CREATURE FEATURES:
Denebian Slime Devil: This creature, most probably derived from a passing mention on Star Trek, is an obvious joke monster. It appears as whatever the creature's victim finds most repulsive, or otherwise as a blob of slime. It will tirelessly follow a human-type around, and is so abhorrent that anyone who meets a character being trailed by one will either flee or attack - I'm starting to think that the NPCs of this era are emotionally stunted in some way. The creature can only be killed or dispelled by a manner determined by the DM, and there are a number of highly unfunny examples given. And to make it a complete nuisance, it doesn't aid in fights, instead hangign around and whining much like C-3P0.
I will be including this creature, but it will not be native to Oerth, or any other D&D-style world. It may exist in other sci-fi based planets, possibly in the settings for Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World. I'll be substituting my own methods for destroying it, however.
Catoblepas: Ah, a real D&D monster – what a relief. Or it would be, if the Catoblepas wasn't an utterly terrible design. It has the body of a large water buffalo, with an ugly warthog's head on a long neck – this odd physiology is the result of it adapting to its swampy environment. The creature's gaze is the equivalent of a Death Spell – NO SAVE. And get this – if you're surprised, meeting the gaze is automatic. So there's a good 2-in-6 chance of your entire party being arbitrarily struck dead by any Catoblepas encounter. Their one weakness is that it's hard for them to lift their heads, with only a 25% chance to do so on the first round. But that chance increases each round, so you're going to cop it eventually... Their tail can also stun opponents, but that's pretty much small potatoes in comparison.
When I do include a Catoblepas, I'm going to make it a damn rare creature, and also one that is sung of in tales and legends. If the PCs enter an area where one lives, I'm going to make it pretty easy for them to discover that fact.
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL STANDARD MILITARY SYMBOLS:
This article presents a series of standard symbols for depicting various troop types on military maps. I'll use these on hand-outs should the PCs ever discover such a map.
THIEF BONUSES FOR DEXTERITY
This short article presents a table that gives Thieves a bonus or penalty to their special abilities based on Dexterity. This is a good thing – Thieves in OD&D need all the help they can get.
The next bit is a touch more contentious: the addition of Exceptional Dexterity. That is, if a Thief has a Dex of 18, he gets to roll percentile dice to see if he is extra-super dextrous. I don't mind the addition, to be honest. It works for the Fighter in terms of Strength, and I'm all for things that boost the Thief a bit.
The explanation for these rules being introduced will be new training techniques provided by the Adventurers' Guild – the old standby.
D&D IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE DM
It's a DM advice article by Gary, which goes through the usual motions: limit magic, make the PCs work for their rewards, play the monsters intelligently, etc. The most interesting thing here is a mention of the D&D campaign played at CalTech, a monster high-level gonzo game dubbed Dungeons & Beavers. I'm tempted to throw in a sub-level of Greyhawk that is completely over the top in this manner. Gary had a King Kong-themed level entitled 'Monkeying Around', so I'd probably give it a similar pun.
Oh, and Gary confirms that none of the PCs in either Greyhawk or Blackmoor are over 14th level at this point.
That's it for today. There's an Empire of the Petal Throne article I want to cover, but it's long and I can't be bothered - those EPT articles take some getting through.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: The Strategic Review #7 Part 2
HINTS FOR D&D JUDGES PART 1: TOWNS: This articles gives a whole bunch of good advice for designing the home base for your campaign, but it's all pretty basic stuff. It's the sort of article that would have been pretty useful in the old days when everyone outside of Gary and Dave Arneson was still learning the ropes. Nowadays this is the sort of advice that's already in the books and has been drummed into anyone with even a modicum of experience as a DM.
There's a little tidbit about the writer's home dungeon – Castle Blackstar, the first level of which is made up of shops and inns, as well as the home of a high-level wizard with a balrog butler. The question that now comes to me is this: do I try and incorporate all of this stuff into the campaign? If it was from Gary, I'd do it in a heartbeat. The same goes for Rob Kuntz, Dave Arneson, or any of the other guys whose name I recognise. But where do I draw the line, and what makes one piece of campaign lore more 'official' than any other in The Dragon/The Strategic Review? I'm leaning towards tossing everything in, so I think the above stays. The line I'm drawing is with fiction - I'll only stripmine it if it's officially D&D, or it's writeen by a prominent designer of D&D.
MIGHTY MAGIC MISCELLANY
Cup and Talisman of Akbar: This cup of gold and mithril (and the talisman commonly found within it) can only be used by Dervishes, Rangers and Paladins. Given that the talisman is engraved with an eight-pointed star and the name of Allah in Kufic script it must originate from Earth – proof of a link between Earth and Oerth grows ever stronger. The relics are worth a cool 75 thousand gp, but it has other powers. If you fill the cup with water, dip the amulet in and say the appropriate prayers, the water will become a potion of some sort. Effects range from a simple cure potion to a cure for level drain to the Universal Antidote, which I am left to assume cures anything and everything. As with all magic items not incorporated into the random tables, I'll have to place this somewhere myself. I'm thinking an Arabic sorcerer of some sort might cross over into the Greyhawk dungeons from Earth, a sort of Abdul Alhazred type, who has it in his possession.
Now, the question remains why can't Clerics use this thing? Holy items would seem to be their thing, yes? I'm thinking that this inability ties to the origins of the item – as it is an item seemingly powered by Allah, those who serve the gods of Oerth would not be able to use it. But that implies Rangers and Paladins DO serve Allah, which has all sorts of interesting connotations best saved for a later date.
Staff of the Priest Kings: This is the Clerical equivalent of the Staff of Wizardry. It can be used as a Snake Staff, and can also cast Sticks to Snakes, Insect Plague, Create/Pollute Food and Water, Cure/Cause Disease, Continual Light, Neutralize Poison and Cure Light and Serious Wounds. This is the basic model, but theres a chance the staff comes with an extra power – Find the Path, Earthquake and Hold Person, Raise Dead, Raise Dead Fully, and Restoration. Alas, no final strike capability. Clerics, as usual, just don't get the cool tricks that Magic-Users do.
Apart from some nifty abilities, this item also implies that there were once Priest Kings in the World of Greyhawk. I don't know where or when, and I can't really piece it together until I review the first World of Greyhawk folio.
Brazen Bottle: This is a brass flask shaped like a Kline's Bottle, whatever that may be. If it is opened in the presence of djinn or efreet, it will imprison the monsters inside. It can also be used on Balrogs, Invisible Stalkers, demons and air or fire elementals. In general the creature inside will be mighty pissed off, and will attack anyone in the vicinity if the bottle is opened. But – if the creature has been imprisoned for a good thousasnd years – it might decide to serve the one who freed it for 1,001 days. Lovely – items with a strong mythological flavour are always winners.
Next time I will probably finish up with the rest of Strategic Review #7
There's a little tidbit about the writer's home dungeon – Castle Blackstar, the first level of which is made up of shops and inns, as well as the home of a high-level wizard with a balrog butler. The question that now comes to me is this: do I try and incorporate all of this stuff into the campaign? If it was from Gary, I'd do it in a heartbeat. The same goes for Rob Kuntz, Dave Arneson, or any of the other guys whose name I recognise. But where do I draw the line, and what makes one piece of campaign lore more 'official' than any other in The Dragon/The Strategic Review? I'm leaning towards tossing everything in, so I think the above stays. The line I'm drawing is with fiction - I'll only stripmine it if it's officially D&D, or it's writeen by a prominent designer of D&D.
MIGHTY MAGIC MISCELLANY
Cup and Talisman of Akbar: This cup of gold and mithril (and the talisman commonly found within it) can only be used by Dervishes, Rangers and Paladins. Given that the talisman is engraved with an eight-pointed star and the name of Allah in Kufic script it must originate from Earth – proof of a link between Earth and Oerth grows ever stronger. The relics are worth a cool 75 thousand gp, but it has other powers. If you fill the cup with water, dip the amulet in and say the appropriate prayers, the water will become a potion of some sort. Effects range from a simple cure potion to a cure for level drain to the Universal Antidote, which I am left to assume cures anything and everything. As with all magic items not incorporated into the random tables, I'll have to place this somewhere myself. I'm thinking an Arabic sorcerer of some sort might cross over into the Greyhawk dungeons from Earth, a sort of Abdul Alhazred type, who has it in his possession.
Now, the question remains why can't Clerics use this thing? Holy items would seem to be their thing, yes? I'm thinking that this inability ties to the origins of the item – as it is an item seemingly powered by Allah, those who serve the gods of Oerth would not be able to use it. But that implies Rangers and Paladins DO serve Allah, which has all sorts of interesting connotations best saved for a later date.
Staff of the Priest Kings: This is the Clerical equivalent of the Staff of Wizardry. It can be used as a Snake Staff, and can also cast Sticks to Snakes, Insect Plague, Create/Pollute Food and Water, Cure/Cause Disease, Continual Light, Neutralize Poison and Cure Light and Serious Wounds. This is the basic model, but theres a chance the staff comes with an extra power – Find the Path, Earthquake and Hold Person, Raise Dead, Raise Dead Fully, and Restoration. Alas, no final strike capability. Clerics, as usual, just don't get the cool tricks that Magic-Users do.
Apart from some nifty abilities, this item also implies that there were once Priest Kings in the World of Greyhawk. I don't know where or when, and I can't really piece it together until I review the first World of Greyhawk folio.
Brazen Bottle: This is a brass flask shaped like a Kline's Bottle, whatever that may be. If it is opened in the presence of djinn or efreet, it will imprison the monsters inside. It can also be used on Balrogs, Invisible Stalkers, demons and air or fire elementals. In general the creature inside will be mighty pissed off, and will attack anyone in the vicinity if the bottle is opened. But – if the creature has been imprisoned for a good thousasnd years – it might decide to serve the one who freed it for 1,001 days. Lovely – items with a strong mythological flavour are always winners.
Next time I will probably finish up with the rest of Strategic Review #7
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: The Strategic Review #7 Part 1
This final issue of The Strategic Review has plenty of material for my D&D campaign, and it occurs to me that once it relaunches as The Dragon it's going to have even more. Whereas in the early days I was covering issues of this mag in one installment, issue #6 took me 4 parts. This one will probably take the same, and things are only going to grow. In other words, I ain't going to run out material any time soon.
First off, a brief mention of the articles that aren't relevant to my campaign. The first of these is relevant to D&D as a whole though – the cancellation of The Strategic Review and its relaunch into two magazines – The Dragon (with a focus on fantasy and sci-fi gaming) and Little Wars (with a focus on wargaming). One survived for a very long time, and the other died very quickly. But this is a massive step for the game, and a real sign of just how far TSR is going.
There's also a hilarious, hilarious editorial by Gary, who has gotten himself embroiled in an argument with Avalon Hill over who has the best convention. I'm giggling even now just thinking about it. It's Gary in absolute top hyperbolic form.
The comic strip Dirt debuts, and it has its own simplistic charm. If anything you've got to admire a strip that's nothing but eyes on a black background.
What Price Gold and Glory? is a short story by Jim Hayes. Now I did include a bit of fiction from last issue, but that was by Robert Kuntz – innovators of the game get a special dispensation. Not so for this piece – sorry Mr Hayes!
The letters page Out on a Limb debuts here – with two letters from Gary!
And now into the meat of things. We start with a lengthy article entitled The Dungeons and Dragons Magic System by Gary. The gist of the article is to properly outline and elucidate the "Vancian" magic system (and yes, this is the first time it it referred to as such). Spells are said to be made up of four components: verbal, somatic, mnemonic and material. So to cast a spell, the magic-user must be free to say the correct words, make the correct movement, and also he must possess the materials necessary to power the spell. There are no concrete rules set down for this just yet, but it's a good indicator of where things will go once AD&D comes around. It does give a good indication of just how effective a Magic-User caught in a Web spell will be, though.
As for the mnemonic part, that's memory. Once again it is stated that a magic-user has to memorise each spell, and once that spell has been cast it is gone until memorised once more. We've heard it before, and here it is again – but at least it's consistent. It seems that many players were misinterpreting things in their favour here.
There's not much else of use in the article, but I'd like to note Gary's assertion that there would never be 10th level spells in D&D. It's an assertion he stuck by, so good on him.
THE FASTEST GUNS THAT NEVER LIVED: It's another Boot Hill article, this time giving stats for a whole host of fictional characters. So when my PCs get to the Old West, they're going to run into the likes of The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, The Rifleman, and others. Especially exciting to me is that we get stats for Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and Yul Brynner. Sweet! My bad impressions will be getting a workout.
First off, a brief mention of the articles that aren't relevant to my campaign. The first of these is relevant to D&D as a whole though – the cancellation of The Strategic Review and its relaunch into two magazines – The Dragon (with a focus on fantasy and sci-fi gaming) and Little Wars (with a focus on wargaming). One survived for a very long time, and the other died very quickly. But this is a massive step for the game, and a real sign of just how far TSR is going.
There's also a hilarious, hilarious editorial by Gary, who has gotten himself embroiled in an argument with Avalon Hill over who has the best convention. I'm giggling even now just thinking about it. It's Gary in absolute top hyperbolic form.
The comic strip Dirt debuts, and it has its own simplistic charm. If anything you've got to admire a strip that's nothing but eyes on a black background.
What Price Gold and Glory? is a short story by Jim Hayes. Now I did include a bit of fiction from last issue, but that was by Robert Kuntz – innovators of the game get a special dispensation. Not so for this piece – sorry Mr Hayes!
The letters page Out on a Limb debuts here – with two letters from Gary!
And now into the meat of things. We start with a lengthy article entitled The Dungeons and Dragons Magic System by Gary. The gist of the article is to properly outline and elucidate the "Vancian" magic system (and yes, this is the first time it it referred to as such). Spells are said to be made up of four components: verbal, somatic, mnemonic and material. So to cast a spell, the magic-user must be free to say the correct words, make the correct movement, and also he must possess the materials necessary to power the spell. There are no concrete rules set down for this just yet, but it's a good indicator of where things will go once AD&D comes around. It does give a good indication of just how effective a Magic-User caught in a Web spell will be, though.
As for the mnemonic part, that's memory. Once again it is stated that a magic-user has to memorise each spell, and once that spell has been cast it is gone until memorised once more. We've heard it before, and here it is again – but at least it's consistent. It seems that many players were misinterpreting things in their favour here.
There's not much else of use in the article, but I'd like to note Gary's assertion that there would never be 10th level spells in D&D. It's an assertion he stuck by, so good on him.
THE FASTEST GUNS THAT NEVER LIVED: It's another Boot Hill article, this time giving stats for a whole host of fictional characters. So when my PCs get to the Old West, they're going to run into the likes of The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, The Rifleman, and others. Especially exciting to me is that we get stats for Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and Yul Brynner. Sweet! My bad impressions will be getting a workout.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: The Strategic Review #6 part 4
Apologies for the lengthy breaks between posts here. I haven't been particularly into D&D of late (a probable by-product of not being able to play in a while), so getting around to writing these up has been a low priority. But rest assured that I'll keep chugging along – I can't promise to post every day, but I'll try to be a little more frequent and get this out at least a couple of times a week. Anyway, onwards with the remainder of The Strategic Review #6.
MIGHTY MAGIC MISCELLANY: This article presents a number of magic intruments, tied heavily into the Bard flavour from the previous article.
Each of the instruments is connected to one of the Bard Colleges mentioned earlier, and a Bard has to be of that college or higher to use it. If a lesser Bard tries it, he gets the old zappo so common to old-school magic items. A Bard of a higher college gets to use the abilities more than once per day.
It should also be noted that all of these instruments are identical until used – so any Bard who tries to play one won't know if he's high level enough or not. And nothing short of a wish can identify them.
Fochlucan Harp: This harp adds 10% to a Bard's chance to charm someone, and can also cast protection from evil, shield, and continual light, each once per day.
Mac-Fuirmidh Harp: This harp adds 20% to a Bard's chance to charm, and it's got all the abilities of the Fochlucan Harp as well. It can also cast invisibility, but given that the Bard has to play the harp to become invisible it's not so useful – he's likely to be heard. Finally it can be used to cast the Strength spell.
Doss Lyre: Adds 30% to charm, has all the abilities of the Mac-Fuirmidh Harp, and has other abilities too. The first is to cast Fly, but only so long as the Bard can continue to play. There are some nifty rules about how long the Bard can keep it up before collapsing from exhaustion, with the possibility of falling unconscious while in the air. The second ability is to Dispell Magic.
Canaith Lyre: Adds 40% to charm, has all the abilities of the Doss Lyre, yada yada. It can also cast Confusion and Fear, as well as a healing song – handy given the dearth of healing magic in OD&D.
Cli Mandolin: Adds 50% to charm, has all the abilities of the Canaith Lyre. PLUS! It has Telekinesis, and can heal better than the Lyre. PLUS! It contains an elemental! It's not stated what can be done with said elemental, but I assume that it obeys the wielder's commands. The mandolin can cast Remove Curse. It also has a 'song of fire' equivalent to some unspecified 4th level fire spell. The only spell that qualifies is Wall of Fire, which is good enough for me.
The article goes on about these instruments being added to the Miscellaneous Magic Item tables, but then proceeds to not outline where or how. So I'm instead introducing them as revered artifacts of the Bardic tradition. Though I won't rule out finding them in random hordes, they are generally only gifted to Bards who have done some great service for their people (those being the ones connected to the Druids).
BOOT HILL EXPERIMENTAL RULE: Since I'm including Boot Hill in my campaign, any of the various articles need to be introduced as well. This one brings in a rule whereby a character's Bravery score affects his first shot in a gunfight. In theory it's a great rule, but with no knowledge of the Boot Hill system I can't tell how it works in practice. It's a moot point anyway, as I'm going to have to adapt it to work with D&D.
GREYHAWK ERRATA: Hurrah! There were a number of things in Greyhawk that I noticed were missing, or in need of clarification. This article provides the answers I was looking for.
The Homunculus was mentioned in parts of Supplement I, but its entry went missing. Here we learn that it's a small winged humanoid created by an Alchemist and a Magic-User. Created from the M-U's blood (and a lotta cash!) it possesses all of the M-U's knowledge, and has a telepathic link with its master. The little buggers have a bite with sleep poison, but really aren't that formidable in combat – their primary application seems to be that of a spy. But if it's killed, the M-U suffers 2-20 damage. I'll introduce the Homunculus as a servant of some NPC Wizard in the dungeons – and if the PCs find his notes they'll learn how to create one as well.
The Golem entry gets a proper intro now, which does little except state that Golems are created by powerful magic-users. But at least now the Flesh Golem has hit points and a movement rate.
The Rod of Resurrection gets its entry fixed – it resurrects like a 15th level Cleric, can be used but once per day, and has 20 charges.
The Gem of Seeing, while present on the tables, did not get a write up. We learn here that it lets the user see hidden and invisible things, as well as secret doors.
Strangely, the Gauntlets of Dexterity get errata which is exactly the same as the write-up in my version of Supplement I.
And that's it for The Strategic Review #6, which I thought would be done in a single day but ended up stretched over a couple of weeks. Next time I delve into #7, which has Gary writing about D&D magic, more Boot Hill NPCs, some DM advice about building towns, magic items, monsters, Tekumel, more Gary and plenty of other stuff not really about D&D.
MIGHTY MAGIC MISCELLANY: This article presents a number of magic intruments, tied heavily into the Bard flavour from the previous article.
Each of the instruments is connected to one of the Bard Colleges mentioned earlier, and a Bard has to be of that college or higher to use it. If a lesser Bard tries it, he gets the old zappo so common to old-school magic items. A Bard of a higher college gets to use the abilities more than once per day.
It should also be noted that all of these instruments are identical until used – so any Bard who tries to play one won't know if he's high level enough or not. And nothing short of a wish can identify them.
Fochlucan Harp: This harp adds 10% to a Bard's chance to charm someone, and can also cast protection from evil, shield, and continual light, each once per day.
Mac-Fuirmidh Harp: This harp adds 20% to a Bard's chance to charm, and it's got all the abilities of the Fochlucan Harp as well. It can also cast invisibility, but given that the Bard has to play the harp to become invisible it's not so useful – he's likely to be heard. Finally it can be used to cast the Strength spell.
Doss Lyre: Adds 30% to charm, has all the abilities of the Mac-Fuirmidh Harp, and has other abilities too. The first is to cast Fly, but only so long as the Bard can continue to play. There are some nifty rules about how long the Bard can keep it up before collapsing from exhaustion, with the possibility of falling unconscious while in the air. The second ability is to Dispell Magic.
Canaith Lyre: Adds 40% to charm, has all the abilities of the Doss Lyre, yada yada. It can also cast Confusion and Fear, as well as a healing song – handy given the dearth of healing magic in OD&D.
Cli Mandolin: Adds 50% to charm, has all the abilities of the Canaith Lyre. PLUS! It has Telekinesis, and can heal better than the Lyre. PLUS! It contains an elemental! It's not stated what can be done with said elemental, but I assume that it obeys the wielder's commands. The mandolin can cast Remove Curse. It also has a 'song of fire' equivalent to some unspecified 4th level fire spell. The only spell that qualifies is Wall of Fire, which is good enough for me.
The article goes on about these instruments being added to the Miscellaneous Magic Item tables, but then proceeds to not outline where or how. So I'm instead introducing them as revered artifacts of the Bardic tradition. Though I won't rule out finding them in random hordes, they are generally only gifted to Bards who have done some great service for their people (those being the ones connected to the Druids).
BOOT HILL EXPERIMENTAL RULE: Since I'm including Boot Hill in my campaign, any of the various articles need to be introduced as well. This one brings in a rule whereby a character's Bravery score affects his first shot in a gunfight. In theory it's a great rule, but with no knowledge of the Boot Hill system I can't tell how it works in practice. It's a moot point anyway, as I'm going to have to adapt it to work with D&D.
GREYHAWK ERRATA: Hurrah! There were a number of things in Greyhawk that I noticed were missing, or in need of clarification. This article provides the answers I was looking for.
The Homunculus was mentioned in parts of Supplement I, but its entry went missing. Here we learn that it's a small winged humanoid created by an Alchemist and a Magic-User. Created from the M-U's blood (and a lotta cash!) it possesses all of the M-U's knowledge, and has a telepathic link with its master. The little buggers have a bite with sleep poison, but really aren't that formidable in combat – their primary application seems to be that of a spy. But if it's killed, the M-U suffers 2-20 damage. I'll introduce the Homunculus as a servant of some NPC Wizard in the dungeons – and if the PCs find his notes they'll learn how to create one as well.
The Golem entry gets a proper intro now, which does little except state that Golems are created by powerful magic-users. But at least now the Flesh Golem has hit points and a movement rate.
The Rod of Resurrection gets its entry fixed – it resurrects like a 15th level Cleric, can be used but once per day, and has 20 charges.
The Gem of Seeing, while present on the tables, did not get a write up. We learn here that it lets the user see hidden and invisible things, as well as secret doors.
Strangely, the Gauntlets of Dexterity get errata which is exactly the same as the write-up in my version of Supplement I.
And that's it for The Strategic Review #6, which I thought would be done in a single day but ended up stretched over a couple of weeks. Next time I delve into #7, which has Gary writing about D&D magic, more Boot Hill NPCs, some DM advice about building towns, magic items, monsters, Tekumel, more Gary and plenty of other stuff not really about D&D.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: The Strategic Review part 3
THE BARD
D&D gets another character class here, and we're definitely getting away from the more general types and more into specific roles. The original classes of D&D lend themselves to interpretation very well. The later classes, the Bard among them, are locked into a certain image, and it takes a genuine effort to break them out of the stereotypes.
In case you haven't guessed it, I've never been a big fan of the bard class. I don't think it really serves a purpose that a multiclassed thief-mage can't duplicate, and the only unique things about it are fluff. And that's not even getting into the mechanical nightmare that is the AD&D bard. Thankfully, what we have here is a much more streamlined design than that. They resemble the 3e Bard quite a lot, actually.
The introduction describes the Bard as being inspired by the norse 'skald' (a sort of warrior poet-historian), the celtic 'bard' (mediators and chroniclers who served the Druids) and the european 'minstrel' (entertainers of the nobility).
What this boils down to in terms of D&D is a class that combines aspects of the Fighter, Thief and Magic-User. They get the abilities of a Thief half their level (no backstab though), may use any weapon, cast magic-user spells, and use the Cleric tables for fighting and saving throws. They are limited to leather and chain for armour. Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits can be Bards, but can't progress beyond 8th level. To become a Bard a character must have at least an average score in Strength and Intelligence, and an above average Charisma. I take this to mean he needs 9 or above in the first two, and 12 or above in the latter.
In addition they get the ability to mesmerize any creature that hears their music. The Bard has a percentage chance for this that increases by level, and there's a lot of business about stronger creatures being more resistant to this ability. Undead have an even greater resistance than usual, but I find it interesting that they're affected at all. By the rules a mindless skeleton can be mesmerised, which I find slightly odd. Balrogs are said to have 200% resistance, which I find inexplicably hilarious. As a side-note to this ability, it's also said that Bards can negate song-based powers like those of the harpy.
The Bard can then make a Suggestion to any creature that has been mesmerized, its complexity dependent on the intelligence of the target. The most interesting part here is that Bards get XP for charming and suggesting based on the hit dice of the opponent – that's a nice little bonus!
And then we get a nice little adventure hook: a Dragon who refuses to let a Bard stop playing his restful melodies. I'll work this in somewhere, whether it be as an NPC Bard who is already a captive, a Dragon trying to capture a Bard PC, or the PCs having to kidnap a Bard to appease a Dragon. Lots of possibilities.
The last ability is that of Lore, which gives the Bard a chance to know tales and legends about certain items or places. The most useful application of this is to identify magic items, but even this isn't foolproof – it doesn't work on the magical books (which is fair enough, as they all appear identical), and only a bard of 12th level or higher can identify the various necklaces and scarabs.
In general Bards can use the same magic items that Fighters and Thieves can, and can use the musical instruments with much greater effectiveness. The major thing to note here is that any bonus to AC granted by an item reduces the Bard's ability to mesmerize creatures. I'll chalk it up to an acoustical phenomenon of protective magic. Or something.
There's an interesting detail in the advancement table – as Bards advance they progress through certain colleges. A bard of 2nd to 4th level belongs to the Fochlucan college, 5th-7th to Mac-Fuirmidh, 8th-10th to Doss, 11th-13th to Canaith, 14th-16th to Cli, 17th-19th to Anstruth and 20th+ to Ollamh. What these mean isn't detailed, but mechanically they determine how many followers a bard will attract.
Bards can be any alignment, but most are neutral. A lawful Bard loses his Thief abilities, which is a little odd, but I guess they must require a certain mindset that only Chaotics can achieve. Druids and Bards are closely connected, and I plan to use this as a way to introduce the class. NPC Bards will be assigned by the Druids to accompany various heroes into the dungeons and chronicle their exploits. The presence of demi-human Bards muddies this up a little, but I'll say the Druidic peoples are highly respectful of the various fey-folk, and allow them to study the Bardic tradition if they wish it.
Next time (notice how I've stopped typing 'tomorrow'?) I'll try to knock off the rest of The Strategic Review #6.
D&D gets another character class here, and we're definitely getting away from the more general types and more into specific roles. The original classes of D&D lend themselves to interpretation very well. The later classes, the Bard among them, are locked into a certain image, and it takes a genuine effort to break them out of the stereotypes.
In case you haven't guessed it, I've never been a big fan of the bard class. I don't think it really serves a purpose that a multiclassed thief-mage can't duplicate, and the only unique things about it are fluff. And that's not even getting into the mechanical nightmare that is the AD&D bard. Thankfully, what we have here is a much more streamlined design than that. They resemble the 3e Bard quite a lot, actually.
The introduction describes the Bard as being inspired by the norse 'skald' (a sort of warrior poet-historian), the celtic 'bard' (mediators and chroniclers who served the Druids) and the european 'minstrel' (entertainers of the nobility).
What this boils down to in terms of D&D is a class that combines aspects of the Fighter, Thief and Magic-User. They get the abilities of a Thief half their level (no backstab though), may use any weapon, cast magic-user spells, and use the Cleric tables for fighting and saving throws. They are limited to leather and chain for armour. Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits can be Bards, but can't progress beyond 8th level. To become a Bard a character must have at least an average score in Strength and Intelligence, and an above average Charisma. I take this to mean he needs 9 or above in the first two, and 12 or above in the latter.
In addition they get the ability to mesmerize any creature that hears their music. The Bard has a percentage chance for this that increases by level, and there's a lot of business about stronger creatures being more resistant to this ability. Undead have an even greater resistance than usual, but I find it interesting that they're affected at all. By the rules a mindless skeleton can be mesmerised, which I find slightly odd. Balrogs are said to have 200% resistance, which I find inexplicably hilarious. As a side-note to this ability, it's also said that Bards can negate song-based powers like those of the harpy.
The Bard can then make a Suggestion to any creature that has been mesmerized, its complexity dependent on the intelligence of the target. The most interesting part here is that Bards get XP for charming and suggesting based on the hit dice of the opponent – that's a nice little bonus!
And then we get a nice little adventure hook: a Dragon who refuses to let a Bard stop playing his restful melodies. I'll work this in somewhere, whether it be as an NPC Bard who is already a captive, a Dragon trying to capture a Bard PC, or the PCs having to kidnap a Bard to appease a Dragon. Lots of possibilities.
The last ability is that of Lore, which gives the Bard a chance to know tales and legends about certain items or places. The most useful application of this is to identify magic items, but even this isn't foolproof – it doesn't work on the magical books (which is fair enough, as they all appear identical), and only a bard of 12th level or higher can identify the various necklaces and scarabs.
In general Bards can use the same magic items that Fighters and Thieves can, and can use the musical instruments with much greater effectiveness. The major thing to note here is that any bonus to AC granted by an item reduces the Bard's ability to mesmerize creatures. I'll chalk it up to an acoustical phenomenon of protective magic. Or something.
There's an interesting detail in the advancement table – as Bards advance they progress through certain colleges. A bard of 2nd to 4th level belongs to the Fochlucan college, 5th-7th to Mac-Fuirmidh, 8th-10th to Doss, 11th-13th to Canaith, 14th-16th to Cli, 17th-19th to Anstruth and 20th+ to Ollamh. What these mean isn't detailed, but mechanically they determine how many followers a bard will attract.
Bards can be any alignment, but most are neutral. A lawful Bard loses his Thief abilities, which is a little odd, but I guess they must require a certain mindset that only Chaotics can achieve. Druids and Bards are closely connected, and I plan to use this as a way to introduce the class. NPC Bards will be assigned by the Druids to accompany various heroes into the dungeons and chronicle their exploits. The presence of demi-human Bards muddies this up a little, but I'll say the Druidic peoples are highly respectful of the various fey-folk, and allow them to study the Bardic tradition if they wish it.
Next time (notice how I've stopped typing 'tomorrow'?) I'll try to knock off the rest of The Strategic Review #6.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: The Strategic Review #6 Part 2
Before I tackle the Bard, there is one more article that needs to be mentioned – The Quest for the Vermillion Volume, a short story by Robert J. Kuntz. I was all set to discount the story, since it is an obvious parody, but it's also Rob Kuntz. As Gary's major partner in the creation of D&D's earliest lore, I'm scraping through this story for nuggets that I can use, while ignoring the most obvious parody elements. The most obvious thing that can be useful is the cast of ready-made NPCs, as detailed below.
Drystaff the Necromancer: Drystaff is a stereotypical magic-user with his beard and staff and pointy hat. He is described in the story as a Necromancer, which makes him 10th level. He has in his employ a number of men-at-arms, as well as a troupe of elven scouts. Drystaff makes a number of anachronistic references to Earth culture, and given that my campaign will involve frequent world-hopping it would not be too much of a stretch to say that he has travelled to modern day Earth. But no, he says instead that he has scried other planes using his crystal sphere - either way works fine for me. We are also given some other minor details of his life: He has a cheating wife, and was trained in magic by the great Thaumaturgist Grimm. He rides a mule named Grumbold. He has also met a barbarian named "The Hog" in the north-eastern marches – perhaps the Ice or Frost Barbarians in the far north-eastern regions of Greyhawk.
Highton: Highton is an elf, the leader of the scouts working for Drystaff. He was chosen by his Lady, the Witch-Queen Evvolon, for the mission.
Lamhand: Lamhand is a Hero (a 4th level Fighter) who works with Drystaff, possibly as a henchman. He is a simple-minded oaf, and that's as much as we get from him in the story.
EVENTS:
So what happens in this story? It seems that the characters above are hired (or ordered in the case of Highton) by the Witch-Queen Evvolon to retrieve a book from near the lands of Stra-Tac. Stra-Tac is home to Dunn-Red, the Enemy, and his spies and servants are abroad searching for the book as well. They find the book, but Lamhand (who was sent ahead with a company of horsemen) steals it back from them. Drystaff and the elves are captured by Dunn-Red's spies, but Lamhand rescues the wizard and Highton. They escape with the book, only to fall into a trap set by a mysterious rotund thief, who absconds with the book.
Which leaves me with the biggest mystery of the story. Who is this guy? The whole punchline of the story is the reveal of his identity – which is given as RST. I have no idea who RST is, beyond being a rotund thief. It's quite plausible that it's a joke that won't translate at all well as a usable NPC, but I'd still like to know who it's meant to be, if only so I know what that story was on about.
OTHER DETAILS:
We learn that there's an Elf-Witch named Evvolon who lives in the Greenwood with her subjects. Could this possibly be the 'Elf-Land' that I conjectured from details in Men & Magic?
The Enemy of the elves is named Dunn-Red, and he rules the land of Stra-Tac. Little is shown of him, except that he employs human spies as well as armies of hairy, brutish humanoids – most probably orcs.
It's interesting to note the depiction of the elves here – these aren't your god-like Tolkien elves. Instead they're short with curly-toed shoes. They're more like the modern depictions of elves, Santa's helpers and Keebler elves and such. This fits into my conception of elves as a race on the wane - they used to be like Tolkien elves (and they may regain that power some day) but now they are diminished and wearing pointy shoes.
Silver Nobles are mentioned as a type of coinage – I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking for more evocative names for coinage than your average "Silver Piece'.
FOR THE CAMPAIGN:
The events of this story will have occured in the recent past of the campaign. With the book (whatever its purpose) having been stolen by the mysterious RST, both Evvolon and Dunn-Red will have servants hunting for it. The PCs could come into this story at any point, allying with one side or the other as they wish. How this scenario plays out could have a lot to do with the identity of RST – anyone out there have any ideas?
The NPC Drystaff will be active in the area of the Greenwood and its surrounds, as well as his men-at-arms and henchman Lamhand. Highton, as head of Evvolon's scouts, will remain in her service, perhaps heading up the hunt for the book.
The Greenwood and Stra-Tac will no doubt be minor regions in the World of Greyhawk. But thankfully that world is quite open to customisation, and I'll no doubt be able to fit them in somewhere.
Drystaff's mentor, the Thaumaturgist Grimm, I will have working as a trainer at the Guild of Magic-Users. Similarly, the barbarian known as "The Hog" will be a powerful chieftain, encountered should the PCs venture up into the realms of the Frost or Ice Barbarians.
Next up I'm tackling the Bard for reals.
Drystaff the Necromancer: Drystaff is a stereotypical magic-user with his beard and staff and pointy hat. He is described in the story as a Necromancer, which makes him 10th level. He has in his employ a number of men-at-arms, as well as a troupe of elven scouts. Drystaff makes a number of anachronistic references to Earth culture, and given that my campaign will involve frequent world-hopping it would not be too much of a stretch to say that he has travelled to modern day Earth. But no, he says instead that he has scried other planes using his crystal sphere - either way works fine for me. We are also given some other minor details of his life: He has a cheating wife, and was trained in magic by the great Thaumaturgist Grimm. He rides a mule named Grumbold. He has also met a barbarian named "The Hog" in the north-eastern marches – perhaps the Ice or Frost Barbarians in the far north-eastern regions of Greyhawk.
Highton: Highton is an elf, the leader of the scouts working for Drystaff. He was chosen by his Lady, the Witch-Queen Evvolon, for the mission.
Lamhand: Lamhand is a Hero (a 4th level Fighter) who works with Drystaff, possibly as a henchman. He is a simple-minded oaf, and that's as much as we get from him in the story.
EVENTS:
So what happens in this story? It seems that the characters above are hired (or ordered in the case of Highton) by the Witch-Queen Evvolon to retrieve a book from near the lands of Stra-Tac. Stra-Tac is home to Dunn-Red, the Enemy, and his spies and servants are abroad searching for the book as well. They find the book, but Lamhand (who was sent ahead with a company of horsemen) steals it back from them. Drystaff and the elves are captured by Dunn-Red's spies, but Lamhand rescues the wizard and Highton. They escape with the book, only to fall into a trap set by a mysterious rotund thief, who absconds with the book.
Which leaves me with the biggest mystery of the story. Who is this guy? The whole punchline of the story is the reveal of his identity – which is given as RST. I have no idea who RST is, beyond being a rotund thief. It's quite plausible that it's a joke that won't translate at all well as a usable NPC, but I'd still like to know who it's meant to be, if only so I know what that story was on about.
OTHER DETAILS:
We learn that there's an Elf-Witch named Evvolon who lives in the Greenwood with her subjects. Could this possibly be the 'Elf-Land' that I conjectured from details in Men & Magic?
The Enemy of the elves is named Dunn-Red, and he rules the land of Stra-Tac. Little is shown of him, except that he employs human spies as well as armies of hairy, brutish humanoids – most probably orcs.
It's interesting to note the depiction of the elves here – these aren't your god-like Tolkien elves. Instead they're short with curly-toed shoes. They're more like the modern depictions of elves, Santa's helpers and Keebler elves and such. This fits into my conception of elves as a race on the wane - they used to be like Tolkien elves (and they may regain that power some day) but now they are diminished and wearing pointy shoes.
Silver Nobles are mentioned as a type of coinage – I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking for more evocative names for coinage than your average "Silver Piece'.
FOR THE CAMPAIGN:
The events of this story will have occured in the recent past of the campaign. With the book (whatever its purpose) having been stolen by the mysterious RST, both Evvolon and Dunn-Red will have servants hunting for it. The PCs could come into this story at any point, allying with one side or the other as they wish. How this scenario plays out could have a lot to do with the identity of RST – anyone out there have any ideas?
The NPC Drystaff will be active in the area of the Greenwood and its surrounds, as well as his men-at-arms and henchman Lamhand. Highton, as head of Evvolon's scouts, will remain in her service, perhaps heading up the hunt for the book.
The Greenwood and Stra-Tac will no doubt be minor regions in the World of Greyhawk. But thankfully that world is quite open to customisation, and I'll no doubt be able to fit them in somewhere.
Drystaff's mentor, the Thaumaturgist Grimm, I will have working as a trainer at the Guild of Magic-Users. Similarly, the barbarian known as "The Hog" will be a powerful chieftain, encountered should the PCs venture up into the realms of the Frost or Ice Barbarians.
Next up I'm tackling the Bard for reals.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: The Strategic Review #6 Part 1
The Strategic Review #6 sees a definite branching out of subject matter as compared to previous issues. With some fiction, reviews, as well as articles ongames like Fight in the Skies, War of Wizards, Dungeon, and Ancient Conquest, it's getting much closer to its later incarnation as The Dragon. There are also a number of fascinating D&D articles, as usual, starting with an overhaul of alignment.
THE MEANING OF LAW AND CHAOS IN DUNGEONS & DRAGONS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO GOOD AND EVIL: It seems that even in the old days alignment caused a lot of arguments, so here comes Gary to clarify things. But it's more than a clarification – this is a revamp of the whole system.
We already have Law, Neutrality and Chaos as alignments from the OD&D boxed set. This article introduces another axis of alignments – Good and Evil. These can combine in in six different ways – Lawful/Good, Lawful/Evil, Chaotic/Good, Chaotic/Evil and Neutral. It's pretty much the system used in AD&D, with a few options missing (Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, etc.). And it's exactly the system that was used in the Eric Holmes version of Basic D&D.
Before this point Law and Chaos were the only real cosmic considerations in the campaign, so I'll need to introduce something pretty drastic to justify the inclusion of Good and Evil to the system. I've already set up Law and Chaos as the two primal forces of the universe, constantly at war. Clerics before this don't worship specific gods, but are devoted to Law or Chaos. I'm thinking that this is the point where I will introduce specific churches, splintering the Church of Law and its chaotic counterpart into factions. From that point on a character's stance on Good vs. Evil will be just as important as his stance on Law vs. Chaos.
The article provides a chart to be used for tracking alignment shifts in PCs, but of greater interest are the details around the edge – our first glimpse of the Outer Planes! Eight of the planes are named and assigned to an alignment: Heaven (Lawful/Good), Paradise (Good), Elysium (Chaotic/Good), Limbo (Chaos), The Abyss (Chaotic/Evil), Hades (Evil), Hell (Lawful/Evil), and Nirvana (Law). Small details, but it's the clearest picture yet of the Greyhawk cosmology. However, further reading indicates that these planes have shifted a little in alignment once 1e comes around. I'll chalk this chart up as faulty research on the part of some sage or another. They've managed to explore into some of the Outer Planes, and discerned that they are related to the cosmic forces of Law, Chaos, Good and Evil, but their conclusions are wrong, as there are a whole lot more planes out there they don't yet know about.
There are also four types of beings that epitomize the most extreme alignments: Saints are Lawful/Good, Godlings are Chaotic/Good, Demons are Chaotic/Evil, and Devils are Lawful/Good. This is the first real mention of demons and devils, and their alignments here match later depictions. There are no Saints in later editions so far as I know, but there are Angels – I believe that I can safely equate the two terms. Godlings are another matter. Nothing in later D&D mentions them, but to me the term conjures up images of demi-gods such as Heracles. Still, I'm not all that inclined to create a new race of demi-gods just yet – I'm placing these guys on the back-burner until further reading gives me some ideas.
Following this is another big old chart, the same as the previous one, but with D&D monsters scattered over it to indicate their new alignments. No real surprises here, although it should be noted that Orcs are Chaotic/Evil, not Lawful/Evil as AD&D has them. Liches are also listed as Lawful/Good and Lawful/Evil, indicating that the process of becoming undead to live forever doesn't necessarily make you a bad guy. Finally, the Chromatic Dragon and the Platinum Dragon, said in Supplement I to be unique, are here listed as plural. I'll take that in a multiversal sense – each world has only one, but there is more than one of each spread across multiple worlds.
After that Gary gives some rough guidelines on tracking PC alignments, and provides the following interesting line: "The player-character who continually follows any alignment (save neutrality) to the absolute letter of its definition must eventually move off the chart and into another plane of existence as indicated." That's cool, and I'll definitely be implementing it as a possibility for super-high-level characters.
It's also interesting to note that while good and evil are said by Gary to be subjective, Law and Chaos are not.
There's another line that gives a good indication of the D&D cosmology: "If we presuppose that the universal contest is between Law and Chaos we must assume that in any final struggle the minions of each division would be represented by both good and evil beings." So Law and Chaos are still the ultimate forces in the universe, with Good and Evil simply being modifiers within those factions. The former shows what side you're on in the universal struggle, and the latter shows how you act in pursuit of that struggle. Gary's also quick to point out, though, that outside of some epic final battle between Law and Chaos, Good beings are more likely to ally with others who are Good, and the same goes for Evil.
There's a bit about paladins, and how they must toe the line as far as being Lawful/Good goes. The loss of their powers still occurs if they violate their alignment, but a divine quest or intervention can now help them be restored to paladinhood.
This bit about Clerics is interesting, and contradicts some of my assumptions from earlier. Clerics of either Good or Evil alignment must remain so – but they are able to switch between Law and Chaos without retribution? I find this strange... But I'll tie this in with the burgeoning of specific deities and churches. Law and Chaos might be the fundamental forces driving the universe, but the gods who grant clerical powers are in general more concerned with matters of good and evil, and more likely to withold powers on that basis. The one mechanical thing to take out of this is that your standard clerics are Good, and anti-clerics are evil.
There's a final note that most of humanity is Lawful, and about halfway between Good and Evil. Few are Chaotic, and very few Chaotic/Evil. Sounds fair enough to me.
Whew. That was one hell of an article, so I'll be stopping here, I think. Next time I'll be looking at the latest class for D&D – the Bard.
THE MEANING OF LAW AND CHAOS IN DUNGEONS & DRAGONS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO GOOD AND EVIL: It seems that even in the old days alignment caused a lot of arguments, so here comes Gary to clarify things. But it's more than a clarification – this is a revamp of the whole system.
We already have Law, Neutrality and Chaos as alignments from the OD&D boxed set. This article introduces another axis of alignments – Good and Evil. These can combine in in six different ways – Lawful/Good, Lawful/Evil, Chaotic/Good, Chaotic/Evil and Neutral. It's pretty much the system used in AD&D, with a few options missing (Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, etc.). And it's exactly the system that was used in the Eric Holmes version of Basic D&D.
Before this point Law and Chaos were the only real cosmic considerations in the campaign, so I'll need to introduce something pretty drastic to justify the inclusion of Good and Evil to the system. I've already set up Law and Chaos as the two primal forces of the universe, constantly at war. Clerics before this don't worship specific gods, but are devoted to Law or Chaos. I'm thinking that this is the point where I will introduce specific churches, splintering the Church of Law and its chaotic counterpart into factions. From that point on a character's stance on Good vs. Evil will be just as important as his stance on Law vs. Chaos.
The article provides a chart to be used for tracking alignment shifts in PCs, but of greater interest are the details around the edge – our first glimpse of the Outer Planes! Eight of the planes are named and assigned to an alignment: Heaven (Lawful/Good), Paradise (Good), Elysium (Chaotic/Good), Limbo (Chaos), The Abyss (Chaotic/Evil), Hades (Evil), Hell (Lawful/Evil), and Nirvana (Law). Small details, but it's the clearest picture yet of the Greyhawk cosmology. However, further reading indicates that these planes have shifted a little in alignment once 1e comes around. I'll chalk this chart up as faulty research on the part of some sage or another. They've managed to explore into some of the Outer Planes, and discerned that they are related to the cosmic forces of Law, Chaos, Good and Evil, but their conclusions are wrong, as there are a whole lot more planes out there they don't yet know about.
There are also four types of beings that epitomize the most extreme alignments: Saints are Lawful/Good, Godlings are Chaotic/Good, Demons are Chaotic/Evil, and Devils are Lawful/Good. This is the first real mention of demons and devils, and their alignments here match later depictions. There are no Saints in later editions so far as I know, but there are Angels – I believe that I can safely equate the two terms. Godlings are another matter. Nothing in later D&D mentions them, but to me the term conjures up images of demi-gods such as Heracles. Still, I'm not all that inclined to create a new race of demi-gods just yet – I'm placing these guys on the back-burner until further reading gives me some ideas.
Following this is another big old chart, the same as the previous one, but with D&D monsters scattered over it to indicate their new alignments. No real surprises here, although it should be noted that Orcs are Chaotic/Evil, not Lawful/Evil as AD&D has them. Liches are also listed as Lawful/Good and Lawful/Evil, indicating that the process of becoming undead to live forever doesn't necessarily make you a bad guy. Finally, the Chromatic Dragon and the Platinum Dragon, said in Supplement I to be unique, are here listed as plural. I'll take that in a multiversal sense – each world has only one, but there is more than one of each spread across multiple worlds.
After that Gary gives some rough guidelines on tracking PC alignments, and provides the following interesting line: "The player-character who continually follows any alignment (save neutrality) to the absolute letter of its definition must eventually move off the chart and into another plane of existence as indicated." That's cool, and I'll definitely be implementing it as a possibility for super-high-level characters.
It's also interesting to note that while good and evil are said by Gary to be subjective, Law and Chaos are not.
There's another line that gives a good indication of the D&D cosmology: "If we presuppose that the universal contest is between Law and Chaos we must assume that in any final struggle the minions of each division would be represented by both good and evil beings." So Law and Chaos are still the ultimate forces in the universe, with Good and Evil simply being modifiers within those factions. The former shows what side you're on in the universal struggle, and the latter shows how you act in pursuit of that struggle. Gary's also quick to point out, though, that outside of some epic final battle between Law and Chaos, Good beings are more likely to ally with others who are Good, and the same goes for Evil.
There's a bit about paladins, and how they must toe the line as far as being Lawful/Good goes. The loss of their powers still occurs if they violate their alignment, but a divine quest or intervention can now help them be restored to paladinhood.
This bit about Clerics is interesting, and contradicts some of my assumptions from earlier. Clerics of either Good or Evil alignment must remain so – but they are able to switch between Law and Chaos without retribution? I find this strange... But I'll tie this in with the burgeoning of specific deities and churches. Law and Chaos might be the fundamental forces driving the universe, but the gods who grant clerical powers are in general more concerned with matters of good and evil, and more likely to withold powers on that basis. The one mechanical thing to take out of this is that your standard clerics are Good, and anti-clerics are evil.
There's a final note that most of humanity is Lawful, and about halfway between Good and Evil. Few are Chaotic, and very few Chaotic/Evil. Sounds fair enough to me.
Whew. That was one hell of an article, so I'll be stopping here, I think. Next time I'll be looking at the latest class for D&D – the Bard.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: The Strategic Review #5
The Strategic Review #5 opens with a note that Blackmoor has just been released, and a general round-up of how TSR is expanding (quickly, by the sound of things). They also provide a number of bios on the various folks who work there, none of which is relevant to the project, but informative nonetheless.
STURMGESHUTZ AND SORCERY: As noted in an earlier post, characters from Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign have made forays into Nazi Germany. This article explores Gary's own attempts at such a game, and establishes that travel to the World War II era is possible near the City of Greyhawk as well.
The fantasy characters that were used in this game involved the Servants of the Gatherer, a motley force of undead, ogres, trolls, and orcs under the command of an Evil High Priest (who I take to be the Gatherer himself). They are said to live in a castle, so I'll be using these guys as the inhabitants of a castle on the Outdoor Survival map for when the PCs make wilderness forays. There are stronger warriors that normally inhabit this castle, but they're away warring with a Neutral Lord who insulted the Gatherer. I'll need to establish who this Lord is as well – I'll probably make it Lord Robilar, who was a prominent character in Gygax's campaign, but more on that at a later date.
The situation is that a fog has sprung up west of the Gatherer's castle, which leads into Nazi Germany. After a bit of scouting and such, a pitched battle erupted between the fantasy characters and the Nazis, with the Nazis taking the worst of it. The Gatherer loses a couple of ghouls, a troll, and his giant scorpion, not to mention various orcs. These events will be a part of the history of the campaign world - should the PCs everenage in drunken conversation with the Gatherer, he might start rattling off old war stories about Nazis soldiers.
Following this is a guide to rules for using the Nazi weaponry in combination with D&D rules. It's heavily reliant on the Tractics rules, which I understand is a miniature wargame for World War II. It's all handy stuff, though, especially the chart for damage for various firearms and cannons. A cross-genre campaign like this one needs this kind of material.
Oh, and there's a rough map showing the castle and its surroundings, which I must remember should the PCs come across it.
The possibility of sending the PCs into World War II appeals to me, and I like the idea that a randomly occuring fog can roll in at any time and send them there. I'll be including it as a possibility on the wilderness encounter tables, with a very low chance of occuring. I'll probably also include a way to make the Adventurers' Guild portal lead there as well, in case the PCs get the urge to make regular Nazi-smashing trips.
MIGHTY MAGIC MISCELLANY: A few magic items get introduced here, the first of which is the Robe of Scintillating Color. Usable by any class, it appears as an average robe, but it can only be activated by a character with a combined Intelligence and Wisdom of 25. It can be used to form a dazzling pattern that makes the wearer harder to hit – attackers get -1 to hit on the first round, -2 on the second, until -5 is reached. It also has a 5% cumulative chance per round of hypnotising anyone who looks at it (and it's even more effective out of combat).
And because OD&D always throws in something awesome like this: if a magic-user with an Intelligence of 17 or 18 gets hypnotised, there's a chance he'll go permanently insane. Cool!
The other item introduced is Prayer Beads, usable only by Clerics. They're a string of valuable beads, with a chance that some of the beads have divine powers. There are a few types listed. Beads of Atonement give a character a chance to regain an old alignment if he has transgressed. Beads of Response allow him to directly communicate with his patron deity, though they don't guarantee the response will be favourable. Beads of Damnation are great, in that they allow you to (unwittingly, I assume) communicate with your patron's nemesis – always a bad idea. Beads of Karma temporarily increase a Cleric's level. Beads of Succor increase the chance that a god will respond to your prayers, and Beads of Hindrance reduce this chance.
The catch with this item is that each strong of beads has an alignment which affects how it will work. For example, a Chaotic Bead of Damnation actually contacts a Lawful deity! So it's difficult to know exactly what these beads are going to do without careful study.
This is also the first mention I've seen that players can pray to their deity of choice, with a chance of reply. I like the concept, but something mechanical would be nice. I'm tempted to go with a flat 1% chance, with the caveat that the gods don't generally like being pestered too much.
GALLERY OF GUNFIGHTERS 3: This is a description of the life of Ben Thompson, another western gunfighter who will be roaming around as an NPC if the players ever visit the Old West. (See earlier posts for my reasoning in including western characters.)
CREATURE FEATURES: One classic creature and a couple of others get the treatment here.
Rakshasa: These 'evil spirits encased in flesh' are noted as originating from India, which I will take to mean the area of the World of Greyhawk that corresponds to India. As is usual with D&D monsters they eat people, and to aid themselves in this they have a host of abilities, including illusions, ESP, Cleric spells of 1st level and M-U spells up to 3rd level. They're also pretty nasty in melee with teeth and claws, and are almost impossible to damage – spells under 8th level don't affect them, they're immune to non-magical weapons, and weapons under +3 only do half damage. The best weapon against them is a crossbow bolt blessed by a cleric, which kills them instantly. I take this as a simple Bless spell. This might seem a bit simple, but I'll be making this information difficult to come by. Anyone who gets a hold of the knowledge will deserve it.
It's interesting to note that we're still in a time when it's assumed players will have certain knowledge outside of the game – there's no description here of just what a Rakshasa looks like.
Slithering Tracker: A transparent dungeon predator that is difficult to see, it rarely attacks immediately, preferring to follow its chosen victim and kill it in its sleep. The Tracker has a semi-fluid body that can slip through very small gaps, and a touch that paralyses its victims. And once you've been paralysed, it will suck out your plasma in 6 turns. That's right – your plasma!
Trapper: Another predator that has adapted to dungeon life, this one is an amorphous thing that can make itself look like a regular floor by altering its coloration. So it waits on the dungeon floor for someone to walk over it, then it wraps around and suffocates them. Simple, ridiculous and awesome.
That's it for The Strategic Review #5, except for an ominous message that is recurring through the issue – THE DRAGON IS COMING!
But that's for another time. In the next post I'll be tackling The Strategic Review #6.
STURMGESHUTZ AND SORCERY: As noted in an earlier post, characters from Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign have made forays into Nazi Germany. This article explores Gary's own attempts at such a game, and establishes that travel to the World War II era is possible near the City of Greyhawk as well.
The fantasy characters that were used in this game involved the Servants of the Gatherer, a motley force of undead, ogres, trolls, and orcs under the command of an Evil High Priest (who I take to be the Gatherer himself). They are said to live in a castle, so I'll be using these guys as the inhabitants of a castle on the Outdoor Survival map for when the PCs make wilderness forays. There are stronger warriors that normally inhabit this castle, but they're away warring with a Neutral Lord who insulted the Gatherer. I'll need to establish who this Lord is as well – I'll probably make it Lord Robilar, who was a prominent character in Gygax's campaign, but more on that at a later date.
The situation is that a fog has sprung up west of the Gatherer's castle, which leads into Nazi Germany. After a bit of scouting and such, a pitched battle erupted between the fantasy characters and the Nazis, with the Nazis taking the worst of it. The Gatherer loses a couple of ghouls, a troll, and his giant scorpion, not to mention various orcs. These events will be a part of the history of the campaign world - should the PCs everenage in drunken conversation with the Gatherer, he might start rattling off old war stories about Nazis soldiers.
Following this is a guide to rules for using the Nazi weaponry in combination with D&D rules. It's heavily reliant on the Tractics rules, which I understand is a miniature wargame for World War II. It's all handy stuff, though, especially the chart for damage for various firearms and cannons. A cross-genre campaign like this one needs this kind of material.
Oh, and there's a rough map showing the castle and its surroundings, which I must remember should the PCs come across it.
The possibility of sending the PCs into World War II appeals to me, and I like the idea that a randomly occuring fog can roll in at any time and send them there. I'll be including it as a possibility on the wilderness encounter tables, with a very low chance of occuring. I'll probably also include a way to make the Adventurers' Guild portal lead there as well, in case the PCs get the urge to make regular Nazi-smashing trips.
MIGHTY MAGIC MISCELLANY: A few magic items get introduced here, the first of which is the Robe of Scintillating Color. Usable by any class, it appears as an average robe, but it can only be activated by a character with a combined Intelligence and Wisdom of 25. It can be used to form a dazzling pattern that makes the wearer harder to hit – attackers get -1 to hit on the first round, -2 on the second, until -5 is reached. It also has a 5% cumulative chance per round of hypnotising anyone who looks at it (and it's even more effective out of combat).
And because OD&D always throws in something awesome like this: if a magic-user with an Intelligence of 17 or 18 gets hypnotised, there's a chance he'll go permanently insane. Cool!
The other item introduced is Prayer Beads, usable only by Clerics. They're a string of valuable beads, with a chance that some of the beads have divine powers. There are a few types listed. Beads of Atonement give a character a chance to regain an old alignment if he has transgressed. Beads of Response allow him to directly communicate with his patron deity, though they don't guarantee the response will be favourable. Beads of Damnation are great, in that they allow you to (unwittingly, I assume) communicate with your patron's nemesis – always a bad idea. Beads of Karma temporarily increase a Cleric's level. Beads of Succor increase the chance that a god will respond to your prayers, and Beads of Hindrance reduce this chance.
The catch with this item is that each strong of beads has an alignment which affects how it will work. For example, a Chaotic Bead of Damnation actually contacts a Lawful deity! So it's difficult to know exactly what these beads are going to do without careful study.
This is also the first mention I've seen that players can pray to their deity of choice, with a chance of reply. I like the concept, but something mechanical would be nice. I'm tempted to go with a flat 1% chance, with the caveat that the gods don't generally like being pestered too much.
GALLERY OF GUNFIGHTERS 3: This is a description of the life of Ben Thompson, another western gunfighter who will be roaming around as an NPC if the players ever visit the Old West. (See earlier posts for my reasoning in including western characters.)
CREATURE FEATURES: One classic creature and a couple of others get the treatment here.
Rakshasa: These 'evil spirits encased in flesh' are noted as originating from India, which I will take to mean the area of the World of Greyhawk that corresponds to India. As is usual with D&D monsters they eat people, and to aid themselves in this they have a host of abilities, including illusions, ESP, Cleric spells of 1st level and M-U spells up to 3rd level. They're also pretty nasty in melee with teeth and claws, and are almost impossible to damage – spells under 8th level don't affect them, they're immune to non-magical weapons, and weapons under +3 only do half damage. The best weapon against them is a crossbow bolt blessed by a cleric, which kills them instantly. I take this as a simple Bless spell. This might seem a bit simple, but I'll be making this information difficult to come by. Anyone who gets a hold of the knowledge will deserve it.
It's interesting to note that we're still in a time when it's assumed players will have certain knowledge outside of the game – there's no description here of just what a Rakshasa looks like.
Slithering Tracker: A transparent dungeon predator that is difficult to see, it rarely attacks immediately, preferring to follow its chosen victim and kill it in its sleep. The Tracker has a semi-fluid body that can slip through very small gaps, and a touch that paralyses its victims. And once you've been paralysed, it will suck out your plasma in 6 turns. That's right – your plasma!
Trapper: Another predator that has adapted to dungeon life, this one is an amorphous thing that can make itself look like a regular floor by altering its coloration. So it waits on the dungeon floor for someone to walk over it, then it wraps around and suffocates them. Simple, ridiculous and awesome.
That's it for The Strategic Review #5, except for an ominous message that is recurring through the issue – THE DRAGON IS COMING!
But that's for another time. In the next post I'll be tackling The Strategic Review #6.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: Supplement II - Blackmoor Part 5
TEMPLE OF THE FROG:
The first official D&D adventure is an odd one, that's for sure. It's as old-school as it gets, really - there are no guidelines on what levels to run it for (I would say about 10th), or how to get the PCs there. It's just an adventure site presented as is, for the DM to use as he sees fit. The basic setup is that of a Temple in a remote swamp where the priests are breeding killer frogs, but there's a definite Arneson-style twist to the affairs. There's a good adventure in here somewhere, but it needs a lot of work to sort out the haphazard notes and make it playable.
I won't go into depth about the adventure itself, but there is a load of info here that pertains to the World of Greyhawk and to Blackmoor in particular. There are some probable spoilers ahead, as well.
The temple is placed near Lake Gloomey, in the Swamp of Mil nearby. These are prominent terrain features of Blackmoor, I assume.
We have the Brothers of the Swamp, a sect believing that man is an abomination, and animals more fit to populate the world. They started breeding killer frogs, and trafficking in slaves to help them increase their frog output. About 100 years ago they made a pact with bandits, who pretty much took things over until the current High Priest named Stephen the Rock sorted them out. Since then the temple's power has grown, and the swamp is teeming with killer frogs.
There adventure3 also features intelligent humanoids that are either from another dimension or another world. They are highly technologically advanced, with hovering satellite stations, and at least some of them are interested in policing dimensional nexus points from other invaders. It sounds a little Star Trek, actually, but what it establishes is that there are worlds out there in the universe that are scientifically advanced, rather than everything operating by magic.
That's all the stuff of wider importance. The adventure will be there for the PCs to stumble across from the start, and eventually they will start hearing rumours of killer frogs infesting the swamps, and slaves being taken to the Temple. If the players don't bite I might have an authority figure in Blackmoor hire them to investigate. Pretty simple plot hook stuff.
UNDERWATER ADVENTURES: This section begins by mentioning the sunken cities of Mu, Atlantis and Lemuria - as well as the treasure therein. There's my adventure hook to entice the PCs to explore underwater, then. It also fits with the backstory given to the Sahuagin - these cities were submerged when the world was flooded.
It follows with the effects of being underwater on movement and combat. In general you can't swim in armor heavier than leather, and both hands must be free. Missile weapons don't work underwater, but there are special crossbows that can. Melee weapons have their damage halved, except for Tridents. It's noted that electrical attacks electrocute anything in range, and that fire attacks are completely useless.
Then there is a list of various terrain features, those being seaweed and sand. Not much of interest here.
Following that are random encounter charts, one for underwater and one for when you are sailing. It's nice to see these being expanded on when appropriate.
SAGES: Sages are greatly expanded on here. Whereas before the sages you hired were knowledgable on a wide range of subjects, they now have special areas in which they excel - things like Botany, History, Folklore, Philosophy, Astronomy, etc.
The Guild of Sages gets another mention, and it's noted that the prices listed to hire them in OD&D are for low-level types. I guess that explains their lack of specialisation.
There's stuff about chances to succeed, with a great bit about sages giving wrong answers rather than saying when they don't know something. Arrogant bastards.
You can buy a library to aid the Sage's chance of success, but that's an expensive affair - you could be looking at an expenditure in the hundreds of thousands of gold pieces.
Dismissing your sage could be risky business - if the guild deems you did so without reason, they'll never provide you with a sage again. And even if they change their minds, they're likely to present you only with the same guy you got rid of. These guys could stand to learn a thing or two about customer service, but I suppose they have a monopoly.
Sages must have some kind of cosmic significance, because killing one automatically makes you Chaotic, unless the sage was Chaotic. I suppose that they are favoured of the gods. They also have the power to bestow curses if they've been brought close to death through violence. A high-level sort can curse you to never make a saving throw again! And don't expect Remove Curse to bail you out there - you'll need some sort of Cleric-assigned quest.
DISEASE: Ah disease - yet another tool in the rat-bastard-DM arsenal. This is the first time that the subject gets dealt with in D&D, and we get a number of interesting types to inflict upon players.
The diseases included are: Grippe (a catch-all for colds, flus and belly aches), the Bubonic Plague, Dysentery, Cholera, Malaria, Small Pox, Tuberculosis, Typhus, Typhoid Fever, Yellow Fever, Advanced Leprosy, Crud (various nasty rashes), and Spotted Fever.
Each disease has an environment and seasonal conditions under which it might be contracted, a percent chance of catching it, incubation, duration, recovery time, and a fatality percentage. These numbers are modified by a high or low Constitution as would be expected. It's surprisingly detailed, but I think including them would really change the tone of the game, away from fantasy adventuring and more towards gritty and medieval.
Some random notes:
A Chaotic Cleric can use a reversed Cure Light Wounds to give someone the Grippe. Hmmmm, inflicting the flu or 2-7 points of damage? Tough choice...
There's an extremely rare type of bark that can cure Malaria - it's also relished by both Displacer Beasts and Blink Dogs. Perhaps that's the root of their enmity? There's a certain simplicity in this that I like; not everything can be ancient wars and epic hatred. Although, the idea of ancient and epic Bark Wars between these two have a certain charm.
Spotted Fever is the disease transmitted by giant ticks. Not only is it potentially fatal, but it can drive victims insane.
Advanced Leprosy is the disease that Mummies inflict with their attacks. Whereas before it just slowed a character's rate of healing, now it is 95% fatal, and characters killed by it can't be raised.
Since all of these diseases get introduced at once, I'm planning to make their release part of an agenda by some evil organization or another. The PCs can investigate and tackle it if they want, or perhaps the plan will simmer away as diseases take their toll?
AAAAAAND that's it for Supplement II: Blackmoor. I've also caught up to myself on this project, as it had started as a thread on rpg.net. So over the weekend I'll be back to new material, and resuming with The Strategic Review #5 on Monday.
The first official D&D adventure is an odd one, that's for sure. It's as old-school as it gets, really - there are no guidelines on what levels to run it for (I would say about 10th), or how to get the PCs there. It's just an adventure site presented as is, for the DM to use as he sees fit. The basic setup is that of a Temple in a remote swamp where the priests are breeding killer frogs, but there's a definite Arneson-style twist to the affairs. There's a good adventure in here somewhere, but it needs a lot of work to sort out the haphazard notes and make it playable.
I won't go into depth about the adventure itself, but there is a load of info here that pertains to the World of Greyhawk and to Blackmoor in particular. There are some probable spoilers ahead, as well.
The temple is placed near Lake Gloomey, in the Swamp of Mil nearby. These are prominent terrain features of Blackmoor, I assume.
We have the Brothers of the Swamp, a sect believing that man is an abomination, and animals more fit to populate the world. They started breeding killer frogs, and trafficking in slaves to help them increase their frog output. About 100 years ago they made a pact with bandits, who pretty much took things over until the current High Priest named Stephen the Rock sorted them out. Since then the temple's power has grown, and the swamp is teeming with killer frogs.
There adventure3 also features intelligent humanoids that are either from another dimension or another world. They are highly technologically advanced, with hovering satellite stations, and at least some of them are interested in policing dimensional nexus points from other invaders. It sounds a little Star Trek, actually, but what it establishes is that there are worlds out there in the universe that are scientifically advanced, rather than everything operating by magic.
That's all the stuff of wider importance. The adventure will be there for the PCs to stumble across from the start, and eventually they will start hearing rumours of killer frogs infesting the swamps, and slaves being taken to the Temple. If the players don't bite I might have an authority figure in Blackmoor hire them to investigate. Pretty simple plot hook stuff.
UNDERWATER ADVENTURES: This section begins by mentioning the sunken cities of Mu, Atlantis and Lemuria - as well as the treasure therein. There's my adventure hook to entice the PCs to explore underwater, then. It also fits with the backstory given to the Sahuagin - these cities were submerged when the world was flooded.
It follows with the effects of being underwater on movement and combat. In general you can't swim in armor heavier than leather, and both hands must be free. Missile weapons don't work underwater, but there are special crossbows that can. Melee weapons have their damage halved, except for Tridents. It's noted that electrical attacks electrocute anything in range, and that fire attacks are completely useless.
Then there is a list of various terrain features, those being seaweed and sand. Not much of interest here.
Following that are random encounter charts, one for underwater and one for when you are sailing. It's nice to see these being expanded on when appropriate.
SAGES: Sages are greatly expanded on here. Whereas before the sages you hired were knowledgable on a wide range of subjects, they now have special areas in which they excel - things like Botany, History, Folklore, Philosophy, Astronomy, etc.
The Guild of Sages gets another mention, and it's noted that the prices listed to hire them in OD&D are for low-level types. I guess that explains their lack of specialisation.
There's stuff about chances to succeed, with a great bit about sages giving wrong answers rather than saying when they don't know something. Arrogant bastards.
You can buy a library to aid the Sage's chance of success, but that's an expensive affair - you could be looking at an expenditure in the hundreds of thousands of gold pieces.
Dismissing your sage could be risky business - if the guild deems you did so without reason, they'll never provide you with a sage again. And even if they change their minds, they're likely to present you only with the same guy you got rid of. These guys could stand to learn a thing or two about customer service, but I suppose they have a monopoly.
Sages must have some kind of cosmic significance, because killing one automatically makes you Chaotic, unless the sage was Chaotic. I suppose that they are favoured of the gods. They also have the power to bestow curses if they've been brought close to death through violence. A high-level sort can curse you to never make a saving throw again! And don't expect Remove Curse to bail you out there - you'll need some sort of Cleric-assigned quest.
DISEASE: Ah disease - yet another tool in the rat-bastard-DM arsenal. This is the first time that the subject gets dealt with in D&D, and we get a number of interesting types to inflict upon players.
The diseases included are: Grippe (a catch-all for colds, flus and belly aches), the Bubonic Plague, Dysentery, Cholera, Malaria, Small Pox, Tuberculosis, Typhus, Typhoid Fever, Yellow Fever, Advanced Leprosy, Crud (various nasty rashes), and Spotted Fever.
Each disease has an environment and seasonal conditions under which it might be contracted, a percent chance of catching it, incubation, duration, recovery time, and a fatality percentage. These numbers are modified by a high or low Constitution as would be expected. It's surprisingly detailed, but I think including them would really change the tone of the game, away from fantasy adventuring and more towards gritty and medieval.
Some random notes:
A Chaotic Cleric can use a reversed Cure Light Wounds to give someone the Grippe. Hmmmm, inflicting the flu or 2-7 points of damage? Tough choice...
There's an extremely rare type of bark that can cure Malaria - it's also relished by both Displacer Beasts and Blink Dogs. Perhaps that's the root of their enmity? There's a certain simplicity in this that I like; not everything can be ancient wars and epic hatred. Although, the idea of ancient and epic Bark Wars between these two have a certain charm.
Spotted Fever is the disease transmitted by giant ticks. Not only is it potentially fatal, but it can drive victims insane.
Advanced Leprosy is the disease that Mummies inflict with their attacks. Whereas before it just slowed a character's rate of healing, now it is 95% fatal, and characters killed by it can't be raised.
Since all of these diseases get introduced at once, I'm planning to make their release part of an agenda by some evil organization or another. The PCs can investigate and tackle it if they want, or perhaps the plan will simmer away as diseases take their toll?
AAAAAAND that's it for Supplement II: Blackmoor. I've also caught up to myself on this project, as it had started as a thread on rpg.net. So over the weekend I'll be back to new material, and resuming with The Strategic Review #5 on Monday.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Ultimate Sandbox: Supplement II - Blackmoor Part 4
Sorry about the delay folks - Easter and all that. We now resume our regular schedule.
SAHUAGIN: Wow. That's one long entry - at a time when most monsters get a paragraph, these 'Devil Men of the Deep' merit about two pages worth of stuff. It's pretty good stuff as well.
The first thing we learn is that they're vicious, evil buggers who pal around with Giant Sharks. They're smart like elves, but perverted (they say it like being an elf isn't perverted as well!).
Then we get some history that I feel can easily be tacked onto Greyhawk - In eons past there was a great flood, which may or may not have happened twice, when the ice caps melted during a war between the gods for control of the planet. Some of the gods grabbed up their subjects to save them from the flood, while others transformed their subjects to adapt to the water - sea elves and mermen were created by the gods of Law and Neutrality, while those of Chaos made the Sahuagin, who are said to be the most evil of the evil.
Physically they pretty much look like evil fish-men. They can swim quickly, and have a hide equal to leather armor. Their teeth and claws are sharp, and they have a tail that can club people for 2d6 damage. They can even rake with their back legs. Add to that sensitive ears and eyes that can see underwater, and you'll definitely want to fight these guys on land.
They have a few weaknesses. Their eyes aren't suited to being on the surface, so they only come up at night and during storms. Their ears can be damaged by loud noises. They also can't breathe air or fresh water.
They live in large communities, with their underwater capital housing 100,000 of the nasties. They have the usual array of high-level fighters and magic-users, as well as lots of sharks. They fight with tridents and barbed nets, the former usually poisoned (joy).
They take prisoners, but usually only to eat. Those they don't eat get thrown to the sharks with nothing but a knife to defend themselves.
The Sahuagin have one king, and nine princes, all of whom are subject to challenge for their position by other Sahuagin. Some of these leaders are rumoured to have four arms. It's also interesting to note that Sahuagin never stop growing, which makes me instantly think of using an absolute behemoth from the dawn of time who has prolonged his life with potions of longevity.
Sahuagin eat cripples and unsuccessful challengers, as well as the sick. Their women fight, and look just like the men. The young hatch from eggs - and after a few days are pretty much as tough and vicious as any other Sahuagin! I guess you have to grow up quick in such an evil society.
Anyway, this is a really cool entry, and the sort of thing we won't see much of in a long while. Even the AD&D Monster Manual rarely goes into this kind of detail.
FLOATING EYES: Small fish with one big eye that they can use to hypnotise PCs or make the afraid. Other monsters follow them around and snack on the victims.
IXITXACHITL: "A race of Chaotic Clerical Philosophers, they resemble Manta Rays, with one in ten being a vampire equivalent." Has their ever been a better sentence written in the English language? That's about all we learn about them too, except that they all have cleric levels and some have magic-user levels. It's a pretty bloody good springboard, though.
LOCATHAH: Because with mermen, tritons, sea elves and sahuagin, we need another bloody race of undersea humanoids. Anyway, these guys are eel-riding nomads, who use castles as their base camp and are neutral and fairly civilised.
MORKOTH: Another favourite of mine. They're also known as Morlocks. A 'shrouded wraith of the deep' that lives in spiralling tunnels. When the tunnels are viewed from above, the hypnotic pattern draws the victim down to be charmed. It can also reflect spells cast upon it back at the caster.
POISONOUS CORAL: If it cuts you, save or die in 12 turns.
MASHERS: Like a big coral-eating purple worm, but harmless unless frightened.
STRANGLE WEED: Sea weed that wraps creatures like a tentacle and crushes them.
LYCANTHROPES: There are no new were-creatures given here, but the curse/disease itself gets significantly expanded. Before, all we knew was that if a lycanthrope damages you for 50% of your total hit points, you'll become one unless you get a Cure Disease spell. Some things are clarified here - the victim must be warm-blooded. If the wounds are taken under a full moon during spring, the Cleric casting Cure Disease must be 10th level to heal you. The were-personality can now assert itself in much the same way as an intelligent sword. Also: we know that men affected turn into animals with human intelligence, but animals can be affected as well - being able to become men with animal intelligence. That's cool! Being a lycanthrope confers a lot of bonuses, such as more hit dice, greater speed, better AC and increased Strength and COnstitution. Doesn't sound like such a bad deal, actually.
NYMPHS: Apparently they are just like Dryads. Presumably underwater Dryads.
MOTTLED WORMS: Aquatic Purple Worms.
GNOMES: Some gnomes live in underwater cities enclosed by domes, with tunnels to the surface.
KOBOLDS: Like gnomes, but they live in 'air-enclosed cave complexes'.
EVIL HIGH PRIESTS: Some EHPs live in underwater castles protected by a spell that allows them to breathe underwater.
SEA HAGS: Before any other type of Hag, we get the underwater variety. They're like Dryads, but they try to kill people with their ugliness.
KAPOACINTH: Underwater gargoyles with fins instead of wings.
KOALINTH: Water-breathing hobgoblins.
LACEDONS: Underwater ghouls, sometimes led by a wraith.
Other monsters that may be found underwater: Leeches, Ochre Jellies, Green Slime, Ropers, and Gelatinous Cubes.
Thankfully it won't take much explanation to introduce most of these creatures - they've just been living underwater the whole time, where the PCs have yet to explore. Getting the PCs down there will be the tricky part, but a few rumours of treasure in sunken Atlantis ought to do the trick.
Supplement II introduces a few new magic items, all of which are related to aquatic adventuring in some fashion. Since there aren't many, I'll do a run-through of the lot.
RING OF FREEDOM: Lets you move and attack as normal when underwater.
RING OF MOVEMENT: This works like a ring of flying, but only when underwater. (Uh, can't characters already effectively fly underwater? I guess it would come in handy if you're wearing plate mail, though.)
CLEARWATER POTION: Removes salt from water in a 10' diameter. The only use I can think of for this is to provide a source of drinking water, especially if your characters get stranded at sea.
CLOAK OF THE MANTA RAY: This cloak lets you breath underwater and swim at the same speed as a manta ray. You can also release the cloak, and it will fight like a manta ray.
NECKLACE OF WATER BREATHING: Self-explanatory, but it only works for 2.5 days before it needs a rest.
TRIDENT OF FISH CONTROL: This allows the wielder to control any swimming creature that can't also breath air - that's a lot more than fish. For some reason it doesn't work on the Portuguese Man-of-War, probably because it is a mindless jellyfish.
NET OF SNARING: Automatically snares any swimming target you throw it at.
HELM OF UNDERWATER VISION: Lets the wearer see further when underwater.
PEARLS: Regular pearls are treated just like gems.
PINK PEARLS: These are much more valuable, and treated like jewels.
BLACK PEARLS: Lets a magic-user cast one additional spell from his repertoire - whether the pearl is then used up is left vague, but I have to say yes.
GOLD PEARL: Like the black variety, but it works for Clerics.
RED PEARL: Heals the wounds of Fighting-Men. Why no other class? It bears further thinking.
SILVER PEARL: These are worth 10-100,000 gp. Apparently 5% of gems are Silver Pearls?!? That's a bit common for such a valuable thing. Let's say that 5% of gems found underwater are Silver Pearls, or possibly just 5% of pearls.
That's a bunch of stuff that's useful underwater and not much use on land. That they aren't yet integrated into the treasure tables is a good thing, as they're niche items.
As with the aquatic monsters, these items will come into the game when I manage to lure my players into some underwater adventuring.
Tomorrow I take a look at the very first official D&D adventure: The Temple of the Frog.
SAHUAGIN: Wow. That's one long entry - at a time when most monsters get a paragraph, these 'Devil Men of the Deep' merit about two pages worth of stuff. It's pretty good stuff as well.
The first thing we learn is that they're vicious, evil buggers who pal around with Giant Sharks. They're smart like elves, but perverted (they say it like being an elf isn't perverted as well!).
Then we get some history that I feel can easily be tacked onto Greyhawk - In eons past there was a great flood, which may or may not have happened twice, when the ice caps melted during a war between the gods for control of the planet. Some of the gods grabbed up their subjects to save them from the flood, while others transformed their subjects to adapt to the water - sea elves and mermen were created by the gods of Law and Neutrality, while those of Chaos made the Sahuagin, who are said to be the most evil of the evil.
Physically they pretty much look like evil fish-men. They can swim quickly, and have a hide equal to leather armor. Their teeth and claws are sharp, and they have a tail that can club people for 2d6 damage. They can even rake with their back legs. Add to that sensitive ears and eyes that can see underwater, and you'll definitely want to fight these guys on land.
They have a few weaknesses. Their eyes aren't suited to being on the surface, so they only come up at night and during storms. Their ears can be damaged by loud noises. They also can't breathe air or fresh water.
They live in large communities, with their underwater capital housing 100,000 of the nasties. They have the usual array of high-level fighters and magic-users, as well as lots of sharks. They fight with tridents and barbed nets, the former usually poisoned (joy).
They take prisoners, but usually only to eat. Those they don't eat get thrown to the sharks with nothing but a knife to defend themselves.
The Sahuagin have one king, and nine princes, all of whom are subject to challenge for their position by other Sahuagin. Some of these leaders are rumoured to have four arms. It's also interesting to note that Sahuagin never stop growing, which makes me instantly think of using an absolute behemoth from the dawn of time who has prolonged his life with potions of longevity.
Sahuagin eat cripples and unsuccessful challengers, as well as the sick. Their women fight, and look just like the men. The young hatch from eggs - and after a few days are pretty much as tough and vicious as any other Sahuagin! I guess you have to grow up quick in such an evil society.
Anyway, this is a really cool entry, and the sort of thing we won't see much of in a long while. Even the AD&D Monster Manual rarely goes into this kind of detail.
FLOATING EYES: Small fish with one big eye that they can use to hypnotise PCs or make the afraid. Other monsters follow them around and snack on the victims.
IXITXACHITL: "A race of Chaotic Clerical Philosophers, they resemble Manta Rays, with one in ten being a vampire equivalent." Has their ever been a better sentence written in the English language? That's about all we learn about them too, except that they all have cleric levels and some have magic-user levels. It's a pretty bloody good springboard, though.
LOCATHAH: Because with mermen, tritons, sea elves and sahuagin, we need another bloody race of undersea humanoids. Anyway, these guys are eel-riding nomads, who use castles as their base camp and are neutral and fairly civilised.
MORKOTH: Another favourite of mine. They're also known as Morlocks. A 'shrouded wraith of the deep' that lives in spiralling tunnels. When the tunnels are viewed from above, the hypnotic pattern draws the victim down to be charmed. It can also reflect spells cast upon it back at the caster.
POISONOUS CORAL: If it cuts you, save or die in 12 turns.
MASHERS: Like a big coral-eating purple worm, but harmless unless frightened.
STRANGLE WEED: Sea weed that wraps creatures like a tentacle and crushes them.
LYCANTHROPES: There are no new were-creatures given here, but the curse/disease itself gets significantly expanded. Before, all we knew was that if a lycanthrope damages you for 50% of your total hit points, you'll become one unless you get a Cure Disease spell. Some things are clarified here - the victim must be warm-blooded. If the wounds are taken under a full moon during spring, the Cleric casting Cure Disease must be 10th level to heal you. The were-personality can now assert itself in much the same way as an intelligent sword. Also: we know that men affected turn into animals with human intelligence, but animals can be affected as well - being able to become men with animal intelligence. That's cool! Being a lycanthrope confers a lot of bonuses, such as more hit dice, greater speed, better AC and increased Strength and COnstitution. Doesn't sound like such a bad deal, actually.
NYMPHS: Apparently they are just like Dryads. Presumably underwater Dryads.
MOTTLED WORMS: Aquatic Purple Worms.
GNOMES: Some gnomes live in underwater cities enclosed by domes, with tunnels to the surface.
KOBOLDS: Like gnomes, but they live in 'air-enclosed cave complexes'.
EVIL HIGH PRIESTS: Some EHPs live in underwater castles protected by a spell that allows them to breathe underwater.
SEA HAGS: Before any other type of Hag, we get the underwater variety. They're like Dryads, but they try to kill people with their ugliness.
KAPOACINTH: Underwater gargoyles with fins instead of wings.
KOALINTH: Water-breathing hobgoblins.
LACEDONS: Underwater ghouls, sometimes led by a wraith.
Other monsters that may be found underwater: Leeches, Ochre Jellies, Green Slime, Ropers, and Gelatinous Cubes.
Thankfully it won't take much explanation to introduce most of these creatures - they've just been living underwater the whole time, where the PCs have yet to explore. Getting the PCs down there will be the tricky part, but a few rumours of treasure in sunken Atlantis ought to do the trick.
Supplement II introduces a few new magic items, all of which are related to aquatic adventuring in some fashion. Since there aren't many, I'll do a run-through of the lot.
RING OF FREEDOM: Lets you move and attack as normal when underwater.
RING OF MOVEMENT: This works like a ring of flying, but only when underwater. (Uh, can't characters already effectively fly underwater? I guess it would come in handy if you're wearing plate mail, though.)
CLEARWATER POTION: Removes salt from water in a 10' diameter. The only use I can think of for this is to provide a source of drinking water, especially if your characters get stranded at sea.
CLOAK OF THE MANTA RAY: This cloak lets you breath underwater and swim at the same speed as a manta ray. You can also release the cloak, and it will fight like a manta ray.
NECKLACE OF WATER BREATHING: Self-explanatory, but it only works for 2.5 days before it needs a rest.
TRIDENT OF FISH CONTROL: This allows the wielder to control any swimming creature that can't also breath air - that's a lot more than fish. For some reason it doesn't work on the Portuguese Man-of-War, probably because it is a mindless jellyfish.
NET OF SNARING: Automatically snares any swimming target you throw it at.
HELM OF UNDERWATER VISION: Lets the wearer see further when underwater.
PEARLS: Regular pearls are treated just like gems.
PINK PEARLS: These are much more valuable, and treated like jewels.
BLACK PEARLS: Lets a magic-user cast one additional spell from his repertoire - whether the pearl is then used up is left vague, but I have to say yes.
GOLD PEARL: Like the black variety, but it works for Clerics.
RED PEARL: Heals the wounds of Fighting-Men. Why no other class? It bears further thinking.
SILVER PEARL: These are worth 10-100,000 gp. Apparently 5% of gems are Silver Pearls?!? That's a bit common for such a valuable thing. Let's say that 5% of gems found underwater are Silver Pearls, or possibly just 5% of pearls.
That's a bunch of stuff that's useful underwater and not much use on land. That they aren't yet integrated into the treasure tables is a good thing, as they're niche items.
As with the aquatic monsters, these items will come into the game when I manage to lure my players into some underwater adventuring.
Tomorrow I take a look at the very first official D&D adventure: The Temple of the Frog.
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