[Accessory] [9451] Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead.pdf

Ancient Dead

Credits

Edited by Jonatha Caspian

Product Coordination by Dori Jean Hein and Andria Hayday

Cover Art by Jeff Easley

Interior Art by Stephen Fabian and Paul Jaquays

Art Coordination by Peggy Cooper

Graphics Coordination by Sarah Feggestad

Electronic Prepress Coordination by Tim Coumbe

Typography by Angelika Lokotz

Production by Paul Hanchette

Proofreading by David Wise

Special thanks to David Wise, Bruce Nesmith, Dori Hein, Andria Hayday, and Lisa Smedman.

TSR Ltd.

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Cherry Hinton

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United Kingdom

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Introduction ............................................ 4

A Different Kind of Menace ........................... 4

The Priest of the Tor .................................... 5

Chapter I: Necrology ................................. 7

The Planar Connection ................................. 8

The First Ancient Dead .............................. 10

DM Notes ................................................ 11

The Ancient Dead Defined ....................... 11

Chapter II: Types of Mummies ................... 12

Power Rank ............................................. 12

First Rank ............................................ 13

Second Rank ........................................ 14

Third Rank ........................................... 15

Fourth Rank ......................................... 16

Fifth Rank ............................................ 16

Background ............................................. 17

Physical Origins ........................................ 17

Accidental ............................................ 17

Created ................................................ 18

Invoked ................................................ 18

Psychological Origins ................................ 19

Servitude ............................................. 19

Restlessness ......................................... 20

Recalled ............................................... 22

Dark Pacts ............................................ 23

Forms .................................................... 23

Humanoid ............................................ 24

Animal ................................................ 24

Monster ............................................... 24

Composite ............................................ 25

State of Preservation .................................. 25

Skeletal ............................................... 25

Withered .............................................. 25

Intact ................................................... 25

Pristine ............................................... 26

Conclusion .............................................. 26

DM Notes ................................................ 26

Fear and Horror Checks .......................... 26

Natural Mummification ........................... 27

Monster Mummies .................................

Rejuvenation ............................................ 30

Disease ................................................... 31

Fear ....................................................... 32

Other Typical Powers ................................. 33

DM Notes ................................................ 34

Power Ranks ......................................... 34

Invulnerability ....................................... 34

Energy and Elemental Attacks .................. 34

Spells That Are Useless Against

All Mummies ...................................... 35

Special Weapons ................................... 35

Rejuvenation ......................................... 35

Disease ................................................ 36

Fear .................................................... 37

Lnt?avision ............................................ 38

Enhanced Strength ................................. 38

Animal Mummies ................................... 39

Monster and Composite Mummies ............. 39

Chapter Iv: Salient Powers ....................... a:'

Alter Form ............................................... 48

Animate Objects ....................................... 40

Charm .................................................... 40

Curse ..................................................... 40

Command Undead .................................... 42

Create Undead ......................................... 42

Delay ..................................................... 42

Elemental Command ................................. 42

Grapple .................................................. 42

Illusion .................................................... 43

Passage .................................................. 43

Resist Magic ............................................ 43

Retained Abilities ...................................... 43

Summon Horde ........................................ 44

Symbiosis ............................................... 44

Weightlessness ......................................... 44

DM Notes ................................................ 45

Alter Form ............................................ 45

Animate Objects .................................... 45

Charm ................................................. 46

Command Undead ................................. 46

Create Undead ...................................... 46

Curse .................................................. 46

Delay .................................................. 46

Elemental Command .............................. 46

Grapple ...............................................

Mummy Raiment ..................................

Chapter 1: Typical Powers .......................

.....................

TMLE OF fiONTGNTS

Chapter VI: Awakenings ................

Illusion ................................................ .48

Passage .............................................. .49

Resist Magic ........................................ .49

Retained Abilities ................................... 49

Summon Horde ................................... ..51

Symbiosis ........................................... .52

Weightlessness ..................................... .52

Chapter V Weaknesse: ...................... 54

Typical Weaknesses ..... :........................... .54

Elemental Vulnerability ..... I... ................. .54

Holy Symbols ........................................

Creating a Mummy ......................

Triggers ................................................

..7

Tie ....................................

Action .....................................

Event ..................................

Psychology.. ................................

Chapter VII: Houses of the Dead ....? .......

Tombs ....................................................

Guardians ..............................................

.80

Curses ....................................................

Holy Water ..........................................

Traps .....................................................

..56

.81

Spells ................................................

Contents ................................................

.81

..56

Cults and Temples ..................................

Turning Undead ...................................

..56

..81

DM Notes ................................................

Weapons ..............................................

Types Of Tombs .......... ;... .......................

curses .................................................

Chapter VIII: Battling the Ancient Dead ...... .E4

Identification ...........................................

Salient Weaknesses.. ................................

.57

Allergens .............................................

.57

Presentation.. ....................................

.57

Wards ...............................................

Fascination.. .....................................

.58

.84

Picking Up the Scent :. ...........................

Bonds ..................................................

.84

Confirmation .........................................

Place ...............................................

.59

Commitment .........................................

Object ..............................................

.87

Research ..................... ;... L.

Assessment ............................... :. ............

Reconnaissance.. ......................................

The Kill ...................................................

The Plan ..............................................

Confirmation .........................................

DM Appendix ................. i...............

Mummy Adventures .............

History ...........................

Trespass .........................

Retribution ................... .:..

Mystery .................................

Constructing Mummies Wily

Consbucting a Mumrny

from Scratch ........................

A Recipe for Fme Mummification . .

........

............

Creature. ...........................................

Dependence .........................................

Objects ............................................

.61

Elixirs ..............................................

.61

Maintenance Rituals ...........................

.61

Exotic Weapons.. ...............................

:. . .63

Latent Powers .......................................

Spells of Retirement ..............................

.63

DM Notes.. .............................................

.65

Elemental Vulnerability ..........................

.65

Holy Symbols ................ .;. ....................

.65

Holy Water ...........................................

.65

Effects of Wizard Spells Upon Mummies ..... 65

Effects of Priest Spells Upon Mummies. ...... 67

Turning Undead .....................................

Allergens. .............................................

Bonds ..................................................

Dependence: Spirit Items.. ......................

.70

Dependence: Elixirs and

Maintenance Rituals.. ..........................

.71

Latent Powers ......................................

.71

he long habit of lioing

indisposeth us for dying.

SirThomas Browne

struck, I should have spent all my days in these

happy pursuits. But a vampire, abetted by

human agents, took from me my son, and then

my wife. Ironic, that like the creatures I hunt, I

too was transformebrebor~through violence

and tragedy.

This book, in a sense, reflects what separates

me from my undead enemies, for I have

embraced what is holy. There always will be a

corner of my spirit that grieves for my wife and

child, but that recess is bright. It is filled with

warm memories, recollections of shared

triumphs, and all the joys of enduring love.

I do not brood on what I have lost, nor do I

begrudge others their happiness. Rather, I strive

to preserve those who cannot otherwise prevail

in the face of evil. My own grief is less important

than the struggle to spare others the pain I have

felt. That one lifetime is too short to accomplish

the lofty goals I have set for myself troubles me

not at all. Others will take up my work when I am

gone. Even now, folk I have never met share my

quest and carry on the fight. After all, I cannot be

everywhere at once.

I have written thii book and others like it to

share my knowledge, for knowledge is the most

potent weapon in any struggle. I have no desire

to linger in the world after death. Instead, I leave

thii volume so that others might benefit from my

experience after I am gone: it is all the

immortality I require.

When green buds hang in the

elm like dust,

And sprinkle the lime like mini

Forth I wander, forth I must

And drink of life again

-A.E.

Housmqn

Poets and philosophers of every

age and nation have noted that

life is an insignificant moment

when compared with the

enormity of death. It is

undeniable that death lasts

longer than life. For most, this is

not distressing: one life span

seems to be sufficient. Many

others see death not as the end

of life,but as the beginning of an entirely new

state of being, often superior to mortal existence.

But some few bemoan their short lives, fearing

what lies beyond the grave.

There is no question that some spirits endure

beyond death, and that an incomplete or tragic

life can bind a spirit to the mortal realm after its

body has perished. Vampires, liches, and ghosts

stalk this land of Mists. They are twisted

creatures, pathetic in their torment, but

dangerous nonetheless. I know these creatures

well, having made it my business to oppose the

undead wherever they lurk.

Not entirely by choice have I taken up this

unending quest. Unending it truly is, for the

wickedness that permits some dead to mock and

torment the living is eternal. Just as the

procession of day and night will continue long

after I am dust, so will the dead continue to rise

from their graves after I am gone.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr.

Rudolph van Richten, sometime purveyor of

herbs and medicines, full-time hunter of the

undead. Once, I lived a mundane life as a

physician, husband, and father. Had tragedy not

A Oillerent Hind of Menace

egends of the living dead abound. This book

concerns those corporeal creatures I call the

ancient dead, villains more commonly known

as mummies. But let me backtrack a moment.

By and large, undead creatures can be neatly

divided into two categories: corporeal and

incorporeal. The first encompasses dread liches

and vampires, creatures whose corrupted spirits

dwell within their own dead flesh, as well as their

weaker cousins, mindless aummatons such as

zombies and skeletons. The second includes

ghosts, creatures whose force of will grants them

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