DRAGON 1

Contents
Vol. VII, No. 8

January 1983

SPECIAL ATTRACTION
ARRAKHARS WAND. . . . . . . . . . 45
Finders arent always keepers:
A new fantasy boardgame
OTHER FEATURES
A special section:
Runes in history . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Runestones in fantasy. . . . . 12
Be Quest and in fiction. . . . 16
Castles by Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
II: Wawel Castle
Everybody Eats Everybody
On Sundays Planet . . . . . . . . . . . 24
YouII devour this story
Charting the classes. . . . . . . . . . . 31
A point-by-point comparison
Caped Crusaders
and Masked Marvels. . . . . . . . . . . 38
Superhero role-playing games
Ready for anything! . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Take along a few of these
More Pages from the Mages. . . . 67
Elminster offers magic lore
Weapon statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
TOP SECRET facts & figures
REGULAR OFFERINGS
Out on a Limb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Letters from readers
From the Sorcerors Scroll . . . . . 20
The thief-acrobat
Deities & Demigods
of Greyhawk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Featured Creatures. . . . . . . . . . . . 36
More fungus monsters
Leomunds Tiny Hut. . . . . . . . . . . 54
The entertainer classes
Convention schedule . . . . . . . . . . 74
Reviews:
United Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Jasmine card game. . . . . . . . . . 78
The Role of Books, Pt. II . . . . . 81
Whats New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Wormy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Publisher: Mike Cook

Editor-in-Chief: Kim Mohan
Editorial staff: Marilyn Favaro

Gali Sanchez
Roger Raupp
Patrick L. Price
Business manager: Debra Chiusano
Office staff: Sharon Walton

Pam Maloney
Product design: Eugene S. Kostiz
Layout designer: Ruth M. Hodges
Contributing editors: Roger Moore
Ed Greenwood
National advertising representative:
Robert LaBudde & Associates, Inc.
2640 Golf Road
Glenview IL 60025
Phone (312) 724-5860

This issues contributing artists:

Jim Holloway
Clyde Caldwell
Roger Raupp
Larry Elmore
Mike Carroll
Phil Foglio
Dave Trampier
Jeff Easley
Timothy Truman
DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is published monthly for a subscription price of $24
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DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited submissions of written material and artwork; however, no responsibility for such submissions can
be assumed by the publisher in any event. Any
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DRAGON is a trademark for Dragon Publishings monthly adventure playing aid. All rights
on the contents of this publication are reserved,
and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole
or in part without prior permission in writing
from the publisher. Copyright 1983 by TSR
Hobbies, Inc.
Second-class postage paid at Lake Geneva,
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
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WI 53147. USPS 318-790. ISSN 0279-6848.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, and TOP SECRET are
registered trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc. designates other trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies,
Inc., unless otherwise indicated.

J ANUARY 1983

Well say it again

From time to time in the past, this
magazine has proclaimed its editorial
independence. Were not a house organ, we have stated before, beginning
in a time when many of our competitors
in the field could justifiably be called
that. We pointed this out because it
seemed the point needed to be made.
We haven't talked about the subject
lately because there didnt seem to be a
need to. What we did backed up what we
said, and the turn of events in the gaming
industry made the topic unimportant for
comparative purposes; no sense beating
a dead issue.
Which brings us to the recent past
DRAGON issues #65 and #66, wherein
some opinionated remarks by E. Gary
Gygax appeared. We got a lot of letters
about those articles. Those that have the
most impact on me, as the editor of this
magazine, are the ones that berate the
magazine for being a mouthpiece (one
of the tamer adjectives I recall) for Mr.
Gygax and TSR Hobbies because those
articles were printed.
Gary Gygax, the individual, is the foremost authority on the two most popular
fantasy role-playing games. As the creator of those games, he writes rule additions and explanations and offers them
to DRAGON Magazine for publication.
Ill print everything he sends us, just like
any editor of any gaming magazine with
a similar opportunity would.
Gary Gygax, the president of TSR
Hobbies, Inc., is one of the preeminent
figures in the gaming industry. His opinions are important to others in the field. I
want those opinions, whenever they are
published, to appear in this magazine
again, just as any editor in the same
position would not turn them away.
To suggest that DRAGON Magazine is
a puppet (thats a little worse than
mouthpiece) of TSR on the basis of
these two articles is to ignore the rest of
the evidence. Nothing that appears between these covers is approved prior to
publication, by Mr. Gygax or anyone
else, unless it came out of Mr. Gygaxs
typewriter. Weve printed lots of articles

that were anything but complimentary to

a TSR game. Weve printed articles that
Mr. Gygax has said afterward he
didnt agree with or appreciate. But he
has never even suggested exercising
any prior restraint or approval privileges,
Thats not the kind of magazine he wants
and thats good, because thats not the
kind of magazine were making.

ouldnt it be nice to have a

magic item that would

keep us from breaking our
New Years resolutions?
What a different place this
world would be. . . . Come to think of it,
C. C. Stoll did mention to us that some
of the powers of Arrakhars Wand have
yet to be discovered; maybe thats one
of them and maybe the forces of
good will prevail in their quest to regain
the wand. You wont know for sure until
youve played the game in the center of
this issue of DRAGON Magazine.
Arrakhars Wand is the second game
from C. C. Stoll weve published; this
one is more complicated, and perhaps
more challenging, than Flight of the
Boodles (from issue #60). Tell us what
you think.
Just about everybody whos interested in fantasy role-playing or fantasy
literature knows what runes are but
perhaps not why they are what they
are, and how they can be used in a
campaign. All you need to know to use
runes accurately and imaginatively in
gaming is summarized in a special
package of articles leading off our feature section.
EIminster the sage, an old friend of
contributing editor Ed Greenwood, was
in a talkative mood the last time he
stopped by. The result is More Pages
from the Mages, a sequel to Eds article
from issue #62, spotlighting four more
volumes of magical and medical lore
that all you treasure-seekers should be
on the lookout for.
Roger Moore, our other contributing
editor, also has some pretty powerful
friends at least, when he and his
gang sit down to play the roles of
superheroes. Caped Crusaders and
Masked Marvels is Rogers overview of
superhero role-playing games and how
to get the most out of them. Apparently,
one of Rogers closest inanimate friends
is his calculator: Hes also responsible
for Charting the classes, a statistical
summary of the different AD&D character types which illustrates just how
different some of them are.
Some characters that Rogers article
doesnt consider but which you
ought to are the new Thief-Acrobat
split class, the latest offering From
the Sorcerors Scroll by E. Gary Gygax,
and the trio of character types that
make up the Entertainer class, suggested by Len Lakofka in his Leomunds
Tiny Hut column.
For a change of scenery, take a
look at Everybody Eats Everybody on
Sundays Planet, a piece of thoughtprovoking fiction by Jeff Swycaffer.
After reading it, you might want to
make a resolution to never bite off more
than you can chew. . . . KM

Cant see the point

Dear Editor:
Issue #66 (October) was very informative
and entertaining. Of special interest were the
articles on the origins and designs of fantasy
languages.
However, I take exception to the article on
Thieves Cant. There is no evidence in fantasy
fiction, historical parallels, or in any of the
AD&D books to suggest that Thieves Cant
is anything more than a complex jargon. I
equate Thieves Cant to the kind of conversations that gamers often get into. Sometimes
specialization words get so thick that those
listeners who arent gamers cant make heads
or tails of whats being said.
Why would thieves bother developing their
own grammar system? Naturally, they would
borrow the grammar and vocabulary of their
locale. Most importantly, Thieves Cant would
be very contemporary, and fluid, easily assimilating words and phrases brought in by
migrating thieves, and connections with foreign traders.
A typical conversation should sound something like this:
Got some part time comin. Interested?
What is it? A box-top job? Taking
boarders?
No, Im gonna visit the Auntie. Shes got
some rocks worth a coupla tons of crackers, each.
Whats the bind? She got a breadbox?
No, just bony cur. Look, meet me at
home at two before The Hour. There well
pick up tripa or quad more boys to take out
the cur. We should be done by two before
the glowin.
Translated, that says:
I got a job planned. Interested?
What is it? A second-story theft? A
kidnapping?
No, a robbery. There are gems worth
2,000 gold pieces each.
Whats in the way? A safe?
No, just one guard. Look, meet me at
the local hang-out at midnight. (The
Hour is 2 a.m. You tell time by adding to or
subtracting from The Hour.) There well
get three or four more thieves to disarm
the guard. We should be back by 4 p.m.
(two hours before the dawn).
Contrary to the authors introduction, it
would be unreasonable, if not impossible, for
linguists to write down Thieves Cant. There
would be thousands of versions and dialects
one for each community or organization.
You might as well try to make a comprehensive language by combining Encino Valley
talk and Pennsylvania Dutch.
Thieves Cant will always be based on the
local language, with some cross-over jargon
by which thieves can identify each other. But
they will barely be able to communicate on an
intelligent level until the newcomer learns

both the local language and the local slang.

Finally, there is never a good reason to
invent a sophomoric pseudo-language, which
does nothing but waste the learners time. If
you must have language, why not use something that will be of use outside the game?
Esperanto is one of many easy-to-learn languages that would be perfect for this use. It
has a German/Spanish flavor that is guttural
enough to be a street jargon, yet universal
enough so that non-thieves will be able to
understand words here and there. At the same
time, the learner will be gaining a usable language that actually has literature and a
society. Dont you think that a playing aid
should give the gamer a real-world edge? I
thought that was what gaming was all about.
Scot Fritz
Allentown, Pa.

Spelling if out
Dear Editor:
In reading the new illusionist spells devised
by Mr. Gygax (issue #66), I came across the
spell Read Illusionist Magic. But on page 39 of
the Dungeon Masters Guide it states, lllusionists do not need the spell read magic or
anything like it in pursuit of their profession.
Was this merely an oversight on the part of Mr.
Gygax, or is this a definite rule change?
Larry Smith
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Its not an oversight, Larry. Using what

Frank Mentzer likes to call the latest published principle, the creation of the new spell
Read Illusionist Magic means that the statement you cited from the DMG no longer applies. When the participants in an AD&D
campaign adopt the new official illusionist
spells, they should use Read Illusionist Magic
(for illusionists) the same way that the Read
Magic spell is used (for magic-users). When
youre in doubt about how to interpret an
apparent contradiction that springs up in
official material, you can assume that the
latest published information takes precedence over what was written earlier. If the
Players Handbook and the DMG, for instance,
appear to be in disagreement about a point,
go by what the DMG says, since it was published after the Players Handbook. If official
material from the pages of DRAGON Magazine (from issues published since the DMG
came out) seems to be in conflicf with any of
the hardbound rule books, you can assume
(unless we say otherwlse) that the magazine
material supersedes the book.
The only oversight involved in this instance was committed by the person Mr.
Gygax likes to call the Kindly Editor, who
should have thought to point out this rule
change in a short note when the new spells
were published. KM
DRAGON 3

Barbarian error
Dear Editor:
I was reading your article (by E. Gary
Gygax) about whats official in DRAGON #67,
and I think it was very good of you to admit
your mistakes, but Ive found another one.
In issue #63, it says about the barbarian, If
at least fairly bulky armor is worn, reduce the
[AC] bonus to +1 per point of dexterity in
excess of 14. And, as it says on page 27 of the
DMG, chain is fairly bulky, therefore reducing
the AC bonus to +4 for a character with an 18
dexterity. In the article, there is an example of
a barbarian with chain mail and shield getting
the full AC bonus. As far as I can see, without
somehow acquiring elfin mail, the best armor
class a barbarian can have is -1.
Jack Lyons
Valparaiso, Ind.

Jack and all the other readers who spotted

this passage are correct: The example was in
error, and Mr. Gygax (through us) offers his
apologies for any confusion it may have
caused. Not all the rough spots in the presentation of the barbarian class were smoothed
out before the text was presented in issue #63
a fact which was borne out by the additions
and corrections to the class that Mr. Gygax
wrote up for issue #67, but you can expect
that all the details will be worked out by the
time the particulars of the class are published
in the upcoming AD&D expansion volume.
Even though some articles are deemed official when they appear under Mr. Gygaxs
byline, it may also be true that the material
hasnt been completely developed when its
submitted to us for printing. That fact, we
think, is a small price to pay for getting the
information well in advance of its publication
in a more permanent form. KM

Exceptional elf
Dear Editor:
In issue #67, Mr. Gygax stated that grugach
elves (in Featured Creatures) were not magicusers, but fighter/druids. I can understand
why they arent magic-users, but my Players
Handbook says in the Character Race Table II
on page 14 that elves, even NPCs, cant be
druids. Please clarify.
Ned Zimmerman
Summit, N.J.

According to resident AD&D rule authority

4 J ANUARY

1983

Frank Mentzer, speaking on behalf of Mr.

Gygax, this is another example of how the
latest published principle applies. (See the
letter printed earlier in this column about the
Read Illusionist Magic spell.)
Grugach are exceptional elves who can
operate as dual-classed fighter/druids but at
the same time are prohibited from being
magic-users. Since the Players Handbook
was published several years ago, when the
new elves described in issue #67 didnt exist
officially, that rule book obviously could not
have made note of this exception.
Players and DMs should be aware that this
exception applies only to grugach and not to
other types of elves and certainly not to
player-character elves, since only high elves
can be player characters. Thats one rule that
hasnt been overruled. KM

Aura alteration
Dear Editor:
I enjoyed your issue describing new illusionist spells (#66) and thought it was a bit
overdue. I was disappointed to see that one
spell was left out: Nystuls Magic Aura. This
spell is more an illusionist spell than a magicuser spell, I think. It does not create any magical capability or power, it merely creates the
misguided conception one could say the
illusion that an object is in some way magical. This, I think, definitely makes it a 1st level
illusionist spell, and it should be so listed. The
seventh level spell of obtaining 1st level
magic-user spells is not a sufficient reason for
why this particular spell is not a 1st level illusionist spell.
Carl Malec
St. Louis, Mo.

Language lesson
Dear Editor:
A. D. Rogans article on the use of language
in the AD&D game (DRAGON issue #66)
was useful in that it provoked a great deal of
thought on the subject. We must, however,
disagree with many of your assumptions. We
do not wish to imply that the article was not
useful, but it contained some complications
and some inaccurate generalizations.
First, true neutrals do actually have an
alignment tongue; you need only ask your
neighborly assassin, who may have learned it
(page 29, Players Handbook).

The hypothesis that the Elvish language

influenced many possibly most other
languages is a good one and bears out under
the rigorous test of common sense. Such an
ancient civilization as the elves would certainly be more sophisticated than mans; and,
in the dawn of human history, this kind of
advanced culture would influence the crude
efforts of mankind to build a society. Such
influence could not occur unless the language barrier was breached. We find it unlikely
that the elves would adopt the human tongue;
therefore it follows that the humans, or at
least their leaders, would learn Elvish. When
the times forced humans to acquire a written
language, the elvish system would provide
comprehensive characters appropriate to the
spoken tongue. So, this explains why elves
would know some human tongues and, conversely, why human tongues bear a close relationship to Elvish. Nonetheless, the baffling
fact that elves know many humanoid tongues
is still unexplained. The occurrence is not all
that baffling when you consider elvish psychology. Their incredibly long lifespan makes
elves disdainful of wealth and material possessions, but knowledge is everlasting, so
why not learn the tongues of these annoying
humanoids who seem to hate them so? Any
Elvish magic-user (above 7th level) is capable
of obtaining a polymorph self spell, so the
possibility is there.
Contrary to the statement in the article, no
demi-human character is able to learn more
than three languages in addition to those
stated under race descriptions. Thus, with a
bit of extrapolation, the nymph used in the
example might possibly qualify for one additional language. We imagine that concentrating on conjugating would be a bit difficult
with a nymph as a student.
The issue of literacy amongst the character
classes as portrayed in the article must be
questioned. How can the author state that
practically all fighters should be illiterate?
Any soldier of above-average rank must be
able to read written orders. A city guard
should be able to read a city map or the name
of a business. A fighter of ninth level is
allowed to establish a freehold and collect
taxes, and such a fighter can also attract more
than 80 followers. It is a mistake to suppose
that any but the most clever of men or women
could keep track of such responsibilities without being able to read or write.
A cleric, on the other hand, need not be able
to read. Clerics do not keep spellbooks and
(Turn to page 84)

BY

PHIL TATERCZYNSKI

A band of adventurers is tramping

through what seems like miles of endless, featureless corridors, devoid of any
traces of the enemy, when all of a sudden
a fighter notices a set of symbols carved
in the wall. What do they say? he
mutters.
The thief moves forward to apply his
skill. These are runes, he says, fortunately of the common sort. I think I can
read them. . . . He concentrates for a
moment, then adds, They warn of deadly peril ahead for any who are brave
enough to pass.
Runes are one of the oldest forms of
writing known to exist in western Europe
and Scandinavia. They were used extensively by the cultures of those areas in
pre-medieval and medieval times.
Since this era roughly parallels the
time frame of most adventure gaming
campaigns, referees might find it useful
to incorporate runes into their fantasy
settings.
A modern dictionary defines a rune
as a letter in one of several old Germanic
alphabets, or simply as an occult symbol. The word rune translates from Old
Germanic as secret lore; in AngloSaxon, the same word means secret. A
similar Anglo-Saxon word, runa, translates to magician; another similar
word, runar, which is Norse, means
friend. All of these descriptive words
relate to the history of the rune a past
often blurred by superstition, myth and
misinterpretation.
Scandinavian legends offer varying
accounts of how runes were discovered;
even today it is a popular misconception
that runes were developed in those lands.
The following is an excerpt from the
poem Havamal (Sayings of the High
One), words of wisdom as spoken by
Odin, the chief god of Norse mythology.

THIS RUNE-STONE (LEFT)

STANDS TALL ON THE
GROUNDS OF A CEMETERY
IN
R EYKJAVIK I CELAND .
(Photo by Phil Taterczynski)

AND

In this account, Odin finds a runic alphabet at the price of many torments:
l know that I hung from the windy tree,
For all of nine nights, stuck by a spear,
Given to Odin, myself to myself;
Of that tree, no one knows whence run
its roots.
I was brought no bread, no horn to
drink from.
I gazed down, then grasped the runes,
Crying aloud, finally I fell.
You shall find runes and read the
staves
Great strong staves, great mighty
letters,
The mighty sage wrote them,
Given by the gods, made by their chief.
Do you know how to write?
Do you know how to read?
Another Norse myth relates how a
Valkyrie (one of the female warrior-servants of the Norse gods who carried
away men slain in battle) gave the mighty
hero Sigurd the knowledge of how to use
magic runes and also obtain the favor of
Tyr, the god of war: For victory one
should carve Runes in thy sword-hilt and
twice name Tyr.

Germans got the idea first

Though these tales from folklore are
interesting, they do not tell the entire
truth of the matter. Actually, it is among
the early Germanic people not the
Norsemen that the history of the rune
begins. The Germanic people lived in
northern Europe from the time of the earliest surviving descriptions of the lands
north of the Alps. A Roman historian
named Posidonius, who died in 50 B.C.,
mentioned the Germans in his books of
histories. In A.D. 98, Cornelius Tacitus
wrote detailed accounts of the Germanic
tribes in a book called Germania. These
tribes appear in later historical references as the barbarian Vandals, Goths,
Lombards, Franks, Teutons, Angles and
others who kept the Romans busy in the
final days of their empire.
The Germans, according to Tacitus,
had a high regard for omens, and used
sticks, each marked with a different sign,
to cast fortunes. The signs used on the
sticks may not literally have been runes,

ROGER RAUPP
but this is where the history of runes
starts.
In earlier times, the Germanic tribes
and their forerunners used written or
carved symbols as representations of
events, ideas, and objects. These were
not runes, in the sense that the term is
defined here, but they could be considered descendants of runes. Carvings
from the late Bronze Age and early Iron
Age, some made as long ago as 1600
B.C., are found on the rocks throughout
Scandinavia, particularly in Sweden.
These prehistoric symbols, known as
Hallristningar, represent man and nature: tools, body parts, animals, and sun
symbols. (The era during which these
marks were originally scribed can be
considered prehistoric, since the people
of these lands were at the time far more
primitive than the Greeks or Egyptians to
the south.)
It is believed that these symbols carried deep religious and mystic significance, showing in pictures the power of
the things they represented. These symbols were apparently not used as a form
of writing, although it is reasonable to
assume that the people who used them
gave names to each one. A modern example of the same principle is the skulland-crossbones symbol, which conveys
a meaning of poison or danger to
someone viewing it, but is not actually a
word, or part of our alphabet, in itself.

Theories of the origin of runes

Inscriptions using letters resembling
runes appear in rock carvings found
near the Alps dating from about A.D.
235. They are clearly related to later
runes, and many letters also look similar
to their Latin counterparts. These symbols are thought by some to have belonged to the Etruscans, a tribe from
northern Italy.
But authorities dont all agree on the
exact time and place of the origin of
runes. The alphabets of the Etruscans,
Romans, Greeks, Illyrians, and Phoenicians, as well as the Hallristningar, have
all been proposed as the particular or
primary source. The most popular theory on the origin of runes incorporates
several of the possible answers: The
DRAGON 7

Germanic tribes, coming into close and

frequent contact with literate cultures,
could well have taken the idea of an alphabet and used it. If such was the case,
they could have easily borrowed symbols from the alphabet of their neighboring tribe, the Etruscans.
In about A.D. 350, the Romans began
to hire German mercenaries to fight beside their own legions. This would have
given the Germans very close contact
with the Roman culture and also its alphabet, as well as the opportunity to
travel throughout the Mediterranean. In
such travels the Germans could also
have come in contact with the writing
systems of the Greeks and other more
remote cultures. When the mercenaries
came home, they most likely brought
with them influences from all these
encounters.

Why runes look the way they do

The origin of runes may be disputed,
but why they are formed as they are is
not. Whether runes are Germanic, Scandinavian, or another of many types, one
thing is consistent: The letters are stiff
and angular, usually composed of vertical or perpendicular staves, only rarely
(if ever) horizontal ones. The early Germanic tribes were barbaric in comparison to the cultures of the Mediterranean
whose alphabets descended from scripts
painted or inked on various surfaces or
incised in soft materials like plaster or
clay. In contrast, wood and stone were
the materials most readily available for
scribing in the north. Germanic symbols
had to be simple in form so they were
easy to carve into those difficult surfaces. When the Germans used wood (as
was most common), they carved runes
along the length of a tree limb or slab of
wood with one side shaved flat. Horizontal staves are less frequent in the characters, since carving a horizontal stave
could split the grain and mar the work.
For more permanent inscriptions, the
Germans used stone. Later, as metalworking developed, they inscribed various sorts of finished metal items.
After their creation, runes were quickly adopted by all the Germanic peoples.
For a period of time, Hallristningar symbols and runes appeared in the same
carvings. A spearhead dating from the
third century A.D., found near Kovel, in
the western Ukraine, is engraved with
both kinds of markings. At that time and
until around A.D. 500, the German tribes
were invading and warring with the Roman Empire, and were constantly on the
move. Migrations and wars brought
many different tribes into contact, and
this undoubtedly helped spread runes
through the entire Germanic world.
In the early days of their existence,
runes were used almost exclusively for
one of two purposes: for inscriptions and
(in the minds of the superstitious, at
least) for magic.

JANUARY 1983

Many of the inscriptions were memorials to-dead friends. or kinsmen, a memento of a visit, or something referring
to the craftsman or builder of the inscribed item. Norse mercenaries in the
employ of the Byzantine Emperor carved
runes on a statue of a lion in Piraeus,
Greece. A runic inscription found at
Kingitorissoak, Greenland, reads: Erling
Sighvatsson and Bjarni Thordarson and
Endridi Jonsson on the Saturday before
the minor Rogation Day built these
cairns.
Such rune-stones can be found in any
of the lands where the Scandinavians
lived. Today there are some 2,500 known
to exist in Sweden alone, with another
1,500 scattered all over Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, Finland, the
USSR, and even North America.
Other inscriptions can be found on
weapons, jewelry and coins. Runes were
scratched on weapons to label them with
the names of the owner, the maker, the
owners patron deity, or the weapon itself. The Kovel spearhead, mentioned
above, carries the name Attacker. The
Chessel Down sword, found in a Jutish
grave on the Isle of Wight, has on it the
words increase to pain. The runes on
this sword show Anglo-Saxon influences, which indicates that it was forged by
Danes or their descendants living in
England.
On the rim of a gold drinking horn recovered in Germany there was found the

inscription: I, Hlewegast, Holts son,

made this horn. The horn itself was
decorated with hunting and battle scenes
resembling those found on rune-stones.
The use of runes on coins had begun
by the time of the Anglo-Saxon kings
Pada, who ruled from 655 to 657, and
Ethelred (675-704). They have their
names on coins minted in the kingdom
of Mercia. A coin from East Anglia contains a runic inscription commemorating
King Ethelbert, who died in 794.
Over the years, runic alphabets developed into many different forms. Often
runes themselves looked the same, but
what they represented differed from
kingdom to kingdom. Today all the different runic alphabets are generally categorized into three types: Germanic,
Scandinavian, and Anglo-Saxon.

The futhark system

Though the values, form, and/or the
total number of characters in each runic
alphabet often was different, during and
after the height of their use they were
nearly always organized in a system
called the futhark, which was an arrangement of the runes in an alphabet
into five divisions, the first of which
spelled the word futhark (or a similar
word, depending on the country).
It is possible the futhark arrangement was adopted from a Celtic writing
system called Ogham, which was distinctly different from runes; this writing

consisted of slashes cut into the corner

of a beam or stone, but they were arranged into divisions in a like manner.

The decline of runes

In the year 1000, Iceland became a
Christian nation by vote in the Althing,
the national assembly. Greenland was
converted within a few more years; this
turn of events led to the adoption of the
Roman alphabet in those areas, and so
to the passing of the last of the runic
scripts.
The church was indirectly responsible
for the decline in the use of runes in most
cases. Along with fostering the spread of
Christianity, it also encouraged literacy
and education. Latin was the alphabet,
and the language, that churchmen taught
to converts. Since the runic alphabets
had never been widely developed into a
manuscript form, the Roman letters became more popular, and thus the full development of runes into a manuscript
language never took place. An exception
to the norm was a Goth named Wulfilas,
who was working to bring Christianity to
his people. He translated the Bible into
the Gothic language and invented a
script which used many rune-like letters.
Though the church didnt always actively try to suppress the use of runes, no
doubt some parishes did. Even after the
Roman alphabet had become widely
used, some parts of the population held
on to the use of runes. They were mostly

loremasters and poets, those who maintained the legends and knowledge of
their societies pre-Christian cultures.
Much of this knowledge was frowned
upon by advocates of the church as being paganism, black magic, and contrary
and offensive to the ways of the church.
Runic writing was looked on with equal
disfavor, considered to have mystic properties because it was the means by which
these pagans recorded their thoughts
and recollections.
Runes have resurfaced in history since
their decline, but only in isolated cases.
Two Swedish military leaders used runes:
Admiral Mogens Gyldenstjerne, in the
year 1543, kept a private journal written
in runes. General Jacob de la Gardie
used a runic military code system during
the Thirty Years War in the early 17th
century. The use of runes as a craftsmans mark survived among guilds and
other artisans groups. Adolf Hitler, in his
efforts to incorporate Teutonic mythology into Nazi ideology, used runic and
Hallristningar symbols. Two outstanding examples are the swastika, a mystic
sign which was originally a sun symbol,
and the double sig (victory) emblem
worn by SS troops.
Recently, the popularity of fantasy literature spearheaded by the publication of the work of J.R.R. Tolkien has
brought about a renewed interest in
runes. Different authors have devised
different runic alphabets for use in their

works, prompting more people than ever

before to wonder where the whole idea
came from.
All of the foregoing offers an overview
of how runes came about and where they
went, and a bit about how they were used
along the way. Unfortunately, few accounts have survived about the actual
use of runes by, and their effect upon,
historical personages; little is known
about the inside story of runes during
the Dark Ages. However, one such legendary tale involving an actual person
does exist, though the story may have
been exaggerated over the years.

Egil Skallagrimsson and his saga

The tale of Egil Skallagrimsson survives as one of the legends of the Vikings
stories which are well-known, and
rightly so, for they offer an inside view of
a dynamic young society. Although these
stories were finally written down during
the Christian period, many of them were
maintained through generations of oral
story-telling going back to pagan times.
Iceland became the home of the majority
of the surviving manuscripts, and the
Icelandic scribes for the most part failed
to succumb to the temptation many
clerical copyists felt to Christianize their
cultures tales. Thus, the Viking sagas
present a reasonably dependable portrait of pagan Nordic society. But, since
Iceland was and remains the home of the
sagas, it is no surprise that the central
figures in most of them are Icelanders.
One such figure, Egil Skallagrimsson,
a warrior and rune-master, is told about
in a tale called simply Egils Saga. The
story contains several passages and
parts that describe Egil using runes for
various purposes, including healing, the
placing of curses, and detection. These
accounts were written sometime around
the year 1230, telling of events that took
place from the years 858 to 990, beginning with the story of Egils father and
uncle and ending with Egils death. Two
of the tales are summarized below:
Egil, his comrade Olvir, and their crew
were travelling by ship and landed on
Atley Island, one of the estates of King
Eirik Bloodaxe. The caretaker of the
Kings land, a man named Bard, offered
to let Egil, Olvir, and the men stay in a
barn, gave them straw for bedding, and
only bread, sour curds, and skyr (a sour,
partially fermented whey drink), to eat,
claiming he had nothing better. Meanwhile King Eirik and his wife Gunnhild
were in the main hall, presiding over a
feast. The king asked where his caretaker was, and a man replied that Bard is
out looking after his guests.
What sort of guests are these, said
the king, that hed rather be with them
than here with us? The man replied that
they were some of the Chieftain Thorirs
men, which indeed Egil and the others
were.
DRAGON

Egil killed Bard that same night, and in

so doing earned the lasting enmity of
Eirik and Gunnhild.

. . . THE HORN BURST

ASUNDER, SPLASHING
THE POISONED ALE TO
THE FLOOR.

Go out and inform them, said the

king, that I want them to come inside.
Egil, Olvir, and their men were welcomed warmly by the king. Olvir sat at
the kings side, with Egil next to them,
and they all drank toasts (refusing would
have been a slight to the king) until Olvirs men became quite intoxicated. Bard,
displeased with how things had turned
out, pressed one ale-filled horn after
another on Olvir, hoping to embarrass
him. Egil, however, began to drink Olvirs
share. Bard remarked how great Egils
thirst was and passed him another full
horn. Egil took the horn and spoke this
verse:
You spoke to this ogre-slayer of a
scanty feast
While there was a sacrifice a
womans cunning.
It was a badly kept secret, your
unseen guests,
This meanness lasted too long,
small-hearted Bard.
Bard told him to drink and stop being

10

JANUARY 1983

abusive, whereupon Egil drank all that

was proferred to himself and Olvir.
Then Bard turned to the queen and
complained that this man was insulting
his hosts by claiming to be thirsty no
matter how much he was given. The
queen and Bard conspired to put poison
in a drink, and the queen gave it to Egil,
ordering him to quaff it.
Egil brought out his knife and stabbed
his palm, then took the horn, carved
runes into it, and smeared them with his
blood while saying:
Cut runes in the horn. Redden them
with blood.
Then speak the words of the rite, a
poem over the horn.
Drink this draught who will, the
glad maids gift,
But note which mouth its meant for,
this ale Bard has signed.
W ith that the horn burst asunder,
splashing the poisoned ale to the floor.
This legendary incident indicates the
potency of the magic attributed to runes.

The second tale takes place sometime

later, when Egil returned to Norway to
pursue a lawsuit concerning his wifes
inheritance. King Eirik declared him an
outlaw; in retaliation, Egil attacked the
kings hall on the Isle of Herle and killed
the kings son Rognvald.
After the battle, when his crew was
ready to sail, Egil climbed onto a rock
outcropping on the island that faced the
mainland of Norway. He took a horses
head and set it on a hazelwood staff,
saying, Here I set up a staff of scorn,
and place this scorn on the hand of King
Eirik and Queen Gunnhild.
He then pointed the horses head toward the mainland and continued, And I
place this also on the spirits of the land,
that they all should be lost and unsettled,
until they drive King Eirik and Queen
Gunnhild from this land. Egil stuck the
staff between the rocks and left it there
with the head facing the mainland, cut
runes in the staff to proclaim his speech,
and returned to his men to set sail.
Egils curse was fulfilled, or so it would
seem: King Eiriks brother, Haakon, returned from a stay in England soon afterward. The brothers shared the kingship for a while, but Haakon eventually
drove Eirik from the throne.

Using runes in role-playing

After learning the legendary and historical facts about runes, many referees
and players in fantasy role-playing games
can easily imagine how runes can be
used in an adventure or a campaign.
Runic alphabets can be designed as a
form of code; cryptic messages could be
found carved into walls, doors, monuments or whatever, as memorials or
warnings. A characters weapons and
armor might carry runic inscriptions of
the equipments name or the name of its
(past or present) owner.
In an AD&D campaign, the DM might
allow magic-users to carve runes for the
casting of some spells instead of using

material components. If a referee allows

characters to learn a runic alphabet, the
character may use it to mark maps, write
spells into spell books, or send messages.
The possibilities for using runes in
gaming seem great, but there are some
limiting factors to keep in mind. If only
one culture uses runes, fine. But if several do, then similarities and differences
between the various systems should be
accounted for. Are these cultures living
in close proximity to one another? If so,
is there then a reason for their runes to
illustrate influences gained from one
another? For instance, if a fairly civilized
group of elves, who had long been developing their linguistic and writing
skills, lived next to a society of humans
that had only recently (in elvish terms)
developed, and if they both have runic
alphabets, chances are great that the
humans alphabet demonstrates a lot of
elvish influence. When considering the
runic system of a particular culture in a
world where runes are in widespread
use, a DM should be able to answer these
questions: Did this culture develop their
runes or borrow them from someone
else? If so, who? When? How? And why?

If a society or culture in a campaign

develops runes independently, then the
materials they use for carving must be
considered when determining how the
rune characters are designed. Earlier it
was explained how the Germans had
very simple runes that had either vertical
or perpendicular staves, because such a
formation was easiest to carve into wood,
their most abundant material. In a fantasy campaign, dwarves who created their
runes for carving into stone or metal
wouldnt be restricted by such a form,
since most metal and stone doesnt have
a grain. However, they would still
probably use straight staves, to keep
carving fairly efficient. A culture which
used runes in a script form, instead of in
carvings, would most likely form the
characters for ease of writing with a pen
or brush.
Once the general method of employment of runes in a campaign has been
laid out, it then becomes necessary to
develop a system for creating runic alphabets, matching symbols to sounds,
and scribing the runes. A Common
Tongue runic alphabet is offered with
this article. This alphabet, or a form of it,

may be usable as a starting point, since

the common tongue is generally known
by most AD&D characters. Much of the
following system can be incorporated
into other alphabets.
The Common Tongue runes were designed under the assumption that the
common tongue is equivalent to English,
since that is in fact the common tongue
most of us know in real life, and since
English and the AD&D common tongue
both are combinations of many different
languages.
The Common Tongue runic alphabet
(pictured on the following page) has a
few more symbols than the twenty-six
letters of the English alphabet of today.
This is justified by the likelihood of the
different evolution of such a language in
a fantasy campaign. A writing system
that developed without the influences
that affected the English language quite
possibly might have individual symbols
for sounds which can only be obtained in
English by a compound-letter form (such
as ch or th). Also, to speed the carving of runes, symbols would likely be
created for commonly used words, so a
thing or a concept could be expressed
DRAGON

11

with one character instead of a series of

characters.
Another aspect of English that might
be awkward for someone trying to learn
the language is that words are not always pronounced the way they seem to
sound. In a fantasy world where a truly
universal Common Tongue would have
developed, the language would probably not exhibit such tendencies, or the

inaccuracies, if they once did exist, might

have been eradicated over time.
To translate scribed runes into English
words, consider how a letter sounds instead of just how it looks, because some
letter-symbols in English represent the
same sounds. To translate the other way
(from English into runes to be carved),
break the English words down phonetically and spell them as they sound.

RUNESTONES

One night Elminster and I were sharing what fantasy writer tin Carter calls a
round of converse (the sage has acquired a weakness for pina coladas, a
beverage unknown in the Realms from
whence he comes), and our talk turned
to the dwarves.
Elminster thought the picture of the
Hill Dwarf in the AD&D Monster Cards
very striking. While he was admiring it,
your wily editor asked if he knew of any
written dwarvish records: tomes of lore,
for instance, and, ahem, magic. Elminster chuckled and reached into one of
the many pockets in his voluminous
robes (yes, I know he looks odd, but the
neighbors think Im strange anyway),

12

JANUARY 1983

coming out with his pipe and pouch

and a stone, which he handed to me.
Dwarves seldom write on that which
can perish, Elminster said, lighting up.
Rarely, they stamp or enscribe runes on
metal sheets and bind these together to
make books, but stone is the usual medium: stone walls in caverns, stone buildings, pillars or standing stones even
cairns. Most often, they write on tablets
runestones, as we call them in the
Common Tongue.
The stone I held was flat and diamondshaped, about an inch thick, and of some
very hard rock I did not recognize. It was
deep green in color, polished smooth,
but it was not, Elminster assured me, any

In the Common Tongue runes, there

are more vowel sounds given than there
are vowel characters in English. This is
done so that the sound a vowel (or vowel
combination) makes can be accurately
depicted. Using similar reasoning, consonant characters that represent sounds
similar or identical to other consonants
have been eliminated: for instance, the
letter c does not exist in this alphabet,

sort of jade. The face of the stone was

inscribed with runes in a ring or spiral
around the edge (see illustration), and at
the center bore a picture. Some runestones have pictures in relief, and are
used as seals or can be pressed into wet
mud to serve as temporary trail markers
underground.
To a dwarf, all runestones bear some
sort of message. Most are covered with
runic script; Elminster knows of three
such scripts. One of them, known as
Dethek, translates directly into Common, and all of the stones he showed me
that night and subsequently were in this
script. The runes of this script are simple
and made up of straight lines, for ease in

since the sound it makes in a word can

be expressed by an s or k character.
Players and DMs have to consider
what sorts of materials and techniques
are available for scribing or writing the
runes onto a surface. Geography will
have an effect on available materials, just
as it did with the Germanic tribes. Tree
limbs and large rocks, for instance, were
in abundance where the Germanic tribes
lived. In a fantasy environment that contains large trees and rocks, these would
be obvious and often-used surfaces for
carving. But in a world devoid of trees or
rocks (a distinct possibility in a fantasy
milieu), choices for a carving medium
would be restricted to other suitable
materials that are available.
Runescan be carved on manufactured
items rings, weapons, gauntlets, and
so forth. Even a world that doesnt contain an abundance of suitable raw materials will have weapons, magic items,
and other things that can be inscribed.

Runes can be written (applied upon a

surface instead of being etched into it)
on almost any material that will accept
ink, pigment, charcoal, or other writing
mediums. Parchment, animal hide, or
for the very lavish vellum (calfs hide
finely tanned and scraped) will hold ink
from a quill or pigment from a brush.
Historically, certain techniques were
used in the configuration of rune characters in or on a surface. On free-standing
stones (rune-stones), the characters
were often carved between parallel borders in the form of a winding snake
design which served to embellish the
work and make the stone more attractive. A less artistic method of carving was
to simply put down the characters in
rune-rows, set off from one another by
straight horizontal lines, often spaced so
that the tops and bottoms of the rune
characters touched the lines.
Words were not usually set off by spaces between them; rather, one would be

separated from the next by a dot or a

small x. Words were also distinguished
by painting them in different colors, but
if the coloring washed away or was worn
away, the message could become rather
cryptic. According to many legends (including Egils Saga), the magic of runes
would not work unless the writing was
smeared with blood.
As with any other subject that has a
foundation in history, the concept of
runes can be adapted by players and
DMs for use in a fantasy role-playing
game, without necessarily remaining totally faithful to the way runes were used
in history. Perhaps a runic alphabet will
be developed into the most widely used
form of communication in a fantasy
world. Or, perhaps the art of scribing
runes will be only partially developed
and known only to a select few. Any system is appropriate, as long as its logical
and as long as it fits in the world for
which it was designed.

BY

ED GREENWOOD
cutting them into stone. No punctuation
can be shown in Dethek, but sentences
are usually separated by cross-lines in
the frames which hold the lines of script;
words are separated by spaces; and capital letters have a line drawn above them.
Numbers which are enclosed in boxes
(within the frames) are dates, day preceding year by convention. There are
collective symbols or characters for
identifying peoples (clans or tribes) or
races. If any runes are painted, names of
beings and places are commonly picked
out in red, while the rest of the text is
colored black or left as unadorned
grooves.
Runestones are commonly read from
the outer edge toward the center; the
writing forms a spiral which encloses a
central picture. In the case of the stone
illustrated here (Elminster said this stone
came from a place now destroyed), the
crude central picture identifies the writer
as a warrior (the hammer) of the House
of Helmung, now thought to be extinct.
(His name, Nain, is written above the
shield of Helmung, as is the custom. A
dwarf of some importance would place
his personal rune here.)
Runestones telling a legend or tale of
heroism usually have a picture of the
climactic scene described in the text;
grave markers or histories usually reproduce the face or mark of the dwarves
described. The central symbol may also
be a commonly understood symbol (e.g.,
a symbol of a foot for a trail marker, or an
inverted helm to denote safe drinking
water), or sometimes nothing more than
simple decoration.
DRAGON

13

Runestones serve as genealogies and

family burial markers, Elminster told me,
and to record tales of great events and
deeds of valor. They may be inventories
of the wealth of a band, or private messages which would be meaningless to all
but a few individuals.
One stone was found in a labyrinth of
dwarven caverns cut into a mountain
range, serving as a very plain warning
to those who knew the script of a pit
trap just beyond. Another, somewhere in
the same abandoned dwarf-halls, is reputed to hold a clue to the whereabouts
of the Hammer of Thunderbolts once
borne in the Battle of the Drowning of
Lornak.
But you, Elminster said, looking innocently up at the smoke rings slowly

14

JANUARY 1983

rising in the evening sky above his rocking chair, will as usual be most interested in treasure. I made him another
drink, and in silence we watched the fireflies play around the garden fountains. I
waited, and finally he spoke. Apart from
those stones that are treasure maps
usually directions hidden in those cryptic verses people write when they think
theyre being clever a few stones are
themselves magical, or adorned with
gems.
Later meetings with Elminster yielded
three examples of treasure-map stones
(the text from which is reproduced here),
and two examples of magical stones: a
record in the Book of Passing Years that
mentions a runestone that functions as
an Arrow of Direction, and almost forty

references in the folk tales and ballads of

the northern Realms to runestones that
spoke (via a magic mouth spell) when
certain persons were near, or when certain words sometimes nothing more
than nonsense words inscribed upon the
stone itself, to be read aloud were said
over it.
Some non-magical runestones contain
warnings, or poetry, but most often their
songs are treasure-verses. A few such
verses are recorded here; Elminster assures me that as far as he knows, no one
has yet found the treasures hinted at in
these examples. All of them await any
adventuring band that is strong and
brave, of keen wits and good luck. Thats
why, he added dryly, they havent been
found yet.

I FALL FOREVER AND NOT AT ALL

I SLAY FIRE
I GUARD, BENEATH, HATHO'S SKULL
IT HOLDS THE KEY
TO RUBIES THREE
SAPPHIRES THREE
AND CROWN OF FIRE.
BUT REMEMBER HATHO'S CURSE.'

THAT WHICH CRAWLS KNOWS ME NOT

SEEK NEAR, THE HARPER'S SILENT STRINGS
HEAVIER THAN IT SHOULD BE
OPENED IT COULD BE
TO SEE WHAT HARPING BRINGS.'

DRAGON

15

BE QUEST
FICTION

BY

ATANIELLE

Hoofbeats hammered the causeway rising across the bogland. Marsh-birds scattered in, a clap and whine of wings.
Heardings farmstead waited mute in a wash of mist.
Brand skinned a hare on the hearthstone, admiring the gray
gleam of use on his knife-blade. With pride he read the runescratched name on the hilt. The names of the letters birch,
ride, Asir-god, need, day formed a blessing: Gods will ride
through the birches on your day of need. The blessing was his
own, unshared. None other in the household could read.
The knife and the understanding of letters, which his father
had learned as Thegn to Eorl Athelstan, were all he could thank
his father for. His young mouth set in a grim line.
He sliced neatly through the pelt, careful to avoid the muskglands that could ruin the skin. He probed with skilled fingers
between hide and body, bringing the pelt away whole.
Hearthfire blazed, a kettle boiled, hens shuffled their feathers. A sleeping dog twitched inside his loose and scar-lashed
skin. Outdoors a cockerel crowed, brighter than the mistmoored sun. Then the dogs outside racketed an alarm, wakening the hearth-dog.
Down, Grim, Brand admonished as he held the hare out of
reach. In the firelight, the boy showed as lean and wild, at
seventeen, as the wolfish dogs leaping and howling at the
sound of hoofbeats. Pale brown hair, like autumn straw after
rain, hung comb-shy around eyes trained into an untrusting
stare, green-gray eyes glowering out of a briar-scraped face.
Brand thrust the hare on a shelf and rushed to the door. Chill
mist made of the rider a grizzled grave-shape. Guthmods men
have landed! The strangers voice wavered in and out of the
squall of fowls and dogs. Eorl Athelhelm requires a man from
each hearth to meet on the morrow at Welands Stone. Have ye
heard?
Brands uncle shouted assent from the byre door.
Then meet in the morning, and Tiw bless your blade.
Brand stood clutching the doorpost, his heart echoing the
retreating hoofbeats, drumming out silent words: War! I am
going to war! I was chosen. Uncle is old, his son is simple. I go to
war to rout the raiders.
Brand, did you hear?
His uncle and mother, weather-wizened, wind-bent folk,
each took him by the hand, one rough, one tender. His uncle,
peering from red eyes, matched him, as though matching
horses to a team, to the memory of his father warrior, hero,
Thegn to Eorl Athelhelms father. His mother, tears drenching
her cheeks, memorized the features of her only living son.
Looking into her eyes, Brand realized for the first time that he
could die.
I wish I had my fathers sword.
Why had he spoken aloud? The startlement in the faces
before him was condemnation enough. But if it were his father
before him, age-bent, and not his uncle, would not his father
have lent him his sword?
Would he have, though?
Tall, fierce-haired, hard of hand and eye, the unrelenting man
who was his father stood forth in his memory. Brand cringed
back, as from a blow.
In that moment he hated the indomitable dead as fiercely as
he ever had the living man. What right had he to reach out from
the grave, making his son cower in the daylight? Worst, Brand
saw himself as the craven his father had called him.

16

JANUARY 1983

ANNYN

NOEL

Eh, Brand, boy, Ill tell you the way to Welands Stone. Youll
show those cutthroat Guthlings the fastest way back to their
harbors or how deep we bury brigands and bandits!
Brand let his uncle lead him away to point out the road. His
mother, turning back to the house, smiled through her tears,
the smile with which she had tried all his life to heal his fathers
beatings.
He must have his fathers sword, and stay alive.
He had thought himself young and strong and tireless, as
brave as any lad years his senior, but if his dead father could
hurt him so, what could Guthmods men, living, do?
. . . left beyond Denebridge, in a meadow between three hills.
The men will muster by the stone. When you see the Eorl, go
down on one knee to him, and speak only to answer his asking.
There, boy, the sun breaks through a bit. Sit down, rest
awhile.
I remember my first battle, lad, but your father . . . if ever a
brother worshipped his brother, it was I. Ive seen him splashed
about hair, boots, and all between with the blood of enemies.
He was a hard man, but wed go anywhere at his heels.
The only man to equal him, Eorl Athelstan, father to Eorl
Athelhelm, knew the measure of the man who served him. He
made him Thegn and gave him honor, and your father answered, My Eorl, I, your Thegn, oathbind my aid to you and your
household. As I am beside you at the dawn of battle, beside you
I stay to death and beyond. I heard him swear so before the
Battle of Warren Hill.
He is still beside him, beneath the barrow. Faithful in death..
Few are like him. Be glad today you had his teaching.
Brand fisted his white-knuckled hands to help him keep his
silence. Unvoiced angers roiled within him. His voice, when he
tried to use it, choked him.
There, lad, Ill leave you be. Youre going on to glory from the
battle before you. The uncle scuffed back to the byre, favoring
one knee.
Brand, looking after him against his will, thought: If my father
were so old now, perhaps we could make peace. I only remember him in his prime, despising the weakness of his son
the weakness he himself would have had if he had grown old.
Facing his mortality in his fathers battle-death, Brand knew
he himself could die on the field. He must have the sword the
sword buried in his fathers hand.
He must go to the priest. He knew what the priest would say,
but until it was said, Brand couldnt act. He returned to the
hearth to retrieve the flayed hare; the priest would require an
offering.
Inland from the marshes, the causeway passed an isolated
thicket of birches so interwoven, so matted together, that they
seemed one entity. A green mist of buds softened branches as
entwined as vipers in a pit. Slightly removed from the grove, half
hidden in bracken and briars, the priest had his dwelling.
A man of presence, the gray-cloaked priest strode out to
meet Brand as if he anticipated his visit. Brand stood unmoved
by the baleful gaze of the priest. Over a massy beard spread
fanwise on his chest, over a sharp, prying nose, under a grayish
leather cap, hard eyes measured the boys strength of will.
For Brand, though, the granite crag of a man held no terror.
He felt relieved; if he were undaunted by a priest of Tiw, he had
little chance of turning coward before Guthmods men.

Ah, Brand, do you ask an advice?

Yes, wise one. Can you give me counsel?
The Tiw-priest glanced sharply aside toward the grove. The
lower branches were festooned with shreds of cloth, holed
stones, small skeletons, and carved rods tied in place. Brand
broke a twig off a briar bush, whittled it sharp, and with it
skewered the hares hind legs together over a limb. Hanging,
without pelt or ears, the hare was horribly human, naked, dead.
Guthmod threatens. Battle will join, Brand stated formally.
My fathers blade rusts in Athelstans barrow. Is it wrong that I
should wear it? He watched the hare shift in a faint wind, a
hanged man, a dead man, himself after battle.
The dead in the darkness face dread and danger. Would you
leave them weak and weaponless? Athelstans captain serves
his Eorl. He knows that need, and not his sons.
Brand held in a breath of anger, feeling a hot pulse shake him.
He never knew my needs alive, never nodded to all my asking.
Do what you must. The fate that moves you goes beyond
question and counsel. Pray to Tiw. Tiws guiding takes a man
past death and darkness. Fierce-eyed and threatening, the
priest nodded dismissal.
Brand saluted him and left, inwardly scornful. He had
guessed right. To the priest, the best advice was no advice, a
safe path, inappropriate to the servant of a warrior-god.
One does not rob the dead, but do the dead have the right to
rob the living?
Already the shadows stretched long, stark hands, reaching,
beseeching, eastward across the marsh to the first low hills and
the west-facing barrow.
Brand turned back to the farm for a torch, lit at the hearth. The
firebrand, his namesake, armed him against night. He followed
the shadows, his own shadow lengthening before him. Dark
came before sunset. Cloud-drifts settled low and bitter, small
rain fell with furtive sounds in the furze and bracken.
The torchs light was vague, illusory, and the flames gasped
and shuddered in the thin rain. Brand held it high where the
glare wouldnt dazzle him; he couldnt shelter it with his body.
All he could hope in that light was to keep to the path that ran
past the barrow, avoid the marsh-pits, and see within the burial
chamber.
It seemed, as he walked in the dark, that the land flowed past
him. Shrubs and stumps started up suddenly, silent phantoms
in the circle of light. Red-ember eyes hares, perhaps, or
ferrets glowed, blinked, and vanished.
A breeze off the bog choked him as though a rotten leaf had
lodged in his throat. Otherwise, all smelled damp, fresh, cold:
pine, wet earth, pitchy smoke.
Off in that dark the body of his father lay, in a hollowed
oak-trunk, the boat of souls. His lifeless hand clasped the sword
that could save his son. Brand shuddered sickly at the thought
of prying the dead hand from the hilt, seeing the glare of dead
eyes or soulless sockets.
Could jealous dead, powered by berserk afterlife, rise up,
throwing back coffin lids, drawing swords against intruders
even their own flesh? Halted by the vision, Brand stood cold in
the rain. The world shrank to a circle of torchlight. Beyond it,
Eorl Athelstan and followers dead in twenty battles stood by his
father, who, grayer than the Tiw-priest, mighty in death, tightgrasped the blade his Eorl had given him.
An owl drifted across the light, a pale shadow, amber-eyed.
Brand shook off his dark dreaming, trudged forward in blackness starred by sparks of torchlit rain.
Two white cobbles flanked the edge of the road, marking the
path that branched to the barrow-mouth, a steep path ending in
stone. The stones placed to block the barrow-mouth were
large. To prop his torch where it gave any light, to grip and shift
cold and rain-slick stones, was a long and frustrating struggle.
As he worked, prying and levering, visions of death filled the
dark.
Brand had seen dead men before; he had seen his father
borne in on a makeshift bier behind Eorl Athelstans. His father
was still fierce then; his beard and eyebrows bristling, he had

18

JANUARY 1983

seemed ready to bellow forth all the hate and blame to his son
that he had ever said before.
But what is a man three years dead? Bone, or leathery skin, or
loathsome rottenness? Brand found it ironic that he struggled
so hard to reach the man he wanted least to see.
He cleared a passage and crept inside, gasping on the smoke
of his torch. The chamber was small and low-ceilinged in the
swelling flank of the barrow hill. The barrow itself was age-old,
housing forgotten kings in a chamber whose door was lost. In
these times, the mound-side was burrowed now and then to
hold a mighty Eorl or hero.
Out of the rain, the chamber seemed startlingly dry, smelling
only of dust, stone, and a slight, mousy mustiness. The footprints of the burial party were still clear, overlain by prints of
rats and weasels. Here, near the entrance, the floor was pocked
and knobbed in a minute pattern where water had leaked and
dripped. A few pieces of war-gear, shields and spears, leaned
against the wall as if in a storeroom. Torchlit, enclosed from the
weather, the room had the familiar feeling of a farm-shed. Like
grain-chests, the hollow oak logs stood by the wall. The lesser
of the Earls men had been buried in a ditch near Warren Hill.
Only two men were here, and now one boy. . . .
Brand unlidded one of the chests. He glanced inside sideways, saw enough to see that the bones were not clean.
Gnawing beasts had done their work, but brown blothces of
dried flesh marred the pure skeletal lines. The wood showed
minute chisel-tooth marks where the beasts had forced a hole
through through just below the edge of the lid. The gnawed
space stood out vividly in the torchlight as Brand, half-blind,
willed himself to examine the bony heap that lay within.
He could see by looking at the trunk that the body was not the
Eorls. The copper arm-ring, the checked pattern of tunic were
familiar to Brand; they formed into images at the edge of his
eye, harmless. And then . . .
There was no face.
Brand dared look full at it for a fraction of time. Stained bone,
naked teeth, a curve of leather that might have been an ear lost
in the mat of hair. . . . No light shone in the empty skull as baleful
as the living eyes had been. No bony hand raised to strike him.
No voice bellowed from bony hroat.
The flayed hare, limp, damp, pallid, had had as mugh dignity
as this. Was this the response to that sacrifice? Had the gods
ridden through those birches on this day of need to bring him
this? And then . . .
The hand had fallen from the hilt.
Slowly, as if struggling in deep water, Brand shifted the torch
to his left hand, leaned, and took up the sword.
Heavy in his hand, plain, roughly made, scarred and dented
with such war-work as he would put it to, the sword gleamed
dully.
The quest was achieved, but not as in old tales with flaming
glory and horns bellowing, but with a hilt in his hand, ascent of
rust and mildew, and the hissing whine of torch-flames.
Brand glanced back at what had sired him, no longer terrifying, and, if loathsome, loathsome as a thing of worth now
ruined. Perhaps the proud warrior spirit still dreamed in those
bones, living an unlife of hazard. Brand drew his knife, placed
its hilt beside the withered hand. He slid the lid back into place,
slumped for a moment with the exhaustion of relief, and examined the sword once more.
His sword. His fate. The lines of the blade, the binding of the
hilt, the heft and swing of it, must become familiar to him. Here,
parallel scratches grooved the blade. Runes. Words. Brand
spelled them out in wonder.
Weeping, he leaned his torch against the wall, blackening the
stones. Weeping, he knelt by the oak-coffin, hugging the wood
for comfort, all too late. Through tears he read the letters on the
blade, torchlit on coffin-lid, and sobbed again. Perhaps months
before his final battle, his father had scratched out what none
had seen or understood:
GIF Ml SONNE Ml SWEORD

Painting and text by Mike Carroll

DRAGON

19

A split class for

nimble characters:
the Thief-Acrobat
by Gary Gygax

1982 E. Gary Gygax. All rights reserved.

This time, rather than reveal a new sub-class such as the

Barbarian, I thought the Enlightened Readership of this splendid vehicle might enjoy another concept. What you are about to
read is the information so far developed pertaining to a split
class. This is a first: To my knowledge, such a possibility has
not been expressed before in any similar game system. There is
nothing similar to it in the AD&D game system, although
choosing to change from one profession to another is not too
unlike the idea. Let us then get to the business at hand. I bring
you, without further ado, the official new split-class for thieves.
THE THIEF-ACROBAT
Any thief character with a minimum strength of 15 and a
minimum dexterity of 16 may decide to forgo normal thievery to
become a specialist, a Thief-Acrobat. The thief then leaves off
all practices which increase his or her manual dexterity and
begins a regimen of physical exercise in order to build coordination, muscle tone, and balance. This program of gymnastics
precludes any further progress in the following skills:
find traps
pick pockets
remove traps
open locks
read magic (never gained)
read language
Skills ended at 5th level, while no longer improving, are not
forgotten, so they remain at the level (5th) which the thief was
when he or she began to specialize in acrobatics in conjunction
with his or her profession.
Character abilities
Thief-acrobats with a strength of 16 or better and a dexterity
of 16 or better add a 10% bonus to earned experience.
Strength Table III: Adjustments for Thief-Acrobats
Bonus for:
Standing
Running
High
Strength
broad
broad
score
jump
jump
jump

16

1
17
2

18
Note regarding Strength Table III: All bonuses are used
to adjust the Thief-Acrobat Function Table detailed later.
The adjustment for strength, plus racial adjustments, are
added to the base chance for success or function maximums found there.

20

JANUARY 1983

Dexterity Table III: Adjustments for Thief-Acrobats

Bonus for:
Dexterity Tightrope
Tumbling:
Pole
score
walking
vaulting Attack Evasion Falling
16
1%
2%

5%

17
10%
5%
2%
3%

5
18
5%
15%
10%
3%
10
19
15%
4%
8%
20%
Note regarding Dexterity Table III: All bonuses are
used to adjust the Thief-Acrobat Function Table detailed
later. The dexterity bonuses here are added to the base
chances for success or function maximums found there.
Racial adjustments must also be made.
Race of thief-acrobat characters
A member of any character race may opt to specialize as a
thief-acrobat.
Character Classes Table II (Addition):
Armor & Weapons Permitted
Class of character Armor
Weapons/Oil/Poison
Shield
Thief-Acrobat
as thief
as thief, plus staff
as thief
The Thief-Acrobat
Upon gaining sufficient experience points to achieve 6th
level ability as a thief, the character desiring to specialize as a
thief-acrobat must seek out a character already in this profession to train him or her. The established thief-acrobat must be
of at least 10th level. It will require 6 full weeks of training to
learn the basic skills needed to begin active practice of the
special profession of thief-acrobat. Except as noted, the specialization procedure is otherwise the same as that for a regular
thief.
The primary functions of a thief-acrobat are: 1) tightrope
walking; 2) pole vaulting; 3) jumping; and 4) tumbling. In addition to these functions, the thief-acrobat retains the abilities to
move silently, hide in shadows, hear noise, and read languages
which he or she acquired through 5th level of the standard thief
profession. Although the ability to read magical writings is
never gained, the ability to climb walls is still increased according to experience level.
Tightrope walking assumes that the character will use this
means to cross from place to place. The skill allows ascent up a
rope or beam of about a 45 angle (maximum) or descent at a
slightly steeper angle, all while upright and with hands free (in
general). This is accomplished by balance, muscle coordination, and superb reflexes.
Pole vaulting includes any jumping which employs a leverage device to assist the individual in gaining height from momentum; i.e., a teeter board or springboard might serve as well
or better than a pole in some cases. It will help to get quickly to
the top of or over obstacles. It requires strength, dexterity, and
practice to improve.
Jumping includes all sorts of unassisted leaps high jumping and broad jumps (both from a standing and a running start)
being important here. The skill requires coordinated strength
and continual practice.
Tumbling assumes all sorts of gymnastic skills tumbles,
rolls, jumps, handstands, and so on. These routines are then
used in attack, defensive evasion, and in jumping/falling.

Character
level

Tightrope
walking

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23

75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
100%
100%
100%
100% 1
100% 1
100% 2
100% 2
100% 3
100% 3
100% 4
100% 4
100% 5
100% 5

THIEF-ACROBAT FUNCTION TABLE (plus racial adjustments)

High
Pole
Broad jumping:
vaulting
jumping
Attack
Standing
Running
9
9
10
10
11
11
12
12
13
13
14
14
15
15
16
16
17
17

4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
9
9

4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
11
11
11
11

8
8
9
9
10
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
21

6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
11%
12%
13%
14%
15%
16%
17%
18%
19%
20%
20%
20%
20%

Tumbling:
Evasion

Falling

10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
52%
54%
56%
58%
60%
60%
60%
60%
60%

25%/10
50%/10
75%/10
25%/20
50%/20
75%/20
25%/30
50%/30
75%/30
20%/40
40%/40
60%/40
80%/40
20%/50
40%/50
60%/50
80%/50
20%/60

Racial adjustments:

-2
-1
+5%
-2
-3
Dwarf
-5%
+10%

+5%
+5%
-1
Elf
+10%

+5%
-2
-1
-1
-4
+5%
Gnome

+5%
Half-elf
+5%

+10%
-2
-1
-1
-4
+5%
Halfling
+5%

+10%
Half-orc
1
Includes the ability to carry up to 1,000 g.p. weight/encumbrance in addition to normal load, or handle a moderate
wind with no penalty to the chance for success.
2
Includes the ability to carry 1,000 g.p. weight/encumbrance in a moderate wind, or carry up to 2,000 g.p.
weight/encumbrance, or handle a strong wind.
3
Includes the ability to carry up to 2,000 g.p. weight/encumbrance in a moderate wind, or 1,000 g.p. weight/encumbrance in a strong wind.
4
Includes the ability to bear up to 3,000 g.p. weight/encumbrance or as in 3 above
5
Includes the ability to carry up to 2,000 g.p. weight/encumbrance in a strong wind or bear up to 3,000 g.p.
weight/encumbrance in a moderate wind, or bear up to a maximum of 4,000 g.p. weight/encumbrance.

THIEF-ACROBAT TABLE I
Experience
Experience points
Level Level title
Burglar-Acrobat
Second-Story Thief
Cat Burglar
Master Cat Burglar
Thief-Acrobat
Master Thief-Acrobat
Master Thief-Acrobat
(12th level)
250,000 experience points for every level beyond the
12th.

20,001
45,001
75,001
125,001
181,001
250,001
500,001

45,000
75,000
125,000
180,000
250,000
500,000
750,000

6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Notes regarding Thief-Acrobat Function Table: Where applicable, roll percentile dice to determine success or failure of an
attempt. Scores must be not greater than the percentage generated in order to be successful.
Tightrope walking assumes that the character will be traveling no more than 60 distance. Movement rate is 60/round. If
distance is greater than 60, then additional checks must be
made. Moderate winds decrease chance of success by 10%,
strong winds by 20%. In strong, gusty wind conditions there is
always a 5% chance of failure. In non-windy conditions, a balance pole increases the chance of success by 10%. Failure to
perform successfully means that the character falls to the area
below, taking damage accordingly.
Pole vaulting requires at least a 30 running start and a pole of

Falling damage
The correct procedure for determining falling damage in the AD&D game
system is to roll 1d6 per 10 fallen,
cumulative. Since a falling body accelerates quickly, the damage mounts geometrically: 2d6 for the second 10 feet
fallen, 3d6 for the third 10 feet, etc.
The maximum of 20d6 is therefore
reached after a fall of approximately 60
feet for most characters. A thief-acrobat
can often fall further distances, but the
same 20d6 maximum should be applied.
The rationale behind this system will
be discussed in the next issue (#70) of
DRAGON Magazine.
DRAGON 21

at least 4 greater height than the vaulter. The pole is dropped

when the vault occurs. The vaulter can land on his or her feet
atop a surface of 1/2 less height than the maximum height of the
pole vault if so desired, assuming such a surface exists. Otherwise, the vaulter lands, tumble-rolls, and is on his or her feet in 1
segment.
High jumping requires at least a 20 running start. The high
jumper clears the obstacle in a near-horizontal position but
lands on his or her feet. If some elevated step, or a series of such
steps, enables the character to maintain rapid motion, he or she
can then high-jump from such an elevated position just as if
doing so normally. Alternately, the jumper can opt to land atop
some higher surface. This surface must be no more than 4
above the level from which the jump is made, or 2 under the
maximum height for normal high jumping, whichever is the
greater. In either case, the thief-acrobat lands on his or her feet
in 1 segment.
Broad jumping is self-explanatory. A jump of any sort requires but a single segment to accomplish. A running broad
jump requires a run of at least 20. In standing jumps, the
thief-acrobat can leap forward up to the maximum distance, or
backward up to half the maximum distance, in order to attack or
avoid being in attack range, if this is deemed possible by the
DM. All jumps assume the character will land on his or her feet.
If the character wishes to leap in an extended position, 2 of
additional distance can be gained, but the character will then
land prone and take 2 full segments to get back on his or her
feet. A 3 extension can be attempted, but this has a 25% chance
of failure and a 3-segment period of recovery; a 4 extension has
a 50% chance of failure and a 4-segment recovery; a 5 extension has a 75% chance of failure and a 5-segment recovery
period.
Tumbling routines have the following benefits: Attack adds
the indicated percentage to the characters chance for success
in hand-to-hand combat involving grappling, pummeling, etc.

22

JANUARY 1983

Evasion enables the character to opt to evade attacks directed

at him or her just as a magic resistance would work with
respect to magical attack forms directed at the individual (or a
relatively small area, such as a few square feet, from which the
thief-acrobat could easily remove himself or herself), or from
melee combat in the case where the thief-acrobat has the
initiative, but only in this case. In any event, the chance for
success cannot exceed a base of 60%, adjusted for dexterity
and/or race. Evasion routines of any sort require 1 segment
maximum to perform. Falling percentage indicates the chance
for the thief-acrobat to take no damage from a fall of the indicated distance. Thus, at 6th level there is a 25% chance that the
character will take no damage from a 10 fall. If damage is taken,
the converse of the percentage to avoid damage is used to find
maximum damage. Again in the case of a 6th level thief-acrobat
falling 10 and taking damage, only 75% of normal (1d6) damage, rounded down, is taken. Note that at 9th level it is not
possible for a thief-acrobat to take damage from a 10 fall, and it
is 25% probable that he or she will take no damage from a 20
fall. Again, only damage from the second portion of the falls
distance would be considered if damage was indicated. Example: A 23rd level thief-acrobat is knocked off a tightrope and
falls 60 to the rocks below. No damage would be sustained if
the fall were 50 or less, but in a 60 fall the characters body
reaches a high velocity, such that unless 20% or lower is scored
by the character on a falling roll, he or she will take 80% of the
usual amount of damage for a 60 fall, so it is 80% likely that 80%
of 6d6 damage would be taken. Falls of a distance longer than
the safe distance for a particular thief-acrobat add their normal increment of damage dice, regardless of elimination of
shorter distances. Thus, in the example above, the 23rd level
thief-acrobat falling 70 instead of 60 would suffer 80% of
maximum damage for a 60 fall (80% of 6d6), plus 100% of 7d6.
For an 80 fall, 100% of another 8d6 would be added; the total
damage therefore would be 15d6 plus 80% of 6d6.

Thief-Acrobat Weight/Encumbrance Table

Additional (carried)
Experience
Body-associated
wt./encumbrance
wt./encumbrance
level
100 g.p.
6
450 g.p.
7
200 g.p.
460 g.p.
8
470 g.p.
300 g.p.
490 g.p.
9
480 g.p.
10
490 g.p.
500 g.p.
11
500 g.p.
600 g.p.
12
700 g.p.
510 g.p.
13
520 g.p.
850 g.p.
14
1,000 g.p.
530 g.p.
1,500 g.p.
15
540 g.p.
16
550 g.p.
2,000 g.p.
2,250 g.p.
17
570 g.p.
600 g.p.
2,500 g.p.
18
19
625 g.p.
2,750 g.p.
20
650 g.p.
3,000 g.p.
21
660 g.p.
3,500 g.p.
4,000 g.p.
22
670 g.p.
4,000 g.p.
700 g.p.
23
Notes regarding Thief-Acrobat Weight/Encumbrance Table:
The term Body-associated weight/encumbrance refers strictly
to the clothing, accessories, armor, and weapons of the character. Consider the following example of this for a typical
character:
20 g.p. w/e
Clothing (partial only due to armor)
150
Leather armor
30
Boots, soft
3
Belt
10
Belt pouch, large
5
Belt pouch, small
25
Cloak, hooded
Dagger and scabbard
10
35
Short sword and scabbard
288 g.p. w/e
TOTAL
Balance for additional
162 (minimum)
equipment and/or loot:
450 g.p. (maximum
GRAND TOTAL
for 6th level)
No more than the indicated weights/encumbrances can be
borne by the thief-acrobat at any time if he or she is to be able to
perform the functions of his or her class (except for tightrope
walking, as outlined in the footnotes to the Thief-Acrobat Function Table). Thus, loot will typically be carried in a hand-held
container in order to be quickly rid of it so as to be able to vault,
jump, or tumble. No backpack can ever be worn during thiefacrobat activities, other than during tightrope walking. Climbing functions of the thief-acrobat assume that only the stipulated weights/encumbrances will be borne.
The term Additional (carried) weight/encumbrance refers
strictly to the weight borne when tightrope walking. Since this
movement is very slow anyway, such great encumbrance is of
no matter as long as it is evenly distributed and properly balanced. Thus, a 14th level thief-acrobat can carry an additional
burden of 1,000g.p. weight/encumbrance in tightrope walking,
but he or she cannot expect to otherwise move freely during
vaulting, jumping, or tumbling routines, or even to climb walls
with an extra 100-pound load. At 22nd level, a 400-pound person (perhaps a man in, plate mail) could be carried on the
thief-acrobats back, but only so long as that individual did not
move so as to throw the thief-acrobat off balance.

Other information
In all other respects the thief-acrobat is treated as a thief. This
includes followers, abilities, setting traps (at 5th level of ability,
of course), and gaining experience.
Thief-acrobats will be a part of the normal thieves guild if any
such characters exist in the territory controlled by the guild.
They can be leaders in such organizations, since they are treated the same as a regular thief by their brethren.
There it is! Comments are welcome.

* * * TSR STATUS REPORT * * *

News from the TSR front might encourage some of you.
Despite the bad economic conditions and a slower growth
trend, we are still hiring during this fiscal year (now through
June 1983). Well be employing some 160 additional persons, in
fact! Positions posted for this period include Developer, Game
Designer, Manuscript Editor, Copy Editor, Technical Copy
Writer, Creative Computer Programmer, Advertising Graphics
Artist, Product Designer, Graphic Artists, and a whole host of
positions pertinent to work in our consumer services division,
our crafts company, entertainment/media, sales/marketing/
advertising, international division, business information services, and service groups such as computer services, education,
human resources, publishing, and manufacturing. Any interested reader should send a complete resume to: TSR Hobbies,
Inc., Personnel Dept., P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva WI 53147.
Do not telephone! Dont just write a letter! Neither can be
accepted. Our personnel people need only your resume, and
then they will be in a position to contact you. We have about 200
persons on the payroll now, and by mid-1983 that number will
be around the 350 mark. If you are interested in being one of the
new additions, act quickly, please.
(Editors note: This information was composed and submitted in early autumn of 1982; many of the position openings
referred to may already be filled by the time you read this.
Nevertheless, anyone interested in being considered for a position should still send a resume as per the instructions above.
You never know. . . .)
Most, if not all, readers are aware that TSR has an English
operation. It is TSR Hobbies (UK) Ltd., headed up by Managing
Director Don Turnbull. The estimable Mr. Turnbull will soon be
publishing a magazine of his own, so to speak. The tentative
title is IMAGINE. Publication is initially slated for bi-monthly
release, but I am sure that the goal will be monthly issues as
soon as possible. Interested contributors should send submissions to the magazine at: TSR Hobbies (UK) Ltd., The Mill,
Rathmore Road, Cambridge CB14AD, United Kingdom.
Regarding overseas activity, TSR has nearly completed its
work with regard to establishing itself in France. Concurrent
with this, we have completed translations of the material in the
D&D Basic Set, and the next step will be the Expert Set material soon! Francois Marcela-Froideval is going to work with
Frank Mentzer and me on the various TSR fantasy games and
game projects, then spend some time working with our marketing and sales personnel. Finally, Francois will get some training
in our business systems and so forth. Frank Mentzer, meanwhile, will be doing much the same thing, for he is slated to
become Product Manager for TSRs line of FRP games. Call
him a trainee while you still have opportunity! Some of our
Good Readers will be especially pleased about this, I am certain, as it means that youll have to read less of my material
regarding official rulings and new material but more of
Franks.
By the by, in case some of you havent heard, Kim Eastland
has taken over the management of the RPGA network as
Frank moves elsewhere. We are not losing an excellent coordinator at all, for we gain another in Kim and now can use Franks
abilities to their full extent. Watch for great new things from
RPGA headquarters. Also keep your eye on what is added to
the D&D game system and the AD&D game line as well! Great
things are in the offing!
As a final note, I am very pleased to comment on the recent
decision by TSRs management to support the RPGA Scholarship Fund. What that means is that instead of a single $1,000
award, four additional, smaller, scholarships were given to other deserving applicant members of the network. Although these
additional scholarships are optional, it is quite likely that one or
more such awards will be given next year as well. All Learned
Enthusiasts currently in high school and members of the
RPGA network should keep this in mind.
Until next issue, then...
DRAGON 23

When Albrecht Sonntag discovered

the pastry-colored planet beyond the
star-reaches of the Harmonic Federation, it was interesting to him only as a
spot to mark the end of his flight. He could
run no further in his ruined, pretzeltwisted spacecraft.
The people of the Harmonic Federation
called Albrecht Sonntag by no such
names as the familiar Hitler, Stalin, or
Nero; these were names unknown to
them. But all were names that could apply, and in another milieu would have
applied.
Albrecht Sonntag had invaded his last
neighbor, had betrayed his last alliance,
had escaped with his life and nothing else.
And now, as the wrathful hounds of vengeance slowly, slowly sniffed out his trail,
he hung in orbit above a fried and sugared
doughball of a world.
Oxygen, and carbon dioxide, he muttered to himself, in his well-known voice.
The same voice that once screamed to
wild crowds, exhorting them to war, was
a pleasing and soft voice in private. And
water, not too hot, not too cold. A grin
split his broad, massive, too-handsomely
carved face. And life, upon which I can
feed.
As a child, he had never read the tale of
Robinson Crusoe, but the concept was
universal enough. And whether one calls
ones tropical paradise Pirinoa-noa (near

24

JANUARY 1983

Tahiti, where Albrecht Sonntag had never

been) or Sundays Planet, the notion of
spending ones life on a deserted island
washed by a warm sea is an appealing
one. At least, it is to one whose dream of
empire has been crushed, and for whose
blood the star-realms thirst.
He landed the ship in shallow water,
near an archipelago whose thousand
islets varied in size from intertidal sometimes-rocks to Mindanao- or Borneosized islands, deep-wrinkled with winding,
branched canyons, many-spined with upthrust mountains.
With a belch of released air, the underwater lock of the ship opened, and Albrecht Sonntag stroked up for the surface. Nothing tried to eat him, which he
took for a good sign.
The beach was beautiful, crystal-bright
in the sharp rays of the worlds life-giving
sun; a beautiful beach, indeed, but the island behind it was unpromising. No palm
trees waved in the onshore breeze; no
acacias rippled, no lianas clung. All that
was visible by way of plant life was a scattering of what appeared to be a single
species of short, ground-hugging things,
tooth-petaled, unpleasant to look upon,
their dull, drab green shapes distributed
unaesthetically over the rich, moist soil.
Albrecht Sonntag moaned inwardly, without showing any expression at all upon his
brave and manly face, guessing that he

would soon very soon grow tired of

making his meals from one kind of plant.
Orbital spectroanalysis had assured him
that they would be nourishing to him; he
simply hadnt foreseen their low-lying,
ground-clinging sameness. So dull. . .
And one cannot build a shelter out of
mushrooms, he said to himself. His was
the only voice on the planet or so he
thought and so he saw nothing wrong
with the affectation of speaking aloud to
himself. Albrecht Sonntag wasnt the
most intelligent individual of the Harmonic Federation, but he was bright enough
and sensitive enough to be unhappy living
in exile with no one to talk to but himself.
His ship had shelters that he would
later drag forth, and water-stills, and
vitamin supplements to add what the native life probably lacked, and dull-green
spray paint, to disguise his shelter once it
was erected, and . . .
Albrecht Sonntag stripped off his outer
garments and went to bask upon the
beach. There is a precision about going
native, and the first lesson is to relax.
Albrecht Sonntag had the rest of his life
to live here; there was no need for hurry.
It was then, while he broiled himself
under the sun, nearly napping, that
something tried to eat him.
Albrecht Sonntag, in the tradition of
those who embrace the primevalist heresy, had kept his body fit, his eyes and

hearing trained, and his reflexes alert.

That had saved him when von Bork tried
to have him assassinated, and it saved
him today.
He rolled down the beach and into the
light surf at the first touch of the creature, his body in motion before his mind
was fully aware that movement was necessary. The creature, rebuffed, expelled
a drizzling cloud of black mist and folded
itself up into a doughy mass, watching
Albrecht Sonntag with wide-set and independent eyes.
And Albrecht Sonntag gave back the
creatures fixed fascination, while he
thought: Kingdom, Animal (he presumed);
Phylum, Porifera . . .? A sponge-like
animal?
It was dry on its surface, despite the
liquid versatility with which it wobbled.
Watching carefully, Albrecht Sonntag
saw clearly that it did not form pseudopodia, but instead made its way with a
soft, rolling, flexible motion that nevertheless admitted of internal structure. It
never flowed, and it never moved through
itself, and its two happy blue eyes seemed
to be set a fixed distance apart. . . .
The creature which Albrecht Sonntag immediately named Spitter as a more
moderate and polite alternative to the
name that first came to mind moved
forward, almost to the waters edge, but
ducked nimbly back when Albrecht Sonntag splashed a sheet of water toward it.
Spitter proved its name by unleashing
another gout of unpleasant sputum. Albrecht Sonntag rinsed it quickly off of him
where it touched him, and was relieved to
discover that it was in no way corrosive
or allergenic. It was some time before he
discovered the reason for it.
Go away, thats a good sponge, Albrecht Sonntag said.
Bundi ti Ubundi, replied Spitter.
Albrecht Sonntag was rendered dumbstruck for the first time in his eventful life.
Sentient sponges? he thought, the driving engine of his mind momentarily uncoupled from the flywheel of reason. Language use without manipulative organs?
That surely cant be! Then reason reasserted itself upon his whirling thoughts.
He remembered that the sea-going mammals of Blisters Planet are sentient (in a
way), developing language after they
evolved underwater sonar. Perhaps . . .
Dont eat me; Im coming out, he said.
Albrecht Sonntag was embarrassed,
without reason, of his near-nakedness,
and covered himself with his arms before
emerging from the water. The creature
responded with a series of gibberish syllables. Following that, it projected another cloud of mist and moved hostilely toward Albrecht Sonntag.
No, you dont, the man called, and
kicked the creature bluntly under one of
its eyes. The creature backed off.
Language lessons began immediately
after Albrecht Sonntag got dressed
again. A paucity of nouns soon became

obvious, as did Spitters habit of driving

forward every few minutes, seemingly
with hostile intent. Albrecht Sonntag became adept at dodging the half-open
slash of its mouth, lined inside with
scarcely visible petals of teeth.
Another creature, in appearance nearly indistinguishable from Spitter, rolled
by. Spitter ate it. Albrecht Sonntag
watched this turn of events with interest. From whence had the second creature come? Were burrows located beneath the ground-hugging plants? A few
minutes of research denied that possibility; not only was the sand of the islet too
loosely constituted for burrow-making,
but the plants were so tough, made up of
horny, shell-like chips, that they could not
be pushed aside, as would be necessary in
digging or emerging from a hypothetical
burrow.
The islet was small. Albrecht Sonntag,
followed by the devoted Spitter, made its
circuit in ten minutes. Nowhere was another creature to be found just scores
of the irregularly arranged drab green
plants. Nevertheless, Spitter made its
second meal since Albrecht Sonntags
arrival, ruthlessly devouring yet another
similar creature that had appeared from
some unknown location while Albrecht
Sonntag was looking in another direction.
Eventually, after several days of frustration and perplexity, Albrecht Sonntag
discovered the source from which new
creatures came, although they seemed
to live only long enough to provide Spitter
with a quick meal. They came from the
plants or, rather, the plants, with a
wriggle, shed their protective coating and
drew themselves up to become replicas
of Spitter. The sharp, leaf-like petals
formed themselves into the mouth-gash,
and proved adept indeed at ripping pieces
from strangers. Each time Spitter ate
one of the newcomers it gained in bulk,
but this was compensated for by its constant habit of ejecting odorous mists, usually in the direction of Albrecht Sonntag.
Spitter was lost, finally, when Albrecht
Sonntag had learned no more than a few
of the obscure words-not-words that
made up the voracious creatures vocabulary. The language seemed to be referential only to moods, conditions of terrain, or the weather, and lacked real meat
in the form of nouns and verbs. Ti, however, as a transitive verb, was clear. It
meant Eat.
Spitter, unprepared, succumbed to the
simultaneous attack of three hatchlings,
which draped themselves helter-skelter
over him and devoured him. Albrecht
Sonntag satisfied himself, by way of revenge, of the nutritive value to himself of
the three killers. They were quite edible.
On the site where he tore them apart,
three new plants took root, and it was
fully clear that they were made of the
inedible mouth-and-jaw parts of the departed little spitters.
When sunlight gives the plants enough

growth, Albrecht Sonntag deduced, they

take up their previous existence as young
spitters. A truly tight little life-cycle, he
told himself.
An experiment ensued. Albrecht Sonntag taught several new spitters certain
words, names like Marvin, Jan, Heinrich,
Gustav, and gave them a very real reason
to respond to these names. Heinrich,
he would call, and with booted foot hoist
the little spitter twenty yards away,
where it would land, lie stunned, and take
a bite out of the nearest passer-by.
Methodical, Albrecht Sonntag was.
When he felt that the spitters knew
their names when the appropriate
spitter shied away and curled into a protective sphere upon hearing its name
he killed them and ate them, carefully noting the location of each of the selfplanting jaw-flowers.
Eventually, they re-awoke, and to Albrecht Sonntags delight, they remembered their names.
It was little more than an anticlimax
when he discovered the final missing link
in the natural cycle: the spit. In a day, a
spitter might lose as much as two-thirds
of its mass by venting the bitter ejecta.
The oily liquid went to enrich the soil for
the growing plant-forms, which would be
joined by the depleted spitter unless it
found someone to eat.
The oxygen-to-carbon dioxide-to-water
cycle that made the air breathable was of
no interest to Albrecht Sonntag; he might
well have been the best dictator the
Harmonic Federation had ever known,
but as a scientist, he had little more than
the basic philosophy: Tinker with it until
you learn something.
He did discover, being good at calculations, that the spitters spent ninety-nine
percent of their lives in plant-form. That
didnt mean much to him as a fact, but as
a matter of principle, all details are important to a dictator.
He taught them all their names; they
tried to teach him their language. They
were definitely sentient, and also clever,
wise, playful, and hungry.
He played the flute for them; they tried
to eat him.
He sang them thunderous military
marching songs; they tried to eat him.
He was not deductive, not Albrecht
Sonntag, but it didnt take him too long to
deduce that Bundi ti Ubundi meant
everyone eats everyone.
No one eats me, he told them, couching the concept in the difficult syntax and
mellifluous phonemes of the spitters
language.
Heresy! they cried, or something that
meant more or less the same, and
massed upon him, trying to eat him. At
least, that was what he had to assume
they meant; he hadnt time to be certain.
Left and right he kicked them, scattering
them to the corners of his islet kingdom.
Kingdom? Too right. Only three more
days of earnest inquiry and a shame it
DRAGON

25

was that torture didnt work on the hungry puffballs showed him that his heresy was that of trying to be a king. He
called it king; the spitter word seemed
to translate as he who is not eaten.
Universal democrats! yelled Albrecht
Sonntag, the veins sticking out from his
stiff neck, his face becoming flushed.
Communists! But that was their code:
Everyone eats everyone.
He retreated to his submerged spaceship to think, deeply, upon how to subjugate this ungrateful people. An army
whose soldiers didnt fear death? An
army whose soldiers were their own provisions? It could all be worked out, he told
himself. . . .
Where did little spitters come from, in
the first place?
The question so startled Albrecht
Sonntag that he immediately swam up to
the islet and asked. It was not easy.
Oh, little Rolf finally made an answer.
You mean egg-laying.
Naturally, thought Albrecht Sonntag;
what else could I possibly have meant?
Tell me about egg-laying.
Here in this place several long
sentences followed that specifically described the island an egg is laid, on the
seasonally adjusted least-squares average every two times fifty-four times fiftyfour days. Albrecht Sonntag was so
amazed that he only narrowly escaped
when Rolf tried to eat him.
Population divided by birth rate equals
life span, he pondered heavily, taking all
factors into account. A hasty census of
the island showed 745 plant-forms
744, actually, since one awoke just then
and tried to take a bite out of Albrecht
Sonntags kingly leg and six (now, all of
a sudden, seven) live and animate spitters. Seven hundred fifty-one divided by
one over two times fifty-four times fiftyfour days . . .
Albrecht Sonntag retired to the beach
to perform his calculations on the fine
white sand. A spitter followed him, probably with hunger aforethought, Albrecht
Sonntag kicked it vigorously amidships.
King, it said reproachfully, and rolled off
to eat Rolf.
A lifespan of. . . Four and a half million
days? Um he bent to the sand-table
twelve thousand years? Of which, he
had already discovered, some ninety-nine
percent was spent in plant-form.
If I conquer them, I will be remembered
forever! he cried, triumphant not over
his fellow men, but at least over his enemies of time and mortality.
An inflatable raft from his ship took him
to a nearby, Java-sized island, where
conditions were almost the same as they
were upon the first islet,
The population was much larger, however, and when Albrecht Sonntag stepped
ashore and announced, I am your new
king, he was nearly buried beneath a pile
of hungry and resentful spitters. He escaped, saved by their dislike for seawater.

26

JANUARY 1983

At the next island, Hawaii-sized, he suffered the same fate. And at the next.
Albrecht Sonntag was never terribly
quick on the uptake. Dictatorship suited
him, and he knew it; at the next island, he
didnt announce his intentions, but merely
put them into effect. He would not be
eaten, he gave orders, and he enforced
his will with the toe of his boot. In response, they tried to eat him.
After many and varied adventures, all
of which ended in his narrow escape, he
found an island where the spitters were
willing to discuss philosophy with him.
They were well suited to it. He was not.
Communism is the wrong word, one
spitter told him, after having made the
effort to learn the humans language.
There is no property to be wrongfully
accumulated in order for the revolution
to restore that property to the workers,
which we also have none of.
Feudalism?
With no labor to be accomplished by
the serfs, there is no need for a nobility.
Albrecht Sonntag saw that he would
have been just as well off trying to found
an empire among the fish of his home
world. He would have understood the uselessness of trying to become emperor of
the dolphins, except that he had never
seen a dolphin.

What does king mean, then? he

asked.
The philosopher spat explosively. It
means one who is too self-important to
be eaten. We use it the way you would
use fop or dandy or sissy or The
fourth alternative was never to be known
to Albrecht Sonntag, for at that moment
the patient philosopher was eaten by an
undergraduate.
When the patrol from the Harmonic
Federation finally found Albrecht Sonntag, they found him completely willing to
be led away to captivity. His spaceship, of
course, was ruined, but in the months
hed spent on Sundays Planet, he had
decided that hed rather bow out in a
starburst of glory, which his televised
show trial would allow him, than be the
highest king of all the spitters.
Perhaps he learned something from
them after all. When the headsman with
the silver sash came forward to affix the
silk noose to his neck, Albrecht Sonntag
leaned forward swiftly and tried to take a
bite out of the man. The gesture was
spoiled, however, when the headsman
gave Albrecht Sonntag a stiff kick in the
rear. A televisor monitor caught the action, and it is thus, with an expression of
utter, pop-eyed surprise, that Albrecht
Sonntag will be remembered forever.

ISTUS
(Lady Of Our Fate)
Major goddess
Fate, Destiny, Predestination, Future
ARMOR CLASS: -8
MOVE: 12
HIT POINTS: 377
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 100%
SIZE: M
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
WORSHIPPERS ALIGNMENT: Any
(Neutral preferred)
SYMBOL: Golden spindle with
three strands
PLANE: Uncertain
CLERIC/DRUID: 14th level in each
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 24th level
(savant)/14th level illusionist
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: I
Attack/Defense Modes: All/all
S: 15 I: 23 W: 25
D: 21 C: 17 CH: 19
Istus, The Colorless and All-colored,
Lady of Our Fate, is honored and feared
as the controller of foreordination. While
she has relatively few faithful devotees,
many persons will call upon Istus in time
of want or need. She may or may not
heed this call; no one knows. Because
fate is so often cruel or unkind, only very
cynical or unfeeling persons tend toward service of Istus.
No one knows where (or when) Istus
makes her abode. Some savants postulate that there is a nexus linking the other
planes of existence to a pocket universe
which only she, and her webs of fate, can
enter or exit. Istus does certainly make
appearances on other planes, including
the Prime Material. Sometimes she is an
old crone, other times she appears as a
noble dame, then again as a lovely lady
or even as a shepherd girl. In whatever

form, Istus never bears an obvious weapon, for she is able to employ any object
to cause damage. With any such item
she will always hit any creature, even
another deity, since she controls fate.
The damage so inflicted is, however, variable due to the immediacy of such an
encounter.
Istus can create and cast strands and
webs. This she does one of a kind, at will,
once per melee round. Each strand or
web has its own powers and effects.
Each type has a limited number of usages per day. These strands and webs
are:
Strand of Binding: Any creature failing
to save versus magic will be as if wrapped
in iron chains. This effect lasts for a
number of rounds equal to 100 minus the
level or hit dice of the creature affected,
strength notwithstanding. This power is
usable three times per day.
Strand of Cancellation: This strand
causes the object struck to become as if
it never existed. Only non-living things
are affected. Magic items are entitled to a

save at 5% per +1 or equivalent. Artifacts

and relics have a 50% and 75% chance to
save, respectively, exclusive of the basic
percentage chance indicated above; i.e.,
a +4 artifact sword would have at least a
70% chance to save. This power is usable
twice per day.
Strand of Death: The creature (or even
a deity) struck by this strand is turned to
dust and forever gone, unless a successful saving throw versus magic is made.
Magic resistance is, of course, also applicable. This power is usable once per
day.
Strand of Hostility: This strand affects
any creature failing its saving throw versus magic. The affected creature becomes immediately hostile to all who
oppose Istus, because destiny would
have it so. Any and all possible actions in
defense of Istus will be used by the creature affected, immediately, against former friends or associates, without direction from Istus. This power is usable
twice per day.
Strand of Passage: This glowing strand
DRAGON

27

is unlike the others in that it instantly

connects the plane it is on with any other
plane Istus desires. It lasts for 3 rounds,
and any creature touching it is transported instantly to the connecting plane.
The power is usable twice per day.
Strand of Sending: Any character or
creature touched must save versus magic or be sent to the time and place in the
near future which poses the greatest
threat to its freedom of existence. Willing
creatures need not save, and Istus can
send them to a place of future opportunity. The power is usable three times per
day.
Web of Enmeshment: This 30 square
net causes all creatures within to become lost in a maze-like space, their vision clouded by mist, and causing them
to be filled with apprehension so as to be
50% likely to attack another creature,
friend or foe, upon sight. Effective distance within the web is boundless. Sighting distance is 10. Initial movement is
disoriented, and determination of direction is impossible. A victim making a
successful saving throw versus magic
will be free of the web on the following
round. This applies to magic resistance
as well, but the latter is checked only
initially; if a magic resistance check succeeds, the victim is freed on the following round. Saving throws can be attempted in every round a victim continues to
be enmeshed. All creatures, even those
making a successful saving throw or
magic resistance roll immediately, will
be enmeshed for at least one round. This
power can be employed once per day.
Web of Entropy: This invisible web is
30 square and affects all magical energy
which is within it or enters it. Each round
all magic items so exposed must save as
if struck by a strand of cancellation or
become non-magical. Spells attempted
from outside or inside the web have all
power drained in the area of the web.
This web can be cast once per day.
Web of Stars: When this web is cast,
Istus and all within a 15 radius of her are
immediately transported to a time-space
of unknown type and of boundless proportions. All affected see an infinity of
starry space draped with endless nets of
silken strands. Distances are distorted,
and each step taken moves the individual a vast distance or so it seems. Any
creature more than two steps away
appears as a glowing star of red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, violet, or white. This
web is an ultra-dimensional pathway to
virtually anywhere or anywhen, provided
the way is known. (Istus, naturally,
knows the way.) Creatures of supragenius intelligence can return to their
point of origination. Those with greater
than supra-genius intelligence can determine the actual location of other
points along the web, on a 10% chance
per point of intelligence above 20. The
web lasts for 1 hour of actual time or 600
steps of traveling time. When the web

28

JANUARY 1983

fades, all creatures return instantly to a

random location on their respective
home planes, unless they have found
and entered some other plane. The
stars are entryways into other times
and planes, but unless the nature of the
time/plane is known, these portals are
impassable. There is a 1% chance per
point of intelligence that any creature
with genius intelligence will be able to
discover the nature of the time/plane,
but it will require 1 turn (100 steps of
movement time) to study the portal. Only
one attempt per individual is possible for
any portal. Istus is able to cast this web
once per day.
Istus, and only Istus, can employ a
spindle-like instrument to cast strands
and webs. Strands can be cast up to a
range of 6, webs up to 3, except with
regard to the Web of Stars. These strands
and webs, as well as all spell-like powers
of Istus, are cast at the 24th level of
ability.
All times and places and planes are
known to Istus, and she may move freely
from one to another so long as she has
her spindle. If it is lost, she will immediately and instantly return to her own
plane. The lost spindle will then crumble
into powder, and Istus will not control
fate, et al, for from 30-300 days while she
remakes her magical spindle.
Istus can be hit only by +4 or better

weapons. She can never be surprised.

Istus can move into the future and back,
instantly, once per day. Such movement
will restore 30-300 lost hit points. All
time-related spells (such as divination,
augury, and time stop) are useless when
applied to Istus in any manner. She has
all the attributes and powers typical of a
greater deity. Istus is said to be served by
a strange companion, a creature of time
similar to an elemental prince (see Time
Elemental).
Clerics of Istus wear gray robes, or
black ones on occasion. Leading clerics
have web-patterned formal vestments.
Most (80%) of the clerics of Istus are
female. Those of 3rd or higher level have
the ability to cast one augury spell per
day without actually taking the spell;
i.e., it is known in addition to all other
spells. Clerics of 7th or higher level gain
the ability to cast a strand of binding
once per day with a 1 range, with aduration of 1 round per level of the cleric. The
binding can be broken only as a function
of strength, with a chance equal to that
to bend bars. In addition to the holy
symbol of Istus, the cleric must possess
a hair of at six inches in length.
Centers of worship of Istus are in Dyvers, Greyhawk, Rauxes, Rel Mord, and
Stoink. Services include gauze hangings,
clouds of incense, woodwind music,
chanting, and meditation.

TIME ELEMENTAL
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1; see below
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 1
HIT DICE: 12 or 16 (20)
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-12 or 4-16 (5-20)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +3 or better
weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Very Exceptional
(Genius Supra-genius)
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VIII/3,000 + 20/hp
Time elementals are basically of two
sorts, common and noble. Information
given in parentheses in the statistics
above pertains to noble specimens. Time
elementals exist in multiple times, so
they are always perceived as small creatures resembling a cloud of fire, dust, or
vapor. They usually attack by spraying a
fine, powdery substance at opponents.
Those hit suffer damage due to cell
death (aging).
Common time elementals can bring in

parts of themselves from other times so

as to effectively add 1-4 additional creatures, but a hit on any one damages each
and every manifestation of the time elemental. Therefore, under attack a time
elemental will typically bring its other
manifestations to its time locale, gain
multiple attacks in that round, and then
vanish completely into the time stream in
the next round. Since a time elemental

has the power to move forward, backward, or sideways in time (one round
worth of such movement for each hit
die), a time elemental can usually avoid
contact or break off contact at will. Unless the avoided party has the ability to
likewise travel in time, the time elemental
is then absolutely untraceable. (Those
able to follow will see a faint trail of haze
in the direction of the time elementals
movement.) Similarly, a time elemental
can pursue by time movement, 1 additional for each hit die, thus equalling up
to a 13 or 17 movement rate. This
could put the elemental in front of a fleeing opponent.
All time-related spells are useless
within 3 physical distance of a time
elemental, and no such spell will affect
or reveal anything about a time elemental or its actions. In addition, since these
creatures exist across a multiplicity of
times, there is only a 10% chance that
any spell cast or magic employed against
or upon a time elemental will actually
function. (To determine this, roll d10 to
find the elementals current center of
vulnerability, then a second d10 to see if
it matches the first number rolled. If so,
the spell or magic works.) Any opponent
able to move through time can automatically determine where the time elemental is most vulnerable, so magic or spells
used by such an opponent will function
properly, although the time elemental is
still allowed a saving throw.
Noble time elementals have all the
powers of common ones. In addition,
each has the power to cast a time stop
spell which will affect even time elementals of common sort, age a creature by
1-20 years, make a creature younger by
1-20 years, age non-living vegetable
matter by 10-200 years, age mineral
material by 100-2,000 years, or move up
to 4 other creatures in time (forward,
backward, or sideways) randomly, or to
a desired locale, singly or jointly, providing the creatures are willing or otherwise

fail to save versus magic. Each of these

time stop powers is usable once per
round, at will, once per day.
Time elementals seldom appear on
any plane but that of Time, because on
such planes they feel discomfort and the
weight of the forward (or other) motion
of time in relation to the plane part of
them is manifest upon. Similarly, time
elementals can never be conjured, summoned, or otherwise brought into being
by any standard means or known spell.
On the Plane of Time there are other
creatures dissimilar to the elemental sort.
There are also said to be certain royal
time elementals of greater power than
the noble sort. These creatures rule their
fellows and serve certain deities. Royal
time elementals have 24 or 28 hit dice,
cause like hit points of attack damage
(6-24 or 7-28), and have double the
number of powers of noble ones. In addition, royal time elementals can summon
1-4 common (70%) or 1-2 noble elementals (30%) once per day.

OBAD-HAI
(The Shalm)
Lesser god
Nature, Wildlands, Freedom, Hunting,
Wild Beasts
ARMOR CLASS: -2
MOVE: 21
HIT POINTS: 140 (see below)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-12 +5
(+3, +2 strength bonus)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 100%
SIZE: M
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
WORSHIPPERS ALIGN: Neutral
SYMBOL: Oak leaf and acorn
PLANE: Prime Material
CLERIC/DRUID: 9th level cleric/
15th level druid
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: I
Attack/Defense Modes: All/All
S: 18 I: 17 W: 20 D: 18 C: 21
CH: 19 (24 as regards forest creatures)

D RAGON 29

Obad-hai, The Shalm, is an archaic

deity of nature and wildlands, one of the
most ancient known having been worshipped by the Flan prior to the arrival of
invading Aerdi.
Obad-hai can appear in human form
as a lean, weathered man of indeterminate but considerable age. He is usually
clad in brown or russet, carrying a hornwood staff, looking as if he were a pilgrim, hermit, or merely a rustic. At other
times he will appear as a dwarf, gnome,
or halfling.
The Shalm is also able to assume the
form and characteristics of any of the
creatures listed below. He can take any
allowable new form instantaneously, and
can use each form once per week. When
he leaves that creature form, the hit
points of the creature type accrue to
Obad-hai if he is at fewer than 140 hit
points, but such transferral never exceeds his maximum 140-point total. The
allowable creature forms are: centaur,
leprechaun, pixie, satyr, sprite, treant,
badger, brown bear, boar, giant eagle,
giant goat, giant lynx, giant otter, giant
owl, giant pike, giant porcupine, giant
stag, and wolf. It is not uncommon for
The Shalm to roam about in the guise of
any of these creatures.
The Shalmstaff is a weapon which delivers a blow as if it were a +3 magic
weapon. When it is discarded by Obadhai it instantaneously flies to the nearest

30

JANUARY 1983

hornwood tree, where it remains until

summoned by Obad-hai (cf. Drawmijs
instant Summons spell). This staff also
allows its bearer to walk tirelessly without food or water for as long as desired.
Animals will never harm the bearer. For
the bearer of the staff, vegetation will
part to allow easy passage.
In any form Obad-hai can be harmed
only by +3 or better magic weapons. As
is usual for lesser gods, The Shalm can
become invisible, polymorph self, use
detect and dispel abilities, and communicate. He regenerates 2-8 lost hit points
per round.
The Shalm loves nature and wilderness. He is a patron of druids and a friend
to those who dwell in harmony with their
natural surroundings. Characters or
creatures who despoil or wantonly harm
either animal or vegetable life are his
foes. Because of Obad-hais particular
neutrality, and his favoritism toward certain creatures, notably satyrs and centaurs, a rivalry and antipathy exists between this deity and Ehlonna of the
Forests. Thus, the majority of Obad-hais
followers are male, and those of Ehlonna
are female. (Editors note: Ehlonna was
described in issue #68 of DRAGON
Magazine.)
Clerics who follow Obad-hai are usually druids. A few others are of the normal sort, although they wander as pilgrims in most cases. Such clerics wear

russet garments and carry staves. At

third level they may substitute one firstlevel druid spell for a cleric spell, at sixth
level one second-level druid spell for a
like level cleric spell, and at ninth level,
the same is true of third-level spells.
Thus, at ninth level, a cleric of The Shalm
can have one each of first, second, and
third level druid spells in place of like
levels of cleric spells. At twelfth level,
such clerics gain the ability to take the
form of any small woodland animal or
bird. They may use druidical as well as
clerical weapons. Druidical clerics likewise get cleric spells/weapons.
Churches or chapels of Obad-hai are
always in rustic settings and made of
rough timber. Services are brief and not
particularly ritualized. Living flowers,
earth, water, and fire are typical service
adornments.

Charting the classes

How do AD&D characters compare?
by Roger E. Moore
One of the distinctive features of the AD&D game system is
its use of character classes, professions for player characters to
adopt and follow through a campaign, each with its own inherent advantages and disadvantages. The skills used by each
class vary considerably, and each class has its own areas of
special proficiency. A great deal of emphasis has been placed
in recent writings on the point that character classes should be
well-balanced to prevent one class from gaining an excessive
advantage or being at a great disadvantage in the game.
A natural question to ask, then, is whether or not the official
AD&D character classes are themselves balanced with respect
to one another. This article uses some simple statistical comparisons to determine one possible answer to this. The first part
of this article will examine the ten regular AD&D classes and
sub-classes (fighter, ranger, paladin, cleric, druid, magic-user,
illusionist, thief, assassin, monk). The next section deals with
the bard class, and a final section concerns the newly presented class of barbarians (from DRAGON issue #63).
Evaluating character classes is very difficult. The great variety of special abilities each class has makes a complete analysis
just about impossible, and most people are reduced to simply
role-playing such characters in different adventures to get a
subjective feel for how well a particular class works.
One possible test was suggested by Lewis Pulsipher in White
Dwarf #25 (What Makes A Good AD&D Character Class).
That author wrote, Experience levels are a convenient signpost; a third level X class is not necessarily equal to a third level
Y class compare experience points, not levels. He makes
an excellent point. One experience point for any class is the
same as one x.p. for any other class. In a well-run campaign, all
characters should gain experience points at about the same
rate but not necessarily levels, since most level boundaries
are not the same. An easy way to start comparing character
classes would be to examine fixed amounts of x.p.s and see
what level that corresponds to in each class.
A good set of arbitrary fixed amounts are the powers of 10
(1, 10, 100, 1000, etc.). All character classes are at the same
level (first) between 100 and 103 (1 and 1,000) x.p.s, so we can
start comparing classes at 103 x.p.s and proceed up from there
to 104, 105, 106, and, to include very high levels, 2x106 (two
million) x.p.s. Table 1 shows the results of this comparison.
It becomes apparent in looking over the table that paladins
are the slowest to gain levels, and thieves the fastest (with
illusionists running a close second). This seems to make sense,
as paladins are very specialized fighters and their training
could be said to be very rigorous and demanding. In more
practical terms, paladins are just about the most powerful
fighting-types in the game because of their special abilities,
and the limitation on how fast they rise in levels keeps them
from becoming too powerful too quickly. A 13th-level paladin is
still quite capable of stomping a 19th-level thief in face-to-face
combat, and probably even when allowing the thief a surprise
backstab attack at the start of the combat.
It seems odd that illusionists gain levels so much more quickly than magic-users do, but the former do not have spells of the
same power as magic-user spells of 8th and 9th level, and (as
shown below) the two classes are still very close in hit-point

averages. Magic-users are generally more versatile as well, by

virtue of their more varied spell powers.
Another comparison involves finding out the average number
of hit points that a character in each class has at particular x.p.
levels. Because constitution scores can cause hit-point totals
to vary, Table 2 is divided into two parts. The first part notes
hit-point averages for characters with constitution scores of
7-14, and the second part for those with scores of 16 and 18.
Since all non-fighters have the same number of hit points for an
18 constitution as they would have for a score of 16, the hitpoint averages for characters with 18 constitution apply only to
fighter-types.
Unlike Table 1, Table 2 offers some surprising results. Druids
show up as unusually powerful, rivalling and often surpassing
fighter-types in terms of average hit points at each x.p. level.
This seems inconsistent with the fact that druids are clerical in
nature and not supposed to be as powerful as fighters. Note
that a 14th-level druid has only 1,500,001 x.p.s, yet has more hit
points than almost any other character type has at 2,000,000
x.p.s. With a 16 constitution, a Great Druid is especially tough;
this is due to the characters acquisition of one new hit die at
every level, and also for another reason mentioned later.
Table 2 also reveals that monks, who are expected to perform
hand-to-hand combat without wearing armor of any sort, have
only slightly more hit points on the average than magic-users or
illusionists. True, at the higher experience levels monks gain
armor class advantages, but it seems inconsistent for a monk to
be able to absorb less physical punishment than a thief can.
The rest of the results in Table 1 and Table 2 appear to be in
line with what one would expect, except that clerics and thieves
have very similar hit-point averages in Table 2. This appears to
be a result of the ease with which thieves gain levels (and hence
hit points).
Table 3 diagrams the level widths of the official AD&D
character classes; i.e., how many x.p.s are needed to go up
each level. Here the exceptionally narrow level widths of the
druid and thief become apparent; illusionists also have narrow
level widths, only marginally less so than the other two classes.

Suggestions
The AD&D system, as has been pointed out before by many
people, is not perfect. As time goes on, suggestions can and
should be made for how the system can be improved. Though
the system is playable as it is, this article is intended to point out
that the system might be unbalanced in several areas. The
following suggestions are not by any means official, and better
ways of improving the game balance may be found; Ive taken
some pains to make them as reasonable as possible.
1. The druid class should have its x.p. table changed so that
greater amounts of experience points are required to reach the
lower levels, and so that hit-point averages are more in line with
the other character classes for playability and balance (see
Table 4 for suggested x.p. modifications). In Table 5, the suggested change in the druid x.p. table is, rated at various x.p.
levels; it may be seen that though the druid is still tougher than a
regular cleric (probably from all that outdoors conditioning), it
is not more powerful than a ranger or other fighter-type. It
DRAGON

31

TABLE 1: LEVEL PROGRESSION OF OFFICIAL AD&D CHARACTER CLASSES

Experience
points
3

CLR

Experience
points
3

TABLE 2: HIT POINT PROGRESSION OF OFFICIAL AD&D CHARACTER CLASSES

Average Hit Points (Constitution of 7-14)
ILL
THF
ASN
M-U
CLR
DRD
FTR
PAL
RNG

DRD

FTR

PAL

RNG

M-U

ILL

THF

10
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
10 4
4
4
4
3
31
31
4
4
10 5
7
9
7
7
7
8
8
8
10 6
12
13
11 1
10
12
12
13
14
2x106
16
(14)2
15 1
13
15
15
18
19
1
At the listed amount of x.p.s, the character is 1 x.p. short of entering the next higher level.
2
Druids cannot advance beyond 14th level (1,500,00) experience points).
3
Assassins cannot advance beyond 15th level (1,500,00) or more experience points).

10
10 4
10 5
10 6
2x106

Experience
points
3

4.5
18.0
31.5
46.5
54.5

CLR

4.5
18.0
40.5
58.5
(63.0)1

DRD

5.5
22.0
38.5
55.5
67.5

5.5
16.5
38.5
52.5
61.5

9.0
18.0
36.0
53.5
59.5

2.5
7.5
20.0
28.5
31.5

2.5
10.0
20.0
28.0
33.0

3.5
14.0
28.0
43.0
53.0

ASN

MNK

1
4
7 11
13
(15)3

1
31
7
12
14

3.5
14.0
24.5
45.5
(52.5)2

Average Hit Points (Constitution of 16 / Constitution of 18)

ILL
THF
RNG
M-U
FTR
PAL

ASN

MNK
5.0
10.0
20.0
32.5
37.5

MNK

10
6.5
6.5
7.5 / 9.5
7.5 / 9.5 13.0 / 17.0
4.5
4.5
5.5
9.0
5.5
104
26.0
26.0
30.0 / 38.0 22.5 / 28.5
26.0 / 34.0
13.5
18.0
22.0
22.0
18.0
105
45.5
58.5
52.5 / 66.5 52.5 / 66.5 52.0 / 68.0
36.0
36.0
44.0
38.5
36.0
106
64.5
84.5
73.5 / 91.5 70.5 / 88.5 75.5 / 97.5
50.5
48.0
63.0
71.5
58.5
2x106
72.5
(91.O)1
85.5 / 103.5 79.5 / 97.5 81.5 / 103.5
67.5
53.5
53.0
73.0
(82.5)2
NOTE: Only the fighter classes are given a listing for average hit points at 18 constitution; all other listed classes have the
same average number of hit points at 18 constitution as at 16 constitution.
2
1
The h.p. average is for a 15th-level assassin.
The h.p. average is for a 14th-level druid.

TABLE 3: LEVEL WIDTH IN EXPERIENCE POINTS FOR OFFICIAL AD&D CHARACTER CLASSES
(Figures given are in thousands of experience points)

Level
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

CLR

DRD

FTR

1.50
2.00
2.00
1.50
2.00
2.00
3.00
3.50
4.00
7.00
5.00
10.00
14.50
7.50
17.00
27.50
15.00
35.00
55.00
25.00
55.00
115.00
30.00
125.00
225.00
35.00
250.00
225.00
75.00
250.00
225.00
100.00
250.00
225.00
450.00
250.00
225.00
750.00
250.00
225.00

250.00
225.00

250.00
225.00

250.00
225.00

250.00
All values for levels beyond the 17th are

PAL
2.75
2.75
6.50
12.00
21.00
50.00
80.00
175.00
350.00
350.00
350.00
350.00
350.00
350.00
350.00
350.00
350.00
the same as

RNG
2.25
2.25
5.50
10.00
20.00
50.00
60.00
75.00
100.00
225.00
325.00
325.00
325.00
325.00
325.00
325.00
325.00
for the 17th

definitely takes longer to reach the higher levels, but the continual addition of a new hit die (plus very powerful spell abilities
and followers) even this out. Druids, no matter how you cut it,
are a lot tougher than one might think.
2. The monk class should have its hit dice adjusted so that it
has a higher average of hit points, putting it at least on a par with
the thief class. It is suggested that either 6-sided dice or 4-sided
dice plus one point per die be substituted for the given 4-sided
dice; the hit-point range would be broader in the former case
and narrower in the latter, but the average number of hit points
per level would remain the same. Table 6 and Table 7 contain
statistical data on these suggested changes. These changes
would help keep the monk alive in close combat at all levels,
and make it a more effective and viable class. Note that at high
experience levels and with high constitution, monks become as
powerful as assassins in terms of hit-point average, which
seems reasonable enough.

32

JANUARY 1983

M-U

ILL

THF

ASN

MNK

2.50
2.50
5.00
12.50
17.50
20.00
30.00
45.00
115.00
125.00
375.00
375.00
375.00
375.00
375.00
375.00
375.00
level.

2.25
2.25
4.50
9.00
17.00
25.00
35.00
50.00
75.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00

1.25
1.25
2.50
5.00
10.00
22.50
27.50
40.00
50.00
60.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00
220.00

1.50
1.50
3.00
6.00
13.00
25.00
50.00
100.00
100.00
125.00
150.00
175.00
250.00
500.00

2.25
2.25
5.25
12.50
25.00
50.50
102.00
150.00
150.00
200.00
250.00
300.00
500.00
500.00
500.00
500.00

TABLE 4: SUGGESTED X.P. TABLE FOR DRUIDS

Exper- 8-sided dice for
ience accumulated
Level
Experience
hit points
points
level
width
2.0
2.0
3.5
7.5
15.0
30.0
60.0
130.0
250.0
250.0
250.0
500.0
750.0

02,000
2,0014,000
4,0017,500
7,50115,000
15,00130,000
30,00160,000
60,001120,000
120,001250,000
250,001500,000
500,061750,000
750,0011,000,000
1,000,0011,500,000
1,500,0012,000,OOO
2,000,001+

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

8
9
10
11
12
13
14

TABLE 5: LEVEL AND HIT POINT PROGRESSION

FOR DRUIDS (modified)
Experience
Druid level
Average hit points
7-14 Con
16 Con
(new)
points
1O3
1O4
10 5
10 6
2x106

1
4
7
11
13

4.5
18.0
31.5
49.5
58.5

6.5
26.0
45.5
71.5
84.5

TABLE 6: SUGGESTED HIT DICE TABLES FOR MONKS

Possibility 2:
Possibility 1:
Experience 6-sided dice for accu- 4-sided dice for acculevel
mulated hit points
mulated hit points
2
3
4
5

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

2+2
3+3
4+4
5+5
6+6
7+7
8+8
9+9
10+10
11+11
12+12
13+13
14+14
15+15
16+16
17+17
18+18

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

TABLE 7: HIT POINT PROGRESSION FOR MONKS (modified)

Experience
Average hit points
points
7-14 Con
16 Con
10 3
10 4
10 5
10 6
2x106

7.0
14.0
28.0
45.5
52.5

11.0
22.0
44.0
71.5
82.5

The bard
Tucked away in the back of the Players Handbook is the bard
character class, surely one of the most misunderstood character classes in the AD&D game. There is a popular misconception about this class: People feel its too difficult to become a
bard because one must work through 11 to 15 levels in the
fighter and thief classes first. However, when x.p. totals are
considered, this assumption is shown to be false. It is very easy
to become a bard. In fact, the bard is the most unbalanced
character class in the AD&D system.
There are two possible extremes one may take in the approach to creating a bard character. One is the fast way; the
absolute minimum number of experience points are gained in
passing through the fighter and thief classes in order to enter
the bard class as soon as possible (as detailed in Table 8).
People who use this method obviously cannot wait to get their
hands on a lute. And theres the slow way, taken by those who
would rather build up other skills first. Using the slow way, a
character gains the maximum possible number of x.p.s in the
fighter and thief classes before turning into a bard. Of the two
extremes, the fast method will produce the lowest possible
hit-point average in a bard character, and the slow method will
produce the most powerful character, in terms of hit points.
Tables 8 and 9 offer the same statistical analysis for bards as
was done in earlier tables for the other ten official AD&D character classes. The results are rather surprising. Regardless of
which method, fast or slow (or any procedure between the two
extremes), is employed to create a bard, the bard character
advances just as fast in levels, if not faster, than a member of
any other class and this takes into account the experience

that must be gained in the fighter and thief classes. This phenomenon exists because the lower levels of any class are relatively easy to attain in terms of the number of x.p.s required.
Furthermore, there is the problem of hit-point averages. At
medium and high levels, bards are incredibly tough; slow
bards are especially mighty, tougher than any other character
class, and actually reach, or at least approach, demigod status
in terms of hit points. A 23rd-level Magna Alumnae with an 18
constitution and a background as a 7th-level fighter and 8thlevel thief has an average of 139 hit points, and a possible
maximum of 198 hit points. This amount cannot be justified in
terms of the nature of the class: Is a person who recites poetry
and plays musical instruments for a living innately tougher than
a Ranger Lord who kills dozens of orcs, trolls, ogres, and giants
each month? Likewise, it cannot be rationalized by the need for
game balance: Why are that many hit points necessary? Should
bards be that hard to kill?
Table 10 elaborates on the problem. Most of the trouble with
the official bard comes from the continual addition of hit dice
once the character reaches the bard class, with attendant bonuses for constitution added on. Another source of trouble is
the fact that the width (in x.p.s) of each level in the bard class is
quite narrow compared to those of other character classes; this
means it is easier to gain levels in shorter times. This aggravates
the hit-point problem further, of course, and contributes to the
hit-point inflation.
Other criticisms may be leveled at the bard. It is rather clumsy
to have to work through two other classes to become a bard,
whether the process is easy or not; in many ways it would be
better to develop the class on its own (as was done by Jeff
Goelz in DRAGON issue #56; his version of bards is worth
looking up). A friend of mine has pointed out the aggravation of
having a medium-level bard run into a group of life-draining
undead; with their fighter and thief levels behind them, they can
outlast all other group members in the ensuing combat.
Beyond this, the bard class as written violates two previously
established tenets of the AD&D rules: It allows a human to gain
three classes, one after the other, when humans are supposed
to gain only two classes, and it allows half-elves to do the same
when they are normally supposed to be advancing in two or
more classes simultaneously. It is also rather strange to declare
that bards cannot use weapons they had learned previously as
fighters, such as bows or polearms. This could be circumvented by, again, developing the class on its own and making the
appropriate weapon restrictions apply, as with other classes.

Suggestions
The bard class, as written in the Players Handbook, should
probably be dropped from use in play and revised in terms of
hit-point accumulation and overall advancement. For a number
of reasons, I believe Jeff Goelzs bard (DRAGON issue #56) to
be superior when considering the factors of game balance,
playability, and realism.

TABLE 8: LEVEL PROGRESSION FOR BARDS

(Official AD&D character class)
Fast bard
Slow bard
Experience
level
points
level

10 3
1 (fighter)
1 (fighter)
1O 4
4 (fighter)
4 (fighter)
10 5
8 (bard) 1
7 (fighter)
6
10
15 (bard) 1
14 (bard) 2
2x106
20 (bard) 1
19 (bard) 2
1
A fast bard is assumed to have expended the
minimum number of experience points in going through
the fighter and thief classes (18,001 for a 5th-level fighter
and 20,001 for a 6th-level thief) before becoming a bard.
2
A slow bard is assumed to have expended the
maximum possible amount of experience points in going
through the fighter and thief classes (125,000 for a 7thlevel fighter and 110,000 for an 8th-level thief) before
becoming a bard.
DRAGON

33

TABLE 9: HIT-POINT PROGRESSION FOR BARDS

(Official AD&D Character Class)
Fast bard,
Slow bard,
Exp.
for constitution of:
for constitution of:
pts.
7-14
16
18
7-14
16
18

10 3
1O4
10 5
106
2x106

5.5
7.5
9.5
5.5
9.5
7.5
22.0
30.0
38.0
22.0
30.0
38.0
81:51
91.51
55.51
38.5
52.5
66.5
1
1
102.0
112.01
70.0
80.02
116.02
130.02
117.01
75.01
107.01
121.02
85.02
135.02
1
The average hit points for a fast bard are calculated by taking the average h.p.s for the fighter class background (5.5 h.p, for each of 5 levels), adding the average
h.p.s for the thief class (3.5 h.p. for 1 level), and then
adding the average h.p.s for each bard hit die (3.5 h.p. per
die). Constitution bonuses are then added to each hit die;
bards with constitution scores of 17+ receive bonuses to
their hit dice of +3 or more only on their fighter hit dice;
thief and bard hit dice still get a +2 bonus each at best. The
average number of hit points for a 5th-level fighter/6thlevel thief of 7-14 constitution is 31.
2
The average hit points for a slow bard are calculated as per the note above, except that 7 fighter hit dice
and 1 thief hit die are taken into account. The average
hit-point total for a 7th-level fighter/8th-level thief of 7-14
constitution is 42.

Level

TABLE 10: LEVEL WIDTHS FOR BARD CLASS

Pts.
Pts.
Level

1
2
13
200
2
2
14
200
4
3
15
200
4
8
16
200
17
5
9
200
15
18
6
200
7
20
19
200
8
25
20
200
25
21
9
200
10
40
22
800
11
50
23

12
200
Figures given are in thousands of x.p.s. The table pertains only to the bard class as per p. 117 in the Players
Handbook, excluding the initial fighter and thief levels
required to achieve bard status.

The barbarian
A new official character class, the barbarian, was introduced in DRAGON issue #63 by E. Gary Gygax. This is a fighter
sub-class that seems to have been designed as the ultimate
survivalist; a barbarian character is very independent, apparently distrustful of society and magic in general, and prefers to
rely upon his own skills. There is much about this class that I
must confess I like; barbarians have been long overdue for their
share of attention in this game. However, there are some apparent problems presented in the class as described (with additional materials provided by Mr. Gygax in DRAGON issue #67).
There are also some unusual features that appear to be inconsistent with established AD&D rules, though some of these
things may be justified and are not all that unbalancing.
Since the barbarian class is, essentially, just another character class among many, there seems to be no reason to offer it up
as a pre-determined choice as a character, prior to rolling up
ability scores. If barbarians can do this, why not other classes?
Magic-users could roll 9d6 for intelligence, dropping the lowest
6 results, and so forth. There is no reason to treat barbarians
differently. This option, in fact, has much to recommend it;
rather than having to roll hundreds of times in order to get the
right set of stats for a monk character, one simply selects the
class first, rolls out the characteristics, adjusts them in order to
meet minimum scores, and sets in to play.

34

JANUARY 1983

There are numerous rules of the AD&D system that the barbarian class appears to violate:
1. Excessive dexterity bonuses to armor class. Though this
bonus appears very unbalancing at first glance, a little research
reveals that the lowest possible armor class a barbarian in
non-bulky armor could have would be AC -1 (using leather
armor or furs and a small shield). This ability could be easily
justified by noting that barbarians (especially those in fantasy
literature) are highly skilled at dodging blows from their longpracticed habits of fighting with little armor. Heavier armor
slows them down and they lose this ability. (Note: Mr. Gygaxs
contention that a barbarian could wear chainmail and use a
shield, apparently of any size, and receive an AC of -4, appears
to have been in error (see DRAGON issue #67). Use of any
shield larger than a small one, or any armor bulkier than leather,
removes the added dexterity bonuses to armor class. Overall,
this violation is not too bad, considering that not all barbarians will have dexterity of 18. A fighter in plate mail with magical
and dexterity-related bonuses to armor class can do much
better than that.
2. Lack of an alignment tongue. The Players Handbook says
that all intelligent creatures use alignment tongues, but barbarians know only a couple of tongues at best; their poor education could be the reason for this deficiency. Alignment tongues
in general are not innate powers; they must be learned, and
barbarians just dont have the background (or inclination,
probably) to learn them. This violation, too, is no problem.
3. Excessive hit-point bonuses for constitution. Unfortunately, this violation does cause problems. Table 11, which outlines the level and hit-point progression of the barbarian, shows
that at medium and high x.p. levels, the hit-point average of a
high-constitution barbarian outstrips every other character
despite the fact that this class gains levels more slowly than all
the rest. It seems unrealistic for a barbarian to so outstrip other
fighter-types; the hit-point average for a barbarian with 18 constitution in particular appears off-balance in game terms.
4. Exceptionally slow level advancement, and no need for a
tutor or instructor in order to advance in levels. These two
points are tied together; the latter one, is a violation of the
tenets on p. 86 of the Dungeon Masters Guide, and is used to
justify the former point. There is no reason for barbarians to be
exempt from needing tutoring in the art of weapon-wielding, or
other skills such as climbing, hiding, tracking, animal handling,
and so forth. Even Tarzan and his son Korak received tutoring
in these skills, though it came mostly from watching others use
these skills or from the teachings of the Mangani apes who
raised them. The hard knocks are there, as for any other class,
but very few characters could possibly learn to use a sword or
bow to full effect without any instruction.
Level advancement for barbarians is slow enough to make
the class distinctly less effective in combat than other fighters,
even though barbarians would have as many or more hit points.
This deficit, however, appears to be balanced out by the large
number of weapons that barbarians can learn to use, their low
non-proficiency penalty, and their rapid acquisition of new
weapons. Improving level advancement (and the ability to hit
opponents in combat) would unbalance the barbarian class by
making it too powerful.
Even though barbarian characters will have to get used to
rather slow level advancement compared to other classes, this
does not appear to be an exceptionally difficult problem. Lowlevel barbarians, unless they have very high dexterity (17 or 18),
would be well advised to use heavier armor until their hit points
improve on a par with other fighters, just before 6th level.
5. Ability to strike creatures resistant to non-magical weapons. At first glance, this ability seems outrageous. No other
player character can attack such monsters without magical
weapons; it seems highly unfair for barbarians to knock off
gargoyles with regular swords. Take a second look at this
ability, though. Barbarians would not gain any bonuses to hit or
damage in such attacks, as regular fighters with magical weapons would. This ability is also gradual; barbarians of 1st

through 3rd level cannot attack monsters affected only by magical weapons, only characters of 4th level and above can hit
creatures affected by +1 weapons, etc. Since barbarians abhor
the use of magical weapons, this ability gives characters a
chance to survive encounters with such monsters though not
quite as good a chance, perhaps, as someone else with a +5
sword would have. I find nothing wrong with this ability, and do
not believe it unbalances the game or the character.
There are some other aspects of the barbarian class that I
have difficulty swallowing, not because the abilities are unreasonable but because of the loopholes created by their
inclusion, and because some abilities are not well explained.
The detect magic ability is not well outlined; it is not clear if
this ability has a range, how often checks must be made to see if
a barbarian recognizes an object as being magical, and how
referees can prevent the players of barbarians characters from
accumulating magical treasure that their characters dont
know is magical.
I would suggest that a barbarian could automatically detect
by touch if something is enchanted; this would be a sure way of
keeping magical weapons and armor out of their hands at any
time. This would serve as a sixth sense for barbarians; they
would distrust and possibly fear magical things, and would
want nothing to do with them. This is not an overbalanced
power, since its main function would be to keep the barbarian
legal, and also would enable a barbarian to identify an item as
having magical powers or enchantments. However, barbarians
would not care to serve as the magic detectors for their
dungeon party. What if theres a cursed sword in a treasure
pile? What about other sorts of dangerous items? And why
should a barbarian take all the lumps for everyone else? A real
barbarian would clobber anyone who suggests that he or she
serve as an errand-runner for the group. The 5%-per-level ability to detect magic should not have a range of more than 10
from the barbarian in any event, and would require concentration for a full round in order to use. I would suggest that this
power could be used any number of times on an object; sometimes a barbarian would sense an aura and sometimes not.
Sixth senses can be tricky.
Many questions are left unanswered by the secondary and
tertiary abilities listed for this class. Among them:
Exactly how far should a barbarians skills be reduced in
effectiveness if the character is operating in unfamiliar terrain?
What bonuses does the horsemanship ability confer? What
difference would it make if someone didnt have it?
How accurate is general weather prediction?
How long does it take to train an animal, build a boat, or
construct a pitfall? How would a typical pitfall work in the
context of the game (chance for pit to be spotted, damage
done, etc.)?
How does the running skill work? Does this mean the barbarian could travel in a dungeon at a speed of 30, or that the
character moves at 20 times the normal dungeon movement
rate (about 5 per second)? Would a running barbarian get
charge bonuses as listed per the DMG, p. 66?
How far can a normal (non-barbarian) character leap and
spring?
Does the detect illusions power act in conjunction with a
saving throw vs. an illusion?
How do the rules on first-aid skills work with regard to poisons and diseases? How long would potion-concoction take?
How effective would it be? What things could be defined as
natural poisons and minor illnesses?
How does one calculate the effect of charisma values greater
than 25?
One secondary ability that might be added to the list is
knowledge of how to make primitive weapons (spears, javelins,
etc.) and how to fashion armor from leather or furs. This would
keep the barbarian supplied with assuredly non-magical weaponry and protective clothing. No one said the weapons and
armor would be of high quality, or even good quality, but at
least they would work, and replacement would be cheap.

All in all, barbarians seem very acceptable in the AD&D

game. My strongest suggestion for the class would be to drop
the constitution bonuses and use the older system of +1 hp per
constitution point over 14, unless it could be shown that the
extra hit points are essential for the characters survival. I am
not inclined to believe this is so.
I also have some questions about the slow level advancement, though this is still, for reasons explained, within acceptable margins. Secondary and tertiary abilities should be more
clearly described to eliminate areas of confusion; too much is
left to the referees whims in interpreting them in game
situations.
When I first saw this class, and for some time afterward, I
really felt it was way out of whack with the game system. After
sitting down and literally taking it apart, however, I find that it is
not as bad as Id thought; in fact, it seems that this class would
work quite well. What bothered me most were the inability to
use magical items (though it is interesting to imagine a character doing without them), the various combat abilities (which
seem to balance out anyway), the hit-point bonuses (which still
bother me), and the saving-throw bonuses (which also bother
me). The bonuses to saving throws seem rather unreasonable,
and justification for them seems hard to find.
At any rate, I would accept barbarian characters into my
AD&D campaigns as written. It would be nice to iron some
things out, but it still seems to work.
Authors note: Interested persons may want to know what the
chances are of getting high ability scores using the roll 9d6
and drop the 6 lowest method recommended for generating a
barbarians strength. By the use of a complex formula (not
reproduced here), the probability of getting a score of 18 using
this method is about 17.75%. The probability of rolling a score
of 15 or better using this method works out to 62.2%. There is
one chance in 10,077,696 of rolling a 3 (in this case, all of the
dice would have to come up ls). With their strength generated
by this method, most barbarians end up with physiques like
Arnold Schwarzenegger.

TABLE 11: LEVEL AND HIT-POINT PROGRESSION

FOR BARBARIANS (Official AD&D character class)
Experience
Hit-point averages
Level
7-14 Con 16 Con
points
18 Con
10 3
1
8.251
12.25
16.25
10 4
2
14.75
22.75
30.75
10 5
6
40.75
64.75
88.75
10 6
57.75
92
121.75
89.75
65.76
2x106
11 2
129.75
97.75
1
Though barbarians at 1st level use a d12 for hit
points, results of 1-6 are counted as 7. This procedure
also affects all future determinations of hit-point average.
2
At the listed amount of x.p.s, the character is 1 x.p.
short of entering the next level.

TABLE 12: LEVEL WIDTHS FOR BARBARIANS

(Figures are in thousands of points)

Level

Pts.

Level

Pts.

1
2
3
4
5

6
6
12
24
32

6
7
8
9+

70
125
225
500

TABLE 13: HIT-POINT PROGRESSION

FOR BARBARIANS (suggested)
(If only +1 hp per constitution point over 14 is allowed)

Experience
points
103
104
10 5
10 6
2x106

7-14 Con

Hit-point averages
16 Con

18 Con

8.25
14.75
40.75
57.75
65.75

10.25
18.75
52.75
73.75
81.75

12.25
22.75
64.75
89.75
97.75
DRAGON 35

by Gary Gygax

1983 E. Gary Gygax. All rights reserved.

Last issue three nasty new fungoid

monsters the Ascomoid, Basidirond,
and Phycomid were offered. The Ustilagor and Zygom, described herein,
complete the offering. Now, would you
enjoy meeting the creature who has
them for playmates? In case anyone is
wondering if these creatures were the
result of requests from readers, the
answer is no. In order to make certain
our Kindly Editor had a sufficient supply

of monsters, I went ahead with the fungi.

Months have a way of rolling past without notice, and Yours Truly too often
gets caught with nothing in print in any
of the columns promised. I hope there
will be sufficient feedback from you
Gentle Readers for a column devoted to
requests.
At some point there must be an end to
monsters. I employ only a certain few in
my general campaigning and load the

unusual critters into weird settings or

deep dungeons. While we present many
new and different creatures, the world of
monsters has finite limits or does it? If
the various planes of existence are detailed, then there is room for many
hundreds of new creations. Do you
Thoughtful Gamers desire an enumeration of the inhabitants of the uncounted
planes? If so, this column will eventually
turn to that area. What say?

Ustilagors can employ telempathic

projection to project the following emotions at an individual during a round:
hate (of associate), distrust (of associate), fear (of fungi), loathing (of area),
or uncertainty. These projected emotions
cause attack, bickering, desertion, or

dithering, accordingly. Ustilagors also

use energy control to protect themselves
from spell attacks and the like. They attack psionic individuals only by id insinuation (as related to the strongest basic
emotions). Only a psionic blast will affect them in turn.

Ustilagor
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 9
HIT DICE: 3 + 3
% IN LAIR: 90%
TREASURE TYPE: Q (x1-20)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-5 (+ poisoning)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Psionics
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Psionics
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Unratable
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (evil)
SIZE: S (1-1 diam.)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 150 + 5-30
Attack/Defense Modes: D/F
LEVEL / X.P. VALUE: V / 215 + 4/hp
Ustilagor fungi appear to be brain-like
growths with coral-like appendages. Although soft and not fast in normal
movement terms, they can scuttle and
dart, and this accounts for their relatively
high armor class. Their attack form consists of flicking out ribbon-like tendrils
about 3 long. A hit inflicts damage due
to alkaline fluids and causes the victim to
save versus poison or suffer additional
like damage (2-5 hp) next round as the
caustic substance affects its body.
Ustilagors have no intelligence or mind
as defined by human standards, so mental attacks do not affect them. (See
AD&D Players Handbook, p. 11, Wisdom Table, asterisked paragraph regarding Magical Attack Adjustment.) These
monsters do, however, have some form
of brain, for they have psionic powers.

36

JANUARY 1983

Zygom
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVE: 1 (or as host; see below)
HIT DICE: 3 (+ hosts; see below)
% IN LAIR: 50%
TREASURE TYPE: By host type
and/or incidental
NO. OF ATTACKS: By host type
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By host
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Milky glue
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Unratable
ALIGNMENT: Neutral (evil)
SIZE: By host size (1/6 - 1/4 per growth)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL / X.P. VALUE: III / 65 + 3/hp
Zygoms are individually small fungoid
growths which consist of a short, thin
stem with an ovoid cap. One or two dozen such growths are conjoined by a rhizome structure to make up a singular
community creature, a zygom. Although
able to exist in earth, zygoms prefer to
infest living creatures, nourishing themselves on the hosts blood and flesh. This
infestation controls the host creature by

brain and nerve connections. It leads to

death of the host in 1 to 8 weeks, depending on the size and constitution of the
host creature. The zygom remains until
the whole of the dead body is consumed
and then moves on.
As host creatures are controlled, they
move, attack, and defend according to
the dictates of the possessing zygoms.
Infestation is typically on the head, neck,
and back (spinal) areas. Typical host
creatures are: ants (giant), rats (giant),
osquips (see FIEND FOLlO Tome), and
occasionally small humanoids.
Whenever a colony of zygoms comes
into rough contact with any creature,
there is a 1 in 6 chance that the pale blue
milk of a broken cap will stick fast to
the creature. This milk is extremely
sticky, and it has the power to glue materials together for 2-5 days before the
substance dries and crumbles. If glued
to flesh, a colony of zygom spores will
infect the creature and begin growth by
the time the glue powders, i.e. infest and
control the host. Only a cure disease will
remove this infestation. Zygom glue can
be otherwise embarrassing, for it will
stick weapons to targets, creatures to
creatures, etc.
As zygoms have fungoid intelligence
which is totally alien to humans, no magic affecting the mind beguiling, charming, dominating, holding, hypnotizing,
etc. will affect them.

DRAGON

37

Caped Crusaders
and
Masked Marvels
by Roger E. Moore

38

JANUARY 1983

Role-playing games come in several

broad categories. There are fantasy
sword-and-sorcery game systems, spy
games full of secret agents and special
gadgets, space operas with lasers and
starships and games about intelligent
rabbits, samurai, pirates, post-atomic
mutants and so on. There are also a
number of games out now about superheroes, in which players take on the personas of various costumed do-gooders
of comic-book fame. There are some distinct differences between this last sort of
role-playing game and the other types.
This article is a collection of notes
made over a couple of years of refereeing role-playing games, with particular
attention to superhero games. At the end
of the article is a list if all the superhero
role-playing games on the market today,
to the best of this authors knowledge
(Editors note: And as of this writing of

crusaders get the daylights knocked out

of them, yet bound back with great agility to punch out their evil opponents. Villains use every device that could be imagined by pseudo-science to try to conquer
the world, and wizards can rub shoulders
with starship troopers and secret agents
in the ensuing battles. Just five minutes
in front of any comic-book rack illustrates
this point nicely. Sword-and-sorcery
games spend a great deal of time justifying their magic systems, making them
logical; space-opera games often have
long paragraphs of scientific data
showing that fusion guns are possible
and practical. Superhero games dont
bother with such trivial details; if somebody wants a pistol that fires laser bolts
and doubles as a magic wand, boomerang, and backscratcher, thats fine. Hes
got it. If you can accept superhero characters to begin with, you can accept anything, and this is great because play becomes more spontaneous and less likely
to bog down over technical details. Sure,
someone may fire a fusion gun underwater and it may take a few minutes to
figure out the effects, but the point is that
no one questions whether the gun is ten
feet long or pocket-sized. It simply is.
Some people think that superhero
games are just too wild and silly and
thats the way I felt when I was first exposed to them. Unexpectedly, though,
the element of unreality in superhero
games is also one of their greatest assets.
Aside from making play more spontaneous, this puts more emphasis on just having fun. Those who like realistic roleplaying games may try superhero games
now and then as a break from all that
reality. And then some people would
rather play entire superhero campaigns;
for them, you cant beat the thrill of
knocking a caped crook across a room.

Life and death

the article, which was submitted to us
several months before its publication.).
While the article does not contain a critical review of each game, references are
made to the elements of such games that
seem to be the most useful (or most
bothersome) to superhero campaigns.

Superheroes and realism

Most role-playing games make a serious attempt to present themselves as
realistic, in the sense that they try to
duplicate real combat, social systems,
personalities, skills, and so forth. They
also try to be internally consistent and
logical; this helps the players suspend
their disbelief of sorcerors and starships
more easily. A role-playing game is often
more enjoyable when you find that
thread of realism in it.
Superhero games, on the other hand,
seem to lack any sense of realism. Caped

Closely related to the question of realism is that of death in superhero games.

Player characters in other role-playing
games seem to come and go with regular
frequency; old characters get eaten by
dragons, lost in spacecraft accidents,
shot in bank robberies, etc. Superheroes, though, seem to last forever. Death
is one of the props that other roleplaying games use to enhance their
reality. If your character falls off a cliff
in most other games, he or she will probably be seriously hurt or killed. In superhero games, the combat and damage
systems are often designed to allow
characters, even run-of-the-mill sorts, to
take great punishment and keep on going (no matter how high the cliff was).
This sort of near-immortality is derived directly from the nature of the comics themselves. You could probably
count on the fingers of one hand the
number of superheroes who have been

killed in the comics. Supervillains, although killed more frequently than heroes, are also prone to hang around for
long periods of time and rarely take their
final bow. Not many cartoonists or writers would like having to create a new
super-crook for every magazine. Not
many people are going to buy comics in
which the hero bites the dust in the second or third issue.
Superhero combat is intensely personal and individualistic. Grudges are allowed to develop, and off-and-on struggles are allowed to continue through
many issues of a comic to establish a
certain consistency in the superhero
world. Keeping the enemies alive not
only ensures employment for superheroes in the future, but keeps up the dramatic elements, in the game. Will that
archcriminal Bulldozer escape from prison and come searching for the heroes
who had him locked up? Will the heroes
ever manage to defeat the minions of
that world-wide organization known as
SHADOW? Long-running campaigns
may be developed with ease using this
sort of stretching technique.
Another good reason for keeping
criminals alive in superhero games is
because there is (or should be) an unwritten rule in the comics world that says
that killing is evil. (Amazing how few
games utilize this assumption, isnt it?)
All player characters of a superhero
game are usually good guys, and should,
whenever and wherever possible, avoid
killing their opponents. The object is to
bring criminals to justice, and if possible
help them mend their ways and become
good citizens. But criminals dont care
about being good citizens, and will want
to rub out all the good guys as soon as
humanly possible; superheroes are assumed to be a cut above this level of
thinking, and should abhor the taking of
lives.
There are some superhero players who
dont go along with this tenet, and would
rather play ultra-powered Mack Bolan
types who routinely kill criminals. After
all, Doc Savage and Tarzan have killed
criminals, and probably if you dig deeply
enough into comic literature youll find
superheroes who have killed crooks with
impunity, too. Thats not the point. Very
often such killings occured under extreme circumstances. Both Tarzan and
Doc Savage made a habit of sparing the
bad guys (Doc Savage even ran a hospital where criminals were cured of their
anti-social tendencies); they tended to
kill only when their immediate families
were harmed, placing them under tremendous stress.
Referees of superhero games can discourage vigilante characters of this
sort by having criminals single them out
for special vengeance so that they are
slain in the course of play, rather than

DRAGON

39

just being knocked out. The message

(to players) should get across.

The criminal mentality

Most superhero games have no alignment system as such, but there are still
fairly clear divisions between good and
evil behavior. Referees must role-play
the villains so as to keep this division
clear. Criminals are often just bad, with
few or no redeeming qualities. Bad guys
should be the sorts of characters that no
one would care to be like. They may be
handsome, but they despise everyone
but themselves; they may be brilliant, but
their minds are twisted toward thoughts
of conquest and vengeance; they may be
cultured and polite at times, but it is only
a cover for their true intentions, done to
fool their opponents.
Referees should be inventive when
playing crooked NBCs; not all criminals
are alike. One may be a cheap hood who
struck it big, while another may be a retired military man with a grudge against
the service and his country. Another may
be the ruler of a small country, obsessed
with dreams of ruling the world. Every
now and then a referee may toss in
another sort of criminal: the sort who
actually might reform under the right
conditions. Humane treatment of these
villains by superheroes might help bring
out these better qualities. For example:
The criminal known as Blue Streak is
actually a research scientist whose family has been kidnapped by some sinister
organization; in order to keep them alive,
he must carry out robberies and hijackings and return the money to his enemies. If treated badly by superheroes
(beyond the usual subduing combat), he
may come to hate everyone and will continue his life of crime, and may also seek
vengeance against the heroes who treated him so poorly. On the other hand, if
the superheroes treat him well and seem
trustworthy, he might confess his problem to them and they would have a new
adventure to undertake; they might also
gain him as an ally and as a new member
of their group (if they can get him cleared
of any criminal charges).
By and large, such reformable supervillains should be fairly rare; most criminals are not normally prone to repent or
learn from past mistakes. They would
rather be rich, powerful, and rotten.
Supervillains do not generally want to
kill captured superheroes, not so much
because they dont approve of killing,
but because (in the context of the comics and of the game) superheroes were
simply meant to hang around for a long
time. A referee can say that heroes are
just lucky, or that criminals are too cowardly to kill their foes at once, or too
smart, or too stupid, or the referee can
make up some other excuse to justify it;
the point is that superheroes are, in effect, the center of the comic universe
and should be presented with challenges

40

JANUARY 1983

at every turn to sharpen their wits and

skills. Killing heroes out of hand makes
the game inconsistent with comic-book
themes and very aggravating for the
players. Thus, captured heroes are usually dragged down the stairs and thrown
into dungeons, or locked in special
death-traps requiring great skill and ingenuity to escape from.
A superhero should have at least one
chance to escape from his or her capturers; if the hero fails, the referee can declare the character out of action until he
or she gets rescued by other heroes later
on. Maybe the criminals will use the hero
as a bargaining chip, or as a guinea pig in
some awful experiment. Superhero game
adventures should contain clever alternatives to knocking off superheroes, and
make the players sweat about those alternatives as much as they would sweat
about being killed. With the rich background provided by the comic books,
this should not prove too difficult.

much about ISENGARD and relaxed his

guard. One day some policemen came to
his door and asked him to accompany
them to the station; his car had been
stolen, they said, and he needed to come
and claim it. He went along, and somewhere along the road the driver hit a button, the glove compartment fell open,
and gas sprayed in Sidewinders face;
the cop in back, to make sure, shot the
hero with a stun pistol. Sidewinder was
now back in the hands of ISENGARD,
but his fellow superheroes picked up his
trail in an attempt to bring him back,
sparking some epic battles ranging
across the midwestern United States. Of
course, there could be many ISENGARD
agents and stations around the world; if
one group failed, maybe another would
not. One small detail in the characters
past was enough to generate several
good adventures and provide for occasional future conflicts as well.

Settings for superheroes

Characters with consistency
One of the other generally accepted
tenets of being a superhero is that a
characters special powers and abilities
should be appropriate to the characters
name, and vice versa. The Leopard would
not be expected to have wings, and Fireball would not be expected to swim.
Some superhero games have randomroll tables to determine which powers a
superhero gets, and these tables can
produce some very curious mishmash
characters that are hard enough to name,
let alone to play. The best policy is to
allow players to choose their own characters superpowers and names. This insures that player characters will be better enjoyed and related to by the person(s) playing them. If possible, each
character should have a certain theme
running through his or her life, abilities,
personality, occupation, etc. The Leopard has liked cats all of her life; she
works at a local zoo, tends to travel
alone, and doesnt say much but man,
when she gets into a fight. . .
Whenever possible, too, the referee
should encourage players to develop
their own characters histories, detailing
how they got their special powers. Some
such histories may prove highly useful
when creating new adventures; some old
acquaintances (good or bad) may decide to reappear in the characters life
and complicate things.
An example that I refereed in play
should illustrate this well. One of the
players in our current campaign has a
character named Sidewinder. It was noted in Sidewinders history that he got his
superpowers from being experimented
on by an unscrupulous secret government agency called ISENGARD. Sidewinder escaped from this agency and
has been on the run from ISENGARD for
some time now. As the campaign went
on, the character did not really worry so

There are essentially two types of settings that can be used in a superhero
game: a fictitious city or country, or a
real one adapted for a superhero world.
The former setting would involve the
creation of a town like Metropolis or Gotham City, or the island/nation of Inguria
used in Superhero 2044. This technique
is useful for referees who want to have a
free hand in designing the landscape to
include special items like factories, research stations, etc. It is also good to use
when the players and referee do not live
near enough to a major city with which
they can identify and which they can use
as a setting. But from my viewpoint, the
latter alternative of using a real city as a
backdrop for superhero campaigns is
best whenever its a viable alternative.
Players and referees living in or near a
major city may find it both helpful and
amusing to make the city the setting.
Helpful, because maps of the city should
be readily available and the groups familiarity with the area should make it
easier to visualize the scenes where the
action takes place; amusing, for reasons
that should be (or would soon become)
obvious.
Popular landmarks might be the backdrop for great fights between heroes and
villains; local governments and organizations can be caricatured, and (unless
you live in New York or Los Angeles,
where most comic superheroes seem to
reside) there is always the weird element
of trying to imagine your city as actually
having superheroes. The campaign I am
currently running is based in Louisville,
Kentucky (where all of us live), but it is
the Louisville of an alternate world where
places like Metropolis exist as well.
Louisville is a great city, but it isnt the
sort of place you automatically think of
when you think of superhero cities. Oddly enough, though, once you get used to
the idea after a couple of sessions of

play, it grows on you like crazy. Of

course Louisville can have superheroes.
It has six at the moment: Gigantus, Assimilator, Sidewinder, Phantos, Leopard,
and the teen genius Philip Pieser. So far
theyve captured a rampaging minotaur
that escaped while being sent to the local university for study, and broken up
(rather literally, thanks to Gigantus) a
bank-robbery ring that used weapons
stolen from Ft. Knox. Theyve met and
defeated Armadillo, his giant yellow android Bulldozer, and his assorted henchmen; Wolfman escaped their clutches,
however, and might show up again later
on. And maybe Armadillo will escape
from prison and plot vengeance. Or some
new criminals may appear and wreak
havoc until the team arises to fight them.
And on it goes from there.

Egos or is it superegos?
As mentioned before, superheroes are
by nature a very individualistic lot. Each
hero (meaning each player) is going to
want some glory; fame is what keeps superheroes going, after all. More often
than in other sorts of role-playing games,
player characters may go off on their
own to try to pick up leads to solve
crimes, or fight criminals without other
peoples (or heroes) help. When possible the referee should try to encourage
players to work together, and should design adventures that will require the

close cooperation (and proximity) of the

characters. This ensures that everyone
gets their share of attention. If some
players want to do things on their own,
some other adventures may be set up as
a sideline to the main campaign that require only one or two heroes at most
(small isolated crimes, some detective
work, or similar jobs). In any case, the
rule to remember is that a Superhero who
doesnt get to beat up on the bad guys
like everyone else is not much of a superhero; each character deserves an
equal part of the referees consideration.

Resources
Until recently there were not very many
playing aids specifically designed for
superhero games; this should not deter
prospective referees, however. Ideas for
adventures may be taken from many
other game systems, if properly adapted.
Research Station Gamma (GDW) may
be easily form-fitted to superhero adventures as the abode of evil arch-criminals;
many other Traveller and related sciencefiction/space-opera modules depicting
futuristic weapons or buildings are useful, too. The GAMMA WORLD game
(TSR) and the spell lists in the AD&D
Players Handbook (TSR) provide much
interesting reading for those looking for
new sorts of super-powers to develop.
Spell-casting superheroes may check
through RuneQuest (Chaosium) for possible magics to use, or look in Magic

World (Chaosium). Obviously, materials

designed for any particular superhero
game would also be good for use in any
other superhero game, once the referee
figures out the conversions to change
the specifics of one game system into
the other. And there are always the comics to draw upon. . . .

The games
The following games are generally
available in most hobby and game stores.
It should be noted that Superheroes and
Supervillains contains miniatures with
rules for combat, but is not designed for
broader use in role-playing Campaigns.
Champions (Hero Games, 19881) by
George MacDonald and Steve Peterson
Superheroes and Supervillains (Heritag, 1981); rules by Brian Phillips, figures by David Helber
Superhero 2044 (Gamescience, 1977)
by Donald Saxman
Supervillains (Task Force, 1982) by

Rick Register
Superworld (part of the Worlds of
Wonder boxed set of games, Chaosium
Inc., 1982) by Steve Perrin and Steve
Henderson
Villains and Vigilantes (Fantasy Games
Unlimited, 1979) by Jeff Dee and Jack

Herman
The Official Superhero Adventure
Game (1982) by Brian Phillips
Supergame (1982) by Jay and Aimee
Hartlove

DRAGON

41

42

JANUARY 1983

DRAGON

43

44

JANUARY 1983

A game for two players

Its shaft is a slender rod of some unknown steely-grey metal; about its base run
three fine circles of gold. It is capped by a large wine-dark stone, full and round at first,
but tapering to a point that glistens in the light.
For nearly two centuries it has been lost. Now it is known to rest in the hands of the
evil sorcerers.
Grave is our peril. This is the Wand of Arrakhar the Unsleeping, greatest of all the
wizards of the Council of the Red Sun, foil of the dread sorcerer Logar Zor and his
schemes of world domination.
Whether Arrakhar perished at last from some dark intrigue fostered by the sorcerer, or whether he still dwells in some far realm, none here can say. Yet our duty is clear:
to retrieve the wand from the circle of sorcerers who now possess it. We must strike at
once, before they unlock its secrets and are able to turn its tremendous power to their
own dark purposes.

Introduction

Game Components

ARRAKHARS WAND is a fantasy

boardgame of tactics and strategy for
two players. One player (the sorcerer
player) hides the wand in his realm and
defends it with a group of evil sorcerers
who can summon the aid of demons,
orcs, and ghouls. The other player (the
wizard player) invades with a force of
good wizards, barbarians, dwarves, and
elves, seeking to locate the wand and
escape with it.
Before the play of the game begins,
both players secretly design their forces.
The board portrays the valley of the evil
sorcerers, and on it the sorcerer player
places the counters representing haunts
(temples, ruins and crypts), secretly recording one of them as the haunt in
which the wand is hidden. The counters
representing the sorcerers and their minions are then placed on the board, and
on the sorcerer players first turn they
can begin summoning other evil units.
The wizard player brings in the wizard
units and their allies through one or
more of the hexes along the valley
border, and the struggle begins.
Each side can attack with spells and by
physical combat. The wizard player
should usually try to strike quickly, before the sorcerer player can organize an
effective resistance. Only the sorcerer
player gets a steady stream of reinforcements, in the form of wandering-orc
counters, but the wizard player has the
advantage of special attacking bonuses.
To win, the wizard player must locate the
wand and remove it from the sorcerers
valley through an entry/exit hex.

1.0 The game includes this set of

rules, the board, and a sheet of counters.
Also required is one six-sided die, which
must be supplied by the players.

Designed
by
C. C. Stoll
46

JANUARY 1983

1.1 The board has three types of

hexes: clear terrain, which may be moved
into by all units; mountains, into which
no movement is allowed; and entry/exit
hexes (marked E) used only by wizardplayer units. Sorcerer-player units may
never enter E hexes. Once a wizardplayer unit enters clear terrain, it must
remain on the board until it is eliminated
by the enemy or until it leaves the playing area by exiting through an E hex. A
unit that leaves the board in this manner
may not return. E hexes are considered off the board; stacking restrictions
(see 3.3) do not apply to units located on
them, and no attacks may be made on or
by units in these hexes.
1.2 The four main types of counters
(identifiable by color and initial letter)
are these:
Wizard-player units: 20 counters
each of wizards, dwarves, barbarians, and elves.
Sorcerer-player units: 20 counters each of sorcerers, demons,
orcs, and ghouls.
Wand: 2 counters (one is a
spare).
Haunts: 3 numbered counters of
each type temples (T), ruins (R),
and crypts (C).
The countermix also includes pieces
marked +2, +4, or +6, which are used to
keep track of the effects of haste spells
(see 3.6) on units and stacks of units,
plus a few blank counters for each side,
to aid in the replacement of lost or damaged pieces.

Note: The rules on the following pages

pertain specifically to the Basic Scenario. Once they are understood, players
will have no difficulty adapting them to
other scenarios.

Set-up for Play

2.0 The three steps in preparing for
play are: designing forces (see 2.1);
sorcerer-player force placement (2.2);
and wizard-player force placement (2.3).

2.1 Designing forces: Both players

secretly design their forces out of unit
counters (neither the wand nor the
haunts are units). The point cost for a
certain type of unit counter is given on
the Counter Chart (see charts and tables
page at the end of the rule text). Each
unit available to a player costs either 1,2,
or 3 points. The point limit for a force
depends on the scenario being played
(see below). No units should be revealed
to the opposing player until they are
placed on the board. Once a unit is positioned on the board, its identity cannot
be concealed.
The following restrictions apply to
force design:
(1) For the Basic Scenario, the wizard
player may not spend more than 60
points in designing his force, and the
sorcerer player may not spend more
than 66 points.
(2) Neither player can exceed the
countermix, which provides 20 units of
each type.
(3) The sorcerer player must include at
least 6 counters of each of his four types
of units in his force design. The wizard
player must have at least four counters

of each of his four types of units in his

force design.
(4) All units not allocated to force design are set aside and out of play. (Exception: As explained later, the sorcerer
player has a chance to receive wandering-orc reinforcements on each turn of
the game; these units can be taken from
orc units not part of the sorcerer-players
force design.)
2.2 Sorcerer-player force placement:
The sorcerer player first takes all haunts
numbered 1 or 2 (two each of the
temples, ruins, and crypts) and places
them on the board. (Haunts numbered
3 are not used in the Basic Scenario.)
Haunts must be placed in clear terrain
hexes; they may not be placed within a
two-hex radius from an E hex, and one
haunt cannot be located within a threehex radius from another haunt. This
three-hex distance is counted through
clear terrain only, not over or through
mountain hexes; haunts can be placed
so that they are separated by only one
hex, so long as that is a mountain hex,
and a path more than three hexes long
through clear terrain is required to move
from one haunt to another. (For movement, hexes containing haunts are treated as clear terrain.) Next, the sorcerer
player secretly records (by type and
number) the haunt in which the wand is
hidden.
Then the sorcerer player places all the

sorcerer units in his designed force

but not any demons, orcs, or ghouls in
the designed force on clear-terrain
hexes. Sorcerer units may not be placed
within a two-hex radius from an E hex.
Up to four sorcerer units may be placed
in the same hex (see 3.3).
Other units in the sorcerer players designed force are set aside until they may
be brought into play by a Summon spell
(see 3.2).

2.3 Wizard-player force placement:

The wizard player places all of his units
on the board in E hexes; the sorcerer
player may examine the counters after
they are placed on their respective E
hexes to determine the makeup of the
wizard players force. The wizard player
may keep all of his units in one group
(entering through only one E hex) or
he may divide them into as many as six
groups (one group entering through
each E hex). All of the wizard-player
units committed to enter through a given
E hex are considered to be located in
that hex before movement begins, but
since E hexes are considered off the
board (see 1.1), stacking limitations (see
3.3) do not need to be met until wizard
units actually enter the valley and complete one turn of movement. No wizard
unit spends movement points until it enters its first hex of clear terrain; placement in an E hex does not constitute
movement.
DRAGON 47

The Game-Turn
3.0 A game-turn consists of a sorcerer-player phase followed by a wizardplayer phase. Neither player engages in
any activity during the opposing players
phase. Each phase consists of five segments which must be carried out in strict
sequence:
Sorcerer-player phase:
1. Wandering-orc check (3.1)
2. Summon spells (3.2)
3. Movement (3.3)
4. Fireball spells (3.4)
5. Combat (3.5)
Wizard-player phase:
1. Haste spells (3.6)
2. Movement (3.3)
3. Fireball spells (3.4)
4. Combat (3.5)
5. Haunt check (3.7)

48

JANUARY 1983

3.1 Wandering-orc check: At the

beginning of each game-turn, the sorcerer player rolls one die. On a result of 1
of 2, the sorcerer player receives 1 orc
counter as reinforcements for that turn.
On a result of 3 or higher, 2 new orc units
enter the game. Wandering-orc units are
immediately placed on the board in either (1) any empty clear-terrain hex adjacent to any sorcerer-player unit, or (2)
any hex already containing orc units (up
to a limit of four units per hex). Wandering-orc units are not taken from the
sorcerer players designed force; they
are taken either from the supply of unused counters or from orc units previously eliminated.
The supply of reinforcements is limited by the counter-mix; if all 20 orc units
are already on the board, the sorcerer
player can receive no reinforcements

until the turn after one or more orc units

are eliminated.

3.2 Summon spells: This type of

magic is only usable by sorcerer units,
and is one of the two spells sorcerers
may cast; however, each sorcerer unit
can only cast one spell per turn.
A summon spell is the only means by
which the demons, orcs, and ghouls in
the sorcerer players designed force may
be brought into play. (The sorcerer player should conceal from his opponent the
identity of these units until they enter the
game.) Each type of unit may be summoned only at, and into, hexes occupied
by one type of haunt: Demons may be
summoned only at temples, orcs only at
ruins, and ghouls only at crypts.
For the spell to be effective, three conditions must be met:
(1) A sorcerer unit must be adjacent to
a haunt for which a summon spell is to be
cast.
(2) There must be at least 1 unit of the
type that can be summoned at that haunt
still available in the sorcerer players designed force.
(3) The hex containing the haunt must
be either empty of units or occupied by
three or fewer units of the type that can
be summoned at the haunt.
For one casting of the spell by a single
sorcerer unit, the sorcerer player must
first designate the haunt in which the
summoning is to take place and the sorcerer unit that is to cast the spell (if more
than one is eligible). Then the sorcerer
player rolls a die and consults the Summon Table to see whether he may place
2, 3, or 4 of the appropriate units on the
board (in the hex of the haunt).
The sorcerer player may bring in fewer
units than the number indicated by the
table if he so desires. The sorcerer player
must summon fewer units than the
number indicated by the table if either
(1) he has an insufficient number of
available units of the appropriate type
left in his designed force, or (2) to bring
in the indicated number would cause five
or more units to be stacked in the hex of
the haunt. (If the sorcerer player summons fewer units than the number on the
table indicates, and it is clearly not due
to stacking limits, he need not reveal to
the wizard player whether this action
was the players choice or was taken because he has run out of that type of unit.)
Only one summon spell may be cast at
each haunt per turn. Because this spell
can work only if a sorcerer is adjacent to
a haunt in this segment (before sorcererplayer movement), it is a good idea for
the sorcerer player to place at least some
of his sorcerers next to haunts during his
original placement of haunts and sorcerers (2.2). Sorcerer units that cast a
spell should be inverted immediately, for
the rest of the current phase, to remind
players that they cannot cast another
spell this turn.

3.3 Movement: The rules governing

movement are the same for both players.
The Counter Chart shows that barbarians and demons have a movement capability of 6 hexes per turn, and all other
units can move up to 4 hexes per turn.
Units may be moved into any clearterrain hex (including a hex containing a
haunt) that is not occupied by an enemy
unit (there are no zones of control).
W izard-player units spend their first
movement point when they enter the
board from an E hex; sorcerer-player
units spend their first movement point
when they move from their initial placement (for sorcerer units) or when they
move away from the haunt in which they
were summoned (for demons, orcs, and
ghouls). Haunts, of course, can never
move, and the wand can only be moved if
it is being carried by a wizard-player
unit.
Movement is always optional; units
cannot store up movement points from
turn to turn or transfer them from one
unit to another.
At the end of a players movement
segment, only units of the same type
may occupy the same hex, and there
may be no more than 4 units per hex. On
the first turn only, sorcerer-player units
may not end their movement within 2
hexes of an E hex. Units may move
freely through hexes containing friendly
units, but may not violate end-of-movement stacking restrictions.
3.4 Fireball spells: The rules governing fireball spells are the same for both
players. Both wizards and sorcerers may
cast fireball spells in the appropriate
segments of their respective phases.
However, neither type of spell-caster
can employ more than one spell per turn.
Fireball spells are the only means by
which wizard and sorcerer units can attack enemy units; they cannot engage in
combat (3.5) like other units. The fireball
spell has a range of 2 hexes; it can be
cast on opposing units in a hex adjacent
to the wizard or sorcerer, or on opposing
units one hex removed, as long as a twohex-long path of clear terrain can be
traced from the caster to the target. The
spell can be cast over an adjacent hex,
not affecting the units in that hex, if the
adjacent hex happens to be in line with
the target hex.
To cast the spell for a single sorcerer
unit or wizard unit, the phasing player
designates the spell-caster and the target
hex (which must be done for all fireball
attacks before any of them can be resolved; see below), and then rolls one die
for each unit in the target hex and refers
to the Fireball Table to obtain a result for
that unit only against that specific attack. For example: If a wizard is casting a
fireball spell against a stack of three
ghouls, each ghoul unit is rolled for to
see whether it is eliminated or not. (Obviously, the spell is most useful against

stacks of units, even though it is far from

automatic that every unit in a stack
would be eliminated.) Note that barbarians and demons are the least susceptible to fireball attacks, and sorcerers are
more vulnerable to an opponents fireball than wizards are.
In either players appropriate segment,
all fireball attacks must be designated
before the results of any single spell are
rolled for. If more than one fireball attack
is directed against a single target hex,
only units that survive the first attack(s)
are rolled for when resolving subsequent
attacks. For example, if 3 wizards are all
casting fireball spells against a stack of 4
orcs, the first attack is resolved with
three die rolls. If two orcs are eliminated
in the first attack, only one die roll is
needed to resolve the second attack. If
the first two attacks result in the elimination of all three units, the third fireball is
wasted and cannot be re-directed at a
different hex.
Wizards or sorcerers stacked together
may cast fireball spells at different target
hexes. The spell may be cast into or out
of hexes containing haunts, but not into
or out of E hexes. A fireball spell has no
effect on haunts or on the wand.
3.5 Combat: The rules governing
combat are the same for both players.
Combat is always optional on the part of
the would-be attacker, and never causes
the elimination of an attacking unit. The
basic rules concerning combat are these:
An attacking unit (or stack) must be
adjacent to a defending unit (or stack)
to engage in combat.
All attacks must be designated before any are resolved by rolling on the
Combat Table.
Units stacked in the same hex can
split their attacks against adjacent
enemy units in the same or different
hexes, but each unit may only attack
once per turn.
Units in two separate hexes can
combine in a mass attack against one
or more units in a single hex.

The same unit may be announced

as the object of more than one attack
in a given turn; however, if the target
unit is eliminated by an earlier attack,
subsequent attacks are wasted and
cannot be re-directed against a unit
which has not been eliminated.
Not all units adjacent to an attacking force need be attacked; one or
more of the units in a single hex may
be ignored during an attack on other units in the same hex.
As shown in the Counter Chart, barbarians and demons each have a combat
factor of 2; dwarves, elves, orcs, and
ghouls each have a combat factor of 1.
Wizards and sorcerers have a combat
factor of , but these units may not attack in combat their factors are used
only in figuring odds for combat attacks
made against them.
To resolve each attack, the attacking
player compares the total of the combat
factors of the attacking unit(s) to the total of the combat factors of the defending unit(s), expressing it as a ratio (always rounded down in favor of the defending units). The attacking player then
rolls a die, consults the table, and applies
the result to the defending units. Attacks
at odds greater than 6:1 are treated as
6:1; attacks at odds less than 1:2 are not
allowed.
If all the units in a hex are eliminated,
any units that attacked that hex (up to
four of one type) may advance into the
hex vacated by the eliminated units.
Special: If all units in a hex were eliminated by fireball spells in the segment
immediately preceding combat, any of
the phasing players units adjacent to the
now-vacant hex (up to four of one type)
may be moved into the vacant hex; however, units that do this may not attack
during the current combat segment.
Each type of wizard-player unit receives a combat bonus against one type
of sorcerer-player unit. As noted earlier
(3.4), fireball spells cast by wizards are
especially dangerous to sorcerers. In
regular combat, barbarians receive a
DRAGON

49

bonus vs. demons, dwarves have a bonus vs. orcs, and elves have a bonus vs.
ghouls. Whenever all the attacking and
defending units in a single attack (made
by the wizard player) are of the specified
types (barbarians vs. demons, dwarves
vs. orcs, or elves vs. ghouls), the attack
result is read as if the odds were one step
better (for the attacker) than they actually are (an attack at 1:2 becomes 1:1; 1:1
becomes 2:1, etc.).
The combat bonus does not work both
ways; sorcerer-player units always attack at the regular odds. The combat bonus does not apply if two different types
of wizard-player units are participating
in the same attack.
Some examples of the calculation of
combat odds are given in the next column. It should be noted that there is never more than one type of unit defending
against an attack, because each attack is
made against one or more units in the
same hex, and stacking restrictions do
not allow different types of units to be
stacked in the same hex. By referring to
the combat factors and combat bonuses
listed in the Counter Chart, players
should see why the odds listed for each
attack are appropriate.

50

JANUARY 1983

Attacker(s)

Defender(s)

Odds

2 elves
2 ghouls
2:1
1:1
2 ghouls
2 elves
1:1
1 elf, 1 dwarf
2 ghouls
4:1
3 barbarians
3 sorcerers
2 barbarians
3 sorcerers
2:11
2

4 wizards
1 orc
3

1 dwarf
3 ghouls
4 barbarians
6:14
1 orc
1:11
3 orcs
2 elves
2 demons
4:1
1 dwarf
1 demon
2 wizards
2:1
1:2
1 demon
2 barbarians
1
rounded in favor of defender
2
not allowed; wizards cant
attack in combat
3
not allowed; odds are less
than 1:2
4
best ratio possible, even
though actual odds are 8:1
3.6 Haste spells: This type of magic
is only usable by wizard units, and is one
of the two spells wizards may cast; however, each wizard unit can only cast one
spell per turn.
A Haste spell enables a wizard to give a
single stack of wizard-player units (up to
four of the same type in the same hex) a
bonus of 2, 4, or 6 hexes to the movement

capability of each of the target units for

the movement segment that immediately
follows the haste spell segment. The
target hex must be the same hex the
spell-caster is occupying (if the spellcaster and/or other wizards are being
hasted), or an adjacent hex containing
friendly units. Wizards stacked in the
same hex may cast haste spells on units
in separate hexes.
No units can be under the effect of
more than one haste spell per turn, but
the same target unit(s) can be the object
of more than one casting of the haste
spell. For example: If the result of the
first casting is a movement bonus of 2 or
4 for the affected units, a subsequent
haste spell cast on the same units in the
same segment might yield a higher result, and in that case the higher result
would apply. If the result of the first casting is a movement bonus of 6, subsequent spells cast on the same units are
effectively wasted and cannot be applied
to a different target. The counters printed +2, +4, and +6 are used to keep track
of the movement bonus a certain unit or
stack will receive in the ensuing movement phase.
To cast the spell, the wizard player first

designates the casting wizard and the

hex whose units are to be hasted. This
designation must be announced for each
intended casting of the spell before any
of the spells are resolved. Then the wizard player rolls a die and consults the
Haste Table for each casting, in any
order the wizard player desires.
Units in a hasted stack need not move
to the same destination hex. At the conclusion of movement, stacking restrictions must be observed. Since this spell
segment comes immediately before the
wizard-player movement segment, the
haste spell is useful to give wizard-player
units long-range strike capabilities.
W izard units that cast haste spells
should be inverted immediately, for the
rest of the current phase, as a reminder
to players that they cannot cast another
spell this turn.
Special: A wizard in an E hex at the
start of the wizard players first turn may
cast a haste spell on up to four units of
the same type to be entered through the
same E hex.
3.7 Haunt check: This final segment
of the wizard players phase comes into
play only when at least one haunt is currently occupied by wizard-player units.
A haunt check is not conducted if the
wizard-player unit(s) is simply moved
through a hex containing a haunt.
Each occupied haunt is destroyed
(the counter is removed from play) and
the sorcerer player must reveal the location of the wand if the haunt that contained it was destroyed. (Players, of
course, will never cheat; in any event, the
sorcerer player could be required to
produce the notation he made during
set-up (see 2.2), after the game is over.)
If a destroyed haunt did contain the
wand, the wand counter is brought into
play and stacked with the unit(s) that
occupied the hiding place.
Note: If the wizard player eliminates all
haunts of a certain type, the sorcerer
player cannot summon any more units of
the type corresponding to that type of
haunt (see 3.2). Haunt checks can be
conducted, and haunts can be destroyed
for this purpose, even after the wand has
been discovered.

The Wand
4.0 The counter of Arrakhars Wand
can only be moved if it is stacked with at
least one wizard-player unit (not necessarily a wizard). It can be moved by one
carrier (one wizard-player unit or stack)
each turn, when that unit or stack moves.
The wand may be handed off from a
stationary carrier to a unit or stack which
is moving through the carriers hex, but
only if the stationary carrier has not already moved in that turn. (The unit or
stack receiving the wand becomes the
new carrier, and must have movement

capability left so that it can leave the hex

where the transfer took place.)
The wands power will function only
for wizard units not any wizard-player
unit, although they can all be carriers. A
wizard unit or stack possessing the wand
can cast a single extra spell in effect,
a more potent version of the fireball spell
once per turn during the wizardplayers fireball-spell phase. The effects
of the wand fireball spell are rolled for on
the Wand Table instead of the Fireball
Table. Even if the wand is carried by a
stack of wizards, only one wand fireball
spell may be cast per turn.
Sorcerer-player units can retake the
wand after it is discovered by eliminating
all the wizard-player units in the hex containing the wand, and then occupying
that hex (possibly by an advance after
combat) with at least one sorcerer-player
unit. The sorcerer player cannot move or
use the wand, but can cluster units in
and around the hex it occupies to keep it
away from wizard-player units. If the
wand is in an otherwise empty hex, it is
simply left there until other units enter
the hex.
The wizard player wins by carrying the
wand into an E hex and thereby escaping to safety. The sorcerer player wins by
eliminating all wizard-player units, keeping the wand in his clutches even if he
cant do a thing with it.

Notes on Strategy
and Tactics
Although there is no turn limit to the
game, it is obvious that the wizard player
must achieve victory before the sorcerer
players constant reinforcements make
such a result impossible. Usually the
sorcerer player will place the haunts in
the shape of a rough circle around the
board. After the wizard player places his
forces at E hexes, the sorcerer player
will summon demons, orcs and ghouls to
block off access to the haunts and the
vulnerable sorcerer units. (Even a single
sorcerer-player unit can block an advance, as a sacrifice to buy time for
summoning and effectively deploying
other sorcerer-player units). If the wizard player cannot establish an edge in
eliminated units early on, he will find victory difficult to achieve.
Alternatively, the sorcerer player might
place haunts in a tight pattern, intending
to hole up in a corner of the valley and
fight a war of attrition. Or, he might
spread haunts and sorcerers far and
wide, turning the contest into more of a
bluffing match.
If the sorcerer player, by an exaggerated deployment of units, clearly indicates the haunt in which the wand is hidden and such is actually the case it
is possible that the wand will not come
into play until (or unless) the larger issue

is already decided; such a last stand

defense will usually result in a clear victory for one side or the other through
decimation of the losers units. (But what
if the wand turns out to be in one of the
haunts that isnt even defended, and
which the wizard player hasnt bothered
to check?)
Much of the tactical approach to a
game is dictated by the initial force design. Both the heavy-duty shock troops
(barbarians and demons) and the fireball
artillery (wizards and sorcerers) are attractive, but also expensive. The other
units can be useful for blocking avenues
of attack; this becomes especially important as more units are eliminated.

Variations
1. Short Scenario. Initial force points:
Wizard 40, Sorcerer 44. The sorcerer
player is only required to have four of
each type of unit in his force design; the
wizard player is only required to have
three of each type of unit in his force
design. All other rules of the Basic Scenario apply.
2. Long Scenario. Initial force points:
Wizard 90, Sorcerer 100. The sorcerer
player is required to have nine of each
type of unit in his force design; the wizard player is required to have six of each
type of unit in his force design. The sorcerer player places all haunts (three of
each type) on the board. All other rules
of the Basic Scenario apply.
3. Advanced Play. This rule change
can be applied to all scenarios. In designing forces, players are not required
to have a minimum number of units of a
given type. They are restricted only by
the countermix and the point limit of the
scenario being played, whether it is one
given here or one of the players devising.
4. Handicapping. Reduce the number
of force-design points available to the
more experienced player (for a shorter
game), or increase the number of forcedesign points available to the less experienced player (for a longer game). If
either the wizard-player side or the
sorcerer-player side wins too often for a
given set of players, adjust the design
points available to the sorcerer player up
or down in increments of two points.

Credits
Design: CC. Stoll
Editing: Kim Mohan, Wendy Vincent
Graphics: Keith Waits
Playtesting: Will Crawford, Donald
Kimmel, George Kimmel, Roger Raupp,
Gali Sanchez, Charlie Sexton, Ed Vermillion, Wendy Vincent, Jeff Webb
Inspiration: Kimmel of Cimmeria
(Scourge of the Western Coast)
DRAGON

51

FIREBALL TABLE

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

Result when used against:

Barbarian,
Wizard, Dwarf,
Sorcerer
Elf, Orc, Ghoul
Demon

Die
roll

Set-up:
1. Design forces (secretly)
2. Sorcerer-player unit placement
3. Wizard-player unit placement

2
3
4
5
6

Game turn:
Sorcerer-player phase
1. Wandering-orc check
2. Summon spells
3. Movement
4. Fireball spells
5. Combat
Wizard-player phase
1. Haste spells
2. Movement
3. Fireball spells
4. Combat
5. Haunt check

E
r
E
E
E
E
E
E: Unit eliminated
r: Roll again; no effect on 1-3, unit eliminated on 4-6
: No effect

WAND TABLE
Result when used against:
Die
roll

Demon

Orc, Ghoul

2
3
4
5
6

E
E
E
E

E
E
E
E: Unit eliminated
: No effect

COMBAT TABLE
Die roll
1

2
3
4
5

1:2

1:1

2:1

Combat odds:
4:1
3:1

5:1

E
E
E
E
E

E
E
E
E

E
E
E

E
E
r
E
E: Unit eliminated
r: Roll again; no effect on 1-3, unit eliminated on 4-6
: No effect

2
3
4
5
6

r
E
E
E
E
E

HASTE TABLE

SUMMON TABLE
Die roll

6:1

Die roll

Number summoned
2
3
3
4
4
4

2
3
4
5
6

Movement bonus
2
4
4
6
6
6

COUNTER CHART
Unit
Wizard
Barbarian
Dwarf
Elf
Sorcerer
Demon
Orc
Ghoul

52

A N U A R Y

1983

Move
4
6
4
4

4
6
4
4

Summoned in: Combat bonus vs.:

sorcerer (with fireball)

demon (in combat)

Combat

cost
3
2

1
1

1
1

orc (in combat)

ghoul (in combat)

3
2

1
1

1
1

temple
ruins
crypt

Sorcerer

E
E
E
E
E

DRAGON

53

54

JANUARY 1983

Entertainers are members of a complex character class with

three major sub-classifications. The entertainer, to begin his or
her life of giving performances, needs very low minimum ability
scores. However, once he or she specializes in one of the
available sub-classifications, then requirements become stiffer.
Listed below is the minimum score needed in each ability for a
Stagehand, each of the three sub-classifications (Juggler,
Acrobat, Troubadour) that become available to the character
once the Stagehand becomes a Performer, and the two highlevel special categories (Showman and Entertainer).
Wis
Int
Str
Dex Con Cha
Stagehand
6
9
6
1O
10
9
9
9
13
16
12
9
Juggler
Acrobat
13
9
6
15
15
9
Troubadour
9
15
6
10
10
15
Showman
as per the sub-groups selected, (see text)
Entertainer
13
15
13
16
15
15
Entertainers can be of any alignment; in cases of doubt, or
where random determination is desired, use this table:
01-40 pure neutral
89-92 lawful good
41-52 neutral good
93-95 chaotic good
53-64 lawful neutral
96-98 lawful evil
65-76 chaotic neutral
99-00 chaotic evil
77-88 neutral evil
Race, secondary profession, and the makeup of the party can
influence the determination of alignment in some cases.
Weapons and armor
Stagehands are allowed leather armor. No sub-class is ever
allowed scale, ring, plate, padded, studded leather, or splint. A
Troubadour may wear chain mail and may carry a shield when
adventuring. A Juggler may wear magical chain that leaves the
arms bare. An Acrobat cannot wear chain of any type. All
sub-classes may use bracers of defense, or any of the various

magical jewelry (brooches, talismans, necklaces, rings, etc.)

that offers protection. Troubadours may wear cloaks and robes
if they wish, but garments such as these would inhibit Jugglers
and Acrobats.
The first weapon of a member of the entertainer class is
usually either a dagger or a club, with some few knowing the
use of the quarter staff. One new weapon is gained at third level
and another at seventh level. Double-class entertainers (see
hereafter) may add a second new weapon at third and again at
seventh level, and those who seek to advance all the way to
becoming an Entertainer get a third new weapon at both third
and seventh levels.
The weapons made available to the entertainer as he or she
begins advancing in one of the major sub-divisions are as
follows:
Juggler: Any hand-held throwing weapon (hand axe, dagger,
hammer, spear, javelin, dart, etc.) will be taken at third level. At
seventh level, he or she may choose another throwing weapon
or select a short sword, long sword, broad sword or quarter
staff.
Acrobat: A member of this sub-group may select any of the
following: short sword, hand axe (hand-to-hand or thrown),
dagger (hand-to-hand or thrown), dart, hammer, or horsemens
mace.
Troubadour: A member of this sub-group may use a scimitar,
morning star, flail, hammer, mace, quarter staff, long bow, short
bow, or any type of sword except a bastard sword or twohanded sword.
Magic items usable
The entertainer may use any magical weapon that his or her
sub-class may know, as well as the magical armor and jewelry
described above, including all types of magic rings except
those usable only by magic-users. An entertainer can use any
potion allowed to all classes. He or she can use scrolls of

THE ENTERTAINER CHARACTER CLASS GROUP

Dice for
accumulated
hit points
Level titles for:
Experience points
Level
(see text)
Jugglers
Acrobats
Troubadours1
--------1
0
850
1d4
Stagehand
----------851 2,250
2
+1d4
Performer
+1d6 or +1
2,251 4,600
3
Catcher
Balancer
Storyteller/Joker
+1d6 or +1
4,601 10,000
4
Blade
Rhymer/Player
Athlete
+1d6 or +1
10,001 17,500
5
Manipulator
Singer/Musician
Gymnast
+1d8 or +1
17,501 37,500
6
Deluder
Trapezist
Poet/Clown
7
+1d8 or +1
Actor/Mime
37,501 75,000
Deceiver
Aerialist
75,001200,000
8
+1d8 or +1
Trickster
Tumbler
Star/Jester/Fool
+1d8
Troubadour
Juggler
200,001400,000
9
Acrobat
10
+1d10
----- double title of Showman/Showwoman (for any sub-group) ----400,001600,000
+1d10
600,001 +
11
----- Entertainer (for any sub-group) ----1
-A troubadour sometimes prefers to be more serious in his profession and thus will elect to be more of an actor than
a comic. A choice of titles is thus provided for troubadours of a given level.
DRAGON 55

protection, but not scrolls of spells. An entertainer can freely

use magical clothing that is not specified for use by only one
class (i.e., boots, gauntlets, girdles and helms). Cloaks and
robes will prevent juggling and acrobatic functions and must be
removed first before the performance of the function will be
allowed.
Entertainers can use magical books, tomes, and manuals that
affect ability scores, but not those that affect levels of experience or allow the construction of golems. They cannot use
scrying devices of any kind. In general, they can only use items
that can easily be transported by themselves alone (in a backpack, hand-carried, in a pouch, etc.). Large items will be forsaken and will usually not operate for them in any case.

Combat abilities
Entertainers fight as thieves and obtain the saving throws and
magic resistances of a magic-user in general melee. However,
each sub-class has some advantages in particular situations:
In regular hand-to-hand melee, an Acrobat gains a +2 bonus
to armor class for each point of dexterity above 14.
In weaponless combat, an Acrobat gains a bonus of +2% per
level above 2nd, on both the Base Score to Hit table and the
particular Result table being used.
When firing a bow, a Troubadour uses the fighter table instead of the thief table for to hit determination.
If a Juggler is the target of a thrown weapon and sees it
coming, he or she has a 15% chance per level above 2nd to
catch the weapon. An Acrobat in the same situation gets a +2
bonus to AC for each point of dexterity above 14.
If a Juggler is the target of a fired arrow or crossbow bolt and
sees it coming, he or she has a 5% chance per level above 2nd to
deflect the arrow or bolt. An Acrobat in the same situation gets
a +2 bonus to AC for each point of dexterity above 14.
If a Juggler throws a hand-held weapon with which he or she
is trained, he or she receives a +1 bonus to hit for each level
above 2nd.
If a Juggler is subjected to any illusion, including invisibility,
at a range of 10 feet or closer, he or she has a 7% chance per
level above 2nd to disbelieve and discover the illusion, in addition to the characters usual saving throw.
If a Juggler is attacked by telekinesis or levitation, he or she
gains a magic resistance of 5% per level above 2nd. For an
Acrobat in the same situation, the magic resistance is 15% per
level above 2nd.
If a Juggler puts on or is forced to put on a pair of cursed
gauntlets, the character has a 15% chance per level above 2nd
of being able to remove the gauntlets but only one such
attempt can be made per day. An Acrobat in the same situation
has a 5% chance per level above 2nd to remove the gauntlets.
If an Acrobat puts on or is forced to put on a pair of cursed
boots, the character has a 15% chance per level above 2nd of
being able to remove the boots but again, only one such
attempt can be made per day.
A Troubadour who is the target of a charm, command, or
other control-type magic gains a bonus to his or her saving
throw of +1 per level above 2nd.
A Troubadour who is the intended target of any sort of scrying, or a spell such as ESP, gains a magic resistance of 8% per
level above 2nd against such attempts.
A Troubadour gains +3 on all allowed saving throws whenever the character is the target of an attack involving psionics.
If a Troubadour puts on or is forced to put on cursed jewelry,
he or she has a 4% chance per level above 2nd of being able to
remove the jewelry (as above, one attempt per day).
A Troubadour has a 3% chance per level above 2nd of being
able to detect lie whenever a falsehood is told to the character,
but only one such attempt can be made for each falsehood.
If a Troubadour is given any fake item (paste jewelry, fools
gold, an item with an illusion cast on it, a magic item drained of
all its charges, etc.), the character has a 7% chance per level
above 2nd to know that the item is not what it might appear to be
but only one such attempt can be made for each item.

56

JANUARY 1983

Races of entertainers and allowed multi-classes

Humans, elven, and half-elven entertainers may progress to
the rank of Entertainer (i.e., 9th level Juggler/9th level Acrobat/9th level Troubadour). Dwarves may be Jugglers and/or
Acrobats but not Troubadours; they can advance to the rank of
Showman (9th level Juggler/9th level Acrobat). Gnomes can
advance to 7th level in any single entertainer profession
(Juggler, Acrobat, or Troubadour). Halflings make good
Jugglers (they may rise up to 9th level) and fair Troubadours
(5th level maximum). Half-orcs cannot be entertainers at all due
to their low charisma and dexterity.
An entertainer who plans to become a double-classed entertainer or a triple-classed entertainer (perhaps with the goal of
becoming an Entertainer and thus an 11th level character see
hereafter) cannot be multi-classed in any other profession. He
or she may give up entertaining and take up another class (as is
allowed to any human) as permitted by alignment. An entertainer cannot become a bard or vice versa.
Demi-human entertainers may be multi-classed as follows:
Halflings may be Juggler/thieves or Juggler/fighters. In a band
of halflings, there may be a non-player character Troubadour/
fighter or Troubadour/druid. Elves and half-elves may be Juggler/thieves, Juggler/assassins, Acrobat/thieves, Acrobat/assassins, Juggler/magic-users, or Troubadour/druids. Gnomes
may become Juggler/illusionists or Acrobat/assassins. Some
few Troubadour/fighters might be found as non-player characters in a gnome band. Dwarves can be Juggler/thieves or Acrobat/assassins. No other multi-class combination is open to a
dwarven entertainer.

Hirelings and henchmen

Entertainers can be hired by, or become the henchmen of,
members of any class except bards, clerics and monks. Troubadours, especially, are common henchmen of fighters, rangers
and paladins. Acrobats and Jugglers are common henchmen of
magic-users, illusionists, thieves and assassins. As a henchman the entertainer might become an advisor as well.
Entertainers cannot employ henchmen until they are 7th
level themselves. The characters who might come to them are
entertainers of the same sub-class, illusionists, thieves, assassins, fighters, and perhaps druids. Any of the above classes
might be hirelings of an entertainer as well. A paladin, ranger,
cleric, monk, or bard will not become a henchman or hireling of
an entertainer. A lawful magic-user will not join an entertainer,
but a chaotic one might.

Benefits of upper level entertainers

Upon reaching seventh level, an entertainer may buy or build
a small theater or large tent. He or she may hire other entertainers to perform therein. Entertainers of seventh level or higher
may charge an admission of 1 s.p. per level for a performance,
and levels are cumulative so that a Juggler/Troubadour (9th
level in two professions also called a Showman) could
charge 18 s.p. per head for his or her performance. Additional
acts on the bill can add to the price of the ticket, of course.
Once a theater is established, the entertainer will find his
advertising costs (see hereafter) cut by one-third, and his accumulated props and sets will allow his success money (see
hereafter) to be reduced by one-fourth.

Giving performances
All entertainers desire to perform before an audience. Those
having bare minimum ability scores can never achieve third
level or higher in any sub-division. They might, however, still be
associated with the theater, acting or doing some type of
performing, but they will never achieve any great success.
Stagehands and Performers are just beginning to learn their art
and havent decided on a specialty yet. They gain none of the
bonuses that apply to third level or higher in the sub-divisions.
A Stagehand or a Performer might know how to carry a tune
as a singer, play an instrument (just barely), dance a little (only
one or two types of steps), or perform the basics of juggling

three balls (dropping one every now and then). He or she will
know one weapon and will have no basic bonus skills, except
for the minor abilities of hide in shadows and move silently as a
first-level thief.
If a Performer has the minimum requirements for a profession in one or more of the sub-divisions (Juggler, Acrobat,
Troubadour), then he or she may begin to learn that trade from
another who already knows it and is at least fourth level. This
training for specialization will require 2-5 months, and the
character in training can do no adventuring during that period.
Members of the entertainer class can never gain a new level
of experience without giving a performance for an audience of
two dozen or more spectators. Failure to give this performance
will negate the opportunity to go on to a new level, regardless of
experience points gained in adventuring and regardless of the
number of small tricks, jokes, acts, or dances the character
might perform in lieu of the level performance.
When an entertainer gives a level performance, he or she
must obtain the support (via applause, laughs, thrown coins,
etc.) of the majority of the audience. An entertainer who does
not receive praise, accolades, money, etc., from at least half the
members of his or her audience has failed and will lose enough
experience points to place him or her at the midpoint of the next
lower level.
When giving or preparing to give a level performance, the
entertainer must abide by certain restrictions and procedures:
1. The entertainer must have at least 70% of the experience
points needed to advance to the next level; for instance, an
Actor (7th level) who wishes to become a Star (8th level) must
have 70% of 75,001 experience points, or at least 52,501, before
he gives this level performance. He or she can wait until the
entire 75,001 points is accumulated if he or she desires, but
until the performance is done successfully he or she will remain
7th level even if more experience is gained. If the performance
is completed successfully before the entertainer has enough

experience points to qualify for the next higher level, then the
entertainer will be able to advance to the next level as soon as
the required number of experience points are accumulated.
Note: An entertainer could give regular performances using old
material, sets, etc. at any time, but no experience is gained for
such efforts (although they might bring in some revenue); only
new performances count toward the awarding of experience.
2. The performers audience of intelligent beings must
number 24 or more.
3. The performer sums the levels (hit dice) of the audience
and divides this number by his or her current level in the profession for which he is giving the level performance. The result is
always rounded up in favor of the audience. (Zero-level figures
and 1-1 hit die intelligent monsters count as one hit die/first
level.) For example: Eleven zero-level humans, ten first-level
humans, six second-level humans, three third-level humans,
and a fifth-level gnome fighter/thief show up for the performance. They add up to (11x1)+(10x1)+(6x2)+(3x3)+(1x(5+5)) =
52 levels. His current level is 7 (Actor); 52 divided by 7 = 7.42,
which is rounded up to 8. This means the performer must roll 8
or higher on a d20 for this audience to like the performance. If 7
or less is rolled, the Actor goes back to being a Poet (one level
lower) at half of the required experience points to hold the level
in this case, 27,501. The performer can try to qualify as an
Actor again since he or she has more than 70% of 37,501 points,
or 26,251. Of course, he or she must also rise to 37,501 points,
as well as succeed in a new level performance, to again be the
level of an Actor.
4. A performer obtains 25 experience points per level of the
audience if successful. In the example given, this comes to
(25x52) = 1,300. But being successful does not mean that he or
she becomes 8th level at that moment in time. The performer
would add the 1,300 to his or her current experience point total,
and if that brings it to 75,001 or more, then the new level is
gained. In any event, the Level Performance is now out of the

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way, so that when the required amount of experience is gained,

the figure can become 8th level.
The performance is always given at the level the character is
currently at in the appropriate profession. An entertainer who
has already earned the rank of Juggler (9th level) might wish to
learn acting (being a Troubadour) as well. He or she must train
for 1-4 months and then he or she will become a 3rd level
Troubadour (Storyteller)/9th level Juggler (Juggler). To become 4th level as a Troubador, he or she will have to give a level
performance using 3 as the denominator in the given equation.
He or she cannot use juggling ability during such a performance or it will automatically fail.
A Storyteller who fails to become a Rhymer (4th level) is
allowed one more try. If he or she fails that try, then advancement as a Troubadour is forever closed. This is also true of a
Rhymer who tries to become a Singer (5th level), fails, and
drops back to 3rd level. Now he or she tries for 4th level again
and fails. If he or she fails one more time, Actor is closed to him
or her. The only exception to these rules is for a 3rd level figure
who fails in his performance for fourth level; he does not fall to
2nd level, but instead goes back to 2,251 experience points in
that profession and must work back up to 3,221 (70% of 4,601)
before the performance for fourth level can be tried again.

The Great Performance

When an entertainer is ready to become 9th level for the first
time in any of the three sub-classes, he or she must give a Great
Performance. This Great Performance must have a minimum
audience of 36. His denominator in the calculation will, of
course, be 8.
When an entertainer who has already become 9th level in one
sub-class is ready to give a performance for ninth level in a
second sub-class, another Great Performance is required. If
this is successful, the character becomes 10th level for the
purposes of to hit determination in melee, for saving throws,

58

JANUARY 1983

and for the special abilities allowed to each sub-class of

entertainer.

The Command Performance

When an entertainer who has gained 9th level in two subclasses (a 10th level Showman) is ready for his or her last
performance for ninth level, it is called a Command Performance. In this case, the audience must number 48 or more
people, and at least one of them must be 9th level. The calculation is as before: The performer sums the levels of the 48 or
more people attending and divides by 8. If he or she makes this
roll on d20, he or she is an Entertainer (11th level) in all three
sub-classes and thereafter can draw on all of his or her abilities
at any time he or she desires. All to hit figures and saving
throws, plus special abilities, are calculated as for an 11th level
character. If he or she fails in this Command Performance,
there is no second chance: the performer drops back to 7th
level in that last sub-class and can never again try to become an
Entertainer, though he or she is still a 9/9/7 level character, is
called a Showman (or Showwoman) and earns to hit abilities,
etc., as for a 10th level character.
The entertainer, assuming that he or she never fails in a
performance in the quest to become an 11th level Entertainer,
would have to make performances for advancement from level
3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, and 7-8 in three sub-classes, for a total of 15
level performances. These would usually be called and advertised as, for instance, the Fifth Level Performance for the Great
Juggler Harvey, meaning he is trying to go from 4th to 5th level
as a Juggler. The entertainer must make two Great Performances when he tries for 9th level for the first and second times.
Then he must give one Command Performance to become 9th
level in all three professions and be counted as an 11th level
Entertainer. (He would charge, usually, 9 + 9 + 9 = 27 s.p.
maximum for later performances, but many Entertainers charge
2 g.p. per head for a performance if they have their own

the result is only 20. So far the advertising has cost the performer 180 g.p. He gives the show, but cannot use it as his Level
Performance since 24 spectators are not present. He spends
180 g.p. more to advertise for another three days. The DM rolls
6d8 and this time gets a result of 38. According to the stipulation given above, 10 people from the first audience will also
show up, yielding a packed house of 48. The entertainer must
go on, even though his chance of giving a successful Level
Performance under those conditions is greatly diminished from
what it would be if only the required minimum of 24 people were
present.
theater.) Naturally, if the entertainer botches a level performance he will have to give two performances to make it up.
(Exception, as noted before: If he tries to go from 3rd to 4th and
fails then he does not have to perform again to regain 3rd level.)

Obtaining an audience
The entertainer cannot cheat in his attempt to stack the
audience in his or her favor. He or she must advertise in pubs,
inns, via town criers, with handbills, etc., that he or she will give
a level performance, Great Performance, or Command Performance. Advertising must begin at least three days before the
event. The event must be in a town, at a reasonable time, and in
a safe place. The advertising cost is 60 g.p. per day. This outlay
of (at least) 180 g.p. can be cut by one third (from 180 to 120
g.p., in this example) if the entertainer already has his own
theater. He or she must provide enough room for double the
number of people required to see the performance. Excess
people up to the capacity of the room/hall/arena cannot be
turned away. People who come with money in hand must be let
in, whether they are peasant or king. The theater management
(perhaps the entertainer himself) does have the right to forbid
drunks and to stop hecklers and rowdy behavior in the
audience.
The DM will roll 6d8 for a level performance, 9d8 for a Great
Performance and 8d12 for a Command Performance to determine the number of people who show up. If the size of the
audience falls short of the required 24, 36, or 48, then a show
must still go on that night (no disappointing those who do show
up), and the performer must advertise for three more days and
again attempt to stage the required level, Great, or Command
Performance. However, in such a case, half of the number of
people who showed up the first time will come back for the
second show, in addition to the new audience. Example: A
character is to give a level performance. He provides room for
48 spectators, as required (even though only 24 have to attend
for the level performance to qualify), and the DM rolls 6d8 but

Race and type of audience members

If an audience is made up of a sizable percentage of some
race or type of creature, this will slightly skew the result. Given
in the following list is the minimum number of a certain race or
type necessary to cause an effect and the result for each
member of the race. For instance, if at least five elves are at a
performance, all of them will tend to laugh easily and applaud
often. Count the elves as one level lower than they really are
even if this means zeroing out first-level elves. Naturally,
since even zero level elves are present, they do count toward
the total required audience. Second-level elves would count as
first level; an elf who is third level in two professions would
count as one fifth-level character instead of sixth level as usual.
Fewer than five elves will not have the group effect of his or her
peers and will not be counted as one level lower.
Given below is each race or type of creature for which adjustments would be made, followed by a number in parentheses
which is the minimum number of that type that must be present
to affect the adjustment, and details of the adjustment that
applies in such cases:
Elf (5) Elves will be one level lower than they actually are;
i.e., an easy audience to please.
Dwarf (4) Dwarves dont laugh at much. Count each as one
level higher. A tough audience.
Gnome (any) Same as humans.
Halfling (3) Halflings laugh at almost anything and are
easily enraptured. Zero out any halfling regardless of level.
Humanoids of up to 3 HD (4) Stupid and dour, they will
miss the point of a story or miss a punch line. Virtually everything goes over their heads. Count as double their hit dice in
levels.
Dragon (1) Dragons love entertainment. They are more
gullible than halflings. Zero them out, and subtract 1 from the
audience level total for each of the dragons age levels.
Ogre and giant (1) Usually not too bright, they count as 2
levels higher each.
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59

Minotaur (1) Each counts as a 12th-level figure they

have no sense of humor at all!
Treant (1) Count each as two levels higher than actual.
They would like to laugh, but it all happens too quickly for them
they get the joke three days later!
Undead (1) Youve got to be kidding! Triple the hit dice of
any undead in the audience.
Note: Evil humanoids, ogres, giants, minotaurs, undead,
dragons, etc., if they dominate or control the audience might
eat the entertainer if he or she fails to please them. Any entertainer giving his level performance to a band of ogres has got a
lot of moxie and no brains at all!

Making the performance a success

An entertainer can make a level performance more likely to
be well received. He or she can spend additional gold pieces to
hire backup singers, more musicians, extra props, lavish sets,
new material, etc. For every 100 g.p. invested in making the
show grander, the entertainer may add +1 to the required d20
roll for success. But alas, for every 100 g.p. added, he is detracting from his own potential gain in experience points, so that the
100 g.p. must be converted directly to experience points (one
for one) and subtracted from the experience points he would
normally gain for the performance. For the performance to be a
success, he must gain some experience, thus limiting the
amount of gold he can pour in for extra trappings. Example: A
Singer (5th level) is about to give his level performance to
become a Poet. He posts the proper advertisements and sends
out the proper street criers for an investment of 180 g.p. The
night of the performance arrives and, much to his sorrow,
instead of 24 low-level figures arriving (the perfect audience),
42 people arrive. Many of them are second level, a few are third
level and the mayor himself, who is seventh level, is also in
attendance. The entertainer sums the crowd to get a total level
figure of 78. Divided by his level (5) and rounded up, he obtains

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JANUARY 1983

16 as his required saving roll. He would gain 78 x 25 = 1,950

experience points if he went on stage right now. However, he
could invest some money to lower his roll for success. Lets say
he will spend 1,200 g.p. to make the production truly lavish.
Now he need only roll a 4 or better (counting the +12 bonus) to
succeed. He would then obtain 1,950-1,200 = 750 experience
points for the successful performance.
Important: The performer can never make the performance a
sure thing. If he or she rolls a natural 1 on the success roll for a
level performance, then he has dropped the items he was juggling, forgotten the punch line of a big joke, sung off key or
fallen off the stage in a difficult jump; just as a roll of 1 on a
saving throw is always a failure, a natural 1 on the performance
success roll means he or she has blown it regardless of the
extra gold that was spent. A Great Performance will always fail
on a natural 1 or 2. A Command Performance will always fail on
a natural 1, 2 or 3.

Entertainers hit points

Entertainers begin with one four-sided die for hit points.
They may add a bonus for constitution of 15 or above, just as
other classes. At second level they add another four-sided die.
Now they will specialize in one of the three sub-classes. Whichever one they choose, they add one six-sided die for third,
fourth and fifth level. For sixth through ninth they add one
eight-sided die for each level.
Now, if they choose to become a second sub-class of entertainer, they begin again at third level in the new profession after
a training period of 1-4 months with someone who is already at
least fourth level in that sub-class. Upon becoming this third
level in this second sub-class, they add one hit point (the constitution bonus does not apply any more). Thus, for example,
an entertainers hit points might go like this: 1st level, roll d4 = 3;
2nd level, roll d4 = 1 (total 4); 3rd level, roll d6 = 5 (total 9); and so
on, until 9th level, roll d8 = 7 (total, lets say, 30). The character

now enters a second sub-class and trains for 3 months (rolled

on d4) and adds one hit point for a total of 31. At fourth level in
the new profession he adds one more point for 32, etc., until at
9th level he adds 1d10 because now he has become a Showman
(10th level). At eighth level he would be up to a total of 36 and
then add 1d10 for, lets say, 7, yielding a total of 43 hit points. He
now begins again in the third and last sub-class (assuming he
has the proper ability scores and is of the proper race). After 1-4
more months he adds 1 hit point. From 3rd to 8th level he adds
+1 and is then up to 49 hit points by the time he is a Showman as
well as 8th level in the new profession. If his Command Performance is a success, and he has 600,001 experience points or
more, he adds 1 last d10. With a constitution of 16 to 18 and the
best die rolls possible, an Entertainer could have as many as
120 hit points, and he would have a minimum of 28 hit points
with a constitution of 15 or less (he must have a 15 constitution
for acrobat, as stated earlier). Entertainers who botch a level
performance lose hit points and must regain them.

Skills of entertainers
Stagehand: A stagehand learns how to move silently and hide
in shadows as a first-level thief, so that he will be out of the way
as things occur on stage. He understands lighting, and a very
little about a number of performing skills. He can sing a little
(off key), play a little (very little), juggle a simple cascade for 2-7
segments, do a shoulder roll, tell a little joke, etc. He has no
special ability otherwise. He fights as a first-level thief and
saves as a first-level magic-user. He will begin to learn the
crude beginnings of makeup, but someone can see through
one of his disguises at a 75% chance plus 5% per level of the
viewer. This chance goes down by 10% base for every level the
entertainer gains thereafter (the 5% chance to spot the disguise
per level of the viewer remains), so that a fifth-level entertainer
would do a disguise that a first-level character could see
through 40% of the time (75 minus 4x10 plus 5). An Entertainer
(11th level) would have a chance of 75 minus (10x10) plus 5% =
-20% to be spotted by a first level; i.e., he would not be spotted.
Note that being double-classed as an entertainer does not help
this percent chance until Showman is achieved and the entertainer can count himself as 10th level.
Performer: The ability to move silently and hide in shadows
goes up just as if the entertainer were a thief for his or her entire
career. Otherwise, no new skills are added at second level.
When the Performer is studying to become third level in one
of the three sub-classes, he will begin to specialize. However,
every entertainer begins to learn the gift of gab. Upon becoming third level in any of the sub-classes, he or she has a 5%
chance per level to enrapture zero-level type peasants. This
does not include a zero-level master craftsman or a zero-level
educated figure; it pertains only to the uneducated clodhopper
or the typical group of children. Such an ability can often get an
entertainer free room and board in a home, hut or barn.
The ability to act, sing, dance, juggle, tumble, etc., can be a
great asset even in front of small audiences or in one-on-one
situations. Even educated characters of second level or higher
might like a joke, story, or trick. Give such a figure a normal
saving throw. If the throw is failed, the audience likes the joke,
story, trick, or whatever, and he will offer to give the entertainer
a free drink, a few coins (silver), and perhaps food and a place
to sleep. This ability does not necessarily gain any direct benefit for the party, but a performer can often work the streets for
a few hours and get enough silver pieces to put himself and his
friends up for the night. Alignment of the entertainer and the
figure being entertained must be identical or (at most) one step
apart for this form of entertainment to work.

Other special abilities

In addition to the special abilities described earlier that relate
directly to combat and saving throws, each sub-class of entertainer has other particular talents:
A Juggler has a 25% chance at 3rd level and 9% better per
level thereafter to hide a small item (coin, silk handkerchief,

ring, gem, etc.) on his person successfully. A side occupation

for a Juggler is the performance of small acts of magic
sleight-of-hand magic, not real magic. Jugglers are good at the
old shell game and other types of con games. Someone
watching the game is allowed a saving throw (vs. spells) to
see through it, but that saving throw is adjusted for their difference in levels (if any). If the patsy is of lower level than the
Juggler, the die roll is adjusted down by the difference in levels.
If the observer is of higher level than the Juggler, the die roll is
adjusted in the observers favor.
A Juggler can throw any object of reasonable size (a bottle, a
candlestick, a beer mug, an indian club, etc.) with no nonproficiency penalty. However, he or she only gains the aforementioned +1 per level bonus to hit when using weapons with
which the Juggler is proficient.
If a Juggler, empty-handed and alert, has an object thrown to
him or her so that he or she knows and sees it coming, there is
only a 1% chance that the Juggler will fail to catch it. That 1%
chance is reduced by 1/10% for each level above 3rd.
A Juggler can throw items very rapidly. If he is not proficient
with the item (weapon), he is limited to one burst that allows
two items to be thrown in one round. However, both are -2 to
hit. He must state that he is going to throw two items (weapons)
rapidly before the first is thrown. The amount of time between
the two throws is 1-4 segments.
A Juggler who throws a small weapon with which he is proficient (dagger, dart, or hand axe only) can be very rapid indeed.
The normal rate for throwing daggers is 2/round, for the dart
3/round, and for the hand axe 1/round (see Players Handbook,
page 38). A Juggler of 4th level or higher can exceed this rate in
most cases (see the chart below).
If a Juggler wishes to-fire a burst of identical thrown weapons, he will suffer some loss of accuracy. As stated earlier, he is
+1 to hit per level above 2nd with hand-held weapons that he
is proficient with. This +1 per level is taken into account along
with the to hit penalty prescribed for each weapon in a given
burst, as given in the following chart. The Juggler must state
how many weapons he will attempt to throw in a burst. If he is
hit for damage during the burst, it comes to an end. All
bursts must be fired at the same target, even if that target is hit
or falls over (dies) as a result of one of the hits prior to the last
weapon in the burst. Leftover shots are wasted.

Weapon

Maximum size of burst

at level given

Penalty for
each weapon
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
in burst

Dagger
2* 2* 3 3 3 3 4 4
4
-3
Dart
3* 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6
-4
Hand axe
1* 1* 1* 2 2 2 3 3
3
-2
* normal number per round allowed, not considered a burst, no penalty applied.
Example: A Showman of 10th level (i.e., he has become a 9th
level Juggler and 9th level in another entertainment profession
as well) decides to throw a burst of daggers on one round, then
darts on another. He selects 4 daggers and 6 darts for the two
bursts. Since he is +8 to hit normally with these trained weapons, his accuracy is now +5 with each dagger and +4 with each
dart. Note: Adjustments of -2 and -5 for medium and long range
apply, just as with any other missile weapon attack.
An Acrobat can jump (as the spell) at will once for each level
of experience during any single turn if the Acrobat has taken
less than half damage. If current damage is more than half the
characters total hit points, he can jump only once per turn
regardless of level.
Magical clothing operates well for Acrobats in some specific
cases. Boots of elvenkind make them only 1% likely to make
noise in the worst conditions. Boots of striding and springing
will never cause them to fall or trip from a misstep or poor jump.
An Acrobat can march for 15 hours in such boots. Boots of
speed allow an Acrobat to move at a base speed of 25 plus 1
per level above 2nd.
Gauntlets of ogre power give an Acrobat a grasping strength
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of 19. Gauntlets of swimming and climbing give an Acrobat a 3

movement bonus in water.
An Acrobat can climb walls like a thief, but he is better at it.
Use the following table for an Acrobats chance to climb a wall
successfully (this is a base chance; see the Dungeon Masters
Guide, page 19).

Race

Level of Acrobat

3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11
Human,
Half-elf
92% 93% 94% 95% 96% 97% 98% 99% 99.5%
or Elf
Dwarf
84% 85% 86% 87% 88% 89% 90% 91%
81% 82% 83% 84% 85%
Gnome
An Acrobat can walk a taut wire (or rope) in calm wind
conditions (less than 3 mph wind velocity) at the rate of
1/round plus /round per level above 3rd. His chance to fall is
a base 3%, minus 3/10% per level above 3rd.
An Acrobat can walk a slack wire in calm wind conditions at
the rate of /round plus /round per level above 3rd. His
chance to fall is a base 7%, minus 7/10% per level above 3rd.
Note: A taut wire has to be pulled tight by a winch or a series
of pulleys. A taut wire is not achieved by tying a rope between
two trees that is a slack wire.
An Acrobat can walk up a slanted wire in calm wind conditions at the rate of /round plus /round per level above 3rd.
His chance to fall is a base 6%, minus 4/10% per level above 3rd.
The wires angle can be up to 15 with no penalty. Thereafter
the chance to fall is increased by 2% per degree of angle, with
35 being the maximum slant in any case.
Each full 3 mph of wind velocity adds 1% to the chance to fall
from any sort of wire, and a wind velocity of more than 45 mph
makes the acrobat also have to save vs. spells each round or be
thrown off the wire. An Acrobat is allowed a save vs. wands to
catch himself in a fall from a wire (on the wire itself). If such a
catch succeeds, the Acrobat will take a full round to regain his
footing. Note: 1 on ropes and wires always equals 10 feet,
never 10 yards.
A Troubadour has a 5% chance per level above 2nd to know if
an item, person, or place is historical or legendary. The item,
person, or place must be within 10 feet of the Troubadour, and it
must have a history that is meaningful and relevant for the
Troubadour to have any chance to relate some fact about it.
Troubadours have a 10% chance per level above 2nd to relate
a list of possible uses for an item found to be magic. For
example, if a wand is found by a Troubadour or a member of the
Troubadours party, the person playing the Troubadour (who
will be the DM if the Troubadour is a non-player character), if
the appropriate dice roll is made, can relate the names and uses
of every wand in the Dungeon Masters Guide that the player
can actually remember! No looking in the book is permitted (if

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JANUARY 1983

this is done, the ability is cancelled), and this ability is negated if

the playing session ends before the ability is used.
A Troubadour who finds a scroll of commune or legend lore
has an 11% chance per level above 2nd to use the scroll successfully. If a Troubadour is present during the casting of a
commune or legend lore spell, either one extra question can be
asked or the chance of success will go up by 3% per level of the
Troubadour above 2nd. This benefit does not apply to a spell
cast from a scroll.
A Troubadour, when trying to sing for his supper (act, tell a
story, tell a joke, etc.) affords the listener a saving throw at -1
per level of the Troubadour above 2nd. This does not work on
listeners of radically different alignments (more than one step
removed from the Troubadour).

Spell casting for exceptional entertainers only

Elf, gnome, half-elf, and human entertainers who select entertainment (anyone or more than one of the three sub-classes)
as their sole class and have intelligence of at least 15 and
dexterity of 16 may learn limited spell casting ability. The character can use either M-U (for a human, elf or half-elf) or illusionist (for a human or gnome) spells.
The entertainer must be trained by a magic-user or illusionist
for a period of 2-5 years, just as a real magic-user or illusionist
must be trained. This training must be accomplished before the
entertainer reaches third level in any of the entertainment
sub-classes.
When the training is complete, and upon becoming 3rd level
as an entertainer, the character can take up some low-level
cantrips and spells. Given below is the maximum spell/cantrip
capacity (in number and level of the speIIs/cantrips) for a character of a certain level. Important note: The fact that the figure
becomes an amateur spell caster does not give access to
scrolls or magic items usable only by M-Us or illusionists.
An entertainer of 3rd level (in his or her highest sub-class)
can have either two M-U cantrips or one illusionist cantrip.
A 4th level entertainer can have four magic-user cantrips or
two illusionist cantrips.
5th level: Four M-U cantrips plus one 1st level M-U spell, or
three illusionist cantrips.
6th level: Four M-U cantrips plus two 1st level M-U spells, or
four illusionist cantrips plus one 1st level illusionist spell.
7th level: Add one 1st level M-U spell or one 1st level illusionist spell.
8th level: Add two M-U cantrips and one 1st level M-U spell, or
one illusionist cantrip and one 1st level illusionist spell.
9th level: Add one 2nd level M-U spell, or one illusionist
cantrip and one 1st level illusionist spell.
10th level: Add one 2nd level M-U spell, or one 2nd level
illusionist spell.
11th level: Add one 1st level M-U spell and one 2nd level M-U
spell, or one 2nd level illusionist spell.
The magic-using or illusion-using entertainer may not substitute more cantrips for a 1st level spell the way a magic-user or
illusionist can. For the purpose of range, duration, and area of
effect the entertainer is considered two levels lower than his or
her actual level.
Magic-using and illusion-using entertainers may take any
spell they can learn. They need spell books and cantrip books
just as magic-users and illusionists do. Their chance to know
any single spell is 20% lower than a magic-user or illusionist
with the same intelligence rating. The maximum and minimum
number of spells they may know is as if they had two less points
of intelligence than they actually do.
Spell-casting entertainers need 80% of the experience points
necessary to rise to the next level (instead of the usual 70%)
before they can give a Level Performance and they can never
use magic in such a performance. They must, in all cases, earn
5% more experience points than would ordinarily be necessary
to rise in level when that rise gives them a larger spell capacity.
Entertainer spell casters, while they may select attack spells,
may not memorize duplicate spells of the same kind.

Ready for anything!

Be prepared to carry more than just a sword
by Lewis Pulsipher
Has an oil flask ever been broken when
a character was hit, a prisoner freed from
his bonds while another character wasnt
looking, or a character injured because
his torch went out? Why didnt these
characters have a metal or ceramic flask,
chains with manacles, or continual light
cubes? Many fantasy role-players allow
themselves to be confined to the list of
equipment given in the rules. If an item
isnt there, players often dont think
about the possibility of obtaining it.
Fortunately, at least in the AD&D
game system, some important perhaps vital items as wolvesbane and
belladonna are on the price lists. However, dozens of easily made and potentially useful items are not. Just a little
thought and ingenuity are required to
devise some of these items. Even if a
referee refuses the construction of mechanical monstrosities like a 10-shot
crossbow, hell find it hard to refuse the
construction and purchase of the items
described below. Every well-equipped
adventurer should have these items on
hand, unless hes so devil-may-care that

planning and sensible caution are beyond him.

The items presented here pertain
primarily to the AD&D system; for other
games, certain spells peculiar to those
games may enable player characters to
make additional useful items. The items
have been separated into categories to
aid presentation, but in some cases an
item could just as well be included in one
category as another; this is especially
true with respect to offensive/defensive
items.

Containers
If an adventurer finds a liquid or solid
item that he or she wishes to take along,
but doesnt want to touch, a reliable,
easy-to-handle container is. necessary.
Small creatures may also be imprisoned
therein, but dont forget they need to
breathe if you intend to keep them alive.
A screw-top jar of any reasonable size
is a handy thing to have. The jar should
be of metal-reinforced ceramic or glass
so it wont break easily. An airtight box,
padded on the inside, is necessary to
hold the jar safely and securely. The jar
ought to fit snugly into the padded box

to avoid spilling the jars contents. When

transporting small creatures, holes must
be drilled in the jar lid and box top so the
animal can breathe. The box should be
able to be closed securely, perhaps with
a simple keylock. The idea isnt to keep
anyone out, but to keep whatever is in
the box in it and undamaged.
Probably, a backpack will be relegated
to carrying everyday articles, some of
which may be in jar containers. For additional security, a hard surface, made of
wood or metal, can be used to line the
bottom of the backpack. With a hardsurface bottom, the pack will still remain
flexible. During transportation, this measure can prevent spillage of the entire
contents, if (for instance) a thief were to
cut out the bottom of the backpack.
Jewels, gems, and magic items should
be carried between robe and armor, or
even inside the armor if the object is
small enough that it wont be irritating.
One could even include compartments
in the armor, such as a false paunch, to
conceal valuable items.
Consideration must be given to containers for holy water, oil, scrolls, potions, wands, or other magic items. The
DRAGON

63

notion that containers for such items

should be made of a single material,
such as glass, is ludicrous. Glass is simply too fragile to be dependable in an
adventuring setting. No material, including metal, is proof against all the dangers
of magical and monstrous combat. A
sensible adventurer would have containers of several materials. For example, a
metal container will fend off violent
blows, but may be endangered if a rust
monster is encountered. Certain potions
may deteriorate or decompose when in
contact with metal. A tin container tends
to be better than iron since it doesnt
rust, yet iron is stronger. In many respects bronze is the ideal single material, but iron is usually more available. A
thin layer of iron, covered inside and out
with pottery or other ceramic material,
serves well as the basis of a container.
The ceramic will protect the contents
from lightning, one of the forces to
which hard metal is most vulnerable, as
well as protecting the contents from direct contact with, and possible contamination by, the metal. Ceramic material
also has a slightly better save vs. fireball.
And even if the first layer fails to save, the
second might succeed. (See the saving
throw table on page 78 of the Dungeon
Masters Guide.)
The drawback of this type of container
is that it wont smash easily (releasing
the contents when you want them released) if thrown against a wall or a creature. However, if the container is cylindrical, the contents can be thrown or
sprayed with considerable accuracy. Of
course, adventurers can carry some containers of the safety type and some of
the smash type. Finally, some referees
may allow player characters to carry a
container with a pump to spray holy water or oil.

Communication aids
This category includes some rather
fundamental and straightforward items
and techniques. A piece of chalk or
charcoal, for example, can be used for
marking dungeon walls. Such primitive
markings might be most useful if there
are only illiterate or unintelligent enemies about; an intelligent foe could easily duplicate the marks, thus confusing
the adventurers. Pen, ink, paper or
parchment (very durable, especially if
made of treated hide), paint, and a paint
brush are more useful than chalk and
charcoal. Since the right color of paint
and the proper type of brush would be
needed in order to make a mark similar
to that of the partys, an enemy would
have a more difficult time trying to foil
the communication system devised by
the party.
When adventuring outdoors, visual
and audio techniques are important for
fast and effective communication. For
example, strips of white cloth could
prove to be useful. Stretched on the

64

JANUARY 1983

ground, these pieces of cloth serve as

landmarks for returning aerial scouts or
for airborne reinforcements. A horn,
some mouthpipes, and other audio devices can be used for signalling to someone at a distance. A clever and ambitious
party may devise a musical code for its
members who play the pipes.

Tools
More than once, a party in a cul-de-sac
has elected to cut its way out through a
wall rather than face some menace. In
order to do this effectively, tools are necessary. Such items as a crowbar, candles, stone-mining tools, a small pack for
carrying bigger mining tools, and a small
shovel are usually helpful.
In addition, adventurers might consider taking a trick 10-foot pole, a threepronged grappling hook, and some torch
adaptors. The trick pole consists of two
five-foot sections connected by a screw
joint, or by a collar joint with a pin to hold
the two sections together. When a long
pole is needed, the two pieces are assembled. In normal circumstances, the
five-foot pieces remain unattached so
they dont get in the way. The grappling
hook, most useful for scaling, resembles
the ones often seen in war, prison-escape, and spy movies.
Torch adaptors are simple square pieces of metal with a hole/collar in the
middle. The adaptor is placed onto a
torch from the bottom, so that it lies just
under the flame. Though the adaptor
protects the hand holding the torch, it
also blocks some of the light from radiating downward. If the torch is dropped or
thrown, the adaptor may keep the flaming part from lying on the floor, since the
torch will be supported by its non-burning end and the adaptor. And it wont roll
around, either. This means a better
chance of throwing a torch without extinguishing it.

Offensive devices
A wine sack can prove useful as an
attack device, especially if it is the type
that can be used as a kind of short-range
squirt gun. Perhaps the skin can be
made of, or reinforced with, a material
tougher than ordinary hide. A character
may want to squirt wine, water, light oil,
or some other liquid at an enemy or at an
object. Squirting offers a greater range
than pouring, and has almost as much
accuracy.
Adventurers should carry plenty of
holy water. If they can afford it, all their
weapons should be blessed by a cleric,
and perhaps bathed in holy water before
an adventure. This may not help every
time, but it cant hurt, and may thwart a
referees most subtle plans.
Colored dust or flour, contained in
paper packets and/or small spheres of
pottery, can be thrown at an enemy. At
worst, the opponent(s) will be slightly
worried; at most, theyll flee from the

dust of choking they think was just

thrown. A little pepper or itching powder
in the flour may offer more benefit, but it
can hurt or hinder the party just as easily
as the opposition in certain situations.
Adventurers should not forget to take
oil and non-metallic weapons. When
feasible and possible, one should carry
an extra sword of bronze and a mace or
hammer made of flint or stone. Bronze
may be no match for iron in general, but
it may harm monsters which cannot be
hurt by iron weapons. A stone weapon is
useful against (for instance) rust monsters. A well-made flint dagger can be
just as sharp as a metal one, even though
it will be expensive.
Finally, characters ought to remember
to use silver coatings on weapons when
that might aid their cause. A large net, as
well as a smaller butterfly-style net, are
potential weapons that should not be
overlooked as often as they are.

Defensive items
When an individual or a party is attempting to flee an area, mustard powder, oil of citronella, or other strongsmelling concoctions can be strewn
about to cover a partys trail. Cover, in
this sense, means preventing the pursuer from using its sense of smell effectively, so that after it passes the affected
area, it still wont be able to smell the
party (or anything else). The powder
should be put in a paper packet, the oil in
a small, smashable flask.
Caltrops are four-pointed metal objects shaped in such a fashion that one
point is always up and the other three act
as a base. This device will slow down
pursuit, and can also be used to create
an alarm perimeter around a camp. If the
tips are poisoned, caltrops can be a surprisingly powerful weapon, particuarly
in darkness.
In addition, wedge-shaped pieces of
wood or metal, with a rough, slightly flexible bottom shoe base, are excellent
doorstops. Laying down a doorstop and
kicking it into place takes much less time
than pounding in a spike to hold the door
open.
Another defensive item with many uses
is a dead rat (or other small animal).
These rats (if you carry one, you may as

well take at least two) can be wrapped

securely in oiled paper to conceal the
smell, or simply hidden until needed.
The creatures bodies can be used to test
liquids for acidic and similar effects, although a substance that rots animal matter might not affect wood or metal. The
rats should be recently killed; animals
with which one is trying to talk or bargain
may prefer fresh meat over iron rations.
Fresh meat tossed aside during flight
may also slow down pursuers.
Noseplugs and earplugs, mundane as
they may seem, have saved many lives;
however, a referee might penalize those
who try to wear them all the time. By
submerging all but the tip of a hollow
metal tube, a character can breathe inconspicuously underwater. Another tube
filled with fine charcoal (held in place by
a bit of fine netting glued to each end)
could serve as a primitive filter which
might reduce the ill effects of gas.
By sewing a sharp coin into the lining
of a robe, a character, when captured,
may be able to free the coin and then
sever his bonds. Characters should remember to carry a steel mirror and a
silver holy symbol, and to insulate weapons against a heat metal spell. Finally, an
alkaline solution carried in a flask can
help counteract any acids encountered.

Miscellaneous items
Numerous smaller items, such as those
mentioned below, can be of additional
service to adventurers. For example, wire
can sometimes be used where rope cannot. With appropriate wooden or metal
handles, a short wire becomes a garotte.
Piton rings for climbing can be used
when a thief is unwilling, unable, or unavailable. A pair of five-foot chains with
silver-coated manacles at the ends has
many uses. There is no need to rely on
rope when the silver should help prevent
a lycanthrope from changing into its
animal form, though this varies from
referee to referee. An adjustable leather
collar, reinforced with metal, with loops
for attaching rope or chain is a similarly
useful item.
Other useful (perhaps even essential)
items include flint and steel, which are
mandatory for fire-making; a blindfold
and a gag, to be used in conjunction with

the restraints mentioned above; an eyepatch, for a quick disguise, for medical
purposes, or even for (temporarily) blinding a prisoner in one eye for some reason. Though smelling salts will probably
never save anyones life, sometimes a
quick recovery from unconsciousness
can be vital.
Flashy trinkets, counterfeit coins, silver-coated slugs, gold-plated copper
pieces, and other deceptive valuables
can be carried either for dishonest trading or for throwing down while fleeing an
enemy. Some of the items especially
large but flawed (and thus relatively
worthless) gems can be placed in a
paper packet which can be easily torn,
so that the contents will scatter and attract a pursuers attention. Weak, rotten
cloth can be a substitute if paper is not
available in the adventure setting.
A character who can cast continual
light (which has no duration limit) should
place that spell on a variety of objects,
especially cubes, slabs, and spheres.
These can be stored in containers slightly larger than the objects themselves and
then revealed when the party wants to
throw a light somewhere. For example,
rather than walk down a long, dark flight
of stairs, a character rolls a light ball
down to get a good view. If a cube or slab
is made of flexible, shock-absorbent material, it wont bounce far when light is
desired in a specific place. A sphere, on
the other hand, will go a long way in a
dungeon-like interior. If the referee
agrees, characters can even make light
frisbees from pie plates.
A particularly useful variation of continual light objects is the light bomb.
To make such an item, a light cube is
placed into a pottery ball. The ball can be
made of two hemispheres bound together with twine, or the light cube can be
baked inside a one-piece sphere. Then
when a character who is invisible or hiding in shadows wants to attack with surprise and have light to see by, he can
throw a light bomb. Suddenly, a light as
bright as daylight appears in the midst of
the enemy! The bomb might even frighten
off unintelligent monsters.
Another useful variation involves using a tube that contains a long cylinder
or stick with the continual light spell on

Handy things to have

(from left): caltrops; a horn for
signalling; spheres filled with
powder; a monster-sized net.
it. The cylinder can be pulled out or
pushed in to increase or decrease the
strength of the light.
For a light helm, a continual light
spell is cast on a projection at the top of a
helmet, which is covered by a visor-like
piece. Whenever the wearer wants light,
he raises the visor.
At times, a party may want to record
the passage of time with fair accuracy.
Since watches do not exist, an hourcandle can be constructed. This is a
candle of different-colored layers, each
layer representing a certain increment of
time.

Encumbrance
Where does one carry all of this? If the
referee allows the players to take along a
mule, or if theyre outdoors riding horses,
distributing the weight of extra items
such as these should not pose a problem. Using a charm monster or charm
mammal or animal friendship spell can
make animals more docile. Defensive
materials should be kept close at hand
so they can be used on short notice.
Containers, tools, most communication
aids, and many of the other items can be
stored in a place where a minute or two
will be needed to bring them into play,
since these arent necessarily emergency items.
Although a large number of items have
been mentioned, most of them are quite
small and light in weight. Moreover, in
many instances, only one or two of a
certain item is needed for an entire party.
This makes it easy to pass the objects
around, just in case a character is unable
to carry them all by himself or is without
a mule. If one has a beast, most of the
objects it carries should be spares of everyday items such as blankets and rope
things which arent quite as interesting, perhaps, as the items and devices
mentioned here, but just as necessary
for the well-equipped adventuring party.
DRAGON

65

66

JANUARY 1983

On his most recent visit, my good

friend Elminster came through the gate
from the Realms into a gentle snowfall.
On his walk through the darkening ravine to my garden gate, he passed a
neighbors house, and through its floorto-ceiling windows he saw a swimming
pool and in or around it a bevy of young
bikini-clad women. He came in my back
door muttering and shaking his head.
How they keep from catching their

deaths of the chill is beyond my knowledge, he said to me over a mug of hot

cocoa, . . . and such a waste of good
talent, too!
I raised my eyebrows. Talent?
Elminster snorted at my inference. At
least four I saw had the Power; fairly
bursting with the hunger for the Art that
all good apprentices have and yet no
tutors, no scrolls! Such a pity . . .
No tutoring here, mind you, I warned

him. The Power, loosed here, would

soon
He waved an impatient hand. Yes,
yes, Im fully aware of that. Who put the
Decree of Magical Limitations before the
Council of Far Travellers in the first
place, anyway?
And yet, I reminded him, youve told
me more than once that magic does exist
here, and even used to be as dominant
here as in the Realms. You let me publish

DRAGON 67

details of some magical books, too. (Editors note: See Pages from the Mages
in DRAGON issue #62.)
Thats to tell those who are most interested that the Art is available to them,
the sage answered. But not here; they
must seek it in the Realms. I think Ill
have to give you some more information
about lost and missing books of magic,
to whet the appetites of those maids I
saw, if naught else.
Oh, I sighed, reaching for a pencil
and failing to entirely hide my eagerness, all right . . .
Accordingly, here are another four selections from Elminsters notes, describing books of magical importance whose
present whereabouts are unknown. If
you feel a stirring within as you read on,
seek you a way to the Realms. But you
will find no clues to your route here, for
that is part of the test. . . .

Appearance: This tome bears no title?

and consists of sixteen sheets of parchment bound with gilded cord to two polished plates of ivory. The plates measure
four hands across by seven hands in
length, and are only a little less than a
finger thick. (A hand, or handwidth,
is about 3 inches, a measurement based
on the size of the delicate hand of the
scholar Aleric.) The back ivory plate is
scarred and scratched, and marked with
burns and bloodstains, but both plates
are by all accounts solid and of surprising strength. The book has reportedly
been dropped at least four times, and
hurled at a person once, and yet the ivory
shows no signs of chipping or shattering. It has been reported that these ivory
bindings glowed with an eerie deadwhite or pearly radiance while a spell
was being read aloud (i.e., being cast)
from the tome.
History and description of contents:
This tome is commonly called The Magister after the title of the mage who is
believed to have written it. (The Magisters tale is too long to be recorded here;
suffice it to say that he was regarded as
an unmatchable magic-user and a neutral force of what he saw as justice and
reason, and is remembered with awe and
respect for his deeds. He disappeared
some ninety years ago; some say he now
dwells on another plane. Since the bulk
of the volume under discussion lies
clearly in the province of the illusionist
and not the magic-user, The Magister
may well not be the author of it.)
Reports vary concerning its contents
(some clearly do so in a deliberate attempt to deceive and conceal), but a significant number of observers quite independent of one another state that the
Magister opens with a brief and general
discussion of the uses of illusion and the
extent of knowledge concerning magical illusions (in the Common Tongue,

68

JANUARY 1983

and surprisingly current, suggesting that

the art of the illusionist has advanced but
little in the last hundred years), and then
lays down (in the Ruathlek or secret
language) the spells Change Self, Color
Spray, Phantasmal Force, Detect Illusion, Mirror Image, Dispel Illusion, Nondetection, Massmorph, Shadow Door,
Programmed Illusion, and True Sight in
full, none varying from the accepted
form (as presented in the AD&D Players Handbook).
These are followed (here the text again
reverts to the Common Tongue) by a
brief description of the casting of three
spells, two of which are clearly Rope
Trick and Summon Shadow, the third
being a Shades spell or similar magic
(such as Shadow Monsters or DemiShadow Monsters). Details and formulae are not given, but enough of the somatic and material components are described to allow a non-illusionist to recognize these spells as an illusionist
begins to cast them.
The book closes with what is clearly a
Clone spell, followed by a last page
whose contents are given differently by
each source. Some mention a curse,
others an illusion which appears in the
air each time the page is exposed, and
others state that it presents this or that
spell in full all giving a different spell.
Several of the sources are known to be
absolutely accurate in other accounts,
and yet all conflict on this point. Elminster says emphatically that it is not possible that several tomes exist that are
identical, save for the contents of this
last page and so the only explanation
left is that the contents of this last page
may change from time to time, either at
random or in a set sequence or cycle.
This is by no means certain, and it is
hoped that the present owner of The
Magister, if it still exists, or anyone coming into possession of it in the future, will
(in confidence as to the identity and
whereabouts of himself or herself) reveal
to this scribe the true nature of this Last
Page. It should also be noted here that
Suljack of the High Captains of Luskan
has made a standing offer of 55,000 pieces of gold for delivery to him of the
complete Magister.

Appearance: This memoir is a thick

bundle of vellum sheets bound about
with two leather straps and enclosed in a
leathern bag. A recent owner, the merchant Zephrum Nelagul, noted in his
ledgers that Seven Fingers had 278
sheets, but also noted that it ended precipitously and seemed to have gaps in
the narrative, which suggests that some
pages have been lost or deliberately
removed.
History and description of con tents:
The book was written by (or at least
under the supervision of) the adventurer
Thorstag Seven Fingers Amareh, a
fighting man who rose to take the lordship of a tiny northern dale, where he
died some seventy winters ago. Thorstags nickname and the main title of this
volume come from his habit of severing
the fingers of important enemies whom
he slew, and storing these in an iron box.
There were seven such enemies, and
Thorstag evidently put the fingers to
some sort of magical use, but their present location is unknown. The volume recounts Thorstags reportedly boring and
trivial life (wearisome pages of dreams,
underhanded schemes, and malicious
violence, Zephrum records), but contains three passages of special note.
The first is a detailed and exacting
description of the selection of a card,
Void, from a Deck of Many Things, so
complete that anyone who reads this
section could immediately recognize the
same effects if they occurred in his or her
presence.
The second is a recipe or description
of the making of Keoghtoms Ointment,
which may or may not be correct. Curiously, no owner of the memoir has
made any mention of the accuracy of the
recipe, but only of its inclusion; this hints
that they have not attempted the process
because it is obviously incomplete, or
too difficult in execution or the procurement of the ingredients, or the writing itself contains some magical trap or
guardian they would prefer not to disturb.

The third is a detailed inventory of the

dowries of the princesses Elmyra and
Hlassela of Cormyr, which Thorstag took
part in guarding on an overland journey
from Suzail, the capital of Cormyr, to
Arabel, a city some distance to the north
and east. The journey was safe, the princesses married, and set out forthwith
eastward with their (royal, but not identified by Thorstag) husbands. Neither
Thorstag nor this writer (the sage Elminster) has heard of their fate, but in
some eastern tomb or treasury the
greater part of these dowries must now
lie. Thorstags list includes weights and
identifying marks of jewelry (since he
had to guard against forgery and substitution of the pieces), and adventurers or
historians will surely find it a source of
inspiration, if not a path to wealth.
The present whereabouts of the memoir is unknown. It was last seen in the
hands of an unidentified man with the
clothes and manner of a southern merchant, according to Zephrum Nelagul,
who sold it to said merchant at a bazaar
in Waterdeep for nine hundred pieces of
gold. Zephrum attests that he obtained
the book from an ignorant bailiff in
Longsaddle, who sold it as part of the
contents of a dead mans house. The
dead man, one Borwyn, was a trader in
hides and leather goods who covered
much of the north in his trade, and had
acquired, in Zephrums words, an odd
assortment of keepsakes and valuables
One can only conjecture that somehow
Borwyn the trader visited the dale where
Thorstag had ruled and was buried, or
got the book from another person who
was given it by Thorstag for safekeeping,
or who took it after Thorstags death. If
any reports come to light of the possible
missing pages, more might be said of
how Borwyn got the memoir, and of its
original, complete contents.

Appearance: A nondescript volume of

brown, curling parchment leaves sewn
to a grey canvas cover.
History and description of contents:
The Nathlum is wholly and strongly Evil;
its protective magics cannot be dispelled
(at least, not by the spell commonly
known as Dispel Magic), and these protections cause all creatures of alignment
and instinct deemed good to suffer
blinding, burning pain in the eyes and
head. (Elminster offers a confusing description of the symptoms which need
not be detailed here but can be interpreted thus: Anyone of good alignment
will suffer 2-4 points of damage per
round that the book is held or perused.)
Its origin and the reason for its name are
unknown; its first definite identification
is in the catalog of Tymor Threeshields,
the inventory of the booty he brought
back from the Orcfastings war, but hints
of it can be traced through the scanty
written records of the orcs under the
leadership of Wund, and Orfidel writes
almost four hundred years ago of his
meeting with the evil mage Lethchauntos the Black, who went to dwell among
the orcs, and describes what could well
be the Nathlum in Lethchauntoss possession. From Tymors hall, the volume
went to Neverwinter as part of the dowry
of Tymors daughter Nulauznee (Elminster suspects that Tymor wished to be rid
of it), and nothing more is heard of it until
the Nathlum passes unexpectedly into
the hands of Phrandjas of Port Llast (a
northern town), a thaumaturge whose
careful and exacting studies enabled
him to subsequently rise quickly in the
ranks of the Art. Phrandjas takes characteristic pains over his notes regarding
the Nathlum; we learn that it appeared to

be complete when he received it, and

held sixteen recipes for poisons, four
glyphs of warding set down nowhere
else, and the formula of the spell Maze.
Phrandjas, despite the pain caused him
by perusing the book (because he was
good), copied certain of the recipes for
later sale to the alchemists of the town,
and all of the glyphs, and Elminster has
passed on some of this information.
The poison recipes have not been
made known by Elminster; in his words,
They are largely simple to make, and
recipes will undoubtedly fall into the
wrong hands, given your sometimes too
efficient communications. For adventurers, however, he has provided the
means of identifying the substances.
Lhurdas (also known as the yellow
death and Beltyns Last Drink) is a
wine-based poison. It has a sharp, dry
white-grape wine taste, and will readily
mix with such wine. It reacts with the
digestive acids in the stomach (and is
effective in human, orc, and elvish body
chemistry) to eat away internal organ
tissues. Ingestion produces rapid (within 2 rounds) nausea, convulsions, and
terrific internal cramps and burning pain,
doing 1-6 points of damage in its first
effective round, 2-12 in the second, and
1-4 in the third. Thereafter it will do no
more damage, regardless of dose, and
further exposure to Lhurdas will cause
discomfort and inhibit healing, but cause
no greater damage to the body for a period of 3-24 days. It is ineffective if applied externally. (Save for half damage.)
Varrakas is a black, thick syrup. To
avoid detection, single drops are usually
added to gravy or dark sauces, but the
effects increase with the dose ingested.
Varrakas has a slightly oily taste, but no
strong flavor. Every drop of Varrakas
does 1-4 points of damage when it enters
the bloodstream (it passes the digestive

DRAGON

69

system masquerading as a nutrient), and

does not act for a period of 18-24 turns
after ingestion. Varrakas is harmless if
applied externally. Effective in all mammals. (Save for half damage.)
Prespra (also known as Mothers
Bane) is an odorless, colorless liquid
that mixes readily with all drinkables except milks and products made from them,
from which it separates. Effective only in
humans and only when ingested, it
causes sudden dizzy spells and visual
distortion, beginning 1-3 rounds after
contact and lasting for 1-12 rounds. During this time the victim moves unsteadily
and fights at -2 to hit, +2 (worse) on AC if
having only normal (distorted) vision, or
-1 to hit and +2 on AC if endowed with
infravision or heightened visual senses.
At the same time the victim endures 1-2
points of damage per round as surface
blood vessels burst all over the body
(giving a blotched, reddened appearance
to the skin). Each round a successful
saving throw will avoid such damage,
but if the victim suffers an injury through
combat or misadventure during the
round, no saving throw is allowed (the
cause and shock of the injury aggravates
the sudden fluctuations in blood flow
and pressure Prespra causes; it works by
alternately and erratically constricting
and expanding blood vessels throughout the victims body).
Belpren is a luminescent blue, acidic
substance that does 1-12 points of damage instantly upon contact with skin or
internal tissues. (No save.) Further applications of Belpren to affected areas
will not cause any further harm, but the
damage given above is for a roughly
hand-sized area of body exposure; for
each additional such area of skin affected, an additional 1-12 points of damage
will be suffered. However, no additional
damage from ingestion is possible; immediate and involuntary vomiting will be
induced by any further Belpren applied
to affected internal areas. Belpren will
not corrode metal, nor will it harm cloth
or cured leather. It dries and becomes
ineffective in just over one round when
exposed to air, and so cannot be used on
weapons. Belpren can be neutralized by
the application of lamp oil. It is effective
on all creatures.
Orvas is a translucent liquid with a
green cast and a bittersweet taste. It
does 1-6 points of damage upon entering the bloodstream (immediately if by
insinuation, which must be through a
scrape or wound, or in 18-24 turns if by
ingestion), and 1-4 points of damage
each round for the following two rounds.
A successful saving throw means that
Orvas is ineffective against the target
creature. Orvas is an antidote to Varrakas (see above) if introduced into the
bloodstream before Varrakas has run its
course. Orvas works in all mammals.
Huld (also called Leap or Deathdance) is an odorless oil that is effective

70

JANUARY 1983

on non-humanoid creatures except

for demi-humans and humans and
works only by insinuation. Its effects are
the same regardless of dosage, and appear 1-4 rounds after the application.
(Save for no damage.) Huld causes severe muscle spasms involving nausea
and the loss of motor control, balance,
and speech, lasting for 1-6 rounds. During this time a victim is helpless but by no
means an easy target for physical attack,
since he or she is usually thrashing and
moving about rapidly and wildly. Mental
processes are entirely unaffected (i.e.,
psionic or other communication can be
initiated or will continue, and in some
cases can be used by the victim, as well
as others, to control the poisons effects). A particular individual will be 95%
resistant to Huld for a period of 10-21
days after an exposure to it, and thus
repeated dosages in a single encounter
will almost always not be effective. Huld
is generally thought to affect all individuals, but some apparent immunities are
reported and conjectured.
Jeteye is a glossy (i.e., reflective) black
liquid that affects all mammals upon ingestion. (Ineffective if insinuative contact only; save for half damage.) It causes
the pupils of the eyes to go black (although this does not affect vision) and
causes 1-8 points of neural damage immediately. No pain is felt by the victim,
however, for Jeteye kills all pain and tactile sensation for a period of 9-16 rounds
(the black eyes sign will be of the same
duration as this anesthetic effect). Jeteye is sometimes voluntarily used before
torture or immediately after battle injuries (preventing a system shock survival
roll). It has a bitter, black walnut-like
taste and is hard to conceal in food or
drink.
Ulcrun is a milky-white, viscous liquid
that is effective on all warm-blooded
creatures, by insinuation only. (No saving throw.) Two rounds after contact, it
causes 1-4 points of muscular damage,
weakening and softening tendons, ligaments, bones, and cartilage. On the following round it causes 1-12 points of
damage, and 1-4 points on the round
thereafter, whereupon its effects pass.
Until healing processes (natural or magical) counter its effects, the creature affected will have lost 1-4 points of strength
and one point of dexterity.
Dwarfbane is a rare, gummy oil that is
poisonous only to dwarves. Insinuative,
it is commonly smeared on weapons. It
does not dry out, but prolonged exposure to air lessens its potency: it is effective only for 26-31 days. Upon contact,
Dwarfbane does 1-8 points of damage
with a pain like blazing skewers, and a
further 1-6 points on each of the following three rounds. (A successful saving
throw will halve all damage suffered.)
The glyphs of warding found in The
Nathlum reflect its evil nature. All may be

used only by those of evil alignments,

and will only harm those of good alignments Anyone of good alignment may
pass a glyphs location unharmed by
speaking its name or by destroying the
glyph. The passage of neutral or evil
characters will not trigger any of these
glyphs. They are:

Zuth can be cast only by a cleric of 6th

or higher level. It is cast upon a door or
the frame of an opening; anyone of good
alignment passing through or under the
portal will suffer 2-12 points of electrical
damage arcing from side to side of the
frame at many points around it, across
the opening.
Yammas can be cast only by a cleric of
8th or higher level. When activated, from
11-18 screaming, chittering mouths will
appear all about the glyph, and shoot
forth on long (up to twenty feet) snakelike necks to bite at the creature activating the glyph. The victim must save
against each manifestation or be struck
by it, suffering 1-4 points of damage. The
fangs dig in, much like a lamprey attacks, and the mouths will drain 1 hit
point of blood each per round thereafter
until they (all are AC 7) or the victim are
destroyed. Each can be severed by inflicting 7 points of damage on it (as long
as at least the seventh point is caused by
an edged weapon), or by the victim pulling free of its grasp. Any character with
a strength of 16 or more is allowed to
attempt saving throws against three of
the mouths each round if a particular
save is successful, the mouths grip
breaks. it does not drain blood on that
round, and it shrinks back into the wall or
hangs lifeless. This glyph does not vanish after one activation; it will retract its
surviving mouths and wait for the next
victim, until all the mouths have been
destroyed.
Hlack can be cast only by a cleric of
9th or higher level. This functions as a
magical barrier preventing those of good

alignment from passing. This barrier of

force will stand until the actual area on
which the glyph was cast is destroyed,
thus breaking the glyph, or until a Knock,
Erase or similar spell is employed. Anyone of good alignment will strike an invisible wall and suffer 1-6 points of electrical damage. Further contact with the
barrier will cause 1-6 points of electrical
damage per round (no save).
Curtal can be cast only by a cleric of
10th or higher level. Attempts to pass
this Glyph will cause arms of fire burst
from its three pointed ends and strike the
creature or creatures attempting to pass,
each arm doing 4-16 points of damage.
Each arm of fire will strike a different
target if there are three or more targets
available; otherwise two will strike the
nearest target and one another, or all
three will strike at a solitary target. (Save
for half damage.) Activation of this glyph
always alerts a guardian, sometimes
summoning a demon or devil to the spot
instantly, but more often warning spellcasters or beast-keepers to ready their
charges. The glyph remains until Erased,
striking out with its arms of flame every
time it is activated. Dispel Magic will
cause one of the arms of fire to shrink
back and not strike for that activation. In
each round that creatures stand before
the glyph but do not speak its name (i.e.,
not having passed it, but within 15 feet),
Curtal will activate so slow-moving
creatures could be struck several times.

Appearance: Details of the appearance

of the Workbook are unknown, but it is
said to be a bound volume with no inscriptions on the covers.
History and description of contents:
Once in the elven city of Myth Drannor
there was a school of magic. Its teachers
were known as the Seven Wizards, and
included the one known only as Mentor.
Its founding and objectives are forgotten, for Myth Drannor has long been a
ruin, and the Seven Wizards disappeared
even before Myth Drannors destruction.
Many of the mages whose names are
now known all across the Realms were
tutored at the Wizards school, and it is
common knowledge that Mentor caused
spells of his pupils devising to be collected in a book, once he had tested and
approved their dweomercraft. Accounts
of the Workbooks contents vary; it is
quite possible that more than one such
book was collected, although only the
existence of this one book is certain.
The sage Flamsterd, of the Moonshae
Isles, purchased the tome known as
The Wizards Workbook from a band of
adventurers, and carefully copied its
contents. He later sold the secrets of
several of the Workbooks spells for very
great sums of wealth, and purchased the
entire island that now bears his name.
His enjoyment of the isle was short. It is

thought that one of his clients guessed

what the sage possessed, for one night
the sage and his entire Tower, on the
seaward end of the isle, simply vanished.
Others believe the sage came to grief
while practicing his magic. Still others
hold that he left this plane of existence.
No sudden rise in power was noted
among those of the Art, however, and it
is thought that the Workbook may have
been lost or destroyed. Installments of
Flamsterds personal diaries, the Moonshae Chronicles, were sent regularly
from the sages isle to his friend Elminster, and in one was set down the entire
text of the Workbook. The purchased records of individual spells still exist, of
course, scattered throughout the Realms.
It is from Elminsters library that we learn
the spells below; the present contents of
the Workbook may well vary slightly.
Dismind is thought by some to be the
work of Khelben Blackstaff Arunsun,
and by others to be the work of Mentor
himself. The other spells bear the names
of their creators.

Spendelardes Chaser (Necromantic)

Level: 4
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 turn/level
Area of Effect: One creature
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 8 segments
Saving Throw: None
This spell negates the adverse effects
of all drugs (including alcohol) in the
recipient creature. Dexterity and mental
impairments are instantly cured, leaving the recipient clear-headed and free
of pain, able to undertake complex tasks
requiring intense concentration, such as
spellcasting. The pain of even mortal
wounds will be removed, although the
Chaser in no way heals any damage extant in mind or body. If the condition has
not righted itself by the time the spell
wears off, its effects will return. But natural body processes continue while a
creature is under the influence of the
Chaser, so that a hangover or other temporary discomfort may well vanish before the spell expires. The Chaser will
have no effect on insanity or magical
conditions (such as Feeblemind), but
does give a +4 saving throw versus any

poisons present in the recipient at any

time while the spell is in effect. (If a saving throw versus the poison has already
been failed, application of the Chaser
will permit a second, unmodified saving
throw: it will not be at a +4 bonus, but will
not have any subtractions either.) The
material component of this spell is a
drop of holy water, touched to the tongue
or skin of the recipient (the spell may be
cast on oneself).

Caligardes Claw (Conjuration/

Summoning)
Level: 4
Range: 6
Duration: 1 round/level
Area of Effect: One creature
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 4 segments
Saving Throw: Neg.
Use of this spell requires the claw or
foot of a creature, which is consumed in
the casting, and brings into existence an
invisible claw of force. The spellcaster
indicates (by pointing toward a location;
sight is not necessary) a target within 6.
If the target saves, the Claw will not
come into existence. If the target does
not save, the Claw must locate the target
(with a to hit roll as though it was a
weapon wielded by the caster). If it does
so successfully, it will immediately do
1-4 points of damage. Thereafter, until
the spell expires, the Claw is destroyed,
or the target escapes pursuit by becoming ethereal or otherwise physically leaving the plane of the caster, it will strike
infallibly once per round for 1-4 damage.
Although the Claw never misses, the
damage done by its strike can be negated by an Anti-Magic Shell, Shield, Bigbys Interposing Hand or similar magical
barrier. It can be destroyed by Dispel
Magic, but cannot be controlled or physically harmed. It is not a living thing, is
not intelligent, and cannot perform any
task other than its slashing, tearing attack. It can be dispelled at will by the
caster, but does not require continued
concentration for its maintenance, and
will not vanish if the caster is killed or
rendered unconscious. (The spellcaster
can of course engage in further spellcasting while the Claw operates.) Its attacks do not necessarily physically interfere with the actions and movements of
the target, who may well cast spells or
engage in physical combat.
The Claw will remain with its target
unshakably, regardless of distance travelled, physical barriers, or aerial or underwater travel. It will never change
targets, but will vanish at the death or
disappearance (see above) of its target.
If it fails to initially locate its target, it will
remain within a 1 distance from the intended targets initial location, an invisible presence (use Grenade-Like Missiles:
Misses Location Table, DMG p. 64, for
the Claws precise location), until the
spell expires. If any creature approaches
DRAGON

71

within 1 of its location after the missed

target withdraws, the Claw will automatically strike (to hit roll required) without any attention or act of will on the part
of the caster. The Claw can thus be cast
at a door to prevent unharried future entrance or egress. Note also that a careless or forgetful spellcaster could well be
attacked by his or her own Claw if it is
approached too closely after missing its
intended target. A spellcaster does not
know if a Claw is active, once cast, except by observing the behavior of the
target or, in the case described above,
by suffering a surprise attack. The Claw
can then of course be immediately dispelled by the caster. If unsuccessful in a
second attack against a different target
than the initial one, the Claw will continue to attack any target within a 1 radius of it until the spell expires, and may
attack the target it originally missed if
said target leaves and then re-enters the
Claws area. The Claw will not attack anything if the originally missed target remains in the area but such immobility
seldom occurs in battle. The Claw can
only locate and affect targets having a
tangible existence on the plane in which
it is cast.

Tulruns Tracer (Divination, Alteration)

Level: 4
Range: 1
Duration: 4 rounds/level
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 8 segments
Saving Throw: None
When this spell is cast, the Tracer a
continuous, luminescent pathway akin
to a Light spell comes into being within a 1 radius of the caster. It shows the
most recent path of any single creature
whose path the caster wishes to trace,
described verbally by the caster over the
material component (a pinch of phosphorus or a glowing life-form such as a
fungus or glowworm). The creature must
have been present in the 1 radius area
about the caster within a period of 1 day
per level of the caster for the Tracer to
appear. The Tracer will show the route of
the creature within the 1 area, and then
expand (at a rate of 60/round) along the
route taken by the creature, moving in

72

JANUARY 1983

that direction for the duration of the

spell. Once beyond the 1 initial radius, it
will only show the path of the creature
who need not have been seen by, or be
known to, the spellcaster as long as it
remains in physical contact with the
ground. Pass Without Trace and similar
magics will not confuse the Tracer, and it
will follow the creatures route through
physical barriers (i.e., doors) and across
gaps (i.e. the results of a Jump or Dimension Door, or purely physical acrobatics) of up to 14. It will not otherwise
show aerial travel, but will shine in and
under water.
The path will end when the target creature is reached, when the spell expires,
or at any place to which the target creature teleported, left the plane of the caster, or embarked upon a mount or conveyance such as a cart, ship, or Carpet of
Flying. In the latter case, an individual
reaching the paths end will receive a
clear mental picture of the destination
travelled to, even if on another plane. If
the target creature took a mount or conveyance, the mental picture will be of the
act of doing so and not of the eventual
destination reached. Portions of the
Tracer can be negated by Dispel Magic,
Continual Darkness, and the like, but it
cannot be physically disturbed (i.e., a
Gust of Wind would not shift it). When
the spell expires, the Tracer will have
slowly faded into nothingness; no one
not having reached its end will receive
any mental picture of the targets destination. The Tracer is intangible and
cannot be walked upon. It may be passed
through or travelled within without harm
and does not activate magic upon contact or distort magic or physical phenomena passing through it.

Tasirins Haunted Sleep

(Enchantment/Charm)
Level: 3
Range: Touch
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: One creature
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: Neg.
This spell can only be cast successfully upon a sleeping creature. The
slumber must be normal unconsciousness, coma, or similar states of mental
injury, such as concussion, drugs, astral
or psionic activity, and Charm-related
spells will all cause the spell to be ineffective. Tasirins Haunted Sleep puts the
recipient into a deep sleep for 1 turn per
level of the caster, and early awakening
from this state can only be accomplished
by a (Limited) Wish, Dispel Magic, the
infliction of acute physical pain (i.e.,
wounding) upon the recipient, or at the
casters will. The target creature is allowed a saving throw, which if successful will negate the effects of the spell.
The caster is never directly aware of
the targets thoughts or mental state, or

of the success of the spell. While in such

a deep sleep, the creature is open to the
influence of subconscious visions or
dreams. The spellcaster can project one
specific scene or vision into natural mental activity, and this will come into the
victims consciousness soon after awakening. The visions clarity, detail, and
accuracy depend upon the casters concentration, for the scene must be held in
mind during the casting. Such visions
can masquerade as divine communications or memories, and can be used to
influence decisions, goad the recipient
into a certain course of action, trouble
the recipient, or, conversely, to calm and
rest the recipient at a time of mental anguish or troubles. A spellcaster skilled in
the use of this spell can boost morale,
joy, or enthusiasm or crush it.
During the haunted sleep, the recipient is especially susceptible to any one
Suggestion spell, which can be cast by
the caster of the Haunted Sleep or
another spellcaster, and is saved against
at -3 by the creature in haunted sleep.
Such a suggestion will be heard by the
recipient as an inner mental voice, and
must of course be in a language which
the recipient understands to be successful. This spell cannot be cast on oneself.

Laerals Dancing Dweomer

(Alteration, Illusion/Phantasm)
Level: 3
Range: 2+1/level
Duration: 1 turn/level
Area of Effect: 4 diameter sphere
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 6 segments
Saving Throw: Neg.
This spell requires a pinch of dust
thrown into the air about the caster and
any object (which will not be changed in
any way by the spell) radiating a dweomer at the time. When cast, the spell
causes many magical auras to flicker
and dance about from object to object
(including creatures and areas with large
surfaces, such as walls). The auras are
not visible to the unaided eye (i.e., Detect Magic or similar means must be
used), and will not be seen by a creature
saving against the spell or having True
Sight. If the spell is not saved against, the
auras will totally confuse a Detect Magic
or the like for the spell duration. The
auras will not disappear when touched,
but Dispel Magic will destroy all auras
within its area of effect.
Archveults Skybolt (Alteration)
Level: 4
Range: 1/level
Duration: 2 rounds
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 4 segments
Saving Throw:
This spell requires a crystal a faceted gem, quartz, or cut glass of at least
an inch in length. The spellcaster throws

the crystal at a target creature or area

while speaking the final words of the
spell, and its path creates a glowing
bolt in the air similar in appearance to
Tulruns Tracer (q.v.). The bolt is four
feet in diameter, begins 1 from the caster, and extends onward to a maximum
length of 1 per level of the caster. The
bolt will not materialize underwater, and
ends where the crystal strikes water,
strikes any barrier, or passes beyond the
casters range. (The crystal is consumed
instantly, in a burst, if it passes beyond
the casters maximum range, and is otherwise consumed at the expiration of the
spell.) Any living thing coming into contact with the bolt will suffer 1-4 hit points
of shock damage per level or hit dice it
possesses (ignoring additions; a 5+5 hit
dice monster would take 5-20, just as
one of 5 hit dice would). A creature
struck by the crystal (a to hit roll, with
any modifications for missile-weapon
ranges, is made when the spell is cast;
refer to Grenade-Like Missiles: Misses
Location Table, DMG p. 64, if a miss is
indicated) suffers 1-6 points of damage
per level or hit dice it possesses. The
creature may grasp the crystal and hurl it
back at the caster, and the bolt will continue to form to the limit of the casters
range (so that a caster may be struck by
his or her own bolt), but when directly
grasping the crystal, any creature will
suffer a further 1-6 hit points of damage
per level or hit dice it possesses and
must make a system shock survival roll.
A Skybolt lasts for 2 rounds after its
casting. It can be destroyed in whole or
in part by contact with an Anti-Magic
Shell, Wall of Force, Shield, or similar
spells, Dispel Magic, or Gust of Wind. It
cannot be deflected, grounded, or insulated against. It will not conduct through
metallic substances, but note that armor
that is not airtight will not negate the
effects of a Skybolt. Creatures and nonmagical objects entering the Skybolt will
not deflect, negate, or sever it. A crystal
entering an area of magical protection
which does not allow formation of the
bolt is instantly rendered harmless.

Dismind
(Enchantment/Charm) Reversible
Level: 9
Range: Touch
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: One creature
Components: V
Casting Time: 2 segments
Saving Throw: Neg.
This spell consists of a phrase spoken
while the caster touches the recipient
(the spell may be cast on oneself, serving
as a last resort escape from certain
death, torture, or mental damage), causing the recipients mind to fly from his
body. The body instantly undergoes a
curious transformation: It remains in the
position it was when the spell was cast,
surrounded by a glowing aura of force

that allows nothing to touch the body,

stopping all physical attacks, crushing,
or probes. The limbs of the body can be
shifted by pushing on the invisible armor
of force, but when released will slowly
drift back to the original position. Magical attacks, fire, poisons, and corrosive
and disease-producing substances (including ochre jelly, green slime, rot
grubs, and the like) cannot reach the
body to do it harm. The bodily processes
of a disminded person are totally suspended, so that the body does not age or
breathe. Disminded persons have a vacant stare. They cannot use any of the
senses of the body they have abandoned,
nor can they return to it without aid.
The freed mind wanders behind mental defenses of its own making, immune
to all forms of magical, psionic, and other mental contact or attack. A wandering
mind is not detectable by any known
means, and never leaves the Prime Material Plane. It cannot control where it goes
and what it observes, and typically retains little memory of its visions and
speculations. (A DM should describe 1-6
scenes or phrases of thought without
giving any explanations.) A wandering
mind cannot deliberately pray, study, or
research spells, or choose to observe
any particular event, locale, or individual.
A wandering mind can be fully restored to its body by an Alter Reality,
(Limited) Wish, or Restore Mind, the reverse of this spell. The reverse can also
be used to cure insanity and all mental
disorders, feeblemindedness, and physical brain damage. It will end any mental
controls (including Quest, Geas, and
magical Charms cast by spell or by creatures such as nixies or vampires) of any
form upon a recipient mind, totally freeing the mind from the influence(s) without causing the individual any harm
but it cannot restore lost psionic powers.
A delirious, drunken, exhausted, or
drugged creature can become clearheaded and mentally alert by means of
this spell. A saving throw applies to both
spells, and if successful against a Restore Mind (regardless of the wishes of
the disminded recipient creature), the
spell will have no effect. Such a failure
does not mean the mind cannot be restored, but only that the particular spell
cast at that time did not work.

DRAGON

73

Convention schedule
NORCON 83, Feb. 11-13 Scheduled for the Mount Royal
Hotel, 1455 Peel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. More than 30
events are offered, including game tournaments, an auction,
and a figure-painting contest. Admission is $15 for the weekend
or $8 for a single-day pass at the door. Contact: Norcon 83, 320
Caledonia Ave., Dorval, Quebec, Canada H9S 2Y2.

of the Science Fiction Writers Association. Membership fees

are $10 until Feb. 25, or $15 thereafter and at the door. Information can be obtained from SF3, Box 1624, Madison WI 53701.

CRUSADERCON II, March 4-6 Located on the Metro State

Campus, Denver, Colo. For more information, contact MSC
Gamers Club, Box 39, 1006 11th St., Denver CO 80204.

ORCCON 1983, Feb. 19-21 All types of gaming activities are

offered at southern Californias largest strategy game convention and exposition. The site is the Sheraton-Anaheim Hotel,
next to Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Membership fees are
$13.50 for advance pre-registration (must be postmarked by
Jan. 28), $15 at the door for all three days, and $10 at the door
for one day only. For more information, write to Strategicon PR
Dept., P.O. Box 2577, Anaheim CA 92804.

GAME FAIRE 83, Feb. 26-27 This fourth annual convention

will be held at Spokane Falls (Wash.) Community College. A full
schedule of tournaments, contests, and other gaming activities
is planned. Admission is $6 for a two-day pass or $4 for one day,
with all profits from the event going to the Spokane Guild
schools. More information is available from Shannon Ahern,
Book and Game Company, West 621 Mallon, Spokane WA
99201, phone (509)325-3358.

HALCON 6, March 4-6 Robert Lynn Asprin will be the guest

of honor at this SF convention, to be held at St. Marys University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. For details, write to Halcon
6, P.O. Box 295, Station M, Halifax, N.S., Canada B3J 2N7.
COASTCON 83, March 4-6 A convention for all types of
game enthusiasts, held at the Royal DIberville Hotel in Biloxi,
Miss. Special guests will include Jo Clayton, Andrew Offutt,
Robert Adams, George Alec Effinger, and Prof. M.A.R. Barker.
Membership fee is $10 before Jan. 15, $12 thereafter and at the
door. Contact: CoastCon 83, Box 1423, Biloxi MS 39533.
FANTASY WORLDS FESTIVAL, March 18-20 A SF/fantasy
convention to be held at the Oakland Airport Hyatt Hotel. The
list of special guests includes Marion Zimmer Bradley. For
more information, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to
Fantasy Worlds Festival, P.O. Box 72, Berkeley CA 94701.

WISCONSIN SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION, March 4-6

The seventh annual staging of the event known as WisCon will
take place at the Inn on the Park in downtown Madison, Wis.
Guests of Honor will include fantasy author Lee Killough and
noted editor and author Marta Randall, currently the president

74

JANUARY 1983

EMPERORS BIRTHDAY CONVENTION XII, March 19 To be

held at the Century Center, South Bend, Ind. Pre-registration is
$4.50 (by March 1), and admission is $5.25 at the door. Contact:
Emperors Birthday Con XII, P.O. Box 252, Elkhart IN 46516.

A few Words
of wisdom about
weapons statistics
SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVEL:
For Administrators and Agents
BEGIN MESSAGE
TO: Administrators desiring clarification of inconsistencies
between the statistics found on the Weapons Chart and statistics as generated using the optional Gun Design rules.
BY AUTHORITY OF: Merle M. Rasmussen, designer, and
Allen Hammack, editor.
PURPOSE: Because of the bulk of correspondence we receive concerning weapon-statistic incongruities and gun-design problems, we have conspired to issue a statement in hopes
of alleviating rule misunderstandings. We also hope to explain
our reasonings behind particular rules and statistics within the
current TOP SECRET Espionage Game rules system.
MESSAGE: Why arent the PWVs of certain guns from the
Weapons Chart the same as PWVs calculated from their A, F, P,
R ratings using the optional Gun Design rules?
1) Five of the weapons (a, c, j, k, p) have PWVs left over from
the original TOP SECRET manuscript and were never modified
during editing.
2) One of the weapons (j) is the victim of a typographical
error found under Gun Design in the section on Accuracy. A
Rating of 4 should have a PWV of -4, not -2.
3) Variations between similar weapons are based on specific
performance data and subjective reports from users of various
gun types.
4) Different weapons with statistically identical A, C, F, P,
and R ratings had their values slightly modified to make the
weapons different from one another for game purposes.
5) For game balance, PWVs were varied independently of the
weapons A, F, P, and R ratings with a tolerance of plus or minus
0 to 19.
6) All PWVs on the Weapons Chart were assigned and are
official. Weapons denoted a, b, c, g, h, i, j, k, p, and u-ee are
inconsistent, but will not be officially modified at this time.
Why are designed guns using the Gun Design 20 or less trait
rating total such poor renditions?
1) Unlike weapons produced by professional manufacturers
who spend a great deal of time and money on research and
development, homemade weapons are pitiful reproductions.
Few espionage agencies can afford a private armorer or an
in-house gunsmith, and are more likely to contract the work out
or buy standard weaponry commercially produced.
2) We strongly suggest modifying the given weaponry to suit
your needs, as opposed to designing new weapons from
scratch. Homemade weaponry would be easier to trace than
mass-produced guns because of the distinctive rifling marks,

unique calibers, and ballistics behavior of these relatively primitive firearms.

3) Many Administrators disregard the 20 or less trait rating
total and convert real-life guns to TOP SECRET statistics directly. Overall average PWVs for weapon types are offered here
to indicate design standard guidelines. The proposed values
are: Pistols 35, Carbines 65. Rifles 75, Submachine Guns 80,
Assault Rifles 70, and Machine Pistols 30.
4) These average PWVs can be modified plus or minus 0 to
19. For random modification, roll a 20-sided die and subtract
one from the roll. To alter the average PWVs subjectively, simply adjust the figure (within the 0-19 range) by an amount you
deem appropriate. The widest possible variances are found in
pistols. One-handed machine pistols are deemed inaccurate in
combat and are given low PWVs. Their lack of accuracy is
compensated for by their increased rate of fire.
5) The data in this document is suggestive only and does not
comprise official rule changes.
6) Shotguns are a class of weapons unto themselves. Their
design, suggested PWVs, and Range Modifier statistics will not
be addressed at this time.
How are Range modifiers defined for weapons being
designed?
1) See reason 3 under the first question above.
2) Different weapons with statistically identical A, C, F, P, R
ratings had their Range Modifiers slightly changed to differentiate them.
3) Based on statistical comparison of compiled weapon data
for TOP SECRET guns, we would like to propose the following
overall averages for Range Modifiers:

PB

Pistols
0
-45 -145
X
-75 -195
Carbines
+3
-10
-45 -115
Rifles
+5
-5
+4
-95 -245
-25
Submachine Guns
-60 -170
Assault Rifles
+5
-10
Machine Pistols
+1
-80 -220
-25
4) These average Range Modifiers can be subjectively altered within the following parameters:
PB: + (0-5), but PB can never be less than 0
S: + or - (0-9); randomly, equivalent to d10-1
M: + or - (0-19); randomly, equivalent to d20-1
L: + or - (0-49); randomly, equivalent to d%-1
5) In all cases, if the actual gun cannot shoot further than
medium range (600ft.), its long-range modifier should be X (not
possible).
How were the weapons chosen for inclusion in the TOP
SECRET rules, and why were those weapons chosen?
1) During the research phase, some weapon descriptions
were determined to be so sketchy and vague they werent even
passed on from the designer to the editor.

D RAGON 75

2) Certain obscure notes made during research were not

deciphered, and hence there was a question as to whether such
weapons actually existed. These questionable weapons were
never submitted to the editor: the .38 S&W (5 shot) small-frame
side swing revolver, the .38 Llama and the 9mm Double col.
mag. self load.
3) Three weapons had identical weapon statistics, but the
descriptions were so sketchy none were included. These weapons are the .41 mag., .44 special, and .44 mag.
4) All of these weapons were pistols, and we had a dozen
others with fuller descriptions. We also wanted to include carbines, rifles, submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns and
other weapon types.
5) We wanted to include common weapons used in popular
espionage stories or used in real espionage and/or police work,
not necessarily military weaponry.
QRC
vv
ww
xx
yy
zz
aaa
bbb
ccc
ddd
eee
fff

Weapon
.25 self-load
.32 self-load
9mm Double col.
mag. self-load
.357 Mag. 6-shot
small-frame rev.
.380 self-load
.38 S&W 5-shot
small-frame rev.
.38 Standard wt. 6shot revolver
.38 Llama
.41 mag.
.44 special
.44 mag.

Range Modifier
PB S M L

PWV

WS

AM

CST

DC

31
43

0
0

-54
-50

-154
-150

X
X

F
VF

1
1

6?
6?

360
370

0
-2

2
2

6
5

5
5

3
4

2
4

3
4

47

-46

-148

VF

8?

365

-4

33
45

0
0

-40
-41

-140
-141

X
X

F
VF

6
1

325
8?

-4
380

3
-2

4
3

4
5

4
5

6
4

4
4

34

-41

-141

VF

5?

375

-2

35
47
43
43
43

0
0
0
0
0

-41
-39
-38
-37
-36

-141
-139
-138
-137
-136.

X
X
X
X
X

VF
VF
F
F
F

1
1
1
1
1

6
8?
6?
6
6

370
380
320
260
280

-4
-6
-8
-8
-8

4
3
3
3
3

4
3
2
2
2

4
5
4
4
4

4
4
5
5
5

6
6
6
6
6

4
4
4
4
4

ADMINISTRATIVE CORRECTION
In reference to the article in DRAGON issue #49, concerning ammunition, the following clarification is necessary:
Gyrojet and microjet ammunition may not be fired from conventional firearms (ones containing firing pins). Such specialized ammunition is fired from cast aluminum launchers possessing electrical igniters. These miniature, solid-propellant
rockets produce a visible burning tail and are not particularly
accurate. The bonus to hit with such a weapon should be
applied for targets at long range due to the acceleration of the
projectile after launching.
Launchers may be used in a vacuum or underwater, since the
projectiles carry their own oxygen supply to support combustion. If a launcher is used underwater, reduce all ranges by 75%;
however, the damage from striking the target remains unchanged. Firing-pin ammunition may not be used in a gyrojet or
microjet launcher. If they are the correct caliber, both microjets

76

JANUARY 1983

The chart below lists statistics for some of the weapons

which were eliminated from the original TOP SECRET manuscript for the reasons given earlier. Please keep in mind that
the statistics are not necessarily accurate or complete. Note
that each of the five gun traits range from 1 to 6. When comparing these trait values using the Gun Design tables, note that the
phrase equivalent to means that the weapon acts like or fires
the same as what is listed corresponding to the rating. The
weapon may not actually be or appear as it is rated. For example: The Accuracy rating of 3 for the .44 mag does not mean
that the gun has a 2-inch barrel, but rather that in comparison
to other weapons and in combination with the other four ratings
the .44 mag fires as if it had a 2-inch barrel. These weapon
statistics are offered in the hope of further expanding the selections of pistols available to agents and to their opposition.
Happy hunting!

HW

and gyrojets may be launched from the same device.

Residue buildup within the weapon barrel may cause the
launcher to misfire after the tenth shot unless the weapon is
cleaned properly. The chance of a misfire after the tenth shot is
5%, added cumulatively for each succeeding shot. Hence, if the
gyrojet hasnt misfired by the fifteenth shot there is a 25%
chance it will misfire on that shot.
Gyrojet/microjet launchers operate off a simple nine-volt
battery which is good for 30-90 [10x(1-6)+20] launchings. Cost
of the battery is $1. Launchers cost $150, are pistol-sized, and
may be smuggled past most metal detectors and some searches
if they are disassembled. Launchers generally act as other
pistols, duplicating their PWVs, Range Modifiers, WSs, Rates,
ammo supplies, and other characteristics.
STOP
END MESSAGE

DRAGON

77

The worlds up for grabs in UN

Reviewed by Tony Watson
UNITED NATIONS, one of the newest
releases from Yaquinto Publications, is
an interesting, power-politics style game
dealing with current international relations. While the game is rather simple
(just four pages of rules), it offers tense
and thought-provoking play and does a
surprisingly good job in portraying the
main elements and factors that come
into play in international politics.
Each of the three or four players
assumes the role of one of the worlds
superpowers (the United States, the
Peoples Republic of China, the USSR,
or the European Economic Community)
and vies for control of the worlds minor
countries, with the ultimate goals of
increasing their economic power and
political influence, thereby gaining prestige and winning the game.
UN is one of Yaquintos nicely packaged Album Games; the wraparound
cover folds out to reveal a sturdy, colorful mapboard. In the case of UN, the map
presents a somewhat skewed global projection. The major powers are depicted
in solid colors; their geographic areas
have no effect on the course of play. The
rest of the world is shown in natural terrain colors. Each of the forty rest of the
world areas, such as Brazil, Coastal
Africa or the Mid-East, has a box containing three numbers that represent the
political factors needed to control the
area, its prestige value to the owning
superpower, and the number of votes the
region has in the General Assembly of
the United Nations. (Each nation only
has one vote, but many of these regions
are composed of more than one nation.)
For the advanced game, which concentrates more on economic matters, there
is also a number from 1 to 9 showing the
relative worth of the area to the controlling powers economy and, perhaps, a
special symbol denoting a fuel-producing, livestock-raising or similarly specialized area.
The mix of 240 counters is divided into
four identical sets, one per player. They

consist of political influence markers

(PIMs) to show control of a region, five
counters to denote any guerrilla or conventional wars which that power may
choose to start, and various denominations of economic and military aid counters. Each aid counter has its political
value, military value, and cost printed on
it. (Cost only applies to the advanced
game, where aid counters must be
bought.)
The aid counters are the main instruments of the game. Each turn, the players buy (in the advanced game) or are
given an allotment (in the basic game) of
aid counters. Each player in turn places
aid counters face down in boxes representing that players target regions, in an
attempt to gain control of those regions.
If the player can maintain political factors equal to the regions value (which
range from a low of 4 for Afghanistan to a
high of 28 for Iran, but average from 12 to
18) for two consecutive turns, that player
may place a PIM in the region, thereby
gaining the areas prestige value to add
to the controlling players prestige index
and also gaining control of the regions
voting power in the General Assembly.
Naturally, other players can oppose such
take-over efforts by placing their own aid
counters in the region; opposing factors
cancel each other out on a one-for-one
basis.
In addition, players can challenge
existing control markers either politically
or militarily. In the latter course, one of
the guerrilla or conventional war counters is played. PIMs are vulnerable to
such forms of military attack, but there is
a heavy cost in lost prestige for the
player employing military tactics. Finally,
in the advanced version, players can
place industry counters in countries.
These are very expensive, but they add
to the military and political stability of
the region and produce revenue for the
controlling power.
Strategy in UN is largely a matter of
bluffing, feinting, and mounting swift
strikes against opposing centers of power. The order of placement of the aid

counters, determined randomly at the

start of each set of player-turns, is critical: Having to move first is a decided
disadvantage, since the other players
can see where your counters have been
placed. However, the counters are placed
upside down, the use of dummies is
allowed, and since the counters come in
varying denominations, one counter
could represent a major effort or a small
attempt to block the opposition. The
play in UN is a combination of guesswork and strategy, and since no dice are
used, the only random element is the
order of play on each turn.
The game incorporates some aspects
of the United Nations and its operation
into its play. On a turn in which a war
counter has been played, a Security
Council meeting can be called to vote on
proposals concerning counter placement
in the disputed area or to censure the
player starting the war. At various times
in the game, meetings of the General
Assembly are held, and players can use
the leverage offered by the votes they
control to impose economic boycotts on
other players, limiting the number of
counters the offenders can obtain for
placement. The rules regarding United
Nations activity seem to accurately portray the way in which that body is used as
a tool of the superpowers rather than as
an instrument for collective security.
Victory in UN goes to the player with
the highest prestige at the end of the
game. Prestige points are won or lost by
gaining or losing control of regions,
starting wars, and agreeing to treaties.
UNITED NATIONS is a mechanically
simple, but surprisingly challenging and
intriguing multi-player game. The rules
are easy to grasp, though strategy is a bit
more subtle. With a playing time of about
two hours, this is a fine beer-and-pretzels
offering just the ticket for three or four
aspiring world dictators.
UNITED NATlONS was designed by J.
Michael Hemphill and sells for $9.00 at
many game stores, or can be obtained by
direct mail from Yaquinto Publications,
P.O. Box 24767, Dallas TX 75224.

Fun is in the cards with JASMINE

Reviewed by Merle M. Rasmussen
JASMINE, subtitled The Battle for the
Mid-Realm, is a strategy card game set in
a fantasy environment. The game was
designed by Darlene, the same artist
whose Story of Jasmine illustrated adventure was published in DRAGON
Magazine from issue #37 through #48.

78

JANUARY 1983

The game is being marketed as a limited

edition, each set of cards and rules numbered and signed by the artist/designer.
Playable by two to four opponents,
this card game calls for strategic thinking on the part of the players and offers
them a wide variety of tactical options. It
is distinctive in both appearance and the
way it plays.

The 112-card deck and a foldout rules

brochure are packaged in a clear plastic
case and priced at $13 (postage paid)
from Jasmine Publications, P.O. Box
684, Lake Geneva WI 53147.
The game features the same main
characters as the illustrated story which
appeared in DRAGON Magazine; however, the game does not follow the plot of

the fantasy strip; instead, the rules allow

for different turns of events and combinations of circumstances every time the
game is played.
Players represent one of four warring
Factions, led either by Jasmine, Bardulf,
Melantha, or Thorgall. In forming her
Faction, Jasmine has united the forces
of good to keep the Mid-Realm free,and
at peace. Bardulfs Faction is built on
subterfuge, using spies and assassins to
penetrate enemy defenses. Melantha is
an evil sorceress who has conjured up a
magical demon force to fight for her.
Thorgall has a mighty, defensive army to
rebuff any possible attacks. Each Faction has different strengths and weaknesses, the end result being a delicate
balance of power in which each Faction
is an even match for another. In the
course of the game, Factions will come
into possession of certain magical items
which will tip this balance and eventually
resolve the four-way struggle for control.
The object is to either be the first to
collect three powerful magic items inside
ones Castle or to have the last standing
Castle in the game. To accomplish this,
each Faction may use combat, magic,
spying, assassination, bribes, politics, or
special powers of that Faction. A little
chance and a lot of strategy play important roles in determining a winner.
Options abound for the players of
JASMINE. Since one can only hold seven

cards at a time, players must continually

choose whether to play, save, protect, or
discard their holdings. If a magical item
is used in combat, the player doing so
runs the risk of losing it. But if the magical item is not used, the same player may
be overpowered and an Army or Leader
of that Faction may be destroyed. Armies
and Leaders may be placed on the Battlefield (made available for combat) or
used to protect the players Castle (by
adding to the Castles defensive strength
because of their presence within it). The
exact deployment of a Factions force is
unknown by an opponent until the opponents attack is made. A players choice
of deployment between the Battlefield

and the Castle can be changed each turn

and is not irrevocable.
The game includes some innovations,
such as the Politics card, which gives the
Faction using it two minutes or less to
make a mutually binding verbal agreement between players. Instead of permanently annihilating them, opposition
leaders can be taken prisoner in the victors Castle after combat. The Unicorn
card will bring a dead Leader back to life.
The Underworld card allows the trade of
a living Leader for a dead one. The East
W ind card will automatically free any
one Leader from being held prisoner. If
fewer than four persons play, neutral
Factions (those not directly controlled

DRAGON

79

by a player) can be turned to ones

advantage.
The many options and exceptions
work well together. The rule alterations
caused by Special cards and Faction
combinations are reminiscent of the alien
powers used in Cosmic Encounters. The
game balance seems to tip to one Factions advantage, but is then countered
by defensive combinations. Thorgall has
overpowering military strength early in
the game and should use it before the
magic-users can collect their necessary
items. Bardulf can look at opponents
cards by spying on them, and can use a
Crystal Ball to look at face-down cards in
the draw pile. Melantha can use the West
Wind to take two Leaders prisoner. Jasmine can use the Staff of Erlkyng to
appear in two places at one time. All
such advantages are important to the
Faction eligible to use them, and for a
player to have the best chance of victory,
they should be used.
The artwork is worth the price of the
game. I have visions of fantasy roleplayers using the cards as visual aids.
Cards depicting nomadic barbarians,
battle maidens, dwarven clans, reindeer,
and polar bear mounts could be used to
illustrate chance encounters. Particular
magic items or Castle cards could be
used to help players better visualize
what a game master is describing. Buyers get three products for the price of

80

JANUARY 1983

one: a game, an assortment of visual

aids, and a set of quality fantasy art.
As the rules state, the description of
the cards is a section that must be read
in order to have a full knowledge of the
rules. Darlene isnt kidding! By the time
I read through the description of the
Event cards, I wanted a quick reference
chart to refer to and, not surprisingly,
one is provided. The Faction and command symbols make sense as long as I
remembered I could use particular Leaders to command particular forces. (The
symbols appear on each card belonging
to a set.) Playing the game with someone
who knew it already was the best way for
me to learn the rules. As with many
games, experience is the best teacher,
and I quickly saw the whys and hows
of the game system. The game may be a
bit much for beginning fantasy gamers,
but strategists will love it. It plays quickly,
and combat is relatively simple to resolve. Two-, three-, and four-player
games each have a different twist, depending on which Factions are controlled
by active players and which Factions
begin the game as neutrals.
Persons familiar with Darlenes art will
want to get a copy of JASMINE, as will
card-game collectors. Players of Nuclear
War, Sqwyrm, or Power Play will see that
JASMlNE incorporates a few old ideas
with many new ones to create a fresh
approach in card gaming.

The Role of Books, Part Two

Change-of-pace adventure venues

by Lewis Pulsipher
All too often, referees of fantasy roleplaying games run adventures nowhere
but the dungeon a very illogical

place, when you think about it or the

wildest area of the great outdoors. Consequently, many interesting variations
on adventure venues are never encountered by the players. There are many

books available which can help referees

imagine and design someplace different to use instead of the old hole-in-theground; several are described in the following column.

Life in a Medieval City

by Joseph and Frances Gies
$4.95 (paperback), 288 pages
pub. 1981 Harper (originally 1969)
Every well-developed FRP campaign
includes at least one city, even if the
adventurers are actually based in a small
village. A city exists to provide a focus
for services and manufacturing facilities
which no small congregation of people
can supply, and sooner or later adventurers are going to require these facilities. In so far as most FRP campaigns
have a strong medieval flavor, the more a
referee knows about conditions in medieval cities, the more authentic his city
will seem and the less hell suffer from
ignorance when asked questions by the
players. Unfortunately, most FRP rules,
supplements, modules, and articles,
though often useful, leave much unsaid
about cities.
Life in a Medieval City takes care of

this information gap in a thorough and

readable manner. Almost every aspect of
city life in northern France of 1250 is
described. (Almost every, because
some information we might desire no
longer exists. For example, you wont
find any crime statistics here.) The city
of Troyes, in Flanders, sheltered 10,000
inhabitants, as well as hundreds of merchants during two annual mercantile
fairs which were famous throughout
western Europe. As such it was a city
more well-known, and more often written about, than most.
This book was written by amateur (but
thorough) historians for non-historians.
The authors go from such mundane
details as clothing (there were no pockets, but buttonholes would soon be
invented) and storage (ever wonder why
the Greeks and Romans used pottery
containers? barrels were a medieval
invention), to taxes, and finally to such

generalities as the form of government

and the guild system. We learn that while
cathedrals normally took centuries to
construct, with sufficient funds a great
church could be built in as little as 33
months. One of the most surprising aspects of life is how regulation often
stemming from religion affected so
much, even the size of a loaf of bread.
The books chapter titles are: Troyes
1250, A Burghers Home, A Medieval
Housewife, Childbirth and Children,
Weddings and Funerals, Small Business,
Big Business, The Doctor, The Church,
The Cathedral, School and Scholars,
Books and Authors, The New Theater,
Disasters, Town Government, The Champagne Fair, and After 1250.
Its not necessary to know much about
the Middle Ages to understand this book.
Anyone who runs a medieval campaign
would profit from it.
(Continued on following page)

How to use these books and not spend a fortune

Many of the books examined in this
column (and future columns in this series) will be available only in fairly expensive editions, or will be out of print.
Since most of the books will only be indirectly valuable to gamers, as opposed to,
actual game aids which are directly applicable to a game, few readers will want
to lay out large sums to purchase the
books even if theyre available. So how
can you avoid spending the money and
still use and enjoy the books?
First, you can borrow them from your
local public library, or read them in a
library. College and university libraries
are probably more likely to have a given
book, but even if you cant borrow books
from such libraries, many will allow you
to use their books in the building. It
doesnt hurt to phone or visit to ask
about the librarys policy.
If libraries you can use dont have a
book you want, you can ask them to buy
it if its still in print. Perhaps the library
will be inclined to take the requests of
adults more seriously than those of
younger persons, but in any case most
librarians want to know what their patrons are interested in. Once again, it
doesnt hurt to ask, and if you and several friends all request the same book (at

different times), the library is more likely

to buy it. In some cases showing the librarian a copy of the column from this
magazine may help.
If your local library wont purchase the
book, or cant because its out of print,
ask about an inter-library loan policy.
Any library can borrow books from another library, even one in another state.
There will be very few books a library
cant borrow from somewhere, but the
question is how much it might cost you.
Some libraries charge patrons nothing,
others sometimes charge and sometimes
dont, depending on whether the lending
library charges the borrowing library,
and some libraries routinely charge the
patron for their trouble. A typical charge
can vary from a few dollars to as much as
ten dollars a book. But it wont cost you
anything to ask what they charge. Generally youll be able to keep the book a
week or two, usually no more.
If none of these avenues bears fruit, try
looking for the book in second-hand
bookstores. Prices are, naturally, much
lower than list, yet a used book is just as
readable as a new book. Ask around.
If there arent many second-hand
bookstores in your area, you can consider mail-order booksellers. A few of

them sell used books, but most specialize in publishers overstocks and remainders. Overstocks are sold because the
publisher feels it has more copies on
hand than it can sell normally through
bookstores. By selling its extra books
cheaply, the publisher reduces inventory and consequently reduces taxes and
storage costs. Remainders are books for
which there is no further demand from
bookstores. The publisher sells them at a
large discount to a mail-order firm, since
some revenue is better than none. In
either case, the books cost around half
of list price, plus postage (which is less
per book the more books you order at
one time). The mail-order catalogs describe each book in one sentence or one
paragraph (with some exaggeration, I
might add), and books are categorized
by subject. For a free catalog, write to
one or both of these mail-order houses:
Barnes & Noble, 126 Fifth Ave.,
New York NY 10011
Publishers Central Bureau,
1 Champion Ave., Avenel NJ 07001
If you decide to buy a book new, remember most books that are in print are
not on the shelves of the average bookshop. Most shops will order a book for
you at no extra cost if it isnt in stock.
DRAGON

81

yet either milieu could be used by a gaming referee.

Pyramid may be the least interesting
of these three books. At least it shows
that, charlatans claims to the contrary,
there are no mysteries about how the
Egyptians built the pyramids. Ingenuity
and immense amounts of hard work can
result in creations seemingly too awesome to be made by ordinary men. One
of the simplest tricks, to lower a huge
block into a small room below ground
level or to use two huge blocks for a
peaked roof (the Egyptians constructed
no arches), was to fill the room or area
with dirt, put the block(s) on top, then
remove the dirt. Tedious, but how else
would you do it without a crane?
Macaulays book Cathedral has unfortunately disappeared from local libraries, but is undoubtedly worth reading.
Castles, cities, and pyramids make good
adventure locations, but Ive found that a
cathedral provides fascinating tactical
problems. If you cant find Cathedral
either, any book about a particular European cathedral should do. Most nonspecialist libraries will have a few such
volumes, some with extensive floor plans,
most with many photos.
Finally, note that Macaulays Underground and Great Moments in Architecture, though similar to the above books,
are not applicable to fantasy role-playing. The first is about rail subways,

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highway tunnels, and so forth, and the

other is a weak attempt at humor.

Life in a Medieval Castle

by Joseph and Frances Gies
$3.95, 269 pages
published by Harper, 1979
This book complements rather than
duplicates the material in Macaulays
Castle. The text discusses development
of the castle, but the descriptions of
structures are not always clear, and the
single diagram (of Chepstow Castle)
and photos do not help much.
The authors devote most of the book
to feudalism and the way of life in castles
and villages, subjects not touched on by
Macaulay. As in their other medieval
book, the authors describe the routine of
life in detail, down to the special days of
the calendar and the superiority of the
fireplace (a medieval invention) to the
central hearth for heating a room. Feudal
obligations (of both lord and vassal)
dominated castle life, of course.
This book gives a more accurate impression of medieval life than Life in a
Medieval City, if only because all but a
small fraction of the population lived
outside cities. Consequently, if you want
to learn about medieval life in general,
read Medieval Castle before Medieval
City, but if you know quite a bit about the
era already, the latter book will probably
be more useful for gaming.

Castle
80 pages, pub. 1977
City, a Story of Roman Planning and
Construction
112 pages, pub. 1974
Pyramid
80 pages, pub. 1975
All written by David Macaulay, published by Houghton Mifflin; all pages
9 by 12; all available in hardcover
for $10-13 each; Pyramid issued in
paperback in April 1982.
These books are aimed at the juvenile audience, and may perhaps be
found in the non-adult section of your
library but, as someone once said, if a
book isnt good reading for an adult, its
not worth publishing, regardless of the
intended readership. These books are
certainly worth adult reading, treating
each subject simply but thoroughly in
both text and drawings. I suspect that
David Macaulay is primarily an artist
who has found a niche in this complementary form of art and text. While there
is nothing outstanding about his line
drawings, they show you exactly what
he, as the author, wants to illustrate.
All the books follow the same pattern.
Each discusses and illustrates the construction of a complex of buildings. One
or two paragraphs of explanation accompany a large drawing on each page
or two-page spread. Drawings range
from panoramic views of the building

site, to plans of buildings or rooms, to

depictions of tools used during the construction. The construction used as an
example is fictional, but typical, and is
followed from conception to completion,
with names given to the principal participants so that there is a story, of sorts, to
follow. Each book ends with a one-page
glossary. Unfortunately, there is no
bibliography.
Castle describes a typical siege as well
as showing how the castle (and associated village) is built. Macaulay explains
why the typical movie climax where a
good guy cuts the rope to lower the
drawbridge to let the other good guys
into the castle wouldnt work, because a
counterweight kept the drawbridge up
unless the rope held it down. Toilets,
chimneys, lighting, the dungeon (a single room at the bottom of one tower with
access only through a trap door in the
ceiling) all are explained.
City describes the construction, on a
vacant site, of a Roman city in the time of
Augustus. Some of the edifices described
are a large bridge, a gatehouse, the
walls, the coliseum, the aqueduct, sewers, and the baths. The most surprising
aspect of a Roman city, to my mind, is
the snack bars scattered through it.
Somehow snack bars seem terribly modern, but this merely shows again that few
ideas are really new. The contrasts between this city and Troyes are extensive,

DRAGON

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could certainly memorize most stories, prayers, rules, and teachings of their religion.
Bards, as an example, practice much the
same sort of mass memorization when learning songs. At higher levels (around fifth level),
a cleric may be required to read and write in
order to play a greater role in the church, but
until then there is no reason to think that a
cleric need be literate.
If we assume, as the author suggests, that
the magic-users requirement of nine points
of intelligence is the minimum literacy score,
then both the paladin and ranger easily qualify, even though they are fighter sub-classes
and cannot use scrolls. Furthermore, paladins and rangers gain clerical and magic-user
spell abilities respectively, and the author
proposes that both clerics and magic-users
must be literate. Like the fighter, both subclasses may construct a stronghold, so that
argument for literacy applies in both cases.
It is absurd to suggest that monks cannot
read nor write because they cannot use scrolls
a fallacy we hope we have exposed and
since they do not gain the thieving skill of
reading languages are we to conclude, then,
that monks have no fingers because they do
not pickpockets? If the monk class is to have
any basis in the Oriental martial arts, it should
be noted that many schools of the martial arts

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granted certificates of graduation, giving

authority and prestige to their students. These
certificates were not meaningless scribbles to
the students. In fact, monastic orders of this
kind were often the keepers of education,
much like the Roman Catholic Church was
during the Dark Ages.
We feel that the article is most mistaken
with regard to druids. The statement that all
we know about the true druids and their culture indicates that they were anti-literate is
contradicted by the historical fact that the
druids developed their own written and spoken language, known as Ogham. This tongue
was the root of the Gaelic languages and was
certainly used often by the druids in their
capacity as dispensers of lore and justice to
the Celtic peoples. Clearly, the true druids
were not anti-literate, and the game variety
should not be considered as such.
Language and literacy rules can be added
into a campaign without reworking or ignoring any rules. Furthermore, language proficiency should be a product of circumstance
and character background not of character
class or the ability to read scrolls. We disagree
with the authors assumption that the gods
developed language and gave it to the creatures of the Prime Material Plane. It is, of
course, a question answered by each campaigns theology, but we would like to be

noted as putting in a vote of support for

development of language by mortals. After
all, why would a language suitable for godlike intellects be even comprehensible to
average minds?
The use of varied languages and alphabets
will enhance any campaign. While few players
or characters will take the time to master the
linguistics of a world, the individuality and life
of both disparate and related tongues will add
an originality that will be appreciated by
everyone.
Stephen Howard
Stig Hedlund
Winnetka, III.

Illusionist ideas
Dear Editor:
Being quite fond of illusionists, I read issue
#66 of DRAGON Magazine with some interest, and decided it would be worth offering my
reactions.
First, I disagree with Tom Armstrongs
assumption that there is no physical element
in illusionary damage that its entirely a
product of mental shock. Its a well-known
fact that a hypnotized man with his hands in
lukewarm water will blister and receive burns
if he is told the water is scalding hot. In the
same fashion, as I se it, an illusionary fireball
could fry a body to a crisp, even though its
effects were mental. The same thing will apply
to other forms of attack, like wounds. Some
readers may have heard of stigmata wounds
which spontaneously open and bleed in imitation of Christ on the cross (at least, I take this
as an example of mind-over-body; those who

take it as a religious sign will have to bear with

me).
Now, the reason Mr. Armstrong stressed
the illusory nature of damage was to argue
that an illusionist couldnt create an illusory
cleric to heal wounds; however, even if illusions are capable of affecting the body physically, as I assume, this doesnt mean the body
can be healed the same way. After all, it takes
more effort to build up than to destroy, so it
might take a far more powerful spell than a
phantasmal force, or even a spectral force, to
work healing magic like this. A mirage arcane
spell might be powerful enough (since it
allows the subjects to eat phantasmal food
and be nourished), but thats sixth level. I
would assume that nothing less than a fifth
level spell could actually rebuild the body
(excepting special ones such as dispel exhaustion). Even then, Id insist that if the party
knew the cleric was illusionary, they couldnt
summon up enough belief to heal themselves.
This would put pretty reasonable limits on the
use of the spell, I think the only way you
could effectively use an illusory cleric would
be if you were high enough to have a permanent illusion of one following you around, and
didnt tell the others in your party.
I agree that saving throws should be improved if the illusionist is unfamiliar with his
subject, and adjusted for phantasmal force
(as opposed to spectral force), the way Quinn
and Young suggest. However, I wouldnt improve saves quite as much as they do (a maximum of +2 if the illusionist has never seen the
subject before). After all, an illusion does
have one sizable weakness over a magic-user
spell: a fireball cast by a magic-user does
damage even if the subject makes a save, but

a phantasmal fireball disbelieved is entirely

useless no damage at all. That in itself limits the power of illusory attacks. I also think
saves should be reduced if the illusion is particularly convincing for some reason. For
example: a magic-user uses a wand of frost,
then an illusionist creates a phantasmal cone
of cold while holding the same wand.
Mr. Armstrong suggests that some monsters may not be affected by illusions if they
fail to recognize, say, that a fireball is actually
a form of fire. I probably wouldnt take that
into consideration in my dungeon, but if I did,
it would work to the advantage of illusionists
as well; intelligent creatures or characters
who have not seen a fireball or a blue dragon
(but had the intelligence to know what it was)
would probably save at a minus, since they
lack the familiarity to spot any errors in the
illusion.
Finally, I think the new illusionist spells are
outstanding good job, Mr. Gygax.
Well, since I have the typewriter going, Id
also like to add something on the subject of
languages. Both articles on this subject were
excellent, but there was one aspect they
didnt touch upon. Just as Eskimo, in our
world, contains over a dozen different terms
for snow, some languages in a D&D game
will go into certain subjects in far more detail.
Druidic speech, for example, might have ten
to twenty words that all translate into withered tree or dense forest, since a non-druid
wouldnt perceive any distinction between the
terms. Its a minor point, of course, but it
could cause some confusion, since even a
tongues spell would probably be unable to
clear things up. (The druids crazy! He keeps
saying we should meet under the oak with

green leaves! No, you fools! I didnt say

green leaves, I said green leaves!)
Fraser Sherman
Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.

Game credit
Dear Editor:
We would like to make public the fact that
the name of David R. Megarry was erroneously omitted from the list of credits in the
first print run of the DUNGEON! computer
game. We wish to acknowledge that the
DUNGEON! computer game is based upon
the DUNGEON! boardgame by David R.
Megarry, and Mr. Megarrys name will be
included in the credits of all future print runs
of the DUNGEON! computer game.
Legal Department
TSR Hobbies, Inc.

Correction

The advertisement for Entertainment Concepts, Inc., on page 23 of

issue #68 was in error. The deadline for players to enter the Silverdawn game and receive a discount
should have been Feb. 1, 1983
not Oct. 1, as printed.
Dragon Publishing regrets the
error, and we apologize for any
confusion or inconvenience the
mistake may have caused.

DRAGON

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