Prince Morphail’s
Expansion Sheet
 
Morphail’s bloodline
Morphail’s powers (and weaknesses)
Morphail’s spell book
Morphail’s skills
Morphail’s undead minions
Morphail’s magic items
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Morphail’s Bloodline

A vampiric bloodline is a term used to describe a "family tree" of vampires. The bloodline includes a master, his/hers pawns, their own pawns and so on and so on. When a master ceases to exist, teach of his pawns is the master of his branch of the bloodline.
It is common that a master delivers to his/hers bloodline some of his/hers powers or vampiric characteristics.
(this idea and others are taken from "Van Richten's guide to Vampires")

Who/what are Morphail’s bloodline?
Morphail’s bloodline is composed mainly from Boldavian nobles. All are vampires, which in my campaign means the same as Nosferatu.
The idea of two different creatures doesn't go well with me. I don't use level draining, and it seems to me that all vampires should be drinking blood. (which is not mentioned in canon).
So IMC all vampires are a bit weaker than regular vampires. That's to say they don't fly into battle with armored paladins and start draining their life force. Vampires are more subtle in battle, and try to avoid melee if possible. That's not to say vampires are vulnerable, far from it. Vampires are practically indestructible with regular means.
Vampires in a bloodline are controlled by something a little different than the regular undead liege -pawn. As vampires are not mindless undead creatures, they maintain much of their free will even while under their creator's control. A vampire will obey what his/hers master has ordered him/her but if the vampire dislikes what's being ordered, he/she will try to distort the meaning of the order in order to get his/her way.
Also the number of vampires a master can control doesn't count against his/her undead lord ability. Having more than a dozen vampiric pawns is possible, though it can be dangerous if the pawns are hostile to their master.
The most well known members of Morphail’s bloodline are:

Most of these have pawns of their own. As Morphail’s Boldavian Vampire Law does not allow commoner vampires, the bloodline doesn't stretch to far (Except for illegitimate pawns Mikhail scatters around the place).
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Morphail’s Powers
(and those of his bloodline)
Vampires are not "regular" monsters. That's to say they are not all exactly the same and some of them have different characteristics and powers than others. Morphail is a special vampire in that he was created by an immortal (Alphaks) rather by another undead. This is what gives him special advantages as a vampire.
This are Morphail’s powers and weaknesses as a vampire. I will state which powers are transmitted to his bloodline.
 
 
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Morphail’s Spellbook
 

This is the complete list of the spells known to the dark prince of Boldavia.

The list was made in OD&D format but some of the spells were originally written for AD&D.

Current of 1000 AC Morphail is a 28 leveled wizard (necromancer) and is “alive” for 310 years.

 

 
Level I
 
Level II
 
Level III
 
Level IV
 
Level V
 
Level VI
 
Level VII
 
Level VIII
 
Level IX
*Spells by Markus can be found in-  http://sato.helsinki.fi/~montola.valt/mystara/
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Morphail’s Skills

Skills are a great way to enrich a character and making in more unique. Most modern RPGs are skill based. The following are OD&D styled skills but they are easily adjusted to any other game system.

 

Morphail starts play with 4 skill slots plus 3 for high intelligence. For every 4 levels of experience he gets one more skill slot which gives us a total of 13. Now Morphail is a Vampire for 280 years. I figured on giving him (and any other long-lived character) an additional skill for every 10 years of life after 30. But as Vampires are not truly alive and are stagnated (in comparison to humans) I am giving him an additional skill for every 20 years. 280 years=14 slots, and for a total of 27 skill slots.

 

Languages that Morphail knows:

 
  • Taraldaran (Boldavian)
  • Thyatian (Glantri dialect)
  • Alphatian (old style)
  • Elvish (Belcadiz dialect)
  • Fleamish
  • Ethengarian
  •  
    Intelligence (knowledge) Skills (base 18)
     
    1. Quick casting (from the Great School of Magic- GAZ3, allows the wizard to roll initiative if he/she has components in advance)
    2. Ancient History- Glantri and Known World
    3. Planar Geography
    4. Magical Engineering
    5. Alchemy
    6. Alternate Magics
    7. Necromancy and Demonology
    8. Extra Languages- Elvish
    9. Extra Languages- Fleamish
    10. Extra Languages- Ethengar
    11. Politics- Glantri and Known World
    12. Geography – Glantri and Known World
    13. Instrument Playing- Organ
    14. Botany
    15. Wisdom Skills (base 15)

       

    16. Detect deception +1
    17. Honor – Alphaks
    18.  

      Dexterity skills (base 11)

       

    19. Agility training (from the Great School of Magic, allows casting and concentration while walking or on horseback)
    20. Riding +1 horse and pegasus
    21.  

      Charisma skills (base 16)

       

    22. Deceive +2
    23. Leadership
    24. Acting +1
    25. Persuade
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    Morphail’s Minions

    Prince Morphail, as master of the undead, has more then a few undead minions under his control.
    According to the Lieges and Pawns rules, Morphail can control 56 hit dice of undead at any given time (2x28levels). This amount does NOT include the vampires in Morphail’s bloodline, who have no restrictions on there HD total.
     

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    Morphail’s Magic Items
    Over the centuries, Morphail has accumulated many magical items.
    Some are so powerful they would make the bravest paladin shake in his polished armor, while others are merely magical trinkets kept as souvenirs from all over Mystara.
    This chapter describes only some of those items. Mostly the items which Morphail's carries on his person or that have special importants.
     

    Ring of the Shield- This ring crafte by Morphail when he was still human, is a small golden ring with no decorations or engravements. The ring is enchanted with a strengthened form of shield spell. It gives the wearer an AC bonus of 5 (making Morphail's AC -3), and allows saving throws for magic missile spells. The ring also The ring also gives its wearer the ability to always win a save for half damage agains spells that allow such a save (Fire Ball, Ice Storm, Lightning bolt etc').

    Band of Suffocation- This innocent looking black silk band is another one of Morphail's instruments of death. Morphail keeps the Band around his neck tied as a bow tie. If the Band is placed around a living being's neck, the band will immediately start to tighten around the neck with magical force. The victim suffers 1d4 point of damage per round. It takes a succesful strength check on 4d6 to be able to detach the band.

    Morphail's Wand- This is Morphail's favorite combat item. This wand is an extremly thin and white stick, which looks a lot like a conductor's baton. The wand is made from the root of the legendry "snowtree" known to be found on the highest peeks of the Colossus Mounts. This substance is extremely hard and is a very good receptacle of magic. Morphail's wand has all the powers of a Wand of Cold, Wand of Lightning, Wand of Paralysis and Wand of Fire, each costing one charge.In addition this wand can create the spell effects of Disintegrate and Hold Monster for two charges.
    The wand corrently has 26 charges and can be recharged up to 30 charges.

    Morphail's Evil Coal  
    This is a small piece of black coal given to Morphail by Alphaks himself. Morphail has four of these as there are probably more held by priests of Alphaks around the world. Morphail has one coal on his person, one hidden in a secret compartment of his coffin (just incase someone casts Bless on it). The other two are given to his minions fpr special tasks.
    The coals are part of a larger coal- an artifact located in Alphaks home plane. The stone causes all clerical spells of 3ed level or lower in a range of 20’ from the coal to be automatically dispelled. Only spells of non-entropic immortals are affected. Another power of the coal is that in the hands of an undead it receives a saving throw to negate any turning attempts.

    The Helmet of Akilla Khan- This golden helmet styled in ancient Ethengary and orcish fashiones, may or may not have belonged to the great Akkila Khan. The name stuck for some reason though. The Helmet allows a milletary leader to send mental commands to 10 different officers simultaneously. The helmet is only worn by Morphail in times of war when he is leading his division.
     

    Morphail's Gri Gri collection- Morphail used to explore humanoid tribes in order to find out more about their demonic masters. In his traveles he had killed a lot of humanoid shamans and Wiccas, and took their Gri-Gris (magic sticks) for later study. Morphail keeps these Gri-Gris in one of the halls in his tower, called "the savage hall". Some of these Gri Gris still work! He has more than a couple of dozens.

    The Organ of Souls- This is one of the most amazing and powerful artifacts in Glantri. It origin lies in the mind of the evil genius Farchenshplardris the Mordinswerg dwarf. Morphail has contacted this dwarf in 893 AC. Morphail gave the Dwarf an amulet that can contact the demonic world in exchange for the design of a complex magical instrument that had the power to control human souls.
    After the design plan was in Morphail's hand, Morphail attacked the dwarf in order to turn him into a vampire. The dwarf quickly parried Morphail's attack and vanished loughing histarically.
    Back in Boldavia, Morphail has begun construction of the massive artifact. With the help of his skeletons and mortal experts (who were later killed and fed to the wolfs), the work was finished in 902 AC.
    The Organ is a huge contraption looking like a nomal pipe organ. The pipes are made from various matereals like bone, wood, ivory, steel, crystal and others. The organ's pipes take the space of the entire second and third floors of the tower of Igorov. The organ's keys are made from polished bones of several creatures including several unicorn horns. The organ has four set of keys and a set of pedals. The sound of this instrument is dark and deep, with each note played activating a whole set of gigantic pipes of various lengths. The organ can be played for nomal music, but it also has great magical powers activated by complicated dark melodies.
    The organ has the following powers: (Thanks for Markus Olavi Montola for creating most of the spells this powers copy).
    1. The organ is a permanent "Soulcage" for use with other soul powers as a container.
    2. Once per day the organ can produce one of the following spells, if the correct musical piece is played for 10 minutes (one turn):
    "Bind soul", "Steal Soul" , "Soul Surge" and "Fetter of Soul Power".
    3. If the player plays the currect piece for an entire night the organ can create the effect of "Embody Soul". (all these spells by Markus are given below for convinience)
    4. The Organ has hidden Keys that activate or deactivate all kinds of traps around Morphai's tower, open secret doors and the like.
    5. The Organ can actually be used by anyone (even non spell casters) but the complex magical are almost impossible to learn.
     
     

    ---------------------------------------------- (description of soul magic by Markus Olavi Monotla)
    Soulcage by Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
         Level: 6
         Range: touch
         Duration: permanent
         Area: one object

         Soulcage prepares a container for the soul of one specific person. Enchanting the cage takes one hour per level of the victim. The container may be just about anything, but it must have been in the possession of the victim at least a year. The cage turns black (as if burnt) as the result of the spell. After the Soulcage is created, it can not be dispelled without physically breaking the cage. It works even within anti-magic zones. Creating the Soulcage requires a couple of components from the victim like hair or nails, and the knowledge of all the names victim has regularly used in his life.

         Bind Soul by Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
         Level: 6
         Range: 10m
         Duration: permanent
         Area: one soul, one Soulcage

         Using Bind Soul requires a container prepared with Soulcage, and a bodiless soul. Bind Soul effectively forces the soul to the Soulcage, where the soul is trapped until it is freed by physically breaking the container. Bind Soul can not be dispelled without breaking the container. After the soul is trapped, other soul magics can be used against it. It is possible to communicate with the soul by using ESP or similar forms of magic.

    Steal Soul by Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
         Level: 7
         Range: 10m
         Duration: permanent
         Area: one victim

         This spell effectively drains the soul of the victim permanently from his body. The body doesn't die, but the soul appears pure and naked white misty form next to it. The soul can be harmed only by specific magics, and it can only move (fly) at walking speed. If the soul is still free after five minutes, it is drawn to afterlife. Before that happens, other soul magics affect the soul. If the victim has any soul magics (like Magic Jar), he can use them. The soul can use no other form of magic. The victim may save vs. death magic to avoid the soul-stealing. The victim can be raised from death, if the soul is not trapped somehow. Bodiless soul can not resist soul magics in any way. Only sentient beings' souls can be stolen.

    Soul Surge by Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
         Level: 8
         Range: 30m
         Duration: 30min
         Area: one victim

         The Soul Surge removes the soul of one person from the body, and lets the  necromancer transform it to an overwhelming surge of power. The first victim gets to save vs. death magic, if he makes the roll, the spell is cancelled. If he fails, he dies as the soul is drawn from the body and absorbed in a great flash of light. Note that the  body doesn't die, but the person inside does. The necromancer will get one point of power per victim's level for the duration of the spell. A power point may be either used to fire black bolts of lightning (one target only, save for half, maximum of 20d6 per bolt) for d6 per expended power point, or to temporarily increase the caster's level for one level per two power points, or to instantaneously re-memorise one spell level per two power points. The victim can never be raised. The burning energies of the Soul Surge cause one hit point of damage to the necromancer per victim's level.

    Embody Soul by Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
         Level: 9
         Range: touch
         Duration: permanent
         Area: one soulless body

         One of the Morphail's masterpieces makes it possible to cast a soul to a soulless body permanently, effectively bringing dead back to life. To embody a soul, the necromancer must have a bodiless soul, and a soulless body (can be made with Steal Soul, Soul Surge or Magic Jar (if the victim has used Magic Jar himself)) of the soul's race. The body can also be created (the result looks like a flesh golem or Frankenstein's monster) or grown (which is quite a feat in itself), or hit in the head until he is what mundane people would call brain-dead. After the soul is present and the body is present, the
    necromancer must do a night-long ritual. If the ritual is not interrupted, the soul inhabits the body permanently. The soul keeps his mental abilities, but takes the physical properties of the body. The effect can not be dispelled, and if the body dies and is raised from death, there is an equal chance for the original person and the newcomer to be raised. If the soul was undead, his new body begins to die, eventually turning to undead. Soul can also be embodied to an undead body, which then stays undead.

         Fetter of Soul Power by Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
         Level: 9
         Range: touch
         Duration: permanent
         Area: one Soulcage with a soul, and the living body

         To enchant a Fetter of Soul Power, the necromancer must have earlier prepared a  Soulcage, and he must have bind the soul to the cage. First he must do a grotesque bloody ritual lasting for three uninterrupted nights, during which he kills the body physically, and after which there is practically nothing left of the victim's body. After
      enchanting the fetter, he must cast the Soul Surge to the soul, thus transforming it to  pure energy. After he has done these preparations, the Fetter is ready. It has one charge per level or a hit die of the victim. Each charge may be expended to give the necromancer one magical ability of the victim for six hours, or to increase caster's level by one for six hours. If the victim was a thief, caster may use a charge to get one thieving skill. If the victim was a cleric, he can take the turn undead ability. If the victim was a mage, he can memorise instantaneously one full spell per three charges. Other abilities are described in the monsters' description. The victim must be a sentient being, but he can be of any race. Using the charges of the Fetter damages the caster by one hit point per charge.

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