Inferno - "Go to hell!"

Written by Geoffry O. Dale and released by Judges Guild in 1980, this was one of my favorite modules I hardly ever used. Described on the back cover as an adventure you can use if a high level wizard tells you to "go to hell" or a cleric put a geas on you to steal a demon lord's magic item, this was an an area that only high level characters should tread.

On it's own, the module is a great read, full of the type of atmosphere that Dante's hell tends to conjure up. Just like in The Divine Comedy, you start out in a dark, lonely forest. Although there are no set encounters here, you are filled with a sense of dread and terror. Wandering down the trail, you will eventually find yourself at the gates of hell, and that is where the fun begins.

There is no great narrative, and the areas and encounters you have can be placed in front of the players in any order you choose. I always thought of it as more a sourcebook than an actual linear adventure. Besides various demon lords, you can meet a host of demon and devil servants, undead, and lost souls. Tiamet, Queen of evil dragons, has a cave lair in hell, and it is chock full of glorious treasures and artifacts. You can sail down the river Styx with the boatman, gazing with horror upon the polluted and foul water of the river, and the atrocities and suffering that goes on along it's putrid banks.

I never really had a place for this in my regular game world, but I did use it for a mini-campaign I was running in the City State of the Invincible Overlord (a rare series of sessions I ran with characters starting at 10th level). But a good indication of how much I loved a module in my teens and in my 20's was how long it stayed in my bathroom magazine rack. It was there for almost a decade!

I Ebayed this book several years ago during one of my game materials purges, and it is one of the game books I wish I had again to give it another read. Sure, like a lot of Judges Guild items any DM with decades of experience should be able to come up with a similar adventure setting off the top of their head that would suffice. Still, who needs to come up with an adventure they will never run? I just want to have another read of it to bring back some great old memories of an old school module I wish I had the chance to get more use from. It was really one of my faves.

Demogorgon is just alright with me

Seeing as I (for some reason) decided to dedicate the name of my gaming blog to this nasty demon lord, I thought it might be appropriate to make him the subject of my very first post. Props to Grognardia for inspiring me to write about a demon lord in the first place. Who would ever think I’d be musing about demons with tentacles and multiple baboon heads? Mother would be so proud.

According to Wikipedia’s non-D&D entry, Demogorgon’s obscure etymology is as follows: The origins of the name Demogorgon are uncertain, partly because the figure itself was of imaginary coinage. Various theories suggest that the name is derived from the Greek words daemon ('spirit' given the Christian connotations of 'demon' in the early Middle Ages)— or, less likely demos ('people')— and Gorgon or gorgos ('grim'). Another, less accepted theory claims that it is derived from a variation of 'demiurge'. The early Christian obsession with Satan and the vivid inhabitants of Hell are of Persian origin, while the magical context in which such imaginings thrive was Egyptian and Syrian.

Back in the day, when I first cracked open my shiny new Monster Manual, the drawings of the demons were what really caught my eye in those first few moments. Sure, the dragons are hellacool, but we had seen dragons a thousand times in our young, over -fantasizing minds. Here, right before my 14 year-old peepers, were the insanely powerful rulers of hell. The refined and royal-looking Azmodeus, the grossly fat and badass Orcus (these two might make a great Odd Couple inspired sitcom. Messy and Chaotic Orcus and neat, clean lawful evil Azzy).

Out of all the demons and devils, however, one stuck out most of all. Overall, Demogorgon has the look of a hitherto undiscovered greek monster – but a monster meaner and more pissed-off looking than any harpy or hippogriff. Sure, a pair of snarling monkey heads, tentacles instead of arms, and lizard feet are going to make you do a double-take, but it’s what you find out after reading that makes you do a spit-take. OK, so he maybe isn’t the most powerful demon, but the first thing the MM tells you is that this guy has a passionate rivalry with Orcus. You don’t fuck with somebody like Orcus unless you are either a badass or insane. Demogorgon is a lot of both.

Let’s take a look at some of his stats and powers, and let’s try to do it through my then immature eyes. Mind you, when I first read these demon/devil entries, my highest level character was around 3rd, and it took 5 or 6 games to get there. I had yet to run my first real game, but I could envision one day pitting this fiend against some higher level heroes (at that point 8th level seemed like an amazing level to reach, and Demo - G would make mincemeat out of a group of 8th levelers).

Demogorgon has the usual Godly stats that make a player cringe and clutch their favorite character close to the chest: -8 A.C., a couple hundred hit points, and high psionic ability You need a plus 2 weapon to hit him, but in almost any campaign with characters high enough to fight Demo-G all characters are probably going to be running around with plus 3’s or better. So no problem there.

Like most demons and devils, Demogorgon has supra genius level intelligence. Wow. That sounds really intelligent. I mean, Wile E. Coyote only had super genius level ability, and he could follow the instructions on all the high-tech Acme shit he bought. Supra was really out there. And how the hell do you portray a monster that smart? Could he never be tricked? Could he outsmart you, Road Runner style, into walking off a cliff or running face first into a wall?

Demo also has 95% magic resistance. WTF? So, hey magic users, don’t even friggin’ bother trying to fight this guy. Toss your items into his treasure pile, disrobe down to your loin cloth, and wait for him to get around to rotting your flesh off with his tentacles.

Demogorgon’s most troubling powers are in his heads. According to later information, these heads are almost always at odds with each other. But when they come together to wipe-out your party, look out. They will hypnotize you, and for one turn you will do what they want (you won’t kill yourself, but you would probably kill your own baby if so ordered), and for another 1-6 turns you will be disposed to doing his bidding like his bestest friend. For 1-3rd level creatures, the usual make-up of a typical army troop, he will hypno 10-100 people. So an average of 50 attackers (your henchmen and followers) are out of the running for a few turns. Hell, they are probably attacking you. Keep in mind this is automatic – only 15th level or higher creatures get a saving throw. All others are attacking their buddies, running away, or scratching and pecking at the ground like chickens. This is probably Demogorgon’s most dangerous ability.

Independently, the heads have pretty nice powers as well. The left one can vamp you like a rob of beguiling, and the right one can drive you insane with it’s gaze causing insanity for 1-6 turns, which isn’t much better than being hypnotized, but at least you will probably just do something random rather than Demo-G’s bidding. Oh, you get a break in that you get saves vs. magic against the individual heads as well. Hooray.

Demogorgon’s powers are rounded out by the usual “spell-like” powers most deity types tend to have: polymorph self and others, illusionary powers, clairaudience and clairvoyance (the one-two punch of godlings).

Demogorgon may not be compelling enough to base an entire campaign upon, but certainly his presence could be strongly felt in a dungeon setting. I’d love to run an “evils” campaign one day, and having Demo be a benefactor would be a great way to get a well-painted figure of him out on the gameboard, without slaughtering half a high level party. I just need to get a minature of him, and do a half way decent paint job on him.

Hey, how about this party of evils gets caught in the middle of Demogorgon and Orcus’ war on each other? Hmm. I’d better get figures for both.