The Sting of Death

A recent social media post triggered a cascade of ideas for me, all because of the partial description of one of the most horrifyingly dangerous monsters in AD&D 1e - the Intellect Devourer.

  These things are as hard as they come, a ferocious opponent that makes an anrgy dragon seem like a vacation.

  For those of you who don't know, the Death Spell is one of the most terrifying spells in AD&D.

That is one Hell of an opening description

  If you are within the HD/Level limit no save and you're dead and only a full Wish can bring you back!

  But an Intellect Devourer shrugs off a Death Spell 75% of the time.

  What doesn't this beastie ignore?

  Power Word Kill. It just slays it.

  The first implication is that Power Word Kill includes psionic power. But that isn't enough. You see, PWK is a Ninth Level Spell, on par with Wish. The real implication is that PWK is whatever it takes to kill you.

  Only vulnerable to acid? PWK is like that. Only harmed by silver? PWK is like that. Only killed by a blessed weapon wielded by a virgin brunette that got A's in Biology at Smith? PWK is like that. Enough like all those thing to kill whatever needs killing, at least.

  Spell descriptions - read them!

What Do You Mean, 'What Is It For?'?!

  Ah, the internet, where you can argue over all sorts of things. The most recent internet argument I got into was with someone explaining that monsters with a no-save level drain are badwrong and there is no reason to have them other than,

  "...imbecilic blind worship of the past..."

  Uh-huh.
  Of course, I had already pointed out some reason for having such monsters in your game, to wit;

• Instilling terror in the players
• Driving quests for spells, etc. to get Restoration
• To 'throttle' level progression without nerfing XP/raising the bar or railroading players

  Now, I guess I might have just tossed in a link to a past article of mine, but there is that to say and more, so here we go.

What Do You Mean, 'What Is It For?'?!

  Ah, the internet, where you can argue over all sorts of things. The most recent internet argument I got into was with someone explaining that monsters with a no-save level drain are badwrong and there is no reason to have them other than,

  "...imbecilic blind worship of the past..."

  Uh-huh.
  Of course, I had already pointed out some reason for having such monsters in your game, to wit;

• Instilling terror in the players
• Driving quests for spells, etc. to get Restoration
• To 'throttle' level progression without nerfing XP/raising the bar or railroading players

  Now, I guess I might have just tossed in a link to a past article of mine, but there is that to say and more, so here we go.

Why the Heck is your 1st Level Wizard Just Standing Around?!

  Not too long ago someone I was discussing gaming with was very dismissive of 1e, 2e, OSRIC, S&W, etc. because low-level mages had so few spells and could not do damage in combat more than once. They felt that all the caster did was 'stand around' while important stuff (i.e., fighting) went on.

  I hesitate to write about how wrong this is for reasons related to length of post, breadth of topic, and losing my ever-lovin' mind to rage-induced psychosis. Mainly because there is a lot more to RPGs than combat. But also because there is a lot more to combat than damage density AND mages are better at melee than you think.

No, Your Fantasy World is NOT Just Like Manhattan, but with Orcs! A Fevered Rant

  Since I am not trying to criticize a person and the contemporary internet can't seem to be capable of telling the difference between "I disagree with this idea as presented" and "I think the person who wrote this idea is a horrible monster" I will NOT be linking to anything.

  As I have mentioned before, modern people have this amazing tendency to assume "the past was Just Like Today, but no one was smart enough to be like me and my friends!" This can lead to all sorts of silliness ranging from a guy dressed as a punk rocker in a fantasy Japanland to characters in a fantasy Medieval Europeland Deeply Concerned about topics that are niche political concepts of the 21st Century.
  Certainly this can be fun. I have quite fond memories of a player in one of my 1e campaigns in the mid 1980's set in a faux Europe. The character's name was Sean O'Malley of Malibu, a straight fighter whose samurai armor was made of body panels from an old VW beetle and whose battle cry was either 'Mitsubishi!' or 'Toyota!'.
  I mean - one the one hand it is just a game.

But on the other, I have a strong personal aversion to playing Papers & Paychecks skinned to look Medieval! I have a personal conviction that thinking about how different things were in Medieval times/would be in a fantasy setting can do a lot of things - make our campaigns more entertaining and immersive; give us an opportunity to learn and understand more about history; understand the contemporary Real World better.
  As much accuracy as possible also makes for better roleplaying, so NO! Horses are not bicycles; 100 miles is not a short day trip; families do not average 1.2 children; magic isn't technology + bad Latin; [and for today's rant] medieval systems did not use faddish contemporary economic concepts!

  Friendly note: I had a thesis titled "The Impact of Theological Anthropology upon Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Activities of Post-Christian Populations". If you wish to discuss economic theory in general with me, reach out but please keep the comment sections for gaming. 

  The article that triggered this rant had it all;

• The assumption that so many people had the money to commission +1 swords that people could make a living doing nothing else but making custom items
• The assumption that so many people were capable of making custom items that ideas like supply chains and competition were important
• The assumption that this actually affected the behavior, professions, etc. of entire local/regional populations of demi-humans
• A structure where wizards 'sell spells' for a living
• The idea that a mage could learn a spell and not know what it actually does until it is cast a few times
• That local/regional governments are concerned that 'the value of spells in the open market might drop to 0 g.p.'
• That spells might come with EULAs, usage fees, etc. that could be, and would be, enforceable
• That wizards have 'R&D shops, that wizards 'acquire' others, etc.
• This leads of course to the idea of Open Source Magic, etc.

  Don't get me wrong - if you wanna' run a campaign where wizards in high-rise towers buy out young upstart mages' new spells, put their own 'brand name' on them, and resell them all with an entire floor of lawyers ready to do patent trolling using the King's cavalry - don't let me stop you.

NOTE: Hackmaster 4th Edition had a section on spell licensing, Open Source, and Dweomersharing in their Spellslingers Guide back in 2002 that was about as in depth as the article I read andhad the Hackmaster humor, too.

I have NO IDEA why you are playing a fantasy game where when your wizard says his henchman is 'Agile' he means 'he knows the project management methodology' instead of 'he has a high dex score' but - whatever

  But the Ancient, Classical, Medieval, and Pre-modern world looked nothing like this! A fantasy setting set in anything but an Urban Fantasy 'just down the street in 2015, but with faerie' would look nothing like this!

First, let's discuss how much I hate some of the core assumptions. A world awash in cash looks nothing like reality. Let me be even more blunt - a lot of the contemporary world has no idea what having enough cash to custom order luxuries looks like! If you look at Medieval history you will see that in the early Middle ges a king  might only have 2-4 outfits of clothing, let alone a mercenary! A large volume of trade was done in just that - trade using goods, not coin, meaning even many nobles with great (true) wealth were cash-poor. Having an economy awash in coins without inflation just makes money within the game effectively meaningless.
  We see this in the article itself with talk of 'well, since NPC X can make such a good, steady income by making +1 swords to order, why would she ever adventure?'.
  Yeah. Good question, isn't it?

  A world awash in magical items is simply a game-breaker in terms of roleplaying.
  "Why would that be, Rick?"
  Thanks for asking!
  Because this means there is even LESS reason to adventure and to even want things.
  Look at it this way - if the economy is so awash in cash that there is enough steady business in making custom +1 swords to create a market large enough to drive suppliers' prices down AND there are enough people capable of making magic items at a volume to meet these criteria, THEN magic items are going to be all over the place outside places filled with murder-death.
  It gets worse - this would rive the need for/utility of adventurers down AND mean that they hav less potential earnings, too.
  Walk with me:

1.   The economy produces enough wealth that adventuring is a bad idea for anyone capable of crafting magic
2. Magic items can be purchased for cash broadly
3. Low-level people going into danger for money and magic must be niche, desperate cases
4. If they fail, they die. If they succeed they cease to be niche, desperate cases
5. Once they are no logner niche, desperate cases they too, can do the non-dangerous things that provide more money than does adventuring
6. This will allow them to accumulate wealth more quickly and at less risk than adventuring
7. Which will allow them to buy ever-more-powerful magic items, etc.

We aren't even talking about how if magic items in general are purchasable then any town militia can be prepared to handily deal with things like vampires, the undead, etc. removing reasons for adventurers to adventure.

  Example:  Adam, Bertram, Charlie, and Denise had heard a rumor in an inn about trouble in a remote village - something about a flying creature that could not be harmed by steel. They had set out at first light and ridden hard - they were nearly broke and needed the money.
  They entered the village three days later - good time for the 60 miles! Although tired from the ride they immediately sought out the village elder.
  "The trouble, you say? Oh, the local shire reeve came the very next day, what with him having Boots of Speed and all. He handed all 8 of the local levy  +1 Spears from his Bag of Holding and they went out and killed the gargoyle that very day! He took its stolen gains for the crown, giving the men 10% to split, a'course."
  "It is a real shame you folks rode all that way for nothin', too."

  Adventurers are supposed to exist because they are both unusual and needed. A world that rich in magic, money, and people of high enough level to turn money into magic items? They are neither unusual nor needed!

  Now, can you have fun in a world where mages and clerics and such are, well, really common and the campaign is all about trying to find a way to break out of the grind and make it big in a world of corporations, spell licenses, etc?
  Sure! That game is called "Shadowrun". It is explicitly set in the modern world with modern concepts.

  But Shadowrun and 'FRPG as the modern world with 'Thee and Thou' both have a problem I call the Traveller Paradox. TheTraveller Paradox is roughly this:
  Traveller does a really good job of building a system that incorporates contemporary economics, trade, and such into a game world. It does it so well, as a matter of fact, that huge numbers of players realize that their characters can do very well for themselves by engaging exclusively in in-world economic activity! In the end you wind up with the paradox of a game of epic adventure where the best class/skill combo is 'Merchant/Broker' and campaigns often devolve into.

'this session is about how an interstellar war between two vast empires... is disrupting your business's' supply chain and will reduce quarterly profits if you don't find an alternate distribution hub! What do you do?'

  If you want to do this, feel free.Personally, I don't think it belongs in a game with knights, dragons, and kidnapped princesses.

 

Why Wizards Don't Suck on the Battlefield

  This is, naturally, directly related to my last post.

  A little over a quarter century ago we had a guy sit in on a game for a session or two. As I recall he was playing a 6th level magic-user with an interesting mix of magic items and spells. He joined a large party (5 players and 8 characters, I think) and we went to Lew Pulsipher's Mount Thunder, where PC skulls as common as mice.
  The party got into an altercation and the visiting player cast Mirror Image, then Shield. The he drew a dagger and closed with the front line, doing very well for himself and helping turn the tide. This led Lew to discuss the idea of Pocket Quarterbacks vs. Fran Tarkenton. Wizards who stay in the middle of the formation and lob spells over his defenders = pocket quarterback. Guys like the visitor who wander around both casting and fighting are Fran Tarkenton (look him up, kids).

  While I have certainly mentioned what I call the Four Roles a few other places, let me repeat them;

    1) Fighters are Physical Offense
    2) Magic-users are Magical Offense
    3) Clerics are Physical and Magical Defense
    4) Thieves are Intelligence and Scouting

  And the other classes make sense, too; paladins are physical offense and magical defense, etc.

  Now, while I say, many times, wizards are magical offense and have said very recently that wizards suck on the battlefield (see the link in the first sentence) that isn't quite all there is to say. See, wizards don't have to suck on the battlefield, you just need to stop thinking of them as artillery and start thinking of them as melee combatants.

  Yes, really.

  While a wizard is artillery to a party they aren't to an army. But 'not being artillery' doesn't mean 'useless in battle'. Let's talk a little about wizards on the battlefield and mention Battlesystem.
  You remember Battlesystem right?

  Anyway, let's look at the spell caster above. Good armor class from the Shield spell; the Mirror Image adds to his survivability. How about we toss in, oh, Blink? Wow! His survivability goes up farther, he's more capable in combat (lots of flanking and rear attacks), and all of his images start blinking around, too!
  If he were to engage a Battlesystem unit I might treat him and his images as a unit, not an individual (there are a lot of him) and I might make the opposing unit make a morale check for 'engaged with an enemy they cannot hurt', especially if they have low hit dice. These spells are easily accessible for a 5th level mage. Other good 3rd level spells for the battlefield are Haste and Slow (although they would only affect one unit marker in an army). Invisibility, 10' radius might allow a unit to move around the battlefield for a while.
  Another major battlefield impact available to the wizard is Wall of Fire; this spell can be used to stop arrows and protect a flank in an emergency. Wall of Ice, Stone, Iron etc. are similar.

  But the really big one at 4th level must be Hallucinatory Terrain.

  Normally I stick to the rule for 1e spells that "outdoors the range changes to tens of yards but area of effect stays tens of feet'. I make an exception for Hallucinatory Terrain simply because it can't do what it is described as doing ('open fields looking like a swamp', 'a rock strewn gulley looking like a road') so I have its range and area of effect switch to tens of yards

  The ability to hide the real terrain of a battlefield should have obvious advantages! Your reserves are bidden behind a 'steep hill'; the open field now looks like a huge thicket of scrub and boulders; the inviting open field to the left flank of your army is actually a river; etc.

  But this leads us far enough down the primrose path to discuss the true magical master of the battlefield. That is, of course,

The First Edition Illusionist!

  That's right, the 1e  illusionist is the King of the Battlefield.
  Let's look at what a 9th level 1e Illusionist can do with a selection of spells
  1st level- Wall of Fog, Hypnotism, Detect Illusion, Phantasmal Force
  2nd level- Fog Cloud, Mirror Image, Improved Phantasmal Force
  3rd level- Invisibility, 10' r., Hallucinatory Terrain, Spectral Force
  4th level- Massmorph, Shadow Monsters

  While Wall of Fog and Fog Cloud do no damage, they are good at providing concealment and perhaps making foes move if they think the Fog Cloud is a Cloudkill. Not great, but not useless.
  Mirror Image, Detect Illusion, and Hypnotism are really about self-protection.
  Invisibility, 10' r. and Massmorph are about concealing units on the battlefield. If the illusionist gets a chance they can hide an entire unit (up to 90 creatures) as a copse of trees (Massmorph) or simply make up to, oh, around 40 medium creatures invisible. The sudden appearance of 40 heavy crossbowmen in what was thought was an open field would be a bit of a shock. Having 90 heavy infantry appear on the flank you though was anchored by a thicket of oaks would be even worse!
  I mentioned Hallucinatory Terrain above. The reason it is even better for illusionists is they get it a level earlier - a 5th level illusionist can potentially hide parts of the battlefield.
  The Phantasmal and Spectral Force spells, though, have the potential to truly wreak havoc on the battlefield. The have ranges of up to 170 yards (potentially out of short bow range) and the illusion can travel anywhere within range. While magic-users get Phantasmal Force they get it as a 3rd level spell while illusionists get it as a 1st level spell (!) and illusionists have sole access to Improved Phantasmal and Spectral Force - both of which last for 2 or 3 rounds after the caster ceases concentration and include some more senses other than just sight.
  Each of these three 'pure illusion' spells can create a huge range of effects from ditches filled with flaming tar to 500 pikemen in formation. Also remember; unless foes disbelieve in their nature AND make a saving throw these illusions can injure and kill!
  The sneaky spell here is Shadow Monsters. I say sneaky because of the impact it has on the other spells. Shadow Monsters is, really, an illusion so good it is partially real, but it can only be used to make creatures - almost a summoning. A 9th level illusionist could use this spell to make a giant, 2 ogres, 10 goblins, or 18 kobolds. The latter two are, effectively, battlefield units.But the Shadow Monsters stick around after the caster is doing other things and keep existing and fighting (if diminished) even when successfully disbelieved. Shadow Monsters, with its range of only 30 yards, is a really nasty surprise to any unit that gets too close to the caster and could be a last minute way to plug a gap in the lines in an emergency.

  So - what would fighting a battle where one side had an illusionist like that look like?

  Baron Mordan was indignant. He had been for over a year, ever since the king gave a grant of land to some upstart from the city. Mordan had learned from friends that the man had begun life as the son of a scribe and had made a fortune as a vagabond and mercenary before earning the king's favor on the Orc Marches. 
  Mordan was descended from nobility and was a 5th cousin to the king! Yes, yes, he was aware that by being the 4th son of a 3rd son he was reduced to a small barony on the border. While this land had been prosperous under his father Mordan struggled to generate any real income from the lazy peasants. When he found out that the king had given the next valley West to some common scribbler he had been furious!
  Burt Mordan had begun working immediately; his men at arms were loyal before too long there had been a series of 'problems' on the border between Mordan's lands and those of the new "baron" Worrel. Mordan had complained loudly and bitterly over each incident, even after his own brothers had told him to be silent. But it had paid off - at the last moot Worrel had directly accused Mordan of deception and theft. Worrel had offered to trial by combat, but Mordan knew of the man's reputation as a swordsman. No, Mordan had insisted on the old ways, the Lord's Battle ways. No scribbler could be a commander of men like Mordan; now it was to be settled by force of arms!
  Mordan had set out with his own 50 heavy cavalry, 200 medium foot, 300 militia short bow men, and 500 militia pikemen with an additional 100 heavy foot mercenaries (whom he planned to pay with loot).
  He knew the upstart had only 100 light cavalry and 200 medium foot with perhaps 200 militia archers and 300 militia pikemen.
  After 3 full days of marching directly toward Worrel's keep Mordan had yet to face any opposition. The villagers had fled, seemingly ordered by Worrel, and there was no battle. But on the evening of the third day Mordan arrived  on the top of the last hill before Worrel's keep.
  He had to admit - waiting to fight here had been the best option for Worrel; The forest on Mordan's right flank  and the river on his left would limit his mobility. He noted that the meadows near the river were marshy, so his cavalry and heavy foot would need to avoid that area.
  On the other hand, Worrel had erected no ditches, palisades, or stakes in defense - the only thing between Mordan and the keep were the few forces of Worrel! Mordan pitched his camp between the trees and the river less than 500 yards from the outermost of Worrel's troops.
  Dawn was clear and crisp, promising a perfect day for a battle. His commander told him there had been only one incident in the night - a guard had vanished. Probably a deserter, as nothing was missing and there were no reports of trouble.
  Worrel's forces were drawn up about 400 yards away; a pikewall 100 men wide and 3 ranks deep with 50 medium foot on each flank; Another 100 medium foot were on Mordan's right, 100 light cavalry on the left, with 4 groups of 50 archers each 20-30 yards behind. Worrel's forces made a line from the swampy river on Mordan's left to the heavy trees on Mordan's right. Mordan did not see the rest of the foot and assumed they were in the keep.
  Mordan decided simple was best; his pikemen formed up as the center, 3 ranks deep and 100 men wide. The main pikes were flanked with 50 medium foot on each side. The mercenaries formed on the right flank, the cavalry on the left. The short bow men were in a group 50 men by 50 men 50 yards behind the pikes. He kept 200 pikemen, 50 bow men, and 50 medium foot in reserve with another 50 medium foot guarding the camp. While Worrel's light horse would be more maneuverable in the marshy land on the left if they did anything Mordan's heavy cavalry could charge the flank. With the light cavalry pinned Mordan would simply march up, wait for the pike crush, and have the mercenaries roll over the medium foot. His reserve would then follow on and pin Worrel's forces against the river.
  He'd own the barony by nightfall.

  Before too long Worrel's archers began to fire, mainly at the pikes. Mordan had his own archers target Worrel's archers. Mordan heard a cry from the right - a group of heavy foot were marching from the trees! In just a few moment 150 heavy footmen in Worrel's livery were formed up, blocking the advance of the mercenaries. A moment later, they began marching forward, apparently eager to attack the smaller force ahead of them!
  Mordan shifted his archers to the new threat and while they began to fall it wasn't fast enough - the larger force was going to hit his right flank hard.  With a loud battle cry the mercenaries rushed forward to engage and-
  Worrel's heavy footmen vanished, like a puff of smoke. 
  Mordan stood in his stirrups, staring at the right flank. The mercenaries were disorganized, almost a mob, as they tried to find their missing foes. Mordan sent a runner to order the mercenaries to form back up and continue their advance.
  He realized his archers didn't have orders, but before he could order them to fire on Worrel's archers there was another shout, from behind him.
  A wedge of heavy cavalry, also wearing Worrel's livery, was trotting towards his rear! The archers, completely unprotected, were scattering , most of them running for the shelter of the reserves, who were forming a square, or the treeline. Mordan ordered his cavalry to wheel as he sized up the new threat - 80 cavalry, all in plate with lances! He faced a dilemma; if he engaged them, Worrel's light cavalry would be free to move; but if the heavy cavalry engaged bypassed his reserves his main body would be forced to form squares. He decided to charge the cavalry. He quickly sent a runner to order the reserves to the left and to move the mercenaries to cover the rear of the pikewall.
  Very soon his was leading his horsemen at the trot, then a full charge at the enemy. He leaned forward, lance in hand, ready for the terrible shock of impact....
  And the enemy rode through his forces like ghosts. Several of his men slipped from their horses when there was no impact, a number of horses stumbled and went down, likewise. Some lay still, seemingly dead.
  He gathered his cavalry together, minus 10 men unhorsed, and took stock of the situation.
  His pikewall was still slowly advancing and still under constant enemy arrow fire. The mercenaries, having seen the vanishing enemy horses, were struggling to return to the right flank to oppose Worrel's footmen. His reserves remained in a square with about 1/3rd of his archers within, the rest of his archers were scattered.He and the remaining 40 heavy cavalry were out of place. And where  Worrel's light cavalry had been waiting there was now a thick wall of fog, hiding them from view. 
  Like phantoms, the light cavalry appeared out of the fog and began a charge across the battlefield between the opposing pikes towards Mordan's right flank! Realizing Worrel hoped to catch the mercenaries before they could get back into formation he ordered his tired cavalry to follow him as he raced to keep them from catching scattered infantry in the open.
  He knew his horses weren't fast enough to beat the enemy cavalry there, but they could drive them off before too much damage was done. If he was lucky he might drive them back into the medium infantry behind them and try to roll up Worrel's flank.
  Looking back he saw - Worrel's light cavalry charging out of the fog. But that was impossible! Both groups were the size of all of Worrel's cavalry! The second group was charging, at full gallop, along the river bank towards Mordan's rear. Remembering how marshy the meadows were he decided that those troops must be more phantoms, like the earlier ones, to distract him from the real troops, ahead.
  The mercenaries, realizing they were about to be caught in the open, had hastily formed into 4 small squares as Worrel's lancers approached. The light cavalry ignored them, however, and charged around them, heading along the treeline toward Mordan and the heavy cavalry.
  A great crash and shouting arose from Mordan's left flank - the 'phantom' cavalry had struck the medium infantry on the left of the pikewall and were inflicting terrible losses on them. Horrified, Mordan watched the cavalry in front of him fade away into nothingness. 
  As he drew up to try to figure out what was going on he saw a messenger riding hard towards him. When he arrived the messenger's horse was blowing as hard as any of the destrier's in the cavalry.
  "My lord! The captain asks for assistance in the camp!"
  "What?! Why?"
  "Well, my lord, some of the trees. Some of the trees..."
  "The trees? Spit it out, man!"
  "Some of the trees turned into men, my lord! A grove of trees turned into soldiers and they are attacking the camp!"
  "Ride back and tell the fool captain they are phantoms, some sort of glamor to distract him."
  "My lord, the captain ordered me hence as he lay dying from a wound."
  "Dying...?"
  Mordan looked past the messenger. A column of smoke was beginning to rise over the ridge from the location of his camp.
  Mordan turned to survey the battlefield: His left flank was broken and Worrel's lancers were slaughtering scattered infantry; his pikes, weakened by salvoes of arrows, demoralized by the loss of the left flank, and terrified by the magic, were wavering. The mercenaries were finally in formation, but were staying close to the tree line. He watched as the reserves noticed the smoke from the camp - in moments they were running towards the camp.
  As Worrel's pike wall lowered their weapons into position and gave a great shout the rest of Mordan's army broke and began to run back towards his lands. The mercenaries, more disciplined, began to slip into the forest.
  The cavalry with him were holding firm, for now, but all of them were looking at him expectantly. 
  Even he started in surprise as a voice appeared out of thin air,
  "Greetings, Baron Mordan."
  "W-Worrel? Is that you?"
  "I am Baron Worrel, yes."
  "Where are you?"
  Almost instantly a small group of horsemen appeared just a few yards away. Mordan sensed several of his men prepare to flee. Of the four Mordan recognized only Worrel, who was on the finest warhorse Mordan had ever seen. Two of the others were retainers, and obviously warriors, but the fourth was a beautiful woman on a palfrey.
  "Here I am, come to accept your surrender."
  "Surrender? This was a single battle!"
  "Indeed. But recall, when you demanded Lord's Battle I pointed out that I was granted a barony for defeating the Red Orc Chieftain on the field of battle. Besides, while your troops were busy here some of my closest friends visited your keep. Surrender and you can dine in my keep with your wife and your sons this very evening."
  Mordan sagged in the saddle. Defeat on the battlefield and the taking of hostages - Worrel had fulfilled the rules of Lord's Battle. Mordan's lands and titles were now Worrel's.
  Moments later Mordan's men were returning home, Mordan had no sword, and he was riding between the two retainers.
  "I apologize, Mordan," said Worrel, "I failed to introduce you. This lady is my wife, Lady Gwenhyfar. She is a student of magic."
  

Why Wizards Suck on the Battlefield

  Hey, everyone, sorry I've been gone a lot.

  I was relaxing a bit the other night and talking gaming with someone I have not played a lot with when I ran into another variant of the discussion I call 'not this again', but is sometimes called 'linear fighters and quadratic wizards'. The basic argument is pretty old and is roughly,

  "At low level fighters easily outshine wizards but at high level wizards are like unto gods while fighters are just mildly better fighters."

  As I've mentioned before, I don't agree with this assessment at all. I did my usual response of pointing out that at any level a fighter, cleric, or thief will almost certainly just flat-out kill a wizard of the same level one-on-one. 

  Disagree? OK, let's look at the numbers:

  [of course I am talking about 1e/OSRIC/etc! They are my favorites!]

  13th level magic-user Abelard the Average. H.P. 30 A.C. 2 (magical stuff)

    Abelard has a total of 25 spells, 2 scrolls, and such

  13th level fighter Mendacus the Middling. H.P. 59 A.C. 0 (cool armor)

    Mendacus has a nice sword and something that gives him extra damage, like ogre gauntlets

  At average encounter distance for a dungeon assuming no surprise Abelard has time to cast a single spell before Mendacus closes. Further, the spell had better be 3rd level or lower because of initiative rules.  We have no idea what spells Abelard has gotten, blown, etc., but let's assume that one of them is a Fireball. Average damage for Abelard is 46 h.p. - not enough. And since Mendacus will probably save it is only 23. That's insulting.

  So Mendacus closes and with 2 attacks a round will almost certainly prevent Abelard from casting (by hitting him about 19 times out of 20). It will take Mendacus about, oh, 2 rounds to cut down Abelard.

  It is similar with clerics and thieves; Abelard must have the right spell, use it at the right time, and his foe must be very unlucky or the mage dies.

  "But that's not what I mean!" said the person I was talking to, "I mean that the mage can cause a LOT more damage to foes than the fighter can!"

  That depends on what you mean, actually. Look at Abelard; if he has a lot of luck and the right access, etc. he could cast Death Spell, which has the potential of killing up to 80 creatures of 2 HD or less! That is pretty serious. Fireballs and Lightning Bolts do a lot of damage, too. 

  But then the spells are gone. And once his spells are gone Abelard can't deal out that damage like that until he gets a good night's sleep and a fair chunk of time to re-memorize.

  Mendacus can slaughter until he needs sleep. With a great deal of luck (rolling a lot of maximum numbers; the goblins standing shoulder to shoulder, chest to back, etc.) Abelard could kill 400 goblins in 10 rounds. With average numbers Mendacus will kill 120+ goblins in the same amount of time. Abelard will be out of spells; Mendacus will still have a sword.

  So while the wizard can, indeed, drop a lot of death in a short period of time, the fighter can easily surpass it over time. 

  I am not saying that fighters are better than wizards or anything like that! I am just pointing out that they each fulfill their respective parts of the Four Roles well. Without all of the roles filled any party will suffer.

  That is when we entered slightly different territory. The person I was speaking with said,

  "But you must admit that even from medium level the wizard is much more effective on the battlefield"

  That got me to thinking about the mass battle I recently ran for my Blackstone campaign. In that one I had pointed out what I have learned from that and other mass battles.

  What I have learned, in a nutshell, is that Wizards Suck on the Battlefield.

  "But Rick!" you say, "All those spells! He can fly! Tturn Invisible! Cast Fireball! Cloudkill!

  Meh.

  Seriously.

  When you are talking about armies taking to the field, and I mean armies with forces of hundred to thousands or more per side, wizards are very limited.

  Let's take a look at the big scary, Fireball. Wizards get it at 5th level so its range is...
  150 yards.

    I know a lot of people keep all spell ranges at 1" in the book = 10', but I follow the rule that missile weapons and spells switch to 1" = 30' outdoors/on a battlefield, just like Gary intended.

  The edge of short bow range. Medium range for a heavy crossbow. A salvo of heavy quarrels at a 5th level mage is probably going to disrupt his blood flow, let alone his casting.

  And the Fireball is only 40' across. Plenty big for a dungeon, pretty small for a battlefield. it is going to catch at most somewhere between 12 and 26 foes, typically. If those foes are normal orcs, goblins, etc. they are going to die.

  And the 5th level mage's lone Fireball is gone.

  OK, how about a 9th level wizard? One with the bane of the battlefield, Cloudkill! I mmean, Cloudkill is terrifying; 40' wide, 20' deep and tall; instantly kills anything weaker than an ogre; can kill virtually annything (read your DMG).
  Cool!
  It's range is 10 yards.
  30 feet.
  Within short range for a thrown dagger at battlefield scale.
  It lasts (in this case) 9 rounds, creeping forward at 1/12th the speed of a walking man. In this case it stops after going a total of - 100 yards. In the meantime an entire pike square could move out of the way or even split up to let it pass. Great way to blunt a wild charge, yes, but very, very dangerous to cast and if the conditions aren't just right it is mainly useful to make formations move or break up.

  So if Abelard is 9th level and has the very best mass combat spells and takes those spells by preference to all others he could kill about, oh, 80 foes and either break up an enemy formation or stop an enemy charge. This will take him 5 or so rounds.

  That's pretty nice, but in a battle with 2,500 men on each side not as big a deal as you might think.

  What about 9th level Mendacus? How is he going to do? Well, against goblins he's going to be the the Angel of Death. He has 9 attacks per round against them (the 'fighters vs. less than 1 HD humanoids' rule) and will really only miss 1 in 20 times and if he has a magical sword each blow will kill an average goblin. In the five rounds it takes Abelard to kill 80 goblins Mendacus would kill about 43 goblins, round down to 40. Half as many.
  But Mendacus can keep going on. Assuming Mendacus has an Armor Class of 0 and is facing roughly 10 goblins a round he will be able to fight for about 17 rounds before he is at half hit points and needs to retire for healing. In that time he would potentially kill 145 goblins.

  Yes, yes, there are a lot of assumptions going on; Mendacus will have to close with the goblins, keep up with them, etc. But the point still stands.

  While wizards have the capability to do a great deal of damage in a short period of time, the fighter can do much more damage over a long period of time. The total potential damage of a fighter over the course of a day is much higher than the total potential damage of a wizard over the course of a day.  

  Since large-scale battles are much more about attrition over time the fighter is better suited to that particular type of encounter. This is easily forgotten if a particular group, DM, campaign, etc. focuses mainly on dungeon crawling or similar actions because those types of encounters are often about delivering damage quickly. It is also "concealed" by the habit of parties to pull back, rest, and regain spells; they essentially base the pace and rhythm of adventuring about 'recharging' the mages.

  An aside: This is one of the reasons I keep track of encumbrance, components, rations, random encounters etc. It isn't just 'utilizing/taking advantage of the resource management aspect' nor is it just a way to vacuum gold out of PC's pouches. These things are there to also set the pace and rhythm around overall party supplies, 'throttle' the wizard's ability to deliver damage, and allow fighters to shine more as they deal with encounters after the wizards are out of spells.

  As I noted in my post on the mass battle in my campaign I linked above, wizards are very good at some elements of the battlefield; for example, they are very good and eliminating enemy siege engines.

  Many years ago I remember a number of people commenting negatively about something Gary wrote, in Dragon I believe. As  I recall he was speaking of a large battle among Northern barbarians and noted 'the spell casters largely neutralized each other'. People were very upset and spoke a great deal in print and at conventions that this was inaccurate, that wizards would be a key element of the battlefield.
  At the time I thought it unlikely that the man who derived AD&D from his rules for mass combat would get it wrong.
  I don't think he did. One of the key roles of the wizard on the battlefield will be to neutralize enemy wizards.

  'But Rick,' you say, 'Didn't you just way that wizards suck on the battlefield? Why would wizards deal with each other, then?'

  Great question! In addition to wanting enemy wizard's spellbooks and wands, this is because of the thing wizards are good at on the battlefield other than Fireballing catapults;
  Taking out enemy leaders.

  Remember Mendacus and his ability to slaughter 145 goblins before he stops for some gatorade? Abelard dumping a Fireball to kill 30 goblins seems less effective. But dumping it on Mendacus to force him off the battlefield is a great idea, especially if it catches the troops guarding his flanks. So if Mendacus has a wizard ally you can bet his goal is to prevent Abelard from forcing the Angel of Death to the sidelines.

  And this isn't to say that magic is not going to have a profound effect on how battles are fought! One of the most obvious is having teams of archers tasked specifically to attack enemy spell casters. Someone suddenly turns visible? A streak of light blossoms into a Fireball? A guy in robes is flying over the battlefield? Scattered teams of 10 troops with missile weapons target them immediately.

  Another would be to have elite troops in reserve and mobile so they can respond quickly to holes in the line caused by spells and, as importantly, engage guys like Medacus and his sword arm! Just having some hobgoblin mercenaries engage Mendacus (and thus dropping his number of attacks per round) makes a huge difference.

  There will also be some minor changes to battlefiel practice: pikewalls will probably have 3 densely packed rows and then reserve pikemen will be further back and scattered to reduce the damage of spells; Missile units will be broken into smaller groups and more widely dispersed to both dodge spells and react to spell casters; Cavalry units might well have a screen of light cavalry sweep out in front of a charge to check for illusions, spells, and to attempt to trigger magical attacks.

  I will write more about this topic soon.

Next Time: Why Wizards Don't Suck on the Battlefield

Good, Evil - I'm the Guy with the Gun

My 150th post!
Sorry for the light posting, but (as mentioned often before) this is a very busy time of year for me.

  So a question came up recently from an email correspondent. To wit, how much would Detect Evil and Know Alignment change laws and society?

  Tough question. Let's look at some spells and their descriptions and see what we can figure out.

  Detect Evil seems fairly straightforward. 1e says,

  "This is a spell which discovers emanations of evil, or of good in the case of the reverse spell, from any creature or object. For example, evil alignment or an evilly cursed object will radiate evil, but a hidden trop or an unintelligent viper will not."

  And OSRIC says,

  "This spell allows the cleric to discern emanations of evil (or good, in the case of the spell’s reverse) within the spell’s area of effect, a beam-like pathway. The spell detects evil, not danger, so it will be useless to discover such things as a mindless trap or a poisoned wineglass."

  But! The DMG (1e) (of course) says on page 60,

  "Only a know alignment spell can determine the evil or good a character holds within... ...Characters who are very strongly aligned... and are of... at least 8th [level]... might radiate evil..." [emphasis added]

  It goes on to say,

  [paraphrase] 'Aligned undead, creatures such as Ki-rin, and the like will radiate evil or good; aligned magic items will likewise radiate evil or good'.

  So, combined with the rest of the section, Detect Evil can only detect active evil intent unless the target is really, really bad. A vampire lurking in wait for a victim? Bam! Strong, malignant evil detected! A goblin frying up a mouse fritter? Detect Evil isn't going to pick him up. A goblin waiting in ambush? Faint, lurking evil. Why faint? it's only a wee goblin.

  So Detect Evil isn't 'bad guy radar', but more a 'shambling horror detector' combined with (mentioned earlier) an 'evil intent sensor'.

  So it seems that Detect Evil, while obviously useful, isn't going to change the laws or society very much at all. While very useful for paladins and clerics trying to locate a ghoul or avoid an ambush it has little practical use in day to day life.

  Taking a little detour, we need to also look at the Fourth level spell Detect Lie. What I find fascinating here is that the existence of this spell implies, strongly, that Detect Evil can't detect when you are lying! Since the spell description in the DMG on Detect Lie mentions that the spell can not detect 'evasions' but only direct lies and the level of the spell is very high this implies that lies are evil but subtle enough to the point a specific spell is needed and, even then, only direct falsehoods can be detected.
  It seems obvious that Detect Lie would have a huge impact on the law: interrogations could, in the hands of skilled interrogator with this spell, quickly identify lies (if not necessarily revealing the truth!) But, of course, you need a 7th level+ cleric (or an 8th+ level religious brother) and a typical medieval kingdom 1s going to have, oh, at most five people who can cast the spell, and all of them are going to be rather prominent members of the community, i.e., either very busy, very expensive, or both. And they would have to give up access to spells like Exorcise to learn Detect Lie instead. Oh, and getting two different people to cast it to confirm each other might be effectively impossible, so it might boil down to a mere claim by the caster!
  So while Detect Lie might make a big difference in very important matters (the death of a king, the theft of an artifact, etc.) it will be very unlikely to be available for routine work.
  So - very little impact on laws or society.

  Finally, we are at Know Alignment which, the rules say,

  "...enables the cleric to exactly read the aura of a person - human, semi-human, or non-human. This will reveal the exact alignment of the person. Up to 10 persons can be examined with this spell."

  "This will reveal the exact alignment..." That is very, very clear, isn't it? There are a fair bit more people who can cast Know Alignment - at least 20 and, if you are using Religious Brothers and counting higher level casters, more like 100! So a fair number of people are going to be able to determine if you are a bad guy or not.
  Now, I have heard many a person say that casting Know Alignment on MPCs is 'rude', or 'improper', or 'forbidden', but I was never sure where this came from. The 1e DMG says on page 35,

  "...it is considered poor manners to enspell [a potential henchman] in any way (except possibly in the case of Know Alignment..."

  So it seems obvious that senior officers, etc. should expect to have their alignment checked at least at the time of employment. Indeed, I personally assume any spellcaster or group that can  cast spells like Know Alignment, Detect Charm, Detect Curse, etc. will cast them on their henchmen and hirelings from time to time.

  This will change society and the law, at least a little. It will be much, much more difficult to insert a mole into an organization, replace someone with a doppleganger, etc. if routine use of these divinations is a part of your campaign.
  Although it explains a lot about the use of assassins to spy from the 1e DMG! With their use of alignment tongues, disguises, etc. I have always assumed that the spying charts is also the chance the assassin successfully dodges these spells.
  This also makes items like Rings of Mind Shielding and Amulets of Proof vs Etc., Etc. more valuable.
  So at first glance it seems obvious that Know Alignment should have a huge impact on your campaign world.
  My next article will explain why it won't!

Spell of the Week - Jonas' Jolt

Related to last week's spell, this is a 4th level variant of Magic Missile with a bit of utility added.

Jonas' Jolt

Level: Magic user 4
Range: 10 ft/ caster level
Duration: Instantaneous
Area of Effect: 1 creature or object
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 4 segments
Saving Throw: None

  When this spell is completed a bolt of force leaps from the caster's hand to strike the designated target, never missing. The powerful attack causes 3 hit points of damage per level of the caster and strikes hard enough to throw a 1 lbs object 2 ft per caster level. Objects struck by Jonas' Jolt must save vs. crushing blow or be destroyed and stuck/locked doors may be forced open as if by a person with an 18/51 Strength. Any creature struck by Jonas' Jolt must save vs. paralysis or be knocked prone; small creatures save at -4, large at +4. If the Jolt strikes an object held by a creature that creature must save vs. paralysis at -4 or have the item knocked from their grasp.
   A Brooch of Shielding takes 150% of normal charges to stop a Jonas' Jolt; to halt a Jolt inflicting 24 hit points of damage would take 36 charges from the brooch, for example. A Shield spells totally negates a Jonas' Jolt but the Shield spell ends immediately, its energies consumed.

Spell of the Week - Jonas' Jab

  A long time ago, back about 1980, I rolled up a new character and got an obvious magic-user. His initial spells included Magic Missile and he was fun to play.
  But he blew the roll to learn Burning Hands. Now, for us Old School AD&D 1e types if you blow the chance to learn a spell you can never learn that spell, ever, unless some very specific or unusual things happen.
  At least I still had Magic Missile!
  Then I blew Shocking Grasp. And then Charm Person.And Sleep, for goodness' sake!
  Now, Jonas had a 17 intelligence, so this was flat-out cursed dice!
  Second level wasn't so bad, Sure, I blew Detect Evil, Audible Glamour, and Mirror Image but I had Web and Stinking Cloud.
  Then 3rd level spells came. Oh, did they ever.
  Jonas promptly blew the rolls for Fireball, Lightning Bolt, and Flame Arrow (I took Monster Summoning I as my 'free' spell).
  So there I was, 5th level and my go-to damage spell was still Magic Missile.
  So I invested the coin, took the trips into lost libraries and sages' towers, and - invented a bunch of variants of Magic Missile! By the time Jonas was 9th level he was called the Gatling Mage!

  The first variant was a second level spell called:

Jonas' Jab 
Arcane Evocation
Level: Magic user 2
Range: 10 ft/ caster level
Duration: Instantaneous
Area of Effect: One Creature or Object
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 segment
Saving Throw: None
  The magic user points at a target within range and releases a bolt of eldritch force that strikes unerringly causing 2 points of damage per level of the caster. The bolt hits with enough force to throw small objects away from the caster a distance of 1 foot per level (for a 1 lbs. object); larger and smaller objects have this distance adjusted based on weight. Non-magical objects struck must also make a saving throw vs. normal blow or be broken. If the object is held by a creature that creature must make a saving throw vs. paralysis or drop the item. Jonas' Jab is stopped by Shield and other items and spells that affect Magic Missile, such as Brooches of Shielding

  As you can see, this is a very minor change - it can hit things rather than just 'creatures' and it has a few mild aspects of the Push spell added. The set damage was nice, too.

Making Magic Amazing Without Touching Mechanics

  Years ago I was in a gaming circle with very regular games and with a fair number of guest DMs. One day my co-DM told me a group of his friends were visiting from another state and wanted to sit in. He also told me they had some simple requests;
  1) Not to have the monster manual, DMG, or PHB read from
  2) Not to be asked to look something up in the books
  3) If there was a discussion on a rule that they be allowed to leave until it was resolved.
  Why?
  In the 12 years they had been playing as a group not one player had ever looked into a single book. These guys and gals were in their 30's and played twice a month like clockwork and had for almost 12 years but what they knew they knew from what the DM had given them either directly or from folktales and legends in the game.
  The players had thought it up as a way to 'keep the wonder alive', and it worked. They were amazed with our magic items, like Boots of Elvenkind and Rings of Water Walking - they'd never seen or heard of them. There were no regenerating trolls in their campaign, so they were a shock!

  But one thing that stuck with me was their spells; the elven fighter/magic-user (5th/5th) told us she was 'firing her elf bow'; she explained it was a spell taught to her by her clan. She described her character grasping a smoky, ghostly bow and drawing back the smoky wisp of a string and launching a phantasmal arrow with a single, glittering star as its arrowhead. 'If my heart is true' she said, 'it never misses'. It struck true and she did her damage - 1d10+5

  Later the human mage said he was 'summoning the motes'. He cast the quick spell and described how a swirling mass of motes, each looking like a spark from a bonfire, descended from above and surrounded his target. He told us that each mote did 1 h.p. of damage but his concentration determined how many would strike. As he leveled up he got more adept at focusing them so now 4d4+4 motes would hit!

  The players each had all of their spells as individual 3x5 cards with the DM's description of them in narrative form; they were (if I remember right) 'The High Clan's Elf Bow' and 'The Calling of Fiery Motes'.

  Both spells are, of course, Magic Missile. Now, I love Magic Missile for a lot of reasons (there is a post in there) but this made me love it even more. Of course, when my character cast Magic Missile they'd never heard of it but liked the description ('I hold out my hand and a streak of pure magical forces shoots from 4 of my fingers, striking true of 1d4+1 each'). About 6 months later I finally met their DM and he confirmed that yup, they were Magic Missile. They had, once, tried to learn each other's spells and were sad she couldn't summon motes and of course he couldn't use the elf bow! They once fought an evil mage and tried to learn his spell Golden Lions (that caused miniature golden lions to race to the target and bite it) when they captured his spell book; they "couldn't learn" that spell, either because it was also Magic Missile.

  As an aside, have you ever played Hero System, especially Champions? In the game a stream of fire, a lightning bolt, and a sonic scream might all be 8d6 Blasts; only the special effect differentiates the various powers. Hero does this best [its my blog and I say its best] but we can easily take this idea and apply it to a fantasy game.

  But let's back up a bit.

  I know I am not alone in emphasizing that magic isn't technology. And there is nothing wrong with,
  Player: "I cast Fireball centered here"
  DM: "Sure; roll damage while I make saves."
  I mean - it is fast, it is easy. We all know what we are talking about.

  But one of my favorite bits of writing from a game book is from the Complete Book of Necromancers by Steve Kurtz. If you haven't read this book, get it. Here is how he describes a spell,

"Lady Ellandra came back on deck, this time shielded by a cold, blue aura. She began to speak in a soft and deadly whisper, her gaze fixed on the wildly shouting men on the pirate ship's quarter deck. Many of the rogues had climbed up into the rigging, where they fired arrows onto our ship. One of the bolts struck Ellandra square in the face, but it was brushed aside by her magical warding."

"As the Lady intoned the last syllable of her dreadful spell, a greenish vapor formed in the rigging above the pirate's quarter deck. Wailing resounded from the skyward cloud, like a distant chorus of lamentations. Ghostly images swirled in the haze. The billowing mist quickly descended onto the decks of Retaliator, and horrific screams rose in a deafening crescendo from the ghastly cloud, echoed now by the terrified men in its midst. Shriveled bodies plummeted from the rigging, each with a sickening thud, onto the decks below. One by one, the pirates'f lesh withered like burned paper, and the scant survivors beheld many more vaporous ghosts now swirling in the foul mist around them. And after the eternity of a few seconds, the howling cloud began to dissipate, leaving behind the wracked and twisted corpses of Retaliator's crew. The pirate ship sailed on, crewed only by the dead, fixed in its final course by a blasted corpse whose corrupted hands still clenched the helm."

  That was the Death Spell. But shouldn't a spell that kills scores of foes 'instantly and irrevocably' so that only a Wish can bring them back be scary?!

  But just as importantly, these little things can add a lot to the game and not just during play. Let me give you an example from the Seaward campaign.

  Many, but not all, wizards belong to a Mage House. Mage Houses are roughly akin to clans or fraternities or similar where all the members can trace their 'magical line' from apprentice to master back to the founder of the House. So if you were the 5th son of a petty baron and were apprenticed to a member of House Relleth once you became a full mage (i.e, first level) you, too, would be a member of House Relleth just like any other mage who had been apprenticed by a House Relleth member.
  Now the Houses differ a great deal; some are strict with bylaws, officers, secret halls, etc. while others are very informal and are often little more than an excuse to buy one another drinks. House Murrin has a lot of fighter/magic-users while everyone in House Atrell wears green. It is all over the place. But each major house and many minor houses have unique spells shared only with fellow house members.
  Well, you can do that with a lot more than new spells, can't you? What if the version of Fireball taught by House Atrell, called Fierce Verdant Strike, is identical to Fireball except it is a burst of green fire and there is a strong smell of pinewood smoke after? What if House Murrin's variant of Hold Person, called Bind Foe, wraps the target is ghostly chains? What if any spell cast by a member of House Relleth caused tiny motes of light to float around the caster's head for a moment? These things are small but can be everything from backstory to clues ["That Lightning Bolt was blue! That means, the killer is a member of House Toneth!" ba-ba-BUUUUUM].
  You don't have to use my Mage House idea for this to work. Every wizard in different and, as we know from EGG's comments on spell books from Dragon Magazine all those years ago, each caster treats each spell a bit differently. This could just be part of a caster's personality and innate gift for magic. Remember, magic isn't technology - it is OK for each caster's Magic Missile to be a little different because Magic Missile isn't made in a factory in Sheboygan, it is a magic spell that is cast a little differently by each caster. In a game.
  So its pretty easy to take this to that next level where every spell caster feels unique because each spell looks unique. Those players I met way back when felt that their characters were cut from different cloth because one could cast Elf Bow while the other could Call the Motes. With very minor changes it is easy to do the same for each and every character without a ton of effort on your part.
  Here are two examples from my campaign:

Warding BladeLevel: 1
Range: 0
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 segment
Area of Effect: see description
Save: none
  This spell summons a sword blade that slices through the air in front of the caster causing all creatures that are both in the casters front 120 degree arc and no further away than 3' to take 2 h.p. of damage per caster rank. This damage is treated as 'edged' or 'slashing'. The mystic sword, which vanishes instantly, can harm any creature and it cannot be dodged and never misses creatures in its arc.
  The material component is a sliver of iron.

This is just a variation of Burning Hands that, to me at least, seems slightly more apropos for a fighter/magic-user. While standard Burning Hands might cause less damage to, say, a hell hound the Warding Blade would do less against skeletons. You could have a fighter/magic-user with Warding Blade, a magic-user with Burning Hands, and a magic-user/thief from the Northern Barbarian Tribes with SnowSpray (another variant) in the same party and each spell caster would have a unique 'feel' and be able to bring subtly different spells to bear, all without a great deal of work or true changes to mechanics.

  You can do this with cleric spells, too, of course. For example;

Defende nos in ProelioLevel: 3
Range: 0
Duration: 1 round per level
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 6 segments
Area of Effect: 60' and special, see below
Save: None
  When this prayer is completed all within 60' of the caster have the impression that there are people just outside of their vision; winged men in armor with bared swords filled with a terrible resolve. These creatures are caught out of the corner of the eye or in brief flashes. The righteous are filled with courage and calm, the wicked feel fear and doubt. All thosewithin 60' who are of good will to the caster gain a +1 bonus on all rolls to hit, damage, or to save. Conversely, enemies of  the priest receive -1 on all rolls to hit, damage, or saves. The visions and effects end with the spell.

  That's just a Prayer gussied up a bit, obviously for a good cleric. An evil cleric might have a version where sounds of cackling witches and smells of brimstone distract good people and inspire the wicked to new heights of evil. One version of Know Alignment might give the caster a vision of two sets of scales on he can see while another will see auras of different colors whole a third might have an invisible imp whisper into his ear. Again, this can add a surprising amount to the game; the 'signature' of the cultists of the Plague Lord might be that all their spells that cause damage appear to inflict a disease while a cultist of the Demon Lord of Slime has an Inflict Light Wounds that looks like his hands are temporarily coated in green slime.
  But, just like with magic-users, this can make each cleric feel unique.

  And think of illusionists! In addition to "just" duplicating spells with illusions now they can mimic specific versions, even better imitate specific casters!

  So think about this; it is a surprisingly drastic change in 'feel' for very little effort.

New Spells - Ember's Firestrike

  I like Hackmaster 4th for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is it is really 1e with stuff [another reason is the amazing GM screen). But I and my kids love the spells, too. In my 2e campaign one of my sons plays a fire elementalist called Ember. He wanted to have the entire huge list of Fireball variants from Hack4 but some of them are a bit - over the top. He did his own versions of a few of them (with my help) and here is one of his favorites for outdoor adventuring.

Ember's Firestrike
Level: 3
Range: 5,500 yds.
Duration: Inst.
Area of Effect: 10' diameter sphere
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 5 seg
Save: 1/2

  When cast the spell hurls a tiny point of flame at great speed towards its target and, once it arrives, it detonates into a relative small but hot Fireball doing 1d4 points of damage per level of the caster; a successful save vs. spell reduces this damage by 1/2. At ranges of less than 100 yds this spell otherwise acts in all ways like a Fireball spell.
  It is, however, capable of striking foes much further away. With a line of sight and no obstacles Ember's Firestrike has the potential to cause damage up to 3 1/8th miles away.
  Note that at sea or on flat, level terrain the horizon appears to be about 3 1/8th miles away for a human male of average height.
  For any target area past 100 yards the caster must roll 'to hit' vs. A.C. 10 as if performing a melee attack as a fighter of the caster's level. There is no penalty to this roll within the first 500 yards but the roll is made at a -1 for each additional 500 yard to a maximum of -10 to hit for targets between 5,001 and 5,500 yards away. At 5,501 yards or more Ember's Firestrike dissipates.
  Example: Ember (11th level) and his henchman Firewing (7th level) are defending a mountain pass from an orcish army. The vanguard is 600 yards away and the leader is a mile (1,650 yards) away. Firewing targets the vanguard, Ember the leader.
  Firewing's target is more than 500 yards away but less that 1,000 so he rolls to hit vs. A.C. 10 with a -1; he rolls a 15 and strikes the area he aimed for doing 7d4 damage vs. all the orcs in a 10' radius.
  Ember's target is more than 1,500 yards away but less than 2,000 so his to hit roll is at -3. he rolls a 19 and strikes the leader and all other orcs within 10' for 11d4 damage.
  Misses are resolved as grenade-like missiles with distances of scatter in tens of feet.
  Example: Although the death of their warchief has shaken the orcs, they press on. Ember launches another Firestrike against a cluster of shamans directing troops from the rear - they are 2,100 yards away, giving Ember a -4 to hit. He rolls a 5, a miss. He rolls a d8 to determine scatter direction: 4, or towards Ember. He rolls a d6 to determine scatter distance; 3, or 30'. The Firestrike detonates at 2,090 yards directly between Ember and the shamans, doing 11d4 damage to a lone runner carrying orders to the front lines.
 
  Feel free to use the spell in your own games, please just keep Ember's name associated with it. It will be in my upcoming book Far Realms, as well.

New Spell Set from the Kids - Cure Blandness

  Last night the kids mentioned 'what if the spell was 'Cause Blandness'?'
  15 minutes later, they had created these spells, made by the kids. Levels, etc., really don't matter.
 

  Cause Blandness: Causes one character to have all characteristics set to 9, hit points to be average, and the only language known is Common
  Power Word - Bland: As Cause Blandness but to 100 HD of creatures within 120'
  Cure Blandness: Has a variety of effects depending on the target;
             Target: Effect
          Fighters: They lose all proficiency in long sword (replacing it with a less-common weapon); they may no longer have a background of 'vaguely Conan-esque northern barbarian type' or similar cliches and must instead have a more unique backstory that includes the names and conditions of their parents and siblings.
          Clerics: Clerics are forced to take at least 15% of their spells (minimum of 1 per level of spell) as something other than Cures. Clerics must also proselytize unbelievers, correct the alignment-inappropriate behavior of their party members, and perform routine worship of their god or gods.
          Magic-users: Their robes are transformed into practical travelling clothes, they must account for the contents and locations of their spellbooks, and component inventories will be checked ruthlessly. See the following list for further effects;
                      1st level target: if he has never memorized a spell other than Magic Missile, save or die
                      3rd level target: If he doesn't have a body guard, henchman, apprentice, or guard he gets one with a VERY colorful personlaity
                       5th level target: if he has never cast a 3rd level spell other than Fireball or Lightning Bolt, save or die.
           Thief: If the target dresses all in black, has more than 6 daggers, is an orphan, or spends his time brooding in the corner, he suddenly gains fashion sense, a sensible mix of weapons, long-lost cousins in the leather-tanning business, and a pleasant demeanor.
            Elf: Any elf that writes a lot of poetry, sings too much, has long, flowing hair (on a male), and broods about the end of an age must develop an actual personality.
                            Drow: Any Drow that is proficient in scimitars, has an animal companion that makes no sense, is a Ranger, or has a name with a 'Z' in it dies, no save.
            Dwarf: All Dwarves lose their lousy Scottish accents, stop being surly, and learn to tell a joke or three.
           Halflings: Lose 10 lbs, get a natty set of clothes (including shoes), and stop whining all the time.

          Dungeons: All goblins within the top 3 levels vanish (as does their treasure) and are replaced with something from the Fiend Folio.
          Inns and Taverns: The bartender is no longer fat and bald, the servants include at least one male and the women are properly dressed and too busy to flirt. The owner's wife is  no longer a nag, the corners become well-lit, and patrons are told to remove their cloaks and hang them on the pegs for their convenience.

  Please feel free to add your own effects.

Spell I Wish I Could Cast in Real Life: Create Coffee

Level - one (clerics) 3 (magic-users)
      [It is, in a very real way, a healing spell]
Casting time - 5 seg.
Range - reach
Area of effect - one container
Components - V, S, M

  When cast this spell creates a volume of coffee to fill a single container. The container can be as small as a demitasse or as large as a quart jug. The coffee will be hot (temperature will vary according to the caster's wishes, but will always be above room temperature) and as strong as the caster prefers.
  Very hot coffee may cause 1-2 h.p. of non-lethal damage to a drinker. If a quart container of very hot coffee is poured over or thrown onto a creature (range 5') it will do 1d4 damage.
 
  The material components are a single coffee bean and a drop of water. During casting the container to hold the coffee must be held in the caster's off hand with the components inside while he makes a tilting gesture over the mouth of the container with his primary hand and mutters darkly under his breath.

Spell Components

  Ah, the topic of spell components. Often a source of humor (swallowing a live goldfish?) and sometimes meant to provide balance (and to vacuum out every copper the mage has, How much diamond dust does a mage need? All of it!) they are sometimes given a miss.
  When I first began to DM I made spell components mandatory - they casters of all stripes absolutely, positively had to have the listed components in order to cast spells. The end. You don't have a live spider? You can't cast Spider Climb. This often led to drama and drove character actions - PC's mentioning that they carry small vials with corks that have tiny holes and that they catch little garden spiders while scouting, for example. In one memorable adventure one of the party's magic-users was frantically crushing some diamonds just found in a treasure chest hoping it was enough for him to cast a Stone Skin spell that might get him out alive.
  But in some games (one shots, short arcs, etc.) it was frankly too much trouble. Unless the component cost more than about 50 g.p. we just gave it a handwave. And I know I am not alone - most games that I have played in just ignore components.
  In my new-ish 2e S&P campaign when I was using spell points I had a simple rule - 50 g.p. per level of the caster per adventure to cover the cost of components. So the 7th level Fire Elementalist would make off 350 g.p. just before the adventure and we assumed this covered the cost of any components he might need. Simple, didn't require a lot of paperwork, and still removes cash from pouches. I can't remember where, but I once saw material components as 'being prepared taxes' and I think that is actually appropriate. I am also careful to track  arrows, sling bullets, etc. and have general maintenance charges for all characters, too.
  But Seaward, my 1e campaign, still requires careful track of components.
  Each city and large town has one or more magic shops (these sell components, parchment, ink, etc., never magic items) and magic shops exist in a few smaller towns. In some villages and even a few remote areas there are hedge wizards (an NPC-only spellcasting class) that either actively collect and sell components or can be convinced to sell. When a spellcaster is not collecting components by gathering them directly they usually go to one of these sources. When they do I have a chart I refer to to determine if they have the component and how much it costs.
  It sounds like a lot of work, but the chart was a one-time thing and the depth it adds is a lot of fun.

  How do you deal with them?

Magic Item of the Week - the Ring of Warding

  This plain gold band has two different effects. When worn by most characters it simply gives a +1 on all saving throws vs. undead and their effects; +1 vs. Ghast stink; +1 to save vs. Vampire charm, etc.
  Its full powers are only seen when worn by a cleric or paladin. When such characters wear the Ring of Warding it has the following effects; the wearers acts as if one level higher when attempting to turn undead; if the wearer succeeds in turning undead an additional 1d4 undead are turned or destroyed and the undead are turned for maximum duration; the wearer has +1 A.C. vs undead and makes all saving throws vs magical or poison effects of the undead at +1; if an effect generated by an undead normally has no saving throw the Ring of Warding grants a save of 20 which can be modified by magic, etc.

  Example; Aurelius the Studious, a cleric, is 8th level and wears a Ring of Warding. He is traveling deep into a cavern system in hopes of destroying a hidden temple to the Ghoul God said to be hidden there when he and his companions are attacks by a horde of 17 wights! Gripping his crucifix firmly he raises it high and calls out,
  "Deus te Perdat!"
  He then rolls to turn undead but uses the chart for 9th level clerics, not 8th. This means that instead of automatically turning some of the wights he now destroys them! In addition to the normal 2d6 he adds 1d4 getting a lucky total of 13, meaning only 4 remain.
  The wights close so quickly he has to get his mace into his hands immediately as they fall upon the party. Doomsman the barbarian and the Amazon dealt with two of the fell creatures quickly and Jonas was holding his own but the one attacking Aurelius, perhaps by luck, perhaps by fierceness, lunged forward and touched him, trying to leech out his lifeforce.
  Normally level drain has no save, but the Ring of Warding gives Aurelius a based save of 20. He is also wearing a +3 Amulet of Protection and is under the effects of a Prayer spell he cast earlier, so he needs 16 or better to save. He rolls an 18 and handily avoids losing a level.

Custom Spell - Lesser Fireburst

  I have seen a ton of Fireball variants, some good, most bad. But some of the best were from Hackmaster, 4th edition. Since the character of Brian from the comics it was derived from was fireball happy they had a TON of variants.
  Mostly unbalanced.
  But my kids loved more fireballs, I love more fireballs, so I made some variants of my own. This spell uses the magic missile mechanic I discussed here.

 Lesser Fireburst
Level- 1                               Range- 60' + 10'/rank
Casting Time- 3s                  Components- V, S, M
Area of Effect- 5' r. sphere   Duration- Inst.

  When cast a spark streaks from the caster's extended fingertip until it bursts into a sphere of flame 10' in diameter at its destination. All creatures within the area of effect take 1d3 h.p. of damage per rank of the spell caster, save for 1/2 damage.
  While otherwise similar to Fireball the Lesser Fireburst differs from that spell in important ways. The flames of a Lesser Fireburst are not as hot, causing spells such as Protection from Fire and items such as a Ring of Fire Resistance to be twice as effective in reducing damage from this spell. Also, the Lesser Fireburst does not expand within confined spaces and items exposed to the heat of this spell save vs. normal fire with a +1.

 

DM's Log: Blackstone Campaign Group 1 - the Pack parts 1 & 2

  Having returned from the large battles to the East the party wanted to settle down and focus on completing their large, combined stronghold. Through a combination of experience points and an arcane book the party fighter and leader, Doomsman, is now 13th level and the cleric/mage, Darkwalk, is 8th/9th. Unfortunately, the Redcaps still pose a major threat.
  The Redcaps are the spiritual descendants of the rebellious humanoid legions that brought down the last Human Empire a few centuries before current game time. The have a mysterious leader and employ mainly humanoids and giants. Typically they have Goblin scouts/skirmishers and Hobgoblin infantry/etc. with Bugbears as shock troops. Above all that, however, is The Pack.
  The Pack is a group of exceptional giants (one each of Hill, Mountain, Fire, Frost, Fog, Fomorian, Desert, and Jungle) with a Cloud Giant leader that act as the best of the best troops for the Redcaps.They are supported by an army of Verbeeg and have Ogre troops, too.
  The party is building their fortress to command the only so-far unprotected pass between the West and the Redcaps and the Blackstone region. They have a lot of attachment to the area since from 1st level to about level 5 they adventured heavily in the region and pushed the Redcap-allied Goblins from the same pass.
  Concerned about an attack on the in-progress stronghold by giants, the party decided to take the fight over the mountains. After a long discussion/argument Mournglow convinced everyone to leave the hippogriffs at home and travel by horse. This led to only Darkwalk bringing a henchman (Starwing, a 3/3 cleric/magic-user).
  Travelling north along the Old Mountain Road the party soon ran into something they had encountered before - animals acting oddly with a single eye glowing green or red. After three days of dodging these creatures and scouting the thief, Stardust, found something odd; two human guards speaking in bored tones as 5 other humans sat crouched over glowing stones, insensate. After a relatively quick skirmish three thinsg happened;
1) The lead guard was Charmed
2) The other guard was dead
3) The insensate people were bound
  The charmed guard talked, of course, revealing that there were two other groups hunting for the party and that the men with stones were controlling/diving through the animals as scouts. Because the party was a bit split up and there was combat with some animals and undead, they did not get back to the bound diviners for several game hours. By the time they did the diviners had been devoured by a pack of... somethings.The charmed guard was sent away. The guard did sketch a brief map and give the players a run down on the pack, leading to a 10 minute argument about going back for the hippogriffs.
  They pressed on.
  Two game days later they encountered the second party sent for them, a group of humans that were 'on loan' to the Redcaps. The battle lasted longer than I expected, mainly because of the '2e monk' that I made with Combat and Tactics and his magic items. In the end, though, the party prevailed. They finally reached sight of their destination, a walled town protecting the only river crossing for miles. While they knew from their interrogations that the majority of troops were gone, they realized that they still had to somehow deal with the left behind. The portion of the village on their side seemed largely empty but with hobgoblins, the far side with Verbeeg.
  The also realized the Pack's fortress, in the mountains beyond, was probably on a cloud island. Between that and the river there was a heated discussion with Mournglow about bringing the hippogriffs.
  After resting the night they left Starwing at camp with the horses and gear and set out. Darkwalk used a Rainbow spell to cross the river near a small waterfall (and its rainbow). With a combination of items and spells they then scaled the walls of the fortress on the far side of the river to eliminate a strongpoint behind them.
  While creeping along the outer walls towards the main fortress a roc flew by overhead with a giant riding it. They could hear the faint screams of a woman from the roc, too. Puzzled, they pressed on.
  They made it to the main fortress from the outer walls but drew the attention of a guard. Before too long the alarm was sounded and battle was engaged. Stardust just avoided an attack by a Marilith (!); she got away and Doomsman engaged her in melee, cutting her down in just 2 rounds (!!). After temporarily sealing the stairs behind them with a Wall of Fire (and leaving a set of Explosive Runes behind) they engaged about 25 Verbeeg, including a shaman, outside the door leading from the base of the tower. Between spells and combat they killed or injured all the Verbeeg there but were driven off by giant-sized heavy catapults from the main keep hurling 120 gallon barrels of flaming tar.
  Returning to the tower they decided to go all the way to the top. Once there they were engaged by the invisible Hill Giant member of the Pack who wielded a massive war club of stunning. In a scene far too familiar Doomsman cut him down in short order. While this was going on, though, the roc returned and dropped something. The party dove through the trapdoor and fled down the stairs as a massive barrel of vitriol burst, eating away at the top of the tower and damaging the stairs further down another floor.
  It was looking a bit grim, I thought. The main keep (400' tall) had the ability to hurl more flaming tar; the roof was effectively gone and with the stairs above gone they couldn't go up. The only other exit, on the ground floor, still had a large tar fire on the other side of it. I started moving in the Verbeeg and the roc rider circled lower.
  Being careful and taking minor damage Stardust used her Rope of Climbing to get the party to the level with access to the walls. Darkwalk then used a Fireblast to destroy the catapult from the keep that could fire at them and the party moved to the walls. The were engaged by 2 Verbeeg (including the one that first noticed them and raised the alarm) but Ember hurled a Lesser Fireblast which seemed to drop them. The party rushed onto the wall as the roc swooped in, the Fog Giant on its back preparing to hurl another barrel of vitriol. Darkwalk rolled a good initative, though, and hit the giant with a Flamestrike and the barrel failed its save (with a 1) shattering and coating the giant and the roc with vitriol. The roc and its rider flew away as the party scrambled down from the wall, commandeered a longboat and recrossed the river and fled toward their hidden camp.
  When they reached camp, though, it was destroyed; tents gone, horses missing or bitten in half, all their gear missing, and Starwing nowhere to be found. Looking at the massive claw marks they realized the roc had been there and that the screaming woman they had heard earlier was Starwing being carried to the fortress in the clouds.
  There was a moment of sheer terror when Mournglow and Darkwalk realized their spell books were missing. Then Ember told them he had stashed copies of their travelling books in his Portable Hole. There was also some anguish about Doomsman's warhorse, Spanky II, meeting such an ignominious end.
  The party is now on foot deep inside enemy territory (walking back to the closest safe place, their own stronghold, is at least 8 days assuming no encounters, they are travelling in the open, and the weather is perfect), they have 1 day of food and water on them (although water is plentiful nearby), their enemies know roughly where they must be, and a beloved hencman is captive of the enemy.

Spell I Wish I Could Cast in Real Life: Create Coffee

This week's Spell I Wish I Could Cast in Real Life is:
  Create Coffee
 Level-2                              Range- 5'
 Casting Time-1s                Components- V, S, M
 Area of Effect- see below  Duration-I hate Instant coffee

 When cast this spell fills the nearest crockery jug with up to 6 cups of piping hot coffee. If mugs are available and within range up to 6 will be filled with individual servings of coffee. No no existing containers are within range the spell will create up to six small, white cups of some flimsy material, each with a half serving of coffee. These cups are useless for anything but holding coffee created by this spell and crumble into white powder within minutes of the coffee being drunk or poured out.

The Magic Missile Mechanic and Spellcasting

  I love the spell Magic Missile for a lot of reasons – it is simple, it is elegant, it is subtly not just 'magic as technology' (because it can't hit things, only 'creatures', a rather Platonic difference), and it is absurdly under-respected past 3rd level or so. Another thing I love about the spell is the way it increases in power, to wit (and I paraphrase); 'the caster gets one missile at first level and another missile at each additional 2 levels; each missile does 1d4+1 damage'. I love the 'you get more damage every odd level' conceit because it seems so non-intuitive and keeps the spell balanced. I called it the Magic Missile Mechanic and used it for a handful of custom spells over the years, particularly for the Magic Missile variants used by one of my own characters.

  But then I realized that it wasn't just eccentric, it was potentially profound; I realized this when I thought,  

  “What if every damaging spell used the Magic Missile Mechanic?” 

   My first self-objection, 'what is the justification?', led to me concluding 'it is when a magic-user gains access to a new level of spell.' Wow! OK, that makes a lot of sense; when a spell caster gains access to a new level of spells all the spells he knows become more powerful/effective. 

   To try to keep things clear in this post I am going to use 'level' to refer to class level and spell level and 'rank' to mean 'the maximum possible spell level a particular magic-user can cast' so, for example, a 5th level magic-user would be 3rd rank because he can cast 3rd level spells. Got it? Good! 

  So let's tweak Magic Missile just a little bit so that it says this, 

   'the caster gets one missile per rank; each missile does 1d4+1 damage'. 

   OK, that is still largely the same; a 1st level mage gets 1, a 5th level mage gets 3, but an 11th level mage only gets 5 – the 6th only comes at 12th level, when they get access to 6th level spells. This is a very small difference that I think most people can live with. 

   Now, let's look at Fireball; we change it so that instead of saying, 

   'Fireball does 1d6 damage per level of the caster', 

   so that it instead says, 

   'Fireball does 2d6 damage per rank of the caster', 

   and suddenly a 5th level mage casts a 6 HD Fireball – after all, he's 3rd rank! 

  If we use this mechanic it means that for a lower level magic-user his damage leads (i.e., a 7th level mage casts an 8 HD Fireball, but still only does 8 HD at 8th level) while for higher level mages the damage trails (a 12th level magic-user does a 12 HD Lightning Bolt, but so does a 13th level mage). This is a minor advantage to low level spell casters and a minor disadvantage to higher level spell casters, a combination that I feel means 'still balanced'. 

   You can expand this to all sorts of spells – the degree of change with Enlarge, the weight capacity of Telekinesis, the size of Wall spells. Apply it to range and duration and you have made a very minor tweak to virtually every spell, adding a nice little bit of flavor to the game without really changing much of anything in the rules! 

   Although.... 

   It also has a few interesting implications, doesn't it? It sounds like damage spells (and maybe a few others, too) 'max out' at the 9th rank, meaning you get no more than 9 individual missiles with Magic Missile while Fireballs and Lightning Bolts never do more than 18 HD unless something odd is going on. [Suddenly Death Knights are even scarier!]. And what about that magic-user henchman with a 9 Intelligence? He maxes out at 4th level spells – does that limit him to 4th rank forever? Does that mean a magic-user with a maximum spell level of 5th (i.e., maximum of 5th rank) can never do more than 10 HD of Lightning Bolt, even if he makes it to 16th level? 

  Put this into a campaign and a few things happen. First and foremost, high stats become just as important to a mage as to a warrior. A fighter with a 12 Strength is fine, but the advantages of a 17 Strength are obvious. With the Magic Missile Mechanic in place suddenly the difference between a mage with a 12 Intelligence and another with a 17 is just as clear. While I have never bought into the 'linear warriors, quadratic wizards' belief in OD&D. AD&D, etc., if you struggle with this in your campaign the Magic Missile Mechanic can tamp it down a fair bit by limiting the power of the majority of your mages. 

   It will also impact magic items in your campaign – 12 HD Wands are suddenly an even Bigger Deal than before! You can add a class of magic items that add to the effective rank of the caster; some for just range, others for duration, a few for everything, etc. In the end you can really add a distinctiveness to your game without really changing much at all!

  What do you think?