Canonfire! - Excerpts from the Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Orcus, Demon Prince of Undead

Behold the dread majesty of Orcus, the Secondborn Demon Lord of Undead, and his infamous Wand, as detailed using the AD&D 1e rules.

Excerpts from the Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Orcus, Demon Prince of Undead

by grodog (see also http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html)

Copyright 2013 by Allan T. Grohe, Jr.

Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

Orcus, Demon Prince of Undead

(Visual reference: Todd Lockwood's 1980 portrait from Dragon #42, at http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iBDQOXCHTEU/S8OqgwQdZdI/AAAAAAAAAnk/gtmUGt84o94/s1600/fat+and+manky+orcus.JPG)

Frequency: Unique (Very Rare)
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: -5
Movement: 12”/12” (MC: D)
Hit Dice: 27 (122 hit points)
% in Lair: 75%
Treasure Type: ?
No. of Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/sting) or 1 (by weapon at +3)
Damage/Attack: 7-14/7-14/1-6 or by weapon at +8 (wielding Wand of Orcus: 7-16 [3d4+4] +8)
Special Attacks: Poison sting (save vs. poison at -3 or die instantly), Wand of Orcus, see below
Special Defenses: +2 or better weapon to hit; half-damage from thrusting, piercing, or blunt weapons (due to fat); undead-like immunities; see below
Magic Resistance: 70%
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Intelligence: Exceptional
Size: L (15’ tall, 38’ wingspan)
Psionic Ability: Nil
Level/XP Value: XI/?

Orcus is a grossly fat, tall demon lord with the body of a bloated goat, grey bat-like wings (with droopy folds of flesh that sag between the phalanges), a tail with a sharp bone stinger, and dirty and matted black fur shot-through with grey and some white. His legs appear far too thin to support his gross body, and end in cloven hooves shod in aryn. Eyes are a baleful, glowing citrine, and horns are glossy black. Orcus is barely strong enough to move easily (Strength 20), and when he does move he is generally ponderous---more from habit and sloth than need though, as he demonstrates when challenged in earnest. Orcus' vocal mannerisms include stutter-like "baah's" interspersed among his usual words.

Orcus is far more powerful than his demonic parentage suggests that he should be: his father is Baphomet, one of the weakest of the First Born, and his mother Soneillon, a third generation scion of Abraxus. His personal prowess includes Second Born standard demonic abilities, fear (eye rays of magma-orange hue, range line of sight, save a -3), telekinese 12,000 gp weight, speak with dead, paralyze (violet ray, 7” range, save a -1, duration 4-40 hours), energy drain (2/day), vampiric ray (2/day), death spell (2/day), summon undead (100% success, 2/day limited to 50 HD total/day), symbol (any, 1/day), wither (as staff, 3/day), blackflame burst of Orcus (kills unless save vs. death; save = 13d4+13 damage; if slain, victim animates as intelligent undead under Orcus' control; 1/day, 12” range, bursts in a 4” radius), gate (80% successful 1/day: 40% 4-7 minor demons, 25% 2-4 lesser demons, 30% 1-2 major demons [usually enfrahl, catoboligne, bodaks, nabassu, etc.], 10% 1 unique lordling/demon lord/demon prince who owes Orcus a favor), feeblemind (1/week), summon or send Wand of Orcus (1/month, 100%, cross-planar; Wand appears on Orcus' person within 1-12 rounds of summoning, or goes to wherever he wills it), timestop (1/month), destruction (1/month, no need for rest: circular ringing cone of vile green and yellow 5" long x 3" wide at terminus).

Orcus is immune to cold, poison, death magic, paralyzation, blackflame, aging, enfeeblement, possession, body sympathy, and energy draining. Undead will not attack him willingly, and he turns/commands undead on the 21st+ level column.

In addition to his brutal personal powers, Orcus often personally employs his Wand, an artifact of great power. When wielded by Orcus, the Wand is usually a 7’ long, skull-topped, gem-encrusted scepter. The sage Xandallos recorded the appearance of the Wand in _The Great Magicks of the Abyss_: "The Wand is of an obsidian-like stone, variously dull and carved or highly-polished along its length. The top third is inset with bloodstones, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds, and capped by a skull. The skull that of a large humanoid with small, pointed horns, and its eyes are hollow. The skull is covered in a smooth and strange, sheenless-grey metal of unknown origin, as if it was dipped in lead (though it is far stronger than lead). As a gem-inlaid scepter the Wand of Orcus is worth 500,000 gp.

The Wand of Orcus has the following known powers and properties:

- The wand annihilates any non-immortal who touches it for the very first time, unless the victim has Orcus' grace. A natural saving throw (no bonuses due to magic, race, etc.) against breath weapon negates this annihilation, and a potential wielder will only need to save once against this effect.

- The wand is immensely dense and heavy, and any wielder who is not at least 10' tall with a 20 strength, or 6' tall with a 23 strength, cannot pick the wand up.

- The wand resizes itself to fit the size of its wielder, from 3' to 11' maximum length. Orcus wields it as a 7' long device, usually, unless he is shapechanging (Orcus can resize the wand to any size he requires, with no limitations).

- If wielded as a weapon, the wand inflicts 7-16 points of damage per hit, and victims must save vs. breath weapon or be annihilated (this is a standard saving throw, not a natural save).

- At will, when held: know alignment, speak with dead, comprehend dead languages, detect life and souls/spirits

- animate dead at 30th level, by touch (10/week)

- Once/day: mind blank, cone of cold (24-60 hp damage, save for 1/2; 12d4+12), invisibility to undead, true seeing, possession (allows wielder to force victim's life force into a gem on the wand and to control his body, a la' "Donjon" from the Deck of Many Things), curse (natural saving throw at -3)

- Once/month: ray of annihilation (12" range, searing red-orange color that leaves afterimages for days), trap the soul (70% effective, no save)

- The Seven Deaths of Orcus (1/day each, save at -6 negates):

o Death by Pain: flays flesh from bones slowly over 1 turn and inflicts 60-130% of victim's maximum hit points in damage; if not slain outright by damage at the end of 10 rounds, victim must save vs. death magic at -6 or die ("cowaaaard's waaaay out, baaah, too quick")

o Death by Mush: transmutes victim's bones to jelly; system shock roll at -60% to survive; survival permanently drop Str, Dex, and Con to 3, and the victim cannot initiate physical movements of any sort ("claaaassy")

o Death by Sleep: save at -6 or the victim is feebleminded, then goes into a coma for 4-80 days, and dies; if raised, the victim loses 4 points each from Int, Wis, Perception (if applicable), and all psionics and spell-casting abilities ("too easy")

o Death by Decay: save at -6 or victim is energy drained 30-90% (2d4+1) of his levels, and visibly rots as his life energy is transferred to the wielder (see Evard's Draining Demise; "yuuuuumy")

o Death by Melding: save at -6 or victim's bones are all fused together, causing permanent paralysis ("Heh---sounded OK baaah, didn't it, baaah?")

o Death by Consciousness: save at -6 or victim is slain and his soul/spirit is trapped within his corpse while it slowly rots over centuries ("baaah, one of my faaaavorites")

o Death from Within: save at -6 or multiple internal organs rupture, causing 80-150% hit points damage ("baaaah: everything looks OK, whaaat seems to be wroooong?")

Notes:

For more on Orcus' parentage, see Excerpts from The Demonomicon Of Iggwilv: Abyssal Genealogy @ http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=203

Evard's Draining Demise is detailed @ http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=88

Vampiric Ray is a necromancer spell IMC detailed @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/temp/The_Necromancer_by_grodog.pdf

Ray of Annihilation is a shadow master spell that will eventually appear in Knockspell #7 and/or Dangerous Dungeons (for OSRIC).

Secondborn (and other generational) standard demonic abilities are detailed IMC @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_abyss_abilities.html#ability