Fall

2012 Issue 2

FILLING IN THE GAPS FOR OLD SCHOOL GAMERS

Undead Familiars: Is That a Moldy Crow on

Yer Shoulder?

Undead

46

Death is Personal:

Individualizing Undead

Tips for making

unique undead

The Valley of Eternal Rest

A collaborative

Adventure for your campaign!

Undead Unlimited! Are undead overrunning your campaign?

The House of Ponce, Bank and Moneylender A safe place for adventurers to

store their loot

BONUS ARTICLE

Ajari, Kenku-Lich Not your average

undead bird

Creature Feature

Ecology of the Bone Guardian 63

One Page Dungeon

Skeletons 65 Featured Fiction

An Errand

2 Number 2

Map 1The House of Ponce article on page 24 provides a description to go with this map!

Map by Andreas Clarens

Number 2 3

Issue Number 2V1I2p0 Fall 2012

The StaffPublisher:Nicole Massey

Chief Editor:Bryan Fazekas

Editors:Jeremy DowAndrew Hamilton

Art DirectorRalph Glatt

Maps:Andreas Clarens

Layout:Bryan Fazekas

Logo & Cover DesignPayton Gauldin

Cover Art:Geoff Zitzmann

Interior Art:Joe HeirendtCaleb HorowitzGeoff Zitzmann

Contributing Authors:Eric FazekasJay GoodenberryBill SilveyDavid Stairs

Featured ArtistThis month's cover artist is Geoff Zitzmann, an information systemsprofessional in Raleigh, NC. Geoff played D&D eons ago and hasbeen an artist for many years. & Magazine is, however, his firstforay into fantasy art.

In addition to the cover art, which was inspired by the articleUndead Familiars, Geoff's art enhances two of our regular columns,Creature Feature II: Failed Lich and Featured Fiction: An Errand.

& Magazine is published four times a year by the & Publishing Group. It is available for download athttp://www.and-mag.com/downloads.html.

The rights to all material published herein revert to the author(s) of said work upon release of this issue. Articlesmay be submitted by email to submissions@and-mag.com. Please review the & submission guidelines.

Dungeons & DragonsTM, Advanced Dungeons and DragonsTM, D&DTM and AD&DTM are owned by Wizards ofthe Coast and their use here is not intended as a challenge to their ownership of that copyright. All materialsare used here without permission.

All other material copyrighted to the listed author or artist, and used by permission.

Nothing in this publication constitutes official rules additions or changes to the AD&D game. Use is at thediscretion of the game master and the players of individual games.

4 Number 2

ContentsThe theme of this quarter's magazine is

Undead!

Magic Items

Scattered throughout & are newmagic items!Co-Joined Coins............................... 20

Amulet of Borrowed Years............... 25

Potion of Dweomercraeft ............... 45

Potion of Super-Dweomercraeft .... 45

Potion of Ultra-Dweomercraeft ...... 45

Potion of Ultra-Heroism .................... 45

Thief's Skeleton Key........................... 51

Fighter's Skeleton Key....................... 51

Monk Shoes and Gloves .................. 59

Interior Art

Each printed item has the authorlisted, but not so the artwork.Ralph Glatt

Skeleton Keys .................................... 51

Joe Heirendt

Valley of Eternal Rest ....................... 30

Caleb Horowitz

Co-Joined Coins............................... 20

Fighter and Horde of Undead ........ 21

Pyramid and Tomb........................... 34

Geoff Zitzmann

Jod Fighting Ghoul ........................... 10

Kara Tending Tom ............................ 11

Failed Lich ......................................... 52

This Issue's FeaturesUndead Familiars.................................................................................... 7

Death is Personal: Individualizing Undead .......................................... 9

Undead are Done to Death? ............................................................. 16

Level Draining Is Metagaming ............................................................ 18

Undead Unlimited! ............................................................................... 21

Bonus ArticlesThe House of Ponce, Bank and Moneylender .................................. 24

Review: The AD&D Core Books Reprint ............................................. 26

Featured AdventureThe Valley of Eternal Rest .................................................................... 30

Regular ColumnsMap 1....................................................................................................... 2

Featured Artist......................................................................................... 3

Tread Softly.............................................................................................. 5

Creature Feature I: Ecology of the Bone Guardian........................ 46

Creature Feature II: Failed Lich.......................................................... 52

Creature Feature III: Vampires from the Dresden Files ................... 53

Friend or Foe: Ajari, Kenku-Lich.......................................................... 57

The Toybox: Cursed Amulets ............................................................... 60

Spell Caster's Paradise: Affecting Undead ....................................... 61

One Page Dungeon: Skeletons ......................................................... 64

Featured Fiction: An Errand ............................................................... 66

For Further Reading .............................................................................. 70

Map 2..................................................................................................... 71

Number 2 5

Tread Softlyby Nicole Massey

Thoughts from the publisher

Welcome back, folks, for those returning to ourpages. We appreciate all of you readers, andwe hope you found some useful stuff in our firstissue. As for those new to us, welcome, and wehope you find a lot of good stuff here within.We would love to hear from you, so send lettersto our letters@and-mag.com address with yourthoughts on the issue and last issue as well.

Ah, undead. They're a fixture of the game, fromthe lowly skeleton of a mouse or an animatedbird to the most powerful lich, vampire, orinfernal being from the lower planes. Butsomeone must be stamping them out in afactory somewhere, as none of them havemuch individuality. TSR explored this some withmodule I6: Ravenloft, but in general they're allthe same foe in duplicate – the only thingvarying is the hit points. Thanks to a suggestionby one of our staff I worked up a little article onmaking your undead a lot more interesting, andthis one also gives you a look at our friendlyHalfling thief, Tom Barman, (remember him lasttime with his ogre friend in the pre-assembledadventure packs article?), this time very early inhis career.

One of the big issues for players is the loss oflevels from the touch of certain undead. Weoffer up other ideas on this controversial topic,so players can better handle when theircharacter loses life force.

Andrew Hamilton also gives us an interestingarticle on undead familiars, which continuesthe trend of powering up familiars. These aresome creepy critters. And speaking of creepycritters, how about hitting your players withsomething that they think is undead but isn't?Check out the Bone Guardian.

You may also notice a new column: Friend orFoe. This is where we publish interesting NPC's tohinder or help your players. You won't see theultra-powerful here, as that's been donealready, but the goal is to provide some well-developed personalities to add color and life to

the game. This is just the first of the newcolumns, so keep an eye out, Vecna, becausemore is coming soon.

And what is that in the center of the issue? Thatwould be our first adventure module, &1: TheValley of Eternal Rest, your very own necropolis.Use it as a single big adventure or split theindividual tombs out and use them separatelyas you need them. We hope to have morecoming like it, including a big one next issue,&2: Rage from the Waves.

I've been discussing this with a lot of folks, andI'm going to weigh in on a controversy here. Ifirst got interested in this thought when I ran intoRichard Hernande's Animate Dead Animalsspell for druids. (published in The Dragon,November 1988) Something about that set mevery wrong. I admit to having a bias towarddruids, but it seemed off that a class sodevoted to nature would have such a spell –since it creates unnatural creatures, and is, tomy thinking anathema to what druids stand for.This led me to the other point. Druids can turnundead. It is more natural for them to have thispower than clerics, as they once again areforcing out something unnatural. (But I can alsounderstand how the unholy is affected byclerics of good alignment). Furthermore, it'sbeen said by E. Gary Gygax that he intendedthem to have this power, so I have no problemaccepting that as the way it is.

Allow me to diverge from the issue here for a bitso I can talk about something else going on.Excepting those of you who live in caves orhave been out adventuring for the last sixmonths, I'm sure just about everyone has foundout that Wizards of the Coast has announcedthat they're going to do a new version of thegame they call Dungeons & Dragons. In factthey're doing a wide release beta playtest of itnow as you read this. I know this is a hot topicfor a lot of our readers, and many who read thishave very strong views on the versions that

6 Number 2

best reflect their image of the game. But thisnew edition, often called fifth edition, has anew aspect to it. Wizards wasn't shy aboutmentioning in press that 4th edition was usingconcepts from World of Warcraft. Though somefolks liked this approach, I've seen a lot morevenom about it than praise. One of thecontentions I've seen many times is that 4thedition is too easy – character death is asimpossible as a first edition level 2 monkdefeating Tiamat with one arm tied behind hisback. This and other factors have spurred whatis referred to as the OSR, and this is where I thinkit comes into our territory. OSR stands for OldSchool Renaissance or Old School Revival,though one person on the Usenet newsgrouprec.games.frp.dnd said it stands for "Oh, sh**,run!" In his opinion this reflects the reality ofearlier systems where sometimes you couldn'tjust stay and fight it out with a chance ofdefeating every foe, and sometimes it wasappropriate to book foot out of there and liveto breathe another day. The fact that this isnovel to some gamers speaks volumes of whereour hobby has gone down the line, as I'm suremany of you can understand. But thependulum is swinging back in our direction, andthough I won't even begin to hope that we'llsee new first edition material from them, if folksare playing things more compatible with ourversion then we can hopefully have an easiertime converting things to our particular game.

Oh, wait, they are releasing something firstedition related – in fact, they already have. ThePremier editions of the first edition MonsterManual, Player's Handbook, and DungeonMaster's Guide came out in mid-July. Thesebooks are the text of the original books withnew art and covers, and they're helping to fundthe E. Gary Gygax Memorial Foundation. This isa shining opportunity to prove to the powersthat be at Wizards that we still exist.

All of this development has gotten me thinking,though. Wizards of the Coast holds a lot ofintellectual property (IP) that they aren't gettingany benefit from. If I were running things thereI'd make all of it available through onlinesources, and then run a big contest. Convert adungeon from one version to another and thewinners for each one will get a free copy of the

book of all of these conversions when it comesout. This book would include conversions ofevery module, from ones released soon for 5thedition back to the first one ever released, andwith versions for every iteration of the gamefrom the original digest sized boxed set to thecurrent stuff. This book would have appeal forplayers of every edition of the game, andwould also drive sales of the modules online,thereby leveraging their IP in a way no gamemanufacturer ever did in the past. And all itwould take is an employee who coordinatedthis all and some well-respected judges foreach edition to decide which ones won theaward for that edition. This one move wouldopen vast resources up to anyone playing anyversion of D&D and provide the "one book torule them all, one book to find them." It seemspretty win/win to me, and it would breathe newlife into a lot of product. And we'd be able tobuy first edition modules again, too.

Just a thought. Maybe someone at Wizards willread this issue and sell this idea to someonethere. I can dream, can't I?

Adventurer's Obituaryby Jeremy Dow

Talmina, beloved dungeon engineer and explorer,recently departed from this world during anadventuring mishap with her companions.

After entering a dungeon she scouted ahead in along corridor to check for traps, but she failed tofind a trap door at her feet. She fell to the bottomof a 20-foot pit, but as her companions proceededto let down a rope to get her out, some strange,unidentified, living goo oozed out of many holes inthe walls. Talmina managed to grab the rope andstart climbing, but the living ooze struck her quiteskillfully, enveloping her. Her friends report thather death must have been quick because theyheard no sound or scream.

Talmina leaves behind no next of kin that anyoneknows of, though her adventuring companions willsorely miss her. There will be no burial.

Talmina was a PC in Jeremy's campaign.

Number 2 7

Undead Familiarsby Andrew Hamilton

It's a truism that thefamiliar is a commonaccessory for magic-user's and similararchetypes in literature,although they areadmittedly a lesscommon accessory foradventuring magic-users. The familiar can be auseful companion for any spell caster, and I amof the opinion that it should mirror, at least insome ways, the magic-user with which it hasbonded. That's great for your run-of-the-millhedge mage, academic wizard, or courtenchanter. However, creepy necromancersand other magic-user types who find diggingup dead bodies for disturbing purposes to becompletely fascinating? They definitely deservea unique familiar. An undead familiar.

Let's be clear, I'm not talking a skeleton, or azombie, or a ghoul. I'm talking a more "normal"familiar – some dead cat, rat or bird, somethingthat can almost pass for living. This would bethe crow with tattered feathers and empty eyesockets, the unusually gaunt black cat withmangy fur, the rat with a herky-jerky walk.

First of all, having a humanoid skeleton, zombieor ghoul as a familiar is pretty limiting if you everwant to interact with polite society. Second ofall, why not just wear a sandwich board saying"I am irredeemably evil ... kill me!". Wanderingaround town with a skeleton, zombie or ghoul intow will have every paladin, good cleric andprobably druid on your tail, not to mention acrowd of right-minded citizens sharpening theirswords and pitchforks preparing a pre-emptivestrike. No, having a familiar that can blend in,or at least be concealed, is required. Idiotscan't learn magic, and truly villainous magic-users should be intelligent enough tounderstand the value of stealth and subtlety.

The acquisition and creation of an undeadfamiliar is a two part process, and can beundertaken only by a magic-user of 5th level orgreater. The creepy magic-user needs tosummon a familiar (as per the 1st level Find

Familiar spell), and then ritually kill the poorcreature and animate it (through the 3rd levelspell Animate Familiar, described below). Thespell absolutely will not work on special familiars(quasits, imps, pseudo-dragons, etc.) andcasting the Animate Familiar spell is absolutelyan evil act. Good and neutral magic userscannot use this spell without suffering analignment change.

Animate FamiliarNecromancyLevel: Magic-User 3Range: 0Duration: PermanentComponents: V, S, MCasting Time: 1 daySaving Throw: noneArea of Effect: one familiar

This spell is an evil spell which can be cast onlyby a magic-user on a familiar that has alreadybeen bonded with him (as per the 1st level FindFamiliar spell). The familiar is ritually slain, andthen animated. The magic of the ritualprevents the magic-user from suffering theconsequences of a familiar being killed; but thisprotection is in force only for the duration of theritual. The animation process allows theundead familiar to retains its mental capacity,as well as its personality. Over time it will gain inmental capacity (adding +1 Intelligence after10 years of unlife, and another +1 Intelligencepoint after an additional 40 years of unlife).

The undead familiar will begin to abandonmany of the mannerisms and habits they hadwhile alive. For example, after a few years anundead cat will give up grooming, and a ravenor crow will stop preening.

The process of decay is dramatically slowed, sothat the familiar will not lose its fur or feathersand become a skeleton with rotten bits of meatand skin hanging off of it. Instead it willbecome an emaciated creature, with dull,lifeless eyes. They often carry a faint odor ofdecay or rot with them, and their presence

Is That aMoldy Crow

on YerShoulder?

8 Number 2

unnerves normal animals, which will not attackan undead familiar unless they have no otherchoice. The undead familiar is unsanitaryhowever, and any wound that they cause hasa 10% chance of becoming infected (as perthe disease caused by a giant rat).

The undead familiar gains many of the benefitsthat are shared by most undead, includingimmunity to Sleep, Charm, cold (magical orotherwise), and poison. They are also immuneto the special attacks of other undead (e.g.paralysis, level draining, stench, aging, fear),although they are certainly vulnerable tophysical attacks. Being undead, they have nobody heat, and thus are effectively invisible toinfravision. The link to the Negative MaterialPlane that animates and preserves the undeadfamiliar also makes it resistant to normalweapons; silver or magical weapons arerequired to harm the undead familiar. As well,undead familiars suffer only 1/2 damage frompiercing weapons, as they no longer hasvulnerable, functioning internal organs.

Undead familiars are vulnerable to turninghowever, although they are turned as anundead creature with a number of hit diceequal to their master's level. While they can be

turned, undead familiars are not subject to thedispelling/destruction ("D") result. Any suchresult should be treated as turning. Undeadfamiliars also have the same saving throws astheir masters.

The undead familiar gains hit point bonuses; +1hp/3 caster levels. Thus the undead familiar ofa 3rd level magic user gains +1 hp. The undeadfamiliar of an 6th level necromancer gains +2hp, +3 hp with a 9th level caster, etc., with nopractical limit to the hit point bonus. Themagic-user also gains bonus hit points, as perthe Find Familiar spell, but these bonus hit pointsare calculated from the base hit points (i.e. 2 to4 hit points) of the familiar, not the adjusted hitpoints. Similarly, if the undead familiar isdestroyed, the magic-user suffers only damagebased on the base hit points of the familiar, notthe augmented hit points.

It should be noted that an undead familiar willsurvive the transformation of its master from aliving being into a lich.

The undead familiar generally retains the sensesthat it had in life, with a few exceptions. Theybecome far more sensitive to the smell of bloodand carrion, able to detect it at twice thedistance that they would have in life. Theundead familiar also becomes less sensitive toheat and cold, more sensitive to bright light,and loses its sense of taste.

The material components for this spell are analtar consecrated to an evil deity (of the spellcaster's faith), an obsidian knife, a ceremonialbowl, and a black silk sheet to wrap the familiarin. The material components are notconsumed in the casting, but they are tainted(and will have a slight evil aura afterwards),and cannot be reused for a second AnimateFamiliar ritual. The material components willcost a minimum of 250 gp.

DM's note – there are many spells designed toaugment familiars, attract more powerfulfamiliars, etc. that have been published invarious resources (Dragon Magazine comes tomind). If these are included in the campaign, itis recommended that the Animate Familiarspell not be effective on augmented or morepowerful familiars.

Fanzine and Magazine Publishers andCollectors: & is compiling an index ofarticles relating to our hobby published inprofessional, semi-professional, and fancreated magazines, and we would love tohave your assistance in this process.

Have you built an index of your favoritemagazine, or are you considering it?

Send us your indices of articles in aDragonDex oriented format and we willadd them to our growing index for D&Darticles and other related material.

The & staff is working on White Dwarf andFootprints – we welcome your help inbuilding a resource for fellow gamers.

Make sure you include your name andemail address so we can ensure you getcredit for your work! See our Index pagefor more details and formatting guidelines.

Number 2 9

Death is Personal: Individualizing UndeadBy Nicole Massey

Tom followed Kara, Jod, and Morvin into thecemetery. He wasn't sure about the three ofthem yet, but at least it would give him somestrength to deal with what they were facing.

It was Kara, the human woman, that talked himinto joining the group. He had a hard timehearing her words with all her jewelry, her oddhaircut, (a Mohawk that extended down to herwaist and had all kinds of bells and other stuffwoven into it) and those intense eyes of hers."Look, we need someone with the skill to get inand out of places and open a few doors for us.Rumor has it that you have those skills, andunless my eyes deceive me you've got a tattooon your wrist to prove it." Tom pulled the sleeveof his shirt down over it and thought that beforelong he needed to get some leather bracers tokeep that hidden from prying eyes.

Soon after he'd met Jod and Morvin, the typicaldumb warrior and the typical wandering zealot.It was the typical adventuring group spoken ofin all of the tales and fables – a warrior who wasbig and dumb, an obsessive priest, a distractedwizard with her head in the books all the time,and a Halfling thief. Welcome to an eight-legged cliché. Still, he didn't like going intocemeteries at night. He knew too many peopleburied there, and he'd also heard from theguild that some things he wasn't interested inwent on here, like hits and rollings.

Morvin said in his reedy countertenor, "The spiritsare moving here this night." Tom rolled his eyes –Morvin always spoke like something from an oldbook. Tom guessed he'd spent too much timereading them in his youth. Maybe he could finda prayer or chant to clear up his pimply skin.

"Tom." It was a whisper, something faint andsoft, but clear.

Tom said, "Someone just said my name.Someone's here that knows me." Kara lookedback at him, her long mane whipping aroundand jingling the bells woven in it. She spokewords that made no sense and left no memory,

and stared around them. Then she said,"Something is radiating power that way."

She pointed to the Miller crypt. Tom's heartsank, but he didn't know why.

Jod said, "Sword is hungry, wants to taste flesh."Jod always sounded like he read too manyadventure scrolls, the cheap low grade paperkind. Or like he never read anything, not evenhis own three letter name.

Morvin said, "The spirits are moving that way.Foul denizens of vileness cavort in the night."

Tom sighed. He was a character in a cheapadventure scroll.

"Tom." It was closer. He could almost place thevoice. But there was something odd about it.Which one of his friends was stupid enough towander around here in the cemetery? One asstupid as he was, he realized. But at least hewas getting paid for it, because the mayor wasconcerned that people were disappearingaround the graveyard. Still, maybe there wereother teams out here.

Jod turned and headed for the Miller crypt, hisarmor clattering like flatware in a wash basin.This was the noisiest bunch of people Tom evermet. He followed, moving from shadow toshadow behind them. At least he wasn't MisterObvious.

"Tom!"

Tom turned to find where the sound wascoming from and came face to face withBobalindian Miller, his best friend until a yearago when Bob got bit by an adder in his sleep.

Tom, in shock, said, "Bob?"

Bob said, "Yeah, it's me. Tomasell Barman, Whatare you doing here? This is a bad place to betonight."

Tom looked at him. His skin was pale white, andhis eyes were a sickly pink instead of the blueTom remembered. Even Bob's hair was white,and his breath stank as if something died in hismouth.

10 Number 2

Then tom saw the teeth, jagged and sharp.

Tom said, "Bob, you're dead, and you'vebecome something."

He replied, "Yeah, but it isn't so bad once youget used to eating your friends and folk youknow."

Bob reached out and grabbed Tom. Tom feltthe burn of something vile as Bob circled hiswrist with his fingers. He fought off a fear thatwould freeze his limbs and jerked his handloose. As Tom took a couple of steps back Bobsaid, "Sorry, Tom, and I'm going to hate havingto do this to such a good guy as you."

Tom then noticed that Bob's tongue wasforked, like a snake – like that adder Bob's popkilled with the hoe in Bob's room.

Tom slid his dagger out of his wrist sheath andslashed at Bob. Oozing white ichor seeped froma wound on Bob's left hand as he said, "Tom?What'd you do that for? We're friends!"

Tom said, "Not anymore, Bob, you're dead.You're some sort of undead. And I'm not yourbedtime snack."

Behind him Tom heard Morvin say, "Leave andnever return, vile denizen of the stygiandarkness! In the name of Enki I command youto leave!"

Bob shrank back, then smiled. "Stupid human. Idon't fear your god. My, you look tasty." Bobstepped away from Tom.

As Bob lunged for Morvin Tom dropped to hisknees. He felt a burning in his veins, the poisongoing to work on him.

A clatter of chain mail preceded the whoosh ofa sword blade, and then the brawny warriorwas on Bob like Tom's little sister going aftersecond breakfast. Bob shrieked as his head wascut from its shoulders, and then Kara said, "Wegot to get out of here, there's a whole pack ofthem."

Morvin said, "Ghouls. Vile eaters of the dead."

Tom dropped to the ground, gasping out, "Hepoisoned me. Help." Then everything wentblack.

Tom awoke to Kara leaning over him andmopping his brow in his own bedroom. Histhroat dry he asked, "What happened?"

"It was a whole pod of ghouls. Morvin called inhis order and they went in and cleaned themout. But since we found them first we got paid.I'm afraid your share is a bit light, since we hadto pay the healers to cast a spell on you to saveyour life, but I guess being a little poorer isbetter than being dead."

"I feel like someone ran the pigs over me for acouple of hours."

"Yeah, adder poison is bad. The Clerics say thatsometimes the undead keep aspects of whatkilled them. We got you to a healer in time."

Tom leaned up, still dizzy, and said, "Thanks forsaving me."

Kara smiled and shook her head. "Jod saysyou're light. Of course he'd say that, he likes toshow off. But we had to save you, you're a partof our adventuring group."

Number 2 11

Tom suppressed a chuckle at a woman with sixearrings in each ear, a long Mohawk with bellswoven in it, six necklaces, and more braceletsand rings than the pawnbroker was holdingloans on commenting that someone else was ashowoff. But at least he did feel like he was apart of their group now.

Tom said, "Bob?"

"Jod killed him. He wasn't your friend anymore,Tom."

"I know. Still, it sucked to see him like that."

"I bet. But it could be worse, you could have mybrother."

"Oh?"

"I'll tell you sometime, some time when you'rewell and strong again. Now, your sister is herewith some food for you, along with a doublehelping of reproach."

Tom nodded. "That would be Hy. Yeah, shedoes reproach even better than her cooking.Thanks, Kara."

"Don't mention it. I'm sure you'll save mesometime too." She had no idea how true thatwas …

You've seen it so many times, the line in the log,"killed twelve ghouls in the graveyard." or "Clericturned five zombies and eight skeletons."They're standard undead, generic andinterchangeable, nothing to distinguish them.But those undead, every one of them, fromskeleton to lich, used to be a person. Someonedied or didn't die to make them exist. If courseyou couldn't tell that by reading the MonsterManual, Fiend Folio, or Monster Manual II.Players know that – after all, they've read thebooks too, and many of them can recite thestatistics and abilities of any undead they meet.

Why should it be this way? It makes perfectsense in terms of game mechanics, but fantasyrole-playing games are supposed to be a bitmore complex than most games. So how abouta little variety in your undead?

Profession and Skill ConsiderationsFor those of you who read The Dresden Files,the most recent book at the time of thispublication, Ghost Story, has an interestingghost who retains all of his knowledge and skillsfrom his life (maybe more than one, I'll let youread it if you're interested and not spoil it.).

The official party line is that ghosts are the spiritsof evil people who stick around because theywant to harry the living or fear the afterlife. Thisis a rather limited view of ghosts, and it reducesthem to pale echoes of what they could be. Ifyou open up the possibilities, that a ghost is thespirit of someone who hasn't left yet becausesomething is holding them back, then youprovide much wider possibilities for them. Howabout the ghost of a paladin who guards a holyfont from desecration? Give him all his abilitiesand level capabilities and he becomes a farmore powerful foe. Ditto for the spirit of a druidwho lost her grove and her life to despoilers.

This goes all up and down the spectrum forundead who have retained their mental

12 Number 2

capabilities. After all, liches have their spellcapabilities and other skills, why shouldn'tvampires, ghosts, ghouls, and skeletons?Everyone knows zombies have cognitive issues,so we can't expect them to do much besidesshamble and occasionally cry out.

Modern vampire literature gives us a goodapproach to this dynamic. Undead tend to loseabilities from life if they're not used regularly, justlike most skills. For each 100 years of unlifeduring which their skills are not used, removeone level of ability, including all benefits of thatlevel. A ghost of a druid who started out at 9thlevel and spent 300 years at rest before facinga challenge would drop to 6th level, losingspells, skills, weapon proficiencies, and theability to shapechange into animal forms. Alsoremember that abilities and skills that requiretouch may be a problem for non-corporealbeings. Beings without voice boxes can't uttercommand words, either.

This will dramatically change an encounter witha group of skeletons if they're skeletons of aberserker band, for example. Ghosts of spellcasters can become nastier, too, and just takea moment to think of a ghoul who used to be a12th level thief working his or her way intolocked homes for dinner.

It's reasonable to think that enhanced undeadare more difficult to turn, and this takes morecalculation. Compare the ego score of theturning cleric or druid to that of the undeadbeing turned, and use any difference in theundead's favor as a modifier to resist theturning. If this modifier moves the undead to apoint higher on the table then it is turned asthat higher type instead, again with a modifierif present to that roll. This does take some of theabilities from the cleric or druid, but also reflectsthe enhanced nature of the undead.

Some DM's treat the attempt to turn a group ofundead as a single attempt to turn the leader.This can become nasty for a party if they'refighting a leader who has skills in motivatingothers in combat or other leadership situations.In addition it takes some of the variability out ofundead encounters.

Remember to adjust experience point totals forthese enhanced undead.

Cause of DeathIt's also interesting if elements of the person'sdeath can come through in rare cases. Assumethat only 5% of all who die have this ability,though things might raise that chance, likecurses and magical forms of death.

For example, imagine the party is fighting agroup of zombies and then suddenly one ofthem bursts into flames because he or she diedby fire. Bob's poison touch due to his death byadder bite is another good example. Adecapitated undead can leave its headsomewhere to spy on things, like the roof of ahouse, and direct the body anywhere within hisor her field of vision. Severed hands can crawlthrough partially opened windows as long asthe hand is within sight of its host body. Thevictim of a crushing death might be able toshapechange to any creature roughly his or hersize. And don't forget burning or freezing touchwhen a monster grabs a party member.

One more thing: don't forget these things whencreating a revenant to go after a partymember. A revenant using its own method ofdestruction on the one who killed them haspoetic and karmic justice written all over it.

Better the Devil You Know?Using recently dead NPCs as undead can havean interesting effect. The PC will be surprised tofind someone they thought dead up andaround and talking. (Bob's conversation withTom above illustrates this) This is a great way toget information to party members and run yourplayers' characters through the emotionalwringer. After all, this person they know wassomeone they liked, and now they're going tohave to kill them. This is a really good way toput a Paladin into an interesting dilemma, too,as they have to decide to kill someone whoserved their god in life and was an upstandingmember of the community.

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Table 1: Types of Deaths and Their Potential Benefits

DeathMethod Benefits Physical Clues

Annihilation:Complete

Undead can assume any shape with thesame mass of his or her original body.

Appearance like the person is in soft focus ina picture; undead has difficulty maintaininghis or her shape.

Annihilation:Partial

Undead can assume any shape with thesame mass of his or her original body. Anybody parts not annihilated may not betransformed.

Appearance like the person is in soft focus ina picture, except for any body parts thatweren't destroyed; undead has difficultymaintaining his or her shape; a body partdoesn't fit the undead's current appearance

Burning

Undead has a fiery touch, equivalent indamage to a Shocking Grasp spell, and isresistant to fire attacks like other cold basedcreatures. Undead also may immolate likesome demons, doing fire damage andigniting flammable objects.

Smoke rising from the undead person;severely tanned skin; body hair burned offand clothing singed

Crushing

Undead may envelop their target like amelee net on a successful hit attempt.Normal methods of getting out of theentanglement apply, as do normal penalties

The undead looks somehow malformed ordamaged somehow; two-dimensionality

Decapitation

Undead may place his or her head in a safeplace or good observation point and movehis or her body around under the head'scommand within the head's field of vision.Spells with verbal components cannot becast by the body, but any other actions thatdon't require speech are possible.

A ragged scar or wound around the neck ofthe undead; a slight empty space in theneck where flesh should be but was rippedaway, so the head hovers slightly above thebody

Drowning

Undead's touch introduces water into thelungs of the target unless a save is made; Theundead can hit with a water based attackdoing the same damage as a Burning Handsspell that puts out fires, waterlogs anything,and possibly damaging paper materials andcausing ink to run.

Bloated appearance; the undead leaves atrail of water behind as he or she passesthrough an area

Falling

Undead can float above the ground to aheight no greater than the distance fallenwhen the person fell to his or her death; Theundead may fall upon a person from aheight, delivering the same damage he orshe suffered in his or her death fall.

The undead looks damaged; legs or torsolook shorter than normal

Freezing

Undead has a frigid touch, equivalent indamage to a Shocking Grasp spell, and isresistant to fire attacks like other cold basedcreatures. The undead also radiates frigidcold and may freeze liquids and liquefy lowfreezing point gasses. Damage is as perimmolation to creatures in the area of effect.

Hair looks frozen; frozen tears on the cheeks;look of rigidity, with jerky or stiff movements

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DeathMethod Benefits Physical Clues

Hanging OrStrangulation

Undead's touch make the target unable tocatch his or her breath unless a save ismade.

Bruises around the neck; head moves morefreely on the undead's shoulders, indicatinga broken neck

Life Stealing

Once per day the undead may steal a levelfrom a target. A saving throw applies, ofcourse, and the level may only be recoveredif the undead is destroyed and the bodyburned or otherwise annihilated.

The undead has a lifeless dead eyed look;speaks of being so hungry all the time, orfeeling empty

Magic

Undead may cast the spell 3/day. No verbal,somatic, or material components required,as the magic is infused in their body. Forspells over 4th level the number of times castis reduced to 1/day for 5th and 6th levelspells, 1/month for 7th level spells, 1/year for8th level spells, and 1/century for 9th levelspells. Certain spells like Wish, Limited Wish, orAlter Reality are not usable like this.

The undead looks like the victim of the spell.

Poison:Artificial

Undead has a poisonous bite or touchinflicting the same damage the poison thatkilled him or her.

Foul chemical odors emanate from theundead; it seeks out sources of thechemicals used to make the poison toreplenish the supply of the poison in his or hermetabolism.

Poison:Natural

Undead has a poisonous bite or touchinflicting the same damage the poison thatkilled him or her.

The undead looks sickly, green, or otherwiseunhealthy; has features of the venomouscreature, like multifaceted eyes for insectand bug poisons, a forked tongue, slittedeyes, or viper fangs for snake venom, etc.

Severed LimbThe limb may move around independentlywithin sight of the body as the undeadrequires it, acting as if it were still attached.

Ugly wound or scar at the severing point;slight disconnect between the body and thelimb as the limb hovers almost in place bythe body; blows don't transmit force from thearea hit to the other part

Some undead don't show their colors right off.The listless stare and the cry of "Brains!" (or forvegetarian ones, "Grains!") from a zombiehoard, the pale skin and bad breath comingout of jagged and rotting teeth of ghouls, andthe lack of any fashion sense most skeletonshave are clear indications, but others can be abit more subtle. This leads to some interestingsituations. Goody Edna might be bereft sinceher husband Jake died, so when she startstalking about her conversations with Jake eachevening people might think she's losing hermind, not realize Jake is a ghost or vampire. Thiscan delay the proper identification of the

cause of local problems and provide somedetective work before the characters figure outwhat's going on.

In game terms give any character a saveagainst charm to shake off the influence ofseeing a friend or family member trying tobeguile them. See table 2 for modifiers to thisroll. For this particular case elves have a 30%chance, not a 90% chance, to resist this charmattempt, as they are facing a completelydifferent type of charming attempt than thosedone by magic. Half elves have no resistanceto this kind of charm above their save.

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Table 2: Modifiers to charm by the undead

Situation Modifier

Saw the body of the undead burnedor otherwise utterly destroyed +3

Attended the funeral of thedeceased or was present when thedeceased was killed

+2

Was told conclusively by more thanone person the deceased was deadand witnessed others disposing of thedeceased's possessions; Didn't knowthe deceased

+1

Was told that the person died bytrusted people; no close relationshipwith the deceased

0

Close friend of the deceased; heard arumor or received written orsecondhand data the person wasdeceased

-1

Very close friend or family member ofthe deceased; heard a rumor thedeceased was dead

-2

Best friend of the deceased or veryclose family member; had noindication the deceased was nolonger living

-3

Spouse of the deceased; target ofcharm is mentally unbalanced orotherwise out of contact with reality

-4

Use whatever modifiers apply to the situation,but the modification shouldn't go below -4 orabove +3, so round off at those points. Charm isa one-time attempt – either it works or itdoesn't.

What if You CAN Take it With You?Remember too that any person not quitecompletely deceased might know all kinds ofthings others don't. Spirits are, according tosome sources, a chatty bunch. (If they aren'tthen why would they answer every call amedium makes? ) Spirits may know things noone else knows about the local area, like who isburied where, where the secret hiding placesare, and where things of great power andusefulness to them lay undiscovered and what

they're capable of. Also remember that a spiritor other undead might also know where goldpieces are hidden, and there are people whowill do anything for enough gold no matter whois paying. It's possible for even lower poweredundead to have a lot of influence with the localunderworld. If they're a type that maintainsmemories they might have a few scores tosettle too.

One more thing – some undead create theirown followers. It's reasonable to suppose thatthese followers would tell their master or mistressall kinds of things they know, again expandingthe undead's knowledge and power.

ConclusionsWith these changes the undead become farmore interesting and far less easy to destroy.Too often undead, especially the weaker types,quickly become self-propelled caltrops,something to slow a party down while the bignasties prepare for the party's arrival. Thechanges described above turn them intosomething far more dangerous, and with a lotmore possible menace. Have fun working outthese changes to your undead, and watch thelook on your players' faces as a skeleton grabsa shield and says, "Milord, I hereby challengeyou to single combat."

We welcome your letters!

Send your letters to:letters@and-mag.com.

Some letters received will bepublished in our letters columneach issue. We regret that wecannot print or answer all letters.We reserve the right to copyeditany published letters for length orcontent. The letters address is foreditorial correspondence only.

16 Number 2

Undead are Done to Death?by Andrew Hamilton

I'm not just saying this because I can't stand allthe glittery, emo vampires (necrophilia, makesmy skin crawl) and current pop culturefascination with zombie apocalypses. I was sickof them before that, when there seemed to bea lich or three behind every plot, some licheswere good, and there were all kinds ofmisunderstood undead, etc. (I had many 2EForgotten Realms resources back in the day).

It's not that I don't use undead in my games. Ido and I believe they have a place at all levelsof play. Heck, I even like using undead in mygames. Let's face it, undead make a greatenemy -– there are no moral quandaries aboutputting down mindless zombies or corpse-chewing ghouls, or sending a wraith to its finalrest. I just believe that there's a real danger inrelying too much or unthinkingly on undead.They have built in weaknesses and killer powers.This was probably intended for balance, but inmy experience it means that each encounterhas a tendency to skew one way or the other.

WeaknessesStandard by-the-book (BTB) undead havevarious weaknesses. If players know a particularweaknesses (and old-time gamers know theweaknesses), the undead fold like a cheaplawn chair when hostilities start. How scary cansomething be when running water, sunlight orgarlic takes it out? How about anti-undeaditems like holy water or the Mace of Disruption?

Along the same line consider the cleric's abilityto turn undead. One mid-level cleric with a hotd20 and "poof" – that cunningly crafted ghoulencounter just went down the crapper. Yes,the DM can increase the numbers of undead torender turning useless – I admit I do, and Isuspect that's why the number of ghoulsappearing is 2 to 24. That nerfs the clericthough, whom I believe deserves the chanceto lay a holy smack down on undead afterpatching up the party repeatedly. There'salways a danger that a hot roll can completelyruin an encounter by making what looked

challenging a cakewalk. "You rolled a 20, andyou have a luckstone? I guess the lich runsaway screaming like a little girl.".

Conversely, a lousy roll puts the party in hand tohand combat with undead that drain levels, ormore dangerously paralyze or age their victims.This is especially ugly if the DM designed theencounter with the assumption that some ofthe undead would be turned.

Without throwing in some "extra protection" likeanti-turning magic or unholy places (as per theDMG), only by placing higher level undead(relative to the PCs) can the DM be certain thatthe undead will be able to stand and fight.

As a quick aside, the turning undead tablesneed to be revisited by someone with morepatience and attention to detail than me. Ifthe wight is a 6th level monster and the ghast isa 4th level (based on the DMG xp values),shouldn't the ghast come before the wight onthe turning tables? And should a dretch reallybe harder to turn than a lich?

PC Killing PowersUndead have formidable offensive powers.The number one baddy is level draining. Thereis no save. None. At all. What's worse, unlessthe campaign is awash in cash and the localcleric is 16th level and will cast Restorationwhen you cruise by the McChurch drive-thruand drop off a bag of gold, level draining ispermanent. Let's face it, being dead is easierto fix in the game (Raise Dead is a level 5 spell,available at 9th level). I believe that leveldraining is bad karma to introduce into thegame, especially at low levels, which meansthat the level drainers need to be placed very,very carefully. That also means that by the timelevel draining isn't "insta-kill" (like level 6 or 7)that wight encounter isn't a threat as a 6th levelcleric will turn it 80% of the time.

I've also heard the complaint that "leveldraining" is meta-gaming, and that it is moreharmful to low level PCs than high level (or viceversa, depending on whether one is

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considering survivability or xp loss). I understandthose complaints, and they have validity. Anyway you slice it, level loss is a steep, steep priceto pay, although it beats being dead.

Paralyzation (ghouls and ghasts), despite beinga temporary effect, can be near insta-kill,particularly when the ghouls outnumber theparty. If everyone is tied up in melee, one oftwo things happens when a victim is paralyzed.First, the ghouls who were scratching and bitingat the paralyzed PC now divert their attentionto someone who is still up and fighting,worsening the odds for those still on their feet.Second, a paralyzed victim is dead in the nextround as the ghouls eviscerate him and thenproceed to the first option in round 2.

Now, I can get on board with strength drain(shadows), as the party can still cut and run,despite suffering some consequences that willhaunt them for a while. Mummy rot is prettynasty too, as is ghost aging.

Unbalanced OutcomesMy experience has been that when the partyhas the right counter-ability they roll over theundead like a lawnmower through daffodils.When they lack that ability the tables arecompletely turned. I'm the first to admit one ofthe attractions of old school play is the fact that"game balance" is not the Holy Grail, and thereare (and should be) encounters that playersshould avoid. Sometimes it's fun to mowthrough mooks, and sometimes it's fun to runlike a little girl from a Big Bad. However (shadesof Tucker's Kobolds here) with the right terrainand preparation those mooks should be able toreasonably challenge a higher level party. Todo so with undead requires some meta-gamingon the part of the DM. Theoretically gnolls andzombies (both level II monsters) should beequally challenging, but that theory erodes atlevel 4 and up – possibly sooner, given the highchance of success a 2nd or 3rd level cleric hasin turning the zombies.

To keep low level undead useful as mooks inhigh level play without having 100 skeletonsswarm the party (because overbearing isalways, always, always a threat no matter howhigh your level is), the TSR designers came up

with a neat rule, described in CM2, Death'sRide. This rule (yes, it's BECMI, but it's anexample of the struggle) allows more powerful,intelligent undead to command lesser undead,and the lesser undead are turned as if theywere the commanding undead. Of course,introducing this rule at the 15th level of playleaves one wondering why it wasn't used at lowlevels, making those skeletons commanded bya ghast a lot tougher to turn?

EcologyBeing self-reproducing, intelligent undeadshould be everywhere, and nearlyundefeatable. Forget zombie hordes, a fewghasts could easily wipe out a rural village, eattheir fill and triple or quadruple their numbers,then head to the next village. A pack of leveldrainers will overcome most non-clericalopponents. While I find the thought of adragon-wight conceptually interesting, a leveldraining breath weapon which has no savingthrow smacks of being a tactic of one of "thoseDMs" [you know the type, the ones who revel inthe Total Party Kill (TPK)].

My PointUndead encounters should be carefullydesigned, taking into account the fact thatundead encounters tend to be unpredictable,and most likely at one end of the encounterdifficulty bell curve (e.g., a grind or a cakewalk). Averages work when designing acombat that will last for numerous rounds, asthe random outcomes in each individual roundwill "average out" over the course of theencounter. It doesn't work with undeadencounters as there is only one shot at turning;no catching up "next round".

Decent DMs can address any or all of theseproblems by structuring encounters intelligently,and by understanding the consequences oftheir decisions. We all have our particularhouse rules, our playing style, and will findsomething that works for us. I find the nature ofthe undead foe a challenge. It doesn't helpthat I find the current climate ofzombie/vampire fascination just a littleannoying. But, don't get me started onwerewolves, or drow ...

18 Number 2

Level Draining Is Metagamingby Bryan Fazekas

This is certainly an inflammatory title for anarticle. Next to alignment, level draining ispossibly the most argued and divisive topic inDungeons and Dragons. Many players expressa horror of level draining that transcendscharacter death – they'd rather have theircharacter killed than level drained.

What is level draining? In Advanced Dungeons& Dragons (AD&D) level draining is an attackform used by some undead, plus an effectconnected to a few magic items and one spell.The effect upon a player character (PC) is toremove one or more levels of experience,including loss of hit points and skills gained atthose level(s), plus the loss of the experiencepoints (xp) used to attain those level(s).According to the AD&D Dungeon MastersGuide (DMG) on page 119, a PC's xp total isreduced to the mid-point of the next lowerlevel.

The problem is with the last part – experiencepoints. For illustration, we have a pair of 2ndlevel fighters, one has 4,001 xp and the otherhas 7,801 xp. Each faces a wight. If both aredrained of one level each now has 3,001 xp.Fighter #1 lost 1,000 xp while #2 lost 4,801 xp.For further illustration fighter #3 is 10th level with740,001 xp – having one level drained reducesher to 375,001 xp, a total loss of 365,000 xp!

Let's contrast that. Instead of a wight, the foe isa fighter armed with a long sword. A successfulhit on any of the above fighters inflicts 1-8 pointsof damage regardless of their level or amountof xp.

Hence the contention that level draining is aform of metagaming, which is using out ofgame knowledge to dramatically affect thegame.

Replacing Level DrainingWhether players like level draining or not, leveldraining undead scare the bejeebers out ofeveryone. Any replacement mechanism must

inspire a similar sense of dread. Hence Mindand Body Draining, which is just as nasty,maybe more so:

Some undead – notably wights, wraiths,spectres, and vampires – have the ability todrain the mind and/or body when striking avictim. These horrible undead are difficult foreven the bravest to approach, and beingwithin touching distance invites long lastingharm.

Draining undead possess a fear aura – all non-supernatural creatures coming within 30' ofsuch an undead must save vs. Wand or flee asper the Fear spell, e.g., flee for one round perhit die of the undead. Note that charactersmaking their saving throw will have to saveagain if that same undead is met during aseparate encounter, and characters failingtheir saving throw must save again whencoming within 30' of that undead.

The physical attack of these monsters isvampiric in nature, e.g., the number of pointsinflicted is added to the monster's hit point total,up to a maximum of double the monster'snormal maximum. Hit points above the normalmaximum begin draining away after 6 turns ata rate of one hp/round.

Far worse, however, is the chilling touch ofthese monsters which drains the mind and/orbody of the victim in addition to inflicting bodilydamage. Draining undead leech 1d3 points ofstrength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity,constitution, or charisma from their victims on asuccessful hit! There is equal chance for whichattribute a given undead drains – roll 1d6 todetermine which. A group of similar undead,e.g., wights, may all drain different attributes.

Some rare draining undead will drain multipleattributes with a single strike. Roll on theAttributes Drained Table on the next page todetermine how many attributes are affected.

If the undead drains more than one attribute,roll randomly for which attributes are affected(as above). Note that it is possible for a draining

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undead to drain an attribute doubly or triply.Roll 2d3 or 3d3 for points drained in this case.The most potent draining undead, spectres andvampires, always drain two attributes and maypossibly drain three, four, or even six! [Roll twiceon the table.]

Attributes Drained Table

d100 # Attributes Affected

01-90 any one attribute affected

91-99 any two attributes affected

00 any three attributes affected

The attribute drains are permanent unless thedraining undead is slain by the following dawn.Should that happy event occur the victim maymake a saving throw vs. Death Magic for eachpoint lost, with success indicating that a weekof bed rest will restore the point. Alternately, aLesser Restoration, Restoration, Alter Reality,Limited Wish, or Wish will restore the lostattributes, although all but Alter Reality andWish will require one week of bed rest for eachpoint regained. Restoration, Alter Reality, andWish will restore the lost attributes even if theundead is not slain within the time limit; LesserRestoration and Limited Wish will not.

The worst effect, however, is the Curse of theDamned. Each hit on a victim inflicts acumulative -1 penalty per die on all "to hit",damage, saving throw, and other rolls,although all die rolls will be a minimum of 1 perdie. Also, any spells or spell-like effects cast bythe victim are cast as if the victim were thatmany levels lower with respect to range, areaof effect, and damage. For example a 5th levelmagic user struck twice by a wraith would havea -2 on all die rolls and cast spells as if 3rd level.This does not prevent spells from being cast,e.g., this character can still cast a Fireball, butthe effects are determined as if the characterwere 3rd level and each die of damage is at -2with a minimum of one point per die. Note thatthe more powerful draining undead (spectresand vampires) inflict a cumulative -2 penalty.Each application of Remove Curse, cast at alevel equal to or higher than the hit dice of theattacking undead, will remove a "-1" of the

curse, e.g., the above magic user will requiretwo applications of Remove Curse.

Note that the effects occur only with themonster's natural attacks. Should the undeaduse a weapon there is no draining or curseinflicted, nor do effect occur simply bytouching the undead.

If the character dies while suffering the Curse ofthe Damned, she will rise again in three days asthe type of undead that afflicted her. Shouldthe character be unlucky enough to be cursedby more than one type of draining undead, rollrandomly for which she will rise as. Note: If thecharacter is raised from the dead before risingas undead the transformation will still takeplace. Remove Curse cast upon a dead ornewly raised character will prevent her fromrising, although it must be cast at a level twicethe hit dice of the attacking undead to preventthe transformation.

What is Metagaming?Taken from Wikipedia:

Metagaming is a broad term usually usedto define any strategy, action or methodused in a game which transcends aprescribed ruleset, uses external factors toaffect the game, or goes beyond thesupposed limits or environment set by thegame. Another definition refers to thegame universe outside of the game itself.

In simple terms, it is the use of out-of-gameinformation or resources to affect one's in-game decisions.

In role-playing games, a player ismetagaming when they use knowledgethat is not available to their character inorder to change the way they play theircharacter (usually to give them anadvantage within the game), such asknowledge of the mathematical nature ofcharacter statistics, or the statistics of acreature that the player is familiar with butthe character has never encountered. Ingeneral, it refers to any gaps betweenplayer knowledge and characterknowledge which the player acts upon.

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Fixing Level DrainingMany DMs like level draining but think it's toohard to fix – one of the problems of leveldraining is that a cleric of 16th level must beavailable to cast Restoration. In contrast adead character only needs a cleric of 9th levelto cast Raise Dead. The following spell offers acorrection for this oddity, a lower level versionof Restoration.

Lesser RestorationNecromanticLevel: Cleric 5Components: V, S, MRange: touchCasting time: 2 roundsDuration: PermSaving Throw: noneArea of Effect: 1 Person

This is a lesser form of Restoration which has atime limit: it must be cast on the recipient within1 hour per level of the caster, from the time ofthe victim's LAST energy drain. As part of thematerial components, the recipient mustsacrifice a gem worth at least 5,000 GP gem tothe god(ess) granting the spell.

After the preparations are made, whichrequires a prayer by both the caster andrecipient, the recipient makes a saving throwvs. Spells. If the save is successful the mostrecent level draining is now only temporary,and the lost level(s) will return after 24 hours. Iffailed, then the level(s) can only be restoredwith the 7th level Restoration spell, or gainingmore experience.

If the drain was a single level, the save versusdeath is at -1. Each casting of the spell allowsthe regaining of one draining from most recent,to first gained. If being used on a dual drain,the above spell can be used, but the victimmakes the save at a -4 penalty.

Example: Jurgen the paladin was drained fourtimes from 11th level down to 5th level, by twowraiths (2 levels each) and two wights (1 leveleach). The 2 wights were last in the combat tohit him. Phillius the cleric accepts the sacrificeof a valuable gem for his god and casts LesserRestoration within 10 hours of the last draining.

Jurgen's first save is a 19, and so will gain thatlevel back (from 5th to 6th) after 24 hrs. Thesecond save (for 6th to 7th) unfortunately is a 3and fails. The third and fourth are both natural20's (now why could he not have had those incombat!), and will regain those four levels. Atthe end of the day he is back to 10th level, buthas to wait until Sir Hecktric the High Priestshows up, for a chance at the regularRestoration.

NOTE: The level draining for the above spell,refers only to levels lost to undead or othercreatures who remove life levels, NOT to age,ability stat reductions, nor to spells/magic itemsthat remove levels.

Source: David Stairs

Co-Joined Coinsby Bryan Fazekas

This matched pair of ancient looking copperpieces radiate faint magic when detectedfor. If one coin is held and the bearerconcentrates, they will know in whichdirection the matching coin is located. Anintensity of feeling will indicate distance. Thisfunctions as long as both coins are on thesame plane, and neither is in an anti-magicarea or container.

The original coins were produced by a wizardwhose Chalice of Potions was stolen andlater recovered. A Co-Joined Coin wasaffixed to the bottom of the chalice so that itcould be easily located. For centuries thechalice was believed protected by strongmagics as those who managed to steal itdied quickly and messily.

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Undead Unlimited!by Bryan Fazekas

Most adults have seen at least one of theplethora of zombie movies that have spawnedlike blowflies on a corpse since Night of theLiving Dead premiered in 1968. In most of themovies the undead multiply as the people whoare wounded – or killed but not eaten – all riseas zombies. They multiply without bounds,threatening to overrun the world, and wipingout all uninfected humans. One version of TheApocalypse.

Now consider undead in AD&D. Undead suchas skeletons and zombies don't multiply, theyhave to be created. Liches and mummies arealso constructed, so they don't multiply either.But ghouls, ghasts, and level draining undeadreproduce by killing or draining mortals. Thefollowing excerpts are from the AD&D MonsterManual:

Ghoul, page 43: Any human killed by aghoulish attack will become a ghoul unlessblessed (or blessed and then resurrected).

Spectre, page 89: Any human totallydrained of life energy by a spectrebecomes a half-strength spectre under thecontrol of the spectre which drained him.

Vampire, page 99: Any human orhumanoid drained of all life energy by avampire becomes an appropriatelystrengthened vampire under control of itsslayer.

Wight, page 100: Any human totallydrained of life energy by a wight willbecome a half-strength wight under controlof its slayer.

What stops these undead from proliferating likethe heavies in a George Romero movie,eventually obliterating the campaign world?Practically speaking, nothing. The averagezero level human, or one HD dwarf or elf, haslittle chance in dealing with the least of thesemonsters and absolutely no chance of survivalagainst the most powerful.

If a vampire kills one person per week, thatadds up to 52 people at the end of a year,

5,200 at the end of a century. If each kills risesas a vampire? Vampire Apocalypse. Now addin the spectres, wights, and the like. The livingdon't have a chance.

Why Does Anyone Care?Is this a real problem? The Dungeon Master(DM) can hand wave (e.g., ignore it) and theproblem doesn't even exist. So why worryabout it if it's a non-issue?

Some people want realism in their game, theywant things to make sense. For those that don'tcare about realism and things making logicalsense? This ruling on how undead spawn is agold mine of ideas for the DM to use. Followingare ideas for limiting the spawning of leveldraining and carnivorous undead, and how theDM can use the rules to manufactureinteresting role playing scenarios.

Level Draining UndeadSpectre and wight victims become a halfstrength undead of the appropriate type underthe control of their killer. Vampire victimsbecome an appropriately strengthened

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vampire under the control of their killer. [Note:the vampire reference indicates that the victimretains their original class, augmented byvampire powers, but this isn't explained.]

One way to limit undead proliferation is to limitthe number of undead which can be created.One choice is to set the limit equal to eachmonster's hit dice, which means a vampire cancreate and control eight thralls, a spectre cancontrol seven, and a wight can control four. Ifthat's too much for the campaign, cut thenumbers in half to 4, 3, and 2 for vampires,spectres, and wights (respectively).

What is the rationale for this limit? Undeadhave a connection to the Negative MaterialPlane (NMP). The connection is through themaster and there is a limit to the amount ofenergy that can be channeled to the thralls.

Ghouls and GhastsWhile the description of ghasts does notindicate they reproduce as do ghouls, theauthor treats ghasts as "super" ghouls and usesthe same rules for both.

What is the limiting factor for ghouls?

While hit dice could be easily used the sameway as described for level draining undead, itdoesn't "feel" like a good fit. Some othermechanism should be used.

Time can be used as a limiting factor. What ifghouls have a limited un-life span? They last fora finite period of time, a week, a month, ayear? At the end they collapse and molder.Alternately that time limit could start from theirlast meal of humans, especially if the time spanis short, say one week.

Ghouls could completely destroy the humans inan area, run out of food, and all molder. Or theDM can choose that when ghouls make a killthey immediately begin feasting, which willstrictly limit the number of kills made.

Role Playing IdeasWights are of average intelligence and lawfulevil. They are smart enough to understand how

Old School UndeadTim Kask – TSR employee #1, editor of the TheDragon magazine, and editor/author for severalOD&D supplements and AD&D – has a Q&Athread on the Dragonsfoot forums where heanswers a lot of inane questions, including mine.http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=23223) I posed the following questionwhich he kindly answered.

BF: I'd like you to make another trip in theWayback Machine! In reading the descriptions oflevel draining undead, the MM descriptionstypically indicate that victims become halfstrength monsters under the control of their killer.I always assumed this to mean that they werehalf hit dice, e.g., a wight's victim became a 2HDwight. Is this what was intended, or am Iinterpreting it incorrectly?

TK: As I recall, and the memories from backthen are very dusty, we (contemporary DM's)made them half their original HP, or a 2HD wight,whichever was greater. It was more about turningon their former fellows than any otherconsideration. As an example, from my oldcampaign: a ftr-type with 35 HP gets totallydrained; he becomes an 18HP, 2HD monster (anoxymoron of sorts). HD were used on onecombat table and had to do with ST back then. Inthe example above, if the afflicted survives, (theplayers flee or drive it off), then the next timeencountered, if there is a next time, the formerPC-turned-wight is now a 4HD wight with maxHP. But that is just the way I handled it.

I also ruled that a fresh wight could notimmediately know how to drain a full level pertouch; during the melee in which they were"created" they can only drain half a level pertouch. If, as happened above, it survives toencounter another day, it has full powers.

Very early on, I seem to recall that an entire low-level party was "wighted"; the original drained a2nd lvl, which then drained a 1st lvl, and so onuntil the entire party were wights. What fun!

Last year Tim – along with Frank Mentzer, JamesWard, and Chris Clark – formed EldritchEnterprises, a new company to make productsfor old School games. Their web site ishttp://eldritchent.com/

Number 2 23

to cooperate … and intelligent enough toresent and envy their master.

Scenario #1:A wight has plagued a town, killing all caughtoutside after dark. The party arrives to dealwith the problem, and finds easy clues to trackthe wight back to its lair, where they dispatch it.Unknown to the party, the thralls of the masterwight have been making indiscriminate kills andleaving trails back to the master's lair. The firstnight after the party destroys the master, theformer thralls go on a killing spree, eachproducing 4 thralls of its own. The number ofwights goes from 5 to 20 in one night!

Scenario #2:Rooting around in an old tomb while looking forvaluables, a young adventurer-wannabe was"infected" by the moldering remains of anancient ghoul. It appeared that a cut gotinfected and the infection rapidly spread andkilled him within a day. Three nights later herose as a ghoul, broke into the home of hisclosest friend, and slaughtered him and hisfamily. The ghoul devoured the father but leftthe bodies of the friend, friend's mother, andtwo younger siblings. Three nights later they allarose and raided a friend's home, slaughteringand devouring all within. The ghouls killeveryone they find, each devour a person, andany others rise three nights later. Within a fewweeks the terrified survivors of a once thrivingtown are badly outnumbered by ravenousghouls. The party wanders into town and findthemselves badly outnumbered.

Campaign ChoicesIn the author's campaign, when any playercharacter killed by an undead (of any type)the chance of that character rising as undeadis 100% unless measures are taken. Do theplayers know this? Of course not!

For new players this will cause consternationand horror. More experienced players shouldexpect something bad to happen and takeappropriate measures to avoid problems.

A parting thought – why would anyone in aD&D world use any treatment for their deadthat did not include burning or some othermethod to ensure the dead will not rise?

Not Enough Undead?What if it's not enough? What if the DM needsmore undead of a given type?

The classic method is the strongest undeadrules the others. Numerous types of undeadcould be welded together by a strong vampire,mummy, or lich. Or the DM could use multiplelevels of thralls of a single undead type.

One choice is for each thrall have its ownthralls, say each can create half as many as itsmaster, e.g., a vampire thrall can create foursub-thralls. Or the DM can produce somethinglike a family tree, where each thrall can havehalf the number of thralls its master has. Thus amaster vampire can have 8 thralls which wecan refer to as "children". Each "child" canhave 4 "grandchildren", each "grandchild" canhave of 2 "great grandchildren", and each"great grandchild" can have 1 "great greatgrandchild". Any people killed beyond thesenumbers are simply dead.

That's a lot of vampires!

Another choice is that when a master vampireis killed its thralls all become master vampires,and each sub-thrall level is bumped up. Theparty kills the master vampire only to discoverthey just made things worse, now they have 8master vampires to deal with. And peoplepreviously killed may now rise as vampires nowthat there are openings in the ranks.

Another thought is that a group of vampiresmay not all have the same master. Killing onevampire may have no effect upon the others.Ideas are limitless, bounded only by a DM'sinventiveness.

Too complicated? Stick with the original ideaof one level of thralls …

Author's Note: This article was spawned by adiscussion in the August 2010 thread "alternative1e undead (no energy drain)" started byGengisDon on the Dragonsfoot forums.

24 Number 2

The House of Ponce,Bank and Moneylender

by Nicole Massey

Editor's Note: We received a number ofrequests for bank maps. The inside front coverprovides a bank map and this article providesoptional stocking for the map.

Owner: Leon De Ponce is a rotund man, quitethe opposite of his brother Bejold, who runs thisinstitution of Phaten. The Ponce family hasprovided banking and moneylending to theresidents of Phaten for well over two millennia.Leon takes his banking responsibilities seriously,and has excellent relations with the bankinghouses of Hofstra and Rand in Haven, Livre inPhaten, Yen Ten in Montberg, and evenSuntreader and Watermark in Atlantis. (he'sfond of saying that "Money knows no bordersand has no politics.") Leon is brown haired andeyed, and when not in his banking house hespends his time doting on his wife and tenchildren.

Hours Of Operation: 10 am to 3 pm

Exterior Description: This two story building ismade of huge stone blocks engraved with thecoat of arms of house ponce. (eight coins in acircle on a typical heater shield – these stonecuttings have no color to them) Windows arelong and narrow and are made up of squarepanes with no roundels, but they are obviouslyvery thick. The panes are set in metal crossbarsand iron bars further cover the windows. Thedoor is a single door, painted burgundy, underan awning, also painted red. The awning alsosports a sign that says "Ponce" and has the coatof arms, this time with the background red andthe coins gold. The second story looks the sameas the first, but without the door. The roof is ofceramic tiles. There are two chimneys, bothcapped. Looking through the windows gives aslightly distorted view, as if something doesn'texactly track right but the viewer can't placewhat isn't quite right about the view. (Most folksget used to it very quickly and think nothing ofit)

Interior Description: Upon entering the buildingthe first thing that the visitor realizes is that theinterior space is much smaller than the outside.The reason for this becomes apparent whenone looks at the windows – the walls are twofeet thick. Another interesting sensation is thefeeling of entering the bank. The bank interior isalways an even temperature, and there's aslight feeling of disorientation upon crossing thethreshold into the space. This passes quicklyand most patrons (and all employees) get usedto it. Some people report strange visions as theyenter the bank, though, of things likeephemeral spirits, traveling vast distances, orlike they were whisked through several placesalmost instantly to get to where they currentlyare.

A third of the first floor is taken up with amassive safe, kept closed at all times. Carefulinspection of the entrance will also reveal threesets of portcullis and matching grooves in thefloor. The interior space is open to the ceiling forthe center third of the building. On the westernhalf is the vault, and on top of it sits Leon's deskin his personal office. The front of the vault isbehind a long row of teller windows, with a longwooden bar and barred windows in front ofeach teller. This runs the entire length of thefront of the vault and turns at the end whereadditional tellers stand up to the staircase.There is a passageway underneath thestaircase to access the similar windows on theother side of the staircase where the moneychangers are stationed, which runs to thecounter for the assayer's section where coinsand raw precious metals are weighed andtested for purity and value. On the oppositeend of the second floor is another loft spacewith safe deposit boxes. A vault door protectsthese when the bank isn't open. At the end ofthat loft sits an archer. A walkway runs alongthe back of the bank, and four more archersare stationed on it at regular intervals. There isalso an archer outside Leon's office door. Therest of the first floor consists of desks for the

Number 2 25

tellers and bank officers. Potted plants are allover the place, (Leon's wife Hyacinth likesplants) and fully a dozen armed guards sit inchairs and in protective boxes scatteredaround the room. There is a chimney at eitherend of the main floor with a hearth. Inspectionof this hearth reveals that the flue is lined withspikes glistening with some sort of stickysubstance that doesn't look like soot.

Price Range: HIGH! Money change rates aretough, while interest is not that high. Loans arealso high interest.

Quality Range: EXCELLENT. If you bank hereyour money is as safe as it can reasonably be,while loans from here are done withcompassion.

Outstanding Items (if any): Nothing is obvious,but there are magical protections on the vaultdoors and the windows are made of glassteel.Light is exclusively from light globes, and thechimneys are for heating and atmosphereduring the winter. Spikes in the chimney arepoisoned, save vs. poison at -2 or die in agonyin 2 rounds. The magical protections areprovided by the Wizard's Guild, who bank hereand want their property and funds kept safe.

Cash Box: The vault and Safety deposit boxesaren't enough?

Occupants: Though banks don't haveoccupants, the guard is maintained around theclock. Guards are checked out thoroughly andit takes years to get a guard job here, includinga full scan by a member of the psionics guild.

Staff: There are ten tellers, four loan officers,and four money counters, along with an assayclerk and two moneychangers. All of them arelong term employees who went through yearsof scrutiny (and psionic scan) to get their jobs.Leon also has a secretary, the son of his headteller, and his two sons Arneau and Jarl worklearning how the bank operates.

Customers: 2d6 customers will be transactingbusiness during normal hours, with 8d4customers in the first and last hour of business.

Loiterers: d4 loiterers have just arrived to beshoo'd off as soon as a guard notices him orher.

NPC Encounters: Anyone who has money todeposit or the need of a loan might be here.

Special Options: (if any): The bank building inSeakeep is a shell, heavily magicked, thatserves as a front for the bank's actual building,which is located on a pocket plane createdespecially for the bank through powerfulmagics. Anyone who drills through the walls willfind themselves in an empty unfinished buildingthe same size as the bank but with nothinginside. This is the reason for the perfecttemperature inside, slightly odd view throughthe windows, (permanent scrying portals) andthe strange effects upon entering the building.This is never discussed. But the only ways intothis bank are through the front door or byfinding the pocket plane and drilling throughthe walls there, which is difficult as the plane issized to fit the bank exactly. Creative playersmay find a way to break in, and this canprovide a thrilling adventure, but it's not goingto be easy. They have to get in through thedoors, stop all the guards, then get through thevault door, where they'll find unseen servants ofa special type that can and do cause damageto physical beings, along with a wide selectionof nasty traps. This goes the same for the safetydeposit boxes. So any party that manages tosack this bank will be able to boast about it fora very long time while they're fleeing from thehunters, both mundane and magical, that areafter them.

Amulet of Borrowed Yearsby Andrew Hamilton

This magical item was developed as a defenseagainst magical aging. The amulet has a "life" of101 years, and when its wearer would be subjectto magical aging, the amulet will age instead ofthe wearer. This magical aging includes attacksby entities such as ghosts, or the effects ofmagical spells or effects including haste, potionsof speed, or wish. As the amulet ages, ratherthan the wearer, the wearer is not subject to anysystem shock rolls that would normally beassociated with magical aging. The amuletcannot be recharged, and when it has “aged”101 years, it crumbles into dust.

2,000 xp value, 15,000 gp value

26 Number 2

Review: The AD&D Core Books Reprintby Andrew Hamilton

Editor's Note: Early this year Wizards of theCoast announced they were reprinting theAdvanced Dungeons and Dragons corebooks: the Dungeon Masters Guide, thePlayers Handbook, and the MonsterManual. A limited run, available only in theUSA through local gaming stores would bereleased in April 2012.

As April approached Wizards announcedthe release would be delayed until July. Italso turned out the books were notreleased through game stores – they wouldbe sold through other venues and outsideof the USA.

The reasons for these changes are debatedaround the world and are not addressedhere.

Reviewer's Note – I am not a book orbinding expert, so my review is that of alayman. I'm also not reviewing the content,since the guts of these books have beenanalyzed in excruciating detail by hundredsof aficionados.

It's just after lunch on Sunday, July 15, 2012and I have all three books in my possession.I got the call on Friday, but life preventedme from picking them up sooner(apparently my local game store was partof an early release program). To date, I'veonly taken the Monster Manual and PlayersHandbook out of the shrink wrap, but I amimpressed.

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The Monster Manual is the 4th Edition, fromAugust 1979. I can't tell what edition thePlayers Handbook is. There are no blurbsabout it being a reprint, except the titlepage where Wizards of the Coast claims2012 copyright, has current addresses, etc.

The covers of both books feel solid, as dothe spines. While there is some texture onthe cover (to match the leather bounddesign) which I am not partial to, it looksand feels well made.

The dragon on the cover of the MonsterManual is instantly recognizable. It's thedragon from the cover of the 4th printing ofthe original. Looking at them side-by-side,it's a faithful reproduction with slightlydifferent coloration, a very pleasing nod tothe original.

A quick check of the other covers, and yes,the new cover art pulls an iconic item fromthe original cover. Definitely a nice touch!

28 Number 2

Opening it, the front and end pieces arevery well glued, no crinkles or wrinkles, glueto the edge but not beyond. The spinedidn't crack or split when I opened thebook up wide.

The pages are heavier paper than Iexpected, although smooth and glossy, notthe rougher texture of the old books. So,the feel of the page differs from my oldMonster Manual and Players Handbook .

The text is very clear, better than my old

books. The font is crisper. I don't know if ithas to do with the age of my original books,the font selection, the paper or acombination of these. Anyway, the endresult is that the books are easy to read.

I have not done a page by pagecomparison. The art seems to be alloriginal, and looking at it, it looks to beabout the same visual quality. So art-wise,there is nothing new to complain about.

The edges of the pages have a gold finish,so when the book is closedyou see gold. (Is thatcalled edging?) There is ablack ribbon bookmark forthe Monster Manual, bluefor the Players Handbook,and red for the DungeonMasters Guide. It's a reallynice touch, and useful too.The ribbon in the MonsterManual is currently markingthe "Water Weird" entry onpage 100.

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The only new page, as far as I can tell, is atthe tail end of the hard-cover (page 111 inthe Monster Manual). This is a full page "ad"for the Gygax Memorial. Fairly modestlyand tastefully (in my humble opinion)stated is Wizards of the Coast explaining thisreprint was to "honor his work and memory".They keep their logo very small, which Ithought was pretty classy.

In the spirit of disclosure, I dropped $123Canadian for all three books, including 5%sales tax. I expect there was a slight markup over the manufacturer's suggested retailprice, but I don't mind supporting smallbusinesses, and my FLGS has a decent outof print stock (lots of games).

Anyway, I believe that I got my money'sworth , and bought a long term investmentthat will give me years of enjoyment (on thesame day I spent more at the dive shop on

breathing gas, which will last for about 240minutes of bottom and deco time, so this isobviously relative). I'll carefully bag up andsecure some of my original books (the onesthat are in the best shape), and have thesenew editions to support my playing sets.

I'll leave someone else to speculate onwhat this means for the OSR. All I know isthat I'm going to enjoy these new books.A portion of the proceeds from the sales of thesebooks is being donated by Wizards of the Coast tothe Gygax Memorial Fund. The purpose of thisorganization is to raise funds to create a memorialbust of Gary Gygax in Donian Park in Lake GenevaWisconsin.

http://www.gygaxmemorialfund.org/

This notice is provided by & Magazine as a serviceto our readers. The & Publishing Group is notassociated with this fund and does not advocate fordonations.

30 Number 2

The Valley of Eternal Restconcept by Andrew Hamilton, edited by Bryan Fazekas

PreambleThis is & Magazine's first effort to develop andpublish a co-operative adventuring location,and to make the magazine our readers'magazine. We thank all our readers andcontributors, and hope that you find the resultinteresting, entertaining and useful. As always,your feedback (and continued contribution) isimportant to us so please let us know what youthink.

This generic adventure location is designed tobe easily inserted into any campaign, andconsists of a number of small tomb complexes

located within a valley that has been used as aburial ground for several cultures over severalcenturies. The location is designed for use withthe 1st edition rules, and is intended tochallenge a party of 6 or so PCs of levels 4 to 7.

This adventure is designed to be flexibleenough to place into an ongoing campaign asa sandbox element, a destination for a quest(as the party seeks a McGuffin or gold), or tobreak individual tombs out to seed them acrosstheir own campaign world. Because the Valleyof Eternal Rest has been used by many culturesand races over a long period of time, there isno single architecture, style, or content.

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Physical GeographyThis narrow valley is located in a foothills region,and has been carved into soft rock (sandstone)by a river (the River of Souls) and storm run-offfrom the plateau above. The tombs have beendug into the cliff faces for centuries, by morethan one culture. The valley is approximately1.5 miles long, and is about ½ mile wide. Thereare a few hoodoos, which break up the valleyfloor. The river descends in falls, with a largepool (a shrine and brier are beside this) thenflows out of the valley. The river is about 6' at itsdeepest, 30' at its widest, averaging 4' deepand 20' wide. It has a rocky bottom, and flow issluggish, moving at one mph. There are suckersand trout in the river.

The cliffs are 200' high, although the bottomquarter to half of the valley walls are actually asteep slope (45 to 70), composed of soil, scree

and other material that has eroded from thecliffs and built up along their base. Thesandstone faces of the cliffs are weathered,spalling, and will crumble under a climber'sweight (-30% to Climb Wall attempts). They willnot hold a piton or spike. The bedrock is laiddown horizontally here, so there are nochimneys or fractures to aid a climber. The softrock is easily carved and dug, so deep nichescan be created to act as steps, footholds orhandholds. Many creatures such as mice,chipmunks, and birds have dug small dens ornests in the cliff faces. Several raptors(including a flock of 11 bloodhawks, see theFiend Folio) also nest on the cliffs.

Bloodhawks (x 11) AC 7, MV 24", HD 1+1, HP 6each, ATK 3, Dmg d4/d4/d6, SA nil, SD nil, MRStandard, AL N, Size S, Int Animal, XP 32 each(20 xp + 2 xp/hp)

Should someone investigate the nests (ahazardous task as the cliff is unstable and the

32 Number 2

bloodhawks will aggressively defend their nests)they will find a total of seventeen 10 GPV gems.

There are no trees in the valley, but willowshrubs grow along the river banks. Grasses (tallgrass prairie) and wild-flowers blanket the valleyfloor, and the slopes at the base of the cliffs.

Valley's Curse and GuardiansThere is a curse protecting the entire Valley.The curse does not affect those who come topay their respect to the deceased, performfuneral and burial rituals, build new tombs, oreven pass through, hunting and fishing alongthe way. However, those who defile a tombare subject to a -1 penalty to all saving throwsfor a period of a year and a day. Those whoviolate the sanctity of a tomb are allowed asaving throw (verse Spells) to avoid the curse,but a saving throw must be made for each andevery tomb entered. Repeated defilementresults in escalating penalties: For eachadditional tomb entered there will be anadditional -1 penalty and a 49-day increase inthe curse duration.

The Valley's curse cannot be removed with asimple Remove Curse spell; this place is sacredto many religions and cultures so the power ofthe curse is greater than the norm, requiringdivine intervention. The curse might (DM'schoice) be lifted through a quest sponsored byan appropriate deity.

Each of the three shrines is also protected by aunique curse (as described below).

A residual ward of the long forgotten God ofthe Dead, there is a band of 8 Guardians of theDead. These Guardians of the Dead appear assimple skeletons, wearing battered andtarnished bronze armor (including bronze helmsand shields), and they wield short swords. TheGuardians cannot be turned, and even ifdestroyed, the power of the God of the Deadcauses them to reform each night. Thesecreatures will pursue tomb robbers out of theValley, honing in on them relentlessly. TheGuardians must be destroyed 9 times to finallydefeat pursuit.

The Guardians of the Dead are not evil, andtheir charge is to protect the remains of thosewho have been interred in this location, and torevenge them when necessary. If a party iscamping in the Valley but has not defiled anytombs, they may see the Guardians patrolling.However the Guardians will not approachsimple travelers, those visiting to pay homageto the dead or worship at a shrine, or prepare anew burial niche or tomb. Should the partydefiled a tomb, the Guardians will attack,fighting intelligently and without fear or quarter.

Guardians of the Dead (x 8) (AC 2, MV 18", HD3+3, HP 27 each, ATT 2, DMG 1d6+1 per attack,SA +3 to initiative; strike as 6 HD creature; ableto harm any creature, SD immune to turning,sleep, charm, cold, poison of fear; ½ damagefrom slashing/piercing weapons; regenerate 1hp/round, MR standard, INT Average, AL N, XPV318 each)

Turning UndeadUndead may be turned here, but notdispelled/disrupted. As this is the final restingplace of the individuals buried here, and theywere buried with ceremonies and rituals, thesouls and spirits of the undead are stronglyanchored here. All turning attempts are madeat an effective level 2 lower than the cleric,and any D results are instead treated as a T.

The ShrinesThere are three shrines on the floor of theValley, each dedicated to a different death-oriented deity. The specifics are up to the DMto determine, but at least one should representa forgotten deity.

The Pool Shrine. As already noted, one shrine islocated next to the pool at the base of thewaterfall, beside a large funeral brier. Oneculture who uses (used?) this valley burned theirdead and scattered the ashes into the pool,allowing the River of Souls to carry the last ofthe physical remains on their final journey.

The pool has items thrown in it (possiblyincluding coins, jewelry and other treasure, DM'schoice) but is protected by spirits (4 spirits, each

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equal to a Water Weird of maximum hit points)and a curse. Those who defile the shrine or thepool will suffer nightmares for 13 days, andduring that time they will be unable to sleep orrest (suffering a -2 penalty to initiative andsurprise rolls, and spell casters will be unable toregain spells). Furthermore, the victim of thecurse will automatically fail all saving throws vs.fear until such a time as the curse is removed,requiring a cleric or magic-user of 14th level orgreater. Note this curse is powerful enough todefeat the cavalier's immunity to fear effects.

Water Spirits(4): AC 4; HD 3+3; HP 16 each; MV12"; AT: 0—form in two rounds from water tostrike as a six-hit-dice monster; target must savevs. paralyzation or be dragged into the water,causing drowning in a number of segmentsequal to the victim's Constitution score (seepage 100 of the Monster Manual for moreinformation; INT Ave; AL N; can be temporarilyturned as a six-hit-dice undead. Note: theseare not elementals but water animated by anundead spirit. XP 370 xp + 4 xp/hp = 434 xpv

The Obelisk Shrine. This shrine is a short obelisk,cylindrical, carved from grey granite standing 9'high and approximately 6' in diameter, thebase is sunk 4' into the earth. The obelisk isdecorated with carved glyphs and images,although these are weathered and barelyreadable. The glyphs and images praise adeity of death and rebirth, and they call uponthat deity to escort the souls of the deceasedto the afterlife and protect the sanctity of theirtombs. The Obelisk is a remnant of the originalpeople who used this valley as a burial ground,and it is holy to a god no longer worshipped bythe residents of this region.

Anyone attempting to damage or deface thisshrine will be subject to an Energy Drain attackas per the 9th level magic-user spell. Repeatedattempts to damage the obelisk will result inrepeated energy drains and the appearanceof the Guardians of the Dead. Anyone who isdrained to fewer than 0 levels will immediatelyrise as a juju zombie who will defend the obelisk.

DM's Note: the obelisk might stand atop theentry to a buried shrine and tomb complex,sacred to this forgotten deity. Of course,surviving the energy drain curse and the

Guardians of the Dead and actually movingthe obelisk to gain entry to such a tomb will bea challenge.

The Circle Shrine. This shrine is a low stone"table", 8' long, 5' wide, and 3' high. It is knownas the Circle Shrine because wooden andstone benches are placed in a circle around it,providing seating for those who attend funeralservices. The deceased are laid upon it, andlast rites are read over them, those attendingthe funeral pay their last respects, and thebody is cremated or carried to a grave ortomb. Signs of past funerals can be seen in firedamage, including some piles of ashes.

This shrine is located close to the mouth of theValley of Eternal Rest, and it is actively used byworshippers of a local pantheon. Some refer tothis as the Garden Shrine, as some worshippershave planted flowers and flowering shrubsaround it, and they tend these flowers duringthe spring and summer.

The Circle Shrine is protected by the curse ofslow healing. Anyone who defiles the shrine,including bringing violence to those who woulduse it for its intended purpose, is subject to apowerful curse (remember that this location issacred to an entire pantheon). For a period ofnine full moons (one full moon per deity in thepantheon) the PC will receive minimum benefitfrom any curative magic, and no benefit fromany curative spells cast by a deity of thispantheon. Should clerics of this pantheondefile the shrine, they will immediately bestripped of their spell casting abilities until theyperform atonement and return to the goodgraces of their deity.

The OccupantsIn addition to the Guardians of the Dead, eachtomb may have its own occupants (see belowfor details), but there are a few creatures orentities that make the Valley home. Oddly,there is some small wildlife (rabbits, mice, moles,and coyotes that hunt them), and they do notseem to be bothered by the undead. In factmost of the undead rest peacefully until theirtombs or the sanctity of the Valley is disturbed.

34 Number 2

Daytime Wandering MonstersThere is a 1 in 10 chance for an encounter, rollevery 12 hours.

d100 Monster

01-20 Small game, such as rabbit, grouse, or asimilar critter.

21-30 Raptor. 60% lone hawk or eagle, 40%Bloodhawks.

31-50 Large game such as deer, antelope, elkor other creature appropriate to thecampaign, likely just passing through

51-60 Tomb robbers (See the Monster Manual ,p. 66, Bandits, adjust difficulty accordingto party strength). They will be cautious,expect trouble, and will defendthemselves violently.

61-75 Worshippers (50% burial party, 25%relative paying respects, 25% clergy)

76-85 Hunters (50% human, 50% gnoll, bugbearor orc). This group is passing through andnot looking for trouble, although they'llput up a fighting withdrawal if necessary– and return with reinforcements.

86-99 Spooky, but non-violent occurrence,e.g., someone feels fingers on theirspine, a voice drifts across the Valleyechoing and calling out one of the PC'sname, wine turns to vinegar, food spoilsor tastes like ashes, horse bolts, etc.)

00 DM's choice/special, e.g., insanenecromancer seeking to raise an armyof the dead, sage interested in thehistory of this place, divinemanifestation, dragon aloft, etc.

Night-Time Wandering MonstersThere is a 1 in 10 chance for an encounter, rollevery 12 hours.

d100 Monster

01-10 Small game (mouse, rabbits, coyote)

11-20 Flying hunters (30% owl or 70% bats)

21-40 Guardians of the Dead (see below)

41-50 Tomb Robber (see daytime description)

51-65 Ghoul pack (2d12 ghouls). These prowlthe valley looking for live prey, and willattack immediately.

66-75 Giant Bat/Doombat (80%/20%)

76-85 Wailing, weeping, or other cries (1 in 4 orat DM's discretion). This is a set-up for anambush by leucrotta, intelligent undeador tomb robbers, etc.

86-99 Spooky but non-violent occurrence, e.g.camp fires die or flare up, or changes togreen flames, PC feels fingers on theirspine, wine turns to vinegar, food spoilsor tastes like ashes, horse bolts, etc.)

00 DM's choice or special, e.g., a ghostappears and converses with thecharacters, divine manifestation,necromancer and undead minions, etc.

The TombsThere are literally scores of tombs dug into thecliff faces and valley floor. They range from asimple graves (a hole in the ground) to multi-room tombs with physical and magical trapsand protections. Over 1,000 graves have beendug, but not everything interred here is humanor even demi-human. The DM is encouragedto incorporate tombs of their own design in theValley.

The keyed tombs are described below:

Tomb #1 – The Ancient Warriorby Andrew Hamilton

A warrior-chief was interred in this tomb by hisclan after he died in battle, defending theirancestral lands.

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The entrance to this tomb is a secret door,hidden by loose sandstone at the back of acave (currently unoccupied) and trapped witha deadfall trap (-15% to find and remove traps,as the mechanisms are on the inside of thedoor). The trap causes suspended rocks oneither side of the door to fall, causing 2d6+2 hpof damage to those in a 7' radius around thedoor (save vs paralyzation for no damage).

The first room of the tomb is a long narrowhallway, along which 12 armored skeletonsslump in alcoves. The skeletons animate andattack as soon as the first living being enters thehallway. Turning the skeletons is at best partiallysuccessful as they have nowhere to "flee"except to fight their way through theadventurers, and will drop their swords whiledoing so. Each skeleton wields an AnimatedLongsword. When a skeleton is destroyed, itssword will continue the attack.

Skeletons (x 12): AC 4 (corroded splint mail), HD1, HP 7 each, M 15", ATK 1, Dmg d8+1, SA n/a,SD ½ damage from sharp weapons, limitedspell immunity, MR Standard, AL N, Size M, XP 21each

Animated Weapons (x 12): AC 6, HD 3, HP 24each, M 12", ATK 3/2, Dmg d8+1, SA strike as 7thlevel fighter, SD limited spell immunity, MR saveas "metal, hard", AL n/a, Size S, XP 141 each(see New Monster, below)

At the end of the hallway is another door, alsotrapped. The door is mounted on rails, and thephysical effort necessary to force it open willcause the door to fly back on the rails, and theadventurer will topple forward into a pit (15'deep with stakes on the bottom, 3d6 damage)unless they make a Dexterity check at +2penalty to the roll.

The second room in the tomb complex is theburial room of the warrior-chief. Six armoredskeletons are standing and ready to attack,each accompanied by a huge canineskeleton. The skeletons leap to the attack,while the warrior-chief rises from his bed andattacks.

Wight (x 1): AC 3 (Splinted Mail +2), HD 4+3, HP35, M 9", ATK 1, Dmg d4, SA energy drain, SD hitby silver or magical weapons, limited spellimmunity, MR Standard, AL N, Size M, XP 715

Animal Skeletons (Dire Wolves) (x 6): AC 7, HD4, HP 25 each, M 15", ATK 1, Dmg d8, SA n/a, SD½ damage from sharp weapons, limited spellimmunity, MR Standard, AL N, Size M, XP 185each

Skeletons (x 6): AC 4 (corroded splint mail), HD1, HP 7 each, M 15", ATK 1, Dmg d8+1, SA n/a,SD ½ damage from sharp weapons, limitedspell immunity, MR Standard, AL N, Size M, XP 21each

In addition to the magical splint mail it wears,the wight wears a gold armband (worth 300gp), and a gold ring with emerald chips (worth1,100 gp). Leaning against his funeral platformis a corroded long sword (with a silver wirewrapped hilt, 3 gp worth of silver), and a LargeShield +1. Engraved on the shield are runesthat proudly state (in a long dead tongue) thatthis is the property of "The loyal Shield-Bearerand Hound-Master of Gorrik Theran".

The last treasure can be found by carefullyexamining the platform, where a secretcompartment is located. The compartment istrapped (poison needle, save vs. poison or die).Inside is a silver box (worth 175 gp) decoratedwith hound motifs. This box contains 100 gpand six100 gp gems.

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Loose EndsA number of questions come to mind. Whosetomb is this, and why was he buried here? Whowas Gorrik Theran? Perhaps his (or its?) tomb isalso nearby?

Tomb #2 – The Bone Guardian Tombby Andrew Hamilton

The only entrance to this tomb is a sinkhole,where a roof collapsed. Entrance can begained by dropping through the hole onto thespoil pile. The tomb itself is very plain, essentiallya large chamber (40' by 40') carved out of therock, with a large stone sarcophagus in thecentre. The remains of several adventuringparties (14 corpses in total) lie scattered aboutthe room, and a total of 32 skeletons stand atattention, 8 along each wall. These skeletonswill immediately attack.

The skeleton guards are actually four boneguardians, magical constructs crafted fromhumanoid skeletons. In "first generation" form,the bone guardian appears to be 8 skeletons.As the skeletons are defeated and "destroyed",the scattered bones of two skeletons will skitterand slide across the ground, merging to createa "second generation" bone guardian with fourarms. A similar merging of two secondgeneration bone guardians occurs to create athird generation bone guardian, and two thirdgeneration bone guardians merge afterdestruction to create an "apex" bone guardian.

Given that there are 32 skeletons to start with,astute players may start doing the math, andnot like the potential outcome, which is fine. Letthem scare themselves.

Bone Guardians (x 32): AC 7, HD 1, HP 6 each,MV 15", ATK 1, Dmg 1d6, SA recombination, SD½ damage from edged/piercing weapons,immune to sleep, charm,and poison, ½damage from cold, MR Standard, AL N, Size M,XP 24 each (18 + 1 xp/hp)

Second Generation (x 16) (AC 6, HD 2, HP 12each, MV 12", ATK 2, Dmg 1d8 (x 2), XP 60 each(36 + 2 xp/hp)

Third Generation (x 8) (AC 4, HD 4, Hp 24 each,MV 9", ATK 3, Dmg 1d10 (x 3) XP 206 each (110+ 4 xp/hp)

Apex Generation (x 4) (AC 2, HD 8, Hp 48 each,MV 6", ATK 4, Dmg 1d12 (x 4), XP 1,380 each(900 + 10 xp/hp)

Once the bone guardians have beendestroyed, adventurers will be able to morecarefully examine the tomb. There are threethings of interest, the original entrance, thesarcophagus, and the dead adventurers.

The original entrance is sealed from the outsidewith stone and mortar. Similarly, the entrancetunnel is filled with dirt and rock, and hiddenfrom the outside.

The actual sarcophagus is sealed with a StoneShape spell, and has Explosive Runes (6d4 hpdamage) carved on it. There is also a warningcarved into the lid, "Inside Lies The Great Terror –Hidden Here From The Light of Day". Openingthe sarcophagus will require the use ofhammers and chisels, and a lot of muscle.

Inside the sarcophagus is a hordling, sealedhere centuries ago by local tribesmen becausethey lacked the magical weapons necessary todestroy the monster. If freed, the hordlingattacks without delay, having gone completelyinsane from centuries of imprisonment. It willfight aggressively, but use its powers to the bestof its ability.

The hordling is an extremely powerful memberof its race, roughly man sized (just shy of 6' tall)and very scrawny. It is hairless with coal blackskin except for reddish and purple highlights atthe extremities. Its head is human-sized, with ahuge jaw that has elastic enabling it to engulfsomething 1' in size. The jaw is filled withragged, razor sharp teeth. Its eyes glow purple,but they are small (the size of a dime) andsunken. Large, fan-like ears almost form a crest.The creature's arms can stretch to a length of12', and have wicked claws. Its tail, tipped withbarbs, stretches from 3' to 15' in length. Thehordling has an effective strength of 18/99.

Hordling (x 1) (AC 0, MV 15", HD 9, Hp 72, ATTK 4(bite, claws x 2, tail lash), Dmg 2d4 (bite), d6+5(x2, claws), d4 (tail lash), SA on double clawstrike, constrict (d6+5 dmg per round,

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automatically hit with bite), haste (2/day), SD+2 or better weapon to hit, regenerate 2 hp perround including fire and acid damage, MR 30%,AL NE, Int High, Size M, XP 3,964)

The deceased adventurers include 7 fighters orwarriors, 3 clerics, 2 thieves, and 2 magic-users.

Fighter 1 – wears damaged chainmail, with along sword and round shield in hand, and ahand axe at his belt. In a belt pouch is 12 cp,11 sp, and 24 gp.

Fighter 2 – wears ring mail, carries a large shieldand a club, with a long sword in a scabbardslung across his back. In a pouch on a cordaround his neck and under his armor is a 19 cp,8 sp, and 14 gp.

Fighter 3 – wears plate mail and has afootman's mace close at hand. His discardedtwo handed sword lies along one of the walls.He wears a gold ring (worth 50 gp), and has apurse (under his armor) with 20 sp, 18 gp, and 6pp.

Fighter 4 – wears studded leather armor, has asmall shield, a broken spear, and a broadsword.He has a purse tucked into his backpack(which contains camping gear) with 34 cp, 18sp, and 5 gp.

Fighter 5 – wears splint mail, has a sunderedshield and battered helm, and holds afootmans' mace. A long sword is in a scabbardat his side, and his sword belt is decorated withsilver studs (60 gpv). His purse (under his armor)holds 31 sp, 6 ep and 13 gp. In the backpackare 3 flasks of oil in steel containers and atinderbox.

Fighter 6 – a tall, husky female, this corpsewears splint mail and bears a two-handedsword. An ornate but functional silver dagger(75 gp) is tucked into her belt, and a silver holysymbol (50 gpv, local war god) is on a cordabout her neck. Her purse holds 29 sp, 7 epand 5 gp.

Fighter 7 – wears chain mail, has a buckler, afootman's mace, a long sword at his hip, and aquiver of crossbow bolts. His discarded heavycrossbow is at the entrance. His purse contains12 cp and 9 sp, but he wears a silver bracer (60gpv), and has 2 100 gp gems tucked in a boot,wrapped in cloth.

Cleric 1 – wears chain mail and has a RoundShield +1 and footmans mace. She carries asilver holy symbol (50 gpv, of a god ofcommerce). Her purse (tucked under herarmor) holds 19 sp, 14 ep, 27 gp, and 3 pp. Inher backpack are some prayer books and ajournal.

Cleric 2 – wears ring mail, carries a round shieldand a flail, and a holy symbol (50 gpv, to adeity of agriculture). He has a belt pouch (9 spand 3 gp), and three vials of holy water (3additional vials are broken).

Cleric 3 – wears plate mail, carries a shield andFootman's Mace +1, has a silver holy symbol (50gpv, of a deity of courage and heroism), andwears a silver armband decorated with agates(worth 110 gpv). In the bottom of his backpackis a journal, some prayer books, and a pouch of17 gp.

Thief 1 – wearing tattered leather armor, with avery plain looking Short Sword +2 (due to itsproperties, this sword does not radiate magic,and has the same effects as an Amulet of Proofvs. Detection & Location when carried or held,5,000 xpv, 40,000 gpv). In a hidden purse are 34sp, and sewn into his boot cuffs are another 30pp (15 per boot).

Thief 2 – wears leather armor, and has a shortsword in her left hand and a dagger in her righthand, there are another 4 daggers (includingone silver dagger worth 35 gp) tucked in herboots and sleeves. A purse hangs on a cordaround her neck with 6 sp, 19 gp and 2 pp, anda carefully folded scroll is concealed in herbackpack (illusionist spells cast at 9th level: Blur,Non-Detection, and Minor Creation).

Magic-User 1 – dressed in plain traveling clothesthis magic-user is lying face down on top of hisoaken staff. In his backpack is a traveling spellbook containing the following spells: Armor,Magic Missile, Sleep, Flaming Sphere, and Web.He also has a purse with 34 sp and 19 gp.

Magic-User 2 – wearing the classic robes (withthe bushy beard and pointed hat as well), thismagic-user wears a golden signet ring (85 gpv,an indication this fellow is minor nobility), andhas 6 pp in his purse. There is also a huge sheaf

38 Number 2

of letters in his backpack that provide moredetails about his family and identity.

Loose EndsIf the hordling escapes it will begin a campaignof terror in the countryside, slaughteringlivestock and families in outlying farms. Theadventurers will be blamed for unleashing thishorror on the community, and the authoritieswill expect them to do something about it.

Some of the deceased adventurers havepersonal belongings that may provide clues totheir identities. In particular, the churches of thevarious clerics would appreciate knowing whatbecame of them, and that they receivedappropriate last rites.

Selling the noble's signet ring might bringtrouble, as the family will find out, and will sendagents to investigate what happened.Alternately, returning the ring and possessions ofthe noble may garner a reward, anddemonstrate the party's trustworthiness (whichmay lead to offers of employment).

Tomb #3 – Trap Tombby Andrew Hamilton

The entry to this Tomb is concealed by apermanent illusion, looking like the naturalsandstone of the cliff. Unfortunately, erosionhas changed the face of the cliff, and now theillusion creates the appearance of a cliff faceabout 3' in front of the remainder of the cliff,

actually drawing attention to the tombentrance.

1) The Trapped Entrance

The entrance to the tomb is a series of threetrapped doors. The entry door is set into analcove, and is mortared shut. The trap here is adeadfall that is held up in place by the door.Forcing the door open drops the alcove roof(for 4d6 hp of damage).

The second door (5' in from the first door) ismortared and spiked into place, opensoutward and must be chiseled loose. When itopens, a spiked ball swings down from behind(inflicts 2d6+2 hp) and the threshold is trappedwith a Glyph of Warding.

The area beyond the second door is an empty10' by 10' room, the floor of which covers a pit20' deep. The third door, situated directly acrossfrom the second door, is false, and whenopened the floor drops away into the 20' pit.

2) The Hall of Memory

The real tomb entry is a secret door 15' up thepit wall. It leads to a short hallway, the walls ofbrick and plaster, decorated with a tile mosaicshowing the life of a skilled warrior-priestdefeating enemies, aiding the poor, raisingsons, blessing marriages, etc.

There are two tombs hidden behind secretdoors behind the mosaic. Because the doorshave been plastered and tiled over, they willnot be noticed by an elf passing within 10'.They must be found during a regular search.

The north wall has imagery that includes chestsand boxes, all of which are closed except one.These images include a foot on a closed chest,a box tucked under the warrior-priest's arm,and the warrior-priest standing in front of adefeated enemy holding up a closed coffer.One image with an open chest shows thewarrior-priest dispensing coins from an openbox to a crowd.

The south wall has imagery that includes books.One scene has a closed book held under thewarrior-priest's arm, another has an image of abook being handed from one person toanother, and a third image is of a mace, helm

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and book on a table. The fourth image is of anopen book on a lectern.

At the end of the hallway is a false door with anengraved message "Find Here the Legacy ofCorlan the Great, Wizard-Priest of Enkar",followed by several lines of "Blessed by theFaithful of the God of Light and Hope", etc.There are also 2 series of Explosive Runes (6d4hp damage) inscribed on the door, and if thedoor is opened (requiring two rusty locks to bepicked (-10% chance each), each with aparalyzing poison needle (save vs poison orparalyzed for 1d4 hours) a fire-trap (1d4+12 hpdamage) will detonate and an unfinished rockwall will be seen.

3) Illusionary Foes

There are three images of chests on the northwall, only one of which is open. Breaking thetile and plaster here will reveal a door thatopens to a 10' x 20' room with a sarcophagus inthe centre. Upon entry a programmed illusionwill be triggered, causing a spirit seemingly tpcoalesce from the dust and rush to the attack(treat as an illusionary spectre). Removing thesarcophagus lid reveals stairs down. The stairsare trapped, becoming a slide that dropsanyone on them into a 20'deep pit with spikeson the bottom (4d6 damage). A stone lid thenslides shut, sealing the pit, and a secondprogrammed illusion is triggered (of the wallcrumbling away in 10 locations, releasing 20skeletons dressed in bronze armor, with bronzeshields and swords. Each illusion fights as a 3 HDcreature, and rises again 1 round after beingdefeated, the illusion runs for 12 rounds beforewinking out of existence.

DM Note: Both sets of illusions lack sound,which may give astute players an increasedchance of detecting the illusion.

4) True Tomb

The true tomb is hidden behind the open bookmosaic (there are four books on the south wall,three closed). If the sarcophagus lid is moved,the floor around the sarcophagus drops awayinto a 20' deep pit (the sarcophagus is on a

column/pillar). Inside the sarcophagus is amummified body (not animate). Buried with it isthe following:

A gem-set holy symbol (worth 150 gpv).Anyone taking this will suffer the effects of acurse spell for 1 year and 1 day.

A golden torc set with jade (worth 3,000 gpv).Anyone taking it is cursed to receive theminimum healing effect for 1 year and oneday.

A gold box (worth 100 gpv). Opening it sets ofa fire trap that inflicts 1d4+12 hp damage.

A silver ring (35 gpv apparent value, actually aRing of Protection +1, but coated with acontact poison that will not work until the skingets wet, at which point the hand and armbegin swelling (making removing the ringimpossible without removing the finger). Theswelling is agonizing, and continues to spreadto the entire body. Damage is 1d4 hp/roundfor 3d6 rounds (a successful save reducesdamage to 1 hp/round for 3d4 rounds).

Tomb #4 – The Forgotten Kingby Jay Goodenbery

Centuries ago, the king of a long-fallenkingdom was carefully preserved and interredhere. None alive are likely to have ever heardof him or his realm, though searching mustytomes or old histories could unearth storiesabout him.

1) The False Tomb.

The front door of the tomb is a huge bronzeportal, scribed with runes and glyphs (most arewarnings against grave-robbing, but one is aGlyph of Warding cast by a 12th level cleric,that will deal 24 points of electrical damage toanyone who tries to open the great door). Therunes are in a dead language, but aComprehend Languages will reveal theirnature.

40 Number 2

Inside is a small stone chamber, the wallsengraved with a bas-relief showing the deedsof the king (triumphing over his enemies inbattle, passing judgment from his throne,casting down demons, and so forth). At the farend is what appears to be a stone door, thisone also covered in engraved runes (theserecite the lineage and titles of the king).Standing before it is a statue of the king, clad inrich robes, a torc-collar bearing a scarab, andan elaborate metal headdress, holding a rod ofoffice. In each corner stands a stone statue ofa warrior clad in a skirt, breastplate, bracers,greaves, and helmet; each holds a stonekhopesh sword crossed over their chest. Theirfaces are grim and they wear a narrow beardwith no mustache. Laid before the foot of theking-statue are a scattering of coins (32 sp, 18ep, 24 gp, and 7 pp), several small clay orpottery dishes holding small amounts of long-dried and desiccated matter (once flowers orfood offerings), and scraps of ancient, brittleparchment (poems or prayers), that are likely tocrumble to dust if disturbed.

Once more, a Comprehend Languages willreveal the inscription. It reads something like

the following (DM's can elaborate based ontheir own campaign world):

Here lies Dankara Garai, Fourth of His Name,Shaker of the Heavens, Vanquisher of theScions of Val-Kur, Master of the SapphireScarab, Smiter of the Unworthy, Whose Fists arethe saviors of his people, Beloved of Denjera ofthe raven hair, son of Chuma the Foe-Slayer,son of Gyasi the Wise, son of Khalid the Twice-Born, etc etc. in the same vein for severalparagraphs.

The stone door is actually a false door, andcannot be opened. The real door to the burialchamber is a secret door in the left wall; it isopened by pressing in the scarab on the king-statue's throat.

If anyone touches either the false door or theking-statue, the four warrior-statues will animateand attack any intruder, until all are slain or fled(after which they will resume their positions).They will remember intruders and attack themimmediately upon re-entry, and will also attackanyone who strikes them.

Stone Guardians (x4) (AC 2, MV 10", HD 4+4, Hp30 each, ATT 2, Dmg 1d8+1/1d8+1, SA none, SD1/4 damage from edged weapons, immune tonormal missiles, 1/2 damage fromcold/fire/electricity, other various immunities,MR special, Int Non, AL N, Size M, XP 790 each.

2) The Way Down

Beyond the secret door is a short, narrow (5')passage, leading to a vertical shaft thatdescends to the actual burial chamber. Theshaft is a hewn stone chimney, about 4'x4', anddescending 60' to a sandy floor. Midway (30')down this shaft is a trap, triggered by anypressure on special plates in the walls (if the PCscan descend without touching any of the walls,the trap will not be triggered). If the trap istriggered, scything blades will sweep across theentire shaft; anyone in their path (the persontripping it, typically) will take 2d8 damage.Note that this will also automatically sever anyrope going down the shaft at this point;someone struck by the trap while climbingdown must make a save vs. Paralyzation or losetheir grip and fall.

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The trap can be detected in the normal fashion(by a thief). Because the walls of the shaft areso smooth, anyone saying they pay closeattention to the walls should also be told aboutthe unusual crack (for the blades) that runs allthe way around at the 30' point (assuming theyhave sufficient light to see, they should have awarning before the trap is tripped. The pressureplates are very carefully set, and will not beseen by visual inspection (except by a thiefwho made a successful Find Traps check).

A thief climbing down (with hands) or anyonedescending the shaft by bracing against thesides will automatically trip this trap if it is notdetected. Someone descending with a rope is40% likely to trip it, unless they specify that theyare bracing their feet against the walls(automatic) or that they are taking care not totouch the walls (never).

The trap automatically resets, and can strikeany number of times.

3) The Embalming Room

Off a side tunnel lies the place where the kingwas prepared for his interment. This room is aplain stone room, containing nothing but someancient and fragile wooden shelves, a large(4'x8') stone table, and a round stone tub orbasin (8' across, about 4' deep) set in the floor.The basin is empty, but crusted with whitepowder (chemical residue, from bathing thecorpse in preservatives).

The table holds a few scraps of linen, some drypowder or dust (remains of spices and herbs),and a bronze knife (perfectly ordinary, butworth 4 gp, perhaps 5-10x that to a historian orcollector).

The shelves hold some old clay jars and pots,most of which are filled with worthless powderand crumbling residue (again, remains of herbsand spices used in the embalming process). Afew are still sealed with way. One contains oilof myrrh (worth 10 gp, but considerably more toa temple or anyone interested in preserving thedead or creating mummies); if used to treat thebandages when creating a mummy, thatmummy will have +1 HP per die and +1 to allsaves. Another contains several old driedleaves; these are high-quality black lotus, a

powerful and dangerous drug (worth 400 gp,but highly illegal in most civilized lands). Finally,on the bottom shelf is a tiny bottle holding Oil ofHigh John the Conqueror (originally fromDragon Magazine #33; grants a +3 bonus toany weapon anointed with it for 24 hours).

4) The Burial Chamber

This small room holds the last earthly remains ofKing Dankara. The walls are painted withmurals depicting the land of the dead (mostlyrivers and weeping willows, albeit with asomewhat creepy motif). In each corner is abronze stand lamp (unlit, but filled with oil).Against the far wall is a carved stonesarcophagus containing the king, who is(naturally enough) a mummy. He will not reactwhen his coffin is opened, but will spring to lifewhen he is touched (surprises on 3 in 6) orattacked. He is well-preserved, and hiswrapped body is clad in finery: his goldenheaddress set with stripes of lapis lazuli (worth500 gp); a golden death mask covered withfine engraving (worth 150 gp); his golden torc-collar, bearing a scarab carved from asapphire (worth 1150 gp, but see below); agilded breastplate set with turquoise (worth 175gp); rich robes (now quite old and of littleworth), and his rod of office, made of ebonyand capped with gold at either end (worth 125gp, but see below).

Mummy (AC 3, MV 6", HD 6+3, HP 50, ATT 1,Dmg 1d12, SA Fear, Disease, SD immune tonormal weapons, half damage from magicweapons, immune to cold, other variousimmunities, MR special, Int Low, AL LE, Size M, XP1550)

The king's rod of office is a Rod of Smiting (14charges remaining). The scarab set in his torcwill radiate powerful magic (conjuration andalteration). when the mystic command words("Kaa-Jee-Daa") are spoken, the wearer of thescarab will be clad in shining azure Chainmail+3, which also grants the wearer the unarmedcombat abilities of a 9th level monk (2/1attacks for 3-12 damage each, plus chances tostun and kill as normal). The armor can bedismissed at will by touching the scarab, andcan be summoned or dismissed as often asdesired.

42 Number 2

Loose Ends:The special Ring of Protection that will protectone against these Stone Guardians wasentrusted to the royal vizier of the fallen king; hedied sometime later, and the ring was lost. Ifthe PCs could somehow find or locate it (byspecial quest, or perhaps by luckyhappenstance), it would make robbing thetomb much easier.

Tomb #5 – Deathtrap Tombby Nicole Massey

DM's Note: This crypt sits in plain sight, intendedby its builders to be part of the defences of thissacred Valley. The crypt has a plain stoneface, lacking ornamentation. The entry doorsare made of thick oak, jacketed in bronze, andvery well attached to the door frame. Thedoors are locked shut with a thick iron bar (asdescribed below).

As you approach the crypt in front of you thepath is mostly overgrown, making it clear thatno one has been there in a very long time. Thecrypt is mostly overgrown, the iron bar lockingthe bronze doors into the crypt is rusty andglistens with an eerie shimmer, and the nameabove the door – Everfair – can only be readafter some effort. The remains of severalskeletons lie outside the door along with somerusty armor and weapons.

The moment someone touches the crypt avoice booms out, "Despoilers! Do not enter thistomb lest you face a death most swift and anend to all that you found desirable in life. Nonewho enter leave alive. This is your only warning."

DM's Notes: There was never an Everfair family.When the necropolis was established severaltombs of this type were created, though therest have decayed to the point where they nolonger function.

There is no treasure in the tomb, and no corpseeither, just deadly traps to eliminate anypotential tomb robbers.

First, there's the lock on the iron bar. It's aspecial type, with six rotating poison pins thatmust all be disarmed to open the lock.

Touching the lock will require a save vs. Poisonat -2 to keep the person who touched the lockor locking bar from dying in 2d4 rounds fromcontact poison that eats flesh away. The lockwill also have to be opened using an object, aspins slide out of the lock sides and the insidesand outsides of the locking hasp to deliver thesame poison.

Anyone entering the crypt will see an emptyroom twenty feet on a side with a black floor ofsome unknown stone. Count softly backwardsfrom twenty and at zero the floor, a force field,disappears. Beneath the party is a 400-footshaft. The space down to one foot above thefloor is an anti-magic zone in nine-foot-and-eleven-inch sections, with a one-inch sectionbetween each field consisting of vorpal wire(akin to monofilament) arrayed horizontally in anet (except for the first one-inch section—seebelow). Any material caught in the wire isteleported back to the top right under the levelof the floor, while anything that is severed by itgoes on for "further processing" below inidentical nets. Feather fall spells and any spellcast after the fall starts won't work unless theplayer rolls 00 on percentile dice, meaning thatthe spell goes off in one of the inches where thefield isn't working, but then he or she has tocontend with the vorpal wire net. An anti-magic shell also activates surrounding the cryptand a 40' radius around it.

To add insult to injury, the first one-inch sectionhas, instead of a vorpal net, a programmedteleport that will teleport all metal or glass onthe falling character to the spot outside of thecrypt.

Falling is at double the normal falling rate, assmall pinprick-sized holes dot the walls, creatinga suction effect in the abyss. Woe to anyonewho tries to go to gaseous form.

A vorpal net will dice the falling person up intoa grid ½ on a side, while the suction will causethings to pivot and tumble, so that soon theperson is at best a collection of half inch cubes,though of course very messy.

Any object with a high calcium content willlikewise be teleported to the outside whenhitting the bottom – anything else will beteleported back up to the level just below the

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force field floor to make the fall again. Thisteleportation field is six inches above the finalfloor.

Every fourth vorpal web has an astralcomponent – making it an excellent way to cuta silver cord.

Award 1,000 experience points for anycharacter that heeds the warning, and give noexperience for any character that enters.

Finally, there is a very nasty surprise waiting atthe bottom if a caster manages to cast a DispelMagic: the space under the teleport field is aflattened out sphere of annihilation.

Finally, just to add insult to injury, in the one inchspaces are programmed magic mouths thatlaugh when anything passes by them, peals ofmirth ringing out for about a minute after eachone is triggered.

The only treasure in this crypt is located in aniche in the top – this is where the unseenservant tasked with applying the poison everysix weeks keeps its supply of the stuff, which itmakes from plants growing around the crypt.

Note: Vorpal nets will cut through mithril oradamantine with no problem.

Tomb #6 – Spider Lairby Andrew Hamilton

This tomb has been breached and emptied bya pack of ghouls, leaving behind an emptycomplex which has become the home to anest of stirges and a giant spider.

1) The Spider Web

The entry way has hanging webs, and theremains of several small bats can be seen(there are many dark little nooks and cranniesin the cliff face here for bats to lair in). A giantspider lurks here, and will attack anythingdisturbing the web. The web is very sticky, andthe spider can make the web collapse,trapping characters.

Giant Spider (x 1) AC 4, MV 3"*12", HD 4+4, HP29, ATK 1, Dmg 2d4 + poison, SA webs, poison,SD nil, MR Standard, AL CE, Int Low, Size L, XP385.

2) Hall and Deadfall

The doors and seals in this tomb have all beentorn open, and several traps set off. A ghoul'sremains can be found under a stone blockbetween the doors to areas 3 and 4, the resultof a deadfall trap set off by the ghouls.

3 & 4) Burial Niches

Each of these 40' long hall ways contains eightburial niches (four pairs, one niche at floor leveland one at chest height). The niches wereoriginally bricked shut, but they have been tornopen by ghouls, the contents consumed orscattered about. Sorting through the debris willfind nothing of value.

5) Stirge Nest

The stirges hide back in the tomb. They havelearned how to avoid the giant spider web,and the giant spider has learned to be cautiousof the stirges, since they swarmed and killedtwo other giant spiders.

Stirges (x 13) AC 8, MV 3"/18", HD 1+1, HP 5each, ATK 1, Dmg d3, SA blood drain, strike as 4HD creature, SD nil, MR Standard, AL N, Size S,Int Animal, XP 46 each (36 xp + 2 xp/hp).

44 Number 2

6) Spear Trap

This trap has already been triggered, and theremains of a ghoul hang impaled on two spearsis visible.

7) Pit Trap

This 30' deep pit was once concealed by a tarpcovered with mud and dust to make it blend inwith the floor. Now it is open, and the remainsof two ghouls lie at the bottom. Investigationreveals that one ghoul survived the fall andfeasted on its pack-mate before succumbingto hunger.

8) Main Tomb

In the main crypt, a total of 11 burial nicheswere torn open and the bodies consumed.Scattered treasure includes five gold rings (180,120, 100, 75 and 50 gpv respectively), 3necklaces (300 and 200 gpv, and one brokenof agate beads worth 75 gpv), 2 bracelets(gold and jade worth 400 gpv, silver worth 25gpv), a jeweled dagger (90 gpv), a jadecarving of a cat (fist sized and crude, 60 gpv),and some scattered coins (87 sp, 31 gp and 11pp).

The tomb is occupied by an undead giantspider, slain but not eaten by ghouls, which hassome ghoulish traits.

Giant Spider Ghoul (x 1) AC 4, MV 3"*12", HD4+4, HP 33, ATK 1, Dmg 2d4 + poison + paralysis,SA webs, poison, paralysis, SD immune to sleep,charm, and mind affecting magic, turned as a7 HD creature, MR Standard, AL CE, Int Low, SizeL, XP 480.

Closing NotesThere may be literally a hundred unexploredand unlooted tombs in the Valley of EternalRest. The Curse might discourage some tombrobbers, but greed and PC ingenuity has atendency to overcome almost any obstacle.Of course there may be something (orsomeone) specific buried here that forces thePCs to deal with the consequences of theCurse for a greater good (assuming they are ofheroic bent) or for personal gain (for the moremercenary). Powerful magic, an artifactrequired to defeat some foe, arcane lore, a

heirloom needed to claim hereditary right, etc.Some of the tombs may be veritable deathtraps, others a simple grave.

When various groups learn their sacred groundhas been desecrated and the resting places oftheir ancestors and faithful violated, they willseek justice. Adventuring parties may findthemselves outlaw, with multiple groupscooperating to bring them to before a judgeand jury, or send them to the afterlife to facefinal justice.

DMs should let their imaginations run wild. Forthose with too much real life commitmentdraining their creative energy, the article Tombs& Crypts by James M. Ward, printed in the Bestof Dragon, Volume I is a highly useful and highlyrecommended resource.

New Monster

Animated WeaponFrequency: RareNo. Appearing: varies (typically d4+4 or more)Armor Class: 4Move: 12"Hit Dice: 3 (24 hps)% in Lair: 100%Treasure Type: n/aNo. of Attacks: 3/2Damage/Attack: by weapon type +1Special Attacks: attack as a 7th level fighterSpecial Defences: limited spell immunityMagic Resistance: Saves as "metal hard"Intelligence: n/aAlignment: NSize: SLevel/X.P. Value: 177 xp (Animated Weapon)

These magical constructs, typically in the formof a sword, were a common form of guardianin the days prior to The Shattering. Magic-usersand clerics both had the capability ofanimating weapons, although the spells andrituals once used to do so appear to be lost.

Only melee weapons may be animated (i.e. nobows, crossbows, slings, etc.). Animatedweapons have a limited form of flight, and whirlor dance through the air to attack. They are

Number 2 45

unable to rise more than 12' off of the groundhowever, although they are able to "fly" abovewater, mud or other less than solid surfacewithout penalty.

Animated Weapons are treated as +1 fordetermination of what they can strike, andcause the same base damage as a normalweapon of their type, with a +1 damage bonus.Once their hit points have been depleted, theanimated weapon will be ruined, and fall to theground suddenly corroding, splintering,warping, or showing other signs of damage.

Being an animated construct rather than aliving being, animated weapons are immune toSleep, Charm, ESP, or spells that only affectliving things (e.g. Magic Missile). Furthermore,animated weapons do not save using the"monster" saving throw table, they save as"metal hard" under the object saving throwtable.

Greater Animated WeaponsThere are rumors of animated magicalweapons, the result is a more powerful anddeadly construct. The "greater animatedweapon" gains the to hit and damage bonusesof the weapon, the AC is reduced by the "plus"of the weapon, the weapon attacks twice permelee round, and the weapon gains additionalhit points (equal to 3x the "plus"). The animatedweapon saves at a bonus equal to the "plus" ofthe weapon. The downside to using a magicalweapon in the creation of an animatedweapon is that upon the depletion of its hitpoints, it is likely to be destroyed and useless inthe same manner as the standard AnimatedWeapon, with only a 1% chance per "plus" ofsurviving.

We welcome your creatures, spells, items,adventure seeds, and other submissions!

Send them to:

submissions@and-mag.com.

We reserve the right to copy editsubmissions for length, grammar, and

content.

Potions of Powerby Bryan Fazekas

Potion of DweomercraeftThis potion has an effect upon spellcasters similarin nature to that of Heroism on fighters. When aspellcaster imbibes this potion he gains additionallevels as would a fighter of the same level imbibingHeroism. These additional level(s) have no effectupon combat ability, but do increase spell castingability and saving throws. The spellcaster gains noextra spells, but the casting of memorized spells isat a higher level of experience as far a magicresistance, duration, range, and affects areconcerned. Extra hit points are gained, atlough thedice are d4's instead of d10's.

Potion of Super-DweomercraeftThis potion is an upgraded version of theDweomercraeft potion. It has effects similar toSuper-Heroism with the modifications noted in thedescription of Dweomercraeft.

Potion of Ultra-DweomercraeftThis potion has effects similar to those granted byUltra-Heroism, with the same modifications asDweomercraeft.

Potion of Ultra-HeroismThe effect of this potion is to temporarily grantextra fighting ability to any fighter or 0 levelcharacter. It works is a fashion similar but superiorto Heroism or Super-Heroism, affecting any level offighter. The duration of this ability is 5d4 roundsand the exact effects are as follows:

LevelLevelsAdded Extra HD

0 7 6

1-3 6 5+1

4-6 5 4+2

7-9 4 3+3

10-12 3 2+4

13+ 2 1+5

46 Number 2

Creature Feature I: Ecology of the Bone Guardianby Andrew Hamilton and Bryan Fazekas

"And that is how that miserable thing cut myarm off!" The old man waggled the scar-crusted stump of his right arm to emphasize thatit had been cut off at mid-forearm. Theaudience oohed and aahed and cluckednoises of sympathy. More importantly, one kindsoul purchased Hal another mug of ale. Notthat he needed it: at mid-morning he was welllubricated.

David thought to mention that last week Halhad told a totally different and equallyimplausible tale of how he lost his arm. Buttoday he didn't feel like Hal-baiting. Instead hisattention was drawn to a member of theaudience, a woman who looked old – not asold as Hal – but old enough to a twelve yearold. The woman wore a wide brimmed floppyhat of a style David had never seen before,and she had to be a hunch back given theshape her cloak covered.

Curious, he followed the stranger out onto theporch of the tavern where David's best friendJake sat with his grandparents. They had beenadventurers in their youth, but had retired longbefore David was born. Still, Trajan's storieswere REAL – far better than Hal's and theyweren't made of cow flop.

Trajan and his wife both smiled broadly inrecognition of the woman, who in turn sweptoff her hat and performed an intricate bow. Asshe straightened David saw Jake's eyes widen.Looking at the woman David saw small hornsthe hat had covered. Jake started to saysomething but Trajan hushed him.

The three adults made small talk for a fewminutes, catching up on old times, things Davidand Jake didn't much understand. They weretwelve and a lot of the world outside of theirhome environment made little sense.

"That man's story was interesting," nodding herhead towards the taproom, "but … hardlyaccurate. I know you," nodding to both, "andEtjar faced a bone guardian. What can youtell me about them?"

"Well, we were searching an old tomb, helpinga priest recover a relic …"

===

The four acolytes, fanatical followers of thepriest like their deceased brethren, led the way.The first eight taught the survivors the wisdom ofprobing everything – floors, walls, ceiling,maybe even the air – with long wooden spearshafts. The ancient priest buried in this tombintended that his eternal sleep remainundisturbed. During the century since hisinterment other interlopers had triggered manytraps.

The traps varied greatly: pits, spears, acid, deadfalls. The moldering bones verified the equalityof their lethality. The late acolytesdemonstrated that the traps were just asdeadly as when first built.

That had been in the maze above. For the pasthour the invaders cautiously traversed acurving, gently descending corridor – thedevotees cautiously probing for traps, Trajanand Etjar with magical blades naked forprotection and light twenty feet behind them,and Marissa and Hestan bringing up the rear. Itwas nervous work, the memory of the dead aconstant, grim reminder of the penalty for notfinding traps. Marissa kept an eye behind themso nothing would surprise them from the rear.

The corridor, smoothly finished and nearlytwelve feet high and wide, imposed anoppressive feeling upon the trespassers. Thegrim mood made the front line tense. Normallygood at estimating distances underground,Trajan felt unsure how far they had passedduring the hour since exiting the maze above.He hoped that getting out wasn't going to beas lethal as getting in.

Without warning the corridor ended, openinginto a room of much greater dimensions. "Halt!"called Hestan in his resonant voice. He neverraised his voice but it carried. The probers frozein place like statues.

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Trajan didn't know the names of any of Hestan'sfollowers. They were eager puppies, instantlywilling to do whatever the priest commanded.He never addressed them by name, and theydidn't address each other in Trajan's hearing.Oddly, none showed much reaction when theirpredecessors died, other than relief that Hestanwas safe. They were the oddest group Trajanhad met.

The priest started a rhythmic chanting, wordsthat were heard but indistinguishable andinstantly forgotten, casting some unknown spell.Trajan and Etjar instinctively stepped toopposite sides of the corridor, vacating themiddle in case a tangible spell effect neededto pass. But nothing passed. Bright blindinglight sprang into being about 50 feet past theentrance to the room, 20 feet in the air.

Etjar estimated the room at 50 feet wide with a30 foot ceiling. Pillars the width of a man's chestzigzagged down the room, helping to supportthe ceiling. The light of the priest's spell lit morethan 100 feet down the way and the roomextended beyond that. "Someone put a lot ofeffort into excavating this room," he thought.

Hestan softly commanded his disciples tospread out, checking behind the pillars, gentlytapping and probing everything with thewooden spear shafts. The walls were barestone but the pillars were highly ornamentedwith bas relief carvings of armored men inbattle with animated skeletons.

It was slow going but slow-and-steady wasbetter than triggering a trap with one's body.Trajan noticed that even in the cool of thisdeep, underground room the cannon fodderwere sweating. "Yah, I'd be sweating too!" Heand Etjar glanced at each other for a moment,meeting glances in sympathy for the acolytesbut not breaking their vigilance. Glancingback he could see Marissa was the third part oftheir watchful triangle. "She may be a bitch butMarissa always does her part."

"Hold!" Marissa called softly. The two soldiersfroze, senses straining for whatever caught themage's attention, but the trap detectors keptat it. "Hold!" she called again, with no effect.

"Stop," Hestan called and his people froze inplace. Turning to her he started to speak butshe held a hand up to silence him. His faceshowed that he didn't like being shushed, hewasn't used to being shushed, but he hadenough good sense to accept the silentrebuke. For now.

Trajan heard nothing, but Marissa's ears werebetter than his. He accepted her judgmentthat there was something afoot, adjusting hisgrip on his sword. Etjar did the same. Theothers remained frozen in place.

Then he heard it – stone scraping on stone.Faint but definitely there. Impossible to place."Where?" he wondered. Marissa's ears didn'tseem to help her, either.

After minutes of silence one of the disciplesbroke the silence. "My Lord," he started to ask aquestion but was interrupted by a violentrasping of rock on rock, echoing all around thevast room.

The bas relief skeletons on the first eight pillarsbroke free of the stone that held them, a thinveneer of stone flaking off to reveal bone.Each carried a shield and a heavy, wide-bladed sword. Surrounding the humaninterlopers, they moved in for the kill in acoordinated fashion, an evil looking green lightglowing in each empty eye socket.

Hestan thrust his golden scepter at the nearesttwo, speaking loudly for the first time, his ringingvoice echoing in the vast room. "By the Graceand Might of Hestarunu I command thee toflee!"

The animated skeletons surged forward,chopping at the priest. His shock at the failureof his holy command was almost his death. Atthe last second he interposed his scepterbetween his neck and slashing death. Sufferinga long slice on his left arm, he ducked behindMarissa to put her between him and death.

"Typical," she grunted as she parried a swingingsword with her staff and side stepped thesecond one's attack. Which by-the-way left thecowardly priest without a body between himand a skeleton.

Trajan, fighting with a hand-and-a-half bastardsword, parried a sword slash and shattered the

48 Number 2

skeleton's shield in return. He thrust with thesword, a beautiful stab that skewered theundead … sliding between its ribs with noeffect. "Damnation! I know better than that!"he screamed as he dodged the next slash.

Twenty feet away Etjar snatched a flail from hisbelt, side stepped a lunging slash, and crushedthe skeleton's head as it stumbled past him. Theevil green lights dimmed.

Taking the measure of her attacker, Marissaevaded several slashes, feinted high, and strucklow, shattering the thing's right knee joint. Herstaff rebounded from that strike to hit the leftside of its skull, flinging it to the ground.

Screaming wildly Hestan ran away from hisattacker, ducking around a pillar and slamminginto Etjar, spilling both to the floor. The olderman had no idea what he had hit, lashing outblindly. Fortunately the soldier's armorprotected him from the frantic blows. Gonewas the prim, proper, and controlled seniorpriest – in his place was a frantic, weeping, outof control child.

Etjar extricated himself just in time to catch ahacking sword on his shield. He rolled awayfrom the monster, trying to get to his feet. Onhis knees he brought his shield up and didn't seeTrajan decapitate it from behind.

The weeping priest cowered against a wall, hisnoises eclipsed by the howls of his disciples.One was dead, one was soon to be as twoskeletons hacked his prone body, and theremaining two double-teamed a skeleton withtheir spear shafts, the last skeleton scatteredacross the floor beside them.

A crackle of lightning flashed through the twohacking at the now dead body, illuminatingtheir frames and crumbling them in a scatter ofbones. Marissa stood thirty feet away, pantingfrom the exertion of casting. The last skeletoncrashed to the floor as the spear shafts crackedits joints.

The acolytes hurried over to Hestan, who hadstopped screaming. He waived them off as hecollected himself, physically and mentally. Helooked down, not looking at anyone. Theyoung men had seen the priest in a veryunfavorable light. While it didn't seem to matter

to them … it would to the priest. "Bet they endup exiled to nowhere," Trajan commentedquietly to Etjar, who nodded knowingly.

"CRAP!"

Marissa didn't yell often. Her ire was usuallyexpressed calmly and coldly, as Trajan couldattest from being at the receiving end of it sooften. When she did raise her voice or swore itwas something bad.

Unseen forces moved the bones of theskeletons nearest the acolytes, skritching themacross the floor where they jumbled into a pile.It looked like something was sorting the bones,and in a matter of seconds the broken bonesknitted together and combined with otherbones to create a monstrosity. The combinedskeleton had four normal looking arms, a broadtorso with double the normal ribs, double thicklegs, and an oddly shaped head. The evillywinking green light radiated from the fourempty eye sockets. It picked up two shieldsand two swords, and advanced upon thestunned devotees.

Frozen in terror, they stood woodenly as itadvanced upon them.

Somewhere in the depths of his soul Hestanfound courage. Or maybe the fear of lookingbadly in front of his followers outweighed mortaldanger. No matter, he rushed in front of hismen, thrusting out the scepter that was thesymbol of his god and thundered: "By theGrace and Might of Hestarunu I commandthee to flee!"

Two heavy swords powered by supernaturalforce sent parts of his body in multiple directionsas his soul took flight from his sundered body.

Being splashed with the priest's blood and fluidswoke the men from their trance. Bawling inrage they insanely battered the monstrosity withtheir spear shafts, forcing it to retreat. In theirfury they looked to crush it.

From the side another super-skeleton scythedone man down, and the second fell as heturned to his new attacker.

Marissa realized all of the shattered skeletonswere combining in pairs, creating four superskeletons. "RUN!"

Number 2 49

Evading a skeleton she ran for the corridor out.No slouches, Trajan and Etjar followed close onher heels, but the skeletons lumbered along asfleet as the humans. Glancing back sherealized there was no way they could safely runthrough the maze with these things on theirheels. They had to stop them here. "Guardme!" she yelled again as she stopped.

Trajan nearly ran her over, his 6 foot heighttowering a foot over her. Agile as ever hedidn't crush her, but swerved and turned in onemotion. As the nearest super skeleton chargedwith an overhead swing he kicked it in thepelvis, knocking it back three steps, andknocking himself down in the process."Damnation, that's heavy!"

Struggling to his feet he heard the wizard cast aspell, longer than most she used in combat.Behind the two nearest super skeletons a wall ofbarely seen force shimmered into existence.The two other super skeletons, done with killingthe acolytes, bounced off the wall. Marissahad reduced the odds for a few minutes,dividing the enemy into manageable chunks.

Trajan side stepped powerful swings andhacked across the belly. If the thing had beeneven vaguely human, or just alive, the battlewould be over. Bone cracked but it didn't stop.A flare of flame and a wash of heat on his sidelet him know that the wizard was helping Etjar –her flaming hands spell was a favorite when shewas in close.

Against two blades and two shields the fightwas hard. The soldier got in licks that would killa mortal creature but barely bothered thisthing.

Suddenly a point jutted from the skeleton'sforehead, a shiny silver glowing point.

Etjar yanked his sword from the back of thesuper skeleton's skull. The evil green dimmed.

"We only have a few minutes before the magicof the wall ends. We need to be gone!" Marissaurged.

Skittering stopped them in their tracks. Thepieces of the two super skeletons wriggledacross the floor and rapidly formed an evenbigger skeleton, this one with six arms, taller anddouble the weight of the previous one.

"BACK!"

Trajan and Etjar ran for the corridor as the forcewall disappeared with a pop. Two super-skeletons and a super-duper version startedforward as a glowing red bean flashed from thewizard's outstretched hand and explodedinside the super-duper skeleton's rib cage.Scorched bones flew in all directions!

But before the survivors could draw in a relievedbreath the skittering sound of bones crabbingacross the floor with no visible means of doingso filled their ear ...

===

"Upon destruction the pairs from the originaleight formed four tougher skeletons, then thepieces of the four formed two, and finally one?"

Trajan answered. "Marissa's fireball destroyedthe second and third versions, and when theseconds formed another third but the first thirddidn't reform we thought we were done. Untilthe two thirds formed a fourth, which was trulydeadly."

He took a sip of wine and added, "That's hardto follow, isn't it?"

Jake's grandmother interjected. "No, it's nothard. A pair of each version, when destroyed,forms one of the next version. There's eight,then four, then two, then one."

Trajan laughed. "I'm glad there weren't 16 tobegin with!"

"Why couldn't the priest turn them?"

"Because they are a type of golem, notundead. Constructed from bones with magicalforce, not with unlife. Makes them deadlierthan undead in some respects."

Bone GuardianFrequency: Very RareNo. Appearing: 1 (typically)Armor Class: varies (see below)Move: 15"Hit Dice: 1 to 8 (see below)% in Lair: 100%Treasure Type: varies

50 Number 2

No. of Attacks: 1 to 4 (see below)Damage/Attack: varies (see below)Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Defences: 1/2 damage from cutting &piercing weapons, reformation, limited spellimmunitiesMagic Resistance: StandardIntelligence: NonAlignment: NeutralSize: MLevel/X.P. Value: 900 xp + 10 xp/hp ("apex")Climate: AnyOrganization: Mindless ConstructActivity: Mindless ConstructDiet: noneMorale: Never checks morale

Despite appearing to be humanoid skeletons,Bone Guardians are not undead, and as suchthey are not subject to clerical turning ormagical effects that target undead (e.g.,mace of disruption). They were developed as amagical construct to cause confusion as aresult of their undead appearance.

In its "first generation" (1 HD) form, the BoneGuardian appears to be 8 humanoid skeletonsthat are visually indistinguishable from normalskeletons. The true nature of the Bone Guardiandoes not become apparent until two or moreof the first-generation skeletons are destroyedor killed. When two skeletons are defeated,their scattered bones will skitter and slide acrossthe ground, merging to create a second-generation Bone Guardian with four arms (a 2-HD creature). A similar merging of two second-generation Bone Guardians occurs to create athird-generation Bone Guardian (4 HD), andtwo third-generation Bone Guardians mergeafter destruction to create an "apex" BoneGuardian (with 8 HD). Only the destruction ofthe apex generation Bone Guardian will resultin the final destruction of the individual first-generation Bone Guardians.

As the skeletons merge to create next-generation entities, the bones twist together tomake the construct more durable, thicker,heavier and larger, with multiple arms andlonger, sharper claw-like fingers. A second-

generation Bone Guardian has four arms, andthird and apex generations have 6 arms. Ahuman skeleton weighs approximately 35pounds, so an apex generation Bone Guardianweighs approximately 280 pounds.

As magical automatons, Bone Guardians haveimmunities to certain spells and attacks. Theyare immune to Sleep and Charm magic(including suggestions, hypnotism, etc.), fear,disintegration and poisons. Their physical natureprovides additional protection, and they sufferone-half damage from cold-based attacks andedged or pointed weapons.

After assembling, the Bone Guardian willundergo a reversion if they experience a 24-hour period without combat. Each such daythe Bone Guardian will disassemble onegeneration and regain 2 hit points. So, a BoneGuardian at the Apex generation willdisassemble to a pair of third-generation BoneGuardians and regain 2 hit points (or 1 hit pointper third-generation entity). The following day,the third-generation entity will disassemble intoa pair of second-generation entities, regaining2 hit points (or 1 hit point per second-generation entity), and so on.

VariantsThere are credible reports of two BoneGuardian variants. The first variant was basedupon the skeletons of gnolls. This guardian(encountered and destroyed by a band ofseasoned adventurers) was reported to havesustained significantly more damage than astandard Bone Guardian. (DM note: Thisguardian would have 2 HD for each of the 8skeletons in its first-generation form, doublingfrom there, and a gnoll skeleton weighs about60 lbs, so the final apex guardian would weigh480 pounds.)

The second variant forms a larger, two-armedskeletal amalgam with each successivegeneration. This Bone Guardian attacks lessfrequently (only 1 attack per round) but hitsmuch harder (1d6 damage/generation).

Number 2 51

There are also rumors of two additional BoneGuardian variants. The first is a Bone Guardianof even greater power that does not reach anapex until the fifth or sixth generation, althoughno credible evidence of the existence for sucha powerful guardian has been presented. ABone Guardian of this power would be afearsome opponent. (DM Note: the progressionof such a Bone Guardian is easily extrapolatedfrom the table above.)

There are also rumors that Bone Guardianshave been crafted (by the long ago DogKnights) using the skeletons of loyal war hounds,allowing the hounds to serve and protect theirmaster's abode long after their deaths. (DMnote: these Bone Guardians would have 2 HDeach in the first generational form, and wouldcombine to create a multi-headed beast insuccessive generations. They are also likely tohave magical senses that allow them to detectinvisible or concealed creatures.)

Generation Hit Dice Armor ClassNo. of

AttacksDamage/

Attack Size

First 1 7 1 d6 M (5' tall)

Second 2 6 2 d8 M (6' tall)

Third 4 4 3 d10 M (6 ½' tall)

Apex 8 2 4 d12 M (7' tall)

Thief's Skeleton KeyBy Ralph Glatt

This key looks like a joke key, a skeleton in theshape of a key. However in the hands of athief it is a potent tool. When used by a thiefto pick locks, this magical key adds 10% tothe thief's open locks percentage. Note thatthis key works only on mundane locks and willnot open a wizard locked door.

Fighter's Skeleton KeyBy Ralph Glatt

This long key is remarkable due to itsappearance – it is cast in the shape of ahuman skeleton. When thrown down anda command word is spoken, an animatedhuman skeleton appears. The skeletonremains for 10d4 rounds and during thattime will act upon simple commandsspoken by the possessor of the key. Theskeleton has a sword and will fight, carrythings, prod things with a spear shaft, etc.

The skeleton may be summoned up to 3times per day. Please note that if theskeleton is reduced to 0 hp or turned by acleric, it disappears and the key may notbe used again for 24 hours.

The skeleton has 8 hp and otherwiseconforms to the description of theskeleton in the AD&D Monster Manual.

52 Number 2

Creature Feature II: Failed Lichby Bill Silvey

There's always room for more really evilmonsters, hence this "beauty" from theproprietor of Delver's Dungeon.http://www.thedelversdungeon.com/

Failed LichFrequency: Very RareNumber Appearing: 1Armor Class: 3Move: 15"Hit Dice: 8% In Lair: 35%Treasure Type: G (x2)No. Of Attacks: 1Damage/Attack: 1d8Special Attacks: See BelowSpecial Defense: See BelowMagical Resistance: StandardIntelligence: GeniusAlignment: Chaotic EvilSize: MLevel/XP Value: VIII/7500 + 15/hp

A "subtype" of the dreaded Lich (q.v.), thefailed lich (sometimes called a "Damned Soul")is the condition that can arise when a magicuser or magic user/cleric acquires the spellsand lore needed to attain lichdom, but lacksthe magical power to bind itself to both thephysical and spiritual planes, and/or lacks themental discipline to maintain the state of mindrequired to focus its magical ability to the taskof becoming a lich - that is, maintaining its willto remain living long enough.

The failed lich is in many ways like a normal lichin appearance, although a carefulexamination will reveal that it lacks aphylactery - one of the symptoms of its failure. Ithas a somewhat lessened power of its "cousin",the Lich, in that it can strike for cold damage of1d8 points. Since the body of the failed lich hasnot yet received the full benefit of having it'ssinews and tissues re-knit by the evil dweomerof lichdom, fire and cold based spells donormal damage. A Raise Dead Fully spell will

utterly destroythe lich, whilea Magic Jarwill onlyenrage it.

In behavior,the failed lichis manifoldmoredangerousthan thenormal lich. Itwill, while itsbody is still infair condition,attempt touse guile andofferpayment to adventurers who will work for it andquest to find certain magical artifacts which willhelp it complete its transition before the lich-body decays completely and forces the evilspirit to a plane of Hell. In pursuit of this goal, it isdiabolic. The failed lich will stop at nothing toattain what it wants, and if it means the deathof its hirelings or anyone who stands in its way,so be it. If found in its lair (which is identical tothat of a "normal" lich in that it will be in adesolate place filled with traps), the failed lichwill defend it fanatically, using virtually everytrap, magic item, and bribe at its disposal. If thefailed lich is destroyed, there is a 10% chance itwill come back as an evil spirit equivalent inabilities to a ghost, and seek to slay whomeverdestroyed it's physical body.

If it encounters a powerful magic user or clericor combination thereof, it will attack relentlessly,seeking to take whatever spells, spellcomponents, magic items or artifacts to use tocomplete its transition. It's lair is usually litteredwith the belongings of those unfortunateenough to have met their demise at the handsof this creature.

Number 2 53

Creature Feature III: Vampires from the Dresden Filesby Eric Fazekas

I enjoy Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, and whilereading them I realized these vampires aremuch more interesting and powerful than theones in old-school D&D. In the books there arethree vampire courts: Red, White, and Black(and a mysterious one referenced Jade).

The Red Court vampires resemble a sort of batdemon disguised as a human. They are scary inthat someone you know who is human anddoesn't radiate magic might suddenly turn intoa giant monstrosity.

The White Court vampires are closer to being arace of succubae, feeding off others' emotionsand life forces. They derive their power from aninternal symbiote, referred to as a demon,which must be fed on the life force of others.They are some of the deadliest monsters toplayer characters because they aren't easilylabeled monsters— just gorgeous humans withno claws, no fangs, no sense of evil. What couldgo wrong?

The Black Court vampires are similar to BramStoker's, with the added potential for spellcasting. The most dangerous part about them istheir intelligence. Due to their weaknesses(sunlight, garlic, etc.) being exposed to most ofthe general public, they prefer to run in packsand evaluate potential victims' strength beforethey attack, ensuring victory will be theirs.

I like these strains of vampires because theyaren't singularly dangerous to high-level parties,but in groups, especially with an intelligentleader, they can prove a deadly anddangerous foe. Also, their powers are a greatalternative to level draining, which as a player Ifind a monstrous concept (no saving throw!).

Vampire, Red CourtFrequency: RareNo. Encountered: 1d8Size: MediumMove: 15"Armor Class: 3

Hit Dice: 3-10Attacks: 3Damage: 1d4/1d4/1d6 (HD 3-5), 1d6/1d6/1d8(HD 6-8), 2d4/2d4/2d6 (HD 9-10)Special Attacks: see belowSpecial Defenses: see belowMagic Resistance: StandardLair Probability: 60%Intelligence: Average-GeniusAlignment: Neutral Evil

Red Court vampires do not seem to be theterrorizing monsters the knowledgeable accusethem of being. After all, they look like gorgeoushumans, with perfect bodies, beautiful eyes,and an entirely charming presence. It's nowonder that they can charm people just bylooking into their eyes (successful savenegates).

Red Court vampires can generate "flesh masks,"a shell of apparently living flesh, to disguise theirbody into any shape and size, and they usuallytake the form of beautiful humans. However,underneath this lie is a repulsive monster thathardly resembles a human at all. They arearound five and a half feet tall and have black,greasy, flabby skin. Their arms end in long,clawed hands, and their knees bendbackwards like a chicken's. In this form insteadof charming a victim, they cause fear that rootsa victim to its spot (save versus paralyzation tonegate). They have also been compared tospiders because they can climb walls and runalong ceilings as if they were continuallybenefitting from Spider Climb.

Sunlight harms red vampires, causing 2d8 pointsof damage per round, while Continual Light orsimilar magic causes 2d4 points of damage perround. Generally they are active at night andtake shelter in buildings without windows ordeep underground. During the day, they rest,and at night they prowl cities, looking for easyvictims to take back to their lairs and feast upontheir blood.

In combat, red vampires attack with two clawsand a bite. If all three attacks hit, they latch

54 Number 2

onto the victim and drain blood at a rate of2d6 points of damage per round (2d8 if HD isgreater than 7) until either the victim or thevampire dies. Their bite is doubly dangerousbecause Red Court vampires' saliva produceseuphoria in the victim and can Charm thevictim (successful save negates).

Usually the victim is killed by the feeding.However, they can drain the victim to 0 hitpoints and infect the victim with their venom(takes one round after opponent reaches 0 hitpoints), and at the next dawn the victim willbecome a half vampire of 3 HD. When ahuman becomes a half vampire, they gainstrength, speed, and agility nearly equal to thatof a Red Court vampire(typically +4 beyondhuman normal). They also gain a bloodlust,feeling the constant need to drain a nearbyhuman. Once they kill they become a full-fledged Red Court vampire. Often the vampirethat turned a victim will place a helplesssacrifice near the half vampire so that it willquickly become another full vampire.

Due to competition and rivalry betweenvampire clans and within a clan, victims areusually eaten unless they have significantpower to bring to the clan, such as magicalability. Transformed classed characters retaintheir non-divine class abilities even in undeath.

Red Court vampires are magically strong. Oneneeds silver weapons (half damage) ormagical weapons (full damage) in order to hurtthem. Holy symbols will keep them at bay for1d3 rounds but will not harm them or turn them.

Red vampire hunting parties are typicallycomprised of 2d4 members of 3 to 5 hit dice.There will usually be a leader of 6 HD and AC 2.The vampires' lair will have 5d6 members and achief of 7 HD and AC 1. If the vampires numbermore than 50, the head vampire will have 8 HDand AC 0, and will be attended by several(1d3) chiefs. It is very likely that the head will bea magic-user of at least 5th level, and thechiefs may be magic-users of at least 3rd level.Larger clans (which are rare due to rivalrybetween members) are run by vampires of 9 or10 HD whose hardened skin and greater speedgive them an AC of -2. These will be magic-users of 7th level or higher.

Red vampire clans are independent of eachother and will not work together unless there is agreat threat or need, though after the defeatof the threat they will likely backstab eachother.

Vampire, White CourtFrequency: RareNo. Appearing: 1d8Size: MediumMove: 18"Armor Class: 4Hit Dice: 3-10Attacks: 1Damage: 2d4 (2d6 if HD>6) or by weapon typeSpecial Attacks: drain emotion, see belowSpecial Defenses: hit only by silver or magicalweaponsMagic Resistance: standardLair Probability: 80%Intelligence: above average-super geniusAlignment: Lawful Evil

Usually White Court vampires can pass asnormal humans and are able to blend inperfectly with them. They are exceptionallybeautiful (Charisma 16 to 20) and haveextremely pale, white skin. Sunlight doesn'tharm them nor cause them discomfort; likewiseholy symbols or holy water have no effect. Theyhave no fangs, the typical trademark of avampire. The only distinguishing feature is thattheir blood is a lighter color, rather than a darkred.

Unlike other vampires who can be created bybeing drained of life force by another vampire,white vampires are not so easily created. Theyare normally born from the union of two whitevampires or a white vampire and a human.However, mortals can also be converted intowhite vampires, though this process is unknown.

What makes white vampires dangerous is theirinner symbiote. "Demon" is a better term for thesymbiote, as it makes them stronger andcontrols them to a certain extent. The demongives the white vampire extraordinary strength,speed, and dangerous powers with mortalemotions. But it comes at a cost. They mustfeed on the life force of others to satiate the

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demon; otherwise it consumes their life force,eventually killing them.

White vampires are very few: Three main clanshave been identified by sages. Unlike redvampires, which feast on blood, white vampiresfeed on a victim's emotions. One known clanfeeds off of intimacy and can attempt tocharm at will. Another derives its life force fromvictims' fears and can likewise Cause Fear asper the spell. The last feeds from others' despair,and can Cause Hopelessness as per the spell.These powers can be used at will and, in thecase of stronger specimens, can function on allmortals within 10'. There are also rumors of otherless well known clans that feed off of otheremotions.

White vampires do not willingly enter combat.Not that they are weak; rather they are craftyand much prefer to trick others into fighting forthem instead of risking their own lives. If forcedinto combat, they will attempt to causeemotion within the attacker (see above) andwill fight with skill. They prefer to use weapons,magical if they have them, and are incrediblystrong (+3 on strength) and can strike for greatamounts of damage. Given the opportunitythey cause charm/fear/hopelessness and feedupon a victim, draining 1d4 hp per round. Theymay "snack" on a victim or may drain them todeath. Once victims have been affected theywillingly allow themselves to be fed upon. Insome cases the victims become addicted tobeing fed upon and will allow feeding at anytime.

Their defenses are just as great: One needssilver (half damage) or magical (full damage)weapons in order to harm them. In addition,when their demon is fully fed they regenerate 3hit points per round and can fully regeneratetheir hit points once a day, though it takes 3rounds to do so. White vampires are immune toall poisons and paralyzation. They are notimmune to their own emotional attack formand in some cases will prey upon each other,although it is believed this is done as a form ofdominance or punishment.

Their best defense is their tight family bonds.Although there are rivalries and power grabswithin a clan, they defend their clan's power,

and some care for one another. If one whitevampire has been injured and flees, the rest ofthe clan will protect it and will seek revenge.

A white vampire's lair is very opulent and isquite spacious, looking like a rich person'smansion, with many guards (usually mortals)and located in a large tract of land near richmortals in order to not stand out.

Subtle manipulation is an art form of whitevampires. If there is a person or group that theybelieve that they can mold to their own ends,they will not hesitate to try to make a treaty ortrade favors to accomplish their purposes. Theyprefer to stay in the guise of a human andappeal to the morality of a group. For example,a male white vampire might claim to a groupthat his wife and kids were abducted by agroup of giants (who were conveniently in theway of the clan's expansion). He offers to paythe group to take them out.

Naturally born white vampires are normalhumans during childhood and puberty. As theyreach maturity the symbiote inside them exertsits influence, causing them to feed on their firstvictim. This initial feeding always kills the victimand transforms him or her into an adult WhiteCourt vampire of 3 HD. Within a decade theygain a hit die, and in another decade asecond and their natural AC reduces to 3. Adecade after that they gain yet another HD.After that they will gain a HD and a point of ACroughly every 50 years. They can afford to bepatient, being immortal creatures and ones notused to much overt action. The leader of eachclan is old enough and experienced enough tobe 9 HD and AC 0, and the King of all the clansis ancient and tough, having 10 HD and an ACof -1.

Vampire, Black CourtFrequency: Very RareNo. Appearing: 1d4Size: MediumMove: 21"Armor Class: 2Hit Dice: 5-12Attacks: 1Damage: 2d8 or by weapon type

56 Number 2

Special Attacks: spells, fear, sucking blood,surprise 5 in 6Special Defenses: hit by magical weapons onlyMagic Resistance: standardLair Probability: 65%Intelligence: average to super geniusAlignment: Chaotic Evil

Black Court vampires are the stereotypicalundead that comes to mind when one thinksvampire. They appear as humanoids whoseflesh is decayed and/or dried, more closelyresembling a skeleton than anything else. Olderones who have lost their flesh will be mistakenfor skeletons if it weren't for their milky whiteeyes and a few remaining organs—the brainand the heart.

They have the weaknesses that the standardvampire has: sunlight, which kills new blackvampires (5-6 HD) in 1 round and harms mostothers for 2d8 damage per round. The mostancient and powerful black vampires (11-12HD) can withstand broad daylight with littleinconvenience. Holy water does 2d6 hpdamage per vial that splashes upon thevampire. Running water will kill the vampire ifthe monster is immersed in the water for 3rounds. Garlic deals 1d4 damage to a blackvampire. If a black vampire is struck through theheart with wood or decapitated, it dies.Otherwise, they can be harmed only by +1weapons or higher, while +2 weapons will beneeded to harm black vampires of 9 HD orgreater.

Due to the fact that most people believe thatholy symbols, garlic, and wooden stakes killvampires, and most think there is only one typeof vampire, the numbers of black vampireshave declined, while the population of red andwhite vampires, which aren't harmed by suchweapons, has increased. The black vampiresthat remain are usually either the oldest andstrongest, or the newest ones that haverecently been created.

In combat, black vampires seek to attack frombehind with total surprise. If that is not possible,they send their minions (controlled mortals orweaker black vampires) into direct combatwhile waiting for a better opportunity. Fivepercent are spell-casters (65% magic-user, 15%

cleric, 10% illusionist, 10% druid). Their spell-casting level is the same as their hit dice.

The process by which Black Court vampiresproduce new vampires is unknown; all that isknown is that it involves killing the prospectivevampire. Newly formed black vampires arestronger than the other courts, having 5 HD.

In combat they prefer to bite (2d8 hp damage)and on subsequent rounds automatically drainblood at 2d8 hp per round.

Black vampires' lairs are inside of buildings,underground, or in any dark place where thesun will not shine. They are usually found in poordistricts as the food supply is plentiful and theability to strike back is less. They can functionduring daylight hours but will not risk exposureto sunlight.

All references have been made to vampires inthe form of humans, and humans being turnedinto vampires. However, sages report that anydemi-human or humanoid race can be turned,although this is less common.

Author's Note: This article is not authorized byJim Butcher, the author of The Dresden Files.The terms "Dresden Files", "Red Court", "WhiteCourt", and "Black Court" are the intellectualproperty of Mr. Butcher and publication of thisarticle is not intended to infringe upon his rights.As per instructions on his web site, this article ispublished under the Common Core License.

Mr. Butcher's Dresden Files web site ishttp://www.jim-butcher.com/books/Dresdenand the Creative Commons License site ishttp://creativecommons.org/

Number 2 57

Friend or Foe: Ajari, Kenku-Lichby Andrew Hamilton

Description & PowersAn old kenku with magical abilities beyondthose of his ken, Ajari had the misfortune totinker in the wrong arch-mage's laboratory,inadvertently exposing himself to a potiondeveloped by that arch-mage in an effort toachieve lichdom. Ajari's magic-userexperience and his supernatural natureenabled him to survive the transformation, andhe is now a weird blend of kenku and lich.When the arch-mage discovered what Ajarihad done and sought to destroy him inretaliation, the kenku-lich survived theencounter due to his magic resistance and atimely claw attack that paralyzed the arch-mage.

Ajari has been a lich for less than 2 decades,and in his natural form he retains feathers andthe look of a living kenku. His eyes are shrunkenand hollow, though, and his feathers are brittleunless he takes time to protect them with alotion. His feathers have turned from a steel-blue and silver color (on the back and belly,respectively) to a dusty grey color, marking himas something distinct from normal kenku. Heretains the ability to fly, although he flies moreslowly and with less maneuverability than whenhe was a living being. It is likely that he will losethe natural ability to take flight in anotherdecade or so.

Ajari has the following spell-like abilities: ShapeChange (once per month for a 7-day period),Invisibility (unlimited duration), Call Lightning(once per day), and Confusion (once per day).In addition to his spell-like abilities, Ajari has thespell-casting abilities of a 4th-level magic-user(memorizing three 1st- and two 2nd-level spells).Ajari's commonly memorized spells includesome from the following list: (L1) Affect NormalFires, Charm Person, Dancing Lights, Grease,Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp, and Taunt; (L2)Audible Glamer, Bind, ESP, Fool's Gold, Irritation,Pyrotechnics, Web, and Wizard Lock.

Ajari's transformation to a lich has made himvery resistant to physical injury (base AC 0,

harmed only by +1 or better weapons) andgiven him a powerful supernatural aura thatmakes his claws and beak inflict grievousdamage (1d10 hit points damage per blow,and the target must save vs. paralyzation witheach blow). When he focuses his aura, hecauses fear in all creatures of 5 HD or less by hisvery presence.

He is immune to Sleep, Charm, Enfeeblement,Polymorph, cold, electricity, insanity, and deathspells/symbols.

As a result of his accidental transformation, Ajaridid not have an opportunity to plan for hisimmortality like most liches do. As a result, hedoes not have a secret, heavily wardeddungeon complex to skulk in and plan worlddomination from. Instead, Ajari travels fromplace to place, finding temporary refuge andmanipulating locals for a time before travelingon. He will fortify his dwelling as best he can,using Wizard Lock spells, physical traps, andcharmed or manipulated dupes. He will alsoattempt to select inaccessible locations (like acave in a cliff face) that are easily defended(or escaped) to use as safe holds.

Like most liches, Ajari prefers to work behind thescenes, but unlike most liches, he prefers to bea trickster, watching from an alternate shape atthe edge of events. He is cognizant of the factthat his magical abilities pale compared to trueliches, and he avoids clerics, fearing their abilityto turn undead. He retains his disguise ability(50%), and uses it in combination with his shape-change ability to walk amongst people.

His transformation has turned Ajari from awhimsical trickster into a mean-spirited one,and the pranks and tricks that he now pulls areintended to cause harm to others. He is notabove manipulating neighbors into a bloodfeud, instigating skirmishes betweenneighboring communities or kingdoms, luringadventurers to their dooms with false clues andtreasure maps, etc. However, Ajari is not asclever as he thinks he is, and intelligentadversaries can outsmart him.

58 Number 2

Ajari prefers to avoid physical confrontation,and if confronted his first instinct will be toretreat, using his powers to make an escape.Should escape prove impossible, or he has themeasure of his opponents and believes that hehas the advantage, Ajari will fight intelligentlyand deceitfully. If possible, he will send minions(preferably unknowing dupes) into the fray firstand then attempt to isolate a lone opponentand attack with surprise. When forced intocombat, a favorite technique is to grapple withlone foes and call lightning down upon them,relying on his immunity to electricity. Otherfavored techniques include using his flightability to drop a victim from a great height(preferably halflings and gnomes, who are niceand light). His lich-touch is more effective thanhis katana in combat, so he will attack withclaws and beak unless he is maintaining adisguise.

Ajari uses material wealth as a tool tomanipulate others, and values it only forentertainment. He has much higher regard formagical treasures, however, and seeks to gainpossession of them.

Using Ajari In PlayAjari would be a credible threat for a party inthe 3rd- to 7th-level range, or possibly higher ifAjari was able to make the right kind of allies.He could also fall under the influence of agreater power (such as a true lich) and be usedas an agent in some grander schemes.

In campaign play Ajari can be used as arecurring villain. The kenku-lich is not the type ofvillain who will be found waiting in the last roomof a heavily guarded dungeon complex.Instead, Ajari will try to get others to do his dirtywork or just cause trouble. He tends to workalone, trusting no one but manipulating smallgroups or hiring dupes whenever possible. Hisshape-change and disguise abilities are oftenused to misdirect authorities or power blocks.

He is the type who will manipulate guardsmen(perhaps impersonating an officer), paladins,and other adventurers into confronting theparty. Alternately, he might manipulate theparty into confronting a magic-user or cleric,

creating the confusion necessary to allow thekenku-lich to steal some magical item he hashis eye on. He will work behind the scenes toconfuse the party, trip them up, and send foesof all types at them. He would enjoymanipulating thieves' guilds, churches, andmagic-users, as well as stirring up humanoids(although he finds these to be a bit of a bluntinstrument).

An appropriate "first meeting" could take placeon the road as Ajari pilfers something from theadventurer's belongings after sneaking ininvisibly and using Affect Normal Fires to spooktheir horses. A similar ruse would work at an inn.Ajari would be interested in taking a magic-user's spell book or other magical items ofvarious types. He might also plant evidence (astolen item) on a PC in an effort to evadepursuit.

Greatly desiring to obtain magical items andlore, Ajari will often assume the identity of anadventurer before stealing something. He hasalso assumed the identity of an adventurer andstarted fights with soldiers, guardsmen andgood temples as a means of creatingdistractions (as simply watching the resultingchaos is fun).

Adventure HooksAs a trickster, Ajari has managed to make anumber of enemies, and he has developed afew favorite scams and ploys. The adventurersmight meet the kenku-lich, his dupes or hisvictims by happenstance or plan. The followingadventure hooks are examples of ways inwhich Ajari may enter the campaign.

Ajari has stolen a masterwork katana from anoble family (the Senhari Clan), and theyare very interested in getting it back (torestore their honor). Although he once hadthe opportunity to trade his katana for amagical weapon, he still uses the swordbecause obtaining it was one of his firstgreat scams. An accomplished samurai,Makoto Senhari, has been sent to retrievethe family's katana. Ajari hires the PCs asbodyguards once he learns that the samuraihas caught up to him.

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Ajari has run afoul of an evil organization,having stolen a powerful item (like a spellbook) and then manipulated a thieves'guild into trying to steal it, thus setting up theguild to take the fall for the crime. Now theenraged thieves are hunting Ajari, and theoriginal owner of the item, a powerfulmagic-user, has hired the PCs to hunt downthe thieves' guild, extract revenge, andrecover the spell book. Meanwhile, Ajariwatches from the shadows as he preparesto start his own thieves' guild.

His constant poking around has landed Ajariin hot water with a temple of a good deity,as he stole a holy relic. Needing to evadean order of paladins hot on his heels, thekenku-lich plants the item on the PCs to buysome time.

The kenku-lich became aware of a powerfulmagic item (DM's choice, but possibly aRing of Wishes), but it is hidden away in awell-guarded dungeon. Ajari arranges for a"treasure map" to fall into the hands of theparty, and then he shadows the party,allowing them to set off the traps, defeatthe guardians and brave the dangersbefore swooping in to steal the treasure.

DM's Note: If the DM is willing to incorporateelements of Oriental Adventures into his game,give Ajari wu-jen spells (such as Magic Missile,Ventriloquism, Wall of Fog, Warp Wood;Apparition, Bind, Fire Shuriken, Fog Cloud,Hypnotic Pattern, Misdirection, PhantasmalForce or Smoky Form), which makes him a moreunique opponent. In an Oriental Adventuressetting, Ajari will have non-weaponproficiencies including reading/writing,calligraphy, heraldry and the tea ceremony.

Ajari 's Personal Statistics:AC -3 (0 base)MV 6"/12" (MC: D)HD: 6Atts: 3 (claw/claw/beak) or 1 (weapon)Dmg: 1d10/1d10/1d10 + special or by weaponSA: spells, spell-like abilities, paralyzationSD: hit by +1 or better weapons, spell immunityMR: 30%

Intelligence: Average (13)Alignment: Neutral EvilSize: MPsionics: nilHP: 41Experience Point Value: 1,361 XP

Equipment:Katana (of quality, +1 to hit, stolen from asamurai), Ring of Protection +3, Bag of Beans,and a Wondrous Writing Set (described inOriental Adventures and used by Ajari tocommit many forgeries). In addition, he willnormally have 1 potion and 1 scroll (both ofsome useful effect), which he will not hesitate touse at an appropriate time.

Monk Shoes and Glovesby Bryan Fazekas

These shoes and gloves are created in setswhich cannot be divided. Each set consists oftwo shoes and two gloves – if any part of the setis damaged the remaining pieces loser theirdweomer and become mundane items.

Usable only by monks, these foot and hand-wareempower a monk's open hand attacks to damagecreatures damaged only by magical weapons.Some sets have no plus to hit or damage, but willenable the monk to effectively strike creaturesrequiring silver or +1 weapons to hit. Others havevarying pluses to hit and damage.

A further benefit is gained, for the wearer isprotected from some effects while striking. Thusa monk could use open hand attacks upon avampire without suffering energy drain, but if thevampire should strike him, normal draining wouldoccur.

Plus XP Value GP Value

+0 / +1 400 2,000

+2 800 4,000

+3 1,400 7,000

+4 2,000 10,000

+5 3,000 15,000

60 Number 2

The Toybox: Cursed AmuletsCursed Amulets vs. Undead

by & Magazine Staff

The Amulet Versus Undead is described inUnearthed Arcana, a very useful item for anyadventurer intent on plundering tombs andruins – particularly if the adventurer'scompanions do not include a cleric. Such auseful item may come with a price, for the darkforces that empower undead seek to protecttheir creations in subtle and insidious ways,including perverting the tools of Light & Good.One must be careful of items relied upon forprotection from the undead, as those itemsmay prove unreliable. As a case in point,following are four cursed versions of this amulet.

Amulet of Attracting UndeadInitially this amulet behaves exactly like anAmulet Versus Undead . However, after 2d4uses the amulet no longer functions as a turningdevice and instead attracts undead. From thispoint forward, any undead encountered willautomatically attack and preferentially targetthe possessor of the cursed amulet. Undeadwithin 300' of the bearer will move to attack thebearer, continuing to seek the bearer until theyfind him or the bearer moves out of the 300'range.

To be rid of this item a Remove Curse must becast to remove the amulet. A removed amuletloses all magic and melts into a pile of slag.

Amulet of Undead RisingThis amulet functions as an Amulet VersusUndead (of the 9th level); however there is a10% chance in any melee that the amulet willspontaneously cast an animate dead (at the9th level) animating as zombies any bodieswithin 3" of the amulet. Undead animated bythe amulet are immune to the turning effect ofthe amulet. It has been reported that somefew of these amulets produce stronger undead,including ghouls, ghasts, wights, and vampires.

Amulet of Undead BerserkingThis amulet function as a normal Amulet VersusUndead (of the 7th level) – with one exception.If a turning attempt fails, the undead will bedriven into a berserk rage, attacking the amuletowner and anyone between them. Berserkundead gain a +2 bonus to hit and +2 on eachdamage die. Unintelligent undead will attackuntil they or the bearer are destroyed.Intelligent undead will attack with fury for 1d4+1rounds – at that time a successful saving throwvs. Death will allow them to flee if they are indanger of being destroyed.

Some amulets will induce a hyper berserk rage,granted an additional attack sequence eachround.

Amulet of UndeathThis amulet functions exactly like a normalAmulet Versus Undead and no method ofdetection will show that it anything else. Theonly difference is that in a hidden compartmentwill be a small bit of ash from a burned undead.

Should the bearer be slain while wearing theamulet they will rise in 3 days as an undead ofhit dice similar to the character's level ofexperience.

The newly risen undead will seek out its formercompanions with the intent to slay them. If onewears the amulet he will be targeted first.

If the slain character is raised from the deadbefore rising as undead, they will appearnormal. During the following week they willbegin to take on characteristics similar to theundead they are transforming into.

Unless a Remove Curse is cast before theseventh night the afflicted character willtransform into an undead at midnight.

Number 2 61

Spell Caster's Paradise: Affecting UndeadThis monthly column features new spells.

Corpse FireAlteration, NecromancyLevel: Magic-User 2/Cleric 2Components: V, S, MRange: 3"Casting Time: 2Duration: 1d6 rounds + 1 round/levelSaving Throw: noneArea of Effect: 1 flame/6 levels

This spell magically alters a normal fire so thatthe fire only burns the dead or undead. Thespell is used in a number of ways, including foruse in funeral pyres (preventing the cremationof someone still living but magically suspended,for example), for use as a weapon againstundead, as a defense (using fires as barriers),and even as a test (requiring people to holdtheir hands in the flame before entering abuilding, as living creatures will be unharmedbut vampires and other undead will sufferharm).

The damage potential of the fire is notchanged by the spell (so a torch continues tocause normal damage), but the magic of thespell allows the flame to harm any undeadcreature, regardless of whether the creature isnormally only harmed by magical weapons or ifthey are immaterial.

The material component of this spell is a bit ofbone and ash (for a magic-user) or the cleric'sholy symbol.

Source: Andrew Hamilton

Baerden's Pain RemovalType: abjurationLevel: Cleric 3Components: V, SRange: touchCasting Time: 3 segmentsDuration: permanentSaving Throw: noneArea of Effect: special

When this spell is cast the caster relieves himselfof the effects of an attack involving pain, suchas a Symbol of Pain. This removes restriction onattacks and restores hit points lost because tothe pain. In addition the cleric can pass on thebenefits to 1 creature for every 3 levels ofexperience. Note that this spell cannot be castbeforehand, as it affects only existing pain.

Source: Bryan Fazekas

Quiet DeadNecromanticLevel: Cleric 3Components: V, S, MRange: touchCasting Time: 6 segmentsDuration: see belowSaving Throw: noneArea of Effect: see below

This spell prevents any dead being from beinganimated as undead, or rising as undead. Thequiet dead spell has two applications, onetemporary and one permanent. In thetemporary application, the spell may be cast asan area effect spell (1" radius/level) with alimited duration (1 round/level). Thisapplication is intended to prevent the AnimateDead spell being used on a battlefield,neutralizing the powers of necromancers andsome supernatural creatures.

The permanent application of the spell affectsone or more corpses (1 corpse per 6 levels ofthe caster). This application prevents, for alltime, the corpse from being animated asundead or rising as undead if, for example, thepersons had been slain by shadows or wights.

If cast on a being that is already undead, theQuiet Dead spell has no effect.

Source: Andrew Hamilton

62 Number 2

Return to the EarthNecromanticLevel: Druid 3Components: V, S, MRange: touchCasting Time: 6 segmentsDuration: 1 round/levelSaving Throw: 1/2 damageArea of Effect: 1" diameter/level

This spell allows druids to counter the unnaturalstate of undead by bringing the natural forcesof decay to bear against any corporealundead within the area of effect, essentiallycausing them to rot away and be incorporatedinto the soil, supporting the next generation oflife. The spell may only be cast while on anatural surface (grass, field, cave floor, but notpavement or a tile floor).

In appearance, the spell has some similarities toEntangle, as vegetation will attempt toentangle the undead. Soil will also seem toreach up and touch the undead, and insectswill appear and begin crawling all over theundead. As the undead takes damage, theyappear to crumble and rapidly rot, losing massas the spell takes effect. Despite the apparentsimilarity to Entangle, movement is not restricted(although combining this spell with Entanglecan be extremely effective).

Corporeal undead suffer 1d4 hp of damageper round, +1 point/3 levels of the druid(rounded down), although a successful savingthrow vs. Death Magic will reduce the damageby half. A saving throw must be made eachround.

The material component is holly or oak leaves.

Source: Andrew Hamilton

Cloak of LightConjuration/SummoningLevel: Cleric 4Components: V, S, MRange: touchCasting Time: 6 segmentsDuration: 1 round/levelSaving Throw: n/aArea of Effect: one person

This clerical spell wraps the recipient in a cloakof bright white light, providing increaseddefenses against the undead. First, andperhaps most important, while protected bythe spell the cleric receives a saving throw vsDeath Magic at +2 when struck by an energydrain attack. The save is granted even insituation where there normally is no savingthrow.

When turning undead, the cleric receives a +2bonus to their turning rolls. The light from thecloak is intense enough to temporarily negatedarkness effects within a 15' radius of therecipient (not dispel, the darkness effect willresume if the cloaked individual moves out ofthe darkness area of effect), and providesillumination in a 4" radius.

Lastly, the intense light provides the cleric with a+1 to hit & damage against undead, whileundead suffer a -1 penalty to hit, damage andinitiative when in melee with the cloak wearer.

The material component of the spell is thecleric's holy symbol.

Source: Andrew Hamilton

CorporealityAbjuration, NecromanticLevel: Cleric 4Components: V, S, MRange: 4"Casting Time: 7 segmentsDuration: 1 round/levelSaving Throw: negatesArea of Effect: one undead

This spell allows a cleric to force a non-corporeal undead creature into a corporealform. This effectively severs any ties thecreature may have with another plane. Theeffects are two-fold. First the undead's ACbecomes 8 and it may be attacked with non-magical weapons. Second, powers such aslevel draining or magic jar (powers associatedwith non-corporeality or extra-planarconnections) are non-functional for theduration of the spell. The spell will force avampire out of its gaseous form and into acorporeal form or prevent it from takinggaseous form for the duration of the spell.

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The undead suffers a -1 penalty to its savingthrow vs. Spells for every 4 levels of the cleric(rounded down).

The material component of the spell is thecleric's holy symbol. This spell is only availableto those faiths capable of turning undead.

Source: Andrew Hamilton

Transmute Water To BloodType: alterationReversibleLevel: Cleric 5Components: V, S, MRange: 3"Casting Time: 8 segmentsDuration: permanentSaving Throw: noneArea of Effect: 1 cubic ft/level

When a cleric casts this spell 1 cubic foot ofwater per level is transformed into blood. Thisblood is human or demi-human in nature, i.e. itis red blood. At the sight and smell of the blood,creatures with less than 4+1 hit dice must savevs. Paralyzation at -3 or flee for 3d6 rounds.Creatures of 4+1 hit dice or better savenormally. Note that this spell has no effect uponundead, extra-planar creatures, or non-intelligent monsters. A further note – manyanimal intelligence carnivores will actually bedriven into a frenzy by the sight and smell of theblood. These will attack at +2 to hit and +1damage per die.

The reverse of this spell is particularly nasty. Onecubic foot of blood per level is transformed intowater, or a single creature. The affectedcreature receives no saving throw, but a touchmust be scored in combat. Damage is inflicteddepending upon the size of the victim. All livingcreatures with red blood suffer damageaccording to size:

Size Damage (hp)

S 1d8+3/level

M 1d8+2/level

L 1d8+1/level

Victims who suffer damage equal to more thanhalf their total hp act as if slowed and inflict halfnormal damage due to weakness. This lasts6d8 turns. The material component is a drop ofblood or a drop of water for the reverse.

Source: Bryan Fazekas

Susafras' PosiboltType: conjuration/summoningLevel: Magic User 6Components: V, S, MRange: 0Casting Time: 7 segmentsDuration: instantaneousSaving Throw: 1/2Area of Effect: 1"x2" stroke

This spell creates a link between the caster andthe Positive Material Plane. The caster drawsenergy and releases it as a stroke 1" wide and2" long. All creatures in the area sustain 1d6+1points of damage for every 2 levels ofexperience. Failure to save indicates that allitems carried by victims must save vs. Lightningor be destroyed. Creatures connected with theNegative Material Plane suffer double damagewith no save allowed. A tentacle of a xag-ya isrequired.

The Archmage Susafras produced a secondspell of similar but opposite qualities, theNegabolt. This version of the spell creates a linkbetween the caster and the Negative MaterialPlane, but is otherwise identical to the Posibolt.Creatures connected with the Positive MaterialPlane take double damage with no savingthrow allowed. The material component is atentacle of a xeg-yi.

Source: Bryan Fazekas

64 Number 2

One Page Dungeon: SkeletonsBy Andrew Hamilton

This column features an adventure which covers the front and back of 1 sheet.

Over a decade ago, a powerful necromanceranimated an army of skeletons and marchedthat army into the lair of a green dragon. Thegreen dragon exhausted its breath weapon,destroying scores of the skeletons, and then fellto the skeletal onslaught and necromancer'smagic. After selectively looting the dragon'shorde, the necromancer left, leaving behind hisskeletal army.

1) The ClearingScores of skeletons now lie dormant in a largeforest meadow. The meadow and surroundingwoods are completely silent, with no signs ofanimal life anywhere. As the result of thepresence of scores of undead, and some of theresidual effects of the magic used by thenecromancer, the clearing radiates faintnecromantic magic, and animates any deadcreature that lies within its boundaries in 1d4hours of the creature being slain or the bodybrought into the clearing. However, should anyliving creature larger than a rabbit enter themeadow, the skeletons rise up and convergeupon that creature.

DM's Notesa) The undead statistics are determined usingthe Animate Dead spell guidance in the DMG(page 41).

b) Note that turning is only successful once percleric against this group of undead as they aretechnically all the same type, skeletons (DMGpage 65). Turning affects the lowest hit dicecreatures first, so the scores of bird, rabbit,weasel, squirrel, etc. skeletons will likely bedispelled or turned, leaving the larger skeletonsfor the adventurers to face.

c) The clearing is considered to be an evil area(DMG page 66) and all turning attempts aremade at a -2 die roll penalty.

General Skeleton Stat Block: AC 7; MV 15"; SD1/2 damage from edged & piercing weapons,immune to sleep, charm, poison; MR Standard;AL N.

Tiny Skeletons (rabbits, birds, squirrels, etc.) (x53) (HD 1/4, hp 1 each, Atts 1, Dmg 1, 10 xpeach)

Deer Skeletons (x 6) (HD 1, hp 6 each, Atts 1,Dmg d4, 24 xp each)

Human/Elf Skeletons (x 15) (HD 1, hp 6 each,Atts 1, Dmg d6, 24 xp each)

Dog/Wolf Skeletons (x 8) (HD 2, hp 11 each, Atts1, Dmg d6, 58 xp each)

Cow Skeletons (x 7) (HD 2, hp 9 each, Atts 2,Dmg d4 (x 2), 54 xp each)

Gnoll Skeletons (x 9) (HD 2, hp 10 each, Atts 1,Dmg d8, 56 xp each)

Wild Boar Skeletons (x 4) (HD 3, hp 14 each, Atts1, Dmg 2d4, 107 xp each)

Mountain Lion Skeleton (x 1) (HD 4, hp 19, Atts 3,Dmg d6 (x 3), 186 xp)

Moose Skeletons (x 2) (HD 4, hp 19 each, Atts 2,Dmg d6 (x 2), 186 xp each)

Brown Bear Skeletons (x 2) (HD 5, hp 24 each.Atts 3, Dmg d6 (x 3), 290 xp each)

A careful search of the clearing will also findsome treasure that was carried by the humansand gnolls who died in the clearing (66 ep and128 gp).

2) The Cave EntranceShould the party get within 20' of the entranceto the dragon's lair (a burrow dug into theground), a green dragon skeleton will emergeand join the attack.

Green Dragon Skeleton (x 1): AC 7; HD 9; HP42; MV 15"; ATK 3; Dmg 1d6/1d6/2d10; SA n/a;SD 1/2 damage from edged & piercing

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weapons; immune to sleep; charm; poison; MRStandard; AL N; Size L; XP 1,764.

3) The Hoard CaveThe residual dragon's horde is large in size, butlow in value, as the necromancer claimed themost valuable items. The remaining treasurepile consists of 18,948 cp and 9,462 sp. Mixed inwith the treasure hoard are skeletal remains ofhumanoid creatures, bits of rusted and brokenarmor & weapons, some cloth scraps andleather, and other bits of valueless trash. Someof the skeletal remains are animate, and willattack.

Crawling Claws (x 23) AC 7; HD 1/2 ; HP 3 each;MV 9"; ATK 1; Dmg 1d4 vs armored foes; 1d6 vsunarmored foes; SA leap 15'; SD 1/2 damagefrom edged weapons; no damage bonus whenstruck by magical weapons; immune to control

undead; turning; & holy water; SW cold makesthem brittle; suffer +1 damage from meleeweapons; MR Standard; AL N; Size S; XP 16each.

DM's NotesThe crawling claws represent any partial pieceof skeleton that could conceivably move andattack, such as a damaged ribcage scuttlinglike a spider, a skull rolling to attack with a bite,etc.

Dread (x 6) AC 6; HD 3+3; HP 17 each; MV6"/14" (MC:B); ATK 1; Dmg 1d4 or by weapon;SA n/a; SD immune to sleep; hold & charm;immune to cold; 1/2 damage from edged orpiercing weapons; immune to shatter;disintegration; polymorph; SW turned as ashadow; MR Standard; AL N; Size S; XP 228each.

66 Number 2

Featured Fiction: An ErrandBy Nicole Massey

Each issue features a short fantasy themed fiction.

PrologueThe man shivered in the cold. He looked downat his mostly bare body, the bruises from thestrong man who accosted him covering hisarms, chest, and legs. Though he was notseriously harmed, he would have to walk agreat distance to the monastery to get anotherrobe and boots. What would make such a mando something like this? The shaken cleric triedto forget the look of the brutish man's face, hisangry sneer and haunted eyes. And he tried toforget that throughout the entire beating theman never uttered a single sound.

With a shiver and a sneeze he stood up, feelingthe dread of a cold coming on. Nothing for itnow: It was either walk or die. So he walked,trying not to notice that his throat was gettingsore and his sneezes were coming more often.

1Mikhail the ferryman pulled on the rope. Hishands burned with the effort as the roughhempen cord cut into them. With luck he'd geta passenger who could pay him enough to getsome new gloves made. He dreamed of nicecalfskin gloves, ones with thick pads in the palmand across the insides of the fingers. Thosewould last so long, and he wouldn't go homewith blood on his hands every day.

As he pulled the ferry across the river the mistsfaded, and he saw one person, with the bodilyshape of a man, standing there. Let it be ahuman, not an orc. Orcs never paid well, andsome didn't pay at all. Elves and dwarves paidwell, but this person was too tall to be a dwarfand too bulky to be an elf.

As he pulled, the ferry started to buck slightly, asit always did when the water became shallowand the current uncertain. But this meant a restwhile the passengers got on. Well, the restwould be short today, with only one man.

Mikhail sighed as the man came on board, hisfootsteps sure and strong. He wore heavywoolen trousers, thick sturdy boots with furinside and forming a cuff on top, and a coarserobe with a hood pulled up around his head.His face was hidden inside the hood, and hishands bore gloves, thick and dark, but worn abit.

Mikhail said, "Welcome," but the stranger didn'tspeak; he just nodded his head. Mikhailreached for the rope to pull the ferry across, butthe stranger reached down, and with strongpowerful pulls forced the ferry back into thecurrent. The ferry bucked and resisted for amoment at such rough treatment, but theconstant pulls of the stranger settled it into arhythm.

Mikhail reached for the rope to help out, butthe stranger shook his head and pointed to theferryman's damaged hands. Mikhail said,"Thank you, kind sir," and then sat down tocatch his breath.

In what seemed like no time, the ferry wasacross the river and touching the dock. Thestranger spiked the rope and walked to Mikhail.He reached down, placed two coins in Mikhail'shands, and strode off the ferry, his steps sureand resolute.

No one waited at the dock, so Mikhail keptresting. It was good to sit down and work thesoreness out of his arms. But first he lookeddown at the coins in his hand, and startedwhen he saw them. They were gold, old andslightly tarnished, but of great value. He wouldafford his gloves after all. He looked into themist at the docks and said, "Thank you, kind sir."

2Erina looked about the dining room. It wasalmost up to her standards, but she would haveto chastise the servants once more, as theflowers on the table and sideboard were notfresh, and the rug needed beating before

Number 2 67

tonight's company. But at least this was farbetter than what she'd dealt with in the past.

Pavel, her husband, came in and took off hisceremonial robes. As the high priest of Enki, hehad great power and influence, and manypeople waited for his every word. Tonight's balland banquet were an example of that: Folksfrom all of the major races in Phaten would bein attendance, and if all went well newalliances would be forged over her dining tableand in her ballroom.

Pavel said, "Good day, my love. How go thepreparations?"

She knew his statements of love were mereformalities, as he was not what you would call aloving man, but she didn't mind. She'd had lovebefore, and you couldn't eat it or use it to keepthe chill out of your bones.

Erina frowned. "I think we need to find somebetter servants, husband. These still aren't takingcare of things in the way that befits our station."

He nodded. "Will they do for tonight?"

"They'll have to, I'm afraid. But I need to build afire under them to make sure things are perfect.Look at those flowers and at that rug. It'sdisgraceful."

He nodded, and said, "I'm sure you can getthem motivated, my love. I'll leave it to you. Ihave to go into town to meet with Duke Entmosof Forna. He requested a meeting regardingthe disposition of one of his sons."

Erina nodded. "May Enki bless your feet,husband. I plan to have things ready for tonightlong before you return."

As she heard her husband leave the room shecalled out, "Euquora! Neandes! Prolival! Comein here this instant!"

Ah, the duties of a lady of quality were neverending, but at least they were better thanbeing the wife of a craftsman.

3Pavel returned four hours later, smiling. TheDuke was an ambitious man, and with his son inPavel's entourage there were possibilities foreven more improvement in Pavel's station. He

entered his room, sent for his valet, Borrin, andgot into his bath to get ready for the balltonight.

As he soaked in the hot perfumed water herelaxed. Things were going well, and his wifewas a big part of it. She was beautiful, sobeautiful that men stopped speaking when shecame into the room and women looked at herwith jealousy. It was a waste for her to be awoodworker's wife, and Pavel's way of resolvingthat problem left her with her honor intact andable to marry again with no scandal. It wasartful, to be sure. And now she was his. All thingshe desired became his in time, and that washow it should be, he thought. Life was good.

After dressing he went downstairs to greet hisguests. As the house filled up his satisfactiongrew. Duke Fingal of house Kestral was alsothrowing a ball tonight, but the quality ofPavel's guests spoke volumes about how heranked in comparison to the duke. His smile wasgenuine.

It was much later after the dancing, the manyremoves of the meal, and some interesting talkamongst the men while Erina and the otherwomen were entertained by artists andmusicians, that he got a feeling that somethingwas wrong. There was a slight uneasy feeling, apresentiment of doom, and he couldn't figureout what was causing it. Even as his guests leftin their gilded carriages late in the evening thereason for the discomfort was hidden from him.As Erina directed the servants in clean-up dutieshe kissed her on the cheek and said, "My love,I'm going to take a walk in the garden. I won'tbe long."

She nodded, then directed one of the maids towash the big tureen again as it wasn't cleanenough to pass the lady of the house's exactinginspection.

4As Pavel walked through the garden, a trail ofan exotic pipeweed blend issuing from his pipe,he couldn't shake the feeling that somethingwas wrong. It was this niggling feeling of doom,a slight pressure behind him, like someone waswalking up behind him that meant him harm.He admired the beautiful flowers and attractive

68 Number 2

sculpture, pausing for a while to soak up therestful sound of the large marble fountain, buteven that soothing sound, one that was alwaysthe best way to calm his nerves, failed to relaxhim.

As he entered the house he saw the dishesdrying in racks in the kitchen, passed throughthe now clean dining room and ballroom, andmade his way up the stairs to his room. Henoticed the light coming out of the keyhole inErina's room, but decided to let her bask in hertriumph of the night. His unsettled nerves wouldserve her no good and just rob her of some ofher victory.

Borrin awaited him in his room, and afterhelping him to get undressed, said, "Are youthrough with me tonight, master?" in his low andraspy basso.

Pavel said, "Yes, I'm going to read for a whilebefore retiring. You may go. Remember I havean early day tomorrow."

"Yes, sir. And thank you. Very nice partytonight."

"Thank you, Borrin."

Borrin backed out of the room and secured thedoor, and Pavel heard his manservant'sdistinctive limp going down the hall and thendown the stairs to his quarters located at theother end of the vast house.

Pavel sat down to read, but couldn'tconcentrate. Then he looked up to see a figurestanding in the door of his closet: a tall andbroad body dressed in a robe and coarsetrousers with heavy boots and dark gloves.

In a breathy rasp, more a whisper than a voice,he heard the figure say, "High priest PavelRober of House Nemmos, Member of the Orderof the Sun and Staff, and murderer of TobinWeatherchaser, prepare to meet justice."

The man removed his gloves to reveal handsbony and gnarled, not more than skin coveringbone and ligament and tendon. The right handpushed back the hood to reveal the face ofTobin Weatherchaser, his hair and beardtangled and matted and his eyes fierce.

5Pavel clutched the holy symbol he always woreand said in his best stentorian, service-leadingvoice, "In the name of the great god Enki Icommand you to begone, wraith!"

His voice like stones grating on wheat hulls,Tobin chuckled and said, "Your god won'tintervene in our business, murderer. This is justbetween you and me."

Tobin's hand shot out and grabbed Pavel bythe throat. The revenant said, "Speak now, andmake your peace with your deeds. You don'thave long, murderer."

Pavel gasped, "I did it for Erina. She deservedbetter than life as a craftsman's drudge."

"Liar. I know why you did it. I know everything.Confess anything you need to before going tothe judgment you so richly deserve, murderer.I'll deal with my former wife after I'm done withyou."

Pavel sagged. This creature of death wasimplacable. He felt the grip slowly tightening onhis neck.

Pavel said, "I have nothing to confess."

Tobin said, "Then die, murderer!"

Pavel struggled as Tobin's other hand reachedup and encircled his throat. He kicked andswore and tried to break free, but Tobin's handswould not be moved. The edges of his visionstarted to go black as sight narrowed into atunnel.

With his last breath Pavel, High Priest of Enki,said, "I'm sorry."

Tobin twisted his hands, and a crack rang out inthe room as Pavel's neck snapped. Tobin tookthe body of his murderer and laid it by thefireplace, stoked up the fire, and tossed it in.

He rasped out, "One down, one to go."

6Erina looked down at Nordack, her currentfavorite among the artists. He was so young, soinnocent of the things life would steal from him,and so idealistic. That is why she liked him, andwhy she risked trysting with him even though her

Number 2 69

husband could cast a spell and find out abouther infidelity. But Pavel was always so cold, andshe needed the fire of the passion of the youngartisans. No matter how much she valuedPavel's influence and station, she always missedthe passion Tobin roused in her.

She kissed Nordack, then said, "You must go, mylove. We can't let my husband see you here inthe morning."

The ash-haired painter moaned and rolled outof her bed, then started putting on his tights,boots, and doublet.

Erina heard a thump in her husband's room.With fear in her voice, she said, "Hurry, lover, getaway before he finds you or you'll not live thisnight through."

Nordack grabbed his cloak and belt and kissedher once more on the lips before saying, "It waslovely as always, my beloved. Till we meetagain, your kiss will be on my lips."

He slipped out of the door and down the stairs,and moments later she heard him leave thehouse through the door under her balcony. Sheglanced out the window and watched himmake his way through the garden.

She turned and saw a man-sized shape behindher. She said, "What is it, husband, can't sleep?"

The grating rasp made her breath catch. Itwasn't Pavel's smooth baritone.

"I'll sleep soon now, my wife. And so will you."

She spun about, then felt her voice catch in herthroat. Tobin. He looked horrible. And Helooked angry, with a fury she'd never dreamt hiskind face could hold.

Tobin said, "Lady Erina Fessal WeatherchaserNemmos, murderess, I stand here to bring youjustice between us. You collaborated with yourrecently deceased husband, High Priest of EnkiPavel of House Nemmos, to murder me. I amhere to deliver your doom."

Erina bowed her head. She knew the lore, andshe knew she couldn't escape her husband.

As Tobin stepped forward she said, "Tobin, Inever stopped loving you."

Tobin stopped in his tracks and said, "You speaktrue."

Erina nodded. "Please, in honor of my love foryou, make it quick. I surrender myself to yourjustice. I have wronged you, wronged you withso great a wound I can never repay it but withmy life."

Tobin said, "You did not love him."

It was a statement, not a question, but Erinatreated it like one. "No, of course not. He wasice to your fire. I have sought warmth frommany men to try and recapture what youshowed me."

Tobin stepped toward her. "Then why?"

"You're a revenant; you know the answer. Youknow everything about my mind and heart, orso the legends say."

"Say it."

"Because I wanted power and influence, andyou couldn't give that to me. So I had tocollaborate with Pavel to have you killed.Everyone thinks he's such a good man, with hisdonations to help the orphans and his work tohelp the disadvantaged. But I know his heart,and it's all a show. He does it because he knowsit'll make him look good. But he never felt onething for anyone. Did you know I was just like aprized piece of artwork to him, somethingbeautiful to look at?"

"Yes." Tobin's response was soft, almost human.

Erina said, "So go ahead, release me from themisery of the lie I live. After losing two husbandsno one will take me again, at least no one ofquality. And all he owns really belongs to thechurch. So I have nothing now, except mybeauty. And without money and influencebeauty is only good for the brothels. So takeyour justice, and free me from all of this. Just bequick."

"No."

Erina's head snapped up. "What?"

"You speak truth, my former wife. And a quickdeath would be merciful. Though I once lovedyou, I feel nothing but the rage for vengeancenow, and so I cannot give you the easy wayout."

70 Number 2

Erina fought back the tears. She said, "Youwould leave me to be a … a whore, a keptwoman? Someone who had it all and now hasto grovel in the dirt with memories of what Ionce had?"

Tobin smiled. "Haven't you been doing thatalready? Goodbye."

Tobin reached his arms up and then shivered,and the clothes fell to the floor, bone dustspilling out of sleeves and pant legs. Erina sawher fate before her, clear and uncertain, and

she could no longer staunch the tears. Herpower, influence, and station melted awaybefore her eyes, and with it any hope of thelove she'd known from her first husband alsowent with it. She was doomed, and there wasno release.

She tried to compose herself, and fighting backthe sorrow she recited the old saying, "Thejustice of a revenant is always most cruel, andmost just."

For Further ReadingThis monthly column offers reading suggestions for dungeon masters and players alike. This willinclude books, magazines, web sites, and anything else that might be of interest.

Dragonsfoot has been publishing free O/AD&D materials for nearly 10 years. This thread on theirforum, which does not require a membership to read, lists their materials. Warning – it's long,currently 27 pages! New Releases at Dragonsfoot:http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12490

A revised system for Clerics Turning Undead was printed in Dragonsfoot's Footprints Issue #7.

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/php4/archive.php?sectioninit=FT&fileid=175

The author revised the article, augmenting the turning table up to cleric level 30. This revised articleis hosted on his web site – click on Articles in the menu.

http://www.bkfazekas.com/add/

The Delver's Dungeon hosts an AD&D forum and materials.

http://www.thedelversdungeon.com/

Rended Press maintains an up-to-date list of Old School Zines

http://rendedpress.blogspot.com/p/old-school-zines.html

The FirstEditdionDND Yahoo! Group is another resource for AD&D. The moderator, Vince, does agood job of keeping spam out of the posts.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FirstEditonDND/

Number 2 71

Map 2By Andrew Hamilton

Stay tuned for & Issue #3:Nautical Adventures!

Coming in November 2012!This issue may include:

Island Hopping, Running a Ship-Based CampaignYo Ho Ho, Buccaneers and Pirates in Fantasy

Random Ship Wreck GenerationSea Hag's Lair

Sirens

Coming in February 2013, Issue #4:Classes and Multi-Classes

Magic User Apprentices and AssistantsMercenary Companies

Spontaneous Spell CastingA New Take on Cure Spells

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