Three Reasons to Reconsider Darkvision

With Darkvision being prevalent in many DnDish worlds, monsters of the darkness have evolved - or been bred - accordingly.

These aren't for any particular ruleset, though they lean towards 5e.

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Perilous Shade, by Clint Cearley, WotC

Created by the Derro, It-Stalks-In-Darkness is an insectoid horror that quickly broke free and bred true throughout the tunnels and caves of the Underdark.

It-Stalks-In-Darkness is feared because of its immunity to damage unless in the light - the brighter the light, the more vulnerable it becomes.  As might be expected, it never leaves the darkness of the Underdark.

An ambush predator if light is around, it prefers to drop down from above and drag its victims up and away from the group - anything to get away from the light.  In utter darkness, though, it will stand and fight with its scythe-like claws.

Given the chance, it prefers Dwarves and Drow over other species.  

In darkness, it is immune to normal weapons, but spells and magic weapons are normal.

In firelight, its AC is the equivalent of plate and shield.

In the spell light, its AC is like chain and shield.

In the spell daylight, its AC is like leather.

Damage comes from two attacks per round for nasty slicing and piercing damage.  Will try to pin a victim to the ground to gain advantage on attacks.

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Another such beast is the Luckeater.  Utterly invisible in darkness, it finds and follows any group of surface-dwellers, as their luck tastes better.  If seen at the edges of the light, it appears to be a 6-legged kitten, and mews piteously like one.  

Small and agile, the Luckeater is also lucky if fed.  All of its rolls are at advantage.

This is because it feeds on the luck of the followed group, leading to ALL rolls the individuals make being at disadvantage.

The best way to get rid of a Luckeater is to head outdoors - it won't venture outdoors under the sun or moon (but maybe on a horribly overcast night...).

If a group manages to slay and eat one, it is enough food for one person, and that person becomes lucky for the next 24 hours, rolling at advantage on everything.

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Nether Shadow, by Christopher Rush, WotC

Crafted from Shadows by Drow wizards as a counter to the Derro's It-Stalks-In-Darkness, the Darkdread has proven an effective instrument of terror, leading the way on Drow raids on Underdark communities.

The Darkdread creates an aura of paralyzing fear when seen through darkvision.  In torchlight, it lessens; in spell light, it lessens more; and in daylight the aura is dispelled entirely.

Being a product of corrupt Elven magic, true Elves of all sorts are immune to this fear, although half-elves and other Fae are not.

Mechanically speaking, Darkdread's paralysis is DC 24 in Darkness, DC 18 in torchlight, DC 12 in Light, and nonexistent in daylight. 

In all other cases, it functions as a Shadow, to include the Strength-draining touch.

#Dungeon23 - Week 2

I know #Dungeon23 is intended to be a daily writing prompt, but I have mentally dropped into a once-a-week type pattern.

And it's only the second week!

I also need to remind myself that this is not intended to be a finished product, merely a rough draft, because the awesome maps and entries others share are intimidating to me.  Maybe I need to not look at what others are doing?

Regardless, I must soldier on.  This should carry us through today.

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9 - Cold Trap - the wall is cool to the touch, and opening it lets cold air wash over the opener.  Like see-your-breath cold.  To open the secret door requires pressing an oddly-shaped stone at waist-level.

Moving into the corridor gets colder.  A light source reveals a large bas-relief of a face in the far wall, its cheeks puffed like its blowing.  

At the X on the map is a pair of magical sensors about 4 feet up the wall.  Breaking the line between them activates the trap, sending a Cone of Cold (8d6 damage) down the passage (it extends to the door). The sensors can be seen with Detect Magic.

It takes 24 hours for the trap to recharge. 

10 - Cold Storage - the door to this room is cool to the touch, but otherwise unlocked and unstuck.  Inside the room is a stout table against the back wall, with a chest pushed under it.

The table has a coffer, a mace, and a helmet setting upon it.  Each is covered in dust.

Coffer - ornate, carved wood with silver inlays.  Unlocked.  Interior still aromatic (from wood), 3 potion vials on a bed of silk.  Under the silk is the key to the chest.  Potions are unlabeled (poison, healing, gaseous form).

Mace - touching anything on the table (or the chest) animates the mace.  It fights as a Fighter 3, AC as chain, 6 hp.  When defeated, it crumbles to rusty broken metal.

Helmet - donning the helmet allows the wearer to See Invisible, but renders all normally visible things invisible.  While worn, words appear on the wall: 'great treasure is found at the crack of dawn.'

The chest is locked and contains several hundred loose silver coins.  Is there a cavity under the chest?

11 - Dead Zone - crunching, tearing, and growling can be heard upon approach.  Entering shows the source of the sounds - a trio of ghouls feasting on dead adventurers.  They'll happily stop to attack and feast on PCs.  Ghouls are the gluttons of the undead world.

The Ghouls have no treasure, but the corpses they are munching on do.  TREASURE

Observant sorts notice a few bloody footprints - three-toed and webbed - and drag marks heading off towards area 12.

12 - Meazel Foyer - this chamber contains several hundred sacks haphazardly piled on top of each other, some areas knee-high, some taller.  The sacks are full of bones - one humanoid (lots of orc and kobold, but other races too) skeleton per sack.  Inspection shows that bones have teeth marks from gnawing.  The first sack searched contains 3 gems. Each other sack has a 1 in 6 chance of 1d4 gems.  

Emptying a sack and searching it takes a full turn.  

The third sack opened contains the remains of a human fighter whose spirit manifests when the sack is opened.  His name is Bartholemew, and he promises a great reward to whomever carries his remains out and inters them in holy ground.  His spirit stays in the room and begs anyone who listens to bury him.  If greedy PCs have dumped many sacks, his bones are mixed in.  He can point them out, but it takes an extra turn for each sack dumped.

Sacks near the concealed doors have ropes tied to them, so the Meazels can pull them in and hide the door.

13 - Meazel Lair - each of these concealed nests are made of clothing, blankets, and other detritus and smell of death.  Getting to the next requires passing through a tunnel that runs between 4' and 5' tall, and as wide, meaning invaders are in it single file and likely stooped over, fighting at disadvantage.

All told, there are a dozen of these nests, each with its own concealed entrance and escape route connecting to the chamber just off room 14.  These routes are twisty, turny, and wind up and down - overlapping one another, but not connecting to the others.  Just a rats' next of tangled, tight, caves.  All dark, all ideal for murder.

Nine of the nests are potentially occupied, at a 50% chance.  If empty, the occupant is off hunting (on random encounter table).

Individual treasures are as follows; jewelry is worn and weapons carried, coins are in sacks hidden in nest:  

a. ring, ring; 3d20gp

b. Ring of Detect Thoughts, ring; 6d20gp

c. no Meazel (long dead) - nest is infested with yellow mold and TREASURE

d. ring, bracelet; 4d20gp

e. Dagger of Stealthy Murders; 8d20gp

f. no Meazel (long dead) - nest contains giant rats and TREASURE

g. necklace made of gold coins pierced and strung together; 2d20gp

h.  ring, ring, ring; 4d20gp

i. no Meazel (long dead) - nest contains giant centipedes and TREASURE

j. bracelet; 5d20gp

k. Short Sword of Piercing, ring; 7d20gp

l. ring, ring, necklace; 3d20gp 

Meazels that hear combat creep about and wait to ambush from behind.  It's not so much that they are helping one another as taking advantage of the situation.  

14 - Meazel Dumping Ground - here is where these Meazels have been dumping their ill-gotten gains (except for gems) for the past two or three centuries.  Going through it is noisy and allows any not-yet-killed Meazels the chance for a vengeful sneak attack.

While any mundane weapon or armor can be found here, there is a 3-in-4 chance it is damaged due to ill treatment and age (lots of rust and rot).  Still, among the jumbled mess one can also find up to a dozen of these items as well as a variety of miscellaneous equipment.  

Hundreds of silver and copper (and dozens of platinum) coins have sifted to the bottom of the pile and take several days to collect.

Detect Magic is a surefire way to find an enchanted Lantern, an enchanted Crossbow, an enchanted Axe, a scroll tube with spell scroll, a cursed Sword, a cursed Helmet, and a pair of Boots of Elvenkind.  Even with the spell, it takes two turns to recover one magic item (d8 - each boot is a separate items), and it makes noise. 

15 - Kobold Warning - several heads on stakes (orcs, mostly) stand as a warning and territory marker that this area; Magic Mouth has been used on several to act both as warning and alarm. 

16 - Kobold Front Door - kobolds here will have heard the Magic Mouths in area 15, and are hiding, waiting to attack or retreat as needed.  A volley of arrows from both sides is the first warning unwary PCs get as they advance towards the double doors at the far end of the hall. 

The door to the south is concealed behind flaking wall murals.

Monday MtG: Rashida Scalebane

The lone MtG-related FB group I frequent has me theorycrafting this deck, because that is what browsing that page often results in my doing.  The initial request was for a commander deck that is specifically good against Dragons.  While some will argue that building a deck expressly to defeat another deck is bad Magic, I see it as no different than sideboarding in 60-card competitive formats.

Anyhow, my suggestion was Rashida Scalebane.  As it happens, the best anti-dragon cards are mostly white, and mostly affordable.  

That said, a deep collection, deep pockets, or a deep-seated hatred for a dragon deck makes all suggested cards possible.

Rashida Scalebane

Being from Mirage, her templating is different.  Her errata is important, though, so here it is:

Legendary Creature — Human Soldier

{T}: Destroy target attacking or blocking Dragon. It can’t be regenerated. You gain life equal to its power.

The big takeaway being that she is part of two relevant tribes that have lots of support, so the deck might be able to leverage that. Otherwise, her ability is just clarified and templated to match current card wording. 

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The Ur-Dragon

What do dragon decks have in common?

Dragon decks contain Red, because the vast majority of playable dragons are at least partially Red.  

Dragon decks most often win through damage, be it EtB, combat, Dragon's Approach, or some combination of the three.  

Most playable dragons fly, have power of 4 or greater, and cmc of 5+.  

Now we know what to expect, and knowing is half the battle!

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In addition to Baneslayer Angel, white has two other creatures that inherently have Protection from Dragons: Dragon Hunter and Dragonstalker.  These are your options for specifically anti-dragon cards.

Protection from Creatures gives us Commander Eesha and maybe Riders of Gavony, depending on final deck build. There is also Serra's Emissary, who can save you from creatures.

I'll address Protection from Red later.

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To keep this deck firmly in jank territory, Hundred-Handed One may be an awesome inclusion, once made monstrous and the correct Aura or Equipment is placed on it.  

The trick is to find the correct Aura or Equipment.  

Spirit Mantle, Unquestioned Authority, and Holy Mantle help with the blocking, while Gift of Immortality keeps him around.  Darksteel Plate is a more versatile option.

Swords of Red and other colors provide both protection and evasion.  Fire and Ice, Sinew and Steel, War and Peace.  Plus, Sun Titan can bring them back from the graveyard.

Crown of Awe and Mask of Law and Grace are pretty focused jank.

Armored Ascension should be considered for every monowhite deck, although it is best on a double striker.

We also have the awesome art and one-time option of Spare from Evil, with its implied world of humans not being evil.  

One thing all these cards have in common is that they allow you to go on the offensive quickly.

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White has a rather unique card ability in Magic, the ability that lets the caster name a card, and then that card cannot be cast or played.  

Naming an opposing commander is simple. Play against any given deck a few times, and you learn which other key cards need to be named.

Gideon's Intervention, Nevermore, Null Chamber (group hug?), Voidstone Gargoyle - each of these can shut a commander out of play.  Given that most Dragon decks cannot handle enchantments makes three-quarters of these permanently awesome.

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Get an early German one named Gotterdammerung if you can.

Mass Land Destruction.  This polarizing strategy is an option, and one that White excels at - even moreso than Red.  It's bad reputation stems from players dropping an Armageddon and not being able to follow up with a win a turn or two later.  When used to seal the deal, MLD is just another tool for the victory-minded player's toolkit.

In addition to Armageddon, you have its functional reprint Ravages of War, the modal Catastrophe, the enchantment Fall of the Thran, and the related Cataclysm.  

All that MLD can be self-crippling, barring Teferi's Protection or Terra Eternal - but this one tips your hand.  Sun Titan and Crucible of Worlds allow for a consistent, slow rebuilding, and Planar Birth is an ideal recovery for your monowhite deck, but awful in the face of a monored Dragons build.  

Just have a plan before taking the nuclear option.

MLD is suggested because Dragons tend towards 5+cmc, so undercutting land is an option.  That said, Treasure tokens are a very real counter to land, and fittingly, several dragons create such tokens, getting around the threat of MLD.  In addition to Treasures, there are also all the mana rocks that will need to be handled.  I'll address direct removal later.

Stax is almost as contentious as MLD, but it works.  White excels at Stax, and what White cannot do, artifacts can.

Dragons (and Treasure tokens) need to be untapped to be useful. Stax can hamper that.

Blind Obedience, Loxodon Gatekeeper, Kill Switch, Kismet, Authority of the Consuls, Imposing Sovereign, Kinjalli's Sunwing, Thalia, Heretic Cathar.  

Stax can also just shut things off.  Humility, Null Rod, Stony Silence, Torpor Orb, Hushbringer, Hushwing Gryff, Tocatli Honor Guard, and Karn, the Great Creator just stop different aspects of the game. Just be aware that your tricks are shut down, as well.  

A note about Humility - Overwhelming Splendor is a terrible replacement.  I understand making it a curse, but 8 cmc? It's probably good alongside Bitterheart Witch and/or Curse of Misfortunes, but on its own... yech! Is 5-color curses a thing?

The final part of Stax is just making combat or spells cost more or have upkeeps.  Kataki, War's Wage hits both of you, but you're theoretically ready for it. 

Reidane, God of the Worthy; Archon of Absolution; Ghostly Prison; Windborn Muse; Smothering Tithe; Aura of Silence; Archangel of Tithes; Spelltithe Enforcer; Tithe Taker; Baird, Steward of Argive; Esper Sentinel; Norn's Annex.  Frankly, there may be more I missed, but this should provide a solid start.

Dragons can't do anything if they can't do anything, as it were.

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Given that most Dragon decks win through red-based damage, WW is a small price to pay to ensure your opponent hurts as much as you do.  Poetic Justice, if you will.  Plus, you've got that sweet Ruth Thompson art of a buff elf.  

Celestial Purge may not seem like much on the surface, but exiling a permanent at instant speed opens up all sorts of defensive opportunities.  It makes Devout Decree pale in comparison. Lightwielder Paladin, though, has the potential to ruin a Dragon player, given time and presuming it gets through.

Southern Paladin might be useful, presuming you get to untap with it.  Luckily, White has lots of ways to untap its team, or at least parts of it.  

Absolute Law bears mentioning, if only because the game can turn into a creature-heavy beatdown and Burrenton Forge-Tender, Disciple of Law, Fiendslayer Paladin, Kor Firewalker, Soltari Priest, Auriok Champion, and Voice of Law will only carry us so far.

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Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, Angel's Grace, Luminesce, Samite Ministration, Timely Ward, Bastion Protector, Brave the Elements, Make a Stand, Unbreakable Formation, Selfless Spirit, and Your Temple is Under Attack can all save you and/or your team from whatever nonsense the Dragon player may try.

Grand Abolisher and Myrel, Shield of Argive both keep the Dragon player honest and only doing things on their turn.

Alongside Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are the auras and equipment mentioned in other sections that double as protection.  

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Austere Command, Cleansing Nova, Farewell, Slash the Ranks, Slaughter the Strong, Wrath of God, Martial Coup, and Mass Calcify all sweep the field of various things.  Farewell is best, though.  

Path to Exile, Generous Gift, Swords to Plowshares, Erase, Fate Forgotten, Forsake the Worldly, Crush Contraband - these are the targeted removal to first consider.  

In all cases, exiling is the best policy, but sometimes destroying is all you can do.  

If you need more targeted removal, White has several cards that aim at creatures with 4 or greater power, which is most playable dragons.  Collective Effort, Guiding Bolt, Intrepid Hero, Radiant's Judgment, Reprisal, Retribution of the Meek, The Wanderer, Valorous Stance, and Elspeth, Sun's Champion look to be the most useful and/or versatile.  

Take advantage of White's ability to take out enchantments and artifacts, because Dragon decks, especially Dragon decks containing Green and/or Blue, lean on enchantments for draw and EtB nonsense.   

Equipoise provides an interesting option.  Phasing out means phasing back in on the opponent's turn, so all you are doing is delaying the inevitable, unless you also have Disciple of Caelus Nin in play (if you could somehow flash in Disciple while an opponent is hiding behind Teferi's Protection, that would be hysterical!).

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People often call White the weakest color in Commander.  Those people are wrong.  That said, the solutions are rarely budget choices.

Land Tax + Scroll Rack and Smothering Tithe are the darlings of the higher-budget decks containing white, but there are other options.

Pearl Medallion, Archaeomancer's Map, Boreas Charger, Cartographer's Hawk, Keeper of the Accord, Knight of the White Orchid, Scouting Hawk, Loyal Warhound, Kor Cartographer, Gift of Estates, Tithe.  Most of the White options require an opponent to have more land than you, though. 

Endless Horizons is a two-edged card.  The upside is how it clears lands from the deck, ensuring you draw gas the rest of the game while still making steady land drops.  The downside is how an opponent's destroying it keeps those Plains away for the rest of the game.   I have been assured IN ALL CAPS that this is NOT a form of ramp - so now you know, too.

Endless Atlas is a boon to any monocolor deck, but mostly White and Red.

Enlightened Tutor can fetch them all, and many of your various stax pieces, as well.  

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This is monowhite, so of course there is a Sun Titan.  What all is Sun Titan returning to play, though?

Commander's Sphere, Aura of Silence, Children of Korlis, Expedition Map, Mind Stone, Myriad Landscape, any cycled lands, plus lots more mentioned throughout this post. 

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Finishers.  At some point, a deck needs to win.

Akroma's Will.  True Conviction.  Serra's Emissary - naming creatures.  Bond of Discipline.  All of these options demand you already have some creatures on the board.  

Felidar Sovereign is its own wincon, but is not the intended route to victory here.

Approach of the Second Sun may prove to be the best choice, provided you stall long enough to cast it twice!

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Plains. 24-28 (or more) and whichever nonbasics you enjoy.  I'd consider these ones, though.

Emeria, Sky Ruin.  Flagstones of Trokair.  Maze of Ith.  Myriad Landscape.  War Room.  Glacial Chasm. Strip Mine.

Nonbasics suggest Expedition Map, and they wouldn't be wrong.  Sun Titan lets you keep reusing the Map.  Sun Titan can also help you reuse lands in the graveyard, like Myriad Landscape.  

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Coming full circle, several of the presented options are Humans and/or Soldiers.  I don't think there are enough to justify most tribal cards, though. Don't get me wrong, there are some neat cards that care about Humans in mono-white, and more neat cards that care about Soldiers, but they dilute the anti-dragon theme.  

There are LOTS of cards that make Soldier tokens, so I have more cards to acquire for my Linden deck.

But it turns out that tribal is accidental, not on purpose with Rashida Scalebane.

Overall, an anti-dragon deck is a showcase of the best White offers alongside some niche and jank foolishness.

#Dungeon23 Week 1

I know that part of the #Dungeon23 plan is to share daily progress, but I far prefer a more substantial post once a week.  This not just because some days the work is not completed.

All of these entries are written so that I can fill them out later and still know what I was thinking.

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1. Grand Entrance - 

Wide stairs lead 20' down to the floor, for a ceiling 30' above.  Both sides of the stairs are cluttered with centuries' worth of failed attempts to keep the doors open.  

Openings stretching into darkness can be seen in both side walls, from one comes the sound of laughter and song.  From another comes whistling and howling.

The far end of the chamber is filled with a large fountain, the center of which is a statue of a younger man with arms outstretched in greeting.  

Fouling the fountain is a corpse in the water behind the statue; the only things of value are the glass eye and a letter in a wax-sealed tube to a lover in Skara Brae.  This lover has a notable spouse in the city, so delivery of it (which brings a ghostly blessing via dream) sows chaos for the PCs.

2. Register - stairs lead down into round chamber that is lit from within and features a pedestal seemingly grown from the center floor.  The walls are covered with rows of murals (think Egyptian hieroglyphics people) depicting adventurers doing adventurous things and often dying in the attempt.

Upon the pedestal is a massive book, open about 2/3 of the way through.    

The book lists names with (dungeon entry) dates in red ink.  Most names are lined through in the same red ink.  PC names are among the latest additions to the book.  Lined through names are those that died after entering the dungeon.

Flipping back far enough reveals that Emperor NAME's name is not crossed out.  It also reveals that an older someone (elf, dwarf, ancient human) a PC knows in fact died in the dungeon.

Attempts for mortals to add names or line through names will end badly for said mortals.

There are ten rows of murals. The ten rows feature the 10 levels of the megadungeon, and the various encounters show some of what is/was there.

3. Bandit Approach - singing, laughing, and talking can be heard from this direction.  The chamber itself is wide, with a double row of columns running down the center.  In the center of the room is a group of humans (12 - 2 leaders, 8 bandits, 2 berserkers) gathered around a fire, drinking and carrying on.

The main group distracts from the guards (3 bandits, 1 berserker) hiding behind columns near the X entrance.  These guards watch and flank if violence starts.  If possible, they capture to hold people for ransom, but they don't try all that hard.

Leaders are Arlo (thief 3) and Alice (magic-user 3).  As Arlo approaches the PCs to speak, Alice slips behind pillars to angle for a sleep spell, followed by charm person, followed by invisibility and a hasty retreat.  

DM NOTES: Arlo charges a small toll to pass; will accept wine, food, or treasure; charges a LARGER toll to pass back towards the surface.  If the returning party appears weak enough, violence is an option, as is kidnapping for ransom.  Refers to the pillared chamber as 'Alice's Restaurant.'

4. Bandit Lair - the raised platform is where the leaders sleep on actual beds and two chests are stored, with the collective treasure of the bandits.  Both chests are locked, and Arlo has the keys.  Under one bed is an invisible box holding the magic-user's spellbook.

There are 30 bedrolls and sacks of private belongings here, as well as crates and barrels (with markings from Skara Brae merchants) of supplies.

There are a half-dozen (4 bandits, 2 berserkers) people sleeping, because they have night watch. 

The doors bar from the inside and stay barred throughout the night.  The bandits don't know exactly what roams the corridors at night, but they know that things do, and they want no part of them.

For a fee, the bandits might be convinced to let the PCs overnight with them.  

5. Bandit Second Approach - bandits (4) here watch the corridor from the Fountain Crossroad.  At night they fall back to lair. 

6. Bandit Guarded Stairs to 2nd level - 6 (4 bandits, 2 berserkers) humans sit around a table, focus split between the stairs, their card game, and their ale.  If they hear fighting from 3, 4 of them advance to help, the other 2 remain to watch the stairs.

At night, they are replaced by the sleeping guards in area 4.  The night guards are more alert and overall jumpy and suspicious. 

These stairs are the closest, safest, and most publicly known way down to the 2nd level, which is how the bandits get by - charging HIGH taxes on those that come up the stairs.  

7. Fountain Crossroad - this chamber features openings in all four walls and is dominated by a large fountain in the center of the room.  The floor features patchy blood stains and scattered and broken bones (with large and small teeth marks).  The fountain itself features a multi-headed hydra spraying water from its many mouths.  

The water is a shared source of fresh water for this level and random encounters may just be critters getting a drink or filling water bottles.

Hydra Statue: observation reveals one of the mouths isn't spraying.  This is because a thin stick (wand of detect magic) is rammed down the pipe.  Freeing it allows water to flow again from that mouth.

NOTE: the bandits leave stripped bodies of those they slay (and their own slain) in this chamber.  If asked, the bodies disappear in a day or three, sometimes in silence, sometimes accompanied by terrible rending noises.

By leaving bodies here, the bandits have inadvertently trained a pack of ghouls and all the rats to periodically check this chamber, so any random encounters in this room are ghouls or rats.

8. Empty Room.  The bandits have taken to tossing looted gear they cannot use (mostly clothing, but sometimes more useful items - roll or choose) into this room. 

A dedicated search reveals dirt in the corners of the room and that one of the flagstones on the floor is angled, as if it has settled poorly.  

Lifting that flagstone reveals a hole dug into the earth below it, containing two sacks and a longsword in a scabbard.  Sacks contain coins, longsword is aligned, sentient, and vocal (it is reluctant to share this, but it was hidden away because it is so vocal).  In addition, it has a purpose and agenda. 

A Pair of Cryptic Warnings

To celebrate the new year, we have already started spring cleaning at my house, and while cleaning out a binder, I found a pair of warnings in my handwriting, both on scraps of paper.  

I'm not sure what I will do with them yet, but wanted them here for a bit of posterity.

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"The Tyrant waits on his iron throne

watched over eternally by guards of bone

Wisdom's path is to let him be,

if you hope the sun to see!"

"Woe to the one

who breaks the seal

for the wrath

of Zur you'll feel."

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The last was likely written when Zur the Enchanter decks were popular (such a linear, yet brutally effective, Commander deck for MtG).

I know that there will be at least one sub-level of tombs and undead in my #Dungeon23, so perhaps these will be found therein on sealed tomb doors and/or sarcophagi.  Actually, that may be the best use of these and similar warnings - plainly written (presuming the language is known or magically read) warnings to not open the door.  

Most players will ignore such warnings and break the seals, but hey, they were warned, and should expect wights, wraiths, specters, and vampires - and the level drain they bring with them.  Then the game becomes one of re-sealing the fiend away with minimal casualties.

Jim Holloway, no idea of the source

Self-inflicted trouble is one of my favorite parts of RPGs.  Players are presented with something they know will be dangerous, yet proceed anyhow.  Aside from sealed tombs and sarcophagi, weapons in skeletons and big red buttons are two other temptations that many players cannot bypass.

Maybe you should add such temptations to your games.