Night Howlers

Review:  Night Howlers.  (PC4) By Ann Dupuis.  Published in 1992.

Night Howlers is the fourth and final installment in the Creature Crucible series.  It is about playing were-creatures in the Mystara (Known D&D World) setting.  It provides a location for the adventures (part of a principality in Glantri) but has suggestions for adventures in other locations.

From a construction standpoint.  It is a very solid, well-written product.  It provides rules mechanics and story ideas.  It has suggestions for different kinds of were-creature campaigns from ones that are like Ravenloft to ones that are far sillier.

I am not sure how sustainable a were-creature campaign is but it probably would make for interesting change of pace.  If you are looking to run a D&D werewolves-as-players campaign, this would be an excellent resource.

4 out of 5 stars

Dragonlance alignments

The other night, one of my gaming groups got into a brief discussion of evil in Krynn.  Here is a look at some of the evil alignments of main evil characters in Krynn.

 

LAWFUL EVIL

 

Toede

Gildentongue

Kitiara

Verminaard

Ariakus

 

CHAOTIC EVIL

 

Lord Soth (how he became evil is clearly not a lawful act- but for most of the Chronicles trilogy, he seems fairly obedient- I think he is a little more chaotic in the Legends trilogy.  Chaotic Evil obey those stronger than them if it is expedient to do so.)

Fistandantilus

Raistlin (listed as Neutral as a player character- obviously he was neutral at one point)

Dalamar

 

 

Continuity is surprisingly difficult for settings that are published in such piecemeal fashion.  There are lots of opportunities for errors.  Sure enough-

 

Tales of the Lance lists Fistandantilus as Neutral Evil.  I think perpetually trying to steal the souls of young male apprentices is more a Chaotic Evil act than a Neutral Evil one.  Although Neutral Evil's description is not contrary to Fistandantilus's behavior ("greed").  Chaotic Evil is a better description "the strong have the right to take what they want, and the weak are there to be exploited".  (In fairness it should be noted that Tales of the Lance does claim to be authoritative and overruling previous works.)

D&D related music

One of the best composers for D&D and D&D-like computer games is Jeremy Soule.  If you are looking for a good soundtrack to listen to while preparing for a D&D session.  I recommend listening to Jeremy Soule.  He composed the Oblivion and Icewind Dale soundtracks just to name two of his works.  See his website "DirectSong" for some of his work.  (Some of his compositions are available on iTunes)

https://www.directsong.com/mobile/index.php?pageNum_menuRS=0&totalRows_menuRS=15&menuid=4

Green slime

Another nasty monster frequently found in classic high level modules is green slime.  Green slime is tough because it is a rule-breaking monster.  It has an attack that bypasses hit points.  After too much exposure to green slime, the character is dead- turned into slime.  There is no saving throw involved.  This makes a 20th level character as vulnerable to a slime as a 1st level character.  Depending n your philosophy of how difficulty should or should not scale in Dungeons and Dragons, this is either a really good thing or a really bad thing.  Obviously this transmutation is a powerful attack, coupled with the fact that green slime is easy to conceal, a character could stumble onto it with little warning.  Green slime are also difficult to kill given the high risk of fighting them.

I suppose that the difficulty of green slime is mitigated somewhat by the use of intelligent tactics in areas where slime is thought to exist.  One tactic would be to blast suspected areas with heat or cold before venturing too close to them.  Another would be to summon a monster or animal and send the summoned creature into the space and see if it gets slimed.  There are alignment issues with this cannon fodder tactic.

Green slime are dangerous monsters and explorers should tread carefully...

The Power of Efreet

One thing I have noticed is that many old modules with only access to the original Monster Manual as an official source of monsters, use efreet as high-level monsters.  I took a look at efreet to see what makes them so powerful:

They can basically give themselves the ability to do potentially close to 50 hp of damage per round and take their armor class down by 6 points and make themselves difficult to target by spells.  These abilities give a single efreet the potential to eliminate multiple characters in a matter of rounds.  Efreet probably have at least 50 hp and are going to be tough foes in combat.

Fighting an efreet is a risky proposition.

Superdungeon: Tomb of Horrors

Review:  Tomb of Horrors by Gary Gygax published in 1981.

The Tomb of Horrors is a killer-dungeon that is far more likely to kill the whole party than for the party to be successful.  There are more traps than locations in the dungeon.  Probably about a third of these traps are lethal if not dealt with correctly.

On the one hand, some of the traps are a bit mean/cruel/borderline unfair on the other hand, what do you expect searching the tomb of a demi-lich?

It will probably take several hours and multiple sessions for a group to get through the Tomb successfully because of how much careful, cautious, and thoughtful exploration is needed.

Ranked as the 3rd best module of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, it is an adventure that every first edition D&D group should attempt at least once.

5 out of 5 stars.

I need healing! Cleric! (Not really)

I recently failed my dexterity check, and my saving throw, and got critically hit by a door.  The result has been a concussion.  It has slowed me down and has slowed down my posts.  I hope to get more up soon.

-Fantasy World Explorer

Review: Birthright Campaign Setting

Published in 1995.  Written by Colin McComb and Rich Baker with help from several other TSR employees.  Birthright is one of my favorite settings.  It has a lot of good ideas but the execution of those ideas does not always work well.

Birthright includes the rules and a setting for running characters as rulers of the realm.  There are four types of holdings that correspond to each of the four major classes.  One party can control one realm or each character can control his or her own realm.  Also included are rules for warfare and the economic simulation to run such realms.

Rather than starting with rules such as BECMI's Companion Set or the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, new rules are made from scratch.  The economics of running a realm are complicated and the rules are faced with avoiding the problems that the characters have too much or not enough money.

I wish that TSR had released a generic supplement first that had the core rules really solid with one sample realm with a only 2 or 3 neighbors.  Then in the first supplement the sample realm and neighbors are located on the setting world which focuses on atmosphere.  By combining the setting and rules into one boxed set, the end result is not enough detail for either one. 

If a separate rulebook had been released first, the rules could have had the rules option for rich, average and stingy economies.  This would have been nice because many of the sample realms in the TSR-designed world of Cerelia have hopelessly flawed economies that do not work the way that they are described.  These countries lose money every turn and have no way to prevent such loss until bankruptcy and anarchy occur.

Conclusion:  Birthright has lots of potential and I am sure that the market is still there for a successful kingdom simulator in D&D.  Get Birthright but be prepared to have to adjust the rules to make it work.

2 out of 5 stars.  Lots of great ideas hurt by terrible game mechanics that do not work.

Real World Inspiration for Dungeons

From time to time, Dragon magazine would feature articles about real world locations as inspirations for dungeons.  See for example issue #201 which included an article by Allen Varney ("Turkey's Underground Cities") about his trip to the cave cities of Turkey and some ideas for gleaning inspiration from that sort of setting.

I think that real world dungeons can be a good source of inspiration.  I would recommend visiting cave tours or historic mines in your area (or similar sites).  These trips can provide insight into how underground environments work.

Similarly if you have the chance to tour a historic castle or two, these can also provide insight and inspiration for dungeons in these cornerstone fantasy structures.

Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue

Review:  Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue by Anne Brown.  (with input from several others) Published in 1992.

An equipment buying supplement.  The catalog features food, clothing, and lots of miscellaneous adventuring gear that adventurers would choose to buy. Categories include Ranger's Field, Thieve's Corner, Bard's Emporium, Priest's Alcove, Wizards' Laboratory, Laborers' List, Inn and Tavern, Scribes' Desk, Storage Items, General Hardware, Tailors' Corner, Clothes and Shoes, Boom's Garden, Jewelry, Household Accoutrements, Personal Supplies, Illuminations, Diversions, Aurora's Larder, Breads, Cheese Shop, Wines and Ales, Exotics, Wilderness Gear, Priest in a Poke, and Daroni's Workshop.

The descriptions, prices, and items are all very good.  Most items have footnotes for any game effects such as healing, improvements to AC, just to name a few.  It is a great resource for players and DMs and it greatly expands the equipment list for a first or second edition campaign.  Some of these items are found in Complete ___ Handbooks such as instruments in Bard's or thief tools in Thief's, or lab items in Wizard's.  It is a good complement to Arms and Equipment Guide (DMGR3)

5 out of 5 stars.  Highly recommended for any AD&D campaign.  It is for sale at dndclassics.com

Front row wizards in 1e/2e it can be done

Looking at breaking out of the conventional mold of fighters in the front row, wizards in the back row.  Here are some alternatives:

Under the conventional rules, the best bet is probably a human wizard with a staff and bonuses to AC and to hp.  (hp 6, AC 6, 1-6 damage)  (Probably not realistic, this "warrior" will not last long)

Militant Wizards:  Kit from Complete Wizard's that allows wielding weapons like battle axes and swords.  So this kit would yield at best a 6 hp, AC 6 wizard wielding a long sword (d8 damage).  A little better.

Saurials:  Some saurials (a race of dinosaur-people from the Forgotten Realms.  The most famous being Dragonbait, a Saurial paladin.  His adventures are described in the Finder's Stone Trilogy) are able to get a low AC and others are able to get higher hp.  It would be possible to have a 10 hp, AC 5, hornhead saurial wizard- capable of wielding a special staff that does 2-12 hp of damage.  It is also possible to have a hp 6, AC 1 bladeback saurial  (also wielding the staff for 2-12).  Both of these take damage as size large creatures.

Of Dice and Men

Review: I just finished reading "Of Dice and Men: the story of Dungeons and Dragons and the people who play it" by David M. Ewalt.  (2013).  Mr. Ewalt is a games columnist/reporter for Forbes magazine.

I would give the book a mixed review.

Positives:  It is a fairly easy read.  It does a better job of being neutral towards the Gygax/Blume/Williams management disputes.  Most other sources of TSR history that I have seen, take a pro-Gygax stance and do not discuss his culpability in the situation where executives were perhaps overpaid to the detriment of TSR.  It also details the origins of D&D with a clarity that I have not seen elsewhere.  Particularly the details about the Gygax/Arneson collaboration and how that went sour.  The book is hopeful about the future of D&D, with 5th edition- D&D Next on the horizon.

Neutral:  The book repeated touches on the nerd-factor and the negative stigma attached to D&D.  At times the author raises interesting points and at times it is a bit too personal and subjective. 

Negatives:  It seems like about 20% of a 276 page book is devoted the author's personal experiences playing D&D.  Some of it is very interesting others of it is not.  (Stories of gaming with legendary figures Frank Mentzer and Ernie Gygax are interesting.  The author's personal campaign, much less so).  I would rather the book avoided the personal as much as possible and focused on the history of TSR/WOTC.  The objectivity of the book slips a bit when detailing the post-Gygax era. 

Overall:  Definitely worth reading for the history and it is fairly easy to skim or skip over the personal campaign details.  3 out of 5 stars.

Back row fighters and front row thieves for 1e/2e

The conventional role for fighters is to spend most of the time in melee combat with the biggest opponent and the conventional role for thieves is to hang back and maybe do some missile combat or try to get a backstab.  It does not need to be this way.  (Rogue THAC0 is better than Priest THAC0 to start with but slowly fades and is definitely worse than Priest THAC0 after 9th level)

Back row fighter:  A back row fighter hangs back in combat using missile weapons to his (or her) advantage.  Such a fighter has a high dexterity (for a missile weapon bonus), is a specialist and is probably an elf to take advantage of long bow sheaf arrow damage.  (Other races such as a Halfling with a sling are also possible).  A high strength is always good for a fighter.  This backrow fighter may be further augmented with a kit such as the archer kit from the Complete Book of Elves.  The point blank range rules (for specialists) should not be overlooked should the backrow fighter find himself (herself) in close proximity to hostile forces.  Another option would be to have a staff-sling specialist.  The ROF is 5/2.  The weapon would get a strength bonus to damage.  With sling bullets doing 2-5 plus strength bonus, the damage from 5 attacks every 2 rounds would start to add up fairly quickly.  While the backrow fighter is providing a withering fire from his longbow or sling...

Front row thief:  Front row thieves are also useful as scouts in that the thief can be checking for traps in the lead and not instantly be in dire peril if monsters jump out.  A front row thief needs a high strength, dexterity, and constitution.  Dwarves are good candidates due to the giant class bonus.  If kits are used, one of the more brawling-intensive kits that gets to use any weapon should be selected.  Per the Complete Fighters Handbook (PHBR1) the character could take two-weapon style, and long sword proficiency.  This would let the character dual wield two long swords with a -0/-2 to his attacks (instead of -2/-4).  If the character was an elf he would receive a bonus to using the long sword that would make the attack +1/-1

There a lots of possibilities for atypical characters in 1e/2e.  More ideas in another post.

Castle Guide lacks discussion of the impact of magic on castles

Review:  The Castle Guide (DMGR2) Published in 1990.  Written by Grant Boucher, Troy Christiansen, Arthur Collins, Nigel Findley, Timothy Brown, and William Connors.

D&D is generally set in a fantasy medieval world full of castles.  Generally the rules describe higher level characters eventually owning castles.  DMGR2 is the 2nd edition look at castles and player ownership of them.

Meshing a historical concept with a fantasy world has not proven to be an easy task.  Given the availability of magic, there are several real world logistical problems and weaknesses of a castle that can be solved with low level spells (magical aid to construction and creation of food and water to protect against starvation in a siege, to give just two examples).  Intelligent use of spellcasters in construction would greatly reduce costs and vulnerabilities of the castle.  DMGR2 gives a cursory treatment to magic but generally does not adequately cover the subject of the application of magic to castles. 

DMGR2 provides a historical overview of castles that is a bit lacking.  It compresses too many details.  As a work of history, it is not very good.  The material could have been better presented.  As a starter to get the DM thinking about the legalities of owning a castle, the material is probably adequate for most campaigns.

Missing from the book is a whole chapter on the application of magic and fantasy to castles.  There are hints and acknowledgements here and there in DMGR2 but more comprehensive coverage is needed.

Conclusion:  A good starting point for campaigns that are serious about castle building and siege warfare but the lack of discussion of the impact of magic/fantasy on a castle is a major drawback.  2 out of 5 stars.

World pages

I have added some pages to this website with some commentary about some of the different published campaign worlds (Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, etc.)  Right now the commentary is fairly brief.  I will be adding commentary and pages over time. 

What makes a supplement not very useful

Generally speaking, what makes a D&D supplement not very useful is when it is too vague.  This vagueness comes in a lack of detail or an amount of detail that leaves the player or DM saying: "I could have made that up, why did I spend my money on this"

If good and useful supplements deliver (1) adventure ideas (2) roleplaying ideas (3) new rules (4) get your imagination going

Not so useful supplements are missing some or all of these elements.

Another dimension of usefulness is how specialized the supplement is.  Obviously if you always play rogue characters, a book about paladins will be less useful.  Similarly if the campaign involves mostly standard dungeon crawls and the supplement is about a place lacking in dungeons to crawl in, that supplement will also be less useful.  In this regard, the gazetteers are mixed.  The following are fairly conventional and will accommodate a standard adventuring party with little difficulty:

Karameikos, Ierendi, Northern Reaches, Minrothrad, Darokin

The following are written for culture or race specific adventuring but can still accommodate outsiders who are visiting fairly easily:

Ylaruam, Alfheim, Rockhome, Five Shires

The following are written for culture or race specific adventuring and some or all members of a standard party will run into difficulty:

Glantri, Thar, Ethengar, Shadow Elves, Atruaghin

The biggest problem that hurts a supplement (any edition) is vagueness.  The language fills up space but does not really convey any information.

Free ToEE at dndclassics.com

The website dndclassics.com has the Temple of Elemental Evil (1e) available as a free pdf download until the 28th of September.

ToEE is a highly recommended superdungeon that takes the characters from 1st through 8th level. 

Most useful information found in Mystara/Known D&D World Gazetteers

The most useful information that is found in some but not all gazetteers are the following:
 
1.  Adventure ideas
2.  Campaign ideas
3.  Interesting character variations
4.  Workable background information
5.  Politics and Rivalries

Adventure ideas:  Many DMs can come up with fairly good adventure ideas on his or her own.  When purchasing a product like a gazetteer most DMs are interested in time-saving opportunities.  Solid adventure ideas with a workable framework are very useful.  These adventures should also be distinct as to setting.  Adventures that are too generic are not as good.

Campaign ideas:  Similarly ideas for how a gazetteer can be used for an extended series of adventures is very useful.  It saves time and makes it easier to build a storyline.  Again these campaigns should be distinct to the particular gazetteer.  A campaign in "The Five Shires" should be different than one in "The Emirates of Ylaruam".

Interesting Character Variations:  Optional rules for the players are almost always interesting.  This most often is variations on character classes or new abilities or new spells.

Workable background information:  Background information about the economy, history, and culture (etc) of the gazetteer should be broad enough to allow some tinkering.  It should not be too broad so as to be too generic.  In other words there should be good "out-of-the-box" functionality but it also should be options for "customization".

Politics and Rivalries:  Well-done political intrigue always makes for better reading.  Good politics and rivalries also make for interesting adventures as the characters work with or against various factions.

The best gazetteers offer adventures and campaigns based on both political intrigue and interesting locations within the gazetteer.

Gaz. 6 The Dwarves of Rockhome. An excellent example of a dwarven kingdom

Review: The Dwarves of Rockhome by Aaron Allston published in 1988.

The Dwarves of Rockhome describes a land mostly inhabited by dwarves in the Known D&D World/Mystara setting.  I think that if you are interested in playing a particular race, such as a dwarf in third edition, it is useful to have other supplements from earlier editions for inspiration.  Similarly other supplements can provide inspiration for creating a kingdom of dwarves.  Rockhome is highly recommended for players who like dwarven characters and DMs looking for ideas about dwarves.  Of course it is also recommended for Mystara collectors.

Rockhome provides alternate rules for dwarven-clerics.  These are very similar to the elven fighter/wizard model from BECMI except that it features clerical spells instead of wizard ones.  There are also new rules for high level dwarves to craft magical armor and weapons.

Like the other excellent gazetteers, Rockhome provides a good outline of the history, geography, culture, politics, and general background for using Rockhome as an adventure setting.  There is also a section on dwarven cities.  It is similar to the treatment of dwarven cities in the Krynn modules based on the Chronicles trilogy.  The section on cities is still a useful resource.

There is a discussion of dwarven technology and the DM is given the option of using it in a serious or comedic fashion.

Of course there are also sections on NPCs, monsters, campaigning in Rockhome, and adventure ideas.

All in all an excellent product.  Highly recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.

Gaz 8. The Five Shires. Gateway to the Halflings

Review.  The Five Shires (Gaz 8) by Ed Greenwood. Published in 1988.

The Five Shires greatly expands on Halfling characters in Mystara.  Normal D&D Halflings are a lot like hobbits from Tolkien's Middle Earth.  Hobbits live in The Shire.  (Not to be confused with The Five Shires) 

BECMI Halflings are both a race and a class.  Halflings are similar to thieves but have more hp (d6 instead of d4 per level)  Halflings also have really good saving throws.  Halflings have a favorable experience table.  Halflings are level-limited to 8th level.

The player's booklet gives players an overview of life in the Five Shires.  It provides new rules for a defensive special ability used only in the Five Shires to help others.  It has a point system that rewards good deeds.  Doing good deeds is necessary to advance in Five Shires society and government.  It also expands on the story-telling rules from Gaz. 2 and provides rules for Halfling Masters who have druid spells starting at 8th level.

The DM's booklet details the history, geography, military, diplomacy, sacred relic, key NPCs, Halfling pirates, more about the geography, running adventures in the Five Shires, several adventure ideas, and new monsters.

The Five Shires greatly expands on the sacred relic rules for Halflings from the Companion Rules.  The sacred Halfling relic is the "blackflame". 

Ed Greenwood does a good job of making Halflings more interesting.  The outline that he sketches of the Five Shires gives DMs looking to run a campaign in said location a lot to work with.  Greenwood also does a good job of meshing the location with classic D&D plotlines and story ideas.  He describes several interesting villages and works possible adventure ideas into the description.  There are also several outlines of adventures for characters of various levels.

Places like Tolkien's Shire are a staple of many campaign settings.  Those looking to create his or her own "shire" will find lots of inspiration and ideas in The Five Shires.  Highly recommended for Halfling themed campaigns.  4 out of 5 stars.

10 Dangerous Monsters from Monster Manual 2 (1983) that you may never have heard of

Here are 10 dangerous monsters found in the 1983 version of Monster Manual 2.  (not considering dragons, giants, undead, outer planar creatures)

Choke Creeper: (high hp, strangulation attack)
Death Watch Beetle: (high hp, save or die attack)
Executioner's Hood: (hard to hit, strangulation attack)
Froghemoth: (high hp, swallow attack)
Hangman Tree: (very high hp often over 500, swallow attack)
Stegocentipede: (high hp, much better AC, poison)
Tunnel Worm: (destroy armor, high hp, high damage)
Wolf-in-sheep's clothing: (high hp, hard-to-kill)
Zorbo: (armor absorbing cave bear)

"Killer" Dungeons. Advice for Players (part 1)

A "killer" dungeon is one that is written with the goal in mind of being difficult for characters to survive.  Characters that make bad decisions or do not cooperate well, are particularly vulnerable to such dungeons.  Killer dungeons are often a combination of powerful monsters, dangerous obstacles and deadly traps.  Killer dungeons can be published or unpublished.  Better killer dungeons reward good decision-makers and do not rely too heavily on the "save or die" saving throw rules from earlier editions of Dungeons and Dragons.

How to survive (win) a "killer" dungeon:

• If the dungeon does not have a time limit, take your time and move cautiously
• If there is no time limit, resting after every fight if possible to make sure that your group is at full strength, can be very useful
• If there is a time limit, move quickly and decisively
• Beware of dead ends
• A little paranoia goes a long way
• 85% of the encounters are logical.  15% are surprises that even the best-prepared party will have trouble with
• As long as you pay attention and think clearly, logical encounters will not be extra difficult. 
• High locations (particularly those without safety railings) and water locations are inherently dangerous
• Teamwork is important.  Characters should work together well and protect each other.
• Have a strategy for retreating that can be employed when most characters are still standing.  Most of the party is in big trouble in a disorganized retreat
• Having pre-determined strategies to use for particular kinds of battles can help with coordination and teamwork
• Scrolls with restorative spells and healing potions are a must
• Although First Edition modules in particular have a reputation for being the sort where everything in sight is to be killed, most intelligent monsters are willing to parley or are open to bribery in exchange for temporary safe passage.  Sometimes paying off the bridge troll is the smart move rather than using up your strength and spells on a non-essential opponent.

More advice in a subsequent post...

"Killer" Dungeons part 1

Dungeons that are hard for the players to the point of generally having a high character mortality rate have one or more of the following characteristics:

• Challenge ratings or the equivalent are ignored.  A wrong turn or sometimes just a turn leads to an encounter that is not really meant for the level that the characters are at, such as 4th level characters stumbling onto a hill giant.
• Lots of encounters are in close proximity, making healing between fights difficult
• Most of the fights are only winnable if the characters are at full strength and willing to use all their full arsenal (such as daily powers or high level spells)
• In earlier editions...timing events where if the characters do not say "I run away" within 10 real-time seconds, the characters are crushed by a mechanical block trap
• Somewhere in the dungeon is a slippery high spot that has a long drop associated with it.  (ie a lethal fall off a cliff)
• In earlier editions...save or die effects from monsters and traps.  Characters that have to make 5 or more of these rolls in a given dungeon are bound to miss one.
• Pregenerated player characters for use with the dungeon are malformed and never would have made it to 8th level with only 30 hp as a fighter except as a module character
• In a related note, pregenerated characters make odd spell and equipment choices, making it unclear how the character survived so long
• A couple of traps early in the dungeon to get the characters if they are not paying attention.  Then no traps through the middle, then after several hours when the players have forgotten to start searching for traps again, several lethal traps near the end of the dungeon.
• A mixture of friendly and neutral monsters thrown in so the characters cannot just obliterate everything that moves.  Characters can pull off some fairly deadly ambushes if they know that all of the monsters are evil.
• Misaligned treasure.  Weak monsters have really good treasure.  Tough monsters have really poor treasure.  This disorients the players and distracts them from safely navigating through the dungeon.
• Obscure monsters are better than common ones.  They tend to be slightly nastier and scarier.
• Monsters using special abilities intelligently, generally to force the characters into natural hazards or off edges of cliffs
• Have one or two really unsafe areas.  There is always a character who has to test firsthand whether the stuff that obviously looks like lava on level 10 is really lava or just warm red water.

That's all for now.  More thoughts about "killer" dungeons in a later post...

Appendix N to the First Edition DMG- Conan

Appendix N in the First Edition DMG has a list of suggested reading of the works that helped inspire Dungeons and Dragons.  From that list is the "Conan" series by Robert E. Howard.

From the Conan series, I recommend "The Tower of the Elephant" first published in Weird Tales in March of 1933.

This short story resembles the novelization of a first edition D&D module.

Highly recommended reading

Complete Priests Handbook (PHBR3) by Aaron Allston 1990.

Review: The first part describes creating mythologies and priesthoods, very useful in a role-playing intensive setting, less useful if it is less important to the campaign.  The CPHB does a good job of providing templates and questions to answer that help shape the mythology of a campaign.  Then the book provides 60+ sample priesthoods that could easily be dropped into a campaign.  These priesthoods all have special benefits and special hindrances that set them apart from basic clerics.  There is room for improvement and adjustment with these sample priesthoods but they are definitely very easy to use “off-the-shelf” with no modifications.

Several kits are included such as Amazon, outlaw, and noble priest.  The focus of the kits is on the social background of the character and how others may react to him or her.  This type of kit might be very useful to a campaign and it might not.  Also included for novice players are role-playing personality suggestions.  This is probably helpful in terms of giving novice players some ideas how to role-play.  Experienced players are told to skip the section on personalities.

One major contribution of PHBR3 to second edition rules is a proper war hammer.  The maul which costs only 5 gp and does 2-8/1-10.  (This compares with the 2 gp war hammer which does 2-5/1-4).  A maul is a two-handed weapon and is considered a polearm. 

Conclusion: 4 out 5 stars.  Good but not great.  Highly recommended for players with 2^nd edition priests.

Party composition (in tackle football terms) in early versions of D&D/AD&D

PARTY OF SIX

 

I've always maintained that a party needs:

 

2 bookend tackles (a football term)  These are 300 pound gorillas whose job it is to keep the QB (magic-user) from getting killed.  One should be a dwarf and one should be a fighter (or paladin or ranger).  Name of Conan is optional

 

1 tight end (cleric)

1 running back/wide receiver (thief)

 

These position titles reflect the potential for some blocking (ie fighting monsters in the front row) as well as the use of some specialized skills.

 

2 QBs these should be magic users.

Generally quarterbacks don't block and stay in the back and use special skills.

Not a perfect analogy but I like the front row/back row analogy that it brings to mind in terms of a football formation and a dungeon-crawling formation.

Alternate combination:

 

2 Tackles (fighters)

2 Tight ends (clerics)

1 Running back/wide receiver (thief)

1 QB (wizard)

 

Sub-classes are ok for a particular role 

 

Cooperation is important.

 

PARTY OF FOUR

 

For a party of 4 (again talking about Dungeons and Dragons (BECMI, BX, 1e, 2e)

 

I think the ideal party has

 

1 of each of the 4 main types.  Although the cleric and the thief will need to be ready to handle "front row" duties if necessary.

Brave the Legendary Tomb of Horrors

Review:  Tomb of Horrors (S1) By Gary Gygax.  (Published in 1981).  Ranked #3 on Dungeon Magazine’s 2004 list of the 30 best modules all-time.

“In the far reaches of the world, under a lost and lonely hill, lies the sinister TOMB OF HORRORS.  This labyrinthian crypt is filled with terrible traps, strange and ferocious monsters, rich and magical treasures, and somewhere within rests the evil demi-lich.”

Tomb of Horrors is set in Greyhawk and is for 10th to 14th level characters.  The module warns that it is about thinking and solving puzzles rather than “hack and slay”.

Many classic modules capture the flavor of an H.P. Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe short story in terms of exploring a place of ancient and unspeakable evil.  When making a list of such modules, the Tomb of Horrors would most certainly be included.

Compared to most modules it has a fairly small area but it more than makes up for it by being heavily concentrated with all manner of tricks and traps.  I do not want to go into too much detail to avoid spoiling the fun.

I would highly recommend it as inspirational, fun, and historic.  Most adventurers who attempt to defeat the demi-lich are unsuccessful.  Will your group be one of the fortunate ones?  5 out 5 stars

Tinker gnomes in Krynn

Today’s post looks at Tinker Gnomes in first and second edition.  Another either really popular or really despised idea from D&D is that of the Tinker Gnomes.  In Krynn, gnomes are hapless inventors who make inventions that are large, impractical, and seldom work.  They feature prominently in the Chronicles Trilogy.  (Highly recommended reading).  In Taladas there are not one but two gnomish cultures set closely in the Tinker Gnome mold.  The hardcover Dragonlance Adventures provides rules for adventuring in Krynn and includes the Tinker Gnomes as a character class.  It includes about 5 pages of rules and charts for constructing inventions.  Most inventions are probably only going to work about 20% of the time and generally have destructive misfires about 80% of the time.  Tinkers have a rapid experience table very similar to the rogue table.  Tinkers get better at inventing as they get higher in levels.  High level tinkers are necessary to build devices that actually stand a reasonable chance of working.  They gain lots of non-weapon proficiencies but have a -5 penalty to them.

They are fun and more so if you have read the Chronicles Trilogy.  Having a Tinker Gnome with the party would probably be fairly amusing yet hazardous.

Taladas (which uses 2nd edition rules including the reduction of power from barbarians) keeps the Tinker gnomes from 1st edition (the rules are not reprinted in Taladas so you need Dragonlance Adventures to run Tinker gnomes).

However when the Tales of the Lance boxed set was produced (1992) Tinker gnomes lost their inventive rules.  5+ pages became less than a page explaining that Tinker gnome inventions do not work.  However, new equipment for Tinker gnomes included several different types of grenades and an arquebus-type firearm.  These inventions are in direct conflict with what was published in Dragonlance Adventures explaining that gnomes are not good chemists.  (It also conflicts with Tales of the Lance which includes a similar statement).  I think the Tales of the Lance decision was a bad one regarding Tinker gnomes.  In defense of Tales of the Lance, these changes make it easier to play tinkers as characters, they are going to be back row gunners.

Tinker gnomes (First edition or Taladas) are throwbacks to an era when role-playing had equal consideration with character class strengths.  A player choosing a tinker is choosing him for the fun story opportunities and role-playing challenge, not for the opportunity to be the most powerful character.  Since tinkers only start with 1 weapon proficiency (although they gain another one at 3rd) it probably makes the most sense for them to have a sling or a crossbow to start with.  Dragonlance Adventures is unclear what tinkers fight or save as.  Generally they are back row non-combatants.  Playing a tinker properly would be quite a challenge.

In conclusion, Tinker gnomes are a lot of fun and part of what make Dragonlance unique.  If you feel that your characters are getting dull and that you spend too much time min/maxing them, playing a tinker in a Dragonlance campaign might be the solution to get you thinking about role-playing again.

Barbarians! (in AD&D)

 

Today’s post looks at player character barbarians in first and second edition AD&D.

Unearthed Arcana:  A powerful class, barbarians are able to have a good AC without wearing much armor, they have high hit points and a fast movement rate.  This comes with a high experience point requirement of 6,000 xp to get to 2nd level.  Barbarians detest magic and often try to destroy magic items.  They are unable to associate with magic-users until 6th level.  It is unclear what this means in terms of a party of characters.  It would seem to mean that it would be difficult for a first level barbarian and first level wizard to work together.

Oriental Adventures:  A slightly toned-down version of the UA barbarians.  These barbarians have very similar special abilities and restrictions with only a few adjustments.  These barbarians also dislike wizards (wu jen).  Instead of the armor class bonus, they have the potential to gain 20 hp per level.  This is balanced somewhat by a reluctance to use magic items generally.  They also have wilderness stealth and climbing abilities (like the UA barbarians).  From the text, it is not clear why a barbarian character would have left home to venture closer to civilization or go adventuring.  The steppe barbarians are in the Hordelands of the Forgotten Realms.

Neither 1e barbarian is able to have weapon specialization.

Complete Fighters:  The second edition barbarian kit takes all of the 1e barbarian details and changes it to a fighter with equipment restrictions/requirements to start the game.  (Something that 1e barbarians have but the restrictions are a bit different).  The only benefit/hindrance that barbarians get is that their reaction modifier is extreme.  People who will be nice to the barbarian will be really nice and people who will be hostile to the barbarian will be really hostile.  However, 2e barbarians are allowed weapon specialization.

In terms of placing barbarians, Unearthed Arcana provides suggestions for several cultures in Greyhawk who have lots of barbarians (Tiger Nomads, Frost Barbarians, etc).  Oriental Adventures provides locations for Kara-Tur barbarians.  Krynn is probably another place where barbarians work well.  Minotaurs, Kagonesti (wild elves), Gully Dwarves, and Hill Dwarves can all be barbarians just to name some of the races/cultures.  In contrast Taladas does not have barbarians but has several barbarian-like kits available depending on the culture.  The special abilities of many of these kits are about as good as the 2e Complete Fighters barbarian kit.  The Forgotten Realms Cyclopedia of the Realms (from the 1987 boxed set) lists several locations where barbarian cultures are found (1e).  The Forgotten Realms Adventures hardcover book gracefully transitions Faerun barbarians from 1e to 2e. 

In conclusion, playing a campaign with a first edition barbarian would be a challenge but an interesting one that would probably be well worth the effort for the players and dungeon master.

Rogue builds (kits) for 2e

Rogues/thieves have it tougher in later editions in that their skills are less unique and less important.  In first and second edition, they are the only class with find remove traps and open locks skills.  (Bards and rangers have lesser versions of the remaining thief skills- rangers get hide in shadows and move silently, bards get hear noise, climb walls, read languages, and pick pockets).  In first edition, assassins are less skilled than thieves, and bards have a few thief levels before becoming bards.  Thief-acrobats of Unearthed Arcana have many tumbling skills including a form of evasion that is like the 3e version.

While open locks and find remove traps have obvious uses and are necessary skills for the completion of many “old school modules”, what use are rogues?

The kits in the Complete Thief’s Handbook (PHBR2) provides several templates for rogues.

The kits may be categorized as follows

Providing only role-playing or background information (may still get a few bonuses to certain actions):  Acrobat, Adventurer, Beggar, Buccaneer, Fence, Investigator, Smuggler, Spy, Troubleshooter

Specializing in certain thief skills: Burglar, Cutpurse, Scout (wilderness only)

Greater combat focus (providing combat bonuses):  Assassin, Bandit, Bounty Hunter, Swashbuckler, Thug

These kits do not provide huge “power-ups”.  Several of them have no special benefits or hindrances, some only have slight modifiers to the thief special abilities (pick pockets, etc)

As a side note, the role of thieves in BECMI or the Moldvay/Cook D&D rules is slightly different because thieves are much weaker getting only a d4 per level for hit dice.  They have armor restrictions but can use any weapon.  The BECMI rules also allow the equivalent of weapon specialization for any class.  (BECMI weapon mastery is not identical to 1e/2e weapon specialization).  Also the backstab multiplier never increases.  It remains at double damage.

In conclusion the 2e thief kits in PHBR2 offer several different builds for thieves centered around thief abilities and role-playing/campaign storyline with a much lesser focus on a thief’s role as a “back row” combatant in a standard dungeon-crawling melee.

More discussion about kits in Dungeons and Dragons

What kit type is most common?  I think that the best answer is Scout.  There are at least 10 different scout kits.  (Thief, Dwarf, Humanoid, Ranger, Elf, Gnome (and Halfling), Ninja, Spelljammer, Taladas, Barbarian).  These kits are not all called scout per se but they have basically a stealth, learn about the enemy function coupled with being quick, light-fighters.  (As opposed to being heavy-infantry)

 

The next most common kit type is the hunter (8).  There are 3 bounty hunters (paid hunters) and 5 hunters that stalk monsters for other motivations.  Hunting/stalking kits are found in Thief, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Ranger, Humanoid, Paladin, and Ninja handbooks.

Surprisingly rangers are poorly represented in both of these kit types.  Most of the ranger kit types are in the wilderness defender category or the annoying animal companion category.  Where you might expect multiple scout or hunter kits, there are only 1 each for ranger. 

There are 8 “Savage” kits.  (Barbarian, Humanoid, Druid, Fighter, Priest, Ranger, Wizard, Taladas).  Savages being primitive and tribal rather than the medieval archetype for their respective class.

There are 3 bandit kits and 2 outlaw kits for a total of 5.

There are 4 pirate kits.  (Thief, Fighter, Spelljammer, and Al-Qadim)

There are 4 swashbuckler kits.  2 if the literal title swashbuckler is required (thief, fighter and plus two more if the swashbuckler is considered an acrobatic fighter with a hint of derring-do. (Elven, Bard)

It is interesting to see what kits are there multiples of across different classes.  Some of the kits seem to have more of a role-playing background thought to them.  Other seem to be considering what tactical role the character will play in the party.

There is a rough parity between the fighter-thief and priest-wizard kits.  (The paired handbooks roughly mirror each other but not exact copies).  After that the kits vary widely in terms of the kits that appear in a given supplement.

 

Kits vary widely in their "power-up" nature.  Kits published in 1989 have few power-ups.  Later kits are more prone to power-ups without much of a negative trade-off.  Although it is still possible to find balanced kits in later “Complete Handbooks”.  For example the peasant wizard who is poor and must remain poor.  The benefit is that he can get free shelter from his fellow peasants.  Not a huge “power-up”.  As literally written, the only magic item that peasant wizards can possess are magic weapons because weapons are the only thing exempted from the poverty requirement.  In contrast the Complete Ranger’s Handbook features Greenwood rangers who after 4th level (and other levels) get several special abilities by being part ranger/part plant including the ability and 10th level to grow an extra arm.  The arm is temporary but can be regrown.  Obviously as a fighter/front row character this is a significant ability.  The only meaningful hindrance for a Greenwood ranger is vulnerability to fire.  Both kits were designed by the same author (Rick Swan).

The Taladas boxed set does a good job of illustrating how kits were supposed to work.  Given that Taladas was written by “Zeb” Cook, principle author of the 2nd Edition rules, this is not surprising.  The main function of the Taladas kits is to provide color for the different cultural areas and explain that color in game terms.

The Taladas kits will be discussed in a future post.

A look at wizard kits from The Complete Wizard's Handbook

 

The kits discussed here are from The Complete Wizards Handbook (PHBR4) by Rick Swan.  Published in 1990

The kits in the CWH are a good starting point but probably would need modification before being included in a campaign.

Acamedician:  Reaction bonus to dealing with sages and scholars, age-based bonus to intelligence and wisdom checks.  Slight penalty to first attack against each new opponent.  Interesting background for role playing but is never going to be chosen by power gamers.  (The nerd-wizard kit)

Amazon Sorceress:  Receives gender-based reactions (good and bad).  Able to use some classical amazon weapons and proficiencies.  Unable to use two schools of magic.

Anagakok:  From an extreme heat or extreme cold culture.  Able to survive well in home conditions (artic or blazing hot desert/jungle).  Starts with little money and gets reaction penalties.

Militant Wizard:  Able to use some fighter weapons.  Access to fighter non-weapon proficiencies.  Limited spells.

Mystic:  Probably one of the kits most seriously in need of a rewrite.  Limited spells.  Gets 3 powerful once per week abilities at first level and no new abilities after that.  Must meditate daily as hindrance.

Patrician:  A rich wizard but must spend lavishly including buying a horse to start the game.  Also gets a reaction bonus from nobility.  Slightly limited spells.

Peasant Wizard:  A poor wizard who must stay poor.  Not sure that makes sense. 

Savage Wizard:  More of a tribal wizard who is skilled with magical talismans.  Interesting idea but I am not sure that it scales properly.

Witch:  A more powerful kit with several special abilities.  Given the varied meanings of the word witch, this is probably a more controversial kit, or at least a kit with a potential for controversy.

Wu Jen:  A transplant from the first edition Oriental Adventures.  Probably with all Oriental Adventures classes, you would be better playing with the Oriental Adventures rules.

Conclusion: Lots of good ideas to start with but probably most of these kits need some modification to balance their special abilities and hindrances in relation to each other.  If this is not done, several of the kits are almost unplayable because they are too weak relative to other kits.

The Complete Wizard’s Handbook will be reviewed further in a future post.