Survivors of the Deeps

As posited in my initial post about my #Dungeon23, the main (known) entrance to Askorun opens but once every 50 years, remains open for a year and a day, then close for 50 years.

Anyone trapped inside is out of luck, and over the centuries, no mortal magic or stratagem has kept the doors open longer, nor managed to force them open.   Wizards have been able to Dimension Door and Teleport out, but if anyone has done so to enter the dungeon, they didn't survive to brag of it.

This post is about these survivors.

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Most survivors are individuals or pairs, although a dwindling company of Dwarves have established a defensible position on the third level, sending out sorties to gather ever more loot.  The problem that these survivors face is that many of them no longer want to return to the surface.

Initially, they did, but with every sleep, the Dungeon whispers to them, entices them, changes them.  While they still recall the surface, many now prefer the Dungeon.  

Frankly, they're all a bit mad, now.   Mad and pale white from lack of sunlight.

Not Derro level mad - at least not yet - but approaching it.  

Especially that human that just can't die.  That poor, poor bastard.  

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Above I mentioned a human that cannot die.  

Augur il-Vec by Daren Bader

Once he was a cleric.  A cleric with a name.  None of this he remembers, although he sometimes cries when he looks at the holy tattoos on his arms.  

He came below with a group of stalwart companions and was quite literally cursed to be the last of them.  In a sack he carries the skulls of his former comrades, and in more lucid moments, pulls them out and talks to them.  

Mostly though, he wanders and as needed he talks and fights, and when at death's door, he fades away, returning later.  He never hungers or tires, though, because of the Ring of Sustenance and Regeneration (and immunity to permanent death) he wears on his right hand. 

50+ years of sleep deprivation have taken their toll.  Yet if calmly approached and spoken to, he may provide some useful information before starting to rave and wandering off or attacking the PCs as he hallucinates.

To end the curse, he and his fellows (their skulls, at least) must be buried in hallowed ground - and the Ring must be buried there, too.  At that point, his spirit appears and thanks whomever buried him. 

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Next is the Dwarven enclave.  Staying below was always the goal of this company.  Initially, the Company of the Axe was a full 27 strong - 20 Dwarves and 7 Gnomes, plus a train of packmules.  In the last 50 years, their size has been reduced to 12 Dwarves and 3 Gnomes, but these 15 still pursue the goal of accumulating the vast wealth of Askorun, but now they plan to keep it here.

Balthor the Stout by Ron Spears

They are led by the Dwarf Oskar Gem-eyes, a noble and a capable warrior with eyes that glitter like the sapphires they are (these sapphire eyes allow Detect Magic, See Invisible, and True Seeing - all of this has a negative effect on his mind).  The Company of the Axe has an arrangement with clanmates that will meet them when the doors to Askorun once again open.  Those on the surface may be shocked at the change in their dungeon-dwelling clanmates - but being Dwarves, they won't show or discuss it publicly.

The key to these survivors' success was preparation.  While the natural food and drink they brought with them (and the mules that carried it all) has long ago been consumed, they have several magical items that they guard with their lives. 

Horn of Plenty - this large wicker cornucopia provides enough fruit and vegetables to feed twenty every morning.

Mug of Many Meads - a large mug that holds a liter of liquid and can fill itself with the best mead one will ever taste 5 times per day.  A full mug is used as a reward to those members of the company that have done something of merit - otherwise it is divided up among smaller cups.

Long Pig - recovered from the hoard of the venerable Behir Azzuzir (from the Night Below box set), this item looks like a 4-inch long ceramic pig.  

Once every five days, on command, it creates a roasted pig (reasonably small, but agreeably filled with chestnut stuffing!) to appear nearby, providing enough food for up to 20 people.

Decanter of Endless Water - as per the DMG; when not filling the pool the Company has constructed, it is used as a defensive weapon, knocking attackers back and prone.

Cauldron of Iron Stomachs - this large black cast iron cauldron is etched with a variety of arcane runes.  It heats and cools upon command - no fire needed.  It stands nearly 4 feet tall and is a good 4 feet across (the mule that carried it in was the first stew cooked in it).  

The survivors have been surviving on perpetual stew - they won't eat their fallen comrades, but anything living they kill ends up in the Cauldron - meat makes the vegetables taste better. 

Being Dwarves, there are multiple stone, spear, and crossbow-based traps and defensive positions near all the entrances to their redoubt - a redoubt clearly marked with Dwarven runes and the skulls of pigs and mules (and other things they've killed).   They have established a neutral meeting place where other dungeon denizens can trade gold and information for food.  

This neutral place is where the PCs are most likely to encounter them in a safe fashion.  Once these survivors encounter surface-worlders, they trade information for surface foodstuffs (especially bread, beer, beef, salt, and spices - although the Gnomes wouldn't mind some tea) and tobacco.  They will pay for it, but would prefer to pay with information rather than their precious gold.

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One individual survivor is an Elf wizard who calls herself Newra the Learner.  Those that learn her True Name can compel her to divulge all sorts of information.

Belbe, Corrupted Observer by Igor Kieryluk

Newra has been in the depths for two cycles now, puzzling over how to get past the permanent Prismatic Sphere that is keeping something well secured.  Through the translucent glittering lights of the sphere, she can make out a table or workbench with smaller items upon it, and a pair of large chests flanking it.  On a few occasions, she has seen a figure moving about inside the sphere, but how it comes and goes she has no clue.

What she does know is that this Prismatic Sphere is a nasty variant of the traditional spell, as the normal counters to the layers fail to work.  She has worked out how to get past the first two layers through trial and error, but is seeking more spells (and guinea pigs) to test her theories with.  

Newra craves more spells most of all - perhaps a spell the PCs know can break past the third layer.  If she cannot trade for them, she will take them by force.  

Her collection of undead servitors (many of which are spell-stitched former adventurers) keep lesser threats at bay, and her collection of spellbooks (taken from uncooperative wizards) rivals that of established archmages on the surface.

Newra is willing to trade information (and maybe spells) for wine and spices and fresh food.  Her sole source of sustenance is a Spoon of Murlynd, which works, but the blandness of the food it creates is much of the reason she is angry all the time.

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Another pair of Elves lurk near the main entrance.  Brioc carries Cynhafel on her back, because Cynhafel lost both legs two decades ago.  

This has had the side effect of them being difficult to surprise and impossible to flank.  This means that the Meazels have yet to destroy them - they still harry the poor Elves, though.

Their proximity to the surface has made them less mad than most, with Brioc being the most sane of all the survivors.  Which is good for Cynhafel, because he has entirely become a creature of the dungeon.

They have been living on water from the entrance pool and have become adept at trapping vermin.

Honestly, Brioc will be content to die under sunlight, preferably after returning Cynhafel to their home far from Askorun.  

Cynhafel wields a pair of Katars that glow in the darkness, while Brioc wields a short spear.

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A lone Gnome named Kharagosa has found a hiding place on the fourth level.

Deep Gnome Terramancer by David Sladek

This Gnome mageling gets by on honey and beer from his Alchemy Jug, supplemented by whatever he can catch with his Sleep spell, which is mostly rats and other vermin.  

It's a miserable life, but at least he's alive.  

He will gladly give up the Alchemy Jug as a reward to those that escort him to the surface.  

Of course, the escorts may find that Kharagosa heads right back in.

Kharagosa knows that Askorun is a sentient, malevolent being because one item that Kharagosa does not willingly part with is an Amulet of Stonespeak.  

The Amulet of Stonespeak allows its attuned wearer to communicate with the very stones.  The only stones Kharagosa has had access to are those of Askorun, whose thoughts have twisted Kharagosa's view on many things, but does allow Kharagosa to function as an oracle of sorts, because Askorun has had centuries of things to talk about and no one but Kharagosa to tell.  

Kharagosa's only saving grace is that the Amulet doesn't function 24/7, but needs to recharge regularly by being placed in a pot or bucket of earth (although burying it underground works).  Ideally, the pot or bucket is warded to prevent a gate to the plane of Elemental Earth from opening - there are no such wards if the Amulet is buried in the ground.  Submerging the Amulet in water renders it dormant.

Naturally, Kharagosa owns such a warded container of earth - it being how he discovered the Amulet decades ago.  

Incidentally, the Amulet of Stonespeak also allows its wearer to communicate and command Earth Elementals, but Askorun has successfully kept Kharagosa from learning this aspect of the Amulet.

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Often survivors become undead - surviving after a fashion, but not really.  Mostly, they become ghouls after being forced to cannibalism in the dark, but other types of undead are certainly possible.  

Balthor the Defiled by Carl Critchlow

As such, these individual undead can be found anywhere.  If incorporeal, their remains are no doubt nearby, forever waiting to be properly buried. 

But the corporeal undead just skulk and stumble about, waiting to bring the hated living to ruin.

Frankly, it's a miracle that Askorun isn't crawling with undead.  Perhaps with time, it will.

Until then, wise adventuring companies have clerics among them.

And wise DMs have a random encounter table featuring an Undead subtable.

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There may be some foolhardy sorts that intend to stick around in the depths.  The smart ones outfit themselves with magic items that are variations on the Create Food and Water spell.  Items such as these are worth their weight in platinum to these mortals.  

As the survivors demonstrate, this doesn't help that much, but it's a start.

Challenge of Champions

Noncombat challenges can be difficult to set up in a DnDish game, so there is no shame in using others' noncombat challenges for your own purposes.  These are most commonly found as deliberate puzzles, but can also include finding and opening hidden doors or finding and getting around traps for a more natural means of in-game puzzle use.

Teferi's Puzzle Box by Donato Giancola

While there are many books and pdfs and blog posts and videos that provide such content, some official sources come from the pages of Dungeon Magazine: the Challenge of Champions I-V.  Each of these is billed as being for four PCs of any level.

The Challenge of Champions adventures can be found in Dungeon Magazine issues 58, 69, 80, 91, and 108.  The first three are for AD&D rulesets, with the last two being for 3.x, not that ruleset really matters.

It doesn't matter because the puzzles included are aimed more at the players than at their PCs.  The conceit being that there is an Adventuring Guild sponsoring each Challenge, enforcing rules about items and magic available to participants.  Looking at them, this guild exists in an incredibly high-magic world.

Anyhow, each Challenge comes with handouts and illustrations - and approved solutions given the parameters of each challenge.  Those handouts can make it a challenge to use many of these online, but ideal around the kitchen table.  Each challenge also provides some NPCs to round out the team, as well as a list of other competing teams and those teams' final scores.

Using these as-is works, but moving some of them into your homebrew adventure may require a bit more effort, unless you're running a funhouse, where most of these challenges are right at home.  The preferred solutions of the challenges go out the window when PCs/players have full access to all their spells and items, and honestly, this is perfectly fine.  I say this because a good puzzle encounter is one that engages most or all players and can be solved multiple ways or merely ignored until later.

This last is important, because PCs/players should always be able to move forward or backwards without solving the puzzle (or finding the secret door or making correct die roll).  Puzzles (and secret doors and die rolls) are ideal for hiding cool loot, shortcuts, and side quests, but using them to block forward passage can result in frustration and an overall dissatisfying game session.

Especially if some players in the group don't do puzzles.

Luckily, you talked about puzzles during Session Zero, so you as DM already know how puzzles are going to work out with your players.

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There's a fine line between traps and puzzles, and resources for one often include resources for another. So here are some additional puzzle resources for your games - I address trap resources in another post (and should probably update that one).

Puzzles and Riddles

Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities series

the Riddle Room series from Cloud Kingdom Games (some volumes seem to be ebay only).

and lots of videos on the YouTube.

Unicorns, the MtG Way

I have a confession.

I really like unicorns.

After all, I have sampled several unicorn-branded beers, own two unicorn t-shirts, and use a Squatty Potty every morning.

Mostly, though, I enjoy playing Commander with Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn Commander decks.

Because unicorns, man.

Such a beautiful card in both forms.

Note that if you only want images, jump to EDHRec. For decklists, scroll to the end of this post.

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Lathiel is a wonderful commander for several reasons.  First is colors - GW are allied colors and this card showcases what they do. A 2/2 for 4 cmc may not seem like much, even with lifelink, but its ability is what pushes it over the top.

At the beginning of each end step, if you gained life this turn, distribute up to that many +1/+1 counters among any number of other target creatures. (Emphasis mine).

Each end step means your opponents' end steps as well as your own.  So, if you've a means to gain life when it isn't your turn, you profit while Lathiel is in play.  

Note that Lathiel cannot place those +1/+1 counters on itself, but can place them on any other creatures, to include your opponents' critters.  

All of this means that Lathiel is a great commander for those wanting to play politics, in addition to being a great commander for steamrolling people with massive creatures.

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Having lots of life - even infinite life - won't win the game on its own.  

Even if you have infinite life, there are still ways around it: 21 Commander damage, 10 Poison Counters, running out of cards, a variety of 'if this, then victory' cards, and all of the combos that result in an opponent just winning the game.

Despite this, Lathiel has several routes to victory based on life totals.  Chief among them is smashing face with giant creatures, but there is also the time-honored option to use life as a shield until you can cast Approach of the Second Sun twice. Instead of defense, life can also be used in the offense with Aetherflux Reservoir. In addition to these methods are Test of Endurance and Felidar Sovereign.  With these, Lathiel has its own 'if this, then victory' cards.  

So whichever route you choose (and you have 100 cards, so choosing some or all is an option), Lathiel can win games.

But how to gain the life we need to fuel the counters?  Ideally, we are doing so every turn, passively.

By passive life gain, I mean not having to cast any spells or attack.  Just sit back, let the card trigger, and giggle.  Giggling is the important part.  Venser's Journal is my favorite, but not the only option.  The Soul Sisters gain life for each creature that enters play, regardless of who plays said creature.  

Lifegift provides a life for each land that enters play on any battlefield, while Courser of Kruphix, Druid Class, and Retreat to Kazandu only trigger when your lands enter play - note that even at 100 cards, you fast run out of room, so choose wisely. Crazy Shattered Angel triggers solely when opponents play land - ideal with Lathiel triggering on any turn.

Glorious Sunrise and Primeval Bounty are special, because they provide several options that work well with a Lathiel deck.  Hence this separate sentence.  If you've only room for one, though, Bounty does more and more often.

Do not forget the spells that provide a one-shot boost of life, often as an add-on to something else, but not always.  Three of my favorites are Momentous Fall, Lifeblood Hydra, and Pelakka Wurm.  While Lifeblood Hydra is pricey, the other two easily slip into a budget deck - and should.

More important are the evasive creatures with Lifelink.  If they aren't evasive, that's okay, but not as preferable.  White gives us flyers with Lifelink, but any deck can run Rogue's Passage, and Lathiel is no exception.

Related to the evasive lifelinkers are the cards that let you win the way Richard Garfield intended (maybe) - glorious combat.  

Bond of Discipline may be my favorite white sorcery.  A well-timed BoD can result in game over, be it by your creatures or someone else's.  True Conviction and Predatory Focus are two more cards to seal the win - I would even argue that Focus is even better than Overrun, at least in this deck.

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This being an article about Commander, the Magic format of over-the-top plays, I want to talk about how we gain MOAR life, which leads to MOAR counters, and therefore ridiculous amounts of damage.

Boon Reflection isn't the only life-doubler.  Rhox Faithmender and Alhammaret's Archive do so as well, and being permanents do it all the time.  Beacon of Immortality is an instant that can target any player, so it saves you or lets you politic.  Either way, it's a solid inclusion.  

Best of all is that this doubling counts as gaining life in the rules.

A second way to push lifegain over the top is with cards that add 'life plus 1 instead', like Cleric Class.

Angel of Vitality, Heron of Hope, Honor Troll, and Knight of Dawn's Light are other options here, but to be honest, I pulled most of these creatures from my budget list and didn't consider them for the nonbudget list.  Cleric Class made both because it provides life and counters. 

Other than that, you have a mix of spells that change life totals or add X life, which all can be considered based on budget or your whims.  One interesting card is Eternity Vessel, because all of its life changes count as life gain and it is a may effect, so it should never reduce your life total.  Note that Eternity Vessel looks at the counters on the card, so proliferating and other tricks (like Doubling Season, Vorinclex, or Quarry Hauler) means more life gain is possible with every Landfall trigger. 

Note that in many of these cases, Nykthos Paragon can be your creatures' best friend, but is only truly ridiculous in a go-wide build.  Speaking of go-wide, Congregate loves such a deck, especially when Storm Herd (with Soul Warden and/or Archon of Sun's Grace on the battlefield) is involved.  

Because stacking dice upon dice is fun!

Infinite or near-infinite combos fall into this category.  Adding Kitchen Finks, Archangel of Thune, and Spike Feeder to your Lathiel deck allows for this.  That said, depending on your final build, there are MANY ways to go infinite in Selesnya colors.  Many more than I realized!  Kitchen Finks is combo-licious, as I suspect most of the creatures with Persist are.

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In addition to lifegain, Lathiel is a +1/+1 counter deck.  Which means we want to capitalize on gaining ever more counters.

Hardened Scales, Conclave Mentor, Wildwood Scourge, Lae'zel, Solidarity of Heroes, Hydra's Growth, Vastwood Hydra, and Invigorating Surge are easily afforded and acquired.  For those with deeper collections or pockets, there is also Benevolent Hydra, Kalonian Hydra, Primal Vigor, Vorinclex, Doubling Season, and my favorite, Branching Evolution.

I likely missed some, but these are my go-to options. 

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Doubling Season, Vorinclex, and Lae'zel not only affect +1/+1 counters, but also loyalty counters on Planeswalkers, which makes it tempting to add Planeswalkers to the deck.  

Or at least to the nonbudget deck.  After all, doubling loyalty counters is why Doubling Season and Vorinclex cost so much. 

The standout planeswalker is Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, because 100 life in one shot is too fun to pass up, and his +1 plays well with the rest of the deck.

Other synergistic options are Basri Ket; Gideon, Champion of Justice (even without shenanigans, he can ult quickly); Ajani, Steadfast; Ajani, Strength of the Pride; ... really, any G, W, or GW planeswalker that can ultimate immediately with Doubling Season in play is a consideration.

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Synergies are important to a Commander deck. Well, most Commander decks.  Those built to race to combo are a different animal.

Sunscorch Regent and Managorger Hydra play into Lathiel's strengths, even when Lathiel isn't in play.  Add both to any Lathiel deck you build, because both are around $1 each. 

Authority of the Consuls slows opponents down while providing life. For W.  

This deck craves proliferation.  Even without running Planeswalkers, there are all the +1/+1 counters that want to grow.  Evolution Sage is my favorite method, but Karn's Bastion shouldn't be overlooked. 

Titania's Command plays into a few strengths of Lathiel, and is worth its 6 cmc.  Especially against a mill deck.

My last recommendation on strong synergies is Children of Korlis, who even passes the Sun Titan test.  Maybe it falls under lifegain, but it matters not.

Add it to your Lathiel deck.

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Lathiel typically wins via permanents, be they creatures or enchantments.  Both of which are easy to remove.

So what's a poor Unicorn to do?

Asceticism provides blanket protection for creatures from targeted attacks, with Boots and Greaves being the standard choices for individual protection.  Darksteel Plate and the various Swords of X and Y help creatures out, as well.

These work, but show our hand, so we need instants to save us.   Luckily, GW provides some of the best protective instants in the game: Teferi's Protection and Heroic Intervention.  GW doesn't stop there, though.  Wrap in Vigor, Akroma's Will, Flawless Maneuver, Make a Stand, and Unbreakable Formation all save the team, with the last playing nice with Lathiel's +1/+1 counter theme.

In addition, there is a plethora of G and W cards that render individual creatures indestructible or hexproof until end of turn (or both, in the case of Loran's Escape). Sheltering Word, Snakeskin Veil, and Tamiyo's Safekeeping synergize well with Lathiel's goals.

Given that this deck relies on creatures, Vigor works to keep your team around if you cannot make them indestructible.  

So we have lots of options to help our permanents survive, but eventually they will get destroyed.  It's how the game is played.

Luckily, returning cards to play or to hand is something that both White and Green do well.  

Faith's Reward, Sun Titan, Eternal Witness, and Pulse of Murasa are just a few options that Lathiel has access too.  Best of all is that most of your options can be added to budget decks - especially Sun Titan.

With our permanents safe, we need to look to saving ourselves.

Purity saves us from direct damage and Blunt the Assault from combat (for a turn).  Spike Weaver can save us from lots of attacks, presuming it survives.

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While your opponents are gunning for you, you are gunning for them.  After all, in Commander, there can be only one.  Happily, GW decks have access to some of the best removal in the game, both targeted and mass - and you will want both.

Fracturing Gust is arguably the ideal choice for Lathiel decks, right next to Damning Verdict.  That said, there several other solid sweepers, and if your decklist ends up enchantment-heavy, Fracturing Gust can be more dangerous to yourself than others, as can Wave of Vitriol, Austere Command, and Day of Judgment.  Still, sometimes the inconvenience is worth it.

StP, PtE, K-Grip, Beast Within, and Generous Gift are the go-tos for targeted removal in most GW Commander decks, but this being about Lathiel, I want to point out that Scryfall shows several options that destroy a permanent AND gain life.  Of note is Heliod's Intervention - double X lifegain can be tempting.

GW provides a strong suite of creature-based removal, as well.  Froghemoth, Scavenging Ooze, Haywire Mite, Whiptongue Hydra (can be dangerous to self), Bane of Progress (also potentially dangerous), all provide answers while improving your boardstate.  

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Many Magic players enjoy running obscure cards in their decks, and sometimes, such cards are so niche that they don't fit anywhere else.  Or perhaps these cards do fit, but are soon removed for more efficient cards that do similar things.

Take Celestial Force.  A 7/7 8-cmc elemental that gains you life every turn.  It doesn't even have vigilance like most other large White creatures.  Most decks won't and shouldn't consider this card.

But Lathiel decks can, because Lathiel hands out +1/+1 counters at the end of each turn, just like Celestial Force gives you life each upkeep.  

From experience, Lathiel decks really needs Lathiel in play to shine.  So in addition to protection, consider two more niche cards: Sunbond and Light of Promise.  Light of Promise even passes the Sun Titan test.

Rounding out the niche cards is Scale the Heights, doing a little bit of everything, including gain life.

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Way up in the beginning, I mentioned that Lathiel is a great commander for politicking games.  GW provides several other cards in this vein, from the synergistic Primal Vigor to Gluntch, the Bestower.  

Sometimes these politicking cards fall under niche cards, like Healing Technique.  Other times, they number among the regular suspects in group hug and politicking decks.

While there are many options, a few choice cards stand out: Nils, Discipline Enforcer; Evolutionary Escalation; Oath of Lieges; Secret Rendezvous; Selvala, Explorer Returned; Fertilid; and Tempt with Discovery.  Yes, gud players won't go for land, but I don't play with gud players, I play with good players.  There is a difference.

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Lands are a crucial part of any Magic the Gathering deck, because without them, the deck doesn't play.  

While Lathiel decks can get by on Plains and Forests, there are a handful of nonbasic lands that all Lathiel decks should include: Rogue's Passage for beats, Gavony Township for more +1/+1 counters, Karn's Bastion for proliferating all kinds of counters, and Glacial Chasm for protection - if the deck is working correctly, you should be able to pay (and maybe recover from the graveyard to play and pay again) the cumulative upkeep for multiple turns.

Krosan Verge, Myriad Landscape, and your other favorite fetchlands are worth considering (because they all pass the Sun Titan test), but aren't necessary.  That said, Krosan Verge is arguably the best of these because it can fetch nonbasic Forests and Plains. Riftstone Portal is interesting, because it helps GW decks immensely, but only from the graveyard.

Given that most Lathiel decks rely on Green's burst draw spells of Hunter's Insight, Rishkar's Expertise, Momentous Fall, and/or a dying Lifeblood Hydra, Reliquary Tower is nice, but not a necessity.

A type of land is the land that blows up other lands, such as Strip Mine, Ghost Quarter, or the huggy Field of Ruin.  This is not only because sometimes lands need to be destroyed, but because the best response to a Tempt with Discovery is to search up one of these land destroyers.  The fact that these lands pass the Sun Titan test is bonus.

Lands provide other types of answers as well, so if you need graveyards exiled, creatures to be targetable, boards to be cleared, cards to be drawn, spells to be not countered, artifacts to be returned, creatures to have haste, stolen creatures to be returned, or several other game mechanics, look to lands to help you out.

Oh, and Command Tower should probably be in here because Lathiel is two colors.

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The biggest problem with Lathiel decks is that they require life gain to work well.  Yes, creatures can still swing, but it is far more efficient to do so when those creatures are VAST in size.  So if  lifegain is regularly played in your meta, some folks may start running the anti-lifegain cards.

These cards are predominately Red and/or Black.  In addition to Rain of Gore (and its cousins False Cure and Tainted Remedy), are the cards that merely prevent lifegain: Archfiend of Despair; Erebos, God of the Dead; Everlasting Torment; Forsaken Wastes; Giant Cindermaw; Havoc Festival; Knight of Dusk's Shadow; Leyline of Punishment; Quakebringer; Rampaging Ferocidon; Roiling Vortex; Sulfuric Vortex; Tibalt, Rakish Instigator; and Witch Hunt.

Note there are also a handful of instants the prevent life gain for one turn, but I have never seen them played in Commander.

I hadn't realized that there were so many options to hate on lifegain.  Luckily, most are enchantments, which are easily handled by a well-made GW deck.  The rest being creatures and a lone planeswalker, which are also easily handled with GW.  

One Red card stands out as the bane to any deck wanting to gain life, and that card is Stigma Lasher.  

Stigma Lasher is dangerous because its anti-lifegain is permanent, even if Stigma Lasher leaves play.  At least it lacks haste - but most Red-based decks add haste-making, so watch yourself.  

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Wow, but I can blather on and on and on.  Thanks for reaching this part - we're almost done.

Yes, much of the above can be found by looking at cards on EDHRec or a dedicated Scryfall search (also Commander's Spellbook), but words are more my style.

Low Power Decklist - this is for a meta that doesn't do fast mana. It plays politics and is an away deck.

Budget ($100ish) Decklist - putting my words into practice.

Nonbudget Decklist - nonbudget, built with cards I own, hence no rocks that cost more than a few dollars and a preponderance of basic lands.

There you have it, way too many words on Lathiel.  Not quite a primer, but leaning towards one.

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Note that I drafted most of this before the whole Phyrexian Invasion or LotR sets were printed, so they aren't mentioned.  

Soulshrieker

Undead are popular monsters for a reason: they're scary and there is no reason to feel bad for putting them down, since they are animated corpses.  Gamemasters don't even need to create some bizarre biome or food web for them in an attempt at Gygaxian Naturalism.

Just place them in a tomb, catacomb, or other abandoned place, and have at it.

Soulshriek by John Bolton

The Soulshrieker is a rare form of undead that is primarily the result of mortals that died in mourning and abject sorrow.  That tangible sorrow wells up and is projected from the Soulshrieker's oversized mouth, as a wail of piteous defeat that leaves targets stunned with their own sorrow and depression.  

Mechanically, the soulshriek is a beam-shaped breath weapon, appearing as coruscating purple and green light (how I picture a particle beam to look, which likely doesn't help).  It inflicts sonic, necrotic, and cold damage while also having a chance to stun its target.  Once stunned, the targets are then ripped apart with the Soulshrieker's claws.  

Mostly encountered alone, a group Soulshriekers (probably a family before death and undeath took them) is best fled from.  That said, jamming wax in your ears provides a substantial bonus to the save vs stun.  

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Enterprising necromancers have not only discovered how to create Soulshriekers, but have also found a way to mimic the Soulshrieker's ability, through a spell fittingly called Soulshriek.

This Necromantic spell lets the caster unhinge their jaw and turn their very soul into a weapon that deals sonic, necrotic AND cold damage to the unfortunates caught up in its cone; the spell emanates as a cone from the unhinged mouth, the interior of the mouth glowing white hot as the necromancer's very essence powers it.  This shriek is devastating to opponents within earshot, leaving them damaged, stunned, and if too close to the point of origin, deafened.

While one casting of Spellshriek can be devastating to its targets, it proves problematic for the caster, as part of their soul is now forever gone.  

Mechanically, this means that math is required.  Because base ten is simple, the caster gets ten castings of Soulshriek before they are forever gone. As the soul dwindles with repeated castings, the caster's body begins showing signs of spiritual decay.  

Ten Visual Signs of Spiritual Decay (effects are cumulative)

1. Skin pales, hair turns grey, loses interest in all sexual activity.
2. -1 strength.  
3. -1 constitution
4. -1 strength. Hair begins falling out.  
5. -1 constitution. Physically appears the same, but long rests are interrupted with nightmares. Wake in a cold sweat geased to scribe Soulshriek onto a half-dozen scrolls and leave them where they're likely to be found and copied.  Once the scrolls are written, the nightmares end (or the caster is used to them - either way, long rests are no longer affected by them).  Note that the scrolls never reveal the downsides of the spell.
6. -1 strength
7. -1 constitution. Lose interest in cleanliness.
8. -1 strength. Weight loss continues.
9. -1 constitution. A walking husk with eyes that glow with an inner, disturbing light. Easily mistaken for undead.
10. The lights in the eyes go out as the body collapses in a heap, open for possession or to become a true undead.  Cannot be raised or resurrected or even the target of speak with dead.

With the tenth casting, the soul is forever gone.  Without a soul, the caster's body withers entirely, and if not possessed by some random fiend or spirit, they rise up as a Soulshrieker in 24 hours.  

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While the more competent necromancers can avoid the worst effects of Soulshriek, lesser casters learn to their chagrin that Soulshriek is a living spell, a spell that demands to be cast, and will be cast.  

Once Soulshriek has been first cast, there is forever an emptiness in the soul, a cancerous emptiness that desires to grow.  As such, whenever the necromancer casts a spell, there is a chance that Soulshriek replaces the desired spell, even if Soulshriek isn't memorized - because it now resides within the caster.  

First, the spell cast has to be level 3 or higher.  Second, a save is required - just a flat DC 12 save.  With time, as Spellshriek is cast again and again, that DC increases by 1 with each casting.  So that after nine castings, it is a DC 20 save to not Soulshriek one final, glorious time.

It is whispered that Grandfather Favarro has discovered a means to purge Soulshriek from a caster, but given that its Grandfather Favarro, the cure is likely to be as bad as the disease.  It assuredly involves more than just high level remove curse, dispel magic, and greater restoration spells.

The Gilded Skull

The Gilded Skull is a thing of legend whispered about in the shadowy alcoves of Mage Academies scattered across the multiverse, from Strixhaven to Hogwarts to Winterhold to Brewkessel and beyond.

Aside from it being a potent artifact of great magic, none of the whispers can agree on just how potent it is, nor exactly what it does.  Yet the whispers persist until shushed by a proctor or hall monitor.

Skull of Orm by Daren Bader

The whispers are silenced because the proctors have a much better understanding of what the Gilded Skull is and can do.  A few even have awful first-hand experiences with the Gilded Skull, so shush out of mercy to the magelings.

What the Gilded Skull actually is, is a spellbook of sorts.  The bearer of the skull (not the carrier, and wielder isn't the proper verb) has access to a vast catalogue of arcane spells - several only available through the Skull.

Among these unique spells is a simple spell with the innocuous title Receive Knowledge.  This spell is the equivalent of a cantrip in complexity, but is actually a complex trap, because once casting of Receive Knowledge begins, it cannot be halted until complete.

Which is a lie, as killing the caster (who is also the unwitting target) of Receive Knowledge halts the spell in a particularly gruesome and painful fashion, as the caster's head explodes (like in the movie Scanners).

Not halting the spell results in the Gilded Skull replacing the caster's skull, slice by bloody slice, trading places, with the Gilded Skull disappearing from the bottom up and the caster's skull appearing from the bottom up.  For all the world, it looks like a 3-D printer in action.

As might be imagined, it is a painful process.

Horribly painful.

Like saving throw to remain conscious and a second save to remain sane painful.

Witnesses must save versus fear or run away, and even passing the save leaves the witnesses shaken and with nightmares.  

Once the spell is complete and the skulls transferred, the caster now has access to the knowledge within the Gilded Skull.

That knowledge includes not only the aforementioned spells, but also dark secrets that bring nightmares and madness, and the souls of former bearers of the Gilded Skull - because upon death, the body immediately wastes away, leaving the Gilded Skull behind.  

Which is how it is often found - in the head position of an empty set of clothes that looks vaguely wizardish in nature.

This is why the proctors try to quell the whispers, for they fear what happens should the Gilded Skull claim 1001 souls.

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Yes, this is not fully fleshed out (unintentional, I promise) for any particular ruleset, but is enough to riff off of, so feel welcome to do so.

Opinions - is this too much drawback for what it provides, or not enough?

Dragon Eggs

Dragon Eggs are wonderful treasures, bringing all sorts of trouble for PCs once they hatch.

Dragon Egg by Jack Wang and WotC

 

Most games presume that Dragons are related to reptiles and/or birds, so that what hatches from the egg depends entirely on what ovipositor the egg slurped out of.

But what if Dragon Eggs are neutral in disposition, and their specific contents - chiefly the type of dragon - are dictated by the amount and type of loot is layered around them in the nest? Environment has little impact on what hatches, it is all about the hoard.

The hoard matters, not just in contents, but in quality AND quantity.  The larger the hoard, the more potent the hatchling.  This is why some Draconic dynasties and 'bloodlines' are so well-known; one massive hoard leads to 

It is even whispered that the types of magic items in the hoard may influence the newly-hatched Dragon's other abilities.  

Yes, other abilities.  Because book dragons are just the basic form, even if ancient.  These other abilities most often manifest themselves as the spells that spellcasting Dragons hurl, but not always.  Sometimes these other abilities are entwined with the Dragon's breath, or impregnated in the Dragon's scales and bone.  

Granted, Dragons do tend to be like their parent dragon (are dragons gendered or do all dragons lay eggs?  Dragons as hermaphrodites? I think it is now canon in my world that all true Dragons can lay eggs), given that those hoards are what begot the parent.

Still, clever or lucky adventurers can acquire eggs and hatch whatever type of dragon they desire - be it through trial and error or dedicated research.  Such research is likely to be expensive and hard-to-find, because Dragons prefer non-Dragons to stay out of their business and tend to eat nosey sorts.  

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Ancient Gold Dragon by Simon Dominic

The more commonly encountered dragons - and what hatches them - are as follows:

Brass - rare woods, textiles (fine clothing and tapestries), fine leatherwork; honey, preferably a (giant) bee hive; bottles and barrels of mead; sentient beings talking (dragon eggs carried by wandering tribes of honorable desert sentients often hatch Brass dragons).

Bronze - children (dragon eggs incubated in an orphanage or school) laughter and song and innocence, driftwood, pearls, seashells, carvings made from coral, scrimshaw on whalebone and walrus ivory; the dragon(s) hatched tend to become protectors of one or more of the children.

Copper - scorpions crawling about, puzzle boxes, riddle books, raw gemstones, raw precious ores, ceramics (be it fine dishes, vases, or statues), the sound of laughter, illusions. 

Gold - sculptures, jewelry, paintings and tapestries of beautiful landscapes, artists performing music and reciting poetry, the sound of running water (from a fountain), the sound of birds, spellbooks; bottles of fine wine.

Silver - suits of full plate and field plate armor, lances, swords (weapons and armor preferably magical), tales of chivalry and quests and knights, fine horses (egg incubated in a stable); pennants of notable knights, shields bearing coats of arms, other collections of heraldry; jewelry; murals, bas-reliefs, tapestries of knights on quests.

Dragon's Hoard by Adam Paquette

Black - shallow water, tarnished silver, sounds of catoblepas bellowing, smell of foul mud, broken statuary, lesser undead, anything that makes mortals fear.

Blue - sapphires, other cut gems, iron lightning rods, turquoise and silver jewelry, sandstone, caravan trappings (carts, wagons, tackle for horses and camels, tents).

Green - throne(s), crowns, items that allow scrying (crystal balls, certain spell scrolls), emeralds, jade statues and masks, items that allow long-distance sight (telescopes), growing plants that are poisonous to most other sentients. 

Red - anything stolen, but preferably gold and cut gems; sounds of anguish and screams of pain; sulfur, pumice, and volcanic ash; treasure maps, merchant scales, written inventories of treasuries and caravans; bones belonging to whatever owned the stolen treasure.

White - mammoth tusks, tanned furs, diamonds, ice sculptures (though frozen things work), scrimshawed bones, silence of snow falling.

Red Dragon by Andrey Kuzinskiy

As might be imagined, the more refined and beautiful and rare and magical the items in a hoard, the more potent the dragons hatched will be.  

In all cases, eggs incubated with spell scrolls, spellbooks, and wands often find some or all these spells imprinted upon them, and these fortunate dragons gain the ability to cast these spells as they grow older.

When in doubt, the larger the hoard, the better for the hatched dragon.

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Legends tell of other sorts of dragons and foolhardy nonDragons may (accidentally) hatch entirely new dragons based on whatever the egg is incubated with or in.  These Dragons are often identified by their breath weapons.

Note that Dragonborn come about when Dragon Eggs are incubated in mortal (ideally Human or Elf) blood, in addition to the requisite treasure (blood for metallic dragonborn being freely given in sacrifice to a greater cause).  Dragonborn themselves are forever sterile, lacking the necessary bits to have any sort of youngling, although adoption is possible.

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What hoards lead to which new dragons in your games?  What lists of nontraditional Dragon abilities do you work from?  Would you share those lists?

Goblin Punch features some unique hoard ideas from The Dragonhole.

Let me know!

Scrimshaw

Scrimshaw is such a lovely word, conjuring up images of 18th-century whalers and explorers crossing the oceans in their quest for loot.  For those unaware, Scrimshaw is not just a lovely pilsner from North Coast Brewing Company, but also an artform in its own right.

Scrimshanders craft their art on bone.  Whale bone and walrus tusks are what immediately spring to mind, but any bone or ivory will do.  This being a gaming blog means magical creatures and their magical bones are eligible, as well.

Dragon bones, in particular, but also the tusks, teeth, skulls, and other large bones of fiends, giants, unicorns, wizards, and anything else in your favorite monster manual.  Giant beetle carapaces, even. 

Artwork - and many examples of scrimshaw are artwork - in DnD games is just fragile gp in an encumbrancing form.  Generally speaking, the more gp a piece of art is worth, the more fragile and/or awkward it is to bring back to civilization to cash it in.  So it goes with scrimshaw, but it doesn't have to stop with being interesting gp.

Maps are always a desirable treasure in a DnDish game, but a scrimshawed map on a dragon's fang is somehow even better - if the map leads to the dragon's lair and the rest of the dragon the fang is from, all the better!

Wizard skulls might have spell formulae scrimshawed onto them, for fragile and interesting scrolls - or spellbooks, even, if the skulls are kept in mineral oils.

Seriously, based on my extensive 5 minutes of research on the wiki page linked up above, bone and ivory deteriorate with time, and organic oils, like those found in skin, accelerate the process.  So, keeping the scrimshawed skulls in jars of mineral oil means Mr. Wizard doesn't travel far from home, and also means that enterprising PC wizards have quite the challenge looting Mr. Wizard's sanctum.

Because every solution to a problem should be the beginning of a new problem.

In addition to scrolls and maps, scrimshawed bones could be alternate forms of potions or even tattoos.  Just find your favorite magic tattoo ruleset and go from there - the rules from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is a good start, but Cottage of Everything, an old Reddit thread, Electric Rain, and Blood and Ink provide other options to work with.

Maybe mixing both tattoos and scrimshaw, with tusked and horned beings getting their tusks and horns scrimshawed with magical markings, allowing for the interesting choice of desecrating a corpse to get the kewl magik bits or leaving it whole and going without.  

Decisions, decisions.  

Maybe the beings scrimshawed on these teeth can be called forth to perform a service?  

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Yes, I am overly impressed and inspired by the beer.  But any inspiration is good inspiration, right?