Web enhancement for VRGttWD!

[Joël of the FoS]

Dear members of the Fraternity,

We just received from Rucht Lilavivat a web enhancement file for the VRGttWD book. Find a fiction featuring Toben the Many and 3 more undead profile.

Thank you Rucht!

Joël

[Igor the Henchman]

Best portrayal I ever read of a Ravenloft villain.

Toben deserves a domain just for this.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

But then that would ruin what makes him so frightening, the fact that he can show up anywhere...

Anyway, Toben had kind of a Hannibal Lector thing going on, didn't he?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Anyway, Toben had kind of a Hannibal Lector thing going on, didn't he?

Oh definately, that might be my one quibble with the otherwise excellent enhancement. The Lecter thing has been so done to death already. (I've fallen back on it myself a few times.) It's tough to keep it original. But Toben being so attuned to human nature that he could catch all the nuances just from hearing... that was really excellent.

I don't know why Wandering Dead are considered a sub-type of Obedient, though. I would have lumped them in with Restless. (And I don't know if Wandering really fits as the name.) But I do like the rules for improper burials. It's given me an idea to flesh out how I'm going to ressurect a villian in my campaign....

[Malus Black]

But then that would ruin what makes him so frightening, the fact that he can show up anywhere...

Agreed. That way you can have the scene where the weary hero comes home, the head of a Toben zombie in his backpack, only to find the very same face staring back at him where his wife's used to be. Toben is easily one of the coolest villains ever.

As for the rest of the enhancement, it's good. Not as exceptional as the Guide, but still useful and interesting, especially the rules on improper burials ("He's back? But we killed him!" "And it never occured to you that leaving his corpse in the old, unhallowed torture chamber might be a bad idea? Roll initative!").

The new monsters seem slightly... er... superfluous, particularly the archer skeleton (although the spontaneous spawn ability is neat). I really like the warlock skeleton, and the skeletal guardian is interesting, even though a skeletal revenant would do the same thing.

[Stygian Inquirer]

I don't know why Wandering Dead are considered a sub-type of Obedient, though. I would have lumped them in with Restless.

I disagree. Restless Dead maintain all of their intelligence from their life (sometimes it even improves) but Obedient Dead have almost no intelligence (depending on the stage of awakening of course). The Wandering Dead start with no intelligence like the Obedient Dead. However, based upon how they rise, type of burial, or were put to rest, some intellect is gained but it typically would not bring it back anywhere near the intelligence it had in life. An example from the enhancement: "Thus, cursed bodies buried in a sinkhole of evil get a +3 reason bonus and a +3 burial bonus to their Intelligence for a total of 6 for their Intelligence score".

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I don't know why Wandering Dead are considered a sub-type of Obedient, though. I would have lumped them in with Restless.

I disagree. Restless Dead maintain all of their intelligence from their life (sometimes it even improves) but Obedient Dead have almost no intelligence (depending on the stage of awakening of course

True, but just from the sense of the words, since they aren't summoned back from death, and don't Obey anyone, but simply get up and start shambling around, doesn't that make them restless?

[Stygian Inquirer]

True, but just from the sense of the words, since they aren't summoned back from death, and don't Obey anyone, but simply get up and start shambling around, doesn't that make them restless?

You are right that the enhancement states that many of these Wandering Dead do not serve any mortals except through magical means. However, I contest that these undead follow the will of the spirit that inhabits and raises their dead form.

[Rucht Lilavivat]

Anyway, Toben had kind of a Hannibal Lector thing going on, didn't he?

Oh definately, that might be my one quibble with the otherwise excellent enhancement. The Lecter thing has been so done to death already.

Precisely. Which is why I left it out of the original guide....

The new monsters seem slightly... er... superfluous, particularly the archer skeleton (although the spontaneous spawn ability is neat).

Precisely. Which is why I left these monsters out of the original guide....

However, I would like to note that the archer skeleton does appear in one of the Monster Compendiums for 2nd Ed. Ravenloft.

[Stygian Inquirer]

Rucht, I like the enhancement and in fact the whole plotline of Toben being imprisoned will come in handy in my campaign as I was debating how to introduce Toben (my characters have not been scared-to-death in 2 sessions lol ).

I really liked the story that was in the enhancement, even if it was Lector-Like, it fits Toben well.

I would like to thank you for putting the enhancement together as I know that it will go to good use. Kudos.

[Catman Jim]

'Done to death' or not, I enjoyed the story as well. It really made my day yesterday to download this & print it out before entering yet another long and tedious business meeting. Whenever the conversation shifted to others, I could be seen "deep in thought", going through my "notes". Ha!
Seriously, thanks for the 'deleted scenes', and to this site for hosting them. Here's hoping for even more to come!

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Oh definately, that might be my one quibble with the otherwise excellent enhancement. The Lecter thing has been so done to death already.

Precisely. Which is why I left it out of the original guide....

Still, glad to see it here. Thanks for the effort to put this together, Rucht!

[Igor the Henchman]

Well, I guess my reaction was more positive, since I don't have a clue to who "Lector" is... So to my eyes, it was all original.

[Catman Jim]

Hannibal Lector, from "Silence of the Lambs". Strong parallels to his conversations with Agent Clarice Starling. Again, I did enjoy the read.

[Ryan Naylor]

However, I would like to note that the archer skeleton does appear in one of the Monster Compendiums for 2nd Ed. Ravenloft.

I remember somewhere in 3rd edition, the archer skeleton was turned from the specific monster into a skeleton with a magical bow, and it was the bow that caused icky things to happen.

Unfortunately, I have no idea whether that made it into print or not (I remember these things, but not whether I saw it before or after publication, you see). I suspect it didn't.

Has anyone seen something like this?