Hecatonchiere

Throne of Orcus (pt. 2)

Orcus

Throne of Orcus (pt.1)

Epic Adventure Design

Known Old Ones

Galactus

New Special Materials

Demogorgon

Various Monsters

Clay Colossus

Revising Epic Feats

Weapons (Final Fantasy)

New Feats (and Spell System)

Crown Naga

Revising Salient Divine Abilities

Talos

Epic Tarrasque

King Ghidorah

Godzilla

Conversion Table 2: Divine Rank by HD/Levels

Conversion Table 1: Divine Rank by Comparisons

Reference to 'Throne of Bloodstone' here is not done in the course of trade and is not intended as a challenge to any trademarks.

Throne of Orcus

(An Adventure For Character Levels 90-110)

Part Two: Gates of Thanatos

I had another read of the Throne of Bloodstone adventure and have condensed the best parts of chapters 2-5 into the following, in fact, to be honest I have basically made this whole section up, while at the same time trying to stay true to the adventure as a whole.

Likely Order of Events

1. Enter Thanatos (The gate in Castle Perilous opens to the city of Orcusgate).
2. Escape Orcusgate and travel to Everlost (Orcus capital city about 2000 miles east of Orcusgate). The PCs cannot scry the location because the entire city is domed by a dead magic shell which only Orcus can penetrate. The PCs could charm one of the balors, read its mind and extract enough information to teleport just outside the city of Everlost. Otherwise they'll have to get there the hard way.
3. Reach Everlost and fight their way through Orcus Castle, confront and defeat Orcus in his throne room.
4. Destroy the Wand of Orcus.

List of Encounters

Encounter #1: The Balor Brigade...Fully two-hundred Balors are stationed at the gate under the command of the (now) Demon Lord Tersoth. The face of the permanent gate is screened by a wall of dead magic. Anyone passing through the gate also passes through the dead magic wall. This removes all temporary spells and negates magic items (including artifacts) for 1d4 rounds.

Possible Encounter 1.1: Armies of Death...Unless the heroes travel magically to Everlost they will encounter the army of Orcus led by General Chemosh. The army consists of millions of undead and demons. However, many will be ineffective against such high powered heroes.

Once the PCs reach Everlost...

Encounter #2: The Abyssal Dragon...The polychromatic dragon Fyrillicus, brother of Arctigis, will be called upon to dispose of the PCs. Orcus will know immediately when the heroes have entered his realm and send Fyrillicus to dispose of them just as they enter the Dead Magic Shell that protects the city. This beast is effectively the steed of Orcus.

Encounter #3: The Bridge of Skulls...The bridge to Orcus' fortress is strewn with thousands if not millions of skulls. Its also home to thousands of demiliches who have been bound into a swarm by the magic of Orcus...such is his power.

Encounter #4: The Iron Gate...Beyond the bridge lies the titanic spiked iron gate impaled with corpses and skeletons. The gate itself is shaped like a humongous iron golem (iron leviathan) which animates as soon as the heroes approach.

Everyone inside this castle unprotected by Orcus gains one negative level each round. Those protected by a Death Ward spell or similar magic still gain one negative level every other round. A Rejuvenation spell will restore lost levels, but not prevent further loss while within the castle itself.

Likewise undead all gain fast healing 5 within the castle. Those undead who already have fast healing gain an addition 5 points per round.

Encounter #5: The Graveyard of Swords...The castle courtyard, where the weapons of countless fallen foes 'grow' like blades of grass. The castle courtyard is guarded by thirteen Hecatonchiere commanded by Glyphimhor; Castellan of Everlost. These Hecatonchiere are armed with the many epic blades and weapons which litter the ground.

Encounter #6: The Hall of Heroes...Here dwell the last heroes who dared challenge Orcus, cursed to undeath and servitude for all eternity. Their names: Artemis (100th-level Cleric - Ghost), Circe (100th-level Sorceress - Ghost), Hermes (100th-level Rogue - Ghost) and Perseus (100th-level Fighter - Ghost). Only with the death of Orcus himself can their souls be released.

Encounter #7: The Maze Prison...Also known as the Tomb of Baphomet for it is here that Orcus has imprisoned the upstart who would not kowtow to the Abyssal Emperor. Orcus has allowed Baphomet to keep his artifacts, including his infamous Bardiche for the walls of this prison are dead magic lined and the walls are adamantine. Baphomet was also captured with some of his attendants and servants (including some Goristro), however their numbers have been dwindling as Baphomet vents his frustration at being captured upon them.

Encounter #8: The Forgotten Tombs...The final resting place for those arch-priests of Orcus who incur the displeasure of their master. No longer free to roam the plane, but cursed to forever serve their master. Each of these 33 Hunefer have their own magical sarcophagi, capable of animation, acting like special golem armour. The average level of these arch-priests is 40th-level.

Encounter #9: The Nursery...Here dwell the children of Orcus, thirteen Atropal, attended by their mother, the demon princess known as Pale Night. Normally death gods cannot have children, but Pale Night is in some part a fertility goddess and seems to be able to neutralize Orcus sterility.

Encounter #10: The Princely Guard...The penultimate line of defense, the demon prince Azazel and the elite Princely Guard: twenty heavily armed infernals (each with 40th-level PC gear). The Princely Guard have ghostly lashing weapons (+7 mercurial, ghost touch, lashing bastard swords) which allow them to make physical attacks from anywhere in the chamber (they do not need to be adjacent or in range to melee opponents and they do not need line of sight).

Encounter #11: Gruesome Visage...The final battle, well, not quite. Here Orcus awaits the heroes, or so it seems. But in truth this is Orcus' Avatar Tenebrous. Orcus will use this ruse to hopefully get the heroes to expend their most powerful spells and abilities, while he watches and learns their tactics, strengths and weaknesses. Tenebrous is not alone, with him are the five most powerful visages (unholy half-undead, half-demon byproducts of Orcus experiments).

Encounter #12: The Face of Death...The real final battle with Orcus and his attendant assassins, known as Sleepless. Also present are Quah-Namog and General Chemosh (assuming he wasn't encountered while the heroes crossed the plane from Orcusgate to Everlost - see Encounter 1.1)

Bonus Encounter: Requiem...It is not enough for Orcus to die, the Wand of Orcus must be destroyed to prevent his eventual return. That can only be accomplished by journeying back in time and slaying Orcus (mortal) parents before Orcus is born. Orcus mother is a Lawful Good 1st-level Commoner and his father is a Lawful Good 1st-level Cleric.

...but theres a twist. You see the Technites (more commonly knonw as Inevitables) police the time stream and don't like immortals meddling in temporal affairs and mucking up the time stream.

Epilogue

Orcus will fight to the death,

Personalities - Chapter Two: Gates of Thanatos

1. Azazel: Commander of the Princely Guard and a Demon Prince himself. Known as the "Right Hand of Orcus". 67 Hit Dice Outsider (Integrated 33rd-level Sorcerer Abilities) - Intermediate Power.
2. Baphomet: Demon Lord captured by Orcus who is slowly sapping Baphomet's quintessence. 53 Hit Dice Outsider (Integrated 26th-level Sorcerer Abilities) - Lesser Power. Baphomet carries his Bardiche (+17/+16)
3. Chemosh: General of Orcus army. 55 Hit Dice Outsider (Integrated 27th-level Sorcerer Abilities) - Lesser Power.
4. Fyrillicus: The Abyssal Dragon, brother of Arctigis. 86 Hit Dice - Fiendish, Great Wyrm Polychromatic Dragon.
5. Glyphimhor: Demon Lord, Castellan of Orcus Fortress. 47 Hit Dice Outsider (Integrated 33rd-level Sorcerer Abilities) - Lesser Power. Glyphimhor is a huge, full platemailed demon wielding huge flat-headed sword and carrying a tower shield that is also the Bulwark of the Dragon Shield (Void Dragon Breath).
6. ORCUS: Demon Monarch of the Undead. 90 Hit Dice Outsider (Integrated 45th-level Sorcerer Abilities) - Greater Power. Orcus wears the Arm of Orcus, the Orcusring, wields the Orcusword and the infamous Wand of Orcus.
7. Pale Night: Demon Princess and currently Consort to Orcus. 66 Hit Dice Outsider (Integrated 33rd-level Sorcerer Abilities) - Intermediate Power.
8. Quah-Namog: Necromancer-Priest responsible for Orcus resurrection. Hunefer 44th-level Cleric.
9. Sleepless: Orcus personal assassins. Pair of 50 Hit Dice Advanced Molydeus (Integrated 25th-level Assassin Abilities) - Lesser Powers. Each carry huge greataxes (+16 chaotic, keen, unholy power, vorpal greataxe),
10. Tenebrous: Avatar of Orcus commanding the Visages. 45 Hit Dice (Integrated 22nd-level Cleric Abilities) - Lesser Power. Tenebrous carries lesser facsimilies of Orcus artifacts.
11. Tersoth: Commander of the Balor Brigade. 58 Hit Dice Outsider (Integrated 29th-level Sorcerer Abilities) - Lesser Power. Tersoth likes to rend his foes using tooth and claw and wing. He possesses a belt which doubles his strength;

New Monsters - Chapter Two: Thanatos *

*NB. Not sure where the following will eventually show up....

1. Demilich Swarm
2. Iron Leviathan (see Talos)
3. Sarcophagi (of the Hunefer Arch-Priests)
4. Visages
5. Inevitables

Traits of Thanatos

- By the will of Orcus, all undead spawned in Thanatos have their Hit Dice advanced to the maximum without changing their size.

- Contingency Resurrection, Raise Dead, Resurrection, True Resurrection, or any similar types of spells or effects do not function on Thanatos, unless cast by a being of Divine Rank 32, Divine Rank 24 with a single Fertility Portfolio, or Divine Rank 16 for someone with the double Fertility Portfolio.

- All enemies of Orcus suffer a -16 penalty on all dice rolls while within his divine realm. Orcus has such control over this environment that the very ground and air will conspire against his foes.

Tips for Toughening the Adventure

- Tough! Allow Orcus to cast spells on the PCs from his Throne Room and manifest them in any room of the castle's locations!

- Very Tough! In the final battle with Orcus, allow Orcus one more use of the Final Word epic spell, and remove (no save) one PC (determined randomly) from the game.