D R A G O N 1

12 20

4 3

PublisherMike Cook

Editor-in-ChiefKim Mohan

Editorial staffPatrick Lucien Price

Roger Moore

Art director and graphicsRoger Raupp

SubscriptionsIrene Swan

AdvertisingMary Parkinson

Contributing editorsEd Greenwood

Katharine Kerr

This issue�s contributing artistsDean Morrissey

Larry ElmoreBob Maurus

Roger RauppJim Holloway

Marvel BullpenDavid TrampierJoseph PillsburyRichard Tomasic

Lance FosterEdward Wagner

SPECIAL ATTRACTION

43 Valley of the Earth Mother � Designed by Lise BreakeyAn AD&D® game adventure for 4th-6th level player characters

OTHER FEATURES

8 Realms of role playing � Gary GygaxIn favor of a different style of gaming: less

12 All about the gully dwarf � Roger E. MooreThe lowest rung on Krynn�s demi-human totem pole

20 A collection of canines � Stephen InnissChanges and additions to the AD&D world�s roster of dogdom

30 Nine wands of wonder � Ed GreenwoodDistinctive new magic items from the Realms

38 Now that�s firepower! � Desmond P. VaradyMachine guns and missile launchers for TOP SECRET® play

56 Creating a cast of NPCs �Jim DuttonHow to populate your campaign world quickly

58 Passing in the Night � Rob ChilsonA story of combat in outer space with an unseen enemy

DEPARTMENTS

3 Letters4 World Gamers

acting and more action

and coherently

Guide86 Convention calendar88 Gamers� Guide

92 Dragonmirth94 Snarfquest

6 The forum 90 Wormy

COVER�The Pillage of Tantlin� is another in a long line of paintings we�ve published thatillustrate the imagination and artistic skill of Dean Morrissey, who�s being doing art-work for us since these gnomes were knee-high to a kobold. What will the guy in theforeground do when he runs out of rocks to step on? Well, he�ll cross that bridge whenhe comes to it. . . .

2 OCTOBER 1985

Training a-gainDear Dragon:

There was a sort-of omission in �Only trainwhen you gain� (issue #97). I liked the article;however, there was a question that arose in mymind after reading it: How does a character gainlevels between those periodic training sessions?

Kirk ThierbachNovi, Mich.

If you accept the premise of the article andwant to use the system it sets forth, then you haveto abandon the concept of �between levels� at thetimes when training is not mandated. All that�srequired for a character to gain a level in such acase is to simply amass the requisite number ofexperience points. However, experience pointsearned during an adventure are generally notactually awarded by the DM until the adventureis over, when accumulated points are doled out toeach member of the party This prevents a char-acter (and properly so) from going up a level inthe middle of an adventure, and does build insome sort of �between levels� period � even ifit�s only to get a good night�s sleep and stock upon supplies before heading out again.

Is this fair to a character who starts a longadventure needing only a few points to make thenext level? Well, maybe not � but who said thenext adventure had to be a long one? It might bepossible, and would certainly be in the bestinterests of the party, to undertake a brief expedi-tion intended to earn enough points to boost thecharacter to the next higher level.

No matter how you handle this, the rule in theDMG should still apply: Once a character hasaccumulated enough points to qualify for the nexthigher level, he is not able to officially record anymore XP until that level is actually attained � inother words, until the acquisition of the new levelis officially logged between adventures. � KM

No set plansDear Editor,

My friends and I are very interested in DRA-gonchess (issue #100), and we are wondering if aset will soon be on sale in hobby shops or otherstores.

Greg Della RoccaCastleton, N. Y.

I�m sorry to report that, as of this writing, Iknow of no plans to produce Dragonchess for saleas a separate product. We talked about it whenthe rules were being produced for publication in#100, but decided pretty quickly that we wouldn�tbe able to have the board and the pieces manufac-tured for anything less than a small fortune �which means we�d have to charge you a medium-sized fortune to buy it.

To do it right (which is, I hope, the only waywe would consider doing it), we�d have to include84 specially designed metal miniatures � andyou know what it costs to buy one or two figures.

(The figures we used to assemble our playtest setwould have cost more than $100 if they werepurchased individually) We�d have to producecomponents for a board that would be both bigand strong. (The ¼-inch plexiglass we used foreach board level seemed like it would be sturdyenough, but it developed a permanent sag in themiddle when all the pieces were arrayed on it.And the raw materials we used for our board costabout $25 � not including the cutting that had tobe done and the holes that had to be drilled.)

Of course, it would be possible to mass-produce playing pieces and board components forsubstantially less than what it cost to make ourplaytest set. But I think we�d still be talking abouta product that would carry a pretty hefty pricetag. . . too hefty, I fear, for us to consider foistingon you. � KM

The missing numberDear Editor,

I began reading DRAGON �way back in issue#64. Recently I was sorting through my stack ofissues and discovered something strange. Issue#65 bore the marking �Vol. VII, No. 4� whileissue #64 was labeled as �Vol. VII, No. 2.�

Whatever became of �Vol. VII, No. 3,� anddoes this revelation go down as the longest undis-covered mistake in the history of the magazine?

Matt BandyCortez, Colo.

By the way you worded your final question,Matt, I think you already know what became ofVol. VII, No. 3. We goofed up the numberingsequence when we made the transition from Vol.VI to Vol. VII, and since we couldn�t go back intime and fix the mistake, we did the next bestthing and corrected the numbering in #65 byskipping a digit.

No, this isn�t the ��longest undiscovered mis-take,� because it�s not undiscovered any more.For the record, the oldest mistake we�ve evermade that hasn�t yet been noticed was back in. . . naaah, that would be telling. � KM

London paradoxDear Dragon,

I really enjoyed �The City Beyond the Gate�(issue #100). I did notice, however, that oneminor detail was not included. Since it must beadmitted that the AD&D game exists in Londonon June 1, 1985, and it is readily available, it isnot possible for PCs to find and read AD&Dproducts such as the Players Handbook? Thiswould definitely result in confusion, fear, oridentity crisis. A very touchy situation indeed!Please comment.

Matthew MorseSt. Paul, Minn.

Okay. . . . If the PCs decide to make a side tripto the nearest game store, roll percentile dice and

Is the pressdoing its best?

You�d think that after all these years,newspaper journalists would have a bettergrasp of the subject they�ve been covering� you know, the thing that�s looselyreferred to as the �D&D phenomenon.�

It bothers me more than a little bit toread (as I did a couple of weeks ago) anewspaper account of a GEN CON®convention that was obviously written bysomeone who didn�t really know what hewas covering before he went and didn�tmake a wholehearted effort to understandwhat was going on once he got there. Ittroubles me to see photo coverage limitedto a group shot of the people who enteredthe convention�s costume contest, whichimplies that you have to dress up like adruid, a wizard, or a half-orc to get in thedoor.

Has anyone ever taken pictures of abunch of normally dressed people sittingaround a table having fun playing thegame? Has anyone with any experience inplaying the game and the ability to de-scribe it accurately ever been assigned tocover a convention, or does the duty al-ways go to the guy who loses the coin flip?

Or is it possible that conventions aresometimes covered by knowledgeablereporters who write good stories, only tohave them watered down by an editor whoassumes people won�t understand, or careto know about, the details? (I�ve beenboth a reporter and an editor. Believe me,it happens.)

For obvious reasons, those of us whomake our livings in the gaming industrywant the public to understand and appre-ciate what we do and the products wemake. Sure, I�ve got a vested interest inwanting news coverage of conventions tobe more informative and less superficial.But I also care about the principle in-volved here. The public does have a rightto know, and people are smarter and moreinquisitive than the press sometimesthinks they are.

If you have kept a newspaper storyabout a game convention, or anything elseinvolving role-playing games, that youconsider an example of accurate and thor-ough coverage, please send me a copy ofit, I�ll give credit where credit is due in afuture column, and I�ll even eat my wordsif that seems like an appropriate thing todo. It sure wouldn�t be the first time that�shappened. . . .

D R A G O N 3

consult the following table:01 � The AD&D game is so popular that all

the rule books are sold out.02-00 � Either roll again, or forget you ever

read this letter. � KM

DragonchessTo the readers.

mistakes have come to light that are downright

We expected that people would have questionsabout Dragonchess, and we were right. Some of

humiliating for this Embarrassed Editor to admit.

the rules weren�t expressed as clearly as theycould have been, apparently, and a couple of

Here�s a rundown of answers that should clear upmost people�s confusion:

The numerical prefixes in the �Notation and

terminology� section should have been given as 3(upper board), 2 (middle board), and 1 (lowerboard) to be consistent with the usage throughoutthe rest of the article. Even though this was themost embarrassing mistake, it was fortunatelyalso easy to figure out . . . wasn�t it?

The list of pieces given in the section under�Setting up� does not mention that each side hastwo Thieves.

Dragon cannot move to a square on the upperboard and capture a piece on the middle board inone continuous action, which means that a piecein jeopardy beneath the Dragon has an opportu-nity to get away. Only one piece can be captured

The Dragon�s �capture from afar� ability leftsome people up in the air. This capturing abilityonly applies to the square directly beneath theDragon, plus the four squares horizontally andvertically adjacent to that square. A capture fromafar can only be made as a move unto itself; the

from afar on a single move.Now, down to the lower board. The Basilisk

cannot �freeze� an opposing piece that movesthrough the square above it; the freezing poweronly applies to a piece that occupies that squareor is moved into it. The Elemental�s move be-tween boards was described as a two-step processonly to emphasize the fact that the intermediatesquare it moves through must be empty in orderfor the Elemental to be able to move in thisfashion; this was not meant to imply that themove between boards is actually two separatemoves that must be taken on successive turns.

We�re in the process of collecting observationsabout strategy and tactics and hope to eventuallycombine them into a followup article, perhapsincluding scores from exciting or interestinggames that you�ve been involved in. Keep shar-ing your thoughts with us, and help us make thegame as good as it can be. � KM

The World Gamers GuideIf you live outside the continental

United States and Canada, you can beincluded in the World Gamers Guide bysending your name and full address, plusyour gaming preferences, to WorldGamers Guide, DRAGON® Magazine,P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147USA.

Abbreviations in parentheses after aname indicate games in which that per-son is especially interested:AD = AD&D® game; DD = D&D®game; CC = CALL OF CTHULHU®game; DQ= DRAGONQUEST� game;

Leo Arceo (AD, GW, TS)34 S. BatacB.F. Homes, Exec. VillageParanaque, Metro Manila,Philippines

Jorge Barriobero (DD, TS)Serrano 2728001 MadridSpain

Simon Benz (TS, R)89 Head St.Alice Springs, Northern Terr.5750 Australia

Tilmann SteinbergEinener Str 604410 Warendorf 31 EinenWest Germany

GW = GAMMA WORLD® game;MSH = MARVEL SUPER HEROES�game; SF = STAR FRONTIERS®game; TS = TOP SECRET® game;T = TRAVELLER® game;RQ = RUNEQUEST® game;R = RINGWORLD� game; ST = STARTREK�: The Role-Playing Game. Forspace considerations, only the first threepreferences given can be printed.

The World Gamers Guide is intendedfor the benefit of gamers who live outsidethe continental United States and Can-ada, in areas where nearby gamers are

Janice Anson (AD,CC,RQ41 Marston AvenueHopewell Farm EstateMorleyLeeds LS27 0RSYorkshireEngland

David Wong08-06 Lion Towers2 Essex Rd.Republic of Singapore

Sebastian Welsh35 Munro StreetBaulkham Hills 2153N.S.W., Australia

Warren Hately49 Stoneville Rd.Stoneville 6554Western AustraliaAustralia

Anthony Cabebe31 W. WaipulaniKihei HI 96753U.S.A.

Paul Pujol (AD)11 Rutland StreetHamiltonNew Zealand

small in number or non-existent, as away for them to contact other game-players who would be interested in cor-responding about the activities that theyenjoy. Unfortunately, we cannot extendthis service to persons who live in remoteareas of the U.S. or Canada, or to U.S.military personnel with APO or FPOaddresses. Each eligible name and ad-dress that we receive will be published inthree consecutive issues of DRAGON®Magazine; to be listed for more thanthree issues, you must send in anotherpostcard or letter.

Christian Raute (AD,SF,GW)Calle 126 A #24A-54Apt. 202Bogota, ColombiaSouth America

Robbie Gates (AD,DD,T)5 Alma StreetPymble 2076NSWAustralia

Ralph Schimpl (DD)Tautenhayngasse 3/3/291150 ViennaAustria

Cesar Diaz Ramos (AD,DD,GW)190 Hostos B 543Hato Rey PR 00918

DRAGON® Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is published monthly by TSR, Inc. The mailing address for all material except subscription orders is DRAGON Magazine, P.O. Box 110, LakeGeneva WI 53147, the business telephone number is (414) 248-3625. DRAGON Magazine is available at hobby stores and bookstores t hroughout the United States and Canada, andthrough a limited number of overseas outlets. Subscription rates via second-class mail are as follows: $30 in U.S. funds for 1 year (12 issues) sent to an address in the U.S., $36 in Canadianfunds for 1 year (12 issues) sent to an address in Canada. Payment in full must accompany all subscription orders Methods of payment include checks or money orders made payable to TSR,Inc., or charges to valid MasterCard or VISA credit cards. Send subscription orders with payments to: TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 72089, Chicago IL 60678. A limited quantity of back issues areavailable from the TSR mail order department, P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva WI 53147. For a copy of the current catalog listing available back issues, write to the mail order department at theabove address The issue of expiration of each subscription is printed on the mailing label for each subscriber�s copy of the magazine. Changes of address for the delivery of subscription copiesmust be received at least six weeks prior to the effective date of the change in order to assure uninterrupted delivery. All material published in DRAGON Magazine becomes the exclusiveproperty of the publisher, unless special arrangements to the contrary are made prior to publication. DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited submissions of written material and artwork,however, no responsibility for such submissions can be assumed by the publisher in any event. Any submission accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient size will bereturned if it cannot be published.

DRAGON is a registered trademark for the monthly adventure playing aid published by TSR, Inc. All rights to the contents of this publication are reserved, and nothing may be repro-duced from it in whole or in part without first obtaining permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright ©1985 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Second-class postage paid at Lake Geneva, Wis., and additional mailing offices Postmaster. Send address changes to TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147.USPS 318-790, ISSN 0279-6848

4 OCTOBER 1985

In issue #99, Dave Godwin�s exceptional article�History of a game that failed� posed a question:�Who let this guy have all that stuff?� It shouldhave read: �Who let the melee be run that in-competently?�

First of all, being blasted by red dragon breathdid more than �just� 33 points of damage. All ofhis items must save vs. fireball (p. 80, DMG) ormelt, burn up, etc. Under �Saving Throw Modi-fiers,� Mr. Gygax writes: �You may assign modi-fiers to saving throws as you see fit, alwayskeeping in mind game balance.� So all three ofhis rings (being soft, magical metal) need a 16 tosave. They melt. His girdle, being leather (or so Iwould rule), needs an 11. It, too, fails. Keepingin mind game balance, his plate mail �just hap-pens� to fail. (Let�s just say his god is punishinghim.)

Our arrogant friend is now AC 1, wielding a+3 hammer doing at most 17 damage. If hesticks around for another round, his portablehole, helm of teleportation, hammer, and shieldwill fail their saves. Next round, it�s his life. Butremember, magic items are worth more thancharacters� lives. After all, you can�t resurrectthat armor, and making foolish characters livewithout magic is torture. Take out the magic asan alternative to their lives (unless all else fails).

I have found that many DMs don�t use all ofthe powers at the monster�s disposal. If they donot do this, characters are getting XP for victory/treasure they don�t deserve, and this is wherecampaign imbalance begins.

Each DM knows which magic items will andwill not work in his campaign. Any monster,played correctly with all of its powers utilized,poses a threat and will never be an easy kill.Making each encounter unique and distinct is thestuff that good campaigns are made of.

Dan FejesAurora, Ohio

* * * *

I can�t agree at all with Frank Mentzer�sjustifications for a druid/ranger; whatever ration-ale he may offer, druids are neutral and rangersare good � the two mix like oil and water. I�llgrant that a druid/ranger would be a naturalcombination if rangers were neutral or druidswere good. But they aren�t, and no amount ofrationalization will make them compatible.

Since we�re dealing with a fantasy game, thereare only a few essential criteria by which we needjudge a change or addition to the rules: It mustincrease the fun of the game, or at least notdiminish it; it must be internally consistent andreadily comprehensible to those who use it, thuspromoting the �willing suspension of disbelief�;and, finally, it must fit smoothly within the milieuof the game as a whole, lest it stand out like abotched chord in a sonata � a real clinker.

I�m sure the druid/ranger would be fun. Anynew and highly powerful class would certainly bea blast to play, at least for a while. But I fear thatthe druid/ranger fails the rest of the test. It is anoddball because of its alignment conflicts. Theattempt to explain it is clumsy and does not makethe class any more believable. For example,

6 OCTOBER 1985

reread the section wherein Frank tries to explainhow a ranger can be neutral in regard to Nature(and when is he not in Nature, really?) and goodfrom the point of view of civilization (which is stilla part of Nature). No, this won�t do. In the end,his exercise in mental gymnastics only succeeds inbefuddling the reader.

It is much easier to justify a continuing separa-tion between druids and rangers, while stillallowing rangers to use druidic magic. To wit:The gods created the ranger to protect the civi-lized peoples from the depradations of creaturesboth monstrous and mundane that reside in thewildlands. His task involves spending much timealone in hostile country, and so they granted theranger special powers to enhance his ability tosurvive and carry out his mission. Among thesepowers was the ability to learn and cast low-leveldruidic spells, an ability which does fit in logicallywith the class and its mission.

But why were the druidic spells kept at a lowlevel? I think a simple answer lies in the align-ment difference between rangers and druids. Thegods who rule Nature recognized that rangersserve their purposes to a degree: by battling thecreatures of evil, the rangers help to restore thebalance. And so it was natural for them to grantrangers some druidic spells.

On the other hand, rangers are committed togood, a commitment which is only a little lessstrong than a paladin�s, if at all. Since rangers arethus dedicated to upsetting the balance of goodvs. evil, it is not in the interests of these gods toallow rangers to actually become druids; to do sowould be to place them into competition with thegods� own servitors, the pure neutral druids.

We may therefore understand why druids andrangers may cooperate, for they often havecompatible interests. But we must recognize thattheir goals may also conflict. In essence, to createa druid/ranger multi-class is to create a class witha massive, inherent internal contradiction. Itsimply isn�t believable.

Anthony RaganLos Angeles, Calif.

* * * *

Reading the letter from Brian McCaskill inissue #100 brought back many memories of myown not-so-humble beginning in the world ofAD&D gaming. In response to his concludingquestion: If the letter had been printed a monthearlier, I would be able to identify myself as onewho had not role-played in almost a year.

Being a fellow �victim� of Monty-Haulism(which I think, unfortunately, is the cause formost role-playing dropouts), Brian�s letterprompted me to write this letter to make a pointthat I think should be made, and made veryfirmly. I strongly believe, since it has held true formyself and apparently Brian, that it would be inthe best interest of the fighter, elf, or whatever inyou former Monty Haulers to start playing again.

All of you people who haven�t role-played inseveral months: Go out and find people to playwith today!

The most important thing to realize (as Brian,myself, and undoubtedly many others have) is:

There is life after Monty Haul! Play it to thefullest!

Carl SeglemEl Paso, Tex.

* * * *

The situation described in Brian McCaskill�sletter is almost too close to mine to be believed. Istarted in this game in the 5th grade (I�m in the10th now) but it didn�t catch on as the �cool�thing to do with the people in my school until the7th grade. My school has electives (as fun classes)and one of the teachers offered the game tostudents as a choice. I chose another electivebecause I got my gaming in with a group offriends, and there was another activity I wantedto be involved in. I am glad I didn�t take theelective, because the game turned out to be anemporium for +7 swords and more powerfularmor (this world would have run out of dragonswithin the week, honest).

I must admit I was caught up in this some-what. The thought of being able to smash 30 or40 orcs gets very appealing when your 1st levelfighter keeps getting diced by the local homicidal47+ level god destroyer. Eventually I tired ofthis, and so did everyone else. I went back to theway of play defined in the books, but everyoneelse decided to stop playing altogether. Two orthree loyals and myself decided to keep going but, we didn�t have the momentum to go for verylong.

Finally it was down to me and one other. (Incase you haven�t tried, it is very hard to role-playwith one character and a DM.) I have since thenmoved to other games, but as Brian mentionedpeople are too concerned with their reputation toplay them or at least to do so in the open. I wishpeople weren�t too concerned to have fun.

Chris SheldonOklahoma City, Okla.

* * * *

�The City Beyond the Gate� (issue #100) is anexcellent piece of work. However, the statementin the closing about a paladin attacking his ownparty for moral reasons has touched upon aconflict in my mind: between the �good� of theAD&D universe and the �good� of our world.

What I say is this: To retrieve the Mace ofCuthbert, a lawful good relic, surely must be agood and just quest in the eyes of the PCs. How-ever, stealing the Mace from its current ownerswould not be a good act to us, those on the�other side,� or London. Here we have a conflictof �goods,� and the worst thing is, there is noway around it. The paladin may suggest to take itby lawful means, but that would mean convinc-ing the owners that the party and their world isthe rightful owner of the Mace.

You might say that even that could be accom-plished by a little showing off, proving that theywere from another world, but could you imaginethe extreme consequences of such an action ifsome otherworldly adventurer were to prove thathe came from Neverneverland by showing us agate to that world? Our whole life would beoverturned if such a thing were to happen.

Then I would have to tell the players that, aftertheir characters had completed a quest for a goodobject, their characters have gone through analignment change because they have committedthe crimes of stealing and destroying a wholeworld�s beliefs and way of life. Which good isright: the good of the adventurers or the good ofour own world?

Mark PermannSan Antonio, Tex.

Realms of role playingLet’s start pushing the pendulum the other wayby Gary Gygax ©1985 E. Gary Gygax. All rights reserved.

There was a long period of time whenaction, rather than role playing, was themajor focus of gaming, and this was espe-cially true with respect to tournament sce-narios at conventions. Thus, an AD&D®game scenario would typically stress combatwith monsters to achieve the goal set beforethe characters. Now, the pendulum hasswung the other way � much emphasis isbeing placed on how well the player takeson the role of his or her character. Personifi-cation and acting are replacing action of themore direct and forceful type � be it swordswinging, spell casting, or anything else.Before this trend goes too far, it is time toconsider what the typical role-playing gameis all about.

First, it is important to remember that(�role-playing� is a modifier of the noun�game.� We are dealing with a game whichis based on role playing, but it is first andforemost a game. Games are not plays,although role-playing games should havesome of the theatre included in their play.To put undue stress upon mere role-playingplaces the cart before the horse. Role play-ing is a necessary part of the game, but it isby no means the whole of the matter.

Role playing is similar to, but not thesame as, role assumption. The latter term isgenerally used to identify the individual�sacceptance of a part which he or she couldactually perform. While a child might playthe role of a parent, an adult would assumethat role when dealing with his or her chil-dren. This distinction is important in thecontext of gaming because of the stress nowbeing placed upon role playing. Too muchemphasis in this direction tends to makeplaying out an adventure more of a chil-dren�s �let�s pretend� activity than anaction-packed game which involves all sortsof fun, including the playing of a role butother fun aspects as well.

A role-playing game should be such thatplayers begin the personification portion asrole play, and then as they progress theactivity should evolve into something akinto role assumption. This does away withstilted attempts to act the part of somecharacter. In place of this, players shouldtry to become that person they are imagin-ing during the course of the game, andconduct the actions of their characters ac-cordingly. A spy, for example, speaks in oneway to his superiors, in another way whenhe converses with his equals, and in yet anentirely different way when he is attemptingto penetrate an enemy installation and isimpersonating a plumber, perhaps. Imple-

8 OCTOBER 1985

mented in this fashion, the concept becomesone of roles within roles.

This applies to all role-playing games, ofcourse. Straining to play a role is certainlycontrary to the purpose of the game. Theactual reason for gaming is fun, not instruc-tion in theatrics or training in the thespianart. Role playing is certainly a necessaryand desirable part of the whole game, but itis a part. Challenge, excitement, suspense,and questing are other portions equallynecessary to a game of this nature.

Problem solving is the typical challengein a role-playing game. Whether it is dis-covering a murderer, finding a magicsword, or seeking to expose a gang of crimi-nals, this element is an integral part of suchinteractive gaming. And �note that problemsolving, in this context, has to do with aproblem to be solved by the character, not aproblem (such as �How do I role-play thissituation?�) to be solved by the player.

Combat, survival amidst threateningconditions, or stalking an opponent aretypical means of adding excitement andsuspense into the whole. These are action-oriented portions of the game activity whichcall for little role playing but a fair amountof role assumption. The magic-user charac-ter (and thus, the player of that character)must know his or her spells and how toutilize them efficiently. The explorer mustknow outdoor craft. Whatever the situation,setting, or character being played, skill �not theatrics � is what is called for here.

Having a goal, understanding it, and

the hands of the game master and the play-ers. If a particular group desires to stressacting, or combat, or problem solving, orany other singular feature of the whole, thatis strictly up to the individuals concerned.How they enjoy gaming, and what consti-tutes fun, is theirs alone to decide.

This last point extends not only to playersbut to products as well. A particular gamemight be designed to stress one aspect overothers. Role playing can be the majorthrust, or action and combat, or any of theother elements. Similarly, the underlyinggame might offer one or another while itsaccessories and scenarios develop somedifferent aspects. Most games and supportmaterial are general and offer a reasonablywell-balanced mix.

But is this true for competition situationsas well? In contrast to a long period whensuch tournaments tended to feature hack-and-slash, shoot-�em-up, and blast-�em-outsituations, there is now a trend towarddownplaying everythingcal side of gaming. This

except the theatri-tendency has evi-

denced itself to a lesser extent in somesupport materials, it must be noted. Thereaction is not altogether unwarranted, formany particpants seem to have been ignor-ing role playing completely, or nearly so,their games. Instead, it is usual for such

in

games to stress direct, usually violent,

remaining steadfast in its completion arelikewise necessary to role-playing games.This questing, if you will, again has little ornothing to do with role playing in the actingsense. It is closer to role assumption and is ameasure of gaming ability and skill.

Role-playing games are different fromother games in that they allow participantsto create a game persona, develop thischaracter, and enhance his or her skills andabilities. While some considerable amountof acting is most beneficial to play, this is byno means the sole objective or purpose. Thefun of such gaming includes all the otherelements mentioned, plus the interactiverelationships which develop between thevarious characters of the players participat-ing. In the well-balanced game, role playingshould quickly become role assumption,which then again leads to character roleplaying � roles within roles!

Not every game of this sort must be

action. This is a true detriment to fullyappreciating the scope of role-playinggames; as with most things, one extreme isjust as undesirable as the other.

The current vogue of placing seeminglyundue importance on the role-playing por-tion of the game is simply meant to informand educate participants about a very im-portant segment of what differentiates thesegames from other types of games. It is to behoped that the needed training thus af-forded will enable game participants to gobeyond role playing of their characters andenter into role assumption instead. Once itis understood that role playing is a vitalingredient of the game, and players under-stand how to actually accomplish it, theundue attention can be discarded.

Balanced games are certainly the mostenjoyable sort for the great majority ofplayers. A meal does not consist of but onething � if it is to be an enjoyable one. Bythe same token, a role-playing game musthave all the ingredients which allow it to bevaried and enjoyable. Playing and assump-tion of roles, interpersonal dealings, action,

completely balanced with regard to all ofthese aspects. Such a decision is entirely in

problem solving, excitement, suspense, andquesting are all important to make the

whole. The portions can be mixed in differ-ent amounts, but each should have a degreeof existence within the scope of the whole.

It is common for scenarios to identify thelevel of experience and skill recommendedfor those utilizing the material they provide.Perhaps it would be worthwhile to alsoidentify any particular stress the scenarioplaces upon a certain aspect of the gameactivity � role-playing, action, problemsolving, or any other.

Tournament scenarios and competitionsmight also benefit by such identification.Prospective entrants would then be able todetermine which aspect they favor, or possi-bly need to learn more of, before they en-tered the event. Participants who find theirenjoyment lies in one area or another wouldthus be able to select events optimal fortheir tastes and avoid those which theymight find less fun � making the competi-tion experience more enjoyable for everyonewho does take part. Is the player who hasdifficulty personifying a well-understoodcharacter any different from an excellentthespian who misplays the game otherwise?By being able to identify the focus of ascenario, not only would players be in-formed, but they would also be given theopportunity to round out their abilities inweak areas if they chose to do so.

Play of the game is the thing. Play in-cludes development of the character andpersonification thereof, role assumption androle playing, and the rest. After all, fantasy

in whatever form is integral. Whether fight-ing a dragon, piloting a starship, or shoot-ing it out with evil enemy agents, the actionimagined during the game is what reallymakes it fun. The pendulum did need tomove a bit to balance things, but it mustnot go too far, or the realms of role playingwill become small and constricted instead ofbeing � as they should be � as broad andvaried as the imagination.

Gord: More to come!Gord of Greyhawk has adventures in

other places besides these Splendid Pages.What�s this, you ask? I shall explain . . . .As those of you who read �At MoonsetBlackcat Comes� in issue #100 are aware,there are books on the way which are allabout this young thief. Well, Gentle Read-ers, in addition to Saga of Old City (sched-uled for release in November) and itssequel, Artifact of Evil (January 1986),there is more! DRAGON® Magazine is,after all, a gaming journal, and this Indefa-tigable Key-pounder can�t take up its spacewith stories of Gord and Associates as theygo about their affairs in that strange cityand its environs in probability and time.There are more adventures to be told thanthose chronicled in the two abovementionedbooks, and these tales will be appearing inAMAZING® Stories Magazine.

In case you can�t find AMAZING Storiesat your local newsstand, don�t despair. TheTSR subscription department is ready and

able to take your order well in time for youto receive the May 1986 issue, which willcontain The Strange Occurrence on OddAlley, a story of about 15,000 words. Gordand his companion Chert stumble intosomething unexpected, and when the tale isconcluded, the duo is off on yet anotherrollick. What�s this, you say? Some deviousdevice to snare us? But of course! There is asequel to �Odd Alley� in the typewritereven now, and if the Beneficent Editor ofAMAZING Stories will but smile upon it,you will be reading that bit of action andadventure in a subsequent issue as well.

So don�t forget to get your copy of theMay issue. Subscription orders should besent to TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 72089, Chi-cago IL 60690. Be sure to provide us withyour complete name and mailing address,tell us what you want, and include a checkor money order in the amount of $9.00 (or$11.00 if you are paying in Canadian funds)for a one-year subscription. Be forewarnedthat the May issue is mailed out well inadvance of that particular month, but if youget your money to us by the end of 1985,that issue will certainly be among the six bi-monthly magazines you will receive.

10 OCTOBER 1985

All about gully dwarvesGrubby and goofy, but lovable just the sameby Roger E. Moore

Gully dwarves weren�t intended to be arace open to player characters when theDRAGONLANCE� saga was first assem-bled. Before long, however, certain gullydwarf characters in the saga developed livesof their own: Bupu, the only being who everreceived a blessing from Raistlin; HighbulpPhudge I, the simple but calculating king ofXak Tsaroth; and Sestun, the slave whobecame the ruler of Pax Tharkas. If they

12 OCTOBER 1985

could come to life, why couldn�t others?Not everyone will want to play a gullydwarf � but those of us who love themwouldn�t mind a grubby face or two in thecrowd. . . .

HistoryGully dwarves have an extensive verbal

history of their origins. Unfortunately, notwo versions told by different gully dwarf

clans agree on any relevant details. Thestories are very colorful and entertaining toothers, though gully dwarves take themvery seriously. For our purposes, other.sources will be considered.

Gully dwarves are a fourth-generationdemi-human race. Originally a humanpeople who worshiped the god Reorx, theancestors of the gully dwarves were magi-cally altered by their deity as punishment

for straying from the path of neutrality thatReorx espoused and for selfishly misusingtheir skills and talents. Reorx reduced hishuman worshipers in size and filled themwith the urge to tinker, invent, and con-struct � and thus was the race of gnomescreated.

As detailed in module DL5, Dragons of

Society and governmentNon-adventuring adult Aghar have 2

HD; very old or young ones have 1 + 1 HDor less. They typically have a 25% chanceof possessing treaure type J on their per-sons, though this varies widely dependingupon circumstances. Gully dwarves inhabit-ing ruins may carry around considerablewealth that they do not recognize as beingvaluable.

A king�s title isprefix �High� to

produced bythe clan that

adding thethe king

represents, with his personal name follow-ing it. It is not unusual to note a successionof kings with the same name, each callinghimself �the First� because of their inabilityto count well and their innate egotism.

It is worth noting that a gully dwarf kingMystery, certain gnomes were later pro-foundly altered by the Greystone of

can be greatly underestimated, as was donewith Highbulp Phudge I of Xak Tsaroth (inDragons of Autumn Twilight). They canbecome quite crafty and calculating, playing

Gargath, turning-them into the two races of Gully dwarf communities are usuallydwarves and kender. The dwarves werefilled with the lust for wealth and the urge

quite small. Agharfamily units, called

preferclans,

to livewhich

in extendedhave 2-20 the fool long enough to lead troublesome

to possess material goods; their curiosity members. Some very large clans exist which opponents into unintentionally fulfilling theking�s plans (often at grave risk of the oppo-nents� lives).

Aghar support the policies of the Hylar(mountain) dwarves at Thorbardin, though

drive was reduced, and they tended to think have 6-60 members, and a few tiny familiesalong static, rigid lines. In later years, of only 2-8 members may be scatteredintermarriage between dwarves and gnomes through wilderness areas. Most gullyoccured in isolated communities across dwarves live in villages abandoned by pre-Ansalon. Surprisingly, the children of such vious owners, or in the wilderness in old the Hylar do not return the good will.marriages proved to be of an entirely new mines and caves. Small clans may live in

the slums and refuse dumps of large cities,and several major cities in Ansalon havegully dwarves living in their sewer systems.

Clans living in or near major cities areoften hired to perform (under strict supervi-sion) menial tasks such as garbage collec-tion, street sweeping, tinkering, cooking,and so forth. They face great prejudicewhen attempting to obtain any other work,and many have adopted a fatalistic and

Aghar and derro do not get along becauseof the latter�s enslavement of the former inrace, with their own particular characteris-

tics, but the members of this new racelacked all the better qualities of its parents.

Further intermarriages of this sort werebanned by dwarven and gnomish societies,and members of this new race were drivenout of their own clans, particularly by thedwarves, who regarded the new race as ablight. This new dwarven race becameknown as the Aghar, or �anguished.� Hu-mans later christened them �gullydwarves,� noting the low status and poorliving conditions that the race experienced

past days.

ReligionAghar acknowledge Reorx as the patron

deity of all dwarves, but they do not believethat Reorx has any influence over their lives— in fact, they believe Reorx has aban-doned them. Instead, gully dwarves believethat the spirits of their departed ancestors

subservient attitude-when working with protect them from harm and ensure theirgoblins, humans, or other dwarven thanes. survival.

The leader of a small family group is Gully dwarves cannot cast any form of(as well as the general disgust felt toward responsible for keeping the family together,

and is the sole voice of authority (though hismagic, though they are fascinated by lessersorts of �magic show� legerdemain cast bynon-Aghar mages and illusionists. Powerful

the Aghar by other intelligent races of Ansa-lon). Aghar are also called dumpmen, or her authority may be frequently ques-muckers, and dirt-eaters by their dwarven tioned). No formal education exists, except

for the proverbial �school of hard knocks.�On occasion, several clans will be found

living together, usually in a ruined or aban-doned city. Dragons of Autumn Twilight,Book 1 of the Dragonlance Chronicles,gives an excellent description of a typical(albeit captive) gully dwarf community atXak Tsaroth which was partially destroyedby flooding. Major Aghar communitieshold between 40-400 adult dwarves and 40-400 children. At least two clans will bepresent, and possibly as many as five. Eachclan will have a chieftain, with one chieftain(the strongest, cleverest, and most charis-matic) becoming the local king. Kings areserved by their bodyguards and by a com-pletely chaotic hierarchy of lesser function-

spellsitems

frighten them.in disdain, but

They hold magicalthey universally be-cousins.

Much of the anguish that gully dwarvessuffered came from the bad treatment theyreceived at the hands of other races.Dwarves of other thanes (races or majorclan houses) even now regard the Aghar asunworthy of respect. Aghar were driveninto the wilderness and forced to grub forexistence among abandoned ruins, swamp-lands, and the refuse piles of old cities.They were used as slaves by the darkerempires of old Ansalon and even by thecrueler dwarven races such as derro.

The Cataclysm was at once the curse ofthe world and the salvation of the gullydwarves. The destruction of civilization inAnsalon opened up dozens of deserted,ruined cities to habitation by wanderinggully dwarf tribes, and soon once-mightytowns like Xak Tsaroth became havens forthe Aghar. Undisturbed by the rest of theworld, the gully dwarves were free to estab-

lieve that inanimate objects hold greatpower in themselves. Possession of such.objects gives the wearer the benefits of thispower, which comes from the spirits ofancestral gully dwarves. This cross betweenanimism and ancestor worship appears tobe natural dwarven materialism raised to anew plane of meaning.

Aghar believe that magical items are nogood because their magic was put into themby other races. The most powerful items,say the wisest gully dwarves, are those thatseem to do nothing at all. Such items areregarded as holy and are given to shamans(see below) for safekeeping. The origin ofthis belief is lost, but Astinus of Palanthus

aries with no clearly defined roles or duties. says that it is a way of rejecting the racesThis haphazard monarchy is invariablyrepeated throughout all Aghar colonies.

Other large Aghar colonies exist at theSteam City outpost of Thorbardin (seeDL3, Dragons of Hope) and at the dwarvenmetropolis of Thorbardin itself. A small

that scorned them. Things that other racesvalue must be bad, since the other races aremean to gully dwarves; thus, gully dwarvesdo not need magic because it is important to

lish their own cultures � such as they were. other races. This attitude also appeals to theGully dwarves still congregate in the simple view of the world that gully dwarves

have. Magic is complex and difficult tolarger ruined cities of Ansalon. Draconian colony of Aghar at the ruined town of Paxarmies have conquered many of these places Tharkas was supplemented by slaves from understand; if gully dwarves can�t under-and have reduced the Aghar once again to surrounding lands; following the events in

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the gullydwarves successfully defended the ruins

stand it, it must not be any good for gullythe status of slaves. In places like Pax dwarves.Tharkas, gully dwarves have been imported Objects such as old bones, rotten fruit,as slave labor from surrounding areas. from attacking draconians and have shut furballs, dead animals, mud, and bentWhile they obey their new masters, the themselves away from the world for the

duration of the Third Dragonlance War.sticks are venerated and treasured, though

Aghar wish to return to the days of freedom not just any old bone, dead animal, or stickthey once enjoyed, and they will usually The

ablegroup is-now under thePax Tharkas

leadership of Highklahd Sestun I, thewill-do. An item is judged holy or not after

seek outside-help in ridding themselves-of a long period of deliberation among thetheir new lords. former slave of Fewmaster Toede. gully dwarves who found it. The item is

D R A G O N 1 3

examined in detail and its relative merits asa holy item are widely discussed. After acommunity vote, an item is either kept or itis thrown away. Shamans keep these �holyrelics� and administer their use.

Curiously, human clerics before the Cata-clysm sometimes pointed out gully dwarvesin their sermons as models to emulate, notas objects of ridicule. �No other beingshave the strength of faith that gully dwarveshave in their relics,� one cleric noted. �Wewould do well to consider their example.�

PersonalityThe most important facets of a gully

dwarfs personality are generally agreed tobe survival instinct, stupidity, pride, andendurance. Though derided by other intelli-gent races of Ansalon, gully dwarves con-tinue to thrive under conditions that wouldhave broken many others, and they havemuch to recommend them.

Gully dwarves are born to survive. Theyavoid exposing themselves to harm, andthey regard cowardice as a virtue; grovelinghas been raised to the level of an art in theirsociety. If confronted by an extremely dan-gerous opponent but not immediately at-tacked, Aghar will faint, stand paralyzedand shake, cry, beg for mercy, divulge riversof information, run away, or hide their eyes.If attacked, most will fight normally, but afew will also have both eyes tightly closed.Aghar adventurers are made of slightlystouter stuff, but cannot be relied upon all

the time. They are easily intimidated, but,if given a chance to break free of their op-pressors, will fight bravely until they win orare overwhelmed.

Though the phrase �brave as a gullydwarf� is considered a base insult in non-Aghar towns, this innate cowardice hassaved gully dwarves many times. Dracon-ians have frequently spared them and usedthem as slaves, and other enemies havebypassed Aghar communities as not beingworth the trouble to eliminate.

Gully dwarves are not above stealing,cheating, lying, informing, and bullying inorder to survive, though they don�t often dothese things to other gully dwarves. Theycan fight well without weapons, biting for 1-4 hp damage and punching for 1-4 hp dam-age per round. Strength bonuses are addedto the punching attacks. Dirty tricks, suchas kicking dust in the eyes, jumping onfallen opponents, throwing food, etc., areoften used. Food-fighting is also one of theirfavorite sports.

Gully dwarves are master scavengers.Much of their clothing, armor, weapons,and other possessions were recovered fromgarbage dumps or hammered together fromscrap. They have a remarkable talent forputting apparently useless items to good useagain � like converting a battered pot intoa helmet, or a twisted board and nails into arat-catching trap.

The stupidity of gully dwarves is legend-ary. They can grasp the concept of a single

item and of a group of items, but theycannot distinguish between large groupsand small groups, regardless of their intelli-gence. Most Aghar don�t recognize num-bers greater than one, which may derivefrom the fact that most gully dwarves do notrecognize the needs of anyone other thantheir individual selves. Any number greaterthan one is called �two,� which simplymeans �more than one.�

This leads to ludicrous situations inwhich gully dwarves are asked, �How manystars are in the sky?� or �How many ban-dits are riding this way?� Gully dwarves, ofcourse, always hold up any number offingers and solemnly (and truthfully) say,�two.� A few gully dwarves seem to under-stand that �two� can mean two separateitems or beings as well as �more than one.�These few gully dwarves are also able tounderstand the needs of those other thanthemselves, and are often found in positionsof responsibility and power within Agharcommunities. Humans refer to suchdwarves as �those who can almost count tothree.� Aghar adventurers are usually ofthis type.

Though regarded as foolish by others,gully dwarves are a proud folk and act withgreat seriousness, which only heightenstheir comic appearance. They tend to haveinflated ideas of their own greatness, andpuncturing their egos is difficult to do. Theydon�t like to be made to appear silly, thoughthey seem to be unaware of how hilarious orrevolting their behaviors are to others.

Finally, gully dwarves are used to adver-sity and can withstand great punishment asindividuals and as a race. They plodthrough the bad times with determined,defiant spirits, often with a surprising cheer-fulness. They�ve outlived so many otherprevious troubles that one more isn�t seenas very important.

Gully dwarves as PCsLike kender (see DRAGON® issue #101),

gully dwarves will generally appear only inDRAGONLANCE-based AD&D® gamecampaigns. Aghar are not known from anyworld other than Krynn, their home world.It�s possible that a few individuals havefound their way into other planes and landsby accident, though they would likely try tofind a way back to their own lands andpeople again.

Aghar are less outgoing than other racesand will rarely wander far from their homeswithout a good reason (such as being cap-tured). Some gully dwarves might be en-countered while on special missions forthemselves or for their people, and a fewmight decide to go adventuring for a shorttime (with periodic visits back home).

Gully dwarf PCs may be of any align-ment. The ancestry and nature of the Aghargrants them an intense individuality, thoughthey do not tend toward evil or good.Nearly all Aghar are chaotic neutral, withmost of the rest being chaotic evil, chaoticgood, or truly neutral in alignment.

The initial characteristics for a gully

14 OCTOBER 1985

dwarf PC are generated using special dicerolls, to reflect their unique nature. Thefollowing table shows maximum and mini-mum values for their six basic characteris-tics, as well as appropriate dice rolls.

Ability Range Dice rollStrength 6 - 18/501 4 d 4 + 2Intelligence 3 - 92 2d4 + 1Wisdom 3 - 92 2d4 + 1Dexterity 6 - 18 4 d 4 + 2Constitution 3 - 12 3d4Charisma 3 - 93 2d4 + 1

1 � Female gully dwarves may reacha maximum strength of 17.

2 � Or higher; see below.3 � This effect applies only to non-

Aghar races. Double the charisma todetermine its effect against other gullydwarves. See also below.

Gully dwarves have a comeliness modifierof -3. However, their charisma is doubled(and the effects of charisma on comelinessincreased accordingly) when applied withregard to other gully dwarves.

Aghar have poor resistance to will-forcespells and powers, and are relatively easy toenthrall. Illusions work well against them,and even if they disbelieve an illusion, theywill tend to admire it or step around it.

Gully dwarves who are �almost able tocount to three� (as explained above) mayadd a + 2 bonus to their intelligence, wis-dom, and charisma base scores. The maxi-mum base scores for these characteristicsthen becomes 11 for these individuals. Anygully dwarf with a base charisma of 10 or 11will be regarded as a champion of his or herpeople, and will almost certainly hold amajor public office such as general, sha-man, or king. Those with intelligence scoresof 10 or 11 are regarded as geniuses.

Gully dwarf characters may be fighters,thieves; thief-acrobats, or shamans (a spe-cial class detailed below). The only multi-class options open to them are fighter/thiefand fighter/thief-acrobat.

Gully dwarf fighters are treated the sameas those of any other race. A gully dwarfwith strength of 18 or higherto the 7th level of experience

may progressas a fighter;

otherwise, 6th level is the maximum attain-able. The king of a gully dwarf communityis not necessarily its most powerful fighter,since charisma is a major factor in deter-mining political status.

Thieves and thief-acrobats are commonin gully dwarf communities, though suchcharacters rarely belong to organizedthieves� guilds and are only capable oflearning thieves� cant if they have intelli-gence of 8 or better. Dexterity modifiers forthieving skills are the same as for any otherrace. Racial modifiers for gully dwarfthieves follow; those for thief-acrobats arethe same as for other dwarves.

Pick pockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-5%Open locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -10%Find/remove traps . . . . . . . . .-10%Move silently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0%Hide in shadows . . . . . . . . . . +5%Hear noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 10%Climb walls¹. . . . , . . . . . . . . + 10%Read languages2 . . . . . . . . . . . .0%

1 � Though all gully dwarves canclimb well, thieves are even better at it(see below).

2 � Gully dwarves usually cannotread (or speak) any language other thancrude forms of the dwarven tongue andCommon. Those with intelligence of 8 orhigher may add one more language totheir initial list, usually that of a neigh-boring race (like draconians).

Gully dwarves may reach the 8th level ofskill as thieves or thief-acrobats, but canprogress no higher because of their limitedlearning capacities.

Gully dwarf thieves may be hired out asassassins and spies. (No assassin class existsamong gully dwarves.) Neutral thieves willonly attempt to assassinate beings who areharming or enslaving other gully dwarves,while evil ones are not so choosy. However,gully dwarves are not very effective in thesecapacities. Thieves take a -40% penalty onthe Assassin Spying Table (DMG, page 18),and a -40% penalty on the Assassins� Tablefor Assassinations (DMG, page 75). Gullydwarves are afraid to handle poison, andwill never use it. If caught while on a mis-

sion, or even if stopped and asked a com-pletely unrelated question, gully dwarfthieves who were hired for some task are50% likely to blurt out the name and ad-dress of the person who hired them in orderto save themselves. (�Nope, nope, nope,me not know nothin� �bout no GeoffGhrubb what gave me two coins to bumpoff no Zheb Kooke, nope, nope, nope.�)

In their favor, gully dwarf thieves may behired for a fee amounting to only one per-cent of the going rate for any mission, in-cluding assassinations. Only Krynn gnomeswill ever hire them, since the gnomes un-derstand that no one can ever be completelyperfect.

Gully dwarf shamans are treated as fight-ers in every respect, except that they have8-sided hit dice. Shamans gain severalspecial abilities, however, and are the keep-ers of any relics that a gully dwarf clanpossesses. Shamans have great pull in theirhome communities, and are regarded ashealers, wise men, and saviors. A shamanmust have a minimum charisma of 7 (14 toother gully dwarves). Such characters usu-ally travel with a wide assortment of holyitems on their person, which they will haulout and use at every opportunity to benefittheir friends and allies � as Bupu tried todo for Raistlin with her dead lizard (seeDragons of Autumn Twilight). A shamanleading his people into battle (a rare event)will prominently display every holy relic theclan owns, including a few new holy items

DRAGON 15

drafted into emergency service as protective the DM feels is within their realm to know.devices in case the old holy items have lost For instance, no gully dwarf would knowtheir power. (�Better safe than sorry.�) Fizban�s true identity or the distance of

If forced into actual combat, a shaman Krynn from its sun, but one might havewill go berserk with fear and desperation, heard of a secret treasure hoard in thefighting recklessly until he is slain or the mountains somewhere. The problem, ofenemy is vanquished. Aghar shamans are course, lies in getting at this information. Anoted for their ferocity when placed in non-Aghar character must question a gullyseemingly hopeless straits from which they dwarf for 20 minutes, less the gully dwarfscannot escape. At such time, shamans gain intelligence, in order to determine if thea + 2 bonus to hit and damage on all physi- dwarf knows the answer to the problem.cal attacks, though they lose all armor class Thus, it would take 12 rounds to question abonuses for their dexterity. The berserker dwarf with an intelligence of 8, and there isbonuses end when the visible threat has an 8% chance that the dwarf knows thevanished. All NPC gully dwarves, whether right answer. Shamans have double thein combat or just putting up a bluff, gain chance for knowing the answer to a prob-+ 20% to their morale when within 60� of a lem, but it takes twice as long to get theshaman of their own clan. information from them. Threats of physical

Finally, shamans are the lorekeepers of harm will double the length of time neededtheir people, handing down the oral history to get the information.of the Aghar as they see it. They also listen Like other dwarves, gully dwarves haveto the various tales told by other gully infravision to 60�. They have no bonuses todwarves, and are sometimes consulted by attacks made against goblins, hobgoblins,non-Aghar adventurers who hope to learn or the like (orcs are unknown in Ansalon),some important bit of information. since they are not racial enemies of these

Though gully dwarves are unable to folk. Likewise, gully dwarves have had littleprocess information to any depth, they have experience in fighting larger beings likeexceptional memories for all that they see giants and ogres, and so receive no bonusesand hear. This leads to situations in which a to their armor class against these monsters.gully dwarf might know the answer to a They move at 12� due to their agility. Noproblem, but will be totally unable to recog- gully dwarves are psionic, but they gain anize the information as the solution. Gully + 6 to their saving throw vs. psionic blasts.dwarf PCs have a percentage chance equal Gully dwarves are not able to detect traps,to their intelligence of knowing the answer new stonework, or other undergroundto any particular problem or mystery that phenomena as can normal dwarves, but

16 OCTOBER 1985

they still have a constitution-based bonus totheir saving throws against poison, spells,rods, staves, and wands ( + 1 on saves per3½ points of constitution).

Because they have been exposed to nox-ious substances for so long, gully dwarveshave poorly discriminative senses of smelland taste. Spells or powers that rely upon avictim�s olfactory sense to work (e.g.,skunk, witherstench, or wolverine musk, orstinking cloud) will fail when used againstAghar.

Oddly enough, gully dwarves rarely diefrom diseases, though they often suffer fromthem. When rolling for severity (page 22,DMG), apply a - 1 modifier to the d8 roll.Gully dwarves may possess multiple dis-eases and are often feared because theyserve so well as carriers (the �TyphoidMarys� of Krynn, as it were). Magicaldiseases affect them normally.

All gully dwarves can climb well, scalingany surfaces from cliffs to trees to city walls� a hard-learned survival talent. Any gullydwarf wearing padded, leather, studdedleather, or no armor has a base chance ofsuccess at climbing equal to that of a thief ofequal level (see page 22, Unearthed Ar-cana). Both hands must be free to climb;heavier armor of any sort negates this abil-ity. Gully dwarves without levels climb aswell as a 1st-level thief. Gully dwarvesclimb well, as their short height is balancedout by their dexterity and past experience;thieves receive a bonus to their climbingability, as noted above.

Gully dwarves are surprisingly short-lived, compared to their brethren. The half-orc aging table (page 13, DMG) should beused for aging such characters, and startingages for half-orc characters (page 21) shouldbe used for gully dwarf PCs, with shamansstarting at the �cleric� age. Aghar givebirth much more often than other dwarvesdo, which helps keep their numbers up.

AppearanceGully dwarves are short, squat demi-

humans, averaging 4� in height; they havean average weight of 100 lbs., give or takeabout 10 lbs. Females tend to be slightlysmaller than males. Aghar are physicallymuch like any other dwarves, though theyare often covered with scars, boils, sores,and filth, due to their living conditions andthe effects of disease.

Gully dwarves have skin tones rangingfrom olive brown to a light parchment color.Mottled and splotched skin is not uncom-mon, and a few have a dirty gray-brownskin tone. Male gully dwarves wear long,scruffy beards; females have cheek hair butno beards. Hair color ranges from dark,dirty blond to brown, rust, gray, and dullblack. Eye color can be watery blue, dullgreen, brown, or hazel.

Gully dwarves don�t appear to be asheavy and stocky as other sorts of dwarves,and have narrower fingers and limbs. Potbellies are very common among both sexes,and gully dwarves develop wrinkles quicklyafter age 25.

Gully dwarves are hard to understand,since they have no concept of grammar,syntax, and so forth. They speak in one- ortwo-syllable words, ramble constantly, losethe thread of what they are saying, and �in short � make themselves as obtuse aspossible.

PossessionsGully dwarf characters start with only

one weapon and 2-20 copper pieces (and noarmor). Anything else they find must bescavenged, stolen, or taken as charity. Theyhave nowhere to go but up!

If given the chance, gully dwarves willwear any armor that they come across.Those living near old battlefields or inruined fortresses often wear battered bits ofold armor suits, some of which fit thempoorly at best. Armor which requires a lotof complicated work to assemble and wearwill be beyond their ability to use. Becausemost gully dwarves have little concept ofwhat good armor is all about, they tend towear mismatched pieces of it if they wear itat all. Armor classes for these patchworkarmor suits range from 3 (equal to platemail) to 6 (equal to scale mail), determinedat random when the suit is created. Suchsuits will only be worn in battle.

Padded, leather, and studded leatherarmors are most often seen, since gullydwarves like to travel light unless preparingfor battle.

handed which is 3½� or less in length andweighs less than 80 gp. They almost neveruse missile weapons, though they can throwweapons such as hand axes and daggers.Weapons weighing 150 gp or less and 8� orless in length may be used two-handed.Longer and heavier weapons are too clumsyfor gully dwarves to use effectively. Smallshields may be used with one-handed weap-ons. Traditionally, gully dwarves rarely useweapons other than clubs, daggers, knives,hand axes, and saps. A few gully dwarveshave learned to use slings.

As would be expected, gully dwarvesusually wear ragged clothing. Children inmany communities run around without anyclothing at all. When they can get them,they prefer clothes with bright, flashy colors� the more garish, the better.

Famous gully dwarvesBecause the statistics for the more impor-

tant gully dwarves mentioned in theDRAGONLANCE saga were not includedwith the module series, they are presentedbelow, with appropriate notes on role-playing these characters as NPCs or as PCs.

Bupu2nd-level Aghar shaman (fighter)HP 12 AC 10 C GSTR 11 INT 10 WIS 10DEX 14 CON 9 CHR 8/16

Following the events in Book 1, Dragons

Tsaroth and helped reorganize the Agharcolony there after the city was partiallydestroyed by flooding. She still remainsthere with her people, though she pines forher one true love: Raistlin. Bupu carries apouch on a strap that holds numerous oddsand ends (like dead lizards) which she usesin her daily rituals.

Phudge IO-level Aghar (2 HD adult)HP 16 AC8 CNSTR 15 INT 8 WIS 11DEX 13 CON 10 CHR 9/18

Like Bupu, Phudge I may be foundamong the ruins of Xak Tsaroth. Phudgedoesn�t trust any outsiders, and will do allhe can to get rid of them, using trickery anddeceit. He blames all of his problems onmagic-users, heroes, and draconians. Hewears heavy robes and usually carries noweapons except for a dagger.

Sestun3rd-level Aghar fighterHP 15 AC6 CGSTR 14 INT 8 WIS 9DEX 15 CON 9 CHR 8/16

Sestun, as noted above, is currently theruler of the gully dwarves at Pax Tharkas.He wears some bits of armor and uses adouble-edged hand axe. He is regarded as ahero and is quite popular among his people.PCs fighting the draconians will find him a

Gully dwarves may use any weapon one- of Autumn Twilight, Bupu returned to Xak willing � if not always helpful � friend.

18 OCTOBER 1985

A collection of caninesMore dogs than you can throw a stick atby Stephen Inniss

Although some of the wild canids(wolves, foxes, and their kin) have beendescribed briefly in the Monster Manual,others which might be of interest to AD&D®game adventurers are not mentioned. As forthe three that have already been covered,the entries on them might be fleshed out tothe benefit of a campaign. The same mightbe said of canid-like carnivores such ashyenas, which are covered in the latterportion of this text. Player characters willfrequently encounter these animals, if onlythrough the agency of conjuring and sum-moning spells, and some characters (partic-ularly druids and magic-users) will take theforms of these animals.

Described below are several canids andcanid-like carnivores, including those al-ready detailed in the Monster Manual. Inthe latter cases, new material has beenadded, and a few changes are suggested.These changes are based on available infor-mation about these animals, with the as-sumption that those found in the AD&Dgame world are much like their equivalentsin the real world. Reasons for some specificalterations are given at the end of the de-scriptions.

Canids, wild

Canids are very successful predators andare common in their native haunts. Thenumber encountered can be highly variable,except in the case of solitary species such asthe fox. In some cases two ranges are shownfor number appearing, one for times andplaces in which prey is small or scarce (thelower number) and one for those in which

prey is large and abundant (the larger num-ber). Wolves, for instance, are found ingreater numbers during the winter, whenthey hunt deer and moose, than in thesummer, when they hunt mice and rabbits.As indicated in the Monster Manual, theseranges are to be used as guidelines, notrules. For instance, several otherwise sepa-rate groups of canids might gather andmingle where food is superabundant:wolves scavenging at the site of a battle,hunting dogs where large herds of animalsare on the move, or foxes in a mouse-richmeadow. It is suggested that 5% of en-counters with canids should be in the vicin-ity of a large carcass. In such a case, there isa 25% chance that 1-2 other groups ofcanids (chosen at random from the appro-priate types) will also be present, and a25% chance (checked separately) that an-other carnivore or group of carnivores is inattendance. The largest, most numerous,and hungriest animals will have taken pos-session of the kill, and the others will dis-pute this or wait for an opportunity to stealor scavenge.

Canids are all at least as speedy as hu-mans, though none of them are quite so fastas a horse or deer. It is noteworthy thatcanids are not slowed as much by under-growth or rough ground as humans are, sothat even the stubby-legged bushdog can bea good deal faster than a man under certainconditions. The smaller canids (thoseweighing less than 40 pounds) swim at 6�,while the larger ones swim at 9�. Most arehandicapped by the fact that they must keeptheir heads above water, since unlike hu-mans they cannot submerge themselveswithout getting water in their nostrils. An

exception to this is the bushdog, which canimmerse itself without difficulty and canswim at 9�) despite its small size. Onlydholes and bushdogs will willingly enter thewater. With the exception of foxes, no can-ids can climb.

The smallest canids are given two dam-age ranges for the bite, the larger amountbeing applicable to creatures less than threetimes their weight and the larger amountbeing applicable to creatures of more thanthree times their weight. This reflects thefact that these animals are deadly to theirusual prey, but less so when larger animalsare concerned. Note that some canids ofapproximately the same size are givendifferent amounts of bite damage. This is areflection of differences in anatomy andbehavior.

The sizes given for the various canids areapproximate averages to the nearest 5pounds. Exceptional individuals may weighas little as half or as much as twice theamount given. Males are typically largerthan females.

Canids encountered in the lair during theseason of greatest abundance (spring, or thebeginning of the rains) will always includeone male and one female, even in solitaryspecies, and 2-8 pups. All of the adults helpcare for and guard these pups, which areusually kept in a cave or burrow. Amongsocial canids, the pups will typically be theoffspring of the dominant female (the onewith the largest hit-point total) and herchosen mate (usually the dominant male).Pups have no effective attack. There is a30% chance that they will be young enoughto be tameable.

Though canids of a suitable age can be

FREQUENCY:NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVE:HIT DICE:% IN LAIR:TREASURE TYPE:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:INTELLIGENCE:ALIGNMENT:SIZE:PSIONIC ABILITY:LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:

2 0 O C T O B E R 1 9 8 5

BUSHDOGC o m m o n2-12712�1 / 45 %Nil1

1/1-2NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (15 lbs.)NilI /5 + 1/hp

COYOTEC o m m o n1-2/2-8718�1-15 %Nil11-3NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (30 lbs.)NilI /10 + 1/hp

DHOLEC o m m o n4-16715�1 + 15 %Nil11-4NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (40 lbs.)NilI / 2 0 + 2 / h p

DINGOC o m m o n1-2/2-8715�1-15%Nil11-3NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (35 lbs.)NilI / 1 0 + 1 / h p

DOG, FERALC o m m o n1718�15%Nil11-4NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (45 lbs.)NilI / 1 0 + 1 / h p

tamed, they cannot be made over into approval they are more difficult to teach. Atdomestic dogs. They will certainly be affec- least, though, they can be persuaded totionate if they are well treated, but taming accept their handlers and perhaps a fewand training are two very different things. others as pack members, preferably seniorSolitary canids are effectively untrainable; a pack members. In any case, a tamed canidfox will never be more than a companion. will always be suspicious of new people andSemi-social canids (coyotes, dingoes, and new things, and will not adapt well to civi-jackals) are only a little easier to handle. lized life. It may seem unpredictable be-Like solitary canids, semi-social ones do notunderstand dominance and submission, and

cause it does not always understand humansignals and because wild canids are often

may retaliate if they are disciplined. As difficult to �read.� These misunderstand-

above problems, since they retain some-thing of their domestic ancestors� instincts,although they too may seem unruly bycomparison with true domestic dogs.

Coyotes, dingoes, wolves, and jackals areall fertile with domestic or feral dogs andwith each other, though they do not nor-mally interbreed. The offspring, themselvesfertile, are intermediate in most characteris-tics, though from a human point of viewcrosses of domestic with wild canids look

adults they may wander away from theirhandlers, just as in the wild they eventuallyleave their parents. The social canids(bushdogs, dholes, feral dogs, hunting dogs,wolves, and dire wolves) can be trained aswell as tamed. With the exception of feraldogs, though, they will seem aloof andindifferent by comparison with domesticdogs, and since they are less dependent on

ings may have tragic results.Some of the abovementioned difficulties

can be mitigated if a spell such as animalfriendship is used, or if the handler makesfrequent use of speak with animals, butcharm spells will be ineffective since theproblem lies not with how well the animalloves its handler but how well it expressesthat emotion. Feral dogs do not present the

and act �wild� and present the trainingproblems described above, being difficult totrain and seemingly unpredictable. A dog-wolf cross, for instance, inherits the wolfsaloofness and hostility toward strangers,and this, along with its large size and pow-erful jaws, might suggest that it would be agood guard dog. However, it shows a wolfsreluctance to bark, and it may show wolflike

FREQUENCY:NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVE:HIT DICE:% IN LAIR:TREASURE TYPE:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:INTELLIGENCE:ALIGNMENT:SIZE:PSIONIC ABILITY:LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:

FOXCommon

718�1/45 %Nil

1-2/1NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (10 lbs.)NilI/5+1/hp

HUNTING DOGCommon4-24721�25%Nil12-5NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (60 lbs.)NilI/20+2/hp

JACKALCommon1-2/2-8718�1/25%Nil11-2NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralS (20 lbs.)NilI/5 + 1/hp

WOLFCommon1-2/2-20718�2 + 25 %Nil12-5NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralM (90 lbs.)NilII / 35 + 3/hp

WOLF, DIRECommon3-12715�3 + 35%Nil12-8NilNilStandardSemi-NeutralM (150 lbs.)NilIII / 60 + 4/hp

D R A G O N 2 1

caution and simply avoid an intruder ratherthan risk an attack.

Canids of all sorts have keen senses ofsmell and hearing. In good light, a canid�ssense of sight is less exceptional, since can-ids do not perceive colors and haven�t thesharpness of vision that humans have.However, a canid can see about as well bymoonlight as by daylight, and can see aswell on a moonless night as a human wouldunder a full bright moon. A canid�s hearingallows it a 20% bonus to its chances ofdetecting hidden or invisible creatures,where applicable. This bonus may behalved or doubled according to circum-stances. A similar 20% bonus is grantedbecause of the canid�s keen sense of smell,as appropriate. This bonus too may behalved or doubled as circumstances war-rant. An alert wolf, for instance, can detecta human for quite some distance down-wind, and canids can even distinguishdifferent individuals of the same species. Acanid�s nose also allows it to track as anonyx dog (DMG, page 144).

Canids are opportunists, and will eatpractically anything: fresh meat, carrion,fruit, insects, and even some roots andgrasses, including what humans wouldregard as garbage. Dholes, hunting dogs,and bushdogs are more exclusively preda-cious than the others, while foxes are bestdescribed as omnivores with a preferencefor meat. The others fall somewhere inbetween, with the larger and more social

sorts showing a greater preference for hunt-ing. Even the largest canid is cautious, andwill seldom attack an animal of its own sizeor larger that fights back. A wound can befatal, even for an individual that is sup-ported by the rest of the pack; the animalmay well starve before it recovers, evenliving on �charity.� This doesn�t mean thathunting canids will leave humans and theirdomestic animals in peace, however. Theymay test them to see if they are able to runaway or defend themselves, and if theyuncover weakness they will exploit it. How-ever, humans (and, in an AD&D gameworld, human-like creatures) are not on anycanid�s �preferred� list. They are too likelyto have nasty surprises on hand, such asswords and spears, and after centuries ofassociation canids know this instinctively.Unless they are starving and desperate, theywill avoid humans entirely.

Each canid has a distinct odor, whichmay be detectable to the human nose (foxescan be quite rank). Whether or not humansdetect and approve of these odors, othercanids can detect them, and they almostuniversally disapprove. Treat this as �hate�on any interspecies reaction roll. Domesticand feral dogs and dingoes are mutallyacceptable, however, as any canid which hasbeen raised with the smell in question won�tbe bothered by it.

The characteristics of the different kindsof canids are as follows:

Bushdog: A bushdog is a small brownishcanid of robust build, covered with coarse,sparse hair. It has a short, broad skull,powerful jaws, short legs, small ears, and ashort tail, and looks somewhat like a heavilybuilt dachshund, or a cross between an otterand a small dog. With their low-slungbodies and webbed feet, bushdogs are wellsuited to the heavy undergrowth and abun-dant water of their native haunts. They livein small packs and communicate usingvarious whistles, clicks, chirps, and squeals.When excited, they give voice to high-pitched, metallic barks. Bushdogs regardnearly anything of suitable size as prey, andwill pursue large water rodents, small deer,and birds up to the size of a rhea as well aslesser game. Young bushdogs are not diffi-cult to tame and train. Their expressive

faces make their moods as easy to read asthose of dogs and wolves, making the taskan easy one. Tame bushdogs are affection-ate and gentle as they are homely. Bushdogsare tropical, living in the forest or nearwater and away from settled areas.

Coyote: This is a versatile, mid-sizedpredator, able to take prey as large as sheepor goats, although coyotes generally restrictthemselves to less difficult foods, such asmice and berries. The typical coyote isgreyish, with long fur and long legs. Coy-otes are wary and difficult to catch; they areless odorous than foxes and therefore moredifficult to track, and over long distancesthey can outpace the fastest coursinghounds. Semi-social, coyotes can be tamedbut not trained. They may be found in anyclimate from subarctic to subtropical and inany sort of terrain, even invading themountainous parts of the tropics. Theythrive in both settled and domestic areas.

Dhole: The dhole, or red dog, resemblesa domestic mongrel at first glance, but itcarries its bushy tail low and has reddishfur, short legs, and a short muzzle that has aunique profile: the line from skulltop tonosetip is convex rather than concave.Dholes hunt in large, highly cooperativepacks, and they chatter when they are ex-cited (they seldom bark). Aggressive andbold, they will attack even the largest her-bivores, though they prefer deer-sizedgame. They have been known to drive awayor kill competing predators, including ti-gers. Dholes trot tirelessly after their chosenprey, following it until it weakens and issuddenly vulnerable to a sudden coordi-nated rush. What they lack in sprintingspeed, dholes make up for in endurance.Unlike other canids they are fond of water;it is difficult to escape them. Dholes hunt byday, or on moonlit nights. Dholes show littlefear of humans, but are not known to attackthem either. They can be tamed if capturedwhen young, but are perhaps more difficultto handle than some other social canidsmight be because of their relatively inex-pressive faces. Dholes live in both the forestand the steppe in temperate to subarcticclimes. They survive in both settled andwilderness areas.

Dingo: Though they are like coyotes in

22 OC T O B E R 1985

D R A G O N 2 3

size, build, and habits, dingoes are de-scended from or closely related to domesticdogs. Evidence of domestic ancestry is to befound in dingo coat colors and patterns,which (in addition to the nondescript tawnycolor typical of wild dogs) range throughblack, red, white, yellow, brown, and pie-bald, though none of these is as common asthe �wild� type. Like coyotes, dingoes maybe found in any sort of terrain, but theyrange from tropical to temperate climesrather than from subtropical to subarctic.They will not occur together with coyotes.Dingoes are semi-social. They can be tamedbut not trained.

Feral Dog: This type is not truly a wildcanid. Feral dogs are domestic dogs thathave spent a generation or more away fromhuman interference. Natural selection tendsto produce an animal midway in size be-tween coyote and wolf, and features such asdroopy ears, odd coloration, gigantism,dwarfism, and so on become less commonwith each generation. Feral dogs do notoccur together with truly wild canids of thesame size, since they can�t compete, espe-cially where seasons are marked. Like do-mestic dogs, feral dogs may bear young atany time of the year, including such inap-propriate times as the middle of the winteror the height of the flood season. Feral dogswill be found in most climes and sorts ofterrain, but only within 50 miles of humansettlements. They can be tamed if capturedyoung, and are in effect domestic dogs.

Fox: Foxes and foxlike canids of varioussorts are found everywhere, from the higharctic, to the deep tropical rain forest. Ex-cept when rearing their pups, they aresolitary, and they are generally nocturnal.They catch game of pheasant size or less, and feed on whatever else is available. Mostkinds are unobtrusive and wily enough tosurvive in settled areas despite organizedpersecution. Being asocial creatures, foxescan be tamed but not trained.

Hunting Dog: Also called the Africanhunting dog or Cape hunting dog, thiscanid is not closely related to the others. Itresembles a big domestic dog with long legs,an outsize head, powerful jaws, and large,rounded ears. The short fur is sparse, andthe black skin beneath it can be seen inplaces. Hunting dogs sport a peculiar harle-quin pattern: asymmetrical white blotches,rimmed with black, on a yellowish back-ground. The tip of the tail is always white,and the face and muzzle black. Huntingdogs have a strong, musky odor. They areefficient hunters, and can bring down any-thing smaller than an elephant or a hippo-potamus, hunting in coordinated groupsnear sunrise or sunset. They chatter whenexcited, and make a strange, bell-like soundin the chase. Members of the pack are veryclose, and it is surprising that these canidsare not more often tamed. Their inexpress-ive faces and strong odor may have some-thing to do with this. They can be tamedand trained for use as coursing hounds,

though. Hunting dogs seldom attack hu-mans, but will take domestic animals. Theyare native to open tropical country.

Jackal: Jackals (there are several species)are like coyotes in appearance and behavior,though they are smaller. They catch gameup to the size of a gazelle or lamb but gen-erally eat smaller animals or scavenge,hunting cooperatively only on occasion.They are semi-social, like coyotes. Jackalsare found in warm temperate or tropicalclimates in any sort of terrain except heavyforest.

Wolf: Wolves are the largest moderncanids. They vary in appearance from placeto place, both in size and in color. Wolvesvary from white through greys, browns, andred-browns to black. The larger races tendto specialize in larger prey, but any sort willtake prey of mouse-size to moose-size. Aswith other canids, wolves (with the excep-tion of rabid individuals) usually leavehumans alone, though they are less circum-spect when it comes to domestic animals.They may pick up scraps or stray animals.During time of war, wolf populations tendto grow, for wolves will not pass up carrion.Since they are closely akin to domestic dogsand they are social carnivores, wolves areperhaps the easiest to tame and train of thewild canids. However, they need to be keptunder strict supervision, especially whenthey reach maturity at two years of age. Atthat time they may try to take over leader-ship in their adoptive �pack.� Wolves are

24 OCTOBER 1985

found in arctic to subtropical climates, in carrion. The dire wolf looks much like anany sort of climate but the driest desert. In ordinary wolf, but is more heavily built, hassettled areas, wolves will be rare or nonex- proportionately shorter legs, and has largeristent. In arctic and subarctic climates, teeth and more powerful jaws. A dire wolf iswolves may grow quite large: every fifth less intelligent than an ordinary wolf,individual will have 3 + 3 hit dice and bite though still within the semi-intelligentfor 2-7 points of damage. range. Dire wolves can be tamed and

Wolf, dire: Dire wolves are wolflike trained, but the handler is in grave dangercanids from the Pleistocene epoch, and in should he make a miscalculation. Diresuch settings they are quite common. They wolves are found in the same sorts of envi-resemble wolves in most aspects, but prey ronments that wolves are, wherever largeon larger animals and are more partial to prey species are available.

Prehistoric canidsCanids of the Pleistocene epoch will be of

modern type, even to the particular species,with the addition of the dire wolf. Similartypes will be present in Pliocene and Mio-cene settings, but they will include hyena-like forms (use the figures for hyenas givenbelow). Canids and canidlike predatorsfrom earlier in the Age of Mammals will be3� slower, and of animal intelligence ratherthan semi-intelligent. The canids have noclose analogues from earlier eras.

Cave Hyena

Hyenas

Although hyenas are more closely relatedto cats than they are to canids, they parallelthe canids in a number of ways. With thefew exceptions mentioned here, the earliergeneral remarks concerning canids apply tohyenas as well.

Like canids, hyenas are runners andattack their prey by biting; this is related totheir somewhat similar appearance. How-ever, hyenas have relatively large forequar-ters and small hindquarters, so that theback slopes downward from shoulders tohips. Hyenas typically have less elegantpelts than canids do; their fur is coarse and

unkempt, though hyenas keep themselves aswell groomed as any canids. Hyenas alsodiffer from canids in that they are betteradapted to scavenging the remains of largeanimals, though they are by no means poorhunters. Hyenas have powerful jaws, andteeth specially adapted to crushing bones,not to mention a robust digestive system.They can finish off not just the meat andinternal organs of a kill, but the hide andbones as well. Even the most predatoryhyenas seldom pass up a free (effortless)meal, and some villages depend on hyenasto clean up refuse. Male hyenas are nolarger than females, contrary to the situa-tion among canids. In fact, female spottedor cave hyenas are larger than the males.

Unlike canids, hyenas do not cooperate incaring for their young. Raising the pups isthe sole responsibility of the female thatgave birth to them, and other hyenas mayeat these pups if they are undefended. Aswith canids, the lair is typically a cave orburrow, but the further reaches of the lairare extended by the pups themselves amongthe hyenas, and adult hyenas cannot reachthem. Among social hyenas, several femalesmay keep their pups in the same den. Eachfemale typically has 1-2 pups, and as withcanids there is a 30% chance that the pupsin any single litter encountered will beyoung enough to be tameable.

Cave Hyena: The cave hyena is a largevariety of spotted hyena from the temperate

FREQUENCY:NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS:MOVE:HIT DICE:% IN LAIR:TREASURE TYPE:NO. OF ATTACKS:DAMAGE/ATTACK:SPECIAL ATTACKS:SPECIAL DEFENSES:MAGIC RESISTANCE:INTELLIGENCE:SIZE:PSIONIC ABILITYLEVEL/XP. VALUE:

CAVE HYENACommon2-12715�45 %Nil12-8NilNilStandardSemi-M (200 lbs.)NilIII / 60 + 4/hp

26 OCTOBER 1985

SHORT-FACEDSPOTTED HYENA HYENACommon Common2-12 17 715� 15�3 55 % 5 %Nil Nil1 12-7 2-12Nil NilNil NilStandard StandardSemi- Semi-M (140 lbs.) L (300 lbs.)Nil NilII / 35 + 3/hp III / 90 + 5/hp

STRIPED HYENACommon1715�25 %Nil12-5NilNilStandardSemi-M (90 lbs.)NilI/20+2/hp

plains and the steppes of the Pleistocene. Itis of the same species as the spotted hyena,and is like it in all but size.

Short-faced Hyena: The short-facedhyena is a lion-sized relative of the stripedhyena from the Pleistocene. Its habits arethose of its smaller cousin, though it cantackle larger game. It lives in temperateclimates.

Spotted Hyena: Spotted hyenas are dirtyorange in color, with small black spots. Thespotted hyena has a large repertoire of calls,including the famous �laugh,� which reallydoes sound like it ought to be coming out ofa lunatic asylum in a third-rate movie. Thislaugh brings other scavengers and predatorson the run, for it means the hyenas havemade a kill. Swift runners, spotted hyenashunt cooperatively, and will attack anythingthat doesn�t put up too much of a light.Where they depend on refuse, spotted hye-nas may start in on the human population ifthe supply of garbage falls off. These hyenascan be tamed and used as hunting beasts ifthey are caught when young. They inhabitopen country in tropical climates, in settledand wilderness areas.

Striped Hyena: This hyena (and itsrelative the brown hyena, which is essen-tially the same in size and habits) conformsbest to the hyena stereotype. It seldomattacks something larger than itself (goatsand small humanoids are near the upperlimit), and shows little or no social behavior.Striped hyenas eat human refuse, and willalso raid crops of melons, dates, grapes, orother sweet fruits. A striped hyena is grey-ish, with vertical stripes on its sides and acrest of longer hair running down the back.Its ears are larger and more pointed thanthose of the spotted hyena. Brown hyenasare essentially the same, except that theyare (as the name bears out) brown. Stripedhyenas can be tamed if they are captured asjuveniles, though they may be rather shy.Striped hyenas live in open country intropical and subtropical regions.

Prehistoric hyenasIn Pleistocene settings the modern vari-

eties of hyenas will be present, along withthe larger sorts mentioned above. Alsopresent will be slender hyenas of cheetahlike

build and habits (as the cheetah, but 3�slower). Hyenas date back to the Mioceneepoch. Similar creatures of earlier times willbe 3� slower and of animal intelligencerather than semi-intelligent.

Hyaenodons are prehistoric carnivorousanimals that were common predators dur-ing the Oligocene, before the rise of dogs,cats, hyenas, weasels, and their relatives.They had relatively short legs, long jaws fullof large teeth, and small brains. They re-sembled hyenas, if at all, in the shapes ofsome of their teeth (Hyaenodon = �hyenatooth�). These animals ranged from kitten-sized to lion-sized, and the figures givenunder �Hyaenodon� in the Monster Man-ual describe one of the larger varieties quitewell, even to the relatively slow movementrate and low intelligence, though there issome tenuous evidence that these animalswere solitary.

Summary of changes

Jackals are given a figure for numberappearing that reflects the typical jackalgroup size. They are also made a good dealfaster, since no jackal is as slow as a humanunless it is missing a leg. Jackals are speedyenough to steal meat from hyenas andhunting dogs or from lions, and to catchgazelles. Since jackals have no lairs, achance is given that they will be encoun-tered in or near them; a small chance, sincethe lair is often concealed and the animalsare often out hunting. This reasoning ap-plies to all the canids and canidlike animals,and indeed to all of the carnivores.

Wolves sometimes occur singly or in pairsaccording to local conditons, thus the addi-tion to the figure for number appearing.They are seldom encountered in the lair, forthe reasons discussed above, and so thechance has been reduced from 1 in 10 to 1in 20. Since most wolves are the size of asmall person, the size rating has been in-creased to M. To reflect the great variationin size between wolves of the south andnorthern wolves, the northern wolves aregiven more hit dice and a greater bite dam-age, as noted.

Indications are that dire wolves were

rather common in their chosen habitats,and the frequency classification has beenchanged accordingly. The armor class hasbeen changed to 7 to bring it in line withthe other canine armor class ratings. If thechange to armor class 7 needs justification,it might be pointed out that while largeanimals are more robust, smaller ones aremore maneuverable, and the two factorsmight cancel out. The dire wolfs movementrate has been reduced because of the lengthand proportions of its legs: evidence indi-cates that it was almost certainly slowerthan the ordinary wolf.

The hyena is given a movement rate of15� because it is certainly faster than ahuman. An argument might in fact bemade for 18�, except that wolves alreadyoccupy that slot and are probably fasterthan hyenas. Hyenas are given a chance tobe encountered in the lair because they havelairs, just as canids do. The amount ofdamage from a hyena�s bite is reducedbecause while hyenas do have great crush-ing power they are accustomed to bringingit to bear against immobile things such asbones from a carcass. Hyenas are thereforejudged to do no more damage per bite thando large wolves. Hyenas are given an intel-ligence rating of semi- to bring them intoline with the other carnivores; there is noevidence that they are more stupid.

The hyaenodon has been released fromthe hyena group, since it is not a relationand doesn�t look particularly hyenalike. It isrecommended that gnoll tribes should haveshort-faced hyenas in place of hyaenodons,since the latter are more gnoll-like.

Many of the descriptions of natural ani-mals in the Monster Manual make themmore likely to attack people than animals inthe real world are. This is probably not alapse in accuracy, or �realism�; it is moreinteresting from a story-telling point of viewif adventurers come into direct conflict withthese beasties, and the entries in the Mon-ster Manual may well have been composedwith this in mind. A different tack is takenin the preceding descriptions, however. Theanimals are described in naturalistic terms,and it is up to the DM to devise situationsin which the animals might come into con-flict with adventurers.

label your letterThe address of DRAGON® Magazineis P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI53147, and that�s all you need tomake sure your letter gets here. Butyou can help us serve you morequickly by adding a line at the top ofthe address to tell us what depart-ment should receive your letter orpackage. Call it a �manuscript sub-mission,� �cartoon submission,��query letter,� or any other shortphrase that tells us what�s inside, andit�ll get exactly where it�s supposedto go.

28 OCTOBER 1985

DRAGON 29

Nine wands of wonderWherein Elminster reveals more of the Realmsby Ed Greenwood

It was cold that night; a wind cruel andcutting as a sword rustled leaves in thedarkness, and brought the smell of wood-smoke from afar. Overhead, the stars scud-ded through tattered fingers of ghost-whitecloud, and only owls hooted. Elminstercame up the path, a grey spectre in hiscowled cloak, looked around the garden,pipe in hand, nodded thoughtfully, andsaid, �Let�s go in.�

The cozy corner where he is wont to sitwas much warmer; Elminster sank downwith a sigh of contentment and accepted amug of cocoa. �Thank�ee,� he said, andswung his feet up onto the clawed footstool� and the footstool clawed him back!

It was Stardust � the one of our catsblack as night save for the four white hairsthat gave her her name. She erupted frombeneath his startled feet with outrage,picked up a stick she�d been playing with,turned her back upon him, and stalkedaway. Elminster spoke a Word as she went;she froze for an instant, all her hair stoodstraight on end, and then she was gone,running hard. Elminster looked thought-fully at the stick she had dropped and said,�I�m sorry. . . . I�ve not told ye of wandsyet, have I?�

I assured him that he had not, and henodded. � �Tis a funny night, and fitting,for they�re funny things, even to mages.And when lesser things� � he nodded inthe direction of Stardust�s disappearance ��get ahold of them, such creatures fairthink themselves possessed of the power ofgods, and a fast doom they earn. Usually.�He picked up Stardust�s stick, spoke an-other word, and it vanished from his fin-gers. �That one belonged in the Realms,not here. I�ll spin ye the tales ye want, butmind ye remind those that read ye that thedanger is usually worse than the-gain.�

I promised to do so; and, by this recount-ing of his words, I have. Elminster told meof nine types of wands known in theRealms, and I pass them on to you withoutcomment. (No, he didn�t tell me what typeof wand Stardust�s stick was, and I don�tthink I really want to know.)

Wand of Magical Mirrors

These wands were made by the arch-mage Glendar, who, though good and noblein life, became a lich, and was later de-stroyed. The knowledge of their making isnow lost. Perhaps twenty were made, andmost survive about the Realms in the pos-

session of powerful mages, or in treasure,caches. Elminster has found four knowncommand words in his researches:�Phasral�; �Talusta�; �Ormduth�; and�Resshemma.� To which wands these apply� and indeed, where specifically any ofthese wands are � is not known.

FunctionActivation of this wand creates an

opaque, silvery, and reflective circularshield of force. This shield appears wher-ever the wand is pointing, 1� distant fromthe wielder of the wand, facing outward. Itssurface will reflect images (including thegaze of the catoblepas and basilisk) like amirror; the wand wielder can look�through� the mirror as though it was awindow without suffering any harm fromsuch attacks � and when viewed throughthe shield, things appear as they truly are:illusions are invisible; creatures or itemsdisguised by magic, mutable form, or invis-ibility (e.g., dopplegangers, shapechangedindividuals, leprechauns, demodands, anddevils) are revealed in true aspect; and soforth.

The mirror-shield lasts for 3-8 rounds (atrandom, not at the wielder�s command) andmoves as the wielder moves the point of thewand. Each wand can only have one shieldcreated from it in existence at a time (thefirst shield will instantly vanish if a secondis created). The caster need not concentrateon the shield to maintain its existence, andcan even put the wand down or pass thewand to another (who thereby assumescontrol of the shield�s location) to engage inspell casting or other activities.

The shield has no tangible physical exist-ence; it can neither ward off attacks nor beused as a weapon. Creatures pass through itas though it does not exist. It will, however,reflect color spray spells striking it from anydirection directly back at the caster, andharmlessly dispel darkness and prismaticspheres, sprays, or walls upon contact. Adispel magic, limited wish, wish, or alterreality will destroy such a shield; it cannototherwise be affected. Each creation of sucha shield drains one charge from the wand,and such wands are not rechargable.Magic-users, illusionists, clerics, and druidsmay use this wand.

Wand of Hammerblows

The mage Phultan recently developedthis device, and has used it to shatter potion

vials, delicate jewelry, brittle parchmentmaps and scrolls, lanterns, mirrors, ladderrungs, and even the material components ofrival spellcasters. It can�t directly affectliving creatures, and is thus little soughtafter by rival mages, but Phultan has soldseveral to thieves and assassins in Westgate,Amn, the Vilhon Reach, and the kingdomsof the South, who have seen its potential.Elminster has examined one that was foundon a thief slain in Waterdeep, and sets downits powers below. Its command word, hereports, is: �Dessout.�

FunctionThis wand, when activated by a whis-

pered command, causes objects to be af-fected as if by a �crushing blow� (forcing asaving throw to be made at par on theSaving Throw Matrix For Magical AndNon-Magical Items, DMG p. 80). Targetsmust be non-living items, of any size, but atleast some portion of them must be within6� of the tip of the wand � and they mustbe visible to the wand-wielder when thewand is activated.

No known physical or magical barrierscan stop the wand�s effect, which is silentand does not affect or alert surroundings �such as a creature holding the object � atall. No actual physical blow is dealt, butrather, there is a magical assault on theinternal structure of the item.

The wand can be used by any class, andis rechargable. One charge is expended per�hammerblow,� regardless of the blow�seffectiveness. It is not possible to hit analternate item by accident � the intendedtarget is chosen mentally by the wand-wielder, and if it is missed, nothing at alloccurs.

Wand of Banishment

Savengriff was a young magic-worker ofWaterdeep who fell in with a band of reck-less adventurers and was slain in battle witha beholder. His corpse was found by theArchmage Khelben �Blackstaff� Arunsun,who arranged for his resurrection. Saven-griff became a loyal apprentice, but hasdevoted much of his time since then to

of avoiding fearsome beingsdevising means� and another death like his first.

The wand of banishment was one result.Savengriff made over a dozen of these be-fore he vanished into other planes than this;most passed into the hands of good magesacross the North, one Savengriff took with

30 OCTOBER 1985

him, one he gave to Khelben, and he isthought to have hidden away at least one.Elminster gives the command word of onehe examined, but has not revealed in whosepossession that wand was (or is now). Theword is: �Baerlaguth.�

FunctionThis wand is usable only by magic-users;

it cannot be recharged, and each use (effec-tive or not) drains 1 charge. Upon com-mand, a needle-thin ray of flickering greenlight shoots from the wand�s tip up to 4�distant, striking a single target creature (thetarget is allowed a save vs. spell at -1; asuccessful save means the ray missed).Creatures struck by the ray are affected asfollows:

� A summoned creature (from anotherplane) is instantly banished back to its ownplane; it must save vs. wand at -4 to re-main. If it does remain, it is held for oneround.

� A creature summoned from elsewhereon the Prime Material Plane (i.e., by mon-ster summoning, call woodland beings, orthe like) is driven away; it will leave in-stantly at a normal movement rate, stop-ping only to defend itself if attacked, andnot return.

� A hostile creature of 2 + 2 hit dice orless (including enemy familiars and homon-culi) is affected as if by a repulsion spell, for4 rounds. The target is allowed a save vs.wand; if successful, the repulsion lasts foronly 2 rounds.

� A hostile creature of more than 2 + 2hit dice must save vs. wand at -4; if success-ful, it is slowed for 2-5 (at random) rounds(if save is successfully made, target creatureis unaffected).

� By draining 6 charges at once (thepower will not work if less than 6 are left,but any attempt will exhaust the wandanyway), the wielder of the wand mayattempt to repel any other wands within 4�.Any affected wands (all wands are allowed asave vs. �Lightning� on the Saving ThrowMatrix For Magical And Non-MagicalItems at -3; if successful, they are unaf-fected) will be instantly, and violently, tele-kinesed away from the wand of banishmentfor 10�-60� distance, and held that distantfor 1-4 rounds. Wands carried in the handor belt will tear free; wands in backpacksand chests will drag the owner or item withthem � unless very heavy or bulky, inwhich case the wand will smash aboutwithin the item, perhaps being destroyed.Note that wands in extra-dimensionalspaces (such as a bag of holding or thatproduced by a rope trick) are immune fromthis effect.

Only one creature can be attacked with awand of banishment per round; the ray willonly affect one creature at a time, althoughit may affect any number of wands. Anygiven creature can be affected by any par-ticular wand of banishment only once every12 hours; a creature cannot be repeatedlyattacked, or attacked a second time or witha different function of the wand, if an initial

D R A G O N 3 1

attack fails. Subsequent attempts willmerely waste charges; a creature that hassaved once against the wand (or enduredone successful attack) cannot be affected bythe wand again until the dweomer built uparound the creature by the wand dissipates(which takes 12 hours).

Wand of Armory

The long-ago wizard Hosta worked onthis device for many years, and he hadmany apprentices; not a few of them carriedknowledge of the making of the completeand final item away at his death. The sor-ceress Myschanta of Arabel is known topossess one; others are in the royal treasur-ies of Cormyr and Aglarond. Many otherspecimens of this wand are believed tosurvive � most (since Hosta lived in theNorth) probably now lie in tombs ordragon-hoards. One used in a tavern brawlin Waterdeep many years ago had the com-mand word �Plessendar�; the tome HighMagic of Mirabar lists among the treasuresof that city a wand of armory (since gonemissing) with the command word�Skulpin.� Elminster suspects that theparchment found behind paneling in thethrone room at Suzail, which bears only theword or name �Ailun,� preserved the com-mand word of Azoun II�s vanished wand ofarmory, too.

FunctionWhen touched to a target creature (or

activated upon the wielder�s person), thiswand causes the recipient to be envelopedfrom head to foot, and on all sides, by aninvisible, magical field of force which slowsand deflects physical attacks so as to affordthe equivalent of armor class 0 protection.

This field of force can be destroyed bydispel magic, limited wish, disintegrate(which will not affect the protected person,however) or similar, stronger spells; butotherwise lasts for 6 rounds. During thistime it absorbs magic missiles and all elec-trical attacks (including magical ones) sothat they do no harm to the�wearer � or toanything else coming into contact with thefield � but otherwise do not affect spellscast into, or out of, its confines. The �forcearmor� may be cast over and in addition toreal, physical armor worn. by a target, andwill completely cover any size M or S crea-ture (who need not be conscious, alive, oreven willing to be so protected.; no savingthrow allowed). Size L creatures will haveonly their heads and torsos protected by thefields of force. All classes may use thiswand, which may not be recharged. Eachuse of the wand (only one use per round ispossible) drains 1 charge.

Wand of Darkness

Human and drow mages, acting at thebehest of the powerful forces of evil thatinhabit the Lower Planes, are believed to

32 OCTOBER 1985

have made these fell magical devices. Theyenable the weakest servants of evil to holdtheir own, and can be found throughout theRealms. They are made of black ebony-wood or carved and polished bone, and afew have small, ornamental claws at one orboth ends. Elminster warns that they aredangerous to those of good alignment;readers, beware! Demons, devils, illithids,and other creatures of evil seem attracted bythe use of such wands. From sources hedoes not disclose, Elminster reports sixknown command words for such wands:�Orgul�; �Meth�; �Kulmur�; �Druu�;�Ulgukh�; and �Ssleeer.� (After the com-mand word is spoken, choice of the wandfunction is by mental concentration of thebearer.)

FunctionA wand of darkness has four separate

functions. It can be wielded by any intelli-gent, speaking creature of neutral or evilalignment. Creatures of good alignmentcannot make the wand function, and willsuffer 1-2 points of damage per contact withthe wand � or if they grasp it continuously,1-2 points of damage per round. It can berecharged.

The powers of the wand are these:� It can cause darkness 15� radius,

lasting 4 rounds, and centered upon the tipof the wand, at a cost of 1 charge. Thebearer of the wand (and anyone else, whiletouching the wand) can see perfectly in anydarkness produced by the wand.

� The wand can be commanded tosummon a nightmare (see Monster Man-ual) at a cost of 3 charges. This summoninghas a 4 in 6 chance of success; the chargesare lost even if it fails. The nightmare willbe brought from an evil Outer Plane, andwill appear in an explosion of black smokeand a brimstone stench within 3 rounds,whereupon it will immediately know andserve its summoner. It can be commandedto fight on the summoner�s behalf, or takethe summoner into the Astral or EtherealPlane. It will so serve for 9 turns at a time,and then vanish. If the summoner is thenastride it, he or she will be taken along forthe ride, or flung off, usually to be hurtwhen landing.

� By touch, and at a cost of 2 charges, awand of darkness will break a protectionfrom evil circle, or deal any creatures ofgood alignment 2-5 points of fiery damage.Creatures immune to fire, or creatures ofneutral or evil alignments, are unharmed,but the charges are lost.

� By touch, and at a cost of 4 charges, awand of darkness can animate a singlecorpse of a size S or M creature. A zombie,skeleton, or animal zombie will be thusproduced, and can be commanded by thewand-wielder as though an animate deadspell had been cast. The undead creaturewill serve until destroyed or until 6 turnshave elapsed, and then collapse. If it is stillintact, a corpse or skeleton could then beanimated anew by the expenditure of 4additional charges. Attempts to animate

incomplete skeletons will fail, but will stilldrain 4 charges. The wand cannot be usedto control existing undead, but only undeadcreatures created by the wand.

In addition, 10% of these wands cansummon a shadow when so ordered, thisfunction having a 1 in 3 chance of success(twice that if in deep caverns or ancientruins) and expending 4 charges if successfulor not. The shadow will arrive in 3 rounds,and will not attack any creature holding thewand.

Wand of Displacement

This wand is exceedingly rare; probablyonly a dozen or so exist, and most are in thepossession of thieves� guilds in large cities.Thought to have been invented by the long-ago mage Schollus, who made a few (whichhe sold for vast sums of money) beforedisappearing forever into other planes, whoalone knew the secrets of their making,these wands are among the most closelyguarded (and eagerly sought) treasures ofdweomercraeft. The Guild in Baldur�s Gateis known to hold one, and it is thought thatanother lies in the hands of thieves in Hills-far. Several are rumored to be in the richcities of the South (due to the number ofinexplicable thefts there), but the precisewhereabouts of none can be heard or read.Elminster can give only a partial set ofcommand words for but a single wand(which one is not known), from all his booksof lore; three of its six words are or were:�Tamyr�; �Urembom�; and �Lairu.�

FunctionA wand of displacement can teleport

without error single pieces (or several piecesfastened together in some way) of non-livingmaterial (which may be organic or formerlyalive) up to 16� away from their initialposition. The wielder must touch the mate-rial to be teleported with the wand whilespeaking a command word, and later touchthe intended new location of the materialwhile speaking the same command word.The material will then be teleported fromone location to the other within 1 segment.

Magical items (or any items bearing adweomer) may be transported withoutaffecting their magic in any way, but thefollowing limitations apply; if the material isof over 30 cubic feet in volume (weight doesnot matter), or is contained within a magi-cal prison (such as a protective circle, pro-tection from evil, a forcecage, impris-onment, etc.), or the intended new locationis over 16� distant from its location at thetime the wand wielder speaks the commandword a second time, the teleport will notwork � and the magic is lost. (The itemmust be touched again if it is to be tele-ported with the wand.) Material that isdestroyed, consumed, or made living (e.g.,a corpse resurrected) also cannot teleport.

The wand may touch the intended loca-tion(s) any number of times without activat-ing if the command word is not spoken.

D R A G O N 3 3

Note that a magical prison (such as a petri-fied creature, magic jar or the like) coulditself be teleported, and that the teleporta-tion circumvents any physical or magicalbarriers around its new location � or be-tween the two locations. The wand will notmove objects from plane to plane.

Each wand has six (set and unchange-able) command words; up to six items canbe simultaneously carried, or �held ready�to teleport; i.e., a wand could be immersedin a potion of healing, and the first word

work) or used successfully, the commandwords corresponding to them are freedagain for re-use. Knowledge of only one ortwo command words will permit simultane-ous carrying of only one or two items. Thiswand may not be recharged, and eachteleport (successful or not) drains onecharge. This wand may be used by allclasses.

Wand of Obliterationspoken, and then touched to a gem and thesecond word spoken, and then to a sword,and the third word spoken, and thentouched to an empty vial and the first wordspoken again (causing the potion � unaf-fected in its magical powers � to instantly�jump� from its initial container to theempty vial). Another item could be touchedwith the speaking of the fourth commandword, the second word then spoken again tosnatch the gem from the purse of someonethe wand wielder has paid or given it to (orhad it stolen by), and so on.

Teleports can be made in any order; the

The origin, and means of making, theserare and powerful wands is now lost. Sixwere discovered in a chest on the island-realm of Ruathym over a hundred yearsago, but if any others have been found sincethen, no one has revealed it. The where-abouts of all are unknown; Elminster be-lieves that only perhaps ten or so have everexisted in the Realms; he can find no hint ofeven a single command word for any ofthem. The wands are said to be dangerous;sometimes they turn back upon the user.

first word need not be spoken for a secondtime before the second, third, or fourth is sospoken. The teleport will not work, how-ever, if a location is touched before the item.A dispel magic cast upon the item will notnegate or foil a not-yet-completed teleporta-

FunctionThis wand can harmlessly erase and

dispel symbols, glyphs of warding, andother written messages and runes (such aswizard mark). It will obliterate scrolls, andeven pages from spell books, but all such

tion; only magical imprisonment (seeabove) of the item will prevent its teleporta-tion. If teleports are wasted (by failing to

items (regardless of how written, and onwhat) gain a saving throw vs. �magicalfire� on the Saving Throw Matrix For

Magical And Non-Magical Items, as if theywere �Parchment or Paper,� with bonusesand penalties as follows:

� Normal, non-magical writing: -3� Wizard mark, identifying rune or sigil

for magical person or thing, commandword, message concealed by unreadablemagic: + 1

� Symbol,circle or other

glyph of warding, protectivemagical rune: + 2

� Single written spell (e.g. scroll), secretpage magic: + 3

� Spell book page (or scroll if in closeproximity to other scrolls or spell books);includes all multi-spell scrolls, but not secretpage spell book pages: + 4

Note that messages or marks deeply cutinto stone cannot be destroyed by use of thiswand. Only one message (regardless ofextent), spell, or magical rune can be af-fected with the wand per round, and thefading (if successful) takes a full round. Ifan erasing attempt is unsuccessful, there is a5% chance the wand will explode, doing10-54 (4d12 + 6) points of damage to allwithin 1�. The wand cannot be recharged,and each use, successful or not, drains acharge. Only magic-users, illusionists, andincantatrixes (see DRAGON® issue #90)can use this wand.

Wand of Teeth

Lantan of Pelmarin, that sinister androtund mage notorious for his ruthlessdomination of the mages of the Souththrough poison, subterfuge, and awesomemagics, is said to have looked like a pome-granate in death. �Full of holes,� said themerchant Zustel of Amn, who viewed thebody, �holes right through!� Lantan cameout the loser in a battle with the bard Tam-shan, a grim but gentle man who possesseda spell Lantan wanted. Tamshan still holdsthe cause of Lantan�s demise � a wand ofteeth, one of only seven known to exist. Theorigin and method of manufacturing thesedeadly devices is lost in antiquity, and thefew remaining wands are all thought to stillpossess only a few charges each. Anczibul ofNeverwinter spent much of his apprentice-ship to the Archmage Khelben �Blackstaff�Arunsun studying Khelben�s specimen ofthe wand, and from his diaries Elminsterhas decoded the hidden command word ofKhelben�s wand: �Neverretha.� The �Bookof Bulgoz,� written by the Southern mer-chant of that name, attests that Elzir ofCalimshan possessed a wand of teeth, andthat its word of command was �Orlethar.�

FunctionThis wand is not rechargable; it calls

forth a certain number of �teeth,� one percharge), firing not more than one tooth perround, at targets up to 7� distant. Themissiles it fires are daggerlike wedges orblades of force that coalesce out of nothing-ness (actually from material and kineticenergy drawn from the Positive MaterialPlane, Elminster believes) within 1 segment

(Turn to page 89)

34 OCTOBER 1985

DRAGON 35

AD&D® ORIENTAL ADVENTURES Handbookby Gary Gygax

As if Unearthed Arcana wasn’t enough, the Game Wizardsstrike again with a new, original rules expansion for theAD&D game —covering the worlds of the mysterious East!Oriental Adventures is a major new hardcover book thatgives you the official character classes, spells, and magicitems you’ve been demanding, including Samurai, Ninja,and Wu-Jen Oriental Magic-Users! Plus an expansion of theWORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Fantasy Game Setting coveringthe Oriental lands of Oerth! Reserve your copy now, be-cause this is going to be the hottest item around!

SAGA OF OLD CITYGREYHAWK™ ADVENTURES Book #1by Gary Gygax

You got a taste of Greyhawk Adventures in DRAGON® issue#100 —now you can follow all the adventures of Gord, ayoung thief who rises from the alleys of Greyhawk City tochallenge the mighty! Saga of Old City is the first book in afour-volume series from the master of fantasy himself!

DL10 DRAGONS OF DREAMSAD&D DRAGONLANCE® Adventureby Tracy Hickman

The incredible DRAGONLANCE saga continues as Tanis,Raistlin, and their companions enter the forbidden elvenkingdom of Silvanesti. The land of dreams has become aliving nightmare, and the heroes must free the land fromthe evil that has infiltrated the councils of the high.

Ml INTO THE MAELSTROMD&D® Master Game Adventureby Bruce Heard

The first adventure for the D&D Master Rules Set! Theheroes must lead a mighty armada into outer space tobattle a world-shaking evil! Caught up in a plot involvingthe mysterious, godlike Immortals, the heroes must useevery bit of skill they have picked up in years of adventur-ing — or everything they have fought for will be destroyed!

SFAC4 ZEBULON�S GUIDE TO FRONTIER SPACESTAR FRONTIERS® Game Accessoryby Kim Eastland

For the legions of avid STAR FRONTIERS players, here is amajor new rules expansion! The first of the Zebulon’s Guideseries to the worlds of Frontier Space contains an advancedcombat system, new official character classes, new weap-ons and equipment, and new alien races!

BARBAROSSA� Game of theRusso-German War 1941 - 1945

SPI™ Brand Wargameby David Ritchie

A major new Eastern Front wargame by noted designerDavid Ritchie! This strategic-level wargame covers theentire course of the war in the East, and contains uniquerules for land, sea, and aerial operations, political factors,and partisans. A new release, original design game.

TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD�Three Days of Gettysburg Game

SPI Brand Wargameby Richard Berg

A complete revision of the classic game by Richard Berg!Using the GREAT BATTLES OF THE AMERICAN CIVILWAR™ game system, this incredible 3-map, 2,000-counterwargame covers all the action at the regimental level. Anew order of battle and new scenarios bring it up to datewith the very latest in Civil War research!

MHAC8 WEAPONS LOCKERMARVEL SUPER HEROES™ Accessoryby Jocular Jerry Epperson

Face front, true believers, with this rollicking roster ofright-on rayguns, robots, and rarin’ to go hardware for yourfavorite Marvel Super Heroes! From IRON MAN™’s armor toSPIDER-MAN™’s web shooters, this one has it all! ‘Nuff said!

All Marvel Characters and the distinctive likenesses thereof aretrademarks of the Marvel Comics Group. ©1985 Marvel ComicsGroup, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation. All RightsReserved.

AMAZING® STORIES BooksStrange, unexpected, startling! The AMAZING STORIESbooks combine modern horror and weirdness into excitingnovels of suspense and mystery!

In Book #3, Portrait in Blood, by Mary L. Kirchoff, theportrait of a woman, painted in blood, exerts a strange andpowerful influence on a young man.

In Book #4, Nightmare Universe, by Gene DeWeese andRobert Coulson, an evil computer seeks to take over theuniverse.

CM6 WHERE CHAOS REIGNSD&D Companion Game Adventureby the TSR UK Design Team

Tired of the ordinary? Ready for danger? In this time-traveladventure through alternate realities, you must solve acomplex riddle—or face the destruction of your world!

SFAD5 DARK SIDE OF THE MOONSTAR FRONTIERS Alpha Dawn Adventureby the TSR UK Design Team

The TSR UK designers do it again with a challenging mur-der mystery set in outer space! Millionare industrialist JackLagrange was lasered down in broad daylight—but themurder investigation is only the first step in unraveling anugly plot that menaces the survival of an entire race!

THE FIRESEEDENDLESS QUEST® Book #30by Morris Simon

A young adventurer kidnapped by pirates must brave thedangers of Storm Island to return the Fireseed gem to itshome in this adventure based on the DUNGEONS &DRAGONS® game.

Unless otherwise noted, ® denotes registered trademarks owned byTSR, Inc.; ™designates other trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. ©1985TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Now that�s firepower!Machine guns & missiles in TOP SECRET® gamingby Desmond P. Varady

The mission had gone off without a hitch.Agent Dan Carlyle and his partner Gadgetswere running through a forest now, but aboat waited for them just a hundred yardsaway, and the pursuing guards were farbehind. Dropping his backpack and rifle tolighten his load, Dan kept his holstered9mm Browning. They quickly broke intothe clearing around the beach. Just a fewmore seconds and �

Suddenly, the thumping of a helicopterechoed out of the dawn sky. Dan heard therattle of an M-60 machine gun and sawsand fly up in a line straight across thebeach in front of him. The boat was onlymoments away, but its crew had no kind ofanti-aircraft gun. Dan and Gadgets turnedand ran back toward the woods, knowingthat their only chance to survive lay inreaching ground cover.

The helicopter was hovering low over thetreetops before them. Dan heard the chat-tering of the machine gun and the crack ofbullets flying past him, and he jumpedacross a dune, rolling on the ground. Gad-gets screamed in agony, collapsing in thesand with blood spattered across his cloth-ing. Dan unholstered his Browning, know-ing it would have little effect against thechopper. He jumped up and took threequick shots while the gunship was turningto adjust to the strong ocean breeze. Hequickly dropped behind the dune just asanother line of shots kicked sand across thetop of the dune and into his face.

Believing he�d had it, Dan flashed aquick look back at the boat � and saw hisoperator Florence raising an M-72 lightanti-tank weapon across her shoulder. Shepulled the trigger with a grim smile. In asplit second, the helicopter exploded in anenormous fiery ball and fell into the treesbelow. . . .

Although the TOP SECRET® rule sys-tem provides an array of personal arms foragents� use in the field, some situationsarise when heavier weaponry would be usedby agents or their adversaries. There aremany styles of TOP SECRET play, andcommando-type missions might utilizemachine guns and personal missilelaunchers, as described in the situationabove. This article discusses the use of theseweapons in TOP. SECRET play.

Machine guns Standard use of a machine gun requires a

crew of two � an aimer/shooter and anammunition feeder. Up to four people can

3 8 O C T O B E R 1 9 8 5

assist in the firing of a machine gun; allindividuals involved are known collectivelyas a fire team.

Machine guns do not use magazines tofeed ammunition. Instead, they use longbelts of individual bullets which can be fedthrough the gun at an incredible rate. Beltscome in varying lengths according to thetype of gun being used (see the WeaponsTable). Ammunition belts can be linkedtogether for a continuous feed; this is usu-ally done by the ammunition feeder in themachine gun crew. If only one man is firingthe machine gun, it takes two phases to linkbelts together. Rechambering a new roundin the machine gun after discontinuing firetakes one phase. Lone shooters cannot linkbelts while firing.

Bracing for a machine gun is standardequipment and consists of a bipod or tripodused to support the weapon while firing it.With its standard bracing equipment, amachine gun can be used on any horizontalsurface and suffers no firing penalty. Otherpossible areas for bracing a machine gunand costs for necessary accessories are listedbelow.

window, doorway, pillboxwindow, roof $10

ground vehicle (e.g., jeep) $50helicopter doorway $100

Adapting machine guns for use in avehicle as a standard part of its equipment(e.g., behind rotating headlights) costs120% of the machine-gun cost, plus 5% ofthe vehicle cost.

Because machine guns have great rangeand power, they can be used to penetratethe outer defense material of buildings orvehicles so that the bullets have full effect onthe occupants. This aspect of use is coveredunder the Penetration Factor section below.Finally, machine guns always use the Multi-ple Targets optional rule (p. 44, TOPSECRET rule book).

In order to determine the success of a fireteam or an individual using a machine gun,a Base Accuracy must be calculated, Takeone-half of the Offense of the individual orof the averaged Offense value of the fireteam (half of the Offense is used becausemost of the effectiveness of a machine guncomes from the gun, not the shooter); tothis, add the Projectile Weapon Value of themachine gun. The result is the percentagechance of hitting the target(s). Adjustmentsto this value are as follows:

1. Movement adjustments for bothshooter and target, as per the Hit Determi-nation chart (p. 24, rule book).

2. The amount of area cover in the ma-chine gun�s field of fire:

none 0light brush, few trees -10heavy brush, small trees

of hills -15heavy trees, rocks -30

3. Special adjustments:hand-held use -20lack of bracing -10emplacement use + 1 5penetration use -30extra crew + 5 each for

3rd and 4th personsuntrained shooters -15

One person can use a machine gun hand-held (�Rambo-style�) as a small-armsweapon. All of the above restrictions apply,plus the following.

1. The user must weigh at least 175 lbs.,and have a Physical Strength of 85 orgreater; otherwise, the user is knockeddown and hits nothing.

2. Normal penalties apply for automaticfire, as per the Hit Determination chart for�the Automatic; Submachine Gun� class(p. 24, TOP SECRET rule book).

3. Long ammunition belts are too un-wieldy for individual use. Belt lengths ofgreater than 50 bullets cannot be used byany agent.

4. Lone shooters cannot use the machinegun in an emplacement.

Machine guns can be used to great ad-vantage when an emplacement is estab-lished. This involves a number of aspectsdescribed below.

1. The machine gun must be braced insome permanent position, like a rooftop,bunker, etc.

2. The crew must have at least 50%cover while firing the gun; sandbags, build-ings, or vehicles can provide this cover, ascan other objects at the discretion of theAdministrator.

3. Finally, the machine gun must have anestablished field of fire � that is, the ma-chine gun must have been fired at least oncein this position and the field of fire beenmarked and tested by the crew that is usingthe weapon.

All 7.62mm NATO-round belts use adisintegrating belt material which, as thebullets are fed through the gun, breaks upand falls away. NATO machine-gun ammobelts come in lengths of 50, 100, 200, and300 bullets, and cost $4 and weigh 2 lbs.,for each 50 bullet increment.

Soviet 7.62mm rounds come in boxes of50, which are then fitted into either ammo

boxes similar to magazines or into metal-link belts. Boxes come in 50- and 100-roundsizes, link belts in 50-, 200-, and 250-roundsizes. Either system can be used in the PK-GPMG or the Goryonov SG43. The cost is$5 and weight is 2.5 lbs., for each 50-roundincrement prepared; stats include box orbelt weight-and cost. Soviet 7.62mm roundsmust be prepared before combat. Sovietand NATO 7.62mm rounds are not inter-changeable.

effects are outlined under the followingexplanation of Penetration Factor.

GPMG hand-held decides to use penetra-tion against a group of thugs pulling awayin their getaway car. Adjustments to hit areusing machine gun for penetration (-30),car moving 5 mph (-15), agent is stationary(+0), no area cover (+0), using machinegun hand-held (-20), lack of bracing (-10),short range for M-60 (+0), and the PWVfor the weapon is 93, for a total of 18. Add-ing in the successive shot adjustments for anautomatic weapon, the totals are 18%, 7%,and then 5% for each of the remaining sixshots. The agent gets two hits, both ofwhich roll on the Bullet Use Against Vehi-cles table and one of which has a chance ofpenetrating the car. For the former, rolls of23 and 75 indicate that the car�s speed isreduced by 50%. For the penetrating bullet,determination is as follows: M-60 Penetra-tion Factor (+20), normal vehicle protec-tion on the car (+0), car moving at 15 mph(-5), short range ( +10), size of target (+0),for a total of 25%. The agent�s player rollsa 23, then consults the General InjuryDetermination table for a random target(chosen in this case by the Administrator tobe the driver of the car). The die rolls indi-cate a serious fracture in the head for 10points of damage. The driver had a LifeLevel of 8, so he slumps at the wheel andthe car crashes into a lamp post.

Personal missile launchers: A missile doesnot have to make an initial �to hit� roll inorder to be effective. A missile launcher�seffectiveness is determined through theprocess of checking the success of penetra-tion. This is done much as for the machinegun; the base Penetration Factor is adjustedby appropriate modifiers on the PenetrationFactor Adjustments table. The resultingnumber is the missile launcher�s combinedpercentage of hit determination and success-ful penetration.

All missiles affect the 10�-radius area justbeyond the first penetrated protective bar-rier (usually a door, wall, or window). All

Penetration FactorBoth missile launchers and machine guns

have a new statistic called the PenetrationFactor. This number is the percentagechance of a projectile (either missile ormachine gun bullet) penetrating the outerdefensive material of a structure or vehicle.This statistic is treated somewhat differentlyfor each weapon.Vickers and Browning ammo comes in

belts of 100 and 250. Costs and weights arethe same as 7.62mm NATO rounds. Brown-ing belts are disintegrating; Vickers beltsare made of cloth and can be cut with asharp knife.

Disintegrating link belts can easily bebroken to any size. Machine gun rounds arenot interchangeable with small arms roundsof the same caliber.

Machine guns: In order to use the pene-trative abilities of a machine gun, a normalcheck of hit determination must be made.The machine gun must be on the samehorizontal plane as the target. A declarationof the attempt to penetrate must be madeby the machine gun crew or shooter, be-cause the use of a machine gun for penetra-tion results in a -30 modifier to hit.Penetration checks proceed after a success-ful Hit Determination check. Take the basePenetration Factor of the machine gun and

Personal missile launchersThe advance of modern technology has

created many new personal weapons,among these the personal missile launchers(also known as PMLs, LAWS, or light anti-tank weapons). These weapons are tubes3�-5� in diameter and 22�-36� long (some-times available in a collapsed form 6�- 16�smaller for easy transportation). The tubecontains one missile, launch devices, andsighting apparatus. This self-containedsystem is not reuseable, and the tube isdiscarded after it is fired.

add the appropriate adjustments fromPenetration Factor Adjustments table.

the

If penetration succeeds, half of the bulletsfired will affect the occupants of the build-ing or vehicle. Randomly choose targetswithin the structure or vehicle and apply theappropriate damage from the General In-jury Determination tables (p. 25, TOPSECRET rule book). No body part is effec-tively shielded from penetrating bullets bythe vehicle or building protection.

The missile systems outlined in this ar-title use a crew of one. Operation usuallyconsists of preparing the tube (expanding acollapsed tube, attaching sighting appa-ratus, etc.), sighting, and firing, all ofwhich can be done in five seconds. TheWeapons Chart shows relevant statistics forlive missile launchers; effective range is themaximum distance at which the missilewould have full penetrative and explosivecapabilities. Hit determination and missile

Whether penetration succeeds or not, anyattempt to use penetrative fire against avehicle should result in a normal roll on theBullet Use Against Vehicle table (p. 38,TOP SECRET rule book), since any at-tempt to use penetrative fire has to follow asuccessful hit on the vehicle.

Machine gun fire can only penetrate onebarrier. After that, the bullets will lose theirpenetrating effectiveness.

For example, an agent using an M-60

Weapons chart 1: Machine gunsName PWV PB S M.303 Vickers MK1* 82 + 1 0 0 -20

MMG (England).30 Browning MMG 94 + 1 -10 -35

(USA)7.62mm M-60 GPMG 93 + 1 0 0 -35

(USA)

L WS Rate-65 V S 6

-110 BA 4

-85 V S 8

Ammo250rnd belt100/250rnd belt50/100/200/300rnd belt50/200/250rnd **50/200/250rnd **50/100/200/300rnd belt50/100/200/300rnd belt

HWV Weight16 33/15

18 30.8/14

22 22.75/10.4

C o s t P F$700 14

$ 8 0 0 2 0

$ 9 5 0 2 0

7.62mm GoryonovSG43 MMG (USSR)

7.62mm PK-GPMG(USSR)

7.62mm MAG GPMP(Belgium)

94 + 8 -5 -30

95 + 10 -3 -30

101 + 1 0 0 -37

-82 V S 7

-90 V S 8

-100 S 8

2 2 3 0 / 1 3 . 5 $ 8 5 0 2 0

2 4 1 9 . 5 / 8 . 9 $ 9 2 5 2 0

20 23.75/10.8 $950 18

7.62mm NATO MG-42 101 +10 -2 -35 -85 VS 10 20 25.5/11.6 $ 9 5 0 2 0

PF � penetration factorAmmunition sizes given in number of rounds per belt.Weights given in kilograms/pounds.All other statistics are as per p. 21, TOP SECRET rule book.

* � The Vickers machine gun requires a 2-lb. pack of water in order to

fire it; the water is used as a barrel coolant. The pack cost is includedabove, but the pack must be refilled for every 200 rounds fired.** � Rounds per belt or box (see text on Soviet 7.62mm ammo).

D R A G O N 3 9

persons in that area are immediately killed.Other effects as follows:

1. Surrounding wood and plaster struc-tures will catch fire 60% of the time.

2. Surrounding brick and concrete struc-tures will crack and collapse 15% of thetime.

3. Persons in surrounding areas will takedamage as follows:

Unprotected by hard cover (walls, rocks)within a 30�-radius area surrounding theblast area � 2-20 points damage.

Falling or burning debris (if applicable)within a 30� -radius area as above � 1 - 10points damage.

On side of barrier from which missilecame, within a 10�-radius area � 1-10points damage.

If a missile successfully penetrates avehicle, the vehicle is totally destroyed andall of its occupants killed. Obviously, theeffects of missiles used against player char-acters are devastating. Using the Fame andFortune point option (p. 41, TOP SECRETrule book), Administrators can allow theplayer agents to escape unharmed or withminor damage. This, of course, includes theoffering of some suitable alibi for survivalby the player agent(s).

If, because of high armor protection orquirk of fate, a missile does not penetrate itstarget�s armor, roll on the Non-PenetratingMissile Effects chart to find the result of thisoccurrence.

40 OCTOBER 1985

Penetration factor adjustment table

Target protectionplaster/wood, 1�-2�plaster/wood, 3�+;

aluminum, 1�brick, 6�; normal vehicle

protectionbrick/concrete, 12�steel reinforced concrete, 6�;

armor plating, 1�steel reinforced concrete, 12�;

armor plating, 2�per 1� of armor plating

over 2�

Range *point blank (machine guns only)shortmedium (up to effective range

for missiles)long (machine guns only)per 50� beyond effective range

for missiles

Offense of firer(s) **40 or less90 or greater

Size of targettiny (doorway, telephone booth)small (car, helicopter)medium (tractor-trailer, small

house)large (warehouse, mansion)

Movement of target (vehicle)under 10 mphper mph over 10 mph

+ 40

+ 20

+ 0-5

-10

-20

-10

-10+ 10

-10+ 0

+ 10+ 2 5

0-1

** � The Offense of a single firer or theaveraged Offense of a fire team is modifiedby the Hit Determination Wounds Modi-fiers, p. 20, TOP SECRET rule book.

* � Ranges are as per p. 21, TOPSECRET rule book.

Non-penetrating missile effect table

d10001-05

06-20

21-45

46-70

71-00

EffectsMissile is a dud; it will hit and fallin front of the first barrier itstrikes, without exploding.*Non-penetrating explosion; missiledoes 2-20 points damage to allwithin a 20� radius on the side ofthe target where the missile strikes;vehicle occupants take no damage.Non-penetrating explosion; 1 - 10points damage done to all within20� radius on the side of the targetwhere the missile strikes, andprotection of targeted area is re-duced by one class. * *Penetrating explosion; 1 - 10 pointsdamage done to occupants of vehi-cle and to those within 10� radiusbeyond the first barrier penetrated,and protection of targeted areareduced by two classes.Penetrating explosion; 2-20 pointsdamage done to occupants of vehi-cle and to those within 10� radiusbeyond the first barrier penetrated,and protection of targeted areareduced by three classes.

* � Unexploded missiles can still be usedfor their explosive capabilities. A demoli-tions expert (designated by Administrator�sdiscretion) can hook up detonators to ex-plode the missile manually, with the sameeffects as described in the text describingbuilding damage.

** � The reduction of protection byclasses refers to the variable protectionadjustment which the target receives on thePenetration Factor Adjustment Table. Forexample, a two-class reduction for 1� armorwould give the target an effective protectionof normal vehicle protection, or of 6�-thickbrick.

Weapons chart 2: Personal missile launchersName Nation Effective range PF WeightArpac Freeflight ATM France 150� 68 2.75/1.3Miniman Sweden 600� 77 6.25/2.84Armburst 300 Germany 750� 62 9.5/4.3M-72A LAW USA 450� 85 4.5/l.92Sarpac AT France 450� 75 5/2.2

Cost$150$200$300$225$185

P F � penetration factorWeights are given in kilograms/pounds.

Training the positions of aimer/shooter and ammuni-Agents are assumed to go through basic tion feeder, the use of various bracings

espionage training, during which familar- available, and how to operate a machineization with all of the basic TOP SECRET gun from all of these positions with highestweapons is achieved. This is not the case effectiveness. Course cost � $750.with the weapon systems outlined in this Personal missile launchers: A one-weekarticle. Agents planning to use these weap- course introduces agents to the major typesons in the field must receive an extra of personal missile launchers available andamount of training and indoctrination on their operation. Topics include missile bal-the use of these weapons, as outlined below. listics, range orientation, and effective use

Machine guns: A one-week course against vehicles. Field operatives attendingteaches agents the mechanics of operating a this course shoot dummy and actual missilesmachine gun � set up of the weapon, es- in practice. Course cost � $2,000.tablishing fields of fire, familiarization with The costs of these courses include the

+ 2 0+ 1 0

0- 4 0

- 1 0

salaries of training personnel and the cost ofthe ammunition or missile systems ex-pended.

If one person in a machine-gun crew hastraining, all crewmen benefit from thissituation and no penalty is taken by the fireteam. Novice shooters take a -15% �to hit�penalty and cannot use the machine gun forpenetration. An untrained missile-launcheruser takes three times as long in setting upthe missile launcher for use (15 seconds),and the shooter�s Offense is halved forpurposes of determining penetration.

Campaign notesBoth of these weapon systems have

proven to be very lethal in all playtesting

GuidelinesIf you�re interested in contributing anarticle to DRAGON® Magazine, thefirst thing you need is a copy of ourguidelines for writers. Send a self-addressed, s t a m p e d e n v e l o p e t o�Writer�s guidelines,� c/o DRAGONM a g a z i n e , P . O . B o x 1 1 0 , L a k eG e n e v a W I 5 3 1 4 7 ; a n d w e � l l s e n dyou back a sheet with all the basicinformation you need to make sureyour manuscript has the best possi-ble chance of being accepted.

situations � as they would be in real life.Some guidelines and warnings are offeredfor agents� information and Administrativecaution.

1. Machine guns have a very high degreeof accuracy in short- and medium-rangesituations. Agents are warned not be fool-hardy; without proper cover, crossing anestablished field of fire is like writing aticket to your own funeral.

2. Both missiles and machine guns causegreat destruction to personnel. Administra-tors should consider use of these weaponscarefully in all scenarios. Properly used,they can provide excitement that your TOPSECRET game has never seen before, butimproper use can lead to the destruction ofa campaign.

3. The use of these weapons should besupplemented by the use of the Fame andFortune point option (p. 41, TOP SECRETrule book).

4. This writer has found that the mosteffective use of these weapons has been inthree scenario situations: first, a situation inwhich both the team of agents and theiradversaries have one or the other system,thus balancing each other; second, a situa-tion where the agents have access to one ofthe weapon systems in the face of an other-wise overpowering foe; finally, a situationwhere the systems are used in a deterrentrole, such as the machine guns used in thescenario Whiteout (see issue #87 ofDRAGON® Magazine).

42 OC T O B E R 1985

Valley of the Earth MotherAn AD&D® game adventure for PCs of 4th-6th levelDesigned by Lise Breakey

Valley of the Earth Mother is an AD&D®game adventure for good or neutral-alignedcharacters of 4th to 6th level. The partyshould include a magic-user, cleric, anddruid for optimum success. In many ways,this module is ideal for parties with strongCeltic ties, particularly druids and rangers,though such are not required for play. Useis made of an article from DRAGON® issue#65, �Tuatha De Danaan,� which describeda revised Celtic pantheon. The EarthMother in this module is the goddess Da-naan, whose statistics are given at the endof the module. Any worshiper of a neutralCeltic deity will certainly pay homage toDanaan as well.

DM�s overview

The player characters are asked to help avillage that will shortly be attacked by amajor orc tribe. To insure victory in thecoming battle, the PCs must go to a formerstronghold of the local druids, the Valley ofthe Earth Mother, and recover a minor relicwhich will hopefully drive away the orcs.The Valley, now called the Tor, has beentaken over by a rival cult, supporting thedeath god Arawn.

A new, evil NPC class, the huntsman,appears in this module. It is described indetail at the end of the text. The Torc of theGods that the characters are seeking is alsodetailed at the module�s end.

This area is ideal for developing as partof a druid-oriented campaign. The refereewill need to create the village of Dungaelenand the surrounding territory, but it shouldbe relatively easy to fit it into any campaignsetting. If used as part of an ongoing cam-paign, the introductory section may bemodified as desired to fit the campaigncircumstances.

Players� introduction

The wanderings of your party in searchof adventure have brought you to the smallfortified village of Dungaelen, a town verymuch in need of heroes. Dungaelen is southof a large mountain range on the DaanRiver, on the outskirts of human habitation.Lately, it has been unceasingly raided andharassed by hordes of orcs from the moun-tains, At first the raids were infrequent andthe raiders few in number, but the orcs arebeginning to realize how much they out-number the fighting population of Dun-

44 OCTOBER 1985

gaelen. Soon the fort will be under an all-out attack. Brave though their warriors are,the people of Dungaelen do not believe theycan long defend their log ramparts againstthe enemy.

Now the war leader of the village, LordVortimax, has asked your party to come tohis home and confer with him about thesituation. Over horns of strong mead, hetersely explains the problem and suggests asolution. At his side is Avanthus, the agedleader of the much-reduced druidic commu-nity in the region. Lord Vortimax is a 9th-level fighter (hp 44); Avanthus is an8th-level druid (hp 28).

�To the north, two days� travel up theDaan River,� says the warrior, �is a reli-gious stronghold which once was called theValley of the Earth Mother. It was builtunder a hill, out of which flowed a sacredspring possessing great powers of healing.The spring was blessed by the goddess oflife herself. The druids of the valley fol-lowed the old ways of the Earth Mother,holding all life sacred and striving to pre-serve it.

�That was many years ago. The strong-hold was taken by force a decade ago bypriests of the lord of death, whose name Ishall not utter. The druids were slaugh-tered, and evil rules there now. The strong-hold is now called the Tor.

�You may wonder what all this has to dowith us. The druids of the Valley possesseda magical relic of great power: a Torc of theGods. It is said that in addition to the usualpowers of such a sacred object, this torc alsopossesses magical powers which could be ofgreat assistance in driving off the orcishhordes.�

�It is as m�lord says!� whispers the ageddruid by Vortimax�s side. �Were I to wearthe torc, no foul thing that harms the forestcould stand against me � including theorcs!�

�The problem is,� continues Lord Vorti-max, �the evil priests now have the torc.Though they cannot use it, I am sure theyhave not thrown it away. Perhaps they haveeven made an alliance with the orcs.

�We must ask you to help us by retriev-ing the torc. We can send none of our ownmen; few of them are seasoned, and evennow we can barely hold our own against theorcs. We need every warrior. Will you aidus?�

You look at each other, quickly reaching aconsensus. The people of Dungaelen havebeen very hospitable to you, and you feelyou cannot desert them in their hour of

need. Besides, evil religious strongholdsusually have plenty of treasure. . . .

The approach

As directed by Lord Vortimax, the partymust travel north up the river for two days.The terrain consists of forested rolling hillswhich gradually become mountains. Theriver winds its snaky way through the ter-rain. There is no road, and the river ismuch too strong and fast to take boatsupstream, so the party must either walk orpurchase horses at Dungaelen. The foliageis too thick to allow horses to move at betterthan a 12� movement rate. The villagerswill supply the party with as much food asthey ask for, within reason. They have littleto offer, because the orcs have razed theircrops. Except for two predestined encoun-ters, the trip will be uneventful.

1. SirineAt some point on the first day, the party

will encounter a sirine if they are travelingby the river. (Sirine: HD 7, hp 40, AC 3,MV 12�//24�, #AT 1, DAM short sword,NG, other information may be found inMonster Manual II). The sirine will smileat the party and approach as close as shecan without leaving the water. If convincedthat the party intends to drive out the evilpriests at the Tor, the sirine will give themthe information that �blood runs wherewater ran,� and that dead men are said towander about the Tor. If the party attacks orthreatens the sirine, she will scream in mockalarm and dive for the deepest part of theriver. The party will suddenly find itselfsurrounded by thick greenish fog, resem-bling that created by a cloudkill spell. Allthe fog does is obscure vision for 11 rounds,as per fog cloud. The sirine has no lair ortreasure.

2. Orc scoutsAs the player characters come within a

five-mile radius of the Tor, they will see thatthe trees in this area have been systemati-cally cut down, trampled, burned, and leftto rot. If the party is on horseback,mounted movement returns to normal. Theriver banks quickly enlarge into a canyon.At the canyon�s entrance, the party willencounter a group of eight orcs (each HD 1,hp 5-8, AC 6, MV 9�, #AT 1, DAM scimi-tars, LE) who are on a scouting mission toDungaelen. If the orcs find it at all possibleto avoid a fight, they will, but they will not

surrender. If any are captured and ques-tioned, they must make a morale check ortell everything they know to avoid execu-tion. Their tribe is preparing the attack onDungaelen, and their forces consist of over300 orcs. An alliance between the orcs andthe Tor is being considered, but nothingmore is certain. The orcs know nothingabout the inside of the Tor, although theyknow where it is. They have 2-12 sp each. Iffreed, the orcs will immediately split up andtry to warn their tribe and the Tor of thePCs� coming.

3. The valleyThe party will soon arrive at the point

where the canyon widens into a valley razeof all large animal and plant life by menand orcs. In its center is a broad, forebod-ing hill of stark stone, obviously the Tor,crowned with a circle of huge stone mono-liths. A dark opening lies 60� up the south-ern slope of the hill with steps leading up toit. A stream of thick, red liquid flows outthe opening through a special channel cutdown the middle of the steps, through thevalley, and eventually into the river. Nofurther details can be made out from thispoint.

4. MonolithsIf the party wishes to investigate the

monoliths, they will find the going a steepclimb. At the top of the hill is an 80� circleof stones, which was used by the druids topredict eclipses and maintain their seasonalcalendar. (The monolith arrangementstrongly resembles that at Stonehenge.) Themonoliths are 6� x 8� at the base and rise18�. Some of them have smaller horizontalmonoliths on top of them. The entire struc-ture is obviously very old. In the center ofthe circle is a 10� x 10� pit lined with stonewhich drops 150� into room 25. Before thepit stands a bloodstained slab of stone 4� x4� x 8�. Four 2nd-level huntsmen are onguard here (hp 12-18, AC 7, MV 12�, #AT1, DAM by weapon type, LE, surprise asrangers). They are armed with swords andspears, and have 4-16 gp each.

5. EntranceSixty steps lead up to a platform and the

entrance. A stream of blood flows out thecenter of three openings and down the stepsin a channel cut in the rock. It is 10� wideand 5� deep, and enchanted so that it willnot coagulate quickly. The Blood River wascreated by the evil priests to replace thepure spring water that used to flow here.Four 2nd-level huntsmen in wolf-headhoods, each armed with a sword and twojavelins, are on guard at the top of the steps(hp 12-18, AC 7, MV 12�, #AT 1, DAM byweapon type, LE, surprise as rangers).Unless attacked at long range from thebottom of the steps, they cannot be sur-prised where they are. If they are attacked,they will throw javelins and retreat to area 6to make a stand. They dare not interruptthe ceremony going on in room 7. Theyhave 4-16 gp each. The entrance itself is a

post-and-lintel structure ornamented withhuman skulls set into niches about it.

The Tor

All floors, walls and ceilings, unless statedotherwise, are made of stone. Doors are ofwood and usually open easily. Ceilingheight (CH) and illumination (IL) are givenfor each area described below.

The DM should be aware that the evilhigh priest of the Tor, Gershus Koch, hasdisappeared within the last three days (seeareas 16 and 45). Most of the activities ofthe priesthood are centered around locatinghim. Most priests will immediately believethat the party had something to do with hisdisappearance, and they will do all in theirpower to capture the party and force thecharacters to reveal the high priest�s loca-tion. Random encounters take place on aroll of a 1 on a d6, rolled every 2 turns.

Random encounters:1 � Three orcs (HD 1, AC 6, MV 9�,

#AT 1, DAM 1-8, LE) looking for theirfellows in room 11.

2 � Two 3rd-level huntsmen (hp 18 and16, AC 5, MV 12�, #AT 1, DAM 1-8, LE,surprise rangers) returning from a patrol.

3 � One scarecrow (HD 5, AC 6, MV6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-6, LE, touch and glancecause charm), a guardian of the Tor whichwill attack all intruders. It is only encoun-tered once unless destroyed.

4 � Five 4th-level clerics (AC 10, MV12�, #AT 1, DAM clubs, LE, use spells) ontheir way to room 7.

5 � One kobold (HD ½, hp 3, AC 7,MV 6�, unarmed, LE), who will instantlyflee and raise an alarm upon seeing theparty.

6 � Two skeletons (HD 1, AC 7, MV12�, #AT 1, DAM 1-6, N), that wanderedaway from the barrows (see �The Barrows�below).

6. Entrance hall(CH: 10�, IL: daylight, if any)

The Blood River flows through the centerof this room from under the north wall.Directly above it, between the two doors, isa recently made bronze plaque, which readsin Common: �Ye who come to reverencethe Deathlord may speak and enter.� Thetwo doors each have a glyph of warding onthem. The first person to touch either doorwithout first saying the name of the glyph(�peh�) must save vs. spell or be paralyzed.It is possible to swim upstream under thewall into room 7. However, good characterswould consider this distasteful at best, andthe party would attract attention afterwardbecause of their bloody footprints and foulsmell. Characters listening at either doorwill hear a low, guttural chanting.

7. Main shrine(CH: 20�) IL: four braziers)

This room is occupied by live 4th-levelclerics in black robes who are chanting in a

D R A G O N 4 5

Scale: 1 square = 10 feet

strange tongue, in front of a bronze statueof a tall, grim-faced man in an iron crown.This is the god Arawn. The Blood Riverflows through this room from under a largealtar before the statue. The Blood Riverappears to originate here, but actually it isbeing teleported to a cistern under the altarfrom room 43. (Priests: hp 12-20, AC 10,MV 12�, #AT 1, DAM clubs, LE, use

46 OCTOBER 1985

spells.) Today, their spells are command,cause light wounds, sanctuary, augury, andspiritual hammer.

On seeing the party, two of the priestswill attack with clubs, and two will castoffensive spells such as command (�sleep!�)or spiritual hammer. The last one will castsanctuary on himself and attempt to retreatto room 9 and warn the huntsmen there.

The priests have been attempting by prayerto find out what happened to their highpriest. This vigil is maintained around theclock. If the PCs re-enter this room after anhour, there is a 30% chance it will be againoccupied by five more priests. The priestshave no treasure, but there is a set of 13gem-inlaid sticks worth 50 gp each lying ina strange pattern on the altar.

8. Vestry(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Hanging on pegs along this corridor areten black robes on each side. There is noth-ing unusual about them.

9. Commemoration hall(CH: 10�, IL: two braziers)

At the top of the steps are four 2nd-levelhuntsmen in bear hoods on guard duty(each hp 12-18, AC 7, MV 12�, #AT 1,DAM long sword, LE, surprise as rangers).They will attack the party on sight. Theyhave 4-16 gp each.

The room contains four tapestries. Two ofthem depict a grey star on a black back-ground. The other two show scenes ofblack-robed priests plunging corpses into ahuge undead cauldron, after which thecorpses walk away. In the center alcove is abronze statue of Arawn in an iron crown. Player characters inspecting the statue willnotice that the crown is removable. Thesecret door behind the statue opens onto astairway which leads down to room 34. Thedoor can be opened by twisting the crown.On a spike driven into the east wall next tothe arched exit, an intricately worked hornof silver inlaid with jet dangles from aleather thong. This horn is the alarm systemfor the Tor. Blowing it will alert the wholelevel and bring the huntsmen in room 19and 20 running. It has had a Nystul�s magicaura placed on it and is worth 200 gp.

10. Priest chambers(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Each of these rooms contains two reedmat beds, two chests and two 4th-levelclerics (each hp 12-20, AC 10, MV 12�,#AT 1, DAM clubs, LE). They are eithersleeping (50%) or meditating (50%). Ineither case, surprise is automatic. Thepriests have only bless and chant spells. Thechests contain personal items of no interest.From the hallway, loud noises-can be heardfrom room 11. It sounds like an argumentin an extremely guttural language.

11. Converted storeroom(CH: 10�, IL: one torch)

This room is a storeroom, but it is beingused to house nine large orcs in black chainmail and rounded black helmets. They arewith Strengul in area 12. As is typical oforcs with nothing to do while in a strangeplace, two of them have started a fight. ThePCs will hear one call the other a �brown-nosed kobold punk.� They have drawnswords, and, with the other seven orcslooking on and yelling encouragement, areabout to have at it. On seeing the party, allthe orcs will forget about the fight andattack the party instead. (Orcs: each HD 1,hp 5-8, AC 5, MV 9�, #AT 1, DAM longswords, LE.) The room contains severalcrates full of torches and braziers, an emptycabinet, and two large cagelike wickerbaskets, used for holding sacrificial victimsfor burning. The orcs have 2-12 sp each, aswell as backpacks full of jerky and uncuredwolfskin bedrolls.

12. Meeting hall(CH: 10�, IL: two braziers)

A large, impressive-looking stone chairagainst the north wall is occupied by afigure shadowed in a dark cloak. Beforehim, seated on a fur-padded stool, is anextremely ugly half-orc in black leatherarmor and spiked bracers of AC 4. Theshadowed figure is Cathbad, a 6th-levelillusionist and the current leader of the Tor(hp 24, AC 7, MV 12�, #AT 1, DAMdagger, LE). His spells are color spray,darkness, detect invisibility light, blur,mirror image, and suggestion. Cathbadpossesses a ring of human influence with 3charges left. The half-orc is Strengul, a 5th-level fighter/5th-level assassin, leader of theorcs in room 11 and of the tribe preparingto attack Dungaelen. He is here to discussthe possibility of an alliance between histribe and the Tor. (Strengul: hp 32, AC 4,MV 12�, #AT 1, DAM long sword, NE,sword poisoned.)

Cathbad�s first reaction after seeing theparty will be to restrain Strengul fromattacking while he uses his ring of humaninfluence to charm the party. He will at-tempt to keep the party enthralled whileStrengul tries to assassinate the mostpowerful-looking member; if this attempttakes place, allow another saving throw-forthe charmed characters. Strengul�s sword ispoisoned, causing the first victim struckwith it to save vs. poison or take 5-20 hpdamage more.

The room contains two chests full ofclothing, four pieces of jewelry worth 50 gpeach, and four stoneware urns (with perma-nent illusions cast on them to make themappear empty) that each contain 150 gp.Cathbad purchased the urns in a nearbycity. Strengul has 20 gp and a 100 gp gemon his person.

13. Priests� chambers(CH: 10�, IL: none)

These rooms are identical to the ones inarea 10, except the doors are locked and therooms are unoccupied.

14. Storeroom(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This room contains a stack of cratesholding torches and braziers. It also has acabinet which contains ten gold-platedscythe-like daggers worth 15 gp each, andten amber bowls worth 25 gp each. Thereare also two large cagelike wicker baskets.They are used for holding and sometimestorturing man-sized prisoners.

15. Boggle�s room(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This room bears all the telltale signs ofhaving once been a bedroom, but its fur-nishings have been smashed and burnedinto uselessness. A boggle (HD 4 + 3, hp 28,AC 5, MV 9�, #AT 3, DAM 1-4/1-4/1-4,CN, naturally resists fire, spider climb anddimension door through any completeframe at will) lurks in this room. If sur-prised, it will be kicking back on the re-

mains of a bed, cleaning its toenails. If notsurprised, it is on the ceiling just above thearchway, waiting to drop on the first charac-ter who enters. In either case, it will to tosteal some small, valuable item from a PC.After attempting the theft, it will dimensiondoor beyond the party down the hall andrun for the exit. It crept into the Tor lookingfor treasure. It will fight only if cornered. Ithas no treasure yet.

16. Library(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Shelves line the walls, books stackedneatly on them. Charts of various astrologi-cal configurations are tacked to the fine oak-paneled walls. Luxurious black furs coverthe floor, and two unlit braziers hang fromthe ceiling. In the center of the room standsa small round table with a clean, burnishedhuman skull resting on it. A large raven,actually a polymorphed imp, perches on theskull. (Imp: HD 2 + 2, hp 14, AC 2, MV6�/18�, #AT 1, DAM 1-4, LE; 25% magicresistance; poisoned tail; can detect good,detect magic, polymorph self into raven orgiant spider, and become invisible at will;can use suggestion once per day.)

A former familiar, this imp was drivenpermanently insane when its master (thehigh priest Gershus Koch) attempted toturn himself into a lich and failed (see area45). It now thinks it is a talking raven andwill not attempt to leave the room. It willnot attack unless attacked first. If left alone,it will use detect good on the PCs and ver-bally abuse those that it detects as good. Itwill respond to all questions with absurdphrases such as �Nevermore!� or �Won�tyou come home, Bill Bailey?�

Most of the books here are local histories,religious treatises, and philosophical novelson subjects that would interest any evil highpriest. However, there are two books thatthe party might find fascinating. One,entitled �Politics of the Eighth Hell,� has ascroll with a wizard eye spell tucked withinit. The other is an unnamed volume boundin black leather that details the process ofachieving lichdom in exacting detail. Playercharacters reading it will notice that certainkey paragraphs have been underlined, andthe name Gershus Koch is written in thefront of the book. The book is almost com-pletely accurate and usable; a magic-userwith intelligence of 17 or better will notethat the work fails to tell the reader that anymagic-user wishing to become a lich mustbe at least 18th level. The work implies thata magic-user of any level may become alich, which is not true. The results of at-tempting to achieve lichdom without beingof sufficient level vary widely, but they areinvariably bad (see area 45). The party hasa 10% cumulative chance per turn ofsearching to find either book.

17. High priest�s chamber(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This was the high priest�s bedroom beforehe disappeared. The name Gershus Koch ispainted on the door in gold leaf. Furs cover

D R A G O N 4 7

the floor and two unlit braziers hang fromthe ceiling. The large fur-filled bedstead hasa screaming devilkin (HD 3, hp 12, AC 2,MV 12�, #AT 1, DAM 1-6, LE, screams)hiding under it, acting as guard. It willattack the party when encountered, �and itsscreams will automatically attract a wander-ing encounter in 1-4 rounds. The room alsohas a chest containing black robes, a goldtorc worth 50 gp, and a leather pouch with6 pp. Two tapestries of a gray star on ablack background cover the walls; each isworth 75 gp.

18. Wizard�s lab(CH: 10�, IL: none)

The first thing the party notices aboutthis room is the knotted, writhing pile ofnine, sickly yellow larvae (each HD 1, hp5-8, AC 7, MV 6�, #AT 1, DAM 2-5, NE)which disentangle themselves and move toattack in a mindless frenzy. This roomcontains a clutter of things typical of asorcerer�s laboratory.

A cauldron set in the burned-out fireplaceis steaming slightly, and contains the fer-menting ingredients for a sleep potion.After the PCs have been here one turn withthe doors closed, they must save vs. poisonor suffer extreme grogginess from thefumes. They will receive a -3 on �to hit�and armor class. Magic-users and illusion-ists will find it very difficult to concentrate,and each spell they cast will have a 50%chance of failure. Magical counters such asneutralize poison will work. The effect lasts2-8 turns.

A work bench sits against the north wallwith several vials and a small locked box.The vials are clearly labeled with what theycontain: �Arsenic,� �Belladonna,� �PhaseSpider Venom,� �Wyvern Venom,� �Vam-pire Blood,� and �Giant Moth Glands.�_The box contains a large, luminous gemthat will drain the soul of the first personwho touches it into itself, unless he or shesaves vs. spell at -3. The body of the personwill fall to the floor, apparently lifeless. Thegem�s effect is similar to a magic jar spell,except that the character cannot possessanyone or return to his own body. Dispelmagic, successfully cast vs. 10th-level ma-gic, will restore the soul to its body; so willbathing either the body or the gem in theWaters of Life in room 43. The gem onlyworks once. It is worth 1,200 gp. In thecenter of the room is a stone platform, 10�in diameter and 2� high. This is one end ofa two-way teleport once connected to room43; it has been deactivated.

On a stand against the south wall is thehigh priest�s magic-user spellbook, markedwith his name and chained to its stand. Aglyph of warding has been placed on thecover which will blind the first persontouching it, unless he saves vs. spell. Thebook contains the spells find familiar, Nys-tul�s magic aura, read magic, write, dark-ness, ESP ray of enfeeblement, shatter,fireball, monster summoning I, slow, poly-morph other, polymorph self, cloudkill, andmagic jar. The page with the cloudkill spell

on it also has notes in the margin regardingthe process of becoming a lich (duplicatingsome of the material from the black book inarea 16).

In one corner of the room is a largewicker cage with several holes �chewed in it.This is where the larvae were confinedbefore they escaped. Shelves and cabinetsagainst the north wall hold an uninterestingclutter of vials, tripods, bowls, rods, tongs,and other equipment. The secret dooropens easily onto a staircase which leadsdown to room 34.

19. Guardroom(CH: 10�, IL: two torches)

Five huntsmen in cougar hoods areseated around a table. If surprised, two ofthem are occupied playing chess while theothers look on. They are drinking mead,occasionally calling for refills from the ko-bold sulking in the corner. They are not yetintoxicated and will attack the party onsight. Two huntsmen are 4th level (hp 22and 27), two are 3rd level (hp 16 and 17),and one is a 7th-level warrior (hp 49).(Huntsmen: AC 8, MV 12�, #AT 1, DAMlong swords, LE, surprise as rangers). Thehuntsmen in room 20 will come in at once ifthey hear the sounds of combat in this room(and vice versa; see area 20).

The kobold (HD ½, hp 2, AC 7, MV 6�,unarmed, LE) will not attack the party. Itwill just sit on top of its cask of mead mut-tering angrily about how it has been mis-treated and what it would do if it wasbigger. In any case, it knows nothing ofinterest. The huntsmen have 4-16 gp each.The chessmen are made of bronze and areworth only 1 sp each.

20. Barracks(CH: 10�, IL: six torches)

Nine huntsmen in boar hoods are loung-ing around on their bunks, telling stories ofpast battles. They will attack the party atonce, astonished that intruders have gottenthis far into the Tor. One huntsman is 8thlevel (hp 50) and wears bracers of AC 2; hecarries a battleaxe + 2. Another is 6th level,wears leather armor + 2, carries a shield,and uses a longsword + 1. The other menare 2nd level, and wear leather armor anduse long swords. (Huntsmen: AC 8, MV12�, #AT 1, DAM long swords, LE, sur-prise as rangers.) The room contains 16bunk beds and 32 chests. All the chestscontain extra animal-head hoods, groomingbrushes, and personal items. The lockeddoor to area 22 has a small barred windowin it, through which the loud complaints ofthe prisoner in room 24 can be heard.

Note that any sounds of battle here willattract attention from those huntsmen inroom 19.

21. Warlord�s chamber(CH: 10�, IL: none)

The first thing the DM needs to knowabout this room is that there is a night hagin it (HD 8, hp 46, AC 9, MV 9�, #AT 1,DAM 2-12, NE, see Monster Manual for

powers). She recently arrived from theEthereal Plane to look for the huntsmanwarlord, in order to strangle him and takehis soul back to Hades. This is the thirdtime she�s missed him, and she is in a foulmood. If the PCs don�t attack her withintwo rounds of seeing her, she will leave forhome, planning to try again a few dayslater. If threatened, she will attack, but ifreduced to less than a quarter of her hitpoints, it will occur to her that she is wast-ing her time and she will leave through theEthereal Plane.

The room contains a bed, a chest, and adesk and chair. Two non-magical swordsand a shield are hanging on the wall. Thechest contains animal-head hoods and a pairof boots of striding and springing. On thedesk is a wire cage that holds a live stirge,furiously rattling its proboscis against thebars (HD 1 + 1, hp 7, AC 8, MV 3�/18�,#AT 1, DAM 1-3, N, drains blood). It isvoraciously hungry.

There is nothing to indicate where thewarlord went beyond a few scribbled pagesin Common on the desk, speculating onwhere the high priest might have gone. Thewarlord was obviously trying to locate him.

22. Cell block(CH: 10� IL: none)

All the doors to this area are locked. Thesmall rooms are unoccupied cells used forholding sacrificial victims until the time fortheir sacrifices. They are small, dirty, full ofwet straw and infested with vermin. Char-acters searching through the straw have a30% chance of contracting a mild parasiticinfestation of the skin (no saving throw).Characters captured in the Tor will be con-fined here for 1-4 days, then taken to room27 and dropped into the barrows withoutweapons, armor, or equipment. Loud com-plaints from the prisoner in room 24 can beheard through the tiny barred window.

23. Special cell(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Although the door to this room looksexactly like the others in room 22, the roomitself is spacious and clean. It is furnishedwith a bed, a chair and a washbasin. It isused for special sacrificial victims, such as apaladin or druid. Grafitti has been scrawledall over the walls by previous captives, TheDM should invent a number of suitablescrawlings, none of which are helpful to theparty, in case someone wants to read them.

24. Ogre�s cell(CH: 10�, IL: none)

A ranting and raving ogre is locked up inthis room. He is swearing in a mixture ofcommon and ogrish. This burly creature isdestined to be the next sacrifice. On seeingthe party through the tiny barred window;he will demand his freedom, using the logicthat if the party does not let him out, he willsmash them. The door�s lock must bepicked and the bar across it removed toopen it; otherwise, the �bend bars� rollmust be used (one chance only). If the ogre

48 OCTOBER 1985

is released, he will immediately look forhuntsmen to kill. He will not attack theparty unless they either attack him, enterhis cell without releasing him, or encounterhim again in the complex. (Ogre: HD 4 + 1,hp 24, AC 7, MV 9�, #AT 1, DAM 1-10,CE. )

doors are wooden and open easily unlesslocked or otherwise impeded.

The activity of the priesthood on thislevel is involved in the creation of an un-dead army under the priests� control, forthe purpose of conquering unbelievers,expanding the priests� sphere of influence,and all other goals typical of evil priest-hoods. Normally, undead are created by thepriests by putting the corpse of a sacrificialvictim into the undead cauldron in area 44.The undead cauldron is a magic item thatturns ordinary bodies into undead corpses;it was enchanted to be easily portable aswell. However, the cauldron disappeared atthe same time as the high priest. The priestsare now simply dropping live victims intoroom 37 from room 27, in the hope thatthey will be slain by the undead and thusbecome undead themselves.

Chambers of Preparation

The floors, walls and ceilings are ofstone, just as in the previous section. Also,

Random encouters take place here on aroll of 1 on a d6, checked for every twoturns.

Random encounters:1 � Two 2nd-level huntsmen (AC 7, MV

12�, #AT 1, DAM long swords, LE, sur-prise as rangers) dragging a male humanpeasant (0 level, AC 10, MV 12�, un-armed, LN) to room 27.

2 � One scarecrow (HD 5, AC 6, MV6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-6, LE, touch and glancecauses charm). If the party has alreadydestroyed the scarecrow, disregard this roll.

3 � Five 4th-level clerics (AC 10, MV12�, #AT 1, DAM clubs, LE, use spells) ontheir way from room 27 to area 13.

4 � One kobold (HD 1/2, hp 4, AC 7,MV 6�, unarmed, LE) who will instantlyflee and raise an alarm upon seeing theparty.

5 � Four zombies (HD 2, AC 8, MV 6�,#AT 1, DAM 1-8, N) that wandered awayfrom the barrows (see below).

6 � Two ghouls (HD 2, AC 6, MV 9�,#AT 3, DAM 1-3/1-3/1-6, CE, cause paral-ysis) that escaped from the barrows (seebelow).

25. Pit(CH: 20�) IL: daylight, if any)

The light in here is very dim, as it iscoming from 150� up through a 20� x 10�shaft in the center of the ceiling (leading upto area 4). The floor is coated with driedblood. In the center of each wall, 10� upfrom the floor, is an alcove. Each alcove hasa bronze statue of Arawn in it, with a cluband an iron crown. The southern statue�s

crown may be twisted to open the secretdoor behind the statue.

26. Morgue(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This room is filled with crude woodencoffins. Most of them are unoccupied,although five have ordinary human corpsesin them (victims of a recent rockslide thatkilled several huntsmen). The entire roomreeks of carrion. In the northwest corner,four ghasts are leaning over a coffin, rip-ping the occupant into bite-sized chunks.They will attack the party with derangedenthusiasm (HD 4, hp 19, AC 4, MV 15�,#AT 3, DAM 1-4/1-4/1-8, CE, stench,cause paralysis).

27. Shrine(CH: 10�, IL: four braziers)

Five black-robed priests are conducting aceremony in this room. An unconsciousfigure is stretched out prone on a stone altarwith two priests holding his wrists andankles. The other three priests stand beforethe altar, holding gold-plated, curved dag-gers and chanting in a strange language.Behind the altar is a small, bronze statue ofArawn. In the center of the room gapes adark 10� x 10� pit. It drops 40� into room37. If left uninterrupted, the priests willfinish the ceremony by dropping the figureinto the pit. The (4th-level) priests willdefend themselves with spells and clubs ifattacked. (Priests: hp 12-20, AC 10, MV12�, #AT 1, DAM clubs, LE.) Their spellsare curse, detect good, protection fromgood, augury, and hold person.

If given the chance, the priests will re-treat to room 34 and up the steps to warnthe Tor�s inhabitants of intruders, killing thevictim with their daggers before they leave.(Note: Arawn is assumed to approve of theuse of sharp-edged weapons for sacrificingvictims or slaying captives in this manner,though he would not approve of the regularuse of daggers or the like by his priests.)The party will have to act quickly in orderto rescue the victim. If the PCs succeed,they will learn that he is Ferdian, a 4th-levelhalf-elven thief who was caught sneakingaround looking for treasure. (Ferdian: hp20 (now 4), AC 10, MV 12�, unarmed, N,17 dexterity.) Having been severely beatenin the process of being captured, his onlygoal is to escape the Tor alive. Toward thisend, he will offer the party some informa-tion he overheard in exchange for a weaponhe can use. He heard that a large treasure ishidden at the southern end of this level. Hecan draw a crude map of how to get toroom 34, but that is the extent of his knowl-edge. If he acquires a weapon, he will thankthe party and head for the nearest exit.

28. The forgotten room(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Both doors to this room are locked, andthe room�s contents are covered with dust.There are two fireplaces in the east wall,filled with ash and soot. Two bronze caul-drons, once used for heating water, lie on

the earthen floor. Cloth and clothing arescattered all over the floor. Against thewestern wall, between the two dark open-ings of the staircases, is a patch of disturbedearth marking a shallow grave. Beside itkneels the shadowy figure of a woman withelfin features, dressed in a pale robe. Thewoman seems to be digging at the dirt withher hands, but is unable to affect the earth.The faint sounds of weeping may be heard.

When the party enters, the woman willlook up at them with a pleading gaze. It willbecome immediately apparent that she isundead, and is 90% likely to be mistakenfor a groaning spirit. In truth, she is thehaunt (see Monster Manual II) of a half-elven druid who was slain when the forcesof Arawn took over the temple. She wastrying to hide the magical torc when shewas caught and killed by a huntsman. Now,she continually digs at the earth where herbody is buried. She will arise and attempt topossess the body of a player character,preferably a female, in order to find thestolen torc and give it to a druid. If this acthas already been accomplished, the hauntwill need to see proof of this before �givingup the ghost.�

29. Room of healing(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Dust covers the room. A table stands inthe center of it. Shelves line the walls, filledwith boxes and jars containing first-aidequipment, torn-up bandage strips, andmost of the herbs listed in the DungeonMasters Guide, Appendix J (75% chancethat any particular one is present). If theparty searches the room for one turn, a jarwith six applications of Keoghtom�s oint-ment will be found.

30. Linens(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Although dusty, this room is reasonablyneat. White and blue robes hang from pegson the walls. Linens of various sorts arefolded and stacked on the floor. There isnothing of value here, and the room hasn�tbeen entered since the druids were present.

31. Kitchen(CH: 10�, IL: five torches)

This is obviously a kitchen. The contentsof two cauldrons bubble and steam overtheir fires. Cabinets and shelves of utensilsstand against the walls. A kobold is stand-ing in front of a low counter slicing upmeat. A second kobold scampers hither andyon, fetching various items to pop in thesoup. Both are frantically hurrying throughtheir tasks at the direction of a large, bul-bous female bugbear (HD 3 + 1, hp 22, AC5, MV 9�, #AT 1, DAM 2-8, CE), who issitting comfortably beside a table betweenthe two dark openings in the floor. Betweenbouts of shouting at the hapless kobolds, sheis sharpening her claws with a file. Uponseeing the party, she will seize a huge meatcleaver from the table and charge.

The first kobold will attack with his knife(HD l/2, hp 4, AC 7, MV 6�, #AT 1, DAM

D R A G O N 4 9

dagger, LE). The other kobold will standback and throw pots and pans at the party.These cause no damage, but a characterstruck by one will suffer a -2 on all �to hit�rolls made in the same round because of thedistraction. (Second kobold: HD l/2, hp 3,AC 7, MV 6�, #AT 1, DAM special.)There is no treasure here.

32. Wine cellar(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Wine bottles and mead barrels line thewalls. Wine bottles also line the floor,mostly empty. An unmade bed stands inone corner; it reeks of drunken bugbear.Next to the bed is a locked chest containing60 sp, 15 gp, and two pieces of jewelryworth 10 gp each.

33. Pantry(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This room is filled with boxes and cratesstacked from floor to ceiling. Hidden upamong the crates lurks an executioner�shood, a large one (HD 4 + 4, hp 36, AC 6,MV 6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-4, N) that has beenwell fed on a steady diet of kobold. It willdrop on some unlucky party member whenhe investigates the crates. The crates con-tain dried and fresh food, most of which islit for human consumption. The hood willnot attack its master, the bugbear.

34. Nexus point(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This room is empty except for the stepsleading up to room 9 (or room 18) and forthe unusually ornate door in the south wall.It is completely carved with strange runes.It radiates both magic and evil. Human anddemi-human skulls are set into the thirty-four niches in the stone wall about it.

The door to the south has a glyph ofwarding cast upon it, such that anyone whodoes not pronounce the glyph (�coo�) willbe struck with confusion for 3-12 rounds.

35. Guardian shrine(CH: 20�) IL: four torches)

The floor, walls and ceiling of this roomare faced with black marble. There arethree alcoves in the south wall. The centerone has a bronze statue of Arawn wearing agold torc that is actually a polymorphedpoisonous snake, created by a special cere-mony once performed by the high priest(snake: HD 2 + 1, hp 12, AC 6, MV 15�,#AT 1, DAM 1, N, creature bitten mustsave vs. poison or take 3-12 points of dam-age). A touch will dispel the polymorph.The alcove has a semi-circle of niches overit, each one containing a skull. An altarrests before the alcove with two handlessticking out of the top. Anyone except ahalfling, gnome, or dwarf must kneel tograsp them comfortably. The four torcheson the walls cannot be put out or removedfrom their sockets by ordinary means. Theyradiate magic.

If a character grasps the handles of thealtar, a magic mouth spell on the topmostskull will activate and say �If ye come to

5 0 O C T O B E R 1985

reverence our god, then speak his name.�The DM should then glance discreetly at hiswatch. If the character does not say�Arawn� within 15 seconds, the fourtorches will shoot out flames which willcombine in a single flame strike on thatspot. Unless the PC has stated, within the15-second delay, that he is moving away, hemust save vs. spell or take 6-48 hp damage.Remember, the party may not have heardof Arawn; try not to give the name awayunless they have been in a situation inwhich they might have heard it.

If the character does say �Arawn� in thetime given, he will notice that the handleswill now move. Each one controls the open-ing and closing of the secret door adjacentto it. The handles will now work for any-one, but after one turn the doors will auto-matically close and the trap will reset itself.

Operating the handles is the only way toopen the doors.

36. Treasure room(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This room is where all the treasure takenfrom sacrificial victims is kept. Neatlystacked in locked chests and sealed potteryjars are 2,000 cp, 1,200 sp, 800 gp, and 100pp. A box contains 20 gems worth 50 gpeach. Other boxes contain eight pieces ofjewelry worth a total of 400 gp. Hanging onthe walls are four swords, a morning star,six daggers, ten javelins, eight shields, anda silvered mace. There are also three sets ofscale mail, two sets of chain mail, a suit ofstudded leather + 2 (to be given to thehuntsman who kills the old druid in Dun-gaelen), and a rack containing seven vials ofcolored water and one potion of frost giant

strength for use in emergencies. Lying in acorner is a small ivory box containing acursed ring of weakness. This will cause itswearer to slowly lose strength at a rate of 1strength point per day, a rate not immedi-ately noticeable. The ring also grants pro-tection + 3. If the ring is not removedbefore the wearer�s strength reaches zero,the wearer will die. The ring cannot beremoved except by casting both a removecurse and a dispel magic upon it, afterwhich the ring may be removed and thecharacter will regain his strength at thesame rate. It will take the party at least twoturns to search through all this stuff. Notethat the doors will close in one turn.

The Barrows

Much of this level is inhabited by un-dead. These vile creatures were created bythe priests using the undead cauldron (seeroom 44) and dropped into room 37 untilthey are needed. They wander about thebarrows preying on hapless living creaturesthat fall into their clutches. Clerics willsuffer a -3 on attempts to turn them untilthe Water of Life is restored (see room 43).

Only doors with magical protections onthem still exist on this level. The undeadhave torn the rest into splinters. Randomencounters take place on a roll of a 1 on ad6, rolled every turn.

Random encounters:1 � Four skeletons (HD 1, AC 7, MV

12�, #AT 1, DAM 1-6, N).2 � Three zombies (HD 2, AC 8, MV

6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-8, N).3 � Two ghouls (HD 2, AC 6, MV 9�,

#AT 3, DAM 1-3/1-3/1-6, CE, causeparalysis).

4 � Ten giant rats (HD 1-4 hp, AC 7,MV 12�, #AT 1, DAM 1-3, N).

5 � One coffer corpse (HD 2, AC 8,MV 6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-6, CE, causesfear).

6 � Two ghasts (HD 4, AC 4, MV 15�,#AT 3, DAM 1-4/1-4/1-8, CE, cause paral-ysis, stench).

37. Landing(CH: 10�, IL: none)

This room is 3� deep in wet straw. Thosefalling into it from room 27, 40� above, willonly take 1-6 hp damage instead of the

normal 4-24 hp damage. If Ferdian wasdropped here from room 27, he will befound crumpled in the straw; the fall killedhim. A scrawled charcoal message is on thewall next to the archway, saying �point ofno return� in Common. The room is other-wise empty.

38. Preparation chamber(CH: 10�, IL: none)

A 3� x 3� x 8� slab of stone lies in thecenter of this room. An empty fireplace is inthe north wall. Broken glass, pieces of rot-ten wood, ash, and straw litter the floor.The walls and ceiling are blackened with

soot. The door to room 40 is wizard locked(11th level) and covered with claw marks.Light can be seen shining around the edgesof it.

39. Alchemist�s bedroom(CH: 10�, IL: none)

Six ravenous ghouls (HD 2, hp 9, AC 6,MV 9�, #AT 3, DAM 1-3/1-3/1-6, CE,cause paralysis) are in this room searchingthe trash on the floor (for the umpteenthtime) for something edible. The room con-tains more pieces of wood, straw, cloth, andfeathers. There are also several highly pol-ished human bones, all that�s left of thealchemist who was killed when the templefell. Under all this trash is a gem worth 100gp.

40. Alchemist�s lab(CH: 10�, IL: continual light

in ceiling)This room looks like a small laboratory. It

smells of formaldehyde. The room is dusty,but neat and orderly. There is a chest in theroom with a small black cat lounging on topof it; it is a guardian familiar (HD 1 (9),AC 8, MV 12�, #AT 3, DAM 1-6/1-4/1-4,NG, 40% magic resistance). It is guardingthe treasure of its master, who was an alche-mist as well as an 8th-level magic-user. Itwill talk to those characters able to speakwith animals, but it will not believe itsmaster is dead, nor will it allow the charac-ters to touch the chest. If the chest is leftalone, the familiar will be fairly friendly.The chest contains a book of alchemy worth2,000 gp to any alchemist or magic-user of11th level or higher. The room also containsa rack of bowls, tripods, rods, tongs, andother equipment. A locked cabinet standsagainst the east wall; it contains racks ofvials, all empty except for three. One con-tains a liquid that smells strongly of formal-dehyde and is poisonous (save vs. poison ortake 4 - 16 hp damage). The other two arepotions of undead control, one for ghastsand one for zombies. The guardian familiarwill not object if the party takes these.

41. Barrows(CH: 10�, IL: none)

All these rooms are round and haveround stone slabs 10� in diameter and 2�thick in the center of them. These stones areseals for pit graves; only the top 6 inches ofeach stone can be seen. Each was emplacedby magic (wall of stone, stone shape), andthey are not movable by normal (non-magical) means, due to their weight and thefact that they are partially merged with thesurrounding stone. The stones are marredwith claw marks � obviously the undeadhave tried to pry them up. Under each oneis a shaft 10�-20� deep, divided into 2�sections by tough wicker partitions. Eachsection contains the remains of either awarrior or a druid. They have been buriedwith their weapons, armor, and holy sym-bols. None of these are magical, and theyhave been buried too long to be of any use.

41a. A coffer corpse lies flat on its

back in this room (HD 2, hp 13, AC 8,MV 6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-6, CE, causefear). It will attack.

41b. This room has a group of fourghouls (HD 2, hp 8-11, AC 6, MV 9�,#AT 3, DAM 1-3/1-3/1-6, CE, causeparalysis) and three ghasts (HD 4, hp15-20, AC 4, MV 15�, #AT 3, DAM 1-4/1-4/1-8, CE, cause paralysis, stench)who are trying to pry up the sealingstone in this room. They will attack.

41c. This room is empty.41d. Five zombies stand around in

this room (HD 2, hp 6-13, AC 8, MV6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-8, N). They willattack any intruders.

41e. One monster zombie (an ogre)lurks in here (HD 6, hp 30, AC 6, MV9�, #AT 1, DAM 4-16, N). It will attackintruders.

41f. An unusually powerful wight(HD 6, hp 40, AC 3, MV 12�, #AT 1,DAM 4-1 1 or 1-4 plus life drain, LE)staggers around the room here. It wasonce the huntsman warlord, who enteredthe barrows looking for the missing highpriest and wound up as an undead; thewight that killed him was slain in thefight, so the warlord is now free-willed.The warlord is still wearing his chainmail + 2 and is armed with a sword + 3.He will attack anyone he sees, maddenedat his condition. He is crying the nameof the high priest (Gershus Koch) inhopes that the priest will help him.

41g. This room is empty.41h. Four wights lurk here (HD 4, hp

15-20, AC 5, MV 12�, #AT 1, DAM 1-4, LE, life drain). They will attack,

41i. This room has two wights in it(HD 4, hp 19 and 22, AC 5, MV 12�,#AT 1, DAM 1-4, LE, life drain). Theywill attack.

42. Entrance shrine(CH: 20�) IL: continual light

in ceiling)The light keeps the undead away from

this room. It appears to be a ruined shrine.In the center of the room is an altar marredwith claw marks. Seated comfortably on topof it is what appears to be a small, imma-ture kobold. It is actually a boggart (HD 6,hp 32, AC -6, MV 18�, #AT 1, DAM 2-12,CE, causes confusion). If it is surprised, itwill attack with its electrical charges. If not,it will turn, grin at the party, and begin itsconfusion attack. The three alcoves in thisroom each have a toppled, broken-up statuein them. Characters inspecting the rubblenotice that the statues were of beautiful,robed women carved in white stone. Thedouble doors behind the altar are wizardlocked at the 11th level.

43. Hall of Life(CH: 20�) IL: 38 braziers)

This room is menacingly evil in appear-ance. The white marble walls were recentlypainted black, as were the two double rowsof columns. The columns now resembletwisted, withered, and blackened trees.

D R A G O N 5 1

Each one has a brazier hanging from it thatburns with blood-red flame. At the southernend of the room is a 10� -diameter blackmarble platform, 1� high. This was theother end of the two-way teleporter thatonce connected with room 18. At the north-ern end of the vast hall is a semicircularpool filled with blood; it is 30� in diameterand 3� deep. Four more treelike columnsline it, equipped with flaming braziers.

In the center of the blood pool, againstthe wall and up on a pedestal out of thepool, is a black stone statue of Arawn,grim-faced, wearing an iron crown andholding a club. The statue radiates magicand is fixed in place. Two stone obelisks,one on each side of the statue, stand againstthe wall; each one is 1� x 3� x 6� in size.They are blocking the flow of the Water ofLife, the sacred spring water that used toflow in place of the Blood River. This poolis the source of the Blood River. Volumes ofliquid are constantly being teleported fromthis pool to room 7, using a special spelldevised by the druids who once lived here.Any large volume of liquid spilled into thepool will be teleported to the area by thealtar in room 7, where it will then flow outof the temple.

A slight leakage of water may be detectedaround both obelisks. If they are removed(requiring a �bend bars� roll for each, oneattempt per hour per person), the springwater will gush forth, washing away suffic-ient blood for the PCs to see a small de-canter lying at the bottom of the pool. Freshblood is pouring out of the decanter at arate of five gallons per round.

This item has the basic characteristics ofa decanter of endless water, with the obvi-ous difference described above. The de-canter can be stoppered; fortunately, it hasits stopper lying next to it.

Once the decanter of blood has beenstoppered and the blood has been washedaway (taking 6 turns), the Water of Life willact as a restoration spell and heal 2-20points of damage for anyone who drinks itor bathes in it. This will work one time percharacter only. The Torc of the Gods ishidden on the statue of Arawn. If the char-acters pour the Water on the statue, anamazing transformation takes place. Theblack stone first becomes gray and thenwhite. Its form writhes and warps. It be-comes softer, slender, curved and graceful� the form of a beautiful woman carved inwhite stone. Ringed around her neck is theTorc of the Gods, which can easily andsafely be removed by a neutral character. Itwill not budge for an evil or good one.

As the statue changes form, the appear-ance of the rest of the room changes as well.The black walls become white, and thecolumns become real wood and put outleaves � they are actual living trees. Theflames go out and soft pearly light in theroom radiates from the statue itself. Inaddition, the teleport platform is now re-turned to its original purpose. Anyonestepping on it will be teleported to room 18,and vice versa.

52 OCTOBER 1985

44. The undead cauldron(CH: 10�, IL: none)

The door to this room is unlocked andthere are no traps (except for the cauldron).The north and south walls are draped withtwo large tapestries of a grey star on a blackbackground. On a platform at the westernend of the room is the undead cauldron. Itis an ordinary-looking iron cauldron, 3� indiameter and rather battered and stainedwith blood. It strongly radiates both magicand evil. All living creatures who go within5� of it feel an icy chill go through them.Good beings who touch it take 2-8 points ofdamage, no save, from frostbite. Specialenchantments have reduced the cauldron�sweight to only 50 gp, though it is bulky tocarry.

The corpse of a mortal creature placed inthe cauldron will emerge as a random un-dead monster, under the control of thecauldron�s current owner. The undead typewill be one with a corporeal, physical form,and less than 7 HD. A living creature whoenters the cauldron must save vs. deathmagic at -4, or its soul or life force will bedevoured and forever gone. Those whomake the save will take 2-8 points of dam-age and lose two life levels. The cauldronhas a magical link with the Negative Mate-rial Plane. Those who try to possess it willquickly turn evil, if they were not already.Eventually, the possessor of it will, by aDM-arranged �accident� or his owncauldron-influenced desire, become undeadhimself. The cauldron can only be de-stroyed by washing it in the Waters of Life.

The cauldron was brought here by thehigh priest, who planned to use it to createhis personal undead army. When his plansto turn into a lich failed, the cauldron sim-ply remained here and collected dust.

This room was once a place of worshipfor the druids.

45. Barrow of the high priest(CH: 10�, IL: none)

On a platform against the east wall is alarge, thronelike stone chair. Seated in it isa rotted, robed skeleton, slumped as if indeath. Its jaws gape open in a hideous grin,and its eye sockets are pits of blackness.One taloned bone hand weakly clutches thehandle of a large mace. This is all thatremains of the high priest, who tried andfailed to turn himself into a lich. He was an12th-level cleric/11th-level magic-user. Hissoul has gone on to its punishment, but hisundead body remains, possessing all thephysical characteristics of a lich, but none ofthe mental ones. Scattered about the roomis the high priest�s treasure, consisting of7,600 cp, 5,000 sp, 2,200 gp, 345 pp, 10gems worth 100 gp each, a potion of animalcontrol, a wand of polymorphing with 6charges left, a staff of striking with 8charges left, and a sword + 2. If the corpseor its treasure is disturbed, the corpse willanimate and attack. (Semi-lich: HD 10, hp60, AC 0, MV 6�, #AT 1, DAM 1-10, + 1or better weapon to hit, immune to charm,sleep, enfeeblement, cold, insanity, and

death magic, turned by clerics as a ghost.) priesthood and all the huntsmen will panicBeing mindless, the corpse is immune to all and flee upon beholding the returning wa-illusion/phantasm and enchantment/charm ter. The priests who are caught will bespells. Once animated, the corpse will fight imprisoned and sacrificed by NPC druids inuntil destroyed. a major cleansing ceremony designed to

Scattered papers on the floor, written bythe high priest before he died, describe hisplans to become a lich and rule an armyand nation of undead. The high priest wasnot insane; he was a very calculating, deter-

restore the Tor to its old state. Any hunts-men and orcs captured will also be exe-cuted; the NPC druids will point outreligious justification for such actions. The Water of Life, flowing in its original chan-

mined man who made only one mistake. nel, will soon make the land green again.The surviving druids from Dungaelen will

Conclusion

With the release of the Water of Life, thepower of the Tor is broken. Most of the

return to the Valley of the Earth Mother.The power of the torc will liberate Dun-

gaelen. The old druid there is of sufficientpower to wield it, and he will cause theassault to fail miserably by using his

D R A G O N 5 3

entangling powers and other spells. If thePCs assist him, the whole battle may beplayed out by the DM and players using theBATTLESYSTEM� Supplement rules.About 470 orcs will be involved in the as-sault on the town, which is defended by 260humans with only moderate arms and ar-mor. The DM should detail the rest of theorcish and Dungaelen forces as desired.

Huntsman

The huntsman NPC class may be usedfor devising opponents for the player char-acters involved in a long-term campaign inthis area. Because the class is evil-alignedand offers little variation from the standardranger class, it is not recommended for useas a PC class.

FREQUENCY: RareNO. APPEARING: 2-12ARMOR CLASS: By armor typeMOVE: 12�HIT DICE: 2 and up% IN LAIR: VariableTREASURE TYPE: M, QNO. OF ATTACKS: 1, 3/2, or 2 (as per

weapon and level)DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon typeSPECIAL ATTACKS: Surprises on 1-3SPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprised on 1MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: Average to geniusALIGNMENT: Lawful evilSIZE: MPSIONIC ABILITY: Possible in special

individualsAttack/Defense Modes: Possible in

special individuals

Huntsmen are humans of an anti-rangerclass. They have the tracking skills of aranger of equivalent level, and the surpriseand magic-user spell-casting abilities of oneas well. No druidic spells may be cast, andno special followers of any sort are gained.Huntsmen may employ scrying devices at10th level as rangers do. Their attacks perround, experience-point and hit-dice tables,saving throws, and so forth are otherwisethe same as rangers, though they have nolevel titles. A huntsman gains a + 1 bonus�to hit� against all human, demi-human,and humanoid opponents for every threelevels of ability the huntsman possesses.

Hunstmen oppose all that rangers standfor: they hunt for sport, destroy things ofnature, lay waste to good communities, andsupport evil humanoids. They especiallyhate rangers, druids, elves, and elf-likebeings, and will attack them in preferenceover other opponents.

Huntsmen are often found in the serviceof evil clerics, particularly those who wor-ship death gods. They act as guards and ashunters for the stronghold�s food supply.They enjoy fighting as much as hunting andseldom need check morale.

The huntsmen in the Tor are dark-hairedhuman males, clad in brown or black

54 OCTOBER 1985

leather armor. All of them worship Arawn.They frequently wear hoods made of theheads of predatory animals, wolves andwildcats being favorites. No limit exists onthe number of huntsmen who may gather inany one spot, though their rarity ensuresthat such gatherings are few.

Danaan, the Earth Mother

The following information on the EarthMother has been slightly modified from theoriginal article in which it appeared (�Tua-tha De Danaan,� DRAGON issue #65).Under no circumstances will this deity (orany other) appear in this adventure. Thestatistics may be useful for campaign play,however.

ARMOR CLASS: -4MOVE: 12�HIT POINTS: 400NO. OF ATTACKS: Nil DAMAGE/ATTACK: NilSPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells and devicesSPECIAL DEFENSES: Spells and devicesMAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%SIZE: M (6� tall)ALIGNMENT: NeutralWORSHIPER�S ALIGN: NeutralSYMBOL: Wreath of mistletoePLANE: Concordant OppositionCLASS ABILITIES: 23rd-level druid,

30th-level magic-user, 15th-level bardPSIONIC ABILITY I IS: 19 I: 25 W: 25D: 20 C: 25 CH: 24 CO: 26

Danaan is the queen and ruler of all theCeltic deities, though her worship is notwidely practiced. She appears as a mature,beautiful woman with auburn hair and leaf-green eyes, cloaked in white robes andgarlanded with mistletoe and oak leaves.

Danaan�s motherly aspect makes hersympathetic to all living things, especiallyyoung beings like saplings, baby animals,and children. In her dual role as the God-dess of Magic, she can animate trees,stones, and sods of earth to fight for her byturning them into armed soldiers. From 10-100 such soldiers will be created each roundwithin a 10� radius around her, each manwearing leather armor, using a shield (AC7), and being 6th level. These men arevariously armed with spears, short swords,and hand axes, and will fight until Danaansays otherwise.

Danaan can summon the Wild Huntonce per day, which will appear in the eve-ning of that particular day. She often carriesa magical staff that has the spell-castingpowers of a 12th-level druid and 12th-levelmagic-user. Around her neck, she wears aTorc of the Gods (see the Legends & Lorebook, page 30).

Both men and women may becomepriests of Danaan, but only women mayachieve 12th level or higher in her cult.Priests wear white robes and leave theirheads uncovered; leather armor may be

worn in battle, but it should be dyed white.The day of the new moon is Danaan�smonthly holy day, and sacrifices of animalsare made to her in a grove consecrated toher.

The Torc of the Gods

The Legends & Lore volume describes atypical torc as a ornamental neck ring.Certain torcs are given magical protectivepowers, such protection + 1, and are oftenencrusted with jewels and made from pre-cious metals. A Torc of the Gods is a specialtorc imparted with the power to allow itswearer to shapechange without limit and tocast a polymorph others spell once perround when the wearer chooses, exceptwhen in shapechanged form. This kind oftorc is always made of precious, rare metalsand has a large gem of any type mountedon the front. The gem must be worth atleast 5,000 gp.

The Torc of the Gods at the Tor has sev-eral additional powers. It allows the wearerto function as a 10th-level druid if he isbelow that level, adding the capability tocast the extra spells after the torc is worn fora full month. In addition, the torc will causeall vegetation within a 240-yard radius ofthe wearer to attack any targets the wearerdesignates as per the entangle spell. Thispower may be used once per day.

However, the torc�s spell-increasing andentangling powers will only function if thewearer dedicates himself to the restorationand preservation of the druid�s temple atthe Tor. The wearer must give up all adven-turing so long as he possesses the torc, orelse he must give the torc to another druidwho will carry on the task. Taking the torcwith the intent to use it on adventuring, orhiding the torc without giving it to anotherdruid, is cause for divine punishment; theDM may cause the offending druid to loseall spell-casting powers until such time as hemakes amends. Note that a PC druid whokeeps the torc may do so with the willingpermission of the NPC druids in the area,regardless of the level of the possessor � solong as he agrees to stay and protect thedruid�s temple.

The torc at the Tor grants its wearerprotection + 2. It has a gold piece value of50,000 gp, but confers no experience pointvalue since it is considered to be a relic.

Further readingThe editors recommend the following

books for those who are interested in devel-oping a Celtic campaign derived from thisadventure.

Stonehenge Decoded, Gerald S.Hawkins, Dell Publishing Co., New York,1968. If you�ve wondered how a bunch ofstone blocks could serve as an advancedastronomical observatory, read this.

The Druids, Stuart Piggot, PenguinBooks, London, 1968. An excellent resourcetext for those wondering what druids reallydid.

DRAGON 55

Creating a cast of NPCsTo do it nice, do more than roll the diceby Jim Dutton

(Editor�s note: Two previous articles byJim Dutton have appeared in this maga-zine; see �Blueprint for a big game,� inDRAGON® issue #97, and �Detailing afantasy world,� in issue #98. Jim Dutton isthe president of Entertainment Concepts,Inc., which is producing the AD&D� Playby Mail Game.)

This article discusses a part of the crea-tive process that is one of the most enter-taining for the gamemaster building his owncampaign. Most AD&D® game playersenjoy rolling up characters, and if you�replanning on developing a complete cast ofNPCs for your players� characters to en-counter, then you�ll wind up doing quite abit of dice rolling.

If you have a supply of NPCs alreadyrolled up when your campaign starts, itmakes running the campaign much easier.When players want their characters to hirea certain type and level of NPC, when youneed some quick information on a possiblevillain NPC, when you roll a random en-counter with another party of adventurers,or in any of several other circumstances,you won�t have to rush to roll up an NPCor �fake it.� All you�ll have to do is openyour file of NPCs and pick out pregeneratedcharacters that fit the situation at hand �no muss, no fuss.

When I build a campaign, I like to haveseveral characters of each PC class andspecial NPC class worked up on 3� x 5�index cards. I keep these NPC cards in aplastic card file and use the lettered dividersthat come with the file to separate the vari-ous classes.

Once I have the cards and file, I get outmy Players Handbook, plus issues ofDRAGON Magazine that have informationabout various NPC classes. Armed withthese, a few sharp pencils, and a table full ofdice, I�m in business. Starting with theplayer classes, I create as many as ten tofifteen NPCs for each character class byrolling four six-sided dice six times (usingthe best three dice for each group), record-ing the rolls, and then placing them next tothe six abilities, usually in the most advan-tageous order for that character class. Forclasses like rangers, in which there areminimum ability scores to be met, I mayroll five or six dice (taking the best three) tohelp insure rolling the minimum score forthose abilities. I don�t always use the sixscores in the most advantageous manner forthe NPC, which gives each NPC a moreindividual flavor.

56 OCTOBER 1985

Of course, whenever you want to create aspecial NPC that you want to be a part of your campaign, you don�t have to roll thedice. Just decide what you want his abilitiesto be. For example, if you want to insurethat there is a Conan-type barbarian inyour campaign, there is no need to roll dice;just write down 18/00 strength on his 3� x5� card. However, I don�t recommendcreating these types of special NPCs at thispoint. There is a later step in the campaigndesign process where it fits in better.

Once you have the abilities of an individ-ual NPC generated, there are a few otherthings that need to be determined for thatNPC. First is level. You can assign a level,making sure as you create all the NPCs forone class that you have included a broadrange of levels, or you can use a statisticaldice rolling system to help you make upyour mind. (That�s what I normally do.)One of the easiest methods for rolling levelsis to roll a ten-sided die and a six-sided die.The level of the NPC is read off the ten-sider, but if you roll a 6 on the six-sider,then add ten to the level. If you rolled an 8on the ten-sider and a 6 on the six-sider, theNPC�s level would be 18. This methodgives you a good mix of characters fromlevels 1 - 10, and an occasional very powerfulNPC.

When the level is rolled, you can thendetermine the NPC�s hit points using theAD&D rules. The back of the DungeonMasters Guide has tables for generatingmagic items for player classes by class andlevel, and money and treasure owned by theNPC can be generated using a likely row onthe treasure table for monsters in the backof the Monster Manual.

At this time, you may also choose toselect some personality traits for the NPC.Again, there are tables in the DungeonMasters Guide for doing this. However,don�t try to roll up one selection from eachof the tables in this personality section toassign to a single NPC. You�ll be likely towind up with a clutter of descriptions thatwill be confusing and useless when it comestime to try to use that NPC in role-playingsituations. Just pick out two or three of thecategories to roll for. Jot down those person-ality descriptions on the NPC card, and itwill be a lot easier to decide how he mightreact when he comes in contact with theplayers� characters.

Generally, I will not follow all the stepsabove for every NPC generated. First, Igenerate all the ability scores and levels forone class of character. Then I go back to roll

and calculate hit points for each of thecharacters. Next I roll for magic items andtreasures, select additional equipment, thenroll the personality traits for each NPC.The advantage to this method is that youonly have to turn to the proper pages in thecorrect book once for each character class,rather than once for each character.

Now you have a card box full of rangers,paladins, magic-users, witches, barbarians,and whatever. This is an important steptoward an organized and smoothly flowingcampaign. One last thing to remember asyou generate these NPCs is to create asupply that is tailored to the scale of yourcampaign. If you have a small campaignworld set up to accommodate only a fewplayers, then you will not have to generatenearly as many NPCs as if you have a largecampaign that will include a large numberof players. One nice aspect to creating thispart of your campaign is that it is not asexacting as some of the other parts. If, inadministering your campaign, you start torun low on a few types of NPCs, it is easyenough to roll up a few more before thenext session.

The next step is to place some specialNPCs and groups of NPCs in various loca-tions about the campaign map. What thisentails is deciding on what mountain topwill the fortress of a reclusive magic-user beplaced, in what dense forest or dismalswamp will a coven of witches be located,and so forth. You can place as many of thesespecial NPCs of any and every class as youdesire; the key is what flavor you want yourcampaign to have.

Again, we go back to a sheet of paper foreach special NPC area, just as was done foreach nation (see DRAGON issue #98).There are really two topics to consider:special individual NPCs and special groupsof NPCs. Individual NPCs of this type willgenerally be very powerful characters. Youcan also have certain individuals found onlyin their home area, while others roam theworld and could be encountered by theplayers� characters anywhere. It�s a goodidea to have about one-third of these char-acters be good guys and the rest be possibletrouble for the players� characters. For themost part, when generating these NPCs,you should make your own decisions re-garding an NPC�s abilities, possessions, andpersonality. Remember the discussion fromissue #98 on creating interesting NPCs,avoiding stereotypes whenever possible.

There are many examples of interesting�loner� NPCs. I mentioned the reclusive

magic-user above; one of these can be work-ing on dangerous magical research or enjoy-ing the solitude of the wilderness, awayfrom prying eyes. Powerful fighters orrangers who make careers as bountyhunters are interesting, as are skilled thieveswho trail parties on quests, intending tosteal their treasure. You can create solitarydruids and monks who roam the wildsreflecting on their philosophies, and danger-ous, crafty illusionists who have been castout from society.

The subject of special NPC groups is justas fascinating. When you create thesegroups, you may want to generate two orthree special NPCs as the leader and mainlieutenants of the group; the rest of thegroup can be generated in the manner wedescribed for generating NPCs above.These groups can become the targets ofquests, factions causing trouble for estab-lished political orders, or mercenaries whoseservices are for hire to the highest bidder.One coven of witches in one of our recentcampaigns created quests and wars thatlasted for months and inspired numerousdeeds of valor on the parts of the PCs. Thereal fun of special NPC groups often lies inthe interaction of these groups with thepolitical framework you created earlier inthe campaign design process. Other exam-ples of NPC groups are select orders ofmonks, fraternities of rangers, brotherhoodsof magic-users, thieves� guilds in certaincities, small mercenary units and barbariantribes, orders of knights, and secret societiesof assassins. The possibilities are as variedas your imagination.

Crucial to your formation of the specialNPC groups is a firm idea of what role thatgroup will play in your campaign. You canapproach the problem by either thinking ofan interesting group of characters that youwant to have in your campaign and creatinga role in the campaign for them to play, orknowing a function in your campaign thatmust be filled and then creating an NPCgroup to fill it. Jot down some of your ideasabout the group on the sheet of notes you�rekeeping for them. If the group will play apart in the international politics of yourcampaign, you do not have to limit playercharacter contacts with those NPCs just tothe area of the map where you have placedthe headquarters of the group.

In preparing the AD&D� Play by MailGame, we used a slightly more sophisticatedmethod of producing a variety of NPCs foruse in our vast campaign. Knowing thathundreds of players would be involved ineach version of our campaign that westarted, it was obvious that it would requireliterally thousands of NPCs to provideenough variety for the gamemasters toselect sidekicks, rivals, and villains fromthem. In fact, we decided that it would takeat least 5,000 NPCs to make sure eachcampaign was adequately supplied!

A sophisticated method of generatingNPCs of various classes, levels, alignments,personalities, and possessions was embodiedin a computer program that turned out

these NPCs in a remarkably short period oftime. Not only did this provide us with anadequate supply and variety of NPCs forthe players to meet throughout our cam-paign world, but if the NPCs start to runshort, the same program is ready and wait-ing to restock the supply.

Creating the NPC groups was not quiteso easy. We had to design these in the samemanner as would have to be done for anycampaign. However, with several designersworking, we came up with a large numberand wide variety of NPC groups placedthroughout the campaign. As describedabove, some of them are unique to onelocation, and some are societies that maketheir influence felt throughout many areasof the campaign. Specific information on allthese groups is stored on a large computer-ized �Description File,� which the game-master can refer to for his own use, and toprint selected information on players� move

There are several other topics to considerconcerning monsters. One involves decidingon details for special-purpose monsters.Another is a subject discussed in issue #98,that of creating political areas that aremonster-ruled. A third area, which doesn�tneed much discussion, is deciding on anindividual basis whether you want to in-clude a certain monster type in your cam-paign. These are all needed to design acompletely organized campaign, but the onetopic I find to be the most interesting andfun involves individualized monsters.

sheets. Information on the specific statisticsof the NPCs in these groups are stored onthe NPC file mentioned above. We will beusing these NPC groups extensively in theadventures we create for the many playersin our campaign, and expect this to be arichly entertaining element of the game weare providing.

Just as important as the NPCs are themonsters with which you populate the cam-paign. One important area to consider hereis the availability of interesting types ofmonsters. You should plan in advance forplaces where players can expect to find suchcreatures as unicorns, pegasi, dragons,griffins, giants, and so on. Of course, mostmonsters do not have to have special workdone for them to establish their place in thecampaign; their presence is accounted for inthe random encounter tables used whenadventurers are traveling from one place toanother. The monsters you will want to dospecial preparation for are the ones thatcharacters are likely to seek out for a specialpurpose.

For example, one player might decidethat his character wants to capture a pega-sus to train as a steed. You can decide at thetime he declares his intention where pegasican be found, but preparation at that pointcan delay your AD&D sessions and leaveyour players twiddling their thumbs for afew minutes while you decide on all therelevant details.

This is where preparation plays a big rolein establishing you as an organized andentertaining Dungeon Master. If you havepreviously made notes about pegasi, thenyou will be able to look in your notebookand see in what areas of your world pegasireside, what factor makes their location soremote that they are rare in the world ofmen, what dangers are to be found on theapproach to pegasi grazing lands, and anyother information that during your prepara-tion period you decided would be relevantand useful in your campaign. Not only willthis speed up your playing sessions, butyour players will be impressed by the fore-thought you used.

Individualized monsters have a great dealin common with individualized NPCs, asdiscussed earlier in this article. Basically,you create some of the most importantencounters that players will have in yourcampaign. For example, somewhere onyour map you may want to place the veryoldest, largest, meanest red dragon alive.You may want to know where the leader ofthe lammasu lives; and on which mountaintop the castle of the most powerful stormgiant stands.

Some individual monsters should be goodinstead of evil, so that they aid the playersinstead of creating problems for them. Theyshould also be powerful enough to surviveand escape an adverse encounter with theplayers� characters. The reason for this isthat these monsters are not the averagedungeon fodder, and they�re not the stuff ofrandom encounters, to be fought and for-gotten. Instead, they are relatively perma-nent features of the campaign. Adversarymonsters of this type can be long-time rivalsand enemies of players, and friendly mon-sters in this category can provide pleasantsurprises and occasional unexpected help.Creatures with illusionary magical powersare especially fun to work with, for they canappear in different forms at different times,thereby confusing players and making surethey stay on their toes.

In organizing these monsters, I suggestmaking notes about each of them on 3� x 5�cards, just as was done for the NPCs.Groups of these individual monsters can beformulated just as was done for NPCgroups. A powerful magic-user might havea team of intelligent dragons that work forhim, just as a monarch might have a fellow-ship of knights in his employ.

As you create the nations, monarchs,NPCs, and individual monsters in yourgame, and make notes on each so that theyare a permanent and consistent fixture ofthe campaign, you are creating a morestable environment for the player charactersto operate in. By using these notes as youwork, you allow characters to accumulatetheir own stock of dependable knowledgeabout the campaign. This will make theplayers of those characters feel like a part ofa whole, rather seeing their personas as anisolated group in the midst of chaos.Though you may want the environment toseem chaotic at times, over the long run,the players (and you) will enjoy the gamemuch more if there are established facts thatcan be learned and acted upon.

D R A G O N 5 7

58 OCTOBER 1985

HE ALL-SHIP ALERT AWAKENED THEcommander not long after he had sunkinto exhausted sleep: �Invader battle-ship vectoring onto us from fortydegrees forward. Contact in four and ahalf hours.�

Cursing, Kliment MikhailovichBazulin dragged himself out of bed. Right out of the fry-ing pan, he thought.

Space warship Stepan Bandera, a light cruiser, wasunder one gravity of acceleration toward Mars, a weekaway. Behind it was the Invaders� Near Base in the aste-roids � Far Base was in the Saturn system. Stepan Ban-dera had just spent five months pretending to be an minorasteroid, drifting into the Base area, while the crew nearlywent mad from tension and boredom. It had all endedwith explosive suddenness an hour and a half ago, whenthe unsuspecting Invaders had sent a small ship to checkon this errant rock.

That unfortunate ship had been caught by surprisewhen Kliment blew the camouflaging shell. Stepan Ban-dera scrambled out of the tumbling pieces and disabledthe Invader ship with a missile while scorching it with thecruiser�s fusion rocket exhaust. The ships were that close� within ten thousand kilometers of each other. And sothey had made, they thought � till now � their escape.

Afterward, Kliment had stumbled off to bed, his perpet-ual headache for once stilled. Now he felt a dull pain in hishead as he began the descent from the tiny cubbyhole hisrating permitted him; yes, it was starting again.

After five months of free fall, the commander wasclumsy under acceleration, and despite the long regimenof exercises, he felt weak. He took the ladder carefully �it really was a ladder in this small ship. No hurry, he toldhimself; four and a half hours to contact.

The longest section of the ladder was that in the shaftthat ran through the missile bay. The missiles themselveswere ten meters long, powered by a smaller version of themighty fusion rockets that drove the Stepan Bandera. Hecould not see them, of course; the tube walls were opaque.The three missile bays themselves were separate andunpressurized. Kliment felt his usual twinge of anxiety atthe thought that the bays � one for each turret � had nomechanism for moving missiles from one to the other.Disablement of a given turret meant the loss of the use ofthe unspent missiles in its bay. Stepan Bandera was aconverted transport.

He put the perennial worry out his mind as he arrived,breathing heavily, at the Command Center.

It was a spherical room near the middle of the ship, agleaming armored ball. The command and fire controlsections centered here; there was a twin to it farther aft forthe power control area, where Wojalek, the Polish chiefengineer, held sway. The mirror-plated, laminated armorof these centers was as thick as that on the hull � 300centimeters.

The curving hatch was open, and leaning against it wasFrank Voorhies, their number-one-turret chief gunner.Standing in the hatch was Dr. Gonsalez, a Spaniard � alarge motherly woman who gave a false impression of age.

�I guess they figure they�ve nothing to lose, and at least

PassingIn theNightby Rob Chilson

Illustrations by John Weinberg

D R A G O N 5 9

a little to gain,� Frank was saying bleakly. Kliment hadrarely heard him so pessimistic.

�Maybe they want to teach us not to send spies inamong them,� she said.

�Could be � hello, Skipper � give him room, Frieda� could be, or maybe they�re human enough to wantrevenge.�

Bazulin glared at him. �Regs do not forbid gunners tobe in or near the command and power centers off-watch innon-battle conditions,� he said. �However, there are rulesforbidding �Cluttering of the Armored Centers.� Section405, paragraph M(3) on �Waste, trash, junk���

�Sir, are you insinuating �� Frank began with outragein his voice.

�� and Americans ���Britons! Britons! Britons!��� to be disposed of properly, in the containers pro-

vided ���Very well! I�m off to my turret in a huff! But if you

expect me to shoot to save your hide, you�ll have to begmy pardon first. American, indeed!� But he didn�t move.

Voorhies was British � mostly Irish � but to the Rus-sians, all native English-speakers were �Americans.�Bazulin grinned as he ducked through the hatch.

The command center was shaped like a thick coin.Behind the flat ceiling and floor was the life-support sys-tem. Around the circular wall were the control boards anddisplays so that the operators sat in a circle, back to back.There was an emergency escape hatch, half the size of thisone, opposite it, and behind one of the visiplate displayswas a cramped and uncomfortable toilet. In battle, every-one wore space suits.

First Officer Rodion Nikolayevich Kostenko was in the�hot seat,� and the commander waved him down when hestarted to get up. Olga Bonfiglio, his chief fire controlofficer, a dumpy, dark-eyed Frenchwoman in the Earth-brown European uniform, was looking over the shoulderof her cadet, Alexei Treivas. There wasn�t as much roomnow as in free fall when they could simply float in thecenter of the space.

SWS Stepan Bandera was one of the first ships the Sovi-ets turned over to United Fleet Command. Though it washis first command, Kliment Bazulin had accepted it dubi-ously; he had had doubts about discipline in a crew pooledfrom half the nations of Earth. He had been right aboutthat, but was surprised to discover the efficiency of themutual-respect relationship they had worked out � onewell familiar to the Europeans.

�Nothing to lose...� Frank�s phrase recurred to him ashe peered over Rodion�s shoulder. The enemy was not justa little cruiser like Stepan Bandera but a first-line battle-ship two hundred meters long by half that thick. His ownship was but sixty meters long by thirty in diameter � amere two hundred feet and eight thousand metric tonsagainst six hundred sixty feet and a twenty-five-thousand-ton mass.

�We�re outmassed by three to one, outgunned by morelike four to one,� said Kostenko somberly.

Bazulin agreed. Stepan Bandera�s complement was 24attack missiles, of which they had spent three (countingthe two spy probes), and 48 antimissiles. That ship had at

60 OCTOBER 1985

least a hundred attack missiles, unless it had spent someon the mission from which it was now returning. Therewas absolutely no possibility of flashing it; victory wouldbe merely to survive.

Had it been like human battleships, the Invader wouldhave at least a meter of armor and six separate armoredcenters inside. Even shot up, �the individual turrets couldfight on, though less effectively without central fire con-trol. Of course, no armor could ward off an impactingnuke, but in all the history of space warfare, no missilewas known to impact on an active ship.

�Four hours to wait,� Bazulin said. Hell must be a shipperpetually waiting for battle to join.

The true hell was he could think of nothing to do.�Oh my poor children! Which is the best way to run?�Rodion twisted around to look at him. �Sir, I don�t

know. Toward the Sun? He�s coming at a good angle. . . .How about upping acceleration? Once we�re past him,we�re reasonably safe. Our combined speeds will be veryhigh.�

�Well, let�s see. He�s aiming to cross our path in fourhours. To do that he�ll cut all deceleration toward NearBase� (the Invader was homeward bound, and had proba-bly been diverted by messages from Base) �and turn halfaround to drive straight toward the Sun. He�s making halfa gee sunward. In order to outrun him, we�d only have toboost sunward as fast as he does. But no; our combineddrifts would still throw us together.�

An hour and a half ago Stepan Bandera had begun toaccelerate away from the Invaders� Near Base in the As-teroid Belt, toward Mars. In that hour and a half, thecruiser had acquired a velocity of 54 kilometers per sec-ond. Meanwhile, the Invader battleship, six hours awayfrom its base and braking down, had 220 �klicks,� as theysaid, toward them. It had ceased to brake down along thatline and had put on half a gravity of acceleration straighttoward the Sun. It would cross their path in four and ahalf hours unless they maneuvered.

No matter how hard they drove sunward, the two shipswould retain these motions toward each other and cometogether.

Roll ship and blast back toward Near Base? No good.The Invader already had the advantage of their combinedvelocity, 274 klicks, and would only have to match theiracceleration to come within range, sooner or later. Itwould take 27,400 seconds at one gee to bring them to astop relative to the Invader, assuming it didn�t drivetoward them � over seven and a half hours.

Another possible solution was to blast at an angle toslow their drift towards Mars while driving away from theSun. And this, too, the Invader could counter easily; hestill had the advantage of their combined velocities.

No help for it; this battle couldn�t be avoided. Theircombined velocity doomed them. Racing spaceships don�tdodge.

�Run straight at them?� Rodion asked again.Bazulin frowned. The Invader was slotting to cross

their path in four and a half hours, assuming they did onegee the whole time. Cutting acceleration wouldn�t help.Upping it? They were well over two million kilometersfrom the point of crossing now. Going to two gees would

cut the time to little over three hours. Not much help,though. The Invader could easily match that. And threegravities made it a little less than three hours, according tothe astrogation computer.

�No point in exhausting ourselves,� he said.�So. Four and a half hours to wait,� said Rodion,

accustoming himself to the idea. His mouth worked.�A short-range battle,� said Olga Bonfiglio. �Better

chance of getting hit, but not so hard on the nerves.�Bazulin was in a battle once that opened at this range

� nearly a million and a half miles, almost eight lightseconds. This was going to be a low-velocity, close-inbattle.

�Though nothing like that little skirmish back at NearBase. That must have set some kind of record,� she said.

Her commander grunted, not liking to be remindedthat he had spent a missile. Two of their too-few missileshad been outfitted as spy probes � warheads replacedwith batteries of lasers and detectors and sensors. Usingthem was what they�d come there for. But now they hadonly 21 missiles left.

That nondescript dot of light in the visiplate representedthe enemy. It seemed quite innocuous in its unimaginabledistance. Kliment felt cut off, unreal. Impossible tobelieve that he was real, that Stepan Bandera was real,that death was real. Kliment Mikhailovich Bazulin � whowas he? Surely he�d soon awaken. . . . He shook his head,conscious of his condition; the strain of the last fivemonths was telling on him.

For that dot represented a ship, and the ship was full ofreal, if unknown, enemies. Less than three years ago, thehuge mother ships of the Invaders were detected by anastrographic survey of cometary asteroids, far out fromthe Sun. An envoy ship had gone out to speak to them; ithad been swallowed by one of the mile-long ships andnever heard of again.

The various governments of the solar system had hadtime to pull themselves together in the face of this com-mon enemy. Fortunately (formerly, it had seemed unfortu-nate), the human race had had battleships and evenlimited practice in their use; ancient rivalries had beenexported from Earth. But now, oddly, Europeans andAmericans were shoulder to shoulder with him, and it wasconfidently expected that the Chinese would join UnitedFleet Command within the year.

That to Bazulin was as incomprehensible as theInvaders, who answered no signals and whose objectiveswere still unknown. Though he was only thirty-eight andhis hair only beginning to thin in front, Kliment felt old.There had been so many changes, so fast. Just three yearsago �

�Wish we could�ve gotten a look at a �Vader,� Friedamurmured.

The Invaders had a tidy habit of blowing themselves upwhen they lost a battle; humanity still didn�t know whatthey looked like. It was conjectured that they were a hivespecies, the individuals of which had low self-conscious-ness. They might even have no use for planets. So farthey�d moved no farther into the solar system than theasteroids. After all, they were heavily outnumbered.

Fortunately, Invader technology was not too advanced

from that of humans. They had a reactionless drive intheir ships, presumably based on gravity. But their otherweapons were about at human level. Definitely, they hadno faster-than-light drive. Their two spy probes had beenburned out by the base-mounted superlaser, more power-ful than anything humanity had, but of no great value in aspace battle.

�I�ve always preferred to be a bad winner instead of agood loser,� muttered Frank, staring mesmerised at thesymbol of their enemy.

The wait was getting him down � and �not he alone.With an effort Kliment forced himself to seem natural.

Had the others been in any better condition they�dinstantly have seen through his pose, but they were as badoff as he was. They stood up, sat down, milled restlesslyabout, spoke jerkily and to no consequence. Accelerationdragged at them with its unaccustomed gravity, but stillthey could not sit. Kliment found himself looking at thechronometer every few moments; time had obviouslyfrozen.

Talk of recorders brought to mind a belated duty: aletter home. Kliment had not written to Galina in fivemonths. Of course, she knew he was under communica-tions silence, but not why; it was not difficult to explain toher why he had not written. But, Nikolai at twelve andNina at ten might found it harder to understand. And, asfor why he couldn�t tell them, even now, where he wasand what he was doing � even Bazulin didn�t understandthat. Surely, the High Command didn�t think theInvaders had spies on Earth?

When he looked up from the effort at writing an at leastmoderately gay letter, he was amazed at how much timehad passed � he�d written so little. Hard to choose wordseven for grave, sober Nikolai (blond hair shining like flax,blue-gray eyes clouded, looking at him with puzzlement)� but Nina? He didn�t know her, didn�t really knowNikolai. Kliment brooded; did he really know Galina?Officers, even junior officers, of the Soviet Fleet wererarely home.

Previously, he had always consoled himself with thethought that retirement itself wasn�t so terribly far away(he was pushing forty! incredible thought) � and failingthat, he could apply for a dirtside job behind some desk.But, that meant a practical end to further promotion, andthe family needed the money. Now with this war, theremight be neither retirement nor dirtside jobs for a combatofficer. Galina seemed to have adjusted to his absence; hewas careful not to inquire how.

And now, all those options might well have run out.That ship, now only a featureless point of light in thevisiplate, might well be the emblem of his death, comingdown on him at a steadily increasing velocity starting at274 kps.

No difficulty in keeping this stark fact out of his letters;it had scarcely yet penetrated his own consciousness.

There was a further ordeal. He borrowed the ward-room�s recorder in his turn and recorded a final messagehome. It was a good recorder, giving excellent sight andsound, and he hoped his fragile jauntiness didn�t seem toobviously false. A couple of wipes with sandpaper over thelens might improve his image, he thought morbidly. What

DRAGON 61

do you say when you�re under the shadow of death andyou don�t want to frighten the children? Or even Galina?Yet, how much would she miss him if he never came back?His soul cried out to reach across the distance betweenthem, but it was too great; he didn�t know how. Hepleaded that others needed the recorder and cut it short.

The messages and good will of the crew were beamedby laser to Phobos, where they would be scanned by com-puters which would draw the censors� eyes to anythingobjectionable � parts might be rewritten � then they�dbe beamed onward to Earth or elsewhere. Galina and thekids might well be reading and hearing his last words tothem an hour before the battle started.

Back in the command center, the tension seemed tohave eased a little, as each person came more or less togrips with it; others had also had trouble writing andrecording. Bazulin also looked into the power controlcenter, where the �black gang,� as the Americans called it,were nervously running calibrations on the rockets andthe auxiliary circuits. Wojalek seemed calm in the centerof it, and the commander saw that the chief engineer hadchosen this way to occupy his technicians� minds.

Bazulin glanced at him sharply out of habit, but sawnothing he wouldn�t have expected to. Idiotic; heshrugged in silent grimace at himself as he backed out.But, a certain captain with an elaborate uniform and anair of arrogant authority � obviously of the Cheka � hadsuggested he keep an eye on the Pole. Foolishness; Gorba-tov had been dead for forty years, and the bad old dayswere over. But not for the Cheka, he thought. Never forthe Cheka.

Of course, they had an eye on him, too. Probably Kos-tenko. But Rodion �wasn�t one of them; he could tell themby the smell. There wasn�t a regular Chekist aboard. Itwas a totally unexpected fringe benefit of this United Fleetship.

Can�t last long, he thought, opening the commandcenter hatch and peering in. They�ll be plotting thetakeover next �

�Why�s the hatch shut?��We�re getting close, Commander. Better suit up, don�t

you think?� Kostenko indicated the visiplate.�True. It�s true. I�ll make that official.� Stepping care-

fully in, Bazulin spoke over the all-ship circuit, then madethe weary climb back to his cubbyhole.

His tailored skintight pressure suit was stored here.Kliment had been careful to keep his weight constant andhis physical profile the same; it still fit. Pulling it on was asweaty business. Basically it was a heavy fabric like knitwool, chrome plated, but the individual fibers had theproperty of contracting greatly in vacuum. Should he gooutside, the suit would shrink on him, squeezing him withfive or six pounds of pressure per square inch. Balloons instrategic places � under the armpits, even in the palm ofthe hand � had a couple of pounds of pressure in themand were consequently flat now, but during pressuredrop, they�d expand and transmit pressure to the inward-curving places the heavy fabric could not.

Skinsuits had certain advantages. One could work inthem, yet be protected from explosive decompression. Thehuman skin is airtight and has excellent cooling apparatus

62 OC T O B E R 1 9 8 5

built-in, one that doesn�t break down due to failure of asmall part. Furthermore, they were donned like pajamabottoms and tops, the fabric overlapping, with sockbootspulled up over the legs and gloves over the sleeves. Noelaborate seals were needed except around the neck wherethe helmet joined.

But pulling them on was a sweaty awkward businessthat took the commander�s mind off his problems for fiveminutes. Kliment clipped the gloves to his forearms andtook the helmet under his arm, putting one hand to hishead, panting. It throbbed with a measured beat, gradu-ally slowing. Kliment heaved a sigh and started downagain, an improbable gleaming figure.

The dot of light indicating the Invader was the same,but the figures were ominous. Time, that had seemedfrozen, was beginning to speed up, bearing toward themtheir precalculated fate. They could see it move.

SWS Stepan Bandera was a gleaming mirror-shape inendless night, a great fan of day sprouting from its stern,the murmuring fusion rockets lifting it endlessly. It wasshaped like a fat milk can with a domed lid and a domedbottom pierced for the nine rockets. Around its bulgingmidsection were three turrets, each projecting enough tohave a full hemisphere of vision. Through holes in thebottoms of them, the missiles were dropped; guns andlasers were mounted outboard on them and on the ship�sdome.

The Invader was of much the same shape, minus therocket flares, and set its turrets lower, in groups of four.They were staggered, two groups of four, so that the lowerturrets didn�t foul the launching from the upper ones. Atthis distance, though, these details were unseen; theInvader was just a dot of light in the visiplates.

The Invader ship ceased to accelerate toward the Sun,and time speeded up jerkily.

�Enemy launching!� someone shouted. And, true toInvader doctrine, it shut down acceleration just beforelaunching. It had held its fire till very late.

�Twelve, eighteen, twenty-six, thirty missiles,� saidOlga. �Permission to counter?�

�Da.� Commander Bazulin gulped at the figures. TheInvader had been in touch with its base and knew howmany missiles they had expended, and it knew how manya human cruiser carried.

�Hoping to swamp us,� muttered Frank in turret one,and Kliment mentally noted the unfamiliar English term.His mind toyed with it as events speeded up. He had theterrible feeling that something deathly important had beenwhipped by him while he was looking at something else.

Off over there, a tiny bright symbol indicated theInvader; it was otherwise invisible at its 300,000-kilometerdistance. Beside the symbol, however, tiny diamond-hardpoints of light had come into being, a fuzzy little latticethe human eye couldn�t quite resolve � missiles. Theenemy used fusion rockets not unlike the human ones;either they couldn�t compress their reactionless drive intoso small a unit or they feared to have one captured. Likehuman missiles, their tubes could sustain their approxi-mate hundred gravities for a mere ten minutes or so, andso were fueled for no longer than that.

In a little over nine minutes, they�d be exploding

around Stepan Bandera.In the auxiliary visiplate, the Invader ships appeared

magnified, thirty pale fans of light seen sidewise. Theywere driving straight toward the Sun, the ships� combinedvelocities alone bringing them down toward Stepan Ban-dera.

Olga ordered out all twenty-one remaining missiles,bunching them in an umbrella to the right and ahead ofthe ship. Then, the rumble and bump of launching wereover, the static haze from the fusion exhausts was gone,and two clusters of missiles sped toward each other acrossillimitable distance.

Again time stretched. Seconds passed like beads on astring, three hundred and thirty-six of them. The Invadercounted their missiles and looked over Olga�s dispositions.Now, it belatedly decided to hedge its bets: it launched asecond wave of ten missiles pointed straight back alongStepan Bandera�s course � toward Mars.

Olga swore in French, which Kliment always supposedto be Italian because of her name, interrupting the flow ofcurses to order five antimissiles launched from each turret.Kliment was surprised to find that he was not at all trou-bled about the second wave. Apparently, the first waveabsorbed all his concern.

Fifteen antimissiles! Will we need so many?They carried forty-eight of these small but potent weap-

ons. They were nuclear powered but not nuclear-driven,having instead a plasma or electric rocket that blew vapor-ized, incandescent lead aft to generate thrust. They coulddrive at ten gravities for five minutes, more than usuallyneeded. Each attack missile carried four of them, and eachanti had a warhead as powerful as an attack missile�s.

Commander Bazulin�s gaze came back to the first waveof the enemy. Almost a minute passed, and the flights ofmissiles were coming together; both flare lattices paled asthey shut down acceleration to one gravity. Olga had tar-geted all their missiles as countermissiles on the oncomingenemy attack missiles.

The symbol for lead vapor flashed in both formations asboth launched roughly comparable antimissiles. The

Invader, still patterning its weaponry on the human, alsoput four antis on each attack missile. In all, two hundredfour antimissiles and fifty-one attack missiles comingtogether, hardly seen from here.

The X-shaped Greek symbol chi for chemistry indicatedthe vapor of monopropellant, as antis and attack missileslaunched small rockets of low final velocity at each other.Here, there, and everywhere flashed the symbol of gun-powder as these �minehead� rockets detonated. Eachcarried a claymore mine that sprayed the space ahead of itwith iron shot.

Pellets and missiles were coming together with a com-bined velocity of well over 1100 kilometers per second,fifty-five times the speed of a meteorite.

Finally, after minutes of awful tension, the missilescame together, eighty thousand kilometers away. Deepwithin the visiplate before Kliment, the faint flares of theirown, the fainter flares of the enemy, merged into one tinyhazy blob.

A hard, sharp flash, visibly expanding; a sudden explo-sive twinkle of a star previously unseen but surely there.Another, and another � the first was a faint point of dulllight � two more at once, another. Fireflies sparked anddied, all in a space the size of a coin � eighty thousandkilometers away. Second after second, that soundless fire-fly battle raged far off across the hard dark emptiness, aminiature galaxy, man-made, man-destroying.

An auxilary visiplate gave them a close-up. A pulsingglobe, flash after flash faster than they could count acouple of seconds after it began, the fireballs visibly mov-ing toward each other in the moments before they faded.Two hundred ten (or fifteen) of them � Then, in a merefew seconds it was all over.

Radar, probing, found a thin, thin atmosphere there ina planet-sized volume of space � a star-hot, radar-opaqueatmosphere.

Six missiles bloomed from in it, sidewise on to them.�So many!� said Olga.Five. One veered upward, blinded by something, a

fireball, a pellet. Minutes later and far away from them, it

D R A G O N 6 3

self-destructed.�One of our countermissiles is still active, sir:,� said

Kostenko from his post behind Bazulin. �I am targeting iton the enemy second wave.�

He couldn�t bring it back, for it had used more thanhalf its service life to get up the 353 kilometers per secondit now had. It would approach the second wave fromahead. But, since it must have expended all its antimissilesand probably mineheads too, Kliment gave it no furtherthought.

Olga�s computers had counted the fireballs that hadburst, sorted out the human from the enemy by spec-troanalysis, and made an inhumanly fast appraisal of theInvader�s battle tactics. They concluded that the Invaderhad targeted half its missiles as attack (holding themselvesback to hit the Stepan Bandera) and half as countermis-siles, to clear the way for the attackers. The attack missileshad only expended two each of the four antimissiles eachcarried, so there were fifteen, not five, warheads in thediminished flight boring sunward to cross their path.

Olga made her plans accordingly, while Kostenko filledspace with noise modeled on the command signals theInvaders sent to their missiles, hoping to confuse them.But the codes were too good; this never helped much. Hewas also beaming a running record of the battle home.Bazulin looked over everybody�s shoulders, tried to thinkof something else to do, but couldn�t. But, he did it allmerely by giving them the feeling that he was there, theall-seeing, all-knowing mind controlling the battle.

� Who could control this roaring torrent?They had two minutes after the missile battle ended

before the remnant first wave would break over the ship.It wasn�t a second too many for Olga, busiest person inthe ship. She jolted Kliment from his fascinated gaze intothe visiplate: �Cut acceleration, Commander, for theguns.�

He cut sharply, surged up into his straps, and rolled theship. Rapidfire guns in each of the turrets were pointed inthe direction Olga indicated, almost straight away fromthe Sun, and the ship rippled to chain-thunder. Mineheadrockets were thrown out at low velocity, a mere kilometerper second. They now made a slowly widening umbrellabeside them, just behind the umbrella of the fifteen anti-missiles, waiting for the signal to burn toward an enemy:the last line of defense.

Everybody jerked when the green symbol of lead vaporflashed in the visiplate (the enemy missile flares werehuge, huge): the attack missiles launching antimissiles,their own prelaunched antis leaping toward them. The redof monopropellant followed, then the red of gunpowder:steel pellets fanned out. A flash as an antimissile detona-ted, much brighter than the first battle (Kliment�s heartshook him but he was unconscious of it, staring mes-merised into the visiplate). Another, another. Kliment wasin agony. They were using too many!

Then, he gulped as an attack missile almost gotthrough, flashing and glancing like ice in the sunlight astheir lasers bore on it. Its mirrors shrugged that off, itbored grimly in. An antimissile leaped toward it, firedmineheads that sprayed its path with pellets, then detona-ted. When the blaze died away, the missile�s mirror-sur-

64 OCTOBER 1985

face was dulled and dark and its temperature rising astheir lasers found it again. Its flare, too, had altered; itveered away from them, blind. The anti�s fireball hadbrushed it.

It self-destructed, safely far away from them. It was thelast one.

�Acceleration?��Not yet,� said Olga tightly. �We still have ��Monopropellant flamed, gunsmoke puffed into nothing-

ness as Commander Bazulin�s gaze leaped back to thevisiplates. An enemy antimissile he�d overlooked was stillboring in toward the ship at all its ten gravities. The pre-sown minehead rockets were burning toward it. Mostwere too far away but detonated anyway in the faint hopethat one of their pellets would be thrown into its path.The guns were hammering again, the lasers silently

glaring, while the deceptive dark dot with its faint halo ofnear-invisible plasma flare grew. Seconds were eternities.

Then, the visiplates went white as the filter circuits cutin against the awesome flare of the detonation. Overheadcame a muffled thud as the edge of the wispy fireball stiff-armed the ship, still streaking toward them at hundreds ofkps, though it was now a fireball rather than a bomb. Theship vibrated but did not jolt.

Kliment relaxed after a held-breath moment. A tap. Wegot worse than that in the old Lenin II three times in asmany seconds.

The visiplates cut back again, and for a momentnobody spoke or moved. They had survived the firstwave.

Commander Bazulin cleared his throat. �We made it �past the first hurdle,� he said into the all-ship mike.�Olga, how long till the second wave catches up with us?�

The chunky little woman gave herself a shake and tooka long breath, as if under a cold shower, but immediatelybegan to play tunes on the computer�s board. �I make itabout thirteen minutes. It depends on just what flight paththey follow.�

Bazulin considered going to, say, eight gravities. It wasnot impossible that they could outrun the missiles. Theirtubes were only good for ten minutes or so. But no. Theywere programmed to shut down acceleration on longdrives to save them. Their velocity was so high they�d stillovertake the Stepan Bandera, saving enough fuel for thefinal approach.

All they could do was delay the inevitable.Rodion took charge of a party going out to replace

damaged sensors on the dome forward; unnecessary, dam-age had been so slight, but something to do.

They had passed the Invader at the time the first wavewas breaking over them, each snootily silent. Their dis-tance then had been about a hundred thousand kilometers� 62,000 miles � quite close. Shooting at that distancewas possible, but their combined velocity was too great forany missile to cross the slight gap (a 7½-minute missileflight) before they had whipped by. The Invader was nowfar astern, finished, done, shaping course back towardNear Base, It was out of the fight.

It had left them a momento, however: the ten missilesof the second wave, accelerating toward Mars as they weredoing, over there a hundred and twenty thousand kilome-

ters to their right. Coming as late as it did, it had to over-come the ships� combined velocities. It had braked to astop about the time the ships passed each other, and now itwas building up speed again in the direction they weregoing.

Stepan Bandera was even with the second wave now,pulling past it. It was a lonely little star barely visible tothe naked eye, a pale shy glow. In the telescopic visiplates,responding to higher-frequency wavelengths, the super-heated plasma was a supernal flame carrying tarnation.Ten diamond-hard dots of light with a hint of somethingicy at the apex.

They walked past at 226 kilometers per second, but thepale star faded slowly. It faded more slowly each secondfor three minutes and a half. Then, it stopped fading.

Olga and Alex Treivas tried to sic the lone countermis-sile that had survived the missile battle onto it. Troublewas, it was already making 560 klicks towards Mars andhad long since swept past it. They discussed a maneuverto cut its acceleration and swing it in behind Stepan Ban-dera, but when they had cut a program, they found thatthe missile no longer responded.

�Malfunction, or more likely it ran into something.�A grain of sand, a pellet, anything. At those velocities,

missile armor was not thick enough.Feeling oppressed, Kliment left the command center,

careful to close the hatch. There was a toilet within it, butlittle privacy. The gunners, too, were prowling the ship,gleaming chromium mer-people in their skinsuits. Downin the �black gang,� his jetmen and engineers were cheer-ful. Even Wojalek, who�d been in combat and should haveknown better, said, �What�s ten missiles when we justradicalized thirty?�

They were eating ice cream and offered him some, but,though Kliment�s stomach felt hollow, empty, he couldn�t.Frank Voorhies found him there, clapped him on theback, breathed tobacco fumes into his face � in the SovietFleet you could be broken a whole grade for smoking inship even in peace.

�That�s what you get for being a Russian, Skipper. Youbrood too much. Now, a simple-minded Britsky like mebounces back like a cat. Bet you a hundred we make it;give you three to two.�

In his raddled state, Kliment couldn�t figure how muchhe�d win if he put up a hundred. He punched the gunnerin the short ribs. �Try flying your own ship, sailor, andsee how soon you take to brooding.�

�Not me; and that ship wouldn�t last long. My God, isthat Frieda?� She was death on smoking.

�Don�t worry, you�ve been a good boy for five months.Besides, the condemned should have a last smoke.�

�Who me? Good? That�s slander! I can provide charac-ter witnesses ��

An eerie interlude of laughter in the midst of battle.The thought that this ingenious and intricately made,

little ship might soon be flashed into intangible vapor gaveKliment an odd pang. He had never cared much for theugly little ship; it was just a ship, but now he began toappreciate it.

It was actually a converted transport, though its thickwaist and squatty build gave it a military appearance �

the look of speed. A compact shape has a lower moment ofinertia than a long one. It could turn faster than a moreslender ship of the same mass.

But soon all this would be behind him: his first com-mand. If he lost, of course (and the odds were againstthem), Stepan Bandera would be put out of action oractually flashed. If he survived, assuming he wasn�t crip-pled, he could surely expect promotion. In any case, itwould be Stepan Bandera no more for him.

What then? Back to the Soviet Fleet, I suppose. Itwasn�t a real promotion if it wasn�t a Fleet promotion.That meant it wasn�t only his ship he�d be saying farewellto, but to his crew. That brought a real pang. Floatingnear a chess game in which the participants had time tomake one move each between missile waves, Kliment wasshaken by a sudden gust of love for all his ill-assortedcrewmen.

God, I hope I make it. Then: That was a sucker bet!He�d have had to die to win. Kliment had to choke downhelpless laughter before entering the command center.

The commander was a little late getting back; even thegunners had gotten nervous and gone home. When hehad seated himself and looked in the visiplates, he gave alittle jump. The missiles looked awfully close and awfullybig. �Three minutes from impact, plus battle time.� Themissiles would shut down acceleration so they couldlaunch their antimissiles; that would increase the timebefore the second wave impacted. �Olga, time to launchantimissiles.�

She looked into the visiplates, having just returnedherself, and frowned. The second wave was over 4,500kilometers behind them. In 180 seconds, the missileswould travel 46,500 kilometers, but Stepan Banderawould cover 42,000. �What happened to the other one?�

Only nine were left. The other must have run intosomething. That was the chance one took in a long-rangelaunch.

There came a triple bump as the first antimissiles weredropped, and another, and another. It took nine secondsto drop eleven antimissiles from each turret. Each, as itwas launched, rolled over and fired its chemical rocketaside, to avoid the concentrated hell of Stepan Bandera�sexhaust.

That fury was turned on the oncoming missiles. Toaccelerate its eight thousand metric tons at one standardgravity, Stepan Bandera�s nine fusion rockets must gener-ate, in thrust, at least the equivalent of 95 million caloriesper second � four hundred thousand kilowatts. Rocketsnot being 100% efficient, it actually took five times asmuch. Had all that energy been focused on one missile, itwould have been vaporized. But even when Wojalek had.laid his tubes parallel and focused them with the anodes,the flares fanned out till only a fraction struck a givenmissile. Even so, the intensity per square centimeter wasdozens of times that at the surface of the Sun a thousandmiles from the rocket throats.

But, the missiles knew their business. They were wellspread so that he could only focus on one at a time, climb-ing from below in a circle around them. The second wavehad the most favorable line of approach: straight up theirtubes.

D R A G O N 6 5

Their own antimissiles kicked on acceleration to getdistance “downward” before the battle. For less thanthree minutes, they maneuvered toward each other,avoiding the ship’s flare. The second wave dimmed as theenemy missiles launched their antimissiles: four each,thirty-six altogether, and the nine attack missiles. Klimentgroaned internally; they had only thirty-three antimissiles.And his scourging hadn’t stopped the one attack missilefrom launching its antis.

Olga was cool, tense, and precise as she calculated linesof approach. (She had to think seconds or minutes aheadand had no time to watch what was happening now; nowis history, ancient history, in a space battle.) The gunnerslaid their rapidfirers along the lines she gave them andfired, fired, fired, laying down a barrier of steel aft. Lasersswung and focused.

Chemical fuel and gunpowder far aft — the missiles andantis laid their own mineheads; steel stitched space. Theship’s flare gobbled some of those mineheads. Bazulinsnarled suddenly when the missile he was attackingwandered away from its course. He followed it as far as hecould — not far — and came back on course.

Then it began again, the blooming of death indarkness. Space pulsed firefly-like with sixty-threeexplosions, but in some ten seconds, it was over. Even inthese moments of tension, Kliment could appreciate thestark beauty of the bombs bursting in emptiness.

(Blurred thought: the battle was only 800 miles away.)The flaring bombs subsided, space was dark again. Two

attack missiles and three antimissiles had gotten through.Commander Bazulin gulped inaudibly, but there wasnothing he could do. They were too close for him toattack; he’d have to roll ship too far, to do so would burnhis own minehead rockets, and the fusion tubes weresafest pointing due aft as the missiles streaked up “beside”them from “below.” He bit a knuckle and breathedheavily.

Time was rushing, roaring, foaming past in the familiarbattle manner. Their motions, their thoughts, were jerky,speeded-up, words short and tense.

Monopropellant — the gunners’ minehead rockets werestreaking toward their targets. Chemical explosions — nohuman eye could have seen them at that distance. Pelletssprayed from them. (The guns were firing again.) Onething gave them a chance: the oncoming missiles could.hold nothing back; each was defenseless now, all targetedas attack missiles, even the antis.

Explosion! Everybody jerked. Then another. Rangeshortened as they watched, watched, hoping for another— six hundred kilometers now, and the second wave ofmineheads Olga had ordered was burning powder to getin front of the remaining attackers (20 seconds tojuncture).

Gunpowder, gunpowder again, gunpowder, fireball!One of the antimissiles had detonated, seeing steel ahead,in a forlorn hope; too far away — three hundredkilometers or about 190 miles.

Ten seconds to juncture, and the gunners were firinghopelessly, the lasers doing apparently nothing as themissiles grew and grew, one drifting, one driving.Kliment stopped breathing, even his heart stopped —

66 OCTOBER 1985

Fireball! Half the universe was blotted out, the visi-plates going milky white as the filters cut in. Jolttransmitted through the frame as the on-coming wispyedge of the fireball rammed them on the aft quarter like athing of steel. Hit, he thought —

Again the visiplates went white, when they had justcleared from the attack missile’s burst. The ship rang like abell, rocked under them. Kliment surged up against hisstraps, his heart in his throat, as acceleration ceased. Alarmsshrilled, and cool recorded feminine voices from far awayspoke in his ear: “Rockets overheat —” “Hull broach —”“Pressure drop in engineering compartments —”

A crippled and helpless ship drifting toward Mars.Kliment opened his eyes after a couple of seconds. He

was surprised to find the visiplates working — most ofthem; they’d lost some aft. After a long time, he realizedthere were no more missiles coming. It seemed an agesince there hadn’t been missiles incoming.

They had survived the second wave.His hands were shaking, but his voice was still under

control. Everyone else in the Command Center seemeddazed. “Lieutenant Wojalek, can you give us a quickcheck on damage?”

“Early readouts aren’t too discouraging, Commander;

we�re not losing air too fast, though we may have todepressurize. Stressed along the seams, maybe. No com-munications with number one turret; it must have takenthe brunt. Frank and Ernst are probably dead.�

�We�re no deader than a jetman is from the neck down!Damn fireball ripped out our controls.� Frank�s voice,from the command center hatch continued to mumbleprofanities.

The fireball had blown in the missile hatch in the bot-tom of the turret and had been channeled back into themissile bay, doing unaccounted damage as well as rippingout their communications. But, the turret control centerswere separate from the missile tracks, and they hadn�tbeen hurt. The blast had merely sprung the turret and letout their air. Freida immediately demanded their dosime-ters, and Rodion unstrapped to help them swim in.

�I�m going out to check up, then, Commander,� saidWojalek. �The last burst overheated the rockets, and thesafeties shut down to keep from burning them out. We�lltry to restart when I get back. We�ll make it to Mars onschedule, I�d say.�

The Invader ship was no farther from them than Earthis from the Moon, 380,000 kilometers, and could launchagain � if it had any missiles left. But, it would take anymissile six hours to reach them in a long-stern chase, andit would have to cross more than five million kilometers ofspace, with all the risks that meant. It went away silently.

�Okay. We have won. We�ll live. Good work, men and

women �� Kliment�s voice broke, overcome by his affec-tion for these men and women. It seemed impossible tobelieve humanity wouldn�t ultimately triumph. He�d haveto explain that to Nikolai and Nina.

�I don�t see anything good about it,� said Olga, slam-ming down the cover over her computer board. �We haveless than a hundred minehead rockets left � and no otherweapons!�

�If another ship jumps us we�re dead,� said Com-mander Bazulin gently, already slumping into relief. �Isthat likely?�

Not a fair question � they were still a week from Mars,only hours from the Invader Base.

It hit her all at once. Olga�s piquant face crumbled as ifin tears. Then, she screamed in triumph and relief, andthe tears did come. Rodion ducked to keep from beingkicked as she floated into the air, but he yelled too andpounded Kliment on the back. Al Treivas, the shy cadet,reached out to pull Olga back to earth but was yanked upinto a kicking, laughing pinwheel with her instead. Frankwas kissing Frieda, and Ernst was helpless with laughter.Other whoops came over the com from the turrets and aft;for ten minutes there was no discipline at all in SWS Ste-pan Bandera.

Everybody but the commander joined. Kliment feltburned out, and his head felt stuffed with cotton. Hecould only repeat the phrase: �We did it. We did it. Wedid it.�

68 OCTOBER 1985

CONTENTS

ARES Log . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

STICKS & STONES &DEATH MACHINESJohn M. Maxstadt . . . . . . . . 71Balancing encounters in GAMMAWORLD® gaming

A THOUSAND IN ONEMark Graham Jones . . . . . . 74Balkanizing your campaign worlds

THE MARVEL®-PHILEJeff Grubb . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Marvelous Impossibilities

ACTIVE DUTYJefferson P. Swycaffer . . . . 80Continuing careers in TRAVELLER®gaming

SILVERTWIN!Michael Therrien . . . . . . . . 82Star Law�s latest weapon

ON THE COVERWhen powerful criminal forces threatenthe security of the Frontier, Star Lawbrings in its best � the SilverTwin ProjectFor details, see p. 82. Art by Jim Holloway

The GEN CON® 18 convention is over with � FINALLY! Areport on the science-fiction side of things (particularly theseminar on super-powered hero games) will be coming soon.

What do Isaac Asimov and TSR, Inc., have in common? Dropby your local bookstore and pick up a copy of the newAMAZING® Stories anthology that Dr. Asimov and Martin H.Greenberg have assembled, and find out. 60 Years of the BestScience Fiction presents 19 of the finest tales to ever grace thepages of AMAZING Stories, with a full-color section of pastmagazine covers and a special tribute by Dr. Asimov. After all,his first story sale appeared in AMAZING Stories in 1939.

The all-heroes ARES� Section of #100 went over very well.Though we got a lot of positive mail on it, a few readerswanted to know if we�d forgotten about STAR FRONTIERS®,GAMMA WORLD®, and TRAVELLER® games. No; the mail forthe MARVEL SUPER HEROES� game has been running veryhigh lately, however, and we wanted to give the readers some-thing special. Hard-core science-fiction gamers will still findlots to keep them occupied here, particularly in this issue.

Patrick Goodman (Webster, Texas) asked an interestingquestion. He wanted to know how other super-powered herocampaigns were developing, particularly for the MARVELSUPER HEROES� game. Would any referees for heroic cam-paigns care to write in and tell how their campaigns aredeveloping? Do your MARVEL SUPER HEROES games tend tofollow the comics, or has your universe developed separatelyfrom the Marvel Universe�?

We�ll consider publishing a summary of some of theseresponses in a future section if we get some good ones.Describe your campaign in a page or two, and send it to theARES Section, DRAGON® Magazine, P.O. Box 110, LakeGeneva, WI 53147.

Cheers!

ARES� Section 102THE SCIENCE-FICTION GAMING SECTION

Editor: Roger E. MooreEditorial assistance: Michael Breault, Eileen Lucas, Kim Mohan, Georgia

Moore, Douglas Niles, Patrick Lucien PriceGraphics, design, and production: Kim Lindau, Roger Raupp

All materials published in the ARES Section become the exclusive propertyof the publisher upon publication, unless special arrangements to the con-trary are made prior to publication. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome,but the publisher assumes no responsibility for them, and they will not bereturned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope ofsufficient size and volume.

ARES is a trademark of TSR, Inc.�s science-fiction gaming section inDRAGON® Magazine. All rights on the contents of this section are reserved,and nothing may be reproduced from it without prior permission in writingfrom the publisher. Copyright © 1985 TSR, Inc. DRAGON, STAR FRONTIERS,GAMMA WORLD, and GEN CON are registered trademarks of TSR, Inc.Copyright © 1985 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

All Marvel characters and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarksof the Marvel Comics Group. MARVEL SUPER HEROES and MARVEL SUPERVILLAINS are trademarks of the Marvel Comics Group. Copyright © 1985Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation. AllRights Reserved.

TRAVELLER is a registered trademark of Game Designers� Workshop.SPACE OPERA is a trademark of Fantasy Games Unlimited.

70 OCTOBER 1985

STICKS & STONES&

DEATH MACHINES

by John M. Maxstadt

Most fantasy role-playing games arestructured around encounters withmonsters. I use the term �monster� hereas the AD&D® game does, referring topotentially dangerous persons or crea-tures that a player character partyencounters more or less unexpectedly.The new GAMMA WORLD® game rulesmay call them non-player characters,but players usually insist upon callingthem monsters, anyway.

There are two types of monsterencounters: set and random. Setencounters are planned into the adven-ture; random encounters are generallyrolled up from a table. Of the two, setencounters are by far the more impor-tant. Random encounters serve manyuseful purposes: keeping the playercharacters on their toes, livening up dullstretches of adventuring, providing atouch of realism, and motivating theparty members to get on with whateverthey are doing. Still, they are peripheralto the main action. When they hamperor detract from the set encounters toany serious extent, they spoil the adven-ture.

Dangerous random encounters areparticularly prone to detract from theset encounters in any given adventure.In general, random encounters shouldbe less challenging than set ones; thePCs will want to save their big guns forthe set encounters, because they willhave more of a chance to use strategyencounters, and because the hairiestencounters will naturally impress play-ers as the most important. The goblinking�s mansion pales into insignificancebeside the fight with the wandering reddragon, however little the latter had todo with the main adventure. Certainly, itis not desirable for the PCs to be killedoff by random encounters before theyeven get to the first set encounter.

For these reasons, it is particularlyimportant that random encounter tablesbe balanced to the PC party�s level inany role-playing game. Ideally, mostrandom encounters should be dis-patched with some effort by an intelli-gent party, with a minimum of casualtiesand expenditure of resources.

However, the GAMMA WORLD ran-dom encounter tables are divided onlyaccording to type of terrain, with noattention to game balance at all. Themost dangerous and deadly creaturesare jumbled together indiscriminatelywith the most harmless. If the GameMaster uses the tables without making

Balancing the GAMMA WORLD® encounter tables

D R A G O N 7 1

some game-balance adjustments, he canwreck a campaign with a single roll ofthe dice. If a brand-new party�s firstrandom encounter is with a kamodo, afew keeshins, or a patch of crep plants,the adventure will be over in a hurry.

Some may object that the AD&D®wilderness encounter tables are notbalanced either, and that doesn�t seem tohurt the game. This is true, but mostAD&D adventures take place indoors orunderground, where the carefully bal-anced dungeon-level tables apply. The�Gamma World� is mostly wilderness,and what few buildings exist (installa-tions, automated factories, etc.) usuallyhouse the toughest encounters. A 1st-level AD&D character who wanders offinto the wilderness is a suicidal fool; acomparable GAMMA WORLD characterwho does the same thing is simplygetting on with the game.

It may also be objected that the bal-anced encounters are more necessary inthe AD&D game because the charactersbegin weak and become powerful later,while GAMMA WORLD characters don�tuse levels and personally remain muchthe same. However, the accumulation ofhigh-technology artifacts makes a dra-matic difference in the combat effective-ness of a party, particularly in the caseof Pure Strain Humans. A partyequipped with lasers, black ray guns,and powered assault armor can copewith encounters that would decimatethe same characters equipped withclubs, spears, and bearskins.

The third objection to imposing gamebalance on the encounter tables is that itisn�t logical to have the local animalpopulations change and become nastieras the party becomes more powerful.The same sorts of creatures that wereout there when the party first startedshould still be out there twenty adven-tures later, and vice versa. This is notentirely true, since animal populationsdo change, and parties may move intonew ecosystems as they move fromadventure to adventure. Also, gamebalance is far more important than logicin a role-playing game; the importantthing is that the game be playable andenjoyable. The GAMMA WORLD game isnot a perfectly logical ecological simula-tion. Few players will complain aboutthe lack of logic in a system designed tokeep their characters alive.

The main objections have been dealtwith in brief. More could have beensaid, but I still believe that some systemis needed to bring game balance to theGAMMA WORLD random encountertables. I could record my own system in

72 OCTOBER 1985

detail here; but, as each GM has his owntastes, playing style, and playing situa-tion, my system would not suit every-one.

The considerations and optionsinvolved in balancing the tables are nottoo complex. There are two main steps:first, the GM must decide which mon-sters are weak enough for beginningencounters and which should bereserved for later adventures when theparty is stronger; second, he mustchoose and implement a mechanism toseparate these different �levels� ofmonster encounters.

The GM may want to rank all mon-sters on a continuum from the mostinnocuous to the nastiest, give each onea numerical �nastiness� rating, or dividethem into groups as per the AD&Ddungeon level encounter tables. What-ever the system, the distinctions shouldbe made on the criteria of monster dis-position, combat effectiveness, andarmament.

The dispositions of GAMMA WORLDmonsters vary. Some, like herkels, kepplants, parms, and squeekers, are fear-less and near-mindless predators thatwill attack anything that moves. Greedytypes, such as hoops, bloodbirds, car-rins, and serfs, will attack PC parties inhope of finding valuables to steal. Somemonsters will attack out of insanehatred or sheer evilness; these includebadders, keeshins, �mad� robots, andcertain Cryptic Alliances such as thePurists, the Mutationists, and the RedDeath. These monsters will nearlyalways attack a PC party, so they shouldbe rated solely on how dangerous theyare when they do attack.

However, some monsters will notattack a PC party unless the party doessomething stupid or vicious first.Berleps, erts, ert teldens, perths, andrakoxen, for example, attack only ifprovoked or disturbed, and are harm-less if left alone. Other creatures, includ-ing brutorz, menarls, sleeths, and yexils,are friendly toward character races andwill generally try to help, trade with, orjoin PC parties. Certain other intelligent(and generally humanlike) creatureshave their own plans which may or maynot involve PC parties. Androids, fens,grens, and lils might be appropriate forbeginning encounters even if armed tothe teeth, if the GM assumes that theyhave other fish to fry and are unwillingto risk their necks or waste their timeand ammunition on a PC party which isjust passing through.

If these three types are to be assumedharmless, the GM is responsible for

seeing that they really are harmless, atleast in low-level encounters. If a yexilwill attack on a reaction roll of 1-3(�Extremely Hostile: ImmediatelyAttacks�) no matter what the party does,or if a passing troop of androids mayturn out to be the hit squad for the localbranch of The Created, then these crea-tures are not necessarily harmless, andthe party cannot be expected to do any-thing but shoot first and ask questionslater. On the other hand, if the GMalways allows the party to avoid fightswith these three types by �speakingthem fair,� pulling a bluff, or simplymaking a wide circle around them (sur-prise notwithstanding), then they can beconsidered non-dangerous encounters,no matter how powerful the monstersactually are.

If a monster will usually attack a PCparty, then its combat effectivenessbecomes an important consideration.Many statistics have a bearing on com-bat effectiveness, but the first to con-sider is potential attack damage. Totalpotential damage for all attacks that amonster can make in a round should beadded together, including physical(tooth-and-claw) attacks, weapon attacks,and mental attacks. Two 5d6 attacks dothe same damage as one 10d6 attack inan average round. Some attacks do notnecessarily involve damage dice, butmay kill or incapacitate one or morecharacters instantly. These include high-intensity poison and radiation, stunningforce, the gamma eye, molecular disrup-tion, mental paralysis, mental control,symbiotic attachment, telekinesis , andthe ultimate party-killing combination ofdeath f ie ld generation and l i fe leech(which both serfs and crep plants have).

A variety of potent attacks, even ifthey cannot all be used in a singleround, increases a monster�s effective-ness against a party that has a variety ofdefenses. Of course, attacks used onlyonce per day are less dangerous thanthose which can be used at will.

The likelihood of an attack hitting itstarget is also an important factor.Weapon attacks are more or less likelyto hit depending on weapon type; physi-cal attacks depend on hit dice, and men-tal attacks depend on mental strength,so these three statistics are pertinent tocombat effectiveness. In general, attackswith Tech Level 1 weapons (swords,bows and arrows, etc.) are the leastlikely to hit. Some attacks, such as sonicblast , radiation eyes, hands of power,gas generation, l ight generation, pyro-cryokinesis, and the herp�s acid jet,always hit anything within range. Most

of these (the exception being pyro-cry-okinesis) have the added advantage ofdamaging several opponents at once.

A monster�s defenses are also impor-tant. Low armor class and a generoussupply of hit points will allow a monsterto live longer in combat, effectivelygiving it more attacks. Special defenses,such as the hawkoid�s repulsion fieldand the blight�s invisibility and specialimmunities, are also significant.

A few examples may serve to demon-strate how combat effectiveness can beadded up. Arns have one attack perround for 2d6, a very poor armor class(9), and no special attacks, making themvery weak and definitely appropriate forbeginning encounters. Cal thens doterrific damage per attack (10d6), butthey have only one attack per round,and, at 6 hit dice, are not much likelierto hit than a sword or club. Their higharmor class (9) and low hit-point averageassure that they will not live long incombat; so, while they are more danger-ous than arns, they might be appropri-ate to beginning encounters if they weresurprised or greatly outnumbered. Asep does slightly less damage per attackthan a cal then (9d6), but, at 17 hit dice,is far more likely to hit. Seps have armorclass 5, an average of 60 hit points, andgenerally attack by surprise, so they aremuch more dangerous than cal thensand definitely not appropriate for begin-ning encounters.

Once a monster�s combat effectivenesshas been determined, the question ofarmament remains. Many monstershave both the intelligence and manipula-tive members necessary to use high-technology weaponry, and its presenceor absence makes a big difference. Anencounter with hissers armed with pipewrenches and an encounter with hissersarmed with blasters are two entirelydifferent things. As a wise man oncesaid, �Sticks and stones may break mybones, but a laser beam is somethingelse altogether.�

Monsters that habitually use TechLevel 3 weapons should be reserved forhigh-level encounters. There may besome disagreement about which mon-sters are involved here. The monsterdescriptions clarify this matter in somecases, but some GMs may have theirown ideas, and, at any rate, severalcases are left entirely up to the GM�sdiscretion. In my campaign, hoopsnearly always have Tech Level 3 equip-ment, but badders mostly use axes,morning stars, and crossbows, perhapswith a grenade or slug pistol for theleader. Consequently, hoops are a much

higher-level encounter than badders inthis campaign. If a monster�s weaponrymay vary widely, the GM may want toplace that monster on more than onelevel, giving different ratings to�androids, poorly armed,� �androids,moderately well armed,� and �androids,heavily armed.�

When the GM has considered disposi-tion, combat effectiveness, and probablearmament, and decided which monstersare more and less dangerous, he shouldremember that these decisions are notcarved in stone. Experience may revealthat an apparently weak monster istougher than it seems, or that experi-enced parties always manage to kill asupposedly dangerous monster before itcan get off an attack. A highly experi-enced GM may want to base the distinc-tions entirely on his past observations,but the trial-and-error method is notrecommended for beginning GMs, asthey will kill a lot of parties before theyget the tables adjusted properly.

Once the distinctions between higher-and lower-level random encounters aremade, the GM should work up a systemfor seeing that beginning PC partieshave only lower-level random encount-ers and that powerful parties generallytend to have higher-level ones. One wayis to draw up homemade encountertables and ignore the ones in the book.If this way is tried, the GM will want tohave a good variety of monsters availa-ble on each table for each terrain, and atthe same time have enough tables tomake the increase in encounter levelreasonably gradual. Some monstersmight be put in several different typesof terrain, and some borderline casesmight even be put in more than onelevel, with some adjustment in the num-ber encountered or their weaponry. TheGM might also make only two or threetables and gradually increase the aver-age difficulty of encounters by rolling asecond die to see which table anencounter is to be rolled on, allowing a

greater chance of the higher-level tablesbeing rolled as the party becomesstronger. The homemade-table system-also allows the GM to include his ownmonsters and ones that appear inmodules or in DRAGON® Magazine.

If this seems like too much work, theGM can simply use the tables as they areand fudge the die rolls. When theencounter die indicates a high-levelencounter for a low-level party, the GMcan keep rolling until something comesup that the party can handle. The trou-ble with this system is that it greatlynarrows the variety of random encount-ers. As the tables now read, there areonly one or two low-level monsterspossible in some types of terrain.

A third option is to use the tables asthey are and take the die rolls as theyfall, but to arrange high-level encountersso that low-level parties don�t get killed.A herp encounter, for example, could bea glimpse of a herp�s back from severalhundred yards away. An obb encountermight just be the passing shadow of anobb that is flying high overhead, com-pletely oblivious to the party. A kamodothat the party encounters might alreadybe dead or completely disabled. Theband of serfs they encounter mightsimply demand a nominal fee for safepassage. At best, such nonviolentencounters add a touch of realism andare a refreshing break from hack-and-slash gaming. At worst, they make theGM�s hand too apparent in the adven-ture and make the players feel manipu-lated. In any case, this system makesheavy demands on the GM�s extempora-neous creativity.

Creative GMs will, no doubt, see waysof combining, varying, or expanding anyor all of these systems. Some will proba-bly think of even better systems thathave not occurred to me. The importantthing is that the random encountertables in GAMMA WORLD gaming bebalanced in a dependable, workable, andreasonably consistent system.

D R A G O N 7 3

Every role-playing game campaign,regardless of genre, requires a variety ofexotic physical and cultural environ-ments for the player characters toexplore and operate within. When thereferee finds his imagination flagging, orwhen the players begin to show signs ofboredom with the campaign�s presentlocale, these new environments canprovide just the right new- challenges torevitalize everyone�s enthusiasm. Sci-ence-fiction campaigns are particularlywell-suited to fulfilling this requirement.With an entire universe to draw fromand a virtually infinite variety of envi-ronments available to him, the refereecan create as large and varied a cam-paign area as he wishes.

Unfortunately, too many referees fallinto the one-world, one-environmenttrap. Laboring under the belief thatadvanced cultures will inevitablydevelop into unified world cultures, orthat societies living in and adapted toharsh or dangerous physical environ-ments must be placed in total isolationon a separate world, referees createcampaigns in which every world hosts asingle, uniform, physical and culturalenvironment. Monolithic world-statesdominate the campaign.

These planetary cultures, easily identi-fied by the presence of a single govern-mental entity, a common set of valuesand beliefs, and common styles ofspeech, dress, art and architecture,typically coexist in some larger, galacticcivilization. They are almost invariablythe basic social and political unit of orga-nization in a campaign. Economic orpolitical activity on anything less than aplanetary scale is ignored, and multi-government or balkanized worlds (asthe TRAVELLER® game calls them) areseldom given serious attention.

This state of affairs is the result of adeliberate effort on the part of the gamedesigners. From the earliest serials andpulp adventures, science fiction hasfeatured star-spanning civilizations andplanet-hopping adventurers. When role-

74 OCTOBER 1985

playing games expanded into the genre,the designers naturally wanted to recre-ate those elements. A look at the worldgeneration tables from the TRAVELLER,SPACE OPERA�, and other science-fiction role-playing games will show thatthose systems are designed to foster thecreation of monolithic world-states.

In each case, monolithic world-statesare the given norm, along with somelarger galactic civilization in the back-ground (the TRAVELLER Imperium, theSPACE OPERA Terran United Federationof Planets, and so forth). Balkanizedworlds are always mentioned, but onlyas a single possibility among a dozen ormore variations on the basic theme ofthe world-state. Thus, the games encour-age the player characters to rapidlyplanet-hop from world to world insearch of adventure, wealth, safety, orescape from their enemies. Interstellartravel is relatively inexpensive, fast, andsimple � and every world possesses asingle, easily assimilated culture for theplayer characters to discover, explore,and exploit before moving on to thenext.

This concentration on recreating thetrappings of sci-fi serials and epics isunderstandable, but it ignores the gam-ing potential of balkanized worlds.These worlds have a great deal to add toany campaign. They permit the refereeto more efficiently utilize his time andeffort, and provide an opportunity toexploit a higher density of cultures thanhe could ever hope to achieve amongsocieties separated by interstellardistances.

Efficiency

Anyone contemplating the creation of acampaign world should keep two factsfirmly in mind: the size of a planet, andthe variety of environments which it cansupport.

A planet is a very large object, with asurface area of millions of square miles.Very few cultures in a campaign are

likely to require so much territory. Aworld could therefore host a largenumber of cultures without crowding.

By concentrating on a relative handfulof worlds, the referee can avoid havingto generate large numbers of merelystatistical planets. He can instead beginthe more difficult, more exacting � andmore interesting � process of creatingexciting physical and cultural environ-ments for the characters. He can exer-cise his imagination, not just his writingand die-rolling arm.

Next to size, a planet�s most obviousfeature is the variety of environments tobe found there. Each planet�s age (andthat of its primary), its orbital period,distance and eccentricity, its rotationalperiod, axial tilt, atmospheric andhydrospheric composition, internal heatand vulcanism, and other factors willcombine to create a unique set of basicconditions. Within the limits establishedby these conditions, however, the worldwill exhibit a wide variety of terraintypes, climatic conditions, and forms ofplant and animal life.

Our Earth itself displays an enormousrange of surface conditions and forms oflife, which should need no descriptionhere. (There are libraries full of infor-mation on the subject for those whoreally want it.) Presumably, worlds suffi-ciently Earthlike to be habitable byhumanity will be equally diverse. Theseworlds may be warmer, cooler, wetter,or otherwise different from Earth, butthis simply means that the range ofconditions to be found there is shiftedfarther to one extreme or another thanthose of our Earth.

Thus, a referee who wishes to tailorcertain cultures to particular environ-ments need not feel pressured to placethem on individual worlds. If one wishesto create a desert-dwelling nomadicculture, a tropical tribal society, and aculture adapted to arctic conditions, allthree can be placed upon a single world.Vast stretches of rolling dunes, lushtropical continents, and barren glacial

tundras can all coexist on other worldsjust as they do here on Earth.

None of these environments dominatesthe Earth, yet, to a party of adventurerslost or stranded within any of them,they might just as well. Only intelligentand timely action will see the charactersthrough the crisis safely. And, if thecharacters survive their trials, don�t theydeserve to find something more await-ing them than a tiny starport town inthe midst of nothing more than endlessice, sand, or jungle?

But, suppose the referee wants tocreate a culture specifically adapted tosome harsh or unusual environment.Why would such a culture evolve orremain in such an environment if somemore pleasant or temperate environ-ment were available? Wouldn�t thenatives choose instead to migrate to amore hospitable area of the world? Andwouldn�t this ruin the referee�s plans tointroduce such a culture into hiscampaign?

Certainly, the natives would move, and

indeed this would ruin the referee�splans � if the natives had such a hospi-table environment available to them,and if they knew of its existence, and ifit were sufficiently attractive to them,and if they could get there. But what ifthe natives do not consider their envi-ronment particularly harsh or unusual?Indeed, they might consider it ratherpleasant, or even normal.

The referee must remember that mostcultures, and particularly primitiveones, will not have the same high stand-ards of comfort and convenience whichwe take for granted. Daily, repetitive,exhausting labor is required for survivalin a primitive society. The amount ofwork necessary to carve out a niche inthe environment might not seem thatmuch worse than would be necessary ina less hostile environment elsewhere.

Even if the natives find their lot in lifelacking in appeal, this is no guaranteethat they will consider some other envi-ronment sufficiently attractive to beworth the effort of moving into the area

After all, a great deal of extra work andextra risk would be required to trans-plant one�s people into a new habitat.The natives might well find some distantland a pleasant enough place to dreamabout, but too difficult and risky toreach to make the effort worthwhile.Individual explorers, adventurers, orfamily/clan groups might make theeffort, but the majority of the tribe willremain at home.

Furthermore, the simple fact that amore hospitable environment existsdoesn�t mean that it is available to thenatives. Access to this new environmentmight be limited or blocked by any num-ber of obstacles. Mountain ranges, riv-ers, seas and oceans, desert wastes, ortrackless jungle all could prove nearlyimpossible to overcome. Make theseobstacles just a little tougher to conquer,and the natives might easily remainignorant of the very existence of otherenvironments � or even the existence ofany other world at all (leading to the

D R A G O N 7 5

possibility of �lost world� adventures).The final and most important obstacle

to such large scale migrations, though,has been and will always be other men.Natural obstacles are passive in nature.They exist, and their existence makesthe discovery and exploitation of newenvironments difficult or impossible, butthey do not actively seek to oppose thecolonization of new lands by ournatives. Other men might.

In fact, it is quite possible that ourhypothetical natives settled in theiruninviting territory after being driventhere by population pressures or con-flicts with other peoples. In either case,the natives of the more pleasant regionswill have every reason to keep the areafor themselves and none whatsoever forsharing or surrendering it. Under thesecircumstances, the referee can easilyjustify the existence of a culture whichis adapted to a harsh environment, orone which has evolved in relative ortotal isolation, even when surroundedby other environments and peoples.

Density of cultures

A second major advantage of usingbalkanized worlds in a science-fictioncampaign is the far greater density ofcultures which they make possible.Interplanetary and interstellar travel, nomatter how inexpensive, rapid, andreliable, can never match the volume oftrade and travel and the level of contactpossible where two or more cultures arephysically present on a single world.This proximity makes it possible forindividuals from the various cultures tovisit others with a far smaller invest-ment of time, money, and energy thanwould be possible among the same cul-tures when separated by interstellardistances. The level of contact � and thepossibility of conflict � between cul-tures is greatly increased.

With so many cultures present on asingle world, there is also the potentialfor a major exchange of goods, services,and ideas. Styles of dress, speech(including slang and idioms), art andarchitecture, fads, and new ideas con-cerning ethics, philosophy, religion,economics, politics, science, and technol-ogy can pass rapidly from one culture toothers. These innovations may beembraced enthusiastically, given a luke-warm reception, ignored, or receivedwith suspicion or hostility. If there hap-pens to be a major rift between thepeople and their government, orbetween segments of the population, a

76 OCTOBER 1985

culture may exhibit a variety of reac-tions to new ideas. There is the possibil-ity of confusion, debate, and evenviolence on the part of one or morefactions within the culture.

The referee may also determine thatcertain cultures have external conflictsas well. Diplomatic relations betweenstates may be non-existent, strained, orrecently broken off. Embassies, as wellas private property (including the per-sons of the staff, or citizens of the�offending� state), might become thetargets or the instigators of negotiation,propaganda, demonstrations, espionage,terrorism, or police actions. Player char-acters could be introduced into thesituation as diplomats or couriers, secu-rity personnel, private, corporate orgovernmental detectives, spies, sabo-teurs, terrorists, assassins, or soldiers.

If the hostilities become still moreintense, they may spill over into otherareas of intercultural exchange. Trade,travel, and communication betweenhostile states could be threatened orinterrupted. Trade embargoes could beinstituted, with the player charactersstopping smugglers or engaging in blackmarket activity, depending upon theirloyalties and daring. There are fortunesto be made in acquiring, transporting,and disposing of goods or services des-perately needed in one state, butunavailable for domestic or foreignreasons � and there is danger as well.

Should problems within or betweencultures become still more serious,armed conflict may occur. Within aculture, revolutions (and perhapscounter- and counter-counter-revolu-tions as well) are possible. Betweencultures, raids, border skirmishes, inva-sions, occupations, and wars of annihila-tion may take place. Mercenaries andamateurs with a taste for almost anybrand of combat or espionage work canfind it somewhere, yet, with the excep-tion of holocaust scenarios, these mili-tary actions can occur almostcontinuously in various parts of theworld without necessarily affecting thecharacters, unless they or the referee sodesire it.

In addition to cultural or militaryconflicts, balkanized worlds are per-fectly suited to any of the more generalsorts of adventure. Hunting, explor-atory, survival, detective, mystery,romance, suspense, or horror plots areall quite possible within any of the sev-eral balkanized states. Entire campaignscan be run on a balkanized world with-out ever rising above the atmosphere.

For proof of this, just look at any mod-ern or fantasy role-playing game on theshelves of your local hobby shop. Thesegames and all of the supplements forthem are designed to take place withinthe confines of a single world, yet thevariety of scenarios and adventuresavailable is quite extensive. In addition,most of the adventures and scenariospublished for use in science-fiction cam-paigns based upon monolithic world-states and galactic civilizations can beeasily modified by substituting variousbalkan states for the planetary govern-ments suggested.

Balkanizing your campaign

If you�re too fond of your present cam-paign worlds to simply abandon them,try condensing your campaign territory.Place several existing world cultures oneach planet, carefully selecting them asnecessary to create interesting combina-tions. You may find that many of yourworld-states are essentially alike; com-bine them into a single culture and workit out in detail. By eliminating redundan-cies and concentrating on the cultureswhich are most unique and exciting, youcan make the remaining worlds farmore vivid and enjoyable.

This was done in a campaign that Iplay in. Over a hundred worlds werereduced to less than two dozen, withdramatic and lasting success. The resultwas easier access to previously isolatedcultures, though travel into and withinsuch cultures was still difficult, slow,and often dangerous. By concentratingpreviously widespread cultures into farsmaller territories, the referee was ableto give each culture far more attention� including detailed maps of the terrainand population centers, encountertables, and notes on all of the mostimportant or interesting features.

The players in the campaign now havea number of well-defined cultures tochoose from when creating player char-acters. They can play out their rolesbetter, and can get more involved in thepolitical and cultural conflicts since theyhave a real grasp of the issues andevents in question.

Just because a science-fiction gamepermits space travel doesn�t mean itmust dominate the game. Experiment alittle. Create some balkanized worlds,and detail the environments and cul-tures to be found there. Then, roughout a few potential adventures from theconflicts you�ve established. It isn�t diffi-cult, and the results should be wellworth the effort.

Marvelous Impossibilities

by Jeff Grubb

It�s convention time as I write this entryof the Marvel®-Phile, which means I�meven more pressed for time than usual,what with the MARVEL SUPERHEROES� tournament and other duties.Since I�m faced with an impossible taskand an impossible schedule, I thought I�dmake things easy and do the ImpossibleMan�.

All Marvel Characters, their likenesses, and MARVEL SUPERHEROES are trademarks of the Marvel Comics Group. Copyright1985 Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence lndustriesCorporation. All Rights Reserved.

IMPOSSIBLE MAN�Name? Poppupians need

no names. They knowwho they are.

Native of Poppup

Fighting: GOOD (10)Agility: REMARKABLE (30)Strength: GOOD (10)Endurance: UNEARTHLY (100)Reason: TYPICAL (6)Intuition: TYPICAL (6)Psyche: REMARKABLE (30)

Health: 150Karma: 42Resources: Not applicablePopularity: 3

Known powers:

SHAPECHANGE: The Impossible Mancan shapechange with Unearthly ability,shifting from one form to another withan audible �pop.� He can turn himselfinto a working model of any object,duplicating all of its abilities up to theAmazing rank. His only limits seem to behis imagination the once turned himselfinto a clone of Galactus�), and the factthat whatever he becomes will be greenand purple (so it was a green-and-purpleGalactus). He may duplicate living andnon-living objects equally well; hisHealth does not change in either case.

BODY ARMOR: Due to Impossible Man�splastic physical nature, the small alienhas Unearthly Body Armor. He is stillsubject to all Slam results (with spectac-ular effects, caroming off two or threewalls before coming to rest), but hecannot be Stunned.

ALIEN MIND: The Impossible Man wasand is a member of a group conscious-ness of his race, giving him an UnearthlyPsyche against mind control, thoughtreading, and other mind-affectingpowers. Those attempting to mentallycontact the Poppupian must make a RedPsyche FEAT or be knocked unconsciousfor 1-10 rounds. (Those that make theFEAT will recognize that it is very, veryweird inside Impy�s mind).

Impossible Man�s story: TheImpossible Man (also known as �Impy�)was a native of the planet Poppup, and amember of a race with totally malleablebodies and a group consciousness.Granted free will and independent deci-sion-making through a minor geneticdefect, the Impossible Man left hisplanet in boredom and explored outerspace.

The Poppupian�s travels eventually ledto Earth, a planet that amazed him with

78 OCTOBER 1985

its entertainment value. He was dubbedthe Impossible Man and quickly becamea major nuisance with his continualinterference in day-to-day life. TheFantastic Four� got the alien to leave byhaving everyone ignore the little pest.The Impossible Man became bored againand left Earth.

The Impossible Man returned monthslater to lead the world-eater Galactus tohis own planet of Poppup. Impy�s peoplehad become so bored that they choseoblivion over continued existence, andthey hoped to do some good in theirpassing by feeding the ravenous Galac-tus, thus sparing another planet. Theresult was a case of cosmic indigestion,and the Impossible Man became the soulsurvivor of his race.

Having nowhere else to go, Impy set-tled down on Earth, absorbing the bulkof the high-art forms of this planet(meaning TV and movies � BAD TV andmovies) and bothering his good friend,the Thing�. Eventually, he realized hewas lonely and needed others of hisrace. The Impossible Man managed todivide his cells and create an ImpossibleWoman as his mate, and a bunch ofImpossible Kids. As clones of the original

Impossible Man, his wife and kids haveidentical statistics and abilities.

The collected Impossibles set out fromEarth to settle their own planet. When aquestion of leadership arose, theImpossible Man staged a scavenger huntthat resulted in the theft of the mansionof the X-Men� and all of Janet (Wasp�)Van Dyne�s costumes, and a close brushwith an interstellar war. Despite this,Impy lost the contest and is now in self-imposed exile. He was last seen imitatingMagnum P.I., to get ice cream from littlegirls.

Running the Impossible Man: Imag-ine a happy, well-adjusted five-year-oldwith the above powers. Impy hasn�t yetworked out the nature of cause andeffect � e.g., that stealing a spaceshipmay anger someone very powerful. Heis good natured, likes adventure, andcan easily become a pain-in-the-neck toanyone around him. The importantthing in running Impy is to have fun; theImpossible Man is rarely serious. Ifsomeone yells at him, he will mope andget all dewy-eyed until the yelling partyapologizes. Heroes lose 10 Karma pointsfor yelling at the Impossible Man.

D R A G O N 7 9

When the TRAVELLER® game was firstpublished, virtually the only careeroptions a character had were militaryones. With Supplement 4, Citizens of theImperium, non-military occupationsbecame widely available. Some of themilitary occupations were expanded ingreat detail in later books and supple-ments such as Book 5, Mercenary. Yeteach of the occupations available to aTRAVELLER character requires thecharacter to retire or muster out of theoccupation before adventuring begins.Nearly every published TRAVELLERadventure lists a suggested group ofsuch retired characters, such as �Ex-Navy Captain,� �Ex-Merchant First Offi-cer,� or �Ex-Marine Force Commander.�

Why retire? Why shouldn�t adventuresbe undertaken by characters still intheir military or non-military occupa-tions? Very little recent science fictiondeals with characters who have retiredfrom active duty. The tension of work-ing within orders from above whileadapting to the situation below can bethe stuff of some wildly successfuladventures.

Producing an active-duty character issimple. A failed reenlistment roll istranslated to mean that the charactermust start play at this point in his or hercareer. Pregenerated characters devisedby the referee or taken from the manysupplements and adventures for thegame may also be declared on activeduty and used in a campaign.

Given the interstellar nature of mostadventures and the sheer size of theTRAVELLER Imperium, the orders that acharacter�s superiors give him must beloose enough to allow for considerableindependent action. In addition, theoption should be present on field assign-ments to disobey the orders altogetherand get away with it, given the successof the character�s initiative. The Impe-rium is pragmatic enough to rewardoriginal thought and quick action.Should the character fail a mission whiledisobeying orders � well, courts martial

80 OCTOBER 1985

are dreary, and getting shot isn�t exactlythe road to fame and glory that thecharacter had in mind when he acted onhis own.

What play modifications need to beconsidered in order to run adventuresfor characters currently in the military?The most important consideration isfreedom of action. Retired characterscan go where they want and do whatthey want; military characters cannot.However, this objection is often of littleimportance when the characters arerunning through a �normal� adventuremoderated by a referee. The usualmethods of trapping the characters inan adventure are many and well-under-stood. A referee can use the �pull,�amounting to the promise of rewardsfor undertaking the risk of the adven-ture, or the �push,� which is the threatof punishment if the adventure isignored. These carrot-and-stick methodsare often interspersed with traps � i.e.,the characters� spaceship is disabled byan earthquake or solar flare, or thecharacters awake in captivity, havingpartaken of drugged food.

Military characters present the ref-eree with considerable freedom to planadventures by simply having the charac-ters assigned to a mission by a superiorofficer or their headquarters. For exam-ple, in Horde (part of Double Adventure5), the characters� ship is surrounded byplanetary militia troops to prevent itsescape, so that the characters� help willbe assured in fighting the horrid alienthreat. After the threat is dealt with,rewards are distributed. How muchmore simple and direct to send the char-acters in as trained officers of an Impe-rial military branch, to deal with thealien threat from a position of authority!

Since the player characters must makethe decisions in this adventure (as in anyothers), trapping them into facing thethreat makes the adventure almostunavoidable � almost, because manyplayers have the knack of getting theircharacters out of such traps, and ref-

ree deviousness cannot always compen-sate forplayers

it. If I tried to trapinto an adventure,

my regularI could be

sure they would spend most of theirimagination and energy in tryingbypass the trap from the start.

to

Freedom of action is also limited formilitary characters in terms of howmay deal with threats, but this can

they

prove to be a beneficial change. Toomany TRAVELLER players use a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later philosophy;military officers, as part of a structuredhierarchy, are bound by a more ethicalcode. When a hasty shot might trigger

an interstellar war, no officer is anxious and lieutenant commanders would make branch in case of emergencies. Calling into be the one who fires first. Thoughtful an ideal investigating team looking into the Marines is an available option, but issolutions to problems tend to outweigh corruption at a starport. For ground one that must be justified. When charac-firepower solutions, even in cases where combat, a colonel and his subordinates ters are isolated and acting only on theirgreater firepower is available to the can handily divide up a regiment to face own resources, they must learn to thinkcharacters. an enemy. The level of coordination will and plan ahead. In such circumstances,

Leadership levels and chain-of-com- depend on player skill more than char- they also have the advantage of beingmand are a problem if characters are in acter skill. out of contact with their superiors, sothe military. It sometimes makes sense to Rebellious or mutinous behavior is one that their decisions will be their own.grant the highest rank to the character of the true joys of role-playing, but it is Either way, the chances for a successfulbelonging to the player who is the best one of the greatest taboos of the mili- adventure are increased.leader, selection being by consensus of tary. To reconcile this dilemma, I recom- Of course, non-military career optionsthe other players. Character ranks mend a bit of lenience in interpreting can lead to adventures of their own. Ashould be clustered together, more than the military codes. Just as Captain Kirk diplomat could be sent in to normalizewould occur naturally in the was willing to overlook times when his relations with a newly discovered alienTRAVELLER character-generation subordinates questioned his orders, so species, accompanied by an entire cadresequences. If five of the six characters too can the leader of the group of char- of advisors. What hidden motivationsare captains or rear admirals and the acters allow more latitude in the behav- might the aliens (or humans) harbor �sixth is a chief petty officer, then the ior of his own subordinates. Star Trek xenophobia? Isolationism? A bureaucratbalance of player-power is skewed, and worked to dramatic necessity, not to would be dispatched to investigate dis-only certain contrived scenarios will military necessity, and role-playing crepancies in a payroll account, therebyaccomodate it. All six characters could games must do the same. If, on the other discovering corruption at a high level.be stranded on a desert world, for hand, a court-martial becomes neces- (And with no more back-up than a teamexample, and only the CPO has a sur- sary, the resulting courtroom drama, of accountants, how can he deal withviva1 skill, but that�s an idea for a single with skulking about for evidence, devi- what he finds?) Even a barbarian canadventure, not for a viable campaign. A ous legal maneuvers, and perhaps a enter the action, when members ofgroup of captains and admirals would desperate break for freedom, would some long-lost, human-settled world findmake for a good decision-making make the trial an intriguing adventure. themselves dragged into the fifty-nucleus in a High Guard battle cam- Then, too, military officers have seventh century.paign, whereas a group of lieutenants access to the vast resources of their So, why retire? Stay active!

D R A G O N 8 1

this highly effective arm of law, therequests for many more SilverTwin unitshave reached the attention of the Secu-rity Council. The cities that so far havehad a SilverTwin module included intheir arsenal are Port Loren (Morgaine�sWorld, Prenglar), Jancaith (Triad, Cassi-dine) and Tarnath�s Realm (Truane�sStar).

for special missions of law enforcement.

of all-terrain vehicles, both well armedand screened, which have been created

SilverTwin is the code name for a pair

They are experimental in design andwould only be used in conjunction withthe law agencies of major cities, actingon orders from a Star Law PlanetaryCouncil, Planetary Officer, or higherauthority.

History

After the Second Sathar War, white-collar criminals from several outlaworganizations began to stir things up inthe Frontier, using gangs of moderatelyarmed thugs. Hundreds of seriouscrimes were committed by these gangseach week. The crime lords behindthese groups of thugs hoped to occupyStar Law�s forces on an increasinglyplanetary level, thus reducing the orga-nization�s strength in open space andpermitting the growth of piracy. Theirploy failed miserably, for their actionsled to the development of the SilverTwinproject.

Star Law Laboratory (Morgaine�sWorld) reacted to the demand by offi-cers throughout the Frontier for heavilyarmed combat vehicles. The SilverTwinproject was revealed nearly a year ago;since then, it has been installed andactivated in three Star Law planetarybranches. With the widespread fame of

82 OCTOBER 1985

A SilverTwin unit itself is composed oftwo vehicles: one car and one cycle.Both have the capability of being able tochange from hover movement to groundmovement. The speed limitations (see p.30, Expanded Rules) are better thanmost racing vehicles. A look at the basicstatistics below will reveal a greaterturning speed, better acceleration, and afaster deceleration. Also noted undereach vehicle description is a VehicleDamage Modifier (VDM). When aSilverTwin vehicle has been fired upon,subtract the VDM from the dice rollbefore consulting the vehicle damagetable on p. 32, Expanded Rules. Thisrepresents the armor quality and high-stress engineering which were incorpo-rated into the SilverTwin project.

Talon (ground/hover car)

Speed:Accel.: 90 m/turn Decel.: 45 m/turnTop: 260 m/turn Turn: 85 m/turn

Cargo: 100 kg, 1 cubic meterVDM: -5

Onboard systems:

* Two turreted laser-rifle cannons: set-ting of 1-20 SEU/shot, 1d10 damage perSEU, range of a laser rifle* Grenade launch tube: 6-grenade maga-zine (usually 3 doze and 3 smoke),ranges of 0/30/55/120/235* Standard radiophone: compatible withGemini helmet chronocom and mostlocal radio channels* Albedo defensive screen: 3 SEU/min-ute, plus normal drain on hits* Inertia defensive screen: 3 SEU/hit,half damage done to Talon* Holo camouflage screen with feedbackloop: 2 SEU/minute, normal (20%chance) of detection* Hostile environment seals: protectiveagainst water (no depth over 2 meters),poison gas, and all grenade smokes. Itwill also function as an oxygen tent,sustaining four persons for ten hours.* RENDER: computer system access andanalysis panel* Public address system

Details:

A Talon, as mentioned above, can useeither hover or ground movement,depending on the situation. The change

from one mode to another takes twoturns (twelve seconds) of completemotionlessness.

Four crewmen ride inside a Talonunder normal circumstances: a pilot(driver), copilot (weapons operator),coordinator (uses radiophone to coordi-nate actions between SilverTwin andother agencies or allies), and defender(uses RENDER to operate screens, moni-tor levels of ammunition, and performdamage control). The positions are listedaccording to where each person sits inthe vehicle, moving clockwise from aleft-handed driving seat. A Talon cancarry two extra passengers (none ofthem Vrusks), though only with cram-ming.

The cargo storage space has a falsebottom, beneath which is a hiddenweapons cache containing 10 powerbeltpacks, 3 laser pistols, 2 spare gre-nade magazines, a disguise kit (for fourpeople, two different identities each),survival rations for 6 (lasting one week),10 sticks of tornadium D-19 with varia-ble timers, a freeze field, and a water-pack. This is the normal equipmentcarried on a Talon, though additions orchanges may be made in special circum-stances.

Talon will, while on a stakeout or simi-lar operation, usually have the holoscreen either offer camouflage or theimage of a normal car, depending uponthe situation.

C l a w ( g r o u n d / h o v e r c y c l e )

Speed:Accel.: 110 m/turn Decel.: 45m/turnTop: 270 m/turn Turn: 100 m/turn

Cargo: 20 kg, .5 cubic metersVDM: -3

Onboard sys tems :

* 2 laser barrels: 1-10 SEU discharge,range of a laser pistol* 4 heavy projectiles: do 5d10 structurepoints, range of an automatic pistol* Albedo defensive screen: 2 SEU/min-ute, plus normal drain on hits* Inertia defensive screen: 2 SEU/hit,half damage done to Claw personnel* Spur (coordination computer betweenClaw and Talon)

Details:

A Claw is a cross between a groundcycle and a hover cycle. The switchbetween modes can be made if the Clawis traveling over 60 m/turn or is at astandstill. It takes one turn of the pilot�sactions to activate the change, during

D R A G O N 8 3

which time the Claw cannot fire (sincethe driver/pilot operates the sightingcontrols of the weapon systems) or turnmore than 30 degrees in any direction.A Claw has a parabattery type 2.

A small weapons cache is included, inwhich are 4 power beltpacks, 2 normallaser pistols, a disguise kit (for two peo-ple, for four different disguises each), asurvival kit (rations for 20 people forone day, plus 1 liter of water, toxy-radgauge, 2 all-weather blankets, compass,everflame, flashlight, and threeholoflares), and 4 sticks of tornadium D-19 and a like amount of variable timers.

The survival kit is a standard modeland can be purchased for 50 Cr. How-ever, different companies have differentideas as to what a person needs to sur-vive, and the price will vary accordingto the contents.

Twinsuit

A Twinsuit is a special combat uniform,made exclusively for the crew of theSilverTwin modules. They are fitted tothe team members, with no chance ofthem being usable any other being. Themethods of creating Twinsuits are keptcompletely secret. Each has a lock keyedto the brainwave patterns of its host,which cannot be duplicated, permittingonly the person for which the suit wasfitted to use it.

Twinsuit equipment:

* Exoskeleton frame: normal operation(p. 48, Expanded Rules)* Anti-shock implant: on the team mem-ber, not a part of the suit* Built-in albedo and inertia armor: Thisvery special armor is a unique weave ofalbedo and inertia fibers into a tightmesh suit. The specifications of thisweave are kept highly secret.* Built-in holo screen: standard model* Gemini helmet: A specially designedhelmet, with the following additions:chronocom, magnigoggles, a small infra-red jammer, and a vocal print distorter(VPD). The VPD will alter the wearer�svoice beyond all possible chances foridentification by voice print.* Laser/stunner: This pistol is a normallaser pistol with a sonic stunnerattached. It takes one combat round tochange the setting from laser to stunneror back. The stun setting will drain 2SEU per shot.* Sonic sword: normal in all respects.* Four power beltpacks: normal in allrespects.* Gas mask: normal in all respects, andfastened to the front of the Twinsuit.

84 OCTOBER 1985

Twinteams

Because of the limited space for seatingon the Talon and Claw vehicles, Vruskscould not be considered for membershipon a Twinteam. However, Vrusks domake sizable contributions to theSilverTwin project, particularly in thearea of design. Vrusks now make upnearly 45% of all SilverTwin technicalcrews. The Twinteams identities areknown only to the Star Law SecurityCouncil, the Planetary Council (if thereis one), and the Planetary Officer.

A tight team feeling is highly stressedwhen developing a Twinteam. The cho-sen few will live together for more thantwo years after attaining Star LawRanger rank, becoming accustomed totheir partners. They live and train insidea special set of huge domes on Mor-gaine�s World.

Players who wish to join a SilverTwinproject must be Star Law Rangers (seeDRAGON® issues #87 and 91). They thenhave the option of either joining a Twin-team missing a member or two, orbeginning their own team (six peopleonly). Those needing details on the StarLaw ranking system should refer to AlexCurylo�s article, �Careers in Star Law,� inissue #91.

The following are the names, races,abilities, and skills of the first and fore-most Twinteam, which operates insidePort Loren, Morgaine�s World, Prenglar.These people made the SilverTwin pro-ject a success for Star Law. The refereewill note that this Twinteam is verypowerful; it has trained extensively forthe benefits SilverTwin has to offer.

Blarg Dramiloud: Dralasite (STR/STA 61/85, DEX/RS 56/55, INT/LOG 69/83, PER/LDR 86/86, PS 4, IM 6). PSA:Technological. Technician 6, Computer 5,Robotics 5, Beam weapons 5, Melee 6.Talon pilot.

Yalik Califor: Female Yazirian (STR/STA56/76, DEX/RS 65/60, INT/LOG 65/77,PER/LDR 81/81, PS 3, IM 6). PSA: Tech-nological. Technician 5, Computer 5,Robotics 6, Beam weapons 5, Melee 6.Claw pilot.

Lucretia Xerxes: Female Human (STR/STA 57/71, DEX/RS 76/85, INT/LOG 63/71, PER/LDR 77/77, PS 3, IM 9). PSA:Military. Beam weapons 6, Projectileweapons 6, Computer 5, Melee 5, Mar-tial arts 5, Demolitions 4. Talon copilot.

Garlib Rampous: Dralasite (STR/STA 60/84, DEX/RS 60/55, INT/LOG 64/74, PER/LDR 74/74, PS 3, IM 6). PSA: Biosocial.Beam weapons 5, Medic 6, Environmen-tal 4, Melee 6, Psycho-social 4, Computer2. Garlib works Spur, riding on the backof Claw.

Fraw Talm: Male Yazirian (STR/STA 65/70, DEX/RS 66/65, INT/LOG 71/69, PER/LDR 72/72, PS 4, IM 7). PSA: Military.Beam weapons 5, Melee 6, Computer 6,Technician 6, Martial Arts 4, Demolitions4. Fraw operates RENDER from insideTalon.

Johnathon Killbear, Male Human (STR/STA 85/94, DEX/RS 69/63, INT/LOG 60/65, PER/LDR 71/71, PS 5, IM 7). PSA:Military. Beam weapons 5, Thrownweapons 5, Martial arts 5, Demolitions 5,Medic 6, Environmental 4. John coordi-nates Talon, Claw, and the local lawforce with a radiophone in the back ofTalon.

A Twinteam member has all the legalpower of a Star Law Ranger. All legalpowers and restrictions are listed inDRAGON issue #91. Twinteam memberswill not, under any circumstances otherthan to save a life, break the law.

SilverTwin scenarios

It is readily apparent that SilverTwin is apowerful tool for the forces of planetarygood. Numerous scenarios may be builtaround it, with the player characterseither supporting, fighting against, orbeing a part of a Twinteam. The firstencounter with a SilverTwin forceshould be in a large city, with the PCswatching from the sidelines as aSilverTwin force stops a major robberyor hijacking. PCs may help, though theTwinteam will prefer not to have civil-ians involved in their operations unlessthe situation is dire. The Twinteam willuse all resources available (within legallimits), including calling in the local lawenforcement agency and military forcesif necessary.

SilverTwin is meant for adding moreexcitement to your STAR FRONTIERS®gaming. It represents the best that StarLaw has to offer, and as such it requiresspecial handling in adventure creation.The referee should carefully work outscenarios that will challenge TwinteamPCs, without making things entirely tooeasy for the team. After all, SilverTwinwas created to fight a menace � and themore menacing, the better!

KING CON 1, Oct. 5Sponsored by the Knights of the Griffon,

this convention will be held in the communi-ty building at the Mt. Vernon city park.Featured events will include role-playinggame tournaments, seminars, a paintingcompetition, a fantasy and science-fiction artshow, and much more. Registration fees are$5 in advance, or $1 entrance fee for eachscheduled gaming event. For more details,contact: King Con 1, c/o The Dragon�s

MILWAUKEE�S 7th HISTORICALWARGAME WEEKEND, Oct. 5-6

To be staged at the Milwaukee WarMemorial Art Museum, this two-day eventfeatures military miniatures war games.Over thirty features have been scheduled. Aformally judged painting competition will beheld on Saturday. Registration fees are $3per day or $4 for both days. Additional costsinclude an event fee of $1 to play eachscheduled game, and there�s an entry fee forthe painting competition. For further details,send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:Joe Gepfert, 3440 S. Monterey Dr., NewBerlin WI 53151, or Bill Protz, Jr., 5690 W.Glenbrook Rd., Brown Deer WI 53223.

WARGAMERS� WEEKEND, Oct. 5-6This wargaming convention will be staged

at the Disabled American Veterans� Hall onRoute 1, Newburyport, Mass. All eventswill take place in the main upstairs functionroom of the DAV Hall. Events will includetwo tournaments � WRG Ancients andWRG Renaissance � and many othergames. Registration fees are $5 for Saturdayand $3 for Sunday; most events will have a$2 charge. For more information, contact:Chris Parker, c/o The Toy Soldier, Ltd.,P.O. Box 148, Newburyport MA 01950.

MAINECON, Oct. 10-12This convention will be held at the

Waynflete school in Portland, Maine.Eventsinclude fantasy role-playing games,

miniatures, board games, and seminars.On-site dormitory space available atreasonable cost; however, bring your ownbedding. For more details, contact: TheMaine Wargamers Association, 116 FrontSt. Bath ME 04530.

COUNCIL OF FIVE NATIONS XI,Oct. 11-13

This gaming event will take place at theUnion College in Schenectady, New York.Featured activities will include costume andminiatures contests, an auction, andaround-the-clock gaming. For more infor-mation about this event, contact: Pamela

86 OCTOBER 1985

Boynton, Council, P.O. Box 4086,Queensbury NY 12801.

NEBRASKA LIN-CON VII, Oct. 11-13Guests of honor for this convention will be

Duke Seifried, his associate Dale Bruner,Ken Bunger, and John Boehm. Mr. Seifriedis the past president of Heritage Game andFigure Manufacturing, and also a past vicepresident of TSR, Inc. Mr. Bunger is theassociate editor of Courirer Magazine and arules designer with 25 years of gaming ex-perience. Mr. Boehm is the Nebraska Assis-tant Attorney General; he has been active inthe gaming field for over 20 years. For moredetails, contact: Merlin Hayes,. c/o HobbyTown, 130 North 13th St., Lincoln NE68508, or telephone (402)476-3829.

WINGAMES VI, Oct. 11-13Held at the University of Manitoba, this

event offers one of the largest AD&D® tour-naments in Canada. Free admission; anentry fee may be required for some events.Contact: Wingames VI, Box 80 UniversityCenter, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T2N2.

FALLCON, Oct. 19-20This science-fiction and fantasy conven-

tion will be held at the newly built UniversityCentre Hotel in Gainesville, Fla. Guest ofhonor will be Piers Anthony. Events will in-clude videos, an art show, a cocktail party,and a costume contest. Registration fees are$10. For more information, contact: BillHatfield, c/o Novel Ideas, 1122 W. Univer-sity Ave., Gainesville FL 32601.

ADVACON �85, Oct. 20This gaming convention will be held at the

Polish Falcon Hall in Depew, N.Y. Fantasyand science-fiction role-playing games,board games, and miniatures tournamentswill be among the featured events. Fordetails, contact: The Advacon Fellowship,101 Floss Ave., Buffalo NY 14211.

MILE HI CON 17, Oct. 25-27Denver�s oldest science-fiction convention

will be staged at the Sheraton Inn inLakewood, Colo. Guests of honor includeSomtow Sucharitkul and Leslie Fish; Ed-ward Bryant will be toastmaster. Featuredevents will include a computer game room, atrivia bowl, and a filk concert. For more in-formation, contact: Mile Hi Con, P.O. Box27074, Denver CO 80227.

NECRONOMICON �85, Oct. 25-27This convention will be held at the Holi-

day Inn in Riverview, Fla. Guests of honor

will include Andre Norton, Robert Adams,Robert Bloch, and Roger Zelazny.Autograph sessions, a caberet, a costumecontest, alien cooking, and a banquet areamong the featured activities. Registrationfees are $15. For more details, contact:Necronomicon �85, P.O. Box 2076, River-view FL 33569.

RO VA CON 10, Oct. 25-27This science-fiction and fantasy conven-

tion will be staged at the Roanoke ValleyCivic Center in Roanoke, Va. Guests ofhonor include Richard Pini, Hal Clement,and Angelique Pettyjohn. Activities will in-clude filk singing, a variety of gaming tour-naments, and a costume contest. Fore moreinformation, contact: Ro Va Con, P.O. Box117, Salem VA 24153.

THE WORLD MYSTERYCONVENTION, Oct. 25-27

800 readers, book dealers, and profes-sionals will congreagte at this convention toshare crime fiction�s joys in San Francisco�sSir Francis Drake Hotel. For more detailsabout this convention, contact: BoucherconXVI, P.O. Box 6202, Hayward CA 94540.

OCTOBER FANTASY REVEL,Oct. 26-27

This convention will be staged at theStone Ridge Inn in West Bend, Wis.RPGA� Network, AD&D®, and CHILL�game tournaments will be featured. Alsoscheduled are a game auction and threefilms. Guests of honor include Frank Perry,Mark Acres, and TV personality TulooseNoneck. For more information, contact:Keith Polster, c/o West Bend Hobbies, 155N. Main, West Bend WI 53095, ortelephone (414)334-0487.

DEF CON �85, Nov. 2-3This gaming convention will take place in

Middleton, New York. Activities will in-clude role-playing tournaments, wargamingevents, an RPGA� Network meeting, auc-tions, door prizes, and much more. Dealersand game masters should feel free to inquire.For more information, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: ChrisArndt, RD #2 Box 318, Pine Bush NY12566

DOCTORCON, Nov. 2-3This mini-convention will be staged at the

Ramada Inn (SW Freeway) in Houston,Texas. Activities include tournaments,panels, contests, and costume parties.Registration fees are $6 for a one-daymembership and $10 for a two-day member-ship. For more details, send a self-addressed,stamped envelope to: Doctorcon, P.O. Box540906, Houston TX 77254-0906.

ROCK CON XII, Nov. 2-3This convention will take place at the

Wagon Wheel Resort on Route 75 inRockton, Ill. Featured events include aselection of historical miniatures activities,an official RPGA� AD&D® tournament,

board games, an auction, an expandeddealer area, and a flea market. For more in-formation, contact: Cliff Wilson, c/o BlackHawk Hobby Distributors, 14225Hansberry Road, Rockton IL 61072.

UNICON II, Nov. 8-10This convention will take place at the L.A.

Pittenger Student Center on the Ball StateUniversity campus in Muncie, Ind. Guestsof honor will be David Gerrold, NancySpringer, and Buck and Juanita Coulson.Movies, seminars, workshops, andminiatures competitions will be featured.Registration fees are $10 until October 15.Contact: The Quetors� Society, Unicon IIPreregistration, L.A. Pittenger StudentCenter Box 279, Muncie IN 47306.

CONTACT, Nov. 15-17This convention will be staged at the Air-

port Sheraton Inn in Evansville, Ind. Guestsof honor include author Jack L. Chalker andRPGA� Network coordinator Penny Pet-ticord. Panels, an art show and auction, andcomet gazing will be among the featuredevents. Registration. fees are $10 untilNovember 1, and $12 thereafter. Contact:RCSFA, P.O. Box 3894, Evansville IN47737, or telephone (812)858-5419.

TROPICON IV, Dec. 6-8This science-fiction convention will take

place at the Holiday Inn in Ft. LauderdaleWest, Fla. Guests of honor include RobertBloch, Lee Hoffman, and Gary Alan Ruse.Activities will include panels, films, an artshow, and a banquet. Registration fees are$10 until November 1, and $15 thereafter.For details, contact, Joe Siclari, c/o SouthFlorida Science Fiction Society, 4599 N. W.5th Ave., Boca Raton FL 33431.

EVECON 3, Dec. 27-29This year EveCon will be staged at the

Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg, Md. Featuredevents include science-fiction and fantasygaming activities, videos, movies, music,singing, dancing, and an art show. Alsoplanned are a Friday Night pool party (withwaterfall) and a Saturday masquerade.Registration fees are $10 until December 1,and $15 thereafter. For more details aboutthis event, contact EveCon 3, P.O. Box 128,Aberdeen MD 21001.

RUSTYCON III, Jan. 17-19To be staged at the Executive Inn in Seat-

tle, Wash., this science-fiction conventionwill feature a number of activities. Guests ofhonor include author Vonda N. McIntyreand artist Ilene Meyer. Registration fees are$16 until December 31, and $20 thereafter.For more information, contact: RustyconIII, P.O. Box 47132, Seattle WA 98146.

BRIDE OF PANDEMONIUM, Jan. 18This event will be staged at the Ryerson

Poytechnical Institute in Toronto, Ontario.This third annual convention will include 17games, a figure and diorama contest, an auc-tion, and open gaming. Gifts certificates will

be awarded. For more details, contact:Dungeon Parties, Inc., P.O. Box 67, Stn. F,Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4Y 1N1, ortelephone (416)924-1989.

CHIMERACON III, Jan. 25-26This convention will be held at the

Carolina Union at the University of NorthCarolina in Chapel Hill, NC. Guests ofhonor include Orson Scott Card, ManlyWade Wellman, Allen Wold, M. A. Foster,and C. Bruce Hunter. Special events includean �Outer Limits� cantina, a writingworkshop, a trivia bowl, an art show, panels,and readings. Registration fees are $6 untilNovember 15, or $3 per day thereafter. Formore information, send a self-addressed,stamped envelope to: ChimeraCon III, 12-AUniversity Gardens, Chapel Hill NC 27514,or telephone (919)967-5347.

ORCCON, Feb. 15-17This gaming convention will take place at

the Los Angeles Airport Hyatt Hotel. Ac-tivities will include role-playing tour-naments, war games, seminars, and an auc-tion. For more information, contact: Orc-con, P.O. Box 8399, Long Beach CA 90808,or telephone (213)420-3675.

WISCON 10, Feb. 21-23This science-fiction convention will be

staged at the Concourse Hotel in Madison,Wis. Guests of honor include Chelsea QuinnYarbro amd Suzette Haden Elgin. Activities

include films, a masquerade, and an artshow and auction. For more details, contact:WisCon 10, P.O. Box 1624, Madison WI53701, or telephone (608)251-6226 (days) or(608)233-0326 (evenings).

WAMCON �86, Feb 28 - Mar. 2This event will be held at the Sheraton Inn

Coliseum in Hampton, Va. Guests of honorwill include Judson Scott, A. C. Crispin,and Tracy Hickman. Two- and three-dayregistrations are available. Three-dayregistration fees are $15 until November 31,and $20 thereafter. Two-day registrationfees are $15, but they are avialable at thedoor only. Children between the ages of 6and 12 can get in for $10. For more details,send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:WamCon, P.O. Box 2223, Poquoson VA23662.

NEOCON V, March 21-23To be staged at the Gardner Student

Center of the University of Akron in Akron,Ohio, this convention will ofer a variety ofrole-playing, board, and miniatures games.For more information about this gamingevent, contact: Neocon V, P.O. Box 7411,Akron OH 44306.

L.A. ORIGINS �86, July 3-6This convention will be staged at the Air-

port Hyatt Hotel in Los Angeles, Cal. Formore details, contact: L.A. Origins �86,P.O. Box 8399, Long Beach CA 90808.

DRAGON 8 7

8 8 O C T O B E R 1 9 8 5

Wands of wonder(From page 34)of activation, and in the next segment flashprow-straight from the tip of the wand tothe extent of the wand�s range, passingthrough everything in their paths exceptspheres of annihilation, prismatic spheres,shield spells, and walls or cubes of force, allof which swallow or absorb them. A force-cage spell, or an existing armor (as in the1st-level magic-user spell, or that caused bythe use of a wand of armory; see above) willdeflect a tooth.A strike by a tooth does 4-14 (2 + 2d6)

points of damage (save vs. spell will reducethe damage by half), and strikes (as thougha hand weapon directly wielded by thewand-bearer) at + 2 to hit. Solid rock willdeflect a tooth; any other material will bestruck and damaged by it, although magicitems cause any plus they possess to besubtracted from the tooth�s �to hit� roll.Wind wall and gust of wind spells, andsimilar air disturbances (such as thosecaused by wind walkers or air elementals)have no effect on the flight of a tooth. Allclasses can employ this wand.

Wand of Whips

First heard of in use by the fell Wizardsof Thay, whose wands create red, barbedwhips (and have never been known to passout of the Wizards� possession), the secretsof making such wands passed west throughunknown means (probably a renegadeapprentice such as the Adept of Mulmasteror one of the Cowled Wizards of Amn), andmages such as Nelver and Tusprun of theTen Smokes are known to use such devices.One is thought to have been lost in the VastDeeps when the sorcerer Alamanth was

slain in battle aboard a ship off Port Llast.Alamanth set down precise details of the

powers and means of using his wand �save for the command word, which isthought to have died with him � and it isfrom his records that Elminster passes on alldetails of this type of wand.

FunctionThis wand shoots forth a whip-shaped

field of white, shimmering magical force toa maximum (horizontal and vertical) rangeof 7�. The wielder of the wand, as he acti-vates the wand, names, looks at, or concen-trates upon a specific target creature orautomaton (i.e., golem, undead, homon-culous or the like), and the whip attacks thiscreature and this creature only. The whipremains in existence for 4 rounds; if thetarget is beyond 7� from the wand when itis cast, the whip will flash instantly (in 1segment) to the limit of its range, at thatpoint closest to the target, and hang motion-less, waiting; it will attack only if the targetenters its range. Otherwise, the whip strikesonce per round, as a Quaal�s feather token(see DMG) does: at + 1 to hit and on dam-age, doing 2-7 hit points of damage perstrike, and binding fast an opponent for 2-7rounds if a save vs. spell is not made aftereach successful strike.

Once a whip has bound an opponent, thewand wielder cannot release it to strikeagain. The whip cannot change targets. Awhip may follow an opponent that it hassuccessfully struck at least once beyond 7�,moving with the target, even if the targetteleports, plane shifts, blinks, enters a rockor plant, etc. The whip can hit invisible andethereal (but not astral) creatures withoutpenalty. The wand of whips may be re-charged. Only magic-users, illusionists, andincantatrixes may wield it.

Index to advertisersName of firm or product Page(s)Adventure Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79AMAZING® Science Fiction

Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14, 87American Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Bard Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Chaosium, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Columbia Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25DRAGON® Magazine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68Dunken Co., The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79Doubleday SF Book Club . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Fantasy Games Unlimited. . . . . . . .16, 34,

42, 79Game Designers� Workshop . . . . . . . . . .17Game Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Game Towne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Gamers� Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88-89Games Workshop U.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29,

inside front cover

Name of firm of product Page(s)Iron Crown Enterprises, Inc . . . . . . . . . . .l,

back coverMagicware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Milton Bradley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Nichols Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Nova Game Designs, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . .24Pacesetter, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Palladium Books . . . . . . . . . . . . .23, 41, 55R&K Miniatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15RAFM Co., Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. . . . . . . . . . .33S&T� Magazine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Sky Realms Publishing, Inc . . . . . . . . . . .22Steve Jackson Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81T L Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22TSR, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . .10, 19, 31, 37, 77,

83, 85, 87West End Games. . . . . . .Inside back cover

D R A G O N 8 9

92 OCTOBER 1985

D R A G O N 9 3

94 OCTOBER 1985

D R A G O N 9 5

96 OCTOBER 1985