Sunday, November 30, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Inspirational Reading

Frank Mentzer included a list of 135 authors in his bibliography to the Immortals Set, updating and expanding Tom Moldvay's list in the Basic Set.

There are some remarkable literary treasures to be discovered - I encourage you to browse:



Cover to Incredible Adventures (1914) by Algernon Blackwood, published by Hippocampus Press (June, 2004).


Cover to Akhenaten: Son of the Sun by Moyra Caldecott, published by Allison & Busby, U.K. (1986).

 


Cover to The House of the Wolf by Basil Copper, published by Arkham House (1983).  Dust-jacket illustration by Stephen E. Fabian.


Cover to Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson, published by Nelson Doubleday (1977).  Illustration by Janice C. Tate.


Cover to The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, published by University of London Press (1946).  Illustration by C. Walter Hodges.



Cover to The House on the Borderland (1908) by William Hope Hodgson, published by Carroll & Graf (1983).  Illustration by Richard Courtney.






Cover to Raven Swordsmistress of Chaos by Richard Kirk, published by Corgi (1978).  Illustration by Chris Achilleos.


Cover to The King of Elfland's Daughter (1924) by Lord Dunsany, published by Unicorn/Unwin (1982).  Illustration by Kathy Wyatt.

 

Cover to Parsival or a Knight's Tale (1977) by Richard Monaco, published by Berkley (1984).


 

Cover to Strange Gateways by E. Hoffman Price, published by Arkham House (1967).  Illustration by Lee Brown Coye.


 

Cover to The Dreaming Jewels (1950) by Theodore Sturgeon, published by Dell (1980).  Illustration by Rowena Morrill.


 

Cover to Many Dimensions (1931) by Charles Williams, published by William B. Eerdmans (1976).



*also cited by Tom Moldvay in Inspirational Source Material
**not cited by Moldvay, but included by Gygax in Appendix N

authors left off the list: Lanier (was in both Moldvay and Appendix N); St. Clair (not cited by Moldvay, but included by Gygax in Appendix N)

Saturday, November 29, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Additional References

The DM's Guide to Immortals includes a bibliography divided into three sections: Source Material (OD&D and the previous Basic Sets, although strangely missing the Cook/Marsh Expert Set), Additional References, and Inspirational Reading.

The list of additional references is quite extensive, and is analagous to the Non-Fiction sections in Moldvay's list of Inspirational Source Material.  (Mentzer's list of authors recommended for inspirational reading will be covered, tomorrow).





Dictionary of Classical Mythology by J.E. Zimmerman. Harper & Row, 1964.

English Folk and Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs.*


Cover to The Golden Bough by J.G. Frazer (1971 edition, published by MacMillan, London).  Cover art design by Peter Goodfellow.


The Golden Bough by Sir James G. Frazer. Macmillan, 1922.**

The Masks of God by Joseph Campbell. Penguin, 1976.



The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, translated by Robert Aldington et al.**

Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales, edited by Claire Booss. Crown, 1984.



Acting: A Handbook of the Stanislavski Method, compiled by Toby Cole. Crown, 1947.


Cover to Armor & Weapons by Charles ffloulkes (2013 edition, published by Leonaur Ltd, GB) depicting the armour of Philip II. Madrid.


Armour & Weapons by Charles Ffoulkes. Oxford/Clarendon, 1909.

The Armourer and His Craft by Charles Ffoulkes. Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1912.

Bible and Sword by Barbara W. Tuchman. New York Univ. Press, 1956.

Bentham's Handbook of Political Fallacies, edited by Harold A. Larrabee. Johns Hopkins, 1952.


Creative Storytelling by Jack Maguire. Philip Lief Group, 1985.

A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman. Ballantine, 1978.




Cover to A Reader's Guide to Fantasy by Baird Searles, Beth Meacham, and Michael Franklin (Avon, 1982).




Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, edited by Douglas M. Considine. Van Nostrand, 1976 (annual).


*also cited by Moldvay
**previously cited in Master DM's Book

Sunday, November 23, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Vortex Creatures

The great dimensional Barrier, whose very existence creates the dilemma and paradox of the missing dimensions, is commonly called the Dimensional Vortex.  The few life forms known to arise from dimensional space including the Vortex, are called vortex creatures.

The characteristics of all vortex creatures place them within the Sphere of Entropy, though they are not actually part of that organization.


Illustration by Larry Elmore


Spectral Hound

On the Prime, spectral hounds appear as ghostly dogs - pale in color and translucent.  Their eyes are formless pools of utter blackness.

*introduced in X5 "Temple of Death" (1983)


Blackball

These odd beings appear as featureless black globes, each about 5 feet in diameter.  Blackballs seem to arise spontaneously from the Dimensional Vortex space, and have been seen returning to it voluntarily.  Immortals suspect that blackballs can pass through the Vortex, and that they serve the Old Ones, but all this is conjecture.

Saturday, November 22, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Nightmare Creatures

The Multiverse spans at least five dimensions (more are theorized to exist).  Humans occupy the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd dimensions, while creatures from the "Dimension of Nightmares" occupy the 3rd, 4th, and 5th dimensions, perceiving dimensions from a perspective opposite to the human viewpoint.

Mortal "Normals" occasionally catch glimspes of the Dimension of Nightmares, and perceive Nightmare creatures as horrible, malevolent beings, while Nightmare creatures view mortal Normals with much the same horror.

Nightmare creatures find Chaos to be the natural disorder of all things, and believe Law to be unnatural and often with evil motivation, although different viewpoints of behavior and motivation occur in much the same proportions as in humans.

When a wish or other powerful magic is used to force a Nightmare creature into the dimensional space of Normals, the victim must make a successful saving throw vs. Spells or go insane, and vice versa.  However, any creature who voluntarily travels in this way (from either dimensional viewpoint) simply fails to enter the other dimension if the saving throw is failed, and suffers no ill effects.


Diaboli

Diaboli are a humanoid race of Nightmare creatures, of sizes equal to the range found in humans.  Diaboli have well-muscled arms and legs, and their skin is bright red, shiny, and hairless.  Their feet have split hooves like a pig's, and their hands have only three fingers each but are otherwise entirely human.  The pupils of their eyes are vertical slits, similar to certain reptiles.  The nose is usually longer and lumpier than a human's.  A long, forked tongue, another reptilian feature, is equipped with the various senses of smell, sound, and heat detection.  Two small horns protrude from the top of the head, but these are merely vestigial remains from early evolution, and are nearly useless.  Each diabolus has a tail just slightly longer than its legs.

Adventurous adult diaboli advance through the same character classes as those available to humans, and gain exactly the same abilities thereby.


Claw the Unconquered #4 (Nov-Dec, 1975)


When I was first reading through the Immortals Set rules, back in 1986, the diaboli immediately brought to mind Ghilkyn, Prince of the Thousand Hills, a horned adventurer from another plane of existence, appearing in DC's 1970s comic book series "Claw the Unconquered".

An article by Mike McArtor updating diaboli for 3.5e was published in Dragon #327 (January, 2005).


Malfera

Malfera* have large, elephant-like faces with a short trunk.  Their heads are topped by large horns.  Large fangs protrude from either side of the trunk.  Their chests are a mass of slimy, short tentacles.  Long, muscular arms end in large, jagged pincers.  Their feet are webbed and clawed.  They are colored night-black but have red veins and eyes.  They are native to the Prime Plane.

*introduced in X5 "Temple of Death" (1983)


Brain Collector

Brain collectors*, or "Neh-Thalggu" in their own language, are truly hideous, with bloated, yellow-orange, oily, amorphous bodies from which sprout dozens of short writhing tentacles.  They move about on six crab-like legs.  Four large, yellow, bulging eyes and a tooth-filled maw are set in its bulbous head.  They are native to the Ethereal Plane.

*introduced in X2 "Castle Amber" (1982)

Sunday, November 16, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Urt

The home planet of the PCs is a megalith, now nearing the midpoint of its active phase.  The Immortals made special arrangements with this creature, who is known to them as Urt, before starting to cultivate life forms upon and within it.

*     *     *

Megaliths are the largest known life forms in the multiverse.  A megalith may, at first sighting, appear to be a planetary body.  In its long dormant phase, it may be indistinguishable from a planet.

A megalith's body has two distinct parts.  Its center, in which the life essence resides, is a warm, solid core weighing almost 20% of the total mass.  This core, effectively the creature's brain, is protected by an outer covering of mixed solid and liquid matter.  This covering is called its mantle, and can withstand nearly any imaginable attack due to its sheer size.

Over long periods of time, very thin layers of earth, water, and air collect on the creature's surface.  Most transient life forms present during a megalith's active phase confine themselves to these added layers, and rarely penetrate any large fraction of the mantle.

In the active cycle, the megalith is fully awake and Lawful in alignment.  It observes its surroundings and examines itself constantly, noting the appearance and disappearance of life forms on and within it aiding their development and defending itself.


Illustration by Larry Elmore


During its active phase, a megalith can communicate by gentle, subtle manipulations of the surface of its mantle.  The only mortals able to understand megalith "speech" are specialists called druids, and even they do not fully understand the process or the implications.

Near the end of its active cycle, a megalith loses interest in its surroundings.  It cools its outer parts by rotating with increasing speed, slowing only after all extraneous material (such as water, life forms, etc.) is discarded.  It then withdraws its life force to some central point, finally lapsing into a dormant phase (similar to animal hibernation).

During this phase it ignores most activity within, on, and around itself, and becomes Chaotic in alignment reacting randomly and instinctively.

Saturday, November 15, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Elemental Creatures

Each race of elementals has an Immortal sponsor and protector, called an Elemaster.

Elemasters are high-ranking aides who serve the Full Hierarch of their corresponding Sphere.  They represent and rule all of the elementals of the multiverse.
The Elemaster of Fire (Hierarch 2) is known as the Firemaster (described in IM1 "The Immortal Storm")

The Elemaster of Earth is known as the Earthlord (described in IM1 "The Immortal Storm")*

*Land (Empyreal 2), second in command to the Earthmaster, is described in IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus"

The four Elemasters achieved Immortality long ago, and protect their exalted positions by preventing other true Elementals from reaching Immortal status.


Illustration from Dungeon Masters Companion


Creatures of other elemental races are capable of reaching Immortality, each within their corresponding Sphere.

These races include the haouu and sshai (Air/Thought), horde-beings* and kryst** (Earth/Matter), helions (Fire/Energy), and hydrax and undines (Water/Time).
*N'Grath (Eternal 3), a horde being who achieved Immortality, is described in IM1 "The Immortal Storm"

**Urtson (Temporal 5), a kryst who achieved Immortality, is described in IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus"

Of the djinn (Air) and efreet (Fire), only their rulers, the pashas and amirs (respectively), may strive for Immortality.

Sunday, November 9, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Demons

Each demon was once a mortal, with a form much different than its current one.  Most demons were men or monsters who became undead, and who were so evil and cunning that they achieved Immortality.  Most demons have chosen and earned their Immortal positions, just as characters may aspire to other Spheres.


Screaming Demon (Air Demon, Winged Fury) - Type I Demon from Eldritch Wizardry

This demon is part bird and part man in form, standing over 8 feet tall on stork-like legs.  Powerful claws adorn humanoid arms.  Its feet are taloned.  Its large feathered 30-foot wingspread provides quick flight.


Croaking Demon (Swamp Demon, Gobbler) - Type II Demon from Eldritch Wizardy

This foul, slimy monster looks like a giant humanoid toad, standing about 7 feet tall.


Howling Demon, illustration by Jeff Easley.


Howling Demon (Fire Demon, Four-Armed Horror) - Type III Demon from Eldritch Wizardry

This bizarre demon form has a wolfs head with long, sharp horns, a large muscular body, but normal human legs.  It stands about 9 feet tall.  It has four arms; two long arms are attached at its shoulders and end in crablike pincers, and two smaller human arms protrude from its chest.


Groaning Demon (Forest Demon, Biter) - Type IV Demon from Eldritch Wizardry

This is a tall humanoid with the torso and arms of an ape, a boar's head, and goat-like legs.  It stands 10 feet tall.


Hissing Demon, illustration by Jeff Easley.


Hissing Demon (Water Demon, Destroyer) - Type V Demon from Eldritch Wizardry

This demon appears either as a 20-foot-long giant poisonous snake or as part snake, part humanoid.  The water demon's semi-human form is a six-armed female human torso (about 7 feet tall) atop a 10-foot-long snake body.


Roaring Demon (Mountain Demon, Manslayer) - Type VI Demon from Eldritch Wizardry

This fearsome fanged demon has a 12-foot-tall human body.  Sharp horns protrude 1 foot from each side of its head, and huge leathery wings rise from its back.


Whispering Demon (Charmer, Gray Deceiver) - Succubus from Eldritch Wizardry

This demon's natural form is that of a human female with small horns and great bat-like wings, but this form is rarely seen.  It prefers to appear as an extremely seductive mortal, either male or female and of any race, as suits its goals.


The Demon Rulers, illustration by Jeff Easley.


The Demon Rulers:

Orcus (The Goat, Master of the Dead, Lord of Darkness, The Black Prince)

This demon's normal form is a 15-foot-tall fat goat-like humanoid.  His two great curled ram's horns are his most recognizable feature.  His arms are giant-sized but very human.  His legs are goatlike, with split hooves.


Demogorgon (The Child, Bane of Souls, The Lizard King, The Dark Lady)

This demon often polymorphs into the form of a human child, apparently the essence of youth and innocence.  When she chooses to fight, however, she assumes her normal form - an 18-foot-tall reptilian monster, with two monkey heads atop sinewy necks, two great tentacles in place of arms, and a forked tail.

Saturday, November 8, 2025

DM's Guide to Immortals: Creatures

The creature list in the Immortals Set rules includes some truly awe-inspiring entries.


Archon - from D&D Master Set


A cubic baak, illustration by Jeff Easley.


Baak - living gaurdian-obstructions, created by the Immortals of Matter

*baaka are described as five-dimensional (pg. 12)

Demon (Screaming, Croaking, Howling, Groaning, Hissing, Roaring, Whispering)

Demon Rulers (Orcus, Demogorgon) - from Eldritch Wizardry

Diabolus - a humanoid race from the Dimension of Nightmares


True appearance of a draeden, illustration by Jeff Easley.


Draeden - descendants of beings who existed before the Immortals

Dragon Ruler - from D&D Master Set

Pearl, the Moondragon, Ruler of all Chaotic Dragons

Opal, the Sundragon, Ruler of all Neutral Dragons

Diamond, the Stardragon, Ruler of all Lawful Dragons

The Great Dragon, Ruler of All Dragonkind*

*see "The Mightiest of Dragons" in Dragon #158 (June, 1990)

Elemental Creatures - members of certain elemental races can attain Immortality

Elemaster - true Elemental Immortals

Flicker - beings composed entirely of light energy

Immortals - see The Known Immortals


Jumper, illustration by Jeff Easley.


Jumper - dodecahedron-shaped life forms who feed on time

Megalith - life forms the size of planetary bodies

Nightmare Creatures - life forms who live in fifth dimensional space

Nipper - tiny centipede-like pests, common in the Astral Plane

*nippers are native to the Astral Plane, existing in dimensions 2, 3, 4 (pg. 12)

Notion - creatures of nearly pure thought

*the Home Plane of the race of notions is described in IM1 "The Immortal Storm"

Phoenix (Lesser, Greater) - from D&D Master Set

Protean (Local (Giant), Astral) - single-celled organisms, can grow to enormous size in the Astral and Outer Planes


Repeater, illustration by Jeff Easley.


Repeater (or Ditto) - reptilian scavengers of the Astral and Outer Planes

Soo - watery time-beings, appearing as small dark spheres

Titan - giant servants of the Immortals

Tonal - (Breve, Semibreve, Minim, Crotchet, Quaver, Semiquaver) - living bubbles of light

*the Home Plane of the race of tonals is described in IM1 "The Immortal Storm"

Vortex Creatures

Blackball - from D&D Master Set

Saturday, November 1, 2025

The Known Immortals

The ranks of the Immortals in the D&D game are drawn from the myths and legends of our own world.

The creators of each of the "Known" Artifacts described in the Master DM's Book are listed in the DM's Guide to the Immortals (pg. 41).

Additional Immortals were introduced in adventures released for the Master and Immortals Set rules.


Illustration by Jeff Easley


Sphere of Matter:

Full Hierarch: Mother Earth, Terra (Roman), Djaea (from Gaea, Greek)

Hierarch (3rd level): Ouranos (North African, creator of the Shard of Sakkrad)

Eternal (5th level): Maat (Egyptian, creator of the Ivory Plume)

*Ninfangle (an Eternal, creator of the Net; from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Empyreal (2nd level): Wayland (Germanic, creator of the Armet)

*Utnapishtim (an Empyreal in IM3 "The Best of Intentions")

Celestial (3rd level): Ilmarinen (Finnish, creator of the Automoton)

Celestial (3rd level): Lokena ("Athena" from IM3 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Temporal (2nd level): Paarkum (pregen from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")


Sphere of Energy:

Full Hierarch: Light, Pyro, Solarios (a solar deity)

*Thalia (a High Eternal, creator of tonals, pg. 49)

*Guidarezzo (an Eternal, aide to Thalia, pg. 49)

*Phoebus (an Eternal, creator of phoenices, pg. 46)

Empyreal (4th level): Patura ("Hera" from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Empyreal (4th level): Pharamond (from IM3 "The Best of Intentions")

Empyreal (3rd level): The Korrigans (Breton, 9 elves, creators of the Comb)

Empyreal (1st level): Ninsun (Babylonian, creator of Humbaba's Glaring Eye)

Celestial (4th level): Idraote (Italian, creator of the Girdle of Armida)

Celestial (4th level): Mazikeen (from IM3 "The Best of Intentions")

Celestial (3rd level): Saturnius (Roman, creator of the Pileus)

Temporal (4th level): Bemarris ("Ares" from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Temporal (4th level): Kythria ("Aphrodite" from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

*Rathanos (a minor Immortal in M5 "Talons of Night")

Temporal (2nd level): Iliric (pregen from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Temporal (2nd level): Lornasen (pregen from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")


Sphere of Time:

Full Hierarch: Father Time, Grim Reaper, Khoronus (from Chronos, Greek)

Empyreal (5th level): Verthandi (Norse, creator of the Invincible Hourglass)

Empyreal (5th level): Taroyas ("Zeus" from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Empyreal (4th level): Fugit (from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Celestial (3rd level): Simurgh (Persian, creator of the Claw)

Celestial (2nd level): Hymir (Scandinavian, creator of the Steaming Cauldron)

*Vanya (a Temporal in M1 "Into the Maelstrom")

Temporal (1st level): Finidel (pregen from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")


Sphere of Thought:

Full Hierarch: News, Noumena (from Nous, Noumenon, Greek)

Eternal (2nd level): Tyche (Greek, creator of the Diamond Orb)

Empyreal (4th level): Ssu-Ma (Chinese, creator of the Tome)

Celestial (3rd level): Palson ("Apollo" from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

*Pangloss (a Celestial in IM3 "The Best of Intentions")

Celestial (1st level): Sinbad (Arabian, creator of the Rainbow Scarf)

*Koryis (a Temporal in M1 "Into the Maelstrom" and a Celestial in M5 "Talons of Night")

Temporal (3rd level): Harrow (from IM3 "The Best of Intentions")

Temporal (2nd level): Turmis ("Hermes" from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Temporal (1st level): Tourlain (pregen from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")

Temporal (1st level): Arnelee (pregen from IM2 "The Wrath of Olympus")


Sphere of Entropy:

Full Hierarch: Night, Old Nick, Nyx (Greek)

Eternal (5th level): Demogorgon (Demon Ruler)

Eternal (4th level): Orcus (Demon Ruler)

Eternal (3rd level): Masauwu (Hopi, creator of the Fiery Brand)

Eternal (2nd level): Talitha (from IM2 "Wrath of Olympus")

Celestial (3rd level): Skuld (Germanic, creator of Ortnit's Lance of Doom)

Celestial (2nd level): Hircismus (from IM3 "The Best of Intentions")

Temporal (4th level): Brissard (from IM2 “The Wrath of Olympus”)

*Alphaks (a Temporal in M1 "Into the Maelstrom" and M5 "Talons of Night")

*The Night Spider (a Temporal in M5 "Talons of Night")

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