Constant Changesn a year of dramatic changes for TSR, Wizards of the Coast,and the game industry as a whole, it’s easy to become

blase about the relatively minor changes that come along withthe big ones. Put a hundred small changes together, however,and you have something pretty spectacular. You’ve alreadystarted seeing the results of those little changes in these pages,and next month we add the finishing touches to give you afine-tuned DRAGON® Magazine.

Don’t worry: We aren’t relaunching the magazine all overagain. From what you’ve told us through letters, email, andconversations at conventions, about 90% of the 1996relaunch has been just right. Now we’re concentrating on thatfinal 10%, and here’s what you can expect to see.

Many of you have asked for interviews with your favoriteauthors, game designers, and artists. Starting next month, we’llend each issue with “ProFiles,” a short interview with one of themost popular creators of fantasy fiction, games, and artwork.Our first chat is with Margaret Weis, who really needs no intro-duction here.

Another common request has been to expand our role-playing games reviews, so we’re adding a new section to RickSwan’s “Roleplaying Reviews.” In it, Lester Smith returns toDRAGON Magazine with his own “Re:Views” section, focusing onsmall-press or lesser-known games that might not have madeit to your local game store.

While we’ll remain devoted first to players of the AD&Dgame, Dungeon Masters will get some extra attention eachmonth in a new DM’s advice column written by Peter Adkison,the man who liked AD&D so much he bought the company.“Out of Character” features tips and suggestions drawn fromPeters many years of gaming experience.

DRAGON Magazine isn’t the only thing to benefit from theresults of this years changes. As the newly appointed TSRProduct Group Manager, Bill Slavicsek tells us, “For the first time,at least in my experience at TSR, the responsibility and creativecontrol are in the hands of the brand managers. That’s going tomake for better product.”

While there’s no official decision to start work on the thirdedition of the AD&D game, Bill also points out, “In 1998, we’reconcentrating on setting material for the AD&D game—productsthat remain useful even in the event of a third edition.”

AD&D is certainly the biggest TSR product, but it isn’t alonein receiving a great deal of attention. As many devoted fans ofthe GREYHAWK® setting might already have read, that classiccampaign returns next summer, right after the new ALTERNITY™science fiction game hits the stores. Fans of the FORGOTTENREALMS®, PLANESCAPE®, and RAVENLOFT® settings won’t be over-looked, and the BIRTHRIGHT® campaign will enjoy a relaunch inlate summer. DRAGONLANCE® fans—both players of the SAGA™system and the AD&D game—will be pleased to know that thesetting will support both games next year.

Other TSR projects for the year include a new incarnation ofthe MARVEL SUPERHEROES® roleplaying game, this time driven bythe story-oriented SAGA system, as well as a few surprises thatwe’re announce in coming months. Keep an eye on the TSRPreviews” section in these pages for more information as itcomes out.

One thing doesn’t change for TSR or for DRAGON Magazine,and that’s that we won’t stop changing. As ever, let us knowwhat you think, and chances are good that we’ll do muchmore than simply read your letter.

Dave Gross

Publisher Editor Associate Editor Art DirectorPierce Watters Dave Gross Chris Perkins Larry Smith

Editorial Assistant Advertising Director Production Manager Advertising Manager Subscriptions ManagerJesse Decker Bob Henning Roger Mangelson Judy Smitha Sharon Whiting

Printed in the USA

DRAGON #242 3

December 1997Volume XXII, No. 5Issue #242

Laws of Spell DesignTed ZuvichDesigning new spells has alwaysbeen tricky business, until now.Page 22

The Magic ofKrynn Reborn!

Stephen KensonMagic is back in the Fifth Age

of the DRAGONLANCE® campaign.Page 32

Mage ConstructionMichael LambertSpellcasters can make the bestmasons and carpenters withouteven dirtying their hands.Page 40

Learn MoreAbout Magic

Lachlan MacQuarrieOnce you’ve succeeded at Spellcraft 101,

where do you turn next?Page 44

Jest theWizards ThreeEd GreenwoodA few little magics from thewizards of Faerûn and Oerth.Page 48

4 DECEMBER 1997

Columns

Wyrms ofthe NorthEd GreenwoodShocking secrets revealed about“The Dragon of the Statues.”Page 54

Bazaar of the BizarreBruce SchmidtDrizzt Do’Urden isn’t the only onewith one of the “Magical Allies.”Page 72

Arcane LoreLloyd BrownMorion the Bard has invented hisown repertoire of “Spells of Sightand Sound.”Page 76

Dragon�s BestiaryBruce SchmidtThe wizards of the Arcane Ageleft a legacy of “Talisman Servants.”Page 82

Ecology of . . .Johnathan M. RichardsThe secret lives of the patch workmonsters known as “Mongrelmen.”Page 86

3 ..................... The Wyrm’s Turn™It looks as though 1998 will be a very good year.

6........................................... D-Mail™Article ideas, corrections, and suggestions.

8 .............................................. ForumContinuing discussions and new arguments.

16 ............................... Sage AdviceAnswers to your conundrums concerning poly-morphed creatures, elven resistances, and more.

96 ............................ Bookwyrms™Suggested reading for roleplayers.

96 ............................... Cons & ProsComing soon to a town near you.

108 .......... Roleplaying ReviewsFantasy sourcebooks, ripe for the plundering.

120 ................ The Current ClackAll the news that’s fit to print, and maybe somethat isn't.

Other Material98 ............. Knights of the Dinner Table™

100 ........................................... DragonMirth

102 ...................................... Gamer’s Guide

104 ......................................................... Floyd

116 ........................................... TSR Previews

62 In the BleakDeepwinterLynn AbbeyA lost story of theSimbul of Aglarondcomes to light.

DRAGON #242 5

lf you have a comment, opinion, or ques-tion for the editors of DRAGON® Magazine,we’d love to hear from you.

In the United States and Canada, sendletters to “D-Mail,” DRAGON Magazine,1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Renton, WA, USA.In Europe, send letters to “D-Mail,” DRAGONMagazine, TSR Ltd., 120 Church End,Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LB, UnitedKingdom. You can also send email to us atdmail@wizards.com.

Two-Bit Floozie?Dear DRAGON Magazine,

I have never written to you before,never having seen the need. However,something monstrous has happened.Some two-bit floozie has invaded theWizards Three, daring, striving toreplace Dalamar. This is too insulting tocontemplate. First you kill off theDRAGONLANCE® setting, then the nextthing I know, Dalamar’s gone kaputz!Gone like yesterday’s news. For who, Iask you? For some nobody, that’s who!Dalamar has long been a favorite char-acter, next to Raistlin of course. It’s rareto have a renegade elf, let alone a coolone.

So, do gamers everywhere a favor—ditch the wannabe, and bring back thereal thing. If he has access to planes, hecan go to other worlds. Heck, youbrought Lord Soth to Ravenloft. Why not

DRAGON® Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is published inJanuary, July, August, September, October, November (twicemonthly), and December by TSR, Inc., 1801 Lind AvenueS.W., Renton, WA 98055, United States of America.Periodical-class postage paid at Renton, WA, U.S.A., andadditional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changesto DRAGON Magazine, P.O. Box 469086, Escondido, CA 92046,U.S.A. USPS 318-790, ISSN 0279-6848. The postal addressfor all materials from the United States of America andCanada except subscription orders and change-of-addressnotices is: DRAGON Magazine, 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Renton,WA 98055, U.S.A.; telephone (425) 226-6500; fax (206) 204-5928.

Distribution: DRAGON Magazine is available from game andhobby shops throughout the United States, Canada, theUnited Kingdom, and through a limited number of other

Dalamar somewhere else? Anyway I’mpleading: don’t debase the WizardsThree or your illustrious magazine by thecontinued presence of the wannabee. (Iwon’t bring myself to say her name.)

Thomas Ragonese IIIDallas, TX

We asked Ed what he thought ofThomas’s letter, and he told us he’d “pass italong. “A few days later, this reply arrived atour offices:

To Thomas Ragonese Ill of the land Dallas,Greetings, Goodman (for so I believe

you to be, though your words run harshupon the presence of myself).

Your missive hath been made knownto me. Though you prefer me bothnameless and gone from gatherings thathave greatly gladdened mine heart, Iwould stay. Though you call my merepresence a debasement, I will unfold mythoughts to you. Consider:

Were you given a chance to seeworlds anew and banter words with amage of another world, bright in bothlegend and spellcraft, would you nottake it?

Were you given a chance to win favorin the eyes of your lord and master,would you not take it?

Were you given a chance to sup onthat exquisite gods-food “ice cream,”would you not take it?

Ponder upon these, and see my willand situation. My master Mordenkainenis greatly pleased by my swift-growingmastery of magic, and my conduct inthe presence of the Lord Elminster—butboth archmages have kindly and gentlymade clear to me that I am in no way apermanent replacement for the LordDalamar. Calm thyself, and prepare forhis return, as I do.

How so? Know that I have offered toplace myself in peril, to journey to Krynnand learn what hath befallen the Masterof the Conclave. I welcome this chanceto prove myself, to see yet another newworld, and to taste adventure alone forthe first time.

overseas outlets. Distribution to the book trade in the UnitedStates is by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by RandomHouse of Canada, Ltd. Distribution to the book trade in theUnited Kingdom is by TSR Ltd. Send orders to RandomHouse, Inc., Order Entry Department, Westminster MD 21157,U.S.A.; telephone: (800) 733-3000. Newsstand distributionthroughout the United Kingdom is by Comag MagazineMarketing, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB77QE, United Kingdom, telephone: 0895-444055.

Subscriptions: Subscription rates via periodical-class mailare as follows: $34.95 in U.S. funds for 13 issues sent to anaddress in the US, $41.95 in U.S. funds for 13 issues sent toan address in Canada; £34.95 for 13 issues sent to anaddress within the United Kingdom; £41.95 for 13 issues sentto an address in Europe, $57.95 in U.S. funds for 13 issuessent by surface mail to any other address. Payment in full

My gracious master promises me thathis Art shall create a clone of me, if Ireturn not within a season. Some greatcalamity, or perhaps only great change,hath befallen Krynn, and both my lordand the Lord Elminster are more troubledthan they will say plainly. It seemeth thatthey do miss the Lord Dalamar.

I am a “wannabe” great mage, I freelyadmit, though thy phrase “two-bit floozie”cries out for an apology on thy part—or aspell-challenge upon mine. I renouncemy right to cause further unpleasantnessbetween us; will you do the same?

Rautheene of GreyhawkMage-Apprentice to Lord

Mordenkainen the Mighty

P.S. I accept apologies in ice cream.

Article IdeasDear DRAGON Magazine,

I’m glad to see you back in printafter your short “vacation.” I have beena reader of DRAGON Magazine sincearound issue #87. I have always enjoyedthe great campaign and character ideasI have gained from your articles.

I like the new layout you’ve producedover the last year, especially the fullreproduction of the cover art inside with-out the titles. I always thought it a shamethat these works of art were not view-able without the titles covering them.

I was glad to read in the last issue(#238) that Ed Greenwood will be writ-ing more of the “Wizards Three” articles.I always enjoyed the creative use ofcantrips and spells that come out ofthese articles. The same goes for“Rogues Gallery.”

The biggest thing I have a problemwith though is the increase in flip-the-page advertising. I know you need theadds to help with the cost of publication,but these “to be continued” ads are get-ting annoying. I would also like to seean increase in the length of the “D-mail”section and of “Sage Advice” as well.

In closing, I’d like to give you an arti-cle idea. I would write it myself; however,

must accompany all subscription orders. Methods of pay-ment include checks or money orders made payable toDRAGON Magazine or charges to valid MasterCard or VISAcredit cards; send subscription orders to DRAGON Magazine,P.O. Box 469107, Escondido, CA 92046-9107. In the UnitedKingdom, methods of payment include cheques or moneyorders made payable to DRAGON Magazine, or charges to avalid ACCESS or VISA credit card; send subscription orderswith payments to DRAGON Magazine Subscriptions Dept., P.O.Box 504, Leicester, LE16 0AD. Prices are subject to changewithout prior notice. The issue explanation of each subscrip-tion is printed on the mailing label of each subscriber’s copyof the magazine. Changes of address for the delivery of sub-scription copies must be received at least six weeks prior tothe effective date of the change in order to assure uninter-rupted delivery.

6 DECEMBER 1997

life doesn’t give me the time. None ofthe books to date give much idea ontypes of clothing worn during the timeperiod most of the AD&D® campaigns—let alone weights, which are important ifsomeone is carrying an extra set or twoof clothes. What paladin would put hisor her musty armor back on after a nicerelaxing bath following a month of stren-uous kobold-smashing and orc-killing?Why not put on a nice clean tunic andtrousers. I think you get the idea.

Thanks for the time to read my twocents’ worth.

James WadeWatkins Glen, NY

That sounds like a splendid idea for anarticle. Now, who’ll be the first one to sendus a formal proposal for it?

James’s letter is the sort we’d like to seemuch more often, telling us what he thinkswe’re doing right and what we shouldchange. If you have an opinion on thisissue, or dozens of opinions, please sharethem with us by writing to “D-Mail.” Ifenough come in each month, we’ll considerexpanding the size of this column.

And More Article IdeasDear DRAGON Magazine,

I’m writing just to say that DRAGON

Magazine is still a great as it ever wassince I began reading more than twoyears ago.

Also, since you may be bringing backsome of the old campaigns like theGREYHAWK® and SPELLJAMMER® settings,will DRAGON Magazine contain articles tocorrespond with these systems? I stillrun SPELLJAMMER adventures every nowand then, so if you add anything ontoit, I would be greatly in debt. These oldcampaigns have been my favorite onessince I began playing the AD&D game.

Jason A. Kahler4949 Walkingfern Drive

Rockville, MD 20853

Whether an AD&D campaign is active orinactive, we’ll continue to support it withgood articles (see issue #241 for the proof

Submissions: All material published in DRAGON Magazinebecomes the exclusive property of the publisher, unless spe-cial arrangements to the contrary are made prior to publica-tion DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited submissions ofwritten material and artwork, however, no responsibility forsuch submissions can be assumed by the publisher in anyevent. Any submission accompanied by a self-addressed,stamped envelope of sufficient size will be returned if it can-not be published We strongly recommend that prospectiveauthors write for our writers’ guidelines before sending anarticle to us. In the United States and Canada, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope (9½” long preferred) to Writers’Guidelines, c/o DRAGON Magazine, at the above address:include sufficient American postage or International ReplyCoupons (IRC) with the return envelope.

of that promise). While we’ve seen occa-sional GREYHAWK submissions, we’d love tosee more proposals for good SPELLJAMMER

articles (like Roger Moore’s article on theScro in DRAGON Magazine Annual #1).The best proposals should show how thearticle would still be useful to people whodon’t play the SPELLJAMMER campaign.

Plural PilaDear DRAGON Magazine,

I really have enjoyed Issue #239,although I’m only partway through it.

I have some small quibbles with DirtyOrc Trick #84. First, the plural form ofpilum is not pilums, but pila. Pilum is aLatin neutral noun with an “-a” endingfor the plural form of the noun (droppingthe “um”). Second, the original pilum wasnot really light but quite heavy, and itwas wielded by Roman legionnaires. Itwas used for throwing, and the shaft didnot bend, but the head, made of softmetal, did. Often it would get throughthe shields of opponents, the metalbending, and it would be quite difficult toget the blasted thing out. Usually theopponents had to throw down theirshields and face the legionnaires, whopulled out their short swords (gladius, orplural gladii) and charged in, stabbingfiercely for the innards of their oppo-nents. The Gauls and Germans faredbadly against this tactic, even though,man for man, they were taller and heav-ier than the legionnaires. Caesar men-tions this fact in his Gallic Wars.

All of the above courtesy of the guywho won the Latin medal in militaryprep school after laboring throughCaesar so many years ago.

But, since we are talking about orcs,and not Romans, what John wrote wasfine, and if the above quibble is theworst criticism I can find in the maga-zine, then it truly is a very superior issue.

Paul CulottaTacoma, WA

Advertising: For information on placing advertisements inDRAGON Magazine, ask for our rate card. All ads are subject toapproval by TSR, Inc. TSR reserves the right to reject any adfor any reason. In the United States and Canada, contact:Bob Henning, DRAGON Magazine, 1801 Lind Avenue S.W.,Renton, WA 98055, U.S.A., (425) 204-7262.

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DRAGON is a registered trademark of TSR, Inc. Registrationapplied for in the United Kingdom. All rights to the contentsof this publication are reserved, and nothing may be repro-

On the CoverBelieve it or not, this is Tony

DiTerlizzi’s first solo cover forDRAGON Magazine. Over the pastfew years, this prolific illustratorhas produced a large and impres-sive body of work for just abouteverybody in the business—somuch so that he feels the need toproduce his own newsletter just tokeep his legion of fans up to date.For a copy of that newsletter,send a 32¢-stamp to “DiTerlizziIllustration, 405 First Street, 2ndFloor, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Youcan check out his website athttp://arcane.eng.ohio-state.edu/tonyd/index.html.

duced from it in whole or in part without first obtaining per-mission in writing from the publisher. Material published inDRAGON® Magazine does not necessarily reflect the opinionsof TSR, Inc. Therefore, TSR will not be held accountable foropinions or misinformation contained in such material.

® designates registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.™ designates trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Most other

product names are trademarks owned by the companiespublishing those products. Use of the name of any productwithout mention of trademark status should not be con-strued as a challenge to such status.

©1997 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All TSR characters,character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof aretrademarks owned by TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. is a subsidiary ofWizards of the Coast, Inc.

DRAGON #242 7

Forum welcomes your comments andopinions on roleplaying games. In theUnited States and Canada, write to “Forum,”DRAGON® Magazine, 1801 Lind AvenueS.W., Renton, WA 98055, USA. You can alsowrite to dmail@wizards.com.

All material should be neatly typed orhandwritten. You must give us your full nameand mailing address if you expect your letterto be printed (we will not consider a letter sentanonymously), but we will withhold yourname if you ask us to do so, and we will notprint your full address unless you request if.

Newbies to the RescueI have recently had the good fortune

of beginning a campaign with somefriends who are new AD&D® players. Forthose other DMs out there who are tiredof your players who have played foryears and know all the tricks, traps, andmonsters descriptions, I recommend try-ing this. You will feel such a relief whenyou describe the “hairy seven-foot dog-faced men” and don’t hear all the play-ers respond, “Gnolls, ha! That’s easy.”New players don’t know how to min-max and, in my experience, come upwith more creative solutions to problems.

and uninitiated players. What, however,can we do to eliminate this problem?

I have taken a few minor steps tokeep things fresh in my campaign. Onething that I do is eliminate “table talk.”That is, I attempt to limit any discussionthat is related solely to the “rules of thegame.” This practice stops players fromplanning outside of character. Anotherthing that can be done is to change thestats for monsters. The orcs of the southfor instance, are the smaller cousins ofnorthern orcs. The smaller cousins haveone Hit Die, while the larger cousinshave at least 2+1 Hit Dice and somespecial attributes that are not apparentto the PCs. If the party has any otherexperienced DMs, that can be a problemas well. Chances are they have all theold modules and most of the DUNGEON®Adventures. This greatly limits theresources that you can use.

One possibility is to use an old classicmodule like U1 The Sinister Secret ofSaltmarsh and change the ending tosomething completely different. Anotherthing that you can do to keep thingsfresh is to make the players changeroles. For instance, if Bruno always likesto play warriors, ask him to play a mageor—even better—a pacifist priest.

Of course, old players have theirplace. They make excellent leaders in agame where most of the other playersare new. And, of course, most new play-ers won’t get your jokes about the first-edition monk trapped in the RAVENLOFT®setting, or the time when Kyle said thisto Rich, etc.

These are just my thoughts. I wouldbe happy to hear what others think.

Chad DukesLeonardtown, MD

You will feel such a reliefwhen you describe the

“hairy seven-foot dog-faced men”and don’t hear all the players respond,

“Gnolls, ha! That’s easy.”A tribe of “short rat-faced humanoidswho steal away human babies at night” Putting Humans in their Placeis much more intimidating when it’s notimmediately received as a group ofhalf—HD Kobolds. I’m not saying thatyou should put away your three-year-old campaigns and search out all new

I have been meaning to write to“Forum” for years, and a “D-Mail” letterin issue #238 from Bjoern Dobbelsteinfinally inspired me to do so. I would liketo take issue with several of the letters inthat issue’s “Forum” column.

First there is Bruce F. Beyer’s pieceabout the cavalier kit. He seems con-fused about the difference between aclass and a kit. In the first edition, thecavalier was a class in its own right; kitsare a second-edition confection. In thesecond edition AD&D rules, the cavalieris a kit, which means a character who isa cavalier will also be a fighter, a paladin,or (unlikely) a ranger. This is why thecavalier has fewer abilities in the secondedition. Another consequence of thischange is that a cavalier can have spe-cialization with the attendant multipleattacks and other bonuses.

Mr. Beyer also writes that he does notbelieve paladins and rangers should beallowed to specialize. In several cam-paigns in which I have both played andDMed, rangers and paladins have beenallowed to specialize in up to threeweapons (while fighters could specializein any number). There were still manyfighters, the odd paladin, and absolutelyno rangers in our adventuring parties.

Then there is Alexander Fontenot’scomments concerning multi-classedhumans. For me, this ties in with the oldbugbear of level limits mentioned in JohnCudmore’s letter. It’s funny how gamebalance is here being used as the reasonfor giving human characters a roughdeal, when people question whether any-one would ever play a human if level lim-its were removed. In our campaign, weremoved level limits from demihumansand compensated for this by allowinghumans to be multi-classed. We alsogave human characters +1 to any oneability score of the players choice, therebytaking care of demihuman characters’other big advantage: starting with a scoreof 19. The difference between an abilityscore of 18 and one of 19 is enormous,especially in Strength. The rationalebehind our choice was that with a muchgreater population, the probability of acharacter of exceptional ability increases.

This change retained humans’unique flavor of generality and did notupset game balance. In fact, it improvedbalance. With level limits, players whowish to play demihumans must gamblewhether the campaign will last longenough to hit the level limit. If it will,then the character is completelyunplayable (steady improvement is theessence of any level-based game). If thelevel limits are not likely to be reached,then. they clearly have no effect at all,balancing or otherwise.

As to Mr. Fontenot’s objections, I toowould be slightly horrified at the thought

8 DECEMBER 1997

of a high-level paladin/bard. Although Idoubt any such character would live verylong, given a paladin’s propensity tocharge up to the front and challenge thetoughest foes combined with the multi-class character’s inherent lack of hitpoints, I have a way to make sure of it:I would never allow a multi-classedpaladin/bard in any campaign I was

met, putting experienced players in thegroup (including myself) to shame. So toall those male-only-by-dogma groupsout there: Let the women play, and thewhole group will benefit. Or are youscared that they will show you up?

James ThompsonWarwickshire, Great Britain

eeykjet@een1.eee.nottingham.ac.uk

While we might view slavery asan abomination, slave societies

see themselves otherwise . . .running. In fact, I would not allow pal-adins to multi-class at all (except maybewith the priest class). I do not see howthis can be a reason for disallowingmulti-classed humans in general. DoesMr. Fontenot say to his players, “Sorry, youcannot play a fighter/mage because pal-adin/bard is such a scary combination?”

Then there are the historical points. Ijust want to say the following: PCs areadventurers and heroes, a cut above therest. What they are categorically not isyour ordinary man or woman of thestreet. It is amazing how many peopledo not seem to see this. Mr. Fontenot’sarguments show an excellent reasonwhy an NPC should not be, for example,both a blacksmith and a tailor, but thatis all. Fighters do not serve apprentice-ships; they learn to fight as part of themilitia, the army or from a hired tutor (ifthey are rich) or as a matter of survivalon the streets. Thieves are likely to learntheir skills a similar way, perhaps at avery early age. For example, supposetwo characters (0-level humans) wereboth serving in an army. On discharge,they decide to take up magic andbecome apprenticed to a master mage.One decides to concentrate on themagic only and so is stuck with the com-bat abilities he had on leaving the army.The other keeps practicing his combatabilities as well as his magic. This allowshis combat abilities to develop in paral-lel but slows down the development ofhis magic. Clearly, he is a multi-classedfighter/mage.

As a final point, I want to step back intime a bit to issue #226, which featuresmuch debate about female gamers.Over the years, there have been a num-ber of women in the groups I haveplayed in, although they were outnum-bered by the men, and two of themwere the best roleplayers I have ever

A Frightening ProspectThough I have never in the past felt

compelled to write in, upon reading Mr.Alexander Fontenot’s letter on multi-classed humans (in issue #238), I decidedto voice my opinion.

The primary factor for preventinghumans from multi-classing is indeed, asMr. Fontenot stated, game balance. Asmany people have argued, allowinghumans to multi-class opens the door tochaos and ultra-powerful characters.Regarding the admittedly frighteningprospect of a paladin/bard, I can sayonly that any DM as concerned withgame balance as he seems should find away to disallow this combination. Forexample, the character’s deity wouldhave to be a very unusual one to allowinto the clergy a person who claims tofollow a strict code of ethics and honor,while at the same time he roguishly andblatantly uses thieving skills behind thescenes. For that matter, the characterwould have to be unusual as well, andremember how few people can becomepaladins. The deity, unless its portfoliowas primarily music, song, history, or(for lack of a better term) “roguishness,”might not allow the character to be apaladin at all!

Mr. Fontenot’s identification of thepaladin and bard classes as actuallybeing multi-classed humans deservesmention. The paladin class is less potentthan the fighter/cleric combination. Withthe experience needed to reach 9th level(when the paladin gains his first first-levelspell), a fighter/cleric has reached level6/6 and is already casting third-levelspells. To balance this, the paladin hasgranted abilities (which the cleric alsohas) and advances faster, because he issingle-classed. The same goes for thebard, who lacks both the magical mightand thieving prowess of a mage/thief

with the same total experience but isinstead rewarded with other abilities.

Responding to Mr. Fontenot’s citingof the historical reasons why multi-classing is not feasible, I must point outthat these reasons are also applicable tothe demihuman races, effectively mak-ing multi-classing off-limits to everyone.Or are we to believe that they have alldeveloped such enlightened societiesthat such situations are no longer aproblem? This game is played for fun,and so some such concerns must be laidto rest for all concerned.

Lastly, Mr. Fontenot’s statement thatsuitable masters for beginning charactersmust be 9th level or above (the level thatmost characters attract followers) is, Ibelieve, amiss. If that were so, then every1st-level character would at the leastknow of such a person, a highly unlikelyoccurrence. Also, if one takes the time tothink about it, this would make all but thevery oldest wizards nonexistent, sincethey do not attract followers at all! Sinceno new wizard apprentices exist, theywould not be an available character classfor new PCs. Because this cannot be thecase, there is no reason to expect that aprospective apprentice need find some-one of 9th level or higher. With all apolo-gies to Mr. Fontenot, this makes his lastargument about the human physiologynonviable, as not every candidate is deadof old age.

Brian Frink15207 Dakota Street

Victorville, CA 92394-2039

Slavers and OtherAncient Villains

Lloyd Brown’s article on ancient vil-lains (issue #238) offered good adviceand certainly helped me develop a suit-able adversary for my next campaign.While the idea was brilliant, however, Ifound some of the detail both contradic-tory and unlikely.

For example, I think his view of theslaver as a villainous archetype is mis-leading. Most importantly, for a slaver toexist, at least one society has to regardslavery as acceptable. While we mightview slavery as an abomination, slavesocieties see themselves otherwise, andslavery performs a useful economic func-tion. Slavers are businessmen, and slavesare precious commodities. There is noprofit in deliberate degradation of slaves,nor can there be any reason to act as aslaver without a society that recognizesproperty rights over intelligent beings.Therefore, I do not agree that a slaver

10 DECEMBER 1997

forms a villain archetype. Certainly, avillain might also be a slaver, and to non-slave cultures the slaver is evil, but I donot think that slavery would form morethan a minor one of the many businessinterests developed by the ancient villainover the years.

I was also confused by the contra-dictions in the article concerning the loy-alty of followers. On one hand, if offeredemployment in his service, “those naiveenough to fall for this old trick are assas-sinated,” and on the other hand, “loyalfollowers are the most valuable ‘posses-sions’ these villains can have . . . they rep-resent a great investment.” If employees

hard enough time keeping up with thestoryline, figuring out the puzzles, anddefeating the monsters, without some-one making it that much harder. Whenthis happens, then it is our sad task toput things right, for the benefit of every-one concerned.

The simplest method is, as youmentioned, not to invite the disruptiveplayer(s) back to the group. This is a lastresort, in my mind, not to be used untilall other options are exhausted. In themeantime, there are things that you cando to fix the problem.

First, simply talk to the disruptiveplayer and inform him of the problem.

[The Cavalier] is not themindless pawn of power gamers . . .

he is . . . the champion of thedowntrodden, well within his rights to

retain all special abilities . . .

are summarily executed, I do not seehow loyalty can be expected. My ownfeeling is that ancient villains can affordto be the most generous of employers,having amassed the power, security,and outlook to feel little danger fromtheir underlings. Ancient villains willalways be looking toward the long term,and it would be simplest to bribe PCs notto interfere. Breaking such an agree-ment would do the villain’s reputationgreat harm, and he or she is likely to bearound long enough to worry aboutsuch things.

Don’t get me wrong; the article wasanother good idea from the DRAGONMagazine stable. It usefully highlightsanother area for improving roleplayingand baddies without necessarily givingthem another vorpal blade +20.

Timothy EcclesLondon, England

Disruptive PlayersThis letter is a response to Mark

Fitzpatrick’s letter in DRAGON Magazine#239. You have a thorny problem thatall players and DMs have from time totime: how to deal with the disruptivebehavior of unruly players, As DMs, wehave enough challenges to put togetheran enjoyable game without someoneruining the fun. As players, we have a

In some cases, the player doesn’t realizethat his behavior is disruptive untilsomeone brings it to his attention. If youhave had this talk before, then alsowarn him that continuing this stuff willget him ousted from the table.

At the table, the DM has control ofthe game, and all the elements that goalong with an enjoyable evening. Shortof reprimanding the player in front ofthe others, the DM can discipline unrulyplayers by using their disruptive behav-ior against them (as long as the actionhappened while in character), resultingin a loss of experience points, loss of sur-prise, unexpected encounters, negativeNPC reactions, lack of adventure knowl-edge, loss of status, or anything else theDM can imagine. If this happens a fewtimes, and the player realizes that it’s hisbehavior (while in character) that causesit, he might just change his tune a little.

All in all, the idea is to be fair andhonest with these people, whether inthe game or out. Give them everychance to fix the problem on their own,for disruptive behavior of an unrulyplayer ruins the fun for all. If they won’tchange, then you will have no choicebut to ask them to leave the game.

Anton J. UselmannP.O. Box 492

Gold Beach, OR 97444

In Defense of the CavalierIn response to Mr. Kohler’s attack on

my letter “Ode to the Cavalier” (in issue#241), let me just begin by saying I haveplayed and DMed for the last 15 years,and in all that time I have seen threeplayers actually play a cavalier correctly.Mr. Kohler describes a game world ruledby power-gamers wielding skill-ladenkilling machines, namely the cavaliersand barbarians. If this is the case, Mr.Kohler, I propose that it is an atypicalsituation that you have created andfailed to put into check.

As I stated earlier, very few playerscan properly play a cavalier. I have per-sonally witnessed several playersrenounce their decision to be a cavalierand return their character to a run-of-the-mill fighter. The cavalier is just toorestrictive to appeal to most players.Let’s face it, after a week of reality, mostplayers just want to kick butt come theweekend game session.

I still uphold my defense of the cava-lier, as I outlined in DRAGON Magazineissue #238. He is not the mindless pawnof power gamers that Mr. Kohler suggests.He is what he has always been—the cham-pion of the downtrodden, well within hisright to retain all special abilities grantedhim by the powers that be.

If you ask me, the power gamers arethose who play the death-wielding spe-cialist mages. Why play a cavalier, whogoes one on one vs. a single opponent,when you can launch a fireball and takeout several hundred single-HD crea-tures? Much easier, less work, and a lotsafer. Honestly, I made that statementabout the cavalier kit collecting dustbecause I can’t get anyone to play one.Everyone wants to play the single-classed fighter, no strings attached, orthe almighty wizard.

Now let’s set the record straight. Itappears Mr. Kohler has misinterpretedsome of the rules outlined in theComplete Fighter’s Handbook. In his rebut-tal, he states, “There is nothing any-where prohibiting a fighter or paladinwho takes the cavalier kit from special-izing.” Although obviously true in thefirst instance, he is completely wrongabout the paladin.

The paladin, as is the case with theranger, cannot take weapon specializa-tion. On page 58 of the CFH [corrected2nd printing, May 1992], under theparagraph heading, “Single WeaponProficiency/Weapon Specialization,” itstates, “only single-class fighters, not

12 DECEMBER 1997

paladins or rangers can take weaponspecialization.” It is true, however, that apaladin can take the cavalier kit, but hecannot take the weapon specializationoffered to a single-classed fighter. Thepaladin and ranger are both sub-classesof the warrior and are, therefore, underthe rules outlined by the UnearthedArcana, Player’s Handbook (2nd Edition),and the Complete Fighter’s Handbook,unable to specialize.

The next point of order: Wow! Wheredid this mage-knight conglomerationcome from? This is kind of like an oxy-moron and goes against every fiber ofmy being. Talk about power gaming!Let’s take a mage character whoundoubtedly will be a fireball - wieldingpain in the gluteus-maximus in a shorttime to come, and give him a cavalierkit. It is completely against the rules out-lined in the CFH. On page 36, it states

can wack a dragon bone from bone inthe blink of an eye.

It is better to use the PLAYER’S OPTION™:Skills and Powers book, allowing playersto pick and choose their abilities andweaknesses. This way they are gainingnothing for free.

One final note about this letter. Thepaladin and ranger are not subclasses.Instead, Warriors are a group of classesincluding paladins, rangers, and fighters.Their special abilities set them apartfrom the rest of the soldier-of-fortunecrowd. The point of the AD&D game isnot to give one class super-abilities butto allow all classes help in their specialway. Wizards hurl magic, Rogues back-stab and pick locks, Priests heal, andWarriors protect all of the above.

Daniel lngrahamRaleigh, NC

The point of the AD&D game is not togive one class super abilities but to allow

all classes to help in their special way.that warrior kits are designed to adddepth to warrior class characters, andonly single-classed warriors can take thewarrior kits outlined within the CFH.

I personally enjoy the game in itsown right with the same old characterclasses that the game has evolved withall these years. I don’t believe we haveto experiment with far-flung aggregatetype mutations as the mage-knight (notpossible, by the way), acrobat-fighter,and the psionicist-necromancer-berserker.

Bruce F. BeyersCPTBrewski@aol.com

Super Heroes?I am writing in response to Bruce

Beyers’ letter in issue #238. Why shouldwe create an “ultimate warrior”? Theentire point of the second edition Player’sHandbook was to balance each charac-ters’ strengths and weaknesses, not tohave a warrior that could dominate playand take care of every monster.

The cavalier could use a revamping,but allowing him to function at negativehit points and giving him the ability toincrease stats is going too far! Whathappens when the mighty cavalierreaches all 18s in his physical attributes?Suddenly he is jumping up by 10s in hpper level, his AC makes him immune tothe average monster’s attack, and he

Thieves� CantI would like to discuss the Thieves’

Cant used in the AD&D game. ThePlayer’s Handbook describes Thieves’Cant as a dialect of the common tongueunknown to all but thieves. This worksfine for most campaigns, but I feel thatin many campaigns, the Cant should betreated slightly differently. I would sug-gest that, depending on the race of thePC and the particular guild that charac-ter went to, Thieves’ Cant should beavailable to different languages. I havetwo reasons for this feeling. One, theAD&D multiverse is populated by slewsof humanoid races, some of which (likehalflings) are capable of shady activitiesfar beyond humans. With such a diverseselection of races, it seems stupid todeclare that each race’s society is so dif-ferent that only human thieves aresmart enough to produce their ownguilds and slangs. Secondly, many of theAD&D races rarely associate with otherraces (such as most elves), and thereforeit makes sense that thieves of differentraces would assemble different types ofThieves’ Cant. Which languages haveThieves’ Cant would be based on theDM’s world and choices.

Charlie Martin-BrooksRFD #2, Box 20

St. Johnsbury, VT 05819

Doctoring SpecializationI must admit that after reading Chuck

Moffat’s letter (in issue #238), I felt com-pelled to dust off my calculator and dosome basic math. In Mr. Moffat’s letter,he defines “doctor level specialization”as available only to warriors of 15thlevel or higher.

If we construct a model warrioraround Mr. Moffat’s rules, then the war-rior would be initially possessed of a +8bonus to hit and to damage his oppo-nents. Furthermore, if we imbue thatwarrior with the rather unremarkableStrength score of 17, then he now pos-sesses bonuses of +9 to hit and damage.If we add to this model the assumptionthat at some point during his lengthyadventuring career, our warrior hadacquired a long sword +2, then hisbonuses now stand at +11 to hit anddamage. If our model is the minimumlevel for the “doctor level specialization,”then at 15th level, he is enjoying animpressive -5 THAC0.

In combat with the most difficult-to-hit opponent he could possibly face (AC-10), our hero need roll only a 5 orhigher on 1d20 to hit his opponent.Worse yet is the horrific damage thatour dervish inflicts. With his staggeringfour attacks per round, this Quisinart will(statistically speaking) strike his oppo-nent an average of three times perround. With a long sword, three hitsfrom the specialist yields 36-57 hpdamage per round (3d8 + 33).

My suggestion for our model is thathe retire to a quiet life in the lower hells,where he can while away the hoursslaying bothersome pit fields.

Arthur D. Reynolds626 Brockton, EKU

Richmond, KY 40475

Do you have a favorite house rule for theAD&D game? If so, share if with the rest ofus! Send your favorite house rule to: “ForumHouse Rules,” DRAGON Magazine, 1801 LindAvenue S.W., Renton, WA 98055, or send itvia email to dmail@wizards.com. Be sure toinclude your full name and address alongwith a note telling us how much of thatyou’d like printed with your letter.

14 DECEMBER 1997

by Skip Williams

If you have any questions on the gamesproduced by TSR, Inc., “Sage Advice” willanswer them. Write to “Sage Advice,” 1801Lind Avenue, S.W., Renton, WA 98055, oremail questions to the sage@wizards.com.We are not able to make personal replies.Please send no SASEs with your question.

This month, the Sage ponders the capa-bilities of polymorphed creatures, elvenresistance to spells, and other troublesomequestions from the AD&D® game.

assumed form’s abilities: Hit Dice, ArmorClass, combat abilities, magical abilities,and so on. The DM can re-roll all thecreature’s hit points or can simply roll allthe Hit Dice the creature has gained (orlost) and add (or subtract) the result fromthe creature’s old hit-point total.

Technically, the polymorphed crea-ture gains all its new abilities the instantits mentality changes, though someDMs might require some time before the

. . . the question of an elf’s resistanceto sleep and charm spells has

raised its ugly headin our local campaign.

The description for the polymorphother spell says that a polymorphedcreature does not gain any magical orspecial abilities that go along with itsnew form unless a mental changeoccurs. When the spell recipient gainsthe new form’s mentality, it gains theform’s magical and special abilities andresembles a genuine version of thecreature. Does that include hit pointsand Hit Dice? How are hit pointsassigned? How long does the processtake? What happens to a creature thathas undergone the mental change andthen becomes subjected to a successfuldispel magic effect? Does the restoredcreature retain any abilities from theassumed form?

Once the mental change takes place,a polymorphed creature gains all the

creature can use them. I’d suggest oneday to one week per ability, dependingon how difficult it is to use. The DM rateseach ability’s difficulty and decides theorder in which they become available.

In any case, the mental change ispermanent. The creature’s newfoundabilities, however, remain dependent onthe polymorph other spell. If the effect isdispelled, the creature reverts to its nat-ural form and loses all abilities that wentwith it—even purely mental abilities andother powers that the creature’s naturalform could sustain. Nevertheless, thecreature firmly believes the assumedform to be its natural one. A wish canremove the delusion. Some DMs alsoallow heal or restoration spells to do thetrick.

Suppose my character casts a prayerspell on himself. If some enemies comeinto the spells area of effect after mycharacter finishes the spell, does mycharacter gain the spell’s bonusesagainst them so long as the spell is stillin effect? Do the newly arrived enemiessuffer the spell’s penalties against mycharacter? What about my character’sallies?

Everyone in the area of effect at theinstant a prayer spell is cast is affectedfor the duration of the spell. Those notin the area of effect when the spell iscompleted are unaffected. All the castersallies gain the listed bonuses (see spelldescription in the PHB). If these charac-ters subsequently encounter foes whohave not been affected by the prayerspell, they gain all the spell’s bonuses,but the foes suffer no penalties from thespell.

It seems to be an old question, butthe question of an elf’s resistance tosleep and charm spells has raised itsugly head our local campaign. Does elfresistance count against any spell of theschool of Enchantment/Charm or onlyagainst the spells charm person, charmmonster, and sleep? If it works againstthe whole school of Enchantment/Charm, I do indeed think that the raceof elves is far too strong to be a playercharacter race and thus should bebanned from play.

Yeah, its an old question, one theSage has answered before, but here’s abetter answer: An elf’s resistance appliesto spells and spell-like effects that allowcontinuing control over the recipient.These include charm person, charm mon-ster, domination, fire charm, a vampire’scharm gaze, a harpy’s song, and manyothers. An elf’s resistance does not applyto effects that allow limited control orimpose a disability, such as command,hold person, suggestion, quest, or geas. Nordoes an elf’s resistance prevent outsideinfluences from usurping control of thebody, such as magic jar.

Any effect that causes the recipient tofall into an enchanted slumber, such asthe sleep spell or the sleep effect of theeyebite spell, is subject to elven resis-tance. If an opponent uses a commandor suggestion spell to induce an elf to fallasleep, the elf does not gain the benefitof his resistance, but the resulting sleepis not “magical” sleep, and the elf canawaken in response to loud noise, gen-eral discomfort, or the like.

16 DECEMBER 1997

With the special link between famil-iars and wizards, could a familiar whohas the intelligence to scribe, memo-rize and learn spells, attempt to learn aspell its master knows? If the wizardfailed to learn a particular spell, couldhis familiar try to learn it?

No and no.

What is the deal with the listing formonster summoning VIII in the back ofthe Monstrous Manual™ tome? As far asyou’ve let us know, monster summon-ing VIII is the highest possible (becauseit’s a ninth-level wizard spell).

There actually are some spells higherthan 9th level out there (true dweomers,psionic enchantments, and elven highmagic to name a few). However, there isno monster summoning VIII spell. The list-ing in the MONSTROUS MANUAL tome is anerror, but I’ve always found it useful asan alternate list for the monster summon-ing VII spell.

In the Player’s Handbook, it is saidthat paladin can turn baatezu, tanar’ri,and other lower-planar scum. Howdoes the ability work? Are the creaturesaffected like undead of similar Hit Dice,or is turning them more difficult?

Invisibility, for example, has a maximumduration of 24 hours (see spell descrip-tion), and contingency lasts a maximum ofone day per level of the caster. I stronglyrecommend that you limit armor to amaximum duration of one day, too.

If a character dies from a poisonwith an immediate onset time, can aneutralize poison or slow poison spellsave him if cast on the following round?If not, then it would seem that the vastmajority of creatures with these poisontypes are excessively deadly.

Neither of these spells helps therecipient unless applied before thepoison takes effect. Although theDUNGEON MASTER® Guide clearly indicatesthat the effect of a poison with animmediate onset time is felt the instantit is applied, it’s best to allow a slow poi-son or neutralize poison spell to save apoisoned creature from death if castduring the same round the recipient waspoisoned. The poison might take effectimmediately, but the recipient doesn’tnecessarily die instantly.

Yes, creatures that have venom withan immediate onset time are quitedeadly—something people who designmonsters overlook all too often.

Exactly how does a character with thehealing and herbalism proficiencies

tend to a poisoned character?

Use the “Special” line on Table 61:Undead Turning for lower planar crea-tures unless the creature’s descriptionsays to use another line. Note that pal-adins themselves can be turned by evilpriests. The priest functions as thoughhe were three levels lower than his actuallevel and uses the line appropriate forthe paladin’s hit dice.

If a spell has an open-ended dura-tion, one not dependent on time, suchas armor, invisibility, or contingency,can a character cast these spells andthen re-up with new spells on the fol-lowing day? Or do these spells take upa spell slot while they last?

A spell vanishes from the caster’smemory the moment it’s cast, not whenit ends. So, yes, a character can remem-orize a spell he currently has running.

Note, however, that some of the spellson your list have finite durations.

Exactly how does a character withthe healing and herbalism proficienciestend to a poisoned character? The PHBsays they must tend them the roundimmediately following the poisoningand for the next five rounds. My ques-tion is, exactly when is the saving throwmade? Immediately when poisoned?Delayed until the end of the tending?Re-rolled after the tending? Since tim-ing is everything and nothing is certain,this has caused considerable difficultiesin our campaigns (we all handle it a dif-ferent way).

The healer or healer/herbalist mustdrop everything and tend the poisonedcharacter during the round when he ispoisoned and for the next five rounds.The poisoned character makes his sav-ing throw at the end of the five rounds,not when initially poisoned—the healermust commit to the attempt to cure thepoison before he knows what the result

will be. If the group has a healer, it’sincumbent upon the DM to make surethe poisoned character doesn’t roll asaving throw too soon.

If the poisoned character hasreceived a slow poison spell, you mightallow a character who has already faileda saving throw vs. poison a second sav-ing throw if a healer or healer/herbalisttends him before the spell ends.

If a poison is classified Injected, can itbe used to coat a weapon? Since“Injected” means it must be put directlyin the bloodstream, I think any success-ful hit (at least 1 hp damage) will countas the poison being injected, since thathit has drawn blood. (You don’t coatyour hammer with poison.) I know thecreature struck has to attempt a savingthrow vs. poison, but what damage willthe poison cause if the saving throwfails? What happens if the saving throwsucceeds? Does the amount of damagethe blow inflicted have any effect onwhat the poison does? Also, how longdoes the poison last once it’s applied toa weapon, and how long does it take topoison a weapon?

Yes, Injected poisons can be “injected”with a successful attack by a piercing orslashing (type P or S) weapon coatedwith the venom. For game purposes,blunt (type B) weapons can’t injectpoison. While not every “hit” in AD&Dgame combat necessarily draws blood,it’s best to require a creature struck by apoisoned weapon to attempt a savingthrow vs. poison anytime a poisonedweapon hits and inflicts damage;though the DM could introduce someadditional mechanic, such as a minimalamount of damage (say at least 3 hpdamage) or a high attack roll (perhaps aattack roll of 16 or higher or an attackscore at least three points higher thanthe minimum needed to score a hit).

Once the attack delivers the poison,the rules on poison from the DMG(Chapter 9) take over, and any damagethe weapon inflicted becomes moot.Just roll the saving throw and apply theresult. Note that most poisons can inflictsome small amount of damage even ifthe recipient makes a successful savingthrow.

The DM has to decide how long apoison remains dangerous once appliedto a weapon. I suggest no less than oneturn and no more than one day. Use theshorter time for simple liquids that theuser just slaps on and the longer timefor specially prepared venoms that

18 DECEMBER 1997

won’t rub off or evaporate readily. Onesuccessful hit with a poisoned weaponshould effectively wipe off all venom, asshould exposure to large volumes ofwater, intense heat, or similar conditionsthat could remove the venom.

It takes a full round to apply venomto a weapon (no movement or other sig-nificant actions allowed), and a charac-ter can apply poison that quickly only ifthe poison is readily at hand. Smallweapons, such as arrows or quarrels canbe envenomed 10 at a time.

Many referees I know require charac-ters carrying poisoned weapons toattempt saving throws vs. poison everyturn or hour to see if the character hasscratched himself or had some similarmishap. Success means nothing hap-pens to the character. Failure means thecharacter has poisoned himself.

The characters in my game recentlycame upon a room where they found afew furnishings and a “cloak” hangingon a peg. At a suggestion form anotherplayer, the party thief tried on the

“cloak” only to find that it was a cloaker!The monster proceeded to makemincemeat out of the thief, and thenthe rest of the party. Now I’m wonder-ing, should I have rolled to see if thecloaker was surprised?

Assuming that the cloaker wasn’taware of the party before the charactersentered the room, and wasn’t asleep orotherwise distracted, this is what I wouldhave done:

When the party first entered theroom, I would have checked to see if thecloaker was surprised (not when thethief grabbed the cloaker). Since cloak-ers spend most of their lives waiting forprey to stumble by, I would have givenit a +2 bonus to the roll, as it was pre-pared to make an attack. If the cloakerhad been surprised, I would have decidedthat the party caught it off guard andthat it snapped to its senses when thethief grabbed it. Note that the partywould not be aware of the cloaker untilthe thief woke it up even though theyhad surprised it.

If the party had not surprised thecloaker, I would have assumed that thecloaker ambushed the party (see PHB,Chapter 11), giving it a free attack on thethief, with no defensive bonuses for thethief’s Dexterity and a +2 bonus for arear attack (because the thief was literallytrying to wear the cloaker).

In any case, I would have had theparty roll for surprise only when theyactually discovered the cloaker, Thecloaker could have made two freeattacks before there was an initiativeroll—one when the thief tried to put iton (provided the cloaker was not sur-prised itself) and one more if the partywas surprised.

Skip Williams reports that he wrote thebulk of this month’s column on the thirdfloor of a drafty old house where he was aguest. Skip says the garret was well suppliedwith closets full of old clothes where it wasjust faintly possible to imagine cloakers lurk-ing in the darkest periods of windy nights.

20 DECEMBER 1997

by Ted Zuvichillustrated by Scott Rosema

ne of the DM’s perennial problems is judging a new spellproposed by a creative player. Here is a set of rules, the

Laws of Spell Design, intended to help the DM make a rational,objective decision about such potentially unbalancing newspells. The Laws of Spell Design also allow help the DM makefaster decisions and point out a number of considerations thatthe DM otherwise might have overlooked.

Many of the spell design rules have been “reverse-engineered”from existing spell-level assignments. Close examination of theWizard spells listed in the AD&D® game Player’sHandbook (PHB)reveals several basic patterns in the level assignments. TheLaws of Spell Design address approximately 20 of these basicpatterns.

Types of New SpellsBefore delving into the detailed Laws of Spell Design, con-

sider the different types of new or proposed spells. Whenattempting to assign a level to a new spell, the DM should firstcategorize the spell to help decide which Laws apply. Newspells usually fit into one of the following four categories:

A. Very similar to an existing spell, except for minor modifi-cations to one or more explicit spell parameters, such as cast-ing time, required components, duration, range, area of effect,or saving throw. Sometimes players want to just tweak a spell.

B. Somewhat similar to existing spell(s) but may combineone or more effects.

C. Derived from an existing spell, with modifications tomajor spell parameters such as damage caused, targeting,applicability, prerequisite spells, or effect on the caster.

D. Entirely new spell, totally unrelated to any existing spells.The Laws of Spell Design are a great help with the first three

types of new spells, and they can provide guidance on thefourth type.

Modifying Base SpellsThe first step in designing a new spell is to determine which

existing spell (or spells) is most similar to the proposed new one.This task is fairly easy if the new spell fits into categoryA, B, or C. Use the level of the established spell asthe base level for the proposed new spell.

Then apply the spell modifiers from Tables 1 and 2 as required.Note that a proposed spell can have both positive and negativemodifiers.

Table 1 summarizes the spell level modifiers that are depen-dent upon spell parameters (range, components, duration, etc.).

Table 2 summarizes the spell-level modifiers derived fromparameters that appear in the spell descriptions, such as num-ber of targets, chance of success, debilitating effects on thecaster, etc. Only a few of these laws apply to any given spell.The Law of Damage does not apply to a fly (W3) spell, forexample.

Example: A player proposes a spell called shield other, whichacts as shield spell except that the caster places the spell on anotherperson. This change shifts the range from personal (able to affectonly the caster) to touch. This is a +1 level shift, so the shield otherspell ranks as a second-level spell. The new spell could be broughtback down to first-level by increasing the casting time from underone round to one turn, which would apply a - 1 level shift.

Laws that cover the same effect are not additive. For exam-ple, the Law of Range (personal to touch) and the Law of Self(caster to target) both apply to the shield other spell. However,the spell is not adjusted twice for what is essentially the sameeffect, so the level assignment goes up by only one level, nottwo. If, however, the modification involved a change to bothrange and duration, a +2 level shift would apply.

Generalized Law of ParametersAccording to this law, modifying a spell to improve its effects

or parameters requires more power. All spell parameters (areaof effect, duration, range, number of missiles, number of targetsaffected, dice of damage, etc.) increase via one of the followingthree methods, in order of increasing power requirements:

❖ Remain constant❖ Increase every X caster levels, where X > 1❖ Increase with every caster level

Example: This type of progression is illustrated by the spells invisi-bility (W2), invisibility 10’ radius (W3), improved invisibility (W4),

and mass invisibility (w7).

DRAGON #242

If a wizard modifies a spell so that its para-meters increase every level instead of

23

Table 1: Parameter Modifiers to Spell Level

SPELL PARAMETER

General parameter . . .

Law of RangeRange of spell is . . .

If spell is ranged, range . . .

Law of ComponentsSpell requires . . .

Material components are . . .

Are expensive materialcomponents consumed?

—

Law of DurationDuration (non-damagingspells) is . . .

Duration (damaging spells)is . . .

Law of TimeCasting time is . . .

Law of AreasArea of Effect . . .

Law of ResistanceSaving throw?

Adjustment to save . . .

+1 LEVEL

. . . increases with everycaster level.

. . . ranged.

. . . increases with caster level.

. . . no material components.

. . . cheap 1 gp/level) andeasily obtained.

No.

. . . one or more hours/casterlevel or until triggered; ifpermanent, +2 levels shift.

. . . less than one round.

. . . an initiative modifier <the spell level.

. . . increases more than than10’/level.

None. (+2 levels)

For each -2 in penalties.

every other level, the base spell levelincreases by +1. Likewise, if the wizardmodifies a spell with constant parame-ters so that the parameters increaseevery level, the base spell level increasesby +1. This law applies to most parame-ters, implicit or explicit. That is why itscalled the “generalized” law.

The following range categories appearLaw of Range

in order of increasing power requirement:❖ Personal (or zero).❖ Touch.❖ Range remains constant with caster

level.❖ Range increases every X caster

levels, where X > 1.

NO CHANGE

. . . increases every X casterlevels (X > 1).

. . . touch.

. . . is constant.

. . . material plus either ver-bal or somatic components.

... moderately expensive 10 gp/spell level) and

available.

Yes, or no but componentsare very expensive (5-10times cost).

. . . less than one hour/casterlevel.

. . . instantaneous or oneround.

. . . an initiative modifiergreater than or equal to thespell level but less thanone turn.

. . . increases in multiples of10’/caster level.

Allows save for 1/2 effect.

None.

-1 LEVEL

. . . remains constant.

. . . personal (0).

—

—

. . . expensive 100 gp/spelllevel) and rarely available.

. . . fixed or less than oneround/caster level.

—

. . . one turn or more.

. . . remains constant withcaster level.

Negates.

For each +2 in bonuses.

Example: Modifying the magic missile(W1) spell so that the caster could fire onemissile per caster level would make themodified spell second-level.

In addition, use the following six lawsto modify spell level when modifyingexplicit spell parameters.

❖ Range increases every caster level.Modifying a spell to improve the range

makes the new spell one level higherthan the original spell. The idea of shift-ing a spell from personal to touch is alsorelated to the Law of Self. In addition, wiz-ards can affect something they are in

contact with more easily than somethingthat is at a distance, although this factoris not usually worth a level of difference.

Example: Shield is a first-level spell witha range of 0 (caster only). A shield otherspell that allowed the caster to place ashield on another person within touchrange would be a second-level spell.

Law of ComponentsThere are three aspects to the Law of

Components:1. Spell components, in particular

material components, provide part ofthe power or open the pathways toallow spells to work. Given equal spell

24 DECEMBER 1997

levels, a spell that requires material (M) trap, W4) is higher level than one thatcomponents accomplishes more than goes off instantly, damage being equalone that does not. (burning hands, W1).

2. Expensive components (those witha value of 100 gp or more per spell level)provide more power than cheap compo-nents. A spell with expensive, consumedmaterial components accomplishes asmuch as a spell one level higher.Conversely, a spell with cheap consumedcomponents accomplishes less.

Example: A player proposes extendedshield, which is the same as shield exceptthat the duration is five turns per levelinstead of five rounds per level. The increasein duration from “rounds” to “turns” causesa +1 level increase, making extendedshield a second-level spell.

3. The use of material componentsassumes that those components areconsumed by the spell. Expensive,reusable components have the sameeffect as moderately costly consumedcomponents—i.e., no effect on spelllevel. However, very expensive (valuedat 500 gp or more per spell level),reusable components might have aneffect on assigned spell level.

Example: Find familiar (W1) accom-plishes a very powerful effect through the useof a long casting time and expensive, con-sumed material components.

Law of TimeSimply put, the law of time states that

given two spells of equal level, the spellwith the longer casting time is morepowerful. Casting time must increase bytwo categories to gain a level of effec-tiveness. For example, the casting timemust increase from less than one round(with initiative modifier) to turns, or fromrounds to hours.

Law of DurationThe time increments of spell duration

are (in order of increasing powerrequirements):

Instant.Round.Round(s).Turns.Hours.Days.Until triggered.Permanent.

Specifying a casting time is a veryimportant consideration when design-ing a spell. Will the spell be a quick-fireincantation useful in a combat situa-tion? Or will it be a slow, deliberateritual requiring long preparation?Wizard spells can be divided roughlyinto two categories as a function of cast-ing time: incantations and rituals. Thefollowing table summarizes the classifi-cation scheme:

Casting Time One Round

RoundsTurnsHoursDays

Type of SpellIncantationIncantation or RitualRitualRitualRitual

Duration is inversely proportional toraw spell power. A spell can accomplisha weak effect for a long time, or a pow-erful effect for a very short time.Damaging spells (such as fireball, W3)typically cause all their damage in oneround. Damaging spells that persist formore than one round are either higherlevel or obey the Law of Damage.Modifying a damaging spell with aninstant duration so that it persists formore than one round involves a levelshift of +2. Modifying a non-offensivespell so that it persists for more than oneround involves a +1 level shift.

Incantations have a casting time ofone round or less. Examples of incanta-tions include magic missile (W1), shield(W1), and levitate (W2). Incantations arebattle-oriented spells that must be castquickly. These extremely quick spellssacrifice power for speed. Incantationsusually have a duration of less than oneturn per level, although there are excep-tions such as Tenser’s flouting disc (W1),rope trick (W2), and web (W2).

A spell that passively waits for anevent to happen is less effective thanone aimed at a specific event. Considerthe difference between fire trap and fire-ball. Contingency type spells that lastuntil triggered require significantamounts of power. A damaging spellthat waits until someone triggers it (fire

Rituals have a casting time of oneturn or more, most likely one turn perlevel or even one hour per level.Examples include armor (W1), find famil-iar (W1), identify (W1), and strength (W2).Rituals generate powerful effects com-pared to incantations of the same level.Rituals often require esoteric materialcomponents and extensive preparation.Rituals are utility-type spells that per-form a specific task or place a temporaryenchantment upon an item. Spells that

Example SpellShield VesselThird-Level Wizard SpellEvocationRange: TouchComponents: V, S, MDuration: 5 rounds/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 1 vesselSaving Throw: None

The shield vessel spell allows the wiz-ard to place a shield spell around a vehi-cle (usually a seagoing ship), protectingeveryone within the area of effect. Thespell protects the crew of the vessel justas the shield spell protects its caster. Itnegates magic missile attacks and pro-vides AC 2 protection against hand-hurled missiles, etc. Since the shieldeffect totally surrounds the vessel,anyone aboard receives a +1 bonus tosaving throws against attacks that orig-inate from off the ship. The spell provides no protection from attackers thatsuccessfully board the ship.

The material component of thespell is a series of finely wrought piecesof silver jewelry made to resemblesmall shields. The silver shields mustbe placed around the perimeter of thevessel to be protected. The total valueof the shields must be at least 1,500gp, although the wizard is free to putmore money into the shields. The sil-ver shields are not consumed by thespell. If the total value of the shieldsfalls below 1,500 gp (through wear,battle-damage, vandalism, theft, etc.),the shield vessel spell immediately fails.

Notes: Since this spell is obviouslyderived from shieid (W1), it is a basefirst-level spell. The Law of Rangesapplies, since the range has movedfrom personal (0) to touch, for a +1modifier to spell level. The Law ofTargeting applies, since the spell nowaffects multiple targets within an areainstead of a single target, for a +1 mod-ifier to the base spell level. Finally, theLaw of Areas applies, since the spellnow protects an area, not just the caster.This makes shield vessel a fourth-levelspell, which is higher than the playerwanted. However, the player proposesthe use of expensive, reusable compo-nents (500 gp per spell level) to makeup the difference. By the Law ofComponents, this allows a -1 modifierto the spell level. The net effect is thatshield vessel should be a W3 spell with a+3 modifier to initiative for casting.

DRAGON #242 25

NO CHANGE -1 LEVEL

-

Table 2: Implicit Parameter Modifiers to Spell Level

SPELL PARAMETER +1 LEVEL

Law of ChangesMethod of creation: Actually creates.

Method of destruction: Actually destroys.

Duration of changes: Permanent.

Law of Control

Modifies or moves.

Long (>1 turn/level) butfinite.

Caster controls spell andmay perform . . .

. . . any other actions. . . . some other actions.

Law of DamageDamage potential is . . .

Law of Expertise

. . . >1d6/caster level.

Caster rolls to hit and . . .

Caster attacks as . . .

Law of FormsSpell has . . .

Law of information

-

. . . fighter of caster level.

. . . multiple forms.

Spell provides informationand has a . . .

Law of the Mage’s PriceDebilitating effects?

. . . greater than 10%/casterlevel chance of success.

—

—

. . . 1d6/caster level.

. . . target allowed no save.

. . . wizard of caster level.

. . . single form.

. . . probability of success 10%/caster level.

None.

Law of MetaspellsSpell has prerequisites?

The spell . . . . . . enhances spell effect ormodifies effective casterspell ability.

No.

provides chance to counter-act or negate other spells.

Law of PresenceSubject present by . . .

Law of SelfTarget of spell is . . .

. . . conjuration.

—

—

. . . summoning.

. . . any target, possiblyincluding caster.

Law of Self-KnowledgeViable targets are . . .

Law of SpecificsGenerality:

Law of TargetingNumber of targets . . .

Very specific one purpose.

. . . increases every casterlevel.

. . . any animate or sentienttarget.

Some variations.

... increases every X casterlevels.

. . . single, specific targetonly.

Spell is detrimental to target . . . allows selection of multi-and . . . ple specific targets.

Note: See the text for discussion of the Law of Power and The Final Law.

Modifies.

—

Temporary.

... no other actions.

. . . <1d6/caster level.

. . . target allowed save.

—

—

... fixed probability ofsuccess.

Automatic but temporary(-1); chance of permanentdebilitation or death (-2)

Yes.

—

. . . illusion.

. . . only the caster.

. . . inanimate, non-sentient.

Very general, several possi-ble applications.

. . . remains constant, usuallyone target.

. . . blankets area, no specifictargeting.

26 DECEMBER 1997

create a permanent, long lasting (morethan one turn per level), or “until trig-gered” effects are rituals. A low-level rit-ual spell with the same effect as castinga fireball could be designed, but in thetwo or more turns required to cast thespell, the orcs would be roasting the wiz-ard over a slow fire instead of cracklingin the fading embers of a fast fireball.

Conjuration and summoning spellsare often (but not always) rituals, espe-cially if they summon a powerful crea-ture. Examples include mount (W1),phantom steed (W3), and conjure elemen-tal (W5). Many other conjuration/sum-moning spel ls walk the f ine l inebetween ritual and incantation, withcasting times of a round or more.

Example: Consider the proposal instantstrength, a spell that acts just as strength(W2) except that the casting time shifts fromone turn to less than one round, with onepoint of initiative modifier per spell level (+2casting time shifts). As a result, instantstrength would be a third-level spell with aninitiative modifier of +3.

Law of AreasAreas of effect normally increase with

caster level in increments of 10 feet;either a 10’ x 10’ square or a cube 10 feeton a side. Spells with constant areas ofeffect require less power than spells withincreasing areas of effect. However, ifarea is given as constant, the areashould be fairly small, such as one objector an area under 10 feet per side. TheDM should disallow attempts to lowerthe level of a spell by specifying a large,constant area, since this violates theintent of the rule. A shift from a smallarea of effect to a large area wouldrequire a +1 shift in level, and vice versa.

Example: A wizard creates a mass fum-ble spell that acts as a fumble (W4), exceptthat the area of effect is one 10’-cube perlevel. Since the spell is shifting from a small,constant area of effect (30’-cube) to an areaof effect that increases with level, the massfumble spell is fifth-level.

Law of ResistanceAs a baseline, if a spell is detrimental

to the target, the target receives a savingthrow that negates the spell. Savingthrows modify spell level according tothe following table:

Saving Throw ModificationNone +2Halves 0Negates -1

Therefore, a spell that allows the tar-get no chance to resist is two levelshigher than a spell that allows the targeta normal chance to resist the effects andthree levels higher than a spell thatallows the target a saving throw tonegate the effects entirely. Significantpenalties or bonuses to the target’s sav-ing throw (+2 or more) also shift theassigned spell level by +/-1 level.

Example: A firebomb spell that acts asa fireball but allows no saving throw wouldbe a fifth-level spell (+2 level shift).

The target does not receive a savingthrow against spells that are beneficialto the target or that do not directly affectthe target. There is no saving throw vs.strength, for example, or against monstersummoning. Spells of this sort are notsubject to the Law of Resistance.

Implicit Spell ParametersThe laws below discuss some (but not

necessarily all) of the implicit parameters.

Law of ChangesChange has three aspects: creation,

destruction, and modification.Creating something from nothing is

harder than changing something that isalready there (related to the Law ofPresence). Truly creating somethingfrom nothing is difficult or impossible.Instead of making a spell to create gold,design a spell that extracts trace goldfrom the surrounding environment. If aspell truly creates something, it is twolevels higher than a spell that simplymodifies something that already exists.

Actually destroying something is verydifficult. Spells are easier if they simplyput the object somewhere else, orchange its nature (rapid oxidation, poly-morph, etc.). Spells that actually destroythe target are two levels higher thanspells that alter the target.

Permanently and truly modifying theessential makeup of the world is difficultor impossible. For instance, changinglead into gold (permanently) is very diffi-cult. Inducing a permanent change isstill easier than creating something, butinducing a temporary or illusionarychange (fool’s gold, W2) is the simplest,easiest approach.

Law of ControlMost spells do not require any sort of

control once they are cast. Mirror image(W2), for example, simply performs itsfunction without any interference fromthe caster. However, some spells requireactive control. For these spells, there are

Example SpellSilver-SteelFifth-Level Wizard SpellAlterationRange: TouchComponents: V,S,MDuration: PermanentCasting Time: 5 turnsArea of Effect: One object, up to onelb./levelSaving Throw: None

The silver-steel spell magically rein-forces silver so that it has all the prop-erties of high-quality stainless steel(toughness, ductility, hardness, abilityto be forged and retain an edge,etc.), while retaining its silver sheen, itscorrosion-resistant properties, and itsability to hit some undead and extra-planar creatures. Items fashioned ofsilver-steel are 25% heavier than theirsteel counterparts. Armor andweapons fashioned of this materialare no better or worse than items fash-ioned of normal high-grade steel. Themagic of this spell fades within 15rounds of application and cannot bereversed or dispelled after this time.

The spell requires a piece of high-grade stainless steel weighing not lessthan 10% of the weight of the silverobject to be transformed. The cost ofthe special steel (not the sort of steelused in normal armor and weapons) isat least 25 gp per pound. The steel isconsumed by the spell. In addition, thespell consumes silver equal in weightto the silver that is transformed.

Notes: This spell is derived fromglassteel (W8). Since it is a lower levelspell, it must have significant modifi-cations, which are as follows. First, thecomponents are fairly expensive. Apound of silver is worth at least 5 gp,and the special steel is also expensive.This is much more expensive than thecomponents for glasssteel. The Law ofComponents provides a -1 level shift.Second, the spell affects only one lb. ofmaterial per caster level, instead of tenlbs. per level. Therefore the Law ofAreas provides a -1 level shift. Thespell is also a ritual (multiple turn cast-ing time) instead of an incantation(casting time under one round). TheLaw of Casting Times provides a -1shift. These modifications makesilver-steel a fifth-level spell instead ofeighth.

DRAGON #242 27

Detrimental Effects for SpellcastingSpellFind FamiliarIdentifyHasteDimension DoorPolymorph Other

Detrimental Effect

Shout

Conjure EIemental

Contact Other PlaneLeomund’s Secret Chest

TeleportEnchant an item

EnsnarementTenser’s TransformationDuo-Dimension

Caster and familiar are “linked.”Temporary loss of Constitution; enforced rest.Recipient ages one year.Wizard can be trapped in astral plane.Target must save vs. system shock or die; wizard caninadvertently kill friends.Permanent hearing damage if used more than once1/day.Caster must maintain concentration or the summonedelemental attacks the caster.Probability that the caster goes insane or dies.A 1% chance per week that chest is tampered with;opens temporary ethereal window.Probability of death or injury.Very precise requirements and preparations that effec-tively take the caster out of play for the casting.Entrapped creature can break free and attack caster.Caster is unable to withdraw from combat.Caster exists partially in astral plane and is vulnerable toastral attack.

Limited WishClonePermanencyEnergy drainMordenkainen'sdisjunction

Automatically ages the caster.Clone has antipathy toward original; possible insanityLoss of Constitution.Chance of losing Constitution.

Attracts notice of extraplanar beings; possible loss ofspellcasting abilities.

Wish Aging; temporary ability score loss and rest required.

three distinct levels of spell control.Moving a spell between the different lev-els of control requires a one-level shift.

Spells of the first type require continu-ous caster concentration, immediatelycease if the caster’s concentration lapses,and preclude any other action by thecaster. These types of spells require theleast power of the “control required”spells. Examples of these spells includephantasmal force (W1) and emotion (W4).

Spells of the second type require con-tinuous caster concentration, persist for a“short” duration after concentration lapses,and might allow some limited actions(moving slowly, etc.) while the spell lasts.A spell that allows a caster to do otherthings after it has been cast is higherlevel than one that requires continuousconcentration. An example of this typeof spell is improved phantasmal force (W2).

Spells of the third type maintainthemselves once cast and allow otheractions. An example of this type of spellis phantasmal killer (W4).

Law of DamageAs a baseline, damaging spells cause

1d6 hp damage per level of the caster, oran average of 3.5 hp per level. Spells that

inflict more damage (such as 1d8 perlevel) are higher level, and vice versa.

Law of ExpertiseIf the wizard must roll to hit in order

for the spell to be effective, this actiontakes the place of a target saving throw.Spells that allow the caster to use abetter-than-normal THAC0 are one levelhigher than those that restrict the casterto the caster’s THAC0.

Example: Melf’s minute meteors (W3)requires the caster to roll to hit the target,but the target is not allowed a saving throw.A modified version of the spell that allowsthe mage to attack as a fighter of equivalentlevel would be a fourth-level spell.

Law of FormsSpells with two or more forms (e.g.,

irritation [W2], fire shield [W4], emotion[W4]) are higher level than spells with asingle form. This law assumes that thecaster specifies which form will be usedat the time of memorization. If the castercan specify the form at the time of cast-ing, the spell is even more powerful.

Example: Ice storm (W4) has twoforms, and the caster can specify whichform is used at the time of casting. Ice storm

could be a third-level spell if split into twodifferent spells (e.g., hail storm [W3] andsleet storm [W3]).

Law of InformationSpells that provide information are

usually difficult, with long casting times.The higher the probability of clear andaccurate information, the higher levelthe spell. The usual chance of success is10% per level of the caster. Informationalspells often carry the possibility of casterdebilitation.

Law of the Mage�s PriceSpells normally have no debilitating

effects on the caster, but some spellsinclude a chance of a detrimental effecton the caster as a way to lower the levelat which they can be cast. See theDetrimental Effects for Spellcastingsidebar for a listing of some of the spellswith detrimental effects.

Spells that have temporary but signif-icant debilitating effects (such as identify[W1]) provide one level in effectiveness.If identify had no detrimental effects, itwould not be a first-level spell. Temporarydebilitating effects are usually automaticand last anywhere from hours to days.Examples of temporary effects include: adecrease in an ability score, a loss of hitpoints, a need for the caster to rest after-ward, or some combination thereof.

There are two types of permanentdebilitating effects. If the debilitatingeffect is non-lethal but serious, the debil-itating effect is automatic. Examples ofthis type off effect include the agingcaused by wish (W9) and haste (W3), andthe ability score losses caused by perma-nency (W8). If the debilitating effect isinsanity or death (something thatremoves the caster from play), the castershould have a chance (usually a savingthrow) to avoid the effect. Spells thathave a chance (saving throw) of inflictingpermanent significant debilitation (e.g.,insanity, permanent aging, permanentloss of hp) or as little as a 1% chance ofcausing death (such as contact other plane[W5] and teleport [W5]) gain two levels ineffectiveness.

Example: Burnout (W1) acts as a fire-ball cast by a 5th-level wizard and has acasting time of less than one round, with aninitiative modifier of +3. The caster mustsave vs. spells or die of massive systemshock from the magical backlash. If the sav-ing throw succeeds, the caster still suffers 5hp damage. This spell accomplishes a high-er-level effect because it has possible deadlyconsequences (-2 level shift) to the caster.

28 DECEMBER 1997

Some non-damaging spells have detri-mental effects on the target. These includehaste (W3) and polymorph other (w4).

Law of MetaspellsThere are two types of metaspells:

prerequisite spells and those thataccomplish spell alteration.

Prerequisite spells are those that thecaster must cast just prior to casting thespell of interest. The shift for prerequi-sites counts only once. If a spell has twoprerequisites, the shift remains one level.

Example: Conjure elemental (W5)provides an excellent example of a spellwith prerequisites. While protection fromevil (W1) is not strictly required, any wisewizard will cast it prior to attempting tosummon an elemental. Permanency (W8)and contingency (W6) are also goodexamples of spells with prerequisites.

The second category of metaspellsincludes those that directly affect otherspells, those that affect the parametersof other spells (altering casting time,duration, area of effect, etc.), and thosethat affect the caster’s ability to usespells. Metaspells of this type must bethird-level or higher. Spells in this cate-gory include dispel magic (W3), Rary’s

mnemonic enhancer (W4), extension (W4),and permanency (W8).

Example: To get around designing aranged version of every spell with a range ofpersonal, a mage could research and createa metaspell specifically for this purpose. Thefar reaching spells in the Tome of Magicare good examples.

Law of PowerThis law is invoked when the new

spell attempts to meld two (or more)existing spells into a new spell. The Lawof Power states that each new spell levelhas approximately twice the power ofthe previous level. A first-level spell hasa power ranking of 1, a second-levelspell is worth 2, a third-level spell isworth 4, and so on. Theoretically, twosecond-level spells could be combinedto form a third-level spell. Applicationsof the Law of Power are often quitecomplex.

Example: A player proposes a new spellcalled gird, which combines the effects ofstrength and shield. Strength is a ritual-type spell with a casting time of one turn.The player wants to increase the duration ofthe shield effect to match the duration ofthe strength effect (one hour per level). The

Law of Duration says that the proposedshield effect makes it a second-level spell.Applying the Law of Power, the two spellscombine to form a third-level spell.However, in this case the gain is minimal. Itbasically allows the caster to deploy twospells in one turn instead of two spells in oneturn and a round. To make the gird spelluseful, the casting time needs to drop to beless than one round. Making this change(applying the Low of Time) would increasethe spell level by one, making gird a fourth-level spell with a casting time less than oneround and an initiative modifer of +4.

Law of PresenceIllusions provide an appearance of an

object or creature that is really not thereTherefore, illusions are easier than sum-moning, which actually calls the objector creature from the surrounding area.Summoning is in turn easier than con-juring, which calls the creature or objectregardless of where it is at the moment,even if it does not really exist.

The spell phantasmal force (W1) pro-vides an excellent example of a verygeneral spell which uses illusion toaccomplish a great deal. To make someof the stuff dreamed up via phantasmal

DRAGON #242 29

Table 3: Base Spell ParametersSchool

Abjuration

Alteration3

Conjuration-Summoning

Small area.

Divination Caster.

Enchantment/Charm

Evocation/lnvocation

Illusion/Phantasm

Necromantic

Range

Personal orShort.

Typically 10yards1.

Fixed orShort1.

Fixed orShort’.

10 yards1

or 05.

Touch orconstant

Components

V, S, M

V, S, M

V, S, M

V, S, M (E)

V, S

V, S, M

V, S6

V, S8

Notes1. Per caster level.2. Charms typically last days; enchantments

have durations of rounds if animate, long or per-manent if inanimate.

3. Inanimate target.4. Evocation/Invocation spells that cause dam-

age allow a saving throw for half damage. Othertypes allow no save.

force would require a significant amountof magic. Improved phantasmal force isan illustration of the movement from“concentration required” to a self-maintaining, caster-alterable spell.

Law of SelfCasters affect themselves more easily

than anybody or anything else. A spellthat affects only the caster is easier thana spell that affects someone else bytouch, which is in turn easier than a spellthat affects another at a range. A castercan also affect something that belongsto him with greater ease than he canaffect something that belongs to some-body else, although this usually is notworth a level of difference.

Example: Polymorph self (W4) hasconsiderable advantages compared to the

Duration

5 rounds +5rounds1.

Highly vari-able, somerounds, somepermanent.

Turns1.

Severalrounds1.

Highlyvariable2.

Rounds1 orinstantaneous.

Conditional7.

Rounds topermanent,typically turns.

Casting Time Area of Effect

<1 round

<1 round

<1 round

<1 round

<1 round

<1 round

<1 round

<1 round

Usually caster;short range.

Typically onecreature or 10’cube.

Target.

One creature,target, orsmall area.

Target

Constant.

10; cube1

One target

Saving Throw

None.

None.

None.

None.

Negates.

None or ½4.

Target mustdisbelieve,then negates.

None; negatesif target isanimate.

5. If the illusion/Phantasm is cast on a target(e.g., Nystul’s magic aura, spook), the range is 0.Otherwise, range is 30 yards +10 yards per level.

6. Most Illusion/Phantasm spells with materialcomponents have cheap components, on the orderof cheap cardboard props. Expensive componentsgo a long way toward improving the power of anIllusion/Phantasm spell.

7. Lasts until caster ceases to concentrate orsome special condition is satisfied. Very powerful,

polymorph other (W4) spell and providesan excellent illustration of this law.

Law of Self KnowledgeExcluding damaging spells, the

nature of the target has a great deal todo with how powerful the spell has tobe in order to succeed. Spells designedto affect only inanimate objects ormanipulate forces are fairly easy. Spellsthat affect non-sentient beings are of“nominal difficulty.” Spells designed toaffect sentient beings are one levelhigher.

Law of SpecificsA spell with a specific purpose has an

advantage over a general spell of thesame level when it comes to the specificpurpose for which it was designed. For

battle-oriented illusions typically have a duration ofrounds.

8. Necromantic spells with material compo-nents tend to be quite powerful.

X = level of spell (casting time) or level of caster(damage)

E = expensive components

example, item (W3) miniaturizes virtuallyany item designated by the caster. If awizard designed a spell that miniatur-ized only fires, the proposed spell caneither a) have a much longer durationthan item, or b) be one level lower thanitem. The DM should use care whenapplying this law; it is easily abused.

The Law of Specifics especiallyapplies to protective spells. To fully pro-tect against a specific type of magicalattack, use a defensive spell of the samelevel that is specifically designed to wardagainst that spell.

Example: A protection from fireballsspell would be third-level and would providefull protection from fireball spells. It mighteven provide some protection from lower-level fire magic. This is more specific than ageneral protection from fire spell, which

30 DECEMBER 1997

would be fourth-level and would providegeneral protection from all sources of fire.

Example: Charm monster (W4) is moregeneral than charm person (W1), which ismore general than charm Spaethe (a spe-cific person). lf Spaethe were to fall victim toa charm Spaethe spell, saving throwpenalties would apply, or the duration of thespell would vastly increase.

Law of TargetingThere are two concerns relative to

spell targeting: the number of targets andthe selection of targets. Spells that affectmore targets as the caster increases inexperience are more powerful thanspells that affect a constant number oftargets. This Law is similar to theGeneralized Law of Parameters. Theability of the caster to select targets alsoaffects the spell level. Spells that blanketan area with no control over whom (orwhat) they affect are one level lower.Spells that allow the caster to select onetarget in an area are of “nominal” difficul-ty. Spells that allow the caster to pick mul-tiple specific targets in an area (such asslow, W3) are hard (one level higher).

The Final LawThe last Law of Spell Design is that

“there will be exceptions.” There are anumber of spells in the Player’s Handbookthat simply do not fit these patterns. Seethe sidebar “Aberrant Spells” for notes onsome of the more distinguished pattern-breakers. When adjudicating a spell thatdoes not fit a pattern, the DM shouldexercise caution and common sense.

Base SpellsHere are some of the basic concepts

that guided the “reverse engineering” ofspells for the creation of The Laws ofSpell Design. The most useful tool in thisendeavor was the idea of base spells, thetemplates for other spells. Base spellsestablish the parameters for “average”spells of a given school. A typical basespell has the following characteristics:

❖ It has a relatively short range thatincreases with caster level.

❖ It requires material componentsthat are consumed during the casting.

❖ If offensive, it has a duration of oneround. Other types of spells establish aneffect that lasts for less than one turn percaster level.

❖ It has a casting time of less thanone round, with an initiative modifier of+1 per spell level.

❖ It affects a limited area or numberof targets, increasing with caster level.

❖ If the spell is offensive, the targetreceives a saving throw to negate all orpart of the effect. Otherwise, there is nosaving throw.

Each spell school has a different set ofbase spell parameters, as presented inTable 3, which summarizes the attributesof a typical spell of each school. Note thateach school has wide variations in basespell parameters. There are abjurationswith long ranges, illusions with expensivematerial components, and enchantmentswith casting times of hours or days, justto list a few of the variations.

New spells are judged on how theydeviate from the base spell. If the spell ismodified to make it harder to cast orless effective, the spell level drops. If thespell becomes easier to cast or moreeffective, the spell level increases. Usethe Laws of Spell Design to determinehow much to increase or decrease thespell level.

Example: A player proposes a spellcalled divination ward, which acts just as anon-detection (W3) spell except that thespell does not require any material compo-nents. Since abjuration spells normallyrequire a material component, the law ofcomponents is invoked and divinationward becomes a fourth-level spell.

Judging Originality:Researching Derivative Spells

When adjudicating a new spell, theDM must also address the issue of whena new spell is truly original. Under theoptional rules, researched spells do notcount toward the wizard’s maximumnumber of spells known. Allowing awizard to circumvent the limits on themaximum number of spells known byresearching directly derivative spellscould affect game balance. Therefore,use the following modifications to spellresearch of derivative spells.

A spell is a derivative if it is a direct,easily recognized modification of anexisting spell. The connection should befairly obvious. Examples from this articleinclude gird and shield other. If the newspell is a direct derivative of an estab-lished spell, it fills half a “slot” toward thewizard’s maximum number of spellsknown. Two directly derivative spellswould count as one learned spell for thepurposes of calculating the maximumnumber of spells known by the wizard.

Wizards who know an establishedspell can research direct derivatives ofthat spell in half the usual time and athalf the usual expense—and earning halfthe normal XP researching such spells.

Aberrant SpellsNot all existing spells obey the

Laws of Spell Design.❖ Magic Missile (W1) has a quick

casting time, no material components,and a decent range. Furthermore, thecaster need not roll to hit, can affectmultiple targets, and allows the targetno saving throw.

❖ The continual light spell (W2) rep-resents an aberration in the pattern ofthe Law of Duration. The spell is quitepowerful, very quick to cast, and cre-ates a permanent effect. Increasingthe casting time to two turns could rec-tify this imbalance.

❖ Since dispel magic (W3) can directlyaffect other spells, it violates the law ofMetaspells.

❖ Stoneskin (W4) provides absoluteimmunity from multiple forms of physi-cal attack. It has a short casting time,relatively cheap components, and is“general” protective magic. As such, it isprobably too powerful for its assignedlevel. It could be brought back into lineby requiring expensive material com-ponents (100 gp or more of diamonddust) and a longer casting time (turns).

Be generous when deciding the issueof originality. Even one small sparkle oforiginality should take a spell out of thedirectly derivative classification.

The DM must also consider howmuch effort a wizard must expend toadd a new spell to the campaign. Insome settings, a wizard can easilyobtain practically any new spell desired.At the other extreme, some worldsrequire wizards to research each andevery new spell they learn, whether it’sa “standard” spell or a totally new one.The level of difficulty in obtaining spellsshould affect the XP awarded forresearching new spells. The harder it isto obtain new spells, the more XP thewizard should receive when the wizardactually researches a new spell.

Ted Zuvich reports that he’s having quitea bit of trouble finding time to write thesedays, but he hopes he’ll find more timesoon, especially since the TSR crew hasmoved to the Seattle area. Ted also plays amean game of Iron Dragon.

DRAGON #242 31

32 DECEMBER 1997

“There may be other magic.It is up to you to find it.”

— Paladine, speaking toPalin Majere,

Dragons of Summer Flame

Spells for the Fifth Ageby Stephen Kensonillustrated by John Stanko

n the aftermath of the Chaos War and the departure of thegods from the world of Krynn, the powers of magic known

to the people of Krynn were lost. The mages’ memorized for-mulae and the clerics’ prayers yielded them no magical power.The magic-workers of Krynn were forced to seek other sourcesof magic in the Fifth Age of Krynn, better known as the Age ofMortals.

In time, the people of Krynn discovered those other sourcesof magic that Paladine spoke of, drawn from ancient powersfrom the dawn of the world’s history. The story of the discov-ery of these new forms of magic—sorcery and mysticism—isdetailed in the DRAGONLANCE®: FIFTH AGE™ game.

Sorcery and mysticism are different in many ways from themagic that mages and clerics once wielded on Krynn. Bothforms have their own unique advantages and limitations thathave changed the way people work magic. Sorcerers cannotaffect the bodies, minds, and spirits of living creatures asmages once could; even simple charm spells are beyond them.At the same time, mystics cannot affect unliving matter orenergy as many of the clerics of the old gods could. The powerto call down flame strikes and shape the elements is lost tothem.

These changes have forced students of the new magics to beinnovative in the use of their abilities. Many of the old spells andenchantments of the Fourth Age have been reworked by sor-cerers and mystics for their use, while others have been aban-doned by all but a few academics and scholars. Meanwhile, newspells and enchantments have been created by stu-dents of the Academy of Sorcery and theCitadel of Light.

Here are some of the vast range of possibilities for sorceryand mysticism in the Fifth Age, using the SAGA™ System rules.They include some of the old Fourth Age spells that have beenadapted by modern spellcasters on Krynn as well as some newspells unique to the Fifth Age. Each spell lists all of its proper-ties, its casting difficulty, and spell point cost and gives a shortdescription of the spell and its effects.

Sorcery Spells

Audible GlamerSchool: AeromancyInvocation: 1 minuteRange: Near missileDuration: 1 minuteArea: Small roomEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 12

The creation of audible illusions was a problem that troubledmany sorcerers. Students of the school of spectramancy hadlong since developed the creation of visual illusions of light, butit was some time before students of aeromancy hit upon theidea of using the controlled movement of air to create sounds.

This spell creates any fairly simple, meaningless sound thatthe caster desires: the babble of conversations (but not actualwords or messages), scuffling, wheezing, and so on. The soundis loud enough to be heard clearly in a small room, but it

becomes much less audible at greater distancesunless the listener has acute hearing.

DRAGON #242 33

School: EnchantmentInvocation: InstantRange: Melee

Bind

Duration: 1 minuteArea: IndividualEffect: ImpedingDifficulty/Cost: 14

With this spell, the sorcerer enchantsa length of rope, chain or other suchflexible material with animation thatallows it to follow his commands. Bymaking an average Perception actionagainst a targets Agility, the sorcerercan cause the rope to bind the target,impeding its own physical actions by a-4 action penalty. When the spell’sduration expires, the rope falls lifelessagain, and anyone bound by it is freed.

DarknessSchool: SpectramancyInvocation: InstantRange: Near missileDuration: 1 minuteArea: Large roomEffect: ImpedingDifficulty/Cost: 17

By controlling the available light, asorcerer can blanket an area up to asmall room in pitch blackness. The dark-ness imposes a -4 action penalty on allactions that require sight such as com-bat or spellcasting.

Detect MagicSchool: DivinationInvocation: 10 minutesRange: PersonalDuration: 1 minuteArea: Large roomEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 10 (higher if resisted)

With this spell, a sorcerer can sensethe presence of magical forces (sorceryor mysticism) used nearby. Magicalitems and enchanted individuals show atelltale glow of magical power to theuser of this spell.

Feather FallSchool: AeromancyInvocation: InstantRange: PersonalDuration: 1 minuteArea: IndividualEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 10

Made famous by the power of theStaff of the Magius carried by Raistlinand Palin Majere, this spell allows thecaster to slow a fall and float gently to

the ground like a feather on a cushionof air.

FireballSchool: PyromancyInvocation: InstantRange: Far missileDuration: InstantArea: Large groupEffect: +8 damage pointsDifficulty/Cost: 17 (resisted)

This powerful spell summons a ballof fire that the sorcerer hurls at a targetout to far missile range. The sphereexplodes into a ball of fire that inflicts 8damage points to a large group of tar-gets. Because it is resisted by the highestPerception of the targets, the spell isboth difficult and exhausting to cast.

FlySchool: AeromancyInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 30 minutesArea: IndividualEffect: TroublesomeDifficulty/Cost: 12

A sorcerer using this spell can flythrough the air like a bird on a current ofmagical wind. The sorcerer flies atroughly the speed of a giant eagle,allowing him to fly up to four milesbefore the spell expires. If the spellexpires while the sorcerer is still in theair, he falls.

InvisibilitySchool: SpectramancyInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 30 minutesArea: IndividualEffect: PainfulDifficulty/Cost: 15

Using the illusions created by spec-tramancy, the sorcerer can make a tar-get he touches invisible for the durationof the spell. The invisible subject gains a+4 action bonus to resist attacks requir-ing sight and can move through areaswithout being seen, although he can stillbe detected by sound or smell.

LevitateSchool: AeromancyInvocation: 10 minutesRange: Near missileDuration: 15 minutesArea: IndividualEffect: Variable (see below)Difficulty/Cost: 10+

With this spell, the sorcerer magicallylifts an object, moving it through the airwithout touching it. The final difficulty ofthe spell is based on the effectiveStrength that the sorcerer wishes thespell to have, using the effect table fordamage and defense spells. For exam-ple, a Strength 6 spell would have a totaldifficulty of 13, while a Strength 15 spellwould have a difficulty of 15.

LightSchool: Spectramancy, pyromancy,enchantmentInvocation: 1 minuteRange: Personal Duration: 1 hourArea: Small roomEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 13

With this spell, the sorcerer calls intoexistence a small point of light (knownas “werelight” or “magelight”) brightenough to illuminate a small room.Pyromancers achieve the same effectwith a small floating flame, andenchanters may cause small objects toglow enough to provide the same light.

Phantom SteedSchool: SummoningInvocation: 20 minutesRange: PersonalDuration: 1 hourArea: IndividualEffect: HinderingDifficulty/Cost: 12 (resisted)

Using the art of summoning, the sor-cerer conjures a spectral mount with allof the abilities of a normal riding horse(Co 9, Ph 10, In 2, Es 2, Dmg +2, Def -2)that will carry the caster or another indi-vidual chosen by the caster for the dura-tion of the spell, allowing the target totravel up to eight miles on a good roadbefore the spell expires.

ShieldSchool: AeromancyInvocation: InstantRange: PersonalDuration: 1 minuteArea: IndividualEffect: Def +9Difficulty/Cost: 12

This spell creates an invisible barrierof air around the caster or another sub-ject that protects him from attacks. Themagical shield provides 9 defense pointsagainst physical attacks of all kinds butdoes not affect attacks using magic.

34 DECEMBER 1997

TeleportSchool: SummoningInvocation: 10 minutesRange: ArtilleryDuration: InstantArea: IndividualEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 10

By folding space, the sorcerer can“jump” across a distance in an instant,moving from his starting point toanother visible point within artilleryrange. Great distances can be coveredin successive “jumps.” Sorcerers havebeen working on ways to extend therange of this effect, given that somerecall when they could cross hundredsof miles with a single spell. So far, therange of this spell remains limited.

Wall of FireSchool: PyromancyInvocation: InstantRange: Near missileDuration: 1 minuteArea: large roomEffect: +6 damageDifficulty/Cost: 16

This powerful spell creates a wall ofblazing flames ten feet high able tospan the width of a large room. Theflames cause 6 damage points to anycharacter or hero that comes in contactwith them.

Wizard EyeSchool: DivinationInvocation: 1 minuteRange: ArtilleryDuration: 30 minutesArea: Small roomEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 16

This spell is based on one used byFourth Age wizards; it allows the sor-cerer to view distant areas as if he werephysically present, seeing the area ofup to one small room at a time. Unlikethe spell it is named for, this versiondoes not create an actual invisible eyeand can see anywhere the sorcererwishes within range of the spell.

New Sorcery Spells

CampfireSchool: PyromancyInvocation: 30 minutesRange: PersonalDuration: 1 minuteArea: Individual

Effect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 6

This very basic spell allows the casterto start a small fire without the use offlint and tinder—useful for getting acampfire going in damp or difficult con-ditions. The fire burns normally once ithas been set.

Charm of Protection fromSorcerySchool: EnchantmentInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 1 hour

Area: IndividualEffect: Def +10Difficulty/Cost: 15

This enchantment is placed upon anyitem that can be worn or carried by thesubject, typically a ring, amulet or shield.It creates a barrier of protection aroundthe wearer that shields him from sorcer-ous attack, giving him 10 defense pointsagainst damage from sorcery spells orsorcerous effects from magical items.

CountermagicSchool: Varies (see below)Invocation: Instant

DRAGON #242 35

Range: Near missileDuration: InstantArea: IndividualEffect: ImpedingDifficulty/Cost: 15 (resisted)

Sorcerers are somewhat frustrated bytheir inability to interfere with the magicof their enemies. Once it was possible todispel another’s magic in a given area,but now a sorcerer must know some-thing of the school of magic being usedin order to counter its effects.

A sorcerer of a particular school canuse his magic to counter the work ofanother sorcerer of the same school.Thus a pyromancer could attempt tosnuff out an enemy sorcerers fireball orwall of fire, and a spectramancer couldbanish an enemy’s illusion. The counter-spell is resisted by the target sorcerer’sPerception. (It is also possible for a sor-cerer to indirectly counter the effects of

to put out a wall of fire, but this is con-sidered a separate spell.) Countermagichas no other effect other than it inter-feres with the target spell.

watera spell with another spell, such as ahydromancer creating a gush of

Flaming WeaponSchool: PyromancyInvocation: InstantRange: PersonalDuration: 1 minuteArea: IndividualEffect: Dmg +8Difficulty/Cost: 12

The sorcerer casts this spell on amelee weapon, causing the businessend of it to burst into flames that inflictan additional 8 damage points to anytarget the weapon is used against.Wooden weapons are destroyed by theuse of this spell when the duration

expires, and metal weapons become hotenough to inflict 1 point of damage eachminute to a wielder if not handled withheavy gauntlets or gloves. The weaponwill cool completely in 30 minutes oncethe spell has expired.

GatewaySchool: SummoningInvocation: 1 minuteRange: ArtilleryDuration: InstantArea: Large groupEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 15

With this spell, the sorcerer foldsspace enough for a group of up to tenpeople to be instantly transported a dis-tance equal to artillery range. Multiple“jumps” allow considerable distance tobe covered in a very short time, but thisgreatly taxes the caster. Unwilling sub-jects of the spell may resist, increasingthe difficulty and cost.

Magical MissileSchool: Varies (see below)Invocation: InstantRange: Near missileDuration: InstantArea: IndividualEffect: Dmg +6Difficulty/Cost: 13 (resisted)

Once, the mages of Krynn were ableto attack enemies with darts of puremagical force, but this “simple” ability isnow beyond sorcery. Sorcerers mustnow use the powers of their differentschools for combat magic. This spell isavailable to any school except for div-ination, enchantment, summoning, ortransmutation. It creates and launchesdarts of the appropriate medium at thetarget. Pyromancers would create dartsof flame, geomancers might use stoneor crystal, and spectramancers wouldcast burning lances of light. The casterdirects the missiles with an averageDexterity action, resisted by the target’sPerception.

Water BubbleSchool: AeromancyInvocation: 10 minutesRange: PersonalDuration: 1 hourArea: IndividualEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 11

Aeromancers have developed a spellthat creates and maintains a bubble ofair around a person’s head, allowinghim to breathe under water.

36 DECEMBER 1997

Mysticism Spells

Animate DeadSchool: NecromancyInvocation: 1 minuteRange: MeleeDuration: 1 hourArea: Small groupEffect: PainfulDifficulty/Cost: 18

This dark spell allows the mystic toanimate up to five corpses within range,turning them into zombies or animatedskeletons that fight at his command forthe duration of the spell. The animateddead are mindless and can carry outonly the most rudimentary commandsissued by their summoner.

BlessingSchool: ChannelingInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 30 minutesArea: IndividualEffect: +4 to abilityDifficulty/Cost: 14

With this spell, the mystic can add 4points to one of the subjects PhysicalAbilities (Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, orStrength) for the duration of the spell.The ability may even exceed 10 throughthe effects of the spell, allowing the char-acter or hero to perform amazing feats.

CharmSchool: MentalismInvocation: 1 minuteRange: MeleeDuration: 1 hourArea: IndividualEffect: ImpedingDifficulty/Cost: 17

This challenging spell allows the mysticto convince a target that he is the mysticsbest friend and confidante—that every-thing he says is trustworthy and impor-tant. While few mystics trained by theCitadel of Light like the idea of tamperingwith the thoughts and feelings of others,they still prefer such methods to usingtheir gifts to inflict permanent harm.

Cure Blindness or DeafnessSchool: HealingInvocation: 20 minutesRange: PersonalDuration: InstantArea: IndividualEffect: Cures affliction (equivalent of 5cards)Difficulty/Cost: 10

This spell allows a mystic to restorelost sight or hearing to the subject witha simple laying on of hands and a shortritual. The subjects eyes and/or earsmust still be intact for the spell to work,but it will cure afflictions such ascataracts and magical curses that causeblindness or deafness.

Cure DiseaseSchool: HealingInvocation: 20 minutesRange: PersonalDuration: InstantArea: IndividualEffect: Varies (see below)Difficulty/Cost: 6

A mystic can use this spell to help thebody throw off the effects of disease.The final difficulty of the spell is basedon the strength of the disease beingaffected, ranging from 6 for a simplecold to 11 or more for magical diseasesand ailments. The healer will not neces-sarily know the strength of the disease

unless he has encountered its symptomsbefore, so it is often necessary to over-spend on spell points to ensure that theailment is overcome.

Detect EvilSchool: SensitivityInvocation: InstantRange: MeleeDuration: InstantArea: Small groupEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 12 (resisted)

This spell allows the mystic to senseevil thoughts or intentions in any smallgroup of people. The mystic must beable to see the faces of the people inquestion; thus, the spell would not sensethe presence of an invisible adversarywith evil intentions.

The spell does not provide exactinformation on the nature of the evil,only that it is present and which peopleare radiating it.

DRAGON #242 37

Feign DeathSchool: NecromancyInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 1 hourArea: IndividualEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 12

Feign death allows the mystic toplace himself or a willing subject into astate of deep trance in which all of thesubjects body’s functions are slowed toa standstill. The subject appears dead,and a daunting Perception action isrequired to determine otherwise.

While the feign death spell is ineffect, the subjects need for food, water,and air is suspended.

Hold PersonSchool: MentalismInvocation: InstantRange: Near missileDuration: 15 minutesArea: IndividualEffect: ImpedingDifficulty/Cost: 16 (resisted)

With a simple wave of a hand or ahard stare, the mentalist overwhelmsthe targets mind and renders the victimtotally unable to move for the durationof the spell. A challenging Presenceaction allows the paralyzed character toovercome the spell and move again.

Insect PlagueSchool: AnimismInvocation: 1 minuteRange: Near missileDuration: 15 minutesArea: Small groupEffect: HinderingDifficulty/Cost: 16 (resisted)

The clerics of Majere were once wellknown for calling upon swarms ofinsects to fight their enemies, and somemystics have followed their examplewith this spell which summons forth acloud of biting and stinging flyinginsects to harass and harry opponents.Anyone within the cloud of insects suf-fers a -3 action penalty to all actions forthe duration of the spell.

Invisibility to AnimalsSchool: AnimismInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 15 minutesArea: Individual

Effect: InvisibilityDifficulty/Cost: 10

This spell renders the subject invisibleto any creature affected by the animismsphere.

Animals and other creatures will notsee the subject of the spell, nor will theyscent him or hear his movements. Thesubject of the spell gains a +4 actionbonus against any creature affected bythe spell. This is a very useful spell forhunters.

PolymorphSchool: AlterationInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 1 hourArea: IndividualEffect: TroublesomeDifficulty/Cost: 13

This is a basic spell that allows themystic to alter his shape or that ofanother willing subject he touches. Thesubjects Physical abilities can be shuf-fled as described on page 85 of TheBook of the Fifth Age. For each point thatthe new form’s total Physical abilitiesexceeds the subjects original form, thespell’s difficulty increases by 1.

Remove ParalysisSchool: HealingInvocation: InstantRange: PersonalDuration: InstantArea: IndividualEffect: Removes paralysis (equal to twocards)Difficulty/Cost: 10

With a simple touch, the mystic canremove the effects of any paralysis onthe subject, allowing him to move freelyagain. This affects paralysis caused bymysticism spells as well as by creaturespecial abilities such as the touch ofghouls.

SleepSchool: MentalismInvocation: InstantRange: Near missileDuration: 30 minutes Area: Small groupEffect: ImpedingDifficulty/Cost: 19 (resisted)

With a wave of a hand, the mystic cancause a small group of people in rangeto fall into a deep sleep for the next 30minutes. Only the highest Perception in agroup of characters resists the spell;

heroes resist individually. The subjectscan be awakened by any especially loudnoise or an attack of any kind but willotherwise remain asleep for the dura-tion of the spell. This is a preferredmeans for more peaceable mystics todeal with hostile opponents withoutactually harming them.

Speak with the DeadSchool: SpiritualismInvocation: 20 minutesRange: PersonalDuration: 15 minutesArea: IndividualEffect: TroublesomeDifficulty/Cost: 9 (resisted)

The mystic performs a ritual that callsup the spirit of someone who has diedto ask it questions that the spirit is com-pelled to answer. The spirit resists thespell with its Presence ability. If the spellis successful, the spirit must appear andanswer the mystic’s questions for theduration, but there is no requirementthat the spirit answer truthfully. Thosewho do tell the truth are prone to speak-ing in riddles.

TonguesSchool: MentalismInvocation: 10 minutesRange: MeleeDuration: 30 minutesArea: Small groupEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 13

The mystic allows the subjects of thespell to comprehend each other regard-less of the languages that they speak.Especially obscure or difficult languagesmay increase the difficulty of the spell ifthe Narrator sees fit.

Wall of ThornsSchool: AnimismInvocation: InstantRange: Near missileDuration: 15 minutesArea: Large roomEffect: HinderingDifficulty/Cost: 17

This spell causes a wall of thornyvines and bushes to grow out of theground to block passage of an areaequal to a large room. Hacking throughthe vines is a challenging Strengthaction and causes 4 damage points toany character or hero per attempt.

38 DECEMBER 1997

New Mysticism Spells

HealingSchool: HealingInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: InstantArea: IndividualEffect: variesDifficulty/Cost: 8+ (see below)

This basic healing spell allows themystic to restore health by touch. Thebasic difficulty is for restoring one cardto an injured hero or 1 point ofEndurance damage to an injured char-acter. For each additional card or pointof damage, increase the difficulty by 1.

Ignore PainSchool: MentalismInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 1 hourArea: IndividualEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 12

This spell does not actually heal dam-age but allows a hero to ignore the painof his wounds and continue to function.The spell restores all of the hero’s cards

lost due to damage for the duration, butwhen the spell ends, the hero immedi-ately loses all of the cards gained backfrom the spell, starting with their highestcard. If this will result in the hero havinga negative number of cards, the herolapses into a coma and will die in oneminute if not immediately healed backto a hand of zero cards or more.

Resist MysticismSchool: MeditationInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 30 minutesArea: IndividualEffect: +4 action bonus to resistmysticismDifficulty/Cost: 13

With a light touch, the mystic bestowson the subject an aura of protectionagainst mysticism spells. The subjectgains a +4 action bonus on all AvoidMysticism actions for the duration of thespell, including mysticism effects frommagical items. A similar spell exists thatprovides +4 action bonus on all AvoidSorcery actions.

Ward Off BeastsSchool: AnimismInvocation: 1 minuteRange: PersonalDuration: 1 hourArea: Small roomEffect: IrritatingDifficulty/Cost: 13

The mystic traces out a circle or theborders of a small room and casts thisspell, preventing any beasts affected bythe animism sphere from entering thearea for the duration of the spell. If theanimals a especially desperate (hungry,fearful, or driven by another spell or spe-cial ability), the caster must make anaverage Spirit or Presence action to keepthem out.

Stephen Kenson is a freelance writer whohas worked for several game companies,most notably in FASA’s Earthdawn line.

DRAGON #242 39

Better Building Through Magicby Michael Lambert

illustrated by Brad McDevitt

he construction of a medieval castle begins by choosing alocation. A defensible position is essential, and rocky out-

croppings or river forks are prized by architects. Laborers arehired, often as many as two or three thousand, first to dig afoundation, and, if the location permits, then to dig a moat orditch around what will become the castle’s central grounds.Stone is brought to the site, often laboriously transported fromquarries miles away, to begin work on the outer walls and tow-ers. Wooden scaffolding is used to build the towering outerwalls, often ten to fifteen feet thick, requiring the skills ofnumerous free masons and rough masons.

A great gate in the outer wall leads to an inner courtyard,where many of the castle buildings are located. These includestables, a blacksmith shop, barracks, storehouses, a carpenter’sshop and the manor home, usually containing a great hall.Most of these buildings are constructed of wood, and requireskilled craftsmen to design and build. Finally, inside the court-yard is the central keep, the focus of the castle’s defenses. Thekeep has its own walls and towers, constructed in the sametime-consuming fashion as the outer walls. A second moatmight enclose the keep, which has private apartments, storerooms and service rooms. All of these buildings and roomstake time to build. In rare cases, and under extreme duress,castles could be built rapidly, but most take years, evendecades to complete. Building a stronghold, castle, or cathedralusing medieval tools and techniques is typically a long andexpensive process.

In fantasy worlds, there is a better way. Magic

spend months digging a foundation when spells can transmuterock into mud, or a wand can displace tons of dirt with a sim-ple command? Flying and telekinesis make the use of scaffold-ing and winches obsolete, and spells that shape wood, rock oriron make the use of skilled craftsmen unnecessary. In suffi-ciently advanced cultures, spells can be developed specificallyfor construction purposes. These could include spells that cre-ate illusory castles to give builders a pattern to follow, spellsthat enhance the strength of workers, or spells that detect thepresence of salvageable construction materials on otherworlds or planes.

The use of magical abilities for the mundane goal of con-structing buildings in an AD&D® campaign world would bebased on a simple premise: time is money, and building homes,strongholds, or even towns the conventional way takes time.Therefore, an organization that can reduce the time necessaryto build large structures stands to make an extraordinarily largeamount of money. Rulers might need castles built quickly towithstand an interdimensional assault, a local guild might needtheir buildings protected from scrying attempts, or a localchurch might want their cathedral expanded to attract moreworshippers. The number of situations where magical construc-tion can be used effectively in a fantasy world is endless.

In fact, its not too hard to imagine a group of mages form-ing a cartel to perform exactly these kinds of construction ser-vices. The pay would be good, business steady, and—best ofall—there would be very little chance of ending up inside the

stomach of a dragon or some other creatureexists in these worlds, and where there ismagic there is room for innovation. Why

from the wild lands. Also, the types of indi-viduals who would be able to afford

40 DECEMBER 1997

the services would most likely havepower and influence in the world, twoattributes that help any business ven-ture. In fact, the nature of some worldsmight even require the use of magic todesign and build certain structures ifgeographical conditions do not allow forthe use of traditional construction meth-ods.

The presence of a mage constructioncompany in a campaign world is depen-dent on two factors: the abundance ofmagical abilities and the presence oflarge population centers that would gen-erate a steady source of business. Onworlds where magic is scarce, the use ofmagic would be restricted to a few scat-tered practitioners who would not bevery interested in using their arcaneknowledge for material gain. In addition,a world with a low or scattered popula-tion wouldn’t have the need to expendthe energy required for using magic inbuilding construction.

If the two factors are present, though,and the DM decides to add a magicalconstruction company to the campaign,a little background on the methods andtechniques that can be used is necessary.

With the variety of spells available tomages, time savings can be realized atall stages of construction—planning,building and post-construction. See thesidebar on the following page for a list ofspells that have construction applica-tions is given above, but for illustrativepurposes, we turn to the openingdescription of the medieval castle.

When planning a castle or strong-hold, medieval architects were con-strained by the natural geography of thelocation they chose to work on. Not sothe mage. While location is still impor-tant, mage builders have unprecedentedabilities to alter the terrain they’re work-ing on. With move earth, dig, disintegrateand vanish spells, mages can create orlevel small hills, forming a foundation ina matter of hours rather than days. Rockcan be turned to mud for easy removal,and water can be turned to dust or low-ered. Mages can even control weather toimprove working conditions or meet animportant deadline. These benefits, andothers, allow mage builders to save timeby changing the location site to suit theneeds of the construction.

But why start using magic after thelocation of the stronghold has been cho-sen? Mages can use magic before con-struction even begins to determine thebest location to build. Using powerfulspells such as vision, foresight or Iimited

DRAGON #242 41

Wizard Spell Appendix

First-Level SpellsAlarm (protection)Enlarge (worker enhancement)Feather fall (damage reduction)Light (fire avoidance, night work)Mending (repair)Spider climb (worker enhancement)Tenser’s floating disc (logistics)

Second-Level SpellsBind (repair)Continual light (fire avoidance, nightwork, interior lighting)Deeppockets (worker enhancement)Levitate (logistics)Magic mouth (protection)Strength (worker enhancement)Wizard lock (protection)

Third-Level SpellsClairaudience/clairvoyance (oversee con-struction, search for raw materials)Explosive runes (protection)Fly (worker enhancement)Haste (worker enhancement)Item (logistics)Monster summoning (all types) (special-ized worker recruiting)Tongues (oversee construction)Water breathing (worker enhancement)

Fourth-Level SpellsCharm monster (specialized workerrecruitment)Dig (excavation)Plant growth (landscaping)Polymorph other (worker enhancement)Polymorph self (worker enhancement)

wish, mages can obtain supernaturaladvice on the outcome of certain build-ing decisions. Best of all, if a priest can beconvinced to add his talents to the mix,spells like augury, divination, and com-mune could be used to ensure the rightplace is chosen for construction.

Once construction begins, the impactof magic is even more readily apparent.Walls, towers and support columns canbe moved into place with levitate,telekinesis, Tenser’s floating disc, or Otiluke’stelekinetic sphere. Monsters, elementalsand humanoids can be summoned orcharmed to perform specialized tasks,and certain spells can be cast toenhance the ability of different workers.Enlarge enables workers to lift more,while fly allows them to work on walls orroofs that are hundreds of feet above

Fifth-Level SpellsAvoidance (protection)Conjure elemental (specialized workerrecruitment)Fabricate (item creation)Stone shape (statuary/specialized con-struction)Telekinesis (logistics)Teleport (logistics)Walls (all) (specialized construction)Transmute rock to mud (excavation)

Sixth-Level SpellsControl weather (location enhancement)Disintegrate (excavation/locationenhancement/renovation)Geas (specialized worker recruitment)Lower water (location enhancement)Move earth (excavation)Stone to flesh (excavation)Transmute water to dust (locationenhancement)

Seventh-Level SpellsLimited wish (location enhancement)Vanish (excavation/renovation)Vision (divination)

Eighth-SpellsGlassteel (support/aesthetics)Otiluke’s telekinetic sphere (logistics)Permanency (spell enhancement)Polymorph any object (various tasks)Symbol (all types) (protection)

Ninth-Level SpellsForesight (divination)Shape change (worker enhancement)Wish (various tasks)

the ground. Imagine workers wearingdeeppocket robes filled with tools andmaterials miniaturized by the item spell,spider-climbing a cathedral or castle tofinish work on the roof or ceiling. Therewould be no need for scaffolding, raisedplatforms, or heavy winches; work onhard-to-reach places would be sped con-siderably.

Accidents would also be less of aworry to the mage builder. Fires could beavoided by using light and continual lightspells. Feather fall spells could save work-ers from injury, and mend and fabricatespells could repair or replace tools.Major injuries that could cause amedieval craftsmen to miss months ofwork can be cured with a simple potionof healing or a cure light wounds spell.

Magical wards to protect doors and

windows, special detection areas toidentify and neutralize pesky invisible,ethereal or astral creatures, and magicmouths to alert defenders are just a fewenhancements that mage constructioncould add to any stronghold. Magescould cast gate spells to summon rein-forcements from the Outer Planes, orteleportation portals for a secure escaperoute. The price might be steep, but asecurity system needs to fail only onetime to have a once-proud fortressreduced to ashes and rubble.

Of course, these magical constructiontechniques need not be limited to thebuilding of castle or towns; they can beused to construct buildings that have nomedieval counterparts. There’s no rulethat states a stronghold has to be astone castle with a central keep, basictowers, a moat and drawbridge. The cas-tle is a common sight in fantasy worlds,though, as it is one of the most enduringfeatures of the medieval political land-scape. However, the design and con-struction of fortifications in the MiddleAges was a unique approach to a set ofpolitical and military realities that maybe completely different than those of afantasy world. Medieval architects didnot have to contend with rampagingdragons that could make a mockery ofeven the highest walls, invisible mageswho could pass through walls unseen tolower the drawbridge for allies, or mon-sters that could burrow into the castlefrom deep underground. Taking theseand numerous other fantasy specific fac-tors into account, it’s easy to see thatmagical construction techniques couldlead to the building of structures neverconceived before.

Naturally, a mage construction com-pany is not something that PC magesare going to run to join. That’s not itspurpose in a campaign world. It’s a sup-port organization meant to add depth toa fantasy setting and offers charactersoptions they might not normally have. Itdoes this in a number of ways: by intro-ducing the player’s stronghold in a shortamount of game time, by giving theplayers additional avenues of adven-ture, and by giving the DM creative free-dom to design unique buildings, cities,and towns.

Strongholds, fortresses or other struc-tures that players control are narrativeforces in an AD&D campaign. Manyadventures can be designed simplyaround their construction and upkeep.The players might need to completeseveral successful quests to finance the

42 DECEMBER 1997

construction of a stronghold, or theymight have a mandate from a local lordto defend a certain piece of territory.Once established in a certain region,players might become involved in localpolitics or promote the growth of a newtown. Of course, having a set place ofoperations will enable enemies to locateand attack them, perhaps forcing thePCs to travel abroad to remove threatsto their castle or tower.

The use of a mage construction com-pany can cut the time necessary to builda stronghold or other building by asmuch as 75 percent over conventionalmethods. This gives DMs the ability tointroduce these structures as adventurecatalysts before the campaign ends. Atthe same time, using magical methods toenhance construction efforts is extremelyexpensive and goes a long way in sepa-rating players from any excess treasurethey’ve accumulated during their adven-tures. If they don’t have excess treasure,they can either pay for mundane con-struction or plan adventures to acquirethe appropriate funds.

Of course, PCs are not the only oneswho can benefit from magically enhancedconstruction techniques. Both allies andenemies of the PCs might have access tomage construction companies. PCs

might return to a small outpost theyraided only months earlier to find a well-defended castle in its place. A local gianttribe might spend some ill-gotten wealthto add magical defenses to their hill-topfortress, or an evil temple can be builtnearly overnight in a region thought tobe controlled by lawful forces.

The ability to use a mage construc-tion company for adventure scenariosdoesn’t end with the actual constructionof new buildings There are many waysthat its entire business operation can beused to send the PCs in different direc-tions. The company might want to scoutruined cities or towns on other PrimeMaterial worlds to salvage constructionmaterials, or to research building styles.PCs might be asked to go along as pro-tection or to partake in the research. Ascenario could also be developed wherethe players are asked to infiltrate a newstronghold to find flaws in its magicaldefenses. The company might needexotic spell components and contract theplayers to retrieve them, or it may askthem to fix a problem that one of theirstructures has inadvertently created.However it’s used, a magic constructioncompany can add many new twists toany campaign.

Even if the PCs never interact directly

with the organization, the mage construc-tion company can play a part in the over-all campaign. By simply acknowledgingthe existence of a group of mages capa-ble of using magic to build different typesof structures, DMs remove many con-straints of world development. Cities canbe built underwater, in the air, or under-ground. Buildings can rise thousands offeet in the air or exist on different planesof existence at the same time. A basetown can be created around a portal thatopens to other worlds, or an elvishfortress can be fashioned from livingtrees. Without ever employing or workingfor a mage construction company, playercharacters can feel its influence in manyaspects of a campaign world. Once you,the DM, decide that these types of con-struction techniques exist in the world, thecampaign possibilities are endless.

When not creating new ways to addsome spice to campaign worlds, Mike keepsbusy teaching his martial arts students howto defend themselves. His wife keeps him inline by reminding him he is the third smartestperson in the family, after her and their cat.

DRAGON #242 43

by Lachlan MacQuarrieillustrated by Steve Schwartz

he baron’s mage knelt to examine the withered plants. Behindher, her employer glared at the devastation surrounding them.

These fields were green not two days ago, wizard. I know thecause is not natural—”

“—and, therefore, magical,” muttered the mage under her breath.“—and, therefore, magical. But who has done this?”“A moment’s study, my lord . . .”There was a long silence as the mage carefully sifted through the

dusty earth. Two bodyguards began a rhyming game, while othersdismounted to spare their horses. Finally, the mage stood and held aleaf up for the baron to see. “Here, sire, observe the striations—” shetook a quick look at the baron’s darkening face, and cut to the chase.“—uh, as you suspected, a realm spell, and it bears the traces of our‘good friend’ to the north. . .”

Even the beginning mage has spent many years of intensesingle-minded study of magic and its lore; its one of the rea-sons they have such limited combat skills. From the history ofmagic to the common types of material components, to thesubtle difference between invocation and evocation—the magehas acquired a vast storehouse of arcane knowledge.Following behind are bards, sages who specialize in magicallore, and even children of the nobility who study magic as partof a well-rounded education.

But is it reasonable to assume that every wizard and sagehas acquired exactly the same knowledge? Specialists are anobvious example of mages who neglect parts of their educa-tion to focus on other arts, but even generalist mages havespecific areas of expertise—certain types of magic they finduseful or interesting. But how to express these varying bits ofknowledge in game terms?

This article replaces the spellcraft non-weapon proficiency(NWP) with several new NWPS for the Wizard non-weaponproficiency group, to allow characters to customize their mag-ical knowledge. Like other NWPs, each costs one extra profi-ciency slot (or two extra character points) to charac-ters who do not have full access to Wizard NWPs.In addition, some of these proficiencies have

prerequisites—other skills or NWPs that must be possessedbeforehand. Players may use these NWPs to customize theirmages, to play “failed mage” warriors, or to recall informationwhen investigating magic (which, in the typical campaignworld, happens often).

Proficiency DescriptionsHigh Magic. This proficiency gives the character a formal

knowledge of the most powerful magics in the campaign world(a knowledge of realm magic, for example), including truedweomers and other tenth-level magic. Lesser-known andobscure bits of information will be “remembered” with a suc-cessful proficiency check. DMs may disallow this proficiency ona case-by-case basis (i.e., an Anuirean regent might know muchabout realm magic, but his commoner bodyguard will not).

Magecraft: This proficiency indicates a formal knowledge ofbasic magical theory, how spellcasting works, descriptions ofcommon spells and magical items, and biographies ofwell-known wizards. On a successful proficiency check, thecharacter also “remembers” obscure or lesser-known bits ofinformation about magic and can identify a spell by observingits casting. The proficient character may also roll against halfhis proficiency (rounded down) to spot a magical construct oritem. This last use of the Magecraft proficiency requires 2-12rounds of careful examination.

Metaphysical Theory. Beyond a knowledge of the cam-paign world’s magic, the character has studied the theory ofhow physical laws and magical laws interact and can predicthow varying these laws will affect magic.

On a successful proficiency check, the character can predicthow magic will work on another world or plane, given somebasic facts about the plane. (Spellcasters traveling to anotherworld or plane often use this proficiency to decide what spellsor items to bring with them.)

While on another world or plane, the charactermay make a proficiency check against half

his skill (rounded down) to compensate

44 DECEMBER 1997

for the effects of varying physical lawsfor one round. This use of the proficiencyrequires 1-10 rounds of intense thoughtand concentration. During this time, thecharacter cannot cast spells or perform

character may cast spells and use itemsas if he were still on his home world or

strenuous actions. For the one round fol-

plane. This “bending of the rules” is quitetiring, and the mage must save vs. death

lowing the period of concentration, the

magic or lose one point of Constitution(or Constitution/ Health) for one full day.

School Theories. Over and above thebasic familiarity that any mage or anycharacter with the Magecraft NWP pos-sesses, each of the following NWPs rep-resents an intensive study of a particulartype of magic. The character has formalknowledge of all common, uncommon,and rare spells or items from a particularschool of magic and can make educatedguesses about new spells (including“name” and unique spells) and itemsfrom that school.

Prerequisite: Magecraft.

Specialists may identify and studyspells and magical items from theiroppositional school(s) but suffer a -6penalty to their proficiency checks; on

Benefits common to all school NWPs:❖ Mages with a particular school pro-

the other hand, specialists enjoy a +3bonus when studying or identifyingspells and items from their own schools.

ficiency gain a +5% bonus to learn orresearch a new spell from that school (inaddition to the specialists existingbonus) and a +5% bonus to create ascroll, potion, or other magical item thatharnesses magic from that school.

❖ Mages may make one proficiencycheck at the beginning of any researchor construction attempt. Success meansthat the required time has been reducedby one week or that the mage hasdeduced the exact nature of any oneexotic or unusual material, required.

❖ The character no longer needs toobserve a spellcasting to identify thespell. Traces of energy, second-handreports, or characteristic odors are often

all that is needed. The character maymake a proficiency check with a -4penalty to identify the most recently castspell in a particular area. Of course, thespell must be from the appropriateschool and must have been cast lessthan one day earlier.

❖ Non-spellcasters who have comethis far in their studies gain an under-standing of magic approaching that of abeginning mage. They have the ability toread (but not use) spellbooks and scrolls,provided the spells are of the appropriateschool; a successful proficiency check isrequired. In addition, the non-spellcastergains a +1 bonus to any saving throwsagainst that particular school of magic.

Unique Benefitsof Each School Theory:

Abjuration Theory. Understanding ofmagical avoidance, repelling, and ward-ing. On a successful proficiency check,the character can spot an existing pro-tection or glyph spell and attempt a sec-ond check to determine the exact type.

DRAGON #242 45

Table 1: Proficiency SlotsProficiency Slots Relevant Ability/ModifierHigh Magic 1 Intelligence - 3Magecraft 1 Intelligence - 2Metaphysical Theory 2 Wisdom -3(School) Theory 2 Intelligence - 2

Alteration Theory. Knowledge ofhow magic can change an existingobject, creature, or condition. On a suc-cessful proficiency check, the charactercan spot a shape changed, polymor-phed, or magically-altered creature,although he cannot determine the crea-ture’s true form. This proficiency check isrolled by the DM (secretly) when thecharacter first encounters the creature orwhen the player declares that his char-acter is concentrating on a specific crea-ture or individual. Lycanthropes and“natural” shapeshifters (like dopple-gangers) are not revealed.

Conjuration Theory. Knowledge ofthe calling of matter or creatures fromanother place. The character has afamiliarity with the structure of the Outerand Inner Planes and can recognize aparticular planar creature or artifact on asuccessful proficiency check. In addition,the character may make a proficiencycheck after 1-10 rounds of carefulobservation to tell if an animal is cur-rently under the control of a summoner.

Divination Theory. Advanced studyof magical detection techniques andknowledge-gathering. The character isalways allowed a proficiency checkagainst half his skill (rounded down)when targeted with any form of divina-tion magic. Success means the characterfeels that “someone is watching him.”

The character is also familiar withcommon forms of divination in the gameworld (astrology, cards, and so on). Ifthese work in the campaign world, thecharacter may perform one divinationeach week (treat as an augury spell).

Enchantment/Charm Theory. Know-ledge of enchantments placed uponobjects and creatures. On a successfulproficiency check, the character gainsinformation equal to the result of abard’s Legend Lore skill about a givenmagical item. In addition, the charactermay spot a magical charm, geas, or simi-

lar spell after carefully observing theaffected creature for 1-10 rounds andmaking a successful proficiency check.

Illusion Theory. Study of illusions,phantasms, and shadow magic. Thekeen insights and knowledge of psy-chology required to understand illusionmagic makes the character very sensi-tive to subtle nuances of behavior. On asuccessful check, the character can tell ifhe is being deliberately lied to (althoughthe truth is not revealed).

Invocation/Evocation Theory. Studyof the flashy and dramatic invocation/evocation spells. On a successful profi-ciency check, the character may performa single evocation cantrip, such as a singlepuff of smoke, a spark hot enough tolight dry paper, a light equal to that of asmall candle, or other minor magicaleffect. Like any other cantrip, this spellcannot harm any but the smallest of crea-tures and cannot disrupt anyone’s con-centration. On a natural “20,” the cantrip ismiscast (e.g., gives a hotfoot to the king,sets fire to the drapes, etc.—DM’s choice).

Necromantic Theory. The darkest ofthe studies, the study of life and deathand how very thin the barrier betweenthem can be. The student of necroman-tic lore may conduct research (as permagical item construction) into golemconstruction, is an expert embalmer,and gains a +1 bonus to all Healingchecks. However, the character’s knowl-edge of life and death bring an increas-ing detachment from society that can besensed by others. The character suffers a-1 Reaction penalty for every four expe-rience levels (rounded down).

New Traits & DisadvantagesCampaigns that use the optional

character point system presented inPLAYER’S OPTION™: Skills & Powers rulebookcan include the following:

Untutored (Flaw, 4 bonus points/10bonus points): The character learned

magic through intuition and native talent,not by the usual apprenticeship. As aModerate disadvantage, the charactermay not begin play with any NWPs fromthe Wizard group. Furthermore, thecharacter must pay the “non-mage” cost(one additional proficiency slot, or twoadditional CPs) to acquire any such pro-ficiency during play. As a Severe disad-vantage, the character may never haveor acquire spellcraft or any Wizardnon-weapon proficiency and suffers a-10% penalty to learn new spells. Hischance to research spells from scratch,however, is unaffected.

Natural affinity (school) (Advantage,costing 4 points): The character has a“knack” for a particular school of magic(chosen at the time of generation). Thecharacter enjoys a +1 bonus to all NWPchecks involving that type of magic, anda further +5% bonus to learn new spellsof that school. In addition, the charactermay learn one more spell per level thanhis Intelligence score indicates (Table 4,PHB, or Table 8, S&P). Purchasing thisadvantage twice for one school has nocumulative effect.

Campaign NotesAdvanced study of magic is not just a

matter of “+5% to learn a spell.” Thecharacter has an encyclopedic knowl-edge of various types of magic that heencounters during play. Although theseNWPs provide immediate benefits, theirmain purpose is to encourage a morethoughtful, investigative style of play. Asa new source of clues, of tactical infor-mation, or simply as a way to impressNPCs, this knowledge has many role-playing applications—provided the char-acter has an opportunity to use them.The DM must plan ahead and be readywhen the PC asks what his “abjurationtheory roll tells him about the mysteri-ous writing on the locked door,” or says“I’m going to impress the sage with myknowledge of magical metaphysics.”

Lachlan MacQuarrie has recently com-pleted his Master’s degree in Abjuration witha minor in Metaphysical Theory.

Table 2: Proficiency Character PointsProficiency CPs Initial Rating Relevant AbilityHigh Magic 4 7 Intelligence/Knowledge, Wisdom/WillpowerMagecraft 3 7 Intelligence/ReasonMetaphysical Theory 5 6 Intelligence/Reason, Wisdom/Intuition(School) Theory 5 7 Intelligence/Knowledge

46 DECEMBER 1997

by Ed Greenwoodillustrated by David Day

t was early in the evening; it’d be hours yet before my studywas invaded by three mighty mages.Or so I’d thought. I was strolling unconcernedly down the

hall, laden with a case of cola and some bottles of ice wine,when a sudden, well, hoofing sound from above made me lookup, dump the drinkables onto the broadloom with a hastycrash, and dive into the nearest closet.

I was just in time. The closet has louvered doors, and I gotmyself turned around in time to see (through the slits) Elminsterslide serenely down my banister rail, robes tucked up to reveallegs that were as hairy as they were shapely.

As he deftly swung his leg over to drop from one flight ofstairs to the other, Elminster said loudly in my direction, “See?The place is empty, as I told thee. There’s no one here to seeus make fools of ourselves. Trust me.”

By now, I can recognize a warning when the Old Mage givesit. For one thing, the words “Trust me” are a dead giveaway. Foranother, I’d never heard him hoot like that before. He preferssubtle, stealthy arrivals. I stayed where I was and kept veryquiet.

A moment later, the lady mage Rautheene scudded downthe well-polished banister in an elegant, precisely-balancedsidesaddle pose, gown demurely tucked around daintily-bootedankles. Behind her came her mentor, Mordenkainen, but Iconfess my eyes were so caught by the smooth descent of thelady in black that I scarcely noticed his voyage—or whateverbefell Elminster at the bottom that caused a thump and amuffled curse.

The lady Rautheene has the merriest tinkling laughter I’veever heard. It rolled out across the hallway as

“Humph,” he growled. “Some apprentices have more witsthan to dare ridicule archmages who can shake realms with asingle spell!”

“Or make an adroit landing,” she agreed serenely, patting hischeek fondly as she danced down from the banister in an ele-gant swirl of black gown, unbound sable hair, and jet jewelry.

“Ho-bloody-ho,” he replied darkly as she swept past, butthere was a twinkle in his sharp old eyes as their gazes met.She grinned at him—and vanished in a puff of smoke.

At that moment, another solid thump announced the arrivalof a certain mighty mage of Greyhawk at the polished postthat stands where the banister turns at the landing, to plungedown the lower flight of stairs.

It was followed, after an ominous moment of silence, by ahigh, involuntary blurt of pain. Even from the closet I could seeit was going to be a little while before Mordenkainen of Oerthfound enough breath to emit anything more.

Elminster winced and hastily lifted a hand. His fingers madecrawling motions like a bucket of aroused worms trying toelude a fishhook, and Mordenkainen rose gently into the airand floated down to the hallway.

A moment later, something seemed to grow and whirlbetween my eyes. I sat down hastily on a row of boots as bluemists raced and coiled across my sight. They grew bright,flashed together, then rolled back like stage curtains to reveala scene that was bouncing slightly as we proceeded down thehall, with Mordenkainen’s softly-hissed curses coming fromnearby. My, but archmages know some interesting phrases.

I was back looking out of Elminster’s belt buckle again, fac-ing Rautheene as she leaned forward across the

Elminster rose, rubbed his behind, and gave her study table, a little frown of concentration ona sour look. her face. Bowls of chips and glistening

DRAGON #242 49

dip were banking over her left shoulderon their way in from the kitchen (thankwhatever gods there may be that I startgetting everything ready early), and darkranks of bottles were sliding softly alongthe polished tabletop.

Elminster surveyed the unfoldingfeast approvingly. “Good,” he said. “Verygood indeed. Ye found the smokedsalmon, too.” Curiosity crept into hisapproving tones then as he squintedand asked, “But what’s that spread allover it?”

“Ice cream,” Rautheene repliedbrightly. “I wanted to try the two tastestogether.”

Mordenkainen groaned, but perhapsits source was a twinge of renewed painrather than a culinary opinion. He low-ered himself gingerly into my recliner,snapped weary fingers, and watched thefire roar obediently into life.

“I’m dying,” he told the rising blue-white flames promptly, his voice soplaintive that Rautheene dipped her facehastily into the ice cream and salmon tostifle a giggle. I saw her shoulders shak-ing as Elminster gave her a stern lookand moved to take the armchair.

“Let us leave the table, this once,” heproclaimed. “My lady?”

Rautheene hastily wiped ice creamfrom her chin and turned toward thesofa, licking long and elegant fingers asif she were just a child playing in thekitchen. Maybe she once had been.

“No word of Dalamar?” Elminsterasked, settling himself. His pipe driftedto a spot just beside his chin, and emit-ted a contented puff of blue-greensmoke.

“None,” Rautheene replied, squeezingher master’s shoulder as she passed, tobid him keep silent until he was morecomfortable.

A row of bottles followed her, driftingalong in midair. The lady apprenticesank down into the cushions, lookedaround for more pillows, then shruggedand swung her feet up to sprawl full-length. Grapes rained gently down intoher mouth; she waved silent thanks tothe Old Mage for sending them.

“I don’t feel overmuch in the moodfor talk of saving worlds and grave ris-ing perils and spells that shatter towersasunder,” Elminster announced. “Shallwe keep to lighter converse?”

“Lord Elminster, I find that a delightfulsuggestion,” Rautheene replied. Sheturned toward Mordenkainen. “Master?”

Mordenkainen nodded. “It strikes mewell, too—and let me hear no smart

comments from either of you aboutthings striking me.”

“Such impudence would be mis-placed,” Elminster agreed solemnly. Hispipe, however, gave a derisive snort,and I saw Rautheene put fingers to herlips hastily to stifle another giggle.Bottles and slabs of cheese were circlingher master now, and in their midst henoticed neither—or chose not to noticeeither—reaction.

Pipesmoke undulated toward the fire-place as Elminster murmured, “Try dip-ping that extra old cheddar into mustard. . . a most intriguing taste, I find.”

Rautheene shuddered. “And yet youdisapprove of pralines’n’cream withsmoked salmon?”

“Well,” the Old Mage growled, “itsounds and looks revolting, but ye seemto be thriving. Send some my way, if yewill. I’ve survived this long, after all . . .”

As he spoke, a platter of butteredasparagus drifted to the fireside, flankedby bagels piled high with bacon, andmugs of steaming cream soup. Mykitchen, it seemed, was suffering anotherfull frontal assault.

“Well?” the Lady Rautheene asked,chin in hand, watching the archmage ofToril lick his lips.

Elminster turned incredulous eyes onher. “As vile as I thought it’d be,” hegrowled. “I suppose ye like bubble gum,too?”

The lady apprentice frowned. Whatis ‘bubble gum’?

“Rautheene,” the Lord Mage ofGreyhawk said formally, sitting boltupright in the recliner, “I forbid you toinvestigate bubble gum. Absolutely andutterly. Think of it, if you must think of itat all, as chewing on a pink, oversweet-ened, sticky species of slimy raw eels.”

His apprentice gagged delicately. “Mycuriosity endeth,” she announced.

“Good,” Mordenkainen said withfinality. “To head off further mischief, I’dbest begin our talk of magic—little spellsthis time, I think, matters of sleight-of-hand and empty flourishes that impress. . . and small, useful dweomers too, Isuppose. Let us trade whimsies foronce.”

“A good idea,” Elminster agreed.“Accordingly, I shall set forth the myster-ies of coinsharp, nextremity and Sortil’saqueous transfer.”

“Before entering studies under LordMordenkainen,” Rautheene said, “mycareer tended toward . . . deception. I cancontribute the spells false ioun stone,hither, and wizard gong.”

Whilst I,” Mordenkainen announced,“had occasion to employ spells con-cerned with both prying and stealth inmy younger days. As we seem to bedealing in threes, let me reveal echo, fin-gerblade, and spy.”

The three mages reached into theirbodices in unison, drawing forthparchments with identical flourishes. Itwas a good thing that my snort of mirthwas safely back in the closet, out ofrange of their hearing. “Spur-of-the-moment” and “unplanned,” indeed.

Then, of course, they started tradingtales of sorcerous goofs and hilarities—and the remoteness of the closet, echo-ing with my chuckles and helplessguffaws, became a very good thing.

If I ever dare to cross two old andwise archwizards, or a stunningly beau-tiful lady apprentice fast rising in power,perhaps I’ll share some of those storieswith you. Perhaps when I’m very oldand my health is failing. By then, spend-ing several centuries as a toad or aflowerpot or Rautheene’s backscratchermight seem a little more appealing thanit does now.

Things could get worse, after all. I couldwind up as Elminster’s backscratcher!

For Your CampaignRemembering some of the tales next

morning, Elminster chuckled all overagain and gave me details of the spellsexchanged by the Three in return for mypromise to have at least four large tubsof ice cream waiting in my freezer fortheir next visit. Pralines’n’cream, ofcourse.

“Oh,” Elminster added gruffly, justbefore he faded into the fireplace, “andanother thing: ye may as well fill a shelfof thy fridge with smoked salmon, too.Rauth isn’t going to rest until she’s gotboth of us hooked on her salmon andice cream mess, too.”

“She won’t be able to get into thatskintight gown much longer if she goeson wolfing down ice cream like that,” Iwarned.

“She already can’t, lad,” Elminsterreplied in satisfaction. “Did ye not noticethe gown she wore yestereve was a sizelarger than the one she wore at her lastvisit? I did.”

The flames roared up past his smile,and he was gone.

50 DECEMBER 1997

Coinsharp(Alteration)Level: 1Components: V, S, MRange: TouchCasting Time: 3Duration: SpecialSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell turns a bladed weapon intoa gleaming gold coin—or a gold coin intoa sharp, pristine dagger (suited in size tothe caster of the spell, with its appear-ance, hilt hue, and so on as envisionedby the caster). The transformation is com-plete and undetectable by normal means(though the changed item radiates analteration dweomer), but the effect lastsfor only one day per level of the caster,whereupon the item returns to its formershape. Only a mage of very clear wits andconcentration (Intelligence 15 or higher)can use this spell to create a coin or dag-ger that is an exact duplicate of a pre-existing item, and then only if that itemcan be examined by the caster immedi-ately prior to casting.

A blade or coin produced by a coin-sharp spell that breaks or is melted isn’tdestroyed in the usual manner butinstead returns to its true shape in pris-tine condition. (Continued exposure towhatever endangered its transformedshape can, of course, damage this trueform.)

The material component of a coin-sharp spell is a pinch of iron filings andat least one tiny fleck of gold dust—or ashaving from a gold coin.

False Ioun Stone(Alteration, Illusion/Phantasm)Level: 1Components: V, S, MRange: TouchCasting Time: 4Duration: 1 round/levelSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell animates and alters a stoneor stones to make them outwardly per-fect copies of the magical items knownas ioun stones.

One to three false stones can be cre-ated by this spell; the only difference incasting is that more false stones requiremore material components. A raw stonetakes on whatever forms of ioun stonethe caster desires (so long as the casterhas in the past actually seen a real stoneof the sort desired). If not, the spell pro-duces either a vibrant purple prism (evendie roll) or a dusty rose prism (odd die

roll) as its first stone, and a pearly whitespindle (even) or a lavender-and-greenellipsoid (odd) as its second stone, thethird stone being any sort of ioun stone.

Like real ioun stones, the transformedstones spin continuously and take up anorbit around the caster’s head. They canbe grasped and repositioned (e.g., toorbit at a different radius) by the casterwithout ending the spell. Any stonestouched by other beings vanish instantlybut don’t affect remaining stones. Falseioun stones radiate a dweomer but haveno actual magical powers. Their majoruse is to impress gullible onlookers.

The material components of this spellare the raw stones (which are consumedby the magic, vanishing when the spellexpires), a small handful of small glassbeads, and one clear gem of any typeand value, per stone to be changed(such a gem may be flawed, but it mustbe real gemstone and larger than theraw stone it will affect).

Hither(Conjuration/Summoning)Level: 1Components: VRange: 0Casting Time: 2Duration: InstantaneousSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell causes a single item to leapinto the caster’s grasp from elsewhereon his or her person. The item must benon-magical and of a weight and sizethat the caster could normally hold com-fortably. It arrives gently but securely ina specified hand belonging to the caster,held ready for use, and may by meansof this spell come from a scabbard,backpack, pouch, or hiding place underclothing without disturbing interveninggarments or its former storage place (i.e.,a backpack tied shut remains tied shut,and other items in it retain their places).

The transfer may be silent and unher-alded, or accompanied by a faint flour-ish of chiming notes and a flash of lightbriefly trailing from the item, whicheverthe caster desires.

Wizard Gong(Alteration, Evocation)Level: 1Components: V, S, MRange: Unlimited (same plane)Casting Time: 4Duration: SpecialSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell causes the caster to feel asilent, distinctive vibratory alarm when aspecific door, window, portal, or lid isopened or destroyed. The “alarmed”opening must be touched during cast-ing, and the spell requires as its materialcomponent a clear, colorless gemstoneof any sort, but not less than 1,000 goldpieces in value.

After a wizard gong is cast, the“alarmed” area radiates no dweomer,and casting a dispel magic upon it (or thecaster) can’t ruin the gong spell. Neitherdistance nor elapsed time has any effecton the operation of a wizard gong, butafter it is cast, the caster loses the use ofthe first-level spell slot it occupies until itis discharged. An individual may haveonly one wizard gong active at a time.Once cast, the spell can’t be ended bythe will of the caster (unless he or sheopens the “alarmed” door).

Echo(Alteration, Evocation)Level: 2Components: V, SRange: 0Casting Time: 2Duration: SpecialSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

An echo spell “records” all soundsheard by its caster in the round immedi-ately preceding its casting. These soundscan be “replayed” aloud twice, at anytime after the echo spell is cast, by thespeaking of a single secret activationword chosen by the caster.

A caster can have multiple echo spellsin use at the same time, but once one iscast, the caster loses the use of the sec-ond-level spell slot it occupies until bothreplays have occurred. The spell can’t beended without replays by act of will; thereplays must occur to end the magic.Replays occur at the same volume levelthat they were heard by the caster, andthey survive unconsciousness or inter-vening charms or feebleminded states ofthe caster (but not the caster’s death andsubsequent resurrection).

This spell is normally used to incrimi-nate loose-tongued conspirators, or topreserve important or complex instruc-tions, proclamations, or agreements.

Fingerblade(Evocation)Level: 2Components: V, S, MRange: 0Casting Time: 2

DRAGON #242 51

Duration: 1 round/levelSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell brings into being an invisi-ble, razor-sharp, weightless blade extend-ing from one of the casters fingers. Afingerblade can be willed out of existenceby its caster at any time. It strikes as a +1short sword, and the enchantment pro-tects the wielder’s hand from breakagedue to impacts of the sword againstopposing blades, walls, and the like.

The caster of a fingerblade can chooseto destroy any one non-magical bladedweapon that the fingerblade touches(specific and successful attack rollrequired). There is no saving throwagainst this power of the spell; thetouched weapon and the fingerbladeboth vanish, instantly and silently. Thispower can’t affect magical weapons, ornon-magical weapons bearing any sortof temporary dweomer (e.g., a normalsword upon which a light spell has beencast).

The material components of a fin-gerblade spell are a fingernail clipping(from the caster) and a needle or long,narrow, and sharp fragment of tem-pered metal.

Nextremity(Alteration, Necromancy)Level: 2Components: V, S, MRange: 0Casting Time: 2Duration: 2 roundsSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell “drinks” some of the cast-er’s vitality, causing a loss of 1d4 hp(which can be regained by normal restor magical healing). It causes one of thecasters hands and one of the caster’sfeet temporarily to switch places witheach other.

The “switched” extremities retain fullstrength and skill; a caster can use ahand that is now down at his left ankle,for example, to reach for something orto perform a dextrous task just as if hewere employing his hand (though visi-bility and guidance can be a problem;the spell doesn’t move eyeballs about orprovide “pipeline vision”).

A nextremity spell has one valuableside-effect that makes this spell morethan a juggler’s (or sneak thief’s) curiosity:as the two extremities switch places, anynon-magical bindings or manacles uponthem, or around the wrist and ankle towhich they are attached, fall away.

Mages use this spell to manage “miracu-lous” escapes more often than for anyother reason.

The material components of a nex-tremity spell are a piece of bone, a frag-ment of tendon, and a piece of sinewfrom any mammal (or mammals; theyneed not all be from the same creatureor creature species).

Sortil�s Aqueous Transfer(Alteration)Level: 2Components: V, S, MRange: 300 yardsCasting Time: 2Duration: InstantaneousSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell transfers liquid from onevessel to another (either from a full con-tainer to an empty one, or trading thecontents of two containers). For the spellto function, the two vessels (which canbe open, like cups or mugs, or closed,like wineskins, casks, or stoppered jugs)must be identical (or nearly so) in size,shape, and material. The caster musthave touched or handled both contain-ers at some time previous to the castingof the transfer. The spell fails if this is notso, or if the caster attempts to move anignited liquid, or a liquid containing solidor semi-solid objects larger than thecaster’s thumb (such as meatballs ordumplings).

If these conditions are fulfilled, thespell succeeds. No part of the liquid isconsumed or lost by the magic; if liquidpasses from a filled container to anempty one, the formerly laden containerwill be left bone dry. Movement of theliquid is silent and instantaneous; asudden change in the weight of the con-tainer may result, causing an unsuspect-ing being holding or carrying it to dropthe container or overbalance.

Alcoholic liquids and acids may bemoved unaltered by means of this spell,but enchanted liquids of any sort (such aspotions) lose their magic when affectedby a transfer. Poisoned liquids are movedby a transfer, but on a roll of 1 or 2 on1d6, they’re rendered permanently inertduring their journey; on a roll of 6, they’reweakened so as to be delayed in takingeffect for 1d4+1 rounds (in addition toany normal onset time delay).

The material components of a Sortil’saqueous transfer spell are a raindrop anda tear (from the caster), which are typi-cally carried in stoppered vials fash-ioned to fit together when opened (the

opening of one large enough to engulfthe open end of the other), so that thetwo drops can easily be shaken together;they must touch during casting.

Sortil was a mage of Halruaa, whoflourished some 600 years ago.

SPY(Alteration, Evocation)Level: 3Components: V, S, MRange: 0Casting Time: 1 roundDuration: 7 roundsSave: NoneArea of Effect: Special

This spell brings into being a visible,tangible eye or ear identical to the spell-casters real eyes or ears. The caster cansee or hear through the organ as if itwere his own, while within 90 feet of it(regardless of intervening walls or barri-ers). The eye or ear is stationary onceplaced in a spot by the caster andadheres to surfaces unbreakably (i.e., itcan be “stuck” to the underside of atable to conceal it). If an eyeball is creat-ed, it swivels and focuses as if it werereal, and the caster can direct it to “aim”in particular directions from afar.

If the eye or ear created by a spy spellis destroyed (it is considered AC 10 with1 hp), its caster suffers an instant loss of4 hp and the loss of use of one eye orear (whichever is appropriate to the spellform employed) for 1 full day (24 hours,or 144 turns). Note that this blindness ordeafness is a spell-curable magical afflic-tion, not visible physical damage.

The material components of a spyspell are a glass rod or tube of any size(miniatures are usually employed), and aglass lens or cone, or an eyeball or earfrom any creature.

Ed Greenwood wants it to be known thatthere is no truth to the malicious rumor thathe is the son of King Azoun IV of Cormyr.Nor does his lineage have anything to dowith irritable dragons, archliches, Harpersnamed Storm, lusty dwarves, Malaugrym,or wizards named Elminster. “All resem-blances are purely coincidental, “Ed insists. “Iwas in another world at the time.”

52 DECEMBER 1997

The Dragon of the Statuesby Ed Greenwood

illustrated by Storn Cook

he investigations of Volo includesome confused notes about a

“desert-dwelling giant blue dragon whoseems to have some magical link with astatue . . . way of surviving sandstorms?Special magic?”

Elminster has consented to lay barerather more than such cryptic queriesabout the Doom of the Desert, lymrith,the blue dragon of the Chill Sands.

Few folk of the North ever see thislegendary “Dragon of the Statues”unless they brave the frigid wastes ofAnauroch east of ruined Ascore, or dareto explore the Netherese ruins scatteredup and down the Fallen Lands along thewestern edge of the Great Desert.lymrith roams these regions tirelessly.

She’s engaged in an extended explo-ration of the surviving ruins of Netheriland has already gained much old magicfrom them. She has also developedquite a few unusual spells.

Perhaps the most important of theseis the magic that has kept her alive thusfar: force burn, a spell derived from mag-ics left behind by Netherese mages thatis deadly to the fey subterranean raceknown as the Phaerimm. Fear of it hasdriven them to ignore lymrith ratherthan turning their power to the task ofdestroying her.

Adventurers are warned that lymrithhas developed spells that employ sandas a weapon—and that apparently con-fer the ability to use such magics onsome of the many gargoyle servantsshe’s created.

lymrith is first heard of in adventur-ers’ journals written circa 570 D.R., as ayoung and aggressive dragon whosmashed a Bedine trading encampmenton the edge of the desert, who toreapart a caravan bound for the distantSword Coast, and who left the campladen with desert-gems.

lymrith apparently challenged anolder dragon somewhere in the vicinityof the High Moor shortly after her emer-gence from Anauroch—and had to fleefor her life.

Sorely wounded, she crashed intosome ruins (possibly remnants of fallenNetheril) in the Forgotten Forest and hidfor some years, healing slowly and steal-ing forth only by night to find food. Atsome point during this time of night-hunting, she somehow gained magicbeyond the normal capabilities of eventhe oldest blue dragons; Elminsterbelieves she was captured by a powerfularchmage and modified by him to serveas an intelligent servant.

This belief is supported by sightings ofa blue dragon flying over the DelimbiyrVale with a disintegrating, robed humanskeleton perched between her shouldersin a high-backed saddle. This was almostcertainly lymrith, who soon began to

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raid camped caravans and Sword Coastsettlements by night, unleashing wizardspells from a roster strong and variedenough that many mages used magic—in vain—to hunt down a rogue wizardthey believed to be dwelling in hidingsomewhere in the Greypeak Mountains.

lymrith apparently turned to diggingapart the ruins along the westernDesertsedge when a chance landing torest yielded her a stone chest packed fullof spellbooks.

Her enthusiastic digging brought herjaw-to-jaw with her first phaerimm, andher life very nearly ended there, but thenarrow escape alerted her to this mightymenace from below, and she redoubledher efforts to find magic, which she car-ried off to a windswept mountaintop.

Inevitably, lymrith was seen flyingback and forth and was confronted byan adventuring band hoping to be richdragonslayers by the end of the day.They ended up as corpses instead, andlymrith was goaded into experimentingwith certain of the spells she’d alreadyfound to make her first gargoyles.

Iymrith needed loyal, sturdy servantsto guard her lair and dig for her whileshe kept watch for phaerimm andhumans from a safe vantage point. Hergargoyles began as crude, ungainly glid-ing stone monsters but soon grew moreelegant and deadly. Today she is servedby such specialized creations as grand-father plaques (q.v., under “Gargoyle,” inthe Monstrous Compendium® AnnualVolume Three).

When her gargoyle army was strongenough, lymrith set them to digging upNetherese ruins, while she spent hoursflying high above the western desertand adjoining lands, seeking herds ofrothé and the like for food and ruinsthat might not be visible from the air.

The shifting sands of Anauroch soonrewarded her, unveiling the leaning topof a lone sorcerer’s tower. lymrith tore itopen and found her richest magic yet.She made it her lair for some centuries,until one day phaerimm came boilingup out of its depths to slay her.

By then, lymrith was ready for them.Her force burn spells and other magicsdestroyed many phaerimm and sent therest fleeing—and in the time she’d wonby her victory, the Doom of the Desertset about shifting all of her accumulatedtreasure north to another ruin she’dfound as the restless sands laid it bare: astone city roamed only by the skeletonsof undead Bedine.

The dragon has still not learned thecity’s name but has dwelt in it ever since,driving away all other dragons andphaerimm who approach, and makingever-stronger gargoyles to dig into thecity’s tombs and cellars for her, andguard what she has already gained.

The key to lymrith’s character is herdriving, all-consuming ambition. In thewords of Elminster, she is “the least lazyand sleepy wyrm I have ever known.”

lymrith’s LairThough she has several caverns in

the Greypeak and Sunset Mountains(caves that have their own pools ofwater but which she keeps otherwisebare), the Doom of the Deserts lair isthe nameless ruined city that lies north-east of Ascore, half-buried in sand.

There she lies atop her hoard ofgems in a huge temple or meeting-hall,with her tail filling the entrance to hersmaller chamber of magic. All aroundher are gargoyle guardians, and herlesser gargoyle servants fly patrols towatch for intruders, tunnel the sand-choked chambers and passages beneathher, and tirelessly transport rocks fromthe nearby mountains to create a perma-nent “windbreak dune” or wall on thewindward side of the city.

At least one adventuring band hasreported being fired upon by “stone-hurling engines” (trebuchets) that wereaimed and re-aimed with great accuracyby gargoyles seeking to dissuade anyinvasion of the city. These weaponscould hurl showers of boulders almost amile from the crumbling outer walls ofthe ancient city—reinforced by gargoylesswooping on the intruders from aloft,dropping boulders on them.

Teeter-totter pitfall traps and spell-hurling gargoyles were reported by theonly mage to reach the city streets andsurvive. (He gained entry—and soon lefthastily—by means of teleport spells.)

lymrith’s DomainFrom her nameless city, lymrith

roams the western edge of Anauroch asfar south as the Greycloak Hills and asfar west as the eastern edge of the HighForest (now that Hellgate Keep is nolonger the peril it once was). She seemsto like colder climes, unlike most bluedragons, and flies occasional forays asfar north as where the Ice Mountainsmeet the glaciers.

The Doom of the Desert regards hercity—and the ways beneath it, as fardown as they may exist—as her exclu-

sive territory. Any phaerimm, drow,human adventurers, or anyone elseentering it becomes her food as swiftlyas she can bring about such a fate. Therest of the area she flies over, however,she rules but lightly, watching eventsmore than enforcing her will. She isknown occasionally to make huntingflights (in search of herds of livestock,usually) that carry her far afield.

The Deeds of lymrithThe blue dragon of the Chill Sands

has spells that readily thaw ice intodrinkable water. There is ice in plentybeneath her city, and much more only ashort flight away in all directions exceptsouth or due west. She seemingly eatsanything, so long as there’s lots of it, butshe doesn’t seem to grow hungry toooften. She spends most days examiningmagical items brought to her by her gar-goyle miners, and experimenting withthe spells and items she already has toderive new and more powerful magics.

lymrith creates new servitor gar-goyles every dozen days or so, but sheis becoming increasingly obsessed withher own survival and has interruptedher usual augmentation of her gargoylearmy to experiment with the creation ofmultiple bodies for herself. At presentshe can “jump” her essence from herreal body to a mechanical body and toat least two statues, but she hasn’t man-aged to yet craft a second living body.

The statues lymrith has created areas large as she is, and all six of themlook like stiffly-posed blue dragonsmade of single smooth-finished blocksof stone. (She’s actually fused rocktogether with flowstone spells to makethem.) When she teleports them about,or links with them to cast spells throughthem (just as a human mage can makecertain spells emanate from a projectedimage) or to move her sentient self-essence into them, the statues’ pupillesseyes come alive with tiny flames.

lymrith’s driving aim is to gain all themagic she can and thereby rise tosupremacy over all other dragons,phaerimm, or anyone else who mightchallenge her. Then she can live forever,crafting ever-stronger magics. No oneknows whether she’ll ever feel secureenough to think of mating, dwellingelsewhere, or sharing her magic withbeings not of her own creation.

Certain Bedine tribes worshiplymrith—from a safe distance. Theyleave behind offerings of polished sap-phires. Thus far, lymrith has suffered

56 DECEMBER 1997

them to live and even safely approachthe city walls until they can see her cen-tral hall clearly. She’s never renderedthem the slightest aid, however, andmight just be humoring them idly.

Iymrith has mastered various magicalmeans of teleporting groups of crea-tures and is known to use this methodto capture herds of snow rothé andother edible beasts when her supply offood runs low. (The harsh climate andscant grazing provender causes thisshortage to happen fairly often.)

The Doom of the Desert seems tofind the crafting and enchanting ofitems tiresome, but tinkering with thecasting of spells holds endless fascina-tion for her and consumes most of herdays. Perhaps once every eight days orso she momentarily tires of magicalexperimentation and indulges herself infarscrying Faerûn around her, to keeptrack of what’s happening elsewhere.She does this in a whimsical mannerrather than taking thorough or defen-sive care over it.

Less than a decade ago, lymrith’sspells ensnared the Company of theFlame Spider. Named for the exoticdancer who sponsored them, this bandof fumbling magelings and disaffectedmercenaries was formed in Athkatla.After several unrewarding forays intothe High Moor and the ruins of Illefarn,they undertook a commission from theMerchant League to explore the chillnorthern reaches of Anauroch, seekinga trade route east or at least a series oflandmarks that travelers across the shift-ing sands could rely on.

A dozen Flame Spiders avoidedAscore (whose fell reputation has spreadacross the North) but set off to travel ina wide ring around it, taking note of anydesert landmarks along the way. Theysoon caught sight of the city that heldthe Doom of the Desert—too late toavoid being in turn seen and trapped byher. lyrmith placed no compulsions onthe adventurers; she merely makes useof mass teleport spells to keep theminside a ring-shaped region of shiftingsands around her city, plucking themunceremoniously back into it wheneverthey try to strike out into the desert orreach the city (which they’ve dubbed“the Towers Unattainable”). As long asthey remain in this indefinite area ofdesert, lymrith allows them to wanderand act freely. Her gargoyles surrepti-tiously plant food and items for themto find (even shovels, when the desertstorms expose interesting Netherese

ruins) to keep them interested in theirendless roamings. Whenever adventur-ing bands, Bedine, or other intrudersdare to stray too close to her namelesscity, lymrith uses the Flame Spiders forthe purpose for which she entrappedthem: as unwitting defenders of her pri-vacy, whisking them into confrontationwith the newcomers.

Most Bedine attack the suddenly-appearing Amnian warband on sightand fall prey to the spells the two FlameSpider mages can muster, but the FlameSpiders sometimes befriend intruders.Mass teleport spells and gargoyles pre-vent any invasion of the city on suchoccasions, but if no such activity ismounted, the Doom of the Desert usesher gargoyles to send out a feast, thenemploys spells to eavesdrop on anyover-the-wine conversations, seeking tolearn what the wider world knows of heras well as interesting news. lymrithseems to have adopted the FlameSpiders as pets, in somewhat the samemanner as soldiers‘ develop a casualaffection for stray dogs, to whom theytoss camp leavings. She uses her spellsto snatch the Amnians apart from eachother whenever their arguments breakinto open violence.

Most of the magical experimenta-tions mounted by the blue dragon of theChill Sands involve altering incantationsto change spell effects; after centuries ofdoing this, she can tinker with spellsinstinctively and has been known tocast a spell in battle, observe its effect,and alter an immediate second castingto achieve a different result. Magicexcites her, but challenges and danger(apparently) leave her icily calm; she hasself-control far beyond what most drag-ons can conceive, let alone achieve.

When not altering or combiningspells, lymrith is usually attempting toinfuse some part of an artificial draconicbody with a magical property or power.The upper reaches of her central citychambers are crowded with floatingsculpted stone body parts and more-or-less complete bodies. On several occa-sions spell experimentations that wentawry have awakened these floatingdragon fragments into wild eruptions ofmovement and magical power, slaugh-tering gargoyles and causing evenlyrmith to retreat and blast anything thatcomes too close. A lurking Red Wizarddeliberately caused one such burst ofchaos some years ago, when lymrithdiscovered him spying on her. He prob-ably escaped her furious volley of spells,

but less swift-to-flee mages (including anambitious Brotherhood of the Arcaneapprentice and several Zhentarim) havepaid the ultimate price for daring to peerinto the lair of the Doom of the Desert.Farscrying witnesses of at least two ofthese deaths have discerned a pattern tolymrithian spell-duels, or at least afavorite attack method: the blue dragonlikes to employ an ice storm or otherarea-effect damaging spell that lasts formore than a round and, while a foe isdefending against it, launch a spell todestroy any protective shield they mightraise. This attack is followed immediatelyby a spell designed forcibly to changetheir shape—usually into something muteand immobile, such as a giant clam.

lymrithian defenses can best bedescribed as lax. She ignores attacksunless they thrust immediate conse-quences at her, whereupon she tends tohurl mobs of gargoyles at them and—ifshe deems it necessary—a few devastat-ing spells or combinations of spells, todefeat or disable the menace so that shecan return her attentions to whatevershe was doing when the danger arose.Foes (such as, on one recent and fataloccasion, an overconfident group ofSembian wizards-for-hire) who believethat such hasty reactions give them aweakness to readily exploit are correct,to a point—but such bold foes had bestbe able to do their exploiting very fastand very hard, or an aroused lymrithwill begin to unleash the full defenses ofher city at them. In earlier days, she evi-dently placed belligerent creatures, fromremorhaz to adventurers, in some sortof magical stasis, then stored them insealed chambers, safe from hungrycreatures, scouring sand, and the rav-ages of time. She can awaken groups ofthem en masse as she teleports theminto the presence of a foe—or to a posi-tion just above opponents, so as to bringthem crashing down on the heads ofsuch enemies.

The mage Tathtlan of Neverwinter,now deceased, discovered lymrith earlyin his explorations with an ancientNetherese scrying stone and observedher often. His notes (from which much ofwhat Elminster knows of the Doom ofthe Desert is derived; the Old Magestresses that although it appears lymrithbecame aware of her observer, she tookno action against him and did not causehis demise) indicate that, from time totime, doorways and spires in the name-less city changed by themselves.Although their alterations may have

DRAGON #242 57

been caused or triggered by the magicalexperiments of “lymrith, she was sur-prised by the changes on at least twooccasions, and Tathtlan believes thatsome other force was, and is, awakeand active in the city. Perhaps phaer-imm are managing to slip some magicpast the Doom of the Desert, or olderresident enchantments or hidden beingsare at work. These changes never seemto amount to a direct challenge tolymrith, and their cause and true natureremain mysterious.

Tathtlan was of the opinion thatlyrmith is growing more whimsical andcarefree as she ages, more caught up inthe exultation of wielding magic andincreasingly less caring of the worldaround her and of her own safety. Hecompared her behavior to that of someancient elves, yearning for a onenesswith magic that, legends whisper, ledsome of them to seek other forms ofexistence—even, in some ironic cases,dragon-shape. Elminster believes thatlymrith’s attempts to transfer her sen-tience from draconic body to body mayhave already led her close to a tran-scendent state of existence as a disem-bodied, mistlike flying spirit. Althoughshe is yet a long way from preferringsuch a state to her familiar and powerfuldraconic form, the Old Mage believes,an attack that destroyed her body mightnot slay her, but might instead drive herinto a wraithlike continued existence.Accordingly, he watches the future ofthe Doom of the Desert with interest.

lymrith�s MagicFrom the ranks of the many spells

wielded by the Doom of the Desert (whoseems about the equivalent of a 20th-level mage in terms of how many spellsshe can memorize at once, though she’snever without a score or so of magicalitems that she can trigger at will), here arethe spells that adventurers are likely totaste if they encounter any of her gar-goyles, and the spell that has kept heralive in the face of phaerimm attacks.

Flame Sands(Alteration, Evocation)Level: 4Range: 30 yds.Components: VDuration: 6 roundsCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: 1/2

This spell enables its caster (who maybe an automaton such as a gargoyle

affected by an imbue with spell abilityenchantment) to vomit forth sand in athin, forceful stream at the creature’susual THAC0 (one stream per round).

The sand is almost molten, and itsheat bums living things for 2d4+2 hpdamage per stream. Its impact automati-cally shatters all glass, ruins all reflective(mirrored) surfaces, and clings to (cloakthe appearance of) all gemstones andother crystals, which must be carefullyheated and scraped to restore them totheir former condition. (Re-heated gemsare usually altered in hue regardless ofhow much care is taken over theirrestoration.)

Flame sands that strike water sendforth scalding jets of steam in all direc-tions (to a distance of about 6 yards).Any creature struck by these steam-spouts suffers double the damage of asand stream (4d4+4 hp damage).

Saving throws are allowed againstboth sand or steam strike, representingdodging or finding cover to lessen dam-age to half.

Force Burn(Evocation, Necromancy)Level: 9Range: 30 yds. + 30 yds./levelComponents: VDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: One creatureSaving Throw: Special

This spell unleashes a glowing cylin-drical bolt about six feet in diameter and12-20 feet long, that bursts forth fromthe caster to strike at a single foe, atTHAC0 2. If it misses, it fades away atthe limits of spell range and is wasted,though it may well strike an unintendedtarget along the way.

A force burn bolt is a magic specificallycrafted to harm phaerimm: such crea-tures aren’t magic resistant to it and can’treflect it. Any phaerimm struck by a forceburn suffers the following damage: itsstrike disintegrates flesh and tissue for4d6 hp damage and forces four savingthrows vs. spell on the phaerimm. Foreach save failed, the phaerimm forgetsone (randomly-chosen) spell.

Against all non-phaerimm (includinghumans), a force burn strike eats awayat the targets body for only 2d6 hpdamage unless the target creature is fly-ing, levitating, or operating in a form dif-ferent than its normal one (not justcloaked by illusions, but physically dif-ferent or augmented due to magic); inthis latter case the force burn causes its

full 4d6 hp damage. Regardless of whichdamage it deals, a force burn strike forcesnon-phaerimm victims to make onlytwo saving throws vs. spell (each onefailed means a spell lost). It causes noharm to non-spell-using beings or tospellcasters who have no spells memo-rized (a human sorceress with one spellleft who fails both saving throws againsta force burn would lose that one spellbut not suffer any additional damagebecause she lacked a second spell tolose).

A force burn spell has no effect onnon-living things, but does harm undeadjust as it does living targets.

Iymrith�s FateThe Doom of the Desert is unlikely to

gain enough magic to feel secure, but ifshe can survive phaerimm attacks foranother decade or so, she might masterthe ability to move at will from body tobody; there are a few dracolich andmechanical monster bodies in Faerûnthat she might be able to seize.

This power would probably ensureher survival from a concerted phaerimmor dragon attack—a good thing for her,because she would also almost certainlycome to the attention of the Cult of theDragon (as more than a dim legend ofthe North) and face well-organizedattacks from multiple dracoliches actingin concert with other Cult forces.Elminster’s money will, however, be onlymrith in any such confrontation—though he knows more than a fewmages who’d like to watch.

Ed Greenwood (and his home) narrowlysurvived a recent visit from Elminster. Hefeels duty-bound to report that the OldMages newest favorite drink is the AmarettoFloat (pralines’n’cream ice cream scoopsdumped into the famous almond liqueur),and that Storm Silverhand’s favorite color isroyal blue—and that her second favoritecolor is something she’s decided to call “Ed’sblush.”

58 DECEMBER 1997

To recommend a good book to the mag-azine staff write to “Bookwyrms,” DRAGONMagazine, 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Renton,WA 98055, or forward a friendly emailnotice to dmail@wizards.com.

The World of Robert Jordan’sWheel of Timeby Robert Jordan and Teresa PattersonTor $39.95/HC

Any fan of fantasy literature who isnot at least familiar with Robert Jordan’sThe Wheel of Time series should be.Jordan’s sales alone guarantee that he’llhave a major impact on the genre. Fanswill enjoy his latest release, The World ofRobert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, whichdescribes the history and geography ofhis fantasy setting.

The oversized hardcover book isdivided into six sections that vary greatlyin their effectiveness. They are in order:“The Wheel and the Power,” “The Age ofLegends,” “The World Since theBreaking,” “Some Narrative Paintings,”“The World of the Wheel,” and “Within

the Land.” Only the “Age of Legends” andthe “World Since the Breaking” sectionscontain new information for those mostlikely to buy this book—the devotedJordan fan. Happily, these two sectionscomprise more than half of the bookand make it well worth the price.

The clarified history of the worldfound in sections two and three areexcellent. The descriptions of TheForsaken, the premier villains of theseries, are also interesting. Finally, thebook offers fans of this involved series alist of the thirteen major villains, achronicle of the War of the Shadow, anddetailed information on Artur Hawkwing.

The last two sections are, regrettably,nothing more than a brief rehash ofwhat anyone who has read the booksknows about the world. There are a fewrare gems, like a continent that has yetto be mentioned in the series, and acloser look at the Seanchan. Neither ofthese two sections has enough detail tobe useful to a fan, however; most of thematerial covered is clear from the booksthemselves. Additionally there shouldhave been a brief list of all the minorcharacters and a description of wherethey are found in the books.

Anyone interested in gaming in theworld of The Wheel of Time shouldhave this book. Although it isn’t a role-playing game book, it’s an invaluablereference to the setting and characters.

It would have been too easy forJordan to turn this out as a quick way tohold his fans’ interest between novelsand make some extra cash. Instead, thebook adds enough detail to the historyof the world to be well worth any Jordanfan’s time. The novels are a better start-ing point for the series, but thosealready familiar with The Wheel of Timewill enjoy this exploration of the world.

—JESSE DECKER

Destiny’s Roadby Larry NivenTor $24.95/HC

Larry Niven heads a short list ofscience-fiction writers who excel at cre-ating new worlds. Of these, Ringworld isprobably the best known. Now Nivengives us the planet called Destiny.

The Earth settlers of Spiral Town liveat one end of Destiny’s Road, a path ofmelted rock created by the Cavorite, oneof two landers in which the colonistsdescended to the planet. The colonistsstruggle to maintain earthlife on theirnew planet. Cavorite helped, using itsfusion drive to sterilize the “Crab,” apeninsula jutting out from the mainland.With reduced competition from nativelife, earthlife has spread, providing suste-nance. Even so, the colony is threatenedby the lack of a necessary element that isavailable only in the form of “speckles,” afood supplement sold only by the cara-vans, humans from another settlement.

Destiny’s Road is part travelogue andpart mystery, with adventure all alongthe way. Jemmy Boocher, a Spiral Townyouth, gets into trouble and must leavethe safe confines of home. He followsthe “Road,” determined to see its end.Along the way he encounters chugs,sharks, and the Otterfolk. The mysteri-ous origin of speckles threatens his life.

As is often the case in Niven’s novels,the world of Destiny’s Road is so well-developed that the story seems tooshort. The pacing is good, however, andthe journey of Jemmy Bloocher becomesan end in itself.

—PIERCE WATTERS

60 DECEMBER 1997

The Singing Swordby Jack WhyteForge $23.95/HC

Jack Whyte’s version of Arthurian leg-end rises from a foundation in Romanhistory, with an emphasis on plausiblescience and military matters. You’ll findno spellcasting wizards nor fire-breathingdragons in this distinctly masculine ver-sion of the rise of Camelot.

Publius Varro is the protagonist, anddeciding whether he is Whyte’s versionof Merlin is one of the series’ early plea-sures. It’s clear that Varro’s friend Caiusis the Arthurian Kay, and only in the sec-ond generation of the primary charac-ters do we discover Uther, Arthur’s sire.The story thus far concerns the evolu-tion of Arthur’s Britain rather than thefamous characters of legend, and so thebooks are aptly called The CamulodChronicles. If there is a protagonist otherthan Varro, it is the ideal of Camulod, arepublican state rebelling againstImperial Rome.

Where The Skystone introduced asomewhat awkward sequence of sexscenes and polarized portrayals ofwomen, The Singing Sword uses both ofthese elements to marry Roman historywith British legend. Whyte’s most suc-cessful achievements are his treatmentof magic as science and his emphasis onaction combined with military and politi-cal intrigue. The first two volumespromise a continually engaging and orig-inal addition to the canon of Arthurianvariations.

—DAVE GROSS

The Subtle Knifeby Philip PullmanKnopf $20.00/HC

The first volume of His Dark Materials,The Golden Compass introduced us to LyraSilvertongue, the clever heroine of a sub-tly magical Victorian earth. In Lyra’sworld, all humans have magical animalcompanions, familiars. The familiars ofchildren Lyra’s age can change shape atwill, but at puberty each familiar takes itspermanent form. Lyra’s adventures in thefirst novel reveal much about the natureof familiars and the world-shaking ambi-tions of her scientist father, Lord Asriel.

In The Subtle Knife, we meet WillParty, a boy from our own, modernEarth. As cunning and brave as Lyra, Willalso must survive the dangers of hisfather’s mysterious past. Together, Willand Lyra begin to discover how theirseparate quests are related—and howeach leads ultimately to the most terribleof conflicts.

The most brilliant element of TheSubtle Knife and its predecessor is thecharacterization of the children. Theseare not the innocent darlings of most fic-tion, but real characters, capable of bothgood and wicked acts. The moral choicesof the protagonists are meaningful andcompelling, and their quest becomestruly epic as the story unfolds.

While its virtues invite comparisons toTolkien and C.S. Lewis, Philip Pullmanhas created a truly original work. Nolover of fantasy fiction should miss theseinevitable classics.

—DAVE GROSS

DRAGON #242 61

62 DECEMBER 1997

Lynn Abbey

Artwork by Susan Van Camp

A note from Holwof, archivist of Candlekeep,to his superior:

We’ve finished cataloging the third shelf! Mehgrin foundthis bound in a volume of Urmlaspyr poetry. She believes itto be an unrecorded tale of the Simbul. After reading it, I’minclined to agree. Deneir alone knows who first wrote it, butno one other than Alassra Shentrantra swears by breakfastfoods!

he air soured at midday. By early dusk, theblizzard had begun in earnest, hurling frigidclaws against the walls of Caddo’s charter-house. The stout timbers held the worst atbay, but wisps of ice sparkled above all thecandles.

Save for the blizzard’s howl, Caddo’s was a quietplace. None of the locals who came each evening togossip was foolish enough to leave home on such anight, and the woodsfolk who’d dribbled in during thebleak afternoon were a taciturn lot, given to staring atthe hearth and nursing a single flagon until midnight.Burr, the dwarf who worked for Caddo, had little to do.

He’d spent the afternoon in the tiny room he calledhome, checking out the gear he’d been wearing thatnight, some two decades past, when he’d stumbledthrough another blizzard and across the charterhouse’sthreshold for the first time. Blizzards were rare enoughhere on the borderland between the Lonely Moor andthe Forgotten Forest. Two winters, even three, might passwithout a truly ferocious storm. But the blizzards wouldcome, and when their winds were strongest, Burr wouldgird himself with the fine weapons and armor he kept inhis room and hurl himself straight at the storm’s fist.

It wasn’t something Burr wanted to do. It was somethinghe’d had to do since that first storm, when he hadn’tknown what waited in the snow. Years ago, he’d triedgetting stone-drunk, but he’d gone out anyway, survivingonly because Caddo had followed him. Since then Burrtook better care of himself when the air soured, lestCaddo follow him again.

Caddo was a good man with a wife, three children,and a crippled mother-in-law all depending on him.Caddo had no need of the snow cave. Burr’s need grewstronger with every howling wind. It burned behind hiseyes.

“You stay here,” he told Caddo, slamming a polishedflagon on a shelf. His hands had begun to shake. Hemade a fist and shook it in the human’s face. “I’ve got to;you don’t. You understand that? You stay here, no matterwhat. You don’t come looking for me, not tonight, notnext week—not next month or next spring. If I don’tcome back, you let me rot out there. You understand?”

Caddo pulled away with the wooden expression of anhonest man trapped into lying. “I understand.”

They stared at each other, years of friendship and ascore of blizzard nights between them.

“Swear it by your—” Burr began as the door sighed onits hinges.

DRAGON #242 63

A blast of frigid wind shook every flame in the room,extinguishing half the candles and two of the lamps. Inthe light that remained, Burr and Caddo took thenewcomers measure. He was above middling heightand wrapped in shaggy fur. The leather-wrapped hilt ofa great sword stuck up above his right shoulder, and theshifting sound of chain-mail accented his slightest move.His hands were sheathed in bear-paw gauntlets; hisleggings might have come from the same source.

A shroud of ice-rimed wool shielded his face. Therewas a slit for his eyes, but the shadows and cold weresuch that not even Burrs dwarven vision could guesstheir temper. They watched as the newcomer strode tothe dry rack where the woodsfolk had left their cloaks.Precious metal glinted as he opened the cloak-clasp. Hishood fell back, dumping ice on the taproom’s floor andreleasing an unexpected wealth of silver hair.

Caddo shot another silent question Burrs way, andthe dwarf answered with a puzzled shrug. Anything waspossible here, where the ruins of Dekanter were only twodays’ journey to the northeast. The newcomer might bean elf or a half-elf or a man years past his prime. Burrwas prepared for anything he thought, as the manunwound his woolen shroud, anything but a woman.

“Dear lady,” Caddo began, ever the courteousinnkeeper. “May I help?”

She nailed Caddo with a scowl, and suddenly the tap-room was colder than the might outside. “Brandy.Warmed. Now.”

Without the scowl, she might have been beautiful.Burr reckoned he’d visited a hundred cities before hewound up in the borderland and he’d never seen ademeanor quite as harsh. He nodded as Caddo closedhis hand around a thumbnail-sized divination crystal.Holding the crystal between his eye and a glass-bottomflagon, Caddo scryed the woman’s aura. Burr asked asilent question, and Caddo shrugged.

“Plain as you or me,” Caddo whispered, retrieving a wax-covered bottle. He filled the flagon with amber brandy.

The dwarf wasn’t reassured though he did his best toreassure the inn’s other patrons as he carried the flagonacross the room. As the woodsfolk went back to nursingtheir drinks, Burr boosted himself onto the stool oppositethe silver-haired scowl.

“Burr,” he introduced himself, offering his hand afterhe’d set the flagon down. His fingers might have beenserpents in her glare. He shoved his hand beneath thetable and tried again. Will you be needing a bed-down,dear lady? There’re rooms upstairs but, with the storm,folk are sleeping down here where its warm.”

The woman held the flagon over the table lamp. Herfingers were blue-white from cold and unflinching in theflame. Silence lasted until Burr’s fingers ached fromimagined burns.

“No,” was her answer.“Got a horse for the stable?“No.”“Got a name?”

She raised her head. Burr wished he were somewhereelse.

“Rekka,” she said and drained the flagon in two longswallows.

Hardly a declaration of friendship, but enough for Burrto pursue the conversation. “I know what you’ve come for.I came for it, too, twenty-one winters ago. I didn’t knowenough then, but I do now. I know how to find it, how tofight what guards it, how to cross the last threshold. It’staken me twenty-one years, but I’m ready, Rekka, and I’llbe your guide, right to the end. If you want the scrolls,that’s no matter to me; same with the jewels and gold, butthere’s a box, a plain wooden box with no lock. I’ll takethat, and that alone, for my share.”

The white pressure in his skull that was his need tobe out in the storm brought tears to Burrs eyes. It wouldbe easier if she’d hire him, but it wouldn’t make anydifference. The ghost was inside him, as it had beeninside him since that first blizzard night. He’d do what hehad to do, what the ghost wanted him to do: removethat box from Ffellsil’s cave.

“I don’t share,” Rekka said in a tone that warnedagainst further inquiries. She pushed the empty flagonacross the table. “Another.”

Burr did her bidding, like any tavern scut. “Ask meanything,” he said when he returned. “Anything at all.Ffellsil’s ghost? I’ve beat it ten times—but it comes backwith the cave. The ice pit? I know how to get across. Thecold fury? The dark mist? I knew the names when I camehere but its all or nothing, dear lady, and precious littletime before the cave sinks back into the storm. Take myadvice, make me your guide, or you’ll be sitting herewhen the next storm blows.”

Rekka held the fresh flagon above the lamp, felt flamelick her fingers. There was no pain; she was a centurypast physical pain. She’d seen the human innkeeperpeering through the glass-bottomed flagon and counteredhis crystal charm with a thought. She’d need her magic todefeat the snow cave’s guardians, Ffellsil’s ghost, the furyand the rest. The dwarf had his facts straight, but Rekkahadn’t meant for anyone to see through her warrior’strappings just yet. The dwarf might have been lucky.Strangers couldn’t be common here, especially not duringa blizzard. With or without her magic blazing, she wasn’tinconspicuous.

Sometimes Rekka did share the loot she harvestedfrom out-of-time; out-of-place boltholes like Ffellsil’s snowcave, but not with anyone who reeked of wrong the wayBurr did. He’d been ghost-bit, perhaps, in one of Ffellsil’straps, or maybe he was just crazed. Any man might losehis mind up here where the air still stank of Netheril’ssorcery, two millennia after that dark empire’s collapse.

“I don’t share. Do yourself a favor, leave me aloneand—above all else—don’t follow me.” It was the longest

6 4 DECEMBER 1997

speech she’d made in a month and she took a sip ofbrandy to soothe her throat afterward.

He stayed in the chair, leaning the way plain folk didwhen they wanted something so much that it fairly bursttheir skulls. Rekka lowered the flagon, spun a brass ringon the second finger of her left hand. She could breakhim with the spells hammered into that ring, but hescraped the chair back from the table before she neededto use it.

The innkeeper, the dwarf, and the other strangersaround her watched with sidelong glances and ill-disguisedluck-signs, but they kept their distance as Rekka nursedher second flagon through the long evening. Aroundmidnight, the innkeeper banked the fire. The lodgersbedded down in snoring heaps near the hearth. Burrextinguished all the lamps and candles save one, whichwas enough for Rekka to watch him leave the taproomand come back a little later with weapons and armorglinting beneath a cloak.

Yet he said nothing and stayed put when she claspedher own cloak. He was still sitting at a table, a shadowamong shadows, when she put her hand on the doorand left the charterhouse without a sound or draft tomark her passage.

If Burr had begun his search for Ffellsil’s cave twenty-one winters ago, then he was a beginner in the questers’game. Rekka had first heard the Netherese wizard’sname whispered in Yeenoghu’s Realm more than acentury ago. She hadn’t been looking for Ffellsil then.She scarcely remembered what she had been looking for,except it must have been magic and she must havefound it. Not that she needed more magic, then or now.All the magic Rekka needed was locked in her mind,hammered into the rings she wore, or etched onto theflexible steel plates lining her belt and baldric.

She was prepared for ghosts, even Ffellsil’s ghost,and she hadn’t tripped a trap by accident since the dayshe’d blundered through a time-weave and found herself,unharmed and un-aged, on the other side. it was a mixedblessing to know she couldn’t age and might not everdie. Rekka hadn’t known her family. She’d sworn offfriendships because, even without questions or jealousy,there was still the pain of watching death steal themaway.

The search for magic was her life. The artifacts andgrimoires she kept in a cave beneath the Sea of Swordswere simply the means to tally score in a solitary game.Perhaps she should have hired Burr, not because sheneeded a guide, but dwarves were a long-lived race andmore sociable than ten elves together.

A blast of icy wind unfurled the hem of Rekka’s cloak.She put a stop to her melancholy with an earnest curseand a frantic retying of the cloaks inside laces. At everystep she took the storm’s measure and, keeping firmhands on her cloaks hood and hem, strode into itsworst. A thick, frozen glaze atop her shaggy cloak hadmade that task easier by the time she confronted the firstwarding. A single word she’d learned of the Plains of Fire

banished the black-ice mist. With one stride, Rekkaentered a place colder than the blizzard yet eerily stilland utterly dark.

She’d been warned that the cave would stifle anysound before it left her mouth. From here on, her spellswere primed for thoughts or gesture. She made hand-firewith a gesture and a bit of yellow crystal, then set itafloat overhead, where its light could play no tricks withher vision.

Yet light alone wouldn’t help against Ffellsil’s ice pit, abottomless crevasse that circled the inmost chamber andwas sealed with a whisper-thin sheet of ice. One of thetomes she’d consulted in preparation for this journeyadvised the quester to carry a sack of not less than two-hundred fist-sized stones and, for an extra margin ofsafety, to sole his boots with iron rasps. Wise precau-tions, perhaps. Heavy precautions, certainly, and timeconsuming in a place where time was of the essence.Unless it was written on a scroll she hadn’t found, Rekkaknew of no spell that would let her remain in the snowcave once the blizzard’s fury began to abate. It wouldsimply melt away and return intact, as Burr had noted,with the next fierce storm. Rekka preferred simplertactics: with a rings twist she rose a handspan above thethick ice or not-thick ice, whichever the case might be.

Ffellsil had conjured guardians as well as traps for hisbolthole: sentient winds, hoarfrost beasts, a serpentformed from ice so hard it held a honed-steel edge.Rekka faced them all without surprise or ill-effect,dispatching the serpent with her great sword because, inher private reckoning, triumph by might was worth morethan triumph by magic. But might took longer thanmagic and she was relieved when Ffellsil’s final obstacleshimmered in front of her. It was, as predicted, a freezingghost, possibly the wizard himself or his doppleganger.

Bright, diaphanous frost-veils unfurled around theghost, seeking to draw Rekka into a fatal embrace. Shefloated, backward, staying just out-of-reach as she shapedher thoughts into the mnemonic trigger of a commonfrost spell—another bit of Yeenoghu gossip: Ffellsil’s cave,like so many well-defended and wizardly places, wasvulnerable to a simple, yet precise attack. A toothy grinspread across Rekka’s face as the veils ceased theirhungry shimmering. But the danger wasn’t gone: Theghost was merely stunned. It would recover, if she let it—which she wouldn’t. Rekka dug deep into the hem of hersleeve, withdrawing a handful of red, white, and blackpowder which she blew at the immobilized ghost.

More incendiary than sorcerous, the flakes had beendried from the hottest peppers known to mortals andimmortals alike. Rekka shook with silent laughter as thestricken ghost sneezed itself into oblivion.

A chamber filled with treasure worthy of a dragonopened in front of Rekka. She paused before entering it.Burr had mentioned a final threshold that he alone knewhow to cross. No one else spoke of a trap after the ghost,but a warning was a warning and she was glad to havehad one a moment later when the faintest breeze riffled

DRAGON #242 65

her hair. She spun rightward, whipping the great swordthrough a swallow-cut. The blade bit into something shenever saw, and a scream echoed in her mind withouthaving touched her ears.

“I owe you one,” she said to the absent dwarf. Hearingher own voice, Rekka judged she’d passed all the trialsand dangers.

The wooden box without a lock, she decided, wouldbe the proper debt-gift, if there were time to look for it.Searching the bolt-hole would be no small challenge:Ffellsil wasn’t much of a housekeeper. Well, neither wasRekka. She attacked the clutter with the same recklessvigor she used in her own bolthole, hurling objects leftand right, but not without examining them.

Rekka knew the blizzard had begun to wane whenthe bolthole sighed and the hand-fire above her headtook on a greenish hue. The chamber appeared little dif-ferent than it had when she’d entered, save for a heap oftomes and scrolls near the center. She still had a quarterof the floor and a whole wall left to glean. Curiosity or, togive it its true name, greed had gotten the better ofRekka early on in her magic-questing days, but she waswiser now and willing to settle for a smaller haul safelystashed in her own bolthole.

There’d be other winters, other storms.Rekka took a thin leather sheet from her belt and

shook it into a sack large enough to hold her swag. Shewas half-packed when she heard a noise at her back,where no noise could be ignored.

Clenching her fist and shaking her forearm in a singlegesture, Rekka dropped a feathered dart into her palm. Itwas out of her hand and flying toward its target beforeher mind understood what her eyes saw. By itself, thedart was a puny weapon, but the drops of venom-waxbehind its needle-sharp tip could kill in a heartbeat. Thecharterhouse dwarf was dead before he knew he washurt.

“Your fault,” Rekka said harshly, fighting the rage thatguilt invariably roused within her. “Not mine.”

He’d come for the wooden box without a lock. Itfell from his spasmed fingers as he collapsed on theincreasingly transparent floor of Ffellsil’s bolthole. Rekkastared at it a moment, then scooped it into the sackalong with the scrolls and other artifacts. She had thesack drawn shut and half-knotted when she noticed mistrising from the corpse.

The wrongness she observed in the charterhouse hada name now, and the name was geas. Another time,another place, and the spell might have captured hercuriosity. In this time, this place, Rekka deflected it with aquick wave of her hand. It dissipated without a fight.That told her something about the spell the dwarf hadfouled: The mage who’d cast it wasn’t her peer.

As a result, she doubted the geas had come fromFfellsil. That mage’s reputation, though dark, had beenhonestly earned. More likely someone else in the millenniasince Netheril’s demise had heard the tales of Ffellsil’ssnow cave and ensorcelled some misfortunate into

braving the its dangers. Rekka’s curiosity ebbed as thegeas had ebbed, and vanished with the snow cave.

Rekka was returned to the blizzard which had not,to her human senses, abated much. She reached intothe storm, spoke a spell-laced word, and withdrew hertraveling companion: a gnarled staff, faintly glowing inthe wind-driven snow.

The staff held the location of every forlorn, forsakenplace Rekka had ever visited and, most importantly,offered swift passage to her bolthole beneath the Sea ofSwords. A few thoughts were all she needed: memoriesof rock and salt, thick fur carpets and a pot of teasteeping beside her favorite chair.

A lightning bolt struck the staff as it awakened: unusual,but not unprecedented, and no great cause for concern,considering the sack she carried and the cave she’d left.Still, Rekka took precautions as her bolthole formed aroundher. Hand-fire revealed nothing untoward . . . except, at thecorner of awareness, a flickering mist.

Geasi weren’t sentient in any ordinary sense, butsome could flit from life to life until their purpose wasaccomplished. Rekka could have cast such a persistentspell, but it seemed odd that a mage whose geas couldbe deflected, once again with a simple gesture, couldalso have cast one strong enough to follow Rekka’s staffbetween the snow cave and her own well-wardedbolthole.

Still, the geas had vanished again and compared towhat Rekka expected to glean from Ffellsil’s hoard it wasof minor interest. She plucked out the topmost tome andsettled in her chair. A deep purple flame bloomed at thetip of one finger; she touched the cracked enamel of anotherwise unremarkable teapot. Steam rose instantlyfrom its spout and the scent of Sambar herbs filled thecave.

Rekka lost herself in thaumaturgical theories whichhad been old when Netheril vanished beneath theAnauroch sands. An hour passed, an afternoon, anevening, a day.

“Fascinating,” she murmured, closing the book. “Allthat from a tincture of arnica and willow-bark.” Her mindraced toward applications, variations, and the cat-sizedmist above the teapot. Flicking her wrist, she snarled, “Begone!”

And, like a cat, the geas leapt for her shoulder, curlingaround her neck, caressing her ear. Rekka could almosthear its frustrated sigh: no geas, no matter how persistent,could wriggle uninvited into her warded thoughts. Thegeas sank to the floor and seemed the essence of miseryand despair. Rekka could have, and probably shouldhave, sundered it utterly, but that seemed unnecessary.

Besides, Rekka was hungry. A cookfire was unthinkablein the cave. Rekka plucked a handful of bright-coloredpebbles from a bowl beside her chair and conjuredmorsels of cold, spiced meat. Chewing one and trying todecide if she’d conjured red meat or white or someimprobably in-between mixture, Rekka plucked Ffellsil’swooden box from her sack.

66 DECEMBER 1997

A box with no lock, the dwarf had said truthfully. ButFfellsil’s box didn’t fall open in her lap. By its weight, sheguessed it was hollow. By the many woods worked intoit, she guessed it was a puzzle. Some twenty pieces saton the carpet beside her before Rekka conceded that thebox was empty.

She’d played a few unfair tricks with spells and artifactsover the years, but she judged Ffellsil an unnecessarilycruel mage. At least, she would never have crafted a geasthat compelled unwitting men to their deaths in pursuit ofempty boxes. Rekka dumped the wood chips in the bowlwith the bright pebbles.

Movement against the carpet caught Rekka’s eye. Shethought immediately of the persistent geas and readied aspell to destroy it for good. The invoking words were onthe tip of her tongue, the gestures at her fingertips, butthe movement hadn’t come from the geas.

Ffellsil’s box hadn’t been empty.In slack-jawed astonishment, Rekka watched a man in

the prime of life materialize on her carpet. If he’d meanther harm, he’d have been the first human in a hundredyears with a fighting chance against her, but he lay asone asleep. Rekka took a moment to rally her defensesand another to marvel at his clothes, which were likenone she’d ever seen. Considering the breadth of hertravels, that was an accomplishment.

“Netheril?” Rekka muttered.She’d seen images of Ffellsil and his peers, all of them

created since Netheril’s collapse, none of them accurate,none of them depicting a diamond-quilted tunic,wrapped breeches, or the square-toed boots so evidenton her floor.

The strangers eyelids fluttered; Rekka paid closerattention to his face. It was a pleasant face, the sort offace Rekka had seen on countless ordinary folk whosethoughts and dreams lay beyond her comprehension. Atanar’ri lord rising from the Abyss could not havedisturbed her more.

A tanar’ri lord would, at least, make no demandson her cave’s precious air. Already the mote of herconsciousness that kept the air breathable felt the strainof an extra pair of lungs. She had to get the stranger toone of her surface retreats, none of which she’d visitedwithin the past year. Her best choice was deep in theaptly named Winterwood, where an outcast druidworked off a debt care-taking a hunters’ lodge on herbehalf.

Her staff took the lodge from her memory. It awakenedwith a shudder . . . and so did the stranger. His eyes werehoney-colored when they opened and terror-stricken aheartbeat later. He began babbling in an unfamiliarlanguage: Netherese. Possibilities exploded in Rekka’simagination: Spoken words triggered many spells,ancient and modern. The vocalized triggers of theNetherese magi had been lost along with their language. . . until this moment.

Rekka considered what she’d gain if she forcedrapport and swallowed his language whole. Instead of

her staff, she reached for a crystal-tipped wand especiallyensorcelled for rapport with another living mind. Whenthe man saw it in her hand, he fell pale and silent. Sheimagined herself in his place, awakening from amillennial sleep brought on, perhaps, by a similar wand.

“Calm yourself,” Rekka advised as she knelt beside him.He didn’t understand, of course, but he was too weak

from his imprisonment or terror to resist when she tracedthe patterns of language across his face. Silent, he closedhis eyes and fists so tightly that they trembled, but notfrom fear.

“Brave man,” Rekka said before grasping his wristsand drawing him to his knees. “It will be over quickly, Ipromise.”

A nimbus bloomed around his skull. Rekka stoppedbreathing and brought her forehead to rest against his.The next choice was hers: Breathe in and the languageof Netheril was hers, but the stranger might be left mute.Breathe out, and the common tongue of Faerûn wouldpermeate his thoughts, possibly erasing any otherlanguage he knew.

Breathe in or breathe out?Rekka breathed out. The man chilled in her grasp, his

body temperature plummeting. She held him fast, kepthim alive, until her mind was as empty as her lungs. Hewas unconscious, and she was exhausted, but it was theexhaustion of success, not failure, and she reached forher staff.

It was a steel-gray noontime with fresh snow on theground when the staff brought them to the Winterwoodlodge. The druid was nowhere to be found and, judgingby the debris on the floor and holes in the roof, he hadn’tleft recently. Rekka spared the time to send a suppuratingcurse after the druid before attacking the chaos.

If housework had been a magic art, Rekka wouldhave become its master; but it wasn’t, and neither wasshe. Her hearth-fire vented more smoke through theholes in the roof than through the chimney and thestranger, on whose behalf she wrestled blankets andstraw into a bed, resisted when she settled him in it.

“I suppose you could do better?” she demanded,shaking the last dusty blanket over him.

He didn’t need to answer. She’d studied his hands asshe’d moved him. They were the scarred and callusedhands of a man who’d worked hard, though he was toowell fed and well dressed to be a peasant. He wasn’t awizard, either, and he was too old to be anyone’sapprentice.

He roused Rekka’s curiosity as no magic had indecades. She wanted to talk to him about Netheril andthe days of sorcery run wild. She certainly didn’t wantanyone to harm him while she was hunting meat for thepot balanced oh-so-delicately on the hearth-irons, so shecircled his bed with salt and camphor, raising wards thatflickered as he breathed.

The Winterwood remembered Rekka. It gave hernothing she didn’t earn, for that was the way of wildplaces. Yet she found tracks she wouldn’t have seen if

DRAGON #242 67

the forest were against her. Two fat rabbits hung overher shoulder when the dreary afternoon gave way towind-whipped twilight as she returned to the lodge.

Fire still glowed in the hearth—that was the lesser ofthe two astonishments greeting her. The greaterastonishment, harder to see than the fire, was atranslucent spirit hovering near the stranger’s wards. Thespirit had the shape of a young, human woman, dressedin garments not entirely unlike those the strange manwore, albeit of better quality. Rekka took note of ghostlygold hair pins in thick, dark hair.

A sorceress of Netheril? Ffellsil’s rival? Rekka raised herright hand. Her forefinger curled, brushing the ring at thebase of her thumb, invoking a spell that could sunder anyspirit from its essence. But she left the spell uncast. Thespirit seemed aware of nothing except the unconsciousman, not even of the powerful wards that cast up amyriad of blue-green sparks when the spirit unwiselychallenged them. It shrank back and to the extent that aspirit could reek emotion, Rekka felt its pain anddesperate disappointment.

Those sensations, so similar to the reflected miseryand despair Rekka had felt when the persistent geas hadfailed to penetrate her mind’s warded thoughts, solved itsmystery as well. The mage who’d crafted the geas hadfueled it with her own spirit. The geas persisted becauseshe persisted . . . Because the man imprisoned in anempty box had meant more to her than life?

By the laws of magic Rekka knew, and she knew agreat many, such a transformation wasn’t possible.Rekka couldn’t do it, at any rate, and could scarcelybear the thought that a less experienced mage hadaccomplished the feat. Yet that conclusion, as the spiritwas again confounded by Rekka’s wards, wasinescapable. The banishing spell on Rekka’s fingertipsfizzled in the heat of curiosity. She had to learn the geas-ghosts secrets.

Dissipating magic penetrated the spirits awareness. Itturned toward the door where Rekka stood, dead rabbitsin one hand. Its face became an eloquent mask of fear,erasing any doubt that the spirit retained its living per-sonality: a true miracle of magic . . .

“Stay!” Rekka commanded, but the word was withoutpower and the spirit vanished like snow-ice in the wind.

“Damn!” Rekka swore as she threw the rabbits acrossthe room.

The rabbits struck the pot, knocking it off the hearth-irons, spilling hot water that raced toward the mansleeping within her wards.

“Twice damn and thrice damn,” Rekka continued,adding an incautious wish to have the last moment back.Heavy air filled the room. The water slowed, thenreversed itself. Belatedly Rekka realized what she wasdoing. “Cold tea and crumpets!” she shouted the curse toend other curses. The water flowed freely again and inthe proper order of time, she diverted it with a broom.

There were eyes at Rekka’s back. She came around tosee her sleeping stranger sitting up within the wards,

alert and healthy. Rekka sheathed a knife and groundeda spell. At the rate, she was wasting magic, she was goingto be up all night restoring her arsenal from her spell-books.

“Your name?” she demanded. She’d never been onefor pleasantries. If he was awake, then it was time tostart sharing whatever knowledge was left inside hisskull. “Your particulars: who and what you were before Ifound you?”

“Irmenthelor. Second—” His voice stopped. He grewpale and swayed. “Irmenthelor—” he began again.“Second—” and stopped in the same place and clappedhis hands over his ears.

Rapport, Rekka reminded herself. Names were namesand stayed the same despite rapport, but all the otherwords changed. lrmenthelor was speaking a languagehe’d never learned and didn’t believe he understood.

“So, your name’s Irmenthelor?”He lowered his hands and stared at them, every emo-

tion known to man at play on his face. “Irmen. I am—lwas called lrmen long ago, I think.”

“If you were born in Netheril, Irmen—If you fell afoulof a wizard called Ffellsil, then it has been two at leastmillennia since last you saw the sun.”

The swaying worsened. lrmen clutched his knees tocontrol it. His eyes darted, the signs of a man racingthrough his memories and finding them turned to dust.

“Were you born in Netheril?” Rekka asked, as much tostop his frantic remembering as to have an answer. “Didyou fall afoul of Ffellsil?

“Ffellsil?” Irmen asked, giving the name a subtlychanged inflection. “Why tell you what you alreadyknow?”

Rekka stifled her excitement. Irmen had mettle, theonly quality she truly cherished in a man; moreimportantly, he remembered something of his formerlanguage. The spoken triggers of Netherese magic werehers for the gleaning! Full of nervous energy, she seizedone of the rabbits and began skinning it with more vigorthan skill.

“Why, Irmen? Because I’m all you’ve got, and you’vegot an idea what I can do if you refuse.”

Irmen understood the message. “Yes, you could say Ifell afoul of Ffellsil.”

Rekka threw offal in the fire and wiped her bloodyhand on her leg. “Stole from him?”

He took a moment to compose an answer. “He saw itthat way.”

“With reason?”Another pause, longer than the first. Rekka looked up.

Irmen’s hands were clenched and he was staring at thefire. His voice, when he spoke, was a whisper:

“Is freedom still counted a crime?”“By some,” Rekka conceded, expecting a challenge:

Her wards still sparkled around him. Even if he couldn’tsee them — especially if he couldn’t see them—he’d feelthem like the bars of a cage. But lrmen surprised her.

“I have given you my name. How shall I name you?”

68 DECEMBER 1997

“Rekka.”The half-skinned rabbit was slipperier than ten eels

bound together. The knife slipped and sliced off its frontleg. Grateful that it hadn’t been a finger, Rekka tossedmeat and bone into the fire.

“Well, hasruth Rekka, if you’ll trust me with that knife,I’ll see that there’s enough meat left for us both to eat.”

It was the sort of audacious remark she’d have madeherself, were their positions reversed. Rekka set the messbetween her knees. She admired audacity; she wasbeginning to admire this man. “And should I trust youwith a knife?” she asked in a deceptively bantering tone.

“No, but trust hardly matters, does it, hasruth?”He’d surprised her again with a wry and bitter grin

framing his words. Rekka swallowed a smile of her ownand quenched her wards. She stood up, leaving her knifeand their meal behind on the floor. “Have at, lrmen. I’mnot a fussy eater.”

“Neither am I, hasruth Rekka—”Irmen’s legs buckled as he stood, spoiling his carefree

display. Rekka could have offered him a hand but didn’t.It wasn’t her way; she didn’t imagine that it was his. Hecaught his balance and took a tentative step.

“Not anymore. Not anymore, hasruth.” There wasdefeat and despair in his voice.

Rekka realized, with some surprise, that she wantedmore than words in a dead language from this man. Shewanted another, less bitter, grin for a start, but had nonotion how to procure it, one ordinary human toanother.

“Hasruth?” she asked as he made two quick confidentcuts with the knife. “Why call me that? What is hasruth?”

He finished skinning the rabbit, skewered it on thearrow she’d killed it with, and propped the laden arrowover the coals with his foot before answering: “Ffellsilwas hasruth.”

“Then I am simply Rekka who stole a wooden boxfrom Ffellsil’s cave.”

lrmen tried to smile, Rekka saw the corners of hismouth twitch, but something she’d said rankled hismemory. Maybe the box; she should have brought thepieces so he could burn his prison. Maybe somethingelse. Whatever, lrmen sank into despair. She readied aspell that would freeze him where he sat, lest he dosomething foolish with the knife.

His mood brightened to the aroma of roasting meat,but bleak despair was never more than a breath away. Inher undersea bolthole, Rekka had a grimoire filled withspells to keep a man smiling through any grief or torture.She considered retrieving it while Irmen slept—his energyflagged soon after they ate—but offered him her cloakbeside the hearth instead.

“The embers will keep us warm,” she suggested.“Us?”She tried to make a joke from his frown. “A man and

woman together—you haven’t forgotten, have you?”“No, but I have a bed.” He pointed at the straw and

dusty blankets. “They’ll be enough for me.”

Irmen had surprised her again, and this time thesurprise wasn’t pleasant. “I’d, think you’d want company,after two millennia alone in a box.”

“Time. I need time to forget . . . everything.”A woman with gold hair pins? A dark-haired woman

who hadn’t forgotten him?“I’m sorry,” Rekka said softly, words that might well

have been Netherese for all the times she’d used them.“It hardly matters, does it?” lrmen replied before he

pulled the dusty blankets up around his ears.Rekka had a time-honored way of dealing with anyone

who shamed her: She found a reason to kill them beforethey spread the tale. Irmen, who fell asleep quickly andinto the grip of muscle-wrenching nightmares, had nodefense against her and, in the end, needed none. Rekkasat on the far side of the drafty, frigid room, wrapped inthe cloak he wouldn’t share, For the first time in a longtime, her thoughts were focused not on sorcery, but onthe even more arcane notion of affection.

She’d reached no conclusions before the hearth coalswinked out. Her cheeks were so cold she thought hereyes would freeze shut each time she blinked. She waswarming her face against her knees when she sensed achange in the room. By the time she’d got her head up,the geas-ghost was kneeling beside Irmen again.

There were no wards this time to repel its hands, but itwas without the power to affect or experience the tangibleworld. At first Rekka was fascinated, but fascinationfaded, and the ghosts efforts became painful to watch.

“Desist,” she suggested, not loudly enough to awakenIrmen, but laced with enough magic that the spirit wouldhear and, hearing, would fade as it had faded before.

When it had gone, lrmen cried out a single word:“Sareh.”

A name. Rekka could command the geas-ghost withits name, but she didn’t, not that night. By the next dayshe feared it was too late. Though Irmen ate and drankwhen she did, he drew no strength from his food. Bynoon his skin matched the gray sky over Winterwood.He was withering . . . dying.

Rekka probed him with spellcraft, seeking a magicalcause for his decline. She found only despair and denial.She probed him with questions, determined to learn allthat she could of Netheril and its language before shelost him. She thought, too, as she interrogated him, thatif he spoke of Sareh it might relieve his pain.

“Did you have a family? Someone you left behindwhen you challenged Ffellsil?” she asked.

“Challenged?” lrmen retorted, and a trace of themettle Rekka admired returned to his eyes. But it faded.“No. No one,” he whispered, turning away, staring intothe fire. “I’d already lost everything.”

Rekka was certain that he saw something in theflames. Someone. His grief was so quiet, so private thatshe, who feared nothing, dared not intrude, not evenwith a wish. His integrity had become more precious toher than his happiness. She was at a loss, a place she’dnever been.

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At sunset, she made tea with jasmine she’d broughtfrom the sea-cave.

“Drink this,” she urged, molding his limp fingersaround the cup. “You need to rebuild your strength.”

lrmen held the steaming cup but didn’t drink. “Forwhat? For more questions? Haven’t I told you everythingI know about the hasruth?”

“There is a world beyond Winterwood. A new world,without the hasruth. I can show you—”

His face became a mask that locked Rekka out of histhoughts more effectively than all the wards of wizardry.

“What?” she demanded, beginning to pace around theblankets where he sat. “What do you want from me?What must I do to make you smile and laugh? I’ve givenyou back your life, what more do you want?”

“I want what I had, hasruth Rekka. You have thepower. Give me death—the true death—and then I willsmile.”

“But you’re alive. You’re free. Be grateful for that!”“Grateful that everything is gone? Grateful that I’m the

last and alone?”“You have me!”lrmen turned then and saw Rekka with her arm

upraised in anger. She lowered it, but too late.“Hasruth.”“I am not hasruth. Don’t blame me for your failure. It’s

not my fault that she died!”“She?” lrmen asked softly.In the grip of rage, Rekka ignored the change in his

tone. “Yes, she — Sareh, a dark-haired woman with goldhair pins. Ffellsil’s daughter? His lover? Did you seduceher? Did you think you could steal her away?”

Irmen rose, unsteady, but without help. It was thebravery Rekka admired in him, but it wasn’t enough tomake her cautious.

“You’re a common, ordinary man, Irmen. You had nochance against magic, Sareh’s or Ffellsil’s.”

He stood quiet. Rekka thought she’d gotten somesense into his head. Then he began to speak.

“Common and ordinary, that’s true enough—but Icarried my lord’s standard and covered his back in battle.I had honor. When we went to him he held our handsbetween his and gave us his blessing: me, his first-man,and Ynsarehal, his last daughter. We had honor, andmore: We had love. But we had no chance, not againstthe hasruth.”

Rekka learned as Irmen spat out the word hasruthhow Ynsarehal might have managed to fuel her geasspell with her own life essence. Rekka’s rage wasextravagant, backed by centuries of sorcery andexperience; it was powerful, but scarcely focused.Irmen’s passion, common and ordinary, was so tightlyconstrained that, had he been any sort of mage, he’dhave become a living fireball or lightning bolt. He—thankMystra—had no talent, but Ynsarehal had.

It was a useful lesson, and one she’d put to good usein the future, but for now—

“I am not hasruth.”

“You know her name! We died together. HasruthFfellsil had come, unannounced, as was his way. Hecalled the household together. In Netheril, to have magicwas to belong to the hasruth, and they were alwayslooking. Everyone was examined, always, from my lordto the least. It was unpleasant, because they enjoyed it,but I had no fear; I’d been through it many times before.And Sareh, too. We were Netherin; it was our lives.

“Then the miserable bastard called her: ‘Ynsarehal, youwill come.’ She had no talent, but that didn’t matter, if thehasruth wanted her. She screamed and ran toward me.My lord could do nothing, not against the hasruth. Weknew, all of us, what would happen if he tried. But forSareh and I, the worst had happened—” lrmen paused,ironic, even in anger. “—Or so we thought. I caught herbefore he did. I remember fire as I held her in my arms.

“We died together. You brought me back. You knowher name. Where is she, hasruth Rekka? What have youdone with her, hasruth?

Rekka opened her mouth. “I’ve—I’ve done noth—” butthe denial could not squeeze past the memory of thegeas-ghost fading.

“I’m not hasruth,” a statement of faith, not fact, spo-ken as Rekka ran from the lodge.

Irmen’s words followed her: “Hasruth! Hasruth! Youhave magic for your heart.”

Three trees and one bear-sized rock suffered Rekka’swrath before she curbed it. The Winterwood swirledsharp ice in her face: Too much magic, too little cause:hasruth!

“I’m not!”Her voice was lost in the wind. Rekka could challenge

the storm, win a battle, and lose the war within. If she hadnot already lost it. She was human, born mortal, but she’dnever grown old. Because she’d tripped through a time-weave? That’s what she’d thought. Or was Irmen right?

Rekka began to shiver, cold and shame combined.She’d left her cloak behind, and though she could warmherself with a spell, magic wasn’t an answer. She hunkeredbehind a fir tree and told herself she wasn’t hasruth, thatshe had a heart until she knew, by the emptiness within,that she lied.

“I’m leaving. I’m going home!” she announced toanyone in earshot, but the sea-cave with its trove ofheartless magic was not the place she wanted.

If not there, then where? The lodge? For Irmen? WithIrmen?

Rekka summoned his memory. She was lonely, butlonely was different than alone. She wouldn’t give upmagic for anyone’s company. For Ynsarehal? She did feelguilty and guilt was a terrible thing in the emptiness ofher heart, but guilt always festered, with or withoutmagic to fuel it. She wouldn’t go anywhere for guilt.

For herself? Because she’d become accustomed tobeing alone and had never guessed anything was wrongor missing? Because the only magic left was the magic ofthe mortal heart she’d abandoned, and the only way tofind it was through Irmen and his beloved?

70 DECEMBER 1997

She called the geas-ghost. Not surprisingly, she didn’tcome.

The pale sun had fallen below the treetops and themoon was already bright in a cloudless sky. Rekka’ssleeves and breeches cracked when she stood. Clearnights were the coldest nights, not nights for being alone.She retraced her steps.

There were other tracks crossing hers at the threshold,leading away from the lodge.

“Damned fool!” she muttered and opened the doorwith a mighty crash. “I won’t let either of you get away!”

Irmen taken her staff, which was useless to him,except as a crutch, and left her cloak, which might havekept him alive. Rekka furled the heavy pelt around hershoulders and set off at a run.

He hadn’t gone far, just to a wind-scoured rock wherehe sat, staring at the moon. His eyes were closed and iceglazed, but there was a pulse in his wrists, a moanthrough his lips when he looked at her.

“Let me go . . . We died together. We’ll be together.”“Fool! No matter who or what you worship, death’s

not like that. And, anyway, she’s not exactly dead.”“She?” lrmen was stupid with cold.“Sareh! Ynsarehal! Who else? Neither of you died. You

were put in a box, and she,” Rekka despaired of anexplanation he would accept without despising her morethan he already did. “It’s all magic, Irmen, and you don’tcare about magic, do you? You talk in your sleep, Irmen,that’s how I knew her name. But your Sareh had theknack for magic. She survived. She found out aboutFfellsil’s box, and she made sure she’d be waiting whenher geas freed you.”

lrmen began to shiver. He was fighting the cold, fight-ing death. Rekka wrapped him in her cloak and left herarms resting on his shoulders.

“W-w-where?”“That’s a problem. You can’t see her; she can’t touch

you. And me, well, Irmen, you’re going to have to trustthat I do have a heart. I’ve made mistakes, but I’m notFfellsil—Damn, it’s cold! Let me get you back to the lodge—”

“N-n-no. If S-S-Sareh’s here,” lrmen glanced left andright. “Let me see her!”

“It’s not that easy.”“Let me s-s-see her.”He struggled against the weight of her arms. Stiff as

he was, Rekka feared she’d hurt him if they wrestled.“I don’t know who’s going to get us warm again once

this is over, but call her.”She waited as Irmen warred with his conscience

before whispering, “Sareh . . .”“With your heart.”lrmen sighed and, a moment later, Sareh’s familiar

shape flickered in the shadows, well beyond Rekka’s reach.With one hand on Irmen’s shoulder, Rekka beckoned thegeas-ghost closer. Wide eyed and stubborn, she stayedwhere she was.

“Take my hand!” Rekka commanded.“She’s here? Where?”

“Tell her you trust me.”“It’s a lie.”“Then make it the truth, or give it up. This cold will kill.”He closed his eyes and succumbed to shivering.“Trust me, Irmen. I am not hasruth.”Sareh came closer, hesitated, extended a translucent

hand. Rekka felt nothing until hard-won reflexes cut in,fighting the spell, protecting the magic-obsessed personRekka wished to leave behind. For a moment, it seemedthat reflex would triumph, then someone, possibly Rekkaherself, said Trust me,” and Sareh flowed into her, coldas the winter twilight.

Rekka retreated into herself, behind wardings meantto protect her memory from a tanar’ri assault. Herappearance had begun to shift—her will, her magic, hergift that lrmen actually see the love he’d lost.

“Sareh. . .” his voice was awed.An arm that was still Rekka’s own moved toward

Irmen’s face. It would have been easy to burst out of herself-appointed prison, to destroy Ynsarehal while keepingher shape and a few of her memories. But Rekka didn’tknow what to do with those soft, delicate fingers, where totouch Irmen’s cheek to make him smile.

Her voice said, “Irmen,” and a torrent of other wordsshe didn’t understand.

The transformation was nearly complete. Anotherheartbeat, no more than two or three, and—will she ornil she—Rekka would be possessed for... for how long?

The question came too late. Rekka had surrenderedeverything except a shred of awareness that lips werepressed together, touching and being touched.

Would it be enough? Would it last?Then the warmth of summer was within her, swaying

in a gentle breeze, bursting with laughter. Rekka had heranswer. Forever wouldn’t be too long.

Lynn used to write for TSR’s DARK SUN® milieu, thenElminster introduced her to AIassra Shentrantra. She promptlywrote The Simbul’s Gift and this story, both about Alassra. Shepromises that it will be a lasting friendship.

DRAGON #242 71

Magical Allies of theFORGOTTEN REALMS® Setting

by Bruce Schmidtillustrated by Chris Adams

hen the onyx panther figurineknown as Guenhwyvar first leapt

into the FORGOTTEN REALMS® SETTING in R.A.Salvatore’s The Crystal Shard, it changedmany players’ perceptions of the variousfigurines of wondrous power and othersorts of magical allies. No longer werethese enchanted creatures just an extraset of claws and fangs to be used in com-bat and then put away like a meresword. Since Guenhwyvar, the magicalally has become a valued companion,able to think and act as far more than aliving weapon.

The onyx panther is a unique being,however, belonging to itself and DrizztDo’Urden. Neither is about to desert theother without stiff opposition. Wherecan a character find a companion torival the incomparable Guenhwyvar?

Here then are four new magical alliesfrom the farthest corners of theFORGOTTEN REALMS setting. Perhaps aplayer character might be fortunateenough to find one. Players beware:each companion is a legend in its ownright and might have its own agendaand motives.

Harashuin’s Spirit AllyHarashuin’s Spirit Ally is a minor pro-

tective magical item named afterHarashuin of Alaghon in Turmish. Thestory of the Ally’s creation is a tale ofnecessity. Harashuin was preparing tomake a secret and dangerous journey toArrabar on the southern coast of theVilhon Reach. Unfortunately, he lackedboth the money to hire guards and thepersonal spell ability to protect himself.Because the journey was too importantto forsake, Harashuin desperatelysought an alternative. After many exper-iments, the wizard crafted an amberpendant and infused it with every pro-tective spell in his meager arsenal.

What spells Harashuin used areunknown, for the wizard did his work insecret. However, the pendant did pos-sess one visible characteristic—the roar-ing visage of a lion was meticulouslyetched into the amber. Harashuin thenwent on his journey and arrived safelyin Arrabar. The wizard boasted that themagical token had saved his life manytimes. Flush with his success, Harashuincreated more tokens. To this day, manyspirit allies have accompanied wizards,merchants, and adventurers of all typeson their journeys throughout theRealms.

Description: Fashioned from a flaw-less gemstone of at least semi-preciousvalue, and often displayed hangingfrom a chain, the spirit ally is engravedwith an image of the spirit that dwellswithin. For example, a turquoise stonethat contains the spirit of a horse wouldhave a horse’s head carved into it.Harashuin’s Spirit Allies are infused withthe spirit of any natural bird, mammal,reptile, fish, amphibian, or sometimesmonsters such as pegasi, wyverns, dis-placer beasts, or hippocampi.

When worn or grasped, these magi-cal companions can bestow the follow-ing benefits upon their owners.

1. The stone confers a heightenedsense of smell, sight, hearing, or touchupon the owner. With these enhancedsenses, the owner is surprised only on a1 or better on 1d10.

2. As the stone is partially sentient,the wearer feels that he is never alone,even against terrible odds. The wearer’sMorale never drops below Steady (11).

3. Encounters with a spirit ally’sspecies (e.g., wolf stone = wolves) aregenerally friendly. Treat this effect as therangers ability to befriend wild animals(see the Player’s Handbook, Chapter 3).

72 DECEMBER 1997

4. A wizard can use a spirit ally to finda specific familiar or minion. For exam-ple, if a mage uses a cat stone and thefind familiar spell to locate a cat familiar,the attempt is 100% successful. With thespell’s completion, the ally crumbles todust, beyond repair.

XP Value: 2,000 GP Value: 6,000

Quixoro�s Knightly SteedSages report that this slightly tar-

nished medallion had been in the pos-session of the Chainse merchant familyof Waterdeep since the time of SirQuixoro Chainbreaker, a Tethyrian pal-adin who lived some 200 years ago.According to family legend, as long asthe medallion remains in the hands ofthe Chainses, the family fortunes willcontinue to grow.

Unfortunately, Lord Neville Chainse,a vain and foolish scion of the family,lost the medallion last winter in a cardgame. The new owner, a sellswordnamed Wilfrid Hawkblade, left soonafter and headed for Neverwinter.Neither Hawkblade nor the medallionarrived, however. Lord Neville is becom-ing desperate and has offered a sub-stantial reward for the return of “his”medallion.

Description: Quixoro’s knightly steed isa medallion the size of a large man’spalm. It consists of an electrum disc, aniron ring and a gold chain. The disc bearsthe arms of Sir Quixoro Chainbreaker (apair of falcons in flight separated by adiagonal chain broken in the center). Thetarnished iron ring features a chain motif

broken at the four points of the compass.The crudely wrought length of gold chainallows the wearer to wear the medallionaround his or her neck.

Upon examining this piece of jew-ellery closely, one notices three words(faith, loyalty, and courage) written in OldTethyrian on the back of the iron ring. If

these words are spoken while the personwears the medallion, Quixoro’s knightlysteed, a paladin’s destrier of heroic pro-portions, appears.

The Knightly Steed (heavy warhorse): INT Avg; AL LG; AC 6; MV 15, HD3+3 (27 hp); THAC0 16; #AT 3; Dmg1-8/1-8/1-3; MR 5%; ML 16).

Named Medallion, this stallion isrusty black with one white sock andblue eyes. His big (17½ hands) frame isclad in full leather barding with greenand gold trappings and a chamfron witha foot-long iron spike.

Medallion can communicate with itsmaster (and only its master) via a limitedform of telepathy. He also has extensiveknowledge (as a 4th-level sage) of thefollowing subjects: Major—Chivalry,Strategy, and Tethyrian history (up to thepoint of Sir Quixoro’s death); Minor—Heraldry and Etiquette.

When he communicates, Medallion’s“speech” is highly formal and archaic(e.g., “Milord, I do perceive that thineenemies have secreted themselvesbehind yon shrubbery.”). This battlecharger has no sense of humor and pos-sesses a blind spot when facing theenemy. (The word “outnumbered” is notin his vocabulary.) However, Medallionis loyal to a fault and utterly implacable

DRAGON #242 73

whenever his master is in danger. If thewearer is not already a knight,Medallion feels it is his duty to “instructhis new master in the intricacies, duties,privileges, chivalric code, and honor ofthe wearers new calling—whether thewearer wishes it or not.

XP Value: 3,600 GP Value: 8,000

The Urn of the Blue VishapCrafted long ago in the lands of

Zakhara by the ancient sha’ir Shalik ibnShakuffar, the genie trap known as theUrn of the Blue Vishap was used toimprison the wicked marid named Merifaof the Pearl Lagoons. it was then hurledinto lands far beyond Zakhara, never tobe seen again . . . until the busy Hands ofFate turned a page in the Great Book ofthe Loregiver. Four hundred years later,the Urn of the Blue Vishap returned toZakhara in a corsair’s sea chest. The urn

has since appeared in countless rawuns’(bard’s) tales of evil sorcerers, sa’luks(thieves), heroes, and nomads through-out the Land of Fate. The urn is now saidto reside in the shadowed vaults ofAssassin Mountain, though who but theGrandfather of Assassins can knowwhether that rumor is true?

Description: The Urn of the Blue Vishapis a heavy enameled urn that standsbetween one and four feet high, depend-ing on the whim of the urn’s dread ser-vant Decorated with gold and lapis lazuliwaves, sea serpents, and other aquaticmotifs, the urn takes its name from thecarved vishap’s head that crowns thegolden lid. At the time of the urn’s cre-ation, the image of the vishap was used towarn people of evil magic or dangerouspaths. This warning should be heeded.The marid Merifa escaped Shalik’s prisoncenturies ago after tricking her liberator

into taking her place. Now the urn is trulynamed, for it now holds a titanic, blue-winged vishap of awesome power.

The “vishap” is not really a vishap atall, but an old blue dragon namedSaluuknir from the Raurin Desert inSouthern Faerûn.

Saluuknir (Blue Dragon): INT Very; ALLE; AC -4; MV 9, fly 24; HD 14 (108 hp);THAC0 8; #AT 3 (1-6/1-6/3-24); BWLightning bolt-5’ × 100’ (Dmg 16d8+8);MR 35%; ML 20. innate powers: cre-ate/destroy water (thrice/day), imitatesounds (at will), dust devil (once/day),ventriloquism (once/day).

Saluuknir can cast the followingWizard spells (at 7th level): dancing lights,feather fall, sleep, knock, and mirror image.

While bound to the urn, Saluuknircan exercise the following powers:

1. Grant a Iimited wish (twice/week).2. Assume gaseous form (at will).3. Alter his size (to one-fourth of his

original length—twice/day).4. Resists all spells or items that alter,

control, or confuse the mind (+4 onsaves vs. possession, charm, and similareffects).

Rubbing the Urn summons Saluuknir.He is an irascible and claustrophobicwyrm given to petty acts of arrogance,bullying, and avarice. His greatest desire(besides his freedom) is to have five min-utes alone with Merifa of the PearlLagoons. Despite all his grumbling andevil ways, the power of the urn compelshim to bend all his power into the fulfill-ment of three wishes or tasks demandedby whoever frees him. While Saluuknirwill not twist the wording of his sum-moners wishes in the manner of an ifritor other evil creature, he does whateverhe can to persuade his summoner to findand punish Merifa.

Saluuknir cannot directly harm thesummoner or any living creature, unlesshe or the Urn are threatened, and hemust also fulfill the summoner’s tasks orwishes to the letter.

XP Value: 20,000 GP Value: 40,000

LycaeonorukkeLycaeonorukke (pronounced Lie-KAY-

on-oh-ROOK-ah), A.K.A. the Silver Wolf,was fashioned by Warthyr the Worrierof Silverymoon as a gift for Lyosse, anadventuring priestess of Tymora. insteadof keeping the wizard’s gift, however,Lyosse gave the figurine to a companionbefore venturing into the High Forest.She was never seen again.

Since then, stories (all true) of a savagebeast have circulated up and down the

74 DECEMBER 1997

flanks and tail andsilver-gray belly, chest

and legs. His ambereyes reflect intelli-

gence. When alone withhis summoner,Lycaeonorukkeacts like a large,

affectionate, andstupid puppy. But

when battle isjoined, the Silver Wolfbecomes the experi-

enced alpha wolf, taking charge and tol-erating no dis-

obediencefrom its sum-moner or any

SwordCoast. In all the sto-

of its summoner’sfriends and allies.Lycaeonorukke has

dragged more thanone of his fool-ish chargesaway fromthe bat-tlefield.

ries, the beast is described as a huge wolfwith silver gray fur and uncanny intelli-gence, who fights with terrible strength.The wolf is none other than theLycaeonorukke. The most recent tale ofthe Silver Wolf puts the figurine about 50miles south of Baldur’s Gate and in thepossession of Ulfor Tenears, a sadisticHuntmaster of Malar.

Description: As a figurine, the silverWolf sits on its haunches with itsmuzzle pointed toward an unseenmoon. Written on the underside isthe name “Lycaeonorukke.”Speaking this name aloudsummons the Silver Wolf.

Lycaeonorukke: INTAvg; AL NG; AC 6; MV 18;HD 4+4 (36 hp); THAC015; #AT 1; Dmg 3-6hp; MR 5%; ML 16.

The Silver Wolfweighs wellover 200 lbs.

Lycaeonorukke has one seriousweakness. He is confused by paradoxes(e.g., a zombie looks and smells dead,but. moves anyway). The Silver Wolf willeither investigate the situation further orrefuse to obey.

The Silver Wolf has several powerswhich he can use in the hunt or to pro-tect his master. Lycaeonurukke can:

1. Wind walk once every night whenthe moon is full.

2. Track prey with the same profi-ciency as an onyx dog.

3. Harm those creatures that can beharmed only by silver or +1 weapons(e.g., werewolves).

4. Makes ail saving throws as if hewere a 4th-level ranger.

Lycaeonorukke may be called once aday and requires a full month to recoverif “slain.”

XP Value: 5,000 GP Value: 10,000

Bruce Schmidt hailsfrom Brooks, Alberta,

where he enjoysreading booksand watching

fantasyfilms.

He has awhite face,p e w t e rg r a y

DRAGON #242 75

Magic ofSight and Sound

by Lloyd Brownillustrated by David Kooharian

orion the Bard, master entertainer and storyteller ofFaerûn, has collected a great number of spells through-

out his travels, some of them traveling from different PrimeMaterial Planes. Often called simply “the Bard” because of hisfame, he commonly uses his spells to give life to his shows,enhancing his own theatrical performances or writing magicaleffects into his plays and then selling his own spellcasting ser-vices to those troupes willing and able to pay his price.Although Morion’s great love is for the play, to adventurers heis better known for his brilliant and flashy spells.

Morion refers to his spell repetoire as “magic of sight andsound.” The phrase “magic of sight and sound” could theoreti-cally include the whole range of illusionist spells, but thisunique selection of spells draws from several different schoolsto achieve its effects. Anything that creates sound or light—orthat depends on sound or light to deliver its effects—is consid-ered a part of this informal category of magic. Sight and soundmagic also includes illusions that mimic the caster’s own formwithout change. Existing spells from this class include shout,audible glamer, light, color spray, the prismatic spells, mirrorimage, mislead, and rainbow pattern.

While Morion’s spellbooks contain many spells common tothe FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting and the spells from the CompleteBard’s Handbook, the tome he protects most closely is the oneidentified here. Morion shows a great understanding of magic(for a bard), and though he cannot research spells on his own,he describes them in such detail that a researching wizard haslittle trouble understanding exactly what Morion seeks whenthe Bard comes to purchase the wizard’s services. Morion asksany one wizard to research only one or two spells, so hisinventions are not concentrated in a single person’s hands.

The Bard’s brilliance is seen in the fact that some of hisspells include those of a higher level than bards can normallyuse. (The PLAYER’S OPTION™: Spells & Magic reference allows bardsto learn spells higher than sixth level.)

Whether out of pride or caution, Morion is secretive about hisspecially comissioned spells—so much so that he has frequently

76 DECEMBER 1997

found occasion to cast such spells ashostile images to defend himself againstfellow bards and jealous wizards whocoveted his secrets. Morion freely tradesother, more common spells, so thissecrecy is often the subject of rumor.Considering his might and popularity,however, it is almost certain that he hashad some contact with the Harpers,although he does not seem to be activein that organization himself. It would notbe a surprise to his fans if members ofthat organization were seen using someof these spells.

Morion�s SpellbookThe tome of the Bard’s spells is jet-

black with a hard cover, possibly madeof some sort of shell. Most who haveseen the book speculate that it is cov-ered with the shell of a strange turtle. Itis bound in gold, and the lock is made ofthe same material. The lock itself is acompl icated device that must beundone with skill or magic—Moriondestroyed the only key to prevent intru-sion. The book opens for Morion himselfupon verbal command.

Once within the covers, the reader isdisappointed to see that each pageappears blank until it is touched—and asecret command word is spoken. If theword is known, the initial disappoint-ment turns to awe as the words andglyphs are reproduced in three dimen-sions in the space above the page, inbrilliant color, leaving little doubt as tothe nature of the book. The smooth,stark white pages contract strongly withthe dark cover and the bright colorsdancing above the page, creating animpressive image.

First-Level SpellsApparition(Illusion/Phantasm)Range: 0Components: V, S, MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: Caster OnlySaving Throw: None

This spell causes the caster to seem toturn wispy and insubstantial, as if underthe effects of a wraithform spell. The cast-er’s outline becomes fuzzy and indistinct,his body becomes translucent, and hisfeatures become difficult to distinguish.

This spell is distinct from blur in thatit does not afford any AC bonus or makethe caster harder to attack in any way.The caster does appear very much like aghost, however, and enemies might flee,

attack with holy water, or raise holy sym-bols to protect themselves. The caster isfully corporeal and can use spells, talk,and move normally. The spell can bevery effective if the caster briefly mouthswords to strangers, moves away silently,and passes through an illusory wall.

The material component is smoke orsteam, which the caster must create orcarry somehow.

Chromatic Crown(Alteration, Abjuration)Range: TouchComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: One creatureSaving Throw: None

The popular first-level spell chromaticorb has given rise to many variations,some more common than others.Chromatic crown creates a sparklingheadpiece adorned with gems of everycolor, which appears on the head of thetargeted creature. Depending on thecaster’s level and desire, one gem pre-dominates over the others. The crownoffers a bonus of +4 against one class ofattacks, depending on the primary colorof the crown selected at the moment ofcasting. See Table 1 for a summary of thechromatic crown effects by caster leveland predominant gem color. As with thechromatic orb spell, a caster can choose alesser-level effect if he so desires. Thechromatic crown does not function if anyheadgear other than non-magical woolor cloth is worn.

The required material component isa small golden crown. The crown neednot have great detail and costs only 25gp to make.

Chromatic Rod(Conjuration)Range: 0Components: V, S, MDuration: 6 roundsCasting Time: 1

Area of Effect: SpecialSaving Throw: None

This spell creates a 2’-long scintillat-ing rod that appears in the caster’shand. The rod can be used to touch anopponent, who must make a successfulsaving throw vs. spell or stand motion-less for 1d6 rounds while myriad colorsdance before his eyes, completely block-ing out all other sight. The target is effec-tively blind, with a -4 AC penalty and -4THAC0 penalty.

During the four rounds the rod is inexistence, it can affect as many targetsas the caster can successfully attack.Note that the wizard might gain extraattacks for employing a haste spell.Likewise, if the DM uses the PLAYER’SOPTION™: Combat & Tactics rules, the magemight gain attacks of opportunity.

Like the chromatic orb spell, the chro-matic rod bypasses metal armor; onlymagical bonuses and Dexterity adjust-ments apply to the AC of a target inmetal armor. Also, the caster is not con-sidered to be attacking without aweapon, making this spell much moreeffective than shocking grasp or othertouch spells.

The material component is a smallglass rod or prism. A light source mustbe present for this spell to function; itdoes not work in total darkness.

Size Disguise( Illusion/Phantasm)Range: 0Components: V, S, MDuration: 5 rounds/levelCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: Caster onlySaving Throw: None

This spell makes the caster appear asmuch as twice or as little as one-quarterhis original height. The spell’s primaryuse is for intimidation, but a larger-seeming caster might be missed byattacks that enemies aim at his head orchest. If the illusion is cast for maximumenlarging effect, the caster gains a -4

Table 1: Chromatic Crown EffectsCaster Level Predominant Color

1 White (clear)2 Red3 Orange4 Yellow5 Green6 Turquoise8 Blue10 Violet12 Prismatic

Protects vs.ColdFire/HeatAcidPetrification/ParalyzationRod/Staff/WandPoison/Petrification/PolymorphBreath WeaponsSpellsAll saves

DRAGON #242 77

AC bonus on first melee or missileattacks, as unwitting attackers mightaim at a point higher than the castersreal form extends. Subsequent attackssuffer only a -2 penalty, as attacks thatwould otherwise have hit pass throughthe illusion, letting enemies know thatsomething is amiss.

The material component for sizedisguise is a small telescoping steel rod.

Morion and other bards often usethis spell to create convincing portrayalsof ogres and giants, or pixies and other“wee folk” during magically enhancedperformances.

Second-level SpellsCaptain’s Voice(Alteration)Range: TouchComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: One creatureSaving Throw: Neg.

Ship captains are often recipients ofthis spell, cast by an associate wizard orbard. Captain’s voice allows the target tospeak in a normal voice (or louder, ifdesired) and be heard clearly in a 90’-radius area, as if the listeners werestanding beside the speaker. Ship cap-tains and military commanders oftenuse the captain’s voice spell for givingcommands to large groups of peoplesimultaneously. The caster’s voice car-ries through wooden walls withoutrestriction, but stone walls greater than6” thick stop the captain’s voice from car-rying. Obviously, this spell can be usedeffectively within wooden homes, tow-ers, or fortifications as well.

Willing subjects of this spell needmake no saving throw. An unwilling tar-get can be affected by the spell, makinghis words easily heard throughout thearea. A person so affected notices thathis voice is magnified on a successfulWisdom check, made once each turn.

The material component is a smallbullhorn made of ivory or horn.

A common clerical variant of thisspell is known as priest’s sermon,because some priesthoods allow anidentical spell (from the sphere of All)used during religious ceremonies orworship in large temples.

Chorus of Valor(Enchantment/Charm,Invocation/Evocation)Range: 0Components: V, S, M

Duration: One round/level, up to oneturnCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: 30’ radius of casterSaving Throw: None

This spell is unusual in that thosewho wish to be benefit from the magicmust sing along with the caster. Thecaster sings for one round alone, andany who wish to join may participate insubsequent rounds for as long as theyare within the area of effect. The lyricsare easy to follow, and even those with-out the singing proficiency are able tosing along for the purposes of gainingthe spell’s benefits.

The spell allows those in the chorusto resist fear spells, giving them a +3bonus on all saves vs. magical fear forthe duration of the spell. Furthermore, theMorale of NPCs increases by 2.

Each member of the chorus can alsoattack courageously, using the THAC0 ofa character (or monster) three levelshigher. A 7th-level Rogue, therefore,temporarily gains the THAC0 of a 10th-level Rogue.

The material component is a small,brightly colored banner which is notconsumed by the casting.

Hostile Images(Illusion/Phantasm)Range: 60 yardsComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: One targetSaving Throw: Neg.

The target of a hostile images spellmight think at first that the casters spellhas gone awry, for 2-8 images of thetarget appear around him, as if thecaster had cast a mirror image spell onthe target. Once these images come intobeing, however, they turn and attack thetarget. If the target changes weapons orcasts spells, the images do the same. Ifhe runs, the images follow at the samespeed, although they cannot movebeyond 60 yards from the caster.

The illusions cause no damage, realor illusory, although they appear to tryto kill the target with great vigor. Whenstruck for even 1 hp damage, an imagedisappears. Their main effect on the tar-get, besides confusion, is to use up hisshield defenses (if any) and to occupyfront and flank spaces, enabling realattackers to take positions to the rearand unshielded flanks.

Hostile images produces the samenumber of images as a mirror image

spell: 1d4+1 for every three levels, up toa maximum of eight images.

The material components are a smallmirror and a mobius strip; the latter itemis consumed in the casting.

Hypnotic Harmonies(Enchantment/Charm)Range: 30 yardsComponents: V, SDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 20 yard radiusSaving Throw: Neg.

This enchantment is similar to thehypnotic pattern spell except that itseffects rely on sound rather than sight,and its magic is drawn from a differentschool. The caster sings or plays a musi-cal instrument to cast the spell, whichcauses any affected creature to becomefascinated and stand listening for aslong as the caster maintains the music,plus two additional rounds. The spell cancaptivate a maximum of 24 levels or HitDice of creatures. All creatures affectedmust be within the area of effect, andeach gains a save vs. spell. A damage-inflicting attack on an affected creatureimmediately frees it from the spell.

Hypnotic harmonies can be heard nor-mally, according to the terrain, interven-ing walls or objects, and acousticaldesign, but the magic affects creatureswho hear the harmonies only if they arewithin 60 feet of the caster. The castermust remain still to maintain the har-monies and may perform no otheractions while maintaining the spell.

Hypnotic harmonies is popular amongbards, who often attempt to disguise itscasting among their nonmagical music.It guarantees a large crowd at the inn, ifnothing else.

Mute(Alteration)Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: S, MDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: Neg.

A wizard uses the mute spell to keepa target from casting spells that requireverbal components, keep a traitor orwitness silent, or teach verbose com-panions a lesson. If the spell recipientfails its save, it cannot speak, scream,sing, roar, or make any noise from thethroat or mouth. No cure spells alleviatethis effect, but the caster can end thespell at any time by silent act of will, and

78 DECEMBER 1997

a dispel magic spell is also effective.Undead are not affected by a mute spell.

The material component is a pair ofsmall balls of cotton, which are con-sumed by the casting.

Third-Level SpellsDirge of Despondency(Enchantment/Charm)Range: 90 yardsComponents: V, SDuration: 1 round/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: One 10’-cube per levelSaving Throw: Neg.

The dirge of despondency createsmournful tunes that seem to come fromdeep string instruments. The soundaffects all intelligent creatures within thearea of effect, overwhelming them withdeep hopelessness, as the fourth-levelWizard spell emotion. Targets who failtheir save submit to the demands of anyopponent—surrendering, fleeing, etc. Ifnot commanded to surrender or leave,the creatures are 75% likely to do noth-ing each round and 25% likely toretreat. As with the hopelessness effectof the emotion spell, this effect counteredby the emotion spell’s hope effect.

Although they have not yet beendocumented, other third-level musicalversions of the various emotion effectsare widely suspected. Only time will tellwhether Morion has successfully com-missioned such spells.

Rumble(Alteration)Range: 10 yards/levelComponents; V, S, MDuration: 1 roundCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 30’-radius sphereSaving Throw: None

This spell causes a loud vibration thatcould be thunder, an avalanche, anearthquake, a stampede, or an impend-ing volcanic eruption. The sound beginssoftly and seemingly distant, then risesto a thundering crescendo near the endof the round. Creatures of Non-, Animal,or Semi-Intelligence must make aMorale check or flee for 3d4 rounds.Creatures with greater Intelligence gaina saving throw vs. paralyzation. Thosewho fail must stop moving and bracethemselves, but the spell effect does notforce them to stop attacking, defending,or casting spells. Rumble can be used tostop a cavalry charge; if the horses don’tflee, worried riders might rein them inanyway.

The material component is a cylindri-cal drum, about 12” tall and 6” across.

Shrieker Wail(Alteration)Range: 60 yardsComponents: V, S, MDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: One objectSaving Throw: None

This spell is often used as a distrac-tion or to completely clear out an areathat the caster must defend againstintruders. Shrieker wail causes an inani-mate object to emit a loud wail exactlylike that of a shrieker, possibly drawingin nearby monsters. It might be used tobait a trap, draw guards to the wrongpart of a castle, or possibly attract a hun-gry (and uncontrolled!) purple worm.

The material component is a tinysilver horn, twisted into a precise shape.It commonly costs about 25 gp.

Silent Passage(Alteration)Range: TouchComponents: V, S, MDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: One creature per threecaster levelsSaving Throw: None

This spell enhances or bestows theability to Move Silently. Wizards oftenuse it to mask the sounds of a heavilyencumbered fighter or a pack animal.Silent passage masks the sounds ofarmor yet allows normal vocal commu-nication and spellcasting. The spellenables the spell recipient(s) to MoveSilently with a 90% chance of success, orwith a +50% bonus to those whoalready possess the Move Silently ability(maximum of 95%).

This spell is normally used to sneakpast or surprise sentries or dangerousmonsters the caster wishes to avoid.

The material component is a piece ofvelvet, wrapped around and betweentwo pieces of any kind of metal.

Fourth-Level SpellsInspirational Theme(Enchantment/Charm)Range: 90 yardsComponents: V, SDuration: 2 rounds/levelCasting Time: 4Area of Effect: Up to one target per levelin a 30’ radiusSaving Throw: None

This spell produces the sounds ofloud trumpets blaring a charge. Any ofthe caster’s allies hearing this themereceive a +4 bonus to Morale, attack at+1 to hit, and receive +2 bonuses todamage rolls and saves vs. subsequentenchantment/charm spells for the dura-tion of the spell.

The caster can designate up to oneperson per level to benefit from the tri-umphant charge. Those who are notchosen as spell recipients hear the hornsas a distant but menacing sound.

Protection from light(Abjuration)Range: TouchComponents: V, S, MDuration: 5 rounds/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: One targetSaving Throw: Neg.

The blind wizard Marrol created thisspell. The target and all of his or herequipment become totally black, as thespell repels all light. The lack of colorallows the target to Hide in Shadows ata base 20% chance (or with a +20% toany existing Hide in Shadows ability,maximum of 95%). Protection from lightprovides protective benefits by givingthe target the ability to make all savingthrows against light-based spells cast atthe eyes (e.g., color spray, hypnotic pat-tern, and light spells). Willing recipients ofthis spell need make no saving throw.

The material component is a blackhood, similar to the type falconers use tocover the eyes of their birds.

Fifth-Level SpellsEcholocation(Alteration)Range: TouchComponents; V, S, MDuration: 1 turn/2 levelsCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: One creatureSaving Throw: None

Another of Marrol’s creations, thisspell proved useful in the Underdark,where he vented his rage against thehated illithids for years of slavery.Echolocation allows the caster or otherspell recipient to emit a constant high-pitched sound that reflects back to himlike a bat’s sonar. The magic of the spellallows the caster to hear and interpretthese reflected sounds, allowing him orher to “see” up to 60 yards.

This mode of finding one’s way issuperior to normal vision in severalways. Gaze attacks do not affect the

DRAGON #242 79

recipient who closes his eyes and relieson the echolocation spell entirely.Darkness, fog, and steam can be piercedwithout inhibiting the recipients abilityto find things. Illusions that are not alsophantasms are unseen. The sense isgood enough for the spell recipient tocast targeted spells like magic missile.

The spell carries several disadvan-tages as well. The spell recipients “lineof sight” is only a 60-degree arc. Magicaldeafness or silence renders this senseuseless. The acuity of the echolocation isnot great, so the recipient can identifypeople he or she knows within 10 yards,but only general shape sand sizes canbe determined beyond 10 yards. Anymissile weapons used by the spell recip-ient are -1 “to hit.”

The material component is a bit ofbat fur. If the DM’s campaign featuresother creatures that use natural echolo-cation, their hair (or scales, etc.) can besubstituted as a material component.

Infrared Light(Alteration)Range: 10 yards/levelComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: 10’ radius sphereSaving Throw: See below

Human spellcasters make frequentuse of this spell, since it can confer uponseveral recipients the ability to see in thedark, as per the infravision spell. Thespell is similar to the light spell in that itcan also be cast on an item and carried.If cast at a creature with infravision, itblinds the creature for the duration ofthe spell (saving throw negates).

All creatures (hostile or benign) withinthe area of effect during the casting ofthe spell are afforded 120’ infravision;creatures that enter the area before orafter the spell is cast are not affected.

The material component is a smallcoin, stone, or gem that has once had alight or continual light spell cast upon it,and a hair, nail, or other body part of acreature with infravision.

Sixth-Level SpellsOtto’s Triple Chime(Alteration, Abjuration)Range: 60 yards + 10 yards/levelComponents: V, S, MDuration: One roundCasting Time: 6Area of Effect: 10’ cubeSaving Throw: None

Named for the famous mage of Oerthbut reportedly not created by him, Otto’striple chime creates a resonant tone thatrepeats twice. At the end of the firstchime, every closure (door, chest lid,clasps, etc.) in the area of effect is affect-ed by a dispel magic, removing all pro-tective abjurations and trap magics. (Seedispel magic spell for details.) The dispeldoes not affect other magical enchant-ments or dweomers placed upon theclosures. After the second chime andagain after the third, each closure isaffected by a knock spell, unlocking upto four closures.

Although this spell might affectunwanted targets as well, it is a goodway to make a large amount of treasureaccessible quickly. Cast at a group ofenemies, it can pop off their armor byunhooking clasps, unbuckling saddles,or even spilling gold out of previouslysecured pouches and backpacks.

The triple chime is highly favoredbecause its great range allows the spellto be used against doors or chests froma distance too great for the caster to beaffected by traps that might be triggeredby the spell.

The material component is a set ofcopper, silver, and gold keys worth 10gp, 50 gp, and 250 gp respectively.

Prismatic Shell(Conjuration)Range: 0Components: VDuration: 1 turn/levelCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: 10’-radius sphereSaving Throw: None

This spell enables lower-level castersto draw upon part of the prismatic sphereand prismatic walI spells for limited pro-tection. The caster may choose one shellof the prismatic sphere spell and place itaround himself or herself. The shellremains immobile, is the color of thecaster’s choosing, protects against theappropriate attack form, and is broughtdown in the same manner as the samecolor of shell produced by the prismaticsphere spell.

Because the shell lacks the full visualeffects of the prismatic sphere or prismat-ic wall spell, the shell also lacks the blind-ing capability of the higher-level spells.

Seventh-Level SpellsAria of Peace(Enchantment/Charm)Range: 0Components: VDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: 60’ radiusSaving Throw: Neg.

When the caster begins an aria ofpeace, sweet calming tunes of manyinstruments fill the air. The soundinstantly calms any hostile creature,compelling it to stop fighting. Elves andhalf-elves receive their usual resistanceto this powerful charm.

Affected creatures cannot attack any-one while under the spell’s effect. Nohostile moves can be made. Weaponscannot be drawn, those affected cannotuse violent defense modes (like a wall offire), nor can they move to positionthemselves for an attack. Those whowere previously engaged in combat orclosing for a fight must stand still.

If a creature resists this spell by mak-ing a successful saving throw, he canattack others who can defend them-selves against that creature only. Thesedefenses cannot include area-of-effectspells that also attack creatures who arenot assaulting the defender. Hostilecreatures must resist the spell everyround they remain within the area ofeffect, making saving throws and/ormagic resistance checks until subduedby the spell, until they leave the area,the caster ends the spell, or the creatureis killed or rendered unconscious.

The spell lasts as long as the castermaintains it, plus one round per four lev-els of experience thereafter. Once thecaster ceases concentration, he usuallyuses personal persuasive abilities orenchantments to avoid further violence.

Evil creatures rarely use this spell. Itis common under a different nameamong sorcerers of Zakhara and mighthave originated in the Land of Fate.

Lloyd Brown has practiced martial arts aslong as he’s been gaming. Recently, hedusted off his uniform and went for somereal Oriental Adventures.

80 DECEMBER 1997

by Bruce Schmidtillustrated by George Vrbanic

n 1846 D.R., Netheril was just enteringthe height of its glory, and magic was

the lifeblood of the empire. Wizards spentyears perfecting the magical items andspells that would inspire future legendsand fill apprentices’ spellbooks for gener-ations to come. In that year, a new breedof magical automaton was born in theworkshops of the brotherhood of arcanecraftsmen known simply as Mystra’sAnvil. These constructs were made fromat least two different materials, such asstone and iron, and they served theirmasters in a variety of ways, from carry-ing heavy loads to murdering a rival. The

master controlled his arcane servant withthe aid of a talisman. Thus, the creaturesbecame known as talisman servants.

The talisman servants had one dis-tinct advantage over true golems: theycould be made from anything, from oldwagons to minor magical items, savingboth time and money in construction. Atone point, talisman servants outnum-bered golems in several regions of theArcane Empire.

Talisman servants had three disadvan-tages, however—flaws that eventuallydoomed them. Their masters soon dis-covered, often at the risk of their lives,

DM’s Notes❖ If a talisman is destroyed, use the

following table to determine its fate:Roll 1d10001-50 Servant collapses into useless

junk, never to rise again.51-00 Servant freezes in position. It

cannot be revived until anew talisman is made. Whena servant is destroyed, a tal-isman disintegrates into use-less powder.

❖ Like other constructed beings, tal-isman servants are subject to wildmagic effects (as detailed in Code of theHarpers, pp. 96-99). If this accessory isnot handy, a DM can substitute magi-cal items to a servants design insteadof assigning wild powers. The tablebelow then applies.Roll 1d10001-50 The servant can use the magi-

cal item as any characterwould (e.g., a cloak of flyingallows a servant to fly).

51-00 Every magical item added tothe servant’s body confers anextra 5% magic resistance onthe servant to a total of 90%.If the servant is “killed,” themag ica l i tems a re a lsodestroyed.

that the talisman and the servant couldnot be separated by more than a mile. Ifthat happened, or if the talisman was lostor destroyed, the servant would notrespond to commands. Also, the talismanservant possessed a degree of sentiencenot normally seen in automatons. Someservants were so aware of their environ-ments that they self activated and ranamok until their masters could regaincontrol. But the most unnerving dangerwas that certain aspects of a master’s per-sonality would be imprinted on the ser-vant. For example, if a mage had a strongdislike of water, his servant would balk atevery river crossing. Such personal quirksquickly earned the talisman servantsnotoriety.

When Netheril collapsed in -290 D.R.,many wizards reluctantly destroyed orhid their creations to prevent their ene-mies from turning their magic againstthem. To this day, bards tell of rogueautomatons, while mages search for elu-sive texts on the construction of the talis-man servants.

Here are three of the talisman ser-vants of lost Netheril.

82 DECEMBER 1997

Talisman Servant, CaravanCLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE TYPE:ALIGNMENT:

Any LandVery RareSolitaryAnyNon-Semi- (2-4)SpecialNeutral

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:

11912 (72 hp)911-10Crush, bite of sharpness, bellowWizard Locks, +1 weapon to hit,Immune to mind influencingspells

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 15%SIZE: M (7’ at shoulder, 11’ long)MORALE: Steady (11-12)XP VALUE: 7,000

Caravan servants are created by a wizard of at least 15thlevel, who forms the automaton from a variety of sculptedstone, furniture, barding, leather tacking, saddles, pouches,knobs, spikes, hooks, straps, sacks, and saddlebags for thepurpose of carrying and/or pulling large quantities of cargo(up to 1,200 Ibs.). All caravan servants have between fourand eight sturdy clawed legs and a head. Beyond theserequirements, the wizard’s artistic whims are as important asfunctional considerations, making the caravan servant themost varied in appearance of all the talisman servants. Forexample, a caravan servant that belonged to a wizard whofavored dragons might have a dragon’s skull for a head, alarge trunk as its body, and a length of chain for a tail. Thetalisman associated with this type of servant usually takesthe form of a whistle, a walking stick, riding crop, or amahout’s goad.

Combat: Designed as a beast of burden, the caravan servantis not a dependable fighting machine. However, in an age ofnumerous thieves and brigands, the caravan servant is capa-ble of protecting its master and its cargo. On the command ofits master, the caravan servant can wizard lock every drawer,saddlebag, or trunk that makes up its body (and only thesecontainers). Any tampering on the servants compartmentswithout the master’s approval triggers the servants defenses.

A caravan servant uses its tremendous Strength (24) andweight to pin, smash, or crush its opponent for 1d10 hp dam-age per strike. Alternatively, it bites with its powerful jawswith the same effectiveness as a sword of sharpness, also for1d10 hp damage. A natural attack roll of 19 or 20 results inthe loss of an opponents limb.

A caravan servant also provides a fearless and solid bar-rier against hailstorms of arrows and can open doors, gatesand fences which might otherwise be closed (a 7 in 8 chanceof success). When a wizard merchant came to a city, heneeded a way to alert the guard without straining his voice,thus he gave his servant a voice—a loud one. A caravan ser-vant can deliver a thunderous bellow three times a day. This

roar can panic any beast or person not trained for battle withthe effect of a fear spell; a successful save vs. spell negatesthe effect.

The caravan servant may be harmed only by weapons of+1 or greater enchantment. It is unaffected by magic thataffects the mind (e.g., feeblemind, charm, and illusion spells).Many wizards named their caravan servants (e.g., Chamfron,Lilac, or Bender). This was not an indication of soft emotionsbut rather a means of bonding and recognition betweenmaster and servant. If a stranger stole a talisman and tookcommand without a proper introduction, the results oftenproved fatal. A caravan servant might ignore the interloper,balk at his commands, or even attack. There is one story ofa caravan servant who chased a foolish scoundrel through atown before crushing the man against the prison gates.

There is a 50% chance that a caravan servant will self-activate if someone says its name or it is in mortal peril.Once activated, it yawns, stamps its feet, and begins to lookfor its master, smashing through doors and walls in itssearch.

Habitat/Society: Unlike other automatons, caravan servantshave a reputation for being amiable, loyal, tireless, affec-tionate, and steady. As such, caravan servants were wellknown and welcomed in many towns. When Netheril was inits glory, caravan servants could be found in any marketsquare or livery stable, or encountered in an overland mer-chant caravan in the company of their masters. In moderntimes, functioning servants are rare, found hidden away indesolate ruins or following an ancient path, bringing thebones of its master home.

Ecology: As created beings, caravan servants need not eat,drink, or rest; nor do they impact greatly on their environs.An intact caravan servant usually (85% of the time) hascargo when encountered. A cargo may consist of anythingfrom a portion of a dragon’s hoard to a load of manure.

DRAGON #242 83

Talisman Servant, GladiatorCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any LandFREQUENCY: Very RareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: Non-INTELLIGENCE: Low (4-6)TREASURE TYPE: SpecialALIGNMENT: Neutral Evil

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:

MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

10/-61516 (96 hp)731-20/2-16/2-16Berserker rage, poison, bear hugMagical bracers, +2 or betterweapon to hit, immune to mind-influencing spells25%L (9-11’ tall)Fearless (19-20)12,000

These terrifying servants are created by a sadistic mage ofat least 18th level. Crafted from stone, leather, and eitheriron or bronze, this murderous construct appears as a burlyhumanoid dressed as a barbarian or a pit fighter. Its headresembles a grotesque helmet with eyes that glow withmalevolent fury when activated. The oversized jaws andfangs are capable of engulfing a victim’s head. A gladiatorservants forearms and paws are sheathed in spike-studdedbracers and tipped with razor-sharp claws. The talismanmost often associated with this type of servant is a dagger,bracer, medallion, or spiked glove bearing the symbol of aviolent power such as Bane, Tempus, Loviatar, or Malar.

Combat: With an effective Strength of 20 and the reflexes ofa seasoned brawler, gladiator servants exist to slaughter fortheir masters’ amusement. When attacking a man-sized orsmaller opponent, a gladiator can trap its victim in a bearhug on a natural roll of 19 or 20. From that point, the servantcannot attack with its arms but gains a +3 attack roll bonuswhen biting its victim. If an opponent is too strong for a glad-iator to take head-on, the servant resorts to the unsavorytactic of wearing its victim down by throwing whatever orwhomever it can grab. On occasion (10% per round), thegladiator servant actually slips into a berserker rage. Whileberserk, the servant can attack at twice the normal rate andkeeps attacking until all living things within 20’ are dead orits master can regain control. For the master to regain con-trol, he must roll 6d10 and score lower than the total of hisIntelligence and Wisdom scores.

As with its mortal counterpart, a gladiator servant pausesjust before it delivers the coup de grace to observe a well-known point of arena etiquette: it looks to its master for theclassic hand signal of life and death. If the master decides tospare the victim, the servant will withdraw but if the masterdecides to have the victim killed, the gladiator complies witha triumphant roar and gruesome results. A berserking gladi-ator does not pause for this ritual.

A gladiator servant is immune to all mind-affecting magicand can be harmed only by a +2 or greater weapon. In

addition, its bracers act as shields +3. As long as the masterholds the talisman, the servant will not attack him, even inits berserker state. However, to prevent his servant fromgoing berserk, a wizard must focus all his attention on thegladiator. Thus, spellcasting is impossible, and a wizard’sDexterity falls by two points for the duration of the melee. Ifsomeone should manage to steal a gladiators talismanwhen it goes berserk, one of the following events occurs:

Roll 1d61-3

4-6

The gladiator freezes for 1-3 rounds while itestablishes a link with its new master.The gladiator falls apart due to the shock of thetransfer. All beings within five feet of the servantsuffer 2-8 hp damage from falling debris andshrapnel.

A neglected gladiator servant is likely to self activate(75%/day left unattended) especially if placed in an areawhere violence has recently been committed, such as on abattlefield. A self-activated gladiator embarks on a killingspree until it is destroyed or its master can regain control.Stories of rampaging gladiators decimating entire villages orsavaging entire battalions are common in bardic lore.

Habitat/Society: In ancient Netheril, a gladiator servantcould be found anywhere but was most often encounteredon the blood-soaked sands of sporting arenas or serving asthe backbone of a unit of a wizard’s shocktroopers. In mod-ern times, a functioning gladiator servant might be found inthe dungeons of a long-buried fortress or city (e.g.,Spellgard). Due to its berserker tendencies, this type of talis-man servant must be closely monitored by its master.

Ecology: As created beings, gladiator servants have no needfor food, drink, rest, or air. However, an active gladiatorseems to revel in the devastation it wreaks upon its environs.The bracers of a destroyed gladiator are non-magical, butthey can removed and refitted for a human-sized warrior.

84 DECEMBER 1997

Talisman Servant, MystranCLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE TYPE:ALIGNMENT:

Any LandVery RareSolitaryAnyNon-Average (8-10)SpecialLawful Neutral

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:

MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

1 or 201214 (84 hp)811-6Polearm, gaze weaponSurprised only on a 1 or 2, +2 orbetter weapon to hit, spell immu-nity, tracking ability35%L (7-9’ tall)Champion (15-16)13,000

Created by a powerful mage and a priest of at least 17th level,this talisman servant is named after Mystra, the Lady ofMysteries. The mystran is the most refined-looking of all thetalisman servants. Fashioned from stone and metal (steel,mithril, or silver), a typical mystran appears as an athletichumanoid with an animal head. They almost always wear therobes of the higher clergy of Mystra or the armor and livery ofancient militia. Two features distinguish mystrans from gladia-tor servants. The eyes of a mystran glow with intelligence anddetermination, and their ears are long pointed, and alert. Thetalisman most often associated with a mystran servant is a sil-ver medallion or necklace shaped like an eight-pointed star orshield. In the case of a pair of servants, earrings or bracersserve as talismans. In either case, the talisman is embossedwith the interlocking symbols of Mystra and a protectivepower (e.g., Helm, Berronar, or Yondalla).

Combat: The mystran servant is created to protect a treasure,structure, or person. A mystran never abandons its post.Mystran servants are the most sentient of all automatons.They can understand complex instructions, operate manualtraps, and are capable strategists. Mystrans are rarely fooledand possess an excellent memory, being able to rememberthieves no matter how much time has passed since the ser-vant last saw them. In addition to their Intelligence, mystranservants are always armed with a magical polearm of sometype (+1/+2 vs. thieves). Even unarmed, these servants canstill bite an opponent with their stony jaws.

The mystran’s eyes are its most potent defense. Each ser-vant possesses one of two different gaze weapons. The first isa paralyzing glare. The victim must save vs. petrification or suf-fer the effects of a hold person or hold monster spell, but theeffects last only as long as the servant maintains eye contact.The second gaze weapon is a powerful version of the wizardeye spell. While this ability has no combat value, the servantsmaster sees everything his servant sees. The wizard mustmake a system shock roll when the mystran contacts him orelse suffer acute vertigo for one round while his eyes adjust tothe new perspective. If a mystran duo is encountered, one has

the paralytic gaze and the other has the wizard eye. Each abili-ty is performed at the 14th level of ability. In addition, mystranservants are immune to all illusion, invisibility, fear, and mind-altering spells. A mystran’s hearing is very acute, thus it can besurprised only on a 1 or 2. Only weapons of +2 or greater canharm a mystran servant. No mystran pursues a retreatingenemy beyond 240’ of its post or charge, nor can a mystranbreak into homes or holy ground. However, if someone stealsthe mystran’s ward or the master’s talisman without firstdestroying the creature, the servant tracks the thief (with theskill of a 7th-level ranger) until he gives up the stolen property.Even seeking sanctuary does not stop a mystran with a mis-sion. A mystran can wait decades for a thief, its righteous gazelooking in through the window every time the rogue looksout. A mystran is the least likely of the talisman servants toself-activate (5% chance). However, on occasion, a mystranactivates and acts on a “hunch,” prowling restlessly in an 240’arc for 1-8 rounds before it shuts down on its own.

Habitat/Society: Mystran servants served a key role in thesecurity system of a wizard’s fortress or priests temple in theArcane Empire. In the present age of Faerûn, mystrans can befound in the North guarding the inner sanctums and trea-suries of the few temples of Azuth, Helm, and Mystra fortu-nate enough to acquire them or in Nimbral, Halruua, andThay where powerful and incorruptible guards are essential.If created to watch over a person, a bodyguard mystran mightdevelop a “mother hen” complex which can be most embar-rassing for its ward and entertaining for onlookers. Asidefrom its ward, a mystran rarely associates with anyone otherthan its partner or master.

Ecology: Mystran servants have no need for rest, food, drink,or air. They do not leave much of an impact on their envi-ronment. Not counting whatever treasure it was created toprotect, the mystran’s polearm and its eyes (gems worth atleast 1,000 gp each) are the servants only treasures.

DRAGON #242 85

by Johnathan M. Richardsillustrated by Steve Bryant

nuckledragger limped toward theforts gate, an empty woodenbucket in his left hand. He hurried

to catch up to the small party gatheringthere, not wishing to be left behind. Thiswas a momentous occasion for him: forthe first time in his four years1, he was tobe allowed outside the four walls of thewooden structure that had been hiswhole universe. His father, Scale-face,had convinced the others that he wasold enough to take part in the dutiesand responsibilities of an adult.

Karg, the scarred old orc that keptwatch at the gate, motioned for the twoother guards to open up. As they pulledopen the heavy doors, Karg gave themongrelmen their orders. “Be back intwo hours. Don’t be late. Rememberyour families.” This last, Knuckledraggerknew, was a thinly-veiled threat—anywho took the opportunity to escape did

so with the knowledge that their familymembers back at the fort would be putto death slowly. The orcs were notknown for their mercy, and to date nomongrelman had ever failed to returnfrom these excursions outside the fort.

Knuckledragger fell into line behindhis father as the mongrelmen shuffledthrough the gate of the orc fort. Aheadlay the wide world. Who knew whatwonders it held? Knuckledragger hadheard the stories, of course, and couldalready reproduce the sounds of manyforest creatures, animals he had neverseen, but whose calls he had heard imi-tated by others.2

Once beyond sight of the fort,Knuckledragger sensed a change in theadults around him. They walked with aproud bearing not stooped and hunchedas if they wished to shrink into as smalland unnoticeable a ball as possible.

Knuckledragger was well accustomed tothe posture, having witnessed it day inand day out during his lifetime as athrall among the orcs. It was always bestto escape notice, especially when livingwith cruel masters. A slave unseen wasa slave not being beaten or tormented.3

Ah, but now sweet freedom! Knuckle-dragger drank in a deep breath, tastingthe exotic fragrances as they passedthrough his muzzle. A dozen differentwildflowers tickled at his shiny blacknose, vying for his attention. How differ-ent things smelled out here, when com-pared to the stenches inside the orcfortress!

Knuckledragger pricked up his ear—his left one, the one covered with a soft,downy fur—as he became aware of thesounds of the forest ahead of him. Birdschittered in the trees, insects droned,and somewhere, a woodpecker drilled atree in search of dinner.

“What are you thinking,asked Scale-face, looking down at hisson and calling him by his true name.4

“This, its all so beautiful!” gaspedKnuckledragger. “If only we could stayhere forever!”

“If only,” agreed Scale-face. “But youknow that we cannot. The orcs are ourmasters; still, perhaps someday this willnot be so.”

The small band trudged into the for-est. There were six of them in all: besidesKnuckledragger and his father, there wasHalf-Human, so named because, by thewhims of fate, he had been born withhuman or human-like features along theentire left side of his body; Crab Leg whoalso had a crabman’s eyestalk growingout his face, and who could thereforelook in two places at once; One-Horn,who always held his head sidewaysbecause of the weight of the minotaurhorn growing from the right side of hishead; and Little Shorty, whose predomi-nantly ogrish facial features looked veryout of place on a body supported bystubby little goblin legs.

Once several hundred feet into theshade of the forest, the band stopped.

1. Mongrelmen, like many other short-livedraces, grow quickly. They reach adulthood aroundage four or five, and they live to a maximum age of40. Of course, those held as slaves by other racesrarely live that long, counting themselves lucky ifthey live to see 15 or 20 years.

2. Regardless of their facial appearance, mon-grelmen enjoy a wide variety of vocal abilities andcan precisely imitate just about any noise they hear.This includes noise heard secondhand, so once asingle mongrelman hears a particular animal call,he can pass that call on to all other mongrelmen inhis tribe. Animal calls make up a large part of mon-grelman “music.”

3. Mongrelmen prefer not to be seen. They arewell aware that their appearance causes disgust andfear (and often ridicule). For this reason, mongrel-men are abnormally fascinated with the concept ofinvisibility, for it not only hides their twisted bodiesfrom sight but also aids in their pickpocketing abili-ties. To many, becoming invisible is the ultimate goal,and the quest for a ring of invisibility has launched afew mongrelmen on the path of the adventurer.

4. All mongrelmen have two names: their ‘truename” and their “slave name.” Their true name ismost often an animal noise. A mongrelman is givenhis true name at birth, and it this name by whichother mongrelmen call him.

Other races, unable (or unwilling) to perfect theanimal mimicry necessary to pronounce a mongrel-man’s true name, often come up with a name forthe mongrelman that they can pronounce. Referredto by mongrelmen as their slave names, they arethe names by which they are known by other races.Such names are usually derogatory but somewhatdescriptive of the mongrelman’s physical appear-ance. Mongrelmen do not give themselves slavenames, but they often adopt the first slave namegiven to them by others, no matter how derogatory.After all, a mongrelman doesn’t really care whatother races call him—he knows his true name.

86 DECEMBER 1997

“Give your bucket toadvised Scale-face. Puzzled, Knuckle-dragger looked at Crab Leg, whoreached out expectantly. “But I thought Iwas going to pick berries with you!” hecomplained.

will pick your berriesfor you. You will come with andme.”

“Where are we going?”“You will see when we get there. Now,

give your bucket.”Reluctantly, Knuckledragger handed

his bucket over to Crab Leg. What wasgoing on? Knuckledragger had lookedforward to the experience of pickingberries with the adults, and was disap-pointed that this was not to be. Still, hewas in a forest, experiencing all kinds ofnew sensations. He decided to look onthe bright side and just be glad that theadults were allowing him to accompanythem.

Crab Leg, One-Horn, and Little Shortywent off in various directions, gatheringberries and other edibles in their buck-ets. The other three, however, went in adifferent direction altogether, headingdeeper into the forest.

“There is much you need to know,”said Scale-face as they walked. “Thingsthat cannot be said in front of the orcs.”

“What kind of things?” Knuckledraggerwanted to know.

“The story of our heritage. The tale ofour beginnings. The legend of ourHidden God.”

Knuckledragger had not known thatthey had a god, hidden or otherwise. Hewell knew of Gruumsh, the one-eyedgod of the orcs, as well as a few other,lesser gods his masters respected. Butstill—a god of the mongrelmen? Wassuch a thing possible?

“Long ago,” Scale-face began, “ourpeople were not as you see us now.They were smooth of skin and uniformin appearance, much as all orcs look like

orcs, or all humans look like humans.We were created by the Hidden God inthat form and had magical powers: wewere able to take on the shapes of otherraces. If you wished it, you could looklike an orc, or an ogre, or an elf, merelyby wishing it.

“But our ancestors angered theHidden God, and he cursed them. Theirchildren were born looking not likethem, but like us, with bits of this crea-ture and bits of that. Furthermore, theycould not change their shape as theirparents could, so they were forced tostay in the misshapen forms in whichthey were born. So it is today.”

“What did they do to anger theHidden God?”

“That, no one knows. But there ishope. Perhaps one day, the Hidden Godwill revoke his curse, and your children,or perhaps your children’s children, willregain the power that is their birthright.Ah, we are here.”

Knuckledragger looked around butsaw nothing unusual. They had beenwalking through the forest and werenow in another part of it. What madethis part of the forest so special?

Then he saw it, as if a veil had beenlifted from his eyes. That clump of treesover there, with the fallen branch—it wasactually a small dwelling! Knuckledraggerhad looked right at it for several secondswithout realizing what it was.5

“What is it?” he asked his father, hisvoice dropping to a whisper.

“This,” replied Scale-face, “is the tem-ple of the Hidden God.”

A flap opened in the side of the struc-ture, and an ancient mongrelmanappeared from inside the temple.“Greetings Is this yourson?”

“Yes. this is thePriest of the Hidden God.”

“Pleased to meet you,said Knuckledragger, noting that the

5. The mongrelman knack for camouflage is aninstinctive one. Some sages speculate that it is a logi-cal extension of their desire to hide away from others,a method by which the slow-moving mongrelmencan escape those who would do them harm. In anycase, most mongrelmen are able to camouflage them-selves in one turn with materials at hand—usuallytwigs, branches, leaves, dirt, and mud. The basechance of success for their camouflage is 80%, andthis increases by 1% per additional turn devoted tothe task (to an upper limit of 95%). Mongrelmen arenot squeamish about disguising themselves, thinkingnothing of rubbing mud all over their bodies if it helps.

In addition to themselves, mongrelmen cancamouflage stationary items up to the size of smallbuildings, which are usually undetectable at rangesgreater than 50’.

6. Perhaps because mongrelmen all tend to beon the lowest end of any social scale, they take painsnot to have levels of status in their own society. All

mongrelmen call each other by their true names,regardless of station. Priests, elders, and even theleaders of free mongrelmen do without fancy titles—no “sir,” “madam,” or “my lord” is ever spoken by onemongrelman to another. Indeed, mongrelmen seeeach other as true equals, as perhaps only the lowestof the low can truly see themselves.

7. The sad reason for this is that the Hidden Goddoes not exist. Rather, the legend of the Hidden Godis a corrupted version of the mongrelmen’s history,after being passed down verbally from generationto generation.

The Hidden God was actually an ancient wizard(whose name, alas, is lost to the ages) who, desiring adoppleganger-like race able to adapt the forms of oth-ers, created beings he called “infiltrators.” The infiltra-tors were thin, wiry beings with large black eyes, whocould absorb the genetic properties of beings whoseflesh they consumed. Undergoing a ritual known as“the Feast,” they would eat humanoid flesh, digest it in

priests right hand was covered in scalesthe same color as those on the left sideof Scale-face’s head. Perhaps it wasbecause of this similarity between theelder priest and his father, but Knuckle-dragger took an instant liking to him.

“Come inside, We havemuch to discuss.”

and I will be back for yousoon,” said Scale-face, holding up hisbucket and smiling. “We must fill thesefor the orcs, lest they grow suspicious.”With that, he and Half-Human trudgedaway from the temple, leaving Knuckle-dragger and the priest by themselves.

Knuckledragger followed the priestthrough the camouflaged flap andinside the temple. It was dark andgloomy, but exciting to the young mon-grelman, for it was a secret place ofwhich his masters, the orcs, did notknow.

“How long have you lived here?”Knuckledragger asked.

“Twelve years,” replied the priest.“Twelve years! How old are you?”“Thirty-seven. There are a few good

years left in me yet!” Knuckledragger’smouth dropped. He’d never heard ofanyone living to be so old. Maybe theHidden God gave his priests the gift oflong life. Knuckledragger asked if thiswas so.

“No, no,” chuckled the priest. “So far,the Hidden God has remained as hiddento me, his priest, as to anyone. He hasgiven me no powers, granted me novisions, provided me with no spells.Given me absolutely no indication, infact, that he’s even there at all.”7

“Is he?” asked Knuckledragger. “Imean, what if he’s dead or something?”

“No, my son, gods cannot die. He istesting us, and we must be patient. Hewill present himself when he is ready,and not before.”

“How long must we wait?”“As long as it takes.”

specialized organs within their body, and thereafter beable to transform their bodies into copies of thehumanoid forms on which they had feasted. Utilizingthis ability, they were able to infiltrate manyhumanoid societies and serve as spies for the wizard.

However, the wizard unknowingly created theInfiltrators without the ability to breed true to theirforms. The offspring of two infiltrators was always amisshapen humanoid form showing various, ran-dom features of the humanoid forms “feasted” uponby its parents. Thus was born the mongrelman race.

Alas, mongrelmen today still worship theHidden God and pray for the day he will returnthem to their “days of glory.” Each mongrelmansociety has a single Priest of the Hidden God (inslave societies, the priest is often as hidden as theirgod) whose duties are to pray for betterment oftheir lot in life. The Hidden God, of course, neveranswers these prayers, but the mongrelmen are apatient folk, and they are willing to wait.

88 DECEMBER 1997

Knuckledragger hid his disappoint-ment. “So what do you do? As a priest, Imean.”

“I pray, mostly. I pray for the HiddenGod’s forgiveness for whatever sins ourforefathers committed. I pray for areturn of the powers it is said our ances-tors possessed. Mostly, I pray for thepatience to continue on as I have forthese thirty-seven long years.”

“Why do you live out here, by your-self?”

The elder priest smiled down atKnuckledragger. “I could not live withyou, among the orcs. The Priest of theHidden God must devote his time toprayers and supplication, time I wouldnot have as a slave. Here, I have all thatI need: a small stream nearby for mywater, forest plants in abundance for myfood,8 and plenty of solitude in which topray for our people.”

Could I ask you to say aprayer for my mother?”

“Of course, my child. What is yourconcern?”

“She’s going to have a baby soon.Could you ask the Hidden God to seethat the baby survives?”9

A look of pain flickered across the oldpriest’s face for a fleeting moment.Then, in a voice full of weariness andhope, he said, “We will pray together.”

Fidgeting in a torn leather bag that hadbeen tossed into a comer, the priestpulled out an old piece of flint and steel,and worked his mismatched hands atstarting a spark. After a few moments, hemanaged to light a yellowing taper candleand pulled back the curtain from a small

8. Mongrelmen are omnivorous. Free mongrel-man grow fruits and vegetables and often supple-ment their diet with domestic game, partiallybecause they tend to be below-average hunters.While many mongrelmen sport teeth designed foreating meat, they are perfectly happy living a vege-tarian existence if necessary.

9. Another sad fact of mongrelman existence istheir high infant mortality rate. Even in free mon-grelmen societies, only about 50% of infants bornlive more than a week. In slave societies, where themongrelmen live under much harsher conditions,the infant mortality rate can be as high as 80%. Forthis reason, a healthy baby mongrelman is a causefor great rejoicing. Mongrelmen have a stoic attitudetoward those that don’t survive; considering the livesthey lead, they often consider them “the lucky ones.”

10. Although appreciation of beauty is an impor-tant part of mongrelman society, and they have a fas-cination with polymorph magic, no mongrelmanwould willingly alter his appearance to hide his ugli-ness. Mongrelmen take their hideous appearance as afact of life, something over which they have no con-trol, and while their ugliness shames them and caus-es them to seek to hide from others, they nonethelessbelieve it is their duty as mongrelmen to remain in theforms in which they were born until the Hidden Goddeems otherwise. To take matters in their own hands,they fear, would anger their god and prevent himfrom returning their shapeshifting powers. No mon-grelman would put the improvement of his ownappearance ahead of the betterment of his entire race.

alcove cut into the wall. “Behold, theshrine of the Hidden God,” he intoned.

The alcove, of course, was empty.Nonetheless, he placed the candle in

a notch before the alcove: Together, heand Knuckledragger prayed to their godfor an intercession in the fate ofKnuckledragger’s unborn sibling. Theywere still kneeling in position before theempty altar when Scale-face and Half-Human returned.

“It’s time to go, he saidquietly.

Knuckledragger got up, thanked thepriest, and walked back toward the for-ests edge in silence with his father andhis friend.

“You are quiet, Scale-faceobserved.

“Yes, I’ve been thinking. If the HiddenGod returns our powers, what form willyou take?”

“I don’t think it will happen like that,my son.”

“You don’t?”“No. The Hidden God took away the

power not from the generation thatangered him, but from their children. I’msure that when he sees fit to return ourpower, it will be the same way. One day,our children will be born as they oncewere, and the race will be as it once was.”He looked down at his son. “So do notwaste time hoping to change your bodysomeday.10 Accept it as the one you willhave for the rest of your life, and moveon to other things. Besides,” he said, smil-ing “you’re not particularly ugly.”11

They walked along in silence forawhile longer, then Knuckledragger

blurted out, “I think I would like to servethe Hidden God.”

“You would? But, you’re much tooyoung to be a priest. Perhaps in fifteenor twenty years, when you’re mucholder. Right now, you are a strong youngman in the prime of your life. You areneeded by the rest of the community.12

Ah, here come the others.”Crab Leg, One-Horn, and Little Shorty

came hobbling up from out of the forest.“Great news, found adead body in the forest, of a speciesunknown to us! A small humanoid, withblue skin.”

“How small?”“Only about three feet, but we don’t

know if he was fully grown. We took hisarm, just in case.”

“Where is it?”“Strapped to leg.” Crab

Leg passed Knuckledragger’s bucketback to him, now filled with hunks ofmushrooms and tubers, and lifted up hisrotting, filthy robe13 to show a small bluearm strapped to his inner leg by strips ofcloth. He smiled, showing reptilian teeth.“We’ll Feast tonight.”14

“Come,” said Scale-face. “We must notbe late.” Together, the six shambled offtoward the orc fortress.

“Humph!” snorted Karg at their arrival,sounding as always, a bit disappointedthat there’d be no torturing the hostagesin retaliation for an escape attempt. Asthe mongrelmen shuffled single file backinto the fort, he grabbed Scale-face bythe shoulder. “You! Scale-face! Yourwoman is giving birth. You may go toher.”

Incidentally, the mongrelman love of beauty ismuch deeper than that of most other races, perhapsbecause they themselves are so far removed from it.A mongrelman is just as able to find and appreciatebeauty in the smooth, even features of a femalegoblin as in the most delicate elven princess

11. “You’re not particularly ugly,” is a high com-plement among mongrelmen. They are truthfulenough not to insult each others’ intelligence bycalling one another “beautiful,” and “not particularlyugly” is about as high as they can honestly go.

12. Call it fatalism, rationalization, or just simplerealism, but mongrelmen, while insisting on havinga priest (or priestess) of the Hidden God in everymongrelman community, tend to reserve the postfor those elderly members of the community whoare unable to work at jobs requiring heavy manuallabor.

13. Mongrelmen tend to wear dirty, ragged cloth-ing. Because of their oddly-shaped bodies they prefertheir clothes to be loose, and robes (especially thosewith hoods that can conceal their faces) are popularamong both sexes. Dirty clothes don’t bother mon-grelmen as they aid in their attempts at camouflage.

For similar reasons, mongrelmen have difficultyfitting into standard armor. Only rarely will a mon-grelman be lucky enough to be able to fit into a setof armor; usually they must make do with bits andpieces of different types. Players with mongrelmenPCs who wish to wear armor should consult TheComplete Fighter’s Handbook, page 111, for rules onpiecemeal armor.

14. Mongrelmen today retain the ability to“feast.” However, all “feasting does is store thehumanoids form in the mongrelman’s genetic codeand passes that form on to its offspring. Thus, amongrelman with no ogrish features “feasts” upon aslain ogre’s flesh. Later, when he mates, his childrencould end up with body parts resembling those ofan ogre. Only humanoid forms from four to ninefeet or so can be successfully “feasted” upon, so themongrelman makeup will never include halflings orkobolds (too small) or giants (too big).

Mongrelmen continue to “feast” for many rea-sons. Some believe that the Hidden God requires itof mongrelmen so that when he restores their abil-ity to shapechange, they will have that many moreforms they can adopt. Others believe that onlywhen a set number of humanoid forms have been“feasted” upon will the Hidden God restore theirpower. Some simply like the flavor of humanoidmeat.

In any case, “feasting” is a private act that mon-grelmen will not share with others not of their race.“Feasting is always done in private, and not every-one in the mongrelman community will partake.Usually, only those who do not sport features of thehumanoid to be “feasted” upon will take part, sothat the flesh can be used only by those able to ben-efit from it. Children are not allowed to “feast” untilthey have been initiated into adult society and havelearned the secret history of the mongrelmen andtheir Hidden God.

DRAGON #242 89

Scale-face passed his bucket of berriesto Crab Leg and bowed before the orcguard. “Master, I thank you for your kind-ness,” he said, then scurried off in thedirection of the slave huts.15 Knuckle-dragger hid his concern and went withthe others to prepare the food.

The next hour went by quickly, asKnuckledragger was caught up in thedaily routine of his slavery. There was thefood to prepare, the war-beasts to groom,the fires to be tended to, and the weaponsto sharpen.16 Knuckledragger went abouthis duties in a daze, worried about hisfamily, and thinking about his prayer tothe Hidden God. Perhaps this will be thetime, he thought. Perhaps my little broth-er or sister will be the first of the new raceand be born with skin all the same colorand texture. He was shaken from hisreverie by Not Half Bad, a female mon-grelman who was fortunate enough to

have predominantly orcish features onher face and most of one arm and leg.“Your mother and sister are fine,

Perhaps you would like to see them.”Giving a silent prayer of thanks to the

Hidden God, Knuckledragger hurried overto the ramshackle hut where his familylived. Entering the open doorway, he sawhis mother, Frog Lips, lying back inexhaustion on the pile of damp straw thatmade up her bed. Scale-face was holdinga small bundle in his arms, wrapped in thecleanest scraps of cloth to be found.Seeing his son, he smiled down at him.“You have a sister,” he said softly, and low-ered her so Knuckledragger could see.Silently pleading with the Hidden God,Knuckledragger looked at his new sisterwith a heart filled with hope.

She had green scales covering thetop of her scalp and halfway down theright side of her head. The left half was

15. There is almost no end to the amount ofabuse a mongrelman slave is willing to take. Amongmongrelmen, mere survival is the greatest accom-plishment one could hope for. They remain courte-ous and obedient to their masters no matter what theprovocation, wishing only to avoid trouble. Sadly, thismakes them excellent slave material, a fact not manyhumanoid tribes are liable to overlook.

16. Mongrelman passivity is so great thathumanoid tribes need not fear allowing mongrel-

Appendix: Designing a Mongrelman PCWith most PCs, the character’s physi-

cal appearance is up to the player, whocan decide such things as whether ornot his PC is a blonde or a brunette andwhat color his eyes are. After all, suchdetails don’t usually make a differencein how the PC will be played, or alterany of his capabilities.

Unfortunately, the same does nothold true for the mongrelman PC, madeavailable in The Complete Book ofHumanoids (see pages 43-46). As itsvery name suggests, a mongrelman ismade of differing body parts from awide variety of creatures, and no twomongrelmen are apt to look anythinglike one another. The player wishing torun a mongrelman PC is going to haveto know just what his character lookslike before he can even decide on hischaracter class. After all, some physicaltraits are going to hamper, if not pre-clude altogether, various career possibil-ities. A mongrelman with two crab clawsin place of hands is not likely to havemuch of a future as a mage, if he can’t

men access to weapons. There is no chance that themongrelmen will use the weapon to try to freethemselves from slavery in a bloody revolt, as sucha concept is foreign to them. Many humanoid tribeseven go so far as giving their mongrelmen slavespiecemeal armor and weapons and training themfor battle, using them as “cannon fodder.”

Mongrelmen can be trained to use just aboutany weapon, but prefer simple ones such as swordsand clubs. Free mongrelmen often use blowguns;

a sickly yellow, with large tan warts.Ogre-sized lips on the left side mergedinto human-sized lips on the right, giv-ing her an artificial sneer. From the darkhair covering the back of her hand,Knuckledragger sensed the same gnollblood in her that was responsible for hisown muzzle and left ear.

“What do you think?” asked Scale-face.

Knuckledragger looked up at hisfather, and smiled sadly. “She’s not par-ticularly ugly,” he said, then turned tofinish his chores.

Johnathan M. Richards says he’s some-what of a mongrel himself, being aware ofEnglish, German, Scottish, and AmericanIndian (Potawatomi tribe) blood. So far, noshapeshifting abilities have manifested.

besides being a simple weapon to make and use, itis silent and can be used by a camouflaged mon-grelman without giving away his location. In addi-tion, it is easier for a mongrelman to remain still andhidden and use a blowgun on prey that comeswithin range than to track and chase down prey,given the standard mongrelman’s limping gait. Theblowgun darts are usually coated in a mild poisonthat causes paralysis for 1d4 rounds unless a savevs. poison is made at +2.

even perform the simplest of somaticgestures. Similarly, pickpocketing isn’tlikely to be possible to such a mongrel-man; he’ll probably end up as a warrior,and a pitiable one at that, as he’ll beunable to wield the coveted magicalswords and similar enchanted weaponsa party is sure to encounter eventually.

A system is needed to generate thephysical appearance of a given mon-grelman. This appendix provides oneway to do so, by means of Table 1: TheRandom Mongrelman AppearanceGenerator. It also gives some notes onwhat additional capabilities and detri-mental attributes accompany the mon-grelman’s specific physical makeup.These notes should be useful even tothose who opt not to randomly roll theirPCs’ appearances, but prefer to designthem piece by piece themselves.

The “Mongrelman” entry in theMONSTROUS MANUAL® rules states “mon-grelmen are a mixture of the blood ofmany species: humans, orcs, gnolls,ogres, dwarves, hobgoblins, elves,

bugbears, bullywugs, and many others.”Since the creatures specified range insize from 4’ to over 9’ in height, onlyhumanoid creatures within that sizerange were added to the table, specifi-cally, the crabman, goblin, lizard man,minotaur, and satyr. If DMs wish to addother creatures to this list, it is easyenough to modify the table to suit theirindividual campaign worlds.

Randomly Determining YourMongrelman�s Appearance

A mongrelman’s body makeup isgenerally split into nine different areas,each of which might be patterned aftera different creature. Each of a mongrel-man’s arms and legs tend to be pre-dominantly patterned after a singlecreature, while the head and torso areusually an amalgamation of several dif-ferent creatures blending into eachother. A diagram of these areas appearsas Illustration 1. Mongrelman bodies areseldom symmetrically divided; often thetorso body type might run partway

90 DECEMBER 1997

Table 1: Random Mongrelman Appearance Generator

BugbearBullywugCrabmanDwarfElfGnollGoblinHobgoblinHumanLizard ManMinotaurOgreOrcSatyr*

(A/B/C) (D/E) (F/G) (H/I)Head Torso Arm Leg01-10 01-10 01-05 01-0511-20 11-15 06-10 06-1521-25 16-20 11-25 16-2526-30 21-25 26-30 26-3031-35 26-30 31-35 31-3536-45 31-40 36-45 36-4546-50 41-45 46-55 46-5051-60 46-55 56-60 51-5561-65 56-60 61-65 56-6066-75 61-70 66-75 61-7076-80 71-75 76-80 71-8081-85 76-80 81-85 81-8586-95 81-90 86-95 86-9096-00 91-00 96-00 91-00

Height7’

4’-7’7’-10’

4’+5’+7.5’4’

6.5’6’7’

7.5’9’+6’5’

*Since only male satyrs exist, only male mongrelmen can have satyr body parts. If rolling up a female mongrelman, reroll any results that indicate a satyr’s body part.

down an arm or leg, or a patch of fleshon the head might continue partwaydown the mongrelman’s back, but thediagram is close enough to permit closeapproximations of individual mongrel-men’s physical makeup.

Roll percentile dice on the tableabove for each of the nine areas of themongrelman’s body, recording theresults on the diagram in Illustration 1.

Once the rolls from Table 1 have beenmade and recorded, it only remains todetermine the specific oddities of yourmongrelman’s physiognomy. Roll 1d10and compare that number to Table 2.This shows how many quirks your mon-grelman character has. Finally, roll d%on Table 3 to determine the specificquirks, rerolling any duplications.

If, when rolling up a specific quirk,you get a result which isn’t a change tothe mongrelman (for instance, rollinglizard man teeth when your PC alreadyrolled up a lizard man snout for area C),reroll the specific result but not the quirkitself. In the example above, the playerwould reroll on the head column untilhe got teeth that didn’t match thosealready in his PC’s mouth.

Once the mongrelman’s features havebeen decided upon, the player mustdetermine if his character has any specialphysical abilities or disadvantages due tohis body’s unique physiognomy. The fol-lowing characteristics are possible:

Bite damage. Mongrelmen with themouth of a minotaur may choose to bitein melee for 1-2 hp damage. Those withlizard man snouts may bite for 1-6.Merely having a few minotaur or lizardman teeth does not qualify the mon-grelman for bite damage.

Claw damage. Mongrelmen with theclaws of a lizard man can attack for 1-2hp damage. Those born with a crabman’sclaw can cause 1-6 hp damage, but thisability comes at a cost—the claw’s rigidityprevents the mongrelman from castingspells requiring intricate somatic gesturesand hampers thieving skills such as pick-ing pockets and opening locks. A mon-grelman with one crabman claw has onlya base 40% chance of successfully pick-ing a pocket (instead of the standard 70%mongrelman ability); those with two dropdown to a mere 10% chance. For thesereasons, mongrelmen with crabmanclaws often become warriors.

Dry skin. Those mongrelmen withbody parts of either a lizard man or abullywug must moisten those areas atleast once every 24 hours or suffer theeffects of a half-power irritation spell (-2AC and -1 to hit) until they can do so.

Extra limb. Those mongrelmen witha partial crabman torso might have oneof the crabman’s smaller arms (player’soption). Only one extra arm is possible,unless both of the die rolls for the mon-grelman’s torso resulted in “crabman,” inwhich case two extra arms are possible.These extra arms are capable of finemanipulation, adding +5% per addition-al arm to the mongrelman’s ability topick pockets in certain circumstances.(The arms must be free to move, not hid-den under layers of clothing.)

Flexible eyestalk. Mongrelmen witha crabman’s eyestalk can move it in alldirections, making it easier to peek overa wall, around a corner, and so on. Ifsevered, an eyestalk grows back inabout a week.

Illustration 1

A = right eye, right earB = left eye, left earC = mouth, noseD = chest, upper backE = stomach, waist, lower back, tail (if anyF = right arm, right handG = left arm, left handH = right leg, right footI = left leg, left foot

DRAGON #242 91

Table 2: Number of QuirksRoll 1d100

1 - 6 One quirk7 - 9 Two quirks10 Three quirks

Horn Butt. A mongrelman with thehorn of either a minotaur or satyr can buttfor 1-4 hp damage. This is less damagethan a satyr or minotaur causes, but mon-grelmen are generally not in as goodphysical condition, nor can they generatethe speed necessary for a really goodhead-butting. In no case can a hornedmongrelman cause charging damage.

Infravision. A mongrelman will have60’ infravision, if he has at least one eyefrom one or more of the following crea-tures: bugbear, dwarf, elf, goblin, hob-goblin, minotaur, orc, or satyr. Manymongrelmen with infravision possess itin only one eye, although this doesn’tseem to hamper them much.

Light Sensitivity. Mongrelmen with atleast one goblin or orc eye have a sen-sitivity to bright lights, including normaldaylight. They strike at -1 to hit when inbright sunlight or its equivalent.

Lizard Man Lungs. Mongrelmen withthe upper torso (area D) of a lizard manare able to hold their breath for 2/3 oftheir Constitution scores (rounded up),as opposed to the standard 1/3.

Ogre Strength. A mongrelman withthe arm of an ogre has a +1 to hit and+2 to damage with weapons wielded inthat hand. The bonuses are not as highas those enjoyed by full-blooded ogres,but this reflects the fact that only themongrelman’s arm is that strong, notthe rest of his body.

Reduced Movement. Compare theheight of the two creatures indicatedwhen the rolls were made for the mon-grelman’s legs (as indicated by theheight column on Table 1). If there is a 2’or more difference, the mongrelman’smovement rate drops down to 6 as aresult of the difference in leg length.Furthermore, he will move with an awk-ward, limping gait.

Tail. Those mongrelmen with a torso(area E) of lizard man or satyr heritageoften have tails. Satyr tails are of normalsize; lizard man tails tend to be shorterthan those of true lizard man tails, andcannot be used in melee in any fashion.However, they can make disguising themongrelman as a normal humanoidmore difficult.

Tracking ability. Only those mongrel-men with the nose of a minotaur have

this ability; those who do can track crea-tures by their scent with a 50% proba-bility of success.

Any special abilities or disadvantagesshould be noted on the mongrelman’scharacter sheet.

Other physical traits can be obtainedfrom examining the MONSTROUS MANUAL

descriptions of the various creatureswhose body parts make up the mon-grelman. These won’t add any extraabilities (one shouldn’t, for instance, tryarguing that because his mongrelmanPC has minotaur features on his head,he is immune to maze spells), but theycan provide some interesting detailsabout the character. As an example,ogres have purple eyes with whitepupils, while hobgoblin eyes are yellow-ish or dark brown. A mongrelman withone eye of each type will definitely lookdistinctive.

Little features like these can also behelpful when naming the mongrelman,or at least when deriving his “slavename.” Generically insulting names(“Ugly,” “Lumpy,” “Freakface”) are mostoften used in cases where the mongrel-man is the only one of its kind in thegroup; even a crude tribe of orcs has touse a bit more imagination when deal-ing with mongrelmen in any numbers.In such cases, the “slave names” tend tobe a bit more descriptive (“Clawhand,”“Eyestalk,” “Furface”), if only to keep theindividual mongrelmen straight.

Choosing Your Mongrelman�sAppearance

The other way of determining yourmongrelman PC’s appearance is simplyto pick and choose body parts. The DMmust approve of any “hand-picked” mon-grelman body design in the interests ofgame balance, ensuring that the mon-grelman doesn’t have too many advan-tages without “paying for them” with dis-advantages. For instance, a mongrelmanwith two ogre arms, a minotaur’s biteattack and tracking ability, 60’ infravi-sion (due to one dwarven and onehuman eye, bypassing light sensitivity)and two extra-manipulative crab arms ispushing the limits of fair play. A goodrule of thumb might be a disadvantagefor every two advantages, just to keepup game balance. Remember, you’rerole-playing a misshapen creatureashamed of its deformed body, not asuperhuman powerhouse!

Table 3: QuirksRoll 1d100

01-10

11-20

21-35

36-45

46-55

56-65

66-75

76-80

81-85

86-90

91-95

96-00

Different eye (roll again onthe head column, this eyereplaces the one in area Aor area B)Different ear (roll again onthe head column, this earreplaces the one in area Aor area B)Odd patch of skin (roll againon the torso column, thisroughly 3” patch of skin isl oca ted on the head ,torso, arm or leg)Additional head area (rollagain on the head col-umn, splitting one of thehead areas into two small-er areas—A becomesA1/A2, B becomes B1/B2,or C becomes C1/C2)Additional torso area (rollagain on the torso col-umn, splitting one of thetorso areas vertically intotwo smal ler areas—Dbecomes D1 /D2 o r Ebecomes E1/E2)Additional arm area (rollagain on the arm column,this new area runs fromthe shoulder to theelbow—F becomes F1/F2or G becomes G1/G2)Additional leg area (rollagain on the leg column,this new area runs fromthe hip to the knee—Hb e c o m e s H 1 / H 2 o r Ibecomes l1/I2)Different back (roll again fortorso, this applies only tothe mongrelman’s back)Different teeth (roll againon torso column: 1-4teeth are of new typeinstead of what was origi-nally rolled for area C)Different fingers (roll againon arm column, 1-3 fin-ge rs a re o f new typeinstead of what was origi-nally rolled for F or G)Different toes (roll again onleg column, 1-3 toes areof new type instead ofwhat was originally rolledfor H or I)Tail (satyr or lizard man,50% chance of either)

92 DECEMBER 1997

Mongrelman, InfiltratorCLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVEMENT:HIT DICE:THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:SIZE:MORALE:XP VALUE:

AnyVery rare (possibly extinct)Small groupsAnyOmnivoreVery (11-12)See belowLawful Neutral1-47124171By weapon typeShapechangeNilNilMElite (14)270

Much as dopplegangers, infiltrators were (and possiblystill are) created by wizards as servitors. They have theability to shapechange into various humanoid forms, buttheir original form is that of an emaciated, hairless beingwith a somewhat oversized head. Large black eyes covernearly half of the face, which has no discernible nose andonly a thin slit of a mouth. Skin color tends to be a dustywhite.

Combat: Infiltrators can adopt a variety of humanoid forms(see “Ecology” for details). While in their natural forms theycan attack only with a weapon, but infiltrators spend timepracticing armed combat and are usually proficient in a widevariety of combat arms. In addition, some of the shapes theycan adopt provide them with natural combat abilities, suchas a lizard man’s claw/claw/bite routine. Infiltrators have allof the natural combat abilities of whatever form they adopt,with the exception of skills which must be learned (such asproficiency with a flind’s flindbar or a lizard king’s great tri-dent). When wearing a different humanoid’s form, they gainthat creature’s armor class and hit dice (add 4 hp per addi-tional hit die of the assumed form—these “extra” hit pointsare the first lost in combat, and disappear when the infiltra-tor reverts to its normal form). An infiltrator assuming theform of a humanoid with fewer hit dice retains its own hitpoints.

Habitat/Society: Created by wizards, infiltrators live to servethem in the role of spy, messenger, and occasionally inter-preter. All infiltrators have an innate ability to comprehendlanguages that they hear, and can speak those languages aswell. Infiltrators are fiercely loyal to the wizards that createthem, treating them with a devotion often reserved only forthe divine. An infiltrator whose wizard is slain often seeksout a new wizard to serve, for it is service to a master of themagical arts that an infiltrator feels secure.

Infiltrators generally have no treasure of their own, as anythat they acquire is turned over immediately to their masters.However, because of the infiltrators’ devotion, wizards oftenentrust them with the use of magical weapons or helpfulitems. Infiltrators can use any magical items usable bywarriors.

Ecology: Infiltrators have an adaptable set of vocal cords,allowing them to speak just about any language they hear.They also have the ability to absorb genetic materialthrough the flesh they consume. This process, called “feast-ing,” allows the infiltrator to break down the organic materialin a separate stomach-like organ and use the genetic mate-rial gained therein to restructure their own bodies into a per-fect physical simulacrum of the type of humanoid whoseflesh they consumed. Gender has no bearing in the fleshbeing “feasted” upon; a male infiltrator “feasting upon theflesh of a female hobgoblin could thereafter shapechangeinto a male hobgoblin. He could not, however, become afemale hobgoblin, as gender remains a constant no matterwhat form is assumed. Additionally, the assumed form willnot be an exact replica of the being “feasted” upon—an infil-trator cannot pose as the specific individual whose flesh heate, merely as a member of the same race. Only the geneticmaterial of humanoid races from 4’ to 9’ can be successfully“feasted” upon, as these are the size limits of the infiltrators’shapechanging abilities. Animal forms or humanoids outsidethe size limits listed above cannot be adopted.

Once “feasting” is complete (the process takes about anhour), the infiltrator can thereafter assume the form of thattype of humanoid. Shapechanging into a new form takes asingle round and heals the infiltrator of 1d4 hp damage.Naturally, it is in the infiltrators best interests to “feast” uponas great a variety of humanoids as he can, in order to widenthe selection of forms he can adopt.

Shapechanging affects only the infiltrators body, not hisclothing or armor. For this reason, infiltrators prefer to wearno clothing while in their natural forms. (They have no tabooagainst nudity, probably because male and female infiltra-tors are virtually indistinguishable while in their naturalforms.) Once taking on an assumed form, they will usuallydon clothing, armor, and weapons appropriate to that form.

The biggest drawback to an infiltrator’s life is its inabilityto pass on its characteristics to its next generation.Infiltrators cannot bear young with other species, even whenassuming their forms, and the offspring of two infiltrators isalways a mongrelman, bearing the physical characteristicsof the various types of humanoids upon which the infiltra-tors had previously “feasted.”

The original infiltrators have long since died out, leavingbehind the mongrelmen as their only legacy. However, it ispossible that the secrets to the creation of the infiltrator racemight someday be rediscovered (if it hasn’t been already) orindependently researched by some wizard exploring thepossibilities of magical shapeshifting.

94 DECEMBER 1997

Cons & ProsPolicies

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In order to ensure that all conven-tion listings contain accurate andtimely information, all material shouldbe either typed double-spaced orprinted legibly on standard manu-script paper. The contents of each list-ing must be short and succinct.

The information given in the listingmust include the following, in thisorder:1. Convention title and dates held2. Site and location3. Guests of honor (if applicable)4. Special events offered5. Registration fees or attendance

requirements, and,6. Address(es) where additional infor-

mation and confirmation can beobtained.

Convention flyers, newsletters, andother mass-mailed announcementswill not be considered for use in thiscolumn; we prefer to see a cover letterwith the announcement as well. Nocall-in listings are accepted. Unlessstated otherwise, all dollar valuesgiven for U.S. and Canadian conven-tions are in U.S. currency.

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Copy deadlines are the firstMonday of each month, four monthsprior to the on sale date of an issue.Thus, the copy deadline for theDecember issue is the first Monday ofSeptember. Announcements for NorthAmerican and Pacific conventionsmust be mailed to: ConventionCalendar, DRAGON® Magazine,1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Renton, WA,98055, U.S.A..

If a convention listing must bechanged because the convention hasbeen cancelled, the dates havechanged, or incorrect information hasbeen printed, please contact us imme-diately. Most questions or changesshould be directed to the magazineeditors at (425) 204-7226 (U.S.A.).

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JANUARYCONVENTIONS

GeorgeconJanuary 2-4 1998 MO

Stafford Inn, St. Louis, MO.Guests: Jerry Rector (Star ofthe new Star Trek seriesThe Privateers), Ray Greer(Champions*, Fuzion*, andother RPGs), Rick Loomis(President & Founder ofFlying Buffalo), and MattFaileigh (former President ofSociety of Ancients andGame retailer). Events: fourmajor Magic* tournaments,countless RPG events; twoWarhammer* Tournaments;Warhammer 40K* tourna-ment; Necromunda* Demosand tournament, Vampire*LARP, Super hero LARP,tons of anime, masqueradeball, fi lking, etc. ContactGeorgecon c/o NHGG P.O.Box 398 Gerald, MO 65066.Email ike96@fidnet.com

Crusades �98January 16-18, 1998 CT

Quality Inn ConferenceCenter , New Haven, CTE v e n t s : B o a r d G a m e s ,Miniature Wargaming, BoardGames, CCGs, Paint ingCon tes t , Semina rs . Fo rmore information contactthe Connecticut Game Club,P.O. Box 403, Fairfield, CT06430-0403. Email quillup@concentric.net.

FEBRUARYCONVENTIONS

Winter War XXVFebruary 6-8 IL

The Chancellor Hotel,Champaign, IL. Events:Magic, Vampire, AD&D, Callof Cthulhu*, Hero System,Warhammer*, GURPS*, Larps,historical games, miniatures,board games, Star FleetBattles*, and more. Contact:Donald E. McKinney, 304W. Sherman Box 1012, St.Joseph, IL 61873. Emailwinterwar@prairienet.org.

DunDraConFebruary 13-16 CA

M a r r i o t t H o t e l , S a nRamon, CA. Events: 150+convention-sponsored RPGs,seminars on gaming, CCGsand board game tourna-ments, miniatures games,SCA rooms with seminars,displays and demos, largedealer room, flea market, fig-ure painting contest, videoarcade room and lots ofopen gaming. Registration:$30. Contact DunDraCon,1145 Talbot Ave, CA 94706.Email ashland@ccnet.com.

Total ConfusionFebruary 19-22 MA

Ramada Rolling GreenHotel, Andover, MA. Eventsinclude roleplaying, board,and card games. Contact

IMPORTANTDRAGON® Magazine does not publish phone numbers for conventions. Becertain that any address you send us is complete and correct.

To ensure that your convention listing makes it into our tiles, enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard with your first convention notice; we will returnthe card to show that it was received. You also might send a second notice oneweek after mailing the first. Mail your listing as early as possible, and alwayskeep us informed of any changes. Please do not send convention notices by fax,as this method has not proven reliable.

Total Confusion, P.O. Box403, N. Clemsford, MA 01863.Email mikechambers@juno.com.

Con of the NorthFebruary 20-22 MN

Radisson Hotel, DowntownSt. Paul. Events: collectablecard, roleplaying, live-action,computer network, and boardgames. Contact P.O. Box18096, Minneapolis, MN55418. Email cotn@omnifarious.org. Website http://www.real-time.com/~cotn.

SheVaConFebruary 27-March 1 VA

Shenandoah Valley ofVirginia. Guests: C.S. Friedmanand Larry Elmore. Events: artshow and sale, 24-hour gam-ing, live-action roleplaying,Vampire. Contact SheVaCon,P.O. Box 2672, Staunton VA24402. Email drgnshrd@rica.net

Jaxcon �98February 20-22 FL

Ramada Inn on ArlingtonBlvd., Jackson, FL. Events:roleplaying, card, and minia-tures games. Other activities:an AD&D tournament, sanc-tioned Magic tournament,Vampire LARP, dealer’s room,and flea market. Registration$20/weekend until Jan. 1;afterward $25 for weekend,$15 for Fri/Sat. Contact:Jaxcon, P.O. Box 14218,Jacksonville, FL 32228-4218.Email Jaxcon@usa.nrer.

96 DECEMBER 1997

Winter Fantasy �98February 26-March 1 IL

The 1998 Winter Fantasyconvent ion o f fe rs anunequaled opportunity tohone your gaming skills.With multiple seminars on abroad range of topics, therehas never been a betterplace to study and practicegaming. There will be fea-tured events to discussbecoming a better gamer,seminars from companiesthat drive the industry, andother game-related topics.Also being added this year isa full slate of board, card,miniature, and non-Networkroleplaying. As always theRPGA® Network will be ama in focus o f Win te rFantasy, with daily gamingevents, seminars, and LIVING

CITY events. Contact WinterFantasy, P.O. Box 13500,Columbus, OH 43213. Emailandon@aol.com.

By David Zawitaz

Statement of Ownership, Management, And CirculationTitle of Publication: Dragon MagazinePublication Number: ISSN 0279-6848Date of Filing: 15 October 1997Frequency of issue: Monthly except November, then twice monthlyNumber of issues published annually: Seven, Suspended publication Jan.,

Feb., Mar., Apr., May, Jun.Annual subscription rate: $34.95Complete mailing addresses of known office of publication: Dragon

Magazine, 1801 Lind Ave S.W., Renton, WA 98055Complete mailing address of the headquarters or general business office of

publication: Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 1801 Lind Ave S.W., Renton, WA98055

Publisher: Pierce Watters, 1801 Lind Ave S.W., Renton, WA 98055Editor Dave Gross 1801 Lind Ave S.W., Renton, WA 98055Managing Editor Pierce Watters, 1801 Lind Ave S.W., Renton, WA 98055Owner: Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 1801 Lind Ave S.W., Renton, WA 98055Known bondholders, mortgages and other security holders owning one per-

cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: Filedwith Post Office

EXTENT AND NATURE OF CIRCULATIONCirculation data from October 1997

Total CopiesPaid/requested circulationPaid/requested mail subscriptionstotal paid/requested circulationFree distribution by mailFree distribution outside the mailTotal free distributionTotal distributionCopies not distributed Office use, leftoversReturn from news agentsTotalPercent paid/requested circulation

Average No. Actual No.Copies Each Copies ofissue During Single Issue

Preceding PublishedTwelve Nearest toMonths Filing Date

52,714 49,00033,808 31,72815,143 12,435

48,951 44,163181 194235 241416 435

49,367 44,5982,036 3,2081,311 1194

52,714 49,00099% 99%

MARCHCONVENTIONS

Texas A&M University, MSCStudent Programs Box J-1,

MegaCon �98March 13-15 FL

Expo Center, Orlando FL.Guests: Julie Bell, John Byrne,

College Station, TX 77844.Email aggiecon@msc.tamu.edu. Website http://cepheid.tamu.edu/aggiecon.

Tony Daniel, Joseph M.Linsner, George Perez, DonRosa, William Tucci, BorisVallejo, Mark Waid, andSteve Bryant. Events: role-playing, RPGA Network,miniatures gaming, comicbook artists, CCGs, anime,LARP, comics, and gamingdealers Room. Other activi-ties: board gaming, fantasyart show and auct ion.Contact: P.O. Box 3120,Winter Park, FL 32790. Emailmegacon98@aol .com.Website http://www.blueearthpress.com/megacon/.

AggieCon XXIXMarch 26-29 TX

Texas A&M University.Guests: Robert Asprin, KerryO’Quinn, Joe R. Lansdale,Thomas Knowles, DarleneBolesney. Events: dealer’sroom, art show, panels, gam-ing, charity auction, RockyHorror Picture Show, masquer-ade ball; costume contest, 24-hour anime room. Contact:

Egyptian Campaign �98March 27-29 IL

Southern Illinois University,Carbondale, IL. Events: RPGANetwork events, AD&Dgame, Shadowrun, Battletech,Warhammer 40K, EmpireBuilder*, Diplomacy*, Axis &Allies*, Magic, Star Fleet Battles,Car Wars*, and many otherboard, miniature, card, androleplaying games. Contact:Egyptian Campaign 1990,c/o S.I.U.C. Strategic GamesSociety, Office of StudentDevelopment, Third FloorStudent Center, Carbondale,IL 62901-4425. Emai lECGamCon@aol .com.Website: http://www.siu.edu/~gamesoc.

* indicates a product produced bya company other than TSR, Inc. Mostproduct names are trademarksowned by the companies publishingthose products. The use of the nameof any product without mention of itstrademark status should not be con-strued as a challenge to such status.

DRAGON #242 97

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Dragons & Gods

© 1997 Rick Swan

Keeping my AD&D® campaign freshisn’t easy, and it seems I’m alwaysscrambling for ideas. Official AD&Dsourcebooks remain my resource ofchoice, but they don’t always fill the bill.Why? Well, sometimes, new ones aren’t

Role-playing games’ rating

Not recommended

May be useful

FairGood

ExcellentThe BEST!

Old OnesPalladium Fantasy RPG*

game supplementOne 224-page softcover

bookPalladium Books $20Design: Kevin SiembiedaEditing: James A. Osten and Julius

RosensteinIllustrations: Scott Johnson, Dave

Carson, Martin McKenna, Ramon Perez,Michael Kucharski, and Kevin

SiembiedaCover: Martin McKenna

published as often as I’d like. (My cam-paign devours material like a sharkdevours raw meat; we’ve been knownto go through two or three sourcebooks’worth of stuff in the space of a month.)And sometimes, my players read newsourcebooks before I get the chance touse them in my campaign, thus spoilingany potential surprises. I suspect thata lot of gamemasters—regardless ofwhether they’re AD&D players or afi-cionados of other game systems—sharethe same frustrations.

So where else to go for campaignmaterial? Well, how about sourcebookswritten for RPGs other than Your FavoriteGame (be it AD&D or whatever)? All youhave to do is steal—er, borrow—the con-cepts you like, adapt them to YourFavorite Game, and no one will be thewiser. To get you started, here’s a stackof contenders, ripe for the plundering.

Palladium Fantasy RPGgame supplement

One 232-page softcover book

Palladium Books $20Design: Kevin Siembieda and Erick

WujcikEditing: James A. Osten and Julius

RosensteinIllustrations: Michael Dubisch, Kent

Burles, Martin McKenna, Dave Carson,Wayne Breaux Jr., Ramon Perez Jr., andKevin Long

Cover: John Zeleznik

Adventures on theHigh Seas

Palladium Fantasy RPGgame supplement

One 224-page softcover bookPalladium Books $20Design: Kevin Siembieda and Erick

WujcikEditing: Alex Marciniszyn, James A.

Osten, Julius Rosenstein, and Erick WujcikIllustrations: Scott Johnson, Martin

108 DECEMBER 1997

McKenna, Wayne Breaux Jr., and PeterSimon

Cover: Martin McKenna

Monsters & AnimalsPalladium Fantasy RPG

game supplementOne 224-page softcover

bookPalladium Books $20Design: Kevin SiembiedaEditing: James A. Osten and Julius

RosensteinIllustrations: Dave Carson, Roger

Petersen, Aubrey Bradford, and KevinSiembieda

Cover: Keith Parkinson

Kevin Siembieda, founder and mas-termind of Palladium Books, exhalesideas like we ordinary mortals exhalecarbon dioxide. With Palladium well intoits second decade, Siembieda shows nota smidgen of slippage in energy orenthusiasm, doubly impressive consider-ing that Palladium is essentially a one-man operation. Oh sure, Siembieda getsan occasional helping hand fromtalented guys like Erick Wujcik (inventorof the Amber* diceless roleplayingsystem) and C.J. Carella (who dreamedup the creepy Nightbane* game). ButPalladium is Siembieda’s baby; he con-ceives, writes, art directs, even lays outthe bulk of the company’s products.With his eye for detail, his doggeddetermination to get everything right,he’s the kind of guy I’d want for a brainsurgeon.

The Palladium Fantasy RPG,Siembieda’s oldest and most durablegame, illustrates both the strengths andweaknesses of Siebieda’s approach toroleplaying. Let’s begin by acknowledg-ing that the Second Edition (publishedin 1996) significantly improves on theFirst (from 1983), transforming a ratheramateurish hodgepodge of warmed-over Tolkien into a slick, smart produc-tion, on par with the best of TSR, WhiteWolf, or any other high-profile publisher.That said, Palladium Fantasy is far frommy first choice for a fantasy RPG, owingto convoluted mechanics like InnerStrength Points and a combat systemI’m still not sure I understand, even afterfiddling with it for 10 years. Graphically,the game’s about as appealing as aphone directory. And Siembieda favors aplain-spoken writing style that results inclutter-free text but not much pizzazz; if,say, White Wolf is the Fox Network,Palladium is PBS.

Though the Palladium Fantasy sup-plements share many of the drawbacksof the parent game—stretches of flatwriting, so-so graphics—they’re in aleague of their own, thick volumespacked with mind-bending concepts,brilliantly conceived and developed.Forget the Palladium Fantasy game; ifyou’re a fan of any fantasy RPG, thesesupplements contain enough high-octane ideas to launch your campaigninto the stratosphere.

Case in point: Old Ones, a terrificsourcebook originally published in1984, but updated in ’96 to conform toSecond Edition standards. Part historybook, part slasher film, Old Ones catalogs34 major cities of the Timiro Kingdom, asprawling expanse populated by ogres,knights, and demons. The level of detailis staggering; a typical city entry pinpointsmore than 100 different locations (tem-ples, granaries, tax offices) and providesdozens of adventure hooks. It’s a grim,vividly evoked world that feels alive;you can smell the sweat at the GladiatorSchool, taste the elderberry wine atSplash Tavern, feel a pickpocket’s bladein your back at the Charm Emporium.Meanwhile, on an extraplanar realm,lurk the Old Ones, a mysterious race ofnear-omnipotent aliens who viewhumanity in much the same way as weview a bowl of Captain Crunch. Xy, “thegreatest of the Evil One,” heads up adecadent hierarchy that also includesthe sadistic Netosa (symbol of eternalsuffering) and Ya-blik (lord of pestilenceand treachery). True, Old Ones owes aheavy debt to H. P. Lovecraft—Xy seemslike a refugee from the Call of Cthulhu*game—but it’s still a dazzler.

Equally dazzling is Dragons & Gods, avisionary treatise on fantasy’s mostpowerful entities. These dragons aren’tyour run-of-the-mill fire-breathers butmind-bending monstrosities that looklike they were conceived on an LSD trip.The Lo-Dox sports golden feathers, shape-changes into a mermaid, and speaksSpanish! The Great Horned Dragonconsorts with demons, practices blackmagic, and is a master of mathematics!The gods also receive a tradition-shattering treatment, with Siembiedacombining elements of Tolkien-esquemyths, Egyptian religion, and his own fer-tile imagination to invent a cosmologythat’s as compelling as it is original. Wehave Bes the Depraved, a hideousbearded dwarf wielding intelligentdaggers (one of the daggers suffers fromparanoid schizophrenia). We have

Sebek, the crocodile god, who canregrow a new arm in a week. And wehave my favorite, Apis the Sacred Cow,the bovine patroness of druids and doc-tors. With bonus chapters on elementalsand alien intelligences, Dragons & Godsis roleplaying nirvana,

High Seas, another winner, soundslike a piracy textbook, but the title’ssomewhat misleading. Sure, there’splenty of Jolly Roger material, but this ismainly a potpourri of odds and ends,ranging from rules for gladiator combatto templates for acrobat player charac-ters to an explanation of necromanticmagic. Descriptions of islands andcoastal towns take up a good chunk ofthe book, showcasing a plethora ofmemorable adversaries like the MaggotDemons. The seafaring stuff—the bestof its kind I’ve ever seen—covers theeconomics of sea trade, ship-to-shipcombat, and naval equipment.

DRAGON #242 109

And lest you think Siembieda hits ahome run every time at bat, here’sMonsters & Animals, a disappointinglyroutine creature encyclopedia, sort oflike TSR’s MONSTROUS MANUAL™ book,only without the flair. Each entryincludes physical characteristics, behaviornotes, and a full set of stats (whichPalladium fanatics will be happy to hearincludes Structural Damage Capacities,Occupational Characters Classes, andHorror Factors, making them compatiblewith the Rifts* game and other PalladiumRPGs). Too often, however, the descrip-tions are lifeless, even trivial. Forinstance, here’s the opening to theTurtles entry: “Turtles are considered tobe the most conservative of all thereptiles, both in design and character. Allturtles have a characteristic bony outershell . . . Many turtles can withdraw theirhead and legs into their shells whenthreatened.” I got a kick out of the fan-tasy monsters, especially weirdoes likethe loogaroo (an intelligent vulture) andthe eye killer (a dog/serpent/owlcombo), but way too much space iswasted on everyday animals like chip-munks, frogs, and mules. In all my yearsof roleplaying, the number of times Ineeded stats for a chipmunk is approxi-mately equal to the number of peoplewho think Batman & Robin is the greatestfilm ever made.

Evaluation: Whether you’re a playeror a gamemaster, you’ll find a wealth ofideas in these books, all of which can beadapted (with a little effort) to the systemof your choice. Dragons & Gods shouldtop your shopping list, followed by OldOnes (if you’re in the market for newsettings), and High Seas, (better for

veterans, owing to some complicatedconcepts). Monsters & Animals you canprobably live without. Unless, of course,you absolutely, positively have to knowthe Structural Damage Capacity of achipmunk.

Earthdawn SurvivalGuide

Earthdawn* gamesupplement

One 120-page softcover bookFASA Corporation $18Design: Stephen Kenson with Diane

Piron-Gelman and Louis J. ProsperiEditing: Donna lppolitoIllustrations: Tom Baxa, Kent Burles,

Jeff Laubenstein, and Jim NelsonCover: John Matson

Throal: The DwarfKingdom

Earthdawn gamesupplement

One 184-page softcover bookFASA Corporation $20Design: Robin D. LawsEditing: Donna lppolitoIllustrations: Janet Aulisio, Tom Baxa,

Joel Biske, Kent Burles, Liz Danforth, JeffLaubenstein, and Larry MacDougal

Cover: John Howe

I can’t say I’m all that crazy aboutEarthdawn. The system uses too manynumbers for my taste, the magic rulesin particular demanding too much of myteenie brain. But I adore the supple-ments and heartily recommend them tofantasy roleplayers of all persuasions,AD&D aficionados in particular. Don’tspread this around, but the conceptualdifferences between the AD&D gameand Earthdawn aren’t all that dramatic.Both share many of the same arche-types (like dwarves and dragons). Bothfeature magic-soaked, vaguely medievalsettings. And both foster epic adven-tures pitting noble heroes against das-tardly villains and fantastic monsters.For these reasons, an Earthdawn source-book can be an idea-deficient DungeonMaster’s best friend.

If I didn’t know better, I’d swear thatEarthdawn Survival Guide was designedto be a generic fantasy supplement,intended for everyone. First, the whim-sical writing style makes it as inviting asa book of fairy tales. From the introduc-tion: “The song of the road has called tome since my boyhood in the hinterlandsof Barsaive. The confines of Caralle, thehumble village where I grew up, suited

most of my neighbors just fine, but Ialways longed to know what lay overthe next hill . . .” Kinda makes you wantto curl up in a chair with a cup of hotchocolate, doesn’t it? Second, all of thegame material—every statistic, mechanic,and formula—is confined to the last fewpages, meaning you can peruse mostof the book without stumbling over asingle number

Essentially a collection of essays, theSurvival Guide strolls from one interest-ing topic to another, all of them loadedwith useful information for fantasy cam-paigns. The “Underground Exploration”section describes a nailbiting array ofsubterranean hazards, ranging frompockets of poisonous mist to veins ofliquid fire. “The Tale of the Bone Bell,”one of many parables from legendaryexplorer Brun Rockstriker, tells of amajestic artifact constructed by an elvenelementalist to keep away monsters.“On The Healing Arts,” the books mostprovocative chapter, delineates dozensof arcane maladies and treatments;Death’s Caress causes victims tobecome sensitive to touch, Yellow Jiginduces random fits of jerky, uncontrol-lable muscle spasms. Burn your finger?Soothe it with a mist blossom poultice.

But although the Survival Guide is agreat read, it’s only a so-so reference.Without an index or a comprehensivetable of contents, it’s difficult to locatespecifics; the only way to find, say, dataabout explosive gas is to page throughthe book. Despite a chapter titled “Placesof Legend and Peril,” there’s not a singlemap. And at $18, it ain’t cheap; any of thePalladium books gives you 100 additionalpages for approximately the same price.

A bit more of a bargain—an extra twobucks buys you 60-plus pages — Throal:The Dwarf Kingdom takes a comprehen-sive look at a dwarven enclave thatwouldn’t be out of place in theFORGOTTEN REALMS® setting. Throal, nes-tled in the midst of a mountain range,teems with political tension and socialanarchy; in short, it’s ideal for adven-ture. Robin Laws, a mainstay of theEarthdawn design team, describes thekingdom in vivid detail, from the type ofclock favored by commoners (the hourcandle) to the number of baths taken bythe average citizen (four per month).How do dwarves breathe underground?Air sponges magically transmute carbondioxide into oxygen. Why are Throal coinshexagonal? To make them harder tocounterfeit. An excellent section on eco-nomics explains how crude underground

110 DECEMBER 1997

farming operations evolved into sophis-ticated trade networks. The culturechapter takes a look at unusual sports(like hach’var, where teams compete topoke animal hide-covered spheresthrough holes in a stone wall) and pro-files some of the kingdom’s prominentartists (like Javen, who specializes inornate pots bearing caricatures of theroyal family).

Thanks to a thorough index, Throalmakes a better reference than theSurvival Guide. But like the SurvivalGuide, Throal falls short in the mapdepartment. And the campaign outlineseems like an afterthought, somethingtacked on the end to fill up a few sparepages. Overall, though, Throal is a first-class setting, a history-rich empire thatany dwarf would be proud to call home.

Evaluation: Page for page, theseEarthdawn supplements aren’t as idea-saturated as the Palladium books. Butbecause of their strong narratives, theEarthdawn books go down easier, mak-ing them more suitable for RPG new-comers. Earthdawn books can be asaddictive as potato chips; if this pairwhets your appetite for more, I recom-mend Parlainth: The Forgotten City,Skypoint & Vivane, Legends of Earthdawn,and The Serpent River.

GURPS DinosaursGURPS game* supplementOne 128-page softcover

bookSteve Jackson Games $18Design: Stephen Dedman with Kirk

TateEditing: Steve Jackson, Lillian Butler,

and Susan PinsonneaultIllustrations: Scott Cooper, Russel

Hawley, and Pat OrtegaCover: Paul Koroshetz

GURPS PlanetKrishna

GURPS game supplementOne 128-page softcover

bookSteve Jackson GamesDesign: James CambiasEditing: Sean Barrett

$18

Illustrations: Dan Smith, Terry Tidwell,Arthur Roberg and Carol Scavella

Cover: Kelly Freas

As long as I’ve been running myAD&D campaign—going on ten years—I’ve toyed with the idea of sending myplayer characters to the prehistoric eraand having ‘em go head to head with

dinosaurs. Imagine a sword-wieldingwarrior going up against a stegosaurusor an elven ranger staring down aTyrannosaurus rex. Whoopee!

Unfortunately, dinosaur sourcebooksare about as scarce as Spice Girls at aMensa convention. I figured that, in thewake of “Jurassic Park,” we’d be floodedwith dino books, but there’s been nary atrickle. In fact, GURPS Dinosaurs is theonly sourcebook of its type I’ve seen inthe past couple of years, making it thestand-out, I guess, by default.

Not that it’s bad. As a reality-basedreference, GURPS Dinosaurs scores high,cataloging literally hundreds of prehis-toric creatures in remarkable detail. Ithought I was reasonably well-versed indino-lore, but I’d never heard of three-fourths of these: the dragon-like scu-tosaurus, the frog-munching limnoscelis,the big-as-an-airplane, mean-as-a-cobraquetzalcoatlus. Each entry includescomplete statistics (in GURPS-ese, trans-latable to other game systems byresourceful gamemasters), habitat notes,and special rules (like those for gry-posaurus head-butting contests). There’salso a fascinating section on prehistorichumans, replete with anthropologicalminutia. We learn, for instance, that theCro-Magnon women were far better atfinding food than their male counter-parts, and that the language limitationsof early man were due to an underde-veloped larynx.

But when it comes to putting all thistogether in a campaign, GURPSDinosaurs pretty much leaves you onyour own. There’s a ton of hard data,but not much about roleplaying; that is,we’re told a lot about what dinosaurslook like, but darn little about how they

behave. I wanted to breathe the air ofthe Triassic Era, feel the Cretaceousswamp beneath my feet, know what it’slike to hunt—or be hunted by—dinosaurs.But no such luck; GURPS Dinosaurs hasabout as much personality as a biologytext. The scenarios are too skimpy.There aren’t nearly enough illustrations.And the book dismisses its most tanta-lizing premise—dinosaurs as player char-acters—in a handful of paragraphs.GURPS Dinosaurs is good as far as itgoes; it just doesn’t go far enough.

Ever heard of L. Sprague de Camp’s“Krishna” novels, like The Queen ofZambra and The Hand of Zei? Me neither.But after being charmed to the core byGURPS Krishna, based on the aforemen-tioned books, I’m inclined to check ‘emout. A guided tour of the second planetof the star Tau Ceti (11.6 light years fromEarth, if you’re keeping track), GURPSKrishna is fantasy at its goofiest. This isa world where women lay eggs, theroyalty sports green hair, and dinershave to eat fast before their mealswriggle off the table.

The book includes pretty much every-thing you need to cobble together aKrishna campaign, with an emphasis onculture and daily life. Designer JamesCambias, a relative newcomer whowrites with assurance and clarity,explains how Krishna maintains a stableculture by outlawing all technology moresophisticated than battle axes. Violatorsare subjected to the Saint-RemyTreatment, where portions of the brainare zapped with electrical charges. (Howwould a fireball-flinging mage fare onKrishna? Good question—and a greatpremise for an adventure.) Other trans-gressions are resolved by duels; a

112 DECEMBER 1997

person who declines a duel is marked bythe Five Mutilations (it’s as nasty as itsounds). After a hard day of dueling andmutilating, citizens relax by racinggliders and watching reverse strip teases,where dancing girls wind themselves upin long sheets.

There’s a roster of memorable char-acters (Gichak, an alien entrepreneurwho wears nothing but sunglasses), a listof intriguing places to explore (Nich-Nyamadze, a polar region where every-one dresses like Santa Claus), and amenagerie of bizarre creatures (thepudamef, a grumpy carnivore with theneck of a giraffe and the head of a croc-odile). GURPS Krishna isn’t for every-one—if you’re a stickler for logic, you’regonna hate this—but its paradise forrole-players with a sense of humor.

Evaluation: Nothing enlivens a drearycampaign like an oddball setting, andthese books showcase oddballs of thefirst rank. Strip away the sci-fi elements,ditch the GURPS statistics, and you’releft with plenty of raw material for aneye-opening campaign. (Be prepared todo some homework; neither book hasanything approaching a developedadventure.) Incidentally, if you’re in themarket for oddballs, you might investi-gate the other entries in the GURPSseries. Nearly every one of them con-tains oodles of ideas that can be readilyadapted to other RPG systems. Some ofmy favorites, all of which I’ve pillagedfor my AD&D campaign: GURPS Places ofMystery, GURPS Aztecs, GURPS AlternateEarths, and GURPS Voodoo.

Short and SweetGhouls: Fatal Addiction, by Ronni

Radner and Ethan Skemp. White WolfGame Studio, $15.

The Vampire: The Masquerade* game isalways interesting, but it isn’t alwaysscary, which is why aficionados of themacabre oughta welcome Fatal Addictionwith open claws. Spotlighting ghouls,arguably Vampire’s most repulsive charac-ters, Fatal Addiction casts players asblood-lusting servants of the undead, will-ing and eager to sell their grandmas tothe dog food factory for an extra pint ofType A. The book covers such ghoulishidiosyncrasies as limb regeneration,blood bonding, and the consequences ofoverdosing on gore (the ghoul gets sick tohis stomach—really sick). Obviously, thisisn’t for the fainthearted, and itcertainly isn’t for kiddies. But if you’re alover of the grotesque, you’ll find this astitillating as cuddling up to a fresh corpse.

Secrets, by Brian M. Sammons.Chaosium Inc., $9. Minions, by PaulConnell, Jean Lishman, Neal Sutton,Nigel Leather, and Chris Dykins.Chaosium Inc., $11.

Like most RPGs, Call of Cthulhu* mayseem daunting to first-timers, what withall the unfamiliar rules and backgroundto digest. Three cheers, then, for Secrets,a compendium of novice-level adven-tures that’ll have newcomers feeling likeveterans in the time is takes to say“Nyarlathotep.” “A Love in Need” fea-tures a creepy boarding house occupiedby extraterrestrial serial killers. “A Cult ofOne” stars a repellent villain in desper-ate need of a new body. Technically, theadventures take place in the 1990s, butthey can be slipped into the ’20s with aminimum of tweaking. If Secrets stillseems like more than you can handle,check out Minions, 15 ultra-brief scenar-ios—most no more than a page or two—each keyed to a specific Mythos creatureor phenomena, slickly staged and abreeze to run.

Quest for Power, by Stephen Ricciardi,Thomas Gobuzas, Doug Schonenberg andSteven Samuels. Infinite Imagination, $40.

The gorgeous, meticulously craftedQuest for Power takes its cue from thoseold choose-your-own-adventure paper-backs, which present the player characterwith a series of simple encounters (“Youfind a large mirror in an old storageroom”) and a fixed number of optionsfrom which to choose (“Do you gaze intothe mirror or leave?”). Here, the encoun-ters and options are listed on colorfulplaying cards, arranged in a grid to forma stylized representation of the city ofBainetor. PCs wander around the city,battling monsters and interrogatingstrangers until they trigger a climactic bat-tle at a sinister castle. It’s smooth-playingand surprisingly challenging, plus itboasts a credible solitaire system. On theother hand, a game this structured lacksthe improvisational elements of a tradi-tional RPG; if I want to shatter the mirrorand fashion the fragments into magicalarrowheads, I can’t, ‘cause that ain’t oneof the choices on the card. As a boardgame, Quest for Power gets a thumbs up.But as a roleplaying game . . . well, put itthis way: how do those paperbacks fareagainst an actual AD&D campaign?(Information: Infinite Imagination, 19Skyline Terrace, Nanuet, NY 10954.)

Werewolf: The Wild West game*Storytellers Screen, by Phil Brucato,

Richard E. Dansky, Robert Hatch, andLen Lemke. White Wolf Game Studio,$15. Changeling: The Dreaming game*Storytellers Screen, by Roger Gaudreau,Steve Herman, and Ian Lemke. WhiteWolf Game Studio, $15.

As long as I’ve been writing this col-umn (something like six—gulp—years),I’ve been complaining about refereescreens, pointing out that anybody with apair of scissors, a bottle of glue, andaccess to a photocopier can make hisown for, oh, about 50 cents. Well, pub-lishers haven’t been taking the hint,because they’re still grinding them out. SoI give up. If you want to spend your hard-earned dough on a couple of slabs ofcardboard, be my guest. As for you pub-lishers, if you insist on making this stuff,the least you could do is follow the leadof White Wolf, who’ve made anadmirable effort to add value to theirscreens by packaging them with 64-pagesourcebooks. Frontier Secrets, includedwith the Wild West screen, is a terrific com-pendium of new gifts, breed variants, andadversaries. Book of Lost Dreams, theChangeling screen bonus, presents niftynew rules for cantrips and combat, alongwith an intense adventure titled “Capturethe Flag.” As for the screens, they may beloaded with tables and easy on the eye,but they’re still slabs of cardboard to me.

lnstant Adventures, by Timothy S.O’Brien, Peter Schweighofer, George R.Strayton, Paul Sudlow, Eric Trautmann,and Floyd Wesel. West End Games, $15.

It takes time to save the universe. Butwhat if you only have a couple ofhours? West End comes to the rescuewith this collection of bite-sized adven-tures for the Star Wars* game, eachplayable in an afternoon. Best of thebunch: “Agent Nallok is Missing,” an off-beat mystery that takes place in abooby-trapped salt mine. Add a set of32 reference cards (bound in the back ofthe book), and you’ve got a keeper.

Princess Ryan’s Star Marines, byMark McLaughlin. Avalon Hill GameCompany, $55.

You’re “Grandma” Marohn, stuck onthe Planet of the Grapes, about to beincinerated by a squadron of SuicideFappers. In the nick of time, good old“Poodle Cut” Kerske appears in her lasercar and tosses you an electric chainsaw.Obviously, this isn’t your ordinary sci-fiboard game. One part “Star Wars,” onepart “Monty Python,” the lunatic PrincessRyan’s Star Marines pits the good guy

114 DECEMBER 1997

Marines against the bad guy Black Guardsin a race to recover the kidnapped leaderof Earth. It all plays out on an elaborategame board (including locales like DismalSwamplands and A Hill Called Avalon)with colorful, Vegas-quality playing cardsrepresenting characters and equipment.The clever Time Clock—sort of like a bank,from which lime Pennies are withdrawnmore or less at random to “pay” foractions—keeps pressure on the players;when the Clock runs out of Pennies, thegame ends. Combat is exciting frequent,and unforgiving. Despite the goofypremise and simple rules, Star Marinesrequires both tactical skill and long-rangeplanning; miscalculate how long it takesto breech the Royal Suite, and you’ll bepushing up daisies at the Interstellar Mall.Eat chain, Fappers!

Des Moines, Iowa native Rick Swan hasplayed approximately ten billion differentRPGs. Or at least it seems that way.

* indicates a product produced by a companyother than TSR, Inc. Most product names are trade-marks owned by the companies publishing thoseproducts. The use of the name of any product with-out mention of its trademark status should not beconstrued as a challenge to such status.

DRAGON #242 115

DRAGON Magazine #243Knights & Paladins

Cover by Stephen Daniele

❖ He's Got PersonalityBy David BrumbaughCharisma is the most important

statistic for a paladin, but how doyou play it properly?

❖ Destriers of the PlanesBy Steve BermanNine magical mounts for knights

of all persuasions.

❖ In a Class by ThemselvesBy Tom DoolanBattle-casters and street avengers

are only two of the new classes youcan create with just the DUNGEONMASTER® Guide.

❖ Treasures of KrynnBy Stephen KensonThe magic continues to return in

the Fifth Age of the DRAGONLANCE®campaign.

❖ Holy Swords of the RealmsBy Lloyd BrownAn arsenal of blades for both

paladins and darker knights of theFORGOTTEN REALMS® or any setting.

And a new Raistlin story byMargaret Weis!

Plus “Bazaar of the Bizarre,”“Dragon’s Bestiary,” “Wyrms of theNorth,” “DragonMirth,” “Role-PlayingReviews,” “Sage Advice,” and more!

$4.95 U.S./$5.95 CANTSR Product No. 8115-01

NEW FOR DECEMBER

Pages of PainA PLANESCAPE® Novelby Troy DenningThe innermost thoughts and musings

of the most famous denizen of thePLANESCAPE multiverse are now availablein paperback. Here, for the first time, isthe story of the ever-silent and mysteri-ous Lady of Pain, the matron of Sigil.Interspersed with her own words is astory that takes place within perhaps hergreatest tool-the Maze, where threats toSigil are incarcerated for all eternity.

$5.99/CAN $6.99TSR Product No.: 2627ISBN 0-7869-0671-5

ScaldersDRAGON DICE™ Kicker Pack #7By Bill OlmsdahlArmies of terrifying Scalders use their

knowledge of fire and water to shift thebalance of power in the DRAGON DICEgame toward neutrality. These red andgreen “Steam Dancers” add a scorchingtouch to the fray! Each pack contains 8randomly assorted dice of varying raritydrawn from an entirely new set of dicefound only in this release, plus expandedrules.

$6.95/CAN $10.95TSR Product No.: 1510ISBN 0-7869-0687-1

Sea of BloodAn AD&D® M ONSTROUS ARCANA™

AdventureBy Bruce R. CordellThe evil of the sea devils knows no

bounds. Their trail of death and destruc-tion leads beneath the waves and intothe heart of their watery kingdom. Thisadventure is the last of three parts-it

can be played alone, or as the conclu-sion of a trilogy that began with Evil Tideand Night of the Shark. It also ties directlyto The Sea Devils MONSTROUS ARCANA

accessory.$12.95/CAN $16.95TSR Product No.: 9560ISBN 0-7869-0772-X

The Dragons of ChaosA DRAGONLANCE® Classics AnthologyEdited by Margaret Weis and

Tracy HickmanFor fans of The Dragons of Krynn and

The Dragons of War, this new short storyanthology features brave heroes, darkvillains, differing races, and all varietiesof dragons from TSR’s most popular fan-tasy world—Krynn. Edited by MargaretWeis and Tracy Hickman, this volumehighlights familiar and beloved charac-ters and fills in some intriguing gaps oflost history in the DRAGONLANCE Saga.

$5.99/CAN $6.99TSR Product No.: 8382ISBN 0-7869-0681-2

Tribes of the Heartless WastesA BIRTHRIGHT® Campaign ExpansionBy Ed StarkThe savage lands of the brutal Vos,

laid open at last! This campaign expan-sion is the last of the five to flesh out thecontinent of Cerilia, first described in theBIRTHRIGHT® boxed set and continuedthrough Cities of the Sun, The RjurikHighlands, and Havens of the Great Bay. Itcontains new rules, new spells, anddetails about the cultures of the frozentundra!

$19.95/CAN $26.95TSR Product No.: 3147ISBN 0-7869-0773-8

Tymora�s LuckA FORGOTTEN REALMS® Novel, Lost

Gods series #3by Kate Novak and Jeff GrubbFinder's Bane was set in the FORGOTTEN

REALMS® universe. Fistandantilus Rebornwas set on Krynn, the world of theDRACONLANCE saga. Now, in the conclu-sion to the Lost Gods trilogy, the intrepidadventurers from these vastly differentworlds join forces on the planes to res-cue a god and return their worlds to sta-bility once and for all.

$5.99/CAN $6.99TSR Product No.: 8583ISBN 0-7869-0726-6

116 DECEMBER 1997

Legends of the LanceIssue #1

A DRAGONLANCE® SettingNewsletter

All DRAGONLANCE fans will want acopy of this quarterly newsletter,which includes interviews with theauthors and artists working behindthe scenes of Krynn, articles about theDRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE® game, reviewsof upcoming DRAGONLANCE releases,and other fascinating items exclusiveto this publication. To receive your freenewsletter, write to legends@wiz-ards.com or Wizards of the Coast,Customer Service Department, P.O.Box 707, Renton, WA 98055. Be sureto include your name and mailingaddress.

NEW FOR JANUARY

College of WizardryAn AD&D AccessoryBy Bruce R. CordellThe wizards’ guild is a powerful insti-

tution in the major cities of most fantasycampaign worlds. In spite of its impor-tance, little is known about these myste-rious and exclusive organizations.College of Wizardry offers a completelydetailed guild of wizards that DMs candrop into their own campaigns.

$17.95/CAN $22.95TSR Product No.: 9549ISBN 0-7869-0717-7

JAKANDOR�: Island of War!An AD&D Campaign SettingBy Kirk Botula, Dale Donovan,

and Kim MohanSTEEL & BONE™: A self-contained AD&D

campaign, usable by itself or as part ofany existing campaign setting. Drivenfrom their homeland by a dishonorableenemy, the fierce and proud people whocall themselves the Knorr have made anew life on the fertile island of Jakandor.But now they are embroiled in anotherwar, forced to battle hordes of undeadsoldiers and the cowardly necromancerswho created them.

$19.95/CAN $26.95TSR Product No.: 9511ISBN 0-7869-0371-6

Cult of the DragonA FORGOTTEN REALMS AccessoryBy Dale DonovanAt long last, here is the definitive

authority on this infamous clandestine

organization. Long have its membersskulked behind the scenes, serving theirundead dragon masters and furtheringtheir own twisted agendas. Everythingabout the organization’s history, activi-ties, agendas, secret temples, and pow-erful NPCs can be found in this book.

$19.95/CAN $26.95TSR Product No.: 9547ISBN 0-7869-0709-6

Mortal ConsequencesA FORGOTTEN REALMS Novel,

Netheril #3By Clayton EmeryThe startl ing conclusion to the

Netheril Trilogy, set in the Arcane Age™:Mortal Consequences follows the barbar-ian Sunbright as he battles a long-forgotten foe and finds his lost love in amost unlikely place. With the certaintyof doom looming over the NethereseEmpire, will Sunbright survive to helpcreate a new future for his people?

$5.99/CAN $6.99TSR Product No.: 8573ISBN 0-7869-0683-9

Heroes of HopeA DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE® Dramatic

SupplementBy Duane MaxwellHope fuels the legacy of the departed

gods—the gift to perform mystic miraclesthrough the faith and compassion ofone’s spirit. The unfolding saga ofDragons of a New Age takes heroes on aquest to find the ancestral crown of thesea elves and reaches a fateful show-down with the deadly sea dragon Brine.

$19.95 U.S./$26.95 CANTSR Product No.: 9546ISBN: 0-7869-0707-X

The SoulforgeA DRAGONLANCE Classics Hardcover

NovelBy Margaret WeisAt l as t , t he co -c rea to r o f t he

DRAGONLANCE saga tells the story ofRaistlin’s early years, before his Test inthe Tower of High Sorcery. Now thereader sees for the first time the eventsthat forged Raistlin into the greatestmage in the history of Ansalon.

$23.95/CAN $30.95TSR Product No.: 8379ISBN 0-7869-0645-6

DUNGEON® Adventures #66Cover by Stephen Daniele

❖ Operation Manta RayBy Paul CulottaTo infiltrate the pirates’ island

stronghold, bold heroes mustsurvive a grueling series of teststo become pirates themselves. AFORGOTTEN REALMS® adventure.

❖ The Sunken ShadowBy James WyattA sinister curse besets the crew of

the Ocean’s Call. Both the cure andthe cause lie at the bottom of thesea, amidst the wreckage and trea-sures of a sunken pirate ship. AnAD&D® adventure.

❖ Enormously InconvenientBy Kent ErtmanGiant animals run amok! The

ground shudders with the hoof-beats of gigantic buffalo, andKarynne the dryad is the only onewho knows the cause. An AD&D®adventure.

❖ The Petrifying PriestessBy Brian CorvelloA sacred mace has been stolen

from the elven temple. A petrifiedcat is the only clue to the identity ofthe villains responsible. Journey tothe heart of the Periwood Forest toconfront the Eyes of Death. AnAD&D® adventure.

❖ Orange and BlackBy Peter C. SpahnA cursed beast stalks the woods,

snatching the children of a nearbyvillage. Can the heroes rid the forestof this unIikely threat? An AD&D®adventure.

AD&D® SideTrek Adventures❖ Swing Shot!By Chris DoyleA dark chasm with a rickety

bridge. Do you dare to cross?

❖ Avenging MurikBy Christopher PerkinsMeet two dwarves: one obsessed

with the gleam of gold, the otherwith vengeance.

$4.95 U.S./$5.95 CAN.TSR Product No. 8203-01

DRAGON #242 117

POLYHEDRON® NewszineThe publication of the RPGA®

NETWORK continues its spectacularcomeback in February with our“Technology and Games” issue,covering various techs in and aroundyour favorite roleplaying games. Thisissue includes articles on PBEMs,character-generation software, andthe beginning of our member-writtenALTERNITY™ Game LIVING™ campaign!POLYHEDRON Newszine is available onlyto GUILD-LEVEL™ Network members, sojoin now. For more information onmembership, please visit our websiteat: www.tsrinc.com/rpga. Or write to:Wizards of the Coast, RPGA Network,P.O. Box 707, Renton, WA 98055.

NEW FOR FEBRUARY

Moonlight MadnessAn RPGA® Network AdventureBy Penny and Skip WilliamsThe curse of lyncanthropy has struck,

and a stalwart band of heroes must racethe moon to find a cure. Obstaclesinclude hordes of angry villagers, abeaming paladin, and a gaggle ofobnoxious pixies. Have a howling goodtime with this classic from the archivesof the RPGA Network.

$11.95/$15.95 CANTSR Product No.: 9568ISBN: 0-7869-1151-4

Servants of DarknessA RAVENLOFT® AdventureBy Steve Miller and Kevin MelkaHeroes are caught in the middle of a

massive witch hunt, in which both theoverzealous cleric conducting the inqui-sition and the witches he hunts bringterrible darkness to the land. The heroesmust sort out clues, avoid traps set bythe opposing sides, and save the inno-cents from the mob’s growing fervor.

$13.95/$18.95 CANTSR Product No.: 9541ISBN: 0-7869-0659-6

Wizard�s Spell Compendium,Volume 3

An AD&D AccessoryBy TSR StaffWizard’s Spell Compendium, Volume 3

continues the monumental collection ofevery official wizard spell for the AD&Dgame. Spells were collected from thePlayer’s Handbook, Tome of Magic,Complete Wizard’s Handbook, DRAGON®

Magazine, POLYHEDRON® Newszine, and awealth of other AD&D game accessories,adventures, and supplements.

$24.95/$32.95 CANTSR Product No.: 2175ISBN: 0-7869-0791-6

The Eve of the MaelstromDragons of a New Age Novel,

Volume IllBy Jean RabeThe first epic trilogy of the Fifth Age—

the campaign against the great dragonstyrannizing Krynn—concludes with victo-ries and courageous sacrifices, the rise ofsurprising new heroes, and the rebirth ofbeloved figures from classic DRAGONLANCE

novels.$5.99/$6.99 CANTSR Product No.: 8385ISBN: 0-7869-0749-5

Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the MadA FORGOTTEN REALMS NovelBy Troy DenningIn this long-awaited sequel to Prince

of Lies, Cyric, one of the youngest andmost powerful gods in the FORGOTTEN

REALMS pantheon, has gone mad. Hisdestructive actions have forced the oldergods to intervene and try to bring thisinsane upstart back into line. This is thesecond sequel to The New York Timesbest-selling Avatar Trilogy.

$5.99/$6.99 CANTSR Product No.: 8577ISBN: 0-7869-0724-X

Hellgate KeepA FORGOTTEN REALMS Setting

DUNGEON CRAWL™ AdventureBy Steven E. SchendDeep beneath the rubble of a once-

proud bastion lie treasure, dangers—anda long hidden evil born of the LowerPlanes! Hellgate Keep harbors darksecrets and vast wealth for those daringenough to enter. But the treasureswithin are not free for the taking, andone wrong move could unleash thegreatest evil known to the modernNorth.

$9.95/CAN $12.95TSR Product No.: 9562ISBN: 0-7869-0786-X

Unless otherwise noted:® designates registered trademarks owned by

TSR, Inc.™ designates trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.© 1997 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The DOUBLE DIAMONDTRIANGLE SAGA™ NovelsThis nine-volume serial adventure

begins in Waterdeep, then travels tothe uncharted Utter East. After the firstthree volumes in January, the saga con-tinues with a new story each month.

JANUARYBook 1

The AbductionBy J. Robert King

Someone has kidnapped thefiancee of the Open Lord of Waterdeepon the eve of their wedding. Now thelord, Piergeiron the Paladinson, mustfind out who—but nothing is quitewhat it seems . . .

$1.99; CAN $2.99TSR Product No.: 8634ISBN 0-7869-0864-5

Book 2The Paladins

By James M. Ward & David WiseLord Piergeiron has fallen ill. His

loyal retainers prepare to rescue hisabducted fiancee, but their quest liesfar beyond Waterdeep.

$2.99; CAN $3.99TSR Product No.: 8635ISBN 0-7869-0865-3

Book 3The MercenariesBy Ed Greenwood

A shadowy figure hires a group ofunemployed pirates to aid him on adangerous mission. But the missionhas a hidden purpose, and some-where behind the scenes it connectsto the kidnapping of a young bridefrom Waterdeep.

$2.99; CAN $3.99TSR Product No.: 8636ISBN 0-7869-0866-1

FEBRUARYBook 4

Errand of MercyBy Roger Moore

The paladins sent by LordPiergeiron have arrived in a kingdomof the Utter East, only to find the areabeset by menacing fiends. The war-riors are welcomed by the king, buthe is willing to aid their quest only ifthey first perform a service for him.

$2.99; CAN $3.99TSR Product No.: 8637ISBN #0-7869-0867-X

118 DECEMBER 1997

Clack Continued from page 120

growth of the late ’80s and early ’90s.Without the groundwork we laid then,we might not have had the later successof Wizards and Magic.”

New Marvel S AGA™ RPGTSR plans a summer publication date

for a new superhero RPG based onMarvel Comics characters such asSpider-Man, the X-Men, and CaptainAmerica. Unrelated to the company’searlier MARVEL SUPER HEROES® RPG, firstpublished in 1984, the new game willuse the SAGA System rules seen in lastyear’s DRAGONLANCE®: FIFTH AGE™ game.

“Existing characters will be a majorfocus,” says line developer MikeSelinker, but “hero creation is a majorcomponent of the SAGA engine, and willbe so here as well. We definitely areinterested in winning the comic-bookaudience, so the game will be formattedin that style: smaller books, lots of art,big focus on hot artists and writers, thatsort of thing. We believe that experi-enced RPGers will also like the game,because of the innovations inherent inthe card-based SAGA System and theemphasis on dramatic action.”

The design team plans to have over300 characters in print within sixmonths. Scenarios will also be frequent,as well as occasional gazetteers andnew decks of cards.

Steve Jackson AnnouncesGURPS* Traveller*

Steve Jackson Games (Austin, TX) isadapting the classic science-fiction RPGTraveller (GDW, 1977) to its GenericUniversal Roleplaying System (GURPS,1986). Longtime Traveller designer LorenWiseman will edit the GURPS Travellerline and will write the first release, duein early 1998.

The GURPS Traveller line takes placein an alternate-history Third Imperiumthat differs from the Traveller 4 back-grounds published by Imperium Games(Lake Geneva, WI). SJG Managing EditorScott Haring says, “In our timeline,Emperor Strephon doesn’t get assassi-nated” (this was the breakpoint betweenthe original Traveller setting and GDW’slater MegaTraveller) “and the ‘virus’ thatwas the entire basis for Traveller: The NewEra did not devastate the Imperium. Ourtimeline is a continuation of the originalTraveller, though we’ll be taking it in someinteresting directions.”

The GURPS Imperium timeline movesonly a few years forward from classicTraveller. Wiseman’s first GURPS Travellervolume will include a description of thegameworld; GURPS rules for characters,equipment and spacecraft; and conver-sion rules between the two systems.Haring said, “We want players to be ableto convert any Traveller material toGURPS right off the bat, and we wantTraveller players to be able to play in ouralternate timeline.” Wiseman is alsodevising a story arc that developsthrough many supplements. “We’regonna have a lot of fun with this beforeit’s over,” Haring says. The SJG licenseextends through 1999 with severalrenewal options.

GURPS Traveller is licensed fromSweetpea Entertainment, a Hollywoodproduction company that acquired therights to the game several years ago fora possible TV deal that fell through.After the game’s original publisher,GDW, went out of business in 1995,Sweetpea decided to resurrect thegame. Sweetpea also holds the movierights to the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.

SJG has produced many science-fictional GURPS settings. Most of themrely on the GURPS Space genre book,which in many details closely resemblesclassic Traveller. In 1994 the companypublished GURPS versions of WhiteWolfs Storyteller RPGs Vampire*,Werewolf*, and Mage*, and its GURPSCthulhuPunk combines Chaosium’s Call ofCthulhu* background with that of R.Talsorian’s Cyberpunk 2020. (sjgames@io.com; www.sjgames.com)

Not Making This Up:Insecta* Rainforest

A press release titled “Bugging Out inthe Rainforest” begins, “Welcome to thejungle, a place where giant hissing cock-roaches fly and the heaviest bug in theworld roams, the Hercules Beetle. Theseare just two of the insects found inRainforest, the first expansion set for theInsecta game.”

Insecta (1995) is a game of bug-to-bugcombat where players build mutantinsects out of assorted head, abdomen,and appendage cards “taken from actualinsects.” Each player can accumulatemore parts by eating his enemies. Up tosix players try to escape from a Hiveruled by enemy wasps, dragonflies, cen-tipedes, termites, and spiders, all con-

trolled by a Hivemaster player. “Rulescover jumping, crawling flying hover-ing, instinct, stingers, web spinners,colony insects, glue squirters, neurotox-ins, egg sacs, expendable spines,pheromones, trophallaxis [the transferof nutritive secretions, i.e., vomit,between insects], and much more.”

Designed by amateur entomologistPhilip Eklund of Sierra Madre Games(Tucson, AZ) and developed by NealSofge and Michael Wasson of FatMessiah Games (Los Angeles), Rainforestadds butch jungle thingies such as ear-wigs, trapjaw ants, giant Malaysian hon-eybees, and insuperable adversaries likecarnivorous plants, bufonoid toads,geckos, hummingbirds, and spinyanteaters. New rules include stinkglands, sticky tongues, bloodsuckingfangs, and exploding bugs.

The expansion, with 119 cards andtwo pixie displays (Clack just writes whatthey tell us, folks), costs $14.95. lnsecta(1-7 players, playing time 30 minutes tofive hours) is $19.95. Shipping and han-dling $3.50 for orders up to $20; add $1shipping charge for each additional $20;overseas orders add $1. (Fat MessiahGames, Box 341136, Los Angeles, CA90034; NealS@aol.com)

Wildstorm RPG UpdateIn issue #238 Clack announced that

Pinnacle Entertainment Group, publisherof the Deadlands: The Weird West* RPG,was designing a superhero RPG basedon WildStorm Studios comic characters.According to Pinnacle’s Shane Hensley,the deal fell through early this year, sothe game won’t happen.

Freelance writer and cub reporter AllenVarney will write DRAGON® Magazine’snewly resurrected “TSR ProFiles” column,which takes over from “Current Clack” start-ing next issue.

* indicates a product produced by a companyother than TSR, Inc. Most product names are trade-marks owned by the companies publishing thoseproducts. The use of the name of any product with-out mention of its trademark status should not beconstrued as a challenge to such status.

DRAGON #242 119

© 1997 Allen Varney

Garfield PatentsTrading Card Games

In September the U.S. Patent Officegranted Magic; The Gathering* designerRichard Garfield a patent for the “tradingcard game method of play.”

U.S. Letters Patent 5,662,332describes a game of strategy and chancein which “players construct their ownlibrary of cards, preferably from tradingcards, and play their library or deck ofcards against the deck of cards of anopposing player. However, the gamecomponents may take other forms, suchas a board game, or the game may beplayed in different media, such as elec-tronic games, video games, computergames, and interactive network.”

The patent claims “an exclusive prop-erty or privilege” relating to games with“a reservoir of multiple copies of a plu-rality of game components” that call forplayers to construct “their own library ofa predetermined number of game com-ponents by examining and selectinggame components from the reservoir ofgame components.” The patent alsocovers Magic’s “tap” mechanism of bring-ing new cards into play by turning exist-ing cards “from an original orientationto a second orientation.” The completetext is on the World Wide Web at<patent.womplex.ibm.com/details?patent_number=5662332>.

The patent is in Garfield’s namebecause only individuals, not compa-nies, can obtain patents. However,inventors can then assign the rights tocompanies, and Garfield (who himselfwas never closely involved in securingthis patent) has assigned all rights toWizards. He says, “Game mechanicsare important and hard to protect.Establishing a precedent with this patentis good for the industry and good fordesigners.”

Patents protect “any new and usefulprocess, machine, manufacture, composi-tion of matter, or improvement thereof,”

In recent years this has been informallyexpanded to encompass such abstrac-tions as software and mathematical for-mulae. A patent grants the inventor theright to exclude others from making,using, or selling the invention withoutpaying a fair licensing fee. This differsfrom a copyright, which protects a workof art (but, significantly, not rulesmechanics) from being copied withoutpermission; and from a trademark,which protects a name or symbol thatidentifies a product. So Magic: TheGathering and its distinctive logo are reg-istered trademarks, whereas the Magicrulebook, card art, and card text arecopyrighted. This new patent coversMagic’s unique mechanics.

The Patent Office awards manygame-related patents annually, mostlyfor token designs, spinner mechanisms,and the like. For instance, game designerand manufacturer Lou Zocchi holds apatent for his “Zocchihedron” 100-sideddie. This hobby’s first patent for gamerules went to Al Leonardi of NovaGames, for his Ace of Aces air-combatgames in book format (the same systemused in the later Lost Worlds booklets).Most patents last 17 years.

Garfield, who holds a doctorate incombinatory mathematics from theUniversity of Pennsylvania, is thegreat-great-grandson of U.S. PresidentJames A. Garfield (1831-81). Richardisn’t the first Garfield to gain a patent;his great-uncle invented the paper clip.On September 24 Richard and his wife,Lily, extended the distinguished lineagewith the birth of their daughter, TerryLinnea Garfield. (custserv@wizards.com;www.wizards.com)

Pat Pulling Dies at 49Patricia Ann Pulling, 49, founder of

the organization Bothered AboutDungeons & Dragons (BADD), died ofcancer October 15 in Richmond, VA.

When her son, Irving Lee “Bink”Pulling II, committed suicide in 1982, PatPulling became convinced his RPGhobby was responsible. In her book TheDevil’s Web: Who is Stalking Your Childrenfor Satan?, in testimony at murder trials,and on more than 200 radio talk shows,she linked RPGs with Satanic worshipand the ’80s epidemic of teen suicide.Along with Dr. Thomas Radecki of theNational Coalition Against TelevisionViolence, and Larry Jones, who produceda newsletter called File 19 for Christianpolice officers, Pulling belonged to thekey triumvirate fomenting the “Satanicpanic” of the ’80s.

For most of a decade, BADD con-trolled public perceptions of roleplaying,until designers Michael Stackpole, LorenWiseman, and others began systemati-cally refuting all accusations. The paniclost vigor in the late ’80s when insur-ance companies started refusing injuryclaims of “ritual Satanic abuse.” In 1992,Radecki surrendered his license to prac-tice medicine, in response to charges ofunprofessional conduct. Jones’s currentwhereabouts are unknown. Pullingbecame a real-estate agent in GlenAllen, VA, where she was active inRepublican politics. She is survived byher husband and four daughters.

“She was obviously very driven, veryconcerned about the welfare of chil-dren,” says Stackpole. “Her methodswere not quite the sort of thing I wastaught in college—she did a lot ofdamnation-by-headline-[but] she wasclearly very dedicated to her cause. Ifirmly believe she went to her grave‘knowing’ that games killed her son.”

Though Pat Pulling caused lastingdamage to this hobby’s image,Stackpole credits her with “forcing theindustry to grow up. She shined one hellof a light on us, so we had to learn howto deal with the outside world. Withoutthat, we might not have had the strong

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120 DECEMBER 1997