tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-355897842024-03-01T00:37:58.710-08:00SAVE OR DIE!A D&D BlogNathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.comBlogger402125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-26259364319910959642021-06-30T06:35:00.001-07:002021-06-30T06:35:10.776-07:00Recaps & Roundups: Monster & Treasure Assortment Set Two - Levels Four-Six<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAA11p24whuqtrmk74_70dWiy5voqFHgP5iFEw6qJ10JhB6QmL-NfF24HHyl8YMBQdb8WFRxsD5Bbelya1LxJPmZnCDH2W6_fdxbtm8TEjT44ga0OzqQcj_xSsdg0gt92vZEnraQ/s595/MTA2Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="463" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAA11p24whuqtrmk74_70dWiy5voqFHgP5iFEw6qJ10JhB6QmL-NfF24HHyl8YMBQdb8WFRxsD5Bbelya1LxJPmZnCDH2W6_fdxbtm8TEjT44ga0OzqQcj_xSsdg0gt92vZEnraQ/w311-h400/MTA2Cover.png" width="311" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Around this time in late 1977 the second <i>Monster & Treasure Assortment</i> was released. (Note that this date is very approximate; I've used a number of sources to try to pinpoint release dates, but there are a bunch of products that just don't have that info out there.) As with the first installment (which I covered <a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2020/04/recaps-roundups-part-57-monster.html" target="_blank">here</a>), it presents a number of pre-prepared encounters and treasures to help the DM stock their dungeons more quickly.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The instruction text at the beginning is exactly reproduced from <i>Set One</i>, including the example that uses introductory monsters from the first set. As with the previous product, each dungeon level covered (in this case levels 4 to 6) has a list of 100 encounters and 100 treasures. Most of them are standard fare, but there are a number of monsters that are appearing here for the first time ever. I'll list them below.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Black Widow Spiders: These spiders have hit points in the teens, so I guess they'd be around the 3-4 Hit Die mark. All of the encounters with these spiders give them a poison attack, but only some of them list a web attack.</li><li>Crab Spiders: They average around 10 hp, so they probably have 2 or 3 HD. They're listed with a poison attack.</li><li>Giant Driver Ants: Giant ants are a D&D staple, but I haven't seen driver ants given stats before. They're a species of ant native to central and east Africa, but there's nothing about them that different statistically from regular giant ants.</li><li>Giant Gecko Lizards: Giant lizards with no specific special abilities, and hit points in the high teens.</li><li>Tiger Beetles: Giant beetles with no special abilities, and hit points in the low 20s.</li><li>Living Statue, Crystal: Living statues were mentioned passing in the OD&D booklets, but this is the first time they are getting stats. The crystal statue has hit points in the mid-low teens, and no special abilities. They won't be brought forward into <i>AD&D</i>, but they will be included in the <i>Basic D&D</i> line.</li><li>Giant Draco Lizard: Giant lizards with around 20 hit points and no special abilities.</li><li>Giant Lizard, Horned Chameleon: Giant lizards with hit points between 20-30. They have a "tongue" attack listed as a special ability, which I assume means they grapple opponents with their tongue and drag them into their mouth.</li><li>Tarantella: A type of giant spider with hit points ranging from the mid-teens up to 30. They also have a "dance fever" attack listed. This monster will appear in the <i>Basic D&D</i> line, where its bite causes the victim to dance uncontrollably.</li><li>Living Statue, Rock: This statue has around 30 hit points, and may squirt magma on a hit, dealing 2-12 damage.</li><li>Giant Lizard, Tuatara: A giant lizard with around 40 hit points and no special abilities.</li><li>Caecilia: A type of giant worm that will swallow opponents whole on an attack roll of 19 or 20.</li><li>Oil Beetles: Giant beetles that can make a painful oil attack that blisters opponents, giving them a -2 attack penalty for 24 hours.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>Most of that list above will go on to appear in the <i>Basic</i> and <i>Expert </i>boxed sets written by Tom Moldvay and Dave Cook, while being excluded from <i>AD&D</i>. The <i>Monster & Treasure Assortments</i> were reportedly put together by Ernie Gygax, so it's possible he created these monsters or was inspired to include them based on earlier games. Wherever they came from, it's odd that they never made the jump to <i>AD&D</i>. The <i>AD&D Monster Manual</i> would have been written around the same time as this product, so perhaps these monsters hadn't been created by the time it was finished.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also of note is that the <i>Monster and Treasure Assortments</i> include a line for each monster showing what saving throw they use. OD&D is fairly nebulous on the matter, just telling you to use the appropriate class and level equivalent to the monster's Hit Dice. This is, I believe, the first product that gives concrete information on monster saving throws.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, I want to mention the entry for number appearing. As with saving throws, OD&D doesn't really tell you how many monsters should be encountered in a dungeon; the Number Appearing entry in that version of the game is meant to apply to wilderness encounters. The <i>Monster & Treasure Assortment</i> could be used as a guide to determine the proper number to be encountered. Take Orcs, for instance. In OD&D, they will be encountered by the hundreds, at least in the wilderness. In the <i>Assortment</i>, they are encountered as follows: 2-5 on level 1; 3-12 on level 2; 4-24 on level 3; 10-40 on level 4; not encountered after that. There's no pattern to follow, unfortunately, but it's the closest that the original game ever gets to providing guidance on the matter.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also just noticed that the blurb on the back of the product mentions some products that were never released. Apparently TSR planned a fourth set of dungeon geomorphs (ruins), another set of outdoor geomorphs (castle/fortress), and a set of geomorphs for use with miniature figures. None of these ever saw the light of day. I'd assume this is because the other geomorphs didn't sell all that well, but I honestly don't know.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll leave you with this image from <i>Set Two</i>, which shows some poor bastard being eaten by an Umber Hulk. My favourite thing about early D&D art is its dedication to showing adventurers meeting grisly fates. It's definitely something that the more modern art is lacking.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgF9ieF6SnUM-RYyqc12SizH6DrONvSCLXDZI5rlvqevIEfxURhc7OS2cpoobRjFrB9Z1OWwkity-cbSs0mqjZVqcaIRxnPrJEeo0ISu3JV35jh8YdF0FC-dhPUM4ALe8W92_dw/s761/MTAUmberHulk.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="761" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgF9ieF6SnUM-RYyqc12SizH6DrONvSCLXDZI5rlvqevIEfxURhc7OS2cpoobRjFrB9Z1OWwkity-cbSs0mqjZVqcaIRxnPrJEeo0ISu3JV35jh8YdF0FC-dhPUM4ALe8W92_dw/w400-h205/MTAUmberHulk.png" width="400" /></a></div></div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-77559362262855106722021-06-23T01:54:00.001-07:002021-06-23T01:54:08.874-07:00Recaps & Roundups: White Dwarf #3<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0uwb5I_tHxWseq_v-qFtIXVTyHMf2QtE5tMO9dpPQAKTXf0Fz5Hms9qsB3SNbustM4vhZ-Z6kPV6cjPkzCR4qESZWv-nBHaZtruQ7jyLWUsrA8xeeozVJIpnWkLUTK4LAvnpDQ/s601/WD003Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="417" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0uwb5I_tHxWseq_v-qFtIXVTyHMf2QtE5tMO9dpPQAKTXf0Fz5Hms9qsB3SNbustM4vhZ-Z6kPV6cjPkzCR4qESZWv-nBHaZtruQ7jyLWUsrA8xeeozVJIpnWkLUTK4LAvnpDQ/w278-h400/WD003Cover.png" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cover by Alan Hunter</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><i>White Dwarf #3</i> is cover-dated October/November 1977. Whether that's an accurate guide to when it was released is a mystery to me, but without anything else to go on I'm covering it with other products from October.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Solo Dungeon Mapping" by Roger Moores:</b> This article gives a method for creating a map for solo D&D, which involves having a bunch of premade smaller maps and rolling dice randomly to determine where you end up when you transition from one map to another. It looks workable, although I don't think it's all that well explained. Perhaps it would be more efficient in play than rolling on random tables, but there's a lot of prep work involved before you can start.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Competitive D&D" by Fred Hemmings:</b> Last issue, Hemmings gave the tournament setup: the surviving descendants of the Underhill family have been summoned to compete for the treasure in the dungeons beneath the mansion of their deceased uncle. This time around Hemmings details the first dungeon level of what is called Pandora's Maze. It's an almost entirely linear affair, with puzzles that very much rely on the player's knowledge of mythology and pop culture.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take, for example, the following verse:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Treading on across the floor,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Remember well the leading knave,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Of a band, two score, no more,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Strike the rock with a stave!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The answer to this is to strike the floor with a staff while shouting "Open Sesame". The lines about the "leading knave" and "a band, two score" refer to Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, which is the clue to the correct password, but what happens if your players don't know that story, or don't get the reference? Getting this right is necessary to open a door in the first room of the dungeon, so the entire adventure hinges on it. I could very easily see a party getting stuck at this first hurdle.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another room has riddles that make reference to Sesame Street, Jesus, and the Wizard of Oz; there's no regard for verisimilitude here. It's very much a dungeon to challenge the player rather than the character, but it does assume a cultural knowledge that may only be appropriate to a certain time and place. There are references to things I have absolutely no idea about, such as a riddle requiring knowledge of the Condor cigar brand, or the poem "Come Into the Garden Maude" by Lord Tennyson. (I had to Google these.) Leaving aside the question of what these references are doing in a D&D world, you just can't expect players to know this stuff. (Although maybe I'm wrong, and every kid in 1970s Britain would have all of this as common knowledge. Regardless, it would be almost impossible to run as-written today.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The reward at the heart of the dungeon level is a machine that can produce any magic item, at the price of having to fight a monster of commensurate power, and being transported to a lower dungeon level. Talk about your potential game-breakers! It would only take a few turns of that dial before a party would become strong enough to defeat just about any monster in the books, unless the DM decided to resort to gods and the like. And being taken to a lower dungeon level would be meaningless when you could just turn the dial to some item with teleportation powers and use it to escape.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"News":</b> There are rumblings about the <i>D&D Basic Set </i>(which I've already covered in this series), as well as the upcoming <i>Monster Manual</i>. Of the other news, the publication of <i>Traveller</i> is probably the most significant to gaming. In terms of the wider world, we get our first mention of Star Wars, and that's about as significant as it gets.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"The Monstermark System" by Don Turnbull:</b> Turnbull's meticulous dissection of the relative deadliness of monsters continues. The first two articles were used to rank the monsters, and this article puts that ranking to a practical use.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first thing Turnbull does is provide a new table for determining the level of monster encountered by dungeon level. In OD&D monsters were split into six levels of difficulty, whereas this system splits them into twelve. I can't really comment on the effectiveness of what Turnbull's done, but it would be interesting to see which results in better play: Turnbull's rigorous yet flawed mathematical system, or Gygax's instincts based on years of play. It's probably all subjective in the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>Following that Turnbull goes on to talk about experience rewards, and providing a way to use the Monstermark System to calculate them. He's very much a proponent of the idea that XP should be relative; a 4th level PC fighting a level 1 monster should earn less XP than a 2nd level PC doing the same, at least according to him. I'm ambivalent to the idea. Sometimes I think it sounds great, but then I wonder what the point of it is when the amount of XP needed to level goes up significantly each time. I guess it incentivizes the players to seek out genuine danger rather than playing it safe; I might be talking myself into liking the idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>The third use Turnbull comes up with for his system is to determine the numbers in a group of wandering monsters. He uses a ratio of the average hit points of the party over the Monstermark Rating. Doing so, he calculates that a group of 7 Bugbears would slaughter a party of 10 PCs between 1st and 5th level. This sounds patently wrong to me, and Turnbull acknowledges that his system doesn't factor in spells, magic items, and other special abilities of the PCs. As I said above it's a flawed system, but I'm not sure I disagree with his findings that 3 Bugbears would be a reasonable random encounter. I generally think wandering monsters should be a nuisance rather than a party killer, something that drains resources rather than threatening their existence (unless they're already weakened). I also disagree with scaling encounter difficulty based on party strength; I can just about see doing it based on party size, with the idea that a larger party would make more noise and attract more monsters, but level and hit points are a much more intangible thing in the game world. I get the desire to tailor the game to your players, but I prefer the game world to be more static than that; the players should be learning and reacting to the world, not the other way around.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Open Box":</b> Don Turnbull gives some fair but ultimately positive reviews to various Judges Guild products (the <i>Ready Ref Sheets, Judges Shield, TAC Cards, Tegel Manor, City State of the Invincible Overlord, Thunderhold, Character Chronicle Cards</i> and <i>First Fantasy Campaign</i>). Mike Westhead reviews <i>Citadel</i>, a two-player game where one player controls heroes searching a dungeon for a talisman, and the other lays monsters and traps in their path. Fred Hemmings reviews <i>Fourth Dimension</i>, which sounds kind of like a chess game where the players control warriors, rangers, guardians and Time Lords. Martin Easterbrook reviews <i>Battle of the Five Armies </i>from TSR, the unlicensed wargame depicting the climactic battle from <i>The Hobbit</i> that drew the ire of the Tolkien Estate. This is a game I've never seen, and am not likely to, but it seems to have most of the good and bad points of TSR products of the day: good production values, but poor rules clarity.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"D&D Campaigns: Part 1 - Philosophy (cont.)" by Lewis Pulsipher:</b> This article kicks off with a quote that exactly sums up my approach to running a game: "the referee should not make up anything important after an adventure has begun". Basically, the ref should have as much worked out beforehand as possible, and changes to the rules and the dungeon shouldn't be made during play. Of course, adding unestablished details as required will always be necessary, but if my notes say something before I start playing, that's how I roll it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pulsipher goes on to give all sorts of good advice, touching on such topics as the logical determination of monster actions, morale, and maintaining a good relationship between the players and the DM. He lays out the desirable attributes of a campaign as follows: "simplicity, rapidity of play whenever this doesn't reduce skill, participation by all the players, a sense of control by the players of their own fate, and believability". It's a pretty hard list to argue with. When Pulsipher refers to "skill", he's talking about whether the decisions of the players can affect their survival. He has a long section on how much time to allow players to make decisions, and whether they should be able to change their mind after stating an action. Pulsipher errs on the side of giving the players plenty of time, and letting them change their minds, and I agree with him. His argument is that the players shouldn't be expected to display the rapid-fire decision-making of their characters, and that imposing strict time limits just leads to more player death. Again, I find that it's all good advice (though I am inclined to hurry players along when their hesitation is holding up the game to a frustrating degree).</div><div><br /></div><div>He has a section on the use of detection spells, which he says are vital to good play and vital to increasing the survivability of players. I've honestly never had players that made extensive use of them, but then again I've never played the kind of exploration-centric dungeon-crawl that was prevalent at the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>The article finishes with a section on alignment, and identifies Moorcock as the source of the OD&D alignment system. His own system has a number of actions that are restricted by alignment, including which other alignments characters are allowed to attack. He finishes with a bit about the five-point system introduced by Gary Gygax in recent issues of <i>The Dragon</i>, and rather presciently declares that the introduction of such a system would require a complete overhaul of the game.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Colouring Conan's Thews" by Eddie Jones:</b> This is an introductory article about painting miniatures that gets into specifics about what paints and brushes to use. I've never had the patience to get good at painting figures, so this isn't of much interest. Besides, most of the brands mentioned are probably defunct by now, and the prices are certainly no longer accurate.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"The Assassin" by John Rothwell:</b> This article gives rules for using the Assassin class introduced in <i>Supplement II: Blackmoor</i> as a player character. To be honest, a lot of this is just reproduced from <i>Blackmoor</i>, where the class was already intended for use as a PC, so I'm not sure what the purpose is here beyond adding some guidelines about using armour as part of a disguise, and the needless restriction that assassins can't be female.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"The Loremaster of Avallon: Part III" by Andy Holt:</b> Holt continues with his own house rules, this time getting into combat. I say house rules, but really it's an entirely new system that uses cards, with the attacker laying out cards to attack and the defender using their own cards to parry. There are more details to come next issue, so it's impossible to evaluate at present (and pretty difficult to do so anyway, without actually seeing it in practice). Regardless, I'm always leery of RPG combat systems that don't use dice.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"New Magic Rooms" by Ian Waugh:</b> Waugh details two special rooms. The first, a "cloning room", splits any neutral character in two, with one lawful clone and one chaotic clone. Both will fight to the death. (I'm assuming he nicked this from the <i>Star Trek</i> episode "The Enemy Within".) The second, a "clumsy room", reduces the Dexterity of any character inside by 75%. It also contains a purse containing gold that makes the bearer similarly clumsy for as long as they carry it.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Letters":</b> Jennell Jaquays writes to praise the Monstermark System, and express her annoyance that her adventure "Merlin's Garden" was referenced in the "Competitive D&D" article without appropriate credit. Lewis Pulsipher suggests some rules changes to the <i>Lankhmar</i> wargame. Nigel Galletty provides Monstermark ratings for the Balrog, which he says Don Turnbull missed (not entirely accurate, as he covered the Type VI Demon). And Patrick Martin complains that there aren't any miniatures portraying characters with backpacks, poles, lanterns, and other adventuring gear.</div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-75268531049882393142021-06-21T23:01:00.006-07:002021-06-22T21:02:50.677-07:00Plugging My Newest Blog<p><span style="text-align: justify;">I should have a post on <i>White Dwarf #3</i></span><span style="text-align: justify;"> ready to go tomorrow, but in the meantime I have another blog I've been working on with some regularity: </span><b style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://chronology-x.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Chronology X</a>. </b><span style="text-align: justify;">If you're into X-Men comics you might want to check it out, but be warned that this is extremely focused on deep-dive continuity issues and minutiae related to the passage of time. I'm trying to construct a working X-Men timeline based on clues from within the comics, so we're talking extremely pedantic nerd bullshit here. If that sounds like something you might enjoy, please head on over there and take a look.</span></p>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-79211191845801347692021-05-29T06:35:00.000-07:002021-05-29T06:35:31.997-07:00Recaps & Roundups: The Dragon #10<div style="text-align: left;">I've been fairly inactive on the D&D front, aside from the mammoth task of wikifying D&D 3.5e. I don't have anything specifically to post about, so I guess I'll return to my chronological journey through D&D history. I've currently reached the products that were released circa October of 1977, and I'll kick things off with a brief look at <i>The Dragon </i>#10.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExRVMDX3V-XKCHfXe1XSt-8HIZGFDpppK9l7zBkHWauqXgwyLkccSqC2-SPLkpq5JyV8m8ruMzrnU2m19bfBS-Zo4mx9wtwaeHP603yO_HbkRXMpMpO938Xz7S3D1ktULYx-JAg/s719/Dragon10Cover.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="531" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExRVMDX3V-XKCHfXe1XSt-8HIZGFDpppK9l7zBkHWauqXgwyLkccSqC2-SPLkpq5JyV8m8ruMzrnU2m19bfBS-Zo4mx9wtwaeHP603yO_HbkRXMpMpO938Xz7S3D1ktULYx-JAg/w295-h400/Dragon10Cover.png" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cover by John Sullivan</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I originally covered this issue over two posts, <a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2010/09/dragon-10-part-1.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2010/09/dragon-10-part-2.html">here</a>. Since I've already gone over it, I'll be skimming over things more quickly with this post.<br /><br />The "Dragon Rumbles" editorial mentions that GenCon X just happened. The magazine's page count has risen by 4 pages, and there's a concerted effort to organise things better so that unofficial rules are clearly labelled as variants.<div><br /></div><div>Other non-D&D articles include </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"The Tactics of <i>Diplomacy</i> in <i>Stellar Conquest</i>" by Edward C. Cooper, which gives guidelines for mixing both of those games together. I've never played either, so it's completely outside my frame of reference.</li><li>"Snit Smashing" by Tom Wham, a truly bizarre board game. Wham's stuff is loaded with personality, and I'd love to try playing this one day.</li><li>"Wormy" and "Finieous Fingers" are doing their things in the comics.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>And now the D&D articles:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Orgies, Inc" by Jon Pickens:</b> The article doesn't live up to it's attention-grabbing title, but it does give some interesting variant rules aimed at getting excess treasure out of your campaign. The central idea - one that the OSR picked up on many years later - is to limit XP for gold only to gold spent. Characters can sacrifice treasure to gods or demons, give it away to charity, use it for research, indulge in wine and women, etc., and it then converts to XP. We're in the time before training costs became an official rule, so I've no doubt that lots of campaigns at the time were having a problem with excess loot. I think this is the best way of dealing with it that I've seen up to this point.</div><div><br /></div><div>My major problem with it is that the amount of XP earned is divided by the character's level, which would definitely slow advancement. Original D&D did have a ratio based on how dangerous it was to obtain the gold, but this one covers all treasure regardless of how difficult it was to get. I feel like the amount of XP needed to attain higher levels is already enough of a barrier, and dividing it like this seems unnecessary.</div><div><br /></div><div>For my own rules, I've been toying with tying this kind of thing into player upkeep, with players deciding how they've been living between adventures and that lifestyle manifesting as a bonus or negative to hit points. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to implement it, because our games keep ending with the players in the middle of an expedition, or with a time limit hanging over their heads to get certain things done. One day, though.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>"Designing for Unique Wilderness Encounters" by Daniel Clifton:</b> This is a series of charts for determining the general terrain of a wilderness battlefield, which is not a bad idea for varying things up when running fights outdoors. It has charts for five types of terrain (clear, rough, mountainous, wooded, and marshy), with sub-tables for things like the grade of hills and the direction rivers flow in. It's not an overwhelming amount of charts to use, and I like it better than my current "make it up off the top of my head" system. It's an idea I'd like to work on, although if I used the charts here I'd modify the whole system.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>"Random Monsters" by Paul Montgomery Crabaugh:</b> A series of charts for randomly coming up with new monsters, because even by 1977 players have already memorised everything. I don't have a lot of use for this kind of thing: D&D already has hundreds and hundreds of monsters, and I've barely used a fraction of them. There are some good ideas to mine for inspiration in here though, especially the undead with the power to turn clerics.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>"Let There Be a Method to Your Madness" by Richard Gilbert:</b> This article gives advice on dungeon design, suggesting that rather than a series of random monsters and traps, a dungeon should have some sort of purpose behind it. It's the sort of basic stuff that DMs learn very early on these days, but it is good advice.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The author gives an example dungeon, a castle on a small hill that was taken over by a wizard called Nappo around 400 years ago. Nappo has been dead for 275 years, but the dungeons he created with his orcs are still there. Levels include living areas for several hundred orcs (with temples, an armory, maybe some sewers), cells and torture chambers, maybe an arena, guardrooms and traps to snare intruders, and below that Nappo's quarters, with laboratories, monster pens, and a treasury. About 15 levels are suggested. If I was to ever get around to the fabled Ultimate Sandbox this dungeon would go in somewhere.</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>"Weights & Measures: Physical Appearance and Why Males are Stronger than Females in D&D" by P.M. Crabaugh:</b> What we have here are charts for determining a character's rough height and weight, a new system of encumbrance based on those scores, and some statistical differentiation between men and women. Size (being equivalent to height) is rolled on 3d6, with a chart showing what that means for each race and sex. Then Weight is rolled on1d6, with characters being light, medium, or heavy. This determines carrying capacity, with heavier characters being able to carry more than lighter ones.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As for statistical differences between men and women (something not in official D&D at this point), the author does an unusual thing by making women statistically superior to men. They are given bonuses to both dexterity and constitution, both scores of statistical relevance to every character class. Their only downside is a reduced carrying capacity, due to their smaller size. It's not enough to balance out the bonuses, I feel: of all the DMs I've played with, I'm the only one who has ever tried to properly track encumbrance, and I only started doing that last year. Encumbrance-based penalties are more often than not a complete non-factor.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I also have a problem with the chart numbers, because the range isn't variable enough. The tallest human possible is 6'4"; I went to high school with a guy who was 6'7" when he was 15. I feel like there should be more scope for outliers at both ends. The weights seem low as well. 215 pounds for a heavy guy at 6'4"? Maybe that's accurate for normal people, but pretty much all my knowledge of how much people weigh comes from pro wrestling. Those guys can be in the 250-300 lb. range, with some even heavier. I know that body-building wasn't necessarily a thing in ye olden times, but who's to say someone wouldn't have gyms in their D&D campaign? I've had the same problem with almost every random height/weight chart I've seen in D&D though. Either they're too limited, or my expectations are out of whack. I dunno, I like to have the possibility of rolling up a freak now and then.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>"Gaining a New Experience Level" by Tom Holsinger:</b> Now here's an idea I really like, and had completely forgotten about since I last read it. The idea is this: instead of levelling up automatically, or through training, or by spending your gold on orgies, levels are bestowed by the gods. It makes a lot of sense of D&D's power scale, to be honest, and the author has thought up all sorts of little ideas that tie in. Why do high-level PCs have to build castles? Because the antics involved in getting the attention of the gods cause a lot of trouble for all those around. Why do demi-humans have level limits? Because the state of mind necessary to commune with the gods involves alcohol and drugs, and demi-humans just can't get wasted like humans can. There's a lot of fun, inventive stuff here. The downside is that the wrong gods might take notice, with consequences as decided by the DM. That's a little disappointing: I prefer DM fiat to be as rare an occurrence as possible.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've been thinking about levelling up, and employing a system whereby training isn't required but does confer some bonuses if you're willing to pay for it. I might add petitioning the gods as another option that is high risk/high reward.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Next:</b> I'm not sure, but October of 1977 has the following options. From TSR there's <i>Monster and Treasure Assortment Set Two</i> and the <i>Outdoor Geomorphs</i>. Judges Guild's offering for this month is <i>Installment O</i>, which featured the second part of <i>Wilderlands of High Fantasy</i>. And finally, there's <i>White Dwarf #3</i>. We'll see what takes my fancy when I get around to writing something up.</div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-1258787309966378482021-05-13T09:16:00.002-07:002021-05-13T09:16:49.524-07:00Literally Rewriting the Rules<div style="text-align: left;">It's been over a month since my last post, but I haven't been working on my campaign much. Instead my D&D efforts have been focused on creating a comprehensive wiki of the 3rd edition rules. It's not the most interesting thing to blog about, but it's all I've got right now, so I'll gamely pound out a few paragraphs about it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I decided to take on this mammoth task after a few months of working on my 3rd edition campaign, and getting frustrated with the rulebooks. I know that there's the d20 SRD, but that has its own deficiencies: it doesn't include a lot of the classic IP, and it's still written out as blocks of text.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Those blocks of text are one of the main reasons I took this project on. Trying to find a relevant rule in the books is much harder when it's buried in a column of words, many of which are superfluous to the game. I'm converting them to point form as I fill in the wiki entries, which I find much more concise and easier to navigate.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The other frustration, and honestly the bigger one, is the way that 3rd edition constantly refers back to other sections of the book. Take, for instance, the spell <i>acid fog, </i>a not particularly complex spell by 3e standards. To get its full effects, you need to refer back to <i>solid fog.</i> Then when you go back to <i>solid fog</i>, it refers back to <i>fog cloud</i>. A complete description of <i>acid fog</i> requires looking up three different spells and parsing them all, which isn't going to happen during play without stopping the game for a bit. So while I write the wiki, I'm making sure that all the info I need is right there on a single page. Here's what <i>acid fog </i>looks like:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dAgR0eIRqPUW4LQCZAlBqhwd1Y8FrI9YwGFY_dm20FAPKjqwuhti2gZzVLdcZl-iKlIMY3Neo5P5h_IN7rF1R-qARv1_3RhQ-o6vkdR3YN_3WceTDOXZLSQ5ZWbOhX8ob2PVKQ/s753/AcidFog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="753" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dAgR0eIRqPUW4LQCZAlBqhwd1Y8FrI9YwGFY_dm20FAPKjqwuhti2gZzVLdcZl-iKlIMY3Neo5P5h_IN7rF1R-qARv1_3RhQ-o6vkdR3YN_3WceTDOXZLSQ5ZWbOhX8ob2PVKQ/w400-h256/AcidFog.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">It's not the most aesthetically pleasing effort, but unfortunately WikidPad doesn't offer much in the way of formatting. I think it's going to help me a lot in terms of getting the rules right though. 3rd edition is full of stuff like this, particularly in the spell descriptions, and I'm hoping all of this effort will help things run a bit more smoothly when unfamiliar spells pop up. (That's going to more frequent now, as one of my players is hitting the mid-levels as a wizard.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another reason I wanted to create this wiki is that I'm slowly house-ruling 3e until it plays more to my liking. Rather than having a sheet of house rules, I'd rather be able to edit the rules directly in a place that everyone can access. It a bit unfortunate that step one of that process is typing up hundreds of pages of rules, but I honestly enjoy this kind of busywork. I'm weird like that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Currently I'm a bit over 200 pages into the <i>Player's Handbook</i>, in the spells starting with C. There's a lot of work ahead, though I suspect that the <i>Dungeon Master's Guide</i> won't take as long. No doubt my progress will slow down when I start playing again, but for now I'm plugging away at it whenever I get the chance.</div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-76659626789878213752021-04-05T06:14:00.001-07:002021-04-05T06:14:31.269-07:00Romance!<div style="text-align: justify;">During a recent game session, my players' characters had a lengthy wilderness journey with some NPCs. Among the many things that might happen along the way, one of the possibilities I considered was a romantic entanglement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Romance is not something I've ever really tackled seriously as part of D&D. Yes, there was juvenile sex stuff going on in the game when my friends and I were teenagers, but that's an aspect of those days I'd rather forget. Nowadays my interest is in running D&D as a simulation, and let's be real here, sex and romance are a huge part of our everyday lives. It feels a little odd that the game puts so much effort into different possibilities and aspects of life, but gives zero guidance in that area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I mean, I get it. It can be a touchy subject, and one that a lot of players probably just don't want to deal with at the table. Leaving out the potential trouble that can come from being socially entwined with certain NPCs (and DMs who want to use those connections to screw the players), there's also the possible awkward situations that can come when you have to roleplay a sexual encounter with one of your mates, or even worse, with someone you only know on a casual basis. All of this could wreck the tone of the looting and monster-killing fun times that D&D reliably provides.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With those reservations in mind, I decided to take a crack at it anyway. My first resolution was to take myself out of it as much as possible. I might decide as a DM when an NPC falls in love with a player character, but I've been trying to avoid that kind of thing. My current style as a DM is to leave as much to random chance as possible, so I had to set about writing up some rules.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first thing I determined was that these rules don't apply to the players in any way. I'm against any rules that take choices away from the players, or dictate their behaviour in any way (magical influence excepted, of course). I don't even enforce alignment, unless someone is playing a paladin or a cleric with a strict alignment code. So these rules below are for determining how NPCs feel. Players get to decide who they're attracted to, and who they might want to pursue a relationship with.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One thing to consider with these rules is that we're not just talking about characters falling in love. We also have to figure out whether there's an attraction in the first place. And the starting place for that is to determine their - oh boy, I know I'm stepping into a minefield here - sexual preference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To figure this out, I did some statistical research. As far as I can tell, about 4% of the population identifies as gay. I suspect that number is low, but it came up in a number of surveys, so I'm going with it. So I begin with a percentage roll for each NPC that could be a potential romantic partner to determine their sexuality: 95% heterosexual, 4% homosexual, and 1% bisexual. If the preference matches the sex/gender of the PC in question, we can move on to the next step.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now we determine if the NPC is attracted to that character. There are three factors in play here: the PC's Charisma score, the race of the two characters in question, and their respective alignments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I figure I'm stepping into another minefield with the race thing, but "race" in D&D terms is a very different thing than in the real world. I'm not suggesting at all that humans of different ethnicities would be less attracted to each other, but when it comes to D&D I like to maintain some of the stereotypes. So yes, I am suggesting that elves are less likely to be attracted to half-orcs, or dwarves. Take that as you will. The chance is still there, and I would definitely try to play it out if the dice came up. And we all know how the dice work in D&D: assign a chance to something, no matter how small, and it's going to come up. Anyway, here are the racial modifiers I came up with:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<table style="border: 3px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 450px; width: 100%;">
<thead style="background: white; color: black;">
<tr>
<th>NPC Race:</th>
<th>PC Race =</th>
<th>Dwarf</th>
<th>Elf</th>
<th>Gnome</th>
<th>Half-Elf</th>
<th>Half-Orc</th>
<th>Halfling</th>
<th>Human</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody style="background: white; text-align: center;">
<tr>
<td><b>Dwarf</b></td>
<td> </td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>-5</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>-5</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>-2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Elf</b></td>
<td> </td>
<td>-5</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>-5</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Gnome</b></td>
<td> </td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>+0</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>+0</td>
<td>-5</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>-2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Half-Elf</b></td>
<td> </td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Half-Orc</b></td>
<td> </td>
<td>-5</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Halfling</b></td>
<td> </td>
<td>+0</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>+2</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>-2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><b>Human</b></td>
<td> </td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+5</td>
<td>+0</td>
<td>-2</td>
<td>+5</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">For alignment, a modifier is determines based on the relative alignments of the character in question. For the Law/Chaos axis, there's a +6 modifier if the characters have the same alignment, and a -6 modifier if their alignments are opposite. If the alignments are only one away from each other, there's no modifier. The same applies for the Good/Evil axis. So if one character is lawful good and the other is chaotic evil, that's a -12 modifier. If both characters were lawful good, that would be a +12 modifier. This is the closest I could come up with for whether character like each others' personalities. Alignment is pretty much the only concrete part of the game that defines a character's personality, so I'm using it here.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both of the above modifiers are added to the Charisma score of the PC in question. Then the whole lot is doubled, and that gives a percentage chance to see if there's an attraction.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As an example, say that Morf the Dwarf (a PC) is spending a lot of time with Barvork the Half-Orc (an NPC). As the PC is a dwarf and the NPC is a half-orc, that gives us a -5 modifier to the roll. Morf's alignment is neutral good, and Barvork is lawful evil. Lawful and neutral are only one step away, so there's no modifier there, but good and evil are opposites, so that makes for a -6 alignment modifier. Finally, Morf has a Charisma of 13. The percentage chance is 13 (Charisma) + 6 (alignment modifier) -5 (race modifier), with the total being doubled. That gives a 14% chance that Barvork will be attracted to Morf. Not a huge chance, but large enough that it could definitely come up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's just attraction, though, and doesn't factor in whether an NPC might fall in love. Having gone fairly in-depth with the modifiers above, I decided to go simple for this roll: it's simply another percentage roll, with the chance being 1/4 of the chance for being attracted. In the case of Morf and Barvork, that's a 3% chance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, I came up with a chart to figure out the intensity of love/attraction. I didn't come up with any rules beyond what's here, but I figured I'd use the chart below as a guide for role-playing. I've considered implementing saving throws for each category below, for when a PC tries to use love or attraction to coerce an NPC into something they might not otherwise want to do, but I haven't figured those numbers out yet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">01-50 - Mild attraction/love</li><li style="text-align: justify;">51-70 - Moderate attraction/love</li><li style="text-align: justify;">71-85 - Strong attraction/love</li><li style="text-align: justify;">86-95 - Intense attraction/love</li><li style="text-align: justify;">96-99 - Irresistible attraction/love</li><li style="text-align: justify;">00 - Dangerously obsessive attraction/love</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In play, I rolled on the charts above for every NPC that would be travelling with the PCs. There were six NPC, and two PCs. Of twelve romantic possibilities, I got a hit on three: the half-elf Noble Nightbreeze had a strong attraction to the half-orc PC, and the NPC leader - an elf named Erian Silverbough - had a mild attraction to both PCs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One thing I didn't want to do was force these kinds of interactions on my players, so I simply told them (after some Wisdom checks) that they were picking up on signals that there was an attraction there. Alas, neither of my players tried to take things further. The player of the elf PC said that he considers his character asexual, so he's obviously not into exploring this kind of thing with this character. The half-orc PC made some jokes about it, but didn't bother to pursue things; he's fairly goal-oriented in the game anyway, so I figured he wouldn't be all that into it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the lack of interest from my players, I left it there, and that's how I intend to use these rules. I'll roll this stuff in secret and let the players know the possibility is there for romance, but if they don't bite I'm not going to push it onto them. I didn't get much interest with this group, and if I'm being honest I'm not sure that this is an avenue I want to go down too deeply, but I'm happy enough to have rules for this kind of thing in my game. Like I said, I'm into simulation, and romance is part of life. I'll keep using theses rules, and I might report back here if they ever come up in my game in any significant fashion.</div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-12199663089596094732021-03-23T07:28:00.000-07:002021-03-23T07:28:15.274-07:00On the Benefits of Randomisation<div style="text-align: left;">In recent games I've been trying to run things a little more sandbox-style, going off-the cuff moreso than relying on pre-planned adventures. It's resulted in some more dynamic and surprising games, and also in some that have kind of petered out without much of a sense of a climax, but I'm liking the results so far. Events in the game are flowing more organically and naturally, based much more on what the PCs want and how the various NPCs are reacting to their actions.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That said, I am a planner by nature (not so much in real life, but definitely where D&D is concerned). I like to plan ahead, especially if I know where the game is likely to go in the next session. One of my recent games involved a week-long wilderness journey where the PCs had to take the inert body of my setting's god of light to a rendezvous point, and hand it over for safekeeping. They had members of the local resistance movement with them to act as guides, so I was about as certain as a DM can ever be about where the game was going.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With that knowledge, I set about figuring out what would happen along the journey. Normally I'd have placed set encounters that fit the adventure and tried to lead it along a certain plot path, but right now I'm trying to take the "plot" out of D&D as much as I can while still planning ahead. So rather than pick the encounters myself, I decided to do the whole thing using random charts. Below I'll detail how I put the adventure together, and how I also drew quite a bit of setting inspiration from the results I rolled up randomly.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first step was to work out how long the journey would take at the party's optimal speed. They were travelling light (aside from the big old crystalline god torso they're lugging about), and the journey to the rendezvous point and back to the city of Port Bracken came to about five days.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next, I started rolling for random encounters using the tables I'd made when I drafted up my maps. (I really should put up an image of the wilderness region, but I only have it as a hand-drawn map. I need to scan it at some point.) The 3rd edition rules call for a random encounter check for every hour of travel, but that's way too often. I can't be rolling twenty-four dice per game day, especially on the fly. Instead, I've split the day into four time periods: morning (6am to 12pm), afternoon (12pm to 6pm), early night (6pm to 12am) and late night (12am to 6am). I make one check for each of those periods, then roll a d6 to determine the hour in which the encounter happens.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another wrinkle I've added to random encounters is the idea that sometimes you'll see signs of a creature rather than the creature itself (the howling of wolves, an old campsite, an animal that's been killed by the creature, etc.). Whenever an encounter is indicated, I give it a 1-in-4 chance that the encounter will be signs of a creature. The next time an encounter comes up, there's a 3-in-4 chance that the encounter will be with the creature indicated. This allows a little more foreshadowing to be added to random encounters, and gives the PCs more of a chance to plan ahead.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For the journey I rolled the following:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Seven dwarves around midday on the first day</li><li>Signs of wights at the end of the second day</li><li>A wight encounter on the morning of the fourth day</li><li>An encounter with bombardier beetles around midnight of the fourth day</li><li>An encounter with an escaped refugee on the final day</li><li>A mixed encounter a few hours later, with Priests of Malak (the god of darkness) and hippogriffs</li></ul><div>The dwarf encounter was easy to figure out (although I had to resist the urge to do a Snow White riff). The timing had it happening at a bridge, so I set them up as cutthroat bandits making travellers pay them to use the crossing. I threw in a little bit of background about them being a troupe of jesters who've had trouble finding work, and also made a note that they'd be extra-curious about the body of the light god if they caught a glimpse of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>For the wights, I figured a destroyed camp would be the best way to foreshadow them; I didn't want anything too immediate, because there was going to be a pretty big gap between the sign and the encounter. So I placed a camp with some abandoned tents and bedrolls, along with the corpses of some dogs that had suffered an energy draining.</div><div><br /></div><div>The wight encounter I just placed as a simple ambush/attack, noting that the head wight was being served by lesser wights who were the former inhabitants of the ruined camp.</div><div><br /></div><div>The encounter with the beetles was a trickier one, as I was struggling with ways to make it interesting. It was set to happen around midnight, and I find encounters can be a little trickier to realistically set up when the PCs are camped, especially when the monsters aren't all that intelligent or mobile. I resigned myself to making it a straight-up predatory ambush, but I was saved when I got around to rolling for random weather. A thunderstorm came up at pretty much the exact time the PCs were set to encounter the beetles, so what was going to be a boring slugfest became much more potentially interesting, as the beetles would be stirred out of their nest by the lightning and thunder and stampede into the PC camp. (Well, I thought it was going to be awesome, but the PCs ran away from the wights and turned that encounter into an overland chase. They ended up a few miles away from where the beetle encounter was set to happen, and I didn't want to railroad them back into it, so I shrugged my shoulders and let it go. I still think it would have ruled, though.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The refugee encounter and the one with the priests of Malak and the hippogriffs were set to happen within an hour of each other, so it made sense to connect them. After all, the priests are pretty much in charge of Port Bracken, and they're definitely the sort of folks that someone would be trying to escape from. So I made this refugee a member of the Resistance, and gave him a minor connection to one of the NPCs the party was travelling with. (As an added call-back, I made him a member of the Hucrele family from <i>The Sunless Citadel</i>, which I'd run very early on in this campaign.) The priests of Malak would be in pursuit, and would no doubt stop to question the PCs, who would have to decide whether to risk their necks for someone they hardly knew.</div><div><br /></div><div>That just left the question of the hippogriffs. One thing I've done to spice up my random encounter tables is include a result that calls for rolling on the table twice, with both groups being encountered simultaneously. The idea was that it would be up to me to make sense of the combination, and that the results would make for some more dynamic encounters. The evil priests of Malak being combined with generally good or neutral hippogriffs seemed on the face of it like the PCs should stumble into a fight between the two groups, but with this encounter being so close to Port Bracken it didn't feel quite right. Hippogriffs are often used as mounts, and with the priests being a hunting party it made sense to go that way. I tweaked it a little by making the hippogriffs into zombies, as use of undead slaves is a big part of how the priests of Malak operate. Yeah, I'm not sure zombie hippogriffs would be able to fly either, but the 3rd edition rules say they can, so I went with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>That final encounter added a lot of detail to my setting: a new NPC, more information about the Resistance and the NPCs travelling with the party, a mention of the "labyrinth cells" below the Temple of Malak, and the idea that the temple's hunting parties use zombie hippogriffs as steeds. None of this existed before I rolled on the random tables.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because I had some extra time to plan, I decided to roll up a different set of random encounters just in case the PCs happened to make the journey while slowed due to encumbrance. I don't remember the results as well, because they weren't used in the game, but what was effectively pointless busywork still gave me some setting details. After the thunderstorm (because I was still using the same weather results), I rolled for an encounter with giant centipedes. Then, I rolled for an encounter with dire wolves and giant centipedes together. <i>Then</i>, I rolled for an encounter with ogres and dire wolves together.</div><div><br /></div><div>The giant centipedes coming out after the storm was a really nice bit of serendipity that mimics how certain creepy-crawlies pop out after the rain in the real world. The dire wolf/centipede combination was an odd one, but the subsequent ogres/dire wolves combo made sense of it all. Obviously, these ogres prize like to eat giant centipedes, and they're out hunting after the thunderstorm using their pet dire wolves to track them. This is the kind of thing I'd probably never come up with on my own, but came to me almost right away when I was forced to make sense of the whole thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>So at the moment I'm enjoying this way of creating adventures, with my own design biases being guided by random tables moreso than by my own whims. It's forcing me to think outside of my usual box, and I'm liking the results. No doubt it will be harder to do effectively when I have to roll these things on the fly, but hell, everything in D&D is harder when you have to do it on the fly. Practice will hopefully make these things come more naturally. </div></div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-61463785594809329042021-03-12T02:35:00.001-08:002021-03-12T02:35:50.797-08:00Returns & Resets<div style="text-align: left;">Well, it's been a while. Looking at the blog I see that I haven't posted since August. I haven't had any particular health problems, and no mental issues aside from the usual amount of pervading existential despair, but I have had a bunch of other stuff going on and a very odd family situation that's recently resolved itself (I hope). So I'm ready to return to blogging, even though I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to blog about in regards to D&D.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I should probably start by mentioning that I've been running games again. Over the last few months I found myself living with a couple of my players, so we decided to make Saturday nights the time to revive my 3rd edition campaign. That campaign started way back circa 2002, and has been going on and off since then (mostly off since my son was born in 2008). The initial portion was set in a lone fort in a savage wilderness, and culminated in the fort being besieged by an army of barbaric orcs. That wrapped up pretty satisfyingly (I wrote it up <a href="https://mahney.blogspot.com/2011/11/play-report-siege-npc-railroad-and.html" target="_blank">here</a> if you feel like reading about it), and I was fairly happy to end it at that. The main thrust of the campaign was done and the major plot threads had been dealt with, and my playing group were all getting married and having children, which was making things harder to schedule. I was just glad we'd gotten to go out on a climactic high note.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have one player, though, who pretty vocally wanted to continue. The thing with this campaign is that it's a continuation of a 2nd edition campaign I ran in the late 90s. I set up a <i>lot</i> of threads in that game that never got resolved due to an unfortunate TPK. Most of threads involved the main four PCs being heroes of prophecy, which is a dumb idea when you're playing a game that can turn on a die roll. What can I say, I'm wiser about that now. So when I was designing my 3e campaign, I just said screw it, why throw away the work I've already done? The set-up was that a few centuries passed, and the forces of evil won because the heroes of prophecy failed. I didn't make that clear at the campaign's beginning, but the player I mentioned earlier figured out pretty quickly that this was the same world.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This player is still dead keen to find out the answers to plot threads I set up over two decades ago, and it didn't take me much convincing to start running again. My intention was to bring in a completely different style though. Whereas before I've been running discrete adventures set up with obvious plot hooks, this time I was planning on running more of a player-driven sandbox. And since the 3e adventures before that had been in a fort surrounded by hostile wilderness, I wanted the game to transition to more of a city-based game.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To set up the sandbox, I had to do some heavy rail-roading. It's a contradiction, but I wanted the campaign to move to a new area and I politely asked my players to go along with it. I would have preferred to do it a bit more organically, but the plan was that once I'd gotten done with that transition adventure I'd let the players drive things completely.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It hasn't exactly worked out that way, due to events set up earlier in the campaign. As I've mentioned in earlier posts on the campaign, I went a little buck-wild with magic items, and among the things the PCs brought with them were the torso and left hand of the god of light, who had been dismembered by the god of darkness a few hundred years ago. Given that the PCs have entered a city ostensibly run by the priests of that god of darkness, with a resistance operating from the catacombs, things had to unfold in certain ways so they wouldn't end up thrown in a dungeon or killed on a sacrificial altar. I've given the players complete freedom to act within that framework and take charge as much as possible, but they've been led around by NPCs a lot more than I'd have liked. That scenario's been dealt with for now, with the god's body parts having been taken away to a safe place by the resistance, and I think things are finally ready to open up into a truly player-driven game.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What has worked really well is the transition to a city-based game. The fortress they'd previously lived in didn't provide a lot of opportunities, but the city of Port Bracken really opens things up: major cities give the players a lot more things to do and a lot more tactical options (as well as more ways to get themselves into trouble). The game's shifted into one with a lot more factions and intrigue, and it's a positive change. When the first session back culminated in the players ambushing a pirate captain outside of a brothel, I knew that the tone of the game had shifted considerably.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So I'm in new territory for the blog, which has mostly been me ruminating about a game that I've barely played since 2008. I made a conscious decision a while ago to shift my D&D efforts to focus more on actively playing, which is part of why my Recaps & Roundups series stalled out back in August. As such, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing here. I'll definitely post about my current gaming activities, and any observations I have about running that campaign. I'll try to make those posts general, but given that I'm running 3e it's going to a bit more new-school than the blog's focus has been so far. As for what else I'll be doing, I don't know. The Ultimate Sandbox has always been more of a pie-in-the-sky mental exercise, although I'd like to make it my standard game after I finish with the current campaign. Recaps & Roundups will probably return, because I do enjoy that sort of historical/chronological analysis. For now though, I'm just going to ease myself back in, and post on whatever D&D-related stuff takes my fancy.</div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-42940509050287566552020-08-12T03:48:00.003-07:002020-08-12T03:48:53.594-07:00Recaps & Roundups: JG37 First Fantasy Campaign part 4<b>Into the Great Outdoors: </b>The section on wilderness adventures has a short bit about the use of the map from <i>Outdoor Survival</i> (I wonder which of Gygax or Arneson used it first?). Following that is a short selection of random encounter tables; the most notable thing on those is the separation between Trolls and True Trolls. There are references to True Trolls in the earliest D&D books, but no indication as to what the difference is between them. I suspect it's the regeneration ability, but that's just my own gut instinct.<br />
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After some wilderness movement rates for various vehicles, and a chart showing the value of various goods and how likely they are to disappear on an overland journey, Arneson gets into the processes of determining where the monsters live. And boy, it is <i>involved</i>. There are rules for how many monsters are in the lair when the PCs arrive, and how far away the wanderes are. Population growth is dealt with, as is migration during Spring. Arneson actually says that the DM should play out any battles when a monster group migrates into an area that's already inhabited. A lot of stuff in this section suggests that Arneson spent significant time playing out campaign events on his own, assuming that he used these guidelines himself.<br />
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There's also a section to help a DM draw their own map, which is done by random determination of terrain. Like a lot of stuff in this booklet, this gets really fiddly: there are rules for determining how many hills are in a hex, and how many miles wide each hill is. I guess this sort of detail can be important if you're running things more like a wargame, but it's well outside of my own tastes.<br />
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<b>Blackmoor Dungeons:</b> This is the main attraction for me here. Included are ten levels from the Blackmoor Dungeons, as well as two networks of tunnels between levels, and some smaller levels labelled as "Glendower"; how all of these fit together is a bit of a mystery. Inevitably, these materials are disappointing. The notes are sparse and not particularly evocative: as with Greyhawk, these early megadungeons lived in the minds and games of their creators, and can never truly be captured in published form. The maps are very nice though. I'll include a page of maps and a page of notes to give you a sample.<br />
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Pretty much all of the keyed entries are like those above, with little more than monster numbers and treasure. Three features are described in more detail by Arneson: the Orcian Way, Sir Fang, and the Elves who currently hold the castle above.<br />
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The Orcian Way is a stairwell that descends from level 1 all the way down to level 10, where hundreds of orcs, ghouls, ogres, and a couple of balrogs await. Once players are on the stairwell there are only two ways out. One is to fight the monsters at the bottom, and the other is through a trapdoor at the top that magically teleports anyone entering it to the middle of Blackmoor Bay, where they are likely to drown or be eaten by the Great Kraken of the Bay. (Arneson may have been more whimsical about it, but I'm starting to suspect that he was far more of a Killer DM than Gygax.)<br />
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Sir Fang was originally Sir Fant, a player character, until he fell prey to a vampire. Now he roams the dungeons upper levels, and has control of thousands of rats that he uses as his spies. He's said to be a "Vampire x5", although I'm not entirely sure what that would mean. Five times the amount of Hit Dice? It's hard to say without knowing exactly how Arneson's rules worked.<br />
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The castle above the dungeons is currently ruled by elves, who test entrants to the dungeons by making them drink holy water, and guard the dungeon exits from evildoers with garden hoses filled with holy water. (I did say Arneson was whimsical.) Their whole set-up sounds kind of like a carny, where they try to sell things to the PCs, and have turnstiles installed on the dungeon entrance, and prizes for anyone who makes it back out. It's a weird tone; a little silly and anachronistic for my tastes, but it's obvious that everyone was having fun with it.<br />
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<b>Magic Swords & Matrix:</b> Arneson gives some sample magic swords, and his rules for randomly determining their abilities. As in OD&D, swords have more special abilities than other weapon types. Most of what's here is implementing the same ideas as in OD&D, but the rules themselves are sometimes quite different.<br />
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The main difference that jumped out at me is that there are fighter's swords, magician's swords, and holy swords (presumably usable by clerics, although I don't think it's specified). This is a big departure from D&D, where the ability to use magic swords is one of the major benefits for fighters. I feel like allowing them for all three classes undercuts fighters significantly.<br />
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<b>Gypsy Sayings & Chance Cards:</b> These detail various methods Arneson used to determine future events in the campaign. The first is a random chart of gypsy sayings, most of which are vague, although a few are campaign specific. The second is a table of "legends", which is little more than a list of artifacts or treasure hoards and their locations.<br />
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The third is of more interest: chance cards, which are listed here in chart form. Each card details an event that will happen in the campaign; apparently Arneson used to draw out a year's worth of cards to plan for future occurrences. There are things like raids, migrations, uprisings, storms, earthquakes, plague, etc. There are 35 results, although quite a few are variations on the same thing; with a bit more variety I could see this being very useful indeed for planning out how events in the area will progress independent of the actions of the PCs.<br />
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<b>The Original Blackmoor Magic System:</b> This is a brief section on Arneson's magic system, which sounds similar to that used in D&D, with magic-users preparing their spells ahead of time and requiring material components for each casting (which came in with AD&D, but was notably absent from OD&D). Constitution also seems to be a factor in Arneson's system, with some casters being unable to function due to fatigue.<br />
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This is followed by some magical items, all of which sound rather technological. One of the items is called a tricorder, just to leave out any ambiguity. This is in keeping with "The Temple of the Frog", which had a technologically armed villain running things.<br />
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<b>Special Interests: </b>This discusses some ways that PCs can find to spend their money, as well as the way that Arneson's XP system worked. Characters could hoard their wealth to earn XP, but if that wealth was stolen the XP would be lost, and the PC would potentially lose levels. The only sure way to earn XP was to spend money on wine, women, and parties. XP can also be earned for fighting monsters, but only if their was a witness to the deed who can spread your renown. Extra points can also be earned on spiritual quests or religious experiences. The final thing that can earn XP is spending money on your PC's hobby, whatever that may be.<br />
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<b>Svenson's Freehold:</b> These are maps of the keep owned by Greg Svensen's character, who is 15th level at the time this book was written. It's noted that two other characters reached 20th level, which earned them "a free dinner, a pat on the back, and a retired character". Is losing your favourite character really a reward?<br />
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The book ends with a real mish-mash of stuff. There are some house rules from one of Arneson's players, some details about the swamp area Loch Gloomen, and rules for various D&D monsters. It's all a bit piecemeal, and there aren't any startling revelations in there, so I'm going to wrapthis up.<br />
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<i>First Fantasy Campaign</i> is a weird product, cobbled together from bits and pieces of Arneson's campaign with no particular rhyme or reason. I struggled to follow a lot of it, as Arneson does nothing in the way of a gentle introduction. Honestly, I think I could have learned more about Blackmoor with a couple of hours on Google. There's some good material in here, though, especially the maps. The rest is hidden under mounds of other stuff though, and I'm not sure I'd recommend this one to any but the hardest of hardcore Arneson fans.<br />
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<b>NEXT:</b> Well, unfortunately there may not be a next. For personal reasons I'm taking some time off from the blogging grind - I would have done so earlier, but I didn't want to leave <i>First Fantasy Campaign</i> half-finished. Will I be back? I'm really not sure. Blogging takes up way too much of my time, and I definitely need a mental break from it. If I miss it, I'll be back. If not, I guess this is where <i>Save or Die!</i> comes to an end (although I'll probably still post here and there in any case). Thanks to all of my regular readers, I hope you got some small measure of entertainment from what I was doing here. If you want to keep in touch, I'll still be on Twitter, @NPMahney.Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-22594920054622602962020-07-31T04:29:00.001-07:002020-07-31T04:29:51.344-07:00Recaps & Roundups: JG37 The First Fantasy Campaign part 3<div style="text-align: justify;">There's a whole section on Blackmoor town and castle. It's said to have a population of about 1,000 peasants, plus 100 soldiers, 100 elves, and a bunch of others (wizards, trolls, a dragons, etc.). Blackmoor was described by Gary Gygax in one of the earlier D&D books (possibly <i>D&D Vol. 3: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventure</i>) as a "one-horse town", and I suppose that by the standards of other fantasy cities it is rather small. In terms of resources it's rich in iron ore and coal, and the main form of livestock is a large type of bison.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The current ruler is Baron Fant, who was placed in charge of the castle after the first invasion by the Egg of Coot. His biggest ally is Sir Jenkins, who rules the northernmost area of the Great Kingdom. He was a former bandit, but achieved great honours after the first Coot invasion, and married Fant's cousin to strengthen the alliance (Fant also married one of Jenkins' relations.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Blackmoor Castle itself is said to have been built during the third year of the reign of Robert I, "King of all Geneva", primarily as a defense against the barbarians from the north. (The mention of Geneva I take as a reference to the wargaming groups of Lake Geneva in the real world; in universe I suppose it means the Great Kingdom). No exact time frame is given for when the castle was built, but the moat surrounding it was created some 400 years ago by a Wizard named Pissaic. The castle was taken during both invasions by the Egg of Coot, but in both instances it was retaken.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of those instances happened about 40 years ago, during the Second Coot Invasion. The Keep's ruler at the time, Baron Ra-all the Wise, was promoted to King of Vestfold, and Blackmoor was placed under the rule of someone known as "the Weasel". Blackmoor was besieged by barbarians, and the Weasel decided to try to negotiate a truce. The barbarians sent ten delegates, but through magic unleashed by a wizard, the delegates transformed into hideous creatures and slaughtered the inhabitants of the castle.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Near the Blackmoor walls there are seemingly bottomless pits that connect to underground caves that riddle the area, leading to the netherworld and the dungeons beneath Castle Blackmoor. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">About five miles northwest of Blackmoor is a ruined temple that once belonged to the Dark Lords of the Egg of Coot. It was razed about 500 years ago. In the middle of the temple is a great orange jewel on a black pedestal; adventurers have taken it several times, but each time those thieves have met a violent end, and the gem has returned to its resting place. This is expanded on later: the place is also known as the Temple of the Id Monster, the gem is guarded by undead Super-Heroes, and anyone who steals the gem is pursued by the Id Monster, which only they can see. The creature will devour them and take back the gem, and the thief will wake up naked on the town garbage heap having experienced being eaten alive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Northeast is the abode of the Wizard of the Wood (who was either called Pete, or played by a guy named Pete). His abode is guarded by illusions of hideous monsters, a trio of Ents at the entrance, and a Fire Elemental in the fireplace. "Pete" apparently died after playing for two years, on a trip to the City of the Gods, but his home is still there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not far from there lies the Super Berry Wood, a timeless place where all who enter lose track of time, and don't want to leave (anyone inside must make a save vs. <i>charm person</i> every turn). The great "Berrium Maximus" grows there, also known as Super Berries, which are the size of pumpkins and have magical properties depending on the season, the phase of the moon, and the maturity of the berry. Arneson doesn't elaborate further, mostly because his own players haven't figured a lot of this stuff out yet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wolf's Head Pass lies to the northeast, leading to forests dominated by Ents and Wood Elves of uncertain allegiance, and then to the southern lands of the Egg of Coot.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Comeback Inn in Blackmoor has cheap food and lodgings, and is apparently a good place to find rumours, but it has a magical charm that prevents those inside from leaving; only by having someone outside the inn pull the person wanting to leave through the door can place be escaped.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Details are then given about Blackmoor Castle itself. It has a basement and five floors. Many of those rooms are said to be haunted. There is the ghost of Baron Alvarez, who was killed by barbarians, and whose appearance foretells doom. The Lady of Lust is fated to take any man who wanders into her grasp (apparently she was cursed for being an "uncooperative wife" which is uhhhhhhh uncomfortable, let's say). There are ghosts of plenty of other former rulers, most of whom are scary but harmless. A Lord Alfred was caught by his wife with a serving wench, and the gruesome beheading she gave him is replayed in one room. A former ruler known as Balfred the Bald kept a "jungle beast" as a guardian; after he was killed by it the room was sealed up, but when the room was reopened, and the beast was gone. Rumour persists that anyone who has betrayed Blackmoor that enters the room will suffer the same fate as Balfred. These hauntings give the place quite a bit of flavour, but as far as I can tell the maps don't show where they actually take place.</div></div>Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-54845781047023251542020-07-17T05:12:00.000-07:002020-07-17T05:12:00.840-07:00Recaps & Roundups: JG37 The First Fantasy Campaign part 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last week I started reading Dave Arneson's <i>The First Fantasy Campaign</i>, inwhich he sets forth a bunch of details from his Blackmoor game. It's got far too much content for to cover in a single post, so I've turned this into a series. let's continue with part 2.</div>
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The next section is entitled <b>"Blackmoor's More Infamous Characters"</b>, and details some of the PCs and NPCs of significance in the game.</div>
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<b>The Egg of Coot</b> is said to have been of human description millennia ago, but now nobody seems to know what it looks like: a mass of jelly, a giant egg, pure energy, a mass of living rock, and a man have all been suggested. From the description he seems very much like a petulant, power-mad child, who who will go out of his way to crush anyone who gives him even a moment's inconvenience. (At the risk of alienating certain of my readers, he does sound familiar...) From other writings, my impression is that he rules the lands to the north of Blackmoor.</div>
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<b>The Ran of Ah Fooh </b>was a servant of the Egg of Coot, but left his service when he found himself able to create more perfect spells than the Egg. The Ran - a 10th lever fighter and magic-user - is logical to a fault, and one hundred percent convinced of his own perfection. He's renowned for his dragon breeding pens, and is also building up an army of zombies/androids.</div>
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There's a bunch of stuff in both of the previous entries about these villains running spell workshops that churn out spells. The Egg's spells have a failure rate of 30% or more, while the Ran's spells have a failure rate of just 15%. It seems like anyone can use these spells, as long as they are shown how. I guess they are like D&D scrolls, with no class restrictions.</div>
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<b>Gin of Salik</b> is one of the greatest wizards in the world, and a renowned ladies man, who travels from place to place to woo the most beautiful women. If he doesn't get his way, he devastates the region with spells and turns the one who refused him into a loathsome creature with a spell. I suspect a teenage player might have been playing this charming character.</div>
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<b>Marfeldt the Barbarian</b> is a seemingly invincible warrior, who is said to have been created a year ago by a wizard that he promptly slew. He's said to have wrecked several kingdoms to the east, and to be responsible for the upheaval in the Great Kingdom (that's a busy year...). In addition to being an incredibly ruthless Conan knock-off, he seemingly has the power to infect others with his own mindset; anyone in his presence for more than a few turns will assume his mental characteristics, and can only be cured by a Wizard.</div>
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This description is followed by an account from the "archives of Rhun", in which Marfeldt rose through the military ranks of that country, leading it to victory against his enemies but leaving it so devastated that he himself was able to kill Rhun's Duke and entire army single-handedly. (There is something of a charming absurdity to a lot of this material, but I also feel like it comes with a large dose of "you had to be there".)</div>
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<b>The Duke of the Peaks</b> is a perennial turncoat in the wars between the Egg of Coot and the Duchy of Ten, switching sides pretty much any time his forces come under threat. The only reason his lands have never been conquered is that they shower any invaders with debauchery, and any garrison left there is subsumed into the population within a fortnight. This doesn't apply to Marfeldt, who rolled through and killed a third of the population because he was disgusted by their wantonness.</div>
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<b>The Blue Rider</b> was formerly William of the Heath, who became the Blue Rider after finding a magical sword, plate armor, and a fully-armed warhorse (which seems to be highly intelligent, never eats, and runs on lamp oil). There's an amusing bit at the end that hints that the armour is some sort of machine, and that the Blue Rider wants out but has no way to stop the thing. Arneson's humour is weird, but I'm starting to dig it.</div>
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<b>Mello</b> and some other hobbits inhabit a village at a crossroads to the east of Blackmoor. He's the lifelong sidekick of the Blue Rider, and if I'm reading this right is taller than him due to maxed ancestry? A 5'6" hobbit? Arneson's sentences don't always quite make sense.</div>
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<b>The Great Svenny</b> is the First Paladin of the kingdom, and as described seems to be its primary heroic character (despite a certain reluctance to enter the dungeons beneath Blackmoor castle). Both the orcs and the Egg of Coot have promised rich rewards for his head.</div>
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<b>The Bishop</b> of the Church of the Facts of Life doesn't have much written about him as a person; most of the write up goes to his church, which sounds very much like a shrewdly run business.</div>
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That's it for this entry. I think I'm starting to get a feel for Blackmoorand its idiosyncrasies. Arneson's writing can be a little hard to come to grips with, though; he really needs a good editor, and it's pretty obvious that he didn't have one for this product.</div>
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Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-64810296304839718462020-07-13T08:38:00.000-07:002020-07-13T08:49:18.262-07:00Perusals & Progressions: Detect Magic<div class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
Continuing through through the 1st-level cleric spells, we come to <i>detect magic</i>. I don't expect that this spell will present too many problems or revelations as I go through its history, but you never know.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>ORIGINAL D&D (1974)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<u>Detect Magic:</u> A spell to determine if there has been some enchantment laid on a person, place or thing. It has a limited range and short duration. It is useful, for example, to discover if some item is magical, a door has been "held" or "wizard locked", etc.</blockquote>
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This is about as basic and uncomplicated as this spell can get. It's the first spell described in OD&D, and note that the range and duration aren't defined with specific numbers. It seems odd, given the game's origins in wargaming, that these categories wouldn't be numerically defined, but perhaps Dave and Gary didn't think that this spell required it. They must have changed their minds pretty quickly, because a year later in <i>Supplement I: Greyhawk</i> it's given a range of 6" and a duration of 2 turns.</div>
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The cleric and magic-user versions of the spell are identical.</div>
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<b>HOLMES D&D (1977)</b></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Magic</b> — Level: 1; Range: 60 feet; Duration: 2 turns<br />
A spell to determine if there has been some enchantment laid on a person, place or thing. It has a limited range and short duration. It is useful, for example, to discover if some item is magical, a door has been "held" or "wizard locked," etc.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is the exact same wording as in OD&D, and the range and duration from <i>Supplement I</i> have been incorporated.</div>
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<b>B/X (1981)</b><br />
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<blockquote>
<b>Detect Magic</b><br />
Range: 60'<br />
Duration: 2 turns<br />
This spell determines if there has been an enchantment laid upon a person, place, or thing, causing any magic item within 60' to glow. Several items may be tested until the spell's duration has ended. It is useful, for example, to discover if some item is magical, if a door has been magically <b>"held"</b> or <b>"wizard locked"</b> (see <b>Magic-user </b><b>and Elf Spells</b>), and so forth.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are two minor changes here: the magic that is detected now glows, and there are very rough guidelines as to how many items can be "tested" during the spell's duration. What this means is unclear; if everything magical within the range glows, why would items need to be tested at all? There shouldn't be a limit on the number of items detected, as long as they're all within 60 feet.</div>
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<b>BECMI (1983)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Magic</b><br />
Range: 0<br />
Duration: 2 turns<br />
Effect: Everything within 60'<br />
When this spell is cast, the cleric will see magical objects, creatures, and places within range glow. It will not last very long, and should be saved until the cleric wants to see if something found during an adventure is, in fact, magical. For example, a door may be held shut magically, or a treasure found might be enchanted; in either case, the magic item, creature, or effect will glow when it is within the effect.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The glow caused by this spell is clarified to be something that only the caster can see. To reflect that, the range of the spell has been changed to 0, to indicate that it affects the caster rather than the magic being detected.</div>
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The magic-user version of the spell ends with a different example: "Shortly after casting this spell, a magic-user walks into a room containing a door locked by magic, a magical potion laying nearby, and a treasure chest containing a magic wand. All the magic will glow, but only the door and potion will be seen: the light of the glowing wand is hidden by the treasure chest." This clarification that the spell is a line-of-sight effect, and doesn't work through solid objects, is a direct contradiction of AD&D.</div>
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<b>RULES CYCLOPEDIA (1991)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Magic</b><br />
Range: 0<br />
Duration: 2 turns<br />
Effect: Everything within 60'<br />
When this spell is cast, the cleric will see a glow surround magical objects, creatures, and places within the spell's effect. The glow will not last very long; clerics should normally use the spell only when they want to know if particular objects already within sight are, in fact, magical. For example, a door may be held shut magically, a stranger might actually be an enchanted monster, or a treasure might be enchanted.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This spell is pretty much exactly from BECMI, and just as in BECMI the magic-user version of the spell clarifies that the caster can only detect magic on things that are in plain sight. It seems like a bit of an editorial oversight not to include that in both versions.</div>
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That's the Basic line done, and as usual it's all very consistent. Now let's move to AD&D.</div>
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<b>AD&D 1st EDITION (1978)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Magic</b> (Divination)<br />
Level: 1<br />
Range: 3"<br />
Duration: 1 turn<br />
Area of Effect: 1" path, 3" long<br />
Components: V, S, M<br />
Casting Time: 1 round<br />
Saving Throw: None<br />
Explanation/Description: When the <i>detect magic</i> spell is cast, the cleric detects magical radiations in a path 1" wide, and up to 3" long, in the direction he or she is facing. The caster can turn 60 degrees per round. Note that stone walls of 1' or more thickness, solid metal of but 1/12' thickness, or 3' or more of solid wood will block the spell. The spell requires the use of the cleric’s holy (or unholy) symbol.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The range, duration, and area of effect are all changed, and the spell can detect things through solid objects (to a point). I always find it odd how different Gary went with some things in AD&D, and that Moldvay and Mentzer didn't follow his lead on the Basic line for consistency. There's also some trademark Gygaxian overcomplication here, with the spell being blocked by 1/12' of metal; just call it an inch, Gary!</div>
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The magic-user version of the spell has a duration of 2 rounds/level, an area of effect that stretches to 6", and a casting time of 1 segment. It also doesn't require a holy symbol, obviously.</div>
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Druids can cast this spell, and their version has a duration of 4 rounds/level, an area of effect 4" long, and a casting time of 3 segments. Illusionists cast it as a 2nd level spell, but their version is otherwise the same as that for magic-users.</div>
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<b>AD&D 2nd EDITION (1989)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: blue;">Detect Magic</span> (Divination)</b><br />
Sphere: Divination<br />
Range: 30 yards<br />
Components: V, S, M<br />
Duration: 1 turn<br />
Casting Time: 1 round<br />
Area of Effect: 10-foot path<br />
Saving Throw: None<br />
When the detect magic spell is cast, the priest detects magical radiations in a path 10 feet wide and up to 30 yards long, in the direction he is facing. The intensity of the magic can be detected (dim, faint, moderate, strong, overwhelming). The caster has a 10% chance per level to determine the sphere of the magic, but unlike the wizard version of the spell, the type of magic (alteration, conjuration, etc.) cannot be divined. The caster can turn, scanning a 60-degree arc per round. A stone wall of 1 foot or more thickness, solid metal of one-inch thickness, or a yard or more of solid wood blocks the spell.<br />
The spell requires the use of the priest's holy symbol.</blockquote>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">The magic-user version of the spell has different range and duration as in 1e, and as noted above can detect the type/school of magic. It also ends with the following paragraph that's not in the cleric version.</span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may confuse or conceal weaker radiations. Note that this spell does not reveal the presence of good or evil, or reveal alignment. Other-planar creatures are not necessarily magical.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's interesting that the cleric version of the spell has had its range converted to yards, whereas the magic-user version is still using feet. In previous editions the magic-user spell had more range, but now they've been swapped. Just as it did with <i>detect evil</i>, 2e introduces the idea of different aura intensities, but doesn't show how they are actually determined.</div>
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<b>AD&D 2nd EDITION REVISED (1995)</b><br />
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No need to reproduce these versions of the spell, because they're identical to those in 2e except for some minor formatting changes.</div>
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<b>D&D 3rd EDITION (2000)</b><br />
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<blockquote>
<b><span style="color: #073763;">Detect Magic</span></b><br />
Universal<br />
<b>Level:</b> Brd 0, Clr 0, Drd 0, Sor/Wiz 0<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> 60 ft.<br />
<b>Area:</b> Quarter circle emanating from you to the extreme of the range<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 1 minute/level (D)<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> None<br />
<b>Spell Resistance:</b> No </blockquote>
<blockquote>
You detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>1st Round:</i> Presence or absence of magical auras. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>2nd Round:</i> Number of different magical auras and the strength of the strongest aura. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>3rd Round:</i> The strength and location of each aura. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Spellcraft skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura; DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + half caster level for a non-spell effect.) </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may confuse or conceal weaker auras. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>Aura Strength:</b> An aura’s magical power and strength depend on a spell’s functioning spell level or an item’s caster level. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table border="1px">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Strength</th>
<th>Functioning Spell Level</th>
<th>Item Caster Level</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dim</td>
<td>0-level or lingering aura</td>
<td>Lingering aura</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Faint</td>
<td>1st-3rd</td>
<td>1st-5th</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Moderate</td>
<td>4th-6th</td>
<td>6th-11th</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strong</td>
<td>7th-9th</td>
<td>12th-20th</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Overwhelming</td>
<td>Artifact or deity-level magic</td>
<td>Beyond mortal caster</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If an aura falls into more than one category, <i>detect magic</i> indicates the stronger of the two. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>Length Aura Lingers:</b> How long the aura lingers depends on its original strength: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table border="1px">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Original Strength</th>
<th>Duration</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Faint</td>
<td>1d6 minutes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Moderate</td>
<td>1d6 x 10 minutes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strong</td>
<td>1d6 hours</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Overwhelming</td>
<td>1d6 days</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Note: Each round, you can turn to detect things in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it. Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are conjured, the conjuration spell registers.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Just as <i>detect evil</i> did, 3rd edition adds a lot in terms of determining the strength of an aura. The area of effect, which started as a sphere in OD&D and became a narrow line in AD&D, is now a quarter circle. The only simplification that's been done is that the cleric and magic-user versions of the spell are the same, rather than having their own arbitrarily different ranges and durations. I should also mention that it's become a 0-level spell, effectively a cantrip, which means that it's much more likely to see use during a game. The school has also changed from divination to universal, probably so that there won't be any specialist wizards who don't have access to it.</div>
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<b>D&D</b> <b>3.5th EDITION (2003)</b><br />
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<blockquote>
<b><span style="color: #073763;">Detect Magic</span></b><br />
Divination<br />
<b>Level:</b> Brd 0, Clr 0, Drd 0, Sor/Wiz 0<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 standard action<br />
<b>Range:</b> 60 ft.<br />
<b>Area:</b> Cone-shaped emanation<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 1 minute/level (D)<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> None<br />
<b>Spell Resistance:</b> No </blockquote>
<blockquote>
You detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>1st Round:</i> Presence or absence of magical auras. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>2nd Round:</i> Number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>3rd Round:</i> The strength and location of each aura. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Spellcraft skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura; DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + half caster level for a nonspell effect.) </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Aura Strength:</i> An aura’s power depends on a spell’s functioning spell level or an item’s caster level. If an aura falls into more than one category, <i>detect magic</i> indicates the stronger of the two.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table border="1px"><tbody>
<tr><th>Spell or Object</th><th>Faint</th><th>Moderate</th><th>Strong</th><th>Overwhelming</th></tr>
<tr><td>Functioning spell (spell level)</td><td>3rd or lower</td><td>4th-6th</td><td>7th-9th</td><td>10th+ (deity-level)</td></tr>
<tr><td>Magic item (caster level)</td><td>5th or lower</td><td>6th-11th</td><td>12th-20th</td><td>21st+ (artifact)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Lingering Aura:</i> A magical aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (in the case of a magic item). If <i>detect magic</i> is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table border="1px"><tbody>
<tr><th>Original Strength</th><th>Duration of Lingering Aura</th></tr>
<tr><td>Faint</td><td>1d6 rounds</td></tr>
<tr><td>Moderate</td><td>1d6 minutes</td></tr>
<tr><td>Strong</td><td>1d6x10 minutes</td></tr>
<tr><td>Overwhelming</td><td>1d6 days</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Each round, you can turn to detect magic in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Detect magic</i> can be made permanent with a <i>permanency</i> spell.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
There have been some formatting changes, and a switch back to the divination school, but the 3.5e spell is much the same as that from 3e. The major difference is that the durations for lingering auras have been greatly reduced, except for those of overwhelming power.</div>
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<b>D&D 4th EDITION</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Magic (Trained Only)</b><br />
Your knowledge of magic allows you to identify magical effects and sense the presence of magic. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Identify Conjuration or Zone:</b> Minor action.<br />
✦ <b>DC:</b> DC 15 + one-half the power’s level. You must be able to see the effect of the conjuration or zone.<br />
✦ <b>Success:</b> You identify the power used to create the effect and its power source and keywords.<br />
✦ <b>Failure:</b> You can’t try to identify the effect again during this encounter. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Identify Ritual:</b> Standard action.<br />
✦ <b>DC:</b> DC 20 + one-half the ritual’s level. You must be able to see or otherwise detect the ritual’s effects.<br />
✦ <b>Success:</b> You identify the ritual and its category.<br />
✦ <b>Failure:</b> You can’t try to identify the ritual again until after an extended rest. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Identify Magical Effect:</b> Standard action.<br />
✦ <b>DC:</b> DC 20 + one-half the effect’s level, if any. You must be able to see or otherwise detect the effect.<br />
<b>✦ Not a Power or a Ritual:</b> The magical effect must be neither from a magic item nor the product of a power or a ritual.<br />
✦ <b>Success:</b> You learn the effect’s name, power source, and keywords, if any of those apply.<br />
✦<b> Failure:</b> You can’t try to identify the effect again until after an extended rest. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Sense the Presence of Magic:</b> 1 minute.<br />
✦ <b>DC:</b> DC 20 + one-half the level of a magic item, power (conjuration or zone), ritual, or magical phenomenon within range.<br />
<b>✦ Area of Detection:</b> You can detect magic within a number of squares equal to 5 + your level in every direction, and you can ignore any sources of magical energy you’re already aware of. Ignore all barriers; you can detect magic through walls, doors, and such.<br />
<b>✦ Success:</b> You detect each source of magical energy whose DC you meet. You learn the magic’s power source, if any. If the source of magical energy is within line of sight, you pinpoint its location. If it’s not within line of sight, you know the direction from which the magical energy emanates, but you don’t know the distance to it.<br />
<b>✦ Failure:</b> Either you detected nothing or there was nothing in range to detect. You can’t try again in this area until after an extended rest.</blockquote>
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<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In 4th edition, <i>detect magic</i> is no longer a spell, and has become an application of the Arcana skill. "Sense the Presence of Magic" is the use that's closest to the old spell, but its implementation is so different that there's not much point in comparing it to other editions.</div>
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</div>
<div>
<b>D&D 5th EDITION (2014)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Detect Magic</span></b><br />
<i>1st-level divination (ritual)</i><br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> Self<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 10 minutes<br />
For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic. if any.<br />
The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.</blockquote>
<div style="font-weight: bold;">
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</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
5th edition pares things back, getting rid of the differing power levels and lingering auras. The area of effect has returned to being a radius.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>D&D Nth EDITION</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This spell is fairly consistent in its basics across editions, with only two major contradiction. The first of these is whether it can detect magic through barriers. As I'll do in most instances, I'm going with the majority here, and ruling that it can. The second is the spell's area of effect; is it a radius, a line, or a cone? I prefer detect magic to be a fairly wide-ranging spell, so I'm going to go with a radius effect.</div>
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I've kept the detection of lingering auras, but have gone my own way with the durations, having them progress as rounds/turns/hours/days. It's an easier progression to remember than either of the two used for 3e and 3.5e.</div>
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For aura strength, I considered consolidating the ranges used for spells and magic items, but I'm not yet sure how I'm dealing with things like caster level for magic items. For now I'll stick with the 3e method until I've looked into things more closely.</div>
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<blockquote>
<b>Detect Magic</b><br />
Divination<br />
<b>Level:</b> Cleric 1, Magic-User 1<br />
<b>Components:</b> V,S,(Clr M)<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 round<br />
<b>Range:</b> 30 ft. radius<br />
<b>Target:</b> Self<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 1 turn<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> None<br />
<b>Magic Resistance:</b> No </blockquote>
<blockquote>
When the <i>detect magic</i> spell is cast, the caster detects the presence and location of all magical items, creatures, places and effects around them to a range of 30 feet. Those that can be seen will appear to the caster to glow with a faint light. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>1st Round:</i> Presence and location of each magical aura. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Subsequent rounds:</i> The caster can determine the strength and school of one magical aura within range. It takes 1 round to determine an aura's strength, and another to determine its school. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras. Extraplanar creatures are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>Aura Strength: </b>An aura’s power depends on a spell’s functioning spell level or an item’s caster level. If an aura falls into more than one category, <i>detect magic</i> indicates the stronger of the two. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table border="1px">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Strength</th>
<th>Functioning Spell (Spell Level)</th>
<th>Magic Item (Caster Level)</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Faint</td>
<td>3rd or lower</td>
<td>1st-5th</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Moderate</td>
<td>4th-6th</td>
<td>6th-11th</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strong</td>
<td>7th-9th</td>
<td>12th-20th</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Overwhelming</td>
<td>10th+ (deity level)</td>
<td>21st+ (artifact)</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i>Lingering Aura:</i> A magical aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (in the case of a magic item). If detect magic is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table border="1PX">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Original Strength</th><th>Duration of Lingering Aura</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Faint</td><td>1d6 rounds</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Moderate</td>
<td>1d6 turns</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strong</td>
<td>1d6 hours</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Overwhelming</td>
<td>1d6 days</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The spell can penetrate barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Detect magic</i> can be made permanent with a <i>permanency</i> spell. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Components:</i> When cast by a cleric, this spell requires the use of a holy symbol.</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
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The above version is for the Nth Edition emulation of AD&D and Modern D&D. For Origjnal and Basic, it will be as below.</div>
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<blockquote style="font-style: normal;">
<b>Detect Magic</b><br />
Divination<br />
<b>Level:</b> Cleric 1, Magic-User 1<br />
<b>Components:</b> V,S,(Clr M)<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 round<br />
<b>Range:</b> 30 ft. radius<br />
<b>Target:</b> Self<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 1 turn<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> None<br />
<b>Magic Resistance:</b> No </blockquote>
<blockquote>
When the <i>detect magic</i> spell is cast, the caster detects the presence and location of all magical items, creatures, places and effects around them to a range of 30 feet. Those that can be seen will appear to the caster to glow with a faint light.</blockquote>
<blockquote style="font-style: normal;">
Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras. Extraplanar creatures are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers. </blockquote>
<blockquote style="font-style: normal;">
The spell can penetrate barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt. </blockquote>
<blockquote style="font-style: normal;">
<i>Components:</i> When cast by a cleric, this spell requires the use of a holy symbol.</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-70318654853735886712020-07-10T04:51:00.000-07:002020-07-10T04:51:23.798-07:00Recaps & Roundups 69: JG37 The First Fantasy Campaign part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik06zF4qLl5i9rovgoIsyBxlHOsEIBpw1OGmf95vb_V9xn6gyi4YRrDWCt8_Gvalxbcn5azdHrKfcnUCR1-Zxdw2TSVG4bcxAiHPNSWJ5oPw42gmSoY-biPuWKqGRDFsXRSYLkVg/s1600/JG37Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik06zF4qLl5i9rovgoIsyBxlHOsEIBpw1OGmf95vb_V9xn6gyi4YRrDWCt8_Gvalxbcn5azdHrKfcnUCR1-Zxdw2TSVG4bcxAiHPNSWJ5oPw42gmSoY-biPuWKqGRDFsXRSYLkVg/s400/JG37Cover.png" width="298" /></a></div>
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Released around September if 1977, <i>First Fantasy Campaign</i> was a separate product from Judges Guild's usual bi-monthly subscription service. It's written by Dave Arneson, and details the development and play of his Blackmoor campaign, literally the "first fantasy campaign of the title. Since the booklet is 63 pages of very small type, I'll probably tackle this one in multiple installments.</div>
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I'll begin with the maps, of which there are two: a black & white judges' map that details the lands of Blackmoor, and a colour map for players that leaves a lot of the details blank. I'll show the colour map below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvfu_zEadO-PGU2uE3TW4FYwBxpxzfcUfEZqQVFxCzrEVplr6wV_n7pBk6729oCdAh1iS3MEmZwKIQUif-6BcW1Y_lon5wukmwW096KBlthRZH_CYmemcBUiE_dEe6e307tkgQw/s1600/BlackmoorMap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="1600" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvfu_zEadO-PGU2uE3TW4FYwBxpxzfcUfEZqQVFxCzrEVplr6wV_n7pBk6729oCdAh1iS3MEmZwKIQUif-6BcW1Y_lon5wukmwW096KBlthRZH_CYmemcBUiE_dEe6e307tkgQw/s400/BlackmoorMap.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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The book opens with a quick "Forward" (a misspelling that seems endemic to old-school RPG products), and move to an introduction by Arneson, where he gives some brief details about the campaign. There's some interesting stuff in here, the first being that he wasn't the only DM; eventually, other players developed their own castles and dungeons, and there were half a dozen dungeons and upwards of 100 players at the campaign's height. By that point Arneson was more of a coordinator than an actual DM, which is different from anything I've ever seen or read about in any D&D campaign.</div>
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He talks about placing Blackmoor between the Great Kingdom and the evil "Egg of Coot", and using conflicts with those two forces to drive action in the campaign. The dungeons beneath Castle Blackmoor were originally six levels deep (for ease of generating random locations back before funny shaped dice were available), and used only those monsters available in Chainmail. Gradually Arneson added more, name-checking gargoyles and giant beetles.</div>
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The notion is brought up that in his campaign, players only get XP for spending their treasure, which was a springboard to other adventures: often the items bought would have to be shipped into Blackmoor, and the PCs would accompany the shipment to see that it arrived safely, because they'd lose that XP if the goods were lost.</div>
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Combat is described, along with Arneson's use of hit location tables. It sounds like the complexity of Arneson's system very much depended on the types and number of combatants involved, and that he'd change it up depending on the circumstances.</div>
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The intro ends with a somewhat sad note that after only four years Arneson's involvement in Blackmoor is very much reduced. He says that there are still 20-30 people meeting monthly to play, but that the campaign pretty much runs itself without him.</div>
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<b>Blackmoor, the Campaign</b></div>
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This segment begins with a quick description of the Great War between the good guys and bad guys that took up the majority of the third year of the campaign. (I'm not sure here if Arneson is talking about a real-world year or a game year). The forces on the evil side include the Egg of Coot, the Duchy of Ten, the Nomads of Ten, the Men of Maus, and the Monk's Vikings. On the good side are the Earl of Vestfold, the Northern Lords (described as seamen), the Horsemen of Peshwah (from somewhere off the map), Bramwald (dwarves), Glendower, Boggy Bottom, the Wizard of the Wood, the Monks of the Swamp (from <i>Supplement II's </i>"Temple of the Frog" adventure), and the Great Kingdom (off the map to the southeast). There are also neutral forces, which include Loch Gloomen, the Sage's Tower, the Tower of Booh (hobbits), Blackmoor, the Wizard of Mi-Karr, and the Regent of the Mines (dwarves). Very few of these names mean anything to me, but I'm hoping that reading this product will give me a better grounding in Arneson's campaign.</div>
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It appears that the evil forces were on the offensive early on, taking Blackmoor and other fortifications while the good forces built up their armies. Good took a pounding over summer, and started whittling down the evil forces in autumn. By spring of the next year, the good forces were forcing evil into retreat, with more reinforcements on the way. (It sounds as though Arneson was using some sort of card system to determine the number of points the sides could spend on troops each season, but he doesn't go into detail.)</div>
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From there it gets into the resources that each side had available to them, including incomes and the price of different troop types, and this takes up multiple pages. I thought perhaps I could glean something from the different fantastical troop types available to each nation, but they pretty much just break down by alignment, without a lot of differentiation otherwise.</div>
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The next few pages deal with investments that PCs (presumably those at the point where they can build their own strongholds) can make: roads, bridges, canals, hunting, armories, animal breeding, religion, exploration, ship building, farming, fishing, trapping, tourism, land and sea trade, etc. The time and gold required for all of these ventures is discussed in detail, and it's all pretty handy information to have. (Apparently it takes over a year to make a longbow, which I had no idea about.) Some if this gets into levels of minutiae that feel a little too much, though; do we really need to be tracking new arrivals of people down to the individual? It's a little too granular for my tastes.</div>
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<b>Campaign Map Notes</b></div>
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Arneson talks a bit about the development of the campaign map, and the Great Kingdom map also. Apparently the map of the Great Kingdom was drawn from some old Dutch maps. He talks about their being a phase of the campaign where the Outdoor Survival map was used, after a "bad scene at Lake Gloomy". The way this booklet is written seems to assume that the reader is familiar with this material already. Nothing is introduced, Arneson just mentions players and events with no context. These things happened, but don't ask me what any of them mean or who the people involved were:</div>
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<ul>
<li>The area ruled by John Snider was covered in deadly yellow mist, and nobody knows what's going on in there.</li>
<li>A nomad attack from the Duchy of Ten was wiped out by Svenson and the Sniders</li>
<li>There was a great peasant revolt that wiped out Monson, badly hurt Nelson, and was then put down by the other players</li>
<li>An expedition to the City of the Gods, located in a desert south of Monson's area, cost the lives of Nelson and Gaylord.</li>
<li>Both Sniders were killed in an expedition to the home of Father Dragon, and an offspring took over Richard's holdings. (I guess Richard is one of the Sniders?)</li>
</ul>
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That's it for this week. I'm only a dozen pages in, but I don't want to gloss over this stuff, especially where it comes to campaign details. I've far more familiarity with Greyhawk lore than Blackmoor, and it's something I'd like to rectify. The way Arneson writes makes it pretty difficult to piece together, unfortunately.</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-85564160564934905142020-07-09T09:46:00.000-07:002020-07-09T10:04:35.525-07:00Perusals & Progressions: Detect Evil<div style="text-align: justify;">
Before I begin, I'll note here for anyone interested that I made a quick edit to <a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2020/07/perusals-progressions-cure-light-wounds.html" target="_blank">the post on </a><i><a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2020/07/perusals-progressions-cure-light-wounds.html" target="_blank">cure light wounds</a>.</i> I decided to keep its ability to cure paralysis, as I had a look at <i>remove paralysis</i> and saw that it affects multiple targets. The <i>cure wounds</i> spells being able to un-paralyse one person is a reasonable application that doesn't make <i>remove paralysis</i> worthless.</div>
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Anyway, on to <i>detect evil</i>. I think it's safe to say that this has always been a problem spell for D&D. I feel like its original intent was to detect supernatural evil, like evil spells and people who are possessed, that sort of thing. Somewhere along the way it became an all-purpose bad person detector, and a crutch for low-level parties to solve mysteries. (To be honest, the paladin ability is more problematic than the spell, being at-will, but the principle is the same.) I could be wrong about the above, but part of the purpose of this series is for me to fully explore the origins and development of each spell. It's good to go to the source, and explode any misconceptions I might have.</div>
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Alright, let's start with <i>detect evil</i>.</div>
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<b>ORIGINAL D&D (1974)</b></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<u>Detect Evil:</u><b> </b>A spell to detect evil thought or intent in any creature or evilly enchanted object. Note that poison, for example, is neither good nor evil.</div>
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Duration: 2 turns. Range: 6".</div>
</blockquote>
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This spell already starts off ambiguous, with its detection of "evil thought or intent". I wonder if this ambiguity was a result of there being no specifically evil alignment in OD&D? Anyway, to me it seems like the intention is that the spell will tell you if somebody or something means you harm. The above spell is the magic-user version, and a 2nd level spell; the cleric version is 1st level, and has a duration of 6 turns and a range of 12". It's also reversed for Chaotic clerics, with no explanation of what that means.</div>
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<b>HOLMES BASIC (1977)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Detect Evil</b> — Level 2; Range: 60 feet; Duration: 2 turns</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A spell to detect evil thought or evil intent in any creature or evilly enchanted object. Poison, however, is neither good nor evil.</div>
</blockquote>
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Holmes Basic doesn't change anything up here, except to convert 6" to 60 feet. The cleric spell has a range of 120 feet and a duration of 6 turns. The reverse of the spell is named as <i>detect good</i>, but that name is all that's given.</div>
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<b>B/X (1981)</b></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Detect Evil</b><br />
Range: 60'<br />
Duration: 2 turns </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
This spell can be used to detect evil intentions, or evilly enchanted objects within 60' causing the creatures or objects to glow. Actual thoughts are not detected; only the "feeling of evil". The exact definition of "evil" is left to each referee, and players should discuss this point so that all are in agreement; "Chaotic" is not always "evil". Poison and physical traps are neither good nor evil.</blockquote>
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Now the ambiguity intensifies, as the definition of evil is being specifically left up to the DM. The advice to discuss it with players is a sound one, but we're already off into the weeds with this spell. The clarification that it doesn't detect actual thoughts is a good one though. The cleric spell has the same increased range and duration, but is no longer reversible for some reason. I suppose when a spell is reversed to detect "good intentions" it's not so useful. The bit about the affected creatures glowing is an odd one as well. Is this a glow that everyone can see, or just the caster?</div>
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<b>BECMI (1983)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Evil</b><br />
Range: 60'<br />
Duration: 2 turns<br />
Effect: Everything within 60' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When this spell is cast, the magic-user will see all evilly enchanted objects within 60' glow. It will also cause creatures that want to harm the magic-user to glow when they are within range. The actual thoughts of the creatures cannot be heard. Remember that "Chaotic" does not automatically mean Evil, although many Chaotic monsters have evil intentions. Traps and poison are neither good nor evil, merely dangerous.</blockquote>
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Okay, this is a little better: it specifically detects evilly enchanted objects and creatures that mean the caster harm. Much less ambiguous, and much less likely to cause debates about the nature of evil. It even clarifies the glowing as something only the caster can see. As in previous editions, the cleric spell is better.<br />
<br />
<b>RULES CYCLOPEDIA (1991)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Evil</b><br />
Range: 60'<br />
Duration: 2 turns<br />
Effect: Everything within 60' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When this spell is cast, the spellcaster will see a glow surround all evilly-enchanted objects within 60'. It will also cause creatures that want to harm the spellcaster to glow when they are within range. The spell, however, does not allow the spellcaster to hear the actual thoughts of the creatures. Remember that Chaotic alignment is not automatically the same as evil, although many Chaotic monsters have evil intentions. Traps and poison are neither good nor evil, but merely dangerous.</blockquote>
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The Rules Cyclopedia follows BECMI's lead, without making any changes. The Basic line, as usual, has done a pretty good job of taking the OD&D spell and refining it, and in this case ironing out most of the ambiguities along the way.<br />
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<b>AD&D 1st EDITION (1978)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Detect Evil</b> (Divination) Reversible<br />
Level: 1<br />
Range: 12“<br />
Duration: 1 turn + ½ turn/level<br />
Area of Effect: 1" path<br />
Components: V, S, M<br />
Casting Time: 1 round<br />
Saving Throw: None </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Explanation/Description: This is a spell which discovers emanations of evil, or of good in the case of the reverse spell, from any creature or object. For example, evil alignment or an evilly cursed object will radiate evil, but a hidden trap or an unintelligent viper will not. The duration of a <i>detect evil </i>(or <i>detect good</i>) spell is 1 turn + ½ turn (5 rounds, or 5 minutes) per level of the cleric. Thus a cleric of 1st level of experience can cast a spell with a 1½ turn duration, at 2nd level a 2 turn duration, 2½ at 3rd, etc. The spell has a path of detection 1” wide in the direction in which the cleric is facing. It requires the use of the cleric’s holy (or unholy) symbol as its material component, with the cleric holding it before him or her.</blockquote>
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<div>
That's the cleric spell above; the magic-user spell is 2nd level, has a 6" range, a duration of 5 rounds/level, a casting time of 2, and doesn't require any material components. This is where the spell starts to detect actual alignment, and note that nothing is mentioned here about "evil intent". This is an alignment detector, plain and simple. It also has a much narrower focus, a 1" path rather than the 60' radius of the Basic version.</div>
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<div>
<b>AD&D 2nd EDITION (1989)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: blue;">Detect Evil</span></b> (Divination)<br />
Reversible </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sphere: All<br />
Range: 120 yards<br />
Components: V, S, M<br />
Duration: 1 turn + 5 rounds/level<br />
Casting Time: 1 round<br />
Area of Effect: 10-foot path<br />
Saving Throw: None </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This spell discovers emanations of evil, or of good in the case of the reverse spell, from any creature, object, or area. Character alignment, however, is revealed only under unusual circumstances: characters who are strongly aligned, who do not stray from their faith, and who are of at least 9th level might radiate good or evil <i>if intent upon appropriate actions.</i> Powerful monsters, such as rakshasas or ki-rin, send forth emanations of evil or good, even if polymorphed. Aligned undead radiate evil, for it is this power and negative force that enable them to continue existing. An evilly cursed object or unholy water radiates evil, but a hidden trap or an unintelligent viper does not. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The degree of evil (faint, moderate, strong, overwhelming) and possibly its general nature (expectant, malignant, gloating, etc.) can be noted. If the evil is overwhelming, the priest has a 10% chance per level of detecting its general bent (lawful, neutral, chaotic). The duration of a <i>detect evil</i> (or <i>detect good</i>) spell is one turn plus five rounds per level of the priest. Thus a priest of 1st experience level can cast a spell with a 15-round duration, at 2nd level he can cast a 20-round duration spell, etc. The spell has a path of detection 10 feet wide in the direction in which the priest is facing. The priest<br />
must concentrate - stop, have quiet, and intently seek to detect the aura - for at least one round to receive a reading. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The spell requires the use of the priest's holy symbol as its material component, with the priest holding it before him.</blockquote>
<br />
The magic-user spell has the same differences as in 1e. 2nd edition walks back the pure alignment detection of 1e, going back to detecting "intent". It even makes the spell completely unusable on characters of less than 9th level; there's definitely no solving low-level mysteries with this version. I like the specification of different types of monsters that register. The introduction of degrees of evil being detected is a little half-baked though, with no indication of how to judge it. As for the difference between expectant and malignant evil, your guess is as good as mine.<br />
<br />
Oh, I just noticed that the range is way high here. The Basic line converted OD&D's ranges of 6" and 12" into tens of feet, but 2e has gone with tens of yards. I know that movement rates and missile fire ranges are supposed to be converted into yards in the wilderness in AD&D, but does the same apply to spell ranges? I've always been iffy on that. It does seem like an absurdly long range to me.<br />
<br />
<b>AD&D 2nd EDITION REVISED (1995)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
There aren't any significant changes here.<br />
<br />
<b>D&D 3rd EDITION (2000)</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b><span style="color: blue;">Detect Evil</span></b><br />
Divination<br />
<b>Level:</b> Clr 1, Rgr 2<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S, DF<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> 60 ft.<br />
<b>Area:</b> Quarter circle emanating from you to the extreme of the range<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 10 minutes/level (D)<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> None<br />
<b>Spell Resistance:</b> No </blockquote>
<blockquote>
You can sense the presence of evil. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>1st Round:</i> Presence or absence of evil. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>2nd Round:</i> Number of evil auras (creatures, objects, or spells) in the area and the strength of the strongest evil aura present. If you are of good alignment, the strongest evil aura’s strength is "overwhelming" (see below), and the strength is at least twice your character level, you are stunned for 1 round and the spell ends. While you are stunned, you can’t act, you lose any Dexterity bonus to AC, and attackers gain +2 bonuses to attack you. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>3rd Round:</i> The strength and location of each aura. If an aura is outside your line of sight, then you discern its direction but not its exact location. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>Aura Strength:</b> An aura’s evil power and strength depend on the type of evil creature or object that you’re detecting and its HD, caster level, or (in the case of a cleric) class level. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Creature/Object</th>
<th>Evil Power</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Evil creature</td>
<td>HD / 5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Undead creature</td>
<td>HD / 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Evil elemental</td>
<td>HD / 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Evil magic item or spell</td>
<td>Caster level / 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Evil outsider</td>
<td>HD</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cleric of an evil deity</td>
<td>Level</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Evil Power</th>
<th>Aura Strength</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Lingering</td>
<td>Dim</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1 or less</td>
<td>Faint</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2–4</td>
<td>Moderate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5–10</td>
<td>Strong</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11+</td>
<td>Overwhelming</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If an aura falls into more than one strength category, the spell indicates the stronger of the two. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>Length Aura Lingers:</b> How long the aura lingers depends on its original strength: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Original Strength</th>
<th>Duration</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Faint</td>
<td>1d6 minutes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Moderate</td>
<td>1d6 x 10 minutes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strong</td>
<td>1d6 hours</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Overwhelming</td>
<td>1d6 days</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Remember that animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil; this<br />
spell does not detect them. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Note: Each round, you can turn to detect things in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.</blockquote>
<br />
Well, 3rd edition certainly took the "degrees of evil" bit from 2e and ran with it. And we're back to the spell being an alignment detector, with no hint of "evil intent" being a factor. In a big departure, the spell can't even be cast by wizards anymore, and the area has widened from a 10' line to a quarter circle. The range is back to feet, not yards.<br />
<br />
<b>D&D 3.5th EDITION (2003)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Only two rules changes are made in 3.5 that I can see: the spell is no longer available to rangers, and the numbers have been tweaked for how long evil auras linger. The tables for determining aura strength have been combined and greatly simplified in presentation, though. I can't be bothered doing the formatting right now, so I'll just link to <a href="https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/detectEvil.htm" target="_blank">the d20 SRD</a> if you want to check it out.<br />
<br />
<b>D&D 4th EDITION (2008)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I'm not entirely sure about this, but it looks to me as though this ability doesn't exist in any form in 4e. I can't say I blame them for getting rid of it.<br />
<br />
<b>D&D 5th EDITION (2014)</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: red;">DETECT EVIL AND GOOD</span></b><br />
<i>1st-level divination</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i></i><b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> Self<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 10 minutes </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For the duration, you know if there is an aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead within 30 feet of you, as well as where the creature is located. Similarly, you know if there is a place or object within 30 feet of you that has been magically consecrated or desecrated. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The spell can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 fool of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or'3 feet of wood or dirt.</blockquote>
<br />
The more I look at 5th edition spells, the more impressed I am by how much they cut away the bullshit. This spell isn't really <i>detect evil</i> though, at least not in any form it's had previously. It's not an alignment detector, and it's not an "evil intent" detector, but rather a spell to detect undead and extraplanar creatures. 4e ditched the original, and 5e brought it back in name only.<br />
<br />
<b>Nth EDITION</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Okay, so the first question I need to answer is this: what does this spell actually do? I'm going to start with the 3e version as a base, which means it detects evil as an alignment, but I don't want it to detect just regular folks. For the most part, it's going to work on outsiders, undead, and high-level clerics. For regular people, humanoids, etc, it will only register faint evil for those who specifically want to harm the caster. I feel like that covers pretty much all the uses of the spell outlined above.<br />
<br />
As in earlier editions, this will be a 1st level spell for clerics, and a 2nd level spell for magic-users. I'm only developing the game elements from OD&D at the moment, so I don't need to do anything for other classes yet. I won't bother with the better range and duration for clerics: I figure that getting it as a 1st-level spell is bonus enough.<br />
<br />
For the area of effect, I'm going with the 10 foot line rather than the cone, or the radius effect. I prefer this spell to be as tightly focused as possible.<br />
<br />
I thought about ditching the lingering aura stuff, but I kind of like it as a possible tracking method. It's an extra complication, but it's the sort of thing that's not going to come up very often.<br />
<br />
I've also simplified the whole bit about good clerics being stunned by overwhelming auras. 3e uses a formula to figure it out, but I've just boiled it down to a saving throw. Seems easier that way.<br />
<br />
The advanced version of the spell will look like this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Detect Evil / Detect Good</b><br />
Divination<br />
<b>Level:</b> Cleric 1, Magic-User 2<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S, (Cleric M)<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 round<br />
<b>Range:</b> 60 ft.<br />
<b>Area:</b> 10 ft. wide, 60 ft. long<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 10 minutes (D)<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> None<br />
<b>Magic Resistance:</b> No<br />
<br />
You can sense the presence of supernatural evil, and evil creatures that wish you harm. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject:<br />
<br />
<i>1st Round:</i> Presence or absence of evil. The following are detected: evil creatures that wish you harm; evil undead; evil extraplanar creatures; evil magic items or spells; high-level evil clerics (see below).<br />
<br />
<i>2nd Round:</i> Number of evil auras (creatures, objects, or spells) in the area and the power of the most potent evil aura present. If you are of good alignment, and the strongest evil aura’s power is overwhelming (see below), you must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to the HD or caster level) or be stunned for 1 round. This ends the detect evil spell.<br />
<br />
<i>3rd Round:</i> The power and location of each aura.<br />
<br />
<b>Aura Power:</b> An aura’s power depends on the type of evil creature or object that you’re detecting and its HD, caster level, or (in the case of a cleric) class level; see the accompanying table.<br />
<br />
If an aura falls into more than one strength category, the spell indicates the stronger of the two.<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Creature/Object</th>
<th>Faint</th>
<th>Moderate</th>
<th>Strong</th>
<th>Overwhelming</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Evil creatures that wish the caster harm</td>
<td>All</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>-</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Undead and extraplanar (HD)</td>
<td>1-2</td>
<td>3-6</td>
<td>7-12</td>
<td>13 or higher</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cleric of an evil deity* (class levels)</td>
<td>-</td>
<td>7-8</td>
<td>9-12</td>
<td>13 or higher</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Evil magic item or spell (caster level)</td>
<td>1-2</td>
<td>3-8</td>
<td>9-12</td>
<td>13 or higher</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
* Note that clerics of evil deities don't radiate an evil alignment until they gain the ability to cast 4th level spells (usually when they are 7th level)<br />
<br />
<b>Lingering Aura:</b> An evil aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (on the case of a creature or magic item). If detect evil is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power. Note that creatures who only register because they wish the caster harm leave no lingering aura.
<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Original Power</th>
<th>Duration of Lingering Aura</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Faint</td>
<td>1d6 rounds</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Moderate</td>
<td>1d6 minutes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Strong</td>
<td>1d6 hours</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Overwhelming</td>
<td>1d6 days</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil, and as such this spell does not detect them.<br />
<br />
Each round, you can turn to detect evil in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This spell is reversed as <i>detect good</i>. It works exactly as <i>detect evil</i>, but detects creatures and magic of good alignment. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Components:</i> A cleric requires their holy symbol to cast this spell.</blockquote>
<br />
For the simpler version of the spell for OD&D and Basic, I've stripped out the lingering auras and the stuff about aura power, as shown below. I also switch the alignment detection from evil to chaotic, as the Basic line has no evil alignment. In those games, chaotic pretty much equates to evil so it should work.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Detect Evil</b><br />
Divination<br />
<b>Level:</b> Cleric 1, Magic-User 2<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S, (Cleric M)<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 round<br />
<b>Range:</b> 60 ft.<br />
<b>Area:</b> 10 ft. wide, 60 ft. long<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Concentration, up to 10 minutes (D)<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> None<br />
<b>Magic Resistance:</b> No<br />
<br />
You can sense the presence of supernatural evil, and evil creatures that wish you harm. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject:<br />
<br />
<i>1st Round:</i> Presence or absence of evil. The following are detected: chaotic creatures that wish you harm; chaotic undead; chaotic extraplanar creatures; chaotic magic items or spells; high-level chaotic clerics (those capable of casting 4th-level spells).<br />
<br />
<i>2nd Round:</i> Number of evil auras (creatures, objects, or spells) in the area. If you are of lawful alignment, and the Hit Dice or caster level of the strongest aura is 13 or more, you must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to the HD or caster level) or be stunned for 1 round. This ends the <i>detect evil</i> spell.<br />
<br />
<i>3rd Round:</i> The location of each aura.<br />
<br />
Animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil, and as such this spell does not detect them.<br />
<br />
Each round, you can turn to detect evil in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This spell is reversed as <i>detect good</i>. It works exactly as <i>detect evil</i>, but detects creatures and magic of lawful alignment. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Components:</i> A cleric requires their holy symbol to cast this spell.</blockquote>
<br />
<b>NEXT:</b> Next time (probably Monday) I'll be looking at <i>detect magic</i>.</div>
</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-81692778814648371322020-07-08T06:03:00.001-07:002020-07-08T06:03:38.913-07:00Building the Sandbox: The G-Series modules<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm looking for a quick post tonight, so I've chosen the G-Series modules, which shouldn't take too long to place in the campaign. I've said that before, when I looked at the S-series, and that post took me ages to write, but I'm confident I can knock this one out pretty quickly.</div>
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<b>G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByM_QdXhpC-YjbnjvX8KNCVbd_bE65GFW7Lqot8eXV5_-w5cQD-flj3xK5z5zUOaYw_VgyAtC_cUJQ4NhA5jFvlZVFCPDskHw1Hp9tKD7dG-Hoq7iyUiLO10Eq1juJ9D9FCJgNQ/s1600/11929815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByM_QdXhpC-YjbnjvX8KNCVbd_bE65GFW7Lqot8eXV5_-w5cQD-flj3xK5z5zUOaYw_VgyAtC_cUJQ4NhA5jFvlZVFCPDskHw1Hp9tKD7dG-Hoq7iyUiLO10Eq1juJ9D9FCJgNQ/s320/11929815.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The premise for this one is pretty simple: bands of giants have been raiding the "lands of men", and the PCs have been tasked with taking the fight to them, starting with the Hill Giants. The party are supposedly supposed to return and "face the headsman's axe" if they fail to deal with the Hill Giants, which is certainly something I'd make optional. Maybe I'd use that if they somehow got thrown in jail while in the nations being threatened (mostly Sterich and the Yeomanry). The steading of the Hill Giants isn't given a specific location in the original module as far as I can tell. The <i>World of Greyhawk</i> boxed set places it within the Jotens, a spur of mountains just north of the Yeomanry. The <i>GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders </i>compilation module places it in the Jotens as well, so everything is satisfyingly consistent so far.</div>
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<b>G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbuHcKSVXpAN9KWfbp472VJ4fkXjSPLf_pVRUN8sFqmA8zKMbXmIladanOWhoROqE769bwanTmZG8PddUJoUOpYBli8gJ9pjyfOTv_lMF6nFY6C3N2RjKnoV1mN8UAWNaeOaWYw/s1600/download+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="197" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbuHcKSVXpAN9KWfbp472VJ4fkXjSPLf_pVRUN8sFqmA8zKMbXmIladanOWhoROqE769bwanTmZG8PddUJoUOpYBli8gJ9pjyfOTv_lMF6nFY6C3N2RjKnoV1mN8UAWNaeOaWYw/s320/download+%25282%2529.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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The following adventure takes the PCs to the icy rift of the Frost Giants, said in the original module to be "some dozens of leagues north and west" of the Hill Giant steading. <i>World of Greyhawk</i> contradicts this by placing it to the southwest, in the Crystalmist Mountains. <i>Queen of the Spiders</i> is consistent with the latter placement, so I guess that's what I'll have to go with. It does seem odd for this module not to be the northernmost of the three, though.</div>
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<b>G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXP-4SPHY_nCczPhvrJF9SJ7LeMoZvh7qrPyAu8SRtAfTUO7xYQTRvC5A9oiw3rjggTsagzqmibBB0DHpg0pTsWHGS5oJtMxAp9V12vl6I44Hvr9IxJiA74yF0FRsXgWJ5P4kOGA/s1600/add-g1-4th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1238" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXP-4SPHY_nCczPhvrJF9SJ7LeMoZvh7qrPyAu8SRtAfTUO7xYQTRvC5A9oiw3rjggTsagzqmibBB0DHpg0pTsWHGS5oJtMxAp9V12vl6I44Hvr9IxJiA74yF0FRsXgWJ5P4kOGA/s320/add-g1-4th.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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The final module in this series, before it transitions into the D-series, sees the PCs taking the fight to the Fire Giants. The Fire Giant Hall isn't situated in the original module, but as usual <i>World of Greyhawk</i> has us covered: it's southeast of the last adventure, in the mountain range known as the Hellfurnaces. Again, <i>Queen of the Spiders</i> keeps this consistent, which is what I like to see. I'm already irritated by the discrepancy in the placement of <i>G2</i>, I don't need any more inconsistencies creeping in.</div>
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<b>GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkGL38Bub0m62bLsTvt5Gy2WJZ1SVJYtAXiqFn2wHnR1NXsLUYe7IK484Xb3ZpKYEUETs8PKKf7Z10v6zLi8b_3fwkUzes8cr7cTkYnmsRpD0sYEGLEE3bh9grvY1OQ1eVqq5Ng/s1600/GDQ1-7QueenSpidersCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="232" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkGL38Bub0m62bLsTvt5Gy2WJZ1SVJYtAXiqFn2wHnR1NXsLUYe7IK484Xb3ZpKYEUETs8PKKf7Z10v6zLi8b_3fwkUzes8cr7cTkYnmsRpD0sYEGLEE3bh9grvY1OQ1eVqq5Ng/s320/GDQ1-7QueenSpidersCover.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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I do need to quickly note <i>Queen of the Spiders</i>, which is a compilation and expansion of the G-series, D-series, and <i>Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits.</i> The module is part of a mega-campaign of sorts that ties it together with <i>T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil</i> and <i>A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords</i>. <i>Queen of the Spiders</i> positions the drow as the masterminds behind the Slave Lords as well as the Giants. Clues found after the defeat of the Slave Lords will lead the PCs to Sterich, where they will find that the nation is being ravaged by giants. There's also the matter of a large black dome that's appeared over the city of Istivin, which is actually a growing portal that the drow goddess Lolth plans to use to invade Oerth.</div>
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I'll include all of this stuff, but only if the PCs don't deal with the giants and drow earlier in the campaign; I do want to introduce things in some sort of rough publication order. I'll have the PCs hear stories about the giant attacks, and leave it up to them as to whether they want to deal with the problem. If they don't get around to it, and I end up running <i>T1-4</i> and <i>A1-4</i> before anyone defeats the drow, then I'll run the G-series using the set-up here. It's also very possible that PCs might beat the G-series without bothering to venture into the D-series, in which case I'd have to find a way to segue from <i>A1-4</i> into <i>D1</i> (possibly by inserting a Stone Giant adventure into the mix).</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-46861655814744385452020-07-06T02:57:00.000-07:002020-07-09T00:31:24.136-07:00Perusals & Progressions: Cure Light Wounds<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ever since the advent of 4th edition D&D, I've been thinking about designing a version of the game that's more to my liking. I'd become disillusioned with 3rd edition at the time, not so much because of how it plays at the table, but because of how taxing it can be to prepare material for. If 4th edition had been mostly the same as 3e but with a streamlining on the DM side of things, I'd probably still be engaged with the current game. 5th edition was a step in the right direction, but it has far too many breaks with D&D tradition for me to get on board with it. What I really want, and have wanted for some time now, is a stable version of the game that mixes the traditional elements of TSR D&D with the mechanics of 3rd and 5th edition, and does so in a way that I find easy to prep for. I've known for a long time that the only way that was ever going to happen was if I knuckled down and did the work. I've been thinking about it for a long time, but it's only recently that I've had time to properly work on it.</div>
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As I've mentioned before, I'm calling this project D&D Nth Edition. My main goal for Nth Edition is to create a version of the game that I'm happy with, and a big part of that is making it scale backwards and forwards to emulate different eras of the game. Those eras would be Original, Basic D&D, Advanced D&D, and "Modern" D&D (3rd through 5th edition).</div>
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Probably the most time-consuming part of the whole process will be working out the details for spells and monsters. I feel like I've nailed the core rules down at this point, and I'm currently working on the spell list, starting with the spells from Original D&D. To do this I've been looking at each spell edition by edition, seeing how they progressed and developed over the years, and then taking the elements I like to create a version of the spell that works how I want it to. And I figured if I'm doing the work, I might as well blog about it. (At this point I should shout out to <a href="http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/">deltasdnd.blogspot.com</a> and <a href="http://www.paulsgameblog.com/">www.paulsgameblog.com</a>, both of whom have done a series of "Spells Through the Ages" posts. Those guys are a definite inspiration, and I've used a bunch of their ideas in my own games and designs.)</div>
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I'm starting this series with <i>cure light wounds</i>, the staple of the cleric spell list. There are 12 editions of D&D that I'll be looking at for this series: the 1974 Original D&D boxed set, Holmes Basic, Moldvay Basic (B/X), Mentzer Basic (BECMI), the Rules Cyclopedia, AD&D 1st edition, AD&D 2nd edition, the revised 2nd edition books from the mid-90s, D&D 3rd edition, D&D 3.5, D&D 4th edition, and D&D 5th edition. At the end of this process, I aim to distill the elements from all those editions into versions of the spell that are broadly compatible but fit in with the four eras of D&D that I'm trying to emulate with Nth Edition. Aside from that, it's an excuse to see how these things developed over the years, which is something I'm always fascinated by.</div>
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So, with that excessive preamble out of the way, let's look at the history of <i>cure light wounds</i>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>ORIGINAL D&D (1974)</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Cure Light Wounds:</b> During the course of one full turn this spell will remove hits from a wounded character (including elves, dwarves, etc.). A die is rolled, one pip added, and the resultant total subtracted from the hits points the character has taken. Thus from 2-7 hit points of damage can be removed.</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
This is pretty self-explanatory, although the talk of it removing hits rather than restoring hit points is odd from a modern perspective. It should also be noted that the use of turns (spanning 10 minutes) and rounds (spanning 1 minute) was a bit muddled in OD&D, and that most of the time when turns are mentioned in the spell descriptions it probably should read as 1 minute rounds.<br />
<br />
<i>Cure light wounds</i> is noted as having a reverse effect when cast by clerics of chaotic alignment, but the specifics are left pretty vague.<br />
<br />
<b>HOLMES BASIC (1977)</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Cure Light Wounds</b> — Level: clerical 1; Range: 0<br />
During the course of one melee round this spell will heal damage done to a character, including elves, dwarves and hobbits. A die is rolled and 1 is added to it; the result is the number of hit points restored (2-7). The zero range means the cleric must touch the wounded person to heal him.</blockquote>
<br />
Holmes Basic clarifies the rounds/turns issue, specifies that hobbits can be healed with the spell, and adds the requirement that the cleric must touch the recipient. It also names the reversed version of the spell as <i>cause light wounds</i>, but gives no further details.<br />
<br />
<b>B/X (1981)</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Cure Light Wounds*</b><br />
Range: 0<br />
Duration: permanent </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This spell will heal 2-7 points (1d6+1) of damage done to any living creature (character or monster) when the cleric touches the individual. This spell may also be used to cure paralysis, but will not then cure any points of damage. The spell may be cast on the cleric's own body. The spell's effect will not, in any case, increase a creature's hit point total to more than the normal amount. EXAMPLE: Tars the fighter normally has 6 hp. In a battle with goblins, he takes 5 points of damage. Gantry the cleric casts a <b>cure light wounds</b> spell on him during the battle, and rolls a 6 on the die, which cures up to 7 points of damage. Tars is restored to his original total of 6 hp, but the 2 extra points are wasted.</blockquote>
<br />
Aside from the obvious clarifications that the cleric can cast the spell on themselves, and that healing can never exceed the recipient's max hp, the main addition here is the ability to cure paralysis. The spell is still reversed by chaotic clerics, but the explanation for that has been punted off to the Expert rules. Here's what they say on the matter:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cure Light Wounds:</b> When reversed, this spell (<b>cause light wounds</b>) will do 2-7 points of damage to any creature or character touched. The cleric must roll to hit the opponent in normal combat.</blockquote>
<br />
It's pretty much what's implied by reversing <i>cure light wounds</i>, with the required attack roll being the only part that might not be obvious.<br />
<br />
<b>BECMI (1983)</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Cure Light Wounds*</b><br />
Range: Touch<br />
Duration: Permanent<br />
Effect: Any one living creature </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This spell will either heal damage or remove paralysis. If used to heal, it will cure 2-7 (1d6+1) points of damage. It will not heal any damage if used to cure paralysis. The cleric may cast it on himself (or herself) if desired. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This spell will never increase a creature's total hit points above the original amount. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
EXAMPLE: Your first fighter started with 8 hit points. You were damaged in the battle with the snake, down to 4 hit points. Aleena cast a <b>Cure Light Wounds</b> spell and touched you. She rolled a 6, curing a total of 7 points of damage, but your hit points returned to 8, the amount you started with. The "extra" 3 points were not counted.</blockquote>
<br />
No changes here. As in B/X, <i>cause light wounds</i> is dealt with in the Expert rules.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cure Light Wounds*</b><br />
When reversed, this spell, <i>cause light wounds</i>, causes 2-7 points of damage to any creature touched (no Saving Throw). The cleric must make a normal Hit roll.</blockquote>
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Again, no changes, but it's clarified that the spell doesn't have a saving throw.<br />
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<b>RULES CYCLOPEDIA (1991)</b><br />
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<blockquote>
<b>Cure Light Wounds*</b><br />
Range: Touch<br />
Duration: Permanent<br />
Effect: Any one living creature </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This spell either heals damage or removes paralysis. If used to heal, it can cure 2-7 (1d6 + l) points of damage. It cannot heal damage if used to cure paralysis. The cleric may cast it on himself if desired. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This spell cannot increase a creature's total hit points above the original amount. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
When reversed, this spell, <i>cause light wounds</i>, causes 1d6 + l (2-7) points of damage to any creature or character touched (no saving throw is allowed). The cleric must make a normal attack roll to inflict this damage.</blockquote>
<br />
This is the end of the Basic line's development of <i>cure light wounds</i>, and it's remarkably consistent. In general, the Basic line tends to build on Original D&D without making huge changes, in contrast to the sweeping changes of the AD&D lineage (and the scorched earth policies of modern D&D). Aside from clarifications, the only change made to the spell from OD&D was the addition of the ability to cure paralysis.<br />
<br />
That's the Basic line done, pretty much. I'm aware that there were revisions of the line in the mid-90s, but I kind of consider the <i>Rules Cyclopedia</i> to be its culmination. Now let's take a look at how the AD&D line handled it.<br />
<br />
<b>AD&D 1st EDITION (1978)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cure Light Wounds</b> (Necromantic) Reversible<br />
Level: 1<br />
Range: Touch<br />
Duration: Permanent<br />
Area of Effect: Character touched<br />
Components: V, S<br />
Casting Time: 5 segments<br />
Saving Throw: None </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Explanation/Description: Upon laying his or her hand upon a creature, the cleric causes from 1 to 8 hit points of wound or other injury damage to the creature's body to be healed. This healing will not affect creatures without corporeal bodies, nor will it cure wounds of creatures not living or those which can be harmed only by iron, silver, and/or magical weapons. Its reverse, <i>cause light wounds</i>, operates in the same manner; and if a person is avoiding this touch, a melee combat "to hit" die is rolled to determine if the cleric's hand strikes the opponent and causes such a wound. Note that cured wounds are permanent only insofar as the creature does not sustain further damage, and that caused wounds will heal - or can be cured - just as any normal injury will. Caused light wounds are 1 to 8 hit points of damage.</blockquote>
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There's plenty of added complexity to unpack here. The first thing is that magic is now divided into schools, and <i>cure light wounds</i> is grouped under necromancy. This makes a certain logical sense if you define necromancy as being magic that plays around with life force, but it doesn't feel quite right to lump healing in with traditionally evil magic.<br />
<br />
Casting time is a thing now, in segments no less, and spells now have spell components divided into (V)erbal, (S)omatic and (M)aterial: V and S mean that the caster must be free to speak and make gestures to cast the spell.<br />
<br />
The main change here is that the spell now heals 1d8 damage rather than 1d6+1. It's also interesting to note what was deemed important to clarify in Basic and in AD&D. Basic deals with a lot of things that are probably common sense but should still be spelled out for the sake of rules clarity, whereas AD&D gets into things such as specific creature types that can't be affected by the spell. I was especially surprised by the note that it doesn't work on creatures that are immune to normal weapons; I've read the <i>PHB</i> multiple times, but I'd forgotten this bit.<br />
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<b>AD&D 2nd EDITION (1989)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cure Light Wounds</b> (Necromancy)<br />
Reversible </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sphere: Healing<br />
Range: Touch<br />
Components: V, S<br />
Duration: Permanent<br />
Casting Time: 5<br />
Area of Effect: Creature touched<br />
Saving Throw: None </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When casting this spell and laying his hand upon a creature, the priest causes 1d8<br />
points of wound or other injury damage to the creature’s body to be healed. This healing<br />
cannot affect creatures without corporeal bodies, nor can it cure wounds of creatures not living or of extraplanar origin. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The reversed spell, <i>cause light wounds</i>, operates in the same manner, inflicting 1d8 points of damage. If a creature is avoiding this touch, an attack roll is needed to determine if the priest’s hand strikes that opponent and causes such a wound. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Curing is permanent only insofar as the creature does not sustain further damage; caused wounds will heal - or can be cured - just as any normal injury.</blockquote>
<br />
In addition to magical schools, cleric spells are now sorted into spheres. The only other change is that the bit from 1st edition about the spell not affecting creatures immune to normal weapons has been simplified, and now applies to creatures of extraplanar origin.<br />
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<b>AD&D 2nd EDITION REVISED (1995)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I won't reproduce this version, because it's pretty much identical except for some very minor changes to wording.<br />
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<b>D&D 3rd EDITION (2000)</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cure Light Wounds </b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b></b>Conjuration (Healing)<br />
<b>Level:</b> Brd 1, Clr 1, Drd 1, Healing 1, Pal 1, Rgr 2<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> Touch<br />
<b>Target:</b> Creature touched<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Instantaneous<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> Will half (harmless) (see text)<br />
<b>Spell Resistance:</b> Yes (harmless) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When laying your hand upon a living creature, you channel positive energy that cures 1d8 points of damage +1 point per caster level (up to +5). </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Since undead are powered by negative energy, this spell deals damage to them instead of curing their wounds. An undead creature can attempt a Will save to take half damage.</blockquote>
<br />
The basics of the spell are the same, although the +1 additional healing per level is new, as is the wrinkle about the spell damaging undead. It looks like extraplanar creatures can once more be healed with this spell, however. It's also been taken out of the necromancy school, and shifted over to conjuration. It's also no longer reversible by evil/chaotic clerics, and the two effects have been split into separate spells.<br />
<br />
It should also be noted that in 3rd edition, good clerics can swap out any prepared spell for <i>cure light wounds</i>, and evil clerics can do the same with <i>inflict light wounds</i>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Inflict Light Wounds</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b></b>Necromancy<br />
<b>Level: </b>Clr 1, Destruction 1<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S<br />
<b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> Touch<br />
<b>Target:</b> Creature touched<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Instantaneous<br />
<b>Saving Throw:</b> Will half<br />
<b>Spell Resistance:</b> Yes </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When laying your hand upon a creature, you channel negative energy that deals 1d8 points of damage +1 point per caster level (up to +5). </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Since undead are powered by negative energy, this spell cures them of a like amount of damage, rather than harming them.</blockquote>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Cause light wounds</i> has become <i>inflict light wounds</i>. This one remains in the necromancy school, which is appropriate, and is otherwise the opposite of <i>cure light wounds</i>.<br />
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<b>D&D 3.5th EDITION (2003)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Aside from some minor wording changes and a clarification that undead get to use their spell resistance against <i>cure light wounds</i> in addition to saving throws, this version is the same as in 3rd edition.<br />
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<b>D&D 4th EDITION (2008)</b><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cure Light Wounds </b>Cleric Utility 2 </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You utter a simple prayer and gain the power to instantly heal wounds, and your touch momentarily suffuses you or a wounded creature with a dim silver light. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Daily ✦ Divine, Healing<br />Standard Action<br />Melee</b> touch<br />
<b>Target:</b> You or one creature </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Effect:</b> The target regains hit points as if it had spent a healing surge.</blockquote>
<br />
A complete overhaul. It's the same spell in name and in spirit, but the specifics are completely different. If I understand correctly, a healing surge restores a quarter of the recipient's hit points, so this one's a lot more effective than the standard 1d6+1 that this spell began as. I don't think that <i>cause/inflict light wounds</i> got converted to 4e, unless I've missed something.<br />
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<b>D&D 5th EDITION (2014)</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Cure Wounds</b><br />
<i>1st-level evocation</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i></i><b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> Touch<br />
<b>Components:</b> V,S<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Instantaneous </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A creature you touch regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>At Higher Levels.</b> When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st.</blockquote>
<br />
Despite the name change, we're back to something more closely resembling the older versions of the spell. As with most spells in 5e it's been made so that it can scale upwards when cast at a higher level. Undead are back to being unaffected, as are constructs (although I guess they were previously covered by the "living" requirement). Having previously been in the necromancy and conjuration schools, <i>cure wounds</i> is now classed as an evocation spell.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Inflict Wounds</b><br />
<i>1st level necromancy</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i></i><b>Casting Time:</b> 1 action<br />
<b>Range:</b> Touch<br />
<b>Components:</b> V, S<br />
<b>Duration:</b> Instantaneous </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Make a melee spell attack against a creature you can reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d10 necrotic damage.<br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">At Higher Levels.</i> When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 1st.</blockquote>
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In terms of damage dealt, this has very much moved away from being the opposite to <i>cure wounds</i>.<br />
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<b>D&D Nth EDITION</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The first thing I can definitely say is that I'm keeping the name as <i>cure light wounds</i>; when names conflict across editions, you can generally assume that I'll go with the one that was used in the versions of D&D that I grew up with. That also means that I'm going with <i>cause light wounds</i> rather than <i>inflict light wounds</i>. To me it rolls off the tongue better, and I like the alliteration between <i>cure light wounds</i> and <i>cause light wounds</i>.<br />
<br />
Basic D&D gave this spell the ability to cure paralysis, but I'm going to ditch that. <i>Remove paralysis</i> is its own spell in 2nd and 3rd edition, and I don't want to step on that spell's toes.<br />
<br />
Over the years, <i>cure light wounds </i>has been in three schools of magic: necromancy, conjuration and evocation. I'm ruling necromancy out right away for thematic reasons. Conjuration always seemed more to me about summoning creatures and objects rather than forms of energy, so it doesn't strike me as appropriate either. Evocation is about the manipulation of energy, so it seems like the best fit.<br />
<br />
I'm not going to split <i>cure</i> and <i>cause light wounds</i> into separate spells, as I'm using the reversed spells for good and evil clerics. I also like the bit about the spells having the opposite effect on the undead. As for other creatures that aren't affected by the spell, I'm going to go by creature type rather than using the 1st edition bit about creatures only affected by silver and magical weapons. The types I'd exclude are constructs, extraplanar creatures, and incorporeal creatures.<br />
<br />
3rd edition gives a saving throw against <i>cause light wounds</i>, which lowers the damage, but I'm going to leave that out. It already requires an attack roll from the caster, so the target's AC is already it's saving throw, really.<br />
<br />
Casting time ranges from 5 segments in 1e and 2e, to 1 action in more modern versions of D&D. I'm taking a much more simplified approach to casting times: unless a spell takes more than a round to cast, the casting time will be the level of the spell. I tend to prefer rules that I can instantly recall at the table, without looking at a book. So <i>cure light wounds</i> will have a casting time of 1.<br />
<br />
As for the 5th edition system of scaling the spell upwards by using higher level slots, I don't have enough experience with it to have a concrete opinion. I'm erring away from using it, because it appears to swing D&D's Vancian system a little closer to a spell point system. I could be swayed if I played some more 5e, though, assuming the system works well.<br />
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With the above in mind, here's what the Nth edition <i>cure light wounds</i> entry will look like.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Cure Light Wounds / Cause Light Wounds</b><br />
Evocation / Necromancy </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Level: Cleric 1<br />
Components: V, S<br />
Casting Time: 1<br />
Range: Touch<br />
Target: Creature touched<br />
Duration: Instantaneous<br />
Saving Throw: None<br />
Magic Resistance: Yes </blockquote>
<blockquote>
When laying hands upon a living creature, the cleric channels positive energy that cures 1d8 points of damage, +1 per caster level (maximum +5). This healing will not affect incorporeal creatures, extraplanar creatures, or constructs, nor will it cure the wounds of those that are not living. The cleric can cast this spell upon their own body if desired. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The reverse, <i>cause light wounds</i>, operates in the same manner, inflicting 1d8 points of damage to the creature touched, +1 per caster level (maximum +5). If the target is avoiding this touch, a melee attack roll is required by the cleric to inflict the damage. Creatures immune to <i>cure light wounds</i> are also unaffected by <i>cause light wounds.</i> <i>Cause light wounds</i> is a necromancy spell, whereas <i>cure light wounds</i> is an evocation spell. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Since undead are powered by negative energy, this spell operates in reverse against them: <i>cure light wounds</i> damages them, and <i>cause light wounds</i> cures them.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
EDIT: I had a look at <i>remove paralysis</i>, and that spell is an area effect that removes paralysis from multiple creatures. I'm trying to keep the functionality from as many different versions of the spells as possible, so I'm actually going to allow this spell to remove paralysis from one creature touched, in lieu of restoring hit points. I don't think that steps on the toes of <i>remove paralysis </i>at all, as that's still a far more effective spell.</blockquote>
<br />
The above would be the entry for the Nth Edition emulations of AD&D and Modern D&D; for Original and Basic, it would be the same, except that the range healed/inflicted would be 1d6+1, without the extra +1 per level. It makes the entry a little more complex than I'd like for OD&D and Basic, but I'll sacrifice a little simplicity for consistency across versions.<br />
<br />
<b>NEXT:</b> For my next post on this series I'm going to tackle <i>detect evil</i>, which has always been a problematic one for me. I expect I'll be changing things up a bit more extensively for that one.</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-12556951567253787132020-06-19T10:47:00.000-07:002020-06-19T10:47:24.756-07:00Recaps & Roundups part 68: Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EwgW_PcU5qBZynHOLelOeiVwtR1kirDE-xdj7KoPT08A1PLlrZDRvlc1DYtdFKLQ0aiMW9PnELWC8ShdamUBIsqzwrgaKUBhWRNPZrtulcw88V3cUUDTI15YlntGg4ycmizMPA/s1600/holmes_basic_box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EwgW_PcU5qBZynHOLelOeiVwtR1kirDE-xdj7KoPT08A1PLlrZDRvlc1DYtdFKLQ0aiMW9PnELWC8ShdamUBIsqzwrgaKUBhWRNPZrtulcw88V3cUUDTI15YlntGg4ycmizMPA/s400/holmes_basic_box.jpg" width="322" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Box art by Dave Sutherkand</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The D&D basic set was the beginning of a new era for the game, one where TSR was upping their production values and shooting for wider mass market success. A big part of that process was the development of <i>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</i>, but prior to that it was decided that the game needed a more introductory rule-set. These rules - which only cover player character levels 1 to 3 - were written by John Eric Holmes, a professor of neurology, and are mostly a revision of the original <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> booklets (with some stuff thrown in from <i>Supplement I: Greyhawk</i>).</div>
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Initially, the boxed set came with a rules booklet, a copy of <i>Dungeon Geomorphs Set One</i>, a copy of <i>Monster & Treasure Assortment Set One</i>, and a set of dice. Later printings swapped out the <i>Geomorphs</i> and <i>Monster & Treasure Assortment</i> for the module <i>B1 In Search of the Unknown</i>, and much later that was replaced by <i>B2 The Keep on the Borderlands</i>. There were also the infamous numbered cardboard chits, which replaced the dice when TSR were having a shortage.</div>
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I already covered this product, starting all the way <a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2010/06/d-basic-set-part-1.html" target="_blank">back here</a>. Check those posts out for a more in-depth look at the product. (Although maybe ignore the stuff at the beginning about resetting the rules via an adventurer's guild, because I'm not planning on doing that kind of "rules progression" campaign, at least not in the way I was originally.) Here I'm just going to quickly run through the new additions to the game, mostly to remind myself of the things I need to incorporate for the Ultimate Sandbox.</div>
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<b>NEW RULES & RULE CHANGES</b></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">The first racial ability score requirements (for dwarves and halflings) in an official product.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Elves now specifically operate as fighters and magic-users simultaneously (not having to switch classes between adventures as they did in OD&D).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The halfling missile bonus is clarified as +1 to attack rolls. (Previously the rule had referred back to Chainmail, but what was in Chainmail made little sense with D&D's combat system.)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Halfling fighters only get 1d6 hit die, as opposed to the standard 1d8.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Halflings are specifically limited in size of weapons and armour. I don't think this had been mentioned before.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">While I'm on the subject of halflings, this is the first D&D product that consistently uses halfling instead of hobbit. As I understand it, this was the result of legal action from the Tolkien estate, and we won't be seeing the use of the word hobbit from this point forward.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The rates for healing are now different. In OD&D a character healed 1 hit point per day of rest after the first, but here they heal 1-3 points per day</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Spears now cost 2 gold pieces instead of 1.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Tinderboxes have been added to the equipment list.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A specific price is given for advertising to hire henchmen (1d6 x 100 gp).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The five-point alignment system from <i>The Dragon #6</i> is used for the first time in an official D&D product. The alignments are neutral, lawful good, chaotic good, lawful evil and chaotic evil.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A simplified, rudimentary encumbrance system is introduced, where characters are either unencumbered, encumbered by armour or a heavy load, or encumbered by both.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Durations are given for lanterns and torches.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Infravision is clarified as not working near a light source.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The chance for surprised characters to drop items is lowered from 25% to 1-in-6.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Wandering monsters are now checked for at end of every third turn, rather than every turn, a drastic drop in frequency.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The starting distance for encounters is changed from 20-80 to 20-120.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Monsters (at least the ones appearing on the wandering monster charts) are given ranges for number appearing that are much more manageable than those from OD&D.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The wandering monster tables for dungeons are altered, mostly to get rid of the various classed NPCs and the monsters that Holmes didn't give any stats.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The monster reaction roll table is altered, with results for rolls of 2 and 12 being "immediate attack" and "enthusiastic friendship", respectively.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Turning undead is greatly clarified, with an actual explanation of how it works presented alongside the chart.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Clerics seemingly no longer use spell books, as they were said to do in OD&D.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Thieves used to use the magic-user table for saving throws, but now they use the fighter table.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Normal men were previously as good in battle as 1st level fighters, but now they've been a little downgraded.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The use of flaming oil in combat gets specific (and very lethal) rules.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The use of holy water on undead gets specific rules.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Combat rounds last for 10 seconds, rather than 1 minute.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Parrying rules are given that are different from those in Chainmail.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">There are rules introduced that allow daggers to strike twice in a round, and limit heavier weapons like polearms and two-handed swords to striking once every other round. Every weapons does 1d6 damage, so there's no reason at all with this system to choose anything other than a dagger.</li>
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<b>NEW SPELLS & CHANGED SPELLS</b></div>
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There are a bunch of minor changes to spells, but here I'm only listing the more significant ones.</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">The following 1st level magic-user spells make their debut: <i>dancing lights, enlargement</i> and <i>Tenser's floating disc</i>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The following 2nd level magic-user spells make their debut: <i>audible glamer </i>and <i>ray of enfeeblement.</i></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The following 1st level cleric spells make their debut: <i>remove fear, resist cold, know alignment, </i>and <i>resist fire.</i></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i>Light</i> is given a range of 120', whereas before it didn't have a range.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i>Magic missile</i> requires an attack roll to hit, whereas most later versions of D&D make it hit automatically.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i>Protection from evil's</i> bonuses stack with magic armor, whereas before that was specifically not the case.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i>Sleep</i> is given a duration of either 4-16 turns or 2-8 turns (both are used.) It previously had no duration specified.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The radius of <i>continual light</i> has dropped from 240 ft. to a much saner 60 ft.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The <i>strength</i> spell bonuses are now reversed for clerics and thieves; originally, clerics got a 1d6 bonus and thieves got a 1d4 bonus.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i>Hold person</i> is clarified as a paralysis spell, whereas before it could be interpreted as a variation on <i>charm person</i>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The reversed spells for evil clerics now get specific names: <i>cure light wounds</i> becomes <i>cause light wounds</i>, <i>detect evil</i> becomes <i>detect good</i>, <i>light</i> becomes <i>darkness</i>, <i>purify food and water</i> becomes <i>contaminate food and water</i>, <i>remove fear</i> becomes <i>cause fear</i>, and <i>bless</i> becomes <i>curse</i>.</li>
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<b>MONSTERS</b></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Pretty much every monster's alignment gets changed from OD&D to the Basic Set, due to the use of the new alignment system. There are also a bunch of smaller statistical changes that I'm not going to bother listing here. I went through those pretty exhaustively in my initial posts on the Basic Set.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Zombies are said to be poisoned by salt. Curiously, this line (under "Monster Saving Throws") is in my PDF version of the rules, but not my actual copy of the book. It must have been removed from later printings. I might keep it in mind for specific types of zombies.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Kobolds are described as dwarf-like, which is more mythologically correct than the D&D-style dog-men. They also get a saving throw bonus that's not seen in other versions of the game.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Weresharks are mentioned as a possibility (and said to come from "Polynesia"), but sadly no stats are given.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The sight of a mummy can now paralyse, which isn't something I recall from other editions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Pixie royalty are said to be powerful magic-users.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Zombies are upgraded from 1 Hit Die to 2 Hit Dice. (Although I think that the OD&D tables could be interpreted as 2.)</li>
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<b>TREASURE AND MAGIC ITEMS</b></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">The value of electrum pieces are set at half a gold piece. Previously they had been valued at either half or double of one gold piece.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Treasure Types J through T are added, which mostly give much smaller results than the earlier types.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">There's a <i>cursed sword -1</i> on the chart, whereas I'm pretty sure the only previous cursed sword had been a <i>cursed sword +1</i>. That might have been a typo.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Magic swords are no longer all intelligent.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The <i>ring of plant control</i> makes its debut.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The <i>ring of protection</i> grants an Armor Class of 2, which is a very generous interpretation of the OD&D rules.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><i>Gauntlets of ogre power</i> get specific powers, adding a bonus of 2d4 to damage.</li>
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<b>STUFF FOR ME TO ADD TO THE ULTIMATE SANDBOX</b></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Malchor the Magic-User is an NPC who has an Intelligence score of 10. In addition to his normal garb (boots, loincloth, robes, girdle, pointy hat), he bought the following gear with his starting gold: 2 daggers, a backpack, a large sack, some rope, standard rations, 2 small sacks, 12 iron spikes, a quart of wine, 2 oil flasks, 2 vials of holy water, a garlic bud, some wolvesbane, a waterskin, a tinderbox and a lantern. He had 20 gold pieces left over. He is able to cast the <i>sleep</i> spell.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Drego the Thief is another NPC named. He is 1st level. At one point he failed to pick a lock, and at another he successfully hid in the shadows of a dark corridor while a party of evil warriors passed by.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Bruno the Battler is another NPC, a fighter. He has a Dexterity of 13, wields a sword, wears chainmail and shield, uses a bow, and has 6 hit points. As will be seen later, I sadly won't be using Bruno as an active NPC in my campaign.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Clarissa the Cleric is an NPC with a Dexterity of 6, who uses a mace. She's described as a "priestess", which might make her 3rd level (the 3rd level cleric title being "priest").</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Mogo the Mighty is the last named NPC. He is presumably a fighter, as he uses a bow and a sword, and wears chainmail armour. He has a Dexterity of 9, and only has 3 hit points.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">On one adventure, Bruno the Battler busted down a door and killed a big goblin wearing chainmail armour and wielding a scimitar.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">On another adventure (or possibly later in the same one), a party of adventurers (which includes Malchor, Bruno, Clarissa, and Mogo, among others) is standing at an intersection when they are attacked by six giant spiders. Malchor takes out four of them with a <i>sleep</i> spell, while one is killed by arrow fire. The last one poisons Bruno to death, before being killed by Clarissa.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">An example dungeon cross section is given, as shown below. I will probably use the <i>Skull Mountain</i> adventure written by Jeff Sparks to represent this dungeon in my campaign.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i_2Wmf2twm4XfBuhxCp1gsspuCGxEmB35p4pqVehgupe39X28-ASxj5fIbrBt6AarKfb6ihqA6_Fjcgi_m6k9LQyrAPaILBi57B8bY9EfQA9pVVlNooslGBfJ7yqp8EHDjnuZQ/s1600/Skull+Mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="465" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i_2Wmf2twm4XfBuhxCp1gsspuCGxEmB35p4pqVehgupe39X28-ASxj5fIbrBt6AarKfb6ihqA6_Fjcgi_m6k9LQyrAPaILBi57B8bY9EfQA9pVVlNooslGBfJ7yqp8EHDjnuZQ/s320/Skull+Mountain.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">There's also a sample dungeon, set beneath the ruined tower of the wizard Zenopus. I've already extensively detailed my placement for this module in the campaign, as shown <a href="https://mahney.blogspot.com/2020/06/building-sandbox-ruined-tower-of-zenopus.html" target="_blank">in this post</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Finally, there's an example of play with a party that includes the "caller", a halfling, a fighter, an elf, a dwarf, and possibly others. They move north up a corridor, and enter a room and fight some orcs for a chest with 100 gold pieces. The halfling hears slithering behind the door they just came through, while the elf finds a secret door. The party goes through the secret door until they are eventually confronted by a gelatinous cube. As the cube advances, the dwarf notices a hollow space under the floor. I may include this section of dungeon somewhere, and I've mapped it below. The NPCs aren't named, so I might just assume that the cube did them in.</li>
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Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-40333561304140101902020-06-17T09:07:00.002-07:002020-06-17T09:07:54.595-07:00Building the Sandbox: The S-series modules<div style="text-align: justify;">
I tackled the B series last week, but I'm not in the mood for such a lengthy undertaking today, so I'm going to deal with something a bit shorter. The S series consists of just four modules, all of them quite standalone.</div>
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<b>S1 Tomb of Horrors</b></div>
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Gary Gygax's infamous killer dungeon was designed in early 1975, inspired by an adventure written by Alan Lucien. (For more details, read <a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2019/06/recaps-roundups-part-16-tomb-of-ra-hotep.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.) It made its debut to the public as a tournament adventure for Origins I, and had a small print run. In 1978, the year that TSR started publishing adventure modules, <i>Tomb of Horrors</i> was one of the first to get the treatment.</div>
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The adventure is set in the trap-laden tomb of the lich Acererak. The two versions of the adventure give various possible locations for it in the World of Greyhawk. The tournament module suggests the following: the highest hill in the Egg of Coot; an island lying 100 miles east of Blackmoor; in the great desert west of the Wild Coast; on the border between the Paynim Kingdom and Perrunland; at the eastern edge of the Duchy of Geoff; in a swamp somewhere in the Wild Coast. The published module has the following suggestions: the highest hill on the Plains of Iuz; an unmapped islandin the Nyr Dyv;in the Bright Desert; at the western border of the Duchy of Geoff; somewhere in the Vast Swamp south of Sundi; on an island beyond the realm of the Sea Barons.</div>
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In 1983, the <i>World of Greyhawk </i>boxed set said that the tomb was "most probably" located in the middle of the Vast Swamp. That leaves some wiggle room for DMs who want to place it elsewhere, but it's stuck as the tomb's actual location in later products. It doesn't fit with any of the suggestions from the tournament module, but it's perfectly in line with the published <i>S1</i>. My inclination for those other locations is to place tombs there, of much lesser risk and reward than the Tomb of Horrors. At the very least all of these places should have <i>something</i> there that would inspire the rumours.</div>
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There are two versions of the adventure, but both are set in the World of Greyhawk, and are similar enough that I don't see the need to use both. Perhaps I'll use the tournament version for the first adventurers who stumble in, with the upgraded published adventure for those who come in later. I'd definitely consider using both sets of illustrations where they don't overlap.</div>
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<b>S2 White Plume Mountain</b></div>
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Published in 1978, <i>White Plume Mountain</i> was author Lawrence Schick's job application, consisting of all of his best ideas cobbled together into one adventure. It has the distinction of being the first AD&D adventure not written by Gary Gygax.</div>
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<i>White Plume Mountain</i> takes place in the lair of the wizard Keraptis, and centres around the quest for three powerful weapons. The module specifically places itself in the northeastern part of the Shield Lands, near the Bandit Kingdoms and the Great Rift. The <i>World of Greyhawk</i> boxed set backs up that placement, although it calls the Great Rift the Riftcanyon.</div>
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<b>S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks</b></div>
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<i>Expedition to the Barrier Peaks</i> was inspired by Jim Ward's work on the sci-fi game <i>Metamorphosis Alpha, </i>and written by Gary Gygax as the tournament module for Origins II. The print run for this version of the adventure was very small, and I've not been able to locate a copy. The version published by TSR was released early in 1980. It's set in a crashed spaceship.</div>
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The TSR version is specifically placed in the mountains northwest of the city of Hornwood in the Grand Duchy of Geoff. Again, the <i>World of Greyhawk</i> boxed set offers no contradictions here.</div>
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<b>S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth</b></div>
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This dungeon has something of a tangled history. It began as a dungeon level designed by Rob Kuntz for Castle El Raja Key, the centrepiece of his Kalibruhn campaign. In 1976, Gary Gygax used that map to design a tournament adventure for Wintercon V, which was called <i>The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth </i>and had a small print run. Later, in 1982, the adventure was expanded and published by TSR as <i>The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.</i></div>
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The adventure involves the search for the treasure of the Archmage Iggwilv. It's set in the Yatil Mountains south of Perrenland, a location backed up in the <i>World of Greyhawk</i>. The adventure as presented in the tournament version seems to be close enough, though I'm not familiar enough with both versions to recognise any minor differences. The main difference between the two is that Iggwilv is presented as male in the tournament version, and female in the TSR version. Iggwilv is female throughout her TSR history, so that's not in dispute, though I should note that sex-change magic is quite prevalent in old-school D&D. I wouldn't rule out using it as a possible explanation for the discrepancy.</div>
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<b>S1-4 Realms of Horror</b></div>
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<i>Realms of Horror</i>, published in 1987, is a compilation of the four previous modules. I haven't read it closely, but it doesn't appear to add anything of significance to the adventures, or really string them together in any meaningful way. As far as I can tell, I don't think I'll have to incorporate it.</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-54577330292311888122020-06-12T04:24:00.000-07:002020-06-12T04:24:28.008-07:00Recaps & Roundups part 67: JG36 Character Chronicle CardsThis will be a quick on today, because there's not a whole hell of a lot to say about this product. Judges Guild's <i>Character Chronicle Cards</i> are a set of 100 cards with character sheets printed on them. The front and back of each card are as follows:<br />
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I suppose they could be used by players (especially if you're the sort who likes to have your character sheet on you at all times, just in case), but they seem of much more use to DMs, who will no doubt have loads of NPCs to keep track of. Handy, but nothing you couldn't achieve with a stack of index cards, which would probably be cheaper.<br />
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Some of the categories on the cards are curious though. What does GAM under the ability scores represent? Gambling, maybe? <i>Boot Hill</i> has a Gambling score, so it's possible. Across from there is SL, which the card packaging says stands for Social Level. Everything else is pretty self-explanatory, although I'm not sure what "Date" is supposed to be for.Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-87496108217068760772020-06-11T04:15:00.000-07:002020-06-11T04:15:36.577-07:00Building the Sandbox: The B-series modules<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm on something of a roll when it comes to jumping ahead of my chronology to place D&D adventures in my Ultimate Sandbox campaign, so I'm going to keep going while I'm still enthusiastic about it. Today I'm going to tackle the B series of modules designed for the various editions of Basic D&D, and figure out when and where I intend to use them.</div>
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<b>B1 In Search of the Unknown (by Mike Carr, 1978)</b></div>
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This introductory module came with later printings of the Holmes-written <i>D&D Basic Set. </i>It takes place in the dungeons and caves named Quasqueton below a tower once owned by a wizard and fighter pair named Rogahn and Zelligar.</div>
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Early printings of the module suggest three places that the dungeon can be placed in the World of Greyhawk: the Barony of Ratik, the Duchy of Tenh, or the Theocracy of the Pale. All of these regions are fairly northerly, not too far south from the lands of the Frost Barbarians. These locations are only suggestions, however, and were later superseded by <i>Return to the Keep on the Borderlands</i> in 1999. That module takes place in the south-westerly regions of the Yeomanry, which is itself towards the south-west of the Flanaess. It features a blocked cave with a sign that says "Quasqueton", which is strong enough evidence for me to place it there. It's not a great fit with <i>B1</i>'s background (which suggests that it's north of civilised lands, with barbarian tribes even further north), but it's going to be difficult to accommodate every detail, especially when a module exists in multiple worlds.</div>
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Quasqueton also exists in Mystara, the Basic D&D world. In the 1983 <i>D&D Expert Set</i>, it's placed in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, west of the town of Threshold. It's in the mountains that border the north of Karameikos, which is a much better fit with the module's background.</div>
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There are two versions of this module, one with a monochrome cover and one with a colour cover. I understand that there are some differences between the two. Assuming that these differences are significant, I'll use the original for the World of Greyhawk, and the revised version for Mystara.</div>
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<b>B2 The Keep on the Borderlands (by Gary Gygax, 1979)</b></div>
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Keep on the Borderlands was included with the Holmes version of the <i>D&D Basic Set</i> for a short time, replacing module <i>B1</i>, but it's much better known as the module included with the Moldvay <i>Basic Set</i>. It's centred around a keep on the frontiers of civilisation, near a humanoid-infested cave system known as the Caves of Chaos.</div>
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For the World of Greyhawk, this module was placed in <i>Return to the Keep on the Borderlands</i>. Like module <i>B1</i> above, it's in the south-west of the Yeomanry. The keep is named as Kendall Keep.</div>
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For Mystara, this module was given a location in the 1983 <i>D&D Expert Set</i>. It's in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, in the mountains north-east of Threshold.</div>
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As with <i>B1</i>, there are two versions of this module, with the same covers but small internal differences. I'll use the original Gygax version for the World of Greyhawk, and the version that was revised (I think by Tom Moldvay) for Mystara.</div>
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<i>Return to the Keep on the Borderlands</i> is explicitly set in the World of Greyhawk, in the Yeomanry, and adds quite a bit of background detail on the area. It takes place 20 years after the original module, which is where I'll set it barring PC actions that make that impossible. I also understand that there are <i>Keep on the Borderlands</i>-branded adventures for 4th edition, set in and around a place known as "The Chaos Scar", but I gather that this is more of a spiritual sequel rather than an adaptation of the module. There's a 5th edition adaptation as well, which I guess will be the state of the caves once they're restocked following <i>Return</i>.</div>
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<b>B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (by Jean Wells & Tom Moldvay, 1981)</b></div>
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In terms of modules that have two versions, this might be one of D&D's most infamous. The original printing, with an orange cover, was very quickly recalled (a fact that's usually attributed to the supposedly sexual nature of some of Erol Otus's art) and became one of the more expensive D&D collectibles. It was later re-released with a green cover, and this version was far more widely distributed. Since the two versions are quite different, I'll place one in Mystara and the other in the World of Greyhawk.</div>
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The module is set in a once prosperous valley that was ruled by the Princess Argenta. The land fell into ruin almost overnight after a warrior riding a white dragon appeared in the skies, and now only ruins remains.</div>
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As with the previous two modules, this adventure was placed in the 1983 <i>Expert Set</i>. It's in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, in the mountains east of Threshold.</div>
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As for Greyhawk, I've done some reading and decided on putting it somewhere near Highfolk. The module has something of a fey/fairytale quality, and the nearby Vesve Forest is home to elves and gnomes, which seems fitting. It's also a little bit northerly, which fits for the presence of a white dragon.</div>
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<b>B4 The Lost City (by Tom Moldvay, 1982)</b></div>
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Module B4 is the the first in this series that doesn't have multiple versions. It was also completely written for Basic D&D. I'd have been happy enough to have it exist solely in Mystara, but the 3rd edition product <i>Elder Evils</i> also places it in the World of Greyhawk, Eberron, and the Forgotten Realms. The adventure takes place in a lost city (of course) in the middle of a desert.</div>
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In Mystara, the titular lost city is found in the Emirate of Ylaruam, north-east of Karameikos. I don't think this info was given in the original module, but it's there on the map from the 1983 <i>Expert Set</i>. There's a sequel to this adventure in <i>Dungeon #142</i>, which is explicitly set in Mystara.</div>
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In the World of Greyhawk, the placement is left vague in <i>Elder Evils.</i> The Cynidecian Empire that the lost city was a part of existed "many centuries ago" so I have some leeway in terms of Greyhawk history as to where I can place it. The Bright Desert and the Sea of Dust seem like the most likely places. The Sea of Dust was formerly the Suel Empire, though, and probably has too extensive a history to accommodate Cynidecia. I can't see any reason it wouldn't fit into the Bright Desert.</div>
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In Eberron, the lost city is located in a place known as the Demon Wastes. In the Forgotten Realms, the city was once in the Imaskar Empire, and is now at the edge of Raurin, the Dust Desert.</div>
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<b>B5 Horror on the Hill (by Douglas Niles, 1983)</b></div>
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<i style="font-style: italic;">Horror on the Hill</i> is set around a keep known as Guido's Fort, and the monster-infested hill nearby. It wasn't given an explicit location in the module itself, and must have been released too late to be placed in the Expert Set. It does get a location in module <i>B1-9 In Search of Adventure</i>, however. It's in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, "some distance upriver" from the Barony of Kelvin.</div>
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<b>B6 The Veiled Society (by Dave Cook, 1984)</b></div>
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<i><i>The Veiled Society</i> </i>is a real departure for the B series: a city-based adventure that is event-based rather than location-based. It's very specifically set in Mystara, taking place in the capital city of Karameikos, Specularum, and dealing with an assassination conspiracy.</div>
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<b>B7 Rahasia (by Tracy and Laura Hickman, 1984)</b></div>
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This module is one of the most-reprinted of the 1980s. It started as a self-published effort in 1980 from the authors, before being acquired by TSR. The first TSR version was module <i>RPGA1 Rahasia</i>, in 1983, which was followed by a sequel, <i>RPGA2 Black Opal Eye</i>. Both of these were later combined and adapted for the B series in 1984. With two separate TSR versions, I'm inclined to place one in the World of Greyhawk and the other in Mystara. The adventure takes place near an elven village, with a nearby temple.</div>
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Neither module is given an explicit location. For Mystara, <i>B1-9 In Search of Adventure</i> places it in the forest not far from Selenica, to the north of Karameikos. For this I'll use the B series version.</div>
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In Greyhawk, I'm inclined to put the module in the Vesve Forest, not too far away from <i>B3 Palace of the Silver Princess</i>. This will be the placement for modules <i>RPGA1</i> and <i>RPGA2</i>.</div>
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<b>B8 Journey to the Rock (by Michael Malone, 1984)</b></div>
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This module is centred around the PCs on a wilderness trek to the Hall of the Rock to retrieve a magic amulet for a wizard. The original module has several suggestions for placement in Mystara: the river northwest of Wereskalot, in Karameikos; the river northwest of Threshold, in Karameikos; and the mountains or hills north of Lake Amsorak in Darokin. Module <i>B1-9</i> puts it several hours travel to the north of Threshold, so I suppose the original module's first placement is the one to go with.</div>
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<b>B9 Castle Caldwell & Beyond (by someone whose real name cannot possibly be Harry Nuckols, 1985)</b></div>
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Rather than a single adventure, this module features five mini-adventures, each of which I'll tackle in turn below.</div>
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"The Clearing of Castle Caldwell" and "Dungeons of Terror" both take place in the titular castle, which module <i>B1-9</i> places about five miles west of Threshold in Karameikos.</div>
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"The Abduction of Princess Sylvia" centres around the kidnapping of a princess on the eve of her wedding. The adventure isn't in module <i>B1-9</i>, and doesn't itself have any placement suggestions. The main requirement is that it needs to be set in a nation that has a monarchy. It's tempting just to make Sylvia the daughter of the Duke of Karameikos, but that family's lineage is pretty well outlined in <i>Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure. </i>The following nations in Mystara are defined specifically as kingdoms: Alfheim, Ierendi, Rockhome and Vestland. Alfheim and Rockhome are home to elves and dwarves respectively, so they're out. Ierendi's king and queen are figureheads decided on every year via tournament, so that's not ideal. Vestland seems like the most likely spot to place it, although the name Sylvia isn't exactly a great fit for the Nordic culture. It has a king whose family is not defined as far as I can tell, and that's perfect. It's also not far from where I plan to place the "ruined tower of Zenopus" in Mystara, and it's always handy to have some potential adventures clustered together.</div>
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"The Great Escape" has the PCs imprisoned in an enemy fortress with no weapons and equipment. Module <i>B1-9</i> places it somewhere near the city of Luln in Karameikos, not far from the Black Eagle Barony. Since it relies on a bit of rail-roading at the start, I'd be inclined not to run it unless I was running the whole <i>B1-9</i> supermodule.</div>
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In "The Sanctuary of Elwyn the Ardent" , the PCs must recover a magical chime. According to module <i>B1-9</i>, it's set in a fortress in a "distant part of the country" from Threshold. The villain of this adventure has allied with the evil clerics from the Caves of Chaos, so it shouldn't be entirely too far away from the location of module B2.</div>
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<b>B10 Night's Dark Terror (by Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher, 1986)</b></div>
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Designed in the UK, this module serves as a transition from the more dungeon-focused B series to the wilderness-focused X series. It begins at a beleaguered farmstead in the Dymrak Forest near Kelvin, and spans a good chunk of eastern Karameikos. It doesn't seem to have any particular timeline requirements, so I'd probably run it whenever the PCs hit level 3 or thereabouts.</div>
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<b><b>B1-9 In Search of Adventure (edited by Jeff Grubb, 1987)</b></b></div>
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This module is a compilation of the supposed best bits of the first nine modules of the B series. It starts the PCs in the town of Threshold, and guides them around Karameikos through the various modules using hints and adventures hooks. The adventures are pretty loosely connected, but there are three distinct paths that all culminate in <i>B6 The Veiled Society.</i> If I ever use Mystara as a setting to start a campaign, I'll probably kick things off with this module.</div>
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<b>B11 King's Festival (by Carl Sargent, 1989)</b></div>
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This introductory module, which begins with the kidnapping of a cleric, is set in the north of Karameikos in a village called Stallanford. Given how late in the line it comes, I'd be inclined not to use it until after I'd already played a decent chunk of the earlier B series.</div>
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<b>B12 Queen's Harvest (by Carl Sargent, 1989)</b></div>
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This is a direct sequel to <i>King's Harvest</i>, and takes place in much the same area. Obviously I'd run the two back-to-back.</div>
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Wow, that took a lot longer than I expected it would. Thankfully the majority of TSR's module lines are shorter than the B series, so I'll be able to tackle them a bit quicker. I was going to whip up a map showing the locations, but I've already spent way too much time on this already. I'll drop the map of the Known World from the <i>Expert Set</i> below, so that you can at least use it for reference for the stuff I talked about earlier.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpN6zbtdbc-dxeN1KaStF8hjoEX4fda04XsdTwtIV0SeX3hMLeNbXPJcVYkOZPqorVLf4fHm1e8bBLFZPu18tKpvJV66f1ITtJ5ybJ77TjyOQE7ic7e3CTgyXg6guaBQreUJzoA/s1600/KarameikosMap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpN6zbtdbc-dxeN1KaStF8hjoEX4fda04XsdTwtIV0SeX3hMLeNbXPJcVYkOZPqorVLf4fHm1e8bBLFZPu18tKpvJV66f1ITtJ5ybJ77TjyOQE7ic7e3CTgyXg6guaBQreUJzoA/s400/KarameikosMap.png" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
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Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-86834929346105260832020-06-03T03:41:00.001-07:002020-06-03T03:41:50.272-07:00Building the Sandbox: The Ruined Tower of Zenopus<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lately I've been running a campaign over Zoom, starting with the sample dungeon from the Eric Holmes version of the <i>D&D Basic Set</i>. Alas, for the last two weeks I haven't been able to round up enough players to get a game going (I may have to be a bit more proactive about that). Regardless, the two weeks of gaming that I did get in were quite enjoyable; the dungeon under the ruined Tower of Zenopus makes for a solid adventure, especially when you consider that it's the very first low-level adventure that TSR ever produced.</div>
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The question I had to ask myself before running it, however, was "where will it fit in the Ultimate Sandbox?". If I'm planning to include every TSR adventure in this project, then I can't run one without giving it a location first. The adventure is pretty generic: it's set in the dungeons beneath a wizard's ruined tower, near a small city named Portown on the Northern Sea, and is otherwise pretty light on concrete details. I could place it just about anywhere coastal in a standard D&D world.</div>
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With such a vague outline I might have been spoiled for choice, but thanks to Wizards of the Coast I didn't have to make the decision. Just last year, in their <i>Ghosts of Saltmarsh </i>product, the Tower of Zenopus was given an official location in the World of Greyhawk. It's situated just west of the town of Saltmarsh, as can be seen on the map below.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTKmkXhxkEuV5Vch3PFctzHCe0VdSs-hDeooMzctvqfiBb0jEVR6QhEz1URWLyUJvrPk2XHqE84ICHDAD-Dh3Yyi7P0T5AOctS-4JoVBkYS22J3IpVwviEdtOm5zdsMzBVhGXkQ/s1600/GhostsOfSaltmarshMap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="608" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTKmkXhxkEuV5Vch3PFctzHCe0VdSs-hDeooMzctvqfiBb0jEVR6QhEz1URWLyUJvrPk2XHqE84ICHDAD-Dh3Yyi7P0T5AOctS-4JoVBkYS22J3IpVwviEdtOm5zdsMzBVhGXkQ/s640/GhostsOfSaltmarshMap.png" width="483" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Saltmarsh and surrounding areas</i></td></tr>
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There are suggestions that Saltmarsh is built on the ruins of a much older town, which I guess could have been Portown. I decided that I wanted to keep Portown though, and I didn't want the adventure to be taking place far enough into the past for Saltmarsh to have been built on its ruins. So in my version of the World of Greyhawk, Portown sits on the southern bank of the river, just across from Saltmarsh. In my head, they have a real Springfield/Shelbyville rivalry going on.</div>
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This of course means that the Northern Sea has to become the Azure Sea. I can live with that. It could perhaps be known as the Northern Sea to the people who live to the south (which as far as I can tell, would be the tribesmen of the Amedio Jungle, and I guess whatever lives in the Hellfurnaces). I also noted that the river on which the two towns sit isn't named on the map. I tried to look into it, but I couldn't find a name for it anywhere; it's not big enough to appear on most maps of the region. For now, I'm calling it the Silverstand River, named for the forest that it flows through.</div>
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The original adventure doesn't provide a map of Portown and its surroundings, so for that I turned to Zach Howard's <i><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/301308/The-Ruined-Tower-of-Zenopus?affiliate_id=53395" target="_blank">Ruined Tower of Zenopus</a></i>. It's a 5th edition conversion of the original adventure, but it's definitely worth a look even if you have the <i>Basic Set</i>. Not only does it provide a map of Portown, it also adds some context to the encounters in the original, provides a table of rumours, and expands a number of areas with new adventure hooks. I got a lot of value out of it for this campaign.</div>
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While I did use the map from that product, I ended up messing around with some locations on it due to issues of scale. The original adventure says that the tunnel from the dungeon to the sea is about 500 feet long. By that scale, Portown would be about 700 feet by 2,500 feet; about half a mile on its longest dimension. My gut feeling was that that was too small, so I shuffled things around: I moved the ruins of the Tower of Zenopus closer to the coast and closer to the other wizard's tower (which connects to the dungeons), and I also moved the cemetery closer to the dungeon, as that connects too. Thinking about it now, it seems like a lot of work for a "gut feeling", especially when I don't actually know the area of any real medieval cities or towns. But I've played a couple of games using it already, so I'm sticking with it. As I have it, Portown is now about half a mile wide and about a mile long. Is that more accurate to what's described by Holmes as a busy city with a lot of trade going through it? I have no idea. (Normally I'd post the map, but this time I'll refrain. I usually have few misgivings about posting maps from D&D products, but I'm a bit more leery about doing so for stuff from independent creators. I've made changes to it, but it's mostly Zach's work. If you want to see Zach's map, go buy his book!</div>
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I also added an extra house not far from the cemetery, as one of the rumours in <i>Ruined Tower of Zenopus</i> has giant rats having tunneled from the dungeons to the cellar of an old widow in town. I figured that should be a shorter journey, rationalising that the old girl would want to live as close to her dead husband as she could.</div>
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Looking back on <i>Ghosts of Saltmarsh</i>, I totally forgot to read the entry on the Tower of Zenopus that's in the book. It gives a brief description of the dungeons, and also names the thaumaturgist who is currently trying to take them over: Keledek the Unspoken, who apparently came to the area from Ket some years ago. I've already named this guy Fazaal, and used that name in-game, so that's what he's called. Another inconsistency is that he has a tower in Saltmarsh, not in Portown as in the original adventure. So I'm going to play it like this: if Fazaal is driven out of the dungeons and his tower by the PCs and manages to escape, he'll eventually return to the area and set himself up in Saltmarsh under the name Keledek the Unspoken. Which of those his his real name? I don't know. Maybe neither of them.</div>
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<b>OTHER LOCATIONS</b></div>
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One thing that becomes apparent when you start looking into the locations of various D&D adventures is that a whole bunch of them exist in multiple settings. Greyhawk and Mystara in particular share a number of adventures, especially when it comes to the early modules for Basic D&D. With that in mind, I'm going to tentatively place the ruined tower of Zenopus somewhere in Mystara as well, as I may want to run it again some day in its original form.</div>
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The main problem I'm faced with is that the vast majority of the areas that are focused on in Mystara are bordered by seas to the south; I'd prefer to keep Portown existing as it does on the coast of the Northern Sea. I actually know very little about Mystara; I've read some modules set there, as well as the never-ending Princess Ark articles from <i>Dragon</i>, but never the actual setting material. That said, my current thinking is that I'm going to place it on the coast of Vestland, which has a north-facing shoreline onto a sea that doesn't appear to have a name. The names of the place suggest it's culturally Nordic, and Portown as written would fit that reasonably well.</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-21223815695065784902020-05-29T01:33:00.000-07:002020-05-29T01:33:08.368-07:00Recaps & Roundups part 66: The Dragon #9<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHvOx6fmFfwSAB1PngJe5tuFDffnstkuUU_78WSISiUsEXxBAC-ROjt8x9ERrsxBD-gJh__vWRvY6Qeszjkh1N6XuDRo_eyE5ZPB_iT8HRbVT2pcT-3lkmMsB7HSN_W7amTNo1Q/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="592" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHvOx6fmFfwSAB1PngJe5tuFDffnstkuUU_78WSISiUsEXxBAC-ROjt8x9ERrsxBD-gJh__vWRvY6Qeszjkh1N6XuDRo_eyE5ZPB_iT8HRbVT2pcT-3lkmMsB7HSN_W7amTNo1Q/w305-h400/Dragon9Cover.png" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cover art by Bill Hannan</i></td></tr>
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This issue of <i>The Dragon</i> is cover dated September 1977. Tim Kask's editorial reflects on the recent Origins convention, held in late July (so the cover date for <i>The Dragon</i> is fairly accurate as to when it was released). It was apparently down on attendance due to a heatwave, but there was enough new product for Kask to be confident in the growth of the industry. He ends it by mentioning that the magazine is expanding to 40 pages next month, and including Tom Wham's board game, <i>Snit Smashing</i>.</div>
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In other news, Harry Fischer's "The Finzer Family" concludes, taking up the majority of the page count. "Floating in Timeless Space" is a Tom Wham comic promoting his board game, "Finieous Fingers continues to do its thing, and "Wormy" by Dave Trampier makes its debut.</div>
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There's also an ad for the <i>D&D Basic Set</i>, which was recently released.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The ad for the first Basic Set</i></td></tr>
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<b>"Varied Player Character and Non-Player Character Alignment in the Dungeons & Dragons Campaign" by Gary Gygax:</b> In this article Gary talks about alignment, specifically focusing on the kinds of conflicts that can arise from having characters of varied alignment within the game. It's interesting from a historical perspective, because I'd say it's pretty likely that the things Gary is writing about here are scenarios he had to deal with in his own games. He says that the most common problem in long-running campaigns is with cooperating blocks of players, who coerce new players into taking a certain alignment, and dispatching those who refuse. It reminds me a bit of the early days of MMOs, where stronger characters would frequently prey on newbies. Gary's recommendation here is that new players simply lie about their alignment, and play along until they are high enough level to stand up to the established guys. He even says that it's fine for the players to keep their true alignment secret from the DM, which isn't something I thought I'd ever see from Gary's pen.</div>
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It's mentioned that, in the Greyhawk campaign, "good" is the desired end sought by the majority of humanity and its allied races. Most planned actions are based on a threat to the overall good by the forces of evil, but there's still room for lawful good to go to war with chaotic good, with either aligned with evil beings of lawful or chaotic alignment respectively.</div>
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The article also has a very vivid description of the City of Greyhawk that I'll reproduce here in full: <i>"</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><i>This walled town was the area trade center and seat of feudal power, then began to decline when the overlordship transferred from a suzerain to the city itself, but is now undergoing a boom due to the activities of adventurers and the particular world system events (a new struggle between lawful good and chaotic evil, with the latter on the upswing). The oligarchs of the city are neutral in outlook, if not in alignment, viewing anything which benefits their city as desirable. Therefore, all sorts of creatures inhabit the city, commerce is free, persons of lawful alignment rub elbows with chaotics, evil and good co-exist on equitable terms. Any preeminence of alignment is thwarted by the rulers of the place, for it would tend to be detrimental to the city trade."</i> That mention of a suzerain is intriguing. TSR products have the mad wizard Zagyg as a former ruler of Greyhawk, so I could make that a reference to him. It's also interesting to note that "chaotics" are said to frequent the city. Does that just mean chaotic humans, or are there orcs, goblins, gnolls, etc. walking around and doing business there? Something to think about.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">The article finishes up with the example of a cleric who opens a small shrine and starts selling holy water. This doesn't attract much attention, but once he builds a church and starts seeking mass conversions, this attracts the enmity of other leading clerics of the city, as well as the government. Assassination attempts are possible, and hefty taxes and bribes will be required for the cleric to navigate the paths of power. It paints a picture of a city where the rulers are desperate to maintain some sort of an alignment balance, so as not to disrupt trade and commerce, or otherwise upset things.</span></div>
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<b>"Seal of the Imperium" by M.A.R. Barker:</b> Professor Barker answers some questions and provides rules clarifications regarding <i>Empire of the Petal Throne</i>. Some interesting stuff here, but it's relation to D&D is tangential at best. I'll keep it in mind for when I need to compile info on Tekumel.</div>
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<b>"The Fastest Guns That Never Lived - Part II" by Brian Blume:</b> Blume provides stats for the following fictional cowboys and actors:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Don "Red" Barry</li>
<li>William "Wild Bill" Elliot</li>
<li>"Hoot" Gibson</li>
<li>William S. Hart</li>
<li>Tim Holt</li>
<li>Allan "Rocky" Lane</li>
<li>Colonel Tim McCoy</li>
<li>Joel McCrea</li>
<li>Tom Mix</li>
<li>The Durango Kid</li>
<li>Bob Steele</li>
<li>Lee Van Cleef</li>
<li>The Cisco Kid and Poncho</li>
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Hardly household names these days, except for perhaps Lee Van Cleef, but I'll have to find a place for them should my campaign ever take a turn into the Old West.</div>
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<b>"Tombs & Crypts" by James M. Ward:</b> This is a set of charts for randomly determining the contents of a tomb. Always handy to have, and quite reminiscent of the kind of thing found in Judges Guild products. I rolled on the charts and came up with the following:</div>
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<li>A roll of 11 on 1d12 means that it's a wizard's tomb</li>
<li>The tomb is one room, cave or mound of dirt</li>
<li>It contains 2,000 gold pieces, 20 base 10,000gp gems, 2 base 500gp gems, a map, 4 pieces of base 500 gp jewelry, and a misc. magic weapon (10 arrows +1)</li>
<li>Guarded by vampires </li>
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That was rolled up pretty quickly. The system is perhaps a little too generous where gems and jewelry are concerned, but Jim Ward's defense that anyone special enough to be placed in a tomb probably had a lot of treasure to be buried with is hard to argue against.</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-30709122985524444802020-05-26T17:58:00.000-07:002020-05-26T17:58:04.268-07:00Building the Sandbox: Castle Greyhawk and Surrounding Areas<div style="text-align: justify;">
In part 1 of this series, I defined the D&D cosmology and its many settings. In part 2, I talked a bit about the core D&D world - the World of Greyhawk. Now it's time to get into the meat of this thing, and define the elements that I need to fit together for what will be the initial campaign area. The core elements of the first D&D campaign were the City and Castle of Greyhawk, and that's where I intend the Ultimate Sandbox to begin if and when I get around to running it in earnest.</div>
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(I should note that I'm currently running the Ultimate Sandbox now, with my weekend games in the Tower of Zenopus dungeon from the Holmes Basic Set. Ideally I'd have preferred to kick it off with a megadungeon campaign, but instead I'm planning to run a bunch of classic stand-alone modules and adventures, mostly because the whole thing was put together at very short notice. Regardless, everything that happens in those games will count towards my Ultimate Sandbox Greyhawk continuity, and changes to the adventure sites will be carried forward in the future. Anyway, back to Greyhawk City and Castle.)</div>
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To set up the initial campaign area, I have to define the elements that I need to put together. Unfortunately, the Greyhawk campaign, as it was run by Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz, has never been put into print in any sort of playable fashion. Bits and pieces of it are out there, but it's all very scattershot. On top of that, part of what I want to do involves stitching everything together in terms of official D&D canon. Much of what Gary and Rob did was later contradicted by TSR and Wizards of the Coast, so even if I had everything in front of me I'd have quite the job reconciling it all.</div>
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Difficulties aside, it seems to me that I need to define three major things to get the campaign in a playable state: the City of Greyhawk, Castle Greyhawk and the dungeons beneath, and the wilderness that encompasses them both. I'll tackle each one by one.</div>
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<b>The City of Greyhawk</b></div>
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This one is probably the easiest to deal with. As I understand it, the city as designed by Gary started as a one-page affair, and was expanded to four pages later in the campaign, which was explained in-game as a result of the influx of gold coming from the dungeons beneath Castle Greyhawk. This is pretty, handy as I can use it to explain any discrepancies between things from the original campaign and TSR's official publications.</div>
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Speaking of which, TSR released <i>The City of Greyhawk</i> in 1989 as a boxed set, and given the parameters of my project I'm pretty much locked into using it. That's not necessarily a knock on the product, as I've never read it. Maybe it's great, and captures exactly the pulp fantasy spirit that I'm looking for. I like what I've seen just from skimming it, particularly this poster map.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWKWZyMaZyvYN-pxojy2Pky5ocH6KawpL8bm3yoe4nO2pQrUsN6Mx2QIRJD-rdNNrn6tM8fbO9563hO_vi0VPNKXjyT__5kAg5f-e4gKPwj3HwBtSPbVph5u4WogCleojHg94xQ/s1600/GreyhawkCityPosterMap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1415" data-original-width="930" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWKWZyMaZyvYN-pxojy2Pky5ocH6KawpL8bm3yoe4nO2pQrUsN6Mx2QIRJD-rdNNrn6tM8fbO9563hO_vi0VPNKXjyT__5kAg5f-e4gKPwj3HwBtSPbVph5u4WogCleojHg94xQ/s640/GreyhawkCityPosterMap.png" width="419" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An aerial view of TSR's City of Greyhawk</i></td></tr>
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The temptation is there to use <i>Yggsburgh</i>, the city designed by Gary Gygax for his <i>Castle Zagyg</i> project, which would probably have a more authentic flavour. But to be honest I don't know how much of that product was actually Gary's work. Besides, using Yggsburgh in place of the official TSR city would no doubt cause all sorts of continuity headaches that I don't need. I suppose I could place it elsewhere in the map, but I've made enough work for myself already.</div>
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The only other source I can think of for lore about the city is Gary's <i>Gord the Rogue</i> series of novels. I already have <i>Night Arrant</i> and <i>Sea of Death</i>, but I'd need to acquire the other five, which looks somewhat pricey. I've been meaning to get them for a while though, as I've been wanting to revisit the series with a greater knowledge of their place in D&D history.</div>
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<b>The Wilderness</b></div>
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The area around the city of Greyhawk is pretty well defined in the aforementioned <i>City of Greyhawk</i> boxed set, and as with the city it would be difficult to change it without doing a number to D&D continuity. The map is shown below.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzZ5V9VP6obgN692NKL9ZApj2I34KpnpjSfkXofBC5uknzxsA5sBRVYVvXs6dyMRFG40phhY0jf-_5njGVRgKQC6gshOipIR-IyPVU8AQJVXcHKtHivrrJfD2wXFeIwB3L9wVGA/s1600/GreyhawkWildernessMap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1407" data-original-width="927" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzZ5V9VP6obgN692NKL9ZApj2I34KpnpjSfkXofBC5uknzxsA5sBRVYVvXs6dyMRFG40phhY0jf-_5njGVRgKQC6gshOipIR-IyPVU8AQJVXcHKtHivrrJfD2wXFeIwB3L9wVGA/s640/GreyhawkWildernessMap.png" width="420" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Map art by David S. LaForce (I think)</i></td></tr>
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The only change I would make to the above would be to add a section that resembles the map from <i>Outdoor Survival</i>, which is referenced in the original D&D booklets. I recently read <a href="http://initiativeone.blogspot.com/2013/05/od-setting-posts-in-pdf.html" target="_blank">this great PDF</a> about what those booklets imply about the D&D setting, and that's how I want the <i>Outdoor Survival</i> region to play. I'm imagining it as a region of land slightly east of Castle Greyhawk, that's been warped by the magical and dimensional forces leaking out of that place. At the moment, I'm thinking of putting it somewhere in the lands between the Mistmarsh and the Cairn Hills on the map above, but I need to check the scales of both maps to see if that works.</div>
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<b>Castle Greyhawk</b></div>
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Well, this is where things get really tricky.</div>
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The dungeons below Castle Greyhawk began as a solo effort designed by Gary Gygax, before being greatly expanded with help from Rob Kuntz. Neither version of the castle has ever seen the light of day, although more than one attempt has been made to get it out there. <i>Castle Zagyg</i> by Gary Gygax is one such abortive attempt, and there are also the dungeon levels included in Rob Kuntz's <i>El Raja Key Archive</i>.</div>
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In 1988, TSR took its own stab at releasing a version of the castle, with module <i>WG7 Castle Greyhawk</i>. The results were... regrettable. A few years later, in 1990, they had another stab at it, with <i>WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins</i>. I've only skimmed this one, but it looks like a big improvement on <i>WG7</i>, and it's become the offical TSR version of the castle up to the present day.</div>
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The question is, how do I reconcile all of these elements? It would certainly be difficult to make all of it work together as a single dungeon. My initial idea, <a href="http://mahney.blogspot.com/2010/06/on-castle-greyhawk-and-my-campaign.html" target="_blank">posted long, long ago</a>, was to feature a sort of "time-travel chamber" in the dungeon, which would allow the PCs to switch back and forth between different versions of the castle. I still think it's not a bad idea, but I'm not as enamoured with it as a solution as I was back then. My current thinking is to just have two separate castles, and two distinct dungeons.</div>
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As I understand it, the official TSR version of the castle sits somewhat north and east of the city, across the Selintan River. Reports about the original castle place it east of the city, which isn't entirely contradictory to the above. Regardless, if I'm going to use <i>Castle Zagyg</i> and also include <i>WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins</i>, there would be a lot of trouble in integrating the two into a single location. So I'm going to leave TSR's castle where they placed it, and give it a rename: Zagyg's Palace. In TSR continuity Zagyg ruled over the City of Greyhawk for a time, and this is where he did it from.</div>
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As for Castle Greyhawk, I'm going to place that further east, next to the Ery River. I'm thinking that perhaps Zagyg used it as his home base when he was still consolidating his power base, before he became the ruler of the city. This might necessitate changing the maps in <i>Castle Zagyg</i>, in which the castle is up against the False Urt River, although I might just use Gary's name instead of the Ery. We'll see.</div>
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That leaves <i>WG7 Castle Greyhawk</i>, which by the rules of my project I must include even though I'd really rather not. Currently, my plan is to make the levels accessible via Zagyg's Palace, and to make them very, very difficult for players to discover. Just because I have to include them doesn't mean I have to include them in a way that's easy to access.</div>
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<b>The Dungeons of Castle Greyhawk</b></div>
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The above is all well and good, but eventually if I run this campaign I'll need to get down to the hard work of designing the dungeons. I plan to use the following elements:</div>
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<li><i>Castle Zagyg Vol. 1: The Upper Works</i>. I forked out for this bad boy, so I'm definitely going to use it. And it is the only published version of the castle that Gygax ever put his mark of approval on, even if a good chunk of the work was done by Jeff Talanian. This will cover the ruined castle and the first dungeon level.</li>
<li>The image of level 1 of the dungeon from Gygax's folder that's been floating around for quite some time. I might keep this as an "alternate" level 1, perhaps accessible by means such as Rob Kuntz's <i>Dark Chateau</i> module and the Greyhawk city sewers. I believe Gary's key for this map has been deciphered as well.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjcIEtSdo9RLuZZQQif1YniTR9XuWXOBhLfonzYYpu_i-E7esIKRr93OurD9Ll5jMUKRUwNOp1jd04UAXt4z3BSnA0AZDjIvqT-Ld_FTOPSZ2dU9CtVq0nGAEIbt82bN_nGxhEQ/s1600/castle-greyhawk+level+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="349" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjcIEtSdo9RLuZZQQif1YniTR9XuWXOBhLfonzYYpu_i-E7esIKRr93OurD9Ll5jMUKRUwNOp1jd04UAXt4z3BSnA0AZDjIvqT-Ld_FTOPSZ2dU9CtVq0nGAEIbt82bN_nGxhEQ/s320/castle-greyhawk+level+1.jpg" width="254" /></a></div>
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<li>The image of Gary's dungeon level 3 that also out there.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprSOrzOXfFz3nJQpbGFGTyfEHh6MR8QMK8WSsDmqAgHqEvB89hmJeOAMxI89r8ElEln2sNPogNxpyRt1ruPAQrGH2R4poF2255RqLj5hHH3XexeGmG8ZqMqfSERrsoJZ-Cw17EA/s1600/castle-greyhawk+level+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="370" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprSOrzOXfFz3nJQpbGFGTyfEHh6MR8QMK8WSsDmqAgHqEvB89hmJeOAMxI89r8ElEln2sNPogNxpyRt1ruPAQrGH2R4poF2255RqLj5hHH3XexeGmG8ZqMqfSERrsoJZ-Cw17EA/s320/castle-greyhawk+level+3.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
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<li>This dungeon level, another of Gary's, which is labelled as the "Museum of the Gods".</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEUzdOw5U0s_bvfkzJJ78eKkqOP-H3F33SGe_VAIgm4ztkVBpO79B7O-hjbbDgIEWtNXViJ2_KcrOZ7KzNrDYbPi_ixjJNNujgYeTaUXFsREYrX8gMbuxRHmEN1j5sJekMpu8yw/s1600/museum+of+the+gods+-+castle+zagyg+manuscript+map+-+rs%253Dw+400%252Ccg+true.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="307" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEUzdOw5U0s_bvfkzJJ78eKkqOP-H3F33SGe_VAIgm4ztkVBpO79B7O-hjbbDgIEWtNXViJ2_KcrOZ7KzNrDYbPi_ixjJNNujgYeTaUXFsREYrX8gMbuxRHmEN1j5sJekMpu8yw/s320/museum+of+the+gods+-+castle+zagyg+manuscript+map+-+rs%253Dw+400%252Ccg+true.png" width="245" /></a></div>
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<li>The many dungeon levels included in Rob Kuntz's <i>El Raja Key Archive</i>. Unfortunately I still need to acquire this one, and with the Aussie dollarydoo at its current value that won't be happening soon.</li>
<li>Joseph Bloch's <i>Castle of the Mad Archmage</i>. Not long after the<i> Castle Zagyg</i> product line was discontinued after Gary passed away, Joseph Bloch took it upon himself to write a megadungeon that connected seamlessly with the levels already released. This will probably form the spine of my version of the dungeon, with some heavy revisions. My main concern with Bloch's dungeon (what I've read of it) is that it uses quite a bunch of monsters that go beyond the scope of early D&D. I'd like to keep it confined to things from the <i>AD&D Monster Manual</i>, plus some monsters of my own devising.</li>
<li>The modules that connect to the dungeons via portal: <i>EX1 Dungeonland, EX2 The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror</i> and <i>WG6 Isle of the Ape</i>.</li>
<li>Later Rob Kuntz products that connect to the castle, such as <i>The Living Room</i> and <i>The Bottle City</i>.</li>
<li>Some levels of my own design.</li>
<li>On top of all that, Rob Kuntz has recently started posting about something he calls <a href="https://www.facebook.com/threelinestudio/posts/castle-greyfalkun-organization-1973-2019-robert-j-kuntz-all-rights-reservednorth/2572774782754637/" target="_blank">Castle Greyfalkun</a>, which looks to be another release of levels from the castle, or possibly some newly designed material, I'm not entirely sure. I'll keep an eye on it though.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Putting all of these together in any sort of coherent fashion is going to be a hell of a job. I've got time though. Hopefully my current classic modules campaign will run for a couple of years, and there's also my long-running-but-infrequent 3rd edition campaign, which I'd like to actually wrap up at some point. It'll be a while before I'll need to use Castle Greyhawk.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All of the above gives me a pretty extensive reading list:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The <i>City of Greyhawk</i> boxed set</li>
<li>The <i>Gord the Rogue</i> novels (or perhaps just those relevant to Greyhawk and surroundings)</li>
<li><i>WG7 Castle Greyhawk</i> (ugh)</li>
<li><i>WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins</i> and maybe the 3rd edition adventure <i>Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk</i></li>
<li><i>Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works</i></li>
<li><i>Castle of the Mad Archmage</i></li>
<li>The <i>Up on a Soapbox</i> articles by Gary and Rob Kuntz that reminisce about the original campaign</li>
<li>Various blogs and discussion threads from the original players that will help to fill in some of the details.</li>
</ul>
<div>
That's plenty to keep me occupied for the time being, but if I've forgotten any other possible sources I'd appreciate any Greyhawk experts out there letting me know.</div>
</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-15369014775418426072020-05-24T14:16:00.000-07:002020-05-24T14:16:37.177-07:00Non-Play Report: Upkeep and Carousing<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, I didn't get to play D&D this weekend. I was on Zoom, and raring to go, but none of my crew showed up. I guess that's the trouble with trying to keep things casual for this campaign: I've said that I'm willing to be there every Saturday, but it doesn't mean I'm always going to draw a crowd. It's depressing, but on the scale of problems I have going on right now, a week without D&D is small potatoes. I'll just show up again next week, and hopefully some of the guys feel like playing too. If there's a silver lining to missing a week, it's that I'll be even more prepped when the next game comes around.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As to what I did have prepped, part of that involved some new house rules I came up with for PC upkeep. One of the bigger problems old-school D&D has is with its economy. Giving experience points for treasure is all well and good, but it means that by the time players hit 2nd or 3rd level they're already basically rich. They can buy pretty much anything they want from the equipment list, especially in the various forms of Basic (which is what I'm currently running in modified form). I sometimes wonder why adventurers bother advancing to higher levels, especially thieves and fighters. They could retire in comfort well before reaching name level.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So I'm thinking up means of divesting the PCs of their cash. Training costs are an obvious money sink, but I feel like they go against the free-wheeling vibe of Basic D&D. Besides, when thinking of training, the way I'd like to implement it is as a benefit rather than a necessity. Players would still be able to level up without training, but those that did train would be at a potential advantage: better Hit Die rolls, more access to spells, that sort of thing. To work this out I'd need to sit down and figure out the advantages for each class, and I haven't done that just yet. And anyway, as I said, it's not something I want to do when running Basic D&D.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another option I've seen floating around is to only award the PCs XP for gold spent. This has potential, and would be good for encouraging that pulp-fantasy scenario where the hero strikes it rich but manages to lose everything before the next adventure. One thing I've always wondered with this system, though, is whether this only counts for gold found through adventuring. Could PCs work a day job and earn XP buying their daily meals? Could a Lord just sit back after setting up his barony, and collect XP along with his taxes? I'm inclined to say no, but then eventually you get into a situation where every PC needs to keep track of two separate treasure totals, and I'm not a huge fan of that.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Similar to the way I want to incentivise training by offering benefits, I want to do the same thing with my upkeep and carousing rules. So I came up with the following house rules, which I was hoping to spring on my players on Saturday. Alas, it'll have to wait until next week (hopefully).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>D&D Nth EDITION UPKEEP & CAROUSING RULES</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For every in-game week between game sessions, each player must decide what lifestyle their PC has been leading. The lifestyles are as follows:</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Destitute - Costs nothing</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Poor - Costs 1 gold piece per character level per week</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Moderate - Costs 10 gold pieces per character level per week</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Wealthy - Costs 100 gold pieces per character level per week</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Extravagant - Costs 1,000 gold pieces per character level per week</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I figure that a PC's expenses go up as they gain in level, as they have more equipment to maintain, and their tastes get more exotic.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Depending on what the PC choose (or are forced into due to low funds), their hit points may be affected by their lifestyle. Each character rolls 1d20, adds their Constitution modifier, and consults the relevant table below.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Destitute:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 1-10 - Hit points unknown*</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 11-20 - Hit points as normal</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Poor:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 1-5 - Hit points unknown*</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 6-20 - Hit points as normal</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Moderate:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">No roll required.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Wealthy:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 1-2 - Hit points unknown*</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 3-15 - Hit points as normal</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 16-19 - Hit points as normal, plus one bonus Hit Die**</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 20+ - Hit points as normal, plus one "exploding" bonus Hit Die***</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Extravagant:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 1-5 - Unknown hit points*</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 6-15 - Hit points as normal</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 16-17 - Hit points as normal, plus one bonus Hit Die**</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 18-19 - Hit points as normal, plus one "exploding" bonus Hit Die***</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Roll 20+ - Maximum possible hit points****</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>* Hit Points Unknown:</b> This result means that, for whatever reason, the PC isn't feeling good. Perhaps they're sick or undernourished (for those living poor or destitute lifestyles), or perhaps they've overindulged (for those living wealthy or extravagant lifestyles). Whatever the reason may be, the PC is under the weather, and they begin the game not knowing how many hit points they have. Only upon taking damage will they roll their hit point total (using their regular number of Hit Dice and Constitution modifier). The damage they just sustained will come off the total rolled. If the PC rolls higher than their regular hit points, they start with their regular hit point total. (A player might try to get healing before the adventure starts, and this should be allowed, but they still don't get to roll their hit point total until they first take damage in a dangerous situation. The healing is then added on top of that. Also, a character can't learn their hit point total by cutting themselves with a knife or running into a wall or whatever other dumb way they come up with to circumvent the rule.)</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>** Bonus Hit Die:</b> Indulging in the good life has agreed with the PC, and they're feeling great. They begin the game with their regular hit point total, plus an extra hit die and Constitution modifier's worth of hit points. Once those bonus hit points have been lost, the PC can only be healed back up to their regular total.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>*** "Exploding" Bonus Hit Die:</b> The PC gets their regular hit points and a bonus Hit Die as above, but if they roll the maximum on that die they get to roll another bonus Hit Die. If<i> that</i> roll is the maximum, they get to roll again, and so on as long as they keep rolling the maximum. In any event, they can't end up with more hit points than the maximum possible for their class and level, plus one extra Hit Die. For example, a 7th level fighter with no Constitution modifier would have a maximum possible hit point total of 8 x 10, or 80.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>**** Maximum Possible Hit Points:</b> The character has had some wild nights, and is feeling invincible. They begin with the maximum possible hit points for their class and level (as shown above).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm hoping this system encourages the players to spend some of their hard-earned gold. It does a few things that I like. First, the Moderate option allows players to completely opt out of it. I've seen games ruined because the DM came up with some crazy house rule that they loved, and forced it on the PCs. I don't want to do that, and I always like to give the players the choice of just not engaging with it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Second, it gives the players a reason to go out looking for gold, and punishes unsuccessful adventures. If you head into the dungeon and come back with nothing, there's a good chance you won't be feeling so hot after a week or two on the skids. Obviously, this is likely to affect low-level PCs moreso than high-level ones.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Third, there's always a risk factor to living the high life. Sure, you could come out the other side feeling fantastic, but the chance is there that you might not. My only misgiving is with the numbers under Wealthy: as written, a high-Constitution character is in no danger of suffering drawbacks. I might institute a rule whereby a natural 1 always results in "Hit Points Unknown", regardless of the character's Con modifier.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have two worries about the system. The first is that it might make the PCs a little too powerful. I'm not all that stressed about this one; old-school D&D characters are fragile enough, and some extra hit points now and then aren't going to make a huge difference to that. My second and larger worry is that the potential penalties outweigh the benefits, to the point that the players will opt out of the system entirely. I mean, there's always <i>someone</i> who's going to be willing to take the risk, but if in the first few games the rolls come up badly, most players will avoid it from then on. That's what play-testing is for, I guess. If it sucks I'll get rid of it, or try to come up with something better.</div>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35589784.post-10372304182148006882020-05-21T17:50:00.001-07:002020-05-21T17:50:25.973-07:00Recaps & Roundups part 65: Judges Guild Installment N - Barbarian Altanis/Glow Worm Steppes<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZNOdaipRT_9A_oeoXuOb7cL_ZEbT7l9FTiTjVKkPg6c7-jmq7wDqyGVFC70R6PIphSWYe0m_IlpxSALXvGizEVScZ-XpSJZG5Suq2A1hxZisInn_YFvSsNDPQDHxxwgLJ7ZGOmg/s1600/0048WilderlandsHighFantasyBook1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="453" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZNOdaipRT_9A_oeoXuOb7cL_ZEbT7l9FTiTjVKkPg6c7-jmq7wDqyGVFC70R6PIphSWYe0m_IlpxSALXvGizEVScZ-XpSJZG5Suq2A1hxZisInn_YFvSsNDPQDHxxwgLJ7ZGOmg/s400/0048WilderlandsHighFantasyBook1.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This package was sent out to Judges Guild subscribers in August/September of 1977. It contained the following products:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">JG43 Booklet N - Barbarian Altanis/Glow Worm Steppes</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">JG44 Barbarian Altanis/Glow Worm Steppes Campaign Maps</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">JG45 Journal N</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">An additional notes sheet, that just has some stuff about subscriptions on it. I don't need to cover it here.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm not sure if the cover above was used for Booklet N or not. It's the first printing of <i>Wilderlands of High Fantasy</i>, into which Booklet N will be incorporated. The price tag and the line at the bottom mentioning five maps makes me think it's not the proper cover, but I couldn't find an image of the legit one anywhere. In lieu of any other evidence, I'm going with it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>JG45 Journal N</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: 700;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I don't have a copy of this, just an image of page one. I'll quickly run through what articles I can.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Jocular Judgments": This column kicks off with some refutation of recent NASA revelations regarding Mars, as it doesn't mesh with Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom stories. Of more interest is the section praising the recently released <i>Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set.</i> I have that product being released in September. Installment N came out in August/September, so I'm thinking that perhaps I should shift all of the Judges Guild installments to late in their second cover date month.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Shrewd Slants from the Sagacious Sage" by Bob Bledsaw: This article mentions one Terry Tout, who wants to get a con running in western Canada, where there haven't been any before. .It then asks whether JG subscribers prefer dungeons or campaign setting materials, and ends with some advice to limit the powers of gods when the PCs call upon them (or draft the PC in question into service). I'm not really sure what the point of this column is other than letting Bob Bledsaw write about whatever takes his fancy.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Scrolls from the Archives": This begins what looks to be a write-up of a D&D game session. It only gets as far as showing the stats of the PCs before it gets cut off, but I can use those PCs somewhere: Vadi Mackvallen, a 7th level fighter/magic-user; Shartra, a 3rd level cleric; Nori, a 5th level dwarven fighter; Old Drussus, a 6th level druid; and Captain Angriff, a 4th level fighter.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">"Tips from the Tower": This talks a bit about Judges Guild answering fan requests by providing two maps with this installment. It also talks about some correspondence they had with with Gary Gygax, which they use to defend the number of high level NPCs in JG products. Of note is the tidbit that there is a blacksmith in the City of Greyhawk who is 7th level; I'll have to remember to include him or her when the time comes. Also mentioned is the arrangement that TSR has with Judges Guild for their products to be officially licensed. I guess this arrangement starts around the time of this installment. Finally, it's mentioned that <i>JG37 First Fantasy Campaign</i> - which details Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign - is available. I have that as being released in September, which is more evidence that I need to push back the JG installments in my chronology.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>JG44 Barbarian Altanis/Glow Worm Steppes Campaign Maps</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These two maps were printed on both sides of a single sheet of paper.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibk5bvzjK6LAg_blR3NJ1UA3Umb7brB_We6KdIxeUrObxua0oHxyTqOVwMCrJ4GwCYuyLvD2eVXDMZknaoFuh0RNS2N7CO5vRiI6a8RVfF8akgmMlHsD9wFdyXUhahpmYASgpCQ/s1600/JG44+Map+02+Barbarian+Atlantis.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibk5bvzjK6LAg_blR3NJ1UA3Umb7brB_We6KdIxeUrObxua0oHxyTqOVwMCrJ4GwCYuyLvD2eVXDMZknaoFuh0RNS2N7CO5vRiI6a8RVfF8akgmMlHsD9wFdyXUhahpmYASgpCQ/s320/JG44+Map+02+Barbarian+Atlantis.tif" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Barbarian Altanis</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWzgY66TCaNdzVhzlAnX0BuYBXRwWkrWogN70m5gSri0P9tOwvjlDAW4A6l7v76uYMCC7JVl8mm5jahr9MCC9qEVs9jbLUrB3He01tjwgbTf8H7le3i6taKy1fGN0urLDaQVVaA/s1600/JG44+Map+03+Valley+of+the+Ancients.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWzgY66TCaNdzVhzlAnX0BuYBXRwWkrWogN70m5gSri0P9tOwvjlDAW4A6l7v76uYMCC7JVl8mm5jahr9MCC9qEVs9jbLUrB3He01tjwgbTf8H7le3i6taKy1fGN0urLDaQVVaA/s320/JG44+Map+03+Valley+of+the+Ancients.tif" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Glow Worm Steppes (although it's actually labelled on the<br />map as Valley of the Ancients)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No indication of how these maps relate to each other, or to Campaign Map 1 that was in Installment K. Based on a map that came with <i>JG10 Guide to the City State</i>, the Barbarian Altanis region is south of Campaign Map 1, and the Glow Worm Steppes/Valley of the Ancients map is to the northeast of Map 1. Probably my biggest complaint about the JG product line is that the content is so scattered. There's loads of it, but good luck finding anything quickly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>JG 43 Booklet N</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This booklet provides details of the regions shown on the maps above. It will later be combined with Booklet O, and sold as <i>JG48 The Wilderlands of High Fantasy</i>. The information presented here is incredibly terse, and presented in the same style as it was in the booklet that accompanied Campaign Map 1.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Villages on the map are detailed, with a name, population, the race that lives there, leader, alignment, level of civilisation, and major resources. Most of them are good springboards for a DM to riff on.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Ruins and relics" are a list of odd items guarded by monsters, generated by tables which I'll talk about below. A lot of them are nonsensical, as can happen when using random charts, but there are some gems. "Crystallized titan's skeleton fully covered with vines - 3 TROLLS" is a personal favourite.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There's a list of citadels & castles, which has little more than bare stats for the ruler and the number of troops. That's followed by a list of monster lairs, which simply have the name and number of monsters. The real gem of this section is the list of islands, which provide a one-sentence description of what can be found. Pretty much all of these are great, and could easily be expanded into a whole adventure. "Isle of Ekur - 2 giant lizards attack all who land". "Isles of Jynoquil - haunted by ghosts of dead sea men". "Isle of Zueringi - Numerous zombies protect a magic-user attempting to strengthen their kind". None of it's too out of the ordinary, but these short descriptions can be just what you need sometimes, especially when you're winging it as a DM.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
All of this content is well and good, but they give little indication as to what these regions are actually like. Culture? Climate? Perhaps the details given do cohere into something when used in a game, but if there's sense to be found here I can't see it. So far, what I'm seeing is a patchwork of mostly random elements held together with some really cool maps. For me, the Judges Guild materials come alive when focusing in on smaller areas, not the big picture stuff.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As usual with JG products, the booklet is also packed with charts and new rules, which I'll go through below.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">There are extensive tables for generating random ruins and abandoned relics. On first glance I thought the results here were fairly mundane, but looking further down the list I saw things like rat chariots, space craft, and even a nuclear submarine! I rolled on the charts to generate some results, and came up with the following comparatively boring results:</li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A ruined, eroded citadel keep with four towers and a moat, partially covered in slime and inhabited by a catoblepas.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Crystallized or petrified scraps of papyrus, hidden in a crevice and guarded by werewolves.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A pair of greaves, half sunken and unguarded.</li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">There's a chart for determining the type of lair a monster has, based on its type: burrower, migratory, underwater, airborne, animal, and troglobite (which means something that lives underground).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Extensive charts are given for randomly generating cave systems, based on the terrain you're currently in. I started making one, and got as far as creating a limestone cave that's entered through a 400' diameter sinkhole that's 110' deep. After that, you generate tunnels - including height and width - and it all got a bit too much. For my tastes, it looks a touch too complicated to use during a game.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A quick method is given for generating dungeons on the fly. It's perhaps a little too simple, and the random dungeon generation tables from <i>The Strategic Review</i> are suggested as an alternative.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A quick chart of random burrows is included, featuring things like a giant anthill, worm tunnels, weasel burrows, and hobbit smials. Also mentioned are "glow worm caves", though no indication is given of what a glow worm is in D&D terms. I guess it could just be a reference to real-world glow worms.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Charts are given for dwellings and camps, but they're so cursory in comparison to the caves above that they needn't have bothered.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A system is given for what players might find when searching a 10'x10' area. There's some good inspiration here, although results like "cabinet" are somewhat ludicrous.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A "keen sighting" chart is given, which shows a PC's likelihood of spotting something based on terrain, height, weather, etc. This is a case of Judges Guild getting lost in the weeds a bit, I feel. Rules are all well and good, but there's a limit to what can be implemented effectively at the table. I guess it might be necessary for when the party is exploring that big campaign map though, to see if they actually find the encounters in the hex they're exploring.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A chart for "hydrographic terrain" is given, that details the smaller waterways (not shown on the map) that PCs might discover. None of the results on the tables are of particular interest.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Rules are given for prospecting, which is somewhat more useful. The charts provide the type of deposit, yield, and all manner of other data that gets a bit mathematical for me. I suppose it's a way for characters to get rich, but it doesn't sound like as much fun as heading into a dungeon and skewering some orcs for their gold.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Finally, the booklet ends with an example of how the larger map hexes break down into smaller hexes. The example given is the hex containing the City State of the Invincible Overlord, which is obviously the most useful place to start. Rules are given for movement on that smaller scale, complete with rules for fatigue. As with most of JG's rules material, I find it a little unwieldy.</li>
</ul>
Nathan P. Mahneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01184246437497081701noreply@blogger.com0