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View Full Version : A Tribute to Gygax: Tomb of Horrors reborn



Anasazi
2010-03-28, 12:57 PM
Greetings, this is both my first shoutout to the forum and my first project within, so bear with me as I form both my introduction and the project into one, semi-flawless piece of fluff :P

When Gygax died (can you believe its been a little more than 2 years since?), like many of you, I mourned in my own way. For me, it was taking a break in DnD and advancing my projects in other fields. Then Arneson died (coming up on a year), and I began to get back into the roleplaying world. So I reintroduced myself to the 4e world and began learning the new trends.

The biggest disapointment for me so far is the lack of carrying on the tune of my favorite module, the Tomb of Horrors. I'm well aware that theres a movement to convert ToH to 4e however, after all the years of remaking the Tomb I feel that we've lost something in the wake of time. The adventure, the uniqueness, the thrill of of playing/running a module that was insanely deadly, well loved, and entirely unique.
Recent recreations of the Tomb have seemed to have lost something... while I would still play them, its the equivalent of playing with hand-me-down toys.

We can rewrite/update the Tomb countless times, and the demons within can repair it endlessly, but nothing that comes from its shadow will bring back that feeling of excitement that we had the first time through, only the memory of that time is with us.

You're probably wondering what my point is... which is quite simple, we remake the Tomb of Horrors, not rewrite it. Fill it with once again new and deadly encounters, the likes that no mortal has seen before.
We'll need writers, artists, and devious tacticians to complete the project, but most of all, the one thing that will seperate this from those that have come before, is its tribute to those lost to our world.

The Glyphstone
2010-03-28, 01:03 PM
Undr 4E rules? It might be kinder to let the poor Tomb rest in its grave, than unearth it and force it into compliance with a ruleset it has no business associating with. You could accomplish it, but it wouldn't be pretty, and there'd still the the business of the status condition

obliterated by the Sphere of Annihilation

(save ends).:smallconfused:

Gralamin
2010-03-28, 01:06 PM
Honestly? I'd wait for the 4e Tome of Horrors (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/253850000) To come out first, to see what Wizards thinks you can get away with for the module.

Aron Times
2010-03-28, 01:08 PM
There is nothing in the 4e rules that says you can't have instant death effects. It's just that by default, 4e doesn't have them because they are incredibly anticlimactic and unsuitable for the edition's cinematic gameplay.

Sleverin
2010-03-28, 01:13 PM
My god, they actually plan to release the Tomb of Horrors into 4ed DnD? Do we get a save to see if our backup characters are killed before we even start the game? I have to wonder what the Tomb of Horrors could really do in a new world where players seem to have the rather upper hand, instead of the DM just needlessly punishing his fellows with a mere wave of his hand. I mean, I don't know the rules too well, so what sort of horrific things can we throw at PCs...I mean technically speaking PCs are supposed to be allowed to kill Orcus O.o

Anasazi
2010-03-28, 01:13 PM
Believe me when I say that I'm the biggest fan of 4e, it does however offer a great ease of getting into the play of the game, far better than any previous version, and much more enjoyable for the current generation of roleplayers. It is by accepting this fact that we take our first step in understanding the value of 4e, and what it can offer us in such a project... the ability to reach the next generation of gamers, to give them that sense of honor and terror of running a module as evil and twisted as the original Tomb of Horrors.

No task worth doing ever comes easily, its up to us to create the world that the new Tomb will exist in, and that includes such things like the Sphere. Again, I reitterate, we'd be recreating the Tomb, not updating it. It would be our goal to bring about just as deadly of options in the 4e universe as there where before. Besides, this would hardly be the first module to create an item outside of the core rules. Besides, this time around we can be far more vicious, it could be a treasure chest of annihilation.

CarpeGuitarrem
2010-03-28, 01:15 PM
Well, failure and death can be cinematic too.

Anasazi
2010-03-28, 01:22 PM
Indeed it can. Lets take a quick jaunt back to Return to the Tomb of Horrors for the direction I'm considering. Yes, players are to be able to kill Orcus after they get strong enough, but that fight wouldnt be easy, just possible. By allowing players to reach powers like that you allow them to challenge their own beliefs about how the world should be run, and allow them to effect major effects in all realms. When you're living in a world where video games give you the limits of never becoming a god, being able to kill a god is quite enjoyable.
Back to Acererak, its 3e history that he was defeated, mainly because then they wouldnt have to worry about what god's he'd be killing once he came into power. My thought, and initial direction for it is, what if he was never defeated, and he's since claimed the souls of Gygax and Arneson. The third I was considering leaving it open, for the players to fill in, as they could find a person in their life or in their characters life that would fit the bill of being a soul that Acererak would need to become a god, thus giving a reason for every player to go after Acererak, to redeem their family memebers soul.

Anywho, thats just the direction I was thinking.

DeltaEmil
2010-03-28, 01:23 PM
My god, they actually plan to release the Tomb of Horrors into 4ed DnD? Do we get a save to see if our backup characters are killed before we even start the game? I have to wonder what the Tomb of Horrors could really do in a new world where players seem to have the rather upper hand, instead of the DM just needlessly punishing his fellows with a mere wave of his hand. I mean, I don't know the rules too well, so what sort of horrific things can we throw at PCs...I mean technically speaking PCs are supposed to be allowed to kill Orcus O.oBack then, they were also allowed to kill Lolth/Lloth in 1st edition. And a few years later, Odin, Zeus, Horus-Ra and other real-world deities, as well as newer ficitional beings like Cthulhu, Azatoth, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

Killing deities and anthropomorphic representations of holidays in D&D is not something that one should be complaining about.

Cthulu
2010-03-28, 07:02 PM
Thou brings blasphemy to mix these names together and it could be an interesting take. it would be like writing an entirely new adventure without any use of any other background and letting the players help build it....hrm. I wonder could this be done?

Anasazi
2010-03-29, 12:14 PM
Indeed it can. In all reality, this is what Gygax and Arneson did in the very beginning, and the writers of current modules and delves are just normal people with a creative idea.
But we still need to get it down, such is the task, and such is why I'm looking for help. See, I'm a strategic mastermind and I have plenty of puzzles and interesting fights thought out, but I'm not so good at writing fluff, and I'm in no way an artist.

Jack of Spades
2010-03-29, 08:22 PM
Sounds like a great idea. It was mentioned that 4e spends a lot of time making things look cinematic, and what's more cinematic than a gauntlet of doom?

What's great is that the fact that characters are exponentially more powerful this go means that we get to create exponentially more devious deathtraps for them to flounder in.

If guinea pigs become necessary, I know some suggestible freshman minions friends who play 4e and would be eager to playtest, I'm sure.

Anasazi
2010-03-30, 08:01 AM
Lol, Exactly Jack!
Anyone who's interested in helping PM me. We'll be releasing the final product so everyone can use it and anyone involved will have their names written into the delve.

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-03-30, 07:35 PM
Remember back in the early 1980's when it first came out at gen-con and it was so frikin' deadly that if you made it out alive you could do stuff like have bumper stickers saying "I Survived The Tomb of Horrors!".
Well what really bugs me is that apparently they plan to make the 4e one Balenced!!! Well screw that! We can totally make an overpowered Kick-in-the-Door style classic dungeon crawl with way to many traps and ridiculously deadly monsters! :smallwink:

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-03-30, 08:14 PM
I'm thinking it should be in the paragon tier, but if it's in the heroic tier than it could give the PCs a sort of "helpless" feel. BWAHAHAHA

Sleverin
2010-03-30, 08:22 PM
Wait, balanced? I thought the whole point of Tomb of Horrors was supposed to be a horrible grueling test of ones mettle and patience with constant death...and in the end you win a +1 dagger for your efforts. AFTER you kill the demi-lich by the way...oooh, demi-lich they still have those in the new edition? I haven't read all of the new manuals.

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-03-30, 08:25 PM
I know, the tomb of horrors should Never be balenced!

Sleverin
2010-03-30, 11:39 PM
Hang on, I'm feeling some evil brewing here...ok, so stay with me here. So, we have, I dunno, a full adult volcanic dragon with a demi-lich riding on its back. Now, the battlefield would have to be large as minions would have to swarm about, or something like that. Trolls, ogres, you know enemies that don't die from a puff of wind from a wandering butterfly. Re-animating skeletons? Zombies that can't be stopped until the demi-lich is killed, maybe even the adult dragon has some offspring? Man, wouldn't it be cool to kill a volcanic dragon, those things are frightening.

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-03-31, 05:51 PM
Lets have lots of acid pits and instant death traps.

Jack of Spades
2010-03-31, 07:23 PM
I'm just going to leave this in the suggestion box. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/10/9/)

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-03-31, 09:00 PM
I'm just going to leave this in the suggestion box. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/10/9/)

We are SOOOOOOO going to use those, especially the first! :xykon:

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-03-31, 09:42 PM
Lets not have a volcanic dragon but instead have a good old-fashioned red one. :smallwink:

Kazasu
2010-03-31, 10:02 PM
If you guys need a fluffy writer, I wouldn't mind offering a bit of help. I'd have to actually read over the old tomb of horrors, but I'm still offering. Main reason for my offer is a bit selfish though. Still trying to decide between game design/creative writing for my major. ;P

Anasazi
2010-04-01, 06:49 AM
We all have our own reasons for doing it Kaz, nothing selfish about it. The team and I are happy to have anyone interested in the project join. The end result will be released publicly for all to enjoy but it might take awhile so be patient, we're going to be doing this right, and doing things right takes time.

Further ideas or questions about the project are welcome, and we might come back and update every now and then.

Kazasu
2010-04-01, 08:58 PM
Alrighty then.:smallsmile:

Lord Loss
2010-04-02, 06:17 AM
I don't know all that much about 4e (I have the DMG and KotS, but that's it). I can help with murderous traps and stuff, but whatever I post will be mechanic-free. I can also do some fluff. Pm me when we get to work. In the meantime, I'll check in once-in-a-while.

hamishspence
2010-04-02, 06:23 AM
Open Grave has stats for demiliches- and Acererak.

DMG has the Sphere of Annihilation as a Level 29 Hazard- damage, ongoing damage, if killed, you are instantly reduced to dust.

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-04-02, 09:42 AM
Open Grave has stats for demiliches- and Acererak.

DMG has the Sphere of Annihilation as a Level 29 Hazard- damage, ongoing damage, if killed, you are instantly reduced to dust.

What level is Acererak?

hamishspence
2010-04-02, 10:10 AM
Two versions- the construct version is a Level 13 solo, the demilich himself is a level 26 solo.

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-04-02, 11:21 AM
Two versions- the construct version is a Level 13 solo, the demilich himself is a level 26 solo.

Hmmmm, Lets have the adventure start a maybe 14th level and end at 23rd. :smallconfused:

Anasazi
2010-04-03, 12:43 AM
Josh, keep in mind that that level 26 version of Acererak is him in lich form, thats not the route I picture. For you others, I know its a bit of a work in progress but I thought I would update you on the rough draft of the openning of the story that I came up with last night.
----------------------------------------

After century's of unrest, Acererak grinned as he felt the final soul he needed enter his tomb. These last three had taken him a great deal of time to obtain, as they needed to be especially powerful and pure. His patience had finally paid off though, his dark ritual had already began, collecting that final soul was more of a formality than anything, after century's of consolidating his power, Acererak was far more of a match than the unsuspecting hero knew. His death came swift, but was far from merciful. Mercy was never Acererak's style, their pain and fear fed him, and now their souls would empower him... or so he thought.
At first, the convergence of his essence with the Shadowfell was everything he had hoped it would be. But over time Acererak began to realize that the connection to the 'fell that his would-be army had was far weaker than he had been led to believe, the years of internal strife was clearly having a hidden effect and the plane was little more than a memory to those who had escaped it. If he was to ever obtain the power and control over the beings of the shadow, he must strengthen the plane from the outside, or be lost in its weakness.
Still strongly connected to the plane was the undead, as they where his kin it was a fitting choice as his vessal. Using the plane as a medium, Acererak spread his now overwhelming essence into every undead throughoutthe multiverse.
Working as both an army and an individual, Acererak was able to flood the prime plane with the undead plague and began his conquest of the mortal world. It was a few short seconds after the first town fell that the Raven Queen stepped in, it was her fault that the Shadowfell had weakened so much and Acererak hated her for it. Anticipating this encounter when he was one with the 'fell, Acererak used his power to reach out and found a means of stopping the horrible woman... her true name. In a second the Raven Queen went from loathing the undead to being forced to empowering them. Her Revenant army was now at Acererak's disposal and he used it well. The mortal cities began falling one by one at the onslaught of the unified undead army. With each victory came new members to the ranks, and with each new member came more solidity to the Shadowfell, and a physical growth to Acererak's reach.
It wasn't long before the other god's started stepping in, but individually they where just too weak to stand against the onslaught, with each encounter their mortal heroes where either left tired and weakened, or bound to undeath as a new vessal of Acererak's essence. Acererak was winning the war, and every being of power knew that if something wasnt done, he would soon have enough to maintain control throughout the multiverse forever.
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
The direction I'm heading with it is to explain why mortals would be selected to enter the tomb. At this point Acererak is one with every undead, and thus, without killing every single undead, there is no obvious way to destroy him. Acererak will have enfused a great portion of his essence into 9 vessals of power, to be his heads of state when his onslaught finishes. Each of the 9 will represent a fundamental focus of Acererak, and will be named accordingly, such as Undeath, Power, Knowledge, etc.
The God's, after seeing the error of bringing mortals to the battlefield with the undead armies will remove them from the front lines, leaving only the various Gods battling the armies. Thus, you can imagine they would be streched rather thin, even with all the other Gods fighting (and both good and evil gods will be fighting) there will still be things that will need to be done that they wont be able to do. Such is where mortal's come in. One of those such jobs is to delve into the tomb and destroy the Lichnine (lich, nine; the name for the heads of state for all undead). Eventually it is my goal to expand upon what jobs need to be done during this time and write various delves to include the other jobs, such as freeing the Raven Queen. Some will be lower level, some will remain epic teir. But the new tomb will be the central point for all the stories.

Anywho, back to the subject at hand. I'm curious on everyones opinions on what I have down so far, questions, concerns, etc. Lets keep it constructive though, I already have enough negativity floating around about being able to complete such a massive project.

Anasazi
2010-04-03, 11:11 PM
as a headsup, I finsihed a good chunk of the beginning portion to the campaign, and while I'll be creating some other encounters, the brunt of the makeup of the dungeon will have to wait until my artist is done with the visual for the tower. needless to say its going to be awesome, as my artist is fantastic.
still happy to answer questions about what I've come up with so far.

Sleverin
2010-04-04, 01:03 AM
I am sleepy right now but I will read your lenghty post in the morning, and comment (constructively) on it then :D.

Sleverin
2010-04-04, 09:11 AM
The storyline and motivation behind it seems interesting, it would compel the characters/players to have a reason to constantly delve the depths of the tomb and stop the lich. If I'm reading this correctly, the players will be destroying the vessals to weaken Aceraks strength, or hold of power? Will Acerak be able to feel, magical or otherwise, when they are destroyed? If so, he will heighten protection or remove their souls/coffins or what-have-you from the area. For adventures sake, we'd have to take the logic and think that Acerak would rather have them behind traps and fiends so deadly that he knows there's almost (or no) way they could be bested. Otherwise, if they were removed from the tomb, it could cause a conflict with the "Tomb" idea...but I suppose logic dictates that he would HAVE to keep it there to make sure he could still draw power, or use the power from the souls.

Oh, but back to my original point, does he feel the presence of losing his vessels of power, or does he have some means of noticing them? Maybe he's too pre-occupied with focusing on the war to notice? I'm just bringing this up since a powerful enemy like this would most likely notice his arcane power slipping and try his best to do something about it.

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 11:10 AM
An excellent question, I think you're still somewhat stuck in the thought that he's still a lich with a phylactery, in essence he still is but his phylactery is every undead throughout the multiverse. If all undead where to instantly stop existing, so would he, but so long as theres still one floating around his entire pool of essence is still out there. Technically, the more undead that die, the less Acererak's essence, and power for that matter, is shared and the more powerful the remaining undead get. This is naturally in addition to their already existing power.
To control undead, Acererak has to devote a specific amount of his essence to render the mind of the undead inactive. For being that have no higher brain functions, such as zombies, this takes nearly no essence, while controlling more powerful beings, such as liches, requires a great deal of power. So as more undead die, his hold over the remaining ones also increases. Which will be represnted in the new tomb, which is turning out to be more like a tower/castle than a tomb.
Now, it should also be noted that whenever Acererak forms a connection with an undead, he adds that beings essence to his pool, as they basically become one. However, he still retains majority decision throughout his essence, because, well lets face it, hes a god now.
So long story short, yes, he would feel his vessals being destoryed, as he is one with them, however is care for such things is minimal at best as he has to plan for universal tactics. Besides, his tower has a nasty side effect that benefits him greatly, which among being a fun challenge to the players is also a reason why the gods dont enter the tower.

It the terms of the gods, this is only one task that needs to be completed to cause the downfall of Acererak, and I will be treating it as such, but the Lichnine are indeed a strong force of Acererak's might. However, there are other factors that the gods havent told you about as to why you're being sent into the tower. :D
This is gonna be fun.. I think most will like it.

Right now I'm considering what 'looming fate' to use, ie either random encounters every so many hours, an internal leveling system designed to make the Lichnine more powerful, or something like continual damage for being inside the tower. Somewhat stuck on the idea, thoughts?
On the up side, I was able to finish the rough draft for all 8 floors of the tower.

Sleverin
2010-04-04, 11:40 AM
Well, the Lichnine need to be an appropriate level to challenge to the PCs. As pointed out to me by a friend, 4e stresses the point that mobs of equal or even +1 (and maybe +2) level can easily get steamrolled by PCs. So the Lichnine would probably need a table (for the GMs of course!) on what would be appropriate challenges for the PCs, depending on their effective level. Might be a little complicated though on that kind of suggestion.

Continual damage while in the tower is an interesting idea, but a pesky one that's hard to peg down. At low levels (at least considered low for the campaign or the tomb itself) the damage would be high and problematic, possibly causing TPKs (which I don't think Gygax would have a problem with, might even have a chuckle) during encounters. At higher levels the PCs have better saves and so much HP that is would become negligible unless (!) Acerak knows what the PCs are doing and cranks up the evil juice in the place so the PCs have a ridiculously hard time to resist the evils of the tower and thus take the damage.

Random encounters aren't too big of an issue, seeing as how they are built into Dnd and it goes with the game like butter on toast. Also, the PCs need a way to progress in levels (character levels of course) and unless they scour every room for clues and such, they might run into some problems should they get into an encounter they were seriously unprepared for (i.e. 10 or more levels difference in mobs). But you know, that's if you DON'T try to straight up kill players...which I think is the point of this, no?

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 12:20 PM
Not so much straight up kill them but to give them an insane challenge again. I should note, that the tower is going to be from 26 to 30, and the fights with the lichnine are going to be difficult enough to properlly level the players. From the get go the player can choose one of two directions, both ways result in battles with 2 (individual fights not together) of the 4 weakest lichnine. But you're right, I have to be careful about players steamrolling the Lichnine, and theres a couple of them that I'm slightly worried about and wont know foresure until I can test them out. However, most, if not all (as im still working on some of them) of the Lichnine have some form of additional pain in the ass power that makes them ugly in fights. I'll give you an example of one of the weaker ones.

Name: Control (remember, they're named after the specific aspect they represent)
Base Build: Acererak, p.200 of Open Grave
Modifications: Drain Soul ability is replaced by Dominate Soul.

Dominate Soul (standard, at-will)
Ranged 10; does not provoke opportunity attacks; +31 vs.
Fortitude; the target is marked with the arcane symbol for control.
The player may attempt to save against the effect on their turn,
if they succeed in the first save, the mark is removed.
if they fail, the target is dominated until they succeed, but must make two consecutive saves to remove the mark.

As a sustain standard, Control may focus his powers and increase the difficulty to resist his mark of control by a factor of 10. This effect lasts until the end of Control's next turn.

-------------------------
im debating to make that a will save instead of fort, anyways, as you can see even the easy ones wont be all that easy.

My goal with the 'looming fate' setup is to make it impossible to rest inside the tower, so I'll probably go with the continual damage, and find the right balance, perhaps a % of hp not a set number.

As for the charts for the Lichnine, the only reason why I'm considering it is to allow the npc's to level up based upon the number of heroes they've killed, I'm gonna have to figure out a scale for player kill xp either way.

Sleverin
2010-04-04, 12:58 PM
Ah, 26-30 that makes much more sense then. I was thinking that this might be a whole campaign unto itself, but it's rather a grueling dungeon. However, not allowing rest in the tomb would present a serious issue of players having no daily abilities when reaching the final boss, and they would have to crash through the dungeon in under a day, which may be the point of the adventure, if that's the aim then it's fine, but if exploring the tomb is supposed to take longer, then it can present a problem with fatigue and such. But also, this IS the Tomb of Horrors, so trying to kill the players is the point, which I think I need to remind myself every post >.>

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 01:12 PM
not so much remind as it would be to marry yourself to the idea.. lol

Its more of my thought to force the players to find creative ways of getting out of the damage, for example, theres a magic item (knife i believe) that allows you to cut a whole in a wall that creates a door to an exterplanar dimension of just open space that you can rest in, you then exit the door and return to where you where. I'd imagine that theres a couple of riturals out there that would have somewhat of the same effect. The trick is to find a gruelling enough value to make dredging through the tower painful to damn near demi-god level players, but without making it too painful when in a battle, should it proc. I'm thinking 10% every hour or so.

Eventually, all of the jobs the gods give to the mortals will merge, and I'll put it all together as one big campaign package, until then each part is more like its own chapter that nods to a previous chapter that connects them until all the pieces fall into place. But I want to do it in pieces so people can play through parts of my stories before I finish everything. The tower will be the central point for all things to stem off of. For example, one of the turning points in the war with Acererak was releasing the Raven Queen from her truename. Its effects will be seen in the Tower, quite specifically actually, but the players inside the tower wont have done it, another set of adventuers will have done that part, late down the road in my writting history, as another adventure. The entire campaign will scale probably from 1 to 30 by the time I'm done with it, but each delve or adventure will have its own specific parts and levels.

Or so I'm planning right now. To be honest, the tower is coming together quicker than I had expected, at this pace by next weekend I will have it mapped out, by two weekends after that I should have it in PDF form for GM's to run, assuming that playtesting doesnt show too many issues with everything, and my story writers step up.

Jack of Spades
2010-04-04, 01:18 PM
Well, there IS always the option of letting them sleep, but only if they figure out (with hinting from the DM) that the only way to sleep without disturbance is to find and kill zombies, then drape their skin over themselves in a macabre disguise which they can use to sleep in a standing position....

Or, y'know, have them be occasionally "trapped" in a room that is out-of-the-way enough to produce enough of a sense of security for them to sleep.

OR take a page from the Diablo games and create a Scroll of Town Portal which can only be used after a room is cleared and the doors blocked (and have them come back to a nasty surprise of some sort)

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 01:36 PM
lol, well something to consider anyways, option 1 probably wont work because I did the math and the xp from the lichnine kills is all that the players will need to level, so no random encounters.

a town warp would be too convient, but I do have a couple rooms that I could remove the necrotic damage every hour from. perhaps a major penality for using it though, like have the damage accumulate, so when u leave after 8 hours of rest, you get hit by 80% hp damage in the form of necrotic energy. as the players could still use their surges that shouldnt break the bank, just be very annoying. Ofcourse, if they screw up and rest 10 hours then they'll all die unless they have necrotic resist.
hmm...
evil, check
amusing, check
balanced, check

I think I have a winner, lol.
the amusing part is the room where they can rest is somewhat... trapped... lol, i would deffinately have to have the traps repair themselves... :)

Jack of Spades
2010-04-04, 01:45 PM
Or have ZOMBIE JANITOR OF DOOOM! Do it.


Yeah, sorry. :smallbiggrin:

You could always have a (cliche) roof which starts descending slowly after the traps have been broken/disarmed/used up for exactly eight hours... Seems devious enough.

Sleverin
2010-04-04, 01:49 PM
Taken from Venture Bros.

"Hello, Orpheus? We're trapped in a cliche and need your help..."

"Oh, Dr Venture...I'm not sure what I can do, what is the matter?"

"We're in a room with spiked walls and they're closing in on us, figure something out!"

"How fast are the walls moving?"

"...Not as fast as haunted house spiked walls, but not as slow as evil mad scientist walls."

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 01:52 PM
too cliche, otherwise i would. my goal is to build traps that players have never run into. oddly enough, i did like your idea of a zombie jailor, perhaps a good way of starting off another chapter. =)

Jack of Spades
2010-04-04, 01:54 PM
Or, a good way of starting off a "When your players lose an encounter (Oh, they will.... Muahahahaha)" section?

I mean, a jailbreak is also cliche, but it's a badass cliche.

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 01:56 PM
I wasnt so much thinking a jail break, I was considering throwing players for a loop, start them off in a jail, expecting to break out, and then kill them as starting off the official campaign as them being undead :D I'm a bastard as a GM, incase anyone didnt know already

Jack of Spades
2010-04-04, 02:00 PM
o.o That.
Is.
The most dastardly, amazing idea I have ever heard. Also, it will really help the whole 'This dungeon is gonna eat you' feel for those who aren't into roleplaying much.

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 02:05 PM
well i wont be doing that with the tower, but maybe in one of the other stories, a lower level one that will really show the strengths of undead to the players, something to show how the self aware undead got screwed by Acererak.

So back to the current dungeon; thoughts, concerns, likes, dislikes, impressions, additions, questions?
This first part is suppost to be as enclusive to the overall storyline as it can be, which will allow for me to decide what the other quests will be.

bobspldbckwrds
2010-04-04, 06:02 PM
here is a question, where does orcus land in all of this? i can't remember if he is undead in 4e, but if he is, then he is either in direct control or opposition of Acererak.

if he is under the control of acererak, then he would be a nice little choice for one of the litchnine. if he is opposed, then he could be looking for a way to regain his army....:smallamused:

Anasazi
2010-04-04, 07:51 PM
an excellent point and question. Orcus has once again returned to being a demonlord, as hes lost his divinity and his undead nature, so definitely not undead or being controlled by Acererak, sadly not even a god anymore, but he was one of the first to feel the sting from Acererak's plan as the majority of the creatures on the Thanatos layer of hell are undead, when Acererak took over he instantly revolted, and with only a few demon soldiers under his command Orcus would be in for one hell of a fight, remember, his wand only destroying living creatures, and undead are unaffected by it. Needless to say hes quite pissed. However, the outcome of his layer is unknown as everyone is too busy fighting off the rest of the undead to check in on him, besides the fact that hes a giant tool and most people wouldn't care if he died again.
Battling through that layer as a demon under the service of Orcus is on the top of the list for the next chapter in the series. I'm glad you asked about him, its one of my more favorite back stories as its almost as if the DnD gods opened up that option just so I could throw Orcus into the picture.

Anasazi
2010-04-05, 01:33 PM
I should probably stop referring to this as another tomb of horrors, and instead the Acererak campaign or something to that extend :P
Still fielding questions or ideas for the campaign, specifically the tower but anything in the developing world will work.

Sleverin
2010-04-05, 10:52 PM
Since I'm interested in this, how are the artist sketches coming along? Are the floor plans looking all right? Seems like you're putting a lot into this so I'd hate for a project of such caliber go unnoticed!

Anasazi
2010-04-06, 09:07 AM
Well, my artist, who I went to art school with and is amazing, is supposedly working on the front cover, which will be the picture of the tower, which is hanging upside down off the face of a cliff. If he finishes it I have no doubt it will be awesome but it is questionable if he has the commitment to finish such things, in the past he's somewhat slacked off on such things, the fact that he doesnt have internet anymore doesnt help either.
So I'm still looking for other artist, for both the cover and all internal pictures, but its hard to find those with the quality and skill that I'm looking for and convince them to work for free. Most Deviant Art people are stuck up about such things.
The floor plans look awesome, my rough draft is extremely detailed. There's still alot of work to do with the trap details, but other than that its mostly mapped out. The artist will play a big role in giving visuals of what the players are looking at, much like the first tomb. Most of my hesitation is about finding an artist.
It's my goal to make this a top notch dungeon and eventually campaign, on par with Paizo and WotC, and for that I need good artist and good fluff writers.
Such is another part of the project that I'm lacking a bit on, fluff writing. I'm decent but not the best, I know that. My role is more of creative design and plot, not fluff writing. Its a big part of the project that I'm still lacking.

Sleverin
2010-04-06, 08:49 PM
LolDeviantArt.

Anyways, fluff writing...like:

As you open the door, the sweet sickly smell of rotting flesh fills your nostrils. As you peer into the room, you notice there is a table with 3 human bodies, they have beeen here for many years, as their flesh has rotted away, leaving barely covered bones. The table has mugs of ale, plates and what looks like a butter dish, though the butter has long since melted. The opposing door has rusted hinges and evenly spaced grooves that go towards the floor, as if a human hand was attempting to claw its way out.

As you step into the room dust covers the floor, the table and the bodies, each step you take kicks up ages-old dust. Every time you breath, it almost seems that dust is coming out of your breath, as if your lungs are filled with it. To your right you see a bookcase, covered in dust and the tomes have rotted away. As you near the bookcase, the skeletons stir as if your very passing causes the air near the bodies to disturb them....


I got a little carried away but that was fun :P.

Anasazi
2010-04-07, 09:18 AM
tis exactly what I'm referring to, if you're offering, I would be most honored to have you working on the project with us Slev

Sleverin
2010-04-08, 01:13 AM
Meh, sure. I work a full time job so sometimes my schedule is kinda full with work. Plus I practice guitar (almost) daily, and I like to pay my games, but I'm sure I could squeeze in some fun flavored text. I learned something while playing in DnD, doing a little DMing, and something my pal NeoVid pointed out: if you make everything in the room seem interesting, the PCs actually have to work at figuring out what is the important thing in the room.

Or, as I like to do, convince the PCs there's something extra cool in the room, when really there's nothing but junk in there...or traps and summon spells >:)

Gonna send a PM after this post.

Anasazi
2010-04-10, 01:12 AM
greetings all you others out there,
for the record, im still fielding questions about the campaign/dungeon, and work on the project goes well. Slev will be working on good sprucing of the writing, and my buddy is currently working on the cover art, however, I'm still looking for artist to work on the visuals for inside the tower.

the lichnine's powers are completely mapped out now and they will be some of the more difficult/technical battles people have seen in 4e.

Anasazi
2010-04-11, 07:57 AM
Greetings again,
for those of you keeping track of the updates on the project, I just finished designing the entry hallway after you first enter the tower. Its a trap laiden room filled with pain and death that would do even Gygax proud.
Room 1 of 39, check.
Back to the grind.

Also, does anybody know of a good program for creating dungeons? I'd like to avoid photoshopping square by square.

Anasazi
2010-04-17, 02:57 AM
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/107/c/a/ca01f0f8791952bb89a471899eb9c28d.jpg

Rough draft of the Tower of Horrors. its a larger picture.
Project is coming along nicely. :)

Eldan
2010-04-17, 03:49 AM
Sounds like a great idea. It was mentioned that 4e spends a lot of time making things look cinematic, and what's more cinematic than a gauntlet of doom?


Gauntlet of doom? Does it eat the hands of people wearing it?

Anasazi
2010-04-17, 03:25 PM
Gauntlet of doom? Does it eat the hands of people wearing it?

lol, yeah, its an intelligent artifact that has a particular fondness for McDonalds Big Mac's and human flesh. :P

Jack of Spades
2010-04-18, 12:41 AM
Gauntlet of doom? Does it eat the hands of people wearing it?
Also, it is the dread foe of the Boots of Doom, and ally of the Decorative Hat of Doom. The Sweatervest of Doom it quietly ignores, much like the others do.

Anasazi
2010-04-18, 10:19 AM
Also, it is the dread foe of the Boots of Doom, and ally of the Decorative Hat of Doom. The Sweatervest of Doom it quietly ignores, much like the others do.

lol.
to be honest I do plan on adding atleast one item to the dungeon that is along these lines, 'the chain of command', but I'm always looking for others :P

Chainsaw Hobbit
2010-04-18, 08:46 PM
Let's have a ring of DM control! (lol :smalltongue:)

Jack of Spades
2010-04-19, 08:59 AM
The Bedroll of Irresistible Slumber.

Think about it! It looks completely inconspicuous, then you fail a Will save and BAM! Taking a nap suddenly sounds like a really good idea.