Issue #216Vol. XIX, No. 11

April 1995

PublisherTSR, Inc.

Associate PublisherBrian Thomsen

Editor-in-ChiefKim Mohan

Associate editorDale A. Donovan

Fiction editorBarbara G. Young

Editorial assistantsWolfgang H. Baur

Michelle Vuckovich

Art directorLarry W. Smith

ProductionRenee CiskeTracey Isler

SubscriptionsJanet L. Winters

U.S. advertisingCindy Rick

U.K. correspondentand U.K. advertising

Carolyn Wildman

Printed in the U.S.A.

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS

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Bazaar of the Bizarre � Steven MillerWe liked this article so much, we made TSR�s GamesDep�t., hire Steven.

Fuzzy Reviews � Spike Y. JonesRead these (serious) reviews of plush-animalminiatures rules. (No, we really are serious. Could wemake up something this goofy?)

April Fool�s Faxions � Tim BeachAdd these �faxions� to your PLANESCAPE� campaign.We mean it, go ahead, please . . .

Bards on the RunWe just can�t seem to stop printing these silly songs.We know it�s sick and wrong, but we�re hooked. It�san illness, really.

FICTIONDead Man�s Curse � Roy V. YoungRead this excerpt from a book you can�t buy until August.(Whose idea was this?)

REVIEWSEye of the Monitor � David �Zeb� CookTurn on your monitor, rev up your hard drive, and openfire on the bad guys in Doom II.

DRAGON® Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is publishedmonthly by TSR, Inc., 201 Sheridan Springs Road,Lake Geneva WI 53147, United States of America. Thepostal address for all materials from the United Statesof America and Canada except subscription orders is:DRAGON® Magazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Road,Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A.; telephone (414) 248-3625; fax (414) 248-0389. The postal address for allmaterials from Europe is: DRAGON Magazine, TSRLtd., 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB13LB, United Kingdom; telephone: (0223) 212517 (U.K.),44-223-212517 (international); telex: 818761; fax (0223)248066 (U.K.), 44-223-248066 (international).

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2 APRIL 1995

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Role-playing Reviews — Rick SwanExplore the Savage Coast, Denver, the Victorian era, andthe lost city of Parlainth.

From the Forge — Ken CarpenterSF has come a long way since Jules Verne. If you don’tbelieve it, just check out these games and figures.

FEATURESFirst Quest — William W. ConnorsTime flies when you’re having fun gaming.

Paths of Power — Wolfgang Baur & Steve KurtzLet’s get serious: here’s an alternative magic system for theAD&D® game spellcasters.

The Game Wizards — Rich Baker & Skip WilliamsPresenting a PLAYER’S OPTION™ book preview: Critical hitsystems from the Combat & Tactics tome (another bookthat you can’t buy yet—Nyah, nyah!).

Rumblings — The staffCatch up on all the latest dirt in the gaming industry—justbe certain to wash your hands afterward.

The Auld Alliance — Arthur CollinsYou can keep your gaming group together for the longhaul if you follow Arthur’s advice.

Novel Ideas — Jean RabeFind out what TSR author Simon Hawke has up his sleevefor TSR’s first BIRTHRIGHT™ novel.

Elminster’s Notebook — Ed GreenwoodIn which El answers the burning question: “What are thosekobolds up to?” (Oh, about 3-foot-nothing.—Sorry, that’s anold gnomish joke.)

DEPARTMENTS4 Letters 92 Forum6 Editorial 106 Dragonmirth

37 Convention 108 Gamers Guide

Calendar 120 TSR Previews

each subscriber’s copy of the magazine. Changes of Guidelines, c/o DRAGON Magazine, as per the above rights to the contents of this publication are reserved,address for the delivery of subscription copies must be address; include sufficient American postage or and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole or inreceived at least six weeks prior to the effective date of International Reply Coupons with the return envelope. part without first obtaining permission in writing fromthe change in order to assure uninterrupted delivery. In Europe, write to: Writers’ Guidelines, c/o DRAGON the publisher. Material published in DRAGON® Maga-

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DRAGON 3

What did you think of this issue? Do you havea question about an article or have an idea for anew feature you’d like to see? In the UnitedStates and Canada, write to: Letters, DRAGON®Magazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Rd., LakeGeneva WI 53147, U.S.A. In Europe, write to:Letters, DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120Church End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB13LB, United Kingdom. If you wish your letter tobe published, you must sign it. We will notpublish anonymous letters. We will withholdyour name if you request it.

Now don’t thinkwe didn’t haveanything elseto do. l l

Editors’ note: Sometimes we make up stuff forour April Fool’s edition every year. But to fill the“Letters”page, we don’t have to. These are realletters—honest—that we really received frompeople who really wrote them and were reallyserious about what they had to say. The lettersare printed exactly the way they were written,except that the names of the writers have beenwithheld, which we thought was a really goodidea.

Dear Dragon,HELP! I realy need some help, on a problem.

I’ve been a DM for almost a year, I’ve createdmy own world, my own monsters, my own spellbooks, and all that stuff. But theres one thingthat I just don’t know how to create, er . . . rollup. Death. I know this sounds funny, but I needyour help.

Would you give me the statistics for Death?(Please, oh Pleas, oh Please!) Like how many hpDeath has, what magic powers it has, what doesit have magic powers or does it have spells orwhat. I’d be realy thankful if you helped out.

Dear Dragon,I have an evil wizard named Casimir who has

a ring of regeneration. If he cut off his fingerwhich has the ring and he didn’t die would thefinger grow a new body? If so could he createan army of clones that would do what he says?

P.S. Casimir is about to become the new BlueDragon Highlord (taking Kitiara’s place after shedies) so you better start printing his statistics.

4 APRIL 1995

Dear TSR,A friend and I while arguing a point while

elves or dwarves have better eye sight. (Nowdon’t think we didn’t have anything else to doalthough we really did not). Went to a friendshouse to see what race indeed had the bettereye sight and also to see who was going to makefun of the other over this whole issue. I don’tknow how we did it but we kind of stumbled onan idea for a game system and we decided totake this idea (me and my other 2 friends) andtake it further well any ways the idea is stillhere floating around and we still don’t knowwho has the better eye sight elves or dwarves.Well the purpose of this letter is to ask you ifyou are really interested in an idea for a gamesystem that might be a little expensive but wereally think it would sale if given the chance. Ifyou find time in you’re busy schedules pleasewrite back to me at the address which is at thebottom of this letter. Oh and if you can also beso kind as to answer the question that we are allurging to find the answer to (which race has thebetter eye sight Elves or Dwarves?) we wouldreally be happy.

Dear Dragon,In one of my adventuring groups I have a magic

user (level 35) that wants tenth level spells and Ihave allowed this by making the most powerfulspell Genie’s Wish which is where you cast itproperly there are no ill effects to the caster (but20% chance it will have ill effects on the wisher,the magic user cannot wish). I have also placedother limits including cannot have more then onetenth level spell at a time, takes 1 full day to mem-orize but they still abuse it. Can you give me someadvise other than getting rid of tenth level magicall together?

Dear: DragonWhat hapens to pc that have a baby?

To whom it may concern:I’ve created a do it yourself dance course viz:

If You Can Read, You Can Dance. Its so simple, ateenager can learn.

I’m looking for a publisher to buy it out right.Millions can be made if advertised on T.V.

I shall send a section of my dance course, anda comparative competitor’s version to prove thesimplicity of mine.

Dear Dragon,I am a big fan of Drizzt Do’Urden’s! I myself

feel he is the best swordsman, not only in the

FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting, but in all of theother campaign settings as well! I have a friendwho strongly disagrees with me! He is a big fanof Rikus, from the DARK SUN® setting! Heseems to think that Rikus, in battle with Drizzt,would kill Drizzt! Now I’m pretty sure mostpeople will agree with me when I say, “No manor woman is a match for the whirring scimitarsheld by the mighty Drizzt Do’Urden!” (I’m sorryMr. Greenwood but I dont think even the greatElminster would have a chance!) So it would beappreciated if you could please answer mydilemma so I could shut my friend up once andfor all!

Dragon,It seems, unless you have gotten word from

the artist, that you jump to conclusions when itcomes to the situation on the cover of issue 209.You say "... a cleric leans over to aid a fallencomerade, much to the chagrin of the ratsnearby who had other plans for the men." It'sobvious that the rats are hostile to the cloakedman, but nothing shows them to be malicious.Maybe the fallen cleric or mage was a followeror a lawful deity, for example, and had theenlistment of the rodents as defenders of the temple, where the purple-robed cleric held amagical key, an artifact which had been kept inthe temple for generations. When an opposingcleric trespassed inside the temple, the ratsattempted to warn the temple's keeper, but hewas busy in meditation. Summoning powerfrom a brass rod of great power, the offendingcleric absorbed the keeper's life energy in onebackstabbing attack. The cleric never saw theattack coming, and he collapsed on a table as the enemy cleric pilfered the magical glowingkey from the fresh corpse. The rats, crushedand furious at the loss of their lifelong friend and keeper, attempt to avenge his death, whilethe cleric readies his glowing rod to defend himself with.

Animals, even those magically bestowed witha spark of intelligence, are rarely "evil." If wejust take a look at the world from their perspec-tive, maybe we will stop the kind of pre-judgingthat causes disgusting things to happen, like theslaughtering of dragons who were simply tryingto defend their young.

Women on the Verge

. . . but as a writer one has to take thechance on being a fool. . .

Yes, to be a fool, that perhaps requiresthe greatest courage.

Anne Sexton

When Dale asked me to write an editori-al about women and role-playing games,that little voice inside my head was saying,“No, don’t do it, you’ll only set yourself upfor criticism.” It took the better part of myday, paging through back issues ofDRAGON® Magazine, to read all the lettersfrom women in the “Forum” section. Wom-en seem to have a lot of complaints as wellas compliments about role-playing games.True, we are less likely to buy productswith scantily clad women on them, afterall, not all of us are shaped like Playboycenterfolds. And yes, we sometimes getoutraged when we see women who aresupposed to be warriors wearing next tonothing. But aside from those issues, manywomen enjoy role-playing, run their owngame campaigns, work in hobby shops,and write fantasy, science fiction, andhorror stories and novels.

I never realized that some women feltalienated and discriminated against until Ibegan reading their comments. The abun-dance of letters clearly shows that femalegamers are not a rarity. Women who wantto get involved in RPGs but can’t seem tofind anyone interested should start theirown campaign, post flyers on bulletinboards at the local college or university, orask friends if they would be interested inplaying. Most college campuses have gam-ing clubs and people of all races, creeds,and colors participate.

Equality is an issue in everything thesedays. People shouldn’t expect to be treateddifferently simply because they’re female,African-American, skinny, or have purplehair. We all have to learn to look past ourdifferences, and understand that no one isbeing singled out because of some minordifference. The idea behind any game isenjoyment and imagination. If a company’sproduct or ideas anger you, write a letter tolet the company know. Voicing your angerleads to change, and the best way to achieveany type of equality is to let your voice be

heard and don’t let the big boys intimidateyou. Discrimination is sad regardless ofwhere you find it, but it is simply a fact oflife and something that we must deal with. Ifyou feel like you’re being left out on gamenight maybe it’s because people don’t thinkyou’re interested. Let them know that youare, and it’ll open up a whole new world ofadventure. If gaming sessions turn into thedating game, speak out—don’t assume theyknow, or that they act that way becauseyou’re female. Don’t play up the differences,stick to the similarities, because you don’thave to be one of the guys to enjoy thegame.

I read a letter (in issue #177) from awoman who said that her mere presencegenerated stares in a comic-book store. Inmy own experiences, I have never runinto any problems in comic/hobby shops.Most people welcome new players and aremore than happy to teach them the rules.The easiest way to overcome your fears isto just jump in and play. Sit in on a fewsessions until you get the hang of it, askquestions, and become involved. You’llmake some great friends and have a goodtime. Guys, keep in mind that the womenin your role-playing group are not there tobe picked up, they want to play the game.Becoming a good role-player has nothingto do with gender.

At one time there was a lack of strongfictional female characters. Lately it seemsthat the media is picking up on this and isportraying women in a new light. Just tunein to Star Trek: Voyager or The X-Files, rentvideos like Aliens or Terminator 2. When Iwas growing up the only fictional females Iwanted to be like were Princess Leia and theBionic Woman. When I was in college Idiscovered the comic book, Grendel. Themain character, Christine Spar, was a singlemom, and an independent, strong woman(she also kicked some serious butt!). Now,young women have a wide variety of fiction-al females to base role-playing characters on.

Other examples of strong female charac-ters can be found in TSR, Inc., products.The DRAGONLANCE® Saga has Goldmoonand Cymbelene, and The Simbul (Queen ofAglarond) is just one of many influentialwomen of the FORGOTTEN REALMS®

setting. Granted, you may have to searchfor fictional role models, but women havenot been passed over, and the gamingworld is slowly realizing this. I’ve noticedthat more women role-play now than everbefore. Maybe it’s because of the growingnumber of women writers or the fact thata variety of games are now available tosuit almost everyone’s needs. I know agroup of women who play West EndGames’ STAR WARS* RPG very week, andothers who play White Wolfs VAMPIRE:THE MASQUERADE* game. Men also arebecoming more open to the idea of womengamers (if they weren’t already). Gamesare meant to bring individuals together,not separate them

Women need to discover their ownvoices, and not just in fantasy, sciencefiction, and horror. Women writers aregrowing in numbers, and the majority ofthem are excellent story tellers. If youwant to write, pick up a copy of Writing aWoman’s Life by Carolyn G. Heilbrun, itwill point you in the right direction,

I love opening the mail here and findingan adventure proposal or letter from awoman, I only wish that more womenwould write. It is difficult to stand up andbe heard in a man’s world, but with sup-port and effort it can be done. Please startwriting and playing! Our road to equalityis not paved, but we can make it smootheras we travel.

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, Inc.

6 APRIL 1995

FIRST QUEST is the title of TSR, Inc.'s

Audio CD Introduction to Role-playing Game.This series is a feature where veterans of

role-playing describe their first experiencesin the hobby.

The ultimate act of defiance

by William W. Connors

You kids have got it easy! In my day,when we wanted to game we had to walk20 miles, uphill both ways, in the pouringrain, through the bad part of town, untilwe came to only hobby shop within 100miles that carried role-playing games.Then, if we knew the secret password,they’d let us in and maybe, just maybe, theowner would let us look at the gamesinstead of having his gorillas beat us upand throw us out in the mud.

Well, alright, maybe it wasn’t that bad. Imean, I never actually got beat up bygorillas. But the fact remains that thesedays, it’s not too hard to get involved withrole-playing games. After all, they’re onthe shelves of almost every major book-store or well-stocked hobby dealer. Manyschools have RPG clubs and games like theMAGIC: THE GATHERING* card gamehave introduced large numbers of peopleto the concept of fantasy games. When Istarted gaming, this just wasn’t the case.

Like a lot of people in those days, I gotinvolved in gaming after I discovered thatI could routinely beat everyone in myfamily and chess club at Risk. “There mustbe more,” I thought, “for a would-be globaldespot to do with his time.”

Somewhere, don’t ask me where, I hadstumbled across mention of something calledwar games, I didn’t know what they were,but they sounded like a step in the rightdirection. Determined to make something ofmyself, I sought out the largest hobby storein the area and boldly stepped in.

Only then did it dawn on me that I reallyhad no idea what I was looking for.

I flagged down one of the fellows work-ing behind the counter and asked himabout . . . war games. I suppose that I half-expected him to laugh at me or throw meout of his shop. Self-confidence was notmy big thing in those days. To my surpriseand delight, he did neither. Instead, heintroduced himself (his name was RobCaswell) and asked me if I’d ever heard of

8 APRIL 1995

role-playing games. I said no, we struck upa conversation, and before long I foundmyself invited to attend a gaming sessionthe very next day. Not knowing that itwould change my life forever, I thankfullyaccepted.

I arranged for my father to drop me offat the game. I told him that I’d call himwhen I needed a ride home and knockedon the door. To say the least, I was verynervous about meeting a whole bunch ofnew people.

To my surprise, everyone was friendlyand eager to welcome an outsider intotheir long-established group. (It wasn'tuntil later that I learned the truth of thematter: they had started gaming exactlyone week before!)

The game of the day was a brand newrelease from Fantasy Games Unlimitedcalled the STARSHIPS & SPACEMEN*game. As an avid reader of science fiction,I was delighted.

The referee, a fellow by the name of LarrySmith (not the one who works for DRAGON®and DUNGEON® Magazines), was an incredi-ble game master. To this day, I haven’t met hislike. He was able to incorporate countlesselements from books, television shows, andmovies without blinking. I found myselfrunning a vulcan armed with a variablesword and wearing the same powered armorI’d read about in Robert Heinlein’s StarshipTroopers.

It was all there, everything that I’d readabout and dreamed about for years! Theonly difference is that I was writing thestory. My decisions were vital to the out-come of the story. It was incredible.

Years (and countless games) later, I stillremember the details of that game as if ithad happened only yesterday. We wereexploring an alien base in the Altair sys-tem that was loosely based on the Krellcity in the movie Forbidden Planet. Themain difference was that this place wasdangerous! I found myself cutting down

triffids with my variable sword and care-fully outwitting infrared-targeting auto-mated lasers. There were lots of logicpuzzles to solve, bad guys to zap, andtreasures to be claimed.

Finally, we decided that it was time tocall a halt for the day. I looked up at theclock and saw that it was 4 o’clock in themorning. The game had started at noonand it seemed like we had only been play-ing for an hour or two.

Larry offered rides home to those of uswho were too young to drive and half anhour later I was back home. My fatherwas still awake, watching TV, and about asmad as I’d ever seen him. Only then did Iremember that I’d said I would call when Ineeded a ride home. He’d been up all nightwaiting for my call and I had forgotten allabout it.

I tried to explain, but it didn’t do muchgood. My father and I didn’t get along sowell in those days. His final words on thematter were “You’ll never do that again!”

I spent the next few days trying tosoothe dad’s ruffled feathers and eventu-ally managed to get his initial decisionreversed. When next week’s game rolledaround, Sub-Commander Pa-Kur wasthere, ready to rock.

I think I knew from that first game thatthis was going to be more than a hobby tome. Indeed, of the five or six people whoattended that game session, three of ushave gone on to publish gaming material.Larry did some work for FGU, Rob hasdone art for GDW’s TRAVELLER*, WestEnd’s STAR WARS*, and other SFRPGS,and I’m with TSR, Inc., now.

I’m sure there’s a lesson in proper par-enting and discipline somewhere in thisstory, but I’m just not sure who it’s for—me or my father.

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, Inc.

Throughspecial arrangement with Bargle theInfamous, renowned self-made archwi-zard, the BeB Magic Company presentsthe gift for the adventurer who has every-thing: Limited edition sets of the mostpopular magical rings and books tospring from his singular genius.

“Available now is The Bargle Magi-cal Ring Collection: Series One and TheBargle Magical Ring Collection: SeriesTwo. Each set of five rings comes in ahandsome, silk-lined oak box that com-plements any trophy chamber. Only 50sets will be produced, at which point thesecrets to their creation will be destroyed.

by Steven MillerArtwork by The Fillbäch Bros.

Each ring is individually numbered, andthe first 25 orders will receive a Pam-phlet penned by Bargle himself thatdescribes the rings in detail.

“Also available are collector’s editionsof Bargle’s best-selling self-help books.Social Advancement Through the Selec-tive Use of Charm and DisintegrateSpells, Bringing Out the Wizard in You:A Twelve Step Program, and The Ad-venturer’s Companion: The Do-It-Yourself Indestructible Spell Book, areall available in limited runs of 150.Each volume is autographed and hand-numbered by Bargle himself. As an addi-tional bonus, the limited editions of

The Adventurer’s Companion containsspells that are being made available tothe public for the first time!

“To order, or for additional informa-tion, contact your local geased BeB Mag-ic Company representative at the addresson the bottom of this leaflet. Please al-low six weeks to six months for deliveryon the Bargle Magical Ring Collections.Books will be delivered in six to tenweeks. Rush deliveries, teleportedstraight to your hometown in two weeks,are available for all items. Ask our localrepresentative for details.”

Bringing Out the Wizard in You and

often not even aware they exist. Thebooks are self-selling . . . or not, depend-ing on the PCs’ disposition and sense ofhumor.

Prices are listed below, both forcomplete sets and individual rings.Unnumbered rings may be had indi-vidually, although only in extremelylimited numbers, the salesman willclaim, although this is untrue; Barglehas been making rings of destructionfor the Iron Ring for years. Rush deliv-eries cost 6,000 gp extra. It is there-fore possible for the characters toencounter certain Bargle rings as partof a defeated villain’s treasure.

RingsThe gargle Magical Ring Collection:

Series One sells for 66,499 gp andSeries Two sells for 54,199 gp. (“Youcouldn’t get it cheaper if you raided atreasure hoard!”) However, as is truewith all collectibles, price doesn’t nec-essarily reflect utility.

Each ring has a serial number be-tween 1-50 engraved on the inside, aswell as other engravings as noted. If aPC purchases or otherwise acquires acomplete set, each ring in that set willbear the same number. It also is possi-ble for characters to encounter ringsof any type with no marks at all—Bargle had made several before com-ing up with the gimmick oflimited-edition runs.

BackgroundIn the final days of 1010 AC, Bargle

the Infamous left his post as magist toBaron Ludwig von Hendriks, takingwith him the baronial treasury. Thecunning wizard had long since seenthe proverbial writing on the wall,and when Hendriks was defeated byforces of the Five Shires, Bargle tookthe opportunity to move on to biggerthings.

Shortly before the outbreak of theGreat War that ravaged the KnownWorld, Bargle had enjoyed some finan-cial success by mass-producing self-help books on a magical printing pressof his own design. Using the moneystolen from the treasury, he foundedthe BeB Magic Company in DarokinCity and hired several wizards as as-sistants to try the same approach withmagic rings and rebound left-overcopies of his books. His primary mar-keting hook was that all these itemswere “limited editions” that were valu-able for that reason alone.

By early 1012 AC, BeB exploded ontothe scene with an advertising blitzthroughout eastern Brun. Known Worldor MYSTARA® player characters can’thelp but encounter BeB Magic Companyproducts and sales representatives.

Item descriptionsIf PCs seek out a BeB representative

(or if one seeks them out—adventurerswith bulging pockets attract them likeflies to honey) he describes the Barglelimited editions in the most glowing ofterms. He emphasizes the novelty anduniqueness of these rare magical trea-sures. (“Even the Emperor of Thyatisdoesn’t own a Bargle ring!“) If pressedby a pragmatic PC, he even tries tocome up with practical uses for therings, not always an easy feat. He nevermentions flaws with the items, as he is

12 APRIL 1995

For purposes of dispelling, the ringsfrom the Bargle Magical Ring Collec-tions range in effectiveness from 18thto 27th level (1d10 + 17). 18th levelrepresents the least powerful ofBargle’s assistants, 27th level is Barglehimself. Rings in a set were not neces-sarily enchanted by the same wizard,so the DM must roll individually foreach. Special conditions are noted inthe descriptions.

Set #1Invisible ring: This plain gold band is

inscribed with the words “InvisibleRing!” When worn, it becomes invisi-ble. That’s it, Sparky. The ring has noother function. Dispel magic at anylevel makes the ring visible again (ifyou care). Cost: 1,000 gp.

Ring of destruction: This iron ringinflicts 1d6 points of magical damageper hour on the wearer until dead.Once death has occurred, the ringcontinues to inflict damage until thesubject is at -20 hit points, at whichtime the corpse turns into a fine,chalky powder. Nothing short of awish can restore the individual to life

if this occurs. A dispel magic or re-move curse cast at any level is theonly way to neutralize the ring ofdestruction before the body becomesdust. Cost: 30,000 gp.

Ring of the eagle: Made from blackonyx, this ring allows the wearer topolymorph (as per the wizard spell,polymorph self) into a black eagle,once per day for up to six hours. Thisitem was originally commissioned byBaron von Hendriks (as the “Ring ofBlack Eagle”.) He possesses the onlyone that will be found outside thecollector’s sets. Cost: 10,000 gp.

Ring of fashion: When commandedwith the proper word (“snappy,” asengraved on the inside of the ring,)this plain silver band replaces what-ever the user is wearing with anydesired outfit short of true armor. Theclothes last until dispelled or the com-mand word is uttered again, at whichpoint the wearer’s original garb re-turns. This device will not function ifany type of armor is worn, and cannotproduce any clothing that improvesthe wearer’s armor class. Cost: 20,000gp.

Note: One in six of the collector’sedition rings of fashion are faulty, dueto their rushed production. Faultyrings have a 5% chance of dressingthe user in a garish jester costumethat lasts for 1d4 rounds. It then van-ishes, leaving the wearer stark naked.Whatever clothes that were worn(including magical girdles, boots,cloaks, hats, etc.) are lost forever.Small pieces of jewelry, such as rings,are not affected. The faulty ring losesits enchantment after malfunctioning.

Ring of ideas: Made from temperedsteel, the ring of ideas enables theuser to focus his mind (with a success-ful Intelligence check) and come upwith an excellent idea (provided bythe DM) relevant to the situation athand. It has six uses. Cost: 8,000 gp.

Note: The ring of ideas is the mostunreliable of all items created byBargle. Each time it is invoked, there isa 35% chance the user will be con-fused and feebleminded, as per thewizard spells. Only cureall or wish canreverse the effects.

Set #2Ring of circular curses: This ring is

usable only by spell-casting charac-ters. A single band looped twice andinscribed with “Power to Curse,” it letsthe wearer cast curse ld4 times per

day. However, the curse will affect thecaster as well as the target. Cost:50,000 gp.

Ring of gender confusion: This goldring, set with a large red stone is in-scribed with “It’s a Question of Self-Image.” When it is put on, the wearerthinks his sex has been changed to theopposite gender. However, this is just adelusion (as per the potion); thosearound the wearer will correctly claimthat she is the same gender as always.The effected character will remainfirm in his (her?) belief until subjectedto a successful dispel magic. Cost:10,000 gp.

Ring of impact: This brass ring gives+1 bonus on the wearer’s attack anddamage rolls during hand-to-handpunching attacks. It also gives +1 tothe target’s knock-out check. (Theoptional hand-to-hand combat rulescan be found on page 111 on theD&D® game’s Rules Cyclopedia.) Cost:15,000 gp.

Ring of kindness: This unadornedtin band causes the wearer to becomekindhearted to a fault. He will release

prisoners, sell his property and givethe money to a nearby orphanage oran unscrupulous character with aphony tale of woe, and other acts ofexcessive kindness. A special versionof charm person, the ring’s effect lasts1d40 days minus the wearer’s level, ona failed saving throw. The character isaffected for 1d40 hours minus hislevel if the save is successful. Dispelmagic negates the effect. Upon recov-ery, the victim is likely to seek outwhoever offered him that ring, hopingto take his losses out of the individual’shide. Cost: 5,000 gp.

Ring of languages: This platinumring is engraved with the words “TheGift of Gab.” The wearer can under-stand, read, write, and speak any lan-guage known by any creature within60’ of the ring. Cost: 5,000 gp.

Note: The limited edition variety ofthis ring also has a 10% chance offunctioning as a ring of truthfulness,due to the rushed process of creatingthem. This secondary function is un-detectable by analyze or identify.

BooksBeB touts Bargle’s self-help books as

the best-selling of their kind. Thisclaim is true, as they are the only onesof their kind. No other mage would bebrazen enough to put into writinghow he rose from orphaned streeturchin to powerful wizard withoutever setting foot inside a magic school.

BeB salespeople point out the beauti-ful binding of the limited edition vol-umes, (“It’s genuine synthetic dragonhide!“) and mention the critics thatcommented on the 1004 AC mass-market editions.

Each book is 8” X 11” and costs15,000 gp. Page counts for individualvolumes are given in the descriptions.

Bringing Out the Wizard in You: ATwelve Step Program (“A master-piece!” raved Otkel Shadowchaser ofthe Alphatian Book Review): This 196-page book is part autobiography, partpractical guide for working-class peo-ple trying to balance the day-to-daystruggle of survival with magical stud-ies. Using his own life-experiences asexamples, Bargle provides an excellentseries of stepping stones for the dedi-cated and talented peasant who’s re-ally a mage at heart.

Note: The limited edition of this book

DRAGON 13

includes Bargle’s first original spell,interpret writings. This 1st-level spell isa combination of read magic and readlanguages, and was created by Barglesoon after he stole his first magicprimer at age 14. This less-than-successful reinvention of the wheel isonly effective 50% of the time, whethercast on magical or non-magical script.

Social Advancement Through theSelective Use of Charm and Disinte-grate Spells (“The most significantwork since Marl’s ‘Enter the PurpleWorm’,” said A. Otto Erol of the Glantr-ian Free Press): This 253-page bookdetails how a mage might elevate him-self from lowly hedge wizard to kingand beyond. The author’s prefacestates it is a philosophical work, in-tended to alert rulers to what a magistmight be doing in the dark—not toinspire said magist to plot against hismaster. Nonetheless, this book wasbanned in Alphatia, Thyatis, and Wen-dar. On the other hand, in Glantri,Bargle was awarded an honorary de-gree from the Great School of Magic.

The Adventurer’s Companion: A Do-It-Yourself Indestructible Spell Book

(“If I had known earlier what I learnedfrom this book, that fire elementalwouldn’t have destroyed my spellbook, and I’d still know how to castgelatinous cube to gello. A must-havefor all wizards and magic-using elves,”said Alfric Tingard, editor-in-chief ofIerendi Adventures Quarterly): This60-page volume presents a series ofanecdotal mishaps with spell books,and Bargle’s research notes for a spellhe’s named steel spells. The purposeof this spell is to allow even wizards oflimited power to turn spell books intosmall (one-inch diameter) virtuallyindestructible steel medallions. Byuttering a command word, the medal-lion turns into a spell book and visaversa. Whereas the earlier editions ofthis book only provided readers withBargle’s research notes (thus requiringreaders to come up with their ver-sions of the spells,) the collector’s edi-tion provides the finished spell! (“Asalways, Bargle the Infamous is work-ing for the betterment of wizardseverywhere!”)

Note: steel spells is a 2nd-level spellthat will indeed transform any spellbook into a steel medallion (engravedwith the symbol or words of the cast-

er’s choice.) A command word mustbe uttered to change the medallion toa book and back again. What isn’tmentioned in Adventurer’s Compan-ion, however, is that any dispel magicattack, regardless of caster levels, willmake the steel spells enchantmentirreversible. This, of course, is excep-tionally inconvenient if the mage uponwhom dispel magic was cast happenedto be wearing his transformed spellbook around his neck. At DM’s option,this flaw in the spell may be recog-nized by PCs who carefully readBargle’s research notes and make asuccessful Intelligence check.

ConclusionHopefully, DMs running magic-rich

campaigns will find the BeB MagicCompany a useful model for magicshops that carry anything but girdlesof giant strength—there’s nothing likesaddling the PC looking for a ring ofinvisibility with an invisible ring. Atthe very least, there are one or tworings in this article that can shake upjaded players—and bring happy smilesto everyone’s faces (or at least theDM’s face).

14 APRIL 1995

©1995 by Spike Y. Jones

Photography by Charles Kohl

Inner City Game Designs should be easy to find in any gamer�sP.O.Box 345 home, at a total cost of $10.95, theGrayslake IL 60030 FUZZY HEROES game is probably(708) 336-Q790 going to be the least expensive minia-

#7101 FUZZYHEROES* game tures game you�ll ever come across.

Now the rules come in. Each stuffedby Christopher Clark, 1992 animal or plastic toy is assigned rat-

ings in six statistics: Energy Points (EP:It may not seem like it at first

glance, but the FUZZY HEROES gameis a set of miniatures war game rules,pretty much the same as any other. [Editor’s note: Awhile back, regularInstead of hordes of 15-mm Napoleon- DRAGON® Magazine contributor Spikeic figures fighting across a felt-covered Jones sent in these reviews. I thoughttabletop, it features plush animals (the that DRAGON readers would like toFuzzy Heroes) in a war against hard- read about these products, but I didn’tplastic action figures (the Renegade want to bump—an editor’s term mean-Boy Toys), using the terrain of the ing “replace”—any of our other reviewbedroom, or the floor of the play- columns for this admittedly light-room. hearted topic. (After all, these games

The FUZZY HEROES game comes in we play are a very serious matter,a nicely-produced 80-page book, right?) I was in a quandary. Then Iperfect-bound, with holes pre-drilled thought of the perfect place for thisto fit a standard three-ring binder. The column: the April issue! Enjoy. —Dale]cover and interior feature cartoon-style artwork (by Jon Niccum), most ofwhich are mere decoration, but a fewof which do happen to illustrate rulespoints from the text. The layout issimple and quite readable (althoughthe text does suffer from typo prob-lems), and the table of contents iscomplete (making the lack of an indexonly a minor quibble). The materialsneeded for play are basically the sameas for any other miniatures game:some 6-sided dice, rulers/tape mea-sures, figures (plush and plastic toys),terrain (pillow mountains, sock rocks,etc.), paper & pencils, and a playingsurface. Since all of these materials

Role-playing games' ratings

Not recommended

Poor, but may be useful

Fair

Good

Excellent

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the loss of which causes a character tofall asleep, making him a terrain obsta-cle), a Defensive Classification (DC: thenumber an attacker must beat on aroll of 3d6 to hit), a Movement Allow-ance (MA: a number of inches move-able each turn), Number of Attacks(#/Att.), Energy Dice (ED: damagerolled for successful attacks), andTerrain Effects (TE). Determining allthese stats is a simple procedure re-lated to the specifics of each stuffedanimal in use, i.e., the �maximum lin-ear measurement� of a toy determinesits EP, MA (which can be modified bymovement-related features, such as atoy having running shoes or no legs),and DC (which is then modified by itsmain color). Thus, the new stuffedtiger (�Tiggey�) my wife gave me forChristmas this past year would have 8EP, a MA of 18�, and a DC of 9 (10 forlength, -1 for being mostly orange), a#/Att. of 4/turn (for having four legsand a tail), an ED of 2 (he�d have hadmore if he�d been constructed withvisible claws or teeth), and as for TE,Tiggey is affected normally by all ex-cept Mountains, because tigers aregood at leaping and jumping.

In the combat section, the game�sminiatures-gaming roots become ap-parent: in order to attack anotherHero �the attacking Fuzzy Hero mustbe in range, have the proper facing,have line-of-sight, and declare his at-tack�. All of these conditions can bedetermined pretty easily (�Are theywithin 6� of each other? Are theyfacing each other?�), and then theattacker rolls 3d6 for each of this

DRAGON 17

Hero’s #/Attacks, and for each of theserolls that exceed the defender’s DC theattacker rolls damage dice equal to theattacker’s ED; each odd number rolledsubtracts one EP from the victim (thatis a 1, 3, or 5 subtract only 1 EP each,not 1, 3, or 5 EP).

Of course, it couldn’t be as easy asthat. There also are the game’sAdvanced Rules, which add such op-tions as Vehicles, Climbing, Retreating,Fatigue, Morale, Special Attacks (Tiggey would be able to use a stunningSonic Attack because he belches (it’ssupposed to be a roar) when yousqueeze him), Weapon-Use, Armor,and the dreaded Beguiling BreakawayBonus Blanket Bounce. And thenthere’s rules for building, besieging,storming, and undermining fortifica-tions. There also is a chart that can beused to balance the strength of oppos-ing forces by calculating point valuesfor various Attribute levels and specialpowers, and either adjusting powersto even things out, or modify the sce-nario played to give the underdogmore lenient victory conditions. Thegame’s authors recommend that youuse the Advanced Rules sparingly, asthere are lots of them, and it wouldforce the players to refer to the bookmuch more frequently than usualduring play. I also recommend thatthese rules be used only when all ofthe players are adults (or nearly so),or if any children playing are fullycomfortable with the basic rules.

Although FUZZY HEROES gamesessions would provide a hardcoreminiatures player with a much-neededbreak, the primary purpose of thisgame is to introduce non-gamers tothe miniatures hobby. While “non-gamers” usually refers to the friends,co-workers, and spouses of gamers inother reviews of “introductory”games, in this case, the definition mustalso be expanded to include children,nieces/nephews, etc. The subject mat-ter, a war between heroic stuffedanimals and villainous action figures,is something that youngsters have notrouble understanding, and the BasicRules are simple and short enoughthat children down to the recom-mended age of six should have notrouble playing as long as their paren-tal assistants are on hand. Not onlydoes this help ensure that there’ll be anext generation of miniatures players,but it also gives the present generationan activity in common with their kids(or grandkids!), which can be a rarething indeed. Still, a slightly more

18 APRIL 1995

basic version of the rules that wouldhave allowed these young kids to playon their own once the game was setup would have been nice.

Finally, there is a complete scenario(“They’ve Kidnapped Santa!”) thatmakes use of many of the AdvancedRules to serve as an introduction tothem. The adventure comes completewith multiple factions within the twomain forces (to allow for more thantwo players), varying victory condi-tions, and strategic notes. Unfortu-nately, it also comes with theassumption that the players will havethe same mix of stuffed animals andplastic toys as the authors, and fullyten pages of the book are taken up byCharacter Forms for the Heroes andRenegades involved in this scenario.

But what’s the biggest problem withthe FUZZY HEROES game? Well, justas most miniatures games recreate aspecific event or era in history, and itbehooves a Napoleonics player toknow a bit about the Napoleonic Wars,the FUZZY HEROES game comes withits own “canned” history that you getto recreate (and expand upon) in play.Throughout the book there are narra-tive sections that describe battles be-tween the Fuzzy Heroes ofFrolicHaven (under good King Swine-heart) and the Renegade Boy Toys(under the evil Eye King). Unfortu-nately, while reading some of theseshort bits can be fun, the more ofthem I came across, the more I skim-med over them; I just didn’t care allthat much about the deliberations ofKing Swineheart’s Court before theywent to the field to play-out a battle. Ifyou aren’t interested in reading howsome other group of players mighthave role-played events in the back-ground of their own adventures, thenthis material becomes filler.

Still, ignoring a few pages of dubiousvalue, and assuming that the playersare going to be able to figure out justhow many complications they canmanageably add to their play sessions,the FUZZY HEROES game makes for agood, inexpensive, and fun game that“can be enjoyed by the whole family”(as the books back cover puts it).

#7102 FUZZY SOOPER HEROES*gameby Christopher Clark, 1993

What do you do when you’ve mas-tered all the Advanced Rules in theFUZZY HEROES game? You add awhole new set (with a somewhat dif-

ferent flavor) from the FUZZYSOOPER HEROES rules. Like the firstvolume, this supplement is 80 perfect-bound pages long, drilled for a 3-ringbinder, and again priced at $10.95.

The premise of this book is thatsome of the Fuzzy Heroes have comeacross some funny costumes thatgrant the wearers sooper powerswhen worn. These discoveries aredescribed in some more lengthy nar-ratives (in fact, there are more ofthem here than there were in FUZZYHEROES) and many of the Jon Niccumcartoons throughout illustrate scenesfrom the narratives.

In order to convert a normal FuzzyHero (or Renegade) into a Sooper He-ro, he must possess (and wear) amask, cape, and emblem of some sort,all of which can be as simple as apiece of masking tape stuck onto theappropriate part of the toy, or as com-plicated as a fully-fitted sewn costume.If a toy qualifies, it automatically getsa set of Sooper Attributes (which areidentical for all Sooper Heroes, andhigher than for normal toys), somecommon Sooper Powers (Flight,Sooper Strength, and the ability todirectly attack buildings and vehicles),an individual Sooper Power based onthe costume’s main color (so that Air-bear, a superhero bear I sewed formyself as a kid, would have the “Ballis-tic Weapon Energy Absorption” powerbecause of his mostly-red costume),and a special “trademark ability” cho-sen by the player (such as fire- or ice-breathing, or Size Control, which canonly be taken if the player has severaldifferent-sized versions of the sametoy to use to represent the Hero grow-ing or shrinking). Some of the powershave silly components (to activate theReflection power, the player must say“I’m rubber, you’re glue. Whateveryou do bounces off me and sticks toyou.”), but are generally simpleenough that young players are goingto understand them (although adultswill still have to participate to keeptrack of the rules).

While the Sooper Powers them-selves are just an extension of theAdvanced Rules options in the FUZZYHEROES game, there is one majorchange to the rules. In addition togaining special powers, Fuzzy SooperHeroes adopt a chivalric code of con-duct called the W.A.S.H. (“Words At-tributable to Sooper Heroes”). As aresult, Fuzzy Sooper Heroes find itdifficult to retreat from combat, theymust always attack their strongest

enemies first, and they must alwayslook for opportunities to use “BuddyTalk” to convert an opponent to theirside in a conflict without need of com-bat. In addition, such activities as at-tacking a foe while he’s down andtaunting defeated enemies are prohib-ited. To enforce these role-playing-likeinjunctions, a system of penalties andrewards is introduced: Heroes can beawarded Chivalry Points for “conspic-uous chivalry” with the agreement ofthe other players, and they can beused to improve dice rolls and Attrib-ute scores in play. The penalty forbreaking the code of conduct is forthe offending toy to be “outcast” fromFuzzy Hero society, being “placed backin the toy box until they regain theirsenses”.

In addition, there are rules given forrunning tournaments that includeinternal restrictions, such as the pro-hibition of “secret tournaments” (alltournaments must be publicly pro-claimed and no prospective contestantcan be turned down), the requirementthat safe-conduct passes be issued toall participants, the necessity for tangi-ble rewards (such as special weaponsor deeds to land) to be issued, and the

idea that tournament grounds are“neutral territory,” all of which comewith penalties for infringements. As asubset of the new tournament rules,there are also rules for Jousting, Pugil-ism, and other contests of skill orpower.

To finish up the book, another com-plete adventure (“The Assault on Cas-tle Stuffmore”), and the CharacterForms for the 36 Fuzzy Heroes andRenegades (taking up 12 pages) areincluded, as well as a two-page sum-mary of charts from the originalFUZZY HEROES book.

There are two main effects of theaddition of this chivalric code and ofChivalry Points. The first is that theauthors hope to instill the rules of fair-play into young players. For the firsttime, there’s a set of game rules whichspecifically say that there is a penalty(having your toy taken out of play) forpoor sportsmanship, and a reward(Chivalry Points) for playing within thespirit of the game. And the fact thatChivalry Points can be awarded onlyupon the unanimous agreement of allthe players should quickly teach co-operation to players.

The second effect is that, by adding

a method whereby players can perma-nently increase the Attributes of their“characters,” and by making rulesabout conduct within the game’s back-ground (i.e., rules like the safe-conduct to tournaments, whichgovern events outside of the conflictthat the war game portion of the rulesgoverned), the FUZZY SOOPER HE-ROES rules has turned the FUZZYHEROES game into a role-playinggame. Thus, all of the use that couldhave been made of the original gameto introduce children to the minia-tures war gaming hobby, can now beturned towards introducing them toRPGs.

Although the percentage of “fluff”text in the FUZZY SOOPER HEROESbook was even higher than that in theFUZZY HEROES game, the remainingtext was useful, and it added an en-tirely new dimension to the game.While not perfect, this is definitely abook to buy if you liked the FUZZYHEROES game.

Note: Inner City Games also hasFUZZY HEROES plush animals availa-ble for use in the game.

20 APRIL 1995

rom one of the authors of Factol’sManifesto comes details on a few fac-tions for the PLANESCAPE™ setting

that have died out over the years.Here are the details of the factions,written when they were still goingconcerns. Common knowledge saysthat they have all been extinct for along time—and maybe it’s better thatway. (Of course, common knowledgehas been wrong before.)

The Beautification League(The Decorators)

A mauve claw would look simplylovely over that archway!

Factol Dionystan ofthe Beautification League

Faction philosophy: This factionbelieves the multiverse is a place to beenjoyed, and they see it as their dutyto help everybody to enjoy it by “beau-tifying” it. These berks will take anyopportunity to paint a wall, hang apicture, rearrange furniture, plant agarden, or any of a dozen other thingsto increase the charm of a place. Thisincludes them telling a cutter whatthey really think about a body’sclothes, hairstyle, and home.

Here’s the chant: by beautifying themultiverse, a body pleases the powers,or whatever stands behind the powersand pulls their strings. Even the mostoffensive individual can be broughtaround to happiness and goodness ifonly given a nice place to live andtrendy clothes—and maybe a goodbath and a thorough makeover. Well,these are the cutters who are going tobring the change around, whether

22 APRIL 1995

anybody else likes it or not.It’s not that these berks are

militant—but they are persistent. Theyfigure they know the dark of howthings should look, and everyone elsehad better listen. A body who doesn’tlisten to their advice ought to watchout. The Beautification League mightsneak up one night and do someredecorating—or they might just de-cide a cutter “doesn’t fit the colorscheme” and eliminate him.

The Decorators seem to have a spe-cial grudge against the sods and bar-mies of Sigil, because they tend toclutter up the landscape, and they'vegot a general order to get rid of allthey see. The nicer Decorators mightbring the unfortunates to a placewhere they can be kept or even reha-bilitated, but the nastier bashers ofthe Beautification League have been toremove such “eyesores” permanently.

The Beautification League has beenworking on Sigil for years, and while afew smart-mouth bashers might saythat’s why the city looks the way itdoes, the truth is that the Decoratorshaven’t accomplished much. Theyhave two big problems. First, theplanes are just too big (try watchinginfinite color schemes!), and notenough people care to help the Deco-rators, especially in places like Baator.

Second, the Decorators don'talways agree, and they oftenargue among themselves.

annoying in the extreme, and want toput all of them in the dead-book. [Edi-tor’s Note: This is exactly what hap-pened, too.]

Eligibility: Evil characters can’tjoin this faction; as the Decorators putit, their taste is “tres gauche.” Otherthan that, anybody can join the Beauti-fication League.

Benefits: A Decorator can tell in-stantly when something is out ofplace. When a member of the factionenters a room, the DM should make aWisdom check for the character; if thecheck succeeds, the character instant-ly notices any secret or concealeddoors in the room.

Restrictions: A Decorator alsonotices when other things are out ofplace, or if they aren’t aestheticallypleasing—and the Decorator can’t helptelling a body about it either. Thismakes them annoying, and a memberof the Beautification League suffers a-3 penalty to Charisma.

The Free Flora Collective(The Veggies, The TreeLeague

Primary plane ofinfluence: The Decoratorsmaintain a small, tastefullyembellished abode in Arborea.They could have chosen any

plane, but Mechanus was “tooboring.” the Abyss “simplydisgusting,” Pandemonium “fartoo windy,” and so forth. In Sigil,the Beautification League makes i t s h e a d q u a r t e r s i n t h eGrand Gardens.

Allies and enemies: The Decora-tors get along famously with the Sen-

sates, who can experience whateverthe Decorators create. The Decoratorsthink most of the other factions needa little more class, especially the Wiz-ards of the Black Teddy (see below).

The Doomguard have a certain ad-miration for the Beautification League,which contributes to entropy theyfeel. The Bleakers are annoyed by thecheerful attitude of the Decorators,and the Dustmen think them frivo-lous. The Mercykillers find them

Stop eating our immobile brethren!Stop using our limbs as weapons!

Factol Rose Amaryllisof the Free Flora Collective

Faction philosophy: The mem-bers of this faction are convinced thatwalking plants are destined to rule themultiverse. Of course, that’s mainlybecause the high-up men of the FreeFlora Collective are actually high-upplants. The chant goes like this: ani-

b y T i m B e a c h

Artwork by Tim Beach & Larry Smith

Flora Collective nearby. See, since theFree Flora Collective believes in thesuperiority of plants, they try to stopanyone and everyone from harmingplants. While they’re mostly con-cerned with intelligent plants, theyalso try to protect their “unenlight-ened and soil-bound cousins.”

One of the Veggies’ ongoing projects isto kill all the herbivores they can find.This not only protects plants, but once itbegins to work—they say—the carni-

mals live by killing, while plants liveby digesting the rotting remains ofonce-living beings. These berks(barks?) say this makes plants a superi-or form of life.

The Free Flora Collective, though,has decided to take the battle to theanimals, and are an armed and radicalbunch. A berk who goes around cut-ting down trees, or trampling on thegrass, or eating salads, had betterhope there’s not a member of the Free

vores and omnivores will be forced to They are said to have plants in everyfeed on each other, until the animals other faction headquarters, wherewipe themselves out. they can sow the seeds of revolt.

Primary plane of influence: TheVeggies are said to have headquartersin the Beastlands, where they huntherbivores, and in Bytopia, wheretheir freedom fighters work to stopthe depredations of the woodcuttersof Dothion. They don’t have a head-quarters in Sigil, though they are saidto have “branches” in various gardensscattered around the city.

Allies and enemies: The FreeFlora Collective considers all otherfactions to be their enemies, mainlybecause the other factions don’t allowsentient plants, but they do allowbashers that eat plants, or cut themdown for firewood. The Veggies havea special hatred for the BeautificationLeague, who regard their kind asmere decoration, and often confinethem to pots or fenced plots of landwith poor soil and lighting.

Most other factions are unaware ofthe existence of the Veggies. Thosethat are aware regard them as prettyludicrous. The Veggies just don't fitinto the philosophies of most other factions. There are some Sensates who like talking to the Veggies, so they can

Restrictions: Like the faction’sbenefits, its restrictions are based onthe species of the members. There aresome places a plant can’t go, and thereare some things a plant can’t do. Forexample, it’s nearly impossible for atreant to impersonate a dwarven am-bassador and crash a swanky party. Inaddition, most humanoids have littlerespect for walking plants, and theytend to regard them as ambulatorykindling.

The Herbivorous Assembly(The Vegetarians)

animals can’t be hunted for any rea-son, for food, or to provide raw mate-rials for clothing, or for any otherreason. Rabid Vegetarians have beenknown to attack unlucky sods just forwearing leather. A cutter can’t expectto advance very far in the ranks of theHerbivorous Assembly if he wearsleather or any other product takenfrom an animal.

One day, says the Herbivorous As-sembly, when every living being in themultiverse has given up eating meat,everyone will live in peace and harmo-ny, and the dark of everything will berevealed.

Of course, this means the Herbivo-rous Assembly also is devoted to wip-ing out all carnivores. However, theycan fight predators only when thosepredators attack innocent herbivores.Thus, a lot of Vegetarians hang aroundin the forests of the various planes,watching herds of plant-eaters, wait-ing for a predator to attack.

Primary plane of influence: The

Vegetarians have a headquarters inthe Beastlands. In Sigil, they run a chain of "health food" inns, where"gourmet vegetarian dishes" are pre-pared .

Allies and enemies: The Vegetari-ans try to get along with most of the other factions, though they have a strong distaste for the Wizards of theBlack Teddy, because of the excessive

amounts of leather they wear. (It's not

come to understand “the plight of theplant,” and the Xaositects like pullingthe leaves off Veggies. The biggestenemy of the Free Flora Collective,though, is the Herbivorous Assembly(see below).

Eligibility: Only an intelligent,mobile plant can become a member ofthe Free Flora Collective. The factionalso allows a few associate members:cutters (not leaf cutters) who arepurely carnivorous, and who sympa-thize with the Veggies’ quest for free-dom from oppression. As a bodymight suspect, there aren’t a lot ofassociate members.

Benefits: The Veggies gain benefitsaccording to their species: they canusually hide among humanoids, sincefew humanoids recognize them asintelligent beings. Thus, a member ofthe Free Flora Collective can hide inthe corner, looking like a potted plant,and eavesdrop on a conversation.Though Veggies usually consider suchduty degrading, they understand itsvalue in building a vast log of informa-tion, and they have established a spynetwork known as “the Grapevine.”

24 APRIL 1995

Be kind to the animals. Or else.Factol Du’liddel of

the Herbivorous Assembly

Faction philosophy: The Herbiv-orous Assembly consists of berks whohave decided to never eat meat. Andthey think nobody else should be eat-ing meat, either. They think the darkof the multiverse is that the so-calleddumb animals are the repositories ofgreat wisdom. Oh, maybe not all ani-mals are fonts of knowledge, but someare, and it’s better to not eat any ofthem. If a cutter (a leaf cutter, in thiscase) can live in harmony with theanimals, talk to the animals, then she’lllearn the dark of things.

So, the Vegetarians don’t eat ani-mals, though a few namers in thefaction might eat some animalproducts, like milk, cheese, or eggs.And to make sure they can get alongwith the animals some day, they haveto keep others from eating them orbothering them as well. This means

that the Black Teddy wizards wearlarge amounts—pieces—of leather;they don’t. It’s just that leather is allthey wear.) The Vegetarians also goaround rattling their bone-boxes aboutthe evils of eating meat, and annoyingalmost everybody.

Most factions consider the Vegetari-ans to be pretty harmless, if a littlebarmy. The Sensates think their viewsare too restrictive: to really experiencelife, one should eat a few animals, saythe Sensates; this makes the Vegetari-ans think ill of them. The Dustmenthink the Vegetarians are all barmy;death is a part of life, and hunting andkilling a part of the grand scheme.Finally, the Veggies have a very strongdislike of the Vegetarians, and the twofactions have constant skirmishes inSigil and elsewhere. Lately, the Veggieshave begun attacking inns run by theVegetarians, to “free political pris-oners.” [Editor’s note: Eventually, theHerbivorous Assembly and the FreeFlora Collective declared war on one

another and wiped each other out.]

Eligibility: Anybody can join theHerbivorous Assembly, as long as theynever eat meat again. The faction isopen to all races and alignments, buthumans and elves fill most of theirranks.

Benefits: A Vegetarian gains theranger’s ability to befriend and calmanimals. A Vegetarian ranger gets afree nonweapon proficiency in AnimalTraining.

The Wizards of the BlackTeddy(The Babes)

Restrictions: A Vegetarian cannever attack an animal, but can de-fend himself or another animal. Thishas been the cause of much conster-nation to adventuring members (andtheir companions), because the Vege-tarian is restricted from helping inmany combat encounters. They candefend companions from predators,but won’t help anyone who eats meat,because it’s a fight between predators. Sure, it’s a little cold, but it’s better

protection than any armor:Factol Elle McFearsome of

the Wizards of the Black Teddy

They’re babelicious!Innumerable male cutters and bashers

Faction philosophy: Basically, theWizards of the Black Teddy are benton domination—of the planes, and ofanyone who gets in their way. As faras these cutters are concerned, themultiverse is messed up because it ismostly controlled by addle-covedmales. To solve all the problems, themultiverse must be ruled by females.As their name implies, the Wizards ofthe Black Teddy have two primarymethods for accomplishing their goal:magic and, well, their rather obviouscharms, made more obvious by allur-ing attire—mostly leather. The Babesaren’t murderous, like the Mercykil-lers. They’d prefer a lot of submissiveservants to a handful of corpses.

The chant says this faction sprangfrom a group called the Wizards ofthe Black Robes, on some backwaterprime named Krynn. Tired of beingignored by men who felt superior byvirtue of their gender, a group ofwomen broke off from these robedwizards and formed their own group.They found that with a judiciouschange of attire, they were no longerignored, and they could befuddle thesimple-minded males they dealt with.

Later, a powerful female entity vis-ited Krynn, and a lot of these femalewizards decided to join her cause, andthen went to live on the planes. There,with their goal of gaining power, espe-cially for women, they found manywilling recruits. More than a few fe-male wizards joined their number, andquickly ascended to the rank of Mis-tress (the equivalent of the factors ofother factions). These Mistresses aretotally devoted to the Lady of Pain andhave led the faction to a strong posi-tion in Sigil.

Primary plane of influence: TheWizards of the Black Teddy have aheadquarters in Baator, specifically inthe dungeons of Maladomini, wherethey give lesser fiends something tofear. The chant says there are hun-dreds of males chained to walls be-neath Maladomini, where the Wizardsof the Black Teddy can whip them intoshape.

Allies and enemies: This faction’sallies and enemies can’t always becategorized; that is, part of a factionmight hate them, while other mem-bers like them. For the most part,males of most species don’t have too

26 APRIL 1995

much of a problem with the Babes— The Apathetic Alliance(The Apathetics)for blatantly obvious reasons—but

some females do. However, the Sen-sates like the sensual nature of theWizards of the Black Teddy, and theCiphers admire their individuality. TheDustmen ignore them. The Anarchistsare fond of the Babes because they aredisruptive to other factions, and theGuvners see the Wizards of the BlackTeddy as a potential threat to theirpower structure.

Eligibility: The Wizards of theBlack Teddy have four somewhat unu-sual membership requirements. First,all are wizards of one kind or another;generalist, dual-classed, multi-classed,and specialist wizards are allowed.Second, only females of any speciescan join. Third, they can’t be good inalignment. And finally, to be a Wizardof the Black Teddy, a sorceress musthave a Charisma score of at least 13.This is one of the few factions thataccepts fiends as members; there aremore than a few erinyes and succubiin their ranks, not to mention a lot oftieflings.

Benefits: The Babes are very dis-tracting; males who see them tend toforget what they’re doing, what they-’re saying, where they’re going, whothey are, and so forth. When fightingone of the Wizards of the Black Teddy,a male of any species, intelligent orunintelligent (most of the Babes wouldargue that there’s no such thing as anintelligent male), has to make success-ful Wisdom check, or he can’t bringhimself to strike her. For monsterswithout a Wisdom score, roll 3d6 todetermine a score for any creaturewith Intelligence of 5 or more; forothers, use the creature’s Intelligencescore.

Restrictions: One detriment tobelonging to this faction is that otherfemales usually don’t like the Babes,and they go around calling them “trol-lops” or worse. The real disadvantage,though, is the, well, uniform (such asit is) of the Babes. To say the least, it’sa bit drafty. A Wizard of the BlackTeddy suffers a permanent -1 penal-ty to her Constitution score due togetting chilled easily.

Who cares?Drevis of the Apathetic Alliance

Faction philosophy: This factiondoesn’t so much have a philosophy asit has a way of life: they don’t careabout anything. They don’t go aroundtelling other people not to care, andthey don’t try to explain why nobodyshould care—they just don’t carethemselves. And most Apathetics don’tgo around doing much, or even goaround at all.

There are a few namers in the Apa-thetic Alliance who use that as anexcuse to do whatever they want.These bashers are a danger tothemselves and others, but usuallydon’t last for very long: either someoneputs them in the deadbook, or they stopcaring enough to keep moving.

The Apathetic Alliance started oneday when a Bleaker and a Dustmanwere talking philosophy. Both fell intoa deep depression, and both stoppedcaring about most everything. Theystopped going to their faction meet-ings and stopped wearing faction col-ors. After a while, their “new”philosophy spread, and other apa-thetic types started hanging aroundwith them.

While Apathetics occasionally dis-cuss philosophy with other factionmembers, the conversation usuallyends with “Who cares?” The rest ofthe time, most Apathetics just sitaround, in an almost catatonic silence.If their faction were to go away, fewwould notice and fewer would care.

Primary plane of influence: NoApathetic has ever bothered to build aheadquarters, so they don’t have one.

They also don’t have a factol, becausenobody cares enough to lead the restof them in just not caring about any-thing. To join the Apathetic Alliance, abody just needs to stop expressing aninterest in anything, dress in black,and to start hanging around in darkcoffee-houses with other Apathetics.

Allies and enemies: The Apa-thetic Alliance doesn’t see much pointto having allies, but they don’t seemuch of a point to anything, really.They also can’t raise enough feelingabout any of the other factions toconsider any of them enemies either.Oh, some grumble a little about theGuvners, who see a point to every-thing, and a few can muster a littleadmiration for the carefree Xaositects,but most Apathetics just keep to them-selves.

Most of the other factions ignore theApathetics—as the factol of the Atharonce said, “Who cares about the Apa-thetics?” Still, the Bleakers and theDoomguard have some admiration fortheir philosophy. The Dustmen alsoshare some common ground, sincethey believe there is nothing in life tocare about (except death, of course).The Sensates find the attitude of theApathetics incomprehensible, and theGuvners deplore the Apathetic Alli-ance’s disregard for laws (and foreverything else). The Signers have alittle admiration for the Apathetics,because of their rarely exhibitedpower of mind over matter (see Bene-fits below), but don’t appreciate theApathetic philosophy.

Eligibility: Anybody can join theApathetic Alliance, though most arebetter suited to the Bleakers, Doom-guard, Dustmen, or Xaositects.

Benefits: The Apathetics, sincethey don’t care about anything, tendnot to notice most things. Therefore,they are completely immune to attacksfrom normal weapons. Only a spell ora magical weapon can attract enoughof their attention to actually causethem damage.

Restrictions: An Apathetic doesn’tcare enough to adventure, or to takepart in any kind of communication orcombat. To actually participate in anencounter, an Apathetic must exert hiswillpower, represented by making aWisdom check; only if the check suc-ceeds can the Apathetic draw a weap-on or otherwise act.

28 APRIL 1995

If I Only Had a Brain(or “Illithid’s Lament”)

For the AD&D®game(with apologies to the Scare-crow from the Wizard of Oz)

I could while away the hoursPolishing my powersInflicting lots of pain.

But I’ve nothing in my tummy,Some gray matter would be yummyIf I only had a brain.

I would start out with a mindblast(That always takes ‘em out fast),Their intellects I’d drain.

M y c h o p s I ' d b e l i c k i n ’ —Some may say it tastes like chicken—If I only had a brain.

Oh, ICan tell you whyAlthough it hurts me to the very core.In the past I’d eat those tasty brains

galore.Now I’m too fatTo use the door.

Now in order to get thinner,Just a lobe or two for dinner.This diet is insane.

But the day I am slimmer,I’ll set my biggest pot to simmerAnd I’ll have myself a brain!

DRAGON 31

You know I'm right

(with apologies to America)

I never believed in gamesWhere cards were the keyI said if I can’t roll diceThen how can it be? No, no MAGICNo MAGIC for me.Then I played it.I really adored it.It took my cash.I couldn’t afford it.I’ll tell you now what it’s all about:This game ICouldn’t live without.

You can play MAGIC.You can buy any card that you desire.MAGIC.And you can trade for those you can-not just acquire.

You can play all night.On the weekends, too.

Though you’ve got your deck,Your life’s a wreck.Your other friends forget ‘bout you.

Doo doo doo doo doo diDoo doo doo doo doo diDoo doo doo doo doo diDoo doo doo doo doo.

And though you don’t want to,You should try to break free.I know that it’s hard to do,But I made it happen for me.

You can play MAGIC.Or you can have yourself a date or

two.Without MAGIC.Now you have cash again, and time to

spend it, too.

You know darn wellAddictions can be hell.Take a tip from me:Set your cards on fireAnd retire.Where did you put that RPG?

I kill baatezuWith my talons cruel and mighty.Your armor they will penetrate.I have no fear of weapons,Magic is my bane.It’s order and it’s goodness I disdain.I am a vrock.I’m a tanar’ri.Don’t talk of mercy.Well, I’ve heard those pleas before,The weeping of my enemies.I won’t forget my ordersOr what I want to do—Just sink my beak and claws right into

you.

campaign setting(with apologies to

Simon and Garfunkel)

Abyssal dayFor a vulturous tanar’ri. I fight the Blood War,Circling my victimsCringing far below.The look upon their faces shows they

knowI am a vrock.I’m a tanar’ri.32 APRIL 1995

(with apologies to Liza Minelli,Frank Sinatra, et al)

Start spreading the word,I’m hunter, you’re prey.I’m gonna be the death of you,You orc, you orc.

My village has heardI’m longing to slay.I’ll stab the very heart of you,You orc, you orc.

I wanna prove that, as you sow soshall you reap,

Because you burned up my farm,Ate all my sheep.

Your death is assured.I’ll find you today.I’m just too wicked smart for you,You stupid orc!

I am a vrock.I’m a tanar’ri.I have a screechThat can stun my foes for miles.I’ve a negative five Armor Class.Hiding from your doom? I’ll put you in

your tomb

me.I’ll cut you down before you strike at

I am a vrock.I'm a tanar'ri.

A-ha, I see your lair!You’ve got ten friends? No fair!C’mon, be nice, you orc, you orc!

[musical interlude interruptedby sounds of screams, then silence]

I guess we show him that us orcs, weain’t asleep.And we’re still King of the Hill,Top of the Heap.One whiff of usMakes humans weep!

Let’s go eat a herdFight battles all day.If there are none, we’ll start a fewUs fearsome orcs!

It’s cold but we don’t care,We don’t wear underwear.We’re what we areUs orcs, us orcs!

And a vrock feels no pain.And my victim always dies.

34 APRIL 1995

(with apologies to Elton John)

I was mummified while still alive.To become undead is what I contrived.Now I have changed, quite a punch I

packAnd you’re really gonna get it now—The lich is backOhhhh!

If you want a fight, well stop on by.I’m skin and bones, but I cannot die.A lich don’t have no mortal coil.I hang out in the evening under feet ofsoil .Ohhhh!

I’m a lich, I’m a lichOh the lich is back.An icy touch is my fav’rite knack. Yes a lich, yes a lichAnd I’m stronger than you.I’ll scare you outta your shoes.You know you will lose,Ohhhh.

My chief domain is the subterrain.My crypt’s decor is classic profane.So come, approach—go ‘head, attack!Oh, you’ll see your days are numbered

now,The lich is back!

I’m a lich, I’m a lichOh, the lich is back.Rot and glory (I’m no natural cat).Yes a lich, yes a lichAnd I’m stronger than youI’ll scare outta your shoes.You know you will lose,Ohhhh.

Convention Calendar Policies

This column is a service to our readersworldwide. Anyone may place a free listingfor a game convention here, but the follow-ing guidelines must be observed.

In order to ensure that all conventionlistings contain accurate and timely infor-mation, all material should be either typeddouble-spaced or printed legibly on stand-ard manuscript paper. The contents ofeach listing must be short and succinct.

The information given in the listing mustinclude the following, in this order:

1. Convention title and dates held;2. Site and location;3. Guests of honor (if applicable);4. Special events offered;5. Registration fees or attendance re-

quirements; and,6. Address where additional informa-

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mass-mailed announcements will not beconsidered for use in this column; weprefer to see a cover letter with the an-nouncement as well. No call-in listings areaccepted. Unless stated otherwise, alldollar values given for U.S. and Canadianconventions are in U.S. currency.

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If a convention listing must be changedbecause the convention has been can-celled, the dates have changed, or incor-rect information has been printed, pleasecontact us immediately. Most questions orchanges should be directed to the maga-zine editors at TSR, Inc., (414) 248-3625(U.S.A.). Questions or changes concerningEuropean conventions should be directedto TSR Limited, (0223) 212517 (U.K.).

l :* indicates an Australian convention indicates a Canadian convention, indicates a European convention.

*Indicates a product produced by a company other than TSR,Inc. Most product names are trademarks owned by thecompanies publishing those products. The use of the name ofany product without mention of its trademark status should notbe construed as a challenge to such status.

Important: DRAGON® Magazine nolonger publishes phone numbers for conven-tions. Publishing incorrect numbers is al-ways possible and is a nuisance to both thecaller and those receiving the misdirectedcall. Be certain that any address given iscomplete and correct.

To ensure that your convention listingmakes it into our files, enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard with your firstconvention notice; we will return the card toshow that your notice was received. You alsomight send a second notice one week aftermailing the first. Mail your listing as early aspossible, and always keep us informed ofany changes. Please avoid sending conven-tion notices by fax, as this method has notproved to be reliable.

COASTCON XVIII, March 31-April 2 MSThis convention will be held at the Miss. Gulf

Coast Coliseum/Convention Center in Biloxi,Miss. Guests include Mike Stackpole, StevePerry, Jennifer Roberson, and George AlecEffinger. Events include role-playing, board, andminiatures games. Other activities include an artshow and auction, a charity auction, dealers,videos, and writing and costume contests.Registration: $30. Write to: COASTCON XVII,PO. Box 1423, Biloxi MS 39533-1423.

I-CON 14, March 31-April 2 NYThis not-for-profit convention will be held at

the SUNY campus in Stony Brook, N.Y. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include SF&F, comics,and anime. Write to: I-CON, PO. Box 550, StonyBrook NY 11790-0550.

PENTECON VII, March 31-April2 NYThis convention will be held at Cornell Uni-

versity in Ithaca, N.Y. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include dealers and movies. Write to:Pentagonal Committee, c/o Kris Mayo, 219Willard Way, Ithaca NY 14850; or e-mail:pentecon@cornell.edu.

TECHNICON 12, March 31-April 1 VAThis is a revised, updated listing. This

convention will be held at the Best Western RedLion Inn in Blacksburg, Va. Guests includeChristie Golden, Melissa Scott, Don Sakers, andTom Atkinson. Events include role-playing,board, and miniatures games. Other activitiesinclude card games, panels, an art show andauction, filking, videos and anime, computergames, and dealers. Write to: TECHNICON 12, c/

o VTSFFC, PO. Box 256, Blacksburg VA 24063-0356; or e-mail via the Internet:Technicon@VTCC1.cc.vt.edu.

UBCON ‘95, March 31-April2 NYThis convention will be held at North campus

of the State University of New York at Buffalo inAmherst, N.Y. Guests include Sam Chupp.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include cardgames, an auction, dealers, anime, and SCAdemos. Registration fees range from $5-10.Write to: UB-SARPA, 363 Student Union, SUNYat Buffalo, Buffalo NY 14260-2100; or e-mail:SARPA@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu.

FUZZY FEST ‘95, April 1 MIThis convention will be held at the President’s

Inn Grand Rapids, Mich. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include card games and a card-gametournament. Registration: $4 preregistered: $6 onsite. Send an SASE to: West Michigan Gamers, 112Gold Ave. NW, Grand Rapids MI 49504.

RAWACON ‘95, April 1 PAThis convention will be held at the gymnasi-

um on the campus of Lebanon Valley College inAnnville, Pa. Events include role-playing, board,and miniatures games. Other activities include aminiatures-painting contest, dealers, and artists.Registration: $2.50 preregistered; $5 on site.Write to: RAWACON ‘95, 33-B N Railroad St.,Palmyra PA 17078; or e-mail:DPADDOCK@ACAD.LVC.EDU.

PLEASE NAME OUR CON ‘95April 1-2 MI

This convention will be held at the St. Clair Co.Community College in Port Huron Michigan.Events include role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include a raffle, charitygames, and door prizes. Registration: $8 preregis-tered; $6/day on site. Write to: Ted Golubinski, 204Huron Ave., Port Huron MI 48060.

SWILCON I, April 1-2 PAThis convention will be held at Swathmore

College in Swathmore, Penn. Events includerole-playing, board games, and anime. Registra-tion: $15. Write to: Swilcon, c/o Fred Bush,Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave.,Swathmore PA 19081; or e-mail at:fbush1@cc.Swarthmore.edu.

TECH CON III, April 7-9 ILThis convention will be held at the Illinois

Institute of Technology in Chicago, Ill. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Registration: $. Write to: Robert Reichel,4920 N. Normandy, Chicago IL 60656; or e-mailat: org-gmg@Minna.Acc.lit.edu.

DRAGON 37

MADICON 4, April 7-9 VAThis convention will be held in Taylor Hall at

James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games in addition to guest speakers anddiscussion panels. Other activities include artdisplays, a dance, a computer and video gameroom, a large screen anime room, costume call,and con suite. Registration: $7 before 18; $10thereafter. Write to: Jennifer Grob, Madicon 4,SFFG, JMU Box 7202, Harrisonburg VA; ore-mail at: STUJAGROB@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU.

CLARE-VOYANCE II, April 8 CAThis convention will be held at Claremont

Colleges in Claremont, Calif. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include card games and a card-gametournament. Registration: $5 preregistered; $15on site. Write to: Thomas M. Kane, 150 Annapo-lis Dr., Claremont CA 91711.

OPCON ‘95, April 8 ILThis convention will be held at Oak Park &

River Forest High School in Oak Park, Ill. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include card-game tour-naments. Registration: $4 preregistered; $6 onsite. Write to: Oak Park & River Forest HS, c/oSandy Price, 201 N. Scoville Ave., Oak Park IL60302.

UTICON I, April 8-9 NYThis convention will be held at the SUNY

Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome in Utica,New York. Events include role-playing, board,and miniatures games. Registration: $12 prere-gistered; $15 on site. Discount with a validstudent ID. Write to: SUNY Institute of Technolo-gy at Utica/Rome, PO. box 3050, Utica NY,13504, Attention: STRPG.

GAME FAIRE ‘95, April 21-23 WAThis convention will be held at the Student

Union of Spokane Falls Community College inSpokane, Wash. Events include role-playing,board, and miniatures games. Other activitiesinclude a used-game auction, anime, aminiatures-painting contest, tournaments, andopen gaming. Registration: $18 before April 11;$20 on site. Write to: Merlyn’s, N. 1 Browne,Spokane WA 99201.

FRANKCONSTEIN ‘95, April 21-23 MOThis convention will be held at the Radisson

Hotel Clayton in St. Louis, MO. Guests includeGlen Cook, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Laurell K.Hamilton, and Wilson “Bob” Tucker. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include panels, a mas-querade, a dance, videos, dealers, and filking.Registration: $15 before 1; $22 thereafter, Writeto: Name That Con, PO. Box 575, St. Charles MO63302.

MICROCON ‘95, April 22 NYThis convention will be held at Manhattan

College in Riverdale, N.Y. Events include role-playing and board games. Registration: $5,includes a meal and refreshments. Write to:Manhattan College Games Club, Box 1128, 4513Manhattan College Parkway, Riverdale NY10471.

ENIGMACON 8, April 22-23 CAThis convention will be held at the Ackerman

Union on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles,California. Events include role-playing, board,and miniatures games. Other activities include

38 APRIL 1995

RPGA® Network and AD&D® game tourna-ments, in addition to game demos and specialguests. Write to: Thuong Pham, 500 LandfairAve., Los Angeles CA 90024.

KETTERING GAME CON XIIApril 22-23 OH

This convention will be held at the Charles I.Lathrem Senior Center in Kettering, Ohio.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include RPGA®Network tournaments, computer games, cardgames, and a game auction. Registration: $2/day.Write to: Bob Von Gruenigen, 804 WillowdaleAve., Kettering OH 45429.

CRUISE CON ‘95, April 27-30 * * *

This convention will be held on Carnival’sCruise Ship, the Fantasy, sailing to the Bahamas.Guests include Richard Garfield, Jean Rabe, andDarwin Bromley. Events include role-playing,board, and miniatures games. Other activitiesinclude RPGA® Network events. and tourna-ments. Registration: $849 (for an inside cabin).Write to: Andon Unlimited, Cruise Con, PO. Box3100, Kent OH 44240.

MAGIC CARPET CON 3, April 28-30 GAThis convention will be held at the North

Georgia Convention and Trade Center in Dalton,Ga. Guests include Elizabeth Moon, Tom Deitz,and Mark Poole. Events include role-playing,board, and miniatures games. Other activitiesinclude a masquerade, an art show and auction,and a con suite. Registration: $25 before 15; $30on site. Write to: MAGIC CARPET CON 3, PO.Box 678, Rocky Face GA 30740; or SusanB14 onAmerica On-line.

SPRINGCON ‘95, April 28-30 NEThis gaming convention will be held at the

ReUnion Building in Lincoln, Nebr. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Registration: Free to the public. Novicesand interested nongamers are encouraged toattend. Write to: SPRINGCON Committee, Box1126, 905 N. 16th St., Lincoln NE 68508.

GENERAL CON ‘95, April 29-30 PAThis convention will be held at the Carlisle

Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. Events includerole-playing, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include dealers and tourna-ments. Registration fees vary. Write to: M.Foner’s Games Only Emporium, 200 3rd St.,New Cumberland PA 17070.

FESTEVAL DES VAMPYRE, May 6-7 NVThis convention will be held at the Silver

Nugget Casino Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nev. Spe-cial guest is Mike Tinney. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include dealers and a tournament withprizes. Registration: $25. Write to: Festeval DesVampyre, PO. Box 80537, Las Vegas NV 89180.

ROBINSON’S WORLD I, May 6-7 PAThis convention will be held at the Central

House Hotel in Beach Lake, Penn. Guests includeartists Glenn Boyd and Al Williamson. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include a karate demon-stration, a mock skirmish put on by the SCA,and a hackeysack tournament. Registration: $5per day plus game fees. Write to: John Robin-son, 1311 West St., Honesdale PA 18481.

EAST COAST HOBBY SHOW ‘95May 19-21 PA

This convention will be held at the Fort Wash-ington Expo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Eventsinclude model railroading, radio control games,models, die-casts, kites, miniatures, collectibles,slot cars, and rocketry. Friday, May 19, is for thetrade only. Saturday and Sunday, May 20th and2lst, are open to the public. Write to: ScottPressman, East Coast Hobby Show, 4400 NorthFederal Highway, Suite 210, Boca Raton FL33431.

OASIS 8, May 19-21 FLThis convention will be held at the Orlando

North Hilton in Altamonte Springs, Florida.Guests include Alan Dean Foster, Barclay Shaw,Mark Rogers, and Ben Bova. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include tournaments, an art show andauction, panels, con suite, dealers, and a charityauction. Registration: $20 preregistered; $25 onsite. Write to: Oasis, PO. Box 940992, MaitlandFL 32792.

ECLIPSE ‘95 May, 26-28 MOThis convention will be held at the Holiday

Inn Expo Center in Columbia, MO. Guests in-clude Margaret Weis, Tom Dowd, and JohnTibbits. Events include role-playing, board, andminiatures games. Other activities include an artshow, costume contest, figure painting contest,masquerade show, and charity auction. Regis-tration: $18 (RPGA® Network members $15)preregistered: $20 (RPGA members $18) on site:One day pass is $8. Write to: The Cheshire Cat,27 N. l0th, Columbia MO 65201.

LEHICON 5, May 26-28 PAThis convention will be held at the Allentown

Hilton in Allentown, Penn. Events include role-playing, board, card, and miniatures games.Other activities include tournaments, demon-strations, dealers, a painted miniatures contest,a raffle, and an all-you-can-eat banquet. Regis-tration: $15 for whole weekend; $10 for Sat; $6for Fri or Sun only. Write to: LEHICON 5, PO.Box 556, Horsham PA 19044.

STRATEGICON ‘95, May 26-29 CAThis convention will be held at the LAX Air-

port Hyatt in Los Angeles, Calif. Events includerole-playing, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include flea markets, dealers, anauction, seminars, and demonstrations. Registra-tion: $25 preregistered: $30 on site. Write to:STRATEGICON, PO. Box 3849, Torrance CA90510-3849.

GAMESCAUCUS II ‘95, May 26-29

Airport Hilton in Oakland, Calif. Events include

CA

role-playing, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include dealers, costume con-

This convention will be held at the Oakland

test, painting contests, a flea market, and mov-ies. Registration: $25 before May 15; $30thereafter. GM registration is $10 before May15. Write to: TriGaming Associates, PO. Box27634, Concord CA 94527-0634.

CONMAN 003, June 2-4 NHThis convention will be held at the Center of

New Hampshire Holiday Inn in Manchester, N.H.Events include role-playing, board, card, andminiatures games. Registration: $18 preregis-tered; $23 on site. Prices vary for individualdays. Write to: Jonathan McCosh, 59 OnwayLake Rd., Raymond NH 03077.

MOBI-CON ‘95, June 9-11This convention will be held at the Holiday

AL

Inn Downtown in Mobile, Alabama. Guestsinclude Margaret Weis, Don Perrin, and DouglasNiles. Events include role-playing, card, board,and miniatures games. Other activities includetournaments, costume contest, art show, auc-tion, and dealers. Write to: MOBI-CON, PO. Box161257, Mobile AL 36616.

BEN CON ‘95, June 22-25 c oThis convention will be held at the Sheraton

Hotel in Lakewood, Colorado. Guests includeMargaret Weis. Events include role-playing,board, and miniatures games. Other activitiesinclude dealers, an art show and a blood drive.Write to: RMBGA, PO. Box 19232, Boulder CO80308.

D-DAY, June 22-25 CAThis convention will be held at Game Towne

in Carlsbad, Calif. This is the 2nd Annual SanDiego County Board Game Championships.Events include tournaments, miniatures gaming,and painting contests, and prizes. Write to: D-DAY Game Towne, 2933 Roosevelt, Carlsbad CA92008.

ARCHON 19, June 23-25 ILThis convention will be held at the Collinsville

Gateway Center and Collinsville Holiday Inn,Collinsville Ill. Guests include Jack Williamson,Doug Chaffee, Sam Moskowitz, First Fandom,and A.E. Van Vogt. Events include role-playing,card, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include tournaments. Write to: AR-CHON 19, PO. Box 483, Chesterfield MO 63006.

A WEEKEND IN THE RAVEN’SBLUFFTM SETTING

Join over 2,400 players in the largestcontinuing adventure in the AD&D®game world of the RAVEN’S BLUFF set-ting. Enjoy five rounds of first-run RPGA®Network events over the course of aweekend. Contact any of the followingcons near you for more information.

GRYPH CON ‘95, April 1-2 *

Write to: Malcolm Wood, Box 764, WestLorne, Ontario, NOL 2P0 CANADA.

VILLE-CON ‘95, April 1-2 MOWrite to: Rob Nichols, 1714 C Amelia,

Columbia MO 65201.

A WEEKEND IN THE RAVEN’SBLUFF SETTINGApril 8-9 NJ

Write to: Don Weatherbee, 86A Da-frack Dr., Lake Hiawatha NJ 07034.

A WEEKEND IN THE RAVEN’SBLUFF SETTINGApril 8-9 SC

Write to: Trella White, 7645 Garners’Fair Rd., Apt. #1009-F, Columbia SC29209.

A WEEKEND IN THE RAVEN’SBLUFF SETTINGApril 8-9 CA

Write to: Chris McGuigan, 2010,Hillside Dr., Burlingame CA 94010.

A WEEKEND IN THE RAVEN’SBLUFF SETTINGApril 8-9 OK

Write to: Scott Douglas, 316.5 E.Duffy, Norman OK 73069.

A WEEKEND IN THE RAVEN’SBLUFF SETTINGApril 8-9 IN

Write to: Randall Lemon, PO. Box9005, Highland IN 46322.

A WEEKEND IN THE RAVEN’SBLUFF SETTINGApril 8-9 HI

Write to: Eric Kline, PO. Box 90182,Honolulu HI 96835.

CAP CON ‘95, April 15-16 OHWrite to: Patrick Connolly, 2509 Dem-

ing Ave., Columbus OH 43202.

CON-TROLL ‘95, April 22-23 TXWrite to: Terry Hawkins, 4734 Warm

Springs, Houston TX 77035.

40 APRIL 1995

by Wolfgang Buar& Steve Kurtz

Artwork by Wm. Michael Mott

Khenvorm Rallister, called the Gaunt,had worked long hours on the paths ofmagic, and the road was growing easierthe further he travelled it. Today hadgiven him a chance to prove his skills witha petrification spell of his own invention.He looked out of his tower at the results;twelve goblins serving as lawn ornaments,faces frozen in expressions of stony hor-ror. His colleagues at the Guild of SevenStars had helped him walk the Path ofStone, just as they had helped his firststeps on the Path of Lesser Fire Magics.With luck and hard work, soon he wouldbe a master of all the elements, and readyto challenge that old fool Anselm the Baldfor the Guildmaster’s chair. He smiledquietly to himself; no one at the Guildknew that the secret ways of necromancyhad fallen to his superior intellect. Theythought they had taught him all his tricksat the Seven Stars, but his mastery of theReapers Road would be an unpleasantsurprise for anyone foolish enough tooppose him. . . .

4 2 Apr i l 1995

A variant magic system for the AD&D® gameIn most AD&D game campaigns, magic

is organized into schools, colleges of magicthat feature related spells such as charms,alterations, or illusions. Each mage canchoose to learn any spell he finds, of anyschool. Specialist wizards can memorizemore spells each day, at the price of beingforever barred from all spells of certainschools. The current rules don’t allow forany variation from these two patterns—but there is another path that a wizardcharacter can follow.

This article describes a new set of rulesto govern magic in AD&D game cam-paigns. It allows a mage the best of bothworlds; depending on the choices hemakes when he begins studying magic, anarchmage may be a specialist, a generalist,or may end up somewhere in between.The spells he chooses early on determinewhat spells he gains in the future. Pathmagic—also called pattern magic, stepmagic, or web magic—operates by mimick-ing the learning process. Mages don’t justjump randomly from spell to spell; theychoose and then pursue paths of powerthat channel their options.

In the current rules, each spell islearned in isolation, with no connection toa larger picture. Magic loses some of itswonder because it operates just as reliablyand simply as a hammer or any other tool.Variant rules based on spell points (some-times called mana) fail for the same rea-son; they draw no connections betweenspells. But magic isn’t a tool; it’s an art, asystem of interwoven knowledge andskills. This article reinforces that fact andrestores a sense of progression to yourfantasy role-playing setting.

In addition to improving the logic of therules, grouping similar spells in sequencegives players a way to discuss spells incharacter: “Well, once we saw that Marzakof the Azure Lightning had mastered theseventh step of the Storm Path, we knewhis magic could be the death of us all, sowe pretended to surrender, and then . . .”

Paths are bodies of knowledge that arekept in colleges, where the initial steppingstones are passed down from masters tostudents. Colleges are founded to pursuecertain forms of magic; to follow a path, amage either must research each step onhis own or join a guild or college. Becauseeach mage’s guild is devoted to certainpaths, the DM can limit player choices in alogical way (“They don’t teach the Path ofthe Mind at the Guild of Seven Stars”), butthis also gives the player a chance to ei-ther accept the DM’s ruling (“I guess I’llkeep going to the guild anyway”) or takeon new goals for more quests and adven-tures. (“We need to find another guild.“)

Learning magic step by stepWhat are the paths of power? In the

game, they are sequences of related spellsthat must be learned in a particular order,from lowest to highest level. If a pathcontains more than one spell of a certainlevel, the mage only needs to learn one ofthose spells in order to progress along thepath (but she may learn more than onespell of a certain level on a given path ifshe so desires).

In this system of magic, each step on thepath of power depends on understandingthe principles behind previous steps; thatis, a mage never can learn a spell if hedoes not understand the previous spells onthe same path. For this reason, spells arearranged in sequences of required learn-ing, like the rungs of a ladder or the stepson a staircase. For instance, before a mageon the path of Greater Fire Magic can casta fireflow spell (third level), he must beable to cast at least one of the threesecond-level spells preceding fireflow onthis path: Agannazar’s scorcher, burninghands, or pyrotechnics.

This system might seem too constricting,forcing choices, a straitjacket for mages.However, there are advantages to pursu-ing magic along paths. In fact, it opensmany choices as well, for a mage on a pathmay always automatically find informationabout the next spell on a path when hereaches the experience level that allowshim to cast it. No more need to rummagethrough dusty tomes with all the dignity ofa looter on a battlefield; no need for aplayer to depend on a DM’s whim for thespells he wants; no need for the DM todrop scrolls and spell books “conveniently”into every adventure.

Simply put, the mage rolls the percent-age chance to learn a spell whenever hewishes (assuming he has access to thatlevel of spell). If a path is frustrated in onedirection (he fails the roll for a prerequi-site spell), he may be able to approach itfrom another direction (if the path con-tains more than one spell of the samelevel), or he may try again to learn thenext spell when he gains another level.

Paths of power that contain four ormore spells are commonly called “roads,”but in general there is no system for nam-ing paths. Many of the paths of powerdescribed below are given different namesin different lands: the Trickster’s Road isknown as Loki’s Path among the Norse,and Hermes’ Path near Mount Olympus.Be creative in choosing your own namesand your own forks in the roads.

Greater and lesser pathsAll paths belong to one of two catego-

ries, greater or lesser. The distinctionbetween the two is simply a matter ofwhether a path includes one or more first-level spells. Greater paths, the ones thatcontain first-level spells, are the paths that

all mages must start on. Their names areprinted in bold type in the lists of pathsgiven later in this article.

The shorter paths that begin withhigher-level spells are referred to as lesserpaths, for their forms of magic are not assimple or as extensive as the greater paths.Only more powerful mages travel thesepaths, since they include no first-levelspells. Lesser paths are printed in bolditalic type in the lists below.

Skipping stepsAs a wizard progresses along a path, he

builds a base of knowledge, formulas, andtechniques for the magic of the path. Oncehe knows spells from two or more consec-utive spell levels on a path, he may skipone step farther along on the path. Forexample, a wizard on the Eagle’s Roadalready knows feather fall (first level) andride the wind (second level). He may thenskip one step (the third-level fly spell) andlearn spectral wings (fourth level).

Only one spell level can be skipped onany path. However, it is possible to go backand fill in a step that had been skippedearlier. In the example, the wizard couldlearn fly after originally skipping it infavor of spectral wings, and then, if he sochose, he could skip another step fartheralong the path—passing over vortex, forinstance, and learning Bloodstone’s spec-tral steed as his next spell on this path.

Interesting connectionsIn one sense, path magic is simply an

extension and refinement of the schools ofmagic. However, this interpretation over-simplifies and misses the system’s broaderusefulness for DMs and players. Sure,some paths represent the core spells of thevarious schools; it’s only logical, since thespells of each school are derived from thesame arcane tradition. But paths link thespells of a school together (for instance,the Path of Deception described belowcovers much of the heart of the school ofillusion), and also link together spells fromcompletely unrelated schools (as in thePath of Shadows or the Path of the Drow).Paths can make more interesting connec-tions than schools can: for instance, theDragon’s Road mimics the powers of manydragons, and the Path of the Drow in-cludes many of the powers of the darkelves, as well as their spider magics.

How many paths can a mage follow?The number of paths a mage can travel

on depends on both his experience leveland his Intelligence. Path magic requires anew set of assumptions about how manyspells a mage can learn. The IntelligenceTable in the Player’s Handbook defines themaximum number of spells of a certainlevel that a wizard character can know.

DRAGON 43

But spells in paths are not neatly arrangedby level; they cross and intersect and clogthat system.

The number of paths a specialist wizardcan follow is a more complex issue. Gener-ally, there aren’t any specialists of pathmagic, since the paths themselves setlimits and force a mage to specialize bylimiting what types of spells he can learnand cast. The bonuses for mastering apath provide an additional incentive tomaster just specialized paths of magic.

However, if the DM and players preferto keep specialists in the campaign, aspecialist retains his normal bonuses (hemay memorize one additional spell of eachlevel he is capable of learning about) but

Table A: Number of Paths/LevelLevel of Max. # Paths Max. # PathsWizard for Mage for Specialist

1 3 22 3 23 4 34 4 35 5 46 5 47 6 58 7 59 8 6

10 9 711 10 812 11 913 12 1014 13 1115 14 1216 15 1317 16 1418 18 1519 20 1620 22 1821 25 2022 30 2223 35 2524 40 3025 All 3526 All 4027 All All28 All All29 All All

Table B: Bonus Paths for IntelligenceMax. # Chance

Wizard’s Bonus of Spells/ to LearnInt. Paths Levels Spell

9 0 6 35%10 0 7 40%11 +1 7 45%12 +1 7 50%13 +1 9 55%14 +2 9 60%15 +2 11 65%16 +3 11 70%17 +3 14 75%18 +4 18 85%19 +5 All 95%20 +5 All 96%21 +6 All 97%22 +7 All 98%23 +8 All 99%24 +9 All 100%25 +10 All 100%

he can learn fewer paths at any given levelthan a generalist (a mage) can. Spells fromopposition schools are still off limits; thismay prevent the specialist from gainingmastery of some paths. Opposition pathsare beyond the scope of this article.

Table A below lists the number of pathsthat a mage or a specialist of a certainexperience level can follow (i.e., learnspells from). Table B gives bonuses to thisnumber according to the wizard’s Intelli-gence score (and it also includes the “Max.# of Spells/Lvl” and “Chance to LearnSpell” columns from the Intelligence Tablein the Player’s Handbook, for conven-ience). For example, a mage (not a special-ist) of 10th level with a 16 Intelligence canlearn spells from up to 12 different paths(9 for being 10th level, +3 for his Int score).

Completing a pathIf a wizard learns every spell in a path,

the path is said to be completed, and it nolonger counts against his maximum allow-able number of paths. This rule makesarchmages very powerful indeed, becausethey can learn more spell paths by com-pleting prior ones, thus dodging the “Max.# Paths” limits of Table A. In addition, theycan learn new paths very quickly (just bymaking an unbroken series of successful“% to learn” rolls), much more quicklythan a traditional mage could gather allthe formulae from spell books and gri-moires hidden in obscure corners of thecampaign. In general, though, paths be-come less and less limiting at higher levels,since the archmage knows almost every-thing is there is to know about the arcanearts anyway; new paths are less challeng-ing because of their similarities to spells hehas already studied and mastered.

Forgetting stepsPowerful mages on a path may know so

much about a certain set of spells thatthey have nothing more to learn on thatroad. They also may know so many basicspells that they cannot begin any newpaths because of Intelligence or level limitson the number of spells they can learn.One way around the problem is to simplyforget the first steps on other paths; oncea mage has mastered the simplest forms ofmagic, he may not need access to thosespells any longer. Unlike in the standardAD&D system, this means that spells canbe removed from a mage’s repertoire.

Forgetting part of a spell path requiresspells on that path; only one spell can beforgotten, and it must be the lowest-levelspell on the path. Forgetting a spell elimi-nates all knowledge of the spell from themage’s grimoires (or memory, see “Newsystem” below) and opens a spell slot.Forgotten spells do not count against amage when he attempts to skip steps atthe high-level end of the path.

Forking pathsWhen paths of power intersect, the

wizard learning the paths has three

choices: he may continue to follow onlythe path he began with, ignoring the inter-section; he can switch from one path tothe other, abandoning the chance of anyfurther progress on the first path; or hecan pursue both paths by declaring thathe will follow a forking path. These fork-ing paths offer a wizard more optionsthan just a straight line because he canlearn spells from either path as he gainsmore levels, but each “branch” of the forkstill counts as a separate path for purposesof determining how many paths a wizardcan follow.

Some spells are listed on more than onepath; there’s more than one way to learnmany of the arts of magic, after all. Spellsthat intersect at the crossroads of two ormore paths are called nexus spells. First-level spells are never nexus spells. To jumpthe track and switch from one path toanother at a nexus point, the mage mustknow about the existence of both paths.Once he switches tracks on a forked path,he can no longer skip any spells beyond thenexus spell; this is only part of the price hepays for forking his path. If he abandonsone path entirely (either by forgetting orcompleting it), he may skip spells on thesecond forking path normally.

Two-way travelAlthough paths are generally meant to be

followed from beginning to end (fromlowest-level spell to highest-level spell), thereis nothing to prevent a wizard from “back-tracking” to learn a lower-level spell he didnot already know. In fact, this is what hap-pens when a wizard fills in a step along apath that he had earlier skipped (see “Skip-ping steps” above). The same sort of “fillingin” can be done for the sake of picking up aspell that didn’t have to be learned earlier (inthe case of a path containing more than onespell of a certain level), and for the sake ofacquiring lower-level spells along a path thatthe wizard began to follow at a nexus point(see Forking paths above). A wizard may notoften find it useful to engage in this back-tracking, but it can be done if she so desires.

Paths of powerIn the following lists, the spells in each

path are given in the order they must belearned. Greater paths are indicated inbold type; lesser paths are in bold italictype. The level of a spell is indicated bythe number in parentheses following it.

Unless otherwise indicated, a spell isfrom the Player’s Handbook. Spells identi-fied as “new” are described later in thisarticle. Spells from the Tome of Magic areindicated with an asterisk (*). Othersources are abbreviated as follows:AA = Arabian Adventures rule book;BN = The Complete Book of Necromancers;CD = the City of Delights boxed set;CW = The Complete Wizard’s Handbook;DU = the Drow of the Underdark accesso-ry; FA = FORGOTTEN REALMS® Adven-tures hardbound book; PL = Planes of Lawboxed set; SH = The Complete Sha’ir’s

44 APRIL 1995

Handbook; and SOLLamp sourcebox.

= the Secrets of the

Alchemist’s Road: metamorphoseliquids* (l), Alamir’s fundamental break-down* (3), hatch the stone from the egg*(7), homunculus shield* (8), glorious trans-mutation* (9)

Archer’s Road: catapult (1, FA), magicmissile (1), Melf’s acid arrow (2), Melf’sminute meteors (3), acid bolt (4, DU),missile mastery (4, FA)

Archmage’s Road: close path (2,new), sense shifting* (2), vocalize (2, CW),alacrity* (3), augmentation I* (3), farreaching I* (3), squaring the circle* (3),dilation I* (4), far reaching II* (4), Mor-denkainen’s celerity* (4), seal path (4,new), far reaching III* (5), augmentationII* (6), dilation II* (6), burn path (7, new)

Artificer's Path: detect metals andminerals (1, SOL), mending (l), Nystul’smagical aura (1), analyze device (3, SH),duplicate (4, CW), mechanical disruption(4, SH), enchant an item (6), reconstruction(6, FA), permanency (8), spell engine (8, FA)

Bard’s Path: alarm (l), ventriloquism(1), deafness (2), ghost pipes (2, FA), magicmouth (2), shout (4), Leomund’s lamentablebelabourment (5), great shout (8, FA), wailof the banshee* (9)

Beggar’s Path: duplicate (4, CW),minor creation (4), fabricate (5), majorcreation (5), limited wish (7), wish (9)

Bigby’s Path: spectral hand (1), flyingfist (2, FA), Caligarde’s claw (4, FA), Bigby’sinterposing hand (5), Bigby’s forceful hand(6), Bigby’s grasping hand (7), Bigby’sclenched fist (8), Bigby’s crushing hand (9)

Black Road: blindness (2), blur (2),darkness 15’ radius (2), blacklight (3, FA),power word blind (8)

Breaker’s Road: shatter (2), disinte-grate (6), crystalbrittle (9)

Chromatic Path: color spray (l), chro-matic orb (1, CW), hypnotic pattern (2),rainbow pattern (4), prismatic spray (7),Gunther’s kaleidoscopic strike* (8), pris-matic wall (8), prismatic sphere (9)

Councillor’s Road: hypnotism (l),suggestion (3), dominate (5), mass sugges-tion (6)

Dragon’s Road: sleep (1), forget (1),ray of enfeeblement (1), strength (2), holdperson (3), snapping teeth (3, CW), sugges-tion (3), hold monster (5), mind fog* (5),dragon scales (6, CW), eyebite (6), stealenchantment* (7)

Eagle’s Road: feather fall (1), Murdock’sfeathery flyer* (1), ride the wind* (2), fly (3),spectral wings (4, FA), vortex* (5), Blood-stone’s spectral steed (6), airboat* (8)

Elemental Road: elemental guide (2,SOL), elemental form (4, SOL), protectionfrom the elements (4, SOL), conjure ele-mental (5), command element (7, SOL),elemental aura* (9)

Enchanter’s Path: charm person (1),friends (1), dire charm (3, FA), fire charm(4), charm monster (4), domination (5),charm plants (7), mass charm (8), viruscharm (9, FA)

Forceful Path: wall of force (5), force-cage (7), imprisonment (9)

Frozen Road: bind (2), hold person(3), hold undead (3), stop (4, DU), holdmonster (5), statue (7), temporal stasis (9)

Giant’s Path: enlarge (1), plant growth(4), animal growth (5)

Gray Road, or the Skulking Path:cloak from undead (2, FA), invisibility (2),invisibility 10’ radius (3), improved invisi-bility (4), mislead (6), mass invisibility (7)

Greater Fire Magic, or the SmokeRoad: affect normal fires (1), Agannazar’sscorcher (2, FA), burning hands (2), pyro-technics (2), fireflow* (3), fire aura (4,CW), fire charm (4), fire gate (4, FA), fireshield (4), wall of fire (4), Forest’s fieryconstrictor* (6), Malec-Keth’s flame fist*(7), meteor swarm (9)

Hangman’s Road: chill touch (l), feigndeath (3), paralyze (3, FA), vampiric touch (3),enervation (4), death spell (6), reincarnation(6), finger of death (7), energy drain (9)

Hourglass or Timekeeper’s Road:haste (3), slow (3), stop (4, DU), extension I(4), extension II (5), extension III (6), timestop (9)

Joining Path: backlash (4, DU), Blood-stone’s frightful joining* (7), death link(8, FA)

King’s Road: Tenser’s floating disk (1),blink (3), dimension door (4), Bowgentle’sfleeting journey (5, FA), teleport (5), gem-jump (7, FA), teleport without error (7),gateway (8, FA), worldwalk (9, FA)

Knight’s Road: armor (1), mount (1),shield (1), invisible mail (3, CW), phantomsteed (3), spirit armor* (3), stoneskin (4),wall of iron (4), dragon scales (6, CW)

Lesser Fire Magic: fire burst* (l),flaming sphere (2), fireball (3), shroud offlame (5, FA), delayed blast fireball (7),meteor swarm (9)

Medusa’s Road, or the Road ofTrue Sight: gaze reflection (1), knowalignment (2), eyebite (6), glassee (6), trueseeing (6), glassteel(8)

Misty Road: wall of fog (1), stinkingcloud (2), fog cloud (2), hold vapor (3, FA),solid fog (4), cloudkill (5), mind fog* (5),death fog (6), incendiary cloud (8)

Otiluke’s Road: Otiluke’s resilientsphere (4), Otiluke’s freezing sphere (6),Otiluke’s telekinetic sphere (8)

Path of Counterspells: avert evil eye(1, AA), dispel magic (3), dispel mirage (3,AA), Otiluke’s dispelling screen (4, CW),remove curse (4), force shapechange (5,CW), repulsion (6), ruby ray of reversal (7,FA), Mordenkainen’s disjunction (9), spell-strike (9, FA)

Path of Curses: minor malison* (3),watery double* (3), dread whisper (4, SH),greater malison* (4), blade of doom (6, FA),geas (6), suffocate* (7), Abi-Dalzim’s horridwilting* (8)

Path of Deception: phantasmal force(1), improved phantasmal force (2), spec-tral force (3), advanced illusion (5), pro-grammed illusion (6)

Path of the Mind: ESP (2), levitation(2), iron mind (3, CW), feeblemind (5),

telekinesis (5), disintegrate (6), Rary’s tele-pathic bond (6, CW), mind blank (8), dis-mind (9, FA)

Path of Shadows: Lorvoleim’s creep-ing shadow* (3), night’s jambiya (3, SH),wraithform (3), shadow monsters (4),shadowstrike (4, SH), demi-shadow mon-sters (5), demi-shadow monsters (5),shadow magic (5), summon shadow (5),shadow veil (6, SOL), demi-shadow magic(6), Lorvoleim’s shadowy transformation*(6), shades (6), turnshadow (6, FA), shadowwalk (7), shadowcat* (7), shadow form(8, CW)

Path of Terror: spook (1), scare (2),fear (4), phantasmal killer (4), weird (9)

Prophet’s Path: past life* (2), clairau-dience (3), clairvoyance (3), halo of eyes (4,CW), dream (5), vision (7), foresight (9)

Road of Cups: protection from evil (1),protection from hunger and thirst (1, CW),filter (2, CW), protection from paralysis* (2),protection from evil 10’ radius (3), dispelmagic (3), ward against undead (3, FA), fireshield (4), Ilyykur’s mantle (4, FA), minorglobe of invulnerability (4), minor spell turn-ing* (4), Spendelard’s chaser (4, FA), invulner-ability to normal weapons (5, CW),ironguard (5, FA), anti-magic shell (6), globeof invulnerability (6), invulnerability to magi-cal weapons (6, CW), spelltrap (7, FA), spellturning (7), fear ward (8, CW), Serten’s spellimmunity (8), spell invulnerability (9, FA),Mordenkainen’s disjunction (9)

Road of Pentacles: find familiar (1),call society (2, SH), choke (2, CW), summonswarm (2), ritual strength (3, SH), monstersummoning I (3), genie contract (4, SOL),monster summoning II (4), summon lycan-thrope* (4), dismissal (5), monster sum-moning III (5), reconnect (5, SH),oathbinding (5, SOL), ensnarement (6),monster summoning IV (6), spiritwrack (6,PL), cacofiend (7, PL), intensify summon-ing* (7), monster summoning V (7), bind-ing (8), monster summoning VI (8), gate (9)

Road of Seals and Wardings: holdportal (1), honor mark (1, SH), Leomund’strap (2), knock (2), web (2), explosive runes(3), nightscar (3, FA), sepia snake sigil (3),proof from teleportation (3, FA), encrypt(4, FA), firetrap (4), jackal ward (4, SH),watchware (4, FA), safeguarding* (5),secure (5, FA), Von Gasik’s refusal* (5),guards and wards (6), tattoo of power (6,SH), Khelben’s warding whip (7, FA), sym-bol (8)

Road of Soul’s Release: sleep (1),forget (2), waves of weariness (FA, 3),emotion (4), chaos (5), magic jar (5)

Road of Staves: decastave (2, FA),icelance (3, FA), thunderlance (4, FA), thun-der staff* (4), magic staff* (5), createsoundstaff (7, AA)

Road of Swords: scatterspray (1, FA),bladethirst (2, FA), flame arrow (3), en-chanted weapon (4), Tenser’s transforma-tion (6), Mordenkainen’s sword (7)

Road of True Names: lower resist-ance* (5), eyebite (6), power word silence(6, FA), spiritwrack (6, PL), power wordstun (7), true name (7, PL), binding (8),

DRAGON 45

power word blind (8), trap the soul (8),power word kill (9)

Sage’s or Diviner’s Road: compre-hend languages (1), detect disease (1, CW),divining rod (1, CW), identify (1), detectmagic (1), detect undead (1), divining rod(1, CW), know school (1, FA), detect good/evil (2), detect invisibility (2), detect life (2,CW), know alignment (2), locate object (2),detect scrying (4), locate creature* (4),magic mirror (4), contact other plane (5),know value (5, CW), legend lore (6)

Servant’s Path: unseen servant (1),Quimby’s enchanting gourmet (2, FA),summon swarm (2), phantom steed (3),conjure animals (6), Mordenkainen’s faith-ful hound (5), invisible stalker (6), spectralguard (7, FA)

Shapeshifter’s Path: change self(1),alter self (2), fist of the adder (2, SH), poly-morph self (4), polymorph other (4), forceshapechange (5, CW), claws of the umberhulk* (6), Tenser’s transformation (6),tentacles (6, CW), polymorph any object(8), shape change (9)

Sheltering Path: Leomund’s tiny hut(3), Leomund’s secure shelter (4), Mor-denkainen’s private sanctum (5, CW),Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion (7),estate transference* (9)

Shining Path: dancing lights (1), light(1), continual light (2), darkness 15’ radius(2), Nchaser’s glowing globe (3, FA), Pre-sper’s moonbow (5, FA), sunburst (8, FA),Elminster’s effulgent epuration (9, FA)

Silver Road: rope trick (2), blink (3),phase trap (4, FA), Leomund’s secret chest(5), passwall (5), duo-dimension (7), vanish(7), phase door (7), astral spell (9)

Speaker’s Path: comprehend lan-guages (1), fool’s speech* (3), tongues (3),sending (5), Drawmij’s instant summons(7), demand (8), succor (9)

Stone Road: fist of stone* (1), Maximil-lian’s earthen grasp* (2), Maximillian’sstony grasp* (3), dig (4), stoneskin (4), turnpebble to boulder* (4), wall of stone (5),stone shape (5), move earth (6), sink (8)

Storm Road: shocking grasp (1), iceknife (2, CW), whispering wind (2), gust ofwind (3), lightning bolt (3), wind wall (3),ice storm (4), wall of ice (4), wind breath(4, CW), cone of cold (5), chain lightning(6), control weather (6), acid storm* (7)

Trickster’s Road: grease (1), jump (1),spider climb (1), taunt (1), fool’s gold (2),Tasha’s uncontrollable hideous laughter(2), chastise (3, SH), fool’s speech* (3),fumble (4), reverse gravity (7), Otto’s irre-sistible dance (8)

Twin’s Road: change self(1), mirrorimage (2), alter self (2), duplicate (4, CW),plague (4, FA), guise of the yak-man (5, SH),heat mirage (5, SH), seeming (5), projectimage (6), simulacrum (7), clone (8)

Twisting Road: glitterdust (2), misdi-rection (2), nondetection (3), distancedistortion (5), false vision (5), shadow door(5), mirage arcana (6), mislead (6), seques-ter (7), vanish (7), maze (8)

Veiled Path: delude (3), Laerel’s danc-ing dweomer (3, FA), hallucinatory terrain

(4), vacancy (4), passwall (5), seeming (5),permanent illusion (6), veil (6), sequester(7), screen (8)

Water Road: lasting breath* (1), waterbreathing (3), airy water (5), lower water(6), part water (6)

Wizard’s Road: cantrip (1), conjurespell component* (1), copy (1, CW), readmagic (I), deeppockets (2), wizard lock (2),wizard mark (2), dispel magic (3), illusion-ary script (3), infravision (3), item (3),secret page (3), wizard sight* (3), divina-tion enhancement* (4), Rary’s mnemonicenhancer (4), wizard eye (4), Khazid’sprocurement* (5), contingency (6), geas (6),Mordenkainen’s lucubration (6), chaincontingency* (9), Elminster’s evasion (9,FA), Mordenkainen’s disjunction (9)

Wild Road, or the Road of Chaos:Hornung’s guess* (1), Nahal’s recklessdweomer* (1), patternweave* (1), chaosshield* (2), Hornung’s baneful deflector*(2), Nahal’s nonsensical nullifier* (2), alter-nate reality* (3), fireflow* (3), fool’sspeech* (3), confusion (4), there/not there*(4), unluck* (4), chaos (5), vortex* (5),waveform* (5), wildshield* (6), wildstrike*(6), Hornung’s surge selector* (7), spellshape* (7), Hornung’s random dispatcher*(8), wildzone* (8), stabilize* (9), wildfire*(9), wildwind* (9)

Path magic in the campaignIn campaign terms, path magic promotes

magic as a discipline, an art learned stageby stage. DMs can tailor paths to suit theirown tastes and the needs of the campaign,and powerful spells are the direct result ofearlier studies. No mage can simply learndisintegrate without learning (for instance)ESP iron mind, and telekinesis first, sincethose spells precede disintegrate on thePath of the Mind.

Because the initial selection of paths willdetermine many of the mage’s future spellchoices, the player and DM should con-sider the character’s first-level spells verycarefully.

Table C: Daily PathsLevel of No. of PathsWizard Available/Day

1 12 23 24 35 36 37 48 59 5

10 611 712 813 814 915 1016 1117 1218 1319 1320 14

46 APRIL 1995

New systemIn addition to the sequenced learning

requirements of path magic, you maychoose to offer mages a new system ofcasting spells as well, Normally, magessimply master the spells in their grimoires,memorize them, and cast them based ontheir level. Path magic allows for someinteresting variations, if both the playersand the DM agree.

The new system of spell-casting does notcall on a complicated mana system; awizard may still cast the same number ofspells as given in the basic rules, but hedoes not memorize them ahead of time.Instead, each day the wizard declareswhich of the paths that he studies he willuse. For that day, the mage must castspells from those paths only. The numberof daily paths is given on Table 4. Thissystem gives a mage flexibility withinconstraints.

New spellsThe following spells affect paths directly,

forming by themselves a sort of “Path ofPaths.” Because they strike at the root of apath wizard’s power, they should be ex-tremely rare—and extremely feared. Anymage using them indiscriminately willsoon find himself hunted by other wizardswho want to see him stopped.

Close path (Abjuration)

Level: 3Range: 10’/levelComponents: V, S, MDuration: 1 dayCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 1 wizardSaving Throw: Neg.

This lesser magic closes a mage’s accessto a path he normally can follow. Thisbars his access to one path (chosen ran-domly), for the remainder of the day.Spells already memorized are notforgotten; the wizard simply can’t accessthem. The caster does not know whichspell or spells are barred from the target(if any). After 24 hours pass, the targetmay memorize and cast spells of theclosed path again normally.

The material component of the closepath spell is a small silver key worth atleast 50 gp, which must be broken duringthe casting.

Seal path (Abjuration) Reversible

Level: 5Range: 10’/levelComponents: V, S, MDuration: Permanent until dispelledCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: 1 wizardSaving Throw: Neg.

The wizard affected by this spell canlearn no more spells in a path (chosen bythe caster from among those the caster

knows the target follows) until the magicalroadblock of this spell is removed. If thetarget wizard fails his saving throw by 4or more, he also suffers the effects of aclose path spell affecting the same path forthe remainder of the day. If the targetmakes the saving throw by more than 4,he may reflect the spell back at the caster.The caster is entitled to a saving throwagainst the weakened, reflected spell witha +4 bonus; if he succeeds there is noeffect, but if he fails the spell affects himnormally. The spell cannot be reflectedmore than once.

The seal on the chosen path can only beremoved by an open path spell (the re-versed form of seal path), a limited wish,or a wish spell. The material component isa shining seal made of a special alloy oflead and mithril. The seal is inscribed withthe victim’s name or sigil, and its cost isnever less than 1,000 gp.

Burn path (Necromancy/Abjuration)

Level: 8Range: TouchComponents: V, S, MDuration: PermanentCasting Time: 8Area of Effect: 1 wizardSaving Throw: See below

This powerful destructive magic de-stroys all knowledge a mage has of onepath chosen by the caster. The spells andformulas are all instantly forgotten, memo-rized spells vanish from the victim’s mind,and all spells on that path must be re-learned as if the victim never knew them.

The spell’s effect cannot be reversed, butif the target’s saving throw succeeds, thepath is merely sealed as per a seal pathspell. The spell cannot be reflected.

The material component is a thin sheetof beaten gold inscribed with the formulafor the spell that serves as the path’s start-ing point; this special scroll costs no lessthan 3,000 gp. The scroll is magicallyconsumed in the casting.

Path mastersA wizard’s expertise with any given path

improves if he has mastered the path. Tobecome a master of a path, a wizard mustknow every single spell available to him inthat given path—that is, every spell of alevel he can cast. So long as he retainsmastery, the master casts all of those spellsmore effectively. The benefits of masteryare simple: his spells gain a -1 savingthrow modifier, a +1 bonus per die ofdamage, and range, duration, and area ofaffect are all as if the path master wereone level higher than his actual level. Heloses mastery only if he chooses not tolearn a spell of that path when he gains anexperience level, if he fails his roll to learna spell of the path, or if he chooses toforget or skip a spell.

A wizard may never be a master ofmore than a single path at any time, but if

he fulfills all the requirements for masteryin more than one path, the player maychoose which path the wizard is a masterof. The wizard may switch his choice ofmastery whenever he learns a new spell ineither path.

Wiping away pathsAs an optional rule, paths that a wizard

ignores may atrophy because the skillsrequired are not kept up. Here’s the for-mula: If a wizard has not learned any newspells in a path by the time he finishes theexperience level when two or more newsteps have become available to him, hisskill in that path stalls at the lowest levelrequired to cast the spells he does know.For example, consider a wizard followingthe Stone Road who has attained 7thlevel—the point at which he becomes ableto cast a fourth-level spell. If that wizardhas not learned the third-level spell Max-imillian’s stony grasp or either of thefourth-level spells stoneskin or dig by thetime he reaches 8th level, his progress onthat path is forfeited, and thereafter hecasts fist of stone and Maximillian’s earth-en grasp (the first- and second-level spellson the path) as if he were only a 3rd-levelmage (since he has contented himself withcasting only first- and second-level spellsfrom the path). If a third step of spellsbecomes available and is ignored (wall ofstone or stone shape in this example), thepath is entirely forgotten.

Lost pathsThe DM may designate one or more

paths as lost, meaning that they are notavailable to most mages. Paths namedafter famous mages or monsters are espe-cially good for this. Recovering and restor-ing such a path may become anadventuring goal for player characters.

Furthermore, particular settings mayrequire their own paths: the provinces ofsand, sea, flame, and wind in theAL-QADIM® setting certainly can be thebasis of several good paths, because theelemental magics of that setting are evenmore carefully defined and interwoventhan in the AD&D core rules (see “Custom-ized campaign paths” below). The genies’paths can easily be constructed using spellsfrom the Secrets of the Lamp sourcebox,and elementalist characters will appreciatethese paths as well.

In a FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign,the spells of the many powerful magesshould serve as starting points for paths:Elminster’s, Snilloc’s, and the Simbul’smagics are all unique. These paths aregiven below as examples, but many otherscould be made to suit individual tastes andthe needs of powerful mage charactersand the DM’s wishes for a campaign.

Bigby’s, Leomund’s, and Mordenkainen’spaths are surely more common in theWORLD OF GREYHAWK® setting—wherethey were invented—than anywhere else.These individual variations are always upto the DM.

DRAGON 47

Sample lost pathsPath of the Drow, or Lolth’s Road,

or Spider Road: spidereyes (1, DU),spider climb (1), darkness 15’ radius (2),skyhook (2, DU), web (2), dark wings (3,DU), hand of darkness (3, DU), infravision(3), passweb (5, DU), summon spider (6,DU), vipergout (6, DU), death spider (8,DU), black blade of disaster (9, DU)

Snilloc’s Path: Snilloc’s snowball (1,FA), Snilloc’s snowball storm (2, FA), Snil-loc’s major missile (5, FA)

Simbul’s Path: hypnotize (1), forget(2), suggestion (3), the Simbul’s synostod-weomer (7, FA), steal enchantment* (7)

While path magic is intended for a tradi-tional fantasy setting, it isn’t limited to thatstyle of play. Sure, the lost paths of Torilcould include the Road of Southern Magicof the Old Empires, or the magic of theelves of Evermeet, or the lost magic ofMyth Drannor, or the forbidden fire mag-ics of the Red Wizards of Thay. But muchmore exotic roads can be created if thereare wizards willing to walk them. Thedragons of Athas surely have their ownpowerful magics of desert survival. ThePLANESCAPETM setting could easily haveRoads of Law and Chaos, and a Road ofthe Abyss. Each world will have its ownmagical traditions and cultures, but thepattern and system of magic presentedhere can readily be adapted to suit yourpreferences. Experiment!

Inherited magicFor long-term campaigns or for develop-

ing campaign history, players and DMsmay want to consider making magic inher-itable, that is, making certain familiesknown for having an aptitude for certainforms of magic. Though this doesn’t revealexactly what spells an NPC wizard has onhand, it does give player characters ageneral idea of what they can expect-inthis sense it functions as a mechanic thatpresents a sort of NPC reputation to theplayers. For example, it allows charactersto learn a great deal about potential alliesor enemies by knowing something aboutthe character’s ancestors (“Old Zeb, sure,he’s the son of Zackary, who was the sonof Geoffry. Everybody knows they’re allenchanters, councilors, divining, anddragon mages.“) At the DM’s option, bardsor PCs with the Spellcraft nonweaponproficiency may know the origin, ancestry,and genealogy of many of the paths ofpower, giving the PCs a valuable clueabout what they may be up against.

Although this might seem like an unfairadvantage, the knowledge cuts in bothdirections. After all, these rules are meantto encourage players and DMs to act morelike the mages of fantasy literature do.Player characters may be the sons anddaughters of well-known lineages, theoffspring of a mage’s house, with all theexpected mage’s blood and mage’s gifts. Asa result, players may be reluctant to revealtheir true names to strangers for fear of

giving valuable information about thecharacter’s skills: and isn’t that what fanta-sy mages are all about?

Creating new pathsPlayers will soon want their characters

to create spell paths of their own, but thisis a difficult undertaking for any but themost powerful sorcerers. To create a newpath, a PC wizard must list all the ele-ments for the path, that is, all the spellsthat would comprise it—and the charactermust be able to cast all of them. The ele-ments of the list must have some commonbond: a certain school of magic, the formthat the spells all take, their function, thespells’ inventor, or the like. If the DMapproves, the wizard can begin research-ing. The cost of “path research” is the totalnumber of spell levels in the path times1,000 gp, and the time required is oneweek per each spell level in the path. Thepercentage chance of success is the mage’slevel plus his Intelligence, minus the num-ber of spell levels on the road. For exam-ple, if an 11th-level mage with Int 18attempted to create a Path of Ice using theSnilloc’s spells (eight total levels), ice storm,and wall of ice (both fourth-level spells),the total levels would be 16, the costwould be 16,000 gp, the total time re-quired would be 16 weeks, and the chanceof success would be 11 + 18 - 16 = 13%.Researching paths is a chancy business atbest, but a mage can keep trying over andover until he runs out of money.

Usually, a mage will invent a new pathonly to accommodate newly researchedspells; most new spells can simply beassigned to existing paths based on similar-ity (for instance, a new series of skiing,water walking, and airwalking spells mightrequire a new path). This does not meanthat the newly researched spell is immedi-ately available to all other wizards; pathsare traditional series of spells, and mageslearn of these newly researched spellsonly slowly, as their inventor and his guildpopularize the spells involved. Eventually,when the spell is widely known, it isadopted as part of the path. By then, theinventor is usually long dead.

Customized campaign pathsAs samples of detailed, specialized paths

for a campaign, examine the following listsfor the AL-QADIM setting and the multiplepaths for the necromancer. The ArabianAdventures rule book describes the cate-gory of universal spells; these spells areincluded in the paths presented earlier inthis article, as are the more general spellsfrom the Complete Sha’ir’s Handbook. Themore specific spell paths detailing the fourelemental provinces of Zakhara are listedbelow.

Province of flameThe Brotherhood’s Road: burning

hands (1), burning sand (1, SH), fire ar-rows (2, AA), fiery fists (2, SOL), flamingsphere (2), pyrotechnics (2), fireball (3),

flame arrow (3), sunscorch (3, AA), sunfire(4, AA), Forest’s fiery constrictor* (6),delayed blast fireball (7), Malec-Keth’sflame fist* (7), sun stone (7, AA), incendi-ary cloud (8), conflagration (9, AA), meteorswarm (9)

Flame Dancer’s Path: affect normalfires (1), pyrotechnics (2), smelting (2, SOL),fireflow* (3), fire shield (4), fire trap (4),wall of fire (4), flameproof (6, AA), Forest’sfiery constrictor* (6), elemental transmog-rification (8, SH), wildfire* (9)

Firesight Path: dancing lights (1), firetruth (1, AA), banish dazzle (2, AA), sun-dazzle (2, AA), dispel mirage (3, AA), firecharm (4), sunwarp (4, AA), fire track (5,AA), flame of justice (6, AA)

Road of the Efreeti: elemental guide (2,SOL), elemental form (4, SoL), protectionfrom the elements (4, SoL), enhance firecreature (4, AA), conjure elemental (5), sum-mon fire dragons (6, SOL), command element(7, SOL), unleash monolith (8, AA), elementalaura* (9), estate transference* (9)

Province of sandRoad of Shifting Sands: detect metals

and minerals (1, SOL), move sand (1, AA),sand jambiya (1, AA), dust curtain (2, AA),pillar of sand (2, AA), Maximillian’s earthengrasp* (2), entomb (3, SOL), hissing sand (3,AA), Maximillian’s stony grasp* (2), sandseal (3, SH), sand tools (3, SH), sandspray(3, SH), dig (4), sand cone (4, AA), sandsword (3, AA), wall of sand (4, FA), desertfist (5, AA), move dune (5, AA), wall ofstone (5), waves of sand (5, SH), moveearth (6), part sand (6, AA), sand shroud(6, AA), river of sand (8, AA), sink (8)

Glassblower’s Path: fist of stone* (1),sand quiet (1, AA), burning sands (1, SH),smelting (2, SOL), whispering sand (3, AA),sandspray (3, SH), stoneskin (4), liquid earth(5, SOL), passwall (5), stone shape (5), trans-mute rock to mud (5), glassee (6), stone toflesh (6), transmute water to dust (6), returnto sand (7, SH), statue (7), Abi-Dalzim’s horridwilting* (8), elemental transmogrifiation (8,SH), glasteel (8), glorious transmutation* (9),crystalbrittle (9)

Sandman’s Path: sand slumber (1,AA), traceless travel (1, AA), sand shadow(2, AA), create shade (7, AA)

Road of the Dao: elemental guide (2,SOL), enlarge desert creature (2, AA),conjure sand lion (4, AA), elemental form(4, SOL), protection from the elements (4,SOL), conjure elemental (5), commandelement (7, SOL), sand worm (8, AA), un-leash monolith (8, AA), elemental aura* (9),estate transference* (9), sand form (9, AA)

Province of the seaSea Children’s Road: cool strength (1,

AA), sea sight (1, AA), waterbane (1, AA),insatiable thirst* (2), water breathing (3),airy water (5), transmute rock to mud (5),lower water (6), part water (6), transmutewater to dust (6), water form (7, AA,cleanse water (8, AA), life water (9, AA)

Corsair’s Path: float (1, AA), depthwarning (2, AA), true bearing (2, AA),

48 APRIL 1995

stone hull (3, AA), shatterhull (4, AA), shipshock (5, AA), ship of fools (6, AA)

Mistweaver’s Path: metamorphoseliquids* (1), wall of fog (1), fog cloud (2),ice storm (4), solid fog (4), wall of ice (4),cone of cold (5), water blast (5, AA), wave-form* (5), elemental transmogrification(8, SH)

Road of the Marid: elemental guide(2, SOL), converse with sea creatures (3,AA), strengthen water creature (4, AA),protection from the elements (4, SOL),conjure elemental (5), command waterspirits (6, AA), command element (7, SOL),unleash monolith (8, AA), maelstrom (9,AA), elemental aura* (9), estate transfer-ence* (9)

Province of the windWind Mage’s Road: alter normal

winds (1, AA), lasting breath* (1), windcompass (1, AA), invisibility (2), whisperingwind (2), gust of wind (3), reveal invisible(3, AA), air breathing (3), airy water (5),control weather (6), create soundstaff (7,AA), wildwind* (9), windtomb (9, AA)

Windwielder’s Path: wall of fog (1),fog cloud (2), wall against noise (2, AA),wind wall (3, AA), ghost rigging (4, AA),mirage wall (4, AA), solid fog (4), windblade (4, AA), cloudkill (5), death smoke (5,AA), shield of winds (5, AA), death fog (6)

The Skyrider’s Path: feather fall (1),flying jambiya (2, AA), levitate (2), ride thewind* (2), fly (3), wind shadow (3, AA),wind carpet (5, AA), airboat* (8), elementaltransmogrification (8, SH)

The Djinni’s Greater Path: elementalguide (2, SOL), elemental form (4, SOL), pro-tection from the elements (4, SoL), conjureelemental (5), invisible stalker (6), summonwind dragons (6, AA), command element (7,SoL), unleash monolith (8, AA), elementalaura* (9), estate transference* (9)

NecromancyAs elaborated in the Complete Book of

Necromancers, necromantic magic alsohas its own special feel. This is reflected inthe many paths presented below. The corerule books provide a limited selection ofnecromantic magic, but with the detailsfrom the Complete Book of Necromancersand the necromantic spells of theForgotten Realms Adventures and Com-plete Sha’ir’s Handbook expansions, NPCnecromancers gain a much broader selec-tion of spells—and correspondingly broad-er paths of power.

Bonebinder’s Path: bone club (3,CW), skull trap (3, BN), bone blight (5, BN),throbbing bones (5, CW), wall of bones (5,CW), blackmantle (6, CW), Grimwald’sgray mantle (6, FA), transmute bone tosteel (6, BN)

Path of Blood: rain of blood (2, SH),Beltyn’s burning blood (4, FA), animateblood (6, SH)

The Reaper’s Road: chill touch (1),exterminate (1, BN), vampiric touch (3),enervation (4), brainkill (4, BN), death spell

(6), dusts of death (6, SH), finger of death(7), defoliate (8, CW), symbol of death (8),power word kill (9), death ward (9, BN),wail of the banshee* (9).

The Path of Scorn: corpse visage (1,CW), contagion (4), enervation (4), deadman’s eyes (6, CW), suffocate* (7), Abi-Dalzim’s horrid wilting* (8)

The Scabrous Road: chill touch (1),choke (2, CW), ghoul touch (2, CW), spec-tral hand (2), mummy touch (3, FA), paintouch (3, CW), vampiric touch (3), paralyze(3, FA), mummy rot (5, CW), ghoul gauntlet(6, BN), lich touch (6, FA), energy drain (9).

The Spirit Road: corpse link (1, BN),spectral voice (1, BN), living link (2, BN),death talisman (3, CD), spirit armor* (3),feign death (3), hovering skull (3, CW),skullwatch (3, FA), empathic wound trans-fer (4, BN), improved skull watch (5, FA),magic jar (5), corpse host (6, BN), Blood-stone’s frightful joining* (7), lifeproof (7,AA), wound conferral (7, BN), body link (8,CD), death link (8, FA), hide heart (8, CD),homunculus shield* (8), life force transfer(8, BN), life force exchange (9, BN)

Lifeshielder’s Road: detect life (2,CW), living link (2, BN), delay death (3,CW), spirit armor* (3), false face (3, BN),feign death (3), empathic wound transfer(4, BN), lifesurge (4, SH), Spendelard’schaser (4, FA), bone growth (5, BN), deathbump (5, SH), flesh mirage (5, AA), graftflesh (5, BN), Nulathoe’s ninemen (5, FA),reincarnation (6), wound conferral (7, BN),homunculus shield* (8), life water (9, AA)

The Undying Road: animate deadanimals (1, BN), skeletal hands (2, BN),undead mount (2, FA), bone dance (3),hovering skull (3, CW), skull trap (3, BN),skullwatch (3, FA), summon spirit (4),animate dead (5), improved skullwatch (5,FA), summon shadow (5), wall of bones (5,CW, Bloodstone’s spectral steed* (6),construct undead (6, SH), ghoul gauntlet(6, BN), finger of death (7), zombie double(7, CW), Bloodstone’s frightful joining* (7),control undead (7), clone (8), shadow form(8, CW), master undead (9, FA)

Deadbuilder’s Path: corpselight (1,FA), cloak undead (2, FA), embalm (2, BN),revenance (3, FA), disguise undead (5, FA),force shapechange (5, CW), imbue undeadwith spell ability (6, FA), teleport dead (6,FA)

Deathslayer’s Path: corpselight (1,FA), chill touch (1), hold undead (3), bindundead (5, BN)

Ghost-Seeker’s Path: detect undead(1), locate remains (1, BN), death recall (2,CW), detect life (2, CW), mask of death*(4), summon spirit (4, BN), contact otherplane (5)

ConclusionUse these rules to enhance the feel of

AD&D game mages, and to broaden thescope of magic in your campaign. Specialthanks to Svetozar Fung, Daniel Quaroni,Christian Tapia, Josh Gerner, and AbramConnelly.

DRAGON 49

PLAYER’S OPTION™

rules preview, Part I:

Critical hit tables from the Combat & Tactics book

So you think you know everything thereis to know about the AD&D® game. Wellthen, have you ever heard of a wizardcharacter who could use a sword? Howabout paladins who cast spells before 9thlevel? Do you know about knockdowns,critical hits, or tenth-level magic?

This is just the beginning of what can befound in the PLAYER’S OPTIONTM expan-sion books to the AD&D game. Thesebrand-new hardbound books containrules, systems, and ideas for your gamethat have never been published before.The PLAYER’S OPTION books were care-fully designed to present sets of rules ineasy-to-use modules. You can pick andchoose which modules you like and incor-porate them in your campaign. Regardlessof which ones you decide to use, you’llfind that everything works with every-thing else.

The first of these books, Combat &Tactics, provides all sorts of new systemsthat you can incorporate into your AD&Dgame battles to make them more excitingand move faster and more smoothly, whilekeeping bookkeeping nightmares to aminimum. When was the last time your8th-level fighter did anything except planthis feet in front of a monster and tradeswings until one or the other of them ranout of hit points? If this sounds all toofamiliar, you should take a look at Combat& Tactics.

Expanded rules cover critical hits,knockdowns, tactical options, and combatmaneuvers such as shield walls, parries,disarms, and more! Complete weaponstables for all eras of play, from the StoneAge through the age of pike and shot,include dozens of new weapons and re-vised characteristics for old ones.

Just to whet your appetite for Combat &Tactics, here is an excerpt from the chap-ter on critical hits. Check it out and try itduring your next gaming session. Yourplayers may love you for it, or they mayhate you, but they will never think offighting in the same old way again. Com-bat & Tactics will be on sale in July, 1995.

Fantasy literature is full of mighty blowsand grievous wounds that change thecourse of a battle. Characters such asBeowulf, Robert E. Howard’s Conan, orany of the heroes of the Arthurian legendswreaked havoc among their enemies—

by Rich Baker & Skip Williams

Artwork by Jeff Easley

cleaving skulls, severing limbs, and other-wise smashing their foes into red ruin.Every fan of heroic fiction is a little fasci-nated (and sometimes horrified) by bloodand gore. You only have to go out to themovies to see that this is true.

However, the purpose of this chapter isnot to overwhelm AD&D game playerswith sickening displays of pointless vio-lence. The purpose of this chapter is toprovide the AD&D game with a morerealistic system for simulating tellingblows and specific injuries. At its mostbasic level, the AD&D combat system is acontest of attrition that all boils down towho runs out of hit points first. Criticalhits can change that.

This chapter presents two critical hitsystems. The first is extremely simple: ifyou score a critical hit, you get to rolldouble damage. The second system ismore involved and takes into account thelocation of the injury, the severity of thewound, and the power of the attacker.Last (but certainly not least!) this chapterconcludes with a few notes on the effectsof specific injuries and how they can behealed.

Does this belong in mycampaign?

While the rest of this book assumes thatyou’ll be playing with the full critical hittables and rules, you’ll find that this chap-ter can be completely disregarded with noill effects. More than anything else in thisbook, critical hits are optional; if the DMand players don’t want them, the AD&Dgame works fine without them.

However, one thing is worth mentioning:if monsters have to suffer critical hits, so doplayer characters. Otherwise, game balancequickly goes out the window.

System ICritical hits occur when a character rolls

a natural 18 or higher and hits the targetby a margin of 5 or more after all adjust-ments. If the character scores a critical hit,he inflicts double damage dice, calculatedbefore adjustments for Strength, magic, orspecial circumstances.

For example, Liera is a 4th-level elvenwarrior fighting a gnoll. Liera’s baseTHACO is a 17, but she has a 17 Strength( +1 to hit), she’s an elf using a long sword( +1 to hit), and she has a magical long

sword +2. Her total adjusted THACO is 13,and the gnoll’s Armor Class is 5. She willhit the gnoll on a roll of 8 or better, andcan achieve a critical hit with a natural 18or higher. On one combat round, she rollsa 19, which is a critical hit. She rolls 1d8for damage and gets a 6, doubles that,then adds +1 for her Strength and +2 forher magical long sword, for a total of 15( ( 6 X 2 = 1 2 ) + 1 + 2 ) .

After dispatching the gnoll, Liera findsherself facing a horrible tanar’ri with anAC of -3! She scores a hit on a roll of 16or better. She cannot score a critical hitbecause it’s impossible for her to hit with5 points to spare; even if she rolls a 20, sheonly hits by 4. If the tanar’ri charged, itsAC would drop by one point to -2, andthen Liera could score a critical hit withthat roll of 20.

There are no specific injuries using thiscritical hit system. Instead, it only providescharacters and monsters the chance todish out extra damage when they make agreat attack roll. Limiting the critical hitsto attacks that hit by a margin of 5 ormore solves one other problem. Considerthe lst-level fighter. He only hits on a 20against an opponent with very good armorclass (0 or lower). Under other critical hitsystems, the few times he does hit, thefighter automatically inflicts a critical hit.Under this system, that can’t happen.

System IIThe second, and more detailed, system

for critical hits uses the same attack me-chanic as the previous one. As above, theattacker must roll a natural 18 or higherand hit his opponent by a margin of 5 ormore. However, the effects are determinedby four factors: the attacker’s weapon sizecompared to the defender’s size, the typeof weapon compared to the type of target,the location of the hit, and a roll for theinjury’s severity.

Critical hit chartsThere are three types of weapons: slash-

ing, piercing, and bludgeoning. Everyweapon in the AD&D game is assigned atype, with only a couple of exceptionssuch as lassoes and nets. If a weapon doesnot have a type, it cannot roll on a criticalhit chart, although it can still inflict doubledamage on a critical attack roll.

The three weapon types are compared

DRAGON 51

to three target types, for a total of ninedifferent critical hit charts. The targettypes are humanoids, animals, and mon-sters. In the following pages, you’ll find achart for Bludgeoning vs. Humanoids,Bludgeoning vs. Animals, Bludgeoning vs.Monsters, Slashing vs. Humanoids, and soon. In most cases the correct critical hitchart to use should be relatively obvious.

Humanoids include anything that isgenerally shaped like a human, rangingfrom pixies to giants. If it has two armsand two legs, it’s probably humanoid.

Animals include anything that is anormal or giant-sized version of a normalanimal. Mammals, reptiles, birds, andamphibians all fall into this category—butnot insects or fish. It also includes mon-sters that are animal-like in form, such asblink dogs, winter wolves, moon dogs, hellhounds, nightmares, osquips, or fire toads.

Monsters include anything that doesn’tfit into one of the previous two categories.Giant insects of any kind, fishlike mon-sters, composite creatures such as manti-cores or sea lions, dragons, and weirdthings like xorn or leucrottas would all beconsidered monsters. If in doubt overwhether something is a monster or not,call it a monster; this is the default cate-gory for things that defy classification.

LocationThe critical hit charts require two die

rolls: one to determine the location of thehit, and the other to determine the severi-ty. Note that these can be rolled simultane-ously. The location die is usually a singled10, but there are some exceptions.

Called shots: If a character hits with acalled shot and scores a critical hit, thelocation die is ignored. The location isautomatically determined to be whereverthe character had been aiming.

Low attacks: If the attacker is fightinga creature two sizes larger or a defenderwith a distinct height advantage, use asingle d6 for location. Head and uppertorso shots become extremely unusual inthese cases.

High attacks: If the attacker is twosizes larger than the defender, or has asignificant height advantage, roll 1d6 + 4.Giants fighting halflings don’t strike low.

SeverityThe second roll on the critical hit charts

is for severity. The severity of a hit isdetermined by the relative size of theattacker’s weapon and the defender.

Weapon vs. target size Effect DiceWeapon is > target Minor 1d6Weapon is = target Major 2d4Weapon is > target Severe 2d6Weapon is two sizes larger Mortal 2d8

The dice indicated is the type rolled forthat severity. For example, if a humanarmed with a long sword (size M) is fight-ing a gnoll (size L), he rolls 1d6 for thecritical hit’s severity because the long

52 APRIL 1995

sword’s size is smaller than the gnolls size.If the weapon is two sizes larger than

the target, it is possible to reach the 13 +column on the chart. These hits inflicttriple damage dice, even if the victimpasses his saving throw to avoid the ef-fects of the critical hit.

ResistanceCritical hits automatically inflict double

damage dice, or triple damage dice if theweapon is two sizes larger than the target(see above). However, any effects beyondthis can be avoided by a successful savingthrow vs. death. For example, the criticalroll may indicate an arm injury with mi-nor bleeding, but if the victim makes hissaving throw, no arm injury actually takesplace. The character only suffers doubledamage from the hit. Obviously, this couldbe sufficient to mortally wound or kill acharacter anyway.

Some monsters are naturally resistant tothe effects of certain critical injuries.Creatures such as golems, undead, orelementals don’t bleed and therefore ig-nore any such effects. A monster like ahydra can lose a head without being in-stantly slain. However, these injuries canstill be important because it might affectthe way a monster moves or attacks. Askeleton that’s had a leg knocked off can’tmove at its full rate, even if it is less trou-bled by the injury than a living personwould be. Slimes and jellies have no partsthat are more specialized or importantthan the rest of the body, and are there-fore immune to the effects of most criticalhits. Use common sense to handle thesesituations as they arise.

ties remain until the “torso struck” specificinjury heals.

Severe injuries temporarily can reduce acharacter’s maximum allowable hit points.In other words, a fighter with a broken legwill not be allowed to enjoy his full allot-ment of hit points until his broken leg ishealed. If the character has more hitpoints than he is currently allowed, he isreduced to the injured value when thecurrent battle is over. This represents theincreased vulnerability of badly woundedcharacters.

For example, if a fighter with 30 hitpoints receives 10 points of damage and an“arm destroyed” injury that reduces himto 50% of his normal hit points, he dropsfrom 20 to 15 when the battle is concludedand remains at 15 until his ruined arm issomehow healed.

Grazed: Grazes are minor injuries thatmay prove troublesome if they bleed. Acure light wounds spell or other healingmagic capable of restoring 4 hp will heal agraze. (The cure light wounds spell doesn’thave to actually restore that many points;it just must be capable of doing so.) Grazesalso heal naturally as if they were a loss of1d6 hp. In other words, if a graze is theequivalent of a 3-hp wound, two days ofrest heal it completely, since charactersnormally recover 2 hp per full day of rest.Note that the graze isn’t tied to the charac-ter’s actual loss of hit points in any way. Ifa grazed character receives healing magic,the graze is healed and he gets to recoverhit points.

Struck: A body part that has beenstruck is often penalized in a small wayfor the effects of the wound. For example,a critical hit that reads, “weapon hand

Specific injuries struck, -2 penalty to attacks,” means thatThe critical hit charts include a number the character has a -2 attack penalty

of specific injuries that go beyond a simple with his weapon hand until the wound isloss of hit points. Wounds are divided into healed. Injuries of this type can be healedfive degrees of severity: grazed, struck, by a cure light wounds spell or otherinjured, broken, and finally shattered, healing magic capable of restoring 5 hp ofsevered, or crushed. damage. Struck areas heal naturally as if

Wounds should be recorded on the they were a loss of 2d6 hp.character sheet. Attack and movement Injured: Wounds of this severity canpenalties remain until the injury that trouble a character for weeks; they healcreated the penalty has healed. Wounds naturally as if they were a loss of 10d6 hp.always are accompanied by some loss of A cure serious wounds spell or otherhit points, but a specific injury isn’t dam- healing magic capable of restoring 10 hitage per se; consider it a temporary penalty points can also repair the injury. Injuriesthat the character has to put up with until almost always entail serious combat penal-it is restored. ties for the wounded character.

For example, Feodor the Bold is fighting Injured arms, legs, or tails reduce aan ogre armed with a club. The ogre character to 75% of his normal hit points.scores a critical hit, rolling a 6 for location An injury to the abdomen, torso, or headand a 7 for severity. Feodor’s torso has reduces a character to 50% of his normalbeen struck, a wound that reduces him to hit points. A 25-hp character with a chestl/2 his normal move and gives him a -2 injury can have no more than 13 hit pointspenalty to any attack rolls he makes. (It until his injury is healed (and could have aalso puts a healthy dent in his nice plate lot less than that if he continues to suffermail.) Feodor’s penalties remain until he damage!)recovers from his “torso struck” specific Broken: Broken bones run the gamutinjury. from minor fractures that don’t hinder a

Let’s say that Feodor had 16 hit points, character at all to life-threatening com-and the ogre’s blow inflicted 12 points of pound fractures. Generally, the previousdamage. The missing 12 hit points can be two injury categories are considered torecovered eventually, but Feodor’s penal- include minor breaks or cracks; this cate-

gory is reserved for severe fractures.Broken bones can be mended by a cureserious wounds spell that is devoted just toknitting the bone; unlike grazed, struck,or injured, the character regains no hitpoints from a spell used in this way. Bro-ken bones heal naturally as if they were20d6 lost hit points, so bed rest in the careof a proficient healer is a real good idea ifthe injured character is planning on re-suming his adventuring career anytimesoon.

Broken arms reduce a character to 75%of his normal hit points. Broken ribs orlegs reduce a character to 50% of hisnormal hit points. Any other broken bonesreduce a character to 25% of his normalhit points.

Crushed, Shattered, or Destroyed:Limbs that suffer this kind of catastrophicinjury may never be usable again; hits tothe torso, abdomen, or head of this magni-tude are often lethal. If the victim sur-vives, he will never recover naturally. Alimb damaged this way will be useless forthe rest of his life, and hits anywhere elsewill leave the victim incapacitated. Thevictim will be bedridden for at least one toeight months before he can even regain asemblance of mobility.

A cure critical wounds spell or otherhealing magic capable of restoring 20 hpof damage can repair the damage of thiskind of injury. In addition, the bones of theaffected area (if any) are assumed to bebroken and may require another applica-tion of healing magic to repair.

Destroyed shoulders, hips, or limbsreduce the victim to 50% of his normalmaximum hit points. Any other wounds ofthis magnitude reduce the victim to 25%of his normal total.

Severed: Obviously, a creature that hasa limb severed can no longer engage inactivities that require the use of that mem-ber. A human with a severed leg can’twalk or run and is reduced to crawlinguntil he gets a crutch. A character with asevered shield-arm can’t use a shield any-more, and so on. The only way to undothis kind of damage is by means of aregeneration spell.

The shock of losing a limb will prevent acharacter from moving independently orattacking for 2d10 weeks. At the DM’sdiscretion, a character who “only” loses ahand or a foot may actually be able toperform limited activities after beingstunned ld6 rounds, but only by passing aSystem Shock roll. However, characterswho sustain such massive injuries are best-off abandoning the field to their enemies.

The loss of a limb will reduce a charac-ter’s maximum normal hit points by 25%for a partial loss, or 50% for a more cata-strophic loss. If the character can compen-sate with a wooden leg or hook, the hitpoint loss may be reduced by one step.

Critical hit effectsThere are several possible effects of

injuries caused by critical hits: bleeding,

attack penalties, movement penalties,knockdowns, dropped weapons or shields,and possible armor or shield damage.Some of these conditions are temporary-adropped weapon can be picked up-whileothers remain until the injury that createdthe effect is healed.

Bleeding: A character with minorbleeding loses an additional 1d2 hp per fullturn until the wound is bound or magi-cally healed. In addition, there is a chancethat minor bleeding will stop on its own.The character may roll a saving throw vs.death each time he suffers damage fromminor bleeding; if he is successful, thebleeding stops.

Anybody can stop minor bleeding byapplying a bandage or otherwise address-ing the injury. This takes about 1d6 com-bat rounds, or a single one-minute round.

Major bleeding results in a loss of 1d2 hpper combat round until the wound ismagically healed or bound. Left untreated,major bleeding can easily cause a charac-ter’s death. In effect, the -10 hit-pointrule represents major bleeding; the char-acter loses 1 hp per round when reducedto negative hit points.

Major bleeding can be stopped by a curelight wounds spell (the victim recovers hitpoints, tool, the healing of 5 hp of damageby any other magical means, or by a suc-cessful use of the healing proficiency. Ifthe wound is bound by an untrained char-acter, make an Intelligence check for thewould-be medic. If he fails, he is unable tohelp. If he makes the check, the bleedingis reduced to minor.

Severe bleeding causes the victim to lose10-60% (1d6 X 10%) of his original hit-pointtotal every combat round. For example, ifa fighter normally has 43 hit points butreceives a severe bleeding result, he loses4 hp (10%) to 24 hp (60%) in each round ofsevere bleeding. Needless to say, this isextremely lethal.

A cure light wounds spell (or 5 hp ofhealing) will reduce severe bleeding tomajor bleeding; a cure serious woundsspell (or 10 hp of healing) reduces it tominor bleeding; and a cure critical woundsor heal spell stops it altogether. An un-trained character has no chance to bind atorso, abdomen, or head wound withsevere bleeding, but a successful use ofthe Healing proficiency with a -4 penaltyreduces severe bleeding to major bleeding.

Attack penalties: Many critical hitshamper the victim’s ability to fight, result-ing in an attack penalty. This is noted asapplying to all attacks or to attacks withthe particular limb that was injured. Othercritical hits may prevent the victim frommaking attacks at all. If a critical hit pre-vents a character from making attacks, italso prevents him from casting spells orexercising any other combat action exceptmoving or using magical items.

Movement penalties: Hits to the legsand body may penalize a character’s abili-ty to move. Usually, this is expressed as"l/2 move:” “ l/3 move,” and so on. If the

character’s movement is limited, he maynot charge, run, or sprint; he can moveonly by using the reduced rate. A charac-ter with no movement at all can still ride amount with difficulty, or drag himself onthe ground with an effective movementrate of 1.

Knockdowns: If a critical hit calls fora knockdown, the victim is still entitled toa saving throw to avoid falling down. SeeKnockdowns in Chapter One. [sic]

Armor and Shield damage: Somecritical hits call for possible damage to acreature’s armor or shield. If the victim ofthe hit has no armor at that location, theblow is usually assumed to have moresevere effects than if the character wasprotected. The armor descriptions inChapter Seven deal with the coverage ofeach type of armor. [sic]

If the creature struck does have a shieldor armor to deflect the blow, it may bedamaged if the chart calls for it. First ofall, the victim gets his normal savingthrow roll to avoid the effects of the criti-cal hit; if the roll is successful, there is nospecial effect for the hit. If the roll fails,his armor or shield must roll an itemsaving throw vs. normal blow with thenumber of points of damage (before dou-bling) used as a negative modifier for thesave. If the attacker’s weapon is largerthan the defender (for example, a Size Lhalberd striking a Size M human), the saveis rolled against a crushing blow, instead.

For example, remember the ogre’s criticalhit on poor Feodor? That result also calledfor possible armor damage. The ogre’s clubis Size L, so the item saving throw is againsta crushing, not a normal, blow. Feodor is inplate mail, which has a saving throw of 7vs. crushing blow. The ogre did 6 points ofdamage before doubling for the critical hit,so Feodor’s armor is safe on a roll of 13 ormore on a d20.

A damaged shield is useless. If armor isdamaged, only the location struck is use-less, and it no longer contributes to theoverall AC of the suit. Refer to the rulesfor Partial Armor in Chapter Seven. In theexample above, Feodor was struck on thetorso. If his armor failed its item savingthrow, only his breastplate would be ru-ined. A plate mail breastplate contributes3 points to his AC, so Feodor’s AC worsensfrom AC 3 to AC 6. Damaged equipmentcan be repaired by a skilled armorer or bymagical means.

Reading the chartsFirst, find the appropriate table for the

weapon type (slashing, piercing, or bludg-eoning) and the target type (humanoid,animal, or monster.) Then roll for hitlocation (d10) and severity (variable dice.)Refer to the entry indicated on the chart.Remember, critical hits inflict double (ortriple) damage dice, but any other effectscan be avoided by a successful savingthrow vs. death.

The specific types of injuries are de-scribed in the section following the charts.

DRAGON 53

Bludgeoning vs. HumanoidsHit Location Chart

dl0 rol l Location1-2 Right leg3-4 Left leg

5 Abdomen6-7 Torso8 Right arm9 Left arm10 Head

Location: Legs (Right 1-2, Left 3-4)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Victim knocked down5 Knee struck, knockdown, 1/2 move6 Foot broken, 1/2 move7 Armor damaged, leg injured if

target has no armor to cover legs,1/4 move

8 Hip broken, minor bleeding, nomove

9 Armor damaged, leg broken iftarget has no armor to cover legs,no move

10 Knee shattered, no move, -2penalty to attacks

11 Hip shattered, minor bleeding, nomove or attack

12 leg shattered, no move or attack,major bleeding from compoundfractures

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Abdomen (5)Severity

1-34

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1 3 +

EffectNo unusual effectVictim stunned ld6 roundsAbdomen struck, victim stunned 1round and reduced to 1/2 moveArmor damaged, victim stunnedld6 rounds, triple damage if noarmorAbdomen injured, l/2 move, -2penalty to attacksAbdomen injured, minor internalbleeding, 1/2 move and -2 penaltyto attacksArmor damage, abdomen injured,minor bleeding, 1/2 move and -2penalty to attacksAbdomen injured, no move orattack, minor internal bleedingAbdomen crushed, no move orattack, major internal bleedingAbdomen crushed, victim reducedto 0 hit points with severe internalbleedingAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Torso (6-7)Severity Effect

l-3 No unusual effect4 Knockdown, stunned ld4 rounds5 Torso struck, victim stunned 1

round and reduced to 1/2 move

6 Shield damage, torso struck, 1/2move

7 Armor damage, torso struck, l/2move, -2 penalty to attacks

8 Torso injured, minor internalbleeding, no move or attack

9 Ribs broken, minor internal bleed-ing, 1/2 move, -2 penalty toattacks

10 Ribs broken, major internal bleed-ing, no move or attack

11 Torso crushed, victim reduced to 0hit points with severe internalbleeding

12 Torso crushed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Arms (Left 8, Right 9)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Hand struck, weapon/shield

dropped5 Arm struck, shield damage/weapon

dropped6 Hand broken, -2 penalty to

attacks/shield dropped7 Armor damage, arm broken if

victim has no armor to cover limb8 Shield damage, arm broken,

stunned 1 round9 Weapon dropped, arm broken,

stunned ld4 rounds10 Shoulder injured, no attacks, minor

bleeding11 Arm shattered, 1/2 move, no

attacks, minor bleeding12 Shoulder shattered, no move or

attacks, major bleeding13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Head (10)Severity Effect

l-3

45

6

7

8

9

10

11

1213+

No unusual effectVictim stunned ld6 roundsHead struck, helm removed, victimstunned 1 round; -2 penalty toattack rolls if victim had no helmHead struck, -2 penalty to attacksHelm damaged, face injured,stunned ld6 rounds, 1/2 move, -4penalty to attacksSkull broken, helm damaged,victim reduced to 0 hit points andunconscious ld4 hoursFace crushed, minor bleeding, nomove or attack, Cha drops by 2points permanentlyHead injured, unconscious ld6days, lose 1 point each of Int/Wis/Cha permanentlySkull crushed, reduced to 0 hitpoints, major bleeding, Int, Wis,Cha all reduced by l/2 perma-nentlySkull crushed, immediate deathAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

54 APRIL1995

Bludgeoning vs. AnimalsHit Location Chart

dl0 roll Location1 Right foreleg/wing2 Left foreleg/wing3 Right hind leg4 Left hind leg5 Tail (for snakes or fish, 1-5 is tail

hit)6-7 Abdomen8-9 Torso/chest10 Head

Location: Legs/Wings (1-4)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Victim knocked prone5 Knee struck, victim reduced to 2/3

move6 Foot/wrist broken, 2/3 move7 Leg injured, 2/3 move, -2 penalty

to attacks8 Hip broken, minor bleeding, no

movement, -2 penalty to attacks;wing hit forces crash landing

9 Leg broken, 2/3 move, minorbleeding; wing hit forces immedi-ate landing

10 Knee shattered, 1/3 move, -2penalty to attacks

11 Hip/shoulder shattered, minorbleeding, no move or attack; winghit forces crash landing

12 Leg/wing shattered, no move orattack, major bleeding from com-pound fractures

1 3 + As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Tail (5)Severity Effect

l-5 No unusual effect6 Tip of tail struck; if prehensile, any

items carried are dropped, -2penalty to tail attacks due to pain

7-8 Tail injured, normal animals must

9-10

11

12

13+

save vs. death or retreat in pain;lose any tail attacksTail broken, lose any tail attacks,l/ 2 move if animal uses tail formovementTail crushed, victim stunned 1-3rounds, lose any tail attacks, nomovement or attacks if animal usestail for movementTail crushed, pain reduces creatureto 1/2 move and -2 penalty on anyattack, minor bleeding; no move orattack if animal uses tail for move-mentAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Abdomen (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Victim stunned ld6 rounds5 Abdomen struck, victim stunned 1

round and reduced to 1/2 move

9

10

11

1213 +

Snout/face crushed, minor bleed-ing, 1/3 move, no bite attacks, -4penalty to all other attacksHead injured, unconscious 2d4hours, reduced to 1/2 move and-4 penalty to all attacks for 1d3monthsSkull crushed, reduced to 0 hitpoints, major bleeding, Int, Wis,Cha all reduced by 1/2 perma-nentlySkull crushed, immediate deathAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

6 Abdomen struck, victim stunned1d6 rounds, reduced to 1/2 move

7 Abdomen injured, 1/2 move, -2penalty to attacks

8 Spine broken, no move, -4 penal-ty to attacks

9 Abdomen injured, minor bleeding,1/2 move and -2 penalty to attack

10 Abdomen injured, no move orattack, minor internal bleeding

11 Spine crushed, no move or attack,major internal bleeding

12 Abdomen crushed, victim reducedto 0 hit points with severe internalbleeding

13 + As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Torso (8-9)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Knockdown, stunned 1d4 rounds5 Torso struck, victim stunned 1

round and reduced to 1/2 move6 Torso struck, stunned 1d6 rounds,

l/2 move7 Spine struck, 1/2 move, -2 penalty

to attacks8 Torso injured, minor internal

bleeding, no move or attack9 Ribs broken, minor internal bleed-

ing, 1/2 move, -2 penalty toattacks

10 Ribs broken major internal bleed-ing, no move or attack

11 Spine crushed, victim reduced to 0hit points with severe internalbleeding

12 Torso crushed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Head (10)Severity Effect

1-345

67

8

No unusual effectVictim stunned 1d6 roundsSnout struck, animal must save vs.death or retreat in pain for 1d10roundsHead struck, -2 penalty to attacksJaw injured, stunned 1d6 rounds,2/3 move, -4 penalty to all attacksSkull broken, animal reduced to 0hit points and unconscious 1d4hours

12

s with limb; winglanding

to 2/3 move

Bludgeoning vs. MonstersHit Location Chart

d10 roll Location1 Right foreleg/claw/wing2 Left foreleg/claw/wing penalty to attacks

8 Spine injured, 1/3 move, -4 penal-3 Right hind leg4 Left hind leg ty to attacks

5 Tail (for snakelike or fishlike mon- 9 Abdomen injured, victim stunned

sters, 1-5 is tail hit) 1d3 rounds, minor bleeding, 1/3

6-7 Abdomen move and -2 penalty to attacks

8-9 Torso/chest 10 Abdomen injured, no move or

10 Head attack, minor internal bleeding11 Spine crushed, no move or attack,

1 round and reduced to 2/3 move6 Abdomen struck, victim stunned

1d6 rounds, reduced7 Abdomen injured, 1/2 move, -2

major internal bleedingAbdomen crushed, victim reducedto 0 hit points with severe internal

Location: Legs/Wings (1-4)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Victim knocked down5 Knee struck, victim reduced to 2/3

move, -2 penalty to attacks withthat appendage

6 Foot /wrist broken, 2/3 move, -4

bleeding13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location; Torso (8-9)Severity Effectpenalty to attach with that ap-

pendage 1 - 3 No unusual effect

7 Limb injured, 2/3 move, -2 penal- 4 Knockdown, stunned 1d4 rounds’

ty to all attacks 5 Torso struck, victim stunned 1

8 Hip broken, minor bleeding, 1/3 round and reduced to 2/3 move

9

10

11

12

13 +

move, no attackhit forces crashLimb broken, 2/3 move,bleeding; wing hit forces immedi-ate landingKnee shattered, 1/3 move, -2penalty to all attacksHip/shoulder shattered, minorbleeding, 1/3 move, -4 penalty toall attacks; wing hit forces crashleg/wing shattered, no move, -4penalty to all attacks, major bleed-ing from compound fracturesAS 12 above with tripled damagedice

6 Torso struck, stunned 1d6 rounds,2/3 move

7 Spine struck, l/2 move, -2 penaltyto attacks

8 Torso injured, minor internal

9

10

11

12

bleeding, 1/3 move, -4 penalty toall attacksRibs broken, minor internal bleed-ing, 1/2 move, -2 penalty toattacksRibs broken, major internal bleed-ing. no move or attackSpine crushed, victim reduced to 0hit points with severe internalbleedingTorso crushed, victim killed

Location: Tail (5) 13+ As 12 above with tripled damageSeverity Effect dice

1-5 No unusual effectTip of tail struck; if prehensile, any Location: Head (10)6

Severity Effectitems carried are dropped, -2penalty to tail attacks due to pain 1-3 No unusual effect

7-8 Tail injured, lose any tail attacks 4 Victim stunned 1d4 rounds

9-10 Tail broken lose any tail attacks, if 5 Jaw struck, -2 penalty to any bitecreature uses tail for movement attacks

11

12

13+

reduced to 1/2 moveTail crushed, victim stunned 1-3rounds, lose any tail attacks, nomovement if monster uses tail formovement and -4 penalty to allattacksTail crushed, pain reduces creatureto 1/2 move and -2 penalty on anyattack, minor bleeding; if animaluses tail for movement, no move orattackAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

7

8

9

10

11

penalty to attacksJaw injured, stunned 1d4 rounds,2/3 move, no bite attacksSkull broken monster reduced to1/4 normal hit points and uncon-scious 2d10 turnsSnout/face crushed, minor bleed-ing, 1/3 move, no bite attacks, -4penalty to all other attacksHead injured, unconscious 1d10turns, reduced to 1/2 move and -4penalty to all attacks for 3d6 daysSkull crushed, reduced to 0 hitpoints, major bleeding, Int, Wis, Chaall reduced by 1/2 permanentlySkull crushed, immediate deathAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

6 Head struck, stunned 1 round, -2

Location: Abdomen (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Victim stunned 1d4 rounds5 Abdomen struck, victim stunned

1213+

DRAGON 55

Piercing vs. HumanoidHit Location Chart

dl0 roll Locationl-2 Right leg3-4 Left leg5 Abdomen

6-7 Torso8 Right arm9 Left arm10 Head

Location: Legs (Right 1-2, Left 3-4)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Leg grazed, victim knocked down5 Leg struck, minor bleeding6 Leg injured, minor bleeding, 2/3

move7 Armor damaged; leg injured if

target has no leg armor, 1/2 move,major bleeding

8 Knee broken, minor bleeding, 1/3move, -4 penalty to any attacks

9 Armor damaged, leg struck, minorbleeding, 2/3 move; if target has noleg armor, leg broken, major bleed-ing, l/3 move, -4 penalty to attacks

10 Hip broken, no move or attack,major bleeding

11 Leg broken, severe bleeding, nomove or attack

12 leg destroyed, no move or attack,severe bleeding

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Abdomen (5)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Abdomen grazed, minor bleeding5 Abdomen struck, victim stunned 1

round and reduced to 2/3 movewith minor bleeding

6 Armor damage victim stunned1d4 rounds, minor bleeding, 2/3move if no armor

7 Abdomen injured, major bleeding,l/2 move, -2 penalty to attacks

8 Abdomen injured, severe bleeding,l/2 move, -4 penalty to attacks

9 Armor damage, abdomen injured,minor bleeding, 1/2 move and -2penalty to attacks; if no armor,victim at 0 hit points, major bleeding

10 Abdomen injured, l/3 move, noattack, severe bleeding

11 Abdomen injured, victim at 0 hp,severe bleeding

12 Abdomen destroyed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Torso (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Torso grazed, minor bleeding5 Torso struck, 2/3 move with minor

bleeding6 Shield damage, torso struck, 2/3

move and minor bleeding

Effect

7 Armor damage, torso struck, 2/3move, -2 penalty to attacks; if noarmor torso injured, no move orattack, severe bleeding

8 Torso injured, major bleeding, 1/2move, -4 penalty to attacks

9 Shield damage; torso struck, -2penalty to attacks; if no shield, ribsbroken, severe bleeding, no move orattack

10 Ribs broken, severe bleeding, nomove or attack

11 Torso destroyed, victim reduced tohit points with severe bleeding

12 Torso destroyed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Arms (Left 8, Right 9)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Hand struck, weapon dropped,

minor bleeding; no effect on shieldarm

5 Arm struck, shield damage/weapondropped, minor bleeding

6 Hand injured, -2 penalty to attackshield dropped

7 Armor damage, arm struck, minorbleeding; if no armor, arm injured,minor bleeding

8 Arm broken, victim stunned 1round, minor bleeding, shield orweapon dropped

9 Armor damage, arm injured, -2penalty to attacks or shield dropped;if no armor, arm broken, stunned1d6 rounds, major bleeding

10 Shoulder injured, no attacks, majorbleeding

11 Arm destroyed, major bleeding, 2/3move

12 Arm destroyed, no move/attack,major bleeding

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Head (10)Severity

1-34

No unusual effectHead grazed, stunned 1d3 rounds,minor bleedingHead struck, helm removed, victimstunned 1 round; -2 penalty toattack rolls, minor bleeding if victimhad no helmEye injured, -4 penalty to allattacks; if helmed, victim is onlystunned 1 round insteadHelm damaged, face injured,stunned 1d6 rounds, minor bleed-ing, 2/3 move, -4 penalty to attacksSkull broken, helm damaged, victimreduced to 0 hit points, majorbleedingThroat injured, severe bleedingSkull broken, victim reduced to 0hp, major bleeding, Int, Wis, Chareduced by l/2 permanentlyThroat destroyed, victim killedHead destroyed, immediate deathAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

5

6

7

8

910

1112

13+

Effect

Piercing vs. AnimalsHit Location Chartd10 Roll Location

1 Right foreleg/wing2 Left Foreleg/wing3 Right hind leg4 Left hind leg5 Tail (for snakes or fish, 1-5 is tail

hit)6-7 Abdomen8-9 Torso/chest10 Head

Location: Legs/Wings (1-4)Severity

1-345

6

7

No unusual effectLeg struck, minor bleedingKnee struck, 2/3 move, minorbleedingLeg injured, minor bleeding, 2/3moveFoot/claw injured, minor bleeding,-2 penalty to attacks with that

8limbHip injured, minor bleeding, 2/3movement, -2 penalty to allattacks; wing hit forces crashlandingLeg/wing broken, 1/3 move,minor bleeding; wing hit forces crash landing

9

10

11

12

13+

Knee broken, minor bleeding, l/3move, -2 penalty to all attacksHip/shoulder destroyed, major bleeding, no move or attack; winghit forces crash landingLeg/wing destroyed, no move orattack, major bleedingAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Tail (5)Severity Effect

1-5 No unusual effectTip of tail struck if prehensile,6any items carried are dropped,minor bleeding, -2 penalty to tailattacks

7-8 Tail injured, minor bleeding,

9-10

11

12

13+

normal animals must save vs.death or retreat; no tail attacksTail injured, minor bleeding losetail attacks; if creature uses tailfor movement, l/3 moveTail destroyed, victim stunned 1-3rounds, lose tail attacks, majorbleeding, no movement or attacksif animal uses tail for movementTail destroyed, stunned 1d2rounds, major bleeding, 1/2 moveand -2 penalty on attacks; ifanimal uses tail for movement, nomove or attackAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Abdomen (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Abdomen grazed, minor bleeding5 Abdomen struck, victim stunned

56 APRIL 1995

1 round and reduced to 2/3 move,minor bleeding

6 Abdomen struck, victim stunnedld4 rounds, reduced to 2/3 moveminor bleeding

7 Abdomen injured, 2/3 move,major bleeding, -2 penalty to allattacks

8 Spine injured, l/3 move, minorbleeding, -4 penalty to all attack

9 Abdomen injured, major bleedingl/3 move and -2 penalty to allattacks

10 Abdomen injured, no move orattack, major bleeding

11 Spine broken, no move or attack,major bleeding, victim paralyzed

12 Abdomen destroyed, victimreduced to 0 hit points withsevere bleeding

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Torso (8-9)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Torso grazed, minor bleeding5 Torso struck, victim stunned 1

round and reduced to 2/3 move,minor bleeding

6 Torso struck, stunned 1d4 rounds,minor bleeding

7 Spine struck, minor bleeding, 2/3move, - 2 penalty to attacks

8 Torso injured, stunned 1 round,major bleeding

9 Ribs broken, minor bleeding, l/3move, -4 penalty to attacks

10 Ribs broken, major bleeding, nomove or attack

11 Spine destroyed, victim reducedto 0 hit points with major bleed-ing

12 Torso destroyed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Head (10)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Head grazed, stunned 1 round,

minor bleeding5 Snout struck, minor bleeding,

animal must save vs. death orretreat for 1dl0 rounds

6 Eye injured, stunned 1d3 rounds,-2 penalty to attacks

7 Throat injured, major bleeding,2/3 move, -4 penalty to attacks

8 Skull broken, animal reduced to 0hit points, major bleeding

9 Snout/face destroyed, minorbleeding, l/3 move, no bite at-tacks, -4 penalty to all otherattacks

10 Head injured, reduced to 0 hp,major bleeding; l/3 move and -4

1112

13+

penalty to all attacks for 1d3monthsThroat destroyed, severe bleedingHead severed, immediate deathAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Piercing vs. MonstersHit Location Chart

d10 roll Location1 Right foreleg/claw/wing2 Left foreleg/claw/wing3 Right hind leg4 Left hind leg5 Tail (for snakelike or fishlike

monsters, 1-5 is tail hit)6-7 Abdomen8-9 Torso/chest10 Head

Location: Legs/Wings (1- 4)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Leg grazed, minor bleeding5 Knee struck, 2/3 move6 Leg struck, minor bleeding, 2/3

move7 Foot/claw injured, minor bleeding,

-2 penalty to attacks with thatlimb

8 Hip injured, minor bleeding, l/3movement; wing hit forces crashlanding

9 Leg/wing broken, l/3 move,minor bleeding; wing hit forcescrash landing

10 Knee destroyed, major bleeding,l/3 move, -2 penalty to attackswith affected limb

11 Hip/shoulder destroyed, majorbleeding, no move, -4 penalty toattacks; wing hit forces crashlanding

12 Leg/wing destroyed, no move orattack, major bleeding

13+ As 12 above with tripled damaged i c e

Location: Tail (5)Severity Effect

l-5 No unusual effect6 Tip of tail struck if prehensile,

any items carried are dropped,minor bleeding, -2 penalty to tailattacks

7-8 Tail injured, minor bleeding,monster suffers -2 penalty to allattacks due to pain; no tail attacks

9-10 Tail broken, minor bleeding, notail attacks; if creature uses tailfor movement, l/3 move

11 Tail destroyed, victim stunned round, lose tail attacks, majorbleeding; l/3 movement, -4penalty to attacks if monster usestail for movement

12 Tail destroyed, stunned 1d3rounds, major bleeding, 1/2 moveand - 2 penalty on any attack; ifmonster uses tail for movement,no move/attack

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Abdomen (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect

4 Abdomen grazed, minor bleeding5 Abdomen struck, victim stunned

1 round, minor bleeding6 Abdomen struck, victim stunned

1d3 rounds, minor bleeding7 Abdomen injured, 2/3 move,

minor bleeding, -2 penalty to aattacks

8

9

10

11

12

13+

Spine injured, l/2 move, minorbleeding, -4 penalty to all attacksAbdomen injured, major bleeding,1/3 move and -2 penalty toattacksAbdomen injured, l/3 move, -4penalty to attacks, major bleedingSpine injured, no move or attackmajor bleeding, victim stunned1d6 roundsAbdomen destroyed, victimreduced to 0 hit points with majorbleedingAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Torso (8-9)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Torso grazed, minor bleeding5 Torso struck, victim stunned

round, minor bleeding6 Torso struck, stunned 1d3 round

minor bleeding7 Spine struck, minor bleeding, 2/3

move, -2 penalty to attacks8 Torso injured, minor bleeding, 1/3

move, -4 penalty to attacks9 Ribs injured, major bleeding, 1/3

move, -4 penalty to attacks10 Ribs broken, major bleeding 1/3

move, no attack11 Spine broken, major bleeding, no

move or attack12 Torso destroyed, victim killed

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Head (10)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Head grazed, minor bleeding5 Snout struck, minor bleeding,

monster must save vs. death orretreat for 1 round

6 Eye injured, stunned 1 round, -2penalty to attacks

7 Throat injured, major bleeding,2/3 move, -2 penalty to attacks

8 Skull injured, monster reduced to2/3 move, major bleeding, - 2penalty to all attacks

9 Snout/face injured, major bleed-ing, l/3 move, no bite attacks, -2penalty to all other attacks

10 Head injured, reduced to 0 hp,major bleeding l/3 move and -4penalty to all attacks for 1d3weeks

11 Throat destroyed, severe bleeding12 Head destroyed, immediate death

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

DRAGON 57

Slashing vs. HumanoidsHit Location Chart

d10 roll Location1-23-4

Right legLeft leg

5 Abdomen6-7 Torso8 Eight arm9 Left arm10 Head

Location: Legs (Right 1-2, Left 3-4)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Leg struck, minor bleeding5 Leg struck, minor bleeding 1/2

move6 Leg injured, major bleeding, 1/2

move7 Armor damaged; leg injured if

target has no leg armor 1/2 move,major bleeding

8 Knee shattered, major bleeding, nomove, -4 penalty to any attacks

9 Armor damaged, leg struck, minorbleeding, 1/2 move; if target has noleg armor, leg severed at knee,severe bleeding, no move or attack

10 Hip shattered, no move or attack,severe bleeding

11 Leg severed, severe bleeding, nomove or attack

12 leg severed at thigh, no move orattack, victim reduced to 0 hitpoints with severe bleeding

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Abdomen (5)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Abdomen grazed, minor bleeding5 Abdomen struck, victim stunned 1

round and reduced to 1/2 movewith minor bleeding

6 Armor damaged; victim stunned1d6 rounds, major bleeding, 1/2move if no armor

7 Abdomen injured, major bleeding,l/2 move, -2 penalty to attacks

8 Abdomen injured, severe bleeding,1/2 move, -4 penalty to attacks

9 Armor damage, abdomen injured,minor bleeding 1/2 move and -2penalty to attacks; if no armor,victim at 0 hit points, major bleeding

10 Abdomen injured, no move or attack, severe bleeding

11 Abdomen injured, victim at 0 hp,severe bleeding

12 Abdomen destroyed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Torso (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Torso grazed, minor bleeding5 Torso struck, victim stunned 1

round, reduced to l/2 move withminor bleeding

6 Shield damage, torso struck, l/2move and minor bleeding

7 Armor damage, torso struck, 1/2move, -2 penalty to attacks; if noarmor, torso injured, no move orattack, severe bleeding

8 Torso injured, major bleeding, 1/2move, -4 penalty to attacks

9 Shield damage; torso struck, - 2penalty to attacks; if no shield,torso injured, severe bleeding, nomove or attack

10 Torso injured, severe bleeding, nomove or attack

11 Torso destroyed, victim reducedto 0 hit points with severe bleed-ing

12 Torso destroyed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location; Arms (Left 8, Right 9)Severity Effect

l -3 No unusual effect4 Hand struck, weapon dropped,

minor bleeding; no effect onshield arm

5 Arm struck, shield damage/weapon dropped, minor bleeding

6 Hand injured, - 2 penalty toattacks/shield dropped

7 Armor damage, arm struck, minorbleeding; if no armor, arm injuredmajor bleeding

8 Hand severed, stunned 1 round,major bleeding, shield or weapondropped

9 Armor damage, arm broken; if noarmor, arm severed, stunned 1d6rounds, major bleeding

10 Shoulder injured, no attacks,major bleeding

11 Arm severed, severe bleeding, 1/2move

12 Arm severed, no move or attackssevere bleeding

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Head (10)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Head grazed, stunned ld3 rounds,

minor bleeding5 Head struck, helm removed,

victim stunned 1 round; -2penalty to attack rolls, minorbleeding if victim had no helm

6 Head struck, minor bleeding,victim blinded for 2d4 rounds byblood in eyes

7 Helm damaged, face injured,stunned 1d6 rounds, minor bleed-ing, 1/2 move, -4 penalty toattacks

8 Skull broken, helm damaged,victim reduced to 0 hit points,major bleeding

9 Throat injured, severe bleeding10 Skull destroyed, victim reduced to

0 hp, severe bleeding, Int, Wis,Cha all reduced by l/2 perma-nently

11 Throat destroyed, victim killed12 Head severed, immediate death

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Slashing vs. AnimalsHit Location chart

d10 roll Location1 Right foreleg/wing2 Left foreleg/wing3 Right hind leg4 Left hind leg

Tail (for snakes or fish, 1-5 is tail5hit)

6-7 Abdomen8-9 Torso/chest10 Head

Location: Legs/Wings (1-4)Severity Effect

1-345

No unusual effectLeg struck, minor bleedingKnee struck, 2/3 move, minorbleedingLeg injured, major bleeding, 2/3move

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13+

Foot/claw injured, 2/3 move, minorbleeding, -2 penalty to attackswith that limbHip injured, major bleeding, 1/3movement, -2 penalty to attacks;wing hit forces crash landingLeg/wing severed at midpoint, l/3move, major bleeding; wing hitforces uncontrolled fallKnee destroyed, major bleeding,1/3 move, -2 penalty to all attacksHip/shoulder destroyed, severe bleeding, no move or attack winghit forces crash landingLeg/wing severed at mid-thigh, nomove or attack, severe bleedingAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Tail (5)Severity Effect

1-5 No unusual effect6 Tip of tail struck if prehensile, any

items carried are dropped, minorbleeding, -2 penalty to tail attacks

7-8 Tail injured, minor bleeding, nor-mal animals must save vs. death orretreat; no tail attacks

9-10 Tail severed near end, major bleed-ing, lose tail attacks, move reducedby 1/3 if creature uses tail formovement

11 Tail severed, victim stunned 1-3rounds, lose tail attacks, majorbleeding, no movement or attacksif animal uses tail for movement

12 Tail severed, stunned 1-3 rounds,major bleeding, 1/2 move and -2penalty on any attack if animaluses tail for movement, no move orattack

13+ As 12 above with tripled damaged i c e

Location: Abdomen (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Abdomen grazed, minor bleeding

58 APRlL 1995

5 Abdomen struck, victim stunned 1round and reduced to 2/3 move,minor bleeding

6 Abdomen struck, victim stunnedld6 rounds, reduced to 2/3 move,minor bleeding

7

8

9

10

11

12

13+

Abdomen injured, l/3 move, minorbleeding, - 2 penalty to all attacksSpine injured, no move, minorbleeding, -4 penalty to attacksAbdomen injured, major bleeding,1/3 move and -2 penalty to at-tacksAbdomen injured, no move orattack, major bleedingSpine destroyed, no move orattack, major bleeding, victimparalyzedAbdomen destroyed, victim re-duced to 0 hit points with severebleedingAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Torso (8-9)Severity Effect

l-3 No unusual effect4 Torso grazed, minor bleeding5 Torso struck, victim stunned 1

round and reduced to 2/3 move,minor bleeding

6 Torso struck, stunned 1d6 rounds,minor bleeding

7 Spine struck, major bleeding, 2/3move, - 2 penalty to attacks

8 Torso injured, severe bleeding, nomove or attack

9 Ribs broken, major bleeding, 1/3move, -4 penalty to attacks

10 Ribs broken, severe bleeding, nomove or attack

11 Spine destroyed, victim reduced to0 hit points with severe bleeding

12 Torso destroyed, victim killed13+ As 12 above with tripled damage

dice

Location: Head (10)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Head grazed, stunned 1 round,

minor bleeding5 Snout struck, minor bleeding,

animal must save vs. death orretreat for ldl0 rounds

6 Head struck, minor bleeding, -2penalty to attacks

7 Throat injured, major bleeding, 2/3move, -4 penalty to all attacks

8 Skull broken, animal reduced to 0hit points, major bleeding

9 Snout/face destroyed, major bleed-ing, 1/3 move, no bite attacks, -4penalty to all other attacks

10 Head injured, reduced to 0 hp,severe bleeding; l/3 move and -4penalty to all attacks for ld3months

11 Throat destroyed, severe bleeding12 Head severed, immediate death

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Slashing vs. MonstersHit Location Chart

d10 roll Location1 Right foreleg/claw/wing2 Left forleg/claw/wing3 Right hind leg4 Left hind leg5 Tail (for snakelike or fishlike

monsters, 1-5 is tail hit)6-7 Abdomen8-9 Torso/chest10 Head

Location: Legs/wings (1-4)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Leg grazed, minor bleeding5 Knee struck, 2/3 move, minor

bleeding6 Leg struck, minor bleeding, 2/3

move7 Foot/claw injured, 2/3 move,

minor bleeding, -2 penalty toattacks with that limb

8 Hip injured, major bleeding 1/3movement; wing hit forces crashlanding

9 L.eg/wing severed at midpoint,1/ 3 move, major bleeding; wing hitforces uncontrolled fall

10 Knee destroyed, major bleeding,1/3 move, -2 penalty to attackswith affected limb

11 Hip/shoulder destroyed, majorbleeding, no move, -4 penalty toattacks; wing hit forces crashlanding

12 Leg/wing severed at mid-thigh, nomove or attack, severe bleeding

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Tail (5)Severity Effect

1-5 No unusual effect6 Tip of tail struck if prehensile,

any items carried are dropped,minor bleeding -2 penalty totail attacks

7-8 Tail injured, minor bleeding,monster suffers -2 penalty to allattacks due to pain; no tail attacks

9-10 Tail severed, major bleeding, notail attacks; if creature uses tailfor movement, 1/3 move

11 Tail severed, victim stunned 1round, lose tail attacks, majorbleeding; 1/3 movement, -4penalty to attacks if monster usestail for movement

12 Tail severed, stunned 1 round,major bleeding, l/2 move and-2 penalty on any attack; ifanimal uses tall for movement,no move or attack

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Abdomen (6-7)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Abdomen grazed, minor bleeding

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1 3 +

Abdomen destroyed, victimreduced to 0 hit points withsevere bleedingAs 12 above with tripled damagedice

Abdomen injured, 1/3 move, -4penalty to attacks, major bleedingSpine injured, no move or attack,major bleeding, victim stunned1d6 rounds

Abdomen injured, major bleed-ing, 1/3 move and -2 penalty toattacks

Spine injured, l/3 move, minorbleeding, -4 penalty to all at-tacks

Abdomen struck, victim stunned1 round, minor bleedingAbdomen struck, victim stunned1d3 rounds, reduced to 2/3move, minor bleedingAbdomen injured, l/2 move,minor bleeding, -2 penalty to allattacks

Location: Torso (8-9)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Torso grazed, minor bleeding5 Torso struck, victim stunned 1

round, minor bleeding6 Torso struck, stunned 1d3

rounds, minor bleeding7 Spine struck, minor bleeding, 2/3

move, -2 penalty to attacks8 Torso injured, major bleeding,

1/3 move, -4 penalty to attacks9 Ribs injured, major bleeding, 1/3

move, -4 penalty to attacks10 Ribs broken, severe bleeding, 1/3

move, no attack11 Spine broken, major bleeding, no

move or attack12 Torso destroyed, victim killed

13+ As 12 above with tripled damagedice

Location: Head (10)Severity Effect

1-3 No unusual effect4 Head grazed, minor bleeding5 Snout struck, minor bleeding,

monster must save vs. death orretreat for 1 round

6 Head struck, minor bleeding, -2penalty to attacks

7 Throat injured, major bleeding,2/3 move, -2 penalty to allattacks

8 Skull injured, monster reducedto 2/3 move, major bleeding, -2penalty to all attacks

9 Snout/face injured, major bleed-ing, 1/3 move, no bite attacks,-2 penalty to all other attacks

10 Head injured, reduced to 0 hp,major bleeding; l/3 move and-4 penalty to all attacks for ld3

weeks11 Throat destroyed, severe bleeding12 Head severed, immediate death

1 3 + As 12 above with tripled damagedice

DRAGON 59

This time, instead of engaging in one ofour cheerful round robins of review withthree manly (read crotchety) game design-ers providing insights (sniping) on theindustry and each other’s opinions, you’vejust got me. I confess, my conscience hasdogged me since I let my erstwhile com-panions do almost all the work the firsttime out (back in issue #212). Therefore,I’m sparing them the burden of labor thistime.

So while Ken Rolston spends the monthexploring the depths of video bios, IRQs,and DMA channels in his quest to discoverwhy his new PC is the only one on theplanet that locks up after five minutes ofDoom (I’m sure we’ll hear more about thatlater!) and Paul Murphy rests his mightyand acerbic wit, I thought I’d review twogames that cover that perennial favoriteactivity of computer games—killing things.

If you haven’t noticed, most game ma-chines have styles and themes they doparticularly well. Arcade machines excelat driving fast, flying fast, and killingthings. Video games are strong on therunning, jumping, and killing things kindof games. Computers are good at puzzles,simulators, and killing things. Notice apattern?

Doom IIid Software

Doom II (id Software)IBM PC (3.5” disk or CD-ROM)

Back when people made paper wargames (oh, they still do?) there was a sim-ple rule about what sold: NATO, nukes,and Nazis. Stick one, two, or even all threefor a real stretch, into a game and suppos-edly it was a sure sell. It was a simplisticrule proven by the highly accurate reasonthat it sounded right.

Computer games need simplistic rules,too—and the best is: guns, gore, and a 3-Dscrolling engine.

You see, I’ve been playing Doom II waytoo much.

by David “Zeb” Cook

Okay, let’s assume that you have livedunder a rock for the last year or that youare one of the intellectual elite who is toobusy reading and would never be caughtanywhere near a computer monitor or aTV set. Of course, you never read gamemagazines, popular magazines, or mostnewspapers, all of which by now havewritten up and analyzed the Doom phe-nom. And of course, you never talk toyour friends who have computers becauseyou’ve noticed that they’ve all becomezombified, twitching maniacs who debate

the merits of chain saws versus chainguns.

If you’ve lived the life of a troglodyte,you need an explanation of what Doom isall about. It’s really quite simple. In Doom,you are a heroic soldier who wandersthrough mazelike corridors of a Martianbase, opens doors to sealed rooms, andshoots things. Everything. If it moves, youpunch, chain saw, pump lead, empty bothbarrels, blast, and fry it. Of course, thethings you’re trying to kill are bad andtough and they are also trying to rend,

DRAGON 63

shoot, and roast you, so it's all fair.It’s just not enough that you get to kill

everything in sight. You also get to see thebullets hit and witness the bloody remainsof your efforts-the very bloody remains.And you get to see all this first person in a3-D world where you turn and move inany direction until you run into a wall,wade through a river of radioactive acid,or drop into a pit of lava. With music andsound effects to enhance it all, you windup with gun-toting paranoia, which can beexperienced by every human on the planetwith a fast enough PC.

That’s it. That’s Doom.And it’s pretty much Doom II.With Doom being the monster mega-hit

that it is, the folks at id Software havecome out with the marketer’s answer toeverything: If it worked once, do it again.Which is exactly what id did. Doom II isn’treally a new game, it’s more like newlevels for the same game. Everything youloved or maybe hated about Doom ishere-zombie soldiers, big pink demons,fireballing imps, gruesome deaths, theBFG-9000, and, of course, the chain saw.There’s some new stuff added in the formof bigger bad guys like the Arch-Vile andthe highly useful super shotgun, but thebasic formula remains the same: If itmoves, shoot it. True, the game is dressedup with a little bit of a story line-you’renow going to Earth, where you mustslaughter the possessed old tenants andthe new occupants that have recentlymoved in from hell-but story line is notwhat this game was ever about. The storyis just an excuse to kill things.

The network option is still there, so youcan ruin job productivity for up to fourpeople at once, either by going head-to-head or by cooperating as a team. There’sthe ability to play by modem, althoughthat can be frustratingly slow. Use yourmodem instead to get playing tips andsecret codes from a BBS.

Doom II is available as a CD-ROM,though it’s obvious this is more a conven-ience to the publisher than any specialbenefit to you. Stick the disc in your CD-ROM drive, and the first thing it does isdownload the entire game onto your harddrive. After that, you can take the CD andhang it on your wall. Turn it shiny side outand pretend it’s that platinum-recordsingle you wrote in your spare time. Thepoint here is, you’re not getting anythingspecial out of the CD-ROM disc, the pub-lisher is. The disc is cheaper for them topress, which means they make moremoney when you buy the CD-ROM. True,there’s the bonus “First episode from theoriginal Doom!” but even this is marketing,trying to lure you into spending moremoney. Which, of course, companies wantyou to do.

So, is Doom II any good? Given the factthat it does everything Doom did, doesn’tmess with success, and throws a few widgets into the mix, it’s just what lots ofDoom addicts want. The reasoning is

clear: If you liked the first one, you’ll lovethe second.

Well, sort of. There’s nothing wrongwith Doom II. It does a wonderful job ofbeing a replay of what everybody loved—but that’s the problem. It is a sequel with-out surprises. Part of the thrill that madeDoom such fun was the amazing newnessof it. The 3-D, the sound, the traps, andespecially the violence were thrilling andsurprising. If you play Doom II as a sequel,you’ve seen it all before. The challengesare difficult and engaging, but they justdon’t have the same “I don’t believe whatI’m seeing” impact. Without somethingstartlingly new, it’s just more of the same.In a sense, the folks at id played it too safe.

There’s also a caveat every buyer shouldknow. Doom II requires speed-not abso-lutely, but the peacock looks like a turkeyif your machine is too slow. The box saysit can be played on a 386/33 DX, which islike saying you can sit around and watchmolasses pour if you like that sort of thing.Even slower 486’s may leave you wishingfor more. On the other hand, blitzingthrough the halls using a Pentium 90 isabout as fast as any player could manage.

This doesn’t mean Doom II isn’t fun, andif mindless but intense carnage is whatyou want, you’ll get your money’s worth.It’s just not a must-have, keep-on-the-hard-drive-forever game. If you need to havemore Doom, get this. If not, maybe youwant to wait for the next big advance.

X-ComMicroproseIBM PC (CD-ROM)

Imagine Earth is visited by aliens. Thinkof all the wonders and benefits we couldgain through an exchange of ideas andtechnology. Wouldn’t that be great?

Imagine Earth is visited by aliens with

Uh-huh.

guns. Think of all the wonders and bene-fits we could gain by killing them andtaking their toys before they kill us.Wouldn’t that be . . . ?

Apparently that legendary first contactwith intergalactic life didn’t go so well. Itwas probably the result of a simplemisunderstanding-the aliens dissectedJoe Boy’s best hunting dog, so he tookafter them with a shotgun, to which theyretaliated by melting him down to hisshoes with one itsy-bitsy little plasmabeam, and before you know it the wholedang world’s up in arms. Whatever thecause, you can rest assured knowing justwho’s the bad guy-aliens are here todestroy life on Earth.

Well, you may scoff, but that’s preciselythe premise of X-Com from Microprose. Init you are the leader of X-Com, an interna-tional high-tech anti-alien Delta Force. It’syour job to defend the Earth from theseintergalactic attackers, and the nations ofthe world have pooled their resources tohelp you do it. You take their cash to buildan underground base, customizing it froma list of parts-hangars, workshops, radararrays, missile batteries, storerooms, bar-racks, and the like. As you get more cashand the invaders get more aggressive (andthey will), you can build new basesthroughout the globe, siting them wher-ever you want. In the future the worldwill be a model of internationalcooperation-Russian-based fighters willdogfight UFOs over Beijing without aglimmer of protest. It’s one of those hid-den benefits of alien invasion.

Of course, a bunch of undergroundbases isn’t enough. You’ve got to buy fight-ers, transports, rifles, rocket launchers,grenades, ammunition, even tanks. Then,you’ve got to recruit soldiers to use thoseweapons, scientists to invent you new

Doom II (id Software)

64 APRIL 1995

X-Com (Microprose)

ones, and engineers to build them. Andthen you’ve got to assign them to theirteams and tasks, tell them what to invent,and what to build. And then you’ve got toassign weapons out of stores to the differ-ent transports and fighters so you don’tactually send out your teams unarmed—not to mention packing the excess off toother bases and scrapping derelict equip-ment, all the while watching your budget.You do this once, you do this twice, you dothis for every base you have in the gamewhich can be quite a few.

Oh, and did I mention planning? You’ve gotto plan ahead, because nothing happensimmediately. At this stage X-Com is played in“real” time, which means you can make thecomputer days and hours go as fast or slowas you want until something exciting hap-pens. Computer days pass between choosingwhat you want and having it actually showup. If you need replacement troopers to fillout a squad, you better have thought of thatin advance.

If you think this doesn’t sound like a lotof fun, you’re right. The gameplay is hin-dered by the need to click through layersof screens (everything in X-Com is donewith a mouse) and to repeat the sametasks over and over again for differentbases. At this stage of the game usefulinformation is lacking, like what you’vealready bought (but not received) and howlong it will take to get it. Furthermore,there are several frustrating features—such as buying a tank but not being al-lowed to use it because you forgot to buyammo or, worse still, being told you can’tuse it because you don’t have enoughammo but not being told how much moreyou need. Think 50 rounds of tank shellsis enough? Maybe, maybe not. Little helpis given in placing new bases, such as yourcurrent coverage and operating ranges.The only advice is to check the graphs ofUFO activity against those nations thatgive you money. Fail to take care of theUFOs attacking them, and they lower their

contributions.Fortunately, X-Com is not all a game of

quartermaster, supply, and the other partswork much better. X-Com is a game ofEarth defense, so things heat up when thealiens arrive. To paraphrase WinstonChurchill, you will fight them in the air;you will fight them on the beaches.

Air combat is simple. While time passes(at the rate you choose) you wait for UFOsto appear on a globe of the world you canspin, tilt, and zoom in on. When yourradars pick up incoming UFOs, you haveto decide what fighters to scramble andwhat their attack modes should be. Do youjust want to observe and track, make acautious stab, or hit them quick and hard?The answer's obvious—that good offenseequals good defense thing. Get in thereand take them out before they can landand cause havoc. Blow 'em up in the skyor force 'em to crash but don't let 'em gaina beachhead.

Whether they land safely or crash,you're going to have to send a team in, andthe tactical combat is the heart of thegame. X-Com's real goal is to have you takecommand of a squad of soldiers who go into deal with those bloodthirsty aliens. Thereal action begins when your Skyrangertransport lands and it's time to disembarkyour assault squad. The X-Com team obvi-

ously has played a tactical war game ortwo, because their system shows theyknow their stuff. Instead of trying to rein-vent the gaming wheel, they have takenconcepts and techniques from paper wargames and have adapted them wisely tothe computer. The result is a game thatemphasizes planning and strategy, notarcade-honed reflexes.

The first thing they did is get rid of"real" time. Ground combat is played inclearly set out turns. Each turn you issueorders to your soldiers from a simplemenu. You can move them across the map,change their facing, ready weapons, throwgrenades, shoot at targets they can see, orhave them hold fire until something comesinto view. Every action costs movementpoints from the soldier’s total, and soldiershave different totals and costs, reflectingtheir strengths and weaknesses. Onceyou’ve given all the commands you want,you end the turn and let the computerhave its fun. The aliens now move andshoot back at you, although your over-watch force may have a chance to get itslicks in.

This alone would make for a fine game,but X-Com uses the computer’s strength tobuild on that by adding hidden movement.A soldier can shoot only what he can see,and X-Com shows just what he can see in asimple, clear way. The battle map isn’t atop-down view like in a paper war game.Instead, the computer shows the player anorthographic view, like you’re on a nearbyhill looking down on the action. Buildings,walls, and trees are shown in perspective,so it's easy to see just what is blockingyour line of sight, especially since the

DRAGON 6 5

computer only shows you things that atleast one of your squad can see.

Your range of sight isn’t endless, either.The computer will show you the sceneryand enemy movement only out to a limiteddistance. Missions can happen during dayor night (remember that “real time” busi-ness?), and at night your soldiers are goingto feel like lonely pools of light in thedarkness. You’ll quickly learn the value oflobbing a few flares into the darkness.

Finally, the designers paid attention tothe details that make tactical combatgames fun. Your soldiers can go in build-ings and up stairs, fire out windows, blowopenings in walls, kneel behind cover, goberserk, and just plain panic. The alienscome in a variety of types and are armedwith appropriate alien hardware, all betterthan what you start with. In fact, one ofyour objectives is to get and researchthese weapons so you can turn them onyour intergalactic foes.

X-Com is a fine game for those whowant a lot more thought in their carnage,something beyond the run-into-the-room-and-shoot-everything-in-sight school ofstrategy. For this it’s the best you’ll findout there right now. Would that an RPGhad such a well-honed combat model. It isunfortunate that the game is burdened

X-Com (Microprose)

with the save-the-earth’s-resources andbudget-management plot lines instead ofexpanding the range of tactical scenariosyou face. The game wants you to be ser-geant, general, and quartermaster, all

rolled into one. Tactician, definitely; strate-

gist, maybe; but logistics is what staffswere created for. I'd rather lose a gamethrough bad tactics than because Icouldn't balance the books.

66 APRIL 1995

News of people & eventsin the gaming industry

You can send us news, press releases,and announcements using the Internet atTSR.mags@genie.geis.com. We welcomeyour comments at Rumblings, DRAGON®Magazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Rd., LakeGeneva WI, 53147, U.S.A.

Lead Story:BLOOD WARS™ game kills ‘em

A report from the recently held Toy Fairconvention states that TSR Inc.’s new col-lectible BLOOD WARS card game is abloody-good hit. Designed by TSR stafferSteven Schend, the game’s first print runreportedly sold out at the Toy Fair, wherethe cards were officially debuted. Thegame is being reprinted and should beavailable by the time you read this. (Howmany other games have sold out beforethey even got to store shelves?)

Game resurrectedHogshead Publishing, in conjunction

with Games Workshop Ltd., will reprintthe WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLEPLAY*game sometime this spring, with foursupplements to follow within the year.Using the slogan “Chaos Never Sleeps,”Hogshead will publish new material aswell as the best of the old stuff.

In addition to the WARHAMMER game,also be on the lookout for the BUGTOWN*role-playing game from Hogshead. The

BUGTOWN RPG is based on the comics ofMatt Howarth.

Ahoy, mateFormer West End Games’ staffer Ed (Ted)

Stark has left the publishing seas in Penn-sylvania to join the swashbuckling crew ofTSR’s game department. Welcome aboard,Ted!

Bloodsucking booksWhite Wolf and Wizards of the Coast

will be releasing a series of novels basedon the JYHAD* card game. The first novelwill be written by James A. Moore andKevin Andrew Murphy. The new SonjaBlue book, Paint it Black, by Nancy Collinsalso will be out soon.

Talsorian tomesIn more book news, R. Talsorian Games

has announced new deals for novel linesfor both the CYBERPUNK* game (withTime/Warner) and the CASTLE FALKEN-STEIN* game (with Prima Press). Rumorshave it that at least one of the novels willbe penned by Talsorian game guru MikePondsmith.

Retraction retractedIt seems our “correction” in the Rum-

blings column of issue #214, which statedthat Dirt Merchant Games and White Wolf

were not going to produce a second edi-tion of Dirt Merchant’s HOL* game wasincorrect. The two companies will beproducing said game after all. This allobviously was just a masterful scheme bythe Wolfers and the Merchants to get notone, but three mentions of that product inthis column. The new version of HOL willbe published by Black Dog Games, theWolfers imprint for mature-audiencegames.

Goodies galoreBelow is a smorgasbord of news and

product announcements regarding someof our fave games or game folks in theindustry—listed in no particular order, ofcourse:

Thunder Castle Games, producers of theTOWERS IN TIME* collectible card game,has acquired the HIGHLANDER* gamelicense. Expect to see a HIGHLANDER cardgame (as mentioned in issue #214) and anRPG, maybe by this year’s GEN CON®Game Fair. (Speaking of the Game Fair,Thunder Castle may be bringing the HIGH-LANDER TV show’s star, Adrian Paul, tothe convention.)

West End Games has sold the rights toproduce first-edition TORG* gameproducts to Omni Gaming Products. WestEnd plans to bring the Possibility Wars toan end, possibly producing a “post-war”second edition product as part of its

MASTERBOOK* line.The first supplement for Pariah Press’

way-cool WHISPERING VAULT* horrorRPG is out. The DANGEROUS PREY* bookis a 112-page “mixed-bag” collection of GMadvice, additional powers for Shadows andthe Unbidden, 32 new Shadows for yourPC stalkers to encounter, plot hooks, and afull adventure. Pariah plans much supportfor the game, including a GM screen pack-age (with a full adventure) that should beavailable by the time you read this, and aStalker’s Guide later this year. Also, lookfor Pariah’s new RPG at this year’s GENCON Game Fair.

Look in your stores now for the newGURPS* CTHULHUPUNK* book, co-produced by Steve Jackson Games andChaosium. Take the dystopian future ofthe cyberpunk genre and add the Love-craftian grue of the Cthulhu mythos andwhat do you get? One heck of a fun-sounding game!

Also available now is a noncollectiblecard game from WotC. It’s called THEGREAT DALMUTI* game, and it’s based ona playing-card game known by numerousnames. (We played this game in collegewhere it was known as “Jerk”.) Regardlessof its origin, the game’s a blast.

Speaking of card games, WotC andWhite Wolf are publishing the RAGE*game, based on the WEREWOLF* RPG.The game debuts in May.

More magazine mayhemCalamities and confusion continue to

abound in TSR’s Periodicals Department.An on-the-job computer accident has ledKim Mohan, Editor-in-Chief at DRAGONMagazine into believing he is a skunk.Doctors have so far been unable to re-verse the effects. In other animal news,Wolf Baur has gone rabid and recently hasbeen caged at the local Timberwolf Socie-ty, due to his unusual spurts of hairgrowth and frothing at the mouth. Friendsmay visit him there. After watching onetoo many episodes of the X-Files, MichelleVuckovich apparently has been abductedby aliens, although no one outside thedepartment seems to have noticed. Artdirector Larry Smith has left the magazinedepartment to pursue a career as an Elvisimpersonator—Best of luck, Larry! DaleDonovan seemingly snapped under thepressure of his imminent transfer; itseems that he now wishes to be known asDebbie Donovan. Renee Ciske, the onlyremaining sane member of the staff hasfled to TSR’s graphics department andcould not be reached for comment. Therest of the staff has been sacked—forobvious reasons.

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, inc.

DRAGON 69

by Arthur CollinsAs the adventure gaming hobby has

matured, so have its adherents. Adoles-cents have all the time in the world topursue their (admittedly absorbing) hobby,but as they age they find themselvespressed for time. Fellow gamers moveaway to college or get married. Somehow,the old gang finds it harder and harder toget together. Eventually, it quits meetingaltogether. How sad. And how typical.

There seems to be an interest these daysin what makes a playing group stick to-gether. What makes one group last? Howcan one prolong “the good old days”? Inresponse, I only have my own experiencesto offer. I was part of a playing group thatstayed together for 11 years.

Many players came and went in those 11years, but the core of our group alwaysremained: Kevin; Jessi; Phred; Deanne;

myself. Three of us just happened to beclergy or ministerial students; now, fourof us are. (My wife is the only one of uswho has any sense.) I had recently gradu-ated from seminary when our group offriends got together for a day of playinggames in that fall of 1978. We had broughtvarious strategy games, and played a cou-ple. Then it was Kevin’s turn to pick thegame we would play. He started us off on

70 APRIL 1995

a new game, whose rules weren’t evencomplete: something called theADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®game. We were hooked.

We didn’t intend to make the group lastas long as it did, nor was it apparent thenthat we five would be the ones to keep itgoing. There is a large element of luck inall this. But beyond luck, there are thingsthat make groups survive—and there arethings that make groups die. Trying tokeep together a group that’s ready to diecan be a frustrating experience, but moreof us have experienced the greater frus-tration of seeing a group die that had a lotof life left in it.

During our time as a playing group, wehad children, moved (frequently), saw Jessigo off to college, and saw me start a PhDand Phred three different Master’s pro-grams. What finally broke us up was Kevin& Jessi’s move to North Carolina for threeyears so Jessi could attend seminary there.That was just too far for us to link up—butwe made it 11 years, Since that time, I’vedone a lot of thinking about what made ourexperiences together so much fun—and sodurable. Here are 12 pieces of advice de-rived from that reflection.

Game with friendsOur friendship had been established

before we started playing the AD&D gametogether. This was a great help. We trulyenjoyed each other’s company, and saweach other outside of the gaming environ-ment (and still do). Thus, our gamingsimply was one more thing we enjoyeddoing together.

This is not meant to devalue the friend-ships that grow up out of a common inter-est in role-playing games. We all meet newfriends by way of the interests we have incommon. But I have turned down moreinvitations to play from people whose onlyinterest I share is the game. Some of themcan talk of nothing else. There is a techni-cal word for such people: they are boring.

A relationship that is worth investingyears of your life in has to be built onmore than just an interest in the game. Itcan start there, but it cannot stay therewithout reaching a dead end. And we haveall met people who need to be told (in akindly, but firm fashion) that they reallyought to get a life; you cannot get all thehuman contact you need from rolling diceand recounting your alter-ego’s exploits adnauseam.

Be responsiblePersonal maturity is a must for a long-

lasting group of any kind. A good rule ofthumb for a group to last and be what themembers desire it to be is that 75% of themembers must be present 75% of thetime. This requires the discipline of beingable to make commitments and keep them.People who are always forgetting theirappointments, constantly reschedulingthem, or perennially late doom the groupof which they are a part.

This is not such a big deal in your teen-age years, when you seem to have aninfinite amount of time to “hang out” withyour peers. The way America does school-ing largely accounts for this: at no othertime in your life are you thrust together—socially—with so many other people insimilar life situations. And you will neveragain have this much time to goof aroundwith your friends until you retire.

The new pressures of college, work, andmarriage (i.e., the “Adult World”), requireus to learn how to organize and manageour time differently. We all must come toterms with the tyranny of the calendarand the clock. Blessed are those whose “I’llbe there,” means precisely that, for theyshall never lack for friends.

In our group, while many players cameand went, we five stayed committed toeach other, and our mutual responsibilitykept our fun alive. Once we had agreedupon a playing date, it went on our calen-dars and became as important as anyother work or family date listed. Onlyrarely did something so important comeup that we had to reschedule or cancel.

Being responsible also includes not ne-glecting work, chores, or schoolwork inorder to play. These conditions tend tolead to personal crises that will have anadverse effect upon any neglectful mem-bers of your group—and thus, your groupas a whole.

Include significant othersNot everyone who loves you loves your

hobbies. A major source of conflict in newmarriages, for instance, is old friendshipsor activities that the new partner does notshare in—especially if they cost money.New sweethearts/spouses always have tomake their peace with what competes fortheir partner’s time. Nor is this restrictedto RPGs. Golf, poker, even church, all canwind up being resented by the partnerwho opts out of (or is excluded from)them.

We were fortunate that all our partnerswere in sympathy with our hobby. (Onecould’ve taken or left the game, but shesoldiered on for years and does not regretit. It was fun—but it could very easily nothave been.) Invite these newcomers. Showthem a good time. And if they don’t wantto participate, remind the partner whodoes that she needs to work out ways ofcompensating for time spent with thesefriends doing this activity.

A new gamer is a thing of beauty and ajoy forever. But a jealous partner is athreat to the life of your group. Don’tmake people jealous. Get them on yourside by any means you can.

Be courteousRPGs take a tremendous toil on a house

and refrigerator. Papers, cushions, andpizza crusts often are strewn everywhereby the end of a playing session. It is funda-mental to a long-lasting relationship of anysort that one does not impose on the same

people in the same way all the time.That doesn’t mean you have to move

your playing site around (although weoften did). It does mean that you need tohelp clean up. It also means that the hostshouldn’t be responsible for feeding every-body every time. Bring food—real food,not just munchies. Chip in your share ofmoney when it’s time to order out. Don’tmooch.

When younger gamers play with oldergamers (an arrangement we welcomed, Imight add), the older gamers might notexpect the younger ones to provide a fullshare of provender. On the other hand,that means the younger ones need to beextra-helpful when it comes time to do thedishes or vacuum the carpet. Remember,we’re talking about how to create a long-lasting playing group; don’t wear out yourwelcome!

Play regularlyKeeping a campaign going requires

regular gaming time. Without it, interest

cannot be sustained; no one knows wheretheir characters are or what is going on.Regular play is more important than in-tense play in this regard.

We fell into the habit of meeting more orless monthly (anywhere from three to sixweeks apart). Meeting weekly would haveput too great a strain on our franticallybusy lives, while meeting less regularlywould have made the campaign’s continui-ty suffer.

Distance was not the factor one mightthink for us. We all were adults with cars.We kept the group going when a two-hourdrive was involved for at least one mem-ber of the group. Most of the time, how-ever, we were all employed within anhour’s drive or so of the meeting place.

Budget timeWhen you’re only playing 10 or 12 times

a year, you just can’t mess around. Thetime has to count for something. At first,we tried staying overnight at each other’shomes. We would arrive the night beforeand game until all hours, then get up andgo at it until early afternoon. We soon gottired of this, though.

Eventually, we developed a differentpattern. We would gather on the appoint-ed day by noon and begin with lunch. Lastsession’s treasure would be shared out,and preparations for this day’s sessionwould be made. By the time lunch wascleared away, we were ready to roll thosedice. We would play steadily to (and some-times including) supper. By early evening,we were wrapping up. Sometimes thisrequired us to “freeze time” in the middleof an adventure.

Thus, we usually spent four or five goodsolid hours gaming, and we found thissufficient for our purposes. We appointedsomeone in our group to be in charge ofdivvying up treasure, and he would cometo each session with various lots of trea-sure ready to be shared out. We wouldthen roll dice and choose. Haggling witheach other was a waste of time, so weforbore haggling. The experience pointsdue from treasure (if not known before-hand) also were announced by the trea-sure accountant. Likewise, someone wasalways the official experience drudge: atthe end of the session, the DM would gothrough the monsters killed (and treasure,time permitting) and give out numbers,which would be crunched by the experi-ence drudge, who would announce eachperson’s share. The DM did not give outextra XP to individual players. We figuredwe were all good players and singling outindividuals was pointless; besides, it tooktime we didn’t want to spend on it.

Share leadershipNot only did we share the bookkeeping

chores concerning experience and trea-sure, we shared refereeing and design.Over the 11 years, we played in severaldifferent campaigns, including one that

ran for four or five years (real time). Eachcampaign had a different DM.

But we also shared leadership among theplayers even in the middle of a campaign.We not only planned out the details of ourcharacters, we often planned out theirhome towns (with the DM’s blessing). Wealso pitched in with rules. I was the resi-dent psionics expert, so I often helpedconduct psionic combat, even when Iwasn’t the DM; another player was theonly guy who could understand the weap-onless combat rules, so we left them tohim. This takes trust, but trust comes outof the kind of relationships upon whichlong-term groups depend.

As we chose our characters for eachcampaign, we tended to complement,rather than compete with each other’schoices. That way, each of us hadstrengths to offer the party that othersdidn’t, and no one could hog the glory.

Make the game your ownWe started playing the AD&D game long

before the current welter of printed cam-paign settings and modules. The core rulebooks weren’t even all in print yet. Thiswas tremendously liberating to ourimaginations. Along the way, we playedvarious “canned” adventures (and somewere very good), but there is a certainsameness to the published modules availa-ble. When you come right down to it,there’s nothing like building your worldand adventures from scratch.

I am convinced that depending too muchon published adventure material results insuperficial engagement with the fantasyworld. One tends to race through adven-ture after adventure, acquiring a “beenthere, done that” kind of attitude. What’sthe next thrill?

There is nothing to match the textureand depth of a world that a competent DMhas lovingly created. It is something youcan enter into without getting tired of.This may be only to say that the more youput into your game, the more you will getout of it. That’s a cliche; but it is also pro-foundly true.

Our worlds and campaigns were notmade only by us (and thus engaged ourdeepest levels of creativity), they weremade for us; each DM took the playerswho would be investigating this campaignworld into account in the very creation ofit. We “fit” into our fantasy worlds in away no one can really “fit” intoRAVENLOFT® or DARK SUN® campaign(which is not to say that those aren’t goodand helpful products). That’s somethingthat makes one want to come back formore.

Remember why you’re thereWhen we discovered the AD&D game in

1978, we were all adults. We all were well-read in the literature of fantasy and sci-ence fiction, and we had more than asmattering of philosophy, history, religion,

science, and whatnot to call upon in ourplay. We were delighted with the gamebecause it allowed us to enter the kinds ofworlds we had previously only read about.This is the joy that J.R.R. Tolkien named“sub-creation.”

It troubles me to see what seems to be amajor shift among the young gamers oftoday in how they use the FRPG format.We always had seen the rules and gameconstructs (e.g., the cleric character class)as mere conveniences; what we did withthem was to enter the world of heroicfantasy. But gamers today who have beenintroduced to the world of fantasythrough FRPGs see it differently; for them,the rules and game constructs are oftenthe primary reality.

We enjoyed using the AD&D game toplay at being vikings or Arthurian knightsor the dwarves out of The Lord of theRings. And if the rules didn’t describethose possibilities exactly, we adjusted. Wemade it up. But I see kids today who won-der what sort of AD&D game wizardMerlin is: not would be, but is. These kidsread the rule books before they read thestories that inspired the games. Thatmeans their palates have been trained insome strange ways.

In a module outline I once submitted toTSR, Inc., I attempted to take the party intothe Garden of Hesperides out of Greekmythology. To be successful, a player wouldhave to sense that she had really stood inthat wonderful place, and reached out hishand to grasp the Golden Apples of theWest. Quite an undertaking—but how if itwere to succeed? Would this not be a wor-thy adventure?

Since I had no AD&D game stats for thekind of beings the triple moon goddess’avatars would be, I adapted. In one of herphases, she would appear more or less asa hag, I guessed. So I had a hag in themodule, as a means of representing thislegendary encounter in game terms. Theeditor’s cryptic comment in the marginwas, “Did hags,” meaning that a recentmodule had featured this creature.

We are reduced to that. No longer do wefind many gamers for whom the rules andgame constructs provide a magical key toenter the worlds they have longed for alltheir lives. I meet far more who know onlythe games themselves. The result is thatthey either become bores, or they burnout on gaming quickly. They run throughall the neat stuff published, and it’s justnot enough. They eat and eat, but are stillhungry. They cannot see the legendarybeing the monster stats represent, butonly more and more stats.

This is important if you want to build along-term campaign or playing group. Youmust find ways to reach into the wealth offantastic lore and find the primary core ofthat literature. That well is not likely torun dry, whereas the savor of the pub-lished material or your pocket moneyassuredly will.

72 APRIL 1995

Be a teamOne of the things I am proudest of in

our playing experience was our trackrecord of cooperation. We faced dangerbravely for each other. We shared treasureunselfishly. We were not greedy. And wenever, ever played characters who stolefrom each other or tried to fight eachother.

Most adolescents pass through a nega-tive stage on their way to positive self-image. This is expected, and we all makeallowances for each other. But I have nopatience at all for the immature gamerwho derives pleasure from “role-playing”an anti-social, disruptive character. This ismerely attention-getting behavior, usingthe game to boost the real person’s pres-ence among real people under color of thegame character who stands in for him.

This is not to say we didn’t occasionallyplay characters with divergent interests,and even some shady alignments. Butimplicit in the social contract that bringsthe characters together must be some-thing that makes them work together as ateam. This may not be so important inone-shot sessions or tournaments, but it isabsolutely vital in building a group that isgoing for the long haul. Egotistic or pain-in-the-butt characters are not fun for theother players to deal with, and the groupwill wind up either expelling their owneror dissolving.

Do long-range designA group that seeks the long-lasting game

experience should plan for long-lastingcampaigns. That means that you have towork out what the new party is trying toaccomplish (even if the PCs don’t knowyet).

A campaign is not just a string of adven-tures. It must be bound together by acommon theme, a long-range goal. Variousshort-range goals and personal charactergoals will provide diversity within thecampaign, but there must be somethingthe whole thing is about.

Likewise, characters should be providedwith long-term goals beyond merely climb-ing to maximum level. Without these per-sonal character goals, running a characterbecomes boring. After you’ve playedeverything, and run several characters upto the top, what’s left to excite you—character development, that’s what.

When the campaign matures, it’s time toconclude it and start something else.When the character matures, it’s time toretire him. Trying to keep getting the samebang out of a played-out quest or demigod-ranked characters is boring. A long-lastingplaying group requires a change everynow and then.

Take a breakOnce in a while, the group needs to do

something different with its time. Especial-

ly between campaigns, the same old thingcan be particularly dull and lifeless. Wetried miniatures battles, one-shot sessionswith old characters, canned tournamentmodules, and even playing an entirelydifferent game for the day. All of theseactivities give the members of the groupthe pleasure of being together and playing,without having to be accomplishing some-thing. Eventually, someone comes up witha new campaign idea, and the memberscan get excited about designing new char-acters for it.

ConclusionNot all of these suggestions may be

appealing—or even possible—to all gamersand all groups, but they describe ourgroup as we were. And our track record isnone too bad, I’d say.

Would I do it again? We’re all very busynow—more so than ever, and life is evenmore complicated. And yet, my answer isyes; I would like to belong to a group thatderived the kind of fun from each other’scompany that our group once did. Andwho knows? Maybe it will come to pass. Ihope that something like it will come topass for you. And I can truthfully say, Iwouldn’t have missed it for all the worldsthere are to adventure in.

Role-playing games' ratings

Not recommended

Poor, but may be useful

Fair

good

Excellent

The best

74 APRIL 1995

My thanks, as always, to everyone who’staken the time to write. Your comments—such as those from Herman Liebson,Jeremy Richard, April Wilson, SteffanDelPiano, and Joe Kushner—have givenme enough ideas for a book full ofcolumns. Heck, I don’t even mind whenyou point out my errors, like when EvanFranke of Sacramento, Calif., who noticedthat I attributed authorship of A Farewellto Arms to Thomas Wolfe instead ofErnest Hemingway (in DRAGON® Maga-zine issue #210). Be informed, however,that I will no longer include intentionalmistakes for your amusement.

What else is in the mailbag? A lot of youwant information about specific games,such as publisher addresses and adventurerecommendations (which I’m happy toprovide). Others want to share their opin-ions on products not covered in thecolumn (which I always get a kick out of).Still others want feedback on theirmanuscripts-in-progress (which I rarelyfeel qualified to give). I’ve also noticed thesame three questions turning up again andagain, mentioned in maybe half of the lasthundred letters. To save everyone else astamp, let’s answer them here:

How do I get my article publishedin DRAGON Magazine? For starters,don’t send it to me. Send it to the editor.And if you haven’t seen the writer’s guide-lines, it’s a good idea get them first. (For-ward a self-addressed envelope to theeditor and ask for them.)

What’s the best game for a novice?The best entry-level fantasy RPGs includethe classic DUNGEON & DRAGONS®game (the one in the brown box, releasedlast year), Iron Crown’s LORD OF THERINGS* game, and Flying Buffalo’s TUN-NELS & TROLLS* game. Beginners with ataste for the bizarre might sample R.Talsorian’s CASTLE FALKENSTEIN* game(reviewed in issue #214) or Steve Jackson’sTOON* game. (I’m surprised how oftenthis question comes up; must be a lot ofbaffled beginners out there.)

How many games do you own? I’venever counted, but a lot. Let me put it thisway: they have a room in my house all tothemselves. (I used to think I was the mostpopular guy in the neighborhood becauseof my sparkling personality.)

Anyway, on to the business at hand,which this month takes us into the realmof deluxe expansion sets. These lavish,goodie-packed boxes make hard-coreplayers tremble in ecstacy at the thoughtof exploring the worlds inside. Someworlds, of course, are better than others.

Masque of the Red Deathand other TalesADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®

game supplement for the RAVENLOFT®setting

One 128-page book, three 32-page books,one three-panel referee screen, one21” X 32” map sheet, one 21” X 32”poster, boxed

TSR, Inc. $25Design: William W. Connors with D.J.

Heinrich, Colin McComb, and ShaneHensley

Editing: Anne Brown, Jonatha AriadneCaspian, and Richard Pike-Brown

Illustrations: Stephen Fabian and NedDameron

Cover: Robh Ruppel

So the guys and gals at TSR, Inc., weresitting around at a staff meeting, wrackingtheir brains for new product ideas, when aneon sign flickered to life over the head ofWilliam Connors, spelling out VICTORIANROLE-PLAYING GAME. Then he remem-bered the less than enthusiastic receptiongiven to previous Victorian RPGs, likeGDW’s SPACE: 1889* game; the sign spitout a few sparks and blew up. When it washis turn to speak, Connors mumbled a fewcryptic comments about, er, aRAVENLOFT® campaign expansion, maybesomething with Jack the Ripper and foggystreets and hand gun rules, and he’d getback to them as soon as he combed theglass fragments out of his hair.

Okay, I made all that up. (April Fool!) Butwhatever its origin, Masque of the RedDeath is cause for celebration, especiallyfor players whose AD&D® game cam-paigns have gone stale. Not exactly theRAVENLOFT setting and not exactly a newgame, Connors’ little mutant is the mostprovocative AD&D variant since theSPELLJAMMER® campaign.

Red Death refers not to the Edgar AllenPoe story, but to a malevolent entityspawned in ancient Egypt during the“golden age of magic.” As malevolent entit-ies will do, it proceeded to wreak havocfor a few thousand years, promoting vio-lence and catalyzing disasters. By the late19th century, the era in which the gameunfolds, the world totters on the edge ofthe abyss. Enter the player characters,poised to challenge the Red Death and itsminions. “If [the PCs] fail, then the inhabit-ants of Gothic Earth may well be doomedto an age of darkness and war more terri-ble than any before.” Connors paints thesetting in gaudy colors, combining real-world history with legends and literature.Thus, necromancers practice dark artsamong the slave traders of New Orleans,while Buenos Aires agricultural baronsattempt to squelch rumors of monstrouswinged serpents. Spirit creatures stalk thesettlers of the American West. SherlockHolmes shares a railroad car with CountDracula. Unlike the basic RAVENLOFTsetting, where mysterious mists divide therealm into distinct settings, the GothicEarth setting has no divisions. Becausemen and monsters can travel whereverthey like, the referee has access to theentire planet for supernatural slugfests.

Balancing blood-soaked imagery withhumorous flourishes (a backfired spellmight give the caster a forked tongue),Masque deftly combines the gloom ofWhite Wolfs VAMPIRE: THE MASQUER-

ADE* game and the whimsy of R. Talsor-ian’s CASTLE FALKENSTEIN* game.Though Masque would’ve benefited form atighter focus—why not just concentrate onEurope instead of struggling to cover thewhole world?—there’s more to embracethan complain about.

Still, Masque’s drawing card isn’t theVictorian setting. As good as it is, we’vebeen here before, not just in CASTLEFALKENSTEIN, but also in Chaosium’sCthulhu by Gaslight (an expansion for theCALL OF CTHULHU* game) and TSR’sown For Faerie, Queen, and Country sup-plement for the AMAZING ENGINE® game.The main attraction is the game system.

Masque begins by jettisoning the tradi-tional character classes, replacing themwith soldiers (they’re like fighters, butcan’t specialize in favored weapons),adepts (wizards with limited magic and noschool specialization), mystics (priests withlimited magic), and tradesmen (likethieves, but without Climb Walls, PickLocks, and other thief abilities.) All playercharacters must be human. Additionally,they’re encouraged to select character kitsfrom a list of down-to-earth vocations suchas Cavalryman, Journalist, and Laborer.Nonweapon proficiencies, optional in thestandard AD&D game, are required here;among the choices are Chemistry, Photog-raphy, and Criminology.

Masque also introduces RAVENLOFTsetting players to gunpowder. Simple,common sense rules ease the transitionfrom crossbows to carbines. Armor, forinstance, provides no protection againstfirearms used at short range, and onlymodest protection at medium and longranges. Characters attempting to emptytheir guns may take advantage of a two-part combat round, making half theirattacks in part one, the rest in part two. Toreflect the increased damage from bullets,any damage die showing a 6 is rerolled. Ahit from a derringer, for example, normal-ly inflicts 2d6 points of damage. If the diceshow a 5 and a 6, the 6 is rolled again. Ifthe subsequent roll is 4, the hit inflicts atotal of 15 points (5 + 6 + 4).

Reduced reliance on magic furthernudges Masque in the direction of realism.Spells can’t be used unless the castermakes a successful proficiency check.Magical items are rare, and in some cases,unavailable. Even acquiring a spell is risky;if a character attempting to learn a newspell fails a System Shock roll, he loses onepoint of Strength or Constitution.

The rule book ends with an informativechapter of referee tips, covering rulemodifications from the RAVENLOFT boxedset. Three fully-developed adventures,each in its own 32-page booklet, answermost of the questions about staging cam-paigns. Red Tide serves up few surprises—anyone who can’t anticipate the plot twistshasn’t seen enough late shows—but plentyof action and a lot of fun. Red Jack, a Jackthe Ripper take-off, put my entire party inthe cemetery—consider that a recommen-

DRAGON 75

dation. Red Death uses Edgar Allen Poe asa springboard for a tricky mystery.

Graphically, the RAVENLOFT campaignremains the most conservative horror RPGon the market; compared to the in-your-face White Wolf line, the RAVENLOFTsetting is about as visually compelling asthe Cryptkeeper cartoon series. I realizethat the RAVENLOFT campaign aims at abroader audience than, say, the VAMPIREgame, but TSR could stand to turn thetemperature up a notch. The illustrationon page 18 of the Masque rule book(where a gun blast ventilates a zombie’shead) is a step in the right direction, atleast as far as we lowbrows are con-cerned. Though the referee screen does anice job of displaying the tables, theposters don’t amount to much. One fea-tures a more or less standard map of theworld, intended, I guess, for those whodon’t have access to an atlas. The otherdepicts the cover art and the RAVENLOFTlogo, intended, I guess, for those inclinedto help TSR promote their products.

Evaluation: The Victorian setting’s fine,but it’s a sidebar to the system overhaul.Masque of the Red Death makes a persua-sive case for reality-based role-playing,where wits count more than muscle and ashotgun packs more punch than a fireball.Endearingly human, these are the onlyAD&D game characters I’d consider usingas investigators in a CALL OF CTHULHUgame or, for that matter, as adversaries ina VAMPIRE campaign. And nitpickerswho’ve been clamoring for a streamlined,skill-based AD&D game ought to be danc-ing in the streets. Masque of the RedDeath doesn’t qualify as the Third Editionof the AD&D game, but it’s a reasonablefacsimile—call it Second Edition, Version2.0. May Connors’ next mutant be just asornery.

Parlainth: The Forgotten City EARTHDAWN* game supplementOne 152-page book, 24 pages of player

handouts, one 22” X 32” map sheet,18 treasure and creature cards, boxed

FASA Corporation $25Design: Robin D. LawsAdditional design: Shane Lacy Hensley and

John J. TerraEditing: Donna IppolitoIllustrations: Jim Nelson, Joel Biske, Steve

Bryant, Elizabeth Danforth, NewtonEwell Earl Geier, Alex Heller, JeffLaubenstein, Larry MacDougall, andMike Nielsen

Cover: Les Edwards and Jim Nelson

Let’s settle this now: the EARTHDAWNgame has displaced the RUNEQUEST*game as the pre-eminent alternative to theAD&D game. Though other fantasy RPGscontinue to thrive—Chaosium’s superbPENDRAGON* game and Wizards of theCoast’s ARS MAGICA* game spring tomind—only the EARTHDAWN gamematches the AD&D rules in scope andinvention. Whether the EARTHDAWN

76 APRIL 1995

game matches the AD&D game’s durabilityremains to be seen, but it’s still early. (Ifyou’re keeping score, the RUNEQUESTgame had about a twenty-year run.)

Initially, I was underwhelmed (see thereview in DRAGON issue #202). Despite itsambitious reach, the EARTHDAWN rulesseemed more interested in echoing theAD&D game rather than subverting it; theknickknacks (obsidimen, thread magic) feltgimmicky, the game systems more throw-back than revolutionary (12-sided dice?).But lately, I’ve been warming up to it,mainly because of classy supplements likeBarsaive and Mists of Betrayal. Parlainth, alook at a devastated Theran city and themost entertaining EARTHDAWN packageso far, continues to up the ante.

As with the previous supplements, Par-lainth receives a first-class presentation.The attractive guide book boasts tastefulgraphics and vigorous writing, leavenedwith subtle humor. (“Vardegul is a hardt’skrang to get to know.”) To help refereesshape the world to the needs of theircampaign, the personality and locationdescriptions come with a menu of options.For instance, should a referee choose tointroduce shady businessman Torgak intoan adventure, he can make him distrustfulof Therans in general (Option 1), resentfulof the dwarf kingdom Throal (Option 2),or cooperative with independent adven-turers (Option 3). The Eastern Catacombsof the Laneways may hold the jewels of arich merchant (Option 1), contain a gaunt-let of traps to discourage trespassers (Op-tion 2), or consist of useless passages builtby cadaver men (Option 3). Eccentricorganization, however, makes the booktough to use. The “Running Adventures inParlainth” section inexplicably precedesthe discussion of Parlainth itself. Halfwaythrough the book, the page numbers stop(at 77), then start over (with page 2); if thedesigners felt a need to divide the text,why not just give us two books? Thoughthe colorful monster cards are well-done,the poster map is a waste, indifferentlyrendered and information-free. On theother hand, the player handouts, a gener-ous assortment of parchment-like docu-ments, are an inspired bonus. Allegedlyfrom the junk shop of Vardeghul (thehard-to-know t’skrang), the sketch mapsand journal excerpts make terrific re-wards, treasures, and clues.

The guide book opens with a history ofthe doomed city, explaining how Parlainthbegan as the provincial capital of Thera,then moved to an astral plane for protec-tion against the Scourge. But alas, evilnosed its way in, corrupting the city al-most beyond recognition. Now, Parlainthhas returned to the land of Barsaive in aform recognizable to anyone who’s spentmore than a day or two with a fantasyRPG: “. . . shattered buildings, winding andrubble-strewn streets, and dark, dankcatacombs . . . many of them filled withfiendish traps, wherein glittering treasuresand dangerous creatures reside.”

Once past the history, which is moreinteresting than I’ve made it sound, therest of book details nine sections of ruins,including the War Zone, the Vaults, andfour different catacombs. Each sectionopens with a background briefing, fol-lowed by architectural descriptions, noteson inhabitants and traps, and encountersuggestions. For example, pyramids andmuck-filled pools dominate the Vaults, aformer administrative center that’s be-come a sanctuary for renegades. A partymay search for murderous fugitives orseek an audience with the dragon Char-coalgrin. Snares and alarm bells line oneof the corridors, another holds extrava-gant tapestries and hot-tempered ogres.

Old hat? It could’ve been. But designerRobin Laws has a knack for transformingthe mundane into magic. Adventurers lowon funds may place bets on the falsemen,humanoid servitors engaged in perpetualduels. A lucky explorer might stumbleacross a butterspider, an enchanted lumpof lard (I’m not kidding) with magicalhealing abilities. Waxmen, animated wick-er mannequins, lurk in the shadows, as dothe Scurriers, repulsive scavengers whosebrains protrude from cracks in theirskulls. The absence of floor plans anddetailed scenarios may frustrate begin-ners, but seasoned players, especiallythose nostalgic for the campaigns of theiryouth, should find a lot to like.

Evaluation: A dungeon crawl for gradschoolers, Parlainth freshens even thehoariest cliches with its muscular designand literate encounters. There’s a moun-tain of material here; an industrious ref-eree should be able to develop a year’sworth of adventures without breaking asweat. It suffers, however, from an incon-sistent tone, not moody enough for horror,nor goofy enough for light fantasy. FASAhas yet to convince me to undertake a full-scale EARTHDAWN campaign, but they’regetting closer. For now, I plan to mineParlainth for ideas and use themelsewhere—you could say that Parlainth isone of the best AD&D game products TSRnever published.

RED STEEL™ setADVANCED DUNGEONS &. DRAGONSgame supplementOne 128-page book, one 32-page book,

three 21” X 32” map sheets, one audiocompact disc (15 tracks; playing time:62: 28), boxed

TSR, Inc. $30Design: Tim BeachEditing: Lester SmithIllustrations: Randy Post and Dee BarnettAudio: Gordon Hookailo (producer), Flint

Dille (interactive director), Buzz Dixon(associate producer and script), TimBeach (script), and Dominic Messinger(score)

Most AD&D game supplements featurepersonalities and settings. Some featuretreasures and monsters. Red Steel is the

first to feature dust and rocks, The dust,vermeil, grants extraordinary powers toanyone who brews it up and drinks it, butalso may cause excruciating physical de-formities. The rocks, cinnabryl, can beformed into jewelry that fends off the sideeffects of vermeil, and shaped into weap-ons capable of wounding magical crea-tures. Both substances permeate thewar-ravaged lands of the Savage Coast(introduced in 1985’s X9 module of thesame name), spewing enchantments likeOld Faithful spews steam. In effect, RedSteel is the flipside of Masque of the BedDeath; where Masque reduces the role ofmagic, Red Steel beefs it up, big time.

The box includes two attractive book-lets, the fat one devoted the game systems,the skinny one to the Savage Coast. De-signer Tim Beach, also responsible for theterrific Wizard’s Challenge adventure, isnothing if not comprehensive, tacklingeverything from the weight of a machete(10 pounds) to the nickname of QueenAtor I (“Old Gray Fangs”). Rounding outthe package are three handsome maps anda compact disc, which I could’ve livedwithout. It’s not that it’s badly produced—in fact, it’s better engineered than the lastGreen Day album—I just can’t figure outwhat do with it. Most of the disc containsmood music, some reminiscent of a filmsoundtrack, the rest sounding like it be-longs in a medieval dentist’s office. Else-where, a poor man’s Bela Lugosi narratesa track of introductory material. For thosewanting to enhance their game sessionswith something other than the radio, theCD fills the bill. For everybody else . . .well, I wouldn’t buy Red Steel just for themusic.

The preponderance of nonhuman racesmakes the Savage Coast more treacherousthan the typical AD&D game setting. Origi-nally colonized by outcasts and criminals,the subtropical shoreline now consists of astring of self-contained city-states popu-lated by lizard men, the feline rakasta, andintelligent spiders. Vermeil has madeeverything a mess, tinting the plants, sky,and even the residents’ skin a dull red. Athorough history provides insight into theregion’s brutal past. Intriguing localesabound. The Dream River, bordered byamber lotuses whose pollen induces sleep,runs from the canine kingdom of Renardyto the Plain of Dreams. The aranea, a raceof devious arachnids, occupy Herath, theCity of Mages. Sadly, there are no full-blown adventures, just a few outlines(though they’re pretty good ones). Andwith so much territory to cover, we onlyget a—sigh—cursory peek at the variouscultures.

But as in Masque of the Bed Death thesetting is secondary to the rules. And therules are a wacky delight. For instance, inaddition to the usual humans and elves,player characters can be aranea, rakasta,lupins (dogheaded humanoids), or tortles(bipedal turtles). New character kits in-clude the Gaucho and Webmaster. Virtu-

78 APRIL 1995

ally all intelligent creatures, PCs included,gain magical abilities called Legacies whenthey enter the area. Most characters get asingle Legacy, though some, such as thosetaking the Inheritor character kit, mayacquire several. Legacies resemble stand-ard AD&D game spells, such as charm andfly usable at will, three times per day. Butthey have their drawbacks. As soon as acharacter gains a Legacy, he begins to loseup to 2d4 points from an ability score(chosen by the DM). He also begins to turnred and, worse, develop a physical de-formity related to his Legacy; the armorLegacy, for example, might transform theaffected character’s skin to snake scales.These deformities may be avoided bywearing a cynnabryl amulet. Cynnabryl,however, goes dead at the rate of oneounce per week, ensuring a constantscramble for pristine ore.

Evaluation: Engrossing and nervy, RedSteel takes the AD&D game in a lot ofunexpected directions, and I’m not justtalking about fighters being able to blastmagic missiles. The economics are differ-ent; consider the trade ramificationswhere cynnabryl is more precious thangold. The balance of power is different;how, for instance, does a ruler keep thepeace in a community of self-absorbedspell-casters? Even the animals are differ-ent; it’s possible to run into a werewolfwith red fur or a spike-covered goblin. Onthe downside, Red Steel’s emphasis onrules doesn’t leave much room for thecivilization. I wanted to know more aboutcynnabryl black marketeers, vermeil cult-ists, tortle armament merchants. Put it thisway: if TSR offered to swap the CD for aSavage Coast source book, I’d FederalExpress mine to them this afternoon. As itstands, Red Steel is a tantalizing introduc-tion to an exciting world, one I hope TSRrevisits soon.

Denver: The City of ShadowsSHADOWRUN* game supplementOne 168-page book, one 64-page book, one

22” X 34” map sheet, one 17” X 11”map sheet, two laminated travel passes,boxed

FASA Corporation $25Design: Nigel D. FindleyAdditional design: Bill Lenox, Tom Wong,

and Tom DowdDevelopment: Tom DowdEditing: Donna IppolitoIllustrations: Joel Biske, Steve Bryant, Paul

Daly, Earl Geier, Rick Harris, JeffLaubenstein, Dan Smith, and KarlWaller

Cover: Dave McCoy and Jim Nelson

Denver, the most elaborate SHADOW-RUN game supplement to date, examinesthe politically divided Treaty City in all itsdecadent glory. As he did in the Lone Starand Corporate Shadowfiles source books,designer Nigel Findley provides a runningcommentary in the form of computer chatfrom a gaggle of argumentative wise guys.

Bert: “And I hate it. It’s intrusive andannoying, a bunch of mindless babbleriddled with sophomoric slang like ‘chum-mer’ and ‘frag you’.”

Ernie: “Well, I love it. It’s more fun toread than page after page of boring es-says. And the slang adds flavor.”

The player’s book, the bigger of the two,contains information generally available tolocal residents. The GM’s book discussesthe region’s history, key personalities, andsecret organizations, and includes about20 pages of new rules. The poster mapshows a birds-eye-view of the city; a smallcolor map details the various sectors.

Bert: “Okay, so it looks pretty. But as areferee’s resource, Denver makes a gooddoor stop. If you want to find a piece ofhard data, you’ve got to sift through allthat miserable ‘chummer’ babble.”

Ernie: “If you want to find a piece ofhard data, use the index.”

Findley employs a self-assured, conversa-tional writing style, taking care to giveeach participant in the commentary aunique voice.

Bert: “Yeah, well, he should’ve employedsome self-restraint while he was at it.Maybe that would’ve helped him avoidsentences like: ‘More so than even inBerlin, these not-always-violent opportuni-ties abound because the unique nature ofthe divided city allows no room for directconfrontation or open warfare.”

Ernie: “This is a role-playing supplement,not a journalism textbook. How about allthe neat places, like the Tender FenderMender, an auto chop shop where you canget a missile rack installed on your T-bird?’

Also known as the Front Range FreeZone, Denver consists of six political sec-tors, each with its own laws and culture.Black market trade dominates the econo-mies, making Denver a hotbed of corrup-tion and ambiguous morality—in short, it’sa typical SHADOWRUN city.

Bert: “Typical? I’d say ‘generic.’ You couldrip random pages out of these books, stick‘em in other cyberpunk supplements, andnever know the difference.”

Ernie: “Like you couldn’t say the samething about most fantasy supplements.Besides, anyone who reads everything inthe box will find plenty of cool stuff. Howabout the cops in Azzietown who useparanormal critters to sniff out drugsmugglers? Or the Yakuza clan that con-trols the illegal chip market by trainingtheir own deckers to outmaneuver theMafia?”

There are adventure hooks galore forthose willing to dig them out, but no devel-oped scenarios.

Ernie: “Who cares!?”Evaluation: Despite its ambition, Den-

ver is basically a water-treader, a look at afamiliar setting from a different angle.And the quirky style sabotages its utility;it’s a good read, but it’s not much of areference. Still, the SHADOWRUN gamehas no devotee more capable than NigelFindley, who energizes even the dreariest

material with wit and enthusiasm; ifFindley were a chicken, he’d probably laycybernetic eggs. Experienced playersshould find Denver irresistible—providing,of course, they’re willing to navigate allthe silly lingo.

Ernie: “Silly lingo? That’s a lot of fraggin’drek! Your fraggin scope is flat, chummer,down and dark in the fraggin’—“

Bert: “Oh, shut up.”

Short and sweetParlainth Adventures, by Teeuwyn,

Robin D. Laws, Allen Varney, and SamuelWitt. FASA Corporation, $10.

A perfect companion to the Parlainthboxed set and an excellent introduction tothe EARTHDAWN game, this collection ofsimple scenarios takes a party of new-comers on a memorable tour of enchantedlabyrinths, creature-ridden catacombs,and similar AD&D game-ish locales. Thedesigners, veterans all, offer lucid adviceon setting the stage and troubleshootingunexpected situations. Despite a few hu-morous moments—adversaries called boggobs, Allen Varney’s tongue-in-cheek “Pas-sion Box”—this isn’t what you’d call lightfantasy. The mind-wrenching abominationin “Threads” would be right at home in aCALL OF CTHULHU game. In “Blood Pact,“there’s a creep who can’t speak because ofall the gore bubbling from his multiplemouths. Bring your first-aid kit. (Note tothe financially strapped: the Parlainth box,while helpful, is optional.)

Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure, byJeff Grubb, Aaron Allston, and Thomas M.Reid. TSR, Inc., $30.

You’re a newcomer to the AD&D game.You’ve played the FIRST QUESTTM game.You’ve read the Player’s Handbook andunderstand about half of it. Now what?Well, you can 1) close your eyes, buy oneof the zillion or so supplements, and hopefor the best; 2) design your own adven-tures from scratch (good luck!); or 3) in-vest in the exquisite Karameikos campaignset. The 126-page Explorer’s Guide, withlavish color illustrations throughout, cov-ers all the basics in plain language. It ex-plains the purpose of a campaign setting(“ . . . a location in which a DM can placean AD&D game against a larger context”),how to use the maps (“Don’t let the hexesthrow you”), and a step-by-step procedurefor creating PCs (“Take a blank sheet ofpaper . . . list the abilities down the leftside . . .”). A 56-track compact disc (totaltime: 59:59) enlivens the Adventure Bookscenarios with dialogue and sound effects.For instance, the DM plays Track #5 whenthe PCs attempt to smash their way intoan abandoned building; a stalwart warrioryells, “Lend your shoulders and we’llbreak down the door! One! Two! Three!”followed by the sound of shattering wood(or is that crumbling bone?). If you’re abeginner and Karameikos fails to makeyour heart race, you might as well go backto crossword puzzles.

80 APRIL 1995

The Star Wars Planet Collection, byGrant S. Boucher, Julie Boucher, Bill Smith,and John Terra. West End Games, $25.

This hefty volume compiles the threevolumes of the Planets of the Galaxy se-ries, updating them for West Ends SecondEdition STAR WARS* game. The formatremains the same: each of the more thantwo dozen settings begins with a summaryof critical statistics (population, climate,tech levels), followed by a list of culturalhighlights, key personalities, and oddballmonsters (Orgons are sentient plants thatcommunicate with sign language; theGazaran resemble flying squirrels thatoperate steam engines). Hard science isabout as pertinent here as it is in theAD&D game, but nobody plays the STARWARS RPG for the physics lessons. As longas the West End-ers were fiddling with theoriginal books, too bad they didn’t im-prove the maps. Still, a good buy for newrecruits.

Mekton Mecha Manual Volume One, byBenjamin Wright, Michael MacDonald,David Ackerman, and Derek Quintanar. R.Talsorian Games, $8.

In the battle of the giant robots, I givethe edge to Palladium’s ROBOTECH* gameover R. Talsorian’s MEKTON* game. Notonly are the Palladium machines moreformidable, the rich background makesthe ROBOTECH setting a better bet for along campaign, But for those who want toskip the preliminaries and get on with thedestruction, the MEKTON game is anacceptable—and less demanding—alternative. The Mecha Manual providescomplete stats for 24 high-tech night-mares, among them the VAH-A64 SwitchBlade, the Air Gunner Fantam G8l, andthe Merge-Griffin Godgriffin VX. Thegraphics are evocative, the historical sum-maries mercifully brief. Just one question:if the Mecha Manual uses rules from theforthcoming Mekton Zeta system, howcome we got the Mecha Manual first?

Rogues in Lankhmar, by Wes Nicholson.TSR, Inc., $10.

Dungeon Masters who’ve enjoyed theprevious volumes in the Lankhmar series(including Tales of. . . and Slayers of. . .)but still don’t know how to get a campaignoff the ground should appreciate the fo-cused approach of the latest entry. A blockof adventure hooks follows each guild,NPC, and location description, making it asnap for DMs to develop encountersgeared to the interests of their players.The last chapter offers insightful tips forhandling hard-to-please players. The re-sult: sophisticated, intelligent role-playingfor those more interested in negotiatingtreaties than scalping orcs.

The Unnaturals, by Sandy Addison,Dustin Browder, Bill Olmesdahl, and EdStark. West End Games, $15.

A source book with a sense of humor,this menagerie of creatures for the

BLOODSHADOWS* game augments theexpected assortment of ghosts and demonswith water imps that live in the kitchensink and face-shifters who read BetterHomes and Glowstones magazine. That’snot to say they’re docile; water imps areprone to drown their landlords in thebathtub. Well-written and deftlyillustrated—but where’s the index?

RIFTS: MANHUNTER*, by Buck Shomo,with Matt Balent, Nora Boustead, ChrisCloyd, Kevin Kirsten, Dale Maple, MikeMcCune, Meredith McGhan, Eric Nelson,Eric Nikkila, Dave Rumptz, Gary Sibley,Kevin Siembieda, and Eric Strebel. Myrmi-don Press, $20.

In 1987, the small but spirited Kingslay-er Publications put out the MANHUNTER*game, a science-fiction RPG sporting hairy-chested heroes and the meanest war ma-chines this side of the Terminator films.Now, the MANHUNTER game has arisen asa supplement for Palladium’s RIFTS*game, and everybody wins. MANHUNTERis no longer burdened with the formula-heavy rules that made it a chore to play.And the RIFTS Megaverse, top-heavy withsinister worlds like Wormwood and theVampire Kingdoms, benefits fromMANHUNTER’s breezy space opera. Thealien races are especially strong: the non-descript Aglians identify each other by thestyle of dress, the Qulaki produce septicblood that poisons their enemies. Thecopious technology section gives details onneedle lasers, jolt maces, and pulse blast-ers. As for the Manhunters, they’re super-powered robots with the dispositions ofserial killers. The designers warn that “ifthe Manhunters ever meet and join forceswith the Mechanoids (from the RIFTSsupplement of the same name), the Me-gaverse could be in serious trouble.”Sounds good to me! (Information: Myrmi-don Press, PO. Box 1374, Royal Oak MI48068.)

A former newspaper editor, Rick Swanhas written for Writer’s Digest, Video, andWizard magazines. He also has publishedone sentence in Rolling Stone magazine.You can write to him at 2620 30th St., DesMoines IA 50310. Enclose a self-addressedenvelope if you’d like a reply.

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, Inc.

Having a convention?

If you’re having a gaming convention,why not tell the world about it? Checkour address in this issue’s “ConventionCalendar” and send your announce-ment to us—free of charge!

t was midday, and most of Frostgard’svillagers were off the streets for lunch.Dword paused to chat with the famil-iar faces he did find, renewing ac-quaintances as he worked his waythrough the picturesque stone village

until reached the smoke shop.“D-Ray’s dropped drawers!” exclaimed Harald Gap-

tooth from behind a barrel of tobacco shrouded in graypipe fog. The robust elder craftsman rose up through thesmoke, yanked the briar from his mouth, and ashtrayedit, grinning from bearded ear to bearded ear. “Hulloh,Dword Ecklundson. Still carving are you, lad?”

“Yes, but not nearly as well as the man who taught mehow.”

“Modesty indeed !” laughed Harald, flashing a smilethat exposed his name trait. “I saw that last one youmade—a fine effort, that. Keep at it and one day you’ll beas good as I am.”

Dword smiled. Harald had faithfully taught him allthere was to know about pipes: How to pick out briar;how to size up the ebauchon—the rough block of cut burl;how to follow the wood grain; how to balance the weightso it hung just right—

“Balderdash’s bulge!” Dword ejected as he gaped at thehuge ruddy knar Harald held. “Is that a glyphwood burl?I’ve never seen one like it! Where did you get it?”

Harald showed the red burl proudly. “Aye, they’re asscarce as roc’s teeth. Got two of the burls from a trader fromJobos. He had no idea what they were worth. Har-har!”

“You have two burls like that?”“Aye,” Harald beamed. “This be the first. I’m doing it

for sale, yeppa.” He lifted a second burl from behind thecounter. “The sister burl I started just enough to see therun of the grain— straight and true. It’s a treasure, myfinal masterpiece. I’m keeping this one for myself, I am!But I’m putting the first up for auction at the YtnwaldFaire. I’m only working on it when I’m feeling prime—wouldn’t want to ruin it.”

Dword calculated frantically; the faire was about threefortnights off. “Perfect! I’m just passing through now, butI could buy it on the way back from the Gokland—-”

Oops! He clamped his jaw shut.“The Gokland!” Harald cried. Now Norlanders did not

normally pry into each other’s business—among a bellig-erent brood, it readily led to trouble—but Dword’s slip ofthe tongue was so incredible that Harald could not re-strain himself. “Another adventure, eh? Well, it’s none o’mine—but the Gokland! Why, lad?”

“There’s something I need out there. But don’t worry,Harald. Woden’s wetted whatnots! Nothing will keep mefrom coming back for that glyphwood pipe?”

DeadMan’sCurse

by Roy V. Young

Harald recoiled, but not from the thought of the perilsof the Gokland. “Lad, friend though you be,” he said,plainly pained, “and I to your father before you, blesshim—he was the fight’n’est prowman Olaf Fyddish everhad. I’ll never forget how your father jumped off the Har-dansclaw on the Gormus raid, his screamsax flashing andhis lungs roaring. Scared the Mousy guards to death. Butknow you, Dword, that this briar must sell dear. Youknow as well as any man what its true worth is, and I

Illustrations by Dave Kooharian

DRAGON 83

“Dead Man’s Curse” is an excerpt from Yer’s Revenge, thesequel to Captains Outrageous (TSR, 1994). Yor’s Revengewill be available in August.

need every silver piece for my retirement.”“Harald! You can’t retire! I’ll never buy a pipe from

any other man as long as I live.”Harald smiled ruefully. “It pleases me to hear you say

that, yeppa, but facts are facts. It’s getting harder eachday to work. My eyes aren’t so good anymore, and I’vegot a touch of shakers now. And the truth is I want totravel a bit now. To see Kor and even Gormus again—what a time we had on that last raid. The ‘Claw was soheavy with booty we could barely row it. Did your fatherever tell you about the ladies from the circus we abductedon our senior trip? What a time it was!”

“I’ll pay you well for that pipe, Harald.”“Dword,” the artisan said sympathetically, “Sigtrygg

Silkbeard’s cast his eye on it, practically believes he’s com-missioned it from me. Not true, of course, but he believesit. And to make sure no one dares to bid against him atthe faire, he’s already posted his opener. It’s a big num-ber, lad.”

Dword wilted fearfully. Sigtrygg! he thought. The weal-thiest robber baron in the whole accursed Eastern Confed-eration of manure-burrowing, slime-swilling, toadyingfjordlords. The same sellout cowards that caught my fa-ther after the raid on Gormus and turned him over tothose cradle-to-grave-robbing Gormousian bankers led bythe insidious S. Crow.

“How much, Harald? How much?”Dword held his breath.“Ten arms of silver.”Dword almost fainted. Four knuckles of silver snake

made a finger; five fingers made a hand; six hands to anarm—argh! Twelve hundred knuckles of silver! And that’sjust the opening bid.

Harald looked at Dword; then his mood swung, fueledby old unsettled grievances. “I tell you what, lad. I neverliked Sigtrygg—nobody here much does. Not after whathe did to the ‘Claw after the raid, the bootlicking black-guard. Sank it deeper than whale puckey, yeppa! Wodenknows, he doesn’t even smoke a pipe. He just wants it toshow off how rich he is. But if you match his bid, lad, I’llsell it to you outright, I will, and Sigtrygg Silkbeard bedamned! ”

“Fair enough, Harald,” Dword said, but wonderedfretfully if the Wodenslaw would permit Harald to evadean auction now that a bid was posted. Sigtrygg will takesuit, no doubt, Dword thought. But that’s the least of myworries. Ten arms of silver! Lodi’s lewd largess! I haven’tgot half that to my whole worldly worth.

“I best be going now, Harald,” the disheartened red-beard sighed. “I need a couple of twists.” After a fasthaggle, a pair of double-helixes crossed the barrelhead, aduo of twisted fireweed. Dword gathered them up andwalked to the door.

“Don’t put that pipe up for auction without me,Harald.”

Suddenly, the shopkeep called back at him, “Wait,Dword! I best tell you quick. Bjorn Hornklofi’s back inthese parts again. He’s working for Sigtrygg now, andhe’s been running your name down around town. Watchout for him, lad! He’s as mean as ever.”

Dword halted agape. Bjorn Hornklofi? Now what could

84 APRIL 1995

he be mad about? Or rather what new thing could—Uh oh!Last fall, returning from the Bell at the Top of the

World, he’d stopped in Frostgard to help his mother getready for the coming winter. Nets needed mending; fishneeded salting; walls needed repair; bulbs needed pullingup . . .

But the nights, ah, well . . .Dword blushed. That last evening at the Hungry Hog-

shed, Astrid Deepwell had been there—well, hey, if she’sBjorn’s betrothed, she certainly didn’t act like it thatnight.

“Thanks for the warning, Harald.”Waving, he left. But out on the street again, he

frowned.Bjorn Hornklofi! Trouble with a killer B! Ever since

childhood we’ve butted heads over one thing or another,each trying to outdo the other in some way. But I’ve gotmore important things to fret about now—like theGokland, and trollkiens, Lady Katherine’s sorcery, and—Woden’s raunchy remunerations!—how am I going to payfor that pipe?

* * * *

At this point in the book, Dword goes off to have an adven-ture with the previously mentioned trollkiens, a race of tinybeings who live in the mountains of Norlandia. When he returnsto Frostgard, he hurries to visit Harald at the smoke shop. Wepick up our tale as Dword has just come in the door.

* * * *

Dword agogged. “Woden’s wonders! It’s a masterpiece,Harald! Positively the most exquisite pipe in the world. Ican die happy now knowing that just once in my life I’veseen perfection.”

Great display of restraint! Dword’s inner tightwad chid-ed. That’s really going to drive the price down.

Shut up! he ordered the bartering demon in his blood.This is not beads, this is fine art. This is something moneymay buy but can never own. It has a spirit beyond any-one’s ability to possess. It belongs forever to its creator,just as the painting belongs to the painter, the song to thebard—and to those who can appreciate the creator’s craft.

“I just finished it,” Harald said with a tired, haggardlook in his eyes. “If it smokes as sweet as it looks, you’llnever need wine, women, or song again.”

Giddy, they both laughed.Then the elder craftsman’s mood turned dark. He

sagged and wiped his hands on his apron. “I tell you tru-ly, lad, it was a trial, the toughest challenge of my life: ahard burl, requiring long hours and precise small strokes.It’s been a drain on me. Every minute I’ve lived with thefear that one slip of the knife would ruin it. I feel ten yearsolder now.”

Dword saw the truth of it. Harald was indeed muchgrayer and thinner than when he last saw him last a fewfortnights ago. Can a man age that quickly? Yes, I see thathe can . . .

“I’m spent, Dword,” Harald said with melancholy.

“I’m not up to the work of the sister burl anymore. Myeyesight’s weak; my hands are no longer steady. I’d die ifI ruined it, yeppa. I’ll never know its joy now. It justcame along too late for me. And this one,” he said as heheld up the finished pipe, “well, Sigtrygg’s sending Bjornto look at it today.”

“I’ve only got two arms of silver, Harald.”“Sigtrygg’s offered ten, Dword. You know I can’t—”“But that won’t be until Ytnwald Faire,” Dword ar-

gued, his bartering blood loose before he realized it.“When Sigtrygg’s boats come in—many days from now—who knows what their profits will be? What if his trading’sbeen bad? What then?”

Halfway between outrage and empathy, Harald consid-ered Dword suspiciously. The redbeard’s clothes weredirty and rumpled, his hair ratted, his face gaunt andweathered. I’ll bet he didn’t even stop at home before hecame here.

“I’m losing the pipe, too!” the craftsman bleated. “It’smy life’s crowning achievement, and it’ll go to that ver-minous Sigtrygg Silkbeard—that’s the worst. But I cannotgo below his posted bid. That’s Wodenslaw. Now, it’s amighty sum you’ve offered me, lad, and it could buy allthe other pipes in my shop—but not this one. I’m sorry,Dword. Much as I loved your father—he saved my life onthe Gormus raid, you know—the price is still ten armsand not one knuckle less! But there’s time yet for you toround up more silver before the faire.”

Dword regrouped, ashamed. “I’m sorry I offendedyou, Harald. I did not really mean to offer you a paltrytwo arms of silver for the pipe—I just got caught up in thesaying of it and it came out all wrong. What I meant tosay was that I haven’t got the silver—but silver is notwhat I came to offer you.”

Dword opened a linen sack and placed a cup-sized goldcrown on the counter. “The former owner doesn’t needthis anymore .”

Harald stared. “What’s that thing? Looks like a crown.Who’s head is small enough to—” The pipe carvergasped.

“Yes, Harald, it’s the crown of the trollkien king! Imake it three hands of pure gold by weight, plus thegems—and for all I know it might be ensorcelled. Youcould offer this for sale at the faire instead of the pipe andbe far better off. But I’ll sweeten the deal by throwingsomething else in, too.”

Rapidly the shopkeeper computed—gold being worthtwenty times silver—and his greed lights came on.

“What else? That new ring you’re sporting?”Dword blushed and looked at the aquamarine ring on

his pinkie. “No, Harald. Something even more valuable:oil .”

“Oil? That black stuff that fouls the marshes and makesa mess of your nets and clothes? That’s not worth krankiedung!”

Dword pulled a canteen from his pack. “It’s not thatkind of oil, Harald,” he said. “This oil’s magic balm fromthe Spruce Spring—the same as Sigurd used on theHelm.”

It’s more than a dozen years since I went off to Gormuswith your dad—”

“Rub a few drops of this on your tools, Harald.”The pipemaster’s eyes lit up.“This will make your hands young again, Harald.

You’re already the best pipesmith in Norlandia—but withmagic tools, you’ll be the best on Leiblein, better eventhan the dwarves of Kibquez. You’ll be a legend, with anedda of your own. I’m throwing the balm in as a bonus,”Dword said happily, pleased that he could be helpful to hisold mentor, “even though the crown itself is trade morethan enough. Now you can finish the other burl. CanSigtrygg Silkbeard offer you that?”

Harald hesitated only for a split second. “If it works,it’s a deal,” he said enthusiastically. Reaching below thecounter, the pipesmith found a carving knife, which hehanded to the barbarian freebooter. Dword dribbled justthree drops of balm on the knife, guessing that to be suffi-cient, then carefully rubbed it into the tool.

As the oil permeated the blade, a purple verdigrisformed.

“Try it.”Excited, Harald fetched an ordinary ebauchon. Like a

surgeon considering a life-or-death incision, he poised theblade over the burl with great concentration, then sliced.

Flick!Harald drew the tool back in astonishment. “It re-

sponds to my thoughts, as if it were an extension of mymind! Thorogod’s thunderbuns! I can carve that otherburl now with my eyes closed.”

“Do we have a deal?” Dword gulped.“Done and done!”Solemnly, Dword lifted the glyphwood pipe off the

counter and lovingly appraised its superb grain, flawlesslystraight. The pipe fit his grip like a velvet glove. He andthe pipe were two pieces of the same puzzle. Unable torestrain his joy, Dword fumbled for some tobacco, hur-riedly stuffing the bowl.

Seconds later, rich smoke emanated from the sculpture.“Well?” Harald asked.“It’s heaven.” Dword was deliriously happy. The sweet

smoke wafted redolent with each breath. He relished eachpuff, savoring the pleasure of the pipe. Normally a newpipe made its owner suffer until a suitable cake built up onthe inside of the bowl, but this pipe was perfect from thefirst puff.

“Balderdash’s backstabbing! What’s going on here?”That voice! Dword thought. Why do I know that voice?

Lost in reverie, he was facing the wrong way, enshroudedin a mystic haze of smoke, and could not see the speaker,not that he cared to . . .

“Too late, Bjorn!” Harald informed the new arrival.“The deal’s done. By Wodenslaw, I am allowed to take anoffer in excess of any bid posted prior to the auction. AndI have.”

“By Wodenslaw,” the towheaded tough warned in out-rage, slamming a meat-hook fist to the shop counter,bludgeoning it loudly, “I have one day to better the offer.I’ll have you—”

“More power to you if that be true, Dword, but I’m no “I think not!” Harald held up the bejeweled goldenspring sea dog anymore. My roving days are long over. crown, which seemed just then to reflect a spiteful mote in

DRAGON 85

Bjorn’s eye. “Look at this treasure, bootlick. By Wo-denslaw, when items are offered in barter that have neverbeen sold before—and thus have no previously establishedtrade value —the auctioneer may—according to his ownreckoning of the proffered item’s worth and at his ownrisk— assess such worth.”

Harald leered defiantly. “Know, Bjorn Hornklofi, that Ihereby declare the fabled crown of the trollkiens to beworth one thousand arms of silver! Go, quisling, and tellyour coldhearted boss he’s been outbid. Tell him also thatthere are some in Frostgard who still remember what hedid to the Hardansclaw.”

Bjorn looked at the crown and staggered with defeat. Inan instant, he knew that Harald was entirely within hisrights. Though the stated thousand arms of silver wasabsurd—Sigtrygg’s entire fleet wasn’t worth much morethan that—the crown was indeed worth far more than theten arms of silver he was authorized to pay.

Sigtrygg’s going to wring my—“Dword Ecklundson!”Bjorn reeled in shock as the smoke cleared enough for himto see just who it was that had cuckolded Sigtrygg’streasure-to-be. “How,” he sputtered, “how dare you showyour face in Frostgard again, you carp-breathed blow-hard!”

“I live here, fish dip!” Dword grinned. He turn to facehis boyhood rival and tried not to gloat much, although atthat point, abject humility was a bit hard to come by.“The pipe’s mine now, Bjorn, fairly bought.”

Bjorn seethed. He inflated his musculature, priminghimself for whatever. Though no taller than Dword, Bjornwas wider, outweighing him by two stone, all of it boneand sinew. From the bottom of his immense feet to thethick neck atop his broad yoke, he was all muscle—andthere were those who thought the remaining part was allmuscle, too.

The pipe gone to his worst enemy! Double doom!“So, you’re back again,” Bjorn sneered. “Where are

those two carrionfish you puppy-dog along behind, eh?Imagine—a Norlander friendly with Brets. Your fatherweeps in his watery grave.”

“It seems to me my consorting with Bretilyans is notwhat galls you most,” Dword snorted. The reference to hisfather infuriated him, piercing his pipe dreams, and heslipped into familiar patterns of behavior where Bjorn wasinvolved. “And leave my father out of this. He wouldnever have kowtowed to Sigtrygg Silkbeard—not to theman who burned and sank the Hardansclaw! Or have youforgotten that, button brain?”

“You try me, Dword! You be a stain on the surface ofNorlandia. I’ve tried; Woden knows I’m a patient man—”

“Patient? You? That’s not what your girlfriend toldme.”

Bjorn swelled again, growing even more brawny, re-membering old wounds now salted. “You’ve wronged me,Dword! You tampered with the affections of my woman!”

“Boys!” Harald warned. “Please!”Dword’s temper rose like a thermometer in lava. “You

must know, Bjorn, that I’d never have anything to dowith any woman desperate enough to be seen in publicwith you. Had Astrid but mentioned your name—”

“Astrid!” gagged Bjorn, his blood vessels nearly burst-

86 APRIL 1995

ing. “Astrid! I was talking about Bergetta Bygones.”Twice gulled! Astrid was Bjorn’s fiancee, but Bergetta washis local mistress.

A lump formed in Dword’s throat. Bergetta Bygones.That was years ago. How did he find out—why would shetell him?

Bjorn folded his arms across his puffed-up brutish chest.“My honor demands recompense, villain.”“What honor?”“Lads, stop!” Harald Gaptooth cried in alarm. “Stop it

now. You’ve about used up all the duels. Don’t do this!”That’s true, both thought.Duels were a way of life for Norlanders. But since civili-

zation had begun to creep sinistrously over the islandcontinent, the custom was fading, especially in the morepopulous Eastern Confederation. In the backwater fishingvillages of the isolated western fjords, though, it was along time between traveling judges, and duels were stillfought to settle disputes. There were duels of every kind:tests of strength and speed, of wit and skill, of craft andcraftiness; duels to resolve conflicts over land, women,insults, honor. But they were all intended to be nonfatal,else the boisterous Norlanders would have depopulatedtheir country eons ago.

All the duels save one, that is.“He’s right, Bjorn,” Dword relented. I’ve got the pipe

now, he told himself, and I really have no interest ineither Astrid or Bergetta. “We’ve dueled before—don’tyou think it’s about time we put an end to it?”

Harald gasped; Bjorn looked wild-eyed.Dword must mean—Bjorn was weak in the knees, trembling. He had intend-

ed to challenge Dword to a log rolling contest—theyhadn’t done that one before—but how could he back outnow? Dword had challenged him in front of a witness.Trembling, face taut, the blond bully stoutly replied.“Yes, I see what you mean. It’s agreed then—an oathduel. Tomorrow? At noon? In the village square?”

Dword choked, nearly losing his magnificent new redpipe. No! That’s not what I meant. Not an oath duel. Imeant we’re just getting too old for this childishness. Buthow can I back down now? He challenged me in front of awitness.

“Sure,” Dword dumbly mumbled.Frieda’s final fling! An oath duel.Noon came and the village square was packed. All of

Frostgard was turned out, and many from the surround-ing hamlets on the Hardanfjord had made the trip into thefishing village.

Ragnar Rocbeak, senior ombudsman on the fjord, presid-ed; beside him was a clerk to scribe the oaths. Oath duelshad strict rules. Wodenslaw demanded that the oaths beoriginal. They had to be checked in the massive oath tome,logged in, and posted to the seconds, who need not bepresent—and weren’t. Not that it mattered. So serious wasan oath duel that the whole community would close ranks toenforce the dead man’s curse on the victor. Everyone had avested interest in maintaining the sanctity of the death curse,else chaos would result and the fragile social structure of theaggressive Norlanders would break apart.

A man who willfully violated an oath forfeited all—his

property, his name, even his life. He would be hounded tohis death; not even a fjordlord could—or would—savehim. The oathbreaker was a pariah, to be slain on sight.

The dead man’s curse. Without it, a duel to the deathwas little more than sanctioned murder of the weak by thestrong. Even the meanest hothead thought twice, sincethere were so many other duels and challenges with whichto humiliate an opponent without having to face the oath-saying that the duel’s victor might live to regret all the restof his days.

If an oath could be made terrible enough, then an oppo-nent might find it in his heart to settle the dispute withoutarms, for it was commonly considered that one’s honorwas worse off by winning an oath duel than by resolvingthe differences. Strong warriors and battle-scarred vet-erans had been known to sink to their knees and pleadforgiveness from their most hated enemy rather than facethe prospect of an oath worse than death.

The dead man’s vow was embedded in the Norlandictradition. Best known was the curse of one-eyed, lameAgrim Ulfair. So unspeakably repulsive was Agrim’s hor-rific oath—it would be unconscionable to reprint it here—that his opponent, the goliath Lars Olegson, had a heartattack while contemplating it and died while trying tospeak—whether to voice his own oath or to renounce theduel will never be known.

The crucial rule was that an oath had to be original. Nooath could be used twice; it belonged forever to the manor woman cursed with it.

Cold gray wisps obscured the noon sun on a blusteryspring day. Ragnar, keeper of the oath tome, cloaked in awhite robe, approached Bjorn Hornklofi with solemndeliberateness.

“Are you ready, Bjorn Hornklofi of Frostgard?”Clad in thick plate armor, a ram’s horn insignia on his

helm, Bjorn stood stiff, a heavy broadsword of formidablelength posted before him. “Aye, Ragnar. I be ready.”

“And you Dword Ecklundson, also of Frostgard?”“Aye.”“People of the Hardan,” the ombudsman announced,

“these two have come to do battle unto death, under thecurse of the dead man, as is our ancient custom.” Ragnarpointed a bony finger at the armored warrior. “Bjorn,speak now the oath of your slayer.”

The crowd sucked in its breath in frozen terror andfascination. The scribe’s quill was poised over a freshsheet.

Bjorn savored the moment, stretching out his powerfularms, waving his sword to demonstrate his prowess and toloosen up his immense frame. Well he knew that cunningand dramatics were as essential as a strong arm; histrion-ics had prejudiced more than one duel. If your opponentcould be unnerved by a truly ghastly curse, then he mightnot be as swift or sure.

“Dword Ecklundson, defiler of my women,” Bjornboomed, “I curse you now with this oath: ‘I, Dword Eck-lundson, vow that should I slay Bjorn Hornklofi this day,then will I never again partake of the pleasures of the smoke.Never again will I feel the weight of a briar hanging from mymouth. Moreover, I will take the briar I treacherously con-nived away from Sigtrygg Silkbeard yesterday and fill it with

week-old pig offal, and will then proceed to the deepest chan-nel of the Hardan and forthwith dispose of my ill-gottenbriar as befits the blackguard I am!’ ”

“Yargh!” Dword felt faint, dizzy. This was worse thanall the dreadful things he had imagined Bjorn might sayduring the endless night, tossing and turning with the fearof this very moment. The finest pipe in the world—doomed! Dword’s legs trembled; his mind imploded. Heturned to the elder and pleaded over the murmurs of thecrowd, “Unfair, Ragnar! It’s a compound oath. He mustgive me a new one to say.”

Raising his palm to hold Dword’s protest in abeyance,Ragnar first performed his duty to ascertain whether ornot the oath was in fact original. Hastily, he thumbedthrough the thick tome.

Oaths had to be specific and confined to general classesof vengeance. For example, a man couldn’t be made to doharm to himself or anyone else, or to give up his liveli-hood, or his wife and kin, but there were plenty of otherpsychological dooms one could inflict from beyond thepall. Knowing the particular idiosyncrasies of your enemywas essential to forming a truly sadistic revenge. Andthough it was often said that all the really good oaths hadalready been voiced, it was still amazing how ingeniouslydiabolical men facing death could be.

Ragnar shook his head, then pronounced officially,“People of the Hardan, know you that the oath be origi-nal.” Ragnar had been fairly certain that it would be.Both Dword and Bjorn had had plenty of time to familiar-ize themselves with the oath tome—some people evenwent so far as to hire loathsome wordsmiths to assist themin formulating exceptionally vile vows.

The ombudsman snapped the book shut. “As for yourobjection, Dword, the compound nature of the oath isquite acceptable. The second part is a specific case, a sub-set of the intent and not an extension of it. I cite HarikHalf-Kor versus Gnarth Fowled-bowels, or the morewidely-known Hans Magnusson versus Magnus Hanssonas precedence.”

Ragnar paused, then added, gesturing to the scribe,“The ‘treacherously connived,’ ‘ill-gotten,’ and ‘black-guard’ bits can be left out. Now, Dword Ecklundson, willyou accept this oath, or do you yield to Bjorn Hornklofi?”

Dword could yield now and be banished from the Har-danfjord, alive but dishonored, He could live on otherfjords of Norlandia. This was perfectly acceptable underthe Wodenslaw because it ended the feuding without los-ing a human resource, and was hardly considered a dis-grace, especially if the yielder was not much of a warriorcompared to the challenger.

Yield to that bully? Dword spasmed. Never! Involun-tarily, his body rocked and swayed. Every ounce of energydrained out from him. His face went sallow, his handscold and clammy.

“I accept.”My pipe!“So be it! Know then, people of the Hardan, that in

death Bjorn Hornklofi’s curse is Dword Ecklundson’s oathin life. Now it be your turn, Dword. Speak your slayer’soath.”

Dword’s mind had turned to oatmeal. My magnificent

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pipe—lost forever! Why go on living? But there’s some-thing I should be doing now . . . what was it . . . my pipe!

“The oath!” prodded Ragnar.The sight of Bjorn’s leer of triumph, his unsullied

haughtiness, struck Dword’s heart, and the redbeard ral-lied his thoughts. Something Bergetta Bygones had toldhim in that solitary night of furtive bliss leaped into hismemory, supplanting his original idea. It was somethingabout—yes!

Looking crestfallen for dramatic impact, Dword createda new oath extemporaneously. “This curse I give BjornHornklofi,” he said so low that the crowd had to strain tocatch his words. “ ‘I, Bjorn Hornklofi, in the unlikelyevent that I slay Dword Ecklundson, do hereby vow neveragain to know the joy of clean, fresh linen. Never againshall I sleep on any sheet or blanket unless it be a fortnightused by another, and should I be a guest in any man’shouse, I will use his already soiled towels in plain view ofmy host.’ ”

Gasp!

The scribe dropped his quill in terror. Brave shieldmaidens fainted dead away. Bold sailors cringed in horror.Two-handed anti-hex gestures were formed hastily, andthe assembled crowd slunk noticeably away from BjornHornklofi, at least two steps farther than they would haveif he’d had the fatally contagious Festering Plague.

Bjorn turned the color of sheets he would never againknow should he survive the duel—although he was nolonger sure he now cared to. He gurgled, and his eyeballsbulged. The tic on his left eye started up. “Foul!” hesimpered to Ragnar. “See Hagar the Unclean versus thevillage of Tjelling.”

Ragnar himself was almost too stricken to turn thepages. Norlanders were notoriously fastidious. Ashen-faced, he fumbled through the book to Bjorn’s cited refer-ence and checked, then looked up with the eyes of a manadministering the last rites. “No, I’m sorry, Bjorn. Thatwas underwear. Close, but not the same.”

Now, was Dword’s death curse original?The crowd hushed in suspense.

Shaken, Ragnar forced himself to perform his dutiesproperly and searched the extensive chapter on unsanitarypractices.

He blanched. “The oath be original,” he pronounced,looking at Dword as if the redbeard were Old Red Boneshimself. “Know, people of the Hardan, that—that”—Ragnar coughed, wiping cold sweat off his brow—“ thatDword Ecklundson’s curse in death is Bjorn Hornklofi’soath in life. Will you accept this oath, Bjorn Hornklofi, ordo you yield to Dword Ecklundson?”

Bjorn huffed, reeling. His sword and armor weighed aton; his legs and arms were disconnected from his mind.He doubted he would be able to move an inch when thetime came.

“I ac—ac—ccept.”Bjorn’s mistress, Bergetta Bygones, screamed and

passed out.Thoroughly unnerved, Ragnar gathered himself togeth-

er to complete the duel ritual prior to the beginning ofcombat. He took a small hourglass, a three-minute timer,out of a wooden case.

“As is our custom, you have until the last grain falls tomake peace with Woden—or with each other. I beg youtwo to renounce this senseless duel. Long years have youfeuded—over what? Nothing, naught but ego. All mannerof duels have you fought, but there can be only one oathduel. And yet this duel need go no further. Even the great

enemy fjordlords Ymir of Hjarstad and Fedorheim Four-fingers were able to break off an oath duel. With thecurses given, there is no dishonor, and there are no conse-quences if both combatants now agree to stop.

“Think now—and quickly!”Inverting the timer, Ragnar set it on the ground.Sand flowed . . .

. . .. . .

The two armed Norlanders stared at each other, mindsin turmoil. For what seemed like an eternity, each qua-vered on the brink of trying to say something, meditatingon the living hell that awaited should he survive theduel—not counting the inconsequential possibility of los-ing an arm or an eye in the process. But lifelong stubborn-ness does not die easily.

My pipe!My sheets!

. . .

“Would . . . would . . . you . . .”“. . . agree to-to-to . . . ”“Can-cancel the d-duel?”Two nods.“Done!” cried out Ragnar hurriedly, intentionally

knocking over the hourglass, for the last grains of sandmay have been hanging in downward flight.

Whew!

90 APRIL 1995

“Forum” welcomes your comments andopinions on role-playing games. In theUnited States and Canada, write to: Fo-rum, DRAGON® Magazine, 201 SheridanSprings Rd., Lake Geneva WI 53147 U.S.A.In Europe, write to: Forum, DRAGONMagazine, TSR Ltd, 120 Church End, Cher-ry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LB, UnitedKingdom. We ask that material submittedto “Forum” be either neatly written byhand or typed with a fresh ribbon andclean keys so we can read and understandyour comments. You must give us yourname and full mailing address if you ex-pect your letter to be printed (we will notconsider a letter submitted anonymously),but we will withhold your name if you askus to do so. We will print your completeaddress if you request it.

I am writing in response to DaleDonovan’s editorial in issue #211. I thinkcombining certain elements of one (ormore) games into another is a great idea.In fact, I think it is a terrific way to ex-pand your campaign. My only problemwith the idea that I have is, isn’t it possiblefor someone to create a character so pow-erful, either in strength, magic, or physicalcapabilities, that she has an unfair advan-tage against the others in the group? Situa-tions may arise in which the character’spower works against her. For example, ifthe character is strong, the rest of thegroup may just sit back and let the ex-tremely strong character defeat their foe.Does a character like this want to acceptthis type of abuse? And, does the rest ofthe group really want to sit back and letsome super-character fight all of theirbattles for them?

Don’t get me wrong. I think this is agood idea, but DMs will have to establishsome boundaries to avoid problems fromcropping up.

Jon LarieLansing MI

In issue #213, Jason Whitbeck wroteabout his concern over the high prices ofminiatures and gaming products today. Iwould like to offer an explanation for theprices of miniatures and a solution for theprices of gaming products.

First, the reason that miniatures arerising in price is that the companies thatproduce them are moving away fromusing lead. A few years ago, when mostminiatures were made of lead, gamerswere subjecting themselves to a dangerous

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combination: that of playing or workingwith lead and downing snacks and bever-ages at the same time. I recall a letter in apast DRAGON® Magazine referring to thedangers of handling lead and not washingup before eating or drinking. Now theminiatures industry has shown true con-cern for its customers by replacing leadwith more expensive but non-toxic materi-als. This does raise the price of miniatures,but it ensures the continued health andpatronage of gamers.

As for the cost of gaming products, Idon’t know the reason for the rise in theirprices, but I can offer a simple solutionthat also can help bring gaming groupstogether: share the cost of the productsamong your gaming friends. Either haveeach person in the group buy differentproducts and bring them to gaming ses-sions or pool your group’s money andselect one person to be a kind of “librari-an.” Admittedly, neither of these ideas is aperfect solution (if there even is a “per-fect” solution) and each involves a lot oftrust among gaming groups, but I feel thateither would be better options for thoseworried about the cost of purchasinggaming products on their own.

One more possible solution for affordingeither miniatures or gaming products is toreceive them as gifts from friends andfamily. Birthdays and holidays are perfectopportunities to get the miniatures orproducts you want but can’t afford.

Jason Hubred205 S. 4th St.

Montevideo MN 56265

This letter is in response to Stephen Jes-sup’s plea for help in issue #212. While thecolumn you suggested he read for help inconverting FORGOTTEN REALMS® novelsinto playable adventures was well thought-out and written, I would like to add a fewconcrete suggestions for Mr. Jessup.

1. Don’t expect the PCs in your cam-paign to do everything the heroes in thebook did. They won’t. Trying to forcethem into a preconceived series of actionswill just cause frustration and bad feelingsall around.

2. Don’t introduce the heroes of thebook as NPCs. You’ll be tempted to havethem “fix” the story when the PCs do theirown thing, and this is a bad idea. The PCsshould be the heroes (or at least the maincharacters) of every story (i.e., adventure)they’re in.

If the PC party isn’t well-roundedenough to face the proposed adventure,

make up one or two original, appropriate,and not-too-powerful NPCs to tag along.Or, better yet, put off the adventure for awhile until the party is ready for it. If it’sreally a good idea, it will keep.

3. Take a good look at the novel youwant to convert. What is it you like aboutthe story? What are the obstacles, settings,or villains that make it worth the effort ofconverting? Now, devise a plot that willhook your party and that incorporatesthose elements. Don’t worry about therest. It’s just window dressing. If it flowsnaturally, use it in your adventure. If not,don’t sweat it.

If your party doesn’t go for the adven-ture (or any adventure, for that matter),then don’t force the issue. If they haven’tfound out any of the secrets of the plot,you can rework it and use the core ideaslater. If it can’t be reused, then decide hownot having the day saved affects yourcampaign world. Your players don’t evenhave to know they could have stopped allhell from breaking loose.

If you can’t think of how to proceedwhen the PCs stray from the expectedcourse, level with them and say, “Guys,you completely threw me for a loop. Idon’t have anything planned that would fithere, so how about we call it a night andwe’ll pick up from here next time?” Theywon’t bite. I promise.

Ann WilsonWest Fork AR

I have noticed a dismaying trend in theadventures put out by TSR. It seems theyare moving away from fully detailed ad-ventures that can be played a number ofways to strict “storytelling” scripts thatallow for no variations or originality onthe part of players and DMs alike. Theworst offender I have seen is the MarcoVolo series by Anthony Pryor.

In this series, regardless of what the PCswant to do, they must:

—get thrown in the dungeons of Water-deep;

—fight a mage and his band and let themage escape;

—get in trouble with the law in Cormyr;—get the tar beaten out of them by the

main villain while being unable to strike ablow in return;

—use the information in a riddle for theNPC to defeat the villain;

—and watch while three deities resolvethe PCs’ adventure!

Why am I writing to DRAGON Magazineabout this? Two reasons: 1) In issue #212,

you have many articles actively endorsingthis kind of scripted and dictatorial story-telling gaming style; and 2) If there issomeone to write to at TSR about myconcerns about the present lack of goodadventures, I haven’t seen it publishedanywhere in my fourteen years of buyingTSR products.

I don’t know who the designers makingadventures now are, but TSR used to makeadventures for people like my friends whocrave the excitement of being heroes, notbeing mere spectators who are supposed toapplaud the cleverness of the designer andhis friends’ PCs, who are used as NPCs inMarco Volo, for example. Another thing badabout storytelling is that the designer feelsfree to skimp on everything from detailedmaps to something as simple as getting thedetails of the NPCs right. Once again, MarcoVolo is a fine example of this. Volothamp, a5th-level mage has five lst-, four 2nd-, andfour 3rd-level spells and a rapier, while a lichhas far too few spells. The least these “story-tellers” could do is get the details right!

Steve Shawler

I consider the AD&D® 2nd Edition gameto be a marked improvement over thefirst. The reduction of the creature poison-ing system (for some creatures at least)from a “save or die” to something a littleless lethal was welcome. The giving ofcharacter to the cleric class also was gladlyreceived. (It always bugged me that everygod gave out the same spells.) The abilityto individualize thieving skills also is adefinite step in the right direction.

I think that the combat system workswell for the most part. I have found,though, that converting all armor classesto numbers that start at 10 and increase,to be quite a time saver. All a person has todo is roll a 20-sided die, add all of theirbonuses, and the resultant number is thearmor class that they hit (the character’sTHACO must be translated into the equiva-lent Attack bonus, of course). I understandwhy this was not done, but I highly recom-mend changing over to those DMs outthere who are still doing it the official way.One thing that does bother me about thecombat system, though, is that people whoare combat-trained, i.e., warriors, start outwith exactly the same basic THACO thatvirtually untrained people, i.e., mages, do.This offends my common sense.

I do have two large nits to pick, how-ever. The first of these is the undeaddraining system. Not only is it overly bru-tal to the players (unless you are in thehabit of handing out a large amount ofexperience, or have many high-level cler-ics about to cast restoration spells), but itdoesn’t make much sense, either. The hitpoints and the hit die I can see, but at thecreature’s touch you lose the memory ofyour combat or spell-casting skills? Andyou don’t even get a saving throw! As aplayer there is nothing that I hate morethan this. So either a DM uses these crea-

tures as written, and has many angryplayers, or avoids using them in favor ofmore balanced creatures. Either giving asaving throw or making the level draintemporary in effect (say lasting for amonth or so) would be an improvement.

The second nit, and it’s a big one, is themagic system. Abandoning all use of theword “realistic,” I will choose instead theword “aesthetic.” To me, and to a largenumber of others, I’m sure, the mageforgetting his spells just isn’t aesthetic. Iam pretty well read in the fantasy genre,and I have run across only one worldwhere magic works that way. Thus, sincethe AD&D game tries to simulate fantasy,the AD&D magic system fails because itcannot simulate a majority of the litera-ture that inspired it. This is something aspell-point or fatigue-based system can do.

I worked with the official system for aslong as I could, but in the end I had toabandon it and create a point-based sys-tem. None of my players liked the oldspell-casting system and I didn’t care for it,either. I do wonder if there are people outthere who prefer the way that the spellsystem works now over a point- or fatigue-based system. Interestingly enough, I havenoted that some of the official creatures(the example that comes to mind is thePhaerimm of the FORGOTTEN REALMS®setting) do not forget their spells whencast. A short word of warning to otherswho plan to make the change to a point-based system: There are certain spells thathave to have checks (usually in the form ofan increased spell-point cost) put on themor they will unbalance the game in a point-based system. Hold person, magic missile,and charm person, to name a few.

Donald HoversonPortland ME

I would like to comment on the clericproblem mentioned in issue #210 of “Fo-rum.” I’ve been playing a cleric in theFORGOTTEN REALMS campaign scenariofor over one year now, and I dare say thatMr. Bickford’s view of the cleric characterreally sounded very strange to me. Thecleric being superior to all other classes—that might be a nice dream, but actuallythe reality is quite different. In my opin-ion, the cleric is nothing more than abackground figure—needed by the rest ofthe party because of his healing, but inmelee he is much weaker than the war-rior. His spells are of a defensive nature; amage may cast lightning bolt or fireballwhile the cleric’s only true offensive spellis the flame strike spell a fifth-level spell).

Mr. Bickford mentioned several “superi-or” spells for clerics, such as the creepingdoom spell (seventh level). A cleric onlyhas access to this spell at 14th level(1,350,000 XP). A mage with the sameamount of XP is 13th level and has accessto the 6th level death spell and the disinte-gration spell . . . and still three more spelllevels to gain!

The cleric probably is tougher than therogue, but he lacks the special rogue abili-ties. A great disadvantage of the clericclass is the lack of a really good kit. Justcompare the Chevalier and Gallant kits(from the Complete Bard’s Handbook andComplete Paladin’s Handbook), for exam-ple, with any available Priest kit!

Mr. Bickford believes that cleric spellsare stronger than wizard spells—he can’tbe serious about that!! Everybody knowsthe cleric spell problem: Take a look at thecasting times (from 4 to 8 up to one roundor one turn). For example, compare themage’s dimension door spell, casting time1, with the cleric spell plane shift, castingtime 8. Clerics in combat are too weak tocause real damage in melee and too slowwith their spells.

One last point: Bickford said the magemay lose his spell book—okay, but thecleric may lose his spells as well—justanger the deity he worships!

Sometimes it’s really hard to play a cler-ic. The others kill the villains and all youcan do is heal them when the battle isover. Nevertheless, I enjoy playing mycleric—I just get more fun by role-playingand not by dice-rolling.

Ralf TothBaden, Germany

I have been playing the AD&D game forabout four years and have been a DM twoyears of those four. Some of my players haveshared my fascination with the paladin. Notuntil recently have I run into a problem thathas perplexed me for about two monthsnow, and other DMs have no answer be-cause of personal views about the rigidrequirements of the paladin. I have read theComplete Paladin’s Handbook cover to coverand two articles in DRAGON Magazine andstill no answers, so now it’s time to move toa higher source.

Paladins are the elite warriors that pro-tect their sect with a fighter’s backboneand the healing powers of a priest, a forceto be reckoned with, but the paladin classis too general. Does the paladin representa generic “good” or “evil” force or does hehave a specific god he follows like a priest?Do Paladins who follow a specific god losecertain abilities and gain the specialpowers granted by their gods the waypriests do? There is not enough material, itseems, explaining the paladin to create amore versatile follower of a certain god.

I have used anti-paladins before as verystrong enemies, but that gave rise to morequestions. If a paladin is a holy warrior ofhis sect, all that is saying is that paladinsare only lawful good (with the exceptionof the Egyptian god Horus) and anti-paladins are only chaotic evil. The ques-tion is, what if a good paladin wishes to

follow a god who is chaotic good and thegod requires that his priests are chaoticgood in alignment? Would that bar thepaladin from following that god (and viceversa for evil paladins)? Are there no

DRAGON 93

paladins to protect that alignment of reli-gion? I have tried to figure out how towork it out and have a good reason to giveto my players, but nothing seems to work.

Also, why do paladins only follow theextreme alignments? What if a paladinwishes to be chaotic good? Should onlyfollowers of the Egyptian god Horus getthat benefit? In my eyes a paladin shouldbe a prime example of his god, along withthe priests and clerics and whatnot, sothey should match the alignments of theirgods. It would make no sense to me if alawful good paladin followed a chaotic orneutral good god and contradicted hisgod’s alignment. One more thing—with theuse of anti-paladins, wouldn’t the neutralgods have their own sect of neutral pala-dins to balance the odds?

Paladins are one of the hardest classes toplay, but one of the most fascinating. Evenif these questions cause arguments aboutthe balance of alignments and a world ofnothing but paladins roaming around,there is still one thing that remains. Thepaladins of any alignment would havestrict laws to follow and would have tomirror their god’s alignment and theirways, or suffer the penalties—even thatwould discourage some people from play-ing the paladin class. Being a paladin canbe quite boring to a player, because eventhe most cruel and powerful minions ofevil squirm at the sight of a paladin. Itwould only be proper to give the paladin agood match to test his ability and his faithand for a neutral force to keep the “good”and “evil” paladins from destroying every-thing and everyone.

Garry Wilson

I am writing in response to several lettersover the past few months that have gottenmy attention. One of the first is ChristopherDavis’s letter in issue #209. This was inreference to Eric Burns’s letter about the useof the magic jar spell to gain immortality. Mr.Davis says, “Apparently, the creature’s life-force remains in its body?”

I would like to direct Mr. Davis to thePlayer’s Handbook, page 169, the magic jarspell description. The book specificallystates, “The lifeforce of the host (victim) isconfined in the receptacle.” The spell de-scription doesn’t say what would happen ifthe receptacle is destroyed while the cast-er is in the host’s body. The spell descrip-tion in the Basic D&D® game says if thereceptacle is destroyed while the caster isin the host’s body, then the host’s lifeforceis slain and the caster is stranded. Thisseems to apply to the AD&D game spell aswell. With a new hit point total and withthe spell-casting power the caster usuallyhas, it would only be logical to destroy thereceptacle and thus achieve a type ofimmortality, if that is what the casterwants. If a dispel magic spell was cast atthe caster after the receptacle was de-stroyed, then it would be ineffective be-cause there would be no receptacle to

94 APRIL 1995

force the caster’s lifeforce back into. Aftera month in his new body, the caster of themagic jar should be familiar with the newbody enough to adventure and go abouthis business.

Donald R. MacLean also gives a responseto Mr. Burns’ letter in the same issue. Hemakes nine points that are valid if andonly if the receptacle is intact. If the castergains control of the victim, then he maydestroy the receptacle to assure himself astable host. He could then, if he wishes,cast another magic jar spell with a newreceptacle to enter his old body. The cast-er could cast a flesh to stone spell on hisformer body to preserve it for later use.

Mr. Burns has one flaw in his thinking.He states that the spell lasts until the gemis destroyed. While this is true, it is benefi-cial to the caster to destroy the gem be-cause it would make him a permanentresident in the host. Also, Mr. Burns saysno one would want to be a lich. The lich isone of the most powerful creatures in thegame. A mage would look pitiful fighting alich, alone, of equal level. I use and en-courage the use of Van Richten’s Guide tothe Lich for use not only in theRAVENLOFT® setting, but also in othercampaign settings. This makes the magicjar method of immortality like child’s playcompared to the powerful undead meth-od. For mages who don’t want to becomeundead, the magic jar method is the per-fect immortality method.

I also would like to respond to DavidShanahan’s letter in issue #2l0. Mr. Shana-han comments on the problem with peoplewho don’t play by the rules. While I admit Ihave never seen much of a problem on theissue, Mr. Shanahan lumps power playersinto the same category as these rule break-ers. I, along with the group I DM for, playthe D&D game. Our PCs are extremelypowerful, all at least 30th level and one2nd-level Immortal. We didn’t get this wayby giving millions of XP every adventure.We earned every point by the rules. I justwant to make the point that not all powerplayers fit Mr. Shanahan’s stereotype. Someof us adhere to the rules with a passion,but we keep the same characters for a longtime and they become very powerful. Iagree with Mr. Shanahan’s comments aboutoutrageously high ability scores and powersthat disrupt the game. One way to regulatescores and powers requires all PCs to startat 1st level and work their way up as far asthey want. This way, the DM evolves thecampaign world with the power of the PCsand maintains essential game balance. Youdon’t have to go by the rules for only yourcharacter if you are in a group of powerplayers. The game is meant to entertain, soif you feel like it, play like it. Just have fun,because that’s what the game is about.

Matthew FergusonCharleston WV

This is in response to Melody Alder’sletter in issue #210 stating that priest PCsare all but useless in combat. In statingthat her priestess character is normallyrelegated to healing and protective roles,she is merely reinforcing the traditionalstereotype that many gamers have regard-ing priest PCs.

All that is required here is a little crea-tivity. This is easily done, especially if yourDM allows your priest character to choosehis spells at the time of casting. A priesthas more than a few spells that can beuseful in combat, even at low level. In aforest encounter, the first-level spell entan-gle can be used to great effect. If you’refighting low-level opponents in metalarmor, a couple of heat metal spells willliterally roast your opponents alive (that’s8d4 points of damage, folks)—and this is amere second-level spell. There are also afew other second-level spells your priestcharacter can use to wreak havoc on theenemy. Flame blade, spiritual hammer, andhold person (which, by the way, is a third-level spell for a wizard) come to mind.Need to do something about that peskymage in the opposing party? silence, 15’radius should do nicely.

As you reach higher levels, you canmake use of spells such as the variousanimal summoning spells, flame strike,wall of fire, and transmute rock to mud.And this doesn’t include the really power-ful spells, such as blade barrier, conjureelemental, holy word, or creeping doom(500-1000 points of damage—show me awizard spell that can do that).

The point of all this is that if you wantyour priest character to take a more activerole in combat, he can do so, if he chooseshis spells wisely. If your DM uses specialtypriests in his campaign (as I do), you will,admittedly, be a bit more limited than astandard cleric with access to all sixteenspheres. You can remedy this problem,however, by specifying what type of spellsyou’d like your priest to have and askingyour DM to make a list of which faithshave access to those spheres of influence.

With careful spell selection, you shouldbe able to make your priest character theequal of any wizard. Sure, you can’t cast afireball, but most priestly magic works inways that are much more subtle and insid-ious, and in some cases more fun to play. Iwould encourage any player who wants toplay a priest to consult with the DM be-forehand so you can find out what she willand won’t allow, as well as get some feed-back on whether the type of priest youwant to play will work well in the cam-paign. The result may be well worth it,and the other players will be surprised bya priest who does much more than heal.

S t e v e C o l l i e r Dallas TX

Simon Hawke pondered bloodlines andgodly essence as he leaned back in a smallroom at TSR, Inc., crammed with role-playing games, board games, books, cookiecrumbs, and lead miniatures. The authorof nearly five dozen novels, Hawke left hissunny Arizona home behind for severalinches of Lake Geneva snow and hoursfilled with kings, totem animals, noblesacrifices, and fomorian giants.

Hawke prides himself on his research,and his Wisconsin trip was to garnerinformation about TSR’s newest AD&D®game world—the BIRTHRIGHTTM campaignsetting. Hawke, whose fourth DARK SUN®setting novel comes out in May, is penningthe first BIRTHRIGHT saga, a 500-pagepaperback that will be released in time forthe GEN CON® Game Fair.

The veteran science-fiction and fantasyauthor met with the creative team devel-oping the world in which player charac-ters start out as rulers who controlvarious kingdoms. The more noble a char-acter is, the stronger the blood of deitiespulses within his body, and the more pow-erful he is.

After that hehas plans for aFIRST QUEST"

book foryounger readers.explained. "He

can step outof the realworld,walk in thespirit world,and reemergeinto the realworld somewhereelse later."

“Are dwarves different here?” Hawkeposed, as he pulled out a large notebook.He’d been eyeing a first-draft manuscriptof the game and was armed with severaldozen questions.

“They’re of the earth,” replied gameeditor Anne Brown. “Their flesh is dense.They’re sturdy.”

“What about elf voices? It says here theyhold humans spellbound.”

“Well, it’s like the smell of popcorn,”Brown answered. “It’s alluring.”

“And the elven homeland?” Hawkecontinued.

96 APRIL 1995

by Jean Rabe

Simon Hawke’s Birthright

It was game designer Rich Baker’s turn.“For whatever reason, elven lands are notfor humans. There are no hard gameeffects to explain what happens. But hu-mans are affected by time there. Timepasses differently.”

“What about halflings? They have thepower to shadowalk.”

“In the BIRTHRIGHTcampaign, a halflingcan get to the spirit-world,” Baker

But the author admitted it wouldn’t beeasy. His BIRTHRIGHT novel will encom-pass 130,000 words—significantly morethan any of his DARK SUN novels, which

run about 90,000. The BIRTHRIGHT book will beHawke’s 59th novel.

“Halfling alibis arereally difficult to cor-roborate,” added bookeditor Rob King.

“And whatabout magic?”Hawke persisted.

“Real wizardsin this world arerare,” Baker said. “Butthey are powerful. Peoplewho are great sorcerers cantake an entire kingdom andhide it away from the rest ofthe world for a hundred years.”"This sounds like fun," Hawke said, as hestared at preliminary sketches of beastiesand a map that spread across a wide table-top. "I'll play with it."

The idea for the BIRTHRIGHT settingwas born about a year and a half ago.Baker said TSR designers and editors wereasked to propose a new world for theAD&D game.

“There were 30-odd proposals,” Bakerrecalled. “Some were worlds ruled byintelligent dinosaurs, there was an under-world realm of horrors. And there was amountaintop world. It went back andforth for a week or more.” And severalproposals were rejected, he added. “ThenTim Brown (director of creative services)recalled an idea about a world where theplayer characters started out ruling king-doms. That was accepted, and now weneed to figure out why a king would puthimself in danger by adventuring.”

It was Hawke’s turn. “There were farmore warrior kings in history than not. Ifyou’re going to be a smart king, you’ll goout and lead your army to inspire loyalty.”Hawke should know. He is an avid historybuff.

As Hawke finished the meeting, he saidhis goodbyes to the designers and editorsand attempted to fit all the BIRTHRIGHTmaterial into his briefcase. He relaxed fora few minutes, then agreed to chat abouthis experiences as a novelist.

His said his first book was published inthe late 1970s, and his first eight novelswere under the name Nicholas Yermakov.He was born Nikolai Valentinovitch Yerma-kov in New York City, a first-generationAmerican. He changed his name becausehe wanted something readers could re-member easily and not have trouble spell-ing. Since he was writing swashbucklingfiction, he chose a name that fit actioncharacters he liked—The Saint’s SimonTemplar, and Errol Flynn’s persona in TheSea Hawk. Hence, Simon Hawke was born.

Dozens of novels later, the name is firm-ly entrenched in bookstores across thecountry, and he has fans worldwide.

“Apparently some people at TSR werereading my books,” he recalls. “Someoneapproached my agent and asked if I’d beinterested in writing TSR books. I toldthem I didn’t really know much aboutrole-playing games, and I asked them tosend me some stuff,”

He rememberspondering a Batcave

question. "I was curiousabout a grandfather clock insideWayne Manor,"he said,adding

the clock is a trigger to getting

The stuff, Hawke said, was a crate ofgaming modules and books. “And I went‘Oh, my God.’ It was incredible. They wereinterested in having me do some work inthe DARK SUN world, so I started reading.I’ve read all of Troy Denning’s books. Itwas a real and complex world, and I saw itas someone saying, ‘Hey, come and playwith us in our universe.’ I said yes. I calledTroy and picked his brain. I asked RobKing questions. I told them I was not intohack-n-slash fiction. I write character-driven fiction. And I think role-playersappreciate that.”

Hawke said he helped the DARK SUNcampaign by contributing what he knowsabout the desert—which is considerable.Living in a Santa Fe-style home in an Ar-

izona desert taught him a lot. “I addedmore realism to the DARK SUN settingdesert:’ he said. “A lot of people thinkdeserts are desolate. But a desert is a veryvibrant place.”

Hawke enjoys working with TSR,and thinks he would enjoy writing forits other worlds, such as the FORGOTTENREALMS® and RAVENLOFT® settings,“It’s like being a playwright and anactor, but the sets are already built.What I like about writing forTSR is what I like about writingin general. I like telling stories,In fact, if I was livingin a TSR world, I wouldbe a bard, traveling andtelling stories," he said."I'm doing exactlywhat I want to do.I wanted to be awriter sinceI was six."

Hawkesaysh ehas areputationof being "one ofthe fastest authors in thebusiness." he is exclusively anovelist now, though he startedout writing short stories and non-

fiction articles.He spends anywhere from six to 14

hours a day writing. And lately he hasbeen averaging four to six books a year.There are exceptions, he points out. Sonsof Glory took him two years to researchand one to write. That book was publishedby Jove in 1992.

“I didn’t start out to be a science-fictionand fantasy author,” he said. “I was read-ing Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Dumas, the clas-sics. I saw myself being a classical novelistsomeday. At least that’s what I was strivingfor. And at some point that’s still what I’dlike to do. I got into science-fiction byaccident. I didn’t know about conventionsor fandom.”

Hawke said he was attending college inNew York and was writing short stories.He showed one to a friend, who suggestedhe submit it to Galaxy Magazine. “I asked‘What’s Galaxy?’ and my friend broughtme a box of the magazines. So I read somescience-fiction pulps, and I sent my storyoff to the editor of Galaxy That was myfirst professional sale. I think it was in1976. I started selling to other magazines,and then I got an agent, and I shifted overto writing novels.”

Hawk’s many credits also include threeStar Trek novels and a Batman book. Thelatter he said he enjoyed immensely. “Iread Batman comic books when I was akid, and I never thought I’d have thechance to write a Batman story, let alone anovel.” He said writing that book involvedcommunicating often with the publisher,Warner, and with DC Comics.

inside the Batcave. “Bruce Wayne wouldset the clock to the time of his father’sdeath, and the entrance to the cave wouldopen. I wanted to know how Bruce Wayneknew the exact moment of his father’sdeath. He was six years old, a child. Hewas traumatized. I called Warner with thequestion, they called DC, and two weekslater I got a call back saying they didn’tknow. So I came up with an answer. WhenBruce Wayne’s father died he fell andbroke his watch. I added something to theBatman universe.”

Hawke also added a section of the Bat-cave where a fleet of various versions ofthe Batmobile are on display. He said hewanted to account for all the changes inthe automobile, and he added his ownversion of the car.

“There are some people in the industrywho think writing in a shared universelowers you on the totem pole. But in manyways it’s much more challenging. You’reworking within an established setting, yetyou have to contribute something new.”

Hawke said he hopes what he adds tothe worlds of the AD&D game benefits theplayers—even though he doesn’t play thegame. “I tried role-playing once, about 10years ago. It wasn’t for me. I can seewhere it can be diverting and entertainingand stimulating. But I’m a workaholic. I’mvery busy. I’ll use the analogy of a mechan-ic. If you work all day fixing cars, the lastthing you want to do is come home and fixthe family sedan. Role-playing is a lot like

DRAGON 97

writing, and for me playing a game isn’t asmuch fun as writing a novel. You controleverything with a novel, and with role-playing you’re sharing the creating.”

Hawke is confident he gets better withevery book he writes, and his fans seem toconcur. He receives a considerable amountof fan mail, and he makes it a point to tryto answer every letter.

“At first I came up with a form letter,but then I found myself writing notes onthe bottom of each letter, and the notesgot longer. So I write individual lettersnow. But if the mail gets worse I’ll have togo back to some kind of form letter.”

He said the writers want to know howhe got started in the business. Some askhim to review their manuscripts, andseveral offer praise about his DARK SUNbooks for TSR. “I can’t read their manu-scripts,” he said, adding he has so little freetime and when he reads, it is classics orfriends’ published novels that he tends topick off his numerous bookshelves.

In some of his spare time Hawke runsthe Sonora Writer’s Workshop in Tucson,Arizona. Some of his students there arepublished authors or are close to breakinginto the field. “I tell my students to watchpeople all the time. Writers have to beperpetual students of life and humannature.”

When he’s not writing or teaching, heenjoys pistol marksmanship, hiking in thedesert, attending science-fiction conven-tions, adding on to his house, and ridinghis motorcycle. “I dearly love my motor-cycle. It’s a Honda 750-four.” Hawke is aCivil War student, a fan of biographies, agardener, and a collector of fantasy artand Indian jewelry.

Hawke also appreciates music. “I used tobe a rock-and-roll musician. I was a drum-mer and I played guitar a little. I alsoworked as a DJ.” He recalls a professorasking if he wrote while listening to Mo-zart. “Most of the time I don’t work withmusic playing. I don’t want the distraction.But sometimes I’ll listen to music before Iwrite—Stevie Ray Vaughn, AC/DC, Aero-smith, and I’ll run around the room play-ing air guitar. Then I’ll write. I’m also aneat-freak. My house has to be neat and inorder before I can work. If I have dishesin the sink, I can’t write. I’m not as bad asFelix Unger, but I’m close. I’m compulsive.”

Hawke also is very busy. “In the pastfour years I’ve built a house, establishedand taught two writing classes, got a Mas-ter’s degree in English and History, andwrote 10 novels.”

Hawke said he has no regrets spendingmost of his time at a word processor.“George Burns said the key to long life isto fall in love with what you do, and I lovewhat I do. For me writing is play time.

“And I think the secret to good writing isto go through life looking at everythingwith the eyes of a child. A child alwaysasks why, and a writer asks what if. Andbased on that you get ideas all the time.”

98 APRIL 1995

Hawke’s novels include: In the “Wizardof 4th Street” series by Warner: The Wiz-ard of 4th Street, The Wizard of White-chapel, The Wizard of Sunset Strip, TheWizard of Rue Morgue, The Samurai

Wizard, and The Wizard of Santa Fe; Inthe “Reluctant Sorcerer” series by Warner:

The Reluctant Sorcerer and The Inade-quate Adept; In the “Time Wars” series byAce: The Ivanhoe Gambit, The TimekeeperConspiracy, The Pimpernel Plot, The Zen-da Vendetta, The Nautilus Sanction, TheKhyber Connection, The Argonaut Affair,The Dracula Caper, The Lilliput Legion,The Hellfire Rebellion, The CleopatraCrisis, and The Sixgun Solution; In the“Psychodrome” series by Ace: Psycho-drome, and Psychrodome II; In the“Steele” series by Charter Books, underthe pseudonym J. D. Masters: Steele, ColdSteele, Killer Steele, Jagged Steele, Rene-gade Steele, and Target Steele; in the “Fri-day the 13th” series from Signet: Fridaythe 13th I, II, III, and IV and other novels:The Nine Lives of Catseye Gomez (Warn-er), Batman: To Stalk a Specter (Warner),Sons of Glory (Jove), Call to Battle (Jove),Star Trek the Next Generation: The Romu-lan Prize (Pocket), Star Trek: The PatricanTransgression (Pocket), and the upcomingStar Trek the Next Generation: Blaze ofGlory (Pocket).

His books for TSR include: The Outcast,The Seeker, The Nomad, and The BrokenBlade, scheduled for a May release.

by Ed Greenwood

Kobold commotionsThough I seldom reflect on the doings of

the smaller and nastier goblinkin, it seemsthat kobolds are on the move in at leasttwo areas in Faerun. One lot is in the hillsat the north end of the Troll Mountains,from whence they’ve been raiding cara-vans near Priapurl, and even barges nearIriaebor! The other group seems to havetaken up residence in some of the aban-doned dwarf-holds in the peaks just westof Skull Crag, where they threaten boththe western road into Cormyr andTunland. Note to self: Hire or manipulatesome adventuring bands into going upagainst them—and send Harpers to watchwhat befalls.

Traditionally, kobolds have been nomore than a persistent nuisance. Thoughthey are cunning, work very well togetherin battle—and have even more effectivetraps and tactics when defending theirlairs or retreating across ground theyprepared to entrap foes beforehand—theyare simply too small, too magic-poor, andtoo ill-equipped to carve out kingdoms inthe face of orc hordes, everpresent hu-mans, and marauding monsters.

That’s the usual state of affairs, at least.These two latest kobold gatherings needinvestigating, if reports are correct. Itseems that the kobolds have made a firmalliance with human spell-casters, thatthese (or someone else) has organizedthem into stable battle-groups with com-manders who have the status of nobility,and their societies have a lasting structure,rather than the usual clan and tribe struc-ture, with its constant feuding. This is afirst for Faerun, at least since the timebefore Netheril, when (according to thewritings of Thauthgras and other ancientsages) there were realms around theMoonsea ruled by kobold princes whotraveled about on hippogriff and feywingsteeds, and trained stirges to serve asguardians and hunting packs.

There is no evidence (thus far, at least)of any remnants of such grandeur surviv-ing down the years, although there was atleast one kobold kingdom of importance,in what is now Murghom. In the Moun-tains of Copper one peak is called TheKobold Crown (a name now shared with aminers’ inn in the foothills at its base),because of a legend about the lost treasuryof the kobolds that lies hidden in a cavernsomewhere at its heart. This treasury, sothe tales go, contains many stolen goldcoins and human weapons bearing minor

100 APRIL 1995

enchantments, and the like—but also in-cludes a large, splendid crown of gemswith considerable magic power.

Many fanciful tales surround this losthoard and the human adventurers who’vetried to find it. Often, the legends say,horrific guardian monsters slew and de-voured them. I’ve my doubts about someof the gory details—sixteen levitating,fireball-hurling mind flayers seems a fewmore than necessary to guard onecrown—but Jhahyndil of Rashemen (oneof the most widely-traveled and experi-enced of the Witches) is convinced thatmore than one dragon has found a clefthigh up in the Crown’s unscaled upperslopes, flown in to make its lair in thenetwork of caverns within, and has beenslain there by something. This, too, bearsinvestigation, in (sigh) a few spare days ofmy time. Interestingly, there are no re-ports of kobolds active in the area today.

There are reports of kobolds swarmingonto some of the smaller offshore islandsjust south of Altumbel—from what source,no one knows—slaughtering the few her-mits and fisher-folk who dwell there, andturning the entire islands into their ownfarming communities. In such holds, asmuch fungi is grown in dirt chambersunderground as is sown on the surfaceabove. Kobold patrols are frequent (bywar-skiff as well as on land), and they setup wrecking operations. They have usedlamps to lure ships onto rocks by night orin storms where such is feasible.

The isles of Thonn’s Fist, Brokenshores,and Altarn have been overrun in this way.Kobolds have been driven off the lattertwo, although deep mines they’ve dug onAltarn seem to connect with the Under-dark, and it is likely they’ll return, or atleast that something fey will venture upfrom The Realms Below. The crumblingsea-keep and small harbor of Altarn havebeen abandoned, and lie empty today(unless pirates, undead, or something elsehas taken a fancy to the place). On Thonn’sFist, the kobolds remain, having report-edly repulsed at least two pirate raids.Named for a huge granite height at thewest end of the island (its ancient localhuman tribal name, Raunshee, translatesas “club-head”), this island has been tun-nelled so extensively by the kobolds thatthere have been several surfacecollapses—at least one of which opened upthe huge cavern used as a temple of Kur-tulmak to the sky. This crater is now ashallow rainwater lake, and is used by thekobolds as a reservoir; the temple has

been relocated to deeper reaches of theirwarren of passages that also may connectwith the Underdark.

Such small holdings, established throughsavage raids and often abandoned just asswiftly in the face of strong attacks, arethe traditional dwellings of kobolds; therecould be several hundred such in theSword Coast North today, and even morein the mountains around the BloodstoneLands. Little is known of these, but thusfar Harper agents, fellow mages, adventur-ers, and my own explorations have turnedup four especially large kobold groupsknown in the Sword Coast North rightnow:

• North of The Troll Hills dwells a tribe(name unknown) of about 800, led byKhulld Mrym. They have long harriedsmall caravans and lone travelers on TheHigh Road, and were far more numerousbefore the recent fighting around Dragon-spear Castle.

• In the mountains north of Ascore areThe Drinn, about 3,700 strong, led byOlgloth Ryndrinn. They sometimes mountattacks on Citadel Adbar, and often slayminers in the Ice Mountains.

• At the west end of The Fell Pass, nearthe headwaters of the Goblintide River,dwell the Urlbluk tribe, about 4,750 innumber, led by the “Three Shes” (threematriarchs of unusual cunning and fore-sight). They are continually selecting acarefully-balanced roster of rival war-leaders to serve under them, and havescored several important victories overhuman and orc forces in Khedrun Vale.¹The Urlbluk have plans to tunnel underthe Lurkwood, and make it their home—but gnomes in the near Underdark reportthat duergar and illithids both have settle-ments in the area, and the kobolds’ planhas suffered some bloody setbacks.

• The Selgryn infest The Ice Lakes areanorth and east of Luskan, and have devel-oped or adopted caltrops, pit traps, andspring-spears to deal with patrols fromLuskan and prospectors alike. This tribe ofabout 2,900 was far larger, but has suf-fered heavy losses recently while virtuallywiping out several Uthgardt barbariantribes that roamed the area. The chieftain,Ulag Selgryn, wears a stag’s head mask(with antlers) at all times in public, andpossesses some magical items that heknows how to use.

Notes1. Sometimes called The Valley of

Khedron.

by Skip Williams

If you have any questions on the gamesproduced by TSR, Inc., “Sage Advice” willanswer them. In the United States andCanada, write to: Sage Advice, DRAGON®Magazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Rd., LakeGeneva WI 53147, U.S.A. In Europe, writeto: Sage Advice, DRAGON Magazine, TSRLtd., 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,Cambridge CB1 3LB, United Kingdom. Weare no longer able to make personal re-plies; please send no SASEs with yourquestions (SASEs are being returned withwriter’s guidelines for the magazine).

This month, the sage takes a look atoptional materials and settings for theAD&D® game and considers a few AD&Dgame basics before moving on to a quicklook at the SPELLFIRETM game.

I’m running a COUNCIL OFWYRMS� campaign with five differ-ent types of dragon PCs. Severalcharacters (the crystal, sapphire,and copper dragons) have gainedenough experience to go up a level,while the rest (the gold and silverdragons) are still a long way fromgoing up. The first group of playersdon’t want to wait for the requiredtime to lapse and the second groupwants harder adventures so theycan get more experience. What can Ido? Is there a way to speed up orslow down the characters’ advance-ment rates? Is the time requirementreally necessary?

Yes, the time requirement is necessary—being a dragon isn’t easy. The simplestsolution to your problem is to use thePlayer Character Sets rules (Book One,page 35). Let the players with dragonsready to go up levels temporarily retiretheir characters (or better yet becomeinvolved on dragon politics or other cam-paign business) and have those players usetheir kindred characters for adventureswhile the remaining dragons collect theexperience and treasure they need toadvance. There are other solutions, buthow well they work depends on howcompetitive your players are. If yourplayers are dedicated role-players, yousimply can advance the campaign timelinea few decades or centuries whenever youfeel the need and promote all the PCs tothe next level.

Can tieflings, cambions, alu-fiends,githzerai, and other races from thePLANESCAPE� setting choose char-acter classes from the AL-QADIM®setting? I understand there might besome social and cultural barriers, Ijust want to know if it’s possible.

Planars who immigrate to Zakhara arelimited to the various outlander kits, justas other non-Zakharans are. There’s noreason why second generation planarimmigrants can’t choose native kits, as-suming that the pervious generation tookpains to become part of the society.

Are the optional individual experi-ence awards and the individualclass awards supposed to supple-ment the group experience award(DMG, pages 46-48) or replace it?

Actually, the individual class awards areoptional, too, even though the blue box onpage 48 ends at the bottom of the firstcolumn. Generally speaking, individualcharacter awards should be given in addi-tion to any group award, as these awardsreflect superior play. An individual classaward can be given in addition to thegroup award or instead of the groupaward, depending on how the DM feelsabout the situation. For example, a thiefwho steals back a bribe the party had topay a dishonest guardsman probablyshould receive extra experience points forgrabbing the money in addition to thegroup’s award for the whole adventure.On the other hand, a thief who gets thewhole party in unnecessary trouble bypicking on the wrong mark, but still man-ages to retain what she stole, might begiven the bonus instead of a share in thegroup award.

Are racial saving throw bonusescumulative with saving throw bo-nuses for high ability scores? Forexample, does a dwarf or gnomewith a 17 Constitution and an 18Wisdom receive a +8 to savingthrow vs. spells?

Yes the bonuses are cumulative. How-ever the dwarf in your example wouldreceive the full +8 only against spells thataffect the mind, such as charm person,because the +4 bonus from Wisdom onlyhelps against mental attacks. Also remem-ber that a roll of a 1 on the saving throwdie is a failure.

Are psionics subject to planaralterations as spells are?

School alterations usually do not applyto psionics. Certain other special planareffects, however, still can apply if the DMwants them to. For example, the retribu-tion effect for direct attacks on importanttanar’ri in the Abyss probably shouldapply to all forms of psionics.

When calculating a creature’sexperience value, what’s the hit dievalue modifier (DMG, page 47) forpsionic abilities?

Add one hit die if the creature can em-ploy only psionic devotions or add two hitdice if the creature can employ psionicsciences.

Do player characters need to havethe read/write proficiency to usemagical books, tomes, manuals, andlibrams? Do player characters needthe read/write proficiency to usescrolls and spell books?

A character must be able to read to useany written magical item, including booksand scrolls.

Technically, wizards and bards are notrequired to have the read/write proficien-cy, though many campaigns do require itas a house rule. Spell books are written ina sort of personal magical cipher, andilliterate characters can make up theirown if they know how to cast spells. Notethat read magic always gives the caster theability to read a scroll, though the charac-ter might be categorically denied the useof the spell (no wizard can cast a priestspell from a scroll and vice versa). Like-wise, thieves are not technically requiredto have the read/write proficiency to usetheir read languages skill (the skill itself issufficient to unravel the mysteries of awritten page if the character’s die rollsucceeds) or to use scrolls at high level.

The spellcraft proficiency allowscharacters to recognize magical andmagically endowed constructs.What, exactly, does this mean?

It means that the character knows aspell effect when he sees one. For exam-ple, a successful proficiency check wouldtell the character which wall in a roomwas created with a spell. The characterwould not know, however, if the magicinvolved was a wall of stone spell, an

DRAGON 103

illusory wall spell or something else entire-ly. Some DMs might allow the character torecognize magically constructed or ani-mated creatures as well. For example, thecharacter might be able to note a golemlurking in a row of normal statues or ananimated table before it moves to theattack.

Spellcraft is not a substitute for a detectmagic spell. It will not reveal magical itemsburied in a treasure hoard or allow thecharacter to determine which spells havebeen cast upon a creature.

How does weapon specializationwork with the eleven bladesingerkit?

Bladesinging is a form of weapon speciali-zation available to elf fighter/mages. A blade-singer cannot specialize in a second weaponor double specialize in bladesinging.

How many miles does a berk haveto walk to get from the spike underSigil to one of the gate towns suchas Curst or Plague Mort? Since theplanes are infinite, what lies beyondthese towns?

The exact distances are unrevealed,mostly because physical distances arepretty much meaningless in a settingwhere a cutter can find a gate leading justabout anywhere. If you really have toknow, the distance from the spire to any

gate is probably at least 25,000 miles.Generally speaking, if a player characterwould even think of trying to walk thedistance, you’ve made it too short.

Beyond the gate towns lie unexploredtracts of that plane. Exactly what suchtracts contain is unrevealed, but theygenerally conform to the plane’s basicnature. In the Outlands, for example, theareas beyond the gate towns look prettymuch like ordinary landscapes, though atraveler will find the occasional realm of aneutral power whose personality shapesthe countryside. In a similar fashion, therealso will be gates to other planes and theareas around those gates will reflect thenature of the plane the gate leads to.

SPELLFIRE™ game questionsHow does the lightning bolt card

(#332) work? Does the caster get the+5 level bonus and have the abilityto destroy a magical item, too?

Yes, the spell allows the caster gets the+5 bonus and destroys one opposing allyof +4 or less or one opposing magicalitem.

When a card that says all attackerslose one level, do all the allies loseone level as well or do only champi-ons suffer?

All allies and the champion lose one leveleach.

When the transformation (#201)

event forces everyone to discardtheir cards, can the discarding peo-ple still play events before they getrid of their cards?

No. Once a card is played, all of its ef-fects must be resolved before any othercard is played. The only exceptions arecards that can negate the original card’seffects. For example, people could playCalm cards (#400) in response to a trans-formation and not have to throw awaytheir hands, but nobody could throwdown Fortunate Omens (#92) just to get itinto play before discarding.

When multiple events are played,in what order do they take effect?

Events take effect in the order they areplayed. In a friendly game, that means thefirst person to reach for a card resolvesthat card first. In less friendly games, thefirst card that hits the table goes intoeffect. In either case, cards must be playedand resolved one at a time, with the firstcard taking full effect before any othercard play is considered.

Here’s a special note for groups inclinedtoward free-for-alls in which everyonethrows cards: When a card hits the tableand goes into play, everyone else is sup-posed to pick up any cards they tosseddown. Players cannot reserve places inline for their cards by throwing themdown when another card is taking effect.

©1995 by Ken CarpenterPhotography by Don Witmer, painting by Ken Carpenter and Alexander Bond

and creation. Writers explain these ad-vances with a line of techno-babble, butwho really cares about the explanation?It’s the environment and genre that in-trigue us, and the hi-tech equipment is animportant part of all that. Who wouldhave watched Star Wars if the heroescarried .38’s and stilettos instead of blast-ers and lightsabers?

It’s hardly surprising that our gameshave been influenced by SF books, movies,and TV shows. As a futuristic escape fromour mundane, civilized world in whichpolitically correct countries war only oversuch important issues as race and religion,they allow us to step into enlightenedfutures, or nightmares, through the the-ater of the mind.

Futuristic games also give us an excuseto acquire some really cool figures! Greatminiatures sculptors labor tirelessly onincredible lines of SF figures in support ofour games, and some of those appear inthe following pages. Thanks to AlexanderBond of “The Master’s Touch” in LosAngeles for painting some of these reviewfigures.

Next time, we will focus on supernaturaland magical creatures. If you have ques-tions or comments, write: From TheForge, PO. Box 9, Murrieta CA 92562.

Reviews

Games Workshop3431-C Benson Avenue

Baltimore MD 21227Voice: (410) 644-5699 Fax: (410) 242-1839Mail Order: Yes Catalog: Free

#0353 TITAN LEGIONS* gameEpic games seriesDesigner: Andy ChambersScale: Epic (6 mm) cost: $59.99Presentation: 10 Playability: 9Value: 7

The latest addition to Games Workshop’saddictive Epic games line, TITAN LEGIONS

Science Fiction has changed a lot sincejourneys to the earth’s core and home-made time machines. If Jules Verne werealive today he would be staggered by thewealth and depth of our science fiction.(That, and a lot of Geriatric specialistswould want to take a look at him.)

treated to the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek(in all its incarnations), and more recently,the film Stargate.

The technological advances evident inmuch of our fiction boggles the mind andcontinues Jules’ tradition of imagination

In Verne’s day, science fiction was con-sidered frivolous by many of his literarypeers. Nowadays, names like Asimov,Bradbury, and Heinlein are respectedthroughout known space. Sure, we’vesuffered through our share of Lost inSpace and Spaceballs, but we’ve also been

112 APRIL 1995

Explanation of Ratings1 Slag, a good doorstop2 Poor, for die-hards only3 Well below average, needs work4 Below average, but salvageable5 Standard, average quality

6 Good, definitely worth your perusal7 Great, have you seen this yet?8 Excellent, you have to see this!9 Incredible, where can I get one?10 No mortal hands produced this!

finally brings the Mega-Gargant and Impe-rator Titan to the field of battle. With theearth shaking and guns blazing, thesemachines of destruction will foreverchange the face of the epic-scale games.

From game box to rules to game tem-plates, the TITAN LEGIONS set is thickwith high-quality artwork, photography,and technical illustrations. In addition tothe various books (there are three booksincluding the rule book, the Codex Titani-cus Imperial book, and the Fires of Gehen-na scenario booklet), the game has 10highly stylized card building (some Orc,some Imperial), numerous cards, counters,and weapon effect templates. As men-tioned, the Imperator Titan makes its firstappearance along with two Mega-Gargants, 12 Orc Bonebreaka tanks, and10 Imperial Knight Paladins.

The rule book tucks the TITAN LEGIONSgame into the other science-fiction Epicgame, SPACE MARINE* very well. Thereare no visible contradictions, which wasthe primary problem with the integrationof the original ADEPTUS TITANICUS* (anincredible game) and the first edition ofSPACE MARINE (which turned ADEPTUSinto a patchwork quilt of contradictory,even paradoxical rules). I see no signs ofparadox overload here.

While the possibility of an unstoppableforce of Imperators or Mega-Gargantsexists, the rules give these monstrosities ofmayhem the necessary Achilles’ heels. Inaddition to a high cost, either or both maybe boarded, and both have limitations ontheir firepower. While the Orcs are at adefinite disadvantage, with their lack oforganizational skills and rudimentarycommand and control chains, they also areless costly to field in larger forces which,hopefully, will compensate.

The rule book contains experience rulesfor titan crews and the Codex book givesus a glimpse into the dark recesses of theImperium with more highly detailed back-ground.

The plastic models require significantassembly, but GW has provided instruc-tions that allow even a novice to put themtogether with ease. I would suggest thatthe models be trimmed, prepped, andpainted prior to assembly, as they becomemore difficult to paint after assembly.

Overall, I’d have to say that the TITANLEGIONS game is Games Workshop’s bestrelease since the WARHAMMER 40K*game. While the price tag is high, you getabout $40 worth of plastic models so therules, templates, counters, and scenariosare a deal.

#0155 Codex Eldar#0156 Codex OrksAuthors: Rick Priestley/Jervis JohnsonScale: 28 mm cost: $20.00Presentation: 10 Playability: 9Value: 6

Details and background information forWARHAMMER 40K Eldar and Orks

abound in these Codex books. Both arepresented with stunning color and copiousamounts of the incredible artwork thatGames Workshop has become known for.

Codex Eldar provides information on theorigins of the various Aspects, Harlequin,and the psychic powers at which the Eldarare so adept. Further details include War-locks, Farseers, scouts, pirates, and theirspirit-driven machines of destruction. Afull-color insert gives some paint schemesfor your Eldar troops as well as forcecards and additional wargear cards.

Explanations of all the Eldar weaponry,fully pointed troop lists, and a selection ofspecial characters complete the book.

Codex Orks, focusing on the true powerof the universe (can you tell which army Irun?), details the various Ork clans, theirstrange (and sometimes functional) weap-ons of destruction, and troop types fromKommandos to Warpheads. The colorsection gives color schemes and additionalwargear cards that are race specific.

The army list, with appropriate pointcost information, numerous special char-acters, and some Ork tactics put the finish-ing touches on the Codex. The armies arewell balanced, even with Psyker rules thatare different for each race. One of thegreat things about the 40K game is thatthe races are so distinctive and detailed,they don’t blend together in the rules oron the table-top.

#9102 Zodgrod Wortsnagga#8082 Jain Zar#8082 Maugan RaWARHAMMER 40K* lineSculptors: Alan Perry/Jes GoodwinScale: 28 mm Cost: $7.99 eachTechnical: 8 Artistic: 9Value: 5

Three powerful leaders for the WAR-HAMMER 40K game, Zodgrod is a formi-dable special character from the CodexOrks while Jain Zar and Maugan Ra arePhoenix Lords from Codex Eldar.

Zodgrod and Jain Zar are very clean

casts with only the slightest of partinglines. The only visible line on Jain Zar wasinside the curl of her loincloth. Maugan Rahas a slight line across his head and shoul-ders. All three require a minimal amountof assembly.

Zodgrod is a masterpiece of rough detailwork, from cloth wrapped feet to kustombolter to mechanical Runtherd Grabba-Stikk. When going into battle he leads hisspecially trained super snotlings.

One of the most elegant pieces I’ve seenin a while, Jain Zar is detailed to highlighther graceful curves and sharp lines. Manyof the proportions and dimensions havebeen exaggerated in a stylized way, suchas the hair, the knee-high boots, and thelength of her feet.

Maugan Ra, the last of his craftworld, ishideously attired for his role on the battle-field. With mechanical support for hisheavy weapon, highly stylized armor andshoulder pads, and a backpack apparentlybuilt of vertebrae, his presence wouldn’tbe missed at most parties.

The price is noticeably high for a singlefigure, but these are far from standardfare. Considering the beauty and charismaof these figures (can I use “charisma”when referring to an ork?), I have to admitthat they’re worth the price tag of $7.99apiece. Painting by Ken Carpenter

Sci-Fi Supply1541 Jason StreetKissimmee FL 34744Voice: (407) 846-7317 Fax: (407) 846-8416Mail Order: Yes Catalog: SASE

#2101 Tudor InnWild Walls seriesScale: 25 mm Cost: $6.00Technical: 5 Artistic: 7Value: 7

I just happened to run into this strangelot of science-fiction fanatics in the minia-tures room at the GEN CON® Game Fair.They were surrounded with all sorts of SFparaphernalia and some really extravagant

DRAGON 113

dioramas. Turns out they make VACU-formwalls and structures.

While, as their name implies, they makea lot of SF settings, they also make somedungeon, castle, and medieval village sets.This Tudor Inn is an excellent example oftheir village sets.

As I mentioned, these are made of plas-tic sheets that have been formed to adesired shape. They won’t hold up to a lotof rough treatment, but a little care willpreserve them for . . . what’s the half-lifeof plastic? About eight millennia?

For the material and price, the level ofdetail is very good. The inside of the moldis actually more detailed, because of thenature of VACU-form, but much of itcomes through. The inn has a shake roof,plus daub and wattle exterior with heavybeams to reinforce it at certain points.

114 APRIL 1995

Instructions detail the necessary trimmingand priming before you paint.

Grenadier Models, Inc.P.O. Box 305Springfield PA 19064Voice: (800) 843-2015 Fax: (215) 583-9425Mail Order: Yes Catalog: $3.00

#1575 Kill Zone gameFUTURE WARRIORS* lineAuthor: Nick LundScale: 25 mm Cost: $24.95Presentation: 7 Playability: 9Value: 9

For months we’ve been seeing the FU-TURE WARRIORS blisters, hoping that agame system for them was just around thecorner. Well it’s here, and you’re going to

love it.Coming in a full-color sleeve, the boxed

set boasts 10 of the incredible figureswe’ve come to expect from this line, in-cluding five that are sold only with thegame. The booklet is pretty plain, but therules are what’s important. There is also asheet of counters and a Quick Referencesheet.

While the figures are reminiscent of theMad Max setting, the game itself doesn’tcapitalize on the potential background asyet. However, the feel is different fromany miniatures game you’ve ever played.Movement and firing is based on ordersyou assign at the end of the previous turn,so you have to count on calculated riskand gut instinct to survive. This methodcreates a tension and you-against-the-world feel, living up to the by-line “Rulesfor Futuristic Shoot Outs.”

Mechanics are pretty simple and requireonly six-sided dice. Hand-to-hand combat isan original system that’s both fast anddeadly. Ranged combat is quick, but thegame gives the defender (target) the bene-fit of the doubt. In a game designed foronly a dozen or so models on each side,leaning toward the defender allows thegame to last longer than 15 minutes.

I have to admit, I was a fan before thegame came out because I was so intriguedby the figures, but the game was worththe wait. There’s supposed to be a sce-nario booklet out this quarter, so lookaround for it.

#1524 Satellite Team#1530 Rebel WomenFUTURE WARRIORS* lineSculptor: Mark CopplestoneScale: 28 mm Cost: $ 4.00 eachTechnical: 7 Artistic: 8Value: 8

Now that we’ve got the game, let’s lookat more of the great figures that havebeen released for it. These two blistersprovide more troopers and rebels, not thatyou’d invite them both to the same party.

Minor parting lines can be found alongthe legs and arms, but they should cleanup easily. A tiny amount of sheeting lies inthe crook of the satellite controller’s leftarm—an easy fix for hobby knife and file.

The troopers are heavily embellishedwith armor studs, buckles, pockets, utilitybelts, and other gizmos. They also areequipped with military assault rifles (thekind you always see on the news), side-arms, and communications headsets. Withthe satellite team comes a small satellitecommunications station.

The rebel women have boots, heavypants, assault weaponry, and other assort-ed details. All of the figures have excellentfeatures and realistic expressions, allowingfor incredible results with the right paintjob. Painting by Ken Carpenter

Global Games136 Geary Ave. Unit 215AToronto, ONT M6H 4H1Voice:(416)516-4690M a i l o r d e r : Y e s C a t a l o g : $ 1

#1780 Mark III Assault Fiend#1790 C2 CenturionLEGIONS OF STEEL* lineSculptor: Dave SummersScale: 28mm Cost: $12.95 eachText

T e c h n i c a l : 5 A r t i s t i c : 9Value: 6

Incredibly ambitious figures, both theMark III and Centurion were designed byTom Frank and sculpted by Dave Sum-mers. These beasts of electronics andmetal will terrorize your LEGIONS OFSTEEL game players! The Mark III is ahuge, metal piece weighing in at nearly a1/4 pound, and one of the most powerfulpredators in the game, while the Centuri-on's level of detail is unreal.

There are visible parting lines and areasof flash, but clean-up isn't too bad. Assem-bly is required, but the sculptor was care-ful to make sure the pieces fit well andassemble easily. A little fit work will berequired to get the Mark III's lower-righthand cradled in its left hand. Onthe Centurion's right shoulder are twominiature demons, but their feet didn't fillall the way. A small bit of putty work will

rectify that.Previous Assault Fiends have been im-

tively sculpted with a mix of smoothcurves and sharp angles. An action stance

pressive, but the Mark III is incredible. gives the figure great motion and lifeFour armed miniatures often look awk- while the detail of his weapons, torso, andward and clumsy, but this piece is well limbs will satisfy the most demanding ofproportioned and built to minimize the miniatures fanatics.customary strangeness. Its head is crea- Centurions are vicious predators with

Sphere. Two sections of full-cover, glossypages present incredible computer graph-ics of ‘mechs in action as well as theBATTLETECH Miniatures Conversionrules, written by Bryan LiBrandi andChuck Crane.

Some of the more important rules clarifi-cations address standing (and falling),multiple piloting skill rolls in a singlephase, transferring damage, and others.The clarifications don’t seem to changemany of these rules so much as spell themout in a clear and concise way.

The BATTLETECH game, from the verybeginning, was an absorbing game but theincredible history and time-line that FASAhas created, with the help of writers likeMichael A. Stackpole, turned a great gameinto an epic, living universe. The BATTLE-TECH game is a must-play miniaturesgame for beginners and experts alike.

#1685 Tukayyid Scenario PackBATTLETECH seriesAuthor: Jeffrey LaytonScale: 1/285thPresentation: 8Value: 8

cost: $12.00Playability: 9

The Tukayyid Scenario Pack allows youto play through some of the historic con-frontations of the battle for Tukayyid, aseither the Com Guard forces or one of themany Clans that participated in the battle.

Art throughout the book ranges from

rifle, grenade launcher, rocket pod, andgrenades, is a formidable command figure,and one of the best unit leaders in thegame. The detail of his powered battlearmor is good, especially the pack andmid-section. His rifle and shoulder mount-ed rocket pod also are highly detailed.

Volcanos are an ominous sight on thebattlefield. With high-powered weaponry,only a strong force can stand up to one.Detail includes organic-looking tentacles

the intellect to command larger units oflesser machines. Highly stylized sculptingand fine detail make this model a center-piece of your LOS forces. The “armor” andweapons are very well done, as are thetorso and face. The “spear” is actually avery effective area of effect weapon givena spear shape to allow greater castingdistance. This is also the first LOS modelto use the Heavy Deadbolt or Blitzer, an-other surprise for your overconfidentUNE rivals.

LOS players will want the Mark III andCenturion models so they can mop upthose UNE troops, but painters, modelers,and collectors will want them becausethey’re such great figures. Painting by KenCarpenter

#3421 War Leader in Diamond PBA#3440 Volcano B.A.P.LEGIONS OF STEEL lineSculptor: Dave SummersScale: 28 mm cost: $4.95/$12.95Technical: 6 Artistic: 7Value: 5

Among the leading releases for the In-franite race, these figures are a couple ofthe race’s most able fighters.

Both show minor parting lines, andthere are a few small areas of flash orheavy vent threads, but the size of theVolcano required that the figure haveadequate flow of metal through the chan-nels. Clean up isn’t too bad, and the fig-ures look great when you’re done.

The War Leader, with Tempest assault

and texture over the torso while the rest isvery well sculpted, powered machinery.The figure stands about two inches talland weighs in at about l/4 pound.

FASA Corporation1100 West Cermak, Suite B305Chicago IL 60608Voice: (312) 243-5660 Fax: (312) 243-4847Mail Order: Yes Catalog: Free

#1690 BattleTech CompendiumBATTLETECH* seriesScale: l/285th cost: $20.00Presentation: 9 Playability: 10Value: 9

The most recent revision to the classicBATTLETECH miniatures game, “TheRules of Warfare” clears up the last fewquestions within the greatest rules systemof its kind.

Replete with good to excellent artworkand compelling background material, thenewest Compendium involves you in thelife and death struggle of the Inner

116 April 1995

merely adequate to exceptional. However,couching the scenarios in the storyline ofTukayyid, detailing each Clan’s success orfolly as well as the Com Guard response,drags you, willing or not, into the plot andmakes you want to play it out—right now.

Most of the scenarios are fairly balancedand designed to allow either or both sidesto claim some margin of victory, depen-dant upon the outcome. Those battles thatappear to be somewhat lopsided dependon a quick wit and a strict adherence tothe mission’s objective to allow players tosnatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Included are 27 scenarios, backgroundmaterial on the confrontations, specialrules to help you create forces, and nu-merous ‘mech sheets for special configura-tions or newer designs. Tukayyid will keepyou fighting it out for nearly as long as the actual battle lasted!

Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc.5938 Carthage Ct.Cincinnati OH 45212Voice: (800) 543-0272 Fax: (513) 631-0028Mail Order: Yes Catalog: $4.00

#20-616 Grand Titan TIT-N10M#20-617 Tempest TMP-3MBATTLETECH line

Aside from packing a solid gamingpunch, the Tempest is a model of sharplines, crisp detail, and exacting design.Painting will be a pleasure, though youneed to expect a good deal of detail workto bring out all of the highlights. Paintingby Alexander Bond

Ral Partha’s SHADOWRUN alwayshas been incredible, but it seems that theyreally want to startle the consumer withsome of their latest releases.

Parting lines are visible along all fourlegs of the Minotaur, as well as the armsand horns of the Satyr. Slight mold linesare also visible along the axis of the sha-man figures. While the lines are minor, alittle time will be required to removethem.

Sculptors: Jeff Wilhelm/Dave SummersScale: 1/285th Cost: $7.25/$6.00Technical: 5 Artistic: 8Value: 6

Two of the Inner Sphere’s latest answersto the clans, the Grand Titan is a combatmonster and the Tempest is a fine balanceof offense and defense. Both figures dotheir designs justice.

While parting lines are minimal and wellplaced, there is a small pitting problem onthe Grand Titan. Traces of pitting arevisible on the back of the torso and alongthe left leg. The pitting is slight, but it isvisible and will have to be dealt with be-fore painting. The Tempest needs someattention to the midsection, but it cleansup well.

Nearly identical to the design drawing inFASA’s 3055 Technical Readout, the GrandTitan figure is well done. It comes in fivepieces so some assembly is required, butthat can be accomplished in no time at all.

The potential damage this ‘mech candish out is in the high seventies, but the‘mech has a heat problem if you approachhalf that. The notes in the 3055 TechnicalReadout say it beat an Atlas, but it musthave been a 3025 Atlas because a 3050Atlas would have cleaned the Titan’s clock.Replacing the Titan’s standard heatsinkswith doubles, however, will make it one ofthe toughest kids on the block and itshould have critical slots to spare.

In gaming terms, the Tempest is a highlyversatile ‘mech, armed with a gauss rifle, alarge pulse, three medium lasers, and anSRM 6. Armor is pretty much maxed outand it’s got average maneuverability for a65-ton mech (4/6/4).

#20-537 Minotaur & Satyr#20-574 Shamans (M & F)SHADOWRUN* lineSculptor: Jim Johnson/Dave SummersScale: 25 mm Cost: $6.00/$4.00Technical: 7 Artistic: 8Value: 8

The Satyr is rather traditional, thoughvery well done. It boasts furred legs andhairy mane that are both highly detailed,and Jim has spared us the stereotypicalgenitalia (thank you!). Definitely not stere-

DRAGON 117

otypical, the Minotaur is quite the eyecatcher. With a bovine head that hasvaguely humanoid features, a heavy mane,and the oddly muscled, fur-patched bodyof a bull, this figure is a piece of art. Bothfigures have life-like stances and greatproportions.

Dave’s shamans also are incredibly pro-portioned and poised for action, but thedetail here is different. While the beastswere sculptures of muscle and feature, theshamans appear in ceremonial garb thathas been detailed to the finest article ofclothing and accessory.

The male has a medicine pouch, bando-liers, tasseled shoulder pads, and a leatherholster. Feathers adorn his wild hair and hisknee-high moccasins appear mismatched.The female wears a long coat with paddedmantles over her shoulders. The coat isopen, revealing a short, tasseled top thatexposes her midriff, chains about her thighs,and knee-high moccasins.

The female seems about to thrust herdagger into a doll charm. I’m sure the doll’suncanny resemblance to myself is just acoincidence, although I have had this shoot-ing pain. Painting by Ken Carpenter

especially on the Centurion and Mortifica-tor, with incredible amounts of minutedetail on armor, helmets, and countlessaccessories. Painting by Ken Carpenter

Ground Zero Games“Fizno,” Barking TyeNeedham MarketSuffolk, IP6 8JB EnglandMail Order: Yes

Distributed in America by:

Geo-Hex/Capricorn Space2126 North LewisPortland OR 97227Voice: (503) 288-4805 Fax: (503) 288-8992Mail Order: Yes Catalog: $3.00

#THRUST Full Thrust game2nd edition)Author: Jon Tuffley

Scale: l/2000th Cost: $16.00Presentation: 7 Playability: 8Value: 8

The FULL THRUST game is a table-topminiatures system for “fleet actions indeep space.” The author’s approach, ageneric ship-to-ship combat system thatcould stand on its own or be used withother game systems, is excellent. Theauthor regularly reminds the reader thathe FULL THRUST system is presented asa base from which GMs and players canbuild, modify, or develop their own mate-rial. It’s also written in a personable, easyto understand format.

Heartbreaker Hobbies & Games Despite its small company origin, the1260 E. Woodland Ave.Springfield PA 19064Voice: (215) 544-9052 Fax: (215) 544-9052Mail Order: Yes Catalog: Free

#8107 Mortificator & Inquisitor#8116 Centurion & LegionnaireMUTANT CHRONICLES* lineSculptors: Tim Prow/Kev AdamsScale: 28 mm Cost: $3.95 eachTechnical: 8 Artistic: 7Value: 8

For use with the MUTANT CHRONICLESrole-playing game or any of the Heart-breaker board games based on it, thesefigures give you a feel for the game.

Nothing worse than slight mold linesshow on any of these four figures, so aminimal amount of filing should get you tothe primer stage.

Centurions and Legionnaires are part ofthe Dark Legion forces that conspire todominate or destroy mankind, slaves tothe powers of the Dark Symmetry. Inquisi-tors and Mortificators are members of theBrotherhood, a quasi-religious organiza-tion dedicated to the destruction of theDark Legion, wherever it may be found—even within the ranks of humanity.

The figures are very stylish, fitting themood and grit of the MUTANT CHRONI-CLES universe. The sculpting is very good,

book boasts a full-color cover and plentyof interior art, which ranges from ade-quate to excellent. The organization is wellthought out, so the reader can follow thelogical progression of the game.

Lightning fast mechanics use a single dieroll to determine if a weapon system hitsand damages the target. With such a com-bat system you can have dozens of ships inthe battle and still complete a battle beforethe turn of the century. Maneuvering ishandled simply but efficiently, and allowsfor the frictionless nature of space (shipscontinue to move along a vector untilthrust is applied to change speed or turn).Since movement orders are written beforebeing performed, players can’t react totheir opponent’s movement, simulating acombat situation where enemies attemptto anticipate each other’s next move orreact to the last one.

In addition to the ship-to-ship combat(ships being large vessels with FTL capabil-ity), there are rules for one- and two-manfighter craft that operate in units of six.The fighters are only capable of in-systempropulsion but can prove quite an effec-tive attack against the larger, less agileships.

The FULL THRUST game is simpleenough that beginners can learn the basicsof miniatures gaming, but it also can becomplex enough to interest and entertain

118 APRIL 1995

the most experienced table-top gamer.This is a great space combat simulation insimple game terms that opens up optionsthat aren’t available unless you’re playinga table-top game. It plays fast and is awhole lot of fun.

#MORET More ThrustEditor: Jon TuffleyScale: 1/2000th cost: $12.00Presentation: 7 Playability: 9Value: 8

A supplement for the FULL THRUSTrules, More Thrust provides more options,more power, and more fun. Using the sameformat as its parent system, the book is easyto understand and entertaining to read.

More Thrust presents expanded rulesfor fighters, giving specialized functionfighters and elite/raw pilot modifiers.There also are optional rules to limit theeffectiveness of fighters, restricting apotential imbalance, since a player using alot of fighters could gain an advantage.

Additional rules for stationary installa-tions, sensors, and planetary bodies ex-pand rules to add more flavor and agreater sense of realism to the game. Acouple of alien races make their appear-ance, as GZG provides an environment forthose players who wish to use it. With theraces come new weapons, hulls, and phi-losophies. The book includes three sce-

narios, numerous scenario ideas and rulesfor combining the FULL THRUST ruleswith a couple ground combat games. Ifyou like FULL THRUST, then More Thrustis a must. (No Dr. Seuss-like poetry intended).

Best of ShowGamer’s BoS has been narrowed to two

figures—Games Workshop’s Jain Zar forthe 40K game and Global Games’ Centuri-on for the LEGIONS OF STEEL game. JainZar is a sleek, elegant piece of work withas much grace as you can pack into a 28-mm miniature. The Centurion is the ulti-mate example of extreme detailing. Everysurface, nook, and angle has been intri-cately carved and fashioned to make this astartling figure for ambitious painters.

Modeler’s BoS has to be Global’s Mark IIIAssault Fiend. There wasn’t much compe-tition this time, but this one would standout in any crowd. The Mark III has anoverwhelming presence, either on thebattlefield or on display.

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, Inc.

DRAGON 119