This Issue of Credits

Editor: Matt Finch

Cover Artist: Pete Mullen
Designer/Compositor: James D. Kramer
Interior Artists: G.R. Hager, John Bingham, John Larrey,
Michael Cote, Brian DeClercq, Gabor Lux, Matt Finch,
magazine: Kenneth Seward

1
Editor’s Note Matt Finch
Editor’s Note
2 Outnumbered but Tough: Musings of a Girl Gamer “Spike” by Matt Finch

2
From Kuroth’s Quill #3 Allan T. Grohe, Jr. I always seem to start the editor’s note by say-
6
Pulp Heroes and the Colors of Magic “Akrasia” ing, “a lot has happened.” Well, it’s true, so …
A lot has happened in Old School gaming since
9
Chariot Racing John Vogel the Spring Issue of Knockspell. The Swords &
13Blame it on the Players: an Editorial Tim Kask Wizardry Core Rules (retro-clone of the 0e

14
When Ink Hits the Paper
edition 1974-1977) won an ENnie Award at
GenCon; many Old School gamers gathered at
15Swords & Wizardry: Silver ENnie Award Winner the North Texas RPG Con (NTRPGcon) with

15
About the Authors
such gaming celebrities as Frank Mentzer, Rob
Kuntz, Paul Jaquays, Tim Kask, Dennis Sustare,
16 Black Armour, Black Heart: the Anti-Paladin Scot Hoover and others; and my magic user, Wethimyr,
20
The Font of Glee Jason Sholtis reached second level. Dan Proctor of Goblinoid
Games has published a new printing of
29
The City of Vultures Gabor Lux Labyrinth Lord (retro-clone of Moldvay Basic,
34Random Wilderness Events Joshua James Gervais the 1981 red book) with all-new art, and at
least one issue of Fight On! has come out.
34
Contest Details James Raggi, blogmaster of Lamentations of
35
Random Ruin Generator Robert Lionheart the Flame Princess, has started publishing
adventures in small booklet form, notably
39 Labyrinth Tomb of the Minotaur Lord R. Lawrence Blake Death Frost Doom, which sold out at Noble
46 The Planes: Playgrounds of the Rich and Powerful Jon Hershberger Knight games — Noble Knight, by the way, is an

49
New Tricks and Traps
excellent internet source for out of print gam-
ing materials.
50
New Magic Items We’ve got a major announcement in this issue,
52
Beginner’s Bestiary Andrew Trent if you haven’t already seen it on the internet.
Center Stage Miniatures will be running a con-
53
New Monsters test for Knockspell readers. If you’ve ever
56
The Tower of Mouths Matt Finch dreamed of seeing one of your fiendishly cool

63
Classified Ads
new monsters sculpted in metal as a minia-
ture, now you’ve got the chance! (Details on
64
Legal Material page 34.)
Just a note to anyone who’s new to the maga-
zine; most of the stats included in the maga-
zine use the Swords & Wizardry (1974 edition
retro-clone) format, which can be used without
any changes in First Edition (or the OSRIC
retro-clone of 1e) and Second Edition. They’re
also so close to the stats of Moldvay Basic and
its retro-clones Labyrinth Lord and Basic
Fantasy Roleplaying Game that they can be
used on the fly with these games. Some of the
material is also specific to OSRIC, First Edition,
Labyrinth Lord, etc., but all these games are so
similar that any referee should be able to han-
dle it without his/her head exploding.
Basically, if you play any edition before third,
Trademark Disclaimer you’ll be able to figure out the stat blocks.
D&D, AD&D, Dungeon Master, DMG, and DM are all trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc, which is
— Matt Finch
not affiliated in any way with this magazine. No claim is made to such trademarks or any other trademarks
appearing herein. Any discussion of the games underlying these trademarks is in a historical or analytical
context, and should not be construed to indicate compatibility or use of the trademark in connection
with material licensed under the Open Game License.
Labyrinth Lord is a trademark of Dan Proctor, and is not affiliated with this magazine.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    1

Outnumbered but Tough
Musings of a Girl Gamer

“
by ‘Spike’

Do you know how lucky you are?” the owner of one par- thirty years and has amassed a large collection of minis for almost
ticular game store asked my husband as he was ringing up every period in history. I, on the other hand, have decided to
a purchase. The man was rather surprised that the bag of specialize. I paint orcs. For whatever reason, just about every
metal miniature World War II tanks was not for my husband, game that includes orcs demands somewhere between more-
but for me. He went on to tell us that most of his customers than-enough and too-darn-many in order to be played correctly.
have given him instructions that if the Missus should call, to Occasionally, a household border dispute occurs when the battle
tell her, “I’ve not seen him in weeks.” It seems that women who of Waterloo is interrupted by a company of orc spearmen who
tolerate the habits of gamer-guys are a rare breed, and women have lost their way, but for the trade-off, both of us always have
who game right along with their guys are even rarer. somebody close by to paint and game with.
But I am not the kind of girl who comes along just to be As for role playing and in-character f lirtation, I freely
sure he isn’t having too much fun either. It is a hobby I have come admit guilt. But in my defense, it has always been with one of
to love, ever since we were dating and I got my first look at dice my husband’s characters. Yes I am aware that too much of that
that had more (or less) than six sides. At the time I was pretty sort of thing can turn a great game into a soap opera, but to
skeptical about why he had so many different ones. I have since further my defense, I will let my record speak for itself. Only
grown wiser. One can never have too many dice, sheets of graph one PC has ever reached significant-other status. Two others
paper, bits of packaging material that sort-of look like buildings, never made it past the holding-hands stage, and all of the rest
or books about weapons and armor. The fact that we both share ran into the sorts of issues that arise when one is a human wizard
most of our gaming material probably saves this household a few and the other is a half-orc barbarian.
hundred dollars a year....which to nobody’s surprise gets rolled To be honest, it is I who am the lucky one. I have a fun outlet
right back into next year’s gaming-clutter budget. for my creativity, a solid circle of like-minded friends who treat me
While we both are gamers, my husband has spent most of like one of the guys, and a spouse who is willing to put up with
his time collecting historical games and models, while I prefer my eccentricities...including too-darn-many orcs.
the fantasy genre. He has been painting miniatures for at least

,
From Kuroth s Quill # 03
“
by Allan T. Grohe Jr. (grodog)

From Kuroth’s Quill” is my regular Knockspell design travel and truenames, with tesseracts and teleporta-
column covering the elements of adventure design (and tion; the mastery of the magical traits that define planar
more specifically dungeon design, given my interest in portals, including how to ‘wrack them to your own pur-
that topic). I will also wander through the design of spells and poses; fissuring the gatetrace of a fleeing archmage to fol-
magic items; monsters, traps, tricks, and treasures; PC and NPC low and slay him within his own sanctum — these are
classes; planes and pantheons; and likely other topics as well. In the foundations upon which a demonologist builds her
the articles, I hope to provide practical examples that will be empire. For without gates there are no summonings.
useful in campaign play, to show theory in action. — The Witch of Perrenland, The Demonomicon

The Theory and Use of Gates A Quick Preface

in Campaign Dungeons, Part 1: If you have a copy of Ed Greenwood’s “Theory and Use of
Setting the Stage Gates” — first published in The Dragon #37 (May 1980) and
reprinted in Best of Dragon Magazine Volume 2 (November
Prerequisite to the summoning and binding of demons
1981 and February 1986) — read that before my article that fol-
and their ilk is a deep understanding of gates and of the
lows. You don’t need to read Greenwood’s treatise first, but it sets
planes themselves. How gates inter-relate with planar
the stage for this article quite handily, hence my recommendation.

2   • No. 3, Summer 2009

To A Lesser Degree, Teleporters: choice in the matter at all, of course). In addition, gates, planar
travel, and — to a lesser degree, teleporters — are often deemed
An Introduction the exclusive purview of high-level characters; in part I think
As background history, The World of Greyhawk and Forgotten this is because gate is, in fact, one of the highest-level spells in
Realms are replete with gates and related portals, where they serve the game, but more so because few resources exist within D&D
as underpinnings that showcase the importance of gates in those to help DMs and players come to terms with these semi-obscure
campaigns, and in D&D as a whole. Castle Greyhawk is infamous elements of play. In the eyes of some, to play in campaigns with
for its portals to other planets and strange demi-planes — includ- a strong Moorcockian- or Philip-Jose-Farmerian f lavor, is, per-
ing EX1 Dungeonland and EX2 Beyond the Magic Mirror haps, to step beyond the pale of even high-fantasy D&D into a
(leading to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland); WG6 Isle of “Monty Haul” campaign, or even into another rpg altogether.
the Ape (King Kong’s Skull Island); the planets from Edgar Rice Part of the intent for this article is to provide a toolkit to fill that
Burroughs’ Mars and Venus series; Jack Vance’s Tschai from the gap — to enable gate-loving DMs and players to use gates in their
Planet of Adventure books; and Oz and Melniboné among many games, and to challenge the perception that teleporters and planar
other locales. Castle Greyhawk also features much intra- and inter- travel fall solely within the purview of high-level characters.
level teleportation as well, perhaps most-famously to Rob Kuntz’s
Bottle City on level 2 of the dungeons. The Forgotten Realms
is similarly populated with a network of worlds-spanning portals, Dissecting Gates, From the Outside In
including a multitude within, to, and from Undermountain. To begin at the beginning, in D&D a gate is a magical portal
The Forgotten Realms use of gates pushed them the closest to that whisks the PCs that enter it to another location. In general,
approaching the level of ubiquity that they hold within Farmer’s PCs won’t know the destination of a gate unless they have dis-
World of Tiers novels, but even in the ‘Realms, gates remain, for covered some information about its creators and/or its current
the most part, the purview of high-level adventurers, and little users because in-game there are few, if any, resources available
is done to explain the processes behind their creation, usage, to assist PCs with divining the nature of any magical portal.
maintenance, or destruction. Generous DMs may provide magic-users with some intelligence
I see magical portals as a spectrum that range from rope trick about a gate via detect balance, -evil or -good, detect magic, augury,
to blink, through dimension door, teleport, and plane shift, to phase identify, know alignment, divination, or true seeing, and they can
door and maze. They reach their pinnacle with gate. Thus, in my always turn to the ubiquitous last resorts of desperate informa-
corner of the multiverse, even low-level PCs have access to gate- tion seekers — bardic lore, sagely consultation, commune contact
related magics, although no spells and few magic items directly other plane, legend lore. Perhaps even spells like locate object, glassee,
deal with the structure of gates and related transportation portals. project image, and other scrying magics/devices, may allow PCs to
Gates present several logistical challenges to a Dungeon “see beyond” to the other side of a gate. What intelligence such
Master, in spite of the wonderful havoc they wreak on players magics will provide, if any, rests solely on the DM’s judgment,
(in particular the mappers), and the resultant glee that they bring and the players’ creativity. But even assuming the DM allows
to a Dungeon Master’s dark heart: teleporters can separate parties such spells to work in some manner, what information about a
within a dungeon or even scatter PCs across the planes; they gate should be provided to the players in response to such magics?
may deposit a party into extraordinarily hostile environments Most gates are presumed to operate continuously, and are
for which they are completely unprepared; and they are often reliably safe to use: they are basically Star Trek transporters
viewed a tools of DM fiat, in that PCs have little to no ability to without the occasional melt-down due to signal lock failure.
control their own destiny when it comes to gates and teleporters: These basic assumptions hold true across most editions and set-
PCs are either all-in, or all-out, with few tools to help them tings in the game, but they’re relatively useless if a DMs want
decide whether to take the plunge (assuming that they have any to run a multi-planar, worlds-spanning campaign within which
gates play a central role. Consider these scenarios:

• If gates can lead to variable destinations (a la Farmer,

Greenwood’s article, and “From Kuroth’s Quill” #1),
is there some way other than trial-and-error for PCs to
recognize such gates?
• If a gate can be trapped, can PCs detect it, and attempt
to remove it, and if so, how? — will a thief ’s Find and
Remove Traps ability function on gates? What detail will
a clerical Find Traps provide? would dispel magic to remove
a magical trap on the gate interfere with its functionality?
• When knights return from Faerie or other realms of myths
and folklore, they often age heavily during the transition —
or their age remains constant but time has advanced quickly
in their absence (often a century or more); if PCs knew of
such risks when choosing to traverse a gate, they might avoid

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    3

 it; if instead, however, they have tools to try to minimize level, for example, with the rest of the values adjusting upward
such negative effects, the possibility of success (and failure!) from there (concluding with “eroded” denoting decades or
raises the tension and the stakes in the game — especially, if centuries per level).
they are perhaps “forced” to choose to pursue a foe beyond The inner attributes of a gate are only available to the new
the gate, or to rescue a friend who fell through, or whatever. spell, identify gate (again, you will unfortunately have to wait
for the next installment for details); detect gate is not sufficient
As the usage of gates and similar transporters become more to pierce the veil of a gate’s inner workings. The attributes are:
common in a campaign world, specialized magics will be developed
to help manage them — not just to determine whether they are • Activation method(s): general details about how the gate
working properly, but to divine their destination(s), the arcane is activated — by walking through, by command phrase, by
rules that govern when they activate, and most especially to iden- proximity of some sort of key or item, by ritual, etc.; specific
tify the nefarious traps that have been created to safeguard their details beyond walking through the gate often require research
operation and usage. Providing PCs with gate-related tools gives via consultation with a sage or bard, legend lore or contact other
them a fighting chance in the face of such now-more-common plane, or similar efforts to glean the full information
challenges, and these tools make gates an easier pill to swallow, Destination(s): the caster discovers how many destina-
•
when introducing them as a new element within a campaign. tions to which the gate leads; if the gate can access more
In order to make such tools useful in a game, I’ve broken than one plane, planes will be identified from most- to
down the functionality of permanent gates and teleporters, along least-commonly traveled destinations
with some related states (trapped or not, for example) into the two
sets of properties: outer traits and inner attributes. Depending upon • Periodicity: determines if the gate is always on, or peri-
how much emphasis you want gates to occupy in your campaign, odic; a second check will determine the frequency of the
you may want to combine some of these traits, ignore others, or gate’s operative periods — every other round, once per
even collapse them all into two values (all of the inner and outer day, upon command, during the new moon, etc.; a third
properties rolled-up into one master trait, and one master attribute). check will determine the duration for the gate’s activity
Like the myriad of the planes that gates are but entry points into, cycle — always on during the full moon, one use during
you should customize these rules to suit your own preferences, a full moon, for one hour after the third person to walk
and as well as the level of detail that your players enjoy: if none through during a full moon, etc.
of your players with magic-users employ detect magic to look for • Sweetness: a measure of the discomfort that passage through
schools of magic or strengths of auras, then this sub-system as I’ve a gate causes, based on a 14 Constitution; adjust upward or
defined it is probably too much detail for them as-written. Don’t downward from Con 14 using detect gate’s intensity scale
let that stop you from using gates — just modify it and move on! to determine PC impact, if any: none (no effect; the gate
The outer traits of a gate can be divined via the new spell, is “sweet”), faint (mild dizziness), moderate (dislocation),
detect gate (which will be described in the next installment). strong (mild nausea), very strong (nausea), intense (strong
Outer traits include: pain), overwhelming (unconsciousness); each level of effect is
cumulative, and exact effects are left to the DM to adjudicate
• Intensity: a measure of the strength of a gate’s magical aura
and planar connections; detection levels are: none/inac- • Symmetry: does the gate shift travellers’ physical positions
tive, dim, faint, moderate, strong, very strong, intense, and during transit, or do they arrive in the same positions rela-
overwhelming; gates rated at strong or stronger are more- tive to one another, to the gate itself, etc.
easily detected; in general, an active gate will read with • Temporality: does the gate shift travelers forward or back-
an intensity one or two levels higher than its inactive state ward in time, or have a discernable lag during transit time
• Recency: a measure of when an inactive gate was last used; • Transit options: is the gate one-way or two-way?
detection levels are: fresh (used within 1 round/level; detects
• Traps: the caster identifies one trap on the gate, if any, along
at +50%), recent (within 1 turn/level; detects at +25%),
with the trap’s level of threat (use detect gate’s intensity scale)
waning (within 1 hour/level, detects at base), dwindled
(within 1 day; detects at -25%), stale (within 1 day/level; • Usage restrictions: identifies whether or not the gate
detects at -50%), lapsed (within 1 week/level; detects at restricts usage in some manner, such as by home plane, race,
-75%), atrophied (within 1 month/level; detects at -125%), sex, alignment, class, level, eye color, family lineage, etc. ;
eroded (within 1 year/level; detects at -200%) the first check provides a yes/no response, while subsequent
checks provide one restriction per check
• Ethos: a measure of the alignment components of a gate’s
destination(s) (if any); detects as: none, law, chaos, good, Like the outer traits, the inner attributes can be modified as
evil, neutrality (no detection modifiers) required by the DM: perhaps you don’t want PCs to know if a
gate is one-way or two-way; if that’s not desirable for a campaign,
Inspired DMs should consider tweaking the increments
then drop the transit options attribute. You may also consider
for recency (and perhaps intensity), based on how common gates
moving one or more of the inner attributes into the list of outer
will be in a campaign, or how strong you envision their magics
traits, which would make them available to the detect gate spell.
to be, and how lingering they are: if you are playing in Farmer’s
Similarly, the lists of traits and attributes are not exhaustive, so
World of Tiers, “fresh” may measure turns or even hours per
if feel free to create additional ones as needed.
4   • No. 3, Summer 2009
Gaming Bibliography • Lenard Lakof ka, “The Inner Planes” in Dragon #42
(October 1980)
Ed Greenwood’s “The Theory and Use of Gates” provides an
• Mike Mearls, Legends & Lairs: Portals & Planes,
excellent overview of gates-related fiction released through the late
Fantasy Flights Games (2003)
1970s. Other than Greenwood’s piece and Sepulchrave’s works, I
do not reference fiction otherwise in this bibliography. Instead, • Phil Reed, “A Dozen Planar Traits”
I focus narrowly on useful sources about planar architecture and • Roger E. Moore with Gary Gygax, “The Astral Plane” in
gates, rather than on content describing the people, places, and Dragon #67 (November 1982)
things found within any specific plane: this is one reason why I • Roger E. Moore, “Gates in the World of Greyhawk”
don’t list most Planescape titles in the bibliography, for example originally in the Greyhawk AOL folder, later available on
(that I can’t stand Planescape’s cant is another…). The Dragon wizards.com, and now archived on Canonfire at http://
Archive details a cornucopia of such content specific to various www.canonfire.com/cfhtml/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_
planes, including the Nine Hells (issues #75, #76, #91), Gladsheim op=getit&lid=11 (March 1995)
(#90), Hades (#113), and the Demiplane of Shadow (#213),
• Carl Schnurr, Mythic Places and More Mythic Places
in addition two planar adventures (in issues #67 and #90). In
for Ars Magica, White Wolf (1991)
addition, a wide variety of Planescape and d20 products have
provided support content detailing specific planes as well, such as • David C. Sutherland III with Gary Gygax, Q1 Queen of
Necromancer Games’ City of Brass, most of Mongoose’s line of the Demonweb Pits, TSR (1980)
planar books, and Monte Cook’s Beyond Countless Doorways. Other likely sources for planar inspiration include the rpgs
If I’ve missed any interesting or worthwhile books about gates Stormbringer/Elric, Everway, Amber Diceless Roleplaying, and
and the structure of the planes, do please let me know — I’m Ars Magica.
always on the lookout for these kinds of resources!
Without further ado, here is my list of preferred sources ERRATA: In “From Kuroth’s Quill #2: Dungeon Strangitude:
about gates and planar theory, including many formative articles Variations on Dungeon Dressing and Setting the Tone ” the table for
about the origins of D&D’s “great wheel” multiverse from The random door dungeon dressing lost some percentages during lay-
Dragon: out, and should have read:

• Peter Adkison, The Primal Order, Wizards of the Coast 31-40 Door is trapped (DM to provide details)
(1992) 41-47 Door is of special construction (roll 2d6):
• Bruce Cordell, A Guide to the Ethereal Plane, Wizards
So, just pencil those numbers in and you’ll be fine!
of the Coast (1998)
• Bruce Cordell and Gwendolyn F. M. Kestrel, Planar
Handbook, Wizards of the Coast (2004)
• Jameson Ferris, “Tales of Wyre” (Story Hour) and “Eadric
et. al. (The Paladin and his Friends)” (Rogues Gallery) in
Sepulchrave’s “Wyre” threads on EN World at http://www.
enworld.org/forum/tags/wyre.html (2002 to date)
• Ed Greenwood, “From the City of Brass… …to Dead Orc
Pass… In One Small Step: The Theory and Use of Gates”
in The Dragon #37 (May 1980)
• Gary Gygax, “The Inner Planes “ in Dragon #73 (May
1983)
• “Planes” in The Dragon #8 ( July 1977)
• “Playing On the Other Planes of Existence” in The
Dragon #32 (December 1979)
• “Protection Circles and the Like...” in Dragon #56
(December 1981)
• Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, and David Noonan , Manual
of the Planes, Wizards of the Coast (2001)
• Michael Hammes, “A Dozen Planar Traits”, Ronin Arts (2004).
• Gareth Hanrahan, Classic Play: Book of the Planes,
Mongoose Publishing (2004)
• Dave Howell, Chessboards: The Planes of Possibility,
Wizards of the Coast (1994)
• Steven Kienle with Gary Gygax, “Elementary Ideas for
Elemental Adventuring” in Dragon #47 (March 1981)
No. 3, Summer 2009 •    5
Pulp Heroes and
the Colors of Magic :
‘Swords & Sorcery’ Style Magic and Damage Rules for Swords & Wizardry
by Akrasia

T
he literary genre of swords and sorcery portrays a world system for determining hit points. The Game Master should roll
where heroes swagger head and shoulders above their normally for the hit points of regular non-player characters, as
fellow mortals; men fear them, women swoon before well as most monsters.
them. These are rogues, adventurers, and barbarians who can Player characters’ hit points represent only superficial
fell a man with the single blow of a haunch of meat and drink damage (i.e., exhaustion, light bruises, minor scrapes, and so
down countless f lagons of ale to celebrate the victory. It is a forth.). Because of this, all lost hit points may be recovered by
world where the eyes of serpent-sorcerers glint with madness, sleeping without interruption for eight full hours. Resting (not
their minds corrupted and destroyed by knowledge of forbidden sleeping), or sleeping for less than eight hours, will enable a player
lore. “This two-part article offers a set of modifications to the character to recover one hit point per full hour of rest or sleep.
Swords & Wizardry game (0e) to give it a much stronger swords Cure Wounds spells and potions of Healing do not heal hit
and sorcery f lavor than the original game.” Get rid of the nasty points, but only lost points of Constitution (as explained below).
hobbitses and bring on the ale and serpent-cultists! However, a draught of ‘strong drink’ (ale, wine, liquor) can
The first part of the article is about pulp heroes and damage. ‘invigorate’ a character, enabling him/her to recover immedi-
Pulp heroes are tough, and this damage system offers one way to ately 1d4 hit points. Game Masters may also want to allow
toughen up a Swords & Wizardry character without throwing alchemists to sell ‘Elixirs of Invigoration’ for 200 to 300 gold
off the rest of the game. But physical damage isn’t the only risk pieces. Drinking such an elixir might enable a player character
in a swords and sorcery game; just looking upon the horrors of to recover instantly 1d6 + 2 hit points. Only one such draught,
pulp fiction can be enough to reduce brave heroes into wailing whether of strong drink or an elixir, will have this effect per day.
madmen. So damage to a hero’s sanity is also covered in the Once a player character’s hit points have been depleted,
first part of the article. any further damage is done to the character’s constitution score.
The second part of the article is about magic in the style Damage to a character’s constitution score represents ‘serious’
of swords and sorcery fiction, introducing an alternate class to damage. Every time a character takes damage to his/her consti-
replace both magic-users and clerics. The Magician is a practi- tution, he/she must make a saving throw (versus ‘death’ if using
tioner of white magic, grey magic, or black magic. a system other than S&W) or fall unconscious. In addition, a
character that has taken damage to his/her constitution suffers
Pulp Heroes: Damage and Combat a -2 penalty to all actions (including attack rolls and saving
throws). If a character’s constitution score is reduced to 0 or
The protagonists of classic swords and sorcery tales are a remark- lower that character is dead.
able lot. They are a cut above the common stock of humanity, Characters who have suffered damage to their constitu-
physically and mentally superior to most people - although perhaps tion and have fallen unconscious regain consciousness after eight
sometimes less prudent. Even this occasional lack of prudence, hours of rest. If that character’s constitution is still reduced, he/
however, is compensated with superior luck and drive. Characters she continues to have 0 hit points and suffers the -2 penalty to all
such as Conan, Kull, Faf hrd, and the Gray Mouser are capable actions until he/she can rest and recover. Characters subsequently
of overcoming foes and surviving challenges that would easily can recover one constitution point for every two days of complete
defeat most common men. Classic swords and sorcery tales focus rest (i.e., no travelling or adventuring). The care of a doctor or
on highly exceptional and powerful individuals, not the ‘little other non-magical healer can improve the rate of healing to one
guys’ of the world. Even as neophytes, most swords and sorcery constitution point per day of rest. A character cannot recover
characters are exceptionally tough and capable. any hit points until all constitution points have been recovered.
To ref lect this aspect of the swords and sorcery genre, it Game Masters should assume that most non-player char-
is recommended that first-level player characters start with the acters and monsters are dead or unconscious when they reach 0
maximum number of hit points possible for their class, plus five hit points or lower. Only player characters and special non-player
additional hit points (modified by their constitution scores, as characters – important figures in the world, whether allies or
appropriate). Hit points should be rolled normally after first level. antagonists of the player characters – should use the complete
Only player characters and important non-player charac- rules outlined above.
ters (namely, noteworthy allies and antagonists) should use this

6   • No. 3, Summer 2009

Wisdom and Sanity Magicians use the ‘magic-user’ experience chart, spell
chart (ignoring spells above level 6), and saving throws.
Witnessing unspeakable supernatural horrors – always a professional Like magic-users, they typically eschew armor, although they
risk for the protagonists in a ‘swords and sorcery’ adventure – can may wear leather armor without interfering with their spell
drive a mortal man or woman mad. Deliberately delving into casting, and are not trained in the use of shields.
ancient eldritch secrets for the purposes of unleashing unnatural Magicians may use any weapon, although they receive a
forces or contacting demonic intelligences radically increases this -1 to all damage rolls (but always do a minimum of ‘1’ point of
risk. Insane sorcerers and men whose minds have been broken damage), unless they are using daggers, darts, quarterstaffs, or
by ancient evils are standard staples in ‘swords and sorcery’ tales. slings. (If using the ‘Class-Based Damage’ system that I presented
In order to simulate this aspect of the ‘swords and sorcery’ in Knockspell #1, magicians use the ‘cleric’ damage table, and
genre, these rules treat a character’s Wisdom score as a measure- do not suffer any penalty to their damage rolls.) Since magicians
ment of his/her sanity. A character with a Wisdom score of 18 has normally need at least one hand free in order to cast their spells,
a firm grasp of the nature of reality, considerable self-discipline, they rarely will use two-handed weapons (except for quarterstaffs,
and remarkable strength of will. In contrast, a character with a which are easily held in one hand when necessary).
Wisdom score of 3 is barely lucid, easily confuses reality with Magicians use the ‘cleric’ attack chart when using one-
fantasy, and is on the border of lapsing into madness. Characters handed weapons (including slings, throwing daggers, and darts)
with Wisdom scores of 2 or lower are utterly insane, and must be or quarterstaffs. They use the ‘magic-user’ attack chart when
treated as non-player characters. (If this Wisdom loss is tempor- using any other kind of weapon (including missile weapons
ary, as explained below, the character is under the control of the other than slings, throwing daggers, and darts).
Game Master until he/she regains his/her sanity.) Magicians use a d6 (no modifier) as their hit die. (Thus,
If a character witnesses an unspeakable horror, the Game using the damage rules outlined above, first level magicians start
Master may require the player to make a saving throw (versus with 11 hit points, prior to any constitution modifiers.) They
‘spells,’ if using a system other than S&W). The saving throw receive one hit point per level after level nine.
should be modified by the severity of the horror in question. First-level magicians start with a spellbook that contains
If the character fails his or her saving throw, he or she loses three first-level spells (player’s choice) and one second-level
points of temporary Wisdom. The exact amount should be spell (player’s choice). All other spells must be found, learned
determined by rolling 1d6. If a ‘6’ is rolled, the character also from a tutor (usually for a steep fee), or purchased (also usually
permanently loses one point of Wisdom (i.e., one permanent point for a steep fee).
of Wisdom and five temporary points of Wisdom). Temporarily Magicians can prepare a number of spells as determined
lost points of Wisdom may be regained at a rate of one point per by their level (see the magic-user spell chart; as noted earlier,
day of complete rest. The spell ‘Restoration’ (which is treated magicians with an Intelligence score of 15 or greater may pre-
as a 6th level spell of ‘white magic’ in this system) will restore pare an additional first-level spell). A magician may change the
instantly temporarily lost Wisdom points, but will not restore spells that he/she has prepared with eight uninterrupted hours
any permanently lost Wisdom points. of study (the magician’s spellbook must be available).
Characters may also lose Wisdom by casting spells that are Magicians may cast any spell that they have prepared any
characterized as ‘black magic’ in nature. This is explained below. number of times – however, as explained below, they suffer
exhaustion (loss of hit points) every time that they cast a spell,
which limits how many spells they can cast before resting.
The Magician Class: White Magic, Magicians can write their own scrolls, copying the spells
Grey Magic, and Black Magic from their spellbooks, at the cost of 200 gold pieces per spell level
The magic-user and cleric classes are replaced with the magician for supplies (special ink and parchment). It takes one full day per
class. Magicians may be benevolent witches, reclusive shamans, spell level of careful work to copy a scroll (one has to be very
eccentric sages, enigmatic priests, malevolent necromancers, or careful when dealing with the mystical powers!). Thus writing a
megalomaniacal sorcerers – their exact nature depends on their scroll of a fourth-level spell would cost 800 gold pieces and take
background, goals, spells, and sanity. four full days of work. Spells cast from scrolls, whether prepared
There is no longer any division between ‘cleric’ and ‘magic- by the magician or found, cause exhaustion – and, if the spell is
user’ spells. Instead, spells are categorized as ‘white,’ ‘grey,’ or classified as ‘black magic,’ corruption – just as if the magician
‘black’ (as explained below). Magicians may learn and cast any kind had cast the spell normally. Scrolls increase the range of spells
of spell. Magicians who focus on white magic tend to be called available to a magician; they do not reduce the physical costs of
wizards, savants, or thaumaturges. Magicians who focus on grey casting spells. (Exhaustion and corruption are explained below.)
magic often are called enchanters, mages, or illusionists. Magicians
who focus on black magic tend to be called sorcerers, warlocks, Magician Summary
or necromancers. Magicians of any focus who are associated with Prime Attribute: Intelligence, 13+ (5% experience)
a cult or religious order might be called priests, seers, or acolytes. Hit Dice: 1d6 (Gains 1 hp/level after 9th level)
The Prime Attribute of Magicians is Intelligence. Magicians Saving Throws: As Magic-User
with an Intelligence of 13 or greater receive a bonus of 5% to all Experience Chart: As Magic-User
experience points earned. Magicians with an Intelligence of 15 Armour/Shield Permitted: Leather only
or greater can prepare an additional first-level spell.
No. 3, Summer 2009 •    7
Weapons Permitted: Any, but does less damage with certain Slow, Suggestion. [Ball of Ice] [Filigree] [Omar’s Mistake] [Red
weapons (see description above) Bull] [Rejectment] [Strange Waters]
Attack Charts: Cleric (if using one-handed weapon or quar- Fourth Level: Charm Monster, Confusion, Dimension Door,
terstaff ) or Magic-User (all other weapons) Fear, Hallucinatory Terrain, Massmorph, Polymorph Other,
Spells Prepared: As Magic-User Polymorph Self, Sticks to Snakes, Wall of Fire, Wall of Ice.
Spell Casting: Any number of times per day, but spells cost [Hylogenesis] [Imperfect Suspension] [Infuse] [Seven Gates]
exhaustion (hit points), and possibly corruption (if a ‘black
magic’ spell is cast) Fifth Level: Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Magic Jar, Passwall,
Quest, Telekinesis, Teleport, Transmute Rock to Mud, Wall of
Spells Iron, Wall of Stone. [Crystallogenesis] [Magpie]
There is no division between ‘clerical’ and ‘magic-user’ spells Sixth Level: Animate Object, Enchant Item, Geas, Lower water,
– all spells can be learned by magicians in the same way that Move Earth, Part Water, Project Image, Repulsion, Speak with
magic-users do (i.e., by recording them in spellbooks, and ‘pre- Monsters, Stone to Flesh, Word of Recall. [Twilight of Thieves]
paring’ them to be cast later). If a spell has both a ‘cleric’ and a
‘magic-user’ version, use the ‘magic-user’ version. Black Magic
No spells above level 6 exist, although powerful but costly First Level: Magic Missile.
‘rituals’ may be created by the Game Master in order to simu-
Second Level: Darkness (15 ft radius), Stinking Cloud.
late the powers of higher-level spells – including especially the
[Strangulations] [Tarnu’s Collaring Coiffure]
summoning of vile demons!
There is no ‘read magic’ spell. Instead, all magicians know Third Level: Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Monster Summoning I,
the ancient eldritch language in which all magic is written. Speak with Dead. [Tarantella]
Spells are divided into White Magic (spells that promote or Fourth Level: Ice Storm, Monster Summoning II, Wizard Eye.
maintain life, protect against harm, and generally are ‘in tune’ [Beast of Chaos] [Deadly Bliss]
with the natural laws and forces of the universe), Grey Magic
(spells that typically involve the manipulation and/or alteration Fifth Level: Animate Dead, Cloudkill, Commune, Conjure
of objects and/or minds), and Black Magic (spells that typically are Elemental, Contact Other Plane, Finger of Death, Monster
destructive and/or ‘contrary to nature,’ say, by being necroman- Summoning III. [Deadly Dissolvative] [Most Horrible Absorption]
tic in character or by drawing on forces beyond this universe). [Six Mouths of Horror]
Sixth Level: Death Spell, Disintegrate, Invisible Stalker, Monster
White Magic Summoning IV. [Cohesive Cocoon]
First Level: Cure Light Wounds (applies only to lost constitution
points, not hit points), Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Light, Protection Spell Notes
from Evil, Purify Food and Drink, Read Languages, Shield. In addition to all 7th-9th level spells (except for ‘Restoration,’
Second Level: Bless, Continual Light, Detect Invisibility, Find which I have made a 6th level spell), I have removed the spells
Traps, Speak with Animals, Strength. [Excruciating Cauterization] ‘raise dead’ and ‘reincarnation,’ as they seem inappropriate for a
[Force of Forbidment] ‘swords and sorcery’ f lavored magic system. To ameliorate the
consequences of ‘permanent death,’ the modified rules concerning
Third Level: Cure Disease, Dispel Magic, Prayer, Protection from hit points and damage presented earlier should make character
Evil (10 ft radius), Protection from Normal Missiles, Remove death somewhat less frequent.
Curse, Water Breathing. [Word of Ioun] The ‘Extension’ spells (I-III) do not belong to a particular
Fourth Level: Create Water, Cure Serious Wounds (applies only color (white/grey/black). Rather, they belong to the same color
to lost constitution points, not hit points), Neutralize Poison, as the spell they are used to ‘extend.’ So using Extension I to
Plant Growth, Protection from Evil (10 ft radius), Remove extend the duration of a ‘f ly’ spell means that the magician in
Curse, Speak with Plants. question has cast two ‘grey magic’ spells (and thus would suffer
12 points of exhaustion damage, as explained below).
Fifth Level: Animal Growth, Create Food, Dispel Evil, Insect Plague.
Remember that the ‘cure wounds’ spells only heal lost
Sixth Level: Anti-Magic Shell, Control Weather, Conjure constitution points – not hit points!
Animals, Legend Lore, Restoration. Spells in square brackets are taken from Matt Finch’s
‘Eldritch Weirdness: Books Three to One.’ The referee may
Grey Magic substitute other spells in place of these, of course.
First Level: Charm Person, Hold Portal, Sleep
Spell Casting: Exhaustion,
Second Level: ESP, Invisibility, Knock, Levitate, Magic Mouth,
Miror Image, Phantasmal Force, Pyrotechnics, Silence (15 ft
Corruption, and Sanity
radius), Snake Charm, Web, Wizard Lock. When magicians cast ‘white magic’ spells they suffer exhaustion
damage equal to one hit point plus one hit point per level of
Third Level: Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, Darkvision, Fly,
the spell cast (so a magician who casts a third level white magic
Haste, Hold Person, Invisibility (10 ft radius), Rope Trick,
spell would suffer four points of damage).
8   • No. 3, Summer 2009
 When magicians cast ‘grey magic’ spells they suffer exhaus- A magician whose permanent wisdom score is lowered
tion damage equal to twice the level of the spell cast (so a magi- to 2 becomes insane, and possibly the thrall of an extra-planar
cian who casts a third level grey magic spell would suffer six demonic force. He/she henceforth is a non-player character!
points of damage).
When magicians cast ‘black magic’ spells they suffer exhaus- Further Information
tion damage identical to that caused by ‘grey magic’ spells (twice Readers interested in my other variant rules and ideas for the
the spell level). In addition, magicians casting ‘black magic’ spells Swords & Wizardry game (which generally can be used with
must make a saving throw (versus ‘spells’ if using a system other than other ‘old school’ games, such as 0e, Basic, 1e, and so forth) are
S&W) in order to avoid corruption. If the magician fails this saving encouraged to check out my articles in the magazines Knockspell
throw, he/she is corrupted slightly and suffers a loss of temporary and Fight On!, as well as my game blog, Akratic Wizardry (http://
Wisdom points equal to the spell level (e.g., 3 points of temporary akraticwizardry.blogspot.com/). I hope eventually to compile
Wisdom for a third-level spell). Temporarily lost points of Wisdom all of my S&W rules into a single supplement – most likely also
can be recovered at a rate of one point per complete day of rest and entitled Akratic Wizardry – in the near future.
meditation (no other action possible). The spell ‘Restoration’ will
restore instantly all temporarily lost Wisdom points. Acknowledgements
Furthermore, if a magician casting a ‘black magic’ spell
My thanks (in alphabetical order) to Eldrad, hawklord, Kapten,
fails his/her saving throw by rolling a ‘1,’ then that magician
Lord Vreeg, Luke Fleeman, MachFront, Mythmere, Narf the
loses one point of Wisdom permanently (so if a magician fails
Mouse, Spinachcat, Steve, and ZenDog, for their helpful com-
his/her saving throw casting a third-level black magic spell by
ments on an earlier version of this article (and my apologies if
rolling a ‘1,’ he/she would lose one permanent point of Wisdom
and two temporary points of Wisdom). The spell ‘Restoration’ I forgot anyone!). My thanks as well to my players: Jo-Anne,
will not restore any permanently lost Wisdom points. Marcus, and Peeter.

Chariot Racing
by John Vogel

C
hariot racing is as old as the fall of Troy, and persisted until The board should be made large enough so that each
after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In Rome and square is 1 inch by 1 inch. The easiest thing to do is find free
Byzantium, powerful factions hired several charioteers who dungeon tiles on the web, print them, and cut them out to build
raced under a “team” banner, sometimes working together in a the board above. The colors are not important, and serve only
single race, sometimes racing independently in different events. to illustrate the positions of the lanes.
Successful charioteers could become rich and famous; unsuccessful You will also need four pieces to mark chariots, painted
ones often died in these violent and dangerous events. The rules in different colors. Possibilities include miniature chariots,
below are for a Roman-type arena event, but could be easily used ordinary D&D miniatures, or simply four chess knights, each
for the less formal, more ancient versions as well. painted a different color.
These rules are designed for Swords & Wizardry and 0e,
but they work without modification in 1e, OSRIC, and other
similar systems. Rules of the Race
A chariot race is well in keeping with the atmosphere of In a normal chariot race, no charioteer is permitted to wear
any evil empire, and is usually played out before the Annual armor, nor carry any weapon other than an ordinary whip
Banquet, as a celebration of the peace of the Imperium, or after (small knives are carried to cut a driver free from the reigns
the Emperor has won a war, in celebration of his power. Chariot of a wrecked chariot, but they are useless as weapons). Each
races can be held at any point at the discretion of the game master. chariot starts in one of the four lanes immediately behind the
starting line (the line surrounded by the words “START” and
“FINISH”). Poll position (i.e. which lane each chariot starts
Objective in) is determined randomly. The innermost lane is the most
The object of the game is to be the first to complete three laps advantageous. All chariots move in the direction of the green
around the circus. Surviving the race is also a plus. arrow marked on the board.
No magic item, spell, or spell like ability is allowed in
the race. The crowd wants to see a good race, not the effects of
Equipment Needed horseshoes of speed on a chariot. It is assumed that the Emperor is
Dice, a circus maximus board (see picture), and pieces of some wise to such tomfoolery, and might even have wizards or similar
type representing charioteers. Make a circus maximus in the observers stationed around the arena. These might cast Hold
pattern shown.
No. 3, Summer 2009 •    9
Person on any charioteer cheating in this way if the Emperor only, never diagonally) as long as that square is not occupied
is only mildly annoyed, or fireballs if he is more than mildly by another chariot.
annoyed (reaction roll). 2. Scythe Attack: This action can be made by heavy chariots
only. The driver can attempt to use the sharpened blades
Initiative and Movement attached to the hub of his chariot’s wheels to destroy the
All players roll initiative at the beginning of each round. The wheel of another chariot. The attacker and defender both
highest rolling charioteer can move first, or defer until another make a charioteering check (see below under Risky Actions).
charioteer completes his turn before moving. The attack is successful if the attacker succeeds at the check
Each turn, each chariot must, at a minimum, move for- and the defender fails. If the attack is successful, roll 1d20
ward at its maximum speed in its own lane (the lanes are marked on the table below for the result. Add +2 if the defender
in alternating colors of light and dark brown on the board). is driving a light chariot:
Backward moves are not allowed, and chariots can only change
lanes as listed below under Free Actions. Diagonal moves are not Chariot Damage Table (D20)
allowed. The maximum speeds are: Heavy chariot=15 spaces.
Light chariot=18 spaces. The only exception to this is that a 1-4 Wheels Locked: Both chariots may be damaged.
Roll again on this table for each chariot.
chariot which is blocked by another chariot directly in front of it
must stop movement, unless it can use a change lanes actions to 5-8 Driver stunned: The defending chariot can take no action
in the next round except normal forward movement.
get around the obstacle. No chariot can move through another
chariot, the wall of the circus, or the spina (the dark, center area). 9-12 Chariot Out of Control: The defending chariot moves randomly one
space in a random direction. Nominate each of the four surround-
Charioteers unfortunate enough to be dismounted can
ing sides as 1-4, and roll 1d4 to see where it lands. If this would
be run over by other chariots, in which case the dismounted cause the chariot to move into another chariot, the walls of the
figure then takes 4d6 automatic damage. circus, or the spina, see Crashes, below. The defending chariot
can take no action next round except normal forward movement.
Free Actions 13-16 Wheel Damaged: The chariot takes no immediate dam-
age, but place a marker on it indicating that the spokes on
In addition to the mandatory forward movement, each charioteer
its wheel are partially cut through. At the beginning of each
can take one free action each turn from the list below. These of the chariot’s succeeding turns, roll 1d6. On a roll of 6, the
actions can be undertaken at any point during the move, and wheel is destroyed and the chariot wrecks, as below.
the remaining move completed afterwards (example: Marcus, in 17+ Defending Chariot Wrecked: The chariot wrecks. The driver remains
a heavy chariot, can move three spaces forward, change lanes, tied to the reins, and is pulled along by his horses at maximum speed
and then move his remaining 12 spaces to complete the turn): each turn, taking an automatic 1d8 hit points of damage per turn,
until he can cut himself free of the reigns by rolling a saving throw
1. Change Lanes: Move laterally one lane. The chariot can (+1 if dexterity 13+), roll this before the chariot moves each turn.
move to any square in a lane bordering its present lane that
is adjacent to its present square (vertically or horizontally

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    11

 3. Whip Horses: The driver whips greater speed out of his at -1 for the 4th (outermost) lane, -2 for the 3rd lane, -3 for the
horses. The chariot gains a bonus of 1d6 spaces to nor- 2nd lane, and -4 for the 1st (innermost) lane.
mal forward movement. ALL OF THIS ADDITIONAL This check is always made at the end of the turn, even if the
MOVEMENT MUST BE TAKEN (which may not be driver has already exited the turnaround. A failed check means
a good thing, if it puts him over maximum speed in the the chariot wrecks, as result 17+ on the Chariot Damage Table.
turnaround, or causes him to crash into another chariot).
4. Whip Opponent: Make an ordinary whip attack against
Crashes
one opponent. In addition to normal damage (1d2 + strength If a chariot crashes into another chariot, the walls of the circus,
bonus), a successfully whipped opponent must roll a saving or the spina, roll on the Chariot Damage table, above.
throw (+1 if constitution 13+), or be temporarily blinded by A chariot which crashes into the wall of the circus or the
blood f lowing into his eyes, in which case he can take no spina remains in its own space, and further movement is allowed
action in the next turn, other than normal forward movement. (if any remains), unless the results of the Chariot Damage Table
say otherwise.
If a chariot crashes into another chariot, both are moved
Risky Actions
one space randomly, as per a result of 9-12 on the Chariot
This is where the race becomes strategic. Additional free actions Damage Table, above, in addition to other results.
can be taken any number of times, as a risky action. However, Note that multiple crashes can occur if several chariots are
as the name says, this is risky. Each risky action requires a chari- bunched up, and a crash causes one chariot to move into another.
oteering check (a saving throw made at +1 if dexterity 13+, +1 if
strength 13+, and -1 per each risky action previously performed
this turn). After the round has been completed, the count for Winning the Game
risky actions starts over again. Victory goes to the chariot which moves into the space past the
A successful roll means that another action (from the free finish line first, after three laps have been completed, or to the
actions list) can be performed normally. A failed roll means the remaining chariot if all others have been eliminated.
chariot wrecks, as result 17+ on the Chariot Damage Table.
Charioteers
The Turnaround
Each NPC charioteer is level 1d8 (usually a fighter), and has
Centrifugal force makes the turnaround (the curved area between 3d6+1 each for strength, dexterity and constitution.
the two red lines at each end of the track) the most dangerous
place in the circus. If a chariot is moving at over maximum speed Gambling
(as a result of whipping horses) at any point while it is in the
turnaround, the driver must make an immediate charioteering Each charioteer will have 1d12 x 1,000 gp, bet on him. +1d4
check (a saving throw, +1 if dexterity 13+, +1 if strength 13+) x 1,000 gp for the highest level charioteer, +1d4 x 1,000 gp
for the charioteer with the highest strength, and +1d4 x 1,000
gp for the charioteer with the highest dexterity. Odds can be
figured from the gold pieces bet. Player characters may bet the
odds with their own gold pieces, or may make side bets among
themselves as desired. To keep things simple, the odds are not
re-figured unless any single player character bets more than
2,000 gp on a single race.
There is a 10% chance that any race is a famous race. In
this case, charioteers will be level 1d6+4, with 3d6+2 each for
strength, dexterity and constitution (maximum 18 in each). PCs
of less than 5th level cannot drive in such a race. In a famous race,
ten times the normal bets are made, and the odds are re-figured
for PCs only if they bet more than 20,000 gp on a single race.

Throwing the Race

The crowds attending chariot races are extremely good at detect-
ing whether a charioteer is trying to throw a race, and unless
the trick is extremely well executed the charioteer is likely to
be torn apart by an infuriated crowd.

12   • No. 3, Summer 2009

Blame it on the Players
an Editorial by Tim Kask
It all started going bad with the publishing of AD&D, When I went to my first GenCon in 1974, I played in two
The Player’s Handbook. Here come the rules lawyers, different adventures DM’ed by two different guys. Most of us
the nitpickers and the homegrown experts. The fun playing PC’s had never heard of the game, let alone played in
started to leach away within months. Now there were one. It was tough to explain as we tried to get going, and we
dicta, dogma and regulations; gone were the days of made some tremendous blunders we never would have made
guidelines. And who was to blame for this sorry, dis- had we understood a little better what we were actually doing.
reputable state of affairs? The players… (A couple of years later, while working at TSR, I was
tasked with talking to a lady writer trying to get a handle on this

T
he above is how I ended the last piece; I heard that it growing phenomenon. I came up with a thumbnail description
sparked some controversy, as well as a few snarky blog that I still use today: One guy outlines a story, and together with
remarks. I never bothered looking for the majority of him, the players map out the details.)
them, so I don’t know firsthand what the particular objections What we began to see were two distressing (to us, anyway)
might be. But I stand by final 14 words of Who Sucked the Fun trends; one was that the game was purportedly getting into stuff
out of RPG’ing. like rape tables, and sex changing, and changing sexual orienta-
When the game was being developed, and then first came tions, and really weird Satanic and demonic stuff; the other was
out, it was the early part of the ‘70’s, an era of exploring new that the early DM’s did not have the reading backgrounds that
boundaries in society, challenging authority for its own sake, we took for granted, and therefore lacked that most important
tossing off the shackles of conformity and like-minded au courant tool we thought everyone had, that overlooked element that
noble ideals, that were the inevitable outcome of the late ‘60’s can’t be taught, a creative imagination. We were all natural
conscious drive to alter the zeitgeist. born story tellers, and we had just assumed that others could
Viet Nam was beginning to wind down and come to its do it too. We learned that was not the case, and tried to help
spluttering and futile end, and there were still violent clashes with the Supplements.
between demonstrators (some of whom were students) and police. The supplements were a whole slew of ideas from which
This was a period of time when games were designed (way under we hoped the DM’s would pick and choose as they saw fit to
the radar) about campus takeover’s, civil unrest and disobedience. incorporate into their campaigns. Alas, we got that one wrong.
Later, games of this nature came out of the underground No matter what I said in the Forewords to each, players and
of gaming with such titles as JUNTA. (Dev. By Vincent Tsao, DM’s saw each one as new dicta and dogma. (d&d?)
published in ’78 by Creative Workshop Games.) Now it was That unfortunate interpretation was making a shambles
OK to tell “the Man” to p*** off. of an already loose and f lowing game system.
D&D, as originally constructed, was all about “doing As the game became more widely known, people wanted to
your own thing”. EGG explained, quite gleefully, on several play it at cons. For one thing, it’s a good way to sample without
occasions, that he envisioned a type of joyous anarchy among a steep investment; on the other hand if you got teased about it
the various DM’s as each went their own way, following their by your boardgaming or miniatures buddies, you could always
own Muse. D&D was published as “Rules for Fantastic Medieval say you were “just trying” that “game with fairies and elves in
Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and it”. This led to cries for orthodoxy, thereby leveling the playing
Miniature Figures” a miniatures rules set unlike any miniatures field at tournaments. (We had begun to notice this tournament
rules set ever produced. When he first told me about it, prior to inequity when we tried to line up enough DM’s to run more
GenCon ’74, he hemmed and hawed and tried to explain this than one round of adventuring. Shoot, we didn’t do things the
novel concept in terms another gamer could relate to without same way within the company.)
having been exposed to it yet. It was tough to put into words
what exactly it was, and wasn’t.

Editor’s Note:
Before I get another round of “Don’t publish edition wars” letters: Yes, I fully understand that about half the readers of this magazine play AD&D, not
Original D&D. Tim’s last editorial in Knockspell #1 caused a minor furor, and this one will create even more. But as far as I’m concerned, even if I dis-
agree with them I’d still rather hear the real opinions of The Dragon Magazine’s first editor than just stick my fingers in my ears and go blahblahblahnot-
listeningblahblahblah ... wouldn’t you? I’m all about old-school renaissance, but I think a renaissance is characterized by diverse voices and healthy
debate. Who’s with me? No? Well, that’s what letters to the editor are for: you can send them to mythmere@yahoo.com!

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    13

 It has always struck me as odd that in a period of change and and tables has dictated. What next? A chart to see if the PC’s
rebellion, of challenging established ways and defying authority become constipated?
for its own sake, the gaming public never embraced the anarchy There are individuals who have seemingly made it their
of the OD&D philosophy. Instead, they asked for regimentation life’s work to weed out every ambiguity, every option, every inter-
and a canon of orthodoxy. Gary and I had a couple of conversa- pretation and every bit of room for imagination and individuality.
tions about this oddity but never reached a consensus agreement The current holders of the trademark have managed to
as to why it was that way. turn the game into a video-game-on-paper, first person chopper
Why was it that RPG’ers just couldn’t function without game (as opposed to first person shooter).
an extensive framework of rules to prop them up? I saw it For me, RPG’ing is about fun, about different ways to do
firsthand in March of ’09 at GaryCon when I ran a couple of it, about different insights, about ingenuity and about creativity.
adventures and told the players they could use a favorite PC, Bitd, if I told my players that the door they just discovered behind
pick whatever spells they wanted to use and arm themselves the false wall has a very complicated looking locking system,
with just about anything short of an Artifact, or just make one they’d have set about interrogating me for details and trying
up. Some couldn’t do; they rolled for everything. Some rolled different ideas. Now they would go to a table that sends them
to see if they knew a given spell. What they were missing was to a chart which sends them to another table which determines
that we were there to have fun, not compete for most loot, most their chances of opening it. Oh, wait! One of the characters has
kills, or whatever. As far as I was concerned, convention games a “Skill” with locks; another has a “Talent” for fine manipula-
should be just for fun. tion, ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
If everything was the same, then subjective tournaments So, this brings me back to where I started from; how did
and contests could be held, even though they were in violation we get to this sorry state of rules, dicta and dogma ruling all? It
of the spirit of the game themselves. was the players, our customers, that told us what they wanted
When the game became regimented, it was no longer to buy in to; more regimentation, more regulation, more stan-
OD&D, as regimentation was anathema to the spirit of the old dardization. Well, in my view, when you stuff all of that into
days. Thus was born AD&D, to quantify, to regiment, to take the game, something has to give. Unfortunately, individuality,
away much of the f lavor of the old style gaming. It didn’t matter imagination and fun seem to have been squeezed out, or at least
to us at LG that Gary did something one way, but maybe Rob seriously diminished.
did it differently, or that my take on it was different than both In June I’m invited to Texas (I’m writing this in May) to
of theirs. It bothered everyone else, apparently. So, excise the run some “old school” games with just the 3LBB (the three little
anarchy and stuff the rest into a mold, and a whole lot of the brown books) and the supplements GH, BM and EW (Greyhawk,
fun was leached out of the game. Blackmoor and Eldritch Wizardry, respectively). I am giving
Subsequent editions (2, 3, 3.5, and 4) have further dimin- them a pre-generated character (they do get to choose which)
ished the opportunity for individuality to matter as it once did. with a sheet for stats, HP, armor, weapons, etc. I put the Saving
Now there are tables and charts for everything under the sun. Throws on them, so all they will need is their character sheet and
I’m amazed at the lack of spontaneity that the plethora of charts a handful of dice. I’ll let you know how it went.

When Ink Hits the Paper: in the final layout. Uncompressed JPG’s (quality set to Maximum)
can be supplied if none of the other options are available.
Preparing your artwork for print • Art with text (like many of your ads and maps) should be supplied
as either (in order of preference); EPS, native Adobe Illustrator®, or
With three Knockspell magazines under our belts, we have been noticing native Adobe Photoshop®. When submitting art that contains actual
a trend of many suppliers of art that should be addressed if the publica- text, convert the text to paths (in Illustrator and InDesign, choose
tion (and by extension your artwork) is to continue improving itself, and Create Outlines) to eliminate potential missing font errors at out-
to become what all contributors would like to see it become. So, here’s a put time. DO NOT RASTERIZE THE TEXT IF IT CAN BE AVOIDED. Also,
few tips (read; “requirements”?) to help ensure your artwork reproduces if supplying an Illustrator file, make sure to embed all linked files.
as true as possible to your original creation;
All this said, send whatever format you have, and we’ll do our level-best
• Line art (for purposes of our conversation these would be pen-and-ink to make sure your artwork prints as good as possible. Need a file recre-
drawings) should be scanned at a minimum of 300 dpi grayscale, at ated? Let the editor know, and he’ll pass along the info to me, and I’ll get
100% of the final reproduction size. If you’re not sure what the final back to you about your specific needs.
reproduction size will be, then scan at 100% of the original art size.
• Continuous tone images (photography, watercolor paintings, pencil Grayscale vs. RGB vs. CMYK
sketches, etc.) should be scanned at a minimum of 300 dpi gray- Art that is to be reproduced as grayscale (black-and-white) gains no benefit
scale/RGB as appropriate, at 100% of the final reproduction size. from having the extra digital color information in it, so saving as RGB only
• Submit all art in the following formats; increases the file size needlessly. Therefore, black-and-white images should
• Art without text should be supplied as either (in order of prefer- be supplied as grayscale. If your art is to appear in color, then supply it as an
ence); (uncompressed) TIF, EPS, or PNG24. Native Photoshop® files RGB file, and a CMYK file for printing will be created for you during
can also be submitted, but these will be converted to flattened TIF’s production.
Forward questions to Kramer at; jim.kramer@jdkds.com.
14   • No. 3, Summer 2009
Swords & Wizardry:
Silver ENnie Award Winner

A
s most readers of our humble-yet-lovable magazine already particular order, the artists include Jeff Preston, Pete Mullen,
know at this point, the Swords & Wizardry Core Rules Chad Thorson, Matt Finch, Ed Kann, and Michael Shorten.
book won a silver ENnie Award at GenCon this year. Editors included Marv Breig, Jason Cone, Allan T. Grohe, Jr.,
Since the game’s author wasn’t able to make it to the convention, Jerry Mapes, and Jesse Rothacher. Additional proofreading and
Michael Shorten (known to many as “Chgowiz”) accepted the suggestions came from Russell Cone (“Grim”), Jim Bobb, Eric
award on behalf of Mythmere Games. He had to come up with Norred, and many members of the Swords & Wizardry forums.
a speech on his way to the podium: as he wrote in his blog, “We A list of playtesters would be unfeasibly long, but great thanks
both had a ‘Yea, right, when pigs f ly’ attitude about winning, are due to everyone who started games and gave feedback on
and look what happened.” the game’s early versions.
The Swords & Wizardry Core Rules came together from Thanks are also due to everyone who took the time to vote
the efforts of a number of brilliant and quirky individuals: art- for Swords & Wizardry. Our community of out-of-print and
ists, editors, and playtesters; and Jesse Rothacher (“Verhaden”) free-form gamers really, really came through to send a message
wrestled all the materials into a great looking book. In no to the rest of the gaming world about our style of RPG play.

About the Authors

A casual gamer of the most serious sort, Russell Cone bides his time long-time Greyhawk fan Allan “Grodog” Grohe teamed up to form a new
between game sessions either working with slave-like fervor at a job he publishing company, Black Blade Publishing, to release adventures and
would gladly perform for free, enjoying family life, or wandering aimlessly other gaming products for First Edition AD&D and the other early editions
through the cosmos of his own imagination. Enamored with polyhedral of D&D as well as their modern simulacra such as OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord,
gameplay of the fantasy sort from an early age, he was naturally drawn to and Swords & Wizardry.
Swords & Wizardry and the retro-revival.
Scot Hoover is best known on the Internet as “Kellri.” He has published
Mike Davison lives in Villa Rica, Georgia. He started his role-playing several free netbooks for OSRIC/1E, which are absolutely state-of-the-
addiction sometime around Christmas of 1982 when (at the age of 12) art. Knockspell Magazine highly recommends that every referee take a
he received his Moldvay boxed set from Santa Claus (aka: his mom). He look at them!
is a contributing author on the newly revised OSRIC system (1e retro
Nathan Irving frequents various online forums as Nellisir. He lives in
clone game).
Ithaca, New York, with his wife, daughter, two cats, and two dogs, and is
At eight years of age, Joshua James Gervais purchased his first D&D box currently a graduate student at Cornell University studying Landscape
set at a paint store and has been role playing for the last twenty years. Architecture. He has been working on the same campaign setting for more
He lives in St. Johnsbury, VT. than twenty years, and is slowly blogging the current version at Secrets of
the Shadowend (http://secretsoftheshadowend.blogspot.com/).
Allan Grohe is known online as grodog, where he publishes a website
featuring Greyhawk D&D content, as well as his non-gaming writing Gabor Lux is a Junior Research Fellow at Hungarian Academy of
(poetry, personal essays, and literary scholarship), and the usual fan Sciences, Centre for Regional Studies. His interests include industrial
ephemera. He lives in Wichita, Kansas, with his lovely wife Heather, their transformation in Central Europe, with an emphasis on Old Industrial
two boys Ethan and Henry, and their two cats Percy and Jasper (true- Regions; development and industrial policies as well as urban studies. He
names Percy Beeblebrox and Trapdoor Jasper). lives in Pécs, Hungary.
Jon Hershberger began playing D&D in the late 1970’s and received a Salvatore Macri hails from Montreal, Quebec. Receiving the Basic box-
shiny new set of AD&D hardbacks for his birthday in 1980. He began set as a gift in 1980 sealed his fate and he’s been a devoted fan of
DMing in earnest about a year later, launching his first campaign with Classic D&D ever since. When not working on RPG related material, he
twelve of his closest high school friends sitting around his parent’s dining can usually be found making the rounds of the various OOP and Classic
room table. In 2006, Jon worked with Goodman Games to convert one of gaming message boards.
their Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) from D&D 3.5 to AD&D and a spe-
Andrew Trent (The Venomous Pao) has been playing and running role-
cial Gen Con release of The Iron Crypt of the Heretics was produced for
playing games since the dawn of the 80s when his sainted mother
fans of the early editions. The following year, Jon teamed up with
indulged him with the magical Moldvay basic set. Andrew is a contributor
Goodman author Harley Stroh as they converted two other DCCs to
to the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book and the author of the Against
AD&D, wrote a bridging adventure, and released Goodman’s 2007 Gen
Atlantis! series of adventures for Mazes & Minotaurs.
Con Special Release Saga of the Witch Queen. In early 2009, Jon and

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    15

Black Armor , Black Heart
Anti-Paladin NPC Class for OSRIC/1e
by Scot Hoover (Kellri)
“I have killed men and women, old and young... uncontrollable, higher-level anti-paladins will generally seek out
23,884 Turks and Bulgarians without counting wilderness or wasteland areas where they can establish a permanent
those whom we burned alive in their homes or whose base. From these fortresses, anti-paladin Lords will lead rapacious
heads were not chopped off by our soldiers...” bands of reavers on unholy missions of rape, pillage and slaughter
– Vlad Tepes ‘The Impaler’ in the lands of those who are lawful and good.
Anti-paladins generally have the same restrictions as pal-
“Believe me, if I started killing there adins. They may never possess more than 10 magic items, and only
would be none of you left” one suit of magical armor and one magical shield. They are also
required to tithe at least 10% of their wealth to their secret cults
– Charles Manson
and supply a living sacrifice to their demonic masters at least once
“I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the per level. Unlike paladins, anti-paladins have no restrictions against
fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can associating with compatriots of different alignments.
help the inspiration to sing. I was born with the evil Indeed, in the cause of Chaos, they may actively seek
one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was to infiltrate and corrupt Lawful or Good groups
ushered into the world, and he has been with me since.” or communities. An anti-paladin who changes his
alignment willingly or unwillingly from Chaotic
– Dr H.H Holmes Evil will be instantly slain by his infernal master,
“Every man to his own tastes. Mine is for corpses.” and his soul will instantly be forfeit to the f lames
of the Abyss.
– Henri Blot Upon their deaths, certain
high-level anti-paladins may
be transformed into a Death
Class Description Knight (1% chance/level)
Minimum Scores: STR 13, CON 11, WIS 13 – a particularly power-
Hit Die Type: d10 (max 9) ful form of undead,
Alignment: Chaotic Evil (CE) only as a reward for their
Experience Bonus: Str 16+ faithful service.
Armor/Shield Permitted: Any
Weapons Permitted: Any
Magic Items Permitted: As paladin
Weapon Proficiencies: 3 + 1 every 2 levels
Penalty to-hit for non-proficiency: -2
Weapon Specialization: Optional rule - as fighter
Attack: as paladin
Saving Throws: as paladin
Anti-paladins are the champions of Chaotic Evil, champions
of their patron Demon Lords. No act of cruelty or vileness
is beyond their capacity. Senseless violence, blind deprav-
ity, and pernicious corruption are their preferred methods.
Anti-paladins are masters of terror, feared for their ability to
spread chaos and anarchy as much as for their terrible acts
of slaughter. Infamous crimes such as spreading plague,
poisoning wells, and mass executions are all trademarks
of the anti-paladin. Few civilized societies will know-
ingly tolerate an anti-paladin in their midst, and even
fewer actually condone their presence and activities. As a
result, anti-paladins are proficient at operating secretly as
the member of underground cults, meanwhile disguising
themselves as members of some profession – usually a fighter
or a thief. As their appetite for destruction grows more

16   • No. 3, Summer 2009

Patron Demonic Lords are universally filthy, often tying strips of plague shrouds or
diseased rags about their armor, which is often painted in their
Anti-paladins are mortal servants of the Demon Lords. Each favored putrid greens and purples.
anti-paladin will have but one patron Lord to whom he has
traded his mortal soul and sworn lifelong fealty. In return for this Boons: Anti-paladins of Gresil are immune to disease (although
fateful bargain, the anti-paladin will receive certain material and not magical ‘diseases’ such as lycanthropy or mummy rot). Anti-
magical boons. Some of the more common Demon Lords that paladins can cause disease (as the reverse cleric spell Cure Disease)
can be selected as a patron are listed below with their associated by touch, once per week. Anti-paladins of higher than 5th level
boons, preferences and requirements. The GM should feel free may do so twice per week, and those higher than 10 th level
to alter these or create additional demonic patrons as necessary thrice per week.
to suit the campaign. Sacrifice: Human or demi-human sacrifices are accepted and
must have a total HD equal to or greater than the anti-paladin’s.
The Lord of Slaughter (Demogorgon) Preferred Armor: Any
Description: Anti-paladins who serve Demogorgon are marked
Preferred Weapon: 2-handed sword
by their bloodlust and utter disregard for life. They revel in
senseless violence and will seek out combat just for a chance to Special: Slimes & diseases
inflict more pain and suffering. The anti-paladins of Demogorgon
lead or belong to a variety of cults, but in civilized lands they The Mistress of Perversion (Ardat)
are known as the Death Dealers. They favor wickedly spiked Description: The anti-paladins of Ardat belong to an exclu-
and barbed weapons and armors, the latter painted in garish sively female cult known as the Daughters of Perdition. They often
blood red and black. operate undercover as high-placed mistresses or courtesans – a
Boons: Gain +2 hit points per level. Like berserkers, they are position which allows them to engage in all manner of lewd
fearless in battle and may attack twice per round or once with debauchery. In combat, they are graceful and deadly, their armor
a +2 to-hit. decorated with f lowing silk, and their faces hidden behind veils.
Sacrifice: Sacrificial combat with one or more foes whose total Boons: Anti-paladins of Ardat are immune to charm and beguil-
HD is equal to or greater than the anti-paladin’s. ing spells. At 3rd level, once per day the anti-paladin may beguile,
as the 2nd-level cleric spell. Anti-paladins of higher than 5th
Preferred Armor: None except for helmet & greaves level may do so twice per week, and those higher than 10th
Preferred Weapons: Footman’s f lail level thrice per week.
Special: Flaming oil Sacrifice: Human or demi-human sacrifices are accepted and
must be of the opposite sex and have a total HD equal to or
The Lord of the Tomb (Orcus) greater than the Anti-paladin’s.
Description: The anti-paladins of Orcus are remarkable for Preferred Armor: Studded leather
their unhealthy resemblance to, and familiarity with, the undead;
Preferred Weapon: Whip & bardiche
particularly ghouls. Anti-paladins of Orcus may belong to a
secret order known as the Eaters of the Dead, a particularly vile Special: Poisoned weapons & Acid
cult that practices extreme forms of cannibalism and demonic
necromancy as well as graverobbing and ritual desecration. The Maiden of Pain (Loviatar)
Boons: Anti-Paladins of Orcus are immune to the paralysis Description: The Anti-paladins of Loviatar belong to the
of ghouls. At 3rd-lvl and higher they gain the ability to control mostly female Cult of the Heartless Shrew. Their trademark is the
undead as an evil-aligned cleric, two levels lower than the anti- killing of innocents and inciting genocidal purges. In combat
paladin’s level, once per week. these anti-paladins often wear silver or white – colors easily
marred by the bloodstains of their victims.
Sacrifice: Only human sacrifices are accepted and must have a
total HD equal to or greater than the anti-paladin’s. Boons: May curse their opponents (as the reverse of the 1st-lvl
cleric spell bless) once per day. At 3rd-level they gain the ability
Preferred Armor: Any to cast the 1st-level Illusionist spell hypnosis, two levels lower
Preferred Weapons: Mace & Morningstar than the anti-paladin’s level, once per day.
Special: Poisoned weapons Sacrifice: Any group sentient sacrifices are accepted and must
have a total HD equal to three times the Anti-paladin’s level.
The Lord of Pestilence (Gresil) Preferred Armor: Scalemail
Description: Anti-paladins of Gresil are known as the Riders
Preferred Weapon: Warhammer & military fork
of the 7 Plagues or the Unclean Horsemen, and it is their mission
to spread disease and aff liction wherever they go, either subtly Special: Acid & Flaming Oil
or through more shocking means. The anti-paladins of Gresil

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    17

The Beast Lord (Baphomet) of their alignment, they may only be granted reversed spells or
spells with the capability of doing harm. They do not receive
Description: Anti-paladins of Baphomet are feared for their
any additional spells for high wisdom scores as clerics do. They
insane bloodlust and propensity for cannibalism – traits they
may not use clerical scrolls or other clerical magic items unless
share with the minotaurs whom they lead in battle. They can
these are also usable by Fighters.
be found in uncivilized, chaotic lands where they are known as
the Beastlords. These anti-paladins often go into battle painted Henchmen (9th–level): Anti-paladins may employ hirelings as
or tattooed with demonic symbols and wearing trophies of past do other classes. Beginning at 9th-level they will attract 1d20
victims (ears, fingers, and shrunken heads are common). henchmen. These henchmen may not necessarily be human,
and may even be monsters, demons or undead. Consult the
Boons: They are fearless in battle and may attack with a +2 to-
anti-paladin Henchman Table to determine exact types.
hit or damage for up to 3 turns, once per day. When attracting
henchmen, they may always opt for a minotaur in lieu of any Strongholds: Anti-paladins may construct a castle or a hide-
other creature. out, but will not attract any henchmen followers until 9th-level
(see above).
Sacrifice: Any single human, humanoid or monster sacrifices
slain in personal combat are accepted and must have a total HD Poison Usage: Like Assassins, Anti-paladins are not inherently
equal to one and a half times the anti-paladin’s level. more skilled at using or formulating poisons than any other
character class capable of using poison, but generally have more
Preferred Armor: Chainmail & horned great helm
opportunities to gain knowledge of poisons and their effects. In
Preferred Weapon: Battleaxe & club addition, certain of the demonic cults, such as those of Ardat and
Special: Poisoned weapons Orcus, prefer to use poisoned weapons and will generally have
more specialized knowledge about them than cults which do not.
Anti-Paladin Class Abilities Bonus Attacks: As paladins (OSRIC p.18)
Detect Good: An Anti-paladin may detect good up to 60ft, at
will, provided he or she concentrates on doing so.
Anti-Paladin Magic Items
Aura of Evil 10’ radius: An anti-paladin radiates an aura
equivalent to the reverse of the cleric spell Protection from Evil
10’ Radius. NOTE: All of these magic items continually radiate evil magic.
Inf lict Pain: Once per day, the anti-paladin can, by touch,
cause one point of damage per level. Anti-paladins typically use Bone Mace – A bone mace is wielded by favored servants of
this ability while torturing or interrogating prisoners. Orcus. It is a mace +3 that causes paralysis as a ghoul 3 times/day.
Summon Nightmare Steed (4th-level): At fourth level, the Sword of Ineffable Evil – Forged in the furnaces of the Abyss
anti-paladin may summon a Nightmare Steed, a demonic war- and quenched in the blood of a devil, this longsword radiates
horse with enhanced hit points, intelligence and movement chaotic evil and has a wickedly sharp saw-edge along both edges
speed. Such a steed may be called only once every ten years, of its pitch-black blade. In the hands of an Anti-paladin, this is
and usually requires the completion of a quest to actually find a magical longsword +4 that continually radiates Protection from
the Steed. For further details, see the paladin’s Summon Warhorse Good in a 30ft radius. The bearer may use it to Commune with
ability (OSRIC p.18). a demonic patron (as the 5th-level Cleric spell) once per week.
Backstab: Anti-paladins have the ability to backstab as a Thief Poison Scabbard – A scabbard that imparts poison to a blade if
of the same level. previously fed with the blood of a venomous monster such as a
Clerical Spellcasting (9th-level): Anti-paladins gain the abil- giant cobra or a manticore. Each feeding will supply enough of
ity to cast certain cleric spells at 9th level as a paladin. Because that same creature’s poison for 1d4 applications to the weapon.
Poison scabbards are most often sized for daggers, shortswords
or longswords, and (rarely) two-handed swords.
Saddle of Slavery – a saddle that burrows into the f lesh of a
normal riding beast. The owner of the saddle may then telepathi-
cally communicate his or her wishes, which will be followed as
well as the creature understands. The saddle exacts a high toll
on such normal beasts however, which have a 50% chance per
week of expiring.
Vestments of Demonf lesh – This human-sized suit is made
of the black leathery hide of a babau stitched with the hair of
a marilith. It is held together by an array of straps and buckles.
Once worn, the skin weaves itself into the wearer’s own skin
and cannot be removed. Alone, it provides an AC of 7 and may

18   • No. 3, Summer 2009

be worn under heavier armors. If the wearer is killed, the vest- Anti-Paladin Level Advancement
ments may be removed as normal. Die Roll Follower Type
The Mark of Kain – This cursed chaotic evil amulet initially 01-12 Fighter
grants the wearer +0 to AC. For each 10 murders the wearer 13-20 Thief
commits, the bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +4. 21-30 Assassin
Thereafter, if the wearer does not commit at least 10 murders a
31-36 Cleric
month, the bonus will go down to +0. If after one month the
37-40 Magic-User
wearer again does not commit at least 10 murders, they must
Save vs. Death or die – their soul forfeit to the Abyss. 41-48 Illusionist
49-54 Goblin
Damnation’s Flail – This +4 footman’s flail was forged in
the Abyss and continually radiates evil in a 10’ radius. It was 55-58 Orc
intended for a demonic champion, and requires at least a STR 59-60 Hobgoblin
of 17 to wield effectively. Against good or lawful foes it has a 61-62 Gnoll
+5 to-hit and damage. 63 Ogre/Minotaur
The Blood-drinker’s Cup – This cup is made of the skull pan 64 Troll/Ettin
of a succubus chased with silver. When filled with the still-warm 65 GIANT1
blood of an enemy (human, demi-human or humanoid) and 66-89 UNDEAD2
drunk the cup imparts the equivalent of a bless spell as cast by a
90-91 DEMON1,2
14th-level cleric. The cup may only be used 3 times per week.
92-99 MULTI-CLASSED NPC
The Winged Cloak of the Fallen Ones – This is a leathery
00 MONSTER (GM’s Choice)
black cloak with silver buckles along the front. When com-
Types listed in BOLD are general types. The specific creature should be determined
manded, the cloak will sprout a pair of bat-like wings that allow by the GM.
the wearer to fly (as the 3rd-level magic-user spell) for 12 turns. 1 If the anti-paladin already has a follower of this type, ignore this result and roll again.
The wings may only be used once per day. 2 These are only gained as followers when the anti-paladin has built a stronghold,
which they are confined to thereafter.
Anti-Paladin Level Advancement
Cleric Spell Level
Base XP Hit Dice
Level Required (d10) Notes Casting Lvl 1 2 3 4
1 0 1 - - - - -
2 2,550 2 - - - - -
3 5,500 3 - - - - -
4 12,500 4 Nightmare - - - - -
Steed
5 25,000 5 - - - - -
6 45,000 6 - - - - -
7 95,000 7 - - - - -
8 175,000 8 - - - - -
9 325,000 9 Attract 1 1 - - -
Henchmen
10 600,000 9+3* 2 2 - - -
11 1,000,000 9+6* 3 2 1 - -
12 1,350,000 9+9* 4 2 2 - -
13 1,700,000 9+12* 5 2 2 1 -
14 2,050,000 9+15* 6 3 2 1 -
15 2,400,000 9+18* 7 3 2 1 1
16 2,750,000 9+21* 8† 3 3 2 1
17 3,100,000 9+24* 8† 3 3 3 1
†
18 3,450,000 9+27* 8 3 3 3 1
19 3,800,000 9+30* 8† 3 3 3 2
20‡ 4,150,000 9+33* 8† 3 3 3 3
* Constitution-based hp adjustments no longer apply
† 8th is the ceiling spell casting level for anti-paladins
‡ Each level gained thereafter requires 350,000 additional experience points and
gains 3hp.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    19

The Font of Glee
an Adventure by Jason Sholtis

Introduction: Referee’s background:

This short scenario is designed to be used as the inaugural adven- Several months ago a wicked sorcerer, Yutephon the Farseeing,
ture for a party of 4-6 freshly-minted 1st level characters (and escaped into the Floon Valley following the destruction of his
some henchmen/hirelings) on their way to a dangerous yet secret domicile in more civilized lands. Full of lust for vengeance
lucrative wilderness area where they plan to begin their careers. but nearly penniless and deprived of his cherished spell books lost
The Floon Valley is an area where civilization has only begun in the raid on his sanctum, Yutephon seized a small hideout, a
to encroach upon the wilderness, for its huge pleistocene and cave complex beneath a giant hollow tree in the forest, in an area
shaggy pre-human hominids have begun to migrate away in known to travelers as the Two Taverns. There, he set to work
search of colder climates. restoring his powers, researching new magic and fomenting his
As mankind continues to explore the area, strange and plans for revenge. In particular, he developed a unique spell of
terrible discoveries are being made in the newly exposed lands, summoning which allowed him to call forth the minor horrors
including several entrances into the Unfathomable Underworld. now known as wood-devils (see New Monsters and Terrors at
Game mechanics and stats indicated employ the Swords the end of this adventure).
and Wizardry Core rules, but can be readily adapted to any 0e Once unleashed to terrorize the surrounding country-
or basic role playing system. The level of detail in the entries side, the wood-devils inexorably began regain some measure
below varies, but care has been taken to keep specifics to a min- of autonomy. Yutephon, so charmed by the creative care and
imum and to provide the referee with springboards to elaborate diabolical cunning his minions displayed in wreaking havoc,
upon freely. made the fatal error of releasing their wills one iota too much.

20   • No. 3, Summer 2009

One evening, having tucked Yutephon into his cozy bed after (mercenaries of considerable size and strength) maintains security
an exhausting day of study, the wood devils slew and devoured within. Duels are frequent, but rarely get out of hand. In fact,
their master. This act had peculiar effects on a number of the they are something of an attraction.
creatures, subtly increasing their alien intellects and engendering The brothers Een haven’t spoken in years, though they
incomprehensible ambitions. often communicate via intermediaries, and remain locked in a
death struggle for supremacy in their chosen field of battle: the
food and lodging industry.
Beginning the Adventure The ultimate weapon in this war of hospitality is a little
The characters have answered a call to begin their careers in the known local beverage called Gleewater, the sparkling effusion
Verdant Valley of Floon (or any home-brewed realm of danger- of an enchanted spring in the forest nearby, called the Font of
ous wilderness littered with ruins and dungeons), where they are Glee. Water from this source delivers a uniquely stimulating
invited to offer their modest talents in the service of the Scarlet euphoria (and occasionally more than bargained for: see the
Lord, Tuthandres. An aging fighting man set to the considerable Gleewater Special Effects Table at the end of this adventure) to
task of keeping his f ledgling realm safe from the monsters and the imbiber and can be quite addictive. The so-aff licted often
perils of a strange and little-known territory, the Scarlet Lord deny this condition, attributing their daily consumption to an
continues to promote settlement in this realm, despite his inability understandably passionate enthusiasm for their beverage of choice.
to completely pacify the surrounding wilderness. To this end, Both establishments offered the waters of Glee for years as
he advertises widely for adventurer types, for countless are the a uniquely local delicacy and attracted loyal customers willing
dangers to be discovered (and smashed!) in these unknown lands. to make a long and perilous journey to just to savor a f lagon or
To the south, old civilizations f lourish, most of the major two. For a period of some months, however, the Font of Glee
mysteries have been plumbed, and many threats to humankind, has been inaccessible, savagely defended by a territorial gaggle of
natural and otherwise, have been successfully dealt with, at least wood-devils that has moved into the area. Both of the brothers Een
for the time being. To be sure, strange sites and supernatural petitioned the Scarlet Lord Tuthandres for assistance, but judging
horrors remain, but here, in the recently unfrozen North, risk the matter to be of low priority, he has been thus far unwilling to
and reward coexist in unmatched quantities. dedicate manpower to the task of eradicating the infestation. He
But first the characters must get there. This adventure has, however, ruled that if any outside agency can accomplish this
occurs on what would have been the last night of this north- task, they, or their employers, can claim exclusive rights to the
bound sojourn, a day’s march from their ultimate destination. spring. In his Solomon-like wisdom, Tuthandres is deliberately
trying to up the ante further between the brothers, his rationale
something about bringing the feud to a head, hoping Ogwen and
The Two Taverns: Aalgrum will recognize the folly of their ways and join forces to
solve their problem. Nothing, however, could be further from
About a day’s march south of the Scarlet Citadel, two establish-
the brothers’ minds than reconciling their differences.
ments vie for business among the many travelers en route to or
Adventurers entering either establishment will find them-
from the valley.
selves at once petitioned to undertake the challenge of ridding
The Flying Ham is a modest, typically appointed inn of
the countryside of the wood-devils and their mischief. When
the usual sort, slightly shabbier than average. Twenty years of
the subject of the Font and its waters is brought up, audible
continuous operation in the wilderness has left the Ham (as it
groans of longing emanate from a few of the patrons; others are
is known) in a slight state of disrepair. Despite these aesthetic
momentarily lost in a wistfully nostalgic reverie. Ogwen of the
shortcomings, the proprietor, Ogwen Een, prides himself in
Ham offers a 200gp bounty to each player character engaged,
attention to the needs of his guests and provides an atmosphere
and can be talked into a profit-sharing plan if the players start
of homey comfort. Prices are reasonable, and the food, prepared
a bidding war. Aalgrum of the Gilded Lily offers 250gp per
by Ogwen’s long-suffering wife Uwe, is delightfully rustic fare.
character, and will go as high as 300 if pressed, but will not
Ogwen inherited the inn when his parents died within a short
agree to any sort of profit share. Either potential employer will
time of each other some years ago, andhis younger siblings sought
provide the characters with a hand-scrawled diagram of the area,
their fortunes in the civilized south: allsave one.
indicating the path to the font through the Eenwood, northwest
Across the road and a short distance north, another house
of the Two Taverns. If the referee wishes to further complicate
of hospitality beckons: the Gilded Lily, owned and operated by
matters, it would be relatively simple to outfit a competing party
Ogwen’s younger brother Aalgrum Een. Aalgrum, angry that
of adventurers hired by the other brother, composed of some of
his older brother inherited the Ham, built the Gilded Lily using
the NPC patrons on the tables below.
his still-considerable share of the inheritance, and has spared no
expense to bring an altogether different option to the traveling
public. The Gilded Lily, especially if approached after nightfall,
A Typical Bill of Fare at the Two Taverns:
shines with magically illuminated splendor, the swords & sorcery Flying Ham:
equivalent of a Las Vegas casino, beckoning to the weary traveler Prepared by Madame Een from old family recipes:
in need of seedier fare than that available at the Ham. Indeed, Braised Mutton in wine, dwarf onion, and subterranean fun-
every conceivable vice can be indulged within the Gilded Lily’s gus sauce served over roasted snow tubers with a mug of rich,
reinforced doors, the details of which I leave to the discretion piquant homebrewed ale.
and good taste of the referee. A small private force of bouncers
No. 3, Summer 2009 •    21
Gilded Lily: if one brother is killed the other will be too distraught to
Prepared by Brillion Frinz, former chef to the royal family of Kalakroon be of any further use.
(until his scandalous exile): 9. Bachelor farmer Rondus Glamros comes for dinner every
Filet of tunnel prawn tossed lightly in a brandy and veal-stock night then stays on, watchful for any potential brides.
reduction, presented vertically on a layer of swamp cabbage 10. 1d6 Red Knights enjoying complementary food and bever-
slaw with toasted morel shavings and a wilderberry vinaigrette, ages between local patrols. They have the giant corpse of a
accompanied by a tastefully chosen bottle from their unsurpassed catoblepas in a wagon behind the stable, having slain it in
(for a wilderness region) wine cellar Farmer Dreen‘s oat field and removed it at Dreen‘s insistence.
They have no idea what to do with it. If overheard, they
Note: Displeased diners can count on a colorful reaction from passionately refute the criticisms of Sir Tagonus, above.
Frinz should they send any orders back to the kitchen.
11. A man, who gives every indication of being somehow
ensorcelled, bursts through the doors claiming to have
just arrived from tomorrow. He knows something of dark
Random Flying Ham Patron Table: portent, too terrible to tell. If treated roughly, he reveals
The Ham boasts a lively family-friendly pub atmosphere. Lights his foreknowledge: tomorrow at this time, the forest will
are extinguished and the barroom cleared by 10 pm. be absolutely overrun by those damn wood-devils!
Roll 1d12 as many times as feels appropriate: 12. A woman arrives claiming to be a long lost relative of
Ogwen’s. She is in reality a dangerous impostor positioning
1. Julk Joliwell: an elderly bachelor farmer and passionate herself to profit from a restored f low of the Font’s waters.
devotee of Gleewater, blind in one eye after a run-in with
the wood-devils. He killed one with his pitchfork before
they blinded his eye with a stick, shaved his entire body, Random Gilded Lily patron table:
covered him in cow dung, and tied him to the top of the The Gilded Lily’s common room is busy most times of the day
highest pine tree in the forest. or night. They offer full services 24 hours a day and maintain a
2. A table full of surly dwarfs wearing outlandish foreign live-in staff to cater to the whims of their patrons.
costume (many-feathered felt hats and puffy checked pan- Roll 1d12 as often as required:
taloons). They speak dwarfish in hushed tones, and carry
1. Chud Gastrium (1st level fighter, HP 7; AC 6 [13], a fighter
steel lockboxes with them everywhere they go. They com-
on his way back home in the south after an especially ter-
municate with sign language, pretending to be unable to
rifying foray into the Unfathomable Underworld. Very
understand the common tongue.
jumpy and skittish, suffering from some sort of post-delving
3. Two severe-looking priestesses (1st level clerics), HD 1; stress disorder.
HP: 6, 5 AC: 4 [15]; Atk light mace (1d4+1) from the
2. Trader Flam, a rich fabrics and textiles merchant travel-
Universal Temple on a mission of utmost importance to
ing with a colorful entourage of vain, shallow, beautiful
the faith. They bear a coded communiqué to be delivered
urbanites from the south. Openly effete and oozing sophis-
to higher-ups in the south.
tication, it’s a wonder a local hunter hasn’t started a brawl
4. Sir Tagonus (1st level fighter) HD 1; HP 8; AC: 3 [16]; Atk with them yet.
1 sword or lance, a Red Knight of the Citadel, returning
3. Mistocles (2nd level cleric, HP 10; AC 4[15]) an aspirant to
from family leave, slightly drunk and highly critical of the
the Universal Temple in Floon. Available for adventuring.
Scarlet Lord
4. Sarabella (7th level fighter, HP 35; AC 3 [16] +1 chainmail),
5. Flargut HD 1; HP 7; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 spiked club or 6
a former associate of Yutephon, has just returned from an
excellent throwing rocks, the forest-ape who walks, talks,
exploration of his ruined hide-out in Floon. Her search
and dresses like a man.
for his whereabouts has led her here, where she has taken
6. Trenua, the chaste forest maiden, eager to discuss her up temporary residence while plotting her next move.
(imagined?) encounters with unicorns. Players whose characters run afoul of her had best ready
7. Gargan (3rd level magic-user), HD 1; HP 4 AC 9 [10]; Atk blank sheets and d6’s.
1 staff (1d6); Special: charm person, detect magic, web, 5. Quinton Thew (2nd level fighter, HP 10; AC 4[15] short
a magician from the south. He has six retainers (burly sword, short bow), a boisterous local hunter and trapper,
warriors-for-hire). Could provide arcane services for the wonders aloud why no one has yet assaulted the entourage
right party, at the right price. of Trader Flam. A Gilded Lily regular.
8. Branyard and Biliam Balke (HP: 6, 5), slightly depressed 6. Extremely drunk woodsman and his exceptionally mighty
but steady, these twin brothers are failed farmers and former bride gear up to perform their weekly ritual: no holds barred
Gleewater addicts down to their last few coppers. They spouse-on-spouse brawling. Wagering is encouraged by
would make excellent and willing men-at-arms. However, the regulars.

22   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 7. Stax the Bowman (1st level fighter, HP 6; AC 7 [12] long bow, En route to the Font:
dagger), a proficient hunter and temporarily dry Gleewater
addict, an affable regular with little interest in adventures. Travel to the Font is relatively straightforward and there is little
Gold, on the other hand, he finds quite intriguing. chance of the party becoming lost, though the temperate rain-
forest called the Eenwood is dense with foliage. The marked
8. Garesh Greywhiskers, a gnome from the extreme south, trail on the map is a rough footpath, just wide enough to permit
sent by widely renowned Gnomish distillery to secure easy passage for keg-laden donkeys. It should take the player
the “recipe” for Gleewater. A very poorly timed mission. characters about 4 hours of hiking to reach the site of the Font.
Bitterly disappointed and extremely well funded, he could The arrival of the wood-devils in this area of forest has
attempt to hire his own party once he hears of the Scarlet disrupted the natural order of things. Many animals and monsters
Lord’s proclamation. typically uninterested in human affairs have become increas-
9. 1d6 silk-clad dancing girls enjoying some free time. ingly agitated, themselves falling prey to the malicious pranks of
Harassment of any kind elicits instant expulsion with the wood-devils, making random encounters more likely. The
unnecessary roughness from the bouncers. wood-devils, in their perpetual quest for cheap laughs at anyone’s
expense, have also taken time to cultivate a number of lethal plants
10. Musician Ymak Serenus, afraid to go home because she
in the area. Roll 1d12 (or just go ahead and choose the juiciest)
saw something big and scary outside the window of her
on the following table once per hour (re-rolling duplicate results
shanty in the Eenwood last night.
or referee‘s choice) while the characters travel to the Font.
11. Armed miscreants: 6 bandits (HP 5,4,3,3,2,2,1; AC 7 [12]
short sword, short bow) share a table, eyeball everyone‘s Forest Encounters:
purses, and whisper to one another.
1. Rustling noises some distance way, followed by weird howl
12. Dantanyan (HP 4; AC 9[10] dagger), estranged husband of of exasperation
one of the dancing girls, claims she must be under magical
2. Flocks of birds raise hell overhead, squawking in protest
inf luence to behave in such a manner. He seethes with
as they leave the area, vowing to never return
pent-up aggression.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    23

 3. 1d4 outraged forest apes (HP 7, 5,4,3; AC 5 [14] see B: Shallow Pit (filled with hornet nests):
NEW MONSTERS AND TERRORS, below) attack This brush-covered pit is only about six feet deep and the soft
immediately hornets nests absorb some of the impact, doing only 1d2-1
points of damage to anyone falling in. The hornets attack in
4. 1d2 crazed black bears (HP 19,15; AC 4[15], atk: 2 claws,
one round, stinging repeatedly for 1 hp each round thereafter
bite 1d3/1d3,1d6 ) sloppily painted blue, looking to vent
until warded off.
frustrations
C: Standing Stone Deadfall:
5. Highly irritable skunk will not leave path
An idiot trap, really. A huge f lat stone is held aloft by a precari-
6. Naked man (Hogar the vagrant, HP 2), released by wood- ously positioned log, itself attached to a plainly visible rope held
devils having been thoroughly psychologically tortured, by 4 poorly concealed wood-devils a short distance away, giving
begs for assistance. He was caught trying to fill a wineskin themselves away with peals of premature laughter. A half-spilled
from the Font sack of gold (200gp) lies below the stone, calling out to passing
7. 1d6 incensed jungle deer snort their disapproval before fools. The devils enjoy the implied insult as much as the pos-
disappearing into the underbrush sibility of smashing someone under the stone.
8. Intestinally-challenged giant forest viper with visibly pro- Encounter Areas:
truding lump in midsection: recently swallowed wood-devil
cackles hideously from within D. The Font of Glee:
The path terminates in a shaded clearing and as the characters
9. 1d4 wood-devils (HP 4,2,2,1; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 bite 1d4) approach they notice a strange mixture of odors, an invigorat-
caught setting snare trap, f lees immediately into deep ing freshness with subtle undertones of something nauseatingly
woods, laughing hysterically rancid. The Font itself is a natural spring, trickling from a rocky
10. 1d4 briarmen (HP 4, 3, 2, 1; AC 7 [14] Atk: thorny embrace outcrop in a loamy embankment covered with primordial vegeta-
1d4 +special: see NEW MONSTERS AND TERRORS, tion. The waters form a small shallow pool before being absorbed
below) into its gravel bottom. The spring emanates the pleasant, if slightly
11. Whip-reeds: planted near the path, the reeds will give unnatural, fragrance. A gaggle of wood-devils contribute the
living beings passing within 5 feet a good lashing for 1d4 offensive stench component to the combination mentioned above.
damage per round in range. They are in the midst of a wild Gleewater binge, some f lopping
lazily in the spring, others whirling about like dervishes, still
12. Stench cabbages: cultivated to make sections of the path others bleating out savage mockeries of well-known popular
nearly impassible. Getting within 10 feet of the bloated songs, national anthems, and hymns. When cognizant of the
purple growths causes them to fire off their gas-weapon: presence of interlopers, their revels immediately cease and the
saving throw at +2 or pass out for 1d4 minutes, then save wood-devils leap to combat. Hindered by intoxication, they
again unless removed from range by conscious cohorts. attack at a -1 penalty.
Failing to save four times in a row indicates death for that
character.
Wood-devils: (8) HP 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1

Trap Areas:
If sufficiently impressed by the party’s prowess, remain-
A: Simple Snares: ing wood-devils f lee to their hideout beneath the hollow tree,
These are set to trap both humans venturing off the path and alerting their fellows.
hapless forest creatures (which will do for food in a pinch). Once the wood-devils have been dealt with the characters
Attached to bent trees, the ensnared are swept from their feet may examine the Font. To their consternation, very little can be
and left dangling head down about ten feet in the air. Roll 1d6 determined beyond doubt. It appears the Font is some kind of
for each character passing through the area indicated. A roll of 1 natural magical phenomena, despite that seeming contradiction.
or 2 indicates the character has been snared. A roll of 6 indicates If the characters opt to sample its waters, have each roll a saving
the trap has already snared something else. throw. Those who fail must roll on the Gleewater Special Effects
Snare victims table (roll 1d6): Table at the end of this adventure. Characters that make their save
1. A dead squirrel feel stimulated and inappropriately jolly for the rest of the day.
The main trail ends at the Font, but alert player characters
2. A boot ought to notice that a narrow path has recently been beaten into
3. A wood ape the bush at the north end of the clearing, meandering off into
the deepening forest.
4. A desperate glee-addicted human, too weak from dehydra-
tion to speak E. The Hollow Tree:
A colossal tree stump, some 15 feet in diameter and 20 feet in
5. A chortling wood-devil
height, dominates this area of thick forest, the faint path winding
6. A still-struggling deer towards its weed-obscured roots. A natural-looking aperture on

24   • No. 3, Summer 2009

the stump’s west side, 7 feet high and 5 feet wide at the base, offers of the wood devils. They destroyed such sparse furnishings as
itself to the adventurers as an obvious starting point. On the inside, there were utterly, leaving the surface of the room covered almost
in the hollow above the doorway, twin guardians coil restfully completely with finely shredded paper and wood shavings, like
until alerted to the presence of any trespassers by their keen senses. the substrate in a fever-dream gerbil cage. The powerful odor of
Forewarned, they take the fight to the enemy, posturing threaten- alien urine slaps the adventurers in the face, defying them to take
ingly just inside the doorway, hissing and frothing a warning from more than a shallow breath. Only empty wax-spattered sconces on
their hideously working mouth parts, fangs glistening with venom. the walls remain intact. The 6 wood-devils currently occupying
the room rest under visible heaps of bedding if the adventurers
Attack-trained giant centipedes (small, non-lethal) (2): have been stealthy. Otherwise, they rush off to gather the rest of
HP 2, 2; AC 9 [10] Atk: bite 1d2, non-lethal poison, +4 save their fellows in areas 3 and 4 to organize some kind of resistance.

In the center of the hollow, a 10 foot shaft embedded with Wood-devils: (6) HP 4, 4, 2, 2, 2, 1
sturdy-looking ladder rungs descends into the darkness. On the
f loor near the back of the room, food and water dishes for the A careful search of the bedding yields some surprising results.
centipedes appear to be immaculately clean and fresh. And just Pages of Yutephon’s personal log and some of his spell research
what is that chopped food preparation? can be cobbled together. If detect magic is used in this room,
the fragments are readily visible due to Yutephon’s obsessive
employment of ensorcelled inks. Though incomplete, the sor-
The Wood-devil Warrens: cerer’s notes hint at several interesting breakthroughs in har-
The shaft leads down approximately 30 feet, ending in a landing nessing arcane energies. At the referee’s discretion, future spell
with a single passageway leading south. The passage, rough-hewn researches undertaken by PC magic-users could enjoy up to a
from the bedrock, slopes downward somewhat precipitously until 50% reduction in cost and time after careful reconstruction and
it ends with a stout, if poorly crafted, wooden door. study of these documents. If successfully auctioned off to the right
buyers, well folks, the sky’s the limit. As above, only intensive
Area 1. The Main Hive:
study (probably only in concert with an excellent library of
A natural grotto that once served Yutephon as an antechamber and
some kind) will reveal the true value of Yutephon’s theorems.
meeting room underwent a radical transformation at the hands

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    25

Area 2. The Distillery: Area 4. Yutephon’s Laboratory:
This cavern has been outfitted with a variety of bottles, jars, and This vast cavern once served as the sorcerer’s workroom, and indeed
beakers, connected by an elaborate jumble of tubes and pipes. the very pentangle that he used to summon forth the wood-devils
Long since abandoned, this equipment remains as evidence of from whatever haunted-forest hell they came from occupies the
Yutephon’s perhaps fatal interest in the waters of the Font. A northwest corner. Since they assassinated their captor, the three
small keg of highly condensed Gleewater brandy still holds 1d4 smartest wood-devils (those who partook of Yutephon’s brains on
doses of the experimental beverage, long since written off by that fateful night) have made use of the alchemical equipment in
the wood-devils as too much of a good thing. Any character this room to concoct their reality-defying reproduction formula
inclined to imbibe must roll a saving throw or go stark raving (see Area 8. The Broodmare, below). Though finding the whole
insane for 1d8 hours. If the character successfully saves, he still scheme frightfully amusing and a bit of a lark, truth be told, the
must roll on the GLEEWATER SPECIAL EFFECTS table below. devils have somehow almost succeeded in creating a new genera-
Area 3. The Pantry: tion of their kind, subtly infused with earthly material to more
A trio of wood-devils, back from a successful hunt in the forest, readily adapt to and (hopefully) overrun their new environment.
chuckle smugly to themselves as they compare their catches. The The wood-devil triumvirate are currently present in the room,
lifeless bodies of countless forest creatures hang from the ceiling, unless summoned off by trouble elsewhere, trying once again to
aging to perfection while producing a stench of such unsurpassed open a cosmic portal to their home by mimicking the deceased
obscenity that the characters must roll a saving throw or be sick- sorcerer’s words and gestures, standing on one another’s shoulders
ened, suffering a -1 penalty to all rolls for the rest of the day. while wearing Yutephon’s tattered cape. The uppermost devil
wields a wand of magic missiles (3 charges).

Wood-devils (3): HP 3, 2, 1
World’s smartest wood-devils (3): HP 4, 4, 4

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26   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 No player worthy of his dice would fail to thoroughly will also reveal an ancient, enchanted short sword (+1, +2 against
explore this trash-strewn cavern. magic-users) of alien design, embedded in a large fragment of
Area 5. Giant Centipede Pen: meteoric rock set aside from the rest of the debris. Skillfully
Two wood-devils tend to the care and feeding of the 4 attack- employed hammer and chisel can free the blade readily.
trained giant centipedes in this cavern. A smaller than average Area 8. The Broodmare:
wood-devil with the face of a deer skull wears an apron and hefts The entrance to this chamber has been sealed up with brick and
a meat cleaver over a work table, hacking away at a small pile mortar and a stoutly barred (from the outside) wooden door.
of squirrels, rats, cats, snakes, and bugs rendering them all into The occupant of this room represents the wood-devils’ only
a chip-chopped hash to be fed to the attack-trained centipedes. hope for a long-term infestation of this world, their attempt
When the characters make their entry, the wood-devils step at (semi-) natural reproduction by some unknowable means.
back into the room, gesticulating madly to their pets to attack. A wood-devil swollen to gross immensity toddles toward the
adventurers, its abdomen distended almost beyond belief. Barely
Attack-trained giant centipedes (small, non-lethal) (4): able to ambulate, the gurgling, wheezing creature insane with
HP 2, 2, 2, 2; AC 9 [10] constantly gnawing hunger, attempts to eat anything that enters
this chamber. The bones of countless woodland creatures, and
Wood-devils (2): HP 3, 3
not a few human skulls, litter the f loor. The first hit on the
broodmare triggers a ghastly eruption: the half-formed bodies
Area 6. Shaft Room: of nearly 100 wood-devil larvae explode from its abdomen,
A pair of blue-skinned dwarfs from an unknown mountain range wriggling and cackling madly before growing still in a rapidly
far away to the north, under the inf luence of a powerful spell of widening pool of fetid ichor.
mind-control, carry out a mining operation at the behest of the
late sorcerer. Yutephon planned to create a personal entrance Wood-devil broodmare (1): HP 1; AC 8 [11]; Atk 1 savage bite
into the terrifying Underworld from this dwarf-refined cav- (1d8); Special: explodes on first hit
ern. The wood-devils have maintained the operation, finding
hilarious the idea of using this entrance to coax terrors from
below onto the unsuspecting surface world. Unfortunately, Area 9. Evacuation Passage:
the devils are thoroughly unskilled in dwarf-husbandry, and Originally excavated by the goblin bandits, this narrow, rough
4 of the original 6 abducted miners have perished of disease passageway travels for approximately one mile, coming up to
and malnutrition, their skeletons desiccating in their beds. The the surface in a gradual slope. The exit is covered by foliage,
surviving dwarfs will obey orders to attack any intruders with but can be cleared readily. The wood-devils make little use of
their mining implements. it but keep it guarded using their trained centipedes.

Blue-skinned dwarfs: HP 8, 8 ac: 4 [15] ATK: pick, hammer Attack-trained giant centipedes (small, non-lethal) (2):
1d4+1 HP 2, 2; AC 9 [10]

The inky abyss in the center of this room is 15 feet across and 100
feet deep. It is equipped with two sets of wall-mounted ladder Aftermath:
rungs and a bucket and pulley system suspended from the ceil- Outcomes will vary widely, being largely the result of player/
ing for transporting debris from the shaft. Deep ruts in the f loor referee interactions, but I provide here a few notes on the many
leading from the shaft disappear into the darkness of Area 7. If possible results.
somehow released from the sorcerer’s charm spell, or alternately,
• Ogwen will generally be more amenable to compromise and
with their dying breaths, the dwarfs will tell of the terrible noises
reconciliatory gestures than his brother if players attempt
from below of something that was attracted by their activities and
to “set things aright” with the Eens.
has begun to dig up. They plead with the player characters to
seal up the pit before it breaks through. If players decide to listen • If players opt to make some kind of an arrangement with
in silence they too can hear it, seemingly distant but chilling the Gnome (Garesh Greywhiskers, above), they earn the
nonetheless, the sharp, regular scrapes from the unknown. eternal enmity of the Een clan and an unfavorable reputa-
tion with the locals.
Area 7. Debris Storage Area:
The dwarfs use this cavern to store rubble removed from the shaft • If players fail to destroy the broodmare the region will
via a small, wheeled cart. Dwarfs being dwarfs (blue-skinned soon be teeming with wood-devils for which the player
or otherwise), when, during normal mining operations, they characters shall be blamed.
would discover a gem or mineral of some value or interest, they • No matter whom the player characters represent, the locals
would add it to their stash in a hollow behind a boulder stored will be extraordinarily grateful to them for restoring the
in this room. The dwarfs’ cache is impressive: A careful search f low of Gleewater.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    27

Gleewater special effects table: Move: 9
Roll 1d12 (all effects last for 8 hours): Challenge Level/XP: 1/15
1. Mild stupefaction (-1 intelligence) Their common name something of a misnomer, forest apes are
2. Total stupefaction (-3 intelligence) actually a species of arboreal hominid, hirsute but fully bipedal
and some 3-4 feet in height. Like most hominids, forest apes are
3. Dose of the giggles (annoys others) only slightly less intelligent than the average human and have
4. Mind-blowing insight gained (+3 wisdom) developed a fairly complex language of apish hoots and hollers.
They deeply envy and consequently resent their hairless cousins.
5. Fleeting glimpse of the future (+1 wisdom)
Forest apes are difficult to detect in wooded environments and
6. Crackpot insight seems brilliant (-1 wisdom) are unusually adept (+1) with hurled missiles (rocks and chunks
7. Rendered mute but delighted (amuses others) of wood, most commonly).
8. Grossly inf lated sense of own importance (annoys others) Wood-Devils:
9. Full-blown hallucinations (requires physical restraint in Armor Class: 7 [12]
most cases) Hit Dice: 1d4hp
10. See through veil of reality: paranoid freak-out (referee’s Attacks: bite 1d4
discretion) Saving Throw: 16
Special: limited f light (wing assisted leaps)
11. Penetrating self-examination with uncontrollable sobbing
Move: 9
(annoys others)
Challenge Level/XP: A/5
12. Berserk frenzy of destruction (referee’s discretion)
These malevolent creatures infest haunted forests and jungles
to the perpetual chagrin of the other inhabitants. Given to all
Note: large quantities of alcohol (or any sufficiently sedating sub- manner of wicked chicanery, including lethal tricks and sadistic
stance) will usually mitigate the effects above. practical jokes, wood-devils more than earn their name, even
if they don’t originate on the infernal planes (a subject of some
dispute). These creatures average between 2-4 feet in height,
and vary widely in general appearance: bat-like, weasel-like,
New Monsters and Terrors: monkey-like, etc., but always grey-blue in coloration with
vestigial wings and horns of varied size and shape. Wood-devil
Briarmen:
language is composed of high-pitched tittering, indistinguishable
Armor Class: 7 [14] from their near-continuous, malicious laughter.
Hit Dice: 1d4 hp
Attacks: thorny embrace 1d4 damage
Special: f lesh-eating seedlings, 1hp initial damage, 1hp addi-
tional damage per hour left untreated
Move: 6
Challenge Level/XP: A/10
Briarmen begin life as simple barbed brambles in dark forests
and other nightmare zones. When pollinated and ready to go to
seed, they detach from their root systems and walk, in the rough
shape of a man, searching for a living host for their ravenous,
f lesh-eating seedlings. Once they seize a living creature in their
thorny embrace, they emit a barrage of seeds that immediately
begin to burrow tendrils into the flesh of the host. Once exposed,
victims must vigorously scrub with alcohol and/or set f lame to
their bodies to be rid of the seedlings. Failure to do so results
in a slow death beyond description. If permitted to grow on the
corpse, 1d20 adult plants will result from a single such exposure.

Forest Apes:
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 1+1
Attacks: bludgeon/bite 1d6/1d4
Saving Throw: 17
Special: none

28   • No. 3, Summer 2009

The City of
Vultures
by Gabor Lux
Playtesters: Akos Barta, Andras Aron Salamon and David Sojtori
Dedicated to Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barker
The City Ishab-Lambar, the new god of the southern nomads, was once
tolerated in the city despite his moral certitude, but his worship
In the arid lands of Thasan, there rises the City of Vultures, a was outlawed after Mirvander Khan had an ominous dream.
metropolis whose original name is now forgotten to all – forgotten Two nights and one day did the hunt for the worshippers last,
even to the ancient slaves who are keepers to Mirvander Khan’s and then finally was the faith eradicated. Yet ever since, more
library. Open and proud sins among the city’s inhabitants have and more of the lower craftsmen have secretly thronged to
aroused anger and contempt among the more orthodox nomads its side, establishing the city’s first self-help organisation, the
of the southern coast, who, under the banners of their new god, White Hand.
have sworn to conquer crumbling wall and gilt spire, and push
the faithless into the sea. There is open war against the city, The Worshippers of Jeng, who perform obeisance before a
although not an intensive one: distance and terrain conspire to curtain-shrouded idol. The temple (2.) is heavy with scented
keep the foes apart, so larger clashes are not common. vapours and the smell of ash, while cultists with curved swords
Under the wings of the vultures that circle lazily above its watch for those not of the faith. The worshippers are duplicitous,
towers, the city shows signs of rot and decay. Even the rich palaces “letting the veil of Jeng fall before their nature”.
are crumbling, stuccoes fall and statues are as worn stumps. The
streets, redolent with sweet musk, rot and filth are populated by
an ill folk, evil of visage and wretched. In contrast, the people
of the palaces are marked with calculating indolence and the
world-weariness of inherited status. The dwellers worship a lot
of demigods native and specific to the city; either unambiguously
evil, or indifferent to human suffering. The city is ruled by a grand
master of mirages and lies, Mirvander Khan (11th level Illusionist).
The khan is an evil man befitting his domain, and in his throne
room, his safety is protected by a golden cage and trained tigers.

The Gods
Béthim Khanum: a female priesthood of magic-
users has risen to protect the bronze-domed burial
palace (1.) of this former imperatrix and await
her glorious return at the fore of a dead army.
The Worshippers of the Columns are
ascetics often seen whirling around the
tall, primordial columns scattered over
the city, and battering their heads against
the stone until they fall unconscious.
Prophesying in inarticulate screams,
they sometimes lead the mob to do ter-
rible deeds.

30   • No. 3, Summer 2009

Karttekeza, the idealistic peacock-riding god in fact the warnings are left in place:
resides in the Citadel of the She-Sultan south of whoever enters shall nevermore
the city, but he has many followers among leave the sanctum.
the fighting classes, and is popular for T h e Te m p l e o f t h e
both valour and poetry. Delight ful Scent is
Kéttki is a common good luck charm not tied to any known
resembling a cross between a pan- deity; the only sacral
golin and a hedgehog, and his small object in the domed
idols are found in various forms over hall (6.) is the slowly
the city. Some of the more devoted evaporating block of
worshippers have been known to flay camphor-like resin,
themselves on the barbed spines, but prepared from a mix-
this behaviour is atypical. No clergy ture of spices and the fats
or temple. of subaquatic creatures
Kwárü Khan: a former ruler who by diligent hands. Every
has degenerated into a black, wormlike morning when the gates
horror with the powers of a demigod. At are thrown open, there
night, the Khan’s form prowls the back is a new quantity releas-
alleys of the city, whispering horrid secrets ing its aroma. All, from
to those who walk outside on the darkest f lies to men, are drawn
nights. What he has to say is often incom- inexorably to the smell,
prehensible or allegorical to several degrees. which is most pleasant and
None are brave enough to worship him. has no apparent ill effect.

Mezeng, a secretive clerical sect, is known for

its charity, and feeding the poor with mezexin, The Societies
a purplish pudding-like matter recovered from a
Deston: a secret society dedicated to weird
foreign world. Thanks to the efficacy of polymorphic
harmonies, organised on the principles of terrorist
cloning, mezexin is both nutritious and easily produced.
cells. They employ oddly shaped metal tuning forks to
It eventually becomes a part of human cells and vice versa.
produce their otherworldly tones, which are banned due to
Ozolba, the zombie god, is not technically outlawed in their danger to one’s life, but sought obsessively by those who
the City of Vultures, but his worship must have partaken of it. The ranks of Deston
take place in secrecy, since the Followers reach from the most contemptible pariahs
of Dókh are hostile to any philosophy
that does not properly dispose of the dead.
   to the highest reaches of society. The
head of the organisation, and the only
Sürü Miklári: the veiled priests of the    
man to know the entire cell structure,
rat god worship in a dank under-cellar is Mirvander Khan.
(3.) closed off from the world by copper    The Followers of Dókh are a pariah-
grilles in the company of the “little broth- caste; it is their task to throw the dead
ers”, thousands of rats. Rat’s stench and to the vultures, and take away the bones
sweet perfumes mingle with the smell once they have been stripped of meat.
of milk, brought in a multitude of clay The followers use brass chains to bind
bowls by the worshipping poor. the dead (and those declared legally dead)
Swahul the Prophet is a skeleton kept to the interior walls of roof less towers
in a sealed iron casket, who prophesies found all over the city. They constantly
through the metal sheath by mental wear cowled robes, as well as an indigo
transference. The temple of Swahul (4.) strangling cord around the neck. On
is covered in arrays of f lowers, and the their orgiastic rites, they are known to
gardens are known for a multitude of asphyxiate themselves or each other in
birds singing among the splendid, colour- their frenzy.
Buy, Sell and Trade new
ful frescoes depicting the dead. The Followers of Hachur Khan are
and out-of-print RPGs,
Yezud the spider god has left his tem- dedicated to the service of the former
Miniatures and Wargames. child-king, cast off from the throne by the
ple outside the city gates (5.), and the
worshippers have also departed for parts severe Mirvander Khan and put to ever-
unknown. The gates are sealed, and only  lasting torment. The constantly regen-
erating, mind-wiped body of Hachur

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    31

Khan is torn every day by vultures, only to regrow by the conservative traditionalists, who are almost without exception
next morning. His remaining followers have, however, secretly cruel for cruelty’s sake (as opposed to simple pragmatism, more
stolen into the tower where the body is kept and recovered typical of the Khan’s followers).
pieces of f lesh which have now grown into a new race of men, Burial Rites: in the City of Vultures, the dead are carried by
beautiful of form and devoid of sin or intellect. The Followers the Followers of Dókh to roof less towers, where vultures
of Hachur Khan are all high-ranking traditionalist aristocrats feast on their bodies. The cleaned bones are then carried away
or their henchmen. and crushed unless a generous bribe is paid; the skulls of nobles
The Merchants of Death: these usurers are doing business are allowed to be taken back by their family as a matter of fact,
with Oolar’s time, a spell that can prolong life indefinitely as and it is a typical custom among aristocrats to keep them as a
long as it is recast again and again. They live around the Courts part of the family treasures.
of Abulghazi Khan.
Oom the Many is a society of illusionists, who have also infil-
trated and taken over the Seekers of the Starry Sky. On their
missions or gatherings, every member wears the face of Oom, 13
the founder of the order. Therefore, Oom may be anyone: a
novice or a master of illusions.
The Society for Optimalised Objectivism, a conspiracy
overseeing the Market of Uugen, is dedicated to upholding 6
absolutely free market forces within their sphere of inf luence. 4
They worship an ancient star vampire residing in a crystal globe; 12
the “high priestess”, An-Raydn, enjoys good relations with the 8 11
Supreme High Bursator of Fedafuce, the venerable Grenspanios
(now living in a distant city state).
The Seekers of the Starry Sky is a philosophy in vogue among
the well-born and the aff luent. In truth, the wisdom of the stars 1
10 2
is a mirage created by illusionists, and the society is guided by
Oom the Many towards unknown purposes.
3
Warriors of the Tiger: this military brotherhood, based on 9
strong familial ties but open to valorous outsiders who have
proven themselves, is sworn to serve the Khan at all costs. Their
faces are recognisable by painted scars, although they often
employ face-covering iron masks to strike terror into their foes.
Women in the family are not expected to take up arms, but it
is considered honourable to do so, and a normal occurrence.
Once a year, they walk the city with their trained tigers, killing 5
7
freely those they come across or whose house they break into.
The brotherhood resides in the Fortress of the Tiger, the
former summer palace of Yanar Khanum.
Key
1. The Burial Palace of Béthim Khanum
The White Hand, ostensibly a self-help organisation, is a
network secretly dedicated to the worship of Ishab-Lambar. 2. The Temple of Jeng
The network provides beneficial micro-credit to upstanding 3. The Temple of Sürü Miklári
members (mostly craftsmen and lesser merchants) and those it
seeks to convert; on the side, it carries out secret assassinations 4. The Temple of Swahul
against those judged to be sinful. The White Hand has been 5. The Temple of Yezud
infiltrated by some opportunistic thieves, who use it for a front
6. The Temple of the Delightful Scent
and a source of income.
7. The City of Beggars
8. The Courts of Abulghazi Khan
The Customs
9. The Fortress of the Tiger
Jewel Teeth: the aristocracy is distinguished from street scum
by the partial or full replacement of teeth with sharpened gem- 10. The Market of Uugen
stones. The pointed, glinting teeth lend their wearers a bestial 11. The Mouth of Mirvander Khan
appearance, and some enhance it with jewel talons mounted on
12. The Palace
brass sheaths worn over the fingers. As Mirvander Khan does
not follow this custom, it has become a distinguishing sign of the 13. The Tower of Monodoios

32   • No. 3, Summer 2009

The Places
The City of Beggars (7.) lies outside the southern gates. This
stinking shantytown of tents, huts and improvised lean-tos, is a
refuge for pariahs and diseased animals; murder, the basest vices,
and unthinking brutality are all commonplace, and accidental
or intentionally set fires are not unprecedented. The inhabit-
ants here, existing in a half-human state, are in mutual hatred
with the city folks, as well as the fishing village on the seacoast.
The Courts of Abulghazi Khan (8.): these isolated streets
and courts have no apparent connection to the rest of the street
system. Here, there is a perpetual full moon at night, and the
pale sphere looks much closer than elsewhere. In the houses live
ancient people who have outlived all: the “shareholders” and
other beneficiaries of the Oolar’s time spell, now administered
by the Merchants of Death.
The Fortress of the Tiger (9.), which was originally built as
the summer palace of Yanar Khanum, is by ancient rights the
home of the Warriors of the Tiger, the military brotherhood
sworn to Mirvander Khan’s protection. The walls of the fortress
are as vertical stone cliffs, and its splendour is much unlike the
teeming slums that lie beneath.
The Greater Abyss of Khotek Kemri is a yawning chasm
opening from a cellar in the slums, exhaling cold vapours like a
sigh from the underearth. If talked to, the abyss, which is known
to but a few, responds; sometimes with an answer, sometimes
with a curse, a spell or a strange compulsion: for every visitor,
there will be a different response.
The Market of Uugen (10.), a series of interconnected streets
and courts, is found in the slums. Everything is on sale – hairy
worms in crystal boxes, dried flowers that bring madness, children
and dogs sold from cages and bar-covered houses, prophecies and
mind-wiped slaves. Let the customer beware: while the wares
are genuine, the hearts of the sellers are not; and he who is not
cautious may become merchandise instead of buyer.
The Mouth of Mirvander Khan (11.) is a monstrous stone
idol standing by the eastern gates of the Palace. The crumbling
terror rests its clawed paw on a stone block, and, if the current
Khan is so willing, its throat will speak to the city (and will
obey none other). Thus far, Mirvander Khan has never taken
advantage of the opportunity.
The Palace (12.): an immense complex rising from the city
like a mountain of stone. Its gardens are islands of calm and
beauty in the tumult of sin; the northern palace towering above
the harbour a network of antique living quarters. The highest
point in the Palace is the ceramic-studded central tower. Way
up, on a landing platform supported by beams of steel, there
rest glittering metal birds that can sail the skies.
The Tower of Monodoios (13.) is a half-ruined tower jutting
from the waters of the harbour, and is the nest of the bandit
leader known as the Fisherman Lord, his thieves, and their
extended, interrelated families, which is the strongest criminal
organisation in the city.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    33

Random Wilderness
Events (d20) by Joshua James Gervais

T
he dungeon isn’t the only place where the strange and 10: A corpse of trees beings to slowly travel towards a settle-
mysterious can be found. The wilderness has its share of ment — moving a short distance each night.
weirdness as well. This table is intended as a springboard 11: A tree that bears magical fruit is discovered. The effect of
for Refs to build wilderness adventures. It was written with an the magic changes from beneficial to baneful when the
eye towards giving high-level characters with strongholds and fruit spoils.
the like interesting challenges in their territory, but can be used
12: A falling star lands in the wilderness.
for characters of any level.
13: A long lost expedition returns out of the wilderness not
1: The blood moon causes all animals to go into a killing
knowing that they have been gone for decades.
frenzy for three consecutive nights.
14: One by one, animals in the wilderness begin to speak the
2: A natural disaster such as an earthquake or wildfire on
common tongue, but become no more intelligent.
covers an opening into a long-forgotten underground
structure. 15: Unfamiliar bodies from a foreign land are found hung from
the tree line.
3: An ancient tree awakens, becoming a Treant.
16: Ominous, unmoving storm clouds form over the wilder-
4: A new settlement is founded without the approval of an
ness, but there is no storm.
important person (a ruler, local druids, or possibly the PCs
if it’s in their territory). 17: A strange creature made out of the parts of several animals
native to the wilderness begins to attack nearby settlements.
5: A dragon is roused from a century long slumber and seeks
to regain its stolen hoard. 18: Over night the wilderness is transformed from summer to
winter (or vice versa).
6: An undead beast that resembles a bear or boar rampages
through the wilderness. 19: A band of feral children appear in a settlement and claim
to speak on behalf of the “King of the Wilds.”
7: A new corpse of trees springs up overnight.
20: A road appears going into the heart of the wilderness. Its
8: Animals in one section of the wilderness mysteriously grow
true destination is unknown.
to monstrous sizes.
9: A section of the wilderness—plants, animals, and the like
— are inexplicably turned to stone.

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Random Ruin Generator
by Robert Lionheart
Adventurers unearth a moldy map revealing a city lost for a thousand construction might have been lost to past ages. Its rediscovery
ages…. could be worth a great fortune to the right patron.
Bandits set camp in the crumbling wreckage of a dead warrior‘s great hall… 6-8. Walls of Stone
In an uncertain world, Men and Dwarves build stone
Seadogs spot an enemy’s armada beached in the shallows, flying rotted walls to keep out invaders. When all else falls to sword
sails… and f lame, the silent bricks remain. What stories would
Wanderers stumble upon a marvelous temple buried by the jealousy of they tell? What were the walls built to keep out? Or what
a spurned goddess… Scavengers loot the carcass of a forgotten village, did they keep imprisoned within? The referee chooses
fallen to a hideous plague… the length, height and breath of these walls from a simple
hedgerow of rocks, or a forbidding spiked palisade to a

E
xploring ruins is a favorite aspect of fantasy adventuring, nation-spanning barricade such as Hadrian’s Wall or the
but not all ruins are dungeons. Sometimes they are just towering Great Wall of China.
an intriguing spot on the map, or bumped into while 9-12. Single Dwelling
trekking through the wilderness. These tables help the referee This single structure stands alone in the wilderness. There
to f lesh out these encounters with three simple dice rolls. First, may have been many more buildings nearby in the past,
what was this place? Second, how badly damaged is it? And but this one is all that remains. Unless the referee has a
third, what is here now? After tossing the dice, mix it up with specific type of dwelling in mind, roll D20 below. The
your imagination and dare your players to explore! chart is skewed toward multi-room ruins to encourage
exploration and player interest.
What was this Place? d20 Size Type Examples
The first 3D6 roll determines the general nature of the struc- 1-3 Small Common hermit hut, peasant hovel,
ture, as it existed before whatever tumbled the buildings into cottage, windmill, farm
ruin. The referee should determine the previous purpose of the 4-6 Small Unusual mausoleum, signal tower,
structure. Ruins are a great way to introduce elements of your shrine, workshop
setting’s past history and inspire mysteries. Why is the keep of a 7-11 Medium Common road house, noble manor, stables,
Dwarf lord within an ancient Elven forest? This shrine is obvi- temple, keep, merchant store-
ously the work of Man, so why the altars to the foul Orc gods? house, barracks, large farm
12-14 Medium Unusual wizard’s tower, monastery,
3. Bizarre Magical Creation moathouse, sage’s library
This ruin was originally built with magic or lost technol- 15-17 Large Common castle, fortress, citadel
ogy. Is it real or a dream of a madman? Let your visions run 18-20 Large Unusual seasonal vacation palace,
wild with palaces of bone, skull fortresses, f loating crystal opulent castle, university
towers, living tree houses, and invisible castles!
4. Inhuman Construction 13-15. Many Structures
This ruin was constructed by a non-humanoid race. It may The referee can roll 1D6, 2D6 or 3D6 for the number
have been designed for an anatomy that was neither bipedal, of ruins in the area. One ruin per D6 rolled should be
nor upright. Travel through such a ruin might be quite a centerpiece ruin. Roll D20 on the Dwelling chart to
difficult, disorienting and dangerous. Examples include determine the nature of these key ruins. The remainder
a hive abandoned by giant bees, a mountain riddled into could simply be small common dwellings.
honeycombs by rock eating oozes, a coral reef teleported 16. Village
onto land, or a crashed alien starship. Villages far from major cities and towns can vanish due to
5. Architectural Feat marauder attacks, disease, famine or natural disasters. Some
These ruins are often huge, impressive and awe-inspiring villages were been built by those who sought to live outside
public works that took decades, maybe centuries, to construct the social order, such as cultists of forbidden gods, fallen noble
and devoured the lives of thousands of forgotten Men. Such families, demi-human outcasts, army deserters turned bandits,
feats could be a sprawling monolith commemorating an incestuous families of raving cannibals and other unwanted
ancient event (or future one!), a gigantic statue of a God, Man folk. If something went wrong in such a village, it would per-
or Monster, an aqueduct with spiraling fountains, a bridge ish as mysteriously as it lived. A village consists of 1D6 x 10
across a massive chasm, or even a pyramid observatory built ruins. Most dwellings will be small, although a few medium
to solve the mysteries of the heavens. The secret to this unique sized buildings and maybe one large structure will be present.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    35

17. Town high grass or shards of charred wood. Of course, shoving
Towns are vital to the health of nations and often located aside the debris just might reveal steps leading down into
at crossroads of commerce. If one goes missing, people a secret dungeon!
notice. Whatever caused a town to be abandoned must 7. Skeletal Remains
have been an important and terrible event in the region’s The structure is only a ribcage of ragged support beams,
history. A town has 3D6 x 10 ruins. Almost every town leaving the interior exposed. The ceiling has fallen away
will have been walled with keeps at the gates. Quite often, and the exterior walls are mostly rubble.
a town rose up around a noble’s castle or major temple as 8. Half Standing
the focal point for security and wealth. Half the structure suffered the brunt of the erosion dam-
18. Metropolis age, leaving the other half relatively stable. The partial
The juggernaut of all ruins is the Lost City. An entire cam- structure might have protected a few of the interior areas
paign could be centered around the excavation, exploration from the ravaging elements.
and conquering of a ruined metropolis. A city will have 3D6 9-12. Relatively stable
x 100 ruins. Depending on the vision of the referee, such a Because this is a fantasy game, the majority of ruins will be
ruin could have several Architectural Feats, Bizarre Magical relatively stable and mostly intact. Wood structures were
Creations and maybe even a few Inhuman Constructions. abandoned no more than a few decades ago, depending on
Just imagine how many dungeons are underneath!!! the climate. Stone buildings may have been left alone for
centuries. Most will be missing exterior doors and windows
How badly damaged is it? and some may have partially collapsed roofs. The local f lora
and fauna will be present, especially bugs, weeds and rodents.
The referee may roll 3D6 once for the entire ruin, or roll sepa- 9. Danger of Collapse
rately for each structure within the ruined area. This chart is This structure has one last hurrah before it collapses
skewed toward creating stable ruins to be explored. into remnants. These buildings must be explored
with care.
3-5. Magically altered
10-11. Broken
Strange and wondrous sorcery may have unpredictable
The building has only half of its original stability, but
effects that last long beyond the spell caster. Also, the bless-
it is repairable with work. Some interior areas might
ings, curses and whims of Gods can manifest in unusual
be intact with minor damage from age and weather.
ways. What was the purpose behind these alterations? How
12. Stronger Than It Looks
do these changes affect those exploring within?
Although weather beaten, the structure withstood the
3. Caught in a Time Warp
test of time with cosmetic damage to the exterior.
The structure builds itself upward and crumbles back
Most interior areas are surprisingly intact, except for
to dust as the hours, days, moon phases or other events
perishables.
cause time to move differently around this site. How
13-15. Needs excavating
does this temporal dislocation affect those trapped
Some ruins are difficult to explore because of challenging
inside?
terrain. Many are choked with debris as the ceilings and
4. Transformed
walls crumbled inward, leaving treacherous uneven piles
The original building materials have changed into
across the floor. Others have suffered Nature’s wrath in more
something else, simply odd or maybe unexplainably
unusual ways. Reclaiming such a ruin requires greater effort.
bizarre. Wood structures might have become living
13. Overgrowth
trees or petrified stone. Rock walls might turn into
The structure is covered with thick moss or entangling
clear crystal, solid fogs, or even pure gold!
vines or the structure might be overrun entirely by nature
5. Illusionary Condition
with thickets growing throughout. The overgrowth itself
Roll 1D6. On 1-3, the structure appears to be pris-
might be quite alive (and maybe dangerous!) or long dead,
tine when it actually decayed. On 4-6, the building
such as dusty cobwebs.
appears to be crumbling when it is in fact pristine.
14. Icky Weirdness
6-8. Significant decay
The structure is partially or entirely covered in grotesque
Ruins that have suffered significant decay are mostly rem-
molds, oozes, slimes, colonies of maggots, worms, termites
nants. Often they are burnt, charred or eroded beyond any
or just sticky webs. While disgusting, their presence might
chance of repair or even recognition. Most are skeletal
forewarn the presence of particular monsters or just act as
frames, broken walls or just piles of debris. However, more
a red herring.
solid vestiges such a shrine’s altar, a home’s hearth or a
15. Sunken or Submerged
blacksmith’s anvil are sometimes still intact. Don’t forget
The ground around the structure has collapsed and now
the treasure chest hidden under the ashes!
the ruin is partially or completely covered by earth or sand,
6. Pile of Rubble
rockslide, volcanic ash or even swamp. If it is a castle in a
This structure crumbled to the ground, burying whatever
swamp, check for possible ruined castles sunken beneath!
lay beneath. Not much more than jumbled stones in the

36   • No. 3, Summer 2009

16-18. Strange phenomena demi-humans, (3-4) monstrous humanoids, (5-6) monsters.
Mother Nature uses entropy, weather and worms to bring How will they react to the new arrivals?
down man’s achievements. However, sometimes the dam- 7. Looters
age to a ruin is harder to explain. Even magic might not Humans (or humanoids) are looting the area. How success-
fully explain what has occurred. ful they might have been in their scavenging depends on
16. Ground Zero the referee. The looters may be transient or determined to
The damage is greatest in one location and spreads settle the area, especially if the ruins are intact.
outward in concentric rings, or maybe the worst 8. Corpses
damage is localized, like the stomp of a tremendous The remains of many dead lay scattered throughout the
giant or impact crash of an alien asteroid or dying ruin. Roll 1D6 for decomposition: (1-2) freshly murdered;
dragon whose corpse plowed a path of destruction. (3-4) rotting and reeking; (5-6) nothing but bones. Who
17. Hidden Decay were they? How did they die? Is their killer hiding some-
The structure appears intact from casual inspection where in the ruin?
of the exterior, but in reality, the building is a house 9-12. All quiet
of cards on the verge of total collapse. Just looking Ruins exist to be explored. While they should be approached
at it causes structural damage! with caution, they are usually not as infested with traps and
18. Oddly Perfect monsters as dungeon chambers. Instead, they make good
Not only are the structures intact, but they appear camp grounds and possible bases for future operations.
to be currently occupied, maybe even with warm Thus, ruins are commonly empty of obvious snarling threats
fireplaces and fresh food in the pantry. Where did when the adventurers first arrive. Wandering Monsters
everybody go? are rolled as normal, possibly setting up the players as the
defenders instead of the invaders.
What is here now? 9. I’ll Be Back
One or more creatures have recently camped at the
Players will expect monsters hiding in the ruins. Roll 3D6 to ruins, leaving evidence of their passing such as gnawed
discover the truth. These tables are skewed to promote exploration bones, bloody remains, or steaming piles of poop.
more than combat, but keep your Wandering Monsters ready. Roll for the previous creature on the appropriate
Wandering Monster table or choose a foe best suited
3-5. Magical phenomena
to your adventure.
Although sorcerous effects may have similar origins as magi-
10-11. Nothing…Yet
cal alterations, they are often more reactive to the actions
No creature has recently visited the ruins. Extensive
of explorers. What would stone imbued with magic spells
searches might reveal the passing of some creatures
look like? How would the enchantments reveal themselves?
in the undetermined past.
What happens if the rune circles or ley lines are disturbed?
12. Avoided
3. Null Magic Zone
Natural creatures avoid the ruins and the surrounding
Any magic cast within the ruins and the nearby area auto-
acreage. If Wandering Monsters appear, they will only
matically fails. Even magic items may temporarily lose
be aberrant, enchanted or supernatural foes. What is
their powers. No enchanted, undead or magical monsters
wrong with this place?
can exist here. Do campers awaken to find their potions
13-15. Lair
drained to the last drop?
Sometimes, your adventurers are not the first beings to
4. Wild Magic Zone
realize the potential of the ruins. Most Wandering Monsters
All arcane magic cast in the area reacts in strange, random
in the area should be the same species as those in the lair, or
and potentially dangerous ways. Even divine magic may be
related to them in some manner (prey, allies, predators, etc).
adversely affected. What happens to magical items? Does
your elixir of healing become an elixir of invisibility instead? 13. Natural Creatures
5. Arcane Mark Natural creatures such as lions, tigers and bears have
One or more locations or objects within the ruin glow made lairs here. At the referee’s discretion, natural
with powerful energies. Depending on the strength of creatures may include giant animals and insect mon-
the magic, the arcane radiance might be obvious without strosities. Their sharp senses will quickly alert them
detection spells. What weird effect might this magic cause? to danger, but natural creatures will usually evacuate
Can the ruin itself cast spells? if vigorously threatened.
6-8. Intruders 14. Humanoids
Ruins draw attention. Often, such attention leads to deadly Humans, demi-humans or monstrous humanoids have
conf licts between scavengers. The sounds of battle might claimed the ruins as their own. They might be settlers
even be how your adventurers first discover the location. seeking a new home, bandits claiming a new hideout
6. Disputed Territory or travelers seeking shelter. Most will have guards and
Two (or more) factions are already fighting over the lookouts. Some may post warnings reminding strang-
ruins. Roll 1D6 for each faction: (1-2) humans or ers not to trespass (like bloody heads stuck on poles).

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    37

 ENnie award-winning Swords & Wizardry
is a “clone” of the original 1974 fantasy game by Gary Gygax
and Dave Arneson. Welcome to free-form, old-school gaming
at its best! Available in print soon from Black Blade Publishing’s
website (http://www.black-blade-publishing.com) and coming soon
to game stores near you. Best of all, it’s a
FREE download on the net. Just go to
www.swordsandwizardry.com and follow the
links, or get it at www.black-blade-publishing.com.

15. Monster An ancient shrine stands dedicated to beautiful woman, her

Something terrible has settled into the ruin. Maybe lifelike statue sculpted with great talent. One touch by mortal
a tribe of monsters, or maybe a hideous NPC villain. hands and it crumbles. Her past lover (and murderer), now a
Roll 1D6. On 1-4, the monster will fit the local ecol- cursed wraith, visits every midnight and wails in ghostly agony.
ogy, such a green dragons in a forest. On a 5-6, the What will he do tonight?
monster will be strange and foreign to this region.
16-18. Haunting Bridge to Nowhere
What if the dead inhabitants choose to stay? Commoners are Dice Rolls = Architectural Feat, Illusionary Condition, Avoided
a superstitious lot and believe all ruins are haunted by the
dead and the damned. Sometimes, they are quite correct. A gorgeous bridge of sweeping grandeur connects this cliff
16. Haunted to that yonder fair isle. The structure spans over treacherous
Instead of monstrous undead, the ruin is haunted churning waters and appears to be solid iron, wrought with
by apparitions and poltergeists. These spirits may be inlaid copper. Too bad the real iron rusted to dust centuries ago,
playful, troublesome, mischievous or angry. They leaving nothing but a pretty illusion behind. Your warhorses
will be most active at night, particularly during the buck warily as you approach…
witching hour.
17. (Un)Death Trap
Smoldering Fort
Whatever dies in these ruins rises back up as undead Dice Rolls = Many Structures (medium, common), Pile of
guardians. The ruins are populated with undead ver- Rubble, Corpses (reeking & rotting)
sions of the previous residents and local wandering Four makeshift barracks lay in smoking ruins, charred to the
monsters. The transformation might be instant, or ground and two dozen goblins lay slain by whoever assaulted
maybe the next night or maybe once the corpse is their camp. Hey, why are they all missing their hands?
fully decayed. Are these undead bound the ruins? Or
can they follow the adventurers? Dead Mentors Grant No Spells
18. I See Dead People
Dice Rolls = Single Dwelling (Medium, Unusual), Skeletal
Some ghosts refuse to believe they died. Instead, these
Remains, Looters
spirits of the past see the ruins as they once were and
continue on with their existence. Maybe constantly An angry wizard and his worried apprentices comb through the
living out their final day? broken tower of the mage’s former master who booted him out
decades ago. Surely within this shell of stone there must be some
remnant of that old fool’s magic? And we are not interested in
Examples of Ruins sharing! Begone interlopers!
My favorite part of writing these charts is combining dice rolls
with daydreams. Here are five examples I cooked up in 10 Nothing to See Here
minutes. I hope you enjoy creating your own! Dice Rolls = Walls of Stone, Half Standing, Nothing…Yet
A long time ago, the mighty city-state of Gax-Arno was home
A Love Beyond Death to the greatest philosophers in the world. Today, no remnant of
Dice Rolls = Single Dwelling (small, unusual), Hidden Decay, the fabled city exists on the surface, except for the northern and
I’ll Be Back western walls. Their keeps and gates are long gone, but those
towering walls hold firm.

38   • No. 3, Summer 2009

Labyrinth Tomb
of the Minotaur Lord
An unabashedly hack ‘n’ slash labyrinth crawl for levels 3-5
by R. Lawrence Blake
For use with the Labyrinth Lord™ rules, Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, and other BASIC RPG systems.

Introduction: The Key’s power is relatively minor, but due to embel-

lishments of the tale, and its attraction of dangerous creatures,
Decades ago, in the land of Dathire, the chaotic magic-user Wruulyn it has become a vanity piece for treasure-seekers.
and his son Banezyth went in search of the Conjurer’s Key, an evil The minotaurs found within the labyrinth look at the
artifact sought out by power hungry conquerors and bloodthirsty legend of Banezyth with pride. To them, Banezyth represents
demons. While fighting a tribe of hill giants near the Ruins of both the humanoid and animal sides of their kind, and those
Mor, Banezyth was slain. Desperate and grief-stricken, Wruulyn that serve as guardians to his tomb will fight vigorously and
cast a reincarnation spell which brought his son’s soul back to to the death.
life – but within the body of a grotesque minotaur. As vain as he
was evil, the reborn Banezyth went insane when he perceived his
newly monstrous appearance and attacked his father in a blind rage. Objective:
Disgusted, the powerful and chaotic magic-user slew his minotaur-
The main objective for the players is to locate the Conjurer’s
son. Shortly thereafter, Wruulyn built a giant labyrinth tomb to
Key and (of course) loot the tomb. However, procuring such an
encase himself and his son’s minotaur body within.
evil artifact is likely to be the beginning of a series of potential
Rumors passed down through the years that Wruulyn
headaches (or adventures, depending on one’s outlook) for the
actually found the Conjurer’s Key before entombing himself,
character who possesses it. Once outside of the tomb’s protective
and the key is now lost within the dark, twisted halls of his
magic, the Key will begin to attract deadly creatures, and evil
labyrinth. Moreover, the legend of Banezyth has become a
treasure-seekers will also be following its trail. Moreover, its
religion of sorts to minotaurs throughout the Known Lands. As
magical properties are harmful to non-chaotic creatures. The
the years passed, scores of these dreaded creatures have ventured
party may choose to quickly sell it to an evil overlord of some
into the area seeking the tomb.
kind (provided their alignments would allow it), or rid themselves
Adventurers in the area will hear from many sources that
of it by offering it to high-level lawful spellcasters, who would
if the Conjurer’s Key lies within the tomb, its dark and evil
certainly feel obligated to destroy the artifact.
effects will be felt throughout the cryptic passages of the laby-
Either way, while the Key is in the party’s possession
rinth. Wherever the key is found, demons and the undead will
outside of the tomb, they will be in constant danger. Unless
be attracted to its call. Nevertheless, the possibilities of looting
other arrangements have been made regarding the Key, it may
the long-dead magic-user’s treasure will certainly beckon even
be best for all concerned to leave to artifact where it lies … once
the most timid adventurer, even though reaching the tomb is
the tomb has been looted, of course.
likely be a journey fraught with perils.

GM notes: Beginning the Adventure:

How the characters end up at the tomb is up to the GM.
Wruulyn certainly did find the Conjurer’s Key, and ultimately
Possibilities might include:
used this evil item to bring down his son. Using the Key’s power
to cast Trap the Soul, Banezyth was promptly sucked into the • The party is serving as mercenaries to a lawful cleric who
Key’s gem (see NEW ITEMS section for details), which is where has made it his life’s mission to locate and destroy evil
his soul remains to this very day. magical items.
Because the Conjurer’s Key attracts otherworldly beings, • The growing population of minotaurs is becoming a deadly
such as demons, elementals, and undead, Wruulyn placed a problem within the lands, and the adventurers are sent to
magical protection around the labyrinth tomb to make the outer investigate and secure the area.
wall impenetrable to creatures of a summoned or magical nature
(such as ethereal or astral) as well as to certain spells. Inside the • The simple call to sack a tomb potentially full of treasure.
labyrinth, however, such creatures can roam freely (with the The party hears of the legend of Wruulyn and his son, and
exception of areas 5, 16, and 17 — which were also placed under answers the call of gold and glory.
Wruulyn’s magical protections).
No. 3, Summer 2009 •    39
 The Temple:
The party climbs the stairs to a 12’ tall, unlocked wooden door
that opens into a 40’ x 60’ stone room. A statue of a bull stands
in the northwest corner and a statue of a human is located in
the northeast corner. Attached to the f loor in the center of the
room is a stone coffin with a bull’s face carved into its lid.
If the coffin lid is lifted without first pulling the lever found
in the outside alcove, the south wall slides open to reveal the
temple guardians — 2 Iron Statues (AL: N, MV: 30’ (10’), AC:
4, HD: 4, ATT: 2, DMG: 1d8, 1d8, SV: F4, ML: 11, XP: 190).
These iron statues have the semblance of giant minotaurs. If the
lever has been pulled, the coffin lid will open without incident,
revealing a winding stone staircase leading into darkness.
The sliding doors leading to the temple guardians can be
found with a successful secret doors check.

The Labyrinth:
Unless otherwise noted, the labyrinth ceiling is 15ft high. Except
for a few magically lit areas, the tomb is completely dark. A few
walls within the labyrinth have been blasted through by an
Ethereal Doppelganger using a Horn of Blasting (see AREA 8).
Approaching the Labyrinth Tomb: 1. The stairs lead to a stone room with passages to the south,
The tomb is neither “lost” nor hidden, and it is relatively easy east and west. A large (12ft) statue of a minotaur stands in the
to find despite its lonely locale within the Known Lands. It lies center. It has the name “Banezyth, Minotaur Lord” inscribed
20 miles west of the Ruins of Mor, in the hills just north of the on its base. On the wall through the eastern passage is a small
Dathire swamplands.
The outside of the giant tomb is a square stone structure,
roughly 470’ x 470’. The south side has an ascending set of steps,
leading 200’ up to a temple door at the pyramid-like top. Plant
life has grown thickly up the sides of the walls.
On the east wall, behind the brush, is an easily-found
alcove (a +1 bonus to find concealed doors). The alcove is 10’ x
10’ and there is an iron lever attached to the west wall. This lever
requires a 15+ Strength to pull. Pulling the lever will make it
safe to open the coffin within the temple area (see TEMPLE).

The Labyrinth Tomb

Wandering Monsters
Roll d10 during each rest period.

1-4 No encounter
5 1 Ethereal Doppelganger (See NEW MONSTER section, AL: C, MV: 120’
(40’)/240’ (80’), AC:4, HD: 5, HP: 30, ATT: 2, DMG: 1d12/1d12, SV:
F5, ML: 9, XP: 350)
6 2 Shadows (AL: C, MV: 90’ (30’), AC:7, HD: 2+2, HP: 14, 12, ATT: 1,
DMG: 1d4 + special, SV: F2, ML: 12, XP: 83)
7 1-2 Crab Spiders (AL: N, MV: 120’ (40’), AC:7, HD: 2, HP: 13, ATT: 1,
DMG: 1d8 + poison, SV: F1, ML: 7, XP: 38)
8 1-4 Giant Rats (AL: N, MV: 120’ (40’), AC:7, HD: 1d4, HP: 4 each, ATT:
1, DMG: 1d3 + disease, SV: F1, ML: 8, XP: 6)
9-10 1 Minotaur (AL: C, MV: 120’ (40’), AC:6, HD: 6, HP: 32, ATT: 2 or 1,
DMG: 1d6/1d6, SV: F6, ML: 12, XP: 820)

40   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 lever similar to the one found in the outside alcove. Pulling If one of the continual light torches is taken out of
this lever will make it safe to emerge from the stairway’s its holder, this triggers a trap door to the south to open. 4
coffin without triggering the temple guard’s sliding doors, ghouls (AL: C, MV: 90’ (30’), AC:6, HD: 2 (turn as 3), HP:
and it will reset the outside lever as well. 14, 12, 12, 9, ATT: 3, DMG: 1-3/1-3/1-3 + special, SV:
2. A 5ft stone podium with an inlaid golden plaque on top F2, ML: 9, XP: 47) emerge from the passage and attack.
is affixed to the f loor against the west wall. Illuminating The pedestal is immobile and any successful attempt at
the room, on either side of the podium, are two iron racks, breaking the structure to remove it will render its magical
each holding a torch cast with a permanent continual light. properties useless.
The plaque is covered in dust, but once this is wiped away, 3. A the end of the room stands a giant stone idol with a bull
the characters are able to see their ref lections in the empty head. Before the idol is a large fire pit approximately 30ft
plaque. Any character that stares into the plaque will see x 50ft. A tiny ledge and numerous finger-sized holes line
his or her ref lection transform into the face of a bull. If the both the east and west walls for use to those attempting to
character does not immediately look away, he must save carefully edge their way to the idol. The ledge stands out
vs. spells or be polymorphed into a minotaur. about 8 inches and characters must use the holes to steady
The character will take on instincts, alignment, pref- themselves if they want to make it across.
erences, etc. of a minotaur and will attack the party as Trying to edge along the side of the pit poses poten-
trespassers of the Minotaur Lord’s tomb. A dispel magic tial dangers. For every 10ft a character moves, roll the
spell will reverse the effect. percentile dice.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    41

 1-40 Nothing happens. While the 2’-long scepter is trap bait (worth 50 gps),
it could also be confused for the Conjurer’s Key.
41-60 Stone crumbles and breaks away from finger
holes in the wall where the character is grab- 7. Within this 70ft x 70ft room is what appears to be a stone
bing. Make a Dexterity check or fall. water-well. The well stands about 3’ high and its opening
61-70 Dart trap. 1-4 darts shoot out of the holes (hits as a 4 is 10ft in diameter and 20ft deep. It leads into a 15ft x 15ft
HD monster). If hit, make Dexterity check at +2 or fall. chamber. Affixed along the well chamber’s western wall
71-80 A few of the holes are lairs for an Insect Swarm (AL: N, MV: are 10 pairs of shackles, and hanging from three of them are
30’ (10’)/60’ (20’), AC:7, HD: 3, HP: 18, ATT: 1, DMG: skeletons wearing torn and weathered clothing. This well
2, SV: F0, ML: 11, XP: 65) which will attack the char-
is also the lair to 4 carnivorous beetles (AL: N, MV: 150’
acter. Each round, the character must make a Dexterity
check or fall. Due to the heat and smoke, the insects (50’), AC: 3, HD: 3+1, HP: 21, 19, 15, 10, ATT: 1, DMG:
will only attack for two rounds before they disperse. 2d6, SV: F1, ML: 9, XP: 65). Any amount of noise will
81-00 A piece of the ledge crumbles under the character’s feet. bring one or two beetles up from the well to investigate
The character must make a Strength check or fall. for food.
One of the skeletons has an old leather pouch, which
Characters who fall into the 15’ pit will take 1-6 hps contains 50 sps, 85 gps, and the key to unlock AREAS 5
of damage plus an additional 3-18 hps of fire damage per and 16. The key radiates a small amount of magic.
round until they can climb out or be rescued.
8. Within this large room, a humanoid wrapped in purple and
In the base of the bull-headed statue is a visible trap
white clothing sits in front of the eastern passage, playing a
door with an iron handle. It takes a combined strength
tune on a small snake-charmer’s horn A round basket sits
of 36 to open the door. Behind the door is a small alcove
on the f loor in front of him. The humanoid is actually an
about 3’ deep. Within it are 2,000 sps, 4 gems worth 200
Ethereal Doppelganger (see NEW MONSTER section.
gps each, 1 scroll of restoration, and oil of etherealness.
AL: C, MV: 120’ (40’)/240’ (80’), AC: 4, HD: 5, HP: 33,
4. Through the north passage, a thunderous rolling, grinding ATT: 2, DMG: 1d12/1d12, SV: F5, ML: 9, XP: 350), which
sound can be heard. A 10’ diameter bronze ball rolls from has chosen an appearance resembling a cross between an
one side to the other continuously in the u-shaped hall. 30’ orc and an elf. This creature came to the labyrinth tomb in
to the west is a 4’ deep open pit. Those who try to make it search of the Conjurer’s Key, but was trapped by the tomb’s
to the pit must make a Dexterity check. Success gets them magical protections against ethereal and astral creatures.
to the pit safely; failure causes 3-18 hps of damage from While the doppelganger is in its ethereal form, the
the crushing orb. Another Dexterity check must be made tomb’s protective magic prevents it from entering areas 5,
to get back from the pit to the main area. 16, and 17, but it can otherwise move freely through the
Within the pit is a lever. When pulled, it prevents the walls of the labyrinth.
block in AREA 6 from falling when the scepter is removed The creature will continue to play until the party
(see AREA 6). attempts to speak with it, at which point it will turn around,
5. The door to this room is magically locked. The key to this smile, and begin playing a tune for them, dancing around
door (and to the door for AREA 16) can be found in the madly but never taking his eyes from them. The horn is
AREA 7 water well. Within is an old wood coffin with the actually a Horn of Blasting, and at any given moment the
name WRUULYN written on its side. Wruulyn’s remains Ethereal Doppelganger will turn his tune into an attack,
are within; now a fragile skeleton in tattered black burial blasting the party. He will then become ethereal and disappear
robes. He holds in one hand an iron spike affixed to a fist- (but will secretly follow the party in ethereal form, waiting
sized blue gem. This item is a replica of the Conjurer’s Key to attack by surprise once the party has the Conjurer’s Key).
and is to be used in conjunction with the actual relic to This horn blast will alert 1-2 Minotaurs, who will
open the door to AREA 17. If detected, the item radiates arrive in 2-5 rounds.
a small amount of magic. This key is worth 500 gps. Within the basket is a spitting cobra (AL: N, MV: 90’
(30’), AC:7, HD: 1, ATT: 1, DMG: 1-3+poison, SV: F1,
6. In the center of this room is a large 30ft deep pit with 2 ML: 7, XP: 13). If the basket’s top is lifted, the cobra will
ladders leading down along its east and west walls. Centered attack. Also in the basket is the doppelganger’s treasure:
at the bottom of the pit, sticking up out of a small hole in 75 sps, 100 gps, and 1 gem worth 150 gps.
the stone floor is a red gem-topped scepter. If the lever from Regarding the Horn of Blasting’s use within the laby-
AREA 4 was pulled, the scepter can be removed safely and rinth: As the Ethereal Doppelganger has discovered, the
easily. If the lever had not been pulled, it takes a combined Horn can affect any of the walls except for the tomb’s
strength of 15 to remove it, causing a large stone block to perimeter wall and the walls surrounding areas 5, 16, and
fall from above. Anyone within the pit when the block falls 17. It takes two full blasts to knock down a 10ft square
must save vs. petrify or suffer 4-24 hps of damage. With portion of the wall. There is not a danger of the tomb col-
a successful saving throw, a character takes half damage. lapsing from these holes. However, each time the characters
The stone block is hidden within the ceiling and can be use the horn it slightly compromises the structure, raining
detected with a roll to locate either traps or secret doors.

42   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 rocks and debris from the ceiling. Anyone within the area 14. Another glowing teleport-circle like the one found in
must save vs. petrify or take 2-12 hps of damage. AREA 9 is located in the southwest corner of this room.
Also, as noted above, each blast will alert 1-2 minotaurs Characters have a 50/50% chance of teleporting to either
who will arrive to investigate within 2-5 rounds. AREA 9 or to the dead end at the very southeast corner
9. Nothing seems to be in this room except a glowing blue of the labyrinth. See the circle’s description in AREA 9
circle on the f loor in the northeast corner. The circle is a for details.
teleportal that teleports characters to two possible locations 15. This room has a musky and filthy smell to it. Four stone
within the labyrinth. Characters who stand in the circle coffins line the southeastern half of the wall. The first is
have a 50/50% chance of being teleported to the circle in open, while the other three remain closed. A wraith (AL:
AREA 14 or to the dead end at the very southeast corner C, MV: 120’ (40’)/240’ (80’), AC:3, HD: 4, HP: 21, ATT:
of the labyrinth. For the next two turns, other characters 1, DMG: 1d6, energy drain, SV: F4, ML: 12, XP: 300) is
can follow to the same destination without fail. After two guarding the area, hovering near the open coffin. Coffins
turns, however, the teleportal’s destination will become a 2 and 3 each contain ghouls (AL: C, MV: 90’ (30’), AC:6,
random 50/50% chance again. HD: 2 (turn as 3), HP: 15, 12, ATT: 3, DMG: 1-3/1-3/1-3
Any person or object that is only partially in the circle + special, SV: F2, ML: 9, XP: 47) that will spring forth
(for example, one leg in and one out) will simply not be and attack if any of the coffins are opened. Coffin four
teleported. A dispel magic will negate the teleportal, turn- contains 1,500 sps, 4,000 gps, plate armor + 2, shield + 1,
ing the glowing blue circle into a simple charcoal line. Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic, and a
10. The western wall is a painted display of the Minotaur Lord scroll of cure serious wounds.
standing heroically, wielding a battle axe. The minotaur 16. The door to this room is magically locked, and must be
depicted in this painting is shown with four arms. Characters opened with the key from AREA 7. Within it is a wooden
will immediately hear a rumbling/running sound. A mino- coffin (like the one in AREA 5) with the name “Banezyth”
taur (AL: C, MV: 120’ (40’), AC:6, HD: 6, HP: 28, ATT: 2 written on its side. Opening the coffin triggers a gas trap.
or 1, DMG: 1d6/1d6, SV: F6, ML: 12, XP: 820) wearing a Those within the area must save vs poison or die in 1d4+2
ring of invisibility will suddenly become visible as it charges rounds. Within the coffin, in lieu of a corpse, is another
to hit the leading character with a +4 to hit and double the gem key - this one is an iron spike attached to a large
damage (on this first charge attack only). amber-colored gem. This is the Conjurer’s Key (see NEW
11. This room contains a pedestal and two torches identical to ITEMS), and radiates magic very strongly. It may be used
the arrangement in AREA 2, except there is a glass mirror in conjunction with the blue gem key from AREA 5 to
in place of a ref lective golden plaque. The torches are lit by open the door to AREA 17.
continual light spells, and a layer of dust covers the mirror. If the party takes the key, the GM should note which
The mirror is actually a Mirror of Life Trapping with four character takes possession of it. As mentioned in the item’s
non-spatial extradimensional compartments instead of the description, the Key may cause harmful penalties to those
normal twenty. If the dust is wiped away, any character of non-Chaotic alignment.
looking must make a save vs. spells or be sucked into the Black Widow Lair. Along the farthest southwestern passage
mirror. With three minotaurs already trapped in the mir- of the labyrinth is the lair of 3 giant black widow spiders (AL:
ror, a character who fails the save will take up the last of N, MV: 60’ (20’)/120’ (40’), AC: 6, HD: 3, HP: 21, 18, 17,
the mirror’s compartments. ATT: 1, DMG: 2d6+poison, SV: F2, ML: 8, XP: 80). Their
The only way to free a trapped character is to break webbing fills nearly 300ft of the winding stone hall. Up to
the mirror; however, this will also release the 3 minotaurs 4 minotaur skeletons, 3 humanoid corpses, and a few dead
(HP: 35, 30, 26), who will attack the party. giant rats and insects can be found stuck in the webbing.
12. The characters see the skeleton of a minotaur, suspended in The webbing is difficult to walk through, and for
the air in the southwest corner of this room. Beside it, f loat- every 10ft traveled there is a 70% chance to get stuck. This
ing motionlessly, is a giant axe. The minotaur is suspended will immediately alert the spiders to come and attack. A
within a gelatinous cube (AL: N, MV: 60’ (20’), AC:8, HD: simple fire will wipe out the webs, which will burn for 3-6
4, HP: 22, ATT: 1, DMG: 2d4+special, SV: F2, ML: 12, rounds, causing the spiders 1-4 hps of damage per round.
XP: 245). The axe is a battle axe + 3. Treasure is scattered throughout the lair. This includes
90 cps, 65 gps, 2 pieces of jewelry worth 300 gps each,
13. Two large minotaurs (AL: C, MV: 120’ (40’), AC:6, HD: and a spear+2.
6, HP: 34, 31, ATT: 2 or 1, DMG: 1d6/1d6, SV: F6, ML:
12, XP: 820) guard the eastern door. If the minotaurs are 17. The door leading to this room is magically locked and
slain, they will be replaced by two others after one day. requires both the Conjurer’s Key (from AREA 16) and
The eastern door is magically locked, requiring both the blue gem key (from AREA 5) to open it. The door has
the Conjurer’s Key and the blue gem key found in AREA two round keyholes, one above the door handle and one
5 (see AREA 17 for details). below it. The spike of the blue gem key goes into the top
keyhole, and the Conjurer’s Key is placed into the bottom

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    43

one: a clicking noise will be heard and the door will unlock. frees Banezyth, he will allow them to leave his labyrinth with
At this point, if the character using the Conjurer’s Key is not of their lives and any found treasure.
Chaotic alignment, the Key will drain 1-3 points of his strength. More than likely, the characters will not be able to fulfill
Without the Conjurer’s Key, a Knock spell used along with Banezyth’s request. This will frustrate the Minotaur Lord who
the blue gem key in the top keyhole will safely unlock the door. will eventually grow weary of the conversation, telling the char-
If any other method is used to try and open the door acters to drop whatever treasure they stole and leave his labyrinth
(wrong key, wrong keyhole, break in, etc) the character must immediately. Refusing to leave will swiftly lead to combat.
save vs spells or be magically struck by severe pain equal to that Given the chance, Banezyth will open the unlocked large
of a Symbol of Pain spell (-4 to attack and -2 on DEX) for 2d10 chest and pull out a battle axe +2 and a war hammer +3 from
turns. This will happen any time someone attempts to open within for use in combat. He will also use the powers of the
the door without the proper keys. Note that to be affected by Conjurer’s Key to best possible advantage, such as animating
the pain, the character must physically be in contact with the any dead characters to fight on his behalf. The Key also grants
door (or whatever item he tries to put into it). Items such as the him +2 to hit against Lawful characters.
Horn of Blasting, while it will not work to
break through the door, will not trigger the
magical trap.
Once inside the room, the party will see
a large wooden chest and a huge figure sitting
on a long four-foot tall stone bench against
the west wall.. The figure is a bull-headed,
skeletal monstrosity with four arms; it is ten
feet tall and dressed in tattered royal clothing.
The skeletal minotaur looks calmly over at
the party, and extends one of its large boney
hands in a motion for the characters to place
something into it. This is a bone golem (AL:
N (Chaotic if taken over by Banezyth - see
below), MV: 120’ (40’), AC: 2, HD: 8, HP:
48, ATT: 4, DMG: see description below, SV:
F4, ML: 12, XP: 2060).
The golem wants the Conjurer’s Key.
If any other item is placed into its hands, it
will immediately discard it against the eastern
wall (possibly damaging it). If attacked, the
golem will attack the character in possession
of the Conjurer’s Key with all four arms for
1-6 hps of damage per hit. If all four attacks
hit, the golem has grappled the character and
will do an additional 4-24 hps of damage per
round until either the golem is destroyed or
the character rolls a successful Strength check
at -2 to break free. A grappled character can-
not attack.
If the characters give the Key to the
golem, or if the creature obtained it through
combat, it will clutch the Key to its chest as
its eyes begin to glow a bright amber color.
At this time, Banezyth, who is trapped within
the artifact’s gem, has taken control of the
golem, and will try to speak with the party,
announcing that he is in fact the legendary
Minotaur Lord.
Banezyth will question the party in
hopes that they have the knowledge to free
him from the Key’s gem, and if they can do so
he will certainly reward them. In the unlikely
event that a character has access to a wish and

44   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 If the possessed golem’s body is destroyed, Banezyth will involved. The item appears as a 12-inch iron spike affixed to a
no longer have power over it, and will remain trapped within fist-sized amber colored gem.
the Key’s gem. For the possessor of Chaotic alignment, the Key offers
In addition to the magic weapons, the chest contains the following:
1,500 sps, 4,000 gps, 10 pieces of jewelry worth 100 gps each, a +2 to hit when attacking Lawful beings
•
scroll (ward against elementals), a ring of regeneration, a Wand
of Cold (18 charges), a cloak of protection +3, a longsword +2, • Knock 5/day
elven boots, and a necklace of adaptation. • Detect Secret/Concealed Doors 3/day
• Detect Good, 20’ range 3/day
New Monster • Animate Dead 1/day
• True Seeing 1/week
Ethereal Doppelganger
Trap the Soul — as the spell, however a successful saving
No. Encountered: 1 (1-4)
throw will not destroy the gem. The Key’s amber gem can only
Alignment: C
hold one being at a time until they are released by means of a wish
Movement: 120’ (40’) Fly 240’ (80’)
or if the artifact is somehow destroyed. If any magically animated
Armor Class: 4
creature (skeleton, golem, animate statue, etc) comes in contact
Hit Dice: 5
with the Key, the being trapped in the gem is able to take posses-
Attacks: 2
sion of the creature. The being can move, speak, and even attack
Damage/Attack: 1d12/1d12 (or weapon type)
through the animated creature, but is unable to cast spells. They
Save: F5
may, however, use all of the Conjurer’s Key’s powers, but only
Morale: 9
while in control of an animated creature. This effect is broken if the
Hoard Class: None (VI)
animated creature either loses contact with the key or is destroyed.
EXP: 350
In the possession of a Lawful being, the Key causes a -2
Ethereal Doppelgangers (no actual relation to the normal dop- penalty on to hit and saving throws against Chaotic beings.
pelganger) are creatures from the ethereal plane. They have an Lawful characters can still use the Key’s spell-like abilities,
attraction to areas used for evil sorcery and conjuring, and have but each time it is used the Key drains 1-3 points of Strength
been known to “haunt” places such as tombs, crypts and graveyards. from the character. If a character’s strength is drained to 0, he
These creatures can to take the form of animals or human- dies and returns as a shadow, under the command of whoever
oids of up to 8’ tall. They make this transformation while in the possesses the Key. A character’s strength can be restored with a
ethereal plane, and then solidify themselves into the material Remove Curse spell.
plane. They can do this at will, but it takes a full round for them Neutral aligned characters suffer no penalties from pos-
to switch from ethereal to solid and vice versa. session of the Key, but like Lawful characters, they will lose
While in the ethereal plane, Ethereal Doppelgangers are strength points whenever a spell-like ability is used.
invisible, able to f ly, and can move through solid objects. Once outside the tomb, whoever takes possession of the
No matter what shape the doppelganger takes, it will Key has a 20% chance per day of attracting otherworldly beings.
generally attack by wielding negative energy, causing 1d12 hps Roll 1d10:
of damage per blow Ethereal Doppelgangers can only be hurt by
magical weapons and are unaffected by sleep and charm spells. 1-2 1d4 Shadows
While they are in physical form, hold spells will work against 3-4 Elemental
them, but only until the creature switches to its ethereal form. 5-6 Invisible Stalker (or 1d4 Ethereal Doppelgangers)
A favorite attack of the Ethereal Doppelganger is to dis- 7-8 Spectre
appear in its ethereal form and then reform behind its opponent 9 Djinni
to strike. This gains the creature a surprise on a 1-4 on 1d6.
10 Efreeti
If they reside in the physical plane for extended periods
of time, Ethereal Doppelgangers will sometimes store small
These beings gravitate to the Key and seek to take pos-
amounts of treasure.
session of it.
Labyrinth Lord™ is copyright 2007, Daniel Proctor. Labyrinth Lord™ and Advanced Labyrinth
New Item Lord™ are trademarks of Daniel Proctor. These trademarks are used under the Labyrinth Lord™
Trademark License 1.0, July 2007 available at www.goblinoidgames.com.

Conjurer’s Key OGL Section 15 information for this article: 15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0
Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003,
This evil artifact was used by chaotic conquerors, both fighters Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy
and spell casters, as a “good luck” item. Although the artifact’s Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James
Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
power is relatively minor as such things go, the Key’s ability to
Labyrinth Lord™ Copyright 2007, Daniel Proctor. Author Daniel Proctor. The Labyrinth Tomb of
attract undead and beings from otherworldly planes is a matter the Minotaur Lord, Copyright 2009, R. Lawrence Blake. All Rights Reserved.
of interest to evil treasure-seekers, despite the possible dangers
No. 3, Summer 2009 •    45
The Planes: Playgrounds
of the Rich and Powerful
…or, One DM’s House Rules for Planar Travel in a High Level Campaign
across the Planar Expanse
by Jon Hershberger

Preface the various planes themselves. I dug out my never-before-used

AD&D Manual of the Planes and started leafing through the
I have the good fortune of being the current Dungeon Master material therein, even with the knowledge that the MotP is less
for a group of veteran players that have gamed together off and than highly regarded in many old school circles. I even started
on for many years. I gamed with some of these guys in high pulling out my minty, still-in-shrinkwrap Planescape material.
school, nearly 30 years ago, and while we’ve played other game Truth be told though, I found the introductory material in the
systems and dabbled with other genres, we always come back MotP unnecessarily complex – the notion of multiple Ethereal
to our favorite game: First Edition AD&D. Planes (to go along with the infinite number of alternate prime
Since we’ve played AD&D with a fairly consistent rules material planes) and the concept of the Border Ethereal to name
system over the years, we have a pretty solid grasp of the core two such examples – and found myself being drawn back to the
rules. And having the good luck of starting to play during the concise outline of the planes presented in the DMG and PHB.
Golden Age of Dungeons & Dragons, many in our group played In the end, I listened to my heart and decided to start with the
through a majority of the classic TSR adventures released during barest of overviews on the planes that EGG provided for us in
that Golden Age, whether technically for AD&D or another of the DMG and PHB. I’ll build what I need for my games from
the early versions of the game. (I should note here that while I that starting point.
was an active player in several campaigns during the Golden Age, Here, then, is a working set of house rules for expanding
I was also a very engaged DM and probably spent more time and f leshing out the ‘travel’ or journey aspect of planar travel.
behind the DM screen than in front of it. Ironically, I did not get The basic concept for these house rules came from my reading of
to play through or run a number of the classic TSR adventures Jeff Grubb’s “Plane Speaking” article from Dragon #120, which
from this period, so compared to most of my peers, my experi- outlined some guidelines for dealing with the material compon-
ence with the classic TSR modules is spotty and incomplete.) ent of the fifth level clerical spell plane shift: tuning forks, and
As we sat down and brainstormed what would eventually from my reading of Larry Granato’s “Plenty of Planar-encounter
be our current campaign, one theme that emerged was that Possibilities” article from Dragon #213. My hope is that these
few of us had actually experienced an extended campaign that supplemental planar travel rules will return some of the wonder,
reached well into the “high levels”. Oh sure, a few characters mystery and whimsy to our game, characteristics that at times
reached the low double digit levels over the years, and many seem to have been lost over the years. A side benefit of these
of the guys, having played through the G-series, the D-series rules is that the DM will be able to bleed off excess wealth that
and the Q1 adventures at some point, had characters which sometimes creeps into long-term campaigns.
had seen those low teen levels. But by and large, most of us had
not played in a long-term, high level campaign. So naturally
having characters that had the potential to reach into the high Adaptation to Swords & Wizardry
levels became one of the objectives for our f ledgling campaign.
I think sharing all of this is important because it reveals that I
and other early edition games
have no real experience running an extended campaign that While this article was specifically written with a focus on the
involves high level play or substantial planar travel. fifth level clerical spell plane shift from AD&D, the concepts
As some of the players’ current characters approached herein may be adapted for use with Swords & Wizardry or other
the point in their respective classes where planar travel started early edition games that don’t expressly have a plane shift spell
to become a real option, the players began asking how the available. For instance, the concepts described below could just
planes and planar travel itself would work in our campaign. As as easily apply to the seventh level clerical spell astral spell or the
I had no real practical idea how any of this might “work” in ninth level magic user spell astral spell from Swords & Wizardry
my campaign, I did what many students do: I hit the books. I since both of those spells cause the caster to project himself into
poured over the relevant passages from the DMG and the PHB, the astral plane. Additionally, the concepts outlined here could
I surveyed the Dragon Archive for articles that dealt with planar also apply to the seventh level magic user spell phase door from
travel, planar creatures, and the characteristics and natures of Swords & Wizardry since this spell causes the caster to enter the

46   • No. 3, Summer 2009

ethereal realm as a means of entering and passing through the a 1% reduction in the chance of a planar encounter or planar
phase door. [Editorial note: the spell description for phase door was mishap occurring when plane shift is cast. Thus, the base 35%
inadvertently omitted from the Swords & Wizardry core rules. chance of a planar encounter or planar mishap occurring can
Matt Finch made the spell description available to this author be reduced by up to (but no more than) 15% by the caster using
so I’ll include that description here for ease of reference: Phase an improved tuning fork.
Door (Arcane); Level 7; Range: 10ft from caster; Duration:
Seven uses; Description: The phase door is an invisible portal Planar research
about 7 feet high, 10ft wide, and 10ft deep, accessible only to While the magical power to actually cast such spells and traveling
the caster. A barrage of dispel magic spells can close the pas- to and between the various planes in the multi-verse on a regular
sage, but only if the combined level of the dispelling casters is basis is perhaps available to the spell caster, the knowledge to travel
twice that of the portal’s creator.] Furthermore, the concepts the planes does not come to the spell caster automatically. By
presented here could be applied to new magic items fabricated conducting research on planar travel generally and/or on the
or new spells researched by high level spell casters which posses destination plane specifically, the spell caster can become more
the power to unlock the barriers to planar travel. knowledgeable about both planar travel and specific planes, and
therefore more proficient at traveling the planes. Planar research is
a costly endeavor, and spell casters should be prepared to spend at
Nuts and bolts of planar travel least 1,000gp per week conducting either general planar research
Here is the general model for how planar travel will ‘work’ when or more focused research specific to a given plane.
using plane shift and other similar spells, as well as for magical Spell casters will gain tangible benefits for conducting
items that provide for planar travel (obviously subject to change planar research. For every 1,000gp spent on planar research, the
by the DM). When plane shift (or other like spell) is cast, there spell caster is afforded a 1% reduction in the chance of a planar
is a base 35% chance of a planar encounter or planar mishap of encounter or planar mishap occurring when plane shift is cast,
some kind occurring, meaning that 65% of the time the caster subject to the following two limitations. First, the maximum
would arrive at the desired destination just as intended and benefit available to any spell caster for conducting general planar
without having any kind of planar encounter or mishap take research is 5%. Second, the maximum benefit available to any
place. The base 35% chance can be reduced by any combination spell caster for conducting plane specific research is 5%. Thus,
of the following: the maximum benefit a spell caster can secure for any specific
destination plane is 10% (5% for general research + 5% for specific
(a) By acquiring an improved tuning fork for the destination research).
plane Note also that for every 1,000gp spent on planar research,
(b) By conducting research on planar travel generally and/or the spell caster can attribute 500gp (or 50% of the cost of research)
conducting research on the destination plane specifically to research materials purchased and count those expenditures
toward the stocking of a wizard’s arcane library or a cleric’s
(c) By the caster being higher level than is required for casting
theological archive. (See spell research and magic item fabrica-
plane shift
tion rules for more discussion on the topic, and cost, of research.)
(d) By returning to the same destination plane multiple times
Spell caster level
Basic tuning forks Being a higher level spell caster should have some benefits
Basic throw-away tuning forks will suffice for casting plane shift. beyond the obvious, so the planar travel model takes this into
These are considered basic spell components and as such will account. For every level above that which is required by the spell
be nominally priced (1 to 25gp per tuning fork). These basic being cast, the spell caster gains a 1% reduction in the chance
tuning forks can be used once and only once in the casting of of a planar encounter or planar mishap occurring when plane
plane shift. They will be considered consumed or fouled in the shift is cast. So, in the case of the 5th level clerical spell plane
casting and must be replaced if the caster is to make a return trip shift, the cleric is required to be at least 9th level to be able to
to the plane to which that tuning fork was attuned. cast plane shift (without penalty) and gains a 1% reduction in
the chance of a planar encounter or planar mishap for every
Improved tuning forks level above 9th level. Thus, a 16th level cleric casting plane shift
gains the benefit of a 7% reduction in the probability of a planar
Improved tuning forks are made from much higher quality
encounter or planar mishap.
ores, and the craftsmanship is significantly superior to that of
basic tuning forks. These tuning forks are permanent in nature
Return trips
– meaning that they are not consumed or fouled in the casting
of plane shift – and can be used to cast plane shift to the speci- Spell casters will be reap rewards for making multiple trips to a
fied plane, for all intents and purposes, an infinite number of given plane via planar travel. For every subsequent visit (beyond
times. Improved tuning forks range in price from 1,000gp to the initial one) to a specific plane, up to a maximum of five (5)
15,000gp (grades of improvement are in 1,000gp increments subsequent visits, the spell caster gains a 1% reduction in the
only). For every 1,000gp spent on a given tuning fork, there is chance of a planar encounter or planar mishap.

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    47

Cumulative adjustments and Outer Planes vs. Inner Planes
absolute probabilities I’m not certain whether these concepts and principles should
Under no circumstance will the chance of a planar encounter apply uniformly to the Inner and Outer Planes or whether
or planar mishap occurring when plane shift is cast be reduced they should apply differently, depending upon the destination.
or reducible below 1%. No combination of the four activities Tempting though that latter notion may be, I’ll probably just
described above will result in a complete and absolute elimina- have the model apply uniformly and leave it at that. But, one
tion of 100% of the risk of a planar travel. could certainly rationalize a different application depending
on the destination.
Prime Material Plane treatment
Planar Encounters and Planar Mishaps
I’m not entirely certain how I want to apply these concepts and
principles to traveling to the Prime Material from other planes. As a point of comparative reference, Appendix C of the (First
On the one hand, it may be the easiest to simply apply them Edition) Dungeon Masters Guide suggests checking for encoun-
uniformly to any planar travel, regardless of the origin or des- ters (when conducting planar travel) at the beginning, the mid-
tination. On the other hand, doing so ignores the caster’s likely point, and the end of the journey, with encounters occurring
familiarity with the Prime Material. I may just have the base 5% of the time.1 That approach may be acceptable, or it may be
% be 15%, reduce the risk probability at a faster rate (such as, presenting more risk than you’re willing to subject your play-
making the adjustment for return trips max out at 5% after the ers to on a regular basis. Whatever the frequency of checking
first or second return trip to the Prime Material), and eliminate you decide upon, once an encounter or mishap is determined
the research adjustments, thereby accounting for the familiarity to occur, consult the following tables for the specifics of what
of the Prime Material. your characters are going to get to deal with on their inter-
planar journey.

Table A: Encounter or Mishap

1d6 Result
1–3 A planar encounter is about to occur. Consult Table B-1.
4–6 A planar mishap is about to occur. Consult Table B-2.

Table B-1: Planar Encounters

2d12 Result
If traveling the Astral Plane Consult DMG, Appendix C, page 181 — Astral
Encounter Table.
If traveling the Ethereal Plane Consult DMG, Appendix C, page 181 — Ethereal
Encounter Table.
2 Basilisk or Cockatrice
3 B’ older (a/k/a Eye Killer)
4 Characters: party of high level NPCs
5 Couatl
6 Death Knight riding a Nightmare
7 Demon (select randomly or choose from minor, major, or prince)
8 Devil (select randomly or choose from lesser, greater or arch)
9 Djinni or Jann
10 Dragon (select randomly or choose as appropriate)
11 Efreeti (choose between lesser, major, or elder)
12 Elemental (select randomly or choose as appropriate)
13 Giant (choose between storm or cloud)
14 Githyanky assault team
15 Gorgon
16 Ki-rin
17 Lich
18 Modron assault team

1 Gary Gygax, Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® Dungeon Masters Guide,
rev. ed. (U.S.A.: TSR, Inc., 1979), 181.

48   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 2d12 Result 1d12 Result
19 Night Hag 8 Temporal, planar, energy or magical displacement affects the
traveler(s). Temporal displacement alters the timeline with regard to the
20 Phase Creature or Shadow Creature
planar travel (forward or backward in time). Planar displacement alters
21 Team of Slaad ‘missionaries’ the destination plane for the traveler(s). Energy displacement drains (or
recharges) magic items with charges and tech items if possessed. Items
22 Rakshasa fully drained crumble to dust while overcharged items detonate causing
23 Titan (choose between lesser, major, or elder) 10d6 damage. Magical displacement causes magical properties of
items possessed to become altered, potentially permanently.6
24 Vampire
9 Planar fatigue: too much planar travel causes the caster/traveler to
become fatigued from over use. Rest of 1d4 days required.7
Table B-2: Planar Mishaps
10 A tear in the planar fabric is caused, drawing really nasty creatures to
location of the caster. Refer to Table B-1 Planar Encounters.8
1d12 Result
11 A dud: the spell cast simply lacks sufficient magical energy to function,
1 Slows planar travel, necessitating additional check(s) for encounter(s).1 leaving the caster at his location at the time of the failed casting.
2 Intra-planar misdirection: caster is disoriented and lost for 1-10 days, 12 Death to the caster and anyone traveling with him! Fate can be cruel
then arrives at a randomly determined (or DM chosen) location on at times, and this is one of those times. Due to trans-planar dynamics
‘current’ plane.2 and/or physical stresses placed upon the caster at the time of cast-
3 Planar misdirection: caster is disoriented and lost for 2-20 days, then ing, the spell caster dies unceremoniously (saving throw optional).
arrives on desired plane but at a randomly determined (or DM cho-
Copyright © 2009 Jon Hershberger
sen) location.3
Table Footnotes:
4 Planar misdirection: caster is disoriented and lost for 2-20 days, then
1. Gary Gygax, Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® Dungeon Masters Guide,
arrives on a randomly determined (or DM chosen) plane.4
rev. ed. (U.S.A.: TSR, Inc., 1979), 181.
5 Planar misdirection: caster becomes disoriented during casting, then 2. Larry Granato, Dragon Magazine #213, “Plenty of Planar-encounter Possibilities”,
arrives on one of the following energy/other planes: the Positive 43-48.
Material Plane, the Negative Material Plane, or the Plane of Shadows. 3. Gygax, Dungeon Masters Guide, 181.
6 Planar misdirection: caster becomes disoriented during casting, then 4. ibid.
arrives at a randomly chosen (or DM chosen) location where another 5. Granto, 45.
high level, plane traveling spell caster is attempting planar travel,
spoiling the ‘other’ caster’s spell. Roll for initiative! 6. ibid.
7. ibid.
7 Planar ‘black hole’ appears: 50% of the time it will draw PCs (or their
8. ibid.
magical gear) into the void and 50% of the time it will project planar
debris across the planar expanse. PCs sucked into the void suffer
damage of 10d6 and end up on another plane. Debris disgorged from
the planar void has a 5% chance of striking a PC, doing 3d6 of dam-
age. 5% of the debris disgorged is a valuable or magical item.5

New Tricks and Traps

Altar of Clues
by Philip West

A
n altar, with bas-relief carvings showing several unre- missed if the adventurers aren’t placed all around it. The figures
markable-looking people graven around the altar’s sides. in at least one of the bas-reliefs will be seen in an identifiable
A particular item has to be placed onto the top of the altar location – maybe there’s a statue, maybe there’s a sigil carved
to make it function. Possibly this is an ordinary item the adven- into the wall – and can be seen opening a secret door, bypass-
turers might be carrying, but more likely there’s an indentation ing a trap, or fighting some sort of hidden monster. More than
on the altar, and a specific key-type object fits into it: a brass one side of the altar might reveal such a clue. If the players are
glyph-shape or a half-sphere that has been hidden elsewhere in alert, they will gain some useful information. It’s also possible
the dungeon would be good candidates. It’s possible wax might that after revealing its information, the altar’s magic begins a
be poured into the shape, too, fooling the altar into thinking it’s countdown toward filling the room with poisonous gas. One
been activated. When the proper object is fitted into the altar’s of the bas reliefs, if the players noticed it, showed the way to
top, the figures in the bas-relief begin to move. There is activity prevent this from happening.
on all four sides of the altar, and something important might be

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    49

Pivoting Door
by Rob Ragas

A
t the end of a corridor, there is a stone door the same make more than one attempt per every two turns. Of course,
width as the corridor. The door is thick, at least 6 inches once the trap is sprung, the door is wedge opened permanently,
and it pivots about its central axis on a hard metal pole. and there is a minor obstacle at this location.
The door is such a tight fit on top and bottom, that it requires
a Major Test, (e .g . bending bars and lifting portcullis) to move
the door about its axis, and even then a great scraping noise is
produced as it grinds against both f loor and ceiling.
If the door is opened completely, this will cause two mas-
sive ceiling blocks, which the door was supporting, to collapse
on either side of the door. Any character pushing on the door
must successfully pass two saving throws (one for each ceiling
block) vs. Breath Weapon, or be crushed by one, or both, of
the massive stone ceiling blocks. The first saving throw is at
-2, and the second is without a modifier. Characters within 5
feet of either side of the door, must also succeed at two saving
throws, but these rolls are without modifiers. Each falling block
inf licts 3d6 damage.
If the door is opened only partially, say about 45 degrees,
then there is only a 50% chance that each block will collapse.
Any angle greater than 45 degrees will cause a collapse 80% of
the time. A partially opened door is sufficient for non-armored
characters, or leather or studded leather armored characters at
best, to pass single file. More heavily-armored characters may
not pass.
Any character being particularly observant, may see the
ceiling shift as the door is slowly opened. Any character actually
participating in opening the door, is highly unlikely to notice
the ceiling shift, as it takes all of their effort to move the door.
Up to two characters may add their strength’s Major Test per-
centage when attempting to open the door. No character may

New Magic Items

Lantern of Indiscernible Illumination
by Lord Kilgore

T
his item appears to be a normal lantern. If supplied with Research may reveal the manner in which additional pairs
oil and lit, however, it casts no light that the unaided of spectacles may be created. The procedure must begin with a
eye can see. Despite this lack of light, the lantern will pair of fine, glass-lensed spectacles of 100gp minimum value.
consume oil at a normal rate. The use of infravision detects These must be placed within the light of the lit lantern for one
nothing, and no heat is created while it is burning. full week in otherwise absolute darkness. Any visible light of
Usually, this lantern will be found with or near 1d4 pair any kind will spoil the effect and it must be begun anew. Keep
of delicate spectacles with clear glass lenses. Only those wearing in mind that someone will need to keep the lantern supplied
these spectacles can perceive the special light of this lantern. with oil during this time.
Though invisible to those not wearing the spectacles, the light 10% of these lanterns will also reveal invisible creatures
otherwise has the intensity and range of that cast by a normal and items that pass within the magical light.
lantern.

50   • No. 3, Summer 2009

Truth-Telling Pig The magic that imbues the spear makes it handier than
its weight would suggest, and it is regarded as a +2 weapon for
by Rob Hewlett (“Bulette”) “to-hit” purposes (but not for damage).
Five times a day, if the blade inf licts at least 1 hit-point of

T
he Truth Telling Pig, or “Le Porc de la Vérité” is a rare damage, it also bestows a Cure Serious Wounds (2d6+2) on the
magic item found only in very rural farming communities. target. The wielder has no control over this effect; if the spear
It is rumored that the first such “Pig of Truth” has any charges left for the day, and it inf licts any damage at all,
was created by a wizard in sore need of rest and recuperation, it will bestow the healing magic along with its damage. If the
following an epic battle. Penniless, the wizard is said to have target is a demon or an undead creature (or some other monster
magicked a farmer’s pig in trade for being allowed to stay and with a close connection to the Negative Material Plane) the CSW
convalesce in the care of the farmer’s wife. Ironically, some say will actually inflict damage, rather than healing it.
that it was the pig that led to the wizard’s demise, as the farmer Once a month, if the name of Dian Cecht is invoked and
was ultimately able to prove the wizard’s adulterous behavior to the blade thrust deep into a corpse not more than five days dead,
the local village elders and militia. These pigs are highly sought it will bestow Raise Dead on it (subject to the beneficiary’s usual
after as breeding of them has proven they’re able to pass their constitution limitations). This effect is not limited to human(oid)
magical ability on to their litter, although this seems to be rare creatures as is the spell, but will work on anything besides undead
and possibly attributable to how well the pigs are cared for prior and their ilk. If the spear is thrust deeply into a demonic or
to their becoming pregnant. undead creature (i.e. if a natural 20 is rolled, or if the attack does
How it works: Anyone who lays a hand on the pig and maximum damage) then it works on them as if the spell Power
speaks can be determined to be telling the truth or to be lying Word Kill had been used except that there is no hit-point limit,
based on the appearance of the pig’s spots: If the person is lying, and a saving throw applies. Of course, even if the saving throw is
the spots on the pig will begin to coalesce and arrange them- successful, they still take the damage inf licted by the spearhead.
selves in such a pattern that the unmistakeable word “Liar” will
be seen upon it. Similarly, truth tellers will reveal the word
“True” in the spots on the pig. No saving throw is allowed for Enoch Kris’ Spectacles of
the person(s) in contact with the pig. Comprehensive Reading
If more than one person touches the pig simultaneously,
or if one person holds hands or otherwise touches another per-
by James D. Kramer
son who touches the pig, results will be similar (ie. “True” or

E
“Liars” will manifest), but if one or more people tell the truth noch Kris was at one time a librarian in the great library
but one lies, or vice versa, no spots on the pig will rearrange, of Carastrid. To assist the noble clientele of the Library,
and the result will be inconclusive. Kris had constructed many pairs of these powerful reading
Those seeking to somehow assume the truth-telling abil- glasses. The primary ability of these glasses allowed the wearer
ities of the pigs through consumption of them take a great risk to read any mortal language. They also provide the wearer the
in doing so: ability to read magic as the magic user spell of the same name.
A potential side effect from prolonged or repeated use
Roll 1d6: of the Spectacles is rumored to be a total dependence on the
glasses; the powerful magics having rendered the mortal eyes
1 No Effect
of the wearer virtually blind without them.
2 Consumer can only tell lies forever after.
3 Consumer must answer any direct questions and always truthfully.
4 Consumer alternately tells the truth and then lies, every other sentence. Plemintine’s Plates of
5 Consumer can speak the truth, but always loudly snorts afterward. Perpetual Crushing (cursed)
6 Consumer gains the ability to Detect Lie (as per the spell) once per day. by James D. Kramer

T
his suit of plate mail armor does in fact offer +2 protec-
Lancet of Dian Cecht tion. However, if the wearer is hit with an attack that
by Peter Fitzpatrick causes more than 4 hit points of damage, the curse is
activated. This curse causes the plate mail to begin crushing

T
his is a sturdy spear, about 7 feet in length, archaic in the body of the person wearing it, for 1d3 damage per round
design with a thick octagonal shaft of some dense, dark until the wearer is dead. The wearer’s body will rupture and
reddish-brown wood. It has a broad, razor-sharp bronze explode from various places as the pressure of their blood builds
head enamelled in spiralling geometric patterns. The facets of up beneath the armor. The only ways to halt the crushing curse
the shaft are carved with runic inscriptions in Ogham (prayers of is through either a remove curse spell (which destroys all enchant-
healing and restoration, for those able to read the secret druidic ments of the armor), or transmute metal-to-wood spell (which will
script) and are studded with bronze rivets, each one cast in the destroy the armor utterly).
semblance of a different human face. It is heavier than a normal
spear of its size, weighing 20 pounds.
No. 3, Summer 2009 •    51
 ,
Beginner s Bestiary
by Andrew Trent

T Neb’Enakhet
he vast majority of monsters found in the Swords &
Wizardry Core Rules and in the Swords & Wizardry
Neb’Enakhet are sacred, mummified cats placed in the tombs
Monster Book are of Challenge Level 1 and higher. This
of merchants, bureaucrats, non-noble landowners and others
leaves the lower challenge levels - A & B - a little barren. This
who themselves may not be worthy of (or able to afford) mum-
article presents a handful of creatures to help f lesh out those
mification. Neb’Enakhet are very intelligent, and will often
groups, and to give your lower-level parties something to fight
work together using complex tactics to drive off would-be
other than kobolds and giant rats.
tomb robbers. In addition to direct attacks, a group of 4 or more
Neb’Enakhet may howl and keen together, setting up a hellish,
Challenge Level A cacophonous call from beyond the grave that acts as a Fear spell.
Though they represent the weakest of all monsters, the Challenge
Level A beasties can still pose a significant threat when encoun- Neb’Enakhet: HD 1d4; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 bite (1d4) and 2 claws
(1d2); Move 9; Save 18; CL/XP A/5; Special: Undead, Fearful Howl
tered in large enough groups, or when not taken seriously by
an arrogant young adventurer. Here are three new foes in this
class to confound your players.

Dart-tongue Turtle Challenge Level B

With its deep green skin, bright red eye rings, and black and Challenge Level B opponents form the basis of many a well-
yellow shell, the dart-tongue turtle is the result of experiments known beginning adventure. Below are a trio of monsters
by a mad mage whose name is lost to history. These wolf-sized designed with an eye towards shaking things up a little.
reptiles typically make their homes in the shallow ponds of heav-
ily forested areas, though a small number have been captured Clockwork Dragonf ly
to live in the moats of various castles and keeps. Clockwork Dragonf lies are 3ft long mechanical replicas of their
Dart-tongue turtles may bite with their beaks, but more namesake insect, created by high-level Magic-users to serve as
often than not they shoot strange, needle-like darts from a hol- spies and guardians. Their creators can see through their multi-
low tube that runs the length of their tongues. These darts have faceted eyes, hear through their tiny ears, and even cause them
a maximum range of 30ft. For some reason — perhaps instilled to speak at a distance of up to 3 miles. There are rumors of
in them by their ancient creator — dart-tongue Turtles bear a clockwork dragonf lies being used to communicate with their
strong hostility towards dwarves, and will always attack them creators even after the magic-user has died.
first when the bearded folk are present in a party of mixed races.
If multiple dwarves are present, the one with the longest beard
Clockwork Dragonfly: HD 1d6; AC 6 [13]; Atk 1 static electricity
will draw the initial volley of the Dart-tongued turtles’ missiles. “sting” (1d4); Move 1 (Fly 18); Save 18; CL/XP B/10; Special: Fly

Dart-tongue Turtle: HD 1d4; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 bite (1d4) or 2 darts

(1d3); Move 6 (Swim 12); Save 18; CL/XP A/5; Special: None

Varaant
Varaant are hairless, albino swine, usually found in dungeons
where they are raised as a food source by underground-dwelling
humanoids. In addition to being kept as livestock, varaant are
sometimes used as guard animals because of their nigh-f lawless,
scent-based tracking abilities.

Varaant: HD 1d4; AC 8 [11]; Atk 1 bite (1d6); Move 12; Save 18;
CL/XP A/5; Special: None

52   • No. 3, Summer 2009

Murac form in ancient braziers used for divine or arcane purposes. Like
their larger and much more dangerous kin, a successful strike
Murac are nocturnal, bat-like humanoids that make their homes
by an Iaeru can ignite f lammable materials if the material fails a
in deep caves and sunken ruins. Murac have stunted, weak wings
saving throw. Such saving throws, determined by the DM, are
that allow them a very limited amount of f light. Like the bats
made with a +4 bonus due to the relatively weak nature of Iaeru.
they resemble, these creatures possess a complex echolocation
ability, which allows them to operate effectively in total darkness.
Exceptionally intense sounds may stun individual Murac (saving Iaeru: HD 1d4; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 strike (1d4); Move 9; Save 18;
CL/XP B/10; Special: Ignite materials
throw). Murac typically wield axes with bat-shaped heads that
they throw with great accuracy (+1 to hit).

Murac: HD 1d4; AC 8 [11]; Atk 1 bite (1d3) or 1 axe (1d4); Move

9 (Fly 3); Save 18; CL/XP B/10; Special: Fly, Echolocation, +1 to Closing Notes
hit with special axe Having low hit dice doesn’t mean that monsters have to be boring.
The Swords & Wizardry Monster Book made great strides on this
front, with its Glass Butterf lies, Zombie Ravens and the like. Add
Iaeru to these ranks the nasties above, and pretty soon your players will
be begging to make it to 3rd level so they can face off against bor-
Iaeru are diminutive f lame elementals that find their way into
ing old Bugbears and good old-fashioned Ghouls.
our plane of existence through “cracks” in the aether that may

New Monsters
Sword-wraith Scorpadillo, Giant
by Arminath (Jim Bobb) by Lord Kilgore
Armor Class: 2 [17] These tough creatures seem to be the twisted creation of a
Hit Dice: 7 demented sorcerer from ages past. Combining the armored
Attacks: 2 weapon (1d6 + magical bonus) body of a huge armadillo with the poisonous sting of a giant
Saving Throw: 9 scorpion’s tail, these beasts are equally at home in labyrinths
Special: Immunities, Aura or in the wilderness. They are naturally aggressive and do not
Move: 9 hesitate to attack.
Challenge Level/XP: 9 / 1,100 Anyone stung by the tail of a giant scorpadillo must save
vs. poison or immediately go into convulsions and die in 1d6
Sword-wraiths are spirits of powerful, evil fighting-men that turns. The underside of the giant scorpadillo is armor class 7
cannot find rest after death. Because of their powerful will, after [12], but the creature is low to the ground and attacks against
their deaths their spirits inhabit a magical weapon they died it are difficult at best. If the party finds a way to strike at the
fighting with. The Referee should determine the type of weapon vulnerable underbelly, the giant scorpadillo will often curl up
and its magical abilities randomly (so there are mace-wraiths, into a ball to avoid them. This maneuver leaves the tail free to
dagger-wraiths, etc), but it will always be a melee weapon. In continue attacking anyone within five feet.
combat, the sword-wraith will use any special abilities of the
weapon it inhabits to the best of its ability. In addition, the Greater Giant Scorpadillo: These larger cousins add two giant
sword-wraith projects an aura in a 10ft radius around itself that scorpion pincers to the already-fearsome giant scorpadillo.
causes up to 3 unattended weapons of its attacker to animate and
attack the sword-wraith’s enemies. Animated weapons attack Scorpadillo, Giant: HD 2; AC 4 [15] (underbelly AC 7 [12]);
as 3 HD creatures, AC 8[11] and 10hp. As undead creatures, Atk: 1 bite (1d4), sting (1+poison); Move 12; Save 11; CL/XP
sword-wraiths are immune to charms and sleep spells, but they 4/120; Special: Lethal Poison Sting
can be turned by clerics.
Scorpadillo, Greater: HD 4; AC 4 [15] (underbelly AC 7 [12]);
Atk: 1 bite (1d4), 2 pincers (1d6), sting (1+poison); Move 12; Save
10; CL/XP 6/400; Special: Lethal Poison Sting

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    53

Elemental Halfbreeds:
The Jin
by Nellisir

T
he jin are related to genies, but composed of mixtures change into their mud form and drag opponents in with their
of elemental substance. All jin live in family groups or pseudopods (see below).
small tribes, traveling desolate areas exposed to the ele- Marja are lazy, greedy, and ignorant, believing indolence
ments. They are often summoned to act as guards, or serve in and sloth to be the right of the strong, and activity and effort
other ways suited to their nature. All jin speak Common, and the responsibility of the weak. They despise most physical and
can speak to other elemental creatures. mental activity and do as little as is required of them, preferring
to spend their time lounging in warm mud pools and eating.
They are sometimes summoned for use as guards, but cannot
Shaitan be trusted with anything more complex than a stationary post
Shaitans are elemental beings of air and fire. They appear as on a lightly traveled gate or passage. Their loathing of effort,
eight-foot tall humanoids with dark gray skin, long black hair, however, does not extend to melee, and most marja are more
and cinder-red eyes; they smell of ash and smoke, and leave a than willing to raise themselves from relaxation to crush a skull
sooty residue on anything they handle or touch. Male shaitans or grapple and drown an intruder.
are clean-shaven. All shaitans prefer to go bare-chested, and
wear only a simple loincloth or breeches. They do not carry
weapons, as they can create a falchion of cinders and coals at
will. They commonly work as soldiers, guards, and slave-takers
for the efreeti, or assassins and guards for corrupt djinn.
Shaitans are violent, malicious, and spiteful. They enjoy
melee and eschew ranged combat as cowardly and weak. They
accept summonings for the chance to do battle, but lose patience
quickly with summoners who don’t require violence in their
service. In return, they expect the summoner to accompany
them to their own homes and fight for them.
Shaitans fight with giant falchions they create from the
smoke and ash of their own bodies. They can create or dismiss
the weapon at will, and it collapses into coals if the shaitan is
killed. They can also create a choking cloud of ash and soot
around themselves; creatures caught in the cloud must make a
saving throw every round they remain in the cloud or take 1d4
points of damage. Finally, shaitans can become invisible for a
brief period every day.

Shaitan: HD 5; AC 5[14]; Atk 1 sword (1d8+3) or fist (1d6+1);

Move 12 (Fly 12); Save 12; CL/XP 7/600; Special choking cloud

Marja
Marja (mar-JAH) are grossly obese elemental beings of earth
and water that stand nearly seven feet tall; they have leathery
skin, dull hair, and dirty brown eyes. Their features are thick
and unintelligent, and their mouths are unnaturally large. Marja
smell of wet earth and mud, and leave a muddy slick on any-
thing they touch with their bare skin. Male and female marja
refuse to wear anything more confining than a loincloth. They
do not carry weapons, but attack with their prodigious fists, or

54   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 Marja can turn themselves into a pool of mud
at will. In this form they manifest two pseudopods
to smash and grapple opponents, seeking to drag
them into the mud and drown them. Marja can also
cast transmute rock to mud as the wizard spell, and can
move and attack in water or mud without penalty.

Marja: HD 4; AC 5[14]; Atk 2 fists or pseudopods

(1d8+1); Move 9 (swim 18); Save 13; CL/XP 6/400;
Special pool of mud; transmute rock to mud

Nemfiri
Nemfiri are elemental beings of air and water, and
at nine feet tall, they are the tallest of the jin. They
are exceptionally slender, with long faces and thin
features. Their skin is bluish-white, and damp to
the touch – they smell of mist and fog. All nemfiri
shave their heads, leaving only a long topknot of
silver hair. Male nemfiri are clean-shaven. Nemfiri
prefer to wear f lowing robes and elegant jewelry
of silver or platinum. They do not carry weapons,
and avoid melee combat. If necessary, they can
manifest a longbow from their elemental substance
to serve as a weapon.
Nemfiri are sophisticated, cultured, and
urbane. They work as entertainers and spies, or as
minor functionaries in the courts of more powerful
elemental beings. Unable to learn magic themselves,
they are nonetheless fonts of knowledge regarding
elemental lore.
Nemfiri can create a longbow and arrows
from their bodies; they can create and dismiss the usually chain mail of the highest quality. Guardian sembana carry
weapon at will, and it sublimates into mist and vapor if the jin is heavy two-handed axes or mauls; other sembana go unarmed,
killed. Nemfiri can also become invisible, create minor illusions using their bodies as weapons in combat.
(including concealing their identity), and plant a suggestion (as the Sembana are dour and unfriendly, concerned only with
spell) in another’s mind. Finally, they can turn themselves into a their crafts and endeavors. They may be engaged as armorers,
cloud of mist and fog; they inf lict no damage in this form, but blacksmiths, or weaponsmiths, or as elite guardsmen and body-
obscure vision (as invisibility, but -2 penalty instead of -4), and guards. Sembana are sometimes encountered on their way to
cannot be harmed except by magic weapons and spells. investigate unusual volcanic activity or metals.
Sembana can unerringly detect rare metals, gems, and
Nemfiri: HD 5; AC 5[14]; Atk 2 arrows (1d6); Move 18 (Fly 24); Save minerals, and sense the location of any item they have ever held
12; CL/XP 7/600; Special magical powers, cloud of mist and fog or seen. They can render themselves invisible for brief periods
of time, or cause metal objects to heat up (1 hp damage the first
round; 1d4 the second round; 2d4 the third round, then reverse.
Characters holding metal objects can drop them after the first
Sembana point of damage.) Sembana can also transform their skin into
iron; they have a movement rate of 6 in this form, and cannot
Sembana (SEM-ba-na) are elemental beings of earth and fire, f ly, but take no damage from non-magical weapons.
with copper-colored skin, black hair, and golden eyes. They
have broad shoulders and thick muscles. They smell of hot metal
and oil, and leave an oily residue on anything they handle. Male Sembana: HD 6; AC 3[16]; Atk 1 weapon (1d10) or 2 fists
(1d6+1); Move 12 (Fly 9); Save 11; CL/XP 8/800; Special magical
sembana grow thick, dark beards, and both sexes keep their hair powers, ironskin
trimmed. Sembana are the only jin to routinely wear armor,

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    55

The Tower of Mouths
or, The Doom of Mordraas Kor
By Matt Finch

A Swords & Wizardry adventure for 4-8 characters level 2-4.

T
his adventure centers around a tower that is assumed to or structural weakness in a few areas of the dungeon. The stairs
be located in a city, but the adventure can also be used to the dungeons were blocked with rubble, and the ripples of
in a remote wilderness location if desired. It is designed the quake were felt throughout the city. Note that the precise
to be the first step in the discovery of a heretofore unknown extent of the dungeons is left to you, as the referee – this aspect
and unlooted megadungeon if the referee chooses to develop of the tower can be left out entirely if you wish.
the excavations below the tower, but the module itself focuses The two upper levels of the tower – unless you choose
only on the two lower levels of the tower itself. This is an area to stock them with monsters – are filled with an incredibly
that would have to be cleared before the dungeons are a safe lethal, corrosive gas, released when the earthquake damaged
candidate for repeated expeditions. It is also possible that the some of Mordraas Kor’s alchemical devices. If the players want
characters might try to hold onto the tower as a base of opera- to investigate the upper levels, they will have to find a way of
tions once they have cleared it; whether this would succeed or venting the gas without killing hundreds of city dwellers in the
whether other forces in the city (such as heavy taxes, seizure surrounding area. If the players achieve this task safely, the upper
by the governing authorities, etc) is a matter for the referee to levels will be empty unless they are inhabited by some sort of
decide. The adventure was written as a possible resource for use monster immune to the effects of the gas. Maps of the upper
with Gabor Lux’s City of Vultures, also appearing in this issue. levels are provided for convenience, but they are not numbered
or keyed since they are presumed to be devoid of life.

Player Information Ground Level

A week or so ago, the city suffered a mild tremor in the vicinity of 1. Outside Gate and Entrance. The huge gate into the tower
a wizard’s tower known as the Tower of Mouths, the stronghold is made of brass, and is secured by a mighty chain with
of one Mordraas Kor. The tower is a grim octagon of dark stone, a padlock. Inside the tower, once the players find a way
with huge faces carved into the sides. Each face is open-mouthed, to get in past the lock, the entry chamber has three exits
as if howling, and it is from these faces that the tower derives its barred by portcullises. These are all warped by the earth-
name. Of late, since the earthquake, the tower has seemed entirely being’s escape, and can be broken away easily. When anyone
abandoned. The great brass gate is padlocked, and no one has been enters the chamber, several mouth-shaped carvings in the
seen to enter or exit. Was the earthquake related in some way to wall suddenly open to spit tiny wisps of f lame. Originally,
the tower? It is very possible that the entire wealth of Mordrass the mouths would have filled the room with a howling
Kor is there for the taking, sitting in an empty tower, waiting inferno; their malfunctioning is due to the earth-being’s
for nothing but a group of brave thieves to gather it up and revel effect on the tower’s magical defenses and devices. The
in their fortune. Of course, the strongholds of wizards are not f loor of this room is covered in mud, with wheel-tracks
to be taken lightly, even when abandoned, but the rewards for made by wagons and carts, for it is the only entrance to
plundering them are mighty indeed … the tower. All supplies came through this area and were
generally unloaded in location 2.
Referee Information 2. Central Chamber. This huge chamber contains the rubble-
It is Mordraas Kor himself who caused the tremors beneath the filled stairwell into the dungeons below the tower. The
stairwell is ringed with carven pillars connected by iron
city, and he is indeed dead from the events surrounding the quake.
chains (to keep people from falling down the stairs). The
The wizard had foolishly summoned a powerful earth-
room’s stone f loor is laced with cracks and fissures from
being to excavate new rooms and passages in his already exten-
the earthquake, and shows signs of passage by carts and
sive underground complex below the tower. Unfortunately, the
wagons – although this was apparently as far as such outside
summoned being turned out to be considerably more powerful
than Mordraas Kor’s wards and magic circles. It slew the sorcerer, traffic came into the tower.
and when it departed from the material plane of existence its 3. Secret Chamber. This secret chamber contains three fau-
passage caused a small but powerful earthquake in the tower’s cets in the far wall. These tap into the various pipes in
stone foundation. The damage to the tower and the dungeons the tower’s interior walls, and were used for alchemical
below was minimal, but its force may have caused some cave-ins purposes. Each faucet releases gas into the room. The gas

56   • No. 3, Summer 2009

from faucet A is pink (heals 1 hp), from faucet B it is blue
(causes sneezing for 1d6 turns), and from faucet C it is green
(does nothing). If more than one tap is opened at the same
time, allowing the gases to mix, the following effects derive
from the combinations:
• Faucet A and Faucet B: poisonous gas
• Faucet A and Faucet C: increases strength, granting
+1 to hit and damage for 24 hours
• Faucet B and Faucet C: explodes for 1d6 points of
damage (no saving throw), but the chemical reaction

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    57

 from the explosion toughens the skin, causing a benefit 7. Secret Pantries. This room contains six deep alcoves, which
of –3[+3] to armor class for 1 week. all contain barrels, boxes, and sacks of ordinary kitchen
• Faucet A and B and C (all three): explosion for supplies such as f lour, herbs, potatoes, etc. Most of it is
3d6 points of damage (saving throw for half damage). still edible, since the tower has only been abandoned for a
week. One of the alcoves contains a gem-encrusted silver
4. Guard Room with Teleport Corridor. There are several samovar and three crystal tea-glasses. The samovar is worth
racks of weapons on the walls of this room, containing 15
1000gp, and the glasses are worth 50gp each.
swords, 30 spears, 3 heavy crossbows, 200 crossbow bolts,
and 10 shields. The f loor is strewn deeply with rushes, and 8. Guarded Supply Room. This room contains giant iron
like much of the tower it is cracked and slightly buckled. cauldrons, large drying racks, big glass tubes, and other
The “T” symbol denotes the presence of a teleportal cumbersome equipment used in larger scale alchemical
leading to the corresponding “T” symbol between rooms projects (total value of 250gp, but it will take a long time
7 and 8. This is a one-way portal. The f loor of the short and a lot of effort to remove it all from the tower). When
corridor leading to the teleportal is cracked and buckled, Mordraas Kor needed one of these items, he would have
but the last ten feet of the corridor (the location of the servants haul it up to his working chambers. The chamber
teleportal) is completely untouched by the effects of the is guarded by three spider-like mechanisms; they have metal
legs, but their bodies are crystalline globes half-filled with
earthquake.
a greenish liquid (a non-lethal poison they inject with the
5. Castellan’s Office. This room contains some nice carpets, bite and front legs).
a wooden desk, and a chair. A large metal pipe runs along
the ceiling from north to south. The pipe leaks occasionally
from structural damage, making the room smell distinctly 3 Spider Mechanisms (HP 14, 8, 4): HD 2; AC 5[14]; Atk 1
of roses. Each turn there is a 4 in 6 chance for the smell to bite (1d4+poison), 2 front leg-needles (poison); Move 12; Save 12;
CL/XP 4/120; Special: Poison bite and poison front legs (poison
suddenly become much stronger. There is a leather folder causes target to be slowed on first failed save, and become para-
beside the desk, with a sheaf of papers scattered around it. lyzed on second failed save, with duration of 1 full turn).
Most of the papers are accounts of food delivered and paid
for. However, one page is devoted to the delivery of numer-
ous strange substances: large bottles of newt eyes, pickled 9. Minor Treasure Room. This secret room contains a smooth
bat wings, barrels of various chemicals, and so forth. The but lumpy rock on a pedestal, and two treasure chests. The
most recent entries are mostly metals and rare earths. The rock is the Harmoam, an intelligent and malign meteorite
topmost page is signed “Mordraas Kor,” and reads simply, that accidentally fell to earth rather than entering an orbit
“All servants are to maintain utter silence tomorrow, and in the skies, as it had intended. It is extremely annoyed at
the gates will remain closed. No one shall enter the second its predicament, but has become resigned to eternal life on
level of the tower. See to it.” The second sheet of paper has the surface of the world, surrounded by lesser creatures. The
“Osmiar” scrawled at the bottom, and reads, “Order a large Harmoam can communicate with telepathy at a range of
platter of figs to go with the apprentice lunch tomorrow. I 5ft (and also at distances greater than 400 miles to an outer
will retrieve them from the kitchen myself; Mordraas does limit of 1000 miles, but this is unlikely to come into play).
not want the servants in the second level tomorrow.” The Harmoam will grant a wish to any character who
can somehow manage to return it to the higher regions of
6. Kitchen. This room contains a free-standing fireplace, the sky, which is the only place in which its natural powers
several countertops, and other kitchen implements. The of levitation can battle the forces of gravity. If returned to
fireplace has no chimney. Smoke simply disappears when the skies it will continue its plans, along with others of its
the fire is lit; this is one of the tower’s magical devices that
kind, to destroy all life on the planet below.
still functions. Several pipes run along the ceiling, and one
The treasure chests are both trapped with poisoned
of them drips material into a cauldron below, from a small
needles (on the latch), and are locked. The first contains
faucet. The material dripping into the cauldron (originally
100sp and 3000cp. The second contains a 150gp gem,
a fortified type of water) has been contaminated by leaks
350gp, and 3200sp.
in various other pipes deep within the tower’s walls, adul-
terated with liquids intended for alchemical manufacture. 10. Damaged Magical-Defense Room. This room contains
The liquid collected in the cauldron has formed into an four stone statues, 8ft tall, of a wizard (the same wizard)
ooze similar to a black pudding, but weaker. carrying a staff. His face is cruel, and the stone eyes follow
the movement of the characters. In two of the statues, the
wizard is petting a mastiff. The f loor is badly cracked. If
Weak Black Pudding (20hp): HD 5; AC 6[13]; Atk 1 attack any “unauthorized” person should try to cross the room
(3d8); Move 6; Save 12; CL/XP 6/400; Special: Acidic surface, from the southern corridor to the north, all four of the
immune to cold, divides when hit with lightning.
wizard-statues will point their staffs toward the corridor
exits. Two of the statues, which were damaged by the
quake, will then break into pieces, but the staffs of the

58   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 other two emit a flash of greenish light. One staff summons small tables. A pipe and a pouch sit on one of the tables,
monsters (6 stirges) from thin air. The other staff causes and another is topped with two f lagons of soured ale.
the two mastiff statues to animate and attack. 16. Assistants’ Studying Room. Contains information about
the summoning. Three desks are positioned in this room,
2 Stone Mastiffs: HD 2; AC 4[15]; Atk 1 bite (1d6+1); Move one larger than the others. A large book with the word
14; Save 16; CL/XP 4/60; Special: None. “RAGANTHU” written upon it is on one of the desks,
locked with an iron hasp. The lock contains a poison needle
6 Stirges (HP 6, 6, 5, 3, 2, 2): HD 1+1; AC 7[12]; Atk 1 pro- trap. The spellbook contains the following spells: Charm
boscis (1d3); Move 3 (Fly 18); Save 17; CL/XP 1/15; Special:
blood drain (1d4), +2 to hit bonus.
Person, Protection from Evil, Read Magic
Folded inside the spellbook is a piece of parchment
reading, “Treat Osmiar with caution; he is too much cared
Each stone staff (4) is tipped with a black gem worth for by Mordraas, and cares little in return for any of us.”
75gp.
17. Hallway and Assistants’ Sleeping Chambers. This corridor
11. Audience Room. Contains table and chairs, and some has three doors on the southern wall. The first is unlabeled.
information that could be used to blackmail an important The middle door has a bronze plaque reading “OSMIAR,”
person in the city. Details of the blackmail material and the and the easternmost door has a similar plaque reading,
potential target are left to the referee, since the information “RAGANTHU.” The door marked “Raganthu” appears
could spark an entire adventure if the players follow up on to have been fastened shut with some sort of incredibly
it. powerful glue, and will have to be broken open. Each of the
12. Guard Chamber. Contains three dead guards, poisoned by small chambers contains a bed; Osmiar’s chamber contains
Osmiar. They wear leather armor and have longswords on nothing else but a half-empty bottle of poison under the
their belts, along with a total of 15sp. The f loor swarms bed. Raganthu’s chamber contains a man’s corpse, dressed
with cockroaches that have occupied the deep cracks in in long red robes. The man appears to have been clawing
the f loor. at the fastened door when he died (the traitorous Osmiar
used an alchemical glue to fasten the door, shortly before
13. Room of Magical Stairs. Each stairway in this room goes the summoning of the earth-being). The key to open
to a different level of the tower, passing magically through Raganthu’s spellbook (room 16) is fastened to the inside
the upper levels. Each stairway seems to be twenty feet of the robes the corpse wears.
long, with a landing at the middle. Only the southernmost
stair leads to the level directly above; the other two lead 18. Larmaoul’s Chambers. A bronze plaque on the door reads:
to the lethal, gas-filled top levels. The stair on the north “LARMAOUL.” The room contains a bed, and there are
wall leads to level 4, and the northernmost stair on the east several ornately woven rugs on the cracked f loor. A deep
wall leads to level 3. Anyone climbing one of these two crack breaks the f loor from east to west in the middle of
stairways will be warned of the gas by a strange smell. If the room. Larmaoul, the chief apprentice of Mordraas
the adventurers continue upward, anyone breathing the Kor, is still alive in the bottom of the twenty-foot deep
gas higher up must make a saving throw or die. Anyone fissure, although he has been driven mad by a week during
reaching the poisoned upper levels must make a saving which he has somehow survived without food or water.
throw each round, and take 1d8 points of damage per His spellbook and 200gp are to be found in a locked steel
round (no saving throw) merely from skin contact with box under the bed. Although he will converse with the
the gas. characters, most of what he says is gibberish. However, he
will often return to the same repeated refrains: the first
is, “It is too powerful a name, Master. I told you. Did I
Second Level not tell you?” The second repeated phrase is, “Osmiar has
14. Room of Stairs. Although the stairs in area 13 lead to other sabotaged the wards! Let me out! Osmiar has sabotaged
levels when they are taken upwards from area 13, if they the wards! You must hear me!” Larmaoul carries a key to
are taken downward from this room, they lead into area the steel box.
13 as if they were normal stairs.
15. Common Room of Mordraas Kor’s Assistants. The southern Larmaoul (non-hostile, insane NPC): MU 6; HD 6d6-6; HP
door of this room is trapped with a scything blade (from 17; AC 9 [10]; Atk Bite (1hp); Move: 12; Save 11; CL/XP 4/120;
the ceiling), but if it is triggered the blade will jam before it Special: Spells, none memorized.
extends more than a foot from its hole. After ten minutes,
the spring-tension will break through the obstacle and
Larmaoul’s spellbook contains the following spells:
the blade will scythe downward (3d6 damage if anyone
Level One: Charm Person, Detect Magic, Light, Read
is unlucky enough to still be in the doorway). The trap
Languages, Read Magic. Level Two: Continual Light,
can be bypassed with the password “Mordraas Kor.” The
ESP, Levitate, Mirror Image, Stinking Cloud, Web. Third
room contains three well-stuffed armchairs, and three

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    59

 Level: Clairaudience, Dispel Magic, Water Breathing.
Fourth Level: Monster Summoning II.
19. Alchemy Room. The western wall of this room contains
shelves that reach almost to the ceiling. Apparently the
shelves were once filled with small cages; a few remain on
the shelves, but most of them are scattered on the f loor,
probably shaken off by the tremor. Numerous albino giant
rats scamper around the room, and there are also several
rat skeletons on the f loor. Alchemical experiments have
given the rats permanent effects of certain potions.

60   • No. 3, Summer 2009

 Other things in the room: two vats are suspended from there will be a second earthquake. Even the strength of
the ceiling; copper tubing runs from these into some of the second earthquake would not be enough to collapse
the cages. Vat #1 contains five doses of invisibility potion, the tower, but it would be extremely unstable afterwards.
but there is also some poisonous sediment at the bottom.
Vat #2 contains three doses of healing potion, and the
sediment at the bottom can be mixed with water to make Gorthorog: HD 20; HP 80; AC 0[19]; Atk 5 tentacles (1d10
each); Move 12; Save 3; CL/XP 22/8000; Special: Tentacles can
six more healing potions. grab and immobilize (saving throw), moves through stone, immune
A barrel in one corner is broken open, and contains a bit to cutting or stabbing weapons, paralysis.
of rat food at the bottom, fouled with dried rat droppings.

22. Summoning Room. Each door into this room is enchanted

Giant Invisible Lab Rats (2): HD 1; HP 4, 4; AC 7 [12]; Atk with a magic mouth, which appears and speaks when anyone
Bite (1d4); Move: 12; Save 17; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Invisible, approaches the door. The mouth simply says, “Trespasser
remain invisible even after attacking. beware. Enter the summoning chambers of Mordraas Kor
Giant Self-Healing Lab Rat (1): HD 1; HP 3; AC 7 [12]; Atk and doom shall be upon you.” This room is the site of the
Bite (1d4); Move: 12; Save 17; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Heals com- summoning disaster, and the traitor Osmiar is still here, in
pletely if not killed in one combat round. his badly altered form. The room’s most obvious feature
is a largely melted stone statue in the middle of the room,
Giant Hasted Lab Rats (2): HD 1; HP 3, 3; AC 7 [12]; Atk 2
Bites (1d4); Move: 12; Save 17; CL/XP 2/30; Special: 2 attacks now resembling a tall glob of stone with five broken ten-
per round (against same opponent only). tacles protruding from the slagged form. A human ankle
protrudes from the southern wall of the chamber, wearing
a pointy-toed slipper. This is the only part of Mordraas Kor
20. Pumping Station. Three large iron pistons move up and that wasn’t entirely pulled into the earth-being’s realm for
down in this room. Each is connected to a metal pipe that devouring. It can be pulled from the wall, leaving a hole
disappears into the stone of the ceiling. These pumps are about a foot deep. The slipper is one of a pair of slippers of
one of the primary mechanisms for moving alchemical silent movement, but worn alone it is useless. Osmiar is a
liquids into their various taps and spigots. If the pumps skeletally thin person, dribbling saliva from the corner of his
are all stopped, all of the liquids and gases in the tower mouth and scratching at the stone walls, obviously insane.
will cease to work (including the one fouling the upper He will disregard anyone entering the room unless they
levels with poison gas), but the power driving the pumps approach the stone statue of Gorthorog in the middle of
will keep going, causing the pumps to explode one round the room, in which case he will shriek in terror and attack.
after the last one is stopped (10d6 damage, saving throw In the course of the earth-being’s departure, Osmiar was
applies). The players might be warned of this by the action warped by the powerful effects of the dimensional magic.
of the pumps; when the first pump is stopped, the others The right side of his body was transformed into living, mov-
will work faster and begin making labored sounds. When ing stone. Gems sparkle where they are embedded in this
only one pump is operating, it will move at a blurring side of his body. Each half of his body has an independent
speed and begin giving off wisps of smoke. life; if the f lesh side is killed, the stone half will continue
21. Writing Room. This room contains a very ornately carved fighting, and vice versa. Both sides of the body fight at
writing desk covered with papers and candle-wax. One sheet the same time, as if they were different creatures. There
of parchment bears one word in large letters: “Gorthorog.” are 12 gems in Osmiar’s right half, worth 50gp each.
This is the name of the earth-being that Mordraas Kor
summoned with disastrous results. If the name is spoken
twice, it has the effect of calling the being forth from the Left Half of Osmiar the Traitor (flesh): MU 5; HD 7d6-7; HP
20; AC 9[10]; Atk 1 fist (1hp); Move 9; Save 9; CL/XP 9/1100;
strange dimensions it inhabits – its being will flow into area Special: Spells (4/3/2/1).
22 near its statue. The being takes a full turn (10 minutes)
to completely materialize, and if anyone orders or asks it
to return home during this time it will do so, for it has no • Spells level 1: Charm Person, Protection from Evil,
desire to be in the material planes. The creature has the Sleep, (no fourth spell; already cast)
intelligence of a genius, although it appears like a f low of • Spells level 2: Mirror Image, Web
cold magma with tentacles. Faces form in the liquid stone
• Spells level 3: Slow
of its body, and anyone who meets the eyes of one of the
faces must make a saving throw or be paralyzed for 1d4
rounds. Since he is not bound to the material plane by Right Half of Osmiar the Traitor (stone): HD 5; HP 20; AC
an accidental summoning, each round Gorthorog has a 2[17]; Atk 1 fist (2d6); Move 9; Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special:
10% chance to decide to return home. Anyone held in his immune to cutting or piercing weapons.
tentacles will be taken along (dying in the process), and

No. 3, Summer 2009 •    61

23. Workroom. Contains fireplaces,
worktables, and the statue venting
gases into the upper levels. There is
a statue in the middle of the room
depicting a short, squat, being with
jeweled eyes, its head tilted back to
open a gigantic mouth. Several metal
pipes are attached to the figure’s
base, and extend along the f loor to
disappear into the walls. A steady
wisp of green smoke rises from the
statue’s mouth and is sucked into an
overhead grate in the ceiling. This
statue is the source of the gas that
now fills the upper two levels; the
“smoke” is not only lethally poi-
sonous (saving throw). The statue
animates if it is touched; its short
arms are of almost no use in combat,
but its ability to breathe poison gas
is deadly. It can break loose from its
pipes, but it can only hold three gas-
exhalations before it has to return
to the pipes and suck more gas into
its mouth. If the pumps in area 20
have been stopped, the statue will
not be able to breathe poison gas,
and will not animate. Note: if the
statue detaches itself from the pipes
to move around, the pipes still give
off the poison gas – only now it
begins to fill this level instead of
the ones above. The statue’s jewelled
eyes are worth 500gp each.

Squat Evil Little Statue: HD 4; AC

3[16]; Atk 2 little arms (1d2 each); Move
3; Save 13; CL/XP 7/600; Special:
Breathes poison gas at one person
directly in front of it (save or die).

Osmiar’s spellbook is stashed

under a f lagstone inside one of the
fireplaces.

62   • No. 3, Summer 2009

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