Attronarch's Athenaeum

Campaign journals, reviews of TTRPG stuff, and musings on D&D.

US Copyright Office issued US Copyright Registration TX 9-307-067, which was the only thing left for Open RPG Creative (ORC) License to be considered final.

Here are the license, guide, and certificate of registration:

As a brief reminder, last December Hasbro & Wizards of the Coast tried to sabotage the thriving RPG scene which was using OGL to create open gaming content. Their effort backfired and led to creation of above ORC License as well as AELF (“OGL but fixed” license by Matt Finch).

As always, make sure to carefully read any license before using it.

#News #OGL #ORC

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These are my reading notes of various Dragon Magazine articles. Learn more about the collection here.

Swords Slicing into a Sharp Topic

Author: David Nalle Issue: Dragon Magazine #58 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

A brief historical overview of the sword. Main message is summed up with this paragraph:

Swords weren’t just stamped out by the hundreds. Each one was a unique work, embodying the skill of a bladesmith. Swords of quality should not be sold cheaply and are a warrior’s mark of success.

Or in other words, think twice before hand-waving away a band of 10+ adventurers walking in a hamlet in the middle of fucking nowhere and buying swords, armours, and 100 gallons of oil.

Enchanting Weapons: Putting the “Magic” into Magical Weapons

Author: Mike Nystul Issue: Dragon Magazine #243 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

A series of prompts on how to make magic weapons a bit more unique, divided into following categories:

  • Weapon's origin: commission, badge of office, masterpiece, secret society, special purpose.
  • Weapon's location: bad guy, in a stomach/digestive tract of dangerous monster, fields of the fallen, test, thieves, twist of fate.
  • Assigning abilities: interesting is more effective than powerful, attunement, damage dice, helping hand, initiation, priming, restrictions.
  • Associated plotlines: equal but opposite, give it back, it isn't working, one of many, treasure hunt, whatever you desire.

It's a fine article to read once or twice, but hardly a mandatory one.

Always Wear Your Best Suit: Making armor and weapons unique for all characters

Author: Gordon R. Menzies Issue: Dragon Magazine #148 Rating: ★★★★★

Three ways to pimp your arms and armour:

  • Decorations: enamelling, simple engraving, complex engraving, and elaborate engraving.
  • Plating with precious metals: copper, bronze, silver, electrum, gold, platinum, mithral, and adamantite.
  • Making them from different metals: copper, bronze, meteorite iron, mithral, and adamantite.

Everything has cost, impact on value of base item, time required, impact on encumbrance, and functionality. Each metal has brief description, plus reference to an article Fire For Effect! in Dragon Magazine #123 which includes melting points for each.

Now, this is exactly the type of article I am looking for! Just three pages, has fluff, has mechanics & procedures, and tables! perfect. Yes, I will include it in the master collection.

In Defense of the Shield: Shield-using skills in the AD&D game

Author: Tim Merrett Issue: Dragon Magazine #127 Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ OR ★★★★☆

Do you think shield improving AC is too simple? Do you yearn for CRUNCHY SHIELDS?! Do you agree that shields were historically difficult to use? That they were more important than armour? Ever wished you could spend your proficiency slots on handling a shield?

YES?!

Well, then this is the perfect article for you!!!

Not for me though.

Two Hands Are Better Than One: A handy guide on handling weapons

Author: Donald D. Miller Issue: Dragon Magazine #127 Rating: ★★★★☆

At first I thought that the only good thing about this article is the illustration of cleric bonking some pitiful fool, sporting a big ass grin, a big ass cross, and double wielding maces.

But then I had the following question in one of my game sessions:

“Wait, can dwarves carry polearms? Aren't they huge?”

This article provides and answer in one page of text, and two tables. And I love it! It provides maximum length and weight for secondary (off-hand), primary (prime-hand), one-handed, two-handed, and pole arm weapons for dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, halflings, half-orcs, and humans.

And then, to make it even easier, it lists all AD&D weapons and races and how many hands it takes them to wield 'em. Perfect.

This one might be included in the final collection.

Different Totes for Different Folks: Basic backpacks for every D&D game adventurer

Author: Vince Garcia Issue: Dragon Magazine #191 Rating: ★★★★★

If you are playing any flavour of the classic D&D (B/X, BECMI, RC) or their retroclone, then this is a must-have article.

It replicates and expands adventuring gear from the core rulebooks in just page and a half. All the additions are meaningful, with clear in-game application. In other words, the spirit of simplicity is maintained.

Here is a list of all added items: explorer's backpack, waterproof backpack, bandages, bedroll, block and tackle, bow strings, candle, chisel, hand-held climbing hook, disguise kit, hand-drill, heavy gloves, soft gloves, inexpensive holy symbol, vial of ink, blank journal, knapsack, utility knife, bullseye lantern, leather lasso, leather in bulk, lockpicks, magnifying glass, explorers' map, detailed map, general map, stringed musical instrument, wind musical instrument, oil in metal flask, papyrus, parchment, parka, cooking pot, quill pen, quiver (back and belt), salt, waterproof scroll case, sewing kit, blank spellbook, spellbook cover, tents, twine, empty glass vial, and whistle.

Further, each class gets a starting kit as well, which are in essence predefined equipment packs with price and encumbrance.

#Resource #DragonMagazine

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Adventurers

Character Class Description
Conly Fighter level 1 Young man with brown hair and eyes. Carries a shield with large acorn symbol.
Algon Thief level 1 Handsome and friendly heartthrob; shifty at heart.
Derennan Dwarf level 3 A dwarf hailing from Western Wastes.
Barad the Bald Magic-user level 1 Bald, beardless, chinless, and lazy-eyed.
Hist Fighter level 1
Rashomon Elf level 1 A dangerous looking elf.
Llyfed Elf level 3 Thin and balding elf whom also happens to be Rashomon's friend.
Brent Goose Cleric level 5 An eccentric, but charismatic, cleric seeking the Holy Bird. White robes and black cloak conceal his tall, frail and anemic frame. His eagle-like nose is exposed for all to see.
Oberon Fighter level 3 A tall, supple hunter adorned with bones and horns of his prey.

Redleaves 3rd, Earthday

Two weeks flew by as the adventurers recovered moved into their newly acquired home, a respectable townhouse in a nice part of Hara.

Norwood Bode, the former owner, kept his word and introduced the party to:

  • Eval Strikker, the proprietor of armory just next to them. He primarily manufactures chainshirts for the garrison, but will always find time for Norwood's friends.
  • Bindon Sweettooth, the host at the Shoreside Club, a private club mostly frequented by the local nobility and army officers. Norwood warned the adventurers to invest into their appearance—”Easier to get sensitive work that way!”
  • Haermond II, the castellan of Hara, whom did recognize some of the adventurers for their previous help with a sensitive issue. They accidentally ran into him at the Shoreside Club, so Norwood used the opportunity to flaunt his connections.

Few, more entrepreneurially inclined members also invested in gathering rumour and intelligence. Here is what they learned:

  • Gnomes of Ractuan are livid. Several barges of raw material sent to Hara went missing. They've recently sent a delegation which demanded immediate action or they'll stop doing business through Hara. Haermond II is already stretched thin, but this is Hara's lifeblood, so he is likely to weaken all other posts to resolve this.
  • Another patrol went missing at the Midnight Goddess Hills. “Eaten alive by horrors beyond human imagination!” “The Circle must've been broken!” “Nonsense, it is those damn jungle barbarians...”
  • Namelin has been on a spending spree. They hired most of the available capable fighters. The rumour has it they also financed nearly 70% of all assassination contracts in the last eight months.
  • “An ancient idol of Shang Ta, the Windgod, rots away on the slopes of Ghinarian hills. Peasants speak of desecration, violation, and evildoing. Surely someone looking for divine favour could do worse than taking care of it...”

They also spent time studying the map they've recovered from the burial mound Zarifa had sent them to.

Playing sages, the adventurers suspected the tall mountain might be one of the peaks of the Castellan Mountains looming over Hara from the west. Consequently, they spent a full day researching the books at the Wizards' Guild, records at the Forsetti's Temple, and frequenting taverns for local tales.

This is what they learned after a full day of investigation:

  • Castellan Mountains effectively split Altanis in half. Crossing them is a treacherous undertaking even for the most prepared. Those that survive the climb still have to deal with venerable dragons, marauding stone giants, and orcs of Arang-Tok.
  • Madcat Mountain, the closest one to Hara, is named so for the twin spires that jut out of the peak of this mountain. The summit is approximately 10,000 feet in height. It's best to scale them in spring.
  • There are no significant records of graveyards. Life in Wilderlands is too short and brutal to keep track of such trivialities on a large scale.

Rashomon recruited Dorn, a veteran fighter, while Conly and Algon recruited four commoners for menial tasks like carrying treasure and not getting in danger.

Ever since Brent Goose has returned from the ruined tower he found himself followed by a flock of small birds. They poop on him on every occasion. Brent also found his magic impotent; his prayers either not working or producing subpar results.

“Hey guys I'm in trouble with my god. Can we go kill the things in the mountain from my vision?”

“What vision?”

“I had a vision of some guys hissing at me.”

“That's very vague. How about we go take care of the ruined idol of Shang-Ta?”

“That works too”.

They arranged a transport on barge carrying livestock to Ahyf, the settlement closest to Ghinarian hills. It was a fine party, counting eight adventurers, one retainer, four porters, two draft horses, and one wagon.

The expedition had arrived on Ahyf, a trading village by the sea, in the last daylight watch of Redleaves 5th, Spiritday. They slept with animals for 1 copper piece per person.

Redleaves 5th, Spiritday

Ahyf is a large trading village where merchant ships take over goods shipped from Hara as well as anyone else who comes to barter. The gnomes of Ractuan and the humans of Hara both ship their goods down on coastal barges to Ahyf every month to the market.

Warlord Briaron ensures that the trade goes undisturbed, at least in Ahyf, that is. Once you sail you are on your own. Camus, the Priest of Thoth, is well respected and acts as the local judge.

Meek Brent was too afraid to seek audience with him, even after seeing the crane-like bird at the entrance of the temple. He'd rather pray to the stone than dare speak to a man of true conviction.

Hist, on the other hand, politely queued to be granted audience with Camus. There was a long line of peasants asking for divination, advice, help, blessing, and who knows what else.

“How can I help you, son?”

“We heard there is a sacred site nearby that has fallen into evil hands. We came to purge it. Could you tell us more?”

Although Camus failed to show any signs excitement, he explained that many temples on Ghinarian hills were abandoned in recent years. Locals report sightings of undead, but he doesn't believe them to be true.

“It's most likely the crazed, cannibal barbarians. They bathe in blood, reek of rot, and act irrationally. It's easy to confuse them for brainless undead. The only thing they have in common is their shared hatred for the living.”

“You will find the idol facing east. It is very similar to the one in Antil, but nowhere near as grand. Oh, you've never been there? Well, it is an upright statue of an eagle spreading its wings.”

“Three priests tended to the idol back in the day. Send them my regards if you find them. Or end their suffering, if they've turned to evil ways. You have my blessing. Now go.”

And they left.

The party started their slow ascent up the Ghinarian hills. Those were gentle, wet hills stretching from the Cedarwade in the west all the way to the coast and the Cape of No Return in the east. Beautiful and pastoral hills give a breathtaking view of the sea.

Hist and Oberon navigated the party using the priest's instruction to follow the old, serpentine trail leading to the idol of Shang-Ta.

Redleaves 6th, Airday

“Huh, he didn't mention this...”

A barricade of cut down trees stood some hundred feet ahead of them, blocking path forward. They were currently marching on a fifty foot wide path. A natural rocky wall was to their right, roughly five feet tall, while a sharp fall was to their left, also roughly five feet deep.

Four red-skinned human-shaped figures stood behind the trees.

“Hey, what's this?” one of the adventurers yelled.

A volley of arrows was the reply he received.

“Well, that's not nice.”

The party responded in kind. They found that the barbarians were using their cover effectively.

“Watch out!” Derennan informed the others of three more attackers, coming from below! They were scaling the cliff, daggers in their mouths, showing of rotting teeth.

A brutal skirmish ensued. Llyfed managed to kill two with his expert marksmanship; Oberon managed to drop his bow but Brent picked it up for him; Conly got badly wounded but was saved by Algon and Hist; Derennan was flanked and repeatedly stabbed by two of them, he tanked them both.

With three down, the barbarians begun fleeing like animals. Those behind the barricaded run up the hills. One that fought Derennan jumped off the hill, to the lower plane, and made a run for it. The other one was surrounded and had nowhere to go. He took amazing amount of punishment.

Bleed profusely, he turned to the dwarf, cut open his pants, grabbed his manhood with his left hand, and cut it off with his right. Then he chucked it at the shocked dwarf—whom failed to evade the unexpected projectile. Floppy parts just splooshed against his plate armour, and then fell down to the ground.

The lunatic then disembowelled himself, throwing his innards at his feet. Finally, he turned to the side of the cliff and jumped on his head.

Half-dead Conly did not get a chance to heal. In fact, he didn't even realise when he died. It was Oberon who spotted another red-skinned figure standing atop the hill to south of them. The man was a good distance away from them, but his laughter echoed all around them.

He even made a little celebratory dance as he hit Conly in the neck with his arrow. Then he flipped the party and disappeared out of sight.

Little of value was found on the corpses of the ambushers, a mere eleven gold coins. The party put the wounded and dead into the wagon and returned to Ahyf to heal.

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

#Wilderlands #SessionReport

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These are my reading notes of various Dragon Magazine articles. Learn more about the collection here.

The six main skills: What AD&D game abilities mean in real terms

Author: Jefferson P. Swycaffer Issue: Dragon Magazine #107 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

A verbose description of the six ability scores, from “the most material to the least”:

  • Strength: a measure of muscular power, reflected in speed, lifting ability, throwing ability, jumping range, capacity to absorb damage or resist pain, and endurance.
  • Constitution: a measure of overall health, endurance, and vigor. Reflected in strong heart, healthy lungs, and a good muscle tone.
  • Dexterity: a mix of manual dexterity, coordination, and agility.
  • Intelligence: people are perceived as intelligent when they are observant, methodical, or articulate.
  • Wisdom: strength of willpower.
  • Charisma: a matter of being smooth, suave, positive, persuasive, gentle, and sincere; natural leadership; pride and envy are the primary sins against charisma.

As you can see from the above definitions, Jefferson does well defining physical characteristics but fails short with intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. He essentially uses circular, self-referential logic to describe each.

All in all, I don't regret reading this article, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone but the absolute newcomers who are wondering what does each attribute stand for. And even then, wouldn't you expect that to be described in whatever ruleset you are using?

Realistic vital statistics: A new system for figuring heights & weights

Author: Stephen Inniss Issue: Dragon Magazine #91 Rating: ★★★★★

Awesome and practical article for generating believable heights and weights for characters. In fact, I've extensively used it to generate NPCs.

Stephen finds the following faults with the system offered in AD&D:

  • Dwarves, gnomes, and halflings are implausibly heavy and extraordinarily dense for the given figures.
  • Human and half-human females weigh less for their height than do their brothers; this isn't the case with real-world humans.
  • Human males are 9% taller than females, whereas in the real world the difference is smaller.
  • It produces extraordinarily tall humans.
  • Height and weight are determined independently.
  • Provided tables do not make provisions for all the allowable character races.

Now, Stephen doesn't stop at the critique—he offers a completely fleshed out system contained in seven tables:

  • Table A: Average heights (roll for humans, look-up for demihumans)
  • Table B1: Variation from average height (roll)
  • Table B2: Height adjustment by strength (look-up)
  • Table C: Character weight by height (look-up)
  • Table D: Weight modifiers by race (look-up)
  • Table E1: Variation from average weight (roll)
  • Table E2: Weight adjustment by strength (look-up)

Don't allow the tables to discourage you—it doesn't take long to use them. Stephen claims “a minute or less” but it will most likely take you a bit longer the first time.

Final verdict: I will include this article in my “final” Dragon Magazine Collection. I might also include it in the Wilderlands Gazetteer I'm working on for those players that like to have that kind of detail.

Short hops and big drops: Here's how far and how high characters can jump

Author: Stephen Inniss Issue: Dragon Magazine #93 Rating: ★★★★☆

A simple system for determining how far can a character jump. Everything is based on a so called “jump number” which is determined by the character's strength, dexterity, race, and class. Various environmental modifiers are taken into account in order to determine how far can the character jump.

Another great article by Stephen. I've used it a few times to determine if characters could plausibly jump over the chasm. Most notable use has been during a play-by-post session when a sole survivor was fleeing for his life. He stumbled upon an 11-foot wide chasm so I gave him the article and asked him to figure it out.

With that being said, most of the time I default to anything shorter than 5-feet is automatic success, unless there is combat or some other distraction. The procedures here are nice back-up for those special cases.

Yes, this article will also make it into the final Dragon Magazine Collection.

Sight in the Darkness: An open-eyed look at infravision, the Underdark, and your PCs

Author: Roger E. Moore Issue: Dragon Magazine #211 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Roger explains what infravision is, how it works above- and under-ground, how it was treated in different game editions (Chainmail, D&D, AD&D 1e, D&D Rules Cyclopedia, and AD&D 2e), and “clever” tricks with infravision.

I'm on the fence for this one. It is not badly written but is very thin on usable stuff, at least for me. As a trained engineering familiar with thermodynamics and thermal imaging, there was little new for me on the scientific side of the article. The gaming side was thin and limited to small gimmicks (e.g. making light bombs).

Actually, I found the historic overview of infravision in various editions of D&D to be the most interesting part of this article. The biggest takeaway for me is that I should remove infravision from elves.

Note: There is an updated version of this article called Infravision & Your Fantasy Hero.

The 7-Sentence NPC: A new way to bring nonplayer characters to life (in game, that is)

Author: C. M. Cline Issue: Dragon Magazine #184 Rating: ★★★★☆

A seven-point checklist for describing NPCs:

  • Occupation & history
  • Physical description
  • Attributes & skills
  • Values & motivations
  • Interactions with others
  • Useful knowledge
  • Distinguishing features

Four example to see it in action.

Good article, highlighting what is actionable & gameable information for the Judge. At the same time, today we know better than presenting all of the above in a single god-damn paragraph.

Yes, this article will also make it in my Dragon Magazine Collection.

A new loyalty base: All the tables you need, all in one place

Author: Stephen Inniss Issue: Dragon Magazine #107 Rating: ★★★★★

Man, I love tables. This article has 25 of them:

  • Table A: Encounter reactions (roll)
  • Tables B: Encounter reaction adjustments (look-up)
    • Table B1: Charisma
    • Table B2: Species reaction
    • Table 23: Alignment difference
    • Table B4: Alignment
    • Table B5: Physical aspect
    • Table B6: Social behaviour
    • Table B7: Social group
    • Table B8: Inducements
  • Table C: Loyalty (roll)
  • Tables D: Loyalty adjustments (look-up)
    • Table D1: Charisma
    • Table D2: Enlistment
    • Table D3: Association
    • Table D4: Status
    • Table D5: Pay or profits
    • Table D6: General treatment
    • Table D7: Discipline
    • Table D8: Special circumstances
  • Table E: Morale check (roll)
  • Tables F: Morale adjustments (look-up)
    • Table F1: Perceived odds
    • Table F2: Personal situation
    • Table F3: Leader's situation
  • Table G1: Interactions of character species and “humanoids” (look-up)
  • Table G2: Interactions of humanoid species (look-up)
  • Table H: Reactions between alignment types (look-up)

Stephen reworks the original AD&D 1e system from d00 to d20 with roll-high logic while collating all the reaction, morale, and loyalty rules into one place. There is hardly anything that I could disagree with in this article, but I can see it being dismissed as too crunchy or intimidating.

The reality is that the procedure is simple: a single d20 roll. Where it slows down is referencing all the look-up tables, which are granular. Good news is that any Judge can easily reduce the granularity by shortening the modifier bands. Heck, just keeping Charisma between 3 and 18 removes 17 lines from table B1.

Ultimately, I'd recommend all the Judges to read this article, even if they don't plan to use the rules and procedures within. Stephen peppers it with enough useful advice to make it worth your time, while all the numbers in the table are useful even without ever using them as intended.

Allow me to explain: each table has thoughtful modifiers which you might've not thought of. By reading through them, even once, and their proposed numerical expression, you will at least have an idea how might they manifest in your own game.

Usable, thought-through procedures is what I'm looking for in Dragon Magazine. Therefore, this article will also be included in the final collection.

#Resource #DragonMagazine

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These are my reading notes of various Dragon Magazine articles. Learn more about the collection here.

What good PCs are made of: Play characters with more substance than statistics

Author: Katharine Kerr Issue: Dragon Magazine #96 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Player Characters (PCs) are players' way to contribute and shape the Judge's world. Most players fail to create “true” PCs, i.e. characters that are different than themselves. At least that is what Katharine presents as the core challenge.

She offers solid advice on how to create characters by thinking about social class (random table), family life and background (random table), motivation, way of talking, opinion of the world, and polytheism.

The article is well written and well argued—I especially appreciated brief discussion of medieval upbringing and polytheism—but ultimately doesn't really match neither my play- nor judging-style.

For better or worse, the main campaign I'm running has had quite high death toll. To follow Katharine's advice to the letter would be frustrating, for it does take more effort than rolling six attribute scores and picking your class.

On the other hand, I could see myself using her guidance to create name-level and other NPCs of importance. I could also see it used after PC hits level 4 or above. You know, when they don't die from a single slap anymore.

Notes From a Semi-Successful D&D Player

Author: James Ward Issue: Dragon Magazine #13 Rating: ★★★★★

Ten tips in ten paragraphs! In order, they are:

  • Make Continual Light wand light-sticks as soon as possible.
  • Carry around a small potted rose plant, Growth/Plant Spell, and Potion of Plant Control.
  • Get a ten foot pole and a five foot steel rod.
  • Invest in steel potion bottles.
  • Carry freshly squeezed garlic juice in small vials (kept in steel pouches, of course).
  • Polymorph cockatrice into a snail, throw the snail at adversaries and cast Dispel Magic on it.
  • Get all Magic-User poison for the dagger, no matter the price.
  • All Magic-Users should start creating new spells as soon as possible; trade and sell them.
  • A set of extra spellbooks for Magic-Users is a must.
  • Get Permanent spell as soon as possible, for it is as good as Wish. Make Fly permanent on fragile characters, Infravision and Protection from Evil on Fighters, and Charm on foes.

I think I understand why Gary got to increasingly dislike Magic-Users.

And now I know what I'll start spending money on in The Keep on Yeoldelands campaign.

Be aware and take care: Basic principles of successful adventuring

Author: Lew Pulsipher Issue: Dragon Magazine #79 Rating: ★★★★★

Absolutely amazing article, should be mandatory reading for players trying to get into OSR play-style as well!

“The qualities that characters, and the players of those characters, must exhibit to succeed in a fantasy adventure are founded on the ideas of common sense and cooperation...”

The article is well written and very practical. The advice is broken down into following buckets:

  • Generic: elementary precautions, whom do you trust, know your objective and stick to it, gather information, keep a monster chronicle, provide for rescue/escape, equipment, security in camps.
  • Behaviour during the adventure: avoid mental passivity in battle, coordinate efforts, keep reserves in reserve, don't take separate routes, concentration of attacks, you can't beat everything, get out while you have some “bottom,” never flee into unknown areas, don't back yourself into a corner, guard your spell casters, make lists, other precautions.
  • Staying alive after the adventure: search for enemies, search for hidden treasure, examination of items.
  • Using magic wisely and well: deception in place of magic, phantasmal forces and illusions, imaginative use of spells.
  • Adventuring and referees: know thy referee.

The only controversial advice might be the last section, which in essence encourages players to understand the Judges' behaviour and then exploit it. For example, if your Judge is willing to fudge the dice in your favour, you should leverage that.

I can understand that advice in a more adversarial Player-Judge relationship, which was perhaps more common back in the day. Today I'd say that collaborative play-style is more prevalent.

Either way, this is a truly evergreen article, which I'll definitely include in the final Dragon Magazine Collection.

Assessing, not guessing: How PCs can make their own value judgements

Author: Lionel D. Smith Issue: Dragon Magazine #104 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Lionel offers a simple procedure for PCs to randomly determine value of treasure items. It takes into account class, race, and level to determine base probability for successful estimation, and then uses d20 and a control die to determine the result.

Although the procedure and advice are solid, I see them more fitting for a Sage or NPC than PCs. The closing sentence is an important reminder to those who struggle with traditional gold-for-XP systems:

“The business of buying and selling can and should be an adventure in itself.”

Just because the players returned with a large haul of jewellery, gems, and who-knows-what doesn't mean they are rich. Give them XP, and then let them figure our how to liquidate all that wealth in a world where most don't earn a single gold coin in a single year.

#Resource #DragonMagazine

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Adventurers

Character Class Description
Derennan Dwarf level 3 A dwarf hailing from Western Wastes.
Barad the Bald Magic-user level 1 Bald, beardless, chinless, and lazy-eyed.
Rashomon Elf level 2 A dangerous looking elf.
Llyfed Elf level 2 Thin and balding elf whom also happens to be Rashomon's friend.
Conly Fighter level 1 Young man with brown hair and eyes. Carries a shield with large acorn symbol.
Algon Thief level 1 Handsome and friendly heartthrob; shifty at heart.

Willowind 13th, Earthday

“I must return. I must.”

Derennan recruited Rashomon, Llyfed, Conly, and Algon. Together they would head back to the burial mound.

Barad decided to skip the expedition to the place where a horrific skeleton with flaming beard turned Basson into a lifeless husk whilst another skeleton cleaved stocky Gwendin in half.

Could anyone have blamed him?

Either way, the adventuring party returned to the mound with little difficulties. The only encounter of notice was a disgruntled bunch of gnomes entering Hara.

Derennan led the party into the mound through the secret entrance he discovered last time. They cautiously descended, painfully aware that their former allies might have transformed into new, potent adversaries.

Gwendin's two chunks begun to rot, attracting maggots and flies. Basso still looked like a sun dried raisin—raisin with grotesquely deformed face of horror, that is.

“I'll stand and watch guard at this intersection. An army of skeletons marched through the doors to the south last time. I don't want them to surprise us.” the dwarf announced.

“Uh, have you recovered all the valuables from your former associates? They don't need them anymore...” Algon inquired charmingly.

Llyfed and Conly descended further down, stepping over the remains of their friends. They carefully inched into the chamber with sarcophagus.

Nothing assaulted them.

The sarcophagus was half open.

A headless skeleton in chainshirt laid in it.

The elf poked it.

Nothing.

Conly poked it.

Nothing.

Conly relieved it of valuables: a chunky necklace with blue sheen and ruby stone, a large gold ring with ruby stone, and a nice looking silver brooch.

He put the ring on.

Algon screamed.

Rashomon turned in time to see a skeleton dressed in glistening chainshirt holding stone slab like it was nothing. An unreal flaming beard adorned his skull.

The undead flung the slab to the side, and tried to jump Algon. The thief evaded it just in time for Rashomon to cast Magic Missile at the skeleton.

Derennan' prediction came true. A horde of undead poured out of the south corridor.

The dwarf gingerly placed the torch on the ground.

Then he gripped his polearm and held his ground.

Algon ran up to him, preferring to fight greatsword-wielding skeletons over the scary life-sucking skeleton.

“Fall back into the crypt, three of us can surely beat him!” Conly yelled at Rashomon.

The elf obliged, taking a few steps back. He made sure to spray the skeleton with holy water as he did so. Alas, the undead was more than happy to follow, tackling the elf to the ground.

It knotted its unnaturally chilly skeletal fingers around Rashomon's neck, and then leaned in for a deadly kiss. The elf could feel life essence being sucked right out of him. It felt as if someone plunged arms right into his stomach and was churning his insides.

Conly and Llyfed witnessed Rashomon withering in front of their eyes.

“Agh!”

Derennan destroyed several skeletons, but one finally managed to get to him.

The dwarf was badly wounded.

“Will you forgive me if I run?” Algon asked charmingly.

“Do as you wish.”

The dwarf stood his ground.

Cough cough!

Rashomon rolled, coughing violently.

The skeleton crumbled to dust as it went for the second kiss, which would've surely had spelled the elf's end.

Llyfed propped him up whilst Conly ran out to help Derennan and Algon. He saw a properly bloody dwarf holding a number of skeletons at bay.

The party quickly disposed of the remaining undead.

“We are here for the red ring.” Derennan reminded everyone.

“This one?” Conly asked, showing a thick, ill fitting gold ring with ruby stone on his index finger.

“Probably.”

“Let's check what the other guy had!”

Indeed, the other guy had treasure as well: a golden necklace, a copper bracelet, and a silver bracer.

They also found a chest with 4 000 electrum pieces, and another chest with 7 000 copper pieces. They also found a well preserved parchment with squiggly lines and an x on it.

“We have one more thing to do. Pass me the oil and torches.”

They threw bassos shrivelled husk into the sarcophagus, and doused him with oil. Derennan threw in the torch.

“We are done here. Let' head back.”

The party partied hard at the Circled Star Inn, their home for the last few months.

“W-we should go straight to that old guy and buy his fucking house, right now!”

“What, in the middle of the night?!”

“Yes!”

“No, I don't think that'd be a good idea.”

“Yeah, that'd be a bit weird...”

“OK, OK, we do it tomorrow then... Bartnederer! Another round!”

Willowind 14th, Fireday

Norwood Bode, a middle aged man with slivers of white, warmly received Derennan and his friends. After a bit of friendly haggling they reached a mutually satisfactory agreement: the party would pay 3 500 gold coins, and he would vacate the building within two weeks.

And what a nice home they bought themselves! A lean, two-story building, with 30 by 20 feet base. Its half-timbered construction has been infilled with concrete rendered with white stucco giving it a bright, airy appearance. The terracotta tiled roof, pebble floor, and wattlework interior walls gave that homey country ambience.

“These walls hold many stories.”

Norwood used to run an adventuring party, a successful one at that if one is to believe him.

“I see there is only six of you here. Let me tell you that twelve of us called this place home for many seasons. I hope it serves you as well. Let me show you one more thing...”

A surprise—and a welcome one, at that—the building also has a cellar with vault, protected with two iron-barred doors.

Happy with their deal, the party was ready to head to Zarifa Pilter.

She made them wait, again. For hours.

“The clown is back! And the circus grew even bigger!”

A buxom, lithe woman slithered for her greeting.

Rashomon kept his mouth shut, unlike Llyfed.

“A bald elf, with rotting teeth? Why are you even addressing me?” she fired back.

Algon opened his mouth, but alas, made the situation even worse.

“I cannot believe it! Even when you partner with humans you manage to find the biggest imbeciles?” another stab by her.

“Well, intelligence is not a trait commonly present in those that undertake dangerous delves.” Derennan the Diplomat and Businessdwarf defused the situation once more.

“Why is that child wearing what is mine?”

“Conly? Oh, he is merely safeguarding the ring for you.”

Zarifa peppered them all with casual insults and slurs as she inspected the ring. Her cold, blue eyes began sparkling as she announced that yes, this is the ring she wanted them to retrieve.

By now the elves were giving her a death stare, which only seemed to amuse her further.

“Now, could you explain the deal you proposed last time. About the treasure we recover.”

“Yes, could you state it more directly?”

Zarifa rolled her eyes so hard she spent the whole foyer spinning.

“Direct?! Direct?! You imbeciles!”

“You bring me treasure first. I give you a good offer. Direct enough?!”

“Can we get it appraised elsewhere first?”

“Where? Doral the Lazyeyed? Don't make me laugh! If you want to shop around then our deal is off!”

“But what if you give us cutthroat price...”

“Just because I despise you doesn't mean I don't like good business. I'll always give you two options: 30% of appraised value paid on hands within a week or 65% of sell price if we represent you in a bigger market. The second option takes between three to five months, but will always be a bigger payout.”

“Can you follow all these numbers? Are your little minds spinning?”

“No, not at all. You know, I'm something of a mathematician myself.” Barad the Bald spoke.

Zarifa sized him up, without her signature snark.

The party proceeded to complete the negotiations, signed a contract that could cost them their balls, and banked 1 400 gold coins for jewellery recovered from the mound.

“You seem like a learned man.” Zarifa playfully clawed Barad's arm “Tell me more about that green cloak of yours. It is quite a statement piece.”

“Oh, I'd love to. You see, when I was in Antil, I got invited to this very private party that I had to arrive costumed...

She listened to him with the attention of lustful barbarian.

“How would you like to spend the night at the Pleasure Palace?”

“Oh, lady, I couldn't possibly afford such a fine establishment!”

“This stay would be on the House...”

“I'm in! Godspeed fellow adventurers, see you tomorrow!”

“Bah, better him than us!” elves grumbled on their way out.

“Talk to me wizard! Now that we got rid of that idiot friends of yours we can speak like learned people...”

Barad soon discovered that Zarifa is a raging sapiosexual.

He barely survived the night.

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

#Wilderlands #SessionReport

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The Crossroads of Chaldén, an adventure resurrected from 1986, which I had the pleasure of editing (mildly) and laying out has been published in July:

Crossroads of Chalden takes place near the barbarian lands of snow and ice. The people are gruff and suspicious of outsiders, and to folk from other lands they seem introverted and superstitious. First written back in 1986, this Dragonsfoot publication is a ready-to-play module with an introduction to a new world for First Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Plenty of information to flesh out the world in which Chalden lies, or to place it within the World of Greyhawk. Included is also helpful hints for new DMs in how to run and adjudicate the module. An AD&D adventure for Characters Levels 2-3.

Download it for free from Dragonsfoot.

And here is the forum topic where you can ask one of the authors (Peyre) questions.

I'm confident this module won't be everyones cup of tea, but it is a fascinating window into a home-brewed adventure from mid-80s, 1e era.

#Resource #Adventure #ADnD

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Last year I collected 143 most recommended Dragon articles into a reading list. Given the size, I divided them into three collections: Player Advice, Judge Advice, and Setting Advice.

Now I'll begin reading the first collection, Player Advice, with the intention of noting anything interesting and worthwhile. I plan to share my notes as I go, since others might benefit from them.

Here is the table of contents for the Player Advice collection:

  • Player Advice
    • What good PCs are made of: Play characters with more substance than statistics (Katharine Kerr, Dragon 96)
    • Notes From a Semi-Successful D&D Player (James Ward, Dragon 13)
    • Be aware and take care: Basic principles of successful adventuring (Lew Pulsipher, Dragon 79)
    • Assessing, not guessing: How PCs can make their own value judgements (Lionel D. Smith, Dragon 104)
  • Characters
    • The six main skills: What AD&D game abilities mean in real terms (Jefferson P. Swycaffer, Dragon 107)
    • Realistic vital statistics: A new system for figuring heights & weights (Stephen Inniss, Dragon 91)
    • Short hops and big drops: Here's how far and how high characters can jump (Stephen Inniss, Dragon 93)
    • Sight in the Darkness: An open-eyed look at infravision, the Underdark, and your PCs (Roger E. Moore, Dragon 211)
    • The 7-Sentence NPC: A new way to bring nonplayer characters to life (in game, that is) (C. M. Cline, Dragon 184)
    • A new loyalty base: All the tables you need, all in one place (Stephen Inniss, Dragon 107)
  • Equipment
    • Swords Slicing into a Sharp Topic (David Nalle, Dragon 58)
    • Enchanting Weapons: Putting the “Magic” into Magical Weapons (Mike Nystul, Dragon 243)
    • Always Wear Your Best Suit: Making armor and weapons unique for all characters (Gordon R. Menzies, Dragon 148)
    • In Defense of the Shield: Shield-using skills in the AD&D game (Tim Merrett, Dragon 127)
    • Two Hands Are Better Than One: A handy guide on handling weapons (Donald D. Miller, Dragon 127)
    • Different Totes for Different Folks: Basic backpacks for every D&D game adventurer (Vince Garcia, Dragon 191)
  • Magic
    • “Oops! Sorry!” Spell interruptions can spell disaster (Donald Hoverson, Dragon 163)
    • Spells between the covers: Details for delving into magical research (Bruce Heard, Dragon 82)
    • The Laws of Spell Design (Ted Zuvich, Dragon 242)
    • Paths of Power: A variant magic system for the AD&D game (Wolfgang Buar and Steve Kurtz, Dragon 216)
    • The Color of Magic: Specialized spells for D&D game spellcasters (Dan Joyce, Dragon 200)
    • Even Wilder Mages: If your wild-mage PC isn't strange (Joel E. Roosa & Andrew Crossett, Dragon 202)
    • Good stuff for a spell: Magic focusing: a new dimension for possessions (John M. Maxstadt, Dragon 111)
    • Charging isn't cheap: How to make and fix rods, staves, and wands (Peter Johnson, Dragon 101)
    • The Mystic College: Magical academies for AD&D game sorcerers (James A. Yates, Dragon 123)
  • Psionics
    • Psionics is different... And that's putting it rather mildly (Arthur Collins, Dragon 78)
    • Overhauling the system: A three-part remedy for problems with psionics (Robert Schroeck, Dragon 78)
    • And now, the pscionicist: A class that moves psionics into the mainstream (Arthur Collins, Dragon 78)
    • Spells can be psionic, too: How and why magic resembles mental powers (Kim Mohan, Dragon 78)
    • Psionics: Sage advice (Dragon 78)
  • Procedures
    • Credit where credit is due: Elaborating upon the experience-point rules (Katharine Kerr, Dragon 95)
    • New charts, using the 5% principle (Lenard Lakofka, Dragon 80)
    • You've always got a chance: Using ability scores to determine success or failure (Katherine Kerr,  Dragon 68)
    • When the rations run out: Characters don't live on hit points alone (Paul Hancock, Dragon 107)
    • Wounds and weeds: Plants that can help keep characters alive (Kevin J. Anderson, Dragon 82)
    • Good Hits & Bad Misses (Carl Parlagreco, Dragon 39)
    • Magic resistance: What it is, how it works (Penny Petticord, et al, Dragon 79)
    • A Hero's Reward: The hero-point system for the AD&D game (Leonard Carpenter, Dragon 118)
    • The fighting circle: Gladiatorial combat in the AD&D game (Dan Salas, Dragon 118)
    • High Seas: Ships, fore and aft, in fantasy gaming (Margaret Foy, Dragon 116)
    • Same dice, different odds: Divided rolls add variety and uncertainty (David G. Weeks, Dragon 94)

More to come soon...

#Resource #DragonMagazine

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Adventurers

Character Class Description
Derennan Dwarf level 2 A dwarf hailing from Western Wastes.
Barad the Bald Magic-user level 1 Bald, beardless, chinless, and lazy-eyed.
Basso Halfling level 2 A stable boy whom got tired of shovelling horse shit.
Gwendin Cleric level 1 A follower of Bondor, god of swords, carrying a sacred silver scimitar.

Willowind 7th, Waterday

Brent Goose, Llyfed, Basso, Gomm, Derennan stood in front of Doral, Hara's jeweller, all sweaty and dirty after their five day expedition to the ruined tower and back.

“Yes, these seem like globes of pure silver. You could probably get between 500 and 2000 gold coins for each.”

People of Hara observed the party with great interest as they made their way to the jeweller. There is no doubt that the word of their newly found riches is spread fast.

Since each orb weighted 172 lbs, carrying them required great effort, leaving little means to defend oneself. And they had nine.

“Tell you what. I'll offer you 500 gold coins for one right now!”

“Make it 800 and you have a deal. I hope we can have a long and prosperous business relationship.” Derennan countered.

“500 and I'll appraise your next haul for free.”

“Fine but you’ll need to accommodate us while my companions run some errands. We’ll be in your shop until they return.”

“Of course, be my guests. Perhaps I could interest you in some of the wonderful rings and necklaces I have on display?”

Basso leaned in to take a good look at the necklaces.

“Ya these look mighty pretty if you don’t mind me asking do any of these have any sort of special properties?”

“They make all the women fall in love with you!” Doral leans towards Basso and adds “Yes, even the halflings!”

Painfully aware of their situation the party decided to use their proceeds from one silver ball to procure wagon, two draft horses, and twenty mercenaries.

Basso, the stable boy, went looking for horses, while Gomm ran to the Fighters' Guild to find some muscle. The rest stayed at Doral's store.

An hour later, the halfling returned with horses and wagon, while the thief brought along three ill-equipped, but tough looking, men.

They purchased nice silk sacks from Doral, put a 30 inch silver orb in each, and then loaded them up in the wagon. And then they began looking for ways to liquidate them.

Dwarven armourer turned them down, for he had no use of silver. “Too soft to protect you from stabs.”

Human weaponsmith couldn't afford one. “Do you know how long it'd take me to pay it back!” he stopped as he counted fingers on both of his hands “This much!”

“Brent, what about that girl of yours? The one from rich family that became your cultist–erm, follower?”

Indeed, that connecting was sufficient to gran them access to the Pleasure Palace, a private club for wealthy merchants, travellers, and nobility. It was also a home to Pilter family, third richest one after Imraell and Namelin.

Derennan and Basso took it upon themselves to lead the negotiations. Rest of the party found a safe spot by the city walls and waited there.

Short duo was first made to wait an hour or so. Then they were let in, quickly scuttled to upper floor, and led into an opulent foyer. There they waited for an hour more. Basso was increasingly aware of how filthy and unrepresentable he was. He tried to clean himself with some spit.

Suddenly a lithe, buxom woman stepped into the room. Her long blond braid was like a whip; her piercing blue eyes like two daggers. She wore a dark blue dress and a face full of contempt.

“I am Zarifa Pilter, the oldest daughter of Pilter. I do not approve of my sister's foolishness, nor that cult of yours. State your business, midgets!”

The duo did not allow her insults to sway them. They presented their case with conviction, and spoke in great detail what kind of dangers they had to overcome in order to return them to civilization. They might've exaggerated a thing or two.

Either way, although Zarifa's disposition remained unchanged, she was professional enough to offer a representation agreement. She would take the orbs—should they pass quality control—to Tarantis or City State of the Invincible Overlord and sell them for an attractive price. It'd be commission based, for 40% of profit.

She believed each orb could fetch anywhere between 1500 and 2500 gp. The process would take three to five months to complete.

Negotiations were long, filled with jabs and racist insults from Zarifa, but Derennan was unrelenting. He read every line and all the small text.

“What is this here?! We are liable for all expenses even if you lose the goods?!”

“Oh! So you can read!”

Finally, a good deal was struck to satisfaction of both parties.

“Do you often go to dangerous places and return with such interesting objects?”

“Yes, that's what we do for living.”

“Then I have another deal to offer you. If you come to me—first thing after each expedition—to look over the interesting goods, we will represent you for 35% commission.”

“Deal!”

“Beware. Should I learn you went to someone else first I will have your balls removed. And I'm not talking about your silver orbs.”

“Understood!”

The duo went to shake hands with Zarifa, with the dwarf saying

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

The steely woman rejected their approach, rebuffing them “No, not at all.”

They could feel her icy gaze on their back as they were leaving the chamber.

“How about 4000 gold coins for seven orbs, right now? Cash on hands.” she shoot just as they were to close the doors.

The duo agreed. They will be paid after all the orbs have been tested, which was to take a week.

“Guys, I think we need to get ourselves a base of operations!”

Willowind 12th, Waterday

Derennan spent a week recovering and healing up.

Basso, on the other hand, hit the streets looking for properties on sale!

This is what he found, from cheapest to most luxurious:

  • A 150 square feet dilapidated cottage in western Hara, just behind the Fighters' Guild. The family there fell into destitution after husband was slain. They were all sold into slavery and their cottage is being sold for 100 gp.
  • A 400 square feet, single story cottage in northern Hara, flanked by Thieves' and Assasins' Guilds. The planks are still drenched with blood of previous inhabitants. 250 gp.
  • A 800 square feet, two story townhouse in east Hara next to Imraell's mansion and other important establishments. Owned by an adventuring party which left for far away lands. Current owner has decided to retire and is selling it for 3800 gp.
  • A 1200 square feet, two story villa with terrace, by the river. Previous owners was a merchant who gambled it away. It is available for 5400 gp.

Basso took copious notes so he can report the news to rest of the adventurers.

“Let's collect our coin from Zarifa.”

“Sounds good.”

Derennan, Barad the Bald, Basso, and Gwendin went to the Pleasure Palace. The reception was as chilly as before, but all the coin was there.

“How would you like to fetch me a ring? A nice, gold ring with a big chunky ruby attached to it? Some of you might die, but that's the risk I'm willing to take.”

“Sounds like a job for us! Say more.”

Zarifa produced a parchment with map to the burial mound of long forgotten barbarian king. It was just few miles west of Hara.

“Try to avoid attention from the locals. They still think this dead guy means something.”

The quartet loaded up and marched west.

“It should be right here.”

“See, a mound straight ahead.”

Indeed, a simple earthen mound laid lazily in front of them. It was covered with bushes and overgrowth. A copse of woods sprouted by its east side.

The party circled the mound first. The copse had footprints of a large canine leading off into the woods. The only entrance was on south side, a simple slabs of stone acting as pillars.

Heading down, they discovered a weird looking skeleton. It was vaguely human-like. It was taller, with weird legs, and canine shaped head.

The corridors were simple packed soil framed with stone slabs and wooden pillars. They were narrow, barely five feet in width. Any dwarf would be insulted with shoddy construction.

Following further down, Basso activated a crude axe trap. Just as he stepped of the last stair, he felt something soft. An axe sprung from the ground, hitting him in the chest. Luckily, he was a stout halfling so it meant nothing to him! Nothing!

Moving on the party decided to explore the t-shaped junction before checking the closed doors. Another set of stairs. East were leading up, to a plinth with a basin. West were leading down, turning into darkness.

This time Derennan took the lead. He went up the stairs, pressing each stair with the polearm. Basso followed behind.

“Seems safe?”

The moment he stepped off the last stair, three openings revealed themselves on the basin. A spray of thick, oily substance covered both the dwarf and halfling.

“Are we dead?”

“No, it doesn't seem so.”

Well lubed duo descended back down, and backtracked to the closed doors. To be honest, it was more of a stone slab blocking a passageway than real doors.

Derennan carefully removed the latch and then prodded the slab open. He felt something was off, hence he quickly jumped to the side. Basso did the same. A big flash was seen; no sound whatsoever.

“Wow, that could've blinded us!”

The chamber was completely empty. Dwarf theorised it might've been a temporary chamber to house excavation tools and similar.

Deeper they went, taking the west stairs. Now they found a corridor with long stone slab with carved figures of warriors fighting.

Another stone doors were to their left, a t-junction in front, and stairs leading north. Checking the doors revealed a room full of upright skeletons holding greatswords.

“Let's close this one, yes?”

The junction split into stairs leading down straight ahead, and leading up to the right. A relief of warrior with wild hair holding a greatsword above his head was just at the bottom of the stairs.

“The stairs leading up surely lead to secret exit!”

Indeed, the long, winding passageway terminated with a round stone slab, very similar to the one they've seen on the north entrance.

“Should we open it now?”

“No, we don't want anything coming in. Let's head back down to that relief.”

At the bottom of those stairs were two stone slabs, each mortared shut. Basso scrapped the mortar off of the east slab. He could feel unnatural cold as he worked. Then he pressed his shoulder, and forced the slab down.

Pushing with great force, he tumbled forward, stepping over the slab, and landing in a simple chamber. A skeleton with flowing red beard, dressed in an expensive looking chainmail, stood in front of the opened stoned sarcophagus.

Basso hit him, but his weapon bounced right back off of it. Then he felt terrible, terrible coldness as the undead grasped him with an iron grip.

“Gwendin! Pass me your silver scimitar!”

Alas, still recoiling from the horror, this time he missed. The roaring undead did not miss. Everyone witnessed Basso shrivelling in front of their eyes. It looked as if the undead sucked the soul right out of him!

Gwendin picked up her holy scimitar and faced the icy doom.

“Derennan! We must flee!” Barad cried as horde of greatsword wielding undead poured out from behind them.

Dwarf and magic-user quickly ran up the stairs, towards what they believed to be a secret exit. They poured some oil and set in aflame.

Gwendin, locked into combat with the undead that wasted Basso, failed to spot incoming horde. By the time she realised there was someone—something—behind her, it was too late.

Skeleton cleaved her in half.

“You stood there bravely, daughter.”

Booming voice echoed.

A powerfully built man with blue skin and long white hair towered over Gwendin.

“Prove yourself worthy or spend an eternity suffering.”

Gwendin stood on top of her corpse; an angel of bright light; holding two burning scimitars.

“Take vengeance. You have thirty seconds.”

That was all the instructions she needed.

Her first attack did not connect—this incorporeal form took time to get used to.

Her second attack turned the skeleton into a pile of bones.

Her third attack beheaded the skeleton with red beard.

“You did well, daughter. You shall spend an eternity in my harem.”

Derennan protected their back while Barad ran up.

“Oh, no! The doors are stuck! Oh no!”

They didn't even budge under the magic-user.

Derennan chucked more burning oil. This was a narrow tunnel; he could fight the skeletons one by one.

First one burned to crisp. Second one was shattered to pieces.

“Switch! Maybe you can force them open!”

Slam!

They move a bit.

Slam!

They move a bit again.

“Oh no!”

A skeleton jumped out of fire, swinging at Barad.

The chinless wizard miraculously dodged.

Even more miraculously, he managed to knock off the skeleton's head with the pommel of his dagger.

Accidentally? Deliberately?

Doesn't matter, result was the same.

Slam!

Derennan flew out as the stone slab tore through overgrowth.

“We must flee now; but we shall return to avenge our friends!”

Barad knew a thing or two about that, having just recently fled a major city in the Barbarian Altanis.

Will he have it any better in Hara?

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

#Wilderlands #SessionReport

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A zine chronicling the Conquering the Barbarian Altanis D&D campaign.

This issue details the thirty-fifth session. Things are set in motion...

You can download the issue here.

Overlord's Annals zine is available in print as part of the legendary Alarums & Excursions APA, issue 573:

#Zine

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