Best of

Magazine

Vol. IllSelected from out-of-print issues of DRAGON * Magazine

Best of

Lake Geneva, Wis.

Dragon PublishingA division of TSR, Inc.

July 1983

D&D, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and ADVANCED D&D arc registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc™ designates other trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.«1983 TSR, Inc. All rights reserved. Articles on pages 59-69 ©1982 E. Gary Gygax. All rights reserved,

ISBN 0-88038-064-0

ContentsI. Finishing the races 3

The dwarven point of view 4The gods of the dwarves 6

The elven point of view 11The gods of the elves 13

The halfling point of view 77The gods of the halflings 19

The gnomish point of view 23The gods of the gnomes 25

The half-ore point of view 28The gods of the ores 31

II. Breathing life into dragons 35That's not in the Monster Manual! 36Hatching is only the beginning 38Self defense for dragons 40The faerie dragon 42Two tough foes 43Evil dragons make good armor 44

III. Playing with class 45f

The thief: a special look 46The druid and the DM 47It's not easy being good 57He's got a lot to kick about 53Singing a new tune 56Cantrips: minor magic 59Cantrips for the illusionist 66Spell books 68

IV. Creating new challenges 70The winged folk 77The alchemist 73The archer 78

2 BEST OF DRAGON

I. Finishingthe races

Role-playing a human being is not, in relative terms, a very difficultthing to do. The principal and most obvious reason for this is that we arehuman beings. So, your human cleric character could be played to actpretty much like you would act if you were a cleric.

But if you want to play an elven magic-user or a halfling thief, you'vegot to be able to take a giant step back, away from "yourself," and look atthe world through a set of not-human eyes. You've got to have a differentpoint of view. And that's what this section of this anthology is all about.

Roger and Georgia Moore, who have been involved in ADVANCEDDUNGEONS & DRAGONS® campaigns for longer than yours truly hasbeen editing DRAGON® Magazine, assembled a series of "point of view"articles that appeared during the winter and spring of 1982. As we like tosay about all the articles and features we publish, the information is justas good and as usable today as when it was originally printed. Even thosewho don't agree with all of the general statements about the various raceshave still told us how much they enjoyed having the non-human pan-theons expanded with the "gods" section of each presentation. We hopeyou'll enjoy these articles — but even if you don't, try to keep an openmind. After all, we're only human. . ..

VOL in

The DWARVENby Roger Moore

As AD&DW players know, the dwarvesare a human-like race, standing about 4feet in height but weighing as much as150 pounds or so due to their broad buildand musculature. Most people also knowthat dwarves prefer living undergroundin caverns and mines, they value goldhighly, and they have beards (femaledwarves are also said to be bearded).Their use of axes and hammers as weap-ons and their hatred of ores and giants isalso familiar. Howtver, this limitedamount of information is the extent ofmost people's awareness and knowledgeof dwarves.

Scattered throughout the ADfcD booksand a number of other sources are otherbits of information regarding this poorlyunderstood race — information that maymean little in itself, but when puttogether presents in some detail an inter-esting portrait of a distinctly differentrace, one that does not share our humanvalues and feelings on the topics of lifeand living. Much of the difficulty in get-ling to understand dwarves is due directlyto their habit of separation from theaffairs of other rates. The dwarves arevery much a race apart.

One of the most striking features ofdwarven society is the inequality innumbers of males vs. females. Two out ofthree dwarves are male at birth, and thisratio continues to hold true as dwarvesget older. The effect this has upon themreaches into nearly every aspect of theirlives. Most male dwarves do not marry,but instead devote their lives to careers ascraftsmen, miners, adventurers, and soforth,

Dwarves who do enter into marriagebecome exceedingly jealous and posses-sive of their partners, restricting the free-dom each has in exchange for a life ofdevotion to each other and their children.Yet, though roughly half of all maledwarves are destined to go through life asbachelors, they do not appear overly sador frustrated. Their careers fi l l their dailylives as completely as would the presenceof a wife, and appear to give them muchthe same satisfaction (particularly in themetal-working and jeweler crafts, for rea-sons to be given later).

How would a human society cope withan excess of males such as this? Historyreveals that at times such as this, humansocieties generally turn to warfare or

point of viewextreme violence in order to bring thesexual imbalance back to normal. Fordwarvenkind. however, a male-to-femaleratio of 2 to 1 is normal.

Some dwarves, male and female alike,would not marry even if they had thechance, so immersed are they in theirwork. The greatest heroes and heroines ofdwarvenkind have almost always beensingle, as marriage means the end of anyoutside occupations, especially adventur-ing. For a married dwarf to adventure orotherwise spend a lot of time out of thehome is seen as a shirking of responsibili-ties and a disgraceful insult to the otherpartner of the lowest order, in effect say-ing that the partner (be it he or she) is notworthy of the other's affections. Much ofthis feeling is caused and reinforced bythe basically lawful good nature of thedwarven fold.

By and large, dwarves are seen as pos-sessive, single-minded, perhaps having anarrow range of interests, yet throwingall their energies into the seeking of theirgoals. Dwarves are clannish, more so thanmost other races, and few make a habit ofspending a lot of time among the com-pany of non-dwarves for long periods oftime.

A strong streak of materialism is pres-ent in the dwarven character, and they aresometimes notoriously jealous of whatthey own. Dwarves tend to hoard theirwealth, spending money only to makemore money, and are very watchful ofthieves, real and suspected. In dwarvensociety, there is only one penalty for

From issue #58, February 1982

pickpockets and burglars, and that isdeath — unless, of course, the thief isworking for the dwarves against someoneelse.

Many dwarves are rather vengeful, andremember slights or insults long afterthey have ceased to matter to anyone else,They may well lake opportunities to re-dress the situation when their enemieshave been lulled into complacency. Littlewonder that other races sometimes dis-trust dwarves more than they do goblins.Who knows, they ask, what a dwarf isreally thinking of you?

In the estimation of other intelligentraces, dwarves are humorless, "dour andtaciturn" (as the DMG puts it), and love-less except for a lust for more and moregold. Such is not true; there is much joyin a dwarf's life in such things as thebirth of a child, the crafting of a beautifuljewel, or the forging and finishing of agreat suit of armor or a matchlessweapon.

Yet, it is true that for the most part, thelife of a typical dwarf is fraughi withceaseless toil and labor; the dwarves' workethic makes the human conception of thesame concept appear lackadaisical. Theypay a price for this drive, in terms of themany lines that fill their faces as they age.This price, however, is seen as a badge ofhonor among dwarves, and adds in somesense to their satisfaction with them-selves. Other races don't always see it thisway (especially the elves, who would besorely distressed to have to live suchserious and hard-working lives). Thosefew who do admire the dwarves anduphold their achievements publicly willcome to win their cautious gratitude, andin time may be counted in some manneras an "honorary dwarf" if they continueto actively support and championdwarven causes,

Interestingly enough, there is someelement of humor in the dwarven charac-ter, of a nature particular to themselves.Whenever dwarves have been responsiblefor the rescuing of persons of other races,there is inevitably some jesting and josh-ing to the effect that the victims wouldn'thave had to be rescued if they'd beendwarves, or that the dwarves fail tounderstand what was so awful about thesituation (regardless of how bad it was).Though two demons, a dragon, and anentire tribe or ores might be slain in the

BEST OF DRAGON

conquest, and the dwarves might beimmensely proud among themselves, theymay put on a casual front 10 other races,and would appear to treat the whole epi-sode as a light romp in the afternoon sun.

With all this in mind, one understandshow dwarves on the whole have such lowcharisma when interacting with otherraces. Yet, on the positive side, dwarvespossess a powerful tenacity, driving onwhen others have given up and left therace. Legends and tales abound ofdwarves who dared the greatest obstaclesand dangers in reaching for their goals.either to emerge victorious or end up de-stroyed. A thing is either done or it is not,and there is no halfway about it. Dedica-tion like this can often make the differ-ence between success and failure foradventuring parties. Such an attitude canprove to be a great morale boost forgroups of adventurers, particularly lawfulgood ones. How could one avoid win-ning, with a dwarf on one's side?

The natural tendency to suspicion inthe dwarven nature has saved enterprisesfrom disaster, much more often than ithas led to the missing of a good oppor-tunity. Dwarves take a great interest —greater than most other peoples can will-ingly muster — in seeing that the partyand its valuables are secure from loss.

Dwarves abhor slavery and all forms ofinvoluntary servitude; they never practiceit among their own kind or against otherraces. Foes are either made to leave thearea, coexist peacefully if they elect tostay, or else are slain. Those who make apractice of enslaving dwarves run thegravest risks; other dwarves who find thisout wi l l lay aside all differences to uniteand destroy them, in a fairly short time, ifat all possible.

Dwarves are one of the toughest ofraces, perhaps the most so. Poisonoussubstances don't affect them as much asthey do other races that are affected.Dwarves do not use any magical spells,but this has proved to be a saving grace attimes — such as when cursed rings fail tofunction when worn, giving them achance of recognizing the cursedenchantments. Magical spells and magi-cal effects of other sorts may be morestrongly resisted by dwarves because oftheir non-magical natures. Their strengthis also considerable and in hattle serves tooffset their short height. Though dwarvesare not as agile as other races, this doesn'tappear to affect them greatly in any way.

Earlier it was said that dwarves are arace apart. Indeed, they were created lhatway. The god Moradin, the Father of theDwarves, is said to have fashioned themsecretly of iron and rnithral, in a forge inthe fires at the heart of the world. Noother god suspected what was happening,it is told, and when dwarves appeared inthe world the event was cause for greatsurprise among the other deities. Being asolitary god himself, it may be guessedthat Moradin preferred it this way.

VOL. in

Moradin was able, through his skills,to give souls to the dwarves when hebreathed upon them at their creation(also cooling them as they were takenfrom the furnace). This sets the dwarvesin a group, along with humans, gnomes,and halflings, of beings with soulsinstead of spirits (see the DEITIES fcDEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia for clarifica-tion of these terms).

Because they are built from the sub-stance of the earth itself, dwarves feel astrong affinity for the lands lhat lie underthe ground, and they base their lives onworking with the earth's resources.

One is siruck, in the study of dwarventheology, by the relationship betweenprocreation and metalcraft; perhaps morethan one dwarven smith has looked upona finished piece of work and felt as if he'dbreathed life into the metal and given it asoul of sorts, as Moradin did so long ago,Some of the most popular dwarven-toldtales concern an ancient smith who wasable to do exactly that, somehow invest-ing his creations with a life of their own.The story ends similarly to the Greek taleof Pygmalion and Galatea, with thesmith fashioning a female dwarf from ihemost precious of metals and having hercome to life. Thereafter, of course, theywere married and he erased to botherwith his crafts, being now content,

Moradin is a proud and possessive god,who owns a hammer and armor that can-not be stolen or used by any other deity inthe universe. It is clear that a part of himlives on in all dwarves. The emphasis onmaterialism is difficult for dwarves to ridthemselves of. They feel that if they wanta thing they must have it before them, beit a person, object, or experience. Fondmemories do not suffice, and sometimesonly serve to psychologically torture thedwarf, because he or she may be physi-cally unable to obtain the thing again.Either a dwarf has something, or he (orshe) does not.

Lust for treasure motivates dwarventhieves more so than it does ihieves ofother races; l i t t le do dwarves care whatwas done lo get the item. Because of theunequivocal penalties for stealing fromother dwarves, dwarven thieves base mostof their livelihood on stealing from otherraces (thereby worsening already touchyrelationships). The knowledge thatdwarves go through life only once (soulscannot be "recycled" as spirits can be)may also fuel the desire to get all one canoui of life before one goes. (Or, as aninfamous dwarven thief once put it, "Yagotta reach for all the gusto ya can.")

When a dwarf dies, it is considered adishonor for the body to go unburied.Dwarven communiiies bury their dead ingreat stone vaults after ceremonial crema-tion, symbolically returning the body tothe Forge of Moradin and then to theearth, while the soul is freed to make itsjourney to the outer planes. The burial ofweapons, armor, and magical items with

the ashes, as well as gold and jewelry, isnot common and is done only for dwarvesof great importance.

The long-standing rivalry betweendwarves and ores, goblins, and giants,reflected in the combat skills dwarveshave against these types and races of crea-tures, doubtless points to older rivalriesbetween Moradin and the gods of thosenon-human creatures.

An investigation of theology revealsthat hill gianis are probably the greatesttraditional dwarven enemies. For useagainst these huge folk, the clerics ofMoradin may manufacture +3 DwarvenThrower war hammers, something noother race can make.

In the DMG (p. 16} there is a commentto the effect that dwarves are more "for-ward" in iheir behavior toward femaleswithout beards, since dwarven womentend to be bearded too. This authorwould like to suggest thai this statementbe disregarded. It was not clear whetherdwarven females or females of other racesare being referred to, and in any casedwarves are not at all prone to mate withothers outside their race. Those personswho have had the audacity to ask dwarveswhether they like bearded or unbeardedwomen best have usually been givenstony stares — or, if the pollster is persis-tent and obnoxious enough, a f i r s t -handdemonstration of the high quality of thedwarven-made battleaxe and the skillwith which one can be wielded. Suchinformation was not meani to be spreadabout indiscriminately. It may be conjec-tured lhat such matters are left to the per-sonal preferences of each dwarf.

Two discrepancies appear in the var-ious AD&D volumes concerning dwarves.Though dwarves may become psionic,Moradin is not; ihis may be accepted asthe god's way of keeping his thoughts tohimself, however. There is also the ques-tion of whether dwarven clerics (whomust be fighters as well) can reach 7th or8th level; this author strongly favors theidea that iruly exceptional dwarven cler-ics may reach the 8ih level of experienceif they have a wisdom score of 18. Other-wise they can only become 7uVlevelclerics.

Information for this article was takenfrom the Players Handbook, the MonsterManual, the Dungeon Masters Guide,and the DEITIES & DEMIGODS Cyclo-pedia. Paul H. Kocher's book, Master ofMiddle-Earth (Ballamine Books, paper-back), was also helpful, though ii con-cerns J.R.R. Tolkien's version of dwarvesand not ihe conception of them given inthe AD&D rules.

Dungeon Masters may use ihis articleto standardize ihe roles and personalitiesof dwarven NPC's in his or her cam-paign, and players may use this informa-tion in role-playing their characters ifthey like. This article is a set of guide-lines for playing dwarven characters, andnot a sei of rules.

The gods of the dwarvesClanggedin, Dumathoin, Abbathor, Vergadain, Berronar

One of the most powerful of all thenon-human pantheons is that of thedwarven fold, and it well reflects theirnature and beliefs as the human pan-theons reflect that of their human wor-shippers. In describing the dwarven pan-theon, several distinct differences areapparent between it and usual humanreligions.

All of the greater dwarven gods are atleast twice as large as normal dwarves.ranging up to Moradin's 20-foot height,Though some human reviewers have saidthis is an indicator of an inferiority com-plex dwarves have about their height, thisclaim is patently ridiculous. More likelyit reflects the dwarves' own sense of self-importance (perhaps a little exaggerated,from the human viewpoint). Dwarvesrefuse to see themselves as a "minorrace," and indeed, there is much to sup-port the view that the dwarves are one ofthe most powerful of all races (perhapssecond only to humanity). Lesserdwarven gods are generally shorter thanthe greater gods; demigods are roughlynormal dwarven height, and no dwarvendeity is taller than Moradin, the SoulForger.

Another interesting aspect of dwarvenreligion is that the holy symbols used areinvariably not living objects: tools, weap-ons, mountains, minerals, and so forth.This derives in large part from some ofthe teachings of Moradin, who ruled thatthe dwarves must hold no other race

above them; having an animal as a sym-bol would then be a way of saying thatanimal was better than the dwarves.Likewise, Moradin said that the dwarvesshould not ever worship each other, so nodwarf or part of one is used as a holysymbol. Dwarves should take pride intheir achievements, and respect the earthfrom which they originally came; thustools, weapons, and similar items weredeveloped and used as religious symbols.

Five of the rnosl commonly accepteddwarven deities are described in this arti-cle. A description of Moradin, invariablythe ruler of all dwarven pantheons(though he may be known by several dif-ferent names) is found in the DEITIES 8:DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia. There aremany dwarven gods and demigods, someof which may be connected with certainplanes or areas all their own. Every clanof dwarves has a pantheon that will varyfrom every other clan's pantheon {leavingDungeon Masters quite free to developtheir own pantheons and not worry aboutanyone else's).

Some final notes about dwarven godsin general: All dwarven gods possessdouble charismas, one applying todwarves and other dwarven deities, andthe other to everyone else. Just as thedwarves hold themselves as a race apart,so do the dwarven deities keep themselvesgenerally aloof from the workings anddealings of other pantheons (with a fewexceptions, as will be seen).

Most of the lesser deities and demigodsof the dwarves are connected with thespheres of fighting and warfare, guard-ianship, the earth, metals, craftmanship,volcanoes and earthquakes, fire and lava,the protection of the dead, medicine, andstrength. There are very few or no deitiesknown in dwarven pantheons governingthe sea, the air and atmospheric phenom-ena (rain, clouds, stars, etc.), plant lifeand forests, comedy, animals, and chaos.

Most dwarven pantheons do include atleast one lesser god, very obese and with aratty beard — the god of alcohol and fer-mented beverages. These particular neu-tral gods could in some ways be said to becomic gods, though few dwarves wouldsay so. Certainly the tales of their anticsare seen as comic by the other derni-human races. Dwarves who worship thesedeities are probably heavy drinkers, andthe usual way in which these beings areworshipped is to simply go the the near-est tavern, gel blind drunk and make afool of oneself. The names of these deitiesare different from clan to clan, thoughthere is some evidence that many of thesenames (Budwizr, Koorz, Mo-ghan Davit)may actually represent the same being.

Dwarves on rare occasions worship dei-ties from other pantheons. In particular,Goibhnie (of the Celtic mythos) andHephaestus (of the Greek) draw muchfavorable attention from dwarves, becausethey represent powers of smith-work andthe earth.

CLANGGEDIN SILVERBEARDThe Father of Battle

Greater godARMOR CLASS: -4MOVE: 12"HIT POINTS: 375NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK.: 3-36 (+14)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Does double

damage vs. giantsSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%SIZE: L (17)ALIGNMENT; Lawful neutralWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All alignments,

especially -warriors (dwarves)SYMBOL: Two crossed battle axesPLANE: ArcadiaCLERIC/DRUID: 12th level dniidFIGHTER: I7th level rangerMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 10th

level magic-userTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: 6th level bard

PSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: 25 (+7,+14) 1:20 W: 19 D: 20C:25 CH: 16 (22 to dwarves)

Bald and silver-bearded, Clanggedinlives in a vast mountain fortress manned

by the souls of the finest dwarven war-riors. He taught the dwarves many specialmethods of combating giant-types, andpassed his knowledge and skills on to thegnomish gods as well.

In the many tales and legends about his

BEST OF DRAGON

deeds, the dwarves portray Clanggedin asa fierce and resolute warrior who neverbacks down from danger and who refusesto surrender even when all seerns lost,many times winning a victory by only thebarest of margins against extreme odds,

Clanggedin's most hated enemies areGrolantor {the hill giant god) and the fol-lowers of that deity. Giant-class creaturesattack Clanggedin at a -4 penalty "to

hit," the same as for mortal dwarves. Inthe heat of battle Clanggedin is fond ofsinging, with the intent of both unnerv-ing his opponents and increasing his fol-lowers' morale.

Clanggedin can wield a +4 mithral bat-tle axe in each hand. He can throw theaxes with either hand up to 100 yards andboth will do damage to whatever they hitas if he'd struck the target by hand (with

all bonuses to hit and damage). Hisarmor is +5 steel chainmail.

Although Clanggedin has magicalspell ability, he will usually only usesuch powers to indirectly affect a courseof events. Not unless his existence on thePrime Material Plane is at stake willClanggedin resort to the use of magicalspells or spell devices in a close-combatsituation.

DUMATHOINKeeper of Secrets

Under the Mountain

Greater godARMOR CLASS: -2MOVE.: 9" (48")HIT POINTS: 366NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: }0-4Q(+14)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Summon

elemental!SPECIAL DEFENSES: +5 or better

weapon to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 70%SIZE: L (J8f)ALIGNMENT: NeutralWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All alignments

{dwarves)SYMBOL: Gem inside a mountainPLANE: Concordant OppositionCLERIC/DRUID: 15th level cleric/

14th level druidFIGHTER: 16th level fighterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Special/

14th level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN: I2th level thiefMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: 25 (+7,+14) 1:23 W: 25 D: 20C:25 CH: 18 (24 to dwarves)

Dumathoin is said to hide the secrets ofthe earth until they are ready to be uncov-ered by the diligent and the deserving. Heis the protector of the mountain dwarves,the keeper of all metals. He lays veins ofiron, copper, gold, silver, and mithralwhere he feels they will do the mostbenefit to his followers when found.Dumathoin has never been known tospeak, instead keeping his wisdom tohimself (though he may send subtle cluesto keen observers on the nature of theworld).

When Moradin named him protector ofthe mountain dwarves, Dumathoincreated a "paradise" for the mountaindwarves to enjoy. He was angered at firstwhen the dwarves started to "destroy" themountains he had provided for them, buthis anger turned to pleasure when he sawthe finely crafted metal items the dwarvesproduced from the ore they had mined.His enemies are those (dwarven or other-wise) who plunder the earth's riches andtake them away for unfair or selfish pur-poses. He does not object to tunneling,mining, or the keeping of treasuresunderground, however. Miners see him as

their patron, and often cany a small dia-mond or gemstone in their pockets (10 gpvalue) to attract the favor of the god.

Dumathoin appears to be a giganticdwarven figure with hair and beard ofgray stone, earth-brown skin, and eyes of:silver fire. He owns a great +5 two-handed mattock of solidified rnagma. H*-may summon 3-18 earth elementals (16hit dice each) at will instantly; they willfight for him to the death. Dumathoinmay also use all metal-, earth-, or stone-related magic-user spells at the 30th levelof ability, but cannot use any othermagic-user spells.

Unlike most other dwarven deities,Dumathoin maintains friendly relationswith non-dwarven deities, though only afew. Among his close allies is Hephaes-tus, whom he supplies with adamantiteore, and Grome, the lord of the earthelementals, who supplies him with ele-mentals at a moment's notice.

Other gods of metalcraft and the earthsometimes do business with Dumathoinand his representatives for metals andores as well. For these reasons, clerics ofthis god are sometimes involved in busi-ness ventures in the selling of metals andsimilar materials.

ABBATHORGreat Master of Greed

Greater godARMOR CLASS: 0MOVE: 12"HIT POINTS: 3)0NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-24 (+12)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: NitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%SIZE: L (?)ALIGNMENT: Neutral evilWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Evil (dwarves)SYMBOL: Jeweled daggerPLANE: HadesCLERIC/DRUID: NilFIGHTER: 14th level lighterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: llth

level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 20th level thief/

15th level assassin

MONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY: ///S: 24 (+6, +12) I: 22 W: 16 D: 24C: 24 CH: 8 (14 to dwarves)

At times, Abbathor has been the ally ofthe other dwarven gods, but his treacheryand lust for treasure make him a danger-ous associate. He will never help anynon-dwarven deity or creature. He cannotbe trusted to do anything but evil, unlessit suits his own purposes to giveassistance.

Abbathor was not always as devoted toevil as he is now. Originally, his sphereof influence concerned the appreciationof valuable gems and metals, not neces-sarily at the expense of others. He becameembittered when Moradin appointedDumathoin the protector of the mountaindwarves instead of himself, and from thatday forward has become ever moredevious and self-serving in his endeavors,

VOL. Ill

in a continual effort to wreak revenge onthe other gods by establishing greed —especially evil greed — as the drivingforce in dwarves' lives. His home cavernsare said to be made of the purest gold,which may be a fact or may be a legendborn of his reputation for hoarding thatwhich is precious.

Abbaihor's greed manifests itself fre-quently in his actions. Should he set eyesupon any magical item, or on treasureworth more than 1,000 gp. there is a 40%chance that he will attempt to steal it out-right, or slay the owner and then take it(50% chance of either specific occurrence).

Abbathor wears leather armor and furs,made from the skins of beings and crea-tures who have opposed him in the past.He uses a +5 dagger with a diamondblade and jewels set into the hilt. Thedagger does a basic 2-24 points of dam-age, and can detect the presence of pre-cious metals (kind and amount) in a 2"radius. Anyone but Abbathor who graspsthis weapon wil l suffer the loss of oneexperience level at once, and will loseanother level in each round the dagger

continues to be held. Abbathor also ownsa shield that casts one cause blindnessspell per round (save at -6) at any target(one at a time) within range.

Abbathor's servants consist primarily ofthe undead forms of his worshipers whodied attempting to steal something; theseundead are called rappers (see below).

Abbathor maintains an uneasy trucewith Vergadain (see below), with whomhe sometimes roams the Prime MaterialPlane in search of more treasure. If frus-trated when attempting to steal an item,Abbathor will try to destroy the item, soas to not be tortured by the memory of hisfailure.

RAPPERUndead dwarf

FREQUENCY: Very rareNO. APPEARING: 1-4ARMOR CLASS: 2MOVE: 9"HIT DICE: 4% IN LAIR: 05%TREASURE TYPE: See belowNO OF ATTACKS: /DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-9 or by weaponSPECIAL ATTACKS: Insanity; loss

of directionSPECIAL DEFENSES: +/ or better

weapon to hit; invisibilityMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: AverageALIGNMENT: Neutral evilSIZE: S (4' tall)PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: NilLEVEL/X.P. VALUE: V/240 + 4/HP

A rapper is the undead form of an evildwarven thief or assassin who died in anattempt to steal something. These beingstypically inhabit old mines and caverns,where they attempt to lure victims in totheir doom. Rappers appear to be pale-skinned dwarves with semi-translucentskin, dressed in rags and carrying weap-ons or mining tools. They can go invisi-ble twice a day for 6 turns, but willbecome visible when physically attacking.

Rappers will hide in small, abandonedcorners of underground tunnels and makea constant, rhythmic tapping sound withtheir tools or weapons against the tunnelwall. This sound carries in a 120' radiusthrough the underground corridors androoms; it is never very loud, but is annoy-ing to listen to. Within the 120' radiusthis tapping noise will reduce the chanceof successfully listening at doors by 20%(making it impossible for non-thieves tolisten at doors at all).

After listening to this tapping soundfor longer than an hour, a human ordemi-human or humanoid creature mustmake a saving throw vs. spell at +2, orelse develop a form of insanity (mono-mania; see DMG. p. 83. for effects). Thosewho saved the first time against thispower must save again after listening to itfor a second consecutive hour, again aftera third hour, and so forth. There is a 20%chance that an affected character or crea-ture will also develop kleptomania{DMG, p. 83). Rappers can keep up theirtapping for an infinitely long duration.

If they are located and attacked, rapperswill attack in a crazed manner and willhowl and shriek loudly, possibly (40%chance) attracting additional monsters.Anyone struck by a rapper's weapon or bythe rapper itself must save vs. spell or beaffected as if by the cleric spell lose thepath for a full day. During this time thecharacter will be unable to tell directionsand must be led by hand or by force.

Rappers guard their victims' remains.For treasure, generate the number andtypes of magical items owned by 1-4 ran-dom non-player characters of 1st through6th level, according to the tables in theDMG on pp. 175-176. Hide bodies andmagic items under rubble or elsewhere inthe rappers' lair. Assume each of the deadvictims possessed treasure types J, K, L,M, N, and Q as well. A victim will notautomatically possess any magical trea-sure or gems.

Clerics turn rappers the same as wights.Holy water does 2-8 points damage perhit. The spells raise dead and resurrectionwill destroy them, but they are immuneto all poisons, enchantment/charmspells, and paralysis and cold attacks.

BEST OF DRAGON

VERGADAINGod of Wealth and Liuk

Greater godARMOR CLASS; -5MOVE: 18"HIT POINTS: 345NO. OF ATTACKS: 3/2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-30 (+10)SPECIAL ATTACKS: NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: Automatically

detects all trapsMAGIC RESISTANCE: 70%SIZE: L (Iff)ALIGNMENT: Neutral (tends toward

chaotic neutral)WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All neutral

alignments, especially merchantsand thieves (dwarves)

SYMBOL: Gold piecePLANE; Concordant OppositionCLERIC/DRUID; 12th level drutdFIGHTER: 12th level rangerMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: NitTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 18th level thiefMONK/BARD: 5th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY:///S; 22 (+4,+10} 1:23 W: 20 D: 23C: 25 CH: 18 (24 to dwarves)

The patron god of dwarven merchantsand most non-evil dwarven thieves is thescheming Vergadain. He is said to be agreat poet as well, and may dispense cluesto his worshipers on the locations of greattreasures. These clues are usually hiddenin a verse or rhyme of some sort. Hisbard-like talents also give him the abilityto carefully evaluate treasures as to theirtrue nature and worth.

Vergadain appears to be a huge dwarfwearing brown and yellow clothing.

Underneath his suit is a set of +5 goldenmail, and he wears a necklace that allowshim to change his height at wi l l betweenone foot and 15 feet. At his side is a +4sword that detects all treasures within 2"of his person whenever the hilt isgrasped.

Most of Vergadain's adventures concernthe elaborate con games he has played onhuman, demi-human, humanoid, andgiant victims in order to win their everybelonging of any worth. He is not aboveusing any sort of trick ta accomplish hisends, and is eternally suspicious of poten-tial adversaries who might try to trickhim in return.

Followers of Vergadain are usually seenas suspicious characters; as a result, fewdwarves will willingly admit that he istheir deity. If a follower of this god deniesto others that Vergadain is that person'strue deity, the god wi l l not be offended(so long as the proper sacrifices aremade).

Vergadain himself is always out for hisown best advantage, and is a poor sourcefor obtaining the truth — he might evenlie to his own clerics, though not veryoften. Nonetheless, the stories of his out-rageous exploits and his courage andcunning have heartened many a dwarffaced with adversity.

BERRONARMother of Safety, Truth, and Home

Greater goddessARMOR CLASS: -4MOVE: 12"HIT POINTS: 370NO. OF ATTACKS; 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 6-36 (+9)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%SIZE: L (IS')ALIGNMENT: Lawful goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Lawful good

(dwarves)SYMBOL: Two silver ringsPLANE: Seven HeavensCLERIC/DRUID: 15th level cleric/

12th level dntidFIGHTER: 14th level paladinMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 16th

level magic-userTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY:///

(Continued on next page)

VOL. in

S: 21 (+4. +9) I: 25 W: 25 D: 20C: 25 CHr 19 (25 to dwarves)

The greatest of all dwarven goddesses isusually held to be Berronar, who liveswith Moradin in the Seven Heavens at theSoul Forge beneath the mountains. Ber-ronar is seen as the patroness of marriageand love (but not necessarily romance).Her name is often invoked in small homerituals, for protection from thieves andduplicity. But, Berronar is not a passivehomebody; her efforts to preserve andprotect dwarven culture and civilizationhave spanned many universes, anddwarves of both sexes revere her name.

Berronar appears to be a huge dwarfwearing chainmait (+5) of bright silver.Her brown beard is braided into fourrows. If a braid is cut off, it will regrowin a single day, and at the end of that daythe lock of hair which was cut off will

turn to gold (worth 10,000 to 40,000 goldpieces). She sometimes gives locks of herhair to dwarven communities that areexceptionally poor or hard-pressed andotherwise unable to get on their feet eco-nomically. This is an extremely rareoccurrence, of course, and must beinvoked by a lawful good dwarven clericof the highest level in the colony. If thisgold or any part of it is used for otherthan good purposes, it will all disappear.

Berronar wields a +4 mace of gold andsteel that will slay evil thieves and allassassins on contact (save vs. death magicat -4). She wears two silver rings of greatpower; one prevents anyone from know-ingly telling a falsehood within 10" ofher, and the other prevents the use of allthieving abilities by any mortal withinthe same area, unless they make a save vs.spell at -2 in every round an attempt ismade to use the skill.

Dwarves have a custom of exchangingrings with those for whom they feelexceptional, mutual trust and love; thisindependently parallels a human customused in marriage rituals. This dwarvenceremony is not lightly given, and isalmost never undertaken with a non-dwarf except in the most unusual circum-stances. Both participants must be lawfulgood, Berronar is said to have inspiredthis practice, and several variations of itexist around the dwarven realms.

Ha lawful good dwarven fighterappeals to Berronar for aid for a particu-lar purpose and makes an appropriatelylarge sacrifice, there is a 5% chance shewill bestow upon the individual the pow-ers of a paladin of equal level for 3-6days. Only dwarves of exceptionally pureheart will be considered for this honor,and it may be granted only once every 10years to any individual.

DeityClanggedinDuma t hoi 11Ab bath orVergadainBerronar

Sphere ofcontrolwar, battlesecrets, earthevil, greed

Headwar helmbareleather cap

CLERICAL QUICK REFERENCE CHARTRaiment

Body Colons)chainmail silverleather brown

suspicion, trickery helmetsafety, truth silvered helm

leatherchainmailchainmail

redgoldsilver

Holy daysbefore battlenew moonsolar eclipsesfull moonnew year's day

Sacrifice/PropitiationFrequencybefore battlemonthlyannuallymonthlyannually

Formweaponsgems 8e jewelsblood fe gemsgoldsilver

None of these dwarven gods has a sacred animal. Clanggedin is worshipped on the battlefield, and the rest are wor-shipped in underground temples carved from natural rock. Only male dwarves may become clerics of the male dwarvendeities, and females become clerics of the female ones.

10 BEST OF DRAGON

The ELVENby Roger Moore

Elves are much like humans in physi-cal appearance. They are thinner andsomewhat smaller, averaging about 5 feettall, but not small enough for the size dif-ference to affect the way elves see humansand vice versa. Elves have a tendency, asdo all demi-humans, to be generally sus-picious of human motives at the sametime they admire (perhaps reluctantly)and look up to humans for their capabili-ties. But elves are the least affected by thisfeeling, and bear little jealousy tohumans for their ability to advance anunlimited number of levels in their pro-fessions. Elves have their own set of spe-cial abilities and problems.

The greatest difference between theviewpoint of an elf and that < >1 a humanconcerns concepts of time. The wispy,lightly built elves have a life span morethan ten times as long as humans, averag-ing 1,200 years with a maximum of 1,600years or so. Such a time span is barelycomprehensible to humankind; its effectson the elven personality are profound andfar-reaching, Elven player characters arealready 100 years old or older when theystart play in the game, perhaps close to200 years, and can look forward to manyyears more, barring accident ordeath inbattle. In a typical elven lifespan it is pos-sible for as many as sixty generations ofhumans to appear and vanish. Whole cit-ies and nations could be founded,expand, reach a pinnacle, and fade awayinto degeneration and ruin in that time.Seemingly changeless, the elf would wit-ness it all.

Time means nothing to an elf; there isli t t le need for hurry in any project the elfis engaged in. Humans and other demi-humans rush about and vainly set out onadventures and projects that they want tocomplete before the Grim Reaper turnstheir bodies and works to dust. Fewthings are that important to elves. Agingseems to have little effect physically on anelf's outward appearance; unscathed bythe passage of centuries and millennia,elven longevity is intensely envied bymost other races who travel in the shadowof mortality.

Seeing others' lives pass away aroundthem, and having no such pressure fromthe presence of death, elves have attaineda deep understanding and acceptance ofdeath as a part of life by nature. Theydon't look forward Eo it necessarily, but

point of viewthey have no fear of ii. This feeling is sodeeply ingrained [hat elves (and half-elves) are immune to the effects of themagic-user spell scare, which enhancesany basic fears of death and doom in thevictim's mind.

Elves are al$o immune to the paralyz-ing touch of ghouls, from which it maybe deduced that ghouls are somehow ableto cause their victims to be overtaken andimmobilized by their fears of death. Themore powerful undead creatures can par-alyze or cause fear in elves as well as inother beings because those undead have astronger innate magical power and usedifferent ways to bring their attacks intoeffect. An elf might not fear death, butone would certainly fear an enraged vam-pire or lich for the harm or damage itcould cause.

Elves are a brave people, but are notgiven to foolhardiness and the sort of"damn the torpedoes" approach thatshorter-lived beings use so often. Cautionis appropriate since there is so much tolive for and so long to do it in. It maywell be that elves are aware that sincethey do not possess souls but have spirits(see the DEITIES fc DEMIGODS™ bookfor clarification of these terms) instead,they will be "reborn" after some time,and likely as elves again. Why fear deathwhen you know you are coming back tolife anyway?

Their longer lifespans also imbue elveswith a tendency to see things in a long-range way. The short-term results of aparticular action concern elves little;

Dragon

From issue #60, April 1982

things are done for what will come aboutin the long run. Singing and dancing allday are not actions done for the sake ofthe moment (as most other creaturesbelieve). This behavior helps make lifemore enjoyable and easily lived, enhanc-ing elves' love of the world and of life ingeneral. Longevity can mean intolerableboredom unless one can manage to keepoccupied for more than a thousand yearsand enjoy it as well. Elves know how todo this with little trouble. The naturallychaotic bent that elves have comes to theirassistance here, guaranteeing a life filledwith variety and unpredictability. Life isan endless series of surprises to fire elves'imaginations; there are poems to be writ-ten, songs to be sung, and tales to be toldabout those surprises.

To members of other races, elvesappear heedless of the harsh realities ofthe world; they have no attention span,they waste time, they are "flighty or frivo-lous" and carefree. They have no under-standing of the value of time, we believe.How wrong we are. Elves know only toowell the value of time. They cannot com-prehend fully our haste to do things, ourconcern over things that will not last.

Longevity has also granted elven kind akeen empathy for life and living things.The sense of oneness that elves feel withthe forests is a thing beyond our ken. Weperhaps also cannot appreciate the rich-ness elves feel in life, and the fellow-feeling they have for other living crea-tures. Elves cannot be said to truly hatealmost any creatures; even ores are merelyregarded with antipathy, for they willsoon pass from life — even more quicklythan humans do. The all-consuming-hateores feel for elves is, to the elves, but anannoying problem that can be circum-vented with a little patience and a fewgood arrow shots.

There is only one mortal race that war-rants a feeling of true hatred amongelvenkind, and, interestingly enough, thehatred is for a variant elven race: thedrow. Drow also have long lifespans, andto some extent their mentalities mirrorthat of normal (high, grey, and sylvan)elves. Yet the drow nature is wholly eviland based upon darkness, things very dif-ferent from the philosophy of the upper-world elves. Against the drow, other elvesshow no mercy or quarter. To have anydealings with the evil dark elves is to

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betray tens of thousands of years of elvenunity with life; even evil non-drow elveswill more than likely refuse to have any-thing to do with the drow. If ores wereregarded with this same feeling by elves,they would be much less plentiful thanthey are today, perhaps extinct.

The empathy elves feel for livingthings gives them the desire to communi-cate more with life, and elves have a widerepertoire of languages as a result. Sylvanelves, more closely tied to their foreststhan high or grey elves, learn differenttongues, but the language range is just aswide. All elves lend to be much moreexpressive than humans or other beings,and are more sensitive to changes in emo-tions in other creatures. This does notnecessarily mean that elves are alwaysgood listeners or make friends easily,however; they associate primarily withtheir own race, who appreciate the elvenview of life best. Making friends withshorter-lived mortals is difficult, sincethey know that soon (by elven standards)that friend will die,

Their sensitivity to emotions can beused by elves to draw people out andlearn from them; elves enjoy secrets andare always seeking them for the joy oflearning new knowledge. Perhaps thispsychological tendency is related to theirability to detect secret and concealeddoors, or perhaps this ability is just afunction of living in a society that usessecret doors a lot. This might indicatethat while elves seem to know a lot abouteveryone else, they sometimes don't knowmuch about each other. Chaotics valuetheir privacy highly.

Regardless of racial preferences, elvescan make friends from many races. In alllikelihood, elves make few generalizationsracially and make judgements on beingson a person-by-person basis. Were theresuch a thing as a chaotic good orc] he orshe might find some friends among elven-folk once the elves got past their initialdistrust.

Most elves are basically peaceful andhave little or no desire to own things,beyond the desire to have them in order toappreciate their beauty. It is enough forelves to have their long lives; materialthings are generally of little worth. Thismight seem contradictory in light of thefact that elves make excellent thieves, butelven thieves are very rarely in the busi-ness for the profit to be made. They seekthe variety and excitement the thievinglife offers, and care more about howinteresting an adventure was rather thanwhat material was gained from it. Wellwrought jewelry is much liked andappreciated for the level of skill requiredto fashion it; elven thieves prefer jewelryover any treasure but magical items. Theamusing insistence of the shorter-livedraces on individuals' and groups' owner-ship of personal property makes themparticularly vulnerable to the averageelven thief, who may feel he or she is

12

doing the victims a favor by pointing out,in a rather blunt but effective way, thatnothing lasts forever.

A very self-willed race, elves tend to dovery much as they please, paying littleattention to social convention. They donot see other beings as superiors or infe-riors, even their own leaders. Instead, theyfeel all beings should have dealings in adirect fashion without a complicated rankstructure or hierarchy. This point of viewis often appreciated by the less powerfulmembers of an adventuring party thatelves are traveling with, but bothersometo the more powerful members who aresupposedly in charge of the expedition.

Leaders, to elves, are to be obeyed inmatters only where the leader is knowl-edgeable, and they may be freely dis-obeyed if their rulings seem unreasona-ble. Individual elves follow their ownleaders because they want to, not because"society" says they have to. This makes,of course, for a pretty chaotic state of po-litical affairs, but this is greatly moder-ated in elven society by elves' strong senseof identity as a race and their separatenessfrom the rest of the social world. Thus,elven government, as disordered and con-fusing as it seems to an outsider, is quitestable.

If there is something elves desirestrongly, it would be a knowledge ofmagical power. Magic fascinates elves,who see it as a source of infinite varietyfor their benefit and enjoyment over thelong years. They are the best magic-usersof all creatures except humans, and theyunderstand the nature of magic well.Some elves understand magic so well asto be able to cast spells while wearingmetallic armor, though this is not partic-ularly common. Because of differences inthe structure of the elven brain and theelven personality, they cannot advance asfar as humans in magical ability. Thesedifferences in the brain's physiologicalstructure also prevent the vast majority ofelves from having psionic powers.

One interesting difference betweenelves and other beings in mental capabili-ties is also related to their long lives.Elves do not sleep as humans, dwarves,and other races do. During the time an elfis resting, he or she is vividly relivingpast memories and experiences. For allintents and purposes, memory is a sepa-rate reality, and dreams serve as a reflec-tion upon the world of the past. This is avaluable asset to elves because of theenormous amount of information and lifeexperiences an elf can accumulate in afew hundred to a thousand years. Elvesrarely close their eyes when they "sleep"unless there is a bright light present;thus, some have a "faraway" look in theevenings, and their companions aremisled into thinking elves don't sleep orrest at all. While resting in this fashion,an elf is still alert to some extent but notoverly so, and may have mild difficultycoming out of the memory-dreaming

trance. This explains the elven resistanceto sleep spells. Their resistance to charmspells may be due to their strong sense ofself-will and individuality.

Elves' ability to move invisibly andwith great silence in natural terrain isanother interesting comment on the elvendesire for secrecy on an individual basis.Elven speech is soft, lilting, and melo-dious to the ear; it contains many subtlevariations in tone to indicate the speak-er's emotional state, though most racesmiss them or misinterpret what is beingexpressed. Most of these delicate tonalchanges are meant to be secret from otherraces — again, another comment on elves'love of secrets.

The elven feeling of equality and kin-ship with all beings is well expressed intheir religion. Elves were born of theblood of Corellon Larethian, and thus insome sense are equals to that deity (broth-ers and sisters, perhaps). Elven deitieswork closely together, with no one desig-nated as an absolute or even partialleader. All the various cults and sects ofelven religious life coexist in similarfellowship.

The long-range psychological viewelves have of life is mirrored in theirsuperior skill with missile weapons,which requires foresight and accuratedepth perception on the part of thearcher. Also note that, according to theDEITIES it DEMIGODS book, CorellonLarethian's longbow never misses itsmark. It may be that the elven skill withswords and bows is partially due to theirkinship with a deity using these weaponsand no others. Also note that this deity'ssword points out the most dangerousopponents in battle; this is another mani-festation of the elven talents of sensitivityand awareness.

Few children are born to elves, a logicalresult of the members of the race havingsuch extended lifetimes. This low birthrate provides a check on their numbersand makes elves somewhat less thancommon. Their population tends toremain fairly constant.

Evil elves strive for the destruction oflife, rather than the accumulation of trea-sure at any cost. Banshees (also calledgroaning spirits), the undead form of evilfemale elves, are particularly well asso-ciated with the bringing of death withtheir keening. Assassin-class elves commitmurder and destruction of life as a matterof routine, and are rather fearsome as aresult. Fortunately, such beings are quiterare. Elven assassins and half-elven assas-sins only rarely associate with their ownkind, preferring human company. Theother elves tend to pick up on too manysubtle clues the assassin gives off, thusspoiling the "secret."

Elven males and females, though theyare aware of their differences in physicalstrength, see each other as equals. Elvenqueens are as common as elven kings.Corellon Larethian is regarded by some

BEST OF DRAGON

elves as male, by some as female, by someas neither or both. Though female elvesdo not serve in the armies in any greatnumber (except as unicorn cavalry riders)because of their lower strengths, otherareas of elven life are about equallydivided between male and female partici-pants. Only actual combat occupationsshow a definite pro-male ratio, and eventhen the difference is not as extreme as in(for example) human or dwarven armies.

No other symbol could represent aswell the changeless and ever-changingstate of elven life as the holy symbol usedin the worship of Corellon Larethian: thecrescent moon. Always present yet alwaysdifferent, looking upon the world yearafter year, century after century, with thesame serene face. Though humans andother people come and go, the elves andthe moon remain.

Valuable information for this article

was gleaned from Paul H, Kocher's book,Master of Middle-Earth (paperback, Bal-lantine Books). Though this book is con-cerned with the Tolkien novels and theirrepresentation of eives and the otherraces, there are nevertheless strong sim-ilarities in several areas between the elvesof Tolkien and the elves of the ADffcD™game. Otherwise, the information here istaken directly from or derived from theADfcD rule books.

The gods of the elvesAerdrie, Erevan, Hanali, Labelas, Solonor

The elven pantheon is largely head-quartered on one of the planes of Olym-pus, in an area known as Arvandor, "TheHigh Forest." Here dwell a large numberof elven deities, who collectively refer tothemselves as the Seldarine, whichroughly translates as "the fellowship ofbrothers and sisters of the wood." Thetitle also implies a wide diversity in capa-bilities and areas of interests, linkedtogether by a desire for cooperation.Though many of these beings' areas ofinfluence overlap to some degree, there isno conflict between them. Of all the Sel-darine, only Corellon Lareihian is agreater god.

The Seldarine, almost without excep-tion, are chaotic, neutral, and/or good intemperament. None are evil, and a veryfew (two or three at the most) are lawful.They act for the most part independentlyof one another, but are drawn together bylove, curiosity, friendship, to combinetheir strengths to accomplish a task, or byoutside threats. Corellon Larethian, themost powerful of them, reinforces thisfreedom of action and compels none ofthem to perform any task. Instead, theyseem to sense when something needsdoing, and automatically a few of them(if more than one is needed) get togetherand do it.

There are a number of interesting sim-ilarities among the elven deities and theirreligions. All the religions practice toler-ance for other religious followings withinthe Seldarine, and for a few religions of aclosely allied nature (the cult of Skerritthe Forester being a prime example).Most of these religions also emphasizeelven unity with life and nature, and tendto blur the distinction between elves andtheir environment, Rillifane Rallathil,the Leaflord. is at once a "giant etherealoak tree" and a "green-skinned elf clad inbark armor." Deep Sashelas has sea-greenskin that mirrors his habitat; AerdrieFaenya is usually depicted as deep blue incolor, like the sky she rules. The weaponsand tools and armor used by these deitiesare often regarded as merely extensions of

VOL. in

the divinities, sometimes as true physicalparts of them. The themes of nature andmagical power also appear very fre-quently in tales of elven mythology andreligion.

Elven deities, when appearing in elvenform, are usually between 4' and 8' tall,with a few exceptions at either end of thescale. Many of these deities are also capa-ble of assuming much larger shape innon-elven, natural forms. Rillifane's formas an oak tree, Sashelas' shape as a giant,towering (vaguely humanoid) wave of seawater, Aerdrie's appearance as a whitecloud, and Corellon's rare incarnation asan azure moon or star are examples ofthis.

Evil elvenkind have nothing to do withthe gods of the Seldarine. They frequentlyfind the demon princes, arch-devils, andother gods of the lower planes more totheir liking. Evil elves tend most often tobe of chaotic nature, so the lords of the

Abyss gain the majority of their worship.Lolth, the demon queen of spiders andspiderkind, is an infamous example of alesser divinity who lakes much of herpower from the worship of evil elven-kind, particularly thedrow.

The smaller elf-like beings, like lepre-chauns, pixies, and so forth, have theirown deities (of demigod level) that tendto their needs. Depending on the generalalignment of their followers, thesedemigods may be found on several differ-ent planes, but all are generally alliedwith the Seldarine.

Half-elves are allowed to worship anygod in the Seldarine. They, as playercharacters, may also be allowed to becomeclerics or druids of these gods, as applica-ble. A fair number of half-elves honorHanali Celanil, the goddess of romanceand beauty, in honor of the love betweentheir parents that brought them into theworld, if such was the case.

The numerous other members of theSeldarine are gifted with varying degreesof control over the spheres of elvenkind,nature, magic, dancing and play, love,beauty, time, celestial phenomena, run-ning water, weapon skills, craftsmanship,secrecy, comedy and joy, chaos, andmischief, among others. Few if any repre-sent law, underground phenomena, vio-lence without cause, warfare, and non-mammalian or non-avian life forms. Oneor two are concerned with death anddying, but they are peaceful, good-aligned deities and not the dark and eviltypes that pervade human pantheons.Elven pantheons will vary widely fromplace to place, as different members of theSeldarine achieve local prominence orfade from memory.

Following are descriptions of five ofthe more powerful and widely accepteddeites of the Seldarine. Since there are somany different elven gods, it is very pos-sible that these specific deities might notbe found in any particular DM's universeand other deities, the existence of whichwas mentioned before, would be presentinstead.

13

AERDRIE FAENYAGoddess of Air and Weather

Lesser goddessARMOR CLASS; -5MOVE: 48" ((light only)HIT POINTS: 322NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 6-20SPECIAL ATTACKS: Negate flightSPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to

missile weaponsMAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%SIZE: M (6')ALIGNMENT: Chaotic good (tends

toward neutrality)WORSHIPPER'S ALIGN: See belowSYMBOL: Cloud with bird silhouettePLANE: Olympus and GladsheimCLERIC/DRUID: 14th level druidFIGHTER: 10th level fighterM-U/ILLUSIONIST: Special/NilTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: 10th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: 8 I: 24 W: 22 D: 24C: 19 CH: 23

Aerdrie appears to be a tall elf-likewoman with feathered hair and eyebrows;from her back spring a pair of large, bird-like wings. Her feathers are of constantlychanging color. The lower half of herbody from the hips down vanishes into a

misty whirlwind, so that she appears tonever touch the ground. Aerdrie wandersthe winds of the planes of Olympus andGladsheim, in the company of a largenumber of winged creatures of manytypes.

If aroused for battle, Aerdrie is able tocast two great blasts of wind per round,causing 5-20 points of damage eachagainst any opponent within 96" of her.She may also summon 2-12 air elementals{16 hit dice each) once per day, and mayalso summon 3-18 giant eagles or 1-2 rocstwice per day. These creatures will obeyher unto death.

This goddess is able to use all magic-user spells involving air, weather, flight,electricity, and gas at the 25th level ofability, as often as desired, one spell perround. She has the power to negate atwill the flying or levitating abilities ofany creature within 12" of her.

Any elves of non-lawful and non-evilalignment may worship Aerdrie, Elveswho desire certain weather conditionsmake the most frequent sacrifices to her,and her cult is also popular with elveswho possess flying mounts (griffons,hippogriffs, pegasi, and so forth).

It has been known to happen that anelven character who has somehow fallenfrom a great height, should he or she callout Aerdrie's name aloud, has a small(2%) chance of receiving a feather fallspell just prior to striking the ground.However, those who receive this graciousbenefit, coming directly from Aerdrie her-self, will be both quested and geased (nosaving throws allowed) within the next2-7 days to perform a service for the god-dess, fully commensurate with the charac-ter's general level of ability. Such tasksvary widely in nature, though all of themare said to be comparatively challengingand difficult. Elves receiving this benefitof a feather fall (and its consequences)need not be worshipers of Aerdrie, butshould be of the same alignment as herworshipers.

EREVAN ILESEREGod of Mischief and Change

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: -/MOVE: 18"HIT POINTS: 290NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-24 (+7)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better

weapon to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 8?%SIZE: S to M (see below)ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutralWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All chaotic*

and thieves (elves)SYMBOL: Nova star with

asymmetrical raysPLANE: OlympusCLERIC/DRUID: 8th level druidFIGHTER; 7th level rangerMAG 1C-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 18th

level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 20th level thiefMONK/BARD: 10th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY: ///S: 19 (+3, +7) 1:23 W: 16 D: 25C: 20 CH: 24

While his following is not as large asthose of the other elven deities, Erevanstill commands his share of attentionfrom the elves, particularly those engagedin thieving.

Erevan is a fickle, utterly unpredictable

14

deity who can change his appearance atwill. He enjoys causing trouble for itsown sake, but his pranks are rarely eitherhelpful or deadly. His favorite tactic is tochange his height to any size between oneinch and six feet. Regardless of how heappears at any given time, Erevan willalways wear green somewhere upon hisperson.

When he travels, Erevan carries a +4longsword that knocks open all barriers,doors, and locks with but a touch. Whenhe so desires, he may also summon up totwenty leprechauns, sprites, pixies, orother small, mischievous elf-like beings,each with maximum hit points, to helpout in a given situation.

Erevan Ilesere will rarely fight anotherbeing directly, preferring to escape andpossibly catch his opponent off guard at alater time. He can, however, cast thespells chaos and polymorph any objectonce per round at will. Prior to enteringcombat, it is very likely he will makeextensive use of these spells to his ownadvantage.

Followers of Erevan are usually quiteunpredictable themselves, and very inde-pendent. Many of them are thieves orhave thieving as one of their multipleclasses. There have been known to beelven cleric/thieves and fighter/cleric/thieves among his worshipers, a set ofclass combinations not normally possibleto elvenkind. These multi-classed charac-ters are always non-player characters.

BEST OF DRAGON

HANAL1 CELANILGoddess of Romantic Love and Beauty

Lesser goddessARMOR CLASS: -4MOVE; /2*HIT POINTS: 312NO. OF ATTACKS: NilDAMAGE/ATTACK: NilSPECIAL ATTACKS: Charm auraSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 95%SIZE: M (5fc';ALIGNMENT: Chaotic goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN; Good and

neutral alignments (elves) and thosemho enjoy beauty or are in love

SYMBOL; Heart o} goldPLANE: OlympusCLERIC/DRUID: 14th level cleric/

10th level druidFIGHTER: NilMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 16th

level M-U! 15th level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: 12th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: 15 I: 23 W: 23 D: 25C:20 CH: 25 (Special)

*Hanali Celanil is predominantly

depicted as feminine, though on rareoccasions it is said she has appeared as amale. Hanali influences the spheres oflove and beauty, and is widely revered bymany of the elves.

She owns an immense crystal fountainand pool with which she keeps watchover her followers, as if using a crystalball. When she bathes herself in thewaters of the pool (called the "Ever-gold"), her charisma score is enhanced [orone day; during that time she will receivea +75% reaction bonus and inspire awe incharacters of up to 14th level. Thesebonuses, however, are only effectiveagainst elves or half-elves.

The goddess Aphrodite (as described inthe DEITIES & DEMIGODS™ Cyclope-dia) is the only other being who sharesthe waters of Evergold with Hanali, andshe can gain the same bonuses mentionedabove against humans. Oriented as theyare toward different races, these two god-desses rarely find themselves at odds withone another. Their respective cults and

followings, while rarely assisting oneanother, don't object to each other'spresence.

Hanali has no physical attack mode assuch, though she does possess a magicalaura of 6" radius; any beings within thisaura must save vs. magic at -4 each roundor else be permanently charmed by herbeauty. This goddess may only beattacked by beings with a +2 or betterweapon and a negative charisma (-1 to-7: see the DEITIES & DEMIGODSbook). All others will be so distracted byher presence as to miss her with every hit.

Elven worshipers of Hanali Celanil

may, once during their lifetime, begranted an increase of two charismapoints vs. the opposite sex. Thus, afemale elf who receives this gift mighthave her normal charisma of (for exam-ple) 14 apply only to her dealings withother females; all males would see her ashaving a 16 charisma. This effect is per-manent. There is a 5% chance of thisbenefit being granted following a greatquest performed by that worshiper. Thisquest might involve the creation or pres-ervation of a beautiful object, or mightydeeds done in the name of a loved one forthe loved one's benefit.

LABELAS ENORETHGod of Longevity

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: -3MOVE: 12"HIT POINTS: 310NO. OF ATTACKS: IDAMAGE/ATTACK: See belowSPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 93%SIZE: M (ff)ALIGNMENT: Chaotic goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Chaotic good

(elves)SYMBOL: Setting sunPLANE: OlympusCLERIC/DRUID: 14th level cleric/

12th level druidFIGHTER: NilMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 18th

level M-U/16th level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN; NilMONK/BARD: 12th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: 12 1:25 W: 25 D: 19C: 18 CH:24

Like Corellon Larethian, Labdas Eno-reth variously appears as male or female(and sometimes both or neither). Regard-less of gender, Labelas always has silveryhair and misty gray eyes. This deity wearspale-colored robes of green, blue, white,and gray.

At the creation of the elven races, Labe-las blessed them with longevity, and pro-nounced that the passage of time would

VOL in

do little to alter their appearances, as itdid to the other races. Labelas knows thefuture and past of every elf and all elven-related creatures.

Labelas Enoreth is acknowledged to bethe master of time and aging by the elves.Once per round, should he fix his gazeupon any being within 12" of him, he canplace that being in temporal stasis (nosaving throw) for as long as desired. At atouch, Labelas can restore youth to, orprematurely age, any being by up to 100years in either direction (save vs. spell

applicable). This power is used only once{one form or the other) on a creature dur-ing its lifetime. All mortals within 18" ofLabelas who are his enemies will beslowed automatically, and all mortalbeings in the same radius but who areallied to the god will be hasted, if he sochooses; there is no saving throw againstthis power, though magic resistancecould help.

Labelas is immune to the effects of anyspell or power that involves time orwould inhibit his movement (time stop,

temporal stasis, slow, paralysis, hold, etc.)Elves who worship this being may

appeal to him to undo the effects of age,but this is rarely (1% chance) granted, andonly to those who have done an outstand-ing quest in his name. Such questsshould be worked out by the DM, andusually involve the recovery of artifactsand relics that have been lost forhundreds or thousands of years. Follow-ers of Labelas are usually historians orother types who collect information onthe past history of elvenkind.

SOLONOR THELANDIRAGod of Archery and Hunting

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: -2MOVE: 15"HIT POINTS: 308NO, OF ATTACKS: 4DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-16SPECIAL ATTACKS: Arrow of slayingSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE; 85%SIZE: M (7)ALIGNMENT: Chaotic goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: A It good and

neutral hunters and warriors (elves)SYMBOL: Silver arrow with

green ffetchingPLANE: OlympusCLERIC/DRUID: 12th level druidFIGHTER: 17th level rangerMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 10th

level magic-userTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 12th level thiefMONK/BARD: 8th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: 21 (+4, +9) I: 22 W: 21 D: 25C:21 CH:23 i

Clad in a great cloak of living leaves,Solonor strides through the forests in

search of game and to seek out and de-stroy evil. His only weapon is a +5 long-bow that has a range as far as the horizon.Solonor will not close to do battle withan enemy, but will track and pursueinstead, firing arrows from a never-emptyquiver. He cannot be surprised by anybeing within 48" of him, due to the keen-ness of his senses.

The favorite tactic of this deity, shouldhe anticipate battling a particularly dan-gerous foe, is to physically touch that

being and then retreat. Once by himselfagain, he can then manufacture a specialarrow of slaying designed especially tokill that one opponent, should it strikehome. This type of arrow can kill anyintended target of up to (but not includ-ing) demigod status. Many demons, dev-ils, and other monsters of the lowerplanes have felt the bite of these missiles;not even their magic resistance can pro-tect them from certain death, li takes oneday to make one of these arrows. Theyhave a +3 to hit.

When traveling through forests, Solo-nor becomes automatically invisible (asin improved invisibility, the 4th levelillusionist spell) and completely silent.He taught the first elves the art of hidingin and moving through natural foliage soas not to be detected,

Elven hunters and fighters frequentlyworship Solonor Thelandira, and appealto him for better catches of game. Wor-shipers who distinguish themselves insome very extraordinary fashion have a2% chance of being given an arrow ofj&IMMgof the normal sort, designed toslay the type of creature that is the elf'sgreatest enemy at that particular time.This gift can be received only once in anelf's lifetime.

DeityAerdrieFaenya

ErevanIlesere

HanaliCelanil

LabelasEnoreth

SolonorThelandira

Sphere ofcontrolair, weather, birds

mischief, change,thievesromance, beauty

longevity, lime

archery, hunting

CLERICAL QUICK REFERENCE CHARTRaiment

Head Body Color(s)one feather sky-blue sky blue

robesleather cap leather black

armorbare gold robes gold

bare gray robes light gray

green hood elfin chain leaf greenand silver

Holydays Animalspring and birdsfall equinoxeseclipses n/a

full moon n/a

sunset n/a

full moon stag

Sacrifice/PropitiationFrequency Formsemi-annual beautiful

feathersvaries stolen

monthly

daily

monthly

treasuresbeautifulobjectsprayers andknowledgehuntingtrophies

Clerics of any of these deities (and of any of the other elven gods as well) may be either male or female. Places of worshipvary, with Aerdrie's services being conducted on open hilltops, Hanali's by a fountainside or spring, Labelas's in a smallgrove, and Solonor's in the deep forest. The only restriction on where Erevan can be worshipped is that one should neverworship him in the same place twice.

16 BEST OF DRAGON

The HALFLINGby Roger Moore

The smallest and physically weakest ofall the demi-human races are the half-lings, so named because they are almostexactly one-half the size of humans, Malehalflings average 3' in height and femalesslightly less; they all weigh about 50-60Ibs., and they look much tike smallhumans. In fact, evidence suggests thathalflings are more closely related tohumans than to any other demi-humanrace.

Most humans tend to see halflings aschild-like, basically happy, naive, andhungry most of the time. Some of theseobservations may be correct, but thewhole impression is still rather superfi-cial. How do halflings see themselves andthe rest of the world? How do they see us?

One of the key words in halflingsociety is security. The world, from theirviewpoint, is both helpful and hostile,and it's the hostile pan that concernsthem. The average halfling has a strengthrating of about 8, weaker even than anaverage kobold. Direct hand-to-handcombat with an opponent o[ almost anysort can easily be a losing propositionbecause of this physical weakness, alongwith the halfling's height disadvantage(against most creatures) and the limitedfighting ability halflings can achieve(most never exceed the 4th level).

These facts profoundly affect halflings'lifestyles and the structure of their com-munity. Halfling fighters, despite theirdisadvantages, are still quite common inany such community. They function inan almost entirely defensive role, gener-ally unwilling to travel with large armiesoff to war except in the most urgent cir-cumstances. Halfting fighters also serveas the local police or sheriffs department,keeping the peace among their fellowsand among the non-hatfling travelerswho pass through town.

Halfling fighters are known to goadventuring, but they rarely go very farand are prone to retire quickly soon afterthey reach their highest possible level ofability. Then they may become involvedin the local militia or government, devot-ing the rest of their lives to communityservice (for which they are greatlyappreciated).

Halfling clergy, either druids or nor-mal clerics, almost never go adventuringunless it is a matter of great importanceto the halfling people. Their primary

VOL. Ill

point of viewfunction is to help maintain the securityof the halfling community to the best oftheir abilities, and their most commonprayers are for the continued support oftheir deities in keeping their homes safeand their lives untroubled.

The normal (0-level) members of thehalfling community generally believe inan orderly, cooperative system of workingtogether to ensure the continued stabilityof their society. Individuals who breakthe rules are scolded and punished for"rocking the boat," and it is impressedupon them that their activities are endan-gering not only themselves but theirneighbors as well. "Safety in numbers" isthe moral of many of the children's sto-ries halfling youngsters hear. This out-look tends to discourage notions of goingadventuring in all but the most coura-geous — or foolhardy.

It is an interesting contradiction oftheir society that, while halfling adven-turers and heroes who leave the commun-ity for long periods of time are muchrevered, they are also seen as being out-side the bounds of "normal" halflingbehavior. No parent tells a child to growup and be like Uncle Boffo, who killed aworg singlehandedly and saved hisfriends from death by backstabbing aghoul. "Uncle Boffo is not like us regularhalflings," mother would say instead."We're awful glad he's around, but still itwas foolish of him to go adventuring likethat when he knows he could get hurt orlost. We're safer slaying here at home."

The negative consequences of this

Dragon

From issue #59, March 1982

insistence upon security are readilyapparent. The average halfling is reluc-tant to take action in unexpected situa-tions without looking for a consensusamong other halflings of what would bethe best thing to do. Thus, halflings tendto appear shy, fearful, and overcautiouswhen on their own for the first time.Their society appears stagnated in theeyes of other races, and they tend to closethemselves off from the rest of the world.

Halfling life, while it seems to suitthem well, ran be described at worst asclannish and on the boring side. Yet thereis a great strength in this lifestyle, too.Once they are motivated by a leader-typetoward some course of community action,halflings en masse can be powerfullyeffective in dealing with invaders, disas-ters, or other such problems. Oppressorscan be overthrown almost before they areeven aware there is a rebellion afoot, dueto the halflings' speed and the intensecooperation halflings demonstrate in agroup of their fellows. On more than oneoccasion, brigands who had previouslyraided a halfling community have beenwiped out on their second raid, becausethey overestimated their abilities againstsuch apparently weak folk.

How is this possible? This ability islargely due to the halflings' sense oforganization and willingness to worktogether. At least as much of a factor isthat halflings, more than any other raceexcept elves, are natural-born guerrillafighters. This is not to say they practicewarfare a great deal — they don't. Buthalflings can conceal themselves in natu-ral terrain so well as to become effectivelyinvisible. Their feet (usually noticeableonly because they are hairy) are thick-soled and well adapted for silentmovement.

Most helpful of all in many ways ishalflings' skill with missile weapons.Short people of any race, unless they arevery strong, are at a disadvantage inhand-to-hand combat. The best they canhope for is to kill an opponent before theenemy gets within striking distance;bows, arrows, and slings fill the bill.Halflings practice long and hard withshort bows and slings for this very reason,as well as using them for hunting andsport. Halflings have exceptional naturaldexterity as well, AH this combines tomake them +3 to hit when using any

17

short bow or sling — an amazing degreeof accuracy, especially for a halfling whoaKo has exceptionally high dexterity.

Imagine, then, the effectiveness of agroup of thirty halflings, wearing onlyleather armor and equipped with shortbows, hiding in a woods by a roadside,awaiting the passage of a robber gangwho cannot see or hear them. Bows arevery quiet, and pinpointing the locationof a bow-sniper in a forest is hard enoughwithout having to locate a sniper whocan effectively disappear in the sameenvironment. And halflings do not shootto wound their targets. They have troubletaking prisoners, for the same reasonswhy they aren't particularly good at closecombat.

One of the things a small person cando to protect himself is to ally himselfwith a bigger person, even if that biggerperson isn't the most likable sort of guy,Halflings seem to make such alliances ona larger scale than other races. It is veryunusual to find a halfling communitylocated more than a couple hours' ride atmost from either a dwarven, elven, orhuman town.

Depending on the makeup of the near-est town(s), the population of a halflingcommunity will include varieties of half-lings that resemble their non-halflingneighbors. Hairfeet live near men, haveno infravision, and reside in small cot-tages, Tallfellows live in forests (some inhollow trees) and have infravision likeelves, as well as being more lithe andelven in appearance. Stouts are shorterthan hairfeet, live in caves and tunnelcomplexes, and have infravision. Theycan delect slopes and other undergroundfeatures in a fashion similar to dwarves.

Some of these similarities are probablydue to imitation and the effects of theenvironment. However, there is alwaysthe possibility of an occasional cross-marriage and subsequent mixing of the

18

gene pool. Cross-racial marriages arequite rare in halfling society, but havebeen known to occur. Very little is said orheard about them, though.

Most halfling towns are set in temper-ate hills and plains. The dwellings them-selves tend to vary as described above, butare usually a curious mixture of above-ground cottages and hillside burrows andtunnels. Individual homes are outfittedfor comfort and a restful atmosphere;greens and yellows are much used in inte-rior color. Large spaces are set aside foroutdoor gatherings like parties, commun-ity meetings, and sports events. Gardensare common, and halflings are prone tooutfit their homes with odd bits of natu-ral decoration: rocks, plants, bark.

Everything about halfling society con-tributes to the feeling of closeness andsafety. Even maps of halfling manufac-ture rarely describe areas external to thecommunity, other than noting (on themargin, in small print) that to the north-east is "where all the humans live," orthat "the mountains are said to be in thisdirection," and so on. Halfling commun-ities located near dangerous areas areoften honeycombed with subsurface tun-nels and ambush points, should invasionoccur, and the lands around are heavilyscouted by missile-armed patrols; ambushpoints are likely to be maintained as well.

Despite their misgivings about the"bigger folks," halflings are generallyopen and conversational with others.They have good relations with otherraces, though the bigger people are seenwith some suspicion. Halflings in generaldo not bear hatred for any race and areprone to accept even the normally unac-ceptable sorts like half-ores into theircommunity (though everyone will bewatching, of course). Halflings are usu-ally trusting and honest, though they alsoenjoy pranks and may become evasive ifuneasy with their company.

With all the things working to discour-age halflings from ever becoming adven-turers, one wonders why some do anyway.Every society, no matter how closely knit,will have some rebels, those who don't fitsmoothly into the usual Scheme ofThings. Many halfling adventurers (par-ticularly thieves and fighter/thieves) arefrom this sort of background. They growtired of the unchanging nature of theirlife at home and set off seeking a li t t leexcitement.

Nearly all halfling adventurers start outwith naive attitudes and high expecta-tions of how things are going to turn out;subsequently, some fall prey to the multi-tude of subtler dangers one meets in theadventuring life. Yet even then, thesehalflings see their troubles as a fair priceto pay. Going adventuring is a sort ofprotest against comfort, a reaction to hav-ing things come too easily. Certainlythese adventurers aren't rejecting alt com-forts (some have been known to bringtheir pillows with them in case they wereunable to find a bed).

Adventuring is a dare to halflings, acalculated risk. It makes the adventurermore acutely aware of his or her own lim-itations and capabilities, and, in thewords of one halfling, "It makes you feelmore alive." Halfling adventurers of anyclass almost never travel alone, and prefergoing in a large group with a lot of non-halflings in it. (Any being who is not ahalfling is automatically seen as capableand experienced in adventuring.)

Because of their natural abilities tomove silently and hide, most halflingsdesire to take up a profession that makesthe best use of these talents. Being a fight-er has the drawback of putting the half-ling in frequent close-combat situations(the disadvantages of which have beennoted before). But being a thief, or acombination fighter and thief, is anothermatter entirely.

Now, it should be noted that halflingsas a whole are law-abiding and honest.They don't make a living picking oneanother's pockets, or filching gems fromtreasure rooms. Thieves, however, aren'tsupposed to gel into direct combat. Theyare supposed to move silently, hide a lot,and make moves unseen by their oppo-nenis. Thieves learn to open locks (fuel-ing a halfling's normally irrepressiblecuriosity about what is going on behindlocked doors). As for stealing, well, thatcan be rationalized as borrowing, or tak-ing things that someone has too many ofand won't miss anyway, and besides, itwould be nice to have that ring.. . .

Though they aren't the best at climb-ing because of their size, and they havedifficulty with other written languages,halflings make excellent thieves. Theyalmost never admit to being of that pro-fession, though. Halfling thieves describethemselves most often as simply "adven-turers" or "scouts." One diminutive miss,a master of the thieving art, says, "I'm a

BEST OF DRAGON

fighter, 1 jusi happen to do my best fight-ing from behind."

Halflings who adventure for a longtime often undergo a subtle change in theway they view their home community.They become mildly acute critics of thestifling aspects of halfling society, awareof the stagnant atmosphere, the concernwith safety, the closed-mindedness thatpermeates halflings' lives,

Yet they, the adventurers, are alsoamong the most vigorous defenders oftheir home towns. After a long period ofhazardous journeying, after seeing theinnumerable horrors lurking in the out-side world, the quiet and security of ahalfling community is a wonderful reliefindeed. "There have been limes." saidone returned adventurer, "when I wisheda demon or two would come throughtown and make things interesting. 1 wasso bored. But then, if I really want to seedemons, I can go to a dungeon. It's belterthat things slay quiet here at home even ifit is a little dull."

Halfling religion mirrors the race'spreoccupation with security. Yondalla,the most powerful and most widely wor-shipped halfling deity, is usually knownas the "Protector" who serves as a guard-ian against evil forces. She is able to hideher worshipers behind illusions, usuallydoing so by making them invisible ordisguising them as natural foliage. Yon-dalla's symbol is appropriate, too: theshield, representing defensive power andsecurity. Her holy day is called "Safeday."Yondalla is also the "Provider," an aspectperhaps related to the halfling love forcomfort.

Yondalla uses a variety of magicalweapons in the defense of her people, butnone of them are particularly importantin the ceremonies for her worship, oreven in the tales in which they appear. Itwas Yondalla, by the way, who giftedhalflings with their resistance to magicand poison, to protect them even furiherfrom ihe ravages of the world.

The smallest of all the demi-humans,

then, is a race that ai first glance shouldhave been quickly overwhelmed by thegreat cruel world long ago. It wasn'toverwhelmed, though, and halflings con-tinue to thrive while fosiering close coop-eraiion wiih ihe other demi-human andhuman races.

Although halflings maintain a low-keyexistence, individuals arise with surpris-ing regularity to considerable heights offame (or infamy) as thieves; as such, theywill continue to remind the rest of theworld ihat the halflings are still here —with each purse stolen, each treasurechesi broken into, and each pocketpicked.

Maierial for this article was garneredfrom the various AD&D™ lomes. librams,and manuals, as well as from Paul H.Kocher's excellent Master of Middle Earth(paperback. Ballantine Books). Mythanks, too, lo Cassandra Proudfoot, whopointed out some of ihe finer poinis ofthe thieving life. By the way, Cassandra,wherever you are, I want my wallet back.

The gods of the halflingsSheela, Arvoreen, Cyrrollalee, Brandobaris

The halfling pantheon is a small one,having one greater deity (Yondalla) andseveral lesser deities and demigods. Mosicommunities of halflings worship only afew of them, four or five at most, and aswith all religions residents of differentareas may worship entirely differentgroups of deities.

Yondalla is the top authority amongthe ha t f l ing gods, though it is said hercontrol over Brandobaris is minimal attimes. Regardless of their orientation andspheres of influence, all ihe halfling dei-lies work together against the enemies ofthe halfling people.

Most members of the halfl ing pantheonreside on one of the planes of the SevenHeavens, in an area generally known asthe Green Fields. Sheela Peryroyl and oneor two other deities make their homes on

the plane of Concordant Opposition, andBrandobaris roams the Prime MaierialPlane, but ihere are times when they toomay be found in the Green Fields — justas the various Greek gods, regardless ofwhere they may ordinarily reside, come toOlympus to meet.

It is interesting thai the more powerfulhalfling deiiies tend lo be females. Bycontrast, dwarven gods tend to be males,and clven gods a combination of bothgenders. Halfling deities are not aggres-sive by and large, and are more taken upwiih home pursuits and protection thanwi th fighting. Even the adventurousBrandobaris avoids combat if he can helpit. Most halfling deities are concernedwith spheres of securhy, sufficiency, theearth, youth, play and humor, good luck,law, peace, secrecy, love, and friendship;

VOL. in

one deity may actually control two ormore of these concerns, as is common inihis pantheon. The halflings have no dei-iies of evil naiure, or ones represemingwar, suffering, fire and water, or death.Yondalla is usually invoked at funerals asa protector of the departed souls of half-lings. There is a neutral-aligned mascu-line lesser deily, Urogalan, who some-times acts as a judge of and protector ofihe dead, but he is primarily an earthgod. Urogalan lives on the plane of Con-cordant Opposition,

The four deities listed in this article areamong the most commonly worshippedones. Some halfling druids might wor-ship deities from other pantheons (e.g.,Sylvanus, Ki, Dagda, Lugh), but this isnoi common. Other deiiies may be devel-oped as desired by individual DungeonMasters, of course.

Despite the small physical size of thehalfling deities, their innate powers arequite respectable, and many of them workclosely with deities from oiher paniheonsas well, just as mortal halflings tend towork closely with other humans anddemi-humans. Brandobaris is said to visitother thieves' deities, particularlyHermes; Sheela Peryroyl is on good termswith a number of Celtic divinities; Yon-dalla and the other lawful good deitieshelp and arc helped by olher lawful gooddeities, and so forih. Thus it may besafely asserted that the halfling pantheonshould not, despite its size, be lookeddown upon.

19

SHEELA PERYROYL"The Wise"

Lesser goddessARMOR CLASS: 3MOVE; 9" (24")HIT POINTS: 306NO. OF ATTACKS: /DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-16 (+6)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Unlimited use

of entangle spellSPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to all

•weapons with wood in them;+2 or better weapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%SIZE: S (4' tall)ALIGNMENT: NeutralWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All alignments

(halflings)SYMBOL: DaisyPLANE: Concordant OppositionCLERIC/DRUID: Hth level druidFIGHTER: 7th level rangerMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 14th

level magic-userTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: 10th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS: 18<00) (+3, +6) I: 22 W: 25D: 22 C: 24 CH: 22

Sheela Peryroyl, known as Sheela theWise, is the halfling deity of agriculture,nature, and weather. Her appearance isthat of a halfl ing female dressed in wild-flowers. It is said that when she sings shecauses fields to grow, trees to bud, andseeds to sprout. Sheela brings goodweather to her favored worshipers, butcan easily send drought or floods to thosewho treat her worship poorly.

The followers of Sheela Peryroyl oftenwear a small flower in her honor, andstrive to work in harmony with natureand the earth. Two major celebrations areheld yearly in this deity's religion, asidefrom the regular monthly services. Onecomes at the time of planting the first

' i/

crops of the year (called The Seeding,New Spring, and other titles, dependingon the region), and the other at harvest-ing time (High Harvest, The Reaping,

ARVOREEN"The Defender"

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: /MOVE: ITHIT POINTS: 298NO. OF ATTACKS: 3/2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-20 (+8)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Summon haifling

heroes; invisibilitySPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better

weapon to hit; see belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 65%SIZE: M (W tall)ALIGNMENT: Lawful goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All good and

neutral warriors (halflings)SYMBOL: Short sword and shieldPLANE: Seven HeavensCLERIC/DRUID: 8th level clericFIGHTER: 12th level ranger

20

MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: NilTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 10th level thiefMONK/BARD: 8th level monkPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS;20(+3, +8} 1:21 W: 23D:24 G23 CH: 21

The closest thing the half! ings have toa god of war is Arvoreen the Defender, thepatron of halfling fighters. Arvoreennever attacks an opponent first, but thefirst attack upon the deity (if it hits) willonly do half damage, regardless of itspower. The first magical attack upon himwill be automatically reflected back uponthe caster; thereafter, spells may be cast athim normally.

For his part, Arvoreen can go invisibleat will and attack unseen for the first 4-16rounds of combat against any mortal,non-divine being. He uses a +4 sword thatcan shapechange into any other type of

etc.) Community-wide revelry is commonat these celebrations, starting in the even-ing when the day's work has been fin-ished and continuing late into the night.The length of these festivals varies fromarea to area, averaging about 10 days.

There is a l%chance that a halflingwho makes a great quest or sacrifice inthe name of Sheela Peryroyl will begranted the power to cast an entanglespell once (at the 6th level of ability) at anenemy. The granting of this power doesnot depend on the halfling's alignment orclass, except that true neutral halflingswill be able to cast the entangle spell at12th level of ability. This power may begranted several times to a halfling in themortal's lifetime, but the quests or sacri-fices made to gain it will become harderand more costly as time goes on. Onlyone such entangle spell may be had atany one time.

Sheela Peryroyl, should she need to,can create a special type of staff (like ashillelagh) in one segment from a bladeof grass or a twig. This weapon will be +4to hit and do 2-16 (plus strength bonus)points of damage. She can also cast thespell entangle once per round as often asshe likes. The effects of this spell arecumulative if cast several times over thesame area; for example, should she castentangle twice at a troll and should it failits saving throw twice against the spell,the troll would be slowed to one-fourthnormal speed. Additionally, each succes-sive entangle cast after the first one willinflict 1-4 points of damage on all crea-tures trapped therein from constrictionand abrasion. (There is no saving throwfor this, and it makes no difference if vic-tims are able to move or not,) The use ofentangle spells is her favored method ofattack and defense.

The clerics of this deity are all druids,and are able to attain the 6th level.

'•hand-to-hand weapon for combat that hedesires. Once a day, Arvoreen may sum-mon 10-40 halfling fighters {4th levelHeroes), each armed with short swordsand short bows; they are AC 4 and have25 hit points each. They will obey himimplicitly.

Arvoreen, though quite powerful, isnot a particularly aggressive deity. Hewill only engage in combat if he isattacked, though he does seek out his

enemies and actively confront them to getthem to desist from their evil practices.He will not go very far out of his way toavoid combat if it occurs, however, andwill fight to the finish.

Fighters and fighter/thieves comprisethe majority of his worshipers; the fight-er/thieves are sometimes of neutral goodalignment, and all of them will prefer touse their fighting skills over their thiev-ing ones. While Arvoreen does not hold

thieving to be necessarily dishonorable,he discourages the use of thieving skillsunless employed against enemies to betterthe chances for physical combat later. (Itwould be okay, for example, to steal yourenemies' weapons, or break into theircamp to free prisoners or make guerrillaraids, but it is a bad idea to steal just tomake yourself rich.) Arvoreen absolutelyprohibits stealing from other halflings orallied beings.

CYRROLLALEE"The Faithful"

Lesser goddessARMOR CLASS; 3MOVE: 12"HIT POINTS: 260NO. OF ATTACKS: 3/2DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better

weapon to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%SIZE: S (4" tall)ALIGNMENT: Lawful goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All good

alignments (halflings)SYMBOL: Open doorPLANE: Seven HeavensCLERIC/DRUID: 10th level clericFIGHTER: 10th level paladinMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 8th level

in eachTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

S: 17C+1.-H) 1:23 W: 24D:24 C:23 CH:22

Cyrrollalee is the deity of friendshipand trust, as well as a protector like Yon-dalla. Cyrrollalee is thought of more as agoddess who protects the home but keepsthe inhabitants from becoming too defen-sive and closed in. This deity appears tobe a normal female halfling with brownhair who wears simple peasant's clothing.Her worst enemies are those who betraythe trust of a host, or who break intohomes (of halflings) to steal. She is alsothe enemy of oath-breakers.

If she so wills, Cyrrollalee can cause allnon-living objects within a radius of 6" ofher to become animated as if by a 20th-level cleric (up to 20 cubic feet of mate-rial, for 20 rounds). These spell effectswill continue even if Cyrrollalee leavesthe area. She can perform this power upto three times a day.

There is a 2% chance that if an excep-tionally faithful follower of hers shouldcall upon her for help while the follower

is in his or her own home, Cyrrollaleewill cause one piece of furniture (notlarger than 5 cubic feet in volume) tobecome animated for 5 rounds, attackingall enemies of that lucky halfling onceper round during that time. Damage willvary according to the type of objectanimated.

Any halfling who receives this benefitfrom Cyrrollalee is obligated to perform aservice for her afterwards; the nature ofthe task (or quest) is left up to the Dun-geon Master, and should be challengingbut not exceptionally difficult. This giftmay be given to a halfling only twice inhis or her lifetime.

Cyrrollalee's followers are largely regu-lar halflings (zero-level characters) andsome fighter types. Worship services forher are held on the first day of eachmonth.

No particular weapons are associatedwith Cyrrollalee, though she has beensaid to be able to make use of any weap-on, magical or non-magical, that a regu-lar fighter could use.

BRANDOBARIS"Master of Stealth"

DemigodARMOR CLASS; 0MOVE: 12"HIT POINTS: 185NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-12 (+7)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See below

VOL. Ill

MAGIC RESISTANCE; 60%SIZE: S (3£f tall)ALIGNMENT: NeutralWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All thieves

and those who go adventuringSYMBOL: Half ling's footprintPLANE: Prime MaterialCLERIC/DRUID: 6th level dntidFIGHTER: 7th level rangerMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 6th level

in each

THIEF/ASSASSIN: 19th level thiefMONK/BARD: 6th level monkS; 19 (+3,+7) 1:24 W: 17D: 25 C: 23 CH: 20

The adventures and misadventures ofBrandobaris, Master of Stealth, are almostbeyond counting. Most of these tales havethe moral that it is better not to go run-ning off into the wilderness on foolishdares; nonetheless, Brandobaris does

21

come across as an appealing sort of ras-cal. He has much of the trickster in him;he is primarily a clever thief who foolshis opponents into chinking him harm-less, then steals them blind and escapestheir wrath. No matter how awful a situa-tion he finds himself in (and he's foundsome pretty awful ones), Brandobarismanages to find his way out again — andmake a profit from the episode as well.

Brandobaris is so skilled at movingsilently that he cannot be heard by anymortal being or god, should he desire toconceal his movements. He can also hideso well as to be completely invisible(detectable only with a true seeing spellor some magic item of similar power).

Brandobaris goes on adventures to findsome item he believes will make life morecomfortable for him, though this does notalways prove to work out as he'dplanned.

Brandobaris carries a +3 long daggerwhich he usually wields in combat (if hecannot avoid it). This dagger will magi-cally point out the fastest and safest direc-tion of escape from any maze or trap(making Brandobaris immune to mazespells when holding it). He also uses a +4sling that hurls a bait of dust whenever itis used; the dust ball has a maximumrange of 48" {24" short range, 36" mediumrange) and does not harm the victim itstrikes. The victim will feel nothing, but

must save vs. spell at -6 or fall deeplyasleep for 6-36 turns.

The followers of Brandobaris, as mightbe expected, are mostly thieves and f ighi-er/thieves. The more ardent followers areusually also the ones who take the great-est risks on adventures.

An especially daring risk (one whichplaces the halfling in considerable jeo-pardy) that pays off is looked upon favor-ably by Brandobaris. He might rewardthe perpetrator of such a daring act —though he will do so only once in thathalfling's lifetime, so as not to encouragethe mortal to be too foolhardy. There is a5% chance that Brandobaris' reward willbe given to any halfling of 10th level orlower, raising the follower one level inability. Halfling thieves of 11th level orhigher cannot receive this particularreward, but might benefit in some otherfashion from incurring the good favor ofBrandobaris.

Because Brandobaris wanders thePrime Material Plane, there is a 1%chance per level that a halfling thief of11th level or higher will actually meetBrandobaris, in the guise of another half-ling thief, and be invited by the demigodto go on a thieving adventure. Otherthieves may come along on the adventure,but if they do not worship Brandobaristhey might find some of their valuablesmissing when the adventure is over.Brandobaris will reveal his identity onlyafter the adventure is over, and only to hisfollowers. The adventures Brandobarisgoes on, as stated before, can be excep-tionally challenging and dangerous, buthold the promise of great reward for thefast, the clever, and the quiet!

DeitySheela PeryroylArvowen

Cyrrollalee

Brandobaris

Sphere ofcontrolagriculture, weatherdefense, warriors

trust, protection

thieves

CLERICAL QUICK REFERENCE CHARTRaiment

Animalbutterflywar dog

squirrel

mouse

Headbarehelmet

bare

featheredcap

Bodygreen robeschain mail

brown robes

leatherarmor

Colorsgreensilver

brown

gray

Holydaysfull moonbeforebattlefirst dayof monthnewmoon

Sacrifice/propitiation Place ofFrequencymonthlyvaries

monthly

monthly

Formseedssilveredweaponsprayers

stolenitems

worshipopen fieldanywhere

home

anywhere

Halfling clerics and druids may be either male or female. They are frequently the leaders of their communities and havea lot of say-so on the town's planned activities. Many also serve as judges and arbiters in various disputes, and strive toobtain justice and good (if lawful good) or fairness and impartiality (if neutral).

22 BEST OF DRAGON

The GNOMISHby Roger Moore

Gnomes are small demi-humans closelyrelated to dwarves. They average about3'6" in height and 80 Ibs. in weight.Their skin tones range from brown todark tan to grayish brown, and they havegray or white hair. Gnomish males arebearded, but females are not. Despite theirsmall size, gnomes have an averagestrength equal to most humans. Thoughmost people tend to think of gnomes asjust smaller dwarves, they have differentcapabilities and a much different outlookon life, and are certainly worthy of con-sideration as a race unto themselves.

Gnomes are perhaps the rarest of alldemi-humans, though halflings in someareas are tied with them for the distinc-tion. Only 5% or less of any adventuringtypes of human or demi-human originare gnomes. They prefer living in tem-perate climates in rough and hilly terrain.

Gnomish communities are composedof elaborate underground tunnel com-plexes much like those dwarves inhabit,and all such communities maintain anetwork of mines for metals and gem-stones. However, gnomish complexes donot go as deep into the earth as dwarventunnel systems do, and they tend to bespread out over a wider area. Thoughgnomes enjoy their mines and their closeassociation with the earth, they alsoappreciate the world above ground, andlove the beauty of the wilderness and ofliving creatures.

Gnomes seem to have struck a happymedium between the attitudes of dwarvesand elves in this respect. Dwarves seekmastery over their environment, treatingit as a thing to be shaped and governed;elves seek union with their sylvan envi-ronments, making themselves at one withnature. Gnomes, splitting the difference,look upon their environment and thecreatures within it as separate but equalto them, as friends and helpers. For thisreason they have learned to speak with allother burrowing mammals and oftenhave working relationships with localgroups of badgers, groundhogs, and soforth for food-gathering and mutualdefense. Gnomes sometimes have suchcreatures as companions; they treat theiranimal friends as partners and not likepets. Certainly it does not hurt such rela-tionships that gnomes are small enoughto see "eye to eye" with these smallmammals.

VOL. HI

point of viewCommunities of gnomes are closely

knit, and tend to engage in much friendlycompetition with other such communi-ties. Their principal trades are jewelcraft,mining, metalworking (including armorand weapons manufacturing), a minoramount of farming (a skill almostunheard of among dwarves), hunting,and involvement with the local militaryas scouts and community militia. Tradewith other gnomish communities anddemi-human villages and towns is brisk,though few gnomes leave their homes tobecome traveling merchants. In general,humans trade with gnomes less fre-quently than do elves, halflings, ordwarves, due to some mutual distrust andavoidance, but some human communitiesare quite friendly with gnomish folk,sending them clothing, foodstuffs andspices in exchange for ores, gems andjewels, and worked metal products (weap-ons, tools, armor).

Humor is very important to the gnom-ish personality. Gnomes go for practicaljokes, especially the sorts that are directedagainst larger creatures and enemies.When directed against other gnomes,these jokes lend to be friendly, with noharm intended. But against humans andother large races (including humanoids),gnomes' humor is more of a weapon, andtakes on a darker aspect. A good practicaljoke played on an enemy (like substitut-ing a necklace of strangulation for anecklace of missiles in a half-ore's pocket)will win an immense amount of status forthe responsible gnome.

From issue #61, May 1982

Those whom gnomes do not trust aredealt with carefully; they may find them-selves perplexed, led around in circles,and kept unsure of just what is going on.The gnomish brand of humor is demoral-izing to enemies of the gnomes, who mayfind themselves constantly subject tobooby-traps of every conceivable sort.Humans have found it helpful to developa manner of humility and respect whenpassing through a community of thesesmall folk. Those who are earnestlyfriendly and supportive of gnomes maysoon find them to be close friends. Gnom-ish mercenaries will assist non-gnomesfighting directly for gnomish causes; theirservice may also be given in other, non-critical (to a gnome) situations, but theywon't lake things quite as seriously insuch instances, and they won't necessarilystop their praciical jokes (though thejokes will become more friendly andharmless).

The lawful good orientation of mosignomes comes from their sense of com-munity spirit and cooperation with oneanother and other allied beings. This ismuted to some extent by a more neutral,nature-loving concern thai includes a tol-erance for other alignmems and a desireto maintain the balance of nature.Though gnomes may not like chaotic evilbeings, there is still the feeling amongmost gnomes that such creatures arenecessary in some way to mainiain a bal-ance with other alignments. Neutrallyaligned gnomes are not often prone lo beclosely involved with oiher races, wiih thepossible exception of sylvan elves andrare communities of tall fellow halflingsof neutral alignment.

Perhaps because of their close associa-tion wiih ihe earth, gnomes are loughwhen ii comes to constitution and relatedmatters. They are resistant to many poi-sons and magic spells; as with halflingsand dwarves, certain magic items (i.e.,rings) may malfunction when used bygnomes, because of this resistance.Gnomes are also able to consume largequantities of intoxicating beverages andnot be as affected as a human might be;gnomes drink as much as dwarves do, butwhereas a drunken dwarf becomes (gener-ally speaking) more obnoxious and gruff,with a tendency to fight everything thatmoves, an inebriated gnome becomeseuphoric, laughs at virtually everything,

23

and joyfully insults anyone or anythinglarger than himself or herself.

Gnomes are rarely on good terms withany evil humanoid race, but their mosthated enemies are the kobolds. Both racescompete for the same sort of living spaceand materials, and their deities have longwarred with one another, Garl Glitter-gold (the major gnomish god) oncecaused Kurtulmak's most elaborate andrichly decorated throne room to develop astructural defect in the ceiling, making itcollapse at an untimely moment whenthe kobold god was entertaining one ofthe major arch-devils. The latter believedthe ceiling collapse was an assassinationattempt, and in vengeance hung Kurtul-mak by his tail over an active volcano forsix weeks. The kobold god has sincedevoted all his energies to the destructionof all gnomes, but his efforts seem to haveonly made the gnomes tougher on thewhole. All in all, it was a grand jokeindeed.

Goblins also hate gnomes, though notwith the single-minded fury that koboldshave for them. Gnomes, in turn, halethese races to the point where they willattack diem in preference to any otherrace of enemies, and gain a bonus 10 hitthem as well. Because gnomes are smallenough to dodge between the legs oflarger opponents and evade blows,humanoid beings of gnoll size or largerhave a very tough time scoring any hitson them.

The physical senses of gnomes are verywell developed. Their eyesight is goodand includes infravision out to 60' or so.Gnomes have the most sensitive hearingof any demi-human race, and their com-munities are unusually quiet compared tothose of other races as a result. Somegnomes prefer walking some distanceahead or behind groups of noisier (usu-ally meaning human) races. Gnomes alsohave a more highly developed sense oftaste and smell than other races, and havelarger noses that some people find quiteamusing.

Gnomes go adventuring for variousreasons; many such adventurers aremulti-classed. Gnomes are able to learnthe skills of the fighter, thief, illusionist,and assassin, and are better able to mixclasses than either dwarves or halflings.

Gnomish thieves and illusionists, forobvious reasons, are especially able to usetheir talents to pull jokes on other beings.The feeling that gnomes have been slight-ed by many other races without cause (aclaim not without substantial evidence)makes the fighting and thieving livesmost attractive, as a way of evening upthe imbalance. Assassins are motivated bya similar "get 'em back" philosophy, andenjoy taking vengeance on their enemieswith macabre humor. Gnome illusionists

are rare, but highly respected in theirhome communities for their powers;learning illusionist powers lakes a greatdeal of time and practice compared tolearning fighting or thieving skills.Gnomish adventurers of any sort oftenthink of themselves favorably as "giantkillers" ("giant" here meaning anythinglarger than 5 feet tall).

Aside from elves, gnomes are thelongest-lived race among humans anddemi-humans, reaching a maximum ageof over 750 years. As with the elven Eolk,this has to some extent changed thegnomes' concept of time. Gnomes are notusually prone to hurry with tasks, and aregood at making up a variety of amuse-ments with which to occupy their time.Joke-play ing and other humor is veryuseful in this respect. Gem and metalcrafts take up much of a gnome's time inlater life when adventuring begins topale, and community service is a popularoption. Mining, of course, can be done atany age, and frequently is.

As a race, gnomes are quite adaptable.Though they do not particularly like thesea or other large bodies of water, they aremore willing than dwarves to live in suchareas. Undersea communities of gnomes,with tunnels leading from great air-filledcaverns beneath the waves to rockierground on the shore, have been reported.These complexes would be extremelyrare, since most gnomes do not knowhow to swim. Other colonies of gnomeshave been reported in arctic areas, clus-tered near geothermal springs or placeswith mild volcanic activity.

Recently, a purely subterranean sub-species of gnomes was discovered; knownas svirfneblin, or "deep gnomes" (seeADfcD* Module D2, The Shrine of theKw-Toa, and the FIEND FOLIO®Tome), these beings are on close termswith many sorts of earth elementals, justas surface gnomes associate with burrow-ing mammals. They possess an innatemagic resistance and spells of illusion;their language is a modified form of thesurface gnome tongue. Gnomes seem tobe turning up in the most unexpectedplaces — perhaps their way of having alittle joke on all the other races.

The personality of gnomes is wellrepresented by their chief deity, Garl Glit-tergold, Garl is mischievous, courageous,witty, and strongly drawn to the adven-turing life. His great axe is actually hiscompanion; Arumdina is quite intelli-gent, and has the power to cut stone andheal Garl as desired. It is interesting tocompare Arumdina (as Carl's compan-ion) to Moradin's hammer (which is non-intelligent and his personal tool) and toCorellon Larethian's sword (which is anextension of the elven god, virtually apart of him). Gnomes have a number of

other gods, but Garl is the best represen-tative of gnomes as a whole. His ever-changing gemstone eyes seem to fit wellinto his unpredictable (though still law-fu l ) nature.

Like dwarves, gnomes have a distinctsexual imbalance in numbers (two malesfor every female), and this does have aneffect on their society. Gnomes, however,do not have the rigid sexual and maritalmores dwarves have. Expressions of loveand caring are shown more freely, andcourting is a popular pastime amonggnomes. Since most gnomes do not marryearly in life, this means very long court-ships. Some "romances" have beenknown to last several hundred years —becoming, in the process, material forsome particularly amusing tales andjokes,

Those males who choose not to be mar-ried become more immersed in theircrafts, and develop close, non-sexual rela-tionships with friends who are eitherother male gnomes, humans or demi-humans of either sex, or animals. Theserelationships are looked upon by marriedand unmarried gnomes alike as being asvaluable and important as a marriagerelationship, though humans andmembers of other races might be hardpressed to see things that way. Gnomeswill go to great lengths to aid thosebeings and creatures whom they becomeattached to, and will feel a strong sense ofresponsibility for them.

As presented in the AD&D rule booksand played in AD&D campaigns, gnomesat times seem a little too much likedwarves. The two races share some char-acteristics; yet, in order for each to remaina separate and distinct character type, dif-ferences should be present. It might beworth discussing ways in which gnomescould be made a li t t le more unlike othercharacter races; it is suggested that thesexual ratio of males to females be evenedup, perhaps nearer seven males for fivefemales. It is odd, too, that while dwarvesare said to be unable to cast magicalspells (excluding the clerical sorts possi-ble to many races) due to their magicalresistance from their constitutions,gnomes gain the same magic resistanceand are allowed to become illusionists.Further discussion of this matter andother possible changes might be worth-while in making the AD&D system morelogical and reasonable.

Material for this article was gleanedfrom the AD&D Players Handbook,Monster Manual, Dungeon MastersGuide, and the DEITIES & DEMIGODS™Cyclopedia. Also, the novels Three Heartsand Three Lions by Poul Anderson andEnchanted Pilgrimage by Clifford D.Simak provided some additional detailson various matters.

24 BEST OF DRAGON

The gods of the gnomesBaervan, Urdlen, Segojan, Flandal

The demi-human pantheon with thefewest members is likely that of thegnomes. By most counts there are only sixor seven deities governing the gnomishfolk, though it is possible there are morein other universes. All gnomish gods,with the exception of Urdlen the Crawler,are ruled by Carl Glittergold (see theDEITIES & DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia).AH but one of them live on one of theplanes of the Twin Paradises in the areacalled the Golden Hills, where the soulsof faithful gnomes go at death. Theexception is, as before, Urdlen. who livesin the Abyss.

Gnomish deities are fully concernedw«h the fate of the gnomish race, and goadventuring quite often to support theircauses and keep enemies from over-whelming the gnomes. Though all of theknown gnomish gods are masculine, theyare worshipped by male and femalegnomes with equal reverence. They lackthe "he-man" image one might imaginean all-male pantheon would possess, andare clever, sensible, and helpful. Urdlen issexless (though still referred to as a "he")and shares none of these good qualities,but "his" few followers may still be maleor female.

Gnomish gods nearly always have atleast one companion, either a weapon,animal, or other deity, that accompaniesthem on their missions. Garl has'Arum-dina, his intelligent battle axe; Baervanhas his raccoon friend Chiktikka; Segojanis sometimes accompanied by an intelli-gent stone golem, and so forth. Urdlen,

an exception again, has no friends.Because gnomes regard companionshighly, it is inevitable that their pan-theon reflects this trait. Gnomish deitiesusually only associate with other gnom-ish deities, though they maintain a loosecontact with a few dwarven gods at times.

Pranks and practical jokes are a major

response of gnomish gods to their ene-mies. They often act indirectly againsttheir enemies, but if the situation isserious enough they are fu l ly able to takethe offensive and fight directly in battle.Compared to other non-human deities,the gnomish pantheon is one of the mostactive and involved with its worshipers.

BAERVAN WILDWANDERER"The forest gnome"

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: ;MOVE: 75*HIT POINTS: 295NO. OF ATTACKS: 312DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-24 (+6)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better

weapon to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%SIZE: S (T tall)ALIGNMENT: Neutral goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Alt good

and neutral alignments (gnomes)SYMBOL: Raccoon's facePLANE: Twin Paradises or

Prime Material PlaneCLERIC/DRUID: 12th level druid

VOL. Ill

FIGHTER: 8th level rangerMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 13th

level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 20th level thiefMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY: ///S: 18(00) (+3, +6) I: 21 W: 19 D: 25C:22 CH:22

Garl Glittergold's closest rival in thefield of good-natured mischief is BaervanWild wanderer, the forest gnome. Whilehe lacks Garl's finesse and dedication,Baervan is slightly better in the practiceof his thieving skills. He dresses inclothes of wood-brown hues, and carries aspear (+3) made from an ancient oak treeon the Twin Paradises called Whisper-leaf, If this spear is destroyed, Baervanmay make another from the wood ofWhisperleaf in a single day. Only he may

safely approach this tree; it will attack allothers (treat as a treant of maximum sizeand hit points). Whisperleaf regeneratesall wood loss within an hour.

In battle Baervan may touch his special

25

spear to any ordinary tree, automaticallyanimating it for 5-20 turns as a treant of12 hit dice. The tree/treant obeys all ofBaervan's orders and no one else's for theduration of its animation. Baervan maydo this as often as he likes, animating onetree per round.

Baervan has a travelling partner, agiant raccoon named Chiktikka Fast-paws, who is highly intelligent but proneto act before he thinks. Chiktikka is AC 3,moves at 15", has 70 hit points, and hasall the powers (including attacks) of a12th-level thief with an 18 dexterity.

URDLEN"The Crawler Below"

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: 2MOVE: 12" (36")HIT POINTS: 272NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACKS: 4-16 (+7)SPECIAL ATTACKS: NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 30%SIZE: L (8V long)ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evilWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All evil

alignments (gnomes)SYMBOL: While molePLANE: AbyssCLERIC/DRUID: 8th level clericFIGHTER: 10th level fighterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 13th

level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 12th level assassinMONK/BARD: NitPSION1C ABILITY: VIS: 19 (+3,+7) 1:20 W: 14 D: 20C:24 CH:3

:

Urdlen is the epitome of the evilimpulse that rules some gnomes and isfeared by the rest. He appears as a huge,dead-white, furless mole with claws ofsteel. It is said that Urdlen, a neuter andsexless being, lusts for precious metals,jewels, and the blood of any human,

SEGOJAN EARTHCALLERDeity of earth and nature

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: 0MOVE: 9" (36")HIT POINTS: 255NO. OF ATTACKS: /DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-30 (+3)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better

weapon to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%SIZE: Af (W tall)ALIGNMENT: Neutral goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All good

and neutral alignments (gnomes)SYMBOL: Large glowing gemstonePLANE: Twin Paradises

Chiktikka does 2-8 paints of damage witheach set of claws and bites for 2-12 pointsof damage. Many stories are told of theadventures this duo has shared, oftenstarted by Chiktikka's humorous abilityto get into trouble by "borrowing" some-thing valuable, such as a minor artifact orsome other item.

Though Baervan sometimes plays jokeson other creatures, it is hard not to likehim. He tends to keep to himself, exceptfor Chiktikka's company, and is said tosometimes roam the forests of the PrimeMaterial Plane. He is distinguished by his

nut-brown skin and pale gray hair (andhis raccoon friend). Should he chance tomeet a worshiper of his who has per-formed some great deed in his name(DM's option, about a l%chanceofencounter), he will give thai gnome aminor magical item. Such a worshiperwill meet Baervan only once in his or herlifetime.

Gnomish fighters, fighter/thieves, andthieves of a non-evil nature are often thefollowers of this god, and prefer living inthe outdoors rather than in a city all thetime.

humanoid, or demi-human. No one canpredict where he will strike next, or whathis plans are to further the cause of evilamong gnomekind. Just as he can burrowinto the earth of the Abyss, so he hopesevil will burrow into his followers' heartsand souls. He thrives on harmful trickeryagainst the innocent and good.

Urdlen's form is distorted by a perma-nent blur spell which cannot be dispelledwhile he lives. His clerics have a 5%chance of successfully calling upon Urd-len when in danger and having him casta blur spell on them for protection; how-ever, if the gnome cleric is slain anywaywhile the spell is still in effect, Urdlenwill eat the gnome's soul when it reachesthe Abyss. Urdlen's clerics may appease

their deity by pouring the blood of a crea-ture they've killed into the ground andburying it. Jewels and valuable metalgoods are sacrificed to him by ruiningthem {breaking, tarnishing, melting) andthen burying them. Clerics of this deityare continually at war with the rest of thegnomish deities and the clerics and fol-lowers thereof.

Gnomish assassins and evil thieves andfighters make up most of the worshipersof this awful deity. They generally sharetheir lord's love for evil and deadlypranks directed against all creatures, evenother gnomes. His followers often preferto live underground, after the manner ofUrdlen's chaotic tunnel home in theAbyss.

CLERIC/DRUID: 11th level druidFIGHTER: 6th level fighterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSION 1ST: 16th

level in eachTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: 4th level bardPSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: 18(01) (+1,+3) 1:22 W: 23 D: 18C:24 CH:20

Segojan is the gnomish deity of theearth and nature, a friend to all livinganimals that move above and below theearth and one who speaks with the veryrock itself.

He is known to his worshipers as agray-skinned gnome who wears armormade of grass and roots that acts as +4leather. When he enters battle he carries a

26 BEST OF DRAGON

rod made of crystalline quartz thai is +4to hit and does 3-30 points of damage perhit. This rod will create a stone golemonce a day thai is of average intelligenceand will obey Segojan's commands alone.The rod must be pressed against a mass ofrock of sufficient size to form the golem.

Segojan may also call up 2-8 earth ele-rnentals (16 hit dice each) once a day.

Though his primary sphere of controlis the earth and nature, Segojan is alsoseen in a lesser way as the gnomish god ofmagic. Many of his followers are illusion-ists who strive to improve their art for the

betterment of gnomekind and for theirart's sake as well. Gnomish miners andjewelers also revere this deity. The non-player clerics of Segojan frequently castlight or continual light spells on largeand well-cut gems for use as holy sym-bols, causing them to glow from within.

FLANDAL STEELSKIN"The Forger"

DemigodARMOR CLASS: 2MOVE: 6"HIT POINTS: 230NO. OF ATTACKS: 3/2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-24 (+10)

(and see below)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Set btlou)SPECIAL DEFENSES: Takes half

damage from heat and fireMAGIC RESISTANCE; 10%SIZE: S (4' tall)ALIGNMENT: Neutral goodWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All

workers of metal (gnomes)SYMBOL: Flaming hammerPLANE: Twin ParadisesCLERIC/DRUID: 8th level in eachFIGHTER: 10th level fighterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 15th

level magic-userTHIEF/ASSASSIN: NilMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY; VIS: 22 (+4,+10) 1:18 W: 20 D: 17C: 23 CH: 18

Flandal wears only a leather apron forarmor and protection from fire, but theapron has been enchanted to reduce by

DeityBaervan

Urdlen

Segojan

Flandal

half all damage he receives from heat andfire. His skin is the color of mithril steel,and his eyes are flaming coals. Flandal'shair and beard are a brilliant blue-silver.

Flandal is one of the strongest ofgnomish deities, perhaps the most so. Heis often found traveling with one or twoof the other gnomish deities in search ofnew ores and veins of metal to use in hisforges. It was Flandal who helped forgeand enchant Arumdina, Carl Glitter-gold's battle axe.

Flandal wields an axe-backed hammer

CLERICAL QUICK REFERENCE CHARTSphereof controladventure,thievesevil

earth,naturemetal work ing

'

RaimentAnimalraccoon

white mole

badger

n/a

Headgreen cap

bare

fur cap

steelhelm

Bodybrownclotheswhitecloakleatherarmorleatherarmor

Colorswoodbrownwhite

gray anddk, brownred

Hoty daysf u l l moon

wintersolsticefirst day ofeach seasonmidsummer'sday

Sacrifice/PropitiationFrequencymonthly

annually

quarterly

annually

Formtreasureitemsblood andjewelsgemstones

forgedweapons

made of yellow metal, named Rhondang.It is +5 to hit and can shoot a six-dicefireball as frequently as once per round,up to a total of ten times per day. Rhon-dang is able to converse naturally with allbeings who use fire or dwell in fiery loca-tions (red dragons, chimerae, fire elemen-lals, etc.). This in no way means thatFlandal is friendly toward those beings,however, though he will be prone to talkfirst before attacking. Rhondang doesdouble damage to cold-using or cold-dwelling creatures.

Because he needs their services to helpforge items, Flandal is likely (65% chance)to have 1-4 fire elemental^ (16 hit diceeach) with him when he is encountered.The elementals are quite friendly towardhim and obey him in all respects. WhenFlandal is not traveling, he will be foundin his workshop on the Twin Paradises,planning or making a new magicalweapon.

Flandal is obviously a popular godamong gnomish smiths; a large numberof fighter/clerics follow his worship insome areas. It is said that some of his cler-ics have developed or been granted a newspell that enables their war hammers toburst into flame for a short time, givingadditional bonuses to hit and damage, asa flame tongue longsword.

Place ofof worshipforestclearingundergroundcavernundergroundtempleundergroundforge

Gnomish clerics are never druids, regardless of alignment. They tend to work through indirect channels to support thecause of gnomes, and will only rarely bring their business into the open. They are not often found as community leaders orsuch, because of their supportive orientation. Gnomish clerics are all males, just as their deities are considered to be.

VOL. ill 27

The HALF-ORCby Roger Moore

Half-ores, as everyone knows, are whatyou get when you cross ores and humans.They are not uncommon in the world ofthe ADfcD™ game, and they do not enjoygood reputations among most popula-tions. One well-known authority de-scribes most half-ores as "rude, crude,crass, and generally obnoxious."

Why do half-ores seem to turn out thisway? What makes them tick?

To better understand half-ores, oneneeds to understand the non-humanaspect of their nature. Ores are probablythe most common son of humanoid crea-tures. They vary widely in physicalappearance, but generally seem to retain avaguely human look, tinged with a hintof something .. . else.

In nearly all oreish societies, the socialphilosophy is the same. Ores are theultimate social Darwinists; only thestrong and the clever survive, and thestrongest and cleverest ores are the oneswho manage to reach the upper sociallevels of their cultures. Ores have norespect for those weaker than themselves,and are quick to step-and-fetch for thosestronger than they. They distrust all over-tures of friendship and love, seeing theseas a cover for other, baser intentions; ifthey discover feelings of friendship to bequite genuine, they immediately attemptto manipulate events to take the bestadvantage of them and gain the upperhand.

Ores are like this because of the influ-ence of their deities (discussed in thecompanion article to this one) andbecause of their own past. Sages haveuncovered much evidence showing thatores developed in regions generally hos-tile to life; survival was difficult, and onlyif a group worked closely together couldit hope to collect enough Food to get evena pan of its numbers through the year.While the group would have to worktogether to collect food, distributing itwas another matter. The strongest oresgot the most food, and the weakest onesgot none at all. (They were probablygoing to die anyway, right?)

The very toughest ores managed toreceive more than just the bare minimumof nourishment, enough to make lifemore comfortable for them and give thema certain degree of personal security. Thisalso gave them the chance to exploresomewhat more intellectual occupations

28

point of viewthan food-gathering, like figuring outhow to get more food and living space.The easiest opportunity to be realized wasto take food and/or living space awayfrom other folks, and these other folkswere usually other ores. Intertribal com-petition became fierce, and over the cen-turies many of these conflicts have"evolved" into what seem to be eternalstates of war between various tribes.

Ores are nocturnal by nature. Theyprefer to catch prey when it is asleep andless able to escape. Ores have done thisfor so long they've developed infra vision,the ability to see living objects in dark-ness by their body heat. The developmentof infravision was assisted by the oreishhabit of living in caves for protection.Ores tend to live in wilderness areaswhere the sky is heavily overcast anddirect sunlight is nonexistent or rare atbest. In magical universes such regionsare frequently found, their twilight per-petually maintained by the forces ofmagic cast by mortal or godling. In theseplaces ores will be much more active thanis customary in the daytime, even to thepoint of conducting raids and hunting,but it is at night when ores really becomedangerous.

Though such lives of hard work anddanger have made most ores rather strongand tough constitutionally, the race has ashort lifespan. A 40-year-old ore hasreached the virtual end of its natural life;the average ore lives for 12 to 26 years. Asmight be expected, ores have a very highrate of reproduction, but their infant

From issue #62, June 1982

mortality rate is quite high, too. Barelyone oreish child in three will see adult-hood, and fewer still will see old age.

None of this is any surprise to non-oreswho have made even the briefest study ofthe race. But what shocks the casualobserver is the degree of acceptance, evenpreference, ores express for this situation."How eould we feed so many hungry lit-tle mouths?" retorted one ore prisoner toa curious paladin. "If you have lots ofbrats and some of them die, so what?They were the weakest. . . the strongestones will live and work for you, makeyou proud of their strength. Who wantsweak sons? Your enemies will kill you inyour sleep if they see you are protected byweaklings."

As can be inferred from the abovecomments, ores prefer male children.Though females are born only slightlyless often than males, much fewer of thefemales survive to adulthood. Otherdemi-human races with sexual imbal-ances have that property because of natu-ral reasons; ores (and certain otherhumanoids as well), however, are morelikely to practice selective infanticide, orotherwise forcibly adjust the ratio ofmales to females. The emphasis in oreishsociety is on fighting ability to gain sta-tus and well-being; since they have lessmuscle than males, females generally loseout. Ores believe that the only valuefemale ores have is in bearing children (asmany as possible) and keeping the caveclean.

Oreish religion is interesting, too,because of the great extent to which theores' way of life mirrors the tenets of thereligion they follow. By and large, ores donot well appreciate the consequences oftheir actions beyond the immediate pres-ent (a byproduct of their low wisdom).What they do, they do for the here andnow, occasionally with some (but notmuch) consideration for the future. Thisis probably due to the necessities of theirharsh life; one does not have time tothink of the future when one must worryabout just getting through today. Forores, however, this reasoning applies evenwhen times are comparatively good andfood is plentiful. They continue to worryprimarily about now, not later.

This altitude is reinforced in their reli-gious ceremonies; no mention is made ofthe future beyond the statement, often

BEST OF DRAGON

repeated, that ores shall rule the worldsomeday. It is interesting to note thatGruurnsh, the major orcish deity, is one-eyed; this means he has a narrow field ofvision and no depth perception at all.The many tales about Gruumsh revealthat, indeed, he too appears prone to actfirst and think about it later. When hemeets another godling who appears tofail to notice him, or to give him properrespect, he doesn't ask why; he attacks.

When Cruumsh's moronic (and two-eyed) son Bahgtru stubs his toe on a hugerock, Gruumsh curses the rock and triesto wrestle it. After breaking it into smallpieces with Bahgtru's help, he proclaimsa victory over the forces of nature. Nevermind that he and Bahgtru had their feetcut by rock fragments, or that they are sotired from breaking the rock that theyhave trouble later fighting giants. Thepoint had to be made, then and there.While Gruumsh will usually act withsome forethought and planning, his rageis easily ignited, and it inevitably cloudshis judgment. With only one eye, he hasbut one view of the world: his own,Orcish shamans and half-ore clericsimitate Gruumsh by plucking out one oftheir eyes, hoping to gain Gruumsh'sperspective.

With a background like this, it ishardly surprising that half-ores are asthey are. Produced under questionablecircumstances at best, half-ores will usu-ally retain some properties of both spe-cies, human and ore, wherever they areraised. Those brought up in orcishsociety (the male ones, at least) will beimmersed in the previously describedorcish social philosophy. Though full-blooded ores have some degree of dislike

VOL. Ill

for the "half-humans" among them, theyare also aware that such beings generallypossess more adaptability and cunningthan a full ore, and have the potential tobe stronger than the average ore.

Unless rivalry between the half-ore andhis peers ends his life at an early age, thehalf-ore will usually achieve a quiterespectable position of power and influ-ence in his tribe. Aware that he is not afull ore, the half-ore will probably feelmuch superior to ores and assume addedarrogance and pride — thus successfullymixing the worst of human qualitieswith the "best" of the orcish. These sortsof leaders are exceptionally dangerous,possessing enough foresight and intelli-gence to lead their tribes on much morewidespread raiding, banditry, and war-making than is usual for ore bands.

Life is not all rosy for this type ofleader, of course; rivalries, jealousies, andintrigues will probably continue withinthe tribe against him unless he becomespowerful enough to command immediateobedience at the risk of swift destruction.A few cases are known of half-ore femalesrising to positions of power within atribe; usually this female is either a war-rior disguised as a male (who must flee ordie if her deception is discovered), or acleric for one of the few orcish religionsthat permit female shamans or clerics. Inno known cases have female half-oresbecome as widely feared or powerful (per-sonally or politically) as male half-ores,though this is not through any fault oftheir own. Orcish sexual prejudice is deepand strong.

Half-ores raised in human society, usu-ally without the orcish parent present,have a greater likelihood of adopting a

variety of non-orcish attitudes and life-styles, but even then will have some lesssavory aspects to their nature as well. Theaverage human has a dislike for ores andanything with orcish ancestry; half-oreswill find themselves the objects of preju-dice in most human communities.

Many half-ores react to the local expec-tations of them in predictable ways(incidentally reinforcing those expecta-tions). In other words, treat a half-ore asif it were dangerous and bad, and it willprobably become dangerous and bad if itwasn't already. Yet there have beenexamples of neutral-aligned half-ores andeven a few of good nature; most of theseretain an unnatural (to many humans)affinity for lawfulness and obedience, butare otherwise acceptable company. Half-ores raised in a human community arevery unlikely to be able to speak orcishunless they have had formal study in it.

Half-ores have a variety of careers opento them, in whatever society they inhabit.Obviously, and most commonly, theymake good fighters; orcish traditionstrongly emphasizes personal combat andphysical strength.

Half-ores are fairly good at thievingand banditry, but suffer from relativelypoor physical coordination and havesome difficulty in applying themselvesconstantly to improving their skills. Half-ore thieves generally steal for the samereasons as anyone else does, but tend tofeel that they are especially justified inwhat they do by one of their laws of sur-vival: he who cannot hold onto what hehas, does not deserve it. They regard theiractions as necessary for their own exis-tence, stealing because they have to, notjust because they want to.

The assassin's skills, by contrast, comemost readily to the half-ore. By virtue oftheir casual regard for the lives of others,even of their own kind, the art of killinghas a certain appeal to those with orcishblood. Half-ore assassins often come tobelieve their actions are for the benefit ofthe world in general; they are culling outthe unfit in the most direct way possible,which brings out another of the orcishlaws of survival: if something can be eas-ily killed, it did not deserve to live. Whocan resist the urge to be the one whowields the scythe, who decides the fates ofothers, who has the power of almightydeath in his hands? With their preferencefor a retinue of underlings, half-ore assas-sins can create powerful guilds to supportthem, and may spread their influence intomany a court or government.

Half-ores who become clerics will usu-ally combine their clerical practices withanother career, commonly as a fighter orassassin. This is because half-ores cannotadvance very far in experience as clerics,and they will eventually require anotherset of skills to keep them on even termswith increasingly tougher adversaries.Half-ore cleric/assassin types are invaria-bly death-worshipers, and strive to put

themselves in better favor with theirawful gods by personally bringing deathto as many beings as possible, withintheir religion and outside it.

Ores and half-ores generally dislike andavoid beings larger than themselves,unless (as in the case of ogres) the oresfeel they can manipulate them suffi-ciently, with promises of shared treasureand food, to make them useful to theorcish community as guards and/orheavy infantry. Ores and half-ores dislikesmaller humanoids because they are inev-itably weaker, and these races are usuallyemployed only as slaves. Goblins, whoare only marginally weaker than ores andcan hold their own against them at leastsome of the time, are afforded more toler-ance than other small humanoids.

But it is not other humanoids that oreshate worst of all — it is other orcishtribes. The roots of hatred run deepbetween conflicting tribes; the originalcause of friction, if there was one, haslong since been lost to antiquity. Intertri-bal conflicts are maintained by religiousbigotries; each tribe worships a particularorcish patron god with interests that(naturally!) conflict with those of otherdeities. Even so, all tribes usually paysome homage to Gruumsh, the king ofthe orcish gods.

Another question concerning orcishand half-orcish personality should beaddressed: Why do ores hate elves somuch? Superficial examination of thequestion reveals little overt cause; oresand elves do not frequently compete forthe same living space or for the samefoods. But a slightly deeper examinationshows that in terms of personality, prob-ably no two races could be further apart.

For example:Elves are able to see many sides of a

problem; ores see but one.Elves carefully examine the long-range

consequences of an action, usually beforeundertaking it, while ores could care lessfor anything but the present.

Elves are very long-lived, while oreshave one of the shortest lifespans amongthe human*ml races.

That list could be longer, contrastingmany other aspects of the races' lifestyles,but a point has been developed. Ores andelves are opposites in nearly every way,and ores resent the advantages elves have,especially their long lifespan. While elvesdo not particularly like ores, they think ofthem as a short-term problem not worthyof prolonged consideration. Ores, on theother hand, are consumed with hatred forelves, and will slay them out of handwhenever the opportunity presents itself.

Orcish mythology has several tales ofbattles between elven and orcish deities.The most famous one occurs betweenGruumsh and Corellon Larethian, thechief elven deity. The story goes like this,according to the ores;

Gruumsh ambushes Corellon in hopesof slaying him and drinking his blood, soas to inherit his special powers; Gruumshfails, of course, through his own short-sightedness, and Corellon shoots anarrow at Gruumsh's eye.

Though the arrow failed to blindGruumsh, apparently it was not intendedto. Elven stories of the same event (muchbriefer than the tedious orcish versions)say that Corellon meant the arrow as awarning to Gruurnsh of his vulnerability— a hint that it would only take the lossof his eye to break Gruumsh's power as a

god, and that some being might be capa-ble of bringing this about if he were notmore careful. Though Gruumsh rails andcurses the elven gods in many later sto-ries, he never again tries to directlyassault them, and spends his fury on mor-tal elves instead. Obviously, he took thehint.

In summary, ha If-ores are often boundto take on some of the less desirable char-acteristics of their orcish parents, espe-cially if they are raised in an ore tribe.

Half-ores are generally tough, respect-ful of power, and seek to have powerthemselves. They tend to measure oneanother by the number and quality oftheir followers, and they prefer to workwithin a group setting rather than ontheir own.

Like ores, half-ores often act beforethinking about the results of their deeds,and appear somewhat stupid to othermore foresighted individuals because ofthis. They dislike the weak, follow thestrong, and quarrel with their equals.Again, this is not true of all half-ores. Butat least a vestige of these characteristics ispresent in nearly every one, regardless oftheir individual makeup.

Information for this article was takenfrom the ADfeD rule books, the PlayersHandbook, the Monster Manual, and theDungeon Masters Guide, as well as theDEITIES fc DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia.Some additional comments and insightswere found in Master of Middle-Earth byPaul H. Kocher. Though this latter bookconcerns the world of J.R.R. Tolkien,much of the information therein is quiteusable in an AD&D setting, and the workis highly recommended to the seriousstudent of role-playing.

30 BEST OF DRAGON

The gods of the oresBahgtru, Shargaas, Ilneval, Yurtrus, Luthic

This is the tale the shamans tell, in thecamps of the ores when the night is deepon the world and dawn is far away:

In the beginning all the gods met anddrew lots for the parts of the world inwhich their representative races woulddwell. The human gods drew the lot thatallowed humans to dwell inhere theypleased, in any environment. The givengods drew the green forests, the dwarvendeities drew the high mountains, thegnomish gods ike rocky, sunlit hills, andthe kalfting gods picked the lot that gavethem the fields and meadows. Then theassembled gods turned to the orcish godsand laughed loud and long. "All the lotsare taken!" they said tauntingly. "Wherewill your people dwell, One-Eye? Thereis no place left!"

There was silence upon the world then,as Gruumsh One-Eye lifted his great ironspear and stretched it forth over theworld. The shaft blotted out the sun overa great part of the lands as he spoke: "No!You lie! You have rigged the drawing ofthe lots, hoping to cheat me and my fol-lowers. But One-Eye never sleeps; One-Eye sees all. There is a place for ores todwell. .. here!" With that, Gruumshstruck the forests with his spear, and apart of them withered with rot. "Andhere!" he bellowed, and his spear piercedthe mountains, opening mighty rifts andchasms. "And here!" and the spearheadsplit the hills and made them shake andcovered them in dust. "And here!" andthe black spear gouged the meadows, andmade them barren.

"There!" roared He-Who-Watches tri-umphantly, and his voice carried to theends of the world. "There is where theores shall dwell! There they shall survive,and multiply, and grow stronger, and aday shall come when they cover theworld, and shall slay all of your collectedpeoples! Ores shall inherit the world yousought to cheat me of!"

In this way, say the shamans, did theores come into the world, and thus didGruumsh predict the coming time whenores will rule alone. This is why oresmake war, ceaseless and endless: war forthe wrath of Gruumsh.

The shamans tell other tales, too, thatshed light on why things are as they arein the world. Shamans tell of the battlebetween Corellon Larethian (the chiefelven god, whom the shamans call TheBig Fairy) and Gruumsh, in which Corel-lon tried to shoot out Gruumsh's eye (sac-rilege!) with his bow, but failed of course.It is not considered important thatGruumsh started the fight by trying toparalyze the elven god with his spear; the

VOL. in

shamans say Corellon deserved it for notbeing properly deferential. Because of thisbattle, ores of all sects and cults hate elvesmore than all other non-ore races.

The shamans' tales of the battlesbetween the dwarven gods and the orcishgods lor ownership of the mountainswould weary the most ardent listener.The ores are drawn to the mountains bytheir brutal majesty and stark barrenness,while dwarves love mountains for theirisolation and beauty, and for the ores thatlie beneath them.

Many have also heard of the eternalbattles on the plains of the Nine Hellsbetween the goblins and ores, each sideled by their respective gods. No matterhow much noise the ores of this worldmake about joining their forces with theother humanoids, all ores are aware thatthere wil l be room for one race in the end. . . and it will not be the goblins, theogres, or any of the rest.

The division of ores into separate tribes(Evil Eye, Death Moon, Broken Bone,etc.) is usually made along cult lines. Thetribal symbol is the holy symbol of theorcish god the tribe holds as its patron.

There are a large number of orcishgods, representing such spheres of inter-ests as strength, swordsmanship, militarypower, the night, death, fertility, hunt-ing, and so forth. Each of them is part ofa rigid chain of command with Gruumshat the top. The relative positions of thegods in the hierarchy varies depending onthe shaman doing the telling, as they allseek to emphasize the power and glory oftheir own deity, sometimes almost to the

exclusion of mention of Gruumshhimself.

Warfare between tribes is actuallyencouraged to some extent by the orcishgods, who believe that this is the best wayof eliminating the unfi t and weak, andpromoting the survival and growth of thestrong. No attention is paid to thethought that it might also waste the bestfighters' talents, which might have beenbetter directed against non-ore foes.

A minor cull has been noted, represent-ing the only known orcish religion thatdoesn't emphasize violence or warfare.Probably less than a hundred ores belongto this sect, and most sages doubt that thebeing they worship is even a true god, Itappears to have been started when an orediscovered an ancient picture of a femaleore, reputedly the most beautiful of herrace ever known. This ore and his follow-ers worship the picture and bring it sacri-fices of flowers, jewels, and candies. Onlytime will tell whether they worship a truegoddess or just a picture; whether thiscult shall fade away with time, orwhether the ores will someday all followthe ways of the mysterious goddessknown as "Mispigie,"

Following arc descriptions of five ofthe most powerful orcish gods besidesGruumsh, who is represented in theDEITIES & DEMIGODS'" Cyclopedia.Any use of the word "cleric" in these de-scriptions, when referring to those whouse clerical spells granted by these gods,also includes shamans and witch doctors,as described in the AD&D™ DungeonMasters Guide, unless otherwise stated.

31

BAHGTRU

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: 1MOVE: 9*HIT POINTS: 340NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 10-60 (+15)SPECIAL ATTACKS: GrappleSPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better

weapon to hit; see belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 35%SIZE; L( 16' tall)ALIGNMENT: Lawful evilWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Lawful evil

warriors (ores and half-ores)SYMBOL: Broken thigh bonePLANE: Nine HellsCLERIC/DRUID: NilFIGHTER: As 16+ HD monsterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: NilTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 6th level assassinMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS:25(+7, +14) 1:6 W: 6 D: 18C:25 CH: 5 {22 to ores)

Bahgtru is the son of Gruumsh andLuthic the Cave Mother. Though he isscorned and derided for his stupidity andlack of self-will, no one says ill of hisawesome might. Other orcish gods callupon him for assistance; he is obedient,though his incredible strength alwaysexceeds the expectations of others, and hemay accidentally (?) cause harm to those

who command his services, especially ifthey fail to give him some respect.

It is said that Bahgtru once fought atremendous reptilian monster fromanother world, and slew it barehanded bybreaking all of its legs. His symbol isderived from this epic battle. Since this,Bahgtru has never been known to useweapons or armor of any usual kind. Hewears little other than a great pair ofcesti, or gauntlets, studded with steelrivets, with which to beat his victims flat.

Bahgtru is a huge, incredibly muscularore with dirty tan skin and dull greeneyes; his tusks, protruding from eitherside of his mouth, are glistening whitefrom gnawing on bones. If Bahgtruattacks and rolls a number 4 or more overwhat he needs to hit with both hands, hehas grappled his opponent and will crushfor 10-120 points of damage per roundthereafter, without rolling again to hit.His skin is so thick and tough that bluntweapons do only one point of damage tohim before they bounce off.

Clerics of Bahgtru must have a min-imum strength of 16, and must keepthemselves physically fit. They cannotwear armor, but may use weapons as theychoose. Those clerics who lose theirrequired strength lose their other powersas well, and will have their spiritscrushed in Bahgtru's fists in the afterlife.Stronger clerics of this cult may helpweaker clerics along to the next plane,usually without the latter's permission.

SHARGAAS

ILesser godARMOR CLASS: 2MOVE: 18"HIT POINTS: 265NO. OF ATTACKS: 312DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-30 (+8)SPECIAL ATTACKS: AmbushSPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better

weapon to hit; hiding; blindnessMAGIC RESISTANCE: 65%S12.Z-. L (& tall)ALIGNMENT: Neutral evilWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Thieves,

assassins, and those who do evilunder cover of darkness (oresand half-ores)

SYMBOL: Red crescent moon withred skull between the horns

PLANE: GehennaCLERIC/DRUID: NilFIGHTER: As 10 HD monsterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 7th

level illusionistTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 16th level thief!

nth level assassinMONK/BARD: 10th level monkPSIONIC ABILITY: IVS:20(+3, +8> I: 19 W: 15 D: 24C: 19 CH: 7 (24 to ores)

32

Shargaas the Night Lord lives in a tre-mendous cavern system below the fieryplain of one of the levels of Gehenna. It issaid that his caves extend infinitely, andare darker than the blackest night. Thereno creature has sight but Shargaas him-self and his orcish spirit servants. Shar-gaas, though blinded completely by lightfrom the sun, can see perfectly well indarkness out to a range of a mile or more.He can also climb any surface, even per-fectly smooth ones, without slipping. Inthe days when he is said to have walkedupon the earth, Shargaas could also hidehimself and his followers so well that nomortal could detect his ambushes or lairs.

As might be expected, orcish banditsand ha If-ore thieves hold Shargaas astheir patron, as do other regular oretribes. Clerics of Shargaas are multi-classed (cleric/thieves or cleric/assassins)if they are half-ores; it is rumored thateven orcish shamans and witch doctorshave some small degree of thieving orassassination skill (probably some 05-30%success at one or two abilities like hidingin shadows, picking pockets, or assassina-tion from surprise). The major religiousholidays in the worship of Shargaas arethe times of the new moon, when the skyis dark and cloudy.

BEST OF DRAGON

ILNEVAL

Lesser godARMOR CLASS: -IMOVE: 12"HIT POINTS: 331NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 6-36 (+11)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to

missile weapons; +1 or betterweapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 55%SIZE: L (? tall)ALIGNMENT: Lawful evilWORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Lawful evil

warriors (ores and hatf'Orcs)SYMBOL: Bloodied broadswordPLANE: Nine HellsCLERIC/DRUID: 8th level deneFIGHTER: As 15 HD monsterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: NilTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 14th level assassinMONK/BARD: NitPSIONIC ABILITY: NilS: 23 (+5,+11) I: 17 W: 14 D: 20C:23 CH: 8 (25 to ores)

When Gruumsh does not have time tocommand his armies, he turns the jobover to his chief lieutenant, Ilneval, themaster of command and strategy (next toGruumsh himself, of course). Ilneval is

the symbol of the leader type, the onewho plunges into battle with nothing butvictory and destruction on his rnind. It ishinted that Ilneval covets Gruumsh'sposition as the chief god of the ores; hehas been said to have deposed one or twoother orcish gods, relegating them tolesser status, in his climb to power.

Ilneval is more of a "captain's god"than a god of the common orcish soldier;Gruumsh is prefered by chieftains andorcish kings, and Bahgtru by commonwarriors. Though Gruumsh does nottrust Ilneval, He-Who-Never-Sleeps hasBahgtru on his side, and this relievessome of his concerns.

Ilneval wears a suit of red iron chain-mail and wields a sword that slays allnon-ores it strikes (save vs. death at -6).He cannot be touched by missile weaponsbecause of his armor's magical powers,and is immune to non-magical weaponsas well. He appears to be a very war-wiseand confident being; his face and armsare heavily scarred from the many battleshe's fought, but the scars only increasehis appeal to his orcish followers.

The clerics of Ilneval, if half-ores, usebroadswords as weapons and are multi-classed cleric/fighters. Clerics of all sorts(ores and half-ores) wear red metallicarmor, and are expected to be good mil-itary leaders as well as good clerics.

YURTRUS

ARMOR CLASS: 0MOVE: 6"HIT POINTS: 303NO, OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: See belowSPECIAL ATTACKS: Disease •SPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%SIZE: L (12' tall)ALIGNMENT; Neutral evil

(lawful tendencies)WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Assassins

and those who worship or profitfrom death (ores and half-ores)

SYMBOL: White hand ondark background

PLANE: HadesCLERIC/DRUID: 15th level cleric

(destructive spells only)FIGHTER; As 13 HD monsterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: See

below/NilTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 15th level assassinMONK/BARD: NilPSIONIC ABILITY: VIS: l8(+l ,+2) 1:18 W: 11 D: 10C: 17 CH: -4

Yurtrus the White Handed is the terri-fying orcish god of death and disease. Heappears as a huge, vaguely orcish giantcovered with peeling, rotting green flesh;his hands, however, appear completelynormal except for being chalk-white in

color. Yurtrus has no mouth and doesn'tcommunicate; the ores have a way of say-ing "when White-Hands speaks"whenthey mean "never."

Yunrus is surrounded by a huge enve-lope of stinking gases out to 120'; anymortal beings within this radius areaffected as follows: Those up to andincluding 4 HD/levels as if struck by dustof sneezing and choking, those up to 8HD/levels as if struck by a symbol ofpain, and those of higher levels suffer a -2"to hit" with no saving throw. All effectslast while anyone stays within the cloudof gas.

Yurtrus, in addition to his clericalspells, uses all death-magic spells of 18thlevel magic-users. He may try to touch hisvictims instead of using his spells; anybeing he strikes loses 3-12 hit points andwill catch 1-4 random diseases as well(use the listings in the Dungeon MastersGuide). The loss of hit points will bepermanent unless recovered by a wishspell, on a one-hit-point-per-wish basis.

The clerics of Yurtrus wear pale whitegloves made from the skins of non-orcishhumanoids, humans, or demi-humans,during their ceremonies. They wear thinarmor (equivalent to cloth) woven of thesame materials. In combat they use maceswith the weapon's head made in theshape of a white fist. When plague or dis-ease strikes a group of ores, the clerics ofYurtrus appeal him for an end to theillness with great sacrifices of prisonersand slaves.

VOL. Ill 33

LUTHIC

Lesser goddessARMOR CLASS: 5MOVE: / •>" (12")HIT POINTS: 287NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 5-20 (+7)SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: RegenerationMAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%SIZE: L (W tall)ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

{neutral tendencies)WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Females

(ores and half-ores), and thosewho need heating or sanctuary

SYMBOL: Cave entrance runePLANE; Nine HellsCLERIC/DRUID: 15th level clericFIGHTER: As 12 HD monsterMAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 12th

level in eachTHIEF/ASSASSIN: 6th level in eachMONK/BARD: NilPS1ONIC ABILITY: NilS: 19 (+3,+7) I: 18 W; 19 D: 14C:20 CH: 12 (25 to ores)

Luthic governs several spheres. She isthe goddess of female ores, orcish fertility(moreso for females; Gruunish is the malefertility god), caves and caverns (whichshe digs herself), servitude (as she servesGruumsh), and primitive medicine, andshe helps restore orcish morale.

Luthic Is the deity closest to Bahgtru,her son, and he will follow her com-mands over all others', even those ofGruumsh. Other oreish gods and god-desses fear her great claws, which are sostrong they can tunnel through solidrock. Orcish clerics call her the CaveMother and conduct her services under-ground. Though she represents female

ores, she is worshipped by males as wellfor her ferocity and her healing powers,

Luthic appears as a huge female orewho wears no armor, but has unbreakableblack claws four feet long. Her hair andeyes are dull black and her skin is darkbrown, lighter on the nose and ears.When in contact with the ground, sheregenerates 3 hi t points per round.

In addition to her normal attacks,Luthic may use magical spells to undoher opponents. And if she hears anyoneabuse her name, ore or non-ore alike, shemay (25% chance) choose to render thatbeing susceptible to any disease, so thatthe next time the victim catches even themost minor of ailments, it will provefatal within 2-7 days. Only the power ofthree wish spells applied while the victimis still alive can unwork this curse.

Ores who follow her worship some-limes rub dirt on themselves to ensurethey will have many children, and clericsuse earth in casting curative spells(though this is purely a symbolic gestureand not a true material component of thespell).

Luthic's worship is one of the few thatallows both male and female ores tobecome clerics; nearly all of the other dei-ties permit male clerics only. Ores in hertribe (that of the Vile Rune) generallydwell underground, and seern to commitfewer raids against other creatures,though they are especially fierce if theirlair is threatened. Ores guarding clerics ofLuthic gain a +2 bonus "to hit" fromtheir ferocity and madness, but this alsocauses a -2 penalty to their armor classesat the same time.

Sphere ofDeity control AnimalBahgtru strength ox

Shargaas night, thieves bat

Ilneval warriors n/a

Yurtnis death, skeletonplague

Luthic caves, heal- cave bearing, females

CLERICAL QUICK REFERENCE CHARTRaiment

Headbare

leathercapred metalhelmetbare

Bodyloincloth

leatherarmorred metalarmorskins

Colons)n/a

redfcblackred

while

Holydaysbattle days

new moon

battle days

full moon

Sacrifice/ PropitiationFrequencybefore battle

monthly

before andafter battlemonthly

Formbones ofenemiesstolenitemsblood andweaponssacrifices

fur cap lea I herarmor

brown &black

midwin-ter's day

yearly treasures

Place ofworshipbattlefield

anywhere

anywhere

undergroundcryptscave halls

Clerics, shamans, and witch doctors occupy very important positions within their tribes, and are counted on to giveadvice to tribal chieftains on matters of warfare and inter-tribal relations. It is not uncommon for such clerics lo inherit theposiiion of chieftain themselves and govern the ores of the tribe directly. In either case, they should have a retinue ofguards equal to that of a major orcish chieftain or king; see the Monster Manual for details.

34 BEST OF DRAGON

II. Breathing lifeinto dragons

With a name like ours, it's understandable why people send us articlesabout dragons. And, of course, we like to get 'em. The dragon, perhapsmore than any other type of monster, is symbolic of the essence of heroicfantasy: a wondrous, formidable, intelligent adversary that, when prop-erly presented and played, provides a challenge to characters that's practi-cally unparalleled among the creatures that reside on this Prime MaterialPlane of ours.

The AD&D™ Monster Manual describes twelve types of dragons. TheFIEND FOLIO® Tome supplies six more — and there's still plenty ofroom for expansion of the species. Inside this section you'll find a groupof neutral dragons, a prankster called the faerie dragon, and a couple oftwins known as the steel and the grey.

The second major type of dragon article is one that doesn't try to addto the dragon population, but instead uses the official rules as a founda-tion for discussion of an aspect of dragondom not covered in the books.What do you do with that dragon egg you found, and how do you dealwith the little critter that comes out of it? Even if you don't consider adragon's ability to fly, use magic, and breathe all over you and yourparty, shouldn't the dragon be able to more than hold its own in a two-dimensional physical confrontation? And shouldn't the skin of that nastydragon you just did in be good for something more than mounting on avery large wall? Answers to all of these questions are suggested in the sec-tion that follows — answers that we've now published twice, not justonce, because we have a vested interest in seeing that dragons are treatedthe way they deserve to be.

VOL. in

That's not in theMonster Manual!Neutral dragonsby Arthur Collins From issue #37, May 1980

Taxonomic types have no doubt noticed that the dragons inthe AD&D™ Monster Manual are easily separated into two types:colored dragons, ruled by Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon (evil);and metallic dragons, ruled by Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon(good). And a well-balanced and fascinating group of beastiesthey are. So why am I about to propose six new types of dragons?

Part of the problem is with alignment. How come there are noneutral dragons? Surely there must be a place for the occasionaldragon who doesn't give a hoot about good or evil as long aspeople leave his treasure alone. Likewise, half of these fascinat-ing creatures are of good alignment, which really cuts down onthe pillaging an adventurer of good alignment ran attemptwithout incurring the wrath of the gods (or at least the DM).

Another part of the problem is that everyone and his brotherhas a Monster Manual, which cuts down on the DM's options tosurprise his adventurers with something that they have to thinkabout to deal with successfully. It's very frustrating to be graphi-cally describing an unknown beast a party has encountered, onlyto have some fanatic quote you chapter and verse on what it is,and what all of its abilities are. Finally, there is just somethingfascinating about dragons, which leads us to explore new varia-tions simply to enjoy the essence of dragon-ness.

In proposing this new breed of dragon, I am assuming that allthese types conform to the characteristics of dragons in general,except where otherwise noted. In addition, all of these dragonsshare the following standard characteristics:

FREQUENCY: Very rareNO APPEARING: 1-3, except in the case of Sardior, the

Ruby DragonSPECIAL ATTACKS: Breath weapon +• possible magic

use (except for Sardior, who definitely uses magic)ALIGNMENT: Neutral

The neutral dragons are basically reclusive creatures, dwellingin out-of-the-way places, and are not loo receptive to unexpectedvisitors. Like all dragons, they get their kicks from loll ingaround on a pile of treasure. They are named after precious andsemi-precious stones, and are especially fond of gems andjewelry. They are generally smaller and slower than other drag-ons, but make up for this w i th their outstanding intelligence andoverwhelming personalities.

The neutral dragons ate all very charismatic and suave. Theydelight in riddling talk, and seek to entrap the creatures theyencounter by charming them with their voices. Anyone notengaged in such things as combat who listens to the dragon'svoice faces a 10% cumulative chance per round of beingentranced. While the intended victim is entranced, the dragonhas a chance (varying with the dragon iyj>e; see chart) ofimplanting a suggestion in his mind. The dragon gets oneattempt per creature to suggest, and the victim is allowed a sav-ing throw as against the spell of the same name. If the victimmakes the saving throw, the entrancement is broken for a min-imum of six rounds. The dragon wi l l try to keep the intended

36

victim talking, in order to try again, but this time will get only a5% cumulative chance per round of entrancing the victim(s). Ifthe dragon fails in a suggestion attempt on the second try, theintended victim cannot be affected again.

Going along with their intelligence and charisma, all neutraldragons have a 50% chance of being psionically endowed. Theyare also telepathic, although they cannot communicate telepath-ically with non-telepathic creatures or characters with an intelli-gence below 17. Magic-using neutral dragons employ bothmagic-user and druid spells.

Since they are smaller than other dragons, the neutral dragons'fear aura in attacking is saved against at +4 for all opponents.Neutral dragons cannot polymorph themselves, unless theyknow the appropriate spell. They have the innate abili ty to blinksix times per day, as in the spell. Particulars about each type ofdragon are listed in the accompanying chart,

PS1ONIC DISCIPLINES (where applicable)Crystal dragons have 2 minor disciplines each; Topaz dragons,

3 minors; Emerald, 2 minors and 1 major; Sapphire, 3 minorsand 1 major; Amethyst, 3 minors and 2 majors; and Sardior, theRuby Dragon, has the following 4 minor and 3 major disci-plines: Domination, ESP, Invisibility, Levttation, MolecularRearrangement, Energy Control, and Dimension Walk, All neu-tral dragons have a level of mastery for all disciplines equivalentto twice their age level; Very Young dragons operate at 2nd levelof mastery, Young ai 4th level of mastery, and so on.

CRYSTAL DRAGONSThese creatures live on mountain crags, far away from all

other beings. They like to come out at night and lie under thestars. Crystal dragons can breathe a dazzling cloud twice per day,4" long by 4" wide by 2" high, that causes temporary blindnessfor everyone enveloped in it. After emerging from the cloud,creatures remain blinded for 10-60 rounds (saving throw cuts thisin half ) . The dazzling cloud is as bright as daylight, and can beseen for miles. Most creatures wi th in 60' of it will be -2 to hit,due 10 its brightness (except for creatures not adversely affectedby brightness or f iery light, such as fire elememals). Basicallynociural creatures such as goblins, et al, will s t t ike at -4.

Crystal dragons are a mi lky white in color, but when the moonor stars shine on them, their hide becomes luminescent and spar-kling. In bright sunl ight , they are almost unbearable to look al,because ol the dazzling brilliance that their hide reflects.

TOPAZ DRAGONSThese creatures, light orange in color, prefer to dwell along

bleak, rocky seacoasts, although they have no inordinate love forthe water as bronze dragons do. Twice per day they can use theirbreath to dehydrate objects. Their breath dries up 3 cu, ft. perh.p. of the dragon when directed againsi liquids. Other materialssuspended in the liquid (for instance, salt) wi l l precipitate out.

BEST OF DRAGON

ARMOR CLASS:MOVE:HIT DICE:% IN LAIR:TREASURE TYPE:

DAMAGE/ATTACK:

INTELLIGENCE:SIZE:PSIONIC ABILITY:A/D modes:CHANCE OF

Speaking:Magic-use:Sleeping:

SUGGESTION:

CRYSTAL TOPAZ2 1

9" /IB" 9" /IS."4-6 5-755% 55%

H, U*2 H, U*2

1-4/1-4/ 2-5/2-572-12 2-16

Exceptional Exceptional12' long 15' long

100 120C / F B D / F H

50% 60%30% 35%25% 20%35% 40%

EMERALD0

9"/24"6-860%

H, Ux3

1-6/1-6/3-18

Exceptional20' long

180A D / F J

70%4015%50%

SAPPHIRE-1

9"/24"7-965%

H, I, U*2

1-6/1-6/5-20

Genius24' long

200A C / F I

80%45%10%55%

AMETHYST-2

12"/30"8-1070%

H, 1x2, U*2

1-8/1-8/5-30

Genius30' long

250A C E / F G J

90%50%10%65%

RUBY-3

12"/32"23 (96hp)

80%100% H,1x3, U*5

1-10/1-10/5-40

Supra genius36' long

344All/all

100%100%

5%75%

SPELLS GAINED *

Very Young

Young

Sub-adult

Young Adult

Adult

Old

Very Old

Ancient

CRYSTAL TOPAZ1 Ist-D 1 Ist-D

1 Ist-MU

12nd-D

1 2nd-MU

1 3rd-D

1 Srd-MU

1 4th-D

14lh-D1 4th-MU

Ist-DIst-MU

2nd-DIst-MU2nd-D2nd-MU3rd-D2nd-MU3rd-D3rd-MU4th-D3rd-MU4th-D4th-MU

EMERALDIst-DIst-MUIsi-DIst-MU

2nd-D2nd-MU2nd-D2nd-MU3rd-D

1 3rd-MU1 3rd-D1 3rd-MU1 4th-D1 4th-MU1 4th-D1 5th-MU

SAPPHIREIst-DIst-MUIst-DIst-MU2nd-D2nd-D

2 2nd-MU2 3rd-D

2 3rd-MU

2 4th-D

2 4th-MU

1 5th-D

AMETHYST2 Ist-D1 Ist-MU1 2nd-D2 2nd-MU

2 3rd-D1 3rd-MU1 3rd-MU2 4th-D2 4th-MU1 5th-D2 5th-MU1 5th-D2 6th-D

2 6th-MU

RUBY*•

» — "1 Ist-D" means one first-level druid spell; "2 3rd-MU" means two third-level magic-user spells, etc.** — Sardior, the Ruby Dragon, has 3 each of both druid and magic-user spells of levels 1-7, and has spell books listing

all the magic-user spells of those levels.It is assumed that since dragons' MU spells are of a special, verbal-only kind, so also are the neutral dragons' druid

spells of a special kind, actuned to their natures, and not requiring mistletoe or other material or somatic components.

When directed against living creatures, the breath will causeevery creature in its path (3" long cone with l"base) to lose 7-12strength points due to dehydration. After being dehydrated by atopaz dragon, a creature must be nursed back to health carefully.Affected creatures will regain dieir strength at the rate of one-half point per day with adequate care and rest, A successful sav-ing throw reduces damage to 1-6 strength points drained. Char-acters with a constitution of more man 15 may recover 1 strengthpoint per day after 6 days. Curative spells will not negate theeffects of this dehydration.

Any creature reduced to a strength of less than 3 will lapse intoa coma, and will die in 3-12 turns unless a strength spell or araise dead spell is cast on him. These spells will not cure theindividual of his dehydration, however, nor help him recover hisstrength, but will only let him pass into normal sleep for 4-24turns. Any creature reduced to zero strength points is killedinstantly.

EMERALD DRAGONSEmerald dragons make their homes in extinct or dormant vol-

canoes. Twice per day they can use a keening sort of voice(breath) weapon which will set up a sonic vibration, knockingall affected creatures within hearing distance unconscious for 10-60 rounds. Those who make a saving throw vs. breath weaponare deafened for 10-60 rounds.

VOL. in

The emerald dragon is a beautiful creature whose scaly hideseems to be in constant motion due to the many shades of greenon the body. The interplay of the various shades can be very dis-tracting to an observer, and the emerald dragon knows how toundulate its body to create a hypnotic effect on those it is parlay-ing with, dulling the observer's reactions. Thus, after the firstthree rounds of a peaceable encounter with this sort of dragon,the dragon is able to attack (if it deems it necessary or wishes to)with complete surprise.

SAPPHIRE DRAGONSSapphire dragons make their lairs in deep underground ca-

verns, avoiding inhabited places where ores, dwarves, etc., live.Twice per day the sapphire dragon can set up a sonic vibrationby its keening wail, which disintegrates a number of hit pointsequal to the number of hit points the dragon has. Creatures notkilled outright by loss of hit points would survive, but withweapons, armor and clothing totally disintegrated. Magicalitems get a saving throw.

Sapphire dragons can be occasionally mistaken (on sight) foryoung blue dragons, although an adventurer who has encoun-tered blue dragons before sometimes realize his mistake if he hasreason to recall that blue dragons prefer arid environments,while sapphire dragons are liable to be found in caverns in anyclimate. (Continued on next page)

37

AMETHYST DRAGONSAmethyst dragons love to dwell near isolated highland tarns.

Twice per day, the amethyst dragon can shriek, with the sameeffects as a banshee.

Amethyst dragons are a sparkling lavender in color.

SARDIOR. THE RUBY DRAGONFinally, we come to the Ruby Dragon. This is not a breed of

dragon, but a unique individual. Sardior the Ruby Dragon is thePrince of Neutral Dragons. He dwells in a magical castle thatroams the night sky, high up in the atmosphere. He keeps hiscastle moving so that it is always in the earth's shadow. Often,when Sardior's castle is sighted, sages think they are seeing areddish star making unusual conjunctions with other stars in thenight sky.

Sardior keeps a court of five thanes, one each of the variousbreeds of neutral dragons. They are: Hrodel (a female crystaldragon), who has the psionic disciplines of empathy and invisi-bility; Tithonnas (a male topaz dragon), who has the disciplinesof clairaudience, clairvoyance, and sensitivity to psychic impres-sions; Smargad (a male emerald dragon), who has domination,hypnosis, and teleportation; Charstmma (a female sapphiredragon), who has ceil adjustment, ESP, suspend animation, andetherealness; and Aleithitithos (a male amethyst dragon), who

has detection of good/evil, detection of magic, object reading,energy control, and dimension walk.

Occasionally (10% of the time), one of these dragons will roamthe earth without Sardior and the other thanes. If encountered,the thane may reward beings that find favor with it, usually inthe form of gems, but sometimes in the granting of a boon.

All of Sardior's thanes are huge, ancient dragons. It must beremembered, of course, that Sardior and company are a stay-at-home lot, not given much to interfering with others' business.All the neutral dragons honor Sardior, but being what they are,his sovereignty does not much affect their daily lives of treasure-mongering. Al! are agreed, however, that Sardior is the most bril-liant conversationalist and raconteur of all dragons.

Sardior has two breath weapons, both of which he can employtwice per day: a shriek {like an amethyst dragon) or a dazzlingcloud (like a crystal dragon). He has a ruddy appearance, but hishandsome features and general grace ensure that only a veryinexperienced dragon-hunter would mistake him for a reddragon.

So much for neutral dragons. Put one of these in your cam-paign, and listen to the music of agonizing wails when yourhardened dragon-slayers encounter something that they've neverheard of before. (Chortle, chortle!) After all, keeping them ontheir toes is what makes for exciting play.

, _

Dragon

Hatching is onlythe beginningRaising a baby dragonby Colleen A. Bishop

All right, so your party has obtained a dragon egg. What arethey going to do with it? (Chorus: Sell it in the city!)

Disposing of an egg in such a fashion ia a fine choice, espe-cially if the city is only a day or two away. But if travel time willbe a week or more, that egg just might hatch enroute . . .

I. Chance of hatching: The chance of a dragon egg hatchingdepends first on the age of the egg. This is fairly easy todetermine:

Table 1

Dieroll

1234

Age of eggNewly laid (1-2 wks)Young egg (3-5 wks)Developing (6-8 wks)Mature egg (9-10 wks)

Conditionof eggshell

Soft, rubberySomewhat softMedium hardHard, leathery

Basechance to

hatch0%

20%50%80%

Of course, jostling an egg (such as during travel) may affect itsdate of hatching. To reflect this, add a 5% chance per week(cumulative) to the base chance of hatching given in the abovetable. Also add to the base chance a 10% chance of hatching perweek (cumulative) due to aging which has taken place since theegg was encountered. For example, a developing egg (6-8 weeksold, 50% base chance of hatching) will have a 65% chance ofhatching after being transported for one week (50% plus 10% for

30

From issue #50, June 1981additional aging plus 5% for being transported), an 80% chanceof hatching after two weeks on the road, and a 95% chance afterthree weeks.

Hatching of the egg, once it is determined that it is time forthe blessed event to occur, takes approximately one hour. Theegg will begin to quiver, and as the emergence of the dragonbecomes more imminent, the egg will violently rock back andforth and From side to side. At the end of the hour, the shell willsuddenly part, and out will tumble a baby dragon. Note: anydragon egg (except a white dragon egg) subjected to coldtemperatures for longer than a few minutes, or kept in vacuumor stasis (such as inside a bag of holding) for any length of timeat all, will be destroyed, becoming hard and shriveled up, andthe creature inside will die (with no possibility of revival orresurrection).

II. Size and appearance of the newborn dragon: Dragonshatching from relatively immature eggs will tend to be smallerthan those hatching from more mature eggs. Immature new-borns also have a higher mortality rate:

Table 2Age of eggat hatching

1-2 wks3-5 wks6-8 wks

9-10 wks

Chance ofsurvival

30%70%85%99%

Size ofbaby dragon

SmallSmall

AverageHuge

BEST OF DRAGON

Hit dice of the baby dragon are calculated as in the MonsterManual, starting as a very young (1-5 years old) dragon. It will"graduate" to a young dragon on its 6th birthday, to a sub-adulton its 16th birthday, and so on.

Dragons wil l , of course, be of the same type (color) as theirparents.

III. Imprinting: Newborn dragons, like most relatively intelli-gent creatures, go through a period of "imprinting" shortly afterbirth. The newborn dragon will beome very attached to the firstcreature it sees after hatching. It will, not knowing any better,consider this creature to be "mother," and will follow its"mother" around to the best of its ability for its entire first yearof life. The baby dragon will also attempt to copy the actions ofits "mother" as closely as possible. Note: It is just as likely for amale character to be "mother" as it is for a female character. Itall depends on whom the dragon saw first.

IV. Abilities of baby dragons: During their first year, babydragons must learn to use the various special abilities which theymay possess, such as speaking, magic use, flight, and breathweapon. The normal attack mode of claw/claw/bite is instinc-tive and does not need to be learned.

Speech: There is a bonus of 35% to the chance of speakinglisted for the dragon type in the Monster Manual if "mother" iscapable of speech. If a baby dragon is capable of speech, it willbegin speaking after three weeks of life. If the dragon does beginto speak, it has a 20% chance of learning a second language (gen-erally the racial tongue of "mother"). Baby dragons will onlyspeak or understand any dragon language if it is taught to themby "mother" (and they are of sufficient intelligence to learn it),

Magic use: This obviously applies to speaking dragons only,since dragons' spells have no somatic or material components.There are certain bonuses (see Table 3) to the chance of spell use,depending on the character class of "mother."

Table 3

Character class of mother 'Magic-userIllusionist

DruidCleric

Spell-using paladinSpell-using ranger

Bonus to chance of spell use35%35%25%20%15%15%

1 — If "mother" is a multi-classed character falling into morethan one category, only one bonus (the highest of those whichapply) is gained.

IE a dragon is capable of spell use, it will be able to beginattempting such action at 6 weeks of age. The chance of success-fully attempting a spell improves with practice:

Table 4

Age of dragon6-10wksll-20wks21-30wks31-40wks41-52wks

Over 1 year

Chance of successfullyattempting spell

10%20%40%60%80%100%

Even if a spell is successfully cast, applicable saving throwsmay still prevent it from taking effect. Note: A dragon's possiblespelts are rolled randomly, unless "mother" is a magic-user andis attempting to teach certain spells to the dragon. Spell useremains as described in the Monster Manual.

Flight: All dragons possess the capability of flight, but theskill must be learned before the end of the dragon's 10th week oflife. The dragon must first be given the right idea. One of the

most effective ways to do this is to jump up and down, flappingone's arms. There is a 30% chance for each such attempt that thebaby dragon will catch on to the idea of flight; this chanceshould be checked after each attempt by "mother" to give theidea, until the dragon is determined to have caught on.

Once the baby dragon learns that it can fly, it must be encour-aged to practice. Baby dragons will be reluctant to practice (75%chance of refusing to practice when encouraged to do so; eachpractice-session attempt must take place no less than 6 hoursafter the previous one, and only two such attempts can be madeper day).

If a dragon does not practice flying 25 times before the end ofits 10th week of life, it will always remain a "clumsy flyer." Suchanimals will fly only to remove themselves from danger. Theymay fly into walls (15% chance whenever such an act is possible), .cannot usually brake in mid-flight (25% chance of doing so), andcannot turn in flight (25% chance of doing so). They must restfor 4 hours after an hour of flight, and are unable to engage innormal activities (certainly not fighting) during this rest period.

In contrast, normal flyers (non-clumsy) are only required torest for 1 hour after 20 hours of flight (cumulative) and mayengage in all normal activities (but still not including combat)during the rest period. All dragons brought up by other dragonswill be normal flyers.

Breath weapon; A dragon gains the capability of using itsbreath weapon at the age of 3 months. Again, the dragon mustbe given the idea. The method of achieving this is up to theDM's discretion, and may prove to be the funniest part of anadventure. The dragon has a 30% chance of getting the idea, andsuccessfully using its breath weapon, on each attempt made bythe teacher {"mother"). Such attempts may be made once a weekby the teacher until a successful discharge of the breath weaponis accomplished.

Once a dragon has used its breath weapon, it must rememberhow to do the same thing on each subsequent occasion (Table 5).Some dragons of more intelligent types will have a better chanceof remembering {Table 6). There is also a bonus of 1% to thechance of remembering for each time the dragon has previouslybeen successful, as well as a 5% bonus on any such attempt if"mother" is trying to help the dragon remember {by coughing,sneezing, or another such method).

Table 5

Age ofdragon

3 months4-6 months7-9 months

10-12 monthsOver 1 year

Table 6RaceBlackBlueBrass

BronzeCopper

Base chance ofremembering

breath weapontechnique

15%40%60%80%100%

Effect of weaponif successful

K effect« effectH effect

full effectfull effect

Bonus

+05%+05%+10%+05%

RaceGoldGreen

RedSilverWhite

Bonus+ 10%

+10%-05%

Any dragon under 1 year of age will attempt to use its breathweapon in any situation which seems threatening to it. Suchoccasions would include loud noises, people tripping, monstersappearing (but not necessarily attacking), and so forth. "Mother"is the only one who can curb this tendency in a baby dragon.After reaching 1 year of age, a dragon will have discovered thatthe use of its breath weapon should usually be limited to reallydangerous situations, and needs no further reminders of this fact.

V. Care: Baby dragons must be kept scrupulously clean, or adistinctive musky odor will linger in the air around the dragon

VOL. Ill 39

and in its wake. This odor will not vanish (or 2 days, and enablesalmost any creature with a nose to track the dragon and thosewho might be accompanying it. This odor will also spook mosthorses and mules (90% chance of such an occurrence the firsttime a particular scent is encountered).

VI. Feeding: A baby dragon will eat voraciously (or the first 6months of its life. If "mother" does not provide food, the babydragon will instinctively go hunting. If restrained from hunting,it will cry piteously with hunger and otherwise attempt to lurefood to itself.

Food is not difficult to obtain since dragons are omnivores andcan and will eat almost anything. Dead monsters make finedragon food. In a wilderness area, dragons will subsist by eatingleaves and branches from trees, uprooting grass and shrubs, anddigging for truffles. (DM's note: This foraging may leave a trailfor others to follow.)

VII. Behavior of baby dragons: A dragon, if it is treated wellduring its first year, wi l l remain loyal to "mother" for the rest ofits life. If "mother" dies, the dragon will continue to follow themember of the party most like itself in alignment until it reachesadulthood. If more than one party member fits this description,

the dragon will follow the one who seems most similar to"mother" in abilities and characteristics.

When it reaches adulthood, a "domesticated" dragon wi l l goto the wilds if "mother" ts no longer alive. There it will establisha lair and otherwise act like a dragon of its type.

If a dragon was not well treated during its infancy, it willattempt to slay "molher" during its second year of life, and ifpossible afterward (whether or noi the atiernpt succeeds) it willescape to the wilds. In any future encounters with humanoids, itwil l have an automatic -33% modifier on its reaction roll. If morethan half of the humanoids in any given encounter are of thesame race or abilities as "mother" was, the reaction roll will beat a modifier of -50%.

When not under "mother's" influence (which means acting inthe same alignment behavior as "mother"), a dragon will revertto its instinctive alignment. This includes looking for {andattempting to collect) treasure, as well as reactions to any wan-dering passers-by. A chaotic evil dragon will attempt to slay allbeings within reach; lawful evil dragons will tend to loudly crit-icize (at least) all beings nearby; neutral and chaotic good drag-ons will play harmless and sometimes seemingly purposelesspractical jokes; and lawful good dragons will converse or ptaywith all beings who seem friendly and of a similar alignment.

Self defensefor dragonsGive 'em a fighting chanceby Gregory Rihn From issue #50, June 1981

The dragon is nearly everyone's favorite monster. There issomething numinous in the name and the image: sagacious,fierce, terrible in its jaws and claws, soaring aloft on great pin-ions, breathing great gouts of flame and smoke. If such a crea-ture existed in nature, even without fiery breath, its sue,strength, mobility, and intelligence would make it a formidablefoe of and competitor with mankind — our advantage lying onlyin numbers and a comparatively rapid rate of reproduction.

But the dragon is an endangered species. How can this be? Justas the dragon is the favorite pet of the Dungeon Master, it is thefavored prey of the adventurers. Is the castle on the crag hauntedby a vampire? The characters shudder and dare to approach thecrag only with trepidation. Do the depths of the caves hold de-mons? Let's wait until we're a bit more skilled. , , . But let wordget out that a dragon lurks or lairs in the vicinity, and everycharacter within earshot drops everything else and begins sharp-ening his sword. Hirelings of every stamp are readily boughtwith the promise of sharing in the dragon's enormous hoard.When the party has equipped itself with control potions, all themagic that can be begged, borrowed, or stolen, and pack mulesto ferry back the loot, it's hi-ho and off they go dragon hunting.

Why? Because no other monster holds the potential of suchgreat gain at such comparatively low risk.

Yes, I said low risk. What other monster is liable to be foundsleeping obliviously in his den? What other creature can be soeasily subdued and then sold on the open market? And evendead, the dragon alone is worth a sizable ransom; its hide can besold for armor, its teeth for ornament, its other parts for potions.All other creatures with spell-using or magic-like capabilities

40

have them pretty uniformly throughout the type, A dragon withno spell ability has only one other major weapon: its breath,which works only three times per day. The claws of even thelargest gold dragon are no more formidable than swords, andmany other creatures can approach the damage of a dragon'sbite, or possess abilities like paralyzaiion or life-draining that arecontinually reusable.

The result is that few dragons are able to stand up to the in-variably large and well-equipped parties that are thrown againstthem, A carefully dispersed party can avoid the blasts of breathweapon with a fair chance of survival by surrounding the dragonand indicting unacceptable damage on the beast's flanks andtail. Even if the dragon were guaranteed of killing an adventurerwith each bite, a large party would still overwhelm it — espe-cially i( the dragon was awakened from sleep by one or moreheavy-damage spells hitting home.

The dragon really ought to be more formidable in melee, averitable whirlwind of destruction, the likes of which shouldrightly frighten anyone in possession of all his wits.

The damage done by dragon claws is far too slight for any-thing except small representatives of the species. An average-sized dragon ought to do twice as much damage as specified, anda huge dragon perhaps three limes as much. This would reflectthe enormous strength these creatures possess. The smallestdragon type, the white, averages 24 feet in length. Even if weassume that half of the dragon's length is made up of neck andtail, the dragon should still have as much mass as a large ele-phant. Yet these creatures have the muscular strength to fly!Even if is is assumed that the dragon's power of f l ight is due to

BEST OF DRAGON

an inborn magical power, akin to the breath weapon, a creatureof that size must be exceptionally strong to be able to move withany speed. Therefore, a dragon ought Co have at least the muscu-lar strength of a comparably sized giant, if not more. Remember,a giant cannot fly by muscular strength alone, and if giants hadstrength in human terms in proportion to their size, they wouldnot even be able to stand and support their huge frames.

Further, dragons have other assets that are not considered incombat. Unlike reptiles or saurians, dragons are hexapedal, orsix-limbed, with the "extra" pair of limbs being wings. Otherflying creatures — birds, bats, and the extinct pterosaurs — havewings made out of modified forelimbs.

Let us assume that, considering neck and tail, a dragon mighthave a wingspread approximately equal to its overall length. A24-foot-long dragon would therefore have a 12-foot wing oneither side. These wings are often thought of as bat-like, a mem-branous structure supported on a frame of modified wing andhand bones, (See the Monster Manual illustrations of the white,silver, and green dragons, and the dragonne.) There is often a"ihumb" claw at the "hand" joint. The dragon Smaug, as pic-tured in the television version of The Hobbit, had a well devel-oped thumb and fingers at the wing-hand, similar to bats andflying dinosaurs. I personally prefer this idea.

The point of this discourse on wings is this; If you have evertried to corral a winged creature, a chicken, or, worse yet, a largegoose, you know that it strikes out with its wings. Roger Caras,in his book Dangerous To Man, reports several instances of fatalinjuries being inflicted by the blows of a swan's wings. There-fore, those characters standing to the sides of the dragon mustdare the sweep of the dragon's wings. Those in front and nearthe center of ihe wing would be in danger of being struck by thewing-claws. A wing buffet should do some damage, mainly of abruising, battering type, tending to throw adventurers away fromthe dragon, and this should amount to about one-third of thedragon's normal claw damage. If the target is within range of thewing-claw, add an extra "to hit" roll for the dragon, and if theresult is a hit , add the appropriate extra damage, ranging from1-2 points for a small dragon to perhaps 1-10 fora big one.

An intelligent dragon might use its wings in more than onemanner. A dragon with a gaseous breath weapon could use thesweep of its wings to fan the gas into every corner of its lair, Adragon that has started a fire with its breath could fan the flamesinto a roaring conflagration. A prudent dragon might cover thefloor of its den with ice crystals; sand, ash, or other loose mate-rial which could be whipped into a blinding, slinging storm atthe onset of an attack.

On the subject of limbs, what about a dragon's hind feet?Surely any dragon is intelligent enough to kick out at somethingattacking its f lank, especially if the front end is otherwiseengaged. Allow one foot stamp by one of a dragon's hind feet inevery other set of attacks. (The dragon, if not actually airborne,has to stand on at least one foot at all times, although it mightbe supported by its wings to some degree. This should do thesame damage as the foreclaws, but at -2 to hit . If the dragon werefor some reason to engage in close combat with some creaturenearly its own size, such as a giant, then the dragon might wellemploy both rear claws at once, in the manner of some great cats.In such attacks, the animal attempts to get the throat of its adver-sary in its own jaws, hooks its claws into the shoulders of theopponent, and then {in a dragon's case, with the aid of wings forlift and balance) brings the rear claws up to thrust into the mid-section of the victim and rake downward to disembowel theenemy. This is the only situation in which a dragon might rea-sonably be expected to employ both rear claws at the same time.

Finally, there is the tail. Many dinosaurs and present-day croc-odiles and alligators use their powerful tails as weapons. Tosimulate this, dragons are assigned different types of tails, inmuch the same way that breath weapons are differentiated.White and silver dragons have a relatively short, thick tail, witha ridge of horny plates, that might give the creature better trac-tion when climbing on ice. It strikes against armor as a mace.The traditional, fire-breathing dragons, the red and the gold.

have a traditional dragon's tail, long and tipped with a spadelikeblade. It strikes as a sword. Green and brass dragons have a tailof medium length, lipped with spikes similar to those of a stego-saur. It strikes as a flail. Black and copper dragons have a verylong, whiplash-like tail that strikes as a dagger. And, the blueand the bronze have a snakelike, relatively long, prehensile tail,which does damage through constriction.

Recommended damage by tail type:Type of tail Small Average HugePlated 1-8 2-16 3-24Spiked 2-12 4-24 6-36Spade 1-10 2-20 3-30Whiplash 1-8 2-16 3-24Constrictor 2-12 4-24 6-36

The dragon could lash with its tail once per set of attacks,striking either to the left or to the right, but not to both sides atonce. A short tail, representing about one quarter of a dragon'soverall length, might strike only through an arc of 60 degrees; amedium-length tail, about one third of the dragon's length,through 90 degrees; a long tail, representing one third plus anadditional one eighth of length, through an arc of 120 degrees;and a very long tail, going up to one third plus an additionalone quarter of the dragon's full length, might strike through anarc of 180 degrees, centering at the base of the tail. The differenceis because the shorter tails are thicker and less flexible,

Now, having given the dragon an assist in self-defense, let'slook at revised attack figures for a white dragon:

A (tack type and no.2 claws1 bite2 wing buffets(2 wing claws)Foot stamp (one every other time)Tail lash

The modifications and additions described in this article aresuggested to accurately reflect the fearsome fighters that dragonsshould be, without unreasonable additions of powers or hit dice.Instead, most of what is proposed here can be logically extrapo-lated from the common assumptions about dragonkind. Recallthe famous painting of St. George and the Dragon, showing thepitifully small dragon fighting off St. George with both foreclaws and hind claws, wings outspread, and with the end of itstail wrapped around the saint's lance, which is piercing the crea-ture's chest. Further, these "extra" tactics would likely be usedonly when the dragon is trapped and fighting in its lair. It onlymakes sense that a creature able to fly, in open terrain, wouldprefer to attack from the air, not exposing itself to close assaults.

"Dirty tricks" for dragonsIt is debatable whether or not dragons' forepaws are prehensile

— that is, are they sufficiently flexible and dextrous to permit thedragon to grasp things and handle small objects with some ease?If so, this opens up whole new possibilities. The dragon culturehas never been one of tool-users, but of robbers and predators,preferring to take or steal rather than forge or build. But thatdoesn't mean that a dragon could not or would not learn to useimplements. Monsters should make use of the magic they guardwhenever this is feasible. A magic ring might fit on a giant's f in-ger, so why not on a dragon's claw? Why wouldn't a spell-usingdragon be enough of a magic-user to employ a wand or staff?

As a final word, I strongly urge that, where one is dealing witha more intelligent dragon, the 50% bite-or-breath rule bedropped. Instead, a canny dragon ought to know when andwhen not to expend its breath weapon.

Slaying a dragon should be a feat that even hardened adven-turers would boast of, and would be proud to tell their grand-children about. So make it a tough and memorable experience,not just an excuse for another notch in one's sword.

Small1-4

2-161-21-21-41-8

Average2-8

2-161-31-S2-8

2-16

Huge3-122-162-42-4

3-123-24

VOL. HI 41

Thefaerie dragonMagical and mischievousby Brian JaegerFREQUENCY: Very rareNO. APPEARING: 1-6ARMOR CLASS: 5 (/ when invisible)MOVE: 6" 124'HIT DICE: See below% IN LAIR: 25%TREASURE TYPE: S, T, V in lairNO. OF ATTACKS: IDAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-2SPECIAL ATTACKS: Breath weapon,

magic useSPECIAL DEFENSES: InvisiblityMAGIC RESISTANCE: See belowINTELLIGENCE: High to geniusALIGNMENT: Chaotic goodSIZE: S (1-1%' long)PSION 1C ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: JVi/CHANCE OF:

Speaking: 90%Magic use: 100%Sleeping: 40%

This chaotic offshoot of the pseudo-dragon lives in peaceful, tangled forestsin all climes, often with a group of spritesor pixies.

Faerie dragons can become invisible atwill. They are able to attack or employmagic or breath weapons when invisible.They attack as 4 HD monsters, biting forI -2 points of damage. However, the faeriedragon is much more likely to use itsbreath weapon of "euphoria gas." Thecreature expels the gas in a two-foot-diameter spherical cloud — just enoughto give the target a good faceful. A victimfailing to make his saving throw vs.breath weapon will wander blissfullyabout for 3-12 rounds, during which timehe will be unable to attack and will havean effective armor class two places worsethan actual. The victim will be able tokeep his mind on the situation and thesurroundings, as long as he makes a sav-ing throw of intelligence or less on d20during each round the effect of [he gaslasts. As soon as a victim fails an intelli-gence saving throw, he will completelylose interest in the matters at hand, indi-cating that the gas has had its maximum"euphoria" effect.

The faerie dragon will never attackdirectly by any means unless cornered or

42

defending its lair. However, the faeriedragon will use its magic at any oppor-tunity to wreak mischief on passers-by.Most (65%) faerie dragons will employmagic-user spells as per a magic-user ofthe level indicated on the accompanyingchart; some (35%) will use druid spells.All their spells are chosen solely for theirmischief potential. Offensive or defensivespells will never be learned unless theparticular faerie dragon has thought upan exquisite prank using some such spell.All faerie dragons will leam the spellswater breathing and legend lore at thefirst opportunity. Though many faeriedragon pranks are spur-of-the-momentaffairs, months of preparation often gointo a single grand practical joke.

Faerie dragons enjoy swimming anddiving. In flight, they can hover, and aremaneuverability class A. They eat fruits,roots, tubers, nuts, honey, and grains, andhave been known to go to great lengths toget a fresh apple pie.

All faerie dragons can communicatetelepathically with one another at a dis-tance of up [o two miles. They speaktheir own language and their alignmenttongue, plus the languages of sprites, pix-ies, elves, and the birds and animals intheir area. They frequently use forestcreatures to help them in their pranks.

Description: Faerie dragons appear asthin, miniature dragons with long, pre-hensile tails, butterfly wings, and widesmiles. Their colors range through thespectrum, from red for the very young topurple for ancient individuals, as shownon the accompanying chart. Females'hides shine with a golden tinge in thesunlight, while males have a silver tinge.

Spell lists: Suggested spells for faerie

Agelevel

12345678

From issue #62, June 1982

dragons are given below. The DungeonMaster should keep in mind that spellchoice is bounded only by the imagina-tion of the possible pranks, and by thefact that a faerie dragon prank will neverhave damage to its victims as its aim.

Magic-user spells1st level: dancing lights, message, sleep,

unseen servant, ventriloquism2nd level: audible glamer, forget, levi-

tate, magic mouth, pyrotechnics3rd level: fly, phantasmal force, slow,

suggestion, water breathing4th level: fire charm, fumble, halluci-

natory terrain, polymorph other, poiy-morph self

5th level: distance distortion, Morden-kainen's faithful hound, telekinesis,transmute rock to mud, wall of force

6th level: control weather, legend lore,project image

7th level: limited wish, simulacrum8th level: Otto's irresistible dance

Druid spells1st level: animal friendship, entangle,

faerie fire, pass without trace, speak withanimals

2nd level: charm person or mammal,create water, obscurement, trip, warpwood

3rd level: plant growth, pyrotechnics,stone shape, water breathing

4th level: animal summoning I, callwoodland beings, control temperature Iffradius, speak with plants

5th level: animal growth, controlwinds, transmute rock to mud

6th level: transport via plants, weathersummoning

7th level: animate rock

H.P.1-23-45-67-8

9-1011-1213-1415-16

Agevery young

youngsub-adult

young adultadultold

very oldancient

Colorred

red-orangeorangeyellowgreen

blue-greenblue

purple

Magicres.12%24%36%48%60%72%84%96%

M-Ulevel

2468

10121416

Druidlevel

235689

1112

BEST OF DRAGON

Two tough foes:by Pat Reinken

Legends say that Ahi and Rahab are[wins — that the steel dragon and thegrey dragon emerged from the same egg,but for unknown reasons grew up tobecome exact opposites. They apparentlyare indeed from the same hatch, and theyare both known to be very powerful

(some say that if they were to fight eachother, neither one would survive), but thetruth of their origin is lost in antiquity.This may be just as well, for these twodragons are not known for their hospital-ity and are said to not look kindly ontrespassers. . . . From issue #62, June 1982

One that's very, very goodSTEEL DRAGON

(Draco Ferrosus Carbo)

FREQUENCY: Very rareNO. APPEARING: /ARMOR CLASS: -2MOVEMENT: 9" 148"HIT DICE: 12 (96 hit points)% IN LAIR: 85%TREASURE TYPE: H, S, TNO. OF ATTACKS: 3DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/3-24SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: GeniusALIGNMENT: Lawful goodSIZE: L (60' long)PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

CHANCE OF:Speaking: 100%Magic Use: 100%Sleeping: 15%

Ahi, the steel dragon, is a loner. Helives high in the uppermost atmosphereof the Prime Material Plane in a castlethat circles the earth on the west wind.Although he is lawful good, Ahi will nothesitate to properly deal with trespassersand other intruders into his home. Atregular intervals, the steel dragon visitsthe earth to feed and to gather small trea-sures from any evil characters he finds.

The steel dragon can attack with theusual claw/bite routine of other dragonsor with one of three breath weapons: acloud (2" x 2" x y>) of poison vapor thatcauses 2-12 hit points of damage and

unconsciousness for 2-4 rounds; a cloud(same size) of scalding water vapor thatcauses 6-36 points of damage and blindsfor two rounds; or a cone of vapor 6" long(base diameter 2") that causes affectedcreatures to assume gaseous form for 5-10rounds.

Ahi can cast any magic-user spell offirst through sixth level, but can employonly two spells per day. The steel dragoncan make himself gaseous anytime he sodesires, and will use this ability in orderto get behind an opponent. In addition tothis, Ahi's normal appearance to charac-ters and other creatures is as a shifting,cloudy, dragon-shaped mass of vapor.Because of this appearance, any opponentattacking the steel dragon with a weaponwill always miss on his first attempt tohit.

and one that's just the oppositeGREY DRAGON

(Draco Nox Dwbolus)

FREQUENCY: Very rareNO. APPEARING: /ARMOR CLASS: -5 (-2)MOVE: l5'/24"HIT DICE: 12 (96 hit points)% IN LAIR: 100%TREASURE TYPE: H, S, T, UNO. OF ATTACKS: 5DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-811-81

1-4/1-4/5-40SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: LowALIGNMENT: Chaotic evilSIZE: L (4S1 long)PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: NitCHANCE OF:

Speaking: 25%Magic Use: 75%Sleeping: 10%

VOL in

The grey dragon, Rahab, is hated bydragons as much as he is haled by allother creatures. The only living thingsaround him are the men, dwarves, andgoblins he has enslaved. He lives deep ina cavern in a remote mountain range andnever ventures forth from it.

The grey dragon attacks with the usualclaw/claw/bite routine but gels two addi-lional swings with his claws because ofhis iremendous speed. However, the latieriwo claw aitacks are made at -1 "to hit"and do only 1 -4 points of damage if theysucceed.

Rahab's breath weapon is a gas cloudthat affects all viciims within iis bounda-ries (2" * 2" x 3") as a super-powerfulcharm spell. Affecied characters or crea-tures (those who fail their saving throwvs. breaih weapon) will never againaitack Rahab or seek to do him harm foras long as they live, or until ihe effeci ofthe breath weapon is negated by a removecurse spell.

Those who enier ihe dragon's cavern

will find noihing bui a large mound ofblackness, for Rahab is hidden by a formof continual darkness. The spell is notaffected by anyihing except continuallight, which in ihe presence of the greydragon will act as a light spell. In thedarkness, Rahab has an armor class of -5.If ihe darkness is temporarily alleviatedby the application of continual light, thedragon's armor class worsens to -2.

If adversaries come close enough lo thedragon, or if Rahab advances loward hisfoes, the grey dragon may be able toenvelop his opponents in this blackness,effeciively blinding them. If he managesto do this, Rahab receives a +5 bonus "tohit" on each character so affected. Thedragon's own vision is sufficient to seeunder the darkness. The edge of the areaof darkness is approximately three feetaway from [he dragon and surrounds himentirely.

The grey dragon can cast two magic-user spells per day, but can use no spell ofhigher than third level.

43

Evil dragonsmake good armorHides with built-in bonusesby Roger Moore

In an era long past, an intrepid dragon-hunter and his wizard friend discoveredthat the hide of an evil dragon, if prop-erly prepared, could be cut and formedinto a suit of armor that provides protec-tion against attack forms resembling thebreath weapon of the dragon from whichit was made.

To begin the process, an evil dragon(white, black,Ted, blue, or green) of atleast adult age must be killed, without theuse of magic and preferably by means ofrepeated attacks with blunt weapons.Even a single magical attack directedagainst a dragon, whether or not the spellcasting succeeds and whether or not thespell causes damage to the dragon, willruin the protective potential of the crea-ture's hide and make later attempts atenchantment ineffective. If the dragon ishit with edged weapons, there is a chancethe hide will be cut and marred to theextent that it becomes unusable as armor.For each successful hit on the dragonwith an edged weapon (regardless of theamount of damage done), add 5% to thechance of the hide being damaged beyonduse. (Thus, if a dragon takes 20 hits fromedged weapons, there is no chance thatthe hide will be thereafter usable asarmor.) If and when the dragon is killed,the chance that the hide is spoiled mustbe exceeded on a roll of d% in order forthe armor-making process to continue.

The hide must be removed with care,and at this juncture a very sharp edgedweapon is essential to trim the hide ascleanly and efficiently as possible. Theinstrument must be able to be controlledwith precision, which means it can't beany larger than a standard dagger blade.If the character doing the skinning uses anormal (non-magical) blade, there is 30%chance that, despite his best efforts, thehide will not separate cleanly from thebody and the resulting scraps of dragon-skin will be unusable as armor. If anenchanted blade is employed, the chanceof failure at this step of the processdecreases by 10% for each "plus" of theinstrument; thus, with any blade of +3 orgreater, successful skinning is assured.

Once the hide has been removed and

44

transported to civilization (assuming thedragon wasn't killed in the villagesquare), the services of skilled armorers,leather-workers, and tailors must beemployed to fashion the hide into armor.This process takes 21-30 days for each suitof armor, and prices for the needed ser-vices will be three times the standard rate.Only one set of armor may be fashionedfrom the hide of a single dragon.

The resulting suit of armor is equiv-alent to normal scale mail in armor class(6), maximum movement rate (6"), andbulkiness (fairly bulky). It weighs about30 pounds, compared to 40 pounds fornormal scale mail. The non-enchantedarmor can be worn "as is," but if the non-magical armor is hit even once by anedged weapon, it will not be able to beenchanted after that.

Enchanting the armor must be done bya magic-user of 16th level or higher, whowill insist on a generous payment in goldpieces, or the promise (and proof) of someother benefit that might be offered. Atleast half of the payment must be sup-plied in advance, with the rest due whenthe armor is delivered.

The magic-user must first successfullycast enchant an item on the armor, andthen apply a second spell (which variesdepending on the armor type) to act as acatalyst, triggering the armor's capabilityto resist a particular attack form. Thissecond spell must be applied {the castingmust have been begun) within 12 hoursafter the completion of enchant an item.If the magicking process fails, eitherbecause the casting of enchant an item isunsuccessful or because the second spellis not applied within the required time,the magic-user is under no obligation tomake another attempt free of charge.

The second step in the process dependson the color of dragon hide used. To fin-ish white dragon armor, an ice stormspell must be cast on the hide; for blackdragon armor, the finished hide must beimmersed in acid for 13-24 (dl2 + 12)hours; to complete green dragon armor, astinking cloud spell must be cast on(around) the hide; for blue dragon armor,a shocking grasp spell, and for red

From issue #62, June 1982

dragon armor, burning hands. None ofthese spells or substances will damage thehide they are applied to; their function isto activate the innate resistance in thehide which has been "brought to the sur-face" by the enchant an item spell.

When the enchantment is complete, thearmor will be essentially equivalent to+7 scale mail: armor class 5, movementrate 9", weight 15 pounds. In addition,each armor type/color affords the wearerresistance or immunity to a particularattack form. The special properties ofeach type are:

White dragon armor — Resistanceagainst white dragon breath, winter wolfbreath, cone of cold spell, and otherattack forms involving cold, ice or frost.

Black dragon armor — Resistanceagainst black dragon breath, giant slugspittle, anhkheg digestive acid, and otherattack forms using acid or acid-likeeffects.

Green dragon armor — Resistanceagainst green dragon breath, iron golembreath, cloudkill spell, and other attackforms using poisonous gases.

Blue dragon armor — Resistanceagainst blue dragon breath, lightningbolt spell, storm giant's lightning attack,and other sorts of natural or artificial(including magical) lightning orelectricity.

Red dragon armor — Resistanceagainst red dragon breath, fireball spell,and other attacks using heat or fire.

"Resistance" includes these benefits:The wearer of the armor gains +1 on allsaving throws against the specified attackform. The wearer is unaffected by anyattack of the specified type that does 6points of damage or less in a round. In allcases, the wearer is entitled to a -1 modi-fier on each and every damage die rolled(with a minimum of 1 point of damageper die). Jf the application of this modi-fier reduces damage taken in a round to 6points or less, the wearer takes no damage(as stipulated above).

Although these suits of armor comefrom evil dragons, clerics and fighter-class types of all alignments may wearthem.

BEST OF DRAGON

III. Playingwith class

We don't like to talk about it too much, but it's a fact that you can playthe D&D® game or the AD&rD™ game for an entire lifetime without everneeding to open the cover of a single issue of DRAGON® Magazine.

Gasp! Horrors! What is he saying? Well, the point is this: The rulebooks for those games are very complete. The games wouldn't be as pop-ular as they are if you had to buy a magazine every month to get every-thing you needed to be able to play. But as complete as those rules are,they are also so complex that they can't possibly be all-encompassing orall-satisfying. Or, to adapt a quotation from a pretty good writer namedMark Twain, Difference of opinion is what makes it possible for role-playing game magazines to exist. Anyone who gets into a game deeplyenough and thinks about it long enough and hard enough forms anindividual set of opinions on how a certain slice of the rules can be made"better." Some of the best writing we've run across using this approach iscontained in the following section on AD&D player character classes.

The articles run the gamut from a brief glimpse at the thief's specialabilities to a complete reconstruction of the bard class; from an essay onhow to "psychologically play" the paladin to a specific, largely statisticallook at how the monk could be redesigned; from ideas on how to give thedruid more depth to some official words from E. Gary Gygax on cantripsand spell books, designed to fill some voids in the rules concerningmagic-users and illusionists. What they all intend to do, in one way oranother, is to help the whole game system — and the people who enjoy it— benefit by adding more depth, or more detail, or more realism to oneof the system's component parts. As is almost always the case with themagazine's offerings, these articles — with the exception of Mr. Gygax'swords — are suggestions only. They do not represent official rule addi-tions or changes (again, except for the material on cantrips and spellbooks, which will probably appear in future rule books in essentially thesame form). But you may find them appealing enough to give them a tryin the friendly confines of your gaming group. Do they upset the balanceof the game? That's not a yes-or-no question; the answer depends on howyou use them, and how well they fit in with the one-of-a-kind AD&Dgame that is embodied in the world your characters are a part of. Youdon't need these articles, but we think you'll like 'em.

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The thief: a special lookExamining abilities, old and newby Lenard Lakofka

The [hief character is more oftenabused by players than underrated,though some players miss capabilitiesthat thieves should have. The easiest wayto discuss a thief is to look at his specialabilities.

How often does a thief pick pockets'? Ihad a thief progress to 16th level over atwo-year period, and in all that time hepicked one pocket. Picking a pocket isbest done just as an assassin plans a kill-ing. The two acts have a great deal incommon. If you tell a player, "A drunk isapproaching and bumps into you as hepasses," or some such statement, it will beobvious to all the players what has likelyoccurred. On the other hand, if you allowthe thief to pick his time of attack withsome real forethought, it will be very dif-ficult for the victim to realize when hispocket was picked.

To encourage pickpocket ing, it is verywise to have many encounters for theparly in a town. Mention every person theparty passes on the street if the town issmall. In a town with a thousand or morepersons there will be a number of crowdsencountered, or people will be passedduring almost every round of movement.Such situations are a thief's bread andbutter, A good thief will not attempt topick up something if he will stand out.This should be obvious from the victim'spoint of view as well. Allow more expe-rienced thieves, whom player charactermight run into, to convey this concept(for a price) if your players have notalready caught on to it.

Thieves also enjoy slipping in and outof camps to pick up things. A sleeping

Dragon

From issue #47, March 1981

46

victim can add as much as 100% to athief's chance of stealing something. Agood thief will try to sneak past an out-post or lookout to get into a camp occu-pied by sleeping or intoxicated residents.A good thief will rarely kill the guardunless he has to.

One of the most important functions ofa thief — mapping — is not even men-tioned in the Players Handbook. Theability to sneak into a place and get the"lay of the land" is very important to anyparty. It is most valuable when a buildingis the subject of the party's eventualattack. However, the DM should be surethat a thief takes the opportunity to drawa map promptly. If the thief must do itfrom memory after the investigation, themap will likely be inaccurate. Also, theDM must require some reasonable intel-ligence on the part of the thief to make agood map. Stupid thieves (intelligence of7 or less) might not even know how toread, much less write or draw accurately.

On the Intelligence Table (PH, p. 10)we can see that those of intelligence 7 orless can learn only one language over andabove their m i n i m u m number. Intelli-gence can be used — for all characters —to determine the chance to be able to readand write any and all languages known.Multiply intelligence by 12 to yield a per-centage chance that a character of anyclass will know how to read and write.Optionally, wisdom may be added to thischance (cumulative), but at the lower rateof 3% per point of wisdom. This methodensures that most characters can read andwrite, but not all.

Thieves (or any other characters, forthat matter) who fail to map as they go,or at least to pause during the investiga-tion to map from time to lime, should beforced to draw a map later from memory.If a single player is making the map, forgame purposes, allow no one else who ispreseni to make a map. This is especiallyimporiam if any player has no characteron the mapping expedition. A good partywill rarely send the thief on a mappingforay alone. They will send along one ortwo back-up characters who can help ifthings go wrong,

Opening locks, as we all know, is amatter of "cleverness, plus knowledgeand study of such items" (PH, p. 27).Again, siupid ihieves could be penalized,but likely that would be going too far andplayers would rebel. However, real intel-ligence does come into play on puzzle

locks and complex closures. Nothing for-bids the inclusion of "complex locks" inaddition to the run-of-the-mill, crudelock the thief will run into most of thetime. "Complex locks" can subtract someset amount from the thief's percentagechance to open the lock, cutting his pros-pects by one third, one half, two thirds oreven more for truly unusual, challengingclosures. Such complex locks should beexpensive and rare. Picking a complexlock (or an ordinary one) in a stress situa-tion (practice does not count) can give athief actual experience, if the DM choosesto award experience for such an act. Anordinary lock takes 1-4 rounds to open; acomplex one can take 1-10 rounds (assuggested in the DMG, p. 19) or perhapseven longer For really unusual ones.

Finding traps and removing traps aretwo separate acts. It is best for the DM notto go into detail on what kind of trap isfound, because that might tip off the wayto disarm the trap. Some traps can beobviously disarmed, and thus the secondact (removing) does not come into play,The DM is wise to say something like:"You find no traps," or "You think youdisarmed it," as opposed to "There are notraps," or "You have disarmed it." Onlyif the character has a 100% chance of suc-cess should a definite statement be made.

A new ability in this category is givenbelow — setting traps:

Level Chance to Level Chance toof thief set trap

9 65%10 68%11 71%12 74%13 76%14 78%15+ 80%

Adjustments for dexterity:9: -10% 14: +8%

10: -6% 15: +11%11: -2% 16: +14%12: +2% 17: +17%13: +5% 18: +20%

of thief12345678

set trap26%32%38%43%48%53%57%61%

Adjustments for race:Dwarf:Elf:Gnome:Half-elf:Halfling:Half-ore:

+15%-5%

+10%0%

+8%+4%

BEST OF DRAGON

The best possible chance to set a trap is99.9%, To keep the chance from goingany higher than that, convert 100% to99.1%, 101% to 99.2%, and so on, up to108% to 99.9%. Failure to set a trap suc-cessfully will cause the trap to spring onthe thief attempting the action. His.chance to escape from his own trap canbe a function of dexterity for mechanicaltraps, at a chance of 3% per point of dex-terity. If the thief does not jump free, hewill suffer the consequences of the trap'sdamage-dealing properties,

Moving silently is only abused whenthe DM forgets that the allowable rate ofmovement is only 12 feet a round {DMG,p. 19). If the thief moves faster, reduce thechance of silent movement by as much as3% per foot of movement rate above 12feet per round. The actual surface beingcrossed will dictate the proper subtraction(ranging from W%> to 3% per fool). Itshould also be noted that the thief using asilence 15' radius spell will have thatsphere of silence hit his victim while thethief is still 15 feet away; a sudden lapseinto silence will often alert a victim. Cir-cumstances must be considered in such acase. It should also be remembered thatboots of elvenkind do assume some slowrate of movement — not 12 feet a round,but not running either — in order tofunction properly. A speed of up to halfof the thief's normal walking speedwould allow the boots to function asdesigned. A higher speed would begin tonegate their effectiveness,

Hiding in shadows has been discussed

numerous times. Shadows must be fairlydeep to be effective for hiding. Don'tforget that a figure hiding in shadows canstill be detected by smell, a wand ofenemy detection, detect magic (if thecharacter hiding has a magic item), andother such non-visual means.

The chance to hear noise assumes thatthe area is quiet. If the party is talking ormoving about, this action will negate thechance. Hearing a sound can also involvediscerning what is heard — but this abil-ity does take thief's training. Re-roll (atthe same chance as to hear a noise) to seeif the sound was discerned enough todetermine what a likely source or causemight have been. Discerning a noisemight not only mean hearing bits ofactual conversation, but might also allowa guess as to how many persons areengaged in speaking. The DM should notgive away loo much!

Obviously, non-thieves can hear things,but the ability of discernment should notbe allowed to them. Give other charactershalf of a thief's chance (by level) to hearnoises, but avoid a procession of onecharacter after the other going to the doorto listen. Such a procession might beheard from the other side. Note thatundead monsters rarely make noise,

Climbing walls can be aided by spikesdriven in with a hammer. But this makes"Thor's own good sound" and can beheard for miles in some tunnel com-plexes. Such driving of one spike willtake 3-18 segments, longer for very hardrock. Thieves who try to cast darts, throw

daggers, and perform similar acts whileclinging to a wall by their toes should fallflat on their behinds! A player will claimthat great things are possible while hischaracter is hanging on a wall, not theleast of which will be disarming traps,melee, drawing a map and other abso-lutely absurd things. Give this turkey achance to hold on equal to 2% per pointof dexterity on difficult acts — but anyact the DM considers impossible willcause him to fall, period. Falling can dealout quite a bit of damage — not the leastof which will be to carried items, whichwill suffer ordinary or crushing blows asour hero hits the floor below.

Back stabbing can be partially negated.It does not have to be an all-or-nothingaffair. Only total surprise will give thefu l l bonus to damage. This bonus is dueto the thief's skill at placing the blowexactly where he wants it. This can onlybe done on a surprised victim, A figurewho catches sight of (he thief, even if thatsight is subsequently lost, will be onguard and might be hard to sneak up on.This cannot be quantified, and must bedetermined on a situation-by-situationbasis. For example: A figure is runningaway from a party at full speed. A thieftakes off after him and tries to hit frombehind. The figure is not really surprised,but the fleeing figure is also not lookingbehind himself at every step. Thus, abonus of ^-3 to hit (instead of +2 or +4)and perhaps double damage if a hitoccurs (instead of triple damage) wouldbe quite fair.

The druid and the DMOpportunity knocks, indoors and outby Tim Lasko

When the druid character class was firstpresented in Eldritch Wizardry, a charac-ter almost exclusively bent to be played inthe wilderness appeared; the sketchybackground and the specificity of hisspells held little else in store for the poordruid. And soon, there was hardly a wil-derness extant without a druid or twohidden away, but there were hardly anydruids in the dungeon. The originaldruid was unique among all characterclasses in its lack of easy applicability todungeon situations.

When the AD&D™ game was released,the druid's abilities and possibilities grewuntil it was another character classamong many. But the association, partlywell-founded, with the wilderness stillremained, despite the expansions to theclass found in the AD&D rules. Among

VOL. in

all the spell casters, the druid still winshands down in the wilderness, as it wasmeant to. But now, the druid has betterhit dice, better spells, a better back-ground, and a handful of other benefitsthat make it an ideal campaign character.A Dungeon Master would be wise toencourage druid player-characters in hiscampaign, with the intent of gettingcharacters out of the city and the dungeonand into the woods and wilds sooner,preventing the campaign from being toodungeon-centered and leading to a bettergame for all involved. But before one canjudge a druid fairly, a few misconceptionsshould be removed,

The old Grey hawk (and earlier) imageof the hum an ̂ sacrificing, hostile, nature-oriented cult has been dispelled, but thereremain a few myths, from the standpoint

DragonU.M *.

From issue #48, April 1981

47

of the game, that must be dispelled.These points, once eliminated from con-sideration, can lead to a better playing ofdruids in your milieu.

The first and most common of thesemisconceptions is that druids, because oftheir association with the wide open spac-es, are unable to function in the dungeon,sometimes being handicapped with claus-trophobia. Druids are not claustrophobic.Anyone who has traveled deep into thewoods and gotten lost can attest that thefeeling one gets is claustrophobic. Andwhile a particular druid afraid of thewoods may be amusing, it isn't true ingeneral: The druid is at home both inopen meadows and dense underbrush.Therefore, there is no reason to assumethai a druid traveling in a well-equippedparty which is cognizant of its locationwould be frightened any more than theaverage party member.

Second, Nature does have power in thedungeon. Certainly there are enoughlichens, molds, small creatures, and otherliving things through which a druid canfeel Nature's presence. The stones androcks of the dungeon itself, being the baseof Nature's power, can give a druid asolid feeling in an unfamiliar environ-ment. Remember that Nature encom-passes many things other than plants andanimals. The idea that a druid is power-less in the dungeon is ridiculous.

And last, Druids are not misanthropicin nature. That is, they are not prone tohate humanity in general. If druids aremore preoccupied with the non-humanfacets of Nature, this does not precludetheir association with other humans,Granted, the druid's beliefs may causehim to look down upon other humanswho treat Nature too callously, but thisdoes not lead to a hatred of all people;after all. man is just another part ofNature's design.

With these points out of the way, let'slook at the DM's side of a druid PC'spreparation. Preparation is very impor-tant to a young druid character, and alarge amount of the preparation will haveto fall on the DM's shoulders, dependingon how you handle certain elements inyour own milieu, such as the hiring ofhirelings and the acquiring of friends.Normally, the druid should give his ownspiel while hiring, but he should beinterested in hiring those whom he caneasily sway with his powers, such asfarmers, superstitious barbarians, and thelike. Of course, a lasting friendship prob-ably cannot be made with a cleric of ananimal-sacrifice cult, or a lumberjack.

Initially, of course, the druid's highcharisma is a definite benefit to hiring,but a druid trying to hire, say, a barbar-ian, would gain another +5 to +15%depending on the superstitious nature ofsaid barbarian and the persuasive tech-niques employed by the druid. For exam-ple, using a call lightning spell on thebarbarian's behalf (or to scare him) might

be worth a 15% bonus on the hiring per-centage, whereas a mere animal friend-ship would not impress the potentialhireling. Similarly, a farmer would bemore inclined to lie to the King's Guardif the druid threw a plant growth or apurify water in return. This kind of helpusually nets a +5 to +10% on reaction dicerolls. A druid will also automaticallygain certain loyalty bonuses, specificallythose for firm and fair discipline and justand invariable treatment, merely becauseof his training and alignment. The druidalso incurs no alignment-differencepenalties on loyalty rolls for similarreasons.

The important thing to remember withhumanoid encounters and druids is thatthe druid's training allows him to standinviolate, providing that he is doing thetalking and he appears to be in control ofthe situation. If the party needs a safeplace to sleep or hide out, or they're justhiring more cannon fodder, the druidshould make the pitch alone; the sight ofother people ordering him about tends toruin his powerful image. Friends andcompanions should not be whispering inthe druid's ear or prompting him, andneither should the druid be displayinggreed or similar intentions.

Another important item in preparationof the character is the weapon choice ofthe druid. Do not forget to enforce thenon-proficiency penalty (-4). A druid isnot free to grab any magic sword andstart swinging it. The druid has a fairchoice of weaponry, and a choice must bemade and enforced early, as it should befor any class. The weapon choice of thedruid can be one of the player's mostimportant decisions: If the druid does not

choose the club, the shillelagh spellbecomes useless; if he dismisses thedagger and dart, he loses his throwing-weapon options; and if he does notchoose the high-da mage weapons (scim-itar, spear, etc.), his use as an emergencyfighter is limited. The tone of your cam-paign should help the player decide, butit always helps to give hints and rumorsof magic scimitars and other weapons.And regardless of the choice, the druidmust stick to it.

Of course, the player may bypass theusual options and wish to have a non-standard or less traditional weapon, suchas a blowgun or a scythe (not the smallsickle-like type, but the large economymodel similar to the one that FatherTime carries). Note that there is anexpense in using and choosing either ofthese weapons; the player must seek out atutor for the initial instruction, then hemust pay to have the weapons speciallymade, since many armorers and weaponmanufacturers probably would be ill-equipped to handle such a request,

For the blowgun, the darts requiredshould be specially made, usually beinglonger and lighter than an ordinary dart(magical darts cannot be used in such ablowgun). Blowgun darts are thrown offcourse by any wind above a normal draft,so they may be used effectively only insome underground areas and denseunderbrush. Generally, a blowgun dart is+2 "to hit" against metal-armored menand +3 against non-rnetal-armored men.This bonus is lost if any respectablebreeze is blowing (for example, the aver-age closed dungeon room would have noeffect, but a long, drafty hallway might),and in a good wind the accuracy suffers

48 BEST OF DRAGON

by 1 point "to hit" for every five miles perhour of wind, assuming a man-sizedtarget, unmoving, within ten feet of thedruid. It is nearly impossible 10 aim ablowgun dart at a figure in melee withouta chance of hitting the other partici-pant^). If the player wishes to dip thedarts in any substance, this must be donewithin one turn before firing, or the sub-stance will evaporate and/or slide off thedart.

The other exotic weapon mentioned,the scythe (being a common farm imple-ment), will generally be less expensive incost, but an ordinary tool cannot be usedbecause it would be generally unsuitablefor frequent use against monsters andmen, most likely falling apart or dullingquickly. A tutor is also necessary to teachthe druid how one could be used in com-bat. The exact "to hit" values are givenlater in this article, but as a rule ofthumb, a scythe can hit weaker armorclasses more easily; however, strongerarmor classes are much harder to hit. Thescythe is also a very heavy item to carry{that is, one which is used in combat),usually being upwards of 120-140 in gold-piece weight. The weight alone may pre-vent many druids from using thisweapon.,

Other exotic weapons suggested by theplayer should be considered carefully, asthese two should be, before allowing adruid (or anyone, for that matter) to haveone in the campaign. Any non-standardweapon a druid may carry must be able tobe included in a broad category whichalso includes aother weapon that a druidis able to use (for example: blowgun dartand regular dart, scythe and scimitar),and should not do any more damage thana scimitar.

Of course, if your druid has a blowgun,he may want to use poison darts, whichbrings up the matter of poisons. Person-ally, I feel that the druid's ability withnatural poisons could (and should) rivalthat of the best of assassins. However,flaunting such power would not onlygive druids a notoriety they do notdeserve, but also would give player-character druids too much power. A greatamount of restriction is called for here bythe DM. A player-character druid whouses poisons left and right should bereceiving threats or veiled warnings fromthe townsfolk, his mentor, and even theAssassins' Guild. A just and reasonablerule would be to give the druid (throughhis mentor or his own research) the use ofonly one insinuative poison per level.

The most important of the druid'spreparations is the gaining of mistletoe.Note that early in the young Aspirant'slife, he must eventually seek out his ownmistletoe. The druid's mentor would pro-vide the young Aspirant with a smallamount of lesser mistletoe to last him ashort lime. The amount probably woulddepend on the druid's initial perfor-mance. However, no matter how much a

VOL. in

druid starts with, he must seek his ownsomeday. In seeking his mistletoe, thedruid should search for an oak forest andfind his own to cut, according to themethod described in the Players Hand-book. The only problems the druid mayhave are the lack of a nearby oak forestand the lack of proper materials. Theformer of these problems can be solved byany resourceful player, but the latter willcause the same player a few problemsuntil the druid is rich enough to purchaseor forge his golden scythe and bowl.Remember that any mistletoe cut withoutsuch materials is only lesser mistletoe.Obtaining mistletoe is generally notmuch of a problem for a player (unlessthe DM makes it a problem), but keepingit fresh can be.

As part of the beginning druid'sinstruction, the DM should inform theplayer that mistletoe will become uselessunless it is kept fresh. Freshness is main-tained by immersion of the mistletoe inspring water treated with several herbs,which are combined according to a for-mula learned from his mentor during histraining. The herbs should be replenishedmonthly as well. After six to ten dayswithout preservation, the mistletoe willlose one level of effectiveness (fromgreater to lesser to borrowed to useless),the effect being cumulative. In addition,holly will become useless after one weekwithout preservation, and oak leaves willbecome useless one week after collection,regardless of any preservative. Preserva-tion of mistletoe could become veryimportant on long missions.

Most of the preparation mentionedhere can be taken care of in a short talkbetween the DM and the potential druid,and perhaps a few die rolls; that is; thereshouldn't be any lengthy preparationinvolved, unless you normally spend a lotof time in such preparation. The playermay wish to consider more aspects thanwhat are outlined here, but usually thesemerely add polish to a completed charac-ter. Once the basics are taken care of, thedruid is ready to enter the dungeon. Laterin this article are several additional sug-gestions which also happen to be changesto the ADffcD rules, and you can pick andchoose among them as you like. Whatremains is for the DM to decide how tokeep the druid interested in the dungeon.The fighters get their share of action, theclerics have their undead, and the thievesalways have a door to listen at; whyshould the druids be left out? Grantedthat more opportunities exist outside thedungeon for DM deviousness towarddruids, but the existence of a small natu-ral cavern underneath the castle is ladenwith possibilities for the druid. There isno real trick to taking parts of the worldabove and transporting them below thesurface.

Aboveground, the druid should be kepton his toes. If he lives in a city, as hemight until he can brave the woods, his

room could be raided one night, andwhat do thieves know of herbs andplants? Anything well protected, such asthe druid's mistletoe, should be worth alot of silverl If the town is especiallyrowdy, a druid should be careful of cer-tain prejudiced residents who don'thappen to like the "forest folk." And ifthe druid already has made residence in agrove of sorts, then a wandering monsteror two could make life interesting forhim. But the main point is for the DM tokeep him interested in entering thedungeon.

A few "extras" can be placed strategi-cally in the dungeon, which will not onlydelight a druid character, but constitutean interesting trick for the rest of theparty. For example, how about a carniv-orous (and hungry) pi ant-watchdog leftby the dungeon's former occupants? Orthe magic-user's laboratory, where thewizard spent so much time working onplant/animal hybrids? Or the under-ground conservatory with all of thosebeautiful benign (?) plants now wild,unkept, and overgrown, perhaps hidingsomething beneath or behind them.

Imaginative treasures can draw a druidinto an adventure, such as a map leadingto a tomb or a cave several miles away.This option would give the druid achance to use his wilderness skills to helpdefend the party along the way, and givethe rest of the players a nice undergroundcomplex to loot as well. IF enough ofthese complexes are scattered about, theplayers could soon realize the asset that adruid character really is, and this willhelp bring the other characters out of thedungeon and into the wilderness.

There are several other variations onthe norm; the DM should help in somefashion to get the druid involved in theparty, and into situations where the druidcan be of some use while having thecombined protection of the other partymembers. In this fashion, the druid willadvance with the rest of the party, so thathe or she is of some use to them whenthey attempt to brave the wilderness.

It is true that druids are made for the

wilderness, but the game needn't excludethem from the dungeon. A well-playeddruid in a campaign will multiply theoptions for DM and players alike, bothunderground and aboveground.

Suggested rule changesSome of the rule changes below detail

possibilities for the druid character thatweren't covered in the ADfeD rules thor-oughly enough, and several others (no-tably the spells) make a clearer distinctionbetween the effectiveness of the variousvarieties of mistletoe. Some of these rules(e.g., aging) imply that other classes berestricted similarly. It is also helpful toremember that the druid gains +2 on hissaving throws vs. fire and electricity, andthat there are more spell adjustments forunderground situations given in thePlayers Handbook,

Druid spellsPredict weather: If greater mistletoe is

used as part of the divination, the knowl-edge gained is good for an additionalhour for every two levels of experience ofthe druid above the normal time of twohours per level. For example, a Sin-leveldruid casting this spell would have exactknowledge of the weather for twelve(10+2) hours.

Shillelagh: The shillelagh is unable tohit creatures who can only be hit by mag-ical weaponry (e.g. wraiths, lesser de-mons, etc.) unless greater mistletoe isused in the enchantment.

Speak with animals: Due to the druid'steachings and beliefs, he is able to com-municate with animals better than anaverage cleric; therefore, the duration onthis spell should be 3 rounds per level,but only if mistletoe (any type) is used inthe casting.

Cure light wounds: With this spell andother cure wounds spells, if the materialcomponent is holly instead of a type ofmistletoe, the spell is only half effective.Oak leaves cannot be used as the materialcomponent for these spells.

Fire trap: If greater mistletoe is used inthe setting of the trap, an additionalpoint of damage would be done, if thetrap were sprung, making the total dam-age 2-5 points plus 1 point per level ofthe caster.

Warp wood: With this spell, a 3rd-leveldruid can seal or spring a wooden door,and a 5th-level druid can do the samewith a wooden reinforced door.

Call lightning: The lightning boltswill do the full damage stated (2d8 + 1 dieper level) if a type of actual mistletoe isused in the enchantment. If holly is used,the damage is only Id8 + 1 die per level ofthe druid. Oak leaves cannot be used asthe material component of this spell.

Neutralize poison: A type of actual mis-tletoe must be used with this spell. Fail-ing to do so by using holly or oak leaveswill reduce the power of the spell so itacts as the cleric spell slow poison.

Summon insects: In an undergroundenvironment, the chance for flying insectsbeing summoned drops 10 50%.

Character age and agingThe druid player character's initial age

should be 22 + Id4 yars, not 18+ Id4,because of the time needed to gain a greatamount of knowledge concerning Natureand her works. Also, treat the druid asfive years younger than his actual age forthe purpose of determining age category.For example, a human druid wouldremain mature until age 45 instead of 40.The druid loses this benefit, for obviousreasons, if any of the following eventsoccur: the druid catches a major diseasewhich incapacitates him for longer than 1week; the druid fails a system shock roll;the druid loses a point (or more) of con-stitution by any means; or the druid liveswithin a major city or town for longerthan one-quarter of his adult life.

Sage abilityDue to the great amount of knowledge

gleaned in training, even a young druidhas a small chance at knowing the answerto a sage-like question, but only in thecategories of flora and fauna. The chanceto know the answer to a general questionis a base 10%. beginning at 2nd level andadvancing 2% for every level thereafterthrough 8th level. The chance for answer-ing a specific question is a base 5%, againbeginning at 2nd level and advancing ISfor every level through 8th. At 9ththrough 11 th levels, the druid wouldknow the answer to a question as if thesame question were put to a sage out ofhis field. Above 11th level, the chance toknow would be as if it were put to a sagewith flora or fauna as his minor category.The usual limits and time requirementsthat apply to any sage also apply todruids, if they wish to use this aspect oftheir abilities.

Loyalty of hirelings and henchmenAs explained earlier, druids automati-

cally gain the loyalty bonuses for firmand fair discipline and just and invariabletreatment. These bonuses raise the nor-mal loyalty base to 70%. The druid doesnot incur alignment-difference penaltiesto the loyally base, either. If there is anychange in the druid's alignment or treat-ment, an immediate loyalty check mustbe made for all of the druid's hirelings,ignoring the above bonuses, but not anyothers gained since the hiring.

WeaponsBlowgun and blowgun darts: The

blowgun itself weighs 10-20 gp, and eachdart weighs approximately & gp. Eachdart is capable of doing 1-2 points ofdamage to an opponent, regardless of theopponent's size. The blowgun is 4-7 feellong, and requires at least that muchspace to use. It can be fired once perround. The blowgun has no long range;

medium is 3"-5", and short range is up to3" {30 feet).

Scythe: A scythe designed for use incombat weighs 110-140 gp. It is capableof doing 2-8 poinis of damage to a S- orM-sized opponent, 2-7 against opponentsof L size. The length of a scyihe isapproximately 5 feet, and a minimum offour feet of space is required for its use.

AC adjustments for new weapons:1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Blowgun +4 +3 +4 +3 +1 0 -1 -2 -3Scyihe +5 +4 +5 +3 +2 0 -1 -3 -4

Gaining of spellsThe druid, when praying for his daily

replenishment of spells, may not alwaysget the spells he desires. Nature willanswer in the following manner to adruid's prayers:

On a roll of 7-12 (on 2d6), Nature willrespond by granting all of the asked-forspells.

On a result of 4-6, Nature will respond,but will consider each prayer separatelyand may choose to grant only some of thespells. (The DM can simulate this byassigning a chance for each spell to begranted, and then rolling as many timesas needed to determine the outcome of thedruid's original requests.) If any of iheoriginally requested spells is denied, thedruid should immediately ask for differ-ent specific spells to replace those thatwere originally asked for but denied —and those "second choices" will begranted.

On a roll of 2 or 3, Nature will eitherchoose to not give the druid any spellsthat day, or will give the character a ran-dom selection of spells (the choice is upto the DM).

Note thai a worshipful druid willrarely not get the spells he asks for, but adruid who spends too much time in thedungeon or otherwise ignores or post-pones his prime responsibilities may fallinto Nature's disfavor. To reflect thiscondition, the DM should assign modifi-ers to the 2d6 roll as appropriate.

The druid gains his original knowl-edge of spells available to him throughstudies with his mentor, and will acquireinformation about the existence of othertypes of magic in the course of his adven-turing, or as part of the iraining requiredto advance to a higher experience level.

Miscellaneous magicBag of beans: If a druid is present and

casts a hold plant spell (using greatermistletoe) on me beans while they arebeing planted, the growih of the beans ishalted for one round per level of thedruid casting the spell.

Bag of tricks: If a druid possesses thebag and casts an animal summoningspell on it before pulling out the animal,ihe druid may name the animal that hewishes to have, providing that the animalis within the range of possibilities forboth the bag and the spell.

50 BEST OF DRAGON

It's not easy being goodRestrictions and rewards of paladinhoodby Roger Moore

There's a custom-made T-shirt in mycloset that depicts a red dragon, clutchinga full stomach and in some distress, withthe caption "Paladins Cause Heartburn,"This phrase has more meaning for me asa Dungeon Master and as a player inAD&D1" games than just as a sight gag. Inmy years of gaming, it has been a rarething for me to see a property character-ized paladin, or even one that's done atleast reasonably right most of the time.Unlike the situation with other characterclasses, the restrictions on the paladinclass give it a wealth of special problemsin play.

Certainly no one would enjoy being acharacter that is so hemmed in by regula-tions and restrictions that he comes acrossas humorless, dry and nit-picky aboutdetails. Paladins can be friendly, jocular,and basically happy people (and probablyshould be), but there are limits. It's in thenature of the game. People who don'tcare to play paladins (or other lawfulgood characters) as the rules outline themshould really choose another class moresuited to them, and consider the reasonsfor doing so. Few people respect and liketo game with persons who cheat — and apaladin who is greedy, refuses to takerisks, lets danger fall on everyone else,and has twenty-eight types of holy swordsis definitely cheating. DMs can andshould penalize this sort of behavior.

Some of the basic questions aboutusing paladins as player charactersinvolve what sort of things should beapproved of, what should be avoided, andwhat kinds of actions constitute evil orchaotic acts. Perhaps the greatest enemyof paladins in the game is cultural rela-tivity. Maybe anthropologists can study atribe of cannibals and find their culinarypractices reasonable, at least for the can-nibals, but paladins of any religionwould have to disapprove. The killingand eating of human beings or any otherintelligent beings, even ores, is not a goodact by AD&D standards. It at least borderson being evil, depending on the situation.

Please remember, too, that this is agame, and it postulates the existence offundamental absolutes like Good andEvil, Law and Chaos. There are few"gray areas." Smoking or taking halluci-nogenic substances, indulging in casualsex, and going against the grain ofsociety, regardless of what the personplaying the paladin thinks of thoseactions, are in no way a part of the world

VOL. Ill

of paladinhood in the game. Theyshouldn't be, no matter who is the DM,either. Using hallucinogens destroys theclarity of the mind and its attachment toreality, leaving the paladin open to inad-vertently committing an evil or chaoticact, or being unable to deal with anemergency. Casual sex, of course, is cha-otic and to be avoided (though I'veknown several paladins who would givetheir holy swords to get away with it).

Law implies permanence and fewchanges, and it further implies long-termrelationships and love when connected togood. Law also implies obeying the rulesof society and working within a system tomake things work out for the better.Paladins can and should break laws thatviolate the tenets of lawful good, likeslavery and the "right" to torture prison-ers. In good societies, though, paladinswould be expected to go along with therules of their church and state, as long asthey don't conflict with each other.

There is a small chance that a paladincharacter will be confronted with a situa-tion in which many of the members of hisor her church actually turn away frombeing lawful good; the paladin is notthen obligated to follow the rules theyhand down that aren't lawful or good,but is still required to be lawful goodhimself. In all cases like this, the pala-din's deity can and should back up thepaladin's actions as long as they are cor-rect, though the deity's help might proveto be indirect.

There are lots of other ways in whichpaladins can become ensnared in chaos orevil. Conceit is one ("Boy, I'm hotter thana salamander's pitchfork now! I'm reallysomething else!"), and it's one of themost common pitfalls. Humility is thevirture that should be nurtured. Paladinsmay be more powerful and more effectivethan most other members of an adventur-ing party, but they should have a sense oftheir own limitations, and their place inthe Scheme of Things. Related to this isthe tendency seen in a number of pala-dins to become arrogant ("Get outta myway, peasant! Do you know who you'redealing with?") And an excessive displayof either conceit or arrogance is a trans-gression and merits severe penalties.

The hunger for power and more mate-rial wealth is another of the many deadlytemptations in paladinhood. There'snothing wrong with desiring a bettersword; demons and devils, to name just a

couple of types of traditional paladinadversaries, cannot be hit with non-magical weapons, so acquiring magicalones is important and necessary in thelong run. But having magical weaponsfor their own sake, just because one wantsto look as decorated as a Christmas tree infront of all the local peons, is wrong.

A related problem that will be run upagainst by nearly all paladins is the limiton die number of magical items that maybe owned by them. This rule gets violatedall the time. I looked over one person'scharacter sheet (for a paladin) and notedsomething on the order of twenty-oddmagical items. When I asked him why hehad so many when he was only allowedso few, he replied, "I only use a few ofthem. The rest are out on loan,"

No dice. I gave him five minutes or soto dump all but his "legal" amount ofmagic, or else become a normal fighter.Things worked out after that. Excessmagic should be given to other lawfulgood characters or donated to the nearesttemple of the paladin's religion.

Constant association with neutralcharacters is an abused area; sometimesan entire party, with the exception of thepaladin, may be neutrally aligned. Incases like this, another character shouldbe substituted for the paladin unless thereis something really monumental to dealwith (tike a quest to save a church, a highpriest, or a holy artifact). This is part ofthe breaks of being a paladin. The com-pany you keep will reflect on you.

Associating with evil characters in anyway in a friendly manner is EVIL.Period. If a paladin character becomes

From issue #51, July 1981

51

aware (hat one of the party members isactually evil in alignment, then a con-frontation is inevitable. The paladin willbe required to have nothing to do withthe evil person(s), with the possibleexception of taking someone into custodyif that person commits an evil act.

Paladins meet evil persons all the timein their daily business, even just walkingdown the street, but don't associate withthem. There's nothing wrong with com-piling all the information one can gel onlocal evil sons, and on evil-aligned char-acters, for future reference in crimefight-ing. One can use informants, direct ques-tioning, and judicious surveillance andspying (though this last endeavor mightprove questionable if done too often).

Note again that a confrontation wil l beinevitable between a paladin and anotherevil player. Once a paladin is aware thatevil exists, he cannot turn his eyes awayfrom it; that's not just cowardly, it'swrong. On the other hand, a paladincannot just slay every evil person hemeets. That's wrong, too, unless everyevil person one meets is trying to kill thepaladin or someone else. But somehow,in one way or the other, the ends of evilmust be undone.

Killing is a difficult topic to addresswith regard to paladins. This articledoesn't attempt to deal with the questionof whether all killing in real life is evil ornot. In an AD&D game, however, thereare many creatures whose whole existenceis evil and cannot be undone by themeans short of a wish (and even that maynot be possible). Undead of any son, evildragon types, and all demons, devils, anddaemons deserve (from a paladin's pointof view) no other fate than utter and abso-lute destruction. Allowing such creaturesto live, unchallenged, is evil. Sometimeslittle more can be done than to send thecreature back to its home plane, in thecase of demons, devils, and daemons, butif the situation permits they should beslain by whatever means are at hand sothat no further harm may be done bythem. There is no quarter given, and noprisoners are taken.

Other beings, like beholders and mindflayers, will also fit pretty well into hiscategory. No amount of polite talk andreasoning will convince an intellectdevourer to be a nice guy. The sword isthe only answer. When ores, trolls, and soforth are encountered, the same applies.They are evil, there are deities who makea living at keeping them evil, and there'snot much more to say. Perhaps the onlyexception would be if the evil creaturessurrendered; the paladin could then tiethem up (or whatever) and march themoff to the nearest authorities to stand trialor be imprisoned.

Not all of the problems paladin playercharacters encounter in this area ofwhether killing is right or not are thefault of the player running the character.Sometimes a DM will set up a situation

in which, for example, the lawful goodshave slain all the males of a tribe ofwerewolves, and all that's left are thefemales and young, who cower in therocks and refuse to fight. Civilization ishundreds of miles away, and no meansexists at the moment to render the cap-tives free of lycanthropy. If released, theyoung will grow up and terrorize theneighborhood again. If they are kept ascaptives, the party will be hampered andmay meet new monsters at any moment.

Killing the captives could well be theonly alternative the paladin is left with,yet if this is done the DM might say itwas evil and remove the player's align-ment and status as a paladin. A touchysituation, right? The DM should keepwell in mind how he or she would react ifplaced in the same situation in the game,essentially trapped with no way out. Itisn't fair, and the players will know itand resent it. If captives must be slain, itshould be done quickly, without torture,and with the assurance that there was noway to avoid it.

If a paladin does have prisoners andthey can be disposed of by turning themover to other authorities, and this won'tunreasonably endanger innocent people,then killing them out of hand could rateas an ungood act. The DM is the finalarbiter of such matters.

As far as using poison, killing innocentpeople or beasts, or torturing goes, any ofthat means doom for paladtnhood. If aradically evil act is committed by apaladin, I roll percentile dice for the dei-ty's reaction, giving a 5% chance that inaddition to removing paladinhood, thegod kills the ex-paladin as well. Onepaladin has gone out this way while Iwas a DM, after butchering some were-boars who were having a carnpout withthe party. He vanished in a bolt of light-ning. So much for that.

In dealing with neutrals, it would bebetter for the paladin to focus on usingways other than killing to accomplishgoals. One paladin in our group encoun-tered a dryad who tried to charm some ofthe players right after the group hadrescued her from being ravished by abunch of nasty, unwashed ores. Thepaladin punched the dryad in the nose,and she fled.

While the group (and myself, who wasthe DM) was shocked by this, in retro-spect it might have been a little strongbut it was right. She had her life and a lit-tle bloody nose to show for attempting tokidnap party members. By lawful goodstandards, she could have come out of it alot wrose. Though I had the paladinchastised for this, I think now I shouldn'thave and should have let it stand. (Per-haps I should have congratulated him; hehad a vorpal sword and might have usedit, but that response would have been loostrong and not good.) Of course, whenconfronted by a band of wild bandits orbuccaneers {all neutral) you can't just

punch them in the nose and settle things.Again, the sword might be a reasonableanswer.

As for what paladins do believe in andpractice, ihey like friendships, law andorder, charity, sharing personal dedica-tion to high goals and standards, chainsof command, obedience to orders, honestyand truth, and taking joy in being alive.Paladins want to find more allies of law-ful good alignmeni and establish assur-ances of mutual aid in case of danger toone or the other of the involved parlies.Permanence, tradiiion, and predictabilityare pursued. If you feel the need of a rolemodel in figuring out what else paladinsmight approve of, think of John Wayne(making .some appropriate substitutionsin taking him out of the Old West), orread Three Hearts and Three Lions byPoul Anderson. This book could haveformed much of ihe basis for pullingpaladins into the ADfeD game; the char-acter Holger Carlsen is a paladin if he isanything. Other examples, like KingArthur or Sir Lancelot, might help aswell.

Finally, the DM can make use of sev-eral methods to bring paladin characlersinio line with their alignment, if suchnudging is needed. Reduction or with-holding of experience points from anadventure; being unable to use lawfulgood-aligned swords without some diffi-culties (like back-talk from the weapon ifit is intelligent); negative reactions fromthe paladin's horse, henchmen, or hire-lings; or direct warnings from the pala-din's deity can be effective means of dis-suasion if the paladin contemplates anevil or chaotic act.

The DM should bear in mind the diffi-culties involved in playing a paladin, andshould make an effort to not make ihingsworse for the player by selling him up fordefeal in some sort of morality trap.Remember that being good isn't beingstupid, either, and paladins should not bemade to lake on more than ihey can bear."Banzai" attacks without hope ofaccomplishing anything (like attacking aType VI demon with a pocketknife) areridiculous. Low-level paladins should getchallenging, low-level monsters to fight;retreating from tougher monsters is smartand good, if the player plans to comeback and smash the villains when he getstougher later on.

I've had a lot of misgivings in my gam-ing experience about having paladins inihe game at all, but in general a wellplayed paladin is about the best characterthai the ADBcD rules have to offer. It isalso the hardest to play, and ii takes a lotof dedicaiion 10 play it well. The guywhose paladin punched ihe dryad in thenose played the best paladin I ever saw;though he would "toe the line" adjacentto chaos or neutrality from time to time,his paladin was basically a good one.

And that is perhaps the highest com-pliment a paladin can get.

52 BEST OF DRAGON

He's got a lot to kick aboutMonks deserve more than they haveby Philip Meyers

Of all the character classes in theADfcD™ game, the class of monks is themost difficult to qualify for, A monkmust have exceptional strength, wisdom,and dexterity, and — if he wishes to sur-vive for very long — constitution.

The odds of rolling up such a charac-ter, even using the various "cheatingmethods" listed in the Dungeon MastersGuide, are not favorable. Given this, onewould expect a monk to be a powerfulcharacter indeed. At first glance thiswould appear to be true. The Grand Mas-ter of Flowers can reasonably claim to bethe most powerful fighter around, able toinflict 128 points of damage in a singleround. This superiority, however, is moretheoretical than real. In actual practice,the monk is the weakest of the characterclasses, not the strongest.

The sources of a monk's weakness aremany. First, monks are severely handi-capped in armor class. The Novice startsat AC 10, is denied the use of any armor,and receives no armor class adjustmentfor dexterity. This situation fails toimprove for a long lime — at 5th level thehapless monk is a "mighty" AC 7.

As for hit points, the average Ist-levelmonk with a 16 constitution has 9 hitpoints. The extra hit die at first level isnot enough to allow the monk to keep upwith clerics, fighters, or even thieves forvery long. At 5th level the monk with a 16constitution has an average of 25 hitpaints, while the cleric has S2W, the fight-er 37M, and the thief 27W at the same level.(No one should try to play a monk with aconstitution of less than 16; the figuresbecome humiliating for the monk.)

The multiple attacks with open handsthat are supposed to be the monk's forteare still negligible at 5th level, becomingappreciable only at 6th level, where themonk receives 3 attacks every 2 rounds.Fighters are, however, quick to catch up;at 7th level they also acquire this ability.

The spell-like powers of monks arelaughable when compared to the spellabilities of clerics or magic-users. Just asthe 6th-level magic-user is acquiring asecond fireball with which to destroy theenemy, the 6th-level monk is learning tofeign death.

The ability to stun or kill an opponentis next to worthless at low and middlelevels because the monk's chance of doingit is so small, and because the monk'sawful armor class and hit points preventthe character from spending too muchtime in melee. Also, monks advance moreslowly in level than members of any othercharacter class at middle and upper levels.

Practical experience with monk charac-ters reinforces the conclusion. In thisauthor's experience, there seem to be twoways for a monk character to survive toreach upper levels. The first is for themonk to acquire a powerful magic itemthat offsets one or more of the monk'sweaknesses, like a ring of regeneration,bracers of defense AC 2, or a cloak of dis-placement. The other way is for the monkto cower at the back of the party, avoid-ing combat wherever possible. Thismeans the monk is generally useless and,

aside from opening a few locked doorsnow and then, does nothing besidessiphon off experience points from moredeserving characters. Neither of thesesituations is wholly satisfactory.

Of course, one can always argue that,once the monk finally does make it to theupper levels, the long wait was worth it.An 8th-level monk is just about competi-tive with 8th-level characters in the otherclasses, and is clearly superior to an 8th-level thief, or even a 9th-level thief.

However, it is by no means certain thatthe monk character will ever get to 8thlevel, even should he honestly earn the200,001 experience points required. Thisis due to the requirement that a monk ofthis level or higher must fight and defeatthe present title holder in order toadvance in level. Thus, every time theplayer-character monk tries to advance inlevel beyond the 7th, the character mustrun a basic 50% chance of losing and fail-ing to achieve the level,

Worse still, the price of defeat is a fulllevel's worth of experience points, just asif the monk had been energy-drained. Awealthy fighter who has been struck by awight can pay a large sum for a restora-tion spell. The defeated monk has nosuch option. In effect, this limits themonk to 7th level, or at best means thatthe monk will ultimately need 2 or 3times as many experience points as listed,since the luck of the die will invariablycause the monk to be defeated a number

From issue #53, September 1981

VOL. in

Experience points Level0-1,500 1

1,501—3,000 23,001—6,000 36,001—12,000 4

12,001-25,000 525,001—40,000 640,001—70,000 770,001-110,000 8

110,001—160,000 9160,001—220,000 10220,001-400,000 11400,001—650,000 12650,001—900,000 13900,001-1,150,000 14

1,150,001—1,400,000 151,400,001—1,650,000 161,650,001—1,900,000 171,900,001—2,200,000 182,200,001-2,500,000 192,500,001—2,800,000 202,800,001+ 21

6-sided dice for accu-mulated hit points

23456789101112131415161718 .19202122

Level titleNoviceInitiate of the RudimentsInitiate of the ElementsInitiate of the PrinciplesBrotherDiscipleDisciple of SecretsDisciple of MysteriesImmaculateMasterSuperior MasterMaster of DragonsMaster of the North WindMaster of the West WindMaster of the South WindMaster of the East WindMaster of WinterMaster of AutumnMaster of SummerMaster of SpringGrand Master of Flowers

of times. Worst of all, the monk may haveto stand off challenges by NPC monks,and who can say how many SuperiorMasters will be out looking for the char-acter who finally makes it to Master ofDragons?

In essence, then, the monk is a uselesscharacter at lower and middle levels, andis extremely difficult to maintain atupper levels. The player with visions ofBruce Lee or David Carradine dancing inhis head is in for a big letdown whensuch a player tries to run a monkcharacter.

The idea of a character class of martialartists is undeniably a good one, andmonks deserve a place in the AD&D sys-tem. But how, then, can monks be madecompetitive and (if possible) moreinteresting?

It is possible to cure the defects in thepresent system without changing thenature of monks at all, as the followingsuggested system demonstrates.

First, in place of Tables I and II onpage 31 of the Players Handbook, use therevised tables given herein.

Special abilitiesA: The ability to feign death, as the

present monk ability D.B: The mind-masking ability (resis-

tance to ESP), as present monk ability B.C: The speak with animals ability,

present monk ability A.Dr The self-healing ability (present

monk ability E), plus immunity to dis-ease (present ability C), also includingimmunity to haste and stow spells.

E: Body equilibrium, as the psionicability, except that it can be used but onceper day, for 1 round per level of themonk. Also, the monk obtains mind overbody, usable for up to 1 day per level.

F: Empathy, as the psionic ability, butusable only once a day.

G: Invisibility, as the psionic power,but usable once a day for 1 turn per levelthe monk has achieved beyond the 6th,

H: Molecular manipulation, as thepsionic power, usable against inanimateobjects only, once a day. Monks arelimited to the 8th level of mastery in thispower.

I: Resistance to charms, hypnosis, etc.as present monk ability G, plus 18 intel-ligence for purposes of telepathic andmind blast attacks, as present ability H.

J: Retarded aging, as though the monkwere using a phylactery of long years,plus immunity to poison (present abilityI), and immunity to geas and quest (pres-ent ability J).

K: Body control, as the psionic ability,once a day for a maximum of 1 turn perlevel of the monk beyond the 10th.

L: The quivering palm, same as pres-ent ability K.

M: Dimension door, once a day, as themagic-user spell.

N: Speak with plants, as a druid, pres-ent ability F.

54

Level123456789

101112131415161718192021

EffectiveArmor Class

6543S221100

-1-1-2-2-3-3-4-4-5-5

Move15"15"16"16"17"17"IS"18"19"ZOf20"21"22"23"24"25"26"27"28"29"30"

MONKS ABILITY TABLEOpen hand Open hand Special

attacks/round damage abilities1 1-4 A1 1-6 B1 2-7 C3/2 2-7 D3/2 2-8 E3/2 3-9 F2 3-9 G2 2-12 H2 3-12 I5/2 3-12 J5/2 4-13 K5/2 4-16 L3 4-16 M3 5-17 N3 5-20 O3 4-24 P4 4-24 Q4 6-24 R4 5-30 S4 8-32 T4 6-36 U

O: Mind bar, as the psionic ability,100% chance of success, usable once aweek, maximum duration 1 hour perlevel of the monk.

P: Object reading, as the psionic abil-ity, once a day,

Q: Dimension walk, as the psionicability, 1 hour per each 2 levels the monkhas attained, usable once a day.

R: Astral projection, once a week, asthe cleric spell, but only the monk may sotravel.

S: A premonition of death or seriousharm occurs to the monk 1-4 turns beforethe harmful event, 90% of the time.

T: The monk acquires the ability togenerate a tower of iron will or an intel-lect fortress about himself, duration 1round per level of the monk, usable oncea day. The monk must concentrate to usethis power, and cannot do anything elsebesides walking slowly. If the monk'sconcentration is broken, the defensesdisappear.

U: Plane shift, as the cleric spell, twicea day.

Note on quasi-psionic monk abilitiesThe powers in the above list that refer

to the psionics section of the PlayersHandbook should be played as thoughthe monk were psionic with regard tocomputing level of mastery, range, etc.Instead of expending psionic strengthpoints to use the abilities, the monksimply abides by the usage restrictionsgiven above. If the monk character isactually psionic, attack/defense strengthand modes may be used normally, but thepsionic monk never receives disciplinesother than those inherent in the class'sspecial abilities.

Other suggested changes1: Open hand damage done is halved,

rounding up, when the monk is attackinga creature 10 feel or more in height, or

otherwise very large, and against crea-tures with a natural armor class of 0 orbetter.

2: A monk's thieving abilities arelimited to moving silently, finding (butnot removing) traps, hiding in shadows,hearing noise, and climbing walls.

3: Single combat as a means ofadvancement is not required until themonk reaches 12th level, and then only ifthe title is occupied (see below), A monkwho loses a challenge loses 100,000 expe-rience points and cannot challenge againfor 1 year.

4: At 10th level a monk's hands andfeet become the equivalent of +1 weaponsfor purposes of determining what crea-tures they can do damage to. At 18th levelthey become the equivalent of +2 weap-ons, (Moral: You can't karate-chop aniron golem.)

Upper-level advancement optionsMonks can be either lawful good, law-

ful neutral, or lawful evil. The PlayersHandbook makes no mention of separatemonastic orders for these alignmenttypes; it follows that all monks are part ofone big brotherhood, whether they begood or evil. In many respects, this doesnot make a great deal of sense. Forinstance (and this is a relatively minorpoint), the title names for monks soundlike they were designed for lawful good,or lawful neutral, monks only. An evilGrand Master of Flowers? Not a veryappropriate name, one might say,

Either we must do away with evilmonks, which would be a loss, or the sys-tem can be altered to more appropriatelyaccount for them.

One solution to this problem is toallow the existence of separate, parallelmonastic orders, at least three of themand perhaps more. There could then bemore than one of each of the upper-levelmonks, but only one per title per order.

BEST OF DRAGON

Each order would then decide how tosolve the advancement problem. Lawfulneutral orders might opt (or the presentsystem, as modified by suggested rulechange (3) above.

Lawful evil orders might insist thatcombat be to the death, thus solving theproblem of the rematches that constantlyplague upper-level figures.

Lawful good orders might forbidadvancement by combat and instead insistthat candidates wail until a vacancyoccurs. When, for instance, the reigningMaster of Winter dies, all the mastersbeneath would be allowed to advancewhen they obtained sufficient experiencepoints. A panel of masters would decidewhom to promote from among the threeMasters of Dragons and the currentSuperior Masters.

Advancement by default should indeedoccur on a fairly regular basis in any sortof monastic order, if only because thereigning Grand Master of Flowers isprobably close to death (being old),divine ascension (being powerful), orboth. The following probabilities aresuggested for such events:

Chance of vacancyLvl. Title (per year)

12 Master of Dragons 3%13 Master of the North Wind 1%14 Master of the West Wind 1%15 Master of the South Wind 1%16 Master of the East Wind 1%17 Master of Winter 2%18 Master of Autumn 2%19 Master of Summer 4%20 Master of Spring 6%21 Grand Master of Flowers 10%

Naturally, figures like these will varyfrom campaign to campaign. Slumbersare given here only as an example of howsuch a system should be set up. Thechance given for each master level shouldbe rolled for once per year, so that 10 totalrolls are made. These chances do not takeinto account possible deaths resultingfrom challenge combats. The DM willhave to establish how often each masterwill be challenged. Each of the Masters ofDragons could be challenged as often as2-8 limes per year in a lawful neutralorder as described above. There would berelatively fewer challenges in a lawful evilorder.

In a lawful good order that does notadvocate advancement by combat, a DMmight contrive to say that the Grand Mas-ter of Flowers always rules for 1 yearonly, and at the end of that time passeson to become a divine being on one of theOuter Planes. This would ensure a steadystream of vacancies.

A lawful good monk would never loseexperience points under this system. Sucha monk would either have his or her total"frozen" at some point (say, 1 point shortof the level held by another), or the DMcould allow the monk's experience-point

total to continue to increase but deny themonk the actual attainment of the newlevel until a vacancy occurred. The monkcould then save up experience in advance,but would be limited in this endeavor to atotal which is 1 point short of two levelsbeyond the monk's current level.

No matter how it is managed, theremust be some form of restriction onmonk advancement beyond the 11th level.Unrestricted advancement in a campaignwhere experience points are easy to comeby would mean the monk characterwould become extremely powerful tooquickly and too easily. Also, monkishcombat in the ADOcD game has becometraditional, and many players may beloath to give it up.

Rationale for rule changesCertain salient points of this alternative

system need more explanation. It is sug-gested that monks receive six-sided dicefor their hit dice instead of four-sideddice. This would cure the monk's hit-point disadvantage.

Armor class, attacks per round, anddamage have all been made better for themonk at low and middle levels,

The new intermediate experience levelsallow the monk to rise as high as 11thlevel before advancement by combatbecomes necessary. This is an importantchange, for it allows the monk who hasbeen unsuccessful in challenging his orher superiors to go on an upper-leveladventure. Also, it makes the rank ofMaster a good deal more formidable, andputs it on a par with the "name" ranks ofother classes, such as Master Thief, Lord,or Wizard.

The new special abilities and powersare based on the premise that the inner

strength of a monk flows from the mind— that it is a sort of psionic power. Afterall, no degree of skill or knowledge isgoing to allow a human being to fall anunlimited distance when within 8' of awall and take no damage when finallyhitting bottom at terminal velocity.

Also, the damage done by open-handattacks of upper-level monks is hard toexplain on the basis of physical skillalone. Can you imagine Bruce Lee killinga purple worm in one melee round withfour mighty karate chops? According tothe present rules, a high-level master cando exactly that. The half-damage ruleproposed above is designed to partiallycure this situation, and even with thatsome form of magical mind-power is theonly way to account for the things monkscan do. Also, the present monk powersalready closely resemble the related psi-onic disciplines. The new powers givenabove are simply an extension of thisprinciple, designed to make the monk areasonably powerful and versatile charac-ter even at low and middle levels.

The thieving abilities of removingtraps and opening locks were deletedbecause it is not clear how or why monksshould have such abilities. For what pur-pose does a monastic aesthetic learn topick locks? Surely not all monks areadventurers; why, then, do these monkslearn skills usable nowhere else but on anadventure?

In game terms, it is no longer necessaryto make the monk act as a second-ratethief so that the monk will have some-thing to do on an adventure. The monkas redefined in this article is a first-ratewarrior and scout (if an infrauision spellis used), and no longer needs such addi-tional abilities.

VOL. in 55

Singing a new tuneA different bard, not quite so hardby Jeffery Goelz

(A conversation between a DM and two NPC's: Jake Armaged-don, a half-ore fighter/assassin, and Jake's brother A Iphonse, acleric! assassin.)

DM: Guys, I'm glad you could come. I want your opinion on aparticular subject.

Jake: Go ahead, boss. Whatcha wanna talk about?DM: Urn... bards.(The two valiant half-ores immediately run into the nearest

corner, cowering and whimpering.)Alphonse: Ach, sss, it hurts uss. It hurts usss, nasssty DM.DM: Don't worry, I'm not going to bring one here right now. I

just wanted to talk about them.(Jake and A Iphonse apprehensively come back from the

comer.)Jake: Boss, bards are just plain mean! Me and Alphie will

probably be in the runnin' for guildmaster pretty soon now, butthese bard guys could lick the tar out of both of us.

DM: Which ones are worse, the old-type bards or the newer-type ones?

Jake: Well, I'll tell ya, I'd rather run into a division of Sher-man tanks than one of the old ones, and the newer ones are justas bad 'cept nowadays there sure are less of 'em, 'cause it takesthem so long to become one.

A Iphonse: Ach, sss, nasssty bardsses.DM: Jake, where did you learn about Sherman tanks? . . .

There is one great drawback to the bard class as described inthe ADfeD1* Players Handbook, that being that you have to gothrough 10 to 16 levels as something else before you may becomea bard. The modified bard class described in the article whichfollows removes this inhibiting factor; the bard class, as rede-fined according to the author's experience and opinions, is onewhich a beginning character may enter without having to gainfighter and thief experience first. It is also a class which, unlikethe official ADfeD bard, does not possess thieving abilities — butdoes have limited power in the use of illusionist spelts.

In planning a revision of the bard class, a path could havebeen chosen toward one of the two possible extremes: either torework the material in the Players Handbook without alteringany of the basic structure underlying the class, or to literally start

Dragon

From issue #56,December 1981

56

from scratch and design an entire new class, perhaps having onlyits name and a few of the most basic characteristics in commonwith the official version. In the end, the path chosen lies betweenthe extremes but ends up closer to the second one than the first,

I chose the Welsh version of the bard as my source, for severalreasons. First of all, the bardic heritage of the Welsh people isrich and continues even to modern times, with annual gather-ings at bardic festivals. More importantly, the version is readilyavailable to most people in Evangeline Walton's version of theWelsh Mabinogion tetralogy.

Similarities may be found between this version and the versionin the Players Handbook. (After all, they both describe essen-tially the same thing, only from different perspectives.) Whenthere was no evident reason to change a characteristic or attri-bute, that item was kept fundamentally the same. Differenceswill be noted, including but not limited to those mentionedabove.

It is easy to see how thieving abilities could he introduced intoa non-Welsh version of a bard, but not in the bard as viewed bythe Welsh themselves. Welshmen had a somewhat poor reputa-tion in the eyes of other British peoples. The concept of "welsh-ing" on a bet is derived from the Welsh people. Also, there is aBritish saying that equates Welshmen with thieves. If the Welshbard is assumed to be the prototypical bard (the Irish may have aquarrel with this), non-Welsh writers may have understandablyincluded this thievery aspect in their literature.

The "illusionist connection" is demonstrated well by Walton'sworks, such as the incredible illusion that the bard Manawyddancreated at the court of Caswallon in The Song of Rhiannon.

This description certainly portrays a bard differently than thePlayers Handbook — but no claim of superiority is made for it.The differences arise from different perceptions, probably derivedfrom a difference in sources, I can slate that this bard is better formy purposes, and I believe that it has more versatility and fewerrestraints than the official bard. I hope other players will find ituseful as well.

Bard abilities and characteristicsA bard must have certain minimum ability scores. These are:

strength 9; intelligence 15; wisdom 12; constitution 6; dexterity16; and charisma 15. A bard does not gain 10% to earned expe-rience for exceptional ability scores in any area.

Race: Human, elven, and half-elven bards have unlimited leveladvancement. A halfling or dwarf may be a bard and attain up to5th level. Half-ores and gnomes cannot be bards.

Alignment; The alignment of a bard may be either lawfulgood, lawful neutral, (pure) neutral, neutral good, or (rarely)chaotic neutral or chaotic good. Bards tend to be lawful, sincethey depend on custom and culture to make their living. Bardsmay expect to be allowed admittance to the homes of mostnobles and other wealthy patrons to play for their dinner, and ifthey are superb they may also receive other payment, perhaps agold chain or a bag of coins thrown to the bard by the patron forhis excellence. Bards are not evil, for this evil intent would per-vade their songs and ruin the beauty inherent in them. Evil peo-ple are generally portrayed as being against beauty in any event.

Arms, armor, and combatThe only armor a bard may wear is leather armor, and only a

wooden shield is permitted. A shield may not be actively used

BEST OF DRAGON

LevelTitle

RhymesterVersifierLyristSonnateerTroubadorMinstrelSkaldLoristMuseLaureateBardBard, 12thBard, 13thBard, 14thBard, 15thBard, 16thBard, 17thBard, 18thBard, 19thBard, 20thBard, 21stBard, 22ndMaster Bd.

6-sideddice for Readaccum. Charm Lore Langhit pis.

123456789

1011

l l+ l11+211+311+411+511+611+711+811+9

11 + 1011 + 1111 + 12

Pet.10%15%20%24%28%32%36%40%44%48%52%56%60%64%68%72%76%80%84%87%90%93%98%

Pet. Pet.0% 0%1% 5%2% 15%5% 20%8% 25%

11% 30%14% 35%18% 40%22% 45%26% 50%31% 55%36% 60%41% 65%46% 70%51% 74%57% 77%63% 79%69% 80%75% 81%81% 82%87% 83%93% 84%99% 86%

Exp. Exp.level points

1 0—2,0002 2,001—4,0003 4,001—8,0004 8,001—16,0005 16,001—33,0006 33,001—67,0007 67,001—135,0008 135,001—270,0009 270,001—500,000

10 500,001—750,00011 750,001—1,000.00012 1,000,001—1,300,00013 1,300,001—1,600,00014 1,600,001—1,900,00015 1,900,001—2,250,00016 2,250.001—2,600,00017 2,600,001—2,950,00018 2,950,001—3,300,00019 3300,001—3,700,00020 3,700,001-4,150,00021 4,150,001—4,650,00022 4,650,001—5.400,00023 5,400,001 or more

when a bard attempts charming, since a string instrument mustbe played, which requires the use of both hands.

The weapons usable by a bard are: hand or throwing axe, club,dagger, darts, hammer, javelin, horseman's mace, scimitar, sling,broadsword, longsword, and short sword. A bard may use flam-ing oil, but not poison,

Bards use the same "to hit" table as fighters; however, theynever strike more than once per round, as fighters do when theyattain high levels. Likewise, they do not gain multiple attacksagainst opponents of less than one hit die.

When a bard character starts his career, he is proficient withonly one weapon, and suffers a -4 n on -proficiency penalty. Abard may become proficient with one additional weapon forevery four levels that have been attained; i.e., a 5th-level bard canbe proficient with two weapons. A bard may never use a weaponin each hand, such as a sword ih one and a dagger in the other.

Spells usable by level

Bardlevel12S456789

1011121314151617181920212223

Illusionist spells1--.12233333333333334445

2-..-.111222333333333444

3--.-..--..1122233333333

4----.---._..-1111222222

1-1233333333333333333444

2----1122333333333333344

Druid spells3-------1122233333333333

4-----------112223333333

5--------------111122222

6-------------------1122

7---------.------------1

Magical items usable by bardsA bard may employ magical weapons of the types normally

usable by a bard (see the preceding section). Magical leatherarmor and a magical wooden shield may also be used by a bard.They may use potions, scrolls, rings, rods, wands, and miscel-laneous magic items which are usable by all classes. Any books,librams, manuals, or tomes that are read by a bard cause thesame effect as if the bard were a druid. Bards may also use a rodof beguiling and all types of the Horn of Valhalla. Of course,they may also use any instrument of the bards which is appro-priate to the character.

The bard may employ some magic items with better thanusual effect. These are:

Drums of panic — saving throw is made at -1 on the die.Horn of blasting — 50% greater damage.Lyre of building — double effects.Pipes of the sewers — double number of rats in half the usual

time; also, a bard may substitute the pipes for a stringed instru-ment when attempting to charm children, utilizing it as suchrather than for summoning rats.

Horn of the tritons — Calm water in a two-mile radius, doublethe number of summoned creatures, double duration of fleeingby creatures.

Horn of Valhalla — double amount of summoned fighters.

Saving throwsA bard makes his saving throws as a cleric of equal level,

except for saving throws vs. paralyzation, poison, and deathmagic, which the bard makes as an equal-level magic-user,

Spell useBecause of their affiliation with druids, bards can cast most

druid spells. Some spells are unusable by bards of any level,however; these are enumerated below. The effectiveness of adruid spell cast by a bard is the same as that of a druid one levellower than the bard; i.e., a 3rd-level bard would cast a spell withthe same effectiveness as a 2nd-level druid. However, spell-casting effectiveness greater than that of a I2th-level druid can-not be attained until the bard becomes a Master Bard, in whichcase spells are cast with 13th-level effectiveness.

Bards also have some illusionist spell powers, derived fromtheir ability to enter strong impressions upon people's minds.Just as with druid spells, some illusionist spells are off limits tobards, and they are listed below. A bard's effectiveness in castingillusionist spells is three levels less than he has attained as abard; a 5th-level bard casts an illusionist spell as if he were a2nd-level illusionist. A bard determines which illusionist spellsare known by him, just as an illusionist does.

Druid spells not usable by bards:2nd level: barkskin, fire trap3rd level: stone shape4th level: control temperature Iff radius, product fire,

plant door (may pass through undergrowth or thickets withthis spell, but may not enter trees)

5th level: insect plague, pass plant, sticks to snakes6th level: conjure fire elemental, transport via plants, wall

of thorns7th level: conjure earth elemental, chariot of Sustarre,

creeping doom, finger of death, fire storm,Illusionist spells not usable by bards:

1st level: darkness, hypnotism2nd level: blindness, hypnotic pattern, misdirection3rd level: continual darkness, rope trick4th level: minor creation, shadow monsters

Languages and other knowledgeSince bards are a scholarly sort, often perusing old works or

learning songs of foreign languages, they have the ability to readlanguages and also have knowledge about many magical orlegendary people, places and things.

The bard's "read languages" percentage determines not onlywhether or not the bard can comprehend a particular work, but

VOL. in 57

how much of what is there may be understood. For instance, if abard has a 25% chance to read languages and is successful in theroll to determine whether an item can be read, he can still readonly 25% of the information there, so his knowledge of the workin question will still be rather sketchy. Unlike thieves, bards mayread languages that are now extinct. Bards are different in theway in which they may learn languages. A bard does not need tobe taught by a person who knows the language, but must studythe language for an amount of time equal to 1 month, minusone day for each point of intelligence above 12 and minus oneadditional day for each language already known. However, thisdoes not allow a bard to learn more languages than his intelli-gence would indicate. A bard may also, if he wishes, leam lan-guages in the same way that members of other classes do.

The bard's loreThe bard's ability to determine the nature of magical or leg-

endary people, places, or things is expressed as the bard's "lorepercentage." Usually this knowledge will be dispensed toothersas a riddle, poem, song, or in some other cryptic form. This abil-ity is not a substitute for a detect magic spell. A typical +1 swordis generally not able to be identified as such by a bard, but thesword of a legendary hero could be identified, and the alignment(at least) of an intelligent sword could be discovered. Any magicitem bearing magical inscriptions can be detected as magical andits properties determined by use of the bard's lore percentage.Any item to be identified must be closely scrutinized, and if it ispossibly usable by the bard it must be actually handled by him.Artifacts and relics can be identified as such by a bard, but theirpowers won't be known, or will only be hinted at. A bard mayalso have knowledge about a legendary place, if its name isknown or if the site has been visited.

The dice should not always be allowed to dictate the course ofevents on a lore percentage roll. If there is some knowledge tha tthe DM does not want characters to find out, he may disregardthe result of a lore percentage roll and state that the bard knowsnothing about the item or subject at hand. This should only bedone for the sake of the adventure or the campaign as a whole,and the tactic should not be used so often that the bard's abilitybecomes worthless.

Charms and suggestionsAnother ability of bards is that of charming creatures of at

least animal-level intelligence by Use of their singing and play-ing. Those creatures immune to charms are not affected, nor aredeafened creatures.

If the bard's roll on percentite dice exceeds his charm percent-age, the charm attempt has essentially failed, and all non-associated creatures within 4" must merely delay their intendedactions for one segment. If the bard's roll is equal to or less thanhis charm percentage, all non-associated creatures wi th in 4"must save vs. spell. A successful save indicates the creature willlisten for one round, doing nothing else. Failing the savingthrow indicates that the affetled creature w i l l l is ten 10 the b;mlfor as long as he conlinues to play and sing. These creatures wi l lbe enraptured by the bard's music, doing nothing more than try-ing to follow the bard if he moves, or perhaps tapping their feetor doing a l i t t le dance.

A bard can, if he wishes, while a creature is in this charmedstale, try to implant a suggestion (as the spell), in which case thecharmed creature must again attempt a save vs. spell — this timeat -2 on the die — and if t h i s saving throw fails, the creature wi l lsuffer the f u l l effects of ihe suggestion. If the second savingthrow succeeds, the creature is total ly free of the bard's charm.To plant a suggestion, the bard must be able to speak in a lan-guage known by ihe intended victim. It is not necessary for abard to speak the creature's language to simply charm, however.

A bard may attempt to charm as often as he wishes, but anyparticular creature or character may be affected only once perday. Loud noise which would drown oui the bard's singing, or aphysical attack upon the bard, will immediately negate charms,but not suggestions, which may be in effect.

5fi

Charming by a bard is exclusive of all activities other thanwalking. If the bard begins to walk while charming, the charmedcreatures will attempt to follow until or unless they are forced tobe farther than 4" away, at which time the charm will be broken.A bard must use both hands to play his instrument whilecharming.

Other effects of a bard's songsA bard's singing and/or playing also has other effects. By

merely singing a poem or song, a bard increases the morale ofassociated creatures by 10%; gives +2 to those creatures on savingthrows vs. fear, submission, or similar attacks which act to dis-hearten the individual; and inspires ferocity in attack, so that "tohit" rolls are made at +1. Both of these characteristics require 1round of poetics to produce the desired effect; during the secondround after the bard begins to sing or play, the ferocity and/ormorale bonuses will be in effect. These effects last for one ful lturn, as long as the bard conlinues to sing throughout this time.The bard can melee while he sings and still produce these effects,but cannot charm or cast spells and invoke the ferocity/moralebonuses at the same time.

The singing and playing of a bard negates the song effects ofharpies and prevents similar attacks which rely upon song, Abard's song gives +1 to the saving throws of associated creatures(and the bard) against attacks which are based on sound, such asthe wail of a groaning spirit, or the roar of an androsphinx or adragonne. The bard's playing also stills the noise of shriekers.

When two opposing bards are engaged in a conflict of songs,the charm percentage of the lower-level bard is subtracted fromihe charm percentage of the higher-level bard, thus giving a new,effective charm percentage for the more adept bard in thisinstance. When two bards of equal level oppose each other, theirsongs have no charming effect since they cancel each other out,though the duet may sound exquisite!

A bard is useful to his party when traveling in the wildernessbecause a bard's songs are soothing for a road-weary traveller,thus allowing an additional 20% of normal movement per day ifon foot, or a 10% bonus to movement if the party is mounted.

Miscellaneous informationWhen a bard gains the title of Bard (\ 1th level), he also gains

the power to change form, as a druid is able to do.An instrument is needed for all bard abilities associated with

song, except for inspiring ferocity or raising morale. In no way isany loyalty or reaction adjustment for high charisma of anybenefit to a bard's functions.

A bard cannot employ henchmen or hirelings until he gainsthe title of Bard ( l l t h level), and then may employ only druids orfighters of the human, half-elven, elven, or halfling races.

A bard will work with no other bards while adventuring,although they may practice their music or poetry with eachother. Like monks and rangers, bards will retain very litlle of themoney they gain. They will attempt to buy serviceable clothesfor traveling, and will buy fine clothes and the most exquisiteinstrument they can acquire for use when they perform, but wiltkeep only enough money to maintain themselves in a modestmanner. Any other money will he donated to a worthy cause orgive away at whim — although not to player characters! Occa-sionally, when a bard amasses an amount of wealth that is aburden to his creativity, he might use it to have an extravagantfestival or pany instead of giving it away.

One interesting sidelight of the bard class is that if a playerwith a bard character has the ability or inclination lo write orrecite short poems or songs for particular situations, he shouldbe encouraged lo do so. For example, if a bard was to charm acreature and then plant a suggestion of sleep on the creature, alullaby could be appropriately sung by the player representingthe bard character. This could add additional flavor and enjoy-ment to the game.

DM: Well, guys, how do you like it now?Alphonae: Taaasssty, taaasssty!

BEST OF DRAGON

Cantrips: minor magicA cast of spells for would-be wizards to useby E. Gary Gygax

I have often wondered why no player or DM has asked meabout what apprentice magic-users actually do. The verythought always conjures up visions of Mickey Mouse havingtroubles with brooms marching endlessly with buckets of water— Walt Disney really outdid himself when he made FantasialThat aside, I have always reasoned that apprentice dweomer-crafters had to fu l f i l l the dual role of menial and student, per-forming chores all day and then studying late into the night.After a certain point, an apprentice would begin to acquire suffi-cient magical acumen to employ minor magics — mainly tolighten his burden of drudgery but also to create some amuse-ment at times. The petty spells gained by an apprentice magic-user are cantrips.

Previously, the acquisition of first-level spell ability subsumedthat lesser magics would be ignored by the fledging magic-user.The stuff of base servitude and inferior status would be cast asidefor the heady power of actual spells! However, as I worked onthe list of cantrips which might be possible to apprentices, I wasstruck by the real usefulness of many of them. Why not allow themagic-user the option of retaining cantrips? Would it unbalanceplay if a number of cantrips could be substituted for a singlefirst-level spell? A few days of additional work detailing thepowers of cantrips and determining their possible effects gave theanswer: Not only did the addition not adversely affect the game,the inclusion of cantrips made the play of low-level magic-usersvery much more interesting and challenging! The followingregarding cantrips is from my AD&D™ expansion manuscript.

Cantrips are merely 0-level magic-user spells, the spells learnedand used by apprentices during their long, rigorous, and tedioustraining for the craft of magic-use. Most cantrips are simple littlespells of no great effect, so when the individual becomes a jour-neyman (Ist-level) magic-user,'the knowledge and informationpertaining to these small magics are discarded in favor of themore powerful spells then available. However, a magic-user mayopt to remember up to four cantrips in place of one 1 si-levelspell. This assumes that the magic-user has, in fact, retained hisor her book of cantrips — a tome as large as a good-sized book ofhigher-level spells.

The number and types of cantrips known and recorded isdetermined by random use of the tables given herein. The excep-tion is the table of useful cantrips — those which were employedto make apprenticeship less wearisome. (These are given in the

Dragon

upper left-hand column of the chart immediately following thistext.) An apprentice has one useful cantrip for each point ofintelligence, and is allowed free choice from the list of 20 offered.

All cantrips are 0 level, have a 1" range, a generally small areaof effect, require only soft, simple verbal and somatic compo-nents, and are cast in a very short time (1/10 to 1/2 segment).Only those which involve living creatures afford any savingthrow. The common cantrips are:

No. Useful1 Chili2 Clean3 Color4 Dampen5 Dry6 Dust1 Exterminate8 Flavor9 Freshen

10 Gather11 Polish12 Sa/(13 Shine14 Spice15 Sprout16 Stitch17 Sweeten18 Tie19 Warm20 Wrap

No. Person (2-8)1 Belch2 Blink3 Cough4 Giggle5 Nod6 Scratch1 Sneeze8 Twitch9 Wink

10 Yawn

From issues #59 and #60,March and April 1982

Reversed (2-8)CurdleDirtyDustyHairyKnotRavelSourSpillTangleTarnishUntieWilt

Legerdemain (2-5)ChangeDistractHideMutePalmPresent

Personal (2-8)BeeBluetightBugFirefingerGnatsMouseSmoke puffSpiderTweakUnlock

Haunting (2-5)CreakFootfallGroanMoanRattleTapThumpWhistle

Dragon

VOL. in 59

THE CASTING OF CANTRIPSCantrips are basically cast the same way that spells are cast.

Note that despite their simple components and short castingtimes, only two cantrips can be cast during any round by a singlemagic-user or apprentice. Furthermore, the segment of the roundin which the cantrip is cast is dependent on the usual factors:surprise, initiative, and so on. After the first of the two cantripsis cast, the magic-user must roll a four-sided die to determinehow many segments later he or she will be able to cast the secondcantrip (if so desired). It is not possible for a magic-user to castboth a spell and a cantrip during the same round, no matter howshort the casting times.

CANTRIP EXPLANATIONS

Chill (Evocation)A o f E : r cubsCT: % segment

Clean (Abjuration)A of E: 4 sq. yds.CT: g segment

Color (Evocation)A of E: / cubic yd.CT: ft segment

Dampen(Evocation)

A of E: / cubic yd.CT: « segment

Dry (Abjuration)A of E: / cubic yd.CT: % segment

Dust (Abjuration)A.oftilO'T.CT: » segment

60

Useful Cantrips

A cantrip of this nature allows the cast-er to cause liquid or solid material tobecome about 40° F. cooler than it was,subject to a minimum temperature offreezing. If the subject is living matter,the cantrip will be only half as effectiveand wil l not lower temperature morethan 10° below normal for that creature.Verbal component is a soft whistling,somatic is a down ward-thrust thumb.

This cantrip enables the caster toremove heavy soil, dirt, and like foreignobjects from floors, walls, dishes, win-dows, etc. The subject surfaces are thenspotless, but care must be taken in remov-al of pigments and the like, so usuallyonly one type of material will be treatedin a single application. Verbal compo-nent is a low outrush of air, somatic is acircular hand motion.

By use of this cantrip, the caster bringscolor to an object. It can be used to re-store faded hues or to tinge those alreadycolored with a different hue. Thus, dullor faded fabric can be brightened, pig-ments restored, or even hair or skinchanged to another color. The effect mustbe renewed every 30 days. Verbal compo-nent is a humming, somatic is a back-and-forth or wringing hand motion.

When a cantrip of this sort is cast, thesubject area is permeated by a fog-likedampness which leaves all materialwithin it damp to the touch. It is usefulfor many sorts of things. It is hard onparchment, and it similarly makes it andlike substances hard to set aflame. Verbalcomponent is a low hooting or ahummed ditty, somatic is a hand gestureupwards with writhing fingers.

The cantrip removes dampness andescess moisture from materials within thesubject areas. It is useful for cloth, herbs,and cleaning chores. Verbal component issimilar to that of the dampen cantrip,and the somatic is a two-handed wring-ing motion.

A cantrip of this sort removes all finedust and tiny grit particles from exposedsurfaces such as floors, shelves, walls, etc.

Exterminate(Abjuration)

A of E: One verysmall creature

CT: 1/10 segment

Flavor(Enchantment)

A of E: 1 objectCT: ft segment

Freshen(Enchantment)

A of E: 1 objectCT: ft segment

Gather (Alteration)A of E: / sq. yd.CT: 1/6 segment

Polish (A Iteration)A of E: 7 objectCT: % segment

Salt (Evocation)A of E: I objectCT: 116 segment

Material so removed is transported else-where, but new dust can accumulate, ofcourse. Verbal component is a continuousin-drawing of breath, somatic is a back-and-forth hand motion.

When this cantrip is used, the castermay kill a small pest such as a fly, mouse,rat, beetle, or the like. It is useful forindoors and outdoor applications. If thesubject is very small, an area of up toii cubic foot (an be rid of pests. Thesomatic gesture is a pointed finger, whilethe caster verbalizes a low "zzzt" sound.

This cantrip enables the caster to givethe subject a superior or better or differ-ent flavor. Thus, mush can be made totaste as if it were lobster bisque, but thedweomer will not actually affect qualityor wholesome ness. Spoiled food remainsspoiled; a poisoned drink would still bedeadly. The verbal component is a mut-tered lip-smacking sound; the somaticgesture is a shaking motion.

By means of this cantrip, the casterbrings new life or freshness to the objectdesired. The magic applies to food anddrink items such as milk, beer, meat, andraw vegetables. It also works with cutvegetables, flowers, herbs, etc. Althoughit will remove a slight taint of spoilage,restore drooping flowers, and so on, itlasts for but an hour. The subject must beof relatively small size, i.e. a small cask ofliquid, a sheep, a bushel of vegetables,etc. The verbal component is an"mmmmmm" sound, while the handmakes a mystic symbol with thumb andforefinger forming a circle and the otherfingers upright and apart.

This cantrip enables the caster to neatlygather numerous small objects into astack or pile. For instance, if nails, nuts,coins, papers, or like objects were spilled,the magic would bring them together. Itcan be used selectively, for instance toseparate one type of material fromanother, but only the selected type wouldbe gathered neatly. The caster verbalizesthe type of material to be gathered whilemaking a gathering motion.

When this cantrip is used, the castermagically smooths and brings a luster tomaterials such as wood, metal, stone,leather, or ceramic. Naturally, the desiredobject must be relatively clean in orderfor the cantrip to be effective. The objectaffected must be of reasonable size — afloor of up to 1,000 square feet, anarmoire, etc. It works better on smallerobjects, of course, such as boots, mirrors,crystal containers, etc. The caster hums aditty while making a buffing motion.

This cantrip causes a sprinkling of finesalt to magically appear and descendupon the desired object — a stew, sometroublesome weed patch, or a barrel full

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Shine (Alteration)A of E: / objectCT: % segment

Spice (Evocation)A of E: 1 objectCT: ft segment

Sprout (Alteration}A of E: / cubic yd.CT: ft segment

A of E: SpecialCT: ft segment

Sweeten(Evocation)

A of E: / ofr/«riCT: ft segment

Tie (A Iteration)A of E:./ objectCT: ft segment

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of stock fish to be preserved. The objectmust be of a reasonable size — up to per-haps 4 square yards in area or about 30gallons liquid volume. Care must betaken to avoid over-salting if the objectinvolved is smaller, and if the object islarger, it will not receive much salt. Ver-bal component is a labial smacking, per-formed while the hand makes a sprin-kling motion.

Similar to the polish cantrip, thismagic allows the caster to remove tarnish,rust, corrosion, and similar substancesfrom the desired object. This cantripbrings about a mirror-bright shine toobjects capable of such, causing their sur-faces to be smooth and unmarred. A pieceof jewelry, for instance, would be mademore attractive, and even its gems better{+1 on die rolls). A single object up toabout 1 cubic yard in volume can betreated by this cantrip. Verbal andsomatic components are similar to polish.

Unlike the flavor cantrip, this magicactually brings a particular spice to theobject food or drink. Thus, ginger,pepper, and like spices can be brought toadd zest {or disguise). Herbs such as bayleaf, garlic, parsley, and so forth canlikewise be evoked by this cantrip. Thequantity is sufficient to spice food ordrink for about a dozen people. The spice(or herb) appears over the object vessel asa fine powder or flake, falls upon it, andadds its substance to the dish or drink. Aditty is hummed while the hand makes acrumbling and sprinkling motion.

By means of this cantrip, the castercauses acceleration in the growth ofplants, particularly with respect to thegermination of plant seeds. Upon its cast-ing, the cantrip will cause seeds to shootforth tiny sprouts, newly sprouted plantsto grow an inch or so, buds to flower, etc.Fruits and vegetables can be caused toripen (or actually go past ripening tospoilage) by this cantrip. A susurrantsound is verbalized while the caster'shand makes hoeing motions.

This cantrip magically sews seams incloth or leather. It will make new ones, orrepair old work. About 20 yards of clothcan be thus stitched, but only about 2yards of leather. The seam thus created isneither stronger nor weaker than a seamdone without magic. Usually a briefrhyme is recited as the hand makes a sew-ing motion.

This cantrip is the same as a spice can-trip, except that the result is the evocationof a sweetener — sugar, honey, or even asyrup. Components are a buzzing soundand a stirring motion.

By means of this cantrip, the caster canmagically cause the object of the magic —thread, string, cord, rope, or even cable —

Warm (Evocation)A of E: /' cubeCT: % segment

Wrap (A Iteration)A of E: 7 cubic yd,CT: ft segment

Curdle(Enchantment)

A of E; / objectCT: 1/6 segment

Dirty (Evocation)A of E: 4 sq. yds.CT: 116 segment

Dusty (Evocation)A of E: Iff r.CT: 116 segment

Hairy (Alteration)A of E: / objectCT: 1/10 segment

to tightly knot itself to either its other endor an end of a similar object within I' ofit. The resulting knot will be a normalone such as a square knot, half-hitch,running bowline, or whatever other sortthe caster desires. The caster verbalizes thename of the knot desired while holdingup three fingers.

This cantrip is the same as chill, exceptthat the magic brings a warming of theliquid or solid. The temperature wi l l riseat most about 40° F. The cantrip willnever cause living creatures to becomewarmer than their normal body tempera-ture. Components are an "aafi" soundvocalized while the hands are rubbedbriskly together.

When a wrap cantrip is employed, thecaster creates a strong and sturdy wrap-ping around the subject desired — a bit ofherbs, a heap of flour, a bundle of cloth,etc. The material of the cantrip is of asuitable type and thickness for the item<s)to be wrapped. Thus, a few ounces of finepowder will be contained in a waxytissue, gem stones in a felt-like envelope,meal in cloth, and so forth. The wrap-ping can be undone normally, but thecaster can just as easily order it to open,so the cantrip is often used to enfold thematerial components of a spell. The cast-er verbalizes a general class of wrappingdesired while making folding motionswith his hands.

Reversed cantrips

This cantrip is broader in effect than itsname, for it affects many food and drinkitems. The magic curdles milk andhastens spoilage or wilting. It has a per-manent effect on the object. It is other-wise similar to freshen. The caster verbal-izes a retching sound while pointing thethumb downward.

The opposite of a clean cantrip, thisenables the caster to soil, spot, and sullywalls, floors, dishes, garments, etc. Verbalcomponent is a spitting sound, madewhile the feet are shuffled and stamped.

By means of this cantrip, the castercauses a film of dust and grirne to settleupon all exposed surfaces within the can-trip area of effect. Verbal component is alow humming, while the hands makeshaking motions.

While this cantrip is not actually oneof the standard "useful" ones whichapprentices reverse for mischievousness, itis one which is generally used for nogood purpose. It causes hair, fur, or hair-like growth to thicken and lengthen.Thus, a head of hair, a peach, a beard, acat, or whatever could be affected. Thegrowth will cause the subject material toincrease from 2-12 inches in length. Thesubject material must be trimmed or cut

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Knot (Alteration)A of E: 1 objectCT; % segment

Ravel (A Iteration)A of E: SpecialCT: 1110 segment

Sour (Evocation)A of E: 1 objectCT: ii segment

Spill(Alteration)

A of E: 1 containerCT; /16 segment

Tangle (Alteration)A of E: 1 objectCT: 116 segment

to remove the cantrip's effect. This can-trip can be reversed to shorten growth oreffectively shave, but since the effect onshort material (growth under 1 inch inlength) is complete absence of growth for2-12 days, it is not often used. The casterverbalizes snicking sounds while makingmassaging motions for growth, or scissor-ing motions for removal.

This cantrip is a permutation of the tiecantrip. It causes the thread, string, cord,or rope to knot itself in such a manner asto be very difficult to untie, and from 2-8rounds, minus dexterity bonus for reac-tion of the individual untying the knot,to undo. It works even on materialalready affected by a tie cantrip. The cast-er verbalizes a tow "zzz" sound whilemoving the arm forward with strongwrist motion.

This cantrip is the reverse of a stitch. Itwill work only if there is a loose orbroken thread in the seam or fabric to beaffected, except for material magicallystitched by the appropriate cantrip. Whenthe latter sort of seam or material isinvolved, the ravel cantrip will alwayswork, except in the case where the subjectis otherwise magical, i.e. a bag of hold-ing, a cloak of protection, boots of elven-kind, etc. The name of the cantrip is ver-balized while the fingers make a pluckingmotion.

When this cantrip is used, the castercauses the subject food or drink to take ona sour taste, not unlike vinegar of theappropriate sort. While it is typicallyused to spoil wine, beer, or some pastry,the sour cantrip can be used to usefulpurpose. The magic actually causes abouta pint {maximum) of vinegar to appearover the subject. This can be an emptycontainer in which such liquid is desired.The easier purses the lips and makes awhoosh sound while clenching the hand.

The opposite of a gather cantrip, thisenables the caster to cause the contents ofa container to spill out. The object con-tainer is actually tipped by the cantrip,and since the magic is not powerful, con-tainers of more than about gallon size, ormagical ones, will not be affected by thecantrip. Solids and/or liquids within theobject container will spill out, if the con-tainer is not securely closed or capped.The caster verbalizes an "oh-oh" soundwhile making an abrupt hand motion.

A permutation of the tie cantrip, thismagic allows the caster to cause finematerial such as thread, hair, small grass,and the like to become twisted and en-twined in a tangle. It will not work onheavy material such as rope. Untanglingsubject material will take 3-12 rounds,unless it is roughly done — and the mate-rial is broken and snapped in the process,torn loose, etc. The cantrip will tangle

Tarnish(Alteration)

A of E: 7 objectCT: * segment

Untie (Alteration)A of E: I objectCT: 1/3 segment

Wilt(Enchantment)

A of E: / objectCT: » segment

Change (Alteration)A of E: 1 objectCT: II10 segment

mixed materials such as grass and string,hair and threads, and so forth. A buzzingis verbalized while the finger makes a stir-ring motion.

The reverse of a shine cantrip, thiscauses a covering of rust, corrosion, ver-digris, or the like to cover an object nor-mally subject to such tarnishing. Theobject must be of about 1 cubic yard orless in volume. Verbal component is aspitting sound, while the hand makes asprinkling motion.

This permutation of a tie cantrip issimply the reverse of the magic. The cast-er selects an object — thread, string, cord,etc. — which is knotted or tied. The can-trip removes the knot or tying. Note thatthe untie cantrip will cause a tangle to benullified. The cantrip will not removeboth a knot and a normal tying (normalknot or one caused by a tie cantrip), but itwill cause the former to disappear so thatonly a normal tying remains. Somaticand verbal components vary according tothe desired result. In general, a poppingsound is made white the hands are movedapart — either as if a knot were beinguntied or a cord snapped.

A reverse of the freshen cantrip whichaffects only vegetable material — whethergrowing or picked. Thus, a plant can bemade to wilt (or possibly wither if it isnot very healthy), or a bunch of cut flow-ers sag and droop. Verbal component is adescending hum, while the forefinger isslowly curled from an upright position.

Legerdemain cantrips

By means of a change cantrip, the cast-er alters one small object to another,although the change must be within thesame kingdom, and only animal andvegetable objects are affected. Thus, apiece of parchment can be changed to abrightly colored cloth square, then thecloth can be changed to a rose by anotheruse of the cantrip. Likewise, a bird can bechanged into a bat, the bat to a flyingsquirrel by another use of the same typeof cantrip, and so forth. Each changerequires a change cantrip. The cantripwill not cause more than a 50% increaseor decrease in size/volume, and the effectwill last for a base time of 1 turn. If thechange is radical, then the time will bereduced accordingly; i.e., changing a deadobject to a live one is a radical changeand will last only 1 round. On the otherhand, a very slight alteration such ascolor change or the like will last for 1 ormore days. A saving throw against thismagic does not apply as long as small,animal-intelligence, non-magical crea-tures of normal son are concerned. Typi-cally, a magic word is verbalized whilethe hand makes a pass over the object 10be affected.

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Distract(Enchantment)

A of E: SpecialCT: 1/3 segment

Hide (Illusion)A of E: 1 objectCT: 1110 segment

MvU(A Iteration)A of E: 1 objectCT: l/Wsegment

By means of this cantrip, the castercauses all who are watching to look at anarea of the caster's choice. The area mustbe to the right or left of the caster, and thedistraction must be within 10 feet of thecaster. Thus, the caster can cause viewersto watch his or her right hand and a placea few feet distant where the caster's fingeris pointing, while the caster's left handdoes something unnoticed. Saving throwsapply only to individuals above 0 level, orwith at least 1+1 hit dice and an intelli-gence of greater than low rating. The dis-tract cantrip has a duration of only 1segment. The caster speaks an attention-getting word or phrase and gestures to theleft or right to effectuate the cantrip.

This cantrip allows the caster to magi-cally hide an object of virtually any sizefor a short period of time. The cantripcasts a dweomer over the desired object sothat it becomes invisible to all who are infront of the caster. Note that the magicdoes not affect sound, so that if a crowingrooster were made to seemingly disap-pear, the noise of its cry would still beheard. Likewise, if an elephant were hid-den by the cantrip, the sound of its tread,trumpeting, or even breathing might beheard. The dweomer will not work ifviewers are beside or behind the caster.The cantrip lasts for 1 turn on an objectof 2 cubic yds. or less in size. The dura-tion is reduced by 1 round for every addi-tional 2 cubic yds. of volume made toseemingly disappear, until at 20 cubicyds. of volume, duration is 1 round. Atover 20 cubic yds, of volume, duration isreduced by 1 segment per 2 additionalcubic yds.; i.e., the hide cantrip will havea duration of 9 segments if cast on anobject of 22 cubic yds. volume; 8 segmentsFor 24 cubic yds., 7 segments for 26, 6 for28, 5 for 30, 4 for 32, 3 for 34, 2 for 36, and1 segment for 38 cubic yds. Anything over38 cubic yds. in volume will at bestmomentarily seem to disappear and thenreappear again. Verbal component is anactivating word such as abracadabrawhile the hand makes a pass across theforepart of the object. The caster can dis-pel the cantrip simply by speaking theactivating word.

The mute cantrip allows the caster toalter the shape of small objects of a min-eral nature. The magic is effective againstglass, metal, stone, etc. A plane can bealtered to a rod, a torus to a sphere, etc.Thus, a coin could be changed to be aring. Similarly, glass could be changed tocrystal, lead to silver, copper to gold, etc.The duration of the mute is but 1 round.If another individual actually touches theobject affected, the dweomer of the can-trip might be affected: The individualtouching it makes a saving throw vs.spell, and if it succeeds the cantrip is dis-pelled. The verbal and somatic compo-nents for the mute cantrip are similar tothose of a change cantrip.

Palm (Illusion)A of E: 7 small itemCT: 1/lOsegment

Present (Alteration)A of E; / small itemCT: 1/6 segment

Belch (Evocation)A of E: / personCT: II10 segment

Blink (Evocation)A of E: 1 personCT: I HO segment

Cough (Evocation)A of E: 1 personCT; 1/3 segment

This cantrip enables the caster to secreta small object in his or her hand withoutseeming to do so. The dweomer creates anillusory duplicate of the object to bepalmed, so that the other can be takenwhile under a form of hide cantrip(which actually works regardless ofviewer position). The illusory duplicateof the palmed object lasts but 1 segment,so it must be covered or screened fromview, or else any onlookers will see itwink out of existence, A special word isspoken while a digit points at the objectto be palmed. The caster may then pickup the now-invisible actual object whileseemingly only touching or handling theillusory duplicate.

A present cantrip enables the caster tobring any small object or series of objectsfrom within a 2-foot radius of his or herperson to his or her hand. The object orobjects will appear magically in the cast-er's hand as he or she puts the handupward or outward with a flourish andspeaks the key word to begin the dweo-mer. If an object as large as a tankard isthus presented, the cantrip will beexhausted, but as many as a dozen coinscould be brought to the hand before thedweomer failed. The caster must knowthe exact nature and location of the objector objects to be presented. If they are onthe person of another individual, a savevs. spell applies to the individual, unlessthe object or objects are in plain sight.

Person-affect ing cantrips

When this cantrip is cast, the subjectwill involuntarily belch. A saving throwis applicable only to see how loud ormuffled the burping sound is, failureindicating a very loud belch, successmeaning that the sound is relatively lowand muffled. The verbal component is analmost inaudible belch, done at the sametime that the caster's hand presses his orher diaphragm.

By means of this cantrip, the castercauses the subject person (or creature) toblink his, her, or its eye or eyes. Theblinking reaction is only momentary, ofcourse, lasting no more than half asecond. A successful saving throw indi-cates only a single eye wink, or no effectfor one-eyed creatures. The verbal com-ponent is a softly spoken magical word(such as "hatcha-cha"), voiced while thecaster snaps his fingers.

This cantrip enables the caster to makethe subject individual cough spasmodi-cally. If a saving throw is made, thecough is only a brief hacking which willnot usually disturb other activities. Fail-ing the saving throw indicates the victimis affected by a loud and active series ofcoughs lasting from 1 to S seconds. Thesomatic component is a gagging gesturewhile a gasp is verbalized.

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Giggle (Charm)A of E: / personCT; 1/3 segment

Nod (Evocation)A of E: I personCT: l/10segment

Scratch (Evocation)A of E: 1 creatureCT: 116 segment

Sneeze (Evocation)A of E: 1 creatureCT: 112 segment

Twitch (Evocation)A of E: / creatureCT: 7/3 segment

Wink (Enchantment)A of E: / personCT: 1/10 segment

Yawn (Evocation)A of E: / creatureCT: 116 segment

64

By means of this cantrip, the castercauses the subject individual to involun-tarily giggle. The loudness and length ofthis reaction depend on the saving throw.If the subject fails to save, the result willbe a chuckle or giggle lasting about 2 or 3seconds. If the save succeeds, only a briefchuckle will be caused. The verbal com-ponent is a single word or phrase (knownin magical circles as a "punch line") lobe spoken while one finger is moved backand forth rapidly.

This cantrip causes the subject to givean involuntary nod of the head due tomuscle contraction. The effect is as if thesubject were nodding in agreement or as agreeting. A successful saving thrownegates the effect. The caster gives aslight nod of the head while pointing hisor her small finger at the subject.

A scratch cantrip causes the subjectcreature to experience an annoying itchon some portion of the body. Unless asaving throw is successful, the subjectwill involuntarily scratch at this itch.This scratching will take but a second,and will immediately cause the itch tocease. Verbal component is the name ofsome body pest (flea, louse, etc.) while thearea of the itch is pointed to.

A cantrip of this nature causes an irri-tation in the nasal passages of the subject.Unless the subject makes a successful sav-ing throw vs. spell, a sneeze will occur.This single sneeze will relieve the irrita-tion. The caster verbalizes the name of anirritant substance while touching his orher nose.

By means of this cantrip, the castercauses a muscle contraction in some por-tion of the subject creature's appendages— head, neck, hand, arm, foot, leg, etc.The twitch will be noticeable, but willnot cause the subject great discomfort orloss of control or concentration. The can-trip is negated by a successful savingthrow. Verbal component is the name ofthe area to be affected while the castergazes at the area and makes a twitchingmotion with the hand.

This cantrip enables the caster to causethe subject individual to wink one eye. Asaving throw indicates that the winkingis rapid and not greatly noticeable, whilefailure to save indicates a greatly exagger-ated, prolonged winking. The casterspeaks a magical phrase (such as " twenty-three skidoo") while making an imper-ceptible winking of his or her eye.

A yawn cantrip makes the subject crea-ture feel a brief wave of drowsiness whichin turn evokes a yawn reaction. If a sav-ing throw vs. spell succeeds, the subjectcreature is totally unaffected by thedweomer of the cantrip. Failure, however,not only forces a yawn to immediately

occur, but the subject is then more sus-ceptible to a sleep spell. During the bal-ance of the round in which the yawncantrip was cast, and during the whole ofthe following round, the subject willautomatically fall into comatose slumberfrom a sleep spell cast upon it, so 1 addi-tional creature will be vulnerable to thespell if more than 1 creature of 4 or fewerhit dice are subjected to the spell. Further,if creatures of 4+1 to 4+4 hit dice areinvolved, there is then a chance that twosuch creatures will actually be affected bysleep. Even a creature of up to 5+2 hitdice can be affected by sleep if previouslyvictimized by a yawn cantrip, but theeffect of the sleep spell is rolled for as ifthe creature had 4+1 to 4+4 hit dice; i.e.,there is a 50% chance it will not beaffected. The caster hums a lullaby for theverbal component while making a rock-ing motion with cupped hands.

Personal cantrips of the apprentice

Bee (Summoning)A of E: 1 beeCT: 1/2 segment

Blue light(Conjuration)

A of E://*'CT: H segment

When this cantrip is used, the castersummons a honey bee from someplace —where is of no importance, for the crea-ture appears in seconds. The bee willappear in whatever spot the caster is gaz-ing at, up to 1" distance from him or her.The bee is, of course, annoyed, and it is90% likely to sting any living creature itfinds itself upon, (This will certainlycause the subject to react violently if itwould otherwise be so affected by a beesting.) The verbal component is a lowbuzzing sound while the caster's forefin-ger moves through flight-like passes.

This cantrip enables the caster to con-jure a small sphere of glowing blueradiance. The light has an eerie effectwhen seen from a distance, but it onlyilluminates an area in a 5' radius. Fur-thermore, the bluelight does not castreflections beyond this radius. The lightdoes not affect either infravision or ultra-vision. When the caster says a rhymeusing the words "blue" and "light" inany combination, the blueligkt appearsin his or her open palm and remainsaglow until the caster ceases to concen-trate on it.

A variation of the bee cantrip, the dugcantrip enables the caster to summonsome form of crawling insect. The beetleor bug appears in the same manner as thebee summoned by the cantrip of thatname. It will likewise be irritated andwill pinch, bite, or otherwise attack thecreature it might find itself upon, withappropriate results. Verbal component isthe name of the insect desired while thecaster's forefinger makes a sliding andpointing motion at the desired area of thebug's appearance (up to 1" distant).

Firefinger (Alteration) The firefinger cantrip enables the casterA of E: 'A' to cause a jet of flame up to one-half footCT: 1/3 segment in length to shoot forth from his or her

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Bug (Summoning)A of E: / bugCT: % segment

Gnats (Summoning)A of E: / cubic footCT: %.segment

Mouse (Summoning)A of E: / mouseCT: % segment

Smokepuff(Evocation)

A of E: 1' d. cloudCT: 1/3 segment

Spider (Summoning)A of Er 1 spiderCT:

finger. The flame is very hot and willignite combustible materials such asparchment, twigs, kindling, and the likewithout difficulty, providing the mate-rials are relatively dry. The flame persistsfor up to 1 segment. The caster speaks aword of power over elemental fire (ron-son, tip-po, or the much revered word,dun-hill), extends the forefinger, andmakes a downward or sideways motionwith the thumb.

A cantrip of this nature is similar to thebee and bug cantrips described above,except that when it is used a cloud ofgnats is summoned. The swarm willimmediately proceed to Fly around thehead of the nearest living creature, andunless this creature makes a successfulsaving throw vs. poison, the cloud ofgnats wi l l distract the creature for from1-4 segments before the gnats fly else-where. The verbal component is a high-pitched buzzing sound while the casterpoints a digit at the area in which thegnat cloud is to appear.

Similar to the cantrip which summonsa bee or a bug, the mouse cantrip enablesthe caster to bring forth a mouse up to 1"from his or her position. The animal willbe a typical field mouse or as similar aspecies as possible. When it arrives, thecaster will have no control over themouse, and the animal will behave aswould any mouse in the given situation.The caster speaks a summoning word(typical ly the name of a food desirable bymice) while holding his or her hands insuch a way as to resemble mouse cars.

When ibis cantrip is employed, a puffof actual smoke appears in the desiredlocation, up to [" distant from the caster,and wi l l ascend as would a normal cloudof smoke, or be dissipated, depending onthe prevailing conditions. The caster cancause the smoke to be either white, gray,black, brown, yellow, or green. The casternames the color of smoke desired whilemoving a hand from an extended hori-zontal position to a vertical one, mean-while breathing forth a puff of air.

This cantrip, much as d<x's a bee orbug or mouse or gnats cantrip, summonsa small, ordinary spider from elsewhere tothe location desired by the caster, up to 1"distant from his or her JXTSOII. Thearachnid so summoned w i l l usually be acommon garden spider or the like, nolarger than an inch or two in diameter,and basically harmless. There is a 5%chance that the creature w i l l turn out tobe one with powerful poison (bla< kwidow, brown recluse, etc.). Since thespider summoned w i l l be annoyed, thecreature upon which it finds itself, if suchis the case, will lie subject loan imme-diate bite attack. This will have only amomentary effect, distracting the victimFor 1 segment, for a normal spider. If the

spider is of the very poisonous sort, thevictim must also make a saving throw vs.poison at +4. Success indicates 1 point ofdamage is inflicted. Failure indicates 2points of damage are inflicted, and thevictim will feel sick and be unable to actnormally for 1-4 days unless a neutralizepoison spell is cast to remove the toxin.(A slow poison wi l l defer the sickness for1 day.) To cast the cantrip, the casterspeaks the word "arachnid" while spread-ing his or her fingers and wiggling them.

Tweak (Conjuration) By means of this cantrip, the casterA of E: / creature causes an unseen thumb and forefinger toCT: / /5 segment harmlessly, but annoyingly, tweak some

portion of a chosen subject within a 1"radius of the caster. Portions subject tothe tweak cantrip are: cheek, nose, ear,beard, moustache, whiskers, or tail. Thecantrip's effects do not disturb spell cast-ing, although the tweaking might distractany creature by causing it to turn to dis-cover the source of the annoyance. A fail-ure to save vs. spell (with respect to crea-tures with an intelligence under 7), orfailure to roll a score greater than in te l l i -gence rolled on 3d6 (wi th respect to crea-tures with intelligence of 7 or gicater),indicates a 1-segment distraction. Thecaster speaks a magic phrase (such as"kitchy-kitf.ky-coo") whi le making apinching and pulling motion wi ththumb and forefinger.

Unlock (Conjuration)A of E: / lockCT: fe segment

Creak (F.vocation)A of E: SpecialCT: 1/6 segment

Footfall (Illusion)A of E: SpecialCT: 116 segment

This cantrip enables the caster to con-jure an invisible, key-tike force appro-priate to the locking mechanism to beopened (or closed). The unlock cantripwill affect only simple locks of the mostbasic sort — typical ly those which haveclosing pressure prongs or bolt and pins,or bolt and spring closures. Locks w i t htumblers or levers, as well as secret-combination locks, are not subject to thiscantrip. Note that simple locks wi thcomplex wards to prevent skeleton-keytriggering w i l l be subject to an unlockcannip. While the caster speaks a word orphrase associated with locks (tu-tock-doublflock, yah-el, etc.) he or she makes atwisting motion wi th fingers held as if tograsp a key.

Haunting-sound cantrips

By means of (his cantrip, the casterevokes a noise simiiar to that of a doorwith corroded hinges slowly opening, orelse a sound as if someone or somethingwere walking across squeaking floor-boards. The former sound lasts for 1/3segment; the la t ter noise wi l l last half asegment and seem to traverse up to 10 feetdistance. The caster makes a low creakingsound in his or her throat while using ahand to make an opening motion or fin-gers to make a walking motion.

When this cantrip is used, the castercreates the audial illusion of footsteps.The sound is as i t a human or humanoid

VOL. in 65

Groan (Illusion)A of E: SpecialCT: 1/6 segment

Moan (Illusion)A of E: SpecialCT; I/JOsegment

Rattle (Illusion)A of E: SpecialCT: ItlQsegment

was walking. The footfalls can be soft orfairly noisy. They can approach, moveaway from, follow, or otherwise seem toparallel a person or party. They mustbegin within 1" of the caster, but theymay thereafter move away from him orher up to a 2" distance, or may approachcloser than 1". The caster must softlyvocalize sounds similar to footsteps whilepointing in the area they are to occurinitially and subsequently.

A groan cantrip creates the audibleillusion of a wracking cry coming fromsome location no more than 1" from thecaster. Naturally, those creatures withinhearing distance are allowed a savingthrow vs. spell, and if it succeeds, theindividual will hear no such noise. Thecaster makes a soft groaning sound in hisor her throat while pointing to the areafrom which the sound is to appear tocome. Note that a container or door willnot hamper the range of the cantrip, sothat a groaning sound can be made toseem to come from behind a door, in achest, etc.

This cantrip is the same as a groan can-trip, except that the sound involved iseither a pitiful moaning or else an eerieone. The desired sound is either a low-pitched one for the haunting effect or ahigh-pitched one for the pitiful effect.

By means of this cantrip, the castercauses the audible illusion of a rattlingsound associated with chains. Its direc-tion and distance are the same as for agroan cantrip. The sound will last for upto 2 seconds. All creatures within 1" ofthe sound are entitled to a saving throwvs. spell to determine whether they hear

Tap (Evocation)A of E: I sq. footCT: 116 segment

Thump (Illusion)A of E: SpecialCT:7110 segment

Whistle (Evocation)A of E: SpecialCT: 1 !6 segment

the illusionary sound. The spell casternames the rattling device which he or shedesires to create the illusion of whileshaking one hand vigorously.

By means of this cantrip, the caster isable to evoke an invisible force whichwill tap or rap against some solid object— a door, lid, floor, table, wall, pane, orwhatever. The sound will occur once,twice, or thrice according to the numberof fingers extended by the caster. It is anactual sound; creatures within 1" of thenoise will certainly hear it if they areable. Verbal component is a hollowsound created by the tongue against thepalate, or a key phrase spoken softly,while the finger makes a tapping motion,

An audible illusion, the thump cantripcauses all creatures within a 1" radius ofthe area of effect to hear a loud butmuffled thumping sound, as if somethinglarge just fell from a height of a foot ortwo. A successful saving throw vs. spellnullifies the cantrip's effect. The castercan cause the sound to seemingly comefrom any location within a 1" radius ofhis or her person. The caster swallowsloudly while pointing toward the areawhere the cantrip is to come from, whilethinking of the thumping sound.

When this cantrip is cast, the dweomercauses a faint or loud whistling sound. Afaint whistling can be heard within 10', aloud one within 30'. The sound can besharp and normal-seem ing or echoing,hollow, and eerie. The caster must whis-tle softly in a manner similar to thedesired sound while he or she looks at thearea from which the sound is to come andholds two fingers near his or her mouth.

Cantrips for the illusionistZero-level spells add spice to specialist classby E. Gary Gygax

With magic-users' cantrips seen to, it is time to take up thecause of their more specialized cousins, illusionists. This sub-class is not too popular in most campaigns, but that will changesomewhat when the game system expansion is published. Thatvolume will have many new and highly useful spells for illu-sionists. Meanwhile, you will find that adding cantrips to theirrepertoire now makes the playing of illusionist characters imme-diately more desirable. The cantrips for the sub-class are basi-cally the same as those for magic-users of the standard sort. Themain differences are that illusionists generally have fewer ofthem, and they have access to an additional type of cantrip not

Illusionists learn many of the same cantrips as do apprenticemagic-users, as indicated by the following list. They have, inaddition, certain of their own petty magics which they mighthave learned. These special cantrips are likewise enumeratedbelow. Except where otherwise indicated, all properties pertain-ing to magic-user cantrips likewise apply to those employed bythe illusionist class.

66

From issue #61,

May 1982

BEST OF DRAGON

Cantrips available to illusionists.'Useful cantrips: One per point of intelligence, up to intel-

ligence minus 3; i.e., an illusionist with 18 intelligence canchoose 15 useful cantrips from the magic-user list.

Reversed: 2-5 (compared to 2-8 for magic-users)Legerdemain: 3-6 (2-5 for magic-users)Person: 2-5 (2-8 for magic-users)Personal; 2-5 (2-8 for magic-users)Haunting: 5-8 (2-5 for magic-users)

Special illusionist cantrips;Number Minor Illusion (5-8)

12345678

Colored lightDimHazeMaskMirageNoiseRainbowTwo-D'lusion

Colored lights(Alteration)

A of E: SpecialCT: Vi segment

Dim (Alteration)A of E: SpecialCT: % segment

Minor Illusion cantrips

When this cantrip is used, the castercreates one or more globes of pastel light(cf. magic-users' blue light cantrip). Asingle globe of illumination 1 fool indiameter can be brought forth, or a pairof 6-inch-diameter globes, three 4-inchglobes, or four 3-inch globes. The castercan cause these globes of light to be ofany pastel color. Each will illuminate aradius around it equal to five diameters;i.e., a 1-foot globe sheds a 5-foot radius ofbrilliance, while a 3-inch sphere of lightilluminates only a radius of 15 inches. Aslong as the caster concentrates on thecolored lights, the cantrip wi l l remainactive, and the globe or globes will willfloat near or rest upon the caster, as he orshe desires, within the 1" range. Globescan be moved back and forth, up anddown, to and fro as desired. The illumi-nation from any of them wilt not castreflections beyond 1", and the light shedcannot be detected beyond 3". Infravisionand uhravision are not affected if light iscolored pale blue or pink, but other hueswill disturb these visual capabilities. Thecaster must speak the color and numberof globes desired, then speak a magicword (noma, mazda, etc.), while directingthe globes with one or more fingers.

By means of a iti'ii cantrip, the illu-sionist causes a light source to becomeweaker or the very air to become lesspermeated by light rays. If light sourcesare to be affected, about 6 torches, amedium-sized fire (such as in a fireplaceor a campfire), 72 candles, or even a lightor continual light spell can be affected.The dim cantrip will cause any of theabove light sources to at best shed onlyhalf their normal radiance for one fullround. Torches will burn only as brightlyas candles; candles will but glow dimly; afire will become torch-like in illumina-tion, and all light spells dim to half theirnormal brightness. Affected light must bewithin 1" of the caster. He or she mustspeak a magical phrase (such as bee row

Haze (Alteration)A of Ei I" cubeCT: # segment

Mask (Illusion)A of E: I personCT: 1/6 segment

Mirage (Illusion)A of E: 2 sq."CT: fe segment

Noise (Illusion)A of E: 1"CT: 1/6 segment

VOL. ill

nout or rhee-oh-stat) and make a down-ward motion with one hand to effectuatethe cantrip.

When a haze cantrip is cast, the atmo-sphere in the desired area of effectbecomes cloudy, as if layered by smoke orfilled with floating dust. Any creatureattempting to discharge missiles or castspells at a target screened by such a hazewill be affected. The target is 5% harder tohit, so missile discharge is at -1 "to hit"and saving throws are at +1 (or one isgiven when otherwise none is allowed,although it is only a 5% chance to save inthe latter case). Hiding in shadows is 5%more effective when screened by a hazecantrip. The hazy effect lasts but a singleround. It must be cast over an area within\" of the caster. Atmospheric conditionswill destroy the haze if applicable — agood breeze, rain, etc. A gust of windspell will immediately disperse the haze.The caster hums 3 melody while thehands make passes before the body toeffectuate this cantrip.

A mask cantrip enables the caster toalter his or her visage, or the visage ofwhatever subject individual (human,demi-human, or humanoid) he or shechooses, by means of illusion. Ears, hair,head shape, facial features, and all suchaspects of appearance are affected. Them&sh will only be detectable if a viewerpeers closely or can detect illusion anddoes so. The effect lasts for 3-6 rounds.The caster touches his or her face, thinksof the desired features, and then speaks aword descriptive of the visage desired.

This cantrip lets the caster cause anarea to appear to be something other thanit is. The mirage cantrip brings an illu-sionary scene to cover the area. The areamust be relatively flat and featureless, andthe mirage must be an actual place, inexistence at the time, which the caster hasactually beheld. A saving throw vs. spellis applicable. The cantrip lasts for aslong as the caster concentrates, althougheach round there is a 5% cumulativechance that it will waver and reveal itstrue nature. Touching a mirage willinstantly dispel the cantrip, as will dispelillusion or dispel magic. The caster mustspeak a word or two descriptive of themirage and then make a single pass tocause the magic to begin. It is maintainedby concentration alone thereafter.

The caster of a noise cantrip causesillusory sound of whatever nature he orshe desires, although it is indistinct andconfusing. Thus, he or she can cause amurmuring sound as if many voices werespeaking behind a thick door or at a greatdistance, a rushing sound similar towings and wind combined, shuffling andscraping as if many people were movingthings or walking slowly but at some dis-tant place, etc. All creatures within the

67

Rainbow (Alteration)A of E: SpecialCT: 113 segment

area of effect will be subject to the can-trip, but each gets a saving throw. Successnegates the noise with respect to the indi-vidual. Range is 1" For the cantrip'sradius of sound. The caster points a digitat the desired area and then softly makessounds imitative of the noises desired.

By means of this cantrip, the casterbrings into being a plane of pastel colorswhich exactly duplicates a rainbow. Heor she can cause this 30-foot-long, 1-foot-wide band of color to arch into a bowedshape, remain a ribbon, twist and turn,etc. In any event, one end of the rainbowmust be within 1" of the caster when thecantrip is cast. The colors will glow softlyand be visible even in total (normal) dark-ness. If no motion is desired, the castermay leave the vicinity of the rainbow. Ifmotion is desired, the caster must controlit by hand gesture and remain within 1"of it. The rainbow will last for 1 roundand then fade away. All creatures [ailingto save vs. spell wi l l gaze at the rainbowfor 1-4 segments, 2-5 if the caster keeps itin motion. Verbal component is a nameof power (gar-land, pegee-lee, etc.), which

Two-D'lusion(Illusion)

A of Er 4 sq."CT: 116 segment

is spoken while the fingers of both handsform a pyramid.

This cantrip is virtually the same as aphantasmal force spell in most respects.The caster creates a two-dimensional illu-sion of whatever he or she desires. If anyviewer sees it from an angle of more than45° from its horizontal or vertical viewingaxis, the nature of the illusion will beimmediately apparent. It is dispelled bytouch or magic (dispel illusion or dispelmagic). It is invisible from the side or therear, and lasts as long as the caster con-centrates upon it. To effectuate the can-trip, the caster must speak a phrase de-scriptive of the illusion while making acircular motion with his closed hand.

It is possible that an apprentice will have developed other can-trips over the course of his or her apprenticeship. The DungeonMaster must carefully review any proposed cantrip to determineif it is of suitable nature and power when compared to existingcantrips herein. In no event is it possible for any apprentice tohave developed more than three new cantrips.

Since cantrips arc magical, they must be read as would a spell.Likewise, to record one in a spell book or on a scroll, the sameprocedure is followed as in recording a spell.

Spell booksRules for M-Us to readby E. Gary Gygax

All information regarding spell booksin ADfeD™ gaming is currently inferred.This was not, Gentle Reader, by design.Simply put, 1 overlooked it in the morassof getting three volumes put together. Inorder to rectify that oversight, the follow-ing rules are offered. When the AD&DExpansion volume is completed (pleasedon't ask me when!), the same rules willbe included therein, although someminor changes are probable.

SPELL BOOKSWhen a magic-user completes his or

her apprenticeship, it is assumed that heor she has one, or possibly two, spellbooks. A Book of First Level Spells willcertainly be possessed, and there might bea Book of Cantrips as well. The latterdepends upon the options of both the DMand the concerned player. The followingapplies to all spell books.

Types of spell booksThere are two kinds of spell books:1. Standard books, each of which con-

tains up to 36 cantrips, 24 spells of under4th level, 16 spells of under 7th level, or 8spells of 7th, 8th and/or 9th level.

2. Travelling books, each of which con-tains at most one-fourth of the number ofspells possible to be contained in a stan-dard spell book: nine cantrips; six spellsof 1st, 2nd, and/or 3rd level; four spells of

4th, 5th, and/or 6th level; or two spells of7th, 8th, and/or 9th level.

Cost of spell booksA standard spell book costs 1,000 gold

pieces for materials, plus 100 additionalgold pieces per spell level for each spellcontained therein.

The cost of a new magic-user's or illu-sionist's initial book or books is assumedto be borne by the new spell caster'sformer master, so the fledgling spell cast-er will have one or two spell books at nocost to him or her. Books which are pre-pared later in a magic-user's career (hav-ing higher spell-level capacity than"beginning" books) are not supplied by aM-U's master, but must be composed bythe M-U in question as part of his or hertraining when the spell caster is trying torise to the next experience level. Thiscomposition will take from 4-7 weeks foreach new standard book; the book iscomposed during and after the time whenother training exercises are taking place.

The same costs/prices apply when sucha book is being manufactured and com-posed: Any standard spell book requires a1,000 gp investment for materials, plus100 gp per level for each spell enteredwithin the book, payable when a magic-user adds a new spell to his or her reper-toire. (Entering a first level spell costs 100gp, a second level spell costs 200 gp, etc.)

From issue #62, June 1982

A travelling spell book costs 500 goldpieces for materials. The cost of eachspell contained within such a book in thesame as the cost for entering a spell in astandard book. All travelling spell booksmust be fabricated by the magic-user, orotherwise discovered as treasure by themagic-user or his or her associates. Aplayer character cannot automaticallypossess one at the beginning of his or hercareer.

Physical aspects of standard booksA standard spell book is approximately

16 inches in height, 12 inches wide, and 6inches thick, (The DM has leeway toreduce or enlarge this general size,although nothing smaller than 1 2 x 1 2 x 6inches or larger than 1 8 x 1 2 x 9 inches isrecommended.) The weight of a standardbook is 150 gold pieces (adjusted upwardor downward for varying sizes). Theencumbrance value of such a book isequal to three times its weight <450 gp or

BEST OF DRAGON

thereabouts), although it is correct toassume that a volume will (it within anotherwise empty backpack or large sack.

The cover of a standard book is typi-cally heavy leather — dragon hide, gor-gon hide, etc. — inlaid with metal so asto provide both extra security and ameans to close and secure the book. Vel-lum pages are sewn together and securedto a fine, supple leather spine backing.Pages are secured additionally by Fineleather front and back pieces. It is alsousual for such a tome to have vellumstubs at intervals for insertion of addi-tional pages, although this by no meansallows for any increase or change in thenumber and types of spells the book cancontain.

Notwithstanding any special protec-tions placed thereon, a standard spellbook has a saving throw equal to that of"leather or book," with +2 to dice rollsmade to save against acid, fireball, disin-tegration, and lightning attacks.

Physical aspects of travelling booksA travelling spell book is approxi-

mately 12 inches tall, 6 inches wide, and 1inch thick; 9 * 9 * 1 is likewise a goodworking size. The weight of such a bookis approximately 30 gold pieces, andencumbrance roughly 60 gp. Five suchbooks will fit within a backpack, twicethat number in a large sack.

The cover of a travelling spell book isstrong, supple leather, such as that from agiant cobra. The hand-sewn leaves ofparchment are carefully secured to a fineleather backing and glued to the spine.The whole is further secured by front andback pieces of vellum. A small lock orleather ties are typically used to secure thewhole. Pages are very thin and fragile, sogreat care must be taken to care for thebook when in use.

Notwithstanding any special protec-tions placed thereon, a travelling spellbook has a saving throw equal to that of"leather or book," with no bonuses (likea standard book has) against certainforms of attack.

Value of spell booksA standard speli book has an Expe-

rience Point Value of 1,000 points perspell level contained therein (consideringcantrips as first level spells for this pur-pose), and a Gold Piece Sale Value of 200gp per spell level (but only 150 gold piec-es for each cantrip, if the book is of thatsort).

A travelling spell book has an Expe-rience Point Value of 500 points per spelllevel contained therein (again, consider-ing cantrips as first level spells), and aGold Piece Sale Value of 1.000 gp perspell level (applies to all spells, includingcantrips).

As with any other magical items, spellbooks must either be sold immediately orelse the X,P. value taken. This holds trueregardless of whether or not any tome is

VOL. in

eventually sold. Thus, a spell book can-not be kept while a particular spell orspells are transcribed, and then the workbe sold for G.P. Sale Value and the pro-ceeds taken toward experience points.

Casting spells directly from booksIn extremis the DM may allow a magic-

user to cast a spell directly from any sortof spell book just as if the book were ascroll. The book must be of appropriatesort so that tbe spell matches the profes-sion of the caster, i.e. magic-user spell,magic-user spell book. The caster musthave read the particular spell. The castermust be able to know and use the spell inquestion. (Note that in this regard, read-ing directly from a spell book differs fromthe use of scroll spells.)

Direct casting of a spell from a spellbook automatically destroys that spell.There is also a 1% chance per level of thespell that the spells immediately preced-ing and following the spell cast willlikewise be destroyed. There is an addi-tional 1 % chance that the casting of aspell directly from a spell book will de-stroy the entire book. A permanencyspell, for instance, would not prevent aspell from "disappearing" when cast inthis manner; even though writing mightremain on the page, that writing will nolonger be magical in nature.

These strictures apply whether a speltcaster is using his or her personal book orthe book of another. Read magic isrequired to read another M-U's spellbook, and a magic-user can learn a spellby reading it in another's book. Thislearning process requires 2-8 hours ofstudy per spell level, after which time thespell is learned and thereby immediatelyusable by the M-U doing the studying.

Illusionist spell booksIllusionist spell books are the same as

those of regular magic-users, with the fol-lowing exceptions:

1. Standard spell books contain 24first or second level spells, 16 third orfourth level spells, or 8 spells of fifth.sixth, and/or seventh level. If firstlevel magic-user spells are known andused by the illusionist, he or she musthave a new spell book for such spells;this tome is essentially a standardwork for first level containing up to 24spells.

2. Travelling spell books hold 6spells of first or second level, 4 spellsor third or fourth level, or but 2 spellsof fifth, sixth, and/or seventh level.

Starting spells for an illusionist playercharacter are determined according to thepreference of the player (subject to theusual "chance to know" roll based onintelligence). For additional security,illusionists may opt to do their spellbooks using illusionary script, whichwould only be recognizable as such byanother illusionist. A rnagic-user may notleam a spell from an illusionist spell

book (and vice versa) even if the illusion-ist spell in question is the same in name(and perhaps other respects) as a magic-user spell. The magical forces released bythe casting of "namesake" spells are sim-ilar to one another, but the way in whichthat magic is triggered differs from classto class.

Except as noted above, treat illusionistspell books as magic-user spell books.

Cost of M - I ' i I lus ion i s t spell castingWhile the cost of having a cleric cast

needed spells is reasonably well detailedin the Dungeon Masters Guide, the costof magic-user or illusionist spell castingwas neglected. Rather than give an exten-sive list of spell costs, the following set ofguidelines will enable the DM to deter-mine a "reasonable" fee for any spell.

Basic costs: A willing magic-user orillusionist will typically work for a fee of200 gold pieces per spell level. Double thematerial component(s), or material com-ponents of at least such value as substitu-tions, is also a part of the basic fee.

Additional costs: Failure to furnish thematerial component(s) of a spell whichhas ordinary sort will incur a surchargeof 10% or three times the value of thecomponent(s), whichever is greater. Anyextraordinary component(s) bring a 100%surcharge or three times such value,whichever is greater. Spells which placethe caster in danger (including such cast-ings as identify, which causes a tempor-ary drop in constitution of the caster)require at least a double fee, and guaran-tees will be required as well. Spells whichage the caster will be cast only if a coun-ter to such aging is awarded prior to spellcasting, or else if the amount of aging isinsignificant to the caster. (A young elfwill not be overly concerned about fiveyears, although a ten times normal feemight be charged!)

Magic item payment: A magic-user orillusionist wil l generally accept someitem of magic in lieu of cash or like valu-ables. In such cases, the sale value of theitem, adjusted downward by the generalreaction of the spell caster to the individ-ual requesting his or her services, is to beconsidered the base value of the item. Thecharacter and behavior of the NPCencountered will always be the purviewof the DM, Such character or behaviorwill, naturally, often affect costs and fees.

Hostile spell casters: In general, a hos-tile spell caster will either charge at leastdouble normal fees, or else he or she willsimply refuse to cast any spell whatsoever— unless possibly bribed to do so withsome magic item. Any spell caster of goodalignment is quite unlikely to cast anyspell for a character of evil alignment inany event. Again, adjudication of suchevents is the realm of the DM,

Spell casting under duress: Use therules in the Dungeon Masters Guide forall magic-user and illusionist spell cast-ing under threat, magical influence, etc.

IV. Creating newchallenges

It takes all kinds to make an AD&D™ universe: Player characters, with-out whom there would be no game; monsters, without which there wouldbe nothing for player characters to battle; and non-player characters,without which any world would quickly become too sterile and struc-tured and "unreal." Obviously, not everyone in a world can be a player-character adventurer; PCs are the exception, not the rule, in the society inwhich an AD&cD campaign takes place. Just as obviously, not everythingthe adventurers meet can be bent on the obliteration of the party; even thehardiest adventurers wouldn't last long in a climate like that.

Non-player characters bridge the gap between player characters andmonsters. Depending on how the adventurers treat them, and how they(as role-played by the DM) react to the player characters, NPCs can befriends or foes, helps or hindrances. Above all, they represent the variety,changeability, and challenge that can keep an AD&D adventure frombecoming little more than an eternal exercise in sword-swinging andspell-slinging. The final section of this collection features three NPCtypes that have been mentioned most often when readers tell us whatthey'd like to see reprinted. And, once again, the people who buy andread DRAGON® Magazine have shown their impeccable good taste.Without further ado, turn your eyes to the facing page and turn yourimagination loose. The winged folk, the alchemist, and the archer couldbe incorporated into any DM's campaign. And you could do it withoutnecessarily changing anything else about the world you've worked sohard to build — except, of course, the lives of the player characters. Inreal life, the "world" each of us lives in changes every day — and whyshould our fantasy life be any different?

70 BEST OF DRAGON

The winged folkby William Lenox

One race of demi-humans that has beenneglected in most works studying the rel-atives of mankind is the Winged Folk,known as Al Karak Elam in their lan-guage. Perhaps this lack of attention onthe part of other races and societies in theADfcD™ world is derived from the factthat the winged folk are even more reclu-sive than efves and often conceal theirpresence behind powerful illusions.

However, this reclusiveness seems to becoming to an end. After centuries ofindifference to human concerns, thewinged folk are said to be returning innumbers to the mainstream of humanand demi-human affairs. Because of this,a study of the characteristics of this race,which may soon be taking a more activepart in the world, is well advised.

The following study will briefly detailthe history, physical description, dwell-ing places, social, political and economiccharacteristics, military organization, andspecial attributes of the race of wingedfolk.

The Winged Folk (Al Karak Elam)

FREQUENCY: UncommonNO. APPEARING: 10-100 (100-1000)*ARMOR CLASS: 7 (or better)MOVE: I2"/1PHIT DICE: / + 1%INLAIR: /0%TREASURE TYPE: JV (G, S, T in lair)NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 7-70 or fry

weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: +; to hit with

bow or javelinSPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprised only

on a 1MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: Very to geniusALIGNMENT: Neutral to chaotic goodSIZE; M (y-ff tall,

lff-iy wingspan)PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil**

At tack/Defense Modes: Nil**

* — 5% chance of 100-1,000 appearingif encountered "in lair." This represents atribal holding (large village or smalltown).

** — Possible in exceptionalcharacters.

For every 20 winged folk encountered,there will be one of above-average fight-ing ability (2nd or 3rd level). For every 30encountered, there will be one withmagic-user or illusionist ability and one

VOL. Ill

with cleric or druid ability (2nd or 3rdlevel in all cases). If 50 or more areencountered, there will be the followingadditional figures: a 4th-levet fighter/4th-level magic-user or illusionist and a 4th-level fighter/4th-level cleric or druid.

If the winged folk are encountered intheir lair, there will be a leader of 9th-level fighting ability and two lieutenantsof 5th to 7th-level fighting ability. Therewill also be a magic-user of 7th to 9thlevel, an illusionist of 7th to 15th level,and a druid or cleric of 9th level. All willhave assistants similar to the leader'slieutenants. There will also be 3-36eagles, hawks, falcons, or owls serving aswatchbirds, who will scout and spy onnon-winged folk in the area.

From issue #51, July 1981

Treasured carvingsIn addition to the treasure types given

above, for each adult female in a villagethere is a 50% chance of her possessingfrom 2-5 carvings (roll d4+l for number,then consult the following chart fortypes):

Dice Baseroll value Type

01-70 10 Common wood71-85 50 Precious wood or ivory86-92 100 Serni-precious stones93-97 500 Fancy stones98-99 1,000 Gemstones

00 5,000 GemstonesThe value of carvings should be

checked individually according to theprocedure described on pages 25-26 of theDungeon Masters Guide. The stoneshould not increase or decrease in valueby more than one level,

HistoryOnce the winged folk were found

almost everywhere as mercenaries, adven-turers, and scholars. Men greatly desiredto have them as scouts and messengers(not to mention as regulars) in theirarmies. The winged folk even organizedbands of 50 to 100 mercenaries to hire outto more mundane races. The winged folkfit in well with humans and demi-humans, and for hundreds of years therewas much interaction between the races.

Some 2,000 years ago, King Imruk ofthe city state of Erlacor {now in ruins)sought to overthrow the High King of allthe land. The High King had turned todemon worship. Imruk intended to put ahalt to this exercise of evil power, and themovement to oust the High King becamenigh unstoppable when Hawkwing, kingof the winged folk, proclaimed thatbecause the High King had sacrificed sev-eral winged folk to the demons, thewinged folk warriors would gather intoan army and aid Imruk's effort.

With command of the air provided bythe winged folk, Imruk was able to crushthe High King's armies.

The last battle of the uprising was

71

fought on the plain 10 the north of theHigh King's capital. The winged folkclerics called upon their gods for aid, andtheir prayers were rewarded when theHigh King's demons were destroyed bythe gods' wrath.

Seeing his demons and his army beingdestroyed, the High King called down acurse upon the winged folk and uponIrnruk, proclaiming that Imruk wouldbecome as he, but less than he, and woulddie for treachery. Seconds after proclaim-ing that curse, the High King fell deadwith scores of arrows in his body asImruk's warriors burst through the HighKing's last defenses.

Imruk was awed by, and apprehensiveof, the power the winged folk had shown.He feared that unless he acted quickly, hewould rule only by their sufferance.Therefore, Imruk invited Hawkwing tobring the winged folk army to Imruk'sencampment the following day so hecould give the winged warriors greatrewards for their part in winning thebattle.

The following day the winged folkarmy landed in the designated area in thecenter of Imruk's camp. As soon as the airwas no longer stirred by the beating ofwings, Imruk's archers fired upon thewinged folk, and only a few of themagain reached the safety of the sky,

Hawkwing was one who escaped,Three days later he killed Irnruk in a raidupon the camp, but was himself mortallywounded. Thus did Imruk die for histreachery, and was ruin wrought uponthe winged folk, just as the High King'scurse had prophesied.

The winged folk lost 80 percent of theirmale population and many of theirfemale clerics and magic-users in theambush, even though many of Imruk'smen were also slain. The best estimates ofthe winged folk population at the time ofthe ambush placed their numbers ataround 50,000. including 40 percentmales, 40 percent females and 20 percentchildren. Most of the females and all ofthe children did not go to Imruk's campand thus were spared.

Before he died, Hawkwing charged hissuccessor with the responsibility of re-moving the winged folk from their rela-tionships with other human and demi-human beings. Hawkwing's successorfollowed this order, secreted the remain-ing winged folk from the society of men,and thus the winged folk began theirlong and slow recovery from the disasterinto which Hawkwing had unwittinglyled his people.

During their self-imposed exile, theonly outside contact the winged folk hadwas through their friends, the elves andhalf-elves, who served as their interme-diaries in trading and commerce.

In the last few years, winged folk havebegun to move back into the mainstreamof human affairs, establishing trade, hir-ing out as mercenaries, and traveling

throughout the world in search of adven-ture. But the leaders say they will neveragain involve great numbers of their peo-ple in the battles of humans.

Physical descriptionWinged folk closely resemble half-elves

in appearance, except that their bodystructure includes a pair of large, white-feathered wings. They are above averagein all abilities (see table below) and canpossess extremely high charisma. (Forheight, weight and aging, use the half-elftables, since the two races are similar inthese respects.)

The tales of angels told by somelegends may have arisen from the wide-spread use of winged folk as messengersand ambassadors (dressed in the whiterobes of peace) in the glorious days of theHigh Kings of old when winged folkwere more commonly seen among men.

Ability score minimums and maximum*Males Females

Strength 15/18(00) i4/18<50)Intelligence 12/18 12/18Wisdom 12/18 12/18Dexterity 15/18 15/18Constitution 12/18 12/18Charisma 13/19 13/19

Winged folk typically dress in simpletunics or robes when near their homes.When they hunt, war, or make journeysthey will wear leather armor and carryshields. The weapons they normally useare bows, javelins, daggers, spears,swords, axes, bolas, nets, and ropes.

Winged folk may carry up to half theirmaximum encumbrance in flight with acorresponding slowing of movement (asif ful ly encumbered) and may carry max-imum encumbrance airborne in an emer-gency for one or two rounds. They fly aseffortlessly as humans walk, needing onlyoccasional rests to keep flying all day,

Winged folk can speak with eagles,hawks, falcons, owls, hippogriffs, grif-fons, and pegasi. They also speak theirown language, the common tongue, andthe language of elves. When aloft, theycan see for great distances like an eagle,and they have the night vision of an owl.

Winged folk may be clerics, druids,fighters, rnagjf-users, or illusionists, orcertain combinations of two of thoseclasses. They are unlimited in their abil-ity to advance in the illusionist class (forindividuals with sufficiently high abili-ties), but in other classes may never attaina level higher than 9th. Clerics and high-level fighters may use maces or other mis-cellaneous weapons, and all higher-leveltypes have normal chances to have psi-onics and magic items.

Class level limitationsFighter: 9th level if strength 18; 8th if

strength 17; 7th if strength 16or less.Cleric: 9th level if wisdom 18; 8th if

wisdom 17; 7th if wisdom 16 or less.

Druid: 9th level if wisdom 18; 8th ifwisdom 17; 7th if wisdom 16 or less.

Magic-user: 9th level if intelligence 18;8th if intelligence 17; 7th if intelligence16 or less.

Illusionist: Unlimited advancement ifintelligence and dexterity are both 18;otherwise, maximum of l l t h .

Muliklass restrictions; Winged folkmay operate in two classes simultane-ously as long as the rnulticlassed charac-ter fi ts one of the following descriptions.No three-way combinations are possible.

Possible double-class combinationsinclude fighter/magic-user, fighter/illu-sionist, fighter/cleric, magic-user/clerk,magic-user/druid, illusionist/cleric, andillusionist/druid.

Racial preferences: Winged folk arevery friendly toward elves and half-elves;tolerant of halflings, gnomes, anddwarves (whom they call "diggers"); andusually on good terms with any humansthey come in contact with. They detestores, goblins, and all their kin, but theirgreatest hatred is reserved for gargoyles.These fierce predators are one of the fewtypes of creatures which can seriouslythreaten a winged folk village.

Winged folk do not like the under-ground or the sea, and it is extremelyunlikely that any will be encouritered insuch places. Winged folk who are forcedto stay in these environments or areimprisoned must save vs. spell once a dayor go insane. Mania, manic, depressive,homicidal mania, suicidal mania,hebephrenia, and catatonia are the formsof insanity (as defined in the DungeonMasters Guide) to which the winged folkare susceptible.

Dwelling places: Though found nearlyanywhere as adventurers, mercenaries,hunting parties, or engaged in other suchactivities, winged folk make their homesonly in forests and mountains. Theybuild tree houses in the tallest trees inforests; in the mountains they live in cl i ffdwellings. Due to the power of thewinged folk illusionists, their homes areoften disguised with permanent illusions.Their homes are always open and airyaffairs; in many cases only the floors androofs are permanent with the walls allbeing simply lent cloth which is usedonly in inclement weather.

Social and political aspects: Wingedfolk have a loose-knit social and politicalstructure which stresses individual free-dom. The family is the basic social unit,and groups of families are gathered inclans which owe allegiance to a tribe,Tribal holdings may be extensive, butmost tribe members will choose to live inthe tribal village itself, which offers theprotection of numbers.

All of the tribes form the winged folknation, which is ruled by a king. The

72 BEST OF DRAGON

king is chosen by the tribal chieftainsfrom one of their number, and rules forlife. Tribal chieftains are, in turn, chosenby the clan leaders of each tribe.

Female winged folk have a great voicein their clans and often hold the office ofclan matriarch because they excel in cler-ic's abilities. There are many male clerics,but the majority are females, and themales do not ignore their wisdom.

Males and females are generally consid-ered equals, with each responsible forperforming important tasks for the com-munity. In general, males are typicallyfighters and hunters; the females, clericsand crafters. Both sexes deal in the magic-user class equally well. Females who wishto fight and males who wish to be clerics,though they are the exceptions, are notscorned.

Few laws exist among winged folk, andthe few laws there are can be boiled downto one principle: Do not bring harmupon other winged folk or their com-munities. There are few winged folk whowould intentionally harm another oftheir kind, and those few are exiled fromtheir clan as soon as they are found out.Word is spread among the rest of thetribes, and there is usually no chance ofreturn for such an outcast. Should one ofthese outlaws attempt to cause furthertrouble, he is hunted down and killed bymembers of his former clan,

Economy: Winged folk have a simpleeconomy. They tend to be hunters andgatherers; they do not care to t i l l or digthe earth. Many times they will locatetheir homes near groves of fruit-bearingtrees to make the gathering easier.Females are the main crafters, and theircarvings of wood, ivory, and gem stonesprovide the bulk of the community'swealth. Elves act as intermediariesbetween winged folk and men in mattersof trade, bartering finished carvings andfurs for weapons, tools, utensils, and any-thing else the winged folk do not care tomake.

The winged folk appreciate other typesof wealth as well as their carvings. Mer-cenaries and adventurers are often moti-vated by the promise of gold and otherriches with which to fil l the communalcoffers.

When acting as mercenaries, wingedfolk will not fight other winged folk serv-ing for an opponent, nor will they puteach other in any danger by any of theiractions. This is expressly slated in anyagreement between an employer and mer-cenary winged folk. At such times, bothbands of winged folk would simply besent to other areas, or both would termi-nate their service and leave. If only one ofthe employers is foolish enough to forcethe winged folk to fight each other, oreven insist on it, the band hired by thatemployer will join the other side.

In battles against men, winged folkgenerally are employed as scouts toobserve and report on enemy maneuversand as messengers. If from 50-100 wingedfolk are present, they are usuallyemployed as high-altitude missile troopswho can decimate enemy ranks with littlefear of retaliation. In sieges, they can scat-ter the defenders on [he inside of a wall inthis manner to enable other attackers tostorm the walls with minimal resistance.Winged folk mercenaries are as highlyregarded as any troops, and rightly so, forthey bring aerial power to any battle, andcan turn the tide for even a comparativelyweak force.

Military organization: Winged folkprefer to fight from the air using bows orjavelins, but are not averse to closingwith a foe and meleeing on the ground orin the air if the situation so dictates. Theycan hover for up to one round in mid-air(long enough to discharge missiles with-out penalty) once every five rounds. If ahostile party is outnumbered by four toone or more, winged folk may attempt tocapture them with nets, bolas, and ropesinstead of killing them.

When found in groups of 20 or more.

The alchemistby Lenard Lakofka

The alchemist is an obscure sub-classof magic-user. He is always a non-playercharacter, as the rules here will indicate.The class is detailed because informationon the alchemist is of value when he isencountered in a town or hired by aplayer character as a henchman. It ishelpful if the DM knows what an alche-mist can and cannot do,

His profession encompasses some of

VOL. Ill

the common trades, and thus tradesmen,when encountered, might have minorknowledge of alchemy. These trades arethose of potter, glass blower, brewer anddistiller as defined within the text. Brew-ers and distillers need not learn magic, ofthe type used by alchemists, to ply theirtrades.

An alchemist must have ability scoreswithin the following limits: strength 9 or

winged folk troops will be armed as fol-lows: 50% of the group will have long-bows, and within this group 40% will alsobe armed with a sword, dagger, and bolas;30% wiih spear, dagger and bolas, and30% with axe, dagger and bolas. Theremaining 50% of the group wilt bearmed with three javelins, and in thisgroup 40% will also have sword, dagger,net, and rope; 30% spear, dagger, net, andrope, and 30% axe, dagger, net, and rope.

The winged folk bola does damage of1-3/1-8/1-3 (roll separately for 3 attacksvs. normal AC of opponent) and anentanglement (roll vs AC 6). An entan-glement will bind both legs together (35%of the time), one arm to the body (30%),both arms to the body (30%), or will causethe weapon to wrap around the throat(5%). Entanglement prevents an opponentfrom attacking for one round, and hedefends at -4 for that round while gettingdisentangled. If both hands are caught,someone else must cut that victim loose.Otherwise, a victim can cut himself freefrom the entanglement of a bola attack.

The net and rope are used in conjunc-tion with each other. The net is thrown(roll for an entanglement vs. AC 6, aswith the bola) to entangle the opponent.If a victim is entangled in the net, thewarrior who dropped the net will attemptto lasso and bind him in the round whenhe is struggling with the net (roll vs. AC6 to see if the roping attempt succeeds).

Winged folk conform in all ways to therules on aerial combat in the DungeonMasters Guide for determination of dam-age causing loss of fl ight ability. They areclass C in maneuverability.

The winged folk will be a power to bereckoned with more and more often asthey continue to emerge from theirretreats and conduct their affairs openlyonce more. The areas in which they oper-ate will certainly feel a great impact; thecontributions of winged folk to a societywill almost certainly result in advantagesfor all who show good will and willing-ness to cooperate with them.

JJ.M

From issue #49, May 1981

73

above, intelligence 10 or above, wisdom 6or above, dexterity 9 or above, constitu-tion H or above, and charisma 15 or less.Humans, elves and half-etves may bealchemists. Only humans can becomeMasters or Grandmasters. An alchemistmay never be a multi-classed character.

Experience is gained by alchemists onlyfrom plying their trade and never fromadventuring. Experience is given as fol-lows, in case you wish to advance a non-player novice through a few ranks to bemore useful to the party as a henchman.

For each piece of pottery used in thetrade, 3 xp {not given beyond 3rd level).

For each major glass instrumentblown/crafted, 6 xp (this award cannot begiven beyond 7th level),

For each potion identified by the "10%test," 7 xp (this award cannot be givenbeyond 7th level).

For each potion made correctly, 10% ofthe potion's xp value. If no xp value isgiven, then award 20 points. This awardis given for every properly made potion,regardless of the alchemist's level.

For each poison made correctly, 5 xpfor a mild poison, 15 xp for a toxic poi-son. This award is not given to Mastersand Grandmasters.

For each mixture analysis done cor-rectly, 45 xp.

For each spell learned, 7 xp per level ofthe spell.

Alchemists must have specific intelli-gence levels to obtain higher magic spellsas well as for the more complex potions.If the alchemist is not smart enough, hewill never be able to cast higher-levelspells or make the most complex potions.An alchemist must have an intelligence of12 for Srd-level spells and 2nd-diffkultypotions; H for 4th-level spells and 3rd-difficulty potions; and 16 for 5th-levelspells and 4th-difficulty potions.

ALCHEMIST ABILITIESSee text for an explanation of each listing. All percentages give the chance of success.

Potion identification via:"10% Analysis Analysis

test" of a of a of un-Level of

alchemist123456789

1011

Craft accuracy:Pottery

93%94%95%96%97%98%99%

100%100%100%100%

Glass

——75%80%85%90%95%

100%100%100%100%

knownpotion

——60%65%70%75%80%85%90%95%

100%

knownpotion

——

———

——60%91%97%

100%

knownpotion

—

——————81%70%80%90%

Mild—

———

——65%64%97%

100%100%

Toxic

——————48%52%80%96%

100%

Manufacture poisons: Potions:

LethalDestruc-

five

36%43%68%84%96%

27%94%59%75%91%

1st

15%25%48%71%65%

100%100%100%

Difficulty value2nd 3rd

20%35%50%57%80%95%

100%

15%29%43%49%71%85%99%

4th

10%23%36%

62%75%

Potions listed by difficultyThis list tells what potions can be made by prescriptions writ-

ten in Alchemese (the special language of alchemists). Alche-mists who do not have the proper intelligence cannot makepotions of greater difficulty than their intelligence will allow.Substances are also in the list.

1st difficultyIntelligence 10+Animal controlClimbingDelusionLevitationSweet WaterSkeleton/Zombie controlWater breathingDust of appearance

2nd difficultyIntelligence 12+ClairaudienceClairvoyanceDiminutionFire resistanceHeatingOil of slipperinessPhilter of lovePoisonSpeedGhoul/Ghost control

3rd difficultyIntelligence 14+ESPExtra healingFlyingGaseous formInvisibilityLongevityPhilter of

persuasivenessPlant controlPolymorph selfWight/Wraith/Shadow

controlDust of disappearanceDust of sneezing fr choking

4th difficultyIntelligence 16+Dragon controlHeroismHuman controlInvulnerabilityOil of etherealnessSuper-heroismTreasure findingGhost/Vampire/

Spectre controlKeoghtom's

ointmentNohur's marvelous

pigments

The alchemist writes "prescriptions" ina special language. His spells, if any, alsoare written in "Alchemese." Thus, amagic-user cannot use an alchemist'sspell book without both read magic andcomprehend languages. Once an individ-ual spell is understood, the magic-userwould not have to resort to using thosetwo spells again to read that particularspell.

In like manner, an alchemist must haveread magic and write to transcribe a spellfrom a magic-user's book to his book. Hecan never learn the spell directly from themagic-user's book and transcribe it later.

74

It must be translated and then writtendown. Copying a spell without write ispossible, but the chance of error is 10%per level of the spell and the timerequired is one week per spell level. Anerror in the spell will simply ruin it 80%of the time, but the other 20% of the timean error will cause it to backfire. Clericsand illusionists cannot understandAlchemese, but neither can an alchemistread their scrolls or books.

Alchemists can begin to make potionsat 4th level, but the chance of misconcoc-tion at that level is quite high. Somepotions, as mentioned earlier, are beyond

the intelligence of some alchemists andthus are doomed to failure. Even a 5th-level alchemist with sufficient intelli-gence may attempt a 4th-difficultypotion, but his chance of success is rathersmall.

Alchemists may not wear magic armorof any type, including bracers of defense,but items that are for protection (cloaksand rings) may be used. Alchemists rarelyuse weapons, but they may learn the useof two, the dagger (never thrown) and thedart. Those two weapons may be magical.Alchemists cannot employ rods or staves,and only wands of detection and magic

BEST OF DRAGON

missiles can be used. Even with readmagic, scrolls are useless to alchemists.

The alchemist may own the followingitems from the miscellaneous rnagic listIn the DMG; alchemy jug (a Master canobtain two types of liquid per day fromthejug), bag of transmuting, bagof hold-ing, beaker of plentiful potions, broochof shielding, crystal ball, decanter of end-less water, dust of appearance, dust ofdisappearance, dust of sneezing and chok-ing, flask of curses, helm of comprehend-ing languages and reading magic, helmof telepathy, Keoghtom's ointment, man-ual of bodily health, mirror of mentalprowess, Noltitr's marvelous pigments,periapt of health, periapt of proof againstpoison, scarab of protection, stone ofgood hick, stone of weight, and the ironflask of Tuerny the Merciless.

If forced into combat, alchemists fightas magic-users. They make saving throwsas a magic-user, at -2 for all forms exceptvs. spell.

Certain aspects of alchemists' spells,

ALCHEMISTS TABLE

Level fc titlet Potter2 Glassblower3 Apprentice4 Brewer5 Alember6 Identifier7 Scholar8 Graduate9 Alchemist

10 Master11 Grandmaster

Explanation of special notesAt the first through ninth levels of

experience, an alchemist acquires certainspecial abilities and characteristics for ris-ing to each new level. Abilities and char-acteristics acquired at lower levels alwaysapply at higher levels as well, unlesssuperseded by a higher-level ability. (Forexample, the description under Specialnote "A" says "A Potter has no knowl-edge of alchemy whatsoever." Obviously,this characteristic does not apply to analchemist of sufficiently high level,although a high-level alchemist wouldcertainly retain the knowledge and skillof a Potter.)

A. A Potter can do little more than craftpottery used by the alchemist lo heat, stir,grind and store items. He learns how totend for the hearth. Each pot must bemade from scratch. This process will takeat least 48 hours. The percentage chancegiven in the abilities chart is for a success-ful crafting. Failure means the pot will beuseless. A Potter has no knowledge ofalchemy whatsoever. Pottery sells forfrom 1-100 sp per unit, depending on theitem.

VOL in

such as range, duration and area of effect,will vary according to the alchemist's"level of magic," which is not necessarilythe same as level of experience. The"level of magic" at which an alchemistcan cast a spell is determined by thealchemist's hit dice; for instance, a Schol-ar is a 7ih-level alchemist in terms ofexperience, but he has 4+6 hit dice, so hismagic will be cast at 4th ievel. Alchemistsdo not progress in level or spell-castingability beyond Grandmaster, which is thel l th level of experience and has a "magiclevel" of 7.

More than one Grandmaster can exist,but rarely in the same vicinity. If twoGrandmasters are in the same town, onemight well try to do in the other.

All alchemists are lawful in alignment;80% will be lawful neutral, 10% lawfulevil, and 10% lawful good. It is possiblefor low-level alchemists to observe otheralignments, but they all will havechanged to lawfulness by the time theyreach 6th level (Identifier).

4-sideddice for

hit pointsand

magic level11+22+22+42+63+64+64+85+86+87+8

Spells learn-Experience

points0—1,000

1,001-3,2003,201—6,0006,001—10,000

10.001—18,50018.501—30,000

30,001—50.00050,001—75,00075,001—110,000110,001-200,000200,001 +

able by level1-

123444444

2-

---123344

3-

.---12334

4-

---.--122

5.

-----.-12

Specialnotes

ABCDEFGHI

——

B. A Glassblower makes beakers, flasksand other glass items used in the labora-tory. Workling his craft will take from 3-8hours per piece. The chart measures hischance of success by level; note thatalchemists of 8th level and higher alwayscraft pottery and glassware successfully.Glass items sell for 6-600 sp per item. Theamount of pottery and glass needed forany experiment will be determined by theDM. Alchemists often have a number ofnovices working for them so that they donot have to make pots and glasswarethemselves. Both Potters and Glassblow-ers might go on in those trades and nevertake up Further alchemist studies.

C. An Apprentice begins to learn magicof a minor sort. Each is taught readmagic and can learn various other spellsas outlined herein. Apprentices are taughttrial-and-crror potion identification,commonly called the "10% test." A list ofpotions so tested must be kept for eachApprentice as he progresses in rank. Onlypotions that are fully understood throughprior testing can be examined and identi-fied by this 10% imbibing. The Appren-tice leams to examine the reaction of the

liquid and not to look for taste, smell, orcolor, since potions made by the samealchemist will all have identical taste,smell, color, etc.

Potions never tested before will beunknown to the Apprentice but will addto his knowledge. A Grandmaster alwaysknows a similar potion by the "10% test"if he has imbibed one before. Apprenticescharge 40 gp for this service, and 10 gpmay be added per level of the alchemistfor this test due to the belter accuracyachieved at higher levels.

Spells other than read magic must belearned just as a magic-user learns a spell.Remember that alchemist spells are writ-ten in Alchcmese and must be in thatform to be rnemorized/learned. Thecharge for casting a spell, if appropriate,is given in the spell list.

D. A Brewer learns ways of preparingvarious compounds by boiling and mix-ing ingredients. He must be told what tomix, or the results are 85% likely to fail.Potions of the first difficulty can beattempted in this way, but failure willproduce a potion that has the oppositeresult. Animal control will cause theanimal to feel blind rage. Climbing willcause the figure to be pushed away fromthe surface being climbed. Delusion willcause the imbiber to become more alertand thoughtful, but then he will give into almost any suggestion. Levilation willcause the figure to plunge as if heweighed twice as much, thus damage willbe double and saving throws for itemswill be at -1. Sweet water will pollute thesample even more and turn it into a mildpoison <2d4 damage). Skeletoni'zombiecontrol will cause those monsters toattack the imbiber, foregoing all othervictims. Any cleric within 20 feet of theimbiber will be unable to turn or destroythe monsters. Water breathing will causethe figure to gag and cough and speed therate of drowning by 100%. Dust ofappearance will fail so that invisibleobjects will not be revealed.

All adverse results of making such apotion will initially not be evident, caus-ing the Brewer or imbiber to believe thepotion is correct. A defect in an improp-erly prepared potion is detectable by the10% test or by regular analysis, but at-30% to the normal chance for properidentification.

Brewers can make various chemicalcompounds but never any item thatrequires crystallization or distillation(i.e., potions or materials of the second orhigher level of difficulty). Brewers are 75%likely to know how to brew beer, aleand/or malt liquors. They often preparethese liquids for extra money if their mas-ter will allow such "nonsense."

E. An Alember is a student of distilla-tions of various types. He is allowed toperform various steps in potion manufac-ture but always under direct supervision.He is taught the first elements in thealchemist's written language, Alchemese.

75

Unless comprehend languages is availa-ble, another figure cannot read analchemist's prescription on how to makea potion. At 11 th level, magic-users canlearn this language so that they no longerneed an alchemist to make a potion.Alembers can attempt a potion of theirown but such a potion, even if compre-hend languages is available, might fail.

Those percentages are given in thealchemist abilities chart. However, failurewill produce specific results. Roll percen-tile dice and consult the following tableto determine success or possible after-effects of a potion that fails. Column A inthe table is for alchemists only; column Bis for non-alchemists or magic-usersunder 11th level using comprehendlanguages.

Result A BSuccess 01-25 01-15Complete failure 26-45 16-50Explosion (6d4 dam.) 46-50 51-58Half efficacy 51-60 59-64Opposite effect 61-70 65-79Mild poison (5d4 darn.) 71-90 80-90Toxic poison (5d6 dam.) 91 -96 91 -96Lethal poison (death 97-00 97-00

unless save made; 4d6damage in any case)

Modifiers to percentile dice roll: Foralchemists of 6th level (Identifier) orhigher, subtract 23 for each level higherthan 5th. For non-alchemists or magic-users under 11th level, subtract 2 for eachlevel higher than 1st, Note that the sub-traction for an alchemist of 10th or 11thlevel is always greater than 100; hence, allpotions manufactured by them are suc-cessful. All modified results of less than01 are treated as 01.

Examples: A Scholar (7th level) reads apotion prescription based on his know-ledge of Alchemese. He is allowed to sub-tract two times 23 from any dice roll. If herolls 86, he subtracts 46 for a result of 40(complete failure). A fighter of 8th levelwith a helm of comprehending languagesand reading magic would be allowed asubtraction of 7 (levels over 1st) * 2, or 14,from his dice roll in trying to make apotion. Such a fighter would still have tohave an intelligence sufficient to makethe potion (i.e., depending on the degreeof diff iculty of the potion), so that afighter of intelligence 11 could not makea potion of the second difficulty evenwith the helm. Note that an Stn-levelmagic-user would have just as muchchance as an Sth-level fighter. Only at11th level do magic-users gain realalchemist abilities. A conversion table formagic-users to alchemists is given below:Magic-user level Equiv. alchemist level

11-12 813-14 915-16 1017+ 11+

Thus, in any attempt to perform anyfunction of an alchemist, a 14th-level

magic-user is equal to a 9th-level alche-mist. It must be noted that a magic-userof llth or higher level gains no extraspells by learning alchemy. If he wishesto learn and then memorize a spell writ-ten in Alchemese, it is at the level inalchemist terms regardless of what levelspell it might be for the magic-user.

Example: A Wizard (12th level) wishesto learn the spell magic missile written inAlchemese. It is a Sth-level alchemistspell and must be learned at the Wizard's5th level even if he knows it at first levelas a magic-user. Further, the Wizard willonly obtain the results with it that analchemist would obtain, i.e., four magicmissiles. That would be true even if the

Damage inflicted:

Wizard were 20th level. Thus, magic-users use the equivalent alchemist levelwhen learning such spells. An alchemist'shighest effective level for the purpose ofrange, duration, etc. is 7th.

F. The Identifier begins to learnsecond-level alchemist spells. Identifypotion is always taught first, and the stu-dent may consider his intelligence asbeing two full points higher for the learn-ing percentage on this important spell.

G. The Scholar is given the knowledgeof third-level alchemist spells as well asthe knowledge to make poisons. He canmake poisons in four stages: mild, toxic,lethal, and destructive. His chance of suc-cess is measured in detail as follows:

Manufacture result:

Ingested poisons:Mild (A)Toxic (B)Toxic <C)Lethal (D)Destructive (E)

Failedsave

5d45d65d8

DeathDeath

Success-ful save

2d43d45d44d65d6

S.T.modifier

+2+100

-1

1 n.sinuatiVT poisons:Type A 4d4 0Type B 4d6 0TypeC 4dlO 0Type D Death 0

Half-efficacy poisons do the same dam-age as if there were a successful savingthrow vs. poison on a full-strengthingested poison. If the saving throw vs. ahalf-efficacy poison is made, there is nodamage whatsoever. Half-efficacy insin-uative poisons do 2d4, 2d6, 2dIO, and2dl2 respectively if the saving throw vs.poison fails. If the saving throw is made,there is no damage. These poison typesconform, roughly, to the list given onpage 20 of theDMG.

Modifiers to Manufacture result diceroll; Subtract 16 from the roll for eachlevel of the alchemist above 7th, Subtractonly 8 from the die roll for each level of arnagic-user above l l t h , and limit the sub-traction to 40. Magic-users just do notmake poisons as well as alchemists do. Infact, you might wish to forbid rnagic-users from making poisons altogether.The cost of the various poisons is givenin the DMG, page 20,

G. Graduates learn analysis techniquesof potion identification so that imbibingis not necessary. In any such analysis, 10%of the potion is consumed. Without thetext of the prescription in the Graduate'sbook, he is 40% likely to misidentify thepotion. With the prescription, the chancefor misidentification is only 15%. Anyanalysis has a 10% chance to produce anexplosion. Check for this chance beforedetermining if the analysis was a successor not. The chance of explosion isreduced by 2% per level above 8th, so aGrandmaster is only 4% likely to have hislab explode. The explosion so produced

Success

01-6501-4801-4001-3601-27

01-7001-5501-3701-27

HalfFailure efficacy

66-6849-8441-8437-7528-68

71-9056-9238-8428-78

89-0085-0085-0076-0069-00

91-0093-0085-0079-00

will deal out 4d4 points of damage. Thecharge for such an analysis is 150 gp.

I. Alchemists of 9th level learn whatwill occur if two potions are mixed. Theycan, by chemical analysis, predict with70% accuracy the result of a potion mix-ture. This accuracy is 80% for a Masterand 90% for a Grandmaster. Use the charton page 119 of the DMG. If the accuracypercent is diced, then tell the player theproper result. If it is not, re-roll and tellthe player the new result. The cost of themiscibility analysis is 450 gp. This analy-sis actually requires mixing about 5% ofthe two potions, and thus the actualresult does occur, but at a substantialreduction. An explosion will deal out Id8of damage. Explosion might also occurdue to the analysis itself. This is 20%likely for an Alchemist, 15% fora Masterand 10% for a Grandmaster. Explosiondue to the analysis wilt cause 4d6 pointsof damage.

If two alchemists prepare identicalpotions, they will mix in the same wayonly if the prescriptions are identical.Thus, a healing potion could be mixedwith a potion of gaseous form and anexplosion might result. However, if eitherof the two potions was made from a dif-ferent prescription, a new result would beobtained if they were mixed.

Giving formulas for each and everypotion would be a waste of time. Somesuggested key ingredients are given in theDMG (pages 116-117). Others can be sub-stituted. A prescription for any particularpotion wil l tell the key ingredient. Any

76 BEST OF DRAGON

substitution of the key ingredient shouldreduce the chance of success by 10% for aIst-difficuhy potion, 16% for a 2nd-difficulty potion, 23% for a 3rd-difficultypotion and 40% for a 4th-difficultypotion.

Some items might be bought byalchemists when obtained by a party. Theitems can be traded for potions or for areduced price in buying/making/testinga potion.

Alchemists, since they are such poorfighters and since they have so few usefulcombat spells, will rarely goon an adven-ture, even if some important raw materialmight be obtained. Alchemist henchmen,of any level, will go on a trip only if thereis ample protection and they do not haveto go into danger themselves. Alchemisthenchmen wil give their bosses a slightdiscount on the cost of any potion theymake. After all . the boss is providingroom and board and perhaps even rawmaterials. Alchemists, Masters andGrandmasters like to hire from 3-10 help-er/novices to help in the lab. They wouldlike their mentors to pay for these hire-lings. Alchemists, Masters and Grand-masters who have set up shop in a townwill have hirelings, including guards ofvarious types. This overhead will meanthat potion prices, as well as testing pric-es, will be as much as 40% to 100% morethan the listed prices.

ALCHEMIST SPELLSEach spell in the following list that has

the same name as an AD&D spell is iden-tical to that spell in its particulars — butremember to use the hit dice of thealchemist for equivalent level when figur-ing range, duration, area of effect, etc. If astandard AD&D spell is employed bymore than one class, the alchemist usesthe version belonging to the class thatreceives the spell at the lowest spell level;for instance, the alchemist's version ofcreate water is similar to the 1st levelcleric spell, not the 2nd-level druid spell.Alterations in an existing spell aremarked with an asterisk (*) and noted fol-lowing the lists, A new spell unique toalchemists, but usable by magic-users, ismarked with a number sign (#). Givenalso in some cases is a cost (to the custom-er) to cast the spell.

First levelComprehend languages (45 gp)Detect magic (150 gp)Erase (80 gp)Identify minerals # (125gp)Mending *(40% of item value)Produce flamePurify Water < 100 gp)Stir #Wizard glue # (225 gp per effective level)Write * (200 gp/spell level)

Identify minerals can determine if anoutcropping contains a specific mineralthe caster is seeking. The mineral must be

VOL. Ill

T^OIECKnamed prior to spell casting. Mineralscan be complex or simple. The spell willtake 1 round to cast, it will last for 1 turnper effective level of the alchemist, andwill cover an area of 10 feet by 10 feet to adepth of 60 feet. Man-made structures aswell as any plant or plant byproducts willfoil the detection. Once a metal is smeltedit cannot be detected, since the spell onlylocates minerals in their natural state.

Mending will only work on pottery andglass; otherwise it is identical to themagic-user spell. A piece broken into anumber of pieces (not fragmented toshards or dust) can be put back together.

Stir is a simple spell that employs anynatural stick or rod as a stirring device sothat the alchemist can do something else.Stirring can be set to any pace and for anyduration up to 1 hour per effective levelof the alchemist. Casting time is oneround as the alchemist physically dupli-cates the speed and tempo of the stirringstroke with the stick or rod. The stirringwill then continue by itself. The alche-mist can command the stirring to stopand begin again as long as the durationpermits.

Wizard glue is the creation of a bondthat will hold one relatively flat substanceto another: a picture to a wall, a mirror toa door, a rug to the floor, a light fixtureto a ceiling, etc. The glue is quite strongif not overtaxed, but it can only support20 pounds per effective level of thealchemist. Brittle items, like a mirror,would break if they were forced from thewall when being held by -wizard glue.The material component is honey, whichmust be applied to both surfaces beforethey are joined. It takes only one segmentto cast the spell. Body weight converts tosupport weight if a living thing is held inor by the glue. Dispel magic will ungluethe item. The area to be closed or heldcannot exceed 20 square feel per level ofthe alchemist. Doors can be glued shut, aswell as chests, etc., but once the bond isbroken the glue no longer adheres.Strength in excess of 10 can break a

20-pound bond, 12 or belter can breakone of 40 pounds, 14 can break one of 60pounds, 16 can break one of 80 pounds,17 can break one of 100 pounds, 18 canbreak one of 120 pounds and 18(51) orbetter is needed to break one of 140pounds. Bonds stronger than 140 poundscannot be created,

Write can be used to copy texts writtenin Alchemese. Ii can also be used to trans-late magic-user text to Alchemese if usedin conduction with read magic. It can notbe used to write a sepll in the magic-userlanguage.

Second levelAffect normal fires ( lOgp)Create water

Faerie fireIdentify potion # (80 gp)Identify plants (* (50 gp)Preserve # (150 gp)ShatterShrinkUnseen servant

Identify potion is a spell that uses 10%of the potion in question as the materialcomponent. The potion does not have tobe imbibed but it must at least be touched(bare skin in the liquid sample). Itincreases the accuracy of ihe "10% test" by15% per effective level of the alchemist.Unknown potions cannot be identifiedexcept by the analysis meihod also de-scribed herein. This spell adds 7% pereffective level of the alchmist to thai test.Finally, the spell adds 3% to the mixturetest also described herein. The durationwould be thai of the appropriate test withcasting time equaling duration.

Identify plants gives the alchemist thepowers of a 3rd-level druid. The castingtime is 1 round, duration 1 turn per effec-tive level, range up to 120 feel, area ofeffect a 60-fooi-diameier circle. The mate-rial component is ihe leaf of any tree.

Preserve is a spell cast upon a finishedpotion to insure that it will remainunchanged and to protect it from expo-sure lo normal air. fictions have a 20%chance, or higher, to deteriorate whenexposed to the air. Time sometimes willdestroy a potion's efficacy. Spell durationis until the liquid is mixed or imbibed.Casting time is 1 round. One preservespell can effect only one potion. The spellis also used to preserve ingredients (eye ofbasilisk, horn of ki-rin, troll blood, andso forth) so that they will not deieriorate.

Third levelFreeze metal * (50 gp)Heat metal * (50 gp)Identify poison # (75 gp)Leomtind's trap (125 gp)Magic mouth (145 gp) ,̂Slow poison (200 gp/effectwlevel)Tenser's floating diskWizard lock (200 gp)*p«Wfe

(Continued on following page)

77

Freeze metal and Heat metal are likethe druid spell, but both are used in mak-ing potions and do not have a goodapplication to combat situations. Rangeis touch. Duration is 1 hour per effectivelevel with maximum freezing/heatingoccurring at the midpoint of the spellduration. The amount of metal affected isonly 10 pounds ( lOOgp weight) per levelof the alchemist. There is no savingthrow. Thus, it can be used in combat,but the target would have plenty of timeto remove his armor. The spell can havesome uses as a trap if time is on the sideof the caster.

Identify poison merely tells if a specificsample is poison or has been poisoned. Itis infallible in that regard, but thestrength of the poison is not determined.Range is 100 feet, area of effect is 20 cubicfeet of material. Casting time is 8segments.

Fourth LevelExtension IFind familiarFools goldFind plants n (125 gp)Glyph of warding (shock or explosion)Knock

LevitateNeutralize poison (1,000 gp)PyrotechnicsStone shape (400 gp)

Find familiar produces a different set ofpossible familiars from the magic-userspell. Other variables of the spell are thesame, however. Roll d20:

1-4 Black cat5-8 Hoot owl9-11 Crow

12-16 Garter snake17 Special

18-20 None available this yearSpecial familiars depend on the

alchemist's alignment: lawful good, abrownie or a blink dog; lawful neutral,pseudodragon; lawful evil, imp,

An alchemist's familiar does not add tohis hit points or level. It can gain infor-mation the same way a magic-user'sfamiliar ran, and the alchemist has a tele-pathic link to it for the sake of communi-cation. An alchemist with a familiar mayadd 5% to all of his chances to performany task whatsoever. If the familiar iskilled, the alchemist will be minus 5% onall tasks until a new familiar is gained.

Find plants allows the alchemist to

find a living plant anywhere within onemile per effective level if he has a sampleof any part of that plant. Direction willbe pointed out without error for a periodof one hour per effective level.

Fifth LevelBurning handsDispel magic (700 gp)Explosive runesGlyph of warding (paralyzation or

blindness)Magic missile (4 missiles)Locate object (300 gp)Polymorph otherPotymorpfi selfTelekinesisTransmute rock to ore # (150 gp plus

10% of ore value)

Transmute rock to ore will turn ore-bearing rock into pure ore in any formthe alchemist desires, "form" beingpowder, solid, etc., and not implying thefinal shape of the ore. The spell takes onehour to cast, and interrupting the castingwill negate the spell completely. A mag-nitude of one ton of rock can be reducedto the ore within it via this spell. Workedrock will not be affected.

The archerby Lenard Lakofka

Those who are familiar with the Errol Flynn movie RobinHood may recall a scene when he kills four or five men-at-armswith single arrow shots, all wi th in one minute (I've timed someof the missile-firing melee scenes). We have all seen some moviesin which the bow (usually the longbow) is fantastically accurateand deadly. This pre-conditioning, if you will , confuses many anew player of the D&D® or AD&D™ game. The novice mightgive up if the leader of a group of ores shouts out to his troops,"Stand and deliver!" because the player has a fear of the bow. Onthe other hand, the party might refrain from missile fire for theopposite reason: Most monsters met in an encounter cannot bekilled by a single arrow. Are, or were, archers really as good asthey are sometimes portrayed to be?

In fact, an English longbowman could hit and kill a figure ata range of 400 yards! This was, however, the rare shot and notthe rule. That fact is based on fire into a group of figures andrarely, if ever, was such a feat achieved by a single shot at a lonetarget. The maximum longbow range in the game is 21 inches,which equates to 630 feet outdoors — a mere 210 yards. How canthis apparent inequity be taken care of? Well, it cannot withoutunbalancing the game. Remember that movement and spellrange, to say nothing of spell casting time, is tied to selectingdistances. If bow range is tampered with, it will throw off theother numbers. However, in the archer and archer-ranger sub-class (described hereafter), some increase in range is allowed forstrong characters.

A new NPC class: Archers and Archer-RangersThe principal attributes of an archer are strength and dexter-

ity, both of which must be 15 or better. Intelligence, wisdom, andcharisma must all be at least 6, and constitution at least 9.

78

From issue #4%, January 1981Archer-rangers require even higher intelligence, wisdom, andconstitution — a minimum of 14 in each. Archers and archer-rangers whose strength and dexterity are both 16 or better gain10% to earned experience.

While archers may be of any alignment, archer-rangers mustbe good, just as rangers.

Archers can be human, elf, half-elf, or half-ore, as well as someother humanoid races. Hu ma no ids are limited in level as anarcher as follows: Ores can become 3rd-level archers, gnolls canbecome 5th-level archers, and hobgoblins can become 4th-levelarchers. Kobolds, goblins, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings can-not become archers. Only humans and helf-elves can becomearcher-rangers. Archer-rangers can be human or half-elf.

Archers and archer-rangers use 8-sided dice for determinationof hit points. At first level, two 8-sided dice are thrown, just asfor the ranger class. All archers add 2 hit points per level after the9th level.

All archers may use a wide selection of armor, but the use ofplate armor will negate an archer's "to hit" bonuses, and thus hewill surely decline to use this type of armor. A shield can be car-ried, but obviously it must be set aside when arrows are fired.

BEST OF DRAGON

Archers have a great selection of weapons available, but thisselection is not as broad as thai of a fighter. They may use, inaddition to their long/composite/great bow, the following weap-ons: swords of any type, dagger, axes of any type, spear orjavelin, darts, or scimitar. Archers rarely use blunt weapons likea mace, hammer, or flail. Archers do not use pole arms except (orthe throwing spear. It is very rare tor an archer to use a shortbow or any type of crossbow. Archers gain no bonuses to hit ordamage when using these latter missile weapons.

Archers and archer-rangers have the same saving throws asfighters. They melee on the fighter table. All archers begin withonly two weapons, a bow and almost always some type of sword,Thereafter they may add one weapon for every three levelsattained, just as other fighting classes do. However, their non-proficiency penalty is -3, All archers can make only one hand-to-hand melee attack per round through the 8th Jevet. At the 9ththrough 15th levels, they can strike three times in two rounds.They gain two attacks per round only at 16th level and higher.At 7th level and above, archers can fire three arrows per roundinstead of just two, All archers can employ those magical itemsusable by all classes plus many other items as well. A magic bowand/or a magic arrow operates at +1 in an archer's hands, overand above any magical bonus to hit and/or damage it mayalready have. However, elven archers do not gain this +1 to hitwith a longbow because of their smaller-than-human size.

At 9th level, an archer can establish a freehold just as a fightercan (see Players Handbook, page 22). However, archer-rangerscannot build such a freehold (PH, page 25),

The following applies only to archer-rangers. In melee, archer-rangers gain •*•! to damage vs. "giant class" creatures, just asrangers do. An archer-ranger is as stealthy as a ranger and is ableto track like a ranger does. An archer-ranger attracts a body of2-24 followers, just as a ranger does. However, archer-rangersonly gain druid spells, except for some very specific magic-userspells outlined hereafter for both archer-rangers and archers.Druid spells are gained at the 8th level and follow the chartgiven for rangers. An archer-ranger does not gain any specialadvantage from non-written magic items pertaining to clair-audience, clairvoyance, ESP, and telepathy, such as a ranger can.

All archers can learn some specific magic-user spells, but to dothis intelligence must be 9 or higher. When the spell is to be

VOL, HI

taught by a magic-user, the archer must check to see if he canlearn it, as if he were a magic-user. Failure to succeed on thischeck forever negates that particular spell. Archers cannot readspells from scrolls in any case, and neither can they pen theirown spells.

Archers may use particular spells beginning at the 7th level ofability. The number of spells usable and the list from which thearcher may choose changes as the archer's level increases:

Level # of spellsof archer7th-8th

9th-10thllth-12th

I3th and up

usable123

•1

Which spells possibleMagic missile, shieldStrength, minor image plus aboveFlame arrow, protection from

normal missiles plus aboveEnchanted weapon {bows ft arrows

only) plus above

At 3rd level any archer can make arrows for his bow, assumingthe proper raw material is obtained. He can craft a dozen arrowsin an 8-hour day. At 5th level any archer can make a long, com-posite, or great bow. This process takes 9-14 days and alsoassumes proper materials are at hand. A crude bow that is -2 tohit and from which the archer gains no bonuses whatsoever canbe crafted by an archer in less than an hour.

An archer's major attribute is an enhanced ability to hit anddamage a target with bow and arrow. This bonus applies only ifan archer is not wearing plate armor, as previously noted. Hemust be using a well-made bow and well-crafted arrows. Thebonus applies to any target of human size, and may be furthermodified upward or downward depending on the target size andrelative motion of archer and target (see preceding discussion).The bonuses to hit and to damage must be awarded at each levelpromotion of the archer. Remember also that a +1 bow is +2 inthe hands of an archer, over and above any bonus given here.The same "extra +1" is true of arrows.

Archers use the range of "point blank" in addition to theshort/medium/long ranges for most missiles. For an archer,point-blank range is from 10 to 50 feel. Other ranges remain thesame. (Hereafter are given range changes for exceptionally strongcharacters, which may be used for archers at the DM's option.)

Note: The bonuses to hit/damage given below do not includethe -2 and -5 adjustments to armor class which must always beapplied at medium and long range, respectively.

Bonus to hit/damage at the range given:Archerlevel

123456789

1011121314 and up

Point-blankHit+1+1+2+2+3+3+4+4+5~+5+6tfi+7+7

Dam.

+1+1+2+2+3+3+4+4+5+5+6+6-t-7

Short MediumHit

+1+1+1+2+2+3+3+4+4+5+5+6+6

Dam,

+1-t-1+1+2+2+3+3+4+4+5*s+6

Hit

+1•u+1+2+2+3+3+4*4+5+5

Dam.

tl-H+1+2+2+3tS+4+4+5

LongHit

•fl-H+ 1+2+2+2+3+3+3

Dam.

+ 1+1+2+2+2+2+3

No matter how well an archer is capable of shooting, a roll of1 on the "to hit" die is always a miss. (Normal missile-firingtroops always miss on a 1 or 2.) As an example of how to use theabove chart, a 7th-level archer with a +1 bow firing a +2 arrow atpoint-blank range would have these bonuses to hit and damage:+1 for the bow and +1 more because an archer is firing it; plus +2for the arrow and +1 more because an archer is firing it; plus +4to hit due to skill and +3 to damage due to skill at point-blankrange, for an overall bonus of +9 to hit and +8 to damage!

79

All archers, and optionally any trained figure with a long,composite, or great bow, can also do extra damage and gaingreater accuracy through use of physical strength. This can onlybe accomplished by the use of specially made bows and arrowswith a greater "pull." Normal bows and arrows cannot be used,nor can any short bows or any type of crossbow. Such a bowmust be crafted by an archer, an archer-ranger, or an elf bow-maker who is at least 6th level as an archer or fighter. Proper"long arrows" must be crafted by an archer, an archer-ranger, oran elf fletcher of at least 4th level. Ordinary fletchers can onlymake normal arrows.

The strength bonuses apply to point-blank range and shortrange only. Full strength bonuses as given in the Players Hand-book will apply; +3 to hit and +6 to damage is the maximumbonus allowed due to strength. Girdles of strength will not pro-vide a further bonus for this purpose. At short range, the bonusto hit and damage due to strength is halved from the amount ofthe bonus at point-blank range {fractions are dropped). Thisbonus for strength is in addition to an archer's bonus for skill.

The strength of an archer or archer-ranger may also allow foran expansion of the long-range end of a bow's potential. Onlyspecially made bows will give greater range. Only the top end ofthe long-range category is expanded. Medium range distancestays as given in the Players Handbook. Given below are rangesfor each type of bow allowed to an archer, archer-ranger, orstrong fighter, according to the strength of the character.Remember, the bow and arrows must be special.

Strength9-15

16171818/01-5018/51-7518/76-9018/91-9918/00

Point-blank Short Medium10-50 51-210 211-420

(allranges

infeet)

Longcomp.

421-630421-630421-640421-640421-650421-650421-660421-660421-670

Longbow

421-630421-640421-650421-660421-670421-680421-690421-700421-720

Greatbow

421-630421-630421-640421-650421-660421-660421-660421-660421-660

slaying. The magic must be accomplished by a magic-user withthe following spells: enchant an item, wish, and trap the soul.Fresh blood from the figure type to be slain must be available.Thus, it is virtually impossible to craft an arrow for use against aunique character like Bahamut, Tiamat, or a deity or demigod.

Archer or Archer-Ranger table8-sideddice for

Experience Experience accumulatedpoints0-2,500

2,500—5,0005,000—11,000

11.001—22,00022,001-42,50042,501-92,50092,501—162,500

162,501—287,500287,501-512,500512,501-850,000850,001-1,187,500

1,187,501-1,525,0001,525,001-1.862,5001,862,501—2,200,000

level123456789

101 1121314

hit points23456789

1010+210+410+610+810+10

Level titleBowmanMaster BowmanFletcherMaster FletcherBowyerMaster BowyerSharpshooterArrowsmithArcherArcher EsquireArcher KnightArcher LordArcher MasterArcher

Grandmaster

Only archers and archer-rangers who reach 8th level or abovecan craft arrows that tan later be magicked to become arrows of

340,000 experience points per level for each additionallevel beyond the 14th,

Archers and archer-rangers gain 2 hit points per levelafter the 9th.

It is not uncommon for archer-rangers to have a double title,like Fletcher-Scout or Ranger-Archer. Note that the ranger classtitle is given first. Any individual might only state part of histitle. Note that the experience points necessary for each level arethe same for archer or for archer-ranger.

(By the way, Errol Flynn's Robm Hood was an ArcherGrandmaster and not a thief of any type. Consider Flynn's statis-tics as follows: Str 16, hit 17, Wis 15, Dex 18, Con 18, Cha 17;14th-Ievel Archer Grandmaster; leather armor +2 for AC 6; HP110; long sword +2, long bow +3.)

Editing and interior design: Kim MohanCover design: TSR Product Design Dept.Production: Marilyn FavaroEditorial assistance: Roger MooreProofreading: Patrick L. PriceContributing artists: Larry Elmore

Jim HollowayPaul SonjuRoger RauppTodd LockwoodTodd OleckSusan Collins

80 BEST OF DRAGON

Buried treasure!Some of the most popular articles and features

ever to appear in DRAGON® Magazine have been"buried" in out-of-print issues — until now. VolumeIII of the BEST of DRAGON® anthology makesthese treasures available again. Sure, they're oldarticles, but they're just as interesting and mean-ingful as they were when they were first printed.

If you've only been reading DRAGON Magazinefor a short time and you want to find out whatyou've been missing, this volume is for you. Ifyou' re one of our lucky long-time readers who hasall of the issues these articies were drawn from,you'll still appreciate BEST of DRAGON Vol. II!because it puts 80 solid pages of useful informa-tion between two covers — meaning no moresearching through back issues to find that particu-lar article you need.

And perhaps the best part is that we've done thedigging for you already. To find this buried trea-sure, you don't even need a shovel. So what areyou waiting for? Dig in with your imagination —and enjoy!

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