Attronarch's Athenaeum

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

How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox by Robert Conley of Bat in the Attic Games is coming to Kickstarter soon.

This book is a collection of 24 updated and revised articles published by Rob since 2009. It follows a 34-step process for creating a fantasy sandbox that should take around 24 hours to complete.

Rob has four decades of experience playing, running, and designing fantasy sandboxes. His credentials include:

He is currently working on Majestic Fantasy Realms, a spiritual successor to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

I hope it will be crowdfunded right after How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox!

#News #OSR #Wilderlands

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Adventurer Conqueror King System Imperial Imprint (ACKS II) is coming to Kickstarter on October 24th. It will consist of three books: Revised Rulebook, Judges Journal, and Monstrous Manual.

ACKS II Revised Rulebook will be everything BECMI and Rules Cyclopedia wanted to be.

ACKS II Judges Journal will be the contemporary OSR Dungeon Master's Guide.

ACKS II Monstrous Manual will set the standard for OSR bestiaries.

Here are five reasons why I will back ACKS II on day one:

  1. If you ever read early issues of Dragon Magazine, you have surely spotted various letter and articles proposing various tactics to cheese the game and one-up the Dungeon Master. A lot of Gary's rule modifications were his responses to players attempting to break the game. That's how we went from original Dungeons & Dragons booklets to the legendary Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. We wouldn't have had the game we had, hadn't it been for all the players that tried to break the game. ACKS II went through more than a decade of brutal play-testing. It survived players trying to break dungeons, economies, kingdoms, and planets.
  2. Basic D&D was about dungeon delving, Expert D&D was about wilderness exploration, Companion and Master D&D were about domains, warfare, and rulership. BX/BE procedures held up extremely well, as attested by a deluge of retroclones built on them. I attribute that to all the play-testing these rules were subject to. Domain and war machine rules, on the other hand, were mostly penned by a single man (probably a small team to be honest), and briefly tested. D&D was never known for tight economy. Some try to fix it by introducing the silver standard, i.e. switching all costs from gold piece to silver piece. ACKS II is built ground up to have tightly integrated economy which works. It is based on thorough research of historical data, followed by careful modelling and simulation, followed by playtesting above. “Oh no, is this a spreadsheet simulator?” Only if you want it to! ACKS II summarises everything in gameable tables. You know the numbers work—you can roll and play, being confident in the results given.
  3. Common complaint (lament?) in OSR circles is that player characters rarely go over 10th level, hence a lot of cool higher-level BECMI stuff doesn't get played. ACKS II fixed the problem by building everything from level 1 to 14. There is domain stuff you can play with from level 1; there are warfare rules covering small gangs as well as whole armies; there is something to challenge character of every level and every class.
  4. It evolves and builds on decades of gaming experience. Innovations it brings are firmly in the spirit of TSR's D&D, while fixing many, many small issues. Linear fighters, quadratic wizards? Fixed. Monsters of myth and legend that have very little to do with actual monsters of myth and legend? Fixed. Thieves that suck? Fixed. The list goes on (really, campaign description has 40+ bullet points). And the best part? Everything is presented and explained in such a way a Judge can simply lift part of ACKS II they like and use it.
  5. Because Gary Gygax would've been proud.

I'm very much looking forward to Adventurer Conqueror King System Imperial Imprint.

#News #ACKS #OSR

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

This issue details thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh session. The party moves around and about, getting smacked at every step.

You can download the issue here.

Overlord's Annals zine is available in print as part of the legendary Alarums & Excursions APA, issue 575:

#Zine

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Adventurers

Character Class Description
Ert Fighter level 1 Lean and dexterous fighter with disheveled hair and wincing eyes.
Rashomon Elf level 2 A dangerous looking elf.
Llyfed Elf level 3 Thin and balding elf whom also happens to be Rashomon's friend.
Derennan Dwarf level 3 A dwarf hailing from Western Wastes.
Hist Fighter level 1

Maggotfeast 4th, Fireday

The blackest black.

The dreamless void.

The noiseless drifting.

Hist slept. But he was a shell of a man he used to be.

What he had witnessed at the defiled temple of the Shang-Ta left him a broken man.

But even broken men can be determined.

And Hist was determined. Oh, he was.

To return, and purge the temple of Chaotic forces, once and for all.

Alas, not everyone shared his grit and resolve.

Derennan left for Hara, carrying the party's valuables, scrolls, maps, and other treasure.

Others were nowhere to be found.

The elves showed up; weapons sharpened, spells studied. They too were eager to free the world of abominable energy festering atop Ghinarian hills.

Dorn, Rashomon's retainer, showed up as well. His gut was telling him a raise was coming. Either that, or he that he was gassy.

Ert, a veteran fighter whom had just arrived to Ahyf, joined them as well. Little did he care about tales of horrors lurking on the hills.

Camus, the Curate of Thoth, joined by four acolytes, was ready as well.

“I promised to accompany you there. If what you've told me is true, then we might have a much bigger problem on our hands than I've realised.”

Maggotfeast 6th, Airday

The sun was up.

The broken idol in their eyesight.

There was no wildlife; no sounds.

Camus ordered the acolytes to wait at the plateau below the desecrated temple, and then he joined the party.

As Llyfed stepped on the first stair leading up to the foundation atop which sixty feet tall stone idol of an eagle rests, he felt great misfortune is about to befell him.

The idol exploded, hurling thousands of head sized rocks in a three hundred yard radius. A colossal bull charged through the stone statue like it was made of driftwood, right down the stairs!

Llyfed yelled in surprise, and tumbled to the side desperate to avoid being trampled.

Ert looked in confusing as the elf clumsily threw himself to the side, and then rolled off ungraciously onto the dirt.

Hist, Rashomon, and Dorn looked worried. Although they haven't witnessed the same thing as Llyfed, they understood well enough what was happening.

It didn't help that they were all soon suffering from tinnitus.

Ert seemed completely unaffected.

The insides were as they left them.

Bare stone reeking of death and decay.

“These men were once Vicars of Shang-Ta. We should build a funeral pyre for them. Also, clean the central chamber. I cannot begin my ritual in all that filth, detritus, and other garbage.”

Elves dumped copper coins by the hundreds, right in front of the temple doors. They were smelly, filthy coins. Could be washed and polished with some effort, though.

The insides of the temple lit-up in a sickly green light.

Camus frowned, his broad shoulders tensed, as he grunted.

“This is much worse than I though. Much, much worse.”

Whole temple pulsated evil, chaotic energy.

“It might take me weeks, if not months, to throw out evil forces from here. And trust me, whatever did this, will not go out quietly.”

The party retreated into the dilapidated stone house on an elevated plateau just by the trail leading to the temple. Dorn and acolytes cleaned it as much as they could, and prepared it as a camping spot for the night.

“No fires. We lay low.”

Maggotfeast 7th, Waterday

First night watch: Llyfed and Hist.

Second night watch: Rashomon and Ert.

Third night watch: Dorn and Llyfed.

That was the plan.

Reality, though, was much different.

Dancing figures in the thick dark were spotted during one of the watches; followed by Hist seeing a large bull scratching its sides against the building; followed by everyone taking a position by one of the many open windows.

Tension could've been cut with a knife.

When one of them light up a torch two arrows flew into the building. Luckily, the only thing they hit was a wall.

The torch was immediately extinguished.

Party welcomed the sunrise after hours of being on watch.

No one had a good night's sleep.

Scouting the perimeter revealed very little. No signs or traces of anyone or anything. The broken arrows resembled those used by cannibal barbarians whom had killed Conly on these very hills.

A brief sermon was given for the fallen clerics. Their corpses emanated foul vapours as they melted in the bonfire.

Camus spent the day at the heart of darkness, praying and uttering ceremonial incantations, attempting to dispel great evil that besieged this Temple of Law.

Party spent the day cleaning up the stone house to the north-west of the temple. That one had functioning doors and three windows with shutters. A significant upgrade to the one they just spent the night in, which had six wide open windows, as well as broken doors.

Since they had no access to the water to wash off dried excrement and bodily fluids, the party had used some of the potato sacks to scrub off as much filth as possible.

By now everyone was suffering from tinnitus and headaches.

Camus emerged from the temple visibly exhausted. He was pale and leaned warily on his staff. Ert helped him to the stone building.

“Priest, which deity is associated with bulls? Who might've desecrated the idol? Are any local tribes known worshippers of any such deity? Others told me that the effigy was covered in coins. That doesn't seem very barbarian-like to me though, so likely the cult might hail from a more civilised place?”

“That's a difficult question to answer. There are as many barbarian gods as there are barbarian clans. I do know of the so-called Storm Bull god, who according to them had torn the world asunder, and out of the wound came Altanians, bright red like the pure blood of gods. Perhaps you could learn more in Forsetti's temple in Hara? They have many historic scrolls. But let me tell you something... whatever desecrated this place was powerful. The Sinkhole is fighting back. I don't expected it to go away easy. Listen, I'm exhausted and need to rest before continuing with the consecration ritual.”

The night was about to fall.

And it was about to be a dark, dark night.

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.

This time the topic is Psionics. All articles bellow are from a Dragon Magazine #78 which dealt exclusively with Psionics in AD&D 1e.

Psionics is different... And that's putting it rather mildly

Author: Arthur Collins Issue: Dragon Magazine #78 Rating: ★★★★★

Arthur does a great job of explaining psionics, highlighting some issues, and offering potential workarounds. Authors often intertwine rules-as-written with their house rules, so I'm very grateful to Arthur for explicitly signposting what is RAW, what is his interpretation, and what is his proposed change.

Funny enough, his take on psionics is very much how I like to run things:

Let your player characters find out the hard way (if they ever do find out) that so-and-so is one of them. ... Let the possibility of psionics always be in the background, lurking around, waiting to surprise, horrify, and delight them.

This is a must-read for anyone interested in 1e psionics.

Overhauling the system: A three-part remedy for problems with psionics

Author: Robert Schroeck Issue: Dragon Magazine #78 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

A title that oversells the content which ultimately boils down to three issues experienced by Robert. :

  1. Too strong level 1 characters » change psionic point acquisition.
  2. Psionic combat is black box to players » decide how much information to give based on the level of character with psionic talent.
  3. Player characters stop using psionic powers at higher levels » make their psionic powers atrophy when unused.

This is a brief two page article, but it just feel like filler compared to the comprehensive Psionics is different... by Arthur Collins.

Initially I ranked this one with two stars, but reduced it to one star because it introduces issues in one way (power, combat, non-use) and then solutions in different way (power, non-use, combat). Unforgivable.

And now, the pscionicist: A class that moves psionics into the mainstream

Author: Arthur Collins Issue: Dragon Magazine #78 Rating: ★★★★★

Arthur does it the second time in the same issue. Carefully thought out Psionicist class which can coexist with those who have psionic talents.

It is for those characters who want to dedicate themselves to mastering the Talent. In addition to fleshing out the class, it also introduces several new Minor and Major Disciplines, as well as completely new Grand Disciplines.

Six new magic items are offered as well: shiral crystal, jerraman crystal, merasha (potion), transfer portal, mind link medallion, and wards major matrix.

Although the class slots in nicely with AD&D 1e rules, I personally will probably use it to flesh out Psionicist NPC rather than giving it to the players. Either way. it is a ell written article that I'll definitely include in the final collection.

Spells can be psionic, too: How and why magic resembles mental powers

Author: Kim John Issue: Dragon Magazine #78 Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

“Mom, what does this mean?”

“Mooom, what does this meeeaaan?!”

“Moooooooooooooooooooooom!”

Kim addresses why “spells resembling psionic powers” resemble psionic powers in six gruelling pages of dense, small three-column text.

Here, let me sum it up for you:

Characters and creatures who use psionic disciplines or related powers may not have the slightest inkling of the nature of the forces they're tapping; the important thing is that those forces obviously can be tapped and use for the benefit of the one who does so.

“Mom, what does this mean?”

“Mooom, what does this meeeaaan?!”

“Moooooooooooooooooooooom!”

What, you want really detailed explanation for each damn psionic power that resembles a spell? Then go read the full article.

No, this one won't make it into the final collection.

Psionics: Sage advice

Issue: Dragon Magazine #78 Rating: ★★★★★

Great complement to two articles by Arthur Collins.

Questions answered are:

  • How often should a character check for possession of psionic abilities?
  • If a non-psionic character has his intelligence, wisdom, or charisma increased by powerful magics (tomes, wishes, etc.), would this allow for a new chance to become psionic?
  • Can a character lose his psionic potential if he suffers a decrease in one of the three important ability scores?
  • How can the chance for psionic abilities be quickly assessed for NPCs who have no previously noted scores for intelligence, wisdom, and charisma?
  • Which player character races in the AD&D™ game can possess psionic ability?
  • Is it possible for a character to use a wish spell to become immune to psionic attack?
  • If a psionic character is surprised by a psionic monster, does the monster get to attack the character as if the character were defenseless?
  • Shouldn't psionic attacks or defenses put up by experienced and high-level psionic characters be more effective than those put up by lower-level characters or creatures?
  • Can a psionic character cast a spell while employing any sort of psionic power (attack, defense, or discipline)?
  • If a psionic spell caster has a thought shield defense up while casting a spell, would a psionic attack made against the character cause the spell to be lost, or would the defense hold and allow the spell to be cast to completion?
  • If a character is slain by psychic crush, can he be raised or resurrected? Would he still then possess psionic abilities?
  • The Players Handbook states that thought shield is the only defense against psychic crush, but the charts in the Dungeon Masters Guide contradict this. Why?
  • What does the Players Handbook mean when it says that thought shield can be kept up at all times, unlike other defenses?
  • During multiple psionic operations, when two or more psionic characters are transferring strength points back and forth, how are the points distributed after the operation is ended?
  • The line at the bottom of p. 77 of the DMG (“Damage accruing beyond the point ...”) is unclear. Can you explain?
  • Can psionic creatures or persons sense the presence of other psionic beings? If so, at what range does this ability function?
  • If a fighter gains the discipline of domination and then switches to the thief class (as a bard would do), would this character lose the domination power?
  • Can the psionic discipline animal telepathy be used to communicate with humans? After all, humans are animals.
  • Could someone possessing the cell adjustment discipline become aware of his own or someone else's hit-point total by using this power? How long does it take to use this discipline, in terms of “casting time”?
  • Can a character with the discipline of energy control negate the effects of a powerful spell such as wish, feeblemind, or disintegrate? Does “spell level” refer to the level of the spell caster throwing the spell at the psionic character, or to the level of the spell on the spell tables in the Players Handbook?
  • Does the “Detection of Invisibility” table on p. 60 of the DMG apply to psionic invisibility? Can a character using the discipline of invisibility attack another creature and still remain invisible to that creature?
  • Can molecular agitation be carried out on any visible object, even if seen through a crystal ball, wall of force, by clairvoyance, and so forth? Also, if a creature only possesses a small quantity of metal, can it still be burned if this metal is heated?
  • Can a psionic character levitate himself by the use of the telekinesis discipline?
  • Do magical protection items (rings, stones, cloaks, scarabs, etc.) affect saving throws vs. psionics?
  • Should a character gain experience points just for using a psionic discipline or attack/defense mode?
  • If a psionic character uses psionic blast on a non-psionic monster and slays it, should the character be awarded experience points for the kill just as if he had slain the creature in normal (physical) combat?

#Resource #DragonMagazine

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Adventurers

Character Class Description
Rashomon Elf level 2 A dangerous looking elf.
Llyfed Elf level 3 Thin and balding elf whom also happens to be Rashomon's friend.
Derennan Dwarf level 3 A dwarf hailing from Western Wastes.
Hist Fighter level 1
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 12th, Waterday

Llyfed picked up the torch dropped seconds ago by Hist and charged after the monster dragging the warrior into the darkness.

Taking a sharp turn to the right, into a narrow corridor, the elf caught up with the sickly naked man and cut him deep. The man yelped, dropped Hist at once, and fled into the darkness.

Llyfed dragged Hist back into the outer rim, reconvening with other party members.

“What do we do now?”

“We are two down, we should find an exit.”

“Do we know where it is?”

“The stone doors slammed shut behind us. We don't know where is the other exit...”

“Did you try opening them?”

Silence.

“No.”

“Listen guys, how about death or glory? We go to the center of the temple and either kill whatever is there or die trying!”

“Wow, this is a great plan!”

“Yes!”

And so they left behind paralysed Hist and Oberon in pitch black darkness in a temple whose walls weep blood.

Remaining heroes—Llyfed, Derennan, Rashomon, Brent Goose, and Dorn—went into the narrow corridor, which they theorised would lead into the temple's very core.

This was a weird, angular, corridor. It terminated in an oddly shaped pseudo-junction. To their left was shoulder-wide corridor and to their right was a ten feet wide corridor leading into darkness so black it seemed to suck in their torchlight.

Everybody—sans Brent—felt tension, sickness, and existential dread.

Llyfed threw in his torch.

Darkness engulfed it.

Tremendous bull roar shook the temple once more.

Unable to move nor act, Hist witnessed unspeakable horrors.

Oberon did not fare any better.

Dorn was gripped by horrific visions of death and destruction.

“Come on, no going back now!”

“But I'm sooo weak, sooo frail!”

“Come on!”

With a little bit of healthy convincing, Brent cast Light at Darkness.

Lo and behold, the solid blackness ahead of them begun to flake and disintegrate into tiny particles.

Inch by inch, corridor covered with coins, gore, and refuse uncovered itself.

A giant, bull-shaped abomination starred them down. Bones and sinew of various creatures wired together made for its body. A patchwork of different skins were fastened to its body with hundreds of coins with an orange sheen. Bulbous sacks hung all over its underbelly, clacking and clinging as the flesh golem swayed and heaved.

The mere sight of such unnatural creature, nay!, such abominable mass of raw Chaotic energy was too much for already tormented Derennan.

His sanity completely shattered, transforming him into a bundle of unrelenting furry. The dwarf gripped his polearm and charged the monstrosity.

And let it be known that this was no heroic charge. This was an irrational act of a deeply disturbed being; a cry for help; an attempt to reclaim that last bit of sanity hiding somewhere in the deep recess of his own mind.

Llyfed, our brave Llyfed, did not fare much better.

Elves have a different outlook on life. They see more than Humans. They experience more. They live more. They suffer more.

No mortal human can comprehend the horrors Llyfed saw when the Bull-God gazed into his eyes. In fact, even attempting to describe a fraction of his vision would drive any human being insane.

Rashomon tried to save his friend, but Llyfed just stood there, speaking nonsense. His gaze was distant, his motions lifeless. Rashomon pushed his friend away—into safety, he hoped—and joined the fray alongside the dwarf.

Dorn followed his Master. He has chosen the adventuring life, so he better prove his worth. That will surely warrant a higher paycheck once they manage to kill a God.

Brent his in a little alcove to the side, cupping his eyes. All the screams and yells convinced him it is a really bad idea to look at whatever it is that drove everyone else insane.

The flesh golem dominated the whole ten by ten area. It did not even try to evade Derennan's savage assault. Heck, it did not even acknowledge them. Dorn stabbed from the second rank. The bull was so large it was impossible to miss it. Rashomon came up close, hacking at the beast's deformed legs.

Walls around them were pouring blood, patches of flesh peeling off of it with every blow delivered.

Submitting to peer pressure and ridicule, Brent opened his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then cast Protection from Evil.

He stepped around the corner.

What a sight!

Derennan, Rashomon, and Dorn were beating a pathetic, vaguely bull-shaped effigy made of bones stringed together with rope, leather, and sinew. Thousands of copper pieces underneath them clinked and clanked as the warriors jumped around energetically.

Slightly confused, but massively relieved, the cleric passed the swinging warrior and came to the side of the “bull.”

His attempts to convince others they are striking at inanimate collection of bones fell flat.

“Oh, what should I do?! I'm sooo weak, sooo frail?!”

Derennan, Rashomon, and Dorn watched in horror as Brent Goose curled his sleeves and tried to wrestle the huge abomination. Flesh golem shrugged him off like a fly, not even acknowledging the cleric's existence.

At this moment a naked man return, jumping Rashomon from behind. The elf turned his attention the the sickly man, ignoring the roaring bull for the moment.

“Have you tried turning, Cleric?!”

Brent called on Kadrim, God of Small Birds. Incorporeal tit on his right shoulder chirped, and a flash of bright light permeated the chamber.

Naked man cried in agony, tripped over, and ran off into the darkness.

Rashomon turned around, only to be surprised to see the demonic bull transformed into a disgusting pile of bones and rotting refuse. Dorn was equally surprised.

Derennan on the other hand was still frothing and going at the monster. He was blinded by rage, reduced to nothing but a mass of assaults.

Dorn abandoned the effigy and went to explore the passage behind it. There another naked man lied on the floor, gripping a scroll in one hand, and silver holy symbol of Shang Ta in the other hand. The fighter killed the man without thinking twice. Then he proceeded to ransack both the man's cracks as well as the alcove to his right.

Derennan eventually dismembered the bull-monster. To Rashomon and Brent it looked pretty much like the dwarf bust pinata wide open. Thousands of coins poured out of the effigy, covering the floor.

Dorn's eyes filled with glimmer as he started filling his sack with coins. He was a bit slow due to being picky and only going for the coins of silvery variety.

Rashomon went back to Llyfed, and led him to the entrance they cometh from. Derennan, shocked by his colleague's indifference to the temple folding into itself around them, ran into the unexplored darkness.

Brent fled for his life.

“Disappointed!” little tit cried, and faded away.

Just like Brent's ability to cast divine spells.

The party eventually found a secret passageway hiding the last naked man. They killed him. Then they pushed the stone doors open. Dorn and Rashomon returned to recover paralysed Hist.

“Look Kadrim! Look, I'm taking care of my flock! Look Kadrim!”

Brent cried to the air as he dragged Oberon outside.

Night was about to fall.

Shadow of the great eagle idol loomed over the party.

They retreated to shit and soot stained dilapidated house. Llyfed, now in control of his faculties, and Rashomon cleaned up the insides a little bit. Hist and Oberon unstiffened after few hours.

Nobody slept.

Everybody was haunted by horrific visions. Bull-God was chasing them.

Red-eyed, sleep-deprived, and paranoid, the party set out towards Ahyf with the first ray of sun.

Cannibal barbarians were behind every tree, every rock, every bush.

A large, deformed bull was always on their trail; just at the edge of the horizon.

No matter how quickly they moved, they could not stop.

Except there was no one there but them.

At the end of second day, the party found the safest spot they could.

Another night of unspeakable horrors, scarring them all.

Some resorted to praying to Shang-Ta, since they recovered four holy symbols from the desecrated temple.

On Redleaves 15th, at the cusp from dying due to exhaustion and sleeplessness, the party stumbled into Ahyf.

All but Hist and Derennan went for the Belching Vicar and Swordsman's Citadel tavern, whichever had empty space to house them.

Hist and Derennan went straight to Camus, the High Priest of Thoth. They informed him of everything.

“It is worse than I feared. And as I told you before you set out, merely killing these foul creatures is not sufficient. Friends, found a Sinkhole of Chaos. It is a scar on the land; a blight. It will continue to fester and attract forces of Chaos. Until it bursts.”

The duo pleaded for help, especially in alleviating the horrific visions haunting them. Camus sat in deep thought. He studied some of the parchment and books from his shelves. Then he shook his head.

“Friends, you have been touched by Chaos. This is not a curse. Nor is it a disease. This is a burden, a wound. I'll pray for you.”

Fighter and dwarf excused themselves and wearily went for the exit.

“We will go sleep now. We shall return and finish what we started. If we don't die from exhaustion first.”

Camus sighed heavily. Then he slammed the table with his large hands.

“I shall go with you. This must be stopped.”

The adventurers collapsed in whatever accommodation they have found. They slept for three days straight.

Except Brent.

“Look, I'm caring for my flock, Kadrim! Look!”

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.

This time the topic is Magic.

“Oops! Sorry!” Spell interruptions can spell disaster

Author: Donald Hoverson Issue: Dragon Magazine #163 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Donald offers a simple procedure for adding a little bit “oh no!” to spell interruptions. Whenever a spell caster gets interrupted they roll a d20 to determine what happened. There is 80% chance of nothing but spell loss, 10% chance of ill effect, 5% of neutral effect, and 5% for helpful effect.

In those 20% cases of something happening, there is 75% effect will be minor, 15% it will be medium, and 5% it will be major. Minor effects are approximately at the level of 1st and 2nd spells, medium at 3rd to 6th level spells, and major mirror spells of 7th to 9th level.

The progression is basically annoyance » oh, no! » oh shit!

There is another table to determine what the effect actually is. It has 20 generic entries that the Judge must adjudicate based on the situation. For example “spell affect caster” or “spell effect oscillates in duration or effect (over a period of 1–100 rounds for one day).”

Here is my problem with this article: I'm not sure that the proposed procedure has been sufficiently play-tested. I mean, there is 10% chance that interrupting the big bad casting a spell results in them casting a better spell! That's a lot.

My final verdict will be as follows. It's a short article (just page and a third) worth skimming. I won't include it in the final collection.

Spells between the covers: Details for delving into magical research

Author: Bruce Heard Issue: Dragon Magazine #82 Rating: ★★★★☆

Bruce explains and expand on AD&D 1e procedures for magical research. The article is verbose and sometimes a bit dense, but worth working through. It has many examples to help with understanding the procedures.

Allow me a brief aside. Sometimes OSR judges talk about their dislike of XP for gold, and how the players get loaded with wealth they have nothing to spend on, and what not. Well, I'm quite certain their players are not using all their available investment options. Magical research is one of those. And it has fantastic returns.

After explaining the basics of magical research, Bruce offers procedures for creating an arcane library, purchasing books (including a table for random determination of book value, and table with 71 spell book), and appraising a book's value. He also gives very brief advice on the appearance of library.

Final section covers “special books” which are in essence, you guessed it, special and powerful arcane books. My favourite might be the devious “vampire” book which slowly devours the magic-user's arcane library without them noticing.

Ultimately, I've found this article worth my time investment. I might try to write a simplified version one day. Yes, I'll include it in the final collection.

The Laws of Spell Design

Author: Ted Zuvich Issue: Dragon Magazine #242 Rating: ★★★★★

A titanic effort by the author to reverse-engineer spell design rules from the AD&D 2e Player's Handbook. Ted argues there are four types of new spells:

  • very similar to an existing spell,
  • somewhat similar to existing spell(s),
  • derived from an existing spell, and
  • entirely new spell.

The “laws of spell design” are most applicable to the first three cases, and can be used as a guideline for completely new spells.

There are 21 laws:

  • Generalized Law of Parameters: Law of Range, Law of Components, Law of Duration, Law of Time, Law of Areas, and Law of Resistance.
  • Implicit Spell Parameters: Law of Changes, Law of Control, Law of Damage, Law of Expertise, Law of Forms, Law of Information, Law of the Mage's Price, Law of Metaspells, Law of Power, Law of Presence, Law of Self, Law of Self Knowledge, Law of Specifics, and Law of Targeting.
  • The Final Law: “There will be exceptions.”

Each law is well explained and supported by examples. All laws are summarised in the Generalized Law of Parameters and Implicit Spell Parameters tables. Once you read the article it is easy to reference them.

This is a great article with good ideas to think about spell design. Still, I must address elephant in the room: AD&D spell balance was shit. It was an afterthought, a consequence of numerous play sessions. D&D was a revolutionary game, no doubts about it; and I personally don't care so much for balance. Still, AD&D 2e wasn't that much better in the balance department. The author struggled with that, and delivered the best he could given the conditions.

Procedures offered in this article are best used collaboratively with the player wishing to design a new spell. Yes, I'll include this article in the final collection.

Paths of Power: A variant magic system for the AD&D game

Author: Wolfgang Buar and Steve Kurtz Issue: Dragon Magazine #216 Rating: ★★★★☆

I thought I would hate the system offered in this article, but I ended up liking it very much.

The basic idea is as follows:

  • Spells are linked together to form a “path of power.”
  • Magic-User must learn the spells in the path sequentially.
  • This gives different flavour to Magic-Users (from random collection of spells in the spellbook to deliberate collection of paths of power).

The paths are divided into greater (starts with level 1 spells), and lesser (high level magic, can only be reached through greater paths). The article offers 89 paths (!), of which 61 are greater and 28 are lesser.

Here is what I like about the system: it gives players an option to develop their Magic-User in a very flavourful way. “I'm dedicated to Storm Road, Road of True Sight and Path of Terror” sounds quite epic to me. At the same time, the limitations of paths themselves ensure that “path” Magic-Users don't outshine the base class.

Another thing I like, especially as judge, is that it basically creates hooks automatically.

The downside, as I see it, is that it requires a very, very proactive player. I'd never go through the trouble of creating bespoke paths for my campaign without heavy player buy-in.

There is also a bit of video-gamey feel to the whole concept, but if that's a plus or minus largely depends on you and your players.

Final verdict? Worth reading for inspiration; don't try it unless you have a player who is willing to do the work; yes, I'll include it in the final collection.

The Color of Magic: Specialized spells for D&D game spellcasters

Author: Dan Joyce Issue: Dragon Magazine #200 Rating: ★★★★★

Brief, but influential article that can be perfectly summed up with the following quote:

...the key to creating hundreds of new spells to suit any kind of spell-caster: make cosmetic changes to existing spells. Describe spells differently.

Worth reading. Will go into final collection.

Even Wilder Mages: If your wild-mage PC isn't strange

Author: Joel E. Roosa & Andrew Crossett Issue: Dragon Magazine #202 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

In this case we actually have two articles rolled into one.

First section is about creating random effects for wild surges (two random tables, one for variation type, and one for variation intensity).

Wild mages are very rare (does anyone even play them today?), so I'm not too keen on tacking on a lot of cosmetic procedures (which these ones are). At the same time, I could see using tables here when one needs inspiration for creating spell variations.

Second section offers alternative approach to make wild surges less predictable and more disruptive. A 2d10 table of wild surges is offered.

Although not badly written, I see this as primarily cosmetic article not worth including into the final collection.

Good stuff for a spell: Magic focusing: a new dimension for possessions

Author: John M. Maxstadt Issue: Dragon Magazine #111 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I don't remember what I expected from this article, but it sure wasn't what's written inside.

The whole gist are magic-focusing items which allow the wielder to expend their spell in order to cast the spell embedded into the focusing item.

For example a Magic-Focusing Wand of Magic Missile would allow the Magic-User to “cast” Detect Magic, or rather, focus it through the wand in order to end up casting Magic Missile instead.

It's not a horrible idea, but the whole article is grossly overwritten (four pages!) and includes questionable Judging advice (a lot of hand-holding for the players).

Ultimately, this article is worth skimming, but will not make it into the final collection.

Charging isn't cheap: How to make and fix rods, staves, and wands

Author: Peter Johnson Issue: Dragon Magazine #101 Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Great article if you have 10th+ level Cleric and 14th+ level Magic-User player characters in your campaign. Alternatively, can be used to torture your players with fetch quests.

First page and a half are most interesting because they summarise magic item creation rules from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Rest of the word count is spent on “recipes” for creating and charging of the following items:

  • Rods: Rod of absorption, Rod of beguiling, Rod of cancellation, Rod of lordly might, Rod of resurrection, Rod of rulership, Rod of smiting.
  • Staves: Staff of command, Staff of curing, Staff of the magi, Staff of power, Staff of the serpent, Staff of striking, Staff of withering-
  • Wands: Wand of conjuration, Wand of enemy detection, Wand of fear, Wand of fire, Wand of frost, Wand of illumination, Wand of illusion, Wand of lightning, Wand of magic detection, Wand of magic missiles, Wand of metal and mineral detection, Wand of negation, Wand of polymorphing, Wand of secret door and trap location, Wand of wonder.

I won't be including it in the final collection.

The Mystic College: Magical academies for AD&D game sorcerers

Author: James A. Yates Issue: Dragon Magazine #123 Rating: ★★★★☆

You have a player haranguing you to play Dumbledore? Are they insisting on building their own Unseen University, with blackjacks and brazen strumpets? Maybe they want their very own Island of Rorke on which they could become impotent?

Oh boy, then this article will save you, beleaguered Judge!

Ten pages of painstakingly detailed explanations on how to establish a magical academy, covering everything from finding land and securing permits, to determining residents of the school, their benefits and obligations, student advancement (the joy and adrenaline of getting 0-level scrubs from -2000 XP to 0 XP by lecturing them for 25 years is indescribable!), faculty advancement (watch-out for that ambitious Snape-wannabe, who knows what might they be plotting), territorial development (how to hire your own King Arthur or Mordred), and policies and domain growth (will you terrorize the locals lawfully or chaotically?).

I fell asleep six times whilst reading this magnificent treatise. I cannot imagine greater punishment for any player that pesters me for opening their own arcane college. On the other hand, I'll sleep well, for procedures presented within are quite fine.

This article will make it into the final collection.

#Resource #DragonMagazine

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Bard's Gate (Swords & Wizardry)

The Northlands Saga Complete (Swords & Wizardry)

The Monster Overhaul

#Postbox #OSR #SW #FGG

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Wonderful news:

After years of turmoil, the Estate of Gary Gygax was taken over by a court assigned estate manager. As part of the agreement to raise money to secure the debts of the estate, Troll Lord Games was granted the right and privilege to reprint several of Gary Gygax’s works. To wit, The Gygaxian Fantasy World Series, Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh, and The Hermit are each coming back into print.

We hope to bring each of these to you table as soon as possible. Our current plan is to release a Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh retro print immediately. This is a reprint of the book as it was released in 2005. Following this, we will release The Hermit as a Kickstarter campaign. The Hermit will be updated for Castles and Crusades; the Fantasy Roleplaying Game, laid out in full color with new maps and illustrations, contain notes on its development and all original material as well. The Gygaxian Fantasy World Series will be launched on Kickstarter in the first quarter of 2024. The eight plus volume series of works is one of Gary’s prides and joys as well as a treasure trove of information for anyone wanting to create a comprehensive fantasy world setting.

Read the full statement from Troll Lord Games here.

#News #TLG #OSR

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Adventurers

Character Class Description
Rashomon Elf level 2 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.
Derennan Dwarf level 3 A dwarf hailing from Western Wastes.
Hist Fighter level 1

Redleaves 11th, Airday

“Is everyone back at full strength?”

“Seems so!”

“Then let's head back to that Shang-Ta temple.”

“How about we don't follow the trail this time?”

“Sound like a good idea.”

“We should cut across, straight up to the summit.”

“Sounds like a great plan!”

What could go wrong?

Redleaves 12th, Waterday

Oberon successfully led the party up the scenic Ghinarian Hills. They spotted a tall, totem-like stone idol of perched eagle on one of the summits.

A watch later and they reached the temple's entrance. They approached from the east, stopping some two hundred feet away.

The lay of the land was as follows.

The party stood on a plateau overlooking the sea to the east, with temple to their west.

The temple, a windowless stone box sixty feet wide and long and twenty feet tall, seeming chiseled into the hilltop was straight in front of them. Staircase carved into the rock led to its base. It was a rather sharp incline. Shang-Ta idol towered atop the stone building. Its left wing was broken off.

A simple stone building rested atop a twenty feet tall escarpment to their right. Behind it was another escarpment, also roughly twenty feet tall.

To their left was another escarpment, roughly forty feet tall.

“Let's check the smaller building first...”

The party led by the elven duo, Llyfed and Rashomon, carefully inched towards the weirdly shaped house. The window openings revealed filthy insides. Heck, even outsides were filthy, nay, desecrated with streaks of soot and dried faeces.

The doors fell down at the first sign of provocation. Little of value was found in the dilapidated building. Several broken figurines of eagles were piled in the corner, covered in excrement.

“How about you stay here, and watch our back?”

“I'm not staying here alone!”

The party descended back to the plateau and went for the broad staircase leading to the temple.

Walking closer to the idol they could see how damaged it really was. Cracks and fissures covered its stone body, one whole wing was knocked off, and the beak looked chipped as well.

Llyfed, Brent, Oberon, and Hist saw the statue spring to life, crying out in pain as darkness engulfed it and a sea of deformed humans plucked at its wings and body.

Rest of the party looked in confusion as the aforementioned adventurers stood like paralysed, mumbling nonsense whilst staring at the sky.

Once everyone was back to their senses, they decided to follow narrow stairs leading to their right, to second tier plateau surrounding the peak.

By now everyone had noticed noticeable lack of vegetation and wildlife. Everything was unnaturally quiet. Patches of ground were soft, covered with sickly purple grass.

A stone building lied to the west, overlooking north-west portion of Ghinarian hills. Dorn was left behind to guard the stairs, while the others, led by Llyfed, approached the building.

Simple wooden doors were shut closed. The window shutters were closed as well.

Too focused on sneaking up to the house, Llyfed failed to notice that he was sinking more and more with each step. Three large insects, reminiscent of large balls with legs, oozing purple ichor ambushed him from the ground, surprising the elf.

Llyfed's superior armour class combined with Rashomon's Sleep spell saved his life. The party quickly dispatched the giant ticks, and then rolled them off the escarpment.

Investigating the house revealed little besides more foul waste, a primitive painting of a bull's head, and sacks of something rotten. Entrance was booby trapped. The trap was obvious and shoddily made, so Derennan disposed of it with little trouble.

“This must be the resting place of those cannibal barbarians we've encountered a week ago.”

Something of value was found when Derennan broke into a locked drawer of a heavy desk. There he found 211 silver pieces as well as velum scroll. Unrolling it uncovered what looked to be a regional map with Xs at specific spots. Compass rose was stamped in bottom right corner.

“Let's get to that temple!”

As they approached Derennan suffered the same vision as Llyfed, Brent, Oberon, and Hist did. Simultaneously, Hist, Brent, and Oberon were momentarily pulled into hellish landscape as giant eagle screeched whilst naked men broke its wings and carved its body.

Elves used the opportunity to investigate the base of the idol. An arrangement of broken iron spikes, mallets, and sledgehammers were strewn about. The broken stone wing laid on the south side, effectively blocking passage.

Once everyone recovered, the party made their way around the ledge by the temple's base. There they found two smooth stone doors. Listening revealed nothing.

Hist forced his way in, nearly falling on his face as large stone doors swung open. They swung shut as quickly as they opened.

“Huh? A visitor?” someone asked him in pitch black “Have you come to pay respects?” the person sounded like they have a lot of difficulty speaking.

Rest of the party barged in, inserting crowbar under the stone doors as to prevent them from closing. Sudden burst of daylight blinded the man whom had been speaking to Hist.

What a sore sight he was! Naked, scarred, with sickly green, almost transparent skin revealing his atrophied muscles. He reeked of rot and refuse. The man was sitting on a stone bench by the south wall.

“Aaaaa!” he screamed as he ran to his right, into the dark corridor.

The party spent a moment to investigate the chamber. There was little to find besides stone bench and narrow corridor in the south-east corner. Derennan could spot that this was a finely constructed temple, despite its extremely simple lines.

Pushing on, down the dark corridor revealed a t-junction. Hist took the lead. Peeking into the unnatural darkness to his right was rewarded by an intensely violent vision. The giant eagle, now pinned to the ground by countless deformed figures, was mercilessly beaten and stoned. Finally, a silhouette of giant man with bull's horns appears. It plucks out the eagle's eyes.

Hist finds himself unable to see as streams of blood pour out from his eye sockets.

As this happens, Dorn yells to the party. A naked man with rotten teeth and crazy eyes is standing outside. The man giggles as he pulls out the crowbar. Doors slam shut as Derennan curses. The dwarf runs up to the wall and desperately seeks for an opening mechanism, finding none.

“Damn!”

“Ignore that junction and push on!”

Adventurers interpret that as splitting.

Dorn and Brent stay behind to watch the doors whence they cometh from. Rashomon and Derennan stand by the junction. Llyfed, Hist, and Oberon move all the way to the end of the corridor and then turn, pass another junction and stop by yet another turn.

At that moment everyone but suffers from violent visions, losing their chance to act. Hist begins frothing from his mouth as he cries blood once more. Confused and enraged, he assaults Llyfed. The elf manages to deflect all the blows and calms down young warrior, despite suffering himself.

Suddenly a small tit lands on Brent's shoulder.

“Save your flock. Or perish with them.”

Brent feels warm and fuzzy for a second. Heavy fog that clouded his mind seemed lifted. Knowing without knowing, he realised Kadrim has blessed him with the following prayers: Light, Protection from Evil, Speak with Animals, and Bless.

While Llyfed was busy evading Hist's attacks, a naked figure with pale green sickly skin emerged from the dark corridor and flailed at Oberon. Fighter deflected the first blow; deflected the second blow; but failed to evade naked man's bite; he fell to the ground, stiff as a board.

Dorn turned around to face another naked man, deflecting all attacks.

“Will you come to my aid at once!” he yelled back at the party.

Brent casts Bless on area just south of him. Himself, Rashomon and Derennan were affected.

A tremendous bull roar filled the temple, shaking it to its very core. The roar reverberated off the walls, like it was coming from all the directions. Rashomon picked up that it came from the corridor to his left.

And then walls begun crying blood.

“I think I screwed us.” Brent giggled.

Derennan took a shot a the green man attacking Oberon. His arrow landed well enough to send the creature fleeing, leaving a trail of purplish droplets. Dorn slayed the nude attacker.

“Good riddance!”

Rashomon cast Magic Missile, just in case something big comes around the corner.

Hist and Llyfed propped paralysed Oberon against the wall. Then they proceeded west, to the end.

Hist reached the corner and peeked around. To his sharp right was a diagonal corridor covered with hundreds of copper pieces reflecting bits of torchlight. Main corridor extended further north. Hist could see another t-junction just at the edge of his torchlight.

Derennan suddenly felt sick to his stomach. Like great weight had been placed on him. He braced for charge.

Llyfed run up to join with Hist only to find a naked man, frothing from his mouth, silver eagle hanging around his neck, crouching on the fighter sprawled on the ground.

Man's chest was completely open, the wound roughly in the shape of a bull's head. Llyfed could see straight into the gaping hole. There was no heart.

Naked man dragged Hist into darkness.

Llyfed followed.

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

#Wilderlands #SessionReport

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