Magazine

Issue #127Vol. XII, No. 6

November 1987

Publisher 2 2 No Quarter! � Arn Ashleigh ParkerMike Cook Creative combat for fighters with style.

EditorRoger E. Moore

Assistant editorRobin Jenkins

Fiction editorPatrick L. Price

Editorial assistantsEileen Lucas Barbara G. Young

Debbie Poutsch Georgia Moore

Art directorRoger Raupp

Marilyn FavaroProduction Staff

Gloria HabrigaColleen O�Malley

SubscriptionsPat Schulz

AdvertisingMary Parkinson

Ed GreenwoodCreative editors

Jeff Grubb

7 4 The Role of Computers � Hartly and Patricia LesserThe computerized TSR/SSI AD&D® game: the latest word.

8 2 The Marvel®-Phil � Warren SpectorA guest column about all sorts of Things�.

DEPARTMENTS3 Letters 8 8 Index to Advertisers 9 4 Convention Calendar4 World Gamers Guide 9 0 Gamers� Guide 9 8 SnarfQuest6 Forum 92 Dragonmirth 1 0 2 Wormy

14 Sage Advice

COVER

2 November 1987

CONTENTSSPECIAL ATTRACTIONS

15 Cal1 to Arms:The fighter�s world, from berserkers to battlefields.

16 Lords & Legends � Kyle GrayFour famous warriors from European myth and legend.

2 6 Bazaar of the Bizarre � The readersA magical treasury of bows and bolts for arcane archers.

32 Two Hands Are Better Than One � Donald D. MillerWhen a two-handed sword becomes a three-handed sword, and other handy facts.

36 In Defense of the Shield � Tim MerrettA good shield might be the best friend you�ll ever have.

38 Fighting for Keeps � Roy G. SchelperYour new castle is full of orcs? It�s BATTLESYSTEM� supplement time!

46 In the Heat of the Fight � Sean HollandBerserkers, ambushes, fanatics, tribal champions � all in a day�s work.

48 A Menagerie of Martial Arts � Len CarpenterTwenty all-new martial-arts styles for Oriental Adventures.

OTHER FEATURES

8 Role-playing Reviews � Ken RolstonGame designers rush in where deities fear to tread.

56 The Ecology of the Yeti � Thomas KieferA particularly chilling encounter on the high glaciers.

62 Arcane Lore � Arthur CollinsSelections from a lost tome on life�s little illusions.

68 The Dragon�s Bestiary � Thomas M. Kane and Scott BennieA slimy pair of surprises: Xador�s fluid and quagmire.

70 The Role of Books � John C. BunnellFrom the Realms to Romulan space: books for gamers everywhere.

The last three survivors of an orcish army, their standard still aloft, challengetheir elven opponenta to one last fight. Jim Holloway's cover painting for thismonth has no title � but if you have a suggestion for a possible title, write it downand send it to us. We might print the more interesting ones in a later issue.

LETTERSWorld saving

Dear Dragon:Christopher DeGraffenreid made a good point

in the �Letters� column in issue #123. Heinquired about what was going to happen to hisfavorite worlds, Oerth and Krynn, now that thenew campaign setting is the FORGOTTENREALMS� setting.

We all know now that the DRAGONLANCE®and WORLD OF GREYHAWK� fantasy adven-ture settings will be continued, but the primaryemphasis will be on the Forgotten Realms. Willany of the existing Greyhawk adventures becompatible with the Realms? Will future adven-tures be made so? And what about all Realmsmodules to be: Will they be interchangeablewith Greyhawk? I think these are questions weall want answered.

Most importantly, the letter in issue #123 leftout an entire fantasy setting. What aboutNehwon, home of Lankhmar? Will it be contin-ued or de-emphasized? I am the DM for somefriends in this very realistic and fun world, andI wouldn�t trade it for any realm. Why don�t youall open up and tell us all what is happening inthese many and varied worlds?

Steven WardellRidgefield CT

Most adventures designed for one world oranother might be converted to fit another gameworld, with a lot of luck and lots of work by theDM. No adventures are planned which will beusable with several worlds, however Moduleswhich are designed for one world alone werecreated to carry the flavor of that world and itsinhabitants, and this flavor doesn�t carry wellfrom world to world.

Warren Spector informs me that a 128-pageCastle Greyhawk module is due out in January1988, and a hardcover Greyhawk sourcebook isbeing prepared, much like the recently releasedDRAGONLANCE® Adventures volume.

Many of the adventures from DUNGEON�Adventures were designed to be used in anycampaign world, and a few are specific to oneworld (such as Oerth or Krynn). Fill out thesubscription card in this issue and check it out.

The world of Nehwon is on hold for the timebeing � but watch for further developments.

Swords & spice

on special items like these would be very inter-esting and could also spice up even the dullestdungeon adventure.

Chad HannemanSolon IA

We have considered collecting all of the magi-cal items ever described in DRAGON® Magazineand putting them together in a �Best of� collec-tion, with some additional material as well.We�ve also considered doing this for all of themonsters that have appeared in �The DragonsBestiary� and �Creature Catalog� features.

TSR BBS Q&ADear Dragon:

Have you ever thought of starting your ownbulletin board system like the Steve JacksonGames Illuminati BBS (its number is (512) 447-4449, 300/1200 baud)? If you did this, it wouldgive the readers a direct link with you, and wecould just send you our comments via modem.The board would also allow you to put uppreviews and notices of upcoming games andproducts from TSR. You could even put up aclassifieds section, which is usually the main useof a bulletin board.

Ben FrancoLong Beach CA

We are still collecting letters from gamers whowould like a BBS for TSR, Inc. The idea doesseem to have some merit, though we have alsofound that running such a system would be avery challenging job (to put it mildly).

Dear Dragon:As an AD&D® game player and Dungeon

Master, the game becomes a lot more fun andexciting when unique items come into play. Imean, it�s not often that you find a talkingsword that has the ability to take over the mindof its wielder and give him several specialpowers. Have you ever thought of releasing amagazine section, or even a hardback, onunique magical items of gods or heroes, tellinghow they were made, who made them, whowere their previous owners, etc.? Backgrounds

Tucker�skobolds

This month�s editorial is aboutTucker�s kobolds. We get letters onoccasion asking for advice on creat-ing high-level AD&D® game adven-tures, and Tucker�s kobolds seem tofit the bill.

Many high-level characters havelittle to do because they�re not chal-lenged. They yawn at tarrasquesand must be forcibly kept awakewhen a lich appears. The DMsinvolved don�t know what to do, sothey stop dealing with the problemand the characters go into CharacterLimbo. Getting to high level is hard,but doing anything once you getthere is worse.

One of the key problems in adven-ture design lies in creating oppo-nents who can challenge powerfulcharacters. Singular monsters liketarrasques and liches are easy togang up on; the party can concen-trate its firepower on the targetuntil the target falls down dead andwiggles its little feet in the air.Designing monsters more powerfulthan a tarrasque is self-defeating; ifthe group kills your super-monster,what will you do next � send in itsmother? That didn�t work onBeowulf, and it probably won�t workhere.

Worse yet, singular super-monsters rarely have to think. Theyjust use their trusty, predictableclaw/claw/bite. This shouldn�t be themeasure of a campaign. Thesegames fall apart because there�s nochallenge to them, no mental stimu-lation � no danger.

In all the games that I�ve seen, theworst, most horrible, most awful-beyond-comparison opponents everseen were often weaker than thecharacters who fought them. Theywere simply well-armed and intelli-gent beings who were played by theDM to be utterly ruthless and clever.Tucker�s kobolds were like that.

Tucker ran an incredibly danger-ous dungeon in the days I was sta-tioned at Ft. Bragg, N.C. Thisdungeon had corridors that changedall of your donkeys into huge flam-ing demons or dropped the wholeparty into acid baths, but thedemons were wienies compared tothe kobolds on Level One. Thesekobolds were just regular kobolds,with 1-4 hp and all that, but theywere mean. When I say they weremean, I mean they were bad, Jim.

(continued on page 88)

D R A G O N 3

The World Gamers GuideIf you live outside the continental United

States and Canada, you can be included inthe World Gamers Guide by sending yourname and full address (carefully printed ortyped, please), plus your gaming prefer-ences, to: World Gamers Guide, DRAGON®Magazine, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI53147, United States of America.

The World Gamers Guide is intended forthe benefit of gamers who would like tocontact other game-players around theworld, to share their interests in gamingthrough correspondence. Each eligiblename and address that we receive is pub-lished in three consecutive issues ofDRAGON Magazine. To be listed for more

Michael L. Madsen (AD,DD,OA)1st Trans. CompanyBox 833APO NY 09696UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Raymond Sison (AD,DC,DD,GW,MSH,OA,RT,SF,TS)

155-B North Domingo StreetSan Juan, Metro ManilaPHILIPPINES

than three issues, you must send usanother postcard or letter. Overseas Ameri-can military personnel may also be listedherein.

When listing gaming preferences, writeout the complete title of the games youmost enjoy. For the purposes of thiscolumn, the abbreviations listed below areused.

AD: AD&D® gameBS: BATTLESYSTEM� supplementBT: BATTLETECH® gameCH: CHAMPIONS� gameCW: CAR WARS® gameDC: DC� HEROES game

Hedron Gaming Society (AD,BT,DD,GW,MSH,OA,RC,RT,SF,TS)

42-B Matiwasay St. U.P. VillageDilliman Quezon CityPHILIPPINES

Selcuk Gozubuyük (AD)

Jeffrey Jongko (AD,DD,TS,T2000)12 Yellowstone StreetWhite Plains, Metro ManilaPHILIPPINES

Alberto Halphen (AD, GW,SF,TS)Lomas de ChapultepecM. Chimborazo 520/701Mexico DF C/P 11000MEXICO

SN J. (Steve) Hudak (AD,MSH,TS)P.O. Box 37-611 NSGA(NSA Naples, Italy)FPO NY 09521-4000UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Bill McQuillan (AD,CH,CW)042-74-1095HHC 7th SUPCOM, Box 43APO NY 09712UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Cumhuriyet Cad.No. 13, Duygu Apt.Kat 4, Kucukyali81570 IstanbulTURKEY

Gil Shenberg (AD)26 Hafetz-HayimRaanana 43339ISRAEL

Club de Ciencia Ficción �UBIK�(DD,SF,T2000,VV)

Universidad Simón BolivarDirección de

EstudiantilDesarrollo

Sección de Actividades yOrganizaciones Estudiantiles

Casa del EstudianteSartenejas-Baruta, Estado MirandaApartado Postal No. 80659VENEZUELA

Evan Dembskey24 Vincent RoadRosetenville-eastJohannesburg 2140TransvaalSOUTH AFRICA

Waye Mason109 Wolsey RoadNorthwood, MiddlesexHA6 2EBGREAT BRITAIN

Carlos Mondragón, Jr. (AD)Boulevard Campestre #128-3Col. Jardines del MoralC.P. 37160León, G40MEXICO

DD: D&D® gameGW: GAMMA WORLD® gameMSH: MARVEL SUPER HEROES� gameOA: AD&D Oriental Adventures systemRQ: RUNEQUEST gameRT: ROBOTECH® gameSF: STAR FRONTIERS® gameT: TRAVELLER gameTMNT: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA

TURTLES® gameTS: TOP SECRET® gameTT: TUNNELS & TROLLS gameT2000: TWILIGHT: 2000� gameVV: VILLAINS & VIGILANTES� game

Aaron McDowell (AD,DD,GW,RQ,TT)44 Carters Tce.AshburtonSouth IslandNEW ZEALAND

Chai Tze Hwa (AD,BS,CW,DD,MSH,OA,SF,TMNT,TS)

Bishan Road, Street 12Block 137, #11-414SINGAPORE 2057

Siobhan McDonnell (AD)218 Haleys Gully RoadHurstbridgeVictoria 3099AUSTRALIA

Steven Eggerking (AD,DD,GW,TS)145 Omao StreetKailua, Oahu, Hawaii 96734UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

George Anastasoulis (AD,RQ,SET)Apostolaki 1Nea SmyrniAthens 17121GREECE

Kristoffer (Chris) Kvello (AD)214-59170 LongyearbyenSvalbardNORWAY

K. Kvello is a member of what may be thenorthernmost group of AD&D® gameplayers on Earth, located on SpitzbergenIsland at 78° 12� N latitude. Gamers withham radios may contact the club station(JW5E) or one of the players (JW7XFA).Write for more information. QSL cards areavailable.

DRAGON® Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is published monthly by TSR, Inc. The mailing address for all material except subscription orders is DRAGON Magazine, PO.Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147; the business telephone number is (414) 248-3625. DRAGON Magazine is available at hobby stores and bookstores throughout theUnited States and Canada, and through a limited number of overseas outlets. Subscription rates via second-class mail are as follows: $30 in U.S. funds for 1 year (12issues) sent to an address in the U.S. or Canada, $50 for 12 issues sent by surface mail to any other address, and $90 for 12 issues sent airmail to any other address.Payment in full must accompany all subscription orders. Methods of payment include checks or money orders made payable to TSR, Inc., or charges to validMasterCard 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, PO. Box 756, Lake Geneva WI 53147. For a copy of the current catalog listing available back issues, write to the mailorder department at the above 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 copies must be received at least six weeks prior to the effective date of the change in order to assure uninterrupteddelivery. All material published in DRAGON Magazine becomes the exclusive property of the publisher, unless special arrangements to the contrary are made prior topublication. DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited submissions of written material and artwork; however, no responsibility for such submissions can be assumed bythe publisher in any event. Any submission accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient size will be returned if it cannot be published.

DRAGON is a registered trademark for the monthly adventure role-playing aid published by TSR, Inc. All rights to the contents of this publication are reserved, andnothing may be reproduced from it in whole or in part without first obtaining permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright ©1987 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

AD&D, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, AMAZING, BOOT HILL, D&D, DRAGONLANCE, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, FIEND FOLIO,GAMMA WORLD, TOP SECRET, STAR FRONTIERS, and TSR are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. GEN CON is a service mark owned by TSR, Inc. ARES,BATTLESYSTEM, BLACKMOOR, DEITIES & DEMIGODS, DRAGONCHESS, DRAGONQUEST, DUNGEON, FORGOTTEN REALMS, GANGBUSTERS, GREYHAWK,POLYHEDRON, RPGA, TOP SECRET/S.I., WORLD OF GREYHAWK, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. ©1987 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.Marvel and all Marvel character names and likenesses are trademarks of the Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and are used under license. Copyright ©1987 MarvelEntertainment Group, 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 WI53147. USPS 318-790, ISSN 0279-6848.

4 NOVEMBER 1987

Stephen Inniss� articles on familiars [DRAGONissues #84 and #86] are filled with helpfulsuggestions on how to use these delightful.creatures. With very little modification, theywould be a splendid addition to any new officialgame version.

Whether or not animal familiars can actuallytalk, a magic-user surely understands much ofwhat the creature has to say. For beginners whowant to play magic-users, the familiar can bethe DM�s way of offering advice. (�The toadsuggests a sleep spell would be a good choice ifyou are going to the goblin cave this morning.�)

Normal familiars add their hit points (2-4) tothose of their masters. This can make a criticaldifference, especially if the magic-user hasexercised the yearly opportunity to acquire oneadditional animal. In the AD&D game, the 4-sided hit die makes members of the class veryeasy to kill, and the magic-user PCs I�ve knownhave all needed their high constitution scores.In Oriental Adventures the wu jen (magic-user)class has 1d4 + 1, which averages out the sameas using a 6-sided hit die. Having one or more

flexibility, I propose that a new alignment be

FORUM created in order to resolve the problem ofoverly restrictive alignments.

The new alignment would be called "false-neutral" and would hold the precept that, withall things being equal, the forces of good, evil,law, and chaos exist only in the minds of indi-viduals and do not actually form a balance ofpower in the universe. The false-neutral charac-ter believes that nothing is ever "meant to be,�and that there are no driving forces which tendto either support or disrupt the cosmic balance.

I'm writing this letter in agreement with S.D. familiars can give an ordinary magic-user the The false-neutral character may believe thatAnderson's letter on experience points for edge he needs to survive as an adventurer. there are gods and other divine beings, butmagical items (DRAGON Magazine #122) and to The magic-user going into dangerous territo- would not actually worship them or follow theiradd a few ideas of my own. Anderson was right ry, however, must leave the beloved familiar at creeds, because such divinities exist only toin being mad at the thought of two adventurers home, or at least safely stowed in an asbestos- serve their own interests and purposes.just sitting down and trading magical items back insulated backpack. Under the AD&D game The false-neutral alignment would be theand forth to go up a level. Here's an example of rules, a single blow to the pet is likely to be antithesis of the true-neutral alignment, becausehow and when I think experience points for fatal, and thus cause permanent loss of hit its beliefs are diametrically opposed to those ofmagical items should be rewarded. points to the master. This means the animal true neutrality. DMs may rule that a false-

Cathy the Conjurer (3rd-level magic-user, cannot serve as a real companion and helper neutral person cannot be resurrected afterintelligence 17, and 7,549 xp) kills a violet fun- during most game action. death because such a person does not have agus (242 xp) and gets a treasure of a ring of The simple solution is to allow the familiar to plane of alignment as such, but may also rulejumping (1,000 xp) and a sword + 1 (400 xp). add the magic-users hit points to its own (and that the soul or spirit of the false-neutral personShe should not get the experience points for the vice versa) whenever they are within the 120' goes to an extraplanar void which exists outsidemagical items until she uses them. She cannot range. Further, it is reasonable to think that any the other planes of the multiverse, and may beuse the sword + 1, so she would get no experi- spell or device that protects the magic-user recalled back to a waiting body as normal.ence points from it. (mirror image, minor globes, resist fire, brooch Such an alignment would free individuals to

After traveling farther, Cathy comes upon a of shielding, etc.) protects the familiar as well. perform actions which are deemed desirable atgorge 20' wide. It's too wide to jump, so she Now the witch can take her cat along on the the time, without having to defy the principlesthen uses her ring of jumping to leap across. broom of flying without worrying that a novi- of a religion or deity.She now gets the experience points for the ring. ce's stray magic missile might kill the animal. Tim Jensen

Cathy then kills a mobat (250xp) and gets a Area-effect damage spells (fireball, lightning Cross Plains WItreasure of a shield + 2 (500 xp) and a wand of bolt, cone of cold, etc.) present the greatestlightning (4000 xp). Having had enough adven- danger of the magic-users survival. If the ever-ture for one day, Cathy returns to train. age magic-user fails to save against a lightning

Cathy earned 242 xp for the violet grub, 1,000 bolt cast by an enemy magic-user of higherxp for the ring of jumping, 250 xp for the mobat, level, he will typically be reduced to fewer thanand 10% bonus due to her 17 intelligence. She got zero hit points. It is hard for the magic-user tono experience for the shield + 2 or the sword +1 avoid this kind of attack, and enemy spell-because she can't use them, nor for the wand of casters are likely to single them out. One way tolightning because she didn't use it. She had 7,549 help the magic-user is to allow the familiar toxp originally. This brings the grand total to 9,190 save independently against these attacks (DM'sxp, 811 xp short (242 + 1000 + 250 + 149 + judgement�perhaps the quick little animals all7,549 = 9,190) of the next level. save as 7th-level magic-users), and if either

Another idea is to give experience points on master or animal saves, each saves successfully.magical items gradually with use of the item. Of course, the familiar will not be allowed toWilbur the Warrior has just gotten a sword + 2 hide behind the magic-user.(800 xp). He uses it for the rest of the adventure Inniss correctly notes that familiars will takeand gets 160 xp for it. He gets 160 xp each much less damage from falls than will theiradventure afterward until a grand total of 800 masters. Actually the cat and the magic-user fallxp is reached. at essentially the same speed at all times, and air

Tim McNally resistance is a negligible factor. Furthermore,Edgewood KY bone strength compared to a body mass for small

animals is typically slightly less than that ofhumans. In my work as a medical pathologist,

In response to comments by Paul Griffin andRobert Waldbauer on the issue of alignment

Ms. Curtis�s article, �Whaddya Mean, Jack theSamurai?� [in issue #121] is a very necessaryand useful article, but it contains some errorsand omissions. First and most important arename restrictions. Not only should the use offamily names be restricted to certain classes,but certain family names should be restrictedfrom general usage. Feudal Japan was a clansociety. The clan you were born into deter-mined to a great extent your lot in life. If youwere born into a high-ranking samurai family,you would most likely be a high-ranking samu-rai in your current life. Likewise, if you wereborn into a ninja clan, you would most likely bea ninja. Ninja and samurai did not come fromthe same family, and it was not common forhigh and low-ranking families to share the samefamily name. The DM should set aside or createlists of names (a dozen or so names in total) thatcould only be used by certain classes or birthrankings.

I've had to calculate the forces involved invarious falls. However, a DM chooses to describeit in terms of AD&D game mechanics (a goodcase can be made for any of several systems),falling damage is work done by the ground onthe body surface that impacts on it. The amountof damage on each unit area of the impactsurface determines the overall severity of theinjury. This unit damage varies directly with themass behind each unit of impact surface.

Consider the silhouettes of wizard and cat,marked by the Greyhawk police on the pave-ment after their fall from atop a tower. Severalmore ounces of wizard than of cat landed oneach square inch of surface. Hence, the wizardtakes more severe damage. I'd severely limit anyfalling damage for little creatures�say 0-1 hpper 10' drop, for a maximum of 40'.

Ed Friedlander MDJohnson City TN

Second is women�s names. While most wom-en�s names were made by adding the suffix �-ko�to common words, �-ko� did not signify rank ortitle. It was a diminutive (like our suffix �-ette�)that meant �child.� In regards to marriage, itwas not uncommon for the man to take thewoman�s family name, instead of her taking his.This was done in marriages to high-rankingwomen or in families with no sons to carry onthe family name.

Third is the pronunciation key. The letter �e�is pronounced as in hey; �i� as in feed; and �o� asin show. There are some other rules whichcould be added, though these are not critical.

Finally, players should not restrict themselvesto Japanese names. Since Kara-Tur is not Japan,names from China, Korea, Vietnam, and otherOriental countries should be used. This wouldadd a great deal of variety and character to PCand NPC names, as well as provide a possiblestarting point for PC and NPC backgrounds.

Peter PhillipsEvanston IL

6 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

©1987 by Ken Rolston

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game,Set 5: Immortals Rules

TSR, Inc. $15.00Author: Frank MentzerEditing and development: Anne Gray

McCready and Harold JohnsonCover: Larry ElmoreInterior art: Jeff Easley and Larry Elmore

Gods of GloranthaA RUNEQUEST® game campaign

supplementCreated and developed by Chaosium Inc.;

published by The Avalon Hill GameCompany $18.00

Authors: Sandy Petersen, Greg Stafford,Steve Perrin, and Charlie Krank

8 NOVEMBER 1987

Editing and production: Charlie Krank andSandy Petersen

Artist: Tom Sullivan

Gods of HarnA HARN® campaign supplementColumbia Games $13.00Authors: N. Robin Crossby, Tom Dalgliesh,

John Frazier, and Edwin KingEditing: Edwin KingProduction: Dave KowanIllustrations: Eric Hotz

Lords of Middle-earth: Volume IA ROLEMASTER� and MERP� game

supplementIron Crown Enterprises $12.00Design, editing, and development: Pete

Fenlon, Terry Amthor, Mark Colborn,and S. Coleman Charlton

Cover art: Angus McBride

Interior art: Liz Danforth, James Holloway,and Stephan Peregrine

GM: �Okay, group: You�ve lost yourweapons and shields, you�re bleedingprofusely, and the swarms of beastmensurrounding you are poised for the deathblow. What do you do?�

Players (bellowing in chorus): �CLERIC!�Player with cleric: �Hmm. This looks like

a job for divine intervention!”GM: �Go ahead and say your prayers,

worms, but don�t forget: It�s been alooooong time since you clowns set foot ina temple.�

The empyreal immortals and their des-perate supplicants are standard trappingsin fantasy role-playing settings. In somegames (like RUNEQUEST® games), ritual,religion, and magic are integral to thecampaign, and a character�s cult affiliationis a powerful determinant in that charac-ter�s survival. In other games (likeMIDDLE-EARTH ROLE-PLAYING� games),the divine is of little consequence to thecharacters or the setting. Published D&D®game supplements and private campaignsfall somewhere between, depending onthe diverse tastes of the designers.

On a basic level, the question a fantasygame player character asks is: �What willgods do for me?� In RUNEQUEST games,the gods and their temples provideweapon- and skill-training, and magicalspells � the bread-and-butter of fantasyrole-playing.

In the original D&D and AD&D® games,clerics could cast spells and wear armorand whack people. (How�s that for a gooddeal?) They could also talk to the gods, andthere were plenty of gods to talk to, butthe games never encouraged (or support-ed) any particularly coherent notion of theway the gods, religions, and followersinteracted � that was left up to the indi-vidual. Many campaigns didn�t even botherwith gods. Others enjoyed routine visits bythe gods and their heavenly or demonicmessengers. Player characters sometimeswent hunting the gods. �They got stats,right? Then we can kill �em.� (That makessense to me.)

Ethical and theological beliefs weredropped out of the revised D&D game �there are clerics, sure, but let�s not talkabout gods and rituals and demons. Subse-quent supplements generally avoided thetopic, though the D&D game Gazetteers(campaign supplements for the D&D gameworld) have reversed the trend, acknowl-edging the role of religions in fantasy role-playing (FRP) campaign settings.

This is a good thing. Gods and religionsare powerful resources for fantasy role-playing, and it would be a pity to censorthem. They play an important part in FRPadventuring in at least three areas:

Mythic foundations: Myths are themodels for the stories, characters, andthemes of a fantasy campaign. Mythicstories suggest the types of adventuresappropriate to a campaign. The personali-

ties, ambitions, and values of the gods andtheir servants are good and bad examplesfor the mortals below. The themes ofdivine myths � the war between good andevil, the search for innocence and perfec-tion, the saving grace of the trickster, thecorrupting influence of power, the tragicerror of noble characters blinded by pride� these are the psychologically meatythemes that set the tone for dramaticcampaigns.

Campaign setting: Gods, heavenlymessengers, priests, religious fanatics,paladins, clerical orders, divine magics,temples, evil rituals, holy wars � these arestandard conventions in fantasy literatureand role-playing. Fantasy campaigns aregenerally conceived in a primitive, barbar-ic, or medieval setting � periods of man�shistory we tend to associate with a perva-sive belief in the supernatural and withorganized religions in a dominant socialand political role.

Player character resources: Who ismy character? What does he believe in?What important principles does he live by?Will the gods aid and protect him, evenagainst death itself? Can his temple teachhim skills and spells? Is advancement inthe ranks of the faithful a route to powerand influence? Religions and beliefs helpto personalize a player character, and areligion�s temporal and divine resourcescan provide the power to achieve hisambitions and survive the dangers of FRPadventuring.

This month, we�re reviewing four cam-paign supplements, each treating thedivine elements of a major FRP system.

D&D® game, Immortals RulesThis is an ingenious, original, and com-

plex system of rules for playing gods. Inaddition, it provides a rationale for traveland communication among a limitlessvariety of alternate universes.

You see, once there were only threeImmortals. (Where�d they come from?They forgot.) They stumbled across thismultiverse someone had left lying around(the Old Ones, natch), so they decided togive it Order and Purpose. They build andtend universes like we fool around in ourgardens.

There are lots of Planes � Prime Plane,Elemental Planes, the Astral and EtherealPlanes, and jillions of Outer Planes. Someof these Outer Planes are monospatialAttoplanes (about 1/3� big). Some are pen-taspatial Teraplanes (about 851 billionlight-years big). It�s pretty tricky gettingback and forth among the planes, let alonefarming them, but Immortals can do justabout any magical effect in the D&D gamesystem, and then some. Adventuring inplanes with only two dimensions is prettyweird � but heck, that�s why Immortalsget the Big Dough.

The system is clever, complex, abstract,and powerful. It is also pretty demandingintellectually, with lots of neat metaphysi-cal thought-puzzles. There�s a lot of jar-

gon. The system is compatible with theD&D game, but it�s really a whole newgame, with new stats, attack and defensemodes, and a whole new set of charactermotivations. Unfortunately, the writtenpresentation of rules is not a model ofclarity, and a better graphic presentation,with more charts and diagrams, mighthave made the abstruse rules conceptseasier to deal with.

Each Immortal PC has a bewilderingabundance of powers � literally, anymagic spell and then some � in addition tonew combat abilities. On one hand, thatsounds great for the player � given thathe feels like studying all the stuff � but Isaw it as a GM�s nightmare, with almostinfinite opportunities for confusing inter-actions between spells and powers.

The Immortals Set is pretty bland in themyth department. There are few psycho-logical insights into D&D game divinities �nothing in the way of epic personalities,stories, and themes. Nor is there much ofa sense of good and evil. The motivationsof the Immortals are abstract rather thansoul-stirring. This is the biggest weaknessof the Immortals Set � a lot of mechanicsand grand-scale concepts, but little con-nection to typical D&D game adventuresand campaigns. There are no explanationsor examples of how the systems fit intoyour campaign if you weren�t planning tohave PC gods. There is no coherent expla-nation of the relationship between theImmortals, the cleric class, and religions infantasy campaigns. What do the Immortalsmean to all those PCs who never evendream of making 10th level? What do allthe normal men think about the gods?Who knows?

Why doesn�t the Immortals Set developthe D&D game campaign-world intro-duced in the Expert Set? Why doesn�t itdevelop the role of the cleric class, with itsdistinctive magic spells? Why doesn�t itdevelop the alignment system?

The Immortals Set is mechanics-oriented, not campaign-oriented. Themachinery of gods is there, but the DMhas to tailor his own personalities, themes,and myths to fit the campaign. The D&Dgame remains an open-ended system �one of its great strengths � but at the costof missing the dramatic fantasy flavor ofother better-developed campaign settings.In this sense, the Immortals Set is notreally a campaign supplement, but a rulessupplement. Supplements featuring therules could develop the Immortals� roles inthe D&D game campaign, but none haveso far. The best example of how Immortalscould fit into a campaign is Bob Blake�sWrath of Olympus, a 48-page modulewhich doesn�t make the role of Immortalsas gods much clearer, but does show howthe rules can be used to produce a prettyinteresting megalevel adventure.

Summary evaluation: The D&DImmortals Set is really useful only for avery small audience. Few folk want to playgods, and fewer want to DM them. The

Immortals Set is of doubtful value to cam-paigns at subdivine levels because it giveslittle guidance on the ways in whichImmortals interact with mortals, particu-larly in terms of religions and the clericclass. On one hand, it is admirable forproviding original concepts and mechanicsworthy of Immortal PCs. On the otherhand, it is disappointing in its failure todevelop the already-established mechanicsand traditions of gods and religions infantasy campaigns.

Gods of HarnThis supplement makes no attempt to

provide mechanics for the deities. Therelationships between the deities, thecampaign world, and PCs are described interms of their mythic and religious trap-pings. The result is a colorful and dramat-ic treatment of the role of gods andreligions in an FRP campaign.

The HARNMASTER� system is compre-hensively integrated with the HARN�campaign world � a copiously and imagi-natively developed fantasy campaigndetailed in a long series of supplementsover the past five or so years. Gods ofHarn provides the myths that underlie thepsychology of the Harn campaign, andshows how the religions based on thosemyths affect characters and institutions inthe Harnic setting.

Ten gods are described in terms of theircreations, their relationships within thepantheon, their individual personalities,and the histories and structures of thereligions and churches established tosupport their worship. The gods them-selves are potent fantasy archetypes �Agrik, the fire-god, who revels in pillage,slaughter, and destruction; Ilvir, the Ser-pent That Dwells Below, a peaceable andself-absorbed deity who physically dwellson earth in deep caverns where he spawnshis broods; Larani, Shieldmaiden of theWorthy Cause and Lady of the Paladins;Morgath, Tormentor of the UnlamentedDead, the master of nothingness, andpatron of necromancy.

The treatments of each of the 10 godshave some elements in common � eachcovers historical background, churchorganization, prime moral principles,clerical orders, religious practices, sym-bols and regalia, calendar events, anddistribution of the religion in the campaignsetting. A nice feature is the presentationof early church history in the form ofcharming tales of a founding saint of thechurch. Clerical orders and priestly hierar-chies are described for NPC and PC cler-ics, while the moral principles andreligious practices offer laymen charactersdistinctive trappings for role-playing.

Each of the gods also has elements thatare personal and idiosyncratic. Some godshave otherworldly servants and compan-ions with saintly, demonic, or neutraldispositions. Some religions are highlystructured and organized; others arediffuse, individualistic, and mystical. The

D R A G O N 9

gods and their religions have distinctivefeatures and personalities � there is nosense that they�ve been jammed into tem-plates like the gods in the AD&D game�sLegends & Lore volume.

The presentation is appealing � well-written, illustrated with many examplesand tales, and full of dramatic elements.The graphics fit the tone of the book, andthe full-color plates of priestly garb, her-aldry, badges, and a religious calendar arenice touches to help GMs and playersvisualize the icons and imagery of religionin Harn.

Do the gods really exist, or are theyfigments of man�s imagination? Gods ofHarn purports a tolerance for either view,though it isn�t clear where divine magic(particularly divine intervention) comesfrom if it isn�t from some supernaturalbeing. However, in one sense, Gods ofHarn is not particularly dependent on theactual existence of gods, since they do notapparently traffic directly with mortals ona regular basis. Most of Gods of Harn isdevoted to the earthly church, and thepersonalities of the mythic gods are pri-marily manifested in the institutions andpractices of their followers. In this sense,the Harnic religions are particularly well-developed and FRP-oriented, with plentyof rituals, orders, church politics, priestlygarb, theological doctrine, iconography,saints, pilgrimages, sacred locales, andreligious festivals � all the trappings of afull-scale religion. The intercult and intra-cult conflicts also provide good sources forcampaign intrigue and adventures.

Summary evaluation: Gods of Harn isan excellent model of an FRP campaignsupplement concerning gods and religions.It�s a crucial reference for players andGMs in a Harnic campaign. For GMs withD&D game-style campaign settings, it�spleasurable reading and an excellentsource of good ideas.

Gods of GloranthaThe myths, gods, and cults of Glorantha

are fundamental elements of RUNEQUESTGloranthan campaign setting. To startwith, the rules of the game give fantasygods and religions an important role indetermining the abilities of the playercharacter and the personality of the cul-ture he comes from. Further, the Gloran-than campaign � the setting theRUNEQUEST game rules grew up in �was a world profoundly affected by thegods and their cults.

Taken on its own merits, Gods of Gloran-tha is an excellent product, brilliantlyconceived, dramatic and impressive inscope, and presented in an original andeffective manner.

However, the publishing history presentsthe reviewer with a difficult problem. Thefinest examples of Gloranthan cult supple-ments (Cults of Prax and Cults of Terror intheir entirety, with other cults developedin other supplements) are now out ofprint. The prime virtue of Gods of Gloran-

1 0 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

tha is its overview and summation of thoseearlier supplements. The greatest weak-ness of the product is by contrast to thoseearlier supplements.

Glorantha veterans who own the out-of-print supplements don�t need me to tellyou how good they were. Gods of Gloran-tha gathers all the cults together intoseveral pantheons and, without reducingthe air of ambiguity and contradiction intheir conflicting world views, manages toprovide a fairly coherent perspective onthe religions of Glorantha. Since the histo-ry of Glorantha�s cultures is primarily thehistory of its cult rulers and heroes, Godsof Glorantha also provides an overview ofthe history of the world of Glorantha.

In short, veteran Glorantha fans shouldbuy this supplement, period. But you willprobably like the player handouts andfront of the Cults Book better than theencyclopedic treatment of divine figuresand the references on the individual cults.

Recent and potential fans of Glorantha:If you don’t own the older Glorantha sup-plements, my recommendation is stillstrong, but it comes with reservations.Gods of Glorantha is the best presentationof an FRP world�s pantheons, period. Noother comparable product covers the godsof numerous continents, nations, andcultures so coherently, while at the sametime preserving the complex contradic-tions and conflicting perspectives of thevarious pantheons.

Have you ever marveled at the variety ofreal religions, of their tantalizing contrastsand similarities, each boldly and unself-consciously asserting that it alone has atrue understanding of divine and temporalmatters? Well, that�s the sense you gethere. The assertions and explanations ofthe various pantheons are incredibly con-fusing and contradictory, yet there�s apuzzling coherence and dramatic plausibil-ity about the whole thing.

The presentation is superior in theChaosium tradition. The best feature, theplayer handouts, presents The Truth asasserted by knowledgeable informantsfrom several pantheons (human primitive,shamanistic, barbaric, materialistic,Eastern- and Western-style imperial cul-tures, and dwarf, elf, and troll cultures).The Truth is presented as a series ofresponses to questions one in such a cul-ture might ask of a spiritual counselor.(Where did the world come from? Why dowe die? What happens when we die? Whyare we here? How do we do magic?) Then,after the informant explains The Truthabout the competing assertions of theother pantheons, he briefly describes theimportant deities of his own pantheon.

The box also contains a Prosopaedia, aquick reference to who�s who amongGloranthan gods, and the Cults Book,which contains a persuasively garbled andobscure overview of the theological histo-ry of Glorantha from creation to thepresent, along with a geographical distri-bution of the various pantheons and a 60-

page reference on the individual gods.Now, here�s where my reservations

apply. Very few GMs need an overview ofthe religions of the world as much as theyneed detailed information on the religionsin the particular region where their cam-paign takes place. Even veteran Gloran-than campaigners don�t need to knowmuch about the Hsunchen, Pamalt, andMalkioni pantheons (though after years ofoblique references in early supplements,the gamers are curious).

Gods of Glorantha sacrifices detail andcolor in cult descriptions for wide cover-age of the worlds religions. Beginning andintermediate players and GMs need moredetail on local religions. For example,whereas the Lhankhor Mhy citation inGods of Glorantha is less than a page long,with over half of that space devoted tocult spell descriptions, the original treat-ment of Lhankor Mhy in the out-of-printCults of Prax is six pages long. If the earli-er supplements were in print, I�d have nocomplaint, but as a product supporting aline that declines to keep its earlier supple-ments in print, the choice of wide cover-age over detailed cult descriptions is adubious one.

Given this reservation, if I had to chooseGods of Harn or Gods of Glorantha, I�dpick Gods of Harn simply because its focusand detail are of more practical value toplayers and GMs in a fantasy campaign.

Summary evaluation: If you�re run-ning a Gloranthan campaign, you�ve gottahave this. If you have the money andyou�re interested in classic examples ofFRP campaign materials and presentation,this is a good buy. If you are lookingaround for models or ideas for gods andreligions in your own fantasy campaign,this offers plenty of sample pantheons, butyou may prefer something simpler, with anarrower focus and more campaign set-ting detail.

Lords of Middle-earth: Volume IWhere gods and religions are intimately

involved in the fates of characters andcultures in the Gloranthan FRP campaign,the Immortals are unthinkably remotefrom most of the peoples of Middle-earth.

In the mythology of Tolkien, there is butone true god,. Eru, and you won�t find himgetting involved in role-playing games. Hisservants, the Valar and the Maiar, aretechnically not much more than high-leveladministrators of Eru�s conception, but ina practical sense, they are roughly equiva-lent to a pantheon, with the Valar as godsand the Maiar as the Valar�s divine ser-vants. For example, Aule the Smith, Lordof the Earth, is a Valar, and two of hisMaiar servants, Sauron and Saruman, fallfrom grace and eventually show up as theheavies in Lord of the Rings. Gandalf, too,was a Maiar.

The Elves are immortals, also, butimmortals with a small �i� � not in anysense divine and, incidentally, not particu-larly immortal, given the number of them

D R A G O N 1 1

that die at the hands of the Enemy and atthe hands of their own kin.

According to Lords of Middle-earth,Middle-earth has a �seemingly inexhaust-ible collection of deities, pantheons, prac-tices, and religions.� However, all of themare wrong. Eru is the only god, and theValar and the Maiar are simply his ser-vants. Enlightened folk (Elves and Dune-dain) practice a nonritualistic monotheismwith no formal clergy � pretty boringstuff by FRP standards. Anyone else prac-ticing a more interesting kind of religion ismaking a horrible mistake.

So much for Middle-earth religions. Sowhy bother giving us so many pages onMiddle-earth Immortals?

Lords of Middle-earth provides back-ground, statistics, special powers, andprincipal items for 15 Valar (includingMorgoth the Fallen Valar), 19 Maiar(including the wizards and the Balrog), and91 Elves. This is a lot of information onmany high-level PCs, few (if any) of whichwill ever interact with any character in atypical MERP campaign. What are yousupposed to do with this stuff?

The most important value of Lords ofMiddle-earth is in the summaries of thehistories and personalities of the Valar,Maiar, Elves, and Great Enemies of Middle-earth. In these materials lie the mythicunderpinnings of the Middle-earth cam-paign, intrinsically interesting as back-ground for the Tolkien classics, and usefulsources for legends and themes forMiddle-earth adventuring. The legends ofMiddle-earth are commonly tragic, wherethose of greatest power and ability areoften corrupted by pride and a hunger formore power, and where many thingsbright and beautiful are destined to passfrom the Earth forever. These summariesare clear, concise, and quite readable.

Also, see the section entitled �Using HighLevel Characters,� which offers sensibleadvice about introducing high-level char-acters into a Middle-earth adventure, andsome useful rationalizations for the excep-tional restraint many Middle-earth immor-tals display in restricting the use of theirmagical powers.

Otherwise, the interest of the characterdescriptions is probably proportional toyour enthusiasm for Tolkien scholarship. Ifyou�re a big fan, you�ll love it. If you�re amoderate fan, check out the bios of Gan-dalf, Saruman, Tom Bombadil, the Balrog,Sauron, Galadriel, etc., and leave the restalone.

By the way, if you were wondering whomight be an appropriate Ultimate Evil inMiddle-earth now that Sauron�s gone, notethat two other Maiar wizards, Alatar andPallandro, came over with Gandalf, Saru-man, and Radagast. (I don�t recall Alatarand Pallandro from Tolkien, but I�m hardlya Tolkien scholar.) Lords of Middle-earthhints that, like Saruman before them,Alatar and Pallandro have been seducedby the Dark Side, and that as Sauron�sdominion dwindled, the powers of Alatar

1 2 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

and Pallandro grew.Finally, if Tolkien Elves are common PCs

or NPCs in your campaigns, this is a refer-ence you�ll want to have. Tolkien Elves arethe model of High Heroic Fantasy � every-thing they do is on a large and splendidscale, and their history is filled with greatdeeds, tragic betrayals, and heroic battlesagainst the Forces of Darkness.

Summary evaluation: Fans of Tolkienwill find Lords of Middle-earth interesting.Most Middle-earth campaigns will havelittle use for the high-level charactersdescribed, though the background legendsand histories of the quasi-divine Valar andMaiar and the immortal Elven kindred areuseful as background information.

Short and sweetGURPS® AUTODUEL® game, by Aaron

Allston and Scott Haring, Steve JacksonGames, $9.95. The AUTODUEL game hasall the mechanics it needs to support role-playing in the ultraviolent world of CARWARS® games. The GURPS game is strongin game values (Steve Jackson Games hasalways been strong in game values), andthe CAR WARS game, the inspiration forAUTODUEL material, has been a verysuccessful board game, so I wasn�t sur-prised to find lots of detailed rules forblowing cars, driver, passengers, innocentbystanders, and neighboring real estateinto tiny bits.

I didn�t expect that the AUTODUELgame would also have a fleshed-out cam-paign world, extensive notes on designingand presenting adventures and campaigns,and plenty of GM staging tips, both in thetext and in nice marginal essays. Entertain-ing, impressive, and just plausible enoughas a setting for vehicular homicide on anepic scale, this supplement is definitelyworth a look.

PALLADIUM RPG Book III: Adventureson the High Seas, by Kevin Siembieda, etal. Palladium Books, $14.95. Good, old-fashioned, prehistoric D&D game-stylefantasy adventures by the shipload arepresented in this game book. Islands are aperfect excuse for dumping all sorts offantasy trash together without worryingabout geographical implausibilities, andislands always have such lovely fantasynames � the Isle of Elemental Magic, theIsle of the Cyclops, Gryphon Isle, and soon. The Palladium fantasy campaign worldis full of magic and monsters, just like FRPcampaigns should be, and this pack con-tains a little bit of everything, from orcsand lost temples to pirates and crazed cultassassins.

In addition to the host of scenarios andadventure settings, this is also a rules andcampaign supplement, with neat stuff likenew character classes, new magic items,curses, and faerie foods. One particularlyinteresting piece is the section on shipsand FRP combat, with rough-and-readyguidelines for creating the pageantry ofseaborne fantasy battles without getting

too fussy about wargaming-style rules.This package is 208 pages of good, old-

fashioned FRP supplement. What it lacksin organization and sophistication it morethan makes up for in enthusiasm andimagination.

Dungeon Rooms, art by Tony Ackland,Dave Andrews, and Colin Dixon, text byan uncredited staff. Games Workshop,$8.00. A full-color floor plan is worth athousand words, and this box contains 23beautifully rendered, fantasy role-playingrooms � for instance, a torture chamber,wizard and necromancer�s study, alche-mist�s lab, mortuary, barracks, mausoleum,guardroom, and so on. The rooms areprinted on thick cardstock, the scale issuitable for 25mm figures, and the roomsare rendered in a sort of 3-D, bird's-eyeview that reveals details of the furniturearound the walls. It�s great when you candump the diagram down in front of theplayers and say, �There. That�s what itlooks like.� The visual detail encouragesthe PCs to deal with the setting ratherthan with the GM. �Uh, I walk over to thebureau and pick up the water pitcher.Anything valuable or mysterious glued tothe bottom?�

The delightful little booklet that accom-panies the floor plans gives WARHAMMERFANTASY ROLEPLAY stats and backgroundfor the charming occupants of the rooms.How about poor Throdin the Twister, theDwarven Torturer, whose favorite tool isthe toe-cracker, who sits around playingsolitaire with a marked deck and drinkingcheap Estalian wine? Good, cheap, goofyFRP fun.

Mistakonic University Graduate Kit, bySandy Petersen and Lynn Willis. ChaosiumInc., $9.95. Okay. I admit it. This pack isn�treally an FRP supplement. It does havesomething to do with CALL OFCTHULHU® games, but neither GM norplayers can really use it during role-playing sessions or as campaign back-ground. This is strictly for fans. Since I�ma fan, I adore this. The package comeswith a souvenir place mat with a map ofthe upper and lower campuses, a diploma,a parking decal, a rear window decal witha Latin motto “Ex ignorantia ad sapien-tiam, e luce ad tenebras,” a bumper stickerbearing the school�s mascot (a tentacularhorror) and its rallying cry: �Go �Pods!� �and much more.

The �School of Medieval MetaphysicsClass Catalog� is also adorable. Forinstance, consider the following courseoffering:

258: Operating Heavy SupernaturalMachinery

5 credit hoursConstruction and maintenance of heavy-

duty orgone boxes, matter-transferencebooths, pineal gland activators, and relateddevices. Special emphasis on bootstrapconstruction. [MR. ISINWYLL]

DRAGON 13

SAGE ADVICE

by Skip Williams

If you have any questions on the gamesproduced by TSR, Inc., write to:

Sage AdviceTSR, Inc.P.O. Box 509Lake Geneva WI 53147

How do you fight a thousand dracon-ians? This month, �Sage Advice� investi-gates the BATTLESYSTEM� fantasycombat supplement for the AD&D® andD&D® game systems � and provides someuseful information for beleagueredKnights of Solamnia. Page references,unless otherwise stated, refer to the blueBATTLESYSTEM rulebook.

What are the battlefield effects ofinfravision and ultravision? Whichmonsters have these abilities?

Page 59 of the Dungeon Masters Guidegives the effects of infravision and ultravi-sion outdoors. Most subterranean mon-sters and humanoids are assumed to haveinfravision, even if not otherwise noted.Most demi-humans also have infravision;see the individual character race descrip-tions and monster descriptions. Ultravisionis a rare ability; see the individual monsterdescriptions to determine if a creature hasultravision. Some Lake Geneva campaignsgift dragons with ultravision, since theycan �see equally well in daylight or dark-ness� (Monster Manual, page 29).

When a unit encounters a wall orbarrier, must it cross the obstacle ata right angle, or can it cross at anyangle?

An obstacle can be crossed at any angle.The unit crossing the obstacle pays themovement penalty and must go to openorder, no matter what angle is adoptedwhen crossing the obstacle.

How do you determine if a unit iscompletely in or just at the edge of awoods? Is the entire unit consideredto be at the edge if just one figuretouches the edge?

Only the status of individual figuresmatters when a unit is in or near a woods.A figure is at the edge of a woods if anyportion of the figure touches the edge.Otherwise, the figure is either completelyin or completely out of the woods. Thus, aunit could be half-in and half-out of aforest, with some figures on the edge.

1 4 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

When can enemy archers shoot ata hero? Can opposing archers�sharpshoot� at a hero � that is,shoot at only him when he is with aunit, or alone and engaged in meleewith a unit?

If the hero is actually attached to a unit (in command or fighting with it), archerscannot pick him out. If the figure is notattached, he can be a target. A hero inmelee with a unit can�t be fired on becausethe unit he is fighting is a much biggertarget than he is � besides, the hero�s foesmight be your own allies.

Certain characters and monstersin the AD&D game have a naturalability to detect invisible creatures.How does this work in theBATTLESYSTEM supplement � is itan automatic ability?

According to page 60 of the DMG, theability is almost automatic. A creature is�exposed to invisibility� if attacked by aninvisible creature, actually looking right atthe invisible creature, listening carefullyfor movement, etc. There are so manydistractions on a battlefield, however, thatno unit or hero can detect an invisible 1:1-scale figure unless given orders to do soand told where to look � that is, the play-er in charge of the opposing unit or heromust state that an attempt to locate aninvisible foe is being made and where thefigures are looking. If a unit is looking, rollonce for the whole unit. Only the hero orunit that successfully makes the detectionroll can �see� the invisible creature(s),although others may be told where tolook. Invisible figures of greater than 1:1scale, however, have a chance to be spot-ted if they simply cross a hero�s or unit�sline of sight.

When do heroes check morale? If ahero routs, who can rally him?

Heroes do not check morale using theBATTLESYSTEM supplement rules, and donot rout. If an NPC hero (or other singlefigure) is faced with a total disaster orextreme peril, he may flee or disobeyorders according to the morale rules onpages 36-37 and page 67 of the DMG. It isbest to have a neutral referee decide whenNPC heroes check morale or obedience.

When a unit is forced into openorder due to a failed morale check,does it pay a movement cost? Whencan it return to closed order? What

happens if the unit is still in melee?What is the effect on a unit that hasperformed a wrap-around? Sincewrap-around forces the unit intoopen order, wouldn�t the unit routimmediately?

The switch to open order is automatic;there is no movement. Melee or wrap-around does not effect the change. Theunit simply spreads out. This has no effecton the melee other than to reduce thenumber of figures in base-to-base contact.Units that perform wrap-arounds are notforced into open order until after themelee. If morale failure forces them intoopen order before that, there is no effect.

Where exactly will routing unitsgo if there are enemy units betweenthem and their own lines? Do theyrun toward their heroes or com-manders? What happens if a routingunit encounters an impassable ter-rain feature such as a river?

Routing units move away from the causeof the rout along the path of least resist-ance. They go toward the point at whichthey entered the playing area, avoidingobstacles and enemy units along the way.When a routing unit encounters terrainthat it cannot cross or enter, it movesalong the edge of the feature in the direc-tion that takes it away from the enemy.

What happens when a unit thathas performed a wrap-around suf-fers a rout? Do the figures scatter?Or does the unit pay movement costto �unwrap,� then rout directly awayfrom the enemy?

Generally, the whole unit routs in thesame direction. It doesn�t have to�unwrap� because it does not changeformation. The main body of the unitrouts directly away from the enemy, andthe figures on the flanks follow.

Is there any way to stop a routingunit other than rallying it?

No, a unit continues to rout until it rallysor leaves the board.

Do routing units have to pay amovement penalty for the about-face required to turn their backs tothe enemy? Do they pay terraincosts when they move throughwoods or up hills?

Routing units do not pay for the changeof facing. They ignore terrain modifiers aslong as the terrain is passable.

If a routing unit�s path takes it pastseveral commanders or heroes, caneach commander attempt to rallythe unit?

There may be only one attempt to rally aunit per rally phase, the number of com-manders present notwithstanding.

General note on routs: There are so(continued on page 66)

by Kyle Gray

In any world in which warfare becomescommon or necessary, there arise thosewhose skill at fighting exceeds by a greatmargin that of their fellows. Yet even suchexceptional proficiency at combat is noguarantee of a long life. Those who live bythe sword all too often die by it — as someof the following leaders of battle easilyshow. Though drawn from medieval histo-ry and legend, these heroes may find theirways into any campaign with suitablechanges in name and situation.

Some of the following characters aredrawn from legends common to differentcultures, with each culture having added itsown distinctions to each hero. As a result,some of the AD&D® game statistics listedbelow are combined from several of theselegends into one character. By researchingthe various resources used in each, the DMmay add or subtract attributes, belongings,and histories as he chooses.

SiegfriedMale human16th-level fighter

ARMOR CLASS: - 5 (unique ability; seetext)

MOVE: 15” (unique ability)HIT POINTS: 100NO. OF ATTACKS: 2ATTACK BONUSES: + 3 with melee weap-

ons (strength bonus); + 6 with Balmung(see text; strength and magical bonuses;+8 vs. giants); +2 with missile weapons(dexterity bonus)

DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type ( + 6for strength bonus with melee weapons;+ 9 with Balmung against most oppo-nents, with double damage againstgiants: 2d12 + 11)

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Resistant to nonmagi-cal weapons; owns magical devices;immune to fear; bonuses for high char-acteristics; see text

MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: M (6’3”)ALIGNMENT Lawful neutralPSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

S: 18/00 I: 14 W: 12D: 17 C: 16 CH: 17 CO: 14

Siegfried (also known as Sigurd in Scan-dinavian legends), son of King Siegmund of

D R A G O N 1 7

the Netherlands, was a hero of the utmostprowess. Some of his most famous adven-tures include the slaying of Fafnir thedragon and the sacking of the fabledNiebelung treasure. According to legend,Siegfried fell in love with the beautifulKriemhild, sister of the three brother-kings of Burgundy, and was later killed ina treacherous plot by one of the brothers.In his youth, Siegfried was a carefreeadventurer, always willing to take part inadventure for great amounts of treasureor glory, as long as it did not seriouslyconflict with his lawful nature.

Perhaps the most notable legend involv-ing Siegfried is his recovery of the fabledNiebelung treasure. Numerous tales sur-round this event; the most popular storyrelates the creation of a sword with whichto kill the vile dragon Fafnir. Taking thethree remaining pieces of Gram, hisfather�s sword (a gift from Odin and laterbroken in battle with that deity), Siegfriedreforged the weapon for use against thefoul serpent. Hiding in a pit near thedragon�s watering hole, Siegfried stabbedFafnir from below, mortally wounding thedrake. Siegfried then bathed in thedragon�s blood, which gave his skin anadded layer of protection. Except for onespot � a point on his right shoulder wherea leaf came to land � Siegfried�s entirebody was thus protected. This �Achilles�heel� played an important part in

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Siegfried�s death. [The blood of dragons inthe AD&D® game is not likely to confersuch protections; Fafnir was a uniquemonster.]

Retracing the dragon�s path, Siegfriedcame to the store of the fabled Nibelungtreasure. Though encountering the dwarfAlberich, Siegfried quickly bettered theguard and forced him to promise an oathof fealty. So doing, Siegfried claimed histreasure � a massive store of goodsincluding a magical sword namedBalmung, numerous magical rings, a cloakof invisibility, a set of golden armor, awondrous helmet, and a tremendous pileof wealth and ornaments.

In other tales, Siegfried is responsible for the capture of Brunhild, a Valkyriemaiden. Against her wishes, Brunhild wasmarried to Gunther, one of the three kingsof Burgundy. Though she loved Siegfried,Brunhild conspired with her husband tomurder that hero. Through methods oftrickery, Gunther coerced Kriemhild todisclose the nature of Siegfried�s oneweakness in order to �guard it in battle.�Once discovered, Gunther empowered hiscounselor Hagen to exploit the weaknessduring a hunting trip. Siegfried wasstabbed in the shoulder as he drank froma pond, and he died shortly after. Uponthe discovery of his death, Kriemhildswore revenge. Brunhild, unable to livewith her conspiracy, killed herself on aburning pyre so that she could accompanyher beloved Siegfried in his journey toValhalla.

Balmung should be treated as a longsword + 3, + 5 giant slayer. Balmung

strikes fear into the hearts of all who faceit, and any opponent who fights Siegfriedmust make a saving throw vs. spells at �4or be subjected to fear (as per the magic-user spell).

By bathing in the dragon�s blood,Siegfried gained remarkable protection.His skin took on a horny quality, becomingimpervious to most attacks. Combinedwith his golden chain mail +1, shield +1,and dexterity bonus, Siegfried�s dragon-enchanted skin (which reduces his overallarmor class by four places) gives him anarmor class of �5. Nonmagical weaponswielded by anyone can only hit Siegfriedon an unmodified role of 20, and then doonly half damage. Magical weapons�bonuses are reduced by half when fightingSiegfried. Siegfried also has in his posses-sion a cloak of invisibility named Tarn-kappe, which also increases his strength tothat of a storm giant (as per a girdle ofgiant strength) when he wears it. Siegfriedonly dons this cloak in dire emergencies,as he prefers to fight without its help.

Siegfried appears as a handsome blondyouth, over 6� tall and richly clothed.There is a 20% chance that Siegfried willjoin a party in search of treasure, but hewill insist on being the group leader andwill want a share of the treasure commen-surate with his battle skills.

Sources: Das Nibelungelied, a late 12th-century German epic available in Germanfrom Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. TheEnglish translation, The Nibelungelied, isavailable in paperback from PenguinBooks.

YvainMale human14th-level fighter

ARMOR CLASS: –1 (plate mail, shield, anddexterity bonus)

MOVE: 9” in armor on foot; 15” on heavywar horse

HIT POINTS: 85NO. OF ATTACKS: 2ATTACK BONUSES: +1 with melee weap-

ons (strength bonus); +3 with personalbroad sword (magical and strengthbonuses); +2 with missile weapons; seetext

DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type (broadsword +2 with +3 to damage forstrength bonus; see text)

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Owns magicaldevices; see text for berserk powers; haslion companion; bonuses for high char-acteristics

MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: M (6'2”)ALIGNMENT: Lawful goodPSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

S: 18/10 I: 14 W: 14D: 17 C: 16 CH: 16 CO: 16

Yvain, one of the lesser-known knightsof King Arthur�s Round Table, is neverthe-less an excellent warrior. According toseveral Arthurian legends, Yvain left KingArthur�s court to avenge his cousin Calo-grenant�s honor. Upon coming to a clear-ing near the Magic Spring, Yvain waschallenged to battle by the Lord de Lan-duc, the very person Yvain had set out tofind. Yvain delivered a mortal blow, buthis opponent lived long enough to rideback to his castle, with Yvain in hot pur-suit. Yvain became trapped in the castle,but with the help of the lovely Lunete andher ring of invisibility, he not only man-aged to survive but ended up marrying hisvictim�s wife, Laudine de Landuc. AfterYvain successfully defended his new terri-tories against Sir Kay, he received hiswife�s permission to go adventuring withKing Arthur and Sir Gawain, but onlyafter she extracted a promise from himthat he would return in one year�s time.However, Yvain lost track of the time andfailed to return. He was thus informed byone of his lady�s damsels that he need notconsider returning, for he had lostLaudine�s love.

Yvain went insane at this news and only

recovered after weeks spent wandering berserk fury, fighting at +3 to hit andthe woods as a wild man. Determined to damage, until he slays his lion�s attackers.win back Laudine�s love, he set out to Yvain fights with a broad sword +2,prove his worth through feats of arms. wears plate mail, uses a shield, and rides aDuring this time, Yvain slew the dreaded heavy war horse. Yvain is a handsomegiant Harpin of the Mountain, two demons young man. In any encounter with him,(not the AD&D game variety, but still high- there is a 25% chance that he is trying tolevel monsters), and several evil knights. prove himself to his wife, and he willYvain also slew a dragon in order to save a engage in any adventure that offers alion, which then became his personal chance of great renown. Yvain alwaysbodyguard. After fighting Sir Gawain to a champions the cause of lawful good and isstandstill, Yvain eventually won back his especially concerned with damsels inwife. distress.

Yvain is always accompanied by his lion,which attacks upon command or whenYvain is hard pressed. The lion should betreated as per the Monster Manual (45 hp),with the addition of +3 to hit and damagewith his claws and +2 with his bite, sincehe has little problem clawing througharmor. If his lion is ever sorely wounded(down to 22 hp or less), Yvain goes into a

Sources: Yvain by Chretien de Troyes(hardcover, out of print, J.M. Dent &Sons), Iwein by Hartmann von Aue (paper-back, available in German, Fischer Tas-chenbuch Verlag), and The Knight and theLion by Sir Thomas Malory (the stories of�Ewayne� by Malory are available inpaperback from many publishers).

RolandMale human17th-level paladin

ARMOR CLASS: –3 (magical chain mailand shield, and dexterity bonus)

MOVE: 12� in armor on foot; 18� on pala-din’s war horse

HIT POINTS: 110NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 with long sword; all

else as per paladin/cavalier, dependingon weapon type

ATTACK BONUSES: +11 with Durendal(strength, cavalier weapon of choice, andmagical bonuses); +4 with other weap-ons of choice (strength and cavalierbonuses); +2 with other melee weapons(strength bonus); +1 with missile weap-ons (dexterity bonus); all else as percavalier/paladin (note mounted bonuses);see notes in text concerning Durendal

DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type (spe-cial; see notes in text concerning use ofDurendal, and consider all bonuses forstrength, magical power, weapon type,and nature of opponent; other appropri-ate weapons possible)

SPECIAL ABILITIES: All appropriatepaladin/cavalier abilities; bonuses forhigh characteristics; owns magicaldevices; see text

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50% in 5' radiuswith holy sword; dispel magic at 17thlevel of ability with holy sword; seepaladin/cavalier abilities

SIZE: M (6'5")ALIGNMENT: Lawful goodPSIONIC ABILITY: NilSPELLS: 3 first-level, 3 second-level, 2 third-level, and 1 fourth-level clericalspells (chosen by DM)

S: 18/92 I: 15 W: 9D: 16 C: 17 CH: 17 CO: 18

Roland (also known as Orlando in Italianlegend) was the greatest of Charlemagne�s

famous paladins and is best known for thebattle in which he died. Due to the treach-ery of his stepfather Ganelon, Roland wasput in command of the rear guard ofCharlemagne�s army. While traversing thePyrenees Mountains, Roland and his forceof 20,000 troops were set upon by a Sara-cen horde of 100,000 in the Pass of Rov-enaux. Even though they were all killed inthe fight, Roland and his troops managedto rout the Saracen army. Roland had inhis possession Olifant (a great horn usedfor signaling) to summon Charlemagneand his warriors. However, Roland�s prideprevented him from blowing the hornuntil too late, thus sealing his fate.Roland�s armor and defense, along withthe massive destructive powers of hissword, were too much for his enemies.Even though his armor was finally ruinedby the spears and arrows of 400 men, noPaynim blade touched Roland�s skin.Instead, Roland died of a brain hemor-rhage brought on by the strenuous blow-ing of Olifant. By the time Roland finallydecided to summon his liege, Charlemagnewas so far away that Roland had to put allhis strength into a massive blast, whichresulted in the bursting of his temples.

Even though dying, Roland still managedto slay quite a few more pagans, addinggreatly to his already tremendous toll. Healso took care of the bodies of his slainfriends and tried to shatter his sword. Oneof Roland�s main concerns was to keep hissword out of Saracen hands, and he triedto break it by swinging with his full mightat a huge boulder. However, even Roland�sstrength was not enough to break thissword, and all he managed to do is cleavethrough the boulder, without even dentingthe blade.

This sword, Durendal, was an awesomeweapon: a long sword +7, holy avenger,which scored an automatic hit upon allnonmagical armor. On unmodified rolls of

D R A G O N 1 9

18,19, or 20, Durendal chopped throughany armor, magical or not. An ancientrelic, Durendal had many powerful holyrelics within its hilt of gold. As such, thissword performed all of the functions of anormal holy avenger, and also did tripledamage against any character of evil align-ment, killing in one blow those of 5th levelor below unless they made a saving throwvs. poison (as certain powerful good relicsact as poison to an evil constitution).

Roland is a handsome man in his earlythirties, usually seen astride his paladin�swar horse Veillantif (45 hp). He wearschain mail +3, carries a shield +2, and isalways ready for a good fight. Roland hasthe spell abilities of a 17th-level paladinbut almost never resorts to these. Roland

also always carries Olifant, which can beheard for a range of 50 miles with greatclarity, causing fear as a wand against allevil beings within this area. As statedbefore, Roland will not use the hornunless very hard pressed, or to save thelives of his companions (by then it willprobably be too late, however). As a pala-din, Roland serves the cause of lawfulgood, and there is a 20% chance that hewill help a party in pursuit of such a goal.

Sources: The Song of Roland, an OldFrench epic available in English fromPenguin Classics, paperback. [The versionof Durendal (or Durandal) given here isdifferent from that described in the “SageAdvice” column in issue #126.]

BradamanteHuman female12th-level paladin

ARMOR CLASS: –5 (magical plate mailand shield, and dexterity bonus)

MOVE: 9” in armor on foot; 18” on pala-dins war horse

HIT POINTS: 80NO. OF ATTACKS: 5/2 with long sword; all

else as per paladin/cavalier, dependingon weapon type

ATTACK BONUSES: +7 with holy sword

(cavalier weapon of choice and magicalbonuses); +2 with weapons of choice(cavalier bonus); +2 with missiles (dex-terity bonus); all else as per cavalier/paladin (note mounted bonuses)

DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type (longsword +5 with +1 on damage fromstrength bonus and additional +5 vs.chaotic-evil opponents; other weaponspossible, but consider bonuses forstrength, magical power, weapon type,and paladin/cavalier abilities)

SPECIAL ABILITIES: All appropriatepaladin/cavalier abilities; owns magicaldevices; bonuses for high characteristics;see text

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50% in 5’ radiuswith holy sword; dispel magic at 12thlevel of ability with holy sword; seepaladin/cavalier abilities; note magicalring in text

SIZE: M (5’11”)ALIGNMENT: Lawful goodPSIONIC ABILITY: NilSPELLS: 2 first-level and 2 second-level

clerical spells (chosen by DM)

S: 16 I: 15 W: 16D: 17 C: 16 CH: 18 CO: 18

Bradamante, the beautiful daughter ofDuke Aymon, was a scion of the house ofClermont and sister to one of Charle-magne�s greatest paladins, Rinaldo. Apaladin in her own right, Bradamante�smost famous adventure concerned hersearch for her beloved Rogero. During thissearch, Bradamante battled and defeatedSacripant, King of Circassia, and Rodo-mont, King of Algiers. In order to free theensorcelled Rogero, she also defeated afighter/magic-user mounted on a hippo-griff. Her search was never quite success-ful, as Rogero was always spirited awayafter the two spent only a few momentstogether. Finally, Bradamante went home

20 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

� only to discover that her father hadpromised her in marriage to Prince Leo ofGreece. Despairing for her true love, Bra-damante begged a boon from King Charle-magne that she be compelled to marry noman who had not first bested her inarmed combat. Prince Leo, knowing thathe could not hope to defeat Bradamante,instead disguised an unknown knight tofight in his place. This knight was Rogero,who had been languishing in a Greekdungeon; upon his release by Prince Leo,he swore to do whatever the prince asked.Disguised in Prince Leo�s surcoat, Rogeromet Bradamante on the battlefield. Thetwo combatants fought from dawn todusk, with neither gaining an advantage.Finally, after much delay and intrigue, themasquerade was overturned, and Brada-mante and Rogero were wed.

Known as the Knight of the White Plumeand Shield, Bradamante wears white platemail +1 and carries a sparkling whiteshield +3. She fights with a long sword+5, holy avenger and rides a paladin�swar horse (45 hp). Bradamante also pos-sesses a ring with the abilities of dispelmagic (16th-level of effect, as per magic-user spell, usable three times per day) andinvisibility (as per the ring). As a paladin,Bradamante can use clerical spells as cho-sen by the DM, but she prefers her provenbattle prowess and resorts to magic onlyout of dire necessity.

Bradamante is a beautiful young womanwith flowing brown hair. She alwaysserves the cause of lawful good, and thereis a 25% chance that she will assist a partyin pursuit of such an objective. There is a20% chance that Bradamante will beaccompanied by her husband, Rogero;treat him as a 14th-level, lawful-goodfighter with a long sword, vorpal weapon.This sword, Balisarda, automaticallystrikes any opponent in nonmagical armor.Balisarda also has the ability to dispelmagic (16th level of ability) once per day.Bradamante is a paladin in the utmostsense of the word and should be treatedas such, always doing what is right andgood.

Sources: The Charlemagne Tales of theItalian poets, Pulci, Boiardo, and Ariosto,some of which are collected in Bulfinch�sMythology (hardcover, Avenel Books).

GuidelinesIf you’re interested in contributingan article to DRAGON® Magazine,the first thing you need is a copy ofour guidelines for writers. Send aself-addressed, stamped envelope to�Writer�s guidelines;� c/o DRAGONMagazine, P.O. Box 110, Lake GenevaWI 53147; and we’ll send you back asheet with all the basic informationyou need to make sure your manu-script has the best possible chance ofbeing accepted.

D R A G O N 2 1

Combat maneuvers � for fighters only

by Arn Ashleigh Parker

Over the years of development of theAD&D® game, much has been done toexpand the many and varied spell-castingclasses. Magic-users, illusionists, clerics,and druids have all had their spells exten-sively expanded in Unearthed Arcana.New spell-casting classes (such as thewitch) have appeared in past issues ofDRAGON® Magazine. In general, there hasbeen a considerable orientation in theAD&D game toward spell-casters andaway from fighter-types. The followingspecial abilities go far to set straight thisinequality.

Fighters are hereby given a number ofcombat maneuvers that add to their optionsin a round of melee. Cavaliers, paladins,clerics, and all other classes (except for thebard class, as fighter levels are initiallyobtained) do not gain the use of these abili-ties. Rangers and barbarians may, at theDM�s option, gain these abilities as well,unless it is felt that they have enough spe-cial abilities of their own. These combatmaneuvers were developed from skilledpractice in the fighting profession�s majorstrength: fighting. Table 1 lists the numberof combat maneuvers gained initially andper level beyond the first.

All combat maneuvers performed by afighter, ranger, or barbarian require alevel check to be successful. A level checkrequires 1d30 to be rolled, the result ofwhich is compared to the character�s level.A roll equal to or less than the character�slevel indicates success. The character�seffective level for the purpose of this levelcheck is increased or decreased by sub-tracting the character�s dexterity-basedDefensive Adjustment (reflecting battlereactions) and adding the character�s Magi-cal Attack Adjustment (representing judg-ment in battle); see the Players Handbook,page 11, for both adjustments. No othermodifications, magical or otherwise, areapplicable. Thus, a 12th-level fighter withboth an 18 dexterity and wisdom rolls a 20or less on 1d30 to be successful.

Only one combat maneuver may be usedat a time (except for the Target maneuver);other than that, these combat maneuversmay be used as often as allowed. Theintent to use a specific combat maneuvermust be declared at the start of a meleeround, before any attacks are declared orrolled. The combat maneuver is then madewhen appropriate during the round. If the

combat situation changes during theround (e.g., a fighter planning to use theFeign Death maneuver suddenly sees hisfoe slain by another warrior), the maneu-ver may be discarded if it has not alreadybeen performed. Just because a maneuverturns out to be harmful is not sufficientreason to discard it after the maneuverhas been made (e.g., if a fighter uses theFeint maneuver on an orc who is smarterthan the fighter is).

Furthermore, these combat maneuversare largely meant to be used againstarmed, humanlike opponents. The DMmust decide in all cases whether a particu-lar combat maneuver can be used againstan opponent (one cannot disarm a ghoul,for instance, nor stun a brontosaurus).

If a 30-sided die is not available, the useof 1d6 and 1d10 can produce numbersfrom 1 to 30. Roll 1d6 and 1d10. If the ld6roll is 1 or 2, the number generated is 1-10as rolled on the 1d10. If the 1d6 roll is 3 or4, the number generated is 11-20, deter-mined by adding 10 to the result of the1d10. If the ld6 roll is 5 or 6, the numbergenerated is 21-30, determined by adding20 to the roll of the 1dl0.

Combat maneuversThe various combat maneuvers are

described below. Again, note that theycannot all be acquired at once, but mustbe learned according to Table 1.

Parry: Parrying normally involvesapplying a character�s strength-based �tohit� bonus to his opponent�s �to hit� roll (asper the Players Handbook, page 104).However, fighters with this combatmaneuver may make a level check on1d30; if successful, all �to hit� bonuses(with an additional +2 bonus) may beadded to the fighter�s parrying ability. Thiscombat maneuver substitutes for a singlemelee attack unless the character�s dexter-ity or less is rolled on 3d10, in which casethe character is allowed an attack at - 2 tohit immediately afterward. Thus, a 13th.level fighter may parry once and attackonce in a melee round, and might evengain another attack if his dexterity checkis made. Two or more parrying attemptsmay be made in a round only if the parry-ing fighter has the ability to make two ormore normal attacks with a melee weaponin a round, and if he is fighting either anopponent with two or more weaponattacks, or two or more opponents.

Parrying is best used against an oppo-nent with an especially dangerous weapon

22 NOVEMBER 1987

or melee ability (weapons that decapitateor sever a limb, attacks that can immedi-ately cripple or kill, etc.). Parrying canonly be used against opponents of ogre-size or smaller which lack giant strength(19 + ) and which are using melee (nonmis-sile) weapons. No attack roll is required touse the Parry maneuver; the action issimply declared.

Feint: This combat maneuver is a mea-sure of the character�s intelligence, as he isattempting to fool his opponent by makinga mock attack at one place merely as adistraction from the real attack, which ismade immediately afterward. If the fight-er�s intelligence is higher than his oppo-nent�s, a successful level check grants thefighter a + 1 to hit for each point of differ-ence between the intelligence scores. Ifthere is no difference in the score, there isno modification. If the opponent is of ahigher intelligence than the character �or if the character failed his level check �a - 2 is applied to the character�s �to hit�chance. This ability must be used in con-junction with an attack; it does not replacean attack. It can be used once per round atmost � but beware of intelligent orcs andgoblins!

Dodge: A successful level check grantsa +4 to the armor class of the fighter insituations where the Defensive Adjustmentdue to dexterity would also add to eitherarmor class or to a saving throw againstspells which can be dodged. Failure on theinitial level check results in a -4 to hit onthe character�s next melee attack in thatround. Furthermore, if a character whohas been successful on his level check alsorolls his dexterity or less on 2d12, he maymake his melee attacks as he normallywould. Failure on this dexterity checkcauses a loss of one attack in a round. TheDodge maneuver stays in effect for thewhole round in which it is attempted(assuming the character remains in meleewith his opponent). It can be used butonce per round against a single attacker; itis useless against multiple attackers.

Target: A successful level check (withthe appropriate modifier shown on Table 2applied to the die roll) allows the characterto select an exact area of his opponent�sbody where his blow is to be directed. Ofcourse, the part of the opponent�s bodytargeted must be within range of thecharacter�s attack. This is useful againstcreatures that have more than one armorclass (beholders, bulettes, etc.), or if acritical hit is rolled (assuming the DM uses

such a system). This is the only ability thatmay be used in conjunction with any othercombat maneuver, with cumulativebonuses and penalties. Failure on the levelcheck indicates that the blow may hit, butit has a -2 to hit penalty and cannot betargeted.

Body Bash: On a successful levelcheck, the fighter forces an opponent tomake a strength check on 1d30 or beknocked to the ground, using the follow-ing modifications: -2 for every 2� ofdefender�s height above attacker, +2 forevery 2� of attacker�s height abovedefender, + 2 if a shield is used to bash theopponent, and - 1 for each of the oppo-nent�s magical armor bonuses (not includ-ing a shield). Prayer spells, rings ofprotection, and the like do not have anyeffect on the save. A natural roll of 1 isalways a save, and a natural roll of 20always results in the defender beingbashed. This maneuver only applies tohumanlike opponents of ogre-size orsmaller.

The effects of a successful Body Bashmaneuver are found by rolling 1d4 andconsulting the following list:

1. Knocked to one knee. If the bashedopponent has not made all of his attackswhen he is bashed, he loses one of thoseattacks this round. A bashed opponentwith multiple attacks by virtue of his classor by magic (not because two weapons arebeing used) may take the remainder of hisattacks, made at - 1 to hit, but not until allother melee attacks are completed againsthim. Additional attacks by the person whoscored the knockdown, and any otherswho are fighting the bashed opponent, areat + 1 to hit against the bashed opponentuntil the end of the round, when the oppo-nent is assumed to get up.

2. Knocked to both knees. The bashedopponent loses all further attacks for oneround (the current round unless initiativehas already been taken, in which case thenext round is lost), and is at +2 to be hitfor the remainder of that time, afterwhich he gets up.

3. Knocked to sitting position. Thebashed individual loses one round, asabove, and all remaining attacks againsthim are at + 3 to hit. In addition, on theround following the lost round, the bashedindividual automatically loses initiativewhile he gets up.

4. Knocked down flat. The bashed indi-vidual loses one round, as in #2 above. Allopponents are allowed an additional attack

during the round the person is knockeddown; these attacks are at +4 to hit. Theadditional attack applies only to hand-to-hand attacks, though the bonus to hit stillapplies for missile weapons.

The attacking character may still make anormal melee attack if he rolls his dexteri-ty or less on 3d10. Otherwise, this combatmaneuver replaces one attack in a meleeround. At the DM�s option, modifiers foropponent height may be added to the 1d4results roll above ( + 1 to the roll for every2� in height the attacker has over thedefender, and - 1 for every 2� thedefender has over the attacker).

Back Out: This combat maneuverallows a character to back out of meleerange and have a chance at a partingattack as he exits. The character must rollhis dexterity score or less on 3d8 to obtainthe parting blow, once the level check hasbeen rolled to determine if the characterwill be allowed to back out. The Back Outmaneuver normally replaces one attack ina round.

For example, a 13th-level fighter whohas two blows per round chooses to attacknormally with his first blow, but decideson his second blow that he would like tobe out of melee range at the beginning ofthe next round (he wants to charge adifferent opponent without allowing hiscurrent opponent an additional attackroutine against him when he flees meleerange). If he successfully makes a levelcheck, the fighter is able to back out ofrange this round. Furthermore, if he rollshis dexterity or less on 2d12, he gets aparting blow at his opponent.

Failure to make the level check forcesthe fighter to stay in melee range unlesshe wishes his opponent to get a free attackroutine against him as he flees, and he willalso not obtain a blow unless he makes thedexterity check on 3d8. (Note that if thefighter failed his level check, he cannotchoose to make his dexterity check andthen flee melee range, allowing his oppo-nent a bonus attack routine. He would, inthis case, need to choose to flee meleerange before the dexterity check is made,and he would not obtain a parting blow ifthis was his choice. Clearly, he would bebetter off staying in range this round andtrying to make the dexterity check, thensimply charging out of range toward hisnew opponent at the beginning of the nextround � assuming he gets the initiative!

Feign Death: By successfully making alevel check at - 6 on the die roll when

D R A G O N 2 3

struck by a blow, this ability allows thefighter to fake his death from the blow. Asuccessful level check made at �6 on thedie roll indicates that all viewing the char-acter believe the character was slain,unless a percentage equal to or less thaneach viewer�s intelligence is rolled. Onlyviewers of the Feign Death maneuver areallowed this intelligence check, althoughanyone feeling for the �dead� PC�s pulsewill, of course, find one. If the character isattacked while on the ground, he is at +4to be hit, and damage inflicted upon himwill be the maximum possible for eachblow struck. Whether successful or not,an attack on the character upon theground reveals the ruse.

Failing to make the level check results ina free blow from the primary weapon ormelee attack of all opponents in range.Thus, a lion or a character with two weap-ons could each make only a single attacknot a complete attack routine. Playersshould be prohibited from attacking anopposing fighter, ranger, or barbarian whohas successfully made a level check tofeign death, unless the character eitherviews the Feign Death maneuver andmakes the successful percentage die rollbased upon intelligence or the characterhas a compelling reason to investigatefurther.

Stun: A character who scores a hit inmelee with a blunt or flat-sided weapon

(excluding spiked weapons like morningstars, flexible weapons like whips or gar-rots, or missile weapons) may use thisability to attempt to stun his opponent.After a successful �to hit� roll is made, asuccessful level check indicates that theopponent of the character is stunned,leaving him at +2 to be hit and makinghim unable to concentrate enough to usepsionics or cast spells. A stunned opponentmay attack and defend himself using regu-lar melee weapons and a shield, with a �1to hit and a �1 on armor class. The oppo-nent remains stunned for 1-3 rounds. Nohit-point damage is done to an opponentwho has been stunned. An opponent whois currently stunned when struck andstunned a second time must save vs. paral-ysis or fall unconscious for 1-6 rounds;subsequent stunning attacks, if the oppo-nent remains conscious, each offer acumulative �1 penalty on this save, aswell as �1 penalties on attack rolls andarmor class. No penalties can exceed �4.

When using the Stun maneuver, theguidelines in the DMG concerning attacksagainst helmetless opponents (page 28)should be considered.

Disarm: Unearthed Arcana outlines asystem for disarming opponents on page109. If a fighter makes his level check,however, he gains a +2 bonus to hit onthe Disarm maneuver, and his opponentsuffers �2 on his saving throw vs. petri-

24 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

fication to avoid losing his weapon. Thismaneuver replaces one of the fighter�sattacks in a melee round. Failure to makethe level check when attempting a Disarmmaneuver still allows the maneuver to gothrough, but with a �2 penalty �to hit�and normal saving�throw chances for theopponent to retain his weapon. No damageis done to the opponent in any event, andthe guidelines in Unearthed Arcana mustbe followed.

Final thoughtsOnly one combat maneuver may be used

during or in place of a blow, with theexception of the Target maneuver. Withthe addition of the above abilities, fighters(along with rangers and barbarians) willbecome more interesting to play. Playerswho have fighters for characters will havemore to decide than which opponent toattack. It may very well be more criticalfor a fighter to choose the correct combatmaneuver than for a spell�caster to choosethe correct spell. Undoubtedly, the abovecombat maneuvers add a wide range ofchoices to players whose characters like tosettle their differences in an �up close andpersonal� manner.

Table 1Combat Maneuver Acquisition forFighters

ClassFighterRangerBarbarian

Initial Additionalnumber number

2 1 per 3 levels1 1 per 4 levels1 1 per 4 levels

Table 2Target Maneuver Modifications

Modifier toBody region die rollFoot +2Leg �Groin +3Spine +3Chest +1Hand +2Arm +2Shoulder +2Arm or shoulder (50% either) �Neck +3Face +3Head +3Face or head (50% either) +2Special monster parts DM�s

discretion

Many of the magical and mundane itemsin our treasure files were archery trea-sures, particularly bows. Rangers, archers,and other warriors from any AD&D®game world should find these to be ofgreat help in a tight spot. A set of magicalbolts is included as a bonus.

Of all bows found, 50% are long and50% are short. A second die roll revealswhether the bows are self (50%) or com-posite (50%). Crossbows are 75% likely tobe light crossbows and 25% likely to beheavy crossbows.

Bow built for strengthAs stated in the Dungeon Masters Guide

under combat (page 64), �to hit� and dam-age bonuses for strength do not apply tothe use of bows unless they are speciallyimproved. These specially made bows areconsidered to be built for strength. Bowsbuilt for strength are superior to normalbows and are slightly larger and heavier.They are always of the finest workman-ship and quality, taking a minimum of sixmonths to fabricate. They can be made forany strength up to 18/00 and are priced at1,000 gp per additional damage point, asfollows:

Strength Damage Value16-17 +1 1,000 gp

18 +2 2,000 gp18/01-75 +3 3,000 gp18/76-90 +4 4,000 gp18/91-99 +5 5,000 gp

18/00 +6 6,000 gp

It must be noted that a character with astrength of less than 16 may not use a bowbuilt for strength; likewise, a characterwith an 18 strength may not pull a bowbuilt for 18/01-00 strength. However, acharacter with a strength higher than thatfor which the bow was built can fire it,although he receives only that damagebonus the bow allows. Note that thesebows are nonmagical; thus, all normalweapons rules and restrictions (savingthrows, etc.) apply. All bows (includingcranked crossbows) may be built forstrength from scratch, but no normal,nonmagical bow can be improved to gainstrength bonuses.

XP Value: NilGP Value: 1,000-6,000Created by: Dave Monson

D R A G O N 2 7

Gem bowCreated long ago by a prestigious half-

ling bowyer and the Arch-Mage Bendalyre,these bows (of which there are only three)were created to help the halfling societiescombat their enemies. Over the years, thegem bows have disappeared from thehalfling realms, and are now lost andmostly forgotten by the race that createdthem. They are all short bows +1, are ofexcellent craftsmanship, and have theability to gain additional powers.

On the face of each bow is an indenta-tion above the handgrip. If certain gem-stones are set into this notch, the bow isthen capable of bestowing one of threespecial powers on an arrow fired. Arrowsmust be nonmagical to gain these powers.The gems and effects are as follows:

Gem type EffectDiamond 1-6 hp damage +10 hp

electric shockRuby 1-6 hp damage +10 hp

fire damageSapphire 1-6 hp damage +10 hp

cold damage

A gem bow gains one charge per 200 gpvalue of each gem. Gems set into a gembow decrease in value by 200 gp as eachcharge is used, eventually becoming nor-mal stones with the expiration of theircharges. These bows function normallywith respect to range and rate of fire.

XP Value: 1,000GP Value: 7,000Created by: Dave Monson

Phantom bowThis appears to be a transparent bow

with a sparkling string. When the string isdrawn back, a shimmering arrow appears.Two such arrows can be fired per roundas with a normal bow. The glowingarrows are +2 to hit and damage; thearrows vanish with no effect if they misstheir intended target. The phantom bowfires 1d20 +40 of these arrows, afterwhich point the bow vanishes.

The bow makes saving throws as perhard metal with a +2 modifier. Normaland magical arrows can also be fired fromthis weapon, but magical arrows gain noadditional attack bonus. Each normalarrow fired from the bow gains a +1bonus to hit and damage in addition to allother bonuses. Furthermore, these arrowscan be fired without detracting from thebow�s longevity (i.e., the bow�s magic is notdecreased by firing normal arrows).

XP Value: 1,500GP Value: 10,000Created by: Bob Reitmann

Long bow of marksmanshipThis magical long bow (either composite

or self) also gives a +2 bonus to the �tohit� rolls of the user in combat. However, along bow of marksmanship also gives theuser a +5 bonus to hit against any nonliv-ing target (including golems, undead, etc.).

2 8 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

This bonus is also gained when attemptinga trick shot, as long as that shot is notintended to directly harm another charac-ter or creature. In other words, the +5bonus applies to an attempt to shoot anapple off another character�s head, hittingan opponent�s weapon, or any similar shot.

XP Value: 1,500GP Value: 7,500Created by: Marc Andreessen

Long bow of heartseekingThis type of long bow (self or composite)

always has a +3 bonus to hit targets. Itacts as a normal magical bow, exceptwhen a sufficiently high number to hit isrolled. Then, the arrow it fires strikesdirectly at the target creature�s heart (if ithas such), slaying the victim instantly. �Tohit� numbers required for this attack areas follows:

Opponent �To hit� roll *Up to man-size 21-23Larger than man-size 22-23Metal or stone* * 23

* Consider only the bow�s bonus of +3.* * If the foe is using a spell or device thathas transformed him into this material.

Certain creatures (such as elementals,golems, and undead) do not have hearts,and so would not be affected by this weap-on. Shape-shifting creatures (such as dop-plegangers) are not affected by this killingpower, either. However, 10% of thesebows have been enchanted to be usefulagainst vampires, such that the bow canfire a wooden arrow into a vampire�sheart and slay it on the spot. Any score of20 or better, including all bonuses, meansthat the long bow of vampire hunting haskilled its vampiric target. No other beingsare so affected by this bow.

XP Value: 4,000 (2,000 for vampirehunting)

GP Value: 20,000 (10,000 for vampirehunting)

Created by: Mark Stafford

Bow of fire teethWhen fired, this bow ignites any arrow

it shoots. In addition to regular damage,the arrow does 1-6 hp fire damage. Magi-cal arrows must save vs. magical fire ifshot from this bow; if they fail the save,they catch fire and lose all magicalenchantments. If they save, magicalarrows perform normally. These arrowsset combustibles aflame if the combustiblematerial struck fails a save vs. normal fire.

Fire bows can set fire to a maximum of10 arrows per day. The fire bow gives no�to hit� or damage bonuses other than theadded damage from the arrow�s flames.Such bows are generally red or yellow incolor and have fire runes incorporatedinto their ornate designs.

XP Value: 750GP Value: 5,000Created by: David E. Cates

Bow of ice fangsThis long bow, made of ivory and

mithral steel, is believed to have been firstcreated by the Elder Craftsmen ofNiflheim (the area of Hades known toworshipers of the Norse gods as the landof the dead). Duplicates of the ice fangbow have since been crafted by humanand elven mages. The main feature of theice fang bow is that it creates ice arrowsfrom water vapor in the air. The user needonly pull on the bowstring and release it;the arrows are created instantly, but mayonly be fired at a rate of two per round, toallow the bow�s magic time to recharge.These magical arrows are +1 to hit anddo double damage (2-12 hp damage) vs.fire-using and fire-dwelling creatures. Ifused against any other sort of being, thesearrows are merely +1 to hit and damage.Each ice fang bow can generate a total of51-150 ice arrows before its magic fades. Anonmagical ice fang bow is still finelycrafted and is worth 1,000 gp.

Unfortunately, in hot climates (120°Fand up), the effective range of thesearrows is halved. In environments wherethe temperature is over 300°F, the icearrows cannot form. If normal or magicalarrows are fired from this bow, they donot gain the bonuses against fiery crea-tures, and the bow performs in all ways asa normal long bow.

XP Value: 600GP Value: 3,500Created by: David E. Cates

Bow of accuracyThe bow of accuracy is a simple yet effec-tive missile weapon. The magic propertiesof this bow are a +3 bonus to hit anddamage; likewise, all ranges within normalbow range are figured as short range inregard to this weapon.

XP Value: 2,500GP Value: 15,000Created by: Andrew Salamon

Bow of distanceLike the bow of accuracy, this bow gives

a bonus to hit and damage � a bonus of+2 in this instance. The differencebetween the two, however, is that theranges of distance for the bow of accuracyare double that of a normal bow of asimilar type.

XP Value: 2,000GP Value: 12,000Created by: Andrew Salamon

Bow of speedThis weapon is +1 to hit and damage. If

there are undamaged and nonmagicalarrows within 10� of the bow, thosearrows are teleported, nocked and readyto fire, as soon as the bowman pulls backthe string. This allows the normal rate offire for the archer to be doubled. Some10% of these bows are able to teleport anyarrow within l0�, magical or not, to thebow for firing. The archer can only distin-guish one arrow from another if the

arrows used are distinctive; all arrows tobe fired are chosen at random.

XP Value: 2,000GP Value: 12,000Created by: Andrew Salamon

Elven bow +3, last shotThis bow appears to be a normal magic

bow of +1 enchantment; however, in thehands of an elf, the full powers of thisweapon are evoked. Whenever an elf usesthis weapon, it becomes a +3 magicalweapon with ranges 50% greater thannormal. The rate of fire is also increasedby one arrow per round; this last arrow isfired after all other attacks have beencompleted for that round.

XP Value: 1,200GP Value: 8,000Created by: John M. Boback

Elven bow +2, goblin baneThis bow appears to be a standard long

bow +1; in the hands of an elven fighter,however, its full potential is realized. The+2 bonus is gained, as well as the follow-ing characteristics: Arrows fired havedouble-normal ranges and strike for dou-ble damage (2d6 + 2hp damage) againstany giant-class humanoid successfully hit.This class of monsters includes thosewhich may be struck for extra damage byrangers (as per Unearthed Arcana).

XP Value: 1,000GP Value: 6,000Created by: Gregg Sharp

Cursed bow of warningAt first, this bow appears to be a bow

+3, but when an arrow is fired from thisbow, it always misses any living targetwhich is of evil nature. Furthermore, thearrow�s flight always alerts an evil victimand instantly directs his attention to thelocation of the user of the bow, negatingall further surprise advantages. If thenature of this bow is discovered, the cursecan be removed by magical means, such asthrough the employment of a dispel magic,wish, or limited wish, or by clerical means,such as through the employment of aremove curse. The curse is considered tobe 12th-level magic. Once the curse isremoved, the bow becomes a bow +3.

XP Value: Nil (1,500 without curse)GP Value: 500 (10,500 without curse)Created by: Dan Snuffin

Crossbow of enchantmentThis weapon casts a spell upon any

nonmagical bolt placed in it, enabling it tostrike any creature that can only be hit bya magical weapon. Note that there are nobonuses to hit or to damage; the crossbowmerely enables one to have a chanceagainst unnatural monsters with nonmagi-cal bolts. No additional benefit is bestowedupon a magical bolt.

XP Value: 1,500 GP Value: 7,500Created by: Gregory W. Detwiler

Crossbow of LirThis crossbow, which has a �to hit�

bonus of + 3, may be fired normallyunderwater at the same ranges a normalcrossbow has on land, thereby givingunderwater adventurers a badly neededmissile capability. These bows are namedafter Manannan Mac Lir, Celtic god of thesea (Legends & Lore, page 28).

XP Value: 2,000GP Value: 10,000Created by: Gregory W. Detwiler

Crossbow of levitationThis is a magical crossbow that gives its

user the ability to levitate as per the spell.While using the crossbow of levitation, theowner�s feet are not in contact with theground; at the least, the bow ownerremains 1� above any �ground� surface.Furthermore, the only other weapon thebow owner may hold in hand is a daggeror knife. If a levitate spell is used on thepossessor, the bow loses all of its powerfor 2-12 rounds. This crossbow has a +1bonus to hit targets, but offers no bonusesto damage done by bolts. The user of thiscrossbow gains forward movement at a

rate of 1� while levitated, but he can betowed by flying creatures.

XP Value: 1,500GP Value: 7,000Created by: John M. Parker

Bolts of lightningAlso called thunder bolts, these bolts

appear to be normal bolts until fired froma crossbow. After being shot, a bolt oflightning becomes a 7�-long bolt of light-ning with a range equal to the maximumrange of the crossbow which fired it (e.g,,a bolt fired from a heavy crossbow has arange of 240 yards, and a bolt fired from alight crossbow has a range of 180 yards.

These bolts are +2 to hit and do 4-16 hpdamage if they strike a target. A save vs.spells is applicable; if the save is success-ful, only half damage accrues to the crea-ture struck. Furthermore, all creatureswithin a 15� radius of where this magicalbolt hits have to save vs. petrification orbe stunned for one round due to the ear-piercing clash of thunder which accompa-nies the strike.

Bolts of lightning are usually found innumbers ranging from 2-8. They are alsooften found mixed with normal bolts orwith magical bolts of other types.

XP Value: 200GP Value: 1,200Created by: John M. Boback

D R A G O N 3 1

A handy guide on handling weapons

Table 1Weapon Categories by Length, Weight, and User�s Race

DwarfSecondary 1�4�

5½ lbs.Primary 2'6"

8¼ lbs.One-handed 2�6�

11 lbs.Two-handed 4�

27½ lbs.Pole arms 8�

16½ lbs.

Elf1'8"3½. lbs.3'2"5¼ lbs.3'2"7 lbs.5�17¼ lbs.10'10½ lbs.

Gnome1'2"2½ lbs.2'2"4 lbs.2'2"5 lbs.3'6"12½ lbs.7'7½ lbs.

Half-Elf1�9�4 lbs.3'6"6¼ lbs.3'6"8½ lbs.5'6"20½ lbs.11'12½ lbs.

Halfling1'2 lbs.2'3 lbs.2'4 lbs.3'10 lbs.6'6 lbs.

32 NOVEMBER 1987

by Donald D. Miller

�I ready my crossbow, draw my sword,raise my shield, and with my free hand . . .�

This statement, though not likely tooccur in an AD&D® game unless someoneis running a Type V demon as a playercharacter, illustrates some basic questionsabout the game rules. A character has, atmost, two hands free with which to useweapons � but which weapons should heuse with two hands? Or, if he chooses touse two weapons, which ones can he use?A halfling trying to use a 3� long swordwith one hand would be like a humantrying to swing a two-handed sword withone hand.

Several categories of weapons are here-by defined. A primary weapon is one usedone-handed in the user�s favored hand; asecondary weapon is used one-handed inthe hand not favored by the user, at thesame time the user has a primary weapon.Primary weapons may be used in eitherhand, though if used in the hand notfavored, the weapon has a penalty to hittargets of - 2. One-handed weapons areused only in one�s favored hand and notwith a secondary weapon. Two-handedweapons can only be used with bothhands at once. Pole arms are two-handedweapons mounted on a haft, and are welldescribed in Unearthed Arcana. Thus, allsecondary weapons can be primary weap-ons, all primary weapons can be one-handed weapons, and any one-handedweapon can be used with two hands(though it produces no bonus to do so,except in the case of the bastard sword).

Half-Orc1'9"5 lbs.3'6"7½ lbs.3'6"10 lbs.5'6"24½ lbs.11'15 lbs.

Human2'5 lbs.3�9�7½ lbs.3�9�l0 lbs.6'25 lbs.12'15 lbs.

The reverse of each of the above state-ments, however, is not necessarily true.

The way in which a weapon may beused depends mainly on its length andweight. (Who�s going to lift a 200-lb. ham-mer?) The balance and mobility of a weap-on, reflected in its speed factor, also affectits use. Due to the difficulty involved inusing a weapon in one�s �off hand,� second-ary weapons are necessarily small andlight, and have speed factors of no morethan four. Primary and one-handed weap-ons usually have a length between one-third and two-thirds the user�s height,with primary weapons being the lighter ofthese weapons, having speed factors of sixor less. Larger and excessively heavyweapons require two hands to be wieldedeffectively. Weapons longer than the char-acter is tall should be considered as polearms, and their length should not exceedtwice the user�s height. (No, I haven�t for-gotten about pikes.)

Since humans are the dominant speciesin the AD&D game (my apologies to alldwarves and elves reading this article), theway demi-humans use weapons is basedon human usage. A little time in the near-est library can give an interested individ-ual an idea of how a certain weapon wasnormally used, and this information maybe extrapolated with ease.

The DMG provides a list of the averagestrengths of each of the demi-human races(page 15), so the weight a demi-human isable to lift can be stated as a percentage ofthe weight a human can lift. After decid-ing appropriate length and weight limitsfor humans in each of the weapon catego-ries, each of the demi-human races isallotted their percentage of the acceptablehuman weight. Usable weapon lengths arecalculated in a similar manner, using theratio between the average heights ofhumans and other races.

Since elves and half-elves are generallysmaller and lighter than humans, theirweaponry is limited to smaller and lighterweapons. With the elvish bonuses forusing bows, long swords, and shortswords, elves are not greatly handicappedby these limitations. Dwarves and half-orcs may lose the use of some weaponsdue to length, but they are not penalizedin respect to weapon weights. Due to theirmuscular stature, dwarves are able to useheavier weapons than normal humanscan. Gnomes and halflings, being thesmallest of the demi-human races, arelimited to using the smallest and lightest

weapons. A bonus to the weight allowedfor gnomes and halflings has been given toput them on more competitive terms withthe other races.

Characters who are notably larger orstronger than average may be given abonus in the weapons they are able to use.A 5�-tall dwarf should be able to use theweapon restrictions for either dwarves orelves (whichever is better). Table 1 showsthe maximum allowable lengths andweights of weapons that a character ofone of the various races could use in eachof the weapon categories. Remember that1 lb. equals 10 gp weight, and refer topages 26-27 in Unearthed Arcana.

Certain weapons require a little specialconsideration. Spear-type weapons (jave-lins, lances, pikes, etc.), due to their easierbalance and ample handle space, shouldbe considered as being half their actuallength. Flexible weapons (flails, whips,etc.) should not be allowed for use withanother weapon because of their difficultyto control. Since the bastard sword wasdesigned to be used with either one or twohands, its user should be given a bonus inits use with two hands; the actual bonus isleft to the DM�s discretion. Remember thatswords should not be used as pole arms.

All of the weapons in Unearthed Arcanaare listed in Table 2, along with how theymay be used by a demi-human, semi-human, or human character. The weaponsare listed as primary (P), secondary (S), one-handed (1), or two-handed (2). Pole armsare listed as two-handed weapons for easierreference. Please remember that the list-ings in Table 2 are minimum figures, andthat a weapon listed as being secondarycould always be used as a primary, one-, ortwo-handed weapon. Consequently, thenext time a dwarf swings his battle axe, hehad better use both hands. Dependingupon the campaign, the classification forsome weapons may vary (e.g., some half-orcs might use two-handed swords, somehalflings might use hand axes one-handedor spiked bucklers as secondary weapons,some elves might use halberds, etc.). None-theless, a careful look at weapon sizes andweights is encouraged.

[A variation on the use of two weaponsat once appeared in DRAGON® issue #68,page 7 (“Be a two-fisted fighter”), reprintedin the Best of DRAGON Magazine Anthol-ogy vol. 4, page 45. Variant height andweight tables for humans and demi-humans appeared in DRAGON issue #91,page 10 (“Realistic vital statistics”).]

D R A G O N 3 3

Table 2Required Numbers of Hands for Weapons

Weapon typeAklysAtlatl and javelinAxe, battleAxe, handBardicheBec de corbinBill-guisarmeBlowgunBo stickBow, composite, longBow, composite, shortBow, longBow shortCaltropClubCrossbow, handCrossbow, heavyCrossbow, lightDaggerDartFauchardFauchard-forkFlail, footman�sFlail, horseman�sFork, militaryGarrotGlaiveGlaive-guisarmeGuisarmeGuisarme-voulgeHalberdHammerHammer, lucernHarpoonHook fauchardJavelinJo stickKnifeLance, heavyLance, lightLance, mediumLassoMace, footman�sMace, horseman�sMan catcherMorning starPick, footman�s militaryPick, horseman�s militaryPikeRanseurSapScimitarSlingSpearSpetumSpiked bucklerStaff, quarterStaff slingSword, bastardSword, broadSword, falchionSword, khopeshSword, longSword, shortSword, two-handedTridentVoulgeWhip

34 NOVEMBER 1987

Dwarf112P2222--

2-

212122S12221222222

P22212S-2221P222P-2S2112S

--

2222P

221

Elf Gnome1 11 -

2 2P 12 -2 -- -2 22 -

2 -

2 -

2 -

2 21 1P 21 1

-2S1222122222--

P2221PS-2222P222P22SP11

2S-

222222P-

1-1

2P1---

122--

2--

1-

2-12S-

2-

221-

2P--S2122S---

2222P

2-1

Half-Elf112P22-

2222221P122S1222122222-

2P2221PS-2222P222P22SP112S-

22111PP-

121

Halfling1--2---

2--

2-

2122--P1---1

-2-----

2-

2-

12S-

2-

222--

21

--S212----

----1-2-1

Half-Orc112S2222222221P122S122212222222S2121PS22221S222P22SP112S222PP1PP-121

Human112S2222222221P1

22S122212222222S2121

PS22221S222P22SP112S221PP1PS2121

36 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

Shield-using skills in the AD&D® game

by Tim Merrett

A shield embodies protection, safety, andsuccor in the heat of battle. Everybodywith two cents of AD&D® game knowl-edge grabs a shield for all 1st-level charac-ters that can use one. �That�s one morepoint of armor class,� they declare smugly.But is it that easy? Does everyone have aninborn talent for shield use, or is it thatcharacters don�t need to have any specificknowledge to properly handle one? (�Here,boy, take this. If somebody takes a swingatcha�, throw it in front of ya. An� do somecuttin� yerself.")

A shield is like many other pieces ofequipment in the AD&D game. The pur-chase of a set of thieves� tools, for exam-ple, does not grant the ability to use them.The same is true of a weapon. Thus, wehave our present dilemma: Is it fair toassume that a person could use a shield tofull advantage without prior training?Probably not. For example, an inexperi-enced PC might not be able use the shieldin a manner which would not interferewith his swing. He may expose himself at abad time as a result, allowing the enemyan easy strike. Furthermore, a shield thesize of a buckler presents its own prob-lems: It is so small that it would take agood deal of practice to use it for defense.

Now assume that a PC has learned to useall shields in general. Is it logical to saythat all shields provide the same amountof protection? How can something the sizeof a buckler cover a defender as well as alarge shield? Certainly, a buckler is moremobile, but it is not necessarily as effectiveas its larger counterparts. Follow this trainof thought a little further. In DRAGON®issue #57, Len Lakofka tells us that nearlytwo-thirds of all blows are caught by ashield. This would seem to make the shieldfar more effective as protection than thesingle point of armor class it presentlyprovides.

A new shield systemTo put this into game terms, characters

should be required to take a weapon profi-ciency in shield use in order to use ashield properly. In addition, charactersshould be required to take further profi-ciencies to gain full advantage of the vari-ous shield types. Table 1 should beconsulted when considering shield use.

The armor-class column shows howmuch protection each shield provides if

the user is sufficiently proficient. The tohit column gives penalties to hit for allattack rolls that are suffered by a nonpro-ficient user of a shield. Additionally, thenonproficient user gains but one point ofarmor class no matter what shield is used(the exception to this being the buckler;such a shield would be useless for defense,but could still be used for attacking, asdescribed on page 78 of UnearthedArcana).

Note the addition of a new shield, themantlet, which was mentioned in previousissues of DRAGON Magazine. The mantletwas actually employed in hand-to-handcombat during the Middle Ages. Oval orrectangular in shape, the mantlet covers a6� creature from head to toe. Attached tothe bottom of the mantlet is a hinged spikethat can be swung out and driven into theground to provide a standing defense. Thisshield weighs 15 pounds and is consideredvery bulky. A mantlet should sell for 20 gp.

When a single shield proficiency is tak-en, it is assumed that the character hastaken a basic course in the use of allshields. This single proficiency allows theshield-user to do the following: disregardthe �to hit� penalties given in Table 1; use abuckler properly (reducing armor class byone point); and, use all other shield typeswith enough ability to reduce armor classby two points. Each additional proficiencytaken provides another place of armorclass for the pertinent shield used until themaximum protection allowed for each isreached as shown on Table 1. Thus, afterthree proficiencies are taken, all shieldsare usable to full advantage.

In order to arrive at the armor classesgiven for each shield, several factors haveto be decided � the most important beingthe sizes of the different shields. Thebuckler is stated as being 1� in diameter.By extrapolating from the encumbrancecharts, we assume that a small shield is 2�long and that a large shield is 4� in length.We can also deduce that the widths of thefour shields are from smallest to largest:1�, 1½�, 2�, and 3�.

Additionally, a table on page 64 of theDungeon Masters Guide states that a tar-get of missile weapons receives beneficialmodifiers to armor class for any cover orconcealment it might have. This wouldalso hold true for melee combat; it�s a lotharder to hit someone hiding behind cov-er. Because of its more mobile defense, ashield qualifies more as concealment thanas cover against missile fire � unless, as in

the case of the mantlet, a user decides tohide behind it. Table 2 illustrates this useof a shield. The initial concealment figureis from the DMG, page 64. The percentagein parentheses is a conjectural figure ofthe degree to which a 6�-tall creature canbe concealed by each shield. Although nota perfect match with the DMG�s figures onpage 64, this does provide, a sound basisfor correlation to shield protection.

When figuring a shields protection, it isimportant to base the percentage figurefor concealment on that provided for a 6�creature. A large shield would thus act asa mantlet to a creature only 4� tall, butwould be considered small to a creature12� in height.

Magical shields provide a special case. Ifa shield is enchanted, it acts as if the bear-er has at least one point of shield profi-ciency (assuming the bearer can useshields). The bearer, also receives themagical bonus as usual. If the beareralready has proficiencies, he receiveswhatever bonus is applicable.

Because shields now provide a varyingamount of protection, a determinationmust be made of shield type each timethat a shield is found. Of all such shieldsfound, 75% will be large (good forhumans). Small shields have a 15% chanceto be found, and bucklers and mantletseach have a 5% chance for appearance. Ofcourse, the DM can always predeterminewhat is found.

Table 1Protection by Shield Type

Shield Max. AC ��To hit�type bonus* penaltyBuckler 1 0Small 2 - 1Large 3 - 2Mantlet 4 - 3

*Excluding magical bonuses.

Shields as weaponsA shield can also be a very effective

offensive tool. Remember the movieswherein the hero uses a shield to run overor bash his enemies into submission? Thecombat system in the AD&D game is sim-ple enough that adding these tactics wouldnot clutter it. There are actually provisionsfor it in the game now.

The buckler is the only shield that canbe used for attack and defense in the sameround. Characters need not be proficientto attack with a shield. The player muststate that a PC is going to attack with hisshield before any rolls are made thatround. The three forms of shield attackare pummeling, pinning, and shield-rushing.

If a player is using System I, the firstmethod of unarmed combat described inUnearthed Arcana (page 106), theseattacks are resolved in the same manneras are pummeling, grappling (pinning), andoverbearing (shield-rush) attacks. Pinning

differs from grappling only in that theremust be a wall or some sturdy object orforce against which to pin the opponent.Note that if a shield-rush is successful, aneffort to pin the opponent to the floormight then be attempted.

The exceptions to these rules of attackare the buckler and mantlet. The formeralways attacks as described in UnearthedArcana. The latter, because of its size,cannot be used to pummel an opponent.

System II, the second method of unarm-ed attack described in Unearthed Arcana,is a bit more complex and requires thefurther definition of a shields usefulness.In pummeling, all shields are consideredlarge, hard objects (the buckler andmantlet excluded as before). If thedefender can still effectively employ hisshield, it is figured into his armor class.Pinning an opponent with a shield worksin the same manner as does a grappling

attack, with a couple of modifications. Thedefender of such an attack would be ableto use his shield for defensive armor class.In addition to the five methods given tobreak free of a grapple, a pin may beautomatically broken after one round ifthe defender�s strength is no more thanfour points lower than that of the attacker.Conversely, if the attacker�s strength is five,or more points less than the defender�s, hecannot successfully pin the opponent.Shield-rushing and overbearing attackswould not differ in use.

Final thoughtsOn the whole, this system does not

adversely affect game balance, but itallows for a more realistic use of theshield. At the same time, it gives charac-ters something to work for. One might ask:�Why make characters use valuable weap-on proficiencies to learn shield use?� Thereason is that it is not desirable for every-one to be completely proficient with

shields. The additional protection givenwould make it far and away the best non-weapon proficiency. Without this system,most characters would choose shield useto avoid suffering from attacks. But ifweapon proficiencies are required, these

characters are not likely to have manyslots to spare until weapons proficienciesare gained. Remember: A character withan 18 dexterity, complete proficiency witha mantlet, and a suit of full plate armorhas a frontal armor class of, �7! That typeof protection must be earned.

This system can be altered to fit anyindividual campaign. One might decide torestrict this bonus to fighters and rangers,in the same manner that weapon speciali-zation is treated. This may not be such abad idea. One might also rule that, afterbecoming completely proficient withshields, each additional proficiency takenin shield use provides a +1 initiativebonus in striking the first blow. Shieldsshould count for more, and these are justa few suggestions to make them do so.

Table 2Percentage of Target Concealed

Shield type Concealment AC bonusBuckler 25%(12%) +1Small 50%(33%) + 2Large 75%(88%) + 3Mantlet 90%(100%) + 4

D R A G O N 3 7

38 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

Freehold wars with the BATTLESYSTEMTM

by Roy G. Schelper

Blood steams in the snow. A wearyfighter stands amidst the corpses of thevile creatures he has slain. Jewels and goldare heaped about. He counts his treasure,and when his tallying is done, he smilessmugly. Then, gazing heavenward, heshouts, �Hey, DM! I�ve just made 9th level!When da I get my keep?�

Faced with this situation, many DungeonMasters simply grant the land for thefreehold. This is often due to a desire toavoid large-scale battles which are oftendifficult to manage using the normalAD&D® game�s combat system. Althoughthe simple grant is perfectly acceptable,there is an alternative that can add anentirely new dimension to any campaign:the BATTLESYSTEM� fantasy combatsupplement. You can use this supplementto transform a boring task into an epicquest for a keep.

The value of landThere are several good reasons to avoid

a straightforward land grant. First of all,in any feudal milieu, land ownershipequals money and political power. If thatland also includes a fortified structure,then it also equals military power. Agricul-ture is the primary means of producingwealth in most feudal societies; wealth andpower are thus derived from the controlof the means of production. A castle withany fortification value at all is costly totake if its owner decides to rebel or defyhis overlord. A noble�s power is directlybased upon the number of holdings underhis direct control, modified by each hold-ing�s productivity. It is sometimes the casethat a noble is actually more powerfulthan his king; the Dukes of Burgundywere often more powerful than theFrench monarchs who ruled them. Evenmonarchs hold personal demesnes, whichproduce income and often include castlesthat provide the royal power base.

Consequently, any lord is highly reluc-tant to relinquish any land or castle, sincethat would reduce his own wealth andpower. Occasionally, a property might fallheirless or to a minor, but the crown soonpounces upon these windfalls with alacri-ty. English history, for example, reportscases of unwed heiresses suddenly assign-ing their inheritance to the crown andentering convents. The convents generallycooperated with the crown because they

received the luckless girls� dowries as theirshare. Land, in short, always belongs tosomeone, and few are the lords who sim-ply give it away. While the debate overrealism in fantasy is far from the point ofthis article, if a realistic campaign world isdesired, don�t simply pass out land to anyfighter who obtains the necessary experi-ence points.

A keep should be earned. To even be in aposition to do this, the character musthave performed some great service for amonarch or great lord. (An alternativewould be for the PC to purchase a nobletitle for a large sum � say, 500,000 gp.Feudal rulers were always short of cash,since most of their income was in the formof goods and services.) Depending uponthe PC�s status, this grant might alsoinclude induction into the lowest rank ofnobility, because ownership of a castle anda title were virtually synonymous.

However, given the previous discussionon the rarity of vacant holdings, the DMshould provide a catch to the deal. Onepossibility is that the title is clouded, andthe property is currently held by an evilbaron. In another example, the land couldbe in an area that was once part of thekingdom, but is presently outside its bor-ders. Another possibility is that the castleis owned by a rebellious lord, and theholding is in forfeit to the crown Regard-less of which of the myriad possibilities ischosen, the PC should be required toswear fealty before the overlord revealsthe fine print: The castle is yours � if youcan take it.

This oath of fealty is taken seriously; tobe forsworn is considered an act of rebel-lion. In many cases, oathbreakers areoutlawed, with bounties offered for theirheads. Players should be made aware thatthe oath is not simply a nice bit of chromethat can be dropped just because �their�castle actually belongs to someone else atthe moment.

An oath of fealty cuts both ways,though, and the overlord also has obliga-tions as well. Indeed, the entire fabric offeudal societies is based upon an elaborateseries of agreements between peasantsand nobles, nobles and overlords, andoverlords and monarchs. The overlordmust give as good as he gets.

Raising an armyOnce the PC has received his grant and

sworn his oath, the raising of an armymay begin. Unless a war has just ended or

supplement

the area has a large population surplus,the number of troops available for hirewill be quite limited in both number andquality. To expedite the raising of a largeforce, DMs should use Table 1.

If there are insufficient PCs to act as unitcommanders, the questing PC needs torecruit captains. The DM can create theseNPCs and have them simply show upsearching for employment (or Table 2 maybe employed instead).

When the PC finds troops for hire and aleader to command them, these charactersmust be paid. All NPC commanders andtroops demand an enlistment bonus of onemonth�s pay, plus their first months pay inadvance. The players should understandthat these characters are not followers butexpert hirelings. If they are abused orcheated, they desert or mutiny. Also, all ofthe units must be provisioned and main-tained. To simplify this process, use Table 3.

During the period that the quester israising his force, all the units that havealready entered service must be paidmonthly, fed daily, and equipped as neces-sary. Conflicts between restless, idletroops and local citizens are always possi-ble. Such conflicts can be used at the DMsdiscretion to reflect the difficulty of beingan army commander. Furthermore, for anarmy to be at maximum effectiveness, avariety of support personnel and equip-ment are required. Some of the requiredpersonnel and equipment and their costscan be found in Table 4.

Foes and more foesNow that the questing army has been

formed, it�s time to create the hostileforce. This task is very similar to that ofstocking a dungeon, except that it is notadvisable to generate these forces random-ly. First, examine the PCs� forces. Next,determine what sorts of beings are availa-ble to their opponents. Give extra weightto spell-casters in the party, because evena mid-level one can neutralize large num-bers of troops. Consider the alignments ofthe monsters. Also, think about the cur-rent owner of the land to be taken. Is hedespotic? Can he levy troops locally? Doeshe have allies and vassals?

These considerations will assist the DMin creating the opposing commander(which is the next step). Make sure that heis powerful enough to have taken orearned the land he holds. Next, examinethe PCs to determine what sort of heroesare going to take the field against the

enemy. (Unless you�re feeling very confi-dent or unless the party is small, don�t tryto match the party�s numbers.) Whileyou�re creating enemies, give them anymagical equipment deemed necessary andlogical for them to have.

Once the hostile force and its com-manders are created, give some thought towhat type of defense the hostile lord willemploy. Will he sit behind his walls, attackmadly, or launch a cunning ambush? Inany event, the enemy commander shouldbe assumed to have extensive knowledgeof the local terrain and climatic conditions.If the nature of the terrain is not known tothe PCs and they do no scouting, the DMmight prepare a nasty surprise for them.

Battlefields and victoryThe forces have been selected. Spells

have been memorized. The objective isclear. Swords have been drawn, and thebattle is nigh. But where will the combat-ants fight? What if it rains?

The easiest answer to these questions isto conduct the battle on a featureless plainof 36� X 48� on a sunny, summer day atnine o�clock in the morning. That is alsothe most boring answer. A grove of trees,a stream, or a village can provide a focusfor the battle. Under certain circumstanc-es, such terrain features can also providespecial victory conditions. Remember thatevery type of feature added to the battlealso adds complexity. Nonetheless, if thesituation warrants dense forests or steephills, don�t hesitate to use them.

Regardless of the terrain you decide toemploy, it�s a good idea to have the battlein daylight to simplify sighting problems.The weather, on the other hand, is anaspect of the battle that can be quite criti-cal. Rain, fog, or high winds can groundair units; mud or snow can cripple mount-ed units; and intense heat or cold candebilitate men and beasts. Weather can bedetermined using the system found in theBATTLESYSTEM rules, but there are othermethods you can use. In any case; weatherprovides an opportunity to add manydifferent, intriguing possibilities.

Everything has been determined nowexcept the victory conditions. It is possibleto have a simple fight to the death � who-ever kills all his opponents first wins.However, this type of combat lacks finesse.There are no hard and fast rules for decid-ing who wins; too many factors may comeinto play. Consider the relevant factors,including the battlefield, the point of the

quest, and the nature of the opponents.For example, a raid on the baggage trainwould have different victory conditionsthan an assault on a keep. The best bet isfor the DM to use his own judgment.

A quest for keepsThe remainder of this article is a demon-

stration of the various techniques previ-ously discussed. What follows is a sample�keep quest� for a party of eight PCs,ranging in experience from 8th to 12thlevel, two of whom are magic-users. Ini-tially, the party�s forces consist of one unitof short-bow archers, two units of heavyinfantry, and one unit of light cavalry.BATTLESYSTEM statistics follow undereach scenario description.

The central PC in this case is Rialto, a12th-level magic-user of Imperial descent.Rialto provided a very important series ofservices to the Emperor, who rewardedhim with the title Warden of the WesternMarches. Unfortunately, this bequest liesin a region that has been outside theEmpire�s borders for well over 300 years.To have more than an empty title, Rialtomust raise an army to take his land. Rialtorecruits his comrades to assist him in hisquest. He then learns of a further compli-cation: War has broken out along the onlyfeasible route to his new lands, andhumanoid opponents are everywhere.

All abbreviations for units are as perpage 5 of the BATTLESYSTEM supplementrule book. The saving-throw categorieshave been combined into �Saves,� andweapons information has been similarlycondensed. �SA� stands for �special abili-ties,� and �LRC� stands for �Level/Race/Class.�

Scenario 1The Battle of Newbridge

The party and army have marched forone month and are now within theImperial-humanoid war zone. When theyare about six miles from the last major citybefore the frontier (coincidentally, Rialto�shome city), they encounter refugees. Thefleeing people tell the party that theinvaders have crashed through the fron-tier defenses and seem intent on attackingthe town. Also, the party is informed thata major battle is being fought outside thecity. Moments later, the PCs� rear guardreports that a large group of monsters isapproaching (evidently some local mon-sters are marching to assist their breth-ren). Left unhindered, these creatures will

D R A G O N 3 9

strike the Imperial rear guard in the midstof battle, with disastrous consequences.The party must stand and fight.

The battlefieldA rapid river is the critical terrain fea-

ture in this scenario; it can only be crossedat the bridge. Also, there is a small villagesurrounded by a 4� wall. Consult Map 1for further details.

Initial deploymentThe PCs� forces deploy first within 12�

of the bridge on the east side of the river.The monsters deploy 9� from the easternedge of the map north of the river.

Victory conditionsThe monsters win if they exit 20 or

more unrouted units off the western edgeof the map. The party wins if no monstersexit the western edge of the map. Anyother result is a draw.

The PCs� forces�Leo�s Crusaders�: Regular infantry; AC

4; #FIG 10; Unit Commander PC; HD/fig10; Ratio 1O:l; LRC 1/human/fighter; MV9�; Size M; Saves Fl; AR 20; ML 13; longswords; SA can form shield wall.

�Dalwin�s Hammers�: Same as above, butwith a different Unit Commander.

�Aldo�s Archers�: Regular bowmen; AC8; #FIG 10; Unit Commander PC; HD/fig10; Ratio 1O:1; LRC 1/human/fighter; MV12�; Size M; Saves Fl; AR 20; ML 11; shortbows and daggers.

�F Troop�: Regular cavalry; AC 8; #FIG10; Unit Commander PC; HD/fig 20; Ratio10:1; LRC 1/human/fighter; MV 24�; SizeL; Saves Fl; AR 20; ML 13; lances, horse-man�s maces, and light horses.

Hostile forces�Meanies�: Regular orc; AC 6; #FIG 16;

Unit Commander Snarler, CR 6�; HD/fig10; Ratio 10:1; orcs; MV 9�; Size M; SavesF1; AR 19, �1 in daylight; ML 13; DL 11;scimitars.

�Hackers�: Same as above, except forUnit Commander Gorp, CR 6�.

�Woods Terrors�: Regular goblin cavalry;AC 6; #FIG 12; Unit Commander Quibble,CR 12�; HD/fig 30; Ratio 10:1; goblins andwarg wolves; MV 18�; Size M; Saves F1;AR 20; ML 13; DL 11; spears and daggers.

�Bloody Spears�: Regular bugbears; AC5; #FIG 16; Unit Commander Grisly, CR 6�;HD/fig 15; Ratio 5:1; bugbears; MV 9�; SizeL; Saves F3; AR 16; ML 12; DL 10; spears.

Heroes and commandersVarn: Fl0; Army Commander; S 15, I 13,

W 11, D 11, Co 16, Ch 17; AC �1; CB +2;human; Saves F10; HD 10; CR 18�; hp 72;MV 9�/15�; long sword +3;, #AT 3/2;THAC0 9; AR 24; SA shield +3 and potionof extra-healing; AL LE.

Joebob: Hero; AC 3; Ettin; Saves F10; HD10; hp 68; MV 12�; large and small clubs;#AT 2; THAC0 12; AR 27.

Samendave: Same as Joebob (hp 61).Puddentane: Same as Joebob (hp 55).

Scenario 2The Battle of Westpass

After the battle at Newbridge, the PCspush on toward the goal. Avoiding thecontending armies, they enter the moun-tains � but the only pass is fortified andheld in force by humanoid invaders. Theseason is late fall; winter is near. The PCshear rumors that the invaders may beretreating. They must force the passquickly or be caught between two forces.

The battlefieldThe battle takes place in a narrow

mountain pass bounded on the north andsouth by cliffs 400� tall. A 5�-high wall,pierced by a wooden gate, spans the pass(see Map 2).

Initial deploymentThe monsters deploy first within 3� of

the wall. The party deploys within 6� ofthe eastern edge of the map.

Victory conditionsIf there are no unrouted units on the

map, the monsters win. If there are nomonster units within 6� of the wall, theparty wins. All other results are consid-ered a draw.

The PCs� forcesSame as Scenario 1, minus any perma-

nent losses.

The pass garrison�Sharpers�: Regular goblins; AC 6; #FIG

16; Unit Commander Smedley, CR 4�; HD/fig 10; Ratio 10:1; Goblins; MV 6�; Size S;Saves Fl; AR 20, �1 in daylight; ML 10;DL 10; short bows.

�Breakers�: same as above, except forUnit Commander Snarl, CR 4�.

4 0 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

�Red Maimers�: Regular gnolls; AC 5;#FIG 12; Unit Commander Gnarly, CR 6�;HD/fig 20; Ratio 10:l; gnolls; MV 9�; SizeL; Saves F2; AR 16; ML 12; DL 10; pikes.

�Scum�: same as above, except for UnitCommander Grazzy, CR 6�.

Heroes and commandersFallou: F14; Army Commander; S 16, I

11, W 12, D 13, Co 17, Ch 16; Saves F14;AC 0; CB + 1; human; HD 9 + ; CR 19�; hp90; MV 18�; mace +2 ; #AT 2; THAC0 6;SA boots of speed and plate mail + 1;AL CE.

Naz: MU8; Deputy Army Commander; S9, I 16, W 8, D 16, Co 6, Ch 11; AC 8; CB 0;human; Saves MU 8; HD 8; CR 9� ; hp 24;MV 12�; dagger +1; THAC0 18; AR 33; SAspell use dimension door, ice storm, fly,fireball ( X 2), mirror image, rope trick,web, magic missile ( X 3), and shield;ALNE.

Igor Bic: Fire giant; Hero; AC 3; CB 0;Saves F11; HD 11; hp 70; MV 12"; hugesword; THAC0 10; AR 25; SA hurl rocks,immunity to fire.

Efgor Bic: Same as Igor Bic (hp 62).

Scenario 3The Battle of Foggy Bottom

After forcing its way through Westpass,the party skirts the land of the invaders.During the conflict at Westpass, the PCswere able to liberate three captured units.These men were so grateful that theyoffered to serve Rialto for a time. Whenthe party reaches the Western Marches, agroup of disaffected peasants are similarlyrecruited.

The weather turns very contrary, and apersistent fog sets in. The party�s forceslowly marches across the plains, guidedby a flying PC. Suddenly, the guide discov-ers an ominously large force on a collisioncourse. The holder of the sought-for keephas received reports of the party�sapproach. He has elected to sortie from hiscastle, confident that his powerful armycould crush his rivals in the field. Theparty rapidly uses its advanced warningand the fog�s concealment to set anambush, hoping to use surprise to offsettheir inferior numbers.

The battlefieldThis time, the map is a featureless plain

36" X 48".

Initial deploymentThe monsters deploy first. All units are

in closed formation, one behind the other,in the same order that they are listed, with1� between units. The leading unit is 30�from the western edge of the map, andthe column must be at least 15� fromeither the northern or southern edge.Party forces are deployed in any legalformation within 12� of either the north-ern or southern edge of the map, butwithin 24� of the eastern edge.

Table 1Troop Availability

Roll/month(1d100) Available forces

01-03 No forces available04-10 100 archers (short bows and leather armor)11-20 100 infantry (short swords, small shields, and chain mail)21-30 100 cavalry (light war horses, long swords, and leather armor)31-40 100 cavalry (heavy war horses, heavy lances, and chain mail)41-50 100 infantry (long swords, large shields, and chain mail)51-60 100 archers (long bows and leather armor)61-65 100 dwarven infantry (axes and chain mail)66-70 100 elven infantry (long swords, long bows, and leather armor)*71-75 100 halfling slingers (slings, daggers, and leather armor)*76-80 200 zero-level peasants (no equipment181-90 100 infantry (banded leather armor and spears)91-95 100 cavalry (compound short bows, scimitars, leather armor, and light

war horses)96-97 100 elite elves (Fl/MUl) (long swords, long bows, and scale mail) * *98-99 100 2nd-level infantry (two-handed swords and plate mail)

00 100 hippogriff airmobile cavalry (short bows, long swords, andleather armor)

Unless otherwise specified, all units are 1st level. All forces include sergeants at aratio of one per nine fighters.* These forces may use Skirmish formations.* * The DM should choose one offensive and one defensive spell, and allow thecommander to decide which has been memorized before battle begins.

Table 2Captain Availability

Roll/month (1d12) Available captain1 None available

2-5 5th-level human fighter6-7 6th-level human fighter8 7th-level human fighter9 8th-level human fighter

10 5th-level elven fighter11 5th-level dwarven fighter12 5th-level half-orc fighter

Table 3Monthly Wages and Maintenance Costs

Short-bow archersLong-bow archersSlingersLight infantryHeavy infantryLight cavalryHeavy cavalryHorse archersElite troopsAirmobile

Wages360 gp720 gp540 gp200 gp400 gp540 gp

1,080 gp900 gp

1,500 gp3,000 gp

Maintenance30 gp30 gp30 gp30 gp30 gp45 gp45 gp45 gp35 gp

120 gp

All costs are based on 100 men (90 soldiers and 10 sergeants). Increase costs appro-priately for larger units. All costs are based on lst-level units; as units gain levels,they demand 25% pay increases per level. The monthly pay for an NPC captain is100 gp per level. Maintenance for officers is included in that of their unit.

D R A G O N 4 1

Table 4Support Personnel and Equipment Costs

SpecialpersonnelLeather workerPack handlerTeamsterArmorerBlacksmithCamp follower

No. required per100 men Monthly cost Initial cost

1 30 sp 5 gP5 30 sp 250 gP2 5 gP 275 gP3 100 gP 400 gP2 30 gP 300 gP10 - -

Initial costs include all necessary tools and equipment for the hirelings to do theirjobs. For very short campaigns, forces may do without these specialists.

Table 5Weather Table

Roll/turn Weather(1d6) condition

1 Fog lightens2-5 No change

6 Fog thickens

If the fog lightens, the weatherbecomes clear. If the fog thick-ens, it becomes a heavy fog. If aheavy fog thickens, treat it as nochange in weather. If a heavy foglightens, it becomes fog. For theill effects of fog, consult theBATTLESYSTEM supplementrules, page 21.

Victory conditionsThe monsters win if there are no

unrouted party units or living PCs on thefield. The party wins if they hold the field.Any other result is a draw. (If the partydoes not win, it must fight this groupagain or abandon the quest.)

Special conditions1. At the start of the battle, the weather

is foggy. Each turn after the initiativephase, beginning with the second turn, theparty rolls ld6 and consults Table 5.

2. On the first game turn, the partyautomatically has initiative.

The PCs� forcesSame as Scenario 2, less any permanent

losses, plus the following units:�Exon�s Extras�: Regular infantry; AC 4;

#FIG 10; Unit Commander PC; HD/fig 20;Ratio 10:l; 2/human/fighter; MV 9�; SizeM; Saves F1; AR 20; ML 11; DL 12; longbows.

�Fudd�s Wildcats�: Regular cavalry; AC 4;#FIG 10; Unit Commander PC; HD/fig 20;Ratio 10:l; l/human/fighter; MV 18�; SizeL; Saves F1; AR 20; ML 13; DL 14; longswords.

Peasant levy: Mob; AC 9; #FIG 20; UnitCommander none; HD/fig 6; Ratio 10:1; 0/human/fighter; MV 12�; Size M; Saves F0;AR 21;,ML 9; DL 9; fauchards.

Hostile forces�Crashing Boars�: Regular orc cavalry;

AC 6; #FIG 12; Unit Commander Gronk,CR 8�; HD/fig 40; Ratio 10:1; orc and giantboar; MV 12�; Size M; Saves F1; AR 19, �1in daylight; ML 14; DL 13; spears.

�Green Guts�: Regular gnoll infantry; AC5; #FIG 12; Unit Commander Sneer, CR 6�;HD/fig 20; Ratio 10:1; gnolls; MV 9�; Size

L; Saves F2; AR 16; ML 12; DL 10; spears.�Numbskulls�: Regular hill giants; AC 4;

#FIG 12; Unit Commander Smokey; HD/fig42; Ratio 5:1; hill giants; MV 12�; Size L;Saves F8; AR 17; ML 14; DL 12; hugeclubs.

�Iron Guard�: Regular infantry; AC 3;#FIG 12; Unit Commander The BlackKnight; HD/fig 30; Ratio 10:1; 3/human/fighter; MV 6�; Size M; Saves F3; AR 18;ML 13; DL 12; two-handed swords.

�Hell on Wheels�: Regular chariots; AC 3;#FIG 4; Unit Commander Lioneddes CR 9�;HD/fig 60; Ratio 10:1; lions and humans;MV 12�; Size L; Saves Fl; AR 16; ML 12;DL 11; spears and javelins.

�Griffon Airmobile�: Regular cavalry; AC8; #FIG 12; Unit Commander Ace; HD/fig40; Ratio 10:1; griffons and humans; MV12�//30�; Size L; Saves F1; AR 20; ML 13;DL 12; javelins and short bows.

Heroes and commandersBaron Demento: F20; Army Commander;

S 17, I 15, W 9, D 15, Co 16, Ch 18; AC� 3; CB + 2; human; Saves F20; HD 9 + ; CR24�; hp 110; MV 6�/15�//12�; Iong sword+3 ; #AT 2; THAC0 0; AR 15; SA shield+2, plate mail armor +3, ring of flying,brooch of shielding, helm of teleportation,and heavy war horse with chain-mailbarding; AL CE.

The Black Knight: F14; Unit/DeputyArmy Commander; S 16, I 12, W 8, D 17,Co 17, Ch 16; AC � 1; CB + 1; human;Saves F14; HD 9 +; CR 18�; hp 92; MV 9�/18�; broad sword +3 ; #AT 2; THAC0 4;AR 19; SA scale mail +2, potion of extra-healing, and medium war horse; AL LE.

Smokey: Fire giant; Unit Commander;AC 3; CB 0; Saves Fll; HD 11; CR 8� ; hp76; MV 12�; huge sword; THAC0 9; AR 24;SA immune to fire.

Ace: A10; Unit Commander; S 14, I 14,W 8, D 18, Co 15, Ch 16; AC 2; CB + 1;human; Saves T10; HD 8; CR 13�; hp 47;MV 12�//30�; dagger +2 (poisoned);THAC0 14; AR 29; SA leather armor +2,wand of magic missiles (47 charges), ringof feather falling, potion of invisibility, andmounted on a griffon; AL LE.

AftermathWhile the BATTLESYSTEM supplement

is perfect for conducting entire wars andmonstrous invasions, it can also be usedfor small-scale actions. Furthermore, ifPCs are required to win their castles, itthen becomes an indispensable aidbecause it permits the DM to conductsmall battles with only modest bits ofwork. Also, the players will feel that theyhave truly earned their freeholds. All inall, the BATTLESYSTEM supplement is avery valuable tool for this purpose. If youare going to fight, then fight for keeps!

[Further information on musteringtroops appeared in Tables and Tables ofTroops” in DRAGON® issue #99, and “Arm-ies from the Ground Up," in issue #125.Ambushes are discussed in “In the Heat ofthe Fight” in this issue.]

4 2 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

DRAGON 43

4 6 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

New combat tactics for AD&D® games

by Sean Holland

Tired of meeting the same old orcishmobs? Want to spring a new combat situa-tion or two on your players? This articleexpands upon several ideas involvingcombat as presented in the AD&D® gamerules, along with some new ideas on thesubject.

Ambush!An ambush is a surprise attack made

from concealed positions. It should take atleast a melee round to prepare an ambushin the best of terrain (dense forest orjungle) and hours in the worst of terrain(plains or desert). Ambushers gain a +2bonus on surprise rolls over their targets,unless their targets have stated that theywere looking for ambushes, in which casethe chance of surprise is normal.

A character who has a reduced chanceof being surprised (such as a ranger ormonk) has twice his normal chance ofbeing surprised by a successful ambush(that is, an ambush when the victim wasnot looking for ambushers). If he is notsurprised, he will have noted the telltalesigns of the ambush just before it wassprung, but was not able to warn anyothers he was traveling with. If a charac-ter with a reduced chance of surprise islooking for ambushes, he has a 10% base(30% base for a ranger) with +3% perlevel chance of spotting the ambushbefore he walks into it. If the ambush isspotted before it is sprung, those warnedabout the ambush are not surprised by it.

Some ambushes involve blocking offroutes of escape. The most common waysof doing this are with concealed pitsaround 4� deep (sometimes with sharp-ened stakes in them), trees felled so thatthey block the road, and ropes or netsstrung across the route. The only disad-vantage to an ambush is that once it is set,it cannot be moved. If your target takesanother route, try again another time.

Most ambushes are conducted withmissile fire; as a result, cover and conceal-ment adjustments to armor class comeinto play (see the Dungeon Masters Guide,page 64). Ambushes are the favored attackform of bandits, brigands, humanoid raid-ers, and many adventurers.

SpookingIn strange terrain with unfamiliar and

weird noises around them, people tend to

become spooked, nervous, and jumpy. Toresist being spooked, a character mustsave vs. spells, adding +1 to the save forevery three levels the character has. If thesave is failed, the character is �1 to hitand � 1 to save against fear. Wisdombonuses to the save apply. A henchman orhireling must make a morale check (at�10% if his employer or the leader of theparty is spooked). If the morale check isfailed, the character suffers the sameeffects as the PCs, except that he also has�5% to his morale. Spooking lasts untilthe unfamiliar terrain is left, a bless, aid,prayer, or remove fear spell is cast on theaffected individual, or whatever is causingthe spooking is defeated.

Strange terrain differs from race to raceand culture to culture. Dark tunnels withdripping water and strange moans may bespooky to a human or elf, but not to adwarf. An elven forest that echoes withelven songs is spooky to a goblin or orc. Amist-shrouded, blackstone castle thatechoes with organ music is spooky to justabout everyone. Beings immune to fear,like trolls and cavaliers, cannot bespooked. Obviously, undead are immuneas well.

Mob frenzyFrenzy is a state of mind wherein vio-

lence is more important than personalsurvival. The effects of frenzy are suchthat the affected individual has +1 todamage and +1 to saves against mind-affecting spells. Individuals need make nomorale checks until they have sustained atleast 50% casualties (and those at no penal-ties). However, frenzied individuals have a�1 penalty to their armor class and tosaving throws against illusions. Frenzy isdispelled when the affected individuals faila morale check or a save against fear(successful or not) is made.

Only humans and humanoids with intel-ligences of 14 or less can be excited into astate of frenzy. It requires someone with ahigh charisma (16 +) to excite a group intofrenzy, and takes five minutes per point ofaverage intelligence in the group to excitethe group into a frenzy. This time isreduced if the group that is being whippedinto a frenzy is intoxicated; reduce thetime by 10% if slightly intoxicated, by 25%if moderately intoxicated, and by 50% ifgreatly intoxicated. Frenzy and intoxica-tion effects (see the DMG, pages 82-83, forintoxication effects) are combined andcumulative.

Player characters who willingly listen tosomeone who is trying to whip them into afrenzy may try to resist. To avoid beingwhipped into a frenzy, a saving throw vs.spells must be made. Characters with anintelligence or wisdom of 15 + automati- cally resist if they choose to do so.

Great barbarian and humanoid leaderswhip their troops into a frenzy before animportant battle, and agitators whip iratemobs into a frenzy to cause riots. Frenziedmobs do not take orders well, and areusually just pointed in the right directionto attack whatever crosses their path.

Berserkers and battle lustBerserkers can generate the ultimate

form of frenzy, sometimes called battlelust. In this state of mind, nothing mattersmore than the destruction of the enemy.

Even suicidal attacks are made while acharacter is berserk. The effects of thisstate are as follows: The berserker haseither twice his normal number of attacks,or his normal number of attacks at +2 tohit; he is immune to mind-affecting spells,including fear; and he never checksmorale. A berserker also remains con-scious and able to fight at zero hit points.Berserker bonuses and intoxication effectsare cumulative, because berserkers oftendrink before going into combat.

In addition to the (human) berserkerslisted in the Monster Manual, many human-oid tribes have berserkers. A nonhumanberserker gains +1 hp per hit die it has inaddition to the bonuses listed above. Thus,an orcish berserker would have 1 + 1 HD, ahobgoblin berserker would have 1+2 HD,and a frost-giant berserker would have 10HD +1d4 hp + 10 hp for being a ber-serker. Berserkers will not use missileweapons, although they may use thrownand hurled weapons.

All humanoid tribes may have ber-serkers, although no more than 5% of thetribe�s warriors may be berserkers. Mino-taurs, lizard men, troglodytes, derro, andtabaxi (who call their berserkers �blood-stalkers�) are other races that occasionallyhave berserkers. Of all the races ofgiantkind, only fire and frost giants have

berserkers, and then only rarely. Someclans of northern dwarves also have ber-serkers, and there are rumors of smallgroups of berserk drow warriors.When calculating the experience-pointvalue of a berserker, the ability to go ber-serk is considered a special ability. Ber-serkers may receive other special ability

bonuses from the ability to go berserk(such as four or more attacks per round).

FanaticsFanatics hold a set of beliefs with such

conviction that they are willing to die touphold them or to convince others of thevalidity of their beliefs. Most also believethat if they die in the service of theircause, their souls go directly to Paradise.Fanatics have +1 to hit and damage, and+1 to save against magic cast by thosewho oppose their religion. They neverhave to check morale. Fanatics who fail asave against fear lose all fanaticismbonuses until the fear wears off.

True fanatics are rare; in addition totheir great fighting ability, they are notedfor their great intolerance of outsiders andhatred of unbelievers. Dervishes and elitetemple guards are the main extent ofhuman fanatics, although others are occa-sionally encountered. A humanoid tribemight be taken over by a shaman whomight be able to make the tribe into agroup of fanatics, but this is extremelyrare. Some drow raiding parties havemembers who are fanatical.

Player characters who are true fanatics should not be allowed in campaigns,because of their great intolerance. Undercertain conditions (such as fighting thehigh priest of an enemy religion), PC pala-dins and clerics might be able to gainfanaticism bonuses, but such bonuseswon�t last.

A fanatical individual is not subject tofrenzy (as described above) unless thecondition is caused by a high priest (orother great leader) of their religion. Ifaffected by frenzy, the bonuses and penal-ties of each state are cumulative.

Unusual terrainShipboard. Fighting on a ship is difficult

because the deck is constantly moving. If acharacter on shipboard does not have �sealegs� (experience on shipboard), he has �1to hit and �1 to his dexterity � a condi-tion which lasts for 1d4 days until hebecomes accustomed to the movement ofthe ship.

Desert and deep snow. Both of theseterrain types hamper the movement ofthose unaccustomed to them. A personunfamiliar with such conditions can moveat two-thirds his normal rate and has �1to his dexterity until he has learned theterrain, which takes 1-4 days.

Battle standardsBattle standards are used as symbols for

a group of warriors. They also serve asrallying points in the chaos of battle.There is a certain mystique about battlestandards that causes warriors to fight forthem, knowing no greater dishonor thanto lose their standard. A group of warriorswill have only one standard, which iscarried by a standard-bearer. A brave andexperienced warrior, the standard-beareris often dressed in unique raiment. Being astandard-bearer is a great honor. Whenthe troops that follow the standard arewithin 60� of it and can see it, they have+1 to hit and +5% morale. If the stand-ard is captured by the enemy, the war-riors who follow the standard willcounterattack to get it back. They willfight for one round for each full 25%morale they had at the start of the battle(including the bonus for the standard).During these counterattacks, the warriorsretain their +1 to hit and make no moralechecks. If the standard is lost followingthese counterattacks, the warriors whofollow it are penalized �20% to theirmorale.

Battle standards vary tremendously inappearance from group to group. For ahuman nation, a standard may be a gold-trimmed flag or the eagle of a Romanlegion; for orcs, a collection of paintedskulls on a long spear; or for lizard men, adragon�s claw on the end of a pole.

Tribal championsA tribal champion is the best fighter in

his tribe. He does all of the fighting for thechief of the tribe in return for gifts andthe honor of the position. Tribal champi-ons have the same armor class, hit dice (orhit points), and attacks as a chief of thatrace (i.e., an orcish tribal champion isAC 4, has 13-16 hp, and attacks as a 3-HDmonster). A tribal champion has +1 to hitwith all weapons commonly used by thetribe in hand-to-hand combat. All champi-ons have great strength and gain +1 to alldamage rolls (in addition to any otherstrength bonuses the race may have).

Tribal champions are more common intribes of lawful alignment, but any tribemay have one (or morel tribal champions.Civilized societies also have their champi-ons, though these are often high-levelfighters or cavaliers.

D R A G O N 4 7

4 8 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

Twenty martial arts styles based on man,

by Len Carpenter

The martial arts system of OrientalAdventures is among the best new addi-tions to the AD&D® game in years. Withthe many martial style combinations andspecial maneuvers provided on pp. 102-5,the DM can design a number of novelfighting styles for an Oriental campaign.But not every DM has the time to experi-ment with the system until a good selectionof martial arts styles is finally put together.Also, few DMs want to be limited to thefour real-world martial styles on p. 101.Presented here is a collection of 20 differ-ent styles for use in the campaign.

The 20 styles presented are divided intotwo groups. The first 12 styles, named forassorted animals, are among the mostancient styles known in my campaign.These styles are studied by members ofmost Oriental character classes, althoughmonks constitute the majority of the stu-dents. The second group consists of eightnewer styles created to address the spe-cific self-defense needs or martial philoso-phy of a given class. The origins, ideals,and techniques of these 20 styles are dis-cussed later.

Some martial arts styles given hereinclude maneuvers that vary from theofficial rules. These are noted in the styledescriptions below. The DM may wish toconsider how these changes affect playbefore including them in the campaign.

One rule change recommended heartilyis that the naginata be included in the listof weapons able to perform the martialarts weapon style maneuvers (see footnote�f� on p. 42 of Oriental Adventures). Thenaginata is viewed as not just another polearm in the Orient; it is an important closerelative of the spear. The spear and nagi-nata are often taught side by side within aschool or style. Both weapons are wieldedin similar ways and are used to play simi-lar roles. If the spear may be used to per-form the weapon style special maneuvers,then so should the naginata. The nagimaki,a weapon intermediate between the spearand naginata, may also be used to performweapon style maneuvers, although thenagimaki is not nearly as popular as thespear or naginata.

The martial styles presented in thisarticle are not intended as detailed simula-tions of real-world martial arts systems.Although a few bits and pieces of martialarts history and tradition are included in

these styles, as a whole, these styles areunique to my campaign. Accurate compar-isons cannot always be drawn betweenactual martial arts systems and stylescreated for a fantasy world. The tiger stylepresented here is not a depiction of tiger-claw kung fu, but is simply my version ofhow the holy monks and nuns of ancienttimes were advised by the gods to studythe tiger to become great fighters.

The 12 animal styles are but a few of themany martial arts systems founded afterlong, patient study of the combat methodsof animals. A person might spend years oreven decades in the wild, observing ananimal to master every attack, defense,movement, and tactic of the creature.From this single-minded study, ancientascetics developed the first known martialarts systems.

The early monks studied many types ofanimals � mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, and even rare magical beasts. Conse-quently, a wide variety of maneuvers andstyles evolved. Radically different systemsoften arose from studying the same ani-mal, since an animal may teach manylessons to different students. The tigersystem of one school might concentrate onthe tiger�s stealthy moves and grand leaps,while another tiger style might focus onthe great cat�s powerful claws and bite.

Historically speaking, a bewilderingvariety of styles arose to compete for theattention of potential students. Rivalrybetween teachers was fierce. Argumentsoften flared over varying interpretationsof the same style, and bloody feuds werefought between promoters of differentstyles.

Eventually, these many styles coalescedinto major schools with large followings. Apupil would identify their school bydescribing themselves as a student of aparticular animal. These major schoolsgave birth to many variations and sub-styles, but most martial artists could findcommon roots in one or more of the greatanimal styles. Many lesser styles passedinto obscurity with the major schools orthe petty secrecy of teachers who refusedto pass on hidden knowledge.

A number of important new stylesevolved out of the great animal schools.Some styles combined the attacks andmaneuvers of older animal styles to createhybrid systems. Others were created tobest exploit the strengths of newly devisedweapons, such as the nunchaku, tonfa (tui-fa), or sai.

nature, and animal.

Some styles were designed to suit theneeds of a specific group. Ninja cultivatedthe secret martial arts systems of ninjutsu.Women of the court practiced with spearand naginata, and learned to use manyunobtrusive weapons to defend them-selves. Holy pilgrims perfected styles that provide the gentle strength to overcomeany aggressor. Of the many specializedstyles to command specialized followings,eight are described below, after the 12animal styles are discussed.

The tables below list the important dataof the 20 martial styles, reflecting theformat of Table 68 on p. 101 of OrientalAdventures. The tables also note whatweapons, if any, are taught in a givenstyle. Other weapons that are sometimesfavored by a given style are discussed inthe style descriptions following the tables.Some weapons are forbidden to certaincharacter classes, of course, so schoolsshould be flexible enough to accommodatethe requirements or limitations of a stu-dent�s character class.

Footnotes indicate special features of orchanges in a particular special maneuver.These changes are discussed in greaterdetail in the style descriptions. Thosechanges deemed unacceptable by the DMmay be ignored or replaced by other offi-cial special maneuvers.

The 12 animal stylesBear. The bear is a fitting teacher for

the student of the wrestling art. The bearstrikes hard, grapples a foe with crushinglocks, and cannot be moved if he does notwish to move. The bear never yields orweakens. The bear thinks only of attack,never of defense.

The student of the bear must emulatethe ferocity and indomitable will of thebear to master this wrestling style. Thestudent learns to strike with crushing orstunning blows and to resist being movedor thrown. But most important, the stu-dent of the bear masters the use of alllocks and holds.

No particular weapons are favored inthis style, and none are commonly taughtto the student. The student uses whateverweapons are common to his class,although the student usually prefers pow-erful weapons that require great strengthto wield, such as the tetsubo, or two-handed sword. This style is popular withbushi and yakuza.

Cat. The cat style was designed afterlong study of the small, quick felines such

as the civet, lynx, and even the commondomestic cat. This style promotes speed,active defense, and deft footwork insteadof the crushing power of those stylesbased on the great cats. The student of thecat learns to attack with speed and sur-prise, overwhelming the foe with a flurryof well-placed blows. The student must beswift on defense, relying on footwork anddeceptive moves to avoid attacks.

The martial artist learns to survive greatfalls and regain his feet instantly, andaspires to become as adept at leaping andspringing as the felines he studies. Thestudent trains hard with a partner to learnto follow and counter any motion made bythe opponent. He also works with histeacher to gain total awareness of hissurroundings, and to move and fight inthe dark as easily as any cat. Through thisgreat awareness, the practitioner is able tokick an opponent behind him by perform-

ing an agile body twist. Students of the cat favor knife fighting,slashing with twin daggers just as the catuses its claws. This style is popular withwomen, who also train with the naginata.The cat style is examined by certain ninjato adapt the Blind Fighting maneuver tomany ninja styles.

Cobra. The student of this style mustspend years in intense study of this deadly,yet shy creature. The cobra picks itsmoment of attack with great care, thenstrikes with exquisite precision and power.The cobra hits its prey where it is mostvulnerable, then locks onto the victim withan unbreakable death grip. The cobrastyle employs pure, offensive power, trust-ing deadly skill to gain victory before itsfoe strikes back.

The student of the cobra must studyanatomy to be able to hit hard at the oppo-nent�s vital points. The jaws of the cobrainspire this style�s powerful locks. Ulti-mately, the student aims to learn the diffi-cult Distance Death maneuver, striking thefoe at range just as the cobra may spitdeath at its prey.

No particular weapons are preferred inthis style. The cobra system is a favorite ofninja and highly aggressive warriors.

Crane. The crane fights with a broadarray of weapons. It can strike vital pointswith its beak, kick with its long, slenderlegs, and smash with its great, sweepingwings. The crane is a canny fighter,retreating when necessary to study anopponent, then returning to strike again.The crane wisely avoids or deflects an

opponent�s attack, then responds with aswift cutting blow to a vital point.

The student of the crane seeks to use allof his natural weapons with equal skill.The martial artist can strike vital areaswith both foot and fist. On defense, thestudent must be able to dodge an attack ordeflect a missile through superb footwork.His mind must be alert and strong.

Just as the crane uses many naturalweapons to best effect, so, too, must thestudent of the crane master differentweapon combinations to give the studentthe most effective mode of attack. A num-ber of weapon sets are taught in the cranestyle. The weapons studied depends uponthe student�s teacher or school. Weaponsare combined in two-hand styles to givethe fighter a broad range of attacks. Com-mon weapon pairs are: two jo sticks, twonunchaku, two sai, sword and jitte, swordand war-fan (gunsen), and sai and chain.Other, stranger combinations are taughtby some schools.

Dragon. The student of the dragonstudies one of the most exciting of allstyles. The dragon teaches his students theuse of powerful kicks by the example ofhis sweeping tail. The dragon�s greatstrength and claw strikes inspire the stu-dent to use his fists with overpoweringforce. The dragon�s crushing jaws instructthe martial artist in the use of an immobi-lizing lock. The student duplicates thedragon�s natural armor by developingiron-hard skin of his own.

Students of the dragon favor weapons ofhigh damage potential, such as the slash-ing naginata or halberd. The kau sin ke istaught in all schools of the dragon style inorder to emulate the sweeping smash ofthe dragon�s tail. The chain is occasionallytaught for the same reason. The dragonstyle is popular with all types of warriors.

Dragonfly. The dragonfly style is per-haps the most mysterious and rarest of allanimal styles. The student of the dragonflystrives to become as light and agile as theflitting insect he observes. The dragonflymoves quickly, strikes precisely, and hastotal control over its motion and energy.

The student must train hard to masterboth his physical and spiritual energies sothat he may master the energies of others.The student allows his ki to flow andmerge with his opponent�s energies, thentakes control of his opponent�s ki so thathe may direct his opponent�s motion andenergy wherever he wills. In this way, thestudent may deflect any attack, follow and

D R A G O N 4 9

Table 1The Twelve Animals

Martial artsstyleBear

Cat

Cobra

Crane

Dragon

Dragonfly

Hawk

5

8

7Leopard

Mantis

Monkey

Snake

Number ofattacks

2/1

3/1

1/1

l/l

1/1

1/1

3/l

2/1

2/1

2/1

2/1

6

6

8Tiger 2/1 1-8

Damage1-6

AC8

PrincipleattackHand

1-4 6 Hand

1-8

1-6

8

5

Hand

Hand &foot

1-8

1-4

1-6

1-6

1-6

1-6

1-4

8

7

Foot

Hand

Hand

Hand

Foot

Hand

Hand

Hand

SpecialmaneuversLock 1,2,3,4Strike 1,2Vital area 2Movement 3Mental 3Movement 1,5Throw 1,2Push 2Kick 3Mental 2,4Vital area 1,2,3,4Strike 1,2Lock 1,3Vital area 1,2,3Weapon 1,2Strike 2Movement 4Mental 1,3Kick 1,2,3Strike 1,2Lock 4Mental 5Push 1,2,3Vital area 3Movement 4Mental 1,2,5,6Strike 2,3Lock 1Vital area 1Kick 2Movement 1,5,6 Strike 1,3Kick 2Lock 2Mental 2Kick 1,2,3Lock 1,2Movement 4,5Mental 1Throw 1,2,3,4Weapon 1Movement 2Lock 1,3Movement 1,2,4,7Lock 1Vital area 1,3Throw 2Strike 1,2,3Lock 1Kick 2Mental 2

WeaponsNone

None

None

Varies

Kau sin ke

None

None

None

None

Bo stick,jo sticks

None

None

counter any move, or send any opponentreeling with but the slightest and mostgentle touch.

The student�s mastery of his own bodyprovides him with superior defense. Thestudent learns the special Mental 51maneu-ver, Flowing Water, which allows the mar-tial artist to become as evasive and agileon defense as the flitting dragonfly. TheFlowing Water maneuver improves the

5 0 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

student�s Armor Class by 2 through swift,defensive moves. The Flowing Water statecan only be achieved when the studentwears no armor and is unencumbered byheavy gear (see Table 2 footnotes).

The ultimate achievement of the dragon-fly style is the ability to levitate. Levitationis taught only to those students who aremost dedicated and who prove worthy ofthis secret teaching.

Weapons are almost always ignored bythe students of the dragonfly in favor ofthe ability to master one�s inner energy.This style is rarely studied by anyoneother than monks or shukenja.

Hawk. The hawk is a hunter greatlyrevered for its swift attack and infallibleaim. The student of the hawk emulates thebirds talons through powerful fist blows,choking locks, and accurate finger strikes

Table 2The Eight Specialized Styles

Martial artsstyleBoneBreaker

Dark Hand

Eight-LeggedMan

Eye of theHurricane

Fist withinGlove

Oaken Grip

Silken Spear

Sword Breaker

Number of Principle Specialattacks Damage AC attack maneuvers

2/1Weapons

1-6 7 Hand Strike 1,2 Ninja-Vital area 1 favoredWeapon 2 weaponsLock 3Mental 2,4,5

2/1 1-6 6 Hand Vital area 1,2,3 Ninja-Strike 1 f a v o r e d Weapon 1,2 weaponsThrow 3Mental 2,4

3/ l 1-4 8 Foot Movement 1,2,4,5 NoneKick 1,3Throw 2Mental 2

1/1 1 - 4 5 Hand Throw 1,2,4 NonePush 1Movement 3,6Mental 1,2,3,5¹

1/1 1 - 4 6 Hand Lock 2,3,4 VariesWeapon 1,2Push 1Throw 4Mental 1,2,3

2/1 1 - 6 7 Foot Kick 1,2,3 Varies Weapon 1

Lock² 2,3Movement 4Mental 5

1/1 1-4 6 Hand Weapon 1,2,3 Spear,Vital area 1 naginataM o v e m e n t 2 , 4 3 Throw 4Mental 1,2,3

2/1 1 - 6 8 Hand Lock 1,2,3 Sai, Weapon 1,2 jitteStrike 2Throw 3

1 The Mental 5 maneuver in this style is not the Ironskin maneuver, but is instead the Flowing Water state that improves ArmorClass by 2 through speed and agility.² The Lock maneuvers of this style require the use of a special weapon.3 This Movement 4 is the Arrow Cutting special maneuver that allows a character to deflect missiles when using a weapon.

to nerve centers. The student�s flying kickis inspired by the hawks diving attack.

Students of the hawk usually disdain theuse of weapons, preferring to rely on theirown natural weapons instead. The hawkstyle is advanced by those who consideroffense vastly more important thandefense.

Leopard. The leopard provides lessonsin the importance of speed, cunning, andawareness of one�s surroundings. Theleopard stalks silently, seeks an opening,and strikes with a burst of blinding speed.The great cat�s moves are subtle anddeceptive. The rake of its rear claws is itsdeadliest attack.

The student of the leopard trains his

5 2 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

body to move with grace and rhythm, and who want to combine speed with power into make deceptive feints to produce an a combat system.opening. The student copies the leopards Mantis. Although the mantis is a smallpounce through mighty leaps and flying insect, its great skill enables it to defeatkicks. The leopards trick of trapping its insects much larger than itself. The stu-prey with jaws and foreclaws to rake with dent of the mantis copies the insect�sits rear claws is studied closely, so that the grasping forelegs by using a hooked handstudent may trap his foe with a Locking position that allows the martial artist toBlock maneuver, followed by sharp kicks score blows and make strong arm locks.to the body. The final goal of the student is The hopping movements and footwork ofto copy the leopards sudden attack by the mantis are duplicated by the manymastering the Speed (Movement 6) special kicks and great leaps of the student. Themaneuver. importance of fluid footwork is constantly

Students of the leopard prefer weapons stressed by the teacher, since footwork isthat simulate the leopards slashing claws, the key to the defensive moves of thissuch as the dagger, short sword, or kama. system.The leopard style is popular with those Weapons are occasionally taught to the

students of the mantis, though no specificweapon is universally favored. Weaponchoice is a matter of character class or theteacher�s personal preference.

Monkey. The monkey is an agile, acro-batic fighter who defeats his enemythrough trickery and cunning. His decep-tive moves lure a foe into making mistakesthat the monkey takes advantage of. Themonkey uses his environment to the full-est. Trees and foliage may be used toescape a foe, swinging vines to maneuverinto good position, and sticks to smash anopponent at range.

The student of the monkey must masterthe rolls and falls of his simian teacher.The monkey�s grasping hands are studiedfor the student to learn strong throws andcrushing locks. The monkey, stylist oftenbattles from a low, crouched position, andlearns to fight even when forced to theground.

The monkey�s use of sticks and treelimbs as weapons inspires the student tomaster the bo and jo sticks, and occasion-ally other stick- or staff-like weapons suchas the tonfa, kiseru, or tetsubo. But thestudent must thoroughly understand thata cunning mind is always the best weapon.

A few students of this style study avariation called the �horse-monkey,� whichis based on the observation of the stronggreat apes. Students of the horse-monkeylearn the Strike 3 (Eagle Claw) maneuverinstead of the Movement 2 (Prone Fight-ing) maneuver learned by those whoobserve the smaller monkeys. The horse-monkey style has a base AC 7 instead ofthe AC 6 of the monkey style.

Snake. The snake stylist studies notonly the cobra, but a variety of snakes tolearn a great many lessons. Some snakesbite and lock onto their prey, while othersuse a constricting attack, using their entirebody as a weapon. The snake has controlover every fiber of its body. The snakestrikes swiftly on attack, twists away toavoid counterattack, and curls back tostrike again. So superior is the snake�s

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body control that it cannot be held orhindered.

The student of the snake aims to masterevery aspect of his body�s motion. Thestudent must be able to avoid any attackthrough deceptive turns and twists, and toreturn to attack suddenly. Ultimately, thestudent achieves such great physical con-trol that he cannot be magically slowed.

The student learns to strike an oppo-nent�s vital points and to capture his foewith a, choking constriction. The studentcan attack and defend in any positionwithout hindrance, even when forced to aprone position. He can regain his feet asswiftly as the snake rises to strike.

No particular weapons are favored inthis style, though a variety are taught bydifferent schools. The weapons taughtvary from region to region. The snakestyle is sought out by martial artists whowish to combine an evasive defense with asolid offense.

Tiger. The tiger is the most respectedand feared of all hunters. The tiger stylistis taught to overwhelm his opponent withcrushing blows and kicks before the foecan return the attack. The tiger�s jawsinstruct the martial artist in the use of achoking lock. The tiger�s pounce inspiresthis style�s flying kick.

Students of the tiger often employ great,slashing weapons in combat, such as thenaginata or halberd. Weapons are oftendisdained by students, however, as thisstyle does not lack power.

The eight specialized stylesBone Breaker. The bone breaker art is

one of two specialized styles studied exclu-sively within ninja clans. This style com-bines the power of the tiger and cobrastyles with the speed and awareness of thecat style. Masters of the art of bone break-ing learn to score hard fist blows, strikevital nerve points, and disable a limb witha sudden attack. The ninja also trains tosmash an opponent�s weapons with hisown.

The ability to fight at night is crucial to aninja, so the student must master the cat�sability of blind fighting. The ninja alsotrains to toughen his flesh to avoid injury.This Ironskin maneuver seems to be basedon the mystic ki training of ninjutsu ratherthan the study of the noble dragon.

The ninja always learns to perform theweapon breaker maneuver with twoweapons typically taught within the ninjaclan. Popular ninjutsu weapons includethe sai, jitte, spear (shakujo yari), bo stick,and chain.

To teach the bone breaker art to onewho is not a member of the ninja clan isan offense against the clan � one thatcarries a mandatory death sentence.

Dark Hand. The dark hand is also asecret system closely guarded by a ninjaclan. Its origins are similar to that of thebone breaker style, save that this stylerelies more on the attacks of the cobrastyle and the defensive speed of the cat.

The ninja trains in the use of weapons tocatch or shatter an opponent�s weapons.The weapons taught in this style includeall martial arts weapons favored by ninja.To teach this style to an outsider meanscertain death.

Eight-Legged Man. This style finds itsorigin in the footwork and kicks of themantis combined with the offensive speedpromoted by certain feline styles. Thestudent of this style relies heavily on fast,precise footwork to place himself in aposition to attack with as many kicks aspossible. A master of this rare art movesin the manner of a spinning top, deliveringa flurry of kicks to targets in every direc-tion. Variations of this style are likened tothe spider or octopus because of the manyfoot strikes of this system.

The practitioner of this style trusts hisoffensive speed and footwork to overcomeany foe, rather than the crushing poweror active defense of other systems. Thestudent must develop strong, willowy legsto accomplish the difficult kicks andbounding leaps that are taught. Sincefootwork is all important, a downed fight-er must regain his feet without hesitationto remain in the battle. An awareness ofeverything around the martial artist allowshim to lash out in all directions with furi-ous kicks.

Weapons are totally ignored in this style.This style is aggressive and physicallydemanding, and is not popular with gentlepilgrims or those lacking the will to prac-tice constantly.

Eye of the Hurricane. This difficultsystem finds its origin in the dragonflystyle, with important techniques borrowedfrom the monkey and feline styles. Thestudent of this art strives to unite bodyand mind to achieve a state of spiritualperfection and tranquility. In addition tothe necessary physical skills, the studentof this art must learn patience, clearthought, and an understanding of theminds of others. While all else may bechaos and confusion, the student of thisart remains calm and serene within theeye of the hurricane.

This system stresses defensive speed andcontrol of the opponent�s actions above allelse. The student cannot be harmed by theviolent forces around him. Any attack isdeflected away harmlessly, followed by agentle strength that subdues the foe rath-er than injures him. Any attempt to movethe student is met by a mystic ki powerthat roots the martial artist to the ground.

The student can push himself to achievebursts of sudden offensive speed, but hisprimary goal is to always remain swift ondefense. Like the student of the dragonfly,the master of this style learns the FlowingWater maneuver (Mental 5¹), which allowshim to improve his Armor Class by 2 whenunarmored (see Table 2 footnotes).

Weapons are uniformly ignored in thisstyle. The eye of the hurricane system ispopular with monks, shukenja, some wujen sorcerers, and other martial artists of a

54 NOVEMBER 1987

spiritual or mystical mind.Fist within Glove. This style is popu-

lar with mendicant pilgrims, monks, nuns,and other peaceful folk who require a self-defense system that provides good protec-tion without obvious armament. This styleteaches restraint and discipline in allthings, with violence used only as a lastresort. An aggressor should be subduedwith as little fuss and harm as possible inthis style. The student always tries toavoid, or even run from, a potential con-flict; if necessary, though, he can defendhimself or others with his simple pilgrim�sstaff or bare hands.

The student practices with unobtrusiveweapons, such as the bo stick, jo sticks,kiseru, tonfa, or other weapons thatappear as simple agricultural tools orcommon items of the traveler. Peace ismaintained by a gentle and harmlessdemeanor � not by open displays of force.A pilgrim can handle any bandit or merce-nary he encounters, but never displaysany hint of aggression or challenge thatmight invite attack. His true power isalways well-cloaked, like a fist concealedwithin a silken glove.

Another common weapon of the pilgrimis a hardwood flute about 2-3� in length.This flute is treated as a jo stick in combat,but whistles a swirling tune as it is swungabout in battle. Some monks and shukenja

are reputed to carry magical flutes thatallow the owner to transform his ki powerinto spell-like songs, similar to the instru-ments of the bards. Each flute�s set ofspell-songs is unique.

Oaken Grip. This style is inspired bythe kicking and footwork of the dragonand mantis, but promotes the use of pow-erful hardwood weapons. The studentlearns solid footwork for defense andflamboyant kicks for offense. He trains hisbody to be resilient and resistant to injury.

The practitioner of this style uses thethree-piece rod, nunchaku, or tonfa todeliver crushing blows. These weaponsare also used to catch an opponent�s weap-on or to grab an arm or disable a limbwith a lock of oaken strength. When usingone of the weapons of this style, the stu-dent may perform a Locking Blow maneu-ver or an Incapacitator maneuver. Ifattempting a lock maneuver without oneof the aforementioned weapons, theattempt is made at �2 on the �to hit� roll,since the student is specifically trained touse a weapon. No weapons other thanthose mentioned above may be used toperform an oaken lock.

Silken Spear. This style is commonlytaught to women of the court, from anexalted empress to an ordinary handmaid-en. A noblewoman is expected to fightwhen necessary to defend herself or herclan. She must learn to employ weapons,common implements, and her environ-ment to defeat any foe. The use of weapons is essential to thisstyle. The woman is expected to masterthe spear and naginata together to per-

form the weapon-style special maneuvers.The woman also learns the art of ArrowCutting, which allows her to deflect mis-siles with the spear or naginata. In theArrow Cutting maneuver, the martialartist uses the weapon to knock arrowsand other missiles aside, rather than dodg-ing or deflecting missiles with the hands.

The woman may use the steel clothspear (Weapon 3) to perform the otherweapon special maneuvers; she may alsouse it to knock aside missiles with thearrow cutting art. If the woman does nothave a spear, naginata, or steel cloth spear,she may still attempt to deflect missiles,but at �4 on her saving throw (thisallowed due to the heavily stressed train-ing with the weapon).

A woman trained in the silken spearmay fight unarmed if need be, though sheprefers to use or improvise weapons if shecan (she can turn a simple piece of silkencloth into a flashing spear, if necessary).Some women even learn to use a simplestool or bench as an effective weapon(treat such a weapon as a tonfa with aspeed factor of 6-8).

Occasionally, noblewomen are taught toconceal weapons on their person in caseof emergency. They may hide a dart ordagger in the sleeve or carry an elegantfan that conceals a rigid set of steel ribs(treat as a gunsen). Small razors may behidden under long fingernails; theserazors may also be poisoned (treat as anekode with a speed factor of 1 for pur-pose of damage). The kanzashi, a sharp-pointed, ornamental hairpin that oftencontains a lethal poison, is commonlyworn. Treat the kanzashi as a nekode thatinflicts l-3 damage to small- or man-sizedopponents and 1-2 damage to large foes.

Female ninja, or kunoichi, often learnthis style so they may more easily infiltratea royal court and play the role of a hand-maiden or lady�s bodyguard. A kunoichispy will, of course, conceal a vast arsenalin her clothing or costume.

Sword Breaker. The sword breakerstyle was developed by local police forcesto deal with unruly swordsmen. Consta-bles or community defenders of the bushior yakuza class often study this art todefend themselves and their towns fromdrunken samurai or other lawbreakers.

The sword breaker style combinesstrong wrestling moves with the skills ofcatching and breaking a samurai�s blades.The student usually learns the use of thesai or jitte to catch and shatter a criminalsweapon. The jitte is learned by most con-stables, while elite police officers favor thesai as a symbol of rank. Other weaponsare studied, including the bo stick, josticks, tonfa, or chain. These weapons arefavored by poorer communities, since theymay be easily made or adapted from agri-cultural tools. The sode garami is also apopular weapon with police since it maybe used to entangle and subdue a criminal.

This style, or a variation thereof, isoccasionally studied by sohei or palace

guards in order to disarm and subdue afoe without wounding him. To spill bloodon sacred palace grounds or within a holytemple is sacrilegious in some lands.

Concluding thoughtsIn designing a new martial arts style, the

DM should strive to create somethingspecial while keeping the power of thestyle within reasonable limits. Try linkingdifferent special maneuvers into logical,yet imaginative styles that center around asolid idea. An intriguing animal, a colorfulphrase, an informative martial arts book,or a flamboyant movie stunt may providea good starting point for a novel martialarts style. Try giving a special maneuver aunique twist to make it more original.Look for a new way to use a martial artsweapon or play with various martial stylecombinations to see what new combina-tions fall out of Table 69.

Don�t be afraid to experiment with radi-cal ideas outside the regular campaign.Within the campaign, limit the more unor-thodox martial styles to NPCs until you aresure such styles are suitable for PCs. Erron the side of caution. Novelty is fun anddesirable, but becomes an aggravation ifmartial artists become too powerful. Mar-tial arts combat benefits the game onlywhen it is fair and well-balanced, notwhen it produces inhuman killingmachines who ruin the campaign.

D R A G O N 5 5

The Ecologyof the

Yeti

Cold-blooded in every respect

by Thomas Kiefer

�Great gods of winter,� breathed theheavily clothed figure as he foughtscreaming winds to squeeze shut the doorbehind him. �Nothing worse than a breezeon flat snow.� He turned to face into theroom he had just entered. �Hiya, Echord.How�ya doing?�

The bespectacled, seemingly middle-agedman seated at the desk across the roomlooked up from his book as his friendbrushed snow off his parka. �Can�t com-plain.� He paused long enough to take afolded piece of parchment from the deskand mark his place with it before closingthe book. �I haven�t seen you here in awhile, Filnan. You still haven�t learned toknock.�

Filnan ignored this comment as hemoved toward his scholarly friend andsank into a chair across from him. �I got totalk to you about something important,� hebegan, pulling back his hood and rufflinghis thick blond hair with a mittened hand.Ice cracked on his beard and hung unno-ticed from his bushy eyebrows. �Did youhear that we�re all having trouble again?Folks just a ways north of Mak-Tsu-Shungare complaining that snow-people fromWorld�s End Peaks have started comingdown on raids. We�ve even had a few dropin ourselves. Some folks�ve been hurt �some others killed.�

The older man waited, expecting Filnanto say more. When Filnan failed to pick upthe conversation, the older man sighed.�That�s terrible news, my friend, but whycome to me? You knew that might eventu-ally happen when you decided to move upthere. World�s End is the homeland ofevery frost-beast there is. You even toldme so. If those creatures intend to comedown from the peaks and attack, there�snot much I can do about it.�

The two stared at one another withoutanger. Ten years of life in this mountain-ous land of glaciers, bone-cold wind, andreticent people had burned away all but adeep and abiding sense of respect for oneanother. Not that they ever saw eye to eye,Echord thought.

�Look,� Filnan said, shifting in his seat,�we really do need some help here; I�mserious. The only things I know for sureabout abominable snowmen are that younever see �em till they�re right on you,they look like big white monkeys, and theylike to tear people into little pieces andstuff them into their mouths. That doesn�thelp us do anything about it. The folksaround Mak-Tsu-Shung � you know them.They�re not fighters at all � their grand-daddies, maybe, but now they�re justtundra villagers, goat herders. Thosewalking snowballs aren�t gonna call offtheir raids just �cause the fight ain�t fair.We gotta know what to do about it. I havea family and friends there now.�

Echord looked thoughtful and nodded,eyes fixed on Filnan. �I imagine that�s what

56 NOVEMBER 1987

keeps the snow-people coming back everyso often. They prefer a meal that fightsineffectively. Up there by the Worlds End,you�re it.�

Filnan grimaced and turned away. �Nodoubt. Well, that�s why I came here. Wedon�t know much about them. But you��

� ��are a sage, you read a lot, and youmight know something useful,� � Echordfinished for him, and smiled in a tired sortof way. He shuffled the papers about hisdesk to create a suitable place to leave hisbook, then arose and walked to the book-case that covered half the east wall. �I doseem to remember having somethingconcerning these creatures. Bought itfrom a caravan mage. Living as close tothe yeti as we do, I thought it might some-day come in handy,� He stopped his searchto pull one relatively small and slim bookfrom the line-up. �Ah, here we are.�

Blowing the dust off the cover, thescholar walked back to his seat and settledin his place, opening the creaking book.�In case you haven�t noticed, this is not themost-used volume of my collection,� hesaid, leafing through the first few pages.�But its contents are not totally alien tome. Let�s see what we can come up with.�

Filnan sat back as he watched his friendat work. Echord had always been theintelligent one, ever since their youth.Each dive into the depths of knowledgewas like a game, even when the stakeswere considerable, as they were now.Echord hated to come up short on infor-mation � to �lose.� He took his studyingvery seriously. His knowledge and Filnan�ssword arm had kept them both alive hereafter their fellow adventurers were lost toan avalanche, many years ago. Now, nei-ther man wished to leave this snowboundland. It had its hazards � but it was home.

�Well, this is interesting,� the scholar saidas he stopped on one page. �Taxonomistshave typically associated the yeti with theprimates, but the creatures also appear toshare certain characteristics with bears.According to this, their ancestry may be ofone or the other, or possibly a mix of both.The yeti seems to have the instincts of thecarnivorous ape and gorilla bear, both ofwhich may be distant relatives.

�Of course, yeti dwell only in very coldclimes, it being much more comfortablesince their normal body temperatures aremuch lower than most blooded livingcreatures.� Echord read a bit more andchewed his lower lip. �Their peculiarinternal biological processes require coldatmosphere to maintain life, and in turnproduce an even colder one. They�ll live inplains, hills, or other areas of extremecold. They�re hard to spot in the snow-covered plains . . . white fur, of course. . . .Hmm. They also seem to be smart enoughto learn to use this to their advantage, andso gain surprise when they hunt. And theylike shallow caves.�

Echord raised a finger as he read, as iflecturing to one of his classes long ago athis academy. � �It seems that the yeti are

quite fierce and aggressive in their disposi-tion, but among their own kind they aresaid to be quite congenial. Should theyhappen to encounter any other beast orbeing, they respond fiercely, to ward awaythe threat before they attack. They beaton their chests, hurl stones, strut about,flail their arms, and hoot loudly in a man-ner which echoes for great distances. Ifthe intruders do not leave, they are soonsurrounded and attacked. If they do leave,they are stalked and attacked soonenough. Any meeting with these creaturesis bound to lead to conflict.� �

�I�ll remember that next time I drop inon them,� the younger man murmuredwith a sigh. He rubbed his face, removingthe last of the melting snow. These detailswere not what Filnan had come to hear,but he knew Echord�s thorough, methodi-cal nature of investigation was unstoppa-ble, even when it was not necessary.Before he had even opened his friend�sfront door, Filnan had already resignedhimself to waiting patiently until thedesired material arose. In the meantime,he sat back and waited for revelation.

Echord simply continued. � �Unlike mostother primates, the yeti do not care fortheir young long after birth. Usually, theyoung must fend for themselves at anearly age, looking and fighting for foodand such. This makes them strong, fierce� and rare as well. These beasts are notparticular about what meat they eat,though one of their favorite meals ishuman flesh.� �

�So I�ve noticed,� Filnan mumbled.� �The yeti are quite strong and are not

ones to be toyed with by the careless. Thephysical strength of the average yeti iscomparable to that of a hill giant, which isgreater than that of any human alive.

� � Additionally, they have a special talentfor inducing great fright in their oppo-nents. More than a few who have survivedyeti encounters have testified to an unnat-ural sense of horror upon gazing into asnowman�s pale eyes. The majority agreeto the description of it as a mind-chillingsensation, leaving the blood as water andthe skeleton as jelly, though not everyoneis affected in exactly the same manner.The most experienced of fighting menseem to have some resistance to thispower, however.� � He glanced up. �Still, Iwouldn�t suggest you go out and wrestlewith one, no matter how good you are!�

�Don�t worry,� the visitor dryly assuredhis host. �I wasn�t planning on it. Anythingin there about how to stop them fromrampaging through small towns?�

�Patience, my friend. Unless you can tellme that we have a hungry yeti grumblingat my doorstep, you�ve nothing to lose bybeing patient.� Readjusting his readingglasses, Echord returned to the text of hisbook. �Well, since the yeti is a cold-blooded, cold-dwelling creature, I wouldimagine that heat would not please one.Have you tried lighting fires around town?Bonfires on the outskirts at night? How

about fire arrows? Anybody up thereknow how to prepare them?�

Filnan stared into space for a moment.�Fire,� he finally said. �Of course. Itwouldn�t be too difficult to . . .� Filnan�svoice trailed off, his visage darkening a bitas he glanced at the wind-whipped snowflying beyond the clouded windowpane.�But I�m not sure how long that�d last. It�s abit beyond a kite-flying breeze out there.As for fire arrows � they make moresense, but I have no pitch to prepare effec-tive ones for combat purposes. The lampoil here is useless for this sort of thing.And if I can�t do it, no one can, since I�mstill the best archer in town, in case youhaven�t heard lately.�

�No, I haven�t heard lately, but I canalways count on you for that, eh?� Echordturned back to the flipping of pages. �Youknow, I see nothing about it in here, but itseems to me that if you raise a creature�sbody temperature enough above normal,it�ll eventually die, right?�

�Yeah, sure.� Filnan was mumbling again.�I had an uncle die from green fever,remember?�

�Of course I do.� The man was beginningto take on the distant look he always didwhen he was thinking hard. �The humanbody temperature is fairly high. Youruncle�s just went a little too high andstayed there a little too long. But thoughthe yeti�s internal temperature is muchlower, it can still get a fever?

Filnan�s wandering eyes came to rest onEchord again. �That�s true. But I hope thisis leading somewhere?

�Well,� Echord continued, looking downat the book, �I�m not � ah, here it is.� Hestopped turning pages and settled a fingeron the top part of one. �You�ve fought yeti,right? Have you ever noticed that a yetiseems to radiate cold about him?�

Filnan looked away and half-smiled, buthe didn�t look amused. �Yeah. I got into afight with one. I was with my boy Mahongwhen he was playing in the snow.Thought I heard something, drew mysword, turned around, and the damnedthing was right there behind me. Before Icould move, it had smacked my swordaway, knocked me down, and was aboutto tear my face off when old Torkens ranup and jammed his spear through its neck.I think the yeti cracked a rib on me, butthe cold was worse than being crushed.That ugly thing was colder than the Hells�eighth plane. And you know what?Mahong thought it was all so funny thathe just laughed and laughed.�

Echord chuckled softly. �That soundslike your boy. But a creature cannot actu-ally radiate cold. Cold isn�t really a pres-ence of something, it�s an absence ofsomething � heat, actually energy of asort. Nothing can radiate a lack of some-thing.�

Filnan looked confused but thoughtful.�I think I follow you, but I definitely hurtmore from cold than from having mychest mashed in when that yeti got me.�

D R A G O N 5 7

�True." Echord took on his patientexpression, like a teacher explaining anelusive concept to a student. �But never-theless, cold isn�t radiated; not like that,anyway. Still, because of its low bodytemperature, if a yeti were to find itself insurroundings where the temperature washigher than its own, it would pick up someof the heat. Heat energy travels from areasof greater concentration � warm areas �to areas of lesser concentration � coolareas � like any other diffusing action.�

�You�re losing me," Filnan warned.�I�m simply saying that the yeti doesn�t

radiate cold, but that, by way of a kineticvacuum of sorts, it absorbs the heat. Thetemperature of the surroundings drops,losing energy, while that same energy isabsorbed by the yeti, whose internal tem-perature rises slightly.�

�You mean that if a snowman drainedenough people of their body heat, it mightget a fever? I�m not sure I�d want to exper-iment with that.�

Echord assumed his patient look again.�Not necessarily body heat; the heatenergy can come from virtually anywhere.How well are your homes heated?�

�Not all that well, really. We�ve let thingsslide a bit since the yeti attacks started,and the wind�s caused some damage to the

sade around the town, or hauling rocks inby sled for walls. Bad neighbors fromWorlds End and all that.�

�Maybe you should look into betterheating. It could be that your fireplacesare keeping out more than frostbite. Theyeti would dare not get close to a reallywarm area.�

The younger man looked startled. Hiseyes began to brighten. �Yeah, that makessense."

�The very sight of fire itself might deterthem from attack, in fact,� Echord contin-ued. �Maybe a heated metal fence wouldhelp guard the rest of the town betterthan a big wooden fence � if you�re verycareful about its design and construction,that is. Most metals are wonderful conduc-tors of heat, you know.�

�Yeah,� Filnan repeated, sitting forward inhis chair. �You know, there�s a group ofgnomes a few miles from town. They prob-ably have a metal shop back in their caves.I haven�t seen �em around much, but theymight be friendly enough to help. . . . Thisjust might work." His eyes returned to hisfriends face as his voice regained its vigor.�Would you mind coming over to Mak-Tsu-Shung and explaining all this to the guys?They�re not likely to listen to all this comingfrom strong-but-uneducated me. It�ll sound

walls and roofs. We�re thinking moreabout defense lately. Some of the guyshave been thinking about building a pali-

a little more reasonable from you; theyknow you. Maybe you could help designthis stuff, too.�

I�M THENO-SASEOGRE.

It�s quite possible that your manu-scripts and I have already met. Ifthe editors receive a gaming ar-ticle, but the author has not sent aself-addressed, stamped envelopewith the manuscript to allow for areply, the editors give the manu-script to me, and . . . well, let�s notdwell on that.

Give the editors (and your manu-scripts) a fair break. With each ar-ticle you send us, enclose a SASElarge enough to permit the easy re-turn of the manuscript, should itrequire rewriting or be unsuitablefor use. Canadians and residentsof other countries should encloseinternational postal coupons, avail-able at local post offices.

Don�t let your article come myway. Be sure to use a SASE with allyour submissions.

5 8 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

Echord let out a long sigh as he closedthe yeti book on a finger, suddenly recall-ing Filnan�s lack of appreciation for thefiguring and details involved in mechanicsand sciences. He always treated it likesome mathematized branch of magicwhose workings were best left to others.The idea Echord had proposed was vague,at best, and would need work; after all, hehad just mentioned it off the top of hishead less than a minute ago. But Filnanseemed to be getting somewhat excitedover it already, and knowing him asEchord did, he wouldn�t likely calm downuntil the plan�s execution was underway.

�I suppose so," he finally assented. �May-be tomorrow afternoon. I�ve nothing thatabsolutely demands my attention then.� Hepulled his finger from the book as he roseto return it to its place among its fellows.When he turned back, he saw that Filnanwas also on his feet, his face revealing arelieved grin.

�A heated wall sounds like crazy stuff,but only you could make it work. Youalways were the one to figure out a puz-zle.� Filnan clasped Echord�s hand when hewalked back. �Thanks a lot. I can�t wait tosee the guys� reactions. Y�know, they didn�tbelieve you could help us at all. Wethought we were gonna die.�

�Glad to help,� Echord assured him,following Filnan to the door. �But keep inmind, a heated wall won�t be foolproof byany means. It�s more of a general deter-rent. You will still have to keep on yourtoes. In the meantime, why don�t I giveyou the name of a friend of mine whospecializes in preparing certain types offire arrows. . . ."

NotesYeti are actually biological relatives of

both the lower primates and the bears.They are most closely related to the moun-tain gorilla, to which many of the yeti�stypical habits and instincts might be com-pared. Yeti mate and bear young much asdo any other lower primates. After that,the young stay with the parents for onlytwo years after birth; they don�t staydependent on their parents as long as domost other primates. Any young encoun-tered with a group of yeti will typically bejust old enough to fight effectively on theirown. This early separation and indepen-dence from the parents causes them to tohunt for food at a relatively early age,limits their population growth to thosestrong enough to survive, and accountsfor part of their racial ferocity.

Female and male adults have the samesorts of AD&D® game statistics. Yetibecome adults at five years of age. Youngyeti (at two, three, and four years of age)have 1+ 1 to 3 + 3 HD, and do l-2/1-2, 1-3/1-3, or 1-4/1-4 hp damage with their claws.Chill damage from young yeti amounts to1-6, 2-8, or 2-12 hp damage. The power tofrighten opponents by gaze only comeswith full adulthood. All yeti are immune tocold attacks because of their thick fur and

D R A G O N 5 9

fat layers, as well as from their uniquebiology.

If a yeti is captured at an early age,cared for, fed properly (they have vora-cious appetites) and kept in a suitablearctic climate, the creature could be tamedand raised in much the same manner asany other domesticated animal. Usually,such domesticated yeti will follow theirinstincts and leave �home� after a fewyears for the icy wilderness. As a result oftheir early domestication, however, theseyeti are often less ferocious than the aver-age abominable snowman. Those yeti thatstay at home (30%) grow up to be veryloyal to their caretakers.

The strength of a typical yeti may bedetermined with a 1d12 as follows: 1 =18/90-99, 2-4 = 18/00, 5-9 = 19, l0-12 =20. The only weapons a yeti will use arehurled rocks, which gain bonuses to dam-age from this great strength. A hurledrock does a base of 2-8 hp damage, has arange of 120 yards (40 yards being theshort-range limit and 80 yards themedium-range limit), and is about 6� indiameter, weighing about l0-12 lbs. Yetihurl them with one hand like shot-puts.

According to the Monster Manual, anycreature surprised by a yeti in combatmust save vs. paralyzation to avoid lookinginto the yeti�s pale blue or colorless eyes.Anyone failing such a save becomes �rigidwith fright for 3 melee rounds and can be

automatically struck twice and squeezedby the yeti.� This effect does not take placeagainst creatures which are normallyimmune to fear of any sort, includingcavaliers, most undead, and generallymindless creatures. It is believed that theunusual crystalline coloring, together witha strange and faint pulsating of light with-in the creature�s eyes, is responsible forthis effect. Such pulsating dies when theyeti does, thus ending any more fear-striking gazes from the creature.

Also stated in the Monster Manual is theyeti�s particular vulnerability to fire, as ittakes 150% damage from any such attacks.This also applies to any other form ofheat-based attacks. Yeti aren�t particularlybright nor fearful, but usually stay awayfrom fire and other obvious sources ofheat, for they realize this weakness andtake pains to avoid it.

Yeti absorb heat from their surround-ings. If grabbed by a yeti, as described inthe Monster Manual, a victim suffers 2-16hp cold damage. After a yeti has causedchill damage equal to its own hit-pointtotal, it begins to feel weak, suffering � 1on �to hit� rolls and an additional � 1 foreach additional 8 hp chill damage caused.This chill damage is actually causing theyeti to warm up internally, disrupting itsmetabolism. When this �to hit� penaltyreaches � 6, the yeti passes out, becomingfeverish and remaining unconscious for

2-12 turns. At � 9, the yeti dies fromsevere overheating. Generally, it takesabout three turns for a yeti to recoverfrom each � 1 of �to hit� loss suffered,providing the creature is still alive. Thiscondition may also be inflicted by absorb-ing heat from sources other than people.Greater sources of such heat contributemore than the 2-16 hp drained fromhumans, just as relatively cooler sourcescontribute less. Heat or fire attacks con-tribute half their unadjusted (prior to theaddition of the extra 50%) damage value inaddition to the 150% damage taken.

This cold radiation fades away graduallyafter a yeti dies. The internal biologicaland chemical functions which maintainsuch an extremely low body temperatureeventually cease within a dead yeti, andthe body then begins to approach thetemperature of its surroundings, thusdecreasing the effect of the radiation ofcold. In terms of hit points, the damageinflicted is typically reduced by 10% forevery two turns that the yeti has beendead (this may be adjusted up or down inunusually warm or cool air temperatures).Consequently, two turns after death, colddamage from a yeti will be multiplied by.9, by .8 after four turns, .7 after six, etc.After 20 turns, the yeti�s internal tempera-ture will be close enough to the surround-ings� that cold damage will be nil, and thebody may be safely investigated.

6 0 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

by Arthur Collins

�In the Name of His Gracious Majesty,King Scopwine of Downing, His Majesty�sClerk of Probate in and for the County ofAethelshire, to Hugh Fowler of the saidCounty, Greetings:

�Inasmuch as the Clerk of Probate hasbeen given the task of discovering theheirs and assigns of the late Pharkos Deli-quescens, reputed Illusionist, who diedintestate on the 14th instant, and inas-much as you, Hugh Fowler, are issue ofthe deceased�s sister, thrice removed, youare requested to present yourself at theoffice of the Clerk of Probate in Thanburyon the 7th immediate in order to assist insettling your uncle�s affairs.

�Virtually all that remains of your uncle�spersonal property following the mysteri-ous circumstances attendant upon hisdemise is a portion of his library. Herewithis appended a catalogue of said property,which property�s value is to be set againstthe legal fees required to settle his affairsand just debts, the surplus (if any) to cometo you and any other proper and lawfulheirs which the Clerk of Probate maydiscover. . . .�

When the great Pharkos Deliquescensdied (eaten up by demons, it is said), heleft behind a double legacy of illusions.The first legacy of illusions he left was tohis young nephew, Hugh Fowler, whoinherited a fable of wealth that was as realas snowmen in July. His second legacy ofillusions he left to all who were of hiscraft: his great Cyclopedia Phantastica, acompilation in 10 volumes covering some80 years of arcane research. In this monu-mental work, Pharkos Deliquescensrecorded some hundred or so spells, mostof his own discovery.

6 2 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

It is perhaps fitting that Pharkos died ashe had lived. Dedicated to pursuing hisnever-ending curiosity, his quest appar-ently got the better of him in the matter ofresearching the proper summonings ofdemons through illusionary magic. Equallydedicated to never giving a sucker an evenbreak, or paying a debt that he couldavoid, Pharkos managed to cheat both hisnephew and his colleagues, since the onlyproperty to survive his rather messydemise was his library, which Hugh Fowl-er promptly sold to a secondhand book-store to get what little he could out of hisuncle�s estate. And so disappeared for alltime the great Cyclopedia Phantastica, asanguished illusionists were to find out toolate to do anything about it.

However, one volume did resurfaceyears later. Volume III came to light (assuch books so often do) at a church rum-mage sale, where it was bought by a used-book dealer, who sold it to someone wholater donated it to the library of a homefor delinquent cats. There, it was finallylocated by a sage of the University ofDarcurry, who purchased it and wrote amonograph about it. From that sourcecomes this synopsis of the 10 survivingspells of Pharkos Deliquescens: all thatremains of his life�s work � a legacy ofillusions.

Color Blindness (Illusion/Phantasm)Level: 1 Components: VRange: 3� CT: 1 segmentDuration: 3 turns ST: Neg.AE: 1 creatureExplanation/Description: The color blind-ness spell causes the recipient creature tobe unable to distinguish colors. All visionis in black and white. Various cure spellscannot remove this effect, and only asuccessful dispel magic or dispel illusioncan remove the defect before the spell�s

expiration if the creature fails its initialsaving throw against this spell. The nega-tive effects of this spell can be difficult tomoderate but can be important. Normally,many gems, beasts, potions, banners,plants, and so on are distinguished fromsimilar things by color; a being who iscolor-blind is unable to use color to distin-guish between them. The positive effectsof color blindness include a + 2 (or + 10%)bonus in locating concealed or camou- flaged objects, and a � 2 (or � 10%) penal-ty assessed against persons hiding inshadows from the color-blind person.Thus, brownies (invisible in natural sur-roundings) can be seen on a 10% chance,while shadows are only 80% undetectable.Likewise, color-blind characters otherthan elves and half-elves have a 1 in 6chance of finding secret or concealeddoors, while color-blind elves and half-elves get a + 1 to do this. The surprisepotential of opponents is affected if theyuse camouflage to enhance their chance ofsurprise.

Tunnel Vision (Illusion/Phantasm)Level: 1 Components: V,SRange: 1" CT: 2 segmentsDuration: 3 turns ST: Neg.AE: 1 creatureExplanation/Description: This spell reducesthe recipient creature�s field of vision tothe area that is directly in front of it, aspace 60° wide. All peripheral vision isreplaced with a gray shading. Consequent-ly, the creature�s armor class is reduced by�4 against all opponents but those thecreature directly faces, and at very closequarters (e.g., in hand-to-hand combat), itsarmor class is reduced by � 1 (evenagainst beings the recipient meets face-on).Various cure spells cannot remove thiseffect, and only a dispel magic or dispelillusion can remove the defect before thespells expiration if the creature fails itsinitial saving throw vs. spells. This defectallows for surprise and back-stabbingattacks to be made from the side (thievesand assassins, take note). Saving throwsagainst back or side attacks are made at�2 (except for those vs. poison).

Blandness (Alteration)Level: 2 Components: V,S,MRange: 0 CT: 2 segmentsDuration: Perm. ST: NoneAE: 1 pint or pound of materialExplanation/Description: This spell canonly be cast on nonliving material. Itseffect is to render the material completelytasteless and odorless. Color, texture, andso on are not affected. Thus, a poisonoussubstance could be inserted in food, andcould only be detected by suspicious color,texture, or consistency, by the use of aspell such as detect magic or detect poi-son. Detect illusion is the only spell whichgives the caster a chance to detect the useof this spell on foodstuffs. The materialcomponent of this spell is a dram of dis-tilled water, available from any alchemist.

Echoes (Illusion/Phantasm)Level: 2 Components: V,S,MDuration: 2 rds/lvl CT: 3 segmentsAE: 1 creature ST: ½Range: 3" + 1�/level of casterExplanation/Description: This spell causesevery sound within the recipient crea-ture�s hearing to reverberate loudly in hismind as if the victim were in an echochamber. It becomes very difficult for therecipient to understand speech, to pick outone sound from another, and the like. Therecipient often tries to tiptoe in an exag-gerated fashion to try to reduce the noiselevel which only it hears. Sometimes therecipient merely collapses in a moaningheap. No coordinated action with othercreatures is possible for the recipient, andthe victim lashes out an any personattempting to contact it closely. Fightingand making saving throws are at � 2, andthere is a �2 penalty to armor class. If thesaving throw is made, the recipient fightsand saves at � 1, with a � 1 penalty toarmor class. Either way, its auditorynerves receive a great hammering. Crea-tures with keen hearing (such as cats,bats, predators in general, rabbits, and soon) run and hide in order to find quiet, orsimply crouch in a corner. A silence spellor a deafness spell laid on over the echoescancels its effects (as well as all sound) forthe duration of those spells. The materialcomponent is a little tin gong or cymbal.

Numbness (Illusion/Phantasm)Level: 3 Components: V,SRange: Touch CT: 3 segmentsAE: being�s limb ST: Neg.Duration: 1 turn/level of the casterExplanationDescription: This spell causes alimb of the recipient�s body to go numb.Only arms, legs, tails, tentacles, and wingscan be so affected; heads and trunks ofbodies cannot (the trunk of an elephant isconsidered a tentacle). The spell-caster mustmake a successful �to hit� roll to affect thepart he desires, as per the following table:

Body part �To hit� penaltyStriking tentacle, clawed arm +0Lowered wing, � 1

weapon-holding armLeg or foreleg � 2Raised wing, active tail – 3

active tail� can mean any limb that movesvery fast or is positioned so as to be veryawkward to reach. Helpless, sleeping, orbound opponents can be automaticallytouched. The spell causes the limb to lose allfeeling for the duration of the numbness,with consequent loss of dexterity and judg-ment. The following specific penalties accrueto a numbed limb (and its owner):

1. Overall dexterity loss in the limbnumbed is �4, with attendant penalties onattack or defense, thieving abilities and soon. The recipient is � 1 to hit with that limbfor the duration of the spell, and missile-firing penalties may be assessed in additionto dexterity loss.

2. Walking on a numbed limb gives a 20%chance each round of tripping. A numbedwing reduces flying movement rate by one-third, maneuverability class by one step, andcauses the flyer to require two rounds tobecome airborne. Also, the movement ratefor a creature with a numbed leg is reducedby one-third.

3. Objects grasped by a numbed limb havea 60% chance each round of slipping fromits grasp. Creatures attempting to break freefrom the grasp of a numbed limb get a+ 30% (or + 6) to their attempts to do so.Damage inflicted by a numbed limbs clutch(e.g., a bear�s hug) is at � 1 per die of dam-age (but never zero, if damage is to beassessed).

4. Wounds to the numbed limb are notfelt. As a result, each numbed limb causesthe victim to believe he has suffered 25%less damage than he has actually taken. TheDM should count up the total damage takenby the character in each round, then tell theplayer of the numbed PC that the PC hastaken only three-fourths of that amount ofdamage. The DM should keep a separatetally of the PC�s hit points with the true(unmodified) damage score. Thus, the PCmay run out of hit points and fall uncon-scious at an unexpected moment when itseemed the PC had a few hit points left.

5. The armor class of the recipient is alsoadversely affected. A general penalty of �1is assessed, unless that limb�s use is morevital (e.g., a shield arm).

6. All penalties for numbness are cumula-

tive, so if more than one limb is numbed, therecipient suffers more ill effects.

Remove Smell (Alteration, Illusion/Phantasm)Level: 3 Components: V,S,MRange: 0 or 6� CT: 3 segmentsDuration: 1 turn/level of casterAE: 1 creature or objectST: None or neg.Explanation/Description: This spell has twoforms. In its first manifestation, it rendersthe spell-caster or any one other creature orobject undetectable by smell for the durationof the spell. No saving throw is required forthis form of the spell. In its second form, thespell is cast upon a living creature, deprivingit of its sense of smell for the duration of thespell. The recipient of this form of the spellgets a saving throw. Note that attacks suchas stinking cloud are ineffective against abeing who cannot smell. Caustic fluids willstill burn, however.

Remove smell works by affecting theolfactory nerves. In its first form, all parti-cles normally emitted by the recipient crea-ture or object are masked by carrying thespell�s dweomer to all available olfactorynerves that might detect them. In the secondform, the dweomer is applied directly to onecreature�s olfactory apparatus, rendering itincapable of sensing any particles from anysource. The material component is a sliver ofsoap.

Lapse (Enchantment/Charm)Level: 4 Components: V,S,MRange: 0 CT: 4 segmentsDuration: Special ST: SpecialAE: 1 creatureExplanation/Description: This insidious spellis not cast directly upon its victim. Rather,any small object or substance can receivethe dweomer, which then delivers its magi-cal charge to the first creature that touchesit. Typical �triggers� would be a comb, awine cup, a ring, a paving stone � any solidobject of relatively small size. The first crea-ture that touches the �trigger� is affected,with no saving throw allowed at that time.Nor does the recipient know it has beenaffected, though subsequent spells such as

Tentacles, arms, and active tails areassumed to be in use for attacking the spell-caster or his allies. Some further modifica-tions may be required, and some commonsense must be shown in moderating thesehit probabilities. A dragon raising its wingshigh over the illusionist�s head may wellhave those wings out of all reach, while agnome illusionist fighting a giant would nothave to stoop or lunge below his normalheight to touch the giant�s leg. In general, theterm �striking tentacle� can refer to any limbwithin easy reach; �weapon-holding arm�can mean any limb close but active; �leg� canmean any limb for which the illusionistmight have to lunge or spring; �raised wing,

D R A G O N 6 3

detect charm will discover something isamiss.

Once triggered, the spell causes a lapse inthe victims memorization of spells, to occurat some future time (an inconvenient time,the caster hopes, but there are no guaran-tees). Whenever the recipient attempts tocast a memorized spell (as opposed to a spellread from a scroll or cast from a magicalitem), the lapse comes into effect. Any spell-caster, including magic-users, illusionists,clerics, druids, rangers, paladins, etc., can beso affected, and even monsters that castspells as part of their normal set of abilities(certain dragons, liches, titans, etc.) aresubject to this spell. Note that natural abili-ties concerning flight, breath weapons, andso forth are not affected.

When the victim prepares to cast a spell,he must make a saving throw vs. spells;failure indicates a malfunction of memoryduring which time the spell-caster cannotthink of any spells at all. Spells so �forgotten�are not lost, however; the lapse passes with-in 2-5 rounds, and the spell-casting victimmay then cast spells normally. Of course,this spell is wasted if a fighter, barbarian, orother class using no spells becomes thespells victim. Lapse has proved insidiouslypopular with assassins capable of spell-casting, when going after a spell-castingvictim.

Making one�s initial saving throw againstthis spell does not indicate the spell hasfailed, however. Once affected, the recipientkeeps on making saving throws until a lapseoccurs by failing one, whereupon the spellsduration expires. This spell is, of course,usually banned in areas frequented by spell-casters. A successful dispel magic eliminatesthis dweomer.

Anesthesia (Enchantment/Charm)Level: 5 Components: V,S,MRange: Touch CT: 1 roundDuration: Special ST: ½AE: 1 creatureExplanation/Description: By means of thisspell, the illusionist renders the recipientunconscious and insensate for a period oftime. Duration is two rounds per level of thecaster minus the hit dice or level of therecipient. Thus, a 10th-level illusionist cast-ing this spell on a 15th-level fighter would beable to anaesthetize the fighter for fiverounds ((2 X 10) � 15 = 5). An affectedcreature must roll a saving throw, whichdecreases duration by one half if successful(2½ rounds in the example above).

While anesthesia has obvious benefits formedieval surgery, it has other propertieswhich make it more interesting in gameterms. Its greatest asset is that it adds a+ 10% to system-shock survival rolls whilethe recipient is anesthetized, and it reducessaving throws in general by �4. This makesit easier to perform certain magical opera-tions upon the recipient, with less worryover killing it in the process. The spellsgreatest liability is that the �4 saving-throwpenalty endures beyond the expiration of

the anesthesia for 20 rounds minus the hitdice or level of the recipient. In terms ofcombat, an anesthetized creature may bekilled automatically by any opponent with-out even rolling to hit. Only living creaturessusceptible to charm spells are subject to thespells effects (undead, golems, etc., areunaffected). The recipient�s magical attackadjustment or resistance to charm spellsmay affect the saving throw. The materialcomponent is a poppy flower.

Seizure (Enchantment/Charm, Illusion/Phantasm)Level: 6 AE: 1 creatureRange: 0 or touch CT: 4 segmentsDuration: Special ST: Special or neg.Components: V,S,M or V,SExplanation/Description: Like the lapse spell,above, this spell can be cast upon a triggerobject, which then delivers the spells poten-tial to the first creature that touches it.Saving throws for the seizure follow thesame pattern as for a lapse: repeated savingthrows until a failure occurs. In case of aseizure, a saving throw is rolled at the startof every round of melee combat in whichthe victim is involved. Note that the mentalattack adjustment for superior or inferiorwisdom affects this saving throw.

The recipient of this spell does not knowthat it has a seizure lying in wait, although adetect charm would notice the spells auraon the recipient. However, the illusionist canalso cast this spell in an immediate form bytouching the recipient, in which case there isno material component. The recipient thengets one saving throw vs. the spell, andeither has an immediate seizure (failed sav-ing throw) or the spell is wasted (successfulsaving throw).

The effects of a seizure upon the recipientcause him to collapse in fits, thrashing wildlyabout while making choking noises andstrangled cries. The body quivers and con-torts. This lasts for 2-5 rounds, ending in oneround of the victim being stiff in a state ofrigor, followed by 2-5 rounds of uncon-sciousness. The victim is virtually helplessfor 3-18 rounds after regaining conscious-ness, and is unable to fight or engage inspell-casting or strenuous activity. Thereaf-ter, the victim is able to react normally,though with a �2 on saving throws, attacks,and defense for 5-20 rounds more (with a10% chance of spell failure when casting anyspell during that time).

While thrashing about, the victim takes 1-4hp of damage per round unless restrained.The victim strikes aimlessly at his restrainerswith all limbs, inflicting no damage except tothose with AC 9 or AC 10 (50% chance of 1hp damage per round). In the one round ofrigor, the victim must save vs. death magic at+2 or choke, dying 1-3 rounds later, unlesssomeone is nearby who can prevent thechoking with simple aid. The final result of aseizure is a temporary loss of 1-4 points ofstrength and constitution, which are recov-ered at a rate of 1 point each per day (nosystem shock roll is required).

64 NOVEMBER 1987

(continued from page 14)many variables affecting the actions of arouting unit that it is impossible to coverevery possible situation. Players and ref-erees must apply some common sensewhen adjudicating routs; just rememberthat a routing unit wants to get away fromwhatever caused it to rout, and will try toexit the battlefield at the same point that itentered.

The illustration on page 11 ([7.8])of the BATTLESYSTEM rulebookshows a wheeling movement andgives the movement cost as 5�. Can aunit perform a double wheel and gotwice as far, or half a wheel and goonly half as far?

There is no fixed cost for wheeling; youhave misinterpreted the example in therules. A wheeling unit pivots on one of its�corners,� the cost of the wheel beingdetermined by the total movement of thefigure that is farthest from the pivot point.A unit may wheel as far as its movementallowance allows. The 5� cost shown onpage 11 is just an example.

Can magic spells be disrupted bymissile fire or melee in aBATTLESYSTEM supplement as theycan be in a normal adventure?

Attacks during the initial missile phasewill not disrupt spell-casting because spellsare cast later in the round. For missile firein the magic and missile phase, simplymake an initiative roll (this is separatefrom the roll in the initiative phase); spell-casters losing this roll have their spellsdisrupted if they are struck by missile fire(a single spell-caster that is with a unit isimmune to missile fire, like any otherhero). Spells are cast before melee, so aunit cannot disrupt a spell by fighting thespell-caster. Note, however, that anotherhero can launch missiles or melee attacksat a spell-caster and keep him occupieduntil the duel is over. See page 18 of therulebook for more details.

The rules give movement penaltiesfor crossing walls and other obsta-cles. Is it possible for a unit to movealong the top of a wall? What are themovement penalties for doing so?

A figure or unit can move along anyterrain feature that has space to hold itand strength to support it. The penaltiesfor such movement vary from case tocase. Decide if such movement is possibleand what the penalties are before thegame.

Can mounted spell-casters usetheir spells while their mounts aremoving?

Flying or riding spell-casters must have astable platform in order to cast spells. Ifusing a fly spell, the spell-caster must behovering or �coasting.� A land mount mustbe stationary for spell-casting. Some com-mon sense applies to this rule. A carpet of

66 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

flying, for example, is stable as long as itisn�t performing violent maneuvers, and ahowdah will be stable if the creature it�sstrapped to isn�t routing or charging.

What do you do when the totalnumber of melee casualties inflictedon a unit exceeds the total number offigures that the unit has in melee(base-to-base) contact with theenemy?

According to designer Doug Niles, a unitmust always remove all casualties inflictedduring melee, even when the number ofcasualties exceeds the number of figuresin melee contact. A unit in any kind offormation always fills gaps during melee(see pages 9-10 of the rulebook).

How much damage does the spellinsect plague do in a battle?

Insect plague does no damage in theBATTLESYSTEM supplement rules. It justcreates an obstacle and causes units torout or check morale (see the PlayersHandbook, page 50).

Does the insect plague spell haveany effect upon heroes, monsters,or units made up of creatures withmore than 2 HD?

Any unit inside the insect plague mustcheck morale each round if the unit�screatures have 5 HD or less. Individualheroes and characters are affected nor-mally, suffering damage and obscuredvision.

How can 1" -wide BATTLESYSTEMsupplement counters defend a castlewall?

Rules for handling sieges are included inmodule DL 8, Dragons of War (TSR 9141).If you don�t want to buy the module, sim-ply build or draw your fortifications to theBATTLESYSTEM supplement ground scaleand place your figures or counters onthem, one counter deep. This is unrealis-tic, but it�s the easiest way to use fortifica-tions with the game. If you�re a stickler foraccuracy, place the counters one counterwidth apart from each other. This repre-sents each counter�s personnel spread outalong the wall. A unit deployed in thisfashion is still considered to be in closedorder.

What is THAC0? How do I find it?THAC0 is an acronym for the phrase �To

Hit Armor Class 0." You get the THAC0number from the combat tables of theAD&D or D&D game rules. Just look onthe appropriate attack table and take thenumerical entry required to hit AC 0.

What happens when a unit on aforced march comes into contactwith an enemy unit? The rules seemto indicate that something terrible issupposed to happen.

A unit cannot execute a forced march ifthe forced march will bring it into contact

with an enemy unit. How this restrictionworks out in practice depends on thesituation. For example, a unit with a move-ment rate of 12� can make a forced marchof up to 18�. The unit cannot use a forcedmarch to make melee contact with anenemy unit that is more than 12� worth ofmovement away. If the unit makes aforced march and comes into contact withan enemy unit before it has exceeded itsnormal 12� movement rate, it loses its 6�forced march bonus as it must follow rule[7.8] on page 11; the unit suffers no otherpenalties. If a unit making a forced marchcan see an opposing unit that lies justbeyond the marching unit�s normal move-ment limit, the marching unit comes to ahalt at the limit of its normal movementrate (the troops are assumed to havestopped to catch their breath beforemelee). However, if the unit accidentallyruns into a hidden or invisible unit after ithas exceeded its 12� movement, it isstopped and ambushed by the hiddenforce. In the melee phase, the hiddenforce gains the initiative and inflicts dam-age on the moving unit before the movingunit can return the attack.

The seventh-level druid spellchangestaff creates a 12-HD treantthat loses hit dice when it takesdamage. How is this �staff/treant�treated in the BATTLESYSTEMsupplement rules?

The resulting creature enters the battleas a 1:1-scale figure, and uses the herorules on pages 17 and 18 when attacking.The staff/treant is a single creature, but itacts only as commanded by the druid andcannot act independently, nor can it ani-mate normal trees. If attacked, the staff/treant�s statistics are altered asappropriate from round to round.

If the rules say that a figure cantake two wounds before beingkilled, does this mean that a figurecan suffer two wounds, with thethird wound killing it?

No. The second wound kills the figure.

The text describing a change offacing on page 11 does not seem tomatch the accompanying diagram. Ifthe unit on the right did a left-face,wouldn�t the relative positionsremain unchanged? The actualresult looks more like a wheel.

You are correct. A change of facing doesnot alter the relative positions of the fig-ures in the unit. The figure labeled �MVCOST 1/3 MV ALLOWANCE� should bereplaced by a unit figure exactly like theone to the left of it, but with arrows point-ing off to the right.

Rule [7.8] seems to indicate that aunit can perform a wrap-aroundduring the movement phase even ifit does not have the initiative. Is thiscorrect?

No. Rule [7.8] (page 11) applies only tounits that move into base-to-base contactwith an enemy unit during their ownmovement phase. Movement under thisrule is not the same as wrap-around move-ment as described under rule [7.11] (page12). Figures in a unit moving under rule[7.8] may not change direction in any wayonce even a single figure in the unit makesbase-to-base contact with the enemy. Thefigures can only move straight ahead.

When is a melee round finished?Do units that come into contact sim-ply fight until one of them routs oris annihilated?

A melee (game) round is over when eachside has made one attack (remember thatmelee attacks are assumed to take placesimultaneously). If there are still figures inbase-to-base contact after this, move onthe next phase of that BATTLESYSTEMsupplement Game Turn. A battle is fin-ished when one side is either destroyed,routs, withdraws, or is otherwise ren-dered incapable of continuing the fight.

How do you include a PC in a unit?Is he one of 10 people in a particularfigure or is he the eleventh? Howdoes the PC affect the unit�s AR?

The PC or NPC hero does not belong toany particular figure in a unit; he is an extraassigned to the unit as a whole. A heroaffects a unit�s AR or other statistics onlywhen he is averaged in with the rest of theunit when the unit�s roster is prepared (seepage 5). This must be done before the gamestarts. This is not a very good way to use ahero. If this is done, the hero does not fighton his own. The unit�s improved statsaccount for the hero�s presence. Most heroeswho fight with units attack separatelyaccording to their own AR, using the ruleson pages 17 and 18.

Do woods effect melee?No, but they do prevent units from

charging.

Can missile fire occur in woods ifboth the target and the attackers arewithin the woods?

No. The tree trunks, leaves, branches,etc., get in the way.

What exactly does the prohibitionagainst premeasurement mean? Doplayers have to describe their units�actions in minute detail before plac-ing the ruler on the table?

Detailed descriptions of a unit�s actionsare not necessary. The premeasurementrule is there to prevent players from usingtheir rulers as aids to decision making. Forexample, a player cannot measure thedistance between his unit and an enemyunit, then decide not to try to charge theenemy unit because the distance is toogreat. In this case, the player would haveto move his unit as close to the opposing

unit as its normal movement allowancewill take it.

The rules list bonuses for flankand rear attacks. What preventsopposing units from simply run-ning around behind their enemiesand attacking them from the rear?Wouldn�t the defending unit justturn around to face the enemy?

Units in the BATTLESYSTEM supplementcan�t just run around to the rear of enemyunits in order to gain combat bonuses.The movement rules on pages 11-13 makethis a virtual impossibility. Units can�tsimply turn around to face an enemy whoattacks from the flank or rear, as largenumbers of people don�t react as quicklyas individuals do. There is no penalty forreturning a rear attack � only a bonus formaking a rear attack. Some creatures inthe defending unit can turn around toreturn the attack, but this disrupts theunit and makes defense more difficult.

Do heroes have to pay movementcosts to change facing? If not, whatprevents them from simply turningaround when attacked from behind,or running around behind a unit oranother hero to make a rear attack?

Heroes change facing for free. Heroescan make end-runs around units andattack them from the rear if they haveenough movement. When a hero isattacked from behind, he remains with hisback to the enemy for one attack at most.If an opposing hero tries to run aroundhim and attack from the rear, it can beassumed that he turns to face his attackeras long as he knows the attacker is there.

Does the AD&D game�s third-level,magic-user spell fireball get largeroutdoors? That is, does the size ofthe fireball convert from feet toyards outdoors? Page 73 of the Play-ers Handbook seems to indicate thatthis is the case.

The area of effect of all AD&D gamespells remains the same outdoors asindoors (1� = l0´), but the range of thespells increases, from 1" = 10� indoors to1� = 10 yards (30�) outdoors. The refer-ence to �yards� in the spells description iscompletely in error.

When figuring the BATTLESYSTEMsupplement point cost for heroes,what do you charge for psionics?How much for each major and minorability?

There is no fixed cost for major or minorpsionic disciplines. The referee (or theplayers, if there is no referee) must decidewhich spell or magic item each abilityapproximates; the point cost for the abilityis the same as the equivalent spell or magicitem. Since most disciplines are usable aslong as the character possessing them haspsionic strength, treat them as innate spellabilities (100 points per spell level).

How far can an elf or other wood-land creature see in woods?

Page 21 of the rules says that elves andother woodland creatures can see and castspells up to 6� away. Other creatures arelimited to 1�.

Dragons can use their breathweapons as both pass-through fireand split-fire. In which phases candragons use their breath weapons?

A dragon (or other creature with abreath weapon) may breathe during themissile and magic phase, or during themovement phases if it uses pass-throughfire or split-fire. Breath weapons andother effects that are usable only once perround are not usable during the initialmissile phase:

Could a dragon using split-firestay put, breathe, then move half itsmovement allowance? What aboutother units capable of split-fire?

A bow-armed unit could do exactly whatyou describe simply by firing during theinitial missile phase, but a dragon couldnot. You must decide how strictly to applythe split-fire rule � strictly speaking, asplit-firing unit must move half its move-ment, fire, then complete its movement.You can, however, be a bit more flexiblethan this. Many miniatures players allowsplit-firing units to use their missiles anytime before the half-move mark; if you usethis rule, it is best to limit the unit to one-half a normal move after it fires, as youhave suggested. Note that in this case thesplit-firing unit could move less than half amove at the owning player�s option.

What are the effects of the various�draconian deaths� in Krynn, theDRAGONLANCE® saga world � par-ticularly the Baaz turn-to-stone, theBozak explosion, the Kapak acid,and the Sivak flame deaths?

The Baaz ability is ignored during masscombat (entrapped weapons are soonfreed, and secondary weapons can beemployed), but it does affect character vs.character combat. Bozak, Sivak, and Kap-ak effects cover areas so small that theyusually cannot affect an entire figure, andthus can be ignored. In the event that theydo cover an entire figure (see page 23),they generate 10 dice of damage for eachdraconian figure eliminated (wounding adraconian figure produces no effect) andare treated like any other magical attack.In any case, the Kapak acid remainsbehind, forming a barrier 1/3� deep(extending back from the point where themelee took place) and as wide as the fig-ures that produced it. This acid damagesunits or figures that cross it or stand in it.Such units suffer one die of damage foreach creature that contacts the acid (if anypart of a figure touches the acid, all crea-tures in the figure are consideredexposed).

D R A G O N 6 7

After carefully researching our files, wefound that we had only two slimes to offeryou for this month’s Bestiary. But they’rethe very best slimes, of course.

XADOR�S FLUIDCreated by: Thomas M. Kane

FREQUENCY: RareNO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 3MOVE: 6�HIT DICE: 6% IN LAIR: 100%TREASURE TYPE: NilNO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1 hp per turnSPECIAL ATTACKS: Entrapment,

suffocationSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: AnimalALIGNMENT: NeutralSIZE: 3-18 square feet (see below)PSIONIC ABILITIES: NilATTACK/DEFENSE MODES: Nil/NilLEVEL/XP VALUE: V/400 + 6 per hp

This creature is a form of sentient slimeor jelly, usually found in rocky, dampareas where it blends with more commonmolds. It is dangerous to PCs, but not asoutwardly damaging as other such beings.In fact, resourceful characters might usethis substance to their advantage. Xador�sfluid is a clear, runny material, coveringabout one square foot for every two of itshit points. To feed and reproduce, thisfluid must absorb nutrients from the fleshof a living creature. Xador�s fluid can sensethe presence of such beings from heatemissions within 10�.

Anyone within 10� of Xador�s fluid issubject to its sudden attack. If the fluidmakes a successful �to hit� roll, it has

6 8 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

flowed over its victim. It then combineswith living skin, hardening it to the con-sistency of rock. The victim is solidified, asif coated with a thin layer of plastic, andmust save vs. death magic. If the save issuccessful, the fluid has been kept out ofthe nose and mouth. Otherwise, the victimloses consciousness in one round and dies1-4 rounds later unless his mouth is freed.Even if suffocation is avoided, Xador�s fluiddrains 1 hp per turn (10 rounds) from itsvictim as it consumes the victim�s fluids.After 5-8 days, the solidified fluid flakesoff, reliquifies, and divides in two. Eachnew fluid then seeks its own victim.

A barkskin spell destroys solidifiedXador�s fluid. A blow with a weapon canalso shatter hardened Xador�s fluid. Every3 hp damage done to the fluid inflicts 1 hpdamage on a solidified character. Damag-ing the Xador�s fluid for 4 + hp frees themouth and nose of a victim, if such anintent is declared. If the trapped charactermakes a bend bars/lift gates roll, or ifdamage equal to the fluids hit points areinflicted, the fluid flakes off, destroyed.

This creature is named for Lord Xador,an evil noble who punished miscreants bysolidifying them in this fluid. Their hard-ened forms were then displayed as statuesand destroyed before the fluid repro-duced. Various uses for Xador�s fluid mayoccur to inventive PCs. Of course, a meansof capturing the fluid must be established(it cannot eat through any material otherthan living flesh). As one example of theuses of Xador�s fluid, a gallon jar of thefluid may be used as armor in an emer-gency, if five rounds are spent applying it.This allows AC 3 for the user, who canwear only normal clothing at most underthe fluid. The fluid must be applied toallow for the movement of joints, ofcourse. The few who have tried this saythe �armor� feels painfully tight, and they

cannot sleep while �wearing� it. Sucharmor (�Xador�s mail�) is no more encum-bering than padded armor. However, the�wearer� loses 1 hp to the actions of thefluid every turn, and the fluid (which, inone-gallon size, has 6 hp and can coverthree square feet) still reproduces in 5-8days if the �wearer� is slain before then.

Additionally, a small bit may be appliedto the knuckles in one round, allowingpummeling as if a dagger pommel wereused, or it may serve to immobilize pris-oners. Of course, failure to remove thefluid within a few hours may slay thecaptives. Xador�s fluid must envelope atleast one man-sized victim every twoweeks, or else it will dry up and die.

QUAGMIRECreated by: Scott Bennie

FREQUENCY: RareNO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 6MOVE: 2�HIT DICE: 6% IN LAIR: NilTREASURE TYPE: IncidentalNO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: l-3SPECIAL ATTACKS: Entrapment, smother-

ing, surprise on a 1-5SPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprised on a 1MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: Semi-ALIGNMENT: NeutralSIZE: LPSIONIC ABILITY: NilLEVEL/XP VALUE: VI/550 + 6 per hp

Quagmires, or living quicksand, arestrange creatures related to assorted oozesthat live in marshes. Quagmires are virtu-ally undetectable, blending in perfectlywith the terrain. They can sense heatsources (i.e., warm bodies) in a 240-yardradius, and often emit a variety of attrac-tive scents to lure animal prey. When avictim comes within 10� of a quagmire, thecreature grabs it with a pseudopod (�tohit� roll required) and draws it quicklyinto its body, smothering it in 2-8 rounds.The victim of a quagmire may make onebend bars/lift gates roll to break its grasp;otherwise it cannot attack. The quagmirecan swallow the following numbers ofcreatures in a single day: four smaller-than-man-size, two man-size, or onelarger-than-man-size. If a quagmire iskilled, the victim may be pulled free; oth-erwise, in six hours, the victim is consid-ered digested and cannot be raised fromthe dead.

Quagmires devour organic matter, evenleather, bone, and paper, but will leavedeposits of metal and gems (the undigestedremains of their victims). Quagmires arehuge, with �pools� 30� in diameter notunknown. They are believed to reproduceby fission. Because quagmires blend inwith their surroundings, they have notrue coloration.

©1987 by John C. Bunnell

THE PARADISE TREEDiana L. Paxson

Ace 0-441-65134-8 $ 2 . 9 5The Paradise Tree�s plot springs mostly

from the seeds of modern horror fiction,with drug research, a diverse cast ofoccultists, and a partly completed com-puter adventure game grafted into a twin-ing whole. By contrast, Diana Paxson’scarefully gentle characterization andmythic, nearly religious depiction of magicare solidly rooted in the soil of traditionalfantasy. This makes for an unusual hybridthat may or may not fit easily into the

literary forests of its forebears.A very light touch of science fiction also

shows in the tale’s background Ruth Racu-sak’s “RainbowMac” pushes personal-computer technology several stepsforward, generating television-like graph-ics at the stroke of a light pen, and DavidMason’s graduate-level gene-splicing workwith marijuana derivatives seems ratheradvanced given the casual atmosphere inwhich it occurs. Paxson, though, presentsthese elements with an easy understate-ment that lets writer and audience aliketake them for granted

But scientific predictability cannot helpDavid and Ruth when separate eventsdraw them into the same web of occultintrigue. When minor mystic Joseph

Roman unleashes David’s “Paradise drug,”parts of Ruth’s “Forbidden City” game takeon dreamlike reality, attracting far darkerforces in a chase and confrontation thatcut across several dimensions of Paxson’svariant Berkeley. Characters from theauthor’s earlier Brisingamen appear to

help balance the scales of power, and bothrisen and fallen archangels stride to battlebefore the tale is done.None of this describes how The Paradise

Tree feels in the reading — which in turnhelps describe Paxson’s writing. While thepages are turning, she suspends disbeliefwith enough energy to hold critical analy-is at bay. Yet afterward, while each twig

and branch remains memorable, the shapeof the tree itself is elusive. Frequent view-point changes give the novel a definiteensemble quality with Ruth the nominallead, but Paxson’s pruning can be uneven.Brisingamen heroes Karen and Michaelbarely share a leaf between them, seemingout of place and nondimensional. DelEden, also from Brisingamen, has moregrowing room, but Paxson waversbetween making her a major branch orthe root of a cycle larger than either novelwritten so far. (In which light, how do theearlier book’s Norse gods mix with thisnovel’s clearly Judeo-Christian forces?)And two other shoots need more fertilizer— Ruth’s romantic interest is so subtlydeveloped that the final scene seems toosudden, and Ariel, an occult dabbler whoserves as the plot’s catalyst, receives noviewpoint sequences at all.

In some ways, the narrative dynamic ofThe Paradise Tree resembles nothing somuch as the give-and-take mingling of anRPG-character party, with different play-ers assuming prominence as the eveningprogresses and others occasionally missinga game session. That prompts two obser-vations — first, that where an RPG cam-paign might be said to resemble aperpetually creeping tangle of ivy, a novelneeds to bear more resemblance to a free-standing oak; and second, that perhaps thereason Paxson’s novel seems more unset-tling than satisfying to a game-playingreader is that an RPG devoted to seriouscontemporary fantasy doesn’t yet exist.

Still, while Paxson’s tree may lack thetechnical symmetry to draw scientists’eyes, it will likely welcome tire swings,tree houses, and wayward squirrels. Allthe reservations over structure and detailcan’t mask The Paradise Tree’s ability topull readers into its story — and that, afterall, is any author’s first goal.

SEA OF DEATHGary Gygax

New infinities 0-441-75676-X $3.95

DARK WALKER ON MOONSHAEDouglas Niles

TSR 0-88038-451-4 $3.95One novel tells of the Forgotten Realms

— a land whose history will be familiar

70 NOVEMBER 1987

when this column appears, but is not yetknown as it�s typed. The other is a tale ofGreyhawk, a world well known to AD&D®game players, but visited only rarely oflate. Both novels draw directly on materi-als developed for AD&D games, and whilethe common heritage is clearly visible inboth books, there are major differences inthe tales as well. One thing, however, canbe stated with some certainty: Neitherstory is the equal of the DRAGONLANCE®novels that set the standard by whichgame-based fiction can be measured.

Of the two adventures, Sea of Death hasmore of the obvious trappings of a role-playing campaign. Gygax�s Gord the Rogueis virtually the only human in a many-segmented quest which pits him againstcountless waves of monstrous and magicaladversaries, and sends him over nearly allthe western half of Greyhawk�s continent.The sound of authorial dice-rolling can bedetected behind a sizable percentage ofGord�s encounters, especially in the magi-cal and physical combat scenes, where themelee-round structure is almost painfullyobvious.

Game mechanics are far less evident inDarkwalker on Moonshae, in whichauthor Douglas Niles generally succeeds incapturing the vaguely remote and slightlydruidic character of the Moonshae Isles.AD&D game inspiration shows instead inthe readily apparent character classes ofNiles� cast and in the presence of certaincreatures from the rule books � notably amischievously engaging faerie dragon.

Different readers will find virtues ineach novel. Gord�s tale has more pureaction and offers a solid pattern for adven-ture designers seeking lessons in scenariocrafting. Darkwalker, on the other hand,has a stronger sense of story; the largerthreat of invasion directed at the Moon-shae Isles is carefully meshed with grow-ing, individual conflicts involving youngPrince Tristan and those around him. Intheir own ways, both books are well-crafted, but where Sea of Death is basi-cally a potboiler, Niles has attempted asomewhat more ambitious tale.

Unfortunately, while Darkwalker onMoonshae is strong on atmosphere andboasts an unusually memorable roster ofbit players, it suffers from structuralproblems. The scenes involving evil godand head villain Kazgoroth, though neces-sary to offer readers insights on the largerconflict, tend to defuse rather than height-en the suspense � especially as Kazgorothacquires allies. Unwieldy plotting is partlyto blame, and other factors also contrib-ute. Niles sometimes comes across as anovereager sportscaster, offering too muchanalysis of the game and depriving hisaudience of its full intensity. It�s as if his�video-and-audio balance� isn�t quite ontarget. (The problem doesn�t arise in Sea ofDeath, where Gygax�s style of storytellingis less cinematic and more radiolike, chan-neling all the detail through the narrator�svoice.)

Each series promises more installmentsto come. Niles closes Darkwalker with ascene calling for a direct sequel, and threemore Gord books are announced in theback of Sea of Death. Both have room toimprove, as Niles learns from his initialeffort and Gygax turns to a short storycollection. Most fascinating, though, is thefact that these very different chroniclesare the offspring of a single game system.Generalizing about AD&D game novelssimply isn�t safe anymore.

ISAAC ASIMOV�S ROBOT CITY(BOOK 1: ODYSSEY)

Michael Kube-McDowellAce 0-441-73122-8 $2.95

�Marketing gimmick� is literally writtenall over this concept. The Isaac Asimov�sRobot City title block fills nearly half thecover, while Michael Kube-McDowell�sbyline is barely an eighth of an inch highand difficult to read against the pastel-dominated artwork. The book�s story isonly marginally complete, and it concludeson a stinger straight from the serials. Yetwith all the worst modern publishingtrends weighing it down, Odyssey stillsuccessfully emulates Asimov�s treatmentof robots and weaves a readable � ifsomewhat thin � space saga.

In his introduction, Asimov takes care todisclaim any actual writing and firmlydefends his decision to permit youngerwriters to enter into his universe. Thatmakes Michael Kube-McDowell�s achieve-ment a distinctive one, as Odyssey almostprecisely captures the Asimovian brand ofsmoothly civilized logic-chopping typical ofthe original robot stories. There is someunfamiliar technology, and alien speciesappear in Asimov�s cosmos for the firsttime, but for the most part, the dialogue�scrisp flavor and amnesiac hero Derec�scool adaptability compare neatly withAsimov�s own characters and prose.

Where Odyssey follows this traditionalpattern, the quality of the tale is solid, sothat style and conflict � the latter relyingon purely Asimovian finagling of theThree Laws of Robotics � show no realflaws. Where it tries to expand into lessfamiliar territory, the results are less cer-tain. The two aliens Derec meets reveallittle of their cultures and motives. Thetechnology of the elusive Key to Perihelionfits only awkwardly into Asimov�s uni-verse. And the murder puzzle sprung asthe book ends threatens to reprise that ofAsimov�s classic The Caves of Steel.

It isn�t fair to pass final judgment onOdyssey this early in a planned six-booksequence. Too many issues and ideasremain for future volumes to flesh out,and the nature of the collaborationbetween Asimov, Kube-McDowell, andother Robot City contributors is still farfrom clear. If succeeding books can effec-tively connect the series� developing liter-ary and scientific insights with those ofAsimov�s own tales, discussing the project�s

merits will be worthwhile. If not, only alook at the full series will show where thecauses of failure lie.

The good things about Odyssey inspireguarded optimism about Robot City�spotential, but the need to wait for fivemore chapters doesn�t inspire greatpatience. It�s possible that readers whofollow the cycle to its conclusion will con-sider the time well spent � but it�s morelikely that they�ll drift away before theyget there.

DRAGONHARPERJody Lynn Nye

Tor/Crossroads 0-812-56404-9 $3.50Most adventure gamebooks are really

puzzles rather than stories � which is finefor gaming devotees, but not very reward-ing to those who like reading. Dragon-harper is different: It is a genuine story inwhich a gaming element has been incorpo-rated. That�s good news for readers (espe-cially fans of Anne McCaffrey�s Pern), butnot as exciting for role-players. But despitethe weakness, Jody Lynn Nye�s adventurestarts the �Crossroads� line of story/gameson an auspicious note, and is easily one ofthe very best such books written since theconcept�s invention.

The familiar setting definitely figures inDragonharper�s appeal. While Nye avoidsdrawing into her plot the dragons them-selves, other aspects of Pern�s culturereceive more attention, often (though notalways) in ways that recall scenes fromMcCaffrey�s own novels. There are star-ring characters from those tales (mostly incameo roles), visits to a lively gather andan important, remote sea hold, and neatlyplaced scenes underlining the subtle ten-sions between the various classes ofPernese society.

Unlike its parent novels, however, Nye�stale is not a saga of cultural conflict. Rath-er, it is a straightforward yarn whosepurpose is simply to take journeymanharper Robinton from point A to point B.Though in one sense that makes the storya pure travelogue, Nye weaves severalcleverly spun subplots into the patternthat show off her characters and back-drops to good advantage, and seeing thejourney through is by no means a fore-gone conclusion.

Dragonharper, in fact, may be the firstRPG gamebook to require as many rollsagainst charisma as physical combats, inorder for readers to complete their voy-ages. The flyleaf copy advertising �fulluse� of the usual six character statisticsisn�t far from the truth in this regard, andthe simple proficiency-oriented gamemechanics work quite well. There is also agood balance between dice-governedchoices and those ruled by the reader�sjudgment.

More than that is difficult to find. Thisparticular tale relies very little on itemsacquired along the way, and Nye has anunfortunate tendency to write the same

DRAGON 71

descriptions and dialogue into too manyparallel plotlines, lessening the sense ofvariety that normally typifies multiple-plotstories. Then, too, only singularly bad luckor extreme recklessness are likely to pre-vent Robinton from successfully arrivingat books end � Nye�s suspense is largelyin the story rather than the game.

But even if Dragonharper can�t match afull-fledged RPG or a genuine McCaffreynovel, it is far and away beyond the juve-nile writing found in most multiple-plotfiction published to date. Future �Cross-roads� books may or may not equal orsurpass the standard Nye sets (there wasonly time to read one of the three thatcrossed my desk barely ahead of deadline),but exploring popular literary universesobviously has potential. If the series cancontinue to offer quality storytelling aswell as absorbing games, its publishers arelikely to have a winner on their hands.

THE LUCK OF RELIAN KRUPaula Volsky

Ace O-441-83816-2 $2.95As fantasy novels go, The Luck of Relian

Kru isn�t especially distinctive. The humoris clever but not hilarious, the evil wizardis hardly more insane than the average,the romance is relatively bland, and theplot is more episodic than smoothly struc-tured. Why, then, is it worth discussing inthis space? Because it is the product of awarped imagination worthy of severalDungeon Masters put together, and thereare just too many adaptable ideas toignore.

Scrivvulch the Stick is a prime example.As court assassin to a baron who is acci-dentally offended by one of Relian Kru�smore bizarrely colored outfits, he pursuesthe title character throughout the novel.But this is no ordinary death-dealer; hisappearance is disarmingly benign, hismanners are impeccable, and he displays amastery of misdirection that would killanyone but Relian several times over inthe space of a chapter. (If one of the weap-ons hidden in his cane fails to do the job,there�s always the whispering campaignthat casts Relian in the utterly convincing� but false � image of a master criminal).If NPC assassins were more like this, theclass might not be on its way out of theAD&D game�s second edition rules.

Then there�s Crekkid, the little magicalsnake that quite literally binds Relian in theservice of crazed mage Keprose Gavyne.With his tail firmly between his teeth, hisgrip on Relian�s neck is both dangerousand unrelenting, and it takes a good dealof diplomacy and ingenuity for Relian toeventually regain his freedom. (The pres-ence of a love interest for Crekkid, in theform of a female counterpart locked to theneck of fellow captive Mereth, is a beguil-ing complication.)

Keprose himself isn�t entirely without hismoments. All his energies are bent on theeventual destruction of a shadowy enemy

7 2 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

across the valley from his tower, and hisscheme for achieving that goal involvesthe Frankensteinian process of cloningfour copies of himself in an effort to multi-ply his powers. The unlucky Relian�s rolein the affair is that of chief ingredient-collector for the necessary potions andrituals, and it�s not difficult to imagineparallels applicable to individual gameworlds.

A number of other minor elements addto the cheerful insanity � an innkeeperwho is also a poet, a local economy found-ed on the hazardous collection of rareeggs, and Relian�s own apparent knack forbeing in precisely the wrong place atcritical moments. Paula Volsky is clearlyenjoying herself in this tale, and it showsin both the characters and their surround-ings. While there may be more sophisti-cated novels and stories more meaningfulor thought-provoking, The Luck of RelianKru has an unabashed cleverness about itthat gives it a sense of mild-mannered fun.Dungeon Masters who take time to followRelian�s adventures will be chuckling allthe way back to their notebooks.

THE ROMULAN WAYDiane Duane and Peter Morwood

Pocket O-671-63498-4 $3.50The wealth of historical data on Star

Trek�s most enigmatic race makes thisnovel required reading for players of theRPG based on the series. But writers DianeDuane and Peter Morwood have made TheRomulan Way much more than a refer-ence book; it is one of the very best StarTrek novels published to date, and the firstin which neither James T. Kirk nor Mr.Spock put in an appearance.

Instead, the focus is on Dr. Leonard�Bones� McCoy and a highly secret missioninto Romulan territory, to ascertain thestatus of a deep-cover spy whose reportsto the Federation are long overdue. Carry-ing out the assignment requires McCoy tohave himself captured and taken to theRomulan homeworld, where he will betried on various espionage charges leftover from a television episode and anearlier Duane novel. In the Romulanscript, the scenario ends with McCoy�sexecution. In the doctor�s there is anotherending � but to say any more would spoila superbly engineered climax.

The first half of the book is slow-movingat times, as Duane�s and Morwood�semphasis favors the historical storytellingand moves rather rapidly through theevents leading up to McCoy�s arrival onch�Rihan. It�s a mistake, though, to skip thealternate chapters of what is billed as theFederation agent�s survey text on Romulan� pardon, Rihannsu � culture. Threadsintroduced in the cultural commentaryturn up again woven into the intrigues ofMcCoy�s situation, and the backgroundactually offers its own kind of suspense.

Yet while Duane and Morwood presentan incisive portrait of Rihannsu past andpresent in a compact but startling pack-

age, there are one or two touches thattread perilously close to excessive cute-ness. Most noticeable are the bit playersnamed for 20th-century science-fictionwriters; sharp readers will find at leasttwo, including a primary scriptwriter ofTV�s animated DUNGEONS & DRAGONS�cartoon series. Less obvious but moredangerous is the treatment of Naraht, thefirst Horta in Starfleet, whose eternalwitty optimism threatens to become acliche. Since the authors have made him arecurring character, they need to adddepth and vulnerability to round out hispersonality.

In the end, both criticisms are essentiallynit-picking at the edges of a genuinelyexceptional novel. While Duane and Mor-wood may need to refine their techniqueslightly, no Star Trek chronicler after themcan afford to disregard their handling ofThe Romulan Way. Luckily for novelists,screenwriters, and gamers, fulfilling theresponsibility should be a memorablepleasure.

THE PIG, THE PRINCE & THEUNICORN

Karen A. BrushAvon 0-380-75062-7 $2.95

Quadroped is a pig � not a reincarna-tion, not a polymorph, not even a druidusing his shapechanging powers. Butgamers confronted with any of thesesituations can look to Karen A. Brush�sengaging, whimsical tale of Quadroped�sadventures for advice on how to managecharacters who don�t have the luxury ofhaving hands.

Actually, there�s a great deal more toBrush�s story, which involves a gate thatmust be locked against the incursion of amysterious Black Unicorn from the realmsof Chaos, four dangerous and largelyunknown Warlords bent on preventing theKey Bearer from locking the gate, and ahost of allies who are thoroughly disgrun-tled to find that the Key Bearer this centu-ry is a small white pig.

Brush balances several potentially dis-cordant tones in her narrative with aremarkably gentle dexterity. There�shumor: The Key carries a warning aboutwhich one character observes, �Theinscription is so melodramatic it must bereal,� and the Gate it unlocks is of unex-pected construction. There�s derring-do:Quadroped and his human allies must facegenuine danger on their way to the lostcavern of the Gate, including time in castledungeons and tense chases up and downsteep mountain slopes. And there�sromance of the best kind, involving char-acters who will give up everything for theright cause or person without making afuss about it.

The result of the combination is a storywhich is both lightheartedly down-to-earthand quietly powerful on the occasionswhen it�s necessary. There is something offairy tales and myths in it, and those whodetect resonances of C.S. Lewis and Nar-

nia in Brush�s writing aren�t entirelywrong. But the novel is more immediatethan a fairy tale, and less oratorical thanthe Narnian books sometimes were. ThePig, the Prince & the Unicorn is a story ofunexpected dimension, especially in itsending. Readers may chuckle as it begins,but when they close the book, there willbe faraway expressions in their eyes. Itwill be intriguing to see what Karen Brushwrites about next.

Recurring rolesExcellent first novels are always good

news, but second novels which surpassthem are even better and rarer treats.Fireshaper�s Doom (Avon, $3.50) is one ofthese, as Tom Deitz continues the strugglesbetween Georgian teenager David Sullivan,and the unpredictable forces of the Sidheof legend. This time, the stakes are higheron both sides, and Deitz gives every indi-cation of having several more equallyimpressive tales up his sleeve. Few writersmatch personal crisis with epic conflict aseffectively, and the chance to read thisnovel in manuscript was a much-appreciated privilege.

New additions to series are in generoussupply this month, with decidedly mixedresults. On the plus side is The Witches ofWenshar (Del Rey, $3.95), in which Bar-bara Hambly revisits Sun Wolf and theStarhawk of The Ladies of Mandrigyn, this

time battling prejudice, ill-understoodmagic, and unseen death in a beleaguereddesert realm. As usual, the characters areexpertly drawn and the plot is deviouslyclever.

Meanwhile, The Legion of Videssos (DelRey, $3.95) is pulled in several new direc-tions in Harry Turtledove�s saga of Romansstranded in an alternate world. Magic andromance become prominent now, thoughwarfare is never far out of sight, andthere are hints of real fireworks yet tocome. If anything, the saga is even harderto classify at this point.

Piers Anthony really does seem Out ofPhaze (Ace/Putnam, $17.95) in his latestaddition to the �Apprentice Adept�sequence. While the action in his alternateframes of fantasy and science fiction is asfurious as ever, there is a flatness in theprose that hints at a certain lack of enthu-siasm. Though the protagonists are nowthe sons of the original heroes, this talehas too much of its predecessors in it toseem especially original.

It has been a long time since the firsttwo books appeared, but Carole NelsonDouglas finally returns to the story ofKendric and Irissa in Keepers of Edanvant(Tor, $15.95). Unfortunately, the novelsuffers from the very same holding-actionproblems that plagued its predecessor,Exiles of the Rynth. Large chunks of thetale consist of characters procrastinating

rather than accomplishing anything, andonly very late in the novel does Douglascure her cast of both kinds of chauvinism.Her new publishers seem just as puzzled;the book is billed both as the end of theoriginal trilogy and the beginning ofanother.

More surprising is A Night in theNetherhells (Ace, $2.95), Craig ShawGardner�s closing entry in the trilogyabout Ebenezum, the wizard allergic tomagic, and Wuntvor, his well-meaning butinept apprentice. Where the first twobooks were fresh and entertaining, thisone seems to have run out of steam, rely-ing on pure slapstick to carry the tale.Most of the jokes are built on old material,and the tale reads more like a forcedmarch than a voluntary stroll.

Gardner is better represented in Magic inIthkar (Tor, $3.50), which finds the AndreNorton/Robert Adams shared world seriesreduced to mass-market size from its origi-nal trade paperback presentation. There areseveral other clever tales as well � authorsincluded range from Esther Friesner toTimothy Zahn and Sandra Miesel. The com-mon denominator, magical devices somehowmisused, may give gamers ideas, but thetales are average, and the series hasn�tgrown noticeably since the first volume.(What in the world is the point of arrangingstories in alphabetical order by the author�slast name?)

D R A G O N 7 3

©1987 by Hartleyand Patricia Lesser

A stunning series of software entertain-ments is on its way to your computer �centered on the ADVANCED DUNGEONS& DRAGONS® game. Based on a licensingagreement between TSR, Inc. and Strate-gic Simulations, Inc., signed in May of thisyear, AD&D® games will grace the Com-modore 64/128 machines, IBM PCs andcompatibles, and members of the Apple IIcomputer family sometime during thespring of 1988. Releases for the Atari STand Commodore Amiga will follow.

This is an exciting event � one thatmany other computer software developerswould have dearly loved to have obtained.To be the only company to actually offerTSR�s AD&D game in computer form isquite a coup for SSI. We intend to keepyou fully informed of progress on theinitial series of games, as well as offering�sneak peeks� at the games in developmentwhen we can. After meeting with JoelBillings (president of SSI), Chuck Kroegel(vice president of Research and Develop-ment), Keith Brors (programming projectleader), and Victor Penman (game devel-oper), we think the AD&D game offeringscould be the reason many gamers pur-chase their first computers next year.

There was fierce competition for theAD&D game license rights between 10companies. Joel Billings indicated that SSIfirst contacted TSR over a year ago to seeif it was interested in selling the licensingrights to the AD&D game. �At that time,they weren�t,� Billings said. �They kept usin mind, so when they � almost overnight� decided to sell the license, we went andsaw them. This was around April of thisyear. We received the license, I believe,because of our R&D capability. That wasreally the bottom line � an R&D staff thatknows AD&D games, plays AD&D games,and enjoys AD&D games. A lot of theother companies didn�t have the capabili-ties in-house for this kind of project. Wewere able to show them that we at SSIwould really champion the product. Thepeople here really feel honored to bedoing computer AD&D games. If you�redoing fantasy games, the AD&D game isthe one to do.

�We took six computers to TSR andshowed them everything we�ve done onevery computer, and we basically showedthem six or eight fantasy games that we�veworked on. We showed them all differentkinds of games. We tried to say: �Look,we�ve done more different kinds of fanta-sy games than anybody else. Other com-panies may be stereotyped into aparticular style of game. We aren�t.� Theonly thing we had to sell them on was thefact we would add that extra polish �graphics � to this game, which our pre-vious games haven�t had. We also devel-oped some routines just for this project, sowhen we went to TSR, we showed them

74 NOVEMBER 1987

what we had done in the last month. Wedidn�t even have the contract when we didthis. This will be the number-one fantasyproduct in the marketplace.�

According to vice president Kroegel: �Ibelieve TSR chose SSI because we showedthat we would have more focus on theirproduct, that we wanted this project morethan the other companies, and that theirproject wouldn�t be lost in another firm�shuge product line. We showed TSR howwell they could work with our own R&Ddepartment. We have the resources andgraphics capability and game developmentto complete this project well. I think TSRwas afraid that someone would only com-plete this project halfway and not do theproject justice.�

Exactly what area of the AD&D gameenvironment will SSI�s products encom-pass? �At this point, we�re working on onepart at a time,� said Keith Brors. �This is anenormous project, especially when youconsider the other adventure games onthe market today. Their scale is quitelarge. We want to put the feel of [theAD&D game system] in the game, and tohave it large enough for people to adven-ture in, so that it will be something differ-ent than what has been played or was onthe market before.�

�The computer game that Keith is work-ing on will take place in the ForgottenRealms,� added Chuck. �This is the newworld that TSR has produced. In fact, TSRhas even carved out a space where ourgames will take place on the [FORGOTTENREALMS� setting] map [for the] firstadventure. . . . The TSR staff is actuallydesigning the first scenario for us. They�regoing to be making paper modules of thatsame adventure as well. There might evenbe a novel � a true multimedia approach.�

The SSI involvement goes far beyondjust a single game, however. According toVictor Penman: �We are actually doingthree major project groups under thislicense. One is an arcade-style game that isbeing done under contract by anothercompany. The second is a computer-assisted AD&D game (CAADD), and that isone that will be primarily done by outsideprogrammers and artists. The intention ofthis offering is to provide Dungeon Mas-ters with computer assists to take care ofthe bookkeeping that is attendant to play-ing AD&D games. Encounter generationand map functions will be handled by thecomputer, allowing the DM more time forcreativity. The third project is the one thatKeith is doing the programming on, wherethe computer will, in fact, act as the DM.Players will have the option of purchasingmodules from SSI to run with Keith�sprogram, and I think the plans alsoinclude programs that people can use athome to make their own AD&D gamemodules.�

The flagship of the TSR licensingarrangement will revolve around thestand-alone, computerized fantasy role-playing game. This is the first program

that will be released.�What Keith is doing is equivalent to

producing the Players Handbook, theDungeon Masters Guide, and the MonsterManual in one program, and also allowingusers to create their own modules. Thecore set of rules and adventuring proce-dures that allow it all to happen are in thisfirst program,� added Victor.

Keith indicated the programming isbeing done in assembly language, whichmakes the program run very quickly asthis is the native �tongue� of any computersystem. Two other programmers workwith Keith on the computerized AD&Dgame project. The initial releases will befor the Commodore 64/128 computersystem and IBM micros and compatibles.These will be followed by the Apple IIversion. Of interest is the fact that SSI usesthe Apple II computer as the developmentmachine for their Commodore 64/128product lines. The IBM version will alsooffer an Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA)option of play for those systems possessingEGA boards and Enhanced Displays. Pric-ing has not yet been set, although Chuckindicated the program pricing would becompetitive with current market offerings.

SSI has already received all of the basicinformation on the FORGOTTEN REALMSsetting, and TSR is well into the creationof the first scenario, with the CreativeServices team headed by Jim Ward. Chuckexpects delivery of the first scenario byJanuary 1988.

We asked Keith exactly how he wasgoing to incorporate the Dungeon MastersGuide, Players Handbook, and a scenarioall in one package for the Commodoremachine without slow operation and mul-tiple disk-loads because of memory con-straints.

�Most of the core system will be loadedimmediately into the computer�s memory.There will be a lot of core routines, likethe magic items and the characters, loadedinto the machine. Every so often, a newblock of data will be loaded in as youmove overland � a small section of map ata time, a 16-by-16 area. When you moveoff that area, another 16-by-16 area isaccessed via disk-load. It�s such a smallamount of data, it only takes a second todo it, so there will be no delay in thegame.�

As the IBM micro has more memory, weasked if the IBM version would haveimproved performance over other versions.

�You might well see such improvement,�said Keith. �The drives are much faster,and there�s more memory. And with theST and Amiga versions, the graphics willbe improved as well, as you have so muchmore memory to work with.�

According to Victor, the first SSI packagewill include the core program and a mod-ule you can play with it. �Periodically, we�llbe releasing more modules to be playedwith that first core package,� Victor said.�It�ll be a lot like buying your AD&D gamebooks and the modules that go with them.

The core package is the Handler program,and the modules are then played with it.We anticipate a variety of locations forthese adventures at different levels ofdifficulty, [and] the modules can go in anumber of different directions. I expectwe are going to work on whatever thepublic wants. TSR, beyond working onthis first scenario, may also work on sev-eral other modules as well.�

According to the group, one of the inter-esting aspects to the Handler program isthat a lot of the second-edition AD&Dgame rules are incorporated into the offer-ing. These will be the same rules that aregoing to be published by TSR in paperform. . . . Chuck also believes additionalmodules could become available everyfour to six months from SSI, after theHandler and first module releases.

The SSI release will look far better thangames currently on the market � at least,that�s what these three SSI experts indi-cated in our conversation. Some of theideas and distinctive elements will bebased on another of SSI�s current fantasyadventure games, The Wizard�s Crown(reviewed in DRAGON* issue #114). Butthe big difference is the new emphasis SSIis putting into the game�s graphics.

�In the past, when SSI was primarily awargames company, graphics were not asimportant as game play,� said Victor. �Nowthe graphics will be better, making thisproduct more of an improvement than anyother. We�re committed to carrying outstate-of-the-art graphics all the way downthe line, so we�re dedicated to gamesophistication and a new level of graphicsmore so than anything we�ve done todate.�

�We currently have a new 3-D systemthat is better than anything else out thereright now,� said Chuck. �It�s better thanThe Bard�s Tale II by a considerabledegree.�

�That includes a lot of new ideas,� Keithadded, �such as an overhead projection soyou can self-map. You can keep your ownmaps if you get lost or something. Also,you�ll be able to see the objects and mon-sters that you are about to confront, evenwhen they�re not in the same square asyou. I don�t know why no one else hasdone this yet.�

�The 3-D system is one of the things thatimpressed TSR,� indicated Victor. �We gavethem a demonstration of it, with the typesof developments we are coming throughwith now, and demonstrated the graphicscapability we�re going to be showing in thegame. That�s why it�s difficult to compareour system with what�s on the markettoday. Much of the stuff we�re using forthe AD&D game hasn�t been released yet.�

The graphics system won�t see release asa stand-alone, commercial product by SSI,according to Kroegel. �It�s like a good cook.Other chefs have available to them thesame ingredients as we have; it�s just amatter of how they�re put to use. Three-Dperspective is one ingredient a lot of com-

D R A G O N 7 5

panies use, but we�re also adding otheringredients that will make this game farsuperior to anything out there. What wehave is available to anyone else out therewho wants to dig into the technology.�

�We�re going to add a few new twiststhat we haven�t seen in the market,� con-tinued Chuck. �It will have state-of-the-artanimation that is used as a reward forhaving done something, having achievedsomething, in the program. You can basi-cally eat up all of your memory by havinganimation. We wish to use animationappropriately in our game, in areas whereit will make a real difference. We have putmore of our time, energy, and resourcesinto this product than any other project inour history. We�ve been working on thisproject for three months, and we havethree or four programmers at work on thegame full-time.�

�And this doesn�t take into account thetime that TSR has already put into thescenario,� added Victor.

�That�s the other ingredient that othercompanies just don�t have,� continuedKroegel. �Anybody can say that they�ve gota fantasy role-playing game, but SSI isgoing to be the only company to have theAD&D game. Anything else is a rip-off. Wehave the original! And that is why weencouraged TSR to at least do the firstmodule. We felt that these are the peoplewho keep up with this environment � thepeople who founded it, continued it, andmade it successful. TSR knows something,and we wanted our first module to havethat something that only TSR can offer.�

According to the game�s project leader,the game suits anyone who has played theD&D® or AD&D games, and the transitioninto computerized gaming will be verysmooth. Those who have played otherfantasy games on the market will also findgame participation easy. The novice player,one who hasn�t played AD&D games orhasn�t used a computer, can use this, too,and enjoy the program immediately. Evenexperienced AD&D game players will findthe introductory module a worthwhileexperience. The aim of SSI is to offermodules that are challenging to a varietyof experiences, with different modules

76 NOVEMBER 1987

offering different levels of challenge,much as an AD&D game paper moduleaims at specific-level characters.

�Really,� said Chuck, �the crux of thegame, in the role-playing of it, is: What areyou trying to accomplish? Do you have therole-playing elements you�re looking for?Do you have room for character develop-ment? Does everyone have different abili-ties, and a chance to use those abilities? Ifeel that even the advanced AD&D gameplayer will enjoy this game. There are afew options we�re considering putting inthe game at some point, to allow you toinput your favorite paper-module charac-ter. The long-range plan is allow the char-acters from a continuing AD&D game tobe input into this product.�

After the flagship Handler program andthe first module are released, the Assistprogram � the Dungeon Master utilityprogram � will debut. �We see the Com-puter Assist program as addressing thesecond part of the market,� said VictorPenman. �The Handler program is a massmarket [program]; anyone can use it. It�s agame that everyone will enjoy very much.The CA is aimed at people who are run-ning AD&D game campaigns, or who wantto run AD&D game campaigns. All of thework that this entails for the DM, includ-ing the reading of the rules and implemen-tation of the rules, will now be managedby the computer. We�re taking [some of]the work out of being a DM. We�re freeingthe DM up to do more creative stuff.There are screens for the DM, piles ofpaper and rules that he or she has toconstantly reference, and we intend toincorporate these materials in the CAprogram. The DM will be able to call up acharacter, call up encounters, allow thecomputer to generate characters, managecombat, handle encounters, even createdungeons on demand anytime.

�We�ll also enable the DM, if he or shewants, to call up an illustration of a mon-ster on the computer screen to show it tothe adventure party. The computer willalso know if the party has seen this partic-ular monster before; it will tell the DMthat, and if the party hasn�t seen [themonster], it�ll just present the picture on

the screen without identifying it. Well, thatmay or may not help the party. Theprogram will also do a lot of preparatorywork for the DM. It�ll also print out listsand any character information, and tellyou exactly what the stats are.

�Also, it�ll be able to individualize theencounters. With a lot of other computerfantasy games, all of the monsters you runinto are the same. With the CA program,this doesn�t have to be. You can have indi-vidual personalities and individual abilitiesfor a wider range of monsters. You canhave one wimpy orc and one great orc, forexample, but the party doesn�t knowwhich one is which until they actuallystart the combat. So there will be a lotmore detail that would be practical to putinto a game. Typically, I think, there is atrade-off between detail and playability.Detail has a tendency, when relying on ahuman to find records and do maps, toslow down games. We�re putting the detailand the maps into the computer; it�ll han-dle it, and the detail will be there withoutslowing down the game, with the com-puter handling the boring work.�

With the CA program, the DM will set upbasic configurations before running thegame. How does he want experience pointsto work? How does he want alignment towork? These matters will be under the DM�scontrol from the beginning.

Victor added that he wants to hear fromanyone who might have ideas for thesegame modules, as well as from readerswho have done programming and mightbe able to offer insights into the develop-ment of this series. Write to: StrategicSimulations, Inc., 1046 North RengstorffAvenue, Mountain View CA 94043-1716.

This is an extremely exciting project,with the finished product resulting in anelement that the role-playing industry hasneeded for some time. Once these gamesmake their entry into the marketplace,they will make role-playing games a farmore practical exercise in entertainment.The computer will manage activities it canbest deal with, while the people managewhat they do best: the creativity aspect ofrole-playing games. We�ll keep youappraised of the progress of the project.

New software adventures

Activision, Inc.2350 Bayshore ParkwayMountain View CA 94043(415) 960-0410

Of major news is the Activision andChicago-based FASA Corporation agree-ment to jointly develop a new type ofadventure software based on FASA�s highlysuccessful BATTLETECH® series ofscience-fiction adventure and role-playingboard games. This will bring together bothrole-playing and military strategy, with thecomputer versions being a natural evolu-tionary step due to the storing and pro-cessing of large quantities of data. FASAreleased the BATTLETECH game in late1986, and followed up with CITYTECH®,AEROTECH®, MECHWARRIOR® andBATTLEFORCE® games (all top-sellers).Watch for a Summer 1988 release for thefirst game, in Commodore 64 and IBM PCand compatibles formats.

Activision is also the distributor for abrand new LucasFilm graphic adventureentitled Maniac Mansion. Due to a newstorytelling technology incorporated intothis game, there are at least five successfulendings, which means you can play theadventure time and time again with differ-ent characters and challenges each timeyou play. Full animation is supported, aswell as 55 unique three-dimensional roomsand more than 450 objects. Maniac Man-sion is for the Commodore 64/128 and theApple II family of computers.

Aliens: The Computer Game is a newrelease by Activision in Apple II format.This game recreates the blockbustermotion picture, and features scenes, piec-es of dialogue, and six different arcade-style game segments which tie in closely tothe movie�s story line. This game is alreadyavailable for the Commodore 64. TheApple version will be $34.95. Also of goodnews is that Activision, for the first time infour years, has reported a profit! Theirearnings were over $500,000, compared toa loss of nearly $2 million last year.

Aegis Development2210 Wilshire Boulevard #277Santa Monica CA 90403(213) 392-9972

Earlier this year, Aegis released Arazok’sTomb, a graphic adventure game, for theApple Macintosh. They have now releasedthe game for the Commodore Amiga com-puter. Written by Rick Alves and Jo AnRoberts, Arazok�s Tomb combines stun-ning graphics, sound, animation, andsynthesized speech in this role-playing textadventure. The adventure takes place inScotland, where the players are searchingfor Daphne, who is trapped in Caer Ara-zok�s Tomb. Once you find the right trail,you have to fight and outwit enemies of allkinds (for $49.95).

7 8 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

The Avalon Hill Game Company Electronic Arts4517 Harford Road 1820 Gateway DriveBaltimore MD 21214 San Mateo CA 94404(301) 254-9200 (415) 571-7171

The first statistical basketball gamelicensed by the National Basketball Associ-ation has made its debut courtesy ofTAHGC. NBA players pick their startinglineups, send in substitutes, and send callsfor the fast break and full-court press.Each player�s stamina is rated by the num-ber of minutes he can play. Included are20 great basketball teams from a variety oferas, as well as a stat keeper, an animationfeature that lets you see each play, andthree modes of play. This program is avail-able for the Commodore 64/128, Apple IIfamily, and IBM PC and compatible com-puters for $39.95.

Data East USA470 Needles DriveSan Jose CA 95112(408) 286-7074

Data East has obtained a permanentinjunction against Epyx, Inc., which hadreleased World Karate Championship. U.S.District Judge William Ingram has issuedan order for the permanent injunction andimpoundment that restrains Epyx fromfurther sale or distribution of the com-puter game World Karate Championship.The injunction is based on court findingsthat the work violates and infringes uponData East USA�s copyright on its gameKarate Champ. Epyx must recall from bothcustomers and distributors all copies ofthe infringing work.

That fantastic Steve Jackson boardgame, Ogre, is now released by ElectronicArts in a format for the Macintosh($39.95). Already available for IBMs andcompatibles, Atari 8-bit systems, Atari ST,Commodore 64/128, and Amiga, thiscomputer-enhanced version of the classicstrategy game is for one or two players,and pits an incredible solo-fighting Cyber-tank, the Ogre, against a more convention-al force of infantry, armor units, andcommand posts.

Other new distributions under Electron-ic Arts� Affiliated Label program include:221 B Baker Street, where you return toVictorian London to relive the adventur-ous days of Sherlock Holmes; Road ToMoscow, a fine strategy game product thatrelives the war in Russia between 1941and 1945; Battles in Normandy, June-July1944, an exciting strategy war game basedon the Allied invasion and the fightingaround the beachhead that followed; andRussia: The Great War In The East: 1942-1945, another strategy game that recreatesthe climactic four years of conflict thatraged from the shores of the Black Sea tothe tundra of the Arctic Circle.

Mini-Review

IntelliCreations19808 Nordhoff PlaceChatsworth CA 91311(818) 886-5922

Earl Weaver Baseball * * * *½

In keeping with our feeling that role-playing games encompass any softwareentertainment that allows you to play arole other than your own, real environ-ment, we highly recommend this baseballrole-playing game from Electronic Arts.Without question, this is the finest base-ball simulation ever to grace the screen ofa Commodore Amiga. Thankfully, IBM PCand compatible owners will also be able toobtain this game in MSDOS format beforeChristmas.

Alternate Reality – The Dungeon isfinally released for the Commodore 64/128, with versions for 8-bit Atari com-puters and Apple II systems expected laterthis year. The Dungeon is a sequel to TheCity, and can be played with a charactercreated in The City or with a new charac-ter entering the mysterious world popu-lated by beings beyond description.Alternate Reality � The City, already outfor the C64/128, Apple, Atari, and Atari STsystems, will be available for the Macin-tosh and IBM micros this year.

Other new IntelliCreations offeringsinclude: Tomahawk, a helicopter simula-tion for the Atari and Commodore; Force7, a science-fiction action and adventuregame for the Commodore, Atari B-bit, andApple II systems; and Dark Lord, an intro-ductory graphics/text adventure in whichthe Dark Lord takes you into theAlterworld, where you must destroy anevil wizard. This is for the Apple andCommodore systems.

Earl Weaver, ex-manager of the Balti-more Orioles, is modern-day baseball�s�winningest� manager, and he has impart-ed all of his knowledge into this game,which is creatively programmed by EddieDombrower, with digitized sound by TeriMason, On an Amiga, there are splitscreens showing the playing field as wellas the batter and the pitcher, camera pansthat follow a hit baseball, slow-motion andclose-ups.

But there�s far more. You may select tomanage (or manage and play) the game ata variety of difficulty levels. Control of thegame is through the keypad, joystick, ormouse, with each defensive or offensiveaction being extremely easy to initiate. Anonscreen play option allows you to selectany offensive or defensive move you wish,even with another �manager� sitting atyour side controlling the other team. Thisoffering also allows you to customize yourown ballpark or pick one of severalfamous ballparks to play in. You can go to

the Commissioner to start a new baseballleague or division, clone existing playersand make them into your own players,even recolor your players� uniforms. Play-ers may be traded and drafted as well.

Add the actual crack of the bat as itsmacks the baseball, the roar of thecrowd, and you have realistic baseball play� an offering that is without peer. We hadheard from some beta-testers that theydidn�t think the game allowed for highscoring. Well, our second game was a 14 to3 romp, and the third game, in which weplayed against �Earl� (the computer), welost 15 to 2! Other game scores ranged inthe 4 to 1, 8 to 3;and 13 to 11 range.

Player�s statistics can be updated auto-matically after every game, and you arealways able to examine every player�sabilities and past performance to makecertain you select the best players and putthem in the most useful position in yourlineup. During the game, you can checkthe speed of each pitch via the Radar keyor make note of Wind direction. Confer-ences on the mound can also becomeimportant, as the activated pitcher and thecatcher inform you of how each feels thepitcher is performing at that moment inthe ball game.

Should you ever feel lost, you can checkwith �Earl� to see what play he wouldrecommend at any point in the game. Hiscryptic messages can be very helpful; youmight be in the mood to steal second base,but Earl may caution against such a movebecause of factors you hadn�t noticed! Aswe have already expended nearly all ofour free time playing Earl Weaver Base-ball, we are quite certain that this Elec-tronic Arts offering is the best sports-simulation game of the year! It�s going totake one heck of a lot for another newoffering to bat a home run like this onehas done.

Firebird Licensees, Inc.P.O. Box 49Ramsey NJ 07446

Released in multiple machine formats isthe exciting sequel to The Pawn. The new

release is The Guild of Thieves, availablefor Commodore 64/128, Commodore Ami-ga, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit systems, Apple IIfamily, Macintosh, and IBMs and clones.This is an illustrated adventure that takesplace in Kerovnia, and includes wittydialogue, outstanding graphics, wryhumor, and challenging puzzles. Eight-bitversions are $39.95 and 16-bit versions are$44.95.

PBI Software1163 Triton DriveFoster City CA 94404(415) 349-8765

Now there�s a fantasy adventure game infull stereo sound! From PBI comes TheTower of Myraglen, for the Apple II GScomputer. With digitized sound and spec-tacular graphics, the setting is a medievaltime; the forces of evil are about to defeatthe forces of good. You are the last remain-ing Knight of Justice. Your duty is to savethe Kingdom from the dark side. You neednot only weaponry but altruism as well.You must find treasures, weapons, spells,armor, and potions to aid you; you willalso find 30 different monsters who aregoing to do their best to stop you ($54.95).

The Clue CornerThe game hint for this month is from

Jerry Biewer, of Morton Grove, Ill., forBard’s Tale II:

�First of all, mapping is very important. Ifeel it has helped me to succeed in gettingthe first and second segment of the Desti-ny Wand. The first segment is in Fanskar�sCastle. If you are starting with freshlymade characters, they should seek out thestarter dungeon and stay in it until theyreach 14th level or higher. The groupshould consist of at least one monk, twopaladins, one hunter (because of theirability to �critically hit�), two spell-casters,and one bard. The code for �The Dream-spell� can be learned from the Strange Mage found in Colosee. First, you mustfinish the tombs and then solve the puzzlethat the Strange Mage gives you.�

Thanks, Jerry, for your advice. We cer-

8 0 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

tainly intend to follow your words ofwisdom.

Might & Magic Hint #1: If you managedto find your way into the dungeonbeneath Portsmith and have come across abronze gate, a less-than-warmer Princesscould help you out!

Phantasie I Hint #l: Can�t find a way outof the second level that you seem to beperpetually stuck in? Hope your activecharacter isn�t allergic to water � movehim or her into the pool and look around!

Phantasie I Hint #2: A Minotaur is theonly key to entrance into the Dungeon ofthe Dosnebian Clerics.

Shard of Spring Hint #1: At the Tower�s6th level, there is a seemingly impassableforce field. One way to bypass this field isto see what�s in the basement and capturea rod, killing its possessor.

The Pawn Hint #1: Sometimes, a greatmany actions that seem impossible arethat way because an incorrect verb isused. For example, for a moving experi-ence, try the verb �lever.�

Just rewardsAs more and more software-based role-

playing games are released, the ability torecognize those that make a major contri-bution to our enjoyment seems to slip byin the press of business. We would like topresent annual awards, at least in print, tothose games that you (our readers) and we(the authors) believe are the finest of thefloppies. In order to manage such a task,we are asking for your help. We certainlyhave our own opinions, but with manythousands of you also enjoying computergames, your input is necessary to makethis award truly meaningful. If you have a minute and are trulyenamored with a specific game, we wouldlike to receive your ballot nominating thatentertainment as the best game of the yearfor that system. Simply get a postcard,write your own name and address, thename of the game, and the system youplay the game on, and mail your corre-spondence to Pattie and Hartley at: 179Pebble Place, San Ramon CA 94583 (notelephone calls, please). If you have anycomments you�d like to write about thegame on your postcard or in the letter,add them. And don�t forget: We�re stilllooking for game hints from you gamers,and we will publish the best we receiveeach month.

Just to let you know what�s coming up,the following games are currently underreview:

Appearing next issue: Phantasie III fromStrategic Simulations.

Appearing in the following issue: SDIand Shadowgate from Mindscape.

Appearing within the next few issues:Alternate Reality – The Dungeon fromDatasoft (IntelliCreations); The EternalDagger from Strategic Simulations, Inc.;and Wizardry IV – The Revenge ofWerdna from Sir-Tech Software, Inc. Untilnext month, game on!

CopyrIght ©1987 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Marvel, and all Marvel characters’ names andlikenesses, are trademarks of the Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.

8 2 N OVEMBER 1987

by Warren Spector

Everybody loves the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing, also known as Benjamin J.Grimm, Bashful Benjamin, or good ol’Benji. He was one of Marvel Comics’ firstand best characters, introduced back inthe good ol’ Stan and Jack days as one ofthe strongest creatures ever to walk theface of the Earth. But, like every othermemorable Marvel character since, hissuperpowers never overshadowed hisbasic humanity. He may have been arocky, orange-skinned nightmare creature,but he was always, above all, a man.

For years, the best writers in comicsplumbed the depths of Ben Grimm’s soul,poking, probing, investigating this mantrapped in the body of a monster. TheThing appeared in book after book, story

after story, his popularity increasing allthe time. Nobody seemed to notice justhow one-dimensional a character he was,is, and probably always will be.

I can hear the screams of protestalready, but it�s true � for all the years ofcharacter �development,� Ben Grimmremains today what he was when he firstappeared � a guy who beats up foes andthen broods about being a monster. (Iguess beating and brooding makes himtwo-dimensional � so sue me!)

If you�re getting the idea I don�t like theThing, you�re wrong. Dead wrong. I lovethe big orange gorilla. And when I got thechance to write a MARVEL SUPERHEROES® adventure gamebook, there wasno other character (with the possibleexception of Iron Man) I was as hot totackle as the Thing. I leaped at the chance,signed the contract, and reread everyThing adventure I could get my hands on.

Then, with visions of the Thing, his palsin the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans, andthe Unlimited Class Wrestlers dancing inmy brain, I sat down at my computer,waiting for the Muse to strike. I waited . . .and waited . . . and waited. For weeks,nothing resembling a plot came to mind.

After what seemed like forever, I had an

epiphanic moment � all the Thing coulddo was punch. I was trying to come upwith a brilliant, daring new story about acharacter who doesn�t think (much),doesn�t use weapons or equipment (whichwould have lent a little variety to theinevitable fight scenes), and has no arch-villains to call his own.

As an adventure gamebook hero, theThing was shaping up to be a bust. Then,it hit me: The Thing as we knew him, inthis world, was one-dimensional, but thecharacter always seemed to to have hid-den depths. Why, for example, did he actlike an idiot all the time? Here�s a collegegraduate, ace test pilot, and rocket jockeytalking like a grade-school dropout. Howcome? Were there circumstances thatcould force Ben Grimm to use his headrather than his muscles?

And that was just the beginning. I got tothinking about how Ben Grimm�s life mighthave changed if fate had dealt him a slight-ly different hand. Before I knew it, I wasplaying �What If?� in the finest MarvelComics tradition. Not long after, with somehelp from Allen Varney and my wife,Caroline, I had my adventure gamebook,One Thing After Another, plotted out.

To find out exactly what happens, you�llhave to read One Thing After Another, butit isn�t giving too much away to say theplot involves travel to other dimensionsand encounters with Things (and BenGrimms) that you � and our own belovedThing � never dreamed of.

What does all of this have to do withThe Marvel-Phile? We�re getting there. Itwas right about the time I finished theThing gamebook that Roger Moore, theesteemed editor of this publication, askedme if I�d be interested in writing a Marvel-Phile article. Being steeped in Thing-lore atthe time, I naturally mentioned all my�What If?� Things and asked if he�d beinterested in game statistics for them.Being weird by nature, Roger said, �Sure, Ilove �What If?� stories.� So that�s whyyou�re about to read an article aboutThings you�ve never heard of before.

First, let�s go over the basics on ourThing, the one we all know and love (trustme; things get weirder as we go along).

Born as Benjamin J. Grimm, the worldknows him as the Thing, one of Earth�smightiest heroes and a member of therenowned supergroup, the Fantastic Four.He grew up on Yancy Street, one of NewYork�s worst slums, a place were alcoholics(like his father) end up, a place wheregang members (like his brother) often dieviolently in battles over �turf.� For a while,it looked as if Ben would come to a badend, too, but then his Uncle Jake steppedin. With Jake�s support and encourage-ment, Ben got into a good high school andfound that he had a brain in his head. Benalso found that he was a pretty good foot-ball player � good enough to get a schol-arship to Empire State College.

At State, Grimm became a gridiron star.His roommate � Reed Richards � was a

star of a different sort. A real egghead,Ben called him; a stick-in-the-mud. Despitetheir differences, Ben and Reed becamethe best of friends. One day, Reed toldGrimm his greatest dream � he wanted tobuild a spaceship capable of taking man-kind to the stars. Ben jokingly offered topilot the ship for him.

After graduation, Grimm became an AirForce fighter pilot, then an ace test pilot.Reed became a research scientist, workingto make his dream of spaceflight a reality.Finally, the dream came true. Reed haddeveloped a rocket ship capable of travel-ing through outer space and, remember-ing Ben�s promise, asked him to pilot theship on its maiden flight. That�s whenthings got complicated. The governmentwouldn�t allow Reed to go up in the shiphe had designed, so Reed planned a secrettest flight of his own.

It was a fateful decision � one thatchanged the course of Ben Grimm�s lifeand, some would say, of human history.One night, Grimm, Reed Richards, SueStorm (soon to become Reed�s wife), andJohnny Storm (Sue�s teenaged brother)crept aboard the spaceship and took off!All went well for a time, but then the shipwas bombarded by unexpectedly highlevels of cosmic radiation. The rays slicedthrough the ship�s untested shields, expos-ing the crew to the unknown effects of themysterious radiation. One effect was obvi-ous: The ship went out of control andplummeted earthward. Only Ben Grimm�spiloting skill managed to prevent a disas-trous crash. The spaceship was demol-ished, but the passengers were unhurt.

Unhurt, yes, but changed, both by theexperience and by exposure to cosmicrays. The rays gave Reed Richards theability to stretch his body into fantasticshapes. Sue Storm found that she couldbecome invisible and project impenetrableforce fields. The cosmic rays gave JohnnyStorm the ability to burst into flame; in hisflame-form, he could even fly!

Grimm was the most changed of all,though. He turned into a 500-pound,orange-colored, rocky-skinned monster,capable of uprooting trees and lifting carsas if they were toys. In fact, he is nowcapable of lifting up to 85 tons!

That day, Reed Richards became Mr.Fantastic, Sue Storm became the InvisibleWoman, Johnny Storm became the HumanTorch, and Ben became the everlovin�,blue-eyed Thing. Together, they formedthe Fantastic Four, and they�ve been fight-ing evil and injustice ever since. That�s theway historians of the Marvel Universe tellthe story � but what if things had gonedifferently? That, in large part, is whatOne Thing After Another is all about.

For example, imagine a world in whichReed Richards bowed to the government�swishes and didn�t go up in his spaceship, aworld in which Sue and Johnny Stormdied in the ship�s crash � but Ben survivedas the Thing, with no control over hisfury. That would have left a rampaging

D R A G O N 8 3

Thing with no one around to calm himdown. This Thing might have become themonster everyone expects a rocky, orange-skinned horror to be. Anyone who�s readFantastic Four #1 knows how crazed theThing was right after the crash. What ifhe never calmed down? The Hulk mighthave had some competition for most out-of-control, superstrong freak the world�sever seen!

From there, it was easy to imagine thatthe �normal� Reed Richards would devotehis life to curing his old friend. What ifone of the attempted �cures� backfired,exposing the Thing to further doses ofcosmic radiation? The result might be aneven stronger, more monstrous Thingabout 40� tall: a Thing Kong!

This Thing Kong is even stronger thaneverybody�s favorite rocky, orange super-hero, and he�s got the brain of a five-year-old. It�s not that he�s a villain � he justdoesn�t know his own strength (sort of likeDragon Man, only bigger and stronger).Like all Things everywhere, he�s got athing for Alicia Masters � he�ll do any-thing to get his paws on her, up to andincluding climbing the Empire State Build-ing! (This fixation with Alicia can be agood way to introduce the brute into yourcampaign.)

In addition to a 40� Thing, there aresome other oddities about this alternateworld: Dr. Doom is a good guy, and theVVD (Victor Von Doom) Enterprises build-ing is on the site of 4 Freedoms Plaza �but you�ll have to read the book for moreabout that. Here are the AdvancedMARVEL SUPER HEROES game statisticsfor Thing Kong:

THING KONG�Divergent universe menace

F IN (40)A TY (7)S UN (100)E MN (75)R PR (4)I PR (4)P GD (10)

Health: 222

Karma: 18

Resources: 0

Popularity: 0

KNOWN POWERS:

Body Armor: Thing Kong�s hide is evendenser and more protective than theThing's. It provides Amazing protectionagainst physical attacks, Remarkable pro-tection against energy attacks, and hasAmazing protection against fire.

Protected Senses: Thing Kong has thesame basic physical makeup as the Thingwe all know and love, but like a child, hetends to be sensitive to loud noises � orsonic attacks. He has only Excellent protec-tion from sonic attacks.

TALENTS: None (aside from wreakingHulklike havoc and climbing tall buildingswith beautiful women in his paws).

CONTACTS: None.

Continuing our whirlwind tour of thedimensions, we come upon one in whichthe Thing, perhaps driven slightly insaneby his outer-space experience, returns tobehavioral patterns established during hischildhood days on Yancy Street. BenGrimm, the punk kid and gang fightergrows up to become a super-strong crimeboss.

The streetwise Ben Grimm of this worldused his great strength not for good, butto forge a criminal empire second only tothe Kingpin�s. Reed, Sue, and Johnny (per-haps with Spider-Man providing a littlehelp) are the Thingpin�s bitterest enemies.The Thing of our world arrives in thisalternate dimension to find the�Thingpin�s� criminal headquarters in askyscraper on Yancy Street. A gang warbetween Kingpin and Thingpin is about tostart, and all New York quakes in fear.Alicia Masters has been kidnapped � thefirst casualty in the bloody war to come.It�s a mess only the Thing can put right.

The Thingpin is orange, rocky, andstrong, but he�s gotten a little soft. Notbeing the sort to go off saving the worldand fighting bad guys, he�s built an armyto do the real work of running a criminalempire. He�s a little out of shape, a littlesoft around the edges, but has a mindhoned to a keen, cruel, criminal edge. He�sbad news!

THINGPINTM

Divergent universe villain

F RM (30)A GD (8)S MN (63)E MN (63)R EX (20)I RM (26)P RM (30)

Health: 164

Karma: 76

Resources:RM (35)

Popularity: 0

KNOWN POWERS:

Body Armor: Like the Thing of our world,the Thingpin has dense, rocky armor, andit�s every bit as effective as the Thing�sown � Incredible protection against physi-cal attacks and Excellent protectionagainst energy attacks, with Incredibleresistance to fire.

Protected Senses: The Thingpin�s sensesequal our Thing�s, giving him Remarkableprotection against sonic attacks.

TALENTS: The Thingpin was a pilot once,long enough ago to have lost the keenedge necessary to be more than a fair jetjockey (he now has underlings to do hisflying for him). The same is true of hisfighting abilities: The Thingpin had mili-tary training in his youth, but his tenden-cy to let others do his fighting has madehim a less effective martial artist than theThing of our world.

CONTACTS: The Thingpin has friends inhigh places everywhere: politicians, con-tractors, and movie stars all flock to himbecause not doing so can be disastrous. Heknows everybody and pulls just abouteverybody�s strings. Those who don�t givein to his subtle pressures find themselvesface to face with members of his personalarmy of thugs.

The last Thing we�ll meet may be theoddest � he�s not rocky, or orange, orsuper-strong at all, but he may be myfavorite �alternate Thing� of all. Imaginean alternate world just like the MarvelUniverse, with a Fantastic Four and aThing like the ones we know � but thisThing used Doctor Doom�s time machineto go back in time to the night before thefateful rocket flight that created theFantastic Four. Imagine the Thing prevent-ing his younger, human self from going onthat flight. All it would take would be a tapon the jaw, and Ben Grimm would be outlike a light; Reed, Sue, and Johnny wouldeither go up in the ship and return as theFantastic Three (the Terrific Trio?) or calloff the flight because they didn�t have apilot. In either event, Ben Grimm wouldnever become the Thing, and would neverworry about being a monster ever again.

Well, the plan sounds good on paper, butin One Thing After Another, it has someunexpected side effects. Without a quali-fied pilot, the ship crashed, killing Reed,Sue, and Johnny! Obviously, Ben Grimmcouldn�t become the Thing if he didn�t goup in the ship. Imagine, then, a worldwithout a Fantastic Four or a Thing, aworld in which a lonely Ben Grimm had tosurvive on his wits and natural talents,rather than on his cosmic-ray enhancedmuscles.

Such a man might drift from job to job,trying out as a professional football playeror giving thought to a career as a militaryfighter jock. What would happen, though,if he ended up working as a test pilot for aprivate firm � like Stark Enterprises?

A man like Ben Grimm � strong,streetwise, intelligent, an ace pilot � mightbecome Tony Stark�s right-hand man. Hemight fly his boss to Southeast Asia, mightwatch his boss die of shrapnel wounds tothe heart. He might find himself capturedby the Communists and thrown into a cellwith a brilliant research scientist whocreates a suit of powered armor. BenGrimm might become the Iron Man ofsuch a world!

Using the powered armor, the BenGrimm of this world returned home tobecome the head of Stark Enterprises.Working with Stark Enterprises� research-ers, he improved the armor�s basic designand changed its outer form. Wantingsomething that would strike fear into thehearts of evildoers, he�d naturally emulatethe form of the person (or Thing) whichterrified him the most: the form of theorange-skinned, rocky creature that hadstopped him from going up in the rocket

8 4 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

DRAGON 85

ship with Reed Richards years before!Thus, Ben Grimm became an armored

Thing � a high-tech, one-man army, com-plete with repulsor rays, rocket-poweredroller skates, gas defenses, and, of course,great strength.

The Ben Grimm of this world is a greathero and a brilliant man, but he is notwithout troubles. Remember, his bestfriends died in an accident he could haveprevented, if the Thing of his futurehadn�t prevented him from being onReed�s ship. He watched as Tony Stark diedat the hands of the Communists. His wholelife is built on the deaths of others, andthat�s driven him a little over the edge.The Ben Grimm of this world is a little bitof a fruitcake, but that only makes himmore interesting.

DOCTOR GRIMMTM

Divergent universe hero

F EX (25)A RM (30)S AM (50)E MN (75)R IN (36)I EX (20)P RM (30)

Health: 180

Karma: 86

Resources: EX (20)

Popularity: RM (35)

KNOWN POWERS:

Body Armor: The Thing Armor used byDoctor Grimm provides Amazing protec-tion from physical attacks, as well as fromheat and cold. Its resistance to corrosivesis Incredible. The armor provides Mon-strous protection from energy attacks,radiation, and electricity. Without theThing Armor, Doctor Grimm�s FASE scoresare all Good (10).

Repulsors: These rays emanate fromgloves of the Thing Armor and can doAmazing damage at a range of 10 areas.

Roller Skates: Rocket-powered roller-skatewheels can be lowered from the ThingArmor�s foot-shaped boots. These allowhim to move at Excellent speeds (up to 10areas per turn). Note that the ThingArmor of this world is too bulky to fly likethe Iron Man of our world � this is thetrade-off for the Thing�s terrifying visage.

Gas Defenses: If anyone tries to removethe Thing Armor from its wearer, the suitemits a knock-out gas of Remarkableintensity.

NOTE: These are the powers possessedby the suit of Thing Armor in One ThingAfter Another. Doctor Grimm has othersuits of armor available which may give

him far different powers � anything inIron Man�s arsenal (and a couple of thingsTony Stark never imagined) is possible!

TALENTS: In addition to Ben Grimm�snatural abilities as a pilot, the Ben Grimmof this world is skilled in electronics andbusiness.

CONTACTS: Ben Grimm has good connec-tions with the government and the mili-tary. He often does research and designwork for the S.H.I.E.L.D. of this world.

There you have it: three of the Thingsyou can encounter in One Thing AfterAnother. Incorporating them into yourcampaign isn�t as hard as you might think� the Marvel Universe is chockful ofinterdimensional travel devices, and timemachines are a dime a dozen.

And if you don�t like my Things, you canalways do your own Thing. You can sendyour characters back in time to see if theycan prevent Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Benfrom going up in the ship without suffer-ing the consequences I�ve proposed. Youcan think up alternate versions of otherMarvel heroes. Or, you can throw yourcharacters into an alternate dimension(like our own, but subtly different), andwatch as they come to grips with thedifferences and try to figure out (ahem)how Things came to be as they are.

86 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

(continued from page 3)They graduated magna cum laudefrom the Sauron Institute for theCriminally Vicious.

When I joined the gaming group,some of the PCs had already metTucker�s kobolds, and they were noteager to repeat the experience. Theparty leader went over the penciledmap of the dungeon and tried tofind ways to avoid the little critters,but it was not possible. The groupresigned itself to making a run for itthrough Level One to get to theelevators, where we could go downto Level Ten and fight �okay� mon-sters like huge flaming demons.

It didn�t work. The kobolds caughtus about 60� into the dungeon andlocked the door behind us andbarred it. Then they set the corridoron fire, while we were still in it.

�NOOOOOO!!!� screamed the partyleader. �It�s THEM! Run!!!�

Thus encouraged, our partyscrambled down a side passage, onlyto be ambushed by more koboldsfiring with light crossbows throughmurder holes in the walls and ceil-ings. Kobolds with metal armor andshields flung Molotov cocktails at usfrom the other sides of huge piles offlaming debris, which other koboldspushed ahead of their formationusing long metal poles like broom-sticks. There was no mistake aboutit. These kobolds were bad.

We turned to our group leader foradvice.

�AAAAAAGH!!!� he cried, hands

clasped over his face to shut out thetactical situation.

We abandoned most of our carrieditems and donkeys to speed ourflight toward the elevators, but wewere cut off by kobold snipers whocould split-move and fire, duckingback behind stones and cornersafter launching steel-tipped boltsand arrows, javelins, hand axes, andmore flaming oil bottles. We ran intoan unexplored section of Level One,taking damage all the time. It wasthen we discovered that thesekobolds had honeycombed the firstlevel with small tunnels to speedtheir movements. Kobold comman-dos were everywhere. All of ourhirelings died. Most of our hench-men followed. We were next.

I recall we had a 12th-level magic-user with us, and we asked him tothrow a spell or something. �Blast�em!� we yelled as we ran. �Fireball�em! Get those little @#+$%*&!!�

�What, in these narrow corri-dors?� he yelled back. �You want Ishould burn us all up instead ofthem?�

Our panicked flight suddenly tookus to a dead-end corridor, where agiant air shaft dropped straightdown into unspeakable darkness,far past Level Ten. Here we hastily

pounded spikes into the floors andwalls, flung ropes over the ledge,and climbed straight down into thatunspeakable darkness, becauseanything we met down there wassure to be better than those kobolds.

We escaped, met some huge flam-ing demons on Level Ten, and evenmanaged to kill one after about anhour of combat and the lives of halfthe group. We felt pretty good �but the group leader could not becheered up.

�We still have to go out the waywe came in,� he said as he gloomilyprepared to divide up the treasure.

Tucker�s kobolds were the worstthings we could imagine. They ateall our donkeys and took our trea-sure and did everything they couldto make us miserable, but they hadstyle and brains and tenacity andcourage. We respected them andloved them, sort of, because theywere never boring.

If kobolds could do this to a groupof PCs from 6th to 12th level, pic-ture what a few orcs and some low-level NPCs could do to a 12th-16thlevel group, or a gang of mid-levelNPCs and monsters to groups of upto 20th level. Then give it a try.Sometimes, it�s the little things �used well � that count.

Index to Advertisers

AMAZING® Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51, insert cardArmory, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44-45Bard Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Britton Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80Chaosium Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Columbia Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Doubleday SF Book Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11DRAGON® Magazine. . . . . . . . . . . . . .65, insert cardsDUNGEON� Adventures. . . . . . . . . . . 53, insert cardFASA Corporation . . . . . . . . . . 25, inside back coverFriedland Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Game Designers� Workshop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 79Game Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Games Workshop . . . . .Inside front cover, 69, 77, 89

Helm�s Bane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63Iron Crown Enterprises, Inc. . . . . . . .18, back coverLeading Edge Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Mayfair Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35, 61, 64Milton Bradley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7New Infinities Productions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Palladium Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13, 43, 59 ,85Putnam Publishing Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Ral Partha Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Skyrealms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Steve Jackson Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31, 8621st Century Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24TSR, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 95, 97, 101West End Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

88 NOVEMBER 1987

GAMERS� GUIDE

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DRAGONMIRTH

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D R A G O N 9 3

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Convention Calendar Policies

This column is offered as a service to ourreaders around the world. Anyone mayplace a free listing for a game conventionhere, but the following guidelines must beobserved.

In order to ensure that all conventionlistings contain accurate and timely infor-mation, all material should be either typeddouble-spaced or printed legibly on 8½” x11” paper. The contents of each listingshould be short, succinct, and under 150words long.

The information given in the listing mustinclude the following information, in thefollowing order:

1. Convention title and dates held;2. Site and location;3. Guests of honor (if applicable);4. Special events offered;5. Registration fees or attendance

requirements; and,6. Address(es) and telephone number(s)

where additional information and confirma-tion can be obtained.

Convention flyers, brochures, newslet-ters, and other mass-mailed announce-ments run the risk of not being consideredfor use in this column; we prefer to see acover letter with the announcement as well.No call-in listings are accepted. Domesticand foreign conventions are welcome.

WARNING: We are not responsible forincorrect information sent to us by conven-tion staff members. Please check yourconvention listing carefully! Our widecirculation ensures that over a quarter of amillion readers see each issue. Accurateinformation is your responsibility!

Convention listings should be mailed bythe copy deadline date to ConventionCalendar, DRAGON® Magazine, PO. Box110, Lake Geneva WI 53147. Copy dead-line dates are the last Monday of eachmonth, two months prior to the on-saledate of an issue. For example, the copydeadline for the March 1988 issue is thelast Monday of January 1988. Plan ahead;early listings pay off!

If a convention listing must be changedbecause the convention has been can-celled, the dates have changed, or incor-rect information has been printed, pleasecontact us immediately! For any ques-tions or changes related to this column,please call either Robin Jenkins or RogerE. Moore at TSR, Inc., at (414) 248-3625.

* indicatesindicates

a Canadian convention.European convention.

CHICAGO MODELNovember 5-8

& HOBBY SHOW

Sponsored by the Radio Control Hobby TradeAssociation (RCHTA), this third annual trade and

9 4 N O V E M B E R 1 9 8 7

hobby show will be held at the O�Hare ExpoCenter in Rosemont, Ill. A car track, boat pond,retail store, and static model area are featuredagain this year, with product displays by modelrailroad manufacturers. Over 2,000 retailersand distributors will attend this event, as willthousands of experienced modelers. Write to:CHICAGO MODEL & HOBBY SHOW, 2400 EastDevon Ave., Suite 205, Des Plaines IL 60018; orcall: Susan P. Lind at (312) 299-3131, or toll-freeat (800) 323-5155.

SAN DIEGO GAMING CONVENTIONNovember 6-8

This three-day gaming convention will be heldat the Hotel San Diego, 339 West BroadwayStreet in San Diego, Calif. Events include a widevariety of role-playing, board, and miniaturesgame tournaments, along with a large dealers�room and a host of open games. Registration is$20 at the door. Special two-day and one-dayregistration fees are available at the door. Writeto: SAN DIEGO GAMING CONVENTION, P.O. Box881424, San Diego CA 92108; or call: (619) 569-1685 between 8 A.M. and 5 P.M.

SCI CON 9, November 6-8Sponsored by the Hampton Roads Science

Fiction Association, this science-fiction conven-tion will be held at the Sheraton Beach Inn inVirginia Beach, Va. Larry Niven is the guest ofhonor, with I? Craig Russell as artist guest ofhonor and Bernadette Bosky as fan guest ofhonor. Featured events include panels, readings,videos, a costume contest, an art show, andmuch more. Registration is $18 at the door.Huckster�s tables (limit of 2, including onemembership per table) are $50 each. Room ratesat the Sheraton Beach Inn are $45 for a singleand $51 for a double. Write to: SCI CON 9, PO.Box 9434, Hampton VA 23670.

FIRST VERCINGETORIX TOURNAMENTNovember 7-8

This Ancient-period miniatures tournamentwill take place at the Carrefour Europe room inChamalieres, France. Starting at 10 A.M. Satur-day morning, this tournament runs until 11 P.M.

Sunday evening. The 1st Vercingetorix Tourna-ment is sponsored by the Association de JeuxChamalierois. Write to: Donnat Jean Marc, LaTuilerie, 63230 Pontgibaud, France. Food andlodging are available at the convention site foran additional fee.

ROCK-CON XIV, November 7-8This year�s ROCK-CON gaming convention will

be held at the Wagon Wheel Resort in Rockton,Ill. Special guests include Gary Gygax, Jim Ward,Tom Wham, and Lou Zocchi. Special featuresinclude over 60 different gaming events, alongwith a dealers� room with over 40 exhibitors.Other events include a miniatures-paintingcontest (prizes awarded) and various miniaturescompetitions. Admission for both days is $5,with no additional gaming fees. Conventionhours are 10 A.M. to midnight Saturday and 10A.M. to 5 P.M. on Sunday. Write to: ROCK-CON

XIV Information or Game Scheduling, 14225Hansberry Road, Rockton IL 61072. Make allchecks payable to Black Hawk Distributors.

EARTHCON VII, November 13-15

This science-fiction convention, sponsored byNEOFSA, Inc., will be held at the Holiday InnWestlake, 1100 Crocker Road, in Cleveland,Ohio. Guests of honor include R.M. Meluch, JaySullivan, Kenneth Shulze, Alan Tuskes, SheldonJaffrey, and Jim Young. Sponsored eventsinclude videos, dealers, a masquerade, panels,filksinging, an art show and auction, a mediadisplay room, and much more. Registration is$22. Write to: EARTHCON, PO. Box 5641, Cleve-land OH 44101.

GICON IX, November 13-15

This biannual fantasy role-playing gameconvention will be held at the Ramada Inn inGrand Island, Nebr. Events include many com-pletely original FRPG modules for various sys-tems in competition for prizes. Other eventsinclude a competition for fantasy miniaturespainting and an authors� competition for shortstory and poetry writing. Prizes will be award-ed to all top finishers. An overall conventionchampion will also be named. Registration is$15. For more information, send an SASE to:GICON IX, 3077 South 40th Street, Omaha NE68105.

XANADU IV, November 13-15

This science-fiction convention will be held atthe Ramada Inn on Music Valley Drive in Nash-ville, Tenn. Poul Anderson is guest of honor. Anumber of RPGATM Network tournaments will befeatured, along with a few events sponsored byD.A.G.R. Memberships are $20. Write to: Wil-liam Tracy, c/o XANADU SF Con, PO. Box 23281,Nashville TN 37202-3281.

PENTACON III, November 14

This one-day gaming convention will be heldat the Whistler Ballroom and Grand WayneGallery in the Grand Wayne Center located atl20 W. Jefferson in Fort Wayne, Ind. An RPGA�Network AD&D® tournament is featured, alongwith other AD&D® tournaments, miniaturesbattles, fantasy and science-fiction role-playinggames, a flea market, a miniatures-paintingcontest, and the awarding of door prizes. Adealers� and manufacturers� room is also availa-ble. This convention runs from 9 A.M. to mid-night. Write to: NIGA/PENTACON, PO. Box11133, Fort Wayne IN 46856; or call: MichaelDurant at (219) 422-9964.

NOVOCON 3-D, November 21

This one-day gaming event, sponsored by theOhio Gaming Association, will be held from 10A.M. to midnight at the University of Akron inAkron, Ohio. Numerous role-playing games andminiatures competitions will be sponsored,along with an auction, a dealers� room, andvarious other activities. Membership fees are $5for the day, with no additional event fees. Writeto: NEO-GS, Box 412, Cuyahoga Falls OH 44222.

CONTEX V, November 27-29This science-fiction convention will be held in

Houston, Tex., at the Hobby Airport Holiday Innover Thanksgiving weekend. Guests includeElizabeth Scarborough, Real Musgrave, RolandSchmidt, and Fran Booth. Events include tourna-ment and open gaming, a painted-miniaturescontest, a video songtape contest, an art showand auction, a masquerade, film and videorooms, writers� workshops, panels, talks, demos,a 24-hour con suite, flea-market tables, and a

dealers� room. Three-day memberships are $20at the door. Write to: Friends of Fandom, PO.Box 266996; Houston TX 77207-6996, or call:( 7 1 3 ) 4 7 5 - 8 2 2 8 .

DALLAS FANTASY FAIRNovember 27-29

Sponsored by Bulldog Productions, this comic-book, science-fiction, and film supershow takesplace at the Marriott Park Central, 7750 I-635 atHwy 45, in Dallas, Tex. Guests include CaroleNelson Douglas, Steve Erwin, Kerry Gammill,and many others. Other features include a hugedealers� room, a professional art show, an artcontest, an art auction, video rooms, a masquer-ade, numerous workshops, previews of upcom-ing motion pictures, and a variety of gamingevents and open gaming competition. Ticketsfor this event are $25 after November 1. Writeto: Bulldog Productions, PO. Box 820488, DallasTX 75382; or call: (214) 349-3367.

DRAGONMEET BALTIMORENovember 27-29

Sponsored by Games Workshop U.S., thisscience-fiction and fantasy gaming conventionwill be held at the Marriott Inner Harbor Hotelin Baltimore, Md. Events include all types ofgames, with an extensive miniatures gamingschedule taking place over the length of thisthree-day affair. Gaming events are sponsoredaround the clock, with a program of films andvideos showing concurrently. A miniatures-painting workshop is also held at no additionalexpense to registrants. This workshop featuresartists spotlighted in the �Tabletop Heroes�section of White Dwarf Magazine. Registrationis $20. One-day registration is $7.50 at the door.Write to: Timothy D. Olsen, Games Workshop,231 Park Avenue, Baltimore MD 21201; or call:(301) 752-1493.

PELI-CON �87, November 27-29This convention will be the first comics and

gaming convention sponsored in the NewOrleans area. Held at the Clarion Hotel onhistoric Canal Street in Downtown NewOrleans, PELI-CON �87 will take place justblocks away from the ever-popular FrenchQuarter. Guest artists from several comic-bookpublishers will be present for panel discus-sions and autograph sessions. Other guests willinclude Ned Dameron, George Alec Effinger,Pat Adkins, David �Zeb� Cook, Mike Curtis, andKirk Alyn. Game events featured include anAD&D® game tournament, an AD&D® gametrivia contest, Pente, BATTLESYSTEM�, andBATTLETECH® game competitions, and avariety of miniatures, board, and role-playinggames. Prizes will be awarded for most events.Other features include a film and video room,a dealers� room, and a 24-hour gaming room.Write to: PELI-CON �87 Convention Committee,5200 Conti Street, New Orleans LA 70124.

5EME TRIATHLON INTER-CLUBSNovember 28-29

This fifth annual convention will be held at lesSalons d�Honneur de l�Hotel-de-Ville in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Sponsored by the gaminggroup Fer de Lance, this event claims to be thelargest role-playing game convention in France.Featured events include AD&,D® and CALL OFCTHULHU® game tournaments, along withnumerous board, war, and miniatures games.For information regarding registration costs,write to: Catherine Lefebvre, 36, rue du LoupPendu, 92290 CHATENAU-MALABRY, FRANCE;or call: (16.1) 46.31.04.05.

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TROPICON VI, December 4-6This science-fiction convention will be held at

the Holiday Inn Oceanside in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.Guests of honor include George R.R. Martin andGail Bennett. Panels, movies, trivia, videos,filksinging, and gaming are featured. Registra-tion is $15 after November 1. Tickets for thebanquet are $19 if purchased before November30. Write to: SFSFS Secretary, PO. Box 70143, Ft.Lauderdale FL 33307.

EVECON 5, January l-3, 1988The �first and friendliest convention� of the

new year will be held at the Stouffers Con-course Hotel on Route One in Crystal City, Va.,across the Potomac River from Washington,D.C. Guests include D. Allen Murphy, NancyJanda, Hal Clement, and many others. EVECON5 features a solid mix of science-fact, science-fiction, and fantasy events, including a costumeparty, a computer room, and open gaming.Preregistration is $15 until Dec. 1; thereafter,registration is $20. For more information, sendan SASE to: FANTEK-EVECON, Box 128, Aber-deen MD 21001.

UNIVERSE 88, January l-3, 1988This game convention will be held at the

Airport Hilton and Towers in Los Angeles, Calif.Featured events will include over 150 gametournaments (fantasy role-playing games, boardgames, war games, and family games), an exhibi-tion room, films, seminars, and more. There willalso be a full program of science-fiction andfantasy events. Admission is $19.50 until Decem-ber 5, and $25 at the door. Write to: UNIVERSE88, Dept. D, PO. Box 2577, Anaheim CA 92804;or call: (213) 867-4140.

CONFUSION, January 15-17, 1988This science-fiction convention will be held at

the Southfield Hilton in Southfield, Mich. Roomprices are $55 per night. Guests of honorinclude Joe Haldeman, Larry Tucker, MartaRandall, and David Cherry. Membership fees are$15 until November 25, and $20 at the door.Write to: AASFA/CONFUSION, PO. Box 8284,Ann Arbor MI 48107.

PROJECT...GENESIS II, January 17, 1988This PATCO protoriginal convention celebrates

its second incarnation at Chiminello�s Hall, 2221N. Weber in Fresno, Calif. Featured tourna-ments include AD&D®, BATTLETECH®, CALLOF CTHULHU®, CHAMPIONS�, and othergames. Open gaming will be available, alongwith a Swap Meet for those wishing to buy, sell,or trade old games or gaming material (tablespace required). Preregistration for this event is$3 for the day if paid before January 10; there-after, registration is $5. Tables for the SwapMeet are $10 for an entire table and $6.50 forhalf a table. Write to: PATCO, c/o Phil Pittz, 5415E. Washington, Fresno CA 93727; or call: (209)255-4682.

NEW ORLEANS SCIENCE FICTION ANDFANTASY FESTIVAL, January 22-24, 1988

This science-fiction and fantasy event will takeplace at the Pallas Suite Hotel, Canal Boulevard,in New Orleans, La. George R.R. Martin, GeorgeAlec Effinger, and others are guests of honor.Registration is $15 at the door. Write to: NEWORLEANS SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASYFESTIVAL, PO. Box 791089, New Orleans LA70179-1089; or call: (504) 482-0908.

CHIMERACON V, January 29-31, 1988This science-fiction and fantasy convention

will be held at the University of North Carolina

campus in Chapel Hill, N.C. Guests of honorinclude Nancy Springer, Hugo and NebulaAwards winner Orson Scott Card, ColleenDoran, Allen Wold, Lisa Cantrell, and Mark vanName. Events include a costume workshop andcontest (costumed guests receive $1 off admis-sion for Saturday registration), an Outer LimitsCantina Variety Show, filksinging, gaming,panels, and more. Admission prices are $6 perday, $11 for two days, and $15 for all threedays. Preregistration for all three days is$12.50. Write to: 15-A University Gardens,Chapel Hill NC 27514; or call: (919) 933-3003.

WARCON �88, February 5-7, 1988Texas� oldest gaming convention will be held

at Texas A&M University in College Station,Texas. The featured event is an RPGA� NetworkAD&,D® Open Team Tournament. Other eventsinclude a variety of board games, miniaturesevents, and role-playing game tournaments, adealers� room, and 24-hour open gaming. Regis-tration is $7, and $9 (RPGA� tournament feeincluded) if paid before the convention; at-the-door fees are $9 and $12 (RPGA� Networktournament fee included). For further informa-tion, contact: MSC NOVA, Texas A&M Univer-sity, College Station TX 77844; or call: (409)845-1515.

GENGHIS CON IX, February 12-14, 1988Join the Horde as GENGHIS CON IX moves to

winter quarters at the Airport Hilton in Denver,Colo. This convention is sponsored by the Den-ver Gamers Association and the Colorado Mili-tary Historians. Events include all varieties ofboard, miniatures, computer, and role-playinggames. The ever-popular game auction willmake another appearance this year. Specialgaming events include competitions in VICTORYIN THE PACIFIC, TITAN; CIVILIZATION, KING-MAKER, and ADVANCED SQUAD LEADER. TheColorado Military Historians will also sponsorone of the first qualifying rounds for the WRGAncients National Championships. Registrationis $12 until January 31, 1988, and $15 thereaf-ter. Write to: Denver Gamers Association, PO.Box 2945, Littleton CO 80161.

ORCCON 11, February 12-15, 1988Brought to you by STRATEGICON, the people

who also brought you ORIGINS �86, this gamingconvention will be held at the Los AngelesAirport Hyatt Hotel. Role-playing, wargame,computer game, and family board game tourna-ments are offered, as well as various seminarsand demonstrations, a flea market, a gameauction, and an exhibitors� area. Write to: ORC-CON 11, c/o DTI, PO. Box 8399, Long Beach CA90808; or call: (213) 420-3675.

CONTEMPLATION 88February 26-28, 1988

This science-fiction, fantasy, and gamingconvention will be held at the Ramada Inn inColumbia, MO. Guests of honor include Jerryand Roberta Pournelle, and Larry Niven. J.R.Daniels is the artist guest of honor, and KeithBerdak is fan guest of honor. Events include anart show and auction, numerous panels, amasquerade, a video room, a hucksters� room,gaming events, and more. Membership fees are$10 until December 16; thereafter, fees are $14.Write to: CONTEMPLATION, PO. BOX 7242,Columbia MO 65205.

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