I am running a campaign in which a "priest" of Graz'zt appears. There is very little on spheres, specail abilities etc although I have seen and read the Thrall of Graz'zt information in the 3rd Edition. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Welcome, Grottley! Here is the Graz'zt entry from my forthcoming WORLD OF GREYHAWK® Deitybase:
Quote:
GRAZ’ZT (Lesser God) (GRAZT)
The Ebon Lord
AL CE; WAL LE, NE, CE; SoC Power, Rulership, Evil Scheming; SY Pincer-like tongs (basalt); AN Lamia; CR White; HD None; PoW Anywhere; CL Clerics; PN Abyss.
One of the most powerful demon rulers of the Abyss is Graz’zt, lord of three entire layers and dedicated foe of both Demogorgon and Orcus. He was, in fact, waging a winning battle against the troglodyte, harpy, and bar-lgura armies. At a crucial moment, however, Graz’zt was magically taken to the Prime Material Plane and forced into bondage by a mighty magic-user. He battled free at the cost of being confined to his own realm for a century.
Graz’zt has become so successful in the Abyss simply because he is unflinchingly evil and a brilliant strategist. The Ebon Lord has surrounded himself with the most calculating and loyal minds in all demondom, including the demon lord Verin (or Vuron). Graz’zt is served by lamias and will always have at least one with him at all times. He is also likely to have succubi or a type V demoness with him in his lair.
Graz’zt normally employs a huge shield and a huge, wavy-bladed sword that drips acid upon command. The other weapon Graz’zt uses is a gisarme. By sneer and word, Graz’zt engenders fear in all who see and hear his displeasure. He can gate in type VI demons or babau demons without fail.
Graz’zt is the handsomest of demon rulers, at least by human standards. He appears as a huge, good-looking man, although his skin is shining black and his eyes glowing green. His pointed ears and small fangs are merely indicative of his alien nature. Graz’zt is six-fingered and six-toed. Graz’zt’s Clerics Sex M, F; AB Str 13, Cha 12; AL NE, CE; AEx None; WPN Bastard sword (1st), dagger, hammer, khopesh, knife, long sword, mace, pole arm, scimitar, short sword, two-handed sword; AR Standard; RA Violet robe or gown; PW 1)detect good 1/day per odd-numbered level (2/day at 3rd level, 3/day at 5th level, etc.), use fighter THAC0, 5)fear 2/day; TU Command.
Graz’zt, the Ebon Lord, father to the vile Iuz the Old and ruler of Azzagrat, the Triple Realm, is perhaps the demon prince most closely tied to the affairs of Oerth and is a hated figure in the texts of nearly every benevolent god. It was Graz’zt who helped Iggwilv to dominate Perrenland nearly a century ago, and it is Graz’zt still who meddles (some say through Iggwilv herself) in the affairs of Oerth. Perhaps most frightening of all, Graz’zt has somehow managed to command a large segment of the drow population of Oerth, and he has found some way to grant spells to his followers. His method is a matter of great interest for nearly every demon of the Abyss more powerful than a vrock, and, of course, Lolth is livid. Clerics of Graz’zt may substitute the 4th-level magic-user spell confusion for a clerical spell of the same level.
Keep in mind that this was written as a 1E/2E hybrid, so some things may not gel perfectly with 2E. I handle spell spheres a little differently, but I think I can reconstruct them as follows: All, Charm, Combat, Creation*, Healing, Necromantic*, Protection*, Sun*, plus the following additional spells — divination, commune, spike stones.
1. Though he is a skilled warrior, I have always taken the view that it was generally accepted that Graz’zt prefers to fight with magic when he can and to use steath, cunning and guile rather than brute force. This would possibly lead his followers into a thieving area rather than a fighting area?
2. I am not sure on what the commanding of undead is based. Granted he is evil and his followers likewise, would not an ability for his Priests to summon minor demons (using the old terminology) not be more appropriate?
1. Though he is a skilled warrior, I have always taken the view that it was generally accepted that Graz’zt prefers to fight with magic when he can and to use steath, cunning and guile rather than brute force. This would possibly lead his followers into a thieving area rather than a fighting area?
I tried to build Graz'zt's priesthood around Eclavdra as portrayed in the Gord novels. I didn't want to give his clerics too many "flashy" abilities that Eclavdra couldn't have used herself (as if EGG had the "Graz'zt cleric" template in front of him when writing ). If I stated that all clerics of Graz'zt could, say, summon a babau once per day, then someone (I don't know who) could ask, "Well, why couldn't Eclavdra do that in Sea of Death?"
Grottley wrote:
2. I am not sure on what the commanding of undead is based. Granted he is evil and his followers likewise, would not an ability for his Priests to summon minor demons (using the old terminology) not be more appropriate?
Commanding undead is the default for evil clerics in AD&D®. Again, that is the system for which the Deitybase was designed, so I tried not to deviate too much without good reason.
I tried to build Graz'zt's priesthood around Eclavdra as portrayed in the Gord novels.
And here I thought she was a cleric of the Elder Elemental Eye (Tharizdun). Huh, Grazzt?
Yup. Sea of Death portrays her as the high priestess / champion of Graz'zt and ambassador to Iuz. Evidently, she converted from the faith of the EEG (who is not Tharizdun) after her failed coup.
Eh. That depends on your source. From Paul Stormberg's interview with Gary Gygax in Oerth Journal #12:
Quote:
Q: Some people have lumped the Elder Elemental God (EEG) and Tharizdun together. My perspective is that they are distinct beings. Would you clarify their relationship, or lack thereof?
A: I meant no relationship between the two. The Elder Elemental God I saw as a dark creative deity, one that spun form out of chaos in his portion of one universe, then lost control of his creation—as is the story with so many deities of this sort in the mythology of various peoples of earth, from Babylonian and Egyptian on. Tharizdun is a larger and more pervasive force that is multiversal but not omnipresent. That is what he sought, of course, along with omnipotence. Tharizdun failed on both accounts.
DMPrata: What would the XP penalty for clerics of Graz'zt be(for 1e)? I assume that Graz'zt's priests don't get all of the abilities of a standard evil cleric plus the spell abilities, weapon choices, and fighter THAC0 for nothing?
And yes, the EEG has nothing to do with Mr. T. "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" caused a bit of controversy on this front. Bad Monte! Bad!(hits with rolled up newspaper)
As to commanding undead, what DMPrata said- standard evil cleric ability. For summoning demons there is exaction and similar spells. Reference "Unearthed Arcana"(1e) or "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" for other spells that have to do with summoning and controlling lower planar nasties and make sure they are in the repetoire of any cleric who worships a lower planar lord.
DMPrata: What would the XP penalty for clerics of Graz'zt be(for 1e)? I assume that Graz'zt's priests don't get all of the abilities of a standard evil cleric plus the spell abilities, weapon choices, and fighter THAC0 for nothing?
After re-reading the Sea of Death source material, I've revised the priesthood of Graz'zt. (This will be forthcoming in version 4.0 of the Deitybase™.)
Quote:
Graz’zt’s Clerics Sex M, F; AB Str 13, Cha 12; AL NE, CE; AEx None; WPN Bastard sword (1st), dagger, hammer, khopesh, knife, long sword, mace, pole arm, scimitar, short sword, two-handed sword; AR Standard; RA Violet robe or gown; PW 16) as hierophant druid; TU Command.
Graz’zt, the Ebon Lord, father to the vile Iuz the Old and ruler of Azzagrat, the Triple Realm, is perhaps the demon prince most closely tied to the affairs of Oerth and is a hated figure in the texts of nearly every benevolent god. It was Graz’zt who helped Iggwilv to dominate Perrenland nearly a century ago, and it is Graz’zt still who meddles (some say through Iggwilv herself) in the affairs of Oerth. Perhaps most frightening of all, Graz’zt has somehow managed to command a large segment of the drow population of Oerth, and he has found some way to grant spells to his followers. His method is a matter of great interest for nearly every demon of the Abyss more powerful than a vrock, and, of course, Lolth is livid. Clerics of Graz’zt may substitute the magic-user spells confusion, dismissal, dolor, and/or ensnarement for clerical spells of the same level.
2E spell spheres would be All, Charm, Combat, Creation*, Divination, Elemental (Earth), Healing, Necromantic*, Protection*, Summoning, Sun*. Since Eclavdra is a multi-classed cleric/fighter anyway, I can chalk her combat abilities up to being a fighter. Graz'zt's priests are now more like true demonologists. I found the hierophant abilities all fit in quite nicely, particularly the immunity to natural poisons (as Eclavdra was gifted with immunity to spider venom) and ability to alter self at will (as Eclavdra's skin pigmentation was lightened). I did not include an XP penalty for two reasons: 1) the ability score requirements, which the "standard" evil cleric doesn't have, and 2) the sphere limitations, which exclude important "standard" spells like raise dead.
Well, published GH material is probably what misleads people, since the case is made in post-gygax material for the EEG being tharizdun. Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil is guilty of this.
It's one of those "whatever works for your campaign" issues, if you ask me.
DMPrata: As to the XP penalty I meant for 1e purposes, and not 2e.
I'm not sure I understand the distinction. If you look at the Deitybase™, you'll see that I don't allow every cleric access to every spell; I use a variant of the 2E sphere structure. So, either way, clerics/priests of Graz'zt have built-in limitations in the form of ability score requirements and spell restrictions.
I know this is the 2e forum, but I was wondering how you apply this to 1e rules basically.
What I refer to is the structure in the 83' folio (and "GH Adventures" I believe)for clerics of certain listed deities. For example, clerics of Celestian gain special abilities at certain levels, but at the cost of paying an XP penalty.
As there is no specific weapon or sphere limiting structure in 1e, I was wondering how this would translate to 1e.
I know this is the 2e forum, but I was wondering how you apply this to 1e rules basically.
What I refer to is the structure in the 83' folio (and "GH Adventures" I believe)for clerics of certain listed deities. For example, clerics of Celestian gain special abilities at certain levels, but at the cost of paying an XP penalty.
As there is no specific weapon or sphere limiting structure in 1e, I was wondering how this would translate to 1e.
I have striven to keep all of the deities presented in the Deitybase™ balanced with respect to one another. If you choose to strip away certain limitations (such as spell spheres) in order to play a more by-the-book 1E game, then there may be imbalances. Strictly speaking, even the clerics as presented in the '83 boxed set are not "by the book"; they are variants.
I seem to recall as a preview of a new publication; The primal elemental powers are seeking to release EEG. With several write ups on the elemental princes.
DMPrata: Nice info on Grazz't by the way. I always thought that the Abyssal Lords were overlooked in this regard. Please post other Abyssal Lord specialty priests information here too, if you develop them. Its been a while since I have checked but there probably is some info on Orcus in the Bloodstone module series.
"Vilp-akf ’cho Rentaq is but one of three EEG’s. Ghaunadaur is another and there is yet a third, unnamed EEG. All three share the inverted triangle symbol and the same true form. All are dark creative deities who thrive in the elemental chaos of primordial universes. Although never together, depictions always show them as a trio, typically being worshipped by numerous sentient creatures of many different worlds and universes. It is thought that this is merely symbolic and that it is a representation of the beings across temporal, spatial, and other dimensions. Nonetheless, there is a definite unity in the triumvirate beings. Indeed, the inverted triangle symbol used to represent them is one triangle made-up of three equal triangles.
The Elder Elemental Eye is generally presented as a manifestation of the EEG's, in most cases appearing within a translucent altar as part of a rather chaotic ritual that will as likely end in a boon as in death for those participating in it. The Elder Elemental Eye is likely the one true form that any one of the three EEG's uses to appear in this way. The Forgotten Realms write-up on "the" EEG, or Ghaunadaur, blatantly steals from the GDQ series and the EEG patron of House Eilserv(tentacle rods and all). There is of course no reason to limit tentacle rods to just followers of Ghaunadaur- they might be something used by those who serve any one of the three EEG's.
Last edited by Cebrion on Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:10 am; edited 1 time in total
DMPrata: Nice info on Grazz't by the way. I always thought that the Abyssal Lords were overlooked in this regard. Please post other Abyssal Lord specialty priests information here too, if you develop them. Its been a while since I have checked but there probably is some info on Orcus in the Bloodstone module series.
These are available in The Demonic Pantheon of the Deitybase™, although I have not uploaded the revised priesthood of Graz'zt yet.
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). If I stated that all clerics of Graz'zt could, say, summon a babau once per day, then someone (I don't know who) could ask, "Well, why couldn't Eclavdra do that in 
