Issue #202Vol. XVIII, No. 8February 1994

PublisherTSR, Inc.

Associate PublisherBrian Thomsen

Editor-in-ChiefKim Mohan

Associate editorDale A. Donovan

Fiction editorBarbara G. Young

Editorial assistantWolfgang H. Baur

Art directorLarry W. Smith

Production staffTracey Isler

SubscriptionsJanet L. Winters

U.S. advertisingCindy Rick

U.K. correspondentand U.K. advertising

Wendy Mottaz

Editorial ContributionsJanis Wells Lisa Neuberger

Printed in the U.S.A.

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SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS9 Rogues: Reaching for riches

The lovably larcenous take center stage (andwhatever they can carry).

10 Magic to a Different Beat � Lisa SmedmanAdd these exotic instruments to your bard PC�srepertoire.

1 6 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels � Wolfgang BaurLive for the moment, but always plan ahead.

2 2 �The Legends Say. . .� � Fraser ShermanExactly how does your bard PC know that?

2 6 The Master�s Hand � David �Zeb� CookTricks of the trade for the fantasy rogue.

FICTIONThieves� Justice � David J. SchwartzBeware a rogue�s revenge.

REVIEWSEye of the Monitor � Sandy PetersenAre computer programmers obstinate, and does that hurtthe games they produce?

Role-playing Reviews � Rick SwanExploring the latest in fantasy: White Wolf�s MAGE* andFASA�s EARTHDAWN* games.

DRAGON® Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is publishedmonthly by TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 756 (201 SheridanSprings Road), Lake Geneva WI 53147, United Statesof America. The postal address for all materials fromthe United States of America and Canada exceptsubscription orders is: DRAGON® Magazine, P.O. Box111, (201 Sheridan Springs Road), Lake Geneva WI53147, U.S.A.; telephone (414) 248-3625; fax (414)248-0389. The postal address for all materials fromEurope is: DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120 ChurchEnd, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LB, UnitedKingdom; telephone: (0223) 212517 (U.K.), 44-223-212517 (international); telex: 818761; fax (0223)248066 (U.K.), 44-223-248066 (international).

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Through the Looking Glass � Ken CarpenterMiniatures under the eye of our guest reviewer.

FEATURESAttack of the Little People! � Steve WinterIntroduce 15-mm miniatures to your games.

Even Wilder Mages � Joel E. Roosa & Andrew CrossettVariety truly is the spice of life for a wild-mage PC.

The Preserver�s Choice � L. Richard Baker IIIIn the DARK SUN® setting, will your preserver PC turn todefiling magic to save herself?

Mythic Races of Africa � Michael John Wybo IIHow will your PCs react to animal spirits, snake-men, andzebrataurs in your campaign?

Elminster�s Notebook � Ed Greenwood & Gary WilliamsEl encounters a mysterious, magical sword.

The Dragon Project � Stephan Michael SechiUncover the Iron Dragon of Quaran for WotC�sTALISLANTA* game.

C O V E R

This month �s cover pa in t ing ,�Firebird� by Robin Wood, has quite ahistory. The concept was one of the first sketches Robin sent to us wayback in 1984. It took ten years to get on our cover, but the wait was surely wo r t h i t . Ro b in ' s inc l ina t ion toanachronisms is present in this piece too, including two other �birds of fire.�Campaign Journal � Gregory W. Detwiler

These adventure seeds reap a bushel of excitement for anyALQADIM® campaign.

DEPARTMENTS6 Editorial 92 Forum8 Letters 102 Dragonmirth

5 2 Convention Calendar 104 Twilight Empire56 Libram X 108 Gamers Guide67 Sage Advice 120 TSR Previews

each subscription is printed on the mailing label ofeach subscriber’s copy of the magazine. Changes ofaddress for the delivery of subscription copies must bereceived at least six weeks prior to the effective date ofthe change in order to assure uninterrupted delivery.

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Registration applied for in the United Kingdom. Allrights to the contents of this publication are reserved,and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole or inpart without first obtaining permission in writing fromthe publisher. Material published in DRAGON® Maga-zine does not necessarily reflect the opinions of TSR,Inc. Therefore, TSR will not be held accountable foropinions or mis-information contained in such material.

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DRAGON 5

Notes from a Semi-Successful Game Master

Doing what I do for a living, I guess itcomes as part of the territory that I hear alot of stories about gaming campaigns. Ialso hear about numerous campaigns thatdie premature deaths. They die for manyreasons, from player apathy or schedulingconflicts to Monty Haulism or even a fewbotched dice rolls. The majority of thesedeaths are preventable, though. Afterhearing one such story recently, I�ve decid-ed to share three of the lessons I�velearned from 13 years of role-playing. Ieither learned these the hard way, or Ipicked them up from game masters muchmore talented than I.

Have the players help create theworld. If the DM creates her own cam-paign settings, she should collect all thepeople who�ll play in the game and have abrainstorming session. Give everyone achance to contribute ideas for the cam-paign. The DM directs the discussion andconcentrates on developing the best con-cepts. Afterward, the DM develops thecampaign fully, taking the ideas and run-ning with them. Campaigns like these tendto last longer since everyone has somepersonal investment in them.

I took part in a gaming group with friendsand coworkers that did this about two yearsago. After each session, we�d discuss whatwe wanted to do the following week. I�veseldom had more fun gaming than I didthen. I�ll carry the memories of those games(and the people who played tbem) with mefor the rest of my life.

This brainstorming also can be donewith published campaign worlds. If theplayers are familiar with the setting, askthem about countries, regions, races, andother aspects of the world that they like ordislike. If the DM wants to run an all-dwarves campaign, a group of elf-PC fa-natics isn�t going to be very happy. Aboveall, remember that the campaign belongsto everyone in the group, not just the DM.

Don�t unnecessarily kill PCs. I�mprobably going to get a lot of flack for thisone, but I do believe this. Let me give anexample of why. About three years ago, Idiscovered Chaosium�s fantastic CALL OFCTHULHU* horror RPG. All fired up, I setup a scenario for some friends who�d

6 FEBRUARY 1994

never played the game. I wanted to showthem what a wonderful system it was, andI wanted to scare the socks off them. Ithought the game went reasonably well�only two of the five PCs died. Imagine mysurprise when the players didn�t havemuch interest in playing again. Whilethere could have been other contributingfactors, I�m now sure that one reason forthe lack of interest was that the playersdidn�t want to devote the time to create acharacter only to have that character gether face eaten by some slimy beast or beshoved out a second-story window by ahaunted bed.

Players often invest a lot of thought andeffort in their characters, just as a DMinvests much into the campaign. To haveone�s character die, especially in a needlessor pointless manner, can be very upset-ting. I especially dislike �Save vs. poison ordie� situations. Where�s the story value inthe death of a PC simply because the play-er missed one die roll?

The threat of character death should bepresent in every role-playing campaign,without it the players can become lazy, orworse, boring. There are options besidesthe �do or die� scenario. If the dice call fora PC�s death, but the DM doesn�t feel thatthe death is deserved (for foolhardyactions, etc.), declare that the PC falls intoa coma, breaks a limb, loses her memory,or suffers some other major�but notfatal�mishap.

Also, a heroic death, or one that addsvalue to the story being told, is anothermatter. If the PC�s death serves a purposein the campaign (saving the other PCs,sacrificing a character to destroy a largerthreat, etc.), the player may actually enjoyhaving his PC go out in a blaze of glory.

Be a storyteller. When running ascene, the DM must do more than list thecontents of the room. Lists are dull. Rath-er, use the characters� senses to describethe scene. Don�t tell them what�s there; tellthem what they see, hear, smell, feel, andtaste, then let the players draw their ownconclusions. Not only does add to thegame�s atmosphere, it can provide infor-mation important to the story.

One terrific example to this took place in

a another CALL OF CTHULHU campaign,this one run by David �Zeb� Cook. For thescene where our characters met our pa-tron, Zeb turned off all but one of thelights in the house (He didn�t need to sayour patron was in a darkened room.),wrapped himself in a blanket (Zeb didn�thave to tell us the PCs� patron was veryill.), and spoke in a slow, rasping voice.(We didn�t need to be told that our PCs�patron was also rather old.)

All DMs needn�t take such measures, butwe all should remember that part of beinga DM is telling a story with the help of theplayers. It�s as if the DM is the author of anovel, and the PCs are the heroes of thestory. The DM advances the plot andpresents the characters with obstacles, theplayers work to have their PCs overcomethese obstacles and react to the advancingplot. Together, the group thus �writes� thecharacters� story.

I hope these tips help to prevent morepremature RPG campaign deaths. DMs(and players) are encouraged to write withany further suggestions for longer-lastingcampaigns. Maybe we all can learn some-thing new.

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

What did you think of this issue? Do you havea question about an article or have an idea for anew feature you�d like to see? In the UnitedStates and Canada write to: Letters, DRAGON®Magazine, P.O. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI 53147,U.S.A. In Europe, write to: Letters, DRAGONMagazine, TSR Ltd., 120 Church End, CherryHinton, Cambridge CB1 3LB, United Kingdom.

Too many rules?Dear Dragon,

I�ve been a great fan of the D&D® game andTSR�s novels for many years now. But, likemany people, I spend more time reading fantasyfiction than I do gaming, and when I�m the DM,I like to incorporate some of the novels� magicand creativity into the game.

It distresses me, therefore, that most of thearticles I see in DRAGON Magazine are onstatistics, mapping, and other technical aspectsof the game. Though these articles are veryimportant, I would like to see more on how tomake campaigns more interesting and creative,and thereby, more challenging. Imagination iswhat the D&D game and fantasy in general arebased upon, and using imagination to makegaming more realistic, and more fun, wouldbenefit all gamers.

I have many ideas to share, and would like tohear what concepts others have come up with,as well as their opinions on this topic.

Lisa Campos18175 Vallea Circle

Huntington Beach CA 92646

You�ve struck on one of the primary dilemmasin putting together this magazine, Lisa. Findinga balance between rules-oriented and role-playing articles is always a challenge. A maga-zine�s theme often plays a large part indetermining the mix. As a random example, twoof issue #199�s theme-section articles on mon-sters (articles on new troll types and humanoidcombat tactics) were technically-oriented.Gamers can add these new �rules packages�directly to their campaigns. These can lead tomore interesting role-playing. How will the PCsreact the first time they encounter one of thenew species of troll? Also, the article �Pin BackTheir Ears,� while it detailed new rules forlycanthropes in the D&D game, added a chal-lenging new dimension to role-playing were-beasts as PCs in the game. Such creativeadditions to a game system often require thoseideas be grounded in terms everyone who playsthat game can understand, e.g., the rules. Agame�s rules are the foundation upon whichcampaigns are built. It seems to me that if anarticle expands that foundation by adding newdimensions to the rules, the campaigns built onthose rules can expand too. When you encount-

8 FEBRUARY 1994

er a technical article, think about how that piececan be applied to your campaign in a way that isinteresting and challenging not just to the PCs,but to the players. Carrying the above examplefurther, consider how would your party react ifone of the PCs became infected with lycanthro-py. Applying the rules from �Pin Back TheirEars� could lead to numerous situations requir-ing creativity and imaginative role-playing. Rulesneedn�t be viewed as a game�s limitations, butrather as a springboard from which yourimagination can be launched. We will keep aneye on the balance of technical vs. role-playingpieces in the future

�Bedeviled�r e s p o n s e s

We received quite a few responses on whatthe title of our cover art for DRAGON issue#197 (�The Bedeviled Met His Fate�) meant, mostof which are too long to print here. Reproducedbelow, however, are two shorter answers:

I think there was a typo regarding the cover[of issue #197]. The real title is: �The ThreeDeviled Eggs Biff Ate� (shortly before battle).Poor Biff! This explains his facial expression�time for a potion of pepto.

Daniel WeaverSpringfield MA

I think Brom called the painting, �The Be-deviled Met His Fate� because the elf depicted init is a TSR employee grimly preparing to negoti-ate a pay raise.

Peter PiresAPO South Korea

If only it were that easy Peter. Seriously,honorable mentions go to Katerin Watson ofHamburg, Germany, and Marlene Hilzensauer ofKlagenfurt, Austria, whose stories were the onlyones I received that did not take place on Athas,the setting of the DARK SUN® campaign. Justbecause Brom did the art doesn�t necessitate theevents depicted taking place on Athas.

A PBM �clearingh o u s e �Dear Dragon,

I read Shayne Power�s query in DRAGON issue#200, and your response put an idea into myhead I am hereby volunteering to act as theclearing house you mentioned. Here�s my mail-ing address, data number (I run a BBS in myspare time), and my FidoNet node number. If

you don�t know what a FidoNet number is, don�tworry about it. Let the games begin!

Ian Reid The River Keep BBS200 West 9th St. (503) 298-8485The Dalles OR 97058 FidoNet 1: 105/507

Since your letter was the first I received, Ian,you get the job. I hope you know what you�regetting into. Everyone who is interested inparticipating in PBM (play-by-mail) gaming isencouraged to contact Ian. On behalf of a lot ofgamers, I thank you, Ian. Keep us up to date onhow it�s going.

Gleipner found!Dear Dragon,

Concerning Jonathan Fox�s letter in issue#200: Gleipner was the flimsy, silk-like ribbonused by the Aesir to bind Fenrir; the Fenris Wolfof Norse Mythology. It has six components: thesound made by a cat when it moves; the breathof a fish; the beard of a woman; a bird�s spittle;the roots of a mountain; and the sinews of abear. This dwarven-made magical ribbon wasthe only binding strong enough to hold Fenrir,who had snapped the mighty chains Laedingand Dromi, forged by the Aesir to contain him.

Michael McCauslandVirginia IL

Thanks for the information, Michael. Also,Fenrir; who was ravaging much of Asgard, onlyallowed himself to be bound by Gleipner if oneof the Norse gods put a hand into Fenrir�smouth. Tyr, the Norse god of courage and thesword, volunteered. When Fenrir realized hecouldn�t break his binding, he bit off Tyr�s handas revenge.

And the coloringalbum, too!Dear Dragon,

I can help Josh Wells, who wrote in issue#199�s �Letters� column about details on theDUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Coloring Album,� Ihave a copy, and while it is not for sale, I canprovide the following information to aid Josh inhis search. The book�s full title is: �The OfficialADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® ColoringAlbum�; it is Copyrighted by Troubador Press in1979; the cover has an illustration of a reddragon breathing fire on an adventuring party;the interior was illustrated by Greg Irons, and itwas written by Gary Gygax. I don�t know if

Continued on page 84

In the typical AD&D® campaign, the bardis a wandering minstrel, singing and play-ing on street corners or in the halls ofkings, indulging in a little light-fingeredthievery, and occasionally casting a flashyor theatrical magic spell to enchant anddelight an audience or show off forfriends. Bards may be street buskers, gyp-sies, jesters, storytellers, operatic singers,or heralds. Typically, their musical instru-ments, lifestyles, and outlooks are inspiredby a European tradition and a narrow his-torical time period.

Yet music spans the globe�and the mil-lennia. As early as 15,000 years ago, peoplewere making music with simple bows andbone flutes. Africa, Australia, the PacificIslands, the Middle East, Asia, and theAmericas all offer examples of unusualinstruments and widely varying musicaltraditions and approaches.

How does a DM adopt these other musi-cal traditions to a gaming system? Thereare two basic approaches.

The first involves simply flipping throughan encyclopedia of musical instrumentsuntil you spot something unusual or in-triguing, then making up the traditionsthat go along with it. The shape of the in-strument, its decoration, the materialsfrom which it is made, and the manner inwhich it is played can be used as spring-boards for developing the customs andtraditions of the bards who use it.

Easily portable instruments, for example,suggest wandering minstrels. Other bardsmight be rooted in one spot due to thesheer size or immobility of their instru-ments. One example of an organ from thefifteenth century featured pipes that wereup to 32 feet long, and a bellows that wasworked by an assistant who held onto asupport bar and worked huge pumps withhis feet. Equally immobile were the slitdrums of the Indian state of Assam, whichwere so large that each was housed in itsown roofed building. In the Pacific islands,some drums were hewn from standingtree trunks. Sometimes carved with humanfeatures, these drums drew their magicalpower from the spot in which the tree wasrooted.

The second approach involves extrapolat-ing bardic traditions from a particular mu-sical culture. The instruments themselvesmay not be unique, but the context inwhich they are played, the methods oftraining for the musicians, and the ritualssurrounding the instruments can offer awealth of ideas. Some cultures, for example, require their musicians to wear cer-emonial clothing while performing. Othercultures ascribe magical powers to certaininstruments and have strict rituals govern-ing who can handle them and how theymust be stored. All these details are fodderfor the Dungeon Master, who can use themto develop not only bardic traditions butalso new spells and magical items.

In a number of cultures, for example,certain instruments were played by menonly; others were played by women. If theopposite sex played, touched, or evenlooked at one of these instruments, all itsmagical power would be drained away.

Sometimes, the instruments themselveswere assigned a gender. In Africa, for exam-ple, drums that produced a deep soundwere thought of as �male,� while higher-pitched drums were �female.� Among theCamayura Indians of Brazil, the urua, a formof double clarinet, had a longer �male� pipeand a shorter �female� pipe.

DMs can add flavor to a campaign settingby incorporating these ideas. Magical in-struments might work only in the hands ofspecific character classes or races, withstrict (and brutal) punishments for break-ing the taboos surrounding a particulartype of instrument.

Whi le the Player �s Handbook speci f ica l lyprohibits bards from specializing in aschool of magic, certain spells lend them-selves to particular instruments or musicaltraditions. The bards who follow thesetraditions naturally tend to acquire thosespells that best suit their lifestyles and be-liefs. Let�s look at a few examples.

Percussion instrumentsIn West Africa, drum music requires a

small orchestra of musicians. While themajority of them play supporting patternson drums, iron bells, and shaker gourds, a

master drummer plays a more intricaterhythm. Drumming is nearly always ac-companied by dance, and it is the masterdrummer who signals the changes in eachdance.

In gaming terms, the supporting musi-cians are lower-level bards, while a higher-level bard acts as master drummer.Through their drums, the musicians castsuch mind- and body-controlling spells assuggestion, emotion, mass suggestion, anddomination. Dressed in colorful costumes,these bards perform at public celebrationsand gatherings, where they are paid bywealthy patrons to use their spells tocontrol the mood and actions of thecrowd.

night, using spells such as charm personand hypnotism, to lure victims who, after

Alternatively, these drummer bardscould be part of a secret society of thieves.Their drums reverberate through the

they are robbed of valuables, are unableto remember what has happened becauseof the forget spells cast on them.

Africa is the home of the �talking� drum,a small drum that is held under the armand played with a curved stick. The drumis shaped like an hourglass and has stringsthat stretch along the body between itstwo heads. The head of the drum can betightened by squeezing the strings, pro-ducing varying pitch.

Talking drums were used to send mes-sages over distances. Chiefs and otherimportant members of the tribe had drumnames, particular combinations of noteson a drum, that were passed downthrough generations.

Messenger bards fill a specialized rolefor the rulers of a campaign world, send-ing messages over great distances bymeans of such spells as whispering wind.A pair of these bards can transmit signalssecretly, via a message spell that soundslike a barely audible tapping on the drumhead. These bards also can cast the spelltongues, enabling them to translate fortheir patrons, and can protect themselvesby drumming up a shout spell.

Drums were used in China to send sig-nals and relay orders on the battlefield.The Chinese also developed a drum lan-guage that was used in theater. Drawing

from this tradition, the DM can create anorchestra of bards who use various sizesof drums, cymbals, and bells to cast flashyspecial effects spells for a theatricaltroupe. Spells that are particularly usefulin enhancing a stage performance includedancing lights, phantasmal force, glitter-dust, levitate, mirror image, pyrotechnics,invisibility, wall of fog, alter self, darkness15� radius, and fog cloud.

Stringed instrumentsOne of the earliest stringed instruments,

the musical bow, was developed from thehunting bow. Often the same bow wasused both for hunting and making music.The string was plucked with the fingers,tapped with a stick, or sawed with a sec-ond, smaller bow. Bending the bowchanged the tension on the string and thepitch of the note. Placing one end of thebow in the mouth also changed the sound.

A tribe of hunters might produce bardswho played this instrument. Proficient inanimal lore, they entertain the tribe atnight with hunting songs sung around acampfire to accompany dancers dressed inanimal masks, If the hunting is poor, thesebards can use the spells conjure animalsor locate creature from the Tome of Magic(ToM) to find game.

Alternatively, a troop of archers candouble as warrior-bards. When going intobattle, they first pluck their bow stringsand sing to cast a shield or protectionfrom normal missiles spell. While firingseemingly empty bows, they sing a spell-song that provides them with magicalarrows, such as magic missile, flame ar-row, or Melf�s acid arrow.

A variation of the warrior-bard could bebased on the warriors of Southern Africa,who sang and beat on their woodenshields when going into battle. Theseshields were considered both musicalinstruments and practical warriors� tools,They are used to cast such spells as pro-tection from normal missiles, stoneskin,armor, and shield.

The DM running a campaign with aclassical flavor might want to make use ofthe lyre of ancient Greece. This instru-ment had a soundbox constructed of atortoise shell, to which were attached two

curving antelope horns. Strings ran fromthe shell to a crossbar at the top of thetwo horns. The instrument was played byplucking these strings like a harp.

The lyre was said to have first beenmade by Hermes, messenger of the gods.Appropriate spells for bards using the lyreinclude comprehend languages, message,magic mouth, whispering wind, tongues,dream, sending, and contact other plane.In Africa, the music of the lyre was associ-ated with healing rituals. Bards using it areable to cast the spell reincarnation as wellas a number of protective spells.

The kithara, a version of the lyre with asquare wooden soundbox, was the instru-ment preferred by professional musiciansand the aristocracy. It was the instrumentof Apollo, god of harmony. Bards using thekithara cast spells that produce harmoni-ous results, including friends, charm per-son, and remove curse.

Wind instrumentsStill other musical instruments were

designed to be used as weapons. Examplesof Irish trumpets from the Bronze Agefeatured spikes on the bell.

On several Pacific islands, bamboo flutesare played by exhaling air into themthrough the nose rather than through themouth. These nose flutes are played withone nostril, while the other nostril issqueezed shut with a finger.

Traditional belief has it that the breathfrom the nose has special powers. The DMcan grant these bards the ability to cast suchair- and breath-related spells as fog cloud,gust of wind, water breathing, solid fog,death fog, wall of fog, lasting breath (ToM),ride the wind (ToM), and suffocate (ToM).

Another type of flute, the panpipe, wassaid by the ancient Greeks to have beeninvented by the god Pan after a nymph hewas chasing was turned into a reed. Thepanpipe, made of a series of hollow tubesof different lengths, is the instrument ofwandering shepherds who have becomebards. Worshipers of the god of fields andflocks, they use the haunting melodies ofthe pipes to cast spells that protect theirherds. These include such spells as protec-tion from evil, blink, haste, distance distor-tion, and blur They also use their music to

12 FEBRUARY 1994

cast the spell plant growth and are adeptat casting the spells polymorph self andpolymorph other, especially in jest.Dressed in simple tunics and sandals,these bards follow their flocks as theymake the circuit from winter to summerpastures.

The tikitiri, a form of double clarinetfound in India, is traditionally associatedwith snake charming. Drawing from theIndian tradition, the DM can create agroup of bards who live an ascetic life-style, dressing only in simple loinclothsand turbans. They use their tikitiris to castsuch spells as sepia snake sigil, hypnotism,charm monster, and hold monster. Theyalso may have the ability to charm humansas well as snakes. Appropriate spells in-clude suggestion, emotion, mass sugges-tion, charm person, and domination.

Unusual instrumentsHistory has provided a number of unu-

sual musical instruments that the DM canincorporate as the primary instruments ofparticular types of bards. One of the moreunusual instruments is known as the �bullroarer.� It consists of a thin piece of boneor wood attached to a cord, and is playedby twirling it around the head. The fasterthe bull roarer is twirled and the smallerthe piece of wood, the higher the notesounded.

In tribal societies, bull roarers wereritual instruments whose voices werethought to be those of the ancestors, orthe gods of thunder and wind. Bards whoplay the bull roarer often collect several ofthese instruments, each used in casting adifferent spell. They live on the fringes oftheir society, respected and feared by thegeneral populace, who come to the bardswhen they wish to ask advice of the deador call down ill weather on their enemies.These bards use such weather-controllingspells as gust of wind, Melf�s minute mete-ors, wind wall, control weather, lightningbolt, ice storm, and chain lightning, andare also able to cast detect undead, detectevil, know alignment, contact other plane,and legend lore.

In Southeast Asia, gongs were believedto be capable of warding off storms andevil. A highly respected class of bardscould be designed to travel through thecountryside, hauling their gongs along in

wagons. The larger the gong (and thepurer and more sustained the note it emitswhen struck), the greater the power of thebard�s spell. These bards cast such spellsas control weather and protection fromevil. Their instruments consist of a singlelarge gong, or rows of smaller gongs, hungfrom an upright wooden frame. Theirinstruments might be based on the bon-nang from Java, which takes the form of aseries of bowl-shaped lidded gongs set upin pairs on a low wooden platform.

DMs using the ALQADIM® campaignworld will want their bards to be outfittedappropriately. Fortunately, the Middle Easthas produced a variety of intriguing instru-ments. One is the shawm, a double-reededinstrument made of wood or metal. Similarto the modern oboe, the shawm produces astrident, buzzing sound of such volume thatit is usually played outdoors. The MiddleEast also has a form of bagpipe that featurestwo chanters (the pipe on which the melodyis played) that end in wide animal horns.Other instruments include cymbals, tapereddrums, zithers, and dulcimers. See the arti-cle, �Sounds of Wonder & Delight� inDRAGON® issue #190 for more AL-QADIMinstruments.

For a campaign world with a more mod-ern flavor (say, the 1800s), the DM canequip the bard with a concertina, a small,hexagonally shaped instrument played likean accordion. Another musical instrumentsuitable to such a campaign is the hurdy-gurdy. (Although it was originally devel-oped in Medieval times, the mechanicalnature of the hurdy-gurdy makes it suit-able for this time period.) This mechanizedviolin is operated by rotating a crank atone end. It is played by means of a key-board that runs down one side of theinstrument. Depressing a key damps astring, preventing it from sounding.

Magical items for this style of campaigncould be based on early mechanical instru-ments such as the music box or playerpiano. These magical items can cast multi-ple spells, depending on the tune played.(The DM can have a lot of fun ascribingmagical spells or effects to popular songtitles from the 1800s.)

In a music box, the tune is programmedby a pin-studded disk or cylinder. As the

disk rotates inside the box, the pins pluckmetal tongues that produce the sound. Ina player piano, the tune is encoded on apiano roll (a scroll with perforations in itthat is wound around a wooden tube). Theposition of each perforation determinesthe pitch of the note to be sounded, whilethe length of the hole determines howlong the note will sound. A bard who isfamiliar with magical music boxes or play-er pianos can determine the spells theycontain by carefully observing the disk,cylinder, or piano roll inside them.

Another mechanical instrument, this onedating from the Roman period, was thehydraulis. This hand-pumped organ reliedon water-filled chambers to maintain asteady supply of air to its pipes. It stoodabout 2� tall and was played in the homeand at religious ceremonies. One of itsmore unusual uses was as an accompani-ment to gladiatorial battles. Bards playingthe hydraulis can specialize in suchcombat-oriented spells as protection fromnormal missiles, strength, haste, slow,stoneskin, armor, fumble, enchantedweapon, shield, and fist of stone (ToM).

Other bards have a more mystical ap-proach to life and spell-casting. The did-geridoo is a long, hollow tube of wood thatis played by Aboriginal people of Australia.It produces a low moaning noise. TheAboriginals who play this instrumentbelieve in a dreamtime in which time hasno meaning and important truths arerevealed.

Bards based on this culture enter thedreamtime by decorating their bodies withritual paint and feathers and playing thedidgeridoo. They are proficient at castingsuch spells as dream, detect magic, detectundead, detect evil, detect invisibility, ESP,know alignment, locate object, detect scry-ing, contact other plane, legend lore, trueseeing, pattern weave (ToM), alternate reality(ToM), spirit armor (ToM), locate creature,past life (ToM), and wizard sight (ToM).

Other cultures and time periods havecontributed a number of unusual instru-ments that can be used by the DM to giveflavor to PC and NPC bards alike.

For example, instead of a normal drum,bards could carry friction drums. Theseare played by rotating or sliding a stickthrough a hole in the middle of the drumhead.

DRAGON 13

Bagpipes are an unusual enough instru-ment but need not be based on a Scottishculture; they were also developed in anumber of other countries. Made from theskin of an animal, they feature a variety ofdifferent combinations of chanter anddrone pipes, and are sometimes construct-ed from animal heads.

Instead of a trumpet, bards may beencumbered with a version of the cornu, acurving metal trumpet developed by theRomans. This large instrument curvesdown under the arm and then up over theshoulder of the person playing it, and hasto be supported on the shoulder by awooden crosspiece.

In Hawaii, trumpets were made fromhollow bamboo tubes. Each trumpetsounded a slightly different note; theywere used by hunters who needed tosignal to one another over long distances.The Hawaiian islands were also the sourceof two other unique instruments. Thepu-ili was a bamboo tube with one end cutinto a fringe. It was played by beating thefringed end against the palm or otherparts of the body, often by a dancer. Theislands also produced the �shoe,� a rectan-gular piece of wood that was played byplacing it on the ground over a stick ofwood and rocking it back and forth withthe foot like a see-saw.

The DM looking for an alternative to aplucked string instrument could develop abard who uses the African sansa, orthumb piano. The sansa consists of a smallbox or block of wood with a number ofthin pieces of metal of varying lengthsattached to its face. These are pluckedwith the thumbs to produce various tones.

Other musical instruments were de-signed as portable versions of larger, un-wieldy instruments. The bible regal was asmall organ that folded up like a book. TheDM can locate or create similar examplesof other miniaturized instruments.

Some instruments doubled as utilitarianobjects. The Indian jaltarang comprised aseries of identical porcelain bowls, eachfilled to a different depth with water. Thebowls were arranged in a semicirclearound the musician, who played them bytapping the bowls with bamboo sticks

14 FEBRUARY 1994

tipped with felt. Easily portable, thejaltarang might not be recognized as amusical instrument, allowing the bard topass unnoticed through an area hostile tomagicians.

Still other instruments can be construct-ed on the spot, wherever a bard mightwander. A sand drum is made by tunnel-ling a U-shaped hole in the earth. Thisinstrument is played by beating with thehands on the bridge of earth between thetwo holes.

Some instruments were designed with adouble use in mind. A (large) flute, forexample, can double as a walking stick andfeature an attractive carved head. As wellas being an instrument for a bard, thiswalking-stick flute can have the propertiesof a magical wand, staff, or rod.

Magical instrumentsFinally, the DM might want to ascribe

particular magical abilities to a musicalinstrument, based on the materials fromwhich it was constructed. These instru-ments can be magical versions of �normal�instruments or of those listed in this arti-cle. Bards with an evil orientation mightplay a form of drum found in Tibet that ismade from two human skulls, using it tocast necromantic spells.

The skin of the drum also has ritualsignificance. Skins of large or fierce ani-mals, such as the elephant or jaguar, con-vey special powers to a drum.

Other instruments are carved or cast insymbolic shapes. The Celtic carnyx trum-pet, for example, had a mouth that wasshaped like an animal head, complete witha rattling metal tongue. In the Americas,Aztec and Incan cultures produced ce-ramic whistles in the form of animals,humans, and gods. In ancient Egypt, ivoryor wooden clappers (sticks that werestruck against each other) were carved inthe shape of human hands. The DM canuse the shapes of these instruments as thebasis for inventing particular bardic tradi-tions and beliefs.

ConclusionUsing the instruments and musical tradi-

tions of other cultures and time periods,the DM can turn the bard into a trulyunusual and intriguing character class.The ideas listed above can be adapted to avariety of campaign worlds, and even canbe used side by side in the same campaign.After all, music ranges from simple, one-voiced chants to complex orchestralscores, and is played on or created byeverything from handmade or improvisedinstruments to musical devices as complexand difficult to construct as a finely tooledminiature music box. The bards who usethese instruments should be just as variedand colorful, ranging from silk-robedmusicians who rumble through the coun-tryside in wagons laden with heavy brassgongs to feather-decorated dreamers withtheir didgeridoos. After all, there�s muchmore to being a bard than simply strum-ming a lute in a royal court.

Dirty RottenScoundrelsPlay a rogue PC with style-and live to talk about it

by Wolfgang Baur

Artwork by Renee Biertempfel

Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.Shakespeare, As You Like It

Players of fantasy role-playing gameshave role models for most classes or kits.The AD&D® game classes match the myth-ic archetypes of warrior, holy man, wizard,and rogue. The expectations and actionsthat players possess for the first three arepretty clear: fighters are violent gruntswho do the swordwork, priests are piousbelievers who pray and provide guidance,wizards call on their mystic powers, androgues�Well, what do rogues contribute tothe group? Of the four archetypes, therogue is the least defined in our myths andlegends.

This article reveals the secrets of role-playing a rogue�without enraging yourfriends or losing characters. Role-playingscoundrels requires quick wits and a hon-eyed tongue, but the rewards are fast,swashbuckling play with few constraints.Nothing satisfies quite like out-thinking adragon who could destroy the entire ad-venturing company, especially if the roguecan make off with the cream of the drag-on�s loot as well. (�Oh, sir dragon, thatitem�s cursed. Allow me to take it away andrestore your good luck.�)

Breeds of rogueRogues share a mindset as much as they

share a set of skills. The central feature ofmost rogues is a willingness to ignore thelaw. They risk the outlaw life in exchangefor freedom, riches, and fame.

Rogues are sleazy go-betweens and hooli-gans in the Faerie, Queen, & Country gamefor the AMAZING ENGINE� system. Theyare sneaking, xenophobic githzerai inPLANESCAPE� adventures, and the vistaniin the RAVENLOFT® setting. Regardless ofthe rules being used, rogues resist catego-ries. Possibilities for rogues vary from in-sufferably cute kender to snarling beastslike half-orcs and other humanoids detailedin the Complete Book of Humanoids.

Rogues aren�t limited to fantasy settings.Think of gamblers like Lando Calrissian orsmugglers like Han Solo from the StarWars films and novels, Quark from theDeep Space 9 TV series, or the scouts orsmugglers in GDW�s TRAVELLER* game.Whatever the setting, scoundrels all sharea carefree attitude, a smiling face, and alarcenous heart.

Rogues fall into one of two categories in

most legends, only one of which is fun foreveryone in a role-playing group. Thegroup I call �gangsters� are sneak-thievesand backstabbers, the businessmen ofcrime. They are cold-hearted assassins,mobsters, or professional thieves, moti-vated by unquenchable greed. For them,too much is not enough. These charactersare fun for the player but a headache foreveryone else. They are constantly goingoff on their own, hatching plots againsttheir fellow adventurers, or schemingwith seedy underworld elements. Theyaren�t part of a team, and most adventur-ing groups are better off without them.

Modern times have given us plenty ofexamples of gangster thieves, those rogueswho treat their calling as a business. Inthis article, I�ll argue the superiority of therogue in the grand tradition over someprofit-minded mafioso. Why are gangstersinferior thieves? Let me count the ways.

Loners don�t get far in group situations.They don�t work or play well with others.Though there may be a certain kick inbeing the mysterious, silent type, it doesn�tgive you much room to maneuver as arole-player to influence other gamers. Big-hearted, generous, outgoing, freewheelingrogues who laugh at death are more likelyto succeed than sulking psychotics whobackstab their so-called friends. Why?Simply because loners are unlikely to getany support from their fellow party mem-bers. Unlikable, treacherous thieves de-serve to be left to the mercies of thenearest monster, especially if they habitu-ally scout ahead of the rest of the party.

The group I call �scoundrels� are merryvandals and ruffians, motivated by a de-sire for fame and freedom more thanmere money. They are the gallant wastrelsof any party, always glad for plunder tospend, willing to use stealth as well assteel, playing tricks on pompous burghers,and stealing hearts among the servingmaids. Scoundrels are artists, folk heroes,tricksters, and vigilantes. D�Artangan andthe Three Musketeers are perfectexamples�wenching, drinking, and ca-rousing their way across France. For allthese reasons, scoundrel personalities arebetter choices for successful role-playingin a group.

In short, scoundrels have more fun thangangsters. The trouble is, when you play acharacter who is a cheat, your fellowplayers may get a little tense, and badblood may run between party membersand between players. What makes roguesso much fun, and so much trouble? Belowis a list of suggested behaviors for rogueswho are as much fun to play with as theyare to play.

Damn the torpedoesAs a scoundrel, it�s your duty to swagger,

take daring risks, and damn the conse-quences. Movie stars such as James Deanin Rebel Without A Cause, or Errol Flynnin Robin Hood are good models for scoun-drels. Sure, you could play a cautious,18 FEBRUARY 1994

paranoid rogue who never takes chancesand never gets caught, but fantasy adven-ture games are about heroes, not aboutplaying it safe. (We�ll talk about cheatingdeath later.)

If your character doesn�t take chances,you aren�t helping your party. Push them alittle. Get them into trouble; they�ll get youout again. After all, it�s easier to get for-giveness than permission.

Pay the piperNothing kills a rogue�s fun faster than

facing a rack of blades leveled at histhroat�especially if the blades belong tohis friends. Unfortunately, rogue PCsannoy other characters just a tiny bit.Rogues get in other people�s faces, theypush the boundaries, they act like lonewolves instead of members of the pack.The rogue pays a price for his freedom.

Rabelais codified the scoundrel�s mottolong ago: �Do what thou wilt.� Roguesmake trouble but must be ready for theconsequences. Take a shot at robbing theking, sneaking past Cerebus at the gates ofHades, or pulling a fast one on a demigod,but keep in mind that you�re going tosuffer some spectacular flops as well assome amazing victories. Revel in yourfailures and laugh them off; nobody likes awhiner. Rogues should be independent,but they don�t have to make everyone elsesuffer for it.

This pushiness and fondness for may-hem are both the delight and the bane ofall rogues. It�s okay to annoy fellow play-ers; sometimes it helps advance the plot(or at least spices up the game). Even get-ting the PCs in hot water can be fun, aslong as it isn�t done maliciously and as longas you know how to get back out.

Besides, what jewel thief can resist pry-ing the enormous black opal from the eyeof the statue of Cyric, what spelljammingprivateer can resist boarding an elvenMan-o-War just to prove it can be done?Rogues are constantly tempted to spit inthe face of Fate. As the scoundrel OscarWilde said, �I can resist everything excepttemptation.� If roguish destiny calls, go forit. Even if the attempt fails, your characterwill go out in a blaze of glory, and anyonewith him will be enshrined in legends. Theother players will thank you for it later.

Lower your expectationsRogues occupy the moral low ground.

This isn�t always a bad thing. Paladins canbe annoying, especially when they�re right.A paladin does the right thing instead ofthe easy thing, so she makes other charac-ters look sleazy by comparison. By con-trast, an annoying thief is usually doingthe wrong thing, like cutting a deal with avillain or stealing from someone the partywould like to stay friendly with. Playersdon�t expect much from a rogue, so shemakes other characters look good.

Paladins are the worst sticklers fordoing the right thing, but rangers andgood-aligned priests can be just as bad, if

properly role-played. Rogues can�t exactlyget out from under the disapproval ofothers by saying that they�re just actingthe way they are supposed to. Thievery,scams, constant money-grubbing, andtreachery are dishonorable by definition(See �The Master�s Hand� in this issue forspecific examples and techniques).

Unfortunately, nothing strains suspen-sion of disbelief more than when the partyforgives a rogue because, �He�s one of theplayer characters.� Everyone has seen apaladin turn a blind eye to the crimes offellow party members (though a good DMwon�t let the paladin get away with it).This is fine for party harmony, but bad forthe credibility of the game world. In thelong run, the whole campaign suffers;after all, rogues don�t get away with muchin front of an NPC paladin.

The better solution is not to force theother players into a situation where theheroes have no choice but to punish therogue, even though the players don�t wantto. Give them an out. Lie big, and maybethey�ll pretend to believe your character.For example, if your character is caught helping himself to an extra share of thetreasure, the proper response is, �I wasjust saving this for you,� or �This share isgoing to charity,� not, �Oops.� If the otherplayers eventually make your characterface the consequences, they are beingbetter role-players.

Persuasion, not bloodshedSure, your rogue character could steal a

cherished magical item and make theplayers howl for his blood, but let�s face it;a rogue is not a great fighter and doesn�twin barroom brawls. The best way toavoid ugly face-offs is to convince theother PCs that they want to do what youwanted them to do all along. A rogueshould respect his fellow party members,and use his wits, skills, and tricks on ev-eryone else. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouserfrom Fritz Leiber�s city of Lankhmarcouldn�t be trusted, but they trusted eachother and their patrons, Ningauble of theSeven Eyes and Sheelba of the EyelessFace. If you don�t learn to help and respectthe party (or at least amuse them), yourrogue deserves what he gets.

Swear no oathsUnlike the Three Musketeers and group-

oriented gangsters, most scoundrels arefreebooters. They have no obligations tochurch, state, or guild, no oaths to feudallords or respected archmages.

If you don�t make promises, no one cancome to collect. Don�t owe anything andno one can claim your time, yourmoney, or your freedom. The most impor-tant oaths and promises to avoid are notoaths about money; the perpetual warbetween rogues and creditors is legendary.Sympathies are usually with the rogues,not the usurers and bankers. The oaths toavoid are oaths of loyalty, of good behav-ior, or of service.

A wise scoundrel values his freedombecause he can live better by his wits thanby depending on crutches like swornoaths and settled life. For example, AliBaba and Sindbad both made their for-tunes through wits, trickery, andcunning-without owing fealty to anycaliph, priesthood, army, or mage�s guild.

Be generousLife is short and true friends are pre-

cious and few, so a smart rogue willgrease a few palms and buy as manyfriends as he can afford. This applies toparty members, too! If you are going tomake trouble and need help getting out ofit, you need to have friends who will cometo your defense or rescue you. No onelikes a miser.

Bribes are a useful tool for controllingothers, and they needn�t cost much; bribescan be favors, food, or cash. A kind DMmight allow a rogue to bribe underlingswith offers of food (for moronic monsters)and cash (for greedy ones). Don�t waituntil trouble arrives to start paying thesebribes. Payments in advance give you anedge. If the captain of the watch is alreadyon the take, he�s less likely to arrest arogue and risk exposure. Think of it asinsurance.

Don�t rob your friendsThe most important rule for cheating

death: Don�t steal from your own party. Itseems obvious, but far too many roguesdon�t seem to see that there are better waysto get what they want than stealing it.

Beg, borrow, and plead to get magicalitems when the group divides the trea-sure; they are the ultimate equalizers tomake weak rogues into significant players.Let�s face it, fighters need only weaponsand armor, and spell-casters will take theitems only they can use. This leaves lots ofpotions, general-purpose wands, and mis-cellaneous items that rogues can use. Askfor them.

If all else fails, hope that you�ve sacri-ficed and been superficially pious enoughwith the god of thieves to get a break.(Staying on Hermes� good side is always agood idea.)

Don�t cut deals with the enemy unlessyou think you can use your betrayal nowto save the rest of the party later (they�llthank you afterward). Of course, even ifthe backbiting rascal can�t save them, atleast he�ll be home safe. After all, someonehas to live to tell the tale.

Be forewarnedIf you play a rogue, you are going to get

into hot water sooner or later. By askingquestions early, you�ll be armed with vitalknowledge when the hammer falls. Pre-pare now and escape the wrath of theinjured parties later.

Escapes and contingency plans are vitalto a long career as a rogue. Sure, youcould just work on a whim, but it�s harderto improvise brilliantly than it is to make

solid plans at the beginning. The best wayto prepare for roguish deeds is to do alittle research and planning.

Rogues survive by taking unconventionalapproaches, such as signing up with thebandits whom the rest of the party wantsto fight. These flanking maneuvers mayprovide valuable information (tell theother players this when you are all makingplans), but they can also keep a roguealive.

Case the joint, or better yet, get yourPC�s priest or wizard friends to do it (wiz-ard eye and clairvoyance spells are greatfor this). This way your rogue can godirectly to take what he wants, without alot of stumbling around. No point in wast-ing time looking for the crystal of Beth-shar if the dragon who owns it is a lightsleeper.

Locals know the lay of the land betterthan any outsider, so ask some pointedquestions before moving into unfamiliarterritory. (Are those dogs you hear behindthe wall dobermans or dachshunds?) Thiskind of verbal scouting gives the DM achance to drop in rumors, important locallore, and hints for future adventures. Asmart DM will be grateful for the assist. Tobe a clever trickster, you need to be wellinformed about your opponents and youroptions. Many rogues make an entirecareer out of scouting and reconnaissance.

Misdirection saves livesWhile you want to learn as much as

possible about the enemy, the oppositedoes not apply. A rogue should neverpresent himself as he really is; peoplemight catch on to what a scoundrel she is.This is especially important after you�veacquired a reputation. (If you don�t want areputation, why play a rogue?) The bestway to avoid unwanted attention is topretend to be someone or something else.

Disguises are an important kind of misdi-rection, and magical deceptions are espe-cially powerful. (�These are not the droidsyou are looking for.�) Make nice with themages, psionicists, and other �Force-users�in your group. They might come in handylater. Disguises and a stolen set of theproper clothes make it possible to sneak inor out of the best-guarded mints, citadels,and palaces.

Distractions can make a disguise easierto pass off; guards at the gate don�t paymuch attention to a traveler if there is afire near the armory. In fact, distractionscan make most tough jobs easier, thoughthey aren�t much use by themselves. Getsomeone else to create the diversion, ifpossible; the real action will be elsewhere.

A splashy entrance can impress a power-ful lord who might otherwise ignore ascruffy-looking loudmouth. (�Who�sscruffy-looking?�) Throw money around,order a round of drinks for the house,wear extravagant colors and the clothes ofa nobleman (literally!).

Deny everythingA smart scoundrel lies his way out when

he�s in deep. This isn�t a matter of morals,it�s a matter of survival. The vital impor-tance of stretching the truth cannot beoverestimated.

Lies need not be made face to face.Propaganda wars are just as useful, some-times more so for targets that are hard toreach any other way. If you can�t run anopponent out of town, discredit him andexonerate yourself. Start phony rumors,pay a bard to stretch the truth on yourbehalf. If your opponents are alreadyafraid of you, battles will be easier to win,and enemy morale will break sooner.

If lies fail, bluffs are the next line ofdefense. The basis of bluffing is sheerbrash confidence and a poker face; amildly plausible story always helps, too.Bluffs work best against stupid foes, buteven an intelligent opponent can beginsecond-guessing himself if you bluff right.Unless your DM is very generous andallows ability checks for bluffs, you�ll haveto role-play them out. That shouldn�t be aproblem for a glib-tongued, poker-facedrogue.

One trick is to have a mage friend near-by who can back up your claims withillusion (a form of magical lie, if you will);your story and his magic reinforce eachother, because you�ve paved the way forthe enemy to believe the mage�s phan-tasms and those phantasms keep yourstory from collapsing when challenged.

Get good helpRogues are products of their environ-

ment, and that�s almost always an urbanenvironment. As a player, you shouldexploit this. Follow up on your DM�s hintsabout possible city adventures and createa list of targets for your character (thelocal mint, the goldsmith�s guild, and theslave halls). You should operate on yourhome ground if you can. If your group ofheroes tends to stay in the same area,prepare emergency supplies and hidingplaces to lie low. If your characters traveloften, get to know each new city and thelocal black market as soon as possible. Ifyou fence the party�s plunder for morethan they could get for it themselves,they�ll be grateful. Plus, you can skim alittle off the top.

Cultivate contacts that could provideuseful information and warnings: not justsleazy scoundrels like yourself, but alsoapprentices from craft guilds, travellingmerchants, and even watchmen. Youmight be able to convince a generous DMthat a rogue may start the game with onecontact per three points of Charisma in anAD&D game. The AMAZING ENGINEsystem uses Influence scores to define aPC�s contacts. Use and abuse these con-tacts and make new ones through role-playing. Your DM may decide that yourcharacter is such a power-broker andrumor-monger that your contacts come toyou looking for help. Your first instinct as

DRAGON 19

a rogue would be to tell them to lookelsewhere, but fight that instinct and getyour fellow adventurers to help the poorsods out. If your contacts are in your debt,it�s harder for them to say �No� when youask for that big favor (the gate to the trea-sury left open or a copy of the duke�spersonal seal). For scoundrels, as for politi-cians (Is there a difference?), patronagepays.

When a rogue grows powerful, he maywish to serve as a mentor for others.Young scoundrels sometimes need a guid-ing hand and instruction in the ways ofthe world, and a real scoundrel will pro-vide one.

Why go to the trouble? Why associatewith apprentices, sidekicks, and othercharacters who are burdens for a foot-loose rogue? Well, for the same reasonthat he puts up with haughty wizards,musclebound fighters, and natteringpriests: they�re helpful to have around.The best example is Fagan in Oliver Twist,a devious old coot who treated his youngpupils as cannon fodder. Apprentices areideal lookouts. They make good spies. (Noone suspects the young.) They don�t com-plain much, and they are expendable asscapegoats or lookouts. Certainly worth alittle instruction and pocket money to keeparound.

Choose your momentscarefully

A sense of timing is as important to arogue as it is to a comedian. Bribes, back-stabs, smuggling, break-ins, blackmail,seductions�all the core activities of arogue�require good timing. Unfortu-nately, there are no easy ground rules oncultivating a sense of timing. However, onetrick that often works in game play issimply waiting. When you are in a pres-sure situation, don�t rush things; the DMwill often provide a hint or a clue if youare unsure of a course of action and arepatient.

Anticipate �Murphy�s Law�Every rogue knows Murphy�s Law:

�Anything that can go wrong, will.� Notevery rogue draws the obvious conclusion,though: If you expect everything to gowrong, then you�re mentally prepared tocounterattack. Curling up and bemoaningyour fate is a coward�s way. (Besides, yousound pathetic doing it.) The better optionis to wait for a break, then make the mostof the opportunity.

The best break, of course, is for some-one to rescue your character. This mightseem shameful or embarrassing to somescoundrels (though scoundrels have noshame). Needing to be rescued is not sucha bad thing. It gives other party memberssomething to do. (They do so like to beuseful.) Likewise, if a rogue needs to behelped out of a jam, it encourages otherplayers to role-play. The lawful characterswill say �Let him rot.� Others will plead formercy and intervention. Tell them society20 FEBRUARY 1994

made you do it. Their reaction can bequite touching.

Sometimes your rogue character will geta bad idea and not let go, trying to takethe whole party down with her. This caneasily be overdone, but it is a great role-playing opportunity for the others to tryto dissuade her. Muscle-bound fighters willthreaten and try to be physically intimidat-ing; wizards will apply logic; priests willtry faith, moral arguments, and persua-sion. None of this necessarily affects whatthe rogue will do, but it does add to therole-playing experience.

GoalsMost scoundrels don�t plan much be-

yond the next hand of cards, the next cutpurse, or the next successful smugglingrun, but more than most other classes, asuccessful rogue needs a role-playing hookto define his character. This can be a sim-ple gimmick like an accent or an eyepatch,or it can be a matter of a character�s goalsor history. Gimmicks are fun for defining acharacter, (What�s your character like?Well, he�s a wood elf with a limp.) but theyaren�t satisfying for the long run.

For other characters, this is often easier.Warriors want power and personal skill inbattle, priests want more power for theirgod, and mages want access to mysticknowledge. They all have built-in goals:building a castle or cathedral, creatingmagical items, or ruling a fiefdom. Roguesdon�t share these goals, so all too oftenthey fall into the trap of living for todayand never setting long-term goals. Suchcharacters quickly become boring andone-dimensional.

Like others, rogues want either fame orfortune (or both), but they want more ofit. A fighter might be content to know hisname is heralded in a few songs and sagas.A rogue wants notoriety throughout theland, even if it means being hunted onevery street. A priest might be contentwith enough money to build a fine templeand provide for the congregation. A roguewants more wealth than a great wyrm.

The easiest goal is wealth; a thief with asmart con and some powerful friends cando wonders. Of course, in a fantasy world,law enforcement has the aid of magic, butthat�s the risk. Smart DMs will try not tocrush these ambitions and will give theplayer a fair chance to succeed. (After all,a true rogue will try and try again until hedies or the prize is his.) Knock over a fewrich merchant shipments, and presto,you�re rich. Then what?

Fame can be elusive. Sure, a bard canhang around with a bunch of chumpfighters who don�t ever think of more thanchopping up the next dragon, but stealingthe credit from them is almost too easy.After all, the bard is the one who writesthe saga that everyone hears! But is thisthe fame a rogue wants?

Some rogues do get religion. When yourPC steals for the glory of a thieving god,she�s being pious! For rogues with an edge

of darkness, the ideal gods are trickstersand patrons of thievery: Hermes, Loki, orShar of the FORGOTTEN REALMS® set-ting. Coyote from American-Indian legendsis the perfect patron for rogues outside acity setting; many Coyote tales are collect-ed in anthologies of American-Indian leg-ends and can serve as sources ofinspiration. Rogues� gods don�t alwayshave public temples, accessible priests,and good public relations, but they dohave senses of humor, so their worshipersare often forgiven as long as their anticsare entertaining. Gamblers and otherthieves may want to consider a goddess ofluck like Tymora or Beshaba. Your charac-ter should be generous in his sacrifices tothe powers that be; it doesn�t pay to annoythe gods.

Masters of the artA short list of inspirational reading and

viewing is included below. The books aremore or less concerned with medieval,renaissance, and fantasy settings, but thefilms are just for attitude. One way tobecome a better rogue role-player is totake notes from the masters. Then go outand have fun!

BooksAsprin, Roger, ed.: The Thieves� World

anthologies.Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist.Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Muske-

teers.Hoch, Edward: The �Nick Velvet� stories

from Ellery Queen magazine.Hornam, E.W.: The �Raffles� stories.Leiber, Fritz: The �Fafhrd and the Gray

Mouser� stories.Salgado, Gamini: The Elizabethan Under-

world. St. Martin�s Press. New York, 1992.Vance, Jack: Cugel�s Saga, The Dying

Earth, The Eyes of the Overlord, andRialto the Marvelous.

Williams, Michael: Weasel�s Luck.Zipes, Jack, translator: The Arabian

Nights.

FilmsBarry LindenThe Color of MoneyThe Crimson PirateThe Flame and the ArrowIt Takes a ThiefLadyhawkeRobin HoodSneakersThe Star Wars trilogyThe StingThiefThe Three Musketeers

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

22 FEBRUARY 1994

Defining and expanding the bard�s knowledge skill

by Fraser Sherman

Artwork by Scott Rosema

�It . . . it�s a set of bracers of defense,�Linnea the bard said slowly.

�Yeah? How do you know?� Hroulfmuttered.

�My knowledge as a bard tells me.��But how do you know?��Well, I�� Rachel, Linnea�s player, broke

off and stared at her DM. �Well? How theheck does Linnea know?�

The AD&D® 2nd Edition game does agood job of clarifying the a bard�s knowl-edge of legendary items: it�s the art ofdrawing on history or legend to identify anitem and deduce some of its history, own-ers, and purposes. How does a bard do it,though? What sets a dancing sword apartfrom a nine-lives stealer? How can a lore-master distinguish a ring of free actionfrom a ring of feather falling?

The following are examples oftreasures�mostly magical, of course�highlighting the clues a bard could use

when applying her stock of lore, and thedeductions about powers and history thatshe could draw from those clues. A singleknowledge roll probably wouldn�t earn thismuch information (except, perhaps on aroll of 01), but the more history that isavailable, the more options the DM has fortales to tell her players.

Inside a secret panel in a vast dungeoncomplex, the PCs find an ivory wand witha spiral pattern running its length. Next toit, a crystal sculpture, radiating alterationmagic, shows two elven lovers embracing.

The bard recognizes the spiral as a styl-ized white dragon�s tail, a popular motif onwands of frost in the last century. As fur-ther confirmation, the tip shows the wiz-ard mark of the elemental mage, Alakkarthe Silent, a master of ice magic.

Found here in the dungeon of Taibek theFifth�s castle, it�s undoubtedly the wand hisgrandfather, Taibek the Third, used in his

single-handed defense of a breach in thewall during the Jeboar Insurrection. Ac-cording to the ancient lays, the wand was�greatly spent, with but small power re-maining� by the end of the battle, so therewon�t be many charges in it.

Taibek the Third also collected elvencrystal, particularly the works of GalorionMeoneth�and if this crystal is one ofMeoneth�s, any elf would pay a fortune forit! There�s also an old rumor the artisanwas trapped by a jealous rival and trans-formed into one of his own figurines.

Under the rubble of an old cave-in, thePCs find a dwarven skeleton clutching abroad sword, with goblin bones on everyside. The sword�s hilt is wrapped in troglo-dyte hide.

The dwarven chanter has no doubts�this is the site of Duroth Steelfist�s LastStand, when the warrior-priest broughtdown a cavern upon himself to stop agoblin horde from overwhelming his city.The sword in the skeleton�s hand must beKath the Sacred, and returning the bladeto Duroth�s kin would earn the partyhonor and respect beyond measure.

Of course, there are those legends aboutthe swords powers�that it fought byitself, that it was especially crafted as asword of humanoid-slaying, that none buta dwarf could ever wield it�do you sup-pose any of the legends could be true?

Perhaps the Dourstone clan wouldknow; the blade bears the smithy-brand ofClangor Dourstone who worked one of thepurest mithril veins ever discovered. Whatabout the strange sheen to the blade? Thatcould be the result of quenching it in ablock of ice after forging, instead of inwater. Such a ritual, so they say, is re-quired to create ice brands. Maybe a war-rior should test it out.

Confronting an evil mage and his fol-lowers in an abandoned tower the partyoverwhelms them and claims the magicring their foes fought so desperately tokeep.

Judging from the ancient sigils inside thering, it must have been made two centu-ries ago, the herald says�around the timeSibao the Mad built this tower as his cen-ter of power. According to local legend,Sibao crafted a ring that would bind thewills of others to him, only to be slain bythe mage Kadzorus while completing theenchantment. Could this be a ring of hu-man influence?

As the herald slips it on to test it, hementions another legend, that Sibao sworeto rise from the grave rather than letanother wear the ring�of course, there�sprobably nothing to that part of the story.

The sword�s pommel is red-lacqueredleather with a single, flawless ruby at thecenter, and �Hunter� etched in a redenamel in the blade. How did it wind up ina pirate�s buried treasure hoard on thisdesert isle?

Only one blade like this exists�RedHarvest, wielded by Lady Nysta of Az-derac 75 years ago to slaughter the orcclan that slew her husband and child. Itwas said with that blade in hand, shecould locate any orc wherever it lurked; inher final battle she found the clan�s centrallair, raced in ahead of her warriors, anddied amid a pile of 100 orc corpses.

A generation ago, Red Harvest fell intothe hands of Penzarron, the legendaryswashbuckler. When his ship was boardedby Black Wazeen the Corsair, Penzarronleapt aboard the pirate�s ship and heldthem off single-handedly until his crewcould cut their ship free�even thoughthat left him to die at Wazeen�s hands.

A gold medallion with a lapis lazuli eyein the center and undecipherable hiero-glyphs around the sides is found in thecrypt of a deserted keep.

This looks like the fabled Medallion ofTruth, which thwarted elven treacherynear the end of the Third Forest War.With the amulet around his neck, PrinceAriac the Sorrowful read in the elves�minds how they planned to murder himand launch a final assault on the humanlands; striking first, he killed the delega-tion to the last elf.

Later, when he returned home, themedallion revealed his brother�s forbiddenaffair with the Prince�s wife; weeping, heput them both to death and never worethe medallion again, vowing it was betterto remain ignorant of the evil a humanheart can hold.

Truth or dare?At this point, some DMs may be scream-

ing �Whoa! How am I supposed to comeup with this much information for everytreasure hoard?�

Don�t. I hate being caught flat-footed asmuch as anyone, but developing this kindof detailed description for every note-worthy item would be a lot of work-andlargely wasted unless the bard�s player is atruly phenomenal dice-roller.

The alternatives? Either wing it andmake up something on the spot, or com-pile a list of backstories�wizard marks,sigils, symbols, names, etc.�that you canattach to any item the bard successfullyidentifies through a successful roll. Savethe detailed descriptions for really impor-tant items or those that lead the adventurein a new direction.

A knowledge roll needn�t be the end ofit, either. If the PCs get partial information(the name of an owner or maker) or con-

fusing information (two or more differenthistories) they may want to consult adistant library or ask a sage in order tolearn more. If the legends hint that onemagical item is only part of a greatertreasure hoard, the PCs could be search-ing for weeks.

Legends also can lead the party com-pletely astray; these myths and rumorsaren�t textbook-true facts, after all. Justbecause a bard makes his roll and learns alegend doesn�t mean the legend has anytruth to it. I�d not do that too oftenthough.

A better move might be to give the bardthe truth, then add a falsehood-or at leastsomething cryptic. Take the crystal statueof Galorion Meoneth; perhaps the bardonly rolls well enough to know themaker�s name and the figure�s worth, butthe DM throws in the legend about thetransformed sculptor�a false legend inthis case. When the players try to trans-form the statue back, they find somethingquite unexpected.

The conflicting legends about the Swordof Kath work the same way; one of themmay be true, but the bard can�t be surewhich without further testing (the betterthe roll, however, the more fact and theless fiction bards should learn).

A third alternative is to be very choosyabout the legends the bard has heard.Everything he knows can be true, but it

can still be a little misleading.Red Harvests backstory, for example,

makes it seem like a fine weapon, maybewith some special anti-orc abilities; in factit�s a cursed blade fashioned by an evil wargod. This sword of wounding can detectenemies (hence Nyra could find the orcs),and although unintelligent, it gains a pointof ego for every foe slain. At the end ofthe battle, this ego fades away�unless theblade has gained enough to take control ofthe character.

In that case, the swords bearer becomesincreasingly easy to enrage, and invariablygoes berserk in combat. Not only will thewielder never retreat, he�ll follow his ene-mies to hell and back Nyra charged into theorc lair, even though it was clearly a suicidalact; likewise, Penzarron could have escapedto his own ship, but his mind was too cloud-ed with bloodlust to consider it.

A fourth option is that everything thebard learned is accurate, but he still won�tknow the whole truth.

The legend of the Medallion of Truth isrigged in this way. Crafted by a priest ofEris, it functions normally when usedcasually (probing a friend�s mind, say).When the wearer really needs to readsomeone�s thoughts, though, it tunes intothe target�s subconscious (the id, actually)and projects those dark, buried thoughtsto the Medallion�s wearer.

The elves planned no treachery, but they

did harbor lingering resentment at theterms they accepted. Reading those resent-ful thoughts through the Medallion, Araicsaw the elves as steeped in deceit. Whenhe returned home and probed his broth-er�s thoughts (having long noticed theman�s crush on his sister-in-law) he took asimple, romantic wish as concrete proof ofa torrid, adulterous affair.

If the bard digs for more information (orrolls extremely well) the DM might rewardher with more history. Four or five storiesabout Red Harvest�s wielders dying sur-rounded by their enemies should plant afew doubts. Then again, if the DM neverplanned for the PCs to find the blade, theblade�s history can be slanted to play upthe negative aspects (�Laughing insanely,Penzarron slew and slew, heedless of hislove calling from the departing boat!�).There can be more than one version of alegend, after all.

�Linnea saw the symbol of Berroth theabjurer on the bracers,� the DM said,scanning his notes. �What kind of bracerswould an abjurer make if not of defense?�

Linnea looked at Hroulf. �Satisfied?��Mmmph,� Hroulf mumbled in to his

beard. �All right. I suppose you do knowwhat you�re talking about.�

DRAGON 25

Eavesdrop on afantasy thief�s lessons

by David �Zeb� Cook

Artwork by Jason R. Coleman

�Let me have a look at you, boy. You�renew to the city, aren�t you? I can tell.You�ve got that gasping look of a beachedminnow to you. There�s no shame in it,boy. Them that wasn�t born here was allnew once.

�So, tell me how your trade goes. Whatpockets have you dipped, what purses cut?None? Are you skilled in the black art,handy with a passkey? Not that either?Then you must be a lifter of parcels orquick with an angler�s pole to fish out someprize through an open window. You�re notsmiling, boy, when I ask these questions.Tell an old master true: How went yourthieving today?

�That poorly, eh? At that rate, you�ll bedining with the dead for lack of food inyour belly. That�ll never do. Let me seehow good you are. Try cutting my purse.I�ll even turn my back to make it easy.

�Ho, there�s a touch! I think I felt it, indeed.I�ve still got my purse, and the watch�d haveyou. Your fingers are good and light butthere�s more to thieving here than just quickfingers. If you want to be a great thief,you�ve got to learn the rules of the craft.Let�s just suppose I might be a kindly oldrogue who�d take you under my wing, and

26 FEBRUARY 1994

teach you the tricks of the trade as it were.You�re reminding me a bit of myself when Iwas young, boy.

�Now, the first rule of all thieving is asimple one, but a surprising number of ourbrothers forget it. If you�re going to nip apurse or make off with a cloak, you�ve gotto be where the money is. You want easymoney, too. Big takes mean big danger. Ifyou�re going to go crawling around insome stinking dungeon looking for gold,you might as well be one of those over-muscled warriors. You�re a thief, boy! It�sthe easy path and quick riches for you.

�Money�s found in the cities, not out inthe countryside, but then you figured thatbecause you�re here. Still, you can�t wander just anywhere in the city and hope toget rich. You�ve got to know your gulls�where they roost and what they look like.You want the easy marks�the country gen-tleman or the traveler from afar. Folks likethat usually have too much money and toolittle sense about how to hang onto it. Thelast place you want your hand to be caughtis in the pocket of a sergeant of the citywatch.

�Temples, courts, and fairs are all goodchoices. If you�re going to work a temple,boy, make sure you pick a large, majesticone. Temples like that always have folkscoming to make sizeable donations, andthat means wealthy targets. No rich folksgo to poor temples except to pretend theyare poor. Look for a temple favored by thecountry folk, too. City-born are wary, but acountry squire is an easy mark if youknow the right tricks. Temples to gods ofthe field and farm are where you can findthem.

�Country folk are a kindly lot, and youcan play them to your tune, boy. Fainting�sa good bit of trickery. There you stand inthe chapel, gazing at the magnificence ofthe gods, when all at once you fall into aswoon. Sure enough, an honest man willrush to your aid, and in the getting up youcan cut his purse before he knows it.

�The great law courts are another goodplace to spot your mark. Men of money

have business in the courts, and many afattened country gentleman is obliged tocome to the city to press his case. Thenthere�s the solicitors and the like. Theymay be no more honest than you, but theyget paid rich fees.

�What�s that you ask? How�s this going tohelp you? There�s a lot a thief can do, evenon his own. Let�s say you�re wanting lunchand don�t have the coin for it. Get yourselfover to the courts and learn the names ofthe judges and solicitors in session. Everyday, lads from the taverns come carrying abite to the lordships. Stand yourself nearthe gate and ask �Is that for Lord So-and-so?� When a lad finally says yes, claim tobe his lordship�s man and carry it inside,promising to return with payment. Onceinside, scotch yourself out the side gate,meal and all. Of course, if it�s cash youwant, you can lay claim to the fare anddeliver it yourself. For a meal that costs sixcoppers, charge a gold piece and get your-self away quick.

�Sneering are you at such small steals?No wonder you�ve got no luck. Ten easyjobs can net you as much as a single hardjob�and you won�t go hungry for trying,like you are now.

�Fairs are our homes, our meat andtrade. The city may hold a fair for theweavers and tanners, but we know a fair�sreally meant for us. When others come todrink and play, it�s time for us to go towork. Are you practicing to be a cutpurse,boy? If you are, then always work thefairs, where the crowd is your best friend.Mark the puppet shows and mummers;that�s where you want to be. There yourgulls stand like sheep, their eyes fixed onthe play while your hands are at work.Mind you, there�s those who spend all theirmoney on dress and fill their purses withstones to rattle impressively. Take note ofnot only how a man dresses but also howhe carries his purse, and how much coinhe shows when he opens it.

�Now it don�t matter where you�re work-ing. Just be sure, boy, that you look busy. Isaw you at the High Street temple today.

Surprised? You looked like a lollygagger, a

�Come to the city with a friend, did you?Good, because it�s better to work as a teamthan to work alone. Two thieves can do

lout with no honest purpose being wherehe was. Look busy�be praying or waiting

more than one and do it quicker, too. Takenipping a purse. Didn�t have much luckdoing it yourself, did you? But if you had a

anxiously for an appointment, �cause even

friend with you, then one can do the cut-

a fool can spot an idler as a dishonest man.

ting while the other does the stall.�What�s a stall? Ho, you are a green one!

Look, today me and my steadfast compan-ion, Alesworthy, spotted our mark in theaisles of the Lady Temple. He was a fatburgher from the Outlands with a bigpurse. The problem was, he carried hispurse close to him, so you couldn�t slip aknife in to cut the strings without himnoticing. We needed a diversion, some-thing to distract his mind from the coins athis side, so just as our mark neared thecollection box, Alesworthy came forwardwith his own purse out like he�s going toleave an offering. A quick fumble and allAlesworthy�s coins spilled to the floor. Andwhat does our burgher do but stoop tohelp this good citizen ahead of him! Whilethe burgher was occupied, I reached inand with a quick cut relieved him of hispurse. So you see, Alesworthy was thestall and I was the cutter.

�The ladies make most excellent stalls,especially for those gulls who fancy them-selves dashing gentlemen. Amy, a wenchas quick with her fingers as she is withher wit, has worked with me often. Oncewe spot the mark, she�ll come up and planton him a generous kiss, claiming he�s somelong-absent lover. If that doesn�t flusterhim enough for me to cut his pursestrings, she�ll step back in mock embar-rassment at what she�s done, apologizingand fussing until I can claim the prize.

�You say you don�t fancy yourself acutpurse, my lad? Well, then you�ll needpartners all the more. Lifting goods from ashop is no job to try alone, for as soon asthe shopkeeper notices the goods aregone, he�ll find them on you. No, try thisold trick I learned from Taris the Lifter.With a whole crew at his command, hegoes into a shop, dressed like a gentleman,with clean doublet and no cloak or jacket.With him comes a �servant� in a shabbycloak. Show me this and show me that, hedemands, all the time taking care to seeman honest man. Finally, Taris calls the clerkto fetch something from the back, say abolt of cloth not on the shelves. While theclerk is gone, up go the choicest parcelsbeneath his fellow�s cloak. Then it�s quickto the door, where a confederate takeseverything and gets himself away. Even ifthe clerk discovers the theft when he getsback, Taris and his �servant� stand asinnocent as babes.

�You�ll see another lesson in these tricks,son. You�ll have more luck when you gaina man�s trust. Get him to believe you�re

28 FEBRUARY 1994

honest and he�ll drop his guard, take youradvice, and play into your hands. Learnhow to read a man�s dress, what station he

�There�s a pair of rogues who work theGreat Sanctuary by the waterfront, whosteal a man�s trust along with his purse.

is, whether he be of the city or country,

First they find their mark on the temple�s

and where in the country he hails from.

steps�a country gentleman with his ser-vant. When the master sends his servanton an errand, one of the pair follows alongand strikes up a conversation with thelackey. �Aren�t you the servant of so-and-so,� he asks, pretending to forget the mas-ter�s name.

�The servant, a country boy as innocentas his lord, says, �Oh, you mean Sir Such-and-Such.�

�From Gristwater?� the rogue continues,only to be corrected by the boy. The thiefkeeps on until he learns all he can.

�What the first learns he passes on to hispartner, who then greets the mark as anold acquaintance. The honest man, notwanting to be rude, imagines their friend-ship and greets the second thief as warm-ly. Once they are talking, the rogue has hismark where he wants him. He warns hiscountry friend of the dangerous thieves inthe area and generously shows him howto carry his purse and cloak more safely.Then, as they leave the temple, his partneracts the stall and the purse and cloak aregone in a twinkling. If his mark has jewelsand rings, the rogue offers to show him agood tavern or gambling house where hisfellows can rob the man with loaded diceand marked cards.

�A particularly fine trick I once sawcame when a thief and his newfound �oldfriend� were leaving the courts. Just asthey reached the steps, a swordsman-thethief�s partner�leapt in the way, accusedthe thief of some old feud, and lunged athim with a sword. The mark was trappedbetween the two as more of the gangrushed to the fight. While trying to pullthe swordsman away, the thieves knockedthe victim to the ground. When the whis-tles of the watch were heard, everyonescattered, leaving the honest man pickedclean by a swarm of hands.

�You don�t need to know a man�s name togain his trust, either. There�s a fine trickyou can work on bards and the like. Stealyourself a good set of gentleman�s clothesbut wear a cloak that looks finer than it is.Go up to the minstrels as they are singingfor their meal. Drop a copper in theirbowl as you praise their skills, then sayyou are looking to hire a pair of singersfor an entertainment. Offer them a drinkat as good an inn as you care to dine atwhile you discuss terms. Order lavishly,since you will not be paying for the meal,and enjoy the feast. Before the dinner�sdone, though, find a fault with how slowthe wine�s refilled. Leaving your cloakbehind as if you are coming back, take thepitcher, and the goblets if they be goodsilver, to go find the serving maid. Need I

say boy, you�ll never return and you mayeven take some of the plate with you. Letthe minstrels pay the bill�if they can.

�Pretending you�re part of the city watchis not a bad deal either. Hold on; it�s not asdaft as you think. First, get yourself animpressive-looking warrant from a goodforger. Then, once you�ve befriended themark, your partner comes as a sergeant ofthe watch with a warrant for the man�sarrest. �It�s all a mistake,� you cry as youleap to defend his honor. If you can�t cleanthe mark in the scuffle, then fall back andadvise him to use his purse to solve thematter. A small bribe will be enough toencourage the �sergeant� to forget thematter.

�Amy, the wench I told you of, used thewatch trick to clean a man of not just hispurse. After she let herself be persuadedto go upstairs with him, the �watch� camepounding at the door. Pretending to be amarried lady, she rushed the fool into thewardrobe. While he was cowering in thedark, she and her companions made offwith his purse, sword, and armor. Notonly that, they left him unable to pay forthe room.

�You know, you look a little slow offingers and wit, boy. Maybe it�s not wise torely on just your natural talents. It�s agood thing there�s tools that can give youan edge. Hold on�they don�t have to berare magical things or cursing expensive.

�You�ve seen the beggars around townwith the cripple-canes? Anglers, we callthem, because they�re not lame and that�snot a cane. It�s a long rod, boy, all foldedup to look like what it isn�t. Those beggarswander the streets and alleys until theysee a nice open window or some goodclothes hung out to dry. Next thing youknow, that staff is stretched out like a longrod for fishing. With a fine hook on theend and a little practice, a man can catchall sorts of �fish� from an open window.

�Then there�s a cloak with many pocketssewn on the inside, handy for quicklyhiding the fruits of your labor. That way,your hands aren�t full of stolen goods asyou walk down the street.

�But here, take a look at my finger. There�sthe best of all tools a thief can have. See mynail, that little sharp edge to it? A hornblade,it�s called. Just a little bit of sharpened hornglued to my nail. Careful! It�ll cut you like alittle knife, not enough to hurt you, but it�llsting. That�s a cutpurse�s tool�hidden, quick,and silent. When you�re in a crowd and youcan�t show a knife to cut purse strings, thislittle hornblade does the job. It takes practiceto keep from slicing up your hands andtrousers, but once you learn it, it�s as naturalas your own hands. There�s plenty of craf-ters who can fix you up with one.

�So there you have it, boy. Just a few ofthe tricks to help you along. Maybe you�llhave some better luck now, and you won�tbe dining on air. Why am I telling you allthis? Maybe I like you, lad. Or maybe I justwant another full purse to pick.�

Add 15-mm miniatures to your fantasy armies

Almost all fantasy miniatures are pro-duced in 25-mm scale. For anyone unfamil-iar with that terminology, it means humanfigures are 25 mm (about 1� tall). Until afew years ago, it was almost impossible tofind fantasy figures in any other scale.This was in direct contrast to historicalfigures, which were available in a broadrange of scales: 50 mm, 40 mm, 30 mm, 25mm, 20 mm, 15 mm, 10 mm, 6 mm, even 2mm! This situation was fine for people likeme, who like 25-mm figures and haveplenty of terrain and other accessories inthat scale. In my experience, 25mm fig-ures are large enough to be interesting topaint, yet small enough to be affordableand playable in mass battles.

Still, the majority of historical-miniaturesgamers have switched to 15mm figures,especially in those periods with reallylarge armies: Napoleonics, American CivilWar, and ancients. Fantasy figures, on theother hand, are seldom used for buildinglarge armies. Instead, they are used indi-vidually for role-playing or for small skir-mish games, where the larger scale isdesirable.

Now, that situation seems to be chang-

30 FEBRUARY 1994

by Steve Winter

Photography by Charles Kohl

ing. Ral Partha and Grenadier, the twobiggest U.S. manufacturers of fantasyminiatures, both have launched fantasylines in 15-mm scale. Between those twoand several smaller companies, the rangeof 15-mm fantasy figures has become verygood.

Why so small?The smaller figures have advantages and

disadvantages. The biggest drawback isthat they just do not look as nice as 25-mmfigures when set out on a gaming table. Ingeneral, 15-mm figures have less surfacedetail and hence less personality thancomparable 25-mm figures.

On the other hand, they also cost abouthalf as much as 25-mm figures. A typical25-mm foot figure costs $1 to $1.50, and amounted figure costs $2 to $3. The same15-mm figures cost from $.50 to $1. Thatis a significant difference when buying100 or more figures for an army.

Smaller figures also need less tablespace. Base widths and movement dis-tances tend to run 25% to 50% lower for15-mm figures. A battle that can be playedon a 6� × 8� table in 25-mm scale can be

played on a 4� × 6� table in 15mm scale.One misconception about 15mm figures

is that they are easier to paint than 25-mmminiatures. They can be painted slightlyfaster, but the job is no easier. If anything,they are more difficult to paint well, be-cause they require more care and concen-tration.

What�s available?A lot of companies make 15-mm histori-

cal figures that are highly suitable forpseudo-historical fantasy gaming, from thevery early Bronze Age right up throughmodern times. Most fantasy battles arestill going to include a lot of humans.These companies are good places to startlooking for a human army.

Essex, an English company, is probablythe best known and most prolific of thehistorical-miniatures companies. Just a listof their ancient and medieval figures isseven pages long; it lists more than 600figure packs, many containing multipleposes! The figures are well sculpted, too.Detail and proportion are excellent. Theydo tend to have short legs and barrelchests, but that is common with all 15mm

15mm troll, beholder, wizard, and mind-flayer figures coming from Ral Partha in 1994

figures; it keeps them from looking scraw-ny. Essex is the standard to which all otherhistorical 15-mm figures are compared. Ifyour figures look okay next to Essex figures, then they must be good.

Soldiers and Swords has a much smallerrange than Essex. It only covers WesternEurope in the 14th century, a period mostnotable for the Black Death and the Hun-dred Years War. It covers this period verynicely, however, with a broad range ofmounted and dismounted knights, ser-geants, men-at-arms, and peasants. Theyalso produce a line of figures and vesselsfor 14h-century naval battles, which canbe a lot of fun, if somewhat obscure. S&Sfigures are very high quality and excellentdetail, are lead free, and are competitivelypriced.

Wargames Foundry is another Englishcompany. This one is closely associatedwith those irrepressible Perry twins, Alanand Michael, who are best known to role-playing gamers for their work with GamesWorkshop. Most of the Foundry�s figuresare 25-mm scale, but they do have a line of15-mm figures for late 15thcentury wars(Burgundy, Italian city-states, and the War

of the Roses). Considering the talent of thePerrys, you just can�t go wrong with War-games Foundry figures. Their prices are atthe high end of reasonable, but the figuresare worth every penny. (By the way, any25mm collectors who like Games Work-shop�s figures, especially the Empire andBretonnian lines, should do themselves afavor and get a Wargames Foundry cata-log. It lists many similar figures by thesame sculptors at much more palatableprices.)

Minifigs is a venerable company with aline almost as extensive as Essex�s, Neithertheir detail nor their quality control are asgood as those of Essex, but their prices arelower. With little detail, they are easy topaint in mass. If you want a presentablearmy at a very attractive price, Minifigsproducts is the way to go.

Stone Mountain is comparable to Mini-figs in quality and price, but their line isprimarily pre-dark ages (Biblical throughRoman times).

Other historical-miniatures manufactur-ers (many of them European) can be foundby looking through miniatures magazinessuch as The Courier or Wargames Illus-

trated. It is best to deal with a U.S. distrib-utor, if possible. Always get a few samplefigures before placing a big order, as mostmail-order sellers don�t take returns.

What about fantasy, you�re asking.There has been an explosion, relativelyspeaking, in the number of companiesproducing 15mm fantasy figures in thelast few years. (Considering that five yearsago there were hardly any, even a smallincrease represents a tremendous stepforward.)

Ral Partha, like Essex, is the standardagainst which all others must be judged.This is both because their figures areexcellent and because Ral Partha is thebiggest and best-known American manu-facturer of fantasy figures.

As you would expect, their figures aretremendous. They have detail that rivals agood 25mm figure, nice animation, andreal personality. The line of available fig-ures is pretty extensive and still growing:dwarf infantry and crossbowmen; elfarchers, foresters, pikemen, horsearchers, and chariots; human knights,archers, swordsmen, lancers, and leaders;skeleton infantry, archers, and cavalry;

DRAGON 31

orc infantry and archers; goblin infantryand wolf-riders; bugbears, ogres, hobgob-lins, baatezu and cornugons; and comingsoon trolls, mind flayers, griffon and hippogriff riders, wizards, and beholders.Especially notable are the Cormyr lancers,elf chariots, goblins, and hobgoblins,which are some of the best 15-mm figuresI have ever seen.

Infantry packs contain 18 figures, usu-ally in five poses (two soldiers, one leader,one officer, and one standard bearer).Cavalry (and larger monster) packs containseven figures in three poses (soldier, lead-er, standard bearer). The variety of posesand plentiful banners are a really nicefeature of this line.

The problems in this line are minor.First, the Cormyr knights are quite large.Their horses are the right size, but theknights themselves are so big they appearto be riding ponies. Second, some of theinfantry figures, dwarves especially, havetheir shields behind them or to the side. Ilike to see a wall of shields in front of mytroops, not behind them. The dwarveswith their shields to the side are so widethat they�re hard to fit on a base of theproper width.

Nitpicking aside, Ral Partha has pro-duced a line of outstanding figures, Theycombine exceptional sculpting (courtesy ofChris Atkins and Dennis Summers), multi-ple poses, and a broad range. This is anexcellent place to start your shopping.

Grenadier has also jumped into thismarket with its own 15-mm line. Whilethey don�t have quite the range of RalPartha, they do offer some excellent fig-ures. The elves in particular, sculpted byJulie Guthrie, are everything you expect

from Guthrie figures. They lose none ofher characteristic delicacy or dignity inthe down-sizing.

Grenadier�s orcs and dwarves, on theother handy, are a bit lumpish. They alsoare quite large. The orcs are very power-ful looking and can mix well with RalPartha�s orcs if you treat them as Uruk-haior orogs or some other unusually massivetribe. The dwarves, however, stand almosta full head taller than Ral Partha�sdwarves, making it very difficult to mixthe two brands. The two lines have verydifferent looks besides; Ral Partha�sdwarves wear long mail coats, capes, andsallets, while Grenadier�s wear leatherjacks and kettle hats. The choice is largelya matter of taste.

Grenadier does make some interestingodd bits, like an enormous war mammothand a nifty orc bolt-thrower. They alsohave a winged elf chariot; not as dramaticas Ral Partha�s, but the two make an excel-lent pair.

Grenadier packs contain 10 infantry orsix cavalry in a good assortment of poses.Overall, the Grenadier line of 15-mm fan-tasy has some very good offerings. It canstand on its own or fill the gaps in a multi-brand army.

Hard Corp is the real sleeper in thisfield. This small Texas company (Why doso many small game companies arise inTexas?) has some very nice figures to offer.Their goblins, in particular, are reallysmall (as goblins should be), and trulynasty looking. Their elves are slightlysmaller than most 15-mm human figuresand have a good, sylvan look (as opposedto the very noble-looking elves from RalPartha and Grenadier). They are dressed

in tunics, capes, leggings, and boots, with-out a helmet or mail shirt in sight.

Their armored trolls and hobgoblininfantry are notable for their personality.Log shields, banners strapped to theirbacks, ragged standards, and long hairmake these figures stand out in the midstof an army.

Hard Corp packs contain 18 infantry infour poses or eight cavalry in two poses,and are very competitively priced.

Check out this company before buyingyour army. Hard Corp makes a strongshowing, even in comparison to the bigboys. They are distributed through Berke-ley Games and Wargames West to storeson the West Coast and in the Southwest. Ifyou live outside that area, you still can dobusiness by mail. I expect you will be aspleasantly surprised as I was.

Simtac and Alternative Armies are botholder lines, and their age shows. Theytend to have little detail and poor propor-tions. Both of these lines carry some unu-sual items that aren�t available elsewhere.Unfortunately, the figures themselves arehard to locate. Look for them at conven-tions or get a list through the mail. Ineither case, examine sample figures beforeordering in quantity. This is not to statethat these are poor figures; many of themare fine, but others have been surpassedby other, state-of-the-art figures. Untilthese lines are updated, they will be over-shadowed by the exceptional quality of thenewer figures from Ral Partha, Grenadier,and Hard Corp. Their main use at thispoint is to fill specialty gaps.

When building your army, don�t makethe mistake of limiting your selections to15-mm figures. In a fantasy army, 25-mm

15-mm Cormyr lancers, elf pikemen and swordsmen by Ral Partha, Knights by Essex (Painting by Dave Hoppack)

2 15mm knights from Soldiers & Swords, dwarves from Ral Partha and Grenadier, a knightfrom S&S, and an elf from Grenadier

figures can be mixed in with very goodresults. Barbarians and Vikings make excel-lent giants; a Greek hoplite becomes atitan. Big things like elementals and geniesare usually sculpted small anyway, andtake on something more like their realproportions when placed alongside 15-mmfigures. Golems and other magically ani-mated creations also can be used as truemonstrosities. Goblins and orcs becometrolls and ogres, while imps and koboldsbecome orcs and goblins. (This trick worksboth ways. Looking for an army of well-armed and armored halflings to defendthe shire against your 25-mm gnolls? Try15-mm humans!)

What do you do with them?The best application for 15-mm figures is

in massed armies, where their lower price

and smaller table requirements becomereal advantages. As an example, an elfarmy from Ral Partha containing 24 caval-ry, 3 chariots, and 100 infantry costs about$190 in 25-mm scale. The same army in 15mm costs about $82. (These prices are pre-Ralidium; both will be proportionallyhigher by now.)

Neither the BATTLESYSTEM® nor theWARHAMMER* rules provide guidelinesfor playing with 15-mm figures. Fortu-nately, making the conversion is easy. Startby scaling down the bases 25% to 40%.How much you scale down is pretty mucha matter of what you think looks good, butbe consistent. Reduce all the movementrates, ranges, and other measurements bythe same percentage. You could performthe math and then create new tables toreplace the old ones, but there is an easier

way: Make your own rulers with the mea-surements proportionally reduced, andcontinue using all the old numbers. Forexample, something that used to move 12�will now move 12 spaces, with each spacebeing only 5\8�. Finally, things like area-of-effect templates also must be reduced.They can be redrawn or simply reducedon a photocopier.

However, there is something else goingon within miniatures gaming that is reallyexciting. That is a pair of little games fromWargames Research Group (WRG) calledDe Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) and Hordes ofthe Things (HOT). Both are essentially thesame game, but DBA is purely historicaland HOT is for fantastic armies. The rulesto both games are only four pages long, agame can be played in less than an hour,the battlefield is 2� square, and a typicalarmy has less than 50 figures. Besides thefour pages of battle rules, the rulebookscontain troop descriptions, army lists, andcampaign rules, and they still sell forunder $10. Best of all, they�re a lot of fun.

If you�ve been thinking about tryingminiatures gaming but shied away becauseof the expense and the time required toget started, pick up one of these twogames. Your entire investment for twoarmies and the rules will be less than $60;get a friend to buy the second army andit�s down to $20 or $30. Fifty figures canbe painted pretty easily in a few weeks�worth of evenings. If you don�t like it, selleverything and you will make a profit onyour painted army. There�s nothing tolose.

Besides being fun in their own right,these games have exciting applicationswithin an AD&D® or D&D® campaign.

The next time the goblin king goes on arampage, fight the battles in front of theplayers and let them participate. AssignPCs to specific units, then base their re-wards on how well the unit performs.High-level PCs may command a flank, oreven the entire army. Characters who runtheir own duchies can have some com-mand duties to fulfill.

for diversity. That is clearly good news forfans, hobbyists, and manufacturers. Theprice is right; don�t miss out!

The following is a list of addresses for themanufacturers mentioned in the article:

Essex Miniatures, Wargames ResearchGroup; contact Wargames, Inc., Box 278,Triadelphia WV 26059.

Simtac, Inc., 20 Attawan Rd., Niantic CT06357.

Soldiers &. Swords, 25 Fayette St.,Binghamton NY 13901.

Stone Mountain, Wargames Foundry;contact Pendragon Miniatures, 1549 Mar-view Dr., Westlake OH 44145.

The appearance and popularity of thisnew scale is evidence that fantasy-miniatures gaming is catching on at last.While the hobby was small, it could sur-vive on only one scale. Enough people are

Hard Corp Miniatures, P.O. Box 1234,Tomball TX 77377-1234.

Minifigs; send to Ral Partha (q.v.), c/o Mr.J. Hasselbrock, Ral Partha Enterprises,Inc., 5938 Carthage Ct., Cincinnati OH

getting involved now to create a demand 45212.

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

15-mm goblin wolf-riders from HardCorp, Grenadier, and Ral Partha

15-mm goblins from Ral Partha and Hard Corp, orcs from Grenadier and Ral Parfha, and an ogre from Ral Partha

36 FEBRUARY 1994

If your wild-mage PC isn�t strange

by Joel E. Roosa & Andrew Crossett

Wild mages have a potential for creativeplay unsurpassed by any other class in theAD&D® game. Random spell surges andwild-magic spells need not be all that wildmages are known for. The unique role-playing possibilities of the wild mage canbe dramatically increased by delving fur-ther into the nature of wild magic and thepsyche of the wild mage.

Wild magic is a temperamental magic thatrequires great intelligence, imagination, andcreativity to harness. Not surprisingly, wildmages are generally smarter and moreartistic (but not always wiser) than othermages. They practice the Art with a capital�A.� Wild magic spells may differ in moreways than just level variation�no two wildmages cast the same spell in precisely thesame fashion.

The purpose of this article is to expandthe options of the wild-mage subclass andto make it even more distinctive. The firstsection presents rules that enable the DMand the player of a wild-mage character tocreate special random effects: interestingbut mostly innocuous effects that occurwhenever the wild mage casts a spell, notjust when a wild surge hits. The secondsection suggests a new way of looking atwild surges, making them a more integralpart of the game, instead of just randomside effects. The two sections may be usedtogether, or independently.

Tailoring spellsUsing the options presented here, every

spell a wild mage casts varies in some wayfrom its standard spell. To determine the

Artwork by Terry Dykstra

actual differences, roll 1d6 for each spellthe wild mage knows, and consult thefollowing list:

Table 1: Variation types (1d6)1. Auditory variation2. Visual variation3. Olfactory variation4. Tactile variation5. Material component variation6. Form variation

When the type of variation has beendetermined, roll 1d12 to determine theintensity of the change, consulting the listbelow:

Table 2: Variation intensities (1d12)1-3 Mild intensity4-6 Typical intensity7-9 Strong intensity10-11 Extreme intensity12 Absurd result

To make things easier on everyone, don�treroll a variation every time the charactercasts the spell. Simply assume that thesame variation occurs every time that spellis cast. At your option, the effect couldchange as a result of additional researchand practice, a traumatic magical event(such as a powerful wild surge), or strongmagic such as limited wish, wish, or cer-tain artifacts.

The DM and player should determinethe specific effects of the change together.Basic explanations of the changes areprovided below, along with examples.

Auditory changes are differences inthe sound a spell makes when it is cast ortakes effect, or the addition of sound tothose spells that otherwise have none.Most spells are silent once cast, exceptthose that are intended to produce sound.Some spells presumably make incidentalnoise, such as a crackle (or even thunder)for a lightning bolt, or a roaring whooshfor a fireball.

A mild variation could include a slight�zap� sound for a magic missile, a soft,tinkling bell for sleep, or a slight humaccompanying a Tenser�s floating disc.

For each higher level of intensity, justincrease the volume: A typical sound ef-fect would be equal to a normal humanspeaking voice: a strong effect would beequal to shouting; an extreme variationwould have the approximate volume of athunderclap. Absurd variations are highlyunusual variations rather than a level ofintensity. Examples might include a burn-ing hands spell that barks, or an identifyspell that burps. These changes are limit-less (within the bounds of game viability),and their intensity can be determined byrolling on Table 2 above, using 1d10 in-stead of 1d12.

Visual variations are often the mostobvious, since the actual appearance ofthe spell changes. The spell in questionwould be a mystery visually to anyone notalready familiar with it, which could makedefending against it difficult in some cases.Changes are harmless in themselves, andthe nature of the spell is not changed.True seeing and similar magic would not

DRAGON 37

reveal the basic nature of the spell, but acharacter with the spellcraft proficiencycould do so since the somatic componentremains unchanged.

Mild changes could be simple colorvariations, such as green magic missiles, ora colored haze for a sleep spell.

Typical changes might entail a colorvariation plus another small effect, such assmoke from the fingertips; alternatively,the spell might produce multiple colors,such as a rainbow-colored fireball, or ashowy burst of magic missiles, each adifferent color.

Strong changes affect the shape as wellas the color of the spell effect, such asmagic missiles that look like large four-sided dice, skulls, or bananas, all of whichvanish after striking. Though they mayappear to do damage differently, such asbiting or squashing against the target, theystill affect the target normally for all gamepurposes.

Extreme changes are much like strongones, with the addition of incredibly flashyspecial effects. A simple read magic mightseem to make its target paper explode intoflames, along with a dazzling miniaturefireworks display. The effect would not bestrong enough to blind an opponent, but itcould be frightening or confusing.

Absurd changes involve really bizarremodifications. For example, magic missilesmight appear as live toads, books (com-plete with illustrations), furniture, farmanimals, or practically anything. An addi-tional intensity roll with 1d8 would give anindication of the size of the change. Usingmagic missile as the base, mild would betoad-sized, typical would be cat-sized,strong could be up to the size of a cow,and extreme would be the size of a smallbuilding. If the spell normally has largereffects than magic missile, adjust accord-ingly. Size can be forsaken to increase thebizarre aspect of the change. If humanskulls were chosen as the visual variationof magic missile, they could be made toflame, clack their teeth, change color, oractually appear to bite for their damage.

These effects can give visual effects tospells that normally have none (such asdivination or abjuration magic). This couldmake surreptitious spell-casting difficult atbest-but then, if you want subtlety, wildmagic is probably not your best choice.

Olfactory variations bring the won-derful world of smells to the wild mage�smagical repertoire. Some spells, such asfind familiar or stinking cloud, alreadyhave smells, and these might vary in na-ture, but usually not in intensity, since thiswould actually alter the spell�s effective-ness. Often, the odor variation is related tothe material component used, such as arose scent for sleep or pea soup for a wallof fog. Be creative: Sand might evoke thesmell of the ocean or of cactus. Spells withno material components could be givenaromas at whim, or from inference. Alterself could change the smell of the subject�sbody, while detect evil might actually

38 FEBRUARY 1994

cause a foul odor to emanate from an eviltarget. Such smells would linger no morethan 1d3 rounds.

Mild changes are detectable no morethan 5� from the origin (the caster, thetarget, or the path of the spell, at DM�soption); typical changes could be smelledup to 20� away, strong changes up to 50�,and extreme changes up to 120�. Certainanimals and monsters with acute senses ofsmell could detect these smells at greaterdistances. Absurd changes are unrelatedto the nature of the spell. Darkness 15�radius might smell like brandy, or a flam-ing sphere could smell like bubble gum.Reroll for intensity with 1d8 (perhapsadding additional smells).

Tactile variations can operate in twodifferent ways. For person-affecting spells,the target will feel a sensation. Magicmissiles may make the target feel damp orhot, in addition to the usual damage effect.Taunt could make the victim feel slimy. Allarea-effect spells affect only one targetwithin the area.

For spells that create, alter, or otherwiseaffect an object, the object in question willbe altered in a tactile manner. Tenser�sfloating disc might cause an itch whentouched, or a web spell might feel likewarm mud. For both varieties of change,the sensations last for one round.

Mild changes are extremely subtle, per-haps barely noticeable. Typical changesare quite noticeable, such as warmth orroughness. Strong upgrades the effect(warm becomes hot, rough becomessharp). Extreme changes can actuallycause pain or other strong sensations (butnot damage). Since the pain could disruptspell-casting or inflict combat penalties,the DM may wish to impose a balancingpenalty for such a spell, such as decreasedduration or range. Absurd changes arererolled for intensity with 1d8 and usuallycreate wildly inappropriate or strangeeffects, such as tickling, numbness, orcrawling sensations.

Material component variations arealterations in the materials needed to casta spell. Either the type of component orthe amount needed could change. Thenew material usually is still appropriate tothe spell effect.

A mild variation reduces the amount ofmaterial needed for casting, or possiblydecreases the required value of the com-ponents slightly, if applicable. Typicalchanges alter the type of material needed,such as poppy seeds instead of rose petalsfor a sleep spell. Strong variations requiremore of the material, or, at the DM�s op-tion, a rarer material. Extreme changesmight require double the usual amount, orperhaps a much rarer component, such asblack lotus blossoms instead of rose petals.An absurd variation usually won�t alter theamount needed, but might involve a radi-cal or ridiculous change in the type ofmaterial, such as live turkeys for a confu-sion spell.

Consider any significant change in the

component�s monetary value carefully.When a minimum gold piece value is givenfor components, it is usually intended as ameans to prevent too-frequent casting of apowerful spell. Don�t substitute a mothballfor a 5,000 gp pearl unless you are pre-pared to have the character casting thespell in question on a daily basis. Keepgame balance and integrity in mind andoverrule any inappropriate variations.

Form variations can be the mostprofound alterations in the manifestationof a spell. Not only does the appearance ofthe spell vary, but in some cases so doesthe way the spell accomplishes its effect.

Mild changes barely alter the spell�s areaof effect or shape, such as an oval fireballor a sleep spell with a square area of ef-fect. Typical changes create greater shapevariations, such as stars or other geomet-ric shapes. Strong changes could repro-duce almost any irregular shape: alightning bolt shaped like a person, or asleep spell with an area of effect shapedlike California. Extreme changes couldcreate an area of effect with randomlyplaced holes in it that would act as safeareas, or even several small areas of effectthat added together equal the normal areaof effect. Absurd changes are virtuallylimitless and can affect the nature of thespell itself, though not its statistics. Afireball could become a stream of liquidfire that burns like napalm, or an identifyspell could summon a tiny professor whogives the desired information in the formof a lecture.

Once the spell variations are rolled, theDM and the player record the changes onthe character�s spell list. Naturally, a sepa-rate detailed record of all changes is rec-ommended. All spells in the list can beassigned a number to indicate the type ofchange (from 1 to 6, as per Table 1 above),and a letter to show the intensity (M formild, T for typical, S for strong, E forextreme and A for absurd). Using thissystem, an extreme auditory changewould be indicated by the abbreviation�1E.� During play, describe the specialeffects every time the wild mage casts aspell; aside from the enhancement of role-playing, it will be necessary to decide whatadditional situations or complications (ifany) will arise from the mage�s display.

At the option of the DM and the player,two additional twists can be used to ex-pand this system even further.

Two additional spells of each spell levelthe caster has access to trolled randomlyfrom the DM�s list of all available spells)may be modified by 1d3 additionalchanges. The spells may be ones the magedoes not know, and in fact may neverhave access to. The DM should secretlynote those spells on his copy of the wild-mage�s character sheet, so that he can plugin the appropriate surprises if the charac-ter ever learns the modified spells.

Also, the wild-mage PC�s player maychoose any two spells she knows from

each level to be modified by a further 1d3variations. These spells would probablybecome trademarks of that character, andthe DM should give the player�s opinionmore weight when deciding on the spe-cific effects. Also, the player may rerollany one change and one intensity roll foreach of these trademark spells, if desired.

To illustrate how this system workswhen fully implemented, let�s look at Bar-malyn Star, a wild mage who knows elevenfirst-level spells. She rolls her changes foreach and notes them as follows:

Burning hands: 2T, 4A, 2A.Cantrip: 1 AT.Changes self: 1 AS, 4E.Detect magic: 4T.Affect normal fires: 6M.Hornung�s guess: 2T.Magic missile: 4T, 2T, 6A, 5S.Murdock�s feathery flier: 3S.Nahal�s reckless dweomer: 4A.Patternweave: 5T.Read magic: 6M.Her two randomly altered first-level

spells are change self (which she knows)and gaze reflection (which she doesn�t).She has chosen burning hands and magicmissile as her trademark spells. Sincemagic missile has no material component,she rerolls her result of 5 for that spelland gets 6 (a form change), while theintensity (Strong) is not rerolled unless shewants to use her optional reroll on it. Usererolls to avoid similar changes on thesame spell, or to correct contradictions orunsatisfying results.

The DM determines the exact modifica-tions, keeping in mind the player�s desiredtheme or the character�s personality. Bar-malyn Star resembles a lamia noble (per-haps as a result of an unfortunate accidentwith wild magic) and wants to have amotif involving snakes, nature, forests,and the color green. In play, these are:

Burning hands: Now is a green flame,and smoke rises from her fingers as shecasts it. The flame sparks and jumps, hassmall, ghostly animal-like figures within it,and the target feels slimy for one round.

Cantrip: A lilting voice laughs wheneverthis spell is cast.

Change self: While casting this spell, avery loud waterfall seems to thundersnearby. Once cast, Barmalyn�s body ema-nates extreme cold. She feels only chilly,but her body is icy cold to the touch. Thechill can be felt up to six inches away fromher skin, and the cold fades gradually.

Detect magic: Magical objects beingscanned do not glow, but instead feelfurry to the touch. The more powerful themagic, the plusher the fur. If the object isalready furry, it feels like tree bark.

Affect normal fires: generates a lightmist to extinguish or reduce fires, or ablast of hot air to increase them.

Hornung�s guess: Small green sparks flyfrom Barmalyn�s eyes and circle her body.The number of sparks is equal to thenumber of objects being counted, but fadeaway after one round. She does not have

to count the sparks to get her result.Magic missile: Barmalyn Star�s trade-

mark attack spell. She throws four missileswith each casting at her level. The visualchange makes the flight path of each adifferent-colored trail of light, the wholeeffect like a rainbow. The absurd formchange makes the missiles into serpents,each the color of the band it trails behindit. The strong form change makes theserpents disappear in puffs of coloredsmoke as they hit. The typical tactilechange leaves behind a burning sensationon the target for one round. This could bemistaken for poison by the target the wasstruck by snakes, after all), with appropri-ately panicky results.

Murdock�s feathery flier: Barmalynsmells like baked apples up to 50� awaywhile the spell is in effect. She may attractinsects and some herbivorous (or sweet-toothed) monsters as a result.

Nahal�s reckless dweomer: Barmalynfeels a tickling sensation all over whilecasting the spell. Once it is cast, she feelsvery hungry. If the spell�s effect is evenclose to the one she wanted, she is sated,but if not, she must eat soon or suffer a-2 penalty to abilities and combat stats.

Patternweave: Instead of a small lens,she places a drop of water in each eye.

Read magic: The words being read turngreen for 1-6 rounds.

Remember, the rolled results are onlyguidelines and can be rerolled if they seemstupid or hard to work with. Though thesenew options take time to implement, thework only needs to be done once andoccurs outside of gaming time, so it willnot slow the pace of play.

Alternative wild surgesThe following is an optional system for

determining the likelihood of wild surges,the unpredictable side-effects that some-times occur when a wild mage casts aspell. It is intended for players and DMswho want wild-mage characters who areless predictable, more disruptive, and, in aword, wilder. These options can be usedwith or without the spell-customizingrules above. It all depends on how muchoriginality or confusion you wish to gener-ate (or can reasonably handle) and howwild you want your wild mages to be.

These rules supplement the wild surgerules presented in the Tome of Magic, theydon�t replace them. In general, the resultson the table below simulate anomalies inthe fabric of the magic, rather than justrandom spell effects and odd side-effectsthat are sometimes baneful, sometimesbeneficial, and sometimes simply annoyingor silly. All the results on this table aredeliberately ambiguous�they may begood, bad, or irrelevant for the wild mageand his party. This depends on the circum-stances and on the ingenuity shown by thecharacter in turning the situation to hisadvantage. Some effects necessitate addi-tional role-playing or decision-making.

This optional system is not for everyone.

Consider the needs of your campaign andthe attitudes of your players before youdecide to use it in your game. If the playeror players in your campaign who runwild-mage characters want their mages tobe wilder and customized and are notaverse to the extra role-playing anddecision-making involved, then give thissystem a whirl. Take into account that thissystem sometimes require quick judg-ments about unforeseen occurrences, andextra dice rolling. If you use wild magesonly as NPCs, or if you or the players don�twant to make your game more complexthan it already is, then stick with the es-tablished rules for wild surges presentedin Tome of Magic.

To determine wild surges using the newsystem, first determine whether a surgeoccurs, in the usual manner. If a surgedoes occur, roll 2d10 and refer to the tablebelow. All spells take effect normallyunless otherwise noted; the wild surgeusually is an additional effect.

As with surge results in the officialrules, sometimes an illogical effect comesup, usually when the spell�s target is aninanimate object or a point in space. Inter-pret the wording of the result in as broada manner as you like in order to producean interesting (or humorous) result. In thecase of area-effect spells, the target is thecharacter, creature, or object closest to thecenter of the spell�s effect. When the cast-er casts a spell on himself, he is both thecaster and the target. This also may pro-duce puzzling results, but be imaginative.As always, change or ignore any wild-surge result that would seriously compro-mise the integrity of the campaign, theplot, or the enjoyment of the game. TheDM is strongly encouraged to devise herown tables like the one here, which in-clude surge results that: a) are imaginative,b) do not drastically affect the course ofthe game, and c) require thought andresourcefulness on the part of the playerto determine whether the result is ulti-mately a blessing or a curse for the party.The table given here is intended as amodel: if it is used for too long withoutvariation, the results will start to becomefamiliar to the players�and that is exactly what you don�t want to happen.

Special notes: Saving throws do notexempt either the target or the casterfrom the effects of a wild surge, but magicresistance will. In the case of protectivespells such as globe of invulnerability, thewild surge affects the protected characteronly if the spell itself penetrated the pro-tection. The spell chaos shield protectsagainst any of the above effects, not justthe ones listed on Table 2 in Tome of Mag-ic. Hornung�s surge selector allows a sec-ond roll on the table above; the playermay choose the result he considers betterunder the circumstances. Nahal�s recklessdweomer requires a roll on Table 2 in theTome of Magic, not on the table here.

If you do not use the spell-customizingrules above, consider increasing the

DRAGON 39

Table 3: Wild surges (2d10)2. The caster gains the permanent

ability to recognize that particular targetwhenever he sees it, regardless of invisi-bility, etherealness, disguise, poly-morphing, or any other factor. If thetarget is a living being, it gains the sameability with regard to the caster (assum-ing it survives the spell effect).

3. The caster and everyone within a30� radius of him shift back in time oneround. All die rolls made in the roundprevious to the spell�s casting must bererolled (for better or worse). Charactersmay not take actions different fromthose they took originally, and neitherthe caster nor the affected characterswill realize what has happened unless anoutside observer can inform them, orunless they can see some obvious sign ofthe passage of time.

4. The spell is channeled through thecaster�s body. This can either drain thecaster of 1-6 Strength and Constitutionpoints or grant him an extra 1-6 Strengthand Constitution points (50% chance ofeither). This can raise scores as high as24 or may lower them below 1 (in whichcase coma, but not death, results untilthe scores are brought up to 1). Lostpoints are regained, and gained pointsare lost, at a rate of 1 Strength and Con-stitution point per hour.

5. The caster discorporates from hisbody, which falls down, apparently dead.The caster must spend the next 1-6rounds finding his way back into hisbody. If the body is destroyed (broughtto 0 or fewer hit points) before the cast-er can re-enter it, he must search untilhe can find a soul-less body to inhabit.

6. The spell draws power from all othermagic within 60� of the caster. Any otherspells being cast within that area in theround the wild mage�s spell takes effect failautomatically. Also, all magical items of lessthan artifact stature become non-functionalfor that round, and any in-place spelleffects fail for that round, but resumenormally in the following round.

7. The intended spell plus another round), even if the caster did not have itrandomly determined spell go off simul- memorized twice. Only one initiative rolltaneously, both at the intended target. is required, but two separate targetingThe extra spell is always taken from the rolls and saving throws are needed, iflowest spell level that the caster has applicable.available. 18. A mystical bond develops between

8. The caster gains true seeing for one the caster and the target. They will be-round after casting the spell, but all infor- come fascinated with each other as ifmation gained by it is totally forgotten at mutually charmed. They will be entirelythe beginning of the next round: he must unable to attempt to harm one another,therefore act on his new information (e.g., although they will not necessarily try toby informing his companions of what he prevent others from doing so. The two willsees) within one round or lose all of the be able to communicate telepathically if theknowledge he gained. target has an Intelligence of at least 3.

9. Roll on Table 2: Wild Surge Results They will not be compelled to follow oneon pp. 7-8 in Tome of Magic. another around, but will always be curious

10-12. No discernible effect. about where the other is and what he, she,13. Roll on Table 2: Wild Surge Results or it is doing. This effect is permanent until

on pp. 7-8 in Tome of Magic. either the caster or target dies or a full14. All normal animals within a one- wish breaks the bond.

mile radius are drawn to the caster�s 19. The spell taps energy from thelocation, but are not under his com- Positive Material plane (for good-alignedmand. If the animals are potentially mages), the Negative Material plane (forhostile, the mage�s party must make a evil ones), or both (for those of neutralreaction roll to determine how the ani- alignment). A good-aligned target hit by amals react. Any other characters present positive-laced spell or an evil target hitmust make a check separately. by a negative-laced spell gains ld6 tem-

15. All sensory components of the spell porary hit points immediately (even ifare removed: the spell is invisible, silent, already at maximum hit points). A goodand cannot be felt. The spell takes effect target struck by a negative-laced spell ornormally, however, although the caster an evil target hit by a positive-laced spellmay not realize this unless he can ob- loses ld6 hit points. If the caster is neu-serve the effects of the spell (e.g., the tral, there is an equal chance that thetarget of a fireball charring and falling to target (regardless of alignment) willthe ground). either take 1d2 hp damage or gain 1d2

16. The caster loses the ability to points. Gained hit points are not perma-understand any written or spoken nent; lost hit points heal normally.communication that is not magical in 20. While casting the spell, the magenature. He can still speak and write gets a new insight into its workings. Henormally, but cannot understand the may permanently modify this spell onlyspoken or written words of others. He in one of the following ways each timecan comprehend gestures, but not a he casts it in the future (player�s choice):formal sign language. This situation 1. Increase range by 25%; 2. Increaseremains until the caster once again duration by 25%; 3. Reduce casting timecasts the same spell that triggered this by 1 (casting time of 1 round becomes 9;wild surge. (He can still read his spell minimum casting time of 1 in any case);books as well as any scrolls or magical 4. All damage dice that turn up �1s� areinscriptions.) counted as �2s.� The caster can modify

17. The spell �hiccups� and is cast any given spell only once in this waytwice in rapid succession (in the same during his lifetime.

frequency of wild surges. Under the corerules, each spell has a flat 5% chance percasting to trigger a wild surge. This canresult in long periods when the wild mageis no more interesting than a normalmage, since his only variances will be inlevel variation and the occasional use ofspecial wild-magic spells. To produce atruly unpredictable character, you mightconsider making a separate percentile rollfor wild surges, assigning a base chanceper level of the spell that a surge willoccur. The base percentage can rangeanywhere from 2% to 5% per spell level,with the exact number being set by theDM depending on how much unpredict-ability and wildness he wants in his cam-paign. At the conservative 2% level, thechange of a surge would range from 2%

for a first-level spell to 18% for a ninth-level spell. At 5% per level, the chanceswould range from 5% to 45%. To preservethe everyone�s sanity, don�t assign a basepercentage higher than 5%. Add any addi-tional modifications that you feel wouldadd to the �realism� of the system, such asa heightened chance for a wild surgewhile casting wild-magic spells (such asthose listed in the Tome of Magic) or as-signing bonuses and penalties to accountfor any distractions the wizard might befacing, how hurried his casting is, and soforth. Think carefully before using suchincreased surge chances and the customiz-ing rules presented above�the resultcould be a character who is simply toocomplicated to manage, is so flashy that hebecomes completely unbelievable, or

absolutely upstages all the other membersof his party with his perpetual specialeffects.

The best thing about these rules is thatthey can be dropped into the middle of agame, or removed from it, with no necessi-ty for awkward explanations or rational-ization. Since the characters have no ideawhat will happen when wild magic isused, any unaccountable changes in therules can simply be put down to the vagar-ies of a chaotic and unpredictable force.So, don�t be afraid to experiment freelywith these rules, treating them as an en-joyable diversion rather than as a new setof oppressive rules to keep track of. Letyour imagination run wild, and the wildmages of the world will thank you for it.

40 FEBRUARY 1994

On Athas, sorcery is a blight thatspreads like a cancer across the wastes ofthe desert planet. On other worlds, wield-ers of magic draw their powers from aninexhaustible source of mystic energy, butAthasian wizards must draw their magicalenergy from the life that surrounds them.Each spell cast on Athas destroys a tinyamount of the planet�s life energy. Overcenturies, the reckless spells of genera-tions of wizards have laid waste to theentire planet.

The greatest tragedy is that magic useneed not be so destructive to the wizard�senvironment. Some mages, known aspreservers, are responsible and avoiddrawing too much of the fragile life-forcefrom the world around them. They leavethe plants that powered their spells alive,if weakened. In time, the depleted energyis restored by the normal processes of life.Unfortunately, most wizards are defilerswho destroy their surroundings by sum-moning the energy required to cast a spell.

Why would a wizard contribute to thedestruction that has already razed muchof Athas when it is possible to use magicwithout destroying life? The answer issimple: power. Defiling spells are easier tocast than spells that do not create a radiusof destruction. The preserver must drawenergy from the life around him slowlyand carefully, ready to stop at a moment�snotice to prevent permanent damage fromoccurring. The defiler simply takes untilthere is no more to give, gaining moreenergy in a shorter time than a preservercan possibly muster.

Magic on AthasThere are two steps to casting a spell on

Athas. The wizard first gathers the energyrequired for the magic to operate, andsecond he performs the action that re-leases the energy. The latter is the spell asit is found in other campaign settings�somatic, verbal, and material components

To defile or not to defile?

by L. Richard Baker III

Artwork by Tom Baxa

�Sadira kept her hand open. One afterthe other, the cacti drooped, thenbrowned and withered. . . Even then, shedid not stop, until the soil itself turnedblack and lifeless.�

Troy Denning, The Amber Enchantress

that unlock the spell stored in the wizard�smind. On Athas this formula fizzles with-out a source of magical energy to power it.

Several sources of magical energy areknown to be effective. The most commonis found in the aura surrounding plant lifeof all types. Very powerful sorcerers, suchas the Dragon, can tap the vital energy ofanimal life as well as the magical energy ofvegetation. At least one sorceress, Sadira,is capable of drawing magical power di-rectly from the sun. However, most magic-wielders must energize their spellsthrough plant life, the most accessible ofsources.

The difference between a preserver anda defiler lies in the way they gather spellenergy. A preserver is careful not to drawtoo much energy, and leaves his sourceweakened but intact. In a matter of hours,the life energy of the plant has completelyrestored itself. The defiler ignores this finepoint and gathers whatever power he canas swiftly as possible. Very strong plants,such as a great oak of the Forest Ridge,may survive a defiler�s touch but most dieinstantly.

Gathering spell energyTo gauge more accurately the care and

effort required to summon spell energy,Athasian wizards must add a gatheringtime to the casting time of a spell. Defilersgather energy faster than preservers do,but still must take the time to absorb thisenergy. Refer to Table 1, below:

Table I: Gathering-time modifiers toinitiativeSpell P r e s e r v e r D e f i l e rlevel modif ier modif ier1st-3rd +1 - 14th-6th +3 07th-9th +5 +110th +10 +5

A preserver casting a fireball (castingtime of 31 ends up with a final initiativemodifier of 4 (3 + 1 gathering-time modi-fier), while a defiler can cast the samespell with an initiative modifier of 2 (3 - 1).A spell always has a minimum casting timeof 1. For convenience, the player maywant to note the new casting times on hisspell cards or character sheet.

In addition to the modifier for spell level,a second modifier applies for the caster�ssurroundings. If a preserver is in themiddle of a salt flat with not a plant insight, it will take him quite some time togather the energy needed for spell-casting.Add the terrain factors listed below to thespell�s adjusted casting time to find thetotal initiative modifier for the spell.

Table 2: Terrain modifiers toinitiativeForests, Gardens - 2Verdant belts, Mud flats 0Scrub plains, Oases +2Stony barrens, Rocky badlands,Mountains +4Others (Boulder fields, Salt flats,Sandy wastes) +8

Kerith, a preserver, is casting a fireballin the sandy wastes. As a 3rd-level pre-server spell, it has a casting time of 4. Hemust add +8 for the terrain, for a totalcasting time of 12. The casting time is onlyan initiative modifier, so a spell with anormal casting time of one round or lesscan always be cast in one round.

These additional modifiers make lifemore difficult for a wizard in a DARKSUN® campaign. To be fair, the DM shouldmake a point of applying these penalties toNPC wizards as well as the PC mages. Allcharacters should be required to useweapon-speed factors and creature-sizeinitiative modifiers if these spell modifiersare used, or wizards will be at a significantdisadvantage.

DRAGON 43

Casting spellsIn the DARK SUN novels and short sto-

ries, defiling magic is no different frompreserving magic. The same componentsand gestures are used to cast a spell, re-gardless of whether the wizard is a defileror preserver. The difference lies in howthe sorcerer gathers the magical energyneeded to power the spell. This means

44 FEBRUARY 1994

that a preserver can choose to defile inorder to gather more energy for his spells.Refer to �The choice,� below.

Scrolls, spell books, andmagical items

Since there is no difference between themotions of casting preserving magic ver-sus defiling magic, there is no differencein the way the spells are recorded orstudied. A defiler�s magic missile uses thesame formula as a preserver�s magic mis-sile. A PC preserver who rummagesthrough an NPC defiler�s spell book canfreely learn and cast any spell she normal-ly could.

Magical items do not need to gather spellenergy; they are fully powered by theircreation process. The item may be createdby preserving or defiling means, but it willnot normally tap into the life-forces of theplants in its vicinity when its powers areinvoked. Magical items with charges (mostrods, staves, and wands) can be rechargedby any wizard, regardless of whether theywere created by a defiler.

If the DM allows, a wizard may create amagical item that first must collect spellenergy to function. Such an item will havedouble the usual number of charges. How-ever, it can only be used by wizards, andthe item is subject to the gathering-timeand terrain initiative modifiers. An item ofthis type will defile or preserve as appro-priate for its creator.

The choiceEven the most selfless preserver occasion-

ally will be faced with a situation that maycall for a defiling spell. If he so desires, apreserver may ignore his training to graspthe power he needs quickly. Any time thecharacter wants to, the PC can declare thathe is casting a spell as a defiler:

There are several benefits to steppingover this line: the character may be able tocast a spell more than once, cast a spell forgreater effect, and cast a spell with thedecreased defiler casting times describedabove.

Additional spellsBy using defiling magic, a preserver may

cast a spell that he has already casted, orhe can cast one he still has memorizedwithout losing it from memory. A wizardhas access to a number of bonus defilerspell levels (not spells) equal to his currentpreserver level minus one. For example, a5th-level preserver has four bonus spelllevels. He may cast an extra 3rd-level spell,two extra 2nd-level spells, or any combina-tion he chooses. However, each separatespell-casting does count as its own defilingincident. (See �Consequences,� below.)

The bonus spell levels can be used onlyto cast spells that the wizard has memo-rized, or to cast spells that he had memo-rized and expended. The bonus spell levelsonly apply to one battery of memorizedspells; they cannot be accessed again untilthe wizard has had a chance to replenish

his normal spell selection.Kerith the Bold, a 5th-level elven pre-

server, uses his sole 3rd-level spell (afireball) against a group of gith. Later thesame day, Kerith�s party is attacked by arampager. Kerith chooses to defile in adesperate attempt to save the lives of hiscompanions. He can gain up to four bonusspell levels by defiling, and uses three ofthem to recast the fireball he alreadyexpended. If he wanted to, he also coulduse an extra 1st-level spell in the same dayby defiling.

These bonus spell levels approximate thedifference between a preserver and defil-er with the same experience-point total,Defilers tend to be about one level higherthan preservers with an equivalentamount of experience, and can thereforememorize a few more spells. A wizardcannot use the bonus spell levels to cast aspell he does not have memorized or ex-pended since he last memorized spells, soa 4th-level preserver can�t have access to alightning bolt.

Increased spell effectsA wizard can gather more spell energy

by defiling than he can with preservingtechniques. If a preserver chooses to de-file, he can cast any spell he currently hasmemorized as if he was one level higherthan he actually is. The higher castinglevel applies to all aspects of a spell�sperformance-range, duration, area ofeffect, or damage-normally affected bythe caster�s level. With this effect, a 5th-level preserver could cast a 6-die fireballwith the increased range of a 6th-levelcaster.

It is possible to combine this effect withthe bonus spell levels described above atthe cost of one bonus spell level. Kerith, aslong as he is defiling anyway, decides tocast his extra fireball for greater effectand use up all four of his bonus spelllevels with one 6-die fireball.

Decreased casting timeThe wizard automatically gets to make

use of the better defiler initiative modi-fiers since he gathers the same amount of-energy faster than he normally could.Refer to the gathering-time modifiersdescribed above.

ConsequencesAlthough defilers are not altruistic char-

acters, they are not necessarily evil. Anumber of defilers are of neutral align-ment and simply defile for survival�s sake.Defiling is not an evil act in and of itself; itdepends to what use the wizard is puttinghis spells. However, it is possible to changefrom being a preserver to being a defilerby recklessly using defiling magic.

Each use of defiling magic moves thepreserver closer and closer to a very fineline. There comes a point when the wizardcan never be a preserver again. How oftencan a wizard defile and remain a pre-server?

A preserver must make a Defiling Checkafter any defiling spell is cast by the mage.A Defiling Check is a special saving throwversus Death Magic to see if the wizardhas the willpower and moral backbone toturn away from the easy path. However,the character begins with an easy savingthrow that worsens with continued abuse.See the Defiling Check table below.

�Though the sorceress believed she hadbeen justified in saving herself then, thepresent issue was less clear. . . If sheresorted to defiler magic to save herselffrom eventual death, would she use it outof simple convenience the next time?�

Troy Denning, The Amber Enchantress

Defiling Check tableIncident Saving throwFirst 8Second 10Third 11Fourth 13Fifth 14Sixth + 16

The character may include his magical-attack adjustment for his Wisdom score, ifany, to the Defiling Check. In addition, theDM can assign a penalty or bonus depend-ing on the character�s use of defiling mag-ic. Did the character resort to defiling onlyas a last-ditch attempt to prevent someterrible evil from occurring? Then hemerits a +2 bonus to his Defiling Check.On the other hand, a character who de-filed casually while other options were stillopen might automatically fail.

Once a character fails a Defiling Check, hemust change class from preserver to defileron the spot. Like it or not, the player hasdemonstrated that his character is willing touse whatever means are necessary to ac-complish his goals. An alignment changemay become necessary also, since defilerscannot be of good alignment.

When the character converts, he be-comes a defiler of the same level, but atthe lowest possible point of that level, thuslosing experience points. The mage losesenough experience points to be at thelowest total possible for a defiler of thatlevel. For example, if Kerith, the 5th-levelpreserver with 22,000 xp, decides to be-come a defiler, his experience-point total isreduced to 14,000 xp.

If the character wishes, he can voluntar-ily fail his Defiling Check and willinglyembrace his dark fate. If a player refusesto deal with the consequences of his char-acter�s actions, the DM must be the finaljudge of when the character has steppedover the line for the final time. No matterwhat the player says his character believesin, actions speak louder than words.

One last thing: As the DM, you shouldnot let your players know for certainwhere their characters stand. If a player isable to say to himself, �Well, there�s a 55%chance I�ll get away with it this time,� thenyou�re missing the point. Keep a secretcount of the number of defiling incidents,and don�t let the players know the exactmodifiers you might apply to any DefilingChecks.

Nonplayer charactersNPC preservers have the same options

that PC preservers do. If hard-pressed,they may resort to defiling in order tosave their own lives or to defend some-thing they believe in. The DM must makethe call whether an NPC feels forced todefile. Some preservers with strong mor-als may prefer to die rather than to be-come what they hate; other charactersmay not be as strong.

Giving up defilingThere have been rare instances in which

a defiler changed his ways and became apreserver. The wizard must be of 5th levelor lower to change his ways successfully;higher-level characters have defiled toolong to change. Former preservers whodefiled and now want to find their wayback get only one chance to redeem them-selves by swearing off the use of defilingmagic.

To give up defiling, the character mustdo three things. First, he must cast allfuture spells as a preserver. This meansthat he suffers the preserver initiativemodifiers and must reduce all spell effectsby one level. He also must memorize spellsas though he were one level lower thanhis actual level, so a 5th-level defiler mustgive up access to his third-level spells. (Hedoes get to retain his hit points, THAC0,and saving throws.) The defiler must abideby these limits to power until he advancesto the next level, from which he functionsnormally as a preserver.

Secondly, the wizard does not advancein level until he accumulates enough expe-rience points to advance him a level if hehad been a preserver. In other words, our5th-level defiler in the previous examplecannot advance in level until he gainsenough experience points to become a 6th-level preserver.

Third, the character must demonstrateshe is sincere in her desire to abandon herevil ways. The DM should require thewizard to make some great personal sacri-fice or undertake a momentous quest toshow her commitment. A wizard may berequired to seek out a mentor and studybeneath her for a long time, or perhapsmust make a pilgrimage to replant eachand every area she razed as a defiler. TheDM should use her judgment to decidewhat is appropriate for that character.

ConclusionWith these optional rules, preservers

gain access to a lot of extra firepower theywould not normally have. As the DungeonMaster, you should look for opportunitiesto make the players aware of what theycould do if they were willing to step overthe line. Give the players tough situations,and see whether their characters canmake the hard decision or take the easyway out.

D R A G O N 4 5

Strange creatures to enliven any campaignby Michael John Wybo IIArtwork by Mark Nelson

The dwarf who confronted me wasstrange. He stared at me with eyes thathad no color in them but black. His entirebody was the same color, and he worenothing save a loincloth. This and all hisother possessions were likewise black. Hehad no hair on his head, but a thin beardwrapped in black wire hung from his facelike an extended chin.”

From the diary of the explorer, Pangrea

There are many nonhuman races in thefolklore and animist religions of Africa.There are men who are possessed byanimal spirits at conception, humanoids

with the bodies of men and the heads ofanimals, dwarves made of obsidian, menwho can change their skin color to matchtheir background, and many more. Thesemake up the wondrous and diverse cul-

ture of the Dark Continent.Many of these races began as demigods

and then were adopted as heroes anddivine servants for later, more anthropo-morphic pantheons. Regardless of theiroriginal or subsequent nature, these races,much like the Irish faerie folk, have sur-vived as creatures who live just beyondthe villagers� clearing; strange beings withcustoms and societies all their own.

D R A G O N 4 7

A n i m a l - s p i r i t sThese beings are similar to the henge-

yokai of Kara-Tur of the FORGOTTENREALMS® setting. The African continentalso plays host to these enigmatic shape-changers. The shamans call them loa-legba, those mastered by the spirits. Thesespirits are more commonly known ascomponents of the Voodoo religion of theCaribbean islands, but Voodoo was devel-oped by Africans, who escaped slaverythere, from beliefs they brought withthem from their homeland.

They tell of a god who made the animalsand whose identity differs according towhich witch doctor is telling the story. Thisgod gave the beasts intelligence and speech.

The god left the earth after a time, somesay because the animals had displeasedhim and some say because he was calledback to heaven to be with his brothergods. After he left the animals� spiritswere locked up inside their bodies, wherethey could neither speak nor think exceptin terms of hunting for game. These spiritswere still aware, but couldn�t affect thebodies they were trapped inside of. Al-though the reason for the nonsentientnature of animals has been explained bythe actions or will of the later gods ofAfrica, the belief in their spirits was en-gendered by the much older animist reli-gion that still pervades much of Africa.This religion proposes an animating life-force in all creatures and things. Thisforce of spirit sometimes manifests itselfby taking over shamans in order to grantthem visions. This force also occasionallyinhabits the bodies of unborn babies.

When the animals die, they either be-come animal spirits and are worshiped asgods, as mentioned above, seek out chil-dren in the bellies of human females,enter them, and become loa-legba.

Unlike their oriental cousins, loa-legbamay speak with animals or with humansin any of their forms. They may be anyclass or kit allowed to humans, but theymust earn 5% more experience pointsper level than humans to advance, asthey rely more on their racial abilitiesand less on their class abilities. Theymust learn the languages of animals in amanner similar to learning human lan-guages but always start with the lan-guage of the animal spirit who possessesthem. (Subtract one nonweapon profi-ciency if those rules are used.) Thispossession is not hostile and a loa-legbais completely merged with his host sothat there is no duality of consciousness.

Except as noted in this article, treat allloa-legba as if they were hengeyokai fromthe Oriental Adventures tome. If this tomeis not available, then treat them as a formof lycanthrope that cannot pass on thedisease, is not immune to magical weaponsor especially vulnerable to silver, and is incomplete control of his three forms. Thesethree forms are: a purely human form, ahumanoid animal form, and a purely ani-mal form.

48 FEBRUARY 1994

A n i m a l - m e nAnimal-men usually have the bodies of

men and the heads and claws of animals.Sometimes, however, an animal-man willhave all the characteristics of an animal,but in a humanoid shape. Unlike theanimal-spirits, animal-men have only oneform; they live apart from human com-munities in their own tribe; and they aremore distinct from one another than theanimal-spirits: Although they are associ-ated with the Egyptian mythos, these racesare based on earlier, more primitive reli-gions that were replaced by the morehuman gods as the Egyptians gained domi-nance over the tribes around them.

Unless otherwise noted, animal-men maybe any class with no level limits (as the DMpermits), but must earn 10% more experi-ence points than normal to advance, asthey rely on their racial abilities more thantheir class abilities. Certain kits describedin prior African articles (warrior kits inDRAGON® issue #195 and mage kits inissue #200) may be inappropriate toanimal-men, most notably those kits as-cribed to a particular culture. The DMmust use her discretion in this, and maysubstitute kits from the PHBR series toflesh out the choices available. Such kitsinclude:

Fighter: Barbarian, Beast-rider, Outlaw,Savage, Wilderness warrior.

Thief: Adventurer, Assassin (in citiesonly), Bandit, Bounty hunter, Scout.

Priest: Barbarian, Outlaw, Prophet,Savage.

Wizard: Anagakok, Militant wizard,Mystic, Savage, Witch.

Bard: True, Jongleur, Meistersinger,Herald and Loremaster (in cities only).

Peasant and Amazon kits of any class areonly appropriate to humans, animal-spirits, bat-people, and chameleon-men.

Note: To use their claws in combat,animal-men must pay a weapon proficien-cy slot for them. Claws do 1d3 damageeach and half the normal off-handedweapon penalties apply when only clawsare used to make two attacks per round.

Ape-menThese are intelligent, talking gorillas.

They have brown, orange, or black fur,brown eyes, and long arms. Ape-men areslow to anger and quick to forgive. All ape-men climb walls and trees with a basechance of 25%, or with +25% bonus if athief. They also move by swinging fromtree to tree at a 15 MV but on the groundonly move at 12. Ape-men never weararmor. They start adventuring at aroundage 15 and live to be as old as 110. Theystand about 72� tall and weigh an averageof 300 lbs. They start at +1 to their initialStrength, Dexterity and Constitution, anda -1 penalty to their Intelligence, Wis-dom, and Charisma scores.

Bird-menThere are two main types of bird-men,

the ibis-man and the hawk-man. Although

these are the most common forms of bird-men, others have been reported. Thedifferences are mostly cosmetic, however.Ibis-men have a long, curved beak thatdoes 1d6 damage. They cannot fly as theylack wings (their arms are feathered, butnot capable of lifting them), and haveability adjustments unlike other bird-men,as they are considered the wisest of theAfrican bird-men. Ibis-men have a +1bonus to their initial Wisdom and -1penalty to their initial Constitution scores.They are associated heavily with the Egyp-tian god Thoth. They may be confusedwith messengers of that god in NorthernAfrican and Egyptian settings, and as suchmay receive treatment befitting such astation.

Hawk-men have wings growing fromtheir backs and appear as humanoidhawks. They have two claws and a beakthat each do 1d4 damage. When diving inattack, they may do double damage withtheir claws at the expense of their beakattack. They may only do this once everythree rounds with no attacks the roundprior to the dive, it is used to regain alti-tude. Hawk-men are +1 to their initialStrength and -1 to their initial Intelli-gence scores.

Those bird-men who have wings willnever wear armor, but wingless bird-menmay wear any type of armor allowed byculture and campaign. Bird-men tend to befriendly, helpful, and generous, but theycan be elusive, mischievous, and some-times deceitful. They are �flighty.� Thosebird-men who can fly do so as easily asthey can walk, and they may carry up tohalf their maximum encumbrance inflight. They are maneuverability class Dand have an 18 flight speed. They alsomust earn 5% more experience than flight-less bird-men (total +15% above normal).All bird-men have a hollow bone structureand so take half damage from falls if asave versus petrification is successful.

All bird-men have a bonus of +1 bonuson attacks vs. saurial creatures, includinglizards, nagas, snakes, chameleons, andcrocodiles due to ancient racial enmity.Bird-men start adventuring at about age15 and live to be as old as 110. They areabout 72� tall and weigh 90 lbs.

Cat-menThere are two distinct races of cat-

people, the smaller cat-people known asthe Felaks and the lion-men.

Felaks: There are as many subspecies ofFelaks as there are of domestic cats. Thereare Siamese felaks, Calico felaks, Persianfelaks, etc. They are spontaneous, inde-pendent, and indifferent toward others. Infact, they seem rather self-interested.Felaks have infravision out to a 60� range,they surprise others as elves do, and sharethat race�s ability to detect secret andconcealed doors. They have a +1 on at-tack rolls vs. canines, rodents, were-wolves, and wererats due to ancientenmity with those races. They also have

the uncanny ability to land on their feetand so take half damage from falls if theymake a successful Dexterity check. Felaksseldom wear armor. They begin adventur-ing at around 16 years of age and live to amaximum lifespan of 110. They averagearound 60� tall and 140 pounds. Theyhave a -1 penalty to their initial Wisdomscore and a +1 bonus to their initial Dex-terity score. Felaks and all domestic catswere worshiped as holy by the ancientEgyptians and were treated with respectand awe by most northern tribes.

Lion-men: This race also is known asleonaks. They usually have a gruff, fiercedemeanor that hides a warm, compassion-ate side rarely shown to outsiders.Leonaks seldom do anything today whichcan be put off until tomorrow. They havea sleepy, languorous demeanor that con-ceals a quick mind and quick reflexes.Leonaks surprise in a manner identical toelves. They may attack in a blinding burstof speed that allows them to modify theirfirst round�s initiative roll in combat with a+1 bonus. Leonaks seldom wear armor ofany kind. They age and are of similarstature to felaks, but they gain an initialbonus of +1 to their initial Strengthscores and -1 to their initial Intelligence.They are heavily associated with the Egyp-tian goddess Sekhmet, who often takes theform of a lioness-woman.

Elephant-menElephant-men appear as humans with

gray, wrinkled skin, flat, malletlike handswith small fingers and opposed thumb,and an elephant�s trunk protruding fromtheir faces. Their trunks may wield a

Small-sized weapon at a penalty of -6 tohit, modified by Dexterity and combatstyle. If used to strike without a weapon,the penalty drops to -4 and does damageas a club. The trunk also can strangle aman-sized or smaller being by rolling acalled shot to hit. This does 1d4 stranglingdamage automatically in each round un-less the victim escapes with a successfulStrength check. The elephant-men�s leath-ery skin provides AC 6 protection, butthey may never wear any armor. Theirflattened hands can be used as clubs. Thisstructure also means that they have a lotof trouble holding small objects. Theycannot be thieves and suffer a -2 to allattack rolls with any weapons. They maynever use bows. Elephant-men have largeears that allow them to hear noises (as athief) at a base chance of 25%. Because ofa racial fear of rodents, they have a -4attack penalty against these creatures.They receive a +2 bonus to their initialStrength, a +1 bonus to Intelligence, a -1penalty to Dexterity, and a -2 to theirinitial Charisma. They start adventuring atabout 100 years old and may live to as oldas 750 years. They stand about 72� andweigh about 350 lbs. on the average. Theymay swim at a movement rate of 6.

Mantis-menThe mantis-men are similar to their

northern cousins the thri-kreen, but arecalled Kaggen in Africa. Kaggen are associ-ated with the god Cagn, said to be thecreator of the Kaggen, so much that thetwo terms are interchangeable among theBushmen of the Kalahari in South Africaand nearby lands. The worship of the

Bushmen and their neighbors is as oftendirected toward �the Kaggen� in general asit is to their god Cagn in particular, andthus the Bushmen have a healthy respectand superstitious dread of this race.

Kaggen have a tough exoskeleton thatprovides them with a natural AC 5, butthey never wear armor, rings, girdles, orcloaks. They are only at a -2 penalty onattack rolls due to blindness or darknessbecause of their motion-detecting anten-nae. Kaggen do not sleep and can operatewell at night or in the day. They have abite and four claws that can be used eachround. Each claw does 1d4 damage andthe bite does 1d4 + 1 damage. If using aweapon, a mantis-man may only bite inaddition to its weapon attacks. Kaggencannot speak human languages and no onebut a Kaggen or a scorpion-man may learnto speak the Kaggen language. Kaggen arehunters who are constantly on the lookoutfor food. As humanoids and most animalsfall into this category for Kaggen, theKaggen are generally feared and avoidedby other races. A Kaggen has a +1 bonusto his initial Dexterity and -2 penalty tohis initial Charisma. They stand about 84�high and weigh about 180 pounds on theaverage. They take damage from weaponsas if they were large-sized creatures andstart adventuring at age 12. They may liveas long as 70 years of age.

There are more stories about the Kag-gen in African folk-tales than any otherrace. Kaggen are to the Africans whatogres are to other lands: boogie-men whocome in the night and steal children togobble up.

Animal-spirit types

B a tChameleonCheetahElephantH a w kLeopardL i o nJ a c k a lMongooseM o n k e y

AlignmentAny nongood

AnyAny chaotic

AnyAny lawfulAny lawfulAny lawful

Any nongoodAny good

Any chaotic

Damage AC1-2 8*1* 71-2 5

2-16/2-12* 61-2* 61-3 61-4 5/6*1-2 7

1-2* 61 8

MV19

14,45*151

151212159

F l y24 (B)

33 (B)

Modifiers+1 CON, - 1 STR+1 CHA, -1 INT+1 DEX, -1 INT+1 INT, -1 DEX+1 STR, - 1 CON+1 DEX, -1 WIS+1 STR, -1 INT+1 CON, -1 INT+1_DEX, - 1 WIS+ 2 D E X , - 2 W I S

Notes:Bat: Under optimal flying conditions, a bat�s armor class improves from AC 8 to AC 4.Chameleon: These creatures surprise others with -4 penalty to opponent�s roll and are 90% concealed as per a cloak of elvenkind.

A chameleon may change skin color at will. (One cannot do this in its human form.) This creature is sacred to worshipers of the Yoru-ba god, Olorun of West Africa. (See �An African Genesis� in DRAGON® issue #191 for more details on Olorun.)

Cheetah: These great cats are renowned for their bursts of speed. They can sprint, at a movement rate of 45, for three rounds. Theymust rest for three full rounds before sprinting again.

Elephant: These creatures can attack five times in one round. Each tusk can stab for 2-16 points of damage; its trunk can constrictfor 2-12 points; and each front foot can trample for 2-12 points. No single target can be the target of more than two of these attacks.Large-sized creatures cannot be constricted by the trunk attack.

Hawk: These creatures possess a diving charge that has a +2 attack bonus, and enables them to do double damage. This attack formmay be used once every three rounds, but no attacks can be made the round previous to the dive as the bird is gaining the necessaryaltitude. These creatures are identified with the Egyptian gods Horus and Anhur.

Mongoose: These creatures have +4 attack bonus vs. snakes. On any successful bite, they clamp on, doing 1-2 + 1 damage per rounduntil a Strength roll is made by the snake to escape. Mongooses are considered holy and are worshiped in a manner identical to thatgiven to cats in Egypt and North Africa.

Lion: These creatures have AC 5 for their forequarters and AC 6 for their hindquarters.

DRAGON 49

Scorpion-menThe scorpion-men are centaurs with the

bodies of scorpions instead of horses. Thisrace is called the Scoraks by most tribes,as their name in their own language isunpronounceable by humans. Scoraks areloners by nature and are suspicious andparanoid of others� intentions towardthem. They surprise in a manner similarto elves, but their main special ability istheir poison stinger. The stinger may beused in place of any normal melee attack,does 1d4 damage and necessitates a savingthrow versus poison to avoid unconscious-ness that lasts 1d4 hours. Scorpion-menmay never wear armor, but their chitinousexoskeleton provides a natural AC 8. Theystart adventuring at about age 15 and maylive to be as old as 110. They stand about84� tall and weigh about 200 pounds, andare considered large-sized for the pur-poses of damage. They gain a +1 bonus totheir initial Constitution and a -1 penaltyto initial Charisma. They may move at arate of 18.

Snake-menThe snake-men of Africa are of two

distinct races. The first is the African nagathat has a snake-like head, scaly body, andhuge serpentine tail where his legs shouldbe. The second is the boa (no relation tothe boa constrictor found in South Ameri-ca) which has a muscled, flexible torso

with arms, a long, thick, snake-like tail,slitted eyes, and a forked tongue.

African naga: The African naga is greenin complexion and has slitted yellow eyes.African naga are arrogant in the extreme,but not necessarily evil. They may usetheir tail to attack in place of any normalmelee attack. This does 1d4 damage on asuccessful hit and constricts the victim.Constriction has a 20% chance of pinningthe victim�s weapon arm and does 1d4damage per round automatically until thevictim escapes by making a Strength roll.The victim cannot do anything else on theround he attempts to escape.

Nagas may never wear armor but have anatural AC 7. Nagas are considered Largecreatures for damage determination asthey stand about 84� tall on the averageand weigh about 300 pounds. Naga have abonus to their saving throws versus poi-son as a dwarf and they receive a +1bonus on attack rolls versus avian crea-tures due to racial enmity. Nagas startadventuring at about 20 years of age andmay live to be as old as 200. They have a+1 bonus to their initial Strength andConstitution scores, but a -2 penalty totheir initial Charisma. There are rarenagas with human faces. These nagas haveno penalty to initially generated Charisma,but must pay an additional 10% to earnedexperience (+20% total).

Boa: The boa have the same tail attack,

saving bonus versus poison, and bonus onattack rolls against avians as do nagas, butthey gain no armor class bonus and maywear any armor allowed by culture andcampaign. They are less arrogant andmore paranoid than their cousins above.They are Medium-sized for damage deter-mination and average about 72� and 200pounds in height and weight respectively.They age in the same manner as do nagas.They gain a bonus of +1 to their Intelli-gence and Dexterity scores and a -1penalty to their Charisma and Wisdomscores. Boa only have to pay a 5% penaltyto earned experience, however.

ZebrataurA zebrataur is a centaur that has a ze-

bra�s body rather than a horse�s. The up-per torso is a deep black human�s and thelower half alternates black and whitestripes. Zebrataurs are fierce and proud,but friendly to others. They gain a +1bonus to Strength and Constitution and a-1 penalty to Intelligence and Wisdomscores. They calculate their weight allow-ances and chances to open doors as if theyhad a Strength one class higher than theypossess. They may make two hoof attacksfor ld6 each in place of all normal meleeattacks allowed. They are Large-sized forpurposes of damage determination. Theygain the saving throw bonuses allowedversus poison and spells that are allowed

50 FEBRUARY 1994

to dwarves and gain hit-point bonuses forhigh Constitution scores as if they werefighters due to their large size. A zebra-taur stands about 84� tall and weighsabout 400 pounds. They start adventuringat around the age of 15 and may live to beas old as 90. They have a movement rateof 24.

Demihuman races

Bat-menThese bat-people resemble normal hu-

mans, except for huge black wings ofleathery texture that grow from theirbacks. These allow them to fly as easily asthey walk, carry half their usual encum-brance in flight and move at an air speedof 18 with maneuverability class B. Be-cause they may rely upon their flightabilities more than class abilities in manycircumstances, they must gain an extra 5%in experience to advance a level. The bat-men live in their own tribes in high moun-tain caves or in the tropical jungle. Theyare otherwise like normal humans. Theyusually subsist on fruits, vegetables, andsome insects. They may wear any armorpermitted by class and campaign, butseldom do so, because it must be custom-made and will cost double the normalamount.

Magical armor, cloaks, robes, etc., willnever fit a bat-person unless the item wasspecifically made for them, unless thedweomer of the item allows it to fit anywearer.

Chameleon-menChameleon-men appear as normal hu-

mans, except that they can change theirskin color at will. They may blend intotheir background for 90% concealmentand a -6 penalty to enemy surprise rolls.They may change their skin color to matchthat of any other race, and they may evensynthesize the appearance of clothes andtattoos by coloring different parts of theirskin. In order to do this, however, theymust never wear armor. Their thick skinprovides them with a base AC 9, however.Since they often use their chameleonabilities more than their class abilities,they must earn an extra 5% of experiencepoints to gain a level.

African dwarfAfrican dwarves look more like golems

made of obsidian than traditional dwarves.They have the same stature and lifespanas their flesh and blood cousins, but that iswhere the similarity ends. Africandwarves have shiny black skin. They haveno head or body hair, but sometimes havewiry, black beards that are greased so thatthey shine like the rest of their body. Theytwine these beards up in black wire sothat they stick out like extended chins.Even their eyes have no whites in them,but are merely the same shiny black thatcovers the rest of them.

These unusual eyes enable them to seeperfectly in both the brightest day and thedarkest night. Blindness, light or darknessspells cast upon their eyes will not affectthem.

These dwarves are associated with theEgyptian god Ptah, �the seeker of hiddenways,� in Northern Africa, both for theirresemblance to him and their hiddenhomes and underground tunnels. Theyare found under the jungles of the centralCongo and the Sahara Desert but smallertribes are known to exist all over (or rath-er under) Africa. They are sometimescalled �Ptah�s seekers.�

African dwarves never wear armor andhave none of the racial abilities of otherdwarves, but their extremely hard skingives them a natural AC 6. They gain a +1to their Constitution score and a -1 totheir Intelligence score. Because they tendto rely on their special racial abilities, theymust earn 15% more experience thannormal. African dwarves may be of anyclass, even mage (maximum level formages is 12). African dwarves are verysecretive and seldom speak even amongstthemselves.

ConclusionThese races can enliven and flesh out

any African campaign setting with mythi-cally appropriate races. For more races (and monsters) suitable to an Africancampaign, see �The Dark Continent� byDavid Howery in DRAGON issue #189.These races also can be used by imagina-tive DMs in any campaign setting that theDM deems them appropriate for.

BibliographyFunk and WagnaIl�s New Encyclopedia.

New York: Funk and Wagnall�s Inc., 1979.New Illustrated Columbia Encyclopedia.

New York: Columbia University Press,1979.

Barber, Ricard. A Companion to WorldMythology. New York: Delacorte Press,1979.

Casiel. Encyclopedia of ForbiddenKnowledge. London: Hamlyn, 1990.

Davidson, Basil. Great Ages of Man; AHistory of the World�s Cultures; AfricanKingdoms. New York: Time Life Books,1967.

Fauconnet, Max. �Mythology of BlackAfrica.� New Larousse Encyclopedia ofMythology. England: Hamlyn Publishing,1969.

Kesby, John. �East African Mythology.�Mythology; An Illustrated Encyclopedia.New York Rizzoli, 1980.

King, Francis. �Voodoo.� Mythology; AnIllustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Rizzo-li, 1980.

Knappert, Jan. �Central and SouthernAfrican Mythology.� Mythology, An Illus-trated Encyclopedia. New York: Rizzoli,1980.

LittleJohn, James. �West African Mythol-ogy.� Mythology; An Iliustrated Encyclope-dia. New York Rizzoli, 1980.

Senior, Michael. Who�s Who in Mythol-ogy. New York: Macmillan, 1985.

Werner, Alice. �African Mythology.� TheMythology of All Races, Vol. VII. Boston:Archaeological Institute of America, 1925.�Animals,� World Book Encyclopedia. To-ronto, World Book, Inc., 1988.

DRAGON 51

Convention Calendar Policies

This column is a service to our readersworldwide. Anyone may place a free listingfor a game convention here, but the follow-ing guidelines must be observed.

In order to ensure that all conventionlistings contain accurate and timely infor-mation, all material should be either typeddouble-spaced or printed legibly on stand-ard manuscript paper. The contents ofeach listing must be short and succinct.

The information given in the listing mustinclude the following, in this 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 re-

quirements; and,6. Address(es) where additional informa-

tion and confirmation can be obtained.Convention flyers, newsletters, and other

mass-mailed announcements will not beconsidered for use in this column; weprefer to see a cover letter with the an-nouncement as well. No call-in listings areaccepted. Unless stated otherwise, alldollar values given for U.S. and Canadianconventions are in U.S. currency.

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 worldwide see each issue.Accurate information is your responsibility.

Copy deadlines are the last Monday ofeach month, two months prior to the on-sale date of an issue. Thus, the copy dead-line for the December issue is the lastMonday of October. Announcements forNorth American and Pacific conventionsmust be mailed to: Convention Calendar,DRAGON® Magazine, P.O. Box 111, LakeGeneva WI 53147, U.S.A. Announcementsfor Europe must be posted an additionalmonth before the deadline to: ConventionCalendar, DRAGON® Magazine, TSRLimited, 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,Cambridge CB1 3LB, United Kingdom.

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. Most questions orchanges should be directed to the maga-zine editors at TSR, Inc., (414) 248-3625(U.S.A.). Questions or changes concerningEuropean conventions should be directedto TSR Limited, (0223) 212517 (U.K.).

indicates an Australian convention.indicates a Canadian convention.indicates a European convention.

52 FEBRUARY 1994

Important: DRAGON® Magazine nolonger publishes phone numbers for conven-tions. Publishing incorrect numbers is al-ways possible and is a nuisance to both thecaller and those receiving the misdirectedcall. Be certain that any address given iscomplete and correct.

To ensure that your convention listingmakes it into our files, enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard with your firstconvention notice; we will return the card toshow that your notice was received. Youmight also send a second notice one weekafter mailing the first. Mail your listing asearly as possible, and always keep us in-formed of any changes. Please avoid sendingconvention notices by fax, as this methodhas not proved to be reliable.

* indicates a product produced by a company other than TSR.Inc. Most product names are trademarks owned by thecompanies publishing those products. The use of the name ofany product without mention of its trademark status should notbe construed as a challenge to such status.

B. S. CON �94, Feb. 12-13 NYThis convention will be held at Ketchum Hall

on the Buffalo State College campus in Buffalo,N.Y. Events include role-playing, board, andminiatures games. Other activities includedealers. Registration: $3/day preregistered; $5/day at the door. There are session fees also.Write to: B. S. CON, Nuemann Hall #236,S.U.C.B., 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo NY 14313.

DUNDRACON XVIII, Feb. 18-21 CAThis convention will be held at the Marriott

hotel in San Ramon, Calif. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include a painting contest, computergames, a flea market, and dealers. Registrationvaries. Write to: DUNDRACON XVIII, 385 PalmAve., Oakland CA 94610.

GENGHIS CON XV, Feb 18-20 COThis convention will be held at the Marriott

Southeast in Denver, Colo. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include RPGA™ Network events, auc-tions, and dealers. Registration: $15. Write to:Denver Gamers’ Assoc., P.O. Box 440058, AuroraCO 80044.

JAXCON �94, Feb. 18-20 FLThis convention will be held at the Holiday

Inn at Baymeadows in Jacksonville, Fla. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include door prizes, apainted-miniatures contest, a flea market, anddealers. Registration: $22/weekend. Single-dayrates vary. Write to: JAXCON, P.O. Box 4423,Dep’t. M, Jacksonville FL 32201.

WINTER WAR XXI, Feb. 18-20 ILThis convention will be held at the Chancellor

hotel in Champaign, Ill. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include auctions, dealers, and opengaming. Registration: $6/weekend or S3/day.Send an SASE to: Donald McKinney 986 Po-mona Dr., Champaign IL 61821.

ARGACON �94, Feb. 19 MIThis convention will be held in the Adrian

Tobias room on the Adrian College campus inAdrian, Mich. Events include role-playing,board, and miniatures games. Other activitiesinclude dealers, a Euchre tournament, andcontests. Dealers are welcome. Registration: $5at the door. Half the proceeds will go to theEpilepsy Foundation of America. Write to:ARGA, Adrian College, Adrian MI 49221.

BASHCON �94, Feb. 25-27 OHThis convention will be held at the University

of Toledo’s Student Union in Toledo, Ohio.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include auctions,an art show, and dealers. Registration: $3/weekend. Single-day rates vary. Dealers, gamemasters, and artists are welcome. Write to: UT-BASH, Student Activities Office, 2801 BancroftSt., Toledo OH 43606.

EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN �94, Feb. 25-27 ILThis convention will be held in the Renais-

sance and Roman rooms of Southern IllinoisUniversity’s Student Center in Carbondale, Ill.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include miniaturesand art contests, an auction, and guest speakers.Registration: $10 preregistered; $12 at the door.Send an SASE to: Strategic Games Society, Officeof Student Development, 3rd Floor StudentCenter, S.I.U., Carbondale IL 62901-4425.

HURRICON �94, Feb. 25-27 FLThis convention will be held at the Holiday

Inn Resort in Ft. Walton, Fla. Guests includePiers Anthony, Timothy Zahn, and MichaelStackpole. Events include role-playing, board,and miniatures games. Other activities includereadings, demos, a costume contest, and acharity auction. Registration: $26 before Jan 31;$30 thereafter. Write to: HURRICON, P.O. Box4728, Ft. Walton FL 32549.

RADCON 1B, Feb. 25-27 WAThis convention will be held at the Best West-

ern Tower Inn in Richland, Wash. Guests includeV. E. Mitchell, “Kev” Brockschmidt, Don Segna,and Glen Allison. Events include role-playing,board and miniatures games. Other activitiesinclude anime and SF movies, an art show,dealers, and gaming. Registration: $15. Write to:RADCON 1B, 2527 W. Kennewick Ave., #162,Kennewick WA 99336.

TOTAL CONFUSION VIII, Feb. 25-27 MA

ern Royal Plaza in Marlborough, Mass. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniatures

This convention will be held at the Best West-

games. Other activities include a miniaturescontest. Registration: $23/weekend or $9/daypreregistered; $10/day at the door. Write to:TOTAL CONFUSION, P.O. Box 1463 WorcesterMA 01607.

PAINTING CONTEST/GAME DAY, Feb. 26 INThis convention will be held at Metalcraft

Miniatures and More in Elwood, Ind. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include a painting demo,a raffle, and war games. Registration: Free.Send a long SASE to: Leslie A. King, MetalcraftMiniatures, P.O. Box 6, 926 N. 9th St., Elwood IN46036.

PLATTECON ETA, March 4-6 WIThis convention will be held at the University

of Wisconsin-Platteville Student Center. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include raffles, contests,and demos. Registration: $6/weekend or $5/daypreregistered; $9/weekend or $6/day at thedoor. $1 Spectator passes are available at thedoor. Write to: Platteville Gaming Assoc., Stu-dent Center, 1 University Plaza, Platteville WI53818.

STELLARCON XVIII, March 4-6 NCThis convention will be held at the Radisson

Hotel in High Point, N.C. Guest of honor is MarkLenard. Events include role-playing, board, andminiatures games. Other activities include adealers' room, panels, demos, movies, and an artdisplay. Registration: $25 at the door; somegroup rates are available. Write to: STELLAR-CON, P.O. Box 396, Thomasville NC 27361-0396.

CONCENTRIC '94, March 11-13 ILThis convention will be held at the Ramada

Inn O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill. Guest of honor isRobin Wood. Events include role-playing, board,and miniatures games. Other activities includean art show and auction, a game auction, and adealers’ room with demos. Registration: $15 atthe door. Write to: CONCENTRIC, 114 Euclid,P.O. Box 287, Park Ridge IL 60068.

NORTHEAST WARS II, March 11-13 VTThis convention will be held at the Radisson

Hotel in Burlington, VT. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Registra-tion: $18 preregistered; $25 at the door. Writeto: N.E. WARS II, 152 Church St., Burlington VT05401.

OWLCON XV, March 11-13 TXThis convention will be held on the campus of

Rice University in Houston, Tex. Events includerole-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include anime and open gaming. Registra-tion: $12/weekend before March 1; $15/weekendat the door; single-day rates vary. Make checkspayable to WARP. Write to: WARP, OWLCON XV,P.O. Box 1892, Houston TX 77251-1892.

POINT CON I, March 12-13 WIThis convention will be held at the University

Center on the University of Wisconsin-StevensPoint campus in Stevens Point, Wis. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Other activities include a games swapand seminars. Send an SASE to: GASP, Box 41,University Activities Office, University CenterUWSP, Stevens Point WI 54481.

CHAOTICON '94, March 18-20

University in Potsdam, N.Y. Events include role-

NY

playing, board, and miniatures games. Registra-tion: $5/day or $10/weekend. Write to: William

This convention will be held at Clarkson

Sanders, Clarkson Univ., Box 6987, Potsdam NY13699; or E-mail to: gauntlet@craft.comp-.clarkson.edu.

RUCON IV, March 19-20 PAThis convention will be held at the Parsons

Union Bldg., on the campus of Lock HavenUniversity in Lock Haven, Pa. Events includerole-playing, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include magical-item and mon-ster design contests and battle chess. Registra-tion: $15/weekend; single-day rates vary. Sendan SASE: RUCON IV, c/o Role-playing Under-ground, Parsons Union Bldg., Lock Haven Univ.,Lock Haven PA 17745.

DAY OF CON-FLICT, March 19 WIThis convention will be held at the Bucyrus

Erie Club in South Milwaukee. Events includerole-playing, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include a dealers’ area and asilent auction. Registration: $3 at the door. Writeto: DAY OF CON-FLICT, 1250 N. 68th St. #206,Wauwatosa WI 53213-2896.

MAGNUM OPUS CON IX, March 24-27 SCThis convention will be held at the Hyatt

Regency in Greenville, S.C. Guests includeTimothy Zahn, Bruce Campbell, and RaymondMoody, Jr. Events include role-playing, board,and miniatures games. Other activities includepanels, workshops, anime, a costume contest,and open gaming. Send an SASE with $.52postage to: MOC-9, P.O. Box 6585, Athens GA30604. Please include your age.

SIMCON XVI, March 24-27 NYThis convention will be held at the University

of Rochester’s River campus in Rochester, N.Y.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include a dealers’room. Registration: $8 for students; $10 for thepublic. Write to: SIMCON XVI, c/o URSGA, CPUBox 27726, River Station, Rochester NY 14627.

ATOMICON '94, March 25-27 IDThis convention will be held at the Idaho Falls

Recreation Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Registration: $12 before March 12; $17at the door. Single-day rates will be available.Write to: Randy Pacetti, 2635 Laguna Dr., IdahoFalls ID 83404.

COASTCON XVII, March 25-27 MSThis convention will be held at the Miss. Gulf

Coast Coliseum/Convention Center in Biloxi,Miss. Guests include Spider & Jeanne Robinson,George Alec Effinger, and Larry Elmore. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include movies, videos,an art show and auction, a costume contest, anda charity auction. Registration: $25. Write to:COASTCON, P.O. Box 1423, Biloxi MS 39533.

CONNCON '94, March 25-27 CTThis convention will be held at the Danbury

Hilton & Towers in Danbury, Conn. Guestsinclude Jean Rabe and Sam Lewis. Events in-clude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include RPGA™ Networkevents. Write to: CONNCON, P.O. Box 444,Sherman CT 06812.

MID-SOUTH CON 13, March 25-27 TNThis SF convention will be held at the Best

Western Airport hotel in Memphis, Tenn. Guestsinclude Barbara Hambly, Larry Elmore, andRobin Curtis. Registration: $25 before March 1;$30 thereafter. Write to: MID-SOUTH CON, P.O.Box 22749, Memphis TN 38122.

LITTLE WARS* '94, March 31/April 2 ILThis convention will be held at the Ramada

Inn O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Registra-tion: $12/weekend or $8/day plus event fees.Write to: Jeffery Hammerlund, 107 W. ChicagoSt., Algonquin IL 60102.

CLARE-VOYANCE '94, April 8-10 CAThis convention will be held on the campuses

of Claremont Colleges in Claremont, Calif.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include an artshow. GMs are welcome. Registration: $5, plus a$2 fee per game. Write to: Games Central,Storyhouse Claremont McKenna College, Clare-mont CA 91711.

ONEONTACON '94, April 8-10 NYThis convention will be held at the Hunt

Union on the SUNY campus in Oneonta, N.Y.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include dealers,videos, door prizes, and a special speaker.Registration: $9 preregistered; $12 at the door.Discounts for students, GMs, and clubs areavailable. Send an SASE to: ONEONTACON '94,c/o Student Assoc., SUNY-Oneonta, Oneonta NY13820; or E-mail to: daviswr144@snyoneva.o-neonta.edu.cc.

GRYPHCON '94, April 8-10 ❉

This convention will be held at the Universityof Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. Events includerole-playing, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include dealers, an auction, andmovies. Registration: $14/weekend or $8/daypreregistered; $16 and $10 at the door. Write to:GRYPHCON, c/o University Centre Administra-tion, Room #266, University Centre, Univ. ofGuelph, Guelph, Ontario, CANADA N1G 2W1.

CON-TROLL '94, April 15-17 TXThis SF&F convention will be held at the

Clarion Inn in Houston, Tex. Guests includeMargaret Weis, Alan Gutierrez, and RobertNeagle. Events include role-playing, board, andminiatures games. Other activities includedealers, panels, demos, gaming, and filking.Registration: $30 before March 15. Write to:CON-TROLL Conventions, P.O. Box 740969-1025,Houston TX 77274.

TECHNICON 11, April 15-17 VAThis SF&F convention will be held at the

Brown Center for Continuing Education inBlacksburg, Va. Guests include Ellen Guon, HollyLisle, and Tom Monaghan. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Otheractivities include an art show and auction,panels, filking, videos, anime, computer games,and dealers. Registration: $22. Student discountsare available. Write to: TECHNICON 11, c/oVTSFFC, P.O. Box 256, Blacksburg VA 24063-0256.

DRAGON 53

AMERICON �94, April 16-17 NJ NAME THAT CON 7, April 22-24 MOThis convention will be held at the Clayton This SF&F convention will be held at the

American Legion Hall on the Clayton/Franklinville border in New Jersey. Eventsinclude role-playing, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities include an art show, anauction, and open gaming. Registration: $11/daypreregistered; 12/day at the door. Game feesaverage $2. Dealers and GMs are welcome.Write to: AMERICON, c/o Carl Thunder, P.O. Box125, Mullica Hill NJ 08012.

Airport Hilton in St. Louis, Mo. Guests includeAlan Steele, Aviva, and Mickey Zucker Reichert.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include panels,videos, an art show, and dealer&Registration:$18 before March 31; $21 thereafter. Single-dayrates will be available at the door. Write to:NAME THAT CON, P.O. Box 575, St. Charles MO63302.

HAVOC X, April 16-17 MAThis convention is also the Northeast BATTLE-

TECH* Regional Tournament. It will be held atthe Sheraton Tara hotel in Framingham Mass.Events include role-playing, board, and minia-tures games. Other activities include individualand team BATTLETECH* competitions. Write to:Brian Reddington-Wilde, 46 Highland St., Read-ing MA 01867.

AMIGOCON 9, April 22-24 TXThis convention will be held at the Quality

Inn-Airport in El Paso, Tex. Guests include RogerZelazny and Dell Harris. Events include role-playing, board, and miniatures games. Registra-tion: $15 before April 15; $18 at the door. Writeto: AMIGOCON, P.O. Box 3177, El Paso TX79923.

POINTCON XVII, April 22-24 PAThis historical, SF, and gaming convention will

be held at the U. S. Military Academy in WestPoint, N.Y. Events include role-playing, board,and miniatures games. Other activities includeRPGA� Network events, dealers, computergames, and an auction. Registration: $10 prere-gistered; $12 at the door. Write to: USMA War-games Committee, ATTN: POINTCON, P.O. Box3429, West Point NY 10997.

MAGIC CARPET CON II, April 29-May 1 GAThis convention will be held at the Holiday

Inn in Dalton, Ga. Guests include C. J. Cherryhand P. M. Griffin. Events include role-playing,board, and miniatures games. Send SASE to:MAGIC CARPET CON, P.O. Box 678, Rocky FaceGA 30740.

KETTERING GAME CON XApril 30-May 1 OH

This convention will be held at the LathremSenior Center in Kettering, Ohio. Events includerole-playing, board, and miniatures games.Other activities include RPGA� Network events,computer games, and a game auction. Registra-tion: $2/day. Write to: Bob Von Gruenigen, 804Willowdale Ave., Kettering OH 45429.

GEN CON® Game Fair 1994Join over 20,000 gamers in Mil-

waukee Wis., Aug. 18-21, 1994.This is the world’s largest multi-media game fair featuring four daysof games and events. The game fairincludes computer, military, role-playing, strategy, miniatures, virtualreality, video, arcade, and boardgames—over 1,000 events in all.

The GEN CON® Game Fair alsofeatures a million-dollar art show,dozens of celebrities, a costumecontest, Star Trek guests John DeLancie and Majel Barrett, comic-book guests, anime, a 200-boothexhibit hall, and $10,000 in prizegiveaways.

For information send an SASE to:GEN CON® Game Fair, P.O. Box 756,Lake Geneva WI 53147 U.S.A.

GEN CON is a registered trademark owned by TSR,Inc. ©1993 TSR, Inc. All rights Reserved.

56 FEBRUARY 1994

DRAGON 57

Stubborn computerprogrammers?

�Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beamout of thine own eye; and then shalt thousee clearly to cast out the mote out of thybrother�s eye.�

Matthew 7:5

As computers have gotten more com-plex, it is a truism that computer gameshave become much more involved to pro-duce. Ten years ago, a single programmer,working alone, could produce a game thatwas competitive on a national scale. Today,a team consisting of multiple program- ©1993 by Sandy Petersenmers, artists, and even game designers isnecessary. Even with such a large team(well, perhaps partially because of theteam�s size), games can take a year ormore to produce.

In general, this is a good thing. Computergame art now is done by professionalartists and our music composed by profes-sional musicians. A good playtesting teamcan catch most of a game�s bugs beforerelease (if the company�s management letsthem), so that you can have a little moreassurance that the game will run withoutcrashing. Some companies are, of course,better about this than others.

Now, an artist is an artist whether heworks with computers or crayons, and thecomposers of game music are fine musi-cians. Even some of the game designersare relatively competent nowadays.

Surprisingly, the weakest link on thecreative team usually is the programmersMany programmers, once they�ve learneda certain way of doing things, becomequite rigid in their thinking and refuse tolearn a new way of programming. Forinstance, I know a fellow who only pro-grams in assembly language. His cowor-kers and supervisor begged him to learnthe �C� language so that his code could bedebugged more easily. In the end, he actu-ally lost his job rather than learn C. Whywas he so stubborn? It�s hard to say. An-other programmer of my acquaintancewas having serious problems with thegame he was working on. Some otherprogrammers advised him to use a certainmode (32-bit protected, for the specialistsin the audience) that would solve his prob-lems and create no new difficulties, but hewas very resistant to the change and hadto be browbeaten before he�d change. Inthe argument, he could present nothing inhis defense, he just �didn�t like� the new,simpler, mode.

Master of Orion (MicroProse) I can hear you wondering why youshould care about this. Well, it affectsevery game you buy. When you buy a

Computer games� ratings

X Not recommended* Poor* * Fair* * * Good* * * * Excellent* * * * * Superb

game that won�t run until you�ve per-formed some arcane manipulation of yourmachine�s memory, you�ve been stungbecause a programmer did not bother tolearn how to access a variety of memory.When a game begins loading on your harddrive, and when almost done, suddenlyends, saying you don�t have enough roomto load the game, you�ve been stung be-

DRAGON 61

cause the programmer didn�t bother to havethe game check your hard drive for sizebefore trying to load the game. When agame crashes because you accidentallyselected the wrong sound card on yourstarting options, you�re stung. When youhave to reboot your computer from a rawDOS disk before a game will play, you�restung. When a programmer is lazy orstubborn, he harms every single personwho buys his game, no matter how excel-lent the game is in other ways.

On the other hand, we�d have no com-puter or video games at all if it weren�t forthese guys. Sigh.

Reviews

MASTER OF ORION ***IBM compatibles MicroProseDesigner: Stephen BarciaProducer: Jeff JohannigmanSoftware engineers: Stephen Barcia, Ken-

neth Burd, Marcia BarciaArtists: Jeff Dee, Marcia Barcia, Frank

Vivirito

Master of Orion is a science-fiction gameof conquest, trade, and espionage. To playit, you�ll need an IBM compatible with atleast a 386-16mHz chip and two megabytesof RAM with at least 700 EMS free. Thegame takes up 14 megabytes of your harddrive, which seems like a lot, consideringthe simplicity of the game. The game is abit unforgiving on set-up. If you have toolittle free memory (575k of your base RAMis needed), use XMS instead of EMS, orcommit any of a number of other minorsins, Orion won�t run, nor will it give youany hints on how to fix your problem. Thescreen just goes black and tells you werebad. You must figure out the solution onyour own. Fortunately, it�s not too difficultto get set-up properly if you know some-thing about how your computer works.This is a prime example of what I waspreaching about in the essay above. SinceOrion is 386-only, there�s no reason itcouldn�t have run in protected mode.

The game says a mouse is highly recom-mended, but I felt it had a pretty goodkeyboard interface. I used the keyboardfor many actions, and only used my mouseon the main map.

This strategy game is in the tradition ofmany similar games: Civilization, Empire,and Populous all came to mind. You startwith a single planet and primitive technol-ogy. Your goal is to become the ruler of thewhole star cluster. As you progress, youconquer more and more worlds. Periodi-cally, the species in the cluster meet toelect a ruler. When somebody (with luck,you) finally swings a two-thirds majority,he wins.

The game�s art is excellent. The alienraces are done by Jeff Dee, whose work incomic books and role-playing gamesshould be well known to many readers. Heco-authored the first playable super-herogame, FGU�s VILLAINS & VIGILANTES*

62 FEBRUARY 1994

Master of Orion (MicroProse)

game. Orion is a cerebral game, short onaction but long on intellect, so be warnedif you like a lot of battles in your gaming.

You can�t get around reading the manualto learn this game. If you just start play-ing, as I did, you�ll turn to the manual soonenough anyway, so you may as well startthe game out right.

You have to keep track of a lot of stuff inthis game. For instance, the game allowsyou to spend money on research. In manygames (Civilization, for instance), you�djust decrease your budget appropriatelyand wait for the scientific advances tocome rolling in. In Orion, every singleplanet must have the percentage of moneyspent on research allocated separately.Then, once the total research budget isdetermined, you have to divvy up themoney amongst six different categories. Ofcourse, you also have to pick which devicethe scientists are working on in each cate-gory. When you�ve finally completed adevice, it doesn�t necessarily benefit youright away. For instance, if you�ve devel-oped, say, �Death Spores,� they�re no goodto you until you�ve got some ships that cancarry them into combat. Some devices dohelp you right away, though.

In Orion, you can be one of ten differentalien species, each with its own advan-tages. (I tend to choose the goofiest-lookingones, but to each his own.) Unfortunately,the alien races have not been balancedwith care. In fact, certain races are farmore powerful than others. It�s not alwaysobvious which race has the advantage justby reading about them, either. For in-stance, the Sakkra�s advantage is theybreed incredibly quickly. The Silicoid�sadvantage is that they can live in anyenvironment. Which is the better race?

You�d have to play the game to find outthat the hapless Sakkra is exceedinglyweak, and the Silicoid very powerful. Ofcourse, if I ever manage to win as theSakkra, I�ll be quite proud of myself.

You only get to have six different typesof ships. Since you�ll need a wide range ofships, this can lead to some problemswhen it comes to developing new ones. Asthe game progresses, your technologyadvances, and you actually have to scrapold ships in order to build new ones. Touse those keen Death Spores, you have topick one of your older models, scrap everysingle ship, and start building a new type.When you�ve got a large investment in acertain ship, this can be harsh. This seemsa little weird to me, but at least it kept meon my toes. I certainly didn�t design newship types lightly. If it was going to cost meone of my beloved older ships to create anew one, I figured I�d better need thatnew ship pretty darn bad.

Ship-to-ship combat is simple. Thoughyou�re able to control your vessels throughthe turn-by-turn two-dimensional combat,I fought most of my battles using the auto-combat button, and letting the ships dotheir own fighting. This option takes lesstime, but I didn�t notice that I was able todo a lot better in combat. If you are losing,you�ll probably want to step in and orderyour ships to retreat before they are de-stroyed, though.

The game interface, alas, is none toogood. Many of the game�s controls consistof multiple sliding scales. When you slideup one scale, another scale somewhere onthe chart slides down. It�s not alwayspredictable which one will slide down, Youhave to do a lot of juggling to get all yourscales to just the right level. Unfortunately,

you'll find yourself changing your scaleson almost every world every few turns, ina futile attempt to be as cost-efficient aspossible, or in a frantic panic to completesome task before something bad happens(such as finishing your planetary defenseshield before the alien invasion fleet ar-rives). Thus, you spend a lot of time withthis interface and though you get sort ofused to it, you do a lot of extra clicking.

The game has a number of minor annoy-ances. You can�t turn off the animationsequences, though you can click out ofthem. Still, you have to wait and stare at ablack screen while the cursed things load,and when you furiously tap a key to avoidthe imagery, you stare at another blackscreen while the game returns to its nor-mal view. The game has a number ofdifferent ship designs that add nothing toplay but are cool to look at. Unfortunately,the game randomly assigns one of thestyles to you at the game�s start. I wish Icould pick my own. For some reason, Iseemed to get the same triangular shipstime and again (I�m sure it�s just happen-stance), but I would have liked to try someof the other styles.

I�d have rated this game four stars if itweren�t for the interface and the littleannoyances. The game is certainly insidi-ous. When I started playing it, I decided Ididn�t like it. But then I kept playing it.And playing it. In fact, I still find myself

playing the game when I have other thingsto do. If you�re willing to put up with afew minor problems (and, after all is saidand done, they are minor), you may likethis game a bunch.

Game tips1. When you start a game, if you don�t

have at least one reasonable world (maxi-mum population at least 70) within colony-ship range, dump the game and start anew one. There�s no point in continuing.Trust me.

2. The current version of the game has abug. If you offer tribute to an alien leader,the next time you ask for an audience,nothing will happen. The solution is tosave your game, end the game, and thenload it again. Supposedly you can upload afix from MicroProse, and the next editionwon�t have the problem.

3. Colonies can take an extremely longtime to develop. As soon as you�ve landeda colony ship, send out some transportsfrom one of your overpopulated civilizedworlds, so that the colony can start pro-ducing as soon as possible. The civilizedworld you�ve sent the people from willreplace them at a speedy rate, and thecolony gets off to a good start.

4. Get Nuclear Engines as soon as youcan. This took a load off my mind, as itmeant that my ships took only half as longto travel from place to place. This can be a

Master of Orion (MicroProse)

lifesaver, especially if you get this technol-ogy before the bad guys. It means you canconcentrate your ships on a particularworld to defend it against one attack, thensend them to another world while theenemies are still plodding around out inspace.

SPACEWARD HO! Solo version: * *Multiplayer version: * * *

IBM New World ComputingDesigners: Joe Williams and Peter

CommonsComputer graphics: Howard Vives

Spaceward Ho! is quite similar to Masterof Orion. It requires 3.5 megabytes ofhard-drive space and at least 384k of EMS

64 FEBRUARY 1994

Spaceward Ho! (New World Computing)

or XMS if you want 256-color graphics.The game�s main advantage over Orion

is that Ho! is able to run under Windowsor DOS. A mouse is absolutely essential. Irepeat, do not try to play this game sansmouse or you�ll be one unhappy camper.

As in Master of Orion, you begin with asingle planet. There is a bizarre westerntheme threaded throughout Ho! and yourplanet wears a cowboy hat. Your computeropponents, which are given names such as�Laura� or �Bob� also wear hats. Some alsohave mustaches, while others wear hand-kerchiefs as masks. Their villainous natureis visible at first glance. Uninhabited plan-ets go bare, with no hats to cover theirplanetary pates.

You have a lot fewer options to workwith in Ho! than in Orion. Instead of anassortment of technologies ranging fromGatling lasers to planet-cracking bombs,you just get levels of Weapons Tech orShield Tech. It�s far less interesting in theserespects.

The basic resources of Ho! consist ofmetal and money. Some planets never canmake a profit, and all they�re good for ismining their metals, then abandoning theworlds. When you�ve colonized a planetthat can never be profitable, it wears anold-time prospector�s hat.

The game tends to modify itself duringplay, which I thought was pretty clever.

For example, it�ll tend to its ships afteryours, remembering what you�ve calledyour ships for many weeks.

I could go on, but Ho! is basically likeOrion, except with far fewer options. Ithas three advantages over Orion, andthese are significant.

First, the manual is much easier to read,contains more humor, and explains what isgoing on much more clearly than themanual of Orion. Kudos to Richard Espy,the author.

Second, Ho! runs under Windows. If thisis important to you, then Ho!�s your game.

Third and last, Ho! can support a multi-player game! You can log onto a network,with the first player to be the Game Ad-ministrator. (He decides when the turnends, etc.). In a network game with manyother players, some of the players are stillcomputer opponents, and the game triesits best to conceal which players arecomputer-operated and which are hu-mans. It�s fantastically more fun to play agame in which other people are involved.(I guess I don�t need to emphasize thispoint to readers of DRAGON® Magazine.)This is the game�s strongest point, by far.

As a one-player game, Ho! must be ratedpoorly. There are games covering thesame subject that are superior. But as amultiplayer experience, many of Ho!�svices actually become virtues�the simplerules are good when there are a lot ofplayers involved, for instance. The exceed-ingly fast combat is also beneficial.

In summary, if you�ve got access to anetwork, I recommend you try Ho! If youplay your games solo, Master of Orion isyour best bet.

BRAM STOKER�S DRACULA * *IBM PsygnosisDesigner and programmer: TagDesigner and producer: Mike SimpsonGraphics: Pete James

As a horror fan, I was looking forwardto this game. I like vampires, and in thepast, Psygnosis has produced some fungames, almost always accompanied byexcellent artwork.

Alas, Dracula is a rather pathetic 3-Dplayer�s eye-view game in which you areJonathan Harker searching for Dracula�scoffins and defeating his hideous undeadminions. The game is seriously flawed byits slow speed and uninteresting play. Theauthors� idea of a good puzzle is to findthe right key to open a door.

The interface is inadequate. You have alittle hand clutching a gun or knife thatyou can aim at the bad guys. (Actually,your mouse cursor targets the enemy, butthe little hand in the foreground doesmove back and forth.) The bad guys arepretty easy to kill, though they do getsignificantly tougher as the game progress-es. When you kill an enemy, his soul as-cends to heaven and a cheesy little musicalchord plays.

To pick up objects, you must move untilthey are almost off-screen, then click themouse cursor. This is not as easy as itsounds, and on occasion you�ll fire your guninstead of picking up objects. Your goal is tofill all Dracula�s coffins and kill all the Dracu-las encountered (there�s one at the end ofeach stage, in different forms).

The artwork is okay, what there is of it.Essentially, there�s not much variety hereThe starting forest only has trees, stoneplinths, and impaled bodies. That�s aboutit, besides a few monsters. Since that�s allthere is to work with, it�s unforgivable thatthis game is so incredibly slow-moving.After playing games like Shadowcaster orLands of Lore, I felt that there was noexcuse for Dracula�s painfully slow play.

Unless the subject is incredibly fascinat-ing to you, I advise you to try anothergame, like Shadowcaster or Doom! Life�stoo short.

BIOMENACEIBM (EGA)

* *Apogee

This is yet another in Apogee�s series ofEGA IBM run-and-jump games. You, theheavily armed hero, must trudge yourway through wrecked buildings, forests,and giant anthills trying to kill all thecartoony monsters you encounter.

Scattered throughout the levels arebloodied corpses that make a peculiarcontrast with the rather humorous-lookingenemies you are required to fight. Indetail it is little different from any otherside-scrolling shoot-em-up game. Even thecontrols are the same as CommanderKeen, Monster Bash, Cosmo and any num-ber of other Apogee-produced products.

If you liked Apogee�s other releasesalong these lines, you�ll probably likeBiomenace. As shareware, the first fewepisodes are free in any case, so you�velittle to lose by trying it out.

DRAGON 65

by Skip Williams

If you have any questions on the gamesproduced by TSR, Inc., �Sage Advice� willanswer them. In the United States andCanada, write to: Sage Advice, DRAGON®Magazine, P.O. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI53147, U.S.A. In Europe, write to: SageAdvice, DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120Church End, Cherry Hinton, CambridgeCB1 3LB, United Kingdom. We are nolonger able to make personal replies;please send no SASEs with your questions(SASEs are being returned with writer�sguidelines for the magazine).

This month, the sage takes a look atvarious optional rules for the AD&D® 2ndEdition game and considers a few miscella-neous reader queries.

Which races from The CompleteBook of Humanoids can becomepsionicists? Which ones can havewild talents? What about the racesin The Complete Spacefarer�s Hand-book?

None of the races in the two books youmentioned are particularly inclined tobecome psionicists. On the other hand, ifthe DM chooses to allow it, I see no reasonwhy any of them can�t be psionicists. Isuggest 7th level as the upper limit foradvancement, just like elves and half-elves.Note that psionicists must be lawful, andhave several ability score requirements.These are detailed on page 8 of The Com-plete Psionics Handbook (CPH).

Any character can have a wild talent;just use the rules for wild talents, whichstart on page 19 of the CPH. Don�t forgetthe nonhuman penalty (50% reduction inthe adjusted chance to have a wild talent).All PCs on Athas have wild talents, so thenonhuman penalty is irrelevant for DARKSUN® campaigns.

What, exactly, happens when theDark Powers of Ravenloft form anew domain? Does the original landjust disappear?

According to the Forbidden Loreboxed set, the Athasian city of Kalid-nay has become part of the Demi-plane of Dread, but in MerchantHouses of Amketch the ruins ofKalidnay are still on Athas. Bothproducts feature identical maps.What�s going on here? Which is thereal Kalidnay?

Exactly what happens when the Dark

Powers form a new domain is unrevealed.Kalidnay, however, illustrates the results.When the Dark Powers recognize one oftheir own, the Mists rise up and whisk theoffender away to the Demiplane of Dread.The land, buildings, and large objectssurrounding the offender are unaffected,but all the people nearby are drawn intothe demiplane along with the offender.When the new domain forms, it is anexact replica of the area where the offend-er was when the mists arose.

Except for the fact that the people aregone, the original area is unaffected. Whathappens to unintelligent animals in thearea is not clear. The new domain is fullypopulated with the appropriate normalanimals, so either the animals are drawninto the demiplane or new animals formalong with the domain. Likewise, impor-tant personal property, including magicalitems, treasure, and other items importantto the transferred characters move to thedemiplane, as do all items people arewearing or carrying. To an observer onthe original plane, it appears that the mistshave washed over the land like an oceanwave and carried away all the people.Some people might escape the mists, butthey would have to leave the area quickly

So, the �real� Kalidnay exists both onAthas, as a deserted ruin inhabited bysquatters, and as an island of terror in thedomains of Ravenloft.

The Dark Recesses booklet fromthe Forbidden Lore boxed set saysAthasian characters can be trans-ported to the Dark Domains. Willthe Dark Powers transport non-Athasians to Athas?

The Dark Powers never transport any-one out of Ravenloft, but it is possible thata portal leading off the demiplane mightlead to Athas. Any creature passingthrough such a portal will wind up onAthas even if it didn�t originally come fromAthas.

After rolling up a saurial flyerrogue using The Complete Book ofHumanoids, it came as a rude shockthat none of the rogue kits are avail-able to saurials. Is this an oversight?

You seem to be confused by the require-ments sections in the rogue kit descrip-tions (which start on page 83). Two kits,scavengers and tramps, are available to

�any humanoid,� which includes all thesaurials and every other race in the book.In this context, the term �any humanoid�is shorthand for �any race included in TheComplete Book of Humanoids.�

In the DARK SUN setting, Strengthscores can go as high as 24, butthere is no mention of encumbranceor modified movement rates forstrengths higher than 18 in theDARK SUN rules or the Player�sHandbook. What gives?

What gives, probably, is that you havean old edition of the Players� Handbook.The current PH lists ability scores from 1to 25 for all six AD&D® game attributes.

Is it possible for a psionic charac-ter to have two defense modes oper-ating at once? The Mind Blankdefense costs nothing to initiate andmaintain, so it seems likely that thisis possible. If two modes can beused at once, does it requires a �six-finger� contact to attack the de-fender's mind?

As my colleague Rich Baker has pointedout the way in which psionic defenses arestructured and the round-by-round limitsof power use makes using two defensemodes at the same time impossible. Apsionicist can initiate one power eachround, plus one defense mode, and canmaintain any number of powers providedthat he has sufficient PSPs (see CPH, page22). However, of the five defense modes(Mind Blank, Thought Shield, Mental Barri-er, Tower of Iron Will, and Intellect For-tress) only mind blank can be maintained.The other four defense modes must be re-initiated each round (that is what the �na�under maintenance cost means). MindBlank automatically switches off whenanother defense mode is initiated (see thepower�s description on page 88, 2nd and5th paragraphs). Since a character caninitiate only one defense each round, andno defense lasts more than a single round(except for Mind Blank with its automaticswitch off) it�s pretty difficult for a charac-ter to have two defense modes operatingat once. If through some unusual twist offate a character does have two defensemodes operating at once, she gets thebenefit of only the best one, and it stilltakes only three tangents to force a con-tact. Haste spells do not allow characters

DRAGON 67

to violate the one-power-one-defense limit.Also, the Split Personality science createstwo separate personalities within theuser�s body. Each personality can operate adefense mode each round, but the charac-ter still is limited to one defense per per-sonality.

What spheres of spells do the half-ling deities listed on page 65 ofDMGR4 The Complete Book ofGnomes and Halflings, grant to theirpriests? Why isn�t this informationincluded in the book?

Complete game information on the fivehalfling deities listed in the CGH is includ-ed in Monster Mythology. The CGH is abook about gnomes and halflings, notabout deities. Deities and their relation-ships with their priests is a complex sub-ject, which is beyond the scope of CGH.The information included on page 65 ofthat book is intended to give the readerinformation about how halflings see theirdeities, not to provide a game overview ofthe deities. If all the applicable game infor-mation for the deities associated with eachdemihuman race were included in eachDMGR, there would be 11-14 pages ofgeneral material on deities and priestsduplicated in each book.

According to The Complete Psi-onics Handbook a clairvoyant

psionicist gets a save vs. a detectscrying spell. If the first save fails,can the psionicist try to affect thewizard again? How does the crystalball detection radius for the spellwork? Are crystal ball users im-mune from the spell if they aremore than 120' away?

A psionicist or character using a scryingspell or device gets only one chance toavoid detection by making a save. If thesave fails, the character who cast detectscrying knows who the scryer is and hisgeneral location. If the save succeeds, thecaster knows only that he is being scryed.A successful save has no other effect onthe detect scrying caster.

Detect scrying can reveal any scryingattempt directed at the caster by anymeans, at any range. The radius of detec-tion applies to the use of scrying devicesthat are directed at targets other than thedetect scrying caster.

Are there any mechanics for usingthe invisibility factor described onpage 8 of The Complete Book ofGnomes and Halflings?

Other than the bonuses that gnome andhalfling rogues gain for their hide-in-shadows abilities, there are no rules gov-erning the invisibility factor. Instead, theDM should work the invisibility factor intothe game (or not work it in, if she so

chooses). The important point is that �bigfolk� (humans, elves, half-elves, and evendwarves) tend not to notice gnomes andhalflings in most circumstances. Obviously,a halfling dancing a jig and playing a kazoois going to attract attention just aboutanywhere. But even a halfling or gnomefighter in plate armor isn�t going to causemuch of a stir in a crowded city street.Bystanders might remember the armoredgnome or halfling, but they won�t be sureexactly when she arrived or when she left.The invisibility factor is not a racial abilityso much as a tool that the DM and playerscan use to add some spice to a campaign.

Armor of command from theDungeon Master Guide is describedas a suit of full plate armor, whichwould give the wearer an armorclass of 1 before adjustments formagic, dexterity, or shield. However,the item description says the armorfunctions as plate mail +1, whichhas a base armor class of only 3.How does the armor really work?

It works exactly as the book says it does.It is, in fact, a complete suit of plate armor.The wearer is fully encased in flashy-looking metal. However, the armor looksbetter than it works, and it functions asmagical plate-mail armor, not full-platearmor.

Pantheon of the monthThese are unofficial suggestions for

using the optional spheres of priest spellsfrom the Tome of Magic with the deities ofthe Greek pantheon in Legends & Lore:

Gaea: Major: Time; Minor: None.Uranus: Major: Chaos; Minor: None.Cronus: Cronus cannot grant spells.Rhea: Major: Time; Minor: None.Zeus: Major: Law; Minor: Wards.Hera: Major: Chaos; Minor: Wards.Aphrodite:. Major: Time; Minor: Chaos.Ares: Major: Chaos, War; Minor: None.Artemis: Major: None; Minor: Time,

Travelers.Athena: Major: War; Minor: Numbers,

Wards.Demeter: Major: none; Minor: Time,

Travelers.Dionysus: Major: None; Minor: Chaos,

T i m e .Hephaestus: Major: None; Minor:

Thought, Wards.Hermes: Major: Travelers; Minor:

Chaos, Time.Apollo: Major: None; Minor: Thought,

Time.Poseidon: Major: None; Minor: Chaos,

T i m e . Hades: Major: None; Minor: Law, Time.Hecate: Major: None; Minor: Thought,

T i m e . Titans: Major: None; Minor: One of the

following, as appropriate: Thought, Time,or Wards!

The Furies: The Furies do not grantspells, as they have no worshipers.

68 FEBRUARY 1994

70 FEBRUARY 1994

t was not a handsome cat. It was atom, whose brown coat was speckledwith black and gray. One of his earswas all but gone, leaving nothing buta tiny, fur-covered stump. His headwas all brown except for a patch ofblack that encircled one eye and gave

him the look of having just been in a fight. He had a finetail, long and abundantly furred, but it twitched like anervous snake when he walked.

He lay on a carpet in an open doorway, with his pawsresting just short of the floor of the hall beyond. His whis-kers twitched, and he sneezed. He blinked several times,then ran his green eyes over the hall for the fifteenth orsixteenth time. The walls were seven and a half feet apart.They were of stucco expertly lain over stone in intricategeometric progressions that hurt his eyes. Twenty feetdown the hall stood a painted red wooden door reinforcedby three iron bands. The top of the door was curved into ahalf-circle to fit the arch of the frame. Below the porcelainknob was a keyhole bordered by a steel plate. No crackswere visible between the door and its frame, no lightshone through its keyhole.

The floor of the hall was of carefully shaped stone, and hestared at it for a long time. Finally he lifted a paw and held itover the stone, then seemed to think better of it and pulledback. He turned around and walked back into the room,nosing the open door closed behind him. The cat walkedthrough splashes of sunlight to a bay window at the front ofthe house. In one graceful movement, he leapt up to the silland dropped to the street below. No one noticed.

The window closed behind him, and the tom lopedaway, skirting the edge of Fountain Street. It was ten inthe morning, and the streets of Blix were wide awake. Hepassed budding mages hurrying to classes at the Univer-sity, knots of Silver Guardsmen escorting city officialsbetween the Government Quarter and the Palace, mer-chants and sailors walking to and from the harbor. Noneof them gave him a second glance.

He made his way west and then south, underneath thecity�s feet, to Seamstress Street. The traffic here wassparse, and most of the windows in the tall, close-setbuildings were covered. This quarter of the city kept adifferent sort of schedule. A faded young woman kissing atall, hooded figure in a doorway spotted the tom. �Hi,Heward,� she called to him, and smiled at his curt mewlof greeting.

An unremarkable door opened at the side of the street,and the cat stepped through it. He sat in the center of theroom and licked at his paws as the drapes pulled them-selves closed. As soon as the light had gone, a dim figureappeared in the room.

This person had brown eyes and short, amber-coloredhair combed back from his pointed ears. Gray pantaloonsand a dull blue tunic of good fabric gave little clue to hisstation in life. At his belt hung a collection of scabbardsand pouches. The elf wore a ring on his left hand and abeautifully crafted silver amulet around his neck. Hewatched the cat for a moment and then sighed. �Takeyour time,� he said in a low voice, and slumped into acushioned brown chair in the corner.

Thieves�Justice

by David J. Schwartz

Illustrations by Jeff Menges

DRAGON 71

72 FEBRUARY 1994

�We�ve got time, Omar,� the cat said between licks.�Relax for a minute.� He finished his grooming andstepped toward the elf. �Toss me the bag,� he said.

�Heward . . .��Just give me the bag. I�m hungry,� the cat said. It was

a statement of fact and nothing more. The elf dug at hisbelt and pulled out a sack that was larger than the pouch ithad occupied. He wrinkled his nose and tossed the bag tothe cat, who pawed at it until it fell open, then tore hun-grily at the dead fish inside.

�I hate carrying your supper. The bag stinks,� Omartold the cat.

Heward ignored him and pulled out the intestines of afish. With one gulp he swallowed them. He licked his lips,his eyes closed in contentment.

�If you�re finished, Heward, you can tell me what youfound out. There are shields around the wizard�s house,so I couldn�t pick up any impressions after you steppedinside.�

Heward picked at his teeth with his tongue. �Well,there isn�t anything in the front room. A desk, a couple ofchairs, a divan, some bad paintings. There�s a bookshelf,but all the books are for show. The serious stuff has to besomewhere else.�

�Where?��There�s a door in the front room that opens into a hall

with another door at the end.��What�s behind the second door?�Heward stood and walked over to a large pillow at the

corner of the room. �I don�t know,� he said as he laydown.

�Why not?��Because I didn�t like the looks of that hallway,� He-

ward answered in a sleepy voice. �There�s a pit. Coversthe entire floor.�

�You�re sure?� Omar looked thoughtful.�Mmm-hmm,� Heward purred.�Why didn�t you climb over to the door?� Heward was

not an ordinary familiar. Omar had, over the years, im-proved the cat through magical means. He could speak,he could climb across walls and ceilings magically. He wasnearly as intelligent as Omar himself.

There was a pause. �It�s hard to explain,� Hewardsaid. He lifted his head. �There was something wrongwith the walls. I had a bad feeling.�

�A bad feeling.� Omar came to his feet and scratchedthe back of his head rapidly.

The tom lowered his head again.�About the ceiling too?��Mmm-hmm.�Omar paced. �You�re not much help,� he muttered.�You said you needed some help, so I gave you some

help. I�m not going to get myself killed.� Heward lifted hishead again and gave Omar an irritated look. �If you�regoing to pace, do it somewhere else,� he said. �I�m tryingto sleep.�

�Oh, blazes.� mar made a quick gesture, said some-thing unintelligible, and in his place stood a red-beardeddwarf draped in rich scarlet and purple robes. �Please,enjoy your rest, my esteemed familiar,� he said in a voicedripping with sarcasm, and pulled open the door.

�I will,� the cat murmured.

It took Omar ten minutes to walk the twelve blocks to theHorny Toad. Any faster and someone would almost certainlyhave noticed how quickly the dwarfs short legs were manag-ing to carry him. He shook his head. At one time he hadwalked the streets openly, when an honorable thief was con-sidered a respected member of society. Since the Baron hadbeen appointed governor, things were different in Blix. TheBaron and his Silver Guard hunted thieves and seemed tohave taken a special dislike to Omar�s guild, the ShadowHands. But now Omar had discovered a way to get rid ofthe Baron, and he was going to use it.

He slipped in the unpainted door of the Horny Toad,and his dwarf form waddled to the bar. �A bottle of yourbest Fennis Red,� he said in a booming voice. Two orthree of the occupants of the tavern�s shadowy boothsturned to look at him, but the gangly bartender set downthe glass he was polishing without blinking. �Well then,sir,� he said politely, �I�ll have t� fetch that outta th� winecellar. Would y� care to accompany me?�

�Certainly,� the dwarf answered, and stepped behindthe bar. He passed the glass-walled cage that held thetavern�s namesake and reached in to touch the amphib-ian�s ridged back as he moved to join the barkeep. Heneeded all the luck he could muster up. It was terriblyimportant that what he was planning not go wrong.

The barkeep led him through a narrow door into whatlooked like nothing more than a narrow flight of musty,dark stairs. Omar closed the door behind them and nod-ded at the barkeep. �Thanks, Sonelius,� he whispered,and stepped through the illusory wall to the left of thestairs. He paused to do a quick casting and then dispelledhis disguise. Anyone who happened to be watching thebar a couple of minutes from now would see Sonelius stepback out from behind the door with the dwarf, sell him abottle of wine and send him on his way. No one wouldhave any reason to be suspicious.

He moved quickly down the hall and into the sittingroom. Another elf was there already. He was dressed in agarish combination of bright yellows and blues, each em-broidered with several stitches of thick red thread at thecuffs. The owner of this ensemble leaned forward in hisseat, tapping his feet impatiently as Omar appeared. Hestood and ran a hand through his dark red hair. �It�sabout time,� he said, his reed-thin voice on the verge ofhysteria.

�I�m on time, Red,� Omar said patiently, and took achair. In the corner of the room stood a heavy cask, andhe took a mug from the table and filled it. �Your troubleis,� he said between swallows, �you�re always early.�

Red Bobbins ignored his guildmaster�s baiting. Hestood in one place and shuffled one foot back and forthbeneath him. �I�m still against this plan,� he said finally.

�I know you are. I�m sorry, but it has to be done.��It�s just revenge. It�s stupid.��It�s revenge, yes. But it's also a warning to anyone

who thinks the Shadow Hands have disappeared. They�llknow we�re responsible.�

�That�s what I�m worried about! This is a time to laylow, Omar, not to make more enemies.�

�We�re not making more enemies. We�re eliminatingan existing one.� Omar watched Red carefully over theneck of his drink, and when he spoke, his voice was huskywith emotion. �The Baron hired Marion Firewater toburn our guildhouse, and four of our members died in theblaze! I�m not going to let that go unanswered.�

Red wouldn�t look at him. �Yes, but you�ve only gotthe word of a rival guildmaster on that. The boss of theHoods probably sent that information to get you killed.�

Omar shook his head. �We�ve always managed to co-exist with the Hoods,� he said. �I don�t believe the Bosswould do that. His business is hurting too.�

Red looked down at the floor. �We should be taking outthe man who ordered a fire mage to murder our friends,not going after the hired help.�

Omar laughed, long and loud. Red looked sheepish.�Use your head,� Omar admonished. �The Baron�s toopopular with the nobles and merchants. If we try to killthe Baron and fail, his Silver Guard will track us down.�

Nothing was said for a few minutes. Then Red Bobbinsspoke. �Maybe we could get the Red Stars to help?�

Omar smiled. The Red Stars were a loose alliance ofmages who were dedicated, so they said, to intellectualfreedom and the elimination of repression. By nature theywere outspoken but disorganized, well-meaning but cau-tious. The only way Omar could hope to get their helpwas to prove that the Baron was working against theirinterests.

�If this goes well, we may well win them over,� he toldhis right-hand man.

Red nodded. �So when do we go into action?��Tonight.��What do you want me to do?��I�ll tell you.�

The Baron had governed Blix for seven years now, eversince his defense of the city during the Conjurer�s War hadmade him a hero. He kept his office through the use ofthreats, intimidation, and alliances with some of the mostpowerful mages in the city. He had brought his ownunique brand of order, and the city�s libertarian characterhad suffered as a result. Magic on the streets was out-lawed, and the University was strictly regulated by theBaron�s toadies. Despite all this, he was popular. It wassafe on the streets of Blix now, his supporters pointed out.Magic wasn�t allowed to run unchecked. Even Omar andhis small group of spellfilchers hadn�t been too unhappywith the Baron�s work, at first.

One night last summer, however, everything changed.Omar remembered the night clearly, too clearly.

�Omar!� Red�s voice sounded worried. �There�s some-thing wrong.�

�What?��I sent Psagh out to fetch some dinner an hour ago.

He�s not back yet.��So? He�s just a boy, Red. He probably got side-

tracked.��I don�t think so.� Red�s voice was cold with fear, and

his eyes were wide. �I have a feeling that something�sreally wrong.�

Omar stood, then froze. �What�s that smell?� he asked.An instant later there was fire everywhere, the walls,

the ceiling, the stairs outside. Omar didn�t waste breathwith curses. �Go for the fire brigade!� he shouted to Redover the snap and crackle of the wood. �I�ll evacuate thebarracks!� He ran without thought to the second floor,where most of the guild members slept. They were alreadyawake, rushing to grab all they could. �Leave it!� heshouted through the doorway. �Get out, now!� Thewooden beams of the ceiling cracked and began to fall,scattering sparks and burning shards of wood over thebeds and tables. Flames and smoke were everywhere.�Come on!� he shouted, and counted them off as he wav-ed them past and down the stairs.

As Omar turned in the doorway to follow his people, aburning beam fell in front of him with a thud. �Go!� heshouted, although he could no longer see the othersthrough the smoke. Omar turned and reentered the dor-mitory in order to get a running start and jump over thehuge beam that blocked his way down. Before he couldget as far as the doorway, the entire hallway ceiling col-lapsed, dropping the blazing roof into the stairwell, di-rectly on top of the escaping thieves.

Trapped in the dormitory, Omar threw open a windowand looked out. It was a long way down, but a drainpiperan down the side of the building just out of reach to theright. With few options left, Omar leapt sideways from thewindow sill to the metal pipe, which blistered his glovelesshands. He wrapped his arms and legs around the drainand slid down, not daring to slow his descent by clutchingthe pipe too tightly.

He landed in an alley at the back of the house. Omarquickly ran forward through the narrow space between theguildhouse and the tavern next door, dodging falling de-bris, until he emerged in the street.

The fire brigade had arrived, but they wouldn�t letOmar go back into the building. He wandered up anddown in the street, looking for the guildmembers who hadtrusted him to protect them, and berated himself for notsending them all out the window. He knew that the boyPsagh had not been in the house, and Red Bobbins hadgone for the fire brigade. Some of the other guild mem-bers were out on assignment. Was the burning of theguildhouse an isolated incident? How many of the ShadowHands had survived?

Omar fiercely brushed away a tear, thinking of whatPsagh had told him when the boy eventually turned up.Psagh had returned to the guildhouse with Red Bobbins�dinner but hadn�t gone inside because he�d spotted asquad of Silver Guardsmen talking to a mage the boycouldn�t identify. From this information, Omar knew thatthe Baron was behind the fire, but no one, not even theRed Stars, would help him without some proof. The Bar-on was too popular, and the word of a thief too suspect.

None of the guildmembers who had fled down the stair-case ever emerged from the house. Omar scattered thesurviving Hands through the city, hidden in plain sight.He sent some of them out of town on special assignmentsand got Sonelius a job in the Horny Toad. He himselfwent almost entirely underground, using Red Bobbins as

DRAGON 73

liaison with his scattered personnel.Two days after the fire, Omar had been working in the

bazaar, disguised as a horrid old human woman sellingcurio figures of fish and other marine creatures. He hadbeen surprised when Stave Muldoon, the Hoods� numbertwo man, found him.

�How�s business, Omar?� Stave asked with a smuggrin. His gravelly voice had a nasal tone to it that neverfailed to grate on Omar�s nerves.

�How�d you find me?� Omar hissed in response.Muldoon shrugged and picked up a wooden carving of

a mermaid. �Where�d you find this junk?� he snorted.Heward stepped out from underneath the table andsnarled at Muldoon.

�Heward collects them,� Omar said in an undertone.�Don�t break it.�

�You�re jokin�?� Muldoon laughed and looked at thecat. �You like this garbage?� The cat showed his teeth inresponse.

�Keep your voice down,� Omar signaled with somehasty finger movements. �Lovely, aren�t they, sir?� hesaid in a loud, cracked voice.

�You�re overacting,� Muldoon said with a pained look.�You�re gonna put the real bazaar hags outta business.�

�Well, sir, if you�re interested, I have a few other piecesin the tent. If you�d like to see them . . .�

�Yeah, sure,� Muldoon said. He stepped between thetables and followed Omar into the tent beyond. As the twoof them disappeared into the tent, a grubby young girlstepped up to the table and reached for a glass dolphin.Before she could touch it, Heward jumped onto the tablebeside it and glared at her. He opened his mouth wide,and a loud roar escaped. The girl ran away with awhimper.

Heward lay down and went to sleep.�What are you doing here?� Omar demanded of Mul-

doon, dropping the hag�s voice.�I�m not here by choice. The Boss sent me to tell you

we know who burned your guildhouse.�Omar nodded. �I already know.��Yeah, but we know who the Baron hired to do it.�Omar took off the gray wig that was most of his dis-

guise. �Who?� he asked.�Marion Firewater.�Omar closed his eyes, furrowed his brow in concentra-

tion. �Can�t place the name.��He graduated from the University three years ago.

There was a scandal. He accused the Elemental Fire Col-lege of favoritism when he didn�t graduate at the top of hisclass.�

�Oh. That Firewater.� Omar was intent now on Mul-doon�s words, but he managed not to show it.

�He�s got a house on Fountain Street. The Baronsomehow got him to sign a geased contract, so Firewaterwas compelled to do the job.�

�The Baron actually signed the contract?� Omar askedincredulously.

�He would have had to sign it, to enforce the geas. TheBaron must think he�s completely safe, the arrogant bas-tard.� Muldoon turned to go.

�Wait a minute. Is Firewater at home?�

74 FEBRUARY 1994

Muldoon shook his head. �No. He�s out of town. Ithink he was afraid he�d be found out. He left as soon asthe job was done.� He stood. �That�s all I know. I gottago.�

�What about Firewater�s house? Do you have thelayout?�

Muldoon shook his head. �No. I�m sure it�s none toosafe, though. Might wanna be careful.�

�Thanks,� Omar snorted. He stood and pulled his wigback on. �What do the Hoods want for this information?�

�Nothing,� Muldoon said. �Not yet. We�ll get back toyou.� He grinned and left the tent.

Omar hadn�t been able to relax since Muldoon�s visit.He stood now and walked to the window, where the lateafternoon sun filtered through the drapes. He pulled themopen and saw a gang of lizard men on the street below.There were ten or twelve of them stumbling drunkenlyaway from the lakefront.

He shook his head. University students, all of them,enrolled in the Elemental Water College. He would neverunderstand why the saurens consumed so much ale,knowing what it would do to them. They would wake upwith dry throats and headaches and spend the entiremorning soaking at Chen�s Bathhouse, just so they wouldbe well enough to go out drinking again that night.

He pulled the drapes closed again and called Hewardthrough their mindlink. He received a hazy impression ofdead fish and milk, and shook his head in disgust. Wakeup, he told the cat.

The cat roused. What? he asked in irritation.Have you slept all day?I don�t remember. What do you want?Meet me on the Fountain Street side of Dorlan Park an hour after

midnight.What�s up?

Just be there.

It was never dark on Fountain Street. Centuries before,around the time the University had first been incorpo-rated, the faculty had presented the city with two hundredmarble spheres enchanted with bright magical light. Thespheres were set atop iron posts, which were mountedalong Blix�s most traveled street at sixty-foot intervals, onalternating sides of the street. At night the glow fromFountain Street could be seen almost anywhere in the city.The Silver Guard patrolled the street in four-man, onealways within sight of another.

Omar didn�t think he would have any trouble.He stepped onto the street when the nearest patrol was

fifty feet beyond him. He was invisible, so he wasn�t wor-ried about being spotted. But if he tried to open MarionFirewater�s window, the Silver Guards would see themovement and investigate. Instead, he stood before thewindow, stared into the office and spoke a single word.

It took him a minute to recover. His disorientation wasfurther compounded by a struggling mass inside the sack heheld under his arm. He set the sack down and opened it.

�About time,� Heward grumbled, stepping out andshaking himself. �I couldn�t breathe in there.�

�Sorry,� Omar said. �It was the only way to get youinside.� He stepped to the window and pulled the shades

closed. Omar�s night vision revealed the dimensions of theroom but none of the details.

He needed light. He pulled a gold coin from his pocket,and it shone with a bright light that illuminated the entireroom. The walls were covered with well-done woodwork.A nice desk sat against one wall, a bookshelf against theopposite. There were lots of books, none of them worthanything. He wrinkled his nose at the paintings. Omarglanced at himself in the mirror beside the bookshelf. Hewould stay invisible for twenty-three hours more unless hegot into a fight.

�I told you there was nothing here,� Heward said. Heyawned and looked to the door at the back of the room.

Omar ignored the cat and stepped to the door. Hethrew it open, and beyond lay the hall Heward had de-scribed. He squatted, and squinted at the floor. �Youmight be right,� he said. There was a faint outline thatcould be the edges of a pit.

Heward stepped to his side and looked down. �It allfeels wrong,� he said, suddenly serious.

Omar studied the convoluted patterns that playedacross the walls. He thought the chaotic swirls might bemagical writing, so he reached into a pouch at his belt andpulled out a crystal prism. The elf held the prism up to thepattern on one wall, said a few words, and wiggled thefingers on his left hand. Immediately the pattern began toshift, and after another moment he could read the wordsaloud.

�Take a step, take a fall. Instead move sideways downthe hall.�

�A clue?� Heward sounded dubious, and Omar silentlyagreed. Something didn�t jibe here. Why help someonebreak in? It was more likely that Firewater wanted to giveany potential thieves some bad advice.

�Take a step, take a fall,� Heward said. �That�s simpleenough. There�s a pit.�

�Or Firewater wants us to think there is,� Omar said.�Instead move sideways down the hall.�

�Climb the walls?� Heward said. �I wouldn�t advise it.Maybe they�ll collapse on you.�

Omar nodded. There must be something else. He care-fully inspected the door behind him. It had no hinges,only small rods that fit into the door frame to allow thedoor to swing freely either way. On the lower rod he founda taut steel spring, a closing trigger. It might be linked tothe pit in some way, but he couldn�t imagine why.

�I�m hungry,� Heward said. �Give me the bag.��I didn�t bring it,� Omar said offhandedly.�Thanks a lot.�Omar looked at the riddle on the walls again, then

squinted at it with sudden suspicion. He pulled his knifefrom a sheath at his belt and stabbed it into the stucco,then tried to pry a piece of the plaster loose. The knifedidn�t move. He yanked it harder, and was about to put ahand to the wall to brace himself when he suddenly under-stood and let go of the knife.

�Glue?� Heward asked.Omar shrugged. He made a few gestures with his long-

fingered hands and spoke a short verse. The entire wallglowed, not just the magical writing �Probably a spell,�he said, looking to the ceiling, which glowed similarly.

�Either way, I don�t think we should touch the walls.�This was much more subtle a trap than he would haveexpected from a fire mage. If he�d tried to climb past thepit that might be on the floor, he would have discoveredhe couldn�t free his hands from the wall. He gave theknife one more yank and then stood back from the door.The thief who got himself stuck on that wall would still behanging by his limbs when the owner of the housereturned.

They were going to have to be more cautious.So the rhyme was a trap in itself. Did that mean he

should do what it advised against? Take a step, take a fall.Maybe, maybe not. If the floor should collapse beneathhim, it would take just one word to cast a spell that wouldprotect him from the fall.

�Well,� he said to Heward, �standing here is just wast-ing time. Come on.�

The cat stood reluctantly. �You�d better not get uskilled,� he said.

�I�m willing to risk it,� Omar said. He glared at hisfamiliar intently. �Are you with me?�

Heward coughed as if he had a hairball and then swal-lowed noisily. �I�m with you,� he said softly. He jumpedup into Omar�s arms. �Let�s go.�

Omar nodded, then fixed his gaze on the red dooracross the hall and took a step.

Nothing happened. He took another step, and another.Heward was silent. Omar was sweating. He took a fourthstep, glancing down as he did so. The floor looked solid.He looked back up at the door and walked on, more confi-dent now.

On the sixth step he heard a door slam, then he starteddropping and quickly left his stomach behind. His mouthwas suddenly dry, and he had to lick his lips before he couldspeak. He was just speaking the first word of a spell whenHeward shouted for him to stop. He cut off the casting andfell to the floor as their descent abruptly halted.

Heward had leaped out of his arms and was sitting atthe side of the corridor. Omar looked at the cat question-ingly. Heward shook his head.

�The door,� he said slowly, the patch of black aroundhis eye twitching rapidly. �I was watching the red door,and when we started falling, it stayed right in front of us.�He licked a paw and ran it over his forehead.

Omar nodded. This was much more than a simple trap.The entire hallway except the walls had fallen with them.Firewater must have reasoned that anyone trying to robhim would have some sort of magical ability. The intruderwould realize that the stucco patterns were magic writingand read the rhyme. If the walls didn�t get the thief, hewould risk the pit, trusting in magic to save him. As soonas the trap was triggered and the spell cast, the lightlydescending mage would be crushed by the dropping ceil-ing. He shook his head.

�We�re still in a hallway,� he said with annoyance.�Only we can�t get outside now.� Heward nodded, andOmar looked around.

The walls of the new hallway were whitewashed stone,and he inspected them closely. He spied a glint at the baseof the wall, and bent to pick up his knife, the one he haddriven into the glue up above. Its tip was gone.

DRAGON 75

He would definitely have to be more cautious.Both doors had dropped with them, the open one slam-

ming shut as he had expected. He stared at the red doorand took a few steps toward it. Nothing happened, so heshone his light coin at the door and studied it.

After a moment, he found what he was looking for. Herecognized the faint orange markings along the outeredges of the door as fire runes, and he stepped back quick-ly. A fire ward wouldn�t be easy to remove, and the at-tempt might prove to be pointless. Omar walked backtoward the first door.

It was as unremarkable on this side as it had been onthe other. No writing anywhere. He knocked on it, andthe wood gave a dull thud. There was no keyhole. Hechecked it again, more thoroughly this time, and steppedback to the center of the hall to think.

Heward yawned and lay down in the hall.Omar frowned. There was something behind this door,

he wasn�t sure what. The only way to see behind it was toopen it�or to take it out of his line of sight.

He dipped two fingers into one of his pouches andfound what he sought, a shard of glass wrapped in aclump of gum arabic. It was time to use some magic of hisown devising. He held the two substances in one hand andmade a few quick gestures with the other. Then he placedboth hands on the wooden door and licked his lips.�Vorishin . . . Sszoral . . . Tanrobar!� he invoked.

When he looked up, the door seemed to have disap-peared. Luckily, Omar had merely made the door invisi-ble, not removed it entirely. If he had opened the door, hewould have drowned. He couldn�t see the extent of thewater-filled room, but he was sure it was enough to floodthe passage. As he watched, a fish the size of his handswam past the door. It turned to face the glow of his lightcoin, flicking its nervous eyes back and forth, flaring itslarge nostrils. A fleshy membrane in its mouth flickedopen and then closed. He stared at the teeth revealed byits dramatic underbite. A piranha, and there were othersbesides.

�I wish I could whistle,� Heward said in awe. �ThisFirewater is a very nasty guy.� Omar nodded and walkedacross the hall to the red door.

Very carefully, he began disarming the fire trap. It wasnecessary to smear out enough of the runes-the rightrunes� to disable the spell. Rubbing out the wrong oneswould trigger the trap. He took out a cloth, spat into it,and scraped it across the wood.

He carefully chose the correct words and rubbed themout. Heward slept, to Omar�s amazement. After a longtime, Omar took a deep breath and yanked open the reddoor.

He found himself looking at a brick wall. As he stared,the wall grew a mouth and smiled at him. �Not thisway!� it shouted, and laughed. �Must be a dead end!�Omar slammed the door, but he could still hear muffledlaughter through the wood.

Maybe they were in a dead end, maybe they had some-how missed something in the front room. �Heward, youchecked this hall for secret doors, right?�

The cat was still blinking itself into wakefulness afterbeing disturbed by the shouting mouth. �Hmm? Oh, yes.

76 FEBRUARY 1994

Checked the ceiling, the walls, everything.�Omar nodded. Then he froze. �Heward,� he said with

a triumphant note in his voice, �These aren�t the samewalls!�

Heward cocked his head. �True.��Check them, please.�The cat closed his eyes and walked slowly up the hall,

then back. �Not the walls,� he said with disappointment.�Wait�� He stopped in the center of the hall. �Thefloor,� he said, and pointed a paw at a small wooden studat the base of the wall.

Omar smiled. �We�re almost there,� he said. Hethought of his friends, the guildmembers who had died inthe blaze. I�ll get the bastard, he told them. I�ll avenge you.

He did a quick casting and picked up Heward. Then hetook a deep breath. �Here we go,� he said, and pressedthe wooden stud.

The floor dropped out completely, and they driftedslowly down into the opening. He held out his light coinand shone it below him as they floated down. The floorwas twenty feet below. At the end of a thirty-foot corridor,a seven-and-a-half-foot man-shaped creature stepped to-ward the slowly descending light. Omar gasped when hesaw the creature. It was a horrid patchwork of flesh andbones stitched together with leather thread. A faint smellof upturned earth and rotted flesh came to his nostrils.

They weren�t up to fighting this. Omar was gettingtired�he wanted to get the incriminating contract and getout. �Go,� he said, and Heward leapt from his arms. Heshoved the light coin into a pouch as he landed and pulleda pinch of a fine, glittering substance from another pouch.The golem advanced woodenly on the only opponentvisible, the tiny brown cat. Heward roared, which didn�tfaze the creature. Then he grew into a furious tiger tentimes his original size. The golem still didn�t slow. Omarstarted an incantation, trying not to let his fear for He-ward confuse his casting.

The golem swung wildly at the cat, and Heward dodgedaside and swatted at the golem with a foot-wide paw.Omar finished his incantation before the golem couldrecover and tossed the diamond dust over it, becomingvisible as he did so.

The golem saw him and charged, raising its fists-andthen halted, its progress impeded by an invisible cage.Omar watched it struggle in its prison for a moment andthen looked at Heward. The great tiger was already gone,and the brown cat gazed at the caged golem impassively,his tail twitching back and forth.

�It�s stupider than Muldoon,� Heward said. Omarnodded, and then stepped to the door at the end of thehall. Heward followed.

He spent fifteen minutes checking the door and foundno traps. It was locked, but that was a simple matter. Ittook him three minutes with a pick to unlock it, and heshoved it open.

This was the mage�s true office. A huge desk stoodbefore him, its surface littered with books, papers and inkstains. Bookshelves stood to either side of the desk,stretching up fifteen feet and stacked with books of allsizes and colors. To his left were more shelves, to his rightan arch opened into what looked to be an extensive labo-

ratory. Omar closed the door behind him so he wouldn�tbe distracted by the golem. Then he glanced around theroom and stepped to the desk.

Heward walked into the laboratory. �Don�t break any-thing,� Omar called after him.

Omar sorted through the stacked papers and books,memorizing their location and placement so he couldreturn each to its proper place. Some were journal entries,and he looked for any pages with dates around the time ofthe burning of the guildhouse, but all the entries were atleast two months old. He set the books down and pagedimpatiently through them, turning over in his mind all thethings he would do to Muldoon if he had been lied to.Then, inside the back cover of a book on the unique vege-tation of the Blasted Lands, he found a folded piece ofparchment and shook it open.

�Yes,� he hissed into the dusty air. The contract explic-itly described the location and appearance of the ShadowHands� guildhouse, and required that the signee burn thatsame structure to the ground. Compensation was to be500,000 gold pieces, awarded on presentation of the con-tract any time after the task�s completion. There, in blackink at the bottom, were both the Baron�s and Firewater�ssignatures. He smiled. �You should have collected whenyou had the chance,� he said softly. Then he tucked thecontract into a scroll case in his pocket and folded anotherparchment inside the back cover of the book. He carefullyrearranged the desk as he had found it. Then he lookedtoward the arch that divided the office from the labora-tory. Perfect, he thought. Time to go to work.

�Your friend has exactly five minutes to show up,� saidTorben Ness, looking out the window. The sky was light-ening in the east. Soon the sun would be all the way up.�I shouldn�t have given you this much time.�

�Listen, Ness . . .� Red Bobbins began.At that instant a figure in a gray hooded cloak stepped

through the door, followed by a brown-and-gray-spottedcat. Red Bobbins froze, and Ness came to his feet.

The cat stepped past them and flopped onto a pillow inthe corner.

The hooded figure faced Ness. �I�m going to show youmy real face, because I want us to trust each other. You�llbecome one of three people outside the guild who canmatch my name to my face.� He paused to let the mageconsider the information. �I hope you�ll take that as seri-ously as I do.�

Ness nodded, and Omar threw back his hood. He man-aged a smile, and offered his hand. �Omar Saracent,guildmaster of the Shadow Hands.�

Ness studied the face before taking the hand. �TorbenNess, president of the Red Stars.�

Omar nodded. �I had my associate bring you fromyour house-not too rudely, I hope,� he added, looking atRed Bobbins,�� so I could show you this.� He produceda scroll tube and handed it to Ness, who pulled out theparchment within and began reading.

After a few lines the conjurer turned pale, and halfwaythrough the contract his mouth fell open and stayed thatway. When he had finished, he looked up at Omar andshook his head. �By Arachana,� he whispered. �Such

contracts are strictly prohibited in our charter, and Fire-water certainly had no guild approval for his offensive useof magic.�

Omar smiled grimly. �The Baron used a spell againstone of your brother wizards, and this is only one case ofhis corruption. I just happen to have proof this time.�

Ness shook his head. �We�ll have to take action againstFirewater. This is a clear violation of our charter.�

�Don�t bother,� Omar said. �When Firewater comesback into town, he�ll be dealt with.�

�What do you want from me?� Ness asked.Omar smiled. �I want the Red Stars� support. My guild,

by itself, can get nowhere against the Baron. With this proof,even your most skeptical members should be convinced, andwith your help,� he paused, savoring a lungful of air, �wecan get rid of the tyrant once and for all.�

And maybe my friends can rest in peace.Ness looked like a trapped animal. �I�I�ll have to

discuss it with the other Red Stars.��Yes or no?� Omar said.�If you�ll just give me a day or so���This is proof, isn�t it? You need a day to discuss

whether to act on it? Yes or no?�Ness looked at the wall with concentration and sighed.

�Yes.��Good.� Omar smiled. �Red, please escort Master

Ness back home. We�ll be in touch,� he said to the wizard.�I�m sure,� Torben said. �Try to make it during nor-

mal business hours next time,� he yawned.Red stepped to the door and pulled it open for the

mage.Ness made a face. �I can escort myself,� he said dis-

dainfully. He spoke a word and disappeared.�Show-off,� Red said, and slammed the door. �When

do we deal with Firewater?�Omar sat in the brown chair and smiled. �It�s already

been done. We just wait for him to collect his money.��What do you mean?��I set up a spell arch.��Oh.� A spell arch was magic that Omar had created.

Any normal doorway could be enchanted with it, andwithin the enchantment could be stored any spell, to bereleased by verbal command.

�But you won�t be there to release the spell,� Red Bob-bins protested.

�Don�t worry,� Omar said. �I don�t need to be.�

It was just after noon when Marion Firewater unlockedthe front door of his home and stepped in. Now that hewas finally inside, he was able to relax. He had been terri-fied someone had found him out, that some survivingmember of the Shadow Hands would be waiting for him.

He knew that he should never have signed the contract.He should have been suspicious from the moment he re-ceived the Baron�s invitation. When the Baron had offeredthe contract, he hadn�t been able to resist. The researchhe could do with 500,000 gold pieces�it was too much topass up.

It was time to collect his payment. He walked to thedoor in the back of the room, threw it open, and steppedinto the hall. He didn�t notice the glint of steel dug into

DRAGON 77

the stucco. He stepped to the center of the hall and stoodbraced as the floor dropped. Then he pushed the woodenstud at the base of the wall and, with a word, fell lightlythrough the floor.

The golem had moved again. Flesh golems were theleast reliable of them all, but he didn�t have the resourcesto get anything better. Maybe now that would change. Hecaught the golem�s eye as it approached him and pointedat the corner. �Back in the corner,� he said. �Dimenos.Dimenos. Get back in the corner,� he barked. The crea-ture�s dull red eyes glared at him for a moment before thegolem meekly complied. He shook his head and stepped tothe door, pulling his key out as he did so.

Seeing the office exactly as he had left it depressed him.He slammed the door behind him and contemplated theclutter on his desk. There was a lot of catching up to do.

He picked up the book, The Ferns of the Blasted Lands,and pulled open the back cover. He pulled out the parch-ment and read it again just to be sure the Baron wasn�tswindling him. On the third rune realized it wasn�t thesame parchment.

The paper exploded in the wizard's face. He reeled withpain, then screamed and lurched into his desk. He didn�trealize at first that he was being spoken to.

�Marion Firewater,� the voice said. �You burned theShadow Hands� guildhouse and killed many people.� Helooked at the door behind him, and saw a pair of giganticlips smiling at him. The lips spoke again. �Keep youreyes on the arch between the office and the laboratory.�

Through his tears of pain, Firewater stuttered the firstwords of a defensive spell, but it was too late. �Fireball,�the mouth said, and a ball of flame filled the room, burn-ing his papers, his books, the desk. He could hear theglass instruments in his laboratory exploding, and smelledburned hair and flesh for a moment. Then he could smellnothing at all.

The lunch crowd on Fountain Street turned as one atthe sound of the explosion. Marion Firewater�s home wentup in blue flame with a dazzling blare of booms and crack-les. Several mages rushed to the spot and worked to dousethe flames, sending waterspouts and rain clouds over thebuilding. As the fire began to subside, a shadow appearedin the smoke, one that sent the Baron into a rage when theSilver Guard reported it to him ten minutes later.

It was a great hand with fingers outstretched. As thepeople of Blix stared, it pointed its index finger across thecity, directly at the distant towers of the palace.

78 FEBRUARY 1994

Will these fantasy games stand the test of time?

©1994 by Rick Swan

Photography by Charles Kohl

Role-playing game's ratings

X Not recommended* Poor, but may be useful* * Fair* * * Good* * * * Excellent* * * * * The best

80 FEBRUARY 1994

If I�d been writing this column a decadeago, I would have opened with a snide re-mark questioning the sanity of any publisherattempting to go head-to-head with theAD&D® game. I would have pointed out thatjust as Marvel and DC Comics have corneredthe market in superheroes, so has TSR cor-nered the market in fantasy role-playing. Apublisher who takes on a giant must be asucker for punishment or have too muchmoney piling up in the vault.

I�m older and wiser now�well, older�and time has shown me the error of myways. Just as upstart comics companieslike Valiant and Dark Horse have found aniche, so have alternative fantasy RPGslike White Wolfs ARS MAGICA* game,Phage Press� AMBER* game, and a half-dozen others. There may not be room foreverybody, but there�s room for some.

Almost any new fantasy RPG has a shotat elbowing its way into the market pro-viding the publisher has a professional-quality package, commits enoughresources to promote it, and supports itwith supplements. A good hook, prefera-bly one that can be summarized in oneline of ad copy, doesn�t hurt. (�Every char-acter a spell-caster!� �Our dwarves are 10'tall!�) It also pays to be different, but nottoo different. Successful RPGs tend tofavor new twists on familiar concepts, notradical re-inventions; no one�s going to getrich with a game about magic-wieldingkitchen appliances.

A publisher who follows these guidelineshas a fighting chance of finding an audi-ence. As for keeping that audience, that�sanother matter.

MAGE: THE ASCENSION*game ****312-page softcover bookWhite Wolf Game Studio $25Design: Stewart Wieck with Chris Earley

and Stephan WieckAdditional material: Mark Rein-Hagen,

Chris Hind, Sam Chupp, ChristopherEarley, Robert Hatch, Kathleen Ryan,Travis Williams, Keith Winkler, BrianCampbell, Ken Cliffe, and Joshua Ga-briel Timbrook

Development: Bill Bridges, Andrew Green-berg, Mark Rein-Hagen, Stephen Wieck,and Stewart Wieck

Editing: Robert Hatch, Ken Cliffe, andKathleen Ryan

Illustrations: Michael William Kaluta, Ri-chard Thomas, Joshua Gabriel Tim-brook, Lawrence Allen Williams, KenMeyer Jr., William O�Conner, JohnCobb, Janet Aulisio, Darryl Elliot, Dar-ryl Midgette, and Andrew Robinson

Cover: Richard Thomas and Chris McDo-nough

With the release of the MAGE: THEASCENSION game, White Wolf affirms itsstatus as the House of Gloom. As with theprevious entries in the Storyteller line, theVAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE* game andthe WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE*game (reviewed in DRAGON® issues #175and #192 respectively), MAGE pursues itsgrim agenda with singleminded tenacity,Misfit characters struggle to survive in anurban squalor. Garbage chokes the streets,gangs compete for victims, death lurksaround every corner. Stewart Wieck,Mark Rein-Hagen, and the rest of theWhite Wolf crew must have worn out athesaurus looking up synonyms for�dreary� and �desperate.�

While some may find White Wolfs ap-proach oppressive, even depressing, I saymore power to them. Nearly every ele-ment of the Storyteller games�characterbackgrounds, setting descriptions, eventhe referee tips�oozes atmosphere. Sus-taining an atmosphere, any atmosphere,throughout a 300-plus page rulebookrequires a degree of artistry that eludesmost designers. In my darkest moments,like at three in the morning with snow onthe TV, the Storyteller perspective isn�t allthat different from my own bleak view ofthe world. If you know what I�m talkingabout, have I got some RPGs for you.

For those new to the Storyteller line,MAGE is a good place to start. Not only doesit spotlight a more user-friendly archetypethan VAMPIRE or WEREWOLF�most play-ers will find it easier to slip into the skin of aspell-caster than a blood-drinker�it�s betterwritten and easier to follow. Stewart Wieck,editor of White Wolf Magazine, knows hisway around a paragraph, and his prosesparkles. Occasionally, a narrative passagegets too purple for its own good. (�Self-involvement shone plainly on his face. Hiseyes gleamed with the fires of power lust.�)But considering the mauling that the Englishlanguage routinely receives in RPG products,I can live with Wieck�s excesses.

While MAGE avoids the typos thatplagued WEREWOLF, it shares its haphaz-ard organization. We�re told how to createadventures before the rules are explained.Chapter Seven refers to Soak rolls, a me-chanic not fully addressed until ChapterNine. Material about magical items is scat-tered through three chapters. If epigramswere onions, this book would stink so badyou couldn�t stand to have it in the house.It seems like every other page begins witha quote, many of them puerile musingsfrom third-rate rock stars. Here�s one fromGerry Rafferty, introducing a section ondie-rolls: �You used to think it was so easy/you used to say that it was so easy/butyou�re tryin�, you�re tryin� now.� Huh?

Characters: Put away your dice. Per-sonal preference determines just aboutevery aspect of a MAGE character. A play-er begins by deciding the overall conceptof his character (Hermit or Explorer?Conformist or Caregiver?), then ranks thePhysical, Mental, and Social Attributes intoPrimary, Secondary, and Tertiary catego-ries. Seven dots are divided among thethree categories; the more dots, thestronger the category. Each Attributeconsists of various Talents (such as Alert-ness and Intuition), Skills (Etiquette, Fire-arms), and Knowledges (Cosmology,Medicine), collectively known as Abilities.The player receives 13 dots to spend onPrimary abilities, nine on Secondary, andfive on Tertiary. He also assigns ratings toBackground Traits (Allies, Mentors),Spheres (categories of magic, analogous tothe AD&D game�s schools of magic), andWillpower. An extra 15 points� worth ofdots can be spent wherever the playerlikes. While the process creates interest-ing, focused characters, it takes a longtime. The text advises that an entire ses-sion should be set aside for charactercreation. It took my players a weekend tofinish theirs.

Mechanics: MAGE uses the Storytellersystem to resolve most actions. The ref-eree decides which of a character�s traitsapply in a particular situation, typically anAttribute and an Ability. The player addsthe number of dots in each trait, thentosses that number of 10-sided dice. Forinstance, if Bob the Magician wanted toknow if Evil Elmo was following him, Bobmight use his Perception Attribute andAlertness Talent. If Bob has three dots andtwo dots in these traits respectively, herolls five dice. The referee assigns a Diffi-culty Level from 2 to 10; spotting Elmomight call for a Difficulty Level of 5. Everyroll that equals or exceeds the DifficultyLevel is a success. The more successes, thebetter the result. One success might meanthat Bob catches a glimpse of Elmo, threesuccess might mean he sees the switch-blade in his hand. The system requires alot of judgment calls from the referee, andthe strict Difficulty ranks don�t leave muchroom for fine-tuning. It generates satisfy-ing results and, better yet, it�s fast. Experi-enced gamers should have it down in anafternoon.

The combat system, all five (!) pages ofit, uses similar rules. Opponents roll forinitiative, the referee determines the rele-vant traits and sets Difficulty Levels, andthe players roll for success. Damagedvictims lose Health Levels, which can berecovered by rest and magic. The systemworks, though the results aren�t particu-larly dramatic unless the referee has a

DRAGON 81

flair for vivid descriptions. If you�re look-ing for detailed, drawn-out combat en-counters, you�re playing the wrong game.

Magic: To attempt magic, the playerdecides if the intended effect is Coinciden-tal (an effect that looks like an accident,such as a gun misfiring) or Vulgar (aneffect that can�t be explained logically,such as a gun changing into a pigeon). Thereferee determines if the character hassufficient ratings in the applicableSpheres, then sets the Difficulty level ofthe effect roll (the rating of the highestSphere plus 3, plus a Difficulty Modifier).The player rolls a number of dice equal tohis mage�s highest Sphere rating for aVulgar effect, or a number of dice equal tohis Arete rating (which quantifies themage�s insight) for a Coincidental effect.The referee announces the result afternoting the number of successes and con-sulting the relevant charts to calculatedamage, duration, and range. The roll alsomay be affected by a victim�s Willpower (ameasure of self-confidence) or Soak (a die-roll to deflect or absorb damage, whichmay be modified by Difficulty). Dependingon the result of the roll, the mage mayearn Paradox points (an indication of howmuch the mage has violated reality), or aBacklash (a physical or psychic penalty forbotched effects).

Geez. All I wanted to do was toss a fire-ball at a bad guy.

MAGE�s magic system is three parts bril-liance, one part baloney. In most fantasygames, magic boils down to a set of glorifiedcombat rules. In MAGE, magic is a rigorousideology. It�s a refreshing approach thatdemands more of players than memorizingrules (though it demands that, too).

MAGE defines wizards as spirituallyevolved individuals capable of imposingtheir beliefs on the natural world. Theybelong to social units called Traditions,among them the Akashic Brotherhood(monastic martial artists), the Cult of Ecsta-sy (lovers of art and music), and theDreamspeakers (an ancient order of spiri-tualists). Each Tradition espouses specificinterpretations of the four phases of reali-ty: Quintessence (the raw substance of theuniverse), Pattern (subdivisions of Quintes-sence), Spirit (the picture of reality re-vealed by Patterns), and Physical (theworld as perceived by everyone). Spheresassign reality manipulation into variouscategories, including Life, Mind, and Time.Though any mage can draw on anySphere, most Traditions favor one in par-ticular; the Akashic Brotherhood favorsthe Sphere of the Mind, the Cult of Ecstasyfavors the Sphere of Time.

It sounds complicated, and it-is. Itsounds like it takes a lot of work, and itdoes. Once mastered though, the systemallows unprecedented freedom, enablingmages to access any type of effect theycan dream up. Instead of drawing on anarsenal of spells, the mage simply de-scribes the effect he�d like to achieve (say,turning himself and a companion invisi-

82 FEBRUARY 1994

ble). The referee decides which Spheresapply (Forces, for manipulating nature,and Life, for affecting living creatures). Henotes the mage�s strengths in thoseSpheres (the number of dots), determinesthe difficulty (more difficult than usual,since two people will be affected), thenrolls the indicated number of dice andannounces the result (a good roll meansboth characters disappear).

More significantly, the player partici-pates every step of the way. He may spendQuintessence points or take an extra turnto decrease the Difficulty rating. He mayuse Willpower to attempt an exceptionalaction. The mage may position himselfnear a place of power called a Node toenhance his chances of success. His Tradi-tion may require him to perform specificactions (members of the Order of Hermesmay need to chant and clutch the Seal ofSolomon when accessing the Life Sphere).He may draw on exotic effects calledRotes, such as flesh toys (the creation ofnew life forms) and personal compression(shrinking himself to microscopic size). I�venever seen a magic system that so activelyengages the imaginations of both the ref-eree and the players. It�s a revolutionarydesign, masterfully executed.

As for the baloney, Wieck often getscarried away on a wave of words, makingstraightforward concepts more convolutedthan they need to be. Take, for instance,this description of Co-Locality Perception:

. . . the mage understands that all thingsexists at a single Correspondence Point.She thus realizes that she is already every-where at once. The application of thisknowledge allows her to shift positioninstantaneously to other locations. Notethat to the mage�s enlightened perceptions,she is not even moving (she, along witheverything else, exists at the Correspon-dence Point); she is simply changing whereshe appears to be within the illusion ofthree-dimensional space. . . .� Sounds likeplain old teleportation to me. Wieck�sfondness for jargon can be confusing. Hedefines Arete as �how much universaltruth a character understands,� but I don�tknow what he�s talking about�what�s�universal truth�? The Ascension in thetitle refers to some nirvana-like state ofself-actualization that all good magesshould try to achieve, but I�m not sure I�drecognize it if I got there.

Campaigning: MAGE shares the samecontemporary setting as WEREWOLF andVAMPIRE, but that�s just for openers.When your spell-casters tire of a rotten-to-the-core New York or the blight of GreatBritain, they can explore a spirit dimen-sion called the Near Umbra, or visit apotpourri of alternate planes such as theShard Realms and the Paradox Realms.Few of these locales, however, receivemore than a superficial description. De-spite the tantalizing hints about a world ofmagic and technology�we�re told of Dial-a-Spell services and witches� familiars incomputer hard-drives�there�s not enough

raw material to launch a campaign. All butthe most inventive referees will have towait for the supplements.

Evaluation: The most innovative fanta-sy game since ARS MAGICA and WhiteWolfs strongest product to date, MAGEcan be an extraordinary experience forplayers willing to tackle its intricacies. Thereferee in particular faces a formidablechallenge. Not only does he have to keepthe adventure on track, he also has to setDifficulty Ratings, determine ParadoxFlaws, and assimilate dozens of oddballconcepts. Casual players may be put off bythe game�s soberness, beginners may bediscouraged by the complexity. Still, withits emphasis on storytelling and break-through approach to magic, I suspect thisis the game a lot of people have beenwaiting for. If the White Wolfers remaintrue to their vision�I don�t want to see asecond edition with 50 pages of combatrules�MAGE should be around a longtime.

EARTHDAWN game * * *336-page hardcover bookFASA Corporation $30Design: Greg GordenGame concepts: Jordan Weisman, Greg

Gorden, Christopher Kubasik, SamLewis, Tom Dowd, Louis J. Prosperi,and L. Ross Babcock III

AdditionaI material: Christopher Kubasik,Louis J. Prosperi, Tom Dowd, andMichael Mulvihill

Development: Louis J. Prosperi, TomDowd, and Michael Mulvihill

Editing: Donna IppolitoIllustrations: Janet Aulisio, Rick Berry, Joel

Biske, Les Dorschied, Dell Harris, JeffLaubenstein, David Martin, Jim Nelson,Nick Smith, Tony Szczudlo, Susan VanCamp, Mike Nielsen, Steve Bryant, TomBaxa, Earl Geier, Rick Harris, LarryMacDougall, Anita Nelson, Mark Nel-son, Robert Nelson, and Karl Waller

Cover: Rick Berry

EARTHDAWN GamemasterP a c k * *½ 64-page booklet, three-panel refereescreen, one sheet of treasure cards, one-page errata sheetFASA Corporation $12Design: Greg Gorden and Louis J. ProsperiAdditional material: Michael MulvihillDevelopment: Louis J. ProsperiEditing: Donna IppolitoIllustrations: Paul Jaquays, Jeff Lauben-

stein, Joel Biske, and Robert NelsonCover: Courtney Studios

Mists of Betrayal * * *½ 104-page softcover bookFASA Corporation $8Design: John TerraAdditional material: Rob Cruz and DianePironDevelopment: Louis J. ProsperiEditing: Donna IppolitoIllustrations: Tom Baxa, Joel Biske, Eliza-

beth Danforth, Tom Dow, Earl Geier,Jeff Laubenstein, Darrell Midgette,Mike Nielsen, Robert Nelson, and TonySzczudlo

Cover: Joel Biske

Quick�name the game that fits thisdescription: �The world . . . is one of leg-end. Its people and places are larger thanlife, the stuff of song and saga. Heroesfight the monsters of this and otherworlds; their bold exploits light a beaconof hope for the future, as word of theirdeeds spreads far across the troubled,fearful land. [It] is a world of high adven-ture, high magic, and terrible danger.� Is itthe AD&D game? Is it the ARS MAGICAgame, Avalon Hill�s RUNEQUEST*, orFlying Buffalo�s TUNNELS & TROLLS*game?

It could be any of them, but it�s actuallya description of the EARTHDAWN game,taken from the first chapter of the rule-book, and therein lies the problem. De-spite workable rules and a clever setting,EARTHDAWN is more frosting than cake,with little of substance to distinguish itfrom the competition. Much of the gameseems to parallel the AD&D system, in-cluding the archetypes (dwarves, dragons,and wizards), terminology (�circle� for�level�) (�legend points� for �experiencepoints�), even its polyhedral dice (d4, d6,d8, d10, d12, and d20). Maybe a better titlewould�ve been �DEJA VU.�

Undeniably, it�s a classy production,highlighted by striking illustrations andFASA�s usual state-of-the-art graphics. GregGorden, noted for his work on Mayfair�sDC HEROES* game and West End Game�sTORG* game, came up with a first-ratemanuscript. Thanks to the clear writingand sensible organization (White Wolf,take note), it�s an easy read.

Characters: To build a character, theplayer first selects a Discipline (characterclass), such as Archer, Thief, Elementalist, orSky Rider. The choice of Discipline suggestsa race; elves make good Archers, but elvenSky Riders are forbidden. Players with ataste for the exotic can be reptilian swash-bucklers known as t�skrang, or rock-likebrutes called obsidimen. Traditionalists canstick with dwarves and humans.

Players determine values for six basicAttributes�Strength, Dexterity, Tough-ness, Perception, Willpower, andCharisma�by choice (spending 66 pointson the Attribute Cost Table) or chance(rolling four six-sided dice for each anddiscarding the lowest roll). The character�sAttributes and Discipline determine hisspecial abilities, called Talents. The AirSailing Talent, for instance, is based on theWillpower Talent, Avoid Blow comes fromDexterity. There are over a hundred onthe menu, some deadly (like Flame Arrow,which transforms normal arrows intoshafts of fire), some goofy (Lizard Leap,which enables a character to jump straightup in the air). Characters also receiveArmor Ratings, a few Skills (like Tracking,

Forgery, and Lock Picking), and KarmaPoints. It�s a painless system, but for thosewho don�t want to fuss with numbers, thebook supplies a good selection of ready-to-play characters, such as the Dwarf Ele-mentalist and the T�skrang Swordmaster.

Mechanics: Here�s where things getmessy. The heart of the resolution systeminvolves dice rolls and Difficulty Levels,not unlike MAGE. EARTHDAWN mucksthat up with the Step Number, a conceptcentral to just about every mechanic in thegame. Step Numbers generate Action Dice,which correspond to Attribute values.According to the Step/Action Dice Table,an Attribute of 19 equals a Step Numberof 8 which in turn equals 2D6 in ActionDice. Talents and Skills also have Rankratings that indicate the character�s levelof expertise.

To resolve an action, the referee refersto the formula for the relevant Talent orSkill. For example, to use the Claw ShapeTalent, add the Talent Rank to the StrengthStep Number (from the Step/Action DiceTable), then add 3, which gives the num-ber of Action Dice that are rolled againstthe Difficulty. Some Talent formulas re-quire the player to spend Karma Points,others require a Damage-Point reduction.That�s a lot of work just to remember apassage from a book (using the Book RecallTalent) or dodge a punch (Avoid Blow). Allthe chart checking and formula fiddling islike driving a car with a bum clutch; you�llget where you�re going, but you�re in for ajerky ride.

Combat also uses Difficulty Levels andStep Numbers. An attack succeeds if therelevant Talent or Skill roll is equal to orhigher than the victim�s Defense Rating. ADamage Roll, typically based on the StepNumbers of the weapon and the attacker�sStrength, indicates the number of DamagePoints lost. If the Damage exceeds thevictim�s Wound Threshold, he may beknocked down. If it exceeds his Uncon-sciousness Rating, he collapses. If it ex-ceeds his Death Rating, he dies. Sensibleand concise optional rules allow for calledshots, stun attacks, and shield blocks.

Magic: EARTHDAWN offers three dif-ferent takes on magic, the most familiarbeing a list of spells from which qualifiedcharacters may pick and choose. Theexhaustive list includes both the standard(sleep, light) and the unusual (throne of air,silence metal). To get a spell off theground, the player makes a roll against thespell�s Difficulty, modified by the target�sSpell Defense value. Unfortunately, clunkyattempts at realism result in ponderouscomplications like spell matrices and warp-ing tests. (Don�t ask.) Consider this: �Magi-cians casting spells on themselvesautomatically lower their Spell Defenseagainst their own spells to 2. . . . The magi-cian�s Spell Defense against spells cast byother characters is not reduced, but acharacter casting a spell against a magicianwho has voluntarily lowered his SpellDefense adds +2 steps to his Spell-casting

Test step.� What are the odds of remem-bering that in the middle of a firefight?

The second type, blood magic, boostsmagical effects by expending DamagePoints; it�s an interesting option, thoughnothing out of the ordinary. The thirdtype, thread magic, offers a startlinglyoriginal approach to the use and design ofmagical items. By weaving threads ofmagical energy, high-circle magicians gainaccess to increasingly higher Ranks ofpower tied to mystic objects. A magicianmust first acquire the Key Knowledge of aparticular Rank, then research the spe-cifics of the discovered information. Magi-cal items tend to be one-of-a-kindtreasures, and referees are encouraged tomake them as off-beat as possible. In mycampaign, a crystal sword might curediseases; in yours, it might generate light-ning bolts. A neat fusion of role-playingand mechanics, thread magic is easily thegame�s best feature.

Campaigning: The rich history ofEARTHDAWN centers on the Books ofHarrow, a set of ancient volumes contain-ing the secrets of supernatural aggressorscalled the Horrors. A translation of theFirst Book warns that the Horrors are ontheir way, and there�s little that civilizationcan do to stop them. Scholars, wizards,and warriors scramble to protect them-selves by building underground villages,constructing citadels in hollow mountains,and making pacts with dragons. The Hor-rors arrive, turn the world upside down,then dare the PCs to put it all back togeth-er. An overview of Barsaive (EARTH-DAWN�s primary setting), a chapter ofgame-mastering tips, and a set of intrigu-ing monsters provide referees withenough material to get some introductoryadventures off the ground.

Supplements: The Gamemaster Pack,the first EARTHDAWN supplement, wrapsa three-panel referee�s screen around asheet of treasure cards and booklet ofmiscellany. The screen does an adequatejob of collecting key tables from the rule-book, but in itself isn�t worth the price ofthe package. The booklet contains optionalcombat rules, pregenerated characters,new treasures, and an essay about bloodmagic, none of it crucial. An errata sheetclarifies some muddy passages and cor-rects a few typos from the rulebook. As apublic service, here�s the most important:On the Step/Action Dice Table (page 36),change the Action Dice value for Step 19from d26 + d6 to d20 + 2d6. You�re wel-come.

The second supplement fares muchbetter. A book-length adventure by theever-reliable John Terra, Mists of Betrayalperfectly captures EARTHDAWN�s breezyfantasy. A quest for the secret of a magicamulet takes the party from Haven, abustling village near the Forgotten City ofParlainth, to the Blood Wood, a creepyforest �where leaves whisper in a passingbreeze: Leave this place. Leave this place.�Stocked with wizened wizards, glittering

DRAGON 83

treasures, and nasty monsters, Mistsshould make AD&D players feel right athome. Despite the sparse graphics (onlyone map) and a squishy climax, Mists is afine effort.

Evaluation: Wall-to-wall innovationisn�t necessary or even desirable for a newRPG. On the heels of FASA�s imaginativeSHADOWRUN* game though, EARTH-DAWN feels like a step back. The beststuff (the thread magic) doesn�t make theso-so stuff (the knotty mechanics) anymore palatable.

The more I played it however, the betterit got. I liked the spells. I liked the back-ground. I loved the t�skrang. Mists of Be-trayal made me hungry for the next roundof supplements. This game ain�t RUNE-QUEST. It ain�t even TUNNELS & TROLLS.But in a greasy pizza, let�s-not-take-this-too-seriously kind of way, EARTHDAWN holdsits own. Will it be around in five years? Iwouldn�t be surprised. Will I still be play-ing it? Now that would surprise me.

Short & sweetChampions of Mystara �, by Ann Dupuis

and Bruce A. Heard. TSR, Inc., $20. Fansmourning the loss of the �Princess Ark�chronicles from the pages of DRAGON®Magazine can console themselves with thislavish boxed set for the DUNGEONS &DRAGONS® game. With 224 pages of text,eight vehicle blueprints, and four poster

maps, Champions of Mystara includeseverything you need to build a campaignaround Prince Haldemar of Haaken andhis amazing skyship. For those with nointerest in the Prince, the Designer�s Man-ual explains how to construct skyshipsfrom scratch and launch them into outerspace. Sound like the AD&D gameSPELLJAMMER® setting? It is, sort of.Mystara physics aren�t nearly as coopera-tive, though. The void between worlds isas frigid as an arctic night, making freez-ing to death a real possibility. Negativegravity planes can cause vessels to capsizein mid-air. Passengers who don�t wear airmasks or cast create atmosphere spellsrisk suffocation. You thought piloting anAlphatian yacht would be easy?

PANDEMONIUM * game, by StephanMichael Sechi. M.I.B. Productions (availa-ble from Atlas Games), $20. PANDEMONI-UM features role-playing in the world ofsupermarket tabloids, where Liberacereigns as the king of Atlantis and a spacealien is President Clinton�s best friend.Players assume the roles of cab driversand housewives to investigate all sorts ofparanormal weirdness; imagineChaosium�s CALL OF CTHULHU* gamecrossed with Mad Magazine. The �E-Z�rules allow the referee to resolve anyaction with a d10 roll on the Fate Table;players boost their chances of success by

applying Attribute and Paranormal Talentbonuses. Loony premise aside, the systemfeatures some remarkably sophisticatedconcepts. A player who gets in touch withhis Past Life�I was Jimi Hendrix�gains ahost of new abilities. Attackers may Injure,Restrain, or attempt One-Shot Knock-Outs.Damaged characters have a choice ofconsulting physicians, psychiatrists, orholistic healers. An RPG inspired by theNational Enquirer and the Weekly WorldNews ? Why not? If you can handle drag-ons and trolls, you ought to able to handleBigfoot and Elvis. (For information, writeAtlas Games, P.O. Box 406, Northfield MN55057.)

Rick Swan has worked for TSR, Inc., WestEnd Games, and Steve Jackson Games. Heis also the author of The Complete Guideto Role-playing Games, published by St.Martin�s Press. You can write to him at2620 30th St., Des Moines IA 50310. En-close a stamped self-addressed envelope ifyou�d like a response.

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

L e t t e r sContinued from page 8

Troubador Press is still in business, but theaddress in the album is: 385 Fremont St., SanFrancisco CA 94105. The album�s ISBN numberis: 0-89844-009-2. You can use the ISBN numberto order the book through a bookstore (if it�sstill in print). I think the album�s price was$3.95. Good luck finding a copy!

Bob FlackRoanoke VA

Magazine delays?D e a r D r a g o n ,

My DRAGON Magazine is consistently deliv-ered late each month. Albeit, shipping is diffi-cult, however this is not an excuse. It reachesthe local gaming stores before the same issuereaches my house.

While the [subscription] discount is nice, I canreceive a discount of equal or greater valuethrough the local gaming stores. My primaryreason for subscribing is to receive informationbefore my friends.

I am not asking you to cancel my subscription.However, I am demanding that my DRAGON

84 FEBRUARY 1994

before the majority of people who have not

Magazine be delivered in a timely fashion. It isgreat product. I reasonably wish to enjoy it

spent the time or the resources to receive asubscription.

To whom itconcernsDear Dragon,

With all the new names on the magazine�smasthead, how do I address my submission?

Tomas Gresch

Jonathan B. LotzerDallas TX

The staff is always concerned that everyonereceives DRAGON Magazine in a timely fashion.The truth is though, once an issue of the maga-zine goes to the printer, it is out of our control.The subscription copies are mailed directlyfrom the printer, usually around the 26th of the

Carson City NV

All submissions to DRAGON Magazine shouldbear the following address: DRAGON Magazine,P.O. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A. In

month prior to the month of the issue. Assum-ing they mail the magazines on time, some ofthe responsibility may lie with the U.S. PostalService. Keep in mind that the magazines aremailed using second-class postage, not firstclass. This means that second-class mail has alower priority in the Post Office than first-classparcels. A first-class letter usually arrives in 3-5

addition, fiction submissions should be ad-dressed to Barbara Young; art submissionsshould go to Larry Smith; subscription requestsor problems should be to the attention of JanetWinters; advertising information can be hadfrom Cindy Rick; and mail for particular depart-ments of the magazine such as �Letters,� �SageAdvice,� �Convention Calendar� and so on

days; a second-class parcel (depending on itsdestination) can take up to two weeks to bedelivered. Make your concern known to yourlocal Postmaster, she may be able to speed theprocess along.

should be labeled as such. Article submissionsand all miscellaneous mail should be addressedto yours truly, Dale Donovan.

Mystery of the Plains

While in Mulhorand, in the now-desolatesoutheastern reaches that were once (longbefore ever I drew breath) the empire ofOkoth¹, I came upon a very curious sight.

A sword�as bright as if it had just beenmirror-polished by a proud smith�stoodupright in the midst of a mound of earththat was overgrown with a healthy tangleof plants and strewn with skulls. A fewmummified hands reached vainly upwardthrough the creepers, as if in supplication;a grisly sight.

I determined most of these remainswere elven and human, but I noted an orcskull and that of a troll, too. There wasobviously strong magic present; what elsewould keep the sword bright and free ofrust (it had rained just the day before; theground I was walking on was damp), andthe corpses in this curious mix of barebones, withered but whole limbs, and thestench of death?

Always wary when death and magic arefound together, I cast seeking spells todivine the nature and extent of themagic�and found nothing. No magic at all.Not a hint of any dweomer, not even onthe sword, though I did not touch it.

To be sure I hadn�t miscast, I worked thespell again, with the same result. Yet myeyes did not lie! What befell here? It wouldhave been reckless foolishness to havetouched the blade (and yet, I�ve been guiltyof worse), so I withdrew. I cast about withmy full perception as well, to be sure thatno mind-mastery was at work, and foundnaught in that search also.

I must visit Baylox, Master Mage ofShussel, when next I�m in those reaches ofthe Realms. He�s the authority on Okothianmagics�and I�ve heard of nothing in mod-ern magic (not even artifacts) that canconceal all signs of magic from the repeat-ed searching spells of an archmage!

I must consult with Most Holy Mystra onthe ethics of researching such magics, andif it be deemed proper, this is a matter Imust not neglect. Magecraft throughoutFaerun is threatened if there is suchstrong magic that can conceal itself utterly.

Masking spells that can defy or deludethe detections of minor spells, those of thefifth level or below, have long been knownin the Realms, though they leave their owntraces in turn. Places of power dedicatedto a deity also often exhibit powers thatthwart, twist, or utterly conceal auras,

86 FEBRUARY 1994

by Ed GreenwoodArtwork by Gary Williams

spells, and even the residual dweomers ofmighty castings; but places with suchpowerful magic of their own either radiatea strong magical aura (as a mythal² does)or are permeated with the alignment or�smell� (the personal magical presence) ofthe deity who has worked them.

In this case, �tis most likely the blade is

magic-and the cleanest explanation forthe masked magic is that I was gazing atan intelligent entity (perhaps such as thoseblade-like monsters known as xavers3)whose spell-like natural powers of magicwere working the effects I observed. I�venot seen such magic as the personalpowers of any creature before�but then,there�s a first meeting for all things in life.

I scratched out a hand-sized pit in thedirt near the sword, and in doing so cameto know the place where the sword standswell enough that I can return thence byteleport without reference to the sword,the skulls, or any part of the leafy tangle.about the blade (in case any of these moveor are taken away by the time I return).

When tasks permit, I must return toinvestigate more fully. In the meantime,I�ve left a watchward¹ behind.

I�ve been �fetched� by lures before�traps placed by rival mages, priests ofBane, dragon cultists, Phaerimm, dragonsand illithids looking for sport, and liches,alhoon, and beholders looking for newvictims to wrest magical knowledge from.Entrapping wizards seems a popular pas-time in Faerun, come to think of it.

This sword seemed somehow differentfrom the various traps I�ve known. Al-though one of the satisfactions of being apowerful mage is the ability to deal deci-sively and completely with any matter orcuriosity that presents itself, one canwaste several lifetimes chasing down side-trails if one allows every glittering item ofinterest that comes along to distract onefrom chosen purposes and tasks. Some ofmy foes�the Zhentarim, in particular-seem to delight in trying such distractions.Their dismay, when I ignore such misdi-rections and cleave through to their darkdeeds and innermost councils, is mostheartening. For the time being, this swordmust remain an unexplored mystery;more pressing matters await.

No matter how many years I see, Faerunalways holds forth new strangeness to

intrigue the eye. No doubt that�s one rea-son I�ve not yet grown tired of life.

Notes1. Okoth was a sprawling realm of lizard

men, yuan-ti, or nagas (the records areunclear) who kept humans as slaves. Itsfeuding territories ultimately destroyedeach other in civil war, leaving little be-hind today but the name and a few buriedruins (such as the Vaults of Record, once asubcellar of a proud palace, and now awarren of chambers known only to were-rats, snakes, and the bolder sort of sages).Some of the magic of Mulhorand andUnther is said to have been carried out ofthe shattered remnants of Okoth.

2. A mythal is a permanent magical forcefield that augments some magic, negatesother magics, and turns still other magicswild. It also may have its own properties,operating automatically or triggered byconditions as a magic mouth spell is trig-gered. (Typical properties include healingof injured beings who remain within itsconfines for a certain duration, and vari-ous alterations to natural light, sound,temperature, moisture, and gravity.) De-tails, as well as the locations of someknown mythals, appear in The Ruins ofMyth Drannor boxed set.

3. This monster is detailed in The Ruinsof Myth Drannor boxed set.

4. A spell that alerts Elminster if the areaimmediately around the blade is enteredby any living creature; if any magic is usedin that area or manifested by the sword;or if his own magic expires or is ended bythe work of other magic. It is an improvedversion of the watchware spell detailed inthe FORGOTTEN REALMS® Adventuressourcebook, differing from that spell onlyas follows: a watchward is a fifth-levelwizard spell, whose �guarded area� is anunmoving spherical 60�-diameter area ofeffect located as the caster wills. (Thecaster must be within this area duringcasting.) The spell is discharged by thefirst disturbance of the area, and sends asilent alert to the caster anywhere on thesame plane. This alert gives some hint ofthe nature of what triggered (e.g., whichof the �categories� listed above caused thespell to discharge).

The Iron Dragon of Quaran for WotC�s TALISLANTA* game

©I994 by Stephan Michael Sechi

Artwork by Liz Danforth

Talislanta is an ancient land, dotted withthe remnants of crumbling cities and deadcivilizations. The secrets of untold ages lieburied among these ruins, lost andforgotten for centuries upon centuries.With the opening of the Lyceum Arca-num�s secret archives, Talislantan scholarshave just begun to unravel the mysteriesof the distant past. One such mystery thathas yet to be solved is the legend of theIron Dragon of Quaran, a metallic mon-strosity believed to exist during theForgotten Age.

The Iron Dragon is said to have beenconstructed by the Quaranians, a cabal ofblack magicians who once ruled a darkempire that extended across half the conti-nent. Some believe the Quaranians stolethe secret of the dragon�s manufacturefrom the Kasirans, a people renowned fortheir skill in the creation of elaboratemagical mechanisms. Others claim that theQuaranians acquired the technical infor-mation necessary through a diabolical pactwith the shaitan Zahur, a rebel cast out bythe hierarchy of Talislantan devils.

Designed to strike fear into the hearts ofthe Quaranians� enemies, the Iron Dragoncertainly must have done that. This terri-ble engine of destruction is said to havemeasured over 200� long, and it stoodnearly 80� tall. Its black iron skeleton wascast from a great crested dragon�s bones,which agents of the Quaranians recoveredfrom Dragon�s Grave, the legendary burialplace of dragonkind. Its armored exteriorwas fashioned from overlapping ironscales, the largest of which is said to havemeasured over 8� in diameter. Studdedwith rows of sharpened spikes, barbs, andrazor-sharp blades, the Iron Dragon�sarmor was reputed to be impervious to allbut the heaviest siege weapons.

Nine crystals of enchanted prismatite,each weighing over 200 carats, served asthe dragon�s power source. Its �internalorgans� consisted of an elaborate systemof gears, copper tubing, and clockworkmechanisms used to pump cooling andlubricating fluids throughout the dragon�sstructure. A network of iron conduitsextended upward from a giant bellows inthe construct�s �stomach,� passing throughthe neck and terminating at the base ofthe iron dragon�s metal-fanged jaws. Thisapparatus could be used to expel largequantities of liquid fire essence from theconstruct�s mouth, in effect enabling thedragon to �breathe� flame.

According to some accounts, a crew ofover forty engineers, metalworkers, andancillary personnel was required to keepthe Iron Dragon functioning at peak effi-

88 FEBRUARY 1994

ciency. Stationed within the swelteringconfines of the dragon�s stomach, theykept the fire-bellows stoked, monitoredpressure valves, and made certain that theconstruct�s various mechanisms remainedin good working order. The pilot andnavigator resided in the head, guiding thedragon�s movements by means of a com-plex array of control levers. Seated justbelow them, to either side of the dragon�snostrils, were the two artillerists whooperated the fire-breathing apparatus.

Other versions of the legend state thatthe Iron Dragon was equipped with anautomatonic sensorium that enabled themetal leviathan to function without theneed for pilot or crew. If this is true, thedragon must have possessed a rudimenta-ry optical system that allowed it to distin-guish friend from foe. The construct�sautomatonic sensorium might have beencapable of storing certain simple sets ofcommands, such as �search and destroy,��guard and protect,� and so on. Scholars ofthe New Age are skeptical of such claims;while the magicians of the late Archaenperiod may well have possessed the abilityto create sophisticated enchanted appara-tuses of this sort, most scholars believe theQuaranians lacked the skill and knowledgenecessary to employ such arcanology.

The earliest known accounts of the IronDragon of Quaran indicate that the metalbehemoth was first employed against theXambrians, a peaceful people whom theblack magicians regarded as an inferiorspecies and had targeted for a systematiccampaign of genocide. Accordingly, theQuaranians sent an army of sorceroushybrids to lay siege to the city of Xambria,accompanied by the Iron Dragon. A partialaccount of this incident, written by anunknown participant in the battle, wasrecently discovered in the Lyceum Arca-num�s archives. It reads as follows:

�A great section of the wall collapsed,burying the city�s defenders beneath tonsof rubble and debris. The Iron Dragoncontinued on unabated, crushing every-thing in its path and exhaling great goutsof crimson flame from its armored head. Amoment later the surrogate armies of theQuaranians poured through the breach inthe wall, mounted astride their fiercewarbeasts. Rounding up the survivors,they marched the captives north acrossthe plains, leaving the dragon to completethe destruction of the city.�

The last recorded appearance of theIron Dragon appeared in an obscure refer-ence chronicling the fateful battle betweenthe Quaranians and their most hated ri-vals, the Numenians. Marching at theforefront of a vast Quaranian host, theIron Dragon was purportedly engaged byIkon, a giant metal golem that stood guardover the city of Numenia. Some say that inthe ensuing conflict Ikon defeated the IronDragon by forcing it backward over theedge of a deep ravine. Others state thatthe great metal beast was swallowed upwhen the ground split asunder, ostensibly

because of the combined weight of thetwo gigantic adversaries.

Whatever the case, Ikon and the Nume-nian forces emerged victorious. Thepower of the Quaranians was broken andtheir empire soon fell into ruin. The IronDragon of Quaran disappeared and hasnever been recovered. Aside from the fragments of text men-

tioned earlier, only three ancient refer-ences to the dragon are of unquestionedauthenticity. The first is a fragment ofparchment said to have been taken fromthe black magician Mordante�s notes. Thisfragment suggests that the enchantressMelandre, Mordante�s consort and anoccult scholar in her own right, believedthat the mystics known as the Wanderersof Ashann recovered not only the Eye of

Campaign applicationsVery little evidence of the Iron Dragon

of Quaran�s final resting place remains.There is no guarantee that this giant con-struct, or its rusted remains, will ever belocated. Like so many other relics of thepast, the dragon may have been destroyedby vandals, looted by tomb robbers, orsimply lost to the ravages of time and theelements. Ikon from the ruins of Numenia, but the

StatisticsSize: 200� long, 80� high; estimated weight in excess of 90 tons.Attributes: INT 0*, PER -4*, STR + 18, DEX - 18, SPD -3; all other attributes not

applicable.*Only if equipped with an automatonic sensorium; otherwise, negligible. See Special

Abilities.Level: 50Attacks/Damage: Metallic bite: d20; Ramming: 10d20; Crush (underfoot): 3d20;

Fiery �breath�: 2d20 (see Special abilities).Special abilities: Fire-breathing (range: 100�; internal reservoir contains sufficient

supplies of fire essence for up to 12 uses), immune to fire-based attacks that cause lessthan 50 points of damage, half damage from those causing greater than 50 points ofdamage. If equipped with an automatonic sensorium, the Iron Dragon can retain andfollow simple sets of commands and distinguish and recognize certain types of visualstimuli.

Armor: Heavy iron scales deflect up to 20 points of damage per attack.Hit points: 80 per appendage, including the legs, neck, and head. The torso area

can withstand up to 100 points of damage, after which some form of malfunctionoccurs. Possibilities include the following:

-Fire-bellows damaged. Loss of fire-breathing capability until the bellows can berepaired.

-Fire essence reservoir damaged. Flames spread throughout the interior of thedragon, causing d20 damage per round until the reservoir can be repaired or is emptyof fuel (total fuel capacity is 36 × d20 when reservoir is full).

-Drive system damaged. No movement possible until repairs can be made. Fire-breathing apparatus is unaffected.

-1d8 power crystals damaged. All systems are down until the malfunctioning crys-tals are replaced.

The GM can roll a d4 to determine the type of malfunction caused by damage to theIron Dragon�s torso, or may choose the type of malfunction as desired.

DRAGON 89

Iron Dragon’s sensorium as well. WhileMordante gave little credence to his wife’sbelief, modern scholars are less certainhow to evaluate this claim.

The second commonly cited reference tothe Iron Dragon of Quaran is found in aXambrian tale of the legendary wizardhunter, Xarik. According to the story, theIron Dragon leaped from an undergroundfissure and attacked Xarik as he crossedthe Sad Plains on his way to Omen, themountain of skulls. Due to the deteriora-tion of some of the dragon’s iron scales,Xarik was able to defeat the monstrousmachine single-handed. The Xambrianthen dismantled it and scattered its piecesthroughout the Volcanic Hills, lest it riseagain to attack his people.

Only the last of the three referencesclaims the Iron Dragon may still be intact.In this account, taken from the diary of aknown Quaranian reincarnator, the drag-on was greatly damaged in the strugglewith Ikon but managed to escape andreturn to Quaran, where its creatorsplanned to repair it. Before they couldfinish doing so, however, the empire felland the battered Iron Dragon was hiddenin a great crypt far beneath the ruins ofQuaran.

Despite the lack of solid evidence, thelegend of the Iron Dragon has proved anirresistible lure to Talislantans of the NewAge. A famous Yitek tomb-robber by the

name of Azzam spent the last twelve yearsof his life searching for the monster, fran-tically excavating various sites in thesouthernmost reaches of the Maruk Moun-tains. According to his heirs, Azzam be-lieved that an earthquake caused by TheGreat Disaster buried the spot where thedragon fell after its battle with Ikon. Afterlocating several other Numenian artifacts,Azzam felt he was getting close to thecorrect spot, but an unfortunate cave-intook his life before he was able to com-plete his search.

Should a group of adventurers find evena fragment of the Iron Dragon, they wouldimmediately receive many lucrative offersfor it. Should they find the entire mecha-nism intact, they would literally be able toname their price. To Sindaran collectorsenamored of ancient artifacts, a uniquerelic of this sort would be worth hundredsof thousands of gold lumens. The scholarlymages of the Lyceum Arcanum in thecrystal city of Cymril would embraceeagerly any opportunity to examine such arare find. Yassan technomancers alsowould like to study the interior workingsof this construct, and might well possesssufficient skill to repair or reassemble thedragon if it, or enough of its pieces, werefound.

The Iron Dragon also might be put tomore sinister uses, particularly by thoseinclined to warlike or destructive ends.

The Nihilists of Rajanistan, a morbid cultof assassins and necromancers who claimdescent from the Quaranians, are said tocovet this ancient relic above all others.With such an weapon in their possession,the Rajans would not hesitate to launchanother invasion against their hated ene-my, Carantheum. There can be little doubtthat the Khadun of Rajanistan would payalmost any price to obtain the Iron Drag-on, or that he and his subjects wouldresort to any form of treachery in order toachieve such an objective.

Of course, the discovery of this lostartifact also might have dangerous andunforeseen consequences. If the dragonwas equipped with an automatonic senso-rium, the construct might suddenly cometo life if disturbed or tampered with inany way. If the sensorium has suffereddamage, the dragon could go on a destruc-tive rampage, wreaking havoc on all in itspath. Should the sensorium remain intact,it is possible that the construct could bereprogrammed with a new set of com-mands, making it all the more valuable towhoever discovers it.

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

�Forum� welcomes your comments andopinions on role-playing games. In theUnited States and Canada, write to: Fo-rum, DRAGON® Magazine, P.O. Box 111,Lake Geneva WI 53147 U.S.A. In Europe,write to: Forum, DRAGON Magazine, TSRLtd, 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,Cambridge CB1 3LB, United Kingdom. Weask that material submitted to �Forum� beeither neatly written by hand or typedwith a fresh ribbon and clean keys so wecan read and understand your comments.We will print your complete address if yourequest it.

Our gaming group plays in theFORGOTTEN REALMS® setting and ourcharacters travel extensively there. Wehave found that many areas in the Realmshave real-world equivalents, and thismakes their societies easier to relate to.

As an example, some comparisons wehave assumed are: Calimshan to Arabia (ofcourse, we now have the AL-QADIM®setting in the South); Chult to Africa; ShouLung to China; Kozakura to Japan; Moon-shae Islands to Ireland/Wales; Cormyr toNorthumbrian England/Scotland; TheDales to �Robin Hood� England, etc.

You get the idea. Most other areas arejust . . . there. We understand that severallocations in the Realms are purelyfantastic settings with no real-world com-parisons. For role-playing purposes, how-ever, this can be a major stumbling block.What do the people look like? How do theydress? How do they act? What kind ofregional accents do they speak with? Whatis their architecture like?

We believe these are important aspectsfor the feel of the game. It is rather boringto walk into Tammar and discover it to bethe same as Waterdeep.

Can someone please provide a list ofreal-world equivalents to all the lands ofthe Realms? We especially want to knowabout Halruua, Tethyr, and Thesk for ourown gaming, though a complete listingwould prove invaluable.

Travis N. GillespieDerby KS

Have you every thought of running a�personals� column, so that dedicateddungeonheads can get in touch with long-lost gaming buddies? Let me give you anexample of what I�m talking about (and Imust name names).

In 1979, while serving in the Army, I wasstationed at Fort Hood, Texas. I was intro-

92 FEBRUARY 1994

duced to fantasy role-playing by a guy inmy unit, Jerry �Odin, come here, boy!�Fritz. I gamed with Jerry and his wifealmost every day for a year. My two char-acters, Cymric and Sigurd, made it to 11thlevel the hard way.

From 1981 through 1983, I was sta-tioned in Frankfurt, Germany. I gamedrather consistently with three fellow sol-diers: Thomas Voyles, Jim Dirles, and JimChapman. Tom only played dwarves, likemy wife only plays elves. Dirks played apaladin, Sir Chandar, who had a jewel-encrusted lion�s head on his breastplate. (Amagic mouth spell enabled it to roar uponcommand.) Chapman played a neuroticranger. (He stabbed himself in the arm tosee if his armor was magical.)

If any of the above-mentioned read this, Iwould appreciate hearing from them. To mygaming pals from Germany, Thorlard andhis �little� brother, Bjarni, give greetings.

Kerry C. Zane10016 Alden Ave.

Bloomington CA 92316

I would like to applaud David Howery�scomments in issue #198 on DM �concept-borrowing.� Mr. Howery obviously has vastand varied experience with literature,legend, and cinema that enables him tocreate such intriguing adventures. Manygamers would look on such activity asplagiaristic and unoriginal. I believe justthe opposite is true: DMs who can blendelements from history, fiction, films, andother sources into their campaigns withstyle have my admiration. Although someDMs may shy away from such borrowing,it is a perfect tool for some.

When I used to DM the AD&D® 1stEdition game, I had an exceedingly diffi-cult time with themes for adventures andcampaigns. I could lay the traps, monsters,and treasure for a dungeon crawl, butcould not develop convincing plots. Now,five years later, with my background inthe arts and humanities expanded signifi-cantly, I find it much easier to open newvistas to my players, whether it be a singleadventure or entire world.

I recently began DMing my first AD&D2nd Edition game, a RAVENLOFT® cam-paign that I will hope will prove entertain-ing, long-lasting, and horrifying for myplayers. With the exception of one, all thedomains the characters will inevitably findthemselves in (courtesy of the Mists), willbe of my own design. Almost all of themare sprinkled with elements from historic

and fictional sources. If they search hardenough, my players might discover thefingerprints of Gregori Rasputin, SherlockHolmes, Japanese �ghost-theater,� H.P.Lovecraft�s eldritch horrors, Alfred Hitch-cock�s The Birds, Clive Barker�s Night-breed, real-life voodoo cases, Mary Stuart�scelebrated Arthurian trilogy, and even�itwas bound to happen� Aladdin.

I suppose the point is that if all theseinfluences can find their way into thegothic horror campaign, imagine what theaverage DM, superior to myself and moreexperienced with AD&D 2nd Editiongame, could do with a standard fantasycampaign. I encourage all DMs to weavetheir adventures with �borrowed� ele-ments. It will help new campaigns get offthe ground, as well as keep existing gamesrolling. The most rewarding surprisescome when familiar�and sometimesunfamiliar�themes appear in unusualplaces.

Andrew WyattSt. Louis MO

In issue #196, a nameless TSR staff mem-ber wrote in to �Forum� about the depictionof women in TSR products, particularly withrespect to published artwork. To the womanwho wrote this letter, I can only say: Wellput, but I wish you had the courage to useyour name. I am glad that some attentionfinally is being paid to this, even though therecognition is coming a little late for mytaste.

I know that there are some gamers outthere who will disagree, or who may betempted to dismiss such concerns as justanother example of �political correctness.�Please don�t. I�m a 25-year-old male gamerwho treats political correctness the waydwarves treat orcs. When the above situa-tion gets to the point that it bugs a guy likeme, things have definitely gone too far.

My objections aren�t political, they�repractical. Put bluntly, such depictionsinterfere with my fantasies. I play theD&D® game because I enjoy imagining aworld with magic and heroes enmeshed ina mighty clash of good against evil. Likeany other fictional endeavor, however, thisrequires a certain suspension of disbelief.That is exactly what such depictions ruinfor me.

Would any of you readers even go trav-eling in skimpy outfits like that, let aloneadventuring? I sure wouldn�t. I wouldn�tgo adventuring with anyone dressed likethat, and neither would the female charac-

ters whom I occasionally play. These peo-ple are supposed to be respected heroesand feared villains, not idiots who don�tknow enough to cover up when they gooutside. To consistently portray femalecharacters this way is insulting, especiallygiven the double-standard that generallyexists with respect to depictions of malesand females in fantasy art. Unsurprisingly,this bothers many women (and we won-der why more women don�t play). It alsobothers me. That sort of thing is not a bigpart of my attraction to the game, and ifit�s a big part of yours, then I respectfullysuggest that perhaps you�re thinking ofanother kind of fantasy.

Have things gotten better? I think so.Are some people overreacting? Probably.The person who won�t read theDRAGONLANCE® novels because thefemales on the covers are well endowedhas clearly gone off the deep end. I willeven acknowledge that part of the SF/Fantasy genre does include silly-lookingConan and Barbarella types. In modera-tion, that�s okay. But then I read stuff likeRoger E. Moore�s editorial in #198, wherehe talks about the need for TSR staffers tobe �asking dealers to please cover up thesuper-abundance of uncovered femininemammaries that appeared on the artworkof many booths� (at the GEN CON® gamefair). I just want to scream.

So please, everyone, can�t we all just bemature about this? Enough of the fur brasand chain-mail bikinis already; womendeserve better, and so does the game. Itmay not solve the problem of too fewfemale gamers all by itself, but it�d sure bea heck of a start. A little respect shouldn�tbe too much to ask.

Joe KatzmanToronto, Canada

I would like to offer a response to a letterin issue #199 whose writer had a problemwith a player who would not role-play. Theplayer just played hack-and-slash, regardlessof what the other players did.

I live in a small town in rural Wisconsin.Because of this and my schedule, I haveonly limited access to other AD&D play-ers. I currently adventure in two groups.The first group involves a friend (andbelieve it or not, his mother occasionally),my younger brother, and myself. Thesecond group includes only my brotherand me.

In my experiences, which span onlyabout five years, I have seen examples ofboth good and poor role-playing. I havefound that a good role-player, but moreoften a good Dungeon Master, learns tofudge the dice rolls for dramatic effect.Dice rolls may even be totally disregardedif the DM wishes to paint a more realistic(or fantastic) image.

As an example, the hack-and-slash char-acter the author described is in a typicalbattle with some orcs. It may be that oneof them has a rare crystal that is worth alot of money. So, of course, the character

is planning on killing all the orcs, gettingthe experience points and the crystal.Since the player seems to be refusing torole-play, why not have the orc drop thecrystal when it is killed (shattering thevaluable), thereby depriving the characterof his reward? If the orc isn�t killed, thecrystal isn�t dropped and shattered.

Another example deals with informationinstead of money. Imagine that the partycaptures some evil mage. The mage knowsabout an ambush that is planned for theparty. He is reluctant to tell the partyanything, so the hack-and-slash charactergoes at it, even though the other charac-ters tell him not to. The mage dies.

Even if the mage talked before he died, it�spossible the wizard lied. This does not con-cern the other characters in the party,though, because they know the truth. (Themage saw that they tried to help him andleft a note telling of the real ambush.) At acritical moment, the party members fallbehind and only the hack-and-slash charac-ter is caught in the ambush.

Another problem with this is that thecharacter is turning evil. NPCs will stillhelp his compatriots, but will withhold aidfrom the hack-and-slash character. He willbe shunned, avoided, discriminatedagainst, and charged higher prices forshoddy materials that he buys.

These are only a couple of ways theplayer can be forced to role-play. Anotherway to force the issue would be to includemore mental puzzles and intrigue. Intrigueis a nice way to bring in role-playing with-out violence.

Finally, there is another way to get morerole-playing out of your group. Try to getmore people to join. I know that there area lot of people out there who would beinterested in the AD&D game; they justhave to be found and introduced to thegame.

Nathan BruhaElroy WI

Although the �Forum� readers respond-ed to the �stoneskin problem� in droves, asreported in issue #199, I�d like to throw inmy thoughts on the subject. In my cam-paign several years ago, I had exactly thesame problem, with every PC being loadedwith stoneskin spells so as to be untoucha-ble. My first step to fixing the problemwas to restrict a stoneskin spell to themage casting it; i.e., he couldn�t cast itupon anyone else. It isn�t so bad whenmages alone have the spell, as they aren�tusually in melee, and they really do needthe protection. Even so, there are severalways to take down a stoneskin quickly,and stay within the game rules:�a flock of 30 or 40 stirges.�a school of up to 100 or so piranhas.�an insect plague or ice storm (hail ver-sion) spell.

I always ruled that each insect bitecounted as one attack, even if it took sev-eral bites to do 1 hp of damage.

While a fighter�s sword can�t damage a

mage with a stoneskin, there is nothing tostop that burly fighter from grabbing thepuny mage, covering his mouth and nose,and smothering the mage to death. Anotheruseful rule is that even if an attack is ne-gated by a stoneskin, the attack disrupts anyspell the mage is trying to cast, even if theattack did no damage. The final point is thatthe DM should not allow one mid-level spellto disrupt a campaign; if need be, change thespell so it is not so damaging.

David HoweryCaldwell ID

I agree completely with Jonathan Keep-ers� letter (in DRAGON issue #199) con-cerning the lack of respect role-playingand war gamers receive during their inclu-sion at science-fiction conventions. Toooften we are not considered �a serioushobby,� and some members of SF fandomsay �gamer� as if it was a dirty word. Nooffense to Trekkers as I am one myself,but how can sitting around a table playinga game and having a great time be any lessserious than dressing up as a pointy-earedalien?

I have attended science-fiction conven-tions where sixty or so gamers are askedto squeeze into two small hotel roomswhile large-sized audio-visual and lecturerooms for the SF crowd have gone onlyhalf-filled. I have heard remarks abouthow weird gamers are, and again I saywhich one of us is dressed in the uniformof a fictional space federation?

I intend no injury to science-fiction fansas I, too, enjoy these movies, series, andbooks. All that I ask is an equal respect formy hobby.

Sean MurphyMoore OK

An Open Letter to the Misled:Paladins, Paladins, Paladins! Once again,

this ultimately good class rears its uglyhead, only to be smitten by DMs and play-ers whose understanding of Lawful Good-ness is twisted by history�s examples ofmen who claimed to be Lawful Good, butwere never Good, and only questionablyLawful. (Although they obeyed their owntwisted rules to an extent, they mostlyonly enforced them on others.) Since thisis a fantasy game we�re playing here, wecan ignore history and at least attempt torole-play based on the ideals.

Paladins are a fun, if misunderstood,class. If both DM and player set out in thebeginning to define the paladin�s personali-ty, role, and behavioral code, then thereshould be no problem. A paladin shouldpossess priorities and principles, but thistakes an understanding of what it meansto be a paladin.

First, a paladin is a warrior. This meansthat he fights, but unlike many others, hefights for his beliefs, for his ideals. He isone dedicated to the doctrines of hischurch, to vows which he takes to thatend, and in a large part, this should deter-mine his behavior in most situations. Any-

DRAGON 93

one who plays a paladin, but does notknow which god or gods she worships,and what the church�s main doctrines are,along with what vows of paladinhood shetook, should immediately stop and re-evaluate the character. Paladins are verymuch like clerics in this respect. A paladinshould have a code of behavior, a set ofvows, and should know the �do�s anddon�t�s� of her religion.

More important, a paladin is LawfulGood. Of all the alignments, this is perhapsthe least understood and poorest played,and in a society of relative morals andcrumbling ethics such as ours, this is notsurprising. Alignment is not defined bywhat you want other people to do, or byhow you coerce others to act, or even byhow you think people should behave, butby how you yourself act.

�Lawful� means one lives by the law, orobeys a fairly well-defined code of ethicsor morals, not because one is stupid andcan�t think of anything better to do, butbecause one truly believes in the law asthe proper way to act. �Good� means thatone�s actions are basically unselfish, thatone doesn�t actively seek to harm others(which is �evil�), or even passively allowharm to occur (which is �neutral�), butthat one also does things for others, bene-ficial acts of kindness and helpfulness,and that one treats others with the re-spect due them.

Where the two meet is where true Law-ful Goodness may be found. If the law isnot �good,� it must be changed, and itcannot truly, in good conscience, beobeyed for long without serious effortbeing made to do so. If what is �good� isnot �lawful� (e.g., robbing the rich to giveto the poor), one should find a lawful wayto help. (Although, if good is the ultimateconsideration, exceptions may be made forthe sake of others.) When it comes toenforcing the law, justice should be tem-pered with the most mercy one can mus-ter. This, essentially, is Lawful Goodbehavior: the greatest good allowed by law(or vice versa).

For a paladin, alignment is everything,controlling even his relationship to hischurch. His ultimate service is to his align-ment (or more precisely to his god, who isthe embodiment of his alignment andideals), and should the church go too faracross the line that his personal convic-tions draw, he must be ultimately true tohimself and to his deity.

Second, a paladin is not a cavalier. Pala-dins should not be allowed to cop atti-tudes. Hallmarks of paladin behavior arehumility and kindness, not snobbery andself-glorification. Paladins also have anedge over cavaliers: their Wisdom. A pala-din will not, relative to his Wisdom, actfoolishly, by attacking a huge monster hehas no hope of defeating, or even continu-

94 FEBRUARY 1994

ing to fight when it would be wiser for thesafety of his allies to retreat. Paladins arenot glory-seekers.

Lancelot, in the movie Excalibur, mayhave had his problems, but he knewwhere his loyalties were, and his mainpriority was the giving of himself to theservice of his God. We all know he failed,and that in itself should serve as a lessonof how not to act as a paladin. (Eventually,of course, he redeemed himself, but onlyby first humbling himself as much aspossible.)

Third, there�s the matter of a paladin�spersonality. No two characters of any classshould act alike, and this is certainly truefor paladins. They should be individualswith styles that reflect their society, home-land, up-bringing, culture, religion, andmany personal quirks. Lancelot, for exam-ple, was French (at least originally), andthus naturally a bit snobbish. Once yougot beyond this, he was more likeable, anda bit of a romantic. An English paladinwould be somewhat standoffish, but insuf-ferably polite and proper. A German one,on the other hand, would be more milita-ristic and boisterous, and probably a lot offun to be around.

Certainly, different religions wouldcause major behavioral differences. Onemay believe drinking is okay (to an extent),especially on certain holidays. Anothermay encourage wars like the Crusades.Others may be more peaceful, preferringconversion to conflict. Beyond this, eachpaladin also would take certain vows andhave beliefs that make him unique. In-deed, paladins should be as unique as anyother character.

Fourth, all paladins were created equal,but not identical. They should not beoverbearing, preferring to lead by exam-ple. A paladin should not be a leader sim-ply because of a high Charisma score,which all too often is the case, but becauseof the strength of character which earnsthe respect of others and breeds the will-ingness to follow in those he would lead. Agood leader is followed out of loyalty notlust, and this loyalty must be earned.

Ultimately, a paladin is who she is be-cause of her beliefs, which dictate heractions. She is not one who follows rulesthat she neither likes nor believes in justso she can be powerful.

Christopher A. HunterBartlett TN

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

Campaign ideas for the AD&D® AL-QADIM® settingby Gregory W. Detwiler

Artwork by Karl Waller

96 FEBRUARY

ArabianAdventuresGalore!

If you accept the AL-QADIM setting asthe FORGOTTEN REALMS® worlds ver-sion of the Middle East, your PCs can setoff from Zakhara on voyages to anotherpart of the Realms or Kara-Tur. A cam-paign with plenty of travel and characterturnover would be an excellent excuse tomix PC classes from various realms. Atrade-hungry merchant-rogue could countamong his crew a knowledge-seekingWestern mage, a corsair captain, a master-less samurai (ronin), a hakima to keep aneye on potential customers, and a collec-tion of mercenaries, including westernfighters, native-born askars, or Orientalbushi. For the owner of the vessel, justkeeping this motley crew from cuttingeach other�s throats can be an ongoingadventure in itself.

Even if the DM restricts himself to whatthe medieval Arabs actually did, the cam-paign can still expand beyond Zakhara�sborders. In DRAGON® issue #189, severalarticles on Africa, the Orient, and Indiadiscuss how to use those cultures andtheir equipment in a standard AD&Dcampaign (�The Dark Continent� by DavidHowery, �Arms & Armor of Africa� and�Rhino�s Armor, Tiger�s Claws� by MichaelJ. Varhola, and Tom Griffith�s �The OtherOrientals�). Africa in particular is well-covered with regards to trading goods,monstrous opposition, and the types ofsocieties that could be expected. Its leg-ends and lore were described in �An Afri-can Genesis,� by Brady English, in issue#191, and the warriors of Africa weregiven kits to rival the kits of Zakhara in�Real Warriors Ride Elephants!� byMichael John Wybo III in issue #195.

If your party wants to go on trade expe-ditions, the corsair and merchant-roguekits are naturals. Any type of warrior cango along as hired protection; if the tradingvessel or caravan is trying to open up anation�s markets to the homeland, even a mamluk might be assigned as a sort ofmilitary liaison or ambassador. Remember,mamluks have civil service as well as mili-tary training.

The AL-QADIM® supplement for theAD&D® game is a sizeable campaignworld, whether taken alone or with addi-tional source materials (such as the GoldenVoyages supplement). Some of its manypotential adventures are traditional in thefantasy genre, while others are unique tothe land. This article lists major scenariopossibilities, with suggestions on which PCclasses are best suited to each adventure.

Exploration and tradeLike Sinbad, adventurers may travel

over vast distances to find adventure,generally in areas the party has neverseen before. The search can be purely forknowledge (which will be rare unless arich NPC is bankrolling the party), forsources of treasure to loot, or for trade.After all, Sinbad was a merchant thoughhe rarely brought cargoes to port. Ingeneral, such a trip involves exploringuninhabited regions and searching fortrade outlets where there are human ordemihuman inhabitants.

Historically, the Arabs were great trad-ers. Considerable cultural and mercantileinterchange occurred between them andtheir Christian neighbors during the peri-ods of peace that separated jihads (holywars) or Crusades, They sent explorersand trading fleets to both Africa and theOrient, putting the the Arabs in a lucrativeposition as middlemen between the buyersfrom the West and the goods of the Southand East.

The great European voyages of the Ageof Exploration were motivated by a desireto get to the goods directly, avoiding Arabmiddlemen. At that time, the Middle Eastwas dominated by the Turkish OttomanEmpire, which was almost constantly atwar with at least some part of Europe forseveral hundred years. If the Turks hadcontinued to allow trade between East andWest, the Americas might never have beendiscovered, at least not until the Aztecsand Incas had become technologicallyadvanced enough to face the Europeanson their own terms.

DRAGON 97

Some rogues could go along as hiredhelp, even if they have ulterior motives.Sa�luks, holy slayers (under cover), andmatruds could all be present. Barbers canserve as traveling medics and groomers,with rawuns as entertainment. Beggar-thieves never hire on as help, as thiswould mean doing actual work. They willhang around the city gates when the cara-van blows into town, but cross-countryadventuring is not this kit�s strong suit.

For magical protection, the mainstreamwizard and priest kits may be hired on orassigned for really important journeys. Ahakima is particularly useful for dealingwith potential clients. Kahins and sometypes of mystics (anchorites and hermits)generally cannot be persuaded to go along,and moralists may antagonize the cus-tomers, which is not good business prac-tice. Unless the party is searching formagical items, spell components, or otherarcane items, the spell-casting classes willnot be emphasized in this type of adven-ture. If a caravan is lost or attacked in thedesert, however, a sha�ir who successfullycalls upon the jann for help will be greatlyappreciated.

WarfareSeveral types of war are possible in the

AL-QADIM setting. The first is the war ofnational aggrandizement, the type of warthat goes on everywhere. Warrior classeswill be ascendant here, especially themamluks, who are the best leadershipmaterial. Wizards who specialize in com-bat spells will also be important, whetherthe mage is question is an elemental magewho tosses the ever-popular fireballaround or a sha�ir who has bound a war-monger genie to his service. The priestclasses in this type of war are stuck with

their usual job of combat medics, thoughthey may also help maintain morale (as dorawuns). Hakimas may serve as advisors,and they will be particularly useful inferreting out enemy spies. In general, thethief classes will simply fade into thewoodwork or lurk on the outskirts asscavengers, though desperate matrudsmay be hired on as cannon fodder, andbarbers as additional medics. Holy slayerswill not be much used, unless the nationalwar is also a jihad.

The religious war or jihad is the type ofconflict most commonly associated withthe Middle East. The main motives are tospread the faith and exterminate infidels.Surprisingly, most priest classes will stillbe stuck in the old medic role in a jihadbecause only moralists will have the kindof narrow-minded fanaticism necessary tostir up true religious fervor in the troops.Imagine troops storming a castle wall withsuicidal zest after hearing an ethoist say,�Those guys in there aren�t all that bad,but they�re not quite right, either!� Asidefrom rallying to fight a religiously intoler-ant attacker, ethoists and pragmatists leavemuch to be desired as morale-boosters in aholy war.

As with �conventional� warfare, anytype of warrior class may qualify for ajihad, but the farisan will really stand out.In a nation ruled by a theocracy, they mayeven usurp the more professional mam-luks in command, whether the latter like itor not. This could lead to some politicalintrigue, which can disrupt the war effort.The proper balance would be for therelatively intellectual mamluks to controlmilitary operations, with the farisan in therole of spearheads, leading gloriouscharges, storming parties, and the like.Even if this arrangement was negotiated

98 FEBRUARY 1994

as a temporary compromise, it could windup being permanent, as farisan who con-stantly lead glorious charges often windup missing from the ranks of the living.

Mercenaries are uncommon in a truereligious war unless they are co-religionists with the prime movers of thewar (and if they are, you�d think theywould be willing to fight without pay forthe sake of the faith). Even sorcerers mayfind themselves in less prominent posi-tions, as clerical miracles are given prece-dence over scholarly magic. Priests willlook with particular suspicion on thegenie-contacting sha�ir, both becausesha�irs communicate with supernaturalbeings and because sha�irs may (if lucky)use priest spells as well as wizard magic.As with normal warfare, most of therogue classes won�t be of much help, ex-cept as medics (barbers), morale-boosters(rawuns), and plain cannon fodder. Thereis, of course, one major exception to thisbias against rogues.

In the holy war, the holy slayers reallyshine forth in full glory. Each (theoreti-cally) fearless assassin is a one-man or one-woman commando team, ready, willing,and able to cut down an enemy general orother leader at the Grandfather�s orGrandmother�s command. Indeed, withoutat least a religious cold war going on, theholy slayer will not have much to do in thecampaign.

If any PC rises to high enough rank tocommand the services of holy slayers, aword of warning is in order. In the exam-ple we are discussing, it is assumed that amoralist faction is trying to impose itsreligious beliefs over the entire region.One religion will probably have no morethan one fellowship of holy slayers. Sinceholy slayers are assassins for their faith,anyone who tries to beat down all otherfaiths will have every other fellowship ofholy slayers in the region gunning for him!In this case, a holy slayer of the crusadingaggressor may come home to report suc-cess, only to discover his leader mangledby a collection of jade jambiyas, obsidianlong swords, blowgun darts, red-featheredjavelins, etc.

Finally, we have frontier warfare, whichranges from repelling local barbarians tolaunching punitive expeditions against thehillfolk to raiding the locals for slaves. InZakhara, the nomads of the wastelands,whether desert or steppes, will be primarytargets. In such a campaign, you couldhave an entire party made up of desertriders resisting the imperial offensive. Ifweaker cultures are included in the cam-paign, you could simulate the historicalslave trade the Arabs pioneered.

Using Arabic-style armies to fight thearmies of other non-Western regions willmake for a fairly even contest. The AD&D1st Edition Oriental Adventures supple-ment states that the lightly armored andmore mobile warriors of the East are ableto outmaneuver and destroy the heavyand clumsy gajin forces of the West. Simi-

larly, in DRAGON® issue #189, David Ho-wery states in �The Dark Continent� thatnative African armies are superior toheavy Western forces on their homeground due to the heat and local diseases.Disease would still be a problem for aZakharan army, but in matters of heat,ease of movement, and maneuverability,both sides would have equal ability.

Both Arabic and Oriental (includingIndian) armies have a far greater propor-tion of cavalry than their Western counter-parts, and such forces would performequally well in African deserts or savan-nahs. The jungle blocks the use of polearms and other large weapons, but suchweapons aren�t used by cavalry anyway.Of course, cavalrymen aren�t likely to bewildly enthusiastic about being dismount-ed for combat, no matter how practical itmay be in the jungle or rain forest. Far-East enthusiasts should note that thesefactors work for the armies of Kara-Turand the Realms� equivalent of India as wellas for the armies of Zakhara, should theDark Continent be invaded from the Eastinstead of the North. A local band of guer-rillas playing hide-and-seek in the junglewith a ninja clan would make a very inter-esting scenario, indeed.

In the case of slave raids, a more likelystrategy than out-and-out invasion wouldbe normalized trade with some of thestronger kingdoms, with Zakharan goodspaid for in part by slaves. Here, the localkings can either raid their neighbors orsimply sell off the less desirable of theirown subjects. Even if a colonial invasion isplanned, the Zakharans could go the routeof Julius Caesar in Gaul and bribe localallies to help them against other tribes,negating the home-team advantage bypicking off the native tribes one at a time.When the long-standing enemies arecrushed, the Zakharans can finish off theconquest with a treacherous attack ontheir erstwhile allies, who would now bestanding alone to face a foreign army bynow well acclimated to the tropical environment. Dirty pool, perhaps, but that�sthe way empires are created.

IntrigueTrue role-players favor scenarios of

intrigue above all others, with negotiationand a battle of wits taking precedenceover spells and swordplay. In intrigue-based adventures, the warrior types aredeemphasized, unless there is intrigue inthe military high command or an attemptto spark mutinies among the troops. Mam-luks and possibly farisan will be the mostimportant soldiers here, due to their con-nections. Spell-casters also are not visiblyprominent, though the casting of divina-tion and mind-control spells behind thescenes can be decisive. The hakima will bethe most important priest kit in anintrigue-heavy campaign, for obviousreasons, while the peculiar resources ofsha�irs (such as gen and genie spies) willalso be useful.

When a glib tongue is the weapon ofchoice, the rogue classes really shine asthe decisive PCs. Thieves, especiallysa�luks, will be tactically important, assomeone who sneaks into a home to stealsomething can also sneak into a home toeavesdrop on a private conversation.Beggar-thieves, matruds, and holy slayerscan perform the same function. As thebards of Zakhara, rawuns may use theirpopularity and talent to go places thatmost people are banned from, performingin (and spying on) even the mansions andpalaces of the wealthy and powerful.

In a political campaign, it is often impor-tant to get among the common people,whether to hear their opinions or tospread rumors and dissension. Here, thebarbers and beggar-thieves truly comeinto their own. Barbers are adept atspreading rumors and relaying informa-tion between various covert groups, whileunobtrusive beggar-thieves can overhearmany a conversation in the marketplace.

The marketplace is a rich site for in-trigue, and the merchant-rogue has amajor role in political conflicts as well. Thesuccessful ones are important taxpayerswho may shell out extra money for politi-cal favors. Merchant-rogues who sell silksand other luxury items for the rich mayeven be personal acquaintances of theupper class. As with barbers, they canrelay messages between customers belong-ing to different factions, whether as sim-ple go-betweens or to coordinate theiroperations. Next to rawuns, successfulmerchant-rogues are most likely to haveaccess to the ruling class. Finally, theirabundance of wealth and equipment en-ables them to bankroll or supply any dissi-dent group.

Aside from their abilities as spies, holy

slayers also will be useful in their normalrole as assassins. In fact, aside from holywars, intrigue is their main field of action.Not only can they remove troublesomeopponents, but a low-key killing that is notpublic knowledge�but is neverthelessmentioned behind the scenes�can intimi-date wavering allies or frighten opponentsto insure their loyalty or neutrality. In apurely political campaign taking place inpalaces and mansions, the holy slayersmay do what little actual killing takesplace during the adventures.

Blood feuds and vendettasThis combination of warfare and in-

trigue is a private struggle between indi-viduals, organizations, or tribes. Families,tribes, holy-slayer fellowships, and specificreligions are all potential enemies in bloodfeuds. For religions, vendettas resemble aholy war, except that the enemy does nothave his country�s resources behind him.

The most common cause of a blood feudis real or imagined slight that sullies thehonor of a particular family or nomadictribe. This grievance can become thesource of a single adventure or can be abackground menace throughout the cam-paign. Eventually, though, things shouldcome to a head, if only because the PCswill grow tired of being attacked by thesame nomadic tribe every time they setfoot in the desert, or of fighting off hiredthugs every week in city alleyways.

As stated in the AL-QADIM rulebook,honor is crucial in Zakhara. The onlyprecedent in the AD&D game is the honor-point system of Kara-Tur: �First and fore-most, if any character, no matter whatrace or character class, ever allows hishonor to fall below zero, that character isout of the game. The player should crum-

DRAGON 99

ple up the character record sheet and tossit away� (page 35, Oriental Adventures).Presumably, the erring PC whose honor istarnished has committed seppuku. In theLand of Fate, no one would kill himselfover a matter of honor, but a PC can beslain by a family member or a fellowtribesman seeking to restore the group�shonor.

As in Oriental Adventures, true role-playing is much more important inZakhara than it is in the standard pseudo-European settings. Just looking at a host�sunmarried daughter the wrong way canget a PC in trouble, and any PC based onthe stereotypical barbarian who wenchesin every town is not going to last very longin the Land of Fate. An offended party willtake revenge as soon as possible, prefera-bly when the victim least expects it. IfOsman the camel-driver has been ogling aveiled woman who has a barber in thefamily, Osman should either grow a longbeard or shave himself, since he will neverknow who might make an �accidental� slipwith a sharp razor at his throat.

Bigger organizations provide the poten-tial for any number of feuds. For instance,the Brotherhood of the True Flame kills allelemental fire mages who will not jointheir organization, and any PC who turnsdown an invitation to become a membercan expect fireballs whizzing by at themost inopportune times. Of course, theBrotherhoods policy could easily boomer-ang if it surfaces too often and too vio-lently. The general populace considers allelemental mages to be evil, solely becauseof the Brotherhood. Given Zakhara�s obses-sion with honor, how long would it takebefore all the other elemental mages de-cide to redeem the honor of their profes-sion by turning the Brotherhood of the

True Flame into a horrible example? Thesame goes for any other evil wizard orga-nizations the DM may create.

Vendettas can also start when a mosqueis defiled or ransacked. Generally, moralistpriests will be the prime movers for thissort of adventure, with members of theother priest kits being victims or at mosthitting back in self-defense. Temple feudsprovide plenty of action for farisan, andthe adventure could end with an armedclash between armies of these Zakharanpaladins belonging to rival sects. In gen-eral, though, religious squabbles don�t playas well here as in the standard AD&Dsetting, due to the greater tolerance foropposing faiths in the Land of Fate. Racialvendettas are even more unlikely, unlesssome outlandish foreigners unwisely dragin their old regional feuds. Foreigners whodo so usually receive a sharp lesson inlocal etiquette at the hands of the authori-ties.

Again, the holy slayers shine in religiousfeuds. The PCs are still seen as �enemies ofthe faith,� while the low-key nature of theviolence makes it less likely that the forcesof law and order will become involved.Conversely, one of the PCs may be a holyslayer who disobeyed orders for someselfish reason (like survival), thus drawingthe wrath of the entire fellowship downon the party and eventually leading to amajor battle at the fellowship�s headquar-ters. If not, the party should resign itselfto an endless string of stolen or ruinedsupplies, mounts and pack animals runoff, homes burned down, and increasingnumbers of friends, family, allies, hire-lings, and henchmen who develop slitthroats�to say nothing of frequent attackson the PCs themselves.

GeniesAt first glance, this seems like a catchall

for all sorts of other adventures, with onlya particular creature type to bind themtogether. Veterans of the AD&D game mayeven compare it with the misadventures ofthose who deal or tangle with fiends.However, the Land of Fate gives its ownflavor to geniekind, making them morethan just another set of supernaturalmonsters. The primary reason for this isthe sha�ir wizard kit.

The advantage of being a sha�ir is thatyou can get genies to do things for you.The major disadvantage is that, sooner orlater, the genies will want some favors inreturn. All genies, from the jann on up,expect to be rewarded for their efforts�ifnot immediately, then sometime in thefuture. Sha�ir PCs who rise in levels canexpect to go on various missions that thegenies would like to see done.

Not complying with the wishes of thegenies has several nasty side effects. At-tack is one of them. The party will proba-bly get involved in the fight as well, oftento discover that they gain no reward forthe expenditure of blood, spells, and vitalequipment other than saving the sha�ir�shide. In many cases when a �businessdeal� turns sour and results in conflict, thesha�ir and his party will gain no experi-ence points for their victory, assumingthere is one. The same thing happenswhen battling monsters a deity sends topunish the sha�ir for sending his gen afterpriest spells.

It is the second disadvantage that makesrequests by genies look like quest or geasspells. If the sha�ir does nothing to repayhis supernatural benefactors, then allgenies will refuse to deal with him in thefuture. This boycott effectively destroysthe sha�ir as a viable character, turninghim into nothing more than a magic-userwho can take forever to have a spell readyto cast. If the PC party has at least onesha�ir along, they can expect at least a fewgenie-sponsored adventures once theyreach mid-level, often with no more re-ward than the sha�ir being allowed tocontinue making use of his powers. Whosaid PC parties have to turn a profit on allt h e i r a d v e n t u r e s ?

The flavor of Zakhara gives that realm astyle all its own, and that flavor infusesthe adventures that take place there. If theDM is fully aware of this difference be-tween the Land of Fate and other AD&Drealms, he can use it to ensure his gaminggroup will have plenty of surprises in awide variety of adventures. This is, ofcourse, what the game is all about. So plancarefully: the PCs have no Fate but theFate which the DM gives them!

100 FEBRUARY 1994

102 FEBRUARY 1994 By Barbara

“What makes you think this firewood is from the enchanted forest? “ DRAGON 103

104 FEBRUARY 1994

DRAGON 105

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1 0 8 F E B R U A R Y 1 9 9 4

DRAGON 109

©1994 by Ken Carpenter

Black &White photography by Don Witmer

Color photos courtesy of Ral Partha Enterprises

A good miniature is like a good movieSome of the things that film reviewers

look for in movies are that all the parts fittogether, the plot fills out well, and thatthere is continuity throughout. If themovie is lacking in one or more of theseareas, it gets pretty poor marks.

Miniatures share some of these ele-ments, e.g., fitting together well, etc. Manyof these aspects are determined whenfigures are cast, and two of the most im-portant facets of casting miniatures aremold alignment and mold fill.

When you get parting lines (also calledmold lines), or �threads,� those tiny stringsof metal that you frequently find clingingto your new miniatures, they are relatedto the casting process.

If the mold alignment for a miniature isoff by even a fraction of an inch it can

112 FEBRUARY 1994

cause a shift in the miniature, a pro-nounced parting line that sometimesmakes the miniature unrecognizable or, asis more often the case, requires a greatdeal of work to correct. Even with nearperfect alignment there will often be avisible line where the mold halves meet.That�s to be expected, so I don�t worryabout them unless it�s a heavy line or cutsthrough intricate detail that might bedamaged as I remove the mold line.

The threads are a good sign to me. Theyare caused by tiny vents the moldsmanmakes to ensure that the miniature fillsentirely. If the vents weren�t cut, air bub-bles could form in small or narrow partsof the figure, such as an outstretchedhand, that would prevent the metal fromfilling those areas. The vents allow the air

to escape and the metal to fill the moldcompletely. When this happens there isusually a little metal that makes it outthrough the vent, creating the thread.Often the threads are removed with asimple brush of the hand, other times thevent was a little too large and the threadmay be tougher to clean off.

Now on to this months reviews.

Reviews

Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc.5938 Carthage Ct.Cincinnati OH 45212Voice: (800)543-0272 Fax: (513)631-0028Mail Order: Yes Catalog: $3.00

#10-551 Menzoberranzan setAD&D® FORGOTTEN REALMS® figuresSculptor: Dennis MizeScale: 25 mm cost: $18.95

Based on the FORGOTTEN REALMS®products and novels, this boxed set con-tains all your favorite characters, and afew more. Being the loser that I am, how-ever, I�m not familiar with the sourcematerial, so I only recognize Drizzt Do�Ur-den, the hero of R. A. Salvatore�s novels.Regardless, Dennis Mize, one of Ral Par-tha�s (RP) veteran sculptors, has createdone great set of elves.

The set is cast in RP�s Ralidium, a lead-free pewter. The material is harder thanthe old white-metal mixtures, so modifica-tion is a little more difficult, but the figures can take a little beating withoutnoticeable effect.

The figures are near perfect technically.Most of the parting lines are invisible andthe worst of them is very minor. There arefew threads and all the figures are fullyformed.

The figures come in a variety of poses.Many have a feeling of motion that willlend a great deal of life to the figures afterpainting.

Drizzt, the male with his left foot on a

form quite a contrast. From the rigid,angry-looking woman in full-length robesand detailed shoulder piece to the smiling,poised female in the off-the-shoulder, silkydress(?), the women of Menzoberranzanare varied to be sure. The other womenappear serious and businesslike, oneequipped as a cleric and the other in longgown and head-piece. These figures arehighly detailed, from their faces to thetrim on their clothing.

There are also four males other thanDrizzt, and they all appear ready for bat-tle. Two wear drow chain mail and carryswords and bucklers. The detail of thesefigures, plus their accessories like thefeather-plumed hat, makes each uniqueThe other two, a warrior with tunic andshort cloak plus a long-robed priest withshaven head and dagger, are also greatpieces of work. The facial detail of allthese figures is incredible.

Lastly, there is Drizzt�s panther. Theproportions of this huge feline are excel-lent. The dark elves are also incrediblyproportional, but I suppose that we oftentake that for granted in humanoid figures.On animal figures, good proportion reallystands out, since it�s very difficult to getright. Years of scrawny or pin-headedhorses have demonstrated the difficulty tothe miniatures enthusiast.

Whether you have a need for dark elvesin your game, or know the source materi-als, these figures are excellent and can

rock and raised arms, is wielding a really anice sword. A minor mold line runs acrosshis shoulders and through his head a little gentle �stroking� with a #10 brush(with the grain of the hair) will remove any trace of the line.

The set contains four female drow that

serve many purposes.

#10-602 Shademehr EncountersBaakesh VaThe Sterling CollectionSculptor: Tom MeierScale: 25 mm cost: $29.95

Ral Partha and Larry Elmore teamed upbefore to produce Silver & Steel, a phe-nomenal set of female characters sculptedby Dennis Mize based on Elmore�s art-work. They�ve done it again!

This time the sculptor was Tom Meier,one of the founders of Ral Partha and oneof the most talented sculptors in the indus-try. Don�t let the 25-mm scale fool you, themonster in this scene is almost 9-cm tall(over three inches), and is huge.

The quality of the casting is excellent,with barely visible mold lines along thehorse�s back and along the sides ofBaakesh Va�s neck. Included with the fig-ures are instructions for assembly and acard depicting the original art by LarryElmore

The detail on these figures is incredible.(I�m sure you�re getting tired of all theadjectives, but they�re necessary.) Thehorse is well proportioned and highly

detailed, from flowing main, rearing pose,and forward motion to tack, saddle, andrider. The saddle has padded side panelsand the bridle even has plates across theforehead. (While this may irritate thehorse, it looks great.) The pose is one ofthe most life-like I�ve ever seen a horsesculpted in.

The rider is lowering his lance. His torsois detailed and his face is great. He alsowears a finely detailed fur cape. The detailwas even extended to the base which,though relatively plain as the snowy scenewould demand, clearly shows the horse�sprints.

The beast is by far the single most im-pressive part of this scene. (I keep callingit a scene because it isn�t really a vignetteor diorama, though it could be.) Baakesh

is in four large pieces: base, torso,and head. While the base is plainsnow, the rest are incredibly detailed(there�s that adjective again).

The musculature on arms and legs, thescaled armor and fur trim, the fur cloak,and metal plates across his back�are allgreat and sharply detailed. His four-fingered hand grips an axe whose handleis as long as the horse. The head of thebeast is exactly as seen in the artwork,right down to the cold stare and slightlyopen mouth.

Okay, enough frothing. This is quite achallenge to assemble and paint, due to thesize, weight, and detail, so it is not for thefaint of heart; but for those who feel theyare up to it, this is a tough figure to beat.

DRAGON 113

Rafm. Inc.20 Parkhill RoadCambridge, OntarioCanada N1R 1P2Voice: (519)623-4832 Fax: (519)623-2795Mail Order: Yes Catalog: $3.00

#3958 The RogueFantastique Noir Vampyres seriesSculptor: Bob MurchScale: 25 mm Cost: $4.25

Rafm�s line arrives as support for theincreasingly popular vampire role-playinggames. While there may be some contro-versy over the role-playing games, there isnone over the quality of these figures�Bob Murch is an experienced sculptor andhe shows it in this line.

114 FEBRUARY 1994

The mold lines on these two are almostnonexistent, though a trace runs throughthe hair of one which will require a littleclean up. These are produced in Rafm�slead-free pewter alloy, Rafm 94.

The figures depict a well-dressed gentle-man, though his clothes bear a tear ortwo, and a ghoulish skateboarder (not thatall skateboarders are ghoulish, mind you).

The well-dressed fellow has wild,shoulder-length hair, slacks, a long coatwith wide lapels, and boots. Accessoriesinclude old-fashioned spectacles, a buttonor medallion on his left lapel, an ankh on achain around his neck and he�s licking theblade of a knife held up to his face. I wentto school with that guy!

The other figure-the ghoulish skate-boarder�is also very sharp. While this

guy definitely will have problems finding adate to the prom, he�s a great miniature.He has an extra wide-body skateboard,there�s a sweater tied around his waist, hischest cavity seems to be more cavity thanchest and he wears a baseball cap turnedbackward over his long, stringy hair. Inaddition, his face will not get much helpfrom Oxy 10 and his dental insuranceprobably won�t cover those teeth.

The detail on both figures is crisp andwell done. If you play a vampire-stylegame, you�ll probably want to look theseover. If you don�t, you�ll want to look any-way, just for the entertainment value.Beyond the vampire genre games, thesefigures would work great in Chaosium�sCALL OF CTHULHU*, FASA�s SHADOW-RUN* and other role-playing games.

#3696 RoguesFantasy seriesSculptor: Stephen KooScale: 25 mm cost: $5.75

While we�re looking at rogues, I thoughtthis was a good blister of femmes fatale.There are three figures in the blister, eachrepresenting a different type of rogue.There�s a ninja-like figure, a thief, and adon�t-turn-your-back-on-this-one type witha staff.

Each has minor parting lines, but onlythe lines on the right side of the ninja�sface and down the right leg get heavy, andeven those clean up easily with a half-round needle file, since it�s over a low-detail area.

The ninja wears puffy pants that gatherat the knees, knee pads, and chest padding(ninja never can be too careful), plus thetraditional face and head covering. Theminiature has a katana and a heavy cross-bow, plus a belt pouch, boot knives, andquiver of bolts. The detail is good and thefigure is well proportioned.

Our thief is posed for a good sneak, ontiptoes and wearing soft, low boots. Shehas a long cloak to cover the fact she hasdaggers in each hand. Her tunic is detailedand fringed, the cloak has a detailed collarand is fastened by the neck. She also has aknife strapped to her right thigh.

The staff-wielding woman has highlydetailed clothing, with a short vest over atrimmed shirt and a detailed belt. She alsohas ornate boots that end halfway up thethigh. Details include a belt pouch and theunseen dagger behind the back. (Keepyour eyes on her.)

This is a good set that will add variety toyour selection of females and certainlyadd depth to your collection of rogues.

Thunderbolt MountaiMiniatures656 E. McMillanCincinnati OH 45206-1991Voice: (800) 235-3908Mail Order: Yes

(enclose

#1033 Magic Carpet RideDiorama seriesSculptor: Tom MeierScale: 25 mm Cost: $13.95

n

Catalog: Yestwo stamps)

For the last year or so Tom Meier ofThunderbolt, an extraordinary sculptor,has created dioramas of incredible detailand imagination. This is one of the neweradditions and lacks neither element.

When I looked over the figure for part-ing lines, I was only able to find one lightline down the woman�s left arm. BrianHitsman, Thunderbolt�s moldsman, did agreat job casting these figures.

The diorama, as the photo shows, de-picts a couple taking a ride on a carpetthat is held aloft by a djinni.

The facial detail is great and the expres-sions are quite realistic. The woman, whois dressed in a halter top and fluffy panta-loons, appears to be frightened by theride, while the man is standing protective-ly over her and has a look of extremeconcentration on his face. His garmentsdenote him as an important man, possibly

a prince, judging from the crown andexpensive-looking clothing. He carries noweapons but details of his dress includegem-studded neck jewelry with a medal-lion hanging down the back, ornate boots,

pouches, and jeweled buckle for his belt.The djinni is highly detailed as a crea-

ture of the air, with a solid upper bodythat becomes wispy and intangible belowthe belly. He wears an unreadable expres-

sion, as he tows the carpet across theskies. His arms are quite muscular looking

into its base and there should be plenty ofstrength to hold the figure up.

while his chest and belly are much lessso-he has a huge pot belly.

Assembly is simple, but I would recom-mend that the carpet be pinned to thedjinni�s hands, for more strength, lest thecarpet break off. The djinni fits very well

The detail of the figures, especially thefaces, is exceptional, making this one greatfigure.

Heartbreaker Hobbies &Games19 E. Central Ave.Paoli PA 19301Voice: (215)544-9052 Fax: (215)544-9052Mail Order: Yes Catalog: Free (with SASE)

#5013 Knight with MaceFantasy seriesSculptor: Chaz ElliotScale: 28 mm Cost: $2.00

Heartbreaker, who�s only been on thescene for a couple years, has put out somereally fine figures. Chaz Elliot, a talentedsculptor and artist, has a distinctive stylethat makes his work recognizable fromany other sculptor. Heartbreaker juststarted producing figures in a pewteralloy, so the prices changed from $1.75, toreflect increased costs.

This knight has virtually no parting line.The figure has sharp detail and is clear ofany mold flaws.

The knight wears heavy, bulky armorwith ornate shoulder pieces, detailed trim,and knee guards. The mace is a huge ballof metal with a few knobs. His helm isslitted, has a plume and bears a symbol ofthe sun, and he carries a plain, oval shield.The backside of the knight has a pouchhanging from the belt.

The figure comes with a square, plasticbase for mounting. With a good colorscheme, this would be a fantastic modelfor any collection.

Jerry missed only one gaming session.

116 FEBRUARY 1994

#5006 Elf ChampionFantasy seriesSculptor: Chaz ElliotScale: 28 mm Cost: $2.00

Not one of Heartbreaker�s newest re-leases, I chose to review this because it�ssuch a good figure. Another one fromChaz, Heartbreaker�s backbone sculptor,you can see his style in every detail.

There are mild parting lines inside theleft leg and inside the right arm. Neitherwill require much effort to remove.

This figure�s armor is bulky and hassharp lines and details. The abdomen haslayered plates mimicking abdominal mus-cles and the shoulder pieces are carvedwith shapes. The shield is stylized, bears astarburst emblem, and is backed with awood grain.

The face is great, with sharp featuresand Chaz�s trademark for elves-heavyeyebrows. The hair is long and full with aheadband to keep it in place. This figurealso comes with a separate, plastic base tomount it on.

I really liked this figure, it just screamedpersonality. From the oddly shaped shieldand sharp lines of the armor to the waythe character has his head ever so slightlytilted over his right shoulder, this figureseemed unique to me.

Games Workshop/CitadelMiniatures/MarauderMiniatures3431-C Benson AvenueBaltimore MD 21227Voice: (410)644-1400 Fax: (410)242-1839Mail Order: Yes (410)644-5699 Catalog:

$10.00 (a mega-catalog)

#9022 Burlok Damminson, DwarfEngineer GuildmasterWARHAMMER FANTASY * lineSculptor: Michael PerryScale: 28 mm cost: $7.99

More support for their successful fanta-sy miniatures battle game, Games Work-shop (GW) is giving the dwarven generalsomething to celebrate. Burlok is one ofthe special characters available to a dwar-ven army and he was discussed at somelength in the Warhammer Armies-Dwarvesbook. Michael Perry has done good workon Burlok; the detail is great and the figure is impressive.

It seems Burlok had a problem with anexperiment as a youth that blew his armoff. After that he was able to create amechanical arm that proved stronger thanthe original. If you look across the battle-field and see this figure, you might wantto keep your better units out of his reach.

There�s no parting line to speak of onthis figure, though there is a mild line onhis back banner. The production quality isexcellent.

Burlok carries a huge hammer and his His helm is carved with his guild symbol,left arm is a mechanical contraption of as is his back banner. The base of the backcurious design. He wears trimmed chain banner is a barrel that serves as the powerarmor and has numerous ornate knick- source for the mechanical arm.knacks on his belt. His beard is long Burlok is a very good figure for a dwarf.enough to make any dwarf proud, and has (Can you tell I run orcs?) He comes with aa couple of beads in it, forming small separate, standard-sized, plastic base forponytails on each side of the beard. mounting.

DRAGON 117

#8548 Goblin Doom DiverWARHAMMER FANTASY lineSculptor: Kev AdamsScale: 28 mm Cost: $5.99

Also known as the Bat-winged LooneyLobber, this catapult is quite a dangerouswar machine in play. Because the goblinwears those silly looking wings, not tomention a grin that marks him as notentirely sane, he is able to help steer him-self to the target.

DRAGON 119

The figure comes in three pieces: thebat-winged looney (the goblin), the rubberband, and the catapult base. The figureshave very light mold lines but there are acouple of heavy vent marks on the insideof the rubber-band piece. Kev Adams, aprolific sculptor with a great deal of talent,has created much of GW�s Orc and Goblinline-and done a great job.

The goblin wears a brainless grin, com-plete with tongue hanging out, leathery�wings,� and a spiked helmet (for spikingdwarves). His arms are tied into the wings

and he wears a belt with a ring on it, forattaching him to the catapult.

The rubber-band section ends at twoskull-shaped posts that top the catapult,while the catapult itself is a heavy woodenbase with wheels. There is a hand-shapedpiece that holds the wooden slingshot tothe base.

Overall, this is a well-detailed figure witha lot of entertainment value and a strangeappeal, especially if you run an orc andgoblin army and want to inflict a lot ofdamage. It may not be as reliable as acavalry unit, but it�s sure a lot of fun towatch it in action.

Pick of the litterThough there were quite a few great

figures in this batch, the pick of this litterhas to be Ral Partha�s Shademehr Encount-ers Baakesh Va. The figure is just so impres-sive that it has to be given consideration byany serious modeler or collector.

From strictly a gamer�s point of view(preferring functionality to display value),the most likely candidate would be Heart-breaker�s Elf Champion, though Rafm�sRogues and RP�s Menzoberranzan are bothclose runners-up.

Good gaming!

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

If you’re having a gaming convention,why not tell the world about it? Checkour address in this issue’s “ConventionCalendar” and send your announce-ment to us—free of charge!

NEW PRODUCTS FORFEBRUARY

ALQ5 Ruined KingdomsAn AD&D® ALQADIM® accessoryby Steve KurtzThis sourcebox for medium- to high-level PCs

contains seven short adventures that explorethe lost kingdoms of Nog and Kadar. Thissourcebox contains 64- and 32-page books, eightMonstrous Compendium pages, 12 cards, and afull-color poster map.$18.00 U.S./$23.00 CAN./£10.99 U.K.TSR Product No. : 9440

RR8 Van Richten�s Guide to the CreatedAn AD&D® RAVENLOFT® accessoryby Teeuwynn WoodruffIn this 96page book, Dr. Rudolph Van Richten

introduces gamers to the workings of golems,animated objects, and monsters; how they areassembled, their strengths and weaknesses, andhow to destroy them$12.95 U.S./$1650 CAN./£7.99 U.K.TSR Product No.: 9417

Deck of Encounters, Set 1An AD&D® game accessoryby TSR staffDo you need an encounter or an adventure

starter fast? This deck of 432 cards providesplenty. Each card details a unique encounterthat can be organized by a Dungeon Master aspart of a larger adventure or as a random-encounter generator.$20.00 U.S./$25.50 CAN./£14.99 U.K.including VATTSR Product No.: 9407

ElfsongThe Harpers, Book Eightby Elaine CunninghamIn this eighth book in the Harpers series set in

the FORGOTTEN REALMS® world and sequel toElfshadow, Danilo Thann is cast in the unlikelyrole of a Harper bard who must join forces witha deadly enemy in order to solve a mystery$4.95 U.S./$5.95 CAN./£3.99 U.K.TSR Product No.: 8541

Hederick, the TheocratDRAGONLANCE® Villains, Volume Fourby Ellen Dodge Severson�Death to heretics!� rings through the treetops

of Solace night and day. Hederick, nefariousleader of the Seeker religion in Solace and self-ordained conscience of Krynn, leads an inquisi-tion and vows to stop only when all who followthe true gods are no more.$4.95 U.S./$15.95 CAN./£3.99 U.K.TSR Product No.: 8355

120 FEBRUARY 1994

NEW PRODUCTS FORMARCH

Ruins of Undermountain II:The Deep Levels

An AD&D® FORGOTTEN REALMS® setby TSR staffThis boxed set plunges deeper into the mys-

teries of the famed dungeon beneath Water-deep. This set contains 128 and 32-page books,four color maps, eight cards, and eightMonstrous Compendium pages.$25.00 U.S./$32.00 CAN./£15.99 U.K.TSR Product No. : 1104

The Once and Future KingAn AMAZING ENGINE� Universe Bookby Jack BarkerRole-play the legendary King Arthur and his

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Black Spinean AD&D® DARK SUN®adventureby TSR staffSeven separate scenarios comprise this second

DARK SUN® epic adventure set detailing analien invasion of Athas. This package containsthree 96-page books and two poster maps.$25.00 U.S./$32.00 CAN./£15.99 U.K.TSR Product No. : 2428

The DRAGONLANCE® Saga:The Second Generation

by Margaret Weis & Tracy HickmanThis hardcover contains two new stories by

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The Enemy WithinA RAVENLOFT® novelby Christie GoldenSir Tristan Hiregaard of Nova Vaasa is a kind

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DRAGON® Magazine #203Cover art by Timothy Bradstreet &

red FieldsThis issue�s theme is Science Fantasy and

the articles include:* New equipment for the GAMMA

WORLD® game.* Missions for FASA�s SHADOWRUN*

game.* Twisted technology for Atlas Games�

OVER THE EDGE* system.* �Psychotronic� weapons for any modern

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DUNGEON® Adventures #46Cover art by Scott BurdickThis issue�s adventures are:* �Goblin Fever� (AD&D® game, levels 3-5),

by Randy Maxwell.* �Dovedale� (D&D® game; 1-3), by Ted

James Thomas Zuvich.* �The Iron Orb of the Duergar� (AD&D

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Steve Kurtz.$3.95 U.S./$4.95 CAN./£1.95 U.K.TSR Product No. : 8198-03

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

Unless otherwise noted:®designates registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.™ designates trademarks owned by TSR, Inc©1994 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.