yes a Multi-dimentional time traveling lich who has 9 dead gods trapped in a tomb, and he stealling souls across the forgotten realms, preventing reserection... *i know lets add a Zombie Tyranasaurus Rex!*
I couldn’t help but use Acererak as an npc that embodies the various skeletal dead creatures throughout the tomb to misguide and mess with the Adventurers, he’s like a mad-man who’s bored and just wants to get the most out of these adventurers before they die
I currently have Acererak pretending the "Jester in Yellow" in my campaign. The party thinks this guy is just some annoying magic user who is fond of being annoying, but I've left so many hints he's more than that, and has been churning events in to well organized traps against not just the party but against factions they come across in the story, in order for him to get what he wants as if he's at the helm of a well oiled machine.
My friends and I made him a treasure collector who thought "whoever wants my treasure must have good equipment to get this far" so most of his traps where to strip you of everything and kick you out or kill you, in that order. He had a magic gateway that would teliport all your gear to him and leave you outside naked unless you where a warforged or golem other then flesh golems.
Here's how I've always seen Acererak: He's a dark reflection of the players. He himself is an adventurer, who has become so addicted to the lifestyle of wayfaring, exploring, battling armies and monsters, and reaping the rewards of it, he has done horrible things just so he can continue to live that life. He sought immortality through lich-hood to continue, and in his crippling fear of losing his immortal life, designed the perfect phylactary that nobody could ever find as a safeguard. This is also what has lead him to jumping into different universes; he simply seeks more thrill and adventure. But what makes him evil is that he's willing to do anything to continue living his thrill-seeking life, no matter how absolutley horrible it is, and that is why he must be stopped. In other words, he has become a bit of a muder-hobo adventurer.
Last I checked Vecna was a God in the Greyhawk setting. At least in 3rd and 4th edition, haven't checked if he still is in 5th. But yeah he obtained Godhood while trapped by the dark powers of Ravenloft, so he just became a God and thus be too powerful to be held by the dark powers and was able to open a door to Sigil and through Sigil found another door back to the Greyhawk setting.
Love the San Dimas High t-shirt talk about excellent adventures lol. After playing the tomb of horrors in 81at 11 years old I was hooked on the character. Now can we bring back Lolth and The Valt of the Drow pleaeeeese?
I would love to see a video about Larloch the Shadowking. In annotated Elminster, by Ed Greenwood, he said that by around 1374 DR, he was a level 47 lich... It would be AWESOME! Thanks!
I really like how you've started really thinking about themes and ideas in these products; SKT was about family, ToA is about the lengths people go to escape deaths etc. What I would like to see in the future is tie the groups characters to the villain PERSONALLY. Eg. in the next campaign, all the PCs have to have had a family member murdered by the Big Bad. Maybe a city was blown up, or a la conan when the big bad was youngerhe killed off the PC's entire village. And make the Villain known and named from the beginning. None of this shadowy mysterious stuff. Lets have a Smaug who ate the the character's husband! Let's have a Mussolini who burned Neverwinter to the ground! Yeah. Make the PCs hate them...then make them have to join forces and roelplay with them 66% of the way through so they can fight a bigger evil - #mindblown. Much love guys.
misomiso well, I'm going to assume that the next campaign is going to take place in the feywilde, and so the theme might reasonably be something along the lines of the lengths people go to escape from reality, or emotional outbursts VS self control, or the changing nature of all things- I think that would be a really interesting niche to explore in a feywilde campaign
They seem to be following the release strategy of - adventure, BIG adventure, rules suppllement. Personally think the next BIG adventure will be Eberron, followed by something like a 'Eberron PLayers guide', but think the next adventure will either be Feywild or Planes based. Not sure though.
In my world, the tomb of horrors is in a demi-plane that can only be reached by collecting six jade amulets resembling devil faces. 1. The first amulet is being carried by Belak, the Outcast, who is tending to the Gulthias tree beneath the Sunless Citadel. 2. The second amulet lies in the treasure hoard of Nightscale, the black dragon, deep beneath the Forge of Fury. 3. The third amulet is hidden beneath an alter dedicated to Zotzilaha, the vampire god, within the ruins of the ancient city of Tamoachan. 4. The fourth amulet is carried by Nox, an Efreet guarding the stolen treasures of Keraptis under White Plume Mountain. 5. The fifth amulet lies within the phylactery vault deep within the Doomvault. 6. The sixths and final amulet is being carried to Eclavdra, a drow priestess, currently scheming with different giants inside the Ha11 of the Fire Giant King.
This is really cool, but surly by the time the party gets all six and enters the Tomb of Horrors they'd be massively over levelled? You'd have to really beff up the Tomb
What's in your tomb though? Why would adventurers go through all that trouble? Is his actual phylactery there? a magic item? Did Acererak make up rumours to draw adventurers in then spread the keys so he could laugh at those who died to the key-holders?..
Wanderingsage7 depends, if he gave a damn, he would be more powerful than Vecna imo, but Acererak is more content with the little niche he has carved out for himself.
Obviously Vecna is more powerful. Vecna is a literal god, in addition to being a lich like Acererak. It's honestly like a comparison between Ashardalon or Dragotha and Tiamat. But as a force on the material plane, Acererak is definitely more dangerous than Vecna, since the latter mostly acts though his cult and in most extreme cases through his aspect. Also I do think that Acererak could have the potential to achieve godhood, like Vecna. That would definitely be interesting with Acererak, Vecna and Orcus kinda infighting for the dominion over undeath.
Less. This is like asking, who is more or less dangerous, an ancient red dragon who likes playing with his food or Tiamat. Vecna ruled a major portion of ancient Oerth, his "destruction" gave rise to two of the most powerful artifacts in D&D (the sword used to "kill" him was yet another powerful artifact) and this setback cost him his ancient empire but eventually lead to his ascension as a deity who influence spans multiple crystal spheres. Acererak is just an old lich (in some versions learning at the foot of Vecna), who is now a demi-lich reduced to playing with his food in his lair; originally from Greyhawk and now with a shard or alter-ego in Faerun.
Acererak has had the opportunity to become a god several times but has never taken it. He's an odd character that cares less about just power and such and more about running around the multiverse causing all sorts of tomb related shenanigans. The guy basically casts wish spells like they're cantrips. Vecna is still technically more powerful in terms of raw magical might to be sure, but it's sort of a hard comparison to make. Dangerous for very different reasons.
Um, you don't kill him in the 4e against the giants adventure. you just meet him. I am not really sure what the "canonical inconsistencies" are? It may be complex, but it is not contradictory.
I think canonical inconsistencies refer to differences between what he is. In the OG adventures he is just a lich/demilich. Then in second edition, as they said in the video some iterations have him as a human, others as a tiefling, others as a mutant etc. In third edition, he is back to being a demilich but gets destroyed by some divine force off screen and turns into a vestige, which in the forgotten realms conversion is entirely replaced by Sammaster. I have no knowledge of what happens to him in 4th edition, but the guy gave an example about that too. I don't think I've ever heard of a D&D creature that has changed so many times between editions, going from mortality, to lichdom, to being a demilich, to being a vestige and now back to lichdom/demilich
Yeah, none of what you said was correct. I' suggest reading up on him. He was never a tiefling,or a mortal in the normal timeframe of the game...(just talked about as one in his past) was discovered to be a cambion after 1st ed, died in RttToH and became a vestage, but was able to force hikmself to reform as a demilich due to 4e shenanigans. Sammaster was only a substitute vestage b/c he didnt appear in the realms, my earlier comment debunked the example given for 4e.
actually the visage is something totally different its stats are on page 107 (page 15 of the maps and monsters booklet) of return to the tomb. Its a "creature born of the nightmares of every citizen if Moil." Acererak has just become so powerful he can simply take over pretty much any undead form for his own as opposed to wait for his origional to reform. the book gives stats for him as a skeleton, winter wight, lich, and demi-lich. quite a nasty villan !!! trivia point: his mother's name (according to the box set) is Valinda and hes father was a Tanar'ri
Not sure what you mean by any of this, we were talking about the Vestige of Acererak from the 3e Tome of Magic, not the undead creature called a visage. You are correct on his lineage, as I pointed out earlier the 2nd ed story reveals that he was not a human but a cambion.
The very fact that he didn't appear in the realms, while now he does is a contradiction. The very fact that both Tomb of Horrors and Tomb of Annihilation exist is a contradiction. You realize there is no timeline between the different editions, and if you try to come up with one you will find many problems. Each edition should be considered as its own alternate universe.
...no. Very good interview, but no, you do not have to dig your way into the original Tomb of Horrors. In fact, there are three entrances - two of which are fake! :)
Not true. All three entrances are hidden and must be discovered and dug out in order to access them. Not only do you have to dig your way in, you have a two in three chance of finding the wrong ones. ;-) Even entering is a trick and a trap.
...but...TSR (and then WotC) _own_ both Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. They didn't rip off anything. They just reused one of their own ideas in a different campaign setting within their larger intellectual property. Also, who cares?
He's a time travelling multi-dimensional lich, how tough could he be?
Ed Stevens bet he's badass at playing the arcade game joust!
The first God of trolls.
he is not the real one he is a spell of acererak
He’s more than that, more like a cataclysm
You have better luck trying to kill a dragon with a kobold armed with a kitchen knife. That's how tough he is.
yes a Multi-dimentional time traveling lich who has 9 dead gods trapped in a tomb, and he stealling souls across the forgotten realms, preventing reserection... *i know lets add a Zombie Tyranasaurus Rex!*
I couldn’t help but use Acererak as an npc that embodies the various skeletal dead creatures throughout the tomb to misguide and mess with the Adventurers, he’s like a mad-man who’s bored and just wants to get the most out of these adventurers before they die
I currently have Acererak pretending the "Jester in Yellow" in my campaign. The party thinks this guy is just some annoying magic user who is fond of being annoying, but I've left so many hints he's more than that, and has been churning events in to well organized traps against not just the party but against factions they come across in the story, in order for him to get what he wants as if he's at the helm of a well oiled machine.
You guys should do more videos like this one (cool monsters or antagonists stories!)
My friends and I made him a treasure collector who thought "whoever wants my treasure must have good equipment to get this far" so most of his traps where to strip you of everything and kick you out or kill you, in that order. He had a magic gateway that would teliport all your gear to him and leave you outside naked unless you where a warforged or golem other then flesh golems.
as much as i appreciate this breakdown of the character literally nothing can stop me from playing Acererak as Drag Queen Skeletor
I know this comment is 2 years old, but that's so hilarious
Evergreen comment
Here's how I've always seen Acererak:
He's a dark reflection of the players. He himself is an adventurer, who has become so addicted to the lifestyle of wayfaring, exploring, battling armies and monsters, and reaping the rewards of it, he has done horrible things just so he can continue to live that life. He sought immortality through lich-hood to continue, and in his crippling fear of losing his immortal life, designed the perfect phylactary that nobody could ever find as a safeguard. This is also what has lead him to jumping into different universes; he simply seeks more thrill and adventure. But what makes him evil is that he's willing to do anything to continue living his thrill-seeking life, no matter how absolutley horrible it is, and that is why he must be stopped. In other words, he has become a bit of a muder-hobo adventurer.
Still waiting on a 5e Vecna adventure... :( Resorting to writing one myself.
Last I checked Vecna was a God in the Greyhawk setting. At least in 3rd and 4th edition, haven't checked if he still is in 5th. But yeah he obtained Godhood while trapped by the dark powers of Ravenloft, so he just became a God and thus be too powerful to be held by the dark powers and was able to open a door to Sigil and through Sigil found another door back to the Greyhawk setting.
Who is here from the Runesmith video?
Love the San Dimas High t-shirt talk about excellent adventures lol. After playing the tomb of horrors in 81at 11 years old I was hooked on the character. Now can we bring back Lolth and The Valt of the Drow pleaeeeese?
I would love to see a video about Larloch the Shadowking. In annotated Elminster, by Ed Greenwood, he said that by around 1374 DR, he was a level 47 lich... It would be AWESOME! Thanks!
I love the amount of thoughts put into the villains of DND.
I really like how you've started really thinking about themes and ideas in these products; SKT was about family, ToA is about the lengths people go to escape deaths etc.
What I would like to see in the future is tie the groups characters to the villain PERSONALLY.
Eg. in the next campaign, all the PCs have to have had a family member murdered by the Big Bad. Maybe a city was blown up, or a la conan when the big bad was youngerhe killed off the PC's entire village.
And make the Villain known and named from the beginning. None of this shadowy mysterious stuff. Lets have a Smaug who ate the the character's husband! Let's have a Mussolini who burned Neverwinter to the ground!
Yeah. Make the PCs hate them...then make them have to join forces and roelplay with them 66% of the way through so they can fight a bigger evil - #mindblown.
Much love guys.
misomiso well, I'm going to assume that the next campaign is going to take place in the feywilde, and so the theme might reasonably be something along the lines of the lengths people go to escape from reality, or emotional outbursts VS self control, or the changing nature of all things- I think that would be a really interesting niche to explore in a feywilde campaign
They seem to be following the release strategy of - adventure, BIG adventure, rules suppllement.
Personally think the next BIG adventure will be Eberron, followed by something like a 'Eberron PLayers guide', but think the next adventure will either be Feywild or Planes based.
Not sure though.
This video brought to you by Monster Energy Drinks
In my world, the tomb of horrors is in a demi-plane that can only be reached by collecting six jade amulets resembling devil faces.
1. The first amulet is being carried by Belak, the Outcast, who is tending to the Gulthias tree beneath the Sunless Citadel.
2. The second amulet lies in the treasure hoard of Nightscale, the black dragon, deep beneath the Forge of Fury.
3. The third amulet is hidden beneath an alter dedicated to Zotzilaha, the vampire god, within the ruins of the ancient city of Tamoachan.
4. The fourth amulet is carried by Nox, an Efreet guarding the stolen treasures of Keraptis under White Plume Mountain.
5. The fifth amulet lies within the phylactery vault deep within the Doomvault.
6. The sixths and final amulet is being carried to Eclavdra, a drow priestess, currently scheming with different giants inside the Ha11 of the Fire Giant King.
This is really cool, but surly by the time the party gets all six and enters the Tomb of Horrors they'd be massively over levelled? You'd have to really beff up the Tomb
What's in your tomb though? Why would adventurers go through all that trouble? Is his actual phylactery there? a magic item? Did Acererak make up rumours to draw adventurers in then spread the keys so he could laugh at those who died to the key-holders?..
Brilliant way of making a Yawning Portal campaign.
Dude your world sounds amazing!!!
This episode of D&D Beyond brought to you by Monster Energy Drink©. Don't drink soul energy like Acererak the demi lich, drink Monster. That's probably not the best ad campaign...
MORE LORE VIDS
So what is the faint aura of good detected in the chapel inside the tomb?
Man... I love Chris so much...
Speak for yourself, I talk to my Monster energy drink often enough 😋
I actually have the original Tomb of Horrors S1 Module.
Excellent
So, more or less dangerous than Vecna?
Wanderingsage7 depends, if he gave a damn, he would be more powerful than Vecna imo, but Acererak is more content with the little niche he has carved out for himself.
Obviously Vecna is more powerful. Vecna is a literal god, in addition to being a lich like Acererak. It's honestly like a comparison between Ashardalon or Dragotha and Tiamat.
But as a force on the material plane, Acererak is definitely more dangerous than Vecna, since the latter mostly acts though his cult and in most extreme cases through his aspect.
Also I do think that Acererak could have the potential to achieve godhood, like Vecna. That would definitely be interesting with Acererak, Vecna and Orcus kinda infighting for the dominion over undeath.
Less. This is like asking, who is more or less dangerous, an ancient red dragon who likes playing with his food or Tiamat.
Vecna ruled a major portion of ancient Oerth, his "destruction" gave rise to two of the most powerful artifacts in D&D (the sword used to "kill" him was yet another powerful artifact) and this setback cost him his ancient empire but eventually lead to his ascension as a deity who influence spans multiple crystal spheres.
Acererak is just an old lich (in some versions learning at the foot of Vecna), who is now a demi-lich reduced to playing with his food in his lair; originally from Greyhawk and now with a shard or alter-ego in Faerun.
Acererak has had the opportunity to become a god several times but has never taken it. He's an odd character that cares less about just power and such and more about running around the multiverse causing all sorts of tomb related shenanigans. The guy basically casts wish spells like they're cantrips.
Vecna is still technically more powerful in terms of raw magical might to be sure, but it's sort of a hard comparison to make. Dangerous for very different reasons.
Acererack was a general for Vecna's army in fact
You're just food to him.
I actually had a necromancer that had warforged body guards... 🤣
Um, you don't kill him in the 4e against the giants adventure. you just meet him. I am not really sure what the "canonical inconsistencies" are? It may be complex, but it is not contradictory.
I think canonical inconsistencies refer to differences between what he is. In the OG adventures he is just a lich/demilich. Then in second edition, as they said in the video some iterations have him as a human, others as a tiefling, others as a mutant etc. In third edition, he is back to being a demilich but gets destroyed by some divine force off screen and turns into a vestige, which in the forgotten realms conversion is entirely replaced by Sammaster. I have no knowledge of what happens to him in 4th edition, but the guy gave an example about that too. I don't think I've ever heard of a D&D creature that has changed so many times between editions, going from mortality, to lichdom, to being a demilich, to being a vestige and now back to lichdom/demilich
Yeah, none of what you said was correct. I' suggest reading up on him. He was never a tiefling,or a mortal in the normal timeframe of the game...(just talked about as one in his past) was discovered to be a cambion after 1st ed, died in RttToH and became a vestage, but was able to force hikmself to reform as a demilich due to 4e shenanigans. Sammaster was only a substitute vestage b/c he didnt appear in the realms, my earlier comment debunked the example given for 4e.
actually the visage is something totally different its stats are on page 107 (page 15 of the maps and monsters booklet) of return to the tomb. Its a "creature born of the nightmares of every citizen if Moil." Acererak has just become so powerful he can simply take over pretty much any undead form for his own as opposed to wait for his origional to reform. the book gives stats for him as a skeleton, winter wight, lich, and demi-lich. quite a nasty villan !!! trivia point: his mother's name (according to the box set) is Valinda and hes father was a Tanar'ri
Not sure what you mean by any of this, we were talking about the Vestige of Acererak from the 3e Tome of Magic, not the undead creature called a visage. You are correct on his lineage, as I pointed out earlier the 2nd ed story reveals that he was not a human but a cambion.
The very fact that he didn't appear in the realms, while now he does is a contradiction. The very fact that both Tomb of Horrors and Tomb of Annihilation exist is a contradiction. You realize there is no timeline between the different editions, and if you try to come up with one you will find many problems. Each edition should be considered as its own alternate universe.
acererak seems like a push over. not enough paladin
Video was Desynced for me
...no. Very good interview, but no, you do not have to dig your way into the original Tomb of Horrors. In fact, there are three entrances - two of which are fake! :)
Not true. All three entrances are hidden and must be discovered and dug out in order to access them. Not only do you have to dig your way in, you have a two in three chance of finding the wrong ones. ;-) Even entering is a trick and a trap.
Acererak is a Greyhawk villain that you ripped off to put into the damned Forgotten Realms.
Nicola Ricottone technically all the worlds of the material planes exist in the same universe... or it will be once Spelljammer is updated to 5e.
He's actually from Oerth in Tomb of Annihilation. It says he travels to various worlds setting up tombs and doing various evil things.
...but...TSR (and then WotC) _own_ both Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. They didn't rip off anything. They just reused one of their own ideas in a different campaign setting within their larger intellectual property.
Also, who cares?
They should have kept Greyhawk going...
eww 5th edition.... Im going to throw up.