The Dungeoneer #2, cover dated September 1976, was the second issue of Jennell Jaquays' fanzine. As with issue #1, I don't have the original, so I'm working with a Judges Guild reprint of the first six issues and an on-line table of contents.
"The Arcane Elders" by Jennell Jaquays: Continuing from last issue, the apprentice Rohcyl meets up with some adventurers after his master was ambushed and killed by barbarians: Lute the bard and Ralph the Hobbit. The three of them are captured by a group of druids and barbarians, and Rohcyl is tied to a druid's altar and blown away with a lightning bolt in the cliffhanger.
Jaquays has taken over from J. Mark Hendricks, and it's definitely more enjoyable. It's still not great, but the prose is less purple, and there's some amusing banter. Whether this can be fit into my campaign anywhere is still an open question.
"Those Lovely Ladies" by Jennell Jaquays: This article presents three NPC sub-classes for use by female characters. I'm not particularly interested in expanding PC classes beyond those presented in core D&D, and I'm even less interested in character options being dependent on gender. I'm happy for these types to exist in the world as NPCs, though, probably somewhere in the Wilderlands setting if they fit there.
The article begins with some ability score adjustments for female characters. They're restricted to 18 Strength (meaning no exceptional Strength roll for fighters) and they get a +2 bonus to Charisma as far as men are concerned. It's not as bad as some other articles on this subject (I'm thinking of the Len Lakofka article from The Dragon which I'll get to before too long), but it's still not the sort of thing I want to engage with in the rules.
Daughters of Delphi: This class is open too female clerics with a Wisdom and Con of 14+, and an Int of 9+. Initially they're no different than regular clerics, but at 3rd level they gain some prophetic ability, similar to a commune spell (yes/no questions answered by a divine entity). They also gain a form of clairaudience/clairvoyance that can be used to get a glimpse of the recent past, present, or limited future. Their healing spells are also a little more effective then those of regular clerics.
Level Titles: Novice, Vestal Virgin, Oracle, Prophetess, Mother Superior, Priestess, Holy Woman, High Priestess, Matriarch
Evil Female Clerics: Evil female clerics are given some alternate level titles as well: Initiate, Cult Virgin, Black Oracle, Black Prophetess, Overseer, Evil Priestess, Unholy Woman, Evil High Priestess, and Queen of Darkness. It's not specified, but given the names I'd use these for evil Daughters of Delphi.
Daughters of the Dragon: Monks in OD&D are a subclass of cleric, and thus female monks that meet the prerequisites can also have prophetic abilities (albeit with higher XP requirements).
Valkyries: These are the same as fighters, but at 6th level a lawful good maiden can seek out a unicorn as a mount. Likewise, at 10th level any fighting-woman can seek out a pegasus (it's not clear if the same alignment and maidenhood requirements must be met in this case). Dwarves and elves can take this subclass, with level limits.
Level Titles: Shield Maiden, Maenad, Hell-cat, She-devil, Heroine, Amazon, Super-heroine, Valkyrie
Circeans: This is a sub-class of magic-user, requiring an Int of 15, and a Cha of 16. In addition to their regular spells, a Circean can charm someone merely by speaking, with a 10% chance modified by the target's level. They can also brew chemical potions, with a wide variety of effects (or a powder at higher levels). For the sake of completeness, I'll list them below:
- Poison I, II, III, IV and V
- Sleep I and II
- Depressant I and II
- Paralytic I and II
- Stimulant I and II
- Aphrodisiac
- Paranoia
- Hallucinogen I and II
- Drunkenness
- Cowardice
- Bravery
- Beaker of Berserkers (great name)
- Potion of Subjection
- Insanity
- Potion of Pain-Ease
Level Titles: Charmer, Cybil, Conjuress, Lamia, Siren, Enchantress, Witch, Sorceress, Wizardress
"Alcohol in D&D" by Jennell Jaquays: This is a system for determining when a character becomes drunk, something that has always been egregiously absent from the official D&D rules considering how many adventures start in a tavern. It's based on the character's constitution (although tolerance raises as you gain levels). Each drink is worth a number of points, and as these points add up the character will move through four stages of drunkenness. Numbers are given for wine, beer, brandy and liquor. An average person can down about five beers before having a chance of falling unconscious, and six before alcohol poisoning sets in. These numbers are absurdly low, coming from my Australian perspective; we are a nation of dedicated piss-heads. I'll have to work up some alcohol rules, and I'll keep this article in mind when the time comes, but the numbers will be quite a bit higher.
Monster Matrix: Presenting four new monsters.
- "Fuzzies and Steelies" by Jennell Jaquays: These creatures are similar to beholders, but instead of eye-stalks they have three tentacles that can wield weapons, constrict, or deliver electric shocks that can also paralyze. They're statistically the same except for Armor Class: Fuzzies are furry with AC 7, and Steelies are metal-plated with AC 0. They're telepathic, and can also have psionic abilities. Not a terrible monster, and one I'll be happy to plonk into the Wilderlands somewhere.
- "Draconette" by Bruce Jaquays: A small dragon, created by a magic-user in much the same way as a homunculus, only using dragon blood instead of human. They don't do a lot of damage, but they do have a weak breath weapon depending on the type of dragon blood they were created from (all the chromatic and metallic dragons are represented). Some can talk, but they're not that smart. Some can be found in the wild, descended from escaped or freed draconettes. This is a nice enough forebear to the pseudodragon, and would fit just about any D&D setting well.
- "The Tin Foil Monster" by Mark Norton: This monster is made of tin foil, and loves to eat treasure. Some are made of copper or silver foil, making their corpses valuable. This is possibly the first genuinely dumb monster I've encountered so far, but I have a certain fondness for it. It'll go in the campaign, but needless to say I won't be spreading it far and wide.
- "Darkness Monster" by Jim Ward: A monster that absorbs all light with 15 ft., regardless of the source. Its reptilian nature means that it gives off no heat, and so can't be seen using infravision. Is this the first instance we get of infravision being dependent on heat signatures? Gary Gygax eventually goes this way, and Jim Ward would certainly know how Gary ruled it at this time. Regardless, this monster would be fine were it not for the absurd 8-64 damage it deals with each paw. For comparison, a Storm Giant does 7-42 with a single attack. If I use this monster as is, it will probably be as a special encounter or boss monster; I certainly wouldn't spring it as a random encounter.
"The Booty Bag: More Decks of Many Things" by Lewis Pulsipher: Pulsipher notes the potential game-breaking nature of the standard deck as introduced in Supplement I: Greyhawk, then goes on to detail two decks with lower risk and reward: the Deck of Several Things and the Deck of a Few Things. I'm not too keen on the names, but the idea and execution are both good. I love the suspense of the deck, but sometimes it's a pain to deal with the consequences, so these are good alternatives.
"The Fabled Garden of Merlin" by Merle Davenport: This adventure presents a dungeon location, with no backstory or rationale provided. With messages scrawled in the Lawful, lammasu and shedu languages, it works well as a dungeon designed by a lawful wizard. One of the ultimate rewards at the end can be an audience with Merlin himself, so I'm happy enough to declare this all as a test by Merlin to see who's worthy of his wisdom. Like "F'Chelrak's Tomb" from Dungeoneer #1, this dungeon is very much designed with the vertical plane in mind. It doesn't have a ton of combat; it's more of an investigative dungeon, and a lot of that investigation can get your character in trouble. I'll place this somewhere out of the way in either Greyhawk or the Wilderlands, depending on which of those is more likely to have had Merlin active at some point in the past.
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