Magic Item of the Week - back! The Headsman's Axe

   This is for AD&D 2e S&P.

  We love AD&D 2e in the house, and we LOVE the Player's Options books.
  In Combat and Tactics they introduced weapon styles and my Blackstone campaign includes several unique styles, including the beloved (by my darling wife Jennifer 'BLOOD! BLOOD AND SKULLS!' Stump) Headsman's Style which can be used with the great axe, bardiche, and greatsword.

  To use the Headman's Style you must already have two levels in the Two-Handed Weapons style and be at least specialized in great axe/bardiche/greatsword. The first level in Headsman's Style gives you an additional +1 damage and the second gives you a +3 (total) to damage

  Which leads us to the magic item the Headsman's Axe.

 This great axe is normally +2 to hit and damage. If you have both levels in the Two-Weapon Style it is +2 to hit and +3 to damage. If you have one level in Headsman's Style it is +3 to hit and +4 to damage. And if you have both levels in Headsman's Style it is +5 to hit and +7 to damage (not including style bonuses!).

  Other style-related magical weapons exist, of course

A Host of Swords

  I infrequently post about magic items unique to my games (see Magic Item under labels) but I rarely talk about swords, especially powerful ones.

  But I have them! Here are a few:

Seaward Weapons
A almost 40 year old AD&D 1e campaign

Mor Altach: Long sword of Wounding. +1 to hit (only). Intelligence of 12-14, Chaotic Good. Speaks a few languages. Can be used by barbarians. Doubles the chances of a barbarian that wields it to go berserk. Can emit light as a lantern (this can be varied or turned off). The following special powers are 'secret' and must be learned through use and experience.
  Once a person that wields it as their primary weapon has leveled up twice it acts as a Ring of Free Action. Once its wielder has used it to kill a Devil it is +4 to hit devils. Once its wielder has fallen 21' or more while holding it, it acts as a Ring of Feather Fall. Once a person that wields it as a primary weapon has leveled up 6 levels it becomes +4 to hit and damage (if the Devil ability is activated, it is a total of +7 to hit vs devils). Once its wielder has failed a Petrification save while holding it, it grants a +4 on all saves vs Petrification.

Rupert's Blade: +3 broad sword. Wielder can boost their strength to 18/00 once a day - this lasts 5 rounds. Wielder also has a +2 save vs poison while holding it. Anyone wielding Rupert's Blade can instantly recognize an undead on viewing by type and kind (i.e., a master vampire, a frost zombie, etc.) and are immune to characteristic loss, level drain, etc. from any undead they can see.

Lawbringer: +4 longsword. LG, Int 13, can communicate with emotions and vague imagery.  The wielder can Detect Evil as a paladin. It is a holy weapon: in the hands of a paladin it is +6 and doubles the range of the paladin's Detect Evil ability and grants all powers of a holy sword as listed in the PHB. Lawbringer cannot be Cancelled, Disjoined, or otherwise disenchanted unless the being doing so is a Lawful Good cleric of 18th or higher level.

Thresher: Two-handed sword. +3 to hit, +6 to damage. It doubles the number of attacks versus low hit dice creatures to a maximum of 30 attacks/round.

Drachenbane: +3 two-handed sword. It does double damage to all drakes, dragons, and such creatures and versus chromatic dragons it does increased die as well (i.e., versus a dragon turtle it would do 6d6, but against a red dragon it would do 6d8).

Blackstone Weapons
From my 12+ year old 2e campaign.

The Seven- seven two handers of unmatched power. The ones seen by players-

Gatekeeper: +4, +5 versus extra-planar/summoned creatures. Once a month it can automatically permanently seal any Gate by touch. Wielder has a +1 on all saves, +2 versus Summoned or extra-planar creatures.

The Paradigm: +7. It's pluses do not get reduced by planar travel, etc.

Staredge: +4 to hit only. On a natural 18 or 19 to hit it does double damage. On a natural 20 it does double damage and will sever an extremity as a Sword of Sharpness.

Swords that are not of the Seven.

Death's Sting: +7 long sword, does double damage. (Destroyed).

Magekiller: +3, +5 versus arcane spellcasters or creatures with spell-like powers that mimic arcane spells. Grants anyone holding or carrying it a +2 on all saves versus spells or magic items and reduces damage from all magical attacks by -1 h.p. per die (minimum of 1). When in-hand it gives it wielder a 50% Magic Resistance. While intelligent and strong-willed, it rarely communicates. It can Detect Magic within 10' (automatic), Detect Arcane Spellcasters (and if they are good, neutral, or evil) within 60' (automatic), and can Dispel Magic at 18th level once a day. It will pass along what it senses to its wielder telepathically.
  Magekiller was forged to slay evil arcane spellcasters. It grants an additional +2 to save/-1 h.p. per die against spells cast by arcane spellcasters.
Once per week Magekiller can act as a Rod of Cancellation; the sword will decide when this power is used.

Magic Item of the Week: Hammer of the Thunderbolt's Wrath

For Rolemaster FRP or RMSS

Hammer of the Thunderbolt's Wrath: +20 war hammer with thrown ranges of 1'-60' (-20) 61'-75' (-40) and 76'-100' (-60). When thrown it returns to its user from up to 300' away. In melee it uses the war hammer table but when thrown it uses the war mattock table for damage. Against all giants it does slaying criticals. When thrown it emits the sound of a thunderclap and does an unbalance critical of the same severity as any other critical done (30^th level weapon).

These hammers are heavy and require great stamina to use;the user must be at least 6' 0” tall (a creature shorter than this has a -15 OB and cannot throw it), weigh at least 195 lbs (a creature lighter than this has a -20 OB penalty and cannot throw it), and have a total Strength bonus of +10 or more (natural or with magical aid) (-5 OB penalty per point of St bonus under 10 and cannot throw it). All penalties are cumulative, so a 5'10”, 170 lbs creature with an St bonus of 0 would be unable to throw it and suffer a total -85 OB. In melee using a Hammer of the Thunderbolt's Wrath is twice as tiring as normal (1 exhaustion point per round) and throwing it requires prodigious stamina (5 exhaustion points per throw).

Magic Item of the Week: The Blanket of Mercy

From the Wife!
  This item is one popular with religious brothers and clerics, but can be found among people with the proper spells and skills.

Magic Item of the Week: Kojo's Diary

Originally developed by Kojo Dreamwood, henchman to Lehru the Many, the Diary has been copied by others over the years.

The name is also a bit of a misnomer; the Diary is actually a small ivory strip with a piece of vellum attached obviously designed to be used as a bookmark. If a person writes their own name (including mage names, call names, etc. - it doesn't have to be a true name) and then places the bookmark into a blank book (codex) the book will become their Diary.

The Diary will record the major events of the person's day with a date stamp. A sample entry might appear akin to this;

'Threeday, first week of Blossoms, in the Briars. Woke at dawn and travelled South along the Old Road until lunch at Noon. Encountered a brush cat at about the 3rd hour after Noon. There was smoke from Skull Mountain at sunset."

  The Diary does not know what the person being recorded does not; for example, the diary will not record directions for someone who is lost or time of day for someone underground who has lost track of the time. In those cases, the best guess of the diarist will be used ('late Blossoms', 'about one league',  'about the third day underground', etc.). The diary will record time of waking, sleeping, naps, meals, journeys, encounters, battles, and other such things as an average person would consider 'memorable' at the end of the day.

  At any time the diarist can say 'dear diary' and what he speaks will be written, verbatim, in the Diary until he says 'your truly' or ceases speaking for a full round. If the diarist remains still and focuses on an image or vista for a full turn a black and white sketch of the image will be recorded on a page of the diary. If the diarist focuses for an entire hour it will be in color. This image will be of the quality of a skilled woodcut, etching, or limner, but is not a modern photograph.

The only limitation on the Diary is the number of blank pages in the codex. The bookmark will magically move through the book as pages are used until it reaches the end. It can then be placed into a new blank book.

The Diary will only record as long as it is on the same plane as the diarist, but otherwise distance is no factor. Other people may move the bookmark to new, blank, books as needed.

Magic Item of the Week: The Hoary Head of Hogarth

Found in the treasure hoard of a Jann alchemist, this creepy item has been seen in the town of Oldbridge. According to rumor Hogarth was an evil man who repented late in life and answering questions after death is part of the expiation of his sins.

 Appearance: The head of a bog mummy. A human head with the skin tanned from long immersion in bog water. The eyes are closed and the neck still has the strangling cord knotted around it. The dark brown skin is smooth and the eyes are closed. The hair is still intact and dyed a dark auburn from the tannins in the water. Because of the process of preservation it weighs only a few pounds. When its powers activate the eyelids open, revealing bright blue eyes that move about as if the head were dreaming. The mouth moves and the head gives the answers in a whisper. The Head will always speak the language of the person holding it.
 Powers: Only magic-users can use the Head’s powers. All powers are at 12th level of ability.
 Augury once per day
 Comprehend Languages once per week
 Identify once a month (a 100 g.p. pearl must be placed in the Head’s mouth. The pearl is destroyed) 
Speak with Dead once per month
Legend Lore once per year

 When first found the Head can whisper one spell to its new owner (level and particular spell randomly determined as if a scroll, but of a level the owner can cast). The mage can automatically learn this spell, even if it would normally exceed the maximum spells knowable by level. If in the possession of a magic-user who gains a level the Head will whisper a spell of the highest level the mage can cast. The magic-user has a +15% chance to learn these spells.

Play Report/DM Report, Blackstone Record Keeping and the Domain Game

  Twenty months ago the party ended a 7 real-world year arc in the Blackstone campaign. The adventures were Big Deals and the loot was spectacular.
  In the approaching-two-years since we have played a lot of sessions, but the party never sat down to even divide the loot from this adventure! In the intervening time castles had been designed, built, paid for, etc. and a lot of Domain level diplomacy had occurred, but little nuts and bolts.
  I spent a little time doing a game-year worth of encounters and issued an update of what was going in in Blackdell, Doomsman's domain. Then we decided to sit down and settle some things.

Magic Item of the Week: Puissance Weapons

  These were technically invented by my kid sister in 1979 when she was 9 years old.

  Puissance weapons look like a well-made mundane weapon. They are always melee weapons and if they are capable of being thrown their magical effects do not including throwing.

  A Puissance weapon grants the person wielding it proficiency in that weapon. A cleric may use a lance, a mage a scimitar, etc. Note that characters forbidden to use certain weapons for religious reasons may still refuse to use puissance weapons! 

  There are limitations because the sword is 'pre-programmed' so benefits you get from already knowing the weapon do not apply.: a monk using a puissance weapon does not get his extra damage; a fighter with weapons specialization or higher using a puissance weapon will not get bonuses to hit and damage; etc. 

  The most common weapons are swords but virtually any melee weapon may be a puissance weapon.

Magic Item of the Week: The Shadow Bow

  The party just got one of these in the loot from the second level of Skull Mountain.
  Shadow bows come in ally types of self bow and are always enchanted at least +1 Their unique power is that any arrow fired from the bow is Invisible until it strikes its target. Because the arrows are unseen in flight defenders have and Dexterity-based improvement to armor class reduced by 2 points and monks have a -4 to deflect the missiles.

Magic Item of the Week - Bag of Encumbrance

  My oldest son, who is 19, has been running a game of AD&D 1e for a few months, now. All of his players are first-timers who never played before they sat down with him. One of them, Daniel, was having encumbrance explained to him when he said,

"Oh, I get it. Man, I wish I could just... throw encumbrance on an enemy!"

  I love the perspective new players have!
  This led my oldest and I to joke around until we came up with - the Bag of Encumbrance.
  The bag appears to be an unremarkable jute bag full of a strange red-brown dust, about the consistency of fine wheat flour. No matter how much dust is inside the enchanted bag always weighs/encumbers as 5 lbs.
  Once per round the owner can reach into the bag, pull out a handful of the dust, and hurl it at a foe. The dust 'hold together' almost like a snowball until it strikes a solid object and has ranges of 2"/4"/6".Since the dust is not stopped by armor only dexterity and magical bonuses affect armor class.
  Example: Jerczy was doing well, but the enemies were too many. Inghemar reached into her Bag of Encumbrance and tossed the dust at the half-ogre. The half-ogre was in +3 plate mail, normally A.C 0 but only the bonuses mattered - she rolled against A.C. 7.

  Any creature struck by the Dust gains a "level" of encumbrance that reduces their movement rate 1/4th of their unencumbered maximum. A human with a base movement of 12" now has a max base of 9"; if they were already in plate mail and carrying a lot of gear so that they were at a maximum of 4" their new movement would be 1". Creatures with magical movement (such as Boots of Speed) use their magical top speed as their base movement.
  At two "levels" the target cannot fly (naturally, by spell, or by item), swim or effectively jump more than half a foot vertically. When movement is reduced to 0" or at 4 "levels" the creature collapses, immobilized by the magical weight. The magical encumbrance can cause no direct harm, although a target may drown, be killed while pinned, etc.
  Target can drop equipment, remove armor, etc. to reduce natural encumbrance. Even at a movement rate of 0" this can be done at half the usual speed. Regardless of actual encumbrance a creature affected by 4 or more "levels" of magical encumbrance will remain immobilized.

  The Dust will slowly sift off of a target and each 'dose' ceases to affect its target after 2 turns. Wind and water have no ability to remove the Dust but a cup of vinegar will rinse off a dose of the Dust in just 1 segment (up to a quart may be applied as a single action, if desired)

  When the Dust is removed from the bag its magical properties briefly affect the wielder as the Dust is hurled, making its use exhausting. The Dust can only be hurled every other round and if hurled in 4 of any 12 rounds the user must rest for a turn before running or fighting.

 When a Bag is found it has 1d6+4 uses of Dust inside. If the Dust is placed into any container but the appropriately enchanted Bag that container immediately has the full amount of encumbrance of the dust inside. Also, once removed from the Bag the Dust loses its potency after just 3 days.

  Legend states that the Dust is made from a rare ant found only on the Plane of Earth.

Magic Item of the Week - Bag of Encumbrance

  My oldest son, who is 19, has been running a game of AD&D 1e for a few months, now. All of his players are first-timers who never played before they sat down with him. One of them, Daniel, was having encumbrance explained to him when he said,

"Oh, I get it. Man, I wish I could just... throw encumbrance on an enemy!"

  I love the perspective new players have!
  This led my oldest and I to joke around until we came up with - the Bag of Encumbrance.
  The bag appears to be an unremarkable jute bag full of a strange red-brown dust, about the consistency of fine wheat flour. No matter how much dust is inside the enchanted bag always weighs/encumbers as 5 lbs.
  Once per round the owner can reach into the bag, pull out a handful of the dust, and hurl it at a foe. The dust 'hold together' almost like a snowball until it strikes a solid object and has ranges of 2"/4"/6".Since the dust is not stopped by armor only dexterity and magical bonuses affect armor class.
  Example: Jerczy was doing well, but the enemies were too many. Inghemar reached into her Bag of Encumbrance and tossed the dust at the half-ogre. The half-ogre was in +3 plate mail, normally A.C 0 but only the bonuses mattered - she rolled against A.C. 7.

  Any creature struck by the Dust gains a "level" of encumbrance that reduces their movement rate 1/4th of their unencumbered maximum. A human with a base movement of 12" now has a max base of 9"; if they were already in plate mail and carrying a lot of gear so that they were at a maximum of 4" their new movement would be 1". Creatures with magical movement (such as Boots of Speed) use their magical top speed as their base movement.
  At two "levels" the target cannot fly (naturally, by spell, or by item), swim or effectively jump more than half a foot vertically. When movement is reduced to 0" or at 4 "levels" the creature collapses, immobilized by the magical weight. The magical encumbrance can cause no direct harm, although a target may drown, be killed while pinned, etc.
  Target can drop equipment, remove armor, etc. to reduce natural encumbrance. Even at a movement rate of 0" this can be done at half the usual speed. Regardless of actual encumbrance a creature affected by 4 or more "levels" of magical encumbrance will remain immobilized.

  The Dust will slowly sift off of a target and each 'dose' ceases to affect its target after 2 turns. Wind and water have no ability to remove the Dust but a cup of vinegar will rinse off a dose of the Dust in just 1 segment (up to a quart may be applied as a single action, if desired)

  When the Dust is removed from the bag its magical properties briefly affect the wielder as the Dust is hurled, making its use exhausting. The Dust can only be hurled every other round and if hurled in 4 of any 12 rounds the user must rest for a turn before running or fighting.

 When a Bag is found it has 126+4 uses of Dust inside. If the Dust is placed into any container but the appropriately enchanted Bag that container immediately has the full amount of encumbrance of the dust inside. Also, once removed from the Bag the Dust loses its potency after just 3 days.

  Legend states that the Dust is made from a rare ant found only on the Plane of Earth.

Magic Item of the Week: Manbreaker

  A few centuries back the evil mage Lohr ruled a vast region beyond the borders of civilization. He forged alliances with a cunning combination of diplomacy, terror, magic, and bribery. One of his coups was winning the aid of a powerful tribe of hill giants. Lohr gave a gift to their chieftain, the mighty war club Manbreaker.The chieftain led his tribe to many victories over his foes, and Lohr's, with this club. It has since become an item of great value to hill giants and it is still used by a chieftain to this day.

Magic Item of the Week: Alarc's Sword

  Found in the catacombs beneath the Castle of Nightmares by the half-orc warrior-priest Alarc, this sword is of unknown origin. Bards have no record of t prior to his discovery and divinations reveal only that it is very, very old.
  After Alarc's death the sword was stolen by persons unknown and has been sighted from time to time in the years since.

Magic Item of the Week - the Gauntlet of Quartz Lenses

[From a humorous picture in my G+ feed]
Manufactured by a powerful mage to assist his cleric brother in fighting ghosts, the Gauntlet is decidedly not like those of a warrior.
  Very rare, these items can only help magic-users. When worn they do not interfere with spell casting.
  If worn when casting any spell the caster can decide to extend the spell's effects into the Ethereal Plane so that it affects both the local Prime Material Plane and the equivalent area of the Border Ethereal/Ethereal Plane.
  Each time this is done the caster temporarily loses 1 point of Constitution. Any Constitution loss from this item is recovered at a rate of one point per full day of rest. If the caster is down 3 or more points of Constitution at any given time they do not heal through natural means until the recover to full Constitution (magical healing still works). If their Constitution reaches 0 they pass out until they recover to a Constitution of 1.

 

Magic Item of the Week: Staff of Sundering

  This item can be simple or elaborate, but remains a staff. It can have up to 25 charges and acts as a magical weapon, +1 to hit, +3 to damage. If the proper command words are known it can perform the following, all at 12th level:
  Knock (1 charge)
  Passwall (2 charges)
  Phase Door (3 charges
  Sundering* (3 charges)

  *Sundering is a variation of Disintegration that will automatically shatter any Force Wall or similar effect - Sundering has a range of 30'.

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.

 

Magic Item of the Week: Joh's Crystal

  The hedge mage Joh spent a decade as a henchman to the wizard Orion as the latter rose to be one of the most prominent mages in the world. Joh learned a great deal about magic and became very, very rich. He eventually settled near his friend and mentor in the City of A Thousand Isles and began developing his own spells and items.

  One minor item of his invention is very popular and others have duplicated its creation. While far from common, they can be found scattered throughout the world.

  Called Joh's Crystals, these items always appear to be a piece of polished quartz about 1/2" in diameter.  Each crystal has three command words.

  The first command word causes the crystal to float in the air near the head of the person who spoke the word and to emit red light. This light does not interfere with infravision or ultravision but is bright enough to allow the user to see clearly to about 4' and faintly another 2', allowing them to negotiate stairs, avoid open pits, etc. It does not work within any form of magical darkness.

  The ruddy light is very dim and is only about as visible as a single ember from a fire. It is not bright enough to allow reading, lockpicking, or searching for traps.

  

  The second command word causes the crystal to emit a white light. If the crystal is floating when the command word is uttered it settle's into the hand of the speaker in 1 segment and can then be placed anywhere.

  The white light is bright enough to allow reading of even tiny print within 1', reading of normal print within 2', and lock picking, trap finding, etc. out to 5'. It also allows dim vision out to about 10'. Within magical darkness the crystal allows dim vision out to 1'

  This light makes the crystal roughly twice as visible as a normal candle. The light is bright enough to disrupt infravision and ultravision.

  The third command extinguishes the crystal. I floating when the command is given the crystal takes 1 segment to sink into the speaker's palm.

  When floating the crystal has an A.C. of 0 and if struck it is knocked to the ground and immediately extinguished. It saves as any other worn magic item.

  The crystal can only emit light (of either sort) for a total of 12 hours  in every 24.

Magic Item of the Week: Dagger of the Infiltrator

From my oldest son.
The Dagger of the Infiltrator is a +3 weapon of nondescript appearance.  When it is on your person it allows any Change Self, Alter Self or similar disguise illusion (from a spell or item) to perfectly imitate the look and voice of the last person killed by the dagger. Note that the dagger does not grant you the ability to generate an illusion.

  Graeme slipped over the wall without even a whisper of sound then crouched in the shadows  near the gatehouse. As the Lieutenant of the guards stepped around the corner to begin his rounds the master assassin killed him with his Dagger of Infiltration. 
  After hiding the body in a nearby granary Graeme used his Ring of Spell Storing to cloak himself with Change Self. Now a perfect likeness of the lieutenant he headed toward the keep and the Duke's quarters.

Magic Item of the Week: Amulet of the Confused Mind

From my 12 year old son, another of his creations-

  This item appears as a small but incredibly valuable amulet, usually of platinum, mithril, or other very valuable metal with one flawless rare gem of great worth, that has strange engravings on it.
  When worn, it gives the effect of a Mind Blank spell at all times and the wearer always gets a saving throw against illusions (even if the character has no reason to believe the illusion is not real).   Furthermore If the creature wearing it is psionic, then all psionic strength points are increased 50%.

  However, this blessing comes with a curse: every dayat dawn the wearer must make saving throw vs. poison at a +2 or roll on the random insanity chart. If insanity is indicated, roll a d20; on 1-19 that is the number of days the character remains insane. If the result is a 20, roll again; a 1-19 on this second roll is how long the insanity lasts, but if the second roll is also a 20 the insanity is permanent.

  The character does not need to roll for insanity if he is currently insane.

DM's Report: Midsummer at Skull Mountain

System: AD&D 1e with the Far Realms supplement.
Campaign: Seaward, which has been ongoing since 1978

  After what the party learned last time when clearing out the entrance to Skull Mountain (the third time that needed doing!) they returned to Oldbridge, leveled up, re-equipped, gathered henchmen, and headed back for Midsummer. Sa. was mildly upset his druid was out (because Midsummer) and the party spent a lot of time talking, since they had three objectives;

    1) Explore the third secret door they discovered last time, which they never even opened.
    2) Use the magical binoculars mounted on the peak to try to look at the surface of the third moon.
    3) Deal with the evil female in a robe that had been controlling the previous inhabitants.

  The party assembled was;

    Je. played- Brigid, a 3rd level human barbarian (custom class)
        and Brigid's henchman, Byron, a 1st level cleric

    Ja. played- Seeker, an elf 3rd/4th magic-user/thief
        and Seeker's henchman, Kaspar, a 2nd level scout (custom class)

    Al. played- Starfalcon, a half-elf 3rd level ranger

    Sa. played- "Clint", a human 3rd level paladin
        and his various henchmen, starting with Akio, a human 1st level monk
        as well as Arthur, his 2nd level human man-at-arms (custom NPC-only class)
        also Willem, a 3rd human level hedge mage (a custom NPC-only class)

    Ni. played Owen, a human 3rd level magic-user
        and Owen's henchman, Octavius, a 1st level half-ogre fighter
        plus Owen's brownie familiar, Mortimer

    The party also had their hirelings with them: Alon (merchant), Jerb (porter), and Merle (medium footman).
  That is a total of 11 with character sheets! So they set out with 14 horses and 3 pack mules up the Old Road toward Skull Mountain.

  The party staged out of the walled town of Esber, the town closest to the Briars. While Esber is still prepared for battle the party's report of clearing kobolds and such from the mountain has eased fears greatly. They also received a 10 gp bounty each for returning the Count's horses and reporting the fate of his patrol.

  It is literally the height of Summer, so the weather was very hot, something made worse in the Briars. Since the daytime temp was usually over 100 degrees the party traveled without armor and made frequent stops, adding to the travel time. The party encountered a ragged, gaunt man along the road. Although they were fairly sure he was a fugitive from justice their time limit led them to give him some rations and warn him to mend his ways. While gathering wood Kaspar encountered a brush cat, which he killed with some well-placed arrows.

  When they finally reached the plateau outside the entrance to Skull Mountain they discovered the bodies of a few of the kobolds killed on the last adventure, but now gnawed upon and then well-rotted. Starfalcon identified the tracks of 4 trolls, one of whom was 'very large'.

  The party reached the entrance cave, finding the main doors still sealed. Seeker scouted what they call the North Door; the door was open and the entrance room had rotting corpses of kobolds thrown into the corners. With the party at the entrance he went into the attached storeroom to find - a troll, sleeping in its new nest.

  Very quickly the party formed into 2 group - the main group at the North Door watching the other 2 entrances to the entrance room as Starfalcon, Brigid, Seeker, and Kaspar ambushed the sleeping troll.
  The attack went well, but there is only so well you can do against a troll. The troll was up and fighting quickly. At the same time in the entrance area Akio sensed a troll coming down the east hall and Octavius saw a troll charging, full speed, down the north hall.
  Clint, Arthur, and Akio covered the east while Octavius set spear for charge to the north and the 'flying squad' continued fighting to the west. Seeker and Kaspar did well with arrows while Brigid dealt wounding attacks and Starfalcon took advantage of the ranger bonus damage very, very well. The troll from the east engaged Clint and Arthur, a little damage flying around. Octavius did great damage with his spear - and the troll pushed down the spear and hurt Octavius badly!
  Byron rushed in and healed Octavius while Akio moved to back him up; Clint and Arthur stayed engaged; Seeker and Kaspar fell back into the entrance room while Brigid and Starfalcon held the door. During the next round Brigid and Starfalcon dropped the troll to the west, Seeker and Kaspar shifted fire to the north and east, respectively, and combat continued.
  But! Brigid and Starfalcon caught a glimpse of a very large troll coming into the room to the west!
  The party began to retreat to the south door, under pressure. Owen dropped a Stinking Cloud just inside the west door, catching the big troll. Clint, Starfalcon, and Brigid formed a line in front of the south door against the two trolls while Byron healed Octavius further.  Over two rounds they dropped the two trolls and, looking at how much magic was used (Owen's Magic Missiles were also gone and Byron was critically low on cures and all the fighters were wounded) they decided to retreat while the troll was blocked by the Stink.
  Unfortunately, the troll burst out of the cave in full pursuit while they were only halfway across the plateau.
  And, on spotting him, Brigid went berserk and charged right back.
  Luckily, Clint has Boots of Striding and Springing  so he was able to reach the big troll alongside Brigid. The two of them did a lot of damage in the first round! But, they also took plenty in return. In the second round Akio arrived, attacking from behind while Clint and Brigid kept doing well and the troll missed all but a love-tap on Brigid. In the third round Brigid and Clint both hit again, Starfalcon arrived and engaged Ranger Powers, and Octavius finally made it - and rolled maximum damage, cleaving the troll from shoulder to hip!
  Before an hour was up the trolls were gathered and burnt, the guard area was swept and found empty, and the troll nest looted. An hour after that the party was setting up a hidden camp on the eastern slope of the mountain, resting.
  In the morning Clint and Byron healed everyone up and the party went back into the guard complex. The found that the one secret door which they knew of but hadn't opened was trapped and decided to leave it alone. Seeker finally realized an earlier hope and had Octavius rip the lower grate from the kitchen chimney, then clambered up the long, long shaft.
  Along the way he found the grate from another fireplace (about 70' higher up); he could just see the corner of a Tonildan rug and the foot of a chair or table, both covered in dust in a room lit, somehow. At about 90' he found a side shaft that smelled of old smelter smoke and fumes angling off southeast and down. And at 120 feet he came to the upper grate, where he found, on the far side, the Wizard Mark of a member of a Mage House known for mage/thieves and evidence they had been stopped by the grate long, long ago.
  In the rest of the complex they found a very old cell behind double iron grates - inside were skeletons still with their hands wrapped around each other's throats.
  They left this area alone, too.
  Last, they went to the Wizard Locked door and had Octavius try it.
  A half-ogre with an 18(00) strength: he rolled a 1. The door opened.
  Beyond was the far side of the bronze doors from the main cave, sealed up and held by an adamantine bar sunk into the living rock on either side. And in the other direction was a 20' wide, 36' high corridor stretching deep into the mountain. The corridor walls were carved with bas reliefs of cultists walking into the mountain accompanied by various devils.
  The party followed the corridor for 1/10th of a mile before coming to a pair of evil shrines, one to ice (to the North) and one to fire (to the South), both behind pillars. The ice altar emitted cold, the fire altar emitted heat, and both were stained with old blood.
  The followed the corridor further until it opened into a massive space 150' across, 200' wide, and 180' high. The north section had bas reliefs showing a devilish sea full of spiked seaweed, sahuagin, and sharks. The south section was carved to resemble a vast volcanic plane covered in fire with orcs and devils. In the middle of the north wall was a 20' wide, 10' long raised pool of water; the middle of the south was was a 20', 10' high fireplace.
  The entire area was lit from above with a eerie, ruddy light, like the reflection of a forest fire from low clouds. The party continued down the middle of the space, between two rows of mighty columns, and kept going down the main corridor.
  After about another 150' they finally reached the end - another set of huge bronze doors. But these are braced from this side with mighty timbers, each the size of a tree trunk, and huge iron stakes hammered into the solid rock floor. The timbers have obviously been enchanted to resist age and, according to Clint and Byron, enchanted to cause evil beings discomfort and unease.

  The party, focused on their goal of stopping the female cult leader, hurried back to camp to prepare for the next day, which was the day before Midsummer Night!

  The next day the party sent Seeker and Kaspar to the peak to observe the Old Road with the magical binoculars while Brigid, Octavius, and Starfalcon concealed themselves in the entrance cavern. Akio and Byron remained near the stables/North Door area with Clint. Willem and Arthur remained at the camp with the hirelings as a reserve.
  About 5 in the afternoon Seeker saw dust from the road a,d the two rushed to the Room of the Eye; by 5:30 they observed a robed woman enter the plateau follow by two huge humanoids, 7'-8' tall and also robed. Both big figures were pulling a gaol cart, both holding 4 human prisoners.

  The figures left the gaol carts in the center of the plateau, by the massive bonfire pit, and approached the cavern. The party prepared for trouble as the three walked in.
  At that point Kaspar opened fire; the three were surprised for a segment, meaning that Kaspar (as a scout) got a +4 to all bow attacks for the round. He feathered the brisket of the northern-most giant twice and general combat began.
  The medium figure threw back the hood of her robes, revealing her to be Arlissa, an evil mage the party had encountered years before and a known devil worshiper. As the party watched a door opened on the side of her capuchon, then closed and the door vanished. This prompted Owen, who knew that she had an Imp familiar, to hit the area with Sleep spell, in hopes of catching it (the spell failed).
  At the same time the party's 'trick' appeared - Clint, on horseback with lance, rode out from behind a large stalagmite and charged! He struck the southernmost figure (they were both revealed as more trolls) and continued on so as to wheel and return.
  Melee began with Starfalcon once again showing why anyone facing trolls needs a ranger friend and Brigid not berserking, but doing great damage. Seeker came in invisibly and back-stabbed a troll at a key moment, dropping it, and Clint's return pass put down the other just as an arrow pierced Arlissa and she fell over-
  and vanished in a puff of sulfuric smoke as her familiar Dimension Doored both of them away.

  Clint immediately spurred onto the plateau and spotted both of them out toward the gaol carts, Arlissa already regenerating to consciousness. Akio used his tremendous speed to follow as Clint rode down Arlissa and hit her full on with his lance square in the chest, breaking his lance and ending her life.
  The cackling imp seized her soul and vanished back to Hell.

  The party freed the prisoners, who were mainly villagers but did accept a healer (custom hireling) into service. Another prisoner was a nobleman; the last survivor of the Count's patrol who was slated to die at midnight.
  All were hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and sore for days to weeks of beatings. The party settled them in their camp with the various henchmen and hirelings and returned to the complex, making their way to the peak.

  As Midnight approached Seeker watched as Selene, the smallest moon, moved into view. The magical device revealed - a village on the surface of the moon, built as a circle around a central area. In that are was a stone shelf around a great pool. In the pool rested what appeared to be sailing vessels, but there were vast constructions of wood, metal, and crystal on the rock shelf in the shape of dragonflies and a swan.
  The party all looked and soon observed one of the dragonflies lift off and fly away!
  Turning the device toward the city of High Morath they observed that's nations Midsummer Festival, which involves the Pyrotechnics spell.
  Turning it toward Timber Lake they observed a dragonfly ship landing in the lake and being met by elven boats! Starfalcon explained that each year at Midsummer the royal family of the elven Kingdom of Tirgalen goes into the lake with just their personal guards for a 'special ceremony' that all others are forbidden to observe.
  They then looked towards the Demon's Eye, the lip of the volcano on Black Island, out at sea. They watched a massive humanoid figure, at least 30' tall, climb to the rim, look out towards the mainland, and then climb back down into the glowing mouth of the volcano.
  Last, they turned their gaze back to Selene as it slipped out of the focus of the device. seeing another sailing vessel fly toward the moon village.
  The party realized that the sailing vessels would fit into the dry dock on the peak of Skull Mountain.

  The party made an OK haul of cash and a good haul of magic items, including a golden llama, a familiar's hat, and  a flametongue, among other things.

  Before they left they took an intact door from another section of the Guard Area, used it to replace the door shattered by Octavius, then had Mortimer bar it from the far side and before using Dimension Door to come back, sealing off the long corridor from intruders.

  The party returned to Esber without serious incident!