Recaps & Roundups part 46: The Dragon #5

The Dragon #5 was published in March of 1977. I originally covered it back in 2009 if you feel like reading that again; I'll cover it here again but in a bit less detail. The Dragon Rumbles editorial mentions that the magazine is expanding to eight issues a year. Out on a Limb has a number of letters, including one that bemoans the plethora of new rules and sub-classes (I'm laughing at this guy from 2020). Beyond the Wizard Fog by Gardner Fox is another Niall of the Far Travels story/Conan knockoff. And then there's Gandalf Was Only a Fifth Level Magic-User, in which Bill Seligman tries to argue that Gandalf doesn't use much magic by D&D standards. He's right.

"Witchcraft Supplement for Dungeons & Dragons" by an unknown author: Witches are introduced here as an ancient order that's divided by alignment: 35% are Lawful, while the rest are Chaotic. The author seems to be working from the original alignment system, so it's possible that by AD&D standards the divide could be Good/Evil. Chaotic Witches are further split into Low Order, High Order and the forbidden Secret Order who never mix with other types of witches.

The history of the witch orders is given as follows:

"In forgotten ages past, in kingdoms unheralded and dead centuries of untold history, a fiery confrontation emerged between witch covens world-wide. The myriad witches of the woodlands and the fields formed an alliance which dominated all other covens. This group forcibly directed the studies of other witches, and great emphasis was placed on the magic of plants and animals, that they might grow stronger still in their respective domains. But there were those who sought darker and more Godly enchantments, pursuing powers of devastation and the very elements. They promised to teach what they learned, to enslave the world of men, and to shape raw power to the ends of witches everywhere. This the alliance would not permit, for power inspires fear, fear of those that have it. Those who allied with the new Secret Coven were cast out, and in time only the mountains offered refuge to the members of this radical coven."

Witch magic is its own thing, and it's said that Djinn, Efreet and clerics are all immune to it. Each type of witch gets its own spell list drawing from existing D&D spells, as well as a number of new ones introduced here. Particularly ancient Lawful witches (known as priestesses) can cast from the following list of mega-powerful abilities:

• Youth: remove 40 years from a creature's age
• Influence: Turn a creature Lawful
• Banish Any One Creature: Instantly send one creature to Hell with no save
• Enchantment: Create any magic ring, potion or weapon in one day, with no expense
• Seek: Visualise the surroundings of any creature, object or place.

Chaotic witches have their own spell list, with High Order witches being more powerful than Low Order (as you'd expect). The following spells are new:

• Pit: Opens a 15' deep hole.
• Fire Box: Creates a cube of flame around a target
• Diminish Plant/Animal/Men: Shrinks all the creatures within the target area
• Plant Entrapment: Causes plants to entangle creatures in the area

There are Major Spells that are only available to High Order Witches.

• Paralyzing Pit: Like Pit above, but all within the pit must save or be paralyzed.
• Undead Control: Gives the caster control over 1-6 undead creatures.
• Aging: Ages the target by 20 years.
• Circle of Blindness: Creates a circle that prevents all within from seeing and hearing, as well as using magical detection spells.
• Curse: A vague spell that can inflict pretty much any negative effect short of death.
• Poison Touch: Coats an object in poison, or can be used as a save or die touch attack.
• Curtain Wall: Creates an extradimensional room that the witch can use as a secret lair.

Secret Order Witches also have their own spell selection. Group A consists of spells from other lists, but Group B are all new, highly powerful special abilities:

• Intensify: Greatly increases the power of any natural weather phenomenon.
• Wither: Causes every living thing in the area to rapidly age and die.
• Weight Concentration/Dilution: Controls the weight of any creature or object.
• Quake: Causes earthquakes
• Vaporise: Transmutes stone into fog
• Solidify: Turns fog into stone, which can be used to entomb creatures in the area.
• Volcanic Circle: Creates an expanding ring of lava that deals 10d6 damage
• Reflections: Bounces spells cast at the witch back on the caster

The Secret Order Witches also have their own set of new magic items. A cleric who tries to wield on of these will die instantly; otherwise, only a witch priestess, High Order Chaotic Witch, or a magic-user of level 13+ can safely wield them.

• Skull of Death: A dragon skull helmet that can command undead and cast finger of death.
• Mountain Seeds: Become the size of a castle when thrown
• Leech Dust: Forms a cloud that sucks the blood from those within.
• Assassin's Eyes: Invisible eyes that can fly, cast charm person and shoot death rays.
• Witch Wands: Can be used to cast a number of witch spells per day.
• Serpent Belt: Said to be a more powerful form of snake belt, which is detailed below.
• Seed Satchel: Contains seeds that can transform into things like a wall of thorns or a wyvern.
• Hornet Cape: The wearer can fly, command other flying creatures, and fire stingers.
• Potion Cauldron: Allows the user to create any potion in just one day.

There are also magic items that can be used by all kinds of witches, and could appear in any regular treasure hoard.

• Snake Belt: Transforms into a snake strong enough to strangle a wyvern (how very specific).
• Ivy Bracelets: Control and communicate with plants. They are very fragile.
• Dart Rings: Fire poisonous thorns.
• Locket of Satan: Only used by evil witches, grants command of any three Chaotic creatures within range.
• Love Locket: Only used by good witches, makes any male humanoid within range smitten and under their sway
• Thorn Twine: A 40 foot thorny vine that can be used to entangle or keep foes at bay.
• Guardian Egg: Can be transformed into a Hill Giant, a Roc or a Dragon Turtle.
• Hill Seeds: Expand in size when thrown, acting like cannonballs.
• Luck Charms: Grant bonuses in combat, as well as wishes and greater luck when finding treasure.
• Mirror-Crystal: Protects against charm person, sleep, paralyzation, curses, and other mind-affecting magic.
• Amulets of Power: The caster can memorise more spells, and increase the power of their spells by 50%.

I'll include these witches as secretive orders in my campaign, keeping in mind that the Secret Order is said in the article to have only resurfaced recently. It should also be noted that Satan is referred to in this article, who I'll happily use as an Arch-Devil on par with Asmodeus and the like.

"Some Ideas Missed in Metamorphosis Alpha" by James M. Ward: Ward includes here a number of rules that missed the cut for his recently-released game. These include: chemical radiation neutralizers (gel that can nullify radioactive material); chemical flammable retardants (or fire extinguishers); radioactive material in containment; sensory intensifiers (a pendant that increases the senses of the wearer). It's also noted that the poison charts in the game are really deadly, but there are a bunch of ways to counteract that poison: shamans, antidotes, mutations, etc.

"Tribal Society and Hierarchy On Board the Starship Warden" by James M. Ward: A quick article that gives some details about how the tribes live and interact in Metamorphosis Alpha. Each tribe has a leader and a shaman, who pretty much exists as a healer and quest-giver (a tool for the DM to prod PCs in the right direction, in other words). It's mentioned that the two dominant life-forms aboard the Warden are Androids and Wolfoids. The Androids have infiltrated human society as shamans, and use the humans to fight the mutated intelligences on the ship. Not much is said about the Wolfoids, except that they know less about technology but more about mutation. It's also mentioned that a group of players recently killed four important android scouts, robbed them of duralloy shields and color bands, and discovered that their shaman is not human. I'll make sure to include this group as NPCs should I ever have players find themselves aboard the Warden.

"Featured Creature: The Anhkheg" by Gary Gygax (I assume): The Anhkheg makes its first appearance here, with a great illustration from Erol Otus.

"How Green Was My Mutant: The Appearance of Humanoids in Metamorphosis Alpha" by Gary Gygax: Gary provide some random charts to determine the appearance of mutants on board the Starship Warden. Doing some random rolling just now, I came up with a guy who has pocked skin that is striped grey, a very thick neck, a thin body, no nose, wide hands and feet, and webbed fingers and toes. The table results are a little bland by Gary's standards, to be honest.

"Wizard Research Rules" by Charles Preston Goforth, Jr.: These rules are additions to those found in D&D Vol. 1: Men & Magic and The Dragon #2, and are consistent with what has gone before. A bunch of new possibilities that can be researched, which I'll outline below:

• Spells that can permanently increase one ability score (but only once per stat per character). The spell increase begins at 1 point, increasing to an absurd 1d12 points when cast at higher levels.
• Weapons of +1 enchantment can be made with a simple expenditure of gold and time, but anything stronger that that requires a roll on a chart to determine the resultant magic bonuses (or curses).
• A caster can "embed" a spell in an object (though it's not exactly clear what this is for).
• Rules are given for creating "true rings", which can enslave lesser rings and function much like Tolkien's One Ring.
• There are also rules for "Wizard blades", which are special magic swords that can be wielded by a magic-user.
• The ability is given for wizards and patriarchs to spontaneously create magic items under duress, by speaking a Power Word of Distress. Such creation permanently drains the caster of 1d8 hit points, which is a fair bit by OD&D standards.
• Magic items can be sacrificed as a way of seeking aid from the gods, although the gods aren't guaranteed to answer.

I'll introduce all of these options into the campaign, but probably as forbidden knowledge; only those PCs who find such knowledge will be able to use these abilities.

"The Gnome Cache" by Garrison Ernst aka Gary Gygax: In this chapter Dunstan and Mellerd join a merchant caravan heading north. Some relevant details:

• The Upplands north of Crosshill Road are wild and desolate. Rabbits live there.
• It takes a week by foot to travel from Huddlefoot to Deepwell.
• Dolph is the liveryman in Deepwell. He can't read very well.
• Evan the Trader is a dealer is rich furs from Nehron-land.
• The town of Rheyton lies north of Deepwell, and further north are the forests of Nehron.
• Not too far from Deepwell live the wild Kimbry, who are known to brand their horses.
• Some coin types are named: plumbs, and gold scruples (or scrups).

Whether these details match up with later Greyhawk lore I have no idea. They might fit better with the world as it was before being published as a TSR product.