Fire, Damnation, A Look At The Denizen's of Verekna Source Pack By Mike Nystul For Mayfair Games Demons Line For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition

"...out of the mists rose a bloated, hovering eye with tentacle ganglia clutching dozens of knives with jagged blades. Floating like an airborne jellyfish, it gazed dead ahead with its single lidless orb and as it approached I saw myself reflected in the slick surface..."

TURN UP THE HEAT...

When it comes to bringing the fire there was nothing like the little add ons that you could buy back in the 90's for Mayfair's Demon line. These add ons such as Denizen's of Verekna were no frills but had the same stamp of quality that the rest of the Mayfair Role Aids line had. Denizen's of Verekna had about fifty pages of demonic goodness & weird old school horror to add in to give your AD&D paladins a stomach ache or two. 

Mike Nystul brings the focus onto the the Marshals, Governors and Generals of the Prince of Deception  of the Infernus. Back in the 90's this was some very dangerous demonic stuff to encounter in the dungeons & back alley streets of your urban fantasy setting. 

"DENIZENS OF VEREKNA contains a monster folio with more than 50 loose-leaf pages of new monsters from the demi-plane of Verekna including complete entries for the Marshals, Governors and Generals of the Prince of Deception and a summary of the various Thanes and Lieutenants who serve them.

In addition to a veritable rogues gallery of demon lords, DENIZENS OF VEREKNA features the Grey Grimoire, a compilation of special spells employed by the most powerful wizards of the Infernus. These magicks can be used in conjunction with all of the products in the DEMONS line, making infernal sorcery a force to reckon with and the creatures who use it more dangerous than ever before.

DENIZENS OF VEREKNA expands on the material presented in the DEMONS sourcepack but can also be used as a stand alone supplement for any campaign."

Back in the 90's Nystul was a busy guy during the 2nd golden age of rpgs before going on to churn out the iconic Whispering Vault rpg. Already we can see hints of the weirdness that this author brought to the table. For first edition AD&D these demonic bastards were a force to be reckoned with.By the time third edition & three point five Dungeons & Dragons arrived they were weak by comparison to other demonic horrors churning out in D20 land. But I've always had a soft spot for Denizen's of Verekna.  This pack came with some excellent hand outs for the player's PC's to find.
The infernal sorcery of Denizen's of Verekna is one of its perks. Collect all of the Demons source packs & you complete the spell book handout. There was some very entertaining & interesting ideas in the Demons line. 

If you can find Denizen's of Verekna at a decent price then its well worth picking up. The spells are solid, the demonic add on monsters are easily inserted into the mix, & the additional demonic fire power of the Infernus makes this pack a good buy. But find this pack cheaply as it comes up from time to time on the used rpg & Dungeons & Dragons market. I give this one a four out of five. 

Tainted Words, Wounds, & Mayfair Games Demons II Box Set By Kevin Hassall - Campaign Commentary

"In Demons, you met the lords of the Infernus. now learn the dark secrets of these evil fiends, their methods most foul and how they taint the world of mortals. Learn too, how they might be sought out and destroyed. The world has faced no greater threat than the palpable evil that is... Demons! ~ The Demons II source pack includes: * An 80 page game master's book detailing how demons act and how they taint the world around them; * A 48 page book of demonic adventures; * The 32 page "Razor of Righteousness", a tome which discusses how demons may be recognized, hunted and eradicated; * The "History of the Endeavor", a book of notes describing the Cabal, a brotherhood of ambitious thaumaturgists; * A new character class, the Inquisitor,his habits and techniques; * Expanded information on Slayers, Thaumaturgists and half-demons; * Descriptions of the Gates, the demons' pathways to the plane prime; * Information on the ways of the demon-worshiping cults; * Dozens of demon-wrought magic items and adventure inspirations!"

 

So I've been getting it in the neck for posting a lot about Mayfair Games Demons box set. Well its time to start pissing off some more folks with the Demons II follow up. 1993 was a banner year for the Demons line with this box set setting the standard for Infernus fueled horrors at the table top!  Kevin Hassall really knocked it out of the park with this one. For a B/X Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition game campaign this was a killer add on. The foundation that was laid out in the first Demons box set is built upon here. Factions, cults, & more is used to great effect within the setting. The player hand outs set the stage for bringing down the home grown aspect of some of these cults. The demonic  taint here spreads out like ripples on the fetid water of a campaign. This makes this set a good choice for a retroclone system such as Labyrinth Lord or Troll Lord Games Castles & Crusades. 



The expanded information on Slayers, Thaumaturgists and half-demons ports very easily over into the system of Castles & Crusades. By reversing it we can see how this information ports over into a super hero or pulp setting ala Amazing Adventures! rpg. Time & again we see this happening in various Troll Lord products something that Mayfair toyed with all the way back in the 90's. 
Campaign cohesion is something that a dungeon master has to work at & with elements from Demons II the job is easier. The contents of this box set are excellent & well worth tracking down. The Infernus is detailed but not enough to cause a DM headaches when it comes to adding or subtracting elements from their campaigns.


Heroes & PC's need to be heroic these are foes that come off as dangerous, deranged, damaged, & diabolic without the players wanting to play them. Make no mistake about this. These are forces that Luz is subcontracting & already the players are waiting to kick ass.
I've already been asked by several players how is Luz commanding these forces? What is the connection to Greyhawk?! What are the links to the classic campaign?!  Sorry folks your just going to have to arrange your schedules and play!


We already know that Luz's maternal grandmother through adoption is Baba Yaga & already an an army of evil men, terrible wizards and savage orcs has been seen in Russia & parts of the United States. This ties in with the Demons II box set & especially The Codex Slavorum from Troll Lords. 


This ties in with several of Luz's other relatives & some of his enemies as well! I'm having a glorious time with all of this! Do I think that you should pick up the Demons II box set? Yes if you can find it cheaply? Certainly! 

Dungeons & Demons - Mayfair Games Demons Box Set One - OSR Campaign Commentary

So today was a flurry of phone calls & emails. I got a chance to grill DM Steve on what exactly he's gotten me into. I spoke with him about using Mayfair games Demons box set one to create our demon hit squad. Already in the works is another player's paladin to head off said squad of demons from prematurely ending the player's PC's. What is Demons?!

 "Demons is an supplement source book for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition role playing game. The work was written and published by Mayfair Games. The work appeared in 1992 and was the first of many books to add more detail on demons in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition which, at that point in time, had removed Demons from the game."Most of my campaign notes were/are a B/X & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons hybrid so Demons way back in the mists of the 1992 era are perfectly suited for this setting. 
"FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH AD&D 2ND EDITION. Eons ago...they were imprisoned in a vast inferno for fomenting a conflict amidst the gods themselves. Now, they're loose and free to prey upon the will of man. Run out of challenges? Try matching wits with the embodiment of all evil. The Demons sourcepack includes: * 48 pages of hole-punched monster descriptions, covering the demons and the inhabitants of their inferno lairs, for your players to add to other game materials; * An 80-page game master's booklet; * The 64-page Infernicum Mallemancia, an ancient book of demon lore that provides your players with all the clues they need to tackle and defeat their diabolical adversaries; * New character classes, including the demon-summoning Thaumaturgist and the demon-hunting Slayer; * Rules for half-demon player characters; * Dozens of new spells and new magic items; * A Full color, 22 "x 34" map; * A complete adventure; and the most powerful spells in fantasy role-playing!"

So I've been reviewing the box set & going over how to really flesh out the beasts that are going to take down my player's PC demi gods. I've also been rereading the Godbound rpg as well. Godbound brings a Hell of a lot to the table pardon the pun. Some of the factions & adversaries are very much at home in the background that I'm planning. The setting material does fit what I've got planned but the cult faction rules are going to be a selling point. Working all of these moving parts & pieces will test my skill but I'm having a great time with it. Godbound is well written &  designed skillfully better then to a certain extent Stars Without Numbers because of the way it handles divinities.  Does it fit Mayfairs Demon line? In a back handed manner, yes. 

Everything from the Apocalypse to the Angel erm Sentinels is in there. Demons are highly dangerous  yet completely motivated for chaos & murder. My players seem absolutely worried! I couldn't be happier but as a dungeon master. The players seem genuinely motivated to move forward with game play as soon as possible. 
I spoke about the rise of the Primorial dragons the other day on this blog but one of my players mentioned the possibility of a species of Spectral dragon appearing? A Spectral Dragon is one of those monsters that I've only seen on the in passing from the Mayfair Dragons Role Aids book. But I came across a spectral dragon conversion on the Vaults of Pandius website. Is it possible that one of these monsters might be seen within the game? I believe it is. 
The demons are acting as mercenary forces in Luz's invasion force. They revel in chaos, violence, & destruction so Earth is perfect breeding ground for them. You can see the set up already!

Already demonic scouts are prowling through the city streets looking for the PC's. But there are other forces at play looking to stave off the growing threat. But what of the artifact of Luz itself? Rumors are that its established a base of operation with anyone of the growing number of cults within the city.  The demons seem to be attracted to several dungeons that the PC's have cleared out over the last couple of months when DM Steve ran the player's PC's through them.
Then there's the suspicion that I'm going to pull several monsters out of the B/X Dungeons & Dragons Expert set? Since several of my players actually read this blog I will not confirm nor deny this.


What I will say is that I can confirm that several of the dungeons have doorways that lead straight into the Infernicum. Players should be very afraid & indeed because there are a lot of fronts in this war. Many of the entities that are mentioned in the Demons box set remind me of the demonic monsters that we've seen the classic Marvel  Dr. Strange comic book. Creatures motivated by more then simple needs & wants that human beings can understand but truly alien horror lurking just under the surface. Zom is a great example of the type of unique & utterly dangerous forces that we find in the Demons Box set.

These forces are utterly unique but fit in the divine quasi ecology of fiction that we find running as a thread throughout the Mayfair Role Aids line.