I'm back ! With some news of the French OSR...

It's been a long time since my last post, so I think I owe you some explanations. It has been a busy time : holyday(s), work, family, blah, blah, blah.

But I'm glad to announce that, during these two months, we sucessfuly completed some projects which helped expand publications of the French Old School Revival. 

First, Epées et Sorcellerie 2, the second edition of the famous Nicolas Dessaux's clone has been released in print (softcover and hardcover) and pdf ! This is a clarification and an expansion of the first version : the combat rules are clarified, and many options were added : the thief, cleric subclasses, some magic user's corruptions, character origins, new spells from OD&D, tons of new creatures from classical monsters (of OD&D Supplements I to IV) to unpublished beasts ... !
 

 

 

Secondly, the third tome of the Dodecahedron, Nicolas Dessaux's original setting, has been publishad too, with a bunch of new modules taking place in that and using E&S stats ! For more information, see snorri's new blog.

Le Monde selon OD&D et ses Suppléments / Implied Setting of OD&D and its Supplements - Part 2

Il y a peu, je me suis plongé dans la série de posts de Wayne Rossi traitant de sa vision des plans supérieurs à OD&D. Il appuie bien sur l'étrangeté croissante de ces lieux au fur et à mesure que l'on s'éloigne de la Terre (ce qui est suggéré par le sort de Contact d'un autre plan qui précise que plus le plan est éloigné, plus les chances de folie sont élevées). Pour plus d'informations, c'est ICI.

Dans la partie 1 de ce post, je me demandais comment il fallait considérer les mondes suggérés par les quatre suppléments d'OD&D : des régions lointaines ? des univers à part entière ? ... Or, Wayne me donne là une brillante idée, c'est d'en faire des plans d'une bizarrerie allant crescendo, ce qui nous donne quatre plans supérieurs :

• Le Supplément I, d'une normalité presque complète, mais différant par certaines lois de la physique ainsi que ses étranges habitants. 
• Le Supplément II, un monde presque entièrement aquatique hanté par des monstres antédiluviens. 
• Le Supplément III, un plan où la folie règne en maîtresse et où rôdent démons et créatures psychiques.
• Le Supplément IV, le domaine des divinités.  

J'essairais de poster le plan supérieur n°1 le plus tôt possible, mais mes disponibilités sont incertaines. 
A plus tard !

 ***

Not long ago, I read a series of Wayne Rossi's posts dealing with his vision of the OD&D higher planes.  He carefully noted the increasing strangeness of these places as one moves away from the Earth (which is suggested by Contact Higher Plane that specifies that the further the plan is, the higher the chances of madness are). 

In Part 1 of this post, I wondered how we should consider the worlds suggested by the OD&D supplements. Remote areas? Whole settings? ... However, Wayne gave me a brilliant idea that is to make them highers planes of increasing strangeness :  

• Plane I, differing in some laws of physics and inhabited by strange beings.
• Plane II, an almost entirely aquatic world haunted by antediluvian monsters. 
• Plane III, a plane where madness reigns and where demons and psionic creatures lurk in the dark. 
• Plane IV, the domain of gods.

I plan to post plane one as soon as possible, but my availability is uncertain.
See you !
 

OD&D Abilities / Les caractéristiques dans OD&D

Inspiré par une discussion en cours sur le forum du Donjon du Dragon (au sujet des connaissances du joueur opposées à celles du personnage, sujet de discorde par excellence), je me suis replongé dans les trois petits livrets bruns, et plus spécifiquement Men & Magic pour aller relire la description et les bonus octroyés par les six caractéristiques qui définissent le personnage. Et cette lecture a été édifiante, je dois l'avouer. 

Tout d'abord, l'ordre dans lequel elles sont présentées (qui a a été conservé dans les éditions un tant soit peu old-school de D&D) est révélateur. Il ne s'agit pas des trois caractéristiques physiques puis des trois autres mentales, mais c'est plutôt les trois caractéristiques primaires qui ouvrent le bal (prime requisite), càd Force (pour les combattants), Intelligence (pour les utilisateurs de magie) et Sagesse (pour les clercs). Toutes trois déterminent le bonus (ou malus) d'expérience. La Force et la Sagesse n'offrent rien d'autre (il est juste fait mention dans Underworld and Wilderness Adventures que les personnages particulièrement petits ou faibles n'ouvrent les portes que sur un 1, sans autres précisions), contrairement à l'Intelligence de laquelle on déduit le nombre de langues. Pas de sorts supplémentaires, de bonus aux dégâts ou encore au toucher.

Suivent ensuite les trois caractéristiques secondaires, c'est-à-dire Constitution, Dextérité et Charisme déterminant des bonus ne touchant pas aux gains de points d'expérience, et concernent respectivement points de coup/résistance, tirs de projectiles et nombre de suivants/loyautés d'iceux-là/réactions initiales.      

Il apparaît clairement que l'Intelligence et le Charisme sont les deux caractéristiques les plus utiles du jeu old-school (alors que c'est précisément ces deux-là que les préjugés sur la vieille école qualifie peu respectueusement de dump stats) puisque touchant chacune à deux domaines importants : les langues indispensables pour communiquer avec les monstres qui n'ont que 20% de chances de parler le commun et l'expérience (qui se passe de commentaires) pour l'Intelligence ; les suivants très importants pour les combats (la survie des personnages joueurs en dépend !) et les réactions des monstres/PNJ pour le Charisme !
De plus, il est amusant de constater que ces deux caractéristiques sont dites mentales et qu'un des arguments de ceux qui privilégient les capacités des personnage contre celles des joueurs (jets de connaissances, compétences etc.) est que ces caractéristiques dites mentales sont inutiles, ne couvrent que des domaines trop réduits et méritent qu'on les revalorise par cette prévalence des capacités [dont mentales] des personnage ! 

PS : Au fait, je souhaite la bienvenue du coté français à Marc de Grinçomanoir. Voilà qui porte mon nombre de suivants à 9. Le niveau supérieur n'est pas loin !

***

Inspired by an ongoing discussion on the forum of Le Donjon du Dragon (about player capability opposed to character capability, the ultimate point of contention), I read in Men & Magic the description and bonuses granted by the six abilities that define the character. And this reading was enlightening, I must admit.First, the order in which they are presented (which has been kept in most of later old-school editions) is revealing. It is not the three physical abilities first and then the three mental abilitiels, but rather the three primary requisite that open the show, ie Force (for fighting-men), Intelligence (for magic users) and Wisdom (for clerics). All three determine the experience bonus (or malus). Strength and Wisdom offer nothing else (it's just mentioned in Underworld and Wilderness Adventures that particularly small or weak characters open the doors on a 1, without further details), contrary to Intelligence from which the number of languages known by the character ​​is deduced. No additional spells, damage or hit bonuses.

Then follow the three secondary characteristics, ie Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma determining the bonuses that are not related with experience points, respectively hit points / resistance, missile fire and number of hireligns / their loyalty / reaction rolls. 
It is clear that Intelligence and Charisma are the two most useful abilities in a old-school game (although it is precisely these two abilities that are called disrespectfully "dump stats" by modern gamers) since each is touching two major areas: languages needed to communicate with monsters which have only a 20% chance to speak common, experience (which speaks for itself) for Intelligence, hirelings very important for survival and monster reactions for Charisma! 
Moreover, it is ironic that these two abilities are known as mental and one of the arguments of those who favor character capability against player capabilty (knowledge rolls, skills, etc.) is that these so-called mental characteristics are useless and deserve revalues ​​by the prevalence of character capability !

PS : I would like to to welcome Tenkar, innkeeper of some renown, and Philip Rice on the English side of the blog. Have a nice read!
And incidentally, I'm about to level up.

Le Monde selon OD&D et ses Suppléments / Implied Setting of OD&D and its Supplements

Nicolas "snorri" Dessaux, depuis quelques années, mettant sa profession d'archéologue au service de sa passion pour D&D, a dépeint plusieurs cadres d'aventures, que cela soit en le construisant à partir des implications des monstres d'un manuel de créatures, comme The Lost Land of Mêm (Mêm faisant directement référence au sigle du Manuel des monstres, c'est à dire MM, transformé en Mêm) et les Terres malveillantes (du Fiend Folio), ou en les déduisant de toutes les publications effectués à ce jour et en séparant ce qui est un ajout tardif de ce qui ne l'est pas avec le Known World. Wayne Rossi (de Semper Initiativus Unum) a fait de même pour son blog en décrivant ce que devrait être l'univers d'OD&D selon les indications des trois livrets bruns.

Aussi, puisque que je me suis récemment plongé intensivement dans les quatre Suppléments d'OD&D, je pense qu'il est possible d'en faire quelque chose en se servant de tout le matériel pour en déduire une région (ou un plan d'existence, qui sait !) par Supplément pour apporter un éclairage original sur leur contenu (voire même rendre jouable les univers qui sous-tendent leurs ajouts) et peut-être inspirer quelques-uns de mes lecteurs en quête d'inspiration pour créer leur propre cadre de campagne...

***

Nicolas "snorri" Dessaux, in the past few years, putting his profession as an archaeologist in the service of his passion for D&D, depicted several original settings as The Lost Land of Mêm and The Malicious Lands based respectively on the Monster Manual and the Fiend Folio. Wayne Rossi (from Semper Unum Initiativus) did the same on his blog, describing what should be the OD&D Setting as directed by the three little brown books.

Also, since I have recently dived extensively in the four supplements of OD&D, I think it is possible to do something by using all the material to deduce therefrom a region (or a plane of existence, who knows!) by Supplement to bring new light on their content (even make their underlying universes playable) and maybe inspire some of my readers in search of inspiration to create their campaign setting...

Alignment Languages

Today I am dealing with a particularly controversial subject: the alignment languages​​! Wayne Rossi of Semper Initiativus Unum spoke about it a month ago here (but I just read his post yesterday beacause I am especially in arrears in reading blogs I usually follow). This post is very interesting, I advise everyone to take a look at it. However, the author evade the main question about alignment languages​​, ie their credibility in a fantasy world. It is on this point that I'm going to focus.

To start, here is the authors' paragraph about them :  

Law, Chaos and Neutrality also have common languages spoken by each respectively. One can attempt to communicate through the common tongue, language particular to a creature class, or one of the divisional languages (law, etc.). While not understanding the language, creatures who speak a divisional tongue will recognize a hostile one and attack. 
-Dave Arneson & Gary Gygax, LBBs.

To establish the credibility of alignment languages ​​it is necessary to find precedents or analogous situations in real life and works that inspired D&D. The most frequently cited literary example is Tolkien's Black Speech. But be aware that this creation of Sauron is not spoken by all creatures of Mordor: only a few elites speak it perfectly, while a mob of orcs stammer a patois crossed with Black Speech. Yet it is a good example of a language alignment: only evil creatures speak it more or less (with the exception of some divine creatures, like Gandalf), and it produces an effect of disgust and repulsion on all other races (because of their different alignment).

In reality, what is the closest thing to a language alignment is a religious language (which in itself is not so surprising that alignment in Tolkien or Morcook are closely linked to gods - Valars - or divine creatures - Sauron, Lords of Chaos/Law -). To get closer to the conflict between alignments as presented in OD&D or Chainmail, let's take the example of the Crusades. In those times and those places, speaking Latin in front of a Saracen amounted to a death sentence. The Latin being a dead language used only for the Catholic religion, it is closer to me as to what an alignment language should be : the basic peasant knowing only a few words in Latin (Amen, in nomine Patris, Filii and and Sancti Spiritus) but sufficient (with a few other indications, such as the sign of the cross) to be recognized as Roman Catholic, while priests and scholars being able to have religious debates in that language.

So, based on these two examples (Latin and Black Speech), this is how I play alignment languages: except priests and scholars (and possibly some races or monsters with superior intelligence) of the specified alignment, creatures know only a few phrases, words, and liturgical formulas in their alignment language, which is sufficient for be recognized as being of this alignment, but not enough in most cases to discuss (which adds a language barrier to deal with the monsters of the same alignment).

Does this sounds good for you ?

[Carcosa] Angular Shapeshifter

Angular Shapeshifter. # Appearing: 1; AC 9; Move 9/12; HD 15; % in Lair: 99%; Treasure: Nil.

The Non-Euclidean Formulas: This five-hour ritual will conjure the Angular Shapeshifter. The sorcerer must perform the ritual while writing hermetic calculations on the tanned skinned of five Bone Men flayed with an obsidian knife whose knob is set with a red opal worth at least 2,000 gp. As the ritual is completed, the sorcerer must ignite the skins with Greek fire. Then the Angular Shapeshifter will appear. 

The Fifty-fourth Dark Theorem: This ritual takes 5 minutes to complete. At the end of the recitation, the sorcerer must attract the Angular Shapeshifter in a pool filled with honey. Once it is fully submerged, the Angular Shapeshifter will return to the interstellar void.

Sublimation of the Highest Dimension: This one-hour ritual can be performed only during a total solar eclipse in the Icy Wastes. The sorcerer, the face smeared with the blood of a throat cut Jale child, must fire a Neodymium ray towards the Sun. At the ritual’s end, the Angular Shapeshifter will obey the sorcerer at daytime until the next solar eclipse.

The Spherical Perfection: To complete this twenty-minute ritual, the sorcerer must be at the center of a circle formed by the skulls of seven sorcerers he defied and killed on top of which he has placed seven candles made ​​with grease levied on Green virgins. The candles then burn for twenty minutes whereafter the Angular Shapeshifter is trapped in the molten core of Carcosa. But if a candle burns too fast, too slow or turns off the sorcerer spontaneously ignites and melts like a candle, slowly drying out in atrocious suffering.

Obliteration of the Null Polytope: This nine-hour ritual can be performed only in hex 0808 in the largest crater of a very old volcano. There, the sorcerer must cast five blind and albino Dolm men in the fiery pit as he psalmody mysterious formulas.He must then pour three ounces of virgin quicksilver (collected in a basin of hex 0204) in the lava. During the ritual, the volcano will erupt while the Angular Shapeshifter, buried deep in the liquid core of Carsosa, struggles, plagued with unspeakable torments. At the ritual’s end, the Angular Shapeshifter will be bound to the sorcerer’s will for the next solar year.

[Carcosa] Angular Shapeshifter

ANGULAR SHAPESHIFTER : Above the planet Carcosa, floating in the interstellar void is an impossible polyhedron. One can not say if it is convex or concave. It escapes all qualifiers, or rather deserves them all : it regular and irregular, isotoxal and uniform, semi-regular and quasi-regular, ordered and disordered : it is the purest manifestation of the chaotic law. It is constantly changing, losing faces, building others. The only thing for sure about this entity is that it is evil, sentient and terribly cold (its black surface is covered by cosmic frost). In combat, the Angular Shapeshifter drains 1D energy levels by succesful hit.  

Psionics: 1-3 powers up to three times per day

to conjure: The Non-Euclidean Formulas
to banish: The Fifty-fourth Dark Theorem
to bind: Sublimation of the Highest Dimension
to imprison: The Spherical Perfection
to torment: Obliteration of the Null Polytope

Magic Items and Creativity !

It is often hard to create magic items strange or original enough to surprise your players.
So here is a tip to get there, while restoring the incomprehensible side of magic : naming the object before describing it! Therefore, we can ask us : how can we name well a magic item ? 
And the answer is: rely upon abstruse and cryptic words...

Naming a magic item :
Step 1 : roll a d10. 
1. [Name]'s [Adjective] [Noun]
2. [Adjective] [Noun]
3. [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect]
4. [Adjective] [Adjective] [Noun]
5. [Name]'s [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect]
6. [Adjective] [Noun] of [Adjective] [Effect]
7. [Name]'s [Adjective] [Noun] of [Adjective] [Effect]
8. [Adjective] [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect]
9. [Adjective] [Noun] of [Effect] and [Effect]
10. [Noun] of [Effect] and [Adjective] [Effect]

Step 2 : Choose or randomly determine each element of the name so that it is disturbing or difficult to understand. 
Adjectives 

Step 3 : Deduct / invent the history and the properties of the magic item based on its name.

Example : 
Thurgal's Acescent Potion of Evanescence is a suntail liquid that looks harmless as you do not drink it. If one identifies it magically, it seems to be a potion of teleportation. However, if you ingest it, it immediately turns in acid (1d6 damage per round, no saving throw) and makes you invisible (no saving throw) !
Thurgal was a sorcerer and a courtier who wanted to poison the Undying Sultan of Aarthal. To do this, he created a particularly vicious acid with many interesting properties. Unfortunately, he was captured before committing his crime and quartered in the public square. It is said that recipe was lost ... but is this really the case?

Nothing prevents you to do so with unique creatures and spells ! 

[Making a Fantasy Sandbox] D3 - Vault of the Drow | Part 1

1. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles
2. Grab a 8.5 by 11 sheet of hex paper.
3. The scale should be so that it represents a 200 by 150 mile region
4. Draw in mountains
5. Draw in rivers
6. Draw in hills using them to divide the region into distinct river valley
7. Draw in vegetation (swamps, forests, desert, etc)

To serve as sandbox, Vault of the Drow is far too small (6x6 miles). I want to increase the size of hexagones from 240 yards to 1 mile. This is a huge increase (x7,3) which will radically change the scaling of adventures in D3. 


We will see later if it is suitable: it will always be time to change.  
So this is the new map of Vault of the Drow (note that the city and the temple were significantly decreased in terms of size). I did not try to stick strictly to the original (too tedious, but the locations and shapes are the same).

PS : I did not specified it in the original post, but I will also convert characteristics from AD&D to OD&D.

Any suggestions/comments ?  

Click to enlarge.

[Making a Fantasy Sandbox] D3 - Vault of the Drow

There is no need to brag for the umpteenth time the module D3 : those who read this blog are as much aware of this fact as me.
However, one can see a lot of people asking : "What the characters are supposed to do in this module?". Asking this question amounts to miss the main interest of Vault of the Drow. Why ?
BECAUSE D3 IS A FANTASY SANDBOX!
Although this isn't an earth-shaking revelation, it's worth repeating.
  
So, what's the purpose of this post?
Vault of the Drow is in the top 5 of my favorite modules, and thereby I am toying with the idea of finally playing it.

Yet it is clear that D3 is not a ready-to-play module. It needs to be expanded and reworked with love by the referee, and this is even more the case if one wishes to play it as a sandbox. So this message began a series of posts in which I will try to extend D3 to make it playable without prior preparation by the DM, while still maintaining a minimalist style leaving any latitude to the environment to be changed during play. 

I will try to follow the 34 steps of the method created by the brilliant Rob Conley on his Bat in the Attic blog. 

1. Using one page sketch a world or continent map
2. Label important regions
3. Write one page of background giving no more than a handful of sentences to each region.
4. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles
5. Grab a 8.5 by 11 sheet of hex paper.
6. The scale should be so that it represents a 200 by 150 mile region
7. Draw in mountains
8. Draw in rivers
9. Draw in hills using them to divide the region into distinct river valley
10. Draw in vegetation (swamps, forests, desert, etc)
11. Decide to place Population Locales note their race this includes social monsters
12. Decide to place Lairs (locales tht revolves around a home of monsters)
13. Decide to place Ruins (locales that revolves around a site)
14. Decide to place miscellaneous locales. (anything that doesn't fit a above.
15. Name your geography (don't forget islands)
16. Write a Half Page background describing the region and it's history.
17. Write a paragraph describing each named geography
18. Write a paragraph describing each Population Locale
19. Write a paragraph describing each Lair (you could get away with a stat block)
20. Write a paragraph describing each Ruin
21. Look at your notes and come up with two to four plots that ties one or more locales together. Write a paragraph or two on each.
22. For each population locale come up with three to five encounters. They should be a sentence each.
23. Come up with 6 to 12 general encounter for the region as a whole. Should usable in any area of the region. They are a sentence or two each.
24. Pick the 4 or 6 most important Population locales and draw a quarter page sketch map of the settlement.
25. Pick the starting population locale and draw a full page map of the settlement. This is the "Home Base"
26. Use Medieval Demographics to get an a idea of how many shops are in the town.
27. Pick or create 6 or 12 important buildings. Write a paragraph each.
28. Scan your descriptions for NPCs or noted monsters. Write a two sentence about each. The first a one line with minimal stats the second one sentence. This is your roster.
29. Pick the 12 most important NPC or Monsters
30. Write a paragraph describing each and fully stat them.
31. Pick the most six common encounter type. (City Guard, Border Warders, Bloody Hand, Orcs) Write a paragraph and fully stat them.
32. Scan your description for any regional organization and write a paragraph on them. Fully stat the most common encounters involved with them.
33. Make up a rumor chart with 10 to 20 items that feeds the players into the encounter and plots you created in above.
34. Identify major regions and create a random encounter chart for each (monsters, wildlife and NPCs).

[Monster] Ogres

To celebrate the fourth member of this blog, here's another interpretation* of this iconic OD&D monster that I dedicate to Bruce Heard!

*Remember, in monsters and treasures, creatures only have characteristics and an explanatory text of three lines, which leave much to the imagination of the DM.

I also want to make a small tribute to Sham, who disappeared from the blogosphere for a while but whose blog remains essential.

OGRE : No. Appearing: 3-18, AC: 5, Move: 9, HD: 4+1
 
Ogres are huge humanoids with bulging muscles and long arms that hang almost to the ground. Their massive fists as hard as stone inflict 1d6 +2 points of damage. Curiously, their cranium is external and not internal as with other humanoids, so that people often believe that ogres wear skull helmets. 

"Ogres have a mysterious history. It is not known exactly how they came into being, whether they were created with this world, or whether the union of some eons past races gave spawn to them, as Ogres do not have gender nor do they reproduce. What is known is that there is a finite number of Ogres in he world, and their very existence is threatened by the rise of man. Ogres apparently are immortal, and even those Ogres who have been slain and laid to rest are never truly dead, for their souls are tied to this world."

When an Ogre dies, its body is reduced to dust and his demonic spirit is released. The spirit wanders in the depths until it finds an entire corpse and insinuates in it (however it must wait 1d12 rounds after his death before reincarnating), causing a horrible mutation. The body deforms and eventually transform into that of an Ogre in great shape. The spirit of the ogre can cross all materials except lead and silver. Locked in a cage shaped in such a metal, it can not escape and may then be put to sleep for decades before an oblivious looter releases it ...

Defeating an ogre is very difficult: One must find the gem that the dark sorcerer used to summon this evil spirit and destroy it. This gem is always valuable, but it is rarely in possession of the ogre. These stupid monsters are unaware of the power of these gemstones which are surely hidden somewhere, perhaps in the hoard of another monster. 

Combat Mutilations II

Part I

Question is: what consequences are those mutilations going to have on the character?

-porphyre77

These consequences are largely not very restrictive. The goal is not to make unplayable characters, but to feel the violence of the fight (and then anyway, if they have a mutilation, that's because they were below 0 hit points, and they should normally be dead by the rules). Consider this as a saving throw to sacrifice a body part in exchange for life.

Severed finger : no effect
Severed foot : decreased movement of one level
Blind eye : -1 on surprise rolls.
Severed hand : no two-handed weapons
Severed leg : decreased movement of two level
Severed arm : no two-handed weapons, -1 Strenght and Dexterity point  

Combat Mutilations

Mutilations, even if they are usually not very fun for players, add some character and a certain uniqueness to the characters. If I had to take this aspect into consideration, I think I would go with a rule like this:

From 0 hp, the character falls into unconsciousness. At the end of the fight, see the following table:
0, saving throw vs death, succeeded : survival, failed : death.
-1, saving throw vs death, succeeded : severed finger, failed : death.
-2, saving throw vs death, succeeded : severed foot, failed : death.
-3, saving throw vs death, succeeded : blind eye, failed : death.
-4, saving throw vs death, succeeded : severed hand, failed : death.
-5, saving throw vs death, succeeded : severed leg, failed : death.
-6, saving throw vs death, succeeded : severed arm, failed : death.    

[Monster] Ophidian undead

I was not very active lately. However, I created a new monster to scare to death your beginners as high-level parties.

Ophidian Undead

No. Appearing: 1-10
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 2
Movement : 60'
Attacks: See Below
Alignment: Chaotic

In the distant kingdom of Stygia, the priests of Set perform strange rituals in the heart of darkened temples.One of the worst is the Call of the Swarms of the Snake God. Nobody except the evil clergy of Set knows how to proceed the ritual, but what is certain is that it ends with the invocation of amphisbaenians. These two-headed snakes with fangs dripping with venom then creep into a corpse through the nostrils and animate it with an unholy life, blowing up the eyeballs if they are still in place. These walking corpses have therefore instead of eyes the two heads of the amphisbaena pointing in the empty sockets.

In addition to the attack by the undead (1d6 damage), each head of the amphisbaena tries to bite every round to inoculate their poison, suddenly arising of the eye sockets and retracting the second after. Bites that are benign do not damage but if a saving throw versus poison is failed, the victim convulse for 3d6 rounds. Two simultaneous bites on the same person entails a saving throw against death.

Killing the undead does not necessarily kill the snake: if it is cornered and alone, it is killed automatically by the characters if they specify it. Otherwise, in a melee, the amphisbaena has a chance to escape and animate another body.

They are repelled by clerics as ghouls.