Alternative locations for the Tomb of Horrors
Otto Zequeira
How are you? Hope you are doing well. My players have decided to go
after what will turn out to be the Tomb of Horrors, though they don't
know it yet.
The original adventure listed alternative locations for the tomb. I
thought it might be a good opportunity to tie in some adventures that
they have not enjoyed yet.
Any suggestions for the locations below, especially with good, published
material, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.
Otto Z.
Iuz, highest hill: ?
Island in the Nyr Dyv: Tzunk (adventure available?)
Bright Desert: Rary the Traitor (especially Sulm), Ghost Tower (Soul Gem
with soul-stealing power like Acererak)
Duchy of Geoff: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Vast Swamp: Tomb
Island beyond Sea Barons: Turucambi or the Sinking Isle (Greyhawk
Adventures)
ukegreg
the ancient kingdom of Sulm and the Bright Desert that you can tie in the
magical knowledge of a cambion like Acererak with old evil Suel families
like the Maures, the cult of Kyuss, or the priest king Shattados. As the
story goes, he was persecuted as a child because of his demonic blood and
fell in with a 'bad crowd' to learn necromancy.
If your players are history buffs or investigators and they want to learn
where Acererak got his magical training you have a good way to introduce
local places like the Ghost Tower of Inverness, Maure Castle, or the ruins
from Rary the Traitor. Galap Driedel and his Soul Gem could easily have had
something to do with how Acererak learned his soul stealing powers.
Hope this helps!
Greg U.
Creighton Broadhurst
into Expedition to the Barrier Peaks but placing it in the Bright Desert or an
island beyond the Sea Barons would be funky. In the Bright Desert, it could
tie into ancient Sulm dark practises or on the island beyond the Sea Barons it
would probably be an old Flan site. In either event the tomb would probably
be around 1500 - 2000 years old. If you go with the Tzunk idea the tomb would
be really old IMO (although I don't have access to all my file to give an
exact approximate date ;-( )
With the Tzunk and Sea Barons idea there is a dearth of publishing material.
If you shoot for the Bright Desert, DUNGEON published a couple of articles on
the area and the D&D web site did have some additional articles. LG also
produced a core module set around the Tomb (but this assumes it is in its
"correct" location.
Creighton Broadhurst
Check out my blog at Raging Swan: http://raging-swan.livejournal.com/
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
-----Original Message-----
From: Otto Zequeira [mailto:ozeq...@yahoo.com]
Otto Zequeira
Thanks for the replies.
Good idea as to the Soul Gem being an inspiration for Acererak.
Creighton, to clarify, as I showed with the list below, I want to keep the Tomb in its original location, but simulate a
search for the Tomb with some standalone adventures. You mentioned LG materials. I remember that there was a Tzunk-related
adventure for LG. How may one obtain that?
Any other thoughts for stand-alone adventures in the areas below? Thanks again for the ideas.
Thor Thunderer
uke...@yahoo.com wrote:
>The Gnatmarsh east of the Bright Desert is a nice spot. It's close
>enough to the ancient kingdom of Sulm and the Bright Desert that you
>can tie in the magical knowledge of a cambion like Acererak with old
>evil Suel families like the Maures, the cult of Kyuss, or the priest
>king Shattados. As the story goes, he was persecuted as a child because
>of his demonic blood andfell in with a 'bad crowd' to learn necromancy.
>
>If your players are history buffs or investigators and they want to
>learn where Acererak got his magical training you have a good way to
>introduce local places like the Ghost Tower of Inverness, Maure Castle,
>or the ruins from Rary the Traitor. Galap Driedel and his Soul Gem
>could easily have had something to do with how Acererak learned his
>soul stealing powers.
Vecna: Legacy of the Revenant ties Acererak to that horror's history...
including some specific geographical locations in the Flanaess. Probably
worth picking up.
TJB
Creighton Broadhurst
Hey Otto,
Sorry I got the wrong end of the stick. The Sinking Isle would be a cool
link in to the Tomb of Horrors, but I don't think any published module has
ever dealt with the area. I think a lot of adventure tie-in ideas depend on
how old you decide the tomb is. I don't have my files here, but I don't
recall any definitive date for the tomb's construction. Acererak could
definitely have gained lost/forbidden knowledge from the Soul Gem and the
Ghost Tower and by exploring many of the locations in the Bright Desert (I'm
thinking of Darkbridge Temple and the Necropolis of Unnagh [sp] in
particular).
In regard to obtaining LG materials, there is no "legal" way left to do so.
WoTC owns all the rights to all core adventures (and all other adventures
and materials they paid for) and at this time I doubt they have any interest
in releasing them.
Creighton Broadhurst
Check out my blog at Raging Swan
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
Scott
>How are you? Hope you are doing well. My players have decided to go
>after what will turn out to be the Tomb of Horrors, though they don't
>know it yet.
>
>The original adventure listed alternative locations for the tomb. I
>thought it might be a good opportunity to tie in some adventures that
>they have not enjoyed yet.
In case this helps, here's what I wrote about Acererak for my South
Province campaign:
It is common knowledge that "Acererak the Devourer" is a name passed
down in legend. A name to be feared and spoken in the strongest curses.
It is uncommon knowledge that Acererak was once a terrible archmage who
ruled a kingdom where the County of Sunndi stands today. It is rumored
that his tomb still exists.
It is rare knowledge that Acererak ruled an empire nearly 1,000 years
ago. He warred with Queen Ehlissa, seeking to expand his domain. He
was vassal to Orcus, the demon lord, and was rewarded for his efforts
with undeath. He lies in a tomb of his own devising somewhere in the
Great Swamp, waiting to serve his master once more.
It is very rare knowledge that Acererak's empire was peopled by Ur-Flan,
undead, and monsters of his own creation, and that it stretched through
modern-day Medegia as well. Now he is the lord of all liches, though he
has not called a coven of liches for 500 years. As his body crumbles,
his spirit is free to roam the Oerth once more. In this form he has
manipulated events in the Great Kingdom over the last 25 years.
~Scott "-enkainen" Casper
Yak-Men use a coven of liches when they need new bone scroll cases...
Vest III, Robert W
>In case this helps, here's what I wrote about Acererak for my South
>Province campaign:
>
>It is common knowledge that "Acererak the Devourer" is a name passed
>down in legend. A name to be feared and spoken in the strongest
>curses.
>
>It is uncommon knowledge that Acererak was once a terrible archmage who
>ruled a kingdom where the County of Sunndi stands today. It is rumored
>that his tomb still exists.
>
>It is rare knowledge that Acererak ruled an empire nearly 1,000 years
>ago. He warred with Queen Ehlissa, seeking to expand his domain. He
>was vassal to Orcus, the demon lord, and was rewarded for his efforts
>with undeath. He lies in a tomb of his own devising somewhere in the
>Great Swamp, waiting to serve his master once more.
>
>It is very rare knowledge that Acererak's empire was peopled by
>Ur-Flan, undead, and monsters of his own creation, and that it
>stretched through modern-day Medegia as well. Now he is the lord of
>all liches, though he has not called a coven of liches for 500 years.
>As his body crumbles, his spirit is free to roam the Oerth once more.
>In this form he has manipulated events in the Great Kingdom over the
>last 25 years.
"Vecna: Hand of the Revenant" shows Acererak (as a cambion, before
lichdom) in the service of Vecna, and he even spirits Vecna to safety
after the lich is sorely wounded during the siege of Fleeth. Aside from
this source, IIRC, a number of fan works linked Vecna & Acererak prior
to this.
"Return to the Tomb of Horrors" mentions that Acererack was born to a
human woman named Valinda, and a balor named Tarnhem. VHotR further
mentions this union was not consensual.
At the age of 10, a mob of villagers set fire to Acererak�s home,
killing his mother. Acererak escaped. See RttToH (diary handout) &
VHotR (43). The former source states that the villagers feared the
boy�s appearance, while the later states that they suspected Acererak
and his mother of �causing some imagined curse.�
At some point, Vecna "saved" Acererak (VHotR, 42). He probably did not
rescue the cambion from the aforementioned villagers, as Return to the
Tomb of Horrors mentions that after his mother's death, Acererak �became
a desperate, hunted fugitive, and only barely survived to adulthood,�
and subsequently �found the means to study the arts of sorcery and evil
necromancy� (diary). It is possible that Vecna provided these later
�means� for Acererak to learn magic, after �saving� him.
Sometime after Vecna�s rescue, he was urged by his advisors to slay
Acererak, but slew his advisors instead. (VHotR, 42).
It is unknown how long Acererack was in Vecna�s service, or if he was
still around during Kas�s betrayal c. -358 CY.
On a side note, does anyone know if TSR or WotC (or perhaps a 3rd party
company) ever published lifespan/ageing information for cambions or
half-fiends? Tieflings are the closest I�ve seen.
See also:
http://ww w.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Acererak
http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Vecna