Issue # 150

Vol. XIV, No. 5

October 1989
Publisher
Mike Cook
Editor
Roger E. Moore
Assistant editor
Anne Brown

Fiction editor
Barbara G. Young

Editorial assistant
Kimberly J. Walter
Art director
Paul Hanchette
Production staff
Kathleen C. MacDonald
Gaye OKeefe Angelika Lokotz
Subscriptions
Janet L. Winters

U.S. Advertising
Sheila Gailloreto

U.K. correspondent
and U.K. advertising
Sue Lilley

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS

11

A Taste of Horror:

If you hunt for nightmares, they will surely find you.

12 The Dragons Bestiary

18 The Sunset World
28 Fangs Alot!

Stephen Inniss
In the lands of the mind flayers live their more monstrous relatives

Stephen Inniss
Illithids welcome all strangers to their homeworld with open tentacles.
The editors
A Halloween issue without vampires is like a day without sunshine: the
revised AD&D 2nd Edition vampire!

32 The Well-Rounded Monster Hunter

Dean Shomshak
Cthulhu doesnt scare me. I have a degree in art design!

OTHER FEATURES

47 Nobody Lasts Forever

David Edward Martin

All good things must end (sometimes) in the MARVEL, SUPER HEROES
game.

52 The Serpent of Aledorn

60 Role-playing Reviews

fiction by John P. Buentello

If a sorcerer creates a monster, he does it for a reason.

Ken Rolston
Looking for new adventures? Here are five that make the search
worthwhile.

68

The Role of Computers Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser

Create a world, govern a nation, or whack monsters with your trusty axe
all on your home computer.

78 Darkest Secrets

Marcus L. Rowland
There are some things your TOP SECRET/S.I. agent doesnt know even
about himself.

82 A Final Frontier of Your Own

John J. Terra
Boldly go where no gamer has gone before, in FASAs STAR TREK
universe!

92 Unspeakable Secrets Made Easy

Dean Shomshak
Curling up with a good book in Chaosiums CALL OF CTHULHU game?

DEPARTMENTS
5 Letters
6 Forum
8 Sage Advice

4 0 TSR Previews
74 Gamers Guide
96 Convention Calendar

100 Dragonmirth

COVER
This months cover is a particularly American blend of horror and fantasy by Larry
Elmore. Somewhere in the hills of western Kentucky, a witch and her familiar check
up on a scarecrow that guards her domain. What the scarecrow does when it finds
an intruder is left to your imagination. The arrowhead in the picture (good luck
finding it!) is dedicated to the times when Larry and his father searched for them on
their farm.
4 OCTOBER 1989

The big one

What did you think of this issue? Do you have

a question about an article or have an idea for a
new feature youd like to see? In the United
States and Canada, write to: Letters, DRAGON
Magazine, P.O. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI 53147,
U.S.A. In Europe, write to: Letters, DRAGON
Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120 Church End, Cherry
Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LD, United Kingdom.

The vampire
revamped
Dear Dragon:
The AD&D 2nd Edition game is a great
system, but I was shocked when I recently
purchased the Monstrous Compendium, Volume
One. In the two-page entry for the vampire, the
second page merely repeats the text of the first.
The illustration is different, but rather than
going into the habitat and ecology of the vampire, the information on page one is repeated
word for word.
Is this error unique to my copy or is it common to all? If the latter, how does TSR, Inc. plan
to rectify the situation? Perhaps a special insert
in DRAGON Magazine is in order.
Paul Fraser
Windsor, Nova Scotia
The error was common to all copies of the
first run of that productand we have the
corrected text in this issue of the magazine,
appropriately enough in time for Halloween.

SSI & etc.

Dear Dragon:
Im just writing in to tell you guys what a
great job youre doing. But now I have a few
questions and comments.
1. How about an article on cantrips for Oriental Adventures?
2. I LOVED the cover artwork on issue #146.
It was superb!
3. Where do I send clues for Clue corner ?
4. Im really going to miss SnarfQuest. Are
there any plans for a new regular series?
5. I own Pool of Radiance, and I just love it.
Does TSR or SSI have any plans for an Oriental
[computer-game] setting?
Jason Dunn
Calgary, Alberta
1. Any article on cantrips should fit the AD&D
2nd Edition game version of the spell cantrip.
The idea sounds okay, though we would be
choosy about the article itself.
2. Thank you. Well let Keith Parkinson know
that you liked his work.
3. Send your computer-game clues for The
Role of Computers to: Hartley and Patricia

Lesser, 179 Pebble Place, San Ramon CA 94583,

U.S.A.
4. We are still working on plans for a new
graphic story but have nothing definite yet.
5. At the moment, no Oriental Adventures
computer game is in the works. However, you
might be interested to know that upcoming
AD&D computer games from SSI, Inc. include
the following (these are working titles only):
Dungeon Masters Assistant, Volume II, for
creating PCs and NPCs, with magical items;
Dragons of Flame, an action-arcade sequel to
Heroes of the Lance, set in the DRAGONLANCE
saga at Pax Tharkas;
War of the Lance, a strategic fantasy war
game about the DRAGONLANCE saga;
DRAGONLANCE FRP, which uses the same
game system as Pool of Radiance and Azure
Bonds, and which allows a party to explore
Krynn in the time following the DRAGONLANCE
Legends trilogy;
Dragonflight, a dragon-riding flight simulator
for the DRAGONLANCE saga; and
Dungeon Bash, a sequel to Azure Bonds in a
dungeon environment.
There are several Oriental-style computer
games on the market, however; just consult
The Role of Computers column for details.

Good hit, bad miss

Dear Dragon:
A couple of comments from down-under
which might be of interest to your readers:
1. In reply to Robert Collins (Letters, issue
#142), the article Good Hits & Bad Misses
[which contained critical-hit tables for the
AD&D game] has already appeared in a Best of
DRAGON Magazine anthology. It is on page 65
of volume V.
2. I have just purchased the 2nd Edition
Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide.
It struck me that you could publish corrections
for these books in a ring-binder, hole-punched
format suitable for insertion in the Monstrous
Compendium binder. This would keep all such
corrections close at hand during play and save
time in leafing through DRAGON Magazine for
that missing info.
Tony R. Davison
Sunnybank, Queensland, Australia
1. [Groan.] I had completely forgotten about
the anthologized version of Good Hits & Bad
Misses when I wrote my reply to Robert Collins. The error is all the worse since I worked
on that particular anthology.
2. We think it would be better to simply run
the errata on the 2nd Edition materials in the
Sage Advice column (as we have done in issues
#148 and #149). Players may photocopy the
errata and keep the material with their game
books; we dont object to photocopying as long
as it is for personal use only and not for sale.

On August 9th, I packed myself into

my little blue Toyota and drove to Milwaukee for the 1989 GEN CON Game
Fair with all the enthusiasm I would
have for going to the dentist, assuming
my dentist were going to keep me in
his chair for five days and perform a
root canal on me every 20 minutes. (As
a TSR employee, I work at the TSR
Periodicals booth whenever we have
such game fairs). I am pleased to inform you, the readers, that the convention was a tremendous, stunning
success, and I even enjoyed myself,
much as if my dentist had only forced
me to run 128 miles over hot concrete
before giving me a clean bill of health
and a warning to floss more often.
Setup of the TSR Periodicals booth on
Wednesday went well, though our
product boxes, which had the words
DRAGON BOOTH written on them in
letters 4 high, were understandably
dropped off at the cafeteria and at the
upstairs auction room. After setup,
your editors went out for Chinese food
and then went home to await Thursdays dreaded dawn, with the opening
of the MECCA Convention Center doors
to thousands of game-starved fanatics.
This years game fair was scheduled
on the same weekend as the annual
reunion of the 101st Airborne Division
(The Screaming Eagles) and a large
rap concert that was well attended by
hordes of Milwaukee police officers. By
contrast, the convention crowd of over
10,000 gamers and spectators was well
behaved, with the exception of author
Margaret Weis, who made faces at me
whenever she walked by the TSR Periodicals booth. In return, I gave a fan of
the DRAGONLANCE saga a dime to go
to the Bantam Books booth and tell
Margaret how much he admired her
writing (naming books she had never
written), but this tactic failed miserably
when the fan was so overcome with
actually meeting Margaret that he
forgot his mission and probably his
name and address as well.
Many new and exciting game
products appeared at the convention.
TSR had lots of AD&D 2nd Edition,
books and supplements, Hero Games
had the hardbound 4th-edition CHAMPIONS rules, and R. Talsorian had the
Hardwired sourcebook for its CYBERPUNK game. FASAs cyberpunk-fantasy
SHADOWRUN game was sold beside

Continued on page 66

DRAGON 5

Forum welcomes your comments and opinions

on role-playing games. In the United States and
Canada, write to: Forum, DRAGON Magazine,
P.O. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A. In
Europe, write to: Forum, DRAGON Magazine,
TSR Ltd, 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,
Cambridge CB1 3LB, United Kingdom. We ask
that material submitted to Forum be either
neatly written by hand or typed with a fresh
ribbon and clean keys so we can read and
understand your comments.
The Executive Board of Atlantas ORIGINSTM 90
would like to clarify a few misconceptions
concerning our forthcoming convention on June
28-July 1, 1990. This letter is in response to a
reader submission in issue #145s Forum.
Atlanta currently hosts four major conventions each year; while each provides a gaming
component, only one expands it to a major focus
of the event. ORIGINS90 is first and foremost a
gaming convention, with the quality and diversity of the games and gaming environment
offered as its prime concerns.
While the cancellation of several secondary
games due to a lack of registration may have
been a factor in Mr. Walkers perceptions presented in his letter, this will not present a problem at an ORIGINS due to the overall number of
attendees alone. As the National Adventure
Gaming Exposition in 1990, nearly all of the top
tournament gaming associations in the U.S. will
join forces with our staff and GMs to provide
the finest in role-playing, board, miniatures, and
computer gaming competitions.
Nearly half of Mr. Walkers letter focused on
the negative images he perceived certain
gamers may have presented. This is the furthest
from the truth with respect to convention
publicity in Atlanta, cited by some as the heart
of the Bible belt. Television, radio, and print
media continue to feature Atlantas conventions
in a positive and healthy light in both live and
recorded programs and full-page articles.
A final point that Mr. Walker presented concerned factors that the ORIGINS 90 committee
took into account when selecting a single, selfcontained site for both the entire convention
and lodging. The Atlanta Hilton was chosen as
our host site. It contains over 100,000 square
feet of convention facilities and 1,200 rooms
that provide ORIGINS 90 with great versatility.
ORIGINS 90 will feature 24-hour tournament
and open gaming, as well as continuous availability of food and beverage, a swimming pool
and spa, and other hotel facilities from Thursday nonstop till Sunday.
If readers have suggestions concerning game
tournaments they would like to see, modules
they can provide or run (and we heartily encourage both), or just about anything else, they
can write us at: ORIGINS 90, P.O. Box 47969,
Atlanta GA 30362.
David Cody
Tournament Coordinator
Ed Kramer
Convention Chairman
With respect to the dragon articles that appeared in DRAGON issue #134, I have some-

6 OCTOBER 1989

thing else to add. While dragons rarely need to

be beefed up as much as suggested in Give
Dragons a Fighting Chance, the author is quite
correct in saying they are underrated. The
problem is not in the physical aspects of the
dragon but in the mental.
Dragons are smart, believe it or not. Furthermore, they have lived waaayyyy longer than
any human, dwarven, or elven party that ever
marched up to any dragon cave. The surviving
dragons, by trial and error, have learned a lot
about life in general. They will have a whole
network of human spies and informants across
the surrounding region (contacted while in
polymorphed form, probably), who will warn
the dragons of the general power and renown
of characters launching an attack. If a dragon
knows a party is coming, he might be in his
caveand he might not. If he is in his cave, he
will certainly have all manner of traps and
guardians (perhaps unintelligent onesa few
well-placed green slimes can wreak havoc on a
party), more than one escape route, and probably some cursed items marked by the dragons
wizard mark (so that the dragon doesnt use
them accidentally) lying around with the rest of
the treasure. Certainly the dragon will not be
alone in his lair; there may be a stone golem
concealed in a rock as well. Charmed bodyguards will protect their friend from the
greedy, power-hungry adventurers.
If the dragon is not in his lair, as will probably
be the case, he will perhaps polymorph into the
shape of a henchman and offer to accompany
the party on its quest to destroy a dragon. This
pseudohenchman will destroy the partys items
along the way and will eat other henchmen
during the night, appearing astonished in the
morning. The pseudohenchman will charm
characters and plant suggestions of devious
sorts on the way to the cave. He will suppress a
grin as the party comes across the dragons
inner lair (actually a false one; the real one is
farther into the mountain), use all the cursed
items, be attacked by a mound of disguised
goldbugs, carry off the gold-covered copper
pieces, and wonder where the darn dragon
went, anyway. The pseudohenchman then stays
a little way behind the party, polymorphs back
into a dragon, uses a few breath weapons (not
fire, of course; that would melt all the partys
valuable items), then picks up the partys magical items and treasure and hauls it all back.
Whether the dragon is in its lair or secretly
accompanying the party, it will notify its dragon
friends (if there are any) in other regions and
have a sending spell ready to call for aid, just in
case. If the party is caught in any of the traps,
there is nothing the dragon will like better than
breathing down on the group or just waiting
until the entire party dies (which wont take
very long), then collecting all of the partys
possessions.
A letter to Forum that appeared a long time
ago contained an example of a perfectly misplayed dragon. It showed how a group of 25thlevel characters would not consider a dragon
that came from the D&D Companion Set a

Continued on page 44

DRAGON Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is published

monthly by TSR, Inc., P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva WI
53147, United States of America. The postal address for
all materials from the United States and Canada except
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End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LD, United
Kingdom; telephone: (0223) 212517 (U.K.), 44-223212517 (international); telex: 818761; fax: (0223) 248066
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Distribution: DRAGON Magazine is available from
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in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Send
orders to: Random House, Inc., Order Entry Department,
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Subscriptions: Subscription rates via second-class
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Back issues: A limited quantity of back issues is
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Submissions: All material published in DRAGON
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by Skip Williams
If you have any questions on the games
produced by TSR, Inc., Sage Advice will
answer them. In the United States and
Canada, write to: Sage Advice, DRAGON
Magazine, P.O. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI
53147, U.S.A. In Europe, write to: Sage
Advice, DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120
Church End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge
CB1 3LD, United Kingdom.
Combat and melee in the AD&D 1st
Edition game make up this months topic,
with special advice on fighting hydras. All
references to the Dungeon Masters Guide
and Players Handbook in this article are to
the 1st Edition versions of those volumes.
In all cases, the information in the AD&D
2nd Edition volumes takes precedence
where there is a contradiction between
those rules and this column.
But first, a special word from the sage,
then one from the editor.
Why havent you answered my 27
letters, each with 57 questions on
my favorite game system? You said
you would reply if I sent an SASE
with each letter. Why dont you give
a seminar at the GEN CON game
fair? If I come to Lake Geneva, can I
meet you and ask you questions?
Although the Sage Advice in DRAGON
issue #121 said the sage would make personal replies, I receive so many letters that
I cannot answer every one. (However, if
you dont enclose an SASE, I cannot reply
at all.) Usually I reply only to letters that
have questions I can use in the column, so
that all the readers get the benefit of my
time. Needless to say, I dont give extended
private interviews in Lake Geneva or
anywhere else.
If you want to increase your chances of
getting a personal reply, do the following:
1. Look through your books for your
answers, and be sure to consult the indexes (if the books have them). Often, with
a little extra effort, youll find rules that
have eluded you.
2. Keep your letter short. Decide what
you really need to know, and stick to the
most important questions. As Ive stressed
before, role-playing games involve choices
and decisions; dont be afraid to make
some on your own.
3. Include the title of the book and the
page number that contains the rule you
are asking about; this saves me a lot of
page flipping.
My work with the RPGA Network
keeps me busy at almost every game con8 OCTOBER 1989

Illustration by Bob Giadrosich

vention I attend, and seminars are not the

best place to answer rules questions. Im
not an encyclopedia of game knowledge. I
rely on a big library and a large network
of personal contacts to find answers, and
few people would be entertained by
watching me flip through my books and
consult my files while I struggle with a
tricky question. Still, I do answer some
questions at conventions; just keep them
short, and dont interrupt me while Im
running a game. Also, some conventions I
attend collect written questions for me so
that I can use them in the column or work
on them during the show and discuss the
results with anyone who is interested.
Skip Williams
Why are you still running questions for the AD&D 1st Edition game
now that the AD&D 2nd Edition
game is on the market?
DRAGON Magazine will continue to use
material specifically for the AD&D 1st
Edition game simply because so many
people use that edition. The 2nd Edition
has only been out for six months, but the
1st Edition game has been available for
over a decade. (Remember, too, that material for one edition can usually be used
with the other with ease.) As time goes on,
we expect that more players will switch to
the 2nd Edition game, and our coverage of
that system will increase. We want to offer
the most useful material to the largest
number of gamers.
Roger E. Moore

What is the proper way to handle a

fight with a hydra? Does the creatures effective hit dice drop as it
loses heads? Will damage to the
creatures body kill it? How do areaeffect spells such as fireball effect
the heads? How does one determine
when a lernaean hydras regeneration ability is stopped?
Hydras do pose a few problems, especially when magic is involved. I suggest the
following rules for handling combat with a
hydra.
A hydras effective hit dice do not drop
as the creature loses heads. With respect
to melee, each of a hydras heads is treated
as a separate creature. Each head dies
when it reaches zero hit points, and excess
damage does not carry over to another
head. When all heads are reduced to zero
hit points, the creature dies immediately.
Hits to a hydras body will kill it; the body
has as many hit points as the total hit
points of its starting heads. When the
body is reduced to zero hit points, however, the creature continues to fight as
long as it has at least one living head. It
will then fight for an additional 2-8 rounds
or until the body is reduced to -20 hp.
A lernaean hydras regeneration ability
makes it a tougher nut to crack. The individual heads can be slain in the normal
manner; however, a fire source must be
applied to each slain head or it will regenerate. Burning hands is the easiest way to
scorch the stumps or sundered heads. A

torch, flask of oil,. or flame tongue sword

will stop a single heads regeneration if
applied in time. Any successful hit on the
slain head will stop regeneration. A lernaean hydra stays alive as long as it has
one living or regenerating head (hits to the
creatures body not withstanding).
When any hydra is affected by an area
spell such as fireball or lightning bolt, the
heads are treated as a single entities, with
the damage distributed as evenly as possible among the heads. Although the heads
are separate melee targets, they are still
part of the same creature. The creatures
body suffers as much damage as the heads
took in total (i.e., the hydra gets one saving
throw, but the heads and the body each
take damage).
Spells that can kill a creature outright
such as death spell, power word kill, or
disintegrate kill the creature only if it fails
its saving throw (if applicable). When
determining a hydras resistance to such
spells, its effective hit dice are equal to its
starting number of heads (or peak number, in the case of a lernaean hydra), and
its effective hit points are equal to the total
hit points of all the heads (damage to the
body notwithstanding).
A spell that affects one creature or a
limited area (such as magic missile or
burning hands) must be directed either at
the body or at one or more heads of the
hydra, according to the limitations of the
spell. Spells such as charm monster, hold
monster; or slow affect the entire creature, as the beast effectively has only one
brainperhaps at the base of the necks
inside the body.
What happens if a magic-user uses
a sword when in desperate need?
If a characters need is truly great, the
DM can allow any class of character to use
a weapon prohibited to his class. The
normal nonproficiency penalty applies
(perhaps with an additional - 1 to hit). If a
player falls into the habit of declaring his
characters in desperate need too often,
however, the DM should either disallow
the use of the prohibited weapon or give
the character no experience award for
completing the adventure.
What are the effects of blindness
and deafness on spell-casting?
Blinded creatures are unable to cast any
spell that requires a target, but spells that
can be cast on an area (such as fireball) or
delivered by touch (such as cure light
wounds) may still be used. Deafness can
cause spells with verbal components to be
miscast and fail. The failure chance is up
to you, but it shouldnt exceed 20% (less
for spells with short casting times). The
cleric spell holy word has a deafness effect
that causes spells to fail 50% of the time;
this is due mostly to the extreme power of
the holy word, not merely the deafness.
What is the significance of weapon
speed factors?

Weapon speed factors allow for comparison among weapons. The lower the speed
factor, the quicker the weapon. Their most
common use (and the only use mentioned
in the rules) is for breaking ties on initiative. When a tie occurs, compare weapon
speed factors; the lowest factor goes first.
However, on the first round of a melee,
when the opponents are closing, the
longer weapons have the advantage. The
advantage is also with mounted opponents
attacking or defending against unmounted
opponents and with characters who are
defending or attacking from above. Spellcasting time is equivalent to the weapon
speed factor. That is, a weapon with a
speed factor of 3 is as slow as a threesegment spell for purposes of tie breaking.
How do you use the weapon to-hit
adjustment tables in the Players
Handbook (page 38) and Unearthed
Arcana (page 27)? I dont understand
what they mean.
The tables list the bonus or penalty
given to a weapon against the basic armor
types. For example, the line for Axe, Hand
reads: -5, -4, -3, etc., for AC 0, AC 1,
AC 2, etc., respectively. Full plate armor
and shield gives AC 0, so a hand axe has a
-5 to hit vs. full plate armor and shield. If
the target were wearing full plate armor
+ 1 and using no shield, the adjustment is
still AC 0. However, full plate armor alone
is AC 1, so you use the AC 1 column regardless of magical bonuses, and the hand
axe has a -4 to hit. The same holds true
for dexterity bonuses. These tables are for
attacking humans, demi-humans, and
humanoidsnever for attacking monsters.
Use of the tables is strictly optional; they
were included in the game mainly to satisfy the real history buffs who know that
certain weapons were much more effective than others on the medieval battlefield.
What do the following weapons
look like: bardiche, spetum, voulge,
guisarme, halberd, and scimitar?
Some of the less-known weapons in the
AD&D game are pictured and described in
Unearthed Arcana, pages 123-128. The
weapons depicted on these pages include
everything on your list except the scimitar.
A scimitar is simply a curved broad sword
used by Arabs and Saracens. If youve
seen any movies depicting the Middle East
during the crusades, youve seen scimitars.
What is a morning star?
A morning star looks like a long, thin
club with spikes or flanges at the business
end. The morning star in the AD&D game
is similar to a mace but is longer and
heavier. Some books on weapons identify a
ball and chain as a morning star, but this
combination is considered to be a flail in
the AD&D game.
Why did Unearthed Arcana take
shields away from assassins? It

seems a high price to pay for the

option of having a good alignment.
Unearthed Arcana is in error. Assassins
may use shields but not during a melee
round in which the character is engaged
in the act of assassination. The alignment
expansion was not an error.
Can a character with a girdle of
giant strength throw a halberd?
When one of my players tried to do
this I allowed it, but with a big to-hit
penalty.
You were correct. Pole arms are not
intended to be thrown, no matter what
the throwers strength. Anything, however, can be thrown with some chance of
success. For throwing a pole arm, we
suggest a to-hit penalty of -4 at short
range (10 or less), -6 at medium range
(11-20), and -9 at long range (21-30). We
also suggest that you use these ranges
outdoors where other missiles have ranges
measured in yards. A pole arm is far too
long for a human-sized creature to throw
like a hand axe (so that the weapon spins
or tumbles), no matter how much strength
is available. Spear-type throws are possible, but hits can inflict damage only if the
pole arm that is thrown has a spear point.
Use spear damage (1-6) in this case, not
pole-arm damage.
What are the effects of total darkness on combat? When last faced
with this problem, I simply ruled
that everything within the darkness
was invisible, and I applied the -4
to-hit penalty.
You handled the situation correctly.
More information on the effects of darkness is given on page 32 of the Dun-

geoneers Survival Guide.

What does the space requirement

listed for each weapon mean?
The space requirement is exactly that:
the minimum space a character must have
in order to use a weapon. For example, a
fighter must be standing in a space at least
4 wide to use a battle axe. Space requirements are cumulative; therefore, two
fighters using battle axes side-by-side
would require 8 of space.
Can creatures with at-will abilities
use such abilities while attacking?
Can they use several abilities in the
same round, say one per segment?
Creatures that have at-will abilities may
use one such ability, once per round, in
addition to normal movement or attacks.
Can magic-users move during a
round when they cast spells?
A magic-user must remain stationary
only as long as the casting time of the
spell. After casting a spell, the mage can
move during the remainder of the round.
For example, a fireball takes three segments; therefore, the mage casting it could
DRAGON 9

have seven segments worth of movement

after casting the spell. See page 102 of the
Players Handbook for per-segment movement rates.
Is it possible for a character to
leave a melee without exposing his
back?
The DM might allow a character to back
out of a melee at half speed so that the
opponents free attack would be frontal.
Some campaigns allow a friendly character to cover for a retreating character so
that the extra attack is resolved normally
against the the character who is covering.
Can fighters with multiple attacks
attack more than one opponent per
round?
Yes; so can monsters and the members
of other character classes that get multiple
attacks.
How long does paralyzation last?
it permanent until cured? What
cures paralyzation? What is paralyzation, really?
In medical terms, paralyzation is the loss
of sensation in part of the body as the
victims brain, for one reason or another,
no longer controls the body. The uncontrolled muscles relax, and the victim goes
limp. Autonomic muscles, such as the
heart and lungs, are unaffected. Some
IS

10 OCTOBER 1989

kinds of paralysis in the AD&D game

(paralysis caused by ghouls and ghasts, for
example) cause the victim to become rigid
and immobile. In either case, paralysis
affects only the body, not the mind. The
victim can still think and use psionics or
any form of movement that does not require muscular effort. For example, if a
character becomes paralyzed while using
a fly spell, he can still fly until the spell
runs out.
Paralyzation is not permanent. It can last
anywhere from several rounds or turns to
as much as a day. It can be removed with a
remove paralysis spell (which removes
paralysis of all types) or by a cure disease,
neutralize poison, or dispel magic spell,
depending on what caused the paralysis.
Paralysis caused by undead creatures is
disease- or fear-based; paralysis caused by
living creatures is poison-based; paralysis
caused by a glyph of warding or the illusionist spell paralyzation is magic-based.
The AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium, Volume 1, lists the duration for
ghoul paralysis as 3-8 rounds and ghast
paralysis as 5-10 rounds. Paralysis caused
by more powerful creatures lasts longer;
lich paralysis, for example, lasts until
dispelled.
Can a character with a bastardsword proficiency also use long
swords and two-handed swords, or

does the character instead, require a

proficiency in both long and twohanded swords?
Each weapon on the weapons lists requires a separate proficiency Although a
bastard sword can be used one-handed
with the same effect as a long sword, its
larger size requires different handling.
Likewise, the bastard sword requires
different handling than the longer and
heavier two-handed sword. However, if a
character is proficient in bastard sword,
he may use that sword either way.
What is a bastard swords space
requirement and speed factor when
used one-handed?
The same as when it is used two-handed.
If a fighter is specialized (or double specialized) in a bastard sword,
does he get the specialization bonuses when using the sword twohanded and one-handed?
A bastard sword is primarily a twohanded weapon. For purposes of game
balance, it is best to limit specialization
bonuses to two-handed use (or let the
player choose).
When a character gains proficiency with a multipurpose weapon

Embrac

advanced as well: that gas spores were

developed in the Underearth and have
spread to other Illithid habitations, or that
beholders and gas spores were both developed by Illithids. This last is considered
unlikely.
Mold, brown. Brown mold is unaffected
by the reddish light of the suns under
which the Illithids live, and is common in
the warmer regions. The forms encountered there, however, do not drain heat
from living creatures (Illithids apparently
eliminate such varieties) and are often
used to cool Illithid towers in the hotter
part of the year.
Shrieker: The shriekers habits are eminently practical on Illithid homeworlds.
Any commotion is likely to attract a number of predators, so only the most formidable creatures attempt to graze on a
patch of shriekers.

Illithidae

Illustrations by Thomas Baxa

The Dragons
Bestiary
All life crawls where mind flayers rule
by Stephen Inniss
The homeworlds of the Illithids (mind
flayers) and the depths of the Earth most
thoroughly colonized by the Illithids, as
described by the sages in The Sunset
World, share a number of common features. There are three major classes of
creatures always associated with Illithid
activity: amorphs (jellies, oozes, trappers,
ropers, and company); fungi; and Illithidae
(alien beings of which the Illithids themselves are the most notable examples).
Some of these creatures are well known to
adventurers in the Underdark; others are
known only from areas fully colonized by
Illithids. Table 1 shows some life forms
typically associated with Illithid lairs.

Amorphs

Most of the amorphs are found in the

same regions of Illithid homeworlds as the
Illithids themselves, with the exception of
a few such as the dun pudding of the
Sunside deserts and the white pudding of
the Nightland glaciers. Their ranges seldom overlap. Of the intelligent amorphs,

12 OCTOBER 1989

most avoid and are avoided by Illithids.

Illithids do not prey on amorphs, which
seem to be unpalatable to them. Because
amorphs are so commonly distributed
across the known worlds, it is likely that
Illithids allow them to breed where found
or else transport them from world to
world for reasons unknown to others.

Fungi

Gas spore. Gas spores were apparently

developed as part of the Illithid defensive
array. Domestic forms, though mindless,
ignore Illithids but approach other life
forms. The resemblance to the beholder is
too close to be coincidental, particularly
since beholders are notorious allies of
Illithids in the Underearth. Despite this,
gas spores are found on Illithid homeworlds while beholders are not. Possibly
beholders have been eliminated from the
homeworlds by the Illithids because of
their potential for danger, or possibly the
Illithid worlds are simply too windy for
beholders. Other hypotheses have been

All of the Illithidae have four limbs with

four digits each if they are terrestrial; all
have tentacles arranged around a beaked
mouth in some multiple of four; all possess
both gills and lungs (though airbreathing
forms use the gills only during periods of
great exertion); and all have a tough skin
typically covered with a slime that is proof
against the glues of such amorphs as the
mimic and roper. All Illithidae have a
larval form that lives for a period inside
some other organism, typically a creature
killed by its parent.
Many of the Illithidae are equivalent to
mammals or reptiles of the surface world.
The cessirid resembles a wolf, for instance, while the saltor is much like a
monkey or baboon, and the kigrid fills the
role of a bear, pig, or hyena (the embrac is
most like some carnivorous plants). It is
possible to define other such equivalent
Illithidae by converting the statistics of
typical mammals, reptiles, or dinosaurs.
Armor classes are typically two or three
places better; hit dice are either quadrupled or increased by six (whichever is
less); and intelligences (for adult forms)
are increased by several points so that the
usual range is from low intelligence to
very intelligent. Alignments are typically
neutral or evil. These creatures generally
exhibit some degree of magic resistance,
and the more intelligent ones may have
psionic abilities, including disciplines appropriate to their modes of life. All are
predators at least on occasion. Attacks
include the effects of the feeding tentacles,
which may paralyze, kill, induce pain, or
possibly act as Illithid tentacles do. Skin
colors are typically some shade of purple,
red, black, or gray, or possibly white in
those forms that lurk near the icecaps and
glaciers.
On homeworlds, where light is dim at
best and sometimes absent, all of these
creatures are vulnerable to illumination
equal to normal sunlight. Light of intensity
equal to a light spell or brighter causes

Though they are willing at times to negotiate with other intelligent creatures, they
have little desire for anything but food
and reproduction. In general, they are
wily and treacherous. On occasion, if they
are not hungry, cessirids will harry and
torment prey for hours before killing it.
Rivalry between cessirid packs is sharp,
but. they will generally band together
against other creatures.
Reproduction is accomplished by depositing 1-3 larvae in the body of a victim.
The juveniles grow quickly and seem able
to prevent the decay of the corpse during
their development. Adults guard the larvae until the latter metamorphose. For
reasons not entirely clear, cessirids prefer
intelligent creatures for larval food.
Thanks to millenia of training and breeding, the dogs of the githyanki (kaoulgrim,
from Hounds of Space and Darkness, in
DRAGON issue # 117) and the cessirids
are fanatic enemies, and will fight one
another regardless of other constraints
(even magical charms). Szarkel, the dogs of
the githzerai (from the same article and
issue as kaoulgrim) will always avoid meetings with cessirids. Szarkel can detect the
approach of cessirids within one mile,
probably by detecting the use of the latters psionic talents.

Embrac

Saltors

them to strike at -1 to hit (if they are

capable of attacks and have eyes). Additionally, in full sunlight, they take 1 hp
damage per turn.
The frequency values given for the
following four Illithidae apply only to
Illithid homeworlds or subterranean lands.
These creatures are not encountered
elsewhere.
Note: A fraction of the Illithids whose
psionic strength is exceptional (5% chance
if the total is over 275) have other psionic
abilities in addition to the usual Illithid
powers (determine as if for a human
magic-user). There is a 20% chance that
such an individual will have 0-3 (1d4 - 1)
additional attack modes and 0-3 additional
defense modes.

Cessirid
FREQUENCY: Rare (common near Illithids)
NO. APPEARING: 1-20
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 18//15
HIT DICE: 8 + 16
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 bite
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-16
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poisonous bite,
psionics

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Psionics

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 5%
INTELLIGENCE: Average
14 OCTOBER 1989

ALIGNMENT: Lawful neutral (evil

tendencies)
SIZE: M (2 at shoulder)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 90

Attack/Defense Modes: B,E/F,G

Cessirids travel in packs. A cessirids

body is canine, with a large head, outsize
eyes, and a rending beak in place of teeth.
There are four short tentacles around the
mouth. Short spines jut from the back.
The skin is smooth, slimy, and pale gray in
color. The spaces between the toes are
webbed. Though small, cessirids are
shockingly powerful.
In combat, a cessirid leaps and bites at
its adversary, inflicting horrible damage
with its outer jaws. The tentacles around
the mouth cause a stinging and burning
sensation upon contact with flesh (save vs.
poison for each bite that hits; failure yields
a -3 penalty to armor class, saving
throws, and to-hit rolls) that lasts for 3-12
turns.
Cessirids may use the following psionic
disciplines at the 6th level of mastery:
body equilibrium, ESP and dimension
door They use these in the pursuit and
detection of prey, or to escape if attacked
by a superior force.
These creatures live in tightly knit
packs, working together silently and efficiently to bring down prey of any sort
(they can communicate with others of
their kind telepathically over distances of
up to 24 at no cost to psionic strength).

FREQUENCY: Uncommon (common near

Illithids)

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 3
HIT DICE: 11+22
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: C
NO. OF ATTACKS: 8
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8 each (tentacles)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Paralysis, constriction,
surprise on 1-3, psionics

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Psionics

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: L (10 body, 20 tentacles)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 80 + 1d20
Attack/Defense Modes: A/F
Embracs are solitary predators that lie in
wait for prey. They are slow and trouble
to move themselves only when the supply
of game in an area has been exhausted. An
embracs body is short, stocky, and rather
sacklike in shape. It has stout limbs that
are heavily clawed at the tips. These are
used to anchor the embrac while it wrestles with prey. The head is large and bears
a saw-edged beak. An embracs feeding
tentacles are as thick as a mans waist at
their base, and taper to three separate
points that serve as fingers. The tentacles
bear numerous spikes and hooks on their
undersides. The body color and pattern of
an embrac are variable: usually spots and
stripes in shades of black, gray, white, or

dull red that conceal the outlines of the

embrac. The skin is slimy and bears bony
plates just under the surface.
Embracs may employ the following
psionic disciplines at the 5th level of mastery: empathy, ESP invisibility, and mind
bar. They may also produce illusions that
are like a spectral force at the 5th level of
casting in all respects except that the
illusion has no potential to cause direct
damage. The cost of this latter psionic
discipline is two strength points per
round.
An embrac typically lies in wait, concealing itself as best it can (surprising prey on
a 1-3 on 1d6). At the approach of prey, it
may attempt to lure it with some illusion
that seems appropriate from an ESP scan.
Anything that comes within 20 is vulnerable to the embracs tentacles. The tentacles
inflict 2-8 hp damage on the first and each
following round of combat unless the
victim forgoes other activities and makes a
successful bend bars/lift gates roll. Those
held by an embrac strike at -2 to hit. In
addition to the constricting damage, the
spikes on the tentacles exude a poison that
causes paralysis for 2-12 turns unless a
saving throw vs. paralysis is successful.
Embracs are occasionally known to use
some of the few manufactured items that
their body forms allow, and they have
been known to stockpile precious goods
for use as bargaining tools. They generally
lair in caves or similar dwellings, and close
the entrances with boulders if they detect
formidable enemies. Embracs hold all
other life in low regard. They reproduce
in the same manner as cessirids. Like
cessirids, embracs are occasionally seen as
servitors among Illithid communities.

Kigrid

short neck, and broad head. It has sharp

claws, and there are four tough, spiky
tentacles around the broad, beaked
mouth. The skin is black and the eyes a
dull red. These beasts are cunning and
malicious, and generally unreliable.
In combat, a kigrid will strike with claws
and teeth. If the forepaws both score hits,
the rear claws may be used for additional
attacks. If the beak hits the opponent, a
saving throw vs. poison is necessary. A
failed saving throw means the poison
causes swelling and pain that lasts for 2-5
rounds (penalty of -2 to armor class,
saving throws, and rolls to hit).
Kigrids have the psionic disciplines of
ESP body equilibrium, levitation, and
invisibility They are perfect mimics and
often use sounds to deceive prey. Their
tentacles allow them a limited ability to
manipulate objects, and they may rig
simple traps.
Kigrids generally avoid one another
unless they are closely related; the more
powerful individuals generally regard the
less powerful as food. They reproduce in
the same manner as cessirids and embracs. On occasion, large kigrids are used
by Illithids as beasts of burden; how this is
accomplished without constant supervision is unknown.

Saltor
FREQUENCY: Rare (common in Illithid
areas)

NO. APPEARING: 10-40

ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 12@12 (argid) or 15@9 (jendrid)

HIT DICE: See Table 2

% IN LAIR: 50%
TREASURE TYPE: C in lair, M, L
NO. OF ATTACKS: 5 (four tentacles plus
bite or weapon)

DAMAGE/ATTACK: See Table 2

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Tentacles
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 40%
INTELLIGENCE: Low or average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S to M (see Table 2)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil or 130 + 2d20
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil or A/F,G
Saltors are akin to Illithids as baboons
are to men. A saltor somewhat resembles
a baboon in form, but it possesses four
tentacles about the mouth, three-fingered
hands that bear opposable thumbs, the
ability to stand upright, and slimy skin.
Saltors are of varying color (generally
white or black, but occasionally gray,
violet, or red), and of varying build and
size according to the needs of their Illithid
masters, though a few saltors live independently and determine their own tribal
characteristics. A saltors statistics vary
with size, as shown on Table 2.
Within each size class there are two
distinct physical forms. The more common
of the two is of typical baboonlike build:
the argid. The other sort, the jendrids, is
longer limbed (a foot taller than the statistics indicate for size). Argids and jendrids
are both agile climbers, but jenrids are
faster on the ground and slower in the
branches.
A saltor may attack with its tentacles
and bite, or it may attack with tentacles
and use a weapon. The tentacles have the

Kigrids

FREQUENCY: Rare (common in Illithid

areas)

NO. APPEARING: 1-3

ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 12//15
HIT DICE: 9+27
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: C
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 claws and 1 bite
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8/2-8/2-16
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Poisonous bite, psionics, rear claws for 2-12/2-12

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprised only on a 1

in 10, psionics

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 35%

INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: M (5 long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 90 + 2d20
Attack/Defense Modes: A,E/F,G,H
Kigrids may be found singly or in small
groups. They are always hungry and will
attack and eat any vulnerable creature. A
kigrid is a stocky, four-legged creature
with a short tail, powerfully built legs, a
DRAGON 15

Cessirids

Illithids do, by destroying the brains of

other creatures and planting their larvae
to grow in the empty skulls.
Wild populations of saltors are more
variable than those controlled by the
Illithids. The members of a group tend to
be of the same type, size, and color, but
these bands will include 1-4 exceptional
individuals if they are far removed from
an Illithid settlement. Exceptional saltors
have 1-3 of the following psionic disciplines, determined at random:
1d6
1
2
3
4
5
6

Discipline

Domination
Hypnosis
Dimension door
Dimension walk
Mind Bar
Astral projection

Wild saltors are generally found living in

primitive circumstances. Large settlements
or signs of sophisticated manufactures
attract the destructive attention of the
Illithids.
same effect as Illithid tentacles (q.v.), but
the time between implantation and death
is 2-5 rounds. A saltor makes tentacle
attacks at -3 against creatures whose
heads are more than 3 higher or lower
than its own and cannot use tentacle attacks at all against creatures whose heads
are more than 5 higher or lower. Saltors
use crude spears that do damage as per
the throwers bite (the variation is due to
size). Spears are typically used either
before melee or against opponents that
cannot be touched. Unarmed saltors may
throw rocks (range 1/2/3, short/
medium/long) for damage equal to the bite
minus 1 hp, at the rate of one rock per
round.

Saltors of low intelligence have no psionic abilities; those of average intelligence

have psionic power plus the disciplines of
levitation, ESP and body equilibrium, all at
the 5th level of mastery. Among populations controlled by Illithids, only the
smaller two sizes possess psionic power.
Saltors are bold if they outnumber their
opponents, and they are unswervingly
obedient when ordered by superiors.
Their actions are always orderly and well
coordinated. Though they may be bred for
almost any manual task and have diverse
talents, they are universally cruel, take
delight in tormenting and coercing lesser
creatures, and consider underlings to be
the greatest delicacy. They reproduce, as

Table 1
Monsters Associated With Illithids
Fungi
Ascomoid
Basidirond
Fungus, violet
Gas spore
Mold, brown
Mold, yellow
Obliviax
Phycomid
Shrieker
Ustilagor
Zygom

Amorphs
Gelatinous cube
Gray ooze
Lurker above
Mimic
Ochre jelly
Pudding, deadly
Roper
Scum creeper
Slithering tracker
Trapper
Crystal ooze
Mustard jelly
Table 2
Saltors Statistics
Hit dice
3+6
4+8
5+10
6+12
16 OCTOBER 1989

Damage
0/0/0/0/1-2
0/0/0/0/1-3
1/1/1/1/1-4
1/1/1/1/2-5

Size
S (2 tall)
S (3 tall)
S (4 tall)
M (5 tall)

Illithidae
Carrion crawler
Cessirid
Embrac
Illithid
Kigrid
Saltor

A game convention is the perfect

place to make new friends who
enjoy the same hobbies you do
whether you like boardgames,
role-playing games, miniature
wargames, or just shopping
around. If youve never attended
a game convention before, please
check out the Convention Calendar feature in this issue for the
game convention nearest you.
Take some of your own gaming
friends along, too and make it
an experience to remember.

DRAGON 17

Illustrations by Janet Aulisio

18 OCTOBER 1989

The Sunset World

In the realm of the mind flayers
by Stephen Inniss
From the opening address of the CXIXth annual meeting of the Imperial Association for the Advancement of Arts Magical, convened at the Koaadian Academy on Maskday in the moon of Galewake, in the
seventh year of the reign of Irion. The speaker: Academican Fourth M. Sungale, leader of the Ninth
Interplanar Expedition.
I am greatly honored to speak before so
august an assembly. Looking out among
you, I can see many who are my undoubted seniors in scholarship, learning,
and originality of thought, and many nobles distinguished in deeds and lineage. I
am humbly aware that my own achievements and station are less spectacular. Yet
because of the nature of our expedition, it
pleased the Council to choose one whose
knowledge is broad rather than deep, a
simple soul attracted as much to action as
to learning, and whose station is not so
high as to bind with duties. So it is that I
was selected as coordinator of our enterprise, and so it is that I now present you
with our findings.
Those of you who attended the Extraordinary Session of two years ago will recall
our mandate: to study all aspects of the
Illithidsvulgarly known as mind flayers
especially their nature, origin, and purpose. The reasons for this were twofold.
First, the findings of the late Academican
Kratanitkul, whose investigations of Underearth societies had uncovered an extensive and elaborate network of Illithid
activity. Second, the urgent command of
our Emperor Himself. This latter came
hard on the heels of rumors concerning
the lands beneath the Gray Hills and the
tragic but lucrative foray therein by the
Sixth Legion Elite, and it was accompanied
by a generous influx of funds.
It has long been known that Illithids are
foreign to our world. We therefore made
it one of our primary objectives to study
these creatures at their point of origin. We
will explain to you the processes we used
to gain them, and what we learned in the
enterprise, but suffice it to say that we
managed to contact certain elements
among the githzerai. The two individuals
who agreed to serve as our guides were
members of the Monzari, one of the rebel
Sporting Clans. After long negotiations,
they admitted that they knew the location
of the Illithid homeworld and agreed to
guide us there.
Our complement consisted of representatives from each of the major Disciplines;
two individuals most suited by training or
temperament to the rigors of research in
the field. We particularly sought Masters

and Academicans learned in herb and

beast lore, and in the ways of the Underearth. To these scholars and their assistants were added two mages skilled in
spells of combat and protection; 12 representatives of the Order of Celestial Wanderers; and a company of assorted hunters
and warriors under the leadership of Lord
Aragson. Our Monzari guides brought two
lean, doglike creatures they called szarkel.
The szarkel are imposing and graceful
beasts, but difficult to control; we found
them to be a great hindrance and nuisance. We will present you with a short
monograph on the breed and its affinities;
I recommend that you attend that meeting, for reasons that will become clear.
We discovered our destination to be an
alternate plane, surprisingly near our
own, yet in an unexplored direction. The
journey was uneventful save for some
interesting observations of the Astral
luminaries in that region.
The first sight of our destination was
less than encouraging. We arrived on a
rocky mound littered with ruins, and surrounded on all sides by a swamp of shattered and decaying trees and sooty black
grasses. We hurriedly pitched our tents
against a chill, damp breeze that brought a
rotting smell from the stagnant waters and
raised unpleasant sounds among the
standing stones and sparse, black vegetation of our hillock. The only warmth issued from the sullen fires of a swollen orb
half the size of our own Sun, perched a
fingers width above the horizon. We stumbled in the blurred shadows and diffuse
light, glancing upward now and then at
the half-familiar stars that twinkled in a
dark blue sky. A huge waxing moon, coppery in that half-light, stood somewhat
past its zenith. Fleshy-leaved bushes
writhed to avoid our touch, or grasped at
passing arms and legs. There was a shrill
keening, barely audible over the wind,
from somewhere high above. From the
darkness of the swamp came a bellowing
and thrashing sound.
As we were to learn, this inauspicious
site was, in fact, one of the safer and more
habitable regions, and in one of its less
objectionable seasons. The sun seldom
shifted far from its position, for which

reason we called our new home the Sunset World, though we were to learn that
its inhabitants know it as Ssirik Akuar.
Traveling sunward, the lands grow hotter and more arid until at last the explorer,
comes to eternal noon, where water boils
when it touches the parched earth. In the
opposite direction are the Nightlands,
capped and covered with ice as the coldest
regions of our own world. Between the
Sunlands and the Nightlands is twilit
habitable region: a ring, thickest at the
poles and thinnest at the equator, between
the glaciers and the salt flats that cover
opposite halves of the glove. A chill wind
blows from the Nightlands toward the
warmth and water flows likewise first in
frozen glaciers, then in chill fresh meltwater, and at last in tepid, briny rivers.
This flow of air and water never ceases or
changes in direction; the trees, bushes,
and the land itself are shaped by it.
The Sunset World is not without its
seasons, as we surmised from the broken
and uprooted trees in the swamps around
us. As seen from our encampment, the
sun dips a little below the horizon after
the hottest season and rises a little above
its usual position before the warm
weather, but the change of seasons is
caused by its variation in size. Over the
course of our stay, the sun shrank and the
wind chilled and weakened, only for the
sun to grow rapidly again to three times
the girth of our own Sun and the wind to
grow to a torrential gale for a brief hot
season. This entire cycle takes no more
than 20 of our weeks. Fogs and mists are
common near bodies of water, as the
changes in temperature are so sudden and
great. Seen from our campsite, the moon
rises as a thin crescent near the sun, waxing until it sets toward the Nightlands; this
occurs over a period of perhaps 10 of our
days, after which it appears again to repeat the performance some 10 days later.
The poorly drained land we first encountered is typical of the habitable belt.
Much of the region between the ice and
the salty deserts consists of swamps or
shallow lakes. Deep bodies of water and
mountains are rare. Water is most often
found in pools and seeps, and seldom in
waterfalls or rapids.
DRAGON 19

This description will illustrate why the

Illithids are found only in the underground regions of our world, where the
light is dim at best and the air is often
damp. Ssirik Akuars dim, red sun causes
them no more discomfort than torchlight
would, unlike the vigorous light of our
own daystar which would blind them and
burn their skins. The only element missing
from their subterranean haunts is the
everpresent wind of the Sunset World.
When we had camped and surveyed the
area, we began simple investigations of the
Sunset Worlds animal and plant life. What
we had expected to be a relatively simple
exercise proved to be most taxing and
hazardous, though rewarding enough in
an academic sense.
The plant life of Ssirik Akuar is black
rather than green; green plants do not
thrive in the available light. In the sunward regions, some of these plants are
gray or silver due to the hairy or waxy
surfaces that shed excess light and retain
moisture. In most regions, however, the
vegetation has the color of pitch. Some of
the larger trees and bushes are streamlined in the direction of the wind, having
oval-shaped trunks and sunward-pointing
branches. Others grow rapidly in periods
of greater heat and light, and occasionally
collapse under the impact of the strong
winds that follow. Still others avoid the

worst of the high wind by folding their

leaves or by moving about in search of
shelter. In general, the plant life of Ssirik
Akuar is more active than our own. To our
discomfort, we later discovered that these
plants may actively defend themselves
against animal life, or even attempt to trap
animals for food, either with viscous
leaves and simple water traps for small
creatures or with moving tendrils and
spiked branches or pits for larger creatures. Many of these plants protect themselves with secretions that make them
painful and often dangerous to touch.
Fungoid life is abundant on the Sunset
World and includes many motile forms.
Here we encountered a surprise. Many of
these lifeforms are sorts familiar to those
who travel the Underearth of our own
world. The significance of this at first
escaped us. Unfortunately, not all of our
researchers escaped the more aggressive
fungi.
No less surprising was Master Temriks
identification of an entire suite of animal
life already known to inhabit the Underearth: the amorphs, as she is pleased to
call them. These include the crop of boneless and shapeless creatures commonly
known as oozes, trappers, deadly puddings, ropers, jellies, mimics, lurkers, and
the like. These, like the fungi, proved to be
a hazard. Envision a surface world in

which trappers may masquerade as gravel

banks or sandy clearings, and where ropers may conceal themselves among the
stumps of the forests! Fortunately, these
creatures were not a significant menace to
our campsite itself once we posted guards.
The second and dominant form of animal life was more actively dangerous.
While these were less familiar to students
of the Underearth, they do indeed have
representatives in our own world. They
include the Illithids, of course, but more
surprisingly, they include the creature
known as the carrion crawler and possibly
some other less-known denizens of the
deep passages. Just as the dominant life
forms of our own world are of a common
plan, so too with the build of these creatures. There is an internal skeleton of
chitin rather than bone. The skin is thick
and generally covered with a protective
layer of mucus (though in the sunward
regions it may be rough and sharklike
instead). There are two eyes, and in addition to lungs, even the air-breathing forms
have gills (those that cannot breathe water
employ these during periods of extreme
exertion). Adults have four limbs with four
digits apiece.
Creatures of the Sunset World generally
go through a grublike larval stage in
which they have a variable number of
limbs; these larvae almost invariably grow

DRAGON 21

from eggs laid in corpses or masses of

rotten vegetation, though there are also
some more sophisticated adaptions as in
the case of the Illithid. The carrion
crawler is an example of a form which
never reaches the adult stage but reproduces in the larval stage. A distinctive
feature both in larval and adult forms is
the presence of tentacles around the
mouth in some multiple of four. These
serve as organs of touch, taste, and smell,
but their primary purpose is to capture
and manipulate food. To this end, the
tentacles may be provided with suckers,
blades, or hooks, or covered with poisons
that kill or subdue. The most advanced
forms carry special subunits that break off
and act independently by injecting poison
or burrowing into the victim. The mouth
consists of a complex collection of hard
parts protected by an external beak.
The dominant life forms are found in
great abundance on the land, and include
a number of batlike forms as well as amphibians. We had little occasion to venture
into the larger bodies of water, but the
purely aquatic forms we encountered (as
much like cuttlefish or squid as like fishes)
were of the same general plan as the terrestrial forms. Perhaps Ssirik Akuar also
holds the race known as the aboleth,
which shows a number of similarities to
Ssirik Akuar animal life despite notable
divergence. The pressure of time did not
allow us to explore the possibility.
The animals of Ssirik Akuar, particularly
those of the illithidlike body form, are
often sentient or semisentient. Many are
even resistant to magical or psionic attack
(the latter seems to be a side effect of the
former). Some of these creatures are even
psionically endowed.
These animals are capable of long periods of inactivity followed by periods of
furious motion as they encounter prey or
predators. Their reflexes are exceptionally
quick, and they are strong and difficult to
kill, as we discovered to our chagrin on
more than one occasion. All are voracious,
as life in the habitable zones can be rather
sparse. As a result, creatures of this world
eat large amounts in short periods of time,
as the flesh and vegetation of Ssirik Akuar
are prone to rapid decay even at low
temperatures. In spite of the scarcity of
food, some creatures of Ssirik Akuar grow
to exceptional size. As formidable as they
are in our own world, Illithids are unexceptional in their own.
Though there is some specialization,
most of the beasts of the Sunset World are
omnivores; palatable plants and subduable
animals are rare and not to be missed.
There are numerous large and small flying
forms which migrate back and forth over
the habitable crescent according to the
season and the creatures preferred clime.
Likewise; some of the landbound creatures are migratory. Other forms are
sessile and lie in wait for the migrants,
retreating to burrows if conditions be22 OCTOBER 1989

come too severe.

When our explorations of the Sunset
Worlds natural history were well underway, and we had achieved safety (though
not comfort) in our base camp on the
mound in the swamps, we began to fulfill
our primary purpose: an investigation of
the Illithids themselves. At first, we observed from a distance and investigated
the numerous ruins we found. Later, we
made cautious observations of isolated
individuals at closer range. By this means,
we gained a basic knowledge of the Illithid
and its habits. Eventually, we were able to
supplement this with information gained

from the corpses of two confirmed solitary individuals which were provided for
us through the efforts of Lord Aragson
and his men. All of this was time consuming; for security, we had located our camp
far from Illithid activity.
Prior to our expedition, knowledge of
Illithid anatomy was scanty. The typical
Illithid garment (both in our own world
and on Ssirik Akuar) is a robe that conceals all but hands, feet, and head. Illithid
bodies are rarely recovered for study, as
encounters with Illithids typically end in
the death of their opponents or the rapid
retreat of the Illithids. In those rare instances in which Illithids are defeated and
killed before they can retreat, the tendency of the flesh to putrefy quickly is an
additional barrier. Only a dedicated

scholar would be inclined to bring something so noisomely unpleasant home for

study, and often the body is in poor condition upon arrival,
The Illithid is much like other members
of the dominant form of animal life. The
skin is mauve over most of the body and
appears black in the light of Ssirik Akuar.
The iris and white of the eye are of the
same dead-white hue; in strong light, the
eye appears featureless, lacking any pupil.
However, in near-lightless conditions, a
vertical slit is visible. Close examination of
the light-adapted eye shows a series of
small pinholes where the pupil closes. This
accounts for stories that Illithids have no
pupil, since adventurers generally bear a
light source with them. It also vindicates
the illustrator of Gryriaks Bestiary, who
shows Illithids with narrow-slitted pupils.
Presumably, a part of the Illithid dislike for
light is the near blindness caused by the
pupils extreme adjustment.
As frequently reported, the touch of an
Illithid feeding tentacle is deadly. Contrary
to the usual accounts (doubtless based on
observations made in the heat of battle),
the Illithid does not attach its tentacle to
the victim and simply draw out the
brain. The process, as we have reconstructed it, is more complicated and a
great deal more plausible. On firm contact
between the Illithids tentacle and the
victims head, a specialized subunit of the
tentacle detaches and burrows inward.
Once firmly lodged in the flesh, it bores
through the skull with a drill-like structure and forms an extension that reaches
through the hole to touch the brain. Upon
contact with the victims brain, it disrupts
all functions, thus causing instant death.
The Illithid must direct this activity at
extremely close range (thus the common
perception that the Illithid tentacle remains attached). Apparently, the Illithid
sends telepathic instructions to the killing
unit. We discovered by inadvertent experiment that the burrowing halts if the Illithid is slain or driven away, and that the
burrowing unit then becomes inactive and
may be removed with a knife (although
there is a danger of infection).
The drawing forth of the brain of the
victim has (like most rumors) a basis in
fact. However, this follows the death of the
prey rather than preceding it; in addition,
it is a protracted procedure. When the
prey cannot resist and the process is not
likely to be interrupted, an Illithid places
its mouth in contact with the skull of the
victim at the point of the subunits entry
and removes a flap of skin. At this point,
some of the Illithids mouthparts function
as bone saws. They produce a hole about
half a handspan in width. The Illithid then
uses its complicated feeding apparatus to
remove and consume select portions of
the disabled brain.
It may seem that this is a rather involved
mode of nutrition, yielding a small return
for the effort and wasting a great deal of

potential food. Indeed, this is so. The

Illithids feeding apparatus is well-suited to
a wide range of other foods, including
ordinary flesh as well as certain seeds and
fungi. Illithids regularly eat a variety of
plants and animals, as was confirmed both
by observation of gathering expeditions
and from a catalog of the stomach contents of our two specimens. Though Illithids do seem to have a culinary
preference for the brain, and will select
that organ over any other, the primary
function of this most infamous habit is not
nutrition but reproduction!
Illithids are hermaphroditic and bear a
poorly developed larva from an opening at
a spot equivalent to the human solar
plexus. An Illithid carrying such a larva
will carefully remove the thinking parts of
the brain from some prey animal and
restore those parts which maintain the
body, carefully sealing off the blood supply
to the regions it has destroyed. The tiny
larva is then inserted into the skull cavity,
where it establishes a connection with the
nerves and blood vessels of the body. The
larvas control is sufficient to allow for
swallowing and digestion of food provided
by the adult. However, this is insufficient
to support the growing Illithid. The host
body gradually shrivels and atrophies as
the larva draws on its reserves. As the
larva grows, it fills its hosts skull cavity
and then loosens the connection between
the skull bones so that the larva may expand upward and outward. When the host
body is no longer useful, the larva metamorphoses and emerges as an Illithid of
adult form, perhaps one-half to onequarter of the normal size d&pending on
the size and type of host. Highly intelligent
hosts are preferred, presumably because
the skull can be expanded further and
possibly for subtler reasons associated
with the development of psionic powers.
In several cases, Illithids were observed
to carry out the initial series of operations
without placing a larva. The reasons for
this are unknown. Perhaps these were
failed attempts to complete the procedure,
or perhaps frequent practice is necessary
so that all will proceed smoothly when the
larva is ready.
We understand that the process of larva
placement is a reconstruction; in no case
did we observe the entire process. Our
find of a partially developed larva in the
dwelling of our second lone Illithid was
invaluable, as were the results of closer
investigations made at a later stage. While
it is not certain from our results on Ssirik
Akuar that Illithids can carry out the
entire cycle using human or humanlike
hosts, we strongly suspect so on the basis
of popular accounts and of hints dropped
by our githzerai guides. This has strong
implications for attempts at negotiation
with Illithids; overtures from creatures
that are regularly used in such a fashion
are not likely to be well received.
We observed a number of isolated and
24 OCTOBER 1989

peripheral individuals or groups living in

what one may suppose is the primitive
Illithid lifestyle. Like many of the Sunset
Worlds predatory creatures, Illithids must
locate scarce prey with a minimum of
effort. Their semimagical abilities serve
them well in this regard. The Illithid
chooses some safe burrow or cave and
projects itself astrally in search of food
while the body remains in a state requiring little nourishment. These explorations
require little energy and entail little risk.
When a source of food is located, the
Illithid returns to its body and goes forth
either alone or in company, depending on
the effort required to harvest or subdue
the food. An ability to pass over water and

mud unhindered and to levitate over difficult terrain allows the Illithid to take a
direct route that involves little wasted
energy and reduces exposure to possible
hazards. Often the prevailing winds are
employed in conjunction with levitation;
the Illithid will rise up and let itself be
carried downwind toward its destination.
This is typically done only at low altitudes
or in foggy weather because of the danger
of airborne predators.
When prey is encountered at close quarters, an Illithids ability to read and control
minds allows detection and capture of this
prey with a minimum of effort. If the
Illithids are in a group, they may coordinate their activities mentally, or use verbal

and visual clues with a prearranged plan if

the quarry is psionically aware. If mental
control fails, an Illithid may use a blast of
mental energy to kill or incapacitate its
prey. Determined opposition usually
causes the Illithid to retreat for the simple
and logical reason that a weakened Illithid
might not survive the journey home. An
Illithid in the savage state is no safer than
a human in our own swamps and jungles
would be (perhaps less so). This habit
(which appears to have been learned in
Illithid prehistory) might well be the explanation for the reported cowardice of
Illithids encountered in our own world,
where they are well known for fleeing any
encounter that begins to go against them.
However, such a hypothesis may be at
odds with what we later learned of the
hunting habits of civilized Illithids.
While solitary Illithids are widespread,
the majority of Illithids on the Sunset
World live in settlements of between 50
and 1,000 individuals. These settlements
generally consist of burrows and a cluster
of stone towers on the leeward side of a
hill. Entrances to the complexes are never
at ground level; they are only accessible
by air. This is presumably a precaution
against vermin and large predators, as
well as possible seasonal flooding. The
towers are of varying thickness and
height, and often have a cross section
determined by the prevailing winds.
Ranged about the central towers are the
orderly fields and pastures that provide
most of the settlements needs. Illithid
adults do not tend these; even junior members of the community merely supervise
the work of various enslaved creatures.
Illithids abhor manual labor in any but
the most refined form, and have reduced
even the amount of labor that their slave
species must perform through extensive
alterations of the plants, animals, and
fungi around them. Meat and draft animals and other servant forms are entirely
obedient and dependent, in some cases
requiring special dietary supplements that
only the Illithids have the skill to produce.
The various crops require little attention,
being largely self-regulating in form and
naturally resistant to invasion by weeds.
Even the towers themselves are grown
rather than constructed, being treelike
growths with stony skeletons. Many of the
Illithids creations serve multiple functions,
as in the case of the fungi that provide
light, absorb waste, and serve as carpet
and tapestry in Illithid dwellings. The most
notable of the Illithid slave species is a
creature that has a form similar to that of
a baboonthe most Illithidlike of Ssirik
Akuars inhabitants. Nowhere did we
observe human or humanlike slaves. Our
githzerai guides volunteered that the
Illithids of Ssirik Akuar have abandoned
such practices.
Illithids of full-adult status spend much
of their time in the hunt, in various political activities, in artistic and magical en-

deavors (including the shaping of new

types of creatures), and in long periods of
meditation. The late Master Ponder Greymantle made a particular study of the
hunting practices of the civilized Illithids
and followed several parties at a distance.
He found that the Illithids prefer intelligent life for such sport (if sport it is), and
may pass up larger and less-intelligent
creatures for those that present a greater
challenge. These are by no means idle
amusements; the Illithids who participate
risk serious injury or death. Despite this,
while the hunters may feed on choice
portions of the kill, they are seldom concerned to bring the remainder to their
settlements (even when the distance is
short). Their primary source of food is the
livestock and fields tended by their slaves
(and occasionally the slaves themselves).
Expeditions may reach far sunward or far
into the icy lands, though Illithids show
signs of discomfort in dry air or when the
temperature drops below freezing. The
Illithids usual mode of attack is a wellplanned ambush at highly favorable odds
for the Illithids. Pursuits of any length are
rare.
Illithid political activity is poorly understood even after our closest studies. Apparently, Illithid society is divided into
numerous tightly knit groups, all small and
all mutually opposed, although they may
be allied with other cliques for varying
lengths of time. It appears that members
of the same clique are often related to one
another. The typical Illithid embrace, an
interclasping of feeding tentacles, is seldom seen except with members of a
clique. The reasons for this embrace are
unknown, but it is probably that signals
are exchanged; the tentacles are highly
sensitive to taste and touch. Significantly,
each partner in such an embrace is at the
mercy of the other. This is the only known
gesture of faith among Illithids. Open
violence between cliques is rare and most
often occurs in the form of ambushes and
assassinations rather than full-scale batties. What body of law or custom regulates
these procedures and prevents a condition
of anarchy is unknown.
The third major Illithid activity is the
production of various artworks, books,
magical devices, and living creatures. This
is the only sort of labor that confers status. Most frequent is the production of
new animals, plants, or fungi through
selective breeding or wholesale modification The fields, stockpens, and slave quarters contain many more odd individuals
than might be expected naturally, and the
various domesticated forms vary greatly
from settlement to settlement, apparently
in response to local fashions or conditions.
Peculiarly, Illithids were seen in one instance to be breeding a new version of one
of the more formidable predators. This
would seem to indicate that there is some
yet undiscovered relationship between
Illithids and the creatures they hunt in the

wilderness.
While no Illithids were observed to cast
spells, they are highly skilled in the production of magical and psionic devices or
substances, particularly various potions
(this last accords well with reports from
our own world that Illithids frequently
keep several potions in their store of treasure). It seems that much of the special
equipment wielded by Illithids both here
and in the Sunset World is crafted by the
Illithids themselves.
Illithid art is seldom representational.
They seem to prefer abstract patterns of a
complex and angular sort, in colors that
are rather muddy to the human eye. Their
few depictions are generally of violent
scenes: hunts and conflicts between
Illithids. One particularly vivid mural
confirmed part of our story of Illithid
reproduction and provided an additional
bit of information: it would appear that
the ultimate triumph is to use other Illithids as food for ones larva.
Illithids produce numerous books and
scrolls, but we found those we examined
to be either entirely factual or completely
incomprehensible. If Illithids produce
fiction, this is not immediately evident.
Neither did we observe Illithids to erect
shrines or temples or spend any time in
worship; reports that they have no deities
are evidently correct. It is also notable that
Illithids seldom assemble in large groups
except under the most unusual circumstances. Only once during our stay did we
observe such an action.
Iliithid meditation remains a mystery to
us. We thought at first that astral projection took place during these sessions, but
careful measurements showed this not to
be the case. An Illithid engaged in astral
projection generally does so from a sealed
room, whereas meditation seemed to
occur in any sheltered spot. Perhaps the
missing worship of deities occurs during
these states, or perhaps these sessions are
merely a form of rest. Whatever the case,
this practice consumes a great deal of an
Illithids time.
We gathered much information from
peripheral observations, from the two
captures of which I have spoken, and from
a few daring forays into vacant Illithid
dwellings. Having mastered Ssirik Akuars
considerable natural hazards, and having
operated undetected at the fringe of Illithid civilization for some time, we began
the final phase of our work. Here Academican Kratanitkuls particular gifts came
to the forefront: his ability to mimic the
appearance of Illithids and their slave
species and even to counterfeit certain
Illithid abilities proved invaluable. These
abilities served him well in his investigations of Underearth societies. Academician
Kratanitkul and his assistants began a
period of extremely close observation.
In retrospect, we had grown somewhat
overconfident, perhaps pardonably so in
light of our prior successes. When our

guides became aware of our new plans,

they grew greatly agitated. The Monzari
had become increasingly distant and unhelpful over the course of our stay, but
when we refused to reconsider our
course, they withdrew entirely to their
tents and would say nothing further.
In the beginning, our operations were
highly successful. Assistant Master Toliklos
will be able to present you with four
books of Illithid manufacture that cast a
great deal of light on Illithid life, though
they raise more questions than they answer. Much of what I have told you concerning the Illithids was supplemented or
confirmed during this period. It was a
time of great hope and great interest; it
was, however, unfortunately brief as well.
What final error Academican Kratanitkul
made we will never know. I fear his end
was not a pleasant one.
Fortunately, we had some warning:
Academican Kratanitkul and his associates
were tardy, but this was small reason for
concern as the difficulties of travel on
Ssirik Akuar sometimes make for long
delays. More worrisome was the failure to
locate them through scrying spells, but
these often go awry when the subject is
within or beyond a large concentration of
creatures resistant to magic. Our guides
dogs, the szarkel, gave us our first clear
intimation of trouble.
It was the habit of the szarkel to run
about the camp unhindered. (This had
been cause for considerable friction between the githzerai and our own people
because of the intractability of the dogs.)
The creatures did so pow, but mostly at
the perimeter, running back and forth,
sniffing at the wind, and staring intently
into the distance. Their masters stood
rigidly at the entrance to their tents, as if
listening. Abruptly, both dogs and githzerai entered their dwellings. During this
time, the githzerai spoke not a word to
one another, and refused to acknowledge
our questions. When Lord Aragson would
wait no longer and followed the githzerai
in his desperation, he found their tents
empty. We never saw them again.
The assault was sudden. Lord Aragson
will give you the full account of it. It seems
that the Illithids were also overconfident.
While tragic, our losses were small in
proportion to the losses suffered by the
force that came against us. It is well that
we were prepared for a sudden departure, however. When the Illithids retreated from our unexpectedly strong
counterattack, we had time to make good
our escape before they could gather reinforcements. So far as we can determine,
we were neither pursued nor traced. Our
journey homeward was as uneventful as
our outward faring,
There is one matter I have left for the
last, and for a purpose. You will recall that
we were encamped on a ruin. There are
many such on Ssirik Akuar, most of them

Continued on page 65
DRAGON 25

Vampire
CLIMATE/TERRAIN:
FREQUENCY:
ORGANIZATION:
ACTIVITY CYCLE:
DIET:
INTELLIGENCE:
TREASURE:
ALIGNMENT:
NO. APPEARING:
ARMOR CLASS:
MOVEMENT:
HIT DICE:
THAC0:
NO. OF ATTACKS:
DAMAGE/ATTACK:
SPECIAL ATTACKS:
SPECIAL DEFENSES:
MAGIC RESISTANCE:
SIZE:
MORALE:
XP VALUE:
Western
Eastern

Any land
Rare
Solitary
Night
Special
Exceptional (15-16)
F
Chaotic evil
1-4

12, Fl 18 (C)
8+3
13

1
5-10

Energy drain
+ 1 or better magical weapon
to hit
See below
M (5-6)
Champion (16)
3,000
4,000

Of all the chaotic evil undead creatures that stalk the world, none
is more dreadful than the vampire. Moving silently through the
night, vampires prey upon the living without mercy or compassion. Unless deep underground, they must return to the coffins in
which they pass the daylight hours, and even in the former case
they must occasionally return to such to rest, for their power is renewed by contact with soil from their graves.
One aspect that makes the vampire far more fearful than many
of its undead kindred is its appearance. Unlike other undead creatures, the vampire can easily pass among normal men without
drawing attention to itself for, although its facial features are
sharp and feral, they do not seem inhuman. In many cases, a
vampires true nature is revealed only when it attacks.
There are ways in which a vampire may be detected by the
careful observer, however. Vampires cast no reflection in a glass;
cast no shadows, and move in complete silence.
Combat: When engaging in combat, vampires are savage and
fearsome opponents. They are physically very powerful, with a
Strength score of 18/76, receiving a bonus of +2 to hit and +4 to
damage. The crushing blows of a vampires attack are so fierce
that they inflict 5-10 points of damage.
The gaze of a vampire is one of its most powerful and dangerous weapons. Any person who allows the vampire to look into
his eyes will be affected as if by a charm person spell. Due to the
power of this enchantment, a -2 is applied to the victims saving
throw versus spell. In this manner, vampires are often able to pass
posted sentries and surprise their chosen victims.
Like all undead creatures, vampires exist in both the Positive
Material and Negative Material planes at the same time. Their
powerful negative essence allows them to drain two life energy
levels from anyone they strike. If the vampire is making use of
some form of weapon in the attack, it cannot employ this power.
Weapons of less than + 1 enchantment pass through vampires
without harming them in any way. Even if attacked with and
harmed by magical weapons, vampires regenerate 3 hit points per
round. If reduced to zero hit points, a vampire is not destroyed,
but is forced to assume gaseous form. Once in this state, it will attempt to flee and return to its coffin where, after eight hours of
rest, it regains its corporeal form. If the defeated vampire is un-

Illustrations by Clyde Caldwell and Jim Holloway

able to reach its coffin within 12 turns, however, its essence

breaks up and the creature is truly destroyed.
Sleep, charm, and hold spells do not affect vampires. Similarly,
they are unharmed by poisons and immune to paralysis. Spells
that are based on cold or electricity cause only half damage.
At will, vampires are able to disperse their bodies into clouds of
elemental vapor and assume gaseous form. In this state, they are
all but immune to attack and can escape from almost any confinement. In addition, vampires can shape change so as to take on the
form of a large bat (hence the flying movement rate given above).
Vampires can summon lesser creatures for aid. In a subterranean environment, they will typically call forth a swarm of 10100 rats or bats. In the case of the latter, these do not physically
attack but serve to confuse and obscure the vision of the vampires foes. In the wilderness, a vampire will normally call upon 318 wolves for assistance. In all cases, the summoned animals
arrive in 2-12 rounds.
At will, a vampire can use a spider climb ability and scale sheer
surfaces. Often, they will employ this power to gain access to
rooms on upper floors without alerting those on watch downstairs. This power also permits the vampire to seek refuge in
places which are all but beyond the reach of mortal men.
Despite the great powers which vampires obviously possess,
they are not without weaknesses of their own. The odor of strong
garlic repels them and they will not approach it. Further, they will
recoil from the face of a mirror or lawful good holy symbol if either of these is presented to them with courage and conviction. It
is important to understand, however, that this will not actually
harm the vampire in any way nor drive it off. Garlic will prevent
the creature from attacking or entering the area, while mirrors
and holy symbols force the vampire to find some means of removing the offending object before it can be bypassed. In most
cases, the vampire will seek to overcome these hazards with the
aid of its minions. For example, a charmed person might be called
upon to attack someone who is holding the vampire at bay with a
holy symbol. Another important point to keep in mind is that a
lawful good holy symbol will affect the vampire regardless of the
vampires original religious background. Vampires which are
splashed with a vial of holy water or struck with lawful good holy
symbols are burned by them, suffering 2-7 points of damage.
DRAGON 29

Vampire
Just as vampires can be kept at bay, so too can they be slain by
those who have the knowledge to do so. Any vampire which is
exposed to direct sunlight is instantly rendered powerless and, after one round, utterly annihilated. If the vampire can be immersed in running water, it loses one-third of its hit points each
round, until destroyed on the third round. Last, a vampire can be
killed by having a wooden stake driven through its heart. In this
case, however, the creature can be restored simply by removing
the stake if further measures are not taken to ensure the fate of the
vampire. In order for it to be completely destroyed, the vampires
head must be cut off and its mouth stuffed with holy wafers (or
their equivalent).
In addition to its aversion to items like garlic and holy symbols,
the vampire acts under many other limitations. One of the most
powerful of these is the creatures inability to enter a home without being first invited to do so by a resident of the dwelling. This
does not apply to public buildings and places of business which,
by their very nature, extend an invitation to all. Once a vampire has been invited to enter a residence, it may come and go
freely afterward. A common manner for obtaining permission to
enter a home is the use of the vampires gaze to charm a servant or
other inhabitant.
Any human or humanoid creature slain by the life energy drain
of a vampire is doomed to become a vampire himself. Thus, those
who would hunt these lords of the undead must be very careful
lest they find themselves condemned to a fate far worse than
death. The transformation takes place one day after the burial of
the creature. Those who are not actually buried, however, do not
become undead and it is thus traditional that the bodies of a vampires victims be burned or similarly destroyed. Once they become undead, the new vampire is under the complete control of
its killer. If that vampire is destroyed, the controlled undead are
freed from its power and become self-willed creatures.
In most cases, vampires do not lose the abilities and knowledge
which they had in life when they become undead. Thus, it is possible for a vampire to have the powers of, for example, a wizard,
thief, or even priest. In all cases, of course, the new vampire becomes chaotic evil.
Habitat/Society: Vampires live in areas of death and desolation
where they will not be reminded of the lives they have left behind.
Ruined castles or chapels and large cemeteries are popular lairs
for them, as are sites of great tragedies or battles. Vampires often
feel a strong attachment to specific areas with some morbid significance, like the grave of a suicide or the site of a murder.
When deciding on a course of action or planning a campaign,
vampires move very slowly and meticulously. It is not uncommon
for a vampire to undertake some scheme which may take decades
or even centuries to reach its conclusion. Because of the curse of immortality that has fallen upon them, they feel that time is always on
their side and will often defeat foes who might otherwise overcome
them; the vampire can simply go into hiding for a few decades until
the passing of the years brings down its enemies.
Vampires are normally solitary creatures. When they are found
in the company of others of their kind, the group will certainly
consist of a single vampire lord and a small group of vampires
which it has created to do its bidding. In this way, the vampire can
exert its power over a greater range without running the risk of
exposing itself to attack by would-be heroes.
In general, vampires feel only contempt for the world and its
inhabitants. Denied the pleasures of a true life, they have become
dark and twisted creatures bent on revenge and terror. When a
vampire creates another of its kind, it considers the new creature
a mere tool. The minion will be sent on missions which the vampire feels may be too dangerous or unimportant for its personal
30 OCTOBER 1989

attention. If the need arises, these pawns will gladly be sacrificed

to protect or further the ends of their master.
Ecology: The vampire has no place in the world of living creatures. It is a thing of darkness that exists only to bring about evil
and chaos. Almost without exception, the vampire is feared and
hated by those who dwell in the regions in which it chooses to
make its home. The vampires unnatural presence is all-pervasive
and will cause dogs and similar animals to raise a cry of alarm at
the presence of the creature.
Vampires sustain themselves by draining the life force from living creatures. Unless they have a specific need to create additional
minions, however, they are careful to avoid killing those they attack. In cases where the death of a victim is desired, the vampire
will take care to see that the body is destroyed and thus will not
rise as an undead.
Eastern Vampires:
This breed of vampire is, if anything, even more frightful than its
western cousin. Although they share many of the western vampires strengths and weaknesses, they have the ability to fade
from sight at will. Once they have become invisible, they receive
all of the normal bonuses which such a state normally bestows,
including being attacked at -4. These monsters are unable to
charm their victims, however, and cannot assume gaseous form
at will as western vampires can.

The Well-Rounded
Monster Hunter
Investigators skills in the CALL OF CTHULHU game
1989 by Dean Shomshak

32 OCTOBER 1989

Chaosiums CALL OF CTHULHU rules provide a wide range of

skills for Investigators, but many more skills are possible that could
broaden the knowledge of player characters. For the benefit of Investigators and Keepers alike, some new skills for this game follow,
as well as some thoughts on modifying skill rolls to reflect special
circumstances.
A special note is needed concerning specialty skills. A skill called
Egyptology has appeared in CALL OF CTHULHU modules from
Chaosium. While this skill is obviously a specialized form of Archeology, no explanation is given as to the relationship of Egyptology
and Archeology in terms of game mechanics. I have attempted to
remedy this with rules that define specialized versions of a wide
range of skills.

experience at any sort of mechanical repair. A specialist can therefore use a specialty skill for nonspecialized tasksbut
not very well. An Egyptologist who hasnt
actually spent points on Archeology skill,
for example, could try identifying a nonEgyptian artifact using his Egyptology skill
but at a greatly reduced chance of success
(say, at x 25%). Of course, a character
could buy both Egyptology and Archeology, but this would be rather wasteful.
Specialty skills cost just as many points as
regular skills, and there are no cost savings for buying multiple specialties. Certain specialty skills are meant for
non-player characters, who dont need to
be as versatile as Investigators.

Modifying skill rolls

New Investigator skills

Not all tasks that require skill rolls are

equally difficult. For instance, its possible
to use the Anthropology skill for both the
relatively easy task of identifying someone
as an ethnic Korean and the more difficult
problem of identifying a member of the
obscure Ahapi tribe. Similarly, picking a
cheaply produced padlock and a custombuilt Swiss trick lock are both Locksmithing feats, but one is obviously more
difficult than the other. Situations like
these occur with new skills as well as with
the old. A Keeper can handle them in one
of three ways.
One way is to ask for multiple skill rolls,
which is logical if a task is unusually difficult because of length or complexity. This
has the net effect of multiplying the skill
percentage by itself one or more times.
With two skill rolls, for example, someone
with a 50% skill rating has a 25% chance
of success, a 70% rating has a 49% chance,
and 90% has an 81% chance. Probabilities
for other base ratings and numbers of
rolls are easily worked out with a pocket
calculator.
The simplest method of adjusting skill
rolls is to reduce the chance of success by
some fixed amount. The Swiss lock, for
example, might carry an automatic -30%
modifier on any attempt to pick it. Modifiers like this will be familiar to players of
many other role-playing systems.
Finally, the Keeper can reduce the
chance of success by some fixed proportion by multiplying the characters chance
of success by some percentage. The CALL
OF CTHULHU rules already have the
impaling roll for melee and the analogous
special roll for skills, set at one-fifth the
characters normal chance of success. The
skill descriptions in the rulebook also refer
to situations in which characters have only
one-half of their normal chance of success.
Other percentages, such as four-fifths
(80%), three-fifths (60%) or one-third
(33%), could be used to reflect various
levels of difficulty. A calculator is necessary to use this method comfortably.
All three methods have their advantages
and disadvantages. Multiple rolls favor
characters with very high skill ratings.
Multiplying by a fraction slightly favors

less-skilled characters (they didnt have a

great chance of success originally, so they
arent losing much). Both methods leave at
least a small chance of success for lessskillful characters. In contrast, subtraction
modifiers essentially rule that characters
with skill ratings below a certain percentage have no chance at all. I use all three
methods, depending on which I think is
appropriate at the time. Note that modifying a roll to show a task as unusually easy
can only be done by adding to the base
chance or multiplying it by some amount
greater than 100%. Perhaps that tacky
padlock gives + 15% or x 120% to a lockpickers skill.

Specialty skills

A character may be an expert in a single

facet of a skill, or he might apply a skill to
just one field. The aforementioned Egyptology, for instance, is Archeology limited
to the cultures of ancient Egypt. Analogous specialized forms of Archeology can
be defined for other areas of the world:
Assyriology (Mesopotamian cultures),
Classical Archeology (Greece and Rome),
Pre-Columbian Archeology (the New
World), and so on.
Skills can have specialized forms. For
example, an Anthropology specialist would
be knowlegeable about the cultures of just
one region of the modern world. Instead
of general Mechanical Repair, a character
might specialize in auto repair, gunsmithing, or setting traps. Paleontology could be
a specialized version of either geology or
zoology. The only limit here is the Keepers
judgment in determining what constitutes
a meaningful specialty. For instance, although Paleontology would be a useful
division of geology in the game, crystallography (the study of crystal shapes) or
petrology (the study of rock composition,
structure, and origins) probably would
not. The first is too limited a part of geology, and the second is not versatile enough
to be useful in the game.
Naturally, a character with a specialty
skill is not totally ignorant of everything
else in the parent skill; a master auto
repairman, for instance, may never have
fixed clocks or refrigerators, but he would
probably do better than someone with no

Fine Arts Knowledge: This measures

a characters detailed knowledge of the
history, techniques, and styles of the fine
arts (painting, sculpture, music, architecture, literature, etc.). This skill can be
taken more than once, since the full skill
rating is only for one art form; e.g., a
comprehensive knowledge of music does
not give any greater skill at analyzing
architecture. In some cases, the Keeper
may relax this separation. A scholar of
music might have knowledge of opera;
since an opera contains both words and
music, someone skilled at either art form
could study an opera to learn who the
unnamed author was, his mental state,
what is obliquely referred to in the third
act, and so on.
The most common application of this
skill is in evaluating Mythos-related works
of fine art, both ancient and modern. A
character with Fine Art Knowledge could
discover where and when an artifact or
poem was created, what it symbolizes, the
sophistication of the artists culture, or
even if the item is of no Earthly style.
Fine Art Knowledge is thus related to
Archeology and Anthropology, and in
some circumstances could substitute for
them with a reduced chance of success.
Keepers should remember that Fine Art
Knowledge uses elements of an aesthetic
as well as a technical perspective.
Cryptography: This skill measures the
ability to create and break ciphers that
conceal messages. This does not include
codes, which are based on the arbitrary
use of one word to mean another word or
phrase; e.g., using ham to mean arms
shipment. Codes can be invented by anyone and are virtually unbreakable, but
they have several disadvantages. Codes
take a long time to construct, since so
many substitutions are necessary. A need
might arise for a word for which no code
equivalent has been defined. Both sender
and receiver must have code books giving
the substitutions, and these books can be
lost or stolen.
Ciphers, the true subject of cryptography, hide messages by rearranging or
substituting words or characters according to a master plan understood by sender
DRAGON 33

and receiver. Thus, instead of several

thousand code-words, sender and receiver
only have to remember the plana much
easier task. A simple example of a cipher is
a sentence in which each letter is replaced
by the one preceding it in the alphabet (a
is replaced by z), and the result is then
written in reverse. In such a cipher,
Cthulhu rises becomes Rdrhq tgktgsb.
The message is decoded by reversing the
letters, then replacing each letter with the
character that follows it in the alphabet.
Although ciphers are easier to use than
codes, their disadvantage is that what
human ingenuity can hide, human ingenuity can locate.
The initial rating for Cryptography is
INT%, because nearly everyone in the
Western world has been exposed to ciphers at some time during their childhood.
Anyone can produce an extremely simple
cipher, but such ciphers can be broken by
successive Idea and Know rolls, or by a
Cryptography roll at double the chance of
success. Producing a difficult cipher requires a Cryptography roll at a doublenormal chance of success; its easier to
make ciphers than to break them. Such a
cipher takes a normal Cryptography roll to
solve. If the cipher-makers roll failed, the
cipher contains a flaw. This flaw would
introduce an equal chance of making the
cipher impossible to solve or making it
very easy to solve, using Idea and Know,
or Cryptography x 2.
A cipher can be designed to be difficult
to crack, imposing a modifier on the Cryptography roll needed to solve it, by apply
ing the same modifier to the creators skill.
Someone with 40% Cryptography skill
who is trying to make a - 15% cipher thus
has a (40% - 15% =) 25% chance of success. The Keeper may still allow double
the normal chance of success when creating ciphers. (Multiple rolls dont work well
here.) If the creators roll fails, the desired
modifier is lost (but he wont know it).
Cracking a cipher or determining that it
is beyond ones abilities normally takes
several days (Keepers discretion on exact
number). Exceptionally easy ciphers take
less than a day to solve, down to a few
minutes for someone with a Cryptography
rating of 50% or more. Once a cipher is
broken, of course, all messages in it are
easily understood.
Drafting: This measures a characters
skill at producing useful, realistic drawings, whether of machine parts or landscapes. It includes perspective drawings.
Simple tools like a compass and ruler are
useful but not necessary. Drafting concentrates on static form and outline. Subtly
curved surfaces, textures, and suggestions
of life and motion are more in the province of Painting (q.v.).
Impersonation: This skill enables one
to convincingly masquerade as someone
else. This is not merely playing a character
on stage; it can be used whenever an
Investigator wants to hide his true identity, emotions, or intentions. Imperson34 OCTOBER 1986

ation is invaluable when attempting to

infiltrate a select organization or gain an
enemys trust. This can be dangerous,
especially when criminals or cultists are
involved.
Impersonating someone from another
culture well enough to fool someone familiar with that culture requires a successful
Anthropology roll as well as an Impersonation roll. This can be avoided by intensive
coaching from someone familiar with the
culture in question (who makes the appropriate roll instead). This process takes
many days, and ad-libbing is impossible.
Impersonating someone who speaks a
different language may require a Speak
Language roil; impersonating an electrical
engineer might require an Electrical Repair roll; and so on. In some cases, these
extra rolls might be modified in the characters favor; in the latter case, for instance, the character may only have to
talk like an electrical engineer, which is
easier than actually rewiring a circuit
board. The character might be given double the normal chance of success of the
Electrical Repair roll if talking is all thats
required.
This skill may also enable one character
to see through deception by others. Even
if a performance is good enough to fool a
layman, (i.e., the deceiver made his Impersonation roll), it might not be good enough
to fool a fellow professional (defined as a
character with an Impersonation skill of
50% or more). In this case, a resistance
roll can be used. The would-be deceiver
would add his Impersonation percentage
to 50%, and the target would subtract his
skill from that total to determine the
chance that he was really fooled. Someone
with high Psychology skill might be allowed a similar roll.
Some impersonations can be carried out
purely through voice, posture, and acting
ability. Others may require makeup, special clothing, or accessories like wigs and
false noses. Lack of such disguise elements
need not destroy any chance at impersonation, but Keepers will probably want to
impose negative modifiers or require the
character to attempt a Fast Talk roll.
Mathematics: This skill has little in
common with Accounting. Mathematics is
a science and also a branch of logic. It
deals with abstract quantities manipulated
according to equally abstract rules in such
a way that unknown quantities or information can be derived from known ones.
Branches of mathematics include geometry, algebra, calculus, number theory,
group theory, and mathematical logic.
Higher skill ratings indicate more penetrating knowledge of mathematical principles and more ability to solve mathematical problems. Although rulers, protractors, or more sophisticated instruments may be needed to collect data for a
problem, the actual mathematical work
usually requires nothing more than lots of
paper, a pencil, and maybe a slide rule (or
a calculator for modern-day campaigns) to

speed calculations.
Mathematics is occasionally useful in
investigations because so much of Mythos
magic and lore involves bizarre geometry.
While neither Mathematics nor any other
skill is sufficient to let an Investigator
learn a Mythos spell, it could make the
learning easier in some cases. For instance, a character trying to learn the
highly mathematical Gate spell from a
tome might be given a + 1 on the tomes
spell multiplier if he successfully makes a
Mathematics roll. Mathematics might
reveal that wall markings or a mosaic
design symbolize strange multidimensional
or non-Euclidean structures and relationships, providing a warning to Investigators. Finally, at the Keepers option, a
successful Mathematics roll may give an
Investigator a bonus on another skill roll,
such as Astronomy, Physics (see
Chaosiums Cthulhu Now supplement), or
Cryptography.
Painting: This skill allows a character
to produce pictures by applying paint,
charcoal, crayons, etc. to a flat surface
such as a canvas. Success at a Painting roll
means production of a fairly accurate
representation of what the artist was
trying to show. Although one can represent abstractions such as emotions or the
Decline of the West through painting, in
game contexts this skill will be more often
used to create pictures of landscapes,
creatures, and artifacts. Memory fades
with time, after all, and not all things
encountered in a Mythos investigation can
be photographed. Whether anyone else
will believe the paintings are of real things
and not, the product of a disordered
imagination is another matter.
Philosophy: A character using this
skill can argue, more or less intelligently,
in the four main branches of philosophy:
metaphysics (dealing with the ultimate
nature of reality), epistemology (the nature
and limits of knowledge), logic (the study
and practice of valid reasoning), and ethics
(the study of good and evil). Such a character will also be familiar with philosophical
trends of the past and present. Using this
skill, a character may guess at the beliefs
of another person after several minutes of
subtle questioning, assuming that the
subject either doesnt know or doesnt care
that the questioner is trying to learn something. This skill can also be used to disguise true beliefs, somewhat like
Impersonation (q.v.). Philosophy can thus
be used to gain the confidence of cultists,
politicians, and other sinister folk, since
people are more likely to trust those
whom they think agree with them.
Finally, Philosophy can be used to increase SAN, although this is less effective
and more dangerous than Psychoanalysis.
In each week of intensive philosophical
analysis, or month of less intensive analysis, the philosopher-analyst makes a skill
roll and the subject makes an Idea roll. If
both succeed, the subject gains 1 point of
SAN and may roll for an increase in his

own Philosophy skill. If the analyst makes

a special roll, the SAN increase is 1D4
pointsa breakthrough. If the analyst fails
his roll, however, the subject is confused
and disillusioned, losing 1D2 SAN. If the
subject fails the Idea roll, no SAN is gained
or lost. Like psychoanalysis, philosophical
analysis cannot raise a subjects SAN
higher than his Luck roll. It can, however,
be practiced on oneself. This is one reason
why sages (master philosophers all) have
such high POW and SAN: Through years
of continual self-analysis, they raise their
SAN to the limit set by their Luck, then
trade in SAN for POW, thus raising their
Luck rolls and increasing SAN.
Play Instrument: This skill is analogous to Sing; the higher the rating, the
better the performance. The character is
also able to play more difficult musical
works. Some spells may call for musical
accompaniment, making a Play Instrument
roll necessary. Note that characters must
specify which instrument they are proficient with, and each distinctly different
instrumental skill must be bought separately. If two instruments are very similar,
however, such as violin and viola, skill
with one instrument should certainly
carry over to the other.
Sculpture: This measures the ability to
make three-dimensional images in clay,
stone, wood, or other media. If a Sculpture roll succeeds, the character has accurately, recognizably portrayed the subject.
Like Painting (q.v.), this skill measures only
technique; artistic vision is beyond
quantification.
New Skills for Investigators
Skill
Fine Art Knowledge
Cryptography
Drafting
Impersonation
Mathematics
Painting
Philosophy
Play Instrument
Sculpture
Any specialty

Base
05%
INT%
05%
10%
00%
05%
05%
00%
05%
As original

Sage

Continued from page 10

(such as a kusari-gama in Oriental

Adventures), does the character
automatically gain proficiency with
the weapons that correspond with
each function (in this case, with
chain and kama)?
The situation is analogous to that of the
bastard sword described previously.
Knowledge of the combination weapon
does not necessarily allow use of its component weapons. The techniques required
to use each of the weapons you mentioned
are different. The governing principle in
both of these cases is the no-free-lunch
rule: You cant get two or more proficiencies for the price of one simply by selecting a multipurpose weapon.
When do charging characters attack? What are the effects of a
charge?
Charging monsters or characters may
attack normally at the end of their charge;
exactly when depends on the reach of the
weapons being used (longer weapons attack
first). The charge movement, initiative, and
affects chance to hit. See the DMG, page 66,
for more details on charging.
How do high dexterity scores or a
short sword of quickness affect
initiative?
High dexterity never affects initiative; it
affects only surprise. A short sword of
quickness allows the wielder to attack
first. This is not the same has having the
initiative; a thief-acrobat (for example)
cannot automatically evade each round
simply because he has a short sword of
quickness. He must win the die roll before
he can evade.
Can missile weapons, other than
hurled melee weapons, he used in
melee?
No, missiles cannot be fired or hurled
when the firing character is in melee. Furthermore, bows and arrows are not melee
weapons and cannot normally be used in
hand-to-hand combat. A bow or crossbow
could, however, be used for pummeling
(see Unearthed Arcana, page 107).
Can a character fire a missile into
a melee without hitting friendly
characters? If not, what is the
chance of hitting an ally?
This depends on the situation. When
firing into a melee, use the following
procedure:
The character firing the missile declares
which creature he is targeting. (Any of the
characters allies who are fighting with the
target creatures are potential targets for
the missile.) Randomly determine which
target will actually be in the path of the
missile. If the figures in the melee are
about the same size (e.g., human vs. human, elf vs. dwarf), there is an equal
chance that either the enemy or an ally

36 OCTOBER 1989

could be the missiles actual target. If the

die roll indicates that an ally will be the
actual target and there are multiple allies
fighting the intended target, randomly
determine which ally is the actual target.
Roll the to-hit number. If the appropriate
number for the targets armor class is
rolled, then the target is hit whether or
not the character firing the missile wanted
to hit that target. If the creatures in the
melee are of different sizes, the larger
creatures are more likely to be hit. I suggest a two-thirds chance (1-4 on 1d61 to hit
the larger target when the height difference is 2-3 (ignore height differences of
less than 2). If the height difference is
more than 3, allow the missile to hit the
larger target automatically if the firer
wishes; otherwise, the chance to hit the
larger target is 5 in 6.
Many campaigns exempt the magic
missiles spell from this rule. Magic missiles
are assumed to unerringly strike their
targets.
Is it possible to use an object for
nonlethal combat? How much damage would a chair or bar stool do?
Yes, you can use odd objects for nonlethal
combat. The amount of damage such objects
can do depends on their hardness and mass.
See Unearthed Arcana, page 107.
How far can objects be tossed or
thrown?
The maximum range for any tossed
object is 5 (a stone) or 3 (a flask of oil or
a vial of holy water), as long as the object
is reasonably compact. Large, bulky objects have a maximum range of 2 or less,
depending on the situation.
How do you handle gaze attacks?
A creature with a gaze weapon may use
it on one opponent per round in addition
to any physical attacks. If the creature is
unintelligent, this will be a random opponent. Intelligent creatures may pick their
victims. Any opponent who can see the
creature can be subject to the attack. The
opponent who is subjected to the gaze
attack must save vs. petrification. Some
campaigns allow opponents to avert their
eyes and become immune to the gaze
attack, but such opponents attack and
defend at a -4 penalty, and the decision
to avert the eyes must be made prior to
both the initiative roll and anyone knowing where the gaze will be directed. Some
DMs may rule that if an entire party is
surprised, all must save against the gaze
during the first surprise segment of the
encounter (several party members could
accidentally meet the creatures gaze during the confusion of the surprise segment).
I seem to recall some rule about a
penalty when a character makes
more than one attack in a round. Is
there such a rule?
We can refer to page 70 of the DMG for
this answer. The reference states that a

DRAGON

37

character may use a second weapon instead of a shield, provided that the second
weapon is a dagger or hand axe. Otherwise, there is no penalty for multiple
attacks.

round as he turns undead, although he

defends normally and may be able to
move (DMs option).

Will unholy water harm a paladin?

Yes. It is created by an evil ritual and is
harmful to paladins and good creatures of
extraplanar origin such as devas and solars.

The monk ability quivering palm

does not work on creatures that are
struck only by magical weapons.
Looking at the DMG, I see that creatures that are themselves immune
to normal weapons can hit other
creatures that are immune to normal weapons. Does the reverse hold
true? That is to say, are those creatures that can hit creatures immune
to normal weapons immune to normal weapons themselves? Specifically, are high-level barbarians
immune to normal weapons and
quivering palm?
The barbarians ability to hit those creatures that are normally hit only by magic
weapons does not protect him from nonmagical weapons or a monks quivering

Can a cleric turn undead, then

attack, run away, or cast a spell in
the same round? Or does he stand
there for a whole round, give up
shield and dexterity adjustments to
armor class, and hope that the turning works?
Turning undead is a separate activity. A
cleric who turns undead may not fire
missiles, melee, or cast spells in the same

Can a torch be used as a weapon?

How far can a torch be thrown?
There are some instances when it is
desirable to use a torch as a secondary weapon; is this allowed?
Torches can be used as primary weapons; treat them as clubs for all purposes
even when throwing and inflicting
damage, assuming that the torch is lit and

Is there any way to prevent a vorpal weapon from severing the neck
if the attack roll is high enough?
No. However, the DM might choose to
introduce some kind of protective magic
that would do this. Note the limitations
given on page 166 of the DMG. The DM
might choose to introduce some additional
limitations; for example, it would be impossible for a human to sever a cloud
giants neck unless the giant was bent over
or the human was flying or levitating.

38 OCTOBER 1989

palm.

the target is not immune to fire. A torch

may be used as a secondary weapon if the
DM thinks the situation warrants it. Apply
the Attacks With Two Weapons rule on
page 70 of the DMG. If players attempt to
abuse the privilege, the DM might have a
character set fire to himself or his equipment. Have the torch either save vs. normal blow as thin wood, or break. The fire
has a 10% chance of going out per blow.
How long does it take to draw a
weapon?
Any weapon can be drawn in one segment (this effectively adds one segment to
the weapons speed factor). Common
sense, however, dictates that a character
who draws a weapon during a melee will
lose initiative to a character who has already drawn his weapon, unless the character with the drawn weapon must use
the segment that is required for the draw
in order to close to melee range. Note that
sheathing a weapon takes a bit longer;
changing weapons carefully takes a full
round (see Oriental Adventures, page 54).
How come a low-level character
gets only one attack per round? A
one-minute melee round certainly
allows time for several attacks, especially if the character uses a light
weapon such as a dagger.
A single melee attack in the AD&D game

assumes the exchange of several blows.

The players single attack roll represents
the result of a series of attacks by the
character, not just a Single blow. See the
DMG, page 61, for more details. High-level
characters who are allowed multiple attacks do not actually strike more blows;
their greater experience merely allows
them to strike a larger percentage of telling blows.

ment, and use the rules on page 107 of

Unearthed Arcana. The sap does no damage unless a stun is scored. It has the
chance of a large and hard object to stun,
and does normal sap damage (1-2) when a
stun is scored. A sap is a weapon and
negates the initiative penalty for pummeling attacks. Roll a 1d6 before each attack;
a one indicates that the attack will strike
the head if the sap hits.

Unearthed Arcana (page 78) says

that a sap will stun an opponent if it
hits him in the head when the head
is uncovered. Since there are no hit
location tables in the AD&D game,
how do you determine if the sap hit
the opponents head?
The DMG has a rule that says an intelligent creature can aim a blow at an opponents head half the time (1-3 on 1d6).
While this rule (see page 46) encourages
characters to wear helmets, I think its a
bit excessive. Try any of the following for
adjudicating attacks with a sap:
Any attack roll four or more over the
minimum score needed to hit the target
strikes the head. Strength bonuses dont
count when determining the minimum
score to hit, but bonuses for rear attacks
(including a thiefs back-attack bonus) and
attacks on prone opponents do count.
Treat the sap as a pummeling imple-

The DMG gives a procedure on

page 70 for attacking magically
sleeping opponents, but what about
normally sleeping opponents?
The to-hit bonus vs. normally sleeping
opponents is +4.

DRAGON 39

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42 OCTOBER 1989

Forum

Continued from page 6

challenge. In the letter, however, the dragon just

jumped out from behind a rock and attacked
the characters; even so, the party lost one of its
fighters in the example. Now if the same party
had to work its way to the dragons lair, descend
through caves (a veritable dungeon in itself)
filled with who knows what, then finally meet
the dragon at the bottom, while following all the
suggestions in that long-ago Forum letter, I
dont think the PCs would be so casual. They
would have used up most of their spells by that
time, and the dragon would have attempted to
kill the mage in the night, long ago. The characters would never know if one of them was
subject to the dragons charm or was actually
the polymorphed dragon. They wouldnt know
which of their items had been switched for
cursed ones, what was in the dragons lair, who
the dragons contacts were, or even if the
dragon was there by the time they got there.
The suggestions in Give Dragons a Fighting
Chance were good, if only one such suggestion
was used on a dragon. The nonspeaking, nonmagic-using dragons may be fit for lower-level
characters, but if you want to use them for
higher-level PCs, at least play them with the
brains they have.
And if you ever do run into a dragon and kill
it before it wakes upsorry, it probably wasnt
the real dragon.
Toby Myers
Hamilton NY
The point Larry Madden makes [Forum.
issue #141] about scrolls is somewhat valid,

though Im reluctant to make high-level spells as

available as his system would dictate
Granted, nothing is more frustrating for a
beginning player than sitting around watching
the rest of the party bash zombies while his
mage DOES NOT cast that sleep spell. Also, I
would have a hard time denying scrolls to a
high-charisma spell-caster, who came back to his
mentor with a few bags of hard-won gold and a
couple of extra first-level spellsparticularly in
lieu of some of the other things a character
could buy with that money. For instance, 900 gp
could get the first-level spells alarm, message,
and magic missile for his spell book (assuming
the PC doesnt blow a learn-spell roll). Then the
character could use that gold to hire (again
using the 1st Edition Dungeon Masters Guide)
four mercenary bodyguardsa 4th-level fighter,
a 3rd-level fighter, and two 1st-level fighters
when the party next goes adventuring
But somewhere a line has to be drawn. It a
game world exists in which anyone can walk
into a magic shop run by a high-level mage,
plunk down 2,700 gp, and get a wish scroll, you
have a game world that is going out of control
Common low-level spells (except for name spells
or powerful spells like sepia snake sigil) should
be relatively obtainable, if the mage has the
money or can provide suitable service.
Maddens magic-using shop owners are probably ex-adventurers who decided to stay alive
and let others do the risk taking. Since 11thlevel mages or higher can build a tower, attract
a body of men, etc., and retire as nobles, we can
assume the typical shop owner is no higher than
10th level Exceptions do exist, but they show
up at the DMs discretion.

Scrolls or spells up to fifth level can be obtamed, but due to the longer time to prepare
higher-level scrolls and spells, such a shop
would probably have only first- to third-level
spells in stock, unless the owner had a great
deal of spare time, or a particular fourth- or
fifth-level spell was constantly required in the
areaboth unlikely events. Higher-level spells
would have to be ordered, requiring a minimum
of one day per level of each spell to complete,
assuming the mage has the ingredients to make
the ink for the scroll. (And thats assuming no
errors are made!)
DMs are advised to keep the spell books
belonging to such shop owners fairly bare and
such shops distant. Players who have to go
through a lot of trouble to get a single spell will
be reluctant to go spell shopping without good
reason. PCs, being the most aggressive characters in the area, may stock up an impressive
supply of spells and items. A less aggressive
NPC, even it considerably more experienced,
may not accumulate as many spells The typical
magic shop should have basic spellsi.e., those
you feel safe handing out to the players
S. D. Anderson
Whittier CA
In issue #139s Forum, S. D. Anderson wrote
about a hypothetical battle in which a single 8thlevel PC fighter equipped with bracers of defense (AC 2), gauntlets of ogre power, a ring of
protection + 3, a horsemans flail + 3, 75 hp,
and a dexterity of 17 defeated 40 5th-level NPC
fighters in chain mail and armed with scimitars
Each NPC had 32 hp, they attacked two at a
time, and whenever one dropped, another took

his place. Eriana the PC was not allowed multiple attacks or weapon specialization.
The NPCs are idiots to attack Eriana two at a
time. The whole situation seems rigged in her
favor. She may have no specialization bonus but
neither do her enemies, and all attacks are
made against her front, where she can use her
dexterity bonus. In a realistic campaign, the
monsters arent going to be so kind to her.
According to page 69 of the Dungeon Masters
Guide (under the heading Number Of Opponents Per Figure), a single man-size figure can
be attacked by six man-size opponents at once.
Three will attack her from the front, two from
the flanks, and one from the rear. Erianas -4
armor class takes a nose dive under these
conditions, to AC -1 from the flanks and AC 1
from behind. Eriana will now have to kill 35
NPCs just to keep them from completely surrounding her.
Under completely average conditions, 12.5 hp
damage per hit with a 95% chance of hitting
will take her 94 rounds to kill all NPCs. The
NPCs scimitars average 4.5 hp damage per hit.
The NPCs in front of her have a 5% chance of
hitting, the ones at her flanks have a 20%
chance, and the one behind her a 30% chance.
Those helpless, faceless NPCs, now doing an
average of 3.825 hp damage per round, will cut
her to ribbons in 20 rounds. Now it is Eriana
who finishes over an hour late. We can nudge
the odds back in Erianas favor by giving back
her multiple attacks per round and by giving
her double specialization with the horsemans
flail, but even with two automatic hits each
round and + 12 hp damage (average 31 hp per
round), she still needs 36 rounds to kill only 35
of her 40 opponents. Her effort is heroic, however, since she takes 19 of her 5th-level opponents to the grave with her.
The point is that PCs can be killed when
outnumbered by lower-level opponents attacking intelligently, so giving them poison, five
extra levels, or totally arbitrary to-hit bonuses is
quite unnecessary. In fact, the PCs will have to
use their heads or powerful magic to defeat
such large groups. In the above example, Eriana
will win this bout if she can put her back to a
corner, but she will still take 24 hp damage.
The above is still a contrived example. Fighters of 5th-level are rare, or at least they should
be. Suppose Eriana, armed as above, is fighting
a small army of orcs armed with broad swords
(averaging 5 hp damage on a hit). She can automatically kill two orcs per round. The three
orcs in front of her inflict an average of
(.05 x 5 x 3) = .75 hp damage each round. The
two at her flanks deliver (.05 x 5 x 2) = .50 hp
damage per round. The one behind her inflicts
(0.15 x 5 x 1) = .75 hp damage per round. Thats
a total of 2 hp damage inflicted on Eriana per
round. It will take the orcs 38 rounds to kill her
at that rate. Before she dies, Eriana will kill 76
orcs. Impressive, but I wouldnt single-handedly
take on the orcish invasion force if I were her.
Ted Collins
Johnson City TN

2. The opponents gain + 1 bonuses to their

armor classes equal to the above penalty.
Thus a character outnumbered 3 to 1 would
suffer a -2 penalty to his armor class, while his
opponents would gain + 2 bonuses to their
armor classes.
The logic behind this modifier is that a character cannot concentrate upon multiple opponents
as well as he can upon a single opponent; dodging one attack may inadvertantly leave him
more exposed to another attack. Due to this
factor, a character must concentrate more upon
defense than on attack, so his opponents armor
classes improve.
Using this modifier in the combat between
Eriana and the NPCs produces some interesting
results. Eriana is outnumbered two to one (since
only two of the NPCs are attacking her at any
one time). Her armor class becomes -3, while
that of the NPCs becomes 4. She now hits them
only 90% of the time and so requires 134
rounds to finish them all. The NPCs now hit her
10% of the time and can kill her in 85 rounds.
Even factoring in Erianas three attacks every
two rounds still requires 89 rounds for her to
win. Close, but the NPCs would still be favored.
As far as specialization is concerned, remember that it is a two-way street; the NPCs could
also be specialized. Assuming that Eriana is
double-specialized with her flail, she is gaining
two attacks per round as well as + 3 to hit and
damage. She can now kill an NPC every round
(approximately) and thereby needs 40 rounds to
finish them all. Give the NPCs single specialization with their scimitars. They now have three
attacks every two rounds and gain + 1 to hit
and +2 on damage. Using these numbers (and
the outnumbering modifier), they would kill her
in about 27 rounds. Not even close.
In either of these cases, if the NPCs can surround her with more than two opponents (up to
six man-size attackers can attack a single mansize figure), it would be over more quickly.
There are other tactics available to the NPCs,
especially using the weaponless and nonlethal
combat systems as described in Unearthed
Arcana. If the NPCs try to grapple Eriana, they
gain a + 2 to hit until she can break the hold. If
they try to overbear her, they gain a + 1 bonus
to hit; should they succeed, she will be on the
ground with a -2 to hit and a + 4 to be hit (she
should also lose her dexterity bonus). The NPCs
could use this opportunity to bring more of
their companions into the battle with the attendant outnumbering results. Finally, they
could attempt to disarm her with their normal
chances to hit. Any hit by an NPC would require
Eriana to roll an 8 or better (her save vs. petrifi-

cation) or lose her grip on her weapon. Without

a weapon, she would not last long.
One further factor to remember is fatigue.
While Erianas opponents are replaced by fresh
men as the fight goes on, she does not get any
rest. In the original example in issue #139, she
fights for over two hours without any breaks.
According to the Dungeoneers Survival Guide
(page 21), she would have to roll against her
constitution after the first hour and again after
50 minutes if she makes this first check. If she
fails either check, she becomes fatigued and
loses two points on every stat and suffers a
further - 2 penalty on all to-hit and damage
rolls and saving throws. Furthermore, if she
continues to fight while fatigued, she must roll
against her revised constitution every 10 minutes to avoid exhaustion and subsequent doubling of these penalties.
Ultimately, the fact remains that fighters
(indeed higher-level characters in general) can
defeat an incredible number of opponents with
virtually no chance of losing. The very fact that
we can calculate the probable outcome of a
combat ensures that this is the case. The problem is that there really isnt any random factor.
The to-hit and damage rolls are random, but
they do not allow for the possibility that an
inferior opponent will get lucky and deal out a
telling blow. As it stands, an orc would have to
roll 20s every time in order to defeat even a
mid-level opponent with a decent selection of
magical items (and that opponent would have to
roll 1s). Such luck is not even worth considering. This detracts from the game, for after a
while you wonder why bother running a combat when the outcome is so one-sided.
The problem seems to stem from the huge
number of hit points the average character has
and from the fact that, in the AD&D game, a
character is either functioning fine with no
problems (as long as he has at least 1 hp) or he
is dead (or unconscious for more generous
DMs). There is no point between these two
poles. While this does allow for a simple, fast
combat system, it does lead inexorably to the
problems described by S. D. Anderson. While it
is possible to make a few alterations to the
system, ultimately, it needs an overhaul.
Stephen Jorgensen
Truro, Nova Scotia
I am writing in response to S. D. Andersons
letter in issue #139. First of all, lets look at how
this situation would really turn out.
Eriana of Belargn, a powerful but not-so-wise

Continued on page 51

This letter is a response to S. D. Andersons

letter on Eriana in DRAGON issue #139. In my
campaign, I have introduced a combat modifier
to deal with situations such as the one that he
describes. Whenever a character (PC or NPC) is
outnumbered by opponents engaged in hand-tohand combat with him, the following adjustments are made:
1. The outnumbered character suffers a -1
penalty to his armor class for every extra opponent that he is fighting; and
DRAGON 45

Nobody Lasts
Forever
But Death rarely has
the last word on superheroes
by David Edward Martin
Lets think about the unthinkablenamely, death and its effects
on your heros career in the MARVEL SUPER HEROES game.
Death doesnt usually change people physically. Oh, they dont
breathe, are no fun at parties, and have hygiene problems, but on
the whole, not much else occurs to the
recently departed. Superbeings are a
different case. Because of the powers
that some superbeings (or their superequipment) possess, death may
cause unforeseen events with the loss
of the deceaseds conscious control.

All Marvel characters: & 1989 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

You arent likely to know whats going to

happen to your character if he dies. Even
if you do, youll only have to deal with the
aftereffects once. NPCs are a different
case; they can drop like flies in tough
campaigns. Judges should determine postmortem effects beforehand, especially if
the current adventure has a high risk of
PC or NPC fatalities. The information
should be kept secret unless later events
enable someone to puzzle it out.
Since most PCs are unique individuals,
post-mortem effects can be specifically
selected or randomly determined for each
superpowered hero as appropriate. Simply
roll 1d100 on Table 1 for random results.
If the characters powers are species abilities or are the results of processes used on
a number of beings, one post-mortem
effect should be sufficient for everyone in
that group. The Judge should be prepared
to decide how technologically produced
superpowers are affected if the deceased
equipment still operates after the death of
its user or if such equipment is damaged
at the time of the users death.

Post-mortem effects

Table 1 lists the various post-mortem

effects that might occur when a superbeing dies. Of course, these effects may not
apply if the superbeing was merely a
normal (if athletic) human.
PM1/Total Loss: The body retains
none of the powers possessed by the deceased and remains physically unchanged.
For example, when Changeling died while
impersonating Professor X, his body was
locked into that form.
PM2/Reversion: The body retains
none of its superpowers. It also reverts in
death back to the deceaseds original form.
Werewolves are an example of this.
PM3/Partial Loss: The body loses
some superpowers and retains others.
Generally, those powers that required a
conscious mind in order to operate are
lost, while those powers that are a function of body structure remain. For example, a dead Armadillo would still have an
armored hide and claws.
PM4/Retention: The body retains its
superpowers, though it is, of course, unable to use them unless converted into a
zombie or animated by a possessing life
force. Some powers are localized in particular parts of the body. If those body parts
are transplanted to another being, the
recipient gains the superpowers inherent
in those parts. For example, if the deceased had optical powers such as telescopic and microscopic vision, the
transplanting of those eyes to another
might give the recipient those powers.
Such powers that remain decrease in rank
as the body decays, but such decay halts if
the parts are properly transplanted or
stored.
PM5/Self-Direction: The bodys
powers turn upon itself. Each power releases a final, full-strength attack at the
DRAGON 47

body. This flurry of activity may destroy,

transform, or otherwise alter the dead
superbeing. If such self-directed attacks
are of higher rank than the deceaseds
former Health, the body may be burned,
disrupted, or even disintegrated outright.
Afterward, the remains are inert and
possess no remaining powers. For example, if the deceased possessed a petrifying
power, the body may suddenly transform
into a rock statue.
PM6/Self-Destruction: The bodys
powers turn upon itself. The deceaseds
power ranks are totaled and converted
into a self-destructive blast of equal rank.
If the blast is of higher rank than the
deceaseds former Health, the body is
burned, disrupted, or disintegrated. For
example, when the android Hyperion died,
his body dissolved into protoplasm. However, no matter how destructive the blast,
its effects do not extend beyond the body.
The nature of the self-destruction should
be characteristic of the deceaseds body or
powers if possible.
PM7/Explosion: The bodys powers
erupt in a single explosion as the body
spontaneously detonates. The deceaseds
power ranks are added together and converted into a single explosion of equal
rank. For proprietys sake, lets assume
that organic beings completely disintegrate
with little mess. Robots, cyborgs, and
inorganic parts become shrapnel. If the
deceased was sufficiently powerful, his
death could mean the demolition of large
parts of the countryside or even the
planet. Again, the nature of the destruction should be characteristic of the deceaseds body or powers.
PM8/New Power: For reasons unknown, the death trauma causes the deceaseds existing powers to transform into
a new power. The power is selected at
random and may have nothing to do with
the previously existing powers. The body
emits this new power uncontrollably,
much like a isotope emitting radiation. The
body is not immune to this power; if the
new power is destructive, the body soon
disintegrates and the power ceases to
function. However, if the power is useful
or even valuable, the deceased may become a valued commodity. In the rare
event that this new power somehow negates death, the character rises like Lazarus from the tomb.

A question of resurrection

In comic books and their role-playing

systems, death is reversible. Beside its
obvious effect on the character, what
effects does revival have on his powers?
The answer is: any effect. It depends on
what killed the being the first time, what
happened to the body, and how revival
occurred. The Judge should decide which
of the following states applies.
Physical resurrection occurs when the
body is returned to at least minimal Health
and a life force is restored or developed. If
the body is restored to the same condition
48 OCTOBER 1989

it had during its superpowered phase,

such powers most likely reappear.
If the body is restored to a pre-super
state (for example, a dead Thing being
revived as a mid-20s Ben Grimm), such
powers might not reappear. Of course, the
potential for later development of powers
remains (the revived Ben would still have
his potential for mutation). Mental powers
may reappear if they were a function of
the physical structure of the brain or if
the original life force returns.
If the deceased is cloned, you must
consider whether the deceaseds powers
were genetic in nature. If the powers
were not genetic, the clone is assumed to
be the same as the deceaseds pre-super
form. If they were a function of the deceaseds genetic code, the clone may be
physically the same as the superbeings
original superbody. Powers that were
based on later mutation or modification
are not necessarily present in the clone,
but the potential is there for recreation of
those missing powers. For example, a
clone of Ben Grimm would be human, but
exposure to gamma radiation might make
the clone orange, rocky, and superstrong.
If the clone is possessed by the originals
life force, mental or magical powers will
probably reappear, although the clone
may have initial difficulty in using familiar
powers in an unfamiliar body.
Sometimes conditions transplant the
deceaseds life force into a new body.
These body transplants give the hybrid a
combination of the life forces mental or
magical powers and the bodys physical
powers. For example, Walter Langkowski
(formerly the orange-furred, male Sasquatch) was restored to life in the whitefurred Sasquatch form that was once
Snowbirds body. Langkowski thus retained the ability to transform between
the white Sasquatch form and a human
body, but that body was Naryas female
form. (Fortunately, that little oversight has
since been corrected.)

Resurrection as remodeling

Resurrection is a handy way to alter or

redefine a superbeings powers. Superpowers result from a complex interaction
between a life force, a physical body, and
(perhaps) external forces. Death, even as a
temporary state, alters the equation. Players and Judges should agree on the overall
effect the resurrection will have on a
superbeings powers. Examples include:
l Retain the same powers but generate
new ranks for them;
l Trade randomly selected powers for
new powers;
l Throw out all powers and generate new
ones;
l Alter the ranks of a randomly selected
number of Physical Abilities;
l Keep only mental and magical powers (if
this is a new body);
l Keep only physical powers (if this is a
new life force);

Combine old powers into new hybrid

forms; or
Add powers resulting from the means
used to resurrect the deceased (for
example, bionic implants to maintain
the restored life force may possess
additional abilities).

Immortality and longevity

Now that youre depressed, lets deal

with powers that help your PC avoid that
unknown country from which few explorers return.
P21/Immortality: The Players Book of
the MARVEL SUPER HEROES Advanced
Set deals with this power. However, you
might want to know a few details, such as
how old your pet immortal appears (Table

Table 1
Post-Mortem Effects for
Superbeings
1d100 Post-mortem effect
01-25
26-54
55-69
70-84
85-91
92-95
96-98
99-00

PM1/Total Loss
PM2/Reversion
PM3/Partial Loss
PM4/Retention
PM5/Self-Direction
PM6/Self-Destruction
PM7/Explosion
PM8/New Power

Table 2
Apparent Ages of Long-Lived or
Immortal Superbeings
1d100 Apparent age (years)
01-07
08-14
15-29
30-58
59-80
81-94
95-00

Baby (under 2)
Child (2-11)
Teen (12-19)
Young adult (20-40)
Middle age (41-60)
old (61-80)
Very old (81+)

2) and how old that being actually is (Table

3). Later, well also consider what happens
if an immortal becomes mortal.
P22/Longevity: Adam Sonfield, a
MARVEL SUPER HEROES game player,
reminded me that a greatly increased
lifespan is not necessarily the same as
Immortality. Longevity does not automatically include immunity to disease, aging,
or bodily destruction, and someone with
Longevity merely has a greatly increased
but finitelifespan.
When creating a character with this
power, you need to determine both the
actual age of the PC (Table 2) and his apparent age (Table 3). In the case of the
recently born (those under 100 years old),
the apparent age should be middle age or
younger; otherwise, how would you know
the hero was long-lived?
The total lifespan of someone with Longevity is determined by his power rank.
The power rank number is cubed, then

multiplied by 70 years (current average

human life expectancy) to generate the
probable lifespan of the being in question
(see Table 4). For beings with other lifespans, multiply the modifier in Table 4 by
the lifespan common to that race. For
example, a field mouse with Typical Longevity could reach an age of 216 years.
In such cases where the actual age of a
hero is greater than his expected lifespan,
assume the character was either affected
by a process or event that further increased his lifespan (for example, being a
time traveler) or that he is aware that his
remaining days are few in number. In
either case, this extension can lead to all
sorts of plot complications. Is the character trying to complete a final task before
dying? Is he trying to do something to
prevent death and renew his as-yetunexplained extension?
Remember that a long life expectancy
includes no guarantee of actually living
that long. PCs are still prey to accidents.
For example, consider the case of a mad
scientist who, having just completed a
process that gives him a potential lifespan
of thousands of years, promptly trips on a
power cord and dies of a fractured skull.
A characters Longevity rank can be
added to his Endurance rank when deter-

Normal life: Character is now a normal

individual of his apparent age with a normal life expectancy. If the power can be
later restored before a natural death occurs, he continues living on as if little had
happened. If death occurs meanwhile, an
immortal might still resurrect himself if
the power is restored to his remains.
Sudden aging: The character rapidly
ages to his true age but doesnt necessarily
die. A character whose age exceeds his
mining the effects of disease on a longlived PC. If the Longevity rank is higher
than the Endurance number, it can also be
used to determine the characters rate of
healing.
The player should also determine the
characters aging rate. Does he age in a
steady but incredibly slow rate? Does he
suddenly gain a years worth of aging once
each century? Although this information
might have little game use, the information will help flesh out your PCs long life
story or give motivation to long-lived NPCs
machinations.

Quick exits

But what happens to an immortal or

long-lived character if that power is removed or negated? Roll 1d100 on Table 5
for the answer.

Table 3
Actual Ages of Immortal or Long-Lived Superbeings
1d100 Actual age (in years)
01-06
07-39
40-67
68-79
80-88
89-94
95-97
98-99
00

Under 100
100-500
501-1,500
1501-4000
4001-10,000
10,001-100,000
100,001-10,000,000
10 million-5 billion
5 billion +

Birth era
Modern industrial era
Post-Renaissance
Dark Ages
Classical period
Ancient, post-Ice Age
Cro-Magnon, Ice Age
Primitive man
Various prehistoric eras
Before Earth was created

normal life expectancy withers to a mummylike state. If his age exceeds four times
his normal life expectancy, the mummy is
apparently lifeless. Consciousness remains,
though, and the mummy is free to use its
other powers as best it can. If the Longevity or Immortality power is later restored,
the character might regain his previous
appearance, depending on the circumstances and the Judges discretion.
Aging and death: The character rapidly
ages to his true age. The shock tends to be
fatal, especially if the characters actual
age is more than twice that of his normal
life expectancy. Rapid decomposition occurs in 1-100 turns; the remains attain a
state similar to that of a normal body the
same age as the recently deceaseds actual

Table 5
Aftereffects For Loss of
Longevity/Immortality
1d100 Effect

01-40
41-60
61-00

Normal life
Sudden aging

Aging and death

age. Bodies under 4,000 years old are

mummified; those up to 10,000 years old
become skeletons, and those older than
that collapse into dust. If the power is
restored to an immortals remains, the
immortal can eventually return to life
(traditional vampires are an example of
this). Longevity-powered characters require aid from such powers as Resurrection or Self-Revival before they can regain
their previous physical conditions.
Marvel, Marvel Universe, Marvel Super Heroes, and
all Marvel characters, names, and likenesses are
trademarks of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All
Rights Reserved.

Table 4
Life Expectancies of Long-Lived Superbeings
Rank
FE (2)
PR (4)
Ty (6)
GD (10)
EX (20)
RM (30)
IN (40)
AM (50)
MN (75)
UN (100)
Shift X (150)
Shift Y (200)
Shift Z (500)
C1000
C3000
C5000

Modifier
8
64
216
1,000
8,000
27,000
64,000
125,000
421,875
1,000,000
3,375,000
8 million
125 million
1 billion
27 billion
125 billion

Life
expectancy (years)
560
4,480
15,120
70,000
560,000
1,890,000
4,480,000
8,750,000
29,531,250
70,000,000
236,250,000
560 million
8.75 billion
70 billion
1.890 trillion
8.750 trillion

DRAGON 49

50 OCTOBER 1989

Forum

Continued from page 45

adventurer, passes the castle of the evil Lord

Badguy. A patrol of Lord Badguys elite henchmen (40 in all) sees her. Eriana uses her wisdom
of 4 and decides to attack the henchmen. There
would be no rules for this bout. In the AD&D
game, combat happens in the dungeon or wilderness, not in a ring. To recreate this fight
properly, we must consider several things.
First, lets give back Erianas 3/2 attack rate.
Well use the rules from the 1st Edition Players
Handbook and the 1st Edition DMG, so forget
about weapon specialization for now.
Second, consider the experience of the faceless NPCs; this is where things really start to go
wrong. Do you think these people got the
18,000 + xp of 5th-level fighters by guarding a
castle? Come on! My bet is that many of these
fighters were retainers or former adventurers.
If Eriana is of 8th level and has bracers of
defense (AC 2), gauntlets of ogre power, a ring
of protection + 3, and a horsemans flail + 3,
you might think that someone only three levels
lower might have at least one magical item.
Also, who says that these fighters have no tohit or damage bonuses? These people are 5thlevel fighters, not peasants! I bet that many of
them have strengths that produce to-hit or
damage bonuses.
And finally, who says the NPCs can only face
Eriana two at a time? If Eriana is in a dungeon
or the wilderness, 40 NPCs could swamp her.
They can attack from the front, sides, and rear.
Assuming 10 NPCs could get at her at once,
thats 10 attacks per round. Compared to
Erianas previous 3/2 attack rate, I would now
say she is in trouble.
Now well run this combat again, using most
of the calculations used by S. D. Anderson.
Eriana needs 127 swings to kill all the NPCs.
With her 3/2 attack, rate it will still take her 84
rounds to kill all of our faceless NPCs. One NPC
needs 340 swings to get the 17 hits he will need
to kill Eriana. But now with 10 NPCs facing her
at once, they need only 34 rounds to take her
down!
Low and behold! Before Eriana can kill half of
our NPC friends, she is dead! And this is without
giving some of the NPCs magic items, strength
bonuses, bonuses from attacking from behind,
etc., etc. Not even giving Eriana weapon specialization can save her this time.
Whats the moral of this story, Eriana? The
next time you foolishly attack 40 NPCs, bring
along the rest of your party. Then maybe it will
be a fair fight.
Tom Foottit
Kanata, Ontario
I read with interest the articles on cheating in
issue #144, and I thought you might like to
know how I deal with some of those problems
in my campaign.
First, I will discuss cheating when rolling
ability scores for a new character. As a DM, one
of the first AD&D game rules I ever took issue
with was the experience-point bonus system.
Why should a character who already has it easy
with high ability scores be rewarded for successful adventuring with extra experience
points? This ruling simply widens the ability gap
(through quicker advancement) between characters. I told my players to add up their characters ability scores and subtract that sum from
90. A negative value is a percentage penalty, a
positive value is a percentage bonus. I then told
them to arrive at the scores any way they
pleased. They could roll numbers and design a
character based on the result, or they could

design the numbers based on the character they

wished to createend of problem and the
beginning of some great role-playing fun.
Second, I will discuss cheating while playing. I
have a simple rule: Play however you like, and
cheat if you like, but no one can do anything
that will spoil the fun of other players (or youre
out of the group). I point out to the players that
cheating against the game is like cheating in
solitairewho are you cheating? No one is
allowed to take issue with another player who is
suspected of cheating. As a result, one of two
things happens: The cheater quits in disgust
when no one seems to care whether he cheats
or not (if I havent already had to ask him to
leave) or he sees the point and starts to enjoy
the game as it is meant to be played.
If one or more players are familiar with the
module we are about to play (I have always
used commercial modules strung together by an
overall story line in my campaign), I alter it as
though it had already been visited once in the
past and is now repopulated and redecorated
(with new traps). The characters who have been
here before can then remember anything they
like and can advise the party accordingly.
As often as possible, I ask the players to roll
certain dice without first telling them why they
are doing that or whether they should want a
high number or a low (though they always ask).
If honesty in a particular roll is crucial to the
success of an adventure, I roll it myself.
Though there are honest mistakes made (and I
make about half of them), the players usually
pick them up without much bickering, and
everyone seems to have a good time.
Dennis Rudolph
Prince George, British Columbia
Most of the letters in Forum deal with people who regularly play their favorite RPG with a
group of friends. This makes it easy to forget
the number of people, like myself, who find
RPGs very interesting but for one reason or
another can only seldom, if at all, play an actual
tabletop game.
Before I go much further, I need to explain
two of the ways in which people play RPGs.
Some people enjoy being with friends and
playing a game with endless horizons. They do
not bother with particulars such as spell durations. Others play with friends and have a
similar attitude, but the DM is familiar with and
uses all rules, and the player is and does likewise. This is the type of play normally seen at
conventions. Im not saying one style is right or
wrong, but I enjoy amassing books and other
literature on the AD&D game, and with all the
reading I do in place of playing, I have become a
strict follower of the latter example.
I do know several people who regularly get
together and play a few rounds of the AD&D
game, but their DM doesnt even keep track of
time in the campaign! I also enjoy play-by-mail
games (PBMs) and computer RPGs (written
about in issue #145s editorial) that can be
substitutes for those not in a group. While
certainly fun, I disagree that computer RPGs
can replace a campaign in which each character
is controlled by a different person.
I would also like to mention Michael Townsends letter in Forum issue #145, in which he
says he did not have many friends in high
school because he was bussed to a handicapaccessible school. He spent many hours in its
library reading fantasy and science-fiction books
as an escape from loneliness. I am not physically
handicapped, but manic depression and extreme shyness have kept me from making many

friends. Reading AD&D game materials has

helped me escape from loneliness, too.
Matt Foster
Wichita KS
I am writing to comment on S. R. Oldsons
Forum letter in issue #146. I have been a DM
for only three years, but I certainly see his
point. When I first began playing the D&D
game, my players and I really enjoyed gaming.
Recently, however, weve gotten tired of the
more sophisticated modules in which the characters must solve some mystery or prevent
some civil war.
Mr. Oldsons call for a long, challenging,
dungeoneering game that requires player intuition as well as knee-deep, blood-and-gore fighting is well justified. Besides, how many players
and DMs want to see DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
games become PAYROLLS & POLITICS with the
fighters, clerics, thieves, and mages replaced by
ambassadors, lawyers, district attorneys, and
IRS agents?
In my opinion, a good D&D adventure involves a deep, dark dungeon or other mysterious, forgotten area with a theme like clear the
swamps of the foul lizardmen or delve into the
ancient drow city and retrieve the Talisman of
Light before they destroy it! Granted, all hackand-slash adventures would get dull before
long. Those who desire these types of modules
need to play arcade games in which all you need
do is kill. Modules should be balanced with the
right amount of fighting and the right amount
of thinking. (Oldsons example of module S1 The
Tomb of Horrors is excellent, as the module was
well written.)
Please keep what I have said in mind when
writing modules. I would also like to encourage
others who support the ideas expressed by Mr.
Oldson and myself to write to Forum in order
to state their opinions and encourage module
writers to design more modules of this nature.
Lee Loftis
Greenville SC
With all the talk about changing the AD&D
game rules so that magic-users can have more
power and clerics can use edged weapons, one
thing has never been considered: How will these
rules work in your campaign?
The campaign I am in would make most
players shudder. Rules (ones that are written in
the book) are freely tossed aside to accommodate whims of the DM. (Actually, we have several DMs, but what was stated still applies.) For
instance, lycanthropy is not a curse. Some
players pursue it because they know it gives
their characters greater prowess, and the
negative aspects are easily done away with.
Some DMs have very powerful NPCs who can
provide lycanthropy and the control of that
power to a player. These NPCs will do it with a
minimum of whining from the PC. The result is
a character able to assume animal form at will
and a character immune to nonmagical or silver
weapons. (One person started a PC as a lycanthrope at 1st level.)
Monster PCs are common; dragons, minotaurs, minor deaths, and others exist and flourish. Reincarnation into a new (and usually more
powerful) form is common, but some reincarnations start at 1st level. (How they go into a
tavern without everyone else leaving or attacking is beyond me.)
A variant spell system exists for both clerics
and magic-users. NPC classes presented in
DRAGON Magazine are widely used, and so are

Continued on page 98
DRAGON 51

52 OCTOBER 1989

he miles had lost their numbering

quite a ways back for Fordan and his
beast. He found himself wishing for
company, something rare for him,
when he came upon Bowren. The
village was small by the standards of
the day, no more than a handful of
dwellings set back into the hills and kept from sight by the
stacks of greenwood that dotted the countryside. Fordan
saw its smokelines first and followed their scattered trails
along the sky until he reached their earthbound source.
There was no one about as he led his horse down the
single cut path that served as the villages road. His ears
soon picked up the reason why. A chorus of voices all
lifted in song came from the single large building in the
area, a squat, wide-sloped hall with wooden steps that sat
squarely in the center of the village. Fordan listened to the
voices, frowning at the piteous tone to their chant. He
turned his beast toward the nearest dwelling and dismounted with a great swing that brought a loud protest
from his legs.
He knocked at the hardwood door. The noise brought
no reply, so he settled down to wait, taking in the village
with his eyes as he continued to listen to the chanting
coming from the hall.
There wasnt much to see. The land surrounding the
village seemed rich rich enough to support crops that
would have fed many more homes than this. What fields
he could see in the distance were not particularly well
tended. A threadbare patch of soft corn battled with encroaching wild-weed that no one had bothered to root out.
A number of thresh and heartgrass fields were visible.
They were sparsely kept and sickly looking.
Fordan wondered if perhaps blight had struck this
place, That meant work for him, for he carried cures to
the local types in the pouches slung across his horses
back. Blights were good trade for him. They brought a
high price to cure these days, though he did not particularly care for the havoc they wreaked on the countryside.
No matter. If there was blight here then he would end it,
for a fee that would not heavily strain the resources of the
village.
He was watering his animal when the chanting stopped.
It died down so evenly that he was unaware of it, and so
the inhabitants of Bowren saw him before he saw them.
He was not an impressive sight, a diminutive man with
straight brown hair that fell to his shoulders, with a thin
but neatly cut suit of cloth covering his broad frame.
A stiff breeze coming from the low fields caught the
cloak that hung on his back, spreading it full to reveal the
craft emblem drawn there. A few of the villagers looked to
his horse and saw the pouches and sacks with which he
worked his magic. His hands they now saw as firm and
practiced, and when he at last turned to face them, they
caught the look of power that lay behind his eyes.
Fordan had never felt the need to put fear into people.
His calling did that well enough. Any man in his right
mind looked with care upon a sorcerer.
One of the villagers, an elder with the history of his
lifetime plain on his face, approached him while the others
divided to their homes. Fordan studied the man before

The
Serpent
of Aledorn
by John P. Buentello

Illustrations by Janet Aulisio

DRAGON 53

him, noting his speech and manner, and wondered at the

peculiar oath he was made to swear by.
Do you pledge upon the wrath of Aledorns Serpent
that you are a righteous and good sorcerer? the elder
man asked.
Fordan was well acquainted with the latter part of the
oath. Simple minds tended to separate what was human
from a sorcerer, and thus invest in him either good or
evil. Hed given up trying to explain the many shades
between the two long ago.
I am righteous enough, he said, and so swear by
your god. He did not notice the angry look that temporarily swept the others face. It was a mistake he would
not have made in his younger years. I offer my services
to you.
The villager nodded once, scratching at the shade of
beard at his chin. I am Tarah, elder of Bowren. Your
services are welcomed here, sorcerer. I pray that they are
up to the task.
I stand behind the results, Fordan replied. I do the
job Im paid for, nothing more or less. What I ask will
depend on what I have to do. If the blight is great
There is no blight, Tarah replied.
Fordan looked to the fields again, his interest piqued.
Surely these people did not mean to starve themselves
purposely? Hed seen no roads that they could have used
to bring food into the village, and even these great woods
could not hold enough game to support them.
Come, sorcerer, Tarah said, taking his arm. Others
will see to your animal. There are no other villages for
miles, so you must have come a great way. We will eat and
rest for a time.
The idea sounded none too bad to him, but he eyed the
men who came at the elders bidding to take the reins
from his hand. Take care with those brews, he told them
sternly. See that you dont open them accidentally. The
light may spoil their power, or worse.
The men nodded, backing a bit from the animal. He
watched as their eyes strayed to his cache of supplies.
Nothing there could harm them in its present raw state,
but he preferred that no one be tempted to ransack his
things.
Tarahs home was a large, one-room dwelling that possessed but a single window. The roof had been raised to
allow a small loft to be constructed. From that loft he
heard the sound of childrens voices. He did not have to
guess at the subject of their discussion. Tarahs wife, a
small woman even to him, said little and stayed near her
place at the fire while Tarah sat and ate with him.
The food, a thick stew which surprisingly held much
flavor, explained little about the villagers problem. There
were a number of vegetables, though not many, and
chunks of meat he guessed to be rabbit. From the way
Tarah devoured it, Fordan guessed that it was not their
usual fare. A religious meal perhaps, to be eaten after the
services they had attended. He finished it silently and did
not ask for more.
Tarah asked him many questions, perhaps to keep him
from asking any of his own. Fordan gave only the answers
he wished known. The elder seemed to know much of
sorcerers. He talked in a manner that indicated he knew a
54

OCTOBER 1989

wizards power lay in his potions and not in his mouth.

Perhaps you can be of help to us, the elder finally
said, looking to his empty bowl.
Perhaps, but I do not do favors for the asking. How
would you pay me?
The other man smiled, but it was a brutish thing that
did not fit his face. We will pay what you ask. There is
money enough among us. It is well hidden and protected
from discovery.
It was Fordans turn to smile. At least the elder hadnt
lost all his superstitions about sorcerers. I work for my
money. Before I can do so, however, I must know what
there is to be done. You say there is no blight?
Tarah shook his head. No. If a blight of those horrible
monsters was upon us, then Bowren would no longer exist.
What horrible monsters?
Have you heard of other sorcerers in these parts?
Tarah asked. Of a man called Aledorn?
Ive never traveled this way. He is unknown to me.
Well that he should be, Tarah replied. He was put
into the ground by good people some time ago, but not
before he cursed all those who had brought him to his
death.
How did he die? Fordan was not interested in hearing
about the curse, for if it was mere superstition that the villagers now fought, then he was out of luck. There were sorcerers who would chant away a curse and leave others
behind believing themselves saved, and poorer for it. He had
never chosen that particular path. Better to deal with the
here and now and leave the afterworld to the charlatans.
We killed him, Tarah said flatly. Fordan looked to his
eyes and saw that the man spoke the truth. He did not
look sorry for it, nor did he turn his gaze from the sorcerer. He took a single drink from the water flask that lay
next to him on the table and swallowed. There was just
cause for it.
There must have been, for you to take such a chance,
Fordan answered. Was it he who brought the trouble to
your village?
After a time, yes. Aledorn appeared among us one
day, looking for work he could perform. He showed us
how he could make it easier for us to live by the power of
his potions and brews. We asked what he wanted from us
in return, and he told us that he was seeking a new home.
His old one had lost faith in him. Since he was useful, we
allowed him to stay. It would have been better for us if we
had forced him to go.
Fordan nodded. He had yet to find a people who felt
comfortable living beside a man who could cure your
worst illness or end your life in the space of a heartbeat.
As a rule, he had found people feared that which helped
them the most.
Aledorn was good to his word for a time, Tarah went
on. He cured our ills and made the crops grow. He
promised to care for us in return for our faith in him, but
even this proved to be a lie. Our fields began to turn,
more from neglect than anything else, for he forbade us to
work unless the signs seemed right.
Finally we asked him to go. He would not, so we
forced him out. Even then he returned, demanding that
we obey him. It was after we had driven him off the sec-

ond time that the serpent appeared.

Fordan kept silent, watching the elder as the memories
played across his face. Could this creature have come
naturally from this place?
Tarah shook his head, his eyes growing hard. It is a
fearful thing. A beast from another realm. It served Aledorns bidding. It was too large to kill. We tried anyway,
each time losing more men. It ate up our fields, destroyed
our crops, and preyed on those it could catch.
Why didnt you offer to pay the sorcerer to remove it?
Tarahs expression showed what he thought of such a
notion. One night Aledorn returned, perhaps to ask us
for just such a payment. We caught him near the edge of
the village. The serpent was not with him. We killed him
and burned what remained.
And the serpent?
We thought it would vanish after we had destroyed
Aledorn, but we were wrong. Its still out there somewhere. It doesnt attack the village directly any longer, but
it still destroys the fields. We dare not allow the children to
go far. Tarahs expression turned hard with anger. Our
village is dying.
Fordan sat and brooded about the serpent. His thoughts
brought him nothing of use. A sorcerers brews could do
many things, and while he had a notion of what it was
Aledorn had actually done, he would have to see for himself to be sure. Even then he wasnt certain there was
anything he could do.
Do you know where this serpent dwells?
It appears around dusk, Tarah said. Before that, it
seems to stay somewhere in the woods. After it takes its fill
of our fields, it disappears again. None of us have dared to
follow it.
I will wait until dusk then, and see what I can do.
Fordan rose from his place and excused himself, stepping outside to draw a fresh breath into his lungs. Even
with the open window, Tarahs home carried a dark, oppressing air to it. He couldnt see how people managed
such an existence. Better to be out on the open road where
at least you had land and sky, and a good horse to take
you anywhere the roads turned.
He checked to see that his animal had been properly
bedded, watching the villagers as they went about their
business. He kept his mind from Aledorn and his serpent.
It would be best for him to see the creature with as little
forethought as possible. He didnt need his mind cluttered
while he worked on a way to destroy it.
The days riding eventually began to tell on him, and
Tarah gave him a spot in his dwelling to rest. The elders
wife handed him a coarse blanket and left him. Fordan
slept without dreaming. When he felt the hand on his
arm, he came awake immediately. The inside of the dwelling had grown darker, and Tarahs shadowed form loomed
above him.
Come, he said. The serpent has been spotted in the
southern fields.
They joined a group of men outside. Tarah led them to
a small ridge that marked the village boundary. Beyond
the ridge, a path had been cut that led down to the fields.
The dry breeze of the day had whipped itself into a cold
wind, and Fordan found himself shivering despite the

heavy garments he wore.

The sounds of the serpent met them first. As he made
his way down the path, Fordan listened to the cry below.
It was a dry, sucking sound of flesh against flesh. When it
grew loud enough to indicate that its source was directly
in front of them, they stopped. Tarah took Fordan out a
few paces to the edge of the fields, pointing into the withered rows of grain.
The overgrown grass and towering woods made seeing
difficult. He could just make out a dark form moving
among the rows in the field. His eyes finally adjusted to
the gloom, and he saw the creature plainly for the first
time. All thoughts of the cold left him.
It was a huge thing, a beast as surely as Tarah had
called it. The sight of it raised a deep fear within Fordan.
He felt the desire to flee, to leave such a monster far behind him. He held his ground and watched, taking note of
every possible detail of importance as his trade had
trained him to do.
It was not a serpent, although its sheer size would have
caused anyone seeing it to call the monster by that name.
Its head, if that was what it truly was, lay at the far end of
the field. He could see it consuming entire stalks of grain
through a great slit of a mouth wide enough to swallow a
small calf whole.
The creatures body took up the entire length of the
field. Fordan saw the bloated line of its form undulate in
the grass. The fading light caught the curve of each ring
that formed the segments of its body. There was a sheen to
it that he knew to be slime, and when the light fell upon it,
the reflections mirrored the fear of the men around him.
Your Aledorn chose carefully when he created his serpent, he said slowly. He began to take a mental inventory
of the supplies he carried. Although not trained in such
practices, hed heard of sorcerers who were able to greatly
increase the size of a living being. It had probably been
relatively simple for Aledorn to put together a potion that
would make a worm grow to such proportions.
Can you kill it? Tarah asked, his tone suddenly
anxious.
Fordan considered for a moment longer, then nodded.
It would not be an easy thing, especially if Aledorn had
gone to the extra trouble of protecting the creature from
normal forms of attack. Tarahs account of the attempts to
kill it seemed to confirm that he had.
Yes, I can kill it.
Behind him, he heard a single reflexive sigh escape
from the lips of the other men. Tarah looked to them,
drawing their silence, then turned back to Fordan. Do it
then. Kill Aledorns murderous serpent.
I can do it. You may have my word on it. But first we
must agree on a payment.
What do you ask?
Fifty coins.
A few of the men began to object angrily. Tarah made a
single motion, and others silenced them quickly. The elder
nodded and put out his hand. Agreed.
Fordan took the hand firmly in his own. I will have to
be paid first.
What if you fail to destroy the serpent?
I will return the fifty coins and be on my way.
DRAGON

55

Tarah said nothing, fingering his beard in the darkness.

The killing must be done first. After that we will pay
you. That is how it must be.
Fordan saw no use in arguing the point. The villagers
had been betrayed by a sorcerer once. It was natural that
they would not so easily place their trust in another. Besides, there were ways that he could insure his payment.
Agreed.
They watched the serpent until it got dark enough for
torches. Fordan asked Tarah to lead him back to the village. Behind him, he could still hear the thrashings of the
creature. Its dull scent seemed to hang forever in the air
before him.
Fordan took his time unloading his animal. He waited
until Tarah and the other villagers had disappeared into
their dwellings before he unpacked the vials and jars hed
carefully padded into the horses packs.
He chose only what he thought he would need, carefully
repacking the rest. From one pouch he took a handful of a
strawlike plant and gave it to his animal. The weed did
not do much beside allow the beast to regain some lost
strength, but they both had been journeying long, and it
made sense to be able to leave swiftly if the need arose.
Tarah did not move from his place on the floor when
Fordan re-entered the cottage. Fordan sat on the blanket
provided for him, feeling the cold comfort of the ground
beneath. He commanded his mind to relax, waiting for
the feeling that would tell him he was ready to begin.
When it came, he began to mix and grind the powders he
carried. If he was watched, he was not aware of it.
Long after the bulk of night had passed, he laid his
pestle aside and covered the pair of flasks he had prepared. He closed his eyes, savoring the darkness, and
slept. Somewhere just at the edge of his hearing, he could
still make out the sounds of the great serpent prowling in
the darkness.
Tarah and the rest of the village men were waiting when
he arose. He left the dwelling, the morning light stinging
his eyes, and greeted their stares by holding up the pair of
flasks before them.
These should do the job, he said, wishing now that he
had not robbed himself of extra sleep. There are specific
steps that must be taken if the potions are to work properly.
Tarah nodded. What must be done?
You must get the serpent to swallow them both.
Tarahs eyes grew perceptibly wider. How are we supposed to do this?
Take the potions and give them to two of your hens.
Stake them out in the low fields. The serpent will do the
rest.
What will the potions do? one of the villagers asked.
The first will remove any magic that Aledorn has
placed upon the creature, Fordan said, fingering the
flask. The second will paralyze the serpent soon after it
has eaten it. I pray that the serpent does not require that
his prey be moving, for the hen will be stilled soon after
you force this into it.
Tarah looked at the two vials, his face as expressionless
as always. Then the serpent will die?
No. You must destroy it after it becomes dormant. It
must be done in a prescribed way, so that the cursed crea56

OCTOBER 1989

ture will truly die.

How must we kill it?
Fordan shook his head. First let us see if the potions
do their work.
They waited until midday, when they were sure that the
serpent was gone from the fields for the day. Tarah took
two of his own hens and gave them to the sorcerer. Fordan
forced the potions into them with practiced hands. Within
moments, one of the hens became still. Fordan checked to
see if it was still living. He gave each animal a sign of
blessing and announced them ready.
Two men chosen by Tarah took the hens into the low
fields and staked them there. The serpent had gone in the
early light, leaving behind only a remnant of the southern
field. Fordan watched from the ridge. After the task was
accomplished, he left to repack his brews and load a fresh
cache of supplies onto his animals back.
Dusk came before Fordan was aware of it, and only
when he saw the villagers gathering near the low ridge did
he realize that the time had come to see if his potions
would do their work. He caught up with the others,
watching his footing in the flickering darkness, and followed them to the edge of the ridge.
The great serpent was already feeding. It consumed
more in a single mouthful than a man could in a week.
Fordan watched as its massive head moved from side to
side, pushing through hard ground and brush without
effort.
At the near edge of the lowest field, the one conscious hen
sensed the creatures presence and began thrashing against
the rope tied to it. The movements were almost imperceptible, compared to the serpents wild motions, but as Fordan
watched, the serpent began to move forward, drawing close.
Its speed was so great that it reached the hens in seconds.
Fordan felt himself grow colder in the darkness as he
watched it swallow them both without stopping.
A few of the villagers began to step down the ridge toward the fields. Picks, shovels, and sharpened blades appeared in their hands. Fordan held them back, watching
the serpent as it continued to feed. There seemed no
change in the quick movements along the great body. The
creatures size gave it strength even against his potions.
Fordan knew it would take time. He told the villagers to
be patient.
That time came later in the night. In the grey light of
the moon, he saw the serpent begin to slow. The great
body seemed to become suddenly sluggish. The head continued to thrust forward, weaving snakelike through the
tall grass. The great maw opened once, revealing the
bloodied blackness beneath, before the head slowly lowered itself to the field floor.
Now, sorcerer, Tarah said, a large cutting blade in his
own hands, what must we do so that it will die?
I would like to be paid, Fordan said.
After we have destroyed the serpent.
Fordan shook his head. I will tell you the method after
I am paid.
He stared into the eyes of the elder, seeing the hatred
that had been growing there since he had first entered the
village. Fordan had thought long on the villages plight
during the previous night. It had occurred to him that a

people once betrayed by a sorcerer would have a

neverending hatred toward them all.
You will tell us how to kill it, Tarah said. He gripped
the handle of his blade so it caught fire in the moonlight.
Tell us if you wish to go on living.
I would be interested in hearing more about Aledorn,
Fordan said without fear in his voice. Perhaps he did
betray your people, perhaps not. I find it hard to believe
that he was as evil as you say. He could not have become a
sorcerer without work and discipline. He would have
needed the aid of another of his kind. Were usually more
careful about whom we allow to learn our trade.
You will tell us, Tarah repeated, or we will kill you
and take our chances with the serpent.
Fordan looked around to see the villagers gathered
around him. Anger and fear flashed in their faces. He
looked at the weapons they now held tightly in their
hands. Such weapons would kill a man as easily as they
would a serpent.
Take your sharpest blades and go down to the serpent, he said slowly, watching the others about him.
You must sever it across the width of its body, and do so
many times over. You must take each piece of flesh and
bury it deep, and say a prayer of holiness over it to remove the curse. Only after this is done will the creature
remain dead.
Tarah took a step forward. If you lie, we will give you
to the serpent.
Fordan kept his own voice even. I gave you my word
The creature will be destroyed. Then I must be paid, for I
wish to leave.
Tarah said nothing. He turned from him to lead the
others into the field. Fordan watched while they worked.
The moonlight gave strong shadows to the figures as they
carried their bits of burden from the fields to be buried.
He watched until they had carried off the last piece before
he went back to the village.
He had his beast watered and ready when the elders
came back from the fields. Dawn was drowning the last
shadows of night, and their dirty, smeared forms were a
contrast to the others gathered to hear the news. A number of the elders stopped to quiet the growing crowd. Others led by Tarah crossed the center of the village to where
Fordan waited.
You must go now, Tarah told him.
I intend to do that, Fordan said, facing them, as
soon as I am paid.
We have no money. You must go.
You gave your word that I would be paid in return for
killing the serpent. I have done that.
Tarah shook his head. You have done only what is
right. A sorcerer placed the serpent among us, and now
one has taken it away. You have repaid Aledorns debt.
I owe you no debt. Aledorn did what he did for his
own reasons. Im beginning to see why he might have

done so. Pay me.

If you do not leave now, you will die here.
Fordan looked amused. I am a sorcerer.
Sorcerers die like other men, Tarah said. He looked
back to the others. We have proved that before.
Fordan nodded slowly. So you have. I wonder if there
was a reason for Aledorn choosing a serpent to be placed
among you. A sign, perhaps?
Leave us or die. Tarahs voice had become hard and
angry. He drew a blade stained in dark blood.
Fordan got on his horse without another word and rode
off, leaving the village of Bowren and its people behind.
He did not stop riding until the surrounding countryside
had lost its familiarity once more. There was a long journey ahead of him before he would feel safe from this place.
He followed a slow-moving stream until it took him
down beyond the far side of the mountains. There he
dismounted and settled down on the soft grass next to the
bank. Low in the eastern sky he saw the stilted plumes of
hearth fires. Somewhere in the valley there would be a
village where he could find work. He would be careful this
time to demand payment first.
The sun was low over the hills when the boys came
from the shadows of the trees. Fordan watched as they
settled along the bank in groups of two and three. A few
of them were carrying poles for fishing. Others carried
sacks from which they pulled handfuls of wriggling bait.
One of the older boys broke away from the others and
came to sit next to Fordan. His skin was as dark as the
surrounding woods. Fordan guessed he was from the village in the valley.
Have you ridden far? the boy asked. He watched the
others pulling fish from the stream.
Far enough, Fordan answered. He noticed the sack
the boy held and reached for one of the worms that still
lay moving.
As natural a food for fish as fish are for you, he told
the boy, but difficult to find at times.
The boy smiled. Sometimes we cant. Then we use
raw meat. The fish prefer the worms.
Fordan took a knife from his belt. As the boy watched,
he sliced the worm into several parts across its width.
Strange creature, this. It has the power of life from
death. Use only a portion of your bait. Slice the other as I
have done and throw it away into the woods. Each part
will grow into a new worm itself, and you will not lack for
luring fish to you.
The boy looked at him with rare innocence in his eyes.
What kind of magical creature is this?
Fordan smiled. Not magical at all. A common creature.
And each one will grow another from its parts?
Fordan looked at the writhing sections of the worm in
his hand and nodded. Wait and see. Soon youll be overrun by them.

DRAGON

57

58

OCTOBER 1989

In search of adventures
1989 by Ken Rolston
In 1983, I bought my first HARN campaign supplement, called Harn (now
known as Harnworld). The back cover
blurb unblushingly proclaimed, STATE OF
THE ART the most detailed, logical,
comprehensive, and consistent fantasy
world yet published; an authentic medieval environment of unsurpassed quality,
specifically designed for fantasy gaming.
In 1983, that was a pretty bold claim
against competition like Glorantha and
Middle-earth, but nonetheless a fair and
arguable assertion.
Ironically, and to the everlasting honor
of Columbia Games, the claims of that
blurb are probably more justified today
than they were in 1983. On its selfproclaimed termsa comprehensive,
logical, authentic medieval fantasy campaign settingeven Harns earliest supple60 OCTOBER 1989

ments are state of the art when compared

with campaign supplements for TSRs
D&D and AD&D games, I.C.E.s MERP
and ROLEMASTER games, Chaosiums
RUNEQUEST and PENDRAGON games,
Games Workshops WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLEPLAY, and other classic FRP
systems. Only the KING ARTHUR PENDRAGON game might rightfully challenge
Harns preeminence here, with its unique
mechanics for introducing models of feudal economics as integral elements of
campaign play, and with its rich blend of
Arthurian lore and medieval history. Harn,
in return might fairly boast of its epic
scale and original concept.
For years, my major reservation about
Harn was the absence of published examples of adventures in the Harn campaign
setting. This omission was perceived as a

virtue by Columbia Games, apparently in

reaction to narrowly programmed adventure modules that lead GMs and players by the nose through a narrative,
thereby constraining the GMs creativity. I
have a personal bias against obsessive
development of a setting to the exclusion
of development of narrative and theme,
probably as a reaction against the type of
game master who labors for years on
detailed maps and encyclopedias of his
campaigns, yet who never runs games
there, always protesting, But its not quite
ready yet. After four years of Harn campaign supplements without a published
example of an adventure, I had concluded
that the Columbia Games folks werent
interested in publishing an adventure, and
I lost interest in them.
With all the hoopla in the last few years

over the DRAGONLANCE campaign, the

D&D Gazetteers, the FORGOTTEN
REALMS setting, and other FRP campaign supplement series, I managed to
overlook the first Harn adventure, ArakaKalai, published in 1987, and other subsequent Harn adventures. I confess to being
easily distracted by noise and excitement.
In this, even as a reviewer, I suspect I am
in close sympathy with my audience. With
no ads in role-playing magazines, no excitement from retailers, and no anticipated
releases at conventions, Harn had simply
slipped from my mind.
But as a critic, I can make no excuses for
overlooking Harn. As the following reviews will attest, Harn has made a very
special contribution to role-playing GMs
support material. The graphics are excellent, with color maps, abundant diagrams
of locations and buildings, and appropriate, expressive illustrations of scenes,
characters, and creatures. The style of
presentation is clear and detailed, and is
dry with an occasional droll impulse. It is
well organized for reading and reference.
And the campaign materialswell, theyre
voluminous, historically and socially plausible, and full of dramatic fantasy adventure and thematic hooks.
In general, Harn materials are sophisticated and demanding of the reader and
the gamer. They arent really appropriate
for heroic fantasy (that is, lots of swinging
axes, blasts of magical fire, and account
ledgers of loot and experience points),
though the locations, characters, and
narrative themes are adaptable to such
role-playing. Ideally, Harn is for dedicated,
educated, mature gamers with an appreciation of culture, politics, and history, and
with high standards for logic, coherence,
and realism in their fantasy adventuring.
Araka-Kalai
FRP adventure supplement for the
HARNMASTER game
26-page softbound book and four pages of
predesigned player characters
Columbia Games
$16.00
Design: Edwin King, Dave Kowan, Richard
Porter, Eric Hotz, N. Robin Crossby

The central concept of this adventure

setting/scenario pack is truly grand. Its
the doorstep of a god-on-earths dwelling
place. Beneath the Pit of Araka-Kalai, a
sinkhole filled with a bizarre organic
sludge, lies the caverns where, according
to legend, the god Ilvir, Spawner of Monsters, conceives the unique, grotesque
creatures that are sacred to him. From all
over Harn, visitors come to honor Ilvir at
this site. A monastery has been founded
here to worship the god and to shelter
pilgrims. Atop a black plug of marble, an
island in the center of the sludge-filled
sinkhole, sits the ruined tower of Ilvir.
Beneath this island is an uncharted wilder-

ness of caverns occupied by strange creatures, abandoned shrines, and lost cults.
Ultimately, in the lowest ranges of the
caverns, dwells the god himself.
The choice of a limestone karst region
for the setting is geologically apt, with
sinkholes and caverns galore. The history
of the waxing and waning of a major cult
shrine, and the accounts of the communities and doctrinal squabbles of the cult
factions, are plausible, effective, motivational contexts for scenarios.
The adventures themselves are really
little more than scenario outlines, though
one or two provide enough detail to qualify as complete adventures. However, with
the sort of sophisticated gaming Harn
encourages, a scenario outline is usually
sufficient, with character development
and role-playing occupying the bulk of
session time. Further, the maps and diagrams of locations and dwellings are detailed enough to be used for travel and
strategic problem-solving.
To some degree, Araka-Kalai is a transitional phase in the development of a Harn
adventure pack, in that most of the background and setting detail is still extraneous to the scenario outlines. The
background material is rich and interesting in its own right, and it provides a
perfect opportunity for a GM to improvise
his own adventures. But only one of the
seven scenario outlines exploits the Pit of
Ilvir, the caverns beneath, and the cult
shrine background. The other six scenario
outlines are clearly integrated into the
setting but do not specifically exploit the
numerous pages of history and location
diagrams and keys that make up the bulk
of the supplement.
This is apparently an intentional design
feature. The supplement introduction
states that the designers want to provide
enough detail so GMs can begin play with
a minimum of preparatory work, but not
so much detail that the GM is locked into a
rigid path. (Incidentally, Harn materials do
require a minimum of GM study, compared with most other supplements, because of their lean, clean organization and
writing and the excellent layout and
graphics.) The philosophy of Harn has
always been to provide an intelligent,
cohesive background that does not stifle
the GMs creativity. The irony is that Columbia Games may unintentionally underestimate the GMs natural and cheerful
irreverence for FRP supplements. I suspect that the GMs instinctive impulse to
creativity is stimulated, not suppressed, by
an abundance of details, particularly when
it provides a challenging and inspiring
example of excellence.
However, the important thing about the
seven scenario outlines is that they give a
clear idea of the kinds of stories that might
be expected to unfold in a Harn setting.
One, a short mission to scout the outpost
of an unusually successful and wellorganized orc tribe, is a refreshingly plausible and interesting development of

barbaric orc culture. Another, apparently

a simple rescue mission, involves a skillful
reverse of expectations and poses a subtle
problem-solving test for the players.
Evaluation: This first Harn adventure
is more distinguished as a campaign setting than as an adventure supplement.
Caverns inhabited by the God of Monsters
are an inspired setting for fantasy adventuring, and the locations and history of the
region are detailed and well developed.
However, the virtues of the scenario outlines are their lean simplicity and the
realistic personalities and motivations of
the important NPCs. As such, this is a
highly recommended campaign setting,
and a strongly recommended adventure
setting.
100 Bushels of Rye
FRP adventure supplement for the
HARNMASTER game
28-page softbound book
Columbia Games
$10.00
Design: Garry Hamlin, Randolph Strommen, Eric Hotz, Tom Dalgliesh
This is the first example of a pure adventure module for Harn, and it is excellent.
Its a perfect short adventure in a series of
brief episodes, featuring a simple narrative focus, plenty of detail for each episode, challenging problem-solving (only a
fraction of which involves combat), and
the appealing narrative virtues of mystery,
surprise, and discovery. The presentation
is visual and concrete, well presented, and
uses a page layout ideal for quick reference during the session. Diagrams, maps,
and illustrations are abundant, easy to
read and reference, and pertinent rather
than decorative. The entire supplement is
short, simple, and clear enough to read
and understand in less than an hour.
Though the adventure is actually rather
linear (the path from the beginning to the
location where the adventure is resolved is
fairly obvious and inevitable), the resolution of the conflict is open-ended, with a
minimum of narrative rigging.
The episode locations are nicely presented. Three in particular (the manorial
village where the adventure begins, the
lair of a monster, and the mines and workshop of a dwarvm smith) are exceptionally
detailed and plausible, each with welldelineated and well-motivated protagonists, antagonists, and informants. The
background details are conveniently limited to those things necessary to running
the adventure. (For a GM with little time to
read and abstract pertinent details out of
oceans of interesting but irrelevant geographical, social, historical, and political
material, this is a refreshing change from
Harns conventional deluge of campaign
background text.)
The focus of the setting feels authentically medieval. The village is based on
historical documents describing medieval
village life in England. Physical descriptions offer realistic details. For example,
DRAGON 61

the peasant huts have no more furniture

than a trestle table and a couple of stools
or benches, reinforced oaken doors are
covered with a black, brittle substance (tar
as a preservative), and important villagers
are listed with an account of their most
important holdings: number of acres
worked, and number of cows, sheep, and
pigs owned.
Evaluation: 100 Bushels of Rye is a
very effective fantasy adventure scenario
in an authentic medieval setting. Though it
would probably work best with HARNMASTER rules, it would work equally well
for other medieval fantasy systems, particularly for systems with little PC magic, like
the WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLEPLAY
and PENDRAGON games, or for beginning
characters in more heroic systems like the,
AD&D game. As an example of a medieval
manorial village for fantasy role-playing,
and as an example of a simple, welldesigned, short FRP scenario, 100 Bushels
of Rye is highly recommended.

The Staff of Fanon

FRP adventure supplement for the HARNMASTER game
28-page softbound book
$10.00
Columbia Games
Design: N. Robin Crossby, Eric Hotz, Scott
McKay
While 100 Bushels of Rye is an excellent

62 OCTOBER 1989

example of a low-level, realistic, medieval

role-playing adventure, The Staff of Fanon
is a skillfully presented, imaginative example of a high-fantasy adventure with interworld gateways, powerful sorcery, ancient
races, marvelous beings, and fantastic
labyrinthine dwellings chock-a-block with
magical traps and treasures and nasty
daemonic entities.
Sounds a little bit like a traditional FRP
dungeon? Well, it is, but its a fairly interesting dungeon and is smoothly integrated
with the more realistic, gritty fantasy of
the Harn campaign. Most important, it
looks like fun both to run and to play.
The presentation is clearer and more
readable than the conventional dungeon
adventure format. Layouts are oriented to
single or twin pages, making reference
and backtracking during study a breeze.
The diagrams are clear and detailed, using
Harns clever and unique legend and key
system, by which, for example, one can
quickly judge the height of the ceiling or
the rise of a dais from the floor. The illustrations are eloquent and appropriate,
reducing reliance on wordy descriptions,
and they are excellent guides to the tone
and feel of the adventure. The text is lean
and explicit, without the clumsy blather of
conventional game-speak (or, more simply,
weak writing and cursory editing) that
plagues most game supplements. The
organization and use of prominent section

heads facilitates review.

In general, while most FRP adventure
supplements equate bulk of text with
value for money, The Staff of Fanon keeps
text to a minimum. And while most adventure supplements feature numerous
encounters sketchily developed (with little
more than a brief description of the setting and characters, often with wads of
game stats), The Staff of Fanon takes a
relatively short, simple series of encounters and develops them more fully, not
simply by adding more text, but by effectively blending graphics and text into a
coherent presentation.
The adventure itself is quite appealing.
For the GM, the themes and settings suggest enigmatic, oblique references to epic
currents of history. For the players, these
references will be perceived only as interesting but mysterious details encountered
along the way toward the resolution of the
conflict. Much of what the players see
they will not understand, which is as it
should be in high fantasy. The object they
seek is a minor feature of a vast and incomprehensible landscape of obscure
artifacts and structures. Players should be
bewildered and mystified, but not skeptically, as with most dungeons that are a
melange of bizarre but unrelated widgets,
monsters, and special effects with little
context or coherence. The GM knows the
background and purpose of the settings

features, and he can explicitly or implicitly

reassure the players that, though things
seem strange, they do make sense, if only
the players had the GMs information.
The problem-solving is not game-system
oriented. Though the magical effects are
specified in terms of the HARNMASTER
magic system, the characters will most
likely perceive them as special, peculiar
enchantments. Most of the problems are
focused on the practical challenges of
exploring an arcane and unfamiliar location, while searching for the object of
their quest. Only three beings are cited
with game stats, and none of these need
be fought to complete the quest.
The Staff of Fanon is the first in a proposed series of three linked adventures,
and publication of the second or third
adventures are not scheduled for the
immediate future. The adventure is fine as
a stand-alone, but many campaign GMs
would rightly prefer to have all three in
hand before they begin. Further, a fair
amount of the detail of this adventure
relates to the later adventures, and the
lack of an explanation of some of these
details in this adventure is a bit frustrating. Nonetheless, the adventure itself is
pleasing enough to deflect my concern
with this minor fault.
Evaluation: The Staff of Fanon is an
especially fine, short, high-fantasy adventure, easily adapted to any multiverse

fantasy campaign. In content and presentation, it is first-class, and it is guaranteed

to satisfy fussy and sophisticated FRP GMs
and players.
Concerning the price of 100 Bushels of
Rye and The Staff of Fanon: Folks who
balk at paying $10 for 28-page adventures
when they can get 96 pages for $9 are
missing the point. Quality, not quantity, is
the issue here.
Harn game products are available from
Columbia Games Inc., Box 581, 810 West
Broadway, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V5C
4C9; or Box 8006, Blaine WA 98230, U.S.A.

The Broken Covenant of Calebais

FRP adventure supplement for the ARS
MAGICA game
44-page softbound book
Lion Rampant
$7.95
Design: Jonathan Tweet and Mark
ReinHagen
In DRAGON issue #147, I enthusiastically
reviewed the ARS MAGICA game, a system
and campaign setting featuring an elaborate development of magic and magicians
in a historical medieval context. The Broken Covenant of Calebais, the first published adventure for that game, is a
persuasive example of how the ARS MAGICA system can produce a first-class
fantasy adventure with a spotlight on
wizards and sorcery.

Many years ago, a covenant (a wizards

commune, complete with staff and mercenary guards) mysteriously sealed itself off
from the outside world and from the
other covenants of the Order of Hermes.
The magi have assumed that misfortune
fell upon the covenant, but no one has
penetrated the sorcerous illusions guarding the fallen covenant. When a missing
clue to the nature of the protective wards
was discovered, an expedition to investigate was organized. The adventurers and
scholars will search the ruins of the Broken Covenant for an explanation to the
covenants downfall, and they may find its
priceless libraries and magical treasures
intact and salvageable.
The Broken Covenant is an adventure
with an explicit and developed theme:
leadership and the art of governing. Such
an explicit treatment of theme in an RPG
scenario is perhaps a touch pedantic, but
it is based in a sound understanding of
dramatic mechanics. The designers exhort
the reader to raise their hobby to the
standard of art, to elevate play to a greater
level of emotional impact. I wince a bit at
such rhetoric, but this earnest focus of the
adventures action is part of The Broken
Covenants distinctive coherence and effectiveness as a scenario. The Broken Covenant is also peculiar in its explicit notice
that if the GM and players are uncomfortable with violence, the scenario may be

DRAGON 63

successfully completed with little or no

resort to violent tactics. This is odd stuff to
encounter in an introduction to a roleplaying adventure, but it certainly raised
my expectations. The designers clearly
were reaching for something more than a
run-of-the-mill FRP adventure.
Fortunately, the scenario is not only
earnest but imaginative, challenging, mysterious fun. The setting itself, a wizards
commune struck by catastrophe, bedecked
with the traps, treasures, and mysteries
associated with the plot, is exploration
role-playing on an epic scale. As usual in a
suspense/mystery/explore-the-unknown
role-playing adventure, I cant publicly
praise the material in detail without spoiling things for the players. However, for
the prospective storyguide, I can mention
a few general features that are especially
well handled. The on-the-road-to-thedungeon encounter is a charming, wellpaced warm-up to the rest of the
adventure. The riddle is elaborate, satisfying, and solvable, with GM play-onthrough directions for those who, like me,
hate RPG riddles; this one, though, I could
foist upon my gaming associates with a
clear conscience. The minor antagonists.
are adorable, bush league, and numerous,
and are provided with a complete microculture and survival rationale. The NPC
motivations, tactics, trappings, and roleplaying presentation hints are comprehensive, readable, and set up for easy
reference. There is plenty of treasure, but
not in the traditional D&D-game sense of
loot and orc-baking magical widgetry.
Here, the treasure is that of the detective,
archaeologist, and explorer: strange and
mysterious scenes, events, and artifacts
that may be only interesting curiosities or
may provide clues to the mystery of the
fallen covenant. The final resolution is
suitably epic and ghoulish, worthy of the
lesser challenges and problems that the
characters encounter along the way.
Evaluation: The Broken Covenant

pleased me enormously; my recommendation is unreserved. The FRP adventure

crop of late has been depressingly unexceptional; against such weak competition,
The Broken Covenant easily distinguishes
itself. How does it rate against the Harn
adventures, or my other Hall-of-Fame
favorites like Ravenloft, The Grey Knight,
Shadows over Bgenhafen, the classic
RUNEQUEST scenario packs, and the
Companions Islandian Campaign series?
Unfortunately, when compared with the
Harn materials, The Broken Covenant is a
bit awkward. The graphics are weak; the
wrap-up is a bit abrupt; and the writing,
materials, maps, and organization are
somewhat less than polished. But for original tone and flavor, general effect, and
ambitious aspiration, its a thoroughly
satisfying adventure.
My only quandary is whether I should
introduce my gaming group to the ARS
MAGICA system in order to take greatest
advantage of the scenarios features, or
64 OCTOBER 1989

whether I should adapt The Broken Covenant to our house campaign rules. Standard melee combat plays a small part in the
scenario, so adaptation of NPC and creature stats is only a minor problem. However, The Broken Covenant is best suited
for the flexible resources of ARS MAGICA
game magic, though a squad of midlevel
D&D game spell-casters or SJGs GURPS
Magic game characters with a wide distribution of spells might manage the investigative and tactical magic necessary to cope
with the scenarios challenges.
The Broken Covenant is available from
Lion Rampant, P.O. Box 621, Northfield
MN 55057, U.S.A.

Flight 13
Adventure supplement for the GURPS
Horror or GURPS Space games
64-page softbound book
Steve Jackson Games
$8.95
Design: W. G. Armintrout
Heres an adorable bug-eyed-monster,
Fifties-style, science-fiction adventure in
which mad scientists from beyond the
stars capture some humans and subject
them to scientific tests. These tests look
suspiciously like television actionadventure episodes to those of us not
trained in science. As usual, these mad
scientists from beyond the stars are unspeakably powerful and technologically
hip, so they can effortlessly craft fantastic
amusement park arcades for destruction
testing of our doughty PC heroes. This
concept is so cliche that its hip. It takes a
certain amount of courage to publish such
an apparently unfashionable setting and
adventure, particularly for a relatively
sophisticated system as the GURPS game.
And freed of such fetters as realism and
real-life logic, it looks like a lot of fun.
The presentation and adventure staging
are sharp and appealing, going for depth
of characterization and episode rather
than epic scope. To start, a plot twist in the
middle of the first episode yanks the rug
out from under the players (and PCs) feet.
In the opening episode, we get a welldeveloped event description and NPCencounter menu. In other adventures,
wed probably get only a half-page explain-

ing how to herd the PC victims together

where they can be scooped up by the
ponderously linear narrative. Maybe its a
little like the movies Airport, Towering
Inferno, and Airplane, where you get
introduced to the character actors
through little bits of action and reaction,
but its actually a clever model for passing
action and reaction among the PCs. Everyone gets to respond in character. (Sure,
they all get to respond, too, if you open
with a little melee action, but theres a
tired cliche if there ever was one.) By the
end of the opening teaser, the PCs are
loaded down with all the nice bits of characterization baggage; only then does the
plot pop out of the box.
Of course, I cant share nice bits of the
plot with you GMs, because your dopey
players are listening. But all the stuff that
happens is unexpected and tricky to handle. The genre and tone are hard to place.
Flight 13 is billed as GURPS Horror/
Space, but the correct label might be
1950s Television/Movie Science-Fiction
Action-Adventure. Twilight Zone, anyone?
At least its not Militaristic Space Opera.
The one problem I can see is fitting this
into an ongoing campaign. The tone and
texture of the setting are not likely to
match a standard SF action-adventure
campaign, though it would work just fine
as a surprise saga for modern-day supernatural settings. (Hint: The tone would
probably fit well with the GURPS Supers
game, if the game matches conventional
superhero role-playing models.) But even if
you cant run this adventure for your
group, pick it up as an example of firstclass character involvement and plot development through episodic conflicts.
Evaluation: Flight 13 is full of fun, is
well-presented, and is an admirable model
for introducing PCs to a scenario through
role-playing and interaction with NPCs. It
is strongly recommended, though it is a bit
eccentric by contrast with other GURPS
science-fiction supplements like the GURPS
Space game, and it is possibly difficult to
work into an ongoing GURPS campaign.
GURPS game products are available
from Steve Jackson Games, Box 18957,
Austin TX 78760, U.S.A.

Sunset World

from page 25

clearly of Illithid construction and presumably abandoned as a result of climate

changes. We found a number of these
ruins in the salt desert. I urge you to examine Master Kuros report most carefully,
but the gist of it is this: While most of the
sites had been stripped of all artifacts but
for the constructs themselves, a few
mounds were different.
We found traces of an outer wall of
stone blocks and buildings with entrances
at ground level. Below the water table
were organic remains preserved in the
acidic soil: traces of grain and straw, a few
charred timbers of pine and oak, fragmentary skeletons of horses, cattle, and geese.
A few simple tools survived, and there
were many spent arrows. There were
other remains, toohuman for the most
part, though one of the partial skeletons
may have been that of a gnome or small
dwarf. The skulls we found bore marks of
Illithid predation. All these traces and
remains were ancient in the extreme.
The meaning of these findings has been
much debated on our return journey and
during the time since our return. The
evidence is hardly conclusive, but I will
put forward the conjecture which best

suits the facts as I know them. Ssirik

Akuar is not the Illithid homeworld, as our
taciturn githzerai guides had implied. It
was once much like our own.
There is a persistent rumor among the
folk of the Underearth that the Illithids
seek to extinguish our Sun. This has very
properly been dismissed as foolish, wishful thinking on their part. The Illithids
could no more thrive on a sunless surface
than could we. Within years or even
months of such a ludicrous outcome, the
planet would become an icy wasteland
unfit for any sort of life. The ruins we
found at Ssirik Akuar suggest to me a
more plausible and sinister story.
Much still remains to be explained, and
many more questions have been raised by
this final discovery. Where did the Illithids
originate if not on Ssirik Akuar? Why did
the githzerai assure us they had brought
us to the Illithid home world? Why should
the Illithids, if they produced the Sunset
Worlds present conditions, have stocked it
with so many living things inimical to
themselves? How could such changes of a
world and its sun be accomplished? These
are difficult questions. Rather than answer
them, many of my colleagues would rather
suppose some other explanation for what
we found at Ssirik Akuar.

I confess that I find such questions less

than compelling. I am torn between a
certain lassitudewe are all of us tired
still from our sojournand a furious urge
to action, to any action. I feel a certain
chill at days end: perhaps only a relic of
Ssirik Akuars damp airs, but perhaps
something moreperhaps a chill of premonition, a growing certainty that my
colleagues and fellow adventurers died not
merely in the service of learning, or even
for our Empire, but for something greater
still. They died so that we survivors might
bring this warning. I look at the Sun now
and wonder if it has grown somewhat
redder. Are the days and nights longer
than they were? As I contemplate these
thoughts, a further chill runs the length of
my body. Perhaps one day we, too, will
dwell in a Sunset World.
More information on mind flayers may
be found in The Ecology of the Mind
Flayer, in DRAGON issue #78. The material in this article and in The Dragons
Bestiary may be used with the material
on mind flayers in the AD&D 2nd Edition
Monstrous Compendium, Volume 1, with
some changes, particularly concerning the
use of psionics and methods of Illithid
reproduction.

DRAGON 65

Continued from page 5

I.C.E.s booth, which sold the SHADOW
WORLD fantasy game and supplements (the Shadow games are not
related). The Australian Games Group
presented its LACE & STEEL swashbuckling FRPG, set in a fantasy world
much like 17th-century Europe but
with centaurs, satyrs, and harpies (as
well as humans) among the population.
And (oops) TSR also had the Deluxe
City Campaign Set, by Allen Varney, for
the MARVEL SUPER HEROES game. I
myself was particularly intrigued by
the long-awaited vehicle-rules supplement to BTRCs MACHO WOMEN WITH
GUNS game: Renegade Nuns on Wheels
(the game that treads the fine line
between heresy and blasphemy). I am
completely serious.
Other non-RPG items caught my eye.
One booth had a wide assortment of
furry animal figurines dressed in Napoleonic costumes, from places like the
Otterman Empire, for miniatures battles. Another sold wholesome, patriotic
T-shirts, such as the one showing a B-52
against a burning horizon with the
legend, STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND:
NEXT DAY AIR. There were many
Buckaroo Banzai T-shirts as well, which
I stupidly forgot to purchase. I also
found a copy of 3Ws alternate-history
board game, TOMORROW THE
WORLD, in which the triumphant
armies of Imperial Japan and Nazi
Germanywith nukes, jets, and all
fight World War III for control of the
Earth (in 1948, no less). The game
comes with a short historical timeline
so plausible and blood chilling that it
makes the dark-future cyberpunk RPGs
look obnoxiously cheerful.
As those of you who attended know,
there were zillions and bejillions of
games: role-playing games, board
games, computer games, miniatures
games, card games, dice games, family
gamesyou-name it, it was there. The
winner for special effects goes to
FASAs BATTLETECH simulators, in

66 OCTOBER 1989

which you could pilot a massive BattleMech in one-on-one combat against

another heavily armed Mechin real
time, with a simulated 3-D view of your
surroundings on a TV monitor. Task
Force Games STAR FLEET BATTLES,
GDWs HARPOON, and GWs WARHAMMER 40,000 games were much in
evidence in the miniatures areas. And
the most-played game was, as you
would expect even if you had spent the
last 10 years in the jungles of Sumatra,
the AD&D game.
If you were bored with gaming, there
was the auction, the video room, the
art show (with guest Michael Whelan
and over a million dollars worth of
artwork), and an exhibitors hall in
which everyone could (and did) buy
themselves into a stupor. When you ran
out of money, there were lots of free
things to pick up all over the con, and
when you had too many free things to
move any more, you could sit down
and play games again.
And there were seminars. Your editors ran several magazine-related seminars, one of which was accompanied
by sound effects from the Miskatonic
University Reunion next door, which
had a contest for the best dying scream
of someone who was probably being
eaten alive by ghouls. It was hard to
say. Anyway, we fielded a few rumors
about the magazines as well, such as:
l DRAGON Magazine does not accept
material from beginning writers (we
certainly do);
l DRAGON Magazine refuses to print
material on non-TSR games (wrong);
l DRAGON Magazine will go out of
print in two years because of falling
subscriptions (what?); and
l DRAGON Magazine editors hire gangs
of street thugs who use rubber truncheons to beat those who spread bad
rumors about the magazine (this is
false, of course, as many of the thugs
we hire could never even spell truncheons, much less use them).
The auction ran along quite rapidly,
and every game, book, and figurine

was given at least a two-second chance

to be sold to some buyer. There was
even an auction store for unsold items,
where I noticed a lonely copy of DR.
RUTHS GAME OF GOOD SEX (left over
from last years auction), which should
serve as a dramatic warning about
something, but perhaps this isnt the
place to say exactly what.
And best of all, there were lots of
famous peopleauthors, designers,
editors, and garnersbut there were
entirely too many of them to name
here (sorry to all). There were lots of
parties, too, but I made it to only one
before collapsing.
There were disappointments, of
course. I never made it out to lunch
with Marc Miller of GDW (really, Ill do
better next year, I swear). The spare
magazines we had ordered for the
booth were brought in but were hidden from view under a table, and we
didnt find them until late Sunday. And
I never got to play in the BATTLETECH
simulators or sit in on the RPG event in
which Elvis is resurrected by Cthulhu.
(I did watch Mike Pondsmith run a
good CYBERPUNK game, though.)
At the end of it all, your editors tore
down the booth and had all the product
ready to ship home in one hour flat. We
went out for Mexican food, and then
went home to await the mixed blessings
of Monday morning: the unopened
mail, the exhaustion, the flu, the car
repair bills, the editing, etc.
But it was fun. Ill do it again next
year, but this time with more comfortable sneakers. And maybe with some
all-new rumors, too, especially if they
involve Elvis and nuns on motorcycles.

DRAGON

67

1989 by Hartley,
Patricia, and Kirk Lesser

If you were a god, how would you run things?

We have never seen so many good
games released during the summertime by
software publishers. There are so many
games, in fact, that we have had to call
upon trusted associates to help us with the
game-review process. They have been
writing for us for over a decade, and their
expertise is highly regarded throughout
the computer industry. Herein youll find
several mini-reviews (Dragon Bytes)
written by them. This allows us to offer
full coverage of all of the games we receive for review

Reviews
Computer-game ratings
X
*
**
***
****
*****

Not recommended
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Superb

Electronic Arts
1820 Gateway Drive
San Mateo CA 94404
(415) 571-7171
*****
Populous
$49.95
Commodore Amiga version
The story of Good versus Evil in a new
and entertaining format has been released
by Electronic Arts. Designed by Bullfrog,
this game is an outstanding offering for
Commodore Amiga enthusiasts. Populous
is a game with a different feel and interface quite unlike anything currently available on the market. Basically, you perform
miracles. You are a god and, as such, control part of a worlds population.
It is your responsibility to see that your
people have enough food. If you manage
this task by granting your settlers land for
68 OCTOBER 1989

crops, they will worship you. Through

their worship, you gain power with which
you can oppose the work of another god
who controls the rest of the population on
the same world. The followers of the two
gods fight one another, of course, and you
can assist your side by decimating the
enemy with a number of godlike maneuvers such as creating earthquakes, floods,
swamps, and volcanoes. The god who
eventually wins the most battles and creates the most knights, and whose people
rule the land, wins the game. But even
then, Populous is tar from over. There are
literally hundreds of worlds to conquer,
and you can even design your own world
using the games built-in Creator program.
Populous is also playable by two players
over a null modem link between two
Amiga computers or through phone lines
via a connected modem.
The key issue in the game is the enrichment of your own people with good land,
which you physically raise or lower to
make it suitable for crops. Settlements
start out as mud huts; as you prepare the
land for planting, settlements can evolve
into castles.
As your population grows, you can
either ask your worshipers to settle new
lands or call them to the Papal Magnet.
Once a settler touches the Papal Magnet,
he becomes a leader, You can convert a
leader into a Knight, should you have
enough Manna (energy) to do so. A Knight
is a perpetual search-and-destroy machine
who hunts and slays the opposition and
burns its buildings. To increase the
strength of your settlers (also known as
walkers) and your knights, you click on
the Gather then Settle icons. This
causes your walkers to bump into one
another and, if the settlers are of the same
faith, they merge and become a single
walker. We found that it helps to move the
Papal Magnet to an opposition settlement,
click on the Go to Papal Magnet icon,
then wait for our folk to arrive. The first
one to touch the Papal Magnet becomes a

leader; by immediately clicking on the

Knight icon, we turn him into a Knight.
Then we quickly click on the Gather and
Settle icons, which causes other walkers
in the area to merge with the Knight, who
becomes virtually invincible as he tromps
through enemy settlements.
You can turn the music and sound effects off or on, as well as save and load
games. An information shield is also available that tells you the relative strengths of
settlements as compared to castles, the
strengths of walkers, and how combat
between opposing settlers and walkers is
progressing. Through Divine Intervention,
you can also affect the outcome of combat
by following one of your Knights into
enemy territory. Should you see an opponent or a large settlement ahead, you can
lower the land below the opposing force
until water appears and the opponent
drowns. Thats one less opponent for your
Knight to worry about, and he can continue with his slay-and-burn mission.
Populous has captured our gaming
imagination for the last few days. Our only
wish is that Populous would become available for more computer systems so that
other gamers can enjoy being gods as well!
Palace Software, Ltd.
(distributed by Epyx, Inc.)
600 Galveston Drive
Redwood City CA 94063
(415) 366-0606
****
Axe of Rage
Commodore 64/128 version
$33.95
We didnt think this game would amount
to much. The package is one of the ugliest
presentations for software weve ever
seen, and it boasts an included tattoo!
Well, hold on. Axe of Rage is actually
pretty good. The arcade game puts you in
the role of either Gorth or Mariana back
in the days of mammoths, pit things,
razor-toothed tigers, and the gnawin
purple pack-o-plenty creature. Your quest
is to gain access to the Subterranean Sanctum of Drax, and you only have six lives
with which to accomplish this feat. The
creatures are tough to defeat until you
learn how to time your axe swings with
the joystick. For example, suppose your
on-screen representative faces right; if you
hold your fire button down and:
l move your joystick to the left, you execute a flying neck chop.
l
move your joystick down, you kneel and
let fly with a low chop.
l
move your joystick to the right, you kick
your opponent.
l move your joystick up, you leap into a
high chop.
If your character is facing left on-screen,
you simply reverse the directions of the
joystick moves to accomplish any move.
This is the only real drawback to playing
the game, as during battle it is easy to
forget that you must reverse your joystick
moves when facing one direction or another. With every mistake your Gorth or

Mariana makes in an attack, the enemy

inflicts damage upon you. There are two
strength bars at the top of the screen; one
strength bar is yours, and the other is
your opponents. As damage is inflicted on
you or the opponent, the appropriate
strength bar is reduced in size until it
disappearsand death occurs. A counter
keeps track of your remaining lives.
You start out in the Valley of Despair and
face mutant chickens, knuckle draggers,
and a lardosaurus that enjoys a quick
snack of your head. This valley has a total
of 26 battle areas; if if you dont learn how
to wield your axe immediately, youll be
lucky to get past the sixth hostile. A sword
located at the bottom of the screen is your
compass and is used to reorient the screen
each time you pass into another section of
the maze.
Remaining levels include Level 2: The
Caverns; Level 3: The Dungeon; and Level
4: Draxs Subterranean Sanctum. Additionally, look forward to the cave crud, dripping gore, and lava rivers. Fortunately,
there are some amenities in the game such
as a special globe that prevents Draxs evil
magic from consuming you. Other goodies
include a special key, a sacred axe, and a
special shield (a necessity). The real key to
success is to continually practice your
moves during noncombative phases. Practice makes perfect and, in the case of Axe
of Rage, ensures youll live long enough to
perhaps win the quest. Axe of Rage is not
for those who find the sight of blood distasteful It is an engrossing slash n hack
thatll please most arcaders. It is available
for the C64/128 and Atari ST
Springboard Software, Inc.
7808 Creekridge Circle
Minneapolis MN 55435
(612) 944-3915
****
Hidden Agenda
Apple Macintosh version
$49.95
Hidden Agenda is far more than a game.
It is a simulation of politics as played in
the life and death struggle in Central
America. There is no one way to win the
game; there is no one way to save your
own skin; there is no one way to win over
the hearts of the people while simultaneously appeasing forces that feel differently
than you. Hidden Agenda is a learning
experience and is on the same level of
excellence as Chris Crawfords two Balance of Power offerings. Although Hidden
Agenda doesnt possess the worldly scope
of Mr. Crawfords offerings, the microcosm of the country of Chimerica is yours
to control, for better or for worse.
You have just been elected President of
Chimerica. Upon starting the adventure,
you are confronted with a press conference where you must make statements
regarding three goals you wish to achieve.
These set the tone for your first year.
Upon completing the press conference,
you must fill your cabinet positions. These
include the Agriculture, Defense, Internal
DRAGON 69

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and the

TSR logo are trademarks owned by and used
under license from TSR, Inc. 1989 TSR, Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
70 OCTOBER 1989

Affairs, and External Affairs ministers,

who advise you throughout the game
regarding policy decisions. But watch out!
Alienation of one of these powerful ministers could lead to your downfall. The
game requires a careful balance of all
power brokers.
Your ministers are selected from one of
three candidates put forward by the three
political parties: Christian Reform, National Liberation, and Popular Stability.
You click on the icon of the party in which
you are interested, then select a candidate
to investigate. You can read the statements
this candidate has made regarding political
plans. Remembering to balance your cabinet, you then appoint this candidate directly to the ministerial position for which
he is most suited. (You can also fire any of
your ministers during the course of the
game.) When all four cabinet positions are
filled, you move on to running the country.
By clicking on the Desk icon, you are
presented with several options. You can
proceed to an encounter with someone
influential, become involved in consultations with your ministers, check your
meetings through the logbook, obtain
reports from news excerpts, or look at
your countrys progress charts.
Encounters occur with people like the
landless laborer, teacher, coffee grower,
American ambassador, guard leader, trade
union leader, American TNC rep, IMF,
representative, campesino, army colonel,
Soviet ambassador, rights activist, shopkeeper, coffee worker, doctor, cotton cultivator, sub-commandante, bishop,
industrialist, banker, and Cuban consul.
You simply click on the individual you
wish to encounter and take the meeting to
a conclusion. Each person wants something specific that you or your ministers
may or may not favor. The result of this
encounter is that you must make a decision whether to accept or reject the proposal from this individual. You may ask
advice from the advising minister, who
will give you his or her opinion as to what
should be done with the proposal. You can
put the proposal on an agenda that gives
you time to mull over the information.
This also allows input from all of your
ministers, although some decisions cant
be put off until later. Your decisions ultimately cause your support level with
different forces to go up and down. The
old saying that you cant please all of the
people all of the time is certainly true in
Chimerica.
The consultations enable you to discuss
a topic of interest with the minister selected. You can make your decisions immediately or call for opinions from all of your
ministers to receive a general consensus.
Through the logbook, you review past
meeting decisions; by reviewing the progress charts, you show how Chimerica is
progressing through a variety of indexes
that include military spending, social
spending, infant mortality, land distribution, food crops, export crops, agricultural

earnings, cash reserves and debt, loans

and aid, and news excerpts. Thanks to a
reference manual from Springboard, you
can study any element of Hidden Agenda
and base your decisions on sound research from the data in the manual.
Throughout your presidency, interrupts
occur. These are emergency situations that
require your immediate input to avoid
catastrophe. You must accept either the
advice of the individual bringing the matter to your attention or the advice of a
minister.
When the game draws to a conclusion, a
verdict of history is presented, an encyclopedia of your term of office, You can judge
how well (or how poorly) you managed
Chimerica. The verdict of history can also
be printed if you like. You can save your
game in progress, recall saved games, or
restore a saved game while in the middle
of a less successful endeavor. The authors
(Jim Gasperini, Ron Martinez, Gregory
Guerin, Angela Greene, and Bill Herdle)
have successfully brought to the computer
the true feel of what its like to be a pawn
of the major powers. Included in the package is a complete, well-written users manual, a complete and handy reference
manual, and a color map of Chimerica. We
strongly recommend thoroughly reading
the reference material before play. Hidden
Agenda is a role-playing event and is one
of the few games we intend to keep on
our game shelf and out of the packing box.
This is highly recommended!
Hidden Agenda is available for PC/MSDOS and Apple Macintosh computers (it
runs in color on the latter). It is not copy
protected and is easily transferrable to a
hard disk.

Mindscape, Inc.
3444 Dundee Road
Northbrook IL 60062
(312) 480-7667

****
Gauntlet
Apple Macintosh II version
$49.95
This is a flying-finger fantasy. Talk about
exciting! Gauntlet can drive you absolutely
bonkers as you attempt to mop up
dungeon levels in your quest to obtain
riches. For one or two players, Gauntlet
joins Thor, Thyra, or Merlin in a massive
display of magic and hand-to-hand combat
in the finest of arcade-game traditions.
The color version on the Macintosh II is
absolutely first-rate.
Whats unique is that in a two-player
game, both gamers can select a character.
When working in unison to clear dungeon
levels, selecting characters with differing
but complimentary powers works to your
advantage. For example, Thor the warrior
can axe the monsters to pieces, but his
magic skill is lacking. He can magic away
some of the monsters, but until those
monster generators are destroyed, those

gruesome goons continue to come out ad

infinitum. Perhaps Merlin the Wizard
should be the second character. Although
he wears no armor and is the absolute pits
when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, his
magic can destroy the monster generators
and all monsters. The third character,
Thyra, is most at home in a defensive role
as her shield can stop about 30% of all
damage and her sword can cut through
the monster generators. The fourth available character is an elf named Questor.
Despite poor shot power, lousy armor, and
a dagger that cannot destroy the monster
generators, his magic skills are top-notch.
The key to each dungeon level attack must
be the monster generators which continually spew out beasties at an unbelievable
rate until you rid the level of this infernal
machine.
Even if you start the game as a single
player, a compatriot can join you at the
press of the fire button or fire key of the
appropriate control. With two players, one
uses the mouse and the other the keyboard. You can also save a game in progress, and Gauntlet runs under MultiFinder.
With the Dark Prince himself lurking to
steal 200 points of health from you, remember that only magic will defeat him.
Other nasties include sorcerers, lobbers
(they toss rocks at you over dungeon
walls, then flee), demons (fireball shooters), grunts (creeps with clubs), and ghosts
(they hit you once, then disappear). You
can gain extra pickup power that enables
you to carry as many as 15 items, extra
fighting power for increased hand-to-hand
combat ability, extra shot power to increase your missile damage to opponents,
extra shot speed to make your missiles fly
like rockets, extra magic power to boost
potion effects, and extra armor. Other
items you might find on the dungeon
levels include an amulet that turns you
invisible for a short time, treasure chests,
food, keys, transporters, nasty traps, cider,
and poison that looks like cider.
Cooperation in the treasure rooms garners the most points for all concerned,
and the best way to destroy the monster
generators is to shoot them. The exits to
differing levels are labeled. Though your
partner is immune to your own shots or
attacks, there are areas in Gauntlet where
you can stun or injure your compatriot.
The Macintosh II version has an options
menu that not only identifies each monster and its capabilities, but it also has a
treasure screen that identifies the goodies
you find.
Gauntlet is a great example of arcading
excellence. It shows that the Apple Macintosh II computer is reaching far beyond
the work-a-day world and is a computer fit
for superb gaming. Gauntlet is one arcade
goodie that should find its way to any
gamers Macintosh. Versions are also available for C64/128, Atari B-bit, Atari ST,
Apple II family, Apple IIGS, and PC/MS-DOS
computers.

Dragon Bytes
Mindscape, Inc.
3444 Dundee Road
Northbrook IL 60062
(312) 480-7667

Trust and Betrayal: The Legacy of

****
Sibot
Apple Macintosh version
$49.95
Chris Crawford, known for his game
design, has succeeded again. Trust and
Betrayal: The Legacy of Sibot is one of
Chriss mind games. However, as is the
case with all of Chriss games, Trust and
Betrayal is not for the novice game player.
In fact, it may not even be for the
advanced game player. Trust and Betrayal
is complicated!
The player is a character called Vetvel,
who is one of seven acolytes on Kira, a
moon of the Planet Lamina. The colony on
Kira is all that is left of Laminas civilization after a nuclear war. The Kirians are
telepathic and therein lies the foundation
of Trust and Betrayal. The job of the
player is to obtain new telepathic powers
by acquiring eight auras of three types.
The three aura types are tanaga, katsin,
and shial, and each aura has its own set of
special properties. Auras are mental properties associated with telepathy. The game
is played between acolytes trying to acquire the perfect 8-8-8 set of auras.
The telepathic battles occur at night
while you are asleep. Your spirit travels to
the Land of Auras where you encounter
the spirits of other acolytes. Each aura has
its own set of special properties. During a
telepathic battle, you wrap yourself in one
of these auras, as does your opponent.
Defeating an aura is like playing the old
game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. In Trust and
Betrayal, a tanaga aura will defeat a katsin
aura, a katsin aura defeats a shial aura,
and a shial aura defeats a tanaga aura.
Confusing? It can be, but once you start
playing, the rules of the game are easy to
remember. You try to play the aura that
will defeat the aura of your opponent,
thus gaining auras you have in short supply. The tricks are to learn how many
auras your potential opponent has and to
anticipate which aura he will use in battle.
Trust and Betrayal is won or lost in your
dialogs with other characters and acolytes.
You must use such attributes as tact, bluster, and friendliness in order to learn who
is trustworthy and who is not. You also
learn about the auras the other acolytes
have and might use.
As difficult as it is, Trust and Betrayal is
an interactive human-relationship game.
As a player, you gain advantages by learning as much as you can about each character you encounter. Like life, Trust and
Betrayal relies heavily on a players intuition and insight. Continued play while
increasing the difficulty level increases
your understanding of relationships and
how they affect the game.
Trust and Betrayal is a superior concoc-

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and the

TSR logo are trademarks owned by and used
under license from TSR, Inc. 1989 TSR, Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
DRAGON 71

tion of a game. It is fun yet serious. Its

difficulty will scare away many players,
which is unfortunate. In some respects,
Trust and Betrayal reminds me of the
Oriental game, GO, as the latters philosophical and psychological underpinnings
are similar to Trust and Betrayal. For game
players who like a challenge and enjoy a
head trip, Trust and Betrayal: The Legacy
of Sibot is a must.
Mark D. Veljkov
Melbourne House
711 West 17th Street, Unit G9
Costa Mesa CA 92627
(714) 631-1001

****
Barbarian
$39.99
PC/MS-DOS version
You are Hegor, the most famous dragon
slayer of all in a time and place long ago.
You saw a dragon kill your father when
you were a child, and you have sworn to
avenge his death. Now the kingdom is in
turmoil as children disappear at night and
homes are burned to the ground. The king
offers his crown and riches to whoever
can stop this terrible trouble. So the adventure beginsand Barbarian is fun. The
monsters dont appear so quickly that
there isnt time to catch your breath.
Barbarian is proof that there are good
adventures for PC/MS-DOS machines that
consider a variety of graphics modes. This
game is available for Amiga, C64/128, and
Apple IIGS computers.
Courtney Harrington

News and new products

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and the

TSR logo are trademarks owned by and used
under license from TSR, Inc. 1989 TSR, inc. All
Rights Reserved.
72 OCTOBER 1989

Broderbund Software (415-492-3200)

has released Licence to Kill. In the computer game, the player is Agent 007, who
fights across land, sea, and air to defeat a
drug lord. The player pilots helicopters in
pursuit of planes and jeeps, swims with
sharks, dodges bullets, water-skis with a
harpoon gun, and chases oil tankers in a
crop duster. The game is scheduled for
release in formats for PC/MS-DOS, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST ($34.951, and C64/
128 ($29.95) computers,
Carmen Sandiego travels far into the
past in her best-selling series. In the form
of an exciting detective chase, Where in
Time is Carmen Sandiego? highlights leading people, events, and inventions of the
past 1,500 years. The program is scheduled for release this fall in PC/MS-DOS and
Apple II versions, for $44.95 each. In this
fourth adventure, Carmen Sandiego and
her gang have a time machine that allows
them to go back in time, from A.D. 400 to
the 1950s. Shes now dispatching gang
members to Spain in 1492 to steal Queen
Isabellas jewels, and to visit England in
1215 to snatch the Magna Carta. Not to be
outdone, the Acme Detective Agency has
developed a time machine of its own. The
player takes the part of a detective who
must round up the renegades. To help

interpret clues, the game comes with a

1,300-page reference book, The New
American Library Desk Encyclopedia.
There is also an on-line graphic database
of historical clues.
Data East (408-286-7074) has released
Heavy Barrel in formats for C64/128 and
PC/MS-DOS computers, for $29.95 and
$39.95 respectively. The player must recapture the underground control complex
of a nuclear missile site occupied by terrorists before the terrorists launch the
missiles. The terrorists have tanks, treacherous waterways, and bridges, as well as
the only weapon capable of dismantling
their organization: the Heavy Barrel, the
most powerful gun ever created. However,
a clever technician dismantled Heavy
Barrel before the terrorist invasion, and
its in pieces hidden inside the installation.
The player must move quickly to locate
and reassemble the weapon, which is
stored in six different lockers. The player
must find the keys to each locker, find the
lockers, and reassemble Heavy Barrel
without being detected. He must then
eliminate the terrorist leader and regain
control of the complex.
Interplay Productions (714-549-2411)
has released Dragon Wars, set in the humid world of Oceana, 85% of whose surface is covered with water and is dotted
with islands. Play begins as you and a
party of pilgrims set out on a voyage for a
holy land in search of a better life. Along
the way, the ship docks at a harbor for
suppliesbut you and your party are
dragged off the ship by merciless guards,
imprisoned, and stripped of everything
but your wits. You are confined to Purgatory, a prison-city created by King Drake
of Phoebus.
The once kind and good King Drake has
begun conquering surrounding islands in
an apparent effort to rule Oceana, which
has never known a unified government.
He has declared, without reason, that all
magic is forbidden. Several islands
threaten to unleash their guardian dragons: beasts that are believed to be the
mightiest deterrent of attack and the most
destructive force in Oceana. The player
must learn why magic is illegal and stop
Drakes conquest. Dragon Wars features
an easy-to-use pop-up window environment, supports characters from Bards
Tale I, II, and III, and has automapping, so
theres no need for graph paper. Dragon
Wars is available for the Apple II computer
for $49.95. A version for the C64/128 costs
$44.95, and one for PC/MS-DOS machines
will be released this fall.
Lucasfilm Games (415-662-1800) will
soon release Loom, a fantasy adventure
game. A unique feature of Loom is a
graphic interface that dispenses entirely
with text commands and menus, relying
instead on icons and music. The setting for
Loom is the Age of Great Guilds, a mythical time when shepherds, blacksmiths, and
glassmakers ruled the world. Its unlikely
hero is Bobbin, a young member of the

mysterious Guild of Weavers, who finds

himself playing the pivotal role in a mighty
conflict between good and evil. As the
game opens, Bobbin is alone in his Weaver
village. The Elders of the Guild have mysteriously disappeared, swept away by an
unknown force. All Bobbin can do is
search for clues. When he finds a Weavers
distaff, the magic of Loom begins. On the
screen, the distaff, resembling a rough
walking stick, appears under the graphics
window. Divided into eight segments, each
related to a musical note, the distaff both
detects and weaves magical spells. Loom is
scheduled for release for PC/MS-DOS,
Amiga, and Atari ST computers.
MicroProse (301-771-1151) will release
Sword of the Samurai for PC/MS-DOS
machines. The game will follow the MicroProse fantasy/role-playing traditions first
established with the award-winning Pirates! game. Atmosphere is emphasized as
well as an accurate portrayal of historical
Japanese culture. Players take on the role
of an ambitious young Samurai seeking to
move up the military and social ladders.
By first becoming daimyo, or lord of his
clan, the Samurai begins a dramatic climb
to power that can ultimately lead to the
title of Shogun, ruler of all Japan.
Omnitrend Software (203-658-6917)
has made available the latest installment in
the Universe series: Universe 3. Universe 3
is a graphics oriented science fiction adventure game. Using a set of command
boxes, the player can control characters
and objects without typing words on the
keyboard. A complete set of icons on the
screen allow the player to move around
the game. Combined, these icons and
command boxes create a unique, elegant
interface that makes Universe 3 stand out
from ordinary adventure games. The PC/
MS-DOS price is $49.95. Versions for the
Commodore Amiga and Atari ST will also
appear this year.
Origin Systems (603-644-3360) has
Omega scheduled to appear this year.
Youll design futuristic cybertanks and
compete in free-for-all or team combat on
a simulated battlefield. The game will be
available for PC/MS-DOS,- C64/128, Apple
IIGS, Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, and
Atari ST computers at a price of $49.95.
Omega starts the player as a cybernetic
engineer for the Organization of Strategic
Intelligence, the worlds leader in military
cybernetic applications. Players must
design a cybertanks chassis, artificial
intelligence, integrated weapons technology, and electronics equipment to create
the supreme cybertank. Cybertank designs
are then tested in simulated combat
against OSI cybertanks. Success on the
battlefield leads to higher security levels
and increased budgets for new designs.
Origin has also announced the release of
Windwalker, a new role-playing game with
animated martial arts action. Windwalker
combines elements of classic fantasy roleplaying with real-time, animated, martialarts combat sequences and authentically

depicted acrobatic and gymnastic movements. Players encounter a variety of

characters in palaces, monasteries, pagodas, and countryside. It features over 100
characters and a full-scrolling terrain with
more than 100 different settings and
scenes. Windwalker will be available in fall
for IBM-PC/Tandy and compatibles, Apple
II series, C64/128, Macintosh, and Amiga
computers for $39.95.
From Videotakes (201-528-5000) comes
a videocassette that explains the secrets of
Nintendo compatible games. Loaded with
secret passwords, winning strategies, and
amazing tricks for your favorite games,
this videocassette includes the secrets of
Double Dragon, Contra, Blaster Master,
Rambo, Simons Quest, Life Force, Metal
Gear, Iron Tank, and dozens of other top

games. All tricks, codes, and strategies are

demonstrated by the U.S. National Video
Team. The tape runs 60 minutes and costs
$19.95.

Clue corner
Eternal Dagger (SSI)
In order to enter Avliss Tower, you must
have the Bag of Winds from the eagles.
Plus, you must have 20 copper pieces.
They MUST be copper; gold wont do!
To find the princess, follow the hallway
until you come to double doors. Go
through these doors and battle your way
through the nursery that youll find beyond a second set of double doors. At the
bottom of the nursery is another doorway.
Go through it. Youll enter a storeroom.
Dont bother searching the wall, but DO
search the shelf. You should find a peg,
which you should turn. A secret door will
become exposed in the northwest part of
the wall which can only be opened after
youve turned the peg. Go through the
secret door, and youll encounter dragonmen. Battle them and, if you win, march
right through an illusory wall that represents itself as the eastern section of the
north wall. Once through the illusory wall,
youll find the princess.
The way to win this game is to destroy
the globe.
Legacy of the Ancients (Electronic Arts)
1. When you begin the game, view the
Fountain and Thornberry. This will place
you in that town and net you 200 in gold.
2. ALWAYS speak to encounters in the
wilderness: those that will let you, that is.
3. Visit the fortune teller often.
4. Play blackjack instead of flip-flop; the
odds of winning are better.
5. The museum caretaker knows many
things.
6. When you receive a topaz coin, go to
the native currency exhibit. Each time you
visit it, you will receive approximately
2,000 gold pieces.
7. Each dungeon has eight levels. Always
use the XAMINE command on new pasContinued on page 95

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and the

TSR logo are trademarks owned by and used
under license from TSR, Inc. 1989 TSR, Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
DRAGON 73

74

OCTOBER 1989

DRAGON 75

Darkest
Secrets
What you dont know could kill
you in the TOP SECRET/S.I. game
by Marcus L. Rowland
TSRs TOP SECRET/S.I. character-generation system,
suggests some interesting possibilities for creative refereeing that arent explicitly developed. One aspect can
easily add many new facets to the game: the advantages and disadvantages discussed in chapter 2 of the
Players Guide. The rules require player characters to
take one advantage and one disadvantage, and optionally allow multiple advantages and disadvantages. Players always know that their PCs have these traitsbut
in the real world, we dont always know everything
about ourselves. Can anyone be absolutely sure that he
doesnt have a secret enemy, unknown admirer, unsuspected allergy, or hidden talent?
An additional optional rule can be used to allow for
such surprises: At the Administrators discretion, and
with the players consent, the Administrator may secretly award an agreed number of points in advantages and disadvantages to each PC, but without
initially revealing their effects to the players. These
traits are recorded by the Administrator, not the players, and their effects are only revealed in play.
For example, a player might agree to take five points
in unknown disadvantages to buy five extra skill points,
or to gain an unknown three-point advantage and an
unknown three-point disadvantage. The Administrator
needs to do some extra record-keeping, but the effect is
to add a little more tension, always useful in an adventure game like this one. Usually, secret advantages and
disadvantages are more specific than their overt equivalents; for example, someone would know that he was
afraid of dogs but might not know about his fear of octopi until an octopus was encountered.
Illustration by Terry Dykstra
78 OCTOBER 1989

The remainder of this article describes

secret versions of some of the Players
Guide advantages and disadvantages,
including some new ones. In some cases,
you may need to refer to descriptions in
the Players Guide. The Administrator
should try to ensure that these secrets are
occasionally important; they are meaningless if they are never used. To ensure their
secrecy, the Administrator should change
some of these secrets slightly in game play
or even add new ones.

Secret advantages

Acute smell (1 point): The PC is very

sensitive to a specific scent (e.g., jasmine,
chloroform), even if it is very weak. He
will automatically notice it without making
an INT check. In all other respects, his
sense of smell is normal with no modifiers
to INT rolls. The Administrator chooses
the scent when allocating this advantage.
The PC has no knowledge of this ability
until the scent is first encountered and
wont automatically know what has been
smelled.
Acute taste (1 point): The PC is sensitive to the taste of a specific chemical or
drug (e.g., cocaine, chloral hydrate) in
extremely small concentrations and will
automatically detect the substance without
making an INT check. In all other respects,
his sense of taste is normal. The Administrator chooses the chemical; the PC is
unaware of this ability until the chemical
is first encountered and wont necessarily
know what is being tasted.
Animal friendship (1 point): The PC is
unusually attractive to one specific class of
animals (e.g., snakes), which will never
harm the PC unless such creatures are
attacked first. This advantage can be combined with a contrasting phobia or allergy,
with amusing results; for example, cats
seem to like to be near people who are
allergic to them. A PC wont know that he
has this ability until he encounters the
animal, and it cant be improved by the
Animal Training skill.
Bilingual background (1 point): This
is a forgotten ability; the PC learned a
second language as a child (e.g., he was
brought up in China) but forgot it for
some traumatic reason (e.g., the death of a
parent caused a sudden move to another
country). Nothing of that language is remembered on a conscious level. The PC
has the language skill at zero level, but an
equally traumatic triggering event (e.g.,
torture by Chinese agents) is required to
bring it into play. If the PC tries to learn
this language before the block is resolved,
its much harder than usual; all language
checks are at -10%! The Administrator
selects the language and triggering event
when the PC is generated.
Language ability (1 point): This is a
traumatically blocked version of the normal Language Ability; the PC has an unconscious gift for languages, but some
forgotten event (e.g., a hostile teacher at
school) has stopped conscious use of this

talent. A triggering event or psychotherapy may remove the block. Until then, the
PC learns languages normally. The Administrator selects a suitable trigger event
(e.g., the death of the teacher is reported
in a school newsletter) when allocating
this advantage.
Obscure knowledge (1-2 points): The
PC has a limited form of the usual Obscure
Knowledge skill. For example, a knowledge of an old science-fiction TV series
might be worth one point and a broad
knowledge of science fiction two points.
Introduce this skill at an appropriate moment; the PC always had it but never
thought of it as a useful talent until the
need arose. Its up to the Administrator to
ensure that this talent is actually helpful
occasionally; perhaps the agents must
infiltrate a group of Trekkies with plans
for global domination.
Wealth (1-3 points): The PC is unknowingly rich, being the lost heir to some vast
estate, owner of some forgotten shares
that have rocketed in value, or holder of
the winning ticket in the Peruvian national
lottery.
1 point: Potential annual income of
$10,000.
2 points: Potential annual income of
$50,000.
3 points: Potential annual income of
$100,000.
Each level of wealth costs one point less
than in the normal form of this advantage,
because PCs start with no income from
this advantage and should encounter
difficulties in claiming their rightful
riches. And dont forget the tax man.

New advantages

Connection in high places (1-3

points): This can be either a normal or
secret advantage. The PC has unusual
links to an NPC holding influential office:
1 point: Mayor, low-level diplomat, etc.
2 points: Senator, member of Parliament,
Congressman, senior diplomat, etc.
3 points: President, Prime Minister,
ambassador, etc.
If this advantage is used normally, the
link is known to the PC and may be common knowledge (e.g., the two share a
common background at school or in the
armed services, are related by blood or
marriage, etc.). If this advantage is secret,
the PC doesnt know about the relationship but the NPC does (e.g., the PC is the
illegitimate son of a senator). The PC wont
know why he occasionally receives preferential treatment, such as early promotion,
and he cant ask for favors from his
helper.
Criminal connection (1-4 points):
This can be a normal or secret advantage.
The PC has unusual links to a criminal NPC:
1 point: Minor thug, street criminal, etc.
2 points: City-level criminal (e.g., organized crime boss).
3 points: National crime leader (e.g.,
organized crime godfather).

4 points: Head of international criminal

organization (e.g., leader of a terrorist or
criminal group planning to hold the world
to ransom, etc.).
Normally, the link is known to the PC
and may be common knowledge (e.g., the
two share a common background in the
old neighborhood, are related by blood or
marriage, etc.). These connections will
help the PC by providing equipment,
thugs, or information to the limits of their
resources, provided that the PC isnt trying to interfere with business. If the
advantage is secret, the PC doesnt know
about the relationship but the NPC does
(e.g., the PC is married to the illegitimate
child of a Mafia chieftain). This may occasionally mean that NPCs try to destroy a
PC they would normally help, but no true
master criminal would let such sentimental details stand in the way of business.
Contacts everywhere (2 points): This
is best described as the Indiana Jones
advantage; the PC knows someone in any
area, though the person known is rarely
as useful or reliable as the connections
described previously. For example, Agent
X needs to investigate a gang of Parisian
thugs; he checks his address book, and the
Administrator says that he finds the number of a gendarme he once met at a police
conference in Miami. Contacts arent necessarily friendly and may occasionally
prove to belong to rival organizations.
If the advantage is secret, the PC meets
such acquaintances with no advance warning. A PC with this advantage might crash
a plane in the desert, encounter nomads,
then discover that he and the Arab chieftain once went to the same university.
Reputation (1-3 points): People respect
the agent. A one-point advantage means
that senior officials of the PCs agency
respect the PC; two points mean that
everyone in the agency admires the PC;
and three points mean that other allied
agencies respect the PC. The NPCs concerned will do their best to ensure that the
PC gets the best equipment, good seats on
airliners, comfortable hotel rooms, etc.
Reputation also acts as a modifier on reaction rolls; each point adds 5% to WIL
when trying to persuade or coerce someone who is aware of the agents reputation.
If this is a secret advantage, the PC is
unaware of the preferential treatment.
Dont all agents get rooms at the Ritz?
Doesnt everyones Walther PPK have ivory
inlay on the grips? Naturally, players will
catch on in time; if they start to expect
preferential treatment or to abuse it, you
should reduce the points in this advantage
or offset them with the Notoriety disadvantage that follows.
Supernatural help (2, 4, or 6 points):
This is an extremely rare advantage that
should only be used if it fits the setting of
your campaign, and then only if players
will not abuse it. The PC has supernatural
powers or contacts.
2 points: The PC is a medium and can
occasionally obtain information from the
DRAGON 79

Beyond by intense concentration, hypnosis, seances, etc.

4 points: The PC can frequently tap into
mystic information sources with relative
ease. Remember that supernatural information wont be admissible in court!
6 points: The PC has a spirit
companiona helpful ghost! Naturally,
there should be strict limits on the usefulness of such a powerful advantage; most
ghosts are described as unable to move
large objects, unable to appear in daylight,
etc. Most people should be unable to see
or hear the spirit. Ghosts may be able to
move small objects and supply limited
amounts of information, but they should
be undependable allies, easily offended or
distracted.
If you want to make this a secret advantage, the PC isnt consciously aware of
such help. The 2-point and 4-point advantages should be presented as lucky
guesses, the 6-point advantage is presented as a combination of hallucinations
and lucky accidents. Alternatively, this
power might only come into use after
some preselected traumatic event, such as
the death of a friend or after training by
an NPC mystic.

Secret disadvantages

Allergies (1-2 points): These work

exactly like normal allergies, but the PC is
unaware of them until they occur. Secret
allergies always relate to relatively obscure substances, so they cant be worth
three points (for a common severe effect),
since the PC would know about the allergy
if the triggering substance was common.
For example, a PC might be unaware of an
allergy to bearskin until he impersonated a
Canadian fur trapper.
Cowardice (2 points): The PC isnt
afraid of every source of danger, but he
has an exaggerated fear of one form of
attack or one particular attacker, and he
must make a WIL check to avoid freezing
or fleeing in panic. For example, a PC
might have an unusual fear of razors,
guns, ninja, chain saws, etc. The Administrator should not choose the attack form
or attacker until the PC has been wounded
at least once; it seems likely that the
trauma of a wound will cause such a deeprooted fear. Perhaps Agent X was once
severely beaten by Otto Schlumpf, a sadistic East German hit man. He now has an
irrational fear of Schlumpf and must make
a WIL check whenever he is encountered.
If Schlumpf is killed, the Administrator
must find a new nemesis, such as
Schlumpfs brother, etc.
Ego signature (2 points): The PC is
unconsciously leaving behind clues such as
chewed pencil stubs, distinctive cigarette
ends, gum wrappers folded into complex
origami shapes, etc. These clues arent as
readily traceable as those left by PCs with
the normal disadvantage of this type but
may still reveal a lot to forensic science.
Enemy (1, 2, or 4 points): This is an
unknown enemy, someone that the PC
80 OCTOBER 1989

knows nothing about. For example, the

wife of someone the agent has killed might
try to get revenge by discrediting the PC (1
point). A lone survivor of a gang that has
apparently been wiped out might try to
kill the agent who uncovered them (2
points). A large or dangerous organization
might have an obscure reason to seek
revenge on a hapless agent (4 points). In all
other respects, this is identical to the
normal Enemy disadvantage, but it may
take some time to learn who is involved
and why the PC is being attacked.
Phobia (1 point): This is identical to a
normal phobia, but the PC has no conscious knowledge of the disability. It can
only be a one-point phobia (the fear of a
rare or unlikely occurrence or object),
because the PC would know about anything that occurred more frequently. Fear
of tigers or fear of nuclear weapons (seen
close up) are suitably rare; PCs are unlikely to run into either in everyday life.
Traumatic flashbacks (2 points): As
with phobias, secret flashbacks can only
be triggered by some rare occurrence.
The PC would have learned to expect the
flashbacks if the triggering circumstance
was at all common.
Vision impairment (2 points): The PC
is unknowingly suffering from some sort
of visual abnormality (such as tunnel vision) that hasnt yet been diagnosed. Roll
under skill when using any skill that
depends on the aspect of vision involved in
the disability. Naturally, this disadvantage
shouldnt be combined with any incompatible visual advantage.

New disadvantages

Dyslexia (1 point): The PC isnt illiterate, but he has trouble reading and making sense of what has been read. Whenever anything is read, the PC must roll
under INT to understand it, or make a
language roll under normal skill when
dealing with another language. If the roll
is failed, give the PC slightly misleading
information, such as a wrongly spelled
address or formula, or a telephone number with two digits transposed. If this is a
secret disadvantage, avoid tipping off the
PC too quickly by asking all players to
make INT or language rolls whenever
anything is read (but ignore the results for
normal PCs).
Notoriety (1, 2, or 3 points): The PC has
a poor reputation from a record of damaging accidents, mistakes, or unnecessary
violence. A one-point disadvantage means
that senior officials of the agency dislike
the PC; two points mean that everyone in
the agency despises the PC; and three
points mean that other allied agencies are
aware of the PCs reputation. The NPCs
concerned will do their best to ensure that
the PC gets the worst equipment, lousy
seats on airliners, uncomfortable hotel
rooms, etc. Notoriety also acts as a modifier on reaction rolls; each point takes 5%
off WIL when trying to persuade or coerce someone who is aware of the agents

poor status.
If this is a secret disadvantage, the PC is
unaware of the unfavorable treatment. Its
odd that all the other agents get rooms at
the Ritz and Walther PPKs with ivory inlay
on the grips, while the PC stays at ratinfested boarding houses and is issued a
rusty Luger, but there are bound to be
occasional administrative foulups.
Naturally, players will catch on in time
and may attempt to buy off this disadvantage by acts of heroism and other activities
that tend to improve their reputations.
Encourage the other agents to accuse
them of being glory hogs or claim that
their grand-standing endangers the team!
Unearned fame (1, 2, or 4 points): This
is the gunfighters disadvantage. Theres
always someone out there who wants to
gain fame by taking out the champion.
1 point: The reputation is only slightly
exaggerated (e.g., the PC is rumored to be
a black belt in karate, not just a reasonably
competent martial artist).
2 points: Gross exaggeration of one
ability (e.g., there are stories that the PC
can hit a fly with a single bullet at 50,
when the PC can barely hit a car at that
range).
4 points: This is bad news. For some
reason, the PC is treated as a virtual superman, hypercompetent in every area of
physical and mental activity. This is very
confusing if the PC happens to be a rookie
agent on his first assignment! These situations can be the result of mistaken identity, agency or media hype, exaggeration,
or misleading records. An agent might be
given an impressive record to decoy the
opposition and draw fire while the real
master spy does the dirty work. If this is a
secret disadvantage, the PC learns of it
only when challengers start to crawl out
of the woodwork, eager to take on the
master agent. If this seems at all exaggerated, remember that there are quite, a few.
people around named James Bond, and
most have trouble if they have to go
through Customs or deal with other officials! [I never have any trouble.The
editor].

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DRAGON

81

A Final Frontier
of Your Own
by John J. Terra

Illustration by Jim Holloway

82 OCTOBER 1989

Campaign creation
for FASAs STAR
TREK: The Role
Playing Game
Captains Log, U.S.S. Valiant, Captain
Koren Anastas reporting; Reference Stardate 2/2202.11: It has been 36 hours since
First Officer Yoshitomo Karasuma, Chief
Engineer Stephen Decataur, Chief Science
Officer Kai-Jasik, and Dr. Trisha Steuben
beamed down to the surface of Gamma
Draconis IV We have lost contact with
them, but we face an even greater problem. The IKV Leading Sword, a Klingon
D-10 heavy cruiser, has taken up an orbit
trailing our position. The captain of that
vessel has a personal grudge against me. I
can do little about it, as Starfleet has instructed us not to initiate hostilities. I dare
not lower my shields to beam down a
search party, since this will leave my vessel vulnerable to the Klingons. These next
few hours will sorely test my command
abilities, and I pray that I will not be found
wanting.

By now you must be wondering who on

earth (or anywhere else in space) is Koren
Anastas, and what is the U.S.S. Valiant? To
about two dozen people, the U.S.S. Valiant
is a ship as familiar as the legendary U.S.S.
Enterprise is to all of Trekdom. It is an
Enterprise - class vessel around which a
particular STAR TREK The Role Playing
Game campaign revolves. A campaign is
the best way to play this game, and this
article will show how to run one.

Why a campaign?

FASA Corporation has published many

STAR TREK game modules that contain
ready-to-play PCs and their ships. While
this is certainly convenient and good for
those who play only once in a while, it is
not helpful to those who want a continuous campaign.
Players of other role-playing systems
have enjoyed the satisfaction of creating
PCs from their own imaginations and
playing them. After playing one character
repeatedly, the player can see the PC grow
in strength and experience. A personality
develops, making the PC a believable entity. It becomes a source of pride and a
symbol of accomplishment.
For the STAR TREK game, this principle
applies in more detail. Imagine a lieutenant PC in the Helm department who is
played often enough to rise in rank to
Chief Helmsman. Further into the campaign, the ships First Officer resigns, and
the Captain chooses the Chief Helmsman
to replace her. Eventually, the Captain
retires and our humble former lieutenant

now rises to the rank of Captain and takes

command of the vessel. Can you imagine
how richly developed such a PC is? Think
of what this PC has been through and the
stories he can tell!
It gets even better. The previously mentioned U.S.S. Valiant was assigned to my
campaign group as a Constitution - class
vessel. The campaigns beginning stardate
was mutually agreed to be the time that
Captain Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise
returned from their five-year mission.
Time progressed, and the ship was eventually converted to a powerful Enterpriseclass vessel (as per Star Trek: The Motion
Picture). For about a year, while the U.S.S.
Valiant underwent her conversion, the
crew was reassigned to a dinky transport/
espionage vessel. The crew developed a
quick appreciation for its old ship, and
everyone was overjoyed when reunited
with her. (It is easy to see why Kirk was so
attached to his own ship.) But in time, the
U.S.S. Valiant was retired because of excessive wear and tear. The campaign now
centers on the Excelsior-class battleship,
the U.S.S. Excalibur, NCC 2004. Ships, too,
develop lives of their own.
In short, a campaign allows the development of PCs and events. It gives the players goals, whether to seek the head of a
department or the command of a starship.
The campaign approach gives a sense of
consistency and continuity which makes
the game resemble real life a bit more.
Friends are made, contacts are established, and, inevitably, enemies are created. Events that help mold each PCs
personality occur, helping the PCs history
grow to the size of a small novel.

Getting things ready

Before starting a campaign, the game

master (GM) should become as well versed
in as many aspects of Star Trek as possible.
There are several different science-fiction
role-playing games on the market, but only
one Star Trek environment. It is not
enough for a GM to know science fiction;
the GM must be able to capture the feel of
Star Trek.

The sourcebooks that FASA Corporation

publishes are top priority. The books most
needed in addition to the game itself are
the Star Trek III and Star Trek IV Sourcebook Updates, and the Klingon, Romulan,
Federation, and Orion sourcebooks and
ship recognition manuals. These books
enable the GM to start his campaign anywhere in the Federation and at any point
in history from the beginning of Kirks
five-year mission to his demotion from
admiral back to captain, commanding a
new U.S.S. Enterprise.
Other sourcebook and reference materials are helpful but not essential unless
your campaign is geared in these directions. These materials include: Trader
captains and Merchant Princes, the Triangle Sourcebook and Triangle Campaign
Book, and the Star Fleet Intelligence Manual. Note: Trader Captains and Merchant
Princes includes a little-known but much

desired bit of informationhow much a

Starfleet officer gets paid!
The Star Trek: The Next Generation
Officers Manual is only needed if you
want hard data on new Starfleet vessels.
From a game-mechanics standpoint, it
gives little information on a campaign set
in the timeline of the new television series.
If your campaign includes ship battles
and you want them to be realistically
portrayed, the Star Trek Starship Combat
Tactical Simulator is a good investment.
Watching episodes of the old series gives
you the flavor of the Star Trek environment and terminology. The movies are a
must. As far as the dozens of Star Trek
novels are concerned, many are not consistent with the actual Star Trek universeor with each other, for that matter. Still,
any Star Trek novels by John M. Ford,
Diane Duane, or Vonda McIntyre are fairly
consistent and worthwhile.

Timing is everything

The next thing you should decide on is

the time period in which the campaign is
taking place. Between the beginning of the
old series and the end of the fourth movie,
approximately 16 years have passed. During that time, Federation technology has
improved and political situations have
changed. New worlds have been admitted
to the UFP the Organians have stopped
enforcing the Organian Treaty, and Project
Genesis has caused a galactic uproar.
The ship recognition manuals become
valuable tools in showing the smart GM
which ships were available at what points
in history. It can be very embarrassing to
be caught using Spacedock a full decade
before its completion! The Federation Ship
Recognition Manual shows, for instance,
when each Constitution-class vessel was
refitted to Enterprise - class, if ever.
The timing also dictates which Starfleet
uniform is in use. It might be the old series
vintage velour shirts in red, blue or gold
(nice), the pastel pajamas of the first movie
(gross), or the maroon tunics used in the
rest of the movies (sharp!). There are different models of phasers, communicators, and
tricorders. Even environmental suits range
from the old series laughable space suits to
the much better ones used in Star Trek II:
The Wrath of Khan.

Of course, relations with Star Treks

favorite race of villains, the Klingons,
change slightly. It varies from the Klingons
saying Ill kill you now! to Ill kill you if
the Organians are not looking! to Ill
maim you now and kill you later; give me
Genesis! The lifting of the Organian
Treaty becomes a very crucial point in
history, enabling unrestrained ship battles
among the major powers.
The only consequence of starting your
campaign in the early years of the saga is
that the PCs will grow old. By the time
your campaign reaches the date of the
fourth movie, your group will be ready to
play Geriatrics in Space. If the PCs begin
at a relatively young age, this effect will
not be too bad, but it also means that their
DRAGON 83

initial influence on the ship will be less.

Limiting the number of tours in the PCs
histories will give the campaign a younger
though less-experienced crew.

Choosing your ship

Ship selection is something that the GM

and players can enjoy together. Naturally,
the size of the group should affect the size
of the ship. An Enterprise-class cruiser
needs more department heads than does a
Nelson-class scout ship.
Personally, I recommend an Enterprise
class vessel. Not only is it a recognizable
ship to even the most casual player, it is
also a versatile ship that will not blow up
the first time it is fired upon. Once again,
the Federation Ship Recognition Manual is
a must. It gives a full list of Constitutionand Enterprise-class vessels including hull
numbers, refit dates, and special notes.
The manual also addresses the Reliantclass research cruiser, which is another
good choice for a campaign vessel. Truly
nasty GMs can assign a vessel that is fated
to be destroyed or scrapped at a certain
date, and then create an adventure when
this happens! If such a dastardly type of
GM exists, it is hoped that he would be
kind enough to give the PCs a fighting
chance to survive, as well as ensure that
the PCs do not read about their own futures beforehand.
The disadvantage of a large ship be-

comes painfully obvious to any GM whose

mind is one step ahead of his players. A
ship of such tremendous power needs
some challenging assignments.
If your players are of the hack-and-slash
variety, you could always assign them a
Military Operations Command vessel such
as a Loknar - class frigate or a Larson-class
destroyer. Ships of these two classes are
also listed in the Federation Ship Recognition Manual by hull number and name,
and are all excellent ships.
Please do not initially assign the PCs
something like an Excelsior-class battleship! This is the equivalent of an AD&D
games DM assigning his players + 5 armor, weapons, and rings at 1st level, or
like a TOP SECRET/S.I. games Administrator assigning his rookie agents Uzis,
M16s, and ultra high-tech helicopters.

Reviewing the crew

The next step is to get a crew assembled.

The STAR TREK game requires a command hierarchy of a Captain, First Officer,
and Department Heads. There is no need
to elect a party leader as in other games.
The Captain is the leader, and everyone
had better darn well listen to him or else
consign themselves to an unglamorous
fate of serving on an ore freighter.
This structure makes the Captain and
First Officer the most crucial persons on
the ship. The rules in the STAR TREK

game recommend that the GM select the

two people for those positions, and this is
a sound idea. But whom do you choose?
Some say that the best leaders are those
who do not actively seek to lead. Good
leaders do not chase after positions of
power and glory, and they are the ones
you want for command duties. The GM
needs to select two people who are good
at making decisions and giving orders
without ego tripping. They need to elicit
trust from the other PCs and be able to
trust them to do their own jobs. The leaders should be team players who inspire
cooperation and not chaos.
Think about the implications of commanding an Enterprise - class vessel. This
ship has enough firepower to devastate a
planet. It contains over 400 NPCs and 6-12
PCs. One wrong decision and all those
people, including the PCs that the players
took years to develop, become space dust.
That is a big responsibility. Leaders must
first be servants, and the lesson is as relevant in gaming as it is in real life. The
commanders must put their personal
interests behind those of their crew and
the ship. The best leader is not &tinplated, swaggering dictator with delusions
of godhood.
Choosing the First Officer is just as important as choosing the Captain. Remember, if the Captain is disabled, the First
Officer assumes command. The perfect

DRAGON 85

First Officer does not interfere with his

Captains duty. Rather, he supports his
commanding officer, giving advice when
asked. A good First Officer also acts as a
liaison to the crew, intercepting and solving minor problems while the Captain
remains free to face bigger crises, such as
five million tribbles in the food processors
or the Klingon task force bearing down on
the ship. As a rule, the First Officer has
the conn if the Captain is off the bridge,
and sometimes the First Officer is asked to
lead a landing party. In the true Mr. Spock
tradition, you can assign a department
head the additional responsibility. If you
have few players, this is sound strategy.
Security, Engineering, or Medical department heads are not good choices for double duty, however.
After these two difficult positions are
assigned, let the rest of the players divide
up the departments. Each department is
unique, and certain personality types seem
to be better suited for certain departments. The nonviolent types may enjoy
Chief Medical or Chief Communications
Officer. The law-and-order or the hackand-slash player would be perfect for
Security Chief, though we all know what
happens to Security personnel (Ensign
Slob, check behind that rock. Yes, sir!
ZAP! AAGH! GROWF! POOF! Poor Slob!).
Players who enjoy using their brains
may go for Science or Engineering, while
the players who like blowing things up or
zooming around space at ludicrous speed
will love Chief Helm. Finally, there is that
position voted Most Boring by my campaigners: Chief Navigator. At best, this
poor person gets to raise deflector shields
during battle. Most of the time, however,
the Chief Navigator says Course laid in,
Captain, then sits back. Give this position
to either the most rabid Trekkie in your
group who loves to play so much that he
will take anything, or to someone who
doesnt care what job he holds.
Be aware that Helm, Navigation, and
Science supply many future command
personnel, so keep your eyes on those
people. They may be worth promoting.
Though the old series did not show it
much, there were nonhuman crew members on the U.S.S. Enterprise other than
Mr. Spock. Budget constraints on makeup
dictated what sorts of aliens we saw. Fortunately, role-playing games are limited
only by imagination. Let players choose
their own races, but temper their choices
with common sense. There are advantages
to playing nonhumans, usually in the form
of attribute modifiers. The disadvantage
should be that the player must act in the
manner proper to that race, and some of
the races are downright bizarre.
The player whose PC weeps uncontrollably at the drop of a hat (or helm) would
make a terrible Vulcan. The player whose
PC is always mellow and laid back is a
poor choice for a stubborn Tellarite. The
Chief Medical Officer should be the same
race as the majority of the crew. A Vulcan
86 OCTOBER 1989

should rarely be Chief Helm, since helmsmen fire the ships weapons and Vulcans
dislike violence. Vulcans are also not party
animals, greedy, power hungry, or rowdy
(and they flirt only once every seven
years).
Only a fool would choose a Tellarite for
Chief Communications Officer (This is
Commander Taubarrgjjh of the U.S.S.
Valiant speak, Klingon slime!) or place an
Andorian in a position that may involve
hot temperatures such as an engineering
area. Deltans are lovers, not fighters, and
consequently would be flops as Security
Chiefs (but would make good doctors).
Efrosians make excellent doctors, and
their warrior background means that the
good doctor may justifiably get involved in
a good melee or two. Andorians are a good
choice for the warrior-type player, but
even this race attempts to be as unemotional as the Vulcans. When they do get
riled up, watch out!
The STAR TREK games charactergeneration system is excellent because it
provides the player with a PC who is already an experienced officer rather than a
raw recruit. The GM may give each PC a
score of 10 in his respective planets
Culture/History skill but not count it
against the PCs amount of pre-Academy
skills. Any civilized planet would give its
children instruction in basic culture and
history whether the child wants it or not.
If the planet has a particularly hostile
environment, the GM is also justified in

awarding a bonus of 10 in the appropriate

Planetary Survival score.
Very few role-playing games show the
need for teamwork as much as the STAR
TREK game. Everyone must work together
to accomplish a goal. Reward the players
when they work together, and discourage
lone wolf tactics where one PC goes off
to do something stupid. Such a PC should
be considered phaser fodder.

A cast of thousands

As mentioned earlier, the red-shirted

security personnel in the old Star Trek
series were notorious for their short life
spans. Inevitably, they would be stabbed,
disrupted, poisoned, dropped from great
heights, changed into Styrofoam polyhedrons, or burned to death by an angry
Horta. Even nonsecurity personnel got
their share of death and maiming. After
the GM establishes his crew, the next wise
move is to create a set of NPCs to not only
support the PCs but to present themselves
as great targets. STAR TREK NPC crewmen are great victims for those villains
who cry, I shall give you an example of
my power, puny mortals!
Ideally, a PC in the STAR TREK game
should have a long lifespan, probably the
longest of any RPG. In the old series, the
main characters never died. In the game,
the PCs are the main characters. This does
not mean that there should never be any
possibility of PC death, but rather that it
should be approached carefully. A game

without risk is no fun, but the risk should

be well considered. If your players deserve it, give them a back door to get out
of the situation. Stupid actions deserve
harsh consequences, while smart actions
should be a good reason to spare PC lives.
Back to the NPC creation. If your campaign is centered on any good-size vessel,
you have several hundred NPCs to consider. You should not create stats for all of
them, but you could allow one or two
assistants for each PC. Starships operate
around the clock, so crew are needed to
man various stations in the PCs absence,.
Create personnel to crew helm, navigation, communication, science, and engineering stations during the off shifts.
Give these NPCs some fleshing out! Assign them a Trivia or Gaming score. Give
them some critical skills that few players
chose for their PCs during generation.
This is a good chance to throw in a few of
your favorite races. Go ahead, give them a
Vulcan science officer, a Zaranite engineer
specializing in Starship Weaponry Tech, an
Arkenite marine biologist, or an Efrosian
navigator! My campaigns favorite NPCs
include an Andorian chief nurse, a small
telepathic worm, and a human communications assistant with such a loud, gregarious personality that he nearly blows out
the audio circuits!
In addition, flesh out the commander of
the nearest starbase, a few Starfleet Command officers, and a few ship captains
from other Starfleet vessels. You need not
repeat the old series tendency to have
most of Captain Kirks friends dying or
going insane. Give your NPCs some staying
power. A rival officer may cause some
problems, and a persistent Orion family
may have a grudge against the ship. You
can even create a Klingon or Romulan
vessel that pops up wherever the PCs and
their vessel are, threatening to throw a
spanner into their plans.

repair, these adventures are good fillers.

Return to Axanar and Old Soldiers Never
Die are dubious at best but are recommended for the wonderful sourcebooks
they provide. Return to Axanar is a very
long adventure requiring several sessions
and is unfortunately very linear, taking the
PCs from one encounter to the next regardless of their actions.
Since the release of The Strider Incident
(a terrific adventure that also includes
deck plans for the Regula I research station, a good investment), there have been
no new STAR TREK modules. Thus, it falls
on the GMs shoulders to come up with an
excellent campaign.
General Order Number Onethe Prime
Directiveis the most powerful restraint
available to the enterprising (no pun intended) GM. It is frustrating to the players
to know that they run a vessel that could
destroy a star system, yet they cannot
unleash this power on the penny-ante
barbarian village that has a couple of the
ships officers as hostages. When the GM
creates an adventure, the Prime Directive
must always be kept in mind. Violating it
could mean discharge from the service,
imprisonment, or (in extreme cases) death.
The Prime Directive becomes a special
burden during exploration missions.
Star Trek is about galactic exploration.

While blasting Klingons or outwitting

Orions can be fun, the spirit of the series
and consequently the gameis exploration
and discovery. You can have a ship battle
in every game, but remember that the
various spacefaring powers have a finite
number of ships. Try not to let every session degenerate into a high-tech slugfest.
The finest exploration missions are the
first contacts, those missions during which
a new race is discovered and the PCs must
deal with strange and sometimes hilarious
differences in cultures. The best way to
approach this is to create a new race, not
necessarily humanoid. Then, throw out all
customs known to the players and reinvent them, mixing them up well. One
culture I created shrugged their shoulders
to say yes. Another race may greet newcomers by striking them to test their patience. Another may require that all males
remain silent and let the women do the
talking, while another race may laugh
when sad or spit when happy.
Imagine running into a totally alien
vessel. Your vessel hails it, but it fires a
beam of charged photons back at you,
crippling your ship. Later, you find out
that it was merely sending back a friendly
message. The use of physics and technology can vary from race to race. Not all
extraterrestrials breathe oxygen or come

Your five-year mission. . . .

After assembling all of this information,

it is time to decide what sort of missions to
put the players through. First, lets tackle
the FASA modules.
As mentioned before, the STAR TREK
game modules are not best suited for a
continuous campaign using the same ship
and PCs. There are, however, several
notable exceptions. Bear in mind that the
following modules require adaptation.
Where Has All the Glory Gone?, Denial
of Destiny, Demand of Honor, and The
Strider Incident are ail good for adapting

to an ongoing campaign. You can make the

changes without turning the product into
something unrecognizable. The latter two
modules are also very well written.

The Dixie Gambit, Decision at Midnight,

A Conflict of Interests, and The Mines of
Selka are all good modules but have very

limited use in a campaign. It is still possible

to use them, but a GM needs to do heavy
tinkering or alter the PCs circumstances.
If the PCs vessel is undergoing a refit or
DRAGON 87

from carbon-based life. Some races may

be totally blind, have no nervous systems,
or be genderless.
Confuse the players! An ugly race may
fight a handsome race, with the ugly race
being the good guys. Trap the players with
their own preconceived notions. A race of
blind quadriplegics may be powerful telepaths. A handsome, Adonis-like people
may be deathly afraid of tiny wounds.
A hilarious example of this occurred
when the U.S.S. Valiant made first contact
with a race called the Igresh, who were
horrendously ugly and smelled ten times
worse than they looked. Contact teams
met to talk, and the Igresh offered the
crew a favorite Igresh drink that refreshed the body. One brave soul, Chief
Navigator Nat Zar, drank it for the sake of
galactic friendship. Suddenly, every gland,
duct, and organ that produced any sort of
fluid began operating at an accelerated
rate. The liquid was cleaning out all impurities from his system. The poor fellow
was in terrible straights, much to the
horror of his ship mates and to the innocent delight of the Igresh. Commander Zar
survived and, after changing his uniform,
was in perfect shape.
During the old television series, money
was saved by using old props from movies.
The U.S.S. Enterprise ran into cultures
that resembled different terrestrial historical periods. Ancient Rome, Nazi Germany,

88 OCTOBER 1989

the Roaring 20s, and American Indians

were all represented in the series. Though
the GM does not have to worry about
budget problems, no campaign would be
complete without running into a dozen
different human races placed on various
planets by the Preservers. Imagine running into cultures descended from the
Vikings, feudal Japan, ancient Egypt, 17thcentury America, the Incas, or even an
exact counterpart of Earth, complete with
World War II raging. If the players know
whats good for them, theyll remember
the Prime Directive and not attempt to
tamper. Alternate histories could provide a
nice twistbut what about a civilization
where the Nazis won World War II? Would
it be considered tampering to try to do
something about that?
The restraints imposed on the crew by
Starfleet Command should present the
players with ethical dilemmas. A planet
with technology similar to 1988 Earth is
about to launch a thermonuclear war.
Should you stop it? How about a planet
where one race is enslaved to another?
To make matters tougher, throw in some
unprincipled Klingons. The Klingons and
the PCs might both try to get a planet to
join their sides. A classic scenario to be
sure, but it can hold enough variation to
make each encounter exciting. Avoid predictability. In the previously mentioned
Igresh contact, the Klingons were involved

in local politics, as were two other new

races. At one point, the crew of the U.S.S.
Valiant and some Klingons had to team up
for survival!
Starfleet officers should consider violence only as a last resort, fighting only
when there is no other alternative. To
some gamers, this is boring, because it
reduces the action. But the spirit of Star
Trek is the challenge of exploring the
unknown. The enemy may be a hostile
virus that the PCs must learn to cure, or
an abnormality in space that traps vessels
and warps time. There should be action
firing phasers and photons, or landing
parties fighting with Klingonsbut this
shouldnt be commonplace.
Above all, try to maintain continuity
with the series and movies. Starfleet does
not send out vessels to blow up Klingon
outposts, and Vulcans do not advocate war
with the Orions. Certainly, you can set up
bizarre situations like a dozen Spacedocks,
vessels that travel at Warp 16, and plaid
Romulans, but the campaign rapidly loses
its Star Trek flavor. The GM becomes
obligated to outdo himself until the crew
saves the universe every gaming session
and the game becomes an unrecognizable
mutation of the original product.
If you have unruly PCs, Starfleet Command does an admirable job of keeping
the crew in place. When crew members
start breaking laws, court-martials can

remedy this. Does the Captain pretty

much do what he pleases? One Board of
Inquiry later, the First Officer may be in
command while the ex-Captain mines
borite. Sure, Captain Kirk got away with a
lot, but Kirk is also a Starfleet legend, and
the fourth movie showed that even a
legend can be put on trial.
Another great tactic is to have a stable
PC play Chief Medical Officer, and if he
sees the Captain behaving erratically, have
the Captain declared incompetent. Of
course, the GM could always kill a PC, but
that is hardly sporting. Infecting him with
a horribly contagious disease for the duration of the adventure may be a good warning, though.
Just how dangerous should an adventure be? Obviously, you dont want to pit
your PCs Nelson-class scout against a
Klingon L-24 battleship, but a mission to
Deneb to deliver some flowers to a Deltan
ambassador seems a bit tame. Find the
middle ground. An element of the unusual
can throw the players off guard and make
for a rewarding session. The aforementioned mission to deliver flowers is quite
boring, but what if the flowers were sentient, 9 tall, and telepathic? Furthermore,
what if another race in the Federation
wanted the flowers badly enough that it
tried to steal them?
Each adventure should have an element
of risk or it ceases to be fun. Present the
problem clearly, and throw in some twists
to the plot. Provide more than one solution, but make the crew work to find
them. Should a PCs life be threatened,
give him a Luck roll; only if the roll is
failed does the PC die. Even in fatal situations, make sure the threat is logical. A
squad of Klingon marines is not going to
overlook the Starfleet security men in
battle armor in favor of killing the wimpy
communications officer 45 meters from
the melee!
NPC crew should generally be the first
targets in a firefight. If there are more
enemy NPCs than friendly NPCs, then the
PCs, too, should be counted as legitimate
targets. Players who try to hide behind the
NPCs may be charged with conduct unbecoming to officers and should be zapped
on principle. A Klingon may bypass an
NPC as a target if the PC is more of a
threat. In short, treat combat situations
with fairness and logic.
Inevitably, a PC may die. Any selfrespecting player will accept such a fate if
there was at least a fighting chance to
avoid it. There should rarely be Kobayashi
Maru scenarios in the gamedont stack
the deck so that the PCs cannot win or
escape.
If you really need ideas, here are the
two most off-the-wall gaming suggestions
that I have ever created. The first one has
been used; the other will not be used as
long as my players behave.
First, imagine finding an Earthlike planet
where the Preservers have placed a group
of humans whose technology level is simi-

lar to 11th century Britain. The Preservers

performed gene-splicing experiments and
created beasts that were half man and half
horse, as well as winged horses, eagleheaded winged lions, etc. They also genetically created short humans with lots of
facial hair and a talent for mining, and
another human type with slim build, fair
hair, and a 90% resistance to sleep and
charm spells. Sound familiar?
Second, imagine having the PCs find a
planet where a certain bloated, octopoidheaded, insane deity and his flying fungus
friends reside. Your players will go insane
over this one.

How to hassle heroes

If an adventure involves conflict with

another starfaring race, there are certain
rules of thumb that should be followed,
depending on which race is encountered;
these helpful generalizations follow. Bear
in mind that just because someone is a
Klingon, his behavior is not completely
predictable. To automatically assume that
a Romulan will be honorable or that a
Klingon will be violent is a deadly mistake.
Encourage the players to regard each NPC
individually rather than to make assumptions based on race. In fact, this is not a
bad philosophy for real life, and there
have been many instances when Star Trek
episodes told a story with a moral
First, guidelines on Klingons. As seen in
the old series and in the movies, Klingons
are indeed a brutal, violent race. But
please bear in mind that they are not
stupid! No race achieves warp capability
and an empire by being morons. Klingons
are honorable, but usually only to fellow
Klingons or, at the very best, to people
who are clearly brave warriors.
There are rivalries between different
Klingon family lines, but such conflicts are
put aside when the families are faced with
a common threat. There have even been
incidents where Klingons and humans
have cooperated. As the Klingons say:
Only a fool fights in a burning house.
As a rule, Klingon vessels travel in
groups of three. If the Klingons are in
orbit around a planet before PCs arrive,

two vessels will be on the opposite side of

the planet, in a sensor shadow. The PCs
will only detect one vessel, while the other
two lurk behind, waiting for the moment
to strike. Remember, Klingons love negotiating from a position of strength!
The Romulans are a different case altogether. They are a proud, honorable people who seem to have more integrity than
the Klingons do. They fight not because
they wish to, but because of the necessity
for them to expand. Their systems are
poor in resources, and they need to survive. With Romulans, conflict is less personal. Nevertheless, they are tough, violent
opponents who would rather die than
surrender. They might even be described
as noble. Their use of the cloaking device
is a bit less noble, but to the Romulans it
does the job. Romulans are the perfect
race to use for a secret incursion into
Federation space. Their tactics have more
finesse than those of the Klingons. Few
things are more disturbing than having
three Romulan Stormbirds materialize
with weapons charged around the campaign vessel.
Orions are accomplished merchants,
pirates, rogues, entrepreneurs, and troublemakers. They walk a fine line between
the UFP and the Klingons. They are materialists but, again, are not stupid. In fact,
they are downright devious. If any opponent should be allowed to escape to fight
another day, it should be the Orions. Then
there are those green Orion women. . . .
The Gorn are big, lizardlike brutes who
hiss a lot and look very mean (with good
reason, since they are mean). Gorn are
divided into clans, and currently some
clans are in rebellion against the Gorn
Alliance. Some of the rebellion is due to
the Gorn stance on the UFP. The rebels
favor war and the Alliance favors negotiation. Therefore, the possibility of running
into rebel Gorn vessels always exists. Gorn
also have a code of honor, since they are a
warrior race, but they lack finesse and
subtlety. Their tactics are blunt and involve much violence, as witnessed in the
Star Trek episode, The Arena. Their
engineering theory seems to be If its

DRAGON 89

stuck, push it. If it fails to move, get a

bigger hammer. If it breaks, it needed to
be fixed anyway. Like the Klingons, they
are by no means idiots, or they would not
have developed warp drive.
As for homemade races, the limits are
those of your own imagination. Make sure
that there are logical reasons for certain
behavior or standards. For example, a race
that is recovering from a technologically
inspired global war may harbor a strong
hatred toward technology and those who
use it.
When designing adventures, remember
that the PCs have great resources at their
disposal. A nemesis cant sneak up on a
group that always carries tricorders. A
transporter breakdown still leaves shuttlecraft. Medicine is so advanced that even
somebody who has a current operational
endurance of - 45 can still pull through if
a Federation-style sick bay is handy. The
computers on a starship contain more
information than the Library of Congress
and are at the PCs fingertips. Some farsighted parties equip themselves with
subcutaneous transponders so the ship
can always find them.
Avoid using the same plot devices for
limiting the PCs options. How many ion
storms can just happen to be in the area,
rendering transporters inoperative? How
many lifeforms are so radically different
that they do not show up on sensors?
Know your players and how they think.
Look for weaknesses, and play those
weaknesses against the group. Learn what
buttons to push with specific players. Do
you have a player with an inflated ego?
Have an NPC push him around. Does
another player get nervous around
Klingons? Bring em on! Players who are
terrified of command should find themselves suddenly left in command because
of unusual circumstances.

Engineering

department

No, this has nothing to do with playing

Mr. Scott. There are certain rules-related
odds and ends that need addressing before
you start a STAR TREK campaign.
First, there are Action Points, or APs.
According to the rules, the GM is supposed
to track each PCs APs, since theres often
the chance the PC can perform certain
actions during another PCs turn. Such
actions are called opportunity actions.
I advise you to throw out most of the AP
system. Have you ever tried to keep track
of a dozen Klingon Marines and a dozen
PCs in a melee? Theres far too much
accounting involved. Instead, make everything more abstract. Let the PC or NPC
with the highest Small Unit Tactics score
go first, as per the rules. Discard the opportunity actions, but allow PCs to do
extra things that may be logical. Let each
combatant have one (and only one) chance
to attack each turn. Logic should dictate
what someone can or cannot do, but it
90 OCTOBER 1989

would be wise to keep the AP charts

around as a guideline and a final arbiter.
The thing I find most irritating about the
STAR TREK game rules is the lack of explanation for how long certain skills take to
implement. Heres how we do it: When a
skill roll is needed, say in Warp Drive
Technology, the roll is made. This represents a quick fix, a la Mr. Scott. Should
the roll succeed, all is well. If it fails, then
the PC can try again, but the results will
not be certain for 2d10 minutes.
The same principle follows for looking
up information or treating someones
wounds. When looking up information,
roll the average of the PCs scores in Computer Operations and the respective subject.. If Commander Markell is looking up
all incidences of Starfleet starship disappearances in Federation history, his Computer Operations and Federation
Culture/History would be averaged to find
the chance for him to locate the right
entry in a timely fashion.
The rules for using a tricorder seem a
bit vague. In one instance, the rules tell
you to use Computer Operations; but
tricorders are also referred to under Small
Equipment Systems Operation. I suggest
averaging the above two scores with the
skill in the subject with which the PC is
concerned. Thus, if Commander Decataur
is scanning some ancient ruins, he would
roll the average of his Computer Operations, Small Equipment Systems Operations, and Archaeology. Remember, the
tricorder or sensor records information
accurately. The player is rolling for his
PCs ability to understand what is being
recorded.
Some game systems that use skills have
outstanding successes and critical failures.
This, too, is an excellent idea. If the PC
makes his roll by less than 5% of the skill,
make it an outstanding success. If Commander Decataurs Warp Drive Technology
skill is 80 and he rolls a 3, not only did he
get the port warp engine working, he also
coaxed two extra power units out of it for
an hour. On the other hand, if the PC rolls
96-00, something terrible has happened.
The degree of trouble escalates with the
higher rolls. If someone has a skill of 99
and he rolls 00, he has failed and must roll
again, this time with a -20 penalty. If he
passes, there are no repercussions. If he
fails again, it is a critical failure. The
actions needed to correct a roll like this
could be an adventure unto itself!
Finally, have you ever tried to resolve a
3-D chess game? Nowhere do the rules
cover this. Weve ad-libbed a nice little
system where both opponents must roll
lower than the average of their intelligences and their skill ratings, with the
winner being the first one who makes it. If
both make it, the winner is the person
who rolled proportionately lower. If Dr.
Voris, who has a score of 40, rolls 10, and
Captain Anastas, who has a score of 20,
rolls 8, Dr. Voris would win because 10 is
25% of 40, while 8 is 40% of 20, a consid-

erably higher proportion. If someone rolls

a critical failure at 3-D chess, feel free to
ignore the consequences. After all, how
can losing the game be deadly, unless the
PC gets a pawn lodged up his nose by an
angry loser? Now, if the PC is playing zerogee lacrosse, a critical failure could mean a
broken arm or a concussion. Incidentally,
for resolving a sports contest, average the
PCs skill and his dexterity. For resolving
card games, average the game skill with
his luck score.

Miscellany

The STAR TREK game is not limited to a

Starfleet-based campaign. There are
sourcebooks for playing merchants and
traders, or Starfleet Intelligence agents.
Other sourcebooks are available that can
allow a Klingon, Romulan, or Orion campaign. A Klingon campaign is definitely not
like running a chaotic-evil or all-orc campaign in the AD&D game! It seems to be a
mixture of FASAs STAR TREK, West End
Games PARANOIA, and TSRs TOP
SECRET/S.I. game.
Be careful not to allow your STAR TREK
campaign to lose its unique flavor so that
the scenarios you design could be mistaken for something involving different
RPGs (i.e., generic module blandness).
Use STAR TREK terminology and historical
references, and above all, keep the spirit
of exploring strange new worlds and
seeking out new life and new civilizations
alive. Many episodes were morality plays.
While these may be hard to incorporate in
the game, simple lessons like violence is
not always necessary, machines cannot
and must not replace man, and dont
judge by outward appearances can be
woven into scenarios.
Finally, avoid repetition. Just how many
corrupt Starfleet Admirals are running
around? How many times can the existence of the entire galaxy be threatened,
only to be saved by the same group of
heroes time and time again? Keep your
players guessing as to what sort of adventure is coming next. Will it be a delicate
diplomatic mission or an undercover assignment? Adventures could even happen
during shore leave, when the players least
expect it. Where no one has gone before
leaves a lot of territory to cover.
This article is dedicated to the following
people, who stump me at every turn so
that I have to come up with better and
trickier adventures: Sophia Biedel, Beth
Bigelow, Kim Calabrese, Joel and Judd
Emery, Jamie Hale, Kevin McBride, Milton
McGorrill, John Rennie, Nick Rowe, Anthony Scappichio, Ellen Terra, Bryan Villarreal, Kevin Wells, Colleen and Dave
Wetzel, and Bow Worsham. Live long and
prosper!

Unspeakable
Secrets
Made Easy
Building your unspeakable library in
Chaosiums CALL OF CTHULHU game
1989 by Dean Shomshak
Sometime in the course of a campaign,
CALL OF CTHULHU game Keepers will
find a need for new, exciting Mythos
tomes. This article has some thoughts on
how to create new tomes to surprise Investigators, with examples drawn from
Mythos stories, the CALL OF CTHULHU

rules, and my own campaign.

The first and most important rule is to
not make a random-number system for
generating Mythos tomes. One of the
CALL OF CTHULHU games strengths is its
emphasis on storytelling over complicated
rules and numbers. No formulas or tables

will appear here, except for a summary of

some sample tomes. No table or formula
can do what the imaginative Keeper can
when creating tomes that are memorable
and integrated into the campaign.
Avoiding duplication is essential; in fact,
it is at the heart of most of the suggestions
that follow. These texts are supposed to be
rare and exotic. Too much similarity
among them tarnishes their mystique. For
instance, there are already several massive
compilations of dark and baleful mythos,
of liturgies, rituals, and incantations both
evil and esoteric like the Book of Eibon. A
description of this book supplies the preceding quote, and the Revelations of Glaaki
and the Necronomicon also fall into this
category. There are also titles that are
essentially collected descriptions of sinister cults; Unausprechlichen Kulten and
Cultes des Goules spring to mind. One new
book of each type could be rationalized on
the grounds of novelty, but more would be
excessive. After all, if a tome is going to be
just like Kulten or Eibon, why not just use
the original?
The more perceptive Mythos writers
seem to have kept this in mind. In the
CALL OF CTHULHU rules, Eibon and De
Vermiis Mysteriis seem much the same.
Their knowledge ratings, spell multipliers,
and sanity losses are nearly equal. Vermiis
is in Latin; so is one version of Eibon. If
you read the stories in which they appear,

Illustration by Valerie Valusek

92 OCTOBER 1989

you find that both tomes were written by

powerful sorcerers. One wizard, however,
lived and wrote in medieval Europe, while
the other lived millennia before in Hyperborea. Maybe these books arent alike
after all.
This illustrates one characteristic of a
good Mythos tome: a sinister origin and
history. Lovecraft went so far as to write
an essay on the History and Chronology
of the Necronomicon, but you need not go
to such lengths. In stories, Lovecraft and
his compatriots settled for a paragraph or
two on each book, which is enough. If the
players want to know more about a books
history, its easy to make up further details
as needed. Of course, a good tome origin
can also be used as a hook to draw Investigators into new adventures.
Your own Mythos books arent the only
ones that can benefit from added history
and detail. Many of the works listed in the
CALL OF CTHULHU rulebook have never,
to the best of my knowledge, been given
any history or description by Mythos
authors. The Book of Dzyan, Eltdown
Shards, and others arent much more than
names. You can add as many details to
them as you want.
One way that new tomes can differ from
existing ones is in their origin. Approximately half the books listed in the CALL
OF CTHULHU rules are of Western origin.
The Middle East, India, and China have
extensive written occult traditions; it
seems logical that they would have
Cthulhu Mythos writings. The Mythos
activities of other regions could see print
through visitors from literate areas. Drop
a hint to your players that Sanskrit may be
as useful to them as Latin.
Books are just one way of storing information. Although books dominate postClassical Western cultures, there are also
scrolls, tablets, wall inscriptions, and monuments. Smaller amounts of information
single spells or monster descriptions
might be revealed in tapestries, paintings,
inscribed amulets, or even less likely objects. Modern-setting campaigns can add
various kinds of audio and visual recordings, microformats, and computer files.
Even if a text isnt encountered in its
original book format, this can spice up its
history and origin.
Its a good idea to check whether a format is appropriate for the tomes original
culture. The Mesopotamian cultures, for
instance, wrote on baked clay tablets,
whereas the Egyptians used scrolls in
addition to covering their monuments,
temples, and tombs with carved or painted
inscriptions. This research will probably
give you lots of ideas for adventures, too.
Another useful trick is to tie a tomes
origin to some preexisting bit of history or
legend, whether real or Mythos. Every bit
of verisimilitude helps in building atmosphere, and the surprise of recognition
gives players the feeling of investigating a
real mystery. On the other hand, such
references may be in-jokes, as when Love-

craft interjected a straight-faced reference

to the Commoriom myth-cycle preserved
by the Atlantean high priest Klarkash-Ton.
(Commoriom was an ancient city prominently featured in stories by Lovecrafts
friend Clark Ashton Smith.) In-jokes can be
fun even if they dont contribute to your
carefully crafted atmosphere of paranoia
and horror.
The next step is deciding if the tome
focuses on any particular part of the Mythos. Not only does a focused subject make
a tome feel more like a real book instead
of an ad-hoc plot device, it gives you a
guide to selecting spells for the work. A
tome could focus on the Great Old Ones or
Outer Gods, entities of air and space dwellers underground, gods that appeal to lone
sorcerers, gods served by frenzied cultists,
or whatever other corner of the Mythos
seems appropriate for the tomes origin
and the adventure in which it will be
encountered. The Rlyeh Text, for instance,
obviously focuses on Cthulhu and related
beings. It or any similar guide to oceanic
powers probably will not emanate from
cultists in the arid heart of Asia.
Conversely, if the purpose of a tome is to
introduce a particular spell to the Investigators, the tomes origin and subject focus
should be shaped with this in mind.
Another aspect of tome content is the
relative proportion of lore to spells. Some
works clearly emphasize lore. As a guide
to Mythos cults, there is no reason why
Unausprechlichen Kulten should have
many spells. In my campaign, the Kulten
can teach spells because of numerous
luridly detailed descriptions of cult rituals
rather than by any intent of its author.
Other texts, in contrast, are meant to be
spellbooks. Robert Blochs story, The
Shambler from the Star, makes it quite
clear that De Vermiis Mysteriis is a grimoire loaded with summonings and other
dire magic formulae. True Magick sounds
like a less imposing grimoire. Some tomes
might provide lore and magic more or less
equally; The Book of Eibon, as mentioned
above, contains both rituals and incantations and dark and baleful myths.
The last stage of tome invention, and in
many ways the least important, is assigning the tomes knowledge rating, spell
multiplier, and sanity loss. The list of
tomes in the CALL OF CTHULHU rulebook

shows that only the most important Mythos books like Kulten and Vermiis get a
knowledge rating of 12%-15%, while very
minor lorebooks and grimoires like People
of the Monolith and the Zanthu Tablets get
ratings of 5% or less. Anything in between
is a matter of the Keepers taste. The maximum possible sanity loss is usually closely
tied to the knowledge rating. For example,
the Celaeno Fragments gets a knowledge
rating of 9%, and can cause up to 8 points
SAN loss. The major connection between
knowledge rating and sanity loss is the
level of danger posed by the tomes information. Monstres and Their Kynde and
The Golden Bough both have a knowledge
rating of 5%, for example, but Monstres
causes 1d6 SAN loss, while Bough only
does 1d2. Bough, however, deals with the
Cthulhu Mythos only indirectly and accidentally through its analysis of ancient
European myths and customs. Besides,
The Golden Bough is a real book that has
probably never driven a reader insane. In
general, unless a tome is meant to be a
major sanity-buster like Vermiis or Kulten,
1d4 or 2d4 is a good rating for sanity
losses from tome reading. Either roll has a
50% chance of forcing a check for temporary insanity but isnt likely to cause indefinite insanity.
Spell multipliers show how comparatively easy or hard it is to learn spells from
a Mythos text. The most common multiplier is x 2; it gives Investigators a fair
chance to learn a few spells without making it easy to learn any spell in particular.
Second most common are the multipliers
x 1 and x 3; x 4 and x 5 are appropriately rare, reserved for the Necronomicon
and those few texts approaching it in
virulence. Of course, minor lorebooks
completely lacking spells have no spell
multiplier. Aside from these broad categories, there is no intrinsic relation between
a books spell multiplier and its knowledge
rating or SAN loss, or between the books
spell multipliers and whether that book is
a grimoire for learning spells or not. As
mentioned above in relation to Kulten, a
lorebook author might clearly describe
how to cast a spell even if he didnt consciously intend to; on the other hand, a
sorcerer explaining a spell might cloak his
instructions in obscure symbolism. Minor
texts might present their few spells in a

The Golden Goblin Mythos Library

Title

Book of Elder Aeons

El Codigo de Uxmal
The Uxmal Codex*
Demon Gods of Mu
Magic and Mystery of Mu
Mu: Lost Land of the Pacific

Language
English * *
Spanish * *
English
English
English
English

Spell
Knowledge
multiplier SAN Loss
rating
x1
2d4
+ 10%
1d8
x2
+8%
x2
1d8
+6%
1d6
x1
+6%
1d6
x3
+5%
1d3
+3%

* Translation of El Codigo de Uxmal.

* * Work is chiefly available in this language but not originally in that tongue.

DRAGON 93

The Ponape Scripture and the Necronomicon offended scholars as much as his wild

relatively straightforward manner, while a

major tome could scatter spell instructions
throughout pages of irrelevant information or outright nonsense. It depends on
the Keepers concept of the tome and the
context of the adventure. If the adventure
hinges on the Investigators learning Call
Ithaqua, the text providing it should have
a high spell multiplier. (This assumes you
disapprove of fudging dice rolls to advance
the plot.)
Mythos tome creation is not a systematic
process. You probably will start at any of
the above points and take the rest in any
order as inspiration leads you. The only
rule in tome creation that should be considered ironclad is that no tome has statistics surpassing or even equalling the

claim to have been inspired by Cthulhu,

Shub-Niggurath, and other Muvian gods.
His descriptions of Muvian rituals were as
grotesque as they were detailed. Some of
the rituals actually worked, a point Dixons
detractors missed. Demon Gods of Mu is a
slightly more important lorebook, with
+ 6% knowledge, spell multiplier of x 1,
and 1d6 SAN loss. It contains four spells:
Contact Cthulhu, Summon Dark Young of
Shub-Niggurath, Contact Nyarlathotep,
and Activate Eidolon (see The Ghastly
Grimoire, DRAGON Magazine issue #126,
for details of this spell). If you want to use
this or any other of these tomes in your
campaign, you can give them any spells
you deem necessary.
Dixons final work was Magic and Mystery of Mu (1902). This minor grimoire
describes Muvian sorcery; the preface

Necronomicon.

Since an example is worth a dozen rules,

here is a selection of Mythos books from
Golden Goblin Press, occult publishers
extraordinaire in the CALL OF CTHULHU
game world.
When the real worlds James Churchward began writing books of dubious
scholarship about the lost continent of Mu,
he didnt know that Golden Goblins star
researcher, Paul Dixon,. had already written three books on the subject. The first
was Mu: Lost Land of the Pacific (1896), in
which Dixon marshalled a wide range of
evidence for that ancient lands existence,
from folklore to zoology. While no reputable scholar ever accepted Dixons claims, a
few might privately admit that Mu is both
more plausible and more disturbing than
other works of the lost continent school.
Some of Dixons revelations are quite
sinister, especially those about Muvian
religion, giving Mu a 3% knowledge rating
and 1d3 SAN loss. It has no spells and is a
typical, very minor lorebook.
In 1900, Dixon wrote a sequel: Demon
Gods of Mu. Any hint of respect the academic community may have felt for Dixon
vanished with this work, which was
widely denounced as lurid, sensationalistic, and totally lacking in serious scholarship. In it, Dixon not only claimed that the
gods of Mu were real, but he asserted that
they still existed and were worshipped.
His reliance on bizarre occult texts like
94 OCTOBER 1989

claims that it really works. (This is not

true: half the spells are defective and
wont work, as a Cthulhu Mythos roll will
show in each case.) Dixon admitted that
Magic only contained minor Muvian spells,
but he promised to someday produce a
more complete guide to Muvian wizardry.
He never did. He disappeared in 1903
during an expedition to Nan Madol and
was never seen again. Magic was, by the
way, the worst seller of Dixons books,
probably because his Muvian sorcery
bore no resemblance to what he called
the puerile fantasies of popular occultism. It has a +5% knowledge, spell multiplier of x 3, and causes 1d6 SAN loss. It
contains Elder Sign, Enchant Brazier,
Conjure Glass of Mortland, Enchant Blade,
Chant of Thoth, Dread Curse of Azathoth,
and Contact Lloigor.
In addition to its massively expurgated
1909 edition of Nameless Cults, Golden
Goblin published one other major lorebook: the Book of Elder Aeons (1906), a

translation of a scroll found in the ruins of

a heretical Tibetan lamasery. It purports to
tell the history of the races that came
before humanity on Earth. It uses the
terms and mythological patterns of Bon,
the animistic religion which preceded and
heavily influenced Tibetan Buddhism.
Elder Aeons cycles of race following race,
mysteriously linked in some way to Earths
position among the stars, forms a pattern
familiar to Theosophists. Indeed, the similarities to Theosophy are deliberately
emphasized by translator Muriel Rasmussen. She argues in her introduction that
Elder Aeons confirms Theosophy, although the book itself is partly in error.
Muriel Rasmussen is still alive in campaigns set in the 1920s, but she will not
help Investigators in any way. In 1911, she
renounced Theosophy, burned her copy of
the Book of Elder Aeons, and entered a
convent where she lives under a vow of
silence. The Book of Elder Aeons has these
statistics: + 10% knowledge, spell multiplier of x 1, and 2d4 SAN loss. Its six spells
all deal with contacting various Elder
Races. The original scroll is held by the
British Museum.
Golden Goblin tried hard to produce
books that went beyond the usual occult
tripe. They tried too hard, some people
said. A final example is its last publication,
a Mayan grimoire found in the ruins of the
city of Uxmal. In 1901, Dr. Miguel Arroscas of the Museo Nacional de Antropologia
in Mexico City produced a translation
based on notes in Spanish written above a
few lines of Mayan text. Most archeologists and linguists think that the The Uxmal Codex is a magnificently detailed hoax
to which Dr. Arroscas succumbed. If genuine, this collection of rituals and incantations supposedly compiled by an ancient
Mayan sorcerer-priest would revolutionize
theories about Mayan magic and religion.
(For hints about the Codexs frightening.
revelations, see The Cthulhu Mythos in
Mesoamerican Religion in Chaosiums
Cthulhu Companion.) Subsequently, the
Spanish El Codigo de Uxmal was translated
into English by Thad Chevaux, a Miskatonic University graduate, and published

Illustrations by David Zenz

by Golden Goblin in 1910.

Not surprisingly, Chevauxs translation is
not as complete or accurate a source of
Mythos information as Arroscass text. The
concepts of Mythos are especially difficult
to translate, so errors tend to multiply. In
practice, this means that the Golden Goblin edition of the The Uxmal Codex gives
+ 6% knowledge, while the Spanish version gives +8%. Both have a spell multiplier of x 2 and cause 1d8 SAN loss. The
Spanish version contains Contact Yig,
Summon Child of Yig, Contact Deep One,
Contact Cthulhu, Contact Nyarlathotep,
Summon Hunting Horror, Bind Hunting
Horror, Dread Curse of Azathoth, Hands
of Yig, Enchant Knife, and Summon Fire
Vampire. The English version deletes Contact Cthulhu, Contact Nyarlathotep, and
Bind Hunting Horror.
Following Dr. Arroscass suicide in 1908,
the original folded tree-bark edition of The
Uxmal Codex has been kept in a temperature and humidity controlled vault by the
Museo. Chevaux died shortly after the
Codexs publication, in the fire that consumed Golden Goblins office, editor, and
supply of unsold volumes. No one knows
why Chevaux and the editor were alone at
the office in the middle of the night, or the
unidentifiable bones found in addition to
their charred remains.
I hope these examples will inspire you to
think up your own new Mythos tomes for
your campaign or create ways to add spice
to the tomes listed in the CALL OF
CTHULHU rulebook. Lovecraft himself
encouraged his friends to make their own
contributions to the Mythos and its grim
bibliography; Mythos writers like Clark
Ashton Smith, August Derleth, and Robert
Bloch have given Keepers ample precedent. So get out there and knock em dead!
Er, thats just a figure of speech.

Computers
Continued from page 73
sageways. Have plenty of healing herbs.
8. The Pirates Lair contains a sapphire
coin and a jeweled crown..
9. You will eventually have to fight in the
castle. When you have a lot of firebolts, go
to a section of the castle, wipe out the
guards, and open the chests.
10. The Temptress will offer you either
Charm or Gold.
11. You must have four magic seeds to
succeed on the second level. More magic
seeds are found in the same place after
you use the ones you have.
12. After you solve each dungeon, your
strength will increase.
13. The turquoise coin is found on the
second dungeon level.
14. Use the guardian exhibit to open the
door across from the Spiral room.
15. The distant healer is in Eagles
Hollow. He will give you a ruby coin.
16. After you have the four guard

jewels, return to Eagle Hollow to be healed

and to buy herbs. Magic does not work
well in the fortress, so dont buy any!
17. Use healing herbs to free yourself
from the spells grip.
18. At the end of the game, after you
return the scrolls, you get your own display. This was a nice reward for completing the game.
Scott Whittaker
Lighthouse Point FL
Phantasie I (SSI)

[Hints courtesy of SSIs product newsletter, Inside SSI.]

As you know, there are nine rings that

must be found. Here are their locations:
find two in the Temple of the Dosnebian
Clerics; one in Phantasies Armory; three
in J. R. Trolkins Castle; and three in
Bleebs Dungeon. To win this adventure,
you must slay the Dark Lord and obtain
the Divine Spell.
Phantasie II (SSI)

[Hints courtesy of SSIS product newsletter, Inside SSI.]

Youll have to find the beasts in this

game; beasts 1 and 2 are in the Material
Plane and can show up anywhere, so be
careful. While on the Material Plane,
check out the desert island: youll find
Beasts 3 and 4 there. Beasts 5 and 6 are on
the Astral Plane and can be summoned
through use of spell #57. Plutos Castle is
the home of Beast 7 and in Plutos Managerie, yep, heeeeeeres Beast 8.
Phantasie III (SSI)

[Hints courtesy of SSIs product newsletter, Inside SSI.]

You eventually need to get to the Plane

of Light. To accomplish this, while in the
spirals of the Crystal Castle of Chronos,
type C2 + and pull the lever, then get out
of the dungeon. You must possess the Key
of Light in order to get into the castle.
In order to get to the Dark Plane, follow
the same instructions as above, except
type in C2- then leave the dungeon.
Star Command (SSI)

[Hints courtesy of SSIs product newsletter, Inside SSI.]

The Princess Viselda is in one of the

three black holes. The coordinates for
each black hole are: 10,29; 28,14; 23,06.
You must enter each black hole and
down scan on every planet of each star in
the black hole. The password found inside
the Insect Missile Factory is THPI.
Coming next month: The Beastie
Awards! Plus, new reviews and more news
regarding new product announcements.
Dont forget to send in your game hints.
Mail them to us at 179 Pebble Place, San
Ramon CA 94583. While you help others,
perhaps others will help you. Until next
month, game on!

DRAGON 95

Convention Calendar Policies

This column is a service to our readers
worldwide. Anyone may place a free listing
for a game convention here, but the following guidelines must be observed.
In order to ensure that all convention
listings contain accurate and timely information, all material should be either typed
double-spaced or printed legibly on standard manuscript paper. The contents of
each listing must be short, succinct, and,
under 150 words long.
The information given in the listing must
include the following, in this order:
1. Convention title and dates held;
2. Site and location;
3. Guests of honor (if applicable);
4. Special events offered;
5. Registration fees or attendance requirements; and,
6. Address(es) and telephone number(s)
where additional information and confirmation can be obtained.
Convention flyers, newsletters, and other
mass-mailed announcements will not be
considered for use in this column; we
prefer to see a cover letter with the announcement as well. No call-in listings are
accepted. Unless stated otherwise, all
dollar values given for U.S. and Canadian
conventions are in U.S. currency.
WARNING: We are not responsible for
incorrect information sent to us by convention staff members. Please check your
convention listing carefully! Our wide
circulation ensures that over a quarter of a
million readers worldwide see each issue.
Accurate information is your responsibility.
Copy deadlines are the last Monday of
each month, two months prior to the onsale date of an issue. Thus, the copy deadline for the December issue is the last
Monday of October. Announcements for
North American and Pacific conventions
must be mailed to: Convention Calendar,
DRAGON Magazine, P.O. Box 111, Lake
Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A. Announcements
for Europe must be posted an additional
month before the deadline to: Convention
Calendar, DRAGON Magazine, TSR
Limited, 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,
Cambridge CB1 3LB, United Kingdom.
If a convention listing must be changed
because the convention has been cancelled, the dates have changed, or incorrect information has been printed, please
contact us immediately. Most questions or
changes should be directed to either Anne
Brown or Roger E. Moore at TSR, Inc.,
(414) 248-3625 (U.S.A.). Questions or
changes concerning European conventions
should be directed to TSR Limited, (0223)
212517 (U.K.).
96

OCTOBER 1989

indicates an Australian convention.

indicates a Canadian convention.
indicates a European convention.
* indicates a product produced by a company other than TSR,
Inc. Most product names are trademarks owned by the
companies publishing those products The use of the name of
any product without mention of its trademark status should not
be construed as a challenge to such status.

COUNCIL OF FIVE NATIONS 15

October 6-8
Hosted by the Schenectady Wargamers Association, this convention will be held at the Ramada Inn in Schenectady, N.Y. A number of
RPGA Network events are planned, including a
Masters Level AD&D tournament. There will
also be several other AD&D tournaments and
single-round events. Other events will include
BATTLETECH*, STAR FLEET BATTLES*, CIVILIZATION*, DIPLOMACY* (Youngstown lo-player
variant), CHAMPIONS*, CAR WARS*, RUNEQUEST*, and various other role-playing, board,
and miniatures games. The convention will also
feature a miniatures-painting contest and games
auction. Advance registration will be $10 for the
weekend, or $15 at the door. For a preregistration booklet, send an SASE to: Eric Paperman,
Con Director, 418 Vliet Blvd., Cohoes NY 12047.
Room rates for this event are $60 a night for
double occupancy and $75 a night for quad. For
information about lodging, contact the Schenectady Ramada Inn at: (518) 370-7151.
DRAGON CON 89, October 6-8
This science-fiction, fantasy, and gaming
convention will be held at the OMNI International Hotel and Convention Center in Atlanta,
Ga. Guests include Anne McCaffrey, Wes Craven, Michael Whelan, Andrew Greenberg,
Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Gary Gygax,
Richard Garriott, Robert Asprin, Lynn Abbey,
and Larry Elmore. Preregistration (through
September 15) is $30. Fantasy role-playing,
strategic, miniatures, and computer gaming will
be featured in over 100 tournaments. Other
events will include four tracks of workshops
and panels, masquerade shows, an art show and
print shop, video rooms, art and consignment
auctions, a con suite, and more. Send an SASE
to: DRAGON CON 89, Box 47696, Atlanta GA
30362. You may also purchase your advanced
membership by VISA or MasterCard by calling
Tevex, toll-free, at: (800) 456-1162.
SUNCOAST SKIRMISHES 89, October 6-8
SKIRMISHES presents the ninth-annual presentation of this gaming extravaganza. This
event will take place at the Holiday Inn-Ashley
Plaza, 111 West Fortune Street, in Tampa, Fla.
Room rates are $50 for one to four people.
Events will include: AD&D, TRAVELLER*,
STAR FLEET BATTLES*, CAR WARS*, Napoleonics miniatures, SEEKRIEG*, and other games;
board gaming; a KILLER* tournament; and
dealers. Registration is $18 for the weekend;
send your fees to receive a program booklet.
Write to: SKIRMISHES, P.O. Box 2097, Winter

Haven FL 33883; or call: (813) 293-7983.

TITANCON/TNT III, October 6-8
The Historical Simulation Society of Charlottesville, team winner of Titan National Tournament II, is hosting TNT III in Cabell Hall at the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
Teams and individuals are invited to compete
with the best U.S. TITAN* game players in a
round-robin, no-elimination event for team and
individual trophies. Registration is $3. Write to:
Derek Craxton/HSS, 1711 Galloway Dr., Charlottesville VA 22901; or call: (804) 296-4897.
TOLEDO GAMING CONVENTION 7
October 7-8
The seventh-annual edition of Northwest
Ohios largest gaming convention will be held at
the University of Toledos Scott Park Campus.
This year we will have over 140 events, including: role-playing, strategy, tactical, board, and
miniatures tournaments; two auctions; demonstrations; painting contests; and dealers and
exhibitors. Featured this year are AD&D,
BATTLET,ECH*, WARHAMMER 40,000*, STAR
FLEET BATTLES,*, GURPS*, STAR WARS*,
ADVANCED SQUAD LEADER*, AXIS & ALLIES*, and SPACE: 1889* events. In addition,
there will be nonstop movies and open gaming.
Send an SASE to: TOLEDO GAMING CONVENTION 7, c/o Mind Games, 3001 North Reynolds
Road, Toledo OH 43615.
QUAD CON, October 13-15
The RiverBend Gamers Association will sponsor QUAD CON 89 at Palmer Auditorium, 1000
Brady St., Davenport, Iowa. Special room rates
are available at the Best Western Riverview Inn
by calling (800) 528-1234 toll free or (319) 3241921. Games include AD&D, D&D, BATTLETECH*, RECON*, STAR FLEET BATTLES*, CAR
WARS*, STAR TREK*, GURPS*, MARVEL SUPER
HEROES, GAMMA WORLD, TRAVELLER
2300*, TWILIGHT 2000*, TEENAGE MUTANT
NINJA TURTLES*, MERP*, DR. WHO*, CALL
OF CTHULHU*, DC HEROES*, ADVANCED
SQUAD LEADER*, CIVILIZATION*, DIPLOMACY*, and AIR SORTIE* games. Other events
will include microarmor, a painting contest, a
multievent ancients-to-future combat tournament, and a costume contest (no weapons,
please). At-the-door fees are: $10 for the weekend, $5 per day. Send a #10 SASE to: RiverBend
Gamers Association, P.O. Box 8421, Moline IL
61265.
NECRONOMICON 89, October 20-22
NECRONOMICON 89, a science-fiction, fantasy, and horror convention, will be held at the
Ashley Plaza Holiday Inn in Tampa, Fla. Guests
of honor will be George Alec Effinger (author of
When Gravity Fails) and artist Tom Kidd. Other
guests include Richard Byers (author of Fright
Line) and Richard Louis Newman (author of On
Wings of Evil). Membership rates are $15 until
September 15, and $20 at the door. One-day
memberships are available at the door only.

Hotel room rates are $50 for single to quad

occupancy. Activities will include author and
artist panels, a fan cabaret, a masquerade, a
Batman 50th Anniversary Trivia Quiz, autograph sessions, an art auction, a late night
dance, and an Ygor party. Write to: NECRONOMICON 89, P.O. Box 2076, Riverview FL
33569; or call: (813) 677-6347.
NOTJUSTANOTHER CON, October 20-22
The Science Fiction Conventioneers of U.
Mass. (SCUM) will hold its fifth NOTJUSTANOTHER CON in the Campus Center of the
University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Guest of
honor is Oscar-winning filmmaker Mike Jittlov
(The Wizard of Speed and Time). Membership
rates are $13 through October 1; $15 from
October 1-19; and $17 at the door. Send an SASE
to: SCUM, RSO 104 SAO, U. Mass., Amherst MA
01003; or call: (413) 545-1924.
QUEEN CITY GAMES 89, October 20-21
QUEEN CITY GAMES 89 will be held at the
Cincinnati Technical College, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Events will include BATTLETECH*, STAR FLEET
BATTLES*, and microarmor games, with an
RPGA Network tournament, role-playing,
miniatures, door prizes, seminars, and a costume contest. Write to: Cincinnati Adventure
Gamers, Q.C.G. 89, P.O. Box 462, Cincinnati OH
45201; or call: (513) 542-3449, 1:30-6:00 P.M.
CONFIGURATION, October 21-22
CONFIGURATION will be held in the Student
Union and Post Hall of Rogers State College,
College Hill, Will Rogers Blvd., Claremore, Okla.,
minutes northeast of Tulsa. Tournaments include D&D, AD&D, MERP*, WARHAMMER*,
WARHAMMER FANTASY BATTLE*, SPACE
OPERA*, TWILIGHT 2000*, and other games.
Prizes will be awarded in each tournament.
There will be a large dealers room, open gaming, artists, and guests. Admission is $5 in advance, or $7 at the door. One-day admission
prices are $4 per day, or $1 for a dealers room
pass. Write to: CONFIGURATION, 107 E. 7th St.,
Owasso OK 74055; or call: (918) 272-4171.
HEXACON 89, October 27-29
This science-fiction and fantasy gaming convention will be held at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro in the Bryan Business
and Economics building, Tournaments include
the AD&D game (sponsored by the RPGA
Network), and BATTLETECH*, CAR WARS*, and
other games. Dealers will be present. Preregistration is $10 general admission for the weekend, $7 for students with valid ID, and $5 for
UNCG students. Write to: Robin Jordan, Science
Fiction and Fantasy Federation, Box 4 EUC,
UNCG, Greensboro NC 27412; or call: (919) 3343159.
MILEHICON 21, October 27-29
This science-fiction, fantasy, and gaming
convention will be held at the Executive Tower
Inn in Denver, Colo. Robert Bloch will be the
guest of honor; Forrest J. Ackerman will be fan
guest of honor; and Simon Hawke will be toastmaster. Events will include: literary and scientific panels; an art show and auction; exhibits; a
Critter Crunch; videos and movies; filk programming; a gaming area; a costume contest;
and a masked ball. Room rates are $47 for single
or double occupancy; $52 for triple or quad
occupancy. Dealers tables are $40 until October
27. Registration fees are $20 until October 15,
or $22 at the door. Write to: MILEHICON, P.O.
Box 27074, Lakewood CO 80227; or call: (303)
426-0806.

WARGAMERS EXPO, October 27-29

This event has been cancelled.
COMMAND.CON 1, October 28
This convention will be held at the Forest
Park Community College campus cafeteria.
Events will include RPGA Network AD&D
games, miniatures battles, and a game auction.
Admission is $5. Write to: COMMAND.CON 1,
P.O. Box 9107, Richmond Heights MO 63117; or
call: (314) 727-1508 or (314) 721-1155 before
10:00 P.M. No collect calls, please.
ADVENTURE 89, October 28-29
Canadas Premier Gaming Convention is to be
held in Mississauga, Ontario, at the University of
Torontos Erindale Campus, 3359 Mississauga
Rd. Guests include Lloyd Blankenship from
Steve Jackson Games, Kevin Barrett of I.C.E.,
and Bob Simpson of Supremacy Games. Events
include AD&D tournaments, and BATTLETECH* and more than 20 other role-playing
games, many sponsored by the RPGA Network. Also featured are over 25 board games,
miniatures games, professional seminars, a
game auction, and a costume contest. For hotel
reservations, call Novotel at: (419) 896-1000
(mention ADVENTURE 89 for discount rates).
Preregistration, in Canadian or U.S. funds, is
$15 for the weekend or $9 per day. Registration
at the door is $20 for the weekend or $12 per
day. Send check or money order, or write to:
ADVENTURE 89, 257 Queen St. South, Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA L5M 1L9. Include your
phone number with all correspondence.
STARD 89, November 4-5
For the first time, STARD will be a two-day
event, to be held at the Curio-Haus, Rothenbaumchaussee 13, on the Hamburg University
campus. Events will include hundreds of roleplaying, tabletop, and board game events,
miniatures exhibitions and competitions, a game
auction and art exhibition, workshops, panel
discussion, demonstration games, and a dealers
area. Hours are Saturday, 10:00 to 22:00, and
Sunday 10:00 to 18:00. Write to: Citadel Verlag,
Mhlendamm 41-43, D-2000 Hamburg 76, WEST
GERMANY, or call: 40-220 14 14 /5.
CONTRARY, November 10-11
CONTRARY 89 will be held at the Parwick
Center in Chicopee, Mass. The convention will
feature military/strategy games, role-playing
games (including at least two RPGA Network
events), and miniatures events. Preregistration
is $10 for both days or $8 for one day. Write to:
CONTRARY 89, 933 Belmont Ave., Springfield
MA 01108; or call Mark at: (413) 731-7237.
AU GAMERS CONVENTION
November 10-12
The Au Gamers are proud to hold the largest
fantasy role-playing convention in New Jersey at
the Sheraton Tara Hotel, 199 Smith Rd., Parsippany NJ. Events will include RPGA Network
tournaments, a charity game, a costume contest,
a dealers area, and a miniatures painting contest. Prizes will be awarded for best players and
best gamemasters. For reservations, call: (201)
515-2000, ext. 5800. Mention the convention to
receive special room rates. Registration fees
before Oct. 20 are $7 per day or $18 for the
weekend. After Oct. 20, rates are $8 per day
and $20 for the weekend. Registration at the
door will be $10 per day. Write to: Steven M.
Scheel, Oakwood Village, Bldg #26, Apt #9,
Flanders NJ 07836, or call: (201) 927-8097; or
John Moir, 361 Vandervier Ave., Sommerville NJ
08876; or call: (201) 725-1257.

SCI CON II, November 10-12

This science-fiction and gaming convention
will be held at the Holiday Inn Executive Center
in Virginia Beach, Va. Artist guests of honor are
Ron Lindahn and Val Lakey-Lindahn. Special
guest is Frank Kelly Freas. Events will include
panels, readings, video presentations, a costume
contest, an art show, gaming, and more. Memberships are $15 until September 30, or $20 at
the door. Huckster tables (which include one
membership) are $75 until October 1; any tables
available after that point will be $100. Send an
SASE to: SCI CON 11, Dept. DR, P.O. Box 9434,
Hampton VA 23670.
ARMISTICE CON '89, November 11-12
This gaming event will be held at the Horizon
Activities Center in North Olmsted, Ohio. Special
events will include TRAVELLER*, CAR WARS*,
BATTLETECH*, DIPLOMACY*, microarmor, and
AD&D game events, as well as Napoleonic
miniatures, board and role-playing games, a
miniatures exhibit, a miniatures-painting contest, and 24-hour gaming. Registration fees are
$12. One-day passes will be available for $7.
Write to: ARMISTICE CON 89, c/o Horizon
Activities Center, 30395 Lorain Road, North
Olmsted OH 44070; or call Dave Smith or Fran
Haas at: (216) 779-6536 during business hours.
GAMESCON (UK) 89, November 11
This gaming convention will be held at the
Laindon Community Centre, Basildon, Essex.
Dungeon Masters and players are required for
AD&D competitions. Contact Chris Baylis at tel:
0268-419933, or write to: 67 Mynchens, Lee
Chapel North, Basildon, Essex SS115 5EG,
UNITED KINGDOM.
PENTACON, November 11
The Northeast Indiana Gaming Association
will be hosting the fifth annual PENTACON
gaming convention in the Grand Wayne Convention Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. Games will
include an RPGA Network AD&D tournament, and BATTLETECH*, CAR WARS*, CHAMPIONS*, CIVILIZATION*, DARKUS THEL*,
MORROW PROJECT*, and SPACE: 1889* games.
Other features are a painting contest and dealers area. Send an SASE to: N.I.G.A., P.O. Box
11146, Fort Wayne IN 46856.
ROCK-CON XVI, November 11-12
Over 1,000 people are expected to attend this
years convention, to be held at the Rockford
Lutheran High School, 3411 N. Alpine Rd.,
Rockford, Ill. Hours are Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to,
midnight; Sunday, 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. A new
event this year will be the painting competition,
with numerous prizes. We expect over 15 major
dealers. Admission is still only $5 for the entire
weekend, with no additional fee for gaming
events. Send an SASE to: ROCK-CON XVI, 14225
Hansberry Rd., Rockton IL 61072.
UMF-CON, November 11-12
This role-playing and war-games convention
will be held at the Student Center of the University of Maine in Farmington, Maine. Events will
include TOP SECRET/S.I. and AD&D games,
DIPLOMACY* competitions, miniatures, board
games, and contests. Also planned is another
murder mystery. Admission is $5 per day and
$2 per game. Send an SASE to: Table Gaming
Club, c/o Student Life Office, Student Center, 5
South Street, Farmington ME 04938.
NOVAG-V, November 17-19
The Northern Virginia Adventure Gamers will
host their fifth annual convention at the Carra
DRAGON 97

doc Hall Inn in Leesburg, Va. All types of adventure games are included, from historical board
and miniatures games to science-fiction and
fantasy role-playing games. Vendors are welcome. Write to: Northern Virginia Adventure
Gamers, c/o Wargamers Hobby Shop, 101 E.
Holly Ave., Suite 16, Sterling VA 22170; or call:
(703) 450-6738.
UCON 89, November 17-19
This role-playing and strategy gaming convention will take place in the Michigan Union at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Events
will include: live role-playing; dealers tables; a
movie room; two AD&D tournaments; and
over 80 events including CIVILIZATION*, STAR
FLEET BATTLES*, DIPLOMACY*, THIRD
REICH*, and historical miniatures games. Gamemasters receive free registration if preregistered. Write to: The Michigan Wargaming Club,
P.O. Box 4491, Ann Arbor MI 48106.
UK Masters 1989 AD&D Tournament
November 11-12
This tournament will be held at the WAR 89
Convention at the Rivermead Leisure Center,
Richfield Ave., Reading. Entry fee is 3.50 (2.50
for players with UK ranking points). Make
cheques payable and mail to: Mr. C. Froud, 88
Southview Ave., Reading, Berkshire, ENGLAND.
Space is limited, so register early.
DALLAS FANTASY FAIR, November 24-26
Featuring over 140 dealers tables, more than
60 guests, and over 2,000 attendees, this fantasy
event will be held at the Marriott Park Central,
7750 I-635 at Coit Road in Dallas, Tex. Attractions will include two 24-hour video rooms,
Japanimation, 24-hour gaming, four-track programming, a masquerade, an open con suite, an
art show and auction, a charity auction, artists
and writers workshops, autograph sessions,
filksinging, dancing, an amateur-film festival, a
talent show, and more. Admission is $15 for all
three days in advance, or $20 at the door.
Single-day admissions may be purchased at the
door; prices are $8 Friday, $10 Saturday, and $8
Sunday. Write to: Bulldog Productions, P.O. Box
820488, Dallas TX 75382; or call: (214) 349-3367.
MACQUARIECON 89, December 8-10
The Macquarie University Role-Playing Society
will host Australias largest role-playing convention at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Events will include AD&D, PARANOIA*, CALL
OF CTHULHU*, JAMES BOND*, TRAVELLER*,
STAR WARS*, M.E.R.P.*, WARHAMMER*,
SPACE: 1889*, JUDGE DREDD*, and board
games and freeforms. Registration is $30 (Australian) for the weekend or $3 (Australian) per
session with a $7 registration fee. Write to:
M.U.R.P.S., P.O. Box 1577, Macquarie Centre,
North Ryde NSW 2113, AUSTRALIA.
TRITICON I, December 8-11
Students Tempted by Adventure, Fame, and
Fortune (S.T.A.F.F.) will host their first convention at the Price Center on the University of
California-San Diego campus. Events will
include AD&D tournaments; BATTLETECH*,
CAR WARS*, and COSMIC ENCOUNTERS*
tournaments; DIPLOMACY*, HOW TO HOST A
MURDER*, GAMMA WORLD*, TRAVELLER*,
and WARHAMMER* games, and a live dungeon.
Prizes will be awarded to tournament winners.
Other events include open gaming, SCA demonstrations, a figure painting contest, a dealers
room, and a flea market. Registration is $10($8)
before December 1, $12($10) at the door for the
weekend, and $5($4) each day at the door. UCSD
98 OCTOBER 1989

students receive the discounted rates in parentheses; include ID number when registering.
Write to: TRITICON I, Price Center, E-30, UCSD,
La Jolla CA 92093.
WINTER FANTASY, January 5-7, 1990
The RPGA Network will sponsor WINTER
FANTASY 1990 at the Ramada Inn Airport at
Milwaukee, Wis. Special room rates are available by contacting the hotel at (414) 764-5300.
Sanctioned events include AD&D Grand Masters, AD&D Masters, AD&D Feature, AD&D
Benefit, MARVEL SUPER HEROES, TOP
SECRET/S.I., PARANOIA*, and other tournaments. Other activities include a writers seminar, Saturday morning breakfast, Sunday
brunch, open gaming, and a dealers area. All
gaming is free except for the benefit tournament. Limited preregistration is available to
RPGA Network members; contact Network HQ
for a preregistration form. Registration fees are
$10 to Network members, $12 to nonmembers
until November 1. Afterward, fees for the entire
weekend are $15. Send a SASE to: RPGA
Network, P.O. Box 515, Lake Geneva WI 53147.
CHATTACON XV, January 12-14, 1990
CHATTACON XV will be held at The Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Chattanooga, Tenn. Accommodations are $60 flat, $85 for sleeper car
suites. Guests will include Michael P. KubeMcDowell, Robert E. Vardeman, David Cherry,
Danny Gill, Wilson Bob Tucker, Stan Bruns,
and Dick and Nicki Lynch. Registration: $18
until Dec. 1, $25 thereafter and at the door.
Send an SASE to: CHATTACON XV, Box 23908,
Chattanooga TN 37422; or call: (404) 591-9322
(no collect calls, please).
NEW MEXICON I, January 12-14
This science-fiction/science-fact con will be
held at the Las Cruces Hilton Inn. In addition to
gaming, featured are a variety of people from
science and the arts to hold panel discussions
and give demonstrations and lectures. Confirmed guests are G. Harry Stein as scientist
guest of honor; Real Musgrave as artist guest of
honor; James P. Hogan as author guest of honor;
and Jim Davidson, Laurie Wiggins, Dr. Mike
Hyson, and Greg Kennedy as scientist guests.
Author guest speakers will be Walter John
Williams, George Alex Effinger, Sonni Cooper,
and James Theisen. Write to: NEW MEXICON I,
Box 3836, New Mexico State University, Las
Cruces NM 88003-3836; or call Lew Maestas
evenings at: (505) 522-0115, or Gaylord Teague
at: (505) 521-3828.
JACKSONVILLE SKIRMISHES 90
February 9-11, 1990
SKIRMISHES presents this role-playing and
war gaming convention at the Jacksonville
Motel on the Riverwalk, 565 South Main Street,
in Jacksonville, Fla. Room rates are $52 for one
to four persons. Events will include AD&D
game features, along with TRAVELLER*, STAR
FLEET BATTLES*, CAR WARS*, and SEEKRIEG*
games. Other events will include board gaming,
a KILLER* tournament, dealers, a miniaturespainting contest, demonstrations by the SCA,
and many other role-playing and historical
events. Hotel reservations may be made by
calling: (904) 398-8800. Registration is $18 for
the entire weekend. Send your registration fee
to receive a program booklet. Write to: SKIRMISHES, P.O. Box 2097, Winter Haven FL 33883;
or call: (813) 293-7983.

Forum
Continued from page 51
magical items. PCs in these games have some
incredible stuff. I ask you, how many paladins
below 7th level have holy swords in your campaign? In this campaigns case, roughly half.
Its getting worse, but the players enjoy it.
When I started with this group, I tried to run
games by the book. I rejected characters right
and left for the above reasons and didnt use the
variant systems. After a bit, I noticed a pattern.
Some people would deliberately not come to
games I ran, and no one would play a magicuser. I had to adapt to the gamers playing
styles, or I wouldnt be playing with them for
long. I began using the variant spell systems and
was more lenient with character selection.
I try to hold the line by myself. I retire my
monster PCs soon after they become monsters,
and I stick to book classes and races during
character generation. I have a dream that this
group will follow my example, but Im not
holding my breath.
All of you out there who have your ideas, use
them if they fit your gaming style. If they dont,
go back to the basics.
Bill McCullough
Riverside CA
The Forum, issue #146, contains several
letters on subjects that I would like to address. I
have been playing the AD&D game since 1982,
and I have seen the long, slow transition from
the original AD&D game to the amalgamation of
the 12 or so hardcovers and finally to the new
AD&D 2nd Edition (which I must say is GREAT!).
I have also seen, the birth of the political/
socioeconomic masterpieces that have become
so popular lately. The point I would like to make
is: WHO CARES?!
First, the whole purpose of a game is to have
fun. So what if a group wants to indulge in the
detail and rules needed to run a direct-actionproduces-results campaign or indulge in hour
after hour of creating mindless monster-bashing
adventures? I have run and played in both, and
I enjoy both. What are people arguing over?
Second, I am also concerned about those who
say that a bloodbath cannot be creative. In my
estimation, I6 Ravenloft (by Tracy and Laura
Hickman) is essentially a bloodbath that focuses
on vampires, but its a hard test of a players
skills and game knowledge. It is also the best
module ever produced by TSR, Inc. I dare
anyone to say its not creative.
Third, whats the problem with having evil
PCs? They are hard to play, true (what better
test of skill?), but why cant they be in a party of
predominately good characters? Raistlin sure
wasnt good (even in the beginning, he acted like
a neutral PC with evil tendencies). In Dragons of
Autumn Twilight, Laurana asked Raistlin why
he followed Tanis. His reply was: Because for
now we walk the same path.
In closing, let me say this: I am a new waver
(i.e., a punk rocker to some, although there is a
difference), and I try to see people as individuals
(thats why I consider myself chaotic neutral). If
a group of players prefers building a kingdom
to thrashing orcs and giants, so what? As long as
we are the ones who make the AD&D game
what it is and have fun doing it, nothing else
matters, does it? So just sit back, relax, and let
us all revel in our infinite diversity (to quote a
certain Vulcan).
Anthony N. Emmel
Longview TX

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