TEXT: Robert J. Schwalb
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Introduction ...............................................2
  Chapter 1: 
  Into the Wastes ........................................3
  Peoples of the Desolation .............................................3
  New Ancestries ...............................................................4
  Revenant ...........................................................................5
  Salamander ......................................................................7
  Vampire .............................................................................9
  New Paths .......................................................................12
  Prince of Darkness ....................................................... 12
  Blighter ............................................................................ 13
  Dust Walker ...................................................................14
  Slayer of the Dead ........................................................14
  Magic ............................................................................... 15
  Blood Spells ................................................................... 15
  Air Spells ........................................................................16
  Celestial Spells ..............................................................16
  Curse Spells ...................................................................16
  Earth Spells ....................................................................16
  Necromancy Spells ...................................................... 17
  Protection Spells ........................................................... 17
  Water Spells ................................................................... 17
  Chapter 2 
  these Endless Wastes ..........................18
  Special Terrain ..............................................................19
  Notable Locations .........................................................19
  Black Waters ..................................................................19
  Burning Vaults ............................................................. 20
  Crusader States ............................................................ 20
  Drift Stones ....................................................................22
  Obsidian Tombs ...........................................................22
  The Vanishing City ......................................................22
  Whisper Canyon ..........................................................23
  Weather in the Desolation .........................................23
  Brutal Heat .....................................................................22
  Dust Storm .....................................................................22
  Mild Heat ........................................................................23
  Strong Wind ...................................................................23
  Interesting Features .....................................................23
  Chapter 3: 
  Secrets of the Desolation ............. 24
  Adventure Ideas ........................................................... 24
  Under Siege (Starting or Novice) .............................24
  The Dead Walk (Novice) ............................................24
  Rescue Mission (Expert) ............................................25
  Tomb Raiders (Expert or Master) ............................25
  Shipwrecked (Master) .................................................25
  Relics of the Desolation ..............................................26
  Blood Mail ......................................................................25
  Bone Arrow ....................................................................25
  Cauldron of Death .......................................................25
  Mantle of the Harrower ..............................................25
  Creatures of the Desolation .......................................26
  Beastman, Anubin .......................................................26
  Cyclops ............................................................................27
  Death Lord .....................................................................27
  Desiccated Ones ...........................................................28
  Dust Devils .....................................................................29
  Forsaken ..........................................................................29
  Giant Scorpion ..............................................................29
  Great Horned Beetle ................................................... 30
  Lamia .............................................................................. 30
  Mummy ........................................................................... 31
  Murk ................................................................................ 31
  Revenant .........................................................................32
  Salamander ....................................................................32
  Sand Mite Swarm .........................................................33
  Severed ............................................................................33
  Skeletal Steed ................................................................33
  Vampire Brood ..............................................................34
  Whisper Cactus ............................................................34
  Chapter 4: 
  Dread of the Desolation ................35
  Into the Wastelands ......................................................35
  Approaching the Tomb ..............................................35
  The Harrower’s Tomb ..................................................35
  Key Areas ........................................................................36
  Index .................................................................38
  Tombs of the Desolation
  1
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Writing and Design: 
  Robert J. Schwalb
  Editing: Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
  Proofreading: Kara Hamilton
  Art Direction: Robert J. Schwalb
  Graphic Design: Kara Hamilton
  Layout: Kara Hamilton
  Cover Illustrator: Jack Kaiser
  Interior Illustrations: Jack Kaiser, 
  Britt Martin, and Todd Wilson
   Cartography: Cecil Howe
  Tombs of the Desolation is ©2016 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. 
  All rights reserved.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord, Tombs of the Desolation, 
  Schwalb Entertainment, 
  and their associated logos are trademarks of 
  Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.
  SCHWALB ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
  PO Box #12548
  Murfreesboro, TN 37129
  info@schwalbentertainment.com
  www.schwalbentertainment.com.com
  Tombs of the Desolation
  2
  Tales of the desert wastes known as the Desolation 
  abound among the peoples who live along its 
  borders. Many still recall the days when the 
  undead ﬁ rst began their shuﬄ  ing march south, 
  their bony claws grasping the living to feed and 
  to swell their numbers with what was left of their 
  victims. The tide of death seemed without end—
  surely doom had come to the Empire.
   Had it not been for the courage of the crusaders, 
  those doughty folk who took up arms to safeguard 
  the Empire from the undead host, the Northern 
  Reach and the lands to the south would have 
  fallen long ago. Now they guard the Desolation’s 
  borders against future incursions, vigilant in their 
  defense of the innocent, watchful for the rotting 
  horde’s inevitable return.
   The ﬁ rst of a series of setting expansions, the 
  Tombs of the Desolation™ supplement oﬀ ers a 
  closer look at the world of Rûl and its inhabitants. 
  This book zooms in on one of the continent’s 
  most dangerous regions, a wasteland littered 
  with the wreckage of an ancient and wicked 
  civilization, now infested with the animated 
  remains of those vile people. Game Masters will 
  ﬁ nd extensive detail about the region and its 
  inhabitants, including story ideas, new creatures, 
  and a challenging adventure. This supplement 
  also expands player options, adding three new 
  ancestries to those described in the Shadow of the 
  Demon Lord™ rulebook, paths to support those 
  ancestries, and a selection of new spells.
   The Desolation is yours to use as you wish. 
  It might be a source of the darkness aﬄ  icting 
  the world, a homeland that new characters 
  hope to forget, or simply a new place to explore. 
  Everything in this book is optional; feel free to 
  alter or ignore this material to suit your needs.
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Tombs of the Desolation
  3
  The Desolation is a blasted landscape in which only the 
  hardiest and most resourceful people stand a chance of 
  survival. Yet the burning sun, the treacherous terrain, and 
  the savage dust storms pale in comparison to the threat 
  posed by the region’s monstrous evil. Legions of the dead 
  crawl across the dunes and march across the stony plains, 
  driven by ancient masters sealed inside great black pyramids 
  scattered across this inhospitable land. Though few dare 
  the Desolation’s perils, the lure of fabled treasures and of 
  powerful magic lost since ancient times draws fools and 
  heroes alike. The ruins of the terrible empire of Gog hold 
  countless secrets, awaiting those bold enough to pry them 
  from the skeletal claws of guardians doomed never to die.
   The wasteland and its denizens cast a long shadow 
  across the Northern Reach, aﬀ ecting the lives of everyone 
  living on its borders. Although the setting is suited to more 
  experienced adventurers, it can be the catalyst for a group’s 
  formation. Characters might answer the call to battle issued 
  by the Crusader States, devoting themselves to ﬁ ghting 
  the hordes spawned in the deep wastes. Others might 
  have been born to this land, never knowing a life free from 
  fear. And adventurers ﬂ ock to the borders, signing on with 
  expeditions in the hopes of winning vast fortunes.
   This chapter presents new options for characters with 
  ties to the Desolation or who are descended from people 
  touched by its darkness. New ancestries, paths, and spells 
  expand the options for creating characters and developing 
  their stories.
  Peoples of the 
  Desolation
  The Desolation is a constant threat menacing the Northern 
  Reach, where only the foolish or desperate dare to tread. 
  It aﬀ ects the people on its borders in diﬀ erent ways. Some 
  bear the stain of dark magic, while others choose to turn 
  their heritage into an opportunity for power.
   Human: Humans are the most numerous people living 
  on the Desolation’s borders, as much responsible for 
  creating the wastelands as they are for containing it. When 
  the undead ﬁ rst spilled forth from the sands, humans took 
  up arms to drive them back and raised mighty strongholds 
  against the darkness. The call to action drew humans from 
  all backgrounds, ethnicities, and professions.
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Into the Wastes
  Tombs of the Desolation
  4
  Into the Wastes
  1
   Descendants of the Men of Gog, corrupted humans who 
  claimed these lands long ago, still inhabit the region among 
  the others. Though their blood bears their ancestral taint, 
  such individuals are no more virtuous or vile than others. 
  People with the blood of Gog have chalky skin, dark eyes, 
  and little body hair. Odd birthmarks resembling words in 
  unknown languages are common.
   Dwarf: Most dwarfs consider the Desolation to be a 
  human problem. Humans created it, and the marching 
  dead were all once human. Wise dwarfs, though, 
  understand that if the walking corpses triumph over 
  humanity, they will turn their fell attention to others. 
  They have joined forces with the human defenders 
  in the Crusader States, lending their expertise at the 
  forge and their hardy constitutions to the cause. A few 
  dwarfs, especially those seeking a glorious end, ﬁ nd the 
  Desolation’s treasures too tempting to pass up.
   Orc: The provincial governor of the Northern Reach 
  dispatched a force of orcs and humans from Sixton to slow 
  the invasion. These forces held back the walking dead 
  long enough for reinforcements to arrive from Caecras 
  and eventually established the citadel of West Hold. The 
  stronghold remains friendly to orcs and oﬀ ers sanctuary to 
  those who have escaped the chains of slavery in the Empire.
   Other Ancestries: The defenders of the citadels rarely 
  ask questions about the lives of volunteers—all help is 
  welcome.
   Goblins work as scouts, laborers, spies, and squires in 
  the citadels and the borderlands. As with anywhere in the 
  Empire’s provinces, there’s plenty of work for them here.
   Clockworks lack the numbers to have a signiﬁ cant 
  presence on the desert’s edge, but those who make their 
  way to the Crusader States always ﬁ nd welcome. They need 
  none of the things that living people do, and those who fall 
  in battle never rise up as undead to bolster the enemies’ 
  ranks.
   Fauns and halﬂ ings are rare. Fauns sometimes drift north 
  to escape the scorn of their home communities. Halﬂ ings, 
  being skilled farmers and artisans, can earn good livings 
  supplying the crusaders with foodstuﬀ s, beer, weapons, 
  and armor. Even changelings whose true natures have been 
  exposed sometimes ﬁ nd a place among the crusaders.
  New Interesting 
  Things
  At the Game Master’s discretion, characters starting the 
  game near the Desolation can roll on the replacement 
  Interesting Things from the Desolation table instead 
  of the tables included in chapter 1 of Shadow of the 
  Demon Lord.
  Interesting Things 
  from the Desolation
  d20
  Interesting Thing
  1
  A cartouche bearing strange symbols.
  2
  Old, stained linen wrappings.
  3
  The answer to the next riddle you hear.
  4
  A gambling problem.
  5
  A canopic jar ﬁ lled with sand.
  6
  A necklace of human teeth.
  7
  A piece of desert glass.
  8
  An ornately wrought sacriﬁ cial blade.
  9
  A really bad sunburn or a mass of scars.
  10
  A bronze khopesh (treat as a sword).
  11
  A small stone that is always warm to the touch.
  12
  An urn ﬁ lled with ashes.
  13
  A mummiﬁ ed tiny animal.
  14
  A dead scarab beetle.
  15
  An odd symbol carved from bronze.
  16
  A chunk of petriﬁ ed wood.
  17
  An obsidian arrowhead that, when placed on 
  a ﬂ at surface, turns to point toward the center 
  of the Desolation.
  18
  A sandbag weighing 18 pounds.
  19
  A scroll of papyrus that bears illustrations 
  of humans engaged in lewd and improbable 
  activities.
  20
  A small cup that ﬁ lls with fresh water each 
  day at dawn.
  being skilled farmers and artisans, can earn good livings 
  and armor. Even changelings whose true natures have been 
  
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  Into the Wastes
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  Tombs of the Desolation
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  1
  New Ancestries
  The Desolation’s inﬂ uence stretches across the Empire. It 
  can oﬀ er escape from death or summon those who have 
  abandoned the mortal world for the isolation of the wilds.
  Revenant
  Sometimes death calls too soon, claiming the soul before a 
  mortal can fulﬁ ll a destiny, right a wrong, or repay a debt. 
  When the burden of responsibility proves too heavy to set 
  aside, death may stay its hand and let the mortal complete 
  those unﬁ nished tasks as a revenant.
  Between Life and Death: Revenants are neither fully 
  alive nor fully dead. They count as living creatures but 
  never suﬀ er the ailments that plague the living, such as 
  the throes of fever or the agony of venom. They still can be 
  wounded and can be destroyed by weapons. But even when 
  brought low, the pull of their obligations drags revenants 
  from the grave once more to ﬁ nish the work they began.
  Deathly Pallor: Revenants look more or less as they did 
  when they were fully alive, but dark circles ring their eyes, 
  and they tend toward gauntness. New-made revenants 
  use cosmetics and pack their bodies with fragrant spices 
  to cover up the stench of decay. Simple disguises are 
  insuﬃ  cient to mask the nature of older revenants, who use 
  magic to conceal the truth of what they have become.
  Driven and Relentless: Mighty oaths, great injustices, 
  and strong emotions keep revenants in the world. Rising 
  from the grave instills them with a single-minded focus 
  on achieving their objectives. Not all emerge from the 
  transformation with their mental faculties intact; many 
  experience emotional swings that range from manic 
  exuberance to the blackest depression.
  Tied to the Desolation: The Desolation is the source 
  of the power that creates revenants. In ancient times, the 
  Men of Gog who lived in this toxic place used foul magic to 
  extend their lifespans or to escape death altogether. Those 
  who could not aﬀ ord such spells bargained directly with 
  Father Death to give them more time. The dour god refuses 
  most requests, but mortals who have been wronged and 
  crave vengeance sometimes gain his blessing, escaping the 
  Underworld until they can put their aﬀ airs in order.
  Common Names: Revenants use the names they had 
  in life or adopt ones that summarize their new existence, 
  such as Raven, Harlequin, Tears, or Vengeance.
  Creating a Revenant
  First create a human, dwarf, or orc character. Other 
  ancestries may be available at the Game Master’s 
  discretion, but they must be living and mortal, possess 
  souls, and not be created by magic—so no changelings 
  or clockworks. Then apply the following traits to that 
  character.
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength +1, Intellect –1
  Characteristics Defense –1, Insanity +1d3
  Immune damage from disease and poison; diseased, 
  fatigued, poisoned
  Darksight You can see in areas obscured by shadows and 
  darkness within medium range as if those areas were lit. 
  Beyond this distance, you treat darkness as shadows and 
  shadows as lit.
  Eternal Returns You die instantly when you become 
  incapacitated, and you remain dead for 1d3 hours. At 
  the end of this time, if your head is still attached to 
  your body, you return to life, heal damage equal to your 
  healing rate, and gain 1d3 Insanity. Otherwise, you are 
  destroyed.
  One Foot in the Grave You heal only half the normal 
  amount of damage from magic and potions.
  Level 4 Expert Revenant
  Characteristics Health +6
  You learn one spell, gain Eyes of the Underworld, or gain 
  an expert trait from your other ancestry.
  Eyes of the Underworld You can use an action to make a 
  Will attack roll against the Will of one target creature 
  within short range that can see you. On a success, the 
  target becomes frightened for 1 minute. On a failure, the 
  target becomes immune to your use of this talent until it 
  completes a rest.
  use cosmetics and pack their bodies with fragrant spices 
  to cover up the stench of decay. Simple disguises are 
  insuﬃ  cient to mask the nature of older revenants, who use 
  magic to conceal the truth of what they have become.
  Driven and Relentless:
  and strong emotions keep revenants in the world. Rising 
  from the grave instills them with a single-minded focus 
  on achieving their objectives. Not all emerge from the 
  transformation with their mental faculties intact; many 
  experience emotional swings that range from manic 
  exuberance to the blackest depression.
  Tied to the Desolation:
  of the power that creates revenants. In ancient times, the 
  Men of Gog who lived in this toxic place used foul magic to 
  extend their lifespans or to escape death altogether. Those 
  who could not aﬀ ord such spells bargained directly with 
  Father Death to give them more time. The dour god refuses 
  most requests, but mortals who have been wronged and 
  crave vengeance sometimes gain his blessing, escaping the 
  Underworld until they can put their aﬀ airs in order.
  Common Names:
  in life or adopt ones that summarize their new existence, 
  such as Raven, Harlequin, Tears, or Vengeance.
  First create a human, dwarf, or orc character. Other 
  ancestries may be available at the Game Master’s 
  discretion, but they must be living and mortal, possess 
  souls, and not be created by magic—so no changelings 
  or clockworks. Then apply the following traits to that 
  character.
  Starting Attribute Scores
  Characteristics
  Immune
  fatigued, poisoned
  Darksight
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Into the Wastes
  Tombs of the Desolation
  6
  Into the Wastes
  1
  Optional Rule: Rising from the Dead
  The GM might allow a dead character to return as a 
  revenant, provided he or she meets the criteria and doing so 
  would be appropriate to the story. For example, an expert 
  character might have been killed before she had a chance 
  to ﬁ nd her husband’s murderer, while a master character 
  could return to ﬁ nd the cure to a vile contagion that not 
  only destroyed him but threatens many others. If the GM 
  intervenes in this way, the character typically returns to life 
  at the start of the next adventure, with all damage healed, 
  and gains all the revenant traits.
  Revenant Ancestry Tables
  Use the tables from your character’s base ancestry to 
  determine his or her background before returning from 
  the dead. Then choose from or randomly determine the 
  options presented in the following tables to describe how 
  the character became a revenant and the eﬀ ects of that 
  transformation on his or her personality and nature.
  Cause of Death
  d20
  Cause
  1
  You were executed for a crime you did not 
  commit.
  2
  You were brutally murdered after watching your 
  loved ones die.
  3
  You stumbled into a violent situation and were 
  killed as a result.
  4
  You committed suicide.
  5
  You died protecting or ﬁ ghting for a dark magic-
  user.
  6
  Your spouse poisoned you.
  7
  Your sibling or parent murdered you.
  8
  A rival had you assassinated.
  9
  A lethal trap killed you suddenly.
  10
  A monster butchered you while you were ﬁ ghting 
  to protect your loved ones.
  11
  A cultist ended your life using dark magic.
  12
  A demon tore you to pieces.
  13
  A falling piano or other heavy object abbreviated 
  your lifespan.
  14
  You succumbed to disease.
  15
  You died after fooling around with a dangerous 
  relic.
  16
  Some natural disaster claimed your life.
  17
  A psychopath tortured you for days before killing 
  you.
  18
  You drowned.
  19
  You were burned at the stake for demonology, 
  sorcery, or heresy.
  20
  Cultists sacriﬁ ced you to the Demon Lord.
  Reason for Return
  1d6
  Reason for Return
  1
  Vengeance
  2
  Love
  3
  Duty or an oath
  4
  Delusion
  5
  Hate
  6
  Spreading chaos
  Distinguishing Features
  d20
  Feature
  1
  You never cast a shadow.
  2
  You are so thin that you appear skeletal.
  3
  Vermin infest your body.
  4
  You have a curious odor.
  5
  You do not bleed.
  6
  You move with an awkward, jarring gait.
  7
  Your smile stretches weirdly across your face.
  8
  You’re missing a few ﬁ ngers and toes.
  9
  You have a terrible scar as a result of your death.
  10
  You are bloated.
  11
  You smell of the spices you use to preserve your 
  ﬂ esh.
  12
  In place of eyes, you have glowing red pinpricks 
  ﬂ oating in pools of darkness.
  13
  You have a raspy voice.
  14
  You have no teeth.
  15
  Your face never shows expressions.
  16
  You are always ﬁ lthy, no matter how often you 
  bathe.
  17
  You wrap yourself in funerary linens.
  18
  Your eyes and mouth have been sewn shut, but 
  you can still see and speak.
  19
  Your neck is broken and never heals. Your head 
  ﬂ ops about when you move.
  20
  The air around you grows chill.
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Into the Wastes
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  7
  1
  Unusual Behavior
  d20
  Feature
  1
  You laugh at inappropriate times.
  2
  Your hands shake.
  3
  You sometimes see things that aren’t there.
  4
  You often think people are watching you.
  5
  You feel compelled to touch things.
  6
  You believe something to be true that is obviously 
  not, and you cling to that belief even when 
  presented with evidence that it is false.
  7
  You experience horriﬁ c nightmares that cause you 
  to wake up screaming.
  8
  You see dead people.
  9
  You frequently cut or harm yourself to feel pain.
  10
  You hear voices whispering to you at all times.
  11
  A person only you can see is always in your 
  ﬁ eld of view. It’s up to you to decide who this 
  individual is and what he or she looks like.
  12
  If you speak while angry, another entity uses your 
  voice to interject strange and unsettling words 
  and phrases into your speech.
  13
  You ﬁ nd most food and drink repulsive. You can 
  hold down only insects and foul water.
  14
  Your mood swings with little warning.
  15
  You always feel like you forgot something 
  important.
  16
  When you go to an unfamiliar place, you must 
  take a few moments to ﬁ nd all the exits.
  17
  You constantly scratch and tear at your skin.
  18
  Your eyes always ﬂ ick back and forth.
  19
  You punctuate your speech with grotesque 
  croaking noises.
  20
  You sometimes hear the screech of ravens and 
  the beating of many wings when you attack 
  creatures that have souls.
  Salamander
  The genies shaped the ﬁ rst salamanders from elemental 
  ﬂ ame to serve as thralls to those wild and willful beings. 
  For centuries, the salamanders and their descendants 
  lived apart from the other peoples in the world, free from 
  machinations and intrigues, but the rise of terrible evils 
  has coaxed them out of hiding to walk the lands in their 
  ﬁ nal days.
  Born from Fire: The genies formed salamanders by 
  infusing elemental ﬂ ame with their own essence, granting 
  the ﬁ re solidity, humanoid form, and sentience. Their ﬁ ery 
  heritage is still evident in the tall, twisting horns rising from 
  salamanders’ brows, the spurs growing on their arms and 
  legs, and their crimson skin. With pupilless white eyes and 
  long, sharp teeth, salamanders’ features range from exotic 
  to diabolical. A typical salamander stands between 7 and 8 
  feet tall and can weigh up to 400 pounds.
  Elementals: As elemental beings, salamanders enjoy 
  long lives, but lacking mortal souls, they cannot return 
  from death. When a salamander dies, its body burns up in 
  a ﬂ ash of ﬁ re.
  Slaves of the Genies: The genies made salamanders to 
  do their bidding, and salamanders believe they likewise 
  fashioned the world from chaos. Other elementals were 
  made to be creators and healers, but salamanders were 
  designed as destroyers. They fought the genies’ enemies: 
  the faerie, trolls, and anyone else who sought to bind and 
  control their masters. Thus their ﬁ rst encounters with 
  humanity were in battle, which left a lasting negative 
  impression. As madness infected the genies, their interest 
  in the world waned, leaving the salamanders free to ﬁ nd 
  their own destinies. Most made their homes in the Burning 
  Vaults, but some survived in the Desolation’s wastes.
  Fierce and Volatile: A people of intense passion, 
  salamanders have diﬃ  culty hiding their emotions, 
  especially anger. In dealings with others, they can be 
  aggressive to the point of causing oﬀ ense, even threatening, 
  if they don’t get their way. Such emotional outbursts never 
  last for long, though, and they quickly forget what raised 
  their ire in the ﬁ rst place.
  Common Names: Azagad, Beruul, Dedan, Fereen, 
  Heeseh, Ignez, Seekriz, Zeez.
  Creating a Salamander
  Starting Attribute Scores Strength 10, Agility 9, Intellect 9, 
  Will 11
  Perception equals your Intellect score
  Defense equals your Agility score
  Health equals your Strength score
  Healing Rate equals one-quarter your Health
  Size 1, Speed 10, Power 0
  Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
  Languages and Professions You speak the Common 
  Tongue and Firespeak, a hissing and clicking language of 
  the ﬂ ame elementals.
  Immune damage from disease, ﬁ re, and poison; diseased, 
  poisoned
  Cold Intolerant You take double damage from cold. When 
  you take damage from cold, you also become fatigued 
  for 1 round.
  Heat At the end of the round, each creature grabbed by 
  you or that has grabbed you must get a success on a 
  Strength challenge roll or take 1d3 damage from the 
  intense heat radiating from your body.
  Fiery Death When you die, ﬂ ames burst from a point 
  within your space out to a number of yards equal to your 
  group level. Everything in the area takes damage equal 
  to 1d6 + your group level. Each creature in the area that 
  gets a success on an Agility challenge roll takes half the 
  damage instead.
  
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  Into the Wastes
  1
  Level 4 Expert Salamander
  Characteristics Health +5
  You either learn one spell or gain Scorching Reprisal.
  Scorching Reprisal When you become injured, you can use 
  a triggered action to release a burst of ﬂ ames in a 2-yard 
  radius from a point within your space. Everything in the 
  area takes 1d6 damage. Each creature in the area that 
  gets a success on an Agility challenge roll instead takes 
  no damage.
  Salamander Age
  3d6
  Age
  3
  You are a child, 8 years old or younger.
  4–7
  You are an adolescent, 9 to 15 years old.
  8–12
  You are a young adult, 16 to 50 years old.
  13–15
  You are a middle-aged adult, 51 to 100 years old.
  16–17
  You are an older adult, 101 to 150 years old.
  18
  You are a venerable adult, 151 years or older.
  Salamander Personality
  3d6
  Personality
  3
  Hate consumes you. You enjoy hurting other 
  people.
  4
  You have a nasty temper and resort to violence 
  when angered.
  5–6
  You are a braggart and a bully.
  7–8
  You are rude to people you don’t know and 
  unfriendly to those you do know.
  9–12
  You are bold and aggressive.
  13–14
  You are friendly, charming, and boisterous.
  15–16
  You try to do the right thing, but your passions 
  sometimes get in the way.
  17
  You have learned to control your emotions, so that 
  you seem cold and reserved to others.
  18
  You have an infectious cheer. You put others at 
  ease, and people want to be around you.
              Salamander Appearance
  3d6
  Appearance
  3
  You have a monstrous appearance 
  that even your own people ﬁ nd 
  unsettling. A profusion of horns and 
  spurs erupt from all over your body, 
  and your skin is a sickly, blotchy color. 
  Your visage is a snarling mass of bone 
  and ﬂ esh, eyes yellowed and dull.
  4
  You are a ﬁ retail, an offshoot of 
  the salamander race born with a 
  serpentine tail instead of legs. Aside 
  from this mutation, your features are 
  those of other salamanders. Your tail 
  imposes a –2 penalty to your Speed 
  but grants you 1 boon on attack rolls 
  made to grab.
  5–6
  You have crude, brutish features 
  with mottled orange-and-black skin. 
  You are considered plain or even 
  unattractive by your people.
  7–8
  You have 1d6 + 3 toothlike horns 
  growing from the top of your head. 
  Your skin is rough and scaly, pierced 
  by bizarre bone spurs all over your 
  body.
  9–12
  You have the appearance of a typical 
  salamander.
  13–14
  You are attractive for a salamander. 
  Your horns are smooth and spurs 
  small.
  15–16
  You are striking for a salamander. 
  Your black horns are smooth and 
  polished, your eyes blaze with an inner 
  radiance, and your skin is warm and 
  unbroken by spurs.
  17
  You are beautiful, even by the 
  standards of other peoples. You have 
  attractive features and a presence 
  that grabs attention. You have no 
  bone spurs, and only two small horns 
  sprout from your forehead.
  18
  Your appearance sets you apart from 
  nearly all of your kind. You have a
  shapely or muscular form with 
  striking features. The horns and spurs 
  common to your race are arranged in 
  such a way that almost everyone 
  ﬁ nds you appealing and perhaps a 
  little exotic.
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Tombs of the Desolation
  8
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Into the Wastes
  Into the Wastes
  Tombs of the Desolation
  9
  1
  Salamander Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You nearly died, and your body has suffered 
  as a result. You partly turned to ﬂ ame and now 
  appear scorched and are missing a few of your 
  extremities.
  2
  You discovered the gates of Hell and passed 
  through them to live among the devils for 1d3 
  years. You start the game with 1d3 Insanity and 1 
  Corruption.
  3
  You were kidnapped and enslaved by a 
  wicked magician. After 1d6 years of abuse and 
  exploitation, you escaped.
  4
  You committed a crime against your people 
  and ﬂ ed from your homeland to escape the 
  repercussions.
  5
  Undead besieged and destroyed your home. You 
  are the only survivor.
  6
  You brieﬂ y fell in with a cult dedicated to a 
  monstrous being known as the Inferno. You broke 
  with the cultists once they started summoning 
  demons. You start the game with 1 Corruption.
  7
  You ventured into the Desolation and survived to 
  tell of it.
  8
  You lost someone close to you.
  9
  You were captured by travelers and sold as a 
  slave in the Nine Cities. You only recently won 
  your freedom.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession.
  11
  You fell in love with someone of a different 
  ancestry. You could have had a relationship with 
  another character, if you both agree.
  12
  You have a spouse and 1d6 � 2 children (minimum 
  0).
  13
  You left your home long ago to see the world. 
  You speak one additional language.
  14
  Your parents were leaders in your community, and 
  you have lived in their shadow your whole life.
  15
  You saved the life of someone important, and that 
  person now owes you a favor.
  16
  You were whisked away from your homeland by a 
  magician who summoned you to serve him or her 
  for a time.
  17
  Orphaned, you were found by a druid who raised 
  you in the ways of the Old Faith.
  18
  You found something unusual in the Desolation. 
  Start the game with one item from the Interesting 
  Things of the Desolation table (this is in addition 
  to the interesting thing that all characters start 
  with).
  19
  You helped defend your community. You start the 
  game with a spear.
  20
  You came into money and start the game with 2d6 
  cp.
  Salamander Build
  3d6
  Build
  3
  You are short and slender.
  4
  You are short and muscular.
  5–6
  You are short for your people.
  7–8
  You are thin, willowy, or gaunt.
  9–12
  You have typical height and weight for 
  your people.
  13–14
  You are somewhat overweight.
  15–16
  You are tall.
  17
  You are tall and thin.
  18
  You tower over other salamanders, your body 
  hulking and powerful.
  Vampire
  Vampires emerge from crypts and climb out of graves to 
  prey on the living when night falls. Most vampires are true 
  monsters, cruel and indiscriminate killers made incapable 
  of remorse by the unholy curse sustaining their unnatural 
  existence. A few manage to control the terrible impulses 
  and curb their appetites enough to cling to the tattered 
  shreds of their lost humanity.
  Sire-Bound: A vampire can create another vampire by 
  bringing a human to the brink of death and feeding the 
  victim a measure of the vampire’s blood. This act kills 
  the victim, who then rises the next night as a vampire 
  under its sire’s control (see “Creating New Vampires” on 
  the next page). Since creating new vampires means more 
  competition for fresh blood and risks attention from 
  inquisitors and undead-slayers, vampires sire oﬀ spring 
  with great reluctance.
  Maddening Thirst: Blood is never far from a vampire’s 
  thoughts, being needed to sustain its immortal existence. 
  The agony of this thirst and the fear of helplessness 
  combine in a relentless craving that intensiﬁ es the longer 
  the vampire goes without drinking.
  Feral and Monstrous: Though traces of their humanity 
  linger in the vampires’ undead states, long, sharp fangs ﬁ ll 
  their mouths, and their features become drawn and pale 
  by the pangs of blood thirst. When a vampire attacks, its 
  visage twists into something monstrous, its naked hunger 
  inspiring fear and panic.
  Witch-King’s Curse: The Witch-King created the ﬁ rst 
  vampires from his most loyal servants, transforming them 
  into immortal subjects made dependent on him for blood. 
  The vampires in his service beneﬁ ted from preternatural 
  strength, quickness, keen senses, and durability, making 
  them useful to the Dark One and loyal thanks to their 
  incessant thirst. All vampires descend from them, and it’s 
  believed some ancestors survive to this day, sealed in the 
  Desolation’s black tombs.
  Common Names: Vampires might use their human 
  names or adopt new ones. Many feel the transformation 
  is a rebirth and assume new identities suited to their new 
  existences. Such vampires adopt noble titles or monikers 
  that reﬂ ect their new natures, such as the Red Duchess, 
  Shade, Desire, or She.
  
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  10
  Into the Wastes
  1
  Creating a Vampire
  All vampires begin as humans, so ﬁ rst create a human 
  character and then apply the following traits to that 
  character.
  Attribute Scores Strength +1, Agility +1, Intellect +1, Will +1
  Characteristics Perception +1, Defense +1 , Speed +2, 
  Insanity +1d6, Corruption +1d3
  Immune damage from cold, disease, poison; asleep, 
  diseased, fatigued, immobilized, poisoned, and slowed
  Darksight You can see in areas obscured by shadows and 
  darkness within medium range as if those areas were lit. 
  Beyond this distance, you treat darkness as shadows and 
  shadows as lit.
  Sire-Bound You are bound to the vampire that created 
  you until it uses an action to free you or it is destroyed. 
  You cannot attack the vampire that made you, and you 
  become compelled by it while it is within short range 
  of you.
  Dreadful Appearance When you attack a living creature 
  that can see you, the target must make a Will challenge 
  roll. The target becomes frightened for 1 minute on 
  a failure. On a success, it becomes immune to your 
  Dreadful Appearance until after it completes a rest.
  Natural Weapons You have long fangs, which count as 
  swift ﬁ nesse weapons that deal 1d6 damage.
  Unnatural Existence Your healing rate is 0 and cannot be 
  increased above 0.
  Blood Pool You need blood to sustain your existence. You 
  measure the blood you have accumulated in a pool of 
  blood points. When you ﬁ rst become a vampire, you 
  gain 1 blood point from the vampire that created you. 
  You add blood points to your pool using the Drink Blood 
  talent (see below) up to a maximum number equal to 1 + 
  your group level.
  Each time you complete a rest, you must spend 1 
  point from your blood pool. If you have no blood points 
  to spend, you gain 1 Insanity and take a –1d6 penalty to 
  Health (minimum 0; see Torpor below). The penalty is 
  cumulative, and you are impaired while you have it. You 
  can remove the accumulated penalty to Health by using 
  an action to spend 1 blood point.
  Blood Healing You can use an action or a triggered action 
  on your turn to expend 1 blood point and heal damage 
  equal to 1 + your group level.
  Torpor When the penalty to your Health from the 
  Blood Pool trait drops your Health to 0, you become 
  unconscious, resembling a corpse. If you take any 
  damage while unconscious, you are instantly destroyed. 
  As an action, another creature can feed you fresh blood 
  from a living creature to remove the accumulated 
  penalty to your Health and end this afﬂ iction.
  Drink Blood When a living creature you have grabbed 
  takes damage from an attack using your fangs, the 
  creature takes a penalty to its Health equal to its healing 
  rate for 1 hour, and you add 1 point to your blood pool. 
  While the creature has this penalty, it is fatigued.
  Superstition While you can see the object of your 
  superstitious fear (see below), you make attack rolls and 
  challenge rolls with 3 banes.
  Burned by Sunlight You take 2d6 damage and reduce your 
  blood pool by 1 at the end of each round you are in an 
  area lit by sunlight. As well, you take double damage 
  from Celestial spells and make challenge rolls to resist 
  those spells with 1 bane.
  Level 4 Expert Vampire
  Characteristics Health +6
  Pass for Human You can use an action to alter your 
  appearance so that you look as you did in the prime 
  of your life. You keep this appearance until you take 
  damage, you attack, or you use an action to resume your 
  normal appearance.
  Creating New Vampires
  To create a “child,” or vampire brood, you must drain 
  blood from a living human until it becomes incapacitated 
  and then feed the victim your blood by using an action 
  and spending 1 blood point. The victim dies at the end of 
  the round. If the corpse is exposed to sunlight, it instantly 
  burns to ash. If, however, the corpse is interred somewhere 
  the light cannot reach, such as a tomb or a crypt, it rises as a 
  new vampire when the sun next sets.
  Vampire Ancestry Tables
  When determining your character’s background and 
  description, start with the human ancestry tables in Shadow 
  of the Demon Lord to establish your identity before you 
  became a vampire. Then choose or randomly determine 
  the options presented in the following tables to describe 
  how your character became a vampire and how the 
  experience aﬀ ected you.
  Superstitious Fear
  d6
  Superstitious Fear
  1
  Symbols of the gods
  2
  Mirrors
  3
  Running water
  4
  Cats
  5
  Silver
  6
  Garlic
  
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  Tombs of the Desolation
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  1
  Unusual Qualities
  d20
  Unusual Quality
  1
  You never cast a reﬂ ection on mirrored surfaces.
  2
  Your fangs sprout from the end of your tongue, 
  which is horrid and long.
  3
  You stink of decay.
  4
  Your eyes gleam redly.
  5
  All animals except rats, bats, and wolves are 
  hostile to you.
  6
  You look like a walking corpse. Suppurating 
  wounds and eruptions spread across your body, 
  your hair falls out in clumps, and your pupils are 
  milky white.
  7
  Your ﬁ ngers lengthen into claws. They count as 
  swift ﬁ nesse weapons that deal 1d3 damage.
  8
  You lose all your body hair.
  9
  You can speak only in whispers.
  10
  You weep blood.
  11
  Whorls and patterns cover your skin.
  12
  Flies follow you where you go. 
  13
  You must bury yourself in dirt in order to rest.
  14
  You cannot create new vampires.
  15
  Children cry in your presence.
  16
  While the blood points in your blood pool equal 
  or exceed half your maximum, you appear bloated 
  and ﬂ ushed.
  17
  You have a persistent, rattling cough.
  18
  Your skin is paper-thin and your body appears 
  skeletal.
  19
  Fur grows in the palms of your hands.
  20
  You cast no shadow.
            Sire’s Identity
  d6
  Sire
  1
  Someone you met in passing but did not 
  really know
  2
  An ancestor or member of your family
  3
  A complete stranger
  4
  A rival or enemy
  5
  A close friend
  6
  Your lover
            Sire’s Motive
  d6
  Your sire turned you into a vampire to . . .
  1
  . . . get revenge against you or someone else.
  2
  . . . torment you or someone else.
  3
  . . . gain a companion.
  4
  . . . acquire a servant.
  5
  . . . corrupt you.
  6
  . . . ﬁ ght against his or her enemies.
  Relationship to Sire
  d6
  Your sire . . .
  1
  . . . mistreats and abuses you, delighting in your 
  suffering.
  2–3
  . . . abandoned you, though he or she still has 
  power over you.
  4
  . . . has great affection for you.
  5
  . . . freed you.
  6
  . . . was destroyed. Roll again to determine the 
  earlier relationship, ignoring rolls of 6.
  your hair falls out in clumps, and your pupils are 
  Your ﬁ ngers lengthen into claws. They count as 
  You must bury yourself in dirt in order to rest.
  While the blood points in your blood pool equal 
  or exceed half your maximum, you appear bloated 
  Your skin is paper-thin and your body appears 
  
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  12
  Into the Wastes
  1
  The paths characters walk near the 
  Desolation lead to strange and 
  dangerous places.
  Prince of Darkness
  Expert Path
  Vampirism oﬀ ers great power 
  at a terrible price. Vampires 
  are faster and stronger 
  than ordinary humans, 
  but they suﬀ er from an 
  overpowering thirst for 
  blood. Unable to walk in 
  sunlight, they become 
  creatures of the night, 
  skulking in the shadows 
  to ambush their prey and 
  evade the inquisitors who 
  would consign them to 
  the purifying ﬂ ames.
  Their dependency on 
  fresh blood creates enemies 
  wherever vampires go. 
  Communities soon grow wise 
  to the predator in their midst;the 
  hunter becomes the prey as the 
  people gather into bloodthirsty mobs 
  intent on destroying it. Thus vampires 
  need cunning and control over their 
  dark impulses to survive the many 
  dangers arrayed against them.
  Princes of darkness ﬁ nd ways to 
  keep their blood thirst in check and 
  to improve their talents. They suﬀ er 
  from all the same weaknesses 
  as their fellows but develop 
  techniques to aid in hunting, 
  withstand enemies’ attacks, and 
  elude discovery and capture.
  To choose this expert path, you 
  must be a vampire.
  The paths characters walk near the 
  Desolation lead to strange and 
  dangerous places.
  Prince of Darkness
  Expert Path
  Expert Path
  Vampirism oﬀ ers great power 
  at a terrible price. Vampires 
  fresh blood creates enemies 
  wherever vampires go. 
  Communities soon grow wise 
  to the predator in their midst;the 
  hunter becomes the prey as the 
  people gather into bloodthirsty mobs 
  intent on destroying it. Thus vampires 
  need cunning and control over their 
  dark impulses to survive the many 
  dangers arrayed against them.
  Princes of darkness ﬁ nd ways to 
  keep their blood thirst in check and 
  to improve their talents. They suﬀ er 
  from all the same weaknesses 
  as their fellows but develop 
  techniques to aid in hunting, 
  withstand enemies’ attacks, and 
  elude discovery and capture.
  To choose this expert path, you 
  must be a vampire.
  New Paths
  
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  13
  1
  Prince of Darkness
     Story Development
  d6
  Story Development
  1
  You turned to ancient writings to learn more 
  about yourself and your potential. You might 
  have pursued this course as part of your magical 
  studies or sought out one knowledgeable in 
  Necromancy to teach you how to control your 
  nature.
  2
  You looked to religion to ﬁ nd the answers to 
  your undead existence, and your faith helps you 
  control your impulses. Freed from the compulsion 
  to drink blood, you have been able to learn more 
  about what you truly are.
  3
  Applying your knack for problem-solving to 
  the predicament of your undead self, you have 
  enhanced your innate powers.
  4
  A pact with a supernatural agency helped you to 
  unlock new capabilities.
  5
  Tested in battle, you learned how to effectively 
  blend your ﬁ ghting techniques with your 
  unnatural talents.
  6
  You discovered a tome written by one of the ﬁ rst 
  vampires and from it learned how to master your 
  undead nature.
  Level 3 Prince of Darkness
  Attributes Increase two by 1
  Characteristics Health +6, Corruption +1 
  Languages and Professions You can either speak another 
  language or add a profession.
  Draining Bite A target fatigued by Drink Blood attack is 
  slowed for as long as it remains fatigued from the attack.
  Misty Escape When you become incapacitated, you can 
  use a triggered action to transform into a billowing cloud 
  of mist, ﬂ y up to your Speed, and then resume your 
  normal form. While in mist form, you are immune to all 
  damage, can move through spaces occupied by other 
  creatures, and can move through openings wide enough 
  to permit the passage of air. This movement does not 
  trigger free attacks. Once you use this talent, you cannot 
  use it again until after you complete a rest.
  Level 6 Prince of Darkness
  Characteristics Perception +1, Health +6, Corruption +1 
  Charming Bite A creature already fatigued by your Drink 
  Blood trait that would become fatigued again in this way 
  must get a success on a Will challenge roll or become 
  charmed until it is no longer fatigued.
  Sunlight Tolerance You take half damage from exposure 
  to sunlight.
  Level 9 Master Prince of Darkness
  Characteristics Health +6, Speed +2, Corruption +1 
  Flowing Mist You can use Misty Escape whenever you take 
  damage, and you regain the ability to use it after the end 
  of the next round.
  Resilience You take half damage from weapons.
  Blighter
  Master Path
  Blighters are believed to be responsible for the Desolation’s 
  present form. At one time, these magic-users were counted 
  among the mightiest of the Witch-King’s servants. They 
  drained the land of life to raise armies of the dead, 
  constructed magniﬁ cent monuments to themselves 
  and their master, and loosed destructive power against 
  their enemies. The blighters’ techniques yet await those 
  ambitious and hardy souls willing and able to pry them 
  from the Desolation’s ruins.
   Blighters exploit the world’s resources, destroying life to 
  feed their ambition. Thus, this path appeals to students of 
  the dark arts, the reckless, and the insane.
  Level 7 Blighter
  Attributes Increase three by 1
  Characteristics Health +2, Power +1, Corruption +1
  Languages and Professions You can speak another 
  language or add a profession.
  Magic You learn the blight spell.
  BLIGHT 
  BLIGHTER ATTACK 1
  Requirement You must not be in a blighted area.
  Area A sphere with a radius of 5 yards centered on a point 
  you can reach
  Duration See the effect
  The area becomes blighted for 1d6 years, during which time 
  no plants can grow there. As well, any creature attempting to 
  cast a spell in the blighted area must ﬁ rst get a success on a 
  Will challenge roll. On a failure, the casting is not expended 
  but the action to cast the spell is wasted.
   
  When you cast the spell, all normal plants turn to ashes 
  that swirl around the area, partially obscuring it for 1 round. 
  As well, each living creature in the area must get a success on 
  a Strength challenge roll or become fatigued for 1 minute and 
  take a –1d3 penalty to Health until it completes a rest. The 
  penalty to Health is cumulative with repeated castings.
   
  You increase by 1 the number of castings you have for 
  one spell you have learned that has a rank equal to or less 
  than half your Power. You retain the extra casting until you 
  expend it.
   
  Permanence If you cast this spell in the same area each day 
  for 8 days, the area becomes permanently blighted.
  Level 10 Blighter
  Characteristics Health +2, +1 Corruption
  Magic You learn one spell.
  Empowering Blight When you cast the blight spell, you 
  make attack rolls and challenge rolls with 1 boon for 1 
  round.
  
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  14
  Into the Wastes
  1
  Dust Walker
  Master Path
  Dust walkers learn their techniques from the mad genies 
  of the Desolation’s deep wastes by discovering their names 
  and harnessing their power. The knowledge they gain 
  destabilizes dust walkers’ minds, making them as willful 
  and ruinous as their crazed patrons. Some pursue this path 
  to heal the land, while others seize it to grow their own 
  power.
  Level 7 Dust Walker
  Attributes Increase three by 1
  Characteristics Health +3, Power +1
  Languages and Professions You can speak another 
  language or add a profession.
  Magic You discover either the Air or Earth tradition, or you 
  learn one spell from one of those traditions.
  Earth Walker You move at full Speed across difﬁ cult 
  terrain composed of sand, dust, earth, or rocks.
  Fling Dust When you make a melee attack with a weapon, 
  you can use a triggered action to ﬂ ing dust at your 
  target. The target must get a success on a Strength 
  challenge roll or become impaired until the end of the 
  round.
  Level 10 Dust Walker
  Characteristics Health +3
  Magic You learn one spell.
  Dust Storm You can use an action to turn into a cloud of 
  swirling dust and move up to your Speed. While in this 
  form, you are immune to damage, can move through 
  spaces occupied by other creatures, and can move 
  through openings wide enough to permit the passage of 
  air. This movement does not trigger free attacks. When 
  you ﬁ nish moving, you resume your normal form, and 
  each sighted creature within 2 yards of you must get a 
  success on a Strength challenge roll or become blinded 
  for 1 round. You can use this talent a number of times 
  equal to 1 + your Power score. You regain expended uses 
  when you complete a rest.
  Slayer of the Dead
  Master Path
  Undead are abominations that threaten to spread across 
  the world unless stopped. Certain dedicated men and 
  women take up arms to destroy the living dead wherever 
  they ﬁ nd them. Most slayers of the dead began as crusaders, 
  developing their talents from necessity and nursing a 
  hatred that sends them in pursuit of the foe.
  Level 7 Slayer of the Dead
  Attributes Increase three by 1
  Characteristics Health +5
  Languages and Professions You can speak another 
  language or add a profession.
  Anticipate Undead Undead make their attack rolls against 
  you with 1 bane, and you make challenge rolls with 1 
  boon to resist their attacks.
  Fearless You cannot become frightened. When you roll to 
  resist gaining Insanity, you make the challenge roll with 
  1 boon.
  Level 10 Slayer of the Dead
  Characteristics Health +5
  Never Surrender While you are injured, you have a +2 
  bonus to Defense.
  Undead Bane When you attack an undead creature, you 
  make the attack roll with 1 boon, and your attack deals 
  1d6 extra damage.
  
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  15
  1
  Magic expresses itself in many diﬀ erent traditions on the 
  world of Urth, from the havoc and ruin created by
  Destruction spells to the more subtle eﬀ ects of 
  Enchantment and Illusion. Some sorts of magic, though, 
  produce a narrower range of eﬀ ects, such as spells unique to 
  certain paths or that relate to certain ancestries or 
  lands. Spells of such minor traditions are never higher 
  than rank 3.
  Blood Spells 
  Blood magic has a dark legacy, devised by the vampires 
  from their obsession with the body’s most vital humor. 
  These spells manipulate blood and force it to obey the 
  caster’s commands, often with alarming results.
   You can use Intellect or Will to cast Blood spells.
  BLEED 
  BLOOD ATTACK 0
  Target One living creature within short range
  Bubbles form on the target’s skin. Make an Intellect or Will 
  attack roll against the target’s Strength. On a success, the 
  bubbles burst and the target takes 1d3 damage, and at 
  the end of each round, the target must get a success on 
  a Strength challenge roll or take 1 damage. Getting three 
  successes on the challenge roll or healing any damage ends 
  this effect.
   
  Attack Roll 20+ The target takes 1d3 extra damage.
  RESTORE HUMORS 
  BLOOD UTILITY 0
  Target One living creature within your reach
  You touch the target and make an Intellect or Will challenge 
  roll. On a success, the target heals damage equal to its 
  healing rate. On a failure, the target takes damage equal to 
  half its healing rate.
  BLOOD TO WATER 
  BLOOD ATTACK 1
  Target One living creature within short range
  If the target has Health 10 or less, it dies instantly, watery 
  blood leaking from its oriﬁ ces. Otherwise, make an Intellect 
  or Will attack roll against the target’s Strength. On a success, 
  the target takes 1d3 damage and becomes dazed and 
  fatigued for 1 round.
  TRANSFUSION 
  BLOOD ATTACK 1
  Target One living creature within short range
  A hole opens somewhere on the target’s body and then 
  closes. Make an Intellect or Will attack roll against the target’s 
  Strength. On a success, roll 2d6. The total rolled is imposed 
  as a penalty to the target’s Health, and you gain a bonus to 
  Health equal to the same amount. Both the penalty and the 
  bonus last for 1 minute.
   
  Special If you are a vampire, you can gain 1 blood point 
  instead of the bonus to Health.
  BOILING BLOOD 
  BLOOD ATTACK 2
  Target One living creature within short range
  Blood boils in the target’s veins. If the target has Health 15 
  or less, it dies instantly, its body bloated and blackened. 
  Otherwise, make an Intellect or Will attack roll against the 
  target’s Strength. On a success, the target takes 2d6 + 3 
  damage.
   
  A target killed by this effect explodes and sprays boiling 
  blood in a 3-yard radius centered on a point within its space. 
  Each creature in the area must get a success on an Agility 
  challenge roll or take 1d6 damage.
   
  Attack Roll 20+ The target takes 1d6 extra damage.
  HEMORRHAGE 
  BLOOD ATTACK 3
  Target One living creature within medium range
  If the target has Health 20 or less, it dies instantly, blood 
  spraying from its oriﬁ ces. Otherwise, make an Intellect or 
  Will attack roll against the target’s Strength. On a success, 
  a grisly bleeding wound appears somewhere on the target’s 
  body; the target takes 5d6 damage and starts bleeding. The 
  bleeding lasts until the target heals any damage or until it or 
  a creature next to it gets a success on an Intellect challenge 
  roll to stanch the wound. While bleeding, the target takes 
  1d6 damage at the end of each round.
   
  Attack Roll 20+ The target takes 2d6 extra damage.
  Magic
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
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  Into the Wastes
  1
  Other New Spells
  The Desolation inspires a variety of magic to protect 
  against the horrors of the landscape or to master them. 
  The following new spells add to existing traditions.
  Air Spells
  HEAT WAVE 
  AIR ATTACK 1
  Area A cone, 3 yards long, originating from a point within 
  short range
  Each living creature in the area must get a success on a 
  Strength challenge roll or become fatigued for 1 minute. 
  While fatigued in this way, the creature takes 1 damage 
  each time it makes an attack roll or a challenge roll.
  SHIMMER WALL 
  AIR UTILITY 1
  Area A shapeable line, 5 yards long, 2 yards tall, and 1 yard 
  wide, originating from a point within short range
  Duration 1 minute
  You raise the air temperature in the area, causing it to 
  shimmer for the duration. Creatures beyond short range 
  of the area’s edge make attack rolls with 3 banes against 
  creatures behind the area.
  BIND DUST DEVIL 
  AIR UTILITY 3
  Target A cube of sand or dust, 1 yard on a side, originating 
  from a point within medium range
  Duration 1 minute
  At the end of the round in which you cast this spell, the 
  target becomes a dust devil (see chapter 3). You cannot 
  voluntarily end this spell. When the effect ends, the dust 
  devil dissipates, covering the ground under its space with 
  sand or dust.
   
  When the dust devil appears, make a Will attack roll 
  against its Will. The dust devil becomes compelled for the 
  duration on a success or becomes hostile to you on a failure.
  Celestial Spells
  SUN HAMMER 
  CELESTIAL ATTACK 4
  Area A vertical cylinder, 25 yards tall with a 2-yard radius, 
  centered on a point on the ground within extreme range 
  that is lit by the sun
  A beam of intense sunlight deals 2d6 + 3 damage to 
  everything in the area. Each creature that takes damage this 
  way must make a Strength challenge roll. It falls prone and 
  becomes fatigued for 1 minute on a failure, or just takes half 
  the damage on a success.
  Curse Spells
  CURSE OF THE TOMB KINGS 
  CURSE ATTACK 3
  Target One living creature you can see within medium 
  range
  Make an Intellect attack roll against the target’s Strength 
  and another against its Will. On a success against Strength, 
  the target takes 2d6 damage as intense pain racks its body. 
  On a success against Will, the target becomes frightened for 
  1 minute. On a success against both Strength and Will, the 
  target also becomes cursed. While cursed in this way, the 
  target is fatigued and cannot heal damage.
  Earth Spells
  QUICKSAND 
  EARTH ATTACK 3
  Area A circle on the ground with a radius of 4 yards 
  centered on a point within short range
  Duration 1 minute
  The ground in the area becomes difﬁ cult terrain for the 
  duration. Any creature in the area when you cast the spell 
  or at the end of each round for the duration must make 
  a Strength challenge roll. A creature becomes stuck on a 
  failure; on a success, a creature is moved to the nearest open 
  space outside the area. If a creature that is already stuck gets 
  a failure on this check, it becomes submerged instead and 
  cannot breathe.
   
  A stuck creature is immobilized. It can use an action to 
  make a Strength challenge roll, removing this afﬂ iction on 
  a success.
   
  A submerged creature is blinded and immobilized. It can 
  use an action to make a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane. 
  It becomes stuck instead on a success, or takes 1d6 damage 
  on a failure.
   
  When the spell ends, the ground returns to its normal 
  consistency. Stuck creatures and those submerged in earth 
  or mud can continue attempting to free themselves as 
  described above. However, if the ground was stone, each 
  stuck creature instead remains immobilized until it is freed, 
  and each submerged creature takes damage equal to its 
  Health, dying instantly. Freeing a stuck creature requires 
  dealing at least 10 damage to the ground in the area using 
  weapons or tools.
  
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  1
  Necromancy Spells
  LICHE 
  NECROMANCY UTILITY 6
  Requirements You must be mortal and not created 
  by magic.
  Before you can cast this spell, you must spend 8 hours 
  each day for 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day creating a 
  phylactery to store your soul. You decide what the 
  phylactery looks like—such as an amulet, a small box, 
  or a weapon—but it costs 100 gc in materials. When 
  you ﬁ nish, the phylactery is an object with Defense 25 
  and Health equal to your Health.
  Target One dose of poison you can reach
  Duration 1 hour
  The poison becomes lethal for the duration. If you drink it 
  before the duration ends, you take damage equal to your 
  Health and die instantly. Your soul becomes trapped inside 
  the phylactery until that object is destroyed, at which point 
  your soul moves on to whatever awaits it in the afterlife.
   
  Eight hours after you die from drinking the poison, you 
  become an undead creature until you are destroyed. Your 
  undead status does not arrest decay, so unless you take 
  steps to preserve your body, your ﬂ esh rots away until only 
  your skeleton remains. As a result of your transformation, 
  you gain the following traits:
  Attribute Scores Strength +1,  Will +1
  Characteristics Defense +1, Health +20, Perception +2, 
  Corruption +1d3
  Immune damage from cold, disease, and poison; asleep, 
  diseased, fatigued, immobilized, poisoned, slowed
  Darksight You can see in areas obscured by shadows and 
  darkness within medium range as if those areas were lit. 
  Beyond this distance, you treat darkness as shadows and 
  shadows as lit.
  Phylactery So long as your phylactery is intact, you heal 
  damage at the end of a rest as normal. If you become 
  incapacitated, your body turns to dust and re-forms in 
  an open space within short range of your phylactery 
  1d20 hours later. You return to life with damage equal 
  to your Health –1.
  If your phylactery is destroyed, you immediately take 
  damage equal to your Health and die instantly.
  One Foot in the Grave You heal only half damage from 
  magic and potions.
  Grave Touch Your touch awakens paralyzing revulsion 
  in living creatures. You can use an action to attack 
  a creature you can reach. Make an Intellect or Will 
  attack roll with 1 boon against the target’s Defense. 
  On a success, the target takes 4d6 + 3 damage and 
  must get a success on a Strength challenge roll or 
  become frightened for 1 minute. While frightened in 
  this way, the target is slowed. If the target is already 
  slowed, it becomes immobilized instead; if it is already 
  immobilized, it becomes defenseless instead.
  Protection Spells
  ELEMENTAL ADAPTATION 
  PROTECTION UTILITY 1
  Target Up to ﬁ ve creatures you can reach
  Duration 2 hours
  You touch each target. For the duration, each target is 
  immune to the effects of deprivation and exposure.
  Water Spells
  DESICCATE 
  WATER ATTACK 2
  Target One living creature within short range
  A ﬁ ne stream of crimson mist rises from the target’s body as 
  you relieve it of its vital ﬂ uids. Make a Will attack roll against 
  the target’s Strength. On a success, the target takes 2d6 
  damage and becomes fatigued for 1 hour. If the target drinks 
  a number of gallons of water equal to its Size, it removes 
  this fatigued afﬂ iction. If the target was already fatigued, it 
  instead takes 2d6 extra damage.
  
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  2
  The bloody, hateful Troll Wars prepared the way for the 
  area north of the Reach to become a blasted wasteland. 
  The trolls, then masters of elemental magic, turned the 
  land against the faerie, who answered with their own 
  sorcery. Too much blood, death, and reckless magic on both 
  sides transformed a great, vibrant jungle into a tortured 
  landscape of shattered mountains, dusty plains, and twisted 
  woods haunted by things cruel and wicked. Shunned by 
  the faerie and abandoned by the trolls, the land was left to 
  suﬀ er from the evil the ﬁ ghting spawned.
   The region might have recovered as the memory of 
  the horror perpetrated there faded, but humanity sealed 
  its fate. Migrating tribes of humans drifted into the the 
  Autumn Lands over the years. Many made peace with the 
  faerie living there, but the most warlike and savage among 
  them refused to bend the knee to the Bright Folk. Instead 
  they continued north and settled in the broken lands, 
  where they would become the Men of Gog.
   The accursed place ampliﬁ ed the settlers’ violent 
  tendencies. Where the First People lived alongside the 
  faerie and showed great reverence for nature, the Men of 
  Gog exulted in destruction. They built great cities in the 
  dying lands, supplementing their meager crops by raiding 
  south and feeding on the ﬂ esh of the changed and warped. 
  All this caused them to lose some of their humanity and 
  become as monstrous as the land in which they lived.
   Centuries later, the Men of Gog gathered up their armies 
  under the Witch-King’s banner and marched south, 
  bolstered by demons, undead, and other monsters. The 
  horde shattered Edene and put the civilized lands in chains, 
  precipitating the darkest time in Rûl’s history.
   The Kalasans ended the Witch-King’s hegemony, casting 
  down the tyrant and sending his servants into the depths 
  of the earth and to the Empire’s edges. Their corruption 
  slowly transformed these remnants into the monstrous 
  humanoids at large in the world today: beastmen, 
  troglodytes, arachne, deep ones, and others. But those who 
  ﬂ ed for their ancestral homes simply disappeared into the 
  dunes, presumably destroyed by the very lands they had 
  helped to destroy.
   But those Men of Gog did not vanish. They transformed 
  themselves, shedding their mortality and embracing an 
  undead existence that let them survive long enough to 
  visit vengeance against the descendants of those Kalasans 
  who ended their rule. A century ago, the ﬁ rst Men of Gog 
  returned, with tattered strips of leathery ﬂ esh stubbornly 
  clinging to brown, brittle bones, clad in rotting armor of 
  antiquated design. What started as a trickle soon became a 
  ﬂ ood of undead horrors whose ranks only grew when their 
  victims rose from the dead.
  
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  2
   Disturbing reports of the invasion soon reached Sixton, 
  capital of the Northern Reach. The provincial governor 
  hastily assembled an army of humans and orcs on loan 
  from the Empire to stanch the ﬂ ood. At the same time, the 
  Matriarch of the New God’s cult called for a crusade against 
  the undead threat, urging men and women from all across 
  the Empire to shield the innocent. Thousands answered 
  the call and traveled north, bringing with them ideas and 
  advances from the south. Swelling the beleaguered ranks of 
  the defenders, the crusaders soon outnumbered the Reach’s 
  army and eventually took charge of protecting the Empire 
  against the armies of the dead.
   Now, decades later, a string of mighty fortresses stand 
  fast against the undead, garrisoned by devoted defenders 
  of the Empire, the New God, and all living things. These 
  crusaders watch the desert for the hordes emerging from 
  the dust clouds and give their lives to send the monsters 
  back to the hell that spawned them.
  A Dead and 
  Dying Land
  The Desolation spreads across the lands north of the 
  Reach: west to the foothills of the Burning Vaults; east to 
  the Spider Wood, the remnants of the old jungles that once 
  covered these lands; and north until the land breaks apart 
  into islands sprinkled across a storm-tossed sea. A place 
  seemingly empty of life, the Desolation is deﬁ ned by sandy 
  dunes, vast stretches of dusty, rock-strewn plains, and pools 
  of boiling mud. Storms race across the region, spitting 
  violet lightning and raking the ground with howling wind, 
  burying the few remaining landmarks under mountains 
  of powdery dust. The Desolation is unforgiving and cruel, 
  punishing anyone who dares to explore it.
  Special Terrain
  The Desolation contains uniquely hazardous terrain.
  Ash Wastes: All across the Desolation stretch great 
  expanses of ﬂ at land, covered with a thick layer of powdery 
  dust so that travelers kick up plumes with each step they 
  take. At the end of each hour a living creature travels across 
  an area of ash wastes, it must make a Strength challenge 
  roll. On a failure, it takes a –1d6 penalty to Health and 
  becomes fatigued. If the creature is already fatigued, the 
  penalty to Health worsens by 1d6. The penalty and the 
  aﬄ  iction last for 1d3 days (roll once for both). However, 
  both are removed by any eﬀ ect that removes the diseased 
  aﬄ  iction.
  Ash wastes count as plains.
  Bone Fields: The windstorms raging across the wastes 
  sometimes tear up mass graves, creating bone ﬁ elds that 
  stretch for miles. These enormous heaps contain the bones 
  of animals, humans, and other creatures mixed together, 
  where Bone machines and boneguards sometimes lurk. 
  Bone ﬁ elds count as diﬃ  cult terrain.
  Dead Lands: These areas of dead magic appear all across 
  the wasteland. Some are small, only a few yards across, 
  while others can cover a square mile or more. Each creature 
  in an area of dead lands takes a –3 penalty to Power 
  (minimum 0) as long as it remains in the area. Dead lands 
  overlap other forms of terrain and do not aﬀ ect travel.
  Mud Flats: Pools of bubbling mud collect in the west, 
  where the rocky terrain becomes broken as it climbs 
  towards the volcanic Burning Vaults. Narrow causeways 
  oﬀ er routes through the mud ﬂ ats, though they can 
  crumble away without warning, sending travelers into the 
  boiling ﬁ lth. The mud deals 1d6 damage to creatures that 
  touch it and 3d6 damage to creatures submerged in it. A 
  creature takes damage this way just once per round. Mud 
  ﬂ ats count as swamps.
  Stone Plains: A band of stone plains commands about a 
  hundred miles of the Desolation’s southern extent. Covered 
  with rocks ranging in size from pebbles to massive boulders 
  carved into monstrous shapes by windborne grit, it is an 
  alien landscape with few signs that anything ever lived 
  here. The stone plains count as plains.
  Wandering Dunes: Most of the Desolation is an expanse 
  of desert with great hills of sand that creep along, driven 
  by the incessant hot winds coming out from the north. 
  Wandering dunes count as desert.
  Maddening Heat
  Living creatures traveling across the Desolation 
  by day are at risk of exposure to extreme heat. Any 
  creature that takes a penalty to Health from a failure 
  on the challenge roll to resist exposure also gains 
  1 Insanity.
  Notable Locations
  In addition to terrain hazards, the Desolation holds 
  geographical features of particular interest.
  Black Waters
  Black Waters, a water-ﬁ lled crater on the Desolation’s edge, 
  is surrounded by bones and reeks of noxious chemicals. 
  The water is toxic to ingest, though madness brought on by 
  the intense heat leads some creatures to sample it anyway.
  Noisome Atmosphere: The pool stinks. Any creature 
  that breathes the air within long range of it must make 
  a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane. On a failure, the 
  creature becomes fatigued for as long as it remains within 
  long range of the pool and for 1 hour after. On a success, it 
  becomes immune to the noisome atmosphere until after it 
  completes a rest.
  Toxic Water: Any creature that ingests the pool’s 
  water takes damage equal to half its Health and becomes 
  poisoned. At the end of each minute thereafter, the creature 
  must get a success on a Strength challenge 
  roll with 3 banes or take damage equal to its healing 
  rate. This poisoned condition persists until removed 
  by magic.
  
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  2
  Burning Vaults
  This string of active volcanoes marks the Desolation’s 
  western border, an ominous range too dangerous for most 
  people to explore. Heavy black clouds hang over it year 
  round, underlit by the ﬂ ames and cinders belched from the 
  burning peaks.
  Cinder Rain: The black clouds over the Burning Vaults 
  rain cinders across the slopes and sometimes into the 
  dunes beyond. At the end of each hour a creature spends 
  in or near the Vaults, it must get a success on a Strength 
  challenge roll or take 1 damage from the ﬁ ery sparks 
  swirling in the air.
  Eruption: Each time the group completes a rest in the 
  Vaults, roll a d6. On a roll of 1, roll a d20. After a number of 
  hours equal to that roll, a nearby volcano erupts, vomiting 
  lava, rocks, and smoke that rain down everywhere within 
  a few miles of it. Everything in the area that isn’t 
  under some sort of shelter takes 5d6 + 20 damage. 
  Each creature that gets a success on an Agility 
  challenge roll takes half the damage.
  Steam Vents: Plumes of steam frequently 
  blast from ﬁ ssures across the Vaults’ lower 
  slopes. Whenever a character in this 
  region makes an attack roll or a challenge 
  roll and the total of the roll is 0 or less, 
  a ﬁ ssure within short range of the 
  triggering creature vents. Superheated 
  steam ﬁ lls a cone 2d6 yards long that 
  extends toward the triggering character, 
  dealing damage to each creature in the 
  area equal to 3d6 + the length of the 
  cone. A success on a Strength challenge 
  roll halves the damage.
  Tremors: Whenever a character in 
  the Vaults makes an attack roll or a 
  challenge roll and the total of the roll 
  is 20 or higher, tremors spread across 
  the ground in a 3d6-yard radius 
  centered on a point in the triggering 
  character’s space. Each creature 
  standing in the area must get a 
  success on an Agility challenge roll 
  or fall prone.
  Fireheart
  A city of black stone commands 
  a spur jutting out from the side of 
  Mount Wrath, one of the largest 
  volcanoes in the Vaults. Here dwell 
  several thousand salamanders who 
  claim dominion over the mountain 
  and its environs. A wall of black 
  basalt 30 yards high rings the city, 
  and ﬁ res blaze from the top to 
  deter intruders. Inside, Fireheart is 
  a tangle of streets twisting around 
  the misshapen and warped structures 
  that house the salamanders. The most 
  striking feature is Conﬂ agration, a grand citadel of stone 
  that rises from a pool of lava fed by streams leaking from 
  the volcanic ﬁ ssures above the city.
  The Crusader States
  The Empire bestowed land to the Cult of the New God 
  to create a bulwark against the undead threat. The cult 
  then divided the land into parcels and entrusted their 
  governance and maintenance to ﬁ ve citadels arranged 
  along the Desolation’s border. These lands form the 
  Crusader States, controlling a 50 mile wide swath of 
  territory from the Iron Peaks in the east to the Troll 
  Mountains to the west.
   Five mighty strongholds protect the Empire from the 
  Desolation. Around each stands a small village, home to 
  the people who supply provisions to the garrison. Should 
  Tombs of the Desolation
  lava, rocks, and smoke that rain down everywhere within 
  a few miles of it. Everything in the area that isn’t 
  under some sort of shelter takes 5d6 + 20 damage. 
  Each creature that gets a success on an Agility 
   Plumes of steam frequently 
  blast from ﬁ ssures across the Vaults’ lower 
  region makes an attack roll or a challenge 
  roll and the total of the roll is 0 or less, 
  triggering creature vents. Superheated 
  extends toward the triggering character, 
  dealing damage to each creature in the 
  cone. A success on a Strength challenge 
  that house the salamanders. The most 
  the people who supply provisions to the garrison. Should 
  
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  21
  2
  a citadel come under attack, the villagers take shelter 
  behind its walls and aid the defenders. Living on the edges 
  of civilization places great demands on people, so most 
  head south when no longer able to contribute to the cause 
  through age and inﬁ rmity.
   The land shows signs of the crusaders’ frequent clashes 
  with undead. Burned-out towns and villages stand in the 
  spaces between the citadels, the remains of destroyed 
  undead rot where they fell, and twisted war machines, 
  broken weapons, muddy ﬁ elds, and mass graves are 
  common sights.
  Crusader Patrols
  Regular patrols move through the area looking 
  for signs of undead activity and for people who 
  don’t belong. A typical patrol consists of a crusade 
  commander (as a veteran with the leader role), 2d6 
  + 3 crusaders (as mercenaries), and a scout (as a 
  brigand), all riding on warhorses.
   Crusaders wear the colors of their citadels and 
  emblazon their shields with symbols of the New 
  God, bits of scripture from the holy books, or the 
  likenesses of famous crusaders. Commanders trim 
  their colors in gold to designate their positions of 
  authority.
  High Watch
  High Watch stands on the side of a low mountain in 
  the Iron Peaks. A single curving wall supported by four 
  high towers surrounds the keep, the garrison, and other 
  buildings. Crusaders from High Watch wear cloaks of gold 
  and white, adorn their armor with eagle feathers, and ﬂ y 
  banners depicting a golden eagle on a white ﬁ eld.
   Commander Edgar Galtry leads a force of ﬁ fty crusaders. 
  In his mid-sixties, with shaggy white hair and beard, he’s 
  considering retirement and has spent much time grooming 
  Anna Reeve to take his place. Reeve, though young, is 
  renowned for her ﬁ ghting skills. She has the loyalty of the 
  garrison and is likely to be an even greater leader than 
  Galtry.
   High Point has seen little action over the years, but its 
  placement on the mountainside gives the citadel a great 
  view of the wastelands. When guards spot approaching 
  undead, they light signal ﬁ res atop the tallest tower to warn 
  the garrison at Vanguard. High Point also uses specially 
  trained eagles to carry messages to the other citadels and 
  return with answers.
  Marytr’s Point
  The ﬁ rst citadel constructed takes its name for Drusella 
  the Wise, a holy champion of the New God. She led a 
  mob of common people to drive back the undead until 
  the crusaders could arrive but was killed in the conﬂ ict. 
  Defenders of the citadel use her likeness on their banners, 
  which depict a pale woman with auburn hair pointing the 
  way to victory. The crusaders all wear red cloaks.
   Martyr’s Point lacks ostentation. Four bare walls are 
  arranged like a sword pointing north, and four stout towers 
  anchor them, with cannons atop each. Behind the walls are 
  the yard, garrison, keep, mess, and other smaller buildings 
  vital to the citadel’s day-to-day function. The village around 
  it is small and has not yet recovered from being burned to 
  the ground a year ago.
   The citadel’s commander is Renee Caldwell, a 
  plainspoken woman in her forties. She leads a force of 
  two hundred crusaders. There are whispers of a dark cult 
  hidden within the ranks, but eﬀ orts to root it out have 
  turned up nothing so far.
  Neverfall
  This great citadel of black stone features a massive central 
  tower surrounded by six rings of stone walls. The village 
  clings to the outer wall, a collection of wooden homes 
  clumped behind a wooden palisade that bulges like a 
  tumor from the citadel.
   The twins Harry and Mildred Veld command a force 
  of one hundred crusaders, who wear the black of the 
  citadel and decorate their armor with bits of bone taken 
  from the undead they’ve cut down. All live in fear of the 
  commanders, for they are stern, dispatching swift and 
  brutal justice to any who oﬀ end them. Whispers abound 
  about the pair, suggesting their relationship may be 
  something more than brother and sister.
  Vanguard
  An ancient clockwork named Angel, who’s believed to be 
  over ﬁ ve hundred years old, has commanded Vanguard 
  since it was founded. Angel is tall, his body clad in ornately 
  wrought steel plates and with great wings of gold feathers 
  on his back. Three hundred crusaders live in the citadel, 
  displaying angel wings on crimson banners.
   Vanguard has seen the most ﬁ ghting and suﬀ ered the 
  greatest losses. The village beyond the imposing castle has 
  been burned so many times that its people now live out of 
  tents. Despite the hardships and constant violence, those 
  living here are ﬁ rmly committed to the cause and loyal to 
  their commander.
  West Hold
  Established by the orcs who supplemented the Northern 
  Reach’s defenders when the undead ﬁ rst emerged from the 
  wastes, West Hold has retained a high orcish population. 
  Of the two hundred crusaders living here, over a quarter 
  are orcs. The citadel’s commander is a brutal orc named 
  Bloodﬁ st, who took the position by force from his 
  ineﬀ ectual predecessor, beating him to death with his 
  bare hands.
   West Hold’s crusaders are a violent, surly lot, often 
  insubordinate when given what they decide are stupid 
  orders. They wear the colors of their citadel—yellow and 
  red—and some decorate their armor and shields with the 
  setting sun that appears on the citadel’s banners.
  
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  These Endless Wastes
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  Drift Stones
  The reckless magic used by the trolls, and 
  later by the Men of Gog, lingers in places all 
  across the Desolation. Among the stranger 
  examples of its eﬀ ects are the drift stones 
  found ﬂ oating above the dunes in the 
  eastern wastes.
   A swarm of a hundred or more rocks, 
  ranging in size from pebbles to boulders as 
  big as castles, bob like balloons in the air, 
  nudged by the shrieking winds across the 
  shifting landscape. If a drift stone moves 
  too far from its fellows, whatever power 
  that suspends it in the air dissipates and 
  gravity reasserts itself, bringing the rock 
  to the ground and pulping anything 
  under it.
   Many larger rocks among the drift 
  stones bristle with structures such 
  as towers, obelisks, and monstrous 
  carved visages. Amid these ruins one 
  can ﬁ nd relics and trinkets from the Men 
  of Gog and other vanished civilizations. 
  In the cracks and crevices lurk all kinds 
  of strange creatures, all of which ﬂ y and 
  prey on anything that draws near or passes 
  beneath the stones.
  Obsidian Tombs
  The only structures in the wastelands that 
  have been able to resist the Desolation’s 
  destructive climate are the great pyramids 
  scattered amid the dunes. They are 
  constructed from blocks of glassy black 
  stone resembling obsidian and feature 
  entrances sealed with two heavy doors, 
  elaborately decorated with statues of 
  strange and impossible creatures. All 
  around the tombs roam the animated corpses 
  of the long dead, mindless slaves to whatever dread power 
  dwells inside.
   Raised up using magic and slaves in the time of 
  the Witch-King, the pyramids served as palaces for 
  the tyrannical death lords and as prisons for political 
  enemies and dangerous rivals. Their undead masters 
  were entombed within when Gog fell, but the dark power 
  ﬂ owing through their tombs continues to preserve the 
  undying inhabitants and boosts their magical power to 
  create and command the undead.
   For hundreds of years, the tombs have been silent, 
  their inhabitants trapped in the sleep of ages. A century 
  ago, something roused them from their slumber, and 
  since then they have worked toward returning Gog to its 
  former unspeakable glory. From these sites the undead 
  hordes march south, following in the Witch-King’s steps to 
  conquer the lands of the living.
  The Vanishing City
  The few travelers who managed to explore the Desolation 
  and survive to tell of their experiences report having seen 
  a city in the dunes, a place of silvery stone, high towers, 
  and glittering light. The closer they traveled toward it, 
  the more it withdrew to let intruders come no closer. The 
  city moves in this manner even when approached from 
  diﬀ erent directions. Although some dismiss its unsettling 
  appearance as a mirage, it is in fact a hidden kingdom of 
  the faerie stranded in the wastes after the wars against 
  the trolls.
   The magic sustaining the hidden kingdom has started 
  to fail, and the Desolation’s toxic inﬂ uence bleeds through 
  its boundaries, twisting the inhabitants into monstrous 
  things. Now corrupted faerie creep out from the city to steal 
  water and supplies from travelers and then watch them 
  slowly die.
  These Endless Wastes
  The reckless magic used by the trolls, and 
  later by the Men of Gog, lingers in places all 
  across the Desolation. Among the stranger 
  examples of its eﬀ ects are the drift stones 
   A swarm of a hundred or more rocks, 
  ranging in size from pebbles to boulders as 
  big as castles, bob like balloons in the air, 
  nudged by the shrieking winds across the 
  shifting landscape. If a drift stone moves 
  too far from its fellows, whatever power 
  that suspends it in the air dissipates and 
  gravity reasserts itself, bringing the rock 
  can ﬁ nd relics and trinkets from the Men 
  of Gog and other vanished civilizations. 
  In the cracks and crevices lurk all kinds 
  of strange creatures, all of which ﬂ y and 
  prey on anything that draws near or passes 
  The only structures in the wastelands that 
  have been able to resist the Desolation’s 
  destructive climate are the great pyramids 
  constructed from blocks of glassy black 
  stone resembling obsidian and feature 
  entrances sealed with two heavy doors, 
  around the tombs roam the animated corpses 
  of the long dead, mindless slaves to whatever dread power 
  The Vanishing City
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  These Endless Wastes
  These Endless Wastes
  Tombs of the Desolation
  23
  2
  Whisper Canyon
  A great chasm, 20 miles long and 5 miles wide, cuts across 
  an area of stone plains north of the Iron Peaks. At its 
  deepest, the canyon drops some 500 yards to a dark and 
  rubble-strewn ﬂ oor. It takes its name from the wind that 
  constantly blows through the place, whispering as it passes 
  through the rocks.
   Cave mouths honeycomb the walls on both sides. 
  They lead to deep, twisting passages and larger caverns 
  in which thousands of troglodytes make their homes. 
  These abhorrent descendants of the Men of Gog travel 
  through subterranean highways below the Northern 
  Reach, emerging to strike isolated settlements beyond the 
  crusaders’ cordon. Eﬀ orts to stop the raids have proven 
  futile, for the tunnels are extensive and labyrinthine.
   The largest of the troglodyte grottos features an obsidian 
  obelisk fashioned a thousand years ago by their ancestors 
  to honor their vile gods. High priests make human 
  sacriﬁ ces at the stone, and each soul oﬀ ered causes the 
  green runes crawling across its surface to ﬂ are obscenely.
  Weather in the Desolation
  The Desolation presents special environmental dangers to 
  explorers. Use the following table in place of the Weather 
  table in chapter 9 of the main rulebook.
  Weather
  3d6
  Weather
  Time Multiplier
  3
  Dust storm
  x 4 (see text)
  4–5
  Mild heat
  x 1
  6–12
  Normal conditions
  x 1
  13–15
  Brutal heat
  x 1
  16–17
  Strong winds
  x 1.5
  18
  Dust storm
  x 4
  Brutal Heat: The temperatures climb during daytime 
  hours, making travel harder. Characters make Strength 
  challenge rolls to resist the eﬀ ects of exposure with 
  2 banes.
  Dust Storm: Boiling clouds of dust race across the 
  wastelands. A dust storm typically forms a curving line 
  up to 2d6 + 3 miles wide, 1 mile high, and about a half-
  mile deep. It typically moves at 70 miles per hour, so 
  escaping it is nearly impossible. Movement during a dust 
  storm generally isn’t practical; if the attempt is made, 
  multiply travel time by 4.
  The storm heavily obscures its area, and creatures 
  moving through it treat the area as diﬃ  cult terrain. 
  Objects in the storm take 1d6 damage at the end of 
  each round.
  A creature must make a Strength challenge roll with 
  1 bane when the dust storm enters its space and again at 
  the end of each round the creature is in the storm. On a 
  failure, it takes 1d6 damage and becomes blinded until it 
  leaves the dust storm; it just takes 1 damage on a success. 
  If the creature was already blinded this way, it takes 1d6 
  extra damage instead on a failure.
  Mild Heat: The temperature is not as severe as normal. 
  Characters make Strength challenge rolls to resist the 
  eﬀ ects of exposure with 1 boon.
  Strong Wind: Wind blows throughout the day, carrying 
  with it stinging grit and sand. At the end of each hour 
  traveling in these conditions, each character must get a 
  success on a Strength challenge roll or take 1 damage.
  Interesting Features
  All across the wastelands lies the debris of those who 
  came before. Eroded monuments reach out of sand dunes, 
  or a heap of bones breaks the otherwise barren plain. 
  Whenever you want to introduce an interesting feature 
  to the landscape, you can use the following table, either 
  choosing a suitable result or letting the dice decide.
  Desolation Interesting Features
  d20
  Feature
  1
  A petriﬁ ed tree.
  2
  A 1-mile-long row of crosses, each of which bears 
  a cruciﬁ ed animated corpse.
  3
  The base of a broken tower, the interior ﬁ lled with 
  sand.
  4
  A petriﬁ ed troll standing with its arms thrown 
  over its head.
  5
  The broken body of an animated corpse twitching 
  on the ground.
  6
  The tip of one of the obsidian tombs stabbing up 
  from the sand or mud.
  7
  A funnel of wind and sand screaming as it travels 
  away from the group.
  8
  The blackened bones of some enormous creature.
  9
  A boulder sitting at the bottom of a crater.
  10
  A few paver stones marking the place where a 
  road once existed.
  11
  A mound of skulls.
  12
  A giant stone head lying on the ground or 
  recently uncovered from the sands by a storm.
  13
  The foundations of 1d3 ruined buildings.
  14
  The carapace of a giant beetle.
  15
  Weird tracks left by an unknown creature.
  16
  An obelisk leaning to one side, sinking into the 
  sand or mud.
  17
  A patch of glass covering an area with a radius of 
  1d3 yards.
  18
  A ﬂ ickering curtain of light perpendicular to the 
  ground. Passing through transports a creature or 
  object 1d20 miles away in a random direction.
  19
  The ruins of a small city, consisting of 2d6 stone 
  buildings.
  20
  A rock hanging in the air, unmoving and 
  immovable.
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Secrets of the Desolation
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  24
  3
  Secrets of the Desolation
  Secrets of the Desolation
  3
  As a setting for adventures, the Desolation promises unique 
  dangers and secrets to unravel. Characters traveling into the 
  wastes ﬁ nd themselves tested at every turn. Not only must 
  they contend with the deadly creatures roaming the region, 
  they must also deal with the hazardous environment, which 
  can be as deadly as any monster. Yet for all its perils, the 
  Desolation oﬀ ers fabulous riches, old and potent magic, 
  and great power for those with the courage to seize them.
   The Desolation’s hostility toward living things makes 
  extended forays into the wastelands dangerous—even 
  lethal. Travelers will ﬁ nd no places to replenish provisions 
  or acquire the necessary gear to undertake new missions, 
  so explorers must retreat to the relative safety of the 
  Crusader States, where they might or might not ﬁ nd the 
  aid they need. Thus, adventures into the Desolation 
  ought to be mission-based, with clear objectives that can 
  be attained in a reasonable time frame so the surviving 
  characters can escape.
  Adventure Ideas
  The following story ideas can serve as inspiration for 
  adventures that take place in this setting.
  Under Siege (Starting or Novice): The characters come 
  from a crusader citadel, whether members of the garrison 
  or from the supporting community. When a large force of 
  undead besieges the stronghold, cultists within the walls 
  detonate a bomb to breach the citadel’s defenses and let the 
  shuﬄ  ing corpses roam free inside. The characters must not 
  only defend the citadel from the dead but also unmask the 
  traitors who jeopardized their lives.
  The Dead Walk (Novice): Despite the crusaders’ best 
  eﬀ orts, undead slip through the defenses all the time. 
  After a signiﬁ cant force of the walking dead spills into the 
  farmlands to the south, the characters and the community 
  come under attack. After defeating the shuﬄ  ing horde, 
  the group investigates how the creatures broke through to 
  prevent another such event.
  
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  25
  3
  Rescue Mission (Expert): The commander of one of the 
  citadels goes missing, abducted by a death lord’s servants. 
  The characters are sent to pursue the kidnappers and 
  retrieve the commander before the captors reach their 
  master’s lair.
  Tomb Raiders (Expert or Master): A powerful dust 
  storm clears the sand and debris covering an ancient city, 
  long lost to the world. The characters, through their own 
  volition or at the behest of their patron, venture into the 
  Desolation to explore the site and relieve it of its treasures.
  Shipwrecked (Master): The Crusader States often send 
  airships out over the Desolation to gather intelligence 
  about the undead’s movements. The characters ﬂ y one of 
  these vessels and discover something important. However, 
  before they can return, ﬂ ying monsters attack and damage 
  the vessel, forcing the group to make a crash landing. If 
  the characters hope to live, they must ﬁ nd a way out from 
  the wastes.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord
  The Shadow of the Demon Lord options described 
  in the main rulebook can also draw groups into the 
  Desolation. The devastation of the Black Sun, for 
  example, could have started in the Desolation and 
  gradually widened to spread the wastes across 
  the whole of the continent. Similarly, famine and 
  drought might result from the Shadow falling 
  on the death lords, who, bolstered by demonic 
  power, channel magic from the tombs to alter the 
  continent’s climate. The Desolation could even have 
  formed in anticipation of the herald of the Demon 
  Lord. So profound is this being’s inﬂ uence on the 
  world, its presence can be felt even into the past, 
  causing the lands to sicken and die before it arrives.
  Relics of the Desolation
  The tombs and ruins of the Desolation hold great riches 
  and wondrous treasures for those with the courage to 
  explore them.
  Blood Mail
  Close inspection of this rusty suit of mail reveals that what 
  appears to be corrosion is actually old, dried blood. This 
  residue comes from previous wearers who paid the armor’s 
  steep price in return for its power.
   Blood mail was forged by the trolls and later discovered 
  by some of the mightiest champions of Gog, changing 
  hands many times before becoming lost in the wastes.
  Enchanted Armor While you wear the armor, you have a +1 
  bonus to Defense.
  Blood Drinker While you are injured and wearing this 
  armor, you make attack rolls with 1 boon. However, at 
  the end of each round that you are injured while wearing 
  it, you must get a success on a Strength challenge roll or 
  take 1d3 damage.
  Bone Arrow
  The faerie’s victory over the trolls was a close thing, won 
  only by using dark magic. The immortal faerie have done 
  much to erase that time from their memories, but a few 
  relics survive. The Bone Arrow is one of these, an item 
  fashioned from the bones of the ﬁ rst immortal to have been 
  murdered.
   A thin length of bone tapering to a point at one end and 
  notched at the other, the Bone Arrow is ﬂ etched with stiﬀ  
  bone fragments. Although designed for use with bows 
  and longbows, it can also be ﬁ red from crossbows and 
  hand crossbows. The arrow can always be recovered from 
  the corpse of a creature it strikes and is never at risk of 
  becoming lost (though a creature in which the arrow sticks 
  can carry it oﬀ ).
  Enchanted Ammunition You make attack rolls with 1 boon 
  with a weapon using this piece of ammunition.
  Cursed Ammunition When the total of your attack roll 
  using this piece of ammunition is 0 or less, the arrow 
  veers back and automatically strikes you, dealing 2d6 
  damage and subjecting you to the Slaying Arrow effect.
  Slaying Arrow A living creature that takes damage from 
  the Bone Arrow must make a Strength challenge roll. It 
  takes 8d6 extra damage on a failure, or half this damage 
  on a success. A creature incapacitated by the damage 
  dies instantly, its skeleton blasting out of its body in a 
  torrent of gore. Any character that sees this event must 
  get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity.
  Cauldron of Death
  Skulls and capering skeletal ﬁ gures cover the surface of 
  this squat cauldron forged from black iron. The interior 
  reeks of decaying meat and, in still air, a faint greenish mist 
  rises from within. The interior is 1 yard deep and 2 yards in 
  diameter.
   The trolls fashioned this vile device, ﬁ lling it with the 
  corpses of elves and other faerie to create undead thralls. 
  The Witch-King owned the Cauldron of Death for a time, 
  but it was lost after his downfall.
  Raise the Dead Any living creature placed inside the 
  Cauldron takes damage equal to its Health and dies 
  instantly, rising as an animated corpse 1d6 rounds later 
  under the control of the creature that placed it inside the 
  relic. The new undead creature stands up and moves out 
  of the cauldron.
  Mantle of the Harrower
  A soft, velvety robe of black so dark it seems to drink the 
  light, the Mantle of the Harrower hangs loosely from the 
  wearer’s body, expanding to accommodate any frame. It 
  always feels cool to the touch and absorbs no moisture, 
  even when submerged in water.
  
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  26
  Secrets of the Desolation
  5
  Deathly Raiment: The mantle once belonged to the 
  Witch-King’s chief rival, a despicable warlock named the 
  Harrower, who raised an army of undead to wrest control 
  of Gog from the tyrant. The two forces clashed, and the 
  Harrower was cast down in defeat. Rather than destroy 
  him, the Witch-King sealed his enemy in what became the 
  ﬁ rst black tomb, conﬁ ning his foe with all his lackeys in the 
  cramped space for all time.
   The raiment is believed to be in that tomb still, though 
  travelers whisper that they have seen the ﬂ uttering cloth 
  drifting in the wind, as if leading them to its owner’s prison.
  Darksight While wearing the Mantle, you can see in areas 
  obscured by shadows and darkness within medium 
  range as if those areas were lit. Beyond this distance, 
  you treat darkness as shadows and shadows as lit. If you 
  already have darksight, increase the range to long range.
  Nightweave You lose the Burned by Sunlight trait, 
  if you have it, while you wear the Mantle. As well, 
  creatures attacking you with Celestial spells 
  make the attack rolls with 1 bane, while you make 
  challenge rolls with 1 boon to resist such spells.
  Power of Death While wearing the Mantle, 
  you increase the number of castings for 
  Death (see Demon Lord’s Companion)  
  and Necromancy spells you have learned 
  by 1 each.
  Creatures 
  of the 
  Desolation
  Many strange creatures both living and 
  dead haunt the wastelands. See chapter 
  10 of Shadow of the Demon Lord for 
  information about using creatures in 
  the game.
  Beastman, Anubin
  The Men of Gog devolved after the 
  Witch-King’s defeat; many became 
  twisted horrors, warped by their 
  corruption. Most became fomor and 
  wargs, the beastmen that trouble the 
  Empire even now. Those ﬂ eeing to the 
  desert were transformed into anubin, 
  jackal-headed humanoids noted for their 
  quickness, ferocity, and ability to survive in a 
  place lethal to others.
  Anubin stand just shy of 7 feet tall and have 
  lithe bodies browned by the sun. They wear loose 
  white robes and cover their jackal heads with hoods. 
  Many use skeletal steeds as mounts, while tribes train 
  giant scorpions to serve as guards. (Those creatures are 
  described later in this section.)
  ANUBIN 
  DIFFICULTY 25
  Size 1 beastman
  Perception 12 (+2); shadowsight
  Defense 13 (large shield); Health 23
  Strength 13 (+3), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 10 (+0), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 12
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Khopesh (melee) +3 with 1 boon (2d6 + 2 plus the anubin 
  moves up to half its Speed without triggering free 
  attacks on attack roll 20+)
  Bow (long range) +1 with 1 boon (1d6)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Bounding Assault The anubin uses an action to move up 
  to half its Speed and make a melee attack. It makes 
  the attack roll with 1 bane, but this movement does not 
  trigger free attacks.
  Secrets of the Desolation
  Secrets of the Desolation
  Nightweave You lose the Burned by Sunlight trait, 
  if you have it, while you wear the 
  creatures attacking you with Celestial spells 
  make the attack rolls with 1 bane, while you make 
  challenge rolls with 1 boon to resist such spells.
  Power of Death
  you increase the number of castings for 
  Death (see 
  and Necromancy spells you have learned 
  by 1 each.
  Creatures 
  of the 
  Desolation
  of the 
  Desolation
  of the 
  Many strange creatures both living and 
  dead haunt the wastelands. See 
  10 of 
  information about using creatures in 
  the game.
  Beastman, Anubin
  The Men of Gog devolved after the 
  Witch-King’s defeat; many became 
  twisted horrors, warped by their 
  corruption. Most became fomor and 
  wargs, the beastmen that trouble the 
  Empire even now. Those ﬂ eeing to the 
  desert were transformed into anubin, 
  jackal-headed humanoids noted for their 
  quickness, ferocity, and ability to survive in a 
  place lethal to others.
  Anubin stand just shy of 7 feet tall and have 
  lithe bodies browned by the sun. They wear loose 
  white robes and cover their jackal heads with hoods. 
  Many use skeletal steeds
  giant scorpions to serve as guards. (Those creatures are 
  described later in this section.)
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Secrets of the Desolation
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  Tombs of the Desolation
  27
  3
  Cyclops
  Cyclopes live in the Burning Vaults, where they toil over 
  forges to craft arms and armor of magical power. One-eyed 
  giants with massive, muscular bodies, they stand 20 feet 
  tall and weigh thousands of pounds. In battle, they wear 
  suits of gleaming plate armor and wield massive swords of 
  exceptional craftsmanship.
   Cyclopes build strongholds on the smoking slopes of 
  active volcanoes. They prefer isolation and patrol their 
  lands with a vigilance bordering on paranoia. They live 
  in fear of thieves making oﬀ  with the fabulous wealth 
  and relics of power they possess. Hatred and bitterness 
  consume most cyclopes, but they despise humans more 
  than all others and attack them on sight. They blame 
  humanity, especially the descendants of Gog, for all the 
  world’s troubles.
   Cyclopes speak High Archaic, and most know at least a 
  few words of Trollish.
  CYCLOPS 
  DIFFICULTY 100
  Size 3 giant
  Perception 6 (–4)
  Defense 18 (full plate); Health 80
  Strength 18 (+8), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 8 (–2), Will 12 (+2)
  Speed 12
  Immune damage from ﬁ re and poison; poisoned
  Poor Depth Perception When a cyclops attacks a target 
  within 1 yard of it, it makes the attack roll with 1 bane.
  Crushing Footfalls When a cyclops moves into a space 
  occupied by a creature on the ground, the creature must 
  make an Agility challenge roll. On a failure, it takes 3d6 
  damage and falls prone. If it’s already prone, it takes 1d6 
  extra damage. A creature makes this roll once per round 
  per cyclops regardless of how many times the cyclops 
  moves through its space.
  Giantfall When an effect knocks the cyclops prone, the 
  cyclops’s body covers an area on the ground that is as 
  long and as wide as it is tall, starting at the edge of its 
  space and extending away from the source of the effect 
  that knocked it prone. The cyclops deals 6d6 damage to 
  everything in the area where it falls.
   
   Each creature in the area must make an Agility 
  challenge roll with 3 banes. On a success, the creature 
  takes half the damage and moves to the nearest open 
  space outside the area. On a failure, it becomes trapped 
  under the cyclops’s body.
   
   A trapped creature is prone, blinded, immobilized, and 
  totally covered. It can use an action to make an Agility 
  challenge roll with 4 banes. On a success, the creature 
  moves to the nearest open space and removes all 
  afﬂ ictions imposed by Giantfall.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Greatsword (melee) +8 with 3 boons (5d6 + 3 plus 
  Powerful Strike)
  Boulder (long range) +8 with 3 boons (5d6 + 3)
  Powerful Strike If the target is Size 2 or smaller, it must get 
  a success on a Strength challenge roll or be thrown 2d6 
  yards away from the cyclops, falling prone at the end of 
  this movement.
  Death Lord
  The death lords, also called liches, were once the high 
  nobles who served the Witch-King centuries ago. After they 
  were driven into the wastes, they turned to necromancy to 
  extend their lives and alleviate the anguish of hunger and 
  thirst. They fashioned special containers called phylacteries 
  from ornate boxes, blades, masks, and other treasures. 
  They then killed themselves with poison to free their souls 
  from their bodies and trap them in the containers they had 
  prepared. This act suspended them between life and death, 
  keeping their souls in the mortal world and their dead 
  bodies animate. This process requires tremendous magical 
  power, so death lords are among the most dangerous 
  magic-users in the world.
   The magic sustaining death lords oﬀ ers no protection 
  against decay, however. They are withered, horrid things, 
  their dry bones held together with bits of wire and leather, 
  their unholy power gleaming red from their empty eye 
  sockets. Their abominable state fosters madness and evil in 
  their withered hearts, driving them to become agents of the 
  apocalypse and enemies of all living things.
   Most death lords dwell in the Desolation’s black 
  pyramids, though knowledge of their dark magic has 
  spread to other lands from forbidden tombs, scrolls, and 
  even pottery shards plucked from plundered treasure 
  vaults.
   Death lords speak High Archaic and 1d3 + 1 additional
  languages.
  DEATH LORD 
  DIFFICULTY 500
  Size 1 horrifying undead
  Perception 17 (+7); darksight
  Defense 20; Health 100
  Strength 15 (+5), Agility 15 (+5), Intellect 17 (+7), Will 17 (+7)
  Speed 8
  Immune damage from cold, disease, and poison; gaining 
  Insanity; asleep, diseased, fatigued, immobilized, 
  poisoned, slowed
  Resilience A death lord takes half damage from weapons.
  Spell Defense A death lord takes half damage from spells 
  and makes any challenge roll to resist a spell with 1 boon. 
  A creature attacking the death lord with a spell makes 
  the attack roll with 1 bane.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Claw (melee) +5 with 1 boon (3d6 plus Grave Touch)
  Grave Touch If living, the target must make a Strength 
  challenge roll with 1 bane. On a failure, it becomes 
  slowed for 1 minute. While slowed in this way, the 
  target is also frightened. If the target is already slowed 
  by Grave Touch, it becomes immobilized for 1 minute 
  instead. If it is already immobilized by Grave Touch, it 
  becomes defenseless for 1 minute instead.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Counterspell When a creature the death lord can see 
  attacks it with a spell, the death lord can use a triggered 
  action to counter it. The triggering creature makes the 
  attack roll (if any) with 1 bane and the death lord makes 
  the challenge roll to resist it (if any) with 1 boon.
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
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  28
  Secrets of the Desolation
  3
  Void Step The death lord can use an action or a triggered 
  action on its turn to teleport to an open space it can see 
  within short range.
  MAGIC 
  Power 6
  Death* killing touch (7), injure (3), life drain (3), poisonous 
  breath (2), death fog (2), stop heart (1)
  Divination vision (2), clairvoyance (1)
  Necromancy spectral grasp (7), grave grasp (3), harvest 
  soul (3), shrieking skull (2), well of dark power (2), army 
  of the dead (1)
  Teleportation dismiss (7), boundless step (2), travel (1)
  * The Demon Lord Companion™ supplement describes the 
  Death tradition. If you don’t have that book, replace this 
  tradition and spells from it with those from a source you 
  do have.
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Epic Recovery The death lord removes one afﬂ iction from 
  itself.
  Epic Adversary Roll 1d3 + 1 to determine how many actions 
  the death lord can use during the next round. The death 
  lord can use these actions during any turn and can do 
  so before its enemies act. Each time the death lord uses 
  an action, it can move up to its Speed before or after 
  the action.
  Lethal Presence Each living creature within short range 
  of the death lord must get a success on a Strength 
  challenge roll with 1 bane or take 1d6 damage.
  Desiccated One
  Creatures that succumb to deprivation in the Desolation 
  sometimes rouse themselves from death as desiccated ones, 
  horrid monsters that feed on the liquids they extract from 
  living creatures. They gather in loose bands, loping across 
  the dunes, driven by a thirst that torments but can never 
  kill them.
   A desiccated one has a skeletal frame and a skull-like 
  visage perched atop a thin neck. Its mouth hangs open 
  slackly, but within coils a long tubelike tongue it 
  injects into its victims to suck them dry. Whenever 
  a desiccated one feeds, its body ﬁ lls with the ﬂ uid, 
  becoming sluggish and bloated.
  DESICCATED ONE 
  DIFFICULTY 10
  Size 1 horrifying undead
  Perception 9 (–1); darksight
  Defense 8; Health 20
  Strength 11 (+1), Agility 8 (–2), Intellect 7 (–3), 
  Will 13 (+3)
  Speed 10
  Immune damage from cold, disease, and poison; 
  gaining Insanity; asleep, diseased, fatigued, 
  poisoned
  Fire Vulnerability A desiccated one takes double 
  damage from ﬁ re.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Claws (melee) +1 with 2 boons (1d6 + 2, plus the 
  target is grabbed on attack roll 20+)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Desiccate The desiccated one makes a Strength 
  attack roll against the Strength of one target 
  living creature it has grabbed. On a success, the 
  desiccated one gains a cumulative +1d6 bonus 
  to Health for 1 minute and the target takes 3d6 
  damage and becomes fatigued for 1 minute. If the 
  target is already fatigued in this way, it takes 3d6 
  extra damage.
    
  While the desiccated one has this bonus to Health, it 
  takes a –4 penalty to Speed and cannot take fast turns.
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  tradition and spells from it with those from a source you 
  do have.
  Creatures that succumb to deprivation in the Desolation 
  sometimes rouse themselves from death as desiccated ones, 
  horrid monsters that feed on the liquids they extract from 
  living creatures. They gather in loose bands, loping across 
  the dunes, driven by a thirst that torments but can never 
  kill them.
   A desiccated one has a skeletal frame and a skull-like 
  visage perched atop a thin neck. Its mouth hangs open 
  slackly, but within coils a long tubelike tongue it 
  injects into its victims to suck them dry. Whenever 
  a desiccated one feeds, its body ﬁ lls with the ﬂ uid, 
  becoming sluggish and bloated.
  DESICCATED ONE
  Size 1 horrifying undead
  Perception
  Defense
  Strength 
  Will 13 (+3)
  Speed
  Immune
  gaining Insanity; asleep, diseased, fatigued, 
  poisoned
  Fire Vulnerability 
  damage from ﬁ re.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Claws
  target is grabbed on attack roll 20+)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Desiccate
  attack roll against the Strength of one target 
  living creature it has grabbed. On a success, the 
  desiccated one gains a cumulative +1d6 bonus 
  to Health for 1 minute and the target takes 3d6 
  damage and becomes fatigued for 1 minute. If the 
  target is already fatigued in this way, it takes 3d6 
  extra damage.
    
  While the desiccated one has this bonus to Health, it 
  takes a –4 penalty to Speed and cannot take fast turns.
  
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  3
  Dust Devil
  Twisting ribbons of wind rip across the Desolation, 
  impelled by an unnatural force. Wind genies, driven mad 
  by the ruin of their land, merge with the shifting sands 
  to become the hateful dust devils. They despise living 
  things and delight in ﬂ ensing their enemies’ ﬂ esh from 
  their bones.
  DUST DEVIL 
  DIFFICULTY 25
  Size 1 genie
  Perception 9 (–1); truesight
  Defense 16; Health 20
  Strength 12 (+2), Agility 15 (+5), Intellect 6 (–4), Will 9 (–1)
  Speed 20
  Immune damage from disease and poison; gaining Insanity; 
  blinded, dazed, deafened, diseased, fatigued, frightened, 
  immobilized, poisoned, prone, slowed, stunned, and any 
  effect that would change the dust devil’s shape
  Resilience A dust devil takes half damage from weapons.
  Amorphous A dust devil can move freely through openings 
  wide enough to permit the passage of air, and it can 
  move through spaces occupied by other creatures.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Buffeting Wind (melee; reach +4) +5 (2d6 plus Blinding 
  Dust on attack roll 20+)
  Blinding Dust The target becomes blinded for 1 minute. 
  If the target is already blinded in this way, extend the 
  duration by 1 minute.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Erratic Moves When a creature gets a failure on an attack 
  roll against the dust devil, the dust devil can use a 
  triggered action to move 1d6 yards. This movement does 
  not trigger free attacks.
  Forsaken
  The death lords entrust command of their undead legion 
  to the forsaken, a breed of intelligent animated corpses 
  infused with the blackest magic. They look like withered 
  zombies, ﬂ esh drawn tight to their bones and green 
  pinpricks glowing in the darkness of their eye sockets. 
  Unlike zombies, though, forsaken are fast and graceful. 
  They carry bone staﬀ s.
   The forsaken were once the Witch-King’s greatest 
  champions and for their service were granted eternal life 
  by their master’s dark magic. They speak High Archaic in 
  whispery voices.
  FORSAKEN 
  DIFFICULTY 25
  Size 1 horrifying undead
  Perception 13 (+3); darksight
  Defense 13; Health 20
  Strength 14 (+4), Agility 13 (+3), Intellect 11 (+1), Will 14 (+4)
  Speed 12
  Immune damage from cold, disease, and poison; gaining 
  Insanity; asleep, diseased, fatigued, poisoned
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Staff (melee) +4 with 1 boon (2d6 + 1)
  Claws (melee) +4 with 1 boon (1d6 + 1)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Death Sigil The forsaken raps its staff on the ground, 
  causing a wriggling black sigil to appear on a point it can 
  reach. Dark energy spreads across the ground from that 
  point in a 2-yard radius and remains for 1 minute or until 
  the forsaken uses this action again. Whenever a living 
  creature on the ground in the area takes damage, it takes 
  1d6 extra damage.
  Keening The forsaken screams. Each creature in a 3-yard 
  cone extending from a point within the forsaken’s space 
  must make a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane. On a 
  failure, the creature takes 1d6 damage and becomes 
  immobilized for 1 round and deafened for 1 minute. 
  Once the forsaken uses Keening, it cannot do so again 
  for 1 minute.
  Giant Scorpion
  Giant scorpions hunt at night, creeping through the 
  darkness to snatch prey in their pincers and pierce with 
  their stingers. They live in the dunes, burying themselves 
  under the sand by day. These beasts resemble their small 
  kin but have black carapaces as strong as iron and can grow 
  to 12 feet long or longer.
  GIANT SCORPION 
  DIFFICULTY 100
  Size 2–3 animal
  Perception 14 (+4); darksight
  Defense 18; Health 50
  Strength 14 (+4), Agility 13 (+3), Intellect 6 (–4), Will 10 (+0)
  Speed 12
  Immune gaining Insanity
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Pincer (melee) +4 with 2 boons (1d6 + 2 and the target is 
  grabbed on attack roll 20+)
  Stinger (melee) +4 with 2 boons against a grabbed target 
  (1d6 plus Poison)
  Poison The target must get a success on a Strength 
  challenge roll with 3 banes or take 3d6 extra damage 
  and become poisoned for 1 minute. If it is already 
  poisoned, the target instead takes 3d6 extra damage.
   
   At the end of each round while poisoned in this way, 
  the target must make a Strength challenge roll. On a 
  failure, it takes 1d6 damage.
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Snap and Sting The giant scorpion attacks twice with its 
  pincers and once with its stinger.
  
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  Great Horned Beetle
  These enormous beetles roam the wastelands, preying 
  on the animated dead and other creatures they can catch. 
  They are named for the profusion of horns, spines, ridges, 
  and ﬁ ns protruding from their heads and carapaces.
  GREAT HORNED BEETLE 
  DIFFICULTY 100
  Size 5 animal
  Perception 8 (–2)
  Defense 18; Health 100
  Strength 16 (+6), Agility 9 (–1), Intellect 5 (–5), Will 6 (–4)
  Speed 6
  Immune gaining Insanity
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Horns (melee) +6 (3d6)
  Mandibles (melee; reach –3) +6 (2d6 + 3)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Double Attack The beetle attacks with its horns and its 
  mandibles.
   Undead Beetles: The death lords sometimes use the 
  carcasses of dead horned beetles as mobile siege engines. 
  Ghouls feed on the soft tissues until only the shells remain. 
  Death lords infuse the shells with dark magic, causing 
  them to move once more. The beetles’ hard carapaces 
  deﬂ ect projectiles, protecting their undead cargo as they 
  move to the battle’s front lines.
   An undead great horned beetle is a vehicle, using the 
  rules described in the Demon Lord’s Companion. It has the 
  following statistics.
  UNDEAD HORNED BEETLE            PRICE 50 GC
  Size 5 undead (vehicle)
  Defense 18; Health 100
  Strength 16 (+6), Agility 8 (–2), Intellect —, Will —
  Space 3  8; Maximum Speed 6 (acceleration 2/
  deceleration 2)
  Crew One driver
  Cargo 8
  Immune damage from disease and poison; all afﬂ ictions; 
  attack rolls against Intellect, Will, or Perception; 
  effects that allow challenge rolls using Intellect, 
  Will, or Perception
  Sluggish The driver can only take only slow turns.
  ATTACK OPTIONS
  Horns (melee) +6 with 1 bane (3d6)
  Mandibles (melee; reach –3) +6 with 1 bane (2d6 + 3)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Double Attack The driver can command the beetle to 
  attack with its horns and its mandibles.
  Lamia
  The Witch-King transformed some subjects into horrid 
  forms, those who displeased and delighted him both. 
  Gorgons, vampires, and many other terrifying creatures at 
  large in the world owe their existence to this mad tyrant. 
  The lamias, close cousins to the gorgons, live in the ruins 
  of the Desolation, where they hatch unspeakable plots to 
  work chaos and evil in the world.
   Lamias use illusions and charms to bewitch and 
  lure travelers into their lairs. There they subject the 
  unfortunates to their tender ministrations, their honeyed 
  words darkening souls with corruption and tempting their 
  victims to commit greater and greater acts of villainy.
   Lamias don’t have to eat, but they enjoy the sensation, 
  especially when their victims are living. The servants they 
  corrupt become their slaves and are often sent to snatch 
  children to grace the lamias’ dining tables. Others they use 
  to sate their carnal appetites, discarding the slaves when 
  they tire of the sport. Such abandoned wretches become 
  ghouls, raving across the wastelands and tormented by 
  hunger and thirst.
   A lamia’s appearance is monstrous, something the 
  creature conceals behind the illusions it weaves. From the 
  waist up, it has the body of an attractive human man or 
  woman, though with four arms. From the waist down, the 
  lamia’s body tapers into a serpent’s tail.
   Lamias speak the Common Tongue, High Archaic, and 
  Dark Speech.
   The death lords sometimes use the 
  carcasses of dead horned beetles as mobile siege engines. 
  Ghouls feed on the soft tissues until only the shells remain. 
  Death lords infuse the shells with dark magic, causing 
  them to move once more. The beetles’ hard carapaces 
  deﬂ ect projectiles, protecting their undead cargo as they 
   An undead great horned beetle is a vehicle, using the 
  Demon Lord’s Companion. It has the 
  PRICE 50 GC
  Will —
   6 (acceleration 2/
  damage from disease and poison; all afﬂ ictions; 
  attack rolls against Intellect, Will, or Perception; 
  effects that allow challenge rolls using Intellect, 
   The driver can only take only slow turns.
   (melee; reach –3) +6 with 1 bane (2d6 + 3)
   The driver can command the beetle to 
  The Witch-King transformed some subjects into horrid 
  forms, those who displeased and delighted him both. 
  Gorgons, vampires, and many other terrifying creatures at 
   Lamias speak the Common Tongue, High Archaic, and 
  Dark Speech.
  
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  3
  LAMIA 
  DIFFICULTY 250
  Size 2 horrifying monster
  Perception 14 (+4); darksight
  Defense 17; Health 90
  Strength 14 (+4), Agility 17 (+7), Intellect 12 (+2), Will 16 (+6)
  Speed 18
  Immune gaining Insanity; charmed, compelled, dazed, 
  frightened, stunned
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Scimitar (melee) +7 with 2 boons (2d6 + 1)
  Tail (melee; reach +1) +7 with 1 boon (2d6 plus the target is 
  grabbed on attack roll 20+)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Double Attack The lamia attacks twice with its scimitar.
  Corrupting Whispers The lamia makes a Will attack roll 
  against the Will of one target creature within medium 
  range that can hear it. On a success, the target gains 
  1 Corruption and becomes compelled for a number of 
  rounds equal to its new Corruption total. Once the lamia 
  uses Corrupting Whispers, it must wait 1 round before it 
  can do so again.
  Fearsome Glare When the lamia makes an attack roll 
  against a target creature that can see it, the lamia can 
  use a triggered action to force the target to make a Will 
  challenge roll with 1 bane. The target becomes frightened 
  for 1 round on a failure; on a success, it becomes immune 
  to that lamia’s Fearsome Glare until completing a rest.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Serpent Strike When a creature moves into the lamia’s 
  reach, the lamia can use a triggered action to attack the 
  triggering creature with its tail.
  MAGIC 
  Power 3
  Enchantment presence (4), charm (2), command (2), 
  question (2), compel (1)
  Illusion disguise (4), ﬁ gment (2), vertigo (2), invisibility (1), 
  phantasm (1)
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Epic Recovery The lamia removes one afﬂ iction from itself.
  Epic Adversary Roll 1d3 + 1 to determine how many actions 
  the lamia can use during the next round. The lamia can 
  use these actions during any turn and can do so before 
  its enemies act. Each time the lamia uses an action, it can 
  move up to its Speed before or after the action.
  Mummy
  Mummies are withered human corpses covered in 
  yellowing funerary linens. Some also wear clothing, 
  plaques hanging from chains around their necks, masks, or 
  crowns. They are all lumbering killers, driven by the magic 
  powering them to destroy the living.
   Many mummies in the Desolation are the preserved 
  remains of the Witch-King’s enemies, imbued with 
  necromantic power to deny them the rebirth promised to 
  all mortal creatures. Having spent centuries in this state has 
  left them nearly mindless and hating all life they encounter.
  MUMMY 
  DIFFICULTY 100
  Size 1 horrifying undead
  Perception 10 (+0); darksight
  Defense 17; Health 80
  Strength 17 (+7), Agility 9 (–1), Intellect 7 (–3), Will 15 (+5)
  Speed 6
  Immune damage from cold, disease, and poison; gaining 
  Insanity; asleep, blinded, deafened, diseased, fatigued, 
  immobilized, poisoned, slowed
  Paralyzing Horror A creature that gains Insanity from 
  seeing a mummy also becomes immobilized while it 
  is frightened in this way.
  Fire Vulnerability A mummy takes double damage 
  from ﬁ re.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Fist (melee) +7 with 1 boon (3d6 plus 3d6 extra damage 
  against an immobilized target)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Mummy’s Curse The mummy can use an action or a 
  triggered action on its turn to bestow a curse on one 
  target creature within medium range. The target must 
  make a Will challenge roll with 1 bane, becoming cursed 
  on a failure. On a success, the target is immune to all 
  mummies’ curses until it completes a rest.
   A creature cursed in this way cannot heal damage, and 
  whenever it takes damage, it takes 1d6 extra damage.
   
   The curse lasts until removed by magic or until the 
  mummy is destroyed.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Fiery Wrath When the mummy takes damage from ﬁ re, it 
  can use a triggered action to attack with its ﬁ st.
  Murk
  Many things have drowned in the boiling mud on the edges 
  of the Burning Vault, but not all rest easy in their grave. 
  Sometimes a victim’s essence lingers, merging with the 
  slime to form a dripping mass of mud that smashes and 
  destroys whatever it can reach. In its mindless violence , the 
  murk is an incarnation of the wasteland’s dangers.
  MURK 
  DIFFICULTY 50
  Size 2 monster
  Perception 10 (+0); sightless
  Defense 8; Health 100
  Strength 16 (+6), Agility 8 (–2), Intellect 5 (–5), Will 15 (+5)
  Speed 6
  Immune gaining Insanity; asleep, blinded, dazed, deafened, 
  fatigued, frightened, stunned
  
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  Freezing Mud When the murk takes damage from cold or 
  ice, it partly freezes for 1 round. Until the effect ends, 
  the murk has a +2 bonus to Defense and a –4 penalty 
  to Speed.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Fist (melee) +6 with 1 boon (3d6 plus the target becomes 
  blinded for 1 round on attack roll 20+)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Mudslide The murk punches a point on the ground it 
  can reach. The ground within short range of that point 
  becomes a soupy morass of mud that lasts for 1 minute. 
  Creatures other than murks treat the area as difﬁ cult 
  terrain.
  Revenant
  Revenants are mortals who have somehow eluded 
  their deaths and linger in the world. Most escape the 
  Underworld or Hell through sheer determination, 
  refusing to go until they accomplish some deed or fulﬁ ll an 
  obligation. Their position between life and death aﬀ ords 
  them many qualities possessed by undead creatures, even 
  though they are still living and breathing people. 
   For more information on revenants, see chapter 1 in 
  this supplement.
  REVENANT 
  DIFFICULTY 50
  Size 1 revenant
  Perception 8 (–2); darksight
  Defense 16 (mail, large shield); Health 44; surprising return
  Strength 13 (+3), Agility 10 (+0), Intellect 8 (–2), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 10
  Insanity 5
  Immune damage from disease and poison; diseased, 
  fatigued, poisoned
  Surprising Return When a revenant would become 
  incapacitated, roll a d6. On a 6, the revenant appears 
  dead; 1 round later, it heals 2d6 damage and stands up.
  One Foot in the Grave A revenant heals only half the 
  normal amount of damage from magic and potions.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Sword (melee) +3 with 2 boons (3d6 + 2)
  Longbow (long range) +0 with 2 boons (3d6 + 1)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Eyes of the Underworld The revenant uses an action to 
  make a Will attack roll against the Will of one target 
  creature within short range that can see it. On a success, 
  the target becomes frightened for 1 minute. On a failure, 
  the target becomes immune to that revenant’s Eyes of 
  the Underworld until it completes a rest.
  Salamander
  Long ago, the genies fashioned salamanders from 
  elemental ﬂ ame, granting them physical forms and 
  mortality. A society of warriors, salamanders fought for 
  their masters, battling the faerie and mortal races until 
  the time of the genies came to an end, which freed the 
  salamanders to make their way in the world on their own. 
  Now, most salamanders live in sweltering places, barren 
  and desolate, such as the slopes of volcanoes, deserts, and 
  mud ﬂ ats.
   Salamanders have humanoid-shaped bodies, with 
  orange, red, or black skin. Their eyes are white without 
  pupils and brown or black horns rise from their heads and 
  extend out from their arms and legs. Some salamanders are 
  born with tails instead of legs, but they are deemed a lower 
  breed and considered freakish and wrong.
   Salamanders speak Firespeak, a hissing and clicking 
  language other peoples ﬁ nd diﬃ  cult to pronounce. For 
  more information on salamanders, see chapter 1 in this 
  supplement.
  SALAMANDER 
  DIFFICULTY 5
  Size 1 elemental
  Perception 8 (–2)
  Defense 11 (large shield); Health 16
  Strength 10 (+0), Agility 9 (–1), Intellect 9 (–1), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 10
  Immune damage from disease, ﬁ re, and poison; diseased, 
  poisoned
  Cold Intolerant A salamander takes double damage from 
  cold. When it takes damage from cold, it also becomes 
  fatigued for 1 round.
  Fiery Death When the salamander dies, ﬂ ames burst out 
  to 4 yards from a point within its space. Everything in 
  the area takes 1d6 + 4 damage. Each creature in the area 
  that gets a success on an Agility challenge roll takes half 
  the damage instead.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Longspear (melee; reach +1) +0 with 1 boon (1d6)
  Tail (melee) +0 with 1 boon (1d3 plus the target becomes 
  grabbed on attack roll 20+)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Scorching Reprisal When the salamander becomes 
  injured, it can use a triggered action to release a burst of 
  ﬂ ames in a 2-yard radius from a point within its space. 
  Everything in the area takes 1d6 damage. Each creature 
  in the area that gets a success on an Agility challenge 
  roll instead takes no damage.
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Heat A creature grabbed by the salamander must get a 
  success on a Strength challenge roll or take 1d3 damage.
  
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  Elementals
  In a time long before humanity emerged from the caves, 
  when the faerie roamed the mortal world, genies were the 
  masters of the skies and seas, the ﬂ ames and mountains. 
  Some heretics believe these wild spirits brought the world 
  into existence and prepared the way for all living things to 
  grow and thrive. If they were indeed responsible for the birth 
  of creation, the genies were distant creators at best, uncaring 
  of what they had wrought.
  The coming of the faerie and their magical mastery 
  challenged the genies’ dominance. To safeguard creation and 
  to protect themselves from the potent fey magic, the genies 
  fashioned servants from the elements and gave them life. At 
  least four races of elementals are known: the rocklike gnomes 
  who dwell in the bowels of the earth, the mercurial undines 
  who caper and play in the oceans’ depths, the whimsical 
  sylphs at home in the clouds, and the brash and hateful 
  salamanders, who claimed the most inhospitable places in 
  the world.
  Sand Mite Swarm
  Sand mites are some of the few living creatures able to 
  survive in the wastes. Despite the name, they are minuscule 
  insects that feed on scraps of organic matter they ﬁ nd in 
  the sand. In places with abundant food, such as in the 
  tombs, the mites gather into enormous swarms capable of 
  stripping a living creature to the bones within moments. 
  These great heaving masses plunge into the sand and burst 
  free to envelop their prey.
  SAND MITE SWARM 
  DIFFICULTY 10
  Size 2 animal (swarm)
  Perception 10 (+0); sightless
  Defense 12; Health 10
  Strength 10 (+0), Agility 12 (+2), Intellect 5 (–5), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 10; Tunnel
  Immune blinded, charmed, dazed, deafened, frightened, 
  grabbed, immobilized, prone, slowed, stunned
  Multitude A swarm takes half damage from attacks that 
  use an attack roll and double damage from effects that 
  require it to make a challenge roll.
  Revulsion Creatures that are not swarms are impaired 
  while they remain in the swarm’s space or within 1 yard 
  of it.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Pincers (melee) +2 with 1 boon (1d6 plus Overwhelm on 
  attack roll 20+, or just 1d3 if the swarm is injured)
  Overwhelm If living, the target takes 1d6 extra damage, 
  falls prone, and becomes overwhelmed. While 
  overwhelmed, the target cannot move and attack 
  rolls against it are made with 1 boon. An overwhelmed 
  creature can use an action to make a Strength challenge 
  roll. A success removes the afﬂ iction.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Tunnel The sand mite swarm moves up to its Speed though 
  earth, sand, or other material of similar consistency. It 
  leaves a 1-yard-diameter tunnel behind it.
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Swarming Mites Each creature that isn’t a swarm that is 
  in the swarm’s space or within 1 yard of it must make an 
  Agility challenge roll. On a failure, the creature takes 1d6 
  damage and becomes slowed for 1 round.
  Severed
  Bits and pieces of human bodies can be found everywhere 
  in the Desolation, from twitching hands creeping over a 
  sand dune to a severed head perched on a rock overlooking 
  a pool of boiling mud. The same dark magic that animated 
  the corpses of the fallen gives these dismembered parts a 
  semblance of life and wicked purpose, so that even a minor 
  body part can kill.
  SEVERED 
  DIFFICULTY 1
  Size 1/4 frightening undead
  Perception 10 (+0); sightless
  Defense 11; Health 8
  Strength 8 (–2), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 5 (–5), Will 9 (–1)
  Speed 8; climber
  Immune damage from disease and poison; gaining Insanity; 
  asleep, blinded, charmed, dazed, deafened, diseased, 
  fatigued, frightened, poisoned, stunned
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Natural Weapons (melee) +1 (1d3)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Springing Attack When a creature the severed can reach 
  gets a failure on an attack roll against the severed’s 
  Defense or Agility, the severed can use a triggered 
  action to attack that creature.
  Skeletal Steed
  The remains of horses, skeletal steeds bear elite champions 
  of the death lords into battle. They have the shape of 
  horses and move like them, but little of their ﬂ esh and 
  hide remain.
  SKELETAL STEED 
  DIFFICULTY 5
  Size 2 frightening undead
  Perception 8 (–2); darksight
  Defense 13; Health 10
  Strength 13 (+3), Agility 13 (+3), Intellect 5 (–5), Will 13 
  (+3)
  Speed 14
  Immune damage from cold, disease, and poison; gaining 
  Insanity; asleep, diseased, fatigued, poisoned
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Hooves (melee) +3 (1d6)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Gallop The skeletal steed moves up to three times its 
  Speed.
  
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  3
  Vampire Brood
  A newly made vampire awakens as a slave to its sire. 
  The vampire brood must obey every command given to 
  it and subsist on whatever scraps its maker tosses it. The 
  relationship of brood to sire is rarely healthy; brood come 
  to resent their makers and may go so far as to plot against 
  them.
   It takes time for vampires to control their dark powers; 
  thus, brood tend to be feral, wild-looking, and monstrous. 
  Slaves to their thirst, they attack living creatures without 
  hesitation, rushing forward to sink their fangs into victims 
  and drain them dry.
  VAMPIRE BROOD 
  DIFFICULTY 50
  Size 1 frightening undead
  Perception 12 (+2); darksight
  Defense 18; Health 60
  Strength 12 (+2), Agility 13 (+3), Intellect 10 (+0), Will 12 (+2)
  Speed 14
  Immune damage from cold, disease, poison; gaining 
  Insanity; asleep, diseased, fatigued, immobilized, 
  poisoned, slowed
  Celestial Vulnerability A vampire brood takes double 
  damage from Celestial spells and makes challenge rolls 
  to resist Celestial spells with 1 bane.
  Fear of the Gods A vampire brood makes attack rolls with 
  1 bane against a creature wearing or wielding a holy 
  symbol.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Fangs (melee) +3 with 1 boon (2d6 + 1)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Blood Drain The vampire brood makes a Strength attack 
  roll against the Strength of one target living creature of 
  ﬂ esh and blood that it has grabbed. On a success, the 
  target takes 1d6 damage and becomes fatigued until 
  it completes a rest. The vampire brood heals the same 
  amount of damage. If the target is already fatigued in 
  this way, it must get a success on a Will challenge roll or 
  become charmed until it completes a rest.
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Burned by Sunlight The vampire brood takes 2d6 damage 
  if it is an area lit by sunlight.
  Whisper Cactus
  Whisper cacti grow in clumps near the edges of the 
  Desolation, the crimson ﬂ owers between their ﬁ nger-long 
  thorns belying their danger. Should anything move within 
  range of their senses, they eject the thorns with tremendous 
  force, strong enough to punch through steel. As it is loosed, 
  each thorn makes a faint whispering noise, from which the 
  plant takes its name.
  WHISPER CACTUS 
  DIFFICULTY 1
  Size 1 plant
  Perception 11 (+1); sightless
  Defense 5; Health 10
  Strength 5 (–5), Agility 5 (–5), Intellect 5 (–5), Will 15 (+5)
  Speed 0
  Immune gaining Insanity; asleep, blinded, dazed, deafened, 
  fatigued, frightened, stunned
  Sluggish A whisper cactus can take only slow turns and 
  cannot use triggered actions.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Thorn (medium range) –5 with 4 boons (1d6)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Thorn Burst The whisper cactus looses a spray of thorns 
  from a point within its space. Each creature within 
  short range of that point must make an Agility challenge 
  roll with 1 bane. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a 
  failure, or just half the damage on a success. Once the 
  whisper cactus uses Thorn Burst, it cannot do so again 
  for 1 round.
  Other Creatures
  In addition to the new creatures described here, all of the 
  following creatures from Shadow of the Demon Lord are 
  appropriate for adventures set in the Desolation.
  Diﬃ  culty I: animated corpse and tiny monster
  Diﬃ  culty 5: burrowing centipede, gremlin, redcap, small 
  monster, and zombie
  Diﬃ  culty 10: grave thrall, medium monster, troglodyte, and 
  vampire bat
  Diﬃ  culty 25: amphisbaena, barrow wight, boneguard, 
  cockatrice, ghoul, and tomb scarab swarm
  Diﬃ  culty 50: chainbound, ghastly chorus, large monster, 
  muttering maw, and stone worm
  Diﬃ  culty 100: drake, earth genie, ﬂ ame genie, huge monster, 
  living tar, and wind genie
  Diﬃ  culty 250: bone machine and vampire
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  The Dread of the Desolation
  Tombs of the Desolation
  35
  4
  An Adventure for 
  Master Characters
  The strongest dust storm that anyone can remember has 
  ravaged the Crusader States, blasting the strongholds with 
  grit and raining sand onto the farmlands for miles south of 
  the cordon. When the storm cleared, watchers on the walls 
  spotted a new feature at the edge of the wandering dunes: 
  a great black pyramid that must have been unearthed by 
  the terrible winds. Though it is close compared to others 
  in the wastes, it still stands one hundred miles north across 
  the treacherous stone plains. The garrison commanders, 
  fearing some new threat might emerge from the tomb, seek 
  capable explorers willing to venture into the desert and 
  discover what lies within.
   You can involve the group in whatever way you choose—
  they might be hired by the crusaders, investigate on their 
  own, or stumble across the pyramid. The group completes 
  the adventure when they destroy the awakened death lord 
  in the depths of the tomb.
  Into the 
  Wastelands
  The characters face a seven-day journey on foot to reach 
  the tomb, provided they face no complications along the 
  way. Mounts, with suﬃ  cient water, can cut down this time 
  considerably, as can a vehicle such as an airship (see 
  Demon Lord’s Companion). Once every 8 hours the group 
  remains in the stone plains, roll a d20 to see what, if 
  anything, happens.
  Stone Plains Encounters
  Roll
  Encounter
  20
  The characters witness something strange but 
  harmless. They might come upon a toppled 
  obelisk crawling with roaches, an animated ﬁ nger 
  inching across the rocks, or a column of ﬁ re 
  twisting on the horizon. If you need inspiration, 
  you can roll on the Desolation Interesting 
  Features table in chapter 2 of this book.
  18–19
  The weather changes. Roll on the Weather table 
  in chapter 2 to determine the weather for the 
  next 8 hours.
  14–17
  Nothing happens.
  8–13
  Boiling up from the cracks in the ground are 1d3 
  tomb scarab swarms attracted by the prospect 
  of fresh meat.
  4–7
  A forsaken and 1d6 + 2 desiccated ones emerge 
  from cover—a boulder pile, heap of skulls, or a 
  trench in the ground. (See chapter 3.)
  2–3
  Drawn by vibrations in the ground, 1d3 + 1 stone 
  worms burst up to attack.
  1
  A team of 2d6 anubin riding skeletal steeds 
  speed out from a cloud of dust to make slaves 
  of the group. (See chapter 3.)
  In addition, groups traveling by day are subject to the 
  eﬀ ects of exposure and maddening heat, as described in 
  chapter 2. You should check to see if the group becomes 
  lost (as described in chapter 9 of the core rulebook) if they 
  aren’t using a map or magic to ﬁ nd their destination.
  Approaching the Tomb
  Intense heat forms mirages at the edges of the characters’ 
  vision, which makes the tomb diﬃ  cult to spot until they 
  come to within a mile of it. When the group closes to within 
  3 miles of the pyramid, the rocky ground turns to sand, 
  marking the edge of the wandering dunes.
   At some point before the group reaches the tomb, they 
  encounter the death lord’s slaves, withered remnants of 
  the Men of Gog: 1 chainbound, 4 desiccated ones, and 10 
  animated corpses. They attack in an attempt to add the 
  characters to their numbers.
  Necromantic Blight
  The unearthed tomb emits a ﬁ eld of dark magic that causes 
  the corpses of living creatures to rise up as undead monsters. 
  Whenever a living creature dies within 1 mile of the tomb, the 
  creature becomes an animated corpse 1 minute later.
  The Harrower’s 
  Tomb
  In the last days of the Witch-King’s reign, a powerful 
  necromancer named the Harrower raised an army to 
  overthrow the tyrant. The eﬀ ort failed, and the Witch-King 
  imprisoned the Harrower in a grand tomb and sank it 
  beneath the sands. For centuries, the Harrower has plotted 
  his revenge, biding his time until his eventual release. Now 
  that release has been engineered by some stroke of fate, 
  and the Harrower gathers power to have his revenge.
   The Harrower’s tomb is a glossy black pyramid, 300 
  yards long on each of its sides. The smooth slopes meet at a 
  polished bronze capstone, about 100 yards from the bottom, 
  that catches the sunlight, casting dazzling rays in all 
  directions. Just under the capstone, on the southern side, is 
  an alcove ﬂ anked by huge obsidian statues of jackal-headed 
  humanoids. Characters can reach the alcove by climbing up 
  the slopes; it’s an easy climb, granting 1 boon on challenge 
  rolls if required.
   The lands for 3 miles around the tomb are rolling 
  dunes that creep about with the wind and crawl with 
  risen corpses, hungry for ﬂ esh. Each hour the characters 
  spend outside the tomb in this area, 1d6 animated corpses 
  clamber out of the sand and attack.
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  The Dread of the Desolation
  Tombs of the Desolation
  36
  The Dread of the Desolation
  4
  Key Areas
  All areas of the tomb are normally dark, ﬂ oors dusty but 
  otherwise free of debris, with a chill in the air and redolent 
  of weird spices. The structure is made from black, glossy 
  stone that looks like obsidian but is much stronger. Ceilings 
  are 3 yards high unless otherwise noted.
  1. Entrance 
  Plenty of handholds on the outer wall make reaching the 
  entrance relatively easy. There, a pair of closed black stone 
  doors grant access to the tomb’s interior. They push open 
  easily.
   Two 5-yard-tall obsidian statues of jackal-headed, 
  muscled humanoids wielding scimitars ﬂ ank the doors. 
  The statues are huge constructs. If a character moves 
  into either construct’s reach, both statues attack, likely 
  with surprise.
  2. Passage to the Underworld 
  This chamber is about 10 yards square, with archways 
  leading to descending staircases in the east and west walls. 
  A great square pit in the center of the room drops into 
  darkness. Hieroglyphs showing evil rites, sacriﬁ ces, and 
  acts of terrible cruelty cover all surfaces in the chamber 
  except around the archways and pit. The walls around 
  the arches have been painted to look like screaming faces, 
  the openings forming their mouths. The edge of the pit is 
  festooned with skulls to form a low, 1-foot-tall barrier.
   The killing mist in the pit (see area 3) rises up and 
  spreads through this room to attack the characters 1 minute 
  after they arrive. It lingers here, blocking escape.
  3. The Pit
  This 4-yard-square shaft drops 30 yards to the ﬂ oor below 
  (see area 10. The Antechamber and Three Gates). The walls 
  are sheer and smooth, painted with scenes of people falling 
  all the way down. On a hook hanging from a chain set into 
  the ceiling above the pit is a large bronze key. The key is 
  2 yards away from all edges.
   The key is cursed. Any creature that attacks the key’s 
  bearer makes the attack roll with 1 boon and the bearer 
  makes any challenge rolls to resist the attack with 1 bane.
   A hungry killing mist lurks in the shaft.
  4. Anointment Chamber
  The western stairs descend to a square chamber, 8 yards on 
  each side. A contraption commands the center, consisting 
  of a bloodstained table under a tangle of tubes, bladders 
  ﬁ lled with brown liquid, and a collection of needles and 
  saw blades. The whole thing ﬁ lls a space 2 yards wide and 
  4 yards long, and reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
   The contraption activates and attacks when a living 
  creature moves to within 1 yard of it. The triggering 
  creature must make an Agility challenge roll with 2 banes. 
  On a failure, it is pulled onto the table where it becomes 
  immobilized until the contraption is destroyed. The 
  contraption counts as an object with Defense 5 and 
  Health 50.
  The Dread of the Desolation
  
  Tombs of the Desolation
  The Dread of the Desolation
  The Dread of the Desolation
  Tombs of the Desolation
  37
  4
   The immobilized creature or another creature that can 
  reach it can attempt to remove the aﬄ  iction by using an 
  action to make a Strength challenge roll with 2 banes. A 
  success removes the aﬄ  iction and pulls the creature into an 
  open space within 1 yard of the contraption.
   At the end of each round until the contraption is 
  destroyed, it either attacks one target creature it has 
  immobilized or attempts to immobilize a creature within 
  1 yard of it, as described above. If it attacks a creature it has 
  immobilized, the target must make an Agility challenge 
  roll with 2 banes. On a failure, it takes 3d6 damage from the 
  needles and blades and becomes poisoned for 1 hour from 
  the chemicals pumped into its body. If the target is already 
  poisoned in this way, it instead takes 3d6 extra damage. A 
  target incapacitated by this damage dies instantly and rises 
  as an animated corpse at the end of the next round.
  5. Barracks
  Standing at attention here are 5 boneguards. They attack 
  intruders and pursue enemies beyond this chamber. Bones, 
  scraps of linen, and other detritus litter the ﬂ oor.
   A passage in the southeast corner leads down to area 9.
  6. Armory
  Racks holding weapons and armor ﬁ ll this room, though 
  most of them are junk. Sifting through the contents reveals 
  three suits of hard leather armor, one suit of mail, eight 
  small shields, four scimitars, six longbows, and a barrel 
  ﬁ lled with 120 arrows. As well, there’s an enchanted sword 
  wrought from green steel.
   Enchanted Sword: Whenever a creature attacks with the 
  sword and the total of its attack roll is 20 or higher, the 
  attack’s target becomes poisoned for 1 minute. However, 
  if the total of the attack roll is 0 or less, the attacker takes 
  1d6 damage and becomes poisoned for 1 minute.
  7. Guardian of the Vault
  A wide pillar stands at the center of a large chamber littered 
  with broken pieces of statuary. Coiled around the pillar is 
  a basilisk that guards the false treasure vault (see area 8. 
  False Treasure Vault) and attacks intruders.
  8. False Treasure Vault
  The doors to this room are locked; the key from area 3 
  opens them. A successful Strength challenge roll with 3 
  banes forces a door open.
   Beyond the doors is a chamber whose ﬂ oor is covered 
  in 10,000 gold crowns. Any creature that touches a coin 
  becomes cursed and cannot heal damage until the curse 
  is lifted. The curse persists until all the coins taken by the 
  creature are returned to this room.
   If the characters entered the room using the key, the 
  Harrower (see area 14) is immediately alerted to the group’s 
  presence in the tomb and might move toward them.
  9. Dark Power
  A great pillar of darkness hangs in the air at the center of 
  this round room. Gathered around it are 2 forsaken, 
  10 desiccated ones, and 20 animated corpses, all of 
  whom attack intruders.
   The pillar of darkness is a window to the Void. Any 
  creature that visually inspects it glimpses hideous forms in 
  the darkness and must get a success on a Will challenge roll 
  with 2 banes or gain 1d3 Insanity. At the base of the pillar 
  is the Harrower’s phylactery (see the liche spell in chapter 1 
  for rules). If the phylactery is destroyed, the pillar of 
  darkness disappears.
  10. The Antechamber and Three Gates
  Three circular bronze doors stand shut against the south 
  wall of this chamber, each bearing a keyhole in the center. 
  Guarding the area are 3 chainbound, one standing before 
  each door. A chainbound attacks only if a creature moves 
  into its reach.
   The doors can be opened only with the bronze key from 
  area 3. They are otherwise impervious to all damage and 
  cannot be forced.
  11. Chamber of Death
  An invisible ﬁ eld of dark energy ﬂ ows through this 
  chamber. Any creature that enters must make a Strength 
  challenge roll with 2 banes, taking 8d6 damage on a failure 
  or half the damage on a success.
  12. Chamber of Madness
  An invisible ﬁ eld of psychic energy ﬂ ows through this 
  chamber. Any creature that enters must get a success on 
  a Will challenge roll with 2 banes or gain 2d6 Insanity as 
  a barrage of unwholesome and disturbing visions assails 
  its mind.
  13. Chamber of Desire
  Soft red light ﬁ lls this chamber, emanating from the 
  glowing forms of humans writhing on the walls in agony. 
  Any creature that enters must get a success on an Intellect 
  challenge roll with 2 banes or gain 1d3 Corruption.
  14. Lair of the Death Lord
  Each of the three chambers opens into this room. A 
  semicircular dais stands against the southern wall, holding 
  a high-backed chair made from human bones. Three 
  columns stand against each of the east and west walls.
   This is the most likely place where the characters 
  will encounter the Harrower (a death lord). The liche is 
  arrogant and conﬁ dent in its ability to destroy the group, 
  mocking them throughout the ﬁ ght. The Harrower ﬁ ghts 
  until destroyed, knowing it will return (only destroying its 
  phylactery can prevent its revival). It wears the Mantle of 
  the Harrower (see that entry in “Relics of the Desolation” in 
  chapter 3 of this book).
    In addition to the death lord, this room contains a 
  chest ﬁ lled with gemstones worth 1,000 gc and 3 enchanted 
  objects of the GM’s choice, in addition to the Mantle of 
  the Harrower.
  
  A
  Adventure ...................................................................................35
  Adventure Ideas ........................................................................24
  Air (tradition) .............................................................................16
  Anubin .........................................................................................26
  Ash Wastes (terrain) .................................................................19
  B
  Bind Dust Devil (spell) ............................................................16
  Black Waters (location) ...........................................................19
  Bleed (spell) .................................................................................15
  Blighter (path) ............................................................................ 13
  Blood (tradition) .........................................................................15
  Blood Mail (relic) ......................................................................25
  Blood to Water (spell) ...............................................................15
  Boiling Blood (spell) .................................................................15
  Bone Arrow (relic) ....................................................................25
  Bone Fields (terrain) ................................................................19
  Burning Vaults (location)....................................................... 20
  C
  Cauldron (relic) .........................................................................25
  Celestial (tradition) ..................................................................16
  Cinder Rain ............................................................................... 20
  Cities........................................................................................21-23
  Fireheart ..............................................................................................20
  High Watch .........................................................................................21
  Martyr’s Point ....................................................................................21
  Neverfall ...............................................................................................21
  Vanguard .............................................................................................21
  West Hold ............................................................................................21
  Clockworks ...................................................................................4
  Crusader Patrols ........................................................................ 21
  Crusader States, The (location) ........................................... 20
  Curse (tradition) ........................................................................16
  Curse of the Tomb Kings (spell) ...........................................16
  Cyclops ........................................................................................27
  D
  Dead Lands (terrain) ................................................................19
  Death Lord ........................................................................... 27-28
  Desiccate (spell) .........................................................................17 
  Desiccated One .........................................................................28
  Drift Stones (location) .............................................................22
  Dust Devil ...................................................................................29
  Dust Walker (path) ...................................................................14
  Dwarf .............................................................................................4
  E
  Earth (tradition) ........................................................................16
  Elemental Adaptation (spell) .................................................17
  Elementals ..................................................................................33
  Eruption ..................................................................................... 20
  Expert Paths ............................................................................... 12
  Prince of Darkness ............................................................................12
  F
  Fauns ..............................................................................................4
  Fireheart (city) .......................................................................... 20
  Forsaken ......................................................................................29
  G
  Giant Scorpion ..........................................................................29
  Goblins ..........................................................................................4
  Great Horned Beetle ................................................................30
  H
  Halﬂ ing ..........................................................................................4
  Harrower’s Tomb, The .............................................................35
  Heat Wave (spell) ......................................................................16
  Hemorrhage (spell) ...................................................................15
  High Watch (city) ...................................................................... 21
  Human ...........................................................................................4
  I
  Interesting Features .................................................................23
  Interesting Things about the Desolation .............................4
  K
  Killing Touch (spell) ................................................................36
  L
  Lamia ...........................................................................................30
  Liche (spell) .................................................................................17
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Index
  Dust Devil
  Tombs of the Desolation
  38
  5
  Index
  Index
  5
  
  M
  Maddening Heat .......................................................................19
  Mantle of the Harrower (relic) ........................................ 25-26
  Martyr’s Point (city) .................................................................. 21
  Master Paths .......................................................................... 13-14
  Blighter .................................................................................................13
  Dust Walker ........................................................................................14
  Slayer of the Dead ............................................................................14
  Men of Gog ...................................................................................4
  Mud Flats (terrain) ...................................................................19
  Mummy ....................................................................................... 31
  Murk ............................................................................................. 31
  N
  Necromancy (tradition) ............................................................17
  Necromantic Blight ..................................................................35
  Neverfall (city) ........................................................................... 21
  Noisome Atmosphere ..............................................................19
  O
  Obsidian Tombs (location) ....................................................22
  Orc ..................................................................................................4
  P
  Prince of Darkness (path) ....................................................... 12
  Protection (tradition) ................................................................17
  Q
  Quicksand (spell) ......................................................................16
  R
  Relics of the Desolation .................................................... 25-26
  Restore Humors (spell) ............................................................15
  Revenant (ancestry) ....................................................................5
   Cause of Death ................................................................................... 6
   Creating .................................................................................................5
   Distinguishing Features .................................................................. 6
   Reason for Return .............................................................................. 6
   Unusual Behavior ..............................................................................7
  Revenant (creature) ..................................................................32
  Rising from the Dead ................................................................6
  S
  Salamander (ancestry) ............................................................. 7
  Creating ..................................................................................................7
  Age........................................................................................................... 8
  Personality............................................................................................ 8
  Appearance ........................................................................................... 8
  Background .......................................................................................... 8
  Build  ....................................................................................................... 8
  Salamander ................................................................................32
  Sand Mite Swarm .....................................................................33
  Severed ........................................................................................33
  Shimmer Wall (spell) ...............................................................16
  Skeletal Steed ............................................................................33
  Slayer of the Dead (path) ........................................................14
  Steam Vents ............................................................................... 20
  Stone Plains (terrain) ...............................................................19
  Sun Hammer (spell) .................................................................16
  T
  Terrain, Special .........................................................................19
  Toxic Water ................................................................................19
  Transfusion (spell) .....................................................................15
  Tremors ...................................................................................... 20
  V
  Vampire (ancestry) .....................................................................9
  Creating .............................................................................................. 10
  Creating Brood .................................................................................. 10
  Superstitious Fear ............................................................................ 10
  Unusual Qualities ............................................................................. 11
  Sire’s Identity...................................................................................... 11
  Sire’s Motive ........................................................................................ 11
  Relationship to Sire .......................................................................... 11
  Vampire Brood...........................................................................34
  Vanguard (city) .......................................................................... 21
  Vanishing City, The (location) ...............................................22
  W
  Wandering Dunes (terrain) ....................................................19
  Water (tradition) ........................................................................17
  Weather .......................................................................................23
  West Hold (city) ......................................................................... 21
  Whisper Cactus .........................................................................34
  Whisper Canyon (location) ....................................................23
  Tombs of the Desolation
  Index
  Index
  Tombs of the Desolation
  39
  5
  
  Robert J. Schwalb
  Fight the 
  Shadow with 
  new options!
  
  Tombs of the Desolation is ©2016 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord, Schwalb Entertainment, and their associated logos 
  are trademarks of Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.
  SKU: SDL1013e
  SCHWALB ENTERTAINMENT, LLC
  PO Box #12548
  Murfreesboro, TN 37129
  info@schwalbentertainment.com
  www.schwalbentertainment.com
  The Dread of
  This Desolation
  The Desolation stretches beyond the Northern Reach, a blighted place, 
  poisoned by dark magic and infested with undead. Fools and heroes 
  alike test their mettle against the dangers this land poses, forcing them 
  to contend with blood-thirsty vampires or dust storms of apocalyptic 
  proportions. This sourcebook reveals one of the most dangerous places 
  in the lands of Rûl, providing new options for players and Game Masters 
  alike, such as:
  • Revenant, Salamander, and Vampire ancestries
  • New paths including the Prince of Darkness and Slayer of the Dead
  • The Blood tradition and new spells for existing traditions
  • Details about the Desolation and surrounding lands
  • New relics and creatures like the Cauldron of Death and the 
  Desiccated One 
  • A new adventure!
  Tombs of the Desolation reveals more details about the world of the 
  Demon Lord, giving you all the tools you need to tell stories set in a desert 
  wasteland!
  
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