Dungeons & Dragons - Mysteries of the Dead Gods

I'm rolling right along with the preparation for my next 5e campaign. I will be running my Tomb/Shiftspice group through a series of old Monte Cook adventures converted to 5th edition.

Here is the plan for my Monte Cook 5e campaign as it stands right now:

• (lvl 12) A Question of Ethics
• (lvl 12) The Harrowing (from Dungeon Magazine #84)
  
• (lvl 14) Mysteries of the Dead Gods (based on an article Monte wrote in Dragon Magazine #240)
• (lvl 14) Demon God's Fane
• (lvl 16) A Paladin in Hell
• (lvl 18) Labyrinth of Madness

I posted the conversion of A Question of Ethics, and I finished The Harrowing. Now we get to another smaller adventure, one that hopefully takes 1-2 sessions to get through.

General Notes

We'll use the damage expression guidelines from the DMG. Levels 11-16:

• Setback: 4d10
• Dangerous: 10d10
• Deadly: 18d10
  

We'll also use the trap guidelines from the DMG:

• Setback: Save DC 10-11 Attack Bonus +3 to +5
• Dangerous: Save DC 12-15 Attack Bonus +6 to +8
• Deadly: Save DC 16-20 Attack Bonus +9 to +12

To scale encounters, I am using kobold fight club.

Note to Self

Before I start running this one, I'll ask each player to send me one memory that is important to their character. This will be used when they reach the god-isle.

The Plan

So here's my basic idea. In my game, the heroes are trying to figure out what is happening to the multiverse, and what these weird magic sigils are.

They learn of a place that can be used to learn deep secrets of the multiverse - the enormous floating corpse of Maanzecorian, dead god of the illithids, which hovers in the Astral Plane.

My group has a special NPC with them - a githyanki who was "grown" by the lich-queen of the githyanki (this NPC is from Lich-Queen's Begotten). The heroes basically stole her away, and the lich-queen had plans for her.

So when the group goes to the Astral Plane, the githyanki will be hunting them. My group flies around in a spelljamming ship, and I think it will be cool to have them be attacked by a githyanki ship.

The adventure outline looks like this:

1. Astral Plane: They fly their ship (the Spicejammer) through a color pool to the Astral Plane.
2. Githyanki Ambush: The group are attacked by a githyanki vessel.
3. Explore Husk: Land on the god-isle of Maanzecorian and explore it.
4. Learn Secrets: Figure out how to get the information they want from Maanzecorian's remains.
5. Defeat Guardian: Defeat the guardian of Maanzecorian - a brainstealer dragon.
   

I've been digging up info from a lot of different sources.

• Dead Gods: This Monte Cook adventure actually features a trip to a dead god (The remains of Orcus! Who was dead at the time).
• A Guide to the Astral Plane: Full of cool ideas (also written by Monte Cook).
  
• Secrets of the Astral Sea: Has details on a few githyanki vessels.
• Garaitha's Anvil: An adventure from the classic 4e Scales of War adventure path, features a githyanki shipyard and a really cool githyanki attack ship. 

Getting to the Astral Plane

How exactly is my group going to get their ship to the Astral Plane? This party mines shiftspice and sells it throughout the planes. Their route goes something like this:

• Material Plane: Akma'ad (a small githzerai fortress).
  
• Material Plane: Dripping Leaves (the elf village from Riddle of the Raven Queen).
• Material Plane: Port Nyanzaru (the jungle city from Tomb of Annihilation).
• The Shadowfell: The Village of Broken Dreams (the shadar kai village from Lich-Queen's Begotten)
• The Astral Plane: Tu'narath (the githyanki city)
• (base) Quasi-Elemental Plane of Spice: Headquarters (homebrew)

Color Pools

How do you get to the Astral Plane? Color pools! Check out chapter 2 of the DMG.

"Gateways leading from the Astral Plane to other planes appear as two-dimensional pools of rippling colors, 1d6 × 10 feet in diameter. Traveling to another plane requires locating a color pool that leads to the desired plane. These gateways to other planes can be identified by color, as shown on the Astral Color Pools table. Finding the right color pool is a matter of chance: locating the correct one takes 1d4 × 10 hours of travel."

Which Planes? There is a chart in the DMG of 20 planes you can access from the Astral Plane. The Shadowfell and the Elemental Planes are not on it. The book doesn't explicitly say that you can't access these planes from the Astral, though.

Looking at the Shadowfell entry later in the DMG, we see that the Shadowfell overlaps the Material Plane, and that usually you get there through a "shadow crossing" - a gloomy place where the barrier between the two planes is thin. "They manifest only in darkness."

The Inner Planes (the elemental planes) "...surround and enfold the Material Plane and its echoes..."

"These planes are all connected, and the border regions between them are sometimes described as distinct planes in their own right."

My homebrewed Quasi-Elemental Plane of Spice would probably be located near the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Ash, right?

Let's look at what Monte Cook's A Guide to the Astral Plane has to say about Color Pools.

"Color pools are doorways to the uppermost layer of any plane that borders the Astral. All of the Outer Planes have color pools leading to them, and all prime-material worlds possess links to the Astral in such a manner as well. While the number of pools is virtually limitless, some places seem to have more of these holes leading to them than others."

We also learn that:

• "Moving into a color pool is like stepping through a sheet of warm molasses."
• Color pools are likely the result of damage to the Astral Plane itself.
• Thoughts seep into the Astral through color pools, might be the cause of psychic winds in the Astral.
  

Types of portals:

• One-way: The majority of color pools are one way (from the Astral to another plane).
• Two-way: Very rare. "The side of the pool that does not open onto the Astral Plane is always invisible."  These have been discovered and catalogued, becoming common trading routes onto and off of the astral. In fact, a few trading towns have been built around these cross over points.
  

Peering in to a Pool: You can concentrate on a color pool and magically see what lies at its destination point. Only visual information - spells cannot be cast through the color pool. 

Peering through a pool is tiring and can only be done for 10 minutes per point of Constitution (after that, I guess in 5e the exhaustion rules kick in). You need a long rest before you can scry again.

My Plan: The group's ship can't shift between planes on its own. It needs to fly through portals. I am planning on saying that there is a portal to the Astral Plane in the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Spice, which allows the heroes to access the other planes from there via color pools.

I feel a little weird making color pools to the Shadowfell and the elemental planes. It is sort of like I'm "cheating" or doing it wrong. But for now, that's what I think I'm going to do.

The Githyanki Vessel

Our plan is in place. The heroes board their ship, the Spicejammer, and fly through a color pool, taking them to the Astral Plane. 

As they get close to the floating dead gods, a githyanki ship spots them. 

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes lists three githyanki ships on page 90. An astral skiff, an astral brigg, and a planar raider. The raider is fitted with ballistas and a catapult. 

I don't want to go full-blown sci-fi, but the planar raider seems a bit dull. So let's dig up Garaitha's Anvil (Dungeon #164), which has a really badass githyanki vessel in it. We're going to have to convert it to 5e, but it's worth it to me. Check out the weapons on this thing:

Force Ballista: +8 vs. AC; ranged 40; 3d10 force damage. It can magically generate one force bolt per round.

Spell Turret: This one is harder to convert, and could potentially be abused.

Spell turrets are designed to allow spellcasters to channel magical attacks against other ships and airborne combatants. A character in a spell turret can use the turret to direct any nonweapon ranged or area arcane or divine attack power.

"The magic of  a spell turret doubles the range of arcane and divine powers, and allows powers to target inanimate objects even if they normally cannot do so."

Githyanki War Galleon

• 30 feet by 115 feet
• Fly 60 feet (overland 75 feet)
• Crew: Does not require crew, the role of crew handled by psionic echoes.
• Ramming prow
• Can hold 50 creatures & 20 tons of cargo
  

Psychic Helm: This room is dominated by a complex device made of steel, crystal, and leather. This githyanki psychic helm keeps the ship aloft and maintains its crew of psychic memories. The helm seems to emit a faint screaming sound when in operation. This object requires regular infusions of souls in order to operate, something that can only be done in the docks of Tu’narath, the githyanki capital city on the Astral Plane. If the soul helm is destroyed, the ship’s psychic crew and ability to fly fades after 5 hours.

Crew of Psychic Echoes: Tasks usually handled by normal sailors are accomplished by the psychic echoes of deceased githyanki sailors. Translucent shimmers with no personality or ability to attack, they vanish if the psychic helm is destroyed.

Crenellations: Unlike most traditional ships, the sides of the githyanki war galleon have crenellations to help protect troops. Anyone on the deck has cover from enemies outside the ship who are not attacking from above.

Ramming Spike: Thirty feet long, this sharpened ramming spike is designed to penetrate enemy ships or huge foes. It is wielded by the ship’s pilot in the bridge.

Bridge: The entire ship is steered and controlled from this location. The room is relatively bare, boasting a runic circle on the floor and a ship’s wheel standing before it. Windows around this room allow the captain to see forward and arrow slits allow spellcasters to target attackers to port or starboard outside the ship with superior cover. The pilot of ship can attempt to make attacks against another ship with the ramming spike. 

Stats

One thing I love about modern D&D is that they give the ship a monster stat block! So simple. My group is actually flying around in a "hell ship" they obtained when they played through To Wake the Leviathan. 

I won't reprint the full stat block, but here's the basics: 

AC 17 HP 172 fly 90 ft swim 60 ft
Multiattack: 1 catapult, 2 ballistas

• Ballista: +8 to hit, rg 500/1500 ft., 13 (2d10+3) bludgeoning dmg
• Catapult: +8 to hit., rg 800/2400 ft., 16 (3d8+3) bludgeoning dmg

I'll probably use the same basic numbers for the githyanki ship, but I'll swap in the force ballistas and the spell turret.

Since the githyanki ship is crewed by intangible psionic echoes, that means that the actual physical githyanki on board can be however many I want for a single encounter:

• 4 githyanki warriors (MM pg 160)
  
• 1 githyanki anarch (Mordenkainen's pg 205)
  

I'll also say that a githyanki knight (MM pg 160) is piloting the ship, but they'll plane shift away if things go bad and the vessel is being overtaken/destroyed. 

The anarch will start off by using the spell turret, launching off fireball spells at the Spicejammer. Once the ships get close, the 4 githyanki warriors will fly (everyone can fly in the Astral Plane) and board the group's ship. Maybe the anarch will go invisible, slip onto the heroes' ship and try to kill the pilot (Linnet, the party's wizard). The anarch has good spells and a devastating melee attack: +7/+7, 8 bludgeoning + 18 psychic!

Once the githyanki threat is dealt with one way or the other, the heroes can fly to the remains of the dead god Maanzecorian. 

Who is Maanzecorian?

The heroes have fought off the githyanki and fly to the dead gods, massive floating islands - the remains of gods who died. Also known as "husks" or "god-isles."

I went through old products and dug up all the information I could find on Maanzecorian.

The Great Modron March

In this adventure, Orcus runs around killing gods with a power called "The Last Word." One such deity is Maanzecorian. In this adventure, the heroes happen to be near a temple of Maanzecorian and witness the fallout of the death of a god. We learn:

• Maanzecorian was the mind flayer god of knowledge and secrets.
• Its rival was the other mind flayer deity, Ilsensine.
• Tenebrous (aka Orcus) attacked Maanzecorian on the plane of Gehenna.
• Wisps of Maanzecorian's essence scatter from its dying form. Orcus stood over its corpse and was bathed in eons of collected secrets and bits of lore.
• Maanzecorian's entire Gehennan realm boiled away upon the deity's death.
• Ilsensine now becomes the unquestioned supreme deity of the mind flayers.

Monster Mythology

Maanzecorian actually has an entry in this 2e book! We learn:

• Maanzecorian is a vain philosopher-god, has vast library of arcane works in palace.
• Is a tall illithid, with purple/green skin and yellowed tusks.
• Has a silver crown that levitates above its head - gem is a gem of brightness.
• Symbol: Silver crown set with a red gem.
• Can call down a "weird" spell on a group of creatures.
• Priests of Maanzecorian pursue knowledge, explore new territory, exploit knowledge.

Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark

This book has a quick mention: The cenotaph of Maanzecorian was once a small house of worship for the cult of the "Philosoflayer."

Volo's Guide to Monsters

Get a load of this. Maanzecorian is in 5e! In Volo's Guide, it is explained that illithid deities are not really gods, but manifestations of ideal psionic and philosophical states that mind flayers revere. 

Maanzecorian:

• Embodies a complete comprehension of knowledge.
• "It is a state wherein memories, thoughts, and aptitudes are dredged up from one’s mind not one at a time as needed, but are all laid bare and brought to the fore at once."
• The perfect memories exhibited by aboleths have long fascinated mind flayers
  

For my campaign, I'm going to say that Maanzecorian was a physical being. 

Real quick, let's look at the aboleth entry in the Monster Manual:

Eternal Memories: Aboleths have flawless memories. Aboleths’ minds are treasure troves of ancient lore, recalling moments from prehistory with perfect clarity. They plot patiently and intricately across eons. 

So maybe in this adventure, in order for the group to learn secrets from the dead god, they need to re-order their minds and attempt to achieve the "perfect" state of mind known as Maanzecorian.

Dragon Magazine #240 - Mysteries of the Dead Gods

Now we need to detail the god-isle, using material from Monte's article. 

The Goal: My group is coming here to find out what the lifebane is, and how the magic sigils factor into it (all stuff that comes from Labyrinth of Madness, which the group will play through once they hit around 18th level).

Here's the main thing I need to figure out: How do I turn this into multiple encounters? The group will probably fly right for the giant crown with the gem on it (on the head of Maanzecorian), learn what they need, and then leave. 

How do I get them to explore the whole isle without making it feel cheap? I don't want to do a "you must obtain these 5 keys to unlock what you need to know" scenario. 

After a lot of thought and reflection, looking out the window as rain pours down, listening to the call of crows, hearing the faint sounds of a sultry saxophone, I think I've got it. 

Touching the Crown: The heroes arrive. They land on/near the head. They touch the pulsing red gem on the crown. If you have a perfectly-ordered mind, if you have "achieved" Maanzecorian, you can commune with the gem and learn what you want to know. If not, you are hit with a mind blast: 

• DC 17 Intelligence saving throw or take 31 (4d12 + 5) psychic damage and be stunned for 1 minute. A target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
  

Obviously, the heroes don't have a perfectly-ordered mind. The character who touched the red gem will have a vague understanding - only those who can achieve a perfect mind state can commune with it. 

They key to achieving this state lies here on the dead god - though allowing Maanzecorian into your mind could change you profoundly. 

One effect from getting hit with the mind blast is that the characters will have a dull sense of what to do next - the God Husk imparts this knowledge to those strong enough to survive its attack. The group will need to do the following things in order:

1. See Maanzecorian.
2. Listen to the Bonethriven.
3. Smell the Black Lily.
4. Devour the Godflesh.
   
5. Touch the Crown once more.
   

Exploring the God-Isle: From there, the heroes can explore the island. At least one character will have to consume the energies of the isle, which will re-order their minds, giving them a perfect memory.

Now we can populate the god-isle with my favorite things from Monte's article, making each an encounter of one kind or another. We'll combine it with information from Monte's section on dead gods from A Guide to the Astral Plane.

A Guide to the Astral Plane - Forgotten Husks: Dead Gods

"The corpse of a god is not flesh. Flesh is inconsequential to divinity. The corpse of a god is memories, wars, heroes, regrets, sacrifices, prayers - the stuff of significance."

God-Isles:

• 1d100 x 50 feet long, 1/4th wide
• Unique conditions
• 40% have gravity.

I'll say Maanzecorian is 3,000 feet long, 750 feet wide. Has gravity, though I think that it would be cool for the group to be able to walk around to the "underside/back."

Now I'll go through the article in Dragon, grab the ideas that I like best, and make mini-encounters out of them. I think I'll tie each encounter to one of the senses - See, hear, taste, touch, and smell:

Memory Aura: As the heroes walk on the rocky god isles, a memory aura washes over them - they experience a memory from Maanzecorian's life. I want them to see the gith enslaved, tending to the fields of husks (as described in my guide to the githzerai). I might also want the group to experience Maanzecorian being slain by The Last Word. 

I also like the idea of the group experience each other's memories. Maybe before the session, I'll ask the players each to write down one memory they have - maybe a secret, or something important to them. Then, when they hit the memory aura, each character experiences a memory a random ally. 

Ultimately, I'll have it where the group starts taking psychic damage and will need to will themselves out of the aura, DC 15 CON save each round, something like that.

Mysterious Mineral: This crystal bonethriven, a massive assembly tube with 12 stops plays on its own. The "music" is horribly intense and is imbued with psionic energy. It plays a song of suggestion. As you get close to it, your mind becomes jumbled. Basically, this thing will "Reset" your mind, leaving you under the effects of a confusion spell until you get to the next encounter.

Mysterious Plant: In a field of black grass and ebony trees, there are large, lily-like plants with tendrils that hover and sway. A character who mind has been "reset" must come here, sit down and inhale. The viny tendrils will shoot up into the nose and touch the brain, "re-wiring it."

The character's mind is now becoming able to achieve Maanzecorian. I dug up some info on Illithid psychology from the Illithiad. The character will now struggle with the following thoughts:

• The Essential Fiction: "Life with the elder brain represents the highest form of being."
• Dominion is Life: Domination of others is key to success. Having a thrall is very important to a mind flayer.
• Darken the Light: Sunlight causes discomfort - destroying all suns is an overarching goal.
• Emotions: They feel primarily frustration, and will continue to do so until they achieve domination and mastery. "Discontent subtly colors every other emotion, thought, and action."
• Concept of Time: Only the present matters. The past is a fluctuating medium. Only an elder brain records historical events. The future is only an as-yet-unrealized portion of the present.

I don't want the character to turn evil, I just want to emphasize that what they are going through will have profound effects. They are still the same person, but they are now struggling inside with all of these weird new personality quirks and assumptions.

Godquake: The dead god stirs! At this point, there is a "godquake." The husk's natural defenses are starting to kick in, and it is forming a guardian from its godflesh. The godquake is essentially an ongoing earthquake spell.

From a rift rises the guardian - a brainstealer dragon. Maybe more than one (this group has a tendency to polymorph their enemies... I don't want this encounter to be an anti-climax). This monster is from Dragon Magazine #337. The group is 12th level, so we'll re-skin an appropriate monster - an adult green dragon. It's CR 15, which is a "hard" encounter for four 12th level heroes. 

It has tiny pale purple scales, wings are fleshy layers of skin, four long tentacles. Eyes are two white lidless orbs. "Mind flayer breeding programs occasionally create terrors even elder brains cannot control."

Adult Brainstealer Dragon
Huge dragon, Lawful Evil

AC 19 HP 207 (18d12+90) Spd 40 ft., fly 80 ft., swim 40 ft.
STR 23 (+6) DEX 12 (+1) CON 21 (+5) INT 18 (+4) WIS 15 (+2) CHA 17 (+3)

• Saving Throws Dex +6, Con +10, Wis +7, Cha +8
• Skills Deception +8, Insight +7, Perception +12, Persuasion +8, Stealth +6
• Damage Immunities Acid
• Senses Blindsight 60 ft., Darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 22
• Languages Deep Speech, Undercommon, telepathy 120 ft.
  

Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The dragon's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 18). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

• At will: detect thoughts, levitate
• 1/day each: dominate monster, plane shift (self only)

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Actions

Multiattack. The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its tentacles and two with its claws.

Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) psychic damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 18) and must succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence saving throw or be stunned until this grapple ends.

Extract Brain. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one incapacitated humanoid grappled by the mind flayer. Hit: The target takes 55 (10d10) piercing damage. If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the mind flayer kills the target by extracting and devouring its brain.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d6 + 6) slashing damage.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: (2d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage.

Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours. 

Mind Blast (Recharge 5–6). The dragon magically emits psychic energy in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence saving throw or take 56 (16d6) psychic damage and be stunned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Legendary Actions
The Adult Brainstealer Dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Adult Brainstealer Dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of their turn.

• Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
• Tentacles Attack. The dragon makes a tentacles attack.
• Extract Brain (Costs 2 Actions). The dragon makes an extract brain attack.
  

Final Task: Eat some of the brainstealer dragon's brain. The character is essentially consuming godflesh. Doing this allows them to achieve the full state of Maanzecorian.

Using the Crown: Now the characters can return to the crown. Anyone who has acieved the state of Maanzecorian can touch the crown and commune with it. The character can ask 3 questions, to be answered psychically by whatever remains of the mind flayer god.

Here, the group can learn things relevant to the campaign:

What is the Lifebane? Vast dark matter, spreading throughout the planes. A malevolent, semi-sentient entity of chaos and evil, that will slowly corrupt the entire multiverse - ultimately giving demons free reign and utter rulership.

What are the Sigils? The sigils are the multiverse's way of protecting against the lifebane. Acquiring the 20 sigils gives a path to the source of the lifebane and ways to defeat it.

The one thing they can't learn is where the source of the lifebane is. This information is blocked by the lifebane itself.

I might have the god husk point out that right now, the lifebane is corrupting the Graven Ones - the awesome NPCs from the next Monte Cook adventure in this "path" - Demon God's Fane.