Issue #222Vol. XX, No. 5October, 1995

PublisherTSR, Inc.

Associate PublisherBrian Thomsen

Editor-in-ChiefPierce B. Watters

EditorAnthony J. Bryant

Associate editorDave Gross

Fiction editorBarbara G. Young

A r t d i r e c t o rLarry W. Smith

Editorial assistantMichelle Vuckovich

Production StaffTracey Isler

SubscriptionsJanet L. Winters

U.S. advertisingCindy Rick

U . K . c o r r e s p o n d e n tand U.K. advertisingCarolyn Wildman

10 The Death Knight-Ed StarkTo keep your campaign lively, sometimes

16you need a little extra-powerful un-life.

The Necrology of the Penanggalan�Paul F. CulattaSome forms of undead are so terrifyingand fell that even mighty paladins can fallprey to their powers.

FICTION

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On the Scent at Slab�s � John Gregory BetancourtWhat’s an innkeeper to do when his dead boss won’t leavehim alone, and then asks to be fixed up with the heir to thethrone?

REVIEWRole-playing Reviews-Rick SwanRick investigates voodoo, necromancers, and a new grimoire.

FEATURESFirst Quest-Douglas NilesTarzan may have fired his imagination, but it was a highschool student who provided the fuel.

Sage Advice-Skip WilliamsThis month, the sage answers questions on PLAYERS OPTION™:Combat & Tactics.

DRAGON®Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is publishedmonthly by TSR, Inc., 201 Sheridan Springs Road,Lake Geneva, WI 53147, United States of America.The postal address for all materials from the UnitedStates of America and Canada except subscriptionorders is: DRAGON® Magazine, 201 SheridanSprings Road, Lake Geneva, WI 53147, U.S.A.; tele-phone (414) 248-3625; fax (414) 248-0389. Thepostal address for all materials from Europe is:DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120 Church End,Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LB, UnitedKingdom; telephone: (0223) 212517 (U.K.), 44-223-212517 (international); telex: 818761; fax (0223)248066 (U.K.), 414-223-238066 (international).

Distribution: DRAGON Magazine is available fromgame and hobby shops throughout the United States,Canada, the United Kingdom, and through a limitednumber of other overseas outlets. Distribution to thebook trade in the United States is by Random House,Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada,Ltd. Distribution to the book trade in the UnitedKingdom is by TSR Ltd. Send orders to: RandomHouse, Inc., Order Entry Department, WestminsterMD 21157, U.S.A.; telephone: (800) 733-3000.Newsstand distribution throughout the United

Kingdom is by Comag Magazine Marketing, TavistockRoad, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE, UnitedKingdom; telephone: 0895-444055.

Subscription: Subscription rates via second-classmail are as follows: $30 in U.S. funds for 12 issuessent to an address in the U.S.; $36 in U.S. funds for12 issues sent to an address in Canada: £21 for 12issues sent to an address within the United Kingdom;£30 for 12 issues sent to an address in Europe; $50in US. funds for 12 issues sent by surface mail toany other address, or $90 in U.S. funds for 12 issuessent air mail to any other address. Payment in fullmust accompany all subscription orders. Methods ofpayment include checks or money orders madepayable to TSR, In., or charges to valid Mastercardor VISA credit cards; send subscription orders withpayments to TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 5695, Boston MA02206, U.S.A. In the United Kingdom, methods ofpayment include cheques or money orders madepayable to TSR Ltd., or charges to a valid ACCESSor VISA credit card; send subscription orders withpayments to TSR Ltd., as per that address above.Prices are subject to change without prior notice. Theissue expiration of each subscription is printed on themailing label of each subscriber’s copy of the

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Rumblings � Michelle VuckovichWhat’s hot and who’s new? Find out here.

Roaming the Realms: The Green Elves of Faerûn-Belinda G. AshleyDon’t travel in Faerûn without reading this ranger’s report onsome of the notable and more infamous tribes of elvesdwelling in the realms.

DRAGON® Magazine Interview: Steven BrustSit back for an illuminating chat with the man who gave usVlad Taltos.

It�s All In the Details � Jamie NossalIllusions are potentially more deadly than you think.

Adding Substance to Psionic Combat-Bill SlavicsekIt’s mental combat, so try using imagination in its execution.

Running Scared... and Really Fast!-Spike Y. JonesScare your superheroes right out of thier tights.

Who Needs Hit Points When You Have Credit?�Peter C. ZelinskiEight ways to give 0-level bad guys an edge overpowerful PCs.

Secrets of the Sunless Seas-Wolfgang BaurIn the depths of the Underdark, the powerful aboleths useglyph magic.

A Slither in The Dark-Gregory W. DetwilerA retired officer of the British Raj reflects on his encounterwith a fierce creature of the Mythos.

DEPARTMENTS4 Letters 103 Libram X6 Editorial 108 Gamers Guide

59 Convention Calendar 112 Dragonmirth72 Floyd 120 TSR Previews

COVER

This month's cover by West Coast artistHung Mac was part of his portfolio sub-mission. We felt it was too cool to let itjust sit in the file drawer, so it became a most appropriate cover for our Undeadissue.

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Magazine welcomes unsolicited submissions of writ-Advertisers and/or agencies of advertisers agree

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DRAGON 3

What did you think of this issue? Do youhave a question about an article or havean idea for a new feature you�d like tosee? In the United States and Canada,write to: Letters, DRAGON® Magazine, 201Sheridan Springs Rd., Lake Geneva WI53147, U.S.A. In Europe, write to Letters,DRAGON Magazine, 120 Church End,Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LB,United Kingdom. If you wish your letterto be published, you must sign it. We willnot publish anonymous letters. We willwithhold your name if you request it.

What�s an ArmorClass?Dear Dragon:I have a problem with my weekly D&D®group. The players want to get out of theD&D world and into the FORGOTTEN REALMS®and other worlds. Being the DM, I�m allfor that, but they aren�t ready. When weplay a normal D&D adventure, they don�tunderstand Armor Class, saving throws,etc. When they do understand, they won�tuse it.

Justin BogertHouston, TX

You have a problem: armor class is prettybasic to the whole game. Perhaps after afew of their favorite characters are killedoff or ignoring armor when they should bewearing it might help, but I doubt it. Haveyou asked them to describe or draw theircharacters? AC isn’t an abstract number: itrelates directly to something they are wear-ing. Once they’ve made that connection,maybe you can move on. As a last resort,you may have to recruit new players if theones you’ve got can’t (or won’t) learn therules. Perhaps someone in the group set-ting a good example might help.

Dear Dragon:You ask readers to send you a SASE. Idon't know how to proceed with a SASEsince I do not live in the United States.

Benoit ChasséMontreal, Canada

I�m glad you asked. Anyone in a foreigncountry can go to the local post office andrequest International Reply Coupons (IRCs)which they can enclose with the unstampedself-addressed envelope. By internationalagreement, one IRC is the rough equivalentof a domestic first-class stamp in the coun-try using it. What that means is that weusually recommend two IRCs if you want areply to reach you before the turn of thecentury.

More Books toBuy?Dear Dragon:Is it really necessary to buy the neweditions of the Player�s Handbook andDUNGEON MASTER® Guide if I already ownthe last printings?

Sean O�Dell

We get asked that one a lot. No, the oldprinting — as long as it is 2nd Edition — isfine. The material is the same; it was justreorganized and given a facelift.

The Truth AboutArmorDear Dragon:Alison Brooks� article �Out of Armor�(issue #219) certainly holds some interest-ing points. Unfortunately, it is centeredaround the outdated notion that armoredknights were as helpless as turtles. This isnot only laughable (why on earth wouldanyone venture onto a battlefield help-less?), but is rooted in latter-day specula-tion. Drawings cited to support the turtlemyth frequently originated centuries afterthe age of plate.

One passage in particular fired myblood: �. . . in fact, knights in full platearmour used hoists or ramps to mounttheir horses, because they literally could

not swing up into the saddle.�Museum Replicas, Ltd., a supplier of

battle-ready weapons and armor, printedthe following in a recent catalogue. It con-cerns a knight's typical exercises:

�He leapt onto a horse without placingfoot in stirrup, fully armed.... Placing onehand on the saddle-pommel of a warhorse and the other near the horse�s ears,seizing the mane, he leapt from theground through his arms and over thehorse. Next, between two high walls anarm�s length apart, he would climb to thetop and down again, simply using thestrength of his legs and arms-fullyarmed.�

Their source? The Marshall of France,14th century.

We also have proof you can see today. Asingle afternoon at an SCA event orRenaissance festival can provide a worldof information.

Laurence MacNaughton, IVMansfield Center, CT

Drinking ReduxDear Dragon:Rev. James Wyatt brought up interestingpoints about drinking in the letters col-umn in issue #220.

The main issue concerning alcohol con-sumption is responsible drinking.

Is there a moral difference between a17-year-old and a 25-year-old who drankresponsibly even if the drinking age is 21?There may be a legal difference, but thereis not a moral one.

Age is not a definition of responsibility.While there may be statistically more irre-sponsible drinkers in the younger agebracket, it is not proof of an individual�slack of responsibility.

Andrew NorrisKnoxville, TN

Aak Oops!

In DRAGON Magazine issue #219, theauthors of �Run! A Guide to HeroicFlight� and �Out of Armor� were inad-vertently misidentified on the contentspage.�Run! A Guide to Heroic Flight� waswritten by Daniel Mark Vyleta, and�Out of Armor� was by Alison Brooks.DRAGON Magazine apologizes to the twoauthors, and the two gentlemen whowere identified as the authors.

4 OCTOBER 1995

As associate publisher Brian Thomsensaid in his editorial in issue #218, �changecan be good.� I would like to hope so.

It has been less than a month since Iwas furiously packing box after box ofbooks in my apartment in California�sSilicon Valley. A whirlwind courtship withTSR had produced an offer to leave sunnyCalifornia to take up an editorial positionworking on the RAVENLOFT® andDRAGONLANCE� lines. At the time, I wasassociate editor of a cutting-edge-technol-ogy computer magazine; but I wasn�tinterested in computer chips or applica-tion-specific integrated circuits (ASICs),and using the word �architecture� as averb every day (as in, �the device is archi-tectured with a 1.5µm CMOS technolo-gy...�) grated on my nerves. I needed achange.

Moving from the San Francisco Bayarea to a small rural community is a sys-tem shock, but I made the saving throw.Those living in this area in need of a mallfix must go to Racine or Kenosha, I havefound. If one wants theatre (not theater,mind you; theatre) Milwaukee or Chicago,45 minutes and an hour away, respective-ly, are the destinations. Exotic, ethnic cui-sine is not a Lake Geneva specialty, but wedo have one fine coffee spot in Kyle�s Topof the Bean downtown. One must cope,and adapt.

Some changes come quickly. I was aRAVENLOFT editor for roughly six hourswhen I was called downstairs by thePowers That Be and asked if I would beinterested in editing DRAGON® Magazine.After three picoseconds of carefulthought, I said yes, and moved into agame-lined office.

The TSR offices are great, but it took metwo weeks to learn where some peoplewere. Wandering the mazes that are CubeCity (upper and lower), I finally under-

6 OCTOBER 1995

Wisconsin Dreamin�

stood how this company�s signature prod-uct, focusing on mazes and labyrinths,came about. My own office is on a cornerin what we call the French Quarter. Noone will tell me quite why we call it theFrench Quarter, but I suspect it has some-thing to do with cheap booze, spicy food,and lots of both.

Working with all these creative people isa thrill, but gaming with them can bestressful. One of my favorite games isSPELLFIRE�. There are people here withhalf a dozen different, specially tuneddecks, one of which they will choosedepending on whether they want tosquash you right away like the bug you areor slowly drag your fate out to an hour ormore of torture before the inevitablesmutching. And try playing DRAGON DICE�(my newest addiction) with people whocreated the thing. Lester Smith tells me heregularly has people come up to himclaiming to have created The UnbeatableStrategy; and then he calmly sets aboutdestroying their best laid plans, sendingthem away with their tails between theirlegs. What chance do mere mortals haveagainst his like?

There are quite a few different AD&D®campaigns going on, too, and I�m lookingforward to lunches in the games library,where playtesting is part of the job. Gee,ma, they pay us for this... really.

I have been working most closely withDavid Gross, editor of DUNGEON®

Adventures, and our editorial Jill-of-all-trades Michelle Vuckovich; both havebeen showing me the ropes here since mypredecessor, Wolfgang �The Sexiest ManOn Earth�� Baur, departed before Iarrived. Art director Larry Smith�spatience with a clueless new editor duringhis deadline crunch phase is amazing.

Another change here in the FrenchQuarter is the addition of Pierce �the

habanero king� Watters as editor-in-chiefof TSR periodicals. Pierce is going to beoverseeing both DRAGON Magazine andDUNGEON Adventures, and dealing with allthe dull, corporate things, allowing Daveand me to actually put magazines togetherinstead of doing meetings all the time.What a guy...

It�s a rush to sit in the chair of the edi-tor of DRAGON Magazine; ever since I wasa kid I�ve wanted to be here. Toto, thisisn�t Kansas; it�s the Emerald City. I stillremember being a 16-year-old fantasy andSF fan playing my first D&D® game backwith the old white boxed set. Anyone outthere remember DRAGON�S old �melting let-ters� logo, Strategic Review, and theJudge�s Guild Journal? Those were thedays. There were fewer rules, but morechaos. Now we have options galore tochoose from. Still got the chaos, though,

Yes, change can be good.More changes are coming for DRAGON. I

can�t be too specific now, but I can sug-gest that you Watch This Space.

One thing that will never change is that,as always, we are interested in your opin-ions. Drop us a line at Letters, DRAGONMagazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Rd., LakeGeneva, WI 53147, or e-mail us attsr.mags@genie.geis.com.

Oh... for those of you who keep writingin and asking, TSR still stands for TacticalStudies Rules. Hey, not everything has tochange.

Tales of fantasy, science fiction, espionage,military heroics, westerns, mystery, andmurder-pretty much the whole gamut ofadventure-have lined my bookshelvessince I became old enough to choose myown reading material. Edgar RiceBurroughs quickly became my favoriteauthor,

I especially liked the Tarzan stories.Those melodramatic adventures, despite(or perhaps because of) their setting in anAfrica that never existed, are really fantasytales. From cities of lost legionnaires andAtlanteans to colonies of ant men (andmagical potions to reduce Tarzan todiminutive size) to the fabulous hollowworld environment of Pellucidar, the set-tings and events portray a broad array ofheroes, villains, and treasures. The 20-plus novels of the Tarzan series haveremained in my library, well-thumbedand replaced numerous times.

Writing my own stories (each with anadventure theme) became a hobby start-ing in about eighth grade. I found it verygratifying to tell a tale that provoked anemotional reaction in a reader. Lackingany avenue for publication, I turned thesemanuscripts over to friends and familymembers and was encouraged by a greatdeal of constructive feedback.

A change in the kinds of stories I enjoyedoccurred very suddenly, with a single,memorable book. An older friend gave mea copy of Frank Herbert�s Dune, and for thefirst time I grasped the full, magnificentsweep of epic adventure. My intereststurned toward Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander,and a whole host of science fiction authors.

At the same time, I discovered wargam-ing, cutting my proverbial teeth on severalAvalon Hill oldies. My brother Don and Ispent a lot of time over the Luftwaffe* andFrance 1940* boards, though we had littleexposure to the scope of the hobbybeyond those games (which Don hadreceived as gifts).

Though it seems ironic when I lookback, I went to college and forgot aboutwriting and wargaming as hobbies. I con-tinued to read and enjoy fantasy, but mytime at the typewriter was devoted tomore pragmatic pursuits, like long letters

8 OCTOBER 1995

to my girlfriend and the occasional termpaper. I blinked once or twice, and sud-denly I was a high school teacher; thosestories from my own adolescent days werejust a pleasant memory of something Iused to enjoy.

One hears, often, of the difference asingle teacher can make in a student�s life.In my case, it was a single student whomade a great difference in the course ofmy future. Her name was Heidi Gygax,and her father had invented this game....

Actually, I didn�t know much about Heidi(except that she did �A� work in speech class)until she came into my room one afternoonwith an excuse to miss school the followingday. The reason given on the excuse was�Interview with People magazine.� Now, inClinton, Wisconsin, interviews with nation-ally distributed publications were far fromdaily occurrences, so this aroused mycuriosity. When I asked why she was goingto be interviewed, she explained that themagazine was doing a feature on her dadbecause he was the inventor of theDUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game.

I had heard of the game, but I�d neverseen or played it; I mentioned to Heidithat I thought it sounded kind of interest-ing. The day after the interview, shebrought me a brand-new copy of the oldblue-boxed Basic Set, thus ensuring hergrade of an A for the semester (just kid-ding). Anyway, I believe that was aWednesday. By Friday I had the rules read,a group of friends invited over, and adungeon ready to run.

That was sometime in 1979, if my mem-ory serves me correctly. A fantastic nightof adventure gaming began a campaignthat lasted several years. Some of thecharacters from the very first night, suchas my best friend�s thief Bonzo, and mywife Chris�s cleric Guida, lasted the entiretime. (In fact, Guida survives, at least inname, in the person of our cat, who haslived to the ripe old age of 17.)

Before that school year was over, I hadstarted a campaign with some studentswho met around my desk after school wasout. We drew some raised eyebrows fromthe principal, but we managed to have alot of fun. (One of those students, by the

way, is now a teacher in his own right; Irun into him every year at the GEN CON®Game Fair.)

With several D&D® campaigns going, Ifound myself with a delightful new hobby,and (as DMs are wont to do) I devoted alot of time to designing campaigns, draw-ing maps, and inventing encounters. Still,simply playing the game didn�t seem to beenough. One day during a summer vaca-tion, after I�d been playing for a couple ofyears, I pulled my typewriter out of thebasement, dusted it off, and wrote theprologue to a fantasy novel. It was fun, so Ikept going, writing chapter after chapter,watching with a kind of detached amaze-ment as the pages piled up beside me.

In retrospect, of course, that�s not thebest way to go about writing a novel-infact, the story that resulted wasn�t fit forpublication, though a few elements (suchas a bard, a hound, and a horse) went onto show up in Darkwalkcr on Moonshae.But, for me, playing the D&D gameopened up a desire to create, to becomea storyteller-a desire that had laindormant for quite a few years.

Finally, in the autumn of 1981, with theencouragement of a friend who�d gone towork for this very magazine, I tucked myunfinished manuscript under my arm andwent over to the TSR buildings to apply fora job as a game designer. After five suc-cessful interviews, I was hired, joining thedesign staff in January of 1982.

I�ve often wondered what course mylife might have taken if I�d taught a differ-ent subject in a different school-or evenif Gary Gygax had been interviewed byPeople during a different semester. I�d liketo think that I would have discovered thegame on my own, and that my careerwould have proceeded along a similarpath. But who knows?

All I can do is take the chance offeredby this forum and say, �Thanks, Heidi!�

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, Inc.

b y E d S t a r k

Artwork by Robert Klasnich

�As you force the door to the tombopen, dust and cobwebs blow intoyour faces-�

�I hold up my cloak to ward itoff!�

�I hold my breath!��I turn away and close my eyes!��Okay, okay. The dust and cob-

webs don�t hurt you, and the staleair from inside the tomb starts todissipate. You push the door inward,slowly but firmly, and its ancienthinges groan ��

�I pull out some oil and splash iton the hinges!�

�I ready my crossbow! I�m alsoready to throw a torch in the room!�

�Remember � we�re not steppinginside the door! We�re pushing itopen from outside!�

�Fine. The door's open. Inside, you seedust and cobwebs covering two largemounds. Gold and silver, only partiallycovered by the dust, peek out through thecracks in the cobwebs. There apears to bea body lying on top of each of the piles��

�I'm throwing some oil on thenearest pile!�

�My torch follows it, buddy! Oh,and I�ve still got my crossbow ready!�

�I pull out my holy symbol andpeek out between the two fighters!�

�Good. Fine. The oil splashes onboth piles, and the cobwebs catchfire easily. Old garments and deathshrouds burn away, and you seegold and silver underneath. You alsosee the bodies of two large warriors,covered in ancient armor andclutching mighty swords. They areskeletal�any remnants of flesh lefton their bones has been burneda way.�

�All right�undead!��I put away my crossbow�it's no

good versus skeletons.��Hah! Don�t worry about these

skeletons, boys�I�m 4th level! They�regoing bye-bye af they start to move!�

�Right. And move they do. Thebody on the right stands up clutch-ing a two-handed sword. It swings itonce, as if to make ready, while theother pulls a morning star and ashield out from under its feet. Bothare moving fluidly, as they wereonce practiced warriors.�

�Yeah, yeah. C'mon, let's startcounting the gold.�

�Do I see anything that looksmagical?�

�I hold up my holy symbol.�Begone, foul creatures! Bach to thesleep of death!��

�Nice. They don�t seem impressed.In fact, they seem so unimpressedthat one strides forward and pointsat the fighter looking over its pile ofgold. The other one doesn�t seemnearly as dramatic-it steps forwardand takes a swing at the thief.�

�Wait a minute! I thought yousaid these were skeletons!�

�Yeah! What do you mean it swings atme? Skeletons are slow! I'd have plenty oftime��

�Hold it! I turn skeletons auto-matically at 4th level! These can�tbe��

Silence.�Death knights! Aaaah!�

Are you up to your armpits in namelessundead? Are low-level encounters with thespawns of evil becoming predictable andtiresome? If you hear one more playerjoke �Brains, we want brains...� when yoursupposedly horrific necromantic creationsshamble forth to do battle, are you goingto scream?

Well, then, inject a little death into yourcampaign.

A death knight, to be specific.

The Death Knight as NPC

Originally found only on the world ofKrynn, death knights pervade the planesand worlds of the AD&D® game like, well,undead warriors out for blood. They dobattle with the forces of good and evilalike, pursuing their nightmarish destinies

on their own terms. They make yourgame a little more interesting in theprocess.

The NPC death knight described in thisarticle is based on the �Death Knight�entry in the MONSTROUS MANUAL� tome forthe AD&D game. That book features the�basic� death knight-a powerful, interest-ing adversary for the heroes in its ownright, and a good place to start with thisterrifying new NPC class.

Creating the Death KnightAll death knights were once proud and ablewarriors, and their statistics reflect this.Even the most inexperienced death knightmust have had some ability before it died, orit would not have been made a death knightin the first place. Incompetence is not thesame as true evil, after all (though it maysometimes seem like it).

As a result, death knights seldom haveany ability scores below 10. The followingchart shows how to determine a deathknight�s basic abilities.

Characteristic Die RollStrength 18+d100*Constitution 14+1d4Dexterity 12+1d6Intelligence 8+1d10Wisdom 8+1d10Charisma 10+1d8**

* The death knight�s Strength mayimprove (see below).** Living beings may or may not findthe death knight horrific in appearance,but there is no denying its presence orpower of command.

All death knights are evil in alignment.Almost all are chaotic evil, but a few (10%)are able to resist the chaotic pull ofundeath and stay either lawful (30%) orneutral (70%) evil.

Death knight NPCs seldom start out at1st level. Whatever evil force creates themusually �rewards� them with power toreflect the evil might they had in life. And,because the death knight is an intelligentand fairly independent creature, it canadvance in level after its creation.

Death knights use the same XP table asrangers and paladins, roll ten-sided dice forhit points, and have the same rules for pro-ficiencies and weapon specialization aswarriors. Their THAC0s are the same as forwarriors of their level, though many deathknights specialize in their chosen weaponsand, therefore, gain certain bonuses.

Death knights make saving throws aseither warriors or priests, whichever saveis better. They have no level limits, though

DRAGON 11

death knights over 9th level are extremelyrare (thank goodness!).

Unlife Abilities The evil that creates and motivates a deathknight rewards its servant with certainspecial abilities. All death knights have thefollowing characteristics:

� When a death knight performs an actof pure, unmitigated, imaginative evil (likecorrupting a lawful good character andconvincing him to take evil actions), itgains +10% to its Strength. But with eachsuch act, it becomes more and more diffi-cult for the death knight to gain anotherbonus. Thus, death knights with highStrength bonuses are extremely inventivein their evil. The Strength incentiveinspires them to new lows in evil. (Thereare rumors that some death knights, byachieving acts of unspeakable horror anddepravity, have actually advanced theirundead Strength beyond the 18/00 limitand up to 19 or 20.)

� Unlike most other undead, deathknights cannot be turned by a priest ofany mythos or level. Death knights can bedispelled by a holy word spell, however,and this one weakness makes them hateand fear all good priests.

� Each death knight gains a magic resis-tance equal to 30% plus 5% per level ofexperience. A 4th-level death knight has a50% magic resistance, while a 9th-leveldeath knight resists magic at 75%.However, no death knight may have amagic resistance higher than 95%.

� All death knights involuntarily radiatefear in a 5� radius. This sometimes makestheir dealings with the living much moreinteresting.

� Death knights can use any magicalitems not prohibited to fighters. Some deathknights (who were multi- or dual-classed inlife but lost those abilities in undeath) canuse wizard (10%) or priest (15%) items aswell. No death knight can use a potion oritem that must be ingested, since it has nonatural bodily functions and cannot eat,drink, or breathe, even if it desired.

� The force of evil that creates a deathknight often provides it with magicalweapons, armor, and other equipment itcan use in the fight against good. The mostbasic magical item a death knight usuallyhas is a magical sword or other weapon.

� Every death knight has a 10% chanceper level of gaining a roll on the tablebelow. For example, if you create a 5th-level death knight, check five times to seeif it gains a magical weapon; once at 10%,then 20%, 30%, 40%, and finally 50% toreflect the five opportunities the knighthas to gain such a weapon. Swords arelisted, but feel free to substitute otherweapons with corresponding powers.

� A death knight�s magical weapon isnot acquired in the manner of other suchitems. The weapon is usually placed wherethe death knight will find it only if he com-mits a terrible, evil act. Once the death

12 OCTOBER 1995

knight has rolled successfully for a specialweapon, he can never roll again on the fol-lowing table, even if he loses his weapon.

Roll Death Knight�s Weapon1 Long sword +22 Two-handed sword +33 Two-handed sword +44 Short sword of quickness5 Short sword of dancing6 Short sword of life stealing

Experience Before and After DeathAs mentioned above, living warriors whobecome death knights retain some of theirexperience and abilities, depending onhow evil they were in life and how terriblethe force of evil is that creates them. Forexample, Lord Soth, the most famous (ifnot most powerful) death knight of all,murdered his wife so that he could con-tinue an affair with an elf maid. The factthat Lord Soth was supposedly an honor-able Knight of Solamnia made this an evenmore terrible crime, and it �earned� himgreat power at the beginning of his deathknight �career.�

It is unlikely that any force of evil, nomatter how weak or powerful, would cre-ate a death knight at less than 4th level-except as an extraordinary punishmentfor a warrior who once fought against evilbut finally succumbed. Begin your deathknight NPC at the lowest experience totalpossible for the level desired, and let itprogress using the ranger/paladin XPchart in the Player�s Handbook.Remember, death knights use the samerules for proficiencies and specializationas living warriors, so determine theirabilities along those lines.

As do some living characters, deathknights earn more abilities as they achievehigher levels of experience:

� At 4th level, a death knight radiatesfear in a 5� radius, and it can cast detectmagic and detect invisibility at will.

� At 5th level, it can cast dispel magictwice per day.

� At 6th level, it can cast wall of ice atwill.

� At 7th level, it can cast one of the fol-lowing spells, once per day: power wordstun, power word kill, or power wordblind.

� At 8th level, it can cast symbol of fearand symbol of pain once per day.

� At 9th level, it can cast firball onceper day.

All of the death knight�s magical spellsfunction at twice its own level of ability, toa maximum of 20th level. For example, a2nd-level death knight casts spells as a4th-level caster.

Companions of Evil

Upon achieving 9th level, a death knightbecomes an extraordinary force of evil inits own right. It begins to radiate dread

and undeath wherever it goes, and otherundead sense and seek out the source ofthe evil. The death knight attracts undeadfollowers and allies that it can use tohatch and execute its schemes.

Undead FollowersThe followers of the death knight includeskeletons, zombies, ghouls, ghasts, wights,and other low-intelligence undead thatmay be wandering around the DM�s cho-sen world. These creatures feel the evil inthe death knight and rise from their rest-ing places, wandering by twilight anddarkness toward the death knight�s abode,knowing only that they must serve a powergreater and more evil than their own.

For every month that a death knightspends in a particular area, it attracts 1d20undead followers of this type. Many deathknights actually loathe these followers andeither assign them menial or pointlesstasks (like digging a hole through theearth or carrying water from the sea to anadjoining river) to get them out of the way,or send them on suicide missions againstmore powerful foes-like walled towns orarmed citadels. The undead respond with-out question and obey the death knight;that�s all they can contemplate doing.

But some death knights use their fol-lowers to set up a gruesome parody of aliving court. Inside a death knight�s castle,zombies and skeletons act as pre-pro-grammed servitors, jugglers, and ghastlycourtiers, playing out roles the deathknight sets for them. They act out plays,fight duels, and guard the walls, all as ifthey were living, breathing men andwomen in a high court of the land.

The most common use a death knighthas for its undead followers is to disturbthe living. The death knight uses its min-ions to raid villages, carry off the living, andwipe out caravans. The death knight has noconcern for its own losses-more undeadfind it every month. It is fortunate that thechaotic nature of most death knightsmakes them feel this way; if they merelywaited a few months or years, they couldbuild unstoppable armies of the dead.

Undead followers who must normallycheck morale do not do so when followinga death knight. Perhaps this is because thedeath knight is such a charismatic leader,or, more likely, it is because the undeadinnately fear the wrath of the death knightmore than any other possible fate.

Undead AlliesOnce per month the death knight has achance to attract a powerful undead allysuch as a lich, vampire, skeleton warrior,or other creature. This chance is equal to5% per level of the death knight. The allyarrives at the death knight�s lair as a possi-ble servitor, master, or partner in evil,depending on the death knight�s powerand prestige.

For example, a newly arrived deathknight could attract a powerful lich that

would attempt to subvert it and force thedeath knight to do its will, resulting in abattle between the two creatures. Mostlikely, however, the force of evil that con-trols the death knight keeps the two frombecoming deadly enemies, and they worktogether (at least at first) to plague the liv-ing. Once a death knight has attracted anundead ally, it will not attract anotheruntil the first has departed or beendestroyed. It continues to attract undeadfollowers, however.

The Lair of the Death Knight

Death knights can and do exist anywhere.They usually try to make their abode inundeath mimic the abode they had, orwanted to have, in life-if they do not stillpossess that lair, that is. But a deathknight�s strange nature wars with itsdesires, and the holding becomes a houseof horror soon enough.

All death knights �remember� beinggreat warriors and, possibly, lords in life.They seldom build castles or palaces, butthey are happy to take them over afterputting their occupants to the sword. Onrare occasions, death knights constructtheir own castles, and these tend to behorrors of impossible architecture andtorture, maintained only by the evil will ofthe death knight and the efforts of itsundead followers.

The interior of a death knight�s lairsmacks of incongruity. All the floors andfurnishings in a given room may be oldand covered in dust and cobwebs-exceptfor a vase full of fresh, red roses that seemto thrive in the dark, dank atmosphere. Ora wall might be covered by moth-eatentapestries, majestic, sad banners from bat-tles long lost or won-and the freshlykilled body of a cleric, pinned to the wallwith a spike through his chest. Somethingold, something new, something bloody,something blue-death knights lead theundead with their �fashion statements.�

As a result of this strange life-and-deathjuxtaposition, hirelings and henchmen(and other NPCs) who venture into a deathknight�s lair automatically lose two ranksfrom their morale. The bizarre horror andtwisting terror of the lair strike fear intoeven the bravest and most loyal souls.

Building the Death Knight

Begin with the living character. Who washe (or she)? What order of honor andgoodness did he serve? What heroic deedsmade his later fall so tragic and his betrayalso complete? How has he made himself soinfamous since becoming undead? The fol-lowing is an example of a death knight youcan use to make your world darker andmore deadly

Lady Jane Restfield, a.k.a.�Bloody Jane the Damned�

Lady Jane Restfield once served the forcesof order and goodness with bright steeland an even brighter soul. A paladin, shefought to keep evil at bay and bring good-ness and fair play to all the corners of herworld. She numbered among the TwelveKnights of the Golden Realm, and she waschief in their order when darkness fell.

It began with an attack on her family. Itwas not a physical attack, oh, no-LadyJane and the Restfields could handle anybattle an enemy brought to them. Two ofthe three Restfield sisters (Lady Janeincluded) had distinguished themselves atthe Battle of Broken Lances, and Jane�sthird sister, Antonia, was a wizardesswithout peer.

The attack was slander. First, Antoniawas accused of dabbling in dark magicand forbidden lore. The family�s owninvestigators, employed to clear the youngwoman�s name, found evil tomes hiddenamong her belongings. Though Antoniaswore she�d never seen or used thembefore, doubt began to grow.

Then Lady Jane�s second sister waskilled. That would not be dishonorable,but her body was found in a tavern of illrepute, a knife in her back and a tankardin her hand. Though her own retainersswore that she�d been nowhere near thetavern that night and that they�d neverseen her drink a drop of ale in her life, thebody (and the evidence) was plain.

Amidst all the scandal, Lady Jane stroveto distinguish herself and shield her family.She became more aggressive in battle andwon the nearly impossible Siege ofHightower almost single-handed. Butwhen rumors of bribery and dishonorablebattle practices shrouded even that victoryin shadow, Jane found herself in despair.

No one knows what pushed Jane overthe edge. Perhaps it was her mother�sapparent suicide, or Antonia�s lapse intomadness. Whatever the cause, one dayLady Jane killed an entire audience ofcourtiers who had come to demand herpresence at a trial of honor, and she rodeoff into the night.

The next time anyone saw �Bloody LadyJane,� she had changed dramatically. Herskin, once white and clear, was nowbleached and gaunt to the bone. Her eyeswere hollow and her beautiful, raven tress-es were gray and brittle. She was undead.

Lady Jane the Damned, as the people ofthe Golden Realm call her, rode down onthe estate of her birth with an army ofundead. She slew the groundskeepers andthose of her distant family who still inhab-ited the place, and she butchered all whocame to fight her off. Now she holds courtin that villa of the damned, content to singof her terrible betrayal and expedition intounlife only so long as no one approachesher gates. If anyone ventures onto thelands of Bloody Lady Jane, they are neverseen again . . . Alive.

Adventure SuggestionsDeath knights come from anywhere andcan go anywhere. Though they tend to beterritorial, inhabiting places that remindthem of their previous lives, a few wanderthe land almost like revenants, seekingsome lost meaning for their undead lives.

Most death knights are not motivated bya hatred for the living but by a loathing fortheir own horrible existence. While nodeath knight would ever succumb todestruction voluntarily, they resent allthose who have and cherish life, since they,at some point, despaired and embracedevil and unlife (consciously or not).

As a result, death knights exist to tor-ment the living and sorely test the valor-ous. They desire to prove that they madethe only choice possible to them duringtheir lives by continually corrupting thegood and noble and bringing them downto their level of evil. A death knight thatsucceeds in corrupting a truly good indi-vidual does not experience bliss or tri-umph, however. Something in its makeupforces it to loathe even that victory, andthe death knight usually destroys anyonewho succumbs to its evil.

Death knight adventures should be cen-tered around cleverly woven traps andhard choices. For example, it would becharacteristic for a death knight to kidnapthe entire family of a good character andthreaten to torture and kill those inno-cents, while at the same time sending itsundead legions and allies against a villagethe PC is sworn to protect. The PC hastime to save only one group, his family orthe village-which will it be? If the deathknight has its way, the PC�s choice isalways the wrong one.

Sometimes, death knights hatch evenless straightforward schemes. Kidnappingand torture are always good motivations,and the death knight seems to have anuncanny ability to manipulate PCs intodoing what it wishes. It might kidnap aloved one or loyal retainer and force thePC to �prove� his valor by fighting mon-sters, performing quests, and eventuallychoosing between good (and the death ofhis loved one) or evil (and the loved one�ssurvival).

A Final Word

Though this article must end, there is noend to the usefulness of the death knightas an NPC villain. The death knight beginsas a tragic character that the PCs mightactually feel sorry for (make certain theyknow or learn of its history), but itbecomes a terrifying evil that must not beallowed to roam free.

What�s more, the death knight is notjust a villain: It is a promise. PCs whoignore their alignments, break their vows,or make �the hard choices� too easily andwithout conscience can look at a deathknight and wonder: How far away fromthat am I?

14 OCTOBER 1995

To Lord Briar of Thornwood, GrandMaster of the Order of Storm.

Sire:It is with the deepest sorrow and regret

that I hereby resign from the Order ofStorm.

True, the vows of paladinhood are sup-posed to be eternal and only can be takenaway by our beloved Deity; yet in myinstance, I know that this is simply amatter of time.

Let me assure you and my other broth-ers that this is not a matter of cowardiceor failure to complete my first mission.You sent me to slay the beast of BoltangSwamp, and it is done. I did not hesitate totake this quest, nor did I falter when com-bat was joined. Strength flowed throughmy body in response to my prayers, andHis aura shielded me from the worst ofthe beast�s attacks. Although I was wound-ed, my sword found its way into the mon-ster�s heart, and now its head rests on astake along the old swamp road.

Nor is my leaving the Order in any wayrelated to what some of my brothers per-ceive as my �womanly weakness.� I fullyrealize that you did not share this warpedview, but there are several who sneeredand whispered among themselves when Imade my application. They cared little ofmy dying father�s last wish that I become apaladin like him. Although he regrettednot having any sons to follow his example,he did his best to mold me into a true holyknight. Well do I recall your decision togive me a chance, and I thank you foryour faith in me, even though so manydoubted.

Now my ambition to fulfill my father�swish, indeed my ambition to live, is gone,the spark extinguished; not from cow-ardice, not from female weakness, butfrom an all pervasive dooming evil thathas consumed my body and soul beyondhuman aid or assistance. Having beenthrown on to this evil path, I can do theonly honorable thing, which is to resign,fast in the wilderness, and pray for divinerelief from this curse.

It is my fervent hope that this letterreaches you so that others will learn ofand avoid this threat�s wicked grasp. Thefellow I hired to deliver this letter wasattracted by the fire at the Abbey, and heseems trustworthy enough. I can onlyhope that he finds the 20 pieces of gold Igave him enough incentive to make thelong trek to Castle Midgard and put this inyour hands.

How did this all begin? It started on theday that I slew the swamp beast. I wantedto press on and return swiftly, if for noother reason than to show my doubtingbrothers that a woman paladin indeed hada place in this world. But old Squint fearedthat I had been hurt too badly and insistedthat we stop at the Abbey of St. Marlowe forthe night. The beast had smashed my shieldwith his great spiked club and it had left myarm flaming with pain, so it took little per-suasion to stop and ask for hospitality thatnight.

I should have known that somethingwas amiss from the beginning. When Irang the bell at the gate, a young servantlady, about my age, came out bearing atorch. She introduced herself as Marla

and advised us that we were welcome butall the friars were absent, havinganswered a call of distress fromThistledale. It seemed that plague hadbroken out there, and the Abbey had beenleft in Marla�s sole care. I was quiteamazed at her friendliness and lack offear for one who was all alone.

Looking back on it, I should have seenthat this tale was highly improbable, butthe pain in my arm distracted me fromclear thinking. Why would the friars of St.Marlowe, a celibate order, keep such anattractive servant lady in their midst? Shewas quite pretty with shining raven hair,blue eyes, and a figure that most womenwould envy. And why would they not sendfor the aid of our Order to stem this out-break of disease? And was it not unlikelyfor them to leave their monastery in thehands of one servant in a countryside alltoo well known for its fierce monsters andruthless outlaws? Oh, would that I hadbeen more alert!

Marla noticed my damaged shield andhow I favored my left arm as I dismountedand offered to fix me a hot bath after a goodmeal. I gratefully accepted, hoping that agood soak would help on the morrow�sride. She then showed Squint where to sta-ble our mounts and directed me to one ofthe austere apartments that the friars keptfor visitors. After lighting the single lamp,Marla bade me take off my armor while sheprepared my meal and bath.

The small room was quite plain: a sim-ple bed with woolen blankets and pillow, awardrobe with two doors, a few pegs onthe wall, a chamber pot, and a small table

DRAGON 17

and candle by the bed. On one wall was asmall painting of St. Marlowe, and therewas one small window next to the door.

My armor was difficult to get off �some of the snaps and clasps had beenjammed by the blow of the beast�s cluband several of the bands were bentinwards-so I had to call for Squint,housed in the neighboring apartment, toassist me. He had no more success than I,and had to go to the stables where hefound some tools. These worked well, butit was obvious that my wonderful bluebanded armor was due for repairs at thearmorer once we were to get back toCastle Midgard.

Equally obvious was the fact that thebeast�s club had hurt me far worse than Isuspected. Squint was the first to notice it.Just above my wrist were the edges of alarge purple bruise. Rolling up my sleeverevealed the worst: it radiated all the wayup my left forearm and no doubt it wouldeventually turn an ugly yellow. I uttered aquick prayer and laid my hand upon thearea and the bruise receded a little, and itseemed that it would be a few days beforethe forearm would be totally healed.

It was while I was contemplating theseverity of the wound that Marla returned.As she opened the door, she saw me pray-ing with my hand on my injured arm, andSquint of course was kneeling in prayer aswell. I confess that I did not even hear heropen the door (nor did Squint), and whenshe asked in an icy voice whether shewanted her to return later, both my squireand I jumped a little.

Looking at her, I was taken aback byher truly frightening look: her foreheadwas tightly creased and she positivelyglared at us. Her face was such a mask offury that for some reason (instinct? train-ing?) I clutched my holy medallion andattempted to detect for any evil.

Simply put, there was none,1 whichwas hardly a surprise. (After all, howcould a simple serving girl emanate pow-erful evil?) Still, her look was so intensethat I had to say something, so I said,�Marla, is something wrong?�

�No, milady,� she replied stiffly, �I seeyou want privacy so I shall leave.�2

Suddenly I saw what she was thinking,and I laughed.

�No, Marla, it�s all right. Squint and Iwere just uttering a prayer together.Squint is an old family retainer and mysquire. He often prays with me when I amhealing.�

She looked confused for a moment,then asked, �Healing? Are you not aknight, milady?�

�Yes, Marla,� I replied, �a knight I am,but did you not notice the emblem on myshield?�

She looked to the corner where mypoor shield, though battered, still clearlyshowed the three yellow lightning bolts.She shook her head.

�Lady Rebecca, I know not these colors.�

18 OCTOBER 1995

�Well,� I explained patiently,� this is ashield of the Order of Storm, a brother-hood of paladins, holy knights who healthe sick and protect the weak. Our keep isCastle Midgard, two days west of here. Youhave never heard of us?�

Marla parted her lips slightly and hereyes widened in curiosity and she said, �Apaladin? But I only thought men....�

I interrupted: �Generally, yes; but theworld is changing, girl. As far as I know, Iam the only one in this land, but I doubtthat I shall be the last.�

At this, she smiled widely3 and statedthat she had brought us supper and that awarm bath awaited me when I was done.She then brought in a tray with a bowl ofhot mushroom and lentil soup, a loaf ofbread, and jug of herbal tea. The smell ofsomething other than cold jerky and darktack was wonderful and as I took my firstsip of the soup, Marla told Squint that hisfood was waiting in his room.

After my meal, she took me to themonks� bath house where a large tub ofsteaming water was waiting. Marla insist-ed on personally attending to me as I wasstill hurt, and I did not complain. Howwonderful the water felt, and how gentlethis raven-haired servant was. Best of all,she washed my hair with a delightfulsoapy mixture that smelled like newlypicked strawberries, and after it wasdried, my hair, short as it was, looked pos-itively lustrous.

After I returned to my room, Marlaloaned me a comfortable, high-neckednightgown, bade me a good night�s rest,and left. It did not take me long to drift offinto a deep, peaceful slumber.

But, my lord, my sleep did not remainthat way. Upon reflection of the last fewdays� events, the memory of my dreamhas returned. At first, it was a wonderfuldream. There I was on the grassy banks ofthe River Excelsior. It was sunset and thebreeze was cool but not overly so. As thesun reached the horizon, it turned thewaters a lovely pink, and then orange, andthen red. And then a deep red-likeblood-and the hitherto clear watersbecame choppy while the wind trans-formed into a long, hot breeze. Then anendless line of heads, bobbing on stakes,came floating down the river. To my hor-ror, I saw that they were all the heads ofthe beast of the Boltang Swamp. As eachpassed me by, it laughed and laughed andlaughed.�

At dawn I awoke feeling absolutelyawful � my head was throbbing, mymouth was parched, and my body seemedsluggish. I drained the small water jugnext to the bed as if I had not drunk indays, and then tried to get up. As I got tomy feet, I nearly fainted, and I had to siton the bed. What was wrong? A hot bath,good meal, and warm bed (even if thesleep hadn�t been all that pleasant) shouldhave rested me for today�s trip, but Ihardly felt refreshed!

As I pondered this, Marla came in witha breakfast of two eggs, thick sausagecakes, and more of the Abbey�s bread. Shelooked very pleased and happy � hercheeks were all aglow, apparently fromthe morning chill,5 and she had a wonder-ful sunny smile. As she set down the trayand poured me some tea, she remarkedthat Squint was already up and about sad-dling the horses, and that he would be into pick up my armor to pack it up (since itcould not be worn). She talked aboutsome other small things as well, but I paidher no further mind; the warm breakfastyodor of the meal was too much and I atelike I had never eaten before, even theentire half loaf of bread.6 When I hadeaten all there was, I laid back down forjust a few moments because I was still abit tired, and I promptly fell back asleep.

Some time later, Squint was shakingmy shoulder. My loyal squire gasped andasked what in the nine hells had hap-pened. I told him nothing, just a baddream, and then got out of bed to look forsome riding clothes, and promptly felldown on the floor. Squint pulled me upgently, saying that I looked terrible, andthat no, I was not all right, and that hewas terribly worried. I repeated that I wasfine, but then he held me up to the mir-ror, and sure enough, I was quite pale.Something was not right, and thatmoment was another opportunity to real-ize that there was an evil infecting theAbbey (and now me).

Instead, I became plagued with self-doubt and blame. Paladins, onceordained, were not supposed to get ill, yethere I was, quite weak and sick. Had Idone something contrary to the Order?Was He punishing me? I had fought brave-ly and completed my mission, as well asoffering prayers of thanks following myvictory. Severing the head of the beast andputting it on display might have seemedbarbaric, but you had expressly orderedme to leave a sign for any other denizensof the swamp to dissuade further raids.The display, I had reasoned, would alsoreassure the local inhabitants that law andorder had prevailed. Surely this could notbe the reason for the punishment?

Squint summed it up in his usual bluntmanner: I needed another day of rest, noarguments, no discussion. Over his shoul-der, Marla � who had observed all of thisfrom the doorway-agreed. I got up toprotest, but it was no good, I could noteven stand up on my own accord.

I reluctantly went back to bed andSquint decided to take the day to sharpenour weapons and see what he could dowith my armor. I tried reading from mybook of prayers but I had trouble focus-ing, and instead just rested and enjoyedthe sunshine and songs of the robins out-side. Marla came back twice during theday, once to change the bed linens andempty the chamber pot, and another tobring another fine meal of roast beef and

lemonade. Yet another opportunity tounlock the mystery passed by for had Ibeen able to pay attention I would havenoticed that on both these occasions therobins stopped singing and would notreturn as long as Marla was around.7

That night, after another fine dinnerand bath, I instructed Squint that no mat-ter what, we had to get back to CastleMidgard. Although I felt only a little bit bet-ter, I was determined to return and reporton my victory. Also I wanted desperately tospeak with Father Matthias to see if therewas something that I had done so wrong todeserve this illness and what I could do toatone for it. Prior to blowing out the can-dle, I uttered another prayer and laidhands upon my bruise and again it retract-ed, but the weakness and dizziness stillpersisted.8

That night my dreams again startedwonderfully, with my charger and merelaxing on a hill and enjoying the colorsand smells of fall leaves, but then the topof the hill collapsed inward and we fell fora long, long time. I hit the ground hardand found myself weak, broken, and help-less. Next to me was a blood-red iron cof-fin, barely illuminated by the light at thetop of the hole. Then I saw the small brasslabel, and its writing was clear: �Here liesLady Rebecca, the first and only womanPaladin of Storm.� Then I heard laughingfrom above as the light went out, andlooking up I saw two small red dots upona black background. They slowly descend-ed toward me, and as I lay helpless thelaughter got louder and the dots becameeyes that dripped salty blood all over me.9

The morning after went much like theprevious day. I could not recall the dream,and I was even weaker. Squint disobeyedmy previous day�s orders and stated flatlythat we were staying another day and thatif I were not better by the next morning,he was going to ride to Castle Midgard forhelp. I was in no mood (or condition) toargue the point. The rosy-cheeked Marlareadily agreed and reiterated that we werehonored guests and could stay as long aswe wanted. She also speculated that per-haps the brothers would return to theabbey that day or the next, and perhapsthey could help. (Oh, Lord Thornwood,where were my brains? Why did I notquestion their absence at the outset?)

By now I was afraid to sleep: while Icould not then recall the specifics of thedreams then, I knew they were bad. In des-peration I prayed long and hard but got noinsight at all. I even tried my power to curedisease on myself (I, who could not be dis-eased!), and not surprisingly, I felt no bet-ter. I did feel a little better that eveningwhen I laid hands on my shoulder and thebruise completely healed and vanished.And of course Squint and I enjoyed Marla�sgood cooking.

Amazingly, on the third night I sleptwell. If I had a good dream or vision, I donot recall it now. Nor do I remember if it

20 OCTOBER 1995

was bad, only that I slept deeply, the bestnight�s rest since we had stopped.

And when I awoke, I actually felt a littlebetter. Wobbly still to be sure, but mymind was not as muddled and my fearwas gone. But all of this was dashed topieces when a very concerned Marlacame in with breakfast and announcedthat Squint had left. This made me sitstraight up and ask (probably in a not toopleasant tone) what had happened. Marlasat at my bedside and looked me in theeyes (hers seemed so lifeless!) and told methat I had cried out so loudly in the nightthat Squint, sputtering a slew of Dalishcurses, had saddled up, told her that hewas riding to Castle Midgard for help, andthat no matter what, she was to care forme until he returned.

Well, this was a mess. Here I was actu-ally feeling a little better, and Squint hadridden off. Apparently the fever was begin-ning to break and it would only be maybeanother day and I would be able to ride.Perhaps my application of curing diseasehad done something after all? In any case,I was frustrated and humiliated as I real-ized how ridiculous my first adventurewould turn out. Instead of riding in to thecastle in glory, a rescue party of healerswould have to come and get me! No doubtthey would insist on bearing me in on alitter. This was awful.

And what made it worse was that therewas little I could do about it. Although myspirits were up, my body was still weak,even with my laying on of hands andMarla�s cooking. I simply did not have thestrength to ride yet. But I did persuadeMarla to help me out to a chair in thecourtyard where I could enjoy the sun-shine. Of course she insisted that inreturn I had to allow her to prepare me abath that evening, and of course I agreedreadily.

This brings us, my Lord, to the finalnight, the time when I discovered the evilthat was infecting my body and soul. And Iam sorry to say that I missed the final cluethat would have revealed the curse of thisplace. The clue was in the bath houseitself and seemed insignificant. After I hadtaken off my nightgown, slipped into thewarm, soapy water, and begun to wash,my hands ran across some small scabs atthe base of my throat.10 I asked Marla whatshe could make of these, and she said thatapparently I had been bitten by mosqui-toes at some point. She suggested thatperhaps they had been the cause of my ill-ness. At any rate, she said, they lookedwell healed. I though no more of it andenjoyed the rest of the bath.

The night�s rest was short. It started withpeaceful slumber, but soon reverted to anevil nightmare involving a flooded river ofblood with me nailed to a circular woodenraft. As it spun in the wild current, I heard aroaring sound, that of a waterfall, and thenI was falling down into a wide-openedmouth filled with incredibly sharp teeth.

And as I fell to my doom, I prayed hard andsaw that what surrounded the mouth was aface. It was a familiar one: that of Marla, theAbbey�s serving girl and my good hostessthese past days!

With a shriek I tore my hand free andslashed and cut. But no longer was I onthe raft of doom. I was in my room and Iwas clutching the dagger I always keptunder my saddlebag or pillow. My breathwas ragged and I scanned the dark roombut all I could see was a veil of black withtwo glowing red eyes. And my breath wasnot the only rasping sound in the room.Tentatively I reached out with my detec-tion of evil and was repulsed by a sicken-ing glow of pure, seething evil.11

With a hiss, the thing swooped at mythroat, and I quickly kicked out of the cov-ers. Simultaneously I grabbed my pillowwith my free hand and held it out like ashield. Whatever it was hit it with a thumpand a snarl. I rolled out of bed, releasingthe pillow and leaving the monster chok-ing on feathers. I fumbled with the doorto the stand up closet, then got it opened,and reached for my sword, only to find itgone.

Something hit me in the back of myhead and knocked me sprawling into thecloset, and I nearly passed out. But I knewthat to give up would mean death.Gasping, I got to my feet. The monster wasjust above the bed and it sounded like itwas having quite a time with the pillow.When she got it out of her mouth, I knewshe would try again. I saw the crimsoneyes again, and they were staring at memalevolently. Slowly they weaved back andforth, and I rued the day that I haddeclined Sir Tristan�s offer to teach mehow to fight blindfolded. It would havemade this a little easier, but at least theeyes (not to mention the amazingly strongglow of evil) helped me focus. In the dark-ness of my apartment, I could even seewhat appeared to be a black glow.

All I had was my dagger. No armor, noshield, no lance, no sword... just a dagger.And judging from the blow that nearlyfelled me, Marla had something else ather disposal. 12 What was I to do? Then itcame back to me: your words at my ordi-nation, that no matter how desperate thestruggle, no matter how naked and afraidone might be, and despite a lack ofstrength or weapons, the paladin�s great-est asset was his mind and his ability tothink, reason, and-if necessary-outwitthe forces of evil. So I thought, reasoned,and came up with a plan.

�Come, you twisted bit of nothingnessand taste my blade!� I cried. Cackling hor-ribly, the monster hissed and made rightfor my face. Just before it got there, I fellstraight to the ground, and the back of thewardrobe resounded with a satisfyingcrack. I reached up quickly and slammedthe closet door shut, and thrust my daggerbetween the two handles, effectively lock-ing the creature in the wardrobe.

Oh, what a thumping and pounding shecaused! I though that she would shake thewardrobe to pieces and for a moment Idoubted that the dagger would hold, so Ifled with the crashing on the thick oakenwardrobe walls ringing in my ears.

I found a lantern and looked for mymissing equipment. It was in a barn stallalong with Truscott, my noble steed, andBrandy, Squint�s mare. Neither looked likethey had suffered from whatever this evilcreature was, but then I remembered:Squint had left, according to Marla, sowhat was Brandy doing here?

Taking the lantern, I went back to thesmall apartment where my squire hadbeen housed and opened the door care-fully. Squint was still there all right,sprawled in his bed, dead white, with twopuncture wounds in his neck, right wherethe �mosquito bites� were on mine.13 I hadseen death before, but never had one soclose been lost to such a foul monster,and I burst out in wracking, heaving sobs.Why had I not seen through this foulthing�s guise?

It took me at least an hour to gathermyself, and by then the dim glow of dawnwas lighting the horizon. I felt exhausted,but I knew that I had to drive myself to seewhat other horrors were lurking in theabbey. All of the brothers� cells wereempty, and the chapel was in reasonablygood order, although it had not beencleaned in some days. But in the base-ment I found them. Each and every one ofthe peaceable brothers of St. Marlowewere dead, killed in the same way asSquint, and they had been stacked in thewine cellar like so much cordwood.14

By now, I had precious little energy leftand it was good to find the Abbey�s heal-ing room. I took two of the brothers�potions and immediately felt the painrecede from the back of my head, wherethe monster�s tail or whatever it was hadstruck me. But I still felt far weaker than Ishould have, and a third potion did nothelp at all.

Weak or not, I still had to confront themonster and put this matter to rest. So Itook my sword and went back to myroom. At first, I was shocked when I sawthe wardrobe laying on its side, but thensaw that the dagger holding it in place wasstill in place. I thumped it on the side andimmediately it began to bump and shakeagain. For a moment I considered leavingthe creature there and riding for theCastle to get your aid, but then I hadvisions of Squint riding by my side andtelling me stories (for the 37th time) of myfather�s glorious quests before he had got-ten married and had a daughter. My eyesmisted over, knowing that I would neversee Squint again, and that decided it forme. I did what my father would havedone.

�Be still, evil one, I will let you free,� Isaid, �and know you that it will be a shortfreedom, for today I shall destroy you.�

22 OCTOBER 1995

With that, I reached down, removedthe dagger, and jumped back, sword inone hand, dagger in the other. The doorsimmediately banged open and out shecame.

Never, my Lord, have I seen a moredespicable, unholy sight. It was indeedMarla, but only her head attached to aslimy, tapered, black appendage that was alittle longer than my sword. Two ofMarla�s front teeth were incredibly long,much like the fangs of a snake, and shehissed and gurgled as she flew about. Iswung at her, and the creature easily andquickly backed away, chuckling wetly.

But its laughter was short-livedbecause as soon as she retreated, she flewright into the sun�s early morning rayscoming in the apartment�s window. Andas soon as that happened, Marla gave asharp gasp and the entire fell creature,head, tail, and all, fell to the ground with athump and did not move.14

This was truly amazing, and I wasimmediately suspicious and thusapproached cautiously. This was too easy,yet it just lay there quite still, although stillmaking damp gurgling sounds. Evenwhen I pricked the thing�s black tail withmy sword, it did nothing. So, I thought,you don�t like light, do you? Well, let�s getyou nice and warm. And so I sunk mysword into the black tail, picked it up, andtook it outside in the yard, leaving a bloodtrail all the way out.

Now its muttered curses grew louder,and if it could have squirmed away, I�msure it would have done so. But it justspluttered away with curses I supposed,for I could not understand any of itswarbly speech.

But then, yes, I could make out that itseemed to be calling my name. So Ipinned the black part to the ground, andknelt by Marla�s face, dagger ready tothrust right into her eye if she made somuch as one move. Incredibly, there wasa fresh slash just above the left eye frommy first dagger cut, but there was noteven one drop of blood showing from thiswound. Yet on the tail, there was stillbright red blood flowing from where mysword had pierced it. This was truly ahorribly mystifying monster.15

�Rebecca,� it croaked, in such a horri-ble way that I barely understood thewords, �come here, I would talk to you.�16

�What is it, you fiend? A plea for mercy,perhaps? You will surely be disappointed,�I replied, waving the dagger right in frontof her eye.

Marla seemed to gulp and then smiled,�Ah, you don�t understand, milady. Soonyou will be with me in sisterhood., justlike me. Nothing can stop it. I have tastedyour blood, and it is just a matter of time.It is inevitable. You will drink blood just asI have, and you will enjoy the taste forever.Now, please, let me go back to my body.�

�Rubbish!� I cried. �Never, do you hear?I am a knight, a paladin of the Order of

Storm! Nothing could ever make me likeyou!� I gave the head a solid kick, but thatdid not silence her. She laughed a horri-ble, gurgling laugh.

�Little one. You don�t know what youare saying. There are powers greater thanyou. Shout all you want, but it willhappen. Feel your neck.�

So I did, and in spite of all the curing, Icould still feel the marks and I couldsense within myself the brutal truth. I hadbeen healing myself for days, and I haddrunk enough potions to bring huge SirBertram back from the dead, but mystrength and health had not returned. Infact, all had gotten steadily worse. Therecould be only one answer: I was infectedwith evil � paladinic powers notwithstand-ing-and now I was apparently doomed tothe worst of fates: being like the droolingthing at my feet, an undead feasting on thehelpless whom I was sworn to defend.

The rest of my tale, Lord Thornwood,is as brief as my remaining days amongthe living. I did a thorough search of therest of the abbey grounds and in a shed ofgardening tools I found Marla�s headlessbody. I could even look down into thebody cavity and seen that her organs wereall dried and withered. And I took thisbody, that of Squint, and those of thepriests and stacked them all atop Marla�shead. I confess that it took most of myremaining energy to do this, and I had torest for a good hour before I could mustera little strength to douse the pile with oiland set it ablaze. Marla shrieked and criedpitifully, but I cared not.

Although Truscott and Brandy did notlook like they had been harmed by Marla,I did not want to take any chances if Iwere to become like her, and so I set themfree. I then burned the rest of the abbeyas well. No doubt it was somehow infectedwith the same evil as I was, and only thepurifying cleanliness of fire could assureanyone that the grounds were free ofMarla�s curse.

As for myself, my Lord, I regret that Ifell prey to such a horrible fate, but I can-not run the risk that I would return tobecome an avenging evil spirit among mybrothers. I will therefore make my way asfar from Castle Midgard as I can, but ifany of the members of our Order shouldmeet me, they should know, from theaccount of this letter, what I am and howto go about destroying me.

In the meantime, this peasant is wait-ing for me to finish this letter, and I mustbe off. Please have the chaplain pray formy soul, and if Marla�s prophecy is true,seek me out soon before I unleash myself.

-Rebecca of Kryptgarden* * *

Lord Thornwood sighed, then shookhis head. �Sir Kaye!� he bellowed.

�Sire!� answered a hard-looking knight.�Get you to the Beastmaster and tell

him to ready our griffons with two days�rations!�

�All of them, my lord?��Yes. Now hurry!� Lord Thornwood

replied tersely. As Sir Kaye trotted off, hecalled out again. �Sir Tersted!�

�Sire!� Another knight stepped from theshadows into the light of the GrandMaster�s dais.

�Go down to the chapel and disturbFather Belding�s prayers. Give him myapologies, but then advise him that he isgoing to take a griffon ride with SirBertram, Malerius, and me, as soon as hecan get ready... which means in 15minutes, no complaints, no excuses!�

Sir Tersted nodded and headed quicklyfor another hallway.

�Sir Tersted, one more thing!� calledLord Thornwood.

�Milord?� The other knight stoppedand turned around.

�Tell Father Belding that if he does nothave a dispel evil spell quick at hand, hehad better come up with it before weleave or he will have to take along one ofhis precious scrolls!�

�Aye, milord!� Sir Tersted returned tohis errand, running off down the corridor.

�Sir Bertram!��Yes, Lord Thornwood?� replied a

huge, bearded man with an unusuallylarge battleaxe at his side.

�Old friend, go on up to Malerius�tower and tell, er ask, him to join us, andif he wouldn�t mind, he needs to bringalong that crystal ball of his if we have anychance of finding her.�

�Finding her? Finding who, milord?��Bertram,� Lord Thornwood whis-

pered, �a fellow paladin, our only sister, isin trouble, and we are going to save hersoul.�

Sir Bertram nodded solemnly. Asquickly as he could, he lumbered away tofind the mage and his crystal ball.

FOOTNOTES1. While in human form, the penanggalan

exudes the alignment it had in its previ-ous life. Thus Lady Rebecca�s detectevil ability did not work. Had Rebeccabeen a wizard or cleric casting a knowalignment spell, she would havelearned the alignment it had in its pre-vious life, but that is all. The sameapplies for the clerical true seeing spell.Note that had Marla had an evil align-ment in her pre-penanggalan days,Rebecca�s ability might have worked ifMarla had been strongly aligned andintent upon evil actions previously.About the only spell that works reliablywith these creatures is the wizard spell,detect undead.

2. A creature of the Nine Hells, a penang-galan is incapable of showing feeling orarticulating love in any form. Yet it isintelligent enough to realize that love issomething that should be experiencedand desired. Being incapable of love inany form, a penanggalan becomes furi-ous if she witnesses any intimate act,

24 OCTOBER 1995

however innocent, between a couple.From that moment on, the female ofthe couple will be singled out for thevampiress� attention, even ahead of afemale of a higher charisma. The malewill also be targeted for a later attack,and the monster will not rest until bothhave been death with.

3. The penanggalan will always prefer afemale with high Charisma as its victimabove all other females (except onewho has shown affection to a man).Hence a female paladin is the victim ofchoice due to her high Charisma andher strong lawful good alignment.Although the paladin�s protection fromevil aura and +2 bonus to saves makessuch a conquest risky, the penanggalanwill go to great lengths to make her anundead sister.

4. Victims of a penanggalan are alwaysattacked while asleep. If they fail theirsaving throw (with a -3 penalty), theyare effectively hypnotized and acqui-esce to the monster�s draining attackswithout awakening. Nothing is remem-bered from the experience, but victimsoften have horrible dreams of blood,corpses, and other ominous images.

5. Another subtle clue that one is dealingwith a penanggalan is her complexion.Prior to feeding, it is rather pale. Up toten hours after draining a victim, how-ever, her complexion is rosy andflushed. This is even noticeable withpenanggalans of all but the darkestskins.

6. Although weak and dizzy, a penang-galan�s victim always awakens with atremendous hunger and thirst. Andalthough satisfying the body�s appetitesis an attempt to recover the lost hp,Strength, and Constitution, once theprocess starts, it is inevitable.

7. Animals are generally good at knowingwhen something is not right. They usu-ally flee at the sight of undead, andalthough they won�t do so when in thepresence of a penanggalan in humanform, they will slink or fly away just ontheir instinct that it is not a friendlyperson. No matter how hard a penang-galan tries, it cannot attract an animalto come to it.

8. Although lost hit points due to �non-penanggalan wounds� can be restoredby magical curing spells, potions, andabilities, the hit points, Strength, andConstitution drained by this horriblevampiress can only be restored after adispel evil spell has been cast upon thevictim.

9. After the first attack, future attempts ona victim entitle her to another savingthrow, but with an additional -2 penal-ty (hence the second night�s attack is at-5, the third at -7, etc). Note that thepaladin�s +2 bonus on saving throwsstill applies against these penalties.

10. If a penanggalan leaves a victim aloneone night, the cumulating -2 penalty

from consecutive attacks no longerapplies, and the victim�s saving roll issubject only to the initial -3 penaltyfrom a first night�s attack.

11. When the head is detached from thebody, the penanggalan�s strong evilalignment is quickly revealed by anydetect evil or know alignment spells.Note that a victim awakening from apenanggalan feeding is almost com-pletely unheard of: only someone verystrongly aligned with good has anychance of doing so.

12. The black �tail� of the penanggalan�shead has a strength of 19 and is usedas a whip to snag and choke victims,causing 1-4 hp damage (+7 for the 19Strength) each round. In total darknessit glows with an eerie black lumines-cence.

13. While the penanggalan will slowlydrain a female victim over a period ofseveral evenings, she will kill a malevictim outright in one night�s feeding.

14. A penanggalan typically inhabits deso-late, deserted places, such as aban-doned buildings and graveyards. Yet ifshe can get away with it, she will takeup residence in an inhabited area,such as a wayside inn or monastery, towreak havoc-and feed for several nights running.

15. The greatest weakness of this undeadmonster is its absolute vulnerability tosunlight, for once that strikes the penanggalan while in �head� form, itfalls to the ground paralyzed andhelpless.

16. The tail of the penanggalan is a reser-voir for blood that it has taken from itsvictims. It serves the same function asa camel�s hump, although it can alsoserve as a whip-like club with astrength of 19. No other part of thepenanggalan will ever bleed, evenwhen in human form. This is anotherway to find out if one is dealing withone of these creatures, but such amethod has obvious risks, particularlyif the object of the experiment is not apenanggalan!

17. While in �head form,� the penanggalanspeaks in a gurgling manner that isbarely recognizable as Common. A lis-tener who makes an Intelligence checkcan understand the speech, but themonster�s conversation is aboutimpending doom of the listener or thejoys of being undead.

In 1899, Charles H. Duell, the director ofthe United States Patent Office, said thetime had come to abolish his agency,because, he claimed, �everything that canbe invented has been invented.� In 1990, Ifelt the same way about magic spells. I�djust spent a month beating my brains out,struggling to come up with my share ofthe entries for the Tome of Magic, a col-lection of more than 200 spells for theAD&D® game. After completing the assign-ment, I was convinced the Tome would bethe last word on this particular subject. Ithad to be, because there weren�t anymore spells. Every one that could beinvented had been invented.

26 OCTOBER 1995

I was wrong, of course, big time.Subsequent publication of theEarthdawn*, Mage: The Ascension*, andAria* games, as well as dozens � hun-

dreds?�of supplements and magazinearticles brought an onslaught of newspells. And they never stop coming.Gamers, it seems, have an insatiableappetite for spells, which designers areonly too happy to indulge. If spells werelollipops, we�d all be hyperglycemic.

Even though we want �em, that�s not tosay we need �em. Most spells are forget-table, unimaginative variants on existingeffects that add little to a campaign or thedesigner�s reputation. One of my favoriteoffenders in the last couple of years isWhite Wolf�s Wizard�s Grimoire for theArs Magica* game, which gave us hairlesshound (an animal�s fur falls out) and lipsof the sky (your lips turn blue).Fisherman�s wooden island creates a row-boat. Why not fisherman�s wooden shoesto conjure up durable footwear or fisher-man�s wooden mount to make rockinghorses for the kids? Hey, I could do this allday. (And I did. In the Tome of Magic, Iwhipped up a batch of warding spells thatwere more or less minor variations of thesame thing; one kept away bad weather,another kept away undead, another keptaway fire; you get the picture.)

I�ve learned the hard way that if youwant interesting spells, you start withinteresting casters. If you�re designingspells for lifeless nobodies, you tend tocome up with deadwood like hairlesshound and undead ward. But if you beginwith, say, the maniacal, tormentedshapeshifters in White Wolf�s Werewolf:The Apocalypse* game, you come up withdazzlers like crawling hand (the caster�shand detaches and scoots across the floor)and gluttony (the caster swallows hisopponents whole).

In fact, dark fantasy in general seems tobe a fertile ground for memorable magic.In a sense, all spellcasters, even the goodguys, have a dark side; there�s somethinginherently creepy about anyone who canread minds and spray fireballs from hisfingertips. If your campaign has too manyhairless hounds and not enough crawlinghands, check out this month�s products,all of which explore the seamier side ofthe arcane arts. They prove once againhow wrong we Duells of the world can be.

GURPS Voodoo: The Shadow WarGURPS* game supplement128-page softcover bookSteve Jackson GamesDesign: C.J. CarellaEditing: Susan PinsonneaultIllustrations: Shea RyanCover: Tim Bradstreet

Let�s start with a quick quiz. Which of thefollowing products pits supernatural PCsof questionable morality against malevo-lent forces of infinite power in a grittycontemporary setting?

A. White Wolf�s Vampire:The Masquerade� game.

B. White Wolf�s Werewolf: TheApocalypse.

C. Steve Jackson Games�GURPS Voodoo.

D. All of the above.

The answer is D. But before you accuseJackson and company of chasing a trainthat�s already left the station, consider thatthey�ve been down this track before. Acouple of years back, they publishedGURPS versions of Vampire and Werewolf,jettisoning White Wolf's ponderous lan-guage and the pretentious aspirations thatmade some players (like yours truly)cringe. GURPS Voodoo mines the sameterritory, fraught with spooky atmosphereand metaphysical murk. It�s more sedatethan White Wolf�s angst fests. But it alsotakes fewer risks. Call it White Wolf Lite.

For a zombie-come-lately, however,GURPS Voodoo has a lot going for it, duemostly to the smarts of designer C.J.Carella. Not only does Carella knowGURPS like Bill Gates knows computercode�Carella wrote the excellent GURPSMartial Arts and GURPS Imperial Rome�he has a knack for blending diversesource material into a seamless whole. It�shard to tell where fact ends and fantasybegins, which adds to Voodoo�s unsettlingtone. I found myself wondering howmuch of these grisly events actually hap-pened somewhere.

Carella�s take on voodoo has little to dowith pin-pierced dolls and dead chickens.Rather, his interpretation draws on real-world antecedents, ranging from the Haitianvoudoun cults to the obeah practitioners ofthe British West Indies and the macumbe ofBrazil. He explains the significance of syn-cretism, where Christian and African tradi-tions combine to spawn new religions, andGnosticism, a mystic movement from thesecond century promoting the superiority ofthe spirit world. Elsewhere, he discusses thedevelopment of voodoo temples (calledhounfors), the European conquest of theCaribbean, and the links between religionand racism in the Spanish and Frenchcolonies. Those turned off by anthropologymay find it all a bit dreary. But scholarlyplayers should be impressed.

On this historical foundation, Carellaconstructs an elaborate �Shadow War,� anepic conflict between voodoo believerscalled Initiates (the player characters, in atypical campaign) and the Lodges, a secretcadre of European magicians with enor-mous political and economic influence.The Lodges� cruel lust for power hasresulted in rampant drug addiction,chronic Third World poverty, the ColdWar, even the assassination of JFK. As inreal life, the big shots pull the strings, andthe rest of us suffer the consequences.

In this case, the strings are attached tohomicidal ghosts and zombies; imagine across between the Call of Cthulhu* andIlluminati* games, and you�ve got the idea.

Carella devotes a hefty chunk of the text tothe Lodges, tracing their rise from theMiddle Ages through a shake-up in WorldWar II that resulted in a profusion ofsplinter groups, each with their own dia-bolical agenda. Along the way, the Lodgesgained control of the U.S. Congress, theItalian Mafia, and a sizable portion of theworld�s armed forces. The Lodges seemso powerful, so all-consuming, that in aby-the-book campaign, I don�t see how aparty of lowly Initiates can persevere. Butmaybe that�s the idea.

In theory, GURPS Voodoo PCs can beanything from ordinary folks to grotesqueshapeshifters called In-Betweeners (birdpeople, cat people, and snake people). Inpractice, most will be magic-enhancedhumans who commune with the spiritworld. Archetypes include Journalists,Magicians, and Parapsychologists; PCswith a penchant for mischief can beCultists and Gang Members. Among thenew advantages and skills areReawakened (vivid memories of previousexistences), Karmic Ties (knowledge car-ried over from past lives), and VeverDrawing (the art of sketching voodoo sym-bols), all clearly explained and fun to use.I�d avoid the Ghost advantage, however, asit reads better than it plays; ghostly char-acters, though enjoying the benefits ofintangibility, suffer from short life spansand chronic exhaustion.

The magic system combines psychicand spiritual elements derived fromAfrican-based cosmologies. Voodoo gods,neither strictly good nor strictly evil, grantspecial abilities to anyone, providingthey�re attuned to the supernatural, profi-cient in the dark arts, and respectful. Aceremonial casting involves five steps�preparation, invocation, wish, offering,and dismissal-which gives access to thePaths of Dream, Health, Luck, Protection,and Spirit. Castings also require conse-crated grounds (ancient ruins, a roomwith vever drawings, a blessed temple)and material components (occult badges,life-sized mannequins, a set of sacredrobes).

Each path gives access to a host ofspells. The Path of Health includes evil eye(enabling the caster to kill with a glance)and dose (which causes disease). The Pathof Luck has money maker (generating anunexpected fortune) and rainmaker (whichchanges the weather). The intricate ritualsgive the magic system a real-world feel, asif the caster were following the directionsfor baking a cake or building a house ofcards. But realism comes at a price. Unlikethe European-based spells of most fantasygames, African spells have few flashyeffects; no magic missiles here. And theytake time. A typical ritual requires hours ofchanting and dancing. A high-powered rit-ual may eat up several days. And Carelladoesn�t provide nearly enough spells; thePaths of Dreams, Health, and Protectionhave a mere five each.

Carella may have skimped on the spells,

but he soars when discussing their ramifi-cations. He points out, for instance, thatthe death penalty won�t deter crime in amagic-drenched society; an executedcriminal will probably be born again,ready to resume his evil ways. Psychiatryis futile; how can you analyze somebodywho�s lived a dozen times?

An essay on the �Electronic Crossroads�explores the connection between witch-craft and netrunning, a concept worth asupplement of its own (GURPSCybervoodoo?). The Campaign Themessection offers some strong adventurehooks, along with suggestions for combin-ing Voodoo with other GURPS products(among them a promising hybrid withGURPS Psionics and a not-too-convincingmerger with GURPS Werewolf). TheEntities chapter profiles Zarabanda, thecannibal god, and Mbua, a depraved spiritwho appears as a Great White Hunter witha posse of serial killers.Evaluation: Plopping us �in the middle ofa cosmic struggle,� GURPS Voodoo usesthe entire world-make that the entireuniverse-as a canvas. But this cosmicstuff is getting old. We�ve endured similarstruggles in Werewolf and Vampire; nowhere comes GURPS Voodoo, trotting alongbehind, squealing, �Me too! Me too!� WhiteWolf Lite, indeed.

GURPS Voodoo needs less sprawl andmore focus. I wish Carella would�ve con-fined the game to a small, self-containedarea, like Haiti. It would�ve been easier tomanage, and a lot more frightening; imag-ine being trapped on a tiny island teemingwith spirits, clawing through steamingjungles while snarling zombies staggeredfrom the brush. A claustrophobic settingsuch as this would�ve really turned up thetension. And better yet, it would�ve madethe game seem a lot less derivative.

Still, an ambitious referee ought to beable to beat GURPS Voodoo into submis-sion. Familiarity with the GURPS system ishelpful, but not mandatory; Carella soft-pedals the statistics, so the material can beadapted to other game systems. And it�sworth the trouble. The rich characters,eerie atmosphere, and slow-burn spiritu-alism add up to a riveting experience�assuming, of course, you�re willing to takeon the cosmos one more time.

The Complete Book of NecromancersAD&D® game supplement128-page softcover bookTSR, Inc. $18Design: Steve KurtzEditing: Matt ForbeckIllustrations: Karl Waller, Brom,

Jeff Easley, John & LauraLakey, and Robh Ruppel

TSR has given us Complete books for allthe core classes, all the races, the barbar-ians, the gladiators, even the spacefarers.So why not the wizard specialists? Thenecromancer is a good place to start, ashe�s arguably the most interesting of the

DRAGON 27

bunch, and unquestionably the guy withthe most marquee value. The CompleteBook of Abjurers doesn�t quite have thesame pizzazz.

This volume pretty much follows the for-mat of the previous Complete books, cover-ing character creation, kits, proficiencies,and gizmos. Kurtz�s literate, no-nonsensestyle makes this one of the most readableentries in the series. He employs, however,a pair of premises that may not sit well witheveryone, especially those who like theirAD&D in-your-face and unconditional.

First, unlike most Complete books, whichspeak to players as much as DungeonMasters, the Complete Necromancer aimssquarely at DMs. �These rules,� says Kurtzin the introduction, �must be kept strictlyhidden from the players, even if they areadamant about portraying a necromancer." Thus, PCs may not partake of augmented hitpoints, food corruption, and the other exoticpowers discussed in the Dark Gifts chapter(�They are definitely not intended for playercharacters.�). Nor may they become necro-mantic priests, as outlined in the fascinatingDeath Priests chapter, who commune withnightmare entities like the God of the Deadand the Goddess of Murder (� . . . it isstrongly suggested that death priests . . .remain NPCs for the campaign, where theycan serve as unusual advisors, employers,and evil arch-villains.�).

Grudgingly, Kurtz allows everyoneaccess to his new priest spells (� . . . acarefully selected minority [of spells] maybe available to PC clerics.�). Still, wheneverI�m tempted to load up a PC with life drainand cause insanity, I half-expect Kurtz towhack my wrist with a ruler.

Kurtz has good reasons for being sostrict. Because of the dubious morality ofnecromantic magic, he argues, most prac-titioners are evil, and evil PCs should bediscouraged. Further, high-level PC necro-mancers threaten the balance of thegame, particularly if they learn to animatedead. �Half the adventure will be reducedto the necromancer sending minions intothe dungeon. Zombie, open that door!Zombie, open that chest! Zombie, walkinto that room!�

He�s right, but most DMs, myself includ-ed, never let common sense interfere witha good campaign. I�ve had more than a fewevil PCs, and sure, they�re annoying, buthandled with care, they can spice up anotherwise bland party of do-gooders. And ifI had a PC who abused animate dead to thisextent, I�d drop a few boulders on his zom-bies until he got the message. I have othersuggestions, but I�ll keep them to myself�Idon�t want to get my wrist whacked.

Kurtz�s second premise is a matter oftone. I�ve always envisioned the necro-mancer as a sociopath, one part lunatic,one part grave robber, who enjoys nothingmore than lounging in a dingy crypt withdecomposing cadavers. Kurtz, however,sees him as a scientist, cerebral, detached,and haughty, a medieval pathologist who

28 OCTOBER 1995

considers spiritual corruption as an unfor-tunate but inevitable cost of doing business.

The character kits, especially theAnatomist and Philosopher, are intriguingbut tame. Even the Deathslayer, a selflessenemy of dangerous undead, comes off asa pussycat. And don�t expect any mad sci-entist material, like essays on autopsy tech-niques or organ harvesting. Kurtz favorshistory (the differences between Romanand Celtic witches, how Eastern societiesviewed death) and sociology (the culturalstigma of necromancy, how wizards dealwith discrimination). None of this is bad;in fact, the serious tone gives necro-mancers an unexpected depth, certain tosatisfy those who prefer MasterpieceTheater to Beavis and Butthead. But playersused to the unapologetic assault ofWerewolf and Call of Cthulhu may find itall a little too, uh, nice.

If you buy the approach, however,you�re in for a treat. Kurtz has packed thebook with sharp insights and inspiredmechanics. Not only can humans special-ize in necromancy, but so can drow, drag-ons, githyanki, even undead; mummynecromancers safeguard tombs and tem-ples, and their vampiric counterparts canchange into bats and cast spells likebrainkill. The Allies chapter providesworkable rules for apprentices, hench-men, and familiars (necromancers recruitweasels and imps). The death gods aremasterful inventions; the Queen of theNoose rules as the patron of premeditatedkilling, and followers of the God ofPestilence foster disease by harvestingslime from corpses. Rounding out thebook are a set of ready-to-play NPCs (oneper character kit) and a fully developedcampaign base called Sahu, Isle of theNecromancer Kings.

Kurtz also provides an elegant analysisof the relationship between spells andalignments. He sorts spells into threecolor categories, each linked to a particu-lar ethos. Black necromancy, encompass-ing spells like disintegrate and chain light-ning that bring physical injury or spiritualannihilation, is associated with evil practi-tioners. Gray necromancy, to which themajority of necromantic spells belong, areappropriate for neutral wizards. Goodwizards are drawn to white necromancy,with spells like reincarnation and delaydeath that restore life and fortify livingbodies. Kurtz encourages necromancersto stick with their own color categoriesand suggests punishing violators; forinstance, a good necromancer who usesdisintegrate might get a visit from anextraplanar entity in a bad mood.

Finally, Kurtz augments the skimpy listof necromancy effects in the Player�sHandbook with 15 pages of new spells.Among the winners are embalm (preventscorpse decay and strengthens golems),bone blight (dissolves the bones of a livingcreature), and graft flesh (replaces lostarms and legs with limbs from cadavers).

Evaluation: If you�re a DM who runs anordered campaign, and you�re in the mar-ket for necromancer NPCs, this is thebook for you. But if you�re a player inter-ested in ruling a kingdom of zombies orsewing tentacles to your chest, keep look-ing. Reserved and brainy, The CompleteBook of Necromancers is the role-playingequivalent of a college text, an erudite col-lection of provocative ideas. Just don�texpect it give you the creeps.

The Bronze GrimoireElric* game supplement80-page softcover bookChaosium, Inc. $13Design: Ross A. Isaacs with Lynn Willis

and Mark MorrisonEditing: Lynn WillisIllustrations: Ben MonroeCover: Charlie KrankFantasy doesn�t get much darker than theStormbringer* game, a 1981 RPG based onthe novels of Michael Moorcock. Using thewar between Law and Chaos as a back-drop, Stormbringer features bloodthirstycultists, diseased beggars, and brutal slavelords-about as far away from amiablewizards and adorable elves as you can get.The game also boasts a terrific magic sys-tem, substituting power ranks for abilitylevels, and replacing long lists of spellswith nasty entities who grant magicalpowers. As casters acquire higher ranks,they can call on entities of increasingstrength; first-rank sorcerers can sum-mon lesser elementals, second-rank sor-cerers can call on lesser demons.Enchanted weapons, such as the swordStormbringer, derive their magic from theevil spirits who inhabit them.

Elric, a sequel to Stormbringer, alsouses Moorcock�s Young Kingdoms as asetting, along with a similar magic system.As in Stormbringer, magic remains aprovince of Chaos, meaning that casters ofChaotic alignment have an advantage overtheir law-abiding counterparts. Elricmagic is less potent, addressing a flaw inStormbringer (high-level casters inStormbringer wreak havoc on play bal-ance). Elric adds more information oninvocations, provides step-by-step instruc-tions for learning magic, and describesdozens of evil spirit abilities (such asexsanguinate, which drains hit points, andthe self-explanatory vomit acid). What itdoesn�t have, however, is much in the wayof specific effects for player characters.

The Bronze Grimoire fills the gap with acornucopia of new spells, along withlengthy sections on runes and necroman-cy. A bonus chapter discusses 13 magicaltomes found in the Young Kingdoms,detailing their formulas, locations, andbooby traps. (Look for Vengir�s BlackTome, a necromancy text bound inhuman flesh, in the court of King Juku ofArgimiliar. But watch out for the teeth�this book literally bites. Isaacs writes withprecision and clarity, sprinkling tables,

lists, and sidebars throughout theenhance its value as a reference.

book to

Rune magic is the Grimoire�s best fea-ture. Shapes and inscriptions imbued withmystic energy, runes function as supernat-ural time bombs. Triggering a runerequires neither the caster�s presence noreven his physical existence-a drop ofrain, a muttered word, or a beam ofmoonlight can activate a rune long afterthe caster�s death. Isaacs presents nearly40 examples, complete with illustrations,which induce hallucinations, drain magicpoints, imprison, disorient, and incinerate.Rune placement adheres to an intricate setof rules; you can inscribe a rune on a hol-low sphere, but not on a solid one (thatviolates the laws of shadow topography),you can attach a rune to theinside of a crate, so long as youleave the lid open (close thecrate, and the rune evaporates),and so on.

As in The Complete Book ofNecromancers, The Bronze Grimoireviews necromantic magic as distasteful,unnerving, and dangerous. But becausealignment distinctions aren�t as rigid inElric as they are in AD&D, necromancersare more accepted in the morally disor-dered Young Kingdoms than in theFORGOTTEN REALMS® setting. Isaacs allowsany sorcerer to employ necromancy, pre-suming he has a strong-enough stomach.If an animate skeleton or create abomina-tion goes awry, the summoned creaturemight pull its own head off. Or it mightexplode, spraying the caster in noxioussludge.

The new spells, some 50 in all, delineatea generous number of effects, bothChaotic and Lawful. They�re not particu-larly destructive-surprising, consideringthe Young Kingdoms� violent heritage�but they�re devious. Dreams of poisonouslove induces nightmares that depress anddebilitate. Lassa�s embrace suspends thevictim thousands of feet above the ground.Candle stripling, the oddest spell in thebook, foretells if a youth will grow up toachieve anything of substance; it helps thecaster decide which kids to befriend andwhich to ignore.

Evaluation: For Elric buffs, The BronzeGrimoire is essential, as it not onlyexpands the number of spells but clarifiessome of the game�s murkier concepts. Itreads, however, like a collection ofexcerpts from the rule book rather than aself-contained supplement; don�t look forstaging tips, setting notes, or a unifyingtheme. Note, too, that Isaacs presumesyou�re familiar with the source material. Asample from the rune magic section:�When Elric summons Arioch for the firsttime, he covers the walls and floor of hisroom with runes. Yyrkoon uses runes toplace Cymoril into a trance-like sleep,before he carries her off top Dhoz-Kam.He does it again when Elric returns forthe Sack of Imrryr.� It�s possible to adapt

this material to other games, but not with-out effort�a lot of effort. If you�ve neverread a Moorcock novel, you may findyourself joining Cymoril in her trance-likesleep.

Short and sweetThe SPELLFIRE� Card Game ReferenceGuide, by Bruce Nesmith and Tim Beach.TSR, Inc., $13. The INWO Book, by SteveJackson. Steve Jackson Games, $17.These guidebooks reveal everything youwant to know about the SPELLFIRE andIlluminati: New World Order* card games,and then some. Both feature illustrationsof every card from the initial publicationcycles. Both include informative strategytips and clever optional rules. TheSPELLFIRE Guide has two good solitaire vari-ants and some jaw-dropping dirty tricks (Irecommend Beach�s UnstoppableMonster and Nesmith�s Catch-22Champion). The INWO Book reprints SteveJackson�s production reports, coveringplanning sessions (�As somebody who wasactually offered the chance to invest in theoriginal Magic: The Gathering* game�and turned it down�I know when to say�Whoops.��) and sales assessments (�Thepre-sales for the Limited Edition alonewere more than 10 times as much as forany game we�d done before.�) The Jacksonbook is the more revealing read, but TSRoffers a better bargain; the SPELLFIRE Guideclocks in at 384 pages, compared withINWO�s meager 152.

The Dancing Nut of Baba Yaga, by LisaSmedman. TSR, Inc., $10.

The dancing hut remains of one TSR�smost durable villains, having boogalooedthrough a 1976 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®

game supplement (Eldritch Wizardry), theAD&D Book of Artifacts, and a couple ofDRAGON® Magazine articles. After spellingout the hut�s powers and immunities,Smedman serves up an adventure with anavalanche of adversaries and what seemslike an infinite number of rooms. Sure, it�sa glorified dungeon crawl, but it�s a dun-geon crawl of transcendent proportions�how many dungeons do you know thatlead to Alternate Reality Tokyo?

Towers In Time* game, by Mike Sager.Thunder Castle Games, $7 (54-card starterdeck), $1.45 (8-card booster pack).

Mighty wizards face off in a bizarre fan-tasy realm, competing for spells, allies,and terrain in a duel to the death. Soundlike a variant of the Magic: The Gatheringgame? Well, sort of, but give Towers InTime credit for finding its own niche.Players deploy their cards in columns,called towers, with the top cards repre-senting magical shields. An elementalforce, such as air or water, supports eachshield, which in turn protects up to threecreatures or artifacts. By accumulatingtemper, the magical energy inherent in allthings, players can activate spells andallies to attack enemy shields. Whoever is

DRAGON 29

the first to eliminate all of the enemyshields is the winner.

Building a tower requires thoughtful,sophisticated tactics; a reckless player willsoon find himself on the wrong end of aSword of Swiftness. Though essentially agame of combat, Tower�s languid paceand charming imagery-serene forests,luminous sail boats, even a smilingwolverine-give it a fairy tale ambiance.As for the cards, their soothing pastelsmake them as cuddly as Muppets. No fire-works here, but plenty of low-key fun.(Information: Thunder Castle Games, POBox 11529, Kansas City, MO 64138-0029.)

Horrors, by Robin D. Laws, TeeuwynnWoodruff, Greg Gorden, Sam Witt, AllenVarney, Chris McCubbin, CarolineSpector, and Fraser Cain. FASACorporation, $18.00.

Yep, it�s another collection of fantasymonsters, which we need about as badlyas Donald Trump needs another creditcard. But because the Earthdawn* gamecontained plenty of hints but few hardfacts about the mysterious Horrors, thissourcebook is overdue. Excerpts from theEurydon Document explain how to erasethe mark of Aazhvat Many-Eyes (hint: youneed a sharp dagger). An apprentice fromthe Great Library of Throal describes theelusive Bone Crown the Usurper (� . . . athousand tongues, all gibbering; a thou-sand teeth, all gnashing.�). The writing is

strong throughout, though many of theillustrations are muddy and indistinct.Which, considering the stomach-churningphysiognomy of some of these guys, maybe a good thing.

Steam Age, by Paul A. Lidberg, MikePondsmith, Mark Schumann, BarrieRosen, Chris Williams, Derek Quintanar,and David Ackerman. R. Talsorian Games,Inc., $14.

This supplement for the CastleFalkenstein* game describes a warehouseof inventions steeped in Victorian Age sci-ence-fiction. Among the entries are steamzeppelins, clockwork servants (who washwindows and change diapers), and aprimitive submarine called theSubmersible. Of marginal utility-I, forone, can get along fine without a steam-powered unicycle-it�s nonethelessdelightful, a goofy addendum to one of thedecade�s most inventive RPGs.

Ruins of Zhentil Keep, by Kevin Melka andJohn Terra, with David �Zeb� Cook and EdGreenwood. TSR, Inc., $25.

Dungeon Masters stuck with stalledcampaigns can do no better than this, alavish boxed set so stuffed with ideas thatthe lid practically bulges. The CampaignBook covers Zhentil Keep�s people,locales, and creatures in delirious detail.The Adventure Book offers a trio of whirl-wind adventures, each staged in a differ-

ent era. Good stuff: a cast of sinister NPCs(like Manshoon of the Zhentarim, inventorof the stasis clone spell) and vicious mon-sters (like the render, a food-aholic thatcan digest anything). Not-so-good stuff:the random event tables, which areunderdeveloped to the point of irrelevancy(so what if a gang of trolls suddenly showsup? What the heck do they do?) and thel-o-n-g historical summaries. But consid-ering the sheer volume of material-over200 pages worth, plus all manner of datatucked away on card sheets and postermaps-the misfires are easy to overlook.

Wilderness, by Shane Lacy Hensley. WestEnd Games, $18.

The World of Bloodshadows, the wildestrealm in West End�s anything-goesMasterbook* series, was made for urbanadventures. After all, it was inspired by theMickey Spillane school of private eyes, andSpillane isn�t exactly the kind of guy youfind on a nature hike. But this collection ofwilderness scenarios works surprisinglywell, thanks to Hensley�s knack for breath-less pacing and wacky encounters. Theparty can roam Larvae Valley and the BoneMound in search of acid moss, blood men,and skeetharks, the latter an obnoxiousstrain of mountain-dwelling imp who usetrespassers as toilets (don�t ask). Absurd?Absolutely. Engaging? You bet. Next time,though, let�s get Bloodshadows back in thecity-where it belongs.

Rick Swan’s recent design work includes Inthe Cage: A Guide to Sigil for thePLANESCAPE� setting. You can write to himat 2620 30th Street, Des Moines, IA 50310.Enclose a self-addressed, stamped enve-lope if you’d like a reply.

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, Inc. Most product names are trademarksowned by the companies publishing those products.The use of the name of any product without mentionof its trademark status should not be construed as achallenge to such status.

30 OCTOBER 1995

by Skip Williams

This month, the sage armors up andtakes a crack at question about the newPLAYER�s OPTION�: Combat and Tacticsbook. All page references are for theCombat and Tactics book (C&T).

The various attack options listed inChapter 2 don�t allow penalties orbonuses based upon the sizes of thecombatants. Is it really as easy to blockthe club of a halfling as it is to block agiant�s club? Could a pixie character dis-arm an ogre? Given the emphasis C&Thas placed upon size, this rather sur-prised me. Shouldn�t the opposed roll ofthe attacker be penalized/increased by+4 or so per size difference? Say ahuman fighter is attempting to blockan attack from another human fighter,the former must make an attack rollagainst AC 4. Say this same fighterattempts to block the attack of an ogre,shouldn�t this be penalized, say to rollagainst AC 0? Against a giant, perhapsagainst AC -4? Why were such penal-ties applied toward overbearing andtripping but not the rest?

The attack options you seem to be ask-ing about (block, disarm, grab, and trap)are more a matter of skill and timing thanbrute strength. If you don�t like the idea ofa pixie blocking a giant�s weapon, apply a-2 modifier to the acting character�s rollfor each size difference. For example, apixie trying to disarm a giant would haveto win an opposed roll against AC 0 with apenalty of -8 while the giant rolls to hitarmor class 4 with no modifier.

What are the statistics for shieldpunches and shield rushes? They seemto be missing from Chapter 7.

They are missing from Chapter 7. Hereis the missing material:

Shield PunchShield Size Speed Melee Damage Knockdown

ReachSmall S Fa (2) 1 1d3 d6Medium M Av (6) 1 1d4 d8Large L Sl (8) 1 1d6 d10

Shield RushShield Size Speed Melee Damage Knockdown**

ReachSmall S Base* 1 1d3 0Medium M Base* 1 1d4 +1Large L Base* 1 1d6 +3

* A shield rush is performed in the attack-er�s base initiative phase.

** The bonus is used during the opposedStrength check that takes place if theattack hits (see Chapter 2, page 46). If thecharacter�s Strength check succeeds, addthe listed number to the roll before thetwo rolls are compared. For example,Rikard uses his large shield to rush Jon.Rikard�s Strength score is 16 and Jon�s is17. If Rikard hits, there is an opposedStrength roll to see if a knockdown occurs.Rikard rolls an 8, a success; Jon rolls a 10,also a success. Normally Jon would winthe roll because he succeeded with a rollhigher than his opponents. Rikard�s largeshield, however, gives him a +3 to hischeck, so his roll is effectively an 11, whichis high enough to win. Note that if Rikardhad rolled a 16, he still would have suc-ceeded with his Strength check and hiseffective score would be a 19 for purposesof resolving the opposed Strength check. IfRikard had rolled a 17 or higher, he wouldhave failed his Strength check and wouldhave fallen down himself.

Shouldn�t the light and mediumlances inflict double damage if usedfrom a charging mount? What happensif a rider scores a critical hit whencharging with a lance?

Yes, footnote �m� (page 133) applies toall the lances listed on the master weap-ons table in Chapter 7. The rider must beusing stirrups to get the extra damage.

In all cases where a weapon that isinflicting multiplied damage (a lance froma charging mount, a thief�s backstab, a�slayer� sword, etc.), add only one extradamage die (or group of damage dice ifthe weapon�s base damage is more thanone die). For example, a warrior charginga giant with a light lance inflicts 3d8 hpdamage on a critical hit, not 4d8. Note thatif the critical is severe enough (triple dam-age), two dice are added.

Don�t lanterns weigh more than1/10th of a pound?

Yes. A lantern weighs two or threepounds depending on the type. A lanternshould be marked with footnote �d�instead of an asterisk.

DRAGON 35

Shouldn�t the staff sling be size L?No. The staff portion of the sling is prettyshort.

Is there a natural armor class belowwhich a creature becomes immune todamage from whips? The whip entryon page 145 doesn�t list one.

A whip can make almost any creaturesmart if it hits a soft spot, and not all crea-tures that have great armor classes arethick skinned. A good house rule might beto say that whips don�t damage creatureswith natural armor classes of 2 or better ifthe creature actually has a carapace or athick skin. It�s reasonable to say that adragon turtle can shrug off stings fromwhips, but a will-o�-the-wisp that getstagged with a whip should suffer damage.The DM will have to decide which crea-tures are immune on a case-by-case basis.

Isn�t the direct fire example on page161 wrong? To agree with the text, theyellow area and some of the markingsneed to be moved on the diagram. Thetext says the cannon�s area of effectstrikes the umber hulk, but the yellowarea of effect doesn�t include theumber hulk.

Look again more carefully. The umberhulk is in the area of effect. Cannon shotshave little �tails� that represent the can-nonball bouncing around. (The place

where the area effect overlaps the figure ismarked with a little cross.). The text andthe diagram don�t exactly match however,because the text says a medium cannon isfiring and the diagram shows a light�s areaof effect.

On page 131, the weapon tabledoesn�t list any damage for a gaff/hook.

In the Complete Fighter’s Handbook thedamage is listed as 1d4 (Sm-Med)1d3(large), which should work fine in a C&Tgame.

I have two character kits from theComplete Book of Elves and theComplete Book of Dwarves that havebeen completely befouled by the newCombat and Tactics book. The elvenarcher fires at a rate of 5/2 moving or3/1 standing still. Since the new spe-cialization rules came out, how is thearcher to be modified to reflect therules change (since bow specialistsnow get an increased rate of fire?)Also, the dwarven sharpshooter usedto have an improved rate of fire andextra damage due to training and cus-tom equipment. What are the newdamage and rate of fire ratings forcrossbows fired by the sharpshooter?Is any of this going to be cleared up inthe Skills and Powers book?

The Skills and Powers book won�t solve

this one for you. Its approach to kits isvery different from the one in the soft-backed rule books.

You have two choices when trying to fitelven archers and dwarven sharpshootersinto a game that uses the PLAYER�S OPTIONcombat system. You can ignore the C&Trules and use the rules that go with the kitinstead (which is a pretty bad deal for thesharpshooter) or you can drop the kitrules in favor of the C&T rules. If youchoose the latter, assume that both char-acters start out as specialists with theirchosen weapons and then spend theirproficiency slots (or character points) onweapon mastery. In both cases, adheringto the kit restrictions is a good way to jus-tify acquiring advanced levels of mastery.Remember that becoming a grand mastertakes some special effort.

Do any of the kits in any of thebooks automatically start with anymastery above specialist? (The elvenbladesinger maybe?) Would bardblades be allowed to become expertsautomatically?

Specialization is the highest level of mas-tery anyone gets for free, and then only sin-gle classed fighters get it. Elven bladesingersand bard blades receive no free levels ofmastery. If you�re going to use the PLAYER�SOPTION rules in your campaign, you shouldstick to the kits presented in the Skills and

36 OCTOBER 1995

38 OCTOBER 1995

Powers book. If you�re using the characterpoint system from the Skills and Powersbook, both blades and bladesingers couldachieve mastery in their chosen weapons.They should however, also have to pay ahefty character point cost for their kits; theDM should set a cost based on the specialabilities presented in S&P�s charactercreation chapter.

What�s going on with the initiativesystem? Under the rules in Chapter 1,a giant is always going to lose initiativeagainst man-sized characters.

Hey, what�s going on here? Chapter1 says a character with a daggeralways strikes before a character witha long sword.

Both of these statements are false. First,everyone rolls initiative normally, and theside with the lowest roll wins. It is possi-ble, however, to win initiative and still notstrike first. For example, a hill giant armedwith a club has a base initiative of slowand has a weapon speed of fast. Any crea-ture�s attack, however, comes during itsbase phase or its weapon�s phase,whichever is worse. So, will a giant alwaysstrike after a human, whose base initiativeis fast? Not necessarily. A human armedwith a fast weapon, such as a dagger, usu-ally will strike before a giant. The humanalso would go first if armed with an aver-age weapon, such as a long sword. If thehuman has a slow weapon, however, suchas a two-handed sword, he is as slow asthe giant, and the initiative roll determineswho goes first when two opponents act inthe same phase. Even if the human has afast or average weapon, the giant stillwon�t always strike second. Its superiorreach allows it to guard or charge andautomatically strike first, no matter whatits initiative roll is. If the human gets innice and close so the giant can�t guard orcharge, the giant can always overrun thehuman (and maybe half the human�sparty in the process) and move off some-place where it can guard or charge thenext round.

A human armed with a dagger usuallywill strike before a human armed with along sword (a fast character with a fastweapon strikes before a fast characterwith an average weapon) unless the char-acter armed with a long sword is chargingor guarding. Before you decide that dag-gers are the weapon of choice, take anoth-er look at the weapons� damage ratingsand knockdown numbers and at the criti-cal hit rules. The swordsman is going towin over the long run. Note that if youinterpret the rules strictly, a characterarmed with a dagger always strikes firstwhen charging or guarding against acharacter of the same size armed with along sword, because both weapons havethe same melee reach. Use some commonsense and let the swordsman go first.

In discussing this last point with C&Tco-author Rich Baker, we came up the fol-

lowing general rule, which we bothagreed should have been in the book inthe first place: In a situation where a char-acter is charging or guarding against anopponent with a weapon that has thesame reach, the figure with the largeweapon (or the larger creature) goes first.For example, a human swordsman guard-ing against a human attacker armed witha dagger goes first. A troll guarding againsta human attacker with a dagger also goesfirst because it is a large creatureguarding against a small weapon.

What�s the deal with guarding? A billgiant with a club has a reach of 3.Does this mean that if the giant guardsit will get three attacks of opportunitybefore a human charging in with along sword can make an attack?

No. The giant gets one attack when thehuman first enters the group of squaresthe giant threatens. This is the giant�s nor-mal attack, not an attack of opportunity. Ifthe human bores straight in and swings atthe giant, the giant doesn�t get any moreattacks. If however, the human changescourse and leaves the area the giant threat-ens, or turns his back on the giant, thegiant would get an attack of opportunity.

So how come psionic creatures haveto wait until their base initiative phasebefore using their abilities?

One of the general premises of theCombat and Tactics book is that creatureshave certain characteristics derived fromtheir size. Smaller creatures generally arequicker to react than bigger ones are,even when what they�re doing is purelymental. Besides, if a baku really getsannoyed with a brain mole that keepsbeating him to the punch, the baku canalways overrun the brain mole and stompit into the dirt. Note that many psionicabilities don�t happen until a round�s reso-lution phase. If a power has a preparationtime of a round or more, it�s among thelast things to take effect. If you don�t wantto stick psionicists with acting on theirbase initiative phase all the time, you canmake psionic powers with preparationtimes of fast or very fast. Or, you can roll1d10 to determine the power�s base phase.This reflects the ever changing state of thepsionicist�s mind and helps keep the play-ers guessing about what�s going to happenfrom phase to phase.

You can send us news, press releases,announcements, and gossip using theInternet at tsr.mags@genie.geis.com. Wewelcome your comments at Rumblings,DRAGON® Magazine, 201 Sheridan SpringsRoad, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A.

TSR welcomes two new staff members!Anthony J. Bryant has taken over as edi-tor of this fine publication and PierceWatters is our editor-in-chief of periodi-cals. Tony has been a gamer longer than hecares to admit. Before he joined us here inLake Geneva, he lived in the San FranciscoBay area and was the associate editor ofIntegrated System Design magazine. Andeven before that, Tony made his home inJapan where he was the features editor forthe Mainichi Daily News and the editor ofthe Tokyo Journal. Pierce has worked for

Warner Books and Taylor Publishing. Hewas the founding editor of lnternal ArtsMagazine and the owner of WCS, acompany that exported computer periph-erals to Japan. Pierce likes to dance andgrow herbs, and always carries a small jarof ground habanero peppers with him.

Interplay, the company producing thecomputer game version of DRAGON DICE�and the DESCENT TO UNDERMOUTAIN� gamehas formed an internal division to createcomputer games for TSR. Interplay owns theexclusive license to produce electronicgames for AD&D® campaign worlds, includ-ing PLANESCAPE� and FORFORGOTTEN REALMS®.Mark O�Green will lead the new division ofover 50 artists, designers, and programmersin creating computer, home video, and coin-operated games based on the AD&D game.More info on Interplay and its products is

available through the company�s worldwideweb site at http:/www.interplay.com.DRAGON DICE for PCs is due out this month.DESCENT TO UNDERMOUNTAIN will be availablein early 1996.

Capcom Entertainment, Inc. will bringthe popular coin-operated DUNGEONS &DRAGONS®: TOWER OF DOOM� game to theSony PlayStation and Sega Saturn beforethe end of the year. The game allows twoplayers to play simultaneously, while theyassume the roles of player characters try-ing to restore peace to the Republic ofDarokin. Players control the outcome ofthe game through interactive decisionsand new players can join even after gameplay has started.

The Illuminati: New World Order*data base program is now available fromGeekware Inc. It can be ordered directlyfrom Geekware at 5023 W. 120th Ave.,Suite 126, Broomfield, CO 80020, ore-mail: sales@geekware.com.

Fans of INWO* can check out SteveJackson Games on the World Wide Web.The site has over 100 pages with info onGURPS*, Car Wars*, and PyramidMagazine. Also of interest is the DailyIlluminator, a news page updated dailywith the latest info on SJ Games. Check itout at http://www.io.com/sjgames.

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40 OCTOBER 1995

As a ranger, I have wandered nearly all mylife across the great expanses of Faerûn,met many people, and seen many strangeand wonderful sights. I was born a moonelf in Evereska and believed I knew every-thing there was to know about my people.But I have since had an eye-opening expe-rience among our forest brethren, thegreen elves. I spent two years touring thetribes and another year deciphering ajumble of notes for my book, Living withthe Green Elf. Below are a few excerptsfrom the book. I hope these notes willhelp shed some light on this elusive elf.

The green elves, despite the commonbelief, are quite jovial and are practicaljokesters among themselves. Only in thecompany of strangers are they reserved,morose, sometimes even hostile. They arenever pretentious and hold no regard forthe petty bickering of society. A green elfsees the world with amazing clarity and isoften considered by outsiders to be blunt,rude, and brutally honest.

Green elves are known by many names.Sy-Tel�Quessir is the elven name, othersare forest, wood, or wild elf. �Wood� is aderogatory name (as in �wood-headed�)used by elves, particularly moon elves.�Wild,� used by most non-elves, is quicklybecoming demeaning as well. It seemsmany people associate �wild� with smelly,unintelligent heathens. I assure you, thegreen elves are neither.

The green elves live throughout theforests of Faerûn, with the highest concen-trations in the Western Heartlands and theSavage North. The tribes I visited hadmembers numbering anywhere from50-400, with the larger tribes breaking intosmaller clans. Outside of Evermeet, thetribes are ruled by the Speaker and theCircle; the latter an informal but powerfulgroup. The Speaker, often of royal descent,is the figurehead of the tribe, the arbitra-tor, and the person who handles outsiders.The Circle rules over personal matters,daily affairs, and justice. Both are chosenby the tribe, however, the Speaker�s posi-tion is for life while members of the Circleare free to withdraw their positions attheir, or the tribe�s, choosing.

Despite their distrust and dislike of out-siders, most green elves have a secret pas-sion for trade and sometimes arrange fortheir goods to be sold by other elves duringautumn trade fairs. They make a numberof goods, from hemp ropes and baskets toleather jerkins and shields. The only itemsthey will never sell or trade are their bowsand arrows. Considering the quality work-manship of these items, I can readilyunderstand why they wouldn�t want themto fall into the wrong hands.

Other than making goods, the elvesspend their time worshipping, hunting,and harvesting. Most of the harvest comesfrom the wilds, though a few plants arecultivated: mushrooms, berries, andshrobee plants (found in forests all overFaerûn). They also grow herbs and spices,

not only for cooking but for fabric dyes,liqueurs, and healing. Many an adventur-ing elf owes his life to the superb medici-nal remedies brewed by the green elves.

Much has been said about the fightingtactics of the green elves (for that�s howmost people encounter them), yet I havediscovered a few new strategies. Thoughall elves are proficient with magic, thegreen elves have modified their magic toreflect their beliefs and respect for nature.As an example, I had noticed the lack offire magic and asked about this omission.The Circle informed me that casting firespells is strictly forbidden. All too oftenthese spells cause substantial damage tothe forest-the very thing they are tryingto protect. Even starting a campfire withmagic is taboo; any green elf can build afire, and it is a point of pride to do so with-out aid. Magic has other useful purposes,however. Magic mouths are placed ontrees to warn intruders away, camps areencircled with magically enhanced trapsand snares, and valuables, like caches ofarrows, are strategically hidden in invisibleholes. When expecting an attack, the greenelves often set up illusory camps, lacingthe area heavily with traps. Few intruderscan pass through a green elves� forestwithout their knowledge or their approval.

For the most part, I found the greenelves quite agreeable to me and to otherlike-minded individuals. Only a few tribeswere openly hostile at my intrusion, andeven those became somewhat amicable bythe time of (or maybe because of) mydeparture. I have here listed a few of themore unusual tribes.

The High ForestUntil recently, I had not realized the largenumbers of green elves living in this oldwood. Taekar Greenbow, the Speaker ofthe tribe, seemed anxious at our meetingand gave me a hurried tour of the area. Isoon learned that the elves had beenunder sporadic, but heavy, attacks by orcsand, more recently, drow. Taekar suspectsthere is an opening to the Underdarksomewhere in the Star Mounts and thetwo enemies are working together. Thetreants to the north refuse to get involvedand the druids are split as to whether theyshould help. Do they send for outside helpor not? Their fear is that if they let otherelves, humans, or (the gods forbid) dwarvesinto the woods, the forest will be destroyedby their axes, swords, and spells of fire. Ipointed out that the orcs and drow werealready doing this. My comment was huffedat, and I drew several angry stares.

Taekar and I had long discussionsabout the future of the tribe. He told methat many of this tribe have left forEvermeet and the few that remain (about500) are too small in number to battle thedark elves and their allies. If he cannotconvince the Circle to ask for outsidehelp, he is afraid that soon there will beone less tribe of green elves in the North.

The Misty ForestWith the recent battles at Dragonspear, thegreen elves have become quite famousand, through some shrewd business ven-tures, are cashing in on their status.Eamond Blackmantle is the very charis-matic and outspoken Speaker of this tribe,and he has worked hard to establish hispeople as a major influence in the area.Eamond told me that the tribe had lost asignificant number of people from battlesin the last five years, and he has been scur-rying to lure other green elves fromnearby forests into this tribe. His boldnessand unusual tactics have met with success.Their numbers have risen by almost ahundred in the last two years, and now ithas close to 300 members, making themthe highest concentration of green elvesthis side of the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Eamond hails originally from the HighForest and comes from one of the oldestroyal families known to exist. He came tothe Misty Forest five years ago at the end ofthe Battle of Daggerford and helped thetribe rebuild their elaborate tree homesand way of life. In our discussions, Eamondsaid he would like to see the tribe increaseto around 400 and he wants to establish acompany of 100 crack archers.

Now that their homes are in order andthe Way Inn rebuilt, the tribe is re-establishing trade with merchants passingthrough the area. The green elves keepbees and make an excellent honey meadand wine. They do a brisk business sellingor trading the liquors by the urn-full inexchange for items they cannot makethemselves. Unlike other tribes, the greenelves of the Misty Forest are not adverse indealing with non-elves and have learnedto drive a hard bargain with the mer-chants.

This is one of the most unusual tribes Ihave encountered. They are more cul-tured, adventurous, and open-mindedthan any other group; several elves haveeven gone on into the world to becomeadventurers. Eamond and the Circleencourage independent thinking amongtheir kin and believe the tribe can onlybenefit from the brisk trade without sacri-ficing their love and devotion to nature.They have dug their heels in with spiritand are determined there will continue tobe green elves living in the Misty Forestfor centuries to come.

The Laughing HollowThis tribe of green elves was nearlydestroyed during the battles ofDragonspear and Daggerford and, like theelves of the Misty Forest, have had torebuild; however, they have not gained thenumbers of the former group had. UnlikeEamond, who is actively recruiting, PrinceFlorfindyn, the Speaker and hero from thebattles, is allowing the population to growat its own pace. Green elves have trickledin from all across the Savage North andmany have even come from the Misty

DRAGON 43

Forest (not all green elves abide bySpeaker Eamond�s unusual practices).The tribe now numbers just over 100.

Prince Florfindyn was a gracious hostand we spent many evenings enjoyinglong talks by the fire. Since his capture bythe cornugon Vesarius, he has becomemore reflective and deeply religious.Several beautiful shrines have been builtto Rillifane Rallathil, Solonor Thelandira,and others. I counted nine shrinesthroughout the tribe; very many for sucha small community.

Not all is somber and serious, though.Most of the tribe�s members are in theirprime of youth and are somewhat reck-less and aggressive. A small group ofgreen elves and pixies have taken to heck-ling travelers passing through the area,and they are fond of frightening the well-to-do and over-pompous clerics on theirway south from Waterdeep. Though noone has been harmed (aside from injuredpride), I fear a visit will be paid by theHigh Guards of Waterdeep, for rich travel-ers often influence matters of justice.Prince Florfindyn is unconcerned, sayingthat the group is just having fun and noharm has been done.

The Wood of the Sharp TeethRecently, a small group of green elves(about 50) has broken off from the tribe inthe Misty Forest and headed into theWood of Sharp Teeth near Baldur�s Gate.It seems there was an argument betweenSpeaker Eamond and Derdryl, an olderand much sterner elf, about courting thefavors of humans. The last report fromthe Derdryl�s group said that they hadmade a temporary pact with a tribe ofsatyrs and were continuing to forage deepinto the woods. Derdryl, it seems, isobsessed in finding the ancient elvenempire of Anauria. He has used the argu-ment between himself and Eamond togather a group to explore the unknownreaches of the Sharp Teeth. What heexpects to find is up to speculation. Theruins of that fabled empire are old evenby elven standards, and it would appearthat Derdryl is leading his group on awild, and very dangerous, goose chase.

ChondalwoodThe Tribe of Chondalwood (approximately400 members) certainly holds the recordas being the most sullen bunch of greenelves in all of Faerûn. They are a strange,moody lot, full of dark humor, odd rituals,and mysterious music. Their dislike ofoutsiders borders on hatred, and though Ispent nearly three months with them, Iwas barely tolerated. Fortunately, Ibefriended one of the Circle membersand had at least one elf in the tribe whocould help me understand their ways.

Their Speaker, an aloof female namedTyriana, is said to be older than the rottedheart of Chondalwood. She is a religiousfanatic, and possibly the meanest elven

44 OCTOBER 1995

druidess I have ever met. She maintains thefrenzied drive behind this tribe�s religiouspractices, and she creates their many dra-matic and colorful rituals. I experienced afew ceremonies; they were wild affairs,filled with exotic dances and songs andflutes that permeated the forest with thehaunting sounds of dissonant harmonies.

During my visit, I had the (mis)fortuneto witness the tribe�s particular form ofjustice. Unlike other tribes, this group sel-dom calls the Circle into session whenoutsiders are involved. Justice before theCircle is normally reserved for membersof the tribe or visiting elves. Tyrianaexplained that it is her responsibility todeal with outsiders so that the tribe maypray undisturbed and not be soiled bytheir ways. The unlucky group of adven-turers was tried, sentenced, and foundguilty of destroying woodlands (the camp-ing area was trampled), entering the forestwithout permission (not that they wouldhave been given it anyway), strippingbranches from live trees for firewood, andkilling mistletoe (pulled down with thebranches; I don�t believe the group knewwhat mistletoe was). As punishment, theiraxes were taken away, they were strippedof their clothing, chased through camp atspearpoint, covered in poccah mud, andfinally run out of the woods. (Poccah mudis an obnoxious mixture of poccahberries, roots, and mud. It stinks, stings,and itches, and it lasts for days. (Once dry,it�s next to impossible to get off.) Thoughtheir methods are rough, I doubt thatgroup will pass this way again.

For all their gruffness, they have anexcellent rapport with many of the wood-land creatures (particularly the centaurs)and a healthy respect for the druids ofChondalwood, though the druids wereoften targets of the elves and centaurs�practical jokes. There is even a bit of tradebetween the three groups. Despite theirindifference to me and other outsiders, Ifelt that the three groups held a mutualrespect for one another and workedtogether to protect their woodlands.

Rawlinswood of the Great DaleI must admit that I have never heard somany rumors about such elves as thegreen elves of Rawlinswood. In passingthrough Uthmere near the Great Dale, Icame across at least a dozen rumorsregarding the infamous elves and the pow-erful mage of the Dale, Nentyarch.

Needless to say, my curiosity was arousedby the time I arrived at the tribe�s camp. Iwas greeted by the outlandish Speaker ofthe tribe, Princess Rheárma Talltree. Shewas clad in an almost sheer, flowing dressof bright greens and golds, and she borethe green facial tattoos of a tribal mage.Copper-colored hair flowed over hershoulders in tiny braids, sparkling with thedust of diamonds and gold. Brass bellsdangled from the ends of the braids andtinkled with every graceful movement. She

greeted me with a radiant smile as sheapproached, and her scent... aaahhh.Where was I? Oh, yes. After meetingRheánna, I was given a brief rundown ofthe tribe and its 300-plus members, and Isettled in for a two-month visit.

While celebrating the festival ofSpringrite, I stumbled across the sourceof the rumors; the green elves plant thegossip themselves! They believe therumors deter would-be trouble-makersfrom entering the forest, but I am not sosure that the opposite is not actually thetruth. Whatever the case, there is plenty oftalk in nearby taverns. One rumor I over-heard was that forest spirits had capturedNentyarch�s soul and bound it within amagical cage of wood. Another rumor wasthat Nentyarch practiced necromancy andcommanded an undead army of wildelves. Both the spirits and the undeadwere blamed for the many disappear-ances within the woods. There were sev-eral variants on these rumors, as well asother equally outlandish tales. It seemsthe green elves have a penchant for mis-chievous humor and greatly enjoy confus-ing and scaring the locals. Even theyaren�t safe from their own gossip; there isa very quiet rumor among the tribe thatRheánna is having an affair withNentyarch. Interesting, but I could neverprove or disprove it.

During my visit, I discovered that theelves and Nentyarch have a close workingrelationship. (An odd union if ever therewas one.) The mage wants privacy, andboth parties want to protect the forest, sothey have come to an agreement. Allunannounced visitors are quickly and qui-etly ushered by the green elves toNentyarch�s castle where he disposes ofthe intruders. In return the mage grantsRheánna an occasional new spell or two.At first I was alarmed at the �disposal� ofintruders, but then, through persistentprying, I learned that the intruders were,as they put it, simply �misplaced�-all overFaerûn. I�m glad my arrival was byinvitation.

The tribe heavily patrols the perimeterof the forest and is seldom seen outside itsboundaries; however, occasionally,Rheánna or a lesser mage will wander tonearby villages in disguise and scout outbuyers for their goods or check on thedevelopment of the newest rumor. Theelves make a number of high qualitygoods such as rugs, hemp ropes, andintricately carved wooden goblets. Theyalso make a number of magical pouches,boots, and staves; but Rheánna insists thetribe trade magic for magic.

With their access to high magic, thistribe is extremely secure and quite power-ful. I noticed a high percentage of tribemembers who were mages, as well as agood number of clerics. Despite their lownumbers in relation to the size of theirforest, an enemy would be hard-pressedto defeat this gutsy band of elves.

he common room smelled, but notof spilled wine or drunken men. Isniffed suspiciously. No, I thought,it wasn�t perfume, exactly, but something else light and sweet.More than anything it remindedme of wildflowers.

Such a scent didn�t belong in a dive like Slab�sTavern, I ought to know. I, Ulander Rasym, owner ofSlab�s, took great pride in nurturing my bar�s less-than-savory reputation.

Surreptitiously I glanced around at the eveningcrowd. Pirates dressed in brightly hued silks andbedecked with glittering jewels lounged in secludedbooths along the back wall, haggling with merchant-princes over the disposition of ill-gotten cargoes. Sincethe Great Lord of Zelloque declared his city a freeport, pirates became common here. To my left, againstthe far wall, a dozen Coranian slavers in hooded graycloaks threw eight-sided dice while stamping their feetand shouting with bravado. Meanwhile, at the bar, amotley assortment of thieves and cutthroats engagedin a boisterous game-Queen�s Ransom, I realized astheir tankards slammed together in the Heroes� Toast.Even the solitary few, nursing cups of wine at tables inthe center of the room, looked ready for a fight.

No, of all the lowlifes who patronized Slab�s, nonewould reek of such a dainty scent. Nor were there anynew women about, just my usual crew of barmaids andserving girls, and out of self preservation none of themwould dare perfume themselves-they were black andblue already from too many unwanted pinches, pokes,and outright grabs from customers.

That only left one other possible source for thesweet offending smell: Slab Vethiq himself, the founderof my ignoble drinking establishment. Slab had diednearly a decade before, but that hadn�t stopped himfrom taking an active interest in the bar; his ghost hadcaused more than a bit of trouble over the years.

Perhaps, I mused, things had been too quiet inrecent weeks. Of course the bar had its usual nightlyshow of spirits-earlier this evening the severed headsof two dead sailors appeared over the bar singing bawdysongs until one of the barmaids chased them away witha broom-but there hadn�t been any real trouble inmore than a month. It was about time for Slab to put inan unwanted appearance to stir things up.

Nodding and smiling to patrons as if I hadn�t a con-cern in the world, I strolled toward the back of the tav-ern, where I kept my private booth. If Slab had indeedreturned to interfere in my affairs again, I�d let himthink his game didn�t concern me. Then perhaps he�dgrow bored, show himself, and make his latestdemands so I could get on with my business.

Sure enough, as I slipped through the curtain intomy booth, a ghostly hand appeared before me holdinga bottle of my best wine. It seemed proof enough thatI�d done right in feigning a lack of concern; Slab sel-dom appeared so quickly when he wanted something.

Next a ghostly goblet appeared, and Slab pouredme a generous drink. The floral scent grew stronger.

by John Gregory Betancourt

Artwork by Terry Dykstra

DRAGON 47

�What do you want this time?� I asked him.�A toast to your good health, Ulander!� said his

gravely voice.�That�s one thing I�ll always drink to.� I took a hesi-

tant sip. As I�d half expected, the wine tasted likewarm blood; it took all my strength of will to swallowrather than spray it out across the table. I wouldn�tgive Slab the satisfaction of knowing he�d begun tobother me this time.

As I smacked my lips with pretend satisfaction, therest of Slab materialized: the piercing gray eyes, thejagged dueling scar on his left cheek, the beardedchin, the one gold earring. As always, he wore splendidclothes: tonight, red silk breeches and shirt, with hugeruby rings on his fingers. As he conjured another gob-let and poured himself a drink, the flowery smell grewcloying. I had to cover my nose with a handkerchief.

�Slab,� I said, �you�re going to ruin business withthis stench.�

He leaned forward, elbows on the table. �I havecome for your good advice,� he said, �friend Ulander.�

Slab never called me �friend� even when he was aliveand I was his loyal right-hand man. More than anythingelse he�d said or done tonight, that worried me. Andhe�d never bothered to ask-let alone take-mycounsel in the nearly twenty-five years I�d known him.

�Advice?� I asked. I could only give him a blank,bewildered stare.

He smiled. I�d always found his smiles dangerous inthe past, but this one looked merely silly. And just assuddenly I knew what had happened.

�You�re in love,� I whispered, awed in spite of myself.�She�s a most wonderful creature,� he said softly.

�What should I do?��Tell her, by all means,� I said quickly. This could be

the answer to my prayers, I thought. It was hard toimagine Slab finding a friend, let alone a lover, but Iwould be the last to dampen the flames of such aromance. If some spectral woman would have him,then have him she would. Perhaps this was all he need-ed. Perhaps he would now content himself to move onto the underworld and leave me and my tavern alone.

�Tell her,� he mused. �What a marvelous idea. Youwill arrange it, of course.�

I stopped short. �You don�t mean-she�s among theliving?�

�Of course.��How�� I began, at a loss for words. �Who-��She is called,� he said with the softest of sighs,

�Deana Caltonos qua Salian Ri.�A chill ran through me as he spoke her name.�I must talk with her, Ulander,� he continued, more

forcefully now. It sounded almost a threat. �Bring herhere. Tomorrow.�

�But she�s-� I began.He shook his head in warning. Then he faded away.I pressed my eyes shut and took another sip from

my goblet, which Slab had had the good sense to leavebehind. Its contents tasted a lot more like wine now,and I certainly felt the need to get drunk.

Deana Ri. Of course I knew of her; she was the

48 OCTOBER 1995

Great Lord of Zelloque�s younger sister, and after him,the last of the Ri bloodline, since the Great Lord hadyet to marry and produce an heir. Should anythinghappen to His Eminence Narmon Ri, Deana wouldascend the emerald throne to rule Zelloque.

Slab might as well have asked me to bring the GreatLord himself. Besides, I thought, struggling to recallwhat little court gossip I knew, wasn�t she alreadybetrothed to a Coranian prince? What interest couldshe possibly have in the ghost of a dead barkeeper?

No, Slab had once again demanded the impossible.Only I knew he�d make me suffer if I didn�t at least tryto carry out his whims. What could I possibly do?

I had to find out more about the Coranian prince, Ithought.

I parted the curtain to my booth and gestured to Lur,my bodyguard and doorman. He lumbered over, allseven feet of him, and bent his bald head to hear what Iwanted.

�Have any of the Coranian slavers finished withtheir game?� I asked. I couldn�t tell if any of them hadjoined the crowd at the bar.

Lur grunted once, which I took to mean no.�I want to talk to one of them. Bring their leader

here when he�s done.�When Lur nodded, I closed the curtain to a slit,

through which I continued to watch. Lur turned atonce and strode toward the dice game. I sighed. Hewas without a doubt the best bouncer and bodyguardI�d ever had, but his reasoning abilities left somethingto be desired. I should have realized my instructionswould be too complicated for him; he�d get one of theslavers for me now.

I watched Lur look over the men, select one-thetallest, of course-then bend and whisper a few wordsinto the man�s ear. The slaver glanced toward mybooth and frowned, but nodded. Passing the dice, hescooped up a few coins, tucked them into his pouch,and headed toward me with a swagger.

I leaned back and waited until he swept the curtainaside. �Please, join me,� I said, and when he did, Iasked, �Wine?�

He nodded solemnly, and I gestured to one of theserving girls. When she�d set a goblet before him, Ipulled the curtain closed again.

�You are, of course,� I said, �familiar with theupcoming marriage between one of your Coranianprinces and Deana Caltonos qua Salian Ri, the sister ofour beloved Great Lord.�

�Prince Destabo na Laolos of the noble House ofKempon,� he said off-handedly. �What of it?�

�Then the wedding is still to be held?�He regarded me strangely. �The wedding is in

thirty-five days.��What?� I cried. �Where?��Here, you idiot!� He drained his goblet and

slammed it down. �Don�t you listen to news-criers?Have you heard none of your own Great Lord�s procla-mations? A month of festivities begins next week inhonor of the wedding.�

�Ah,� I said. I chewed my lip, recognizing now that

Slab�s sudden interest in Deana Ri came at a curiouslyinopportune time. Normally I would have knownabout the upcoming festivities-by habit as well aspreference I kept myself well versed in the city�saffairs-but as Slab surely knew, I�d faced one direemergency after another for the last few weeks, cappedby a pestilence of giant flesh-eating rats in the cellars(and serving girls who refused to fetch wine unlessaccompanied by well-armed escorts). As a result, I�dbarely stirred from my tavern in all that time.

�A little more than a month away,� I mused. �ThenPrince Destabo will have already left Coran.�

�I�m not privy to the prince�s schedule. But yes, Iwould imagine his ship sailed last week.�

I nodded to the slaver. �Thank you for your help.Your next bottle of wine is on the house.�

He grinned with sudden goodwill. �My thanks, sir,and may the great god Derethigon bring fortune toyou.� He slipped from my booth.

�And to you,� I murmured, but my thoughts werealready far away.

I suddenly knew with an amazing certainty thatPrince Destabo was dead. Perhaps his ship had beenattacked by pirates; perhaps it had fallen victim to awhirlpool or a sea monster; perhaps some storm orplague or other natural disaster had overtaken him. Itdidn�t matter. Somehow he had perished on his jour-ney to Zelloque. For Slab to have developed such asudden interest in Deana Ri, I knew he must have spo-ken to the dead prince�s spirit. Being dead himselfgave him a certain advantage in that area.

But why would he want to meet with Deana Ri? Whythis whole charade of being in love? For now I knew itmust be a charade. Had Slab gone to such lengthsmerely to annoy me-always a possibility-or did hehave more devious motives? Or could he really havefallen in love with Deana Ri based on the deadprince�s description of her?

At that moment I realized I made a singular mistake.Slab never actually said he was in love. I assumed itfrom the way he was acting. And once I made thatassumption, he never bothered to deny it. When wouldI learn never to trust my former employer? He could bea master of deception and subterfuge when he chose.

He probably had a message for Deana Ri from herbetrothed, and he undoubtedly hoped to use that mes-sage in some way for his personal gain. Now, if I couldonly find a way to turn it to my advantage rather thanhis... and get that awful flowery smell out of my tavernin the bargain...

Later, in the small hours of the morning after I�dseen the last drunk rousted and the tavern�s doorssecurely barred for the night, I ventured forth to seemy good friend Captain Lastoq, who was in charge ofthe city guard. I always kept my bribes to him paid up,and he owed me at least one favor for certain magicalpotions of a highly illegal-and highly amorous�nature that I had procured for him at great personalexpense. If not that debt, then the pouch of gold royalsI carried and Lur�s hulking presence beside me guaran-teed that Lastoq would see me at once.

As Lur and I strolled through the darkened streets, Inoticed great changes happening throughout the city.These had to be preparations for Deana Ri�s wedding, Ithought. Despite the lateness of the hour, the city bus-tled with activity. Thrice we passed long lines of creak-ing wooden drays pulled by six-legged xylopods. Theirreptilian heads and shaggy, doglike bodies strained withsinewy strength, and every so often their broad nostrilsflared as they caught scent of the sides of salted meats,bushels of grain, and other foodstuffs they hauled. Stillmore impressive than that, the streets had been swept,the paving stones scrubbed, and decades of grimeseemingly stripped away from the buildings so thateverything gleamed in the starlight as though newlybuilt. The air itself smelled sweet-almost a miracle,considering it was a warm summer night in June. Truly,the Great Lord had spared no expense in preparing forhis sister�s wedding.

Captain Lastoq lived in one of the better sections ofthe city, but his twenty-room house seemed almost mod-est in comparison to the walled estates of the merchantprinces around him. A single downy-checked guard, hissilver breastplate and helmet gleaming with a mirrorlikepolish, stood late duty at Lastoq�s front gate. As I ap-proached, the young man snapped to attention, throw-ing out his chest and smacking the butt of hissilver-tipped spear on the pavement in challenge.

�Who goes there?� he demanded.I heard Lur grunt and sensed him reaching for his

mace, but I calmed him with a gesture.�I have come on urgent business to see your cap-

tain,� I said. I pressed a gold half royal coin into theyoung man�s hand. It was undoubtedly more than heexpected or even required, but I felt the need forhaste, which an extravagant bribe would certainly elicit.

�Your name?� he asked more cordially.�Ulander Rasym. It is a matter of utmost importance.��Wait here, sir.�He slipped through the gate. I shifted uneasily from

foot to foot, studying a fourth line of drays now pass-ing, then watching Lur finger the handle of his maceas though he longed to use it, then gazing up at thestars in the nighttime sky.

At last the young guard returned. �Captain Lastoqsays for you to come back after the noon hour. He hasjust retired from a long day�s honest labor and will seenobody.�

�Did you tell him my name?� I demanded.�Yes.��Tell him,� I said in a soft, dangerous voice, �that I

bear news of the gravest import, if he doesn�t see menow, I will go over his head to one of the Great Lord�sministers, and he�ll probably be executed as a result.�

�He told me you would say something to that effect,and that if I let you in I would be patrolling the docksto the last minute of the last hour of the last day of myservice. You may not pass.�

�Did he also warn you about Lur?��What�s a lur?�I turned to my bodyguard. �Show him.�The mace rose and fell with astonishing speed. The

DRAGON 49

guard crumpled, a new dent in his shiny silver helm. Ibent to make certain he was merely unconscious�luckily, he was-then pushed the gate open andentered the courtyard. Lur stooped, then followed,dragging the young man along by his heel. Once wewere inside, I shut the gate with a soft clang, thenrecovered my coin from his pouch. There was no sensein rewarding stupidity and incompetence, after all.

By the light of the lone torch that burned by the frontdoor, I noted that Captain Lastoq had redone the gardensince I had last visited. Pale, night-blooming flowerssweetened the air, their scent quite delicious compared tothe cloying reek in my tavern. Sniffing happily, I strolledup the pebble walkway toward the front door.

�Attacking a city guardsman,� said a soft voice fromthe shadows to my left, �is still a crime, even in thesedegenerate days in this degenerate city.�

�So is the possession of certain magical love potions,�I said. �Besides, that pup slipped on a paving stone andhit his head. We were merely helping him inside.�

�Of course you were.� Tayn Lastoq stepped from theshadows. He wore a loose black robe rather than hisuniform and carried no weapons that I could see. �Youhave done me a favor, actually,� he said. �Young Barsilthere is from a wealthy family with close ties to theGreat Lord. He parents will doubtlessly buy many pro-motions for him over the next few years, and I expecthe will rapidly become one of my most influential offi-cers. Despite that, he shows promise. I needed to knowhow unquestioning his loyalty to me would be, and hepassed the test admirably. He could easily have takenyou to see one of the Great Lord�s advisors.�

�He did seem promising,� I allowed. �I am pleasedto have rendered you yet another service.�

Laughing, he turned and entered the housethrough a side door, and I followed. Lur, still draggingyoung Barsil, brought up the rear. We went straight toCaptain Lastoq�s study, where a tray of sweetmeats andgoblets of fruit nectar had already been set out for us.We sat and sampled them.

�Now,� he said, after the required few minutes ofpolite conversation, �what is it that brings you out ofyour tavern to see me at such an hour, Ulander?�

�Bad news, I�m afraid.� I told him of all Slab haddone, then gave voice to my suspicion that PrinceDestabo had died in passage to Zelloque.

Lastoq sipped his nectar thoughtfully for a second.�You have no actual proof,� he said slowly. �Nothingyou have told me would convince the Great Lord�scounselors to permit Deana Ri to visit your tavern-letalone halt preparations for the wedding. But if wecould get proof of some kind, surely it would be wortha lot for both of us.�

�True,� I admitted. �I believe Slab can be tricked intogiving us the proof we need.�

�How is this possible?��From years of experience, I have come to believe

that Slab is somehow bound to my tavern. He sees allthat happens within, yet remains blissfully ignorant ofall that happens without. In cases such as this one,when he has given me explicit instructions, he must

50 OCTOBER 1995

rely on me to do as told-and I have always followedsuch instructions in the past. He will believe me if I tellhim Deana Ri is coming to my tavern to see him.�

�But she must come in disguise,� he said, catchingon. �No one must know she has visited a place such asSlab�s�

�Veils and concealing robes will do the trick,� I said.�And I will have the tavern surrounded by half a

hundred men,� he said. �Security is as important assecrecy.�

I gestured grandly. �It must appear that she is therewith all due precautions. Make it a hundred men!�

�But who will play the part of Deana Ri?� he won-dered.

At that moment young Barsil groaned and stirred.Captain Lastoq and I glanced at him and then at eachother. Then we both smiled.

It took another hour to finalize our plans, then weshook hands in agreement. Dawn had just begun tocolor the east with pale fingers of pink and yellowwhen I made it home. Of course, I could not afford agrand estate like Captain Lastoq, who collected bribesfrom half the merchants in Zelloque and extorted pro-tection money from the rest. I lived in a modestthree-story house near the city�s west gate, with onlytwo servants and Lur to keep things in order.

I knew it would take many hours for someone toarrange even a clandestine visit from Deana Ri, and Iintended to spend those hours sleeping, as did CaptainLastoq. I normally opened my tavern�s doors aroundthree o�clock in the afternoon, but today we wouldopen late. Lastoq and I had agreed upon a twilight visit,and only after we had wrung whatever news we couldfrom Slab would the tavern be opened as usual to cus-tomers. I went at once to my bedroom and shutteredthe windows; already the first sounds of traffic hadbegun to rise from the street. Far off, a crier proclaimedthe morning�s news, but I could not make out thewords. No doubt it had something to do with Deana Ri�swedding celebration, I thought.

Exhaustion claimed me. As soon as I had changedinto my night clothes, I climbed into my largecanopied bed, snuggled into the down-filled mattress,and slept a deep and dreamless sleep.

Marina, my elderly housekeeper, awakened me atone o�clock in the afternoon by throwing open theshutters, as usual. Mumbling and groaning, I sat upand squinted at her. She wore her ash colored hair ina tight bun, in the style of Pavonian matriarchs, andbustled about the room with efficient speed. She laidout my clothes, poured fresh water into a basin by thewindow, and then returned to the kitchens to preparemy breakfast, all without a word.

I rose, splashed lime-scented water on my face fromthe basin, and studied my reflection in a looking glass.Slab had aged me, I thought. Dark circles lined my eyes;new wrinkles had appeared around my eyes and mouth.If I didn�t get rid of him, I knew I�d be an old man longbefore my time.

Quickly I dressed and descended to the dining

room. Marina served a light meal of toasted oat cakesin honey, and I ate in silence, wondering if I had donethe right thing. Slab could be vengeful. If anythingwent wrong and he discovered our plot, I might wellcome to regret it. But what else could I do?

No, I had made the right decision, of that I wassure. I would have to rely on my own wits and skills tomake sure everything turned out as anticipated.

Finishing my oat cakes, I dipped my fingers in arinsing bowl, wiped them clean on a soft white cloth,felt for my pouch to make sure I hadn�t forgotten it,and bellowed, �Lur!� It was time to get going. All elsewould depend on Captain Lastoq, I knew.

Lur ducked through the doorway into the diningroom. �Master?� he said in his low, rumbly voice. Healready held his mace.

�It�s time,� I told him.

The walk to my tavern took a little more than fifteenminutes, primarily because I chose the longer routethrough Storyteller�s Square. Here preparations forDeana Ri�s wedding continued at a great pace. Wepassed piles of lumber intended for platforms and foodbooths, groups of jugglers and tumblers practicingtheir arts, and more lines of xylopod drays heading forthe Great Lord�s warehouses. Old women were busyscrubbing down the flagstones; younger boys and girlspainted fresh coats of whitewash on walls facing thesquare. The whole city had taken on a festive gleam.

Little had changed in the dockside section ofZelloque, however. The drab stone and brick buildings,the ships bobbing slowly at the piers, the fishy reekhanging over it all. Yes, I thought, you�d never knowpreparations for the wedding of a lifetime had begun afew blocks away, judging from this section of the city.

My tavern sat one block in from the docks, onSerpent�s Row. Several Coranian smugglers I recog-nized as loyal patrons lounged on the wooden benchby my door; they struggled to their feet and threw backtheir gray hoods as I approached.

�We�re closed this afternoon,� I called.�Preparations for the wedding.�

They groaned. �Just a few drinks, Ulander,� OldSherton called, squinting at me with his one good eye.�Fer ol� times.�

�Not today. Try Slaughter�s.� I nodded across thestreet at my competitor, who had already opened.

Grumbling, they meandered away. I didn�t blamethem. When you find a tavern like Slab�s, it�s hard tosettle for second best. Sarri Slaughter watered hisdrinks too much, or so I�d heard, and he employedsome of the ugliest barmaids this side of Pavonia.

I sat on the bench they had vacated. Lur stoodbeside me, one hand resting on the handle of hismace. In silence, we waited.

Several times I heard odd thumps from within thetavern, and once came the sound of a wine bottle shat-tering on the floor. I winced, hoping it was just thegiant flesh-eating rats at play, But I had the strangestfeeling Slab and his ghostly friends were hard at workin preparation for Deana Ri�s visit.

Finally, from up the street I heard the sounds ofmarching boots, and seconds later a squad of cityguardsmen, three abreast, turned the corner. CaptainLastoq, looking splendid in his gold and red dress uni-form with a plentitude of medals pinned on his chest,rode at their head on a magnificent black stallion.

Lastoq stopped in front of me and dismounted, giv-ing the horse�s reins to one of his men. Then heclapped his hands, and his guards broke ranks and sur-rounded my tavern. They drew their short, slightlycurved swords and assumed a watchful stance, facingoutward.

Sarri Slaughter wandered from his tavern to lookeverything over. He smiled, showing cracked yellowteeth, then scratched at the fleas nesting in his long,scraggly red hair.

�Trouble, Ulander?� he called. He probably thoughtthe Great Lord had sent Captain Lastoq to arrest me.

�A few rats in the cellar,� I called back. �The cityguard is going to exterminate them for me.�

�Oh,� he said, looking disappointed. Then heducked back inside his own establishment.

Except for the guards, the street had become com-pletely deserted. The Great Lord�s guardsmen oftenhad that effect when they arrived in large numbers.

Lastoq said, �Shall we wait inside?��Everything�s ready?� I asked him.�Yes. Her ladyship will be here any time now.��Good.� I turned and rapped twice on the door. �It�s

Ulander Rasym,� I called. �Open up.�I heard the patter of bare feet as the boy I kept to

watch the place at night hurried to obey. He shiftedthe heavy bar out of position, then I heard it thud tothe floor. I pushed the door open.

Young Kel�he was about nine or ten years old, witha tangle of unruly blond hair and a mischievous grin�tried to dart past me. I grabbed his tunic and hauledhim back. He started to kick, so I passed him to Lur,who held him upside down by the ankle in front of me.

�What�s wrong in there?� I demanded. �Why wereyou trying to run away?�

�G-ghosts!� he said. �Everywhere! Hundreds of �em!�I peered in. �I don�t see anything unusual.��They�ve went away,� he said a little apologetically.�If they went away, they can�t hurt you.�He thought that over for a second. �Maybe.��Let him go,� I said to Lur, who immediately

released him. Kel tumbled head over heels andbobbed to his feet with catlike grace. �Kel,� I told him,�go home and see your poor widowed mother. Be backby nightfall. We�ll take care of the ghosts.�

�Thank you, Ulander!� he said and dashed away upthe street.

Shaking my head, I turned to Lastoq. �After you.�He gave a nervous laugh, glanced at his men, then

ducked through the doorway. I followed.The place had changed. All the furniture had been

moved around to clear a straight path to my privatebooth. At least the ghosts had done some good, Ithought; the floor had been swept and the tablesscrubbed. Although the scent of wildflowers lingered

DRAGON 51

in the air, it had become a subtle, almost appealingsmell. Everything seemed altogether too perfect, Idecided.

�Slab?� I asked.I heard nothing, not a whisper, not a creak from the

floorboards, not a rustle from the rats in the cellar.The bar seemed completely deserted. I hesitated, mystomach feeling jumpy and nervous. More than ever, itfelt like a trap.

Lastoq called to four of his men. They ran inside,swords drawn, and saluted smartly.

�Check the wine cellar,� he told them.�There�s a lantern by the door,� I called. �Watch out

for the rats!�They gave me puzzled glances but kept their swords

out. One of them lit the lantern, and then theyproceeded down the steps with exaggerated caution.

Shaking my head, I led Lastoq to the bar and pulleda bottle of Coranian brandy from my private store. Ipoured us both large drinks.

Then, as if from a great distance, I heard Slab�svoice call, �Ulander.�

I glanced at Lastoq, who had abruptly paled. Hehad heard it, too. Quickly he downed his drink.

With a sigh, I went into my private booth andpulled the curtain. Instantly Slab was there. I stared atthe magnificent gold-and-emerald robe he wore, theornately carved emerald rings on his fingers, thesparkling emerald pendant around his neck. He wasdressed like a prince... a Coranian prince, I thought.

�Well?� he demanded, leaning forward and puttinghis elbows on the table.

�She will be here,� I promised. �It cost me a for-tune-�

�What do I care of money now?��It keeps the roof fixed,� I pointed out, �and the

cellars stocked.��Bah. This is love, Ulander. When will she be here?��Twilight. A lady of her standing cannot parade

through the streets like a common barmaid. And espe-cially not in this section of the city. She is coming indisguise.�

�What of the guards?�I gave a dismissive wave. �The Great Lord�s coun-

cilors insisted. Slab... I had to tell them a lie to get herhere.�

�What lie?� he demanded, eyes narrowingsuspiciously.

�That the ghost of her mother had appeared to meand asked for her. It�s well known my tavern is haunt-ed; why shouldn�t Deana Ri�s mother come here, too?It was the only thing I could think of at the time. Andit worked.�

�Twilight...� he said softly. Then he smiled. And thenhe slowly faded from view.

Lastoq joined me in my private booth, and for thenext few hours we drank and waited together in silence.Several times we heard cries of pain from the wine cel-lar, followed by cursing and the clank of swords onstone. I could imagine his men fighting off hordes of

52 OCTOBER 1995

giant flesh-eating rats, but it could just as easily havebeen some of Slab�s ghostly friends playing tricks.

Eventually the four guardsmen clambered up thesteps and marched over to Lastoq. They had whatlooked like numerous bite marks on their hands andfaces, and blood smeared their uniforms.

�The rats,� announced the one on the left, �are alldead.�

�Excellent,� I said, rubbing my hands together. Theyhad saved me a lot of aggravation. �Then we will all besafe tonight.�

Lastoq nodded. �Help yourself to a few bottles frombehind the counter,� he said to his men. �When you�redone, return to barracks and have the company physi-cian dress your wounds. The wine will ease your painstonight.�

I gave him a mildly displeased look because it wasexpected of me, but said nothing. His men had rid meof my rat problem, and a few bottles of wine were asmall enough price to pay.

His men took their leave with happy grins, cheerfulsalutes, and six bottles of my finest Merindian wine. Itwas no wonder, I thought, that Captain Lastoqremained so popular among his troops.

The barmaids and other serving girls arrived asexpected. I set some of them to cleaning up the mess inthe wine cellar and dispatched others outside with coollime-scented water for Lastoq�s men. There followedcalls of thanks from outside.

At last, twilight began to fall, so I sent all my ser-vants outside to wait. In case anything unfortunatehappened, I didn�t want anything to happen to them.Good help is hard to find.

Right on schedule, I heard horses� hooves and therattle of carriage wheels drawing to a stop in front ofmy tavern.

�This is it,� Lastoq muttered unnecessarily, risingand hurrying to the door.

I followed. We got there in time to see young Barsilstep down from the carriage. He was dressed in anoblewoman�s rich concealing robes, with a veil of pur-ple silk hiding all but his eyes and his freshly-andquite neatly-plucked eyebrows. He hesitated for a sec-ond, looking at Lastoq and me, then stepped forwardwith slow, mincing steps.

Captain Lastoq bowed to him, and I bowed too.That�s what we would have done with the real DeanaRi, after all.

Barsil waved us back up with casual indifference. Hehad taken his role to heart, I could tell.

�This way, Great Lady,� Lastoq said, escorting Barsilinside. They headed toward my private booth.

�Your mother will be joining us shortly,� I said. �MayI offer you any refreshments? Wine, perhaps?�

Slowly Barsil shook his head. He was trying not tospeak, I realized. I decided not to ask him any moredirect questions. Slab might get suspicious if he discov-ered our so-called Deana Ri spoke with a male voice.

The room�s temperature dropped abruptly. Giantphantom rats appeared, scurrying over the walls, andthen Slab himself materialized before us... and beside

Slab stood another ghost, this one dressed in tatteredsilks, with strings of seaweed draped from his shoul-ders and a gaping would in his left cheek. I swallowed.This had to be Prince Destabo.

�I see you have not failed us, Ulander,� Slab said ina booming voice that shook the walls. He turned to theprince. �All is as I promised,� he said.

�Truly,� Destabo whispered, his voice a horrible gur-gle. He took a step toward young Barsil, raising onehand. The flesh had come off it, leaving bare bones,but I could see a huge diamond ring upon one whiteknuckle. �Come, my love...�

Barsil shrank back in fear. I didn�t blame him.�Slab!� I cried, �you can�t do this!��It�s worth it, Ulander,� he told me.�But the Great Lord-�Slab laughed. �He�s welcome to join us!�Lastoq drew his sword. �Begone, foul creature!� he

said to the thing that had been Prince Destabo. �Youhave no claim upon the living!�

Destabo raised his fleshless hand. �By this ring, shegave herself to me... and I will have her!�

�Then behold your betrothed!� I cried, snatchingaway young Barsil�s veil.

Barsil understood and quickly ripped away his con-cealing purple robes, letting them fall to the floor.Standing there in nothing but a white loincloth, with afierce, determined look on his face, he was unmistak-ably a man.

Prince Destabo howled in anger and frustration. Ithought he was going to strike Barsil, but instead hewhirled to face Slab.

�What�� Slab began. �But-� For the first time inmy life, I saw him speechless. For once, I had outsmart-ed him, I thought with some satisfaction. It felt good.

Destabo didn�t give Slab a chance to explain. �Liar!�he cried. �You betrayed me!�

Seizing Slab around the neck, Prince Destabo threwhim to the floor. The two began to roll around, scream-ing, cursing, trying to best each other. Unfortunatelythey were both already dead, so they couldn�t do any realharm, not even when Slab ripped off one of Destabo�sarms and began to bludgeon him with it. The momenthe let go, the arm reattached itself.

The phantom rats were all squealing and circlingthe battle.

�Help me!� I cried to Barsil and Lastoq.I ran to the windows and began throwing open the

shutters. The last dying rays of the sun streamed in,and where the light touched the ghosts, they grew paleand insubstantial as mist. The giant phantom rats, hiss-ing and gnashing their teeth, slunk away to the corners.

At last the two figures broke apart. I could barelysee them now. Destabo continued to glare at Slab.

�Be warned,� he said in his horrible, gurgling voice,�you have made an enemy this day. I will not rest untilI see you destroyed!�

�Make no threats you cannot fulfill,� Slab said.He gave a quick nod, and that seemed to be the sig-

nal the rats had been waiting for. Dozens of themswarmed onto Prince Destabo, fixing their ghostly

teeth and nails into him. He shrieked and tried toflee-but they dug in their feet and began to drag himaway, toward the wine cellar.

Lastoq, Barsil, and I stood well back, watching withmingled horror and revulsion. The rats bore PrinceDestabo into the darkness. I thought I heard himscream, then came a drawn-out cry of �No-o-o-o-o---�

I shuddered. The rats, I realized, must have beenunder Slab�s control all along. They must have carriedPrince Destabo to the underworld, from which noghost could ever return.

Slab turned and glared. �Ulander�you�ve cost me afortune!� he snarled. �He agreed to give me half thetreasure aboard his sunken ship!�

�But you�ve made a fortune for me,� I told him.�Captain Lastoq and I have successfully foiled a mur-der attempt against Deana Ri, for which the GreatLord will doubtless shower riches upon us, and we canalso report that Prince Destabo na Laolos of the nobleHouse of Kempon is dead, for which we can expectsimilar rewards.�

�A fortune indeed...� he mused.�My fortune,� I pointed out.�Half of a fortune,� Captain Lastoq said to both of us.�I am of a generous nature,� Slab said. �A third of a

fortune will suit me. Just throw it into the cellar whenit arrives, Ulander, and I�ll take care of the rest. Andyou can thank me for being such a forgiving fellow...�

He slowly faded from view.I looked at Lastoq. �Don�t expect any of his share to

come from my half,� the Captain of the Guard said. �Ihave my own expenses to take care of.�

�Such as...?� I prompted.�Young Barsil here... he needs to be rewarded, and

promotions are expensive. And then there�s the matterof the men who rid you of those rats. And all the othermen we borrowed for this little adventure. And thecarriage rental, and the robes that Barsil tore in hishaste to reveal himself...�

�I see,� I said, frowning. �Very well. Part of a fortuneis still better than nothing.�

�Just take care,� he whispered, leaning close so onlyI could hear him, �that Slab doesn�t end up with it all.�

I forced a laugh. �I have no intention of letting thathappen.�

He nodded, turned, and strode out the front door,calling to his men. In quick order he had them back information and marching off toward their barracks.

Sighing, I turned and looked over my tavern.�Well,� I said to my barmaids as they ventured backinside, �let�s get this place back to normal. It�s businessas usual tonight.�

I noticed one of the barmaids had a handkerchiefover her nose. That�s when I thought to sniff the air�really sniff it. The flowery smell was gone. But now,replacing it, was a stench like that of rotting meat... andit seemed to be coming from the wine cellar.

�Slab?� I said. �Slab?�Far off, I heard a ghostly chuckle. And I knew, sud-

denly, that it would cost the rest of that fortune to getrid of the phantom stench of rotting meat.

DRAGON 53

Undercutting the Conventions of Fantasy

�I write stuff that I think is cool.��I think everyone who stops changing is evil.��Vlad was my alter ego, who you didn�tnecessarily like, but had to respect.�

Steven Brust�s work ranges from thestrange and evocative The Sun, the Moon,and the Stars to the daring epic To Reignin Hell, and from his science fictionadventure Cowboy Feng�s Space Bar andGrille to the moody vampire novel Agyar.Among gamers, Brust is most famous forhis Vlad Taltos novels, including Jhereg,Yendi, Taltos, Teckla, Phoenix, Athyra, andthe upcoming Orca. (See DRAGON®Magazine issue #213 for Vlad�s AD&D®game statistics.) More recently, he haswritten about the history of Vlad�s worldin the novels The Phoenix Guard and FiveHundred Years After, written in homage ofAlexander Dumas� The Three Musketeersand Twenty Years After.

We met Steven Brust at the FourthStreet Fantasy Convention in Minneapolis,where we hoped he could start off byanswering a common rumor about hismost popular books.

Are the Vlad books based on yourgaming experiences?

Yeah, definitely. Adrian Charles Morgancreated a world called Piara, and a wholelot of what became Dragaera was simplylifted from that. Adrian did a really goodjob. A lot of what he did involved turningus loose in an undeveloped world and say-ing, �Here�s your piece of it. Go make it up.�

What sort of character did you play?

I was Vlad.

Were there Dragaerans and the rest inPiara?

No, it was different. It was a game, andgames don�t translate to fiction.

Why not?

Because games are built around plot, andfiction around characters.

Why do you like immortal characters,like the long-lived Dragaerans?

I hadn�t actually noticed. I�d noticed itabout Roger [Zelazny], but never aboutme. I remember somebody asked Rogerthat, and he said, �Well, because then theguys have hung around long enough to beinteresting.�

I thought that was kind of cool. For me,I�d never thought about it.

But I don�t know that I do that. Vlad cer-tainly isn�t immortal. He�s surrounded bylong-lived people, and even they�re notimmortal. And that�s just because it�s funto play with the psychology of someonewho�s going to do whatever he�s going todo in his life in a big hurry compared toeveryone around him.

I think the difference between beinglong-lived and being immortal is actuallyreally huge. You�re going to die at a cer-tain point. I mean, you know that. Butthen psychologically I don�t think there�sthat much difference unless you havesomething to compare it to.

As far as the Dragaerans are concerned,they are immortal.

Is that why you introduced Morgantidaggers, to give your near-immortalssomething to fear?

No, that wasn�tis playing off of

it. A lot of what I�m doingand undercutting fantasy

DRAGON 55

conventions. So what you�ve got isMoorcock obviously, with Stormbringer,and it goes further back than that, withNorse mythology you have the sword thatdrinks souls. It�s become kind of a clichéof fantasy. So I said, �Okay, if they�vebecome generic, we�ll make a genericterm for them.� It was a kind of playing[with the fantasy convention].

Take the line in Jhereg, in which Vladhas to cast a spell. He says, �I pulled out anenchanted dagger. It was a cheap, over-thecounter enchanted dagger.� It�s that samekind of taking the fantasy convention andundercutting it.

During a panel this afternoon, you saidyou�d like sometime to start a novel bypandering to the audience and thenswitching gears to tell an importantstory, when someone in the audiencesaid that�s exactly what you�ve alreadydone.

I hadn�t realized that I�d done that, but it�strue. It didn�t start as pandering. [Jhereg]started out as straight wish-fulfillment fan-tasy, and that�s okay. But it got old realfast, so it developed. It became moreintense. I was keeping myself interested,because I liked the character. I�ve beenfascinated with the character all along.

Some think that Vlad has more than alittle of Steven Brust in him.

How do I put this?Most people are either liked or respect-

ed by their peers. Not that many achieveboth. Most people get at least one. At acertain formative period of my life, I wasliked but not respected. Therefore, whatwas important to me, of course, was to berespected. Who cares about being liked?The one you want is always the one youdon�t have.

So Vlad was my alter ego, who you didn�tnecessarily like, but had to respect. Heinspired respect. He inspired fear. He wastough. He was all of the things I�m not.

That�s a good way to start, but you can�tjust leave a character there or he�s goingto get boring fast.

Do you think Vlad started out as anevil character?

I think he would have been evil if he hadn�tchanged. In a certain sense I think he�s stillevil if he doesn�t change, because I thinkeveryone who stops changing is evil.

You have to keep growing. Stasis is bad.Degeneration is bad. Only progress isgood.

What�s important is your ability to dosomething, to make something that makesthe world better.

Vlad began to change at the first FourthStreet convention, nine years ago. I put theconvention together in order to answer myown questions about writing. So I got all

56 OCTOBER 1995

these people together to get my questionsanswered. Among the things I thoughtabout coming out of that convention waswhat I was doing with that character. I hada character who was a hit man.

I had a friend who was killed by a hitmanlong before I wrote Jhereg, But I�d neverreally connected it until that time. I said,�Whoa, time to take a look at what you�redoing, Bucko.� And that was when Vladstarted to change. He would have changedanyway, though how he would havechanged I can�t say. He would have eitherchanged or stopped. I couldn�t have writtenhim past Yendi if he hadn�t changed.

In a lot of ways, I never should havewritten Yendi. There�s no growth in it. It�sa repetition of Jhereg. It�s got a slightly dif-ferent plot and hints of interesting things,but it doesn�t go anywhere, like Jheregdid. I think it�s my weakest book.

What�s your strongest?

The new one, Orca.I�m very pleased with Phoenix. There

are a lot of things about that I like. I�mreally happy with Taltos in a lot of ways,because structurally it did some coolthings and got away with them.

Orca is the book I wanted Yendi to be.It�s a really plot-driven book with a neatstory and some interesting characterdevelopment and some revelations. It�sjust a straight-up, kick-your-heels-back,good-time yarn. I don�t mind those. I likethose. I approve of doing them. And I wastrying to with Yendi, and I failed. Becausethere just wasn�t enough to it.

What of the fans who love Yendi?

I�m glad [they like it]. I know what I had inmind, what I wanted to do. They onlyknow what I did. The goal of getting bet-ter, the reason you keep working on yourcraft is so that when you�re having an offday and you�re not turning out your bestwork and things aren�t coming together,you�re still good enough to pull it off. Ifthey like it, it means that when I wasn�tdoing my best work, it was still goodenough to please people. That�s excellent.That�s what I want.

You do most of your experimentingoutside of the Taltos books.

Except for Taltos. Taltos, and Yendi in acertain way. Yendi was an experiment. Iwas trying to learn how to draw charac-ters quickly. That�s one of the reasonsthere are too many characters in it. I wastrying to train myself to be able to justquickly and precisely sketch different peo-ple and make them distinctive and memo-rable. I didn�t completely succeed in thatbook, but I learned a lot.

If I have a new character, he�s going tosay something. What he says tells me whohe is, and I won�t know until that point.

I'm very heavily influenced by dialogue. Tome, that�s what drives a book.

Are you more influenced by dialoguein the Phoenix Guard books than inthe Vlad series?

No. Because there, and in the Vlad books,too, the narration is part of the dialogue.So maybe the answer is yes. Voice isimportant both in the Vlad books and thePhoenix Guard books, the KhaavrenRomances. That�s maybe a question ofdefinition. If you include voice as a part ofdialogue, then yes.

Isn�t there a big difference betweenVlad as a narrator, since he�s also theprotagonist, and Parfi of Roundwood,who doesn�t actually appear in thestory he narrates?

But Parfi is still a major character in thebooks. That�s whose eyes you�re seeing itthrough. That�s who�s interpretationyou�re getting. He�s the one lying to youabout all the history.

Vlad and Khaavren are both distinctivecharacters. How are they different?

To me they are more different than simi-lar. Khaavren is nicer.

Yet he regularly kills people for whatwe�d consider trivial reasons.

Hmm. Okay.Khaavren does not go out looking for

people to kill, if you know what I mean.He isn�t cold about it. Vlad is cold about it.

Khaavren�s a young, brash kid, at least inthe first book. He�s very much d�Artagnan.Consciously. Deliberately. With malice offorethought-that�s who he is. Through thestrainer of my imagination.

In fact, he came from friends who�d sitaround with me and we�d talk aboutmutual acquaintances. Among ourselves,we�d assign people to Dragaeran housesbased on their personalities. At one pointsomeone said, �So-and-so is a lyorn.� Atthis point, I knew very well what thelyorns were, but none of the others did,because I�d deliberately misrepresentedthem so I could come back later andsmack �em.

The Vlad books are from Vlad�s ideal,and Vlad has a very distorted view. He�ssaid things in these books which are justdead wrong because he just doesn�t knowany better. Other things he�s said arewrong because he�s seen them from hisviewpoint, and that�s skewed.

So when I explained the houses to myfriends, I said, �The perfect example of alyorn is Athos, from The ThreeMusketeers. Come to think of it, Porthos isa Dzur. Aramis is the classic Yendi. Andd�Artagnan is a Tiassa.� And then Ithought, �Hey, that�s kinda cool.�

I�ve always adored Dumas�s style andhave been sorry that people don�t writethat way anymore. So I thought, �I canwrite that way. I can do my own ThreeMusketeers.� I didn�t expect it [ThePhoenix Guard] to sell. That was a bookwritten to entertain myself.

You once said you liked to write aboutcloaks and swords because they arecool. Is that why you write fantasyadventures?

What I do is write stuff that I think is cool,which is what every good writer does. Ahack will write what he thinks will sell. Agood writer will write stuff that he thinksis cool, to the best of his ability. There area lot of things I think are cool. And cloaksand swords-rapiers in particular-aredefinitely on the list. That doesn�t meanevery book has them, but that�s what Igravitate toward.

Also, really clever word play is cool. Anelegantly turned metaphor is cool. A neatform, a shape to the novel, where thingswrap in on themselves in just the rightway, is cool. It�s a lot of different things.

Other than your two series, your novelsare all very different from each other.What are your favorites? And are thereany you consider not to be successes?

I mentioned Yendi. The other failure isCowboy Feng. My favorite book is probablyPhoenix Guard or Five Hundred Years After,probably the latter. My best book is Agyar. Iwas attempting something difficult andpulled it off to my satisfaction. It came outthe way I wanted it to, and it wasn�t easy.

But you made it look easy.

That was part of the goal. If it looksforced, it fails. That was one of the prob-lems with Cowboy Feng. It doesn�t lookeasy enough. There are a lot of problemswith Cowboy Feng.

If you�re going to shoot for a surpriseending, there are two things you want toaccomplish. One, you don�t want peopleto have seen it all along. Two, you wantpeople to think, when it hits, �Oh yeah, hedid plant the clues for that.� The reaction Igot was that people saw it coming allalong and yet I hadn�t set it up right, itwasn�t justified. That was one problem.

The main problem is that I was trying toexplore some things that are important tome, some serious things, and simultane-ously tell a light, flip, and amusing taleand make it seamless. And I didn�t. Thosethings clashed. And the goal of the bookwas to make those things happen as partof the same movement.

It�s another one that a lot of people likeanyway, and I�m delighted. If I do some-thing that isn�t up to what I want it to beand it still pleases people, that�s all youcan ask for.

DRAGON 57

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ANDCON �95, Sept. 28 - Oct. 1 OHThis convention will be held at The Seagate

Convention Center in the Radison Hotel inToledo, Ohio. Guests include Scott Douglas,Frank Metzer, and Robin Wood. Events includerole-playing, board, card, and miniatures games.Other activities include an auction, computergaming, and interactive events. Registration:$24.95 Write to: ANDCON �95, P.O. Box 1740,Renton WA 98057 or e-mail: Andon@aol.com.

CON OF THE LIVING DEAD,Sept. 29 - Oct. 1 TN

This convention will be held at the BestWestern Airport Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, card, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include tournaments anddealers. Registration: $20 preregistered, $25 onsite. Write to: Chris Maddox, Memphis Games &Hobbies, 3939 Summer Ave., Memphis TN 38122.

NECRONOMICON �95,Sept. 29 - Oct. 1

This convention will be held at the NewtonHigh School of the Performing Arts in Sydney,Australia. Events include role-playing and cardgames. Write to: NECRONOMICON �95, 12Mason St., Parramatta NSW, Australia 2150.

SILVERCON 4, Sept. 29 - Oct. 1 NVThis convention will be held at the Best

Western Mardi Gras Inn, Las Vegas, Nev. Guestsinclude Bob Tucker. Events include role-play-ing, board, and miniatures games. Other activi-ties include an auction, dealers, films, and abanquet. Registration: $20 preregistered, $25 onsite. Write to: SILVERCON 4, c/o Aileen Forman,P.O. Box 95941, Las Vegas NV 89193.

KETTERING GAME CON XIII,Sept. 30- Oct. 1 OH

This convention will be held at the Charles I.Lathrem Senior Center in Kettering, Ohio.Events include role-playing, card, board, andminiatures games. Other activities include tour-naments and an auction. Registration: $2/day.Write to: Bob Von Gruenigen, 804 WillowdaleAve., Kettering OH 45429.

DIRE CONSEQUENCES III,Oct. 6-8 CT

This convention will be held at the Sheratonin Waterbury, Conn. Events include role-play-ing, board, card, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include RPGA® Network events andtournaments. Registration: $20. Write to: DC III,P.O. Box 251, Bristol CT 06011.

GAMIN� THE VALLEY �95,Oct. 6-8 PA

This convention will be held at the West SideMall in Edwardsville, Penn. Events includerole-playing, board, card, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include tournaments,comic book, SF, and sports card shows.Registration: $10. Write to: GAMIN� THE VAL-LEY, P.O. Box 2017, Wilkes-Barre PA 18702, ore-mail: jauftin@aaent.microserve.com.

HEXAGON �95, Oct. 6-8 NCThis convention will be held at the Holiday Inn

Market Square in High Point, N.C. Guests includeTim Olsen, Tony DiTerlizzi, and Zeb Cook. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, card, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include RPGA® Networkevents, and tournaments. Registration: $15 pre-registered, $20 on site. Write to: HEXACON, PO.Box 4 EUC UNCG, Greensboro NC 27412.

QUAD CON �95, Oct. 6-8 IAThis convention will be held at the Palmer

Alumni Auditorium in Davenport, Iowa. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, card, and minia-tures games. Other activities include tourna-ments, dealers, a miniatures painting contest,and an auction. Registration: $15 preregistered,$20 on site. Write to: QUAD CON 95, The GameEmporium, 3213 23rd Ave., Moline IL 61265.

THE SON OF UNICON, Oct. 6-8 AKThis convention will be held at the UAA

Srudent Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Eventsinclude role-playing, card, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include tournaments,anime, and dealers. Write to: SON OF UNICON,832 W. 75th St. #4, Anchorage AK 99518.

BAY GAMES �95, Oct. 13-15 MDThis convention will be held at the Best

Western Maryland Inn in Laurel, Maryland.Guests include Bryon Wackwitz and John Staton.Events include role-playing, board, card, andminiatures games. Other activities include tour-naments. Registration: $17 preregistered, $25 onsite. Write to: BAY GAMES �95, P.O. 883, CollegePark MD 20741, or e-mail: avatar@wam.umd.edu.

CONTACT 13, Oct. 13-15 INThis convention will be held at the Holiday Inn

Airport in Evansville, Ind. Special guests includeDr. Bill Breuer and Naomi Fisher. Events includerole-playing, board, card, and miniatures games.Other activities include dealers, an auction pan-els, and a masquerade ball. Registration: $17preregistered, $22 on site. Write to: CONTACT13, P.O. Box 3894, Evansville IN 47737.

DRAGON 59

INTERCON �95, Oct. 13-15This convention will be held at the Kamloops

Exhibition Complex in Kamloops, BritishColumbia, Canada. Events include role-playing,board, card, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include tournaments, movies, and amasquerade ball. Write to: INTERCON �95, 1021McGill Road, Kamloops, BC, Canada, V2C 6H4.

NECRONOMICON �95,Oct. 13-15 FL

This convention will be held at the WestshoreHotel in Tampa, Florida. Events include role-playing, board, card, and miniatures games.Other activities include dealers, a masquerade,and an art show. Registration: $18 preregis-tered, $25 on site. Write to: NECRONOMICON�95, P.O. Box 2076, Riverview FL 33569, or e-mail: (CompuServe) 74273,1607.

TOTALLY TUBULAR CON III,Oct. 13-15 CA

This convention will be held at the Days Inn inFullerton, Calif. Events include role-playing,board, card, and miniatures games. Other activi-ties include RPGA® Network events. Registration:$25 preregistered, $30 on site. Write to: TOTALLYTUBULAR, P.O. Box 18791, Anaheim CA 92871, ore-mail: PartDragon@aol.com.

THE WESTERN CHALLENGE �95,Oct. 13-15

This convention will be held at the Universityof Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon, Canada.Events include role-playing, board, card, andminiatures games. Other activities include deal-ers and an auction. Registration: $3 per event.Write to: WESTERN CHALLENGE, Apt 318-1311,Temperance Street, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,Canada, S7N 0P5.

ADVENTURE GAMEFEST �95,Oct. 20-22 OR

This convention will be held at the OregonConvention Center in Portland, Ore. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, card, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include an auction and aminiatures painting contest. Registration:$18/weekend; $10/day. Write to: Adventure GamesNorthwest, LLC, 6517 NE Alberta, Portland OR97218, or e-mail: DCBS85D@prodigy.com.

HORRORCON IV Oct. 20-22 TXThis convention will be held at the Seven

Oaks Resort in San Antonio, Tex. Events includerole-playing, card, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include RPGA Networkevents, demos, tournaments, and dealers. Writeto: HORRORCON IV, 8722 Cinnamon Creek#1123, San Antonio TX 78240.

LEX I CON XIV, Oct. 27-28 KYThis convention will be held at the University

of Kentucky�s Student Center in Lexington, Ken.Events include role-playing, card, board, andminiatures games. Other activities include anime,a movie marathon, tournaments, and a costumecontest. Write to: Miskatonic Student Union, 1328Nancy Hanks Rd. #5, Lexington KY 40504.

60 OCTOBER 1995

NORMAN CONQUEST VII,Oct. 27-29 OK

This convention will be held in Dale Hall onthe University of Oklahoma campus in Norman,Okla. Guests include Dennis McDonald, PeterBradley, John Russell, Mitch Bentley, and Ricand Angela Lowry. Events include role-playing,card, board, and miniatures games. Other activi-ties include RPGA® Network events and tourna-ments. Write to: NORMAN CONQUEST VII, 215-AOMU Box 304, 900 Asp Ave., Norman OK 73109.

SIBCON 95, Oct. 28 PAThis convention will be held at the Days Inn

Conference Center in Butler, Penn. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, card, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include RPGA® Networkevents, dealers, and demos. Registration: $5 pre-registered, $7 on site. Write to: Circle of Swords,P.O. Box 2126, Butler PA 16003.

IMPENDING DOOM, Nov. 3-5This convention will be held at the Queen

Elizabeth Community Centre in St. Catherine�s,Ontario, Canada. Events include role-playing,card, board, and miniatures games. Activitiesinclude RPGA® Network events. Registration:$8/day or $15/weekend (Canadian $1. Write to:Impending Doom, 222 The Esplande, Suite 431,Toronto, Ontario M5A 4M8, Canada.

RUDICON 11, Nov. 3-5 NYThis convention will be held on the campus

of the Rochester Institute of Technology inRochester, N.Y. Guests include Mike Symanskiand Dave Frank. Events include role-playing,card, board, and miniatures games. Write to:RUDICON 11, c/o Student Government, RIT, 1Lomb Memorial Dr., Rochester NY 14623, or e-mail: rudicon@rit.edu.

SHAUNCON XI, Nov. 3-5 MOThis convention will be held at the Park Place

Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. Events includerole-playing, card, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include an art show,dealers, tournaments, and the 1995 MidwestRegion Feature Finals. Write to: SHAUNCON XI,P.O. Box 7457, Kansas City MO 64114, or e-mail:ShaunCon@aol.com.

GOLD CON, Nov. 4 NJThis convention will be held at the American

Legion Hall in Clark, N.J. Events include role-playing, card, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include tournaments andRPGA® Network events. Registration: $8 prereg-istered, $10 on site. Write to: A.U. Games, P.O.Box 493, Budd Lake NJ 07828.

SALVO �95, Nov. 5This convention will be held at the

Highwoods Recreation and Sports Centre inClochester, Essex, England. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Write to:Phil Kitching, 88, Braiswick, Colchester, EssexCO4 5AY England.

SCI-CON 17, Nov. 10-12 VAThis convention will be held at the Sheraton

Oceanfront Inn in Virginia Beach, Va. Guests

include Mark Poole and Larry Bond. Eventsinclude role-playing, card, board, and minia-tures games. Write to: HaRoSFA, Box 9434,Hampton VA 23670, or e-mail:schaffer@me.udel; michaela@pinn.net or onthe Web: http://www.pinn.net/~michaela/.

PENTACON XI, Nov. 10-12 INThis convention will be held at the Grand

Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. Events includerole-playing, card, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include dealers, a flea market,and computer games. Write to: Steve & LindaSmith, 836 Himes St., Huntington, IN 46750.

CON ON THE RIVER II,Nov. 11-12 MN

This convention will be held in the KryzskoCommons on the Winona State University cam-pus in Winona, Minn. Events include role-playing,card, board, and miniatures games. Registration:$10/weekend, $15 on site. Write to: CON ON THERIVER, PO. Box 751, Winona MN 55987.

DEFCON X, Nov. 17-19 NJThis convention will be held at the Ramada

Inn in Hazlet, N.J. Events include role-playing,card, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include an auction. Registration: $15preregistered, $20 on site. Write to: DEFCON, 16Grove Street, Somerset NJ 08873.

ELLIS CON VII, Nov. 18 CTThis convention will be held in the cafeteria

of H.H. Ellis Tech School in Danielson, Conn.Events include role-playing, card, board, andminiatures games. Other activities include deal-ers. Registration: $5 on site. Write to: ELLISCON, 613 Upper Maple St., Danielson CT 06239.

ADVENTURE FEST 95.2,Nov. 19 NY

This convention will be held at the PolishFalcons Hall in Depew, N.Y. Events include role-playing, card, board, and miniatures games.Registration: $3 plus event fees. Write to: PhilSimonds, 387 Niagara St., North Tonawanda NY14120.

SOUTH HANTS GAME CON �95,Nov. 19

This convention will be held at the BucklandCommunity Centre in Portsmouth, England.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include tourna-ments, a painting contest, and a raffle. Write to:Lost Childhoods, 17 Kingscote Road, Cowplain,Waterlooville PO8 SQS, England.

EVENT HORIZON �95,Dec. 29-31 MD

This convention will be held at the ColumbiaInn Hotel in Columbia, Maryland. Guestsinclude Hal Clement and Sandy Peterson.Events include role-playing, card, board, andminiatures games. Other activities include anauction, a blood drive, and a masquerade ball.Registration: $25 preregistered. Write to:EVENT HORIZON �95, Attn. Registration, P.O.Box 1438, Sterling VA 20164.

Few elements of the AD&D® game aremore difficult to referee than illusions,particularly the �pure� illusions typified bythe phantasmal force spell. Unlike otherspells, the effectiveness of an illusion ishighly subjective, and rarely, if ever, do therules quantify the potency of a spell insimple game terms.

A common offensive spell like cone ofcold inflicts a set number of dice of dam-age, while spells such as hold personaffect a clearly stated number of crea-tures. In each case, the effects of the spellcan be negated wholly or in part with asaving throw which has been adjustedaccording to a set of fairly standardmodifiers.

Illusions, on the other hand, present astark contrast to such generally acceptedconventions because their effectivenessdepends on the eye of the beholder (or DM,if you will). Not only are the actual illusionsthemselves limited only by the imaginationof the caster, illusions can appear in an infi-nite variety of situations. The circumstancessurrounding the use of an illusion spell areoften as important to the success of thecasting as the form of the illusion itself.

The AD&D game defines the power ofillusions; unfortunately, with such a vastarray of options and potential situations, itis not surprising that the Player�sHandbook (PHB) and the DUNGEON MASTER®Guide (DMG) offer only the most basic sug-gestions for handling illusion magic. Theuncertainty and �gray areas� that remaintoo often result in player/DM bickering.On more than one occasion, I replacedthe illusory monsters or spells in a pub-lished game module with the real thingrather than risk having to deal with themore arbitrary aspects of illusion magic.But a clear need still exists for a less sub-jective method of deciding the gameeffects of illusions in their various forms.This is especially true with regard to adju-dication of spells such as phantasmalforce, audible glamer, improved phantas-mal force, spectraI force, advanced illu-sion, permanent illusion, and programmedillusion, all of which create free-standingillusions and employ disbelief as a meansto a saving throw.

Though this article is directed primarilytoward resolving the effects of these spells,the methodology is entirely consistentwith any of the spells belonging to the illu-sion/phantasm school of magic.

A Question of Disbelief

Possibly the greatest complicating factorwhere illusions are involved is the natureof the saving throw. Illusion spells such asphantasmal force do not have the simpleyou-made-it-or-not save required by mostspell effects. The player must instead statean intent to disbelieve, an action that takesup an entire round. No other type of spellor magical attack requires such a sacrifice.A character surviving a lightning bolt spellcan still attack, flee, etc., regardless of the

DRAGON 63

success of the saving throw, while the poorPC confronting a suspected illusion muststand quietly and hope for the best.

Adding insult to injury, the rules statethat if the PC attempts to disbelieve a realspell or monster, the spell or attack auto-matically succeeds regardless of ArmorClass or saving throws. Even if the player isfairly certain that his PC is about to be�incinerated� by illusory dragon breath, hisbest bet is to treat the attack as if it werereal, which allows his character a chanceto reduce the damage by half with a suc-cessful save.

An attempt to disbelieve merely gainsthe PC a different saving throw (whichwould probably be more difficult to makein this example, given the probable bonus-es for magical armor or Dexterity). Thiscomes at the cost of forgoing any attack ordefensive action, and the PC will suffer fulldamage if the attack turns out to be real.That seems like a steep price just to avoidan attack that can only result in uncon-sciousness, at worst.

The other major problem with disbeliefis that a fair DM has to give the players aclue as to when they should suspect anillusion is at play. Only a novice gamer willfail to recognize what has happened whenthe DM announces �the attacking ogremakes no noise.� Granted, such a state-ment suffers from an exaggerated lack ofsubtlety, but as soon as any DM begins tomake statements regarding an unusuallack of sound, odor, or heat, he has nobusiness being surprised by the suddenchorus of �I disbelieve� that is certain tofollow.

Consider, too, the difficulty in having todetermine whether an NPC shouldattempt to disbelieve an illusion cast by aPC. Since, in all likelihood, the DM isalready aware that the NPC is facing anillusion spell, how can the DM fairlydecide if the NPC knows enough to disbe-lieve the effect? Players will rightfully feelthey are at a disadvantage if every oppo-nent attempts to disbelieve their illusions.Conversely, the DM cannot allow his vil-lains to dumbly accept every absurd illu-sion thrown at them by the PCs. The DMis forced to make a tricky judgment callon a case-by-case basis. The prospect ofmaking judgment calls should certainlynot frighten any DM who is worth hisweight in dice, but isn�t there some way toprovide a slightly more objective frame-work for the DM?

Simply ignoring the rule that calls for adisbelieving character to forfeit anydefense versus an actual attack fails toimprove the situation; it would onlyencourage illusion-wary players constant-ly to disbelieve everything that theyencounter. Instead, let�s examine the fol-lowing argument: Illusions are, by AD&Ddefinition, spells (or spell effects). Thegame already provides a saving throw ver-sus spell. Therefore, illusions should besaved against like any other spell.

64 OCTOBER 1995

Eliminating the idiosyncratic andunworkable disbelief rule neatly solvesthese difficulties. The player no longer hasto announce an intent to avoid an attack,an intent that is assumed versus virtuallyevery other kind of attack. The DM doesn�thave to worry about how he will manageto alert his players to the odd silence of anencountered ogre without instantly tippingthem off to the presence of an illusion. Itlikewise eliminates any argument as towhether an NPC would attempt to disbe-lieve on his own or if DM bias was involvedin the decision to grant a saving throw.Unfortunately, there is a major disadvan-tage to ignoring categorically the disbeliefrequirement. The original basis foremploying disbelief before a save arosefrom the varying degrees by which the dif-ferent illusion spells could imitate reality.The least powerful illusions, audibleglamer and phantasmal force, produceonly audial or visual effects. The missingcomponents are gradually added as thespell level increases. The 2nd-level spellimproved phantasmal force combinesaudial and visual effects, while the3rd-level spell spectral force adds heat. Acomplete illusion possessing audial, visu-al, thermal, and olfactory components canbe produced only by the 5th-level spelladvanced illusion. If the same save vs. spellis employed for all illusions without usingthe disbelief rule, the 1st-level phantasmalforce becomes just as powerful as the 5th-level advanced illusion. This quite obvious-ly is not the intent of the rules; the save vs.spell needs modifiers applied based onthe completeness and relative power ofthe encountered illusion.

Doubt Is a Two-Edged Sword

Consider a creature or object that shouldbe making some noise but isn�t, or oddnoises emanating from an unexpected orunusual source. Although such a situationshould quickly arouse the suspicion ofmost humans or demihumans, there is noreason to assume that the character willautomatically associate these unusualevents with the presence of an illusion.

There are many equally plausible expla-nations, especially in the AD&D world. Isthat plate-armored warrior runningtoward your mage silent because he is anillusion, or has he had a silence 15� radiusspell cast upon him? Are those disembod-ied voices the result of an audible glamer,or is there actually an invisible or camou-flaged creature present? Given these pos-sibilities, an incomplete illusion shouldn�tautomatically fail, but it does make for aneasier save vs. spell.

The fact that most creatures tend torely heavily on one or two primary sensesadds a further complication. For instance,is an illusion of a silent red dragon moreor less believable than one that createsnoise but whose fiery breath weapon failsto produce a scorching blast of heat? How

important is odor when creating an illuso-ry otyugh? And what about creatures withparticularly good or poor senses of visionor smell? How do such abilities affecttheir chances to detect an illusion?

This system attempts to answer thesequestions by classifying the sensory com-ponents of an illusion, from a human per-spective at least, as primary (sound andvision), secondary (extreme odor or tem-perature), or minor (normal odor or tem-perature). These are then used in con-junction with an Intelligence check by thesubject. The effectiveness of the illusionthen becomes a matter of which compo-nents are missing, how easily thesedefects are detected, and how likely thesubject is to fully understand the signifi-cance of these sensory clues. Hopefully,such a system will be far less subjectiveand easier to implement than the old dis-belief rule.

An Intelligence check is used becauseIntelligence represents the creature�smental acuity and capacity for reason;both are important factors in the ability toassimilate meaningfully the sensory infor-mation provided by an encountered illu-sion. Characters with very highIntelligence scores are automaticallyimmune to certain illusions, so it does notseem inappropriate to allow characterswith lesser Intelligence scores a bonus totheir save vs. spell if they notice inconsis-tencies in the presentation of an illusion.This also means that unintelligent or justplain stupid creatures will be less likely toquestion the presence of an illusion andwill be easier to fool even if the illusion isincomplete in some way.

The Building Blocks of Illusion

It is no accident that vision and hearing arethe first senses affected in the hierarchy ofillusion spells. Sight and sound are usuallythe most convincing components of anyillusion and the lack of either componentshould be easy to detect. When encounter-ing an illusion that lacks one or more ofthese primary components, the targetshould be granted an Intelligence check.Success on this roll means that the targethas correctly observed the missing visualor audial cues and can therefore be grant-ed a +4 bonus to the save vs. spell.

This assumes that the illusion created isone that can be reasonably expected tohave sight or sound. An illusory wall isn�tgoing to be expected to make any noise,and an audible glamer can be cast in anarea that the victim cannot see clearly. Inthese cases, no Intelligence check or sav-ing throw bonus is applicable. Targets thatfail the Intelligence check either do notnotice the missing component or assumethat some other factor (such as magicalsilence or invisibility) is in play. An excep-tionally striking visual effect may evenoverwhelm observers to the extent thatthey swear they not only saw the illusory

ogre, but they also heard it crunchingthrough the leaves, even if it was actuallysilent.

Odor and heat are details that makeminor contributions to the overall effec-tiveness of an illusion. They becomeimportant only in situations where thedesired effect has a strong thermal orolfactory component. But even in thosecases, odor and heat are secondary tosound and vision in the attempt to con-vince the target that the illusion is real.In cases where olfactory or thermal com-ponents are important to the overall effect(for example, an illusory troglodyte orbonfire) but are missing, the subject canroll an Intelligence check at a -4 penalty(Intelligence -4. If the check is successful,the subject receives a +2 bonus to his sav-ing throw to see through the illusion. Thebonus is reduced and the Intelligencecheck made more difficult because thecomponents are secondary to the primaryvisual and audial cues, even in more dras-tic cases.

Note that even if the optional infravisionrule is used, infravision does not automat-ically detect the presence of an illusion.Infravision is simply a variant of ordinarysight and will be affected just as surely asnormal vision. A character or monstercannot test for the presence of an illusionsimply by looking at the suspect object inthe dark and checking for the absence ofheat (or cold).

Under normal circumstances, however,thermal or olfactory effects will not bevital to the success of the illusion. Indeed,it will take a sharp eye (or nose) and somequick thinking to be able to pick out thesesubtle inconsistencies. If the DM decidesthat the targeted creature has somemeans of detecting a lack of temperatureor odor (meaning that the illusion-casteris probably going to have to get prettyclose), it gains a +1 saving throw bonus ifit succeeds at an Int -8 check.

A good example of this is an illusorydungeon wall made by a phantasmal forcespell. Someone touching the illusory wallmay discover that it is room temperaturewhile the other walls in the dungeon arequite cool to the touch. If the characterpicks up on this clue (in other words, suc-ceeds at the Intelligence -8 check), hewould receive the +1 bonus to the saveneeded to see through the spell.

The Intelligence check should be madeas soon as the DM deems that the subjectcreature has interacted sufficiently withthe illusion to require a save vs. spell.Static effects such as illusory walls ordoors might be investigated for severalrounds or even longer before anyIntelligence checks or saving throws areneeded. However, an instantaneous effectlike an illusory fireball is going to requirean immediate ability check and save.

Note that the same d20 roll is used todetermine the success of the variousIntelligence checks, though there could be

up to three components (primary, sec-ondary, minor) missing from the illusion.Thus, a hero with an Intelligence of 15needs a roll of 15 or less on hisIntelligence check to detect the lack of aprimary component, a roll of 11(Intelligence -4) to detect the lack of a pri-mary and secondary component, and aroll of 7 (Intelligence -8) or better todetect the lack of all three types. (Thisassumes that the illusion lacks that manycomponents, of course.)

In other words, a character who is sointent on attacking an illusory ghast thathe fails to notice its odd silence (a fairlyobvious primary component) will notnotice that the ghast also lacks an odor (amore subtle secondary component).

These bonuses are cumulative, but acharacter can receive only one +4 bonusfor a missing primary component, one +2bonus for a missing secondary compo-nent, and one +1 bonus for a missingminor component, for a maximum savebonus of +7. Though this may seem like alot of bonuses, few illusions will be sopoorly conceived that they lack all threecomponents, and only characters with afairly high Intelligence score have a realis-tic chance of noting the minor inconsis-tencies. In any case, once the DM deter-mines how effectively the illusion hasfooled the target, he can attempt the savevs. spell.

Illusions vs. Monsters andAnimals

The modifiers and the relative importanceof sight, sound, odor, and temperaturehave thus far been given from the humanand demihuman perspective. TheMONSTROUS MANUAL� specifically describessome animals and monsters as havingexceptionally good or poor senses. TheDM should take these factors into accountby increasing or decreasing the impor-tance and ease of detection of the varioussensory phenomena.

For example, a rhinoceros possessespoor vision but has an excellent sense ofsmell; thus, odor should be consideredthe primary component, and visionbecomes the minor one. Since most ordi-nary animals have Intelligence scores of 5or less, it may seem too harsh to requirean Intelligence check even if theirimproved senses are taken into account.But remember, animals tend to rely oninstinct, not reason. A guard dog does notstop to think about why an illusory intrud-er doesn�t have any scent-it simply howlsor attacks as trained.

At the other end of the scale are crea-tures such as dragons which have averageor better Intelligence scores and enhancedsenses of sight, hearing, and smell. Suchcreatures are exceptions to the rule thatrequires a single Intelligence check for allof the missing components. They receive anunmodified Intelligence check for each

missing component, gaining a +4 to thesave for one successful check, +6 for twosuccesses, and +7 for three successfulchecks (assuming that many componentsare lacking). With their high Intelligencescores and relatively easy saving throws vs.spell, dragons will be quite difficult to foolwith all but the most powerful illusionmagic.

Similarly, if the DM feels that a particu-lar monster or animal possesses two ormore excellent senses, he should grantthe monster the appropriate number ofIntelligence checks and reward each suc-cess with the above saving throw modi-fiers. However, don�t adjust a monster�sIntelligence score to reflect its superiorsenses; stupid is as stupid does.

For example, the fighter Gronk is chas-ing a thieving half-elf wizard down analley when the tiring wizard creates theillusion of a wall with a spectral forcespell. The illusory wall lacks no primary,secondary, or minor components, andwalls have no distinctive odor (the onlycomponent not provided by the spell).Gronk must make an unmodified save vs.spell to detect the illusion.

Here�s another example: Tamara, apriestess with an Intelligence score of 18,is attacked by an illusory troglodyte creat-ed with a phantasmal force spell. She mustroll an 18 or less on her Intelligence checkto notice the missing primary component(sound) and a 14 or less (Int -4) to noticethe missing secondary component (smell).Tamara rolls a 12, thus succeeding at bothchecks. She gains a +6 bonus to her sav-ing throw vs. spell.

In a third example, the wizard Portnoycasts audible glamer, hoping to distract aguard dog (Intelligence 2) with the soundof a cat meowing in some nearby foliage.The missing visual component is unimpor-tant (since the dog cannot see the sourceof the sound anyway), and the lack of heatis likewise unimportant. The dog can beconsidered to have a superior sense ofsmell, however, allowing it the chance todetect a missing primary component: thescent of the alleged feline. In the unlikelyevent that the dog makes its Intelligencecheck, it gains a +4 to its saving throw vs.spell.

One last modifier can be added to thesaving throw. Illusions that inexplicablyspring from out of nowhere should givethe target a +1 bonus to its save with noIntelligence check being necessary.Though spellcasters in the AD&D gamecertainly have the ability to bring forthwalls of stone or fire or cause monsters toappear out of thin air, actually witnessingsuch an effect is enough to make mostviewers wary (hence the +1 modifier). Thisbonus is cumulative with the adjustmentsfor missing components, which means thatthe save vs. spell can have a maximumbonus of +8.

Note that this bonus does not apply toillusions that are in place before a charac-

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ter encounters them; the bonus relies onthe obviously magical, and therefore sus-pect, appearance of the illusion. A partythat turns a corner in a castle courtyardand encounters an illusory wall would notreceive a bonus to their save unless theysomehow witnessed the casting of thespell that created the wall. However, theDM may allow the +1 bonus if a detectmagic successfully reveals the magicalnature of an illusory object.

After the Saving Throw

PCs or monsters that successfully save vs.an illusion recognize it for what it is. Theycan see only a fuzzy, transparent outlineof whatever object the caster attempted todepict. The illusion may not hinder, dis-tract, or harm the subject unless the illu-sion is quasi-real (in other words, formedby shadow magic, shadow monsters, etc.).

A creature that fails its save is completely fooled by the magic for the dura-tion of the spell. The subject must react tothe illusion as if it were a real object ormonster. Even if the illusion behaves in anunexpected or improbable manner, theaffected creature will rationalize someexplanation other than the presence of anillusion. The subject believes the illusoryobject to be real and absolutely cannot beconvinced otherwise, even if he shouldwitness some physical impossibility suchas an unaffected companion walkingthrough an illusory wall. To the affectedcharacter, his companion must haveturned invisible, been teleported or disin-tegrated, or suffered some similar fate.

A PC who has already encountered anillusion and failed his saving throw cannotgain a second saving throw or improve onhis original attempt by being informed ofthe nature of the illusion by another char-acter. In such cases, the PC is certain thathe is the one in the right-the other partymembers must be mistaken! The +4bonus mentioned in the DMG should begranted only if the target has been warnedin advance of encountering the illusion.Naturally, PCs who fail their saving throwsvs. a particular illusion cannot grant theircompanions this +4 bonus, since the PC

believes the illusion to be real.As noted in the PHB and DMG, all dam-

age directly caused by the illusion is imag-ined by the victim and is not real, thoughthe loss of all remaining hit points viathese imaginary attacks results in uncon-sciousness for 10-30 minutes. Illusorydamage should be restored after a likeperiod. Indirect damage is still possiblewhen an illusion is used to disguise realdangers such as a pit trap or monster.

Lastly, divination spells such as detectevil or know alignment, which rely on theinspection of an aura, do not usually pro-vide any accurate information when usedto view an illusion. The caster of the div-ination sees only what the caster of theillusion wants him to see. The true seeingspell will show an illusion for what it is,and a detect magic unerringly reveals itsmagical nature. When cast by a wizard,detect magic also has the potential toidentify the magic as illusion/phantasm.

The Illusionist�s Bag of Tricks

While the deceptive power of an illusiondepends largely on the perspective of thetarget, the skill of the caster definitelyplays an important role as well. The scopeof illusory effects should be more clearlydefined to reflect this role. Illusory effectscan be grouped into three broad cate-gories: monsters, spell effects, and inani-mate objects.

Illusory CreaturesA very traditional and common techniqueis to create illusory monsters or compan-ions using one of the illusion spells. Notsurprisingly, it is probably the most abusedtechnique as well. The optional guidelinesgiven in the PHB are helpful here: Thecaster should not be allowed to createmore hit dice of illusory monsters than hehas experience levels, and the types ofmonsters created should be restricted tocreatures that the caster has personallyobserved. The caster must concentrate onguiding the actions of his creations in anappropriate and believable manner, whichis nearly impossible if he generates anabsurdly large number of monsters or

creatures that he has never seen.The DM should pay attention to the

areas of effect of the various illusionspells. They are quite large and, if the limiton hit dice is not heeded, a 1st-level wiz-ard could conceivably fill his phantasmalforce area of effect with 20 or more ogresor even a great red wyrm (thus creating asignificant problem with game balance).Illusory creatures must remain in the areaof effect designated at the time of the cast-ing; attempts to move them out of thatarea do dispel the image immediately.

Illusory creatures move and fight at thewhim of the caster. Therefore, they shouldattack using the caster�s THAC0, not theTHAC0 of the actual creature. The damageresulting from successful attacks is stan-dard, though it is not permanent, asalready noted. Creatures with specialattacks like breath weapons, gaze attacks,or energy draining abilities can be mimic-ked with the illusion, but, as with normalattacks, any effects are temporary andshould be regained within three turns orso. Of course, PCs subjected to these spe-cial attacks do not actually turn to stoneor lose an experience level, though theyabsolutely believe this to be so and behaveaccordingly by freezing in place orfighting less ably.

Lastly, illusory monsters that are bat-tled by PCs or other monsters disappearon a successful hit or physical spell attackunless the illusion reacts appropriately;casters who are concentrating on main-taining the illusion can cause �appropriateresponses� automatically, if desired. Theillusory creatures wink out of existence assoon as the caster ceases to maintain hisconcentration and the illusion is struck bya physical attack, however.

For combat with illusory opponents,assume that they have the maximumnumber of hit points. When the illusorycreature runs out of hit points, the castercan allow it to �die� or may let it keepfighting. If he chooses to keep the crea-ture �alive,� the attackers have cause tosuspect something is amiss. They get toroll an Intelligence check with a cumula-tive -1 bonus for every round in which theundying adversary absorbs damage butdoes not fall.

Attackers who succeed in thisIntelligence check gain a second savingthrow vs. the illusion with any bonuses formissing components, just as if they wereencountering the illusion for the firsttime. More saving throws are possible aslong as the creature continues to fight andtake damage and the attacker has not yetsucceeded in his save vs. spell.

Illusory SpellsCasters may use illusions to duplicate theeffect of any spell of a level that they cancast. A 5th-level wizard can therefore tryto duplicate wizard or priest spells of 3rdlevel or less. The caster does not have toknow the spell that he is trying to dupli-

Saving Throw Modifiers for IllusionsCondition Saving Throw Modifier� Ability CheckMissing primary* component + 4 IntelligenceMissing primary** component + 2 Intelligence -4Missing minor� component + 1 Intelligence -8Target witnessed casting + 1 automaticReceived forewarning + 4 automaticCaster attempts �unknown� spell + 2 automatic

*Primary components include sound or vision or strong odors for creatureswith a superior sense of smell.

**Secondary components are strong odors or extreme temperatures or normalodors for creatures with a superior sense of smell.

�Minor components are normal odors or temperatures or sight or sound forcreatures with poor vision or hearing.

�All modifiers are cumulative, but only one of each type is applicable per spell.

68 OCTOBER 1995

cate, but attempts to copy an unknownspell are convincing and the targetsshould be granted an automatic +2bonus to their saving throw vs. spells.

Illusory spell effects can be detected asillusions in the manner already described.

Targets failing their saving throws suf-fer the effects of the illusory spell just as ifthey had been subjected to the actualspell. The mimicked spell performs at theability level of the caster. An illusory fire-ball results in the target having to save forfull or half damage and could even resultin the need for item saving throws. Theitems do not suffer any actual harm, ofcourse, but an unfortunate PC certainlymight be fooled into believing that hissword has melted.

Illusions can only duplicate spells witha physical manifestation. Spells such ashold person or sleep cannot be senseduntil its targets are already affected. Suchspells could not be duplicated by an illu-sion; they create nothing that can be seen,heard, or felt. If a target cannot sense anillusion, it cannot be affected by it. (Notethat this last stipulation does not apply tomany innate magical attacks used by mon-sters. For example, a basilisk�s gazeweapon and a vampire�s charm attack arefairly well-known abilities and can easilybe imagined by their victims without anobvious physical prompt.)

No illusion spell can duplicate another.Regardless of the level of the caster, it ispointless to attempt to fake an improvedphantasmal force spell with a phantasmalforce. The audial component does not exist.

Illusory ObjectsThe last category covers inanimate objectssuch as illusory walls, pits, or bridges.Though these applications are not asspectacular as illusory monsters or spells,they are the most difficult to detect andpossibly the most effective. Even the lowlyphantasmal force spell can create a morethan adequate illusion of a pit or wall todeter pursuit by one�s foes. The caster islimited only by his imagination and thearea of effect of the spell.

However, casters should not be allowedto create more than one object per spell.Phantasmal force does not allow a casterto change the appearance of every objectin the area of effect, although he coulduse the illusion of a collapsed doorway tohide the room�s contents from view.Illusions can only cover or disguise anobject, not make it invisible.

By logical extension, this is also true ofthe audial or olfactory properties of anobject. A backpack created by a phantas-mal force spell does nothing to mask thecrackle and smoky odor of a campfire, butan advanced illusion of a growling andmalodorous otyugh could do so. It is gen-erally assumed that the size, sound, andsmell of an illusion must be equal to orgreater than the real object being hiddenfor the illusion to be effective.

70 OCTOBER 1995

Although the nature of an object mightbe disguised, its physical properties havenot been changed. Most notably, the invisi-bility spell description establishes that aninvisible light source continues to emitvisible light. Not only is this true of anylight source disguised with an illusion, it isalso applicable in the case of heat, a formof light. In the backpack and campfireexample, the heat of the flames could befelt by anyone that approached closelyenough. If the illusory backpack was cre-ated with a spell that allows for thermaleffects, the backpack itself could be madeto feel cool to the touch, but the warmthradiated into space by the campfire wouldremain unaffected.

Conversely, the Spectral force of acampfire would be hot to the touch with-out actually radiating any heat or light.Such clues allow subjects to gain bonusesto their saving throws as previouslydetailed. Regardless of the results ormethod, any PC who picks up a campfiredisguised with an illusion of a backpack isgoing to get burned!

Quick Review

The following procedure summarizes thesteps a DM should take when the target ofan illusion does something that requiresthe illusion to react. For example, the targetmay attack an illusory creature or walktoward a pit concealed with an illusory rug.

1. Determine if any components (primary,secondary, or minor) are missing fromthe illusion and if any such discrepancymight be noted by the target.

2. Let each observer or target roll a singled20. Use the result to resolveIntelligence checks made for any miss-ing components (up to three).

3. Modify the target�s saving throw vs.spell (maximum bonus of +7) for anysuccessful Int checks.

4. Apply any situational modifiers (the tar-get witnessed the casting, received fore-warning, etc.).

5. Let each observer or target roll a savingthrow vs. spell using the appropriatemodifiers.

Spell NotesPhantasmal force: This is not a terriblyeffective combat spell unless the target isvery stupid or the caster avoids creatingillusions that require sound or heat. It isbest used to simulate inanimate objectssuch as walls, doors, spike-filled pits, andpiles of coins.

Audible glamer: This is useful mainly as adistraction, though it can be used toincrease the effectiveness of a phantasmalforce spell. It can also simulate sound-based spells such as shout or music of thespheres.

Improved phantasmal force: This is fairly

effective at creating believable illusions ofordinary creatures and any spell that doesnot rely on heat or odor. It is less effectiveif used against a target with a keen senseof smell. Djinn and efreeti have illusionpowers of this type. This is also the mostpowerful effect that can be created with awand of illusion.

Invisibility: Treat this spell as a visual illu-sion lacking the other components, butone that allows a save only if the invisiblecreature is making noise or has a distinc-tive odor. A successful save indicates thatthe general location of the creature hasbeen established, though the creature stillhas all of the benefits of invisibility. PCsand monsters of sufficiently highIntelligence scores and level or hit dicereceive a save as described in the PHB.Success means that the target can actuallysee a colorless outline of the invisible beingand can attack without penalty. Unlike mostillusions, multiple saves could be requiredif the observing creature loses track of theinvisible creature for any length of time.

Spectral force and programmed illusion:These illusions are very difficult to detectunless the caster foolishly attempts to cre-ate an object with a strong odor, the onlycomponent not produced by these spells.Powerful evocations such fireball, light-ning bolt, and ice storm can be accuratelyduplicated.

Shadow monsters and demishadow mon-sters: The illusory monsters producedhave no missing components. If the targetof the attack manages to save, he is stillsubject to some actual damage as noted inthe PHB. Even if a target fails its save, actu-al damage cannot exceed this amount.

Shadow magic and demishadowmagic: Noadjustments need be made to the save formissing components, and it does not matterwhether the caster is familiar with the evo-cation to be duplicated. Regardless of thesuccess or failure of the saving throw, only aportion of the inflicted damage is real.

Advanced illusion: This is the complete illu-sion. Illusions created with this spell arevirtually undetectable from the real thing.Creatures with innate illusion-generatingcapabilities (such as aboleth, baatezu, andleprechauns) create this type of illusion.

Note that many illusion/phantasm spells(for example, spook and hypnotism), alreadyemploy a straight save vs. spell. This factadds further validity to the recommenda-tion that the disbelief rule be discarded.Other spells such as deafness, wraithform,and hallucinatory terrain do not allow a sav-ing throw and are not subject to the guide-lines for detection given here. A few spells,like phantasmal killer, use a special savingthrow that requires consultation of the spelldescription for resolution.

7 2 O C T O B E R 1 9 9 5

DRAGON 73

A new psionics system has beenintroduced for the AD&D® game.

It appears first in the PLAYER'S OPTION�:Skills & Powers book and then in the newDARK SUN® campaign boxed set (shippingin October of 1995). For most AD&D®campaigns, this new system is optional.It�s designed to be faster, easier to use,and less complicated than the system pre-sented in The Complete PsionicsHandbook. For DARK SUN players, itbecomes the line�s core psionic system.

Whichever rule system you use in your Psionicscampaign, however, psionics�like all Certain characters in some campaignrules designed to add a quantitative ele- worlds have powers and abilities thatment to role-playing-should be more aren�t related to priestly or wizardlythan a series of cold, hard dice rolls. The magic. These characters have access tomechanics provide a system that tests skill the internal power of their own minds-alevel and adds an element of randomness. power source called psionics. PsionicPlayers and Dungeon Masters must pro- energy is present in every living thing (andvide the imagination that makes the me- many unliving ones), though only a fewchanics become part of the story. The can access and shape the energy at will.next few pages offer suggestions to help When this energy is tapped and used for ayou add substance and role-playing ele- specific purpose, it manifests as psionicments to psionic combat. The DARK SUN powers.setting provides the backdrop for all A psionicist character molds his mind,examples used in this article. body, and spirit into a unified whole from

which he draws energy to form intopsionic powers. Unlike magical spells, the

DRAGON 75

energy for these powers comes from thepsionicist himself and not some extrapla-nar energy reserve. Note that the psioni-cist is a specific character class like a war-rior, wizard, priest, or rogue.

Some schools of psionics, such as thosein DARK SUN campaigns, have given specialterms to core psionic concepts. The innerreserve of energy is called the Nexus, theinnate ability to use psionics is called theWill, and the process of study that makes acharacter a master psionicist is called theWay. On Athas, the world of the dark sun,every living creature has the Will, but fewdevelop the Way to use it effectively.

A character whose natural psionicpotential has manifested as just one or twopsionic powers is known as a wild talent.He can belong to any class other thanpsionicist. A wild talent cannot learn anyother powers but can make good use ofthe natural ability he possesses.

Nonpsionic characters (those whoaren�t psionicists or wild talents) have nat-ural mental defenses, but no way to drawconsciously upon their psionic energy.These mental defenses are measured inthe new psionics system as mental armorclass, or MAC. As with regular ArmorClass, the lower the number, the betterthe protection. This natural defenseassures that those without psionic powersstill have some measure of defense againstthose who would reach into their mindsor otherwise mentally attack them.

Psionicists have access to psionic pow-ers that are divided into five disciplines:

clairsentience, psychokinesis, psychome-tabolism, psychoportation, and telepathy.(The rules in The Complete PsionicsHandbook give six different disciplines,but one�metapsionic powers-has beenredistributed among the others.)

Clairsentient powers allow characters toperceive things beyond the natural rangeof their senses; psychokinetic powersmove objects across a given space throughthe energy of the mind; psychometabolicpowers affect a character�s own body; psy-choportive powers permit psionic travel;and telepathic powers allow the directcontact of two or more minds. For moreinformation about psionics in the AD&Dgame, see PLAYER'S OPTION: Skills & Powers,the new DARK SUN campaign box, or TheComplete Psionics Handbook.

The Mindscape

The minds of all living things form a dif-ferent level of reality than that of the mate-rial world around us. This mental land-scape, or mindscape, is a strange terrainof mental constructs, dreams, and ideasthat most characters access in the normalway-through thought and concentration.Psionicists (and, to a lesser extent, wild tal-ents) can enter this place at will in a man-ner that�s more akin to everyday reality bycreating psionic bodies and projectingthem into the mindscape. Once theirpsionic bodies step into the mindscape,they can interact with the terrain and itsoccupants, manipulating and even

altering whatever they find there.The mindscape is a reflection of the

material world, as though a mirror werehung across the sky to catch the mentalimages of the living minds below. But themindscape has no physical dimensions orreflected images of the landscape of thematerial world. There are no sky-scrapingmountain ranges, no weathered seacoasts, no deep canyons. No permanentfeatures provide continuity or direction. Ifa mountain rises on the mindscape, itowes its existence to whatever mind creat-ed it-and once the mind stops imaginingit, the mountain fades away. The mirrorexists in a dark place; the only light is thatprovided by the reflected minds them-selves. Picture a vast, black emptiness withoccasional sparks of glowing light thatrepresent the minds of living beings in thematerial world. These sparks go about thebusiness of thinking and dreaming, with-out really being aware of the existence ofthe mindscape around them. Psionicists,however, are aware of the mindscape, andthey make constant use of it whenemploying psionic powers.

When a psionicist enters the mind-scape, he appears as a glowing, transpar-ent representation of his physical form. Itmay be slightly exaggerated or improved,as the psionic form is often an idealizedversion of a physical self. More powerfulpsionicists can even change their psionicforms more substantially, either for visualeffect or specific purpose.

When a psionicist�s psionic body enters

76 OCTOBER 1995

the mindscape, it either floats freely onthe mental winds of the black expanse, orit stands upon a glowing, transparent plat-form of light. This glowing platform canbe disk-shaped or rectangular. Powerfulpsionicists can even form psionic sceneryon the glowing platforms, reconstructinga real-world site from their memories orimaginations. (Note that wild talents neverhave this level of control. Their psionicplatforms and bodies are crude con-structs, showing an inherent lack of skilland knowledge in the use of the Way.)

In general, clairsentient powers makethe most use of the mindscape, but it�s asan arena for psionic combat that the mind-scape takes on its most active, visual role.

Psionic Combat

The mechanics involved in engaging inpsionic combat are detailed in the productsmentioned earlier. Please refer to thoserules while reading the rest of this article.

Psionic combat assaults closed minds inan effort to open them to further psioniccontact. There are five psionic attackforms and five psionic defense forms avail-able to use in psionic combat. Psionicistscan eventually learn and employ all 10

their natural mental armor class (MAC)to protect them.

The five psionic attack forms are egowhip, id insinuation, mind thrust, psionicblast, and psychic crush. The five psionicdefense forms are intellect fortress, mentalbarrier, mind blank, thought shield, andtower of iron will. How these attacks anddefenses manifest in the mindscapedepends on the skill of the user.

When a psionicist enters the mindscapefor the purposes of conducting psioniccombat, a portion of his conscious mindremains aware of events happening in thematerial world. In effect, the psionicist isin two places at the same time. In thematerial world, the psionicist appears toconcentrate or perhaps gets a farawaylook in his eyes. Tension may play alongthe corner of his mouth, or a bead ofsweat may slip down his brow. Otherwise,there is no visible sign that combat isoccurring in the mindscape.

In the mindscape, glowing armor girdsthe psionic body. This is the mindscapemanifestation of the psionicist�s mentalarmor class. When the assault on theclosed mind of the psionicist�s opponentbegins, other weapons and defenses arewilled into existence for use in the battle.

nent�s psyche. The minds of nonpsioniccharacters aren�t strong enough to createpsionic versions of their physical forms.Instead, they appear in the mindscape asglowing balls of pulsing light or illuminatedclouds of bright sparks floating in the blackexpanse. Using the five psionic attackforms, the psionicist batters the nonpsionicmind�s mental armor until it collapses. Thenonpsionic mind has no way to fight backand must rely on its natural defenses.When these defenses fall, other psionicpowers can be used against the mind.

If the psionicist is fighting a wild talent,his opponent appears as a crude, unfin-ished psionic body. Whereas the psioni-cist�s form is crisp and bright, a wild tal-ent�s psionic body is blocky, ill-defined,and less brilliant. The wild talent�s glow-ing platform has the same characteristicsas his psionic form. Knocking out the wildtalent�s defenses and opening his mindremains the psionicist�s goal, though thewild talent can strike back.

The true scope of psionic combat isdemonstrated when two psionicists gohead-to-head. Such battles rock the mind-scape and create a cacophony of vivid,psionic imagery. Athasian psionicists, forexample, create attacks that take the form

psionic attacks and defenses, whereas wild What direction such a psionic battle takes of charging mekillots, slashing swords,talents can never learn to use more than depends on the psionicist�s opponent. and battering boulders. Their defensesthree attacks and three defenses. Non- If the psionicist is launching an assault appear as glowing shields of light, tall,psionic minds (all characters who aren�t on a nonpsionic mind, he searches the shimmering walls, and convoluted mazespsionicists or wild talents) must rely on mindscape for the dim glow of his oppo- of misdirection.

DRAGON 77

The Role-Playing DimensionPlayers can simply select psionic attacksand defenses and roll dice to determinethe outcome of psionic combat involvingtheir characters. DMs and players, howev-er, will increase the fun of a game sessionby concentrating on role-playing. Picturethe black expanse of the mindscape, thehowling mental winds, and the distantglow of thoughts and memories.

Players should start by describing theircharacter�s psionic bodies, glowing plat-forms, and mental armor. Each shouldthen select an attack and defense form(without rolling any dice). Then, in initia-tive order, the players should describe theimagined form that the psionic attacksand defenses take on.

All imagined attack and defense forms�forms that are very real in the mind-scape� are called harbingers and con-structs. Harbingers are the visual repre-sentations of the attack forms; constructsare those of the defense forms. Sampleharbingers and constructs for the DARKSUN campaign are given below, thoughplayers and DMs are encouraged to add tothese common forms to match particularpsionicists and their personalities.

Sample Harbingers andConstructs

The following harbingers and constructsare the most common ones used by thepsionicists of Athas. They add nothing togame mechanics, but they can add awealth of entertainment to the role-play-ing aspects of psionic combat.

Harbingers (Psionic Attack Forms)l Ego Whip: This psionic assault on a tar-get�s self-esteem can be visualized as aglowing whip, a belligerent templar, anarrogant noble, the terrifying Dragon, orthe buffeting winds of a Tyr storm.l Id Insinuation: This assault on the sub-conscious mind can take the shape of aglowing battering ram, a charging mekillot,a shimmering war hammer, or a deadlysilk wyrm that slithers past defensesinstead of smashing them.l Mind Thrust: This piercing attack stabs atthoughts and memories, so it takes theform of piercing weapons. Glowing swordsof light, swift and graceful chatkachas,flaming spears, and scorpion stingers allfall into this category.l Psychic Crush: This is a mental weightthat slowly crushes defenses. As such, itcan be visualized as a huge boulder slowlyrolling forward, the crushing tentacles ofa silt horror (of a color of the psionicist�schoice), the punishing rain of a Tyr storm,or the plodding, steady attack of a moun-tainous earth elemental.l Psionic Blast: This attack sends a wave ofmental energy racing toward the target. Assuch, most psionicists imagine it as light-ning strikes from a Tyr storm, the swift,slashing claws of a kirre, the flaming

shafts of a rain of arrows, or a relentless,stampeding herd of carru.

Constructs (Psionic Defense Forms)l Intellect Fortress: This defense encasesthe mind in a powerful keep of mentalenergy. It may take the form of a field ofbrambles, the chitinous, spiky shell of acha�thrang, the rock-hard carapace of agiant beetle, or glowing suits of metalarmor from the most ancient of days.l Mental Barrier: This is a wall of thoughtthat blocks psionic attacks. It appears as awall of worked stone, light, or even metal,as a shimmering globe that surrounds thepsionicist, or as a lightning-filled cloudthat zaps incoming attacks before theyreach the defender.l Mind Blank: This defense hides thepsionicist. It can appear as a thick fog, araging sand storm, a featureless void, adark forest, labyrinthine ruins, a vastdesert, or a bottomless crevasse that liesbetween the attacker and defender.l Thought Shield: This is a glowing shieldthat turns away psionic attacks. It can bevisualized as a shield, armor, a mysticrune, or any monster that appears toprotect the defender from attacks.l Tower of Iron Will: This unassailablehaven takes the form of a tall tower, astout gate, an impossibly high cliff, or ajagged, lonely crag.

Psionic Combat as aStory Element

How does all of this work to enhancerole-playing? Leaving the dice mechanicsaside for the moment, let�s observe a DMand a player tell the story of the battle oftwo psionicist characters. Lester, the play-er, runs the hero Drasik of Tyr, a psioni-cist of some experience and power. TheDM runs the NPC villain, Salistar of theDark Mind. The two characters spot eachother across a crowded tavern, and thescene plays out as follows.

DM: �Drasik notices his old foe Salistaron the other side of the tavern�s commonroom. As he spots her, she locks eyes withhim.�

Lester: �This is it. Drasik has been wait-ing to confront Salistar for a long time.Drasik concentrates, sending his psionicform into the mindscape in preparationfor psionic combat.�

DM: �Salistar does the same. To thecrowd around them, though, nothing outof the ordinary can be detected.�

Lester: �Drasik�s psionic body formsatop a glowing platform of light in theblackness of the mindscape.�

DM: �What does his form look like? Andwhat about the platform?�

Lester: �Drasik looks much as he doesin the physical world, though his psionicbody glows brightly and is semitranspar-ent. He�s a tall, bald human with a thin,muscular build. Sparkling armor like theheart of a lightning storm covers his body,

78 OCTOBER 1995

and he stands on a glowing disk of light.�DM: �Cool. Well, Drasik sees Salistar

appear a short distance away in the dark-ness. She, too, looks like a shimmeringversion of her physical self. Her semi-transparent form is shapely and strong,and her hair flows like spun lightning inthe mental winds. Her disk of light is wideand thin, and a glowing skin of mentalarmor outlines her psionic body.�

ally makes it to Salistar. Her kirre shootsback toward Drasik, its claws sparkingthrough the blackness as it blasts towardhim. The lightning-filled mental barrierblocks the rushing psionic blast, and witha rumbling growl the kirre fades intonothingness.

Lester: �Drasik chooses ego whip as hisattack form and mental barrier as hisdefense form.�

�In the tavern, Drasik remains calm andcollected, sipping his kank nectar whilekeeping his gaze locked on Salistar.Salistar; meanwhile, lets out a barely audi-ble cough, and a few beads of sweat beginto develop on her brow.�

DM: �Okay, consider how those formswill manifest while I tell you what Salistarhas planned. She�s calling forth a psionicblast and using a thought shield�.

Lester: �How does Salistar look in themindscape?�

Lester: �Drasik�s ego whip attackappears as a fast-developing Tyr stormwith glowing, swirling winds as strongand sharp as shards of obsidian. His men-tal barrier takes shape as the lightning-filled clouds that accompany the storm.�

DM: �Her personal armor isn�t as brightas it was, but it still shimmers around her.Otherwise, she seems to be very angrythat her kirre was destroyed before itcould reach Drasik. On to the next round.�

DM: �Salistar�s psionic blast forms intoa huge kirre with shimmering fur andclaws that spark as they move through theair. Beside her, opposite the kirre, aghostly braxat takes shape to act as herthought shield.�

Lester: �Salistar�s going to try somethingbig this time, so Drasik reaches into hisnexus to call forth a tower of iron will. Asan attack, he starts to shape a mind thrust.�

Lester: �The sharp winds of Drasik�sego whip rush across the black expanse toslice into Salistar.�

DM: �You�re right, Salistar wants to fin-ish this with a bang. She prepares a psy-chic crush attack and an intellect fortressdefense. Immediately, a red silt horrorrises out of the darkness near Drasik, itsgrasping tentacles reaching from beneathhis glowing battle platform and wrappingaround his tower of iron will.�

DM: �Nice try, but the braxat leaps in Lester: �Uh, oh. Salistar certainly likesfront of Salistar. The cutting winds rip the to create monsters. The tower of iron willbraxat apart, but only a little damage actu- takes the form of an impossibly tall crag. It

shoots up from my battle platform torocket me out of the tentacles� reach.�

DM: �That almost works, but the tenta-cles catch hold of Drasik and squeeze.Unbelievable pain shoots through Drasik�smind, but his mental armor remainsintact. What about Drasik�s mind thrust?�

Lester: �A glowing sword appears inDrasik�s hands, and in the next instant hisbattle platform slides into Salistar�s. Heswings the sword, hoping to add to thedamage he inflicted in the previous attack.�

DM: �Her intellect fortress forms into agiant beetle with a carapace as black asthe expanse of the mindscape and as solidas a half-giant�s skull. It crawls in front ofthe psionicist to take the brunt of Drasik�smind thrust. His glowing sword clattersharmlessly off the beetle�s carapace.

�In the tavern, Drasik swallows hardand momentarily closes his eyes to thecrushing pain and failed attack. A slightsmile creeps across Salistar�s lips, andboth psionicists prepare for a third roundof psychic combat....�

Remember, when it comes to psioniccombat, it�s all in your mind. Add details,describe exciting visuals, and stretch yourimagination to paint the psionic canvas ofthe mindscape. Then the role-playing willreally come alive.

DRAGON 79

Scaring SuperheroesRight Out of Their Tights

by Spike Y. Jones(with thanks to Dale A. Donovan,

Lee Gold, Richard Bark, and Lisa Padol)

Artwork by Bob Lessl

Last October, my article on how to scareplayer characters in a fantasy setting��Who�s Afraid Of The Big, Bad Ghost?��appeared in issue #210 of DRAGON®Magazine. The central point of the piecewas that you can�t scare the PCs unlessyou first scare the players. While a �scary�monster like a ghost is supposed to fright-en a fantasy hero, most players aren�t inthe least frightened by them (�Okay, it�s 10hit dice, and humans get hit worst by itsaging power, so you guys sit this one out.Cedric, you�re above 7th level; try to turn itwhile we get the holy water out.�).Atmosphere and matters of delivery arethe key in that setting to making what�ssupposed to be scary actually scary.

difficult to do. Describing a �dark andstormy night� is too big a departure fromthe norm in a CHAMPIONS* or GURPSSUPERS* campaign for the GM to usesuch atmospheric techniques to sneak upon the players and the PCs. No matterwhat the build-up, if the end product isjust another villain to pound, the PCs willproceed to pound him without stoppingalong the way to be frightened by him.

In the superhero game genre, thedesire to frighten the PCs comes up lessfrequently, and it is correspondingly more

What if the GM wants to have a moreintense gaming experience? What if, forreasons that range from a desire to shakeup the complacency of the players to asimple Halloween theme, he wants actual-ly to frighten the heroes, and as a neces-sary prerequisite, the players? Scaringsuperheroes (and superhero players) ispossible, but it�s a different task than scar-ing PCs in other role-playing genres.

DRAGON 81

Who�s Afraid of theBig, Bad Villain?

To get the same results that a spookyatmosphere engenders for fantasy games, asupers GM has to use entirely differentmethods. Superheroes aren�t supposed toscare easily, and the traditional method ofattempting it-producing bigger, better vil-lains (How do you frighten a s uperherowho can lift an apartment building? With asupervillain who can lift a planet?)�juststiffens the resolve of the better sort ofhero. Even if the player isn�t as heroicallyfearless as his PC is supposed to be, he doeshave the advantage of knowing a few thingsabout the superhero genre and the rules ofmost superhero RPGs that the PC doesn�t.For instance, heroes are supposed to win inthe end, and killing one (generally thoughtto be the only thing that will scare a player)is intentionally very hard to do (unlike thecase in some other game genres).

As a result, the players are nearly fear-less. Although the causality should havebeen the opposite (in other words, theplayer should be attempting to duplicatethe fearlessness of a hero in the genre,instead of the hero PC being fearlessbecause of player confidence in the rules),the PCs end up being equally fearless.

Facing a much stronger opponent maycause a superhero some consternation,but it�s not likely actually to frighten him.Against a more powerful villain, a truehero just finds himself more determinedto succeed. And a player running a super-hero PC in a role-playing game feels muchthe same. He may wonder how his PC willdefeat the villain, but knowing that it�s alljust a game, with his own entertainmentand enjoyment as key goals, he won�t haveany doubt that he�ll win in the end.

To make the villain something extraordi-nary, the GM can give him the trappings ofthe supernatural (a name and powersbased on voodoo or vampirism, forinstance), even if his powers are still puresupervillain. This is especially useful if thehero group has no �supernaturalists� in itsroster, as supernatural menaces will thusbe something out of the ordinary for them.

Next, modify his abilities so that theydon�t appear to follow the rules (althoughyou shouldn�t actually break them unlessyou know that the players would under-stand if they found out). Give him powerswithout obvious limitations (though theyprobably should have hidden limitations),or let him do things that seem impossiblebut simply rely on a heavy use of points orstretched interpretations of the rules.

Minor spooky special effects, like dim-ming all the lights (including the sun) inthe vicinity of the villain or silencing allthe noises within a certain radius aroundhim, make a supernatural villain stranger.To keep such effects from being seen bythe players as just more superpowers,they should have no direct impact on theabilities of the heroes and thus convey no

combat advantage to the villain. PC pow-ers like sun bursts or sonic blasts shouldbe unaffected by a villain�s light and sounddamping fields, but attempts specifically tocounter the annoying special effect shouldbe completely ineffective.

Players get suspicious of a villain if theycan�t figure out why his points weren�tused as economically as were those of thePC heroes. �Does he have so many pointsthat he can afford to waste them on frivo-lous effects?� players will wonder. �Dothese special effects have some deepermeaning, such as a slow power drainfield, that we haven�t figured out yet? Arewe missing something?�

In a similar vein, temporarily deprivingthe hero of some of his senses (and there-fore, depriving the player of some of theinput he�s used to) can cause someunease. The simplest way of doing this(especially if the hero lacks extrasensorypowers) is to turn out the lights; describ-ing a fight in an alley solely in terms ofsounds, smells, and transitory touchescan confuse and frighten a hero who cannormally handle almost any situation(which is why almost all of us are scaredof the dark to some extent).

Other methods of establishing sensorydeprivation include forcing the hero toconduct missions when common sensewould require him to spend time recover-ing from attacks that blinded or deafenedhim, or having him face villains whosepowers include sensory manipulation (aloss of trust in his sight to an illusion-crafter can be as effective as a villain whomerely generates darkness). Finally, theGM can remove the hero to a location(such as an alien dimension) where oursenses don�t work quite as they do in ournormal reality.

There are still a few ways for a villain tounsettle players simply by being exceedinglypowerful. The first partakes of the �super-natural special effects� options mentionedabove: if the villain is certifiably dead, andthen returns to bedevil the PCs, it producesa certain amount of distress in the players�minds. Of course, for the distress to arise,the players have to be certain that some-thing strange is going on, which means thatthey also have to be certain that the villainwas definitely dead, perhaps seen by theheroes� own eyes (as opposed to the usualmysterious probable death of the �nobodycould have survived that fall� sort).

The second method is for the villain tohave no real interest in defeating the PCheroes because they�re so far beneath hispower level as to be inconsequential. Ifthe villain has already defeated a team ofmuch stronger superheroes, he may noteven give the PCs a second thoughtbecause they�re so badly outclassed thatthey can�t possibly affect his plans. Thus,there�s bound to be some trepidationwhen �the B team� (often made up of side-kicks, rejects, and has-been heroes in thecomics) must face him anyway. Of course,

properly brave superheroes put on theirbest faces, and the average player still hasfaith that some miracle will occur to keepthe PCs from suffering the defeat thatwould seem to be their fate, but it�s a start.

A third way for a villain to scare a herois by being insane. Superheroes (and play-ers) expect to be able to outthink theiropponents almost as often as they out-muscle them. At the very least, the heroexpects that he�ll be able to comprehendthe villain�s motives and understand hisactions, however unlikely he is to agreewith or allow them. An insane villain (or amonster that operates from entirely inhu-man motivations) is scarier in some waysthan a rational, predictable one. He canbe harder to defeat, and what�s more,there�s something in all of us that�srepulsed by the mentally ill-a fear that itcould happen to us.

Collateral Damage

All in all, personal threats don�t scareheroes. Of course, threats to others mightwork. But the possible harm tonear-strangers isn�t usually enough toworry the average player. In order tomake the player actually fear the death ordisfigurement of an NPC, you have tomake the NPC�s life important to the play-er character and the player in some way.There are two ways to do this: make himsignificant in game terms, or make himintrinsically significant as a person.

The most obvious game-significantNPCs are a hero�s dependents in both hissuper and his secret identities: his wife,children, relatives, contacts, lawyer,co-workers, sidekick, and so on. A proper-ly designed dependent NPC (or DNPC) isimportant to the player both because ofthe role-playing connections built upbetween the characters and because ofthe disadvantage points the DNPC repre-sents. Other NPCs who don�t have a directconnection to the PC can still be a signifi-cant part of his life by being important inthe campaign world for other reasons. Athreat to the mayor of the campaign city acongressman who sponsors a bill withimplications for paranormals, or even thecapture of another hero (PC or not) cancause an emotional response in a player,especially if the danger is made credibleand immediate.

What if the threatened character is just arandom innocent bystander? How is theGM supposed to make such a faceless NPCsignificant to the players? The key is theword �faceless.� If you put a face to an oth-erwise minimally meaningful NPC, he sud-denly means more. For example, if a fleeingcriminal grabs a bystander and whirlsaround to face the pursuing heroes with aknife held to the innocent�s throat, theplayers immediately convert to �hostage sit-uation� mode. They attack the criminalwith mental powers with little thought forthe hostage, while the GM merely gauges

DRAGON 83

the speed of their attack against the crooksruthlessness to determine the result.

But what if the GM gives the hostage arole in the encounter? Instead of immedi-ately looking up the defensive bonus thevillain gains for having a body in front ofhim, the GM could babble in the voice ofthe hostage (�Oh, God, oh, God! Pleasedon�t hurt me! I have children! I�ll giveyou whatever you want! Oh, God!�), forcingthe players to think of the victim as a per-son, instead of an impediment to a clearshot at the criminal.

The more difficult the GM makes thesituation, the more �real� the NPCsbecome. When threats have personalmeaning to the hero-even threats thataren�t directed at him-he is more likelyto feel fear at the thought of failure, andso is the player.

�But Even withAll My Powers...�

What makes a superhero super is hispanoply of powers. So what would happenin a situation where the hero�s powerswere superfluous instead of super? Orwhere they were the problem instead ofthe solution?

Super impotence is a hero�s greatestfear, as it strikes directly at his entire rai-son d�être; without his powers, CaptainClean is just another silly looking guy inlong white underwear. And there are anumber of ways to pull off such power-lessness. The most obvious of these is thestandard supervillain device that tem-porarily deprives the superhero of hisabilities. When coupled with an importanttask that absolutely must be accom-plished-such as saving a threatenedNPC�any player or hero becomes con-cerned (to say the least). The player knowsthat the GM can�t permanently deprive hisPC of hundreds of points worth of powers(not without giving him new ones, any-way), so being forced to solve a problemwithout the benefit of his powers might beseen as a true challenge rather than afrustration.

A similar tactic to use on a superheroPC is to change his powers without theconsent of his player. What makes aLovecraftian monstrosity more frighteningthan a gigantic supervillain? Part of thedifference is in the sort of extra powersthe monstrosity has: mind control, theability to cause unwanted changes to thecharacter, and especially the possibility ofdriving the PC insane. A player would con-sider such potential harm at the tentaclesof the monster to be in keeping with thegame and genre rules; thus, he must facethe real possibility that the GM will �muckup� his carefully crafted PC if he doesn�thandle the menace just right. And it�s thatfear of the legitimate powers of the GMthat makes such a monster more fear-some than a supervillain of the samepower level (but with different powers).

84 OCTOBER 1995

A hero doesn�t have to lose full controlof his powers in order to harbor fearsabout them. What if powers that werenormally kept in tight check suddenlybecame unpredictable or even uncontrol-lable? While the player might have had noqualms about giving his character powersthat could destroy a city because he knewthat he�d never do that, making him worryabout the possibilities of �power surges�or �accidental discharges� can force himinto a whole new style of play.

Another form of powerlessness is moreinsidious and effective. Leaving the hero�spowers intact, the GM can confront himwith menaces against which his powersare simply ineffective. While villains withspecial defenses are obvious examples ofthis principle, even more interesting arethings that huge muscles, radar senses,and laser eyes were never designed to fight:the government, social policy, the laws ofnature, and interpersonal relationships.

When such things go horribly wrong(for example, Congress passing a law torestrict the actions of paranormals), theheroes must depend on other abilities inorder to find success. And when alaw-abiding or officially sanctioned heromust choose between disobeying lawfulauthorities or allowing an evil deed (possi-bly on the part of a politician) to go unpun-ished, it can put him in a horrible fix.

If the player has put any effort into hischaracter�s creation and �life� beyond hissuperpowers, such areas can be targetedby the GM. Many heroes simply can�t han-dle their love lives as well as they do theirheroic careers, so the threat of a neglect-ed wife DNPC asking for a divorce can beas difficult to solve as an interstellar inva-sion. The effect of this sort of threat isdirectly proportional to the care the playerhas put into crafting the DNPC. Secretidentities, weaknesses, and otheroften-ignored disadvantages can all causeconcern to both player and PC if threat-ened or exposed during an adventure.They represent things that the hero isspecifically unable to affect and loom justas menacingly as a powerful supervillain.

Instead of merely being powerless in theface of a menace, what if the hero�s pow-ers actually made the problem worse? Ifthe GM engineered events so that normalactions on the part of the hero had unex-pected consequences, the hero mightbecome unsure of himself, unable to pre-dict which actions he should take in thefuture and what new spin the GM mightput on them. In the past, many comicbooks have shown that the public (includ-ing the hero�s DNPCs) can be made aller-gic to the presence of the superhero (as anatural reaction to his extraordinary bodychemistry, as the result of a villain�sscheme, or because of exposure to suchsuper-staples as alien viruses and lingeringextra-dimensional radiation to which thehero himself is immune). In such a case,the immediate solution to the problem

would be for the hero to remove himselffrom contact with human society, but sucha course of action would seem unthink-able to the average superhero character.

In a more direct vein, if a villain feedson the powers of a hero (whatever theymay be), the character isn�t quite deprivedof his abilities-after all, he still has themat his fingertips-but their use could leadto disaster. What�s more, the very exis-tence of the hero could be as great athreat as the existence of the villain if thehero doesn�t have to use his powersactively for the villain to benefit fromthem.

�I Didn�t Do That!�

Similar to a loss of power, a loss of controlon the part of a hero can be devastating. Ifhe wakes up from a long, troubled sleep tosee news reports claiming that he commit-ted numerous crimes during the night, notonly does the hero have to make amendsfor his supposed crimes, but he must alsorestore his reputation and track down thesource of the spurious reports of his night-time activities. And if he discovers that thereports are true, that he actually did robbanks, set fires, and threaten lives withoutany recollection of his actions, he�ll wonderwhether he�s going insane, perhaps aboutto become the same sort of menace to soci-ety that he�s always fought in the past.

But how does the GM convince theplayer that his PC is going uncontrollablyinsane? After all, since it�s the player whodecides what the PC will do, he�ll certainlyknow what he did and did not sanction ashis PC�s actions. So, to make the playerfear that his character is truly sufferingfrom a loss of control, the GM should(temporarily) take away the player�s con-trol of the hero. At times, he can roll a fewdice behind the GM�s screen and thenannounce that the hero is performing acertain action, listening to no objectionson the part of the player.

Even when the player ostensibly con-trols the hero�s in-character actions, theGM can take away some of the player�scontrol of the game by rolling combat orskill-use dice for the player. (This could becumbersome in games wheredouble-handfuls of dice are rolled toresolve a powerful attack, so just makingattacks rolls and letting players roll thedamage is a compromise.) The GM shouldstill be scrupulously fair when it comes tomaking these rolls, but the frustration aplayer feels at being deprived of hisdice-rolling abilities parallels what thehero feels at losing control of his super-powers.

If the scenario doesn�t involve mindcontrol or the like, the GM can deprive allthe players of their dice to make them feeluneasy-a preliminary �softening up�technique in preparation for another fea-ture of the session designed to make the

continued on page 116

The other extreme:eight ways to give 0-level bad guys an edge over powerful PCs

by Peter C. Zelinski

Artwork by Dan Burr

Recurring villains don�t have to be high-level world-shakers with terrifying spellsand magical items. Some are soft andpampered urbanites who wouldn�t be amatch for a kobold, let alone a party ofheroic adventurers. Just like our ownlives, the lives of our PCs can includeadversaries who would be useless in com-bat, but who manage to land painfulblows nonetheless by striking withweapons more subtle than those found onany equipment list.

In addition to whatever dark overlordopposes the player characters fromadventure to adventure, the DM shouldalso consider including at least one minorvillain who is closer to the PCs� homebase. This villain, too, wants to destroyone or more of the heroes, but for a muchmore personal reason. Jealousy could behis motive, or maybe he hopes to improvehis station in life, believing that destroyingthe PCs will win him the favor of the darkoverlord himself.

This �minor� villain can be a low-levelcharacter, but a O-level villain is even bet-ter. To be effective, O-level characters mustmove the conflict beyond the realm ofattacks and hit points. In doing so, theyforce the players to flex noncombat,

role-playing muscles that often gounused in the dungeon.

Such low-level villains also make a goodlesson for the PCs, demonstrating thatphysical power isn�t everything. Often, justone instance of a 0-level character manag-ing to disrupt their lives is enough tobring some much needed humility toheroes who had begun to feel invinciblebehind their magical swords and fireballs.Of course, the 0-level villain can�t oftenresort to magical swords and fireballshimself. How, then, can the DM give suchan opponent a fighting chance?

Eight suggestions follow. Though a feware mostly defensive (ways to protect the vil-lain from harm when he gets the PCs angry)the others are potential sources of powerand influence the villain can use against thecharacters directly. The DM is encouragedto combine these devices when creating hisO-level villain. To ensure that the villain ismore than just a �one-trick� NPC who maygrow stale after only two or three appear-ances, a minimum of two devices should beused. Because the devices don�t conflict withone another, it�s even possible to use alleight at once. The resulting villain would beformidable indeed-even if he does haveonly three hit points!

1. Alignment

This is not the villain�s alignment, but thatof the heroes. If the party is all or primari-ly good-aligned, then this alone may beenough to keep a O-level villain alive-depending largely on the campaign�salignment philosophy. No matter howsevere the offense, it may violate a goodcharacter�s sense of fairness to fight a 0-level character, because it would effective-ly amount to slaughter.

Even so, a O-level character may nevercommit an offense a good characterwould judge worthy of corporal punish-ment. Lacking serious combat ability, theO-level character often �attacks� by humili-ating the heroes, or by using his influenceto confiscate their wealth or fabricatecriminal charges against them. Unless thevillain hires an assassin or gives the PCs�high-level enemies important information,he generally won�t endanger the heroes,no matter how much he wishes he could.Therefore, the heroes won�t be justified inslaying him. Lucky villain!

The heroes will have to find creativeways to keep the villain in check, if only tofree themselves up for serious adventur-ing (which they can�t do while stuck in jailon false charges). When alignment pre-

Evening the Odds, Part II:

DRAGON 87

vents the PCs from using force to stop thevillain, the scoundrel always gets areprieve, remaining alive and well toscheme against the heroes another day.

2. The LawIn the same way that a sense of fairnesscan prevent good characters from slayinga 0-level villain, the law can likewise con-strain lawful characters. The mere threatof legal action may stop neutral and chaot-ic heroes, too. In many ways, the law is amore effective protection for a careful vil-lain than the heroes� alignment.

Any organized settlement, even a chaoticone, will have laws, whether concrete andvaried or vague and few in number. Theconsistency of enforcement varies withpopulation density; in cities, the densitymakes dependable law enforcement anecessity for any semblance of peaceful liv-ing. Anyone living in a city can expect thelaw�s protection, and this includes the vil-lain. The law may be just, or-in a corruptsociety-it may be skewed to favor onegroup (that of the villain) over another(that of the PCs, particularly if they are out-siders). To a lawful character, this won�tmatter. Rules are rules.

Anyone who flouts the law-regardlessof alignment-will have to face the locallaw enforcement, and this may be enoughto keep PCs in line. For example, say thevillain hires an assassin who kills one ofthe heroes. Good characters might feeljustified in avenging their comrade byslaying the villain, particularly if the assas-sin were still alive and under contract. Butwhat if the heroes have no hard evidenceof the villain�s involvement? If they killhim anyway, they would be wanted formurder. Even if they could justify battlingthe city police, could they be certain thatthey�d win such a fight?

In the same example, what if the PCs dohave proof? In an �enlightened� city, theystill would have to stay out of the affair,trusting the duly sanctioned authorities todetain the villain and bring him to trial-allof which affords the villain ample opportu-nity to escape or bribe his way to acquittal.

3. WealthWhereas the first two devices were purelydefensive, money is both a defense and anoffense. In a fantasy world as much as inour own, money is perhaps the greatequalizer. Whatever a wealthy villain lacksthe ability to do, he can hire others to dofor him. This includes pressing body-guards and mercenaries into his privatewar against the PCs.

In a society that is in any way corrupt,the wealthy villain may also be somethingof a plutocrat, lining either governmentcoffers or officials� pockets to promote thecreation and enforcement of laws that aredetrimental to the heroes.

Because it is such a versatile device,wealth tends to be the weapon of choicefor DMs creating 0-level villains.

88 OCTOBER 1995

4. Political OfficeInstead of bribing government officials toeffect his will, the villain may be one of theofficials himself. Because corrupt andhighly placed NPCs tend to be wealthy,there is likely to be overlap between thisdevice and �Wealth,� above. However, evenif the villain is not wealthy, his politicalstanding may give him a similar degree ofinfluence. Whereas a wealthy villain canhire an underling to do his bidding, forexample, an official can order him intoservice or appeal to his sense of patrio-tism, �city security,� or loyalty to thecrown. A very powerful 0-level opponentmight even be the crown itself.

Alternatively, the villain may be neitherinfluential nor highly placed, but insteadentrusted with just enough authority tomake life miserable for the heroes. Thevillain may be a tax collector who uses anobscure �treasure tax� to confiscate a lib-eral share of the heroes� wealth, or hemay be a mid-level officer of the cityguard who is well within his authority tointerrogate or detain the �suspicious� PCs.

Such characters should be adept at cov-ering their own tracks to maintain a guiseof innocence and impartiality. If the heroesstand up for themselves, they may find thelaw and the rest of the government turnedagainst them. The PCs� awareness of thispossibility may be enough to keep the vil-lain unharmed (see �The Law,� above).

5. InfiltrationIf the villain has the means or influence toemploy or command others, the DMshouldn�t overlook the possibility that oneof the villain�s lackeys infiltrates theheroes� party. Though this trick is availableto any villain, it is often ignored by thedark overlords of the world, who insteaduse scrying magic to gather informationand high-hit-dice minions to strike at theirenemies. For the 0-level villain lackingthese resources, however, the infiltratorcan make an excellent substitute.

The infiltrator can be a spy looking forinformation on the heroes� powers orweaknesses. More dangerous, however, isthe professional saboteur, who bides histime until the PCs are vulnerable, thenbetrays them to make their problemsmuch worse. The saboteur may barricadea door to trap the heroes in a dungeon, orhe may pilfer an important magical item,leaving the PCs to discover the loss thenext time the item is needed desperately.

The easiest way for the villain to placean infiltrator among the PCs is to havehim pose as a hireling and be employedby the party. In this case, the infiltratordoes his best to earn the trust of the PCs,possibly appearing to endanger himself inthe process. His goal is to win �special�assignments from the heroes-taskswhere he has only minimal supervision.

6. WitsInstead of relying on levels or hit dice, thevillain may be an intellectual mastermindwho anticipates his enemies� moves anduses his limited resources creatively fordevastating effects. When given its due,genius-like money-can be a powerfulweapon in itself.

Though playing a genius-level villaindoesn�t require an 18 Intelligence, it doesrequire the DM to consider each problemas the villain would. Not powerful enoughto defeat or destroy the PCs and unable tofind anyone else to do the job, the villainwill search for a creative way to achievethe same end.

For example, if the villain wants to trickthe PCs into destroying themselves, his lineof analysis-as well as the DM�s�mightproceed as follows: What do the PCs want?How can this desire be used to trick theminto endangering themselves? What are allof the ways the PCs might discover mytreachery, and how can I foil each of thesein advance? Most importantly, how can Iconceal my own involvement or escape ifthe PCs pursue me? The villain�s sinisterplan will emerge from answers to ques-tions such as these, and he won�t act untilall of his questions are answered.

Even if the villain is unable to attack theheroes through cunning and deceit, hisintelligence alone may make him danger-ous. If he is the smartest enemy the PCshave ever faced, he may be able to deduce aparticular weakness of the heroes. Hemight research their backgrounds or thehistories of their magical items, or he mightwin the trust of others who know the char-acters. As the sole possessor of such valu-able information, he can use it to bargainwith the heroes� high-level enemies-per-haps even the dark overlord himself.

If such a deal is struck, the heroes willfind themselves with two new problems: adark overlord who now knows muchmore about them, and a wily 0-level villainwho probably got something very interest-ing in trade....

7. MagicPerhaps the villain has a powerful magicalitem. He might have bargained for it withone of the PCs� enemies (including thedark overlord), he might have found it forsale, or he might have received it as atrust of his office. In any case, the villainhas no doubt discovered the many possi-bilities of the item and uses it as a toolagainst the PCs.

Be warned, though, that the item mustnot be combat-related, or at the very leastshould have applications outside of com-bat. A 0-level villain brandishing a vorpalsword simply means that the heroes areabout to acquire a vorpal sword. The sameis true of defensive combat items, all ofwhich can defend for only so long. Forexample, a cube of force will eventuallyrun out charges, and the charm of the

continued on page 118

New Glyphs for the Underdark

by Wolfgang Baur

The release of the Night Below campaignexpansion adds great depth to the existingsource material on the Underdark, thegreat system of caverns and passages thatserves as home to the drow, illithids, kuo-toans, svirfnebli�and savant aboleth, thenew ruling class of the aboleth introducedin Night Below.

What Are Savant Glyphs?

As the rulers and stewards of the abolethcities, the savant aboleth have evolved acomplex symbolic glyph system they usefor all written communication, trackingmundane matters such as slaves captured,sacrifices offered, and goods harvestedfrom the sea. The same glyphs are used to

record arcane magical lore: the omensand portents of the underground seas, thedivinations of entrails, or the results ofpowerful scryings or enchantments sentagainst the enemies of the aboleth. Overthe course of long ages, this system itselfwas used to manipulate, harness, and bindmagical forces for defensive purposes.

The aboleth�s system of enchanted sym-

90 OCTOBER 1995

bols is a large and highly-developed set ofmagical glyphs, much larger than thesigns, seals, and sigils used to ward tomesand protect valuables in the surfaceworld. These specialized protective glyphsare called savant glyphs; those few sages ofthe surface world who have been privi-leged enough to see such glyphs havedetermined that savant glyphs are, in fact,closely related to glyphs of warding.However, savant glyphs are a much morecomplex and elaborate form of magic;mastering it is a skill separate from nor-mal spell-casting.

Among the dark waters of the abolethcities, the ability to form savant glyphs isrelatively common, and is a mark of statusand power over lesser aboleth. Any savantaboleth that functions as a 7th-level orhigher priest or wizard can create magicalglyphs by psychokinetic force, one glyphper day. Casting time is two turns plus oneturn per additional glyph element (seebelow), so casting glyphs is not likely dur-ing combat. A savant aboleth (or any othercaster) can maintain no more than oneglyph-element per point of Intelligence atany given time.

Savant glyphs come in four categories:simple glyphs, complex glyphs, masterglyphs, and complex master glyphs. Simpleglyphs are identical to glyphs of warding;only two new varieties are presented here.Complex glyphs are similar to glyphs ofwarding, but they combine the effects oftwo or three normal glyphs. For example,a complex glyph might inflict cold damageand also cause paralysis. Master glyphseach count as a three-element glyph forthe purposes of the caster�s glyph limit,and each master glyph has a uniqueeffect, such as enfeeblement (per the ray ofthe same name), extension (which doublesthe range of an aboleth�s dominationpower), or law (which acts as a reversedprayer). Finally, the height of the aboleth�sdevelopment of savant glyphs is the com-plex master glyph, which is discussed ingreater detail below.

Who can use glyphs?

Savant glyphs are created by focussedmental energy; they can be cast by a widerange of creatures, including wizards,priests, and psionicists among the drow,illithids, and kuo-toans. Not all surfacecreatures can cast all glyphs, however; forexample, any 5th-level priest can cast asimple glyph of fire, but certain morepowerful glyphs (such as those that drainenergy levels or slay instantly) requiregreater mastery to invoke. These casterrequirements are indicated in the text;otherwise, treat all savant glyphs as 3rd-level spells or as 10 PSP disciplines (sci-ences for master glyphs).

New Glyphs

All savant glyphs have the basic character-

92 OCTOBER 1995

istics of a glyph of warding unless other-wise indicated in the glyph description.The glyphs must be touched to releasetheir power, and they last until dis-charged.

Simple GlyphsTo cast the most basic savant glyphs, acaster need only be a 5th-level priest withaccess to the Guardian sphere.Alternatively, the caster may be a 7th-levelwizard with access to the abjuration orevocation schools or a 7th-level psionicistwith access to psychokinetic disciplines.

Glyph of Binding: Unless a saving throwvs. spells succeeds, this glyphsummonsmagical tentacles that wrap the victimfrom head to toe, effectively paralyzing thevictim for 1 hour per level of the caster.The victim has one chance to break free; asuccessful Bend Bars/Lift Gates roll shat-ters the magical bonds and ends the bind-ing. However, regardless of armor or mag-ical protections, the bonds are large, slimytentacles that are wound around the vic-tim�s flesh and attached by octopuslikesuckers; by breaking the bonds, the victimtears the suckers from his flesh. Thisinflicts 1d4 hp damage/level of the casteron the victim.

Glyph of True Darkness: Physically, thisglyph manifests its effect just like a dark-ness, 15(FM) radius spell-a globe of dark-ness suddenly appears. However, the cast-er can see normally within the area ofeffect, and the glyph�s magic blocks infrav-ision and all divination spells as well asnormal sight.

Complex GlyphsTo cast complex glyphs, a surface playercharacter must be a 7th-level priest (or a9th-level wizard or psionicist), with accessas described above.

Glyph of Deep Dreams: This glyph com-bines the glyph of enfeeblement with aglyph of sleep (as per the sleep spell); thevictim cannot be awakened except byphysical damage, violent shaking, orextremely loud noise. This glyph is oftenused to prepare sacrifices or to immobi-lize powerful, single opponents.

Glyph of Killing Darkness: This glyphcombines the glyph of true darkness withthe effect of a glyph of cold (1d4 hp dam-age per level of the caster, save for half). Iftriggered underwater, the resulting coldcreates a block of ice five feet in diameter;if the victim�s saving throw fails, he isencased in ice.

Master GlyphsTo form master glyphs, a surface PC mustbe a 10th-level priest or a 12th-level wiz-ard or psionicist.

Glyph of the Breath of Life: When acti-vated, this glyph immediately devours lifeforce from the creature touching it andtransfers that energy to the caster. Theeffect removes 1d4 hp permanently fromthe victim and adds them to the caster�s

total.Glyph of Creeping Horror: This glyph

induces paranoia, fear, and loathing in thevictim, destroying one point of Intelligenceand Wisdom each day and creating feel-ings of goodwill toward the caster; as aresult, the creature feels compelled to staynear the caster (for safety from the name-less terrors that the spells conjures up inthe victim�s mind) and to defend the cast-er against all threats, both real and imag-ined. By the end of spell�s duration, onlythe caster seems trustworthy in the vic-tim�s eyes; the victim dies when eitherability score reaches zero. Savant abolethuse this glyph to create disposable (butcompletely loyal) bodyguards.

Glyph of Enslavement: This glyph has allthe effects of an aboleth�s domination abil-ity, but at a distance (effects are identicalto a domination spell). If the glyph is trig-gered and the victim fails the savingthrow, he falls under the caster�s control;if the saving throw succeeds, there is noeffect.

Once a victim is dominated, the savantwho created the glyph is immediatelyaware of its new slave and its rough direc-tion and distance. The aboleth can imme-diately issue mental commands. Any tele-pathic instruction which is clearly suicidalallows the victims a fresh saving throw vs.spell without penalty.

Because savant aboleths are masters ofenslavement, the saving throw for thisparticular glyph is at -2 when cast by asavant (in addition to the usual -1 forbeing a master glyph); for all other races itis normal.

Vapor Glyph: The vapor glyph acts as apermanent potion of gaseous form; thevictim must make a saving throw vs. spellsor be transformed into a cloud of mistyvapors. This cloud can suffer damagefrom magical weapons and any spells thataffect the air (a gust of wind inflicts dam-age equivalent to fireball). The spell canonly be removed by dispel magic.

Unlike most savant glyphs, the vaporglyph is reversible as the solid glyph. Inthis form, the glyph turns a creature�s skinto stone, often causing it to immediatelysink into the unplumbed depths of anaboleth cavern. Unless the glyph is quicklyremoved, the victim drowns or (if a water-breather) is driven mad by its imprison-ment in its own body.

Glyph of Watching: This glyph is used bythe savants to spy on their enemies; forthis reason, they are often cast at the out-skirts of kuo-toan settlements or drowcaverns. Only the aboleth savants knowthe glyph�s true purpose is not death, butinfiltration.

When a glyph of watching is triggeredand the victim�s saving throw fails, thecaster may see through the victim�s eyes ata range of a number of milesequal to thecaster�s level. The caster also hears what-ever the victim hears. The victim is oftenrelieved that no ill effect occurred, and

may assume that the glyph simply failed.Once activated, the effect lasts for 1 hourper level of the caster.

Complex Master GlyphsGreat savant-aboleth of exceptional mas-tery (18 or higher Wisdom andIntelligence, 10th-level or above as bothpriests and wizards) can create complexmaster glyphs which add an extra elementonto a master glyph (for example, a glyphof enfeeblement which also does colddamage or a glyph of watching that alsoenslaves the victim); these complex masterglyphs still only count as three glyphs forthe purpose of determining the limit, butthey require a full hour to create.

Surface casters have had little successin recreating complex master glyphs. It isbelieved that a 15th-level priest or a 20th-level wizard or psionicist is required toform a complex master glyph; so far, allreports of success are unreliable.

Glyph of Devouring the Mind: Believed tobe an expansion of the glyph of the breathof life, this glyph slowly takes all knowl-edge from the victim�s mind and passes ittelepathically to the glyph�s caster; as aresult, all spells the victim has memorizedbecome accessible to the caster (or maybe written into a spellbook). The victimloses one level per day until death occurs.

Glyph of a Thousand Tentacles: Thisglyph both paralyzes and constricts its tar-

get, then slowly flays its victim�s flesh fromhis bones (1d4 hp damage/turn), resultingin complete liquification of the victim overseveral hours. When the glyph is trig-gered, a large swarm of predators oftengathers nearby, drawn to the blood in thewater. The glyph is most likely a combina-tion of the glyph of binding with anunknown master glyph.

Oddly enough, the glyph of a thousandtentacles is almost never used for wardingand protection. Its primary application isreligious, for it is used in almost all abo-leth sacrifices to the Blood Queen, thedark goddess they all revere. Because ofthe damage done to the victim, creaturesslain in this manner cannot be raisedfrom the dead, but must be resurrected.

Removing Glyphs

Savant glyphs of all kinds can be removedby a successful dispel magic cast againstthe highest level rating for the savant abo-leth or other spellcaster who createdthem. Saving throws are permitted againstthe effects of all these glyphs, but savingthrows against the effects of a masterglyph are made with a -1 penalty; againstcomplex master glyphs the penalty is -2.Only one saving throw is permittedagainst the whole battery of magicaleffects radiated by a complex glyph or acomplex master glyph.

Finding Glyphs

Savant glyphs are among the most closely-held secrets of the savant aboleth, but theycan be stolen, copied, and learned byother races: a few illithid, drow, and kuo-toan wizard/priests have learned some ofthe aboleth�s secrets and use this poweragainst their rivals. Player characters maydo so as well. Any PC who sees or experi-ences the effect of a savant glyph mayreproduce its effect by learning its make-up, researching its magical constructionas if it were a normal 3rd-level spell. Eachglyph seen or felt must be researched sep-arately. Psionicists must learn a single dis-cipline (for simple and complex glyphs) orscience (for master glyphs). Once the gen-eral skill is learned, the psionicist muststill learn each separate glyph (make anIntelligence check at -9 to master anyglyph the psionicist has encountered). Inany case, no creature may form morethan a single glyph per day, no matterwhat its level of skill or mastery.

The easier way to master the savantglyphs is to read the petroglyphs and hid-den writing kept in the strangely phospho-rescent libraries said to exist in the under-ground dome-cities of the aboleth them-selves. Gaining that hoarded knowledge,however, requires great skill, powerfulmagic, and a successful expedition into the black waters of the Underdark

94 OCTOBER 1995

by Gregory W. DetwilerArtwork by John Dollar

From the private memoirs of Major we encountered in the very center of that we were two men short and had to makeGeneral (Ret.) Jared Pembroke-Smythe: damnable swamp country. I dared not do with nine men instead of 11. Not a

reveal it to the world at large, or even my pleasant prospect, especially since the tallThe Burmese War of 1885 was a ghastly superiors, for fear of speedy placement in marsh grass around us could hide any-show all around, God knows. The swampsand fever, along with the crocodiles,

an insane asylum. thing from a horde of swordsmen to aI was only a subaltern then, leading a war elephant with swivel-mounted can-

pythons, leopards, and tigers our troops squad of infantry on a routine patrol near nons on its back.encountered were trouble enough, even the banks of the Irrawaddy, in search of Still, my men were all veterans, andwithout the human dacoits that were our fleeing bandits. Our battalion had just Lance Corporal Tompkins, the only surviv-nominal enemy. But the most hellish stormed one of their stockades the day ing non-commissioned officer, had spentopposition our troops ever faced was what before, with heavy casualties. As a result, years chasing lesser bandit bands before

96 OCTOBER 1995

the war broke out. �Know the swamps likethe back�o me �and, I do,� he said. I wasglad someone did.

We had encountered nothing on ourpatrol, and were about to return to campwhen we heard a loud thrashing severalhundred feet away from us. We took upfiring positions within a small grove oftrees, anticipating an attack by one ormore war elephants. But no attack came,nor were there any sounds that could def-initely be ascribed to an elephant.

The noise coming from the tall grasssounded like a large animal thrashingabout, but it could just as easily have beena water buffalo or a rhinoceros. However,we heard no sounds such as any of thoseanimals commonly give voice to, or anyother cries, for that matter. The noisefinally died down, and after a hasty con-sultation with Tompkins, I decided toinvestigate.

You must understand that the swampcountry along the Irrawaddy was totallywithout rock formations of any sort. Therewas only water-saturated soil beneath ourfeet. How, then, can anyone explain whatwe found? Next to a quarter-acre ofground in which the high grass wassmashed flat there stood a tunnel or cav-ern of solid rock, its mouth gaping widelike a cellar door 10� across.

In the muddy ground beside that cavemouth lay a curious track, like that of anenormous serpent�s belly, yet with smallfootprints right beside them. These printswere not unlike the hands and feet of ahuman being. It was as if a python hadgrown limbs with grotesquely elongatedhands and feet. I shuddered inwardly atthe thought.

With this mystery before us, there was,of course, no thought of turning back. Wewere able to find some branches andlengths of grass dry enough to burn, andwe fashioned them into makeshift torches.Tompkins and I held them, of course, asour privates had to keep both hands freeto use their rifles. Due to the constant pos-sibility of ambush in the tall grass, theirbayonets were already fixed. Once thetorches were lit, we proceeded down thegently sloping tunnel that lay before us.

Inside, the rock construction of the tun-nel was quite solid. Although it was sur-rounded by a swamp, not so much as onedrop of water dripped from the roof. Therewas moisture on the floor, but this wasobviously tracked in by whatever hadentered a short time ago. There was awretched musky odor that we all recog-nized as being similar to that of snakes,and this stench grew stronger the fartherwe progressed.

I was rather glad that I had drawn mysword, rather than the revolver, for myfree hand. Such a weapon would be moreuseful if it came to fighting a writhing,coiling serpent in the semidarkness of thecavern. Tompkins was not so lucky, butthen, he had already proven himself to bea better shot than I.

We must have gone at least 100� beforewe found the first object, barely glinting inthe light of our torches. It was a shortcurved sword, or dha, such as the localnatives used. Part of it seemed to bestained with something that proved to bedried blood, yet the odor it gave off wasnot familiar, not like that of a humanbeing, or indeed, any ordinary animal.

As we advanced farther, we found moresword blades, as well as spearheads, dag-gers, and several badly corroded muskets.There were even several spiked helmetssuch as Burmese troops wear, but no uni-forms or other clothing. Nor were thereany bones or other remains of men oranimals, and we had yet to find any otherclues as to just what sort of creature hadentered this impossible cavern.

We must have traveled over 1,000 yardsdown that single, sloping tunnel before weheard the sound. At first it sounded likethe distant chant of a group of tribesmenat one of their heathen rituals, but thecloser we got to the source, the lesshuman it sounded. Indeed, the sound wasnot made by a human voice but seemed tobe a type of hissing that occurred in rhyth-mic intervals like those of human chants.

As we made our way past more discard-ed equipment, one of the privates acci-dentally kicked a spiked helmet, sending itclattering off into the darkness ahead ofus. Almost immediately, the rhythmic hiss-ing stopped, with an abruptness thatcould only be described as sinister.

We stood still in shocked silence, notknowing whether to go on or retreat.Then we heard the scraping sound ofclaws on rock, and a rustling sound indi-cated that some heavy body was labori-ously hitching its way up the tunnel in ourdirection. The tunnel was still wideenough for the men in my squad to forma double firing line-front rank kneeling,rear rank standing-so we took up ourpositions in haste. This done, we waitedanxiously, peering vainly at the darknessbeyond our little ring of torchlight.

When the thing finally appeared, it tookall our self-control to avoid bolting for thecavern mouth; would that we had. It was awrithing, twisting, coiling mass over 20� inlength, covered with rough gray scales. Thegreat head, larger than that of a horse, wasmostly serpentine in shape, but the elon-gated cranium in back was horribly like adistorted human skull. As it came nearer,we could see that it had hands and feet.There were no limbs per se, just a pair oflong-fingered hands up front and equallymisshapen feet behind, all growing directlyfrom that snakelike torso. The creatureregarded us with glittering yellow eyes for amoment, then gave voice to a hissing roarthat was only partially drowned out when Igave the command for a volley.

Now, a Martini-Henry rifle fires a size-able bullet of soft lead that is quite capa-ble of tearing a man open, and we hadeight of them firing at once, but this thingjust seemed to shrug off the rounds.

Indeed, I hesitate to repeat this, but itseemed as though the creature actuallytook several wounds, but healed them upwithin moments. Then the thing wasupon us, actually hurling itself on the bay-onets set to receive it. I got in one goodblow with my sabre before a lashing tailstroke sent me reeling back.

I landed hard, on my back, and by thetime I was standing again, the battle wasover. The men screamed in agony as theywere slowly crushed or clawed to death.The cries of two of them ceased abruptlywhen the monster sank its fangs intothem. Tompkins was the last to die, tryingto use his torch to force the creature backfar enough for him to squeeze past it. Thebeast simply snatched him up in its jawsand swallowed him whole, torch and all!I staggered to my feet, shaken by the anni-hilation of my entire command. My torch,now lying on the cavern floor, was aboutto go out. Taking advantage of its remain-ing light, I sheathed my sword, pointedmyself toward the exit, and ran for my life.If I had lost my footing even once, it wouldhave been my-end, for I could hear that

Naga: Serpentine HumanDegenerates

Character Rolls AveragesSTR 4d6 + 12 25CON 3d6 11SIZ 4d6+24 35INT 1d6+12 10

POW 6d6 22DEX 3d6+4 13

Weapon Chance DamageBite 70% 3d6 + poison,

equal to thenaga�s CON

Claw 30% 2d6+1d6Coils 60% 3d6+4Tail 45% 3d6+3

Move: 8Hit Points: 23Average Damage Bonus: +3d6Armor: 3 points of scales, in addition tothe naga�s ability to regenerate 3 pointsof damage per round.Spells: Some nagas know 1d3 spells,particularly Contact Chthonian, ContactFlying Polyp, Contact Formless Spawn ofTsathogghua, Call Nyogtha, ContactTsathogghua, and Contact Yig. Most,however, have mentally degenerated toomuch to use conventional magic and arequite content with their formidablephysical abilities in combat.Sanity: It costs 1d10 Sanity points to seea naga (1d3 with a successful Sanity roll).This is because the clear degenerationof the human form is so horrible.Anyone who fails a Sanity roll around anaga is a prime candidate for ophiapho-bia (fear of snakes).

DRAGON 99

ghastly rustling sound behind me all dur-ing my flight. At last I made it out, bendingmy head as I emerged to spare my eyesthe worst of the tropical sunlight thatgreeted me so abruptly, and I ran for theedge of the trampled space.

On the very edge of the jungle, Istopped to catch my breath, drawing myrevolver as I did so. And as I rested, thething loomed up out of the darkness,framed in the very mouth of the cavern,blinking in the harsh sunlight. I raised mypistol, but instead of firing, I began totremble.

Now that the thing was standing still inbroad daylight as its eyes adjusted to thesun, I was able to study it in some detail.The scales did not greatly resemble thoseon pythons or other snakes, or on any ofthe many other reptiles I had seen in yearsof service in Asia and Australia. In fact, theyreminded me of nothing so much as thescales I had seen on a type of opossum thatlived in Australia. The implication, there-fore, was that this great monster might notbe a reptile, but rather a mammal.

My roving eyes discerned other details.The creature�s hands and feet obviouslyprovided little or no aid to movement,though the hands were furnished withgreat hooked claws for tearing prey. Theylooked so damnably like distorted humanextremities that I looked away from them.

That was a mistake, for my attentionwas now centered on the monster�s head.Its eyes narrowed to mere yellow slits as itpeered at me in the sunlight. It was all tooplainly displaying an intelligent interest inme, precisely as a hostile human oppo-nent might have done. When my gaze cen-tered on the shape of its skull again, it nolonger seemed distorted; rather, itslengthening seemed to be the result of anatural process. My blood turned cold as Irealized the truth: the monster�s ancestorshad once been men!

Whisperings from my subconsciousseemed to echo in my ears, half-forgottensnippets of native lore I had overheardsince coming to Burma. The savagesspoke in hushed tones of the naga,half-man and half-serpent, a great beingof powerful magic. My heart sank as Irealized how accurate the old legends hadbeen, the legends my brother officers andI had laughed off with the arrogant folly ofwhich only civilized man is capable. Farbeyond fear for myself was a deeper ter-ror for the fate of my entire race. If mancould fall so low from his high estateonce, why may he not do so again, or sinkeven deeper in the future?

The gorged creature evidently decidedthat further pursuit of me would not beworth the trouble, and after regarding mewith what can only be described as con-tempt, it gave a hissing wheeze andturned back into the darkness.

Thoroughly demoralized, I staggeredback to camp. I was no longer able to holdin my heart any emotion but bleakestdespair for the fate of the human race.

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Naga: Lesser Independent RaceThe nagas are the degenerate descendantsof a humanoid race, possibly akin to theserpent people, who live in undergroundcaverns ranging from Great Britain to theAmerican West, and who are variouslyreferred to as �fairies� �the people of thedark,� and �the worms of the earth.� Thesehideous folk were once surface-dwellers,but they retreated underground after los-ing a series of wars against more normalhumans (Indians in America and Picts inBritain). The stunted folk dwelt in the nar-rowest caverns, the better to evade pur-suit, and as the millennia went by, theyevolved more and more in keeping withtheir chosen environment.

Living the life of a serpent, thesedescendants of the original refugeesdeveloped scaly skin and fangs to resistthe rigors of the environment and helpthem catch prey. At first, they maintaineda semblance of their old civilizationunderground. Some still do, but as timewent by, more and more of them com-pletely reverted to a purely animal way oflife.

Shunned by their former kin, they com-peted with them for limited resources,gradually developing adaptations that gavethem an advantage. Whereas their ances-tors and competitors were small, theygrew large. They eventually saw theirlimbs atrophy, with only the hands andfeet remaining. Growing narrower so as tobetter fit in the slender tunnels, they tookthe form of true serpents at last. Now theyinhabit cavern complexes the world over,though they are generally known only bytheir Asian name: nagas.

The size of the largest anaconda orpython, a naga is a formidable opponentin combat. It has powerful jaws with greatcurving fangs, from which drip a lethalpoison. Though its feet are more or lessuseless, its hands have developed hugehooked claws with which it can hold andtear prey. As a result of millennia of com-petition with its poisonous kin, it is nowimmune to all poisons. It can twine itselfaround an opponent and truly crush himto death-not merely suffocating him-inan instant, and its tail is a lethal whip.

As a final defense, it has modified therace�s innate magic ability to give itself thepower to regenerate all battle damage atthe rate of three points per round. Thisincludes damage from fire as well as nor-mal weapons. However, electricity, magic,and acid all do normal damage, whichmust be healed at normal rates.

Although nagas have kept their eyes�no one knows why-they rely on othersenses in darkness or underground.Having evolved a regular telepathic senseafter living so long in the dark, they canunerringly find prey under any condi-tions. Darkness, fog, smoke, and evenmagical illusions are totally useless as pro-tection from a naga on the hunt.

Because they are larger than theirancestors, nagas are more likely to travel

to the surface in search of food, and theirrampages in Europe have given rise to leg-ends of legless dragons such as the guivre.They are not restricted to areas wherecaverns lead to the earth�s surface, foranother innate magic ability enables anaga to construct its own tunnel of stoneto the surface whenever it wishes to huntin an area where no connecting cavernsexist.

Depending on how long the naga wish-es to hunt, such tunnels stay in place foranywhere from a single hour to a week.If a party of investigators follows a nagadown a tunnel thus created, and the beastthen dispels it (as it may well do to trapthe party), they will be stranded in the cav-erns of the inner earth. They must eitherfind a surface-leading passage or wait fora naga or other being to create a tunnel orother magical means of travel. Most likely,however, they will simply die.

Adventure IdeasDespite its purely Asian name, the serpen-tine naga is found around world, and assuch, can be a recurring menace for aninvestigating party that wishes to explorethe darkest caverns of the earth. Manyserpentine monsters of legend, such asthe legless wyrms of Europe, the amphis-baenae of ancient Greece, and the arkarooof Australia may all be explained by thepresence of nagas.

As a candidate for a �monster on therampage,� a naga is better than most, asany investigators who pursue it down atunnel of its own making may promptlyfind themselves cut off from the surfaceand all human aid. This, in turn, can leadto a fascinating adventure of cavern explo-ration, as the investigators try to reach thesurface before they run out of food,ammunition, and other essentials.

If you like nagas but don�t want them tobe star performers, you can throw themat the party in a recurring role as lessermonsters. The investigators can constantlystumble upon them while exploring vari-ous underground regions such as blue-lit-ten K�n-Yan and black-litten N�Kai beneathit, a possible underground temple dedicat-ed to the likes of Nyogtha or Tsathogghua,or a passage leading to one of the laststrongholds of the flying polyps.

New SpellContact Naga: This spell must be cast atthe mouth of a cavern where one or morenagas live. The artificial tunnels created bythe strange beings themselves are ideal (ifthey are still standing when the spell iscast). Due to the race�s hatred of light, thespell must be used on an overcast day or(preferably) at night. One naga will comein response to the summons. The spellcosts three magic points and 1d3 Sanitypoints to cast.

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Running ScaredContinued from page 84

players actually afraid of something.Reversing the above scenario, how

would the hero react if he woke up onemorning to discover that the world hadforgotten him? If the effect centered onjust one person, even an NPC as impor-tant as the character�s spouse or boss, itmight be branded a villainous plot andcountered by the tried-and-true methodof finding the scoundrel responsible andbeating him up. But what if absolutelyeveryone-his lover, his contacts, themedia, the person he thought was hissidekick, even villains-claimed never tohave heard of the hero? Or if they allswore that superheroes simply didn�t exist(in which case the hero might contact hissidekick�s secret identity, who�d have norecollection of ever having been a super-hero)?

Amnesia this widespread could point toa number of frightening possibilities: A vil-lain could have placed mind-controldevices in orbit, the hero could have beentransported to an alternate reality, or,scariest of all, the hero could really be suf-fering from delusions and might end upinstitutionalized if he doesn�t tone downhis �irrational� activities. The GM shouldcarefully play up the confusion betweenthese different possibilities, leading thehero to spend as much time desperatelylooking for another unaffected person tovalidate his memories as he does search-ing for a villain to punch out.

The shift from normal to abnormaldoesn�t have to be a sudden one. It couldstart with a few close friends or partnersof the hero acting increasingly strangeover the course of a week or two, and asthe level of aberrant behavior increases,so too does the number of people exhibit-ing it. Absent-mindedness could give wayto forgetfulness that requires the unaffect-ed hero in the center of it all to try tomake others remember, which could thenadvance into the full-fledged amnesiadescribed above. In this scenario, the heroshould be unable to slow the progress ofthe condition before it becomes nearlyuniversal, leading to a desperate quest tofind the cause of the amnesia before hebecomes the last remaining �sane� personon the planet.

And Finally. . . Death

While a true hero is always willing to laydown his life if necessary, the averageplayer is less willing to lay down the life ofhis PC. This is especially true in super-hero gaming; death is much more rareand potentially permanent in a game fea-turing stun points and extra costs forlethal attack forms than in a typical fanta-sy campaign with pointy weapons aplentyand resurrection magic almost as com-mon. Therefore, threats to the life of a PC

116 OCTOBER 1995

are much more frightening to players ofthis genre than in most others.

Unfortunately, it takes more than apowerful villain with a death ray to fright-en superhero players. They know how dif-ficult it is to kill heroes and the rarity ofsuch events in the comic book genre. Sohow does a GM credibly threaten a PCsuperhero with death? The key is in thedifference between �I�m gonna kill you�and �You are going to die.� It�s easy for avillain to make grandiose threats and justas easy for the heroes (and players) to dis-regard them. But a statement of the fact ofthe hero�s impending demise, especiallyone coming from a neutral source, has adifferent effect. It actually seems like apossibility, and that upsets the player.

One possible way to give a player char-acter a believable death sentence is with amedical examination that follows bouts ofintense pain whenever the hero uses hispowers. Of course, the prognosis is termi-nal. The progression of the incurable sick-ness ravaging the hero�s body could belinked directly to the use of his powers;thus, he can extend his life by restrictingtheir use (see �But Even With All MyPowers..,� above). The GM might then pre-sent scenarios that ask the hero to makefull use of his abilities in a selfless sacrifice.

A more immediate (and thus, moreintensely emotional) method of convincingthe player of his PC�s impending doom is touse a mystic premonition (from a seer, aninexplicable time warp, or a portentousdream) to present an image of the dead ordying hero. The vision doesn�t have to befrom a particularly reputable source tohave an immediate impact, but if thesource is reliable-a seer with a trackrecord or even a dream (players seem totrust whatever comes out of their charac-ters� head)�the horror is just that muchmore believable.

Beyond the sheer shock value of havinga hero see his own death, the GM canincrease the suspense with proper pacing.The simplest timing trick is to have thePC�s death premonition occur at the endof one play session but delay the resolutionof the adventure until the next session (inother words, �continued next issue!�).Thus, the player spends time broodingabout the implications of the vision beforehe can actually do anything about it.

A more involved method requires tak-ing the premonitions from the innocuousto the obvious. Escalating premonitionsover the course of an adventure from�something�s funny� to �something�swrong� to �something very bad is going tohappen� to a full-fledged death vision canwork better than the one-shot premoni-tion. The repetition builds tension andprepares the player for an out-of-the-ordi-nary encounter-one he might laugh offin a more matter-of-fact presentation.

To make the strangeness more appar-ent, let the victim have the vision even if(or because) he has no mystic precognitive

powers. A helpful NPC mystic can pointout that nonmystics sometimes developsuch powers when in a strong presence ofdeath. The strange nature of the premoni-tion can be heightened with incidentalevents: cats, dogs, and police horses shyaway from a doomed PC, people withmystic senses seem to see his dead imageflicker across his face, and so on.

The hero doesn�t actually have to diefor the premonition to scare the playerand the PC. But if the GM ever wants touse such a threat credibly in the future,letting a hero �off the hook� makes thenext threat that much less impressive. Onthe other hand, if the GM does carrythrough with a death threat (killing one ofthe PCs after a build-up and some intenseplaying sessions), the players will have anidea of what to expect (correctly or not)the next time they sense the same sort ofbuild-up taking place. They�ll tend topsych themselves out trying to figure outwhich PC is doomed and what might bedone to circumvent it, doing half of theGM�s work for him. Of course, frighteningadventures must be an uncommon occur-rence for them really to work, and thedeath of a PC must be rare to avoid beingseen as boring or unfair by the players.

A less personal (and thus, unfortunate-ly, less intense) way to bring death to agame is to kill NPC heroes. This is safeenough if it stops at the NPC level, but itcan also become a threat to the playercharacters if the NPC hero�s death is onlythe start of a chain of violence leading tothe PCs. For example, a powerful villainescapes from prison and promises to killeveryone who ever crossed him, includingthe PCs, other superheroes, and a long listof ordinary people: police, attorneys,judges, ex-girlfriends, and so on. Thethreat becomes even more disturbing ifthe dead NPC hero was ostensibly morepowerful than the PC who finds himselfnext in line. And if the dead hero was thePC�s idol or mentor, he was probably alsoquite important to the PC-more impor-tant than a generic NPC superhero creat-ed solely to be bumped off during anadventure.

A Bit of Bite

Just as the occasional light-hearted come-dy adventure can relieve the tension of arelentlessly dark or serious superherocampaign, injecting a little fear into thelives of the players and characters in anotherwise carefree, four-color actioncampaign can give it just enough bite tomake it seem real, in a bigger-than-lifesort of way.

* indicates a product produced by a company otherthan TSR, Inc.

CreditContinued from page 86

ring of human influence will eventually bebroken. In both cases, the PCs will proba-bly decide to wait it out.

Instead, the magical item should allowthe villain to travel, acquire information,or commit mischief in a way he nevercould before, with no danger of everentering combat. A ring of invisibility is anobvious possibility. Others may include:eyes of the eagle, a hat of disguise, a helmof telepathy, a helm of teleportation, amedallion of ESP, a mirror of mentalprowess, a ring of x-ray vision, a robe ofblending, a rod of security, or oil of ethere-alness. (Be extremely careful about givingthe villain a ring of multiple wishes.)

The DM should feel free to improve themagical items to enhance their combat-avoidance value. The eyes of the eagle, forexample, could have x-ray vision built in,so the villain need never get close enoughto be spotted by the PCs. Alternatively, thehelm of teleportation might operate auto-matically under certain conditions, whisk-ing the villain to safety the instant any dan-ger presents itself.

Whatever the choice, however, the villainshould have only one magical item.Compensating for a lack of attacks and hitdice with an arsenal of magical itemsstrains credibility, in addition to cheapen-ing the items themselves. In every cam-paign magical items should tend to end up

in the possession of characters or mon-sters of an appropriate power level, if onlybecause intelligent monsters and NPCscovet magic and see such items used by�weak� characters to be easy pickings. The0-level villain may be able to keep one mag-ical item a secret, but more than thatwould surely attract a swarm of magic-seekers.

8. CreditThis device is saved for last because it ispotentially the most powerful of the eight.Here, one or more of the heroes is indebt-ed to the villain, and the obligation itself�whether by law or honor-gives the villainhis power.

With this device, the villain need neverbreak the law, expend his own resources,or place himself in jeopardy in order toendanger the PCs. Instead, they do it tothemselves, just to repay the debt. Forexample, if the heroes owe the villain adebt of service, he can send them on anyimpossible mission imaginable, includingone that may take years to complete. Ifthey owe him money, on the other hand,they�ll have to go adventuring just to getthe gold to pay him back-and they�d bet-ter hurry, because the interest is piling up.

DMs who wish to use this device may beable to create a situation wherein the PCsplace themselves in the villain�s debt. Forexample, the local temple may charge anexorbitant sum to cast raise dead on a fall-en paladin, and there may be only one

person in town who can loan the PCs thatkind of money-take it or leave it.

Or perhaps one of the PCs inherits a debtfrom a dead relative who was not so conser-vative with his financial commitments. Debtinheritance may be the law of the land, orthe character may follow a code thatincludes responsibility to and for the family.

From there, the debt becomes muchlike any other law (see �The Law,� above).For lawful PCs, the mere existence of thedebt should be enough to commit them torepaying it. However, if neutral or chaoticheroes feel justified in defaulting-partic-ularly if they feel taken advantage of--thevillain may alert the local constabulary.Depending on the letter of the law, theheroes may find themselves facingdebtor�s prison or enforced servitude.They may even watch their prized posses-sions confiscated as payment to the villain!

If the villain truly hates the PCs, he willrevel in being their creditor. As a result, theheroes should be ready for him to pull des-perate, underhanded maneuvers if theyever seem likely to repay the debt in full.For example, while on their way to deliverthe final payment, the heroes may findthemselves ambushed by a troop of armedmen. The knaves may be bandits greedy forgold, but they�re more likely the villain�shirelings, come to ensure that the debt isn�tcleared. At least, not until the PCs go on oneor two more life-threatening adventures forthe villain.

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120 OCTOBER 1995