October 1981 Dragon

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Dragon

An open letter to the editor andthe fans of Finieous Fingers

(The following is the complete text of a letter received by DRAGON magazine fromJ. D. Webster along with the episode of Finieous Fingers which is printed on page 80.)

Dear Editor and fans of Finieous Fingers:Alas, alas, the long tenure of F.F. and DRAGON magazine is drawing to a close. For

over four years Finieous and his provincial gang of nitwits and associated villains havegraced the pages of DRAGON at (albeit irregular) intervals. Hopefully, my strip andthe characters portrayed in it have given you fun and laughter and livened up yourD&D campaigns with its jokes and silliness. But now Finieous Fingers is leavingDRAGON. I would like to thank the various editors that I’ve worked with for theirsupport and for putting up with my irregular scheduling. Both Kim Mohan and JakeJaquet have been good to me and have literally crawled to me to get F.F. in on time. Butflying A-7’s for the Navy doesn’t give me much hobby time. Therefore I extend myapologies to those fans out there who have followed the strip from the beginning andwait patiently when those monthly gaps occur.

Why is F.F. leaving DRAGON? This was a hard decision to make I’m not giving upthe strip. . . I am moving. I’m moving it to a new magazine called “Adventure Gaming,”published by Manzakk Publishing, Inc. The editor of this magazine is Mr. TimothyKask, who was the founding editor of DRAGON in its early days and with whom F.F.first started and worked with for two years until Tim left TSR. Tim is probably the mainreason I’m leaving. He and I are good friends from years before and we have a goodworking relationship. I’m pleased to see Tim back in the magazine business, especial-ly since his magazine will cover all types of gaming, historical and fantasy, and pick upwhere so many other magazines have left off or become specialized in one subject.

Finieous Fingers will start off a brand new story line and should appear monthly (nopromises). In addition, you can expect to see some 25mm F.F. figures soon to befollowed by a fun Finieous board game based on the strip. So fans, don’t despair; thereare good things coming and will be available in the same hobby shops where you buyyour DRAGON.

Finally — DRAGON is an excellent magazine and I will miss the fun I have hadworking for it. However, I will be doing a lot more than just Finieous in AdventureGaming — I will be involved in the internal art and being doing some aviation gamingarticles and such, So you can expect to see more of me in the hobby.

Best,J.D.

An open letter to J.D. and Finieous fansThanks for the letter, J.D., and our best

wishes to you and Finieous.It’s always a sad occasion when a fea-

ture is removed from these pages —either by the choice of the author or ar-tist, or by a decision of the editorial staff,based on reader reaction. In this case,it’s an especially difficult task since Fi-nieous has been one of our longest-running and most-appreciated features.

J.D. has personally assured me thathis decision to move Finieous was notbased on his relationship with DragonPublishing, but that he wants to work forhis long-time friend Tim Kask. We’re sor-ry to see it go, but we can’t prevent it.

As an aside to fans who are interestedin the proposed Finieous products J.D.mentions, his statement that they will beavailable where you buy DRAGON mag-azine is in no way endorsed or guaran-teed by Dragon Publishing.

The loss of Finieous does not meanthat the Dragon Mirth section of themagazine will be cut in size or quality.We are presently considering severalnew ideas—and you can be sure that thesuccessor to F.F. will be a worthy one.

Vol. VI, No. 4

Vol. VI, No. 4 October 1981

Publisher.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jake JaquetEditor-in-Chief.. . . . . . . . . . Kim MohanEditorial staff . . . . . . . . . . . Bryce Knorr

Marilyn MaysGali Sanchez

Sales.. . . . . . . . . . . . . Debbie ChiusanoCirculation . . . . . . . Corey KoebernickOffice staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cherie Knull

Roger RauppContributing editors. . . . Roger Moore

Ed Greenwood

This issue’s contributing artists:Jack Crane Ataniel A. NoelRoger Raupp Bruce WhitefieldJames Holloway Brian BornHarry Quinn David TrampierEllie Mooney J. D. WebsterPhil Foglio

DRAGON magazine is published monthly byDragon Publishing, a division of TSR Hobbies,inc. The mailing address of Dragon Publishingis P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147; tele-phone (414) 248-8044.

DRAGON magazine is available at hundredsof hobby stores and bookstores throughout theUnited States and Canada, and through a limit-ed number of overseas outlets. The magazinecan be purchased directly from Dragon Publish-ing by subscription. Rates areas follows, with allpayments to be made in advance: $24 for 12issues sent to a U.S. or Canadian address; $50U.S. for 12 issues sent via surface mail or $95 for12 issues sent via air mail to any other country.

A limited quantity of certain back issues ofDRAGON magazine can be purchased directlyfrom the publisher by sending the cover priceplus $1.50 postage and handling for each issueordered. Payment in advance by check or mo-ney order must accompany all orders. Paymentscannot be made through a credit card, andorders cannot be taken nor merchandise “re-served” by telephone. Neither an individual cus-tomer nor an institution can be billed for a sub-scription order or back-issue purchase unlessprior arrangements are made.

The issue of expiration for each subscriptionis printed on the mailing label for each sub-scriber’s copy of the magazine. Changes of ad-dress for the delivery of subscriptions must bereceived at least 30 days prior to the effectivedate of the change in order to insure uninter-rupted delivery.

All material published in DRAGON magazinebecomes the exclusive property of the publisherupon publication, unless special arrangementsto the contrary are made prior to publication.

DRAGON magazine welcomes unsolicited sub-missions of written material and artwork; how-ever, no responsibility for such submissions canbe assumed by the publisher in any event. Anysubmission which is accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient sizewill be returned to the contributor if it cannot bepublished.

DRAGON™ is a trademark for Dragon Publish-ing’s monthly adventure playing aid. All rightson the contents of this publication are reserved,and nothing may be reproduced from it in wholeor in part without prior permission in writingfrom the publisher. Copyright 1981 by TSRHobbies, Inc. USPS 318-790. ISSN 0279-6848.

Second class postage paid at Lake Geneva,Wis., and at additional mailing offices.

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October 1981 Dragon

We’ve tried to score some points with you thismonth by including a special module; how manypoints you score when you undertake CavernQuest remains to be seen. The adventure, createdand written by Bill Fawcett and specially designed

for point-by-point competition between groups of players, re-ceived an enthusiastic response from those who “playtested” itas part of a Cavern Quest tournament at CWA-Con ‘81 in July.And the player who won the competition, Peter Lundberg ofMaywood, III., was the only contestant to complete the entirequest. It may be an unusual module, but it ain’t easy.

Halloween’s just around the corner, and our observance ofthat scary occasion comes in the form of an eerie cover paintingby Jack Crane and “Abomination,” a piece of short, spookyfiction by D. Aaron Achen which fits the mood of Jack’s paintingto a “B” — for boo, that is.

Our feature section is led off by an extra-long treatise, cour-tesy of contributing editor Ed Greenwood, on the theory andmethod of developing a powerful and playable pantheon for acampaign using many of the personalities from the DEITIES &DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia — the first in-depth examination thatwe know of concerning how the DDG book can be used to bestadvantage.

If length is strength, then Arn Ashleigh Parker’s essay on ruinsis pretty powerful, too. Abandoned cities (above-ground dun-geons, if you prefer) offer a wealth of, so to speak, unexploredpossibilities for adventuring. You can start to explore them byturning to page 10.

Weapons are just as breakable as the characters who wieldthem, says John Shaw, and thereby was born his article on howto incorporate rules for weapons that wilt. And if your swordhappens to snap while you’re jousting with a Jabberwock, watchout. Mark Nuiver’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s fearsome mons-ter for use in an AD&D™ game appears on page 30.

This issue’s edition of Sage Advice is designed to clear upquestions about all those spooky, scary creatures we love tohate. Richard Meyer and Kerry Lloyd, the designers of theThieves Guild products from Gamelords, Inc., describe howplaying the “bad guys” can be fun, and offer some inside infor-mation in their designers’ notes written especially for DRAGON.

The second appearance of Larger Than Life spotlights a Chi-nese crew known as the “Righteous Robbers of Liang Shan P’o.”Righteous robbers? If you can accept that, check out Giants inthe Earth for a quartet of “demons” who are (gasp!) lawful good!How’s that for giving the good guys equal time?

Lots more of our regular features can be found inside: Thelatest chapter of the Minarian Legends by Glenn Rahman, au-thor of the DIVINE RIGHT™ game; part three of John Prados’short course on game design in Simulation Corner; and MarkHerro’s computer quiz to have fun with in The Electric Eye.

As evidence of his versatility, Glenn Rahman also appearsinside as the author of a price list for BOOT HILL™ gear, and theauthor of a review on Barbarian Prince. Holding down the leadposition in this month’s review section is Bill Fawcett’s evalua-tion of the Thieves Guild line.

It just occurred to me that a boggart would probably be theworld’s greatest trick-or-treater, if you could control one longenough to get the candy from him. You’ll find the boggart andtwo more new creatures in the Dragon’s Bestiary, beginning onpage 28.

Our Dragon Mirth section is five pages big this time, including(sniff) the last episode of Finieous Fingers.

Please accept our apologies for all the little critters you’reliable to find sprinkled from here to who knows where insidethese pages. Things got a little bit out of hand last month in“What’s New,” if you’ll recall, and it took until just before dead-line this time until we got the “overflow” problem licked. Neveragain, Phil . . . — KM

ContentsSPECIAL ATTRACTIONCavern Quest — Special competition module

for AD&D™ adventuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

OTHER FEATURESDown-to-earth divinity — Creating a playable pantheon . . . . 6Ruins: Rotted & risky but rewarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10These are the breaks — Damaged weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14The winners! — Trophy takers at Gen Con XIV . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Beware the Jabberwock — AD&D in Wonderland . . . . . . . . . 30Thieves Guild: Designers’ notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32“Abomination” — Spooky fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Cash & carry for cowboys — BOOT HILL™ prices . . . . . . . . . 62

REGULAR OFFERINGSOut on a Limb — Letters from readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Larger Than Life — The Righteous Robbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Sage Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Giants In The Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Dragon’s Bestiary: Boggart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Stroan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28l n c u b u s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Dragon’s AuguryThieves Guild products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Barbarian Prince. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Convention calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Minarian Legends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Simulation Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Bazaar of the Bizarre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67The Electric Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Dragon Mirth

What’s New? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Orcwardness — Has it happened to you?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Cartoons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Wormy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Finieous Fingers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

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Dragon

‘Compelled’Dear Dragon:

This is the first time I’ve ever written a letterto any magazine anywhere. But at last I havebeen compelled, and it took a great deal ofanger and frustration to do so. I am not grip-ing about the content of your magazine. I al-ways enjoy receiving the next DRAGON in mymailbox, and if there happen to be one or twoarticles for which I see no purpose or I deemsilly, I keep my mouth shut, knowing that thearticle does not appear that way to everyone.

What I am upset about is two letters in #52.They complain about the stupidity of an arti-cle on Tim Hildebrandt’s life and art. Person-ally, I enjoyed that article. I am the only per-son I know of who subscribes to DRAGON,and no one had ever before asked to borrowmy magazines. .However, when I told themabout the Hildebrandt article it became quitepopular all of a sudden. I relished the Borisarticle as well. I wish people would accept thefact that what they enjoy in an article and whatthey think is useful will not always be printed,and shouldn’t be.

David LewisSpringfield, Va.

‘Foul up’Dear Editor:

I did not think too much of issue #52. Theinfo on bettering the cleric class helped, asdid the Sage Advice and the three bountyhunter NPC classes, but the list stops there.The D&D Basic Set articles did not help menor probably anyone else who reads DRAGONbecause nearly everyone who reads the mag-azine plays D&D already. Leomund’sTiny Hutdidn’t help me as a DM because I don’t useGreyhawk.

The “Knock, knock” article was worthless,too. What’s the use of having an armed for-tress (or a fortress, period)? In my opinion,forts and the like slow down campaigns, whilegood dungeons or town adventures make itmore complete.

The Dragon’s Bestiary was no good thismonth, either. If I was to define a rhaumbus-un, I would say, “a weak basilisk.” So whyhave rhaumbusuns when you can have basi-lisks? And the pelins — what do they do tohelp a campaign? Zilch.

I felt the same about the Boris article thatDon Corman (Out on a Limb, #52) felt aboutthe Tim Hildebrandt article. I like the art, buthow does that help me as a DM?

That GAMMA WORLD module, scenario,as you called it, was not worth beans. I lookedit over thoroughly, and I would like to knowthe purpose of it. Personally, I like to encoun-

ter things every once and again, but in thisscenario the only things to be encounteredare 15 badders and a parn, possibly.

I like your magazine, but every once in awhile even great magazines like DRAGONfoul up.

Edwin HendricksWidefield, Colo.

Weapons wantedDear Dragon:

Long, long ago in DRAGON #22 there wasan excellent article on pole arms. Now, inDRAGON #52, two and a half years later,there is an excellent article on siege warfare.Too much time has passed with too few arti-cles on weapons.

None of the people I play D&D with haveever wielded a sword or thrown a spear. Manyquestions and arguments arise. If you areproficient with one sword, are you proficientwith all swords? Can a spear or javelin bethrown while you are holding a shield, or doesbody torque make the shield worthless or inthe way? Is a morning star a two-handedweapon? What is a bo stick?

We 20th-century people are ignorant. Pleasebe more frequent with your articles on middle-ages weapons!

Fred CainIndianapolis, Ind.

‘Chaotic messes’Dear Editor:

Having now seen the three winning AD&Dadventures and the first of the winning D&Ddungeons, I feel it my duty to voice my opin-ions concerning the quality and creativity ofthese works.

My first and foremost complaint with theseIDDC winners deals with an argument longago beaten to death in the world of D&D andAD&D gaming. This is the simple assumptionthat fantasy is based (more or less) uponreality.

Not only has this “absurd” notion been dis-credited by game designers and magazine ed-itors alike, but also by those, experienced orinexperienced, who have to deal with thesegiant loopholes in logic when they play AD&Dor D&D or other similar games. And eventhough it was funny at first to see those samegame designers smash Monty Haul-ism andrealism to pieces in a single blow, it has nowbecome quite irritating.

I was not at all surprised to see some ofthese giant broaches of irrationality in thewinning modules presented by DRAGON, butI was shocked to find the overwhelming prob-

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Vol. VI, No. 4

lems and sheer impossibilities these prize-winning entries proposed. This, of course,only reflects partially upon the makers ofthese adventures; the rest of the blame rightlybelongs to those who so ignorantly classifiedthese chaotic messes as “examples of truecreativity and stability in dungeon designing.”

My “lack of realism” argument is very wellsupported in all of the AD&D entries. By tak-ing a close look you will find an incrediblylarge amount of monsters in a relatively smallarea, which, in most cases, has not the meansto support even a few of the creatures pres-ented. A few well placed questions show theincredibility upon which all these situationsare placed. How do they eat? How often? Dothey always stay in that small chamber, or dothey roam? Does their natural environmentcoincide with that of the adventure setting? Ifnot, then why do they stick around? Whydon’t they fight the monsters next door forfood or territory? Where is their water supply?

As you see, these dungeons show a naturalimpossibility to sustain even the smallest ofmonsters. If the monsters don’t eat each other(a situation which would trim the populationdown fast), then what do they eat? Rats? Isthe rat population that large? The sheer stu-pidity in putting a pair of manticores (wholove the open spaces, as any winged beastswould) in a dark cave 140 feet away from ahungry gray ooze is obvious. Yet one of theprizewinning modules did! Many examples offaults like these exist in those “classic” mo-dules you have given us.

A natural recourse for those who can’t de-fend their dungeon environments is to say,“It’s all done by magic.” Not only is this ashoddy way out of bad DMing, but it alsoillustrates the lack of commitment present inthe game master. Anyone truly devoted to hisor her players would consider every detail ofhis adventure with careful planning before ac-tually using it, and would discard such ob-vious mistakes. I’m sorry to say that this con-sideration was severely lacking in the AD&Dmodules.

The amount of creativity, or lack thereof,was also frustrating. Most of the situationswere composed only of bloodthirsty mon-sters intent on the kill. Though there were afew instances of traps and devices that tookbrains and not brawn to survive, the numberwas too small to make up for the ordinaryhumdrum ones that seemed to litter the dun-geon floors and walls. Why wasn’t the amountof creativity (and the use thereof) a factorused in judging the entries?

To combat all of these low points in theAD&D modules presented, I heartily suggestthat all future module makers buy, borrow orsteal the two modules Steading of the HillGiant Chief and The Glacial Rift of the FrostGiant Jarl for examples of how a realistic ad-venture would be set up. For those who arenot satisfied with these, the Blackmoor sup-plement to D&D has an excellent dungeoncalled “The Temple of the Frog.” All of thesewould help to eradicate bad dungeon design-ing and poor planning on the part of the DM.However, even this can’t make up for incom-petent judging.

Tom WaltonEugene, Ore.

We//, we seem to be stuck between the pro-verbial rock and the hard place. Despite theoverblown way in which Mr. Walton makes

October 1981

many of his points, they are valid criticisms,and we would be hypocritical to suggestotherwise.

But we also must — and do —stand behindthe contest entries that we judged as the best.They were the best, in our not-so-humble es-timation; that’s why they won, and that’s whythey were published. But none of the entrieswe received for either of the two contestswe’ve staged so far were even close to beingtruly professional in presentation and quality— in other words, the sort of module that Mr.Walton would consider worthy of winning.

That statement is not meant as a slur on theenthusiasm or the abilities of the hundreds ofpeople who have competed; all if means isthat the people who enter our design contestsare not professional game designers — andthey’re not supposed to be. In fact, if we everdiscovered that a “pro” had entered a dun-geon in our contest, we would be compelledto disqualify that entry, out of fairness to therest of the contestants.

The modules that readers of DRAGON haveseen, and will continue to see, represent thebest adventure settings that we found amongthe manuscripts that were submitted. Sure,they’re edited and aren’t presented to you inprecisely the form they were submitted. Butthey aren’t hashed over and wrestled with asmuch as, for instance, a professional moduleproduct that TSR Games might publish. Wedon’t have the time or the manpower to “de-velop” modules as thoroughly as an actualgame company could (and should) — butthen again, we don’t charge five bucks ormore for one, either. And if we did pore overevery published module to that great an ex-tent, the end result would probably be so al-tered from the original that the author mightbe hard pressed to find many of his originalthoughts and ideas intact. The object of thecontest is to encourage members of the gen-eral gaming public to prepare a module asprofessionally as they can — and then for thewinners to get the lion’s share of the credit forwhat is published.

The point at which Mr. Walton’s criticismbreaks down is when he fails to realize, oracknowledge, the obvious fact that “best” in acontest such as this is entirely relative to thequality of the rest of the entries. He has noway of knowing how good — or how poor —the non-winning entries were, and therebyhas no foundation for criticizing how the en-tries were judged.

I’ve refrained as long as possible from pick-ing apart certain words or phrases from Mr.Walton’s letter, but my breath weapon starts

to heat up every time I look at the last sent-ence of the fourth paragraph. We didn’t doanything “ignorantly” in the judging of thewinners, and I take great exception to hischaracterization of them as “chaotic messes.”And I’ve looked everywhere I can think of tolook, but I can’t find a quotation from themagazine which uses the words that Mr. Wal-ton places in quotation marks at the end ofthat paragraph. (If we had said that — and wevery well could have — I would stand by it. Butas far as I know, the phrase “examples of truecreativity and stability in dungeon designing”has never been printed in DRAGON maga-zine, and it is grossly unfair and misleading ofa letter writer to enclose such a statement inquotes, which leads a reader of the letter tobelieve that we actually did say that. If mymemory is wrong, I’m sure someone will let usknow about if, but I can’t imagine us everdescribing a prize-winning module as an “ex-ample of stability.“)

We fully expect that, as the “art” of modulecreation gets more and more sophisticatedover the months and years to come, the quali-ty of module submissions that we receive andpublish will rise accordingly. And maybethey’ll be of so-called “professional” quality.(Heck, some people think they already are,and we aren’t going to try to talk them out offeeling that way.) Until that time, we’ll be quitesatisfied to publish the best we can get, andwill do so with pride, and if the Tom Waltonsof the world want to think of us as “incompe-tent”. well, we’ve been called worse. — KM

‘Wavering’Dear Dragon:

I think DRAGON magazine has been waver-ing in consistency. One issue will contain allthe articles I like and I think are qualified totake up space in the magazine. Then the verynext issue will be lacking all of the necessaryarticles.

The following is more of a suggestion thana complaint. I like DRAGON and most of itscontents. Giants in the Earth is great. I love allof the new NPCs you’ve designed. The Drag-on’s Bestiary is always a blessing. Leomund’sTiny Hut always has something that I can usein my campaign.

Altogether, my two favorite articles wereSage Advice and Bazaar of the Bizarre. NoticeI said “were.” They aren’t now, nor is anyother article for that matter. I cannot devote

Dragonmyself to them because they are so inconsist-ently in the magazine.

Overall, my point is that I would like to seemore consistency from DRAGON. I know it’shard, but can you warn us when you won’thave everything?

Curt MinerHudson, Ohio

Hmmm. One man’s consistency is anotherman’s what? Form letter? I fear that byrunning columns using the same headingsfrom time to time that we may have promoteda misconception. With the exception of theletters to the editor (“Out on a Limb”) column,the only consistency requirement we placeupon ourselves is 80-plus pages of high-quality material about games and gaming ev-ery 30 days. We have never, and will never, runa column just for the sake of including thesame heading each month in the table ofcontents.

There are a couple of reasons for this philo-sophy. First of all, the regular features menti-oned in Curt’s letter are produced by authorsand artists who aren’t on our staff, and wehave no control over when new material willturn up at our offices. Second, even whenmaterial arrives from month to month andquantity is not a problem, we still have to beconcerned about quality. Like we said before,consistency in quality is the thing we careabout more than anything else.

By the very nature of gaming, we will neverhave everything that everybody wants to seein a single issue. We couldn’t produce anissue that big, and even if we did, you proba-bly wouldn’t like the price we’d have to chargefor it. — JJ

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Down-to-earth divinityOne DM’s design for a mixed & matched mythos

by Ed Greenwood

The use and the specific nature ofdivine beings have always been contro-versial topics among D&D® and AD&D™players. The existence, influence, andpersonal power of such beings was anintegral part of both games from thebeginning. And yet, arguably, no de-finitive system for the use of gods in acampaign existed in print until the publi-cation of the DEITIES & DEMIGODS™Cyclopedia in 1980.

Before that, various pantheons andsystems were offered. Most had goodideas, but none of them were complete— such as TSR’s Gods, Demi-Gods &Heroes supplement, Lawrence Schick’sChoir Practice at the first Church ofLawful Evil (Orthodox): The Ramifica-tions of Alignment in DRAGON™ #24,and Craig Bakey’s Of the Gods inDRAGON #29.

DMs not using these guidelines or notfinding them adequate had to wing it, or(often literally) let clerics and other char-acters get away with murder.

Too many AD&D players leave deal-ings with the gods entirely up to the cler-ics, so that an evil thief in the party cancheat, steal, lie, defile good altars androb good temples, kill neutral and goodcharacters — and then have his woundsserenely cured by the cleric of the party,who happens to be lawful good.

This offense may not seem grave tosome; but it illustrates the “lip service orless” attitude of most players toward thegods they profess to worship. This doesnot sit well with the free, humanistic (i.e.,sharing human emotions and foibles)gods presented in the DDG Cyclopedia,who work their respective wills in themultiverse by means of worshippers.

One would think a strict lawful deity,for example, would use a cleric as awatchdog to constantly rebuke, com-mand, and advise party members (andothers) in the god’s name. This is farmore logical and interesting than treat-ing clerics simply (in typical fashion) asprotective spell machines who can’t useedged weapons.

Also part of this attitude is the abuse ofdivine intervention; players ignore oreven take their god in vain until a stickysituation arises — whereupon they cryfor the god’s aid. As a DM, I have playedsuch a god — and made it known thatdisloyal followers dared much in havingthe temerity to even hope for divine aid.One way the god got his point acrosswas to have a particular bird (a sign

known to his followers) swoop down andsnatch weapons from their hands, evenas they faced enemies; to let them knowhe was not pleased!

Not all gods are vengeful characters—but some are capricious and chaotic inthe extreme. Gods should be feared, notsneered at — and robbing a temple, tak-ing a god’s name in vain, or defiling orridiculing a ritual, a place of worship, oreven a devout worshipper is sneering, asfar as that god is concerned.

Clerics should constantly seek to furth-er their deity’s ends; this is the onlymeans of success in their lifelong pro-fession. They will only rise in favor—andservice (experience levels) — if their ac-tions please the deity.¹

As a DM it is a great relief to use theDDG and at last be able to tell playerswho their characters’ deities are andwhat the deities require. The price of di-vine magical aid (even the routine sortgiven to clerics) becomes much higher— and characters are faced with a poten-tially much more “difficult” existence.

To run a campaign this way requires adetailed system of gods and godlike be-ings.2The backbone of any pantheon in-cludes the rationale or “grand design,”the power relationships or hierarchy,and details of worship (particularly thatof player characters). Once in place, thesystem need only be referred to as playeractions require, but the DM who tries thecampaign without it will sooner or laterfind that the far-reaching consequencesof a hasty decision have come back tohaunt him. A few (rather drastic) me-thods of resolving contradictions regard-ing gods are mentioned later. Note that apantheon can — and should — havesome “hazy” areas, so it may grow anddevelop with the campaign.

Most existing campaigns have hadsuch hazy areas — too many of them.Enter DDG, quantifying the abilities of awide selection of divine beings. But itwas not the answer for many DMs.

Quite rightly, DDG gave no grand de-sign, no definitive pantheon; the compo-sition of a pantheon must to some extentreflect its creator’s beliefs and desires,and so determine the direction of theentire campaign.3 This article outlinesthe problems and decisions involved increating an AD&D pantheon; it presentsno grand design. My mythos are used forexamples and explanations — and not asthe “right” one. Most important is notwhat I chose, but why I made the choices.DDG gave DMs a wide variety of pan-theons to choose from — a variety that,

6

seen as a whole, tended to conflict inbasic philosophy (grand design), divineportfolios, and overall tone. This seemsto preclude using all at once.4

The sheer size of the cast of gods inDDG is unwieldy, as well as having con-tradictions. What, then, are the “goodparts”? Which gods does one choose?

The AD&D purist will note immediate-ly that the rules regarding gods and god-like beings are not complete — the Ele-mental Princes of Evil and most of thegods of the Greyhawk campaign are lit-tle more than names. For example, theDMG cites the existence of Joramy,goddess of volcanic activity (page 160),and the Deck of Many Things mentions“Death” as a god, but neither is alludedto any where else. DDG gives us only oneof the orcs’ gods, and only the names ofthree dwarvish gods.

Clearly, then, the DM has both a lot ofwork and a lot of leeway. To adhere tothe AD&D structure, however, requires aDM adopt, more or less wholesale, the“Nonhumans’ Deities” section of theDDG and Thrym and Surtur (the giants’gods) from the Norse mythos. (A seriousproblem with wholesale adoption of theNorse pantheon is discussed later.)

Where does one go from here? As El-minster the Sage has said, “The wiseman learns all he needs to know, and canfind out, before he begins a task.” In likemanner, the DM must determine theproperties of his pantheon. Do all planeshave a ruling deity? Are all alignmentsrepresented by deities? Are representa-tions of alignments (good vs. evil, law vs.chaos) balanced within a pantheon? Whois the most powerful god — and morespecifically, who takes precedence orwins godly disputes? How do gods de-rive their powers, and what are their in-terests, aspirations, likes and dislikes?What rules or restrictions do divine be-ings respect, or are they bound by? Howare godly portfolios divided up, and isoverlapping of these portfolios (i.e., var-ious “guardians of the dead” of all align-ments; or, differing war gods worshippedby different races) permissible?

In short, the DM must devise a granddesign and then arrange his mythos tofit. In my case, I envisioned a long-lasting universe where all creatures(within the limitations of self and envi-ronment) had free will. For the universeto be long-lasting, I presumed a balancebetween alignments -with a surplus ofneutral self-interested beings allowable,perhaps, on the rationale they addedstability to this aspect of the universe.

October 1981

This lets evenly matched forces of op-posing alignments contest endlessly fordominion and is also necessary for max-imum free will.

The AD&D game is premised uponfree will. Philosophical quibbling aside,the idea of adventuring assumes crea-tures’ actions (within the limitations im-posed by the environment) determinetheir destinies. This in turn requires godshave free will —and therefore their con-trol of men is imprecise (causing most toemploy mortal and/or deity-level ser-vants as intermediaries). Gods are in factno more than supermen. That is, they donot have absolute control over eventsand beings, may have foibles and emo-tions similar to those of men, and canemploy only limited precognition (suchas the Augury spell) due to their superiorreasoning and perceptive powers.

Although gods generally have awe-some powers such as intraplanar traveland immortality, natural magical abili-ties, and greater personal attributes thanother creatures, gods cannot transcend“the system”— at least, not without des-troying game balance. Men, such asmagic-users and those who control arti-facts, may employ the same forces asgods; such forces are natural, part of themultiverse, and gods are therefore mere-ly beings of much greater power, stillbound by the system’s limitations. This

stipulation disqualifies creator deities(which transcend the system) and thosewhich jump around in time, such as Yog-Sothoth in the Cthulhu mythos, or thosewhich possess predestination, such asthe Norns or any infallible oracles — orthe entire Norse pantheon!

As Paul Kocher puts the subject in AReader’s Guide to the Silmarillion (Bos-ton, Houghton Mifflin, 1980), master offantasy J.R.R. Tolkien rejected “the threeNorns or Fates, Urd (Past), Verdandi(Present), and Skuld (Future). Thesethree predetermined the fates not only ofmen but also of the Norse gods them-selves, and nobody could say them nay.Such a doctrine was abhorrent to Tol-kien, who believed passionately in freewill, as all his writings demonstrate.“5

The events of Ragnarok, Kocher pointsout, were known to the gods in detail.Indeed, says Kocher, “Norse mythologyis full of tales showing Odin wanderingabout in disguise to gather from the wiseall the information he can get, not toavoid Ragnarok, which he knows cannotbe done, but to find out, if he can, when itwill come and what, if anything, willhappen afterward. That, for example, isthe object of Odin’s questioning of theSybil in The Elder Edda.” 6

Frank Herbert speaks more sharplyfrom the humanistic-deity viewpoint inGod Emperor of Dune: “It has occurred

Dragonto me more than once that holy boredomis good and sufficient reason for the in-vention of free will.”

Predestination cannot exist if free willis the grand assumption of the AD&Duniverse. Pantheons that burden godsand lesser creatures with a purpose anda role in the overall scheme of things—established at or before the birth of thecharacter — hardly admit of freewheel-ing adventurers, and are thus incompat-ible with the AD&D scheme of things.

This is not to say that false beliefs(even among the gods themselves) of aRagnarok or a Creation cannot exist —and be delivered down to mortal wor-shippers as sacred truth. The “system,”or the natural workings of the multiverse,can be administered by the DM as a“Great Mystery” (to the players), or aknown higher force (readers of MichaelMoorcock’s Eternal Champion series willrecall the Cosmic Balance). Some higherdirective might require the balance ofgods be maintained, so that if one slaysthe war god, one must take his place.7

The DM can in this manner remove char-acters of stratospheric level from thecampaign. Another mechanism for keep-ing things under control is the “Gods-war.” This concept is also a good justifi-cation to cover the changeover of acampaign from D&D rules to AD&D rules

(Continued on 2nd following page)

7

Dragon

NameAURILAZUTHBANE

BESHABA

BHAALCHAUNTEADENEIR

ELDATH

GOND

HELM

ILMATER

LATHANDER

LEIRALLIIRA

LOVIATAR

MALAR

MASKMIELIKKI

MILIL

MYRKUL

MYSTRAOGHMA

SELUNE

SHAR

SILVANUS

SUNE

TALONA

TALOS

TEMPUS

TORM

TYCHE

TYR

UMBERLEE

Vol. VI, No. 4

THE DEITIES & DEMIGODS OF THE FORGOTTEN REALMS: Human Deities

Nicknames, titles PortfolioFrostmaiden Goddess of ColdHigh One Patron of Magic UsersLord Bane, God of Strife, Hatred,The Black Lord TyrannyMaid of Misfortune, Goddess of Mischief,Black Bess, Lady Doom Misfortune, III Luck, Accidents,

Lord of MurderGreat MotherLord of All

Glyphs and ImagesThe Quiet One,

Goddess of SingingWaters

Wonderbringer

He of the UnsleepingEyes

---

God of the Morning

Lady of the MistsOur Lady of Joy

Maiden of Painof Torturers

The Beastlord,The StalkerLord of ShadowsLady of the Forest

---

Lord of Bones, OldLord Skull

The Lady of MysteriesThe Binder

Our Lady of Silver

Mistress of the Night,The Lady of LossOak-Father

Firehair

Lady of Poisons,Mistress of DiseaseThe Destroyer,The Raging OneThe Lord of Battles,Foehammer...the True,...the Foolish,...the BraveLady Luck

Grimjaws...the Even-handedThe Bitch-Queen

(Treachery, Betrayal)God of DeathGoddess of AgricultureGod of Literature, Art

Goddess of Waterfalls,Springs, Streams, Pools, Stillness,

Peace, Quiet Places, Guardian of(druids’) Groves

God of Blacksmiths, Artificers,crafts and construction

God of Guardians

God of Endurance, Suffering,Martyrdom, PerseveranceGod of Spring, Dawn, Conception,

Vitality, Eternal Youth, Renewal,Self-Perfection, Beginnings

Goddess of Deception, IllusionGoddess of Joy, Carefree Feeling,

Contentment, Release, Hospitality,Happiness, Dance, Patron ofFestivals

Goddess of Pain, Hurt, Patron

God of Wild, Marauding Beasts,Bloodlust, and HuntingGod of Thieves, IntrigueGoddess of Forests, Dryads,

Patron of RangersGod of Poetry, Eloquence, and Song

God of the Dead, Wasting, Decay,Corruption, Parasites, Old Age,Dusk, Fall, Exhaustion

Goddess of MagicGod of Knowledge, Invention,

Patron of BardsGoddess of the Moon, Stars,

NavigationGoddess of Darkness, Night,

Loss, ForgetfulnessGod of Nature, Patron of Druids

Goddess of Love, Beauty, Charisma,Passion

Goddess of Disease, Poisoning

God of Storms, Destruction

God of War

God of Duty, Loyalty, Obedience,Those who face danger to furtherthe cause of good

God of Good Fortune, Luck,Victory, Skill, Patron ofAdventurers and Warriors

God of Justice

CG

LG

Goddess of Oceans; Waves andWinds at Sea, Currents

8

CE

Align.NELNLE

CE

LENGNG

N

N

LN

LG

NG

CNCG

LE

CE

NENG

NG

NE

LNN

CG

NE

N

CG

CE

CE

CN

LG

Rank Home planeDemigoddess PandemoniumDemigod ArcadiaGreater God Acheron

Lesser Goddess Abyss

Lesser God GehennaGreater Goddess ElysiumDemigod Happy Hunting

GroundsDemigoddess Prime Material

Lesser God

Lesser God

Lesser God

Greater God

ConcordantOppositionNirvana

Twin Paradises

Elysium

DemigoddessDemigoddess

LimboOlympus

Demigoddess Gehenna

Demigod Tarterus

Lesser God HadesLesser Goddess Prime Material

Demigod Happy HuntingGrounds

Greater God Hades

Greater Goddess NirvanaGreater God Concordant

OppositionLesser Goddess Gladsheim

Greater Goddess Hades

Greater God ConcordantOpposition

Greater Goddess Olympus

Demigoddess Tarterus

Greater God Pandemonium

Greater God

Demigod

Limbo

Prime Material

Lesser Goddess Olympus

Greater God

Lesser Goddess

Seven Heavens

Abyss

October 1981

THE DEITIES & DEMIGODS OF THE FORGOTTEN REALMS: The Elemental LordsName Nicknames, titles Portfolio Align. RankGROME Gnarly One, King of the King of Earth Elementals N Lesser God

Land Below the RootsKAKATAL The Lord of Flames, Lord of Fire CN Lesser God

The Firelord ElementalsMISHA The Lord of Air, Lord of Lord of Air Elementals N Lesser God

the Wind GiantsSTRAASHA The Water Lord Lord of Water Elementals N Lesser God

THE DEITIES & DEMIGODS OF THE FORGOTTEN REALMS: Cults of the BeastName Nicknames, titles Portfolio Align. RankASLAN Lord Firemane Lord of Lions, Strong Beasts LG Lesser GodBESPARR --- Lord of Horses CG DemigodCAMAZOTZ --- Lord of Bats CE Lesser GodFILEET --- Lady of the Birds CN DemigoddessHAAASHASTAAK--- Master of All Lizardkind N DemigodHLYYAAK --- King of Camels CG DemigodLOLTH --- Demon Queen of Spiders CE Lesser GoddessLURUE Silverymoon Queen of Talking Beasts, CG Lesser Goddess

Intelligent CreaturesMEERCLAR --- Mistress of Catkind CN DemigoddessNNUUURRRR’C’C King With Wings Master of the Insect Swarm N DemigodNURU-AH --- Master of Cattle N DemigodPYARAY Whisperer of Lord of the Ocean Abysses, CE Lesser God

Impossible Secrets Creatures of the DeepREPRA --- King of Serpents CE DemigodROOFDRAK --- Master of All Dogs N DemigodSNEEL The Great Rat Lord of Rats CE Lesser God

—and will also justify any other divinerevisions the DM feels necessary, once.Simply put, the Godswar is strife amongthe gods —- direct, physical battle inwhich gods are destroyed, or their pow-ers undone, wrested from them, or dis-torted, and a new hierarchy is created.

The most important feature of thisconflict is that worshippers are not in-volved; all clerics and other servants arecompletely cut off from their deities —unable to communicate with them, ren-ew spells above 2nd level, or receive ac-curate or complete information regard-ing the war afterwards (for deities maynot wish to tell all to just any mortal).

The Godswar truly can cover a “multi-tude of sins,” in the manner described inthe battle between the Vom and theGuardian in Alan Dean Foster’s novelBloodhype; side effects of the energy re-leased in the conflict can transform orteleport landscapes, people, and anynumber of items on the various planes.

Enough of the controlling principles— back to the selection of deities. In mycase, I wanted all of the outer planes tohave ruling deities (a la Lolth’s rule of aplane of the Abyss in Q1). This precludesthe Nordic bunching of gods in Glad-sheim, the Greek grouping of gods inOlympus, and Leiber’s grouping of godsin Godsland. A few planes, notably thePrime Material,8 would be “no man’sland,” ruled by no deity.g Moreover, Iwanted no direct Egyptian, Mayan, Chi-nese, Greek or suchlike mythologicalstamp on my pantheon, preferring in-stead a vaguely Norse/Celtic/“old faerieEngland” flavor. Favorite deities such as

Ishtar, Mitra, and Set had to be regret-fully abandoned. Other DDG deitiescould be adopted with cosmetic (name,appearance, minor powers) changes.

I also found it expedient to have over-lapping portfolios among the gods.10

This allows strife among various priest-hoods as the prominence of gods withina community or society changes, andallows both nonhuman deities (such asthe elvish and centaur gods in the DDG)and human deities (such as the druids’god or gods) to coexist, both grantingspells to worshippers.

This follows the notion that gods pos-sess power relative to the worship theyreceive, but I have deliberately left thisidea vague and undeveloped, for playerswould love to learn such mechanisms inorder to influence the relative power ofgods for their own ends, and that type ofmanipulation upsets the balance of acampaign very quickly. Note that an in-dividual may often serve one deity, de-liberately advancing or attempting tofurther its aims and its cause, while pla-cating (“lip-service worship”) another. Alawful evil guard, for instance, could pla-cate Helm (the god of guardians) butactively worship Loviatar, Bane, or per-haps even Tempus.

A secondary advantage to allowingoverlapping portfolios is that players willnot immediately know the deity (and ac-companying religious restrictions) of anencountered NPC by knowing the NPC’sclass (or for that matter, race or align-ment”). Such knowledge could prove aquite significant unfair advantage in play.

Portfolios (gods of war, of sea, etc.)

Home planeElemental Planeof EarthElemental Planeof FireElemental Planeof AirElemental Planeof Water

Home planeSeven HeavensPrime MaterialPrime MaterialPrime MaterialPrime MaterialPrime MaterialAbyssO l y m p u s

Prime MaterialPrime MaterialPrime MaterialPrime Material

AbyssPrime MaterialPrime Material

must be related with various alignments.Either (1) each portfolio is representedby gods of every alignment, or (2) eachportfolio may have a god of an alignmentdeemed fitting: A god of justice may belawful good or lawful neutral, or a god ofwar or of the sea may have a chaoticalignment. (For the reasons stated above,and to keep the number of gods down toa manageable quantity, I chose the lattermethod of relating alignments to deities.)

Given these considerations, the pan-theon listed in the charts on this pageand the preceding one was developedfor my Forgotten Realms campaign.12

Later additions to official AD&D materialsuch as the “Elder Elemental Gods”mentioned in module D1, the “ElementalPrinces of Evil” in T2, and the Gods ofGreyhawk, will no doubt cause somemodifications in the pantheon. The fourelemental gods from the Melniboneanmythos in the DDG, for instance, may bediscarded if Gygax’s elementals conflict.As presented in the DDG, however, thefour fit nicely with information in theMonster Manual.

All nonhumans’ deities, plus Thrymand Surtur of the Norse mythos, from theDDG, have been adopted. Dryads wor-ship Mielikki, treants worship Gromeand Rillifane Rallathil, and nymphs wor-ship Eldath (they believe she is the sourceof the power to kill those who look upontheir naked forms). The dominant (hu-man) race has the largest and most var-ied pantheon — a logical expression ofthe variety of beliefs and interests whichhas made the race dominant.

(Turn to page 52)

9

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

by Arn Ashleigh Parker The differences between a dungeon and a razed city are not

“Rough: Includes ruins within up to five miles of the party.” Soreads the Dungeon Masters Guide. And that is virtually all theAD&D™ rules say about the outdoor companion of the deep,dark dungeon.

The question arises: Why should a Dungeon Master includeruins in a campaign? Dungeons, one may point out, present aplace for players to encounter the fantastic creatures of theADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game. I concede thatthe dungeon provides a medium for the Dungeon Master topresent tricks, traps, and monsters, but its scope is still limited.Many DM’s and players alike scoff at dragons, and similar avianinhabitants of underground labyrinths. Therefore, the conten-tion can also be made that ruins are as integral as dungeons to awell balanced game.

world-shattering, but they are significant. The druid characterclass, for instance, has much more potential in an outdoorsetting such as a ruin. Many ruins may once have had a park thatwould, in all likelihood, still thrive. This park, aside from present-ing many opportunities for DM expansion, is ideal for the druid’soperations. Other differences include weather, alleys and vis-ibility. Storms, cold winds, or heat waves could change thesituation somewhat. For instance, bundling up with warm bulkyfurs because of freezing winds may reduce the dexterity and/or“to hit” figures of a character.

Another unique feature of ruins is the alley. The alley con-nects main streets and side streets. This gives the party muchmore maneuverability, so they may not be channeled to a cer-tain place as easily as in a dungeon. Also, the alley can be aplace of adventure and danger for a character. Imagine a fighter

10

October 1981

walking through a narrow alley, enshrouded by the shadows ofbuildings. Suddenly, he sees a tall, shadow-covered figure tenfeet ahead. As the thing moves closer, he see the sickly greencolor of troll skin....

A final important feature of ruins is visibility. The use oftorches will be rare, since the party will rarely enter a devastatedcity in the evening or nighttime. Further, most (if not all) build-ings will have windows, and light will usually enter via theseportals. Of course, there are ways to combat this “all-seeingplayer” problem. Many windows could be boarded up or cov-ered with a shade, cutting off light inside the buildings. Outside,however, the problem is much more complex. If no other logicalmeans is apparent, a desperate DM could alter the normalweather patterns. A low, dense fog could curtail the range ofcharacters’ vision, or dense clouds could obscure the sun. Eventhough this can be done, weather patterns should only be al-lowed to change normally; a fog doesn’t spring up every time acharacter sticks his head out a door.

After deciding to include ruins in his campaign, the DM mustthen draw out the destroyed city. Graph paper with one centi-meter equal to ten squares (each small square equal to ten gameyards), is suitable for a large city of, say, 10,000 people. Asmaller scale should probably not be used unless the city is, infact, a town. If this is the case, then the town should be complete-ly designed by the DM, and the charts in this article should beignored -they are only for use in large cities Note that, despitethe drawing’s scale, the party should only be allowed to move 10feet for each 1” of movement rate, and in all other respects aswell the party should use dungeon scale (i.e., each 1” of spellrange equals 10 scale feet, etc.).

The large destroyed city would include several potentiallydangerous places. A graveyard, for instance, is essential. Itcould be in the center of the city, or at the outer wall, or evenoutside the city in a special cordoned-off burial place. As allDM’s know, the tombs of the dead often present exciting AD&Dscenarios.

Ruins should also contain a centralized government building.A palace could serve for a monarchic government, while a largeconference room, with adjoining chambers, could serve for anoligarchic administration. This central building could presentlybe the center of some great malevolent force, or (perhaps) itcould be controlled by a demented ogre mage.

After the DM has finished drawing the destroyed city, he maynotice a couple of ways players may cause trouble. For instance,an invisible thief may climb a wall, and then, with map andpencil, proceed to map out the perimeter of the city. Actions likethis can, especially in a large city, cause a DM quite a bit ofconsternation. There are ways to deal with this situation, how-ever. First, as with all problems of this nature, the DM maydisallow it on the basis of game logic, which may include rea-sons such as: It would take too much time; it would give toomuch information away too easily; and/or it would make anotherwise enjoyable game into a boring exercise in reality.

A second way to deal with this situation, if the playing sessionis almost over, would be to end the session; when the gameresumes, the DM may give out a map of the perimeter of the cityto the party, giving the map-making thief credit for mapping theperimeter but without making the entire playing group waitduring the tedious process. A DM-provided map should includesome deliberate errors, to approximate mistakes the charac-ter(s) might make if they developed the map themselves. Whenthe map of the perimeter is drawn, the DM should not also mapany inside part of the city just because players claim they cansee down the roads into the interior. It is advised the DM tell theplayers that the roads, even if they extend straight into thecenter of the city, will only enable vision from the perimeter for100 yards into the ruins. The shadows of buildings, the DM maysay, prevents discerning what lies within the middle of the city.

Monsters and lairsThe primary threat to characters in a ruined city will not come

Dragonfrom wandering monsters that may be encountered within, butfrom monsters who have lairs inside the city. But how does a DMchoose which monsters will inhabit certain parts of his ruins?First, the DM should systematically go through the map of hiscity, determining which buildings will be the lairs of monsters,The DM should not, at this time, determine what specific type ofbuilding comprises each monster’s lair. This should be donewhen the players are actually aware that it is some creature’slair, or at any other time when the party happens to be interestedin knowing the building’s type. To do otherwise would take toomuch time for most DM’s (assuming that there are 30 or morelairs in an average-sized ruin). Note that an avian creature’s lairshould automatically be assumed to be an unusual personalresidence, unless the flying creature is so small that its move-ment within a normal building is not impeded by the building’sinternal and external features.

The kind of creatures that should be allowed to have a lairwithin a razed city can be determined randomly using the DMG,choosing the wandering monster chart appropriate to the pre-vailing conditions, and then cross-indexing with the “roughterrain” category. However, this random determination shouldnot be allowed to be absolute in its decision. Some creaturescannot lair in buildings, perhaps because they have no lair (e.g.,wild dogs) or, perhaps because they are incompatible with thesurrounding terrain (e.g., white dragon in a subtropical climate)or, possibly, because the number of creatures in the lair —whichis always the highest possible “number appearing” that can berolled according to the Monster Manual — is too great a number(e.g. a tribe of orcs, which would number 300). A final rule whichmust be observed, to offset the fact that the party must alwaysface a maximum number of creatures in all lairs, is that all lairsmust have treasure. This rule excludes other monsters (thosewho do not possess treasure) from lairing in razed cities, anexample being the lion.

Table IMonsters that may lair within ruins

Anhkheg Hippogriff RakshasaAnt, Giant Hydras (all) RemorhazApe, Carnivorous Intellect Devourer RotBasilisk Jackalwere Rust MonsterBeetle, Giant Boring Jaguar SalamanderBeholder Ki-rin SatyrBlink Dog Lamia Scorpion, GiantBrownie Lammasu ShadowBugbear Leprechaun Shambling MoundCarrion Crawler Leucrotta SheduCatoblepas Lich Slithering TrackerCentaur Lizard, Fire SpectreChimera Lizard, Minotaur Sphinxes (all)Cockatrice Lizard Man Spiders (all)Couatl Lurker Above StirgeDisplacer Beast Lycanthropes (all) Su-MonsterDoppelganger Lynx, Giant SylphDragons (all) Manticore TitanDragonne Medusa Toad, IceDryad Minotaur TrapperEagle, Giant Mummy TrollGargoy le Naga, Guardian Vampire

Naga, Spirit Wasp, Giant Nymph Water WeirdOgre Weasel, GiantOgre Mage Wight

Gorgon Owl, Giant Will-o-WispGriffon Owl bear Wolf, WinterGroaning Spirit Peryton WraithHarpy Pseudo-dragon WyvernHell Hound Purple Worm Yeti

BuildingsA ruined city is made up of buildings, those still standing and

GhastGhostGhoulGiants

11

Dragon

those that have been leveled. Those buildings that have beenrazed are of no particular use to the DM, but this is not true of thebuildings that still stand. They are very useful. Following is a listof buildings that may be located within a ruins.

Table IIBuilding types

d% roll Building type d% roll Building type01 Alchemist 47 Jeweler-gemcutter

02-05 Armorer 48-50 Leatherworker0 6 B a n k 51-53 Library

07-09 Barber 54-56 Liquor10-13 Bowyer 57-58 Metal worker

14 Brothel* 59-60 Nursery15-I7 Butcher 61-70 Private residence18-I9 Candlemaker 71-74 Produce20-22 Church 7 5 S a g e

23 Ceramic molder 76-78 School24-26 Clothier 79 Sher i f f

27 Furn i ture 80 Specialty shop28-32 General store 81-83 Stable

33 Glassblower 84-87 Swordsmith34-35 Hardware 88-95 Tavern

3 6 H e r b 96 Thea te r37-41 Hospital 97-00 Weaponer42-46 Hotel *— Or roll again.

When the players investigate a building containing a monster,the DM should determine the building type using the chartabove. Then, using the following explanations, the DM shoulddescribe the building to the group and await their reactions. Themonsters will, of course, behave as the DM sees fit, and, accord-ingly, no restrictions will here be placed on their behavior.

Definition of termsThe following is a list of terms used repeatedly in the descrip-

tion of building types.

TermPoisonBooks

Webs

DefinitionType A, Ingestive.See DRAGON #37 — Libraries by Colleen A.Bishop, but ignore the magical tomes, books,and scrolls.Webs may be either thin, and go unnoticed,or thick, so that they thoroughly obscure vi-sion. To determine the thickness of a web,roll d4: A result of 1 means total visibility, 2means that parts of the room are obscure, 3means that most of the room is covered withwebs, and 4 means that the room is encasedin webs. The webs can be easily pushed outof the way or burned.

Nothing of value This term, while meaning that things ofmonetary value do not exist within a room,does not necessarily indicate that there isnothing useful inside a room. Forks, knives,furs, and pillows are just a few examples ofthe objects that may be found in a building.

Description of building types

12

In some of the following descriptions of building types, it isrecommended that certain treasures be placed at designatedlocations within a building. These recommendations are meantonly for buildings which serve as the lair of a monster, and,therefore, they should be ignored under other circumstances(i.e., when players investigate a building containing no mon-ster), but any dangerous magic, items should be retained (poi-son included). However, if the players have access to this article(and thus would know that, if the building contains no monster’slair, no liquid substance could be of a beneficial nature), the DMmay wish to leave certain beneficial potions within the building.It is important that the DM realize that any magic items recom-

Vol. VI, No. 4

mended in the listings below are in addition to those that may bepart of a monster’s hoard.

Alchemist: The residence in which an alchemist would oncehave lived is a round tower (90%) or a normal building (10%).The height of a normal building is always three stories, but theheight of a tower is 4-6 stories. Normally, the tower has less floorspace than a normal building, and, thus, the structures’ volumesare approximately equal.

The first story of an alchemist’s residence/workshop will usu-ally be barren of furnishings, save for a series of small braziersthat will typically line the walls. They were, at one time, used toburn incense. There should also be a torch holder somewhereon the walls. A spiral staircase (in the center of the room if atower and in the corner of the room if a normal building) will leadto the second story.

The second story should contain shelves, overturned tables,chairs, broken vases, shattered urns, and a single window (two ifin a normal building). There is a 10% chance that there will be asmall cubbyhole set into the wall that contains 1-6 potions.There is a 25% chance that any given potion will be poison, and a75% chance that it is a beneficial magical potion (use the ran-dom determination chart in the DMG). The spiral staircaseshould continue upward into the chambers above.

The third floor is the living chambers of the alchemist. Asundered bed, dresser, and desk should be found here, as wellas shelves of books (if within a normal building). If the residence.is a tower, then the fourth and fifth stories contain books. Thesixth story, if it exists, should contain 1-10 flasks, 2-7 smallplates, a basin, 1-4 jugs, 2 measuring devices, and two tables(upon which sit the furnishings listed above). There is a 25%chance that all of the materials found in such a place are brokenand useless, and only a 10% chance of successfully locating aparticular (undamaged) item being sought, if it is determinedthat some undamaged items do exist on the premises.

Armorer: The abode of an armorer ranges from one to twostories in height. In the case of a one-story building, 80% of thefloor space should be partitioned off for a work area. The majori-ty of this space will be taken up by the armorer’s tools, nowbroken and useless. An anvil (or two), hammers, a bellows, aforge (once used for softening metals), and tongs should be justa few of the things still within the room. There should also besome rusted suits of mail. Any character with the secondary skillof armorer may, at the DM’s discretion, find a sufficient numberof usable tools to repair any damage in the armor worn bymembers of the group. The section of the room that has beenpartitioned off from the main room is the living quarters of thearmorer. These two rooms may be joined by a door or by anopen hall. The armorer’s quarters will have been looted, andnothing of value should be found within it.

If the building is two stories in height, then the first story is notpartitioned off and consists entirely of the tools of the armorer(in this case there will be two anvils and, perhaps, two forges).Somewhere in the room there should be a staircase leading tothe second story. The second story is the former armorer’squarters. There may be a set of magical mail within this room(10% chance). If a set of magical mail exists, then there is a 50%chance it is Ring Mail x1 and a 50% chance it is Ring Mail ofVulnerability (tests as +1 armor, actually acts as -2; see PlateMail of Vulnerability, DMG p. 165). Other than the magical mailthat may be within the room, nothing of value remains inside theupper story.

Bank: Banks range from 2-6 (d10/2+1) stories in height. Thefirst story should contain desks, chairs, tables, and countertops.This is where the normal business of the bank took place. Thereshould be a spiral staircase at the back of the room that leads tothe upper stories. The second story, and every additional storythereafter (up to the maximum number determined by the dice),contains a huge vault. Each vault has a chance of still being

October 1981

intact (varying with how high it is from ground level) and, if it is,there is an additional chance that it contains coins, according tothe following table:

Height in V a u l t C o p p e r * Silver* Gold*stories intact% (% & #) (% & #)

2 40% 80%, 10,000 30%, 1,000 0 % , 03 50% 70%, 8,000 30%, 1,200 10%, 3004 60% 60%, 6,000 40%, 1,500 50%, 5005 80% 20%, 2,000 60%, 4,000 80%, 1,0006 90% 0%, 0 60%, 6,000 95%, 4,000

*— If the vault is intact — and, of course, if the bank is amonster’s lair — then there is a chance (as listed) that it willcontain the specified number of coins of each type.

All vaults are extremely hard to open, some of them beingvirtually impregnable (thus, their high chance of being intacteven amidst the ruins). The chance for a givenm thief to open thelock on a bank vault is computed by multiplying the height of thevault (in stories) by 20, and subtracting that number from thethief’s normal percentage chance to open a lock. Thus, a 17th-level dwarven thief with a dextereity of 17, who would have anadjusted open-locks chance of 119% for normal locks, has onlya 49% chance of cracking a third-story vault, and no chance toopen a vault on the sixth story, because the adjustment for thevault’s height (6x20=120) is greater than 119.

Vaults withstand damage in structural points equal to theirheight in stories; Knock spells will not work on vault doors.

Barber: The barbershop of old was a simple place, alwaysone-storied and modestly furnished. Nothing of value shouldremain within the building, but there should be a few chairs andwashbasins still inside the structure.

Bowyer: The bowyer’s workshop is 2 or 3 stories in height. Thefirst story was once the workplace of the bowyer. It shouldcontain rotted wood, partially finished bows and arrows, and acompleted bow or two. The condition of the completed bowsdepends on where they have been stored. If left out in the open,they are surely ruined, but if stored behind a glass case (forinstance), they may be in good condition. The DM should de-cide, depending on the weapon needs of the adventuring group,whether the bows are ruined or not. There should be a staircaseleading to the second story.

The second story was, at one time, the residence of the bow-yer. It should be in decent condition, but nothing of value shouldbe found within the lodging. However, the third floor, it it exists,could prove very useful to the characters, for it was once thestorage house for the bowyer. As the characters throw open thetrap door to the third floor, they should see lots of webs. Afterclearing the webs away (if they choose to do so), the group willbehold a storehouse of 20-120 arrows in good condition and 1-6usable (unstrung) bows. There should be an additional numberof bows and arrows that are rotted and useless, equal to 100%and 200%, respectively, of the number of usable items found.

Brothel: If the city that is now in ruins had a moral fabric thatwould not permit a building of this sort to exist within its boun-daries, then the DM may either reroll on the building type tableor limit to one the number of brothels found within the ruins.

The brothel will range from 2-7stories in height. The first floorcontains a reception area (with once-beautiful tapestries andcushions that are now rotted and moldy) and a kitchen area. Theupper stories contain bedrooms, often covered with webs.There is a 10% chance for each room that there is a secretcubbyhole (detected as a secret passage) containing either(25%) a potion or (75%) 10-60 gold pieces. The potion is poison(25%) or a random potion from the DMG (75%). Nothing else ofvalue should be found within the brothel.

Butcher: A butcher shop is always one story in height, and it

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contains a food locker as well as a table for cutting meat. Acounter divides the front of the interior from the back. The backof the room contains the table and butcher knives (now rusted)that were once used in cutting meat. A small food locker, oncekept cold by blocks of ice, also lies in the back of the room.Nothing else of value is within the building.

Candlemaker: A candlemaker’s shop is one (75%) or two(25%) stories in height. The first story contains a counter, as domost shops, separating the room into two parts. The back part ofthe room contains instruments, unmelted wax, tables, tallow,and wood to make incense, torches, and, of course, candles.There will be from 1-10 usable pieces of incense, torches and/orcandles within the room, and there will also be a great number ofpotentially usable items yet unfinished. Webs will cling to thewalls, and nothing else of value will be in the room. The secondstory, if it exists, is the living quarters of the candlemaker, butnothing of value will be found within it.

Church: church is large and impressive; its height shouldbe from 7-10 stories. The first story was once the site of allchurch ceremonies, and this should be reflected in the grandeur

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

W e a p o n d a m a g ei n A D & D T M a c t i o n

by John R. Shaw

The warrior knew he was dead even before the enemy’s steelbit hungrily into his warm flesh. Only moments before, it was hewho had this creature near death. It was not until he stumbled inthe midst of a fast and frantic exchange of blows that thethought flashed through his mind — this might be his last fight.The bright steel that had held a razor-sharp edge through somany battles now seemed to dull as it connected harshly againstthe metallic skin of the creature.

Then sword met sword.Time stopped as the warrior saw pieces of finely wrought

metal scatter to the four winds, catching flashes of light as theyfell toward the floor.

The creature’s evil blade seemed to hang momentarily in theair. The split seconds seemed like hours to the doomed warrior,as his grip instinctive/y tightened on the now-useless hilt. Hismuscles tensed in anticipation as he waited bravely for the finalblow to be struck...

The one item usually missing from the aftermath of a goodAR&D battle is the sight of broken and battered weapons litteredamong the freshly hewn corpses. The following tables introducethis aspect of combat, making recreations of scenes such as theabove possible. However, not all would be as deadly.

Whenever an unmodified 1 is the result of a “to hit” roll, thefollowing tables should be consulted to determine the adverseresults (if any) of such a terrible throw.

The system is flexible, allowing Dungeon Masters to intro-duce only those tables desired, depending on the level of com-plexity and realism sought.

Table 1 can be used on its own, or Table 2 added for moreinterest. If both these tables are being used, then Table 3 canalso be optionally included.

Table 1 describes the various mis-chances that could occur inthe heat of battle. For any result, at least 1-4 points of damageare caused; this number should be modified upward by the DM

to take into account bonuses to damage (such as the “plus” of amagic weapon) or special circumstances (such as a partymember being hit, causing him to fall into a pit).

“Damage to party member” could be caused by the characteraccidentally bumping another party member into a wall, trip-ping them, or knocking them off balance (which causes them totake extra damage from an opponent); or even by a wild swingwith a weapon.

“Damage to self” might occur under similar circumstances tothose mentioned above and would possibly also include suchslips as a distracted magic-user dropping a dagger through his(or her) foot.

Damage to a weapon may be the result of a wild swing con-necting with a dungeon wall; trying to bruise an iron golem witha wooden club; enthusiastically attempting to chip the favoriteboulder of a stone giant; or just old age, from having fought in somany battles.

Specific types of weapon damage (or lack of it) are given inTable 2. This aspect can be included so that broken or damagedweapons (especially magical ones which fail their saving throws)may later be repaired. It is also possible that the weapon cancontinue to be used, at reduced effect, depending on how badlyit is damaged.

Table 3 is used to determine during which round of fightingthe damage to the weapon will occur. This may be a round whenthe character fails to score a hit on the opponent, for it must beremembered that weapon hits will still be occurring on otherweapons, shields, and armor. Such hits cause no damage to theopponent, but the force of the blow is enough to damage aweapon. Only a careful examination (which obviously cannot becarried out in the middle of a melee) by a qualified character willreveal that the weapon is damaged and will soon break. A quali-fied person is one who deals closely with the material involved.For example, a swordsmith would be qualified to inspect alltypes of metal swords and daggers, because he would have abasic understanding of the metallurgy involved. A player char-acter who has had previous experience as a smith, for instance,

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October 1981 Dragoncould only be a qualified judge if he had followed this trade for afew years and not just a short period of time.

TABLE 1 Damage Inflicted01 Damage to party member; weapon damaged and

dropped out of reach.02 Damage to party member; weapon damaged and

dropped within reach.03-04 Damage to party member; weapon undamaged but

dropped out of reach.05-06 Damage to party member; weapon undamaged but

dropped within reach.07-12 Damage to party member; weapon damaged but

still held.13-20 Damage to party member; no effect on weapon. 21 Damage to self; weapon damaged and dropped

out of reach.22-23 Damage to self; weapon damaged and dropped

within reach.24-26 Damage to self; weapon dropped out of reach.27-29 Damage to self; weapon dropped within reach.30-38 Damage to self; weapon damaged but still held.39-50 Damage to self; no effect on weapon.51-52 Weapon damaged and dropped out of reach.53-55 Weapon damaged and dropped within reach.56-60 Weapon dropped out of reach.61-65 Weapon dropped within reach.66-80 Weapon damaged but still held.81-00 Nothing unusual happens.

Notes on Table 11.1 “Damage to party member” indicates a member of the

party of the character, or monster, who rolled the “1.” If thecharacter or monster is alone or if no other members of the partyare within striking distance, then treat this result as “Damage toself.” Weapon damage will still apply, as appropriate.

If more than one party member is within striking range, de-termine the member hit by random selection, remembering toinclude non-player characters.

1.2 “Damage to self” is halved if the character makes asave vs. rod, staff & wand.

1.3 If a weapon is damaged, roll on Table 2 to determinespecifics. If Table 2 is not being used, the weapon must save vs.disintegration or be damaged beyond repair. Magic weaponsreceive their usual saving throw bonuses.

1.4 A “weapon within reach” can be recovered in theround after it was dropped, but no blow against an attacker ispossible in that round.

1.5 A “weapon dropped out of reach” can be recovered inthe second round after it is dropped. No blow against an at-tacker is possible for these two rounds (unless another weaponis obtained, of course).

1.6 If a player character, non-player character, or monsteris only using fists, fangs, teeth, claws and other such bodyweaponry, they take 1-4 points of damage in place of a “weapondamaged” result. Damage taken is halved if save vs. rod, staff &wand is made. This may be in addition to any other damagetaken that round.

TABLE 2 Damage to weapon01-02 Weapon completely broken, smashed or shattered.03-05 Weapon damaged; -2 to hit, -50% to damage.06-10 Weapon partly damaged; -1 to hit, -25% to damage.11-12 Head of weapon broken off and smashed.13-15 Head of weapon broken off and damaged.16-20 Head of weapon broken off, partly damaged.21-30 Head of weapon damaged; -50% to damage.31-45 Head of weapon partly damaged; -25% to damage.46-47 Tail of weapon broken off and smashed.48-50 Tail of weapon broken off and damaged.51-55 Tail of weapon broken off and partly damaged.

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56-65 Tail of weapon damaged; -2 to hit.66-80 Tail of weapon partly damaged; -1 to hit.81-00 Weapon undamaged.

Notes on Table 22.1 If weapon has been damaged, roll on table 3 (if it is

being used) to establish when the damage occurs.2.2 The “head” of a weapon is that part which inflicts the

damage: sword blade, arrowhead, tip of lance, head of mace,and so on.

2.3 The “tail” of a weapon is that part which is used tocontrol the aim: hilt of sword, longbow, crossbow, rear portionof lance, handle of mace, and so on.

2.4 Any part of a weapon receiving a “smashed” resultcannot be repaired or used further. Any remaining undamagedpart of the weapon might be usable at reduced effect, dependingon the weapon and which part of it remains intact (see note 2.6).

2.5 Penalties given by the table for “damaged” and “partlydamaged” weaponry are cumulative. They take effect in theround after the weapon was found to be damaged, and continueuntil the weapon is either repaired or destroyed.

2.6 Many weapons are unusable when a part has beendamaged or broken off, but the wide range of possible weaponsand possible circumstances will make it necessary for the DM torule on whether certain damaged weapons can still be effective-ly employed. Two clear-cut examples: The front half of a spear isjust a smaller spear, but the front half of a sword blade is virtuallyuseless as a weapon.

Weapons were designed to be well balanced for maximumstriking effect, and this balance would be affected if part of theweapon were broken off. For any parts of the weapon that theDungeon Master agrees can be usable in combat, “to hit” anddamage penalties must be worked out. Penalties will depend onthe circumstances and the actual part of the weapon being used.

2.7 If the weapon has not been dropped (as given by table1) but a result on Table 2 indicates “Head of weapon broken off”or “Tail of weapon broken off,” then the head of the weapon willfall to the ground within reach and the tail will still be held. A“weapon dropped” result on Table 1 refers to the entire weapon,whether or not it was broken or damaged.

TABLE 3 Time of Damage to Weapon01-10 Weapon damaged and/or dropped this round.11-16 Weapon damaged and/or dropped next round.17-19 Weapon damaged and/or dropped in 2 rounds.

20 Weapon damaged and/or dropped in 3 rounds.

Notes on Table 33.1 Damage to player characters, non-player characters,

and monsters always occurs in the melee round in which the “1”was rolled. Table 3 is only to be used for weapons which are nota natural part of a character or creature.

These tables are not intended for the Dungeon Master whogives his players an impossible job of surviving. They are in-tended to complement play by creating more situations forinteresting player interaction — will your friend lend you hisextra sword after you’ve just broken your own blade on a wildswing that connected with him instead of the enemy? —which isthe whole purpose of a good-playing game.

With these tables in operation, weapons makers and weaponshops in the cities and towns of a campaign world will now onoccasion have customers in dire need of their wares, rather thansimply being the dumping ground for used arms and armorbeing traded in by victorious characters.

There are advantages in this system for players, too, if they areingenious enough to find good uses for the remains of damagedweapons. A thief in one party once secretly swapped swordswith an enemy fighter who had challenged the best swordsmanin the thief’s party to a death duel. Even a 16th-level Lord is notmuch of an opponent wielding a +1 sword — without a blade!

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

by Joseph Ravitts

In Sung Dynasty China, three genera-tions or so before the time of Marco Polo,legend has it that a mighty band of RobinHood-like outlaws gathered together tooppose the corrupt and predatory rulingclass. There were some 10,000 of theseoutlaws dwelling on a mountain calledLiang Shan P’o, which was protectedfrom attack by a vast marsh whose laby-rinthine waterways permitted easy am-bush of assailants. The leaders of these“Righteous Robbers” were 36 chieftainswho were actually incarnations of 36stars of Heaven, and 72 subchieftainswho were incarnate stars of Earth. Anunknown Chinese authur collected thetales of these heroes into one lengthybook, which Pearl S. Buck translatedunder the title All Men Are Brothers. AnyAD&D™ campaign incorporating the Chi-nese mythos will be enhanced by theinclusion of these characters, thoughspace will not allow description of anybut the most remarkable individuals.

Sung Chiang“The Opportune Rain”

The leader of all the outlaws is SungChiang, nicknamed “The OpportuneRain” because of his habitual charity topeasants. He was forced to become afugitive because he had helped severalvictims of unjust prosecution to escape,including some who (unknown at first tohim) were incarnate stars like himself.When the Righteous Robbers organizedon Liang Shan P’o, they made him achieftain out of gratitude, and out of re-spect for his wisdom and justice. Later, agoddess appeared to him and told him ofhis divine origin. (The goddess is notnamed in the story, but she could havebeen Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercydescribed in the DEITIES & DEMIGODS™Cyclopedia.) She also gave him three

books of heavenly wisdom to guide himin doing good deeds. After the death ofCh’ao Kai, the original leader of the out-law band (a good man, but not one of theincarnate stars), Sung Chiang succeededto the leadership of the mountain lair.

A full characteristics breakdown onSung Chiang can be sacrificed to brevi-ty, since he never personally enters com-bat. If forced in extremity to defend him-self, he will fight as a 5th-level fighter,using a +3 magic sword. He will usually(70%) be encountered on the robbers’mountain, in or around their centralmeeting place, The Hall Of Loyalty AndRighteousness. He will always be at-tended by 2-24 of the lesser outlaws, andfrequently (60%) by 1-8 of his fellowchieftains. The chieftains in his presencewill always include one or more of thefollowing: Lu Chun I, “The Jade Drag-on,” a 25th-level fighter/6th-level monkwho wields a Staff of Striking; Wu Yung,“The Great Intelligence,“asage with thedisguise abilities of an assassin; andKung Sun Sheng, the “Dragon In TheClouds,” a Taoist mage who is describedin full below. Wu Yung and Kung SunSheng are the only other persons al-lowed to study Sung Chiang’s threebooks of heavenly wisdom. (The DM candecide for himself what those bookscontain; the story never tells.)

Sung Chiang’s agents operate fourtaverns near the marsh that surroundsLiang Shan P’o. Player characters of anynon-evil alignment, seeking help to rightsome wrong, need only state their caseat one of these taverns to obtain an au-dience with Sung Chiang (or with one ofthe above-named co-leaders if SungChiang is absent from the mountain).The Righteous Robbers will nearly al-ways give some assistance to the party,even so far as sending a complete armyto attack the strongholds of evildoers. Inthat case, however, they are 20% likely, if

16

victorious, to become carried away withbloodlust, slaughtering women and evenchildren belonging to the conqueredplace. Therefore, characters of a kindlynature should think twice about askingfor military aid from Liang Shan P’o. Still,some of the outstanding charactersamong the robbers can benefit a small-scale expedition.

Kung Sun Sheng“Dragon In The Clouds”ARMOR CLASS: 7MOVE: 12"/60"HIT POINTS: 60NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: RegenerationMAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%SIZE: MALIGNMENT: Lawful good (the on/y

lawful “robber” in the lot!)CLERIC/DRUID: Clerical spell ability;

see belowMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 8th /eve/

illusionistl7th /eve/ magic-userMONK/BARD: 5th /eve/ monkPSIONIC ABILITY: 150

Attack/Defense Modes: BCD/FGHJS:14 I: 18 W: 18 D: 18 C: 18 CH: 16

Kung Sun Sheng is the prize pupil ofan all-but-omnipotent Taoist recluse whois only sketchily described in the story(but whose powers include troll-like re-generation and the summoning of djin-ni). He left his master to help the Righte-ous Robbers in defending the oppressed,but he still prefers a contemplative life.Consequently, he will not leave the moun-tain lair to join a party unless he is con-vinced that there is a very great wrong tobe righted, though for lesser needs hewill furnish useful information. (Pros-pects of monetary gain are of no interestto him.) If, however, he is encountered

October 1981

away from Liang Shan P’o, there is a 40%chance that he will join and assist a partyof good alignment for 1-8 days; failingthis, he will still consent to give infor-mation.

The magical and illusionary spells ofKing Sun Sheng will. never include such“big guns” as Fireball and LightningBolt; they will mostly pertain to knowl-edge, travel, influence, and protection.His illusionary spells will always includeConfusion, Fear, Dispel Illusion, Im-proved Phantasmal Force, Fog Cloud,Detect Illusion, and Detect Invisibility.His magic-user spells will always includeMassmorph, Gust of Wind, Ray of En-feeblement, Feather Fall, and Identify.His psionic disciplines include Body Con-trol, Mind Over Body, and Hypnosis. Hecan also use the following clerical spellswith the efficacy of a 20th-level cleric:Cure Light Wounds, Cure Disease, Neu-tralize Poison, Detect Evil, Protectionfrom Evil, Dispel Magic, Dispel Evil, Re-move Curse, Tongues, True Seeing,Commune, Continual Light, ControlWeather, and Wind Walk.

His body regenerates all non-fataldamage, as an ogre mage.

Kung Sun Sheng is sometimes (50%)accompanied by an assistant, Fan Lui,“King Of The Devils Who Roil The Earth,”a 6th-level illusionist/5th-level magic-user (without the clerical or psionic pow-ers of Kung Sun Sheng).

Tai Chung“The Magic Messenger”ARMOR CLASS: 8MOVE: 18”/48”HIT POINTS: 65NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: SpeedMAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%SIZE: MALIGNMENT: Neutral goodCLERIC/DRUID: See belowFIGHTER: 7th level fighterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: See belowMONK/BARD: 3rd level monkPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS: 16 I: 17 W: 18 D: 18 C: 18 CH: 15

Tai Chung is in command of message-bearing and espionage activities for theRighteous Robbers, owing to his intel-lect, his reliable character, and a veryspecial power: If he writes an invocationto the Chinese gods on two pieces ofpaper, then ties the papers to his legs, hecan then run at two times the rate achiev-ed by Boots of Speed. He can do this allday without more fatigue than a day’seasy walking would cause; and, with anextra pair of papers, he can confer thesame ability on one companion.

There are only two stipulations to theuse of this power: Tai Chung, and anyonehe takes along, must live on a vegetarian

Dragon

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Dragondiet with no intoxicants, for the durationof the journey; and when the journey iscompleted, the magic papers must beburned as an offering to the gods whomade the magic work. (Tai Chung canalways produce new ones.) The DMshould think of some amusing curses toimpose upon any character who uses themagic papers and breaks the rules.

Although Tai Chung is not a spell-caster in the usual sense, he can read allmagical writing, and has a chance of be-ing able to use clerical spells written onscrolls (60% for lst-level spells, 50% for2nd-level spells, 40% for 3rd-level spells,etc.).

Chang Shun“White Stripe In The Waves”ARMOR CLASS: 6MOVE: 12’//18”HIT POINTS: 50NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: MALIGNMENT: Neutral goodMONK/BARD: 6th level monkPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS: 16 I: 14 W: 12 D: 18 C: 18 CH: 12

Chang Shun is the man to ask for if aparty anticipates an aquatic adventure;

he is the foremost boatman and diveramong the followers of Sung Chiang.While not actually able to breathe water,he can hold his breath underwater for aslong as 2-5 days! He can also swim as amerman, and can see underwater as if hewere wearing a Helm of Underwater Ac-tion. In any kind of melee in water, healways gains the initiative, and doesnormal damage instead of being impededby the water.

Chang Shun is a good-natured man,slow to take offense and not usuallyprone to the unthinking bloodlust thatsometimes possesses his fellow robbers(especially the one next to be described).

Li K’uei“The Black Whirlwind”ARMOR CLASS: 10MOVE: 12”HIT POINTS: 90NO. OF ATTACKS:2DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: MALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutralFIGHTER: 18th /eve/ fighterPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS: 18(80) I: 8 W: 4 D: 13 C: 14 CH: 6

Li K’uei’s only extraordinary accom-plishments are in eating, drinking, and

Vol. VI, No. 4

killing. His preferred mode of fighting isunarmored, wielding two battleaxes atonce. When he is angry (in 75% of allcombat situations), he can fight at ber-serk speed for 4-16 melee rounds with-out feeling tired afterwards.

Li K’uei is the Sir Gawain of this Chi-nese Round Table, a Jekyll-Hyde per-sonality wavering between kindness andcruelty. He generally adheres to theprinciple of robbing only the wicked andgiving to the poor; persons approachinghim in a peaceful moment with a tale ofmisfortune can move him to a positivelymaudlin sympathy.

But if his pride is affronted, or his Co-nanesque appetite for meat and alcoholis frustrated, he becomes irrationally vio-lent. Worse, he is the most likely of all therobbers to start murdering noncombat-ants when filled with battle frenzy (90%base chance; reduced to 45% if TaiChung, whom he respects, is present torestrain him; 30% if Sung Chiang himselfis present). Whenever the somewhat Mach-iavellian minds of Sung Chiang and WuYung devise a plan that calls for crude,merciless violence, Li K’uei is bound tobe included in it.

Shih Hsiu“The One Who Heeds Not His Life”ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVE: 21”HIT POINTS: 50NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: MALIGNMENT: Neutral good (lawful

tendencies)MONK/BARD: 8th level monkPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS: 17 I: 17 W: 12 D: 18 C: 18 CH: 17

Though his comrades sometimes failto live up to their noble ideals, Shih Hsiuremains constantly altruistic. He will al-ways be willing to assist characters ofgood alignment, especially if he seesthem as underdogs against unfair odds.He values the safety of friends above hisown welfare, and although he is notwholly incapable of caution, he is abso-lutely immune to the adverse effects offear. Thus, Fear spells, Phantasmal Kil-lers and the like are ineffective againsthim.

This incarnate star of Heaven is so de-voted to promoting justice that if hecomes upon any innocent person in im-mediate danger from evildoers, and if nomore powerful rescuer is at hand, he willtemporarily gain four levels of monkishcombat ability, functioning as a Masterof the East Wind for 5-20 melee rounds.Also, although it is not a customarymonkish weapon, Shih Hsiu has a shortsword which he wields with +3 hit proba-

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October 1981 Dragonbility. During his period of increasedcombat ability, this sword has a 75%chance of instantly killing or disablingany person it hits, as Shih Hsiu desires.

A few other incarnate stars deserve abrief mention:

Hua Yung, “The Little Li Kuan” (nick-named for a more ancient Chinese hero):A superb (17th level) mounted archer,having +4 hit probability and 25% addedrange with any kind of bow. Wheneverhis shot hits, it will have one of the follow-ing results, whichever Hua Yung desires:(1) an extra die of damage; (2) opponentdeprived of a weapon or other hand-heldobject; or (3) opponent disabled in onelimb.

Wu Sung, “The Hairy Priest”: A 15th-level fighter/7th-level monk who, in timesof great danger, acquires the strength ofa stone giant for 3-18 melee rounds. For-tunately, Wu Sung is one of the mostpatient and even-tempered of the Right-eous Robbers.

Shih Ch’ien, “Flea On A Drum”: Thehighest-ranking (10th level) true thiefamong the inhabitants of Liang ShanP’o, he sometimes reverts to normalthievish behavior and steals from per-sons of good alignment (cumulative 5%likelihood for every turn in which temp-tation exists and none of his more virtu-ous colleagues is present to restrainhim). He has the ability to high-jump as if

he were wearing a pair of Boots of being supernatural in nature, are able toLeaping. injure weapon-resistant creatures such

The Goodwife Hu, “The Ten Foot as demons and devils even without theGreen Snake”: A 10th-level fighter, fore- use of magic weapons.most among the handful of female war- As for the 10,000 or more ordinaryriors in Sung Chiang’s band. She fights mortals dwelling on Liang Shan P’o, 45%on horseback, using two swords at once. will be low-level fighters, 20% will beShe is married to another chieftain, Wang low-level thieves, and 35% will be non-Ying, “The Dwarf Tiger,” whom she once combatants, mostly women and children.defeated in a duel. None will possess any sort of magic.

Ling Chen, “Thunder That Shakes The Using the Righteous Robbers is sureHeavens”: A specialist in the design and to help any DM who wants to extend ause of siege engines and rockets. campaign beyond the usual quasi-Euro-

Siao Jang, “The Magic Scribe”: A pean milieu; players getting a feel forscholar able to decipher obscure lan- Oriental heroics will be encouraged toguages and forge any type of document. devote more study to the Asian mon-

An Tao Ch’uan, “The Magic Physi- sters, weapon types, etc. that have pre-cian”: A physician and alchemist, able to viously been offered for AD&D use, increate by himself potions of a healing DRAGON™ magazine and elsewhere.nature. What’s more, the divine origin of Sung

Chiang and his 107 partners could fur-There remain 92 of the incarnate stars nish jaded, long-time campaigners with

to be accounted for. The DM is welcome a pretext for action on the outer planes!to read All Men Are Brothers if he or shewishes to know all of their names andpersonalities; but for gaming purposes,those described here should be morethan enough to depict as individuals. Forthe rest, assume that about 20 are monksof 4th-7th level, the others fighters of5th-20th level, with half of the fightersbeing trained to fight on horseback.Only about 1 in 15 Robbers will possessa magic weapon. However, it can be jus-tifiably ruled that the Righteous Robbers,

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

INTRODUCTIONSAGE ADVICE offers answers to questions about the D&D®

and AD&D™ rules and how those rules can be interpreted. Theanswers provided in this column are not official rulings, andshould not be considered as such by people who make use ofthe answers to solve a problem in their game-playing.

Because of the great amount of questions received for SAGEADVICE, the sage cannot guarantee to send out individualanswers to questioners, even if a return envelope is enclosed.Questions and answers will be published in DRAGON™ maga-zine as frequently and as promptly as space permits. Preferenceis usually given to questions of a general nature, or questionspertaining to a specific aspect of the rules, instead of questionswhich pertain to something that happened in a certain adven-ture, unless the latter type of question can be answered in agenerally useful way. Questions should be mailed to SAGEADVICE, c/o DRAGON magazine, P.O. Box 110, Lake GenevaWI 53147.

* * *

A character with a vorpal sword decapitated an iron golem.This would negate the golem’s special attack of poisonous gas,wouldn’t it? Or can the golem still see and use its breath weaponafter it is decapitated?

Decapitating a golem does not necessarily render the crea-ture helpless or harmless. In essence, it turns the golem into twoseparate monsters. The body is still able to function, and willcontinue to attempt to carry out the wishes of its creator.Whether or not the body can “see” after the head is severeddepends on your interpretation of how a golem “sees” in the firstplace. It is possible that the golem is magically empowered todetect the presence of a threat, and doesn’t really need the“eyes” in its head to find its way around. It is also reasonable totreat a headless golem as a creature which has been blinded,and apply the appropriate penalties on the monster’s “to hit,”saving throw, and armor class figures.

And what about the head? It, too, remains “alive” and func-tional, although it is immobile and the effectiveness of its breathweapon is drastically reduced. To determine the position andplacement of the fallen head, the DM can roll d4 or d6 for thedirection in which the top of the head points, and d4 again todetermine which surface (face, back, either side) is pointingdown. The breath weapon will continue to function once every 7rounds, and the cloud of gas will still expand to fill a 1” x 1” x 1”volume directly in front of the source. But since the head is notcapable of independent movement, it should be a simple matterto keep away from it when it’s about to discharge.

In a case such as this, DM’s must decide how to apportion hitpoints between the two parts. The iron golem’s head must stillbe “defeated” to stop the expulsion of the poisonous gas; it willretain a certain fraction of the golem’s current hit points when itis severed, and it will still have all the general properties (+3 orbetter to hit, etc.) the creature normally has.

A lich is said to use a combination of will power, enchant-ments, arcane magic, a phylactery and larva essence to main-tain undead status. What exactly are the processes involved inbecoming a lich and maintaining that status?

There is no “ultimate recipe” for becoming a lich, just as thereis no universal way of making a chocolate cake. Only thosethings which are generally true are stated in the AD&D rules-amagic-user or cleric gains undead status through “force of will”(the desire to be a lich, coupled with magical assistance) andthereafter has to maintain that status by special effort, employ-ing “conjurations, enchantments and a phylactery” (from thelich description in the Monster Manual). The essence of larvae,mentioned as one of the ingredients in the process (in the MMdescription of larvae) might be used as a spell component, ormight be an integral part of the phylactery: Exactly what it is, andwhat it is used for, is left to be defined by characters and the DM,if it becomes necessary to have specific rules for making a lich.

Several combinations of spells might trigger or release theenergy needed to transform a magic-user or m-u/cleric into alich; exactly which combination of magic is required or pre-ferred in a certain campaign is entirely up to the participants.The subject has been addressed in an article in DRAGON maga-zine (“Blueprint for a Lich,” by Len Lakofka, in #26), but that“recipe” was offered only as a suggestion and not as a flatstatement of the way it’s supposed to be done.

No matter what ingredients and procedures are defined in any“recipe” for a lich, it should be virtually (if not completely)impossible for a player character to perform the process onhimself — and if the attempt at becoming a lich does succeed,the character should no longer be allowed to operate as a playercharacter. A character might have a long and prosperous exist-ence as a lich, but would not be able to be considered anadventuring character — in fact, there would be no reason orincentive for a player-character lich to be an adventurer, be-cause experience points are meaningless to a character whocan’t rise in levels and gain new abilities. Besides, who knowshow much time it takes to maintain lich status? Maybe a lichplayer character would have to spend all his time working tomaintain lich-hood, with no time left to “enjoy” the fruits of hislabor.

* * *

Are liches or vampires destroyed or damaged by sunlight ortorchlight? What other undead, if any, are adversely affected byexposure to sunlight or some other bright light source?

From the various descriptions of the undead monsters in theMonster Manual, it appears that only the vampire, the spectreand the wraith are adversely affected by light — and even then,the light must be actual sunlight or at least a light source ofdaylight-level intensity. The light from a torch or a lantern, or aLight spell, or a small-scale “fire” spell such as Flame Arrow, isnot bright enough to be harmful.

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October 1981 Dragon

The status of wights is questionable; wraiths are said to be“similar in nature to wights,” and wraiths have no power in fullsunlight, but wights are only said to “hate sunlight,” leavingunanswered the question of whether they are harmed by it. Thesage recommends that wights be treated differently fromwraiths, because the wight is a weaker type of undead with lessof a “link” to the negative material plane than the wraith, and it isthe wraith’s strong connection to the eternal darkness of thenegative material plane that makes the creature so vulnerable tobright light.

All of the undead prefer to lurk about in darkness. Ghosts andshadows especially like places where light does not shine, butdaylight doesn’t bother them if they have to put up with it. Alich’s hidden chambers are “very dark,” says the MM, but ob-viously the lich has powers even in an illuminated area; other-wise, how could anyone flee in fear of something they can’t see?Same goes for the ghost, whose power to cause aging and paniccan’t be effective unless the victim has at least enough light tosee by. The other types of undead — ghasts, ghouls, skeletons,mummies, and zombies — are not affected by the presence oflight.

While we’re on the subject, exactly what is “some other brightlight source” — what will produce the effect of daylight whensunlight is not available? For one thing, a Continual Light spell,which is said to be “nearly as illuminating as full daylight.” Butdoes a Continual Light suffice as a replacement for actual sun-light? The sage’s suggestion here is that Continual Light shouldbe effective in rendering wraiths and spectres powerless, butthat only actual sunlight (“direct sunlight,” in the words of theMM, is able to make a vampire helpless. Artificial sunlight, evenif created magically, has no effect upon the creature which theMM calls “the most dreaded of the chaotic evil undead.”

As with any general guidelines, the ones stated above haveexceptions: For instance, the “sunburst” effect of a Wand ofillumination does “light”damage to any undead within its range.It’s up to the DM to known when these exceptions should takeprecedence.

Are there other light-producing magics that equal or surpassa Continual Light spell in intensity? Yes, but most of them areflame-producing (Flame Strike, a Wand of Fire, a Produce firespell, a fire Storm, and so forth) as opposed to light-producing,and thus might be disallowed as a “light source” for the purposeof immobilizing an undead. Similarly, a Lightning Bolt spell orthe use of a Gem of Brightness produces a flash of light brightenough to blind, and it is certainly brighter than normal daylight.But in most cases, the extremely short duration of the “lightblast” makes it unlikely that a DM would allow such things to beused as light sources.

* * *

Will a Defect Evil spell be effective on a demon polymorphedas a man?

Yes, the spell will reveal emanations of evil in such a case.Some demons (Demogorgon, Orcus, Yeenoghu, Types Ill-V)have ability equivalent to a Polyrnorph Self spell; however, thatspell does not alter the personality and mentality of the creaturewhich is polymorphed. The evil nature of a demon would beapparent to the caster of a Detect Evil spell even if the demonwas disguised as a lawful good being.

* * *

Does the Rod of Asmodeus only absorb 50 spell levels, like aregular Rod of Absorption, or is its power greater than that? Isthe Rod an artifact or relic? How about Geryon’s horn?

Because the Rod of Asmodeus “acts as a rod of absorption,”we assume that it can absorb up to 50 spell levels in a single use(or in one encounter). Because the rod belongs to and is con-trolled by Asmodeus, we can assume that a powerful, magicalbeing such as he is capable of recharging it (unlike a normal rod,

which cannot be recharged) after a reasonable interval of time(perhaps a day) has passed since it was last charged up. Thisinterpretation makes the Rod of Asmodeus infinitely powerful,as far as its absorbing ability is concerned, but it also places alimit on how much of the absorption power can be employedwithin a certain time span.

No, neither the Rod of Asmodeus nor Geryon’s horn is anartifact or relic. Apparently, this question is derived from the factthat the wand used by Orcus is included on the artifacts andrelics list in the Dungeon Masters Guide. However, the wand is aspecial case; as stated in the item’s description, it exists as anartifact because Orcus sometimes chooses to let it appear onthe prime material plane to further the cause of chaos and evil.Devils, being lawful evil instead of chaotic evil, do not have sucha “carefree” attitude about their precious items (such as the rodand the horn) and will not willingly part with them in such afashion. Thus, the only way the Rod of Asmodeus or the horn ofGeryon, or any other-devil’s favorite weapon, can be encoun-tered is when encountering the devil himself.

* * *

If an erinyes (30% magic resistance) is out to get a 27th-levelmagic-user, and the character casts an attack spell, would theerinyes make a magic-resistance roll at a minus?

No. Rolls for magic resistance are never made “at a minus.” Asdefined in the explanation of magic resistance in the front of theMonster Manual; any spell cast against an erinyes by an 11th-level character has a 30% chance of absolutely failing. For eachlevel of the spell-caster above 11th, the chance of shell failuredecreases by 5%, which means that a 17th-level spell-caster (orone of any higher level) will automatically be able to negate themagic resistance of the erinyes. The lowest effective magicresistance that a creature can ever have is 0%, not a minusnumber.

* * *

Concerning combat with vampires: I am not certain how theuse of wooden stakes is accomplished; and, is it possible to kill avampire permanently by the use of a magic weapon?

Can a cleric create water inside a non-living object? If so, whatwould happen if water is created inside a vampire?

Much of the details in any encounter with a vampire mustnecessarily depend on the nature of the particular encounter-it’s impossible to define the “best” way to combat a vampire,but some general rules apply. The “use of wooden stakes” isfairly straightforward: The vampire must be in its corporeal bodyand it must be rendered helpless by some means other thanreduction of hit points (because when a vampire reaches zerohit points, it assumes gaseous form). Exposure to direct sunlightwill kill a vampire after one turn, and during that turn the crea-ture is helpless. That seems like a good time to hammer home astake, or it could be done at any other time when the vampire isimmobilized in its corporeal body.

No, it is not possible to permanently kill a vampire with magicweapons. As stated above, a vampire will become gaseous whenit is reduced to zero hit points. Magic weapons are fine forweakening the creature, but some other means must be used toapply the killing blow.

The question about creating water inside a vampire apparent-ly comes from the mention in the Monster Manual that a vampirecan be killed by immersion in running water. Unfortunately, theAD&D rules do not address the question of whether an undeadcreature is considered “living” for the purpose of casting CreateWater. The intent of the rules, however, is made clear by thedescription in the DMG (p. 43) of the druidic version of the spell:“It is not possible to cast the spell upon a creature” (presumablyincluding an undead creature) “and create liquid in any part ofits body.” In any event, creating water inside a vampire would

21

Dragonnot have the desired (harmful to the vampire) effect, since theliquid is not running water, as it would be if it came from a streamor a spigot.

* * *

Do undead breathe, and could they live on an airless world?No, they don’t, and yes, they could. This is an instance where

undead can and should be considered different from “living”creatures. Undead have a “life” of a sort, but they are not “alive.”Their bodies do not require food, water and air to sustain them-selves like ours do.

* * *

Can paladins contract lycanthropy?

Will the rotting caused by Demogorgon have an effect onmonks of fifth level or higher, since they are immune to disease?

Yes, a paladin can become a lycanthrope. Yes, a high-levelmonk can be affected by Demogorgon’s rot-disease attack. Theimmunity to disease that is enjoyed by paladins and by monks offifth level or higher applies only to “natural” diseases, such asthose listed in the table on page 14 of the DMG, and not to“unnatural” diseases such as those caused by the attack ortouch of a monster. The same thing goes for the rotting diseasetransmitted by a mummy or the “disease” caused by the spreadof green slime, for instance.

* * *

The Monster Manual says that demons and devils are affectedby iron and silver weapons but then it says that magic weaponsare needed to hit certain demons and devils. Do iron and silverweapons damage these creatures?

The forms of attacks which affect all demons and devils arelisted in the general descriptions for each type of creature.Everything in the list applies to every creature of that type; inother words, a demon which is described as only being vulnera-ble to magic weapons is also vulnerable to iron weapons, eventhe non-magical type. A demon will take no damage from a silverweapon, unless the demon is a type which is vulnerable tonon-magical weapons, in which case a silver weapon will havethe same damage potential as a similar weapon made of anyother substance.

The situation is reversed for devils; all devils are vulnerable tosilver weapons, even those who are otherwise only able to be hitby magic weapons, and no devil can be damaged by an ironweapon unless that devil is vulnerable to non-magical weapons.

* * *

When a character attacks a skeleton with a piercing weapon,

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Vol. VI, No. 4

is the character’s strength-damage adjustment added to thenumber of points of damage inflicted on the creature?

Skeletons take half damage from attacks by sharp weapons-in other words, half of the points of damage that would havebeen suffered by a creature which does not have that partialprotection. The result of the attack is computed normally, thebonus to damage (if any) is added to the full result, and then thedamage points are halved. For example, a character withstrength 18 (+2 to damage) hits a skeleton with his long swordand does 4 points of damage with the weapon. The skeleton willtake 3 points of damage from that attack (4 + 2 equals 6, dividedby 2 equals 3), as opposed to the 6 points of damage it wouldinflict on a creature which is fully vulnerable to edged weapons.

* * *

Are demons and devils immune to Sleep and Charm spells,just like the undead are?

Not exactly, although the end result is about the same. Dem-ons and devils are not by nature immune to Sleep and Charmspells- except for the manes and lemures, which are specifical-ly described as being immune to both those types of magic. Therest of the ranks don’t need to be “made” immune to Sleep spells— they already are, because the spell only affects creatures ofup to 4+4 hit dice, and none of the demons or devils (except formanes and lemures) has a hit-dice figure lower than 5+5.

Demons and devils are technically vulnerable to the effects ofa Charm Monster spell, but the percentages aren’t exactly infavor of the character who tries to use such a spell -and keep itworking after it is cast. Considering the magic resistance ofdemons and devils, plus the fact that they get a saving throwagainst the spell even if their magic resistance fails, plus the factthat they can successfully “break” the charm after it is cast, theodds are definitely against the spell caster. For example, con-sider an 11th-level magic-user trying to snare a “lowly” Type Idemon with Charm Monster: The demon has a 50% chance(magic resistance) of being unaffected, a 35% chance to make asaving throw vs. the spell even if its magic resistance fails, and a45% chance per week thereafter of snapping out of it. That alladds up to less than an 18% chance that the spell will succeedand be effective for longer than one week. The chance of suc-cess is a lot lower for the most powerful demons and devils, andit would not be improper for a DM to simply rule that the “bignames” (Demogorgon, Juiblex, Orcus, Yeenoghu, Asmodeus,Baalzebul, Dispater, Geryon) are effectively immune to thespell. The idea of being able to bring one of the demon princesor arch-devils under control by means of a mere 4th-level spell ishard to accept.

* * *

What are the exact effects of the succubus’ energy-drainingpower? What is an “energy level”?

Quite simply, an energy level is equivalent to a level of exper-ience. Losing an experience level means losing a number ofexperience points which will bring the victim down to the lowestpossible point total allowable for the next lowest level. Example:A 4th-level fighter with 15,000 experience points get a big smackfrom a succubus, turning him into a 3rd-level fighter with 4,001experience points.

As specified in the Monster Manual description of the vam-pire, a loss in energy level also requires “corresponding lossesin hit dice, ability level, attack level, etc.” In the case of ourunfortunate fighter, the loss in level would also mean the loss ofone weapon proficiency and the loss of any other abilities orcharacteristics he received simply by virtue of being 4th level.The loss does not include personal possessions, and does notinvolve a mandatory decrease in an ability score.

Dragon

On an alternate prime material plane,on a counterpart of the planet Mercury,is a country peopled by various human-like beings unlike those described in theAD&D™ rules. Some of these beings areknown as demons, though they have norelation whatsoever to the demons of theAbyss in an AD&D game, and they tendto be fervently lawful good in nature.Their mountainous kingdom by theshores of a great sea is fertile, wealthyand free. They are ruled by Lord Juss, hisbrothers Spitfire and Goldry Bluszco,and their cousin Lord Brandoch Daha.They are the greatest warriors of theircountry, all wise and skillful in the arts ofwar, horsemanship, and sailing. Like alldemons, these four Lords have smallhorns upon their heads (not used forfighting, however); otherwise they close-ly resemble normal humans.

These four Lords are aristocratic andcourteous in temperament, always treat-ing their most dire enemies with honor.Their language and manner of speakingis rich and archaic in flavor, and conveystheir noble status clearly. They are fondof jests and may make humorous com-mentary even under the most tryingcircumstances. Demons do not lie; theytend to be extraordinarily brave andfearless, standing up against the mostdangerous opponents with confidence.These traits are magnified further in thefour Lords described here.

The four Demon Lords have alabaster-white skins, adorned with mustachesand neatly trimmed beards, and dress inbeautiful and valuable garments. Eachhas a set of golden byrny equivalent to+3 chainmail, and each wears an Amuletof Protection from Enchanted or Con-jured Monsters, made by Lord Juss.

October 1981

E.R. Eddison’sFOUR LORDS OF DEMONLAND

Lord Juss Lord Spitfire Lord Goldry Lord BrandochBluszco Daha

l5th-level fighter I6th-level fighter 2Oth-level fighter 18th-level fighter14th-level m-u

ALIGN. Lawful Good Lawful Good Lawful Good Lawful GoodHIT POINTS 105 117 149 132AC -5 -1 -2 -3NO. ATT. 2 2 2DAM/ATT. 1-8(+6) 1-8(+7) 1-10(+11) 1-8(+9)HIT BONUS +5 +5 +7 +6MOVE 12” 12” 12” 12”PSIONICS Nil Nil Nil NilSTR 18/51 18/89 19 18/00INT 18/98 15 15 16WIS 18/97 14 16 15DEX 18/21 17 18/85 18/00CON 16 17 19 18/87CHA 19 18/23 18/97 18/92

Lord Juss is Demonland’s King, thewisest and most intelligent of all demons.He is the eldest of the four lords, havingthe appearance of a man in his early 30’s(the rest look like they are in their late20’s). He has light brown-gold hair andviolet eyes. He wears a x3 Cloak ofProtection, made by sylphs, that onlyfunctions for lawful good characters. Inbattle he uses a +3 longsword.

Lord Juss is an excellent judge ofcharacter, correctly recognizing another

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Vol. VI, No. 4 Dragonperson’s general alignment and person-ality traits after only a few minutes ofconversation. Though he is skilled as amagic-user, he chooses not to use histalents often, since magic is not highlyregarded by the demons of this world.Sometimes he may have dreams in whicha clue to a puzzle or dilemma is given forhim to act upon.

Lord Spitfire is somewhat rash andimpulsive but very daring, and may wellbe the first of the demons to draw hissword for battle (which he dearly loves).His hair is bright yellow. Like his olderbrother, he uses a +3 longsword in battle,and is an outstanding commander.

Lord Goldry Bluszco ranks as theworld’s greatest warrior and captainsDemonland’s armies. Some compare hisdark brown hair, physique and appear-

ance to those of a god. Immensely strong,he is an unexcelled wrestler. On his clo-thing are usually found patterns and de-signs with heart-shapes, since the heartis his personal symbol. In battle he usesa +4 two-handed sword made for him byelves. In some ways, though his brotherJuss is a better ruler, Goldry is moreloved by the beings of Demonland thanany other Lord.

Lord Brandoch Daha is tall and thin inbuild. He has golden hair and possessesa strange, almost feminine grace andstyle that leads many opponents to un-derestimate his fighting prowess. He isthe second most powerful warrior ofDemonland and the world, living in aprovince some distance from his cou-sins. He appears amused in the face ofenemies, seeming to have little regardfor them as opponents; his smile and his

manner of playing with his sword hilt canmake one very uncomfortable. He uses a+3 longsword in combat.

Moreso than the other Lords, Bran-doch Daha is prone to fall for beautifulwomen and is lusty in nature — as muchas a lawful good person can be.

Although highly unlikely, it is possiblefor these Lords to be encountered onplanes and universes other than theirown, perhaps when they are on someform of quest for the sake of their king-dom and homes. When they behave asfriends, their aid cannot be matched; asenemies, they may well be the last onesan adversary will ever have.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: The Worm Ourobo-ros (paperback, Ballantine Books) by E.R. Eddison.

Written by Roger E. Moore

Ursula K. LeGuin’sGAVERAL ROCANNON

11th-level Fighter

ALIGNMENT: Lawful GoodHIT POINTS: 92ARMOR CLASS: 10 (Special; see below)NO. OF ATTACKS: 3/2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8 (+1)MOVE: 12”PSIONIC ABILITY: 310

Attack/Defense Modes: None/allSTRENGTH: 16INTELLIGENCE: 17WISDOM: 17DEXTERITY: 14CONSTITUTION: 15CHARISMA: 19/17

Gaveral Rocannon is an ethnographicscientist for the League of All Worlds, aninterstellar federation of human-popula-ted worlds in the Galaxy. At the age of 43he was made director of a survey teamcharged with the exploration of an un-named world possessing a number ofmedieval-culture humanoid races. Justas he and the rest of his team werepreparing to leave the planet and reportback to the League, their starship wasattacked and all but Rocannon, who waswith the castle-dwelling Liuar folk, werekilled.

By listening to his radio, Rocannonlearned that the world had been invadedby troops from another League planet,now in open rebellion and planning touse this world as their secret raidingbase.

Rocannon vowed to take vengeancefor the deaths of his friends. He set offwith a Liuar friend, Lord Mogien, to findand somehow destroy the secret star-base. On the way they were joined byother adventurers who had the samedesire: Kyo, an elf-like being whosevillage was destroyed by the invaders;Yahn, a Liuar man who became Rocan-

non’s henchman; and several other Liuarwarriors.

The party rode windsteeds to theirdestination. These are great catlike,winged beasts that could be ridden inflight. Treat them as AD&D tigers, mov-ing at 48” flying unmounted and 36”mounted. They are grey, black or whitein color, with dark stripes, and can hoverin flight.

The party fought their way throughbarbarians, bandits, and angelic-like vam-pires across two continents. When theyreached the last great mountain chainbetween them and the starbase, onlyRocannon, Mogien, and Yahan were left.

It was in these mountains that Rocan-non was changed forever. One night hemet a small, elderly being by a well insidea cave. Rocannon was allowed to drinkfrom the well; from this and the teachingsof the elderly being (called an Ancient

25

One), he developed his latent psionictalents.

As Rocannon and his men were leavingthe mountains they were attacked by aninvader’s helicopter. Rocannon’s righthand was permanently crippled by laserfire. Lord Mogien flew his windsteed intothe helicopter and destroyed it, but washimself slain. This, the loss of Rocan-non’s closest friend, was the unknownprice the Ancient One had said he wouldhave to pay for fulfillment of his desire todestroy the starbase. Unconscious,Rocannon was carried down from themountains to a Liuar country by Yahan.

After he recovered, Rocannon set outfor the starbase alone. Using his psionictalents, he infiltrated its defenses andsent a message on a starship communi-cator to the League, calling down anattack on the base by faster-than-lightstarships. He quickly fled the base, andshortly thereafter it was destroyed. Ro-cannon returned to the Liuar countryand became their ruler.

Rocannon is known to the Liuar as theWanderer, Olhor, a being whose comingwas prophesied in legends. The know-ledge that he has met with an AncientOne, the tales of his invulnerability (dueto his impermasuit, described below),his dauntless courage, and his apparent-ly single-handed destruction of the rebelstarbase and its forces have all combinedwith his own naturally high charisma togive him an effective charisma of 19 tothe Liuar and all associated peoples. Bynature he is honest, thoughtful, andpeaceable.

After his return from destroying thestarbase, Rocannon married a widowedqueen of the Liuar and gave her a jewelednecklace that he’d carried all through hisadventures: The Eye of the Sea is a hugesapphire on a golden chain, worth about50,000 gp. Rocannon still owns hisimpermasuit, an extremely advancedform of personal armor so thin as to be

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

invisible and skintight. He will wear thissuit when preparing for battle. It com-pletely protects him from radiation,weather, all heat or cold attacks, poisongases, electricity and acids. Up to 100points of physical damage per round areabsorbed by the suit, with damage inexcess of this being taken from Rocan-non’s own hit points. He may move atnormal speed in this suit. Rocannoncarries a longsword and rides a wind-steed with more hit points than most ofits type.

Rocannon possesses the psionic dis-

ciplines of Clairaudience, Clairvoyance,Empathy, ESP, Mind Bar, and Telepathy.The first four powers are usable at rangesof up to 20 miles or so without penalty.He may be counted on to use his powersagainst any enemy encampments, elim-inating the possibility of a surprise attackby the opponents. If using his powers,Rocannon will always surprise oppo-nents unless they too are psionic.

Physically, .Rocannon is an attractiveman with pale skin and dark grey hair. Heis not a Terran human, but was born ofanother human-related race called the

Hainish. Those who meet with Rocan-non are left with the impression thatthere is something very different andspecial about him, and there will be thefeeling that he is not one of this world.The DM can, of course, assume thatRocannon’s adopted world is that of thecurrent D&D campaign.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Rocannon’s World(paperback, Ace Books) by Ursula K.LeGuin.

Written by Roger E. Moore

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October 1981 Dragon

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Created by Roger E. Moore

FREQUENCY: Very rareNUMBER APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 3MOVE: 12”HIT DICE: ½% IN LAIR: 10%TREASURE TYPE: J, K, L on individualNO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 7-3SPECIAL ATTACKS: SpellsSPECIAL DEFENSES: Never surprised; save as

9th-level clericMAGIC RESISTANCE: As aboveINTELLIGENCE: Average to lowALIGNMENT: See below SIZE: S (1½’ tall)PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

When, for any reason, an alignment changebrownie, the formerly lawful good creature is transformed into aboggart, or “boggie.” Boggarts are solitary little creatures, withextraordinary senses and dexterity (just as thethey are not surprised and have 18 dexterity with acapabilities) and may also become effectively invisible in natur-ral terrain because of their skills at hiding.

do; three times a day a boggart may shapechange,hideous form that will cause a save vs. fear, at +2, forit. In their normal shape, boggarts are small, hairy folk, some-thing like a miniature bugbear. They have dark tanbrown fur, with light nut-brown skin on their hands, feet (solesonly), and faces.

Boggarts do not possess the same spell powers as brownies

Boggarts enjoy creating mischief, but can beand aren’t very wise at all. A randomly encountered boggart canbe chaotic neutral (60%), chaotic evil (20%), trueor neutral evil (5%). Evil ones may be found as servants ofassassins. Neutral (with respect to good and evil) boggarts cansometimes be found living with families in cottages, more or lessas pets, occasionally harassing the occupants with (usually)harmless practical jokes.

Boggarts speak only their alignment tongue, boggart (a cor-

rupted form of the brownie language, understandable by 50% ofall brownies) and common. The change from brownie-to bog-gart is reversible only by a Wish spell. If a brownie was a familiarto a lawful good or lawful neutral magic-user before the change,he will become hard to manage (at best) in boggart form and willrun away.

StroanCreated by Ed Greenwood

FREQUENCY: RareNO. APPEARING: 1-3ARMOR CLASS: 5MOVE: 4”//10”HIT DICE: 5x5 to 7x7% IN LAIR: 70%TREASURE TYPE: F, I, QNO. OF ATTACKS: 1 plus spines (x4)

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poison spinesSPECIAL DEFENSES: Darkness spellMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: Average to highALIGNMENT: NeutralSIZE: LPSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Stroan are large freshwater creatureswho often dwell in small inland pools orstreams, foraging throughout the sur-rounding countryside for food. Omni-vorous, stroan dine with equal voracity

on plants, meat, and carrion of all types,but are especially fond of elven flesh. Forconcealment, stroan usually remain un-derwater by day and emerge onto dryland only at night, but they also possessthe power to cast Darkness 15’ Radius(centered on themselves) once everythree days. Stroan hate even moderatelybright light (such as that caused bytorches and lanterns) and will seek toextinguish such a light source.

Stroan are mottled green and brown(some rare subterranean specimens areblack), and crawl like insects while onland. In water, they can creep along the

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DragonOctober 1981

bottom in like manner, or swim by scul-ling with their legs.

Their sucking bite does 1-6 points ofdamage, but their most feared attack hasgiven them the nickname “fire-stingers”:Each stroan has four poisoned, barbedprehensile spines it can manipulate andthrust with deadly precision. Each spinedoes 1-4 points of damage, and injects aburning poison that does 2-12 points ofdamage (save at +2 for half damage).

Stroan suffer only half damage fromcold. They secrete a body slime whichwill extinguish flames, granting themimmunity to non-magical, low-heat fire.They greatly fear oil, however, because iteats away at their flesh. Oil tossed at astroan will do 2-20 points of damage for adirect hit, and 1-12 for a splash. If thecreature is underwater and the water isstill or has only a weak current, eachflask-worth of oil introduced into the wa-ter will do a maximum of 1-4 points ofdamage to a stroan.

Oil poured into water which does nothave a strong current will dissipate fairlyslowly, rising towards the surface andnot readily dispersing into the water. Inthe first round, it will be found in a 5-foot-radius sphere, and will affect a stroanwithin that distance from the point ofrelease; in the second round, the oil ex-pands to fill a 10-foot-radius sphere; inthe third, a 20-foot-radius sphere; in thefourth, a 30-foot-radius sphere; and in

IncubusCreated by Craig Stenseth

FREQUENCY: Very rareNO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: -2MOVE: 15"/21"HIT DICE: 8% IN LAIR: 15%TREASURE TYPE: Q, UNO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8/2-8SPECIAL ATTACKS: Energy drainSPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better wea-

pon to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%INTELLIGENCE: AverageALIGNMENT: Chaotic EvilSIZE: M (6’-7’ tall)PSIONIC ABILITY: 130

Attack/Defense Modes: D/G

These very rare demons are the malecounterparts of the succubi. Lower intel-ligence makes them weaker spell-users,but they are much more deadly in melee.Any opponent struck by an incubus’claw receives the stated damage andloses a life energy level, this being re-flected in spell use, combat ability, etc.

the fifth and sixth, a 35-foot-radiussphere, the oil being so diffused at thispoint as to do a stroan only half damage(1-2 points).

Stroan are intelligent and will hoardtreasure to lure sentient prey and to bar-gain with powerful foes. Stroan com-municate by a limited form of telepathy,which they can mask at will. They areoften familiar with the symbols and con-ventions of local racial settlements, and

incubi can Cause Darkness in a 5’ ra-dius and Teleport with no error (as anydemon can). They can also become eth-ereal and shapechange (to a humanoidform of approximate size and weight).They have superior infravision, with arange of 90’. An incubus can attempt togate in a Type IV (80% chance) or a TypeVI (20% chance) demon, but the proba-bility of the gate opening is only 25%.

Incubi have an average strength ofabout 18/70, but his never gives themany special “to hit” or damage bonusesin melee. They are quicker and far moreagile than the succubi. Incubi and suc-cubi are very rarely encountered in amixed pair, since succubi sometimeswish to have their spell abilities backedup by physical might. Any time a succu-bus is indicated on an encounter table,roll d%: 01—65 = succubus; 66 — 00 =incubus. The proposed experience-pointvalue for an incubus is 2,275 +10/hp.This can, of course, be altered to suit theDM’s campaign.

Description: Incubi in natural formappear very much like largish humanmales with these differences: Small hornsproject from the sides of the forehead;they have a large pair of bat-like wingsextending from their back, and theirhands are typically clawed; they usuallydress in fairly expensive-looking clothes,and don’t usually use weapons.

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can communicate with adventurers us-ing images of these. Stroan worship adebased form of Eadro (see the DEITIES& DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia), believingthe god to be a gigantic, invisible stroan(“The Father of All Stroan”) who swimsceaselessly through bodies of both saltwater and fresh water, watching overand judging his mortal counterparts.Stroan often sacrifice elves to him, cast-ing them away into fast-flowing currents.

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Beware the

by Mark Nuiver

Lewis Carroll (real name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was a19th-century English mathematician, deacon in the Church ofEngland, poet, and storyteller. His most famous work is Alice’sAdventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, humorous children’s stories(which are enjoyed by adults as well) that are among the mostfamous children’s books in the world.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was originally told as aseries of short stories invented by Dodgson to amuse youngAlice Liddell and her friends. Alice was so enchanted by themthat she asked him to write them down for her. The pages werespotted by a novelist who was visiting the Liddell household,and Dodgson was urged to publish the work.

The Alice books were by no means Dodgson’s first or onlysuccesses, although they are surely his most famous ones. Hewrote several books on mathematics and many poems, more orless successfully. Some of his most famous poems appear in theAlice stories, such as, “Jabberwocky” and “The Walrus and theCarpenter.”

“Jabberwocky” in particular is of special interest. It is essen-tially a “nonsense” poem; most of the words have no meaning inthe English language, though the meanings can be guessed at,and indeed some of them have become common words. Playersof the AD&D™ game will immediately recognize the vorpalblade; this is where the term originated.

The Jabberwock’s description is purposefully left vague in“Jabberwocky,” forcing the reader to use his imagination invisualizing the monster. The Jabberwock as hereafter presentedfor use in an AD&D game is the product of one reader’s imagina-tion. Although it is almost certainly not the creature that LewisCarroll envisioned, it is true to his scanty specifications, and Ihope you’ll find it to be a useful monster.

THE JABBERWOCKFREQUENCY: Very rareNO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 0 head and body; 6 underbelly.MOVE: 9”; 15” when chargingHIT DICE: 10x10 to 12x12% IN LAIR: 25%TREASURE TYPE: F, RNO. OF ATTACKS: 3DAMAGE/ATTACK: 4-16/4-16/3-36SPECIAL ATTACKS: Tail, fearSPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprised on/y on a 1MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardALIGNMENT: Neutral (evil)SIZE: L (45’)PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

The Jabberwock is a huge reptilian beast which inhabits lightforests or broken wastelands. The creatures resemble dragonsin some respects and are occasionally mistaken for them inconditions of poor lighting. Jabberwocks, however, are wing-less and far more ungainly than dragons. They do share thedragon’s interest in hoarding treasure. Jabberwocks are fiercefighters, carnivores by nature, and fond of human meat.

Jabberwocks are solitary beasts, coming together only during

their violent mating season. They hibernate during periods ofintense cold and are most active at brillig. The Jabberwock’s lairis generally found in a cave or underground in a moist, cool, anddark place, since these are the conditions necessary for thematuration of their eggs. Eggs (2-8) are laid after the springmating season, which often only one adult of a pair (fortunatelyfor Jabberwocks, generally the female) survives. The eggs ma-ture and hatch in roughly five years. They are generally laid indifferent places each year, since Jabberwock hatchlings tend toeat unhatched eggs when they can find them.

Jabberwocks gain hit points as dragons do, by age, and ma-ture in the same eight stages that dragons do, each stage re-presenting a period of about 15 years. It is unknown whetherJabberwocks die of old age, since no one has ever been able toobserve one for any length of time in the wilds. Jabberwocks putin captivity always die within a month.

Jabberwocks grow to tremendous size: 30-foot-long bodiesand 15-foot-long tails are not unusual, and a full-grown creaturestands 8 feet tall at the shoulder. The body is protected by thick,muddy green armor plates, while the soft underbelly is protect-ed by its low (2-foot-high) ground clearance, when it is notstanding erect. It attacks via its two forefeet, with claws (the sizeof a short sword) that cause 4-16 points of damage each, and its

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October 1981 Dragon

Jabberwocky Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,And burbled as it came!

‘Twas brillig and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe,

One, two! One, two! And through and throughThe vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its headHe went galumphing back.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shunThe frumious Bandersnatch!”

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous days! Callooh! Callay!”He chortled in his joy.

He took his vorpal sword in hand:Long time the manxome foe he sought — ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

So rested he by the Tumtum tree, Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:And stood awhile in thought. All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.And, as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, — by Lewis Carroll

huge mouth which can swallow a human-sized being whole. Ona roll of 20 which hits, the victim is swallowed and suffers instantdeath from digestive juices which can dissolve a human body inseconds. Larger beings can be partly swallowed, causing dou-ble damage and the loss of a limb (determined at random),which usually proves fatal.

A Jabberwock’s eyes glow like flames, giving off a faint light inthe dark. Gazing upon the eyes and failing a saving throw vs.paralyzation causes fear in creatures of less than 4+1 hit dice.Those that fail the saving throw are rooted to the spot as ifparalyzed for 2-8 rounds unless they make a subsequent savingthrow, in which case they will run in terror for 1-4 turns. Addi-tionally, the whiffling noise made by a charging Jabberwock isgreatly feared by horses and will cause them to throw theirriders and flee.

from approximately a mile away. The creatures hate and fearsuch weapons, the hate winning out in most cases. A Jabber-wock will seek out the wielder of a vorpal blade and stalk himthrough all manner of terrain, waiting until the sword’s ownersets it aside or is asleep. Then it will charge the party, ignoringall other threats to its safety, attempting to vanquish the vorpalsword’s owner before the blade can be put into action. Shouldthe Jabberwock slay all of the party and gain possession of thesword, it will dispose of it in the bottom of a quicksand pit orsome other inaccessible place.

Opponents to the rear of the creature will be attacked by theJabberwock’s spiky tail, which is constantly weaving back andforth to prevent attacks from behind. The tail will attack 1 oppo-nent at a time (randomly determined if more than one is withinits 15-foot range), attack at -2 to hit and do 2-24 damage.

Description: The Jabberwock is heavily armor-plated every-where except its soft underbelly. Its four-footed body is darkmuddy green above and a pale yellow below. The head isshaped somewhat like an alligator’s, while the remainder of thebody is like a desert lizard. The three-toed feet are webbed andheavily clawed, and its small, “flaming” eyes are protected bybulbous horny ridges. A series of bony shoulder projections(occasionally mistaken for folded wings) produce an eerie whif-fling sound which rises from a barely audible wail at a trot to ascreeching, banshee-like howling at full charge.

The Jabberwock is virtually immune to surprise because of itsextraordinary senses of smell and hearing. It wilt be aware ofinvisible opponents, though it cannot see them. It has 90’infravision.

The Jabberwock can detect the existence of a vorpal blade

The Jabberwock breathes through a gill-like mechanism aswell as through its lungs, producing a burbling sound when it isunder a strain (i.e., charging or fighting). This characteristic, aswell as the webbed toes and moist habitat, points to the Jabber-wock’s evolutionary niche as a semi-amphibious predator.

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Thieves Guild: Designers’ notesby Richard Meyerand Kerry Lloyd

Like any good story, the saga ofThieves Guild has greatly grown in thetelling. From its birth one weekend af-ternoon as a fevered attempt to satisfybored players in our own campaign, andits subsequent publication as the maid-en effort of Gamelords, TG has blos-somed into a successful series of gam-ing aids that focus on providing GM’swith unusual (and hopefully exciting) al-ternatives to underground adventuringand random wilderness encounters.

Sometimes it’s more fun to play thebad guys! Roguish adventures — be theyburglaries, kidnappings, or highway lar-ceny -‘are an excellent change of pacefrom a steady diet of hack-and-slashmonster slaying. Rather than emphasiz-ing a player’s ability to roll a 20-sided die,or to memorize a gaming system’s rules,thievish exploits by their very natureemphasize role-playing — the most en-joyable aspect of the whole fantasy gam-ing experience — and force players touse their wits and special skills to survive.

A highwayman, for example, will findhimself doomed to a short and ignomin-ious career unless he quickly learns howto use the advantageous features of thesurrounding terrain in planning and exe-cuting his ambushes, and develops thegood judgement to decide which pass-ing parties to attack and which to ignore.

The Thieves Guild rules strive to en-hance these role-playing opportunities,by introducing new thiefly skills like Dis-guise and Tailing, and more completelydefining more traditional pursuits likeLockpicking and Pickpocketing, so thata character’s success is as dependent onthe way in which he attempts an act as itis on his native skill.

In a similar philosophy, TG uses arather detailed character-creation sys-tem which identifies not only basic phys-ical and mental attributes but also familyand social background, inborn abilitiesand phobias, and the character’s wea-pon and non-weapon trainings. Manyof these abilities and characteristics areselected by the player himself, so that hehas a major role in shaping his charac-ter’s personality. We have found that thisprocess of extensive, careful self-defini-tion really does promote good role-play-ing; consequently, we recommend thatanyone using TG for the first time setaside 1-2 hours to work up his charactersproperly.

One of the things that all the authors ofThieves Guild agreed on — as it turnedout, one of the very few things — wasthat too many of the existing adventure

modules on the market skimped on theirdescriptions of places and people, oftenforcing GM’s to improvise wildly in themidst of crucial situations.

As a reaction and intended solution tothis problem, TG adventures, regardlessof their specific subject, are designed toemphasize detail (sometimes to an ex-treme). In the scenario entitled the Duke’sDress Ball (Thieves Guild III), for exam-ple, we describe more than 50 non-player characters in lavish detail, andoutline a veritable cornucopia of politi-cal and ‘romantic subplots — all as abackdrop to the main adventure, the tra-vails of a pickpocket who has purlionedan invitation to the ball!

Why go to these lengths? Because wefigure that, although any single GM islikely to use only a fraction of thesecharacters and situations when he runsthe scenario, each one can pick andchoose those which best suit his nefar-ious purposes, and hold the others inreserve for use in emergency situationsor in other adventures. Our somewhatimmodest estimate is that each issue ofTG contains enough material to runtwice the number of individual scenarioswe advertise — a practice we’ll continueuntil the rising costs of printers and pap-er make such luxury impossible.

Our initial decision to publish TG inlooseleaf form was made with some trep-idation — particularly after another ma-nufacturer (now defunct) assured us itwould “never sell” in that format. Non-etheless, we as garners had too frequent-ly suffered the time-consuming anguishof searching through fourteen separaterule books, trying to find the one para-

32

graph needed to resolve a dispute, andwe saw no reason to inflict this problemon others. With the looseleaf arrange-ment, once you understand the chapterand page-numbering system (and, con-trary to popular belief, one does notneed a degree in library science to ac-complish this feat), all the materials on agiven subject can be kept together, andare readily available when you needthem.

Outside of the inevitable, “When is thenext issue coming out?“, the most fre-quently asked question about TG is “Howcan I use this material in my D&D cam-paign?” Frankly, being prudent (andprofit-hungry) folk, we had given thatquestion a great deal of thought longbefore the first volume of TG ever sawprint. Thieves Guild has been designedsince its inception to serve both as astand-alone system and an adjunct toother role-playing rules. The rules sec-tion in TG dealing with disguise, medie-val justice, special attack modes, andfencing stolen goods can be added di-rectly to most campaigns, because theseare subjects that are not covered at all inthe D&D® or AD&D™ rules.

Similarly, GM’s who run a modifiedD&D campaign may decide to incorpo-rate some of the distinctive features ofTG’s character creation process intotheir own normal roll-up procedures. Intransferring the TG scenarios for play ina D&D universe, the GM need do onlytwo things: 1) refigure weapon his pro-babilities (a relatively simple task sinceTG, like the D&D game, describes char-acter advancement in terms of expe-rience levels), and 2) recalculate somecharacter attributes (here the GM simplyneeds to average together TG’s coordi-nation and reflex ratings to derive a valuefor the character’s D&D dexterity, con-vert TG’s stamina and magic resistanceratings into a constitution rating, and av-erage TG’s magnetism and appearancerating into a single value for charisma).The plots of the scenarios will fit readilyinto a D&D world, or any universe whereit is accepted that magic works and gun-powder does not.

As of this writing, tentative plans arebeing made to publish Thieves Guildissues on a quarterly schedule starting in1982. On the drawing board for thesefuture issues are adventures involvingpiracy on the high seas, an assassinationattempt on the Master of the Thieves’Guild, and another of the deadly trea-sure tombs of Shale-Chuun. If all goeswell, we also expect to release a specialvolume of thieving adventures designedespecially for science-fiction role-play-ing campaigns.

October 1981 Dragon

Thieving made pleasingby Bill Fawcett

The THIEVES GUlLD rules and relat-ed products from Gamelords, Ltd., areactually much wider in scope than thetitle might indicate. TG is a completerole-playing system in itself, primarilyconcerned with the thief class-which itcovers in greater detail and depth thanany other set of rules presently available.

In the TG system 10 attributes, ratherthan six, are generated by rolls of 3d6.They include coordination, reflexes, tal-ent, magic resistance, magnetism, ap-pearance, stamina, strength, discretionand intelligence. Thieves Guild princi-pals can be humans, orcs, dwarves orelves -and also can try a life of thieveryas goblins, kobolds, pixies or centaurs.(The centaurs make great highwaymen,but abysmal burglars.)

The weapons and damage system issimilar to that of most role-playinggames. A nice added touch is that a wea-pon in the hands of an expert does moredamage than when it is wielded by acharacter with “just” a proficiency in thatweapon.

The combat system is in some wayssimpler than the AD&D™ system, and insome ways more detailed. Essentially, aweapon has a base number it will hit on,and this number is raised by an amountequal to the armor class of the defender.Thus, higher-numbered armor classesare better. The combat system also in-cludes provisions for “cashing,” which isthe act of knocking a victim unconscious(you’re a thief, not an assassin).

Saving throws are made against ap-propriate characteristics, rather than ac-cording to a scale of numbers that relateto experience level. Magic plays a muchless significant part than it does in mostfantasy systems. It is present, though,and thieves are able to use scrolls andenchanted items.

A great amount of the system’s detailis given over to the more mundane func-tions of thieving: fencing stolen goods,ransoming captives, and facing up tojustice if that becomes necessary. A thiefwho fails in his mission is less likely to bekilled out of hand in this system than inmost others, but medieval justice wasoften harsh, and the magistrate’s deci-sions in a TG trial often reflect this fact.

The majority of the system’s basicprinciples are explained in the first vol-ume of the series from Gamelords. Thatbook, the thickest and highest-priced($10.95) of the series so far, includes allintroductory information on charactergeneration and playing procedures, plusseveral dozen detailed scenarios for newcharacters to flex their muscles on, plusa section of maps, charts and diagramsthat help gamemasters and players visu-alize what they’re getting into. Even thosewho don’t adopt the TG system whole-sale will find lots of ideas and hours ofenjoyment in the book.

Thieves Guild II contains further elab-oration of the rules, especially thosecovering the combat procedure and theuse of hirelings. Most of the volume is

devoted to some very challenging sce-narios, divided by type. There are thecomparatively mundane highwayman,cat burglar, and armed robbery situa-tions — and then there is the fourth sce-nario, anything but mundane: the (at-tempted) looting of a very well detailedtemple-and-tomb complex.

Thieves Guild III is primarily made upof new scenarios. New rules for pick-pocketing are added to the game struc-ture, and the first half of the volume con-tains several scenarios designed as op-portunities to use this ability. Two largerscenarios are included: The Tower ofTsitsiconus, which pits the party againsta decently powerful wizard, and the mas-sive and impressive Duke’s Dress Ball,which takes up nearly two-thirds of thepage space in this volume. Your partyhas “obtained” an invitation to THE so-cial event of the year, and the feloniousopportunities are limited only by yourimagination and your greed.

The Duke’s Dress Ball is more closelytied to the TG system than most of thescenarios in these products. Thus, it willbe harder to adapt directly to anothergame, but it’s beautifully designed to al-low a group of thieves to practice all oftheir abilities.

The fourth and newest volume of theTG series has as its nucleus a scenariowhich revolves around a competition be-tween the Thieves Guild and the “Black

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Hand,” a Mafia-like organization. All ofthe TG volumes after the first are pricedat $6.95 —-quite reasonable, consideringthe amount of material they contain.

Related products from Gamelords in-clude The Cornpleat Tavern and FreeCity of Haven. The tavern package(priced at $4.95) includes 22 pages ofinformation about a tavern and its pa-trons, plus an interior floor plan and cu-touts to use for furniture.

Free City of Haven ($15.95) is a work ofvast scale which includes more than 30detailed scenario outlines, a four-color,wall-sized map of the city of Haven, andseveral very useful, sturdy cardboardmaps of the key locales within the city.The information herein is less orientedto thieves than the other Gamelordsproducts in the line, and includes adven-turing opportunities for all classes. Thesection maps and a summary of all thecharacter descriptions which is easily re-ferred to at the end of the book helpmake this one of the “easiest” citiesaround — from a judge’s point of view.

All of the Thieves Guild products con-tain extensive detail and new ideas thatwill be of use to any player or DM.

The Thieves Guild material was de-signed and written by Richard Meyerand Kerry Lloyd. More information onthe products can be obtained by writingto Gamelords, Ltd., 18616 GrosbeakTerr., Gaithersburg MD 20760.

A solo game that stands aloneby Glenn Rahman

These days, when so many companies aregetting into the hobby of fantasy gaming, it ishard to find a product that really stands outfrom the rest of the horse race. BARBARIANPRlNCE is just such a game. It is published byDwarfstar Games (a division of Heritage USA)and sells for $4.95.

Barbarian Prince, designed by Arnold Hen-drick, is the most satisfactory solo game thatthis writer has seen to date. Its format is novel— an admirably sophisticated flow-chart ofsword-and-sorcery adventure. It carries oneat a lively pace across a province filled withcastles, temples, bandits, monsters, magiciansand non-humans. It has much of the flavor ofa role-playing game, in which the player as-sumes the role of Cal Arath, a prince of anorthern barbarian kingdom.

The Barbarian Prince has been driven outof his kingdom by usurpers who have mur-dered his father, the rightful king. After barelyescaping with his life, the friendless princemust seek his fortune in the strange andsometimes unfriendly southern kingdom. Hemust raise 500 gold pieces in just 70 days(turns) to finance a counter-coup, before hisenemies have time to firm up their position.

and arrived at the home of a farmer who

The player has a number of possible ac-tions he can perform each day. These actionsgenerate encounters and events. For exam-ple, in mv first adventure I fled the northland

turned out to be friendly. Better I had stayedthere, because as I continued south I found arelic of ancient sorcery, a Dark Gateway. As Irecklessly explored it, I was mauled by ademon and hurled ten days back in time. I hadto make camp and rest to recover from mywounds, but unfortunately my camp wasoverrun in rapid succession by a bear, a boarand a pack of wolves! To the latter I finallygave up the ghost. (That’s what I get for vaca-tioning in the woods.)

The rules are simple to learn; the reading ofjust a few paragraphs will orient the player tothe food, lodging, movement and combatrules. From that point onward, the gameteaches itself. The descriptions for each eventor each action that the prince takes as a resultof an events provide all the information aplayer needs.

One attractive feature of Barbarian Princeis the great fighting prowess attributed to CalArath. Most games with a fantasy role-playingflavor force one to begin with an inept charac-ter who is liable to get killed in the first day ofhis first adventure. Cal Arath is very formida-ble — a high-level type from day one; he is aConan, Kane or Tarl Cabot-someone worthyof figuring in an epic quest.

but.

This writer gives BARBARlAN PRlNCEfour gold stars. If you are a sword and sorcerybuff who doesn’t have the opportunity to takepart in a multi-player adventure — or even ifyou do -this is one game you ought to check

34

October 1981

�Will vou accept this challenge. or...?�

Dragon

Cavern QuestA

competitonmodule

for AD&D play

Written byBill Fawcett

PLAYERS' INTRODUCTIONCAVERN QUEST is designed to test

your skill as a dungeoneer and yourknowledge of ADVANCED DUNGEONS& DRAGONS® rules. There are a limitedset of responses to each situation en-countered in each room along the way,and you are to choose what seems to bethe best reaction to what you are facing.The “best” thing to do is not a constant; itwill vary as your situation changes.

It is not possible to complete the quest(close the doors) without sustainingsome damage. In certain cases, the bestchoice may be one which will minimizethe damage taken, but cannot preventdamage altogether. Spells will functiononly in the room where they are cast.Magic items found during the quest willwork anywhere in the dungeon.

CAVERN QUEST can be used in com-petition, with a point system to allow thejudge to accurately record the perfor-mance of each player. Points are gainedfor the following:

Five points for successfully closingthe doorway.

One point for each Fire Opal retainedintact, up to a maximum of 6 (the numberof opals needed to seal the doors).

One point for each room successfullyentered.

One point for every spell (personal orscroll) still unused when the gate issealed.

One point for every hit point left whenthe doorway is sealed.

Points are deducted for the followingoccurrences:

Five-point penalty for being killed.One-point penalty for each Fire Opal

35

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Cavern Quest character descriptionName: OrlowsonRace: Half-elfClass: 4th-level fighter/

4th-level magic-userArmor & shield: Chain mail, large shield +1Weapons: Dagger +3

Longsword +1, detects gold &silver at 20’ radius

Spells taken: Hold PortalProtection from EvilSpider ClimbInvisibilityStrength

Spells from scrolls: WaII of StoneFireball (7-dice)

Miscellaneous equipment:Sprig of garlicVial of holy waterRations for 5 daysBackpack20-foot rope2 torchesHooded IanternSmall sackTinder and flint6-foot poleSpell book

Opals gained:

Hit Points:(20 hit points to start; mark off as damage is taken.)

Answer sheetPreparations

Room 1 A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 A-5Room 2 B-1 B-2 B-3 B-4 B-5 B-6Room 3 C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6Room 4 D-1 D-2 D-3 D-4 D-5 D-6 D-7Room 5 E-1 E-2 E-3 E-4 E-5 E-6Room 6 F-1 F-2 F-3 F-4 F-5 F-6Room 7 G-1 G-2 G-3 G-4 G-5 G-6Room 8 H-1 H-2 H-3 H-4 H-5 H-6Room 9 J-1 J-2 J-3 J-4 J-5 J-6 J-7Room 10 K-1 K-2 K-3 K-4 K-5Room 11 L-1 L-2 L-3 L-4 L-5 L-6Room 12 M-1 M-2 M-3 M-4 M-5 M-6 M-7Room 13 N-1 N-2 N-3 N-4 N-5 N-6 N-7Room 14 O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6Room 15 P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 P-6Room 16 Q-1 Q-2 Q-3 Q-4 Q-5 Q-6Room 17 R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4 R-5 R-6 R-7Room 18 S-1 S-2 S-3 S-4 S-5 S-6 S-7 S-8Room 19 T-1 T-2 T-3 T-4 T-5 T-6Room 20 U-1 U-2 U-3 U-4 U-5 U-6

ActionsA-11 A-12 A-13 A-14 A-15B-11 B-12 B-13 B-14 B-15 B-16C-11 C-12 C-13 C-14 C-15 C-16 C-17D-11 D-12 D-13 D-14 D-15E-11 E-12 E-13 E-14 E-15F-11 F-12 F-13 F-14 F-15G-11 G-12 G-13 G-14 G-15H-11 H-12 H-13 H-14 H-15J-11 J-12 J-13 J-14 J-15K-11 K-12 K-13 K-14 K-15L-11 L-12 L-13M-11 M-12 M-13 M-14 M-15 M-16N-11 N-12 N-13 N-14 N-15O-11 O-12 O-13 O-14 O-15P-11 P-12 P-13 P-14 P-15Q-11 Q-12 Q-13 Q-14 Q-15R-11 R-12 R-13 R-14 R-15 R-16 R-17 R-18S-11 S-12 S-13 S-14 S-15T-11 T-12 T-13 T-14 T-15 T-16 T-17 T-18U-11 U-12 U-13 U-14 U-15

36

October 1981

destroyed; the player does not get creditfor having obtained an opal unless it iskept in his or her possession until thedoors are sealed.

Any ties which occur after all pointsare tabulated should be resolved bycomparing the players’ performancesagainst the list given above, and usingeach requirement, in the order given, asa tie-breaker. For instance, a player whosuccessfully closes the doorway placesahead of one who didn’t. If both (orneither) closed the doors, then theirnumbers of opals are compared. If theyhave the same number of opals, they arejudged on how many rooms each playerentered, and so on down the list.

THE SITUATIONYou have the sinking feeling that you

have been set up. Before you sits acouncil of the Patriarchs of Felker.Among them is the man who had earlierdirected you to wait in the room you havejust been dragged from. His expressionflickers between satisfaction and con-templation. In a sonorous voice, a pettyclerk is reading the verdict — guilty, ofcourse.

Your attention is suddenly riveted onthe stout official when he begins readingthe sentence. You had been expecting afine or perhaps a term in the local jail. Hisvoice continues: “Should the convictedparty, Orlowson, survive the several tor-tures listed here, he is then to be drawnand quartered by a team of the largestand stoutest mares that can be found inthe city. Whilst this is occurring, he willfurther then be simultaneously subject-ed to the touch of seven blest irons heat-ed to a red glow.”

“So shall it be,” intone the patriarchsin unison.

You tense, deciding it is better to dienow fighting your captors than to meek-ly stand by and be mangled. Poised tospring at the guard to your left, yourmuscles freeze as the cleric who origi-nally led you into this disaster utters onesoft word . . . “Unless.. .” he says, smilingexpectantly.

“There is a mission that you could takethat would, if successful, fully atone foryour impertinent presence in the SacredChamber. To the west of this city, buthalf a day’s ride, is a cavern. This cavernis suspected to have been made agesago by an evil warlord who had plans forinvading this valley. It is said to exit uponthe dark realms beyond the mountains,and the doors which offer escape fromwithin the cavern also offer entrance toall manner of fearsome beasts from therealms beyond. The few who have en-tered hoping to close the gates seem tohave failed, and nothing is known of theirfate.

Should you volunteer to attempt thistask, braving the many dangers between,and then succeed, you shall be freed and

receive great rewards. We clerics of thetemple would endeavor to go forth our-selves, but a powerful enchantment castby the lich that once dwelled there pre-vents this. Will you accept this chal-lenge, or. . .?”

At the far end of the temple square younotice something that bears an amazingresemblance to Sacred Irons beingheated. A further glance at the expectantcrowd, and you agree to their terms. Be-sides, you admit to yourself, you have toadmire how well you were set up.

Later, as you are being led to the sta-bles, the Patriarch who tricked you intocommitting the sacrilege which got youinto this mess appears beside you. In afriendly, almost apologetic, voice hegives you advice about your upcomingquest.

“Many have gone before,” he warns,“who were as well armed and skilled asyou. None have returned. The way islong and hazardous with many crea-tures, summoned or created by the lich,still dwelling there. Along the way youwill find some of the fire opals which areneeded to envoke the enchantmentwhich will seal the gate forever. Youmust gain possession of at least six ofthe opals and place them in the hexagonat the center of the gate while chanting inhigh elvish:

By Gax and Bloom, by Banner andDunne,again be closed. By the Duke andAvalon‘s strength be sealed forever.

“The gate will then swing closed and,so they say, never open again.

“Use your magic wisely and use onlythat which you need. You must alwaysmove forward and never turn back even apace until the quest, or you, is finished.Take with you this scroll of two greatspells, along with our hopes for yoursuccess.”

ROOM 1After entering the cavern, you hear the

guards who escorted you taking up postsoutside the door, preventing you fromimmediately escaping. With a sigh, youbegin walking down the twisting cavern.After a few minutes the walls of the cav-ern become more regular and the stalac-tites disappear from the ceiling. Youseem to be entering an area tunneled outof the rock. Ahead of you a doorway isvisible, and through it you can see theflicker of torchlight.

When you look into the room, you seethat it is a chamber approximately 30’ x30’ x 20’ high. The floors and walls aregrey rock, except for a patch of black 6feet across in the center of the room. Onthis patch of black is a chest. Your sworddetects silver in the chest.

On each wall is a torch. These fourtorches seem to have been recently lit,

37

Dragonalthough no one is visible in the room.On the far wall is a door with a table nextto it. On the table are what appear to beseveral sheets of paper. One is rolled upand sealed with wax, apparently a scroll.Another paper appears to have been par-tially burned. There is a scorched areadirectly in front of the table.

The breeze coming into the room fromthe doorway ahead tells you that this isthe path to follow.

Preparations (choose one)A-1: Take out sprig of garlic,A-2: Light your torch.A-3: Throw in fireball, then cross.A-4: Draw your sword.A-5: Take out vial of holy water.

Actions (choose one)A-11: Cross to door and exit, avoiding

chest and table.A-12: Examine and open chest, re-

move silver.A-13: Examine all open papers on the

desk, but not the scroll.A-14: Open and examine scroll.A-15: Attempt to remove one of the lit

torches from its holder.

ROOM 2After leaving the first room, you con-

tinue down the corridor for nearly 150feet. Along the way you notice a brokenholy symbol of your own lawful goodreligion. It seems to have been smashedwith a mace or sword.

Traveling on, you approach a doorwaywith a large oaken door swung open.The sound of arguing voices is audiblefrom within. Peeking around the door-way into a room 20’ x 20’, you see agroup of four men sitting around a smallcampfire. They seem to be arguing aboutsome item that they are grabbing fromeach other.

In the far left corner of the room is aman who shows visible signs of havingbeen tortured. He is hung from the wallby his wrists. His head is drooped ontohis chest, and he doesn’t appear to bemoving or making a sound.

In the back right corner is a chest, par-tially open with several jewels visiblyglinting in it. As you prepare to act, oneof the men arguing stands up and beginsmoving toward the door. He is wearingthe cloak, helm, and armor of a lawfulgood paladin. The other three men standand begin to follow him, sounding angryand speaking in a language unfamiliar toyou.

Preparations (choose none or one)B-1 : Slam door and cast Hold Portal on

it.B-2: Cast Strength on self.B-3: Rush past door and further into

cavern, hoping to evade the group ofmen altogether.

B-4: Cast invisibility on self.

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

B-5: Cast Protection from Evil on self.B-6: Draw your sword and breathe

deeply.

Actions (Choose one or two)B-11: Step into the door and offer to

assist the paladin.B-12: Step back from the door and

strike any who exit.B-13: Throw fireball into the room af-

ter yelling,“Duck!” in Lawful Good.B-14: Rush into the room swinging,

drive away the men and take possessionof the chest.

B-15: Call on those who are in theroom to surrender in Common tongue.

B-16: Throw holy water on the firstman to exit the room.

ROOM 3You walk down a series of winding

passages that gradually lead downward.The walls become rougher and morenatural-looking, but the floor remainssmooth. Along the way, you notice a fewshells and some driftwood on the floor.Careful examination of the walls revealsa high-water mark about six inches abovethe floor. Several hundred feet furtheron, the floor becomes sandy, and shortlylater the passage opens into a cavern.

The cavern is a dome nearly 50’ acrossand about 15’ high. Flowing in through arusted iron grate in one wall is a streammore than 15’ wide and too deep to seebottom. The water is visibly moving andexits through a similar grate in the oppo-site wall.

The floor of the cavern is made of wornstone slabs lightly covered with sand. Allcracks between the slabs are also sand-filled. Steps beginning a few feet abovewater level lead down into the streamand disappear into its depths. These ap-pear worn by the passage of many feet.On either side of the steps are large lion-statues whose bodies extend out fromthe water. Only the heads and front legsof the statues are visible above waterlevel.

On the left wall is a ladder that leadspart way up the wall and then stops. It ismade of iron pegs sunk into the stone. Asmall altar or table is next to where thesteps ascend from the stream on the op-posite side. A fresh breeze can be feltentering from an open doorway on thefar side of the cavern. There is no way toreach this doorway without crossing thestream which flows across the center ofthe cavern. Your armor is too heavy toallow you to swim in it.

Preparations (choose none, one or two)C-1: Strip off all your armor and throw

it across the stream.C-2: Pour holy water into the stream.C-3: Get out your sword and attempt

to jump the stream.C-4: Cast Strength on self.C-5: Get out your rope.

C-6: Get out one day’s rations (neededfor C-16).

Actions (choose one or two)C-11: Attempt to swim across the

stream without wearing any armor (as-sumes you chose C-1).

C-12: Toss loop of rope around altaron far side of stream, attach other end toone of the lion-statues, and pull yourselfacross stream while wearing armor.

C-13: Cast Spider Climb on self andcross using the ceiling.

C-14: Cast Invisibility on self and swimacross (assumes you chose C-1).

C-15: Before crossing, climb up theladder as far as possible.

C-16: Throw rations into the water andthen attempt to cross.

C-17: Search for secret passages, thenattempt to swim across (assumes youchose C-1).

(Note: Some of the actions are mutual-ly exclusive. Choose only one method ofcrossing the stream.)

ROOM 4You are in another section of finished

passages. These tunnels are nearly 20feet wide and over 15 feet high. As youwalk, you find several types of bones, allof which are broken, and a few seem tobe scorched. A few of the bones are near-ly 6 inches thick and appear to have beensnapped off. After about 120 yards younotice a scorched spot on the side of thetunnel. A further look reveals the black-ened skeleton of an elf and a pile of par-tially melted armor in the center of thescorched spot.

Further down the tunnel you find a

similar spot containing three human ske-letons and armor, also scorched andmelted. In one sandy spot you find a par-tial footprint of a large reptile.

A few yards beyond the footprint is asplatter of greenish blood. It is only par-tially dry. Traveling on carefully, youcontinue until you notice a large open-ing on the left wall. This opening is 8’high and 15’ wide. You hear sound fromwithin, made by the movement and heavybreathing of a large creature.

The tunnel continues for several yardspast the opening and then turns right. Abreeze is felt coming from around thecorner. A stench of brimstone (sulfur)comes from the cave on the left.

Preparations (choose one)D-1: Take out a sprig of garlic.D-2: Light a torch.D-3: Throw fireball into the cave.D-4: Cast Wall of Stone across cave

mouth.D-5: Take out vial of holy water.D-6: Cast Invisibility on self.D-7: Cast Protection from Evil on self.

Actions (choose one)D-11: Cross the cave mouth carefully

and continue onward.D-12: Rush into cave and attack.D-13: Throw holy water into the cave

as you rush past the opening.D-14: Throw a day’s rations in front of

the cave; see what comes to eat them.D-15: Enter the cave, speaking in a

friendly tone.

ROOM 5You continue down a winding pas-

38

October 1981 Dragonsageway. The walls become rougher andmore natural-looking as you progress.Moving carefully, you observe two thingsoccurring simultaneously: The cave nar-rows until it is 5’ wide and barely tallenough for you to stand up in, and Ii-chens appear on the now-damp walls.These lichens give off a dim light whichmakes your torch unnecessary. Afterputting out the torch so as to not attractundue attention, you continue. After afew more minutes of skulking along, yousee in the lichen-light that the corridoropens out into a 20’ x 30’ cavern.

Crouching, you peer into the gloomilylit cavern. Across from you, 30 feet away,the corridor continues. Along the wallson either side are fastened a double rowof bunk beds held up by rusty chains. Atleast a dozen of these are occupied byskeletons who appear to be unmoving.In the hand of each skeleton is a shortsword which rests across its chest. Eachis also wearing a necklace of a silverymaterial.

About four feet in front of you is asturdy-looking table, 7’ long with a topmade of a 3” slab of oak. On the table is asmall (4” x 6”) chest, a flail made ofcopper, and a silver battleaxe.

You throw a pebble toward the nearestbed, disturbing the skeleton. It begins torise.

Preparations (choose none or one)E-1: Draw your sword and your holy

symbol.E-2: Get out a vial of holy water (needed

if E-11 is chosen below).E-3: Cast Strength on self (needed if

E-14 is chosen below).E-4: Throw Fireball into the room.E-5: Cast Protection from Evil on self.E-6: Light a torch.

Actions (choose one)E-11: Throw holy water on the nearest

skeleton and grab the chest as you rushthrough the room, ignoring the otherskeletons.

E-12: Pick up the silvered battleaxeand fight your way through the room,grabbing the chest as you pass it.

E-13: Pick up the flail and fight yourway through the room, grabbing thechest as you pass it.

E-14: Pick up the oak table, intendingto use it to batter any skeletons that ap-proach you, then check the chest, etc.

E-15: Stand in the doorway you are inand prepare to swing on the skeletonsone at a time (if necessary) as they try tofight you; then check the chest andsearch the room.

R O O M 6You continue down the corridor care-

fully, staying near the right side to takeadvantage of the shadows. The corridorseems to stretch on forever; eventuallyyou notice that it is curving slightly to theright. Suddenly, ahead of you, the wayappears blocked. The tunnel has col-lapsed recently, judging by the now-exposed surfaces which do not containthe ever-present lichens.

A slight stirring of the dust guides yourattention to a small opening that remainsclear at the top of the rockfall. Climbingonto the loose rock, you look down thetunnel that remains. The way is dark,since the lichens haven’t spread into thisarea yet, and the passage appears to beabout 3’ in diameter and 15’ long. Thereis light visible at the far end, and whileyou watch a shadow passes before theopening. A wall is visible more than 25’beyond the lighted opening.

You creep through the small tunneland approach the opening, then decideto wait for more clues about what liesahead. Your patience is rewarded withsome overheard scraps of conversation.The words are hard to understand, but

you easily recognize the guttural speechof trolls.

Preparations (choose one)F-1: Throw a Fireball into the room and

proceed.F-2: Cast Strength on self.F-3: Cast invisibility on self.F-4: Light a torch; keep it ahead of you.F-5: Cast Protection from Evil spell on

self.F-6: Throw a flask of oil into the room,

throw a torch on it to light it, and thenenter the room.

Actions (choose none, or up to three)F-11: Rush in swinging.F-12: Attempt to sneak through the

room ahead.F-13: Attack any trolls by any means

available and then search the area.F-14: Burn the remains of any trolls.F-15: Approach the trolls in a friendly

manner, offering them food.

ROOM 7You exit the trolls’ room through a

door on the left wall and find yourself in abrick corridor. The corridor extends forseveral hundred feet, with nothing tobreak its monotony but the gentle shuf-fling sound of your boots. Pausing, youhear only deep silence, which you try notto think of as “deathlike.”

Finally, the corridor ends in a shortascending stairway. At the top of thestairs is a door. Checking for traps all thewhile, you climb the thirteen steps to thelanding in front of the heavy woodendoor. Though there were no footprintson the steps, there is a jumble of printson the landing. These seem to have beenmade by a soft boot or padded foot.

The door has brass hinges, with atwisted rope for a handle. There is nolock and it opens easily.

Inside is a room that is 20’ x 20’ with a10’ ceiling and an exit on the far sidesimilar to the door you entered through.On one wall is an open closet and on theother a small table with several jars ofdifferent colored creams, three smallbrushes, and a mirror. In the closet youfind an orange-and-red shirt, a pair ofgreen pants, a wooden scepter paintedsilver, and a pair of soft leather bootswith what seem to be runes engravedinto their surface.

While you are looking in the closet,you begin to hear voices. At first the voi-ces are unclear, but soon they are louderand closer, and you recognize the speechof orcs. There seems to be at least threeof them. They sound as if they are ap-proaching the room at a walk and areunaware of your presence.

Preparations (choose one)G-1: Quickly put on the shirt and

pants, and strike a pose as if you belongthere.

39

Dragon

ROOM 9

G-2: Quickly put on the boots (there isnot enough time to put on every availa-

half of the corridor floor. When you stepon the panel, a section of the wall on

ble article of clothing). your right quickly slides down into theG-3: Pick up the scepter. floor. The area behind the wall is veryG-4: Cast Invisibility on self.G-5: Cast Spider Climb and ascend to

ceiling.G-6: Get behind the door so as to gain

surprise.

dark. Visible inside it are four sets ofglowing red eyes, each about two feetabove the ground. These seem to bemoving towards you. As you prepare totake action, you hear scuttling noises

Actions (choose one)coming from the darkness.

G-11: Attack orcs as they enter. Preparations (choose none or one)G-12: Flee,out the door you entered. H-1: Throw a Fireball into the area.G-13: Attempt to hide from orcs. H-2: Light a torch.G-14: Act friendly and try to bluff it out.G-15: Throw holy water on the orcs as

H-3: Get out your holy water (neededfor H-11 below).

they enter.

ROOM 8After discarding the equipment (if any)

picked up in the previous room, you passthrough the door the orcs entered. Thecorridor bends to your left after a fewfeet. You proceed carefully, but withgrowing confidence. Then, after walkingthirty or forty feet further you fail to no-tice a weighted panel that extends across

H-4: Cast Protection from Evil on self.H-5: Get out five days’ rations (needed

for H-12 below).H-6: Cast Hold Portal on entrance.

Actions (choose one)H-11: Throw holy water on the nearest

set of eyes and fight it out.H-12: Throw the food to one side and

fight it out, if this action doesn’t divertthe attackers.

40

Vol. VI, No. 4

H-13: Enter the darkness and fight itout.

H-14: Continue running down the hall.H-15: Get out your holy symbol and

order the eyes away,

Continuing down the corridor, youcome to a second stairway leading up.This one also has 13 steps but ends at asilvery, metal door. Again, the door isn’tlocked, but leaning against it is a humanskeleton whose bones seem to havebeen decayed even before its death.

Checking for traps, you find none andthen open the door. Inside is a largeroom, 60’ x 60’ with a domed ceiling 40’high in the center. Set in the five cornersof a golden pentagram inscribed in theobsidian floor are five sarcophagi. Thereis an exit directly across from where youare standing.

Suddenly, mummies begin to rise from.each of the coffins. They begin movingtoward you, and fleeing seems to be thebest reaction. But just as you prepare torun, you notice that one is wearing anopal around his neck on a silver chain,and your plans change abruptly. Youhave about one melee round before theclosest mummy will reach you.

Preparations (choose none or one)J-1: Cast Protection from Evil on self.J-2: Get out your holy water (needed

for J-11 below).J-3: Try to fry them all with a Fireball.J-4: Put on the sprig of garlic.J-5: Get out the holy symbol.J-6: Cast Spider Climb on self.J-7: Get out your vial of oil (needed for

J-13 below).

Actions (choose one)J-11: Stand and fight it out, after throw-

ing holy water on the one wearing theopal.

J-12: Avoid the mummies and head forthe far door.

J-13: Hit one with the oil and light it,then fight the others with your sword,trying not to damage the opal.

J-14: Present holy symbol stronglyand say, “Begone!”

J-15: Fight it out with the dagger ratherthan the sword.

ROOM 10The hallway beyond the mummy room

is decorated with Egyptian art and hie-roglyphics. Further on, the decorationsare a stylized pattern of tiles in geometricdesigns. The 10-foot-wide hall is straightfor several hundred yards.

Eventually you come to an alcove witha small altar in it. This altar seems to bededicated to one of the Greek gods, per-haps Demeter judging from the grain of-fering you find on it. After finding no-thing of value in the alcove, you con-tinue. In the next few hundred yards you

October 1981 Dragon

find three more alcoves obviously dedi-cated to Ceres, Pan, and Apollo. In thewall behind the one dedicated to Apollois a small panel. Carefully opening thepanel with your sword tip, you see anopal. All seems quiet, maybe too quiet.The opal appears to be merely sitting ona velvet pad about 18 inches inside thewall. Next to the opal and the pad is aliquid-filled hole wide enough to allowthe opal to drop into it. If you aren’t care-ful it appears likely the opal could fallinto the hole and be lost. You carefullypush a pebble into this hole — and itimmediately dissolves, along with the tipof the sword you were pushing it with.The panel is just wide enough to fit yourarm into.

Preparations (choose one)K-1: Cast Spider Climb on self.K-2: Cast Strength on self.K-3: Get out holy water (needed for

K-11 below).K-4: Take off your gauntlet (needed

for K-13 below).

K-5: Cast Hold Portal on the panel tolock it closed.

Actions (choose one)K-11: Dump the holy water out into the

panel.K-12: Try to edge the opal out using

your sword.K-13: Reach in and take out the opal

using your hand.K-14: Purposely push the opal into the

liquid next to it.K-15: Walk away and forget the whole

t h i n g .

ROOM 11You continue down the hallway, pass-

ing three successively smaller, emptyniches, before coming to a doorwayblocking the corridor. After several min-utes of trying to open the door, you real-ize it must be a false doorway. Worryingabout alarms you may have tripped, yousearch hurriedly for a secret door orpanel. All is still peaceful when you dis-cover the last alcove contains a secret

41

entrance. Fearing discovery, you quicklytrip the now-obvious latch and rush downhe stairway on the other side.

At the bottom of the stairs, the hallwayturns 180 degrees; you find yourselfwalking under the corridor you had justcome through. The downward slope con-tinues at a steep angle for nearly 100feet. About 20 feet down the slope is adoor on your right. You listen at it buthear nothing, and decide to travel furtherdown the slope instead of entering.

At the 100-foot mark the tunnel bendssharply to the left. Rounding the corner,you see two things. The first is a skeletonwith a dagger sticking out from thebones of its back. The second is thatafter just a few more steps the corridorseems to dead-end. Approaching theskeleton, you see three stones — onetransparent, one iridescent, and one apale lavender — whirling about the skullof the dead adventurer. A quick survey ofthe tunnel’s end finds no secret doors.You have just turned back to examinethe whirling stones when you detect the

Dragonacrid odor of chlorine. A wall of greengas rounds the corner and moves swiftlytoward you.

Preparations (choose one)L-1: Hold your breath.L-2: Grab the clear stone and set it

whirling about your head.L-3: Grab the iridescent stone and set

it whirling about your head.L-4: Grab the pale lavender stone and

set it whirling about your head.L-5: Drink your holy water.

Actions (choose one)L-11: Run through the cloud and back

up the corridor until you clear the gas.L-12: Stand there in great pain and try

to outlast the gas.L-13: Search further for a secret door.All of the stones will turn grey and dull

(useless) immediately after you leave thecorridor where the gas is.

ROOM 12You realize that the only way to pro-

ceed is through the door you found ear-lier on the side of the corridor. You back-track and open that door, finding your-self in a large cavernous area. The cav-ern seems to be over 100 feet in diameter

and the ceiling towers nearly 50 feetabove. Barely visible in the ceiling is agrating covering what appears to be asmoke-smudged vent hole. No light isvisible through the hole. In the distanceyou can make out several items andbeyond them another doorway.

As you approach the items, one seemsto be glowing slightly inside. This turnsout to be the furnace for a smithy. Youare able to see that to the left of thedoorway are stacked and scattered sev-eral boxes, each about four feet long andtwo feet wide and tall. Partially visiblebeneath a stack of boxes is what appearsto be a map or scroll. The hardwoodboxes are sealed with what seems to beeither a rune or the personal seal of thesmith in wax.

To examine the map/scroll more close-ly, you move one box slightly. The stackshifts, breaking one of the wax seals.Almost immediately the lid of that boxbegins to open. You stand amazed as aperfectly formed and obviously func-tional iron figure of a warrior steps out. Ifit weren’t so small, you would think thecreature a golem. When the iron figurecasually pushes aside a beam weighinghalf a ton, you begin to get worried. Aminiature iron golem?

Vol. VI, No. 4

The creature moves directly towardyou at a slow but determined pace, be-tween you and the next door. Lookingclosely as it nears, you see the monsterappears to be already damaged andlimps slightly.

Preparations (choose one or two)M-1: Draw sword (needed for M-11,

M-12; cannot also choose M-2).M-2: Draw dagger (needed for M-11,

M-12; cannot also choose M-1).M-3: Get out holy water (needed for

M-12).M-4: Cast Protection from Evil on self.M-5: Cast Invisibility on self.M-6: Light a torch (needed for M-15).M-7: Hold breath while fighting.

Actions (choose one)M-11: Engage the creature in combat.M-12: Throw holy water on the crea-

ture and rush past.M-13: Run around the creature and

engage it in passing with whatever wea-pon you have.

M-14: Attempt to hide and evade untilyou can escape.

M-15: Throw oil and light it with atorch.

M-16: Throw a Fireball at the monster.

42

October 1981

ROOM 13After passing through the unexplored

doorway, you find yourself in a narrowcorridor. The narrow walls of the corri-dor nearly touch your shoulders, and thewalls seem to have been made of crudebricks. The floor is made of natural rockand it appears to be very worn in thecenter, as if thousands of feet had walkeddown the exact center of the path overthe years. While standing and listeningfor the sound of any danger ahead, youhear footsteps approaching. They seemnear, but you see nothing ahead of you.Instinctively you put your shield up andrush forward. After only a couple of pa-ces you bump into something you can-not see, but you sense it to be man-sized.

Whatever it is lets out a grunt, and thenyou hear a sound as if it has fallen overbackwards. Your sudden action seemsto have surprised whatever is ahead ofyou. The sound of panting, as if some-one has had the wind knocked out ofhim, comes from close ahead.

Preparations (choose one)N-1: Cast Strength on self.N-2: Get out holy water (needed for

N-11).N-3: Get out dagger (otherwise, sword

is considered to be in hand).N-4: Cast Protection from Evil on self.N-5: Cast invisibility on self.N-6: Take no special action.N-7: Get out rations (needed for N-15).

Actions (choose one)N-11: Throw holy water in the direc-

tion of the panting.N-12: Move forward swinging.N-13: Attempt to talk with whatever is

ahead of you.N-14: Try to hide from the threat.N-15: Throw rations to one side of the

corridor and try to flee past the distract-ed monster.

ROOM 14After another 100 yards of travel, the

narrow tunnel opens into a wide naturalcavern. The floor of the cavern is co-vered with dust. In the dust can be seenthe footprints of a dragon. After follow-ing the cavern (and the footprints) foranother 200 feet, you come to a largercavern. The cavern is too long to be seenin full and is at least 150 feet wide. Barelyvisible at the distant end is an opening.

On the left side of the cavern is a lakewhich seems to extend out below thelevel of the cavern. Near the edge of thelake, which fills over a third of the floorspace, is what appears to be a large pileof metal coins. Starting to approach withcare, you see the dim reflection of a largecoppery or bronze object at the top.

When you get near enough to makeout details, you realize that there is adragon sitting on top of what your swordtells you to be a pile of gold and silver.

The dragon appears to be asleep. Just infront of its jaws you notice the familiarglint of a fire opal. This one appears to behanging from a chain that is around theskull of one of the dragon’s earliervictims.

Dragon

Silently you approach to within 20 feetof the sleeping dragon. Part of the chainappears to be under one massive claw,but the other part is temptingly close tothe edge of the pile. The dragon con-tinues his deep, regular breathing.

Preparations (choose one)0-1: Light a torch to see better.0-2: Sneak up closer, quietly (needed

for 0-11).0-3: Throw a Fireball at the sleeping

dragon.0-4: Announce yourself and try to

wake the dragon.0-5: Move quietly away; try to con-

tinue onward before being noticed.

Actions (choose none or one)0-11: Strike as strongly as possible to

get the first blow while the dragon stillsleeps.

0-12: In a loud voice, challenge thedragon to a fight for the opal.

0-13: Attempt to tie the dragon’s mouthclosed, then attack.

0-14: Attempt to steal the opal withoutwaking the dragon.

0-15: Try to be friendly; explain yourmission and ask the dragon for the opal.

ROOM 15After leaving the cavern you find your-

self in a twisting, natural passage slop-ing slightly upward. The cavern seems togo on forever, and twice you are nearlyskewered by piercers. Rounding a cor-ner, you surprise two gnolls who are re-setting a trap. They are intent on theirwork, and the first dies by your handwithout knowing what hit him. The se-cond is killed after a brief exchange,without ever even coming close to hit-ting you. After what you’ve been throughso far, the gnolls are an almost-welcomeopponent.

Examining the contents of a bag thegnolls had dropped nearby, you find avaguely familiar, definitely lawful holysymbol and what may have been a col-lection of fresh spell components. Underthis are nearly 500 gold pieces, a fortunefor a gnoll.

Continuing on, watching fortraps, youpull up short at the sight of a man boundin the corridor. He is gagged, but looks atyou imploringly. As you approach adeep, bleeding wound in his abdomenbecomes visible. In front of him you seetwo scrolls, obviously discarded as use-less (to them) by the gnolls. When youapproach the first scroll the woundedman groans and shakes his head. Theeffort causes him to pass out momentari-ly, and your attention is directed to his

43

plight. You loosen his gag and he pain-fully struggles to speak. The language isunfamiliar to you, but he seems to beurgently anxious for you to set him free.While loosening his ropes you notice avial in a pouch at his belt. When the firstof his hands is freed, the stranger franti-cally fumbles for the vial, then againpasses out.

Preparations (choose one to three)P-1: Read the first scroll.P-2: Read the second scroll.P-3: Continue to loosen the ropes

binding the stranger.P-4: Get out the stranger’s vial.P-5: Kill the stranger.P-6: Ignore it all and continue.

Actions (Choose none, one, or two; indi-cate the sequence of multiple actions)

P-11: Drink the contents of the vial.P-12: Pour the contents of the vial

down the stranger’s throat.P-13: Free the stranger from the ropes

and move on, leaving him unconscious.P-14: Kill the stranger and continue on

(cannot also choose P-12).P-15: Search the stranger further, tak-

ing whatever you can find.

ROOM 16After continuing along the corridor for

several hundred feet, you are suddenlystartled by the cry of a shrieker. This, asyou hurry toward it, is seen to be a smallone standing only two feet high.

Nervously you continue down the pas-sage. The cavern opens until the wallsare more than 30 feet apart and the glow-ing lichens on the wall begin to thin out.You are less surprised to discover ano-ther shrieker in the half-light. This one isnearly 5 feet tall and lets out with abassoon-like noise.

Beyond, in the dim light, you see sev-eral more mushroom-shaped fungi and afew that seem to have short branchesbunched close to their base. For most ofthe way you should be able to avoid anycontact with any of the growths. Unfor-

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

tunately, at one point there is a nearlysolid wall of fungus blocking the way.

Moving up to the blockage, you arestartled to notice the body of an elf justbeyond. Judging from the smell of therotted flesh, he must have been dead foronly little more than a week. The body ispartly clothed in a robe bedecked withsymbols, making it obvious that the elfwas a spell-caster of some sort. On thehand of the elf nearest you, his left, theflesh appears to be rotted clear to thebone. Clutched in this hand is a scroll,and lying nearby is the scroll case fromwhich it came. Abruptly, the sound offootsteps in the distance warn you of apossible threat approaching from behind.

Preparations (choose one)Q-1: Cast Spider Climb on self (needed

for Q-11).Q-2: Get out oil (needed for Q-12).Q-3: Get out garlic (needed for Q-13).Q-4: Light a torch.Q-5: Cast Strength on self.Q-6: No special preparations.

Actions (choose one)Q-11: Spider Climb using the ceiling to

cross the barrierQ-12: Throw oil on the nearest section

of fungus and light it; cross when theflames die down.

Q-13: Push through the fungus, hold-ing the garlic ahead of you.

Q-14: Simply walk through, smashingany shrieker that might yell.

Q-15: Crawl through the blockage,staying as low as possible.

ROOM 17Once you have passed the fungus

area, your torch reveals a stairway lead-ing upward for nearly 50 feet. The stepsare dusty and seem long-unused. A glow-ing torch, similar to the torches in Room1, burns at the top of the stairs. On the 15’x 12’ landing, you see an ornately in-scribed brass door nearly 5 feet wide. Onthe door are scenes of a wolf sucklingtwo babies, bunches of grapes, and menin various types of armor fighting eachother and strange beasts.

Upon opening the door, you find your-self in a box overlooking a large arena. Atthe far end of the stadium is another boxsimilar to your own. Leading down fromboth are rope ladders that are almostlong enough to reach the stadium floor,40 feet below. The ladder on your sideseems quite sturdy and functional.

Beneath you the rope ladder dropsdown into enters a short, ceilingless cor-ridor. On the wall of the corridor are vis-ible three doors. Each door apparentlyopens into a different section of the are-na, and the areas are separated fromeach other by a thick, 26-foot-tall stonewall. Different creatures are visible ineach of the three sections, which are 50’wide and nearly 100’ long. These crea-

tures are all strange-looking to you butobviously dangerous.

The first of these, on the left, appearsto be a floating ball with one large eyeand several smaller eyes on rigid stalks.In the center area is a gigantic, bull-likecreature with metal scales; wisps ofsmoke occasionally drift from its nos-trils. The third area, on the right, appearsto be a large, gross toad with man-likearms instead of forelegs. He appears tobe gesturing or conjuring at you, with noapparent effect, and then walks anxious-ly to near the door you would enter by...

Preparations (choose one)R-1: Get out slow scroll (needed for

R-14).R-2: Offer a prayer to your god and

proceed with actions.R-3: Cast Protection from Evil on self.R-4: Get out holy water.R-5: Cast lnvisibility on self.R-6: Re-light your torch (needed for

R-16).R-7: No special preparations.

Actions (choose two)You are assumed to have climbed

down the ladder and be attempting to

4 4

cross one of the three areas. Choose oneand only one from R-11, R-12, and R-13,plus any other single action.

R-11: Attempt to cross the left-handarea.

R-12: Attempt to cross the center area.R-13: Attempt to cross the right-hand

area.R-14: Throw the Slow spell on any

creature you face.R-15: Throw holy water on any crea-

ture that comes near.R-16: Use the torch to fight the crea-

ture you face.R-17: Offer gold to the creature if it will

leave you alone; try to act friendly anddon’t strike at it.

R-18: Charge into the arena and strikeyour opponent as quickly and as violent-ly as possible.

ROOM 18You are moving cautiously through a

smoothly finished corridor sloping slight-ly upward. Every few yards there is a littorch in a holder on the wall. On your leftyou see a door in the distance, and youhear a low groan coming from some-where ahead. You approach the doorslowly and see that it is barred on the

October 1981

outside and has a small window. You seeinside the decaying remains of a dwarf.

Another groan resounds through theair, from further down the hall. There aretwo more doors in sight from this point.The cell on the other side of the first dooris empty, but the second contains an elfchained to the wall. He is wounded andappears to have been burned. Lifting thebar, you approach the groaning elf. Bygiving him a sip of your wine, you areable to revive him slightly. After you easethe strain of the chains holding him tothe wall, he tells you in mumbled phrasesthrough broken lips and cracked teeth:

“They jumped me near the red dragon.I thought I would make it and show thosesneaky priests . . . I think that a holdperson was used . . . I got some sort ofdemon or familiar of his first . . . don’tknow if he’s an evil priest or just evil . . .seemed to fear that I’d find something ina room . . . behind a secret door. . . justahead.. . torture started then . . . hateselves.. . the pain. . . feared the room . . .oooohhhhh . . .“!

The elf then lapses into unconscious-ness, and is dead within a minute.

You go back out into the hall, and youfind a secret door a little farther down thepassage. Behind the door is an idol. Inthe hands of the idol are two smallamulets. One contains the symbol forprotection from priestly magic, the otherfor protection from any wizard’s spell.On the wall behind the idol are engravedthe words, “Choose one wisely.” Whilepondering which amulet to take, you no-tice a dead creature near the door. Thecreature is man-like, 18 inches tall, withgreenish reptilian skin, leathery wings,and a bat-like mouth with fangs for teeth.As you examine the body, you are-startledby a voice saying, “Leave lgor alone!”Looking up quickly, you see a man inblack robes gesturing at you. He is toofar away to reach before his spell goes off.

Preparations (choose one)S-1: Grab the amulet that will protect

you from clerical spells,S-2: Grab the amulet that will protect

you from wizard’s spells.S-3: Take out the slow scroll (needed

for S-12).S-4: Draw your sword in a threatening

manner.S-5: Dive for a corner and try to evade

the attack.S-6: Look surprised; act friendly.S-7: Draw your dagger and throw it.S-8: Grab “lgor” and try to use the

body as a shield.

Actions (choose one)S-11: Rush up and attack with your

sword.S-12: Cast the Slow spell on your op-

ponent and then attack.S-13: Rush forward and grapple.S-14: Hide in a corner.

S-15: Rush through the door, swing asyou go by, and flee onward up thecorridor.

ROOM 19You find yourself in an upward-sloping

corridor. The walls are finished stoneand well fitted together. Occasionally atorch casts some light on the area.

Carefully moving forward, you wonderif the tunnel will ever end or even if thereis a final door. Maybe this is how theclerics of Felker execute people.

Then you come upon a doorway block-ing the tunnel that appears guarded bytwo skeletons; but they don’t react untilyou are within 10 feet of them.

After all of the problems and enemiesyou’ve faced, two skeletons aren’t even achallenge, and you smash each of themeasily with the flat of your sword. Afteropening the door, you are amazed atwhat they were guarding.

Peeking inside you see an open dooracross the room, with a stairway leadingup. Also, either your eyes are deceivingyou or a tiny wedge of sunlight is visibleat the top of what you can see!

The room itself is 30’ x 30’ with greyrock walls. The body of some sort of no-ble is sitting (apparently propped up) inthe center of the room on a silver table.Guarding the body are three more ske-letons who have not yet reacted to yourpresence.

The body is wearing golden armor. Ly-ing next to it are a vorpal blade and amace of disruption. Around the neck ofthe body (which is quite decayed) is anecklace of missiles with three “jewels”left. The body’s right arm has rotted off,but the hand resting on the floor wears aring with runes on it. At the feet of thebody rest a girdle and a helm, both in-scribed with runes. The shattered re-mains of other skeletons are piled in acorner. The three guardian skeletonsturn to watch as you enter the chamber.

Preparations (choose one or two)T-1: Get out holy water (needed for

T-11).T-2: Get out your sword.T-3: Get out the slow scroll and cast

the spell on the skeletons.T-4: Cast any remaining spell (one

spell only) on yourself.T-5: Get out your sprig of garlic.T-6: Get out your dagger.

Actions (choose one or two)T-11: Attack the skeletons immediate-

ly after throwing holy water on one.T-12: Attack the skeletons immediate-

ly, hitting with your shield also.T-13: Stay near the edge of the room

and attempt to sneak past the skeletons(if chosen, this must be your only choice).

T-14: Take the girdle and helm.T-15: Strip everything of value off the

body.

45

DragonT-16: Take just the vorpal blade.T-17: Take just the ring from the de-

tached hand.T-18: Walk directly past the skeletons,

swinging as you go by (cannot alsochoose T-11, T-12, or T-15).

ROOM 20You climb a gently sloping stairway

upward toward a large pair of openbronze doors. The sunlight becomesbrighter the higher you climb, and youreyes hurt as they adjust to the unaccus-tomed brightness. It is either sunset orsunrise; you’ve lost track of time duringthe ordeal.

Beyond the doors, you see a peaceful-looking valley with sheep grazing (butno shepherd visible) and large, darkbirds wheeling in the distance. Nothingseems to be menacing to you.

Careful of traps, you approach thedoors. Nothing occurs, and you swingone slightly away from the wall. Visibleon the door is half of a hexagon, withopal-sized holes located at each of thecorners. You begin to move the doormore, when out of nowhere you hear avoice say, “It is forbidden to touch thedoorway.”

Looking around in the small (10’ x 10’)entranceway, you see nothing. After theadditional sound of a distant mumblingfrom outside the doorway, a tense si-lence resumes. Your nerves are tight andthe shadows seem to move of them-selves. Suddenly you notice a large mi-notaur rushing up the stairway towardyou. He appears to be in a frenzy andcarries a very large battleaxe, but is ap-proaching noiselessly. The opals rattlein your pocket as you turn to face thisnew menace; from behind you some-where, outside the doors, you hearlaughter.

Preparations (choose one or two)U-1: Get out slow scroll and cast it at

the minotaur.U-2: Throw gold at the minotaur’s feet.U-3: Get out the opals; this means set-

ting down your shield (needed for U-11,U-12, U-13, or U-14.)

U-4: Cast any remaining spell.U-5: Rush out the doorway.U-6: Throw food at the minotaur’s feet.

Actions (choose one)U-11: Fight the minotaur, then attempt

to close the doors.U-12: Rush out and search for the

source of the laughter, fight whateveryou find, then attempt to close the doors.

U-13: Ignore everything and try toclose the doors.

U-14: Forget it all and rush out into thevalley and away.

U-15: Hold up your holy symbol andorder the evil spirits to begone, then tryto close the door.

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Key for judgingRoom 1

A-1: Has no effect on anything that occurs.A-2: Halves damage taken from black pudding if

A-12 or A-15 is also chosen.A-3: Destroys all of room’s contents; player cros-

ses to next room with no damage.A-4: Swords don’t work against black puddings.

Increase damage taken to 4 points if A-12 or A-15 isalso chosen.

A-5: Has no effect on anything that occurs.A-11: Reach exit with no gain or loss.A-12: Attacked by black pudding under chest.

Take 3 points damage before it is killed (see notesunder A-2 and A-4).

A-13: Find nothing of interest; go to next room.A-14: This scroll is explosive runes. Take 4 points

damage; you’re after opals, not scrolls.A-15: This triggers an attack by the black pudding

under the chest. Fire is the best way to fight them,and the torch is magical. You easily defeat the pud-ding, taking only one point of damage. All of thetorches go out when the one you chose dies.

Room 2B-1: Continue on with no loss or gain.B-2: Halve any damage taken.B-3: Successfully evade pursuit, gain nothing,

take 1 point damage from a sling bullet as you flee.B-4: Take only 1 point maximum damage from any

fight in this room.B-5: No effect.B-6: No effect.B-11: No paladin would be with this crowd or con-

done torture. The paladin is hanging dead on thewail. Take 7 points of damage in the fight that followswith the four thieves. Find one opal in the chest.

B-12: Kill the first thief (one wearing the stolenpaladin’s gear) with a single blow, then kill the rest inan easy fight because you had surprise. Take 2points damage and find an opal in the chest.

B-13: Kill everyone in room, take no damage, butdestroy the opal in the chest. (Nobody ducked.)

B-14: Gain partial surprise, take 3 points damage,find opal in chest.

B-15: You receive an obscene reply and are at-tacked by four thieves all at once. Thanks to youwarning them of your presence, it is a hard fight, andyou take 5 points damage. Find an opal in the openchest.

B-16: Has no effect on the first thief to exit, butgives those behind some warning. You take 3 pointsdamage in the fight that follows, then find an opal inthe chest.

Room 3C-1 : Adds 2 points to any damage received in fight

with sea lion.C-2: No effect.C-3: You can’t jump 15 feet in armor. When you hit

the water, a sea lion attacks while you are sub-merged and partially blinded by the water. You driveit off with your sword after taking 3 points damage.

C-4: Cut in half (round down) all damage taken incombat in this room.

C-5: Needed for C-12; otherwise no effect.C-6: Needed for C-16; otherwise no effect.C-11: You are attacked by a sea lion as you swim

across. Take 3 points damage from its claws (plusthe extra damage indicated under C-1).

C-12: You are attacked by a sea lion as you pullyourself across. Your armor protects you somewhat;take 2 points damage before driving it away.

C-13: You take no damage, and you notice as youpass over the stream that a large sea lion dwells atthe bot tom.

C-14: The sea lion dwelling in the stream noticesthe ripples from your crossing and smells your scentin the water. This negates most of the advantage ofinvisibility. Take 3 points damage in the crossing.

C-15: When you turn to climb down, after findingnothing at the top, you notice that you are lookingdown into the den of a sea lion. (This is how thekeepers checked on their pet.) Being forewarned,you prepare for trouble before you cross the stream;halve all damage (rounding down) from the methodof crossing you chose.

C-16: When you throw the rations in, a sea lionrises to inspect them. It sees you on the bank andattacks, but because you are still on land you onlytake 1 point of damage, and are able to cross thestream without further incident.

C-17: You find no passages. The sea lion becameaware of your presence while you searched, and isready for you when you try to cross. Take 4 pointsdamage, plus the penalty for choosing C-1 above.

Room 4D-1: No effect.D-2: No effect.D-3: This destroys the opal and the other treasure

being guarded by a red dragon. The fireball weak-ened the dragon, but it is still a formidable foe. Take5 points damage and proceed to the next room.

D-4: The red dragon in the chamber is trapped,and so is the opal it was guarding. Go to next room,ignoring any other results called for.

D-5: Needed for D-13; otherwise no effect.D-6: No effect; red dragons can see invisible

objects.D-7: No effect, except that the spell is lost.D-11: A wounded red dragon spies you trying to

sneak past and lets loose with its breath weapon.Take 6 points damage and go to next room.

D-12: A wounded and very upset red dragonawaits you. It uses its last gasp of breath weaponagainst you before you reach striking range. Youtake 8 points damage before killing the dragon, andthen find an opal hidden in the back of the cave.

D-13: You are splashing holy water on a red drag-on who is not amused. It breathes on you, and in themelee that follows you take further damage beforekilling it. Mark off 10 points damage, and find an opalhidden in the back of the cave.

D-14: Red dragons aren’t really attracted to food— especially dry, tasteless iron rations. The dragonis warned of your presence, lets loose with its breathweapon, and engages you in hard combat. Take 10points damage and find an opal hidden in the back ofthe cave.

D-15: The wounded red dragon inside is not veryfriendly. It will use its last breath attack on you andthen combat you with its claws. You kill it, but notbefore taking 10 points damage. You find an opalhidden inside the dragon’s cave.

Room 5E-1: Swords aren’t the best weapons against ske-

letons, and symbols only work for clerics. Increaseany damage taken in this room by 1 point.

E-2: Needed for E-11; otherwise no effect.E-3: Needed for E-14; otherwise, this preparation

reduces damage taken by 1 point.E-4: Destroys the skeletons, and also fries the opal

which was in the chest.E-5: No effect on skeletons, which aren’t conjured

or enchanted monsters. They aren’t even evil!E-6: No effect; a torch won’t do any special dam-

age, and the light it gives off is too dim to make anydifference.

E-11: Destroys the nearest skeleton; the othersswing at you as you pass, doing 3 points damage.Find opal in chest.

E-12: Axes are edged weapons, which do halfdamage to skeletons. Take 5 points damage, findopal in chest.

E-13: Flails are good weapons against skeletons;take 2 points damage, find opal in chest.

E-14: The table is really the ideal blunt weapon foruse against skeletons. Not only does it smash themeasily, it does so at a distance so they can’t strikeyou. Take no damage, find opal in chest.

E-15: A good defensive position, but your swordonly does half damage to skeletons. Take 3 pointsdamage before the last skeleton is smashed, andthen find an opal in the chest.

Room 6F-1: Destroys the trolls with no damage to you. Go

to next room.F-2: Deduct 2 points from any damage received in

this room.F-3: Deduct 1 point from any damage received

(but also see F-12 if chosen).F-4: Good defense against trolls, but it has no

effect on combat.F-5: No effect.F-6: Since you can’t see the trolls from where

you’re standing, you aren’t likely to hurt them withyour patch of fire. They will be warned of your pres-ence; add 2 points to any damage taken.

F-11: There are two trolls in the room. You take 5points damage before killing them.

F-12: The trolls will see you as you get part wayacross the area unless you also used invisibilitv. IfF-3 was chosen, you get-past without damage; iftake 5 points damage in the fight that follows.

not.

F-13: A search will turn up nothing. Sorry, no opal,just dead trolls.

F-14: If preparation F-1 (fireball) was not takenand this action was not taken, add 1 point damagewhen a barely regenerated troll takes a swipe at youjust before you get away.

F-15: Friendly trolls? You gotta be kidding. Take 6points damage in the fight that follows.

Room 7G-1: Nice try. Apparently you correctly guessed

that the things in the closet are used by the orcs’jester. But the jester is an orc, not a half-elf, and theother orcs are only fooled for a minute. Deduct 2points from any damage taken in combat.

G-2: These are boots of dancing, worn by whi-chever poor slob the orc chieftain picks to be hisjester. Add 3 points to any damage taken in combat.

G-3: This is merely a wooden jester’s prop and ispowerless.

G-4: If G-12 or G-13 is also chosen, you take nodamage and the orcs soon wander off. If any otheraction is chosen, deduct 2 points from damagetaken.

G-5: The ceiling is only 10 feet high, not highenough to get away from a tall orc with a big weapon.Hiding is impossible in this manner; no effect on anyevents that follow.

G-6: Deduct 1 point from damage taken, due tosurprise.

G-11: Take 3 points damage in a pitched battlewith five spear-wielding orcs.

G-12: The orcs will continue on their way and willeasily spot you in the long, straight, empty corridor.Take 3 points damage in the melee that follows —unless you were invisible (see G-4).

G-13: Hiding is unsuccessful unless you’re invisi-ble (see G-4); otherwise, take 3 points damage.

G-14: The orcs hesitate only slightly before seeingthrough your bluff. Because of the surprise advan-tage your bluff gives you, take only 2 points damagein combat.

G-15: It won’t hurt the orcs, but they will be wetand mad. Take 4 points damage in the fight thatfollows.

Room 6H-1: Destroys the fire beetles inside the wall, and

also the opal which was sitting on a table in the backof the chamber. Take no damage, go to next room.

H-2: You see that you are facing fire beetles, andyou deduct 1 point of damage from the combat thatensues because they don’t like the light.

H-3: Needed for H-11; otherwise no effect.H-4: No effect.H-5: Needed for H-12; otherwise no effect.H-6: The spell works on doors, not on doorless

openings. No effect.H-11: Now you’re facing a wet fire beetle who is

very hungry. Take 3 points damage in the melee thatfollows, find an opal on a table inside the darkenedarea.

H-12: The fire beetles are easily distracted by thefood. They rush for it, and you rush for the table inthe back of the chamber, where you find an opal.Take no damage, go to next room.

H-13: You’re fighting fire beetles in their element.Take 4 points of damage, or only 2 points if H-2 wasalso chosen. Find an opal in the back of the room.

H-14: Fire beetles are dumb, but fast. One of themactually catches up to you. Take 2 points damage asit bites from behind before you kill it.

H-15: So now you’re a cleric? Anyway, fire beetlesaren’t smart enough to know what a holy symbol is.Take 3 points damage in melee, then find an opal ona table in their lair.

Room 9J-1: No effect on mummies, which are neither con-

jured nor enchanted.J-2: Needed for J-11; otherwise no effect.J-3: That takes care of all the mummies and the

opal, too. Take no damage, go to next room.J-4: No effect.J-5: Needed for J-14; otherwise no effect.J-6:Adds to your agility, as you stay near the walls

and fight it out. Deduct 2 points from any damagetaken.

J-7: Needed for J-13; otherwise no effect.J-11: You are able to grab the opal from the mum-

my you doused with the holy water, and you flee therest, taking 4 points of damage.

J-12: Mummies are far from fast on their feet. Youdon’t get the opal, but you only take 1 point damageas you waltz across the room.

46

October 1981 DragonJ-13: The one you oiled goes up in smoke. In

melee with the others, you manage to kill two ofthem and grab the opal before fleeing. Take 4 pointsdamage in the fight.

J-14: Sorry, mummies only listen to this trick whenit’s performed by a cleric. They get in first licks whileyou get out your sword. You take 6 points damageand manage to grab the opal from the one wearing it.

J-15: The higher “plus” of the dagger is offset bythe shortness of its blade, which allows the mum-mies a better chance at hitting you. Take 5 points ofdamage and grab the opal.

Room 10K-1: A silly thing to do, unless you enjoy wasting

spells. No effect.K-2: Ditto.K-3: Needed for K-11; otherwise no effect.K-4: Needed for K-13; otherwise no effect.K-5: You were supposed to get opals, not lock

them away. Oh, well . . . go to next room.K-11: By mixing water with a strong acid, you have

found the only possible way to get injured in thisroom. You take 1 point damage from the small ex-plosion that follows, and the opal is destroyed.

K-12: Nice try, but it doesn’t work. You lose theopal into the acid but suffer no harm.

K-13: Congratulations! Sometimes it doesn’t payto be overly cautious. You grab the opal with noproblem.

K-14: The opal dissolves, along with a little bit ofyour optimism.

K-15: Nothing else happens. The panel slides backacross the opening and cannot be reopened.

Room 11L-1: Good move, but not the best. No effect on

damage taken.L-2: You feel as though you don’t need food or

water, but the gas will still affect you. No effect ondamage taken.

L-3: Suddenly the air seems as pure and fresh as apine forest. You take no damage; go to next room.

L-4: You are now immune to spells of up to 4thlevel. However, that is meaningless here; you are stillaffected by the gas.

L-5: Your lungs burn, and you now know enoughnever to drink holy water again. No effect on damagetaken.

L-11: Take 2 points damage before you run clearof the cloud after 70 feet.

L-12: Take 5 points damage before the gas dis-perses. Why did you do that?

L-13: You find nothing (you already looked once),but you take 3 points damage before you are forcedto flee up the corridor.

Room 12M-1: Iron golems are only hit by weapons of +3 or

better, even if they’re little ones — you should havetaken up your dagger. You take 2 extra points ofdamage when you realize you must change wea-pons and have to take the time to do it.

M-2: Good move; you need the +3 weapon to hitthe golem. Deduct 1 point damage from combat.

M-3: Needed for M-12; otherwise no effect.M-4: No effect.M-5: This definitely helps you evade the golem.

Deduct 2 points damage from combat.M-6: Needed for M-15; otherwise no effect.M-7: Anyone who doesn’t choose this preparation

will take 1 point damage from the golem’s attack ofpoisonous gas.

M-11: The golem is hurt but not helpless. Take 3points damage before killing it (see M-1).

M-12: Did you expect to rust it to death? Take 4points damage in the battle that follows.

M-13: Golems move slowly: there is only one ex-change of blows, causing you 2 points damage, be-fore you get past.

M-14: Golems aren’t fast, but they’re patient. Even-tually you get cornered and have to make a run for it.The monster hits you for 3 points damage before youget away.

M-15: Almost the dumbest thing you could havedone. Fire helps to repair damage to iron golems.You take 3 points damage while escaping from thenow-strengthened golem.

M-16: Definitely the dumbest thing you could havedone. The fireball has repaired all the golem’s dam-age; it now looks and fights like new. You take 8points damage before getting away.

Room 13N-1: This definitely helps in a fight, but not if

you’re not planning to battle the monster. Deduct 3points from damage taken, unless action N-13 orN-14 is also chosen.

N-2: Needed for N-11; otherwise no effect.N-3: The dagger is less useful than the sword

against an invisible opponent, and a +3 weapon isnot needed to hit an invisible stalker. Add 1 point todamage taken.

N-4: Excellent choice. The spell keeps the invisi-ble stalker from doing you any harm. Take no dam-age regardless of whatever action you chose, and goto next room.

N-5: Now you and the invisible stalker are on eventerms. Deduct 2 points from damage taken.

N-6: No effect.N-7: Needed for N-15; otherwise no effect.N-11: Now you’re facing a wet invisible stalker.

The water allows you to see its shape for one round,and so you win the fight with only 2 points damage.

N-12: The invisible stalker puts up a good fight,but you win after taking 3 points damage.

N-13: Invisible stalkers are notoriously anti-socialwhen they’re on the job. Take 4 points damage in thefight that follows, because the stalker gets in the firstblow.

N-14: Where are you going to hide — from some-thing you can’t even see — in a five-foot-wide corri-dor? Take 6 points damage in the battle you areforced to fight with the invisible stalker.

N-15: Invisible stalkers are rarely distracted byfood. Take 4 points damage as you fight your wayaway from the creature after slipping past it.

Room 14O-1: The light awakens a bronze dragon who was

asleep atop its treasure pile. Add 3 points damage ifO-11, O-13 or O-14 was chosen; otherwise no effect.

O-2: Needed for O-11 or O-14; otherwise no effect(the dragon does not wake up).

O-3: You kill the bronze dragon without takingdamage, but you also destroy the opal. Go to nextroom.

O-4: The dragon wakes up and eyes you curiously.Add 3 points to damage taken if O-11, O-13 or O-14is chosen; otherwise no effect.

O-5: You succeed in getting away without harm,but also without the opal.

O-6: Needed for O-13; otherwise no effect.O-11: The creature is a bronze dragon who is law-

ful good and wouldn’t have hurt you, but now it’smad. Take 5 points damage in the fight you started,and get the opal from the dead dragon.

O-12: The dragon will ask you, in lawful good, whyyou need the opal, and after you explain your plight,it will gladly give you the jewel. Take no damage, goto next room.

O-13: You succeed in tying its mouth shut, but thedragon awakens when the first blow is struck. Beforethe dragon dies, it gives you 4 points damage. Youlose your rope and gain an opal.

O-14: It’s impossible to steal something from thedragon’s treasure hoard and then steal away. It at-tacks you from behind as you sneak off, causing 6points damage before you get away with the opal.

O-15: The dragon is lawful good and is glad tohelp. It gives you the opal and wishes you luck.

Room 15P-1: The scroll contains a curse that causes you to

“accidentally” stab yourself for 1 point damage asyou leave the area.

P-2: This scroll is a map that the stranger wasmaking. Since you can really only go one directionanyway, the map is of no use to you and has no effectupon you.

P-3: No effect; he remains unconscious.P-4: Needed for P-11 and P-12; otherwise no

effect.P-5: Okay, now he’s dead. No damage and no

effect, but your alignment wobbles slightly.P-6: No gain or loss; go to next room.P-11: The vial contains a special healing potion.

You gain back 1 point of damage.P-12: The stranger suddenly looks much better,

and he is grateful. He mutters in a strange language,touches you, and heals 2 points of your damage.When you show him the opals you are carrying, hereaches into his pocket and gives you another one,then bows his head in prayer and walks back towardthe entrance.

P-13: No gain or loss, no damage taken.P-14: No gain or loss, except for a slight shift in

your alignment.P-15: Your search reveals an opal in the stranger’s

pocket. You take it and proceed onward.

Room 16Q-1: Needed for Q-11; otherwise no effect.Q-2: Needed for Q-12; otherwise no effect.Q-3: Needed for Q-13; otherwise no effect.Q-4: The additional light reveals the fungus to be

violet-colored and covered with a sticky liquid.Among the fungi are several small shriekers. Deduct1 point from damage taken because you are warned.

Q-5: No effect.Q-6: No effect.Q-11: You cross with no damage, and you are able

to grab the scroll before you leave the area. It has aSlow spell written on it. (Note: The scroll is alsoobtained following any of the other actions.)

Q-12: A good maneuver; you get through withoutdamage.

Q-13: The violet fungi strike out at you, and yourflesh begins to rot where they hit you. Take 3 pointsdamage before getting through. Garlic has no effect,but is ruined.

Q-14: Effectively the same as Q-13; take 3 pointsdamage as you shove your way through the fungi.

Q-15: Going through faster would have been bet-ter. The fungus causes 4 points damage before youget clear of the area.

Room 17R-1: Needed for R-14; otherwise no effect (the

spell will work).R-2: If R-13 is chosen, this deducts 1 point from

damage taken from the demon in the right-handarea.

R-3: Prevents damage from demon (Type II) ifR-13 is chosen; otherwise no effect.

R-4: Needed for R-15.R-5: Reduces damage done by demon by 3 points

if R-13 is chosen; otherwise no effect.R-6: Needed for R-16 (the torch will stay lit).R-7: No effect.(Note: Anyone who survives an encounter in any

one of the areas will find an opal in the box on the farside of the arena.)

R-11: When you cross, the floating creature driftsaround aimlessly, ignoring you. Take no damageunless you also chose R-16 or R-18, in which caseyou take the listed amount of damage.

R-12: The gorgon will attack at the first opportuni-ty. Take 6 points damage.

R-13: The Type II demon in this area will hand you10 points damage (see R-2, R-3, R-5).

R-14: This spell will cause you to take no damagefrom the gas spore in the left-hand area, and will cutthe damage done by the gorgon in half, to 3 pointsinstead of 6. The demon is not affected by the spell.

R-15: This hurts only the demon in the right-handarea; deduct 2 points from damage caused by it. Add1 point of damage if used against the gorgon, be-cause you had to get very close to douse the crea-ture. No effect on the gas spore.

R-16: Add 2 points to damage taken if fighting thegorgon or the demon, both of whom would havebeen better avoided. The torch almost bursts the gasspore, but you back off just in time and take nodamage if you chose the left-hand area.

R-17: Nobody accepts your offer. Take damage asusual.

R-18: Deduct 1 point from damage taken if R-12 orR-13 was also chosen. Take 5 points damage whenthe gas spore bursts if R-11 was chosen.

Room 16S-1: Not much good against the spell this wizard is

casting against you for disturbing the body of hishomonculous. Take 3 points damage from magicmissiles immediately.

S-2: Nothing seems to happen, except that thewizard trying to attack you gets very upset.

S-3: Needed for S-12; take 3 points damage fromthe wizard’s magic missiles.

S-4: After you take 3 points damage from the firstmagic missile attack, the wizard looks mad enoughto start anmother spell.

S-5: Nice try, but the wizard’s magic missiles don’tmiss. Take 3 points damage.

S-6: The wizard’s magic missiles still hit you for 3points damage, but you take 3 points less damagefrom any result that follows.

S-7: The wizard can easily aim a magic missilearound the small body. Take 3 points damage im-mediately, and add 1 extra point of damage taken ifany action but S-13 or S-14 is chosen.

S-11: The wizard isn’t much of a fighter. He hitsyou for a l-point scratch and then falls. You find anopal in his pocket.

S-12: The wizard moves so slowly that you slit his

47

Dragonthroat before he can react. Take no damage and findan opal in his pocket.

S-13: You take 1 point damage as the wizard bitesyou. You finally strangle him, then find an opal in hispocket.

S-14: You take a second hit from magic missilesfor 4 more points damage, then the wizard laughs atyou and leaves.

S-15: Take 2 points damage as you rush past andknock the wizard over. Before he can get anotherspell ready, you are out of sight.

Vol . VI, No. 4

U-12 or U-15 was also chosen, add 2 points to anydamage taken.

U-6: ignored by the illusionary minotaur.

U-11: Take 4 points damage from the illusionary minotaur and then 1 point more from the dagger ofthe illusionist, who attacks you from behind. Theillusionist then flees, and if you're alive, you canclose the doors.

U-12: You see nothing, then suddenly take 3points damage from an illusionist's dagger in your back. The illusionist becomes visible, the minotaurdisappears, and you can kill the spell-caster before clos-ing the doors.

U-13: When you get the doors shut, the illusion of the minotaur vanishes, and you hear the cursing ofan illusionist from outside the doors as you lock theopals into place. Congratulations!

U-14: Take 2 points damage from the invisibleillusionist as you rush past him, then flee into thewilds to end your days as a hermit.

U-15: No one goes away, but the laughter gets louder. The minotaur disappears (you broke the illu-sionist's concentration), but the spell-caster hits youfrom behind with a dagger for 3 points damage be-fore he flees. If you're alive, you can close the doors.

Room 19T-1: Needed for T-11.T-2: No effect.T-3: Deduct 1 point from damage taken.T-4: No effect, unless it obviously is one which

would destroy or isolate the skeletons.T-5: No effect.T-6: No effect.T-11: Take 1 point damage in melee.T-12: Take 2 points damage in melee.T-13: Take no damage; go to next room.T-14: The armor is cursed. Take 2 points damage,

and if you did not also fight the skeletons, take 1point more. An opal is in the helm. Was it worth it?

T-15: Take 3 points damage from the cursed ob-jects in and around the body, and 1 point more if youdid not also fight the skeletons. There is an opal inthe helm.

T-16: The sword is cursed. Take 1 point damageand 1 more if you did not also fight the skeletons.

T-17: The hand doesn’t react, but the ring is a ringof weakness. You collapse and take 1 point damage;add 3 more if you didn’t also fight the skeletons.

T-18: Take 1 point damage in the exchange withthe skeletons. They are only guarding the body anddo not pursue you.

Room 20U-1: No effect on the minotaur, which is an

illusion.U-2: No effect; ignored by the illusionary minotaur.U-3: Needed for any action choice but U-14.U-4: Any spell cast at the illusionary minotaur has

no effect. Any spell cast on yourself will not help in afight. Wall of Stone will protect you long enough toclose the doors without taking further damage, ifU-13 is chosen.

U-5: You don’t see anything outside, and now youhave to fight your way back into the caverns. If U-11,

Guidelines for judgesgranted to photocopy any and all parts of this adventure for thepurpose of disseminating it among players.) Players shouldindicate their choices for preparations and actions by circling

Although the “programmed” nature of Cavern Quest takes the appropriate letter-number code on the sheet. The judgemuch of the decision-making out of judging, it is still necessary should cross off, or make sure the players cross off, all equip-for the adventure to be closely monitored by a referee. Each ment and spells, which are not reusable. In like fashion, a char-player should be given the room descriptions and lists of choi- acter’s points of damage and opals obtained should be markedces one room at a time in numerical order. If more than one off, either by the judge or by the players under the supervision ofplayer is being taken through the adventure at the same time, the judge, as they accrue.the results of their actions and preparations should be told to At the discretion of the judge, players may be allowed to haveeach one separately, to prevent the other player(s) from learn- access to the AD&D™ Players Handbook. However, Caverning too much. Quest is designed in such a way that a very basic knowledge of

To begin, each player should be provided with a facsimile of the rules, plus a large dose of common sense, will be enough tothe character sheet that accompanies the text. (Permission is enable a character to make it all the way through.

Convention calendarCHAOTICON, Oct. 17-18-D&D games, RuneQuest and morefantasy gaming will be held at the Sunnyvale Hilton Inn, Sunny-vale, Calif. Pre-registration is $10. For more information, send aself-addressed, stamped envelope to ChaotiCon, P.O. Box 485,Campbell CA 95009.

AUTUMN REVEL, Oct 17-18—Join the staff of ,TSR Hobbies,Inc., for role-playing, miniatures, an auction, food and good-ness knows what else! Admission to the American Legion Hall,735 Henry St., Lake Geneva, Wis., is just $3 for the weekend; $2daily. For more information, contact: Autumn Revel, P.O. Box756, Lake Geneva, Wis., 53147. (414) 248-8050.

VOLCON II, Oct. 30-Nov. 1—The second Yakima Valley GamesConvention, featuring science-fiction and fantasy gaming andscience-related personal hobbies. More information can be ob-tained from VolCon II coordinator Kenneth Peterson, 3605 Tie-ton Drive, Yakima WA 98902, phone (509) 575-2442 (office) or(509) 452-8838 (home).

ARMAGEDDON ‘81, Nov. 6-8—To be held at the University ofHouston Central Campus. Events will include competitions inthe AD&D game, Squad Leader, Samurai, Air Force/Dauntlessand other games. Admission is $5, plus $1 for entry in the AD&Dtournament. More information is available from richard D.McLeod, Chairperson, Armageddon ‘81, Program Council, Uni-versity of Houston Central Campus, University Center N-23,Houston TX 77004, phone (713) 749-1435.

48

WARGAMERS WEEKEND, Nov. 6-8-—The DAV Hall in Newbu-ryport, Mass. will be the scene for D&D games and miniatures,

including World War II, Civil War, Seven Years War, Napoleo-nics, Medievals and Renaissance periods. For more informationwrite: Newburyport Wargarners Association, c/o The Toy Soldi-er, 20 Unicorn St., Newburyport, Mass., 01950.

ALPHACON Ill, Nov. 14-15—Ascience-fiction and gaming con-vention, to be held at the Ramada Inn, Ithaca, New York. Al-phacon will feature a film program, displays, computers, andtournament gaming in Dungeons and Dragons, Diplomacy, andother games. The proposed Guest of Honor is Lester Del Rey,and the proposed Fan Guest Honor is Jay Kay Klein. Conven-tion membership is $6 in advance, and $9 at the door. Dealertables are $20 each and include one membership. Send checksor write for more information: Alphacon III, c/o Bill Freebairn,310 N. Sunset Drive, Ithaca NY 14850.

RICON ‘81, Nov. 14-15-Rhode Island’s first fantasy role-playingconvention is set for the Howard Johnson’s in Warwick. Topreregister send $8 to RICON ‘81, P.O. Box 171, Lincoln, R.I.,02865.

CONTRADICTION, Nov. 20-22—A science-fiction conventionto be held at the Buffalo Marriott Inn, Amherst, N.Y. Registrationfee is $8 until Oct. 31. For more information, contact LindaMichaels, 27 Argosy Street, Amherst NY 14226.

GEN CON® SOUTH, Feb. 5-7, 1982-The Cowford Dragoonsand TSR Hobbies, Inc., again sponsor this wintertime retreat toFlorida at the Jacksonville Beaches Convention Center. Formore information write GEN CON® SOUTH, P.0 Box 16371,Jacksonville, Fla., 32216.

October 1981 Dragon

49

Dragon

man flees into my grasp, tiredand ragged, a child in his arms.A troop of horsemen rides to my

edges, marks his entry, turns and leaves.The soldiers —they know me.

The man struggles atop a mound andcollapses, trembling, exhausted. I uncoilfrom a nearby tree. I sway slightly, ob-serving him. I slowly slither around anddown, the moist bark smooth beneathmy scales. I enter the murky water, allbut invisible; my length reappears unno-ticed on the intruder’s isolated refuge.

Below bushes, over leaves, I approachunheard and unseen, stopping once,twice, three times to taste the air with mydarting tongue. I strike, fangs findingflesh just below the ear, biting deep, in-jecting swift poison. He spasms andwrithes, lunges up and flops down, facein the water. His fall splatters mud on thechild, who cries loudly. It is a satisfyingSound. . .

dwarf, bold with arms and ar-mor, greedy with rumors ofriches, rows cautiously down

one of the rivers that enters but neverleaves me. Damp under his heavy mail isan aged parchment said to be a map.

I fly over him, a black heron, with asquawk that’ startles and embarrassesthis brute, though no person sees hisnervousness. I swim under him, a dam-nago fish, with razor-sharp teeth arid aconsuming hunger. I bar his path, a tum-ble of dead and broken trees, cementedwith mud and sticks. I wedge his craftfast against the blockage. I am a rock hecurses but cannot budge.

The hero of the dwarven realm pullsout his war axe and tries chopping theboat free. Failing, he abandons it, thentests one of my limbs before crawling outupon it. He is careful not to slip into thewater; he respects me a little, at least.

His axe falls again’ and again, slowlymaking a passage for himself, he thinks,even if he cannot get his boat free. I crawlup the back of one of his heavy boots.My eight legs find a grip easily. He istwenty times my height, so the climb istiring; I have to stop and rest halfway up.The heavy armor that protects him frommost attacks also keeps him from feelingmy presence. Finally, I reach my goaland kiss him on the cheek. He crushesme with a gauntleted hand and I die; butso does he. ‘He is almost six bow-shotsinto my confines,

mighty baron orders me con-quered by a road. But I havemany sets of teeth, great and

small — and many venoms. The workershalt ten steps past my border; the baron

himself journeys to oversee the project.No mere swamp will stop him, he thinks.

But I have a way to sweep through hiscamp, killing and unkillable, a plague forwhich there is no cure. All of the inter-lopers die moaning and writhing exceptthe baron, who (wisely, to his credit)takes his own life rather than risk con-taminating others. I would have let himescape, if he had wanted to. . .

man glides in a canoe over mywaters. Fair of hair, pale ofcomplexion, he resembles an

elf, but is larger. Naught about him re-veals his goal, but his look is that of atraveler — one who has come far withstill far to go.

No being who has invaded me anddied has worn clothes like these: seam-less leather that covers the entire body,including the neck. Two daggers, a mace,and a heavy, sealed pouch swing under ahooded cloak of forest green that ren-ders him invisible from more than fiftypaces away. His boat holds more: aleather pack full of food, a bow, a quiverof arrows, and a sword wrapped in oil-cloths that is as long as he is tall.

I drift slowly, coming up behind him. Alog?No . . . but, he is not fooled. A greatjawed engine of death, I am almost uponhim when he spins around, snatches uphis bow and an arrow and shoots me inthe eye. My mighty jaws go stack, mycrocodile-form becomes still in the wa-ter as he paddles along.

A bird drops out of the ashen sky andlands on his shoulder. It speaks into hisear and again takes wing. The masterputs into shore and portages to an adja-cent channel. Downstream, I spin harm-lessly, a whirlpool lying in his initial path.

Twice more before the sun sinks I tryto end this mortal’s existence. Twicemore I fail. Once, as a tick, I fall from thetrees onto his head; once, as an adder, Isteal into his boat. Both times he kills mebefore my task is done. How does he seeall movement, hear all sounds, smell allscents?

He paddles late into the night, and Iwait with the patience of the infinite. Fi-nally, as I know he must, he stops by thebank and sleeps, defenseless as he sitsin his canoe.

I slide out of the water, silent clawedfootprints followed by the groove my tailcuts in the muck. Two cubits long, asthick as my prey’s upper arm, scum-greywith black splotches, my poison bitecauses a slow, excruciatingly painfuldeath. Over the front of his boat andacross his provisions I crawl. His eyesblink open — and he impales me with adagger. Before the pain courses throughmy being, I observe him; he observes me.The pain envelops me, and I have learnedthat although his body sleeps, his minddoes not.

I sink his boat that morning, violating

50

Vol. VI, No. 4

its bottom. Jagged rocks am I, my lairrippleless water. He struggles and savesthe sword, the bow, the missiles, and hisbody — but not the food — before theboat vanishes. I am closer to victory now— he has swallowed my polluted waters.Can his doom be much longer in coming?

Shortly, waves of fever and chill rackhis body and he fails to his knees. I ripand tear from inside, a disease flowingthrough his veins. Before I can end him,though, he opens his sealed pouch, andswallows a small amount of powder fromwithin it, speaking strange words ofpower while subtly gesturing with hishands. I am sent from him, purged by apower previously unknown to me.

Rebuffed again, I study him, watchingcarefully with a dozen pairs of eyes. Iinhale his scent with a score of lungs ashe listens with ears sharper than anyman’s. What is this half-map, half-elf? Hecures himself of disease as only the mostpious can, yet he wields weapons thatsuch beings abhor.

The next dawn he sings to the sun, andthe song strikes chords deep within me.He pushes further on — sometimes onfoot, sometimes floating on a piece ofloose log. He finds food as he goes andignores even the most appealing of thepoisonous plants and fruits I place in hispath. ‘He does not drink my water; twicenow he has created his own, summoningit forth from out of nothingness, thenagain singing his strange songs to thedawn. What is his purpose? What is hisgoal?

Now I am curious. I decide to wait andwatch for answers to my questions. Fivetimes I let the sun cross the sky beforeagain I bring my power down upon thiscreature.

Now he has come to the place where Igrow tall enough to scrape the sky;where no light from the day reaches theground and no -rivers flow. Here myground is always wet, and here I dress ina perpetual fog. Here I stalk rather thanswim. Here he is deeper into me thananyone has been before.

I decide to test his prowess as a war-rior. My three-toed feet sink to the anklesin mud as I charge out of the mists at hispuny form. Twice his height and wearingthick scales of murky green, I make nopretense of stealth. I roar and flex myman-sized jaws. He hurls a dagger intoone of my short, clawed arms and pullsthe slip knot that releases the two-handedsword from his back. I slash at him withmy good arm and bite at his head. Myclaw catches him on the chest, tearinghis leather armor open and ripping theflesh beneath. He slips under my thrustand cleaves through my shoulder withthe sword. I retreat a step, bellowing withpain. Then I charge again, trying totrample the little man with the big sword.Unsteady on my-feet, I lunge and miss,and he chops my tail off. My balance

October 1981 Dragonthus destroyed, I fall, and so it ends.

The man again opens his pouch andremoves a few small leaves. He rubsthem over his wounds, chanting — andthe wounds disappear. He moves on.

Yellow, orange, red, yellow, orange,red, I’m striped with bright colors. I curland twist, coming at him from all direc-tions; a dozen deadly serpents. Beforehe can kill all of me, I will have bitten himat least once, and he will die. He drawsno weapons, but chants a melodioushum, and disappears!

his night is moonless, cloud-covered, and dark as the heartof evil. I glide silently on leathery

wings. He cannot see me and I cannotsee him, but I know where he is. In thedark I will be upon him as a swarm ofvampire bats before he can flee or fight.

He does see me, though, with the nightvision of a true elf. Before I can get tohim, descend upon him and drink hisblood, he is again gone. No eyes I lookwith, no ears I listen with can detect him.Where has he gone?

Burrow, dig, eat, dig, dig, dig... I havefound him again. I am a maggot grub,and the elf/man has roots. I start to gnawon him; but before I can do harm hetransforms himself, from the shrub-formthat eluded the bats, back into a man.

I gather a large portion of my power,

my self, together, and rage with thewinds of a howling storm. Now I knowwhat he seeks: He heads for my heart,the very center of my being! He is close,but he will not arrive. There will be no

I am huge hulking monsters fifty timesthe invader’s size. I am swift, fanged

hiding this time, no surviving the fight.

beasts with warm fur and sharp claws. Iam deadly reptiles of all dimensions.

He will be finished and I will remain asalways’: unchanged, eternal, immortal.

I charge him singularly first. I am anarmor-plated behemoth with horns likelances. I will draw him into combat; whenhe sees he is surrounded it will be toolate.

He sidesteps my charge and lashesout with his sword — and it shattersagainst my impervious flank. I turn, andall my selves join the attack. But sudden-ly, the invader drops everything but hispouch, and before the fatal onslaughtreaches him, he becomes an eagle andflaps slowly away. I had not suspectedthis man to change into other animal-forms, just as I can do. He must be nearlyas powerful as myself.

I summon all manner of flying crea-tures to impede the eagle/man, but nonecan arrive in time. It is a short journey, byair, to my heart. And I know, just as hemust know, that I cannot attack himthere without also attacking myself.

He lands at the very middle of me andagain becomes a man, unarmed andnaked. He opens his pouch. With respectand ceremony, he pulls out four seeds

I begin to grow. I am four trees such as

and plants them in my fertile soil. He

I’ve never been before. The man con-tinues his song, and my new trees grow

sings a song of love and hate, life and

higher until they overreach all previousgrowths. They spread new seeds upon

death, glory and despair, power and

the wind, and they too will grow.

weakness.

The man again pulls seeds from hisbag — this time a handful — and spreadsthem upon the ground. He sings — andhealthy, vibrant, colorful, enchantingflowers erupt. Lastly, he draws forth fourwhite berries, which he plants at thebases of my mightiest manifestations.Vines shoot forth, wrap around my bulk,and bloom with more berries and greenleaves.

“Greetings, great bog of the south. Ibring you the gift of peace from thedruids of the lost north. Live now for lifeand not hate. You are free to have goodwith your evil, beauty with your deformi-ty, and calm with your violence.”

I feel tears welling up in my soul as hechanges shape once more, taking theform of a bear, and ambles off in thesweet rain.

51

Dragon

Divinity(From page 9) General notes

A look at the preceding table will showthat the gods are roughly balanced bothby sex and magnitude representing eachalignment. Sacred laws, rituals, and thenature of servants have been (purpose-ly) omitted. The god Tempus (importantin an AD&D world, for obvious reasons)is greatly detailed in the descriptionswhich follow, as an example of whatsuch a deity should be, but most otherdeities are not, for a number of reasons.First, gods should make few if any directappearances in play, preferring to workthrough their servants. The DM mustcreate such servants, for at present fewdivine beings have servants clearly de-fined in the AD&D system, beyond thedemon princes, archdevils, Blibdool-poolp and Lolth in the D (and Q) mo-dules, and Hepaestus in DDG.

Other reasons are more practical:DRAGON magazine has limited space,and players in the Forgotten Realms willread these pages and might learn far toomuch to permit continued good play(refer to “Keeping the Players in theDark” in DRAGON #49). Moreover, manyDMs are sure to prefer other names andpowers for their deities, and Len Lakofkahas already provided a method for out-lining deities in TD #36. More of the na-ture of each god is given below. The spe-cific details of worship and organizedpriesthoods must be tailored to eachcampaign, considering its past historyand political balance of power, and thusfall again to the individual DM.

Deity descriptionsAURIL This demigoddess is connect-

ed to Talos. Her personal powers includeFrost Fingers (see the Frost in the Bes-tiary, DRAGON #33), a double-strengthIce Storm, Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere,and an icy breath (Cone of Cold) thatkills plants on contact, and has the effectof a successful Crystal Brittle spell on allmetal it touches.

AZUTH This most powerful of magesis merely a renamed Aarth (DDG, p. 97).

BANE The “big baddie,” Lord Baneis never seen, although there are tales ofa freezing black-taloned hand and eyesof blazing fire, and can be considered asroughly equivalent to Druaga (DDG, p.23). He does not, however, rule the arch-devils (see Note #4).

BESHABA The Maid of Misfortuneappears as a beautiful white-haired face,laughing hysterically. III fortune (-6 onsaving throws for 1-4 days) falls on thosewho behold her. Often, sure fire plans goawry, stout weapons or walls suddenlygive way, and freak accidents occur toman and beast where Beshaba has been.

BHAAL Bhaal strikes unerringly, andhis dagger causes the area wounded to

wither (becomes useless, 4-12 points ofdamage; head will only be affected afterrest of body). He rarely appears to wor-shippers or others, but is depicted bypriests as a bloody, mutilated corpsewith a feral face and silent movements. Itis said that every murder done streng-thens Bhaal. Myrkul is lord of the dead;Bhaal is lord of death itself, the act ofkilling.

CHAUNTEA The goddess of agricul-ture is a rewritten Demeter (DDG, p. 68);she has no shape change ability, andlessened offensive powers.

DENEIR Connected to Oghma, thisgod is popularly depicted as an old, bald-ing sage with a flaming white beard. Ku-roth’s Quill (DMG, p. 159) is said to be ofhis manufacture, and the priests of De-neir even ascribe most of the magicaltomes or books to him.

ELDATH Eldath has the powers ofSympathy, Empathy, Sleep, Silence 15’Radius, and other enchantment/charmspells. Connected to Silvanus, Eldath isthe supreme pacifist. She guards alldruids’ groves, and when she is presentin any grove, that place becomes a Sanc-tuary where no blows land and no onefeels anger. The famous elven war-hero,Telvar, is said to have camped in such agrove and never taken up arms againafterward.

GOND Gond is Hephaestus (DDG,p. 70) renamed. He is an inventor andartisan, as well as a smith.

HELM Helm is always vigilant, watch-ful. He is never surprised, and antici-pates most events by intelligence andobservation. He can never be borne offhis feet, rarely can he be tricked, and hewill never betray or neglect that which heguards. In short, he is the ideal of guard-ians, and is worshipped so that some ofhis qualities will come to, or be borne outin, the worshipper.

ILMATER This god appears as a bro-ken man, with smashed hands which heconstantly uses. He is the willing suffer-er, similar to lssek of the Jug (DDG, p.100). He shares the latter’s power to ma-nifest himself in creatures being tortured,but only if such creatures are of goodalignment and have not done anything todeserve such treatment.

LATHANDER Offerings are oftenmade to Lathander by those who wor-ship other deities upon the occasion of anew beginning, the formation of a fel-lowship or alliance, and similar happen-ings. Lathander appears as a rosy ra-diance or mist, usually on a hauntinglybeautiful morning.

LEIRA Leira is demigoddess of de-ception and illusion — natural (ratherthan man-made) and magical (includingmanmade). Her name is pronounced“Lair-a,” whereas Lliira (see below) ispronounced “Leer-a,” with a trill on the“ee” sound. Leira’s true appearance isunknown; her priests worship at horned

52

Vol. VI, No. 4

altars whose upswept arms frame no-thing but air. Leira can be anything, an-ywhere, that is not what it seems. Fewworship Leira outside the ranks of illu-sionists, since few other types of charac-ters see profit in misunderstanding anddeception — but many pay her homageto ward her off or placate her before im-portant decisions and judgements aremade. She is seen as neutral rather thanevil because she represents the capricesof nature and not deliberate deceit (thatis the province of Mask).

LLIIRA This goddess is allied to Mililand Sune, and is invoked and offered toat all joyous occasions. She is usuallydepicted as a young, dancing, sensuouslady, laughing and carefree. She cannotabide violence and ill feeling, and asword bared (save in solemn ceremony)any place is said to be enough to driveher, or her favor, away.

LOVIATAR Taken straight from DDG,p. 60.

MALAR Related to Silvanus and theother “nature” gods, Malar is said to beblack, covered with wet, dripping blood,and having the fangs and clawed fore-limbs of a great cat. Hunters (both forgame and in sport) make offerings to himbefore setting forth in the chase, and heis said to manifest himself in berserkers,enraged beasts, and in that type of fren-zied human killer that men deem “mad.”Bhaal is overlord to those who view kil-ling as an art to be coldly perfected; Ma-lar is the patron of those who exult in itendlessly, sensually; adventurers ratherthan perfectionists.

MASK The Lord of Shadows, some-times called “The Thieves’ God,” is arewritten Hermes (DDG, p. 71) strippedof justice and caduceus.

MIELIKKI Allied to Silvanus, the god-dess of all rangers is taken straight fromDDG, p. 60.

MILIL Milil (connected to Oghma andSune) is held in special esteem by bards.He is seen as a young, charismatic manwith beautiful features and voice, but isusually manifested as a haunting music(particularly in clearings in the depths ofa wood), or a radiance about some hu-man bard or raconteur in the throes ofinspiration. (I have given him the “greatlegend” power of Bragi, DDG, p. 115.)

MYRKUL This god usually appearsas a cloaked, animated corpse — skele-tal at its head, and changing slowly to-wards its feet, which are gangrenous,rotting flesh. Myrkul is said to have acold, malignant intelligence and to speakin a high whisper. His supernatural ser-vants are known as “Deaths” (such asthat which appears as part of the Deck ofMany Things, DMG, p. 143). He can ani-mate and command the dead, but has nopower over undead above the level ofzombies and skeletons. He is said to livein a Castle of Bone located in a MoonlessLand of Always Night (Hades).

DragonOctober 1981

MYSTRA The goddess of magic is amanifestation of the Cosmic Balance(see foregoing text) which appears toright great inequalities or goings-awry inthe magical balance of things. She ap-pears as a source of light (like a prismat-ic will-o’-the-wisp to ethereal and astralview, some say) which uses all spells atmaximum level, one defensive spell perround and one offensive spell per round(only one spell total per round if the spellused is Wish, Time Stop, Gate, or AlterReality). Mystra is constantly ShapeChanging as far as an observer on anyPrime Material plane is concerned. Sheis said to have given the first teachingsthat unlocked the forces termed “magic”to the races of the Prime Material plane(and, some say, has forever after regret-ted the deed). Mystra was made lawfulneutral on the premise that magic is in-herently neutral, and exhibits internalorder and laws. Many mages believe thatMystra determines success in the crea-tion of new spells, potions, and magicitems. .

OGHMA Straight from DDG, p. 29.SELUNE Revered by witches (a few

may worship her) and by all who navi-gate or must work at night, Selune iscontinually either growing to full glory ordying. Selune is linked to Mystra; child-

ren born under a full moon often exhibitmagical ability. Lycanthropes who enjoytheir condition (rare though they maybe) usually come to worship Selune, forshe governs their powers. Selune hasbeen said to aid devout worshippers ofher Mystery of the Night by sending aidto those lost by trails of “moondust”(small motes of light similar to DancingLights or tiny will-o’-the-wisps that pro-duce moonlight where none would oth-erwise be, to give sight to someone en-gaged in a delicate task,-guide the waythrough treacherous ground or back to aknown trail, and the like). The “night-stalk,” or solitary moonlit walk, is the oc-casion and ritual of worship to, andCommune with, Selune. Clerics of Se-lune seek and prize “drops fallen fromthe moon,” the offerings of the goddess,for with this precious substance they canmake many potions and unguents.

SHAR This goddess is said to bedarkly beautiful. She is often worshippedby those made bitter by the loss of aloved one; in her dark embrace all forget,and although they forever feel loss, theybecome used to such pain until theyconsider it the usual and natural state ofexistence. Shar battles continually withSelune, slaying her often (i.e., every newmoon), and is worshipped (or paid lip

service by) all surface-dwelling beingswho dislike light. Those who make ortake disguises worship Leira, but thosewho seek only to hide or bury somethingpay homage to Shar.

SILVANUS Straight from DDG, p. 30.SUNE Aphrodite (DDG, p. 64) re-

named; the ultimate in charisma.TALONA Kiputytto (DDG, p. 59)

renamed.TALOS A storm god commanding

powers of rain, gale, lightning, andearthquake. All such deities in DDGseemed too powerful, so I combinedfrom them the features I desired.

TEMPUS The Lord of Battles is achaotic neutral god worshipped by war-riors of all alignments and causes. Hesometimes appears at great battles andimportant combats, riding only one ofhis horses to show the side he appears towhether they have his favor or not. Onrare occasions he has appeared to indi-viduals in a position to cause great strife.His symbol is a blazing sword on ablood-red field; he appears as a 12-foot-tall man in battered armor, face alwayshidden by his war helm. He is alwaysbleeding from open wounds, and bears agreat battleaxe or black sword notchedand stained from battle use. He rideswhile standing astride his two horses,

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

Veiros (Victory), a white mare bloodiedfrom many wounds, and Deiros (Defeat),a black stallion similarly wounded.

The blood of Tempus burns thosemortals it touches, but those who ingesteven a drop of the blood of his mountsgain +2 to strength (17 becomes 18/00,18/anything becomes 19, except 18/00,which becomes 20) for 2-8 turns. Tem-pus has never been seen dismounted,but his horses sometimes appear rider-less, usually only one at a time.

Great warriors are sometimes levitat-ed onto the back of Deiros at the time oftheir death and borne away. Some (not-ably those of lawful good alignment) saythat Deiros changes to Veiros as he risesup and vanishes, but others scoff at thisnotion. Tempus does not appear to com-mand any spectral warriors, but someancient legends speak of Invisible Foeswho battled and struck down some ofthose not in favor with Tempus as theLord of Battles passed. (Wherefore hisless common nickname, “Foehammer.”)

Tempus is a wargod deliberately mademysterious. The DM can make him pow-erful if the campaign demands it, butmost wargods are too powerful (Odin inDDG, for example); they carry a smallarsenal of never-missing, heavy-damageweapons.

Tempus is AC -6, has 366 HP, attacks 4times per round for 2-16 points of dam-age per attack (at up to 4 separatetargets), and acts as a 25th-level fighter.He is immune to will force attacks, men-tal control and deception of all sorts.Tempus has strength of 24 (+6 to hit, +12on damage, 100% bend bars/lift gates),and a dexterity of 18 (AC 2 without bo-nus). All this still makes him lowly incomparison to some war deities encoun-tered in play and in print. Further detailsare up to the DM, but it is suggested thatthe Wargod’s weapons not be mademore powerful than +1, perhaps con-structed of silver, and having no specialabilities.

Those who worship Tempus usuallydo so by praying over the weapon theymost often fight with. If a new weaponcomes into their possession before abattle — particularly in the form of hard-won booty — it is taken as a sign of goodfavor, and this weapon is the one used inworship. Some other weapon is used tospill a few drops of the worshipper’sblood at the closing of the prayer (toavoid having to give too much more lat-er!). The worshipper’s own weaponsshould never be used to spill this blood,or they might work against him in battle.

Clerics of Tempus wear battered ar-mor which they smear and sprinkle withfresh blood before each ceremony. Thisblood is usually that of animals, but itmust contain some drops of their ownblod, and the two types must be wellmixed. Such clergymen collect and ven-erate the weapons of famous and re-

spected warriors, even if these are bro-ken or have deteriorated, for they retainsomething of the battle lust and energyassociated with the deeds they partici-pated in. (Fantasy readers will rememberDunsany’s Sword of Welleran and Car-ter’s Zingazar.) Devout worshippers casta finely made weapon, newly bought orcaptured in battle, into a wooded place,believing that Tempus finds favor in this,and that by his power such a weapon willfind its way to their hand in a time ofgreat peril when they sorely need it.

Warriors may rent or purchase wea-pons blessed by the priests from anytemple dedicated to the Lord of Battles(in return for much gold), and it is a markof devotion to return such a weapon tothe temple after it has served well, with acaptured weapon accompanying it.

Clerics praying to Tempus for spellsmay see visions of the god himself, or ofhis mounts, or of a famous, now-deadwarrior, and these are believed to indi-cate whether they are in good favor withthe god at the time. Lay worshippers us-ually see one of the two horses, or them-selves, naked and with a wound drippingblood in their side. If the blood is red andflows swiftly, Tempus is pleased; if it isblack and sluggish, or the wound festers,he is not. Tempus appears to have noother servants, and only the images ofdead warriors in visions ever speak hiswill to mortals.

When not in armor, priests of Tempuswear helms (or at the least, metal skull-caps), though they are careful never tocover their faces, and robes. The colora-tion of these robes differs from place toplace and rank to rank, but the color offresh blood is always a part of any suchrobe.

Some of the fanatical, wandering fight-ing priests of Tempus never remove all oftheir armor at any time, but in the tem-ples of the cities armor is rarely seenuntil worship before armies leave, or asiege begins. Some clergy of high rankwear massive spiked gauntlets; a blowfrom one of these does 2-4 points ofdamage.

TORM Torm may possibly be re-placed by St. Cuthbert when details ofthe saint are available. Torm was themost faithful of warriors, renowned forobeying all the commands of his kingregardless of personal danger. He re-mains a great fighter, serving as the war-arm of Tyr.

TYCHE Lady Luck is fickle, and notgreat in power; she helps those who helpthemselves. Her powers are drawn fromthose of Tyche (DDG, p. 74) and Bes(DDG, p. 51); she has all of Tyche’s pow-ers but that of the blue stone, and onlyone of Bes’s powers: She always makesher saving throw. Her clerics often findher favor (a saving throw granted, or a +2bonus to saving throws lasting 4-16rounds) bestowed upon them in times of

54

great need. Skill and innovation are re-warded by her with good luck, whereforemany adventurers pay her homage.

TYR From DDG, p. 123, rewritten toremove the war aspect from his portfolio,although the belief in justice through(benevolent) force, or at least armed vig-ilance, is the reason for Tyr’s existence.

UMBERLEE This goddess conteststhe fate of ships at sea eternally withSelune (Note: In my world, far more cur-rents hamper coastal shipping than aidit.). She commands the wind (which shecan whip into a gale that does 5-50points of damage per round, for 2-8rounds, 4 times per day) over the opensea, but prefers to use waves as her wea-pons, striking opponents within 60 feetwith a wave doing 4-16 points of damage(unprotected targets must save vs. deathmagic or begin to drown) once per round.She is rarely seen, preferring to set cur-rents and winds in motion from afar, orsend forth great sharks to engulf swim-mers or shipwrecked sailors.

THE ELEMENTAL LORDSMoorcock’s Elemental gods from DDG

(Grome, Kakatal, Misha, and Straasha)may later be replaced in my universe by“official” AD&D beings as these are pub-lished; hence, they are usually referredto by their nicknames. Although in play Ihave tried to keep their powers hazy,their characteristics are taken straightfrom DDG.

CULTS OF THE BEASTThese are worshipped by intelligent

animals (and some individuals of thecharacter races) in the Forgotten Realms.It is recommended that player-characterclerics not be allowed to worship any ofthese gods. All are from DDG withoutmodification, except as follows: Sneel isLeiber’s “Rat God” (DDG, p. 102), andRepra is “Apep” (DDG, p. 50). Besparr,Hlyyaak, and the two “Supreme Beasts,”Aslan and Lurue (sometimes called Sil-verymoon) are my own inventions. Thelast two are the Lion and Unicorn ofnursery-rhyme fame. Details of Aslancan be gleaned from C.S. Lewis’ Narniaseries, and those of the unicorn can befound in Elizabeth Goudge’s The LittleWhite Horse. The Knights of the Unicorn(who worship Lurue) are a romantic,whimsical group of high-born adventur-ers who are based in several large cities.

The collective title “Cults of the Beast”arises out of the ancient belief that allsuch doctrines are merely splinters of anold, decadent and forbidden religionwhich rejoiced in a return to the bestial(evil) side of man’s nature, worshipping“The Beast.” The belief is more instinc-tive than remembered now, but the namehas stuck.

Although Lolth is presented in DDGunder “Nonhumans’ Deities,” I have list-ed her also among the Cults of the Beast,

October 1981 Dragon

for in the Realms she is considered so.Lolth and her worship is known — thoughit is very rare — and the Drow are not,except in legend.

Alliances among the godsThere are many obvious connections

between gods through portfolios andalignment. Alliances and connectionsthat in practice do indeed occur in theForgotten Realms are mentioned below.

Mielikki and Eldath serve Silvanus,and their priests (if such individualsvalue their deity’s favor above mortalfeelings and conflicts) work together tofurther common goals.

Torm and llmater serve Tyr, and wor-shippers and priests do the will of thisTriad willingly. In certain situationsTormand Helm will work together.

Oghma is served by Gond on one hand,

and by Milil and Deneir on the oth-er. Milil often works directly with Lliira.

Talos is served by Auril, Umberlee,and Malar. All four are known collective-ly as “The Gods of Fury.”

Chauntea and Lathander work toge-ther, and often do so in alliance with Sil-vanus and his gods (see above) againstThe Gods of Fury.

Lliira and Selune serve Sune.Azuth serves Mystra. Mystra and Se-

lune have a mysterious connection (seeSelune), and Mystra often works withOghma and his gods.

Loviatar, Talona, and Malar serve Banethrough Bhaal (although Loviatar andTalona are rivals). Bhaal and Myrkulhave an unbreakable, symbiotic alliance.Shar is allied with Myrkul. All of the be-ings listed in this paragraph are collec-tively known as “The Dark Gods.”

Worshippers by class/professionNote: The Players Handbook says

druids are the only true neutrals, andshows no “N” alignment for other classes.But elsewhere (such as the RoguesGallery) in the AD&D universe, neutral(non-druid) cleric characters are found.If the DM includes these characters in acampaign, some other combinations ofdevotion will be possible.

The following table shows usual deity/character relationships. Particular indi-viduals may not follow these guidelines(such as player characters, and thosecharacters mentioned earlier who pay lipservice to one deity and serve another, orserve more than one deity). Bear in mindthat characters of all classes except cler-ics may be atheists; some classes — par-ticularly magic users and illusionists,and perhaps thievesto atheism.

— may actually be prone

Class/profession Align.Fighter(all warriors)

LN

NG

PaladinMagic-User

LECE

NG

Illusionist LE

LN

NG

Assassin

Thief

LECENE

CN

CGLGLGLECE

NE

LNCN

CGLG

CENE

CN

CGLGLECE

NELECE

NE

CNNG

CGLG

DEITY/CHARACTER RELATlONSHlPS

DeitiesTempus, BaneTempus, Malar, TalosTempusTempusTempusTempusTempus, TycheTempus, Tyr, TormTyrMystra, Azuth, Loviatar, BaneMystra, Azuth, Talona, TalosBeshaba, Umberlee13

Mystra, Azuth, Mask, Myrkul,Auril14

Mystra, AzuthMystra, Azuth, (Kakatal)15

Mystra, Azuth, DeneirMystra, Azuth, Sune, TycheMystra, Azuth, TyrLeira, BaneLeira, BeshabaLeiraLeiraLeira, (Kakatal)Leira, DeneirLeira, Sune, Selune, TycheLeira, TyrBhaal, Loviatar, BaneBhaal, Talona, Beshaba,Tales, MalarBhaal, Myrkul, MaskMask, Bane, (placate Selune)Mask, Talos, Beshaba,(placate Selune)Mask, Myrkul, Auril, SharHelmTempus, Leira, (Kakatal)Lathander, Deneir, Milil,Mielikki, ChaunteaSune, Tyche, Selune, LliiraTyr, Ilmater, Tot-m

Class/profession Align. DeitiesRanger LG,CG,NGMielikkiBard

Druid

Monk

Cleric

(Leech, Sur-geon, Midwife)(Poet, Artist,Scribe)(Sage)

(Guard)

Witch16

(Astrologer)(Artisan, Smith)(Alchemist)

(Farmer)

(Sailor)

(Torturer)

NE,LN,CN,CG

N

Oghma, Milil, Lliira

Silvanus, Eldath,(Misha, Straasha, Grome)

Bane, LoviatarIlmater, Tyr, TormHelmLoviatar, Bane, BhaalTalona, Talos, Malar,Beshaba, UmberleeMask, Myrkul, Auril, SharHelmTempus, Leira, (Kakatal)Lathander, Denier, Milil,Mielikki, ChaunteaSune, Tyche, Selune, LliiraTyr, Ilmater, Torm

(Footnotes appear on following page)

55

LELNLG

NELNCNNG

CGLG

Lathander, placate Myrkul

Sune, Deneir, Milil, LathanderOghma, Deneir, Milil, Gond, (andperhaps Mystra, Selune, Tyr oranother deity depending upon asage’s specialty)Helm (guards of LG alignmentwill also worship Tormand Ilmater)(See footnote # 16)SeluneGond, OghmaOghma, Gond (Talna if concoct-ing poisons,Myrkul if concocting otherwiseharmful substances)Chauntea (placate Talos),LathanderTyche, Selune, (placate Straasha,Misha, Talos, Umberlee)Loviatar

LN

Dragon

Notes1 Clerics failing to act in an appropriate

manner will of course fail to advance in levels.Refer to p. 9 of the DDG for a discussion of thecleric’s role.

2 Regardless of one’s own religious be-liefs, AD&D postulates a pantheistic universein which there is ongoing conflict betweendivine beings through their worshippers.

3 For examples of how a pantheon, inten-tionally or not, reflects a definite world-view,consider: should a wargod, for instance, beCN or CE? Should a god of deception bepredominantly neutral or evil in alignment? Isjustice equated with good as well as law? Thebeliefs expressed do not matter as much asthe necessity for them to be consistent.

4 If one does, who then rules Hell — Set orAsmodeus? Which of the ruling gods of thevarious mythos is most powerful? Indeed, inany case of overlapping portfolios, such astwo gods of love or of nature, who takesprecedence? Note: to avoid a god/arch-devilconflict in the Nine Hells (see DDG, pps. 105and 129), I used the differing degrees ofalignment to shift my LE gods to other planes.

5 Paul Kocher, A Reader’s Guide to TheSilmarillion (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1980),p. 4.

6 Ibid, p. 6.7 SF readers may here recall Larry Niven

and Jerry Pournelle’s excellent novel Inferno,wherein Benito Mussolini could only leaveHell because the narrator offered to take hisplace.

8 Parallel or alternate versions of the PrimeMaterial will be considered to exist; this al-

lows use of modern or futuristic adventuresettings, GIANTS IN THE EARTH characters,and other campaigns or even settings for oth-er games. For contact, one can use magicitems and artifacts (see DMG) or gates (seeDRAGON #37).

9 Parallel versions of the Prime Materialmight possibly be ruled by deities; this deci-sion is simply a case of leaving “elbow room”for later campaign developments. Note thatgods may dwell on the Prime Material Planewithout ruling it (cf. Cults of the Beast).

10 Each deity is considered to have wor-shippers because the deity has a sphere ofinfluence (or “portfolio”) representing an im-portant concept (be it natural force or phe-nomenon, or ideal, emotion, skill, or interestof the worshipping creatures).

11 This points out the chief drawback tothe one-god-for-each-alignment pantheoncommon to many AD&D campaigns. Oncethe players learn the rules set by the variousdeities (or their temples), they know too muchabout many classes and intelligent monstersupon immediate contact — so that play bal-ance shifts markedly. “All orcs are forbiddento fleeble, eh? Well, in that case, we’ll...”

12 Remember that the actual pantheon Ipresent here is not of primary importance —the structure and reasons for modifying DDGentries are. Modifications made in turn to thispantheon should be made with this in mind.

13 If a DM is partial to variant “specialist”NPC magic-users, a worshipper of Umberleecould have water-related spells doubled inpower (intensity and/or duration), and land,air, and fire-related spells halved in power.

Vol. VI, No. 4

14 See note #13, above. A worshipper ofAuril would have ice and cold-related spellsdoubled in power, while spells related to theother elements would be half-strength.

15 See note #13, above. A worshipper ofKakatal would have fire-related spells doubledin strength, spells of the other elements halvedin strength.

16 This is the NPC presented in DRAGON#43, which I use as a rarely encountered localpower. Witches, the article tells us, may be ofany alignment, view magic as natural forces(in like manner to magic-users and druids),and worship “forbidden gods.” Therefore, I’dmake a Witch a worshipper of a deity consist-ent with his or her alignment and allied to useof the forces of nature — a deity drawn fromthe Nonhumans’ Deities section of DDG. Thisis as “forbidden” as one can get.

The difficulty with the word “forbidden” isthat it assumes an accepted, “approved”groupof deities, which will work in some cam-paigns, particularly those which have king-doms recognizing “state” religions — but I leftthe Realms wide open to allow open (i.e.,small-scale, as well as great religious wars)religious conflict. In order to account for anindividual being a Witch rather than a magic-user or druid, the “forbidden” god or godsshould really be different in some way fromthe “accepted” gods. and the only conventionI could think of that Witches could break wasa widespread belief that humans of normalsanity and character would not worship a dei-ty held sacred by nonhumans. ‘Tis easy to seewhat fascinating fun creating an AD&D my-thos can be...and what a complex challenge!

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

TheHistory

ofRombune

by Glenn Rahman

The upheaval of the great Cataclysmmade vast alterations in the westerncoast of ancient Minaria. Formerly, anarm of the continent, called Umiak, ex-tended out into the westward Sea. Thispleasant subtropical region containedmany of the Lloroi citizens of the empire.It was here that the Emperor held courtin the Imperial capital of Niiawee. To Nii-awee came petitioners from all cornersof the realm, even faraway Neuth andVultelina. To Niiawee came ambassa-dors and visiting kings from distant

Reiken and Girion.Alas, by earthquake and inundation

Niiawee perished beneath the waters.When the torn earth quieted, only threefragments of Umiak remained above thewaves — islands known. today as theGolkus, Thores and the Isle of Fright.The rest of it vanished into a newlycreated sea, one whose name will foreverremind the the world of the disaster that be-fell Umiak — the Sea of Drowning Men.

Some people, mainly Lloroi, survivedupon these islands, but the urbanizedrefugees of Umiak could not adjust to ascavenger’s existence. The survivors pre-served their lives only; culture and all butthe vaguest myths about their Imperialpast were lost. These things had nomeaning in the frantic competition forfood and shelter amid the volcanic erup-tions and earthquakes that ceaselesslyplagued them. Little more can be said ofthese people and their descendants.Written records — mainly those of thecity of Parros — tell little until severalcenturies after the Cataclysm.

Parros itself derived from the (former-ly) inland city of Parroshiib, which wassubmerged when the waters of the Ca-taclysm created what is now known asthe Bay of Parros. The citizens had timeto evacuate Parroshiib, however, andmoved to the slopes above the bay,where they built a wattle and daub vil-lage. At first they looked to their Lloroigovernor for leadership, but the Imperialofficer displayed little imagination. Be-fore long, local citizens took over.

That Parros maintained itself as a com-munity while countless other Imperialcities became ghost-fiIled ruins was onlyan accident of circumstance. The impactof the gigantic meteorite which formedthe Crater of the Punishing Star devas-

tated everything beyond the ring of hillsthat sheltered Parros. The marauders —gangs of starving, maddened survivorswho in other regions destroyed much ofwhat the Cataclysm left behind — fearedto cross the wide expanse of ruin. Nordid the desert rapidly spreading acrossthe South Plains attract the barbariandescendants of the marauders. But moreimportant to Parros than its natural bar-riers was the sweet-flowing spring waterthat rushed out of the hills and madeirrigation and agriculture possible.

So, fortunately, the light of civilizationdid not go. out in Parros. Foresight pre-served some books, and temple schoolskept literacy alive amongst the clergy.Later, settled conditions permitted thefounding of a secular university.

By this time, some 300 years after theCataclysm, the outland barbarian popu-Iation had grown large enough to consti-tute a threat. In reply, the Parrosians for-tified the islands at the head of the bay asrefuges for times of war. These fortsformed the nucleus of island communi-ties; shops and residences were con-structed beside them. The Parrosiansused the channels between the islandsas watery avenues plied by long, grace-ful canoes called devos. Tribesmen whovisited the city assumed that it had origi-nally been above water and had sub-merged — from which belief comes Par-ros’ popular name, “The Sunken City.”

Like its neighbors, the Trade Cities ofthe South Plains, Parros began with asimple civil democracy that evolved intoa monarchy as internal complexity andoutside menace increased. Concurrent-ly, the life of its people steadily im-proved, as a large fishing fleet augment-ed agriculture. These net-boats were theprecursors of the Parrosian merchantmarine. Trade with other peoples of thecoast — including Zefnar to the north— proved more profitable than fishing.When the seventh century after the Ca-taclysm had dawned, the classes of Par-ros were three — the nobles, the pea-

58

sants and the merchants. This last classexpanded in direct proportion to Parros’economic growth; its escalating de-mands for a voice in the governmentcaused sharp conflict with the nobility. The rivalry exploded in the Sigigar’s

Day Riot, which allied the merchantswith the peasants. King Voric had to rec-ognize the rights of propertied men andbroke up the noble estates into manypeasant freeholdings. When the Houseof Voric died out in the next century, thekingship was abolished as an unneces-sary expense on the taxpayers.

Throughout the seventh and eighthcenturies, Parros prospered materiallyand culturally. Its daring seafarers forgedmarkets a thousand miles up the coastsof Minaria and Girion. In the log book ofHilo Fudo, captain of the Grey Auk, theislands of the Golkus and Thores arementioned for the first time in the year609, but it is hard to believe they wereunknown previously.

The Parrosians named the larger ofthe two islands after inhabitants theycalled “the Pale Ones” (Gol-kous in theirtongue); the lesser took the name of theslave-raider Misha Thores. So rapaciouswere Thores and other slavers that in justa few generations their mass kidnappingleft the islands almost uninhabited. Thefew Golkus survivors retreated into thevolcanic hills, shunning the foreignerswho continued to put in on their coasts.

The sailors who now visited the Gol-kus were not merchants, but had a dif-ferent trade. The many coves and ruggedinterior of the island were ideal shelterfor pirates. From lofty lookouts and wellhidden strongholds the sea-robbers be-gan forays against Minaria’s expandingmarine commerce. As the ninth century

,came on, pirates brought chaos to everycoast of the Sea of Drowning Men.

Interestingly, no maritime power madea move to nip this menace in the bud.The first piratical bases provided blackmarkets for cheap, stolen merchandise.While Minarian traders collaborated with

October 1981

the pirates, many individuals flocked tojoin their companies — escaped slaves,common criminals, unemployed sailors,dispossessed yeomen.

The latter came in swelling numbersthroughout the eighth century, as theplutocrats of Zefnar and Parros cajoledor coerced many small freeholders intoselling their farms. Thereafter, land thathad supported many hard-working fami-lies was turned into vineyards or sheeppastures. The former yeomen becamedemoralized, unemployed hangers-on,supported by a government dole. Unfitfor military service, mercenaries filledtheir places in city armies.

Superficially, Parros prospered — buta tangible menace grew off its coasts. Bythe end of the eighth century, the covesof the Golkus sheltered enough shipsand hard-bitten seafighters to form wholefleets, commanded by elected admirals.Where once pirate captains competedopenly and violently, now most belongedto a few large piratical brotherhoods(“rombunes,” in Minarian slang). Therombunes had efficient intelligence sys-tems, whereby pirates would fraternizewith merchant crewmen in the coastaltowns, discover their destinations andcargos, and relay the information backto the Golkus. Harbor records of Parrosand Zefnar reveal the appalling lossesshippers sustained. It was common for a

continental trader to visit the blackmarkets of the Golkus and find himselfbidding on looted merchandise bearinghis own shipping company’s name.

Severe though sea robbery was, it wasonly a sideline to the pirates’ main occu-pation of slave-running. As if in retribu-tion for the callous way the sea powershad preyed upon the islands in earliertimes, the new islanders scoured thecoasts for prisoners. Many towns paidout tribute to ward them off; some wereforced to accept agreements by whichpirate vessels, could outfit and sell mer-chandise in their harbors. By the latterninth century, the Golkus was the mainsource of chattel for the slave-hungryTrade Cities of the South Plains.

And still the danger increased. Theshipwrights of Mivior had developedswift, deep-water craft called lamashvessels. As numbers of these ships fellinto the hands of the pirates, the pace oftheir depredations was stepped up, andnear panic descended on the Minariansea powers. In the records of his temple,the high priest of the Parrosian godAshikag laments: “Pirates came into ourcity by night and abducted more thanthree hundred young maids, women andother innocents, slave and free. Beforeour garrison could deal them their pun-ishment, they cut loose the boats in ourharbor to prevent pursuit and escaped

Dragonwith all their captives and booty. Neitherwas the freedom of the prisoners se-cured until the council of the city handedover to the pillagers a vast ransom ofsilver. ”

Even now Parros did not dispatch afleet against the pirates; troubles on theBarbarian Frontier were even more pres-sing. The Wisnyos, horse nomads led bya chieftain called Simir Raviev, wereconquering the south, sending defeatedtribes fleeing north to Parros’ borders.The city council of Parros, desperate formanpower, hired some of these tribes-men to fend off other, wilder bands. Alas,one large group they employed tookbribes from Simir Raviev. As the Wisnyosapproached the city, these treacheroushirelings seized the city’s key fortressesand its leaders. For eight days Parroswas given over to debauchery and loot-ing; afterwards, without pausing to or-ganize his conquest, Simir Raviev ex-tended his campaign north.

The Wisnyo conquest had a profoundeffect on the pirates’ slave trade. With anempire at their feet, the nomads had noneed for outside slave dealers. Further,their ignorance and extortions ruinedthe merchant marines of Parros and Zef-nar, leaving only the depressed but wellguarded ships of Mivior to prey upon.The Miviorians reacted with deadly ven-geance, raiding the pirate bases, scut-

59

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

tling their ships and burning their vil-lages. The pirates they caught in theprocess were hanged.

The pirates had not recovered fromthe Miviorian raids before the invasion of“the abominations of the land and thehorrors of the air” ruined Mivior and thusthe last important shipping on the Sea ofDrowning Men. Deprived of the incen-tirve to go to sea, the former piratessettled down to a life of subsistencefarming and fishing. In the eleventh cen-tury, the invasions over, Parros and Zef-nar recovered somewhat, but the tyrantswho took power were too preoccupiedby intrigue and local warfare to developtheir sea trade to its pre-Wisnyo levels.The piratical response of the Golkus waslikewise a pale shadow of the past.

But the vital energies of these pirates’sons could not be indefinitely repressed.Many islanders remembered the goldendays of the “rombunes” and longed tosee unity among the scattered villages.The eleventh century logbook of the vil-lage of Daiton’s Moor says: “Those whowished the Golkus to have one leaderlooked to the captain Marko Steelknifeof Quaytown. Steelknife believed thatunity was within reach of the island, forunlike the continental states, the boun-daries of the Golkus were clearly definedand not cove ted by neighbors or barbar-ians. To advance his plan, he formed abrotherhood which he called ‘The Rom-bune’ and built a strong fortress.”

This fort, built in 1020, was named PortLeeward, but foreigners called it afterthe island — “the Golkus.” Subsequent-ly, Steelknife extended the power of hisRombune by a series of small wars, pow-er plays and intrigues. By the time Steel-knife’s physical powers started to yieldto age, the principal leaders of the Gol-kus had assembled at Port Leeward todraw a charter for united government.

Thew document showed the pirates’natural distrust of authority. The island-ers’ system borrowed many elementsfrom old piratical articles — including adivision of the chief executive’s officeinto two parts. A king managed foreignrelations and warfare, while the otzlauf, akind of tribune, administered law anddomestic policy. These offices corres-ponded to the captain and the boatswainof a pirate ship — one of Minaria’s mostdemocratic institutions.

In 1052, Steelknife assumed the king-ship, but died in his residence less thanone year later. The new state which hiselection brought into being was officiallyrecognized as Rombune.

The nation leapt into vigorous Iife. Miv-ior was not fully recovered from the dev-astations.of a century earlier. Zefnar andParros had taken to raiding Mivior’scoasts for pIunder and slaves; Rombunestruck an accord with its neighbors andjoined in the raping. Not until the climac-tic fleet engagement of Marooner’s Is-

land in 1098 did Mivior manage to reas-sert its naval power and drive the raidersfrom its coasts.

The end of the Miviorian war coin-cided with a major shift in Rombunesepolicy. The government had for a longtime closed its eyes to the nation’s tradi-tional trade, piracy, but now that thereavers could not be employed againstMivior, their lawless spirit led to outlawryalong Rombune’s shores. Furthermore,nationhood had brought a need for re-spectability, and the pirates were be-coming an embarrassment. As more andmore restrictions were placed uponRombune’s pirate captains, the free-booters gradually changed their basesof operation to Thores and the WestwardIslands. Finally, by edict of King HarusTarpaulin, piracy was forbidden; raidingwas to be permitted only against statesat war with Rombune, and then only ifthe captains carried legal letters ofmarque.

When the captains of Thores resistedthe new law, Harus dispatched his ma-rines to the island, seized it and made it amajor naval base. The pirates who wouldnot live under the new order joined mer-cenary fleets or moved to the WestwardIslands.

The filibusters of the Westward Islandthrived; by the middle of the twelfth cen-tury their attacks had driven most of Zef-nar’s and Parros’ shipping off the seas.Finally, the desperate tyrant of Parros,Arin, persuaded the Black Knight to takecharge of his squadrons. Within a fewyears the mercenary champion had cap-tured and hanged thousands of filibus-ters, thereby frightening the rest out ofthe Sea of Drowning Men.

Rombune did not oppose piracy onmoral grounds; piracy that served thegovernment’s ends was highly desirable.After conniving at their crimes for years,the Rombunese chose this moment offilibuster weakness to bring a fleet to theWestward Islands and set up a number offorts. Hereafter, the pirates would be thetool of Rombunese policy.

But it did not work out that way. Somecaptains cooperated for a while, but theothers plotted to regain their old inde-pendence. Before long, in the year 1153,a young filibuster captain named Garnthe Cutlass seized the Rombunese fortof Seawood. The escapade touched off along rebellion in the isles, and thoughRombune poured men, ships and trea-sure into island conflict, the angry pi-rates kept victory out of its grasp.

At last public opinion turned againstthe war; when the king, Nectano Brown-stockings, refused to make peace, hewas forced to abdicate. The peace fac-tion found enough votes to elect oneJanup Goodcargo into his place.

King Janup ruled for twenty-six years.Parros and Zefnar suffered severely inthe trade war which followed the resur-

60

gence of Mivior. Therefore, they were allbut eliminated from the sea lanes; intheir decline they looked for supportfrom Rombune. The client status thatthese former great powers assumedgreatly enhanced the prestige of theRombunese king. Under Janup, too,Rombune reasserted itself militarily,keeping the pirates at bay and safe-guarding the southern trade from Mivio-rian encroachment. At home, the allianceof factional interests that Janup weldedtogether was strong enough to ensurethe election of his son upon his death,and of his grandson after that.

The grandson, Modeus Goodcargo,enjoyed a reign so tranquil that little isrecorded of it. The succession of kingsof the House of Goodcargo had provenso fortunate for Rombune that after Mo-deus’ death the captains of Rombunetook the remarkable step of electing hisonly child, his daughter Daring, to thethrone.

Early in Daring’s reign, Zefnar andParros sent out a call for help against thenew kingdom of Shucassam. Daring dis-patched her marines to their aid, andseveral years of sporadic warfare withShucassam followed. In the course ofthe war, Daring met and fell in love withGaliz Tabir, the tyrant of Parros. Thecrafty tyrant saw that a royal marriagewas the way out of his troubles; he ac-cordingly wooed and won the youngqueen’s hand. Once installed as princeconsort, he persuaded the Rombuneseto sacrifice Zefnar to Shucassam to buya permanent peace for Parros — whichwould become a formal protectorate ofRombune. The war-weary Shucassam-ites decided to strike a bargain.

Parros accepted its dependency with-out much lamentation and rebuilt itseconomy, even reopening the meteoriciron mines that had not been worked totheir fullest potential since before theWisnyo conquest. Its fleet, for a longtime in deep decay, sprang to life again,to share in Rombune’s far-flung markets.

While protecting Parros from barbar-ians and Shucassamites, Rombune hasmade great material progress in the lastcentury. Its shipbuilding yards even sur-pass Mivior’s in the number of merchantvessels produced. The wise kings of theHouse of Goodcargo-Tabir are, in alarge measure, responsible for the king-dom’s continuing prosperity. What theyhave done for their country has been re-warded by Rombune’s electors. To date,the throne has not left the family of Jan-up Goodcargo.

If the past is the guidepost to the fu-ture, it is possible that the present mo-narch, Redgrave I, will see the rivalry be-tween Mivior and Rombune come to ahead. If it does, at issue will be a vasttrading empire and the command of thecoasts and seas of Minaria for the nextcentury.

DragonOctober 1981

61

Dragon Vol. VI, No . 4

Cash & carry for cowboysby Glenn Rahman

One does not play any role-playinggame long before his character needsequipment not listed in the game rules.Take the case of the BOOT HILL™ WildWest game by TSR: Prices are given forthings like horses, guns, and rifles- butwhat if one’s character has to do somecarpentry? How much does his toolscost? Or, how much must he spend atthe general store if he wants to go to thechurch social wearing a string tie, ahigh-crowned hat, and silk socks? TheGM may know what some of these itemscost in today’s world, but what did they

cost a century ago? And who (withoutresearch) can put a price on archaicitems, such as a graphophone, a stereo-scope or a single-horse buggy?

Fortunately, the prices of everydaymerchandise of the latter 19th centuryare fairly well preserved in the historicalrecord. Compared to today’s costs, 19th-century prices were phenomenally low— a saddle cost $8, a pound of meat 10¢,a cigar 1¢. One must remember, howev-er, how low the wages were in thosedays. A working man might earn only20¢ per hour or less. If today’s commonhourly wage of $4 is used for compari-son, it is apparent that the printed price

of Western goods must be multiplied atleast twenty times to approximate theirtrue cost (percentage of income) to a19th-century purchaser.

With this understood, let’s go to a well-stocked general store of BOOT HlLL vin-tage. Usually, the prices in the followinglist refer to the middle-range sellingprice of the item, and the given pricesrepresent costs near main centers oftransportation. If goods must be expen-sively transported by peddlers or muleskinners to areas of small population orgreat remoteness, prices will be consid-erably higher.

GUNS Rifles and Shotguns

Hand Guns Rifle, Colt; .38, 15 shots _______ _ ________________________________________---------------- $12Rifle, Spencer; 56-52 caliber, 8 shots ________________________________________ $10

Remington Derringer, .41, single shot ________________________________________ $5 Rifle, Winchester repeating; .38, 15 shots ________________________________ $11Revolver, Colt Army; double action, .44, 6 shots ____________________ $14 Shotgun, Spencer repeating; 12 gauge, 6 shots __ __________________ $30Revolver, Colt Frontier; single action, .45, 6 shots ________________ $13 Shotgun, single barreled; 16 gauge, one shot ______________________ ____ $6Revolver, Colt Navy; double action, .38, 6 shots ____________________ $12 Shotgun, double barreled; 12 gauge, two shots (utility) ______ $20Revolver, Smith & Wesson; double action, .44, 5 shots...-.... $13 Shotgun, double barreled; 12 gauge, two shots (utility) ______ $50

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October 1981 Dragon

Ammunition.38 bullets ______________________________________ 85¢per box of 100.44 bullets _________________________________________________ $1.40 per box of 100.45 bullets _________________________________________________________ $1.60 per box of 10012 gauge shotgun shells ____________________________________ 90¢ per box of 100

Other gun-related itemsBlack powder ________________________________________ $2.25 per 12½ lb. kegCartridge and shot belt ________________________________________ $1.40Gun grease ________________________________________ 15¢ per 2 oz. tubeHolster, pistol ________________________________________ 20¢Holster belt with cartridge loops ________________________________________ 15¢Rifle sheath ________________________________________ $1.15

MEN’S CLOTHINGFootgearPlow shoes ____________ $1.25/pairRiding boots ______________ $5/pairWestern boots ____________ $3/pair

Suits, coats, etc.Coat, duck ______________________ $1.25Coat, Mackintosh ______________ $5Pants, work ____________________.$1Shirt, flannel ______________________ $1Shirt, white (utility) ___ 3/$1Shirt, white (dress) ______ $1.50Shirt, work _______________________ 50¢Suit (utility) ________________________ $5Suit (quality) ____________________ $10Socks, silk ________________ 35¢/pairSocks, wool ______________ 18¢/pairTie, broad ________________________ 50¢Tie, string __________________________ 7¢Underwear, woolen ______ $1.10

Cane, metal-tipped _______20¢Cigars, Havana ____ 50 for 65¢Cigars, stogie ______ 100 for $1Cigarettes _______________ 10 for 4¢Mustache, false _____________ 10¢Pipe, tobacco __________________ 25¢Razor, straight ______________ $1.75Spectacles _______________________ 75¢Tobacco, plug ____________ 21¢/lb.Watch, 14 karat ________________ $12Watch (utility) ________________ $1.75Wallet ________________________________ 25¢

HatsHigh-crowned ________________ $5.25Derby ____________________________________ $1Sombrero ____________________________ 3Stetson ____________________________ $3.90Straw-hat __________________________ 50¢U.S. Cavalry hat ____________ $1.40Vaquero hat ________________________ $3

Other itemsBandanna ____________________________ 5¢Beard, false ____________________ $1.75

GlovesBuckskin ______________________________ $1Mittens, wool ____________________ 13¢

CANNED AND DRIED GROCERIESBacon _________________________ 7¢/lb. Oatmeal ___________________ 3¢/lb.Beans ______________ 10¢/3 lb. can Peas __________________ 10¢/3 lb. canBeef, corned _____________ 12¢/lb. Phosphate ______ 15¢/8 oz. btl.Beef, dried __________________ 15¢/lb. Pumpkins ________ 10¢/3 lb. canCheese ________________________ 11¢/Ib. Rice ________________________________ 5¢/lb.Chocolate ____________________ 50¢/Ib. Root beer ____ 10¢/8 oz. bottleCoffee __________________________ 30¢/Ib. Salmon ________________________ 13¢/lb.Corn __________________ 10¢/2lb. can Sweet potatoes ____________ 15¢/lb.Ham, boneless __________ 10¢/lb. Tea (bargain) ____________ 35¢/lb.Hominy _________________________ 2¢/lb. Tea (quality) ______________ 60¢lb.Lard _______________________________ 7¢/lb. Tomatoes ____________ 8¢/3 lb. can

WOMEN’S CLOTHINGFootgear Skirt, cotton ________________________ $3Boots _____________________ $2.75/pair Skirt, muslin __________________ $1.50Shoes __________________________ $2/pair Skirt, silk ___________________________ $10

Stockings, silk ____________ $1/pairHats Suit (quality) ____________________ $12Dress hat ____________________________ $2 Suit (utility) ________________________ $5Straw hat __________________________ 50¢ Wrap __________________________________ $10

Coats, dresses, etc.Chemise ____________________________ 80¢Corset _________________________________ $1Shirt, cotton ______________________ 50¢Shirt, satin __________________________ $1Shirt, woolen __________________ $1.50

Other itemsDiamond, 1 karat ____________ $70Gloves, kid __________________ $1/pairOstrich plume __________________ 33¢Perfume ______________________ 25¢/oz.Ring, 14 karat gold ______ $1.50

MEDICINES AND TOILET ITEMSBath tub ______________________________ $5Castor oil ____________ 25¢/half pt.Cod liver oil ________________ 50¢/pt.

“Microbe killer”____________ $1/½ gal.Quinine ________________ 12¢/25 pillsRat poison __________________ 12¢/lb.

Corn & bunion plaster ____ 6¢Cough syrup __________ 30¢/4 oz.

Soap ________________________ 15¢/cakeTurkish towel ____________________ 5¢

TOOLS, HARDWARE AND CAMP EQUIPMENTTools TrapsAuger bit ____________________________ 10¢ Bear trap _____________________________ $6Drill brace ______________________ $2.50 Fox trap ____________________________ 45¢File ______________________________________ 15¢ Wolf trap ______________________________ $2Hammer ____________________________ 4O¢Monkey wrench ______________ 25¢ Other itemsSaw ____________________________________ 45¢ Axe, hunter’s ___________________40¢Shovel _______________________________ 8O¢ Axe, woodchopper’s ______ 50¢

Axe handle ________________________ 25¢Knives Lantern, railroad ______________ 50¢Camper’s two-bladed Nails _______________________ $1.65/keg

knife/fork __________________ 35¢Butcher knife ____________________ 30¢

Padlock ______________________________ 40¢Paint ______________________________ 6¢/lb.

Hunting knife __________________ 70¢ Screws ________________________ 2¢/doz.Knife sheath ____________________ 15¢ Tent, miner’s (7’ x 7’) ______ $5

KITCHEN AND HOMECoffee pot ________________________ 80¢ Stove, potbellied ____________ $10cup _____________________________________ 5¢ Stove, wood/coal _____ $10Frying pan ________________________ 15¢ Water bucket, cedar ______ 20¢Pan, covered ____________________ 60¢ Water bucket, metal ______ 80¢

Reading materialENTERTAINMENT

Concertina __________________________ $3Hardcover book ______________ 75¢ Fiddle __________________________________ $6Bible __________________________________ 90¢ Graphophone __________________ $25

Graphophone record ____ 50¢Music Guitar __________________________________ $7Accordion _________________________ $5 Harmonica ________________________ 25¢Banjo ___________________________________ $9 Piano, upright ________________ $100

TRANSPORTATION AND COWBOY, GEAR

Wagons and carriagesBuggy _______________________________ $36Surrey, 2-seater ______________ $45Wagon, farm ____________________ $40Wagon, market ________________ $34Wagon, road ___________________ $25

Wagon cover(1 l’x13’) _______ $4.50

Harnesses

Farm team harness ______ $20Single-horse

buggy harness __________ $10Two-horse

buggy harness __________ $20Two-horse

carriage harness ________ $30Two-horse

wagon harness ____ $22.50

Other itemsLariat, 35 ft. ____________________ $1.50Riding bridle ____________________ 70¢Saddle bags _______________ $3/pairSaddle blanket ________________ 90¢Spurs ____________________________ $1/pair

S a d d l e s

Ladies’ saddle ____________________ $7Stock saddle ____________________ $12

Texas saddle ____________________ $10Western saddle _________________ $8

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMSDynamite blasting machine. ________________________________________$15Field glasses ________________________________________$5Spyglass, 15x magn. ________________________________________$3Steel safe, 22” high _____________________________________ $50Stereoscope ________________________________________ 50¢Tombstone ________________________________________ $7

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

This is the third installment of a five-part series presented by SimulationCorner as a contribution toward makingwidely known and available the proce-dures for how to make a game. This isintended to provide a detailed but non-technical discussion of how to go aboutgame design. It is also hoped the me-thods suggested will be applicable togames in general and not solely to histor-ical board games. The series is based onthree sources: the experience of profes-sional game designers as related by thehobby media; some of my own experien-ces; and the testimony of a panel ofgame designers who were asked to givetheir opinions on these subjects. Theexpert panel was composed of JackGreene, formerly from Avalon Hill andConflict; Stephen Newberg, founder ofSimulations Canada; and Jay Nelson, anoted New York game designer.

In the previous segment of “PracticingGame Design” the subject was buildingthe model of whatever process it was towhich the game to be analogous. Clear-ly, the matter of building a model is thecentral element in game design; it is notsomething that can be fully covered in asingle column. Some observations weremade on “factoring in,” and also dis-cussed was the need for models to beexhaustive in their coverage of a uni-verse of relevant variables.

The conclusion was that each move ingame system evolution needs a ratio-nale; the designer must ensure the con-tinued exhaustive coverage of variablesdespite successive revisions made in theoriginal postulated game system.

So far, so good. But there are modelsand then there are models. If someoneelse is going to sit down and play yourgame and (most importantly) if he is go-ing to pick it up again, there has to besomething about your model that catcheshis fancy. This is the point where talententers the realm of game design. Interestand excitement in the playing of a gameare the result of precision and elegancein the game system. A precise game sys-tem is the direct result of the care withwhich the designer selects the elementsfor translation into game mechanics andthe clarity and detail with which each ispresented.

In many game reviews and in muchdiscussion of game design, these ques-tions are not asked. Instead, there is asubstitute question: “How realistic is thegame?” We all know that true realism isimpossible: the games are models, andby definition these are not real. Moreov-er, it has been shown in countless casesof “simulation” that important variablesare not considered or are covered byquestionable assumptions.

If true realism is ultimately unattaina-ble, what is the meaning of the great in-terest in “realism” in game reviews? Inmany cases (there are real “realism”problems with some games) the realismquestion is a stand-in for the question ofthe impact of the game design. Thus,when I asked Jack Greene whether hesees “realism” as an identifiable elementof a game design, Jack replied: “Realismis knowing your topic and getting reallessons across to your players. It may beabstracted in places but must be basedon reality.”

Canadian designer Stephen Newbergdefines realism as “a feeling that theelement under examination is correct inrelation to some other element.” JayNelson adds that “the quality and se-quence of design choices creates theimpression the game makes and thus de-fines the game as ‘realistic’ or not.”

This brings us full circle to the need forthe designer to cast an exhaustive (orcomprehensive) model. The best formalstatement I have been able to find on therequirements of a model is from a Soviettext published in 1975:

The basic requirement which amodel of a process,... must meet isaccuracy of presentation of thechange process of the characteris-tic in question. In this case themodel must reflect correctly the in-fluence of the basic, most essentialvalues and factors of the character-istic in question. This applies es-pecially to models of processes of armed conflict, as the most com-plex arid multifaceted processes,all the values and factors in whichit is practically impossible to calcu-late. The model should represent ajudicious combination of complete-ness and simplicity.

64

The Soviet military has made wides-pread use of simulations. (It is a little-known fact that the Soviet High Com-mand had two teams of enlisted men en-gaged in an extended game of SPl’s Warin the East for over a year in the mid-1970s.) If anyone, the Soviets shouldknow about. the design trade-offs in-volved in achieving “realism,” and in-deed the text quoted above admits thequest for “completeness” and “simplici-ty” is basically contradictory. (It is un-known how the Soviet General Staffgroup dealt with the notorious designfault in WITE, whereby it is impossible tosupply the German army according tothe rules.) As Jack Greene says, “Com-promises are needed.”

A specific additional requirement ofthe board historical game is historicalaccuracy: The game must accuratelyreproduce the range and probability ofoutcomes inherent in the actual situation.

Newberg makes the point, and it is agood one, that “realism” and “historicalaccuracy” should not be confused. His-torical accuracy means that outcomesare reproduced. Realism in the game de-sign means that the outcomes are at-tained by a sequence of game mechan-ics that give the illusion of the “real” pro-cess. The greatest challenge for thegame designer is to achieve this feelingamong playtesters while retaining suffi-cient simplicity in the game system.

This leads to the first rule of designingfor realism: Be parsimonious in the allo-cation of game mechanics. Consider thegame system as a totality to have a “de-sign load” equal to the complexity of thesub-systems, plus a significant amountof additional complexity each time in atypical turn that the sub-systems inte-ract with each other. The designer shouldalso consider that only a given designload is tolerable for the audience (andindeed the designer should have a spe-cific design load in mind for the gamesystem from the earliest stage of hisquest for a suitable topic). In general, adesigner should allocate additional gamemechanics only to those sub-systemsdeemed necessary to create the feelingof realism.

The second rule of designing for real-ism is to playtest at every stage of the

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

design process. Each time a sub-systemis made more detailed (or, for that mat-ter, eliminated), unforeseen opportuni-ties may arise for the change to unbal-ance other sub-systems or to throw thedesign as a whole out of proportion.Only constant testing shows that gener-al historical accuracy remains intact af-ter each change to the game mechanics.

Designers differ in their opinions as towhether the designer or developer of agame should participate in playtesting.Some believe designer/developer partic-ipation should be strictly forbidden, soas to avoid possible prejudicing of sub-sequent design decisions. Others thinkthat if designers do not participate in theplay, the rules are not being truly tested.What approach is adopted is a matter forpersonal reflection. My opinion is thatboth types of playtesting need to bedone. If the designer and developer don’tplay the game, they will never realize inconcrete terms what players are beingsubjected to by the rules they have writ-ten. On the other hand, rules do need tobe completely tested by other parties.Consequently, testing should alternatebetween these modes, and so-called“blind playtesting” is also useful.

A third rule which may be postulatedis: Don’t hesitate to scrap entire sub-systems of mechanics. It often happensthat a succession of minor “tinkering”decisions on what to do with a rule ac-cumulate and eventually make an entiresub-system unwieldy without achievingthe effect desired.

Past a certain point, the designershould resist the temptation for addi-tional tinkering and face the necessityfor major rethinking of the rules in ques-tion. Major rethinking is capable of yield-ing novel approaches and game innova-tions. Major rethinking at a later stage issignificantly easier if, when he is firstsetting down rules, the designer adoptsa “second solution” technique (alwaysthink of at least two ways to handle adesign element before choosing the ap-proach actually taken in the first-draftrules). At the least, the designer shouldbe sensitive to the possibility of handling

things differently. Further, the designershould not overlook the ability of play-testers to propose alternatives for me-chanics they find tedious or unrealistic.

As a final ground rule, I would pro-pose: Resist the temptation to make anyfurther changes when writing the finaldraft of a rules manuscript. Except formajor problems which clearly requirerules changes (in which case maybe thedesign shouldn’t be at this advancedstage), the final draft should be for thepurpose of setting out all the game’srules in their most logical order. The finaldraft should be the place to improve theclarity of the rules, not the content of themechanics. Furthermore, there is a dan-ger that untested changes inserted atthis last stage in design will unbalanceelements of the game that were previous-ly solidly in place.

In the nature of things, these “rules”can be no more than guidelines. Eachdecision taken by the designer is in thecontext of a specific set of difficultieswith a single game topic. The image ofrealism created by the game and the ele-gance with which it is injected into thegame are up to the individual. Thus JackGreene, when asked “How do you de-sign for realism?” replies: “Know my top-ic intimately and try to make the bestcompromises.” Similarly, Stephen New-berg says he strives for “designing sys-tems so that when they dovetail togetherthe resulting overlap and synthesis gets

the player sufficiently involved so as tofeel ‘realistic.’ ”

One last point: The designer shouldnever forget that all judgements are fun-damentally subjective. What feels “real-istic” to you may seem entirely differentto other gamers. It is hard to tell whenyou have made the right choices, at leastbefore the reviews start coming in. JayNelson remembers: “I designed Kasse-rine in the (SPI) North Africa quad whichI was (and still am) convinced was aninteresting, realistic little game, butwhich turned out to be fairly unpopularand was perceived to be unrealistic; soclearly, I made the wrong choices.”

Designing for realism ‘is thus a con-scious process of aiming model-buildingefforts toward an analogous representa-tion of those elements the designer feelsare central to his game topic. Frequentlyas the designer strives to complete thistask, innovating game mechanics andsub-systems, he also contributes to ad-vancing the state of the art in game de-sign. It is to a discussion of this aspect ofdesign that Simulation Corner will turnin the next installment of “PracticingGame Design.”

FOR FURTHER READING:United States Air Force (Soviet Mil-

itary Thought Series No. 16): Yu. V.Chuyev and Yu. B. Mikhaylov, Forecast-ing in Military Affairs. Washington: Go-vernment Printing Office, n. d.

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October 1981 Dragon

More feather tokensby Edward J. Greenwood

Some newly discovered forms of Quaal’s Featherdescribed below. Each token is usable but once.

Tokens are

BridgeA token which forms a magical bridge of force (cf. Wall of

force), spanning any gap of 67” or less. Duration: 1 day (or lessupon command of the user of the token).

Experience point value: 500Gold piece sale value: 5,000

ChestA token which upon command forms a container that will

appear as a silvery chest about a foot square. Any volume ofmaterial can be placed in this chest, so long as it can be passedthrough the chest’s top (one square foot in area) and does notexceed 666 pounds in weight. The chest, which will last for oneday, is watertight and airtight (unless the one using the tokenwishes otherwise) and always seems to weigh about fivepounds, even when filled to its weight capacity. If the chest isdropped or thrown, it will drift very slowly through the air andcome to rest gently.

Living things may be placed in the chest, but it will hold onlyone living thing at a time, regardless of weight. Anyone withinthe chest can control his supply of air and water despite thewishes of anyone outside the chest— even the person using thetoken -and can see out of the chest as though it were transpar-ent. The chest is in no way a prison, although it may only beopened from the outside by someone who touches the tokenwhile the command word is uttered. From within, the chest mayat any time be “passed through” and exited. This ability appliesto anything having full awareness and any degree of locomo-tion, no matter how feeble. Thus, intelligent dancing swords, forexample, could leave such a chest at will. Items in a chest when itvanishes at the end of a day will vanish with it.

Experience point value: 1,000Gold piece sale value: 5,000

CrownA token which causes the holder to appear richly garbed,

lordly and wise. This illusion last for one full day, or less thanthat if the token leaves the user’s hand. Other beings will viewthe token-holder as a great personage, leader, or ruler, and willtend to respect him or her. They may also, of course, decide toseize or attack such a rich prize.

Experience point value: 1,000Gold piece sale value: 2,000

FlameA token which creates a burst of flame on impact, when a

command word is spoken and it is thrown. If used as a weapon,the fireburst will do 2-8 points of damage to each creature orcharacter in a 1” radius area around the blast. The flame canignite flammable materials (such as cloth or wood) even inextreme cold or high winds, or when the material is wet, frozen,or otherwise fire-resistant; such a fire, unless quenched by mag-ical means, will last for one full day, regardless of the amount ofmaterial, or less if so commanded by the user of the token. Asudden, hard impact upon the token (such as that caused by ablow or fall) within 1 round after the command word has beenuttered will set the fireburst off.

Experience point value: 500Gold piece sale value: 2,000

SwordA token which grows from a miniature blade to a full-sized

steel weapon, enabling the owner of the token to perhapssmuggle a weapon in where it is normally forbidden. The full-sized sword will last for 4 turns, and then it vanishes. This tokenis highly prized by assassins. (Magic-users and clerics cannot,of course, fight with the sword.)

Experience point value: 1,000Gold piece sale value: 6,000

WingA token which causes miniature wings to appear on all solid

objects (including living things) in a 2” radius sphere about itspoint of activation. These act as a Feather Fall spell; beings soaffected cannot manueuver in the air, however, without othermeans (e.g. Telekinesis), but will merely fall slowly straightdown. The wings will disappear from each affected object whenit touches the ground or is grabbed out of mid-air by a characteror creature.

Experience point value: 1,000Gold piece sale value: 6,000

ArborThis token, activated by grinding it underfoot, lets the user

take the form of a tree rooted to the ground at that spot. The treewill blend perfectly with surrounding trees with regard to typeand size, and it will seem like a normal tree to all examinationsshort of a Wish or Limited Wish. However, when struck with aweapon the bleed as the user would normally.

Unlike the druidic Tree spell, anyone assuming tree-form bythe use of this token loses awareness of self and surroundings,lapsing into a dreamlike state. He or she will remain so until 7-84(7d12) days have elapsed, or until cumulative damage of morethan half of the owner’s hit points (at the time of the token’s use)has been suffered. Awakening from the trance and returning tonormal shape takes one round. All clothing, accoutrements, andparaphernalia change shape with the user, and are hidden bythe token’s magic so that Locate Object or Detect Magic (in thecase of magical items) and similar magics will not reveal them.

Experience point value: 1,000

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Gold piece sale value: 5,000

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

EyeWhen this token is fitted over one eye, the object instantly

confers upon the user the power of True Seeing (cf. the spell),save that the aura (and thus, nature) of a creature is not visible.The token vanishes when its powers are transmitted, and all ofthe token’s effects last for 2 turns.

Creatures of less than 8 hit dice employing the Eye may lookupon a Prismatic Sphere without harm, and so on. Symbols areclearly visible, and will not be triggered by the gaze of the tokenuser, although they are in no way negated and will take effectupon touch, the gaze of others, etc. (cf. Symbol spell). Similarly,the user is immune to the confusion effects of a creature’s gaze(e.g. umber hulk).

Alternatively, this token can be used to cure blindness in anyone eye, merely by placing it upon the afflicted orb.

Experience Point Value: 1,000Gold piece sale value: 7,000

FingerWhen this token is pointed at any visible location and the word

“There!” is spoken, the user will be teleported instantly to thelocation desired. This one-shot Teleport is limited in range bydirect visibility, and has no chance of error. The user maychoose any location — mid-air, a window, a treetop or minaret

— and will safely arrive there, along with all that he or she waswearing and holding.

Experience point value: 500Gold piece sale value: 1,000

KeyThis token, when touched to a wall, gate, or door, will permit

passage. Through walls, the token will open a passage 4 feetwide by 6 feet high by 10 feet deep (cf. Passwall). Through gates,the Key will eat away (in the manner of an acid) a 4-foot-diameter round opening with the lower edge touching the floor,

so that one may crawl through. The token will unlock, unspike,unbar, and unchain any door, negating any traps on it and alsonegating spells such as Wizard Lock and Hold Portal. The Keywould not negate or trigger a Glyph of Warding or a Symbol, butwould reveal its presence, causing the rune-or inscription toglow.

In all three cases the Key takes one round to make an opening,and the opening will be permanent, remaining until physicallyrepaired, blocked up, etc.

Experience point value: 500Gold piece sale value: 7,000

JugThis token will upon command metamorphose into a pitcher

from which will pour clean, drinkable water for 8 rounds,enough to fill a volume of 4 cubic feet. Once begun, the stream isunstoppable, and the Jug will dissolve into water droplets andjoin the tail of the waterflow.

A small number (5%) of these tokens pour holy water, and 5%give forth unholy water, but only when used by those of good orevil alignment respectively. A “special” jug will simply producenormal water when used by an owner of an improper alignment.

Experience point value: 500Gold piece sale value: 2,500

BindThis token, when placed against a door, will adhere to it and

when commanded will close and seal the door with a WizardLock of power as if it had been cast by a 7th level magic-user. Ifplaced in an archway or open portal (not more than 6” wide), itwill upon command Web the passageway closed if firm anchorpoints for the web exist.

If thrown upon or touched to (successful “to hit” roll required)any one being or monster, it will serve as a Hold spell of 9 rounds

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duration. Creatures so touched can make a saving throw byrolling their number of hit dice or less on d20. (“Number of hitdice” is computed by adding one die for each four additional hitpoints, as per the saving-throw procedure described in theDungeon Masters Guide.) Creatures existing on more than oneplane gain +3 on their saving throws. Undead cannot be held bythis token. Flying creatures so held will hang motionless inmidair and will not fall.

A Bind may also be placed on, or just under, a horizontalsurface (ground, stone floor, step, etc.), and will Slow for 9rounds the first being to step or pass upon, or exactly over, it.

Experience point value: 1,600Gold piece sale value: 6,000

SpoonThis token will upon command metamorphose into a plate of a

familiar, hearty meal. A plate replenishes itself until 4-16 peopleare fed. The meal keeps warm and palatable of itself, and can becovered and carried for long periods and distances withoutspoiling. The plate is edible, too: A single bite of it neutralizes allpoisons in the eater’s body, dissolves rot grubs harmlessly andcures the rotting disease of a mummy, the only disease it affects.

Experience point value: 750Gold piece sale value: 5,000

StoneThis token can be a stone of any small size, although it is

typically found as a white, round pebble. When thrown or slung,it becomes a large rock and strikes as a +2 weapon. Such mis-siles are of the following diameters:

Dice roll Diameter (in.) Damage caused01-05 4 1-406-15 8 2-816-30 12 3-1231-70 16 3-1871-85 20 4-2486-95 24 4-3296-00 28 5-40

Creatures struck are entitled to saving throws — at +1 if rigidlyarmored and/or with a ready shield, and with dexterity bonusesalso applying — and, if this save is made, damage is halved (aglancing blow). The size of missile produced by this token is notusually known until the token is thrown. The thrown missileshatters upon impact, and the shards vaporize immediately.

Ten percent of these tokens are a special form: the Avalanche.This token will cause a rockslide if thrown or slung against arocky slope or mountainside. The area affected and resultingdamage are not under the direct control of the user of the token.If such a token is thrown or slung as a normal weapon, it strikesat +2 to hit, but splits in mid-air into a hail of 2-24 (2d12) 4”diameter stones, each of which does 1-4 points of damage. (Ifthe “to hit” roll is successful, all of these missiles will hit thetarget.)

Experience point value: 500Gold piece sale value: 2,000

The Skull Maceby Roger E. Moore

The Skull Mace is a magical weapon, initially indistinguisha-ble from any other magical mace. It may only be fully used by anevil cleric. In the hands of any other character, it will perform asa +2 mace. A paladin or good-aligned cleric who grasps themace will receive 2-12 points of damage per round it is held.Neutral clerics will take 1-6 points of damage per round theyhold it. Any character can carry and transport the mace if de-

sired, and will not be damaged as long as the mace is not held ortouched by the hands. The Skull Mace radiates an aura of evil ifthis is detected for.

When held by an evil cleric, the enchantments concealing itstrue appearance are dispelled. The mace head is transformedinto a caricature of a human skull, which will remain until the evilcleric releases the mace, whereupon it returns to its normalappearance.

A Skull Mace may cast Continual Darkness twice per day asthe owner of the mace wills. When it is used in combat against ahuman, humanoid, or demi-human opponent and the wielderscores a natural (unmodified) 20, the opponent will take doubledamage from the blow and must also make a saving throw at -2vs. death magic or be slain immediately.

The wielder may also cast an Animate Dead spell once per dayon any human, demi-human, or humanoid body or skeleton.Zombies and skeletons so animated will follow the directions ofthe bearer of the mace, but will remain in undead form for onlyone week. Thus, the evil cleric cannot control more than sevenundead with this device at any one time.

Experience point value: 1,450Gold piece sale value: 14,500

Mace of Painby Thomas Zarbock

This is a +2 mace that has a 5% chance per hit (cumulative overconsecutive rounds) of causing an opponent to fight at -4 “tohit” due to the extreme pain caused by the blows of the mace.The 5% chance accumulates in each round the mace is used, aslong as at least one attack is made in each round and all consec-utive attacks are made against the same adversary. Thus, aMace of Pain which is being used in the fifth consecutive roundagainst the same opponent has a 25% chance of bringing its“pain power” to bear upon the foe if a successful hit is scored inthat round. The “pain percentage” accumulates whether or not ahit is actually scored, as long as an attack is attempted by thewielder.

Damage done by the mace heals at half the normal rate. Ifused to subdue, the mace causes 90% subduing damage and10% actual damage. Creatures that do not feel pain will causethe mace to be treated as only a normal +2 mace, skeletons andzombies being two such examples.

Experience point value: 1,000Gold piece sale value: 7,000

Bottle of Undeadby Bruce Sears

This object is indistinguishable from an efreet bottle, butwhen activated it produces one or more undead creatures. Rolld% for each use of the bottle to determine the type and numberof undead:

01-20 — Ghost (1)21-35 — Groaning Spirit (1)36-55 — Spectres (1-3)56-70 — Vampires (1-2)71-00 — Wraiths (1-6)

These monsters will immediately attack the opener of thebottle, then anyone else that is around at random. A Detect Evilspell will not reveal the specific nature of the bottle, although itwill be identified as an evil object.

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RUINS(From page 73)of its windows and woodworks. A few of the windows may stillbe unbroken, and much of the woodwork should still show itsone-time beauty. The double doors to the church should openonto rows of pews facing an altar. A podium should rest uponthe altar, and there may be a golden candelabra (10% chance),valued at 500 gold pieces, yet within the room (lying on a tablenear the altar), The candelabra may be cursed (25% chance) toshock any character for 1-8 points of damage each round it istouched or held (a Remove Curse will cancel the curse, but notrestore lost hit points). There may also be 1-6 silver crossesbeside the altar (25% chance). There will be a door to the right ofthe altar, against the back wall of the church, that leads to both aconference chamber (which the church once used to coordi-nate its activities) and a stairway to the upper floors.

The second through sixth stories contain the rooms that wereonce the living quarters of the clergymen, but they will now beempty save for the room’s furniture. There is a 10% chance (foreach story containing living quarters) that 100 gold pieces willbe found, providing that the players spend one hour searchingeach story (if there are monsters within the church, then thissearching would give them the opportunity to strike at the groupwhen the-characters are least prepared)

The seventh through tenth stories were once storage placesfor the magic items gathered and made by the church. A seriesof spiral staircases should provide the means of ascent, eachstaircase ending at the door to the next story. Each door shouldhave a Glyph of Warding on it (which one is the DM’s decision).Every floor that exists has a chance to contain magic items, ofthe sort usable by clerics, according to the following table:

Heightin stories

7

910

Chance for Type of magicmagic items item and #

10% Potions (1-8)15% Shields (1-2)20% Weapons (1-4)25% Miscellaneous (1-2)

8

There is an 80% chance that any magic item found is of aharmful (to the owner/finder) nature, with specifics to be deter-mined by the DM, using the DMG, and a 20% chance that eachitem is of a beneficial nature. The DM should not place magicalmaces or shields of greater than +1 enchantment within thechurch, because the clerics would not have left them behindwhen they left the city. (The rationale for any magic items beingpresent at all is that the church had so many possessions to takethat something had to be left behind). There should be a belllocated at the top of the church, reachable only by ascending tothe top story.

Ceramic molder: The height of a ceramic molder’s building isone to two stories (50% chance of each). The first story is theworkshop, containing the remnants of tools, a potter’s wheel,and ceramic molds. The second story, if it exists, was once theliving quarters of the owner. Neither the first nor the secondstories have anything of value.

Clothier: The height of a clothier’s building ranges from 2-4stories. The first story contains empty racks of clothes, webs,and uncurtained dressing booths. Nothing of value exists withinthe room. The upper stories each have a 25% chance of contain-ing some clothes that are in good condition, and the upper levelswill also contain a great amount of rotted and moth-eatenclothes. There are webs within the upper stories, and nothingelse of value will be found.

Furniture: A furniture building is always two stories in height.The first story contains many (10-40, depending on the floorarea of the building) different kinds of chairs, couches, tables,

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and desks, as well as a few other smaller pieces of furniture.Most of these finely carved pieces of furniture are rotted anduseless, but a very few of them (10% of the total number of itemsin the room) are in good condition. Their monetary value, if any,should be determined by the DM. A nearly vertical flight of stairsshould lead to a trap door which opens onto the floor of thesecond story. The second story should contain all kinds offurniture, but all of it is decayed and worthless. Webs are presenton both stories, and nothing of value (except what has alreadybeen mentioned) is of any value.

General store: General stores are always one story in height.The building should contain a sampling of all kinds of normallysalable things, but most of them will have been rotted, rusted, ordecayed away long ago. The building will contain webs, andnothing of value will be found within the store.

Glassblower: A glassblower’s shop is always one story inheight. It should contain a furnace, great amounts of unformedglass, tubes, and tools with which to form the glass. Brokenglass should be found all about the room, but there may also be(at the DM’s discretion) a couple of unshattered sheets of glass.Webs will hang from the walls, and nothing else found will be ofany value.

Hardware: A hardware store is always one story in height. Itshould contain several shelves of nuts, bolts, screws, hammers,saws, and assorted kinds of equipment. Most of these tools willbe rusted and worthless, but despite their loss of monetaryvalue, many of them will still be able to perform their functions.Webs should be found everywhere within the building.

Herb: A herb shop is always two stories in height. The firstfloor contains, as might be expected, bottles of herbs sittingupon shelves. Many of the bottles will be broken, but there is a25% chance for any given herb that the shop contains a unbrok-en container with a potent amount of the herb in question. Thesecond story once contained the living quarters of the herbalist,but it, as well as most of the first story, now contains nothing ofvalue. Webs can be found throughout both stories.

Hospital: The height of a hospital ranges from 2-5 stories. Allof the floors contain small rooms within which patients wereonce housed (two cots in each room). Many different kinds ofdoctors’ instruments should be able to be found within dressersthat are located upon every story, but any medicines that mayonce have existed will have long since turned bad (85% chancethat any medicine sampled is poison). Webs will be found on thewalls and ceilings, and nothing of value will be found within thehospital.

Hotel: The height of a hotel ranges from 3-10 stories. The firststory should contain a large living room, a kitchen, and a dininghall. Many things of interest may remain within the rooms of thefirst floor, but nothing of value will be able to be found. All of theupper stories contain rooms, now in very bad condition. Theremay be a pack of 11-20 rats in the upper levels of the building, ifthe DM so desires. With the exception of a few pieces of unrottedfurniture, nothing of value should be found inside the rooms ofthe upper stories. Webs will be found everywhere within thebuilding.

Jeweler-gemcutter: A jeweler’s store is always two stories inheight. The first story should contain a work table, many deli-cate tools, display cabinets (now empty but once filled withjewelry), a few chairs, a once-luxurious (but now moth-eaten)couch, and a flight of stairs leading to the second story. Asidefrom what has already been mentioned, there should be nothingof any value on the first floor.

The second story was once the living quarters of the jeweler. Itshould contain a bed, a dresser, and several shelves of books.

October 1981 DragonThe room should also contain a large safe. The lock to the safe,being a complex combination lock, should take one turn for athief to attempt to open locks upon it. It is recommended thatthere be a 10% chance for the safe to contain 1-6 gems (random-ly determined according to the DMG). Webs should fill bothstories, and nothing of value except for the safe should be foundon the second floor of the building.

Leatherworker: A leatherworker’s shop is always one story inheight. It should contain several piles of rotted leather, a coupleof chairs and tables, and the necessary tools for shaping leather.Webs will be found throughout the room, and nothing of valueshould be found in the building.

Library: The height of a library ranges from 2-4 stories. Websare prevalent throughout the building, and many of the booksare in disarray. All of the stories contain many shelves of books,but the first floor also contains a catalog of the books in thelibrary. Any character may use the catalog to look up a book on acertain subject, but the amount of time (in minutes) to find alisting in the catalog is equal to the character’s intelligencesubtracted from 20. After a book’s approximate location is de-termined by use of the catalog, the character still must searchthe proper shelf to find it. At this point, the DM should roll to seeif the book has been lost or stolen (35% chance of its not beingon the premises), or misplaced (15% chance of being in thelibrary, but not where the catalog indicates). Except for locatingit by magical means, a book misplaced within the library is asgood as lost. The kind of books that may be located within thelibrary is for the DM to decide, but it is recommended thatnothing pertaining to monsters’ lairs, and the like, be allowed(i.e., only topics of a “normal” nature should be permitted to befound on a library’s shelves). Aside from its books, the librarycontains nothing of value.

Nursery: A nursery is always one story in height. It is usually agreenhouse (90%), but occasionally it is a stone building withmany windows (10%). In all likelihood (90%), the plants withinthe nursery will have long since died, but it is possible (10%) thatmost of the plants will have survived by extending their rootsinto the ground. If the plants have survived, the entire nurserywill be filled with greenery, but if the plants have died, nothingbut webs will fill the room. Nothing of value should be foundwithin the building.

Private Residence: Private residences are divided into normalresidences (90%) and unusual residences (10%). Normal privateresidences range from 1-4 stories in height. They should con-tain the usual furnishings a home would have, although much ofthe furniture will be in poor condition. Webs should be foundthroughout.

Unusual private residences are also filled with webs. Theycontain nothing of value except what is mentioned in the des-criptions below. The following table determines the specifickind of unusual residence that the party has happened upon.

Liquor: A liquor store is always one story in height. It shouldcontain several shelves laden with bottles of liquor and otherbeverages, some bottles broken or opened and some intact.Bottles of liquid that are still intact, and properly sealed, will bedrinkable. Otherwise, the liquid will act as quarter-strength poi-son Webs will be found within the building, and nothing of value(save for the liquor) should be found within the store.

Metal worker: A metal worker’s building is always one story inheight. Except for an anvil, a few hammers, a furnace, a coupleof sheets of metal, and some half-finished metal items, thebuilding contains nothing of value. Webs will be found through-out the building.

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Dragond% roll Former owner01-10 Magic-user/Illusionist11-40 Politician41-00 Merchant

Magic-user/Illusionist: The height of a magician’s residenceranges from 7-10 stories, and the building is always a roundtower. The first six stories consist of the former living quarters ofthe magician (there is a 70% chance that the tower was a magic-user‘s and a 30% chance it was an illusionist’s). If the owner wasonce a magic-user, there is a 95% chance for any given door tobe Wizard Locked, but if the owner was an illusionist, everythingshould appear very luxurious (an illusion, of course), and theremay be traps disguised by illusions (at the DM’s discretion). Theliving quarters should include an extensive library. The lower sixstories have no apparent windows, but air is circulated withinthe tower (probably magically). The upper stories contain manyornate windows and elaborate decorations that were once thetrappings for many important and entertaining parties. Thehighest story, as well as being luxuriously decorated, shouldalso contain a second desk (the first being located betweenstories one and six) which might contain some important papers(to be decided by the DM). The DM may wish to include a magicitem or two among the 1-6 potions (50% chance for each to bepoison) that should be somewhere within the tower.

Politician: A politician’s home is 4 or 5 stories high. It is usuallyconstructed of expensive wood, and it will have at least oneterrace. The first story was once the living room, and the secondand third stories were once the living quarters. The fourth floorwas once the kitchen and dining area, while the fifth, if it existed,was another living room (parties were once given on this floor,so there should be a library and a bar somewhere within it). If theDM wishes, there may be a few valuable items yet inside thebuilding (up to a total of 1,000 gold pieces worth), but they

Vol. VI, No. 4

should be extremely hard to transport (e.g., a large stonestatue).

Merchant: A merchant’s abode ranges from 5-10 stories inheight and is composed of stone. It should have either a terraceon every floor higher than the first, or several circular platformsthat extend out from the sides of the building, supported bystone beams (each angled at twenty degrees up from the horiz-ontal). The stone beams are structurally sound, and each one ofthem can take one full structural point in damage before collaps-ing to the ground. Each stone beam also serves as a flight ofstairs to its circular platform (steps have been cut into its sky-ward face). The circular platforms are formed of stone, and theyrange from 5-20 feet in diameter. A three-foot-high wall of stonesurrounds each platform everywhere but where the stairs pro-vide entry onto the platform.

The first four stories of the building are the living quarters ofthe merchant. They should contain lavishly furnished suites, alarge library, and several washrooms. The upper stories containmany well decorated rooms, a large dining hall, a kitchen, andanother extensive library. The upper stories once served as thelocation for many parties and social functions (the key to suc-cess for any merchant). There may be, at the DM’s discretion, atotal of 2,000 gold pieces worth of antiques within the building(in the form of hard-to-move objects, as with the politician’shome).

Produce: A produce “building” is not really a building at all,but an outdoor marketplace. Several large stalls should form theperimeter of the marketplace, and within the area nearly entirelysurrounded by the large stalls there should be an additionalnumber of smaller stalls. All of these stalls once held freshvegetables and fruits, but these natural foods have long sincerotted away. Nothing of value should remain near or around themarketplace. A produce “building” should only be allowed to be

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October 1981 Dragon

the lair of monsters that are either very few in number or verysmall in size.

Sage: The height of a sage’s home is from 5-7 stories. Thebuilding is always made of stone, and there are no windows onthe third floor or below it; above that point, they are prevalentbut vision in and out is blocked by webs. The first story onceserved as the reception room for the sage’s customers. It shouldcontain the decayed remains of beautiful pieces of furniture andsimilar items. The second and third stories contain a very exten-sive library of tomes that are all beyond the comprehension ofmost characters who attempt to read them. A character with 18intelligence has a 30% chance of knowing what a certain book isabout (up to a limit of 5 books) and if the subject matter isunderstood, there is a 25% chance that the character will be ableto learn something substantial by a close examination of apassage or chapter. Most of the books will be moldy, unreada-ble, and valueless; however, a few tomes (from 10-40 in anaverage-sized library) will still be valuable. If transported to acity of 5,000 or more people, the books that are in good condi-tion will bring a total of from 500-5,000 gold pieces. The floorsabove the third served as the sage’s quarters, but they nowcontain nothing of any value.

School: The height of a school building ranges from 2-4 sto-ries, and webs should be found within it. All of the floors areidentical in construction, each having a few large classrooms.Nothing of value should be found within the building.

Sheriff: A sheriff’s office is always one story in height, but itwill also have a dungeon (jail) beneath it. The dungeon, dampand web-filled, should be from one to four levels deep. At onetime it served to incarcerate prisoners, but its chains and cellsnow hold nothing but the remains of a few bodies. The officeitself should have a desk and a few chairs, but nothing of any realvalue should be found within it.

Specialty shop: All specialty shops are one story in height,contain webs, and should have nothing of value within them.The DM may choose from businesses dealing in such things ashats, glassware, antiques, clocks, figurines, and pets, as well aspawn shops and other types that provide a special service.

Stable: A stable is always a large, one-storied building. Itsweb-filled interior will contain many fair-sized stalls and anumber of blacksmith’s tools (i.e., a furnace, many hammers,and an anvil), but the stable should contain nothing of any realvalue.

Swordsmith: A swordsmith’s smithy is always one story inheight. It should contain a furnace, a number of hammers, andan anvil, as well as a few swords that are in good enoughcondition to use; however, each sword found here has a 5%chance (cumulative) of breaking every time it scores a hit uponan opponent. Aside from what has been mentioned, nothing ofvalue should be found within the building.

Tavern: A tavern is from 1-3 stories in height. Its first story wasonce the restaurant/bar, while its upper stories (if any) oncecontained rooms that were cheap (both in quality and moneycharged for rent). A pack of 5-20 giant rats may, at the DM’sdiscretion, be found within these rooms. Nothing of value will befound within the building.

Theater: A theater is usually (80%) two stories high, otherwiseone story, and nothing of value should be found within it. Atheater is essentially an auditorium with a stage, and thereshould be a few box seats (on the second level, if there is one)overlooking the stage. A theater is typically not huge, and itwould not be unusual for one to contain only 50 seats, though100 seats is an average capacity.

Weaponer: A weaponer’s shop is always one story in height. Itshould contain a furnace, a couple of hammers, an anvil, andwoodcutting tools. There should be a few (non-sword and non-bow) weapons that are still in usable condition, with a 5% cum-ulative chance of breaking, as with those found in a sword-smith’s shop. Nothing else of value exists within the building.

Searching for building typesEventually, whether or not they read this article, players will

evince interest in searching for a specific building type. Theymay wish to find a sword; thus, they will tell the DM that they arepassing by all buildings which do not appear to be a sword-smith’s shop. How should the DM handle this situation? Thetable below can be used to determine how long it will take aparty to find the desired building type, and to determine the ratioof people to the number of buildings of the specific type inquestion. Thus, in a city which had a population of 10,000 beforeit fell into ruin. there would be approximately 10 alchemist’sshops to be found, and locating any one of them would take anaverage of 10 turns of searching.

Table IllSearching for building type

Building typeAlchemistArmorerBankBarberBowyerBrothelButcherCandlemakerChurchCeramic molderClothierFurnitureGeneral storeGlassblowerHardwareHerbHospitalHotelJeweler-gemcutterLeatherworkerLibraryLiquorMetal workerNurseryPrivate residenceProduceSageSchoolSheriffSpecialty shopStableSwordsmithTavernTheaterWeaponer

“Empty” buildings

# of turns10

610

76

10787

107

105

108

1055

107778816

107

1010

762

106

People to buildings1,000 to 1

600 to 11,000 to 1

700 to 1600 to 1

1,000 to 1700 to 1800 to 1

1 per religion1,000 to 1

700 to 11,000 to 1

500 to 11,000 to 1

800 to 11,000 to 1

500 to 1500 to 1

1,000 to 1700 to 1700 to 1700 to 1800 to 1800 to 1

10 to 1600 to 1

1,000 to 1700 to 1

1,000 to 11,000 to 1

700 to 1600 to 1200 to 1

1,000 to 1600 to 1

As a final note, if characters regularly enter buildings that donot contain monsters’ lairs, the DM may wish to begin rolling fora wandering monster encounter (using the normal percentagechance for an encounter within the ruins) every time the groupenters an unoccupied building. The monster could be hidingwithin the room (if it heard the approach of the group) or it mightbe in an upper story and, hearing the group searching beneathit, would attack when the situation is most advantageous. In anycase, the additional risk of encountering a monster should makecharacters think twice before entering unoccupied buildings.

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Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

by Mark Herro

While we continue to tabulate (by computer, of course) theresponses to the EE survey published in DRAGON™ issue #51,here’s something just for fun. How much do you really know

about the computer and its history? The following quiz will giveyou an idea. Some of the questions are as easy as they seem tobe — and some of the others can’t necessarily be answered by alucky guess. The correct answers will be revealed in this spacenext month.

Part I: Computer pre-history1. What is the name of the ancient cal-

culating machine still used in some east-ern countries?

a) abacus c) gomen nasaib) slide rule d) arter

2. Who “invented” Boolean algebra?a) Charles Pascalb) Blaise Babbagec) George Booled) Daniel Graney

3. Who invented the first practical cal-culating machine?

a) Descartes c) Jaquetb) Renee’ d) Pascal

4. Why is our decimal number system abase 10 system?

a) Why not?b) the Romans’ 10 roadsc) our 10 fingersd) the Greeks’ 10 city-states

5. Who invented the difference engine(in 1822) and the analytic machine (in1853)?

a) Enrico Fermi

c) punch cardsd) DRE

10. Where was Whirlwind located?a) Stanford c) Harvardb) M.I.T. d) Yale

Part III: Early microcomputers11. What was the first microprocessor

chip?a) Z80 c) 8080b) 8800 d) 4004

12. What company made the 4004,8008, and 8080 chips?

a) Zilogb) Intelc) Nationald) Motorola

13. What company made the first com-mercially available microcomputer?

a) MITS c) DECb) IMSAI d) Rank

14. Referring to the previous question,what was the microcomputer’s name?

a) IMSAI 8080b) BABYc) Altair 8800d) MITS I

b) Blaise Pascalc) Herman Hollerithd) Charles Babbage

15. What do the SOL, Wavemate, Dig-Part II: Early computers ital Group, and Apple-l computers have

6. What name is the Tabulating Ma- in common?chine Corporation now known by? a) they were all designed by one

a) IBM c) TMC man (Bart Solos)b) PET d) AMF b) they all have 8008 CPU’s

c) they all aren’t made any more7. What was the name of the first com- d) none of the above

mercially available computer?a) DEC PDP-2 c) IBM 370 Part IV: Today’s microcopmputersb) IBM 650 d) UNIVAC I 16. What is Microsoft?

a) a “software house” of profession8. What does ENIAC stand for? al programmers

a) Electrical Numerical Integrator b) a computer job-search serviceand Computer c) a special computer program

b) Nothing, it’s just a code name d) a CPU manufacturerc) Emile, Norman, Ira, Alan and

Craig, the people who designed 17. Which of these companies doesthe machine not produce a commercially available

home computer?9. What was the most common method a) Radio Shack

of input and output in early computers? b) Texas Instrumentsa) magnetic drum c) IMLAb) video terminal d) Sinclair

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18. Which of these is the most popularhome-computer programming language?

a) Fortranb) BASICc) Pascald) APL

19. Which three companies have a ma-jor share of the home computer market?

a) IBM, DEC, and TMPb) MITS, IMSAI, and JAYKEc) Radio Shack, Apple, Commodored) Radio Shack, Apple, MITS

20. Which popular home computer hasone white button on an otherwise blackkeyboard?

a) TSR-80b) Apple-l Ic) Apple-l I Id) IBM 370

Part V: Odds and ends21. Who was the founder of Byte

magazine?a) Carl Helmersb) Jack O’Neillc) Barb Scottd) Wayne Green

22. What is the fundamental circuit in acomputer memory?

a) flip-flopb) RAMc) ROMd) matrix

23. What base is a binary number in?a) 1b) 2c) 8d) 16

24. Which of the following is not a per-ipheral device?

a) cassette playerb) printerc) CPUd) voice synthesizer

25. How many bits to a byte?a) 8b) 16c) it’s determined by the designer of

the computerd) 32

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

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October 1981 Dragon

ORCWARDNESSby Ataniel Annyn Noel

Sitting with his companions in comfortaround the gaming table, the observantplayer suddenly notices that one of hisfellows is undergoing a peculiar trans-formation. From a cheerful example ofcamaradarie, sportsmanship, and toler-ance, he or she degenerates into lou-tishness, malevolence, maliciousness,acrimony, spite, barbarity, and churlish-ness. The player, due to the malignantinfluence of a diabolic spell or artifact, isbecoming a crude, savage orc in the ho-mey confines of the gaming room.

Happens every time, right?The causes of these lapses into orc-

wardness are many; those listed here arethose which seem most frequently tomanifest themselves.

P’un In-Tendid: This awesome verbalspell can only be legally cast by chaoticcharacters. It causes spasms, screams,and groans (from those within hearingrange) for one turn. Countering it withdifferent forms of the same spell will onlyprolong the agony for everyone. A lawfulgood mage can counter with a Spon-taneous Superior Joke, causing thepunster to become silent and blush slight-ly for one round.

Pipe of Reeking, Miasma Nicotiniana,and the Dread Havana Stench: Can in-flict the following injuries on non-wield-ers: uncontrollable sniffles, withering ofsinuses, spasmodic coughing, and pos-sible fire damage. The Pipe of Reekingdoubles the radius of its damage if it con-tains such exotic mixtures as cherry-sherry-berry marmalade or jogger-shoetwist. All can be countered with a Wordof Power, Water, or a Punch in the Teeth.(Punch in the Nose is powerless since asmoker’s nose is not functional.) Similarevils are wrought by Unclean Catboxand Vile Aura of the Soap-Loather.

Spells of Reiteration and InterruptusIdioticus: These two spells, when usedrespectively by the DM and a personplaying a fighter or a thief, continue in-terminably, alternately reinforcing oneanother, until a save is thrown. Example:

DM: Yer goin’ inta this room...Fighter: What room?DM: Yer going’ inta this room, see...Fighter: What kinda room?DM: Yer goin’ inta this room, see,

and...Fighter: Is there an entrance?

Counterspells can only be cast by law-ful good clerics and mages. One excel-lent spell is, “Let’s go out and get a pizza— but we’ll leave the DM there.” (if thefighter asks, “What pizza place?” makehim do the buying.

Junque Fude: These substances areusually summoned by a lawful goodmother or the kid with the car. They have

Ring of Engagementdifferent devastating effects, dependingupon character type, as follows:

Chaotic Pudgy: forgetfulness of die-tary oaths.

Health-Food Ranger or Dieting Druid:madness and loathing.

Thief: the grabbies.Lawful good stout female elf: outcry.Lawful good skinny female elf: Unbe-

lievable outcry.These reactions continue for one turn,

followed by three turns of indiscriminategobbling. Female paladins can counterwith a Wand of Celery.

Ring of Engagement: Although desire-able elsewhere, in the gaming room thisartifact causes a startling change in cha-risma, shortened attention span, and in-cessant discussion of non-game mate-rial (usually white satin, lace, and pearls).This condition is doubled by Ring ofBinding, but can be temporarily alleviatedby Distant Honeymoon. In some cases

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these disturbing effects disappear alto-gether (along with the wielder) if thewielder’s mate converts the wielder toPigskin Worship or Compulsory Attend-ance of Opera.

The Lost Book: Not a source of orc-wardness, but a result of it, this beauti-fully bound, fully illuminated book con-tains all wisdom. It alone holds everyspecific, unambiguous answer to anyquestion disputed in the game. It is onlywhen such a dispute arises that it is no-ticed that the book in question has dis-appeared. It has been borrowed — by anorc.

Miniature Metal Monster: The displayof a new miniature metal monster neverbefore seen in the gaming room cancause envy, jealousy, spite, and covet-ousness, or, just as easily, derision, mock-ery, scorn, and disdain. The wielder, inany case, will be filled with intolerablepride unless his display is countered bythe incantation, “Aw, that was on sale forfifty coppers last week.”

Illusion of Total Absolute UniversalWisdom: A chaotic good beginner orthird-level Bullmaster who cloaks him-self in this illusion will seem, for two toseven turns, to have superhuman knowl-edge of every detail of the game, recitingrules, facts, statistics, and episodes offorgotten campaigns with apparent com-plete authority, to the great benefit of hiseffective charisma. But once a true au-thority on the topic has pierced this illu-sion, the wielder is seen as one moreboasting orc, his words empty, his factsbaseless.

Spell of Anecdotage: Causes a condi-tion of senility and second childhood,which often sets in before the first child-hood is over. The spell’s power arisesfrom the maps, books and other para-phernalia of the game itself, insidiouslyand inexorably, eventually afflicting allplayers at one time or another. The re-sult: a ceaseless flow of such verbiageas, “We was goin’ down this tunnel whenthese trolls jumped our elf, “The effect ishardly distinguishable from that of achild playing cowboy, recounting, “Wewas ridin’ up this gulch, when...” This isthe worst Orciform Plague, as it canstrike any player at any time, even out-side the gaming room, even when visit-ing great aunts, throughout the player’slifetime.

Dragon Vol. VI, No. 4

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October 1981Dragon

7 9

Finieous Fingers & Friends in: All good things must ...

8 0 end. Thanks!