Recaps & Roundups: JG37 The First Fantasy Campaign part 3

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 D&D Vol. 3: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventure) 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.

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.)

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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. charm person 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.

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.

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.

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.

Recaps & Roundups: JG37 The First Fantasy Campaign part 2

Last week I started reading Dave Arneson's The First Fantasy Campaign, 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.

The next section is entitled "Blackmoor's More Infamous Characters", and details some of the PCs and NPCs of significance in the game.

The Egg of Coot 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.

The Ran of Ah Fooh 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.

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.

Gin of Salik 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.

Marfeldt the Barbarian 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.

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".)

The Duke of the Peaks 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.

The Blue Rider 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.

Mello 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.

The Great Svenny 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.

The Bishop 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.

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.

Perusals & Progressions: Detect Magic

Continuing through through the 1st-level cleric spells, we come to detect magic.  I don't expect that this spell will present too many problems or revelations as I go through its history, but you never know.

ORIGINAL D&D (1974)

Detect Magic: 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.

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 Supplement I: Greyhawk it's given a range of 6" and a duration of 2 turns.

The cleric and magic-user versions of the spell are identical.

HOLMES D&D (1977)

Detect Magic — Level: 1; Range: 60 feet; Duration: 2 turns
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.

This is the exact same wording as in OD&D, and the range and duration from Supplement I have been incorporated.

B/X (1981)

Detect Magic
Range: 60'
Duration: 2 turns
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 "held" or "wizard locked" (see Magic-user and Elf Spells), and so forth.

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.

BECMI (1983)

Detect Magic
Range: 0
Duration: 2 turns
Effect: Everything within 60'
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.

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.

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.

RULES CYCLOPEDIA (1991)

Detect Magic
Range: 0
Duration: 2 turns
Effect: Everything within 60'
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.

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.

That's the Basic line done, and as usual it's all very consistent.  Now let's move to AD&D.

AD&D 1st EDITION (1978)

Detect Magic (Divination)
Level: 1
Range: 3"
Duration: 1 turn
Area of Effect: 1" path, 3" long
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: None
Explanation/Description: When the detect magic 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.

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!

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.

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.

AD&D 2nd EDITION (1989)

Detect Magic (Divination)
Sphere: Divination
Range: 30 yards
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 turn
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 10-foot path
Saving Throw: None
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.
The spell requires the use of the priest's holy symbol.

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.

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.

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 detect evil, 2e introduces the idea of different aura intensities, but doesn't show how they are actually determined.

AD&D 2nd EDITION REVISED (1995)

No need to reproduce these versions of the spell, because they're identical to those in 2e except for some minor formatting changes.

D&D 3rd EDITION (2000)

Detect Magic
Universal
Level: Brd 0, Clr 0, Drd 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 ft.
Area: Quarter circle emanating from you to the extreme of the range
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No 

You detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject: 

1st Round: Presence or absence of magical auras. 

2nd Round: Number of different magical auras and the strength of the strongest aura. 

3rd Round: 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.) 

Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may confuse or conceal weaker auras. 

Aura Strength: An aura’s magical power and strength depend on a spell’s functioning spell level or an item’s caster level. 

Strength	Functioning Spell Level	Item Caster Level
Dim	0-level or lingering aura	Lingering aura
Faint	1st-3rd	1st-5th
Moderate	4th-6th	6th-11th
Strong	7th-9th	12th-20th
Overwhelming	Artifact or deity-level magic	Beyond mortal caster

If an aura falls into more than one category, detect magic indicates the stronger of the two. 

Length Aura Lingers: How long the aura lingers depends on its original strength: 

Original Strength	Duration
Faint	1d6 minutes
Moderate	1d6 x 10 minutes
Strong	1d6 hours
Overwhelming	1d6 days

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.

Just as detect evil 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.

D&D 3.5th EDITION (2003)

Detect Magic
Divination
Level: Brd 0, Clr 0, Drd 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 ft.
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No 

You detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject: 

1st Round: Presence or absence of magical auras. 

2nd Round: Number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura. 

3rd Round: 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.) 

Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras. 

Aura Strength: 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, detect magic indicates the stronger of the two.

Spell or Object	Faint	Moderate	Strong	Overwhelming
Functioning spell (spell level)	3rd or lower	4th-6th	7th-9th	10th+ (deity-level)
Magic item (caster level)	5th or lower	6th-11th	12th-20th	21st+ (artifact)

Lingering Aura: 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. 

Original Strength	Duration of Lingering Aura
Faint	1d6 rounds
Moderate	1d6 minutes
Strong	1d6x10 minutes
Overwhelming	1d6 days

Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers. 

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. 

Detect magic can be made permanent with a permanency spell.

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.

D&D 4th EDITION

Detect Magic (Trained Only)
Your knowledge of magic allows you to identify magical effects and sense the presence of magic. 

Identify Conjuration or Zone: Minor action.
✦ DC: DC 15 + one-half the power’s level. You must be able to see the effect of the conjuration or zone.
✦ Success: You identify the power used to create the effect and its power source and keywords.
✦ Failure: You can’t try to identify the effect again during this encounter. 

Identify Ritual: Standard action.
✦ DC: DC 20 + one-half the ritual’s level. You must be able to see or otherwise detect the ritual’s effects.
✦ Success: You identify the ritual and its category.
✦ Failure: You can’t try to identify the ritual again until after an extended rest. 

Identify Magical Effect: Standard action.
✦ DC: DC 20 + one-half the effect’s level, if any. You must be able to see or otherwise detect the effect.
✦ Not a Power or a Ritual: The magical effect must be neither from a magic item nor the product of a power or a ritual.
✦ Success: You learn the effect’s name, power source, and keywords, if any of those apply.
✦ Failure: You can’t try to identify the effect again until after an extended rest. 

Sense the Presence of Magic: 1 minute.
✦ DC: DC 20 + one-half the level of a magic item, power (conjuration or zone), ritual, or magical phenomenon within range.
✦ Area of Detection: 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.
✦ Success: 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.
✦ Failure: 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.

In 4th edition, detect magic 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.

D&D 5th EDITION (2014)

Detect Magic
1st-level divination (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
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.
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.

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.

D&D Nth EDITION

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.

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.

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.

Detect Magic
Divination
Level: Cleric 1, Magic-User 1
Components: V,S,(Clr M)
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: 30 ft. radius
Target: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 turn
Saving Throw: None
Magic Resistance: No 

When the detect magic 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: 

1st Round: Presence and location of each magical aura. 

Subsequent rounds: 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. 

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. 

Aura Strength: 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, detect magic indicates the stronger of the two. 

Strength	Functioning Spell (Spell Level)	Magic Item (Caster Level)
Faint	3rd or lower	1st-5th
Moderate	4th-6th	6th-11th
Strong	7th-9th	12th-20th
Overwhelming	10th+ (deity level)	21st+ (artifact)

Lingering Aura: 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. 

Original Strength	Duration of Lingering Aura
Faint	1d6 rounds
Moderate	1d6 turns
Strong	1d6 hours
Overwhelming	1d6 days

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. 

Detect magic can be made permanent with a permanency spell. 

Components: When cast by a cleric, this spell requires the use of a holy symbol.

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.

Detect Magic
Divination
Level: Cleric 1, Magic-User 1
Components: V,S,(Clr M)
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: 30 ft. radius
Target: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 turn
Saving Throw: None
Magic Resistance: No 

When the detect magic 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.

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. 

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. 

Components: When cast by a cleric, this spell requires the use of a holy symbol.

Recaps & Roundups 69: JG37 The First Fantasy Campaign part 1

Released around September if 1977, First Fantasy Campaign 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Blackmoor, the Campaign

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 Supplement II's "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.

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.)

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.

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.

Campaign Map Notes

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:

• The area ruled by John Snider was covered in deadly yellow mist, and nobody knows what's going on in there.
• A nomad attack from the Duchy of Ten was wiped out by Svenson and the Sniders
• There was a great peasant revolt that wiped out Monson, badly hurt Nelson, and was then put down by the other players
• An expedition to the City of the Gods, located in a desert south of Monson's area, cost the lives of Nelson and Gaylord.
• 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?)

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.

Perusals & Progressions: Detect Evil

Before I begin, I'll note here for anyone interested that I made a quick edit to the post on cure light wounds.  I decided to keep its ability to cure paralysis, as I had a look at remove paralysis and saw that it affects multiple targets.  The cure wounds spells being able to un-paralyse one person is a reasonable application that doesn't make remove paralysis worthless.

Anyway, on to detect evil.  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.

Alright, let's start with detect evil.

ORIGINAL D&D (1974)

Detect Evil: 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.

Duration: 2 turns. Range: 6".

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.

HOLMES BASIC (1977)

Detect Evil — Level 2; Range: 60 feet; Duration: 2 turns

A spell to detect evil thought or evil intent in any creature or evilly enchanted object. Poison, however, is neither good nor evil.

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 detect good, but that name is all that's given.

B/X (1981)

Detect Evil
Range: 60'
Duration: 2 turns 

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.

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?

BECMI (1983)

Detect Evil
Range: 60'
Duration: 2 turns
Effect: Everything within 60' 

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.

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.

RULES CYCLOPEDIA (1991)

Detect Evil
Range: 60'
Duration: 2 turns
Effect: Everything within 60' 

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.

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.

AD&D 1st EDITION (1978)

Detect Evil (Divination) Reversible
Level: 1
Range: 12“
Duration: 1 turn + ½ turn/level
Area of Effect:  1" path
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: None 

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 detect evil (or detect good) 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.

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.

AD&D 2nd EDITION (1989)

Detect Evil (Divination)
Reversible 

Sphere: All
Range: 120 yards
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 turn + 5 rounds/level
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 10-foot path
Saving Throw: None 

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 if intent upon appropriate actions. 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. 

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 detect evil (or detect good) 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
must concentrate - stop, have quiet, and intently seek to detect the aura - for at least one round to receive a reading. 

The spell requires the use of the priest's holy symbol as its material component, with the priest holding it before him.

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.

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.

AD&D 2nd EDITION REVISED (1995)

There aren't any significant changes here.

D&D 3rd EDITION (2000)

Detect Evil
Divination
Level: Clr 1, Rgr 2
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 ft.
Area: Quarter circle emanating from you to the extreme of the range
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No 

You can sense the presence of evil. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject: 

1st Round: Presence or absence of evil. 

2nd Round: 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. 

3rd Round: 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. 

Aura Strength: 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. 

Creature/Object	Evil Power
Evil creature	HD / 5
Undead creature	HD / 2
Evil elemental	HD / 2
Evil magic item or spell	Caster level / 2
Evil outsider	HD
Cleric of an evil deity	Level

Evil Power	Aura Strength
Lingering	Dim
1 or less	Faint
2–4	Moderate
5–10	Strong
11+	Overwhelming

If an aura falls into more than one strength category, the spell indicates the stronger of the two. 

Length Aura Lingers: How long the aura lingers depends on its original strength: 

Original Strength	Duration
Faint	1d6 minutes
Moderate	1d6 x 10 minutes
Strong	1d6 hours
Overwhelming	1d6 days

Remember that animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil; this
spell does not detect them. 

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.

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.

D&D 3.5th EDITION (2003)

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 the d20 SRD if you want to check it out.

D&D 4th EDITION (2008)

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.

D&D 5th EDITION (2014)

DETECT EVIL AND GOOD
1st-level divination 

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes 

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. 

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.

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 detect evil 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.

Nth EDITION

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The advanced version of the spell will look like this:

Detect Evil / Detect Good
Divination
Level: Cleric 1, Magic-User 2
Components: V, S, (Cleric M)
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: 60 ft.
Area: 10 ft. wide, 60 ft. long
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes (D)
Saving Throw: None
Magic Resistance: No

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:

1st Round: 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).

2nd Round: 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.

3rd Round: The power and location of each aura.

Aura Power: 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.

If an aura falls into more than one strength category, the spell indicates the stronger of the two.

Creature/Object	Faint	Moderate	Strong	Overwhelming
Evil creatures that wish the caster harm	All	-	-	-
Undead and extraplanar (HD)	1-2	3-6	7-12	13 or higher
Cleric of an evil deity* (class levels)	-	7-8	9-12	13 or higher
Evil magic item or spell (caster level)	1-2	3-8	9-12	13 or higher

* 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)

Lingering Aura: 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.

Original Power	Duration of Lingering Aura
Faint	1d6 rounds
Moderate	1d6 minutes
Strong	1d6 hours
Overwhelming	1d6 days

Animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil, and as such this spell does not detect them.

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.

This spell is reversed as detect good.  It works exactly as detect evil, but detects creatures and magic of good alignment. 

Components: A cleric requires their holy symbol to cast this spell.

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.

Detect Evil
Divination
Level: Cleric 1, Magic-User 2
Components: V, S, (Cleric M)
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: 60 ft.
Area: 10 ft. wide, 60 ft. long
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes (D)
Saving Throw: None
Magic Resistance: No

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:

1st Round: 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).

2nd Round: 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 detect evil spell.

3rd Round: The location of each aura.

Animals, traps, poisons, and other potential perils are not evil, and as such this spell does not detect them.

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. 

This spell is reversed as detect good.  It works exactly as detect evil, but detects creatures and magic of lawful alignment.  

Components: A cleric requires their holy symbol to cast this spell.

NEXT: Next time (probably Monday) I'll be looking at detect magic.

Building the Sandbox: The G-Series modules

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.

G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

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 World of Greyhawk boxed set places it within the Jotens, a spur of mountains just north of the Yeomanry.  The GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders compilation module places it in the Jotens as well, so everything is satisfyingly consistent so far.

G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl

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. World of  Greyhawk contradicts this by placing it to the southwest, in the Crystalmist Mountains.  Queen of the Spiders 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.

G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King

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 World of Greyhawk has us covered: it's southeast of the last adventure, in the mountain range known as the Hellfurnaces.  Again, Queen of the Spiders keeps this consistent, which is what I like to see.  I'm already irritated by the discrepancy in the placement of G2, I don't need any more inconsistencies creeping in.

GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders

I do need to quickly note Queen of the Spiders, which is a compilation and expansion of the G-series, D-series, and Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits.  The module is part of a mega-campaign of sorts that ties it together with T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil and A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords.  Queen of the Spiders 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.

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 T1-4 and A1-4 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 A1-4 into D1 (possibly by inserting a Stone Giant adventure into the mix).

Perusals & Progressions: Cure Light Wounds

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.

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).

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 deltasdnd.blogspot.com and www.paulsgameblog.com, 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.)

I'm starting this series with cure light wounds, 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.

So, with that excessive preamble out of the way, let's look at the history of cure light wounds.

ORIGINAL D&D (1974)

Cure Light Wounds: 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.

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.

Cure light wounds is noted as having a reverse effect when cast by clerics of chaotic alignment, but the specifics are left pretty vague.

HOLMES BASIC (1977)

Cure Light Wounds — Level: clerical 1; Range: 0
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.

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 cause light wounds, but gives no further details.

B/X (1981)

Cure Light Wounds*
Range: 0
Duration: permanent 

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 cure light wounds 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.

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:

Cure Light Wounds: When reversed, this spell (cause light wounds) will do 2-7 points of damage to any creature or character touched. The cleric must roll to hit the opponent in normal combat.

It's pretty much what's implied by reversing cure light wounds, with the required attack roll being the only part that might not be obvious.

BECMI (1983)

Cure Light Wounds*
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Any one living creature 

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. 

This spell will never increase a creature's total hit points above the original amount. 

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 Cure Light Wounds 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.

No changes here. As in B/X, cause light wounds is dealt with in the Expert rules.

Cure Light Wounds*
When reversed, this spell, cause light wounds, causes 2-7 points of damage to any creature touched (no Saving Throw). The cleric must make a normal Hit roll.

Again, no changes, but it's clarified that the spell doesn't have a saving throw.

RULES CYCLOPEDIA (1991)

Cure Light Wounds*
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Any one living creature 

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. 

This spell cannot increase a creature's total hit points above the original amount. 

When reversed, this spell, cause light wounds, 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.

This is the end of the Basic line's development of cure light wounds, 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.

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 Rules Cyclopedia to be its culmination.  Now let's take a look at how  the AD&D line handled it.

AD&D 1st EDITION (1978)

Cure Light Wounds (Necromantic) Reversible
Level: 1
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Area of Effect: Character touched
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 5 segments
Saving Throw: None 

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, cause light wounds, 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.

There's plenty of added complexity to unpack here.  The first thing is that magic is now divided into schools, and cure light wounds 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.

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.

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 PHB multiple times, but I'd forgotten this bit.

AD&D 2nd EDITION (1989)

Cure Light Wounds (Necromancy)
Reversible 

Sphere: Healing
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 5
Area of Effect: Creature touched
Saving Throw: None 

When casting this spell and laying his hand upon a creature, the priest causes 1d8
points of wound or other injury damage  to the creature’s body to be healed. This healing
cannot affect creatures without corporeal bodies, nor can it cure wounds of creatures not living or of extraplanar origin. 

The reversed spell, cause light wounds, 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. 

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.

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.

AD&D 2nd EDITION REVISED (1995)

I won't reproduce this version, because it's pretty much identical except for some very minor changes to wording.

D&D 3rd EDITION (2000)

Cure Light Wounds  

Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Brd 1, Clr 1, Drd 1, Healing 1, Pal 1, Rgr 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will half (harmless) (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless) 

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). 

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.

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.

It should also be noted that in 3rd edition, good clerics can swap out any prepared spell for cure light wounds, and evil clerics can do the same with inflict light wounds.

Inflict Light Wounds 

Necromancy
Level: Clr 1, Destruction 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will half
Spell Resistance: Yes 

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). 

Since undead are powered by negative energy, this spell cures them of a like amount of damage, rather than harming them.

Cause light wounds has become inflict light wounds. This one remains in the necromancy school, which is appropriate, and is otherwise the opposite of cure light wounds.

D&D 3.5th EDITION (2003)

Aside from some minor wording changes and a clarification that undead get to use their spell resistance against cure light wounds in addition to saving throws, this version is the same as in 3rd edition.

D&D 4th EDITION (2008)

Cure Light Wounds Cleric Utility 2 

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. 

Daily ✦ Divine, Healing
Standard Action
Melee touch
Target: You or one creature 

Effect: The target regains hit points as if it had spent a healing surge.

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 cause/inflict light wounds got converted to 4e, unless I've missed something.

D&D 5th EDITION (2014)

Cure Wounds
1st-level evocation 

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V,S
Duration: Instantaneous 

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. 

At Higher Levels. 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.

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, cure wounds is now classed as an evocation spell.

Inflict Wounds
1st level necromancy 

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous 

Make a melee spell attack against a creature you can reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d10 necrotic damage.
At Higher Levels. 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.

In terms of damage dealt, this has very much moved away from being the opposite to cure wounds.

D&D Nth EDITION

The first thing I can definitely say is that I'm keeping the name as cure light wounds; 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 cause light wounds rather than inflict light wounds.  To me it rolls off the tongue better, and I like the alliteration between cure light wounds and cause light wounds.

Basic D&D gave this spell the ability to cure paralysis, but I'm going to ditch that.  Remove paralysis is its own spell in 2nd and 3rd edition, and I don't want to step on that spell's toes.

Over the years, cure light wounds 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.

I'm not going to split cure and cause light wounds 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.

3rd edition gives a saving throw against cause light wounds, 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.

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 cure light wounds will have a casting time of 1.

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.

With the above in mind, here's what the Nth edition cure light wounds entry will look like.

Cure Light Wounds / Cause Light Wounds
Evocation / Necromancy 

Level: Cleric 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Magic Resistance: Yes 

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. 

The reverse, cause light wounds, 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 cure light wounds are also unaffected by cause light wounds. Cause light wounds is a necromancy spell, whereas cure light wounds is an evocation spell. 

Since undead are powered by negative energy, this spell operates in reverse against them: cure light wounds damages them, and cause light wounds cures them.

EDIT: I had a look at remove paralysis, 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 remove paralysis at all, as that's still a far more effective spell.

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.

NEXT: For my next post on this series I'm going to tackle detect evil, which has always been a problematic one for me.  I expect I'll be changing things up a bit more extensively for that one.