DUNGEONS & DR AGONS

Fantasy Adventure Games

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Dragon 1

Those of you who saw a copy of the

December 1981 issue of DRAGON™
Magazine may recall a readership survey
form attached to the center of that issue.
Some of you — about 7,000 at last count
— even filled it out and sent it in. We
thought you might be interested in the
results....

Mr./Ms. Average DRAGON Reader is

usually male (95% of the time, at least)
and a little over I6V2 years old. Get a
group of five DRAGON readers together,
and four of them will be students.
DRAGON readers have been playing
games on the average for a little more
than two years, and most also serve as a
DM for half the time they spend gaming.

Not surprisingly, heroic fantasy was

the most popular topic for games among
our readers. But science fiction showed
some strength we didn’t know it had;
two-thirds of the respondents marked

SF as one of their favorite game topics.

Another point of interest, particularly

to aspiring lawyers and Sage Advice
fans, is the subject of interpretation of
rules. For board games, 61% of the re¬
spondents said rules should be followed
as closely as possible, and only 17% had
the opposite opinion. For role-playing
games, the percentages were 42% to
37% in favor of following rules as closely
as possible — but only 35% said their
gamemaster actually followed the offi¬
cial rules as well as possible, compared
to 34% who felt the opposite way.

The single most important fact we

“learned” (which we always suspected
but never knew for sure before) is that
you, the reader, want information on the
D&D® and AD&D™ games — as much,
and as detailed, as we can possibly give
you. And we’ll aim to please. However,
we won’t follow your likes and dislikes to

the point of using 29.92% of our space

every month for new non-player charac¬
ters, just because that was the percent¬
age of respondents who said they want
more NPCs. Rather, we’ll take all your
preferences into consideration and try to
give you more— or, at least, not any less
— of everything you said you like.

For the record, we promised free one-

year subscriptions to five respondents
chosen at random. The lucky winners
are Chris Hunt, Bethesda, Md.; Evan
Franke, Carmel Valley, Calif.; Robert
Simpson, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jeff
Rentsch, Mendham, N.J.; and Edward
Rigdon of Chicago. Our congratulations
to them — and, before we run out of
room, there are a few people who de¬
serve credit for composing the survey
and compiling the results— Gordon Gile
of the TSR marketing department and
Bryce Knorr of our staff for figuring out
what questions to ask, and Jim Curtis
and Maude Reek of the TSR Hobbies
computer department for totaling all the
answers. And I’d also like to thank the
members of the Academy....

Contents

SPECIAL ATTRACTION

Chinatown: The Jaded Temple — An adventure

for TOP SECRET® agents . 35

OTHER FEATURES
Our annual full-blown dragon section . 5

Faerie Dragon . 6

Steel Dragon . 8

Grey Dragon. 9

Bazaar of the Bizarre — Evil dragon armors . 10

GANGBUSTERSI™ Designer’s Notes . 11

Pages from the Mages — Long-lost spell books . 16

The Scribe — A non-player character class . 21

Half-ores — They’re rude and crude . 26

The gods of the ores — And they’re even worse!. . 28

The Feline Phantom — A tale that won’t fade away . 52

Zadron’s Pouch of Wonders — What’s in it for you? . 62

REGULAR OFFERINGS

Out on a Limb — Letters from readers . 3

From the Sorceror’s Scroll — All about spell books . 14

Sage Advice. 24

Convention schedule. 50

Leomund’s Tiny Hut — Magic for merchants . 56

Dragon’s Augury:

The Fifth Frontier War. 70

The Free City of Haven. 72

Off the Shelf — The latest in literature . 74

Wormy. 76

What’s New. 78

Dragon Mirth . 80

■ ragons don’t care much about how old they are, at

least not on a year-by-year basis. But we humans
who create and distribute DRAGON™ Magazine like
to celebrate every chance we get — and this is one
of those times. DRAGON issue #62 marks the sixth
anniversary of our first publication. We’re glad to still be
around, and we’re glad that so many of you like it that way.
Leading off this month’s features is an anniversary tradition
— we call it our “full-blown dragon section,” for reasons that
should be obvious once you see the painting on page 5.

This month’s cover art doesn’t have a dragon in it, but nobody
on this end is complaining. Larry Elmore’s striking scene of a
mighty knight ganging up on a group of ores goes well with the
latest installment of our series on the humanoid races by Con¬
tributing Editor Roger Moore. The “rude, crude” half-ores are
examined in detail, along with five new orcish deities that are
even ruder and cruder than the ruffians who worship them.

With two exceptions, every article inside this issue pertains to

the D&D® and AD&D™ game systems. One of those exceptions
is a big one — Chinatown: The Jaded Temple, an original
adventure written by Jerry Epperson for the TOP SECRET®
game. The other is about the new GANGBUSTERSI™ game
from TSR Hobbies, outlined for you by designer Mark Acres.

In From the Sorceror’s Scroll, Gary Gygax makes amends for

the lack of official information about AD&D spell books. Follow¬
ing that is Contributing Editor Ed Greenwood’s imaginative
piece describing some spell books that just might turn up in a
treasure trove some day. Ed also provided The Scribe, a new
and expanded version of a non-player character type that was
first described ‘way back in issue #3 of DRAGON Magazine.

As proof of the fact that things are not always what they seem,
check out Leomund’s Tiny Hut, on the topic of “Magic for
merchants,” and Zadron’s Pouch of Wonders, a grab bag that
you might not want to be left holding. Maybe it would make a
good birthday present — if you’re not overly concerned about
making it to your next birthday.... — KM

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, ADVANCED D&D, and TOP SECRET are
registered trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc.
™ designates other trademarks owned by TSR Hobbies, Inc., unless otherwise
indicated.

2 June 1982
Dragon

Vol. VI, No. 12 June 1982

Publisher .Jake Jaquet

Editor-in-Chief .Kim Mohan

Editorial staff .Bryce Knorr

Marilyn Mays
Gali Sanchez

Sales .Debbie Chiusano

Circulation .Corey Koebernick

Office staff .Cherie Knull

Roger Raupp
Contributing editors. . . . Roger Moore
Ed Greenwood

This issue’s contributing artists:

Larry Elmore Jim Holloway

Phil Foglio Kyle Miller

Paul Sonju Roger Raupp

Harry Quinn Dave Trampier

David Larson
DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is pub¬
lished monthly for a subscription price of $24
per year by Dragon Publishing, a division of TSR
Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva Wl
53147.

DRAGON Magazine is available at hundreds

of hobby stores and bookstores throughout the
United States and Canada, and through a limit¬
ed number of overseas outlets. Subscription
rates are as follows, with all payments to be
made in advance: $24 for 12 issues sent to a U.S.
or Canadian address; $50 U.S. for 12 issues sent
via surface mail or $95 for 12 issues sent via air
mail to any other country.

A limited quantity of certain back issues of

DRAGON Magazine can be purchased directly
from the publisher by sending the cover price
plus $1.50 postage and handling for each issue
ordered. Payment in advance by check or mon¬
ey order must accompany all orders. Payments
cannot be made through a credit card, and
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tomer nor an institution can be billed for a sub¬
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The issue of expiration for each subscription

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scriber’s copy of the magazine. Changes of ad¬
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date of the change in order to insure uninter¬
rupted delivery.

All material published in DRAGON Magazine

becomes the exclusive property of the publisher
upon publication, unless special arrangements
to the contrary are made prior to publication.
DRAGON Magazine welcomes unsolicited sub¬
missions of written material and artwork; how¬
ever, no responsibility for such submissions can
be assumed by the publisher in any event. Any
submission which is accompanied by a self-
addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient size
will be returned to the contributor if it cannot be
published.

DRAGON™ is a trademark for Dragon Publish¬

ing’s monthly adventure playing aid. All rights
on the contents of this publication are reserved,
and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole
or in part without prior permission in writing
from the publisher. Copyright ©1982 by TSR
Hobbies, Inc.
Second-class postage paid at Lake Geneva,
Wis., and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

Dragon Publishing, P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva
Wl 53147. ISSN 0279-6848.

“Welcome addition”

Dear Editor:

I was pleased to find BEST OF DRAGON

Vol. II for sale in my local hobby store. I was
even more delighted to find NPC’s such as the
Anti-Paladin, Samurai and Berserker. “The
Sorceror’s Scroll” held great interest for me
and “Poison: From AA to XX” was a must!

Has anyone ever thought of making a sec¬

ond Players’ Handbook containing a few of
the best NPC’s published in DRAGON Maga¬
zine as player characters? That, of course,
would require a sequel to the DMG with new
combat tables and miscellaneous rules. This
would be a welcome addition to the AD&D
family.

Many times I have tried to play an Archer-

Ranger or Bounty Hunter in various cam¬
paigns, but the DM either didn’t have suffi¬
cient information, or in some cases, he just
wouldn’t try; thus, out comes the old Fighter,
Cleric or Thief.

In my opinion these rules need to be broad¬

ened. Don’t misunderstand me, I think the
AD&D game is the best role-playing game
ever created and it takes up a great deal of my
time, but I guess I am just suffering from the
“Ole Druid Blues!”

In the tradition of all AD&D books, these

two new books would not be a necessity to the
game, but would instead be just a supple¬
ment, a fine addition to the AD&D spectrum. If
there is controversy on an imbalance in the
playing of one of these characters, I believe a
good DM would be able to handle it. There
have always been choices when creating a
new character, but the ideas I have proposed
would open up even more options for the
AD&D player.

Hugh Weiler
Worthington, Ohio

What Hugh suggests isn’t a bad idea, but it’s

based on a misinterpretation. The character
classes presented in BEST OF DRAGON™
Vol. II were not designed to be used by player
characters, but only as NPC’s with whom
player characters might interact. Maybe we’ll
put out a volume of NPC’s some day, but
that’s what they’ll be — they won’t be por¬
trayed as classes that players can choose for
their characters.

Why not? For one thing, we don’t presume

to have the knowledge or the power to drastic¬
ally alter the fabric of the AD&D™ rules.
Classes for player characters are specifically
defined and “limited" (though there is still an
abundance of choices) in order to make the
game system as a whole work properly. Why
should a DM have to correct an “imbalance’’
anyway? A well structured role-playing game
that isn’t tampered with to a great degree
shouldn’t — and in this case doesn’t — have
any imbalances to begin with.

Those of you who’ve been following “From

the Sorceror’s Scroll" know that Gary Gygax
is at work on expansion material for the AD&D

rule system. The expansion volume will al¬

most certainly contain some new player char¬
acter classes — such as Gary’s version of the
Barbarian, which will be previewed in the July
issue of DRAGON™ Magazine. For Hugh and
everyone who feels the same way, that should
be something to look forward to. — KM

‘Gone too far’

Dear Editor:

With regard to the article about science in a

fantasy world in DRAGON #60: While I do
agree that all of Mr. Holthaus’ examples are
correct and just, I think he has gone too far.
Water running downhill is one thing, but cal¬
culating the water pressure on a “normal” door
is something quite different, especially in a
world where gods, demons, and ultra-power¬
ful magic take a hand in everyday affairs.

What actually happens as Malrob casts his

Fly spell? Does the magic slow his descent as
it builds up power, but give him control only
after the spell is completed?

As for the CO and methane questions, any

self-respecting dwarf or gnome should know
of these dangers and how to handle them.
After all, they are “miners of great skill.”

Ragnor has an intelligence of 3 if he’s going

to try to lift a spherical rock, which could be
rolled.

The weight (encumbrance) of 50 feet of

rope is listed in Appendix O of the DMG as 75
gp. Breaking a rope requires more than 2,500
lbs. or 25,000 gp of pressure — sufficient to
hold anyone’s trust, but one must take into
account the position, age, and condition of
the rope before ruling that a rope has broken.

The ceiling questions are good, but again I

would trust the dwarf to use his mining abili¬
ties (and the DM’s fairness) to help the party
overcome these slight problems.

Any horse would instinctively shy away

from a chasm it could not jump.

The best way to figure out if a person could

carry something is to have him or her try. Any
good DM would know the weight of the item
and be able to compare it to the player’s
strength. This is easier than figuring the vol¬
ume and density and all the equations that Mr.
Holthaus uses.

Olaf must look up the range of his spear in

the Players Handbook, where it is established
as 30 yards — considerably shorter than the
desired 120 yards.

Mr. Holthaus has brains and knows how to

use them. But I don’t think such rigorous ap¬
plication of physical and mathematical laws
belongs in the D&D and AD&D games. I am a
chemistry major and I have a good knowledge
of the laws of nature. As a DM, I must re¬
member that not everyone has had the same
education I have, so to be fair to the players I
must “play dumb.” Common sense, not sci¬
ence, must play the key role.

Roger Reinsmith
Detroit, Mich.

Dragon 3
Your journey has been long and arduous but at last you and the rest of your party
camp within the great
stone ring of Salisbury plain and spend an anxious night waiting for the golden
glow of the
midsummer day’s dawn. Your thoughts are not of the mad emperor, Caligula, who sent
you on this
maniacal quest, nor do they dwell upon the evil clans of Black Druids who stood
between you and this
night; but rather of the unknown, mystical dangers that lurk within these very
stone megaliths,
dangers and powers that will be unleashed as sure as the sun will rise. Obsessed
with this premonition
of danger you have not the slightest inkling that when that same sun rises you will
be irresistibly
pulled into a series of events of such magnitude that they not only dwarf Caligula
and Rome itself; but
form the greatest adventure in human history. You have not the slightest suspicion
that tomorrow’s
dawn will throw you into danger and intrigue that will lead you to discover ...

The riddle of Stonehenge!... The secrets of the pyra¬

mids! ... The mysteries of the ancient world! as you
play

Mao, Myth® Magic

A role playing game of man’s greatest adventures.

Our annual
full-blown
dragon section

It should come as a surprise to no one that we’ve always had a soft spot in our
hearts for dragons. Every time a fair maiden gets lost, who gets blamed? When a
bully wants to prove his manhood, who does he pick on? It’s no wonder that some
dragons have to resort to trickery to keep their scales in one piece. “Inflato the
Magnificent," rendered in it-sure-looks-like-living color by Phil Foglio, demon¬
strates one dragon’s way of fooling a human fighter — which, as even us humans
know, sometimes ain’t all that difficult.

The five pages following this one make up our Sixth Anniversary Dragon Section,
including descriptions of three formidable new dragon-types that make Inflato look
like nothing more than the big windbag he is. Have fun.
Dragon 5

Faerie Dragon

Created by Brian Jaeger

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NUMBER APPEARING: 1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 5 (1 when invisible)
MOVE: 6724”

HIT DICE: See below

% IN LAIR: 25%

TREASURE TYPE: S, T, U in lair

NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Breath weapon,
magic use

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Invisibility

MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: High to genius
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic good
SIZE: S (1-1VV long)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

ATTACK/DEFENSE MODES: Nil
CHANCE OF:

Speaking: 90%

Magic use: 100%

Sleeping: 40%

This chaotic offshoot of the pseudo¬

dragon lives in peaceful, tangled forests
in all climes, often with a group of sprites

or pixies.

Faerie dragons can become invisible

at will. They are able to attack or employ
magic or breath weapons when invisible.
They attack as 4 HD monsters, biting for
1 -2 points of damage. However, the faer¬
ie dragon is much more likely to use its
breath weapon of “euphoria gas.” The
creature expels the gas in a two-foot-
diameter spherical cloud —just enough
to give the target a good fateful. A victim
failing to make his or her saving throw vs.
breath weapon will wander blissfully
about for 3-12 rounds, during which time
he or she will be unable to attack and will
have an effective armor class two places
worse than actual. The victim will be able
to keep his or her mind on the situation
and the surroundings, as long as he or
she makes a saving throw of intelligence
or less on d20 during each round the
effect of the gas lasts. As soon as a victim
fails an intelligence saving throw, he or
she will completely lose interest in the
matters at hand, indicating that the gas
has had its maximum “euphoria” effect.

The faerie dragon will never attack di¬

rectly by any means unless cornered or

A chaotic,
colorftil new
dragon-type

(Forlivn marc

11 cw clrfigous,

turn (he

defending Its 'lair. However/tne Taene

dragon will use its magic at any oppor¬
tunity to wreak mischief on passers-by.
Most (65%) faerie dragons will employ
magic-user spells as per a magic-user of
the level indicated on the accompanying
chart; some (35%) will use druid spells.
All their spells are chosen solely for their
mischief potential. Offensive or defen¬
sive spells will never be learned unless
the particular faerie dragon has thought
up an exquisite prank using some such
spell. All faerie dragons will learn water
breathing and legend lore at the first op¬
portunity. Though many faerie dragon
pranks are spur-of-the-moment affairs,
months of preparation often go into a
single grand practical joke.

Faerie dragons enjoy swimming and

diving. In flight, they can hover, and are
maneuverability class A. They eat fruits,
roots, tubers, nuts, honey, and grains,
and have been known to go to great
lengths to get a fresh apple pie.

All faerie dragons can communicate

telepathically with one another at a dis¬
tance of up to two miles. They speak
their own language and their alignment

tongue, plusthelanguages ot sprites!

pixies, elves, and the birds and animals
in their area. They frequently use forest
creatures to help them in their pranks.

Description: Faerie dragons appear as

thin miniature dragons with long, pre¬
hensile tails, butterfly wings, and huge
smiles. Their colors range through the
spectrum from red for the very young to
purple for ancient individuals, as shown
on the accompanying chart. Females'
hides shine with a bright golden tinge in
the sunlight, while males have a silver
tinge.

Spell lists: Suggested spells for faerie

dragons are given below. The Dungeon
Master should keep in mind that spell
choice is bounded only by the imagina¬
tion of the possible pranks, and by the
fact that a faerie dragon prank will never
have damage to its victims as its aim.

Magic-user spells

1st level: Dancing Lights, Message,

Sleep, Unseen Servant, Ventriloquism.

2nd level: Audible Glamer, Forget,

Levitate, Magic Mouth, Pyrotechnics.

3rd level: Fly, Phantasmal Force, Slow,

Suggestion, Water Breathing.

4th level: Fire

inatory Terrain, Polymorph Other, Poly¬
morph Self.

5th level: Distance Distortion, Morden-

kainen's Faithful Hound, Telekinesis,
Transmute Rock to Mud, Wall of Force.

6th level: Control Weather, Legend

Lore, Project Image.

7th level: Limited Wish, Simulacrum.

8th level: Otto’s Irresistible Dance.

Druid spells

1st level: Animal Friendship, Entangle,

Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Speak
with Animals.

2nd level: Charm Person or Mammal,

Create Water, Obscurement, Trip, Warp

3rd level: Plant Growth, Pyrotechnics,

Stone Shape, Water Breathing.

4th level: Animal Summoning I, Call

Woodland Beings, Control Temperature
10’ Radius, Speak with Plants.

Age

level

I 1

H.P.

Age

Color

Magic

M-U

level

Druid

level

1-2

very young
red

12%

3-4

young

sub-adult

red-orange

24%

5-6

orange

36%

7-8

young adult

yellow

48%

9-10

adult

green

60%

10

11-12

old
blue-green

72%

12

13-14

very old

blue

84%

14

11

15-16

ancient

purple

96%

16

12

Created by Pat Reinken

Legends say that Ahi and Rahab are twins—that the steel
dragon and the gray dragon emerged from the same egg, but
somehow grew up as total opposites. They apparently are in¬
deed from the same hatch, and they are both known to be very
powerful (some say that if they were to fight each other, neither
would live), but the truth of their origin is lost in antiquity. This
may be just as well, for these two dragons are not known for
their hospitality and are said to not look kindly on trespassers.

'"^^u^o^Dra^Ferr^^Usirbo) hesitate to properly deaf with trespassers

and other intruders into his home. At

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -2
MOVEMENT: 9748"
HIT DICE: 12 (96 hit points)

% IN LAIR: 85%

TREASURE TYPE: H, S, T
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/3-24
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Genius
ALIGNMENT: Lawful good
SIZE: L (60" long)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
CHANCE OF:

Speaking: 100%

Magic Use: 100%

Sleeping: 15%

Ahi, the steel dragon, is a loner. He

lives high in the uppermost atmosphere
of the Prime Material Plane in a castle
that circles the earth on the west wind.
Although he is lawful good, Ahi will not

regular intervals, the steel dragon visits

the earth to feed and gather small trea¬
sures from any evil characters he finds.

The steel dragon can attach with the

usual claw/claw/bite routine of other
dragons or with one of three breath wea¬
pons: a cloud (2"x2"x3") of poison
vapor that causes 2-12 points of damage
and unconsciousness for 2-4 rounds; a
cloud (same size) of scalding water va¬
por that causes 6-36 points of damage
and blinds for two rounds; or a cone of
vapor 6: long (base diameter 2") that
causes affected creatures to assume
gaseous form for 5-10 rounds.

Ahi can cast any magic-user spell of

first through sixth level, but can employ
only tow spells per day. The steel dragon
can make himself gaseous at will and will
do so in order to get behind an oppo¬
nent. In addition to this, Ahi's appear¬
ance to characters and other creatures is
as a shifting, cloudy dragon-shaped
mass of vapor. Because of this appear¬
ance, any opponent attacking the steel
dragon with a weapon will always miss
on his or her first attempt to hit.

8 June 1982

Grey Dragon

Grey Dragon (Draco Nox Diabolus)

FREQUENCY: Very rare

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -5 (-2)

MOVE: 15"/24"

HIT DICE: 12 (96 hit points)

% IN LAIR: 100%

TREASURE TYPE: H, S, T, U
NO. ATTACKS: 5
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-811-8/1-4/
1-4/5-40

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: L (48' long)

PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
CHANCE OF:

Speaking: 25%

Magic Use: 75%

Sleeping: 10%

The grey dragon, Rahab, is hated by

dragons as much as he is hated by all
other creatures. The only living things
around him are the men, dwarves, and
goblins he has enslaved. He lives deep in
a cavern in a remote mountain range and
never ventures forth from it.

The grey dragon attacks with the usual

claw/claw/bite routine but gets two addi¬
tional swings with his claws because of
his tremendous speed. The latter two
claw attacks are at -1 “to hit” and do only
1-4 points of damage. Rahab’s breath
weapon is a gas cloud that affects all
victims within its boundaries (2" + 2 "+
3") as a super-powerful charm spell. Af¬
fected characters or creatures (those
who fail their saving throw vs. breath
weapon) will never again attack Rahab
or seek to do him harm for as long as
they live, or until the effect of the breath
weapon is negated by a Remove Curse
spell.

Those who enter the dragon’s cavern

will find nothing but a large mound of

blackness, for Rahab is hidden by a form
of Continual Darkness. The spell is not
affected by anything save Continual
Light, which will act as a Light spell. In
this darkness, Rahab has an armor class
of -5. If the darkness is temporarily alle¬
viated by the application of Continual
Light, its armor class worsens to -2.

If adversaries come close enough to

the dragon, or if Rahab advances toward
his foes, the grey dragon may be able to
envelop his opponents in this blackness,
effectively blinding them. If he manages
to do this Rahab receives a +5 bonus “to
hit” on each character so affected. The
dragon’s own vision is sufficient to see
under the darkness. The edge of the area
of darkness is approximately three feet
away from the dragon and surrounds
him totally.

The dragon can cast two magic-user

spells per day, but can use no spell of
higher than third level.

Evil dragon armors

by Roger Moore

In an era long past, an intrepid dragon-hunter and his wizard

friend discovered that the hide of an evil dragon, if properly
prepared, could be cut and formed into a suit of armor that
provides protection against attack forms resembling the breath
weapon of the dragon from which it was made.

To begin the process, an evil dragon (white, black, red, blue,

or green) of at least adult age must be killed, without the use of
magic and preferably by means of repeated attacks with blunt
weapons. Even a single magical attack directed against a drag¬
on, whether or not the spell casting succeeds and whether or
not the spell causes damage to the dragon, will ruin the protec¬
tive potential of the creature’s hide and make later attempts at
enchantment ineffective. If the dragon is hit with edged wea¬
pons, there is a chance the hide will be cut and marred to the
extent that it becomes unusable as armor. For each successful
hit on the dragon with an edged weapon (regardless of the
amount of damage done), add 5% to the chance of the hide
being damaged beyond use. (Thus, if a dragon takes 20 hits
from edged weapons, there is no chance that the hide will be
thereafter usable as armor.) If and when the dragon is killed, the
chance that the hide is spoiled must be exceeded on a roll of d%
in order for the armor-making process to continue.

The hide must be removed with care, and at this juncture a

very sharp edged weapon is essential to trim the hide as cleanly
and efficiently as possible. The instrument must be able to be
controlled with precision, which means it can’t be any larger
than a standard dagger blade. If the character doing the skin¬
ning uses a normal (non-magical) blade, there is a 30% chance
that, despite his or her best efforts, the hide will not separate
cleanly from the body and the resulting scraps of dragon-skin
will be unusable as armor. If an enchanted blade is employed,
the chance of failure at this step of the process decreases by
10% for each “plus” of the instrument; thus, with any blade of +3
or greater, successful skinning is assured.

Once the hide is removed and transported to civilization

(assuming the dragon wasn’t killed in the village square), the
services of skilled armorers, leather-workers, and tailors must
be employed to fashion the hide into armor. This process takes
21-30 days for each suit of armor, and prices for the needed
services will be three times the standard rate. Only one set of
armor may be fashioned from the hide of a single dragon.

The resulting suit of armor is equivalent to normal scale mail

in armor class (6), maximum movement rate (6”), and bulkiness
(fairly bulky). It weighs about 30 pounds, compared to 40
pounds for normal scale mail. The non-enchanted armor can
be worn “as is,” but if the non-magical armor is hit even once by
an edged weapon, it will not be able to be enchanted after that.

Enchanting the armor must be done by a magic-user of 16th

level or higher, who will insist on a generous payment in gold
pieces, or the promise (and proof) of some other benefit that

might be offered. At least half of the payment must be supplied

in advance, with the rest due when the armor is delivered.

The magic-user must first successfully cast Enchant An Item

on the armor, and then apply a second spell (which varies
depending on the armor type) to act as a catalyst, triggering the
armor’s capability to resist a particular attack form. This second
spell must be applied (the casting must have been begun)
within 12 hours after the completion of Enchant An Item. If the
magicking process fails, either because the casting of Enchant
An Item is unsuccessful or because the second spell is not
applied within the required time, the magic-user is under no
obligation to make another attempt free of charge.

The second step in the process depends on the type (color)

of dragon hide used. To complete white dragon armor, an Ice
Storm spell must be cast on the hide; for black dragon armor,
the finished hide must be immersed in acid for 13-24 (d12 + 12)
hours; to complete green dragon armor, a Stinking Cloud spell
must be cast on (around) the hide; for blue dragon armor, a
Shocking Grasp spell is needed, and for red dragon armor,
Burning Hands. None of these spells or substances will damage
the armor they are applied to; their function is to activate the
innate resistance in the hide which has previously been
“brought to the surface” by the Enchant An Item spell.

When the enchantment is complete, the armor will be essen¬

tially equivalent to +1 scale mail: armor class 5, movement 9”,
weight 15 pounds. In addition, each armor type/color affords
the wearer resistance or immunity to a particular attack form.
The special properties of each type are:

White dragon armor — Resistance against white dragon

breath, winter wolf breath, Cone of Cold spell, and other
attack forms involving cold, ice, or frost.

Black dragon armor — Resistance against black dragon

breath, giant slug spittle, anhkheg digestive acid, and other
attack forms using acid or acid-like effects.

Green dragon armor — Resistance against green dragon

breath, iron golem breath, Cloudkill spell, and other attack
forms using poisonous gases.

Blue dragon armor — Resistance against blue dragon

breath, Lightning Bolt spell, storm giant’s lightning attack,
and other sorts of natural or artificial (including magical)
lightning or electricity.

Red dragon armor — Resistance against red dragon

breath, Fireball spell, and other attacks using heat or fire.
“Resistance” includes these benefits: The wearer of the ar¬
mor gains +1 on all saving throws against the specified attack
form. The wearer is unaffected by any attack of the specified
type that does 6 points of damage or less in a round. In all cases,
the wearer is entitled to a -1 modifier on each and every damage
die rolled (with a minimum of 1 point of damage per die). If the
application of this modifier reduces damage taken in a round to
6 points or less, the wearer takes no damage (as stipulated
above).

Although these suits of armor come from evil dragons, clerics

and fighter-class types of all alignments may wear them.

10 June 1982
The 1920$

CCME
ALIVE
Is ¥§17*$
NEW PPG

Dcsknec'$

NOTES

BY

W/U3E Acres

“I grabbed the punk by the collar and

slammed him hard against the wall of
Matheson’s Ice House. It was just my
second day on the beat and I wanted it
known that punks weren’t welcome in
my part of town. That’s when he started
spilling his guts. Seems he’d seen the
guy who knocked over the jewelry store
the day before, seen him run from the
store to the Lexington Hotel across the
street. I thought about calling in for help,
but decided against it and started for the
Lexington. If I could get a pinch this big
on my own, it would mean promotion for
sure....”

This is how it goes in the world of the

GANGBUSTERSi™ game, the new role-
playing system from TSR Hobbies, Inc.,
for recreating the world of the 1920’s and
1930’s. This article is designed to give
DRAGON™ Magazine readers a peek at
the contents of the game and explain
some of the major decisions made dur¬
ing the design process.

Inside the box are a 64-page rule book,

a programmed instructional module, four

maps (three in full color), and a set of
counters which can be used in place of
miniature figures. The programmed mod¬
ule can be played after reading only the
Basic rules (about 18 pages) and does
not require the use of a game judge.

Characters can choose careers as law

officers, Prohibition agents, FBI agents,
private investigators, reporters, or, of
course, criminals. The basic systems
were designed to keep action in the
game fast-paced and simple, allowing
players to concentrate more on plot and
character development in campaigns,
provided that they play well enough to
live beyond first level!

Characters have seven basic abilities

and characteristics, five of them gener¬
ated by dice rolls and the other two de¬
rived from combining a pair of the origi¬
nal scores:

Muscle is the character’s physi¬

cal strength.

Agility is the ability to shoot

straight and perform difficult move¬

ments, like leaping from one roof¬

top to another.

Observation is the character’s

skill at noticing hidden or unusual
clues, and avoiding surprise.

Presence is a number represent¬

ing how well a character interacts
with other personages. It is impor¬
tant in dealing with NPC’s.

Luck is a number representing

the chance for making a saving
throw to keep a character alive in
an otherwise hopeless situation.

Each character has a Driving

score, the average of Agility and
Observation, which determines
how fast he or she can safely hot¬
rod around on busy city streets.

Hit Points are based on Muscle

and Agility and range from a min¬
imum of 7 to a maximum of 25.

The fighting systems were deliberate¬

ly made as simple as possible. Fights are
resolved in one-second turns. To fire a
weapon, a character sights the target
and rolls percentile dice against his or
Dragon 11
her Agility score. Of course, modifiers
are also applied, for other actions by
both the firing character and the target
and for cover, which can increase or de¬
crease the chance to hit a target. If a hit is
indicated, there is no need for a second
die roll; damage is standardized accord¬
ing to weapon type, Hand-to-hand fight¬
ing is resolved in a similar manner.

The game uses a damage system which

distinguishes between wound damage,
usually caused by gunfire, and bruise
damage, usually caused by hand-to-hand
fighting. Characters reduced to zero hit
points solely by wounds are dead. Char¬
acters who go down to zero due to a
combination of wounds and bruises, or
just because of bruises, are only knocked
out for a while.

A set of Expert Rules, appended to the

Basic rulebook, includes systems for
variable damage, hit location, boxing,
martial arts, and other elements which
are fun but not necessary for play.

The result is a game with as much ac¬

tion as the players want. The action is
fast and tends to be deadly. In fact, in the
first TSR playtest, twelve player charac¬
ters quickly became embroiled in a
three-way gun battle between federal
agents and two rival gangs. In the course
of the fight, one gang managed to rob a
bank, loot the other gang’s warehouse,
and get away with three characters alive
after causing a spectacular crash of the
car which was rushing six NPC police

officers to the scene. It was all over in

less than two hours, and there was even
one additional character left alive: an as¬
tute federal agent who played dead be¬
neath a car and spent his time happily
memorizing license plate numbers!

That playtest told us we had succeeded

in meeting our first design priority. We
had a game which was very rapidly
learned and simple to play, and which
could be used to play shoot-‘em-up cops
and robbers. With the inclusion of the
programmed module, this meant that the
GANGBUSTERSI™ game would be one
of the most immediately playable de¬
signs on the market. The real work in¬
volved designing campaign game sys¬
tems that would satisfy experienced
role-players who want more than just
shootouts and fistfights.

At this point, the GANGBUSTERSI™

game almost became one of the most
ambitious role-playing designs in the
history of gaming. At one point, cam¬
paign systems were written into the rules
which expanded the choice of player-
character careers to include politics,
law, business, unions, and even enter¬
tainment. I was personally very fond of
the system for entertainers; any starry-
eyed player character had a chance to be
“discovered” and make it big in Holly¬
wood. Sad to say, there wasn’t room to
cram an entire historical epoch into a
64-page rulebook, and these additional
career systems had to be dropped. Some

of the systems which had to be deleted

may be published some day, if sufficient
interest is shown.

Nevertheless, the game does have a

rich and varied campaign texture. That
texture grew out of our second design
priority: We wanted a game which would
be historically accurate for the period, in
two ways at the same time. We want his¬
torically minded players to be able to
play out adventures similar to those that
really occurred in the days when organ¬
ized crime was getting its first strong
foothold in American life, and at the
same time we wanted players to be able
to live out the exploits of the classic fic¬
tional characters of the period as well.
This desire for accuracy resulted in a
number of crucial decisions.

First of all, we were determined to let

player characters become private inves¬
tigators. As it turned out, that became a
favorite occupation of our playtesters. It
is also an added plus for the game judge
with only a few players. It is possible to
run an entire campaign with only two or
three players who are private eyes, in¬
vestigating classic murders or digging
into the roots of organized crime.

Second, the decision for historical ac¬

curacy in itself provided the basis for the
balance between character careers. A
glance at the rules will reveal one major
fact: In the 1920’s, crime definitely paid,
and paid well. Bootleggers made huge
fortunes, sometimes almost overnight.
While the cops and private eyes and re¬
porters are slogging through their ca¬
reers for $25 to $35 per week, bootleggers
can be earning thousands of dollars per
week and using the excess money to pay
off the bosses of the men trying to catch
them. This is definitely a historical reali¬
ty, and at first we were afraid the reality
would unbalance the game. Criminals
can make so much money so fast that
there would seem to be little incentive for
pursuing any other career in the game.

History also provided the answer to

this problem, however. In the game, as in
reality, criminals in general have a short
life expectancy, and the great majority of
them live up to that expectation. Of
course, there were a few top crime bosses
who made hundreds of thousands of dol¬
lars in a single week. But for every boss
who rose to the top of his, uh, “profes¬
sion,” there were hundreds of other peo¬
ple who wound up dead in the streets,
riddled with submachine gun bullets.
The higher a man rose in the ranks of
organized crime, the bigger a target he
became for all the punks and hoods who
worked for him or worked for someone
else against him. Any player character
who plays a criminal and lives to make
third level or higher has performed a mi¬
nor miracle.

The second factor which kept crimi¬

nals in check was public opinion. The
public will tolerate quite a lot, but sooner
or later people will rise up in holy horror

From the makers of more f ascinatio n from

COSMIC ENCOUNTER , ICr%nl

DARKOVER, RUNES
and HOAX

Did you know that

there are thousands and
THOUSANDS
OF MONSTERS

in a box of QUiRKS?
AND THAT . . .

. . . QUiRKS, the game of un-natural selection,

was selected as one of the BEST games of
1981 by OMNI Magazine?

AND THAT . . .

. . . there are 2 QUiRKS Expansion Sets that add thousands more

possibilities?

QUiRKS — $12.00 each Expansion Sets — $5.00 each

Ask for QUiRKS, by EON Products, at your local

hobby and game store.

Contact:

EON PRODUCTS, Inc.

96 Stockton Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts 02124

12 June 1982

when men are gunned down on the

streets in broad daylight. This is reflect¬
ed in the game by the public reaction
rules. Whenever gang violence, which is
usually necessary for profitable opera¬
tion of an underworld activity, gets out of
hand, the public will demand that the
politicians do something. The politicians,
even the ones who have been bought,
will listen.

Newspapers play a major role in shap¬

ing public opinion, and that’s where re¬
porters can have a big impact on the
events in a campaign. If he gets the okay
from his editor, even a first level reporter
can write a series of articles which will
turn on the “heat” for quite a while.

The third factor curbing player-char¬

acter careers in organized crime is the
dedication of a few honest law enforce¬
ment officers, the famous “gang busters”
of the period. This is the meat of the
campaign game. Enlisting the aid of the
press, developing street contacts, get¬
ting around the paid-off political bosses
and nailing “The Big Guy” is the dream
of any self-respecting player-character
federal agent or police officer.

This aspect merged well with our third

design priority: We did not want the
game to glamorize organized crime. On
the contrary, we wanted a game which
would enhance the perception of the
men who worked night and day for
peon’s wages to keep the mob from dom¬
inating American life. The campaign
playtests indicated that we were suc¬
cessful in this as well. Most beginning
players chose their characters to be
criminals. Most ended up playing as
some type of law enforcement officer af¬
ter their first and second criminal char¬
acters were either killed off or sent up the
river for a long, long time.

Finally, we wanted a game which would

maximize the decisions left up to the
players. This had several effects on the
game system. First, we decided that
rolled-up characteristics would be used
to define only a character’s physical abil¬
ities, not his or her intelligence or inge¬
nuity. In the game, each character is as
smart as the player who’s running it.

Next, we left the choice of special

skills entirely in the hands of the players.
Players can spend experience points to
gain or improve special skills, ranging
from something as simple as hot-wiring
a car to something as complex as detect¬
ing art forgeries.

History and reality again came to our

aid in deciding how to award experience
points. The obvious and simple thing to
do proved workable; in the game, player
characters gain experience points by do¬
ing what their real-life counterparts tried
to do. Reporters gain experience by
scooping the competition on major sto¬
ries. Law enforcement characters gain
experience by catching criminals. Pri¬
vate eyes gain experience by solving
cases. Criminals, true to form, gain ex¬

perience only by making money. How

the player characters accomplish these
goals is left up to them and the discretion
of their game judge. In the campaign
playtest, many player characters came
up with very unorthodox ways of ac¬
complishing their goals.
Finally, a word to those who would be
judges: The GANGBUSTERSI™ game is
unlike other role-playing games in one
major respect. Players are not placed in
a controlled environment, and they don’t
necessarily work together. This makes
judging the game very different from
running something like a D&D® or
AD&D™ game. When players are “down
in the dungeons,” a judge has the oppor¬
tunity and the ability to limit the choices
available to them. (There are only four
ways to go at the intersection of two cor¬
ridors!) In a major American city of the
1920’s, there are lots of places to go, lots
of things to do, and players are going to
want to do them. Just to complicate
things a little, they aren’t going to want to
do them together as a group. In fact, at
the beginning of a campaign, there may
be no reason to assume that players are
familiar with, or even aware of, each oth¬
ers’ characters.

For example, in our first campaign

game playtest, a criminal character was
busy robbing a jewelry store while the
cop on the beat (another player charac¬
ter) was trying to convince his bribed

partner (a non-player character) to close

down a speakeasy. Meanwhile, a repor¬
ter player character was downtown try¬
ing to solve a murder mystery, not know¬
ing that two player-character private eyes
were working on the same case. Our
player-character prohibition agent was
taking bribes from speaks and turning
the money over to the U.S. Attorney’s
Office, and a player-character FBI agent
was hot on the trail of some stolen trucks
being used by a local bootlegging gang.
All of this was happening at once, so the
judge was pretty busy.

The key to judging such a game is to

make sure that everyone gets an equal
share of your attention and that no one
sits very long just watching you judge
other players’ actions. Move your atten¬
tion around among your players fre¬
quently, and they’ll be happy. If your
players are mature role-players, they
should be able to handle the fact that
they will sometimes “hear” or “know”
things that their characters shouldn’t
know. If they aren’t mature enough to
handle that, the judge can and should
design scenarios that will force that sort
of cooperation.

It is this flexibility which makes the

GANGBUSTERSI™ game a lot of fun to
judge and lot of fun to play. And fun is
what role-playing is all about. We hope
you have as much fun playing the game
as we did making it.

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Dragon 13
|liTergtfjmg
you nearer
lutefc about

spell boobs

by Gary Gygax

©1982 E. Gary Gygax. All rights reserved.

All information regarding spell books in AD&D™ gaming is

currently inferred. This was not, Gentle Reader, by design.
Simply put, I overlooked it in the morass of getting three vol¬
umes put together. In order to rectify that oversight, the follow¬
ing rules are offered. When the ADVANCED DUNGEONS &
DRAGONS® Expansion volume is completed (please don’t ask
me when!), the same rules will be included therein, although
some minor changes are probable. In any event, stalwart read¬
ers of DRAGON™ Magazine are again getting the straight
goods first!

SPELL BOOKS

When a magic-user completes his or her apprenticeship, it is

assumed that he or she has one, or possibly two, spell books. A
Book of First Level Spells will certainly be possessed, and there
might be a Book of Cantrips as well. The latter depends upon
the options of both the DM and the concerned player. The
following applies to all spell books.

Types of spell books

There are two different kinds of spell books:

1. Standard spell books, each of which contains up to

36 cantrips, 24 spells of under 4th level, 16 spells of under
7th level, or 8 spells of 7th, 8th and/or 9th level.

2. Travelling spell books, each of which contains at

most one-fourth of the number of spells possible to be
contained in a standard spell book: 9 cantrips; 6 spells of
1st 2nd, and/or 3rd level; 4 spells of 4th, 5th, and/or 6th
level; or 2 spells of 7th, 8th, and/or 9th level.

Cost of spell books

A standard spell book costs 1,000 gold pieces for materials

plus 100 additional gold pieces per spell level for each spell
contained therein.

The cost of a new magic-user’s or illusionist’s initial book or

books is assumed to be borne by the new spell caster’s former
master, so the fledgling spell caster will have one or two spell
books at no cost to him or her. Books which are prepared later
in a magic-user’s career (having higher spell-level capacity
than “beginning” books) are not supplied by a M-U’s master,
but must be composed by the M-U in question as part of his or
her training when the spell caster is trying to rise to the next
experience level. This composition will take from 4-7 weeks for
each new standard book; the book is composed during and
after the time when other training exercises are taking place.

The same costs/prices apply when such a book is being

manufactured and composed: Any standard spell book re¬
quires a 1,000 gold piece investment for materials plus 100 gold
pieces per level for each spell entered within the book, payable
when a magic-user adds a new spell to his or her repertoire.
(Entering a first level spell costs 100 gp, a second level spell
costs 200 gp, etc.)

A travelling spell book costs 500 gold pieces for materials.

The cost of each spell contained within such a book in the same
as the cost for entering a spell in a standard book. All travelling
spell books must be fabricated by the magic-user, or otherwise
discovered as treasure by the magic-user or his or her asso¬
ciates. A player character cannot automatically possess one at
the beginning of his or her career.

Physical aspects of standard books

A standard spell book is approximately 16 inches in height,

12 inches wide, and 6 inches thick. (The DM has leeway to
reduce or enlarge this general size, although nothing smaller
than 12 x 12 x 6 inches or larger than 18x12x9 inches is
recommended.) The weight of a standard book is 150 gold
pieces (adjusted upward or downward for varying sizes). The
encumbrance value of such a book is equal to three times its
weight (450 gp or thereabouts), although it is correct to assume
that a volume will fit within an otherwise empty backpack or
large sack.

The cover of a standard book is typically heavy leather —

dragon hide, gorgon hide, etc. — inlaid with metal so as to
provide both extra security and a means to close and secure the
book. Vellum pages are sewn together and secured to a fine,
supple leather spine backing. Pages are secured additionally
by fine leather front and back pieces. It is also usual for such a
tome to have vellum stubs at intervals for insertion of additional
pages, although this by no means allows for any increase or
change in the number and types of spells the book can contain.

Notwithstanding any special protections placed thereon, a

standard spell book has a saving throw equal to that of “leather
or book,” with +2 to dice rolls made to save against acid, fireball,
disintegration, and lightning attacks.

Physical aspects of travelling books

A travelling spell book is approximately 12 inches tall, 6

inches wide, and 1 inch thick; 9x9x1 is likewise a good
working size. The weight of such a book is approximately 30
gold pieces, and encumbrance roughly 60 gp. Five such books
will fit within a backpack, twice that number in a large sack.

The cover of a travelling spell book is strong, supple leather,

such as that from a giant cobra. The hand-sewn leaves of
parchment are carefully secured to a fine leather backing and
glued to the spine. The whole is further secured by front and
back pieces of vellum. A small lock or leather ties are typically
used to secure the whole. Pages are very thin and fragile, so
great care must be taken to care for the book when in use.

Notwithstanding any special protections placed thereon, a

travelling spell book has a saving throw equal to that of “leather
or book,” with no bonuses (like a standard book has) against
certain forms of attack.

ffizxt issue: barbarian class

14 June 1982

Value of spell books

A standard spell book has an Experience Point Value of 1,000

points per spell level contained therein (considering cantrips as
first level spells for this purpose), and a Gold Piece Sale Value
of 200 gp per spell level (but only 150 gold pieces for each
cantrip, if the book is of that sort).

A travelling spell book has an Experience Point Value of 500

points per spell level contained therein (again, considering
cantrips as first level spells), and a Gold Piece Sale Value of
1,000 gp per spell level (applies to all spells, including cantrips).

As with any other magical items, spell books must either be

sold immediately or else the X.P. value taken. This holds true
regardless of whether or not any tome is eventually sold. Thus,
a spell book cannot be kept while a particular spell or spells are
transcribed, and then the work be sold for G.P. Sale Value and
the proceeds taken toward experience points.

Casting spells directly from books

In extremis the DM may allow a magic-user to cast a spell

directly from any sort of spell book just as if the book were a
scroll. The book must be of appropriate sort so that the spell
matches the profession of the caster, i.e. magic-user spell,
magic-user spell book. The caster must have read the particular
spell. The caster must be able to know and use the spell in
question. (Note that in this regard, reading directly from a spell
book differs from the use of scroll spells!)

Direct casting of a spell from a spell book automatically

destroys that spell. There is also a 1% chance per level of the
spell that the spells immediately preceding and following the
spell cast will likewise be destroyed. There is an additional 1%
chance that the casting of a spell directly from a spell book will
destroy the entire book. A Permanency spell, for instance,
would not prevent a spell from “disappearing” when cast in this
manner; even though writing might remain on the page, that
writing will no longer be magical in nature.

These strictures apply whether a spell caster is using his or

her personal book or the book of another. Read Magic is re¬
quired to read another mage’s spell book, and a magic-user can
learn a spell by reading it in another’s book. This learning
process requires 2-8 hours of study per spell level, after which

time the spell is learned and thereby immediately usable by the

M-U doing the studying.

Illusionist spell books

Illusionist spell books are the same as those of regular magic-

users, with the following exceptions:

1 . Standard spell books contain 24 first or second level

spells, 16 third or fourth level spells, or 8 spells of fifth,
sixth, and/or seventh level. If first level magic-user spells
are known and used by the illusionist, he or she must have
a new spell book for such spells; this tome is essentially a
standard work for first level containing up to 24 spells.

2. Travelling spell books hold 6 spells of first or second

level, 4 spells or third or fourth level, or but 2 spells of fifth,
sixth, and/or seventh level.

Starting spells for an illusionist player-character are deter¬

mined according to the preference of the player (subject to the
usual “chance to know” roll based on intelligence). For addi¬
tional security, illusionists may opt to do their spell books using
Illusionary Script, which would only be recognizable as such by
another illusionist. A magic-user may not learn a spell from an
illusionist spell book (and vice versa) even if the illusionist spell
in question is the same in name (and perhaps other respects) as
a magic-user spell. The magical forces released by the casting
of “namesake” spells are similar to one another, but the way in
which that magic is triggered differs from class to class.

Except as noted above, treat illusionist spell books as magic-

user spell books.

Cost of magic-user/illusionist spell casting

While the cost of having a cleric cast needed spells is reason¬

ably well detailed in the Dungeon Masters Guide, the cost of
magic-user or illusionist spell casting was neglected. Rather
than give an extensive list of spell costs, the following set of
guidelines will enable the DM to determine a “reasonable” fee
for any spell.

Basic costs: A willing magic-user or illusionist will typically

work for a fee of 200 gold pieces per spell level. Double the
material component(s), or material components of at least such
value as substitutions, is also considered to be a part of the
basic fee.

Additional costs: Failure to furnish the material compo¬

nents) of a spell which has ordinary sort will incur a surcharge
of 10% or three times the value of the component(s), whichever
is greater. Any extraordinary component(s) bring a 100% sur¬
charge or three times such value, whichever is greater. Spells
which place the caster in danger (including such castings as
Identify, which causes a temporary drop in constitution of the
caster) require at least a double fee, and guarantees will be
required as well. Spells which age the caster will be cast only if a
counter to such aging is awarded prior to spell casting, or else
the aging is insignificant to the caster. (A young elf will not be
overly concerned about five years, although a ten times normal
fee might be charged!)

Magic item payment: A magic-user or illusionist will general¬

ly accept some item of magic in lieu of cash or like valuables. In
such cases, the sale value of the item, adjusted downward by
the general reaction of the spell caster to the individual request¬
ing his or her services, is to be considered the base value of the
item. The character and behavior of the NPC encountered will
always be the purview of the DM. Such character or behavior
will, naturally, often affect costs and fees.

Hostile spell casters: In general, a hostile spell caster will

either charge at least double normal fees, or else he or she will
simply refuse to cast any spell whatsoever — unless possibly
bribed to do so with some magic item. Any spell caster of good
alignment is quite unlikely to cast any spell for a character of
evil alignment in any event. Again, adjudication of such events
is the realm of the DM.

Spell casting under duress: Use the rules in the Dungeon

Masters Guide for all magic-user and illusionist spell casting
under threat, magical influence, etc.

Dragon 15

by Ed Greenwood

j'xom tfxz

cPf guaxtzt of tong-toit magLcat manual

It is surprising how few spell books are

found in tombs and ruins, given the great
profusion of magic users running about,
isn’t it? But perhaps not: the fascination
and value of such works is enough to
excite even the richest and mightiest
passersby, and as a result, few of these
books remain long undisturbed.

The sage Elminster has records of a

good many, however, whose whereabouts
are unknown to him, and which he be¬
lieves presently lost to human use. (In¬
terested DMs may find these appropriate
for use as dungeon treasures or as com¬
ponents of a mage’s library.) A selection
of four sample texts from Elminster’s re¬
cords follow.

“Mhzentul’s Runes”

Appearance: This tome is thin but

heavy, comprised of twelve sheets of vel¬
lum sewn to a binding of silk and pre¬
served with wax. It is said that the red¬
dish hue of the wax is due to dragon’s
blood, and this preserves the binding.
The truth of this rumor and the effective¬
ness of the ingredient are unknown. The
binding is secured by silken cords to two
pieces of oiled wood which have been
covered entirely with stretched wyvern
hide, held in place by small triangular
wedges of silver. Thus far, the wood has
not warped or broken, although curious,
finger-shaped scorch marks on the hide
attest to the heat the volume has en¬
dured. The book is not locked or bound,
and has no known traps. It is signed with
the sigil of Mhzentul:

History: Mhzentul was a powerful, re¬

spected mage. His end, men say, came at
the battle of the River Rising, where he
became a pillar of living flame and burned
his way across the field, doing great
harm to the hosts of his army, and blazed
straight away out into the sea, where his
flame was lost to view far out on the

"...JttiEgxand tz-tiEUEi tfiat io mz

jioxtlom of tfiE jzioazit fiaos.

Hun ([Link] ? J omittzd. . . .

Evzn cftl Li a roxt Li inaomfxts-t^,
it Li. iiittof Lmmsaiaxatts uatuz,
and (itj aroutd txLng a fzLgt
jzzLcE from moit magei.”

waves. Mhzentul is remembered among

mages for his works, the “Seven Lost
Rings of Mhzentul,” and the book that
has come to be known as “Mhzentul’s
Runes.”

After Mhzentul’s death, a party of trea¬

sure seekers, with utmost care and at
great risk to themselves, overcame the
traps and magics of Mhzentul’s moun¬
tain abode and penetrated its innermost
rooms, but found neither the rings nor
the book on the premises. Rumors of the
location of these treasures surfaced, cit¬
ing such a profusion of sources and al¬
leged whereabouts that the items be¬
came legendary, but their true resting
place remains a mystery. Some six win¬
ters after the battle of the River Rising,
the book is known to have come into the
grasp of the adventurer Uthmang, a half-
ore thief. He was immediately slain by
the Red Wizard of Alail Thong, who in
turn was defeated at Greenstone Keep
by the priests of that place. It is not
known what happened to the book then,
but some two winters later it is said to
have passed into the hands of Lhegrand
the Sage, and it is from his catalogue we
obtain the detailed description afore¬
mentioned. Lhegrand held the book only
briefly before he was waylaid and en¬
slaved by ores out of Darkhold, and here
we lose track of both book and rings for
‘some seven winters, throughout which

the treasures presumably remained in

evil hands. The evil mage Whisper is
known to have found the rings, and is
suspected to have had the book also, or
at least access to it, but the whereabouts
of both since his rumored death are not
known.

Contents: The first four leaves of the

book contain a detailed, exacting, and
correct description — as attested to by
the sage Lhegrand, an expert on the
storage of spells within physical objects
and substances — of the process of
creating a Ring of Spell Storing. (The
Dungeon Masters Guide briefly outlines
this process.) It is known that at least
four of the seven lost rings were of this
type.

The five leaves that follow describe the

process involved in creating rings that
would, upon command, become guard¬
ian creatures under the control of the
creator, but Lhegrand believes that some
portions of the process have been (de¬
liberately?) omitted. “I have not the skill
nor the necessary components to enact
the process,” Lhegrand writes, “but here¬
in I see no manner nor means for imbu¬
ing the creature with any animation, nor
can I find any dweomercraft written for
controlling the creature.” Even if this
section of the work is indeed incomplete,
it is still of immeasurable value, and
would bring a high price from most
mages.

The third and final section of the work

is more informal than the other two, con¬
sisting of Mhzentul’s notes on his re¬
search in fire magic. Lhegrand reports
that many runes, glyphs, and symbols
are written in special inks upon these
pages, and a mage of sufficient level
could with diligence glean the complete
spells Fireball, Fire Shield, Fire Trap, and
Delayed Blast Fire Ball from Mhzentul’s
notes. The scope and thoroughness of
Mhzentul’s understanding of magic con¬
cerned with fire, however, is such that
careful study of the book will decrease
the time needed to research any fire-
related spell by as much as two weeks,
Lhegrand estimates.

16 June 1982

“Nchaser’s Eiyromancia”

Appearance: This tome is thin, bound

in black leather, and bears the title Eiy¬
romancia on the cover, stamped and in¬
laid with mother-of-pearl. The edges of
the tome have all about been protected
with beaten copper strips, and these are
fitted with two clasps. The clasps are un¬
latched by twisting a silver knob on each;
if the bottom knob is twisted without first
twisting and removing the top one, a poi¬
soned needle springs up the side of the
knob. The assassin Nathode says it is
coated with Type D (or equivalent inten¬
sity) Insinuative poison, apparently re¬
newed from a reservoir under the bind¬
ing. Nathode did not handle the tome
himself, but observed its effect upon
another. His testimony verifies a folk le¬
gend which says that all who try to open
Nchaser’s Eiyromancia die.

Nathode’s recollection dates back sev¬

en winters, when the book was brought
to the court of Lord Nasher by a mer¬
chant, one Furjur the Flippant, who told
the Lord that the tome was sold to him by
a band of adventuring dwarves he en¬
countered in a clearing deep in the
northern forests. One of the members of
Nasher’s court attempted to open the
book, with fatal results (this is what Na¬
thode observed), and it was placed un¬
opened in the Lord’s library (Furjur had
gifted it to the Lord in return for a char¬
ter). It was subsequently stolen during
the riots of the Five Fires Rising, and its
present whereabouts are unknown.

History: The mage Nchaser has not

been seen for nearly twenty winters. Be¬
fore his disappearance Nchaser wandered
the Realms, working and seeking after
magic, and upon two occasions served
as an advisor to a local ruler. On the
second of these occasions, while serving
the High Captains of the city of Luskan,
Nchaser wrote the Eiyromancia and gave
it to the High Captain Taerl. Some time
after Nchaser’s departure, the tome was
stolen, and like its author it has wan¬
dered the Realms ever since. Alustriel,
the High Lady of Silverymoon, had it
briefly, gifting it to a dwarf of the Citadel
Adbar. The dwarf never returned home,
and the book was lost again —and so it

has gone through the years.

Contents: The wizard Arbane, who

saw the book briefly while it was at Lus¬
kan (he was friend to the High Captain
Suljack), reports that it contains four
magic-user spells: Nulathoe’s Ninemen
(pronounced Nin-em-en), a unique spell
of the fifth level used to protect and pre¬
serve a dead body; Nchaser’s Glowing
Globe, a unique spell of the fourth level
which is used in the creation of luminous
globes, and the rare spells Part Water
and Statue. (A “unique” spell is a spell
not commonly available, found only in
the text in question or else believed to
have been first set down therein. In some
cases it means only that the text in ques¬
tion is the earliest surviving source of the
spell.) The first of the unique spells was
devised by Nchaser’s tutor Nulathoe,
and the second is of Nchaser’s invention.
By the kindness of Arbane the Mighty,
both are reproduced below.

Nulathoe’s Ninemen

Level: 5
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Components: V,S, M
Casting Time: 5 segments
Saving Throw: None
Area of Effect: One corpse

Explanation/Description: This spell

serves to protect dead creatures of all
sorts against normal decay, magically
strengthening the joints of corpses or
corpse limbs to keep them supple and
usable. Its most prevalent practical use
is to preserve dead comrades for placing
atop a bier in a sepulcher, or in hopes
that they may be raised. The magic-user
requires fresh blood from a creature of
the same race/species as the spell sub¬
ject, and the dust or powder resulting
from the crushing of a moonstone of not
less than 7 gp value. As the words of the
spell are spoken, the most vital areas of
the body (chest cavity, head and neck,
joints of extremities) are sprinkled with a
small amount of blood, and the whole
body is then sprinkled with the moon¬
stone dust. The closing gesture of the
spell is the touching of the corpse, where¬
upon the spell will take immediate effect.

Note that this spell does not heal wounds

or staunch bleeding.
Nchaser’s Glowing Globe

Level: 4
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 4 segments
Saving Throw: None
Area of Effect: Special
Explanation/Description: This spell re¬
quires a globe of blown glass of the fin¬
est quality, and a spark. By the use of this
spell the caster creates an effect identi¬
cal to a Continual Light spell centered
within a transparent object, but with the
brightness of the light under the caster’s
mental control. Continuous control need
not be maintained; the caster can merely
exert concentration to change the cur¬
rent luminosity of the globe, and it will
continue to emit the desired amount of
light until a new mental command is re¬
ceived (unless, of course, it should be
destroyed). Mental control may be main¬
tained over a globe from a distance of 9”
per level of the caster (plus 4” per point
of intelligence over 15). Control of a
globe cannot be wrested from another
except by means of a Wish or Limited
Wish — or upon the death of the owner,
whereupon the expectant owner must
touch the globe to take mastery over it.

“The Book of the Silver Talon”

Appearance: This book is of papyrus,
twenty-six leaves sewn into a leather
binding. The leather has been dyed black
with some thick, durable dye that re¬
mains supple and covers the hide deep¬
ly, preserving the tome somewhat. Into
the front cover of this is inset a silver
claw or talon (held by means of its nails,
which pass through the hide and have
been folded under shrewdly with a ham¬
mer so as to close the grip), from which
the book has gained its name. The edges
of the leaves have been painted red,
rather unevenly, mottling the border of
each page.

History: This book is believed to have

been the workbook of the famous and
much-feared archmage Asmiak, the “One
Without Fear,” when he was but an ap¬
prentice to the wizard Thurl. The strong¬
est proof for this belief comes from the
talon device set in the cover (the book is
untitled and unsigned), which Asmiak
used at the time. This does not mean the
book was necessarily his, but a study of
Asmiak’s deeds reveals his recurring at¬
tempts to obtain the book (or re-obtain
it, assuming he once possessed it). This
indicates he knows the book exists, but
its contents would be so superfluous to
him now, at the height of his power, that

his attempts seem to be evidence of an

emotional attachment to the tome. As¬
miak’s attempts to possess the book
have never been carried out personally,
always by agents. At least eight former
owners of the book, all of them magic
users of low level, have met death be¬
cause of Asmiak’s servants, and other
owners of relatively higher levels have
narrowly escaped the same fate. Their
reports indicate that Asmiak employs a
varied complement of servants, many of
them not human. One survivor by the
name of Casimur, an ex-magic user who
now runs the Whistling Wizard Inn, re¬
lates that he was slain by three gar-

Dragon 17

goyles, who fled with nothing but that

one book from among those in his li¬
brary, and that he found this out when he
was subsequently raised by the cleric
Steeleye.

The adventurer Steeleye confirms this

incident, and adds that the gargoyles
were slain with a shower of silver arrows
by the elves of the High Forest as the
creatures swooped low over the tree-
tops, looking for a place to rest.

The gargoyles were flying east at the

time, and Asmiak is rumored to live in
that direction, far across deserts and
mountains. The book fell into the forest,
but was not recovered by the elves, and
somehow found its way to a bazaar some
winters later, where it was purchased by
the astonished magician Phandal. He in
turn exchanged it for other spells with
the theurgist Alphon, who fled with the
book into a forest to escape repeated
goblin raids against his property. It is not
known how Alphon fared after that, but
the druid Rairun “Blackbrow” was the
next known to have possessed the book.
He tried to send it overland to a col¬
league, but the caravan vanished in the
moorlands en route to its destination.

Although no trace of the caravan itself

was ever found, an adventurer named
Shoon later came across the book in the
dungeons of a deserted castle and
brought it to the city of Waterdeep.
There he sold it to the merchant Dera-
gus, who never had a chance to sell it,
since his shop was robbed later the same
night. The master thief Dunas is known
to have had the book one winter later,
and he traded it to an unknown magic-
user for three magic weapons. The
book’s whereabouts at present are un¬
known. Dunas has been heard to say
he’s glad to be rid of the “Book of The
Silver Talon,” and any who find it would
do well to conceal it, or risk attack from
the servants of Asmiak.

Contents: The first twenty-two leaves

of the book contain spells, all written in
magical inks upon the papyrus in a
slanted, beautiful hand, including the
necessary runes, glyphs, and symbols
and notes on necessary conditions and
components. The spells are, in order of
their appearance in the book: Read Mag¬
ic, Burning Hands, Comprehend Lan¬
guages, Detect Magic, Erase, Write, Iden¬
tify, Message, Shocking Grasp, Shield,
Darkness 15’ Radius, Detect Invisibility,
Knock, Ray of Enfeeblement, Web, Wi¬
zard Lock, Blink, Dispel Magic, Gust of
Wind, Infravision, Phantasmal Force, and
Protection From Normal Missiles.

Peculiar to the work are slight varia¬

tions in the spells that appear to be As-
miak’s own. The magician Phandal, who
copied from the work spells he needed
and noted the changes in those he al¬
ready knew, notes that the Burning
Hands spell developed by Asmiak (or
taught to him by the wizard Thurl) took 4
segments to cast because of its longer

verbal component, and took the form of

a thin beam of flame like a rod or staff
extending from the caster’s forefinger.
This beam can be varied in length from 2
feet to 8 feet by force of will, but is
stopped (and deflected, at possible ha¬
zard to the caster) by stone, thick wood,
earth, and the like. Casimur, who retains
this spell in his books, notes that it can
be fanned back and forth rapidly by
merely waving one’s finger, and is there¬
fore far more than a parlor trick for cut¬
ting ropes or lighting candles.

The twenty-third page of the book,

which was beyond Casimur’s mastery
when he possessed it, contains notes on
how to strengthen the spell’s flame into a
more potent weapon. This improved ver¬
sion is of the second level of spells, and
the theurgist Alphon is thought to have
employed it when battling trolls on the
Evermoors. It takes six segments to cast,
lasts for two rounds, and consists of a
cone of flame extending 20 feet from the
forefinger, 6 feet in diameter at its fur¬
thest extent. The intonation of the verbal
component dictates how hot the flames

will be; they may be so hot as to create a

breeze and cause target creatures to fall
back from the heat. The flame does +1
damage (caster’s level +1, expressed in
hit points) ‘in the first round after being
cast, and damage equal to one-half the
caster’s level (rounded up) in the second
round. Thus, a 7th-level caster does 8
points of damage to those struck in the
first round, and 4 points to each victim in
the second round. Phandal dubbed this
spell the Flame Ray.

Other spell variations are minor. As-

miak’s Darkness 15’ Radius uses a tiny
vial of ink smashed to the ground, serv¬
ing as the center of the spell effect, as
well as bat fur. Thus, the spell cannot be
moved once cast, and the ink seems less
effective than pitch or coal, because the
spell lasts only 8 rounds, plus 1 per level
of the caster. Asmiak specifies giant oc¬
topus ink, but Casimur has subsequently
experimented with giant squid sepia,
and reports that it also produces dark¬
ness, although of but 6 rounds (plus 1
per level of the caster) duration. Asmi-
ak’s version of the Ray of Enfeeblement

has a different verbal component than

the accepted norm, and takes 3 seg¬
ments to cast. It has a fixed range of 6”,
and a fixed duration of 8 rounds. Similar¬
ly, Asmiak’s Blink spell has a fixed dura¬
tion of 4 rounds, caused by the differen¬
ces in both verbal and somatic compo¬
nents (the level and casting time remain
the same).

Asmiak’s Gust of Wind spell is an im¬

proved version; it emanates from a self-
chosen extremity of the caster, and is
thus directional — and the caster can
rapidly change this direction. Its somatic
component differs from the norm, and its
material component is a sycamore seed
cluster or milkweed seed (or similar
seed, of the type having hairlike fibers
that enable it to be borne aloft on a
breeze).

The last three pages of the book are

careful notes on the preparation of mag¬
ical inks for all the first-level spells in the
book. Users of the art will notice that
these are not the only known ink formu¬
las for these spells. Note that the formula
for Burning Hands will probably not
work for writing the spell in its usual
form. Asmiak’s notes follow:

The following instructions in each case

will make ink sufficient to write a single
spell. In such writing a quill from a magi¬
cal beast must be used. (Asmiak does
not define “magical beast”; refer to p.
117 of the DMG for what is actually
meant.)

Read Magic

1 ounce giant squid sepia

1 large blue sapphire, powdered
1 medium carbuncle, powdered
(or substitute: 1 large rock crystal
and 1 eagle’s eye

alternatively: blue quartz equal in size

to a man’s fist

and 2 eyes from a black falcon)

1 drop of the writer’s blood

1 pinch of earth
1 sprinkle of water

Powder the rocks and gems in a mor¬

tar, and to them add the blood, the earth,
and the water. Stir with a finger or a stick
(or anything, so long as it is not metal)
and mix into a paste. Put this into a cru¬
cible, and pass it into the tongue of an
open flame. If eyes are used, hold these
in the flame just above the open crucible
and allow them to be consumed, so that
any ash or juices produced will fall into
the crucible. Allow the crucible to cool in
a dark place. Then, under the light of a
waxing or full moon, pour the brew into a
flask or vial and stir in the sepia with a
finger or other non-metal object.

Burning Hands

1 ounce giant octopus ink

3 drops gold dragon or red dragon blood

or: 2 ounces fire elemental phlogiston
or: 6 salamander scales
or: 1 efreeti horn

2 ounces green plant matter

18 June 1982

4 ounces flesh

(from a meaty mammal, but not human

or humanoid)
wood, 1 plank or log
cloth, 1 scrap
parchment, 1 sheet
A fire must be built in a brazier, stoked
until hot, and fed in full sunlight with the
wood, cloth, parchment, flesh, plants —
all types of flammable or burnable things
the spell will be able to affect. To this add
the dragon blood or an alternative ingre¬
dient. Allow the fire to burn down, then
remove one ounce of coals from the fire
bed by hand and immerse them in the
ink. The mixture should be stirred to
break up the ash, but do not remove the
sediment from the ink container — let
the undissolved solid settle to the bot¬
tom and remain there. Cover and keep
from air until cool.

Comprehend Languages

1 ounce giant squid sepia

1 fresh tongue (from any mammal)

1 medium sard (onyx), or powdered sard

of equivalent amount
the brain of a sage (see note below)

The sard should be crushed into pow¬

der if it is not already in that form. The
brain should be placed in a crucible and
boiled, while the preparer sprinkles the
powdered sard into the fluid thus pro¬
duced. The tongue (and any parts of the
brain not reduced to liquid) should be
put whole into the heart of afire, perhaps
suspended in a metal pot or otherwise
contained — the ashes of those ingre¬
dients must be kept separate from the
ashes of the fire’s fuel — and when the
fire burns down, the ashes should be
stirred into the fluid first obtained. Allow
this mixture to stand for 13 hours, and
then pour it into a flask containing the
sepia. Place the flask over a fire and
bring the mixture slowly to a boil — do
not stir. When the vapor given off darkens
from red to black, take the flask away
from the heat and seal the contents from
the air until use.

Note: Some users of the book report

that the brain of any intelligent creature
which uses and understands languages
may be used with success.

Detect Magic

1 ounce giant squid sepia

oak, ash, and thorn branches sufficient
for a small fire
1 small sapphire, powdered
1 drop of the writer’s blood
1 drop of spring water
1 object which radiates a dweomer
Heat the squid sepia in a fire built of
oak, ash, and thorn. Place the object or
creature partially or wholly in the sepia,
and let it remain there until the fire has
burned out and the sepia is cool. While
the fire is strong, add first the powdered
sapphire, then the drop of water, and
then the drop of blood, stirring the mix¬
ture once after each is added with a

thorn branch. Ensure that the branch is

then consumed in the fire. Let the fire
burn out, remove the cooled mixture,
and pour it into a flask, taking care that
the object with the dweomer is not ad¬
mitted into the flask.

Erase

1 ounce of giant squid sepia

1 ounce acid

3 dozen caraway seeds, crushed

1 chrysolite
1 black pearl

The gems must be placed whole into

the acid and allowed to dissolve. This
can take up to two days. When the last
trace of the gems is gone (there must be
no precipitant), the acid should be boiled,
and while it is boiling vigorously, the
caraway should be added. It will neutral¬
ize the acid and leave the resulting liquid
slightly hued, with a small amount of
precipitant matter. This must be allowed
to cool slowly, and then be stirred into
the sepia with a rod or bar of cold iron.

"OK* tjoolz’i. ivfzETEaljouti. at

[Link] a%E un&nocvn. unai.
(zai. &EEn fzEaxd to [Link] t/zat (ze a
cjtad to {je xid oj' (ze dB>ooH of
t(z.E dSitoET [UaCon’ and any
urfzo find it ivoutd do cv e tt to
aoncEat it, ox xii.(z attacd fxonz
t(zE iEXuanti. of c^-f±nzLa(z.''

Write

To set down the spell itself, the ink

must be made as follows:

1 ounce giant octopus ink

1 pinch graphite
1 drop of the writer’s blood
1 basilisk eye

1 whole plant (including roots), lady’s

mantle

Chop up the basilisk eye and the plant

together, cover in a crucible, and burn to
ash over a slow fire of seaborne drift¬
wood or acorns. Add the graphite to the
ink, and then the ash. Stir once with a
wooden spoon or rod and then add the
drop of blood. Cover quickly, shake, and
let stand in the moonlight for a night.

When employing the spell, the desired

writing must be copied with a special ink.
Thurl says there are at least four known
formulas for this ink; the intent is to
create a neutral ink receptive to a dweo¬
mer, so as to capture the essence of a
spell. The following ingredients will pro¬
duce ink sufficient to write one spell, and
they may be increased proportionally;
add extra owl’s eyes, spikenard, and
sapphires to increase the quantity of ink
produced, but the quantities for sand,
water, mistletoe, lead, and the gems oth¬
er than the sapphires, remain the same.

1 ounce giant octopus ink

1/2 ounce ichor of slithering tracker

1 owl eye

3 blue-green sapphires, as large

and as fine as possible
1 ruby (deep crimson)

1 piece of jet
1 piece of obsidian
1 spikenard (root)

1 pinch of sand
1 drop of water
1/4 ounce of lead
1 sprig of mistletoe

Boil the spikenard, mistletoe, and owl

eye in the ichor over a blazing fire. Pul¬
verize and add the lead and the gems
when the mixture is at a full boil, in the
following order: sapphires, jet, lead, ob¬
sidian, and ruby, sprinkling each over
the full surface of the boiling mixture.
Take the mixture from the flames, stir in
the giant octopus ink, and allow to cool
uncapped in a windy place. Then add the
sand and the water, and allow the con¬
tainer to stand for a full day, making sure
it is exposed both to brilliant sunlight
and bright moonlight.

Identify

1 ounce giant octopus ink

1 clump of honey fungus plant
1 bunch of fennel
1 fist-sized piece of rose quartz
1 drop of holy water
1 saffron plant
1 small, flawless diamond

Bottle the octopus ink in a silver vial,

and take it to the woods at night. Live
honey fungus is found on rotting bark
and is readily identified by its pale green
glow. Pluck it from the bark and sub¬
merge it straightaway in the vial, adding
the drop of holy water immediately af¬
terward. Cap the vial and warm it in a
small fire. Meanwhile, crush and slice
the fennel and saffron into a bowl of wa¬
ter, and powder the rose quartz. Add the
powder to the silver vial, and shake.
Then take the vial from the fire, and allow
it to cool in a dark place. Place the bowl
over the fire and let the water boil away.
Powder the diamond and add it to the
water during the boiling. Add the residue
to the silver vial, seal, and place under
pure, fast-running spring water for at
least six days. Store the ink in the silver
vial when not in use.

Message

1 ounce giant squid sepia

1 human or humanoid ear
1 human tongue (from a different
body than the ear)

1 floral crown from an angelica plant

1 turnip

3 shoots of fox-tail grass

6 hedge mustard leaves
1 drop of dew

Harvest a drop of dew from fern leaves

Dragon 19

beneath the light of the full moon. Place

a cauldron of water over a fire, add the
dew, and heat to a boil. Dice the organic
ingredients separately, and add them to
the boiling mixture in the following order:
the tongue, angelica, hedge mustard,
foxtail, turnip, and last the ear, stirring
well with a wooden rod or spoon after
each infusion. Allow the mixture to boil
gently until the liquid is vaporized. Gent¬
ly warm the sepia over a small flame.
Scrape the residue from the inside of the
cauldron and stir it into the sepia. Keep
heating the mixture for one hour, stirring
frequently. Allow it to cool slowly and
stand undisturbed for one day.

Shocking Grasp

1 ounce giant octopus ink

1 ounce of ash from a lightning-
struck tree
“The Chambeeleon”

Appearance: This tome is truly re¬

splendent. Its covers are sheets of pol¬
ished, iridescent abalone edged and
cornered with beaten gold; its pages are
of burnished electrum, into which script
has been etched and runes, glyphs, sym¬
bols and characters are embossed or
raised from the surface. The work is de¬
monstrably waterproof. The Chambee¬
leon (pronounced Kam-bee-lee-on) is
probably worth 4,000 gp in materials
alone. It is worth far more to a magic-
user, however, because of its contents.

History: The origin of this tome is un¬

known, but it is certainly of great antiqui¬
ty. Many legends exist ascribing its au¬
thorship to various sea gods and power¬
ful beings, but nothing of the book’s
whereabouts is verifiable until Alaer,
holder of the Dolphin Throne an age
ago, mentions it in an inventory of the
sea elves’ court at Thunderfoam. It was
borne away from that city at some later
time, and reappears in the memoirs of
the hero Galadaunt, who found it on the
deck of an abandoned, drifting “ghost
ship” which he boarded off the Emerald
Isles. He sold it to a magic-user whose
name was not recorded, who we know to
have been the tutor of one called “The
Mad Mage,” who in turn was master to
the wizard Arbane. It is likely that the
Chambeeleon came into the Mad Mage’s
possession, but it did not pass into the
hands of Arbane, so we have only Ar-
bane’s recollections to rely on for its
contents. The present location of the
Chambeeleon, or even if it still exists, is
unknown.

Contents: Arbane said that he often

read from the Chambeeleon as he was
trained, but was only allowed to peruse
certain pages. Many he glimpsed were
beyond his understanding, but he re¬
members that the demon who guarded
the book told him it had 66 pages in all
and none but Arbane’s master had ever
mastered them all.

4 drops holy water

1 sapphire, powdered
1 pinch powdered gold
asafetida
balm of gilead
ginseng

mace (or masterwort)

The herbal ingredients must be burnt

to ash in an oak fire. This ash is then
added to the ash of the lightning-struck
tree in a small metal bowl (copper or
gold is best). Add two drops of holy wa¬
ter and stir the mixture into a paste. Then
add the powdered gold and powdered
sapphire and stir in the other two drops
of holy water. When this paste is tho¬
roughly mixed, add it to the ink and heat
to a boil, stirring until the paste is dis¬
solved. Allow the mixture to stand out of
doors for a day and a night.

Shield

1 ounce giant octopus ink

1 human thumbnail
1 pinch of iron (filings)

1 piece of rock crystal

1 pebble
1 beryl

1 star sapphire

Burn the thumbnail to ash. Pulverize

the rock crystal and the pebble separate¬
ly, then do likewise with each of the two
gems. Heat the octopus ink over a small
fire but do not let it come to a boil. Add,
stirring widdershins, the other ingredi¬
ents in this order: the pebble dust, the
iron filings, the rock crystal dust, the
beryl dust, and the dust of the sapphire.
Stir until all of these have been thorough¬
ly mixed and partially dissolved, and
then add the thumbnail ash. Allow to
cool slowly as the fire dies.

" £Jf the toot Li entLzzty fuCt of

zfizCL , and eact itandi atone on
one tten ttexe may te ai

many a± fifty ifxetti in tte vcroxt

not on <z/f%tanei Ci it. . . . (Dnty
tte faoaeaoz of tte woxt tnoun
fox iuxe.”

(Arbane’s rather brief description of

the demon suggests that it was a succu-
bus. There is no mention of a guardian
demon in the legends concerned with
the book, so it is likely that the Mad Mage
bound the demon to guard it, perhaps
only for as long as Arbane was allowed
access to its pages.)

All of the pages Arbane studied con¬

tained spells. From his notes, he gives us
this list: Water Breathing, Fly, Lightning
Bolt, Fire Shield (cold flame version
only), Ice Storm, Airy Water, Cone of
Cold, Conjure Elemental (see below),
Disintegrate, Glassee, Part Water, Spirit-
wrack, Cacodemon, Drawmij’s Instant
Summons, Reverse Gravity, and Vanish.
“From the Mad Mage’s casual comments,”
writes Arbane, he believes the book also
contains the spells Imprisonment and
Prismatic Sphere, but at the time lacked
any means to verify this. If the book is
entirely full of spells, and each stands
alone on one page (as did those Arbane
studied), then there may be as many as
fifty spells in the work not on Arbane’s
list. One suspects, however, that there
are far fewer, and most of the unknown
pages contain records or other writing.
Only the possessor of the work knows
for sure.

Arbane mentions one important dif¬

ference from the norm in the spells con¬

tained in the book: the Conjure Elemen¬
tal spell as it is written therein will sum¬
mon only water elementals, but these
will be friendly to the caster and will nev¬
er attack him or her.

Such an elemental may (5% chance)

return to its own plane before the spell
has expired, rather than attacking, and
although friendly, it will act only upon
the commands of the spellcaster, not
helping independently.

If one may trust the more doubtful

source of religious teachings, it must be
noted that the priesthoods of at least
seven aquatic gods worshipped by var¬
ious creatures claim the Chambeeleon
as their own, and assert that the bulk of
its pages contain “the” record of the
Creation associated with their deity. If
this is so, none have proved it.

The sage Elminster has recorded do¬

zens of powerful spell books and magi¬
cal documents of all descriptions; the
preceding are but a sample. He writes
teasingly of scores of new spells, hither¬
to unknown to magic users “at large,”
and now-lost powers cryptically held
within the lost volumes. Adventurers may
bring word of more any day, he says,
puffing contentedly on his clay pipe....

20 June 1982

Akin to the sages and magic-users of the AD&D™ world are

those few artists who combine extraordinary craftsmanship
with a mastery of the social and magical uses of language and
symbols—the scribes. Most scribes make their livings as ser¬
vants to courts or large merchant companies, although a few do
free-lance work in large cities. Most scribes are keen students
and collectors of maps, codes, fragments of lost languages,
armorial bearings, signs, runes, and glyphs.

Scribes may be of human or demi-human racial stock (in¬

cluding crossbreeds), and of any alignment. The mercenary
nature of a scribe’s profession and the breadth of views and
ideas to which he or she is exposed lead most scribes to be of
neutral-oriented alignments.

To become a scribe, a non-player character must have min¬

imum ability scores of 16 in intelligence, 15 in dexterity, and 10
in wisdom. Once the profession is undertaken, an individual
cannot lose scribe status by decreases in these ability scores
(although these changes may affect the performance of a
scribe). Scribes may not be multi-classed, nor may they have
two classes; their work and studies are too time-consuming to
allow for irrelevant training. Scribes possessing both intelli¬
gence and dexterity scores of 17 or greater add 10% to earned
experience points.

Few scribes advance beyond the level of Scholar, and fewer

still attain the title of Scribe. Higher Atlars are rare indeed, and
are known by no special titles if they continue to advance in
levels. There are no restrictions to level advancement because
of racial stock or ability scores.

SCRIBES TABLE I

Experience

Experience
4-sided dice
for accumu¬

Level

points

level

lated hit points

title

0—2,250

2,251—4,500

Clerk

Amanuensis

4,501—9,000

Chirographer

9,001—18,000

Illuminator

18,001-35,000

Scrivener

35,001—60,000

Cartographer

60,001—95,000
7

Scholar

95,001—145,000

Limner

145,001—220,000

Scribe

220,001-400,000

10

10

Master Scribe

400,001—600,000

11

10+3

Atlar

600,001—800,000

12

10+6

Higher Atlar

200,000 experience points per level of experience beyond

12th.

Scribes gain 3 hit points per level after the 10th.

In combat, a scribe has no weapon or armor restrictions, but

always attacks as a first-level fighter, regardless of level of
experience as a scribe. A scribe makes saving throws as a
fighter of level equal to his or her own scribe level. A scribe may
employ all magic items not specifically restricted to another
the

SCRIBE

non-player character

By Ed Greenwood

class, and may cast spells from all scrolls which the scribe can
read. For example, an illusionist’s scroll would be unreadable to
a scribe who had not learned the secret language of that pro¬
fession, although that same scribe could copy the unreadable
script, as detailed later — and many scrolls would require a
Read Magic on the part of the scribe wishing to use them, if the
spells were not ones the scribe had encountered before.

Upon reaching the level of Atlar (11th), ascribe gains limited

spell-casting ability. He or she may memorize 2 spells, plus 1
additional spell per point of intelligence above 16, studying to
gain them as magic-users do. For each level of experience
beyond 11th attained by the scribe, he or she gains the ability to
learn 2 additional spells; however, the variety of spells a scribe
may cast is quite limited (see hereafter). Scribes are subject to
the same requirements of rest, material components, and free¬
dom from disturbance while casting that magic-users are. Just
like other spell-casting characters, a scribe cannot make a
physical attack and cast a spell in the same round.

A scribe must acquire spells; they are not granted to him or

her by the gods. When first learning to use a new spell, a scribe
must be tutored by a spell caster whose class employs that
spell, and who is personally familiar with the spell. Thereafter,
the scribe can memorize the spell unaided. A scribe casts all
spells as a magic-user, illusionist, or cleric of the same level as
himself or herself, and in the case of the Glyph of Warding spell,
cannot cast glyphs restricted to a god of an alignment he or she
does not share.

Note that the abilities (described hereafter) of a scribe in¬

clude the effects of a Write spell, but this does not require any
magic on the part of a scribe.

If a campaign includes new spells (not found in the AD&D

rules), such as those devised by player characters, a scribe
given the opportunity to learn them will be able to use all spells
related to symbols or script. A scribe is otherwise limited to the
spells listed in Scribes Table II, all of them cast exactly as
described in the Players Handbook.

SCRIBES TABLE II
Spells usable by scribes

Comprehend Languages (as the Ist-level magic-user spell)

Confuse Languages (reverse of Comprehend Languages)
Erase (as the Ist-level magic-user spell)

Explosive Runes (as the 3rd-level magic-user spell)

Glyph of Warding (as the 3rd-level cleric spell)

Illusionary Script (as the 3rd-level illusionist spell)

Legend Lore (as the 6th-level magic-user spell)

Read Magic (as the Ist-level magic-user spell)

Symbol (as the 8th-level magic-user spell)

Unreadable Magic (reverse of Read Magic)

Note: Ascribe’s effective level as a spell-caster is equal to his

or her actual scribe experience level minus 10; thus, when an
11th-level scribe first gains spell-using ability, he or she casts
those spells as though the individual were at the first exper¬
ience level of the class to which the spell belongs.

A scribe can memorize a number of spells up to the limit

allowed by experience level and intelligence; the level of the

Dragon 21

spells memorized does not matter. (For instance, an Atlar, im¬

mediately upon gaining spell-using ability, can memorize a pair
of Symbol spells if he or she so desires, and is not restricted to
first-level spells like Erase and Comprehend Languages). A
scribe may not devise his or her own spells, nor does a scribe
have the expertise to modify a known spell.

Scribe special abilities

Spell-casting is a power gained only through much study and

the development of a scribe’s distinctive special abilities. It is
these abilities that will shape (and permit the continuance of, by
putting food on the table) a scribe’s life. They are as follows:

All scribes have the ability to draft and execute records,

letters, and documents of accepted local style and form, and to
design motifs, armorial bearings, and illustrations acceptable
as regards style and content, in local (and trading) society.
Scribes are wordsmiths and artists; their work is always of good
quality, and often contains codes, hidden messages, and sym¬
bolism, either at the request of a client or out of a craftsman’s
pride in his or her work.

If a tutor is available, a scribe may acquire mastery of one

language per point of intelligence, in addition to the alignment,
racial, and common tongues already known by the scribe. If
several inscriptions of some length are available, a scribe may
(and this is the only case where a scribe may “teach himself”)
through study achieve a mastery of the written (not spoken)
form of a language — including codes and secret languages,
such as that shared by illusionists. This mastery, unless im¬
proved by a tutor, will begin at 80% accuracy and increase by
2% for every level the scribe attains thereafter.
Special ability A: A scribe can copy inscriptions and script
(regardless of whether these are in a language known to the
scribe) and all symbols or representations (including protec¬
tive circles, runes, glyphs, and the like). This includes spell
formulae — unless such are cursed or trapped in such a way as
to preclude a complete visual examination of them, or are
concealed by an Unreadable Magic spell.

At 5th level, a scribe gains the ability to perform this skill from
memory, the amount that can be retained in such a way increas¬
ing with level, intelligence, and wisdom (determined specifical¬
ly by the Dungeon Master).

The percentages given for this ability in Table III are to be

applied to codes or magical formulae only; mundane material
can be copied correctly with far greater ease (double the
chance of success given in the table, to a maximum of 100%).

Special ability B: A scribe can counterfeit the script and

presentation of an original (given the necessary ingredients to
match colors of ink, and so on). The chance of fooling or
convincing an individual familiar with the original increases
with the level of the scribe, reaching a maximum of 99%. Note
that a copy can contain errors or omissions and still fool an
individual who is familiar with the original. A DM can also use
this ability to govern situations where a scribe sketches a por¬

trait of an individual to show to others, wanting to know if other

persons have seen the individual in question. A successful
result indicated on an attempt like this means the scribe has
composed a clear, unmistakable likeness of the person.

Special ability C: Scribes are illustrators of exceptional skill,

and with experience they can master perspective, proportion,
and the ability to capture the likeness of a being, even from
memory. From practice of these faculties they gain the ability to
correctly judge distances and sizes (area and volume), merely
from quick visual examination. The accuracy of such judge¬
ments increases with advancement in levels.

Special ability D: Scribes have the ability to recognize “at a

glance” that symbols or script are magical in nature. With expe¬
rience, they perfect the ability to identify the precise nature of a
particular specimen or specimens. A scribe can tell whether a
certain inscription is a spell formula — but not what spell it is,
unless the scribe is familiar with that spell. A scribe can tell
whether a piece of script or a written design is cursed, guarded
by Explosive Runes or Unreadable Magic, whether is it Illusion¬
ary Script or not, whether a particular rune is a Symbol or Glyph
of Warding or not (and if so, what its particular nature is, if the
spell in question is familiar to the scribe), or whether an inscrip¬
tion is normal script upon which Nystul’s Magic Aura or Leo-
mund’s Trap has been cast, and so on.

This identification, if successfully attempted, will not trigger

any release of magic connected with the symbol or script. Only
one attempt per specimen may be made by a scribe. If unsuc¬
cessful, the scribe may not try again on a particular inscription
until he or she attains a new level. An unsuccessful attempt may
also (at the DM’s option) unleash any magic contained in pro¬
tective or “trap” spells upon the unfortunate scribe.

Atlars and Higher Atlars can make scrolls of spells whose

formulae they possess, and can inscribe protective penta¬
grams, circles, and signs, whether or not they know or compre¬
hend the spell in question. (For details of such protective in¬
scriptions, refer to the Dungeon Masters Guide and issue #56 of
DRAGON™ Magazine.) There is a 10% chance of error in such
activities, with a modifier of -5% if the scribe is familiar with the
spell and has performed the action (making the scroll or rune)
successfully before, and (cumulative with the first modifier)
-5% if supervised by a spellcaster of sufficient level and proper
class to cast the spell in question, and who has prior experience
with the spell.

This chance for error is to be combined with that detailed

under “Failure,” DMG p. 117-118, when the manufacture of a
scroll is being attempted. Refer to the DMG, p. 121, for fees
charged by scribes for manufactured scrolls. The cost to a
customer for the creation of a scroll by a scribe will always be at
least equal to the prescribed Gold Piece Sale Value for that
scroll, unless special circumstances prevail.

Much of a scribe’s time is spent executing letters and docu¬

ments, for the scribe is a master of the etiquette of both local
society and international politics and trade communications.

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Such mundane work earns most scribes their bread and butter.
Most scribes seek employment with a sage or spell-caster,
preferring that over working for a court or a wealthy patron, and
in turn preferring that second alternative over free-lance work,
which tends to bring assignments either tedious or too difficult
to undertake at the payment offered.

SCRIBES TABLE III

Percentage chance of success of special abilities

Special Experience level of scribe

ability 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

A 25 33 42 52 63 75 88 99 100 100 100 100

B 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 99 99 99

C 5 12 19 26 33 40 52 64 76 88 90 96

D 7 13 20 28 37 47 58 70 83 97 99 99

Note: All abilities reach their greatest chance of success at

12th level, and do not increase thereafter.

Advancement

A scribe gains experience points through the practice of his

or her craft: the perfect execution of a difficult portrait or de¬
sign, or the development of innovations in the format, content,
or accomplishment of a task.
Determination of an innovation or an exceptional or “perfect”
execution is governed by the DM, and may be found by rolling
percentile dice every time a scribe applies his or her skills to a
task of moderate (or greater) complexity. A modified score of
96 or higher denotes such an occurrence.

The dice roll is modified by +01 if the scribe has intelligence

of 18 or higher, and by +01 for each week spent on the project
(such time being considered as more or less continuous work
on the project, the scribe’s attention being divided only be¬
tween this work and his or her minimum physical needs).

For each previous innovation or exceptional execution a

scribe has made in work directly related to the task at hand, he
or she gets another die roll, choosing the better (or best, if more

than one extra roll is deserved) result as the measure of his or

her performance of the task.

Each such successful innovation or exceptional execution is

worth a base value of 500 Experience Points, modified by plus
or minus 200 points at the DM’s discretion (taking into account
the circumstances and nature of the task, prior experience of
the scribe in the particular field, and other variables).

If the roll fails, and no innovation or outstanding work is

performed, a scribe still gains at least one point of experience
for successful completion (to the satisfaction of the scribe’s
client or patron, or if for the scribe’s own benefit, completion to
a practical, usable form) of all tasks of moderate (or greater)
complexity.

A scribe can also gain experience by the study of maps or

records new to the character, at the rate of 10-60 (d6 x 10)
Experience Points for each such source consulted, as long as
the DM judges the source(s) to contain appreciable informa¬
tion new to the scribe.

A scribe gains no direct experience awards for success in

combat or in the winning of treasure.

To advance to a new experience level, a scribe who has

accumulated the necessary experience points must study
under another scribe or a sage, or must receive training from a
bard or spell-caster plus an artist, a cartographer, or an engi¬
neer. If a scribe’s tutor is of a classed profession, he or she must
be of a level higher than the scribe’s own present level. Tutors of
non-classed professions must be considered by the DM to have
relevant knowledge or skills that will appreciably further the
abilities of the scribe. A scribe of 10th or higher level will almost
certainly require the services of a tutor from one of the spell¬
casting classes to advance to a new level.

Obviously, the level-by-level progress of a scribe tends to

take much time — and most scribes will consent to provide
maps, letters, and on-the-spot dungeon surveys for adventur¬
ers only in return for large amounts of money. Time spent away
from books, writing table, and easel is time wasted, you see....
SPflCE OPERA

Human and alien races * over 175 skill areas * 12 professions

90 Psionic talents *. StarShip construction & maintenance
advanced technology * StarShip combat * trade & commerce
mapping * planet & system generation * NPC races
economics * Bug-Eyed Monsters * living costs * medicine
SPACE OPERA includes two 90+ page books, ready reference
sheets, character, ship, and planetary record forms in a box.
The complete set is available for $18 postpaid.

SUPPLEMENTS:

Ground & Air Equipment: Military equipment, vehicles,

aircraft, StarFighters, and heavy weapons. $5.00.
ATLASES:

StarSector Atlas 1 The Terran Sector. 66 planets in de¬

tail with a history of the sector. $6.50.

The OutWorlds: 12 planets mapped with scenario ideas

and a history of the sector. $6.50.

ADVENTURES:

Martigan Belt: An adventure in the Asteroids. $5.00.

Probe NCG 8436'- A Contact Service adventure. $5.00.
Alien Base: A first contact adventure. $5.00.

STARSHIP DATA:

Seldon’s Compendium of StarCraft 1: Merchant shipping

and patrol craft. Detailed deck plans of 21 ships. $6.00.

THE

COMPLETE
SCIENCE FICTION
ROLEPLAYING SYSTEM

games Unlimited, 3he. [Link] 82 , roslyn,n.y. ii 576 \

Dragon 23

Will a Clone spell alone restore a character to life when death

has occurred and the body has not been recovered? Is there a
limit to the number of times a Clone spell may restore a
character?

Based on the spell description, there is nothing to prevent a

character from being “resurrected” by a Clone spell once or
more than once. The Players Handbook says that “if the origi¬
nal and a duplicate exist at the same time, each knows of the
other’s existence.” This indicates that a clone can exist at a time
when the original person is no longer alive. A character with
foresight — and a good friend who is capable of casting the
Clone spell — could do worse than to leave a little of himself or
herself behind before going off on a perilous adventure.

Note that the flesh sample needed as the material component

of the spell must be obtained from the person to be cloned while
that person is alive in order for the pseudo-resurrection to be
effected: “The clone will become the person as he or she exist¬
ed at the time at which the flesh was taken,” which means that a
flesh sample from an already-dead person will yield only a
clone that is just as dead.

In order to properly monitor the chance for success of such a

cloning attempt, the DM may make certain stipulations (which
players may or may not be aware of). Assuming that some trace
of “life” must remain in the flesh sample in order for the spell to
work, a means of storing and preserving the sample(s) must be
devised and maintained. Flesh that is allowed to decay and/or
dry out could spoil the spell casting.

It might be difficult, if not virtually impossible, for two clones

of the same person to be created non-simultaneously: Since it
takes 2-8 months for a clone to grow after the spell is cast, and
at least some measurable amount of time thereafter for the first
clone to die, the flesh sample used for a second clone must
have been preserved for at least 2 months longer than the first
sample. There are only a few methods or devices which might
make preservation possible for such an extended time.

If a character dies and, subsequently, two clones of that

character come into existence at the same time, the two clones
would logically “each desire to do away with the other,” with the
results as described in the Clone spell description. One way or
the other, no two clones of the same character can coexist for
longer than one week, because the clone created most recently
would look upon the first-created clone as if he or she were the
original person.

Why may a person survive teleporting into liquid or gas but

not into a solid? Can a person teleport beside an opponent so
that his weapon would be lodged into the opponent’s head,
thereby causing instant death?

A liquid or gas can be displaced when a solid is introduced

into it, the same way that you can sit in an empty bathtub or in
one that contains water. It doesn’t work the same way with two
solids; they don’t “mix,” just like you can’t take a bath inside a
block of ice. The technical description or interpretation of what
happens really doesn’t matter: The point, for playing purposes,
is that a mass being teleported is not able to properly re¬
materialize inside a solid. Persons and/or objects that teleport
low and end up inside a solid suffer “instant death,” of a sort
such that only a Wish or similarly strong magic might be able to
negate.

The DM may interpret the risks of teleportation liberally

enough to allow characters a chance of surviving certain “low”
results. For instance, someone trying to teleport to the top of a
sand dune might not suffer “instant death” on a “low” result,
because it might be assumed that the sand can be displaced by
the teleporting mass. But in the best of such circumstances, the
person(s) teleporting would be buried and immobilized under
10 feet of sand, which means that whether or not the teleporta¬
tion “worked” is immaterial, since death by suffocation would
almost certainly occur imminently thereafter.

What’s wrong with the idea of teleporting a weapon into

someone’s body? Well, first of all, here’s what’s right with it: The
description of the Teleport spell indicates that the variables
over which the spell caster has control are the destination and
(indirectly) the probability of arriving precisely upon the sur¬
face of the solid substance that defines that destination. No
mention is made of any ability to change or control in what
position or facing the teleported things will reappear. Since
teleportation of any sort occurs instantaneously (upon the cast¬
ing of the spell or the employment of an appropriate magic
item), the character(s) and objects being teleported will reap¬
pear in the same relative positions they occupied just before
making the trip. Since the Teleport spell has no somatic com¬
ponent, it would be possible for a magic-user to cast the spell
while holding an unsheathed dagger. Likewise, a character
employing a magic sword with teleportation power could as¬
sume an “attack position” with the weapon and would reappear
in the same pose.

However, there is no guarantee that the teleporting person(s)

will end up facing in a desired direction —only the location can
be specified. By this interpretation, a person trying to teleport
to a spot directly behind an intended victim might reappear
facing the victim’s back, or back-to-back with the target, or in
any other configuration between those extremes. If someone
insists on trying, the DM can determine the facing and position¬
ing of the teleported mass randomly, and moderate the conse¬
quences accordingly.

And even if the “teleport attack” comes off as desired by the

teleporter, it’s still an open question whether or not a non-living
solid can “survive” being teleported inside another (living) sol¬
id. A DM who prefers to discourage this activity could rule that if
any part of the non-living mass being teleported reappears
inside another solid mass, the teleportation is ruined and the
person holding such an object suffers “instant death” just as if
that person had teleported low into a solid. For the teleportation
to succeed, all of the matter being teleported must arrive in a
space not already occupied by other solid matter, or else none
of the teleported matter — living or non-living — will be able to
survive the trip.

24 June 1982

In the description of Affect Normal Fires, it says that fires can

be increased in size and light to become as bright as a Light
spell. However, a Light spell casts only as much light as a torch.
Which is correct?

First of all, the question doesn’t describe Affect Normal Fires

the same way the Players Handbook does. The spell causes
fires to “reduce in size and light” or to “increase in light.” A fire
can not “be increased in size and light,” according to the spell
description. This literally means that, while you could reduce a
bonfire 3 feet in diameter to a smaller flame (with a correspond¬
ing reduction in light output), you could not make a small flame
into a fire of greater size by the “increase” application of the
spell. The small flame would become as bright (i.e., throw off as
much light) as a larger fire, up to the brightness of a Light spell,
but would not take up any more physical space than it did
before.

It is true that a Light spell casts as much light as a torch. But

there are lots of types of “normal fires” (able to be affected by
the spell in question) that aren’t as bright as a torch to begin
with. According to page 102 of the Players Handbook, a lantern
is by definition not as bright as a torch (30-foot radius of illumi¬
nation compared to 40 for the latter), and naturally that would
be true of any other type of flame of comparable size. Any
source of flame or fire brighter than a torch (such as the afore¬
mentioned bonfire) would, presumably, actually be diminished
in size and illumination by the use of the “increase” application
of the spell.

I want to make a continual light wand (by casting the third

level cleric spell on a metal rod). In the DMG, under spell
explanations, it says, “Darkness spells are the bane of this
device....” Does the darkness spell have to be cast on the rod
itself in order to negate the light? If so, what would happen-if
someone holding the continual light wand (light exposed)
walked into an area under a darkness spell? Would the light be
cancelled, the darkness be cancelled, or both be negated?
Would the wand be negated if a darkness spell is cast in a
general area containing the wand, but while it is enclosed so
that the light isn’t visible?

Either a Continual Darkness or Dispel Magic spell can negate

a Continual Light spell, whether the light had been placed over
an area or upon an object. Continual Darkness does not have to
be cast on the rod itself in order to ruin the light wand; the
darkness negates not only the light of the spell, but also the
magic which caused the rod to give off the light in the first
place. As long as the light wand is in, or is brought into, the area
of effect of the darkness spell, both spells would cancel each
other out. The same would be true if the wand were in a light¬
proof container inside the area of effect: That container is not
magic-proof, and it is the magic itself, not just the visible effects
of that magic, which is negated.

It’s important to understand the difference between a light

wand of this type and an item which is actually enchanted to
give off light, such as a Wand of Illumination or a Gem of
Brightness. When actual magic items are employed to produce
magical light, a darkness spell would at best only neutralize the
charge(s) currently in use; the item is not rendered unusable as
long as other charges remain. For example, Continual Dark¬
ness will negate the effect of a Gem of Brightness for only one
day — or not at all, if the owner of the item expends charges to
offset the darkness. A continual light wand, on the other hand,
is no more than a stick with a spell cast on it. When that spell is
dispelled, the stick’s light goes out for good (or until another
Continual Light is cast upon it).

Dispel Magic is effective against a continual light wand, again

because it neutralizes the magic of the spell which was applied
to the rod. Dispel Magic cannot, as the spell description indi¬
cates, weaken or negate the power of a “specially enchanted”
item such as the Gem of Brightness. The success of Dispel
Magic against a continual light wand or other similar object

depends in part on which particular kind of Continual Light was

used to manufacture the wand; the dispelling would be more
likely to succeed against the magic-user version of Continual
Light, since that is a second level spell and the cleric and
illusionist versions of the same spell are third level incantations.

Can a person talk under the influence of a Hold Person spell?

No, because talking or making vocal sounds of any sort

requires movement, even if only the vibration of a set of vocal
cords. Any character or creature under the influence of a Hold
Person or Hold Animal or Hold Monster spell literally can’t
move a muscle, and it takes muscles to form sounds and to
expel the breath that carries the sound forth from its source.
This would seem to hold true even for creatures that don’t
produce sounds the same way human vocal cords do. Sounds
are vibrations, and vibrations are created only when something
is set in motion. If a creature can make no motion or movement,
it can make no sound.
Interestingly enough, the only occasion when sound is men¬
tioned in the description of a Hold spell is for the Hold Plant
spell. That spell “prevents vegetable matter from making any
sound or movement which is not caused by wind,” according to
the Players Handbook. It stands to reason that this would apply
to other Hold spells and other types of living matter as well.

A second-level thief is drained one life level. In the next few

days, he accumulates enough gold pieces and experience
points to not only get back to second level, but to pay for a
Restoration spell as well, Could the thief attain third level by
application of his XP’s and then a Restoration (or vice versa)?

A character who wants to be restored has a fairly long time to

find a cleric to cast the spell. And in the meantime, the character
might very well acquire additional treasure and experience.
Whether or not the character actually “gets credit” for the
experience points, though, should depend on what the charac¬
ter’s (assuming a player character in this case) intentions were
in the first place.

A second-level thief drained of one energy level becomes a

first-level thief with 625 experience points. As soon as that
character accumulates enough experience points to qualify for
second level, “no further experience points can be gained until
the character actually gains the new level,” according to the
DMG. The training period which the character must undergo to
qualify for the new level in all respects will take at least 1-4
weeks.

Even if the Restoration could still be attempted at this junc¬

ture, it wouldn’t work, because the thief has already “restored”
himself. Restoration, as the name of the spell strongly implies,
only brings back an energy level when that energy level was
previously lost; the spell can’t “restore” a character to a level of
experience the character had never before attained.

Here’s where the character’s intentions come into considera¬

tion. If the thief voices a desire to seek a Restoration after
suffering the energy-level drain, and if the thief actively pursues
that goal during the next 16 (or perhaps more) days of his life, a
kindly DM might defer the recording of experience points for
that character, in effect “holding” the thief at first level so the
Restoration (if it comes to pass) will have its intended effect.
Experience gained in the meantime could then be applied to the
character’s total after he has been restored to second level.

But the same benefit should not accrue to a character who

wasn’t Restoration-minded all along. If the thief only starts to
think about being restored after he happens to run across
enough cash to pay for the spell casting, the experience he has
gained in the meantime should not be deferred for later applica¬
tion — the points are applied right after they are earned, and if
the thief’s current XP total exceeds the 1,250 upper limit for first
level, he can’t be restored no matter how much he pays.

Dragon 25
HALF-ORCS

Half-ores, as everyone knows, are what

you get when you cross ores and humans.
They are not uncommon in the world of
the AD&D™ game, and they do not enjoy
good reputations among most popula¬
tions. One well-known authority describes
most half-ores as “rude, crude,
crass, and generally obnoxious.”

Why do half-ores seem to turn out this

way? What makes them tick?

To better understand half-ores, one

needs to understand the non-human as¬
pect of their nature. Ores are probably
the most common sort of humanoid
creatures. They vary widely in physical
appearance, but generally seem to retain
a vaguely human look, tinged with a hint
of something . . . else.

In nearly all orcish societies, the social

philosophy is the same. Ores are the ul¬
timate social Darwinists; only the strong
and the clever survive, and the strongest
and cleverest ores are the ones who
manage to reach the upper social levels
of their cultures: Ores have no respect
for those weaker than themselves, and
are quick to step-and-fetch for those
stronger than they. They distrust all
overtures of friendship and love, seeing
these as a cover for other, baser inten¬
tions; if they discover feelings of friend¬
ship to be quite genuine, they immediately
attempt to manipulate events to take the
best advantage of them and gain the
upper hand.

Ores are like this because of the influ¬

ence of their deities (discussed in the
companion article to this one) and be¬
cause of their own past. Sages have un¬
covered much evidence showing that

They’re rude
and crude,
and so’s their
point of view

Roger
Moore

ores developed in regions generally hos¬

tile to life; survival was difficult, and only
if a group worked closely together could
it hope to collect enough food to get
even a part of its numbers through the
year. While the group would have to
work together to collect food, distributing
it was another matter. The strongest ores
got the most food, and the weakest ones
got none at all. (They were probably go¬
ing to die anyway, right?)

The very toughest ores managed to

receive more than just the bare minimum
of nourishment, enough to make life
more comfortable for them and give
them a certain degree of personal secu¬
rity. This also gave them the chance to
explore more intellectual occupations
than food-gathering, like figuring out
how to get more food and living space.
The easiest opportunity to be realized
was to take food and/or living space
away from other folks, and these other
folks were usually other ores. Intertribal
competition became fierce, and over the
centuries many of these conflicts have
“evolved” into what seem to be eternal
states of war between various tribes.

Ores are nocturnal by nature. They

prefer to catch prey when it is asleep and
less able to escape. Ores have done this
for so long they’ve developed infravision,
the ability to see living objects in darkness
by their body heat. The development of
infravision was assisted by the orcish
habit of living in caves for protection.
Ores tend to live in wilderness areas
where the sky is heavily overcast and
direct sunlight is non-existent or rare at
best. In magical universes such regions
are frequently found, their twilight
perpetually maintained by the forces of
magic cast by mortal or godling. In these
places ores will be much more active
than is customary in the daytime, even to
the point of conducting raids and hunting,
but it is at night when ores really become
dangerous.

Though such lives of hard work and

danger have made most ores rather
strong and tough constitutionally, the
race has a short lifespan. A 40-year-old
ore has reached the virtual end of its
natural life; the average ore lives for 12 to
26 years. As might be expected, ores
have a very high rate of reproduction,
but their infant mortality rate is quite
high, too. Barely one orcish child in
three will see adulthood, and fewer still
will see old age.

None of this is any surprise to non-

ores who have made even the briefest
study of the race. But what shocks the
casual observer is the degree of accept¬
ance, even preference, ores express for

this situation. “How could we feed so

many hungry little mouths?” retorted
one ore prisoner to a curious paladin. “If
you have lots of brats and some of them
die, so what? They were the weakest. . .
the strongest ones will live and work for
you, make you proud of their strength.
Who wants weak sons? Your enemies
will kill you in your sleep if they see you
are protected by weaklings.”

As can be inferred from the above

comments, ores prefer male children.
Though females are born only slightly
less often than males, much fewer of the
females survive to adulthood. Other
demi-human races with sexual imbal¬
ances have that property because of
natural reasons; ores (and certain other
humanoids as well), however, are more
likely to practice selective infanticide, or
otherwise forcibly adjust the ratio of
males to females. The emphasis in orcish
society is on fighting ability to gain sta¬
tus and well-being; since they have less
muscle than males, females generally
lose out. Ores believe that the only value
female ores have is in bearing children
(as many as possible) and keeping the
cave clean.

Orcish religion is interesting, too, be¬

cause of the great extent to which the
ores’ way of life mirrors the tenets of the
religion they follow. By and large, ores
do not well appreciate the consequences
of their actions beyond the immediate
present (a byproduct of their low wisdom).
What they do, they do for the here and
now, occasionally with some (but not
much) consideration for the future. This
is probably due to the necessities of their
harsh life; one does not have time to
think of the future when one must worry
about just getting through today. For
ores, however, this reasoning applies
even when times are comparatively good
and food is plentiful. They continue to
worry primarily about now, not later.

This attitude is reinforced in their re¬

ligious ceremonies; no mention is made
of the future beyond the statement, oft
repeated, that ores shall rule the world
someday. It is interesting to note that
Gruumsh, the major orcish deity, is one-
eyed; this means he has a narrow field of
vision and no depth perception at all.
The many tales about Gruumsh reveal
that, indeed, he too appears prone to act
first and think about it later. When he
meets another godling who appears to
fail to notice him, or to give him proper
respect, he doesn’t ask why; he attacks.

When Gruumsh’s moronic (and two-

eyed) son Bahgtru stubs his toe on a
huge rock, Gruumsh curses the rock and
tries to wrestle it. After breaking it into

26 June 1982

small pieces with Bahgtru’s help, he pro¬

claims a victory over the forces of nature.
Never mind that he and Bahgtru had
their feet cut by rock fragments, or that
they are so tired from breaking the rock
that they have trouble later fighting
giants. The point had to be made, then
and there. While Gruumsh will usually
act with some forethought and planning,
his rage is easily ignited, and it inevitably
clouds his judgment. With only one eye,
he has but one view of the world: his
own. Orcish shamans and half-ore clerics
imitate Gruumsh by plucking out one of
their eyes, hoping to gain Gruumsh’s
perspective.

With a background like this, it is hardly

surprising that half-ores are as they are.
Produced under questionable circum¬
stances at best, half-ores will usually re¬
tain some properties of both species,
human and ore, wherever they are raised.
Those brought up in orcish society (the
male ones, at least) will be immersed in
the previously described orcish social
philosophy. Though ores have some
degree of dislike for “half-humans”
among them, they are also aware that
such beings generally possess more adapt¬
ability and cunning than a full ore, and
have the potential to be stronger than the
average ore.

Unless rivalry between the half-ore

and his peers ends his life at an early age,
the half-ore will usually achieve a quite

respectable position of power and influ¬

ence in his tribe. Aware that he is not a
full ore, the half-ore will probably feel
much superior to ores and assume added
arrogance and pride—thus successfully
mixing the worst of human qualities with
the “best” of the orcish. These sorts of
leaders are exceptionally dangerous,
possessing enough foresight and intel¬
ligence to lead their tribes on much more
widespread raiding, banditry, and war¬
making than is usual for ore bands.

Life is not all rosy for this type of lead¬

er, of course; rivalries, jealousies, and
intrigues will probably continue
within the tribe against him unless he
becomes powerful enough to command
immediate obedience at the risk of swift
destruction. A few cases are known of
half-ore females rising to positions of
power within a tribe; usually this female
is either a warrior disguised as a male
(who must flee or die if her deception is
discovered), or a cleric for one of the few
orcish religions that permit female sha¬
mans or clerics. In no known cases have
female half-ores become as widely feared
or powerful (personally or politically) as
male half-ores, though this is not through
any fault of their own. Orcish sexual
prejudice is deep and strong.

Half-ores raised in human society,

usually without the orcish parent present,
have a greater likelihood of adopting a
variety of non-orcish attitudes and life¬

styles, but even then will have some less

savory aspects to their nature as well.
The average human has a dislike for ores
and anything with orcish ancestry; half-
ores will find themselves the objects of
prejudice in most human communities.

Many half-ores react to the local

expectations of them in predictable ways
(incidentally reinforcing those expec¬
tations). In other words, treat a half-ore
as if it were dangerous and bad, and it
will probably become dangerous and
bad if it wasn’t already. Yet there have
been examples of neutral-aligned half-
ores and even a few of good nature; most
of these retain an unnatural (to many
humans) affinity for lawfulness and
obedience, but are otherwise acceptable
company. Half-ores raised in a human
community are very unlikely to be able to
speak orcish unless they have had formal
study in it.

Half-ores have a variety of careers

open to them, in whatever society they
inhabit. Obviously, and most commonly,
they make good fighters; orcish tradition
strongly emphasizes personal combat
and physical strength.

Half-ores are fairly good at thieving

and banditry, but suffer from relatively
poor physical coordination and have
some difficulty in applying themselves
constantly to improving their skills. Half-
ore thieves generally steal for the same
reasons as anyone else does, but tend to
feel that they are especially justified in
what they do by one of their laws of sur¬
vival: he who cannot hold onto what he
has, does not deserve it. They regard
their actions as necessary for their own
existence, stealing because they have to,
not just because they want to.

The assassin’s skills, by contrast, come

most readily to the half-ore. By virtue of
their casual regard for the lives of others,
even of their own kind, the art of killing
has a certain appeal to those with orcish
blood. Half-ore assassins often come to
believe their actions are for the benefit of
the world in general; they are culling out
the unfit in the most direct way possible,
which brings out another of the orcish
laws of survival: if something can be easi¬
ly killed, it did not deserve to live. Who
can resist the urge to be the one who
wields the scythe, who decides the fates
of others, who has the power of almighty
death in his hands? With their prefer¬
ence for a retinue of underlings, half-ore
assassins can create powerful guilds to
support them, and may end up spread¬
ing their influence into many a court or
government.
Half-ores who become clerics will
usually combine their clerical practices

Dragon 27

with another career, most commonly as

a fighter or assassin. This is because
half-ores cannot advance very far in
experience as clerics, and they will even¬
tually require another set of skills to keep
them on even terms with increasingly
tougher adversaries. Half-ore cleric/
assassin types are invariably death-wor¬
shipers, and strive to put themselves in
better favor with their awful gods by per¬
sonally bringing death to as many be¬
ings as possible, within their religion and
outside it.

Ores and half-ores generally dislike

and avoid beings larger than themselves,
unless (as in the case of ogres) the ores
feel they can manipulate them sufficiently,
with promises of shared treasure and
food, to make them useful to the orcish
community as guards and/or heavy in¬
fantry. Ores and half-ores dislike smaller
humanoids because they are inevitably
weaker, and these races are usually em¬

ployed only as slaves. Goblins, who are

only marginally weaker than ores and
can hold their own against them at least
some of the time, are afforded more tol¬
erance than other small humanoids.

But it is not other humanoids that ores

hate worst of all — it is other orcish
tribes. The roots of hatred run deep be¬
tween conflicting tribes; the original
cause of friction, if there was one, has
long since been lost to antiquity. Inter¬
tribal conflicts are maintained by religious
bigotries; each tribe worships a particular
orcish patron god with interests that
(naturally!) conflict with those of other
deities. Even so, all tribes usually pay
some homage to Gruumsh, the king of
the orcish gods.

Another question concerning orcish

and half-orcish personality should be
addressed: Why do ores hate elves so
much? Superficial examination of the
question reveals little overt cause; ores

and elves do not frequently compete for

the same living space or for the same
foods. But a slightly deeper examination
shows that in terms of personality, pro¬
bably no two races could be further
apart. For example:

Elves are able to see many sides of a

problem; ores see but one.

Elves carefully examine the long-range

consequences of an action, usually
before undertaking it, while ores could
care less for anything but the present.

Elves are very long-lived, while ores

have one of the shortest lifespans among
the humanoid races.

That list could be longer, contrasting

many other aspects of the races’ life¬
styles, but a point has been developed.
Ores and elves are opposites in nearly
every way, and ores resent the advantages
elves have, especially their long lifespan.
While elves do not particularly like ores,
they think of them as a short-term problem

THE GODS OF

This is the tale the shamans tell, in the

camps of the ores when the night is deep
on the world and dawn is far away:

In the beginning all the gods met and

drew lots for the parts of the world in
which their representative races would
dwell. The human gods drew the lot that
allowed humans to dwell where they
pleased, in any environment. The elven
gods drew the green forests, the dwarven
gods drew the high mountains, the
gnomish gods the rocky, sunlit hills, and
the halfling gods picked the lot that gave

The word
from above:
Make war,
not love

Roger
Moore

them the fields and meadows. Then the

assembled gods turned to the orcish
gods and laughed loud and long. “All the
lots are taken!" they said tauntingly.
“Where will your people dwell, One-
Eye? There is no place left!”

There was silence upon the world

then, as Gruumsh One-Eye lifted his
great iron spear and stretched it forth
over the world. The shaft blotted out the
sun over a great part of the lands as he
spoke: “No. You lie. You have rigged the
drawing of the lots, hoping to cheat me
and my followers. But One-Eye never
sleeps; One-Eye sees all. There is a place
for ores to dwell. . . here!” With that,
Gruumsh struck the forests with his
spear, and a part of them withered with
rot. “And here!” he bellowed, and his
spear pierced the mountains, opening
mighty rifts and chasms. “And here!” and
the spearhead split the hills and made
them shake and covered them in dust.

“And here!” and the black spear gouged

the meadows, and made them barren.

“There!” roared He- Who-Watches

triumphantly, and his voice carried to the
ends of the world. “There is where the
ores shall dwell! There they shall survive,
and multiply, and grow stronger, and a
day shall come when they cover the
world, and shall slay all of your collected
peoples! Ores shall inherit the world you
sought to cheat me of!”

In this way, say the shamans, did the

ores come into the world, and thus did
Gruumsh predict the coming time when

ores will rule alone. This is why ores

make war, ceaseless and endless: war
for the wrath of Gruumsh.

The shamans tell other tales, too, that

shed light on why things are as they are
in the world. Shamans tell of the battle
between Corellon Larethian (the chief
elven god, whom the shamans call The
Big Fairy) and Gruumsh, in which
Corellon tried to shoot out Gruumsh’s
eye (sacrilege!) with his bow, but failed
of course. It is not considered important
that Gruumsh started the fight by trying
to paralyze the elven god with his spear;
the shamans say Corellon deserved it for
not being properly deferential. Because
of this battle, ores of all sects and cults
hate elves over all other non-ore races.

The shamans’ tales of the battles

between the dwarven gods and the orcish
gods for ownership of the mountains
would weary the most ardent listener.
The ores are drawn to the mountains by
their brutal majesty and stark barrenness,
while dwarves love mountains for their
isolation and beauty, and for the ores
that lie beneath them.

Many have also heard of the eternal

battles on the plains of Hell between the
goblins and ores, each side led by their
respective gods. No matter how much
noise the ores of this world make about
joining their forces with the other human¬
oids, all ores are aware that there will be
room for one race in the end .. . and it will
not be the goblins, the ogres, or any of
the rest.

28 June 1982

not worthy of prolonged consideration.

Ores, on the other hand, are consumed
with hatred for elves, and will slay them
out of hand whenever the opportunity
presents itself.

Orcish mythology has several tales of

battles between elven and orcish deities.
The most famous one occurs between
Gruumsh and Corellon Larethian, the
chief elven deity. The story goes like this,
according to the ores:

Gruumsh ambushes Corellon in hopes

of slaying him and drinking his blood, so
as to inherit his special powers; Gruumsh
fails, of course, through his own short¬
sightedness, and Corellon shoots an ar¬
row at Gruumsh’s eye.

Though the arrow failed to blind

Gruumsh, apparently it was not intended
to. Elven stories of the same event (much
briefer than the tedious orcish versions)
say that Corellon meant the arrow as a
warning to Gruumsh of his vulnerability

—a hint that it would only take the loss of

his eye to break Gruumsh’s power as a
god, and that some being might be cap¬
able of bringing this about if he were not
more careful. Though Gruumsh rails and
curses the elven gods through many lat¬
er stories, he never again tries to directly
assault them, and spends his fury on
mortal elves instead. Obviously, he took
the hint.

In summary, half-ores are often bound

to take on some of the less desirable
characteristics of their orcish parents,
especially if they are raised in an ore
tribe.

Half-ores are generally tough, respect¬

ful of power, and seek to have power
themselves. They tend to measure one
another by the number and quality of
their followers, and they work within a
group setting rather than on their own.

Like ores, half-ores often act before

thinking about the results of their deeds,

and appear somewhat stupid to other
more foresighted individuals because of
this. They dislike the weak, follow the
strong, and quarrel with their equals.
Again, this is not true of all half-ores. But
at least a vestige of these characteristics
is present in nearly every one, regardless
of their individual makeup.

Information for this article was taken

from the AD&D rule books, the Players
Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the
Dungeon Masters Guide, as well as the
DEITIES & DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia.
Some additional comments and insights
were found in Master of Middle-Earth, by
Paul H. Kocher. Though this latter book
concerns the world of J. R. R. Tolkien,
much of the information therein is quite
usable in an AD&D setting, and the work
is highly recommended to the serious
student of role-playing.

THE ORCS
The division of ores into separate
tribes (Evil Eye, Death Moon, Broken
Bone, etc.) is usually made along cult
lines. The tribal symbol is the holy symbol
of the orcish god the tribe holds as its
patron. Each patron god seeks to make
his followers more powerful than those
of the others, since their own power
derives from the relative power and might
of their worshipers.

There are a large number of orcish

gods, representing such spheres of

interests as strength, swordsmanship,

military power, the night, death, fertility,
hunting, and so forth. Each of them is
part of a rigid chain of command with
Gruumsh at the top. The relative positions
of the gods in the hierarchy varies de¬
pending on the shaman doing the telling,
as they all seek to emphasize the power
and glory of their own deity, sometimes
almost to the exclusion of mention of
Gruumsh himself.

Warfare between tribes is actually

encouraged to some extent by the orcish

gods, who believe that this is the best
way of eliminating the unfit and weak,
and promoting the survival and growth
of the strong. No attention is paid to the
thought that it might also waste the best
fighters’ talents, which might have been
better directed against non-ore foes.

A minor cult has been noted, repre¬

senting the only known orcish religion
that doesn’t emphasize violence or
warfare. Probably less than a hundred
ores belong to this sect, and most sages
doubt that the being they worship is even
a true god. It appears to have been
started when a ore discovered an ancient
picture of a female ore, reputedly the
most beautiful of her race ever known.
This ore and his followers worship the
picture and bring it sacrifices of flowers,
jewels, and candies. Only time will tell
whether they worship a true goddess or
just a picture; whether they shall fade
away with time, or whether the ores will
someday all follow the ways of the
mysterious goddess known as “Mispigie.”

Following are descriptions of five of

the most powerful orcish gods besides
Gruumsh, who is represented in the
DEITIES & DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia.
Any use of the word “cleric” in these
descriptions, when referring to those
who use clerical spells granted by these
gods, also includes shamans and witch
doctors, as described in the AD&D™
Dungeon Masters Guide, unless other¬
wise stated.

Dragon 29

Shargaas

Lesser god

ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 18”

HIT POINTS: 265

NO. OF ATTACKS: 3/2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-30 (+8)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Ambush
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better
weapon to hit; hiding; blindness
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 65%

SIZE: L (8’ tall)

ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil

WORSHIPER’S ALIGN: Thieves,
assassins, and those who do evil
by darkness (ores and half-ores)
SYMBOL: Red crescent moon with
red skull between the horns
PLANE: Gehenna
CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: As 10 HD monster
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 7th level
illusionist

THIEF/ASSASSIN: 16th level thief/

15th level assassin
MONK/BARD: 10th level monk
PSIONIC ABILITY: IV
S: 20 (+3, +8) I: 19 W: 15 D: 24
C: 19 CH: 7 (24 to ores)

Yurtrus

Lesser god
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVE: 6”

HIT POINTS: 303

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Disease
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%

SIZE: L (12’ tall)

ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil

(lawful tendencies)

WORSHIPER’S ALIGN: Assassins

and those who worship or profit
from death (ores and half-ores)
SYMBOL: White hand on
dark background
PLANE: Hades

CLERIC/DRUID: 15th level cleric

(destructive spells only)

FIGHTER: As 13 HD monster
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: See
below/Nil

THIEF/ASSASSIN: 15th level assassin

MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: VI
S: 18 (+1, +2) I: 18 W: 11 D: 10
C: 17 CH: -4

Yurtrus the White Handed is the terri¬

fying orcish god of death and disease.
He appears as a huge, vaguely orcish
giant covered with peeling, rotting green
flesh; his hands, however, appear com¬

Shargaas the Night Lord lives in a

tremendous cavern system below the
fiery plain of one of the levels of Gehenna.
It is said that his caves extend infinitely,
and are darker than the blackest night.
There no creature has sight but Shargaas
himself and his orcish spirit servants.
Shargaas, though blinded completely by
light from the sun, can see perfectly well
in darkness out to a range of a mile or
more. He can also climb any surface,
even perfectly smooth ones, without
slipping. In the days when he is said to
have walked upon the earth, Shargaas
could also hide himself and his followers
so well that no mortal could detect his
ambushes or lairs.

As might be expected, orcish bandits

and half-ore thieves hold Shargaas as
their patron, as do other regular ore
tribes. Clerics of Shargaas are multi-
classed (cleric/thieves or cleric/
assassins) if they are half-ores; it is
rumored that even orcish shamans and
witch doctors have some small degree of
thieving or assassination skill (probably
some 5-30% success at one or two abilities
like hiding in shadows, picking pockets,
or assassination from surprise). The
major religious holidays in the worship
of Shargaas are the times of the new
moon, when the sky is dark and cloudy.

pletely normal except for being chalk-

white in color. Yurtrus has no mouth and
doesn’t communicate; the ores have a
way of saying “when White-Hands
speaks” when they mean “never.”

Yurtrus is surrounded by a huge

envelope of stinking gases out to 120’;
any mortal beings within this radius are
affected as follows: Those up to and
including 4 HD/levels as if struck by Dust
of Sneezing and Choking, those up to 8
HD/levels as if struck by a Symbol of
Pain, and those of higher levels suffer a
-2 “to hit” with no saving throw. All
effects last while anyone stays within the
cloud of gas.

Yurtrus, in addition to his clerical spells,

uses all death-magic spells of 18th level
magic-users. He may try to touch his
victims instead of using his spells; any
being he strikes loses 3-12 hit points and
will catch 1-4 random diseases as well
(use the listings in the Dungeon Masters
Guide). The loss of hit points will be
permanent unless recovered by a Wish
spell, on a one-wish-per-hit-point basis.

The clerics of Yurtrus wear pale white

gloves made from the skins of non-
orcish humanoids, humans, or demi-
humans, during their ceremonies. They
wear thin armor (equivalent to cloth)
woven of the same materials. In combat
they use maces with the weapon’s head
made in the shape of a white fist. When
plague or disease strike the ores, the
clerics of Yurtrus appeal to him for an
end to the illness with great sacrifices of
prisoners and slaves.

30 June 1982

Bahgtru

Lesser god

ARMOR CLASS: 1
MOVE: 9”

HIT POINTS: 340

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 10-60 (+15)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Grapple
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better
weapon to hit; see below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 35%

SIZE: L (16’ tall)

ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

WORSHIPER’S ALIGN: Lawful evil
warriors (ores and half-ores)

SYMBOL: Broken thigh bone

PLANE: Nine Hells
CLERIC/DRUID: Nil
FIGHTER: /As 16+ HD monster
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: 6th level assassin
MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
S: 25 (+7, +14) I: 6 W: 6 D: 18
C: 25 CH: 5 (22 to ores)

Bahgtru is the son of Gruumsh and

Luthic the Cave Mother. Though scorned
and derided for his stupidity and lack of
self-will, no one says ill of his awesome
might. Other orcish gods call upon him
for assistance; he is obedient, though his
incredible strength always exceeds the
expectations of others, and he may

accidentally (?) cause harm to those

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

It is said that Bahgtru once fought a

tremendous reptilian monster from an¬
other world, and slew it barehanded by
breaking all of its legs. His symbol is
derived from this epic battle. Since this,
Bahgtru has never been known to use
weapons or armor of any usual kind. He
wears little other than a great pair of
cesti, or gauntlets, studded with steel
rivets, with which to beat his victims flat.

Bahgtru is a huge, incredibly muscular

ore with dirty tan skin and dull green
eyes; his tusks, protruding from either
side of his mouth, are glistening white
from gnawing on bones. If Baghtru
attacks and rolls a number 4 or more
over what he needs to hit with both
hands, he has grappled his opponent
and will crush for 10-120 points of damage
per round thereafter, without rolling again
to hit. His skin is so thick and tough that
blunt weapons do only one point of
damage to him before they bounce off.

Clerics of Bahgtru must have a mini¬

mum strength of 16, and must keep
themselves physically fit. They cannot
wear armor, but may use weapons as
they choose. Those clerics who lose
their required strength lose their other
powers as well, and will have their spirits
crushed in Bahgtru’s fists in the afterlife.
Stronger clerics of this cult may help
weaker clerics along to the next plane,
usually without the latter’s permission.

Ilneval

Lesser god

ARMOR CLASS: -1
MOVE: 12”

HIT POINTS: 331

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 6-36 (+11)

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to

missile weapons; +1 or better

weapon to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 55%

SIZE: L (9’ tall)

ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

WORSHIPER’S ALIGN: Lawful evil

warriors (ores and half-ores)

SYMBOL: Bloodied broadsword
PLANE: Nine Hells
CLERIC/DRUID: 8th level cleric
FIGHTER: /As 15 HD monster
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: 14th level assassin
MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
S:23 (+5,+11) 1:17 W:14 D:20
C: 23 CH: 8 (25 to ores)

When Gruumsh does not have time to

command his armies in Hell, he turns the
job over to his chief lieutenant, Ilneval,
master of command and strategy (next

to Gruumsh, of course). Ilneval is the

symbol of the leader type, the one who
plunges into battle with nothing but
victory and destruction on his mind. It is
hinted that Ilneval covets Gruumsh’s
position as the chief god of the ores; he
has been said to have deposed one or
two other orcish gods, relegating them
to lesser status, in his climb to power.

Ilneval is more of a “captain’s god”

than a god of the common orcish soldier;
Gruumsh is preferred by chieftains and
orcish kings, and Bahgtru by common
warriors. Though Gruumsh does not
trust Ilneval, He-Who-Never-Sleeps has
Bahgtru on his side, and this relieves
some of his concerns.

Ilneval wears a suit of red iron chain-

mail, and wields a sword that slays all
non-ores it strikes (save vs. death at -6).
He cannot be touched by missile weapons
because of his armor’s magical powers,
and is immune to non-magical weapons
as well. He appears to be a very war-wise
and confident being; his face and arms
are heavily scarred from the many battles
he’s fought, but the scars only increase
his appeal to his orcish followers.

The clerics of Ilneval, if half-ores, use

broadswords as weapons and are multi-
classed cleric/fighters. Clerics of all sorts
(ores and half-ores) wear red metallic
armor, and are expected to be good
military leaders as well as good clerics.

Dragon 31
Luthic

Lesser goddess

ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 15” (12”)

HIT POINTS: 287

NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 5-20 (+7)

SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Regeneration
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 80%

SIZE: L ( 8 V 2 tall)

ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

(neutral tendencies)

WORSHIPER’S ALIGN: Females

(ores and half-ores), and those
who need healing or sanctuary
SYMBOL: Cave entrance rune
PLANE: Nine Hells
CLERIC/DRUID: 15th level cleric
FIGHTER: As 12 HD monster
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 12th level
in each

THIEF/ASSASSIN: 6 th level in each

MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
S:19 (+3,+7) I: 18 W: 19 D: 14
C: 20 CH: 12 (25 to ores)

Luthic governs several spheres. She is

the goddess of female ores, orcish fertility
(more so for females; Gruumsh is the
male fertility god), caves and caverns
(which she digs herself), servitude (as
she serves Gruumsh), and primitive
medicine, and she helps restore orcish
morale.

Luthic is the deity closest to Bahgtru,

her son, and he will follow her commands
over all others’, even those of Gruumsh.
Other orcish gods and goddesses fear
her great claws, which are so strong they
can tunnel through solid rock. Orcish
clerics call her the Cave Mother and
conduct her services underground.
Though she represents female ores, she

is worshipped by males as well for her

ferocity and her healing powers.

Luthic appears as a huge female ore

who wears no armor, but has unbreak¬
able black claws four feet long. Her hair
and eyes are dull black and her skin is
dark brown with a medium brown on the
nose and ears. When in contact with the
ground, she regenerates 3 hit points per
round.

In addition to her normal attacks, Luthic

may use magical spells to undo her
opponents. And if she hears anyone
abuse her name, ore or non-ore alike,
she may (25% chance) choose to render
that being susceptible to any disease, so
that the next time the victim catches
even the most minor of ailments, it will
prove fatal within 2-7 days. Only the
power of three Wish spells applied while

the victim is still alive can unwork this

curse.

Ores who follow her worship sometimes

rub dirt on themselves to ensure they will
have many children, and clerics use
earth in casting curative spells
(though this is purely a symbolic gesture
and not a true material component of the
spell). Luthic’s worship is one of the few
that allow male and female ores to become
clerics; nearly all of the other deities
permit male clerics only. Ores in her
tribe (Vile Rune) generally dwell under¬
ground, and seem to commit fewer raids
against other creatures, though they are
especially fierce if their lair is threatened.
Ores guarding clerics of Luthic gain a +2
bonus “to hit” from their ferocity and
madness, but this also causes a -2 penalty
to their armor classes at the same time.

CLERICAL QUICK REFERENCE CHART

Sphere of

Raiment
Holy Sacrifice/Propitiation

Place of

Deity

Control

Animal

Head

Body

Color(s)

Days Frequency

Form

Worship

Bahgtru

strength

ox

bare

loincloth

n/a

battle days before battle

bones of
enemies

battlefield

Shargaas

night, thieves

bat

leather

cap

leather

armor

red &
black
new moon monthly

stolen items

anywhere

llneval

warriors

n/a

red metal
helmet

red metal
armor

red

battle days before and

after battle

blood and
weapons

anywhere

Yurtrus

death,

plague

skeleton

bare

skins

white

full moon monthly

living

sacrifices

underground

crypts

Luthic

caves, heal-

cave bear

fur cap
leather

brown &

midwin- yearly

treasures

cave halls

ing, females armor black ter’s day

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

32 June 1982

TM

RoLe FLAyiNQ Qamc Association

Excerpts from The POLYHEDRON

The RPGA Bi-monthly Newsletter

TOP SECRET

ESPIONAGE ROLE PLAYING GAME

AN OPEN LETTER...

I don’t know if you know what has

happened to TOP SECRET™ game in the
past five years, so I’ll tell you. After being
inspired by a Halloween version of an
obscure role playing game at ISU in
1975, I started to write. Leading a pack
mule underground with a bunch of
greedy, blood-thirsty humanoids just
didn’t excite me too much at four in the
morning. I wanted something I could re^
late to. Shadowing coeds on cam|
opening mailboxes, and searchipgsiabs
by flashlight are far more ^^b|tiv#

., I’d had a childhood pf Maxwell

Smart, Mission: Impossible, and I Spy
April Dancer, James Bond, Emma Peel
and Ilya Kuriva^Kcere far

Bilbp^r:^^

.. - . .~.jo background
of mimicry andmfcjdRg
was someone else, the .
•me evolved!.'":-'^ ; “ 21

VENTURE GAME

THE FASTESl*

LIVED
This article
from “TheFastejj
articleswhichlwe
STRATEGIC ff|/j
magazines that
“guns” are far
characters, and
unless caution is exl
scenarios using one of
might be enjoyable.

The Rifleman was played by

Connors on TV in the early sixties,
duct 10 from his chance to hit when he
uses any weapon but a rifle.

Bert, Bart, and Beau Maverick were

played by James Garner, Jack Kelly, and
Roger Moore (respectively) in one of the
most popular and well written television
shows ever produced. The “tall, dark
strangers” all have Gambler Ratings of
02, and they all prefer talking their way
out of trouble to shooting; they will how¬
ever, support their friends to the end.

Clint Eastwood did appear in televi¬

sion westerns, but his career didn’t merit
the ‘star’ category until he became the
“Man with No Name” in the “Dollars” ser¬
ies of movies. Eastwood has a Gambler
Rating of 12, and is definitely one of the
finest gunfighters ever seen.

DAWN PATROL™ Preview

The new FIGHT IN THE SKIES 7th
Edition is going to be called the DAWN
PATROL™ game, with emphasis on its
popular role playing aspects. There are
some interestii^^^^^jles to add “fla¬
vor” to the <. eat ■ jofe i< h i ilot person¬
ality (lil<;||iif, EjwioriMpnS fch^an d age),
an d aMm no th^fereer^^eacff '

Jity ojjnnning mWs).

k ^ATRO L™ g^K is a m u iTPi

which simulatelworld War J

[bat in the last two yips of the A
;nd 1918. Each playtt^tejtes “
k an indpidual pilot, fly^Mfc
farrPus aircraft of thSs lfc
_ ilayeWRorm a team, and each pfay'gH
[akes tactical decisions for maneuv-
id fighting, their aircraft refl ect-^
real historical characteristic^*
maneuverability, climbing a»fp
H?g ability, and so forth.

DYASCID D & D™

FANTASY ADVENTURE GAME

||iJLLING BEE: Invisibility

invisible creatures may be detec]S||p
wifhput magic. The Dungeon MapWrs
Guide has a table which explains thfirgs;
s a y : eat with 7 or moifeiev-
seeing’' invisible,
leveljfir is the

pie monster in a
pould Sf dimly seen by
j of flour or soot inside.
Buld notSie danger pf ex-.

. __ re is presilt (medieval floap

mitts after* exploded accidentally',

DISPEL C lt» .iv.

Q: Can paladins^tteeptr^.'fycanthropes?
Are they immune towfaisease?

A: Paladins are indeed immune to all

forms of disease. Unfortunately for them,
lycanthropy is as much a curse as it is a
disease. The DMG uses an example of a
paladin contracting lycanthropy, and also
mentions cure disease and remove curse
as ways of eliminating it.

The designations ® and ™ indicate trademarks owned

by TSR Hobbies, Inc.

®1982 TSR Hobbies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Q: Do Strength bonuses apply to hand-

hurled missiles? And are the Strength
bonuses cumulative with Dexterity bo¬
nuses to hit?

A: The bonuses do apply, at any range,

and are cumulative.

SCIENCE FANTASY GAME

GAMMA WORLD™ Art Contest

Send pdricil, ink, or painted illustra¬

tions of any monster listed in this series
to “GW Art ” care of The POLYHEDRON
The be$t [Link] .EACH creature
,vlffl|be^blM^cflHHture newsletter,
|md the best winneABB'all will receive a
re cop f the new revision of the
METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA TO
OMEGA™ supplement, once published
by TSR Hobbies as- “Metamorphosis Al¬
pha” and soon to-bs re-released as part
of the GAMMA WORLD™ game system.

^Entries will be judged on accuracy

(with respect to the published descrip¬
tion) and quality* Be sure to label the
illustration withthfe name of the crea¬
ture, and please be sure to put your
name, addrwk^d rriembership number
on the backionw^ME^II who’s whose.

DUMEOKS h DRAGOHS

FANTASY ADVENTURE GAME

ICALLY SPEAKING
When fir^L^piining the D&D® Basic
Set, thiytfpmnjng DM will find the Basic
rulebfPET a set of dice with a crayon,
odule B2, The Keep on the Bor-
frlands, and various fliers — color ca¬
talog, RPGA information, questionnaire,
and so on. If everything is in order, look
at the dice; there should be six. The dice
will be much easier to read if you rub the
crayon against each face of each die to
work the wax into the number. After the
dice are all taken care of, read about how
to use them on B4 of the rulebook.

Once familiar with the dice, read

through the rules — once. Now, turn to
the section on starting a character. Use
the example given to “roll up” a few sam¬
ple characters. After you know how to
start characters, go to the section on
Combat (B24). Read the rules on hand-
to-hand combat carefully, and then run a
few rounds of it between the sample
characters you made.

Dragon 33

SUBJECT: Module, DRAGON™#62 f

CHINATOWN: The Jaded Temple is a ready-to-play TOP SECRET™ mission for one to four
players
(each with a first to third level agent) and an Administrator. Of course, the
number of
players and their agents ’ levels is left to the discretion of the Administrator .

The adventure can be played in one of two ways : (1) As a one-shot mission,
unrelated to any
previous or future miss ions, generally involving newly created characters; or (2)
As part of
a larger scheme, a campaign game. These games can involve new or previously
established
characters, and each miss ion is linked to past and future missions by a continuous
thread of
ideas and events.

Either way, this module offers an exotic setting for the agents and is a useful
tool for
Administrators learning or examining the art of designing game environments .

Note to prospective Administrators : This module is for your use . If something

doesn’t fit
your personal taste, alter or remove it! The only way a module can be ‘
‘personalized’ ’ is if
the Administrator using it puts his or her own effort into modifying it.

T U M

e4

TO: Player/Agents M If I 1 IMJN M 14 OH HP

FROM: “The Adminstrator” 111 Mki W V^WM II WW

SUBJECT: Mission briefing

BACKGROUND: Two days ago shipment of newly discovered radioactive isotope,

Dragonium,
hijacked for reasons unknown. IMPERATIVE Dragonium found and returned to Darcy
Research
Institute for proper storage and dispensation. IMPERATIVE isotope containers remain
un¬
damaged. Outside sources narrowed possible locations of stolen property to several
sites .
Investigate location deemed most likely: temple on edge of Chinatown. EXTREME
CAUTION
advised in use of explosives and small-arms fire .

OBJECTIVE: Investigate temple grounds and interior. Determine location of isotope .

(Bonus
offered for motive of theft. ) If containers found, return to this base with
information. DO
NOT attempt recovery of isotope .

EQUIPMENT: Street clothing, synchronized watches, throat microphones and ear jacks,
flashlights, one Geiger counter wrist unit, one mini-camera with 12 exposures of
infrared
film, and billy clubs for personal weapons . Return all equipment to proper
division upon
completion of mission. Other equipment taken on mission must be yours or obtained
through
other sources.

TRANSPORT: Standard van from the organization’s garage assigned, with two sets of
keys.
Damages over $500 subtracted from your payment.

PAYMENT: As per standard for ‘ ‘stealing’ ’ mission, plus $100 bonus for each agent
due to
danger of mission. All medical expenses paid.
Dragon 35

‘ ‘ I underestimated the people in

Chinatown,’ ’ said Su Wing. The old

sifu sighed as he turned to his pupil, Ming

Lau.

“Well,” he continued, “one is never too

old to stop learning, especially when
dealing with our own people. Who would
believe that Chinese would turn against
other Chinese?”

“But, master,” asked the initiate, “why

was their resistance unexpected?”

“It was expected, but not nearly in

such proportions. The tongs in China¬
town have fought among themselves for
years. We came to Chinatown expecting
to be treated with the respect we gained
in the old country, but instead we were
treated like enemy tongs. Now the other
tongs are joining forces to keep the Anfu
out of Chinatown.”

“There must be a way to stop them.

Anfu must be established in Chinatown,”
said the initiate. “But the people would
never stand for a massacre of the tongs.”

“I realize this, but the fact remains that

the tongs must be removed and the peo¬
ple kept silent about our presence. If
only there was a way to do both....”

Su Wing lapsed into deep thought. An

idea began to form.... Yes, it might just
work. His students were almost masters
of kung fu themselves, and they did need
the practice. The execution of the plan
would have to be flawless, but he felt
sure the students were capable. There
would be risks, of course, and just one
unfortunate event would ruin the small
foothold the Anfu had so far gained in
Chinatown. The risks he would take, and
try to compensate for....

“Master?”

The voice of Ming Lau drifted into his

thoughts, unbidden.
“Yes?”

“Have you chosen a course of action?”

“I have. And I am presently going to

retire to my quarters. Make sure I am not
disturbed until morning,” said the sifu as
he turned and walked toward the interior
of the temple.

“Yes, it will work,” he said under his

breath. “When I am through, it will work.”

The technician was instantly upset

when he heard the news.

“What do you mean, the vans were

stolen?”

“Just what I said,” answered the guard.

“We were driving to the pier, and the next
thing you know there’s gas all over the
inside of the cab! The next thing I knew, I
woke up in the street with Lucas beside
me, and the vans were gone.”

“What happened to the driver and

guard from the other van?” asked the
technician.

“I don’t know. Maybe they ran for help

or something. We just got back here as
fast as we could.”

Almost anything being shipped in a

Darcy Research van is valuable, at least
to someone, thought the technician. The
company’s vehicles had been victimized
by thiefs and hijackers before, but never
before had two vans traveling together
been taken at the same time. And these
particular vans held something not only
valuable but dangerous: containers of
Dragonium, a scarce and deadly radio¬
active isotope.

“Those fools,” said the technician. “I

wonder if they realize what they’re carry¬
ing for cargo? If the seal is broken on just
one of those containers...” he shuddered.

“Are you sure the vans are in there?”

asked Mark Jarra as he and his contact
sat in their vehicle across the street from
a “derelict” warehouse. It didn’t seem
possible that the building, which looked
like it would fall down at any minute, was
the hiding place for the two Darcy Re¬
search vans that had turned up missing
the day before. But if his ever-reliable
contact in Chinatown was correct, this
was definitely the place.

As if to confirm the agent’s own

thoughts, Chou Yan Lee said, “Of course
I’m sure. Do you think I would have ques¬
tionable information on a matter of such
great importance?”

“I know otherwise,” said the agent

apologetically. “But I find it hard to be¬
lieve that the vans were so easy to locate,
especially when the police didn’t even
have a clue.”

“Well,” said Chou, “no vehicles have

left this place, so the vans must still be in
there.”

“You forget,” said a voice behind them.

“Three rikshas left the warehouse a cou¬
ple of hours ago.”

“Which reminds me,” said Jarra, turn¬

ing towards the radio operator, “what did
our tails pick up on those three?”

“All three drivers stopped at the same

location after each made several other
stops first. All three then proceeded to a
storage warehouse and haven’t moved
since.”

“What’s the place they all went to?”

asked Jarra.

“It doesn’t have a name; just an old

temple on the fringe of Chinatown,”

answered the radio operator.

Jarra stepped out of the car they were

seated in and leaned back in the open
window. “I’m going to take a look inside.
Be back quickly.” He crossed the street
and vanished into the shadows near the
warehouse.

In a few minutes Jarra reappeared

next to the car. As he slid into the driver’s
seat, he said, “The vans are in there, all
right, but they’re guarded. I counted four
men. The rear doors of the vans were
open, but I couldn’t see any sign of the
Dragonium containers.”

“Which means they were taken away

by the rikshas!”

“Maybe,” said the agent. “Since it’s the

only lead we have, contact headquarters
and have them send somebody over to
that temple, while we watch this place.”

The temple looks harmless enough. It

is located at the edge of the area of the
city known as “Chinatown.” The build¬
ing is constructed of wood and stone;
most of the structure is obscured from
view by a ten-foot-high stone wall encir¬
cling the grounds. A clump of small,
leafy trees blocks the temple from casu¬
ally prying eyes that look through the
single wrought-iron gate in the wall.

During the day, little activity can be

observed going on inside the temple
grounds. Only an occasional glimpse of
a fleeting shape moving in the front
courtyard will reward the most persist¬
ent of “snoopers.”

At night, the area just inside the pe¬

rimeter wall is illuminated in spots, and
human shadows can be seen moving in¬
side the temple itself when a body passes
before a lighted window. A lone guard
patrols the perimeter wall, his outline
clearly discernible in the dim light, but
no one looking through the wrought-
iron gate into the courtyard will see any
other signs of movement outside the
temple building.

The inhabitants of Chinatown have

become apprehensive about the nature
and the purpose of the people inside the
temple, and very little activity takes place
in the vicinity. No resident of the area will
willingly go near the little temple nor the
building around the temple. Thus, wheth¬
er night or day, there is little danger of
temple inhabitants being observed by
innocents who (if they were more cur¬
ious or less fearful) might otherwise
have caused problems by informing the
local authorities.

36 June 1982
DESCRIPTIONS

The areas in and around the temple

are described so that Administrators can
locate needed information quickly. Ba¬
sically, each section of text contains four
sub-sections, as follows:

(1) Number of area. Name of area.

General description of furniture and
equipment found in the area. Concealed
objects (concealment rating) and their
descriptions, requirements for determin¬
ing value, to whom they are valuable,
and how valuable they will be.

(2) DAY = Lighting being utilized (A =

natural, B = incandescent, or C = fluo¬
rescent) from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in this area.
Names of denizen in the area at these
times (followed by a percentage chance
they are in the area at any specific time,
or the chance of returning after each
minute’s absence) and what they will be
doing (followed by percentage chances
if multiple actions are possible).

(3) NIGHT = Same as in “DAY” except

this information is for the times between
7 p.m. and 6 a.m. Pitch darkness is natu¬
ral lighting at night, but this can be al¬
tered to “DAY” lighting (if artificial light
is available) in one round.

(4) NOTES = Any pertinent data that

does not fit into any of the above catego¬
ries. Also included here is incidental in¬
formation the Admin might want to in¬
troduce into the adventure.

1. FRONT COURTYARD: An open-air

courtyard, with trees lining a stone path¬
way and obscuring the view of most of
the yard (treat as “target obscured” sit¬
uation for hit determination purposes).
The pathway branches into two paths,
each ending in a set of stone steps lead¬
ing up 5 feet to the loggia (see #2). The
trees are 11-20 feet in height (determine
individually if necessary by rolling a dIO
and adding 10 to the result).

DAY = “A” lighting. No patrols or deni¬

zen in the area.

NIGHT = “B” lighting in the four cor¬

ners of the courtyard improve the vision
of anyone inside the courtyard to that
possible in normal daylight. Morris Ever¬
hart has watchman’s duty on the outer
wall (he patrols by walking on the top of
the wall) and has a 10% chance of pass¬
ing a given point (cumulative per each 30
seconds of absence) at any time. He pa¬
trols the wall in a clockwise direction.

NOTES = The gate at the front en¬

trance is wrought iron and has a Diffi¬
culty Rating of 45. Anyone attempting to
break it down will arouse Everhart, who
will rush to the gate within 60 seconds
(and it will only take this long when he is
at the extreme other side of the wall).
The gate is locked (— IA0). Trees in the
courtyard have a 5% chance per foot of
height of being able to support the weight
of a human.

2. LOGGIA: An open-sided, roofed

porch area connects the various sec¬
tions of the temple building. Pillars stand
on either side of the hallway at 10-foot
intervals. The roof is 12 feet above the
floor of the hallway.

The crosshatched areas on the map

represent silent-alarm pressure pads
(40/60) which notify the Security Office
(see #24) of trespassers. If a pressure
pad is seen before it is stepped on, the
observer will also notice a set of switches
on the edge of each pad, at floor level,
that allow the pressure pad to be activat¬
ed and deactivated from any side of the
pad.

DAY = “A” lighting from courtyards.

The loggia is unpatrolled during daylight
hours, though there is a 5% chance of
encountering Kwan Cheng in the area at
any time of day.

NIGHT = “A” lighting; overall darkness,

except for the light which illuminates the
courtyards. There is a 10% chance of an
encounter with either Terrance Davis or
Rodney Dangrey, who patrol individual
and opposing routes which cover the en-

Cb<H»t0V*

V* MU T
tire loggia. Both use flashlights which
illuminate a 3-foot area around the light.

NOTES = Doors leading to areas #16-

19 are locked (—/30); doors to the main
building (#3) are alarmed and locked
(25/40), and give notice of trespassers to
the Security Office (see #24).

3. MAIN HALL: The walls and floor of

this giant room are parqueted with dark
wood, and the interior is tastefully deco¬
rated in modern Chinese decor. The
western section of the room contains
three small, short-legged tables, each
accompanied by six large throw pillows.
The eastern part of the room has a longer
(also short-legged) dining table with
twelve throw pillows around it. The walls
have a variety of items hanging or lean¬
ing against them, mostly paintings (a to¬
tal of seven) and some canvas hangings
of Chinese poetry. Anyone with an AOK
of 100+ in Fine Arts will recognize the
paintings as valuable originals by well-
known Chinese artists. (All of the poetry
is the work of Su Wing, and would not be
recognizable in the same fashion.) Any¬

one who tries to sell one or more of the

paintings to an art collector will get
$1,000 to $10,000 for each painting sold,
but if the total price of all paintings sold
at one time is more than $15,000, the art
collector will notify police authorities
(see the TOP SECRET rules for “Fencing
Purloined Goods”). These originals are
owned by Su Wing, and are not stolen
merchandise.

DAY = “A” lighting is in use (“B” when

occupied). Roll percentile dice when en¬
tering the room: 01-75, room is unoccu¬
pied; 76-85, Kwan Cheng and Sui Ying
Ho are cleaning the room; 86-99, Su
Wing and his students are eating at the
dining table; 00, all people mentioned on
the above list are present in the room.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. This area is

empty; there are no patrols inside the
Main Hall at night.

NOTES = Only the double doors lead¬

ing into the Exercise Room (see #15) are
locked or alarmed (15/30) to notify the
Security Office (see #24) of trespassers;
all others are unlocked.

4. QUARTERS: This room has a sleep¬

ing mat in one corner. At the foot of the
mat is a locked metal chest (—/15) con¬
taining clothing and personal grooming
equipment (comb, vanity mirror, tooth¬
brush and toothpaste, wash bowl and
pitcher, etc.) and a short-legged table
with a lamp (“B” lighting) on it and a
throw pillow beside it.

DAY = “A” lighting is in use (“B” light¬

ing possible). There is a 25% chance that
Kwan Cheng will be resting on his sleep¬
ing mat. Otherwise, the room will be
unoccupied.

NIGHT = “A” lighting is in use. Kwan

Cheng will be asleep on his mat, but if
any loud noises are made within 10 feet
of his room, he will be awake and ready
to surprise prowlers.

NOTES = Kwan Cheng is a 72-year-

old, 7th-degree black belt in kung fu. He
was formerly Su Wing’s sifu (master) be¬
fore Su Wing himself achieved that rank.
There is a dead-bolt lock on the inside of
the room’s door, but the lock is never
used by Kwan Cheng.

5. QUARTERS: This room has a sleep¬

ing mat, and at its foot a metal chest
which is locked (—/15) and contains a
collection of diaries and scrapbooks
written by Sui Ying Ho as well as clothing
for all occasions). The room has a night-
stand which holds a reading lamp (“B”
lighting) and a book of Chinese history.

DAY = “A” lighting is in use (“B” light¬

ing possible). The room is only occupied
by Sui Ying Ho’s Siamese cat, Kio (Life
Level = 6/Injury Modifier = 2). The cat will
not bother anyone entering the room.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. Roll percentile

dice upon entering the room: 01-80, Sui
Ying Ho is asleep on her mat (there is a
50% chance that Kio will “meow” unless
the intruders do something to keep the

Dragon 37

“ . . . I wish that Master Su Wing would not

bring the trucks here. Not only do I fear for
his safety, but for ours ...”

cat quiet); 81-95, Sui Ying Ho is reading

her Chinese history book (“C” lighting);
96-00, Sui Ying Ho is sitting at the table
writing an entry in one of her diaries (“B”
lighting).

NOTES = The door to this room is al¬

ways locked (—/30). If the agents exam¬
ine Sui Ying Ho’s diaries, a knowledge of
the Chinese language (75+) is necessary
to understand what is written. After 1-5
minutes of reading, (roll a ten-sided die
and divide by two, rounding up) the
reader will find some interesting entries:

“.../ wish that Master Su Wing

would not bring the trucks here.
Not only do I fear for his safety, but
for ours....

“...My fears were unfounded. The

Master has decided to transport
the stolen goods by riksha to the
basement. I think they will use the
gymnasium entrance, though I can¬
not be sure until they get here. I do
not look forward to that time....”

"... They have arrived. I am not

sure what the Master intends to do
with the metal cannisters, but he
has told me that something will be
done in the very near future. The
future can not come too soon....”
This last entry is dated on the day of
the reading.

6. KITCHEN: This room has several

food preparation areas and includes a
stainless steel table, fireplace, oven,
stove, and refrigerator-freezer. There are
sinks and storage shelves, with dry goods
lined along the shelf edge, along one
wall and a dumbwaiter in the northeast
corner (see map).

DAY = “C” lighting is in use. Sui Ying

Ho will be here 75% of the time, prepar¬
ing food for either Su Wing or the per¬
sonnel in the basement area.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The kitchen will

be empty at night, and it is not part of the
patrolled area.
NOTES = The kitchen has several
nasty HTH weapons: cleavers (HWV =
50), knives (50), and cutting boards (30).
The dumbwaiter can carry 125 pounds of
weight in its 4’ x 4’ x 4’ frame. Anyone
with an AOK of 110+ in Physics will know
this fact intuitively. Others will take some
time to figure out the proper calcula¬
tions, but can eventually accomplish the
task. Anyone who weighs more than 125
pounds will cause the cable to snap, and
will fall (inside the dumbwaiter) to the
basement level 30 feet down. The falling
character takes 2d10 damage; see the
TOP SECRET rules, “Damage From Fal¬
ling.” The noise will alert everyone with¬

in 100 feet of the crash.

7. STORAGE: This room is full of

shelves reaching almost to the ceiling.
Some shelves are empty and very dusty.
On other shelves are boxes marked “Uni¬
forms” and “Mats.” In the boxes are kung
fu exercise uniforms, guard uniforms,
police outfits, and a potpourri of other
uniforms. The boxes labeled “Mats” are
empty.

DAY = “A” lighting is in use (“C” light¬

ing available). The storage area is devoid
of personnel and is not patrolled, so that
the chance of an encounter in this room
with another person is virtually zero.

NIGHT = “A” lighting is in use. The

room is always unoccupied and not pa¬
trolled at night.

NOTES = The door is locked (30/45)

and alarmed to notify the Security Office
(see #24) of trespassers. To search every
box in this room would require 30 min¬
utes for one man, proportionately less
time for more than one. For each 3 min¬
utes spent in normal search, there is a 5%
chance of being discovered by guards
patrolling outside the room, or of guards
being notified of intruders by people
who pass near the room. The Adminis¬
trator will determine who, if anyone, will
show up to investigate.

8. QUARTERS: This room has a sleep¬

ing mat and a dresser (containing extra
kung fu exercise uniforms, street cloth¬
ing, and scrapbooks filled with clippings
from competitions won by “Ming Lau”).
On the dresser are five trophies, all for
victories in martial arts tournaments.

DAY = “A” lighting is in use (“B” light¬

ing possible). There is a 35% chance of
Ming Lau being found in this room, prac¬
ticing his kung fu routines.

NIGHT = “A” lighting is in use. There is

a 75% chance that Ming Lau will be feign¬
ing sleep if enough noise was made prior
to anyone entering his room; otherwise,
he will be found asleep.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30) during the day, and there is a 75%
chance the door is locked at night (Ming
Lau forgets sometimes).

Ming Lau is a 28-year-old, 4th-degree

black belt. He is young, and acts very
cocky when he knows his expertise is
greater than those around him, but is an
introvert when around those with more
skill. Su Wing is training him to be an
assassin.

9. QUARTERS: This room has a sleep¬

ing mat, some practice mats, and a trunk
which contains some clothing and room

decorations. Beneath a false bottom (35)

there lies a manila envelope which con¬
tains papers dealing with a new initiate
of the Anfu organization, Walter Moy.

DAY = “A” lighting is in use. There is a

45% chance that Walter Moy will be here.
Otherwise, the room is empty.

NIGHT = “A” lighting is in use (“B”

lighting possible). There is a 30% chance
that Moy will be practicing his kung fu
routines on the practice mats. Otherwise
he will be asleep on his sleeping mat.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30). If the room is occupied, “B”
lighting will be used. Walter Moy has the
same chance as Ming Lau of awakening
because of noise from outside (see #8).

Walter Moy is a 21 -year-old, Ist-degree

black belt who has just recently joined
the Anfu. He is particularly adept at mar¬
tial arts and was enlisted shortly after
aquiring his black belt; at his young age,
this achievement is nothing short of a
miracle.

10. QUARTERS: This room has a

sleeping mat, short-legged desk, throw
pillow, lamp (“C” lighting), and several
kung fu training manuals.

DAY = “A” lighting is in use (“B” or “C”

available). There is a 25% chance that
Mar Runck will be found reading one of
his training manuals; otherwise, the room
will be empty.

NIGHT = When an individual enters

the room, roll percentile dice: 01-85, Mar
Runck will be asleep on his mat; 86-90,
he will be reading his manuals; 91-95, he
will be found using a small radio, con¬
tacting his Russian agent friends at the
Soviet embassy in town and reporting
his findings about the Anfu; 96-00, Mar
Runck is out of his room (meeting a So¬
viet contact). If the room is occupied, “B”
lighting will be used; otherwise, “A” light¬
ing is in effect.

NOTES = As can be gathered from the

above description, Mar Runck is a Soviet
agent investigating the Anfu operation in
Chinatown. He will not jeopardize his
cover to help captured agents, but will
fight them as if he were a member of
Anfu (though he can be influenced; see
the TOP SECRET rules on “Contacts”).

Mar Runck is a 23-year-old, 3rd-degree

black belt. He is of Yugoslavian descent
and comes from a “history” of revolu¬
tionaries; thus, he was prime material for
the Anfu people to recruit from the So¬
viets. Su Wing does, however, have his
doubts about Runck’s sincerity.

11. QUARTERS: This room has sever¬

al short-legged tables and pillows. There

38 June 1982

are also several listening devices and

their headsets on the tables. The listen¬
ing devices include a parabolic micro¬
phone, worth $350 to the organization; a
transmitter locater, worth $8,750; and a
wired drop microphone, worth $15. The
wire from this microphone runs under
the floor and beneath room #10. There is
also an all-wave radio scanner/receiver,
worth $9,500, with three headsets con¬
nected to it.

DAY = “B” lighting. Anfu agents Chuck

Lee, Sin Bo, and Howell Glennon are
manning the listening devices and keep¬
ing tabs on Mar Runck. Two agents (roll
d6: 1-2, Chuck Lee and Sin Bo; 3-4,
Chuck Lee and Howell Glennon; 5-6, Sin
Bo and Howell Glennon) are watching
Runck, or at least listening in on him, at
all times.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. Chuck Lee, Sin

Bo, and/or Howell Glennon are keeping
their silent watch. If Runck is out of his
room, roll on “DAY” watch table to de¬
termine which of his observers is gone
from the room. Otherwise, all three
agents are in the room.

NOTES = These agents, when not

sleeping, wear infrared goggles which
allow “night vision” to a limited extent.
They all wear rubber-soled shoes to min¬
imize noise. These pieces of special
equipment are used only at night. The
door is always locked (—/45).

Chuck Lee is a 25-year-old, 3rd-degree

black belt from China. Sin Bo is a 22-
year-old, Ist-degree black belt from Ko¬
rea. Howell Glennon is a 30-year-old,
4th-degree black belt from the Nether¬
lands, a “free agent” employed for his
expertise in surveillance. All are Anfu-
trained agents: though they are not per¬
manently based in Chinatown, and will
act to protect any other Anfu agent —
whether or not that agent is a suspected
infiltrator.

12. QUARTERS: This room has three

cots and several shelves containing food
and cooking utensils. There is a con¬
cealed door (10) leading to room #11.

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” available). The

room is usually unoccupied, but there is
a 10% chance that one and only one of
the three surveillance agents from room
#11 will be asleep on a cot. Roll d6: 1-2,
Chuck Lee; 3-4, Sin Bo; 5-6, Howell
Glennon.

NIGHT = “A” lighting (“B” available).

There is a 30% chance the room is occu¬
pied by one of the three agents from
room #11; that agent will be asleep on a
cot. Roll d6, finding the result as in the
“DAY” description above.

NOTES = This door is always locked

(—/60) and is never used by anyone, in¬
cluding the occasional occupants. The
door connecting room #11 with this one
is never locked.

13. QUARTERS: This room has a

sleeping mat and a large trunk, contain¬
ing clothing and personal paraphernalia
(souvenirs from China, scrapbook of
youth, other non-important items), which
is locked (—/15). Also in the room is a
bookshelf holding a variety of anarchist-
style books, and a short-legged table
with throw pillows.

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” available).

There is a 25% chance that Chou Leung
will be reading in his room; otherwise,
the place is vacant.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. There is a 10%

chance Chou Leung will be found read¬
ing (“B” lighting); otherwise, he will be
asleep on his mat.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30) and jury-rigged to alert Chou
Leung of intruders (a small bell hanging
over the lip of the door will fall when
opened; there is a 5% chance the alarm
will fail, but deactivation is impossible).
Unlike the other students of Su Wing,

Chou Leung packs a pistol at all times.

Chou Leung is a 21-year-old, Ist-de-

gree black belt. He joined the Anfu hop¬
ing to get revenge on the government
that “killed” his father (he died a broken
man because of the welfare system). His
mother committed suicide shortly after
his father’s death, so Chou Leung has
seen a lot of death and will not hesitate to
deal it out in moderate doses.

14. QUARTERS: This room has a

sleeping mat, a dresser which contains
clothing, a shelf holding several books
on martial arts and fighting techniques, a
short-legged writing table with desk lamp
(“C” lighting) and throw pillow, and a
filing cabinet containing information
about the Anfu operation in Chinatown.
The documents, though they appear au¬
thentic, are worthless frauds.

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” available).

There is a 10% chance that Su Wing will
be found here working on his plans for
Chinatown. In this case, he will have with
him some quite authentic papers refer¬
ring to the use of radioactive bombs as
“controls” on the people of Chinatown.
Otherwise, the room will be empty and
no such notes will be found.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. Su Wing will

originally be asleep on his mat, but any
noise made prior to entering the room
has a 25% chance of waking him. Any
noise made while actually entering the
room has a 75% chance of waking him,
though he will feign sleep until he can
effectively attack.

NOTES = The door is locked during

the day (— 145)] at night, a deadbolt is
applied and so is an alarm (25/65) which
notifies the Security Office (see #24), as
well as Su Wing himself, of intruders.

Su Wing is a 56-year-old, 9th-degree

black belt. He is the organizer and leader
of the Chinatown-based Anfu organiza¬
tion. His cunning and intelligence during

Dragon 39

a confrontation are matched only by his

deadliness. The Administrator should
strive to play Su Wing like the master he
is, with the eloquence of a true noble
personality. Do not give agents an easy
time of it when they try to tackle Su Wing
— he’s mean and he knows it!

15. EXERCISE ROOM: The southern

two-thirds of this room’s floor is covered
with large padded mats for practicing
kung fu routines. On the uncovered floor
are five single-unit saunas, a weight and
bench-press machine, three punching
bags, and a set of barbells, plus some 30
individual loose weights ranging from 5
to 20 pounds. A concealed door (10) on
the south wall opens onto the street. The
door is a 20-foot-wide steel panel with
stonework attached to the street-side
surface. When activated, it slides to the
west behind the solid wall adjacent to it.
The area covered by the mats is part of a
hydraulic lift system which can raise and
lower a 50-foot-square platform from the
basement to ground level. The lift can
only be discovered if agents move exer¬
cise mats off the floor in this area to re¬
veal the surface beneath.

DAY = “C” lighting. There is a 40%

chance that Su Wing and his students
will be training in the room.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. This room is un¬

patrolled and unoccupied at night.

NOTES = A master switch located in

the southeast corner of the room near
the concealed door will activate the lift
and cause it to descend to the basement
(see Garage, room #40). The switch will
be found automatically by any agent
who searches for such a thing, but if a
specific search is not made for the switch,
there is only a 5% chance for an agent to
notice the small device, and then only if
the agent comes within 10 feet of the
southeast corner of the room. The door
leading to room #3 is locked and alarmed
(15/30) to notify the Security Office (see
#24) of intruders.

16. QUARTERS: This room contains a

sleeping cot, a writing table with a desk
lamp (“C” lighting), and a dresser hold¬
ing personal clothing and a carrying
case for an assault rifle. An agent with an
AOK of 110+ in Military Science will be
able to identify the case as belonging to
a 7.62mm AKM.

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” or “C” availa¬

ble). There is a 80% chance that Morris
Everhart is in his room. If he is, there is an
80% chance he is sleeping on the cot;
otherwise, he is awake and cleaning his
rifle.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The room is al¬

ways empty at night and is never checked
by passing guards.

NOTES = The door is locked (—/30).

Anyone making unnecessary noise while
guards are passing outside the door runs
the risk (Administrator’s discretion) of
being heard.
17. QUARTERS: This room has a
sleeping cot, a night stand with a clock
radio and a desk lamp (“C” lighting) on
it, and a large trunk, containing clothing
items and extra guard uniforms, that is
locked (—/15).

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” or “C” availa¬

ble). Rodney Dangrey will be found
sleeping on his cot. He will not usually be
awakened by anything softer than a
gunshot, much less someone trying to
enter his room. He has been known to
sleep through the noise of a vacuum
cleaner being used in the same room.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The room will be

empty at night and goes unchecked by
passing guards.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30). If agents enter this room while
Dangrey is asleep, and don’t make any
blunders or actual attempts to wake him
up, they can probably operate without
being disturbed; people passing in the
hallway, if they hear anything, will just
think Dangrey is up and moving around.

18. QUARTERS: This room has a

short-legged desk, several throw pillows,
a hammock, and a large metal trunk con¬
taining clothing, pistol-cleaning equip¬
ment, and several boxes of .32 cartridges
for pistols. There is a concealed com¬
partment (30) in the trunk bottom that
contains a locked (—/10) wooden chest.
The chest contains the components for a
Walther GSP Match Pistol (Rate=1 /
Ammo=5 / A=8 / C=0 / F=3 / P=4 / R=5 /
Weight=49 oz.) that is worth $900 to any
handgun enthusiast. Someone with an
AOK of 90+ in Military Science can as¬
semble the weapon.

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” available).

There is a 75% chance that Terrance Da¬
vis will be asleep in here; otherwise, he is
wandering in the temple area and may
return (45% chance every 5 minutes).

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The room will be

empty and is not checked by passing
patrols, though any movement might be
checked out (5% chance that a guard will
enter the room; roll once for every min¬
ute inside) by either Rodney Dangrey or
Terrance Davis (50% chance for each).
NOTES = The door is always locked
(—/45), and the chance of being disco¬
vered from outside the room at night
goes up by 25% if a light is used while in
this room. (The door is not flush with the
door jamb, so light seeps out under the
door). The Administrator should apply
this modifier when a light shows; then, if
the discovery roll would not have suc¬
ceeded without the modifier, the agent
was not heard, and the guard will enter
intending just to turn out the light.

19. BATHROOM: This room contains

a single shower unit, a toilet, a sink, and a
medicine cabinet. The cabinet contains
aspirin and upset-stomach medication,
but no prescription drugs and nothing
illegal. There are several boxes of ban¬

dages and first-aid medication, and sev¬

eral bottles of shaving lotion and co¬
logne. The room is always kept clean,
and a very obvious dead-bolt lock is at¬
tached to the inside of the door.

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” lighting plus

fan when occupied). At any time, there is
a 5% chance someone will be using the
bathroom. If so, roll dIO to determine
who: 1=Su Wing, 2=Ming Lau, 3=Walter
Moy, 4=Mar Runck, 5=Chou Leung,
6=Kwan Cheng, 7=Sui Ying Ho, 8=Morris
Everhart, 9=Terrance Davis, 10=Rodney
Dangrey.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The bathroom

will be empty and no one ever checks it
while on patrol.

NOTES = The door is unlocked when

the room is unoccupied, locked (—/20)
when in use.

20. EXERCISE COURTYARD: This

open-air, very well cultivated courtyard
has closely cropped grass and a large
willow tree (36 feet tall) growing next to a
giant flat-topped rock. Surrounding the
courtyard, 5 feet higher than the court¬
yard itself, is the loggia (see #2).

DAY = “A” lighting. There is a 30%

chance that Su Wing and his students
will be here practicing “live combat.” If
they are not on hand, there is a 25%
chance that Kwan Cheng will be present,
helping to keep the courtyard immacu¬
late. Otherwise, the area is empty.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The courtyard

will be empty, but intruders stand a 10%
chance of being discovered after being
in the area for one minute, with a cumul¬
ative +1% to the chance for each minute,
they remain in the courtyard beyond the
first. To determine the guard who dis¬
covers the intrusion, roll dIO: 1-3, Ter¬
rance Davis; 4-6, Rodney Dangrey; 7-10,
Morris Everhart.

NOTES = Several ladders allow people

to climb down from the loggia to the ex¬
ercise courtyard. Anyone who jumps
from the loggia down to the courtyard,
not using a ladder, could (5% chance)
sustain 1-2 points of damage from a
twisted ankle or some such injury. The
large branches of the willow tree can
hold 175 pounds of weight before break¬
ing. If there is a disturbance due to an
injury or a tree branch giving way, roll
dIO to determine which guard arrives to
investigate the noise, using the list above.

21. REAR COURTYARD: This open-

air courtyard is just as well manicured as
the Exercise Courtyard (see #20), and
the trees obscure vision just like those in
the Front Courtyard (see #1). The pond
has a large and varied supply of tropical
fish, ranging from harmless goldfish to
the turkeyfish — whose skin is poison¬
ous to the touch — and a variety of coral
arrangements. The bridge and the cob¬
blestone pathways are not unusual in
any way. The Storage Shed (see #22)
dominates the northeast corner of the

40 June 1982

temple grounds.

DAY = “A” lighting is the only available.

There is a 10% chance of encountering
Kwan Cheng and Su Wing as they share
each other’s company in the courtyard.
Otherwise, the courtyard is vacant.

NIGHT = “A” is the only lighting. There

is a 10% chance per minute (cumulative)
of being seen by Morris Everhart as he
patrols the perimeter wall. Also, the
guards on the loggia have a chance of
noting intruders, as described under #2.

NOTES = There is a 10% chance that

anyone stepping into the pond will come
in contact with a turkeyfish. The unfor¬
tunate person will immediately be af¬
fected by its poison (consider the effects
similar to “convulsionary poison” as in
the TOP SECRET rules for “Poisons:
Use, Effects, and Antidotes”). Tree height
should be determined and utilized as per
the procedure described under #1.

Anyone with an AOK of 100+ in Animal

Science will be able to identify the tur¬
keyfish and thus be able (with Medical
AOK of 30+) to apply the proper first-aid
treatment to offset the effects of the
poison.

22. STORAGE SHED: This shed has a

solid cement floor with walls and roof of
cement block. It is full of gardening
equipment (rakes, lawnmower, spread¬
er, several bags of fertilizer and grass
seed, tool boxes full of tools), but the
most interesting item is a large floor safe
mounted on a cart. The safe is locked
(10/60) and empty. If the cart is moved,
the person(s) moving it will notice that it
was sitting on a metal plate. This is a
hydraulic lift going down to room #23,
and is controlled by pressure studs on
the pad itself.

DAY =“A” lighting (“B” available). The

shed is empty of personnel at all times.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. Agents in the

vicinity of the shed might (10% chance)

see someone (Su Wing) enter the shed

and not come out. (Su Wing has used the
lift to reach room #23.) Otherwise, the
shed is vacant.

NOTES = To spot the metal plate, the

safe must be moved. No other procedure
is allowed. If the safe is opened and the
alarm goes off, the Security Office (see
#24) will be notified and will be waiting In
#23 for the intruders to enter. The thick
metal door to the shed has the world’s
finest padlock on it (—/50). The lock will
withstand gunfire and refuse to open. If
hit by a shell larger than .30 caliber, the
padlock will be jammed shut. If the one
firing is within 5 feet of the lock when the
shot goes off, he or she and all those
within a 10-foot radius of that person will
sustain 0-9 points of damage from frag¬
mentation (roll dIO, subtract one). Roll
dIO and add 10 for the number of shots
the lock can sustain before it will finally
fall off.

23. SCREENING ROOM: A hydraulic

lift runs from room #22 down to this area.
The room is devoid of furniture except
for a (one-way, bulletproof) mirror on
the east wall. The south door is made of
steel and the east door is simple wood
(with an iron core for extra protection).

DAY = “B” lighting. No personnel will

be found here.

NIGHT = “B” lighting. Depending on

what occurs when agents investigate
room #22, either Su Wing or the security
personnel may be in this location. Oth¬
erwise, the room will be empty.

NOTES = All persons who enter this

room are screened by the Security Of¬
fice personnel (see #24). If the visitors
have clearance, the south door is un¬
locked from the Security Office to allow
access to the remainder of the basement
level. At all other times, the south door is
locked (—/100), and the east door locked
somewhat less securely (—/60). If any

attempts are made to unlock either door

from outside the Security Office, a voice
over a loudspeaker will tell the occu¬
pants) to be patient until security files
are checked. If a second attempt is
made, a ventilation duct will carry sleep¬
ing gas into the chamber. The security
personnel in #24 will then transport the
incapacitated prisoners to the Detention
Block (see #26).

24. SECURITY OFFICE: This room is

filled with a small but complete compu¬
ter system, video monitors, alarm sys¬
tems, and main overrides for the hydrau¬
lic lift systems and the lower level door
locks (pneumatic doors only). There are
two chairs, one facing the one-way mir¬
ror and the other on the monitoring
screens. A concealed door (25) leads to
a tunnel that connects with the sewers
(see #39). (There is another concealed
door at the north end of the tunnel with
the same rating).

DAY = “C” lighting. Thomas Haskins

and Chai Chang man the consoles dur¬
ing the day shift. If a security breach is
detected anywhere in the complex, roll
dIO to determine who investigates: 1-3,
Thomas Haskins; 4-6, Chai Chang; 7-9,
Kwan Cheng; 10, Su Wing.

NIGHT = “C” lighting. Gregory Ben¬

son and Shu Shing Lee are on duty. If a
security breach occurs at night, roll dIO
to see who investigates: 1-2, Gregory
Benson; 3-4, Shu Shing Lee; 5-6, Morris
Everhart; 7-8, Terrance Davis; 9-10,
Rodney Dangrey.

NOTES: When a guard or other deni¬

zen of the temple investigates a possible
security breach, use one of these two
methods to determine how long it takes
for the guard to arrive: (A) roll dIO, with
the result equaling the number of min¬
utes until the guard’s arrival at the site, or
(B) calculate the guard’s location and
determine the distance and route he

Dragon 41

must travel, then move the guard toward

the site of the disturbance at the same
time players are taking their usual ac¬
tions and movements.

The computer system in this room will

yield a hard-copy list of Anfu agents
based in the United States, and the
agents’ organization will pay $1,000 for
it, but only those agents with an AOK of
75+ in Computer Science will be able to
work the equipment in this fashion.

25. STORAGE ROOM: This room has

five sets of shelves, with each individual
shelf holding several crates and boxes.
The noise of ceiling fans operating at
high speed is immediately apparent, and
the odor of gunpowder and gun oil in this
room is almost overpowering. Each crate
contains two dozen 7.62mm AKM as¬
sault rifles. The boxes contain ammuni¬
tion cannisters, each holding 500 rounds
of ammunition for an AKM. Two dollies
leaning near the door can be used for
transporting the boxes and crates.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available).

This room is empty at all times.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The room is

empty.

NOTES = The alarmed and locked

(15/60) door is made of steel and operat¬
ed by a pneumatic mechanism which
can be controlled from the Security Of¬
fice (see #24). If it is unlocked without
the security controls or broken open, the
alarm will bring security personnel to
investigate.

Anyone who enters this room has a

chance of suffering adverse effects from
the fumes that collect in here. Roll dIO
for each agent or NPC who enters and
multiply that number by the character’s
Willpower. This represents the maximum
time, in seconds, that the character can
remain in the room before suffering the
ill effects, which act the same as “Irri¬
tant” poison (see TOP SECRET rules),
but at only 50% normal severity (percen¬
tile rolls for losses in Physical Strength
and Knowledge are halved before being
applied). If a character stays in the room
for more than twice as long as his or her
limit, treat the effects of the fumes as if a
second “dose” had been taken. This cu¬
mulative effect can be avoided if a char¬
acter leaves the room for at least ten
minutes between visits.

Anyone lighting a match or other flam¬

mable object in here stands a 45% chance
of igniting the fumes throughout the
room. The effect of this is equivalent to
10 sticks of dynamite going off in an en¬
closed area.

26. DETENTION BLOCK: This room

has a pneumatic steel door and contains
several chairs and two steel-frame beds.
A mirror mounted on the wall above a
sink is actually a one-way plexiglass mir¬
ror and has a camera monitor on the
other side. The entire room can be
viewed from a screen in the Security Of¬

fice (#24).

DAY = “C” lighting. The room will have

no occupants other than those who
might have been captured previously in
the adventure by security personnel.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. (There is a

dimmer switch in the Security Office.)
Occupants, if any, as described in the
DAY section above.

NOTES = The hidden camera has an

infrared filter. The pneumatic door is
locked (15/60) and connected to the Se¬
curity Office alarm system. Anyone at¬
tempting to break in or escape the room
will attract one of the two persons on
duty in the Security Office at that time
(50% chance for each one).

27. QUARTERS: This room contains a

bunkbed and a dresser (empty unless
the room is occupied). There is a small
table with four chairs, and a sink and
mirror set-up in one corner.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available).

There is a 75% chance the room will be
occupied by Donald Sims, a truck driver
employed by the Anfu, if his truck has
just delivered a shipment of weapons or
is picking up a shipment (see Garage,
#40, to determine the presence of the
trucks.)

NIGHT = “A” lighting. Donald Sims, if

present, will be asleep in the bed.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30) when the room is empty, but
sometimes (10%) unlocked when the
room is occupied.

28. QUARTERS: This room has three

sleeping mats, a short-legged table with
three throw pillows beside it, and three
trunks containing clothing and shoes.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available).

This room is unoccupied during the day.

NIGHT = “A” lighting (10% chance that

“C” lighting will be in use). This is the
place where the three riksha porters re¬
side when they stay at the temple. There
is a 50% chance that Fu Hsu, Hsien Yang,
and Ching Chan will be in the room, and
if so, a 30% chance they are all awake
when the room is entered; otherwise, all
three are asleep.

NOTES = The door is locked (—/30)

during the day, but there is a 50% chance
it will be unlocked at night, whether or
not the porters are present.

29. QUARTERS: This room has a bed,

a dresser containing grease-stained, but
laundered, clothing and personal groom¬
ing equipment, plus a table and two
chairs in one corner and a shelf holding
repair manuals for diesel and gasoline
engines.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available, and

in use when occupied). There is a 10%
chance that Howard Bobbick will be in
here looking something up in one of his
manuals; otherwise, the room is empty.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. There is a 35%

chance that Howard Bobbick is poring

over his manuals at the table; otherwise,

he is asleep in the bed.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30). Bobbick keeps a 9mm Walther
P-38 U.N.C.L.E. under his pillow at night,
and has it on his person during the day.

30. QUARTERS: This room has a bed,

a dresser containing guard uniforms and
normal street clothing, and a small table
with two chairs in one corner.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available). The

room is always vacant during the day.

NIGHT = “A” lighting (“C” when occu¬

pant is awake). There is a 95% chance
Thomas Haskins is in the room and, if so,
a 35% chance he will be awake, reading a
magazine; otherwise, he will be asleep.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30) and during the night, Haskins
has a jury-rigged alarm system (30/30)
placed on it.

31. QUARTERS: This room contains a

bed, a dresser containing guard uniforms
and personal grooming equipment, a
nightstand with a lamp (“C” lighting),
and a bookshelf with several books on
handguns and a complete collection of
Soldier of fortune magazine, worth $150
to a collector.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available). The

room is empty during the day.

NIGHT = “A” lighting (“C” when occu¬

pant is awake). There is an 85% chance
Chai Chang will be in this room and, if
so, a 25% chance he will be awake, read¬
ing his books or magazines; otherwise,
Chai Chang will be asleep.

NOTES = The door is always locked

(—/30) and trapped (30/45). The trap,
when it goes off, releases sleeping gas
and sounds an alarm which wakes Chai
Chang. Anyone caught in this trap will
be taken to the Detention Block (see
#26). Shih Chang keeps a .22 double¬
action self load under his pillow at night
and in his back pocket during the day.

32. QUARTERS: This room contains a

bed; a large metal trunk which is locked
(—/15) and contains street clothing,
weapon-cleaning equipment, and per¬
sonal grooming equipment; a portable
(cardboard) closet which contains guard
uniforms, evening suits, and shoes; and
a gun rack which is locked (—/15).

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available).

There is a 75% chance Gregory Benson
will be in this room and, if so, a 25%
chance he will be awake, cleaning his
rifles; otherwise, he will be asleep.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The room is va¬

cant at night.

NOTES = The rifles (all unloaded) in

the gunrack are: a .30 Ml semi-automatic
carbine, a .22 Galil semi-automatic rifle,
a .303 Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle, a .45
Thompson submachine gun, a 9mm Uzi
submachine gun, and a 7.62mm AKM
assault rifle. In the cabinet drawers are
100 rounds of ammunition for each wea-

42 June 1982

pon. The door to the room ‘is always

double-locked (—/30 and — 145). Anyone
with an AOK of 110+ in Military Science
will be able to recognize all of the wea¬
pons in the gunrack; other less know¬
ledgeable persons might not be able to.

33. QUARTERS: This room’s contents

include a bed,, a locked (—/15) metal
trunk in one corner, and a small table
with two chairs in another. The trunk
holds guard uniforms and street cloth¬
ing. Scattered on the table are a variety
of newspapers and magazines contain¬
ing articles about the recent upheavals
in Chinatown.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available).

There is an 85% chance Shu Shing Lee
will be in his room and, if so, there is a
25% chance he will be poring over these
papers and articles; otherwise, he will be
asleep.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The room is va¬

cant at night.

NOTES = Many of the locations named

in the articles (the specific nature and
details of this information is left to the
Admin’s discretion) are fronts for Anfu
activity. Shu Shing Lee is in charge of
security for Anfu in Chinatown, and he
has the responsibility to check on press
coverage of Anfu-related crimes, or in¬
cidents where the organization might be
under suspicion of ill deeds. His door is
always locked and dead-bolted (—/50)
from the inside when he is present; oth¬
erwise, it is just locked (—/30).

Shu Shing Lee is a 25-year-old, 3rd-

degree black belt in kung fu. He packs a
.22 pocket Beretta wherever he goes.

34. VENTILATION CONTROL: This

room is three-quarters filled with ma¬
chinery and consoles. It contains the air
cleaning and recycling units necessary
to keep the underground complex habit¬
able. It also is the core of a gas-emission
system which dispenses gases (such as
sleeping gas) into rooms from the venti¬
lation ducts. The main electrical fuse
box for the complex is also in this room.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available).

This room is empty during the day.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. This room is or¬

dinarily empty at night as well.

NOTES = The steel door to this room is

always locked (—/60). Anyone entering
this room will not be able to hear people
approaching outside, due to the high
noise level inside the room. To shut
down the electrical system requires an
agent with an AOK of 45+ in Electrical
Engineering — or, a bullet in the fuse box
will suffice. Regardless of the method
used, the electrical failure will alert one
of the on-duty personnel from the Secur¬
ity Office (see #24). He will have a flash¬
light in hand, though he probably won’t
have a weapon ready.

35. BATHROOM: This room has four

toilet stalls, three basins beneath a large

mirror, a paper-towel dispenser, and a

shower in one corner. Floor; walls and
ceiling are covered in ceramic tile. There
is a closet next to the shower which con¬
tains clean towels and a hamper for dirty
ones.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” lighting plus

fan when occupied). There is a 5% chance
someone is using the bathroom. Roll
dIO: 1-2, Thomas Haskins; 3-4, Chai
Chang; 5-6, Gregory Benson; 7-8, Shu
Shing Lee; 9, Howard Bobbick; 10, Su
Wing. If the room is occupied, there is a
25% chance the occupant will be in the
shower.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The bathroom

will be empty, and no one ever checks it.

NOTES = The door is always unlocked

unless the room is being used for a
shower; then it is locked (—/15).

36. DINING HALL: This room has five

long eating tables with two long benches
on either side; four lounge chairs in a
semicircle around a television set; two
pinball machines; and a dumbwaiter
which leads up to the Kitchen (see #6).

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” when occu¬

pied). There is a 10% chance that 1-5
persons will be in here. If the room is
occupied, roll dIO and divide by two
(rounding up) to determine how many
persons are present. Then roll dIO as
many times as needed to determine who
they are (disregarding duplicate results):
1-2, Su Wing; 3-4, Gregory Benson, 5-6,
Shu Shing Lee; 7-8, Howard Bobbick; 9,
Thomas Haskins; 10, Chai Chang.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. There is a 5%

chance that 1-2 persons will be here (roll
dIO: 1-5 = 1, 6-10 = 2). Roll dIO to deter¬
mine who is present: 1-2, Thomas Has¬
kins; 3-4, Chai Chang; 5, Fu Hsu; 6, Hsien
Yang; 7, Ching Chan; 8, Gregory Ben¬
son; 9, Shu Shing Lee, 10, Howard
Bobbick.

NOTES = The doors are always un¬

locked. The Admin should refer to the
“Notes” section of #6 for details about
the dumbwaiter.

37. DRY GOODS STORAGE: This

room is filled with shelves, and each
shelf has a variety of dry goods stacked
on it.

DAY = “A” lighting (“C” available). The

room is vacant.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. The room is not

occupied.

NOTES = The door is locked (—/15) at

all times.

38. COLD GOODS STORAGE: This

room is a walk-in freezer. On the shelves
that line the walls are a variety of per¬
ishable foods.

DAY = “A” lighting (“B” available). No

one is in this area during the day.

NIGHT = “A” lighting. No one will be

encountered here at night.

NOTES = The freezer door will swing

shut and lock automatically if measures

An AD&D™
adventure by
Larry DiTillio

Dragon 43

aren’t taken to keep it open. There is no

opening mechanism on the inside. The
door is made of steel and must be forced
open (Difficulty rating of 70). The tem¬
perature in the room is a constant 15
degrees Fahrenheit; without proper at¬
tire a person could freeze to death very
quickly. There is enough air in the refrig¬
erator to last one person for four hours. If
more than one person is trapped, divide
the four-hour limit by the number of
people to yield the time left before death
due to oxygen starvation. For every ten
minutes a trapped person or persons
spends in the freezer, there is a 10%
chance that someone will come on the
scene to rescue (capture) the trapped
individuals. To determine who does the
rescuing, roll dIO once on the occupant
table given in #36 for the appropriate
time of day.

39. SEWERS: This area is part of the

city’s sewer system. The walls and floor
are covered with slime which makes
footing treacherous. Above and beyond
the danger of slipping, the mains contain
about two feet of water (which is enough
to drown a prone, unconscious person).
At the street intersections outside the
four corners of the temple complex are
steel ladders which ascend to manholes.
(Only the two manhole ladders at the
east side of the complex are illustrated
on the lower level map.) Following the

same path as the sewer and water mains

are plastic-protected electrical and gas
mains. All concealed doors in the Sew¬
ers have a Concealment rating of 25.

DAY = “B” lighting. There is a 5%

chance of encountering Howard Bob-
bick as he follows the mains to either the
Garage (#40) or the long hallway leading
to his room (#29).

NIGHT = “B” lighting. No one will be

found in the Sewers at night.

NOTES = The chance for a person to

slip on the slime-covered flooring of the
Sewers is 25% if the person is moving at
“running” speed, 10% for “walking”
speed, and 1% for “crawling” speed. This
chance is rolled every 30 seconds for
every person to whom it applies. When¬
ever a slip occurs, the agent slipping
makes a percentile die roll against his
Coordination score. If the roll is made,
no damage is done. If it is failed, the
agent takes “V” damage (as described in
the TOP SECRET rules, Combat Table
Explanations and Results). Any person
knocked unconscious by a fall is in im¬
mediate danger of drowning; see TOP
SECRET rules, Execution Table, for de¬
tails on damage sustained if the victim is
not saved in time.

Projectile combat inside the sewer

system is very dangerous. There is a 10%
chance of a stray bullet puncturing a gas
main and flooding the area with deadly
gas, in which case all persons in the vi¬

cinity have two minutes to escape or be

overcome by the gas.

40. GARAGE: This garage contains a

complete workshop and sets of tools as
well as plenty of parking space. In the
southernmost area is a hydraulic lift
which leads to the Exercise Room (see
#15). On the western side of the Garage
is a dolly and several metal cannisters
(containing the radioactive isotopes).

DAY = “C” lighting. Roll percentile

dice to determine what is occurring in
the Garage: 01-10, Nothing is occurring,
nor is anyone around; 11-45, A van is
being unloaded of its cargo (stolen wea¬
pons, mostly AKM assault rifles) by
Howard Bobbick; 46-75, Two vans are
being loaded with stolen weaponry by
Howard Bobbick; 76-99, Howard Bob¬
bick is working on repairing a van; 00,
The hydraulic lift is moving a van up into
the Exercise Room. Howard Bobbick is
watching its ascent.

NOTES = All of the vans are standard

vans (see TOP SECRET rules, Vehicle
Movement Rate Table) and are worth
$5,000 apiece to the organization. Being
stored here are the containers with the
missing isotopes inside. Since the agents’
mission should be only to determine the
location of the isotopes, agents should
attempt to make their escape immediate¬
ly after determining that the cannisters
contain the isotopes.

NPC EQUIPMENT AND LANGUAGE SKILLS

The chart below lists the equipment or

possessions normally carried by non¬
player characters, plus the languages
each non-player character can under¬
stand and speak fluently, and some gen¬
eral guidelines on the nature of each
NPC’s personality.
Equipment designations are:

Armament found on character

NAME

Gregory Benson

(e)

Sin Bo

Howard Bobbick

Ching Chan

Chai Chang

(e)

Kwan Cheng

Rodney Dangrey

( j )

Terrance Davis

(f)

Morris Everhart

( n )

*
Howell Glennon

Thomas Haskins

(k)

Sui Ying Ho

Fu Hsu

Ming Lau

Chuck Lee

( e )

Shu Shing Lee

Chou Leung

Walter Moy

Mar Runck

Donald Sims

Su Wing
Hsien Yang

denoted by a QRC letter, and ( ) if a

silencer is attached.

I = Identification is found on per¬

son; if marked “+” then the ID is
forged.

K = Keys are found on person, if

marked “*” then keys are to the per¬
son’s quarters and work area (if any);
if “+” then keys are for all rooms.

V W

CH

EN

GE

KO

$11

42

80

$43

85

40

86

$86

40
94

42

40

$40

85

44

40

79

$98

83

82

96

94

87

$24 *

63

79

$73 *

87

93

40

$12 *
83

$93 *

54

77

78

77

$67

40

79

84

69

83

$15

86

85

$98

94

75

61
*

$56

79

81

83

62

$32

95

40

74

85

$32

58

84

46

$42

86

40

93

$92

66

94
40

98

72

54

43

40

89

80

V = Valuables found on person, in

the form of cash and jewelry.

W = Person has walkie-talkie that

allows communication to all others
with similar unit.

Languages:

CH = Chinese KO = Korean

EN = English RU = Russian

GE = German

RU Personality Guidelines

79 erratically abrasive, scrupulous

cruelly arrogant, truthful

40 well-spoken pessimist, liar

81 perceptive, diplomatic, honorable

82 trusting, friendly, truthful

precise, diplomatic, honorable

loquacious, rude, vengeful

52 perceptive, easygoing, friendly

moody, taciturn, deceitful

77 obsequiously friendly, honest

barbarically hostile, liar

kindly, modest, honorable

carelessly aloof, honest

60 altruistic, diplomatic, scrupulous

80 violently domineering, deceitful

calculatingly cool, unscrupulous

40 mischievous, aloof, honest

studious, solitary, truthful

94 cruel, taciturn, liar

pessimistically abrasive, deceitful

61 obsessive, courteous, deceitful

42 obsequious, retiring, honest

44 June 1982

WALTER MOY

CHOU LEUNG

NPC MASTER TRAITS

The chart below lists the personal characteristics of each

non-player character who may be encountered by agents in¬
side the temple, plus particular information or knowledge each
character possesses, denoted by an asterisk or a number in the
appropriate column.

All people are males except for Sui Ying Ho. Names printed in
italic type are non-combatants; they will not fight, but will
defend themselves if they cannot flee.

Abbreviations for characteristics are as follows: PS = Physi¬

cal Strength; CH = Charm; WL = Willpower; CO = Courage; KN =
Knowledge; CD = Coordination; OF = Offense; DC = Deception;

NAME
PS

CH

WL

CO

KN

CD

OF

Gregory Benson

90

86

38

65

58

49

57

Sin Bo

39

55

89

67

67

106

87

Howard Bobbick

68

20

28

96

100
66

81

Ching Chan

61

26

85

80

00

85

83

Chai Chang

86

59

41

18

63

104

61

Kwan Cheng

70

101

120

103

127

102

103

Rodney Dangrey

70

13

82
77

41

89

83

Terrance Davis

95

29

37

62

83

34

48

Morris Everhart

107

14

108

25

19

64

45

Howell Glennon

81

90

35

50

108

82

66

Thomas Haskins
83

99

95

43

49

50

47

Sui Ying Ho

10

95

75

43

63

59

51

Fu Hsu

72

09

45

05

34

23

14

Ming Lau

109

93

96

86

96

109
98

Chuck Lee

105

61

95

48

73

63

56

Shu Shing Lee

84

30

54

43

23

83

63

Chou Leung

113

84

59

83

114

84

84

Walter Moy

81

90

74
80

78

110

95

Mar Runck

110

36

91

103

71

108

106

Donald Sims

95

21

50

93

55

95

94

Su Wing

129

90

127

111

124

100

106

Hsien Yang

59
56

30

74

54

69

72

EV = Evasion; HH = Hand-to-Hand Value; WR = Wrestling Value;

SV = Surprise Value; LL = Life Level.

Information or knowledge possessed by a non-player char¬

acter is coded by letters, as follows:

D = Dangerous turkeyfish in the pond (see #21).

E = Existence of a lower level is known (see #23-40).

K = Hydraulic lift is hidden under exercise mats (see #15).

R = Radioactive isotope containers are in garage (see #40).

L = Hydraulic lift is hidden in storage shed (see #22).

S = Location of sewer entrance areas known (see #39).

B = Black belt in kung fu; number is level of achievement.

DC

EV

HH

WR

SV

LL D

E K R L S B

76

68

158

147

144
13

******

61

81

120

126

142

13

* * * * 1

58

43

111

149

101

10

*****

53

56

117

144

109

15 *

39

82

168

147

121

13

102
102

172

173

204

19 *

* I 7

45

51

121

153

96

15 *

46

32

127

143

78

13 *

20

39

146

152

59

22 *

70

86

167

147
156

12

* * * * * 4

71

75

158

130

146

18

69

77

87

61

146

09 *

07

16

88

86

23

12

90

101

210

207

191

21 *
4

55

62

167

161

117

20

* * * * * 3

37

57

141

147

94

14

84

84

197

197

168

17 *

85

100

181

176

185

16 *

* * * * 1

70

72
182

216

142

20 *

* * * * 3

57

58

153

189

115

15

101

95

224

235

196

26 *

***** 9

65

63

122

131

128

09

Dragon 45
SPECIAL RULES

Lower level

Scale: 1 inch = 40 feet, 1 square = 10 feet

This adventure contains a few rule

elaborations or alterations the Admini¬
strator should be aware of. Some of
these changes are optional; using them
will slow the game down, but not using
them will make the action less realistic.

1. MARTIAL ARTS: In martial arts

terminology there are several levels of
achievement, called “belts.” The ranks
below expert level are each denoted by a
belt of a different color, beginning with
white and ending with black. Expert lev¬
els are all designated by black belts and
a measure of degree, 1st through 10th.
The TOP SECRET rule system assumes
that agents who have received training in
martial arts are at about the fourth level,
or “red belt.” In this text, the term “ex¬
pert” refers only to those with black
belts.

The lOth-degree black belt is next to

impossible to attain (an agent will never
attain this level of mastery); beyond the
5th-degree black belt, there is essential¬
ly little difference between one expert
level and another.

The following guidelines form a sim¬

plified system for playing out the com¬
plex art of martial arts fighting.

(A) All Martial Arts Combat Tables in

the TOP SECRET rules are in effect ex¬
cept where altered below.

(B) Experts in martial arts, when at¬

tacking or being attacked by opponents
not trained in the martial arts, receive the
following bonuses:

They receive their black belt degree

number as a damage modifier, either
as an addition to damage caused or a
subtraction from damage received.

An expert who is a 5th-degree black

belt or higher is entitled to up to 3
Defenses and up to 4 Attacks, with 4
Actions total allowed each turn.

Aside from all else that takes place

in a turn of HTH combat, the expert
martial artist has a 3% chance, per
degree of black belt ability, of render¬
ing an opponent unconscious by the
pinching of a nerve or pressure point.
(For length of unconsciousness, see
TOP SECRET rules, Unconsciousness
Chart.)

(C) Experts in martial arts, when at¬

tacking or defending against opponents
also trained in the martial arts, receive
the following bonuses:

They receive their black belt degree

number as a damage modifier, an ad¬
dition to or subtraction from damage
as appropriate. If the opponent is also
an expert, then each fighter’s damage
modifiers apply. It is possible to take
damage when attacking.

When combating an opponent who

is a 4th-degree black belt or lower, an
expert who is a 5th-degree black belt
or higher is entitled to take up to 3

Dragon 47

Defenses and up to 4 Attacks, with 4

Actions total allowed each turn. If
both combatants are 5th-degree or
higher, this benefit does not apply to
either one.
The ability to render a foe uncons¬
cious by pinching a nerve or pressure
point is negated when an expert fights
someone (such as a player-agent)
who has even the slightest amount of
training in martial arts.

(D) An expert in martial arts, when

facing an opponent armed with a fire¬
arm, is at a slight advantage compared to
a non-expert. The expert has a base 5%
chance of avoiding a projectile fired at
him or her. This is modified by 3% per
degree of black belt attained above the
first. For this roll to succeed, the expert
cannot attempt any action during the
turn in question except for dodging the
projectile(s) fired by one opponent. If
the dodging roll succeeds, treat the shot
as a miss. If the roll fails but falls within
25% of the number needed, damage sus¬
tained from the projectile is reduced as
under (B) above, depending on the de¬
gree of black belt ability the expert pos¬
sesses. However, at least one point of
damage is always taken. If the roll fails
by more than 25%, the shot hits and no
damage may be negated due to black-
belt expertise.

2. ALARMS AND LOCKS: All doors

are equipped with locks which are in
plain sight (concealed doors are excep¬
tions): thus, describing locks as “(con¬
cealment rating/lock rating)” is not ne¬
cessary. Likewise, alarms are easily cir¬
cumvented once they are found; thus,
they only need a “concealment rating.”
Thus, most lock-and-alarms systems in
the temple are described together, as
“(alarm concealment rating/lock rating).”
The key to a door, if it is used, will deacti¬
vate any locks and alarms (except for
special alarms which are so designated
in the text) on the door it is used on.

The time spent deactivating locks or

alarms is equal to the “concealment rat¬
ing” for alarms and the “lock rating” for

locks, stated in seconds.

3. CONCEALMENT: All concealed ob¬

jects have a “concealment rating” from
01 to 50. This number represents the
percentage of a searcher’s Knowledge
score that must be rolled (less than or
equal to) on percentile dice to discover
the object.

There is always a 5% chance (01 -05 on

percentile dice) of discovering a con¬
cealed object when not searching. If a try
based on Knowledge is not successful,
allow a second roll to see if the 5%
chance pays off. Likewise, there is al¬
ways a 5% chance (96-00 on percentile
dice) of failing to see the concealed ob¬
ject, even after a successful search roll
based on Knowledge. If that roll indi¬
cates the finding of a concealed object,
roll again; a result from 96-00 indicates
that the searcher did not find the object
after all.

In all attempts to find concealed ob¬

jects, only persons who state they are
actively searching should be allowed
any rolls for success or failure of that

4. HYDRAULIC LIFTS: The temple

has two hydraulic lifts that function as
elevators. The mechanisms which oper¬
ate the lifts are separate from each other,
each located at the base of the respec¬
tive hydraulic lift.

Lifts will, when in the “extended” or

“up” position, have a dead-bolt safety
lock engaged. This will remain engaged,
preventing the lift from descending due
to an excessive load, until the release
catch is thrown (a lever is located on the
upper portion of the lift) or the dead-bolt
mechanism is moved manually from
below, which can be a risky activity.

It takes two minutes for either lift to

ascend from the lower level into an “up”
position where the dead-bolt safety is
engaged, but the trip down only takes 30
seconds after the dead-bolt is retracted.

Anyone with an AOK of 75+ in Hydraul¬

ic Engineering will be able to dismantle
the lift and render it inoperative. It re¬
quires an AOK of 100+ in Hydraulic En¬

gineering to repair sabotaged equipment.

5. INTERCOM/PHONE SYSTEM: The

intercom/telephone system is a self-con¬

tained unit. In each room a normal look¬
ing push-button telephone is located on
the wall near the door. It acts as a normal
telephone, but is also a means of com¬
munication to all rooms in the temple
area, except those rooms and areas usu¬
ally unoccupied. The intercom system
works in this fashion:

On the phone’s key pad, push the “#”

button followed by the buttons repre¬
senting the letters “C-O-M-l-N-F-O” (The
number is 266-4636.). The telephone will
ring twice and be answered by the secur¬
ity computer with the following message
in English: “What person do you wish to
converse with?” It waits for the caller to
say the name (which must be in the same
form as the names are given in the NPC
descriptions). If the person exists in its
files, it will respond. The truck driver,
Donald Sims, and the three riksha por¬
ters, Fu Hsu, Ching Chan, and Hsien
Yang, are not in the computer’s directory
and will not yield a positive response.

If the name is valid, the computer will

respond with, “I will connect you.” The
phone will ring at the desired person’s
usual location (or another site, if the
computer has been instructed to reroute
someone’s incoming calls), and the con¬
versation can proceed.

If the person named does not exist in

its directory, the computer will send an
alarm to the Security Office (see #24)
and respond to the caller, “I am sorry,
but no one by that name exists in my
directory. Are you sure that is the proper
name?” The computer will continue to
repeat this question, or a very similar
one, and will pause for several seconds
between messages, buying time for
guards to arrive at the caller’s location.

It will take no more than 2 minutes for a

guard to respond to a false phone call.
The person dispatched to the site of the
call will be one of the two console opera¬
tors on duty in the Security Office at the
time (50% chance for each).

CAMPAIGN RULES

If agents escape with the information

they want, they only need to leave the
area of the temple map (over the wall,
through the gate, or through a manhole)
in order to reach safety. However, if
anyone is left alive inside the temple, the
Anfu will seek revenge in the agent’s fu¬
ture, through “Complications.” If this
adventure is used as a segment of a
campaign game, the following guidelines
should be used:

A. The TOP SECRET rules concerning

“Complications” will be in use unless
modified by the following.

B. In place of the complication tables

given in the rules, use these tables:

CHANCE OF REVENGE

40 or less: No revenge extracted;

recheck after one month.

41-75: Agent’s possessions (those

not on person) are stolen.

76-80: One member of agent’s im¬

mediate family is executed.

81-85: Agent captured by Anfu,

which will attempt to execute the
captive.

86-89: Agent is victim of attempted

assassination, survives it if 50% of
Willpower is equalled or not exceeded
on percentile dice.

90: Automatic death of agent, no

escape possible.

CHANCE OF INTERCEPTION

40 or less: No interception occurs.

41-75: Agent-is captured; roll on

“Capture By the Enemy” table in TOP
SECRET rules.

76-89: Agent is shot; roll for dam¬

age. (No further pursuit.)

90: Agent is killed by pursuers, no

escape possible.

If no complications occur, the agent in

question gets away without a hitch and is
free to continue functioning normally.
48 June 1982

LCOENMRlfl

j,6.» °c)hyjh

THE ILLUSTRATED LOG OF THE VARNA ADVE

WITS Publishing Inc., 924 Irving Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (Tel. 215/928-1652)

Dragon 49

Convention schedule

NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND GAMING CONVENTION, June

11-13 — This new event will be held at Southern Maine Tech in
South Portland, Maine. For more information, contact Maine
Games, 10 Exchange St., Portland ME 04101, or Dragon’s Keep,
93 Ocean St., South Portland ME 04106.

GEN CON® EAST II CONVENTION, June 17-20 - Widener

College in Chester, Pa., is the site for this second annual TSR
Hobbies-sponsored event. An extensive schedule of gaming
competitions is offered, including a wide range of official
AD&D™ tournaments created especially for the convention.
Guests of honor will include AD&D creator E. Gary Gygax,
peerless painter Duke Seifried, and fantasy artist Tim Hilde-
brant. Admission for the weekend is $12 at the door. More
information is available from GEN CCN East II, P.O. Box 756,
Lake Geneva Wl 53147, phone (414)248-8050.

RIVER FOREST MICROCON, June 18-20 — Sponsored by the

Forest Gamers Club and the River Forest (III.) Community
Center. All types of gaming will be represented. For details,
contact the River Forest Community Center, 414 Jackson, Riv¬
er Forest IL 60305, phone (312)771-6159.

HEXACON, June 25-27 — All types of gaming events will be

featured at this Canadian convention, to be held at the down¬
town campus of the University of Toronto. Convention registra¬
tion is $12, and must be paid by Juhe 15. Contact: Hexacon, 42
Rogers Road, Toronto, Ontario, M6E 1N7.
INCONJUNCTION 2, July 2-4 — A science fiction and fantasy
convention at the Indianapolis International Airport Hilton Inn.
Guests of honor will include Frank Kelly Freas and Wendy &
Richard Pini. Registration is $12 at the door. Contact: InCon-
Junction 2, P.O. Box 24403, Indianapolis IN 46224.

MYSTICON II, July 2-4 — The site of this convention is the

Sheraton Inn, Salem, Va. For details, write to Mysticon, Box
1367, Salem VA 24153.

NANCON 88-V, July 2-4 — The fifth running of this popular

Houston-based convention will be held at the Adam’s Mark
Hotel. Registration fee is $13 until June 13, $18 thereafter. For
more information, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to
Nan’s Game Headquarters, 118 Briargrove Center, 6100 West-
heimer, Houston TX 77057, or call (713)783-4055.

MAINECON - SUMMER ‘82, July 9-11 — The warm-weather

version of last February’s Mainecon event, this convention will

also be held in Portland, Me. Contact: convention director John

Wheeler, 245 Water St., Bath ME 04530.

ASGARD ‘82, July 9-11 — The largest gaming convention in

Atlanta, to be held at the Airport Sheraton. Details are available
from Asgard ‘82, P.O. Box 90952, East Point GA 30364.

ARCHON 6, July 23-25 — Stephen King (Guest of Honor) and

Robert Bloch (Toastmaster) are among the dignitaries expect¬
ed to attend this science-fiction gathering in St. Louis, Mo. The
site is the Chase Park Plaza hotel in St. Louis. Memberships
cost $16, and can be ordered by writing to Archon 6, P.O. Box
15852, Overland MO 63114. Information is available by phone
at (314)521 -9690 or (314)727-8607.

ORIGINS ‘82, July 23-25 — One of the longest-running and

largest gaming conventions is located in Baltimore this year.
For information, write to P.O. Box 15405, Baltimore MD 21220.

FANTASY FAIRE, July 30-Aug. 1 — Larry Niven will be the

guest of honor for the 12th running of this event. Location will
be Griswold’s Inn in Fullerton, Calif. Memberships are $12 each
by mail until July 10, $15 thereafter (at the door only). Daily
admissions will also be sold at the door. For more information,
contact Fantasy Faire, c/o Fantasy Publishing Co., 1855 West
Main St., Alhambra CA 91801, or call (213)337-7947.

TEXCON 1982, Aug. 6-8 —To be held in Austin, Tex. For more
information, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to David
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GAMEFEST ‘82, Aug. 7 — A one-day gaming event for the

benefit of the Kennewick First Lutheran Church. Registration is
$3. For details, send SASE to Adventures Unlimited, c/o Glen
Allison, 1306 W. Pearl, Pasco WA 99301.

6th annual BANGOR AREA WARGAMERS CONVENTION,

Aug. 7-8 — The University of Maine campus in Orono, Me., is
the site of this event. Admission is $5, payable at the door only.
For more information, send SASE to Edward F. Stevens Jr., 32
Masonic St., Rockland ME 04841, or phone (207)596-0338.

GEN CON® XV Convention, Aug. 19-22 — The granddaddy of

all role-playing game conventions, sponsored by TSR Hobbies,
will again be held at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside cam¬
pus between Racine and Kenosha. For complete preregistra¬
tion information, see the brochure elsewhere in this issue of
DRAGON™ Magazine.

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50 June 1982
Fiction

by

Gordon

Linzner

T he river of school children flowed

past her hips, occasionally rising
to her ribs, but Evelyn Slade was
exceptionally tall and stood firm against
the current. The stream engulfed the
monorail she’d just stepped from, then
split into a score of individuals motivated
by only one thought: Grab the best seat.
All viewing locations were, by design,
equally good; but try telling that to a
nine-year-old New Yorker! Fortunately,
one ride above the Wild Asia exhibit —
where Bronx Zoo visitors watched from
mobile “cages” as animals roamed in
comparative freedom — had proved
sufficient.

Farnsworth Gerrold hurried to greet

her. Even without the previous day’s visit
to her Gramercy Park office, he would
have recognized Evelyn Slade. The pale
sun-reflecting hair, the ice-gray eyes,
the tall frame and confident posture:
These were her trademarks. Today she
wore a thin cotton safari outfit, for the
May morning was unseasonably hot.
Gerrold carried his suit jacket over one
arm, and his tie was askew.

“Miss Slade,” Gerrold gurgled, offer¬

ing his free hand. “I’m sorry to be late.”

Evelyn smiled down at the rumpled

man. “Don’t be so quick to spare others’
feelings. I arrived some time ago to form
my own impressions before proceeding.”
“You’ve seen Wild Asia already?”

“Just now. Incidentally, the red-headed

girl giving the monorail tour —what rela¬
tion is she to you?”

“Susie’s — she’s my niece.” Gerrold

stiffened. “Flave you been pumping her?”

“Now you’re being paranoid,” Evelyn

chided. “The jawline and shape of the
nose are too similar for coincidence. I
only wanted to say that Susie’s quite
good at her job.”

Gerrold’s cheeks reddened. “Thank

you,” he replied. “But, tell me . . . did you

see what we discussed? Is the staff going

crazy or not?”

“You told me yesterday this exhibit

featured six fully grown Siberian tigers.”

“Three mated pairs. Yes.”

She nodded. “I counted seven.”

Gerrold mopped his high forehead

with a handkerchief. “That’s a relief... in
a way. Still, you don’t really know any
more than I’ve told you.”

“I know a few things you forgot to tell

me. For example, you do have more than
six grown Siberian tigers in this zoo.”

“Of course we do. That’s the problem.”

“I’m not talking about just Wild Asia.

Those animals are young, healthy spec¬
imens. But you must have older beasts,
too — I doubt you’d put them to sleep.”

“What an idea!” Gerrold exclaimed.

“No, the older cats are kept in the lion
house, near the Botanical Gardens
entrance.”

“Including at least one Siberian?”

“Well, there’s Rajah...”

“That’s an original name.” Gerrold gave

Evelyn a sharp look, but her grin made a
confrontation pointless. “Let’s look in on
Rajah,” she added.

Treading the asphalt paths away from

the featured exhibits — the monorail
cars also slide over the African plains
and South American pampas — Evelyn
and Farnsworth found the crowds thin.
At this time, less than an hour after open¬
ing, the old lion house attracted less than
a dozen visitors.

Rajah was the only representative of

his species in the building, so his out¬
door area was larger than the other cats’.
His keeper, a stocky, rust-moustached
man named van Hoff, claimed that Rajah
spent most of his outside time sleeping
in the shaded rear.

“Poor fellow,” van Hoff murmured,

gently rubbing a smooth, cool bar of the
cage. “I’ve tended him for twelve years,

ever since I started here. This summer

may be his last.”

Evelyn touched van Hoff’s shoulder in

sympathy. “Why wasn’t Rajah moved to
Wild Asia? There seemed to be plenty of
room.”

“We tried,” van Hoff replied. “At first,

he refused to leave the transfer cage.
When we finally got him to move, he
went to a corner of the compound and
laid down with a sigh. Then we let the
young ones in, and they didn’t get on at
all.” The keeper rolled up his uniform’s
sleeve. His left forearm bore a deep scar.
“I got this saving Rajah from his fellows.”

Evelyn stared at the great cat lying on

his left side, oblivious. “So Rajah saw the
compound,” she observed. “Gerrold,
your stranger first appeared in Wild Asia
the day it opened, a few years ago?”

The sweating man nodded. “Right. We

originally put it down to excitement —
miscounts by our staff, but later we had
to admit the situation was real. Six tigers
left the indoor cages at Wild Asia’s cen¬
ter in the morning; six returned at night.
And there were seven in the compound
for most of the day. We searched at
night, but found nothing.”

“You wouldn’t. Please open the cage,

Mr. van Hoff.”

Van Hoff’s eyes dilated. “Open the

cage?” he repeated.

“Unless there’s a better way to let me

in.”

Gerrold mopped his face. “You’re not

going inside with that animal, are you,
Miss Slade? The zoo has an obligation
—we can’t be responsible .. .”
“Even old tigers have teeth and claws,”
said van Hoff.

Evelyn shrugged. “All right. You know

my terms, Gerrold. I get paid anyway, if
you interfere with my investigation. If
you don’t want answers...”

“Oh, we want them. The mystery has

52 June 1982

gone on for this long only because we

didn’t know how to solve it. If my sister-
in-law hadn’t mentioned hiring you to rid
her of an, uh, uninvited presence, we’d
never have found someone with your
experience in these matters.”

“I know. People dislike talking of such

things for fear of appearing mad, and
rightly so. Still, I prefer word of mouth to
formal advertising. It keeps the percen¬
tage of cranks down, and my rates are
high enough to compensate for long pe¬
riods of unemployment. Now, Mr. van
Hoff, will you open the cage?” She fa¬
vored the keeper with an irresistible
smile.

Rajah lifted his head as the key scraped

in its lock. Feeding time already? Per¬
haps they’d changed the hour. Well, he
could work up an appetite, if necessary.
He had nothing to do but eat and sleep . . .
and dream.

Evelyn bent double to squeeze through

the low door. Van Hoff closed but did not
lock it. The silver-haired woman might
want to leave in a hurry. Rajah was a
moody beast.

Retaining her crouch, Evelyn cautiously

approached the aged animal. “Steady,
Rajah,” she said, reaching for the golden
chain about her neck. “That’s a good
boy. I won’t hurt you.”

Rajah growled, rolling onto his stom¬

ach. His muscles were underexercised
and overaged, yet he could spring to his
feet faster than most humans could react.
His nostrils quivered at Evelyn’s unfamil¬
iar scent, and his ears flattened against
his skull. He tolerated petting from van
Hoff and his assistants, but he was too
old not to be leery of strangers.

Evelyn’s right hand drew the chain of

her golden necklace out of her blouse. At
its end glinted a pentagonal pendant: an
all-purpose, though not all-powerful, tal¬
isman the woman was rarely without.
She let this hang loose, swinging it back
and forth with slight movements of her
neck muscles. As the charm swayed,
Evelyn talked to the animal in a soothing
voice.

Rajah wheezed. His ears rose, and lids

covered his round, liquid eyes. He slept.

Evelyn crept to his side and stretched

her right hand forward. She patted his
mane, stroked his powerful flanks, get¬
ting his sleeping form used to her touch.
Then she lightly placed her fingers on
top of Rajah’s skull, between the ears.
Her eyes shut. She froze in that position.

“Petrified with fear,” van Hoff whis¬

pered. “Didn’t realize what she was get¬
ting into. I’d better pull her out before
Rajah becomes upset.”

“Leave her be,” said Gerrold, wiping

his lips. This is her normal procedure.”
At least, Gerrold’s sister-in-law had de¬
scribed something like this trance when
Evelyn was at her home. This situation
couldn’t be too much different. Could it?
Gerrold unknotted his tie, leaving it
draped about his neck.

Five minutes passed as an hour for the

anxious men. Abruptly, Evelyn withdrew
her hand, murmured soothing words,
and backed away from the peaceful fe¬
line. Van Hoff offered an unnecessary
hand as she climbed out of the cage.

“Lock the door quietly, please,” Evelyn

told the keeper. As he obeyed, she walked
to a bench facing Rajah’s cage and sat
down, brushing strands of silver hair
from her face.

Gerrold plopped down beside her.

“What was all that about?” he demanded.

Evelyn glanced at the cloudless sky,

yawned, and eyed her client coolly.
“Confirming my guess,” she replied. “Your
extra tiger is Rajah.”

“Impossible.”

“Improbable,” she corrected. “Anything

that occurs is, by definition, possible.
The seventh tiger is Rajah’s projected
image. While his body sleeps here, his
mind travels south to Wild Asia. The
technique is simple ... I’ve done it myself.
It takes an enormous reserve of energy,
of course, but Rajah’s got nothing better
to do, does he?”

“The tiger in Wild Asia is young, virile;

healthier-looking than our new stock.
Look at Rajah! Loose flesh, shriveled
muscles, missing teeth, a cataract form¬
ing over the left eye . . . I’m not boring you,
am I?”

Evelyn stifled another yawn. “The im¬

age is not the reality, Gerrold. Do you
picture yourself as you look now, or as
you did thirty years ago? I suggest you
have van Hoff take a close look at your
mystery guest. He’ll confirm the beast
looks exactly like Rajah in his prime.”

“Why would the other tigers tolerate

his presence? You heard van Hoff; in¬
stant hostility when we introduced them.”

“You’re not listening. Rajah is not

physically there. He poses no threat to
the younger animals, and vice versa.”

“We can see him. Why don’t they?”

Evelyn sighed. “They do. It doesn’t

matter. Animals understand this sort of
phenomenon far better than most hu¬
mans.” And ask fewer stupid questions,
she added silently.

Gerrold yanked off his tie, rolled it into

a ball and shoved it into a jacket pocket.
“Assuming this is so...”

“It is.”

“What do we do about it?”

Evelyn shrugged. “Why do anything?

No one is being harmed. The affair has
gone on for years and, as van Hoff point¬
ed out, Rajah won’t last much longer. If it
really bothers the staff, you could have
the animal put down.”

“Without valid cause! Unheard of.”

“Then leave him alone. Now I offer you

another choice: you can buy me a nice
big lunch, or I can buy it myself and put it
on my bill. I’m starving.”

Gerrold turned to face the woman.

Seated as they were, their eyes were
nearly level. Her bizarre theory was per¬
suasive. Angrily, he tore his gaze away.

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“I can’t go to the board with that story!”

he exclaimed, focusing on the sleeping
tiger. “You’re a lovely woman, Miss Slade,
and could charm the devil into buying
hot coals...”

She raised a pale eyebrow. “That might

be interesting,” she mused.

“But you’ve overreached yourself this

time. You have a fine way with animals,
but if you expect me to believe that a wild
animal could create an astral projection . .

Evelyn suddenly stood, hoisting her¬

self up with a hand on the man’s shoulder.
Gerrold winced at the unexpected
strength in her grip.

“My job is to get results, Gerrold, not

to argue about them. I advise you to urge
the board to pay my bill promptly. My
collection agents sometimes use . . .
unpleasant methods. I’ll beat the restau¬
rant, saving you a seat at my table.”

Gerrold watched the investigator

walking quickly towards the children’s
zoo and the restaurant beyond it. He
shook his head. Her words rang true, but
where was the proof? If the board did
nothing, if things continued as they were,
how could the directors know whether
they’d been conned or not?

Van Hoff had returned to his normal

duties after relocking Rajah’s cage. Now
he stood on the stone steps of the lion
house and shouted at the perplexed
Farnsworth Gerrold.

“Telephone,” he called. “It’s your niece.

She’s been calling all over the zoo.”

Gerrold entered van Hoff’s pungent of¬

fice, stepped around a crate of freshly
delivered meat, and picked the receiver
off a brown-stained desk.

Hysterical sobbing came from the

earpiece.

“What’s wrong, Susie?” he asked.

Susie sniffed. “I’m sorry, Uncle Farns¬

worth. I know you hate to be bothered,
but no one here will believe me, even
with a train full of witnesses.”

“Calm down, Susie. What won’t they

believe?”

“You know that big tiger everybody

sees? The one that disappears when the
other cats are called in for the night?”

Gerrold’s jaw muscles tightened. “Did

he vanish?”

“No, he’s still there. But about five

minutes ago, maybe ten, he had
company.”

“Another tiger?”

“No. A woman. She had long silvery

hair, and she was petting the tiger on the
head, as you’d, pet a kitten, and she
looked up at me and smiled...”

The phone receiver slipped through

Gerrold’s nerveless fingers. Van Hoff
jumped forward to catch it before it
struck the desk. Startled at the keeper’s
sudden motion, Gerrold stared at him
through glassy eyes. Then he said:

“Talk to her, van Hoff. Calm her down,

will you? I’ve got a luncheon date.”

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54 June 1982

Look for these new games* from GDW:

ETO

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The Traveller Book

Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future

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Traveller Supplement 10

The Journal of the

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Issue 13

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Prison Planet

Traveller Adventure 8

The Traveller Adventure

Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future

‘These new books and games will be released this summer,

and many will be available at Origins

and take advantage of these convention events:

A House Divided Tournament

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Invasion: Earth Tournament
Traveller Tournament
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Meet the Workshop Seminar
Striker Seminar
3 Traveller Seminars i

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Magic for
merchants

eomund'

Hut

by Lena^cL Lakafka

Many Dungeon Masters have numer¬

ous town/hamlet/city adventures as part
of their regular campaigns. In these lo¬
cales, adventurers can buy and sell items
and find out information by visiting
shops, inns, and taverns. On rare occa¬
sion, a shop might sell/buy a magic item
to/from an adventurer.

It must be understood, that for all of

the treasure in the average AD&D™ world,
the average tradesman or merchant will
rarely have an inventory valued
at over 50 gp. Many an AD&D player
feels that he can run to the local black¬
smith and buy a horse using a 250 gp
gem, or that he can go into a weapon
shop and sell a +1 weapon for 2,000 gp.
The blacksmith wouldn’t know a 250 gp
gem from one worth 10 gp, nor would he
have the gold to give “in change” in any
case. The shop owner probably has nev¬
er seen 100 gp at one time, much less
2 , 000 .

Only a few guildsmen and tradesmen

are truly rich and have adequate coinage
to deal in the real values of the magic
items that might be found in the world. If
they do have such wealth it will be hid¬
den, protected or both. If their merchan¬
dise includes one or more magic items,
these will not be left lying on the counter
for everyone to see.

I have encountered numerous games

where the party wanders into town, finds
the “magic shop,” and then, under cover
of darkness, robs the place of its good¬
ies. Alas, in most cases the DM makes
the shopkeeper some poor zero-level
figure who is helpless to protect his in¬
ventory from the haughty wizards and
ferocious fighters who roam the streets
of his little town. Any time a DM gives
players something for nothing, he is de¬
priving them and himself of a great deal
of fun. Here, to solve this particular prob¬
lem, are a few ways to make shopkeep¬
ers tougher.

Guild magic

Most professions found in the towns,

cities, and other population centers of an
AD&D world have organizations which
teach, regulate and protect the organiza¬
tion’s members. These organizations are
usually called guilds. There are guilds
for masons, carpenters, clothiers, weav¬
ers, and so forth. Not every town will

have a guild for each possible profes¬

sion, nor will some towns require that a
person join any particular guild if he/she
does not wish to. Thus, even though
guilds are usually a strong force in socie¬
ty, some proprietors will be independent.

A profession is usually taught by

means of the apprentice system. Some¬
times an apprentice will learn everything
from the single person he/she works for.
Other times there will be a succession of
teachers because the profession has var¬
ious grades within it; for instance, some¬
one training to be a mason might have
different teachers for each step of the
process, going through apprentice ma¬
son, mason, grand, mason, master ma¬
son, grand master mason, and so on.

Professions are often beset by outsid¬

ers who either want to learn the trade
without contributing to the guild (in
some set way), or others who try to take
money from the guild and its members
through unfair taxation, outright theft,
and the like. Thus, many guilds will teach
a proprietor some minor magics that
range in power somewhere between
cantrips (see From the Sorceror’s Scroll
by E. Gary Gygax in issues #59, #60, and
#61 of DRAGON™ magazine) and sec¬
ond level magic-user spells — but only
grand masters of a guild might be able to
cast a spell equivalent to a second level
magic-user spell.

In order to learn these minor magics,

the learner must have a minimum intelli¬
gence of 9 (as for magic-users), though a
minimum wisdom of 10 can be substitut¬
ed for the weakest of these magics, the
cantrips. Those spells equivalent to a
first level or second level magic-user
spell need intelligence as a basis for their
casting; wisdom cannot be substituted.

The various types of minor guild mag¬

ic can vary from profession to profes¬
sion. Cantrips like Stir, Mix, Clean, Wipe,
Dry, Moisten, and Hold are quite com¬
mon and apply to many professions.
These very minor magics have no attack
potential; that is, they cannot cause
damage directly. They can, occasional¬
ly, cause distraction or have defensive
value. For all practical purposes, any
cantrip could be used if a direct, useful
purpose for it can be demonstrated with¬
in the guild/profession. For example,
Hold can be used by a carpenter to keep

a nail in place prior to striking it with a

hammer. The duration of the Hold would
be only 1 segment, just long enough for
the carpenter to take the swing with the
hammer. However, the carpenter could
use one Hold cantrip over and over
again, for perhaps up to an hour, while
he pounded home nails one after the
other. If he stops nailing or uses some
other cantrip, then the Hold cantrip is
cancelled.

The average merchant or tradesman is

33% likely to know one useful cantrip.
The other two-thirds will not have any
knowledge of even the most simple mag¬
ic. If the merchant or tradesman knows
at least one cantrip, there is a 50%
chance that the figure will have know¬
ledge of more than the one incantation.

For each magic-using tradesman or

merchant, roll on the following table.

A number or range of numbers in par¬

entheses after a listing indicates the
number of cantrips usable by a figure in
a single day. A number in brackets re¬
presents the figure’s daily capacity to
use Mysteries (explained hereafter). A
number set in italic type inside paren¬
theses represents the number of first
level magic-user spells the figure can
use, and a number in italic type inside
brackets indicates the ability to use a
second level magic-user spell once per
day.

01-50

51-65

66-70

71-74

75-76

77

78-80

81-81

83

84-85

86

87-89

90-91

92

93-95

Spells known and usable

No other cantrip known. (1)

1 other cantrip known. (1)

2 other cantrips known. (1)

3 other cantrips known. (2)

4 other cantrips known. (2)

5 other cantrips known. (3)

2-5 (d4+1) other cantrips. (1-2)

2- 7 (d6+1) other cantrips. (1-3)

3- 8 (d6+2) other cantrips. (1-4)

2- 5 other cantrips, 1 Mystery.

(1-4) [1]

3- 8 other cantrips, 1 Mystery.

( 1 - 6 ) [ 1 ]

3-8 other cantrips, 2 Mysteries.

(1-6) [1]

3-8 other cantrips, 3 Mysteries.

(1-6) [1]

3-8 other cantrips, 1-4 Mysteries.

( 1 - 6 ) [ 1 - 2 ]

3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries.

(1-6) [1-3]

56 June 1982

96-97 3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries,

1 first level magic-user spell.

(1-6) [1-3] (1)

98 3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries,

2 first level magic-user spells.

(1-6) [1-3] (1)

99 3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries,

1-4 first level magic-user spells.

(1-6) [1-3] (2)

00 3-8 other cantrips, 2-5 Mysteries,

1-4 first level magic-user spells,

1 second level magic-user spell.

(1-6) [1-3] (2) [1]

Cantrips and Mysteries, as well as

magic-user spells, are read from books.
The “chance to know each listed spell”
as per Intelligence Table II in the Players
Handbook must be rolled for cantrips
and mysteries as well as regular spells,
with wisdom substituted for intelligence
in the case of a figure with low intelli¬
gence who still might be able to cast the
minor magics (cantrips and mysteries).
Cantrips take 15 minutes each to read, as
do mysteries. Rest prior to reading must
be a full 4 hours.

Mysteries: more minor magics

Mysteries are very minor forms of

magic used to protect a professional
from attacks and to protect his shop and
goods from theft and other forces. The
common mysteries are these:

1 Alarm 7 Hound

2 Appreciate 8 Lapse

3 Bell 9 Lock

4 Drowsiness 10 Pacify

5 Glue 11 Panic

6 Grab 12 Spin

1. Alarm: This magic will allow the

shopkeeper’s voice to become four times
louder than normal for one round, so
that he/she can call for help. The volume
of the voice will not directly affect the
offending person, but might cause him
or her to run off.

2. Appreciate: This is used on a person

to get him or her to see more quality in an
item. It can cause the victim to pay up to
20% more than he or she would have
paid for an item, because now he or she
is convinced of its higher value. The vic¬
tim is allowed a saving throw if the item is
valued at under 10 gp; a save at +2 if the
value is 10-99 gp; a save at +5 for items
valued at 100-199 gp, and a save at +8 if
the value is 200 gp or more. Appreciate
cannot convince someone an item is
magical in any case. If the victim makes
the saving throw, he or she will not buy
the item unless the price drops by at
least 40%.

3. Bell: This uses an actual bell as a

material component. The dwoemer is
cast on the bell after it is placed near a
door or some item that the shopkeeper
wishes to guard. The duration of the bell
is 8 hours or until the bell has sounded.
Any living thing coming within 3 feet of

the bell will cause it to ring once.

4. Drowsiness: This can be applied to

any person or group of persons who add
up to no more than 4th level or 4 hit dice.
Men-at-arms, 0-level figures, and mon¬
sters of less than 1 hit die equal one level
each for this calculation. The victim(s)
must be inside a 20-foot-square area no
more than 40 feet away from the mer¬
chant. There is no saving throw. The vic-
im(s) will feel drowsy for 1 round, and
during that time is -2 to hit and -2 on
initiative rolls. The victim(s) will not feel
obliged to move unless a direct danger
to it/them exists. The magic affects all
creatures that are vulnerable to a Charm
Person spell.

5. Glue: This magic is applied to an

item and another surface of less than
one square foot each (the binding sur¬
faces, that is). The two surfaces will stay
bound together for 5-20 rounds. Since
the surfaces must be touched to each
other within a l-segment span, the spell
can almost never be applied to another
living being but is usually used to make
an item in the shop pilfer-proof for a few
minutes.

6. Grab: This can be applied to any

single immobile object that weighs 10
pounds or less and is not already being
held by a living creature. If the shop¬
keeper casts Grab on an item (range 30
feet, duration 1 turn), the magic will hold
it fast in place. A character or creature
with strength of 18(01) or greater can
break the Grab, at a percentage chance
equal to its exceptional strength number.

7. Hound: This is cast on any living

creature of animal intelligence that can
be trained to be alert, such as a bird or a
cat. When the dwoemer is cast on the
animal (who is allowed a saving throw of
9), the animal will bark like a large dog
instead of its normal sound for a period
of one minute. The duration of the magic
is 6 hours or until the animal “barks.” If
the animal makes its saving throw then it
cannot bark; alas, the shopkeeper can¬
not know for sure if the spell has taken
effect or not.

8. Lapse: This is applied to one figure

at a time. If the intended victim fails a
normal saving throw, he or she is effec¬
tively paralyzed for 3-12 segments— but
if and only if no attack from the caster of
the magic is forthcoming. If the caster
moves to physically harm the paralyzed
figure, the spell breaks instantly. Some¬
one else could attack, of course, but if
the paralyzed figure can see the attack
coming, he or she is allowed a second
saving throw instantly. Another saving
throw is allowed after any successful at¬
tack on the victim, to see if the blow
“breaks” the paralysis before the Lapse
duration expires. Such a paralyzed fig¬
ure has some small amount of mobility
left, so he or she cannot necessarily be
killed outright.

9. Lock: The material component for

this magic is a key that exactly fits the

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lock in question. A skeleton key will not

do, but an exact duplicate of an original
key would suffice. The shop owner holds
the key and makes a locking or unlock¬
ing motion to open or close the lock in
question. Range of the magic is up to 40
feet. The magic can be used to lock and
unlock (or vice versa) the same lock with
one application, if the two actions are
done within 10 minutes of each other
and the key never leaves the caster’s
hand during that time.

10. Pacify: This is applied to a single

person who is badly disposed toward the
shopkeeper (but open melee cannot have
occurred). The Pacify magic will change
the person’s frame of mind for 2-5
rounds. Targets of under 4th level obtain
no saving throw; those of 4th level and
above obtain the standard saving throw.
Range is 20 feet. Pacify is usually used to
prevent melee and as a way to ease a
person out of the shop before the magic
wears off. This spell is not a charm, and
thus the shopkeeper cannot obtain ser¬
vices, information or goods from the
person.

11. Panic: This can be applied to one

figure by touch. He or she (again, only
“persons” can be so attacked) is allowed
a normal saving throw. If it fails, the per¬
son will run away for 5-20 segments, but
will not drop anything held in any case.
The victim can defend himself or herself
if chased or attacked. The victim is only
afraid of the shopkeeper.

12. Spin: This is used on a single per¬

son at a maximum range of 20 feet. If the
intended victim fails a saving throw, he
or she will spin around for the next 2-8
segments. He or she cannot attack, but
can defend (at -2) while pirouetting.

All mysteries take 1 segment to cast.

They begin at the start of a melee seg¬
ment and end at the end of the segment.
If the DM considers all blows with wea¬
pons to land in the middle of a segment,
it will be simple to determine if the at¬
tempted casting of a mystery is ruined by
a blow or by the touching of the spell¬
casting shopkeeper.

Guild languages

The guilds and trades that use can-

trips, mysteries and actual magics have
developed their own languages and
symbols for the text of these spells.
Thus, if a magic-user found a book of
merchant cantrips and mysteries, the
magic-user could not use them without
casting Comprehend Languages first.
Once the language of a certain magical
text is understood, Comprehend Lan¬
guages would not be needed again to
decipher that particular spell, cantrip, or
mystery any time it is written by some¬
one in that particular profession. For in¬
stance, if a magic-user found the Glue
mystery in the book of a carpenter and
learned and used it (he must still roll the
% chance to know), he would not auto-

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58 June 1982
matically be able to use it if he found it in
the book of a goldsmith, since the lan¬
guages used to write the two versions of
the magic would be different. Read Mag¬
ic will not break the language barrier of a
cantrip or a mystery.

If a master guild member knows a first

level or second level magic-user spell, it
will be written in the language of the
guild and is likewise unavailable to any
full-fledged magic-user who might find
the merchant’s book.

Guild masters’ spells

The spells known by master guild

members are usually defensive or infor¬
mational. The following spells are the
ones most often known by guild masters:

First level M-U spells

01-12 Unseen Servant

13-20 Comprehend Languages

21-27 Hold Portal

28-34 Mending

35-42 Tenser’s Floating Disc

43-50 Ventriloquism

51-54 Write

55-57 Affect Normal Fires

58 Burning Hands

59 Charm Person

60 Detect Magic
61-67 Enlarge
68-74 Reduce

75 Erase
76-79 Feather Fall
80- 82 Friends
83 Jump

84-86 Light
87-88 Darkness

89 Magic Missile

90 Nystul’s Magic Aura

91-92 Protection from Evil
93-94 Push

95-99 Shield
00 Sleep

Second level M-U spells

01-16 Audible Glamer

17-18 Detect Evil
19 Detect invisibility
20-28 ESP
29 Fools Gold
30-39 Forget
40 Invisibility
41-43 Knock
44-50 Leomund’s Trap
51 Levitate
52-54 Locate Object
55-60 Magic Mouth
61-67 Mirror Image

68 Pyrotechnics

69 Ray of Enfeeblement

70 Rope Trick
71-80 Scare

81- 88 Strength
89 Web

90-00 Wizard Lock

Merchant characteristics

The average merchant will have 1-6 hit

points and will fight as a zero-hit-die fig¬

ure. A merchant who can cast simple

cantrip magic, regardless of spell capa¬
city, still has 1-6 hit points and still fights
as a 0-hit-die figure, but obtains the sav¬
ing throw (vs. magic only) of a first level
magic-user. A merchant or tradesman
who can cast a mystery obtains the sav¬
ing throw of a first level magic-user
against all attack forms except breath
weapon, A merchant who can cast a first
level magic-user spell still has 1-6 hit
points and attacks as a 0-hit-die figure
but has the full saving throw capability of
a first level magic-user. A merchant who
can cast two first level magic-user spells
will have 2-7 hit points. A merchant who
can cast a second-level magic user spell
will have 3-8 hit points.

Some merchants and tradesmen are

ex-adventure-class figures who have de¬
cided to settle down and give up adven¬
turing. Such ex-adventurer-class figures
(or men/women-at-arms) retain their pre¬
vious abilities and may add, if they are
guild or trade members, some minor
magics if they possess the required intel¬
ligence (or wisdom). However, learning
minor guild magic once a person has
been an adventure-class figure is much
less likely, so only 15% of such figures
will know any minor magic, as opposed
to the 33% figure for merchants who
never were adventurers.

Merchants and tradesmen may teach

the cantrip they know to their spouses
and children if they work in the shop (on

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the job) with the guild member. They

may teach cantrips only, however, and
not mysteries or magic-user spells — un¬
less the spouse or child enters the guild
or trade in the usual manner.

Foiling theft

Merchants and tradesmen who cannot

cast cantrips, mysteries or low-level
magic-user spells and who are not re¬
tired adventurers can still protect their
goods from theft. The easiest solution is
a series of well-placed locks. Larger cen¬
ters of population might have complex
locks that reduce a thief’s chance to pick
them by some set amount, perhaps down
to as low as one-half of the original
chance for success. Complex locks
should sell for about 1 electrum piece
per percent of this reduction (with a re¬
duction of 50% being maximum, as de¬
scribed above).

Example: A thief has a 35% chance to

pick a lock. If a shopkeeper spends an
extra 10 gp on a complex lock, the thief’s
chance is reduced by a 20% proportion,
to (35% — (.2x.35), or 28%. If the thief’s
chance were 80%, the same amount of
reduction would take the chance down
to 80% — (,2x.80), or 64%. A run-of-the-
mill padlock would cost anywhere from
1-100 silver pieces. Standard door locks
sell from 3-300 silver pieces. Locks for
strong doors, the type found in dun¬
geons, on temple doors, in jails, and so
forth likely cost from 1-20 gp.

For added protection, the merchant

can also hire a thief or assassin to place a
trap. The cost to place the trap will be
about equal in gold pieces to the number
representing the percent chance the thief
or assassin has to set the trap success¬
fully. That chance should be the same as
the chance to remove a trap.

Failure to set a trap successfully means

the thief or assassin will take full damage
from the trap. Thus, very few thieves or
assassins will set traps that might cause
injury. This is especially true of traps
containing poison needles. A poison-
needle trap with lethal poison in it will
cost at least double the usual price.
Some thieves and assassins will refuse
to set such a trap.

Traps able to be set by thieves involve

simple mechanics and not collapsing
floors or ceilings, two-ton blocks, or the
like. Most thieves will set traps that
sound an alarm (like ringing a bell or
gong), cause something to fall (like a
bucket, can, or pail), or cause minor
damage (the classic form is a crossbow
trap, though some spring-loaded traps
can also be set effectively to throw darts).
Poisons and liquids to coat daggers,
darts and bolts are quite expensive. Such
liquids will dry out and/or become impo¬
tent with time; usually the more potent
the liquid is, the faster it will dry out or
lose potency.

The merchant can also hire a magic-

user, cleric, or druid to set a magical trap

via a spell. The most common of these

are Magic Mouth, Snare, and a Glyph of
Warding. Some magical traps can be
reset each night so that the merchant
can set the trap up and then go to bed.
This is surely true of the Magic Mouth,
which could be placed on an object that
is covered during the day or not even
brought out during the day, and then
exposed at night for the would-be thief
to trip.

Your DM may rule that a Glyph of

Warding cannot be placed on a carpet. If
this is allowed, however, this provides a
great defense: Just roll the rug up in the
morning and put it away until the next
night. Naturally, there are more potent
magics like Symbols and Explosive
Runes that might also be available, for a
much stiffer price. Any magical protec¬
tion for a merchant’s shop will cost quite
a few gold pieces.

The merchant can employ one or more

guards for his goods at night or even
during the day. That is what town guards
are for, by the way. The guard a mer¬
chant employs can be an adventuring-
class character even if the employer is
zero level himself. After all, money is the
key factor here, not level.

The merchant can buy a dog or other

animal (monster?) to guard his property.
A guard dog can stop many a robbery
before it starts. If the merchant has a
golem, basilisk or cockatrice, however,
so much the better!

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FA8 Ranger with Sword and Bow
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60 June 1982

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l iirtl i 171’■ if?. l-HHi lili' UPf-Jj^T Until

You don’t know what you’ll get

until what you’ve got is gone

by Phil Meyers and Steve Bill

Zadron’s Pouch of Wonders is a sort of

magical grab-bag inside which a great
variety of magic items can be found. It
appears to be an ordinary leather pouch
with a drawstring made of silk. When
found the pouch will be closed, and ex¬
amination will reveal that the pouch con¬
tains some sort of small object. To utilize
the magic of the bag, a character must
open the pouch and draw the item out.
The first character to do this after the
pouch is discovered becomes the owner
of the pouch.

Each pouch will produce from 11-30

(d20+10) items for its owner and then
teleport away to another treasure hoard
to be found anew. However, only one
item from the pouch can be in existence
at any given time. Every time an item is
drawn from inside it, the pouch will re¬
main empty for the next day, but thereaf¬
ter there is a 5% chance per day that

another item will appear in the pouch.

When a new item appears in the pouch,

the old item becomes useless and disap¬
pears, but the new one is ready for use. If
an item from the pouch is destroyed by
any other means, or if an item is put back
in the pouch (if possible), that item will
be replaced by a new item. (This does
not apply for some of the “cursed” items;
see individual item descriptions.)

The 5% chance for a new item to be

created is always assumed to be rolled at
the start of the day in question. If a new
item is indicated, it will be created im¬
mediately — unless the pouch’s owner is
using the item, and the loss of the pow¬
ers of the, item at that particular time
would directly endanger his or her life. In
such a case, the creation of the new item
will not take place until the pouch’s
owner stops using the old item.

If the owner of the pouch is killed, the

pouch will teleport away as if it had
reached its quota, and will next turn up

(if ever) in a different treasure hoard. The

pouch will not produce new items for
anyone other than its owner, but the
owner can allow others to use items tak¬
en from the pouch. However, items be¬
ing used by other characters will disap¬
pear instantly when the creation of a new
item is indicated, regardless of the cir¬
cumstances (see preceding paragraph).

The last item drawn from the pouch

(the one that fills the pouch’s limit) will
remain in existence and usable until the
next time the creation of a new item (ac¬
cording to the 5% chance per day) is
indicated. When this occurs, both the ex¬
isting magic item and the pouch will dis¬
appear. The owner of the pouch can
keep any item from the pouch as long as
desired, subject only to the eventual dis¬
appearance of the item.

To determine what the pouch con¬

tains, roll on the table below for the type
of item produced, then refer to the spe¬
cific tables A through L.

Roll

(d12) Type of item produced

1 An egg (Table A below)

2 A glove (B)

3 A crystal sphere (C)

4 A rock (D)

5 A figurine (E)

6 A vial (F)

7 A miniature wagon (G)

8 A bag (H)

9 A card (I)

10 A piece of rope or string (J)

11 A small box with a button on it (K)

12 A wand (L)

Table A: Eggs (roll d6)

All creatures hatched from eggs will

emerge in the third round after the egg is
drawn from the pouch. As with all crea¬
tures conjured by the pouch, those
hatched from eggs do not age.

1: A copper egg from which a small,

young copper dragon emerges. The
dragon speaks, uses magic, and will
serve the pouch owner. It can, however,
only be commanded to fight for the
pouch owner 3 times (battles). Other¬
wise it will fight only in self-defense.

2: A golden egg out of which a golden-

colored goose hatches. The goose fol¬
lows the pouch owner around unless
forced to do otherwise, and appears to
be very rare and valuable. There is a 1 in
3 chance each day that the goose will
become a living Symbol of Discord for 1
turn at a random time.

3: A stone egg out of which hatches a

full-grown, hungry xorn. The xorn de¬
mands from 2,000—8,000 gp value (2d4)
in precious metal or everything the owner
has, whichever is least, or else it will at¬
tack. It disappears if satisfied.

4: A white egg out of which a full-

grown giant eagle hatches. The eagle
can speak the owner’s language and will
serve the pouch owner on the same
terms as the dragon in (1) above.

5: A white egg with pink stripes, out of

which a highly intelligent white rabbit
appears. The rabbit can speak the pouch
owner’s language and will serve as a
scout (or whatever) for as long as the
owner desires. The rabbit is AC 6, 3 hit
points, no attacks, 50% magic resistance.

6. A glass egg out of which an unseen

servant (80% chance) or an invisible
stalker (20% chance) hatches. Either will
serve as described in the corresponding
spells, but duration is unlimited, except
as noted above.

Table B: Gloves (roll d6)

1: A small, light leather glove that turns

into a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power
when it is drawn.

2: As (1) above, but Gauntlets of Dex¬

terity are found instead.

3: A glove that allows its wearer to cast

a Push spell, once per round, for up to 6
times per day.

4: Anyone besides the owner of the

pouch who puts on this glove will imme¬

diately begin to choke himself or herself

to death, doing 2-8 points of damage per
round. Only a Remove Curse, Limited
Wish, or Wish spell will prevent the vic¬
tim’s eventual death. The glove will have
no effect if worn by the owner of the
pouch.
5: A glove that allows its wearer to cast
one of the Bigby’s Hand spells, except
for Bigby’s Crushing Hand, once per
day.

6: A glove which, if used in place of a

weapon, will cause the wearer’s fist to
become a +2 weapon, do 3-6 points of
damage per hit, and stun (for 1-6 rounds)
opponents that fail their saving throw vs.
magic when hit. The latter property is
effective only against creatures size M or
smaller.

Table C: Crystal spheres (roll d8)

1: A large crystal sphere that opens to

reveal 2-5 small (1-inch diameter) crys¬
tals that glow dimly from within. Any
sound originating within 1 foot of a crys¬
tal will be reproduced at the same vol¬
ume by the other crystals, regardless of
their location, allowing easy communi¬
cation over any distance, but not be¬
tween planes.

2: A large crystal sphere that opens to

reveal a pair of glass balls, each one 3
inches in diameter. Looking into one of
them allows the viewer to see anything
within sight of the other one. By turning
the crystal around the viewer can see an

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Dragon 63

entire 360 degrees, just as if he or she

were standing where the second crystal
lies. The system works both ways, allow¬
ing a creature holding the second crystal
to see the original viewer. Creatures with
infravision can see infravisually through
the crystals.

3: A lens-shaped crystal that allows

anyone looking through it to detect invis¬
ibility as per the second-level magic-
user spell.

4: Anyone besides the owner of the

pouch who holds this 3-inch-diameter
crystal becomes magically imprisoned
inside it, but suffers no other ill effects.
The imprisonment lasts until the crystal
disappears of its own accord when a new
item appears in the pouch.

5: This irregularly shaped crystal be¬

gins to glow with a blue light whenever
hostile or potentially hostile creatures
are within 5”, and glows more brightly as
the hostile creatures get nearer. It also
detects such creatures as trappers, lurk-
ers above, and piercers.

6: A Crystal Ball, but this one is only 3

inches in diameter and is usable by the
owner of the pouch, regardless of his or
her class.

7: Also a Crystal Ball as (6) above, but

this item is usable by any character.
However, if anyone but the owner of the
pouch views a hostile creature through
the crystal for 2-5 (number changes
on each use) rounds, the viewer is tele¬
ported to the place that was being

viewed. The crystal is not teleported.

8: A marvelous crystal that is hollow

and contains small white flakes and a
clear, colorless liquid. Shaking it causes
the flakes within to swirl in patterns
wondrous to behold.

Table D: Rocks (roll d8)

1: A small stone with a word of com¬

mand written on it. When the word of
command is spoken within 3” of the
stone, it grows into a 10-foot-diameter
boulder in 1 segment. Speaking the word
of command a second time causes it to
shrink back to normal size. The boulder
will not reach full size in an area less than
10 feet wide or 10 feet high. Characters
and creatures can be trapped and im¬
mobilized by the expanding stone, but it
will not enlarge enough to cause them
actual damage if they are so trapped.

2: A pebble which turns into a Stone of

Controlling Earth Elementals.

3: A Stone of Good Luck (Luckstone).

4: A Stone of Weight (Loadstone),

which will appear to be a Luckstone.

5: A Brick of Flying, which if thrown

hard will fly through the air.

6: A large hollow stone that rattles if

shaken. Breaking it open reveals 2-5
loun Stones inside.

7: A triangular piece of stone that

glows with a purple light. Once the stone
is touched by anyone but the owner of
the pouch, the toucher cannot be rid of it
until a Remove Curse, Dispel Evil, or

Wish spell is used, or until the stone dis¬

appears. The stone imparts 50% magic
resistance to the holder, allows regener¬
ation of lost hit points at 3 points per
round, and effectively, blinds the holder
to the sight of any living and animate
creatures, making the holder -4 “to hit”
and damage (plus all other appropriate
penalties for blindness). This blindness
does not extend to non-living creatures
such as undead or inanimate living things
such as trees and plant life.

8: A stone that clings to iron or steel by

means of a mysterious unseen force.

Table E: Figurines (roll d8)

1: A golden lion (just one); see Figu¬

rines of Wondrous Power.

2: An onyx dog.

3: A serpentine owl.

4: An ivory goat (one, selected at

random).

5: A marble elephant.

6: A bronze figurine of a warrior with a

word of command written on the under¬
side of its base. When the word of com¬
mand is spoken, the figurine becomes a
real warrior that serves the owner for up
to 3 turns once each day. The bronze
warrior has the following statistics: AC
-2, 40 hit points, 6th-level fighter, 18(01)
strength, 18 dexterity. The warrior uses a
+1 composite shortbow, twenty +1 ar¬
rows, a +1 longsword, and a Javelin of
Piercing. None of these items are magi¬
cal in the hands of other characters.

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7: A jade sculpture of a palace. One

turn after being drawn from the pouch
the figurine starts growing, doubling in
size each round until it becomes a real
palace, 200 feet on a side and 100 feet tall
at its apex. It will crush other structures
or objects out of the way as it grows, but
it will not grow while the sculpture is
underground.

8: A limestone figurine of a leprechaun,

which immediately animates into a real
leprechaun when drawn from the pouch.
The leprechaun will plague the pouch
owner and only the owner for the rest of
the day, attempting to steal the pouch at
every opportunity (without bringing phy¬
sical harm to the owner). If the lepre¬
chaun is able to steal the pouch, the
owner must catch the leprechaun within
the same day (automatically retrieving
the pouch in the act of catching the le¬
prechaun), or both the pouch and the
leprechaun will disappear. The lepre¬
chaun disappears at the end of the day in
any event.

Table F: Vials (roll d8)

1: A small ceramic vial that is able to

hold up to 10 gallons of any liquid with¬
out increasing in size or weight. It draws
or pours at the rate of 1 gallon per seg¬
ment, but if the vial is broken the entire
contents of the vial are instantly released.

2: A bottle with a label that says “Po¬

tion of—”. A stylus covered, with
ink is tied to the side of the bottle. If the

stylus is used to fill in the blank, the con¬

tents of the vial become the potion named
on the label. Until then, the vial contains
poison.

3: When this opaque vial is opened, the

one who opened it (including the owner
of the pouch) instantly assumes gaseous
form and is sucked inside the vial. The
vial then reseals itself and flies back into
the pouch. The victim can be released if
a character reaches into the pouch,
withdraws the vial, and reopens it. The
trapping and releasing powers of the vial
will work alternately in this fashion until
the item is destroyed or disappears.

4: An iron Flask which will not be

empty.

5: An Eversmoking Bottle.

6: A “wheezing bottle” that sucks air or

any gas in and out on alternate rounds,
with a capacity each time of 125 cubic
feet. If the bottle is stoppered at the right
moment, it can be used to store a gas for
release at a later time.

7: A vial containing a potion that will

effectively raise any character 2 levels of
experience for 1 day, with appropriate
increases in abilities.

8: A vial holding a potion that causes

the imbiber to regenerate 1 hit point per
turn, even after apparent death, for 1
day. The regeneration does not extend
to magical attack forms that cause death
without doing hit-point damage, such as
the druid Finger of Death spell; the cleric
spell Destruction (reverse of Reincarna¬

tion); or the magic-user spell Power

Word, Kill, to name a few.

Table G: Miniature weapons (roll dIO)

All miniature weapons will enlarge to

the full size of a normal weapon of the
type within 1 round after being drawn
from the pouch, unless the item’s de¬
scription indicates otherwise.

1: This miniature boomerang grows

into a full-sized boomerang. This wea¬
pon is usable outdoors or in large open
spaces only (minimum range 3”, maxi¬
mum 10”). It always hits, does 2-5 points
of damage, and returns to the hand of the
thrower on the round after each hit.

2: A small net that enlarges into Zad-

ron’s Net of Apprehending, a special
version of the Net of Entrapment. It has
an intelligence of 25 and an ego of 20,
like a magic sword, and victims’ saving
throws are at -4. Its purpose is to capture
thieves; when this net is thrown on a thief
the captured thief is instantly teleported
to the nearest jail interested in the thief.
If the gains control of the owner of the
pouch or the owner of the net (if it is
given away), it will force that person to
use the net against any thief encoun¬
tered (possibly another party member).

3: A small arrow that enlarges into an

apparently normal arrow. When fired,
this arrow will never miss (although it
may not hit the intended target) if a
target is in range, and if it comes to a
corner it will turn 90 degrees and con-
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tinue on its way, hitting the first charac¬
ter or creature it contacts and doing 4-9
points of damage. 50% of these arrows
turn right, 50% turn left. The arrow will
continue turning corners to the limit of
its range, until it hits something or can
go no further.

4: A tiny catapult with a command

word written on it. When the command
word is spoken, the model becomes a
full-size heavy catapult. Speaking the
word a second time reduces the catapult
to a miniature again. This process can be
repeated.

5: A small hammer that enlarges into a

Hammer +3, Dwarven Thrower.

6: A Sling of Seeking +2, seven +2 sling

bullets, and one sling bullet that ex¬
plodes as a 5-dice fireball, as the spell,
on impact.

7: A small sword that becomes a Sword

of Dancing.

8: A small sword that becomes a +1

Luck Blade with 2 wishes. The wishes
cannot be used for selfish purposes, or
else the sword will disappear and a new
object will appear in the pouch.

9: A+1 sword with disarming ability; an

opponent must save vs. magic when hit
or drop his/her/its weapon. An opponent
that has already lost its weapon must
save or lose its shield. Unarmed oppo¬
nents or those using natural weaponry
are not affected.

10: A club that polymorphs its wielder

into an ogre (no system shock roll re¬

quired) for as long as the club is held.

The wielder always retains his or her
original personality. The ogre has the
character’s hit points, or 33 hit points,
whichever is greater. The club is a +1
weapon that does 2-11 points of dam¬
age. The polymorphed character attacks
as an ogre if it has 33 hit points or less,
and attacks as the normal character
would if it has more than 33 hit points.

Table H: Bags (roll dIO)

1: A Bag of Holding.
2: A Bag of Tricks.

3: A Bag of Useful Items, similar to a

Robe of Useful Items, but the bag is usa¬
ble by any class, and the items within are
miniatures, easily recognizable, that be¬
come the real items when desired.

4: A bag, brown in color, that contains

two sandwiches, an apple, and a cookie.

5: A small sack that is found to contain

a small sack. That small sack is also
found to contain a small sack, and so on,
ad infinitum.

6: A Bag of Devouring.

7: A magic bag that no one but a dwarf

can open. It contains what appears to be
a worn-out leather belt, two rusty gaunt¬
lets, a cheap blacksmith’s hammer, and a
scroll on which are written the letters
“DEEHNRRTU.” When these letters are
rearranged, they spell “THUNDERER,”
the name of the hammer. When this
name is spoken, the hammer becomes a
Hammer of Thunderbolts, the gauntlets

become Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and

the belt a Girdle of Hill Giant Strength. If
this item is drawn a second time the
name of the hammer will be different,
and of course scrambled as well.

8: A bag containing a suit of invisible

clothing. Anyone wearing the clothing is
made invisible as per a Ring of Invisibili¬
ty, but this effect is limited to persons
and creatures acquainted with the wear¬
er. To strangers, only the clothes are in¬
visible, not the wearer. Naturally, the
magic clothing does not work if the
wearer also wears non-magical clothing
underneath.

9: This bag is found to contain trea¬

sure. This is because it is a Bucknard’s
Everfull Purse. The money found in the
purse, as well as any money produced by
the purse later, will not disappear when a
new item appears in the pouch.

10: A bag that functions as a Bag of

Tricks until used in the presence of an
enemy. Then it becomes a Bag of Mon¬
ster Summoning; the creature it produces
will be a hostile monster which will at¬
tack the bag owner and his or her com¬
panions. The monster is selected at ran¬
dom and will be of a level corresponding
to the summoner’s level, as follows:
summoner level 1-2, monster level 1;
summoner level 3-4, monster level 2; and
so on.

Table I: Cards (roll d8)

1: A card with a picture of the area

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where the pouch owner is standing when
the card is drawn. Anyone studying the
card intently for 1 round at any time af¬
terward will be teleported, without error,
to the place pictured.

2: A card with a picture of fate holding

a balance on it. The DM rolls secretly and
determines whether the card holder (in¬
cluding the pouch owner) will be +4 or -4
on saving throws for as long as the card
is held (equal chance for either). If the
result is negative, the effects will persist
until a Wish spell is used to negate the
effect or until 2-8 weeks have elapsed,
regardless of what happens to the pouch
in the meantime.

3: A card with a picture of a red dragon

sitting on a huge pile of treasure. Writing
at the bottom of the card says, “Wish you
were here. Love, Gorgo.”

4: A card with a spell (level 2-7, of the

appropriate class) written on it, usable
by the viewer as if it were a scroll spell. If
the pouch owner is a non-spellcaster,
the card will be blank until it is given to a
spell-casting character.

5: A random card from a Deck of Many

Things. All effects and results persist af¬
ter the card disappears.

6: A blank card on which the first view¬

er other than the pouch owner is magic¬
ally imprisoned, becoming a picture on
the card. If the card is damaged or de¬
stroyed, the victim suffers appropriately.
The imprisonment lasts until a new item
appears in the pouch.

7: A set of 2-5 magic message cards.

When the command word is spoken, one
of these cards, if a message has been
written thereon, will teleport to the hand
of the one to whom the message is in¬
tended. An extra card (aside from the 2-5
message cards) is provided, containing
the command word and other appro¬
priate instructions.

8: A card stating, in prominent letters,

that the pouch owner is wanted dead or
alive by the nearest local authorities,
with a picture of the pouch owner, and
offering a 10,000 gp reward. When this
card is drawn, 100 copies of it will appear
in prominent places within a 50-mile ra¬
dius of the location where the pouch was
opened. The copies do not disappear
when a new item appears in the pouch.

Table J: Ropes and strings (roll d8)

1: A rope that allows a Rope Trick spell

to be cast with it, as a 10th level magic-
user, once per day. Usable by any class.

2: A Rope of Entanglement.

3: A Rope of Climbing.

4: A Ball of Endless String, a sphere of

string 4 inches in diameter that never
winds down to nothing no matter how
much string is drawn from it.

5: A rope which, when thrown to the

ground, animates and “dances” to the
amusement of all. Lively music from out
of nowhere accompanies the dance,
which lasts for 2-5 turns. The rope can
dance up to 3 times per day.

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6: A rope which, when stretched taut

across a doorway or corridor, takes on
the color(s) of its surroundings so as to
be 95% undetectable. When a creature
tries to step across or over it, the rope
animates and acts as though a druidic
Trip spell had been cast. One fourth
(25%) of these ropes act like a Snare
spell instead. Only the pouch owner or
the owner of the rope (if it has been given
away) can safely retrieve the rope if it is
of the latter kind.

7: This rope is unremarkable save for

the fact that it constantly levitates in a
vertical orientation, with the bottom end
staying three feet off the ground. Up to
10,000 gp weight can be tied to the rope
and supported thereby. If this limit is ex¬
ceeded, the rope sinks slowly to the
ground until the excess weight is taken
off. It requires very little effort to pull the
rope and its load along.

8: This rope appears to be a Rope of

Entanglement until it is used against
enemies. Then it will entangle the one
trying to use it (including the pouch
owner) and as many of his or her friends
as possible.

Table K: Boxes (roll d6)

All of these items are 3-inch-square

cubes of an unknown metal with a circu¬
lar red spot on one face. When the owner
of the pouch presses the spot, the magic
of the box is activated.

1: This cube acts as a limited Cube of

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Dragon 67

Force. When the red spot is pressed a

force field goes up, as follows (roll d6):
1-2, keeps out living matter; 3-4, keeps
out non-living matter; 5-6, keeps out
magic. Charges operate the same way as
with a normal cube of force. Determine
one of the three effects above the first
time the cube is used, and the cube will
perform the same way thereafter.

2: A Cube of Frost Resistance.

3: Pressing the red spot on this cube

causes it to become a 4’x2’x2’ treasure
chest on wheels. The red spot appears
on the center of the lid of the chest.
Pressing the spot a second time causes
the chest to become a large, enclosed
wagon drawn by 2 draft horses with a
4’x5’x2’ locked compartment built in.
The red spot appears on the center of the
lid of this compartment. Pressing the
spot a third time turns the wagon into a
4”x3”x1” stone cottage with a hearth,
furniture, and a built-in stone chest of
the same dimensions as the wagon
compartment with a red spot on its lid.
Pressing this spot causes the cottage to
become a small cube again. Pressing the
red spot 3 times in rapid succession will
cause this item to revert to a small cube
no matter what form it was presently in.
Any objects not originally part of the
cube, such as persons who may enter
the cottage or the wagon, are left un¬
changed and unharmed when the item
changes form. The lone exception to this
is treasure placed in the chest on wheels,
which will remain intact when other form
changes occur. Anything in the chest
moves to the compartment in the wagon,
or to the stone chest in the cottage, when

the appropriate form change occurs.

The three respective chests are wizard
locked, and only the pouch owner can
open them freely.

4: When the spot on this cube is

pressed, a set of red numerals appears
above the red spot. The numerals begin
with 10 and count down one number per
segment thereafter. Pressing the red spot
again after the first pressing resets the
count to 10, and pressing it 3 times in
rapid succession (within one segment)
makes the red numerals disappear. If
and when the count reaches zero, the
cube explodes, doing 10-60 points of
damage to all creatures within 10 feet,
half that amount to all others within 30
feet, and causing structural damage
equal to twice that caused by a Horn of
Blasting. Creatures who make their sav¬
ing throw vs. magic at -4 take half dam¬
age. The cube can be thrown, by hand or
with a sling, but will not explode prema¬
turely no matter what happens to it.

5: This “Pandora’s Box” releases 4-16

hostile monsters, all of which attack the
one who released them (including the
pouch owner) when the red spot is
pressed. The level of each monster is
selected at random by rolling d6, the re¬
sult being the level of the monster, but on
a result of 6, roll again using d8.

6: When the red spot — the “panic but¬

ton” — is pushed, all non-hostile crea¬
tures within 6” must save vs. magic at -4
or flee in panic for 3-12 rounds. This in¬
cludes the box-holder as well.

Table L: Wands (roll d8)

1: A Wand of Magic Missiles with 11-14

charges.

2 or 3: Any one of the following wands,

with 2-5 charges: Frost, Fire, Lightning,
Fear, Illumination, Polymorphing, Con¬
juration, or Paralyzation. Select a wand
at random by rolling d8.

4: One of three types (roll d6): A Wand

of Magic Detection, Enemy Detection, or
Secret Door & Trap Location, with 11-14
charges.

5: A wand that emits a Gust of Wind, as

the spell, at a cost of 1 charge. It has 2-8
charges.

6: A wand like one of the ones in (4)

above, except that it acts as a Rod of
Cancellation when its last charge is ex¬
pended, affecting all magic items within
a 5-foot radius of the wand.

7: A wand that detects life— that is, the

life force — of any creature within 3”,
including hidden or invisible creatures,
for 1 turn at a cost of 1 charge. It has 2-8
charges, It will not detect the life force of
creatures smaller than a mouse.

6: This item, Zadron’s Wand, has 11-14

charges, and performs as follows:
(wielder’s choice) for the appropriate
expenditure in charges: Wall of Force, as
the spell, for 1 charge; Mirror Wall (des¬
cribed below), for 1 charge; Disintegrate,
as the spell, for 2 charges; and Prismatic
Spray, as the spell, for 3 charges. A Mir¬
ror Wall has the same effect as the Wall
of Force spell, but creatures may freely
pass through the wall, and only crea¬
tures on the same side of the wall as the
spellcaster (wand wielder) can see it.
Creatures on the other side, which is a
mirror, see themselves. Magic cannot
pass through the wall in either direction.

There’s more where this came from!

Unfortunately, most back issues of DRAGON™ Magazine

are sold out. Issues still in stock include #48, #49, #50, and
#52 through #61. If you’ve searched in vain for a special
article from one of our early issues, our BEST OF DRAGON™
volumes may fill your need. These offerings, as well as THE
FINIEOUS TREASURY™ collection and DRAGONTALES™
fiction anthology, are priced at $4.50 each.

Our 1983 REALMS OF WONDER Calendar, featuring the

paintings of renowned fantasy artist Tim Hildebrandt, is
available now for $8.00.

To order a subscription to DRAGON Magazine, or any

other merchandise, fill out this form and send it with your
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68 June 1982

Can’t get enough of those Pocket Games from TASK FORCE? Well, never fear!
The spring and summer releases from TASK FORCE GAMES will bring you 6 more.

“Please, Sir, ^
can I have
some more?” - r

MOON BASE CLAVIUS - The First Lunar War between the

Soviet and American forces on the moon began October 28,
1996 — and raged for three days before the First Marine
Corps Specialized Battalion arrived to force the Soviets out
of the area. MOON BASE CLAVIUS is a science fiction game
for two players, and utilizes a revolutionary new combat
system to represent the effects of terrain and Nuclear
Weapons on the moon. Price: $3.95.

THE WARRIORS OF BATAK - The Bataki warriors will no

longer stand for the United Planetary Congress using the
planet Tsu, in Batak’s system, for a nuclear waste dump. And
so a fierce struggle begins for the control of Tsu. A science
fiction game for two players. Price: $4.95.

BOARDING PARTY - Robot ships known as “the

DESTRUCTORS” are seeking to eradicate all forms of life.
The colony ship Ulysses meets and disables a
DESTRUCTOR ship, but is disabled itself in the fighting. And
now the struggle for survival begins. Primarily a solitaire
game, BOARDING PARTY can also be played by two players.
Price: $4.95.
STAR FLEET BATTLES EXPANSION #2 - The long-awaited
supplement to STAR FLEET BATTLES! Expansion #2 will
include new ships, a new race, new weapons, new scenarios,
complete errata and rule changes, and much more! Price:
$5.95.

ESCAPE FROM ALTASSAR - A desperate escape attempt by

the Confederation prisoners from the Spikus Prisoner of War
Camp on Altassar. The Confederation player must use skill,
daring and evasive maneuvers to escape being devoured by
the carnivorous Spikus soldiers in their rite of Renewal. A
science fiction game for two players. Price: $4.95.

CITY STATES OF ARKLYRELL - Dwarves, Elves, Humans,

Berserkers, Rocs and Ice Worms all become locked in deadly
combat in this fantasy game for two players, to see who will
become the dominant race in the world of Arklyrell. Players
wilfcontrol different forces every game, assuring that no two
conflicts will be the same! Price: $4.95

Look for these Pocket Games in fine game and hobby stores
everywhere. Only from

TASK FORCE GAMES

The NEW FORCE in gaming.

Dragon 69

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factual dirt

THE pi MT- ST. HELENS 1 '

DRAGON

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Fifth Frontier War is

complex but cohesive

Reviewed by Tony Watson

FIFTH FRONTIER WAR is a grand

strategic science-fiction game set in the
marvelously involved future history that
Game Designers’ Workshop has created
for its TRAVELLER™ role-playing game.
Because of this tie-in, FFW is billed as
“TRAVELLER Game 4,” though one need
not be familiar with the TRAVELLER sys¬
tem. FIFTH FRONTIER WAR is a fine
game for those interested in SF gaming
on the “macro” level but who find role-
playing not to their liking.

What FIFTH FRONTIER WAR shares

with TRAVELLER is its “historical” set¬
ting, and a very good one it is. Through
the plethora of TRAVELLER play aids
and science-fiction games put out by
GDW (going back to 1977’s IMPERIUM),
a coherent and succinct body of infor¬
mation on the history, politics and eco¬
nomics of the Imperium and its neigh¬
bors has come into being. The result is a
most comprehensive and interesting
background for a series of SF games.

In a sense, FFW both draws from and

contributes to the developing future his¬
tory. The “War” of the game is the fifth
confrontation between the Zhodani Con¬
sulate and the Imperium, both sprawling
galactic empires bent on controlling the
Spinward Marches, the scene of the war.
The Zhodani-lmperial enmity and the
increasing hostile activity in the Marches
are familiar to TRAVELLER players, and
provide the political and motivational
framework for the war.

At the same time, FIFTH FRONTIER

WAR, as a game system, expands the
versatility of the setting by providing the
means and methods for conducting con¬
flict on a strategic level. TRAVELLER
and FFW are both set in the same future
context; where the former deals with ac¬
tions of individuals and conflicts on a
man-to-man scale, the latter offers squad¬
rons of starships and vast armies of
combat troops battling over dozens of
worlds. Both, however, spring from the
same future history, a testament to the
care and concern the people at GDW
have applied to backing up their SF
games with good science fiction.

FIFTH FRONTIER WAR chronicles the

Zhodani attack on the Spinward March¬
es. The map depicts portions of eight
interstellar subsectors and 146 star sys¬
tems. For each system, the starport class,
presence of a gas giant (both are impor¬
tant for refueling considerations), bases,
high population (if applicable), and
amber and red zone classifications are

given on the map. Borders between the

Zhodani Consulate, its allies the Sword
Worlds and Vargr, and the Imperium ap¬
pear in color, and important Xboat routes
are shown as well. Rimming the hexagon¬
al interstellar map is a series of square
displays corresponding to the worlds in
the respective quarter of the mapboard.
Each of these boxes gives information
on a world’s characteristics, and also
serves as a holding box for ground ar¬
mies occupying the planet.

The game has a lot of counters, 720 to

be exact, but only two-thirds of them re¬
present combat units, the remaining 240
being used to record percentage losses
to ground troops and systems defense
boats (SDBs). Starship squadrons are
depicted by counters bearing the type
(either battle, cruiser, scout, assault or
tanker), jump rating (number of hexes
the squadron can move on the map), a
refueling code (streamlined, partially
streamlined or non-streamlined), and
numerical ratings for attack, bombard¬
ment and defense. Troop counters re¬
semble those used in most historical
wargames, utilizing standard military
symbols to denote type (with some mod¬
ifications — present-day military scien¬
tists don’t have to deal with lift infantry or
jump troops). Numbers on the troop
counters indicate strength and tech lev¬
el; in addition, some units are elite, and
this is shown by a dot on the counter.

As usual, GDW has made effective use

of color to denote political affiliation, co¬
lonials and regulars, and special troops;
the Sword Worlds and Vargr, while allies
of the Zhodani, are printed in separate
colors, and the Imperial Marines, mer¬
cenaries, and Zhodani psionic troops
are all done in different colors as well.

FIFTH FRONTIER WAR has a relative¬

ly complicated sequence of play, divided
into reinforcement, movement, combat,
and plotting and reorganization phases,
which are further subdivided into steps.
Fortunately, some events, like reinforce¬
ment, do not occur every turn, and
movement, because of the plotting and
fleet rules, is relatively simple. Fortunate
indeed, for the combat phase can get
rather involved.

All movement in FFW is space move¬

ment. The TRAVELLER universe postu¬
lates a situation where the speed of
communication is linked to the speed of
travel; that is, interstellar messages move
at the speed of the carrying starship. The
effect of a communications lag like this
on the conducting of a military cam¬
paign is obvious. News of events taking
70 June 1982

place on distant planets will be weeks in

the sending. Strategy would have to be
planned on out-of-date information. To
simulate this in a game context, a plot¬
ting system was devised. Starship squad¬
rons, and any ground troops they are
carrying, are grouped into fleets, the
number of which varies for each side,
depending on the turn of the game. Only
fleets may move, their movement being
pre-plotted either four turns (for the
Zhodani) or five turns (for everyone else)
ahead of the actual move. Both sides
have counters representing admirals
who can, by virtue of their strategic abili¬
ty, modify the number of turns ahead
which their fleets must pre-plot. This
plotting system works well, capturing
the feel of a situation where each side
has limited information about the ene¬
my’s whereabouts and intentions. Move¬
ment and plotting is further complicated
by the refueling rules. After each move,
squadrons must refuel either from gas
giants, oceans, or friendly tankers or
starports. Oceans and gas giants are
more readily available than high-quality
starports, especially to the attacking
Zhodani, but non-streamlined ships take
an entire turn to refuel from such sources.

FFW shows some real imagination in

its combat systems, with an emphasis on
the plural. Within the combat phase, ship
squadrons battle other squadrons and
then any defending SDBs, followed by
bombardment of surface units and, final¬
ly, combat between ground troops. Each
type of combat is distinct from the oth¬
ers, and each of the resolution processes
(there are five Combat Results Tables)
seems particularly suited to the kind of
conflict being simulated.

Starships attack one another by total¬

ling their combat factors and rolling on

the appropriate table of the “space” CRT.
The die roll can be modified by the tacti¬
cal ratings of the commanding admirals.
Combat results are expressed in defense
factors that must be lost, and can be sat¬
isfied by reducing squadrons (flipping
the counters over) or by eliminating full-
strength or already-reduced units.

Starships attacking a system may then

have to deal with indigenous System De¬
fense Boats (non-starships used to de¬
fend a system). No counters are used to
represent SDBs; their number is recorded
in the world boxes. The two forces fire at
each other using different CRTs, with
the squadrons taking losses as in squad-
ron-to-squadron combat, and SDBs tak¬
ing percentage losses. Results can be
affected by the tech level of the SDBs
and whether they are in passive or active
mode.

This step resolved, squadrons and

SDBs may bombard enemy units on the

planet with their bombardment factors.
Losses are expressed in percentages for
the ground troops, and results can be
affected by the tech level of the target.

Finally, after attacking troops have

had a chance to land from space, surface
combat is resolved. In this step, ground
units are allocated to attack other sur¬
face units in any combination desired.
The current strength of a ground unit
depends on the losses (if any) it has tak¬
en. For example, a brigade (10 factors
normally) has a factor of 8 if it has sus¬
tained 20% losses. Formations generally
have the same combat factor regardless
of affiliation; all divisions have factors of
20 at full strength, for example. Factors
are compared to create an odds ratio.
Tech level has an important effect on
combat; the difference between tech
levels is the number of columns shifted
in the more advanced unit’s favor. Once
again, losses are measured as a percen¬
tage of the affected unit’s factors. The
die roll is subject to modifiers for hostile
environments, making combat on planets
with inhospitable atmospheres deadlier
for both sides.

Unfortunately, the precision and real¬

ism of FFW’s combat system is obtained
at a cost in time and complexity. Players
must accustom themselves to five differ¬
ent processes for resolving combat and
learn to use each efficiently. The use of
percentage losses for ground troops and
SDBs serves admirably to depict the at¬
trition of an extended campaign, but it
also tends to drag out the game, requir¬
ing players to re-calculate the current
strengths of a number of units on a
number of worlds every turn. One can
not really fault the designers (Marc Miller,
with supplemental help from John Astell
and Frank Chadwick); they have pro¬
duced a very fine game on the topic, but
it is involved to play. The four- to six-
hour playing time suggestion on the
game box seems very optimistic.

FFW has its share of chrome. The

Zhodani can station a number of Ine
Gevar guerrillas on Imperial planets, and

SMI’

Dragon 71

the secret base from Twilight’s Peak

(TRAVELLER Adventure 3) crops up,
too. The Zhodani also have psionic
Guard units (the Zhodani are ruled by a
caste of psionic nobility). The Imperium
has a Vargr mercenary admiral in its em¬
ploy, reflecting the fragmented state of
Vargr society, and there are rules to cov¬
er the black globe generators on four
Imperial squadrons.

The game is well balanced. The Zho¬

dani enjoy the advantages of surprise
and concentration, and can be expected
to seize control of a number of border
planets very early in the conflict. The

Imperial forces deployed on the map are

mostly colonials, generally not as effec¬
tive as regulars. Colonial reinforcements
from Rimward enter on turn six, and reg¬
ulars follow beginning four turns later.
By then the Imperium stands a good
chance of pushing the Zhodani back and
possibly capturing enough worlds to
win. Victory is determined by points
gained by the capture of worlds, usually
equal to the tech level of the world in
question, with subsector capitals worth
double. The game ends when one side
achieves an automatic victory by points,
or when both sides agree to an armistice.

FIFTH FRONTIER WAR is a good

game, but it may be a bit involved for
some players. It certainly succeeds in its
intention of simulating a large interstel¬
lar campaign. The game has detail and
realism. If it plays something like a his¬
torical simulation, that’s because it es¬
sentially is one, considering the meticu¬
lously prepared background the game is
drawn from.

FIFTH FRONTIER WAR retails for

$14.95, and is available at game and
hobby stores or by direct mail from
Game Designers’ Workshop, P.O. Box
1646, Bloomington IL 61701.

Free City of Haven has a life of its own

Reviewed by Arlen P. Walker

How many times have you asked your¬

self what self-respecting thief would tag
along with a bunch of would-be giant-
killers just to be graciously allowed to
risk his life by opening a chest (after first
carefully disarming half a dozen traps
that were placed there)? While a thief
might do this once or twice, he would
never make a practice of it.

Thieves are predators, and the rest of

humanity is their natural prey. So if they
want to prosper (and who doesn’t?), they
must make their lair in or near large con¬
centrations of prey: in other words, cities.

Given the above, it was only a matter of

time before the people at Gamelords,
Ltd., perpetrators of the excellent Thieves
Guild series of scenarios, would come
out with a city module.

And what a city! Haven is its name, and

such is its function. There are choice
pickings in this city for any thief in the
Empire. Twenty-five scenarios are out¬
lined in the packet — many of them ripoffs
from literature (but well done ripoffs) —
and many more lie sleeping beneath a
thin coverlet of guidelines, suggestions,
and background, waiting only for your
imagination to awaken them.

Each of the scenarios is described in

two parts: a brief paragraph or two of
players’ information and a much longer
section called GM’s Notes. The players’
section contains the common knowledge
about the scenario (correct or not) while
the GM’s section details The Truth. Most
of the scenarios will require the players
to use something besides brute force to
solve the problems they face.

But if you purchase Haven expecting

only a passive backdrop for these scena¬
rios, you’ll be sadly mistaken. Moreso
than any city I’ve ever played in, Haven is
alive. Its inhabitants are not mere NPC’s,
but real people, with lives, plans, and
secrets of their own. Its business estab¬
lishments are completely detailed, from
hours of operation to regular customers,
from the personality of the owner to
where he keeps his cashbox.

Events in Haven will run their own

course. The players will be able to speed
them up somewhat, or perhaps redirect
them slightly, but rarely stop them en¬
tirely. Which is, after all, as it should be
—a city has much more momentum than
any small group of vagabonds.

Haven’s aristocracy is not merely list¬

ed and given wondrous power. These
favored few are given detailed histories,
dreams to be realized, and weaknesses
to be preyed upon. There are no invinci¬
ble rulers in Haven, only a group of so¬
cially powerful men with sometimes ir¬
reconcilable differences, giving birth to
the political intrigue which is a fact of life
in virtually any city.

Information on the shops and deni¬

zens of Haven is not presented in a fash¬
ion conducive to on-the-spot reference.
The statistics are all bunched in an ap¬
pendix, with no clues therein as to where
the detailed descriptions for each char¬
acter are located in the main text. The
NPC descriptions precede the descrip¬
tion of the borough each frequents, but
an NPC’s probability of being in any giv¬
en place at any given time can only be
found in the description of the place, not
in the description of the character.

While some would consider this form

of organization a disadvantage, there is a
(perhaps hidden) advantage to it. This
approach forces anyone who would
referee an adventure in Haven to com¬
pletely read the material beforehand, to
become familiar with the whole cloth
from which the scene was cut. Ultimate¬
ly, this can only add to the enjoyment of
the players.

The Free City of Haven is sold as a

complete package with “eleven detailed
neighborhood maps.” The narrative cov¬
ers all of the city, but on the inside cover
we find it takes 36 of those “neighbor¬
hood maps” to cover the city. Where are
the other 25? In the introduction (page
IV) preceding the narrative, in small
print, is an announcement about two
more “major volumes” to come. Unfor¬
tunately, mention of those volumes was
left out of not only the description on the

back of the package, but all of Game-

lords’ catalog notices as well. I laid out
my hard-earned money for a complete
city, and received only one-third of one.

If Gamelords intended to produce two

more volumes of Haven when this one
was written, why didn’t the company in¬
form prospective buyers of that? One
cannot help but wonder how many “mi¬
nor” volumes might be needed to com¬
plete the three “major” ones. It is easy to
see how a detailed description of a city
like this one could require a sizable cash
outlay in order to get all the parts.

It has long been a principle of mine

that I neither buy any more products
from, nor encourage anyone else to buy
from, a company I feel to have deceived
me in such a way. I resent “snequels” as
a low-class way to hook future sales onto
today’s products, and consider them to
be nothing better than a literary bait-
and-switch game. Yet... Gamelords pro¬
duces consistently worthwhile products,
and Haven is no exception. Maybe it’s
time to, as they say, rethink my position.

To be sure, Haven is playable. Howev¬

er, from a practical standpoint, the large,
rather cumbersome overall map of the
city is difficult to use in the confined
spaces of dorm rooms or tiny apart¬
ments. Also, a path on detailed neigh¬
borhood map XIX vanishes into the river
of adjoining neighborhood map XX.

In the back-of-package blurb, Game-

lords calls Haven “the biggest and best
fantasy city ever published.” But by what
measure? In terms of land area or popu¬
lation, it seems Haven must still bow to
Jakalla, and in terms of the level of power
of its denizens, to the City-State of the
World-Emperor. But by virtue of the
sheer volume of description, Gamelords’
claim is right: Haven is “the biggest.”

And, even considering the objections

mentioned above, the second part of the
claim is indisputable: The Free City of
Haven is indeed “the best.”

The package has a retail price of $14.95

and can be found in game stores or or¬
dered from Gamelords Ltd., 18616 Gros¬
beak Terrace, Gaithersburg MD 20879.

72 June 1982

. AT THESE FANTASTIC STORES: ■

ARKANSAS
House of Hobbies
3408 S. University
Little Rock, AR 72204
(501) 562-8230
CALIFORNIA
Games of Berkeley
2110 Addison St.
Berkeley, CA 94704
(415) 843-9436
CONNECTICUT
War and Pieces
7 S. Main

West Hartford, CT 06107

(203) 232-0608
FLORIDA
Gateway Books
7909 Gateway Mall
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
(813) 577-5888
Koby’s Korner
110 Palafox Place
Pensacola, FL 32501
(904) 434-7606
ILLINOIS

Beyer’s Hobby Shop

236 Main St.

Woodstock, IL 60098
(815) 338-1640
Compleat Gamer
303 S. Rohlwing
Palatine, IL 60067
(312) 934-0020
Devon Hobby
Models, Inc.

2358 W. Devon
Chicago, IL 60659
(312) 262-2136
Gamer’s Paradise *3
445 E. Palatine Rd.
Arlington Hts., IL 60004
(312) 577-7586
Hobby Chest
8808 Bronx
Skokie, IL 60077
(312) 675-4811
Page One Bookstore
259 East Irving Park
Roselle, IL 60172
(312) 529-9060
INDIANA
ABC Hobbycraft
2155 E. Morgan Ave.
Evansville, IN 47711
(812) 477-9661

MISSOURI

Hobby House

Des Peres Hobby Shop

1720 E. Main

12011 Manchester

Richmond, IN 47374
(317) 962-1815

Des Peres, MO 63131

(314) 966-5393

IOWA

The Dragon’s Lair

Anuvin Fantasy Books

5 S. Old Orchard

& Games

St. Louis, MO 63119

2315 University

(314) 968-3360

Des Moines, IA 50311

Rock Bottom Books

(515) 274-2521

& Comics

Toy Store

21-A N. 9th St.

305 E. 2nd St.

Columbia, MO 65201

Muscatine, IA 52761

(314) 443-0113

(319) 263-4181

Yankee Doodle Game

KANSAS

& Hobby

J’s Hobby Haven

Indian Springs

Shopping Ctr.

6831 Longview Rd.

Kansas City, MO 64134

(816) 761-1113

4601 State Ave.

MONTANA

Kansas City, KS 66102

Hobble Shoppe

(913) 287-3030

Southgate Mall

King’s Crown

Missoula, MT 59801

6860 W. 105th St.

(406) 728-8292

Metcalf Shopping Ctr.

NEBRASKA

Overland Park, KS 66212

Star Realm

(913) 341-6619

10801 “Q” St.

LOUISIANA

Omaha, NE 68137

Game Shop

(402) 331-4844

3340 Highland Rd.

NEW JERSEY

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Game Master, LTD.

(504) 387-6886

Village Mall

MAINE

(Lower Level)

Gamekeeper, Inc.

Bergen Mail Shopping

18 Broad St.
Center

Bangor, ME 04401

Paramus, NJ 07652

(207) 947-8806

(201) 843-3308

H.C. Leathercraft

NEW YORK

Downtown Mall

Campaign HQ

Caribou, ME 04736

296 Driving Park Ave.

(207) 492-1521

Rochester, NY 14613

MASSACHUSETTS

(716) 254-5897

Games People Play

Hobby Hut

1105 Massachusetts Ave.

2835 Nostrand

Cambridge, MA 02138

Brooklyn, NY 11229

(617) 492-0711

(212) 338-2554

Spare Time Shop

Quest’s End

224 E. Main St.

220 The Commons

Marlborough, MA 01752

Ithaca, NY 14850
(617) 481-5786

(607) 272-5186

MICHIGAN

NORTH CAROLINA

Gamer's Guild

Newsstand International

430 Sluyter SE

Province Square

Kentwood, MI 49508

Shopping Center

(616) 531-6372

Charlotte, NC 28211
(704) 365-0910

OHIO

Drowsy Dragon

34 Maplewood Ave.
Columbus, OH 43213
(614) 231-8534
Enchantment, Inc.

853 E. Franklin St.

Centerville, OH 45459
(513) 439-3956
Hall’s Hobbies
3150 S. Hamilton
Columbus, OH 43227
(614) 864-6464
Monkeys Retreat
2400 N. High St.

Columbus, OH 43202
(614) 262-9511
OKLAHOMA

Great Plains Hobby Shop

1218 N. Sherman
Lawton, OK 73505
(405) 248-3772
OREGON

The Military Corner

2725 E. Broadway
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 287-6088
PENNSYLVANIA
Flight Box

Lancaster Shopping Ctr.

Lancaster, PA 17601
(717) 291-2136
The Game Store
342 E. College
State College, PA 16801
(814) 234-5151
RHODE ISLAND
Hobby Hut
7442 Post Road
N. Kingstown, RI 02852

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Dragon 73

Off the Shelf

REVENGE OF THE HORSECLANS —

Robert Adams
Signet Books — $2.50
0-451-11431-0

Robert Adams’ Horseclans novels are

always a good bet for searing action and
well-paced, intelligent sword and sci¬
ence. This latest adventure, Revenge of
the Horseclans, is one of the best yet.

The story starts with a call to battle.

The Thoheeks of Morguhn is dying, and
his eldest son Bili is summoned home
from soldiering to claim his throne.

Members of the noble houses and the

priesthood, who feel the lands the Horse¬
clans hold are rightfully theirs, try to en¬
gineer rebellions before Bili even ac¬
cepts his inheritance. Bili decides to
fight, and the result is a story of the heart¬
iest pulp stock. Adams is a true master of
this type of story, which springs from the
storehouse of story lines which made
characters such as Howard’s Conan and
Burroughs John Carter the reoccurable
heroes they were. Although he might not
be able to make women’s hearts throb
with torch-lit romances if he were to
switch fields, there should be little need
for him to bother. He has carved out a
sizable audience for himself with his fan¬
tasy novels, one that shouldn’t desert
him for many a year to come.

RITE OF PASSAGE — Alexei Panshin

Pocket/Timescape Books — $2.50
0-671-44068-3

The year is 2198; Earth is long dead

from nuclear wars. Humans survive only
74 June 1982

on colonies and in the gigantic transport

ships that took them from the planet.

The agrarian life of the colonies is

harsh and primitive, and they are denied
most of the science that keeps ship life
fairly comfortable. Scientific knowledge
is the ships’ only bartering tool for raw
materials and so, it is dealt out slowly.
The colonies resent this; the Ship dwel¬
lers resent the colonies, etc.

Everyone who lives aboard the ships

must survive for a month on the surface
of one of the colony worlds. This keeps
the populations of the Ships from getting
too big, as well as weeds out the un¬
healthy, unimaginative, and unlucky. The
hero of the book, Mia, is none of these
things. She is a normal, healthy, intelli¬
gent young woman, trying to get on with
the business of growing up. Although
her home reality might be quite different
from that of most teenagers today, her

problems, and the problems of those

around her, are things that happen every
day, and have for as long as people have
gathered in groups larger than three.

The beauty of Rite of Passage is that

none of these things are trumped up; this
is not a teenage-exploitation novel, glar¬
ingly written to fan the flames of some
current adolescent problem. This is a
book about sensible, normal, typical
youngsters growing up. Not out to shock
or educate, but merely to entertain, Pan¬
shin has created a totally lived-in world,
and populated it with real, understand¬
able people. We can identify readily with
the feelings of the people in this book; it
isn’t hard. All one needs a memory.

WAR OF OMISSION —
Kevin O’Donnell, Jr.
BANTAM BOOKS — $2.75
0-553-20281-2

In Kevin O’Donnell’s future, there is a

revolution in the United States. The re¬
volt comes about not because of physi¬
cal atrocities, human rights, or depriva¬
tion, but is born from too much control.

The government has its hands into ev¬

erything. Taxes are absolutely to the lim¬
it. Government agencies tell the people
how to do everything, from how to heat
their homes, to how to paint the rooms
inside them. The revolution is one of the
middle class, of ordinary people fed up
with the bureaucracy and interference
all around them. It is also a revolution
which has an unstoppable weapon—the
Tisser.

Short for Time-Space Separation Unit,

the Tisser is a device which wipes out
chunks of space-time, then knits the
edges of reality back together, leaving
no memory of the places, people, or
things that vanished.

War of Omission is a frightful book. It

is a story of people pushed to the wall,
and what they do to protect their individ¬
ual rights. It also shows how easily life in
this country could be brought to a grind¬
ing halt if the delicate balance of supp¬
lies, pipelines, power cables, and other
systems are disrupted. O’Donnell pulls
no punches; he shows the world fairly
—good and bad people on both sides.
He is honest in his appraisal of what it
would take to get the government “off
people’s backs,” and what kinds of sacri¬
fices and dangers are involved in such a
move.
Daw Books — $2.25 0-87997-716-7

Jack Vance’s name doesn’t come to

most science fiction fans’ minds as
quickly as some of the stars of the genre
— Larry Niven, Arthur C. Clarke, or Isaac
Asimov, for example.

DAW Books attempted to change this

over the past year, releasing a number of
Vance’s earlier works. The Gray Prince,
which combines sword and sorcery with
old-style pulp science fiction, is a highly
entertaining novel that holds up as well
today as it did when first published a
decade ago.

The book tells of the return of Schaine

Madduc to her home planet of Kory-
phon. When she left five years earlier, the
several intelligent species who lived on
Koryphon did so in relative harmony;
upon her return, she finds them locked in
bloody turmoil. Moreover, the leader of
the revolution, the Gray Prince, is an
alien fostered in her own household as a
child. Schaine must work desperately to
undo damage she inadvertently did; while
her home world is torn apart around her.

Vance’s expertise as a story-teller

shows through in this one at a level some
technical science fiction writers can only
dream of obtaining.

THE NAPOLEONS OF ERIDANUS

Pierre Barbet

Translated by Stanley Hochman

DAW BOOKS — $2.25
0-87997-791-1

The idea of aliens and humans inter¬

acting and destroying one another is
certainly not new. The idea of aliens
coming to earth and kidnapping humans
for some purpose is not new either.

So what makes Barbet’s The Napo¬

leons of Eridanus so original? His light
spirit of adventure. If he needs a machine,
he invents one. His science is not as
good as Jules Verne’s, but his stories
are. In Napoleons, a handful of the little
corporal’s veterans, fleeing Moscow’s
snows in 1812, are kidnapped by the For-
truns. These aliens created a paradise
for themselves and are too busy having
fun to bother to defend it. In fact, it’s
been so long since the last Fortrun had
to defend himself in any way, that they
simply forgot how. The solution: Get a
handful of crazy savage humans to lead
robots into glorious combat.

With nice surprises in the ending, and

an enjoyable, although somewhat card¬
board, cast of characters, this one de¬
serves attention.

THE WARLOCK UNLOCKED

Christopher Stasheff
ACE BOOKS — $2.75
0-441-87325-1

When Christopher Stasheff wrote The

Warlock in Spite of Himself, everyone
wondered what he’d for an encore.
Wonder no more: The Warlock Unlocked
is the perfect sequel. Filled with Sta-
sheff’s own amusing brand of sword and
sorcery and science fiction, this book is
funfilled, exciting and amusing.

A long time in the future, the Pope

receives a letter from the official Vatican
archives. It has been kept in the Vatican
for a thousand years, waiting to be deli¬
vered to the proper pope on the proper
date. When the pope (it is addressed to
the correct pontiff even though it is a
thousand years old) opens it, he finds
the following message: “On September
11, 3059 (Terran Standard Time), a man
named Rod Gallowglass will begin learn¬
ing that he is the most powerful wizard
born since the birth of Christ. He dwells
on a planet known to its inhabitants as
‘Gramarye’ ” — and nothing more.

The note sends the holy city’s trouble¬

shooter, Father Aloysius Uwell, to Gra¬
marye to find Rod Gallowglass, and also
to discover just what is going on. What
Father Al finds is a planet founded by the
S.C.A., along with witches and warlocks
that make up one of the year’s best.
AVAILABLE

TOME OF
MIGHTY MAGIC"

A SET OF TOTALLY NEW

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ROLE-PLAYING GAMES!

By North Pole Publications. fnc.

This book brings you over £70 uni¬
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Dragon 75

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Dragon 79
And guns who stars ai die
mow? monster WAsaryofsto
Ullfcieffl monsteis Mure ir yT_>u
ha# ihe dtsk version
Vuu can rprrrwp and destroy
four of the world's largest and
mostrtrnsefy populated cities in
mfr ICO possible scenarios
Rum IcfcyD to the Golden Gate,
you pic the deadest creature ii i
-.1 ie fir. on the (and. or in the sea
Vou can be The deadly anv
phman who omtittanmnsly
gnashes street rap., lunches on
neipless hi .ittvots and radiates. a
ray nf death
If you were a gianr wjntjfld
CTPatiaip, thirtt r.f the aerial
attacks you could ma&e on the
ICTificd but tasty tidbits beneath
you.

But as in an tt¥ host moriiw

■nonies. )Ou're up against e#iy-
inng m° human race can Throw
ar you—even nuclear warheads
and a strange concomnn devef-
oped by a team of mad scientists
For anty $?9 95 you get f, stu¬
pendous monster;, each with rt.s
own monstrous summary card,
< teeming jnetrupoli dispfjicd in
grduht detail on you* computer
display and mapped In the
MTOni|»nyiog 4ts-pagp Klusiirac-

ed bock the aic^some sounds or

mpnsteriy mayhem, arri spide¬

ring in;]. reaHime. edgeor-your-
wai p/orenienr

GET CRUSH, CRUMBLE & CHOMP

now at your local dealer for your APPLE, ATARI

or TRS-80 .. before it's too late.

Authentic Dungeon Masters prefer

Grenadier’s authentic fantasy figures.

it's just one more good reason why your miniatures should he Grenadier
Models' ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS™ official fantasy
figures. Ask for them at your local game or hobby store.

Grenadier Models, Inc. Box 305, Springfield, pa iw64

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