The Evil Dungeon Master

Adventure Poll #7 - We had a very clear winner in #6 of the party charging the undead knight! So now let's continue!

The party charges.

The Fighter crashes into the Bell Keeper first, shield raised, sword swinging hard enough to split bone.

The blade hits rusted armor.

CLANG.

The Bell Keeper does not even stagger...The undead knight swings the giant bell hammer sideways.

The Fighter barely blocks it as the impact throws him through a gravestone and explodes into pieces around him!

The Cleric calls out a prayer and holy light flashes across the graveyard. Skeletons recoil. Several collapse into heaps of old bones.

The Thief darts through the chaos, trying to circle behind the Bell Keeper.

Then he notices something horrible....Chains, heavy black chains run from the Bell Keeper's back down into the earth itself.

Like something below the graveyard is holding him upright.

The Magic-User finally remembers the words to Sleep, but realizes it would be pointless to use right now.

the church bell rings again, the sound physically hurts its so loud!

Blood runs from the little girl's ears, several villagers collapse screaming.

Then the ground beneath the Bell Keeper begins cracking open and something huge is heard moving below the earth...

The Bell Keeper raises the hammer and screams, "You should have left this town buried."

What does the party do?

3 days ago | [YT] | 12

The Evil Dungeon Master

Adventure Poll #6 - We have a clear winner, with the Cleric Turning Undead!

The Cleric steps out into the cold night air, his holy symbol trembles in his hand.

The bells keep ringing. Slow. Hollow and Dead sounding...

The villagers do not react as he raises the symbol of his faith.

Then he speaks the words, "Back. In the name of the Light, BACK!"

For one second, nothing happens...then every bell outside stops ringing at once.

Silence.

The villagers begin twitching violently, heads jerk sideways, arms snap unnaturally, several face plant into the dirt. Then suddenly the Cleric feels something pushing back against him, hard. Hundreds of spirts gathering up spiritual energy.. pushing back.

The holy symbol burns white hot in his hand...the graveyard behind the chapel explodes upward, rotting hands coming flying up, out of the dirt as old coffins split open beneath the earth, skeletons drag themselves free.

But something else rises too....

A massive figure in rusted chainmail slowly pulls itself from the largest grave near the dead tree, one eye glows pale blue inside its broken helm, a knight? Or what used to be one.

The little girl screams, "That's him! That's the Bell Keeper!"

The undead knight raises a giant iron bell hammer, the sound of the bells begins again.

LOUDER.

"Are the villagers not undead?" the Fighter screams out-loud.

Something else is controlling them.

What does the party do?

6 days ago | [YT] | 17

The Evil Dungeon Master

Do you think AD&D still holds up better than modern editions? Why or why not?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 10

The Evil Dungeon Master

Adventure Poll #5 - Clear winner the last time of opening the doors immediately.

The Fighter and Cleric throw themselves against the chapel doors.

The wood feels wrong, it feels soft, warm and Almost breathing like.

Black veins pulse beneath the surface like something alive has rooted itself through the entire building.

The Fighter slams his shoulder into the doors again.

CRACK. Cold night air rushes inside.

Outside the chapel, the village is no longer empty.

Dozens of villagers stand silently in the muddy street.

Men, Women and Children.

All facing the chapel, None moving, just standing there with a blank unblinking stare.

Each one holds a small bronze handbell... The little girl behind the party begins crying again.

Not fake this time, it seems real and feels like real panic.

“They came when he rang the bell…” she states.

Then every villager outside lifts their bells together.

You notice each villager's hands, bare feet and clothing are covered in in dirt as if they climbed out of the ground.

Then in all in one swift motion, start ringing the bells they all hold...Slow...Uneven and it feels very wrong.

The Magic-User suddenly realizes he cannot recall the words to any spell he's memorized for the day.

Something is interfering with magic.

What does the party do?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 16

The Evil Dungeon Master

Adventure Poll #4 - We had a winner, the Cleric casts turn undead.

The Cleric raises his holy symbol and calls upon his god. For a moment, nothing happens. Then the chapel erupts with screaming.

Not from below, but from the walls.

Faces begin pressing outward beneath the cracked plaster, trapped beneath the surface like people buried alive inside the stone itself.

The hands dragging the Fighter suddenly release him.

From the darkness below the chapel comes panicked movement. Scratching. Crawling. Retreating. The Turn Undead worked.

But something else answered it too, the little girl finally changes expression.

Fear, real fear.... then she whispers: “He heard you.”

The candles in the chapel all go out at once.

The trap door SLAMS shut by itself, and from somewhere beneath the floorboards, a deep bell begins to ring. A very slow ring....

The entire chapel shakes, with each ding of the bell as each time it hits, dust rains from the ceiling.

You notices the front doors of the chapel are now closed and covered in moving black veins spreading through the wood.

What does the party do?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 13

The Evil Dungeon Master

Adventure Poll #3 -- We have a winner as the party draws steel and advances toward the altar.

The little girl does not move.

Does not blink. The Fighter pulls back the stained altar cloth and reveals underneath is a trap door.

Open. Darkness below.

The scraping sound stops.

For one second, the entire chapel becomes silent.

Then something grabs the Fighter’s ankle from the darkness below.

Cold hands. Human hands.

The Fighter crashes to the floor as the thing beneath the chapel starts dragging him into the hole.

The Cleric catches a glimpse of pale faces below. More than one.

At least three, Maybe more.

Then the little girl finally smiles.

“You rang the bell anyway.”

The party never touched the bell.

What does the party do?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 21

The Evil Dungeon Master

Adventure Poll, Part 2:

Looks like everyone picked to go into the old chapel, reminder the party is a standard AD&D party:
Level 2 Fighter
Level 2 Cleric
Level 3 Magic-User
Level 3 Thief

The party pushes open the doors of the old chapel.

The smell hits first.

Rot.

Not fresh death. Old death. Wet death.

Rows of wooden pews sit in silence beneath a ceiling stained black with smoke. Candles burn near the altar, but nobody lit them recently. The wax has melted into thick puddles across the stone floor.

The crying stops.

A little girl stands beside the altar.

Barefoot....Pale looking...Maybe seven years old.

She stares at the party without blinking.

The Cleric notices something immediately.

There are no holy symbols anywhere in the chapel. Every symbol has been scratched off the walls.

Then the girl looks at the party and say, “You shouldn’t have come in here.”

Behind the altar, you hear something heavy scraping across stone.


What do you do?

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 28

The Evil Dungeon Master

I did this in the past, and now it's time to bring it back. Let's do the adventure poll. Where I present a story and give you options, and you drive it forward by voting. So read the scenario I'm presenting you, and then vote on what you want below. If you don't like the four options presented because YouTube only allows four options. Feel free to comment below on what you'd like to do.

The party reaches the village of Black Hollow at sundown. No smoke rises from the chimneys. No dogs bark. No lanterns burn. In the center of town, a cracked bronze bell hangs from a wooden post. Beneath it, someone carved these words:

RING IT AND BE JUDGED

From the old chapel, you hear a child crying. From the well, you hear someone laughing.

What should the party do?

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 23

The Evil Dungeon Master

Today is a new video, check it out. Today I am talking about how AD&D encounters are not meant to be "fair" and the world does not scale to you, you scale to the world around you.

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 5

The Evil Dungeon Master

Last Night I was cooking. More Videos and Podcasts to come. Tomorrow another video drops about AD&D. Members can check it out now.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 18