Let’s Convert the Fiend Folio: Ygorl, Lord of Entropy

You know what was missing from the last post? Me blathing about the Fiend Folio and my fond memories thereof. In truth, I never used the Slaadi Lords in play. The highest level characters we had achieved in those halcyon days of yore were 14^th to 16^th level. Powerful, yes. Powerful enough to take on these creatures? No, they were not. And, of course, AD&D didn’t have a robust patron system like Dungeon Crawl Classics does!

Did I know that Ssendam was “madness” backwards, or that Ygorl is an anagram of “glory”? I would like to think that I had noticed, but if I did I had long since forgotten until I began to convert them, when it came as a pleasant surprise.

Anyway, this finishes the Slaadi, although not the letter “S”!

 

The Avatar of Ygorl, Lord of Entropy

Ygorl’s Avatar: Init +5; Atk Sickle +8 melee (3d8 plus DC 15 Fort or die) or spell; AC 27; HD 12d12+36; hp 110;  MV 40’ or swim 50’; Act 2d20; SP Spellcasting, death sickle (Fort DC 15 or die), gate, command un-dead, regenerate 3 hp/round, +3 or better weapons to hit, wish fulfillment, 85% magic resistance; SV Fort +14, Ref +8, Will +20; AL C.

This fearsome slaad lord always appears as a 12-foot-tall skeletal man in the Lands We Know, utterly black in hue, with bat-like wings and wielding an adamantine sickle with an 8-foot-long blade. The sickle has the word “death” inscribed on its blade in the slaadi tongue, strikes as a +5 weapon, and instantly slays targets who fail a DC 15 Fortitude save when it hits.

In the Lands We Know, Ygorl is rides the brass dragon, Shkiv (see below). Where the winds of Limbo roar, Ygorl is said to appear as a 15-foot-tall slaad who is so totally black that he is darker than darkness itself.

Ygorl can use an Action Die to gate in another slaad of any type (except Ssendam or other unique slaadi), and this ability never fails. In addition, the Lord of Entropy can cast the following spells as psionic powers, needing no somatic, material, or verbal components (+18 bonus to the spell check): Chill touch, detect evil, detect invisible, ESP, phantasm, planar step, ray of enfeeblement, scare, and shatter. He regenerates 3 hp each round, so long as he has any hit points left.  He has an 85% chance of being able to ignore a spell (or other magical effect) as though it did not exist (determined before any applicable save is made) and can only be harmed by +3 or better magic weapons.

In addition, Ygorl may command up to 50 Hit Dice of un-dead creatures, which must succeed in a DC 25 Will save to ignore or disobey any of his commands.

 

Shkiv (large wingless brass dragon): Init +16; Atk Claw +17 melee (1d8) or bite +17 melee (1d12) or tail slap +17 melee (1d20 plus venom) or breath weapon; AC 30; HD 16d12; hp 120;  MV 60’ or swim 80’ or climb 40’; Act 4d20 for attacks plus 1d20 for spells; SP Breath weapons, amphibious, spellcasting, poison plants; SV Fort +16, Ref +16, Will +16; AL C.

Shkiv has two breath weapons. The first is a line of electricity 100 feet long, which forks 1d4 times and does damage equal to Shkiv’s hit points (Reflex DC 26 for half). The other is a cone of intense cold, 60’ long with a 20’ wide base, which does damage equal to the dragon’s hit points (Fortitude DC 20 for half). His tail is venomous, and those struck by a tail slap take an additional 1d8 hp damage from the venom and must succeed in a DC 20 Fort save or take 1d5 points of Stamina damage.

The dragon can cast magic shield with a +16 bonus to the spell check. Plants wither within 100’ of Shkiv, and the ground he treads on cannot support plant life for 1d3 years after his passing. Plant creatures must succeed in a DC 20 Fort save each round they are within 100’ of Shkiv or suffer 3d8 damage.

 

Calling upon the Lord of Entropy is perilous indeed. Wizards and elves can may seek to bond with Ygorl, and they may bond others to increase his following, but any time a creature is bonded to Ygorl they must roll a Luck check after the spell is cast, but before the spell check is made. If this fails, Ygorl takes a personal, and unfortunate, interest, appearing to grant the true gift of entropy to the committed soul. In short, Ygorl kills the unlucky suppliant, taking them body and soul to his palace among the winds of Limbo.

Invoke Patron check results:

12-13	The entropic power of Ygorl reaches through the caster, striking a target of the caster’s choice within 100’. The caster may choose any number of d8 to roll to damage the target, but the glory of acting as a conduit for Ygorl is too great for mortal flesh, and the caster takes half the damage rolled (DC 15 Fortitude save to reduce to one-quarter).
14-17	As 12-13, above, but the caster has no control over how many dice are rolled. Roll 1d24 to determine the number of d8 rolled. In addition, the Fortitude save the caster must make to reduce damage to themselves is increased to DC 20.
18-19	The caster partakes in entropy! For 1d3 rounds, any creature the caster touches, or who touches the caster, must succeed in a DC 15 Fortitude save or die. This includes creatures making successful attacks with natural weapons, but also includes friendly creatures (such as a cleric attempting to Lay on Hands). A character handing an object to the caster must succeed in a Luck check to avoid coming into contact.
20-23	As 18-19, above, but the condition lasts for 1d6 + CL rounds, and the DC for the Fortitude save is increased to DC 20.
24-27	Ygorl gates 1d5 grey slaadi to the caster’s location. These creatures are free-willed. If the caster is in immediate danger, the slaadi will protect them, but afterward they will bargain with the caster for their service (to a maximum of 1d4 + CL days). If suitably rewarded, they serve the caster well. Otherwise, meeting these slaadi again without Ygorl’s protection is sure to be a harrowing experience.
28-29	1d4 free-willed death slaadi are gated to the caster’s location. They will protect the caster if they are in immediate danger, but thereafter seeks to bargain with the caster for its service (to a maximum of 1d5 + CL hours). If a bargain cannot be reached, woe unto the caster, for the death slaadi will seek to take the caster themself as its reward!
30-31	Once per round, for the next 2d6 + CL hours, the caster may point at a target within 500’ to which the caster has line of sight. The target takes 3d6 damage, and must succeed in a DC 25 Fort save or die. Each time the caster evokes this power to affect a target, they take 1d6 damage which cannot be healed through magic, as a price for acting as a conduit for Ygorl’s power.
32+	The avatar of Ygorl himself appears, and fights on the caster’s behalf for up to 3d6 rounds, or until all foes within 500’ are slain (whichever comes first). At the end of this period, Ygorl judges the caster, who must succeed in a Luck check or Ygorl will transform them into a red slaad and take them to Limbo. In this event, the caster is lost forever, unless the judge (in an uncharacteristic fit of kindness) allows a special quest to recover the character.