Cursing in Elvish - iol.iejayeffell/cie_vol3_no3.pdf · Well met again, Welcome one and all to Issue 3, Volume III of the great Cursing in Elvish™ experience, ... [Note for readers

Cursing in Elvish Volume III, Number 3

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Editors Note: Well met again, Welcome one and all to Issue 3, Volume III of the great Cursing in Elvish™ experience, the first issue to hit the shelves since the happy arrival of my good daughter, Roisín. I wonder if she will grow up to be a gamer? I again wish to thank the (at this stage) regular but, unfortunately, still some of the few contributors to CIE (namely Cyril, Jim and Paul) besides myself. I maintain that the ‘zine would be a more enjoyable experience for all of us if more players contributed to it (even if it’s only a letter from your character to CIE) but I can’t force anyone to provide material if they don’t want to. Incidentally, you don’t have to provide “in game” material, as you will note from the contributions made by Cyril in particular. You should feel free to contribute your views on the campaign, possible new rules variations or whatever you want. I may not always agree with your views but I will print them (provided they are tasteful) and, as I said above, it will make the whole CIE experience more fun for all of us. This issue contains, as ever, the letters page, some interesting gaming articles, a short story, advertisements, the regular Realms(ish) crossword and also the first of a new series of articles by me entitled “From Behind The Screen”, which will feature notes from myself (and other players, I hope, in time) relating to issues specific to our campaign and how it is running. I hope that you enjoy the material presented in this issue, or at least find it interesting and thought provoking even if you don’t agree with it. Write to CIE if there is anything you see that you either agree or disagree with so that I can let the readers know in future issues. Well, that’s about it for the Intro, on with the ‘zine I suppose. Enjoy. Until next time, May your wit always be as sharp as your sword,



Mel Dungeon Master and Editor. Contact the Editor of Cursing in Elvish by e-mail: [email protected].



Nooo! It can’t be!!?? Argh!! Yes, it’s the Letters Page!

Good home sought for blue Parrot. Excellent vocabulary and an ideal family pet. Contact Gorstag, Landlord of the Rising Moon Inn, Highmoon. Adventuring Teams sought, Challenge of Champions IV will take place on Midsummers Day in Waterdeep. Good prizes on offer. Sponsored by the Adventurers Guild of Waterdeep. Mercenaries sought for challenging and rewarding work! Contact the Palace of Prince Prospero, Ordulin, Sembia. Mercenaries Wanted! Excellent pay offered!! Contact the offices of the Conclave of Merchant houses, Yhaunn, Sembia. Fighter urgently required for adventuring band. The “Fifth Wheel” adventuring band would like to announce the sad news that Forfarr, swashbuckler extraordinaire, has permanently left this world and now sits by the feet of Tempus, his deity. The company are now seeking a courageous fighter to join them for a mission of the utmost importance. Contact Marleck, Leader of the Fifth Wheel at the Splintered Stair in Waterdeep. Experience would be an advantage. No timewasters.



Tales From Another Dimension II by Jim Lucas

Travellers from other worlds are not unheard of in Faerun although they are rare. It is said that the great Elminster himself has seen many worlds other than our own but I wonder if he has seen the world from where our new friend, Billy Williams, came from. I sincerely doubt it. Last time I told you how my companions Salamal & Threllis met a stranger, in a cave, with strange, almost magical weapons. He had travelled through some strange other planar world he called the Hunting Grounds and arrived on Faerun. After initial apprehension and an inability to communicate, we were able to eventually make ourselves understood and forged an uneasy peace. The biggest breakthrough came when Threllis & Billy discovered that they had something in common. They both had died recently. And continuing the similarity theme, they had both been killed by men they considered their companions. And of course they were now both alive again. Except in Billy’s case, it wasn’t quite as alive as you would expect. He was not dead as we know it, neither was he alive as we know. But he wasn’t quite undead either. He was certainly no skeleton or zombie, neither a ghoul nor a ghast. He did not have the evil desires of a lich or a vampire. Instead he shared his body with a demon, he called a Manitou, which occasionally took control in moments of weakness and committed horrible deeds. Right now the Manitou was in a weakened state, seemingly cut off from its source of power and Billy had an idea to rid himself completely of it. If he could be raised from the dead just as Threllis had been then it might break the connection between the spirit and Billy. The problem was finding a cleric to perform the ceremony. Since we had left our original companions and paid to get Threllis raised we were skint and getting by only on the few coins I earned from singing & performing in taverns & inns. Salamal managed to pick up a few coins here & there as well and I never asked him where or how. With Billy along for the ride, now we felt more comfortable taking on more dangerous and therefore more lucrative work. As luck would have it, the first job we



got was from an alchemist. Billy was able to procure salt petre and other stuff from him, which allowed him to make the bullets his ‘guns’ used. It was fascinating to watch him over the fire at nights with his molten metal and his casts knocking out a few dozen bullets every night. Mind you, he needed them even though he was a dab hand with a sword, or as he called it, his cavalry sabre. Our first job was to recover some items stolen from the alchemist’s house by a bunch of ‘independent’ thieves. From Salamal & Threllis’s point of view, this was a win-win situation, brownie points from the guild for settling a little problem and cash from the alchemist for recovering his stuff. The night we raided their lair and Billy shot the leader in the head was something I will never forget. Billy ‘fanned’ his pistol, as he called it, firing all 6 bullets. Two of them hit the guy in the chest, another in his arm, two missed but one of them got him right smack in the middle of his forehead. He’s talking away, threatening, bravado stuff; then mid sentence this red spot appears over his eyes. They roll up into his head and he topples forward. The clatter of swords & daggers was amazing as his gang lost all the fight in them. I don’t want to know what the guild did to them but we were paid our due and soon our fame was spreading. The party with the outworlder and his amazing weapons. But Billy’s fame did not just come from his guns. I saw him take a sword straight through the chest and still stand up. Another time his hand was chopped off but he sewed it back on and was as good as new a few days later. Soon we had enough to pay a cleric to ‘Raise’ Billy. We tried several of the major churches in Waterdeep before one agreed to do it. Part of the agreement was that I cannot tell you which one. We had to undergo a quest for them before they would agree to it. Needless to say we completed their quest but that’s a tale for another day. Returning to Waterdeep, we had to lay low for a few days. It turned out that our former companions were passing through and we didn’t want them to know we were around or that Threllis was alive. Quite frankly, I was surprised to see them as I had assumed the Guild had exacted some form of revenge against them. But of course there was another guild member in the group so maybe that explained it. Eventually we returned to the church and got ready for the ceremony. The cleric was a bit freaked by performing it on someone who could sit up and talk to him and frankly I didn’t blame him. Halfway through the ceremony, the Manitou, which for all these weeks, had been dormant suddenly manifested itself. Billy started talking strangely and then this ethereal creature protruded through his body. He was screaming and I could hear the creature’s thoughts in my mind. He was looking at the three of us and it seemed to be smiling as if it liked what it saw. Then it stared at the cleric and screamed. He screamed back but just for a second or two stopping when his head exploded into a spray of blood, bone and brains. The room went dim and then the light returned and we found ourselves in a very strange landscape. Billy was unconscious but breathing normally.



I said, “I think this might be Billy’s Hunting Grounds. The only question is are we the Hunters or the Hunted.” [Note for readers of the print version of Cursing In Elvish. The Deadlands character used in these stories was changed between the print version of the last issue of CIE and its subsequent publication on the web. The original character appeared in short stories published by Pinnacle and I felt it was not appropriate to continue using that name when the potential audience of the story was expanded. For the web edition I changed the name to that of a former PC character from our run in the genre just as the AD&D characters are also former PCs.]



FROM BEHIND THE SCREEN

by the Editor. This is the first of what I hope will become a regular feature in Cursing in Elvish. In these articles, I will be dealing with specific issues relating to our campaign as opposed to the articles of general interest that are usually written by the ‘zine’s contributors. Here you will find details of new house rules that may come on stream, constructive criticism (or just plain “whinging”) from players about what they dislike in the campaign and especially stuff from me about what’s good, bad or ugly, in my opinion, in the campaign in general. Jim’s Website In case I haven’t already put it in writing in this ‘zine, I just want to again thank Jim Lucas for the excellent “Campaign Diary” that his character, Alex, assembles after each game session involving the “Company of the Forge”. It’s always an enjoyable read and its nice to see someone going to such effort. I presume that you have all read it so there’s not a whole lot more that I can say except to remind you that I still keep my own campaign log (going strong since 1987 when my campaign first began) and if anyone is interested in checking out an alternate version of the group’s travels, feel free to have a look. Character History/Description I have spoken/written at length about this already on a number of occasions so I am not going to dwell on it yet again. Besides, Cyril has written an article on the topic, which features in this issue of CIE. Rules Disputes As you will all be aware, there have been occasions in the campaign when my rulings, in certain circumstances, have been questioned (and indeed argued about) during the game. I don’t claim to know all the rules “in depth” especially if the relevant ruling is ambiguous but I do believe that I am fairly familiar with most of them. I would ask players to remember that the Referee’s word is final and, when in doubt, to give me the benefit of the doubt in these circumstances. I will always be as fair as I possibly can on all occasions and, if, Gods forbid, the character(s) are in serious danger as a result of an ambiguous rule, you may rest assured that I will take the time out to double check the ruling “to be sure”. However, it is, in my opinion, discourteous to myself, as DM, and the other players, who must wait while the situation is clarified, to question minor rulings DURING the Game if a situation doesn’t suit the PC(s) as much as they might like. Where there is disagreement with an unpopular call from me and it is not “life-threatening”, I will check up on the ruling AFTER the game.



In the first instance, I will check the rule-books and the D&D FAQ. If that fails to work (i.e. I can’t find the answer), I will consult other DMs on the D&D bulletin boards (although, as has been pointed out by others, they are not necessarily any more knowledgeable about the D&D rules than we are). If this avenue fails, I will mail the [email protected] (WOTC’s rule arbiters), for a reply but they may not necessarily respond and, if they do, there may be a delay before they get back to me. Eventually, if I still have not received an answer to my query, players should be aware that I will give my own considered opinion on the rule and will relay this info to the player/group at a later game session. Player absence and Character Levels A culture seems to have developed over the recent years that I have been running D&D that when a player either (a) misses a number of weeks game-play or (b) his PC dies permanently (thankfully a rare occurrence) or (c) the player simply decides to retire or even “kill off” his PC, that he brings in a new PC at the minimum level or XP amount of the lowest level PC in the group. This has led, in my opinion, to players gaining a slightly unfair advantage over the other players in the group. For instance, under this “culture”, a player could turn up for one or two scenarios at, say, 1st Level. He then misses a number of weeks game-play and then returns when the party have attained a number of levels (without him). He then merely slots in at the lowest XP level of the other PCs. The player in question has not had to “earn” his level in the normal way and has also managed to avoid the hazards that have been faced by the other PCs – in effect he gets a free ride up from a low level (which is when the challenges are likely to be more dangerous as the PCs have yet to gain sufficient hps, Saving Throws, AC etc., that enables them to overcome tougher encounters). I do realise that players sometimes have to be absent from the game for long periods of time through no fault of their own but, nevertheless, as I said above, the other PCs have had to overcome the challenges to attain their levels and by “bumping up” a newly returned PC to an equivalent level, the DM devalues the hard work that the rest of the group have had to go through. Also, the players have had to physically travel to the game on a regular basis to gain levels for their PCs and it is plain unfair to them to allow a PC a “free ride” up the levels to catch up with them. All of that said, there are exceptions to every rule and I may (on VERY RARE occasions) grant a PC a few levels if he is TOTALLY outclassed by the other PCs AND the player’s circumstances merit it. I stress again however that these will, by their nature, be VERY RARE occasions. As regards a PC (who is not the lowest level in the group) who dies permanently or retires, then in these circumstances, his new PC will be reinstated at the minimum XP amount of the rest of the PCs. This is the penalty the player must face in the tragic event that his PC dies permanently or the player simply decides to retire the character. A player who retires his character must also keep his existing statistics as otherwise it is too open to abuse for a player to simply dump a PC with bad stats and then roll a brand new set of stats. This stipulation does not apply to a player if his PC dies permanently (however, I will take a dim view of a player who, it appears, is trying to deliberately get his “dud” character permanently killed off and will insist, if I suspect that this is the case, that the player keeps the statistics of his previous character).



Keeping on the subject of characters, you will all be aware of our house rule that if a player misses a week of game-play, mid-adventure, his character does not and either the DM or another player will play the PC along as an NPC. This continues to apply. However, if it looks as if the player is likely to miss a number of consecutive weeks then I will arrange to have the PC removed from the adventure in some fashion or another. When the player then returns, his character can rejoin the group. The original reason why this rule was invented was to stop players being able to “do a bunk” with their PC when it looked like the player was getting cold feet in a particular scenario and “accidentally on purpose” missed the big finale etc., at the end of an adventure. Long term, however, it makes life a little awkward for whoever has to play the PC on and it is also unfair to the other players as a whole as the DM, subconsciously or otherwise, will be reluctant to put the PC at risk with the character’s player not there to make decisions. Some of the above may sound a little bit heavy handed but ultimately I am trying to make things fairer for all the group. Open Gaming Licence With the release of D&D 3rd Edition, and its Open Gaming Licence as regards material that can be written for it, there has been a deluge of stuff hitting our shelves which is compatible with the System. Not all of the material presented is suitable for use with each individual campaign, the relevance/acceptability of such material being subject to each individual DM’s discretion. Basically, what I am trying to say is that if you, as a player, see something printed by any publisher, even if it is “official” WOTC material from one of their plethora of game aids, you should not assume that such material will in fact be used in our campaign. If there is something you see in a D&D book that is “suitable for use in D&D” and you would like for it to be used in our campaign then please ask me if it is acceptable before considering it for use by your PC or the PCs/World at large. Recently, you may recall that Nigel asked me if a spell from Tome & Blood could be used by his character Shepard and I agreed that it could. The spell “False Life” is, in hindsight, far too powerful for a 2nd Level Wizard spell, in my opinion, but I have allowed it so I suppose I’m kinda stuck with it now. In fairness to Nigel, he agreed to a fairly hefty “tweaking” downwards of the spell but the spell is still not too bad and I think we can both live with the revised version. This incident did, however, bring home to me (as if I needed to be converted) the fact that not all of the additional material being produced for D&D is suitable for my campaign or indeed any campaign and it’s important for the DM to scrutinise all material presented before allowing it through his doors. I realise that there probably is no need for me to be even telling you guys this but I just wanted to set the record straight before a possible argument brews up in the future about whether a piece of the D&D “rules” is used or not used in my campaign..



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DDEEVVEELLOOPPIINNGG CCHHAARRAACCTTEERR DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONNSS AANNDD HHIISSTTOORRYY

BByy CCyyrriill DDeenntt

With the entrance of 3rd Edition into our gaming lives and everyone beginning on a level playing field, Mel has mentioned in passing, about people not developing character backgrounds. To me it seems that if I were playing a character that did not have a background, even a basic one at that, I would feel unable to play the character. There would be no substance, meat if you will, to the character. Where are you from, whom and what do you fear, are you argumentative etc, are just some examples of what would make up a character psyche. Imagine going to a convention and entering the D&D role-playing competition. Finally after waiting for two days to pass, while the Magic The Gathering part of the con finishes, you finally get to sit down at a table and slowly get ready for the DM to arrive. Feet bouncing on the floor, buzzing with anticipation, the DM hands you the character you will play for the day. Imagine if all you get is a sheet of paper with stats, class, feats, skills and equipment but no history (sadly, I’ve seen one or two of these at Cons in my lifetime – Ed). How can anyone expect to win if they do not know the character goals, motivations, past influences. Their likes and dislikes?. How you view religion and past experiences, to name but a few factors on how to play your character. Now, saying all that I am by no means implying that every character should have a detailed history of their life up to the point when they introduce themselves to the other members of the party. In fact it would be a boring old world if everything were mapped out before us. I do accept that once in a while it would make for an interesting experience, if we did not have a full background. This would allow for the unknown factor to creep in, not only for the player but for the DM as well. I would think that, on occasion, this would allow the player and DM to create a unique history for the individual and allow for some possible surprises in the future. On the other hand, you may think to leave well enough alone. Maybe there are one or two people with a Joe Soap history. No, my father is not the King of the country next door and I am not able to save everyone from the pending war nor have a birthmark which leads me to be hunted by a cult of wizards, thinking I am their saviour in their struggle to become the perfect magic users. Maybe, just maybe I have led an ordinary life with no complications.



In general, I feel that if someone else cannot pick up your character sheet, read your background and do a reasonable impression of your character in your absence, without someone turning around and saying “Hold on, Joe Soap would never do that”, then without the history you are not role-playing the character, you are just playing yourself. Where is the fun is that? Which brings me back to my original point in paragraph one, there has to be substance in there. Come on guys, we are playing a fantasy game, which I might point out is all about using our imagination to visualize our surrounding and how we interact in that environment. Turn that imagination to our characters history and develop some sort of background. At least it should allow some one else to continue the character on in our absence. Well this brings me to my final point. Some of you feel that if you do a history, Mel will use it “against” you. Well, DOAH, of course he will, that’s why we play, to develop our character, to interact with our history and make it a part of us. Of course Mel will weave it into whatever scenario we will be currently playing but that’s the point, to have some fun and excitement. To immerse ourselves in his world and interact with the people, creatures and monsters that dwell there. Not everything is about finding some Mithril to make a suit of armour or finding a long lost artifact, but this does, on occasion, bring up a unique situation. Everyone wants to be special and most people view this through the magical items they possess. Try to answer this; what if Conan was a character in our world, what would he do to make such an epic tale. Yep, that’s right, the famous artifact sword that he found on the way to defeat the evil baddie. Sure defeating the baddie got him some notoriety but the fact that he found and used that famous bastard sword to destroy the baddie, made history, and that’s what we look for. Sorry getting slightly off the point here and a topic of discussion for another article. Of course if your view is that you would not like to do a history, that’s up to you but do not cry about it when the DM tells you that someone from your past is hunting you because of your indiscretion with their wife. If it's not in a history then both of you are free to create as you see fit. It’s all about story telling and how we go about it. So start writing down you story so others may go along for the ride.

Editors Note: Surprisingly enough, I agree with your sentiments one hundred percent. However, as I have become all too aware, some people just do not care to do a character description or history despite (or perhaps because of) my pleadings. It’s sadly their (and the campaign’s) loss, in my opinion, but as I have said in an earlier CIE, I can’t exactly put a gun to their heads.



Fantasy CROSSWORD

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Clues for the crossword may be found on next page



CROSSWORD CLUES ACROSS

1. A ragged light weapon? (6) 4. Broggie’s character “Rigo ………. (6) 7. 80s Sci-Fi movie. A video game also based on the film bore the same name (4) 8. One of the materials from which golems can be made from (4) 10. Wizards, generally, don’t use it (6) 11. A large stone bird? (3) 12. The bird that lays golden eggs (5) 13. The remains of a target that has been disintegrated? (3) 14. Enemy (3) 15. An alignment, initially (1,1) 16. “Please DM, can I have a staff of the Magi? (2) 17. Not too well (3) 18. Warriors issue one when entering battle and you do it when your PC is toast (3) 20. A direction, initially (1,1) 21. The baddie got away, mild word for disappointment (3) 22. The Stephen King that Pennywise was in (2) 23. Male character from the Xena series (5) 25. What adventurers want to get when things are tough down the dungeon (3) 26. First Edition D&D Monster, a little bit like monkeys …. Monster (2) 27. The Owlbear is covered in feathers and what else (3) 28. The game that most of us have stopped playing in recent years (5) 29. To sever another’s head (3) 30. The northmen on the Moonshaes are renowned for having long ones (5)

DOWN

1. An evil creature from the nine hells (5) 2. Card/Dice game with a barbarian hero/anti-hero (4) 3. A tree-man from LOTR (3) 4. Prisoners may be shackled in these (8) 5. Bards are useful at song and …… (5) 6. Wizards do this to their opponents with fireball (6) 9. Space faring spider-like creatures (5) 11. The save that uses Dex (6) 12. Haunting incorporal undead creature (5) 13. Lower ???????, clue to be found in 30 across (6) 19. White furred bipedal creature that inhabits chilly regions (4) 23. A first level Wizard spell (4) 24. This Level Handbook is due out this summer (4)



Get stuffed! Taxidermy in D&D

By Cyril Dent

After these last few months playing 3rd Ed D&D in Mel’s campaign it is now apparent that more attention is being paid to spell components. Thus increasing the chances to role-play acquiring these ingredients (good plot hook Mel, hint hint). Not to mention the possibilities of selling the hard-earned ingredients raided from the dead monster recently slain (Sorry Mel, no pain no gain) thus earning some well-deserved cash and fame. This notion does bring up interesting questions: What skill should be used? Would using this skill attract other creatures to feed on the carcass? What sort of equipment would be used? Most importantly, where do you store the parts once removed? Well after visiting the WOTC message boards (http://boards.wizards.com/rpg-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?category=6) and viewing the posts there, I have chosen the following skill based on the discussion boards’ posts and my own idea of what would suit. I offer this up for discussion within our group and hope that I will not be the only one to welcome the chance to role-play using this skill (To quote Kev, “you know you want to” & “it would be rude not to”, which by the way I am sure he will also use). The skill I suggest would be based on the Profession: Taxidermist and two other complementary skills. Due to the intricate nature of this skill a set of tools is vital. Therefore I would first like to suggest that a Taxidermist set of tools be available for purchase, similar to the Artisan’s Tools and Thieves Tools, also allowing for a Masterwork set to be made available for purchase. The result of not having a set of tools, as described in the skill description “Modifiers to the DC”, is getting a +2 to the DC check for “Lack of proper surgical equipment - small knives or at least a thin dagger”. There would be no modifier for having a standard set of tools. For owning a Masterwork set you would receive a +2 circumstance bonus for having the perfect tools for the job (as per Thieves Tools, Masterwork). This set would contain more instruments, for all occasions, and the instruments would be of better quality. A description of the skill I think should read as follows:



Profession: Taxidermist (Wis, Trained Only) The first taxidermists were primitive hunter-gatherers who first learned to use the animal skins from their hunts as clothing and as crude shelters. As the decades passed, man varied his uses for animal skins and meat, which led to the development of a greater understanding of how to preserve these valuable goods. Out of this knowledge came the ability to tan skins, which eventually led to the term “Tanner”. A tanner uses great skill to preserve these goods and would become one of the cornerstones of their village or town. As the demand on the tanner grew, more and more sophisticated methods were developed. The modern practice of a taxidermist incorporates more than just their skill to tan a skin. Once a rank is earned in this skill you have just started your long journey to becoming a highly skilled taxidermist. Using this skill you are capable of preserving, or reproducing a life-like three-dimensional representation of, a creature for permanent display. In some cases, the actual skin (including the fur, feathers or scales) of the specimen is preserved and mounted. In other cases, the specimen is reproduced completely with man-made materials. You are able to safely extract and store these materials for long durations, given the right equipment and time. Check: You can practice you trade and make a decent living, earning about half your check result in gold pieces per week of dedicated work. You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the profession’s daily tasks, how to supervise untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems. To determine the DC for a given task refer to the list below. Basic DC’s

Task

DC 10: Removing a limb, fang, tooth or other protruding/external part and preserving it.

DC 15: Extracting a fluid such as acid, blood, poison, etc. and preserving it. DC 20: Extracting an organ such as a heart, liver or brain and preserving it. Modifiers to DCs

-2: Body part is a similar one that the character also has - a heart, a tooth, a brain, but not a wing, gizzard or antennae

-2: Fluid or organ is in plentiful supply - blood from a deer, an eyestalk from a beholder, feather from a bird

-2: Character takes their time and is careful - double the duration for organ extraction

+2: Lack of proper surgical equipment - small knives or at least a thin dagger. (This modifier is negated if the Taxidermist has a set of tools).

+2: Carcass has began to decay

+2: Organ is particularly large or particularly small - the entire carapace of an Ankheg

+2: Substance or organ is potentially harmful to surgeon

+2 to +4: Carcass is dismembered, burnt, or in otherwise somewhat unrecognisable condition

+2 to +4: Improper lighting, using dark vision [because its colourless] etc..



Also there is a risk to the Taxidermist in the work that they do and unless proper precautions are taken then there is a chance that a disease will infect the Taxidermist. The percentage chances and type of disease will be left up to the DM.

Retry: An attempt to use a Profession skill to earn an income cannot be retried. You are stuck with whatever weekly wage your check result brought you. Another check may be made after a week to determine a new income for the next period of time. An attempt to accomplish some specific task can usually be retried. If a roll fails by 5 or more points, a retry is possible. If a roll fails by 10 or more points, however, the organ or tissue is spoiled and ruined. Special: Untrained labourers and assistants earn an average of 1 silver piece per day. If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge: Monsters, you get a +2 synergy bonus to your roll. Also, if you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge: Anatomy, you get a +2 synergy bonus to your roll. Miscellaneous Rules: An attempt to remove an external organ or limb intact takes 1d10 minutes. Collecting an external fluid takes one minute per point of DC. Removing an internal organ or fluid requires 10 minutes of surgery per 5 points of DC [round up]. Example A party slays an ankheg from afar in a hail of arrows. The beast has not yet spat its acid at them, and they wish to save it. The fighters make sure the creature really is dead by kicking it a few times. Sure enough, its bought the farm. Since they're in an open plain, they're concerned about predators coming to investigate the smell of dead Ankheg. The party forms a perimeter and keeps an eye out while the Cleric tries to save the acid. The Acid is a fluid, so the base DC is 15. Acid isn't something the Cleric has naturally (no bonus). Since the Ankheg is capable of shooting a stream of acid, but hasn't done so, the DM rules that fluid is plentiful (-2 DC). Acid is harmful to the Cleric, however, so he must be extra careful not to touch it (+2 DC). He decides to take his time, since they're in no hurry (-2 DC). Unfortunately, he has only a short sword to work with, which isn't going to be too handy (+2 DC). The modifiers all cancel out, and the DC stays at 15. Since he's taking his time, an attempt takes 30 minutes total. 30 minutes of work later, the Cleric makes a Taxidermist check against DC 15, and FAILS, getting a 12 for the check! The fluid just isn't where he expected it to be, he needs more time to find it. The Rogue thinks he sees a mean storm brewing, and the sun is beginning to set. The DM rules that the light conditions have worsened (+2 DC). The wizard doesn't want to get wet and spurns the Cleric to hurry the hell up, which he does (no more -2 to the DC for taking his time). The DC now stands at 19. Close to 20 minutes later, the Cleric makes another roll. This time he rolls well and succeeds. Just as the first raindrops begin to fall, he holds up a glass vial filled with a yellow slimy fluid. "I got it!" he exclaims triumphantly.



You will notice that I have not mentioned anything about the duration for preserving materials before they spoil. This I would like to throw out to the group for suggestions. One thing I would like everyone to consider is when a spell component is purchased by one of us, how long does it last before spoiling? What if the spell component was only usable for a few days before perishing? I wonder how many wizards or sorcerers would be out adventuring. Point in case my own spell for Simone - Acid Breath - requires a fire ant. Well, how long should these last before becoming useless for the spell? Granted the spell does not specify what condition the ant has to be in for the spell to work so if this becomes a point of issue please speak up. Well there you go. This is a skill to flesh out your character and should be viewed as such. If you disagree with anything I have suggested, or think you could improve on the skill, please make your voice heard. Maybe there is something I have missed. Editor’s Note: My own feelings as regards components pretty much fall into line with what’s printed in the PHB (pg 151). “Usually you don’t worry about components but when you can’t use a component for some reason, or when a material or focus component is expensive, then they count”. Specifically as regards material components, the PHB states “Unless a cost is given for a material component, the cost is negligible. Don’t bother to keep track of material components with negligible cost. Assume you have all you need as long as you have your spell component pouch”. The other, slightly more insidious, use I can see this skill being used for, by some, is to gather rare and/or dangerous monster parts to either use or, more likely, sell to NPCs. I don’t think I would be all that keen on seeing heroic quests turning into, basically, scavenger hunts with the PCs scrutinising their fallen foes for the “juicy” bits. It takes something away, I feel, from the spirit of adventure we are hopefully all trying to capture when we play the game. (See also my notes following the skill that follows on the next page).



Knowledge: Monster (Int; Trained Only) You can use this skill to tell if a growing shadow on the wall you face

belongs to a cat or some other mythical catlike monster, to tell if the fresh green liquid oozing down the wall is splashed blood from a mythical monster or is in fact Green Slime slowly inching it way towards you. By spending two full rounds observing a monster, and then succeeding at a skill check of 10 + the creature's HD, + or – the DC modifier given below, depending on individual rarity. This skill will allow you to correctly identify the creature/monster you are studying and gleam general information about it, i.e. you will know the name of creature/monster, know the region the creature usually appears in, the creature's diet, the creature's incubation period (if any), if the creature/monster is prized for anything, physical makeup (height, weight, internal organ locations), etc.. You must be within 30 feet of the monster to carry this out and you cannot perform any other action during this time. You can move at half speed, but not any faster and you must maintain a line of sight. The DM secretly rolls the check and announces the information, if any, that is gained. If the check fails by 10 or more you have incorrectly identified the creature/monster. The DM will pass on this missinformation to you. This skill will work on any creature/monster found in the Monster Manual book. This skill will never give exact details regarding the Hit Dice, Number and Type of Attacks, Damage per Attack, Special Resistances etc. but it may tell you that the creature/monster has a blind spot or is less protected at its rear quarters. Rarity of Creature/Monster DC Very Common +2 Common +4 Uncommon +6 Rare +8

Check:

Very Rare +10 Retry: If the creature/monster is dead no retry is allowed as no new behaviour

can be observed. If the creature/monster is alive and could be observed for a further two rounds then a retry is allowed, doubling this time for every failure thereafter and increasing the DC by +2 for every retry.

Special: A Ranger gains a bonus because of his Favoured enemy. So a 6th-level ranger with Giants and Evil Outsiders as his favoured enemies, would have Knowledge: Monster with a +4 bonus to their rolls.



Editor’s Note: I am a little wary (no, actually, very wary) of this skill being used in the Campaign for the following reasons: Despite the fact that only a little bit of statistical information is given to the player(s), the name alone can give them a MAJOR hint as to what they are fighting. A number of players have read the Monster Manual and can likely relate the strengths and weaknesses of the beast when they hear the creature’s name (it’s outside information I know but, sadly, when has that ever stopped players). In addition, it detracts from the monster’s aura of mystery if someone can simply list its name and relate certain other bits of “interesting” information about the creature’s anatomy – information that, generally speaking, should never be available to Player Characters (except through personal experience with them) in my view. For instance, a number of incorporeal undead creatures can look and act quite similarly but their special abilities can be quite different. If someone simply blurts out “Um, it’s a Ghost, guys!”, the Player Characters will react differently to the thing than if they thought it was a Spectre, for example.

You mention in the “Check” paragraph above that, amongst other things, the character can obtain information relating to the creatures “internal organs” and if it is “prized for anything”. After reading the suggested Taxidermist skill regarding the obtaining of body parts, this paragraph sent further alarm bells ringing in my head, I am afraid. I have no doubt that a number of players, with skill points available, would choose both the Taxidermy and Knowledge: Monster skills for both knowledge about their foes and info and the skills to gather any valuable vitals, body parts from the unfortunate foe. I’m sorry, Cyril, if I sound so negative towards your suggestions but sadly I have seen how these sort of innocent looking additions to the game can be and are abused.



Final Note: Well, that about wraps it up for another issue of Cursing in Elvish™. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you didn’t like anything that you read then please let me (and CIE) know (I am expecting some pretty fiery responses to my “From Behind the Screen” article in particular). I would welcome your comments on anything in this issue, by the way, and not just “that” article. Also, don’t feel that you have to even confine yourself to just this issue – any comments you wish to make about the campaign in general would be welcome (it will fill future Behind The Screen articles if nothing else). Anyway, as the man said, “I’m outta here!”. Talk to ye next issue, Mel.



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Cursing in Elvish - iol.iejayeffell/cie_vol3_no3.pdf · Well met again, Welcome one and all to Issue 3, Volume III of the great Cursing in Elvish™ experience, ... [Note for readers