I know Orcus is some sort of Demon/Devil guy, but what is the specifics on his name? I heard somewhere that if you say his name, you have to roll a die and something really bad can happen.
Anybody know anything for sure?
I've been kinda using him as the God of Greed. if you say his name you are granted 5gp. However, you must roll a 1d10. On a roll of 1, Orcus himself rises from the netherworld, steals all your stuff, and ... I haven't decided if he steals your soul, because I want the penalty to be bad without being horrible. Also, you may only call upon him 3times per day.
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Orcus is a Demon Prince, and ruler of the Undead. He weilds the Wand of Orcus. I would do a Google, if I were you. He has nothing really to do with the way you are using him, but heck, campaigns are modifiable. Rappan Athuk, the series of 3 modules " the toughest dungeon ever " by Necromancer Games, deals with the PC's invading a stronghold of Orcus worshippers...It is well worth the investment. I also believe you are mixing in a little Hastur, from H.P. Lovecraft. He is referred to as " he whose name cannot be spoken " or something like that. I used to play with a GM, who if you said his name, had a 5% chance of sending minions to kill you.
Hope I was of a little help
Did someone ask for me? :)
Orcus is one of the original "demon princes" from classic D&D. You can find him in Eldritch Wizardry, one of the original D&D supplements. He is the demon prince of the undead. He was further detailed in the AD&D Monster Manual. He is one of the staple 1st edition bad guys, right up there with Demogorgon.
Currently, Orcus is serving as the "mascot" for and official symbol of Necromancer Games (fitting that a company named for death magic would pick Orcus as their symbol of course), a d20 company that makes supplements for D&D under the d20 system.
You can visit Necromancer here at www.necromancergames.com
Clark
Actually Lovecraft stole the name Hastur from another author, and only ever used the name once or twice in all his short stories. In fact Hastur is one of those elder gods who has had a lot more coverage in books (and the roleplaying game) since Lovecraft's passing.
Orcus was recently slain by the goddess Kiaransalee (the drow goddess of death and vengeance) and was reanimated as the undead god Tenebrous. He was subsequently resurrected, and displaced Kiaransalee from his layer of the Abyss (Thanatos). Orcus is described as a great goat-like demon, and is thought to be an ancient figure from Etruscan mythology. He possesses a powerful artifact known as the Wand of Orcus that he frequently lets loose on the world. He dwells in the great city of Naratyr (on Thanatos) and controls vast legions of vampires, liches, and demons. Finally, the demon prince has appeared in both the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk settings, and is one of the main gods of the Ghostwalk setting released by WotC (pre-3.5).
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Clark-You guys rock!!!! I just picked up the old JG module, Treasure Vaults of Lindoran. I am going to try and convert it. The CR ranges are so drastic, that it is going to take some modification. Are y'all planning on rereleasing it, and any advice on PC level, or how to go from an Ancient Red Dragon, to a bunch of skeletons....I was thinking about EL 10 for characters, and if they are dumb enough to try to fight the dragon, then so be it
Creative Director
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Actually Lovecraft stole the name Hastur from another author, and only ever used the name once or twice in all his short stories. In fact Hastur is one of those elder gods who has had a lot more coverage in books (and the roleplaying game) since Lovecraft's passing.
That other author would be Ambrose Bierce.
As for Orcus... he's appeared in Dungeon here and there. A statue of him's on the cover to issue #107, in fact. And back in issue #89 he made a guest appearance in an adventure I wrote called "Headless."
I'd say that chances are good that Orcus'll be making further appearances in Dungeon on down the road now and then.
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Creative Director
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That other author would be Ambrose Bierce.You mean "The Devil's Dictionary" Ambrose Bierce? What other titles has he written?
While "The Devil's Dictionary" is indeed awesome... it was a different story that Ambrose Bierce introduced Hastur. The story in question is"Haita The Shepherd." Hastur is a quite different creature in that story than he's evolved into today, though. Lovecraft also borrowed names and ideas heavilly from other Bierce stories, including "An Inhabitant of Carcosa."
Ambrose Bierce is one of the greats, in my opinion. He's a character. Got shot in the head during the civil war, I believe, and survived to write a large amount of really great stuff in the following years until he disapeared in Mexico. His stories are all up online, what with them being public domain and all. I think "The Damned Thing" is the best of his horror/sci-fi stories, while "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" or "Chickamauga" are also really good reads.
Check out this site for a bunch of his stories. They're online elsewhere as well, but that was the first one I found with good ol' Google.
Orcus was recently slain by the goddess Kiaransalee
I sorta lost track of all this, but isn't it assumed that Orcus was slain by Gareth Dragonsbane and the other heros of the H series. Or are they just presummed to have stolen the wand of Orcus and destroyed it.
Or is the H series no longer in Forgotten Realms canon given as how the H series seems so hard to find.
In my opinion, H2 is the best module of the series, where you take out an avatar of Orcus.
Anyone know what H4 is going for these days?
That other author would be Ambrose Bierce.As for Orcus... he's appeared in Dungeon here and there. A statue of him's on the cover to issue #107, in fact. And back in issue #89 he made a guest appearance in an adventure I wrote called "Headless."
I'd say that chances are good that Orcus'll be making further appearances in Dungeon on down the road now and then.
that's it! I knew that it was some other famous author, but one that I've never read up on extensively (though I did read one of his civil war stories in school). Thanks for the info James!
Orcus was recently slain by the goddess KiaransaleeI sorta lost track of all this, but isn't it assumed that Orcus was slain by Gareth Dragonsbane and the other heros of the H series. Or are they just presummed to have stolen the wand of Orcus and destroyed it.
Or is the H series no longer in Forgotten Realms canon given as how the H series seems so hard to find.
In my opinion, H2 is the best module of the series, where you take out an avatar of Orcus.
Anyone know what H4 is going for these days?
If you are referring to the old Bloodstone series the heroes you speak of only destroyed Orcus's material form (using the old 1st Ed. rules). If you were going to use 3.5 rules, then the creature they destroyed was a greater aspect (avatar) of Orcus sent by the demon prince to work his evil on the world (the earlier avatar encountered was a lesser aspect like the one found in the Miniatures Handbook ). What happened in the H series did weaken him though, and could have been one of the things that made it easier for Kiaransalee to penetrate his defenses.
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...while "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" or "Chickamauga" are also really good reads.
There is an old black and white short movie of "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge". It originally done in 1962 and, basically, has no dialogue. I remember seeing it several times on a reel-to-reel in grade school and junior high... I have to say it really struck something in me, because it wonderfully, deliciously freaked my s--t out from the first viewing.
I went on to read the story later (and it should be read!! (although, I wouldn't hesitate to also say 'and it should be seen!!')). Years later, in college, I named my first first Call of Cthulhu investigator Peyton Farquhar as a tribute without realizing the connection.
Book of Vile Darkness. It has the current status and history of the various Devils and Demons, like Orcus, Demogorgon, etc.
if you want his stats in 3rd edition check out the book of vile darkness
they also have the rulers of the abyss and hell
You can also take a peep at Necromancer Games' "The Tome of Horrors" which not only has Orcus' stats (which, at the time of the book's printing, was the supposedly the only way one could get his and other 1st Edition creatures stats) but an awesome pic of the Demon Prince of the Undead (pgs 85-86.)
- Chris Shadowens
-- FWIW: I was laughing when I saw the listing for the flumphs in the Tome of Horrors then laughing even harder when they made a recent appearance in Dungeon. Flumphs...goofy land-locked jellyfishes... :)
As for Orcus... he's appeared in Dungeon here and there. A statue of him's on the cover to issue #107, in fact. And back in issue #89 he made a guest appearance in an adventure I wrote called "Headless."
I just finished reading Headless and think its an excellent adventure. That said I felt the Orcus bit was a bit weak. It essentially amounted to the Demon Lord of the Undead showing up becuase the party has fouled his plans to snatch tens of thousands of souls to his Abyssal realm. Upon manifesting himself in the flesh he then proceeds to talk some smack to the party and admonish them that he's really rather annoyed and they had better sleep with one eye open from know on 'cause he is not a happy camper with them - after which he meanders off back home.
I kind of felt that that particuler part of the adventure might have worked better if there was some kind of tangable evidence that Orcus was manifesting and smart characters would not be hanging around to shoot the breeze with a a Demon Lord whose plans they had just foiled...in fact they should pretty much grab whatever treasure is obvous and at hand from their battle and start running for all they are worth. Orcus might not stray to far from the Abyssal Rift into the material plane looking to stomp annoying ants but if the characters are actually in his face he squashes them with extreme prejudice. As a side benifit this adds some excitement to the looting and exit of the Dungeon.
If my Iron Chef memory serves me correct...
I think your DM was using the rules from the earlier editions of the 1st edition Deities & Demigods that contained the Lovecraft Mythos. It think it stated in Hastur's description that if you spoke his name there was a 5% chance he heard you and would send his minions after you. I'm at work but I think they were call Byakshees and something spelled like that. I forgot what they were called but they have statistics in the same Lovecraft section of the book.
The only reason I remember this is that when I was a kid DMing for my friends, if things weren't going right they would sit there and say, "Hastur, Hastur, Hastur" over and over again.
Now that i think of it, I remember getting real pissed about that...
If you are DMing, check out the "Dead Gods" supermodule for Planescape; hardly the God of Greed in that one. Orcus was always my fave in the MMI, and one of the reasons so many got pissed about all the 'devil stuff' in the first edition rules.
If you are DMing, check out the "Dead Gods" supermodule for Planescape; hardly the God of Greed in that one. Orcus was always my fave in the MMI, and one of the reasons so many got pissed about all the 'devil stuff' in the first edition rules.
I must be confused. I really liked the devils in 1st ed. Especially when you throw in the levels of hell from Dragons # 75 & 76 (I think those are the issues).
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I must be confused. I really liked the devils in 1st ed. Especially when you throw in the levels of hell from Dragons # 75 & 76 (I think those are the issues).
I believe that Tiamat is making referece to those outside of the gaming world. Parents, religious and educational institutions that were clammoring against RPGs because of Satanic and immoral content. It's one of the main reasons 'devils' and 'demons' became 'Baator' and 'Tnarii' in 2nd edition. Most gamers have no trouble making the distinction that they are elements out of the game that can help craft an intriguing and ingeneous story.
Sorry for the confusion; those outside the gaming world were excactly who i was referring to. I remember all the bad press thrown at RPG's over that kind of content. One of my friends really took a lot of heat over MMI from his parents. I was really bummed when they scrapped a lot of the old devils from the newer second edition format.
Sorry for the confusion; those outside the gaming world were excactly who i was referring to. I remember all the bad press thrown at RPG's over that kind of content. One of my friends really took a lot of heat over MMI from his parents. I was really bummed when they scrapped a lot of the old devils from the newer second edition format.
That makes sense, I guess I never ran into many of those issues. However, they could (should) have looked at it as good players killing bad devils. But of course, the religious right always has to find something wrong with everything fun and innocent. i.e. the Lion King.
I hope I didn't offend anyone from the religious right with my opinion.