive for at least a bit or a few days) and then tell the party that person will die, and that they are in the crowd.
they will go haywire. They will drop everything to save that NPC if they like them enough.
but the fight doesn’t pause, they need to do this during the fight.
So, I'm running a homebrew campaign I adopted from a dead thread. The premise is a ragtag bunch of adventurers making their way through a dense fog-laden valley in search of the son of their wealthy benefactor. So far, they have narrowly escaped drowning in a sea of mud, fought off opportunistic scavengers, weathered demented images of their closest family members and friends dying in front of them, endured the abduction and physical torture of one of their own (via PM duet), and are now fighting one of the BBEGs in a pocket dimension, surrounded by innocent villagers that are all being used as cattle for blood sacrifices.
I've already got an idea of what the villains will be, as well as a general idea of how the layout is going to work. My biggest issue is filling in the blanks.
Since you all sound like fellow sadists, keen on emotionallly torturing your players, I figured this was the place to be for ideas on making the trek from point A to point B as cruel and entertaining as possible.
Encounter ideas:
An ooze or shambling mound ambushes the players, trying to suck them into a pit of acid or quicksand
A cloaked ferryman offers passage across one of the valley’s swampy regions, provided the travelers are undead. If they’re living, he’ll offer to “cure” them
Swamp gas explosion
Cloud of supernatural bees or disease-bearing insects
Everything is mimics, everyone is an oblex.
hey.
i liked that box.
put me back.
Scylla V.2, this time with Flavor text!
Scylla
Small monstrosity, Chaotic Evil
Armor Class
16 (natural armor)
Hit Points
133 (14d6 +84)
Speed
25 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 25 ft., swim 60 ft.
STR
26 (+8)
DEX
10 (+0)
CON
23 (+6)
INT
17 (+3)
WIS
13 (+1)
CHA
14 (+2)
Saving Throws
Str +15, Int +10, Wis +8
Skills
Arcana +10, Athletics +15, History +10, Nature +10, Stealth +14, Survival +8
Damage Resistances
bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities
acid, cold
Condition Immunities
exhaustion, frightened, prone
Senses
darkvision 120 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages
Deep Speech, understands Common
Challenge
24 (62,000 XP)
False Appearance.
While Scylla has not attacked for at least one minute, it is indistinguishable from a little girl wearing a white dress.
Quick Learner.
If Scylla spends at least one minute studying and observing a creature, she learns how many hitpoints they have, their armor class, their strength, constitution, dexterity, and wisdom scores. Scylla has advantage on attack rolls and charisma checks against a creature she has studied. In addition, for 24 hours she can accurately mimic that creature saying any basic one syllable word such as “hello,” or, “yes.” As per the Mimicry trait.
I’m a Monster!
As an Action, Scylla can revert from her smaller human disguise into her true form, which is that of a small human with six tentacles ending in dog heads where her legs should be. (In her disguised form the tentacles are retracted and hiding under her dress) In this form, she is gargantuan sized and has an extra +30 feet of movement in all of her speeds. In addition, she gains access to her frightful presence and tear apart attacks. When not in her monstrous form, any attacks that use her dog heads seemingly come from the ground, where her dog heads have burrowed around her to strike. Scylla has six dog heads, and can only ever use those many dog heads in attacks at a time. She regains the use of any dog heads that haven’t been used for a bite, Sic’Em, Sentinel or Tear apart or that currently aren’t being used at the start of her turn.
Mimicry
Scylla can perfectly imitate any sounds or words she has heard within the last twenty four hours. A creature hearing them can make a DC 20 wisdom (insight) check to discern if the sounds are real or not. Scylla has also memorized certain sounds and common words, such as a baby crying, the crackling of fire, and a Little girl yelling, “I’m a monster!”
Innate Spellcasting
Scylla’s innate spellcasting ability is intelligence (spell save DC 20, +10 to hit with spell attacks) and she can cast the following spells, requiring no material components.
at will: Magic Missile, Hunter’s mark, Pass without Trace
1/day: Harm, any spell she learned using the learn spell reaction.
Deadly Precision
any attack Scylla makes against a creature that hasn’t taken a turn in combat yet is automatically a critical hit.
Amphibious
Scylla can breathe both air and water.
Actions
Multiattack.
Scylla makes two bite attacks. She then uses either Sic’em or Sentinel.
Bite.
Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 50 ft., one target. Hit: 2d6+15 piercing damage and the target is grappled and pulled thirty feet towards Scylla.
Sic’Em.
Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 120 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6+8 bludgeoning damage and the target is restrained (escape DC 23) by two of Scylla’s dog heads. At the start of a restrained creature’s turn, they take 1d8+8 piercing damage as Scylla’s dog heads bite at the restrained creature. A restrained creature moves with Scylla.
Sentinel.
One of Scylla’s dog heads moves to a place within 300 feet of Scylla. Scylla does not need to see this location. Scylla can see and hear out of the dog head and make bite attacks centered on it, one attack per turn. As a bonus action on her turn, Scylla can use the dog head to pull herself to its location, instantly traveling there. The dog head cannot leave the area within 300 feet of Scylla and lasts for one minute. Scylla can have an amount of Sentinels equal to the amount of dog heads she has not already grappling a creature with Sic’Em or Tear apart.
Tear Apart (Monstrous form only) (recharge 6).
Scylla uses four of her six dog heads to grab and tear at a creature within 30 feet of her. That creature must make a dexterity saving throw or become restrained (escape DC 23) and take 14d10 bludgeoning and slashing damage (half each) or half on a success. If they fail the saving throw, on Scylla’s next turn they take the damage again. This happens for up to three rounds. If a creature is reduced to Zero hitpoints from this attack, it is torn into several pieces and dies instantly. A creature restrained by Sic’Em has disadvantage on this saving throw, and Scylla only needs to use two extra dog heads instead of four.
Reactions
learn spell
when Scylla sees another creature cast a spell, she can memorize the spell, adding it to her list of one day use spells. Once she casts the spell, she forgets it.
legendary actions
Scylla can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Scylla regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
bite
Scylla makes a bite attack.
Fetch!
Scylla rushes in a direction of her choice, moving up to half of her speed, not provoking opportunity attacks. Any creature within ten feet of her must make a DC 23 dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
Taunting Laughter (costs 2 actions)
Scylla laughs maniacally at one creature within 30 feet of her, angering and frightening them. That creature must make a DC 20 wisdom saving throw or become enraged and determined to fight and Kill Scylla, ignoring all other dangers. A creature that fails this Saving throw by 5 or more is instead Frightened of Scylla.
some philosophers believe that evil does not exist, and that “Evil,” is simply a moral view differing from your own. Those Philosophers are wrong, for Evil does lurk right beneath the waves…
Ancient poems warn of a narrow channel of water so treacherous that death touches all who approach. Sailors must choose to risk their ship, traveling close to the monstrous whirlpool Charybdis, or instead hug the rocky shoals where dwells a creature some say is made from the nightmares of all men.
Scylla, they call her, Horror of the Sea. No ship that dares sail in her waters goes unscathed. Those that cling to survival whisper panicked tales of enormous black tentacles tipped with slavering hound heads ravaging whole ships to splinters with pitiless precision. Though it's her laughter, they say, that's most horrible; child-like, delighting in blood soaked murder as men are dragged into the dark abyss.
Poets have tried to romanticize this beast, to provide some humanity to her monstrosity. They write she was once a beautiful Naiad, wronged by a jealous priestess and transformed. Yet the old poems say she was born this way, beget by gods full of jealousy and loathing; dropped into the sea to terrorize mankind.
Would that she had remained in the sea, but the nightmare has come ashore. Dragged by dog-headed tentacles she roams our streets, plucks us from our beds, and fills the night with disturbing laughter. Scylla has come, and not even the gods can help us.
What do y’all think of Scylla V.2?
Yoo Arch its awesome!! The detail you put into these things is crazy, I love it
Hey! Kinda all or nothing on the forums lately, please excuse me for being late to most parties.
Come visit the Homebound!
Keep marching to the beat my friends and forum goers 🎺
Thanks!
hopefully I’ll have V.1 of Charybdis done by tonight, I’m going to see the new Godzilla movie tho so I’ll be busy for a bit.
after I finish up with Charybdis, i’m thinking about what I should do next… perhaps Baba Yaga or Ratatoskr.
Do Baba Yaga!!
This is what happens when you let a nothic onto the forums. Longtime mapmaker and forever GM.
Resident map-fiend. Writer, storyteller, worldbuilder. Lover of music & food; hater of elves & numbers. Threads I enjoy:
The Bloody Barnacle | The Spider Guild | The Wonderful Roleplay Guild | Anything BUT the OGL 2.0 | The Tower of Lore | The Universe Smorgasbord | The Afterglow
Which Godzilla movie? Godzilla Minus One? That movie was epic.
Always two maybe three
Godzilla: a New Empire. It was great besides the fact my two favorite Kaijus (Titanus Scylla and Titanus Tiamat) both died and didn’t even pose any threat to Godzilla.
Oh okay. The only Kaiju movie I've ever seen is Godzilla Minus One and it was incredible. My friends and I watched it last New Year's.
Always two maybe three
Balors are horrifying foes on their own, but they can be worse. Imagine the relief of your party once they’ve defeated a demon greater than much in the multiverse, and they know that it has the Death Burst ability so they stand clear… only to be consumed by a massive explosion because the balor has a barrel of gunpowder on its back. Classic RPG trope that they’ll never suspect.
hey.
i liked that box.
put me back.
I have been working on my Huckleberry Finn/River Styx idea and I already have a ton of ideas worked out for episodic encounters and exploration which is great because that fits the riverboat adventure aspect well. I'm thinking about turning it into a Domain of Dread because that would fit the grim atmosphere of the Styx. It also is the best way to fit this idea of mine into Dnd as far as I can tell. The main problem I have is coming up with a good Dark lord. Here are my ideas so far:
My best idea right now is to actually have two Dark lords who are trapped in a never ending Martins and Coys/Romeo and Juliet style family feud. The two Dark lords are the last remaining members of each family filled with hatred and rage for the other Dark lord but they don't even know why their families began feuding in the first place. Both have committed terrible atrocities in their struggles against each other, and they barely notice the folks trapped in their domain. They are just trampled in the conflict and the nature of the domain causes them to harbor hatred and resentment towards their fellow people. The problem with this one is that I would really like it if the Dark lord was more closely tied to the River because it literally runs through the whole setting.
To draw more from the Styx aspect, maybe the Darklord is based on Charon? I like this idea a lot, but I can't think of a good way to actually use it.
The last real idea is the Devil. You know, the one that challenges boys to fiddle duels, dances with witches in the woods, burns holes into the ground by tramping in circles, Brews whiskey in the woods, and all in all is really not a nice guy. He still lacks a major connection to the river though and he doesn't have the tortured aspect that is fundamental to Darklords.
Now I'm leaning towards making this place its own setting rather than a Domain of Darkness. The problem here is how to make sense of the strong connections to the underworld that comes with the River Styx. Are the characters dead?
I also think I will include a general fear of witchcraft. Most magic is feared and "witches" can be killed on the spot and are blamed for all sorts of misfortunes. This is somewhat hypocritical though because folk magic is widely practiced.
Another thing about the landscape. In Hades, there were actually a bunch of different hellish rivers. Styx, Phlegethon, Lethe, Archeron, and Cocytus. Each river will be included in this setting as either a section of the main river, which is Styx, or a river that branches off of the main river. For example, the river of memory is Lethe. Lethe is a section of the Styx near the bottom of the river and it is swampy and full of bayous. The biggest town along the River is built here, New Oldtown, which is inspired by New Orleans. Voodoo style monsters and magic clots the mud of this part of the river, swing dancers forget themselves in enchanted jazz played by possums and dolphins (don't ask, it will make sense when this is finished), and drunkards try to drown their sorrows and memories in spirits brewed by actual spirits. The dead don't stay buried in New Oldtown. The music is so loud their bones rattle out of the graves and dance all night. Their bones thirst for the whiskey drawn from the Lethe's waters. Gambling also runs rampant here.
Sorry about the huge chunk of text, but I wanted to see if any of y'all had any thoughts or ideas?
Always two maybe three
Hi Dark! Now about New Oldtown, I actually made a statblock for a voodoo god, Baron Samedi, on the last page, and they happen to be a god of both the dead as well as parties. I might make his wife and also goddess parties as well soon, Maman Brigitte.
and about the possible darklords? Well I heard you say last of their family and I would like to add something to that. Last Living in each family. The others are all undead, possibly those are the atrocities they both committed. Their hatred for each other caused them to kill anyone that got in their way or tried to stop them, including their own families. Or perhaps they have reanimated each other’s families after killing them, which is the atrocity that made them darklords? And for a connection to the Styx, the river that became the Styx in the Domain was once where they both hid the bodies of the families, and its power reanimated them, binding them and the two darklords to the river. They might have to stay near or on the river to keep command of their undead legion. Perhaps someone they both knew in life became a Merrenoloth and sort of worked for both of their sides after they became darklords, and is the key to their defeat? The Merrenoloth ferries their dead and them from one side of the river to the other and is a neutral force. Another idea, the Merrenoloth’s boat could be its own sort of dungeon, maybe it’s like a key sort of place in the domain and something happened there (maybe the first meeting of the two darklords in life) and because of it, if the Boat is destroyed or otherwise in disrepair, the entire domain could start to metaphorically and possibly literally fall apart. Maybe the Domain is only as strong as is the hatred of the two individuals, and if they sort of somehow like made a temporary truce or something, the entire place is thrown out of whack and lets people come and go as they please? (I’m assuming if it was a domain of dread that would be the main goal, to get out)
I just realized how strange and confusing literally everything I just wrote was-
Thanks Arch! Those ideas help a ton.
Your Baron Samedi statblock is great and I'll probably use it for the boss of the Lethe Bayou. His connection to the Darklords might be that he was a double agent who taught both of them how to use witchery to enslave the spirits of the enemies. Now he parties in the hellscape he helped to create, reveling in his own destruction and folly.
The idea for them to be the last living members of the families who you the undead remains of the other family in their feud is pretty epic. I'll be using a lot of this.
I'm thinking about running this as a campaign on Dndbeyond. Would you be interested in joining?
Always two maybe three
OH absolutely! Everything you come up with is epic! I’d love to join.
I’m already stirring up some ideas for a character. I’ll probably play something I don’t play as often, like maybe a fighter or a sorcerer. (Or maybe even a bard!) I usually play warlocks, druids, monks, and rogues.
Awesome. It may be a while before I get it ready to run but I'll let you know as soon as I do.
Always two maybe three
Alrighty!
also glad you liked the Baron Samedi statblock, I’m very proud of it :)
So, I'm running a homebrew campaign I adopted from a dead thread. The premise is a ragtag bunch of adventurers making their way through a dense fog-laden valley in search of the son of their wealthy benefactor. So far, they have narrowly escaped drowning in a sea of mud, fought off opportunistic scavengers, weathered demented images of their closest family members and friends dying in front of them, endured the abduction and physical torture of one of their own (via PM duet), and are now fighting one of the BBEGs in a pocket dimension, surrounded by innocent villagers that are all being used as cattle for blood sacrifices.
I've already got an idea of what the villains will be, as well as a general idea of how the layout is going to work. My biggest issue is filling in the blanks.
Since you all sound like fellow sadists, keen on emotionallly torturing your players, I figured this was the place to be for ideas on making the trek from point A to point B as cruel and entertaining as possible.
1st, yes, I do indeed believe everyone here is a sadistic monster, so you’re in the right place.
Is there anything specific you need ideas for? I’m assuming you mean they haven’t started the fight yet, and will be giving you a quick idea off of that.
that crowd of villagers? They know someone in that crowd. Someone they didn’t see die in front of them before. That person will die. That person cannot (probably, maybe give them a bit of hope) be saved. They do not know the exact location of that person. Whenever the Party finds the person (who could possibly be very important or just a lovable but not that important side character) they see them on the verge of death, or as they are just being struck down. Now, if you are kind enough, make them uncertain about whether they are going to live or not (if they heal them significantly, maybe they do survive for at least a bit or a few days) and then tell the party that person will die, and that they are in the crowd.
they will go haywire. They will drop everything to save that NPC if they like them enough.
but the fight doesn’t pause, they need to do this during the fight.
and boom!
I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended. But, let’s see here . . .
Encounter ideas:
This is what happens when you let a nothic onto the forums. Longtime mapmaker and forever GM.
Resident map-fiend. Writer, storyteller, worldbuilder. Lover of music & food; hater of elves & numbers. Threads I enjoy:
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