Lost Colonies Sessions 16-18

As you might have noticed, I have not posted anything about my Lost Colonies campaign in a while. This is in part due to my own crazy schedule of late, my own laziness and due to the fact that the party has spent the better part of three sessions inside the "funhouse" dungeon I designed awhile back. After successfully placing the "red dragon" in a bag of holding, and taking care of several backlogged projects (including getting a prothetic arm made for Grak), the party rounded up an expedition of several henchmen, camels, carts and enough food and water for a deep desert exploration in search of the Eye of St. Gabriel. After successfully finding the place — three giant lion heads peaking out of the sand with mouths agape (a la Disney's Aladdin) —the party decided to go through the door in the center mouth, behind which death and mayhem awaited.

I have been very reluctant to try and give a good account of what three sessions inside a funhouse dungeon look like. Suffice it say that the party ran into and triggered quite a number of traps, encountered countless constructs and undead, got separated and lost most of their NPCs. As a Referee, I really enjoyed running the thing and it seriously challenged my players. Having run enough of these over the years, I recognize mental exhaustion when I see it. So, in place of three long-overdue posts, I'll give you some of the highlights from the last three sessions:

• Feeding the dragon. Part of the equipment bought by the party was several sheep and goats, specifically for the purpose of giving their "pet" dragon live prey. They very carefully open the bag (an earlier attempt resulted in the near death of an NPC) and the dragon has enough room to reach out a grab a bite to eat. They carefully worked out a pattern so that everybody (including the dragon) knows what to expect.
• Maze Madness. The characters very quickly found themselves caught inside the Minotaur Maze. One of the rooms has a arena with a pair of mechanical gladiators. Once two characters entered the room, a mechanical king and queen split the party into teams to fight along side one of these gladiators. Characters could not damage the gladiator on their own side, nor the king and queen. Once one side had won, the room would reset after the party left the room and would start all over again once two party members re-entered the room. This became hysterically funny when this aspect of the room was first discovered. Hamlen was trying to recover from having stepped in some green slime. He managed to climb up to a bridge crossing a pool of the stuff after losing one of his spiked boots, which got slimed. As the rest of the party was trying to figure out how to join him up on the bridge without likewise getting slimed, a Coffer Corpse attacked Hamlen. He clubbed it for over 6 points of damage, it "died" and he kicked it off the bridge. One round later, it revived. All but the dwarf and one NPC (neither of which had magical weapons to damage the Coffer Corpse) failed their saving throws and ran in fear — back into the arena where chaos ensued.
• The Climactic Battle. After making their way through the Minotaur Maze, the party confronted what they believe was Xerxes. They weren't entirely certain, because he was wearing the Mask stolen from the Church in Headwaters. This minor detail, however, didn't stop the party from fighting the kind of desperate fight that happens when you run into an arch-nemesis. I love to run these kinds of battles. The energy level on the table is infectious and the ingenuity and creativity of players trying to survive an onslaught of spells and special abilities is always a wonderful thing to see. When Xerxes had survived just about everything the party could throw at him, someone remembered that they had a dragon in a bag. Everybody retreated except for Hamlen, who opened the bag in the general direction of Xerxes. Although extremely happy to have survived, the party soon discovered the downside of this particular strategy. All those magic items Xerxes was using are now in the bag with a very angry dragon who regenerates.
• Choices, choices. The party set off a trap that allowed a rather large amount of acid to seep into various parts of the dungeon. In process of running away from this very real threat they found a room with a puzzle that promised riches or death. They knew that by the time they figured out the puzzle, the acid would block their way out. This didn't stop them from seriously considering staying and going for those riches anyway.
• It is always a good night when players lift up their hands in triumph because they got out of a dungeon alive.

Some observations:

• The 3.5 veterans had a hard time with this adventure. They knew in their bones how dangerous it was and it scared them (a quote I heard several times during the adventure: "We are never going underground again!") They also had a difficult time justifying why a funhouse dungeon would exist. ("Why would anybody build something like this?") Whereas some of the younger guys or the guys that are new to the hobby loved it.
• The Minotaur Maze was far more difficult than even I imaged it would be. The players had to keep track of rations, because starvation became a very real possibility.
• No identify spell means cursed items actually have a chance to get used.
• It is funny how a pattern of random rolls can create a narrative that becomes true even though it was never intended to be true. The party own a magic bow that gives no bonus to hit or damage, but does allow the user to shoot twice per round. Several characters have tried to use it, but when they hit, the damage die always seems to come up 1 or 2. Thus, the characters are convinced it is cursed — and a new magic item is born.

Up next: Hamlen wants to bring a carnival to Headwaters to throw a party.

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 7

Dispel

This is the first time that I have been compelled to look at later editions. Although there have been some surprising mechanics (such as CLW taking one full turn to take effect) nothing so far has been either confusing or ambiguous. Until now, that is. Both Dispel Magic and Dispel Evil have a duration of 1 turn. I find this difficult to interpret. Is this a spell that lasts for 1 turn until one object/spell/creature is dispelled? Or can the caster dispel everything with in range for 1 whole turn? Or is the one thing that is dispelled merely dispelled for a duration of 1 turn? Both B/X and 1ed give Dispel Magic an area effect (20' or 30' cube) which acts instantly and has a permanent duration, but does not affect magic items. In other words, the intention of the spell is to instantly cancel-out a spell or spell-like effect. It is in this spirit that I will proceed. Here are the spells as written:

Knock (2)
Dispel a magically locked door. Range = 6"
Dispel Magic (3)
Dispel all magic spells and/or spell-like effects. Range = 12"
Dispel Evil (5)
Dispel evil magic and evil creatures. Area Effect = 3"r.
Antimagic Shell (6)
Shield that blocks magic in and out. Range = self Duration = 12 turns

Mechanics

There are several mechanics that suggest themselves:

• Dispel Type: Knock is a very specific dispel — it cancels out one magic spell effect. Dispel Magic is general. Dispel Evil also affects summoned/extra planar creatures.
• Area Effect: Base is none. 3"r. would be the next step.
• Range: Self/touch would be the base. Problems arise with the different ranges of Knock and Dispel Magic. If 6" and 12" are kept as different steps, Dispel Magic should be a 4th level spell. Since the area effect of 3"r. would always include the caster, I am going to use 12" for a range step.
• Shield: This allows for a shield that cancels out spells going both in and out.
• Duration: Although there is only one duration given (12 turns for Antimagic Shield), if there is only one step for duration, it would leave Antimagic Shield a 5th level spell. Thus, I am going to add another step — 6 turns.

Base Dispel Spell: 1st level. Cancels out a specific spell or spell-like effect instantly and permanently. Range = touch

The following add 1 level:

• Affects all magic.
• Range = 12"
• Area Affect = 3" r.
• Duration = 6 turns

The following adds 2 levels:

• Affects summoned creatures (a missed saving throw = banishment; save = morale check failure)
• Duration = 12 turns
• Creates a shield that blocks spells in and out

Example Spell Obfuscate
4th level spell. Creates a shield (+2 levels) that cancels out Detection Spells both going in and out of the shield. Range = touch. Duration = 6 turns (+1 level).

Thoughts on Post-Apocalyptic RPGs

Both Jeff and James have brought up the point that D&D assumes a post-apocalyptic world with lost civilizations that have left behind wondrous and strange things to find and explore (read: dungeons). This observation has gotten a lot of us to re-examine our own campaigns and the popular campaigns of D&D past and present. What I find interesting is the way we bandy about the word apocalypse without really understanding what it means.

It is actually a Greek word — Ἀποκάλυψις — which literally means lifting of the veil. A more familiar translation is revelation. This, most probably, brings to mind the book from the Bible of the same name. Indeed, the name of the book in the original Greek is Ἀποκάλυψις. Since it deals with the end times, the modern world has come to associate the word apocalypse with a word-ending disaster.

What gets lost in this understanding is that the Bible doesn't just have one apocalypse. It has a plethora. Here are three:

• the burning bush is an apocalypse of the name of God as I AM
• the Incarnation is an apocalypse of God become man
• the baptism of Christ is an apocalypse of God as Trinity

Thus, the term post-apocalypse has a nuance to it that is lost when it is merely understood to refer to what is left after a world-devastating disaster. A post-apocalyptic world is one where God has revealed Himself. This understanding of the word apocalypse can add another a level of richness of any post-apocalyptic D&D world (or any RPG that uses the same sort of end-of- the-world model).

From a Judeo-Christian world-view, the world-shattering event is the Fall. This is then expressed every time humanity turns its collective back on God. The Tower of Babel and the collapse of both the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) are examples of this. The apocalypse always takes the form of God steadfastly waiting with open arms for humanity to realize that it cannot find what it most desires without God. He has shown the depth with which He loves us and wants us to be with Him by His willingness to not only become Incarnate, but to go to the cross and tomb.

Thus, a D&D campaign can not only be about trying to rise up out of the ashes of what came before by recovering the treasures of lost civilizations, but a recovery of the apocalypse itself.

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 6

Conjuration/Summon

This project has been fascinating. It has made me reexamine some of my own assumptions and prejudices. For example, I was sure Insect Plague was a summoning spell. Upon examining the mechanics, however, I come to find that it really is a Charm spell with a summoning special effect. Ultimately, this is why I want to do this project — so that we all can have spells that reflect whatever special effect we want and still have a solid, consistent mechanical system behind those special effects. Without Insect Plague, I am left with three spells:

Animate Dead (5)
Duration = permanent until dispelled. Area Effect = 1d6 corpses Creature HD = approx. 1-6
Conjure Elemental (5)
Duration = concentration. Range = 24" Creature HD = 16
Invisible Stalker (6)
Duration = permanent until task is complete. Range = ? Creature HD = 8

Mechanics:

This category has five discernible mechanics:

• Duration. All are permanent, but there are two qualifiers — concentration and a given task. Thus, their are three possible durations.
• Range. Conjure Elemental has an explicit Range of 24". The others have no range.
• Area Effect: Animate Dead affects 1-6 corpses. There is no explicit area given here. I am going to choose to understand this a "general area" (sewer, swamp, lake, etc.)
• Creature Type: Conjure Elemental and Invisible Stalker both conjure extra-planar creatures whereas Animate Dead is dependent upon "creatures" that are already there.
• Creature HD. There are three categories. Animate Dead initially can summon a max of 6HD (Zombies being 1HD creatures), Invisible Stalkers are 8HD and Conjure Elemental specifies a 16HD creature. This suggests three ranges: 1-6HD, 7-12HD and 13-19HD.

Every spell assumes that the caster has control over the summoned/conjured creature. Given these mechanics, Invisible Stalker ends up as a 5th level spell and Conjure Elemental is 6th level — exactly the opposite as they appear in the LBBs; however, I am not going to quibble.

Base Conjure/Summon Spell: 2nd level spell. Summons 1 extant creature of a specific type with 1-6 (d6) HD. Duration = concentration. Range = none. Area Effect = none. Caster has control of the summoned creature.

The following add one level:

• Duration = fulfillment of a single task (no concentration necessary).
• Range = 24" (the creature can appear/be anywhere within 24")
• Number of Creatures = any number totaling the HD summoned (If 3HD are summoned, the base spell summons one 3HD creature. This allows those 3HD to be divided among a number of smaller HD creatures — three 1HD creatures or six 1/2HD creatures, for example). This is a general area effect (sewer, swamp, lake, etc.).
• Creature Type = extra planar (creature does not need to already be available)
• Creature HD = 7-12 (d6+6) HD

The following add two levels:

• Duration = permanent
• Creature HD = 12-18 (d6+12) HD

Example Spell Summon Rat Swarm:
3rd Level Spell. Duration = concentration. Creature Type = Rat (1/2HD). Creature HD = d6. Creature Number = 2 per HD Summoned (+1 level). This spell requires that rats already exists in the general area.

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 5

Transform

For Memorial Day weekend, I decided to try to and tackle one of the more daunting spell categories. Truth be told, "daunting" is an understatement. The more I fiddle with this, the more problems I either create or find. Levels are in () for Magic Users and [] for Clerics. The mechanics follow:

Infravision (3)Allows recipient to see in total darkness 40-60 feet. Duration = 1 day
Polymorph Self (4)Change into anything. Gain movement abilities, but not combat abilities. Duration = 6 + caster level turns
Polymorph Other (4)Change into anything. Gain all abilities, including combat; however, "not necessarily" the mentality and HP (a troll polymorphed into a snail would resist being stepped on). Duration = until dispelled.
Plant Growth (4)Cause normal bushes or woods to become impassable. Range = 12" Area Effect = 30" sq. (!) Duration = permanent unless dispelled by Dispel Magic
Turn Sticks to Snakes [4]Changes 2-16 sticks into snakes with a 50% chance that they will be poisonous. The snakes perform according to the caster's orders. Duration = 6 turns. Range = 12"
Animal Growth (5)Causes 1-6 normal sized animals to become giant-sized with appropriate attack abilities. Duration = 12 turns. Range = 12"
Reincarnation (6)Transforms dead character into a randomly determined living creature based on original alignment. Duration = permanent.
Stone to Flesh (6)Turns stone into living flesh. Used primarily to revive "stoned" characters. Reversible. Duration = permanent. Range = 12"
Death Spell (6)Instantly kills from 2-16 creatures with less than 7HD in a 6"x6" area. Range = 24"
Disintegrate (6)Causes any kind of material (except for magical) to disintegrate. Duration = permanent. Range = 6"

Please note: I moved Infravision, Death Spell and Reincarnation into this category.

Mechanics

For the sake of discussing this category, I am assuming that the base Transform spell has the following stats:

Gain one non-combat trait (i.e. infravision). Duration = 6 + caster level turns. Range = touch.
Looking at all the spells in this group, there seems to be suggested a progression on Duration — 6 turns, 1 day, permanent. Having three possible durations, however, means that it is impossible to have Plant Growth a 4th level spell — it is ranged (+1 level), has an area effect (+1 level) and a permanent duration (+2 levels) for a total of +4 levels or 5th level. Following this logic, Infravision ends up as a 2nd level spell (its only modifier from the base is Duration = 1 day for +1 level). If we get rid of the 1 day duration (returning Plant Growth to 4th level), Infravision becomes a 2nd level spell with a permanent duration. In addition, even though there seems to be a nice discernible group of effects (one non-combat characteristic; all non-combat characteristics; combat characteristics; inanimate to animate; animate to inanimate), without a Duration = 1 day option, spells like Flesh to Stone would only be 5th level — duration = permanent (+1 level), affects all non-combat & combat characteristics (+2 levels) and animate to inanimate (+1) level for a total of +4 levels or level 5. Either way, Infravision is still a 2nd level spell. If we reduce the base Transform spell to only affect inanimate objects (thus adding another level to Infravision and restoring to 3rd level) it makes higher level spells higher than 6th level. Thus, I will move forward with three possible durations and Infravision as a 2nd level spell.

On a positive note, with the exception of Death Spell and Disintegrate, Range is consistently Touch or 12"; however, problems again arise with Area Effect and number affected. These are all over the place, with the most extreme being 30" sq. (Plant Growth, which is primarily used to make a terrain impassable). Otherwise, they affect a specific number of targets — 1-6 or 2-16. I will opt for the happy medium of 2-12 and use the 6"x6" area suggested by Death Spell.

More problems arise with the three examples of the "animate to inanimate" spells. All are 6th level spells, but have different ranges, area effects and even durations:

• Flesh to Stone: Range = 12"; affects one target; permanent until dispelled
• Death Spell: Range = 24"; affects 2-16 targets; permanent (reversible via raise dead)
• Disintegrate: Range = 6"; affects one target; permanent

Death Spell is significantly more powerful, even though it only affects creatures less than 7HD. But, even if it is ignored for purposes of figuring out range and area effect and the base range for the others is assumed to be the same (12"), there is no apparent way to reverse or dispel Disintegrate (Flesh to Stone can be dispelled via Stone to Flesh). Given that this spell category is ripe for abuse and in order to smooth out this discrepancy, I am going to say all Transform spells can be reversed or dispelled.

Reincarnation offers up the next hurdle. It is, in essence, the reverse of the three spells above, but does not have the range. According to the developing model, it should be a 5th level spell — duration = permanent (+2 levels), Gain all non-combat traits + combat traits (+2 levels). I would see this as a problem, save for the fact that a mere Dispel Magic can now kill the reincarnated character.

One of the largest problems with this group is with the two Polymorph spells (shocking, I know). Polymorph Other is significantly more powerful than Polymorph Self despite the fact that both are 4th level spells. If two characters were polymorphed into dragons, one by each spell, one would have a breath weapon and attack as a dragon, while the other would have no breath weapon and attack with their normal attack dice. The first would be a dragon until the polymorph was dispelled and the latter would revert to their original form 6 + caster level turns later. This discrepancy is reflected by my working model for this group. Polymorph Self should be a 3rd level spell: the caster gains all non-combat traits (+1 level) and is able to transform into inanimate objects (+1 level) for a total of +2 levels, or 3rd level. Whereas Polymorph Other stats out as 5th level: Duration = permanent (+2 level), target gains all non-combat and combat traits (+2 levels), for a total of +4 levels, or 5th level.

In other words, when trying to make sense out of this category, I have a tough choice: allow the high level spells to exist and thus lowering the spell level of some of the lower level Transform spells (and open up the game to abuse) or keep the lower level spells at their original level, but eliminate the higher level spells as written. For now, I am willing to try the former in order to keep the flavor of the higher level spells, but this category must come with a huge caveat and close scrutiny by the Referee.

Base Transform Spell: Gain one non-combat trait (i.e. infravision). Duration = 6 + caster level turns. Range = touch. EDIT: as can be seen in the comments, Roger the GS of Roles, Rules, and Rolls has pointed out that having the base Transform spell only affect living creatures solves a good deal of the potential abuse problems.

The following add one spell level:

• Duration = 1 day
• Range = 12"
• Gain all non-combat traits — you look like a dragon and can fly like a dragon, but you don't have a breath weapon and you use the same combat dice you always do.
• Affects 2-12 targets in a 6x6" area.
• Traits affect combat (requires Gain all non-combat traits) — you look like a dragon and fight like one too.
• Ability to transform non-living inanimate objects into living objects or vice-versa. (requires Gain all non-combat traits) — when a caster turns himself into a non-living object this is not an instant kill; however, when cast upon another target, it is.

The following add two levels:

• Duration = permanent.

Note: all effects of Transform spells can be reversed and dispelled.
EDIT: What follows is a warning to those who (like I once did) think that Transform ought to be able to affect non-living objects.

As an example of the abuse this might very well produce, I give you Turn Lead into Gold:

1st level spell. Transform lead into Gold (one non-combat trait). Duration = 6 + caster level turns. Range = touch.

So, the Referee has to be creative or authoritarian about this. I prefer the former — in a world where Turning Lead into Gold exists (and where a mere Dispel Magic spell can destroy an entire fortune), merchants would have developed means to detect the authenticity of the currency they trade in. Any gold that radiates of magic would be deemed worthless and transactions would require a wait time of at least one day in order to wait out the Durations of lower level spells. In fact, now that I am thinking about it, this opens the door to a whole subculture in a fantasy setting based around the movement of currency . . .

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 4

Detection

The next category in my queue is the Detection Spells. Mechanics are in ():

Detect Magic (1)[1] ("Limited" Range, "Short" Duration)
Detect Invisible (2) (Duration = 6 turns, Range = 1"/ level of caster)
Locate Object (2)[3] (Duration = instant, Range = 6" + 1"/level of caster)
Detect Evil (2)[1] (Duration = 2 turns [6 turns], Range = 6" [12'"])
ESP (2) (Duration = 12 turns, Range = 6", Blocked by lead/3' material)
Find Traps [2] (Duration = 2 turns, Radius 3")
Clairvoyance (3) (Duration = 12 turns, Range = 6", Blocked by lead/3' material)
Clairaudience (3) (Duration = 12 turns, Range = 6", Blocked by lead/3' material)
Wizard Eye (4) (Duration = 6 turns, Range = 24", Moves 12"/turn)
Please note: After looking at the mechanics, I decided to remove Infravision from this list and add ESP.

This is the most difficult category I have tackled thus far, because spell level, range and duration are all over the place. Part of this variance is due to the Cleric versions of these spells, so I am going to ignore them. If then, the base Detection spell has a range of 1"/level and an instantaneous duration, we can determine that a duration of 6 turns and a range of +6" each add one spell level. Given this, a base Detect spell can do one of the following:

• General characteristic (Magic, Evil, Invisible)
• Specific Object (Locate Object, Traps, Thoughts)

This is when things get muddied. ESP has a duration of 12 turns and a range of 6" which means that it should be a 3rd level spell. It does put a limitation on the range — the spell can be blocked. Thus, the base spell can optionally start with a 6" range if it can be blocked by a common element and a wall 3' wide and bigger; however, there doesn't seem to be a functional difference between ESP, Clairaudience and Clairvoyance. I am going to assume that ESP can only target one person at a time, whereas Clairaudience and Clairvoyance can target an area. This means that the base Detection spell is directional. Find Traps becomes the model for the area effect Detection spell — 3" radius.

Wizard Eye increases the range of Clairvoyance x4 and introduces the idea of moving the focal point of the spell. Buying a 12" range (2 levels) with a +1/caster level puts the range at 19" when a Magic User (at 7th level) can first cast a 4th level spell, thus approximating the 24" range. The duration of 6 turns adds another level and assuming that the eye has a 3" field of vision gives us a 4th level spell. This leaves the idea of a mobile focal point in question; however, mechanically it is meaningless. Functionally, there is little difference between the way Clairvoyance and Wizard Eye function. In the end, the moving "eye" is a special effect rather than a game mechanic.

Base Detection spell: Directionally detect a general characteristic or a specific object. Duration = instantaneous. Range = 1"/caster level or 6"+1"/caster level if spell will not work through a common element (i.e. lead) and cannot penetrate a wall 3' thick.

The following with add one spell level:

• Range = 6"+1"/caster level
• 3"r. Area Effect
• Duration = 6 turns (max 12 turns)

Example Find Traps:
2nd level spell. Detect Trap. Duration = instantaneous. Range = 1"/caster level. 3"r area effect (one level).

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 3

Illusion

The next category is the Illusion Spells. Here are the OD&D spells with their mechanics in ( ):

Phantasmal Forces (Illusion, Duration = Concentration or until touched, Range 24")
Invisibility (Single person invisible (cannot attack), Duration = until broken, Range = 24")
Invisibility 10'r. (Single person invisible (cannot attack), Duration = until broken, Range = 24", Area Effect)
Massmorph (Group of people disguised as trees. Duration = until dispelled, Range = 24" Area Effect)
Hallucinatory Terrain (Illusion, Duration = until dispelled or touched, Range 24", Large Area Effect)
Projected Image (Fully Functional Illusion of Magic User, Spells cast appear to originate from Illusion, Duration = 6 turns, Range 24")

Mechanics:
When examining these spells, I was struck by the mechanical description of Phantasmal Forces: "vivid" illusions of "nearly everything." There is no limitation upon which senses are engaged — rather we are allowed to imagine "nearly everything." This suggests that Invisibility means that the spell affects all of the senses. Given that higher level spells have area effects, the "nearly" qualifier on Phantasmal Forces must mean approximately the space occupied by one person.

Duration for these spells is also interesting. They are almost all "permanent" until dispelled. Lower level spells are dispelled by touching them (or by attacking). Higher level spells may be interacted with without being dispelled.

Range and Area Effect are also modifiers.

Base Illusion Spell: Vivid illusion approximately the size of one person. Duration = concentration until touched for more complex illusions; Until dispelled or when the person affected by the illusion attacks for simple illusions (Invisibility, for example). No Range.

The following add one spell level:

• Giving the spell Range = 24"
• Giving the spell a 10'r. Area Effect (up to 20'r.)
• Permanency (can be interacted with without being dispelled)

The following will add three levels, requires Permanency, and can only have a duration of 6 turns:

• The illusion can physically interact with the world around it — any damage done will be according to the attack capabilities of the spell caster.

For example — Phantasmal Killer:

4th level spell. Illusion of a phobia inspired abomination. No Range. Permanent until dispelled up to 6 turns (one level). Can physically interact with environment and attack to do damage as per the spell caster (three levels).

Healing

Now, onto what one might assume to be the first Cleric only category: the Healing Spells. What follows are the OD&D spells with their mechanics in ( ):

Cure Light Wounds (1d6+1 HP healed. Takes one turn(!))
Remove Curse (Just as the name suggests. When cast on a cursed item, it turns that item into a mundane, non-magical item)
Cure Disease (Just as the spell name suggests (instantly, I presume))
Neutralize Poison (Counters the harmful effects of poison. Duration = 1 turn)
Cure Serious Wounds (Same as CLW but with 2d6+2)
Raise Dead ("Cures" death. Only works on PC races (though not halflings!), has a time limit (4 days, with an additional 4 day per level of caster beyond 8th), and does not work on those with a low Constitution (I'm assuming a negative modifier, here). There also seems to be a range factor here, because the cleric "points his finger")

Mechanics:

Going in, I thought this was going to be a bit boring, mechanically; however, upon a closer inspection, there is quite a bit of variation. The most intriguing for me is that CLW takes one turn to accomplish. Since other spells take effect immediately, this suggests a mechanic for instantaneous effect. Neutralize Poison seems to be more of a preventative spell, rather than a curative — cast it on someone about to trigger a trap so as to counter whatever poison is there. Thus, the duration of 1 turn and cannot save someone who has already failed a save or die roll. Raise Dead suggests a ranged mechanic for healing spells; however, this means that "curing" death is a 4th level spell. Thus, I will require an additional modifier when "cure death" is used, insuring that it will always be a 5th level spell. Finally, it is of interest that Remove Curse is available to Magic Users at one spell level higher.

Base Healing spell requires 1 turn to take effect and can cure any one of the following:

• 1d6+1 hp
• Disease
• Curse*
• Poison (though not someone already dead) This also adds one level (for a minimum spell level of 2)

The following add 1 level:

• Make the spell Ranged*
• Make the spell take effect immediately.*
• Duration = 1 turn (requires immediate effect)*

The following add 3 levels:

• Cure an additional 1d6+1 hp
• "Cure" death — requires one other modifier

*These are available to Magic Users; however Cure Curse requires 2 levels instead of 1.
For example — Ray of Hope:

3rd level spell. Cure 1d6+1 hp (one level), Ranged (one level), takes effect immediately (one level).

Some Food for Thought

On Thursday, I posted some thoughts on 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.' While most folks reacted to my comparison of Mohammed to Christ, I did try to make a subtle point about the OSR. Based on those very same reactions, it appears to have been largely missed.

One of the reasons I love this hobby has nothing to do with the games we play. I play because of the people at the table, or, in the case of our little corner of the internet, the people behind the blogs. Although we are quite a diverse bunch who tend to like to argue a lot and can occasionally get rather snarky, I largely find that people who populate the OSR to be very decent human beings — despite our great diversity of opinions, backgrounds, interests, etc. In some ways (regardless of whether we espouse to be or not) we behave in a rather Christian-like manner. We freely give away much of our hard work and help support each other by buying what we do have to sell — even when we can get some of it for free. When one of us asks for help, it is almost certain someone will answer the call.

Thus, when one of us writes about the games we play, we generally don't expect someone to tell us that what we have written should not even be said. For example, "You like the Thief class? You shouldn't say such things in polite society!" is not something I expect to see (outside of an poor attempt at sarcasm).

Yet, whenever I venture into theology, apologetics or some other challenging aspect of religion, I am routinely criticized for doing so. Rather than wrestling with what I've said, I'm criticized for the act of saying it. Essentially: Gasp! How dare you speak of such things!

Mind you, I take no offense. As I've said from the very beginning of this blog I am very aware the worlds of Christian Theology and RPGs are definitely not seen as compatible by a good chunk of people out there. My hope has always been to reduce that number and to explore just how creative both Christian Theology and RPGs can be.

However, Thursday got me to thinking about this apparent disconnect between on the one hand the way the OSR is able to so deftly handle the great diversity that exists out here when it comes to RPGs and on the other hand the way it can try to shut down things outside of RPGs (note that even Jeff, who was largely trying to stay away from religion and politics, got directly and passively criticized for bringing up 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day' in the first place). Now, maybe I'm not deeply involved enough in the OSR to see this kind of thing more often, but it still makes me wonder.

On 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day' and the OSR

Jeff Rients over at Jeff's Gameblog mentioned that today is 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.' He has chosen to decline to participate citing that:

I'm pretty confident the violent fundamentalist Muslim nutjobs don't speak for all of Islam in the same way that the Westboro Baptist Church doesn't represent the mainstream of Christian thought.

In response to a comment I made in response to Jeff's post, JB of B/X Blackrazor stated:

Personally, I'm more in favor of converting Christian extremists to Islam. Islam already teaches that Jesus was the Messiah; what more are they going to get from Christians?

I'd like to take some time with this topic because not only is it important, but I believe it is relevant to the OSR. Many (if not all) of us have spent hours pouring over older editions of all sorts of RPGs. We have done so for a variety of reasons from creating retro-clones, to creating new RPGs based on older rule sets, to actually playing these older games, to using them as an inspiration for playing newer games. There are plenty of examples of OSR bloggers who have deconstructed the evolution of rules in an attempt to figure out which incarnation works best for them (see my current attempt to mess around with OD&D magic, for example).

The key here, is that without a close examination of these original documents, the OSR would not exist. The statements above by both Jeff and JB run counter to this fundamental truth about how we do our hobby. I have long read, enjoyed and respected both Jeff and JB so what I am trying to say is not meant to insult, diminish or dismiss either of these two. In fact, my respect for them is the very reason I am writing this post.

Statements like those made above demonstrate that those who have made them have not gone to the source material and spent time to understand them. I'm sure everyone of us can find examples of statements made by our fellow gamers about any edition of D&D which demonstrates that they have not taken the time to understand why people like to play different editions or even to read the rules of those editions. Even I am guilty of making assumptions about 4th edition without ever having sat down to read those rules.

In light of this, I'd like to invite both Jeff and JB (as well as all of us) to take some time to deal with the original source material for both Christianity and Islam. To give us a start, let me give you a short, comparative list of things Islamic texts say about Mohammed and what Christian texts say about Christ:

1. Mohammed condones lying in three instances: war, reconciling people and husband to wife.
2. Mohammed was involved in slavery and slave trade. He would use his profits to purchase warhorses and weaponry in order to wage war.
3. Mohammed coercively forced conversion and prayer.

1. Christ is both God and Man, of one essence with both the Father and the Spirit.
2. Christ asked us to love one another — even our enemies.
3. Christ sacrificed Himself for our salvation.

If we accept that Mohammed and Christ are the prime examples of what it means to be human and what our behavior as human beings ought to be to their respective followers, than it should be relatively obvious that warfare and the mistreatment of human beings (especially women) are legitimate expressions of Islam. Whereas they are foreign to a proper expression of Christianity.

To answer Jeff's comment, what we have deemed as "radical" in Islam is actually able to stand on very firm theological ground. Whereas there are peace-loving Muslims, there is no such thing as a peaceful version of Islam.

To answer JB's comment, Islam understands Jesus to be a prophet, but denies the crucifixion, the resurrection and His divinity. Whereas Islam insists that Allah is a distant transcendental being who is completely separate from his creation, Christianity insists that God Himself loves us so much that He took on our humanity, died with it, resurrected it and ascended with it into heaven so that we might be able to share in His very being and His eternity. What does someone gain from converting to Christianity? God Himself.

A "Musical" Appendix N

Like James over at Grognardia, the death of metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio has reminded me of all the friends that I had who were metal heads that I also role-played with. I never much got into their music, but (due to their their enthusiastic willingness to share) metal became an integral part of our RPG "soundtrack". In fact, when I contemplate the music we listened to during and around my early role-playing days, I am amazed by how eclectic it is. Beyond a common culture (as James calls it), my role-playing expanded my own cultural experience. Each one of my friends brought something unique to the table and we all learned to appreciate (if not love) all of it. Prog rock, punk, new age, classical, electronic as well as metal all meshed to create an inspirational backdrop for our game-sessions.

Believe it or not, this is what Christianity has done with each of the cultures that it has encountered throughout the ages. It allowed each culture to find its own unique way to express the fundamental Christian truth of Jesus Christ crucified and risen. What we know today as Christian Tradition is an amalgam of different cultural expressions throughout the ages. In a way, this is also what I have found (and love) in the OSR — a willingness to accept a huge variety of influences and interests that affect and enhance our beloved hobby. Its not just a shared culture, but an expansion of it.

To that end, I'd like to offer a short list of music that throughout the years have inspired my role playing — especially my early years. I don't necessarily own (or ever owned) all of these, but they do represent music that immediately comes to my mind when I think of RPGs. Thus, I give you my "musical" Appendix N:

• Wagner — Ride of the Valkyries
• Beethoven — Fifth Symphony, movements 3 & 4
• Jethro Tull — Songs from the Wood (album), Broadsword, Cold Wind to Valhalla, Thick as a Brick (album)
• Pink Floyd — Wish You Were Here (album)
• Kansas — Point of No Return (album)
• Yello — Stella (album)
• Clash — Combat Rock (album)
• Queen — The Prophet's Song, Flash Gordon (album), The Works (album), A Kind of Magic (album)
• Thomas Dolby — Blinded by Science (album), The Flat Earth (album)
• Megadeath — Peace Sells...But Who's Buying (album)
• Art of Noise — (Who's Afraid of) the Art of Noise? (album)
• Alan Parsons Project
• Patrick O'Hearn
• Gregorian Chant
• Byzatine Chant

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 2

Buff Spells

The next category I'd like to tackle (because it's one of the easiest mechanically) is the Buff Spells. Here are the OD&D spells with their mechanics in ( ):

Protection from Evil (+1 Save, -1 to be hit, no range, 6 turns [MU] 12 turns[Cl])
Bless (+1 Morale, +1 Attack, 6 turns)
Protection from Evil 10'r. (+1 Save, -1 to be hit, no range, area effect, 12 turns)
Protection from Normal Missiles (immunity to normal missiles, 12 turns)
Haste (+50% move, area effect, ranged, 3 turns)
Slow (1/2 move, area effect, ranged, 3 turns)

Examining these mechanics there are two anomalies.

1. The first is that there are two different durations for Protection from Evil. As I see it, there are two ways to deal with this. One would ignore it and have the base duration be 6 turns. The other way would be to have clerics get a boost with duration, but take a penalty with area effect. Neither is a perfect solution; however, the former is simpler, so I will use it.
2. The other is that the base duration for Haste/Slow is 3 turns (as opposed to 6 & 12); however, the area affect of these spells is 6x12" which translates as 60 ft x 120 ft! Since this is exponentially larger than 10'r. (thus difficult to quantify) and a remnant from Chainmail (thus intended to affect whole units of battlefield troops) I am going to ignore both the 3 turns and reduce the area effect to 10'r. It does suggest a future consideration of spell level reducers; however, that very likely would produce more min/maxing than I am comfortable with.

Therefore, the base Bluff Spell affects a specific group/attack (i.e. evil), has no range and has a duration of 6 turns.

Any two of the following will be one spell level:

• +1 Save
• +1 AC
• +1 Morale
• +1 Attack

The following add an additional spell level:

• Affect a general group
• Area Effect 10'r.
• Ranged
• Duration +6 turns
• +50% move
• 1/2 move

Finally, this will add two spell levels:

• Immunity to one specific type of mundane attack (i.e. normal missiles, piercing melee attacks, normal fire, etc.)

As an example of a Buff Spell we can do Protection from Fire:

3rd Level Spell. Duration 6 turns. No Range. Immunity to normal fire attacks (two levels) and +2 saves vs. magic fire (one level).

Things that Make Me Go Hmmm...

As I've been paying attention to spell descriptions in OD&D lately, I ran across this interesting little tidbit in Men & Magic:

Note: There are Anti-Clerics (listed below) who have similar powers to Clerics.Those Clerical spells underlined on the table for Cleric Spells have a reverse effect, all others functioning as noted.

What is listed below are the level titles for the Anti-Cleric. Compare them to the regular Cleric level titles:

Anti-Clerics:

Evil Acolyte
Evil Adept
Shaman
Evil Priest
Evil Curate
Evil Bishop
Evil Lama
Evil High Priest.

Clerics:

Acolyte
Adept
Village Priest
Vicar
Curate
Bishop
Lama
Patriarch

Note that the only level title that does not get the designation "evil" is the Shaman — an explicitly pagan title. It seems to me that (beyond the already largely Christian level titles and spells) that this is the strongest evidence I have found to suggest that the original conception of the Cleric class was of a pseudo-Christian.

Something Long Overdue

I've started to expand my Reading List over at the right to acknowledge all those folks I pay attention to and have bothered to read my blog. Forgive me for not doing it sooner and forgive me if it takes me a while to wade through the wonderful multitude that is now out there writing and reading about this hobby I love.

OD&D Magic Champions Style Part 1

On to the task...

What follows is a rough draft for categorizing all of the spells that exist in OD&D according to Men & Magic. The spell level is listed after the spell name with Magic Users spells in ( ) and Cleric Spells in [ ]. I am assuming that shorter lists will be easier to break down mechanically, so some of these lists (Change Environment, for example) may have to be revised. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

BARRIER

Hold Portal (1)
Wizard Lock (2)
Wall of Fire (4)
Wall of Ice (4)
Wall of Stone (5)
Wall of Iron (5)

BUFF

Protection from Evil (1)[1]
Bless [2]
Haste/Slow (3)
Protection from Evil 10'r. (3)[3]
Protection from Normal Missiles (3)

CHANGE ENVIRONMENT

Light (1)[1]
Purify Food & Water [1]
Continual Light (2)[3]
Water Breathing (3)
Create Water [4]
Create Food [5]
Transmute Rock to Mud (5)
Cloudkill (5)
Lower Water (6)
Part Water (6)
Move Earth (6)
Control Weather (6)

COMMUNICATION

Read Magic (1)
Read Languages (1)
ESP (2)
Speak with Animals [2]
Speak with Plants [4]
Commune [5]
Contact Higher Plane (5)

CONJURE/SUMMON

Conjure Elemental (5)
Insect Plague [5]
Invisible Stalker (6)

DAMAGE

Fireball (3)
Lightning Bolt (3)

DETECTION

Detect Magic (1) [1]
Detect Invisible (2)
Locate Object (2) [3]
Detect Evil (2) [1]
Find Traps [2]
Clairvoyance (3)
Clairaudience (3)
Infravision (3)
Wizard Eye (4)

DISPEL

Knock (2)
Dispel Magic (3)
Dispel Evil [5]
Anti-Magic Shell (6)

ENCHANT

Charm Person (1)
Confusion (4)
Charm Monster (4)
Feeblemind (5)
Quest [5]
Geas (6)

HEAL

Cure Light Wounds [1]
Remove Curse (4)[3]
Cure Disease [3]
Neutralize Poison [4]
Cure Serious Wounds [4]
Raise Dead [5]

ILLUSION

Phantasmal Forces (2)
Invisibility (2)
Invisibility 10'r. (3)
Massmorph (4)
Hallucinatory Terrain (4)
Projected Image (6)

INCAPACITATE

Sleep (1)
Hold Person (3)[2]
Hold Monster (5)

NECROMANCY

Animate Dead (5)
Magic Jar (5)
Reincarnation (6)
Death Spell (6)

TELEKINESIS

Levitate (2)
Fly (3)
Telekinesis (5)

TELEPORT

DImension Door (4)
Teleport (5)
Pass-Wall (5)

TRANSFORM

Polymorph Self (4)
Polymorph Other (4)
Plant Growth (4)
Turn Sticks to Snakes [4]
Animal Growth (5)
Stone to Flesh (6)
Disintegrate (6)

OD&D Magic Champions Style

I asked a question the other day as to whether or not anyone had tried to break down the OD&D spell list into quantified mechanics ala Champions superpowers. I did this because I have been contemplating doing exactly that, but didn't want to duplicate any work already done (it is a rather daunting task, especially with some of the higher level spells). Thanks to all those who answered, but it seems that if someone has done such a thing, those who read this blog don't know about it.

I'm interested for a couple of reasons. It allows a lot of freedom for players — when special effects are up to player creativity, it can expand the idea of 'what is magic' in ways that D&D has never conceived. It also makes magic adaptable to all kinds of genres and settings.

The first step in this process is to come up with a list of categories that describe the various spells in OD&D, regardless of spell level. For example, both sleep and hold person incapacitate their targets. The next step is to break down the various mechanics of these spells to determine what mechanical variables each category has and how many spell levels each mechanic is worth.

As an exercise, let me tackle one of the easiest categories in OD&D: damage dealing spells. Surprisingly, there are only two spells that directly deal damage to their targets: fire ball and lightning bolt. Both of these spells can be broken down into three mechanics:

1. damage of 1d6/ level
2. area effect (total of 4 one inch squares)
3. ranged

Since both spells are 3rd level, each mechanic costs one level. In the case of area effect and ranged , it is easy to construe what a spell would look like sans these mechanics: a target of one creature and a touch attack. The damage, however, requires some interpretation. Since damage is linked to the spell caster's level, I am going to assume that a lower damage slot ought to as well. Thus, a lower damage level could be 1d4/level or 1d6+level. At lower levels 1d4 is not worth wasting a spell on and at higher levels, it will always average above 60% of the damage done by 1d6/level. In my opinion, this is too powerful. On the other hand, 1d6+level is a good hardy spell at lower levels and at high levels starts to average around 30% of what 1d6/level does. This seems to me a good balance.

Thus, players are now free to create a plethora of damage dealing spells ranging from 1st to 3rd level with all sorts of special effects. As an example, let's take three 1st level spell concepts from later editions of D&D:

• Magic Missile: ranged, single target, damage = 1d6+level of caster
• Shocking Grasp: no range, single target, damage = 1d6/level
• Color Spray: no range, area effect, damage = 1d6+level of caster

The beauty of this, to my mind, is that we are not limited to the special effects of existing spells. The three spells above could be anything we want to imagine: the three above could just as easily be called Arrow of St. Sebastian, the Hand of the Necromancer, and the Aura of Pain.

Unfortunately, not all of the mechanics of OD&D spells are this easy to dissect. Hopefully, I'll have more to share in the future.

Meditations on Frank

In the wake of the news that Frank Frazetta has died, I found myself surfing the web in search of his work. In some sense, I was trying to remind myself in what way his work has had influence on my life, my person and my gaming. I was very quickly reminded that overall, I have never been much of a fan. When gazing upon one of his paintings, there is often something in the back of my head that tells me I shouldn't be looking at this. His style has always struck me as too visceral.

Let me try to demonstrate what I mean. First, take a look at these two depictions of the crucifixion:

Note how visceral and realistic the first is — even grotesque, especially when compared to the stylization of the second. The first, while being able to capture the utter human tragedy of the crucifixion, fails at capturing what St. John calls Christ's glorification. The second, while not nearly as realistic, manages to capture both the human tragedy and the glory. In the end, I have a hard time looking at the first, whereas I love to gaze upon the second.

I feel much the same way about Frazetta's work. Take a look at what is probably my favorite Frazetta painting (Death Dealer) as well as one of my favorite pieces by one of my favorite fantasy artists, Erol Otis:

For much the same reasons above, I love to look at Otis' piece and have a hard time looking at Frazetta's. Although Otis' style is highly unrealistic, it evokes a sense of heroism even in the face of tragedy and death (see his covers for Moldvay's Basic Edition and the new Hackmaster Basic).

This is where I must insert a very big however. Although I am not a big fan, I must give credit where credit is due and must admit that Frazetta has indeed affected my life, my person and my gaming. Death Dealer forces me to come face to face with evil. There is nothing at all heroic about Death Dealer — he is violence incarnate. The fact that he is faceless reminds us that he dwells within each of us. He is a mirror that reveals that evil must be laid at the foot of humanity. We have brought it into the world and we keep it alive everyday by the choices we make. Indeed, the most frightening monsters in the world and in fantasy are not dragons, demons, or even the mind-shattering horrors of HPL's imaginations. The most horrifying monsters are humans.

In his own way, Frazetta helped me see and understand this reality and set me on a path to seek an answer to evil in the world — to seek out the heroism in Otis' work and the glory of God in the icon of the crucifixion. To that end: thanks Frank. You will be missed.

World Building: A Surface Map

A10 Monastery of the Holy Well
E08 St. Morol's Spring
E18 Sahuagin Lair
H14 Ruins — Plain marble shrine that is magically sturdy [Humanoids]
I31 Foursaints (a village built around a holy spring)
I29 Ruins — Plain cyclopean stone observatory (Haunted) [Giant]
I03 Ruins — Poor quality brick manor (creaky but safe) [Fungus]
I13 Temple [Human NPC group]
J05 The Still Mountain (one of only two floating mountains that remains stationary)
L11 Cylan — City with dungeon beneath [Lycanthrope]
M31 Tymestl — City with dungeon benath [Humanoid]
M07 Ruins — Burned out outpost [Animal]
M11 Ruins — Ornate brick library (haunted) [Construct]
O29 Ruins — Ornate stone keep (cursed) [Fey]
O04 Mt. Ore — Floating mountain chained to the earth by duergar to make it stationary so that they can mine it.
O12 Cythraul — City with dungeon beneath [Demon/Devil]
S02 Spring of St. Rhain
T30 Well of the Mother
U07 Monastery of the Hidden Spring
V24 Abandoned well
X32 Mine accessed via a secret tunnel [Dragon]
X08 Assassin's Guild via mouth of a volcano [Extra-planar Race]

Notes:

In deciding on how the surface world should look, I did allow the underworld to guide me in two ways. Firstly, I made the assumption that anywhere there was a quarry in the underworld, there would be a mountain range above. Secondly, there would be a valley or depression anywhere a "Special" was below (assuming that these had impacted the surface in ancient times, leaving behind a geographic fingerprints):



Forests can only exist where there is water, so there had to be either a river or a spring; however, I didn't want to have very many rivers (to emphasize importance of springs and wells). Thus, I only included two.

I placed springs roughly based upon where they exist in Anglesey.

Floating mountains are wandering monster encounters — they ride the wind patterns and are constantly moving. Some follow more erratic patterns than others. The two floating mountains on the map are the only two that are stationary. One has been chained down in order to mine it, the other is stationary due to some unknown reason (note that it lies between to "specials" in the underworld beneath).

I determined what lay above each dungeon in a random manner. There were four possibilities:

• Ruins (which I gave the greatest chance, because I thought it cool and CDD#4 has a table on ruins that I wanted to use).
• Cities
• Temples
• Misc. (determined by another CDD#4 table on dungeons).

The monsters listed at these locations in brackets indicate the main occupant or the "master" of the dungeon beneath.

A (Very) Brief History

This area is known by several names:

• Asymi Isle = ancient human name
• Silver Isle = modern human name
• St. Morol Isle = Afonite name
• Glynaria = ylfe name
• Silbental = duergar name

Elves and dwarves are known as ylfe and duergar. Both races are descended from Nephilim. As such, there is no distinction between "wood" and "dark" elves or "mountain" and "grey" dwarves. Neither are particularly trustworthy or happy about humans being on the island.

The current wave of humans are Afonites (followers of Afon(eos) and the revelation of God as Triad). They originally lived east of the island in the most north-western part of a world-spanning Afonite Empire. A massive invasion by pagan barbarians and humanoids collapsed the western half of the Empire, cutting off the colonies of the north-west. In the face of the invaders, the Afonites fled west, finally arriving at the island. They had nowhere else to flee and things looked bleak; however, following the martyrdom of the Four Martyrs and the miracles surrounding their death, the Afonites pushed the invaders off the island under the leadership of St. Morol.

Thus, everything east of the channel is occupied by pagan barbarians and humanoids (save for the Monastery of the Hidden Spring). West of the channel is wilderness with pockets of Afonite civilization.

A Question

I've been meditating on spells in OD&D and the way Champions handles superpowers. The latter focused on mechanics and assigned a point value to each mechanic. Special effects — how those mechanics actually looked like in the game world — was entirely up to the player. Is there anyone or anywhere that tried to do this with a D&D spell list?

World Building: Sources & Influences

The other day, a priest friend of mine, knowing of my passing interest in all things Welsh, gave to me an article about the Holy Wells of Wales. Something that many of us forget is that Britain was conquered by the Romans in A.D. 41 and was Christian very early on. St. Aristobulus, one of the 70 Apostles and mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:10, went to Britain and became its first bishop. When the Church gathered at the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea in 325, bishops from Britain were in attendance. When Rome abandoned its colonies in the 5th century, pagan Goths invaded the island and drove the Christians west into modern day Wales and Cornwall.

In Wales, it being a mountainous country, water supply was an acute problem. Thus, wells and springs have been central to both the pagan and Christian inhabitants (see the resting place of Excalibur, for example). When the Christians arrived, these wells and springs came to be associated with various saints and some were even supposed to have healing properties. This struck me because I have been meditating upon the Scriptural metaphor of God as a fountain, as understood by St. Athanasius, and its potential for use in an RPG fantasy setting.

Athanasius was at that First Ecumenical Council at the beginning of the fourth century and spent his life defending that council and the position that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are of one essence. In defending this position in a letter to his friend Serapion, he points out that the Father is equated to a fountain (Jer 2;13; Bar 3:12). In turn the Son is called a river (Psalm 65:10) and we are told that we drink of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:13).

This metaphor accomplishes two things. Firstly, it gives us a working image to help us understand the Trinity. All three elements make up a functioning fountain — the fountain, the flow of water, and the ability to drink of it. Although these elements are distinct, they are also all a working fountain and it is impossible to conceive of a working fountain without one or more of these three. It is a practical way of understanding the dogmatic formula "One Godhead in Three Persons."

Secondly, it demonstrates that we are to participate in the Trinity. We drink of the Holy Spirit, which brings us into contact with the Son through whom we may do the will of the Father. This, ultimately, is the entire purpose of the Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension — to make it possible for us to drink of the Holy Spirit.

Taking this metaphor and running with it in context of a fantasy setting led me to consider these names for the persons of the Trinity:

• Ffynnon, which means Spring or Origin [Father]
• Afon(oes) which means River (of Life) [Son]
• Diod which means Drink [Holy Spirit]

This conception of the Trinity is wonderfully suggestive. They imply the "crucifixion" of Afon(oes) would be by drowning with the delectable divine irony of the River of Life dying in a river. Temples would be centered around living water — springs and rivers. There would be the liturgical action of blessing and drinking this living water. Initiation would by immersion in living water. In addition, these names are derived from Welsh — which dovetails beautifully into the concept of Holy Wells of Wales.

Thus, when deciding on geography for my map, I naturally looked to Wales — specifically where one can find Holy Wells. There are several in the NW part of Wales, especially on and around the island of Angelsey. Considering how interesting it looks, I decided that it would be the basis for my map.

Thus, via an article on the Holy Wells of Wales and St. Athanasius the Great and his Letter to Serapion on the Holy Spirit, I've come to having a good outline and sketch of the geography, the history, the culture and the religion of this fantasy setting.

World Building: A Cross-Section

In considering how to build up from the map I randomly generated and posted yesterday, I had to make a few rules for myself — taking a bunch of random data and making sense of them. There are several means by which to go both up and down from the map — stairs, shafts down and large shafts that go both up and down. I decided that every stair and shaft up lead to some kind of dungeon. Shafts down lead to some kind of underground city and large shafts lead down into a demi-plane of darkness and shadow wherein demons and other nasties lie in wait for the foolish to dare to visit them. The end result could be conceptualized by a cross-section:


You'll notice I was moved to add one more layer up top. I've always liked the image of floating mountains, and it seemed apropos to add some. It allows for a kind of symmetry — the farther up or down an adventurer dares to go, the more dangerous life gets.

Robin Hood: Un-American?

While I was watching TV this evening with my family, we were bombarded with images from the most recent version of the tale of Robin Hood. In turn, this reminded me of a tasty little historical tidbit that puts me at odds with the famous bandit from Sherwood Forest.

Robin Hood fought against King John. In several renditions of the story, the bandit remains loyal to King Richard, John's Brother. A quick look at history reveals that King John became king anyway, after Richard died. He then got into a political battle of wills with Rome over the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury. When John was forced to back down, his barons gathered together and forced their king to sign a little piece of paper that stated no man is above the law and became the foundation upon which the United States is built. It was the Magna Carta.

Eventually I will see the newest version of Robin Hood, but I will always be grateful to King John and part of me will root for the villain. Without him wearing the crown, I don't get to be who I am today.

World Building: Random Goodness

Recently, I've been trying to use Scot "Kellri" Hoover's fourth installment in his "Classic Dungeon Designer Notebook" series, Old School Encounters Reference, which you can download from Kellri's Blog. In all the years I've played D&D, I never once played (or thought of playing) any of the D-Series. My group relished in the danger of being low level and would often retire characters before that were ever powerful enough to tread into the depths of the earth; however, there is a section of CDD #4 dedicated to random tables for exploring the deep earth akin to what we might have done while using the D-Series. These tables have inspired me. I decided to build a world starting with a map of the deep earth generated using these tables (and a few of own). Here is the initial result:

• Red lines are primary caverns.
• Brown lines are secondary caverns.
• Green lines are tertiary caverns.
• Blue lines are underground rivers.
• Blue Hexes are water.
• Tan hexes are encounter areas:

A16 Cavern (Sea Dragon)
C08 Special
C14 Cavern
D32 Shaft down (Frog Demon)
D07 Quarry (Fishmen)
E31 Chasm (Red Dragon)
E08 Grotto (Deep Gnomes)
E18 Lair (Sahaugin)
F09 Lair (Eye, Tentacled)
G08 Grotto (Frogmen)
H03 Shaft Down
H04 Excavation
H14 Large Shaft (Mongrelmen)
I29 Stairs
I32 Grotto (Spiders)
I03 Large Shaft
I04 Quarry (Grimlocks)
I05 Pool/Well
I06 Special
I13 Large Shaft (Giant Scorpions)
J04 Special
K02 Lair (Fishmen)
K05 Cavern (Giant Hornets)
K07 Shaft down
L02 Chasm (Giant Lizards)
L04 Cavern
L09 Cavern
L11 Stairs
L15 Pool
M27 Special
M31 Stairs (Kobolds)
M32 Cavern (Grell)
M02 Trap/Hazard
M07 Stairs
M11 Stairs (Goblins)
M14 Special
N02 Excavation (Myrmixians)
N07 Trap/Hazard
O29 Large Shaft
O03 Cavern (Grimlocks)
O12 Stairs (Wight)
P03 Cavern
P09 Special
Q26 Pit
Q30 Quarry (Bugbears)
Q31 Lair (Fungoids)
Q10 Lair (Lammasu)
R27 Quarry
R32 Cavern
R02 Pool/Well
S27 Pool/Well
S32 Chasm
T07 Grotto (Medusa)
U29 Cavern (Giant Spiders)
U31 Excavation (Fishmen)
V02 Pool/Well (Spectre)
X24 Excavation (Duergar)
X25 Lair (Hydra)
X26 Quarry (Duergar)
X32 Stairs
X08 Large Shaft
X09 Grotto (Fey)
Y28 Pool/Well
Y31 Excavation (Lich)
Z03 Shaft down

Everything here should be self-explanatory. The monsters in parenthesis have set up permanent camp in the areas they are listed with. I am inclined to understand "Special" to indicate areas either infected with pure chaos, have pocket plane access and/or are crash sites for alien starships from an ancient battle.

From here I'll work up.

The Rise of the Antmen

Myrmixians

Compare yourself with the ant, O sluggard, and be zealous when you see his ways, and become wiser than he. — Proverbs 6:7 (LXX)


Number Appearing: 2d6
% in Lair: 30%
Alignment: Neutral (Lawful)
Armor Class: 2(0)
Move: 9
Hit Dice: 2+1
Attacks: 2 weapons (1d6) or 1 bite (1d10) or special
Special: Paralysis
Save: F3
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: VII
XP: 71

Myrmixians are an ant-like bipedal species with four arms. As indicated by their ability to make and use tools, they do display signs of sentience and intelligence, but both are quite alien to humans. Technically speaking, they are Lawful creatures; however, their idea of 'civilization' tends to be in conflict with both Lawful and Chaotic creatures. Thus, they are listed as having a Neutral alignment.

In combat, Myrmixian soldiers wield two shields made out of the heads of giant ants. They are quite adept at using both at the same time and improve their base AC of 2 to an AC of 0 when thus armored. Each shield may be sacrificed to negate a single hit against them (for a total of two hits). In addition, each shield is armed with a stinger filled with a paralytic poison excreted from Myrmixian pupa. A successful attack with the stinger also destroys the shield. Those who make a successful save vs. poison will still suffer a -2 to all rolls. The effects of the poison (whether full paralysis or the -2 penalty) will wear off after 1d6 turns.

Myrmixians come in a variety of colors, but recognize each other by scent. Thus, in a conflict between Myrmixian hives, it can be very difficult for non-Myrmixians to distinguish sides.

All Myrmixian hives will also be inhabited by Giant Ants which have been domesticated for a variety of tasks around the hive. These Giant Ants will have double the chance of mining precious metals.

Due to their alien intelligence, Myrmixians place value on a variety of strange things. Their Hoard Class reflects this reality — random bits of valuables scattered among what they consider to be "treasure." Feel free to have fun with this.

St. George and why I Love Lovecraft

Yesterday, James over at Grognardia did a piece on August Derleth and his (albiet small) contribution to the heroic aspects of the Call of Cthulu RPG. Yesterday was also the Feast of St. George the Great Martyr. These two seemingly unrelated topics are deeply connected in my mind and in the way I understand and play RPGs.

Of all the authors listed in Appendix N that we old timers like to point to as our inspiration, HPL looms very large in my own formation as a person and as a player. The images he uses to describe the nothingness that looms in the dark just beyond our awareness and the words he gives our fears about these lurking dooms are not only hauntingly beautiful, but empowering.

We live in a fallen world filled with decay, disease and death. We are all doomed to die. We can live in denial and try desperately to ignore our own mortality only to find ourselves getting closer to our inevitable end every day, despite our best efforts at holding on to our youth. Death is alway crouched just over our shoulder, ready to strike at a moment's notice. To live in this shadow is terrifying. HPL names this fear and gives it form. Thus, though we are in the midst of fighting the long defeat our own life, HPL allows us to come face to face with that defeat and march forward in spite of it.

St. George was a Roman soldier from Cappadocia in modern day Turkey. He proved to be a charismatic leader and quickly rose in rank. By his twenties he was a tribunus and later became a comes. Eventually, he was stationed in Nicomedia as a member of the personal guard attached to Emperor Diocletian. In 303, the Emperor issued an edict authorizing the systematic persecution of Christians throughout the Empire. St. George faced his own end and he bravely walked through it. Instead of participating in the persecution of his own people, he confessed to be a Christian and openly criticized the imperial desicion. Diocletion ordered his torture and execution. He was eventally beheaded in front of the defensive wall of Nicomedia on Apri 23, 303.

St. George looked at the creeping doom described so evocatively by HPL and did not flinch. He chose to do the right thing — the heroic thing — despite his full knowledge that he would not do so without suffering and dying. Of course, from a Christian perspective, death no longer has any sting because Christ has risen from the dead, trampling death by death and to those in the tombs he has granted life. That belief, however, still requires a tremendous amount of faith and courage in the face of certain toture and death. St. George had that faith and that courage and he stood up in front of the looming darkness in an effort to stop it. In the short term, he failed.

Emperor Diocletian, and Galerius after him, systematically sought out and killed Christians throughout the Empire for eight long years. The Synaxarion of the Church is littered with martyrs from this era. In the long run, however, St. George's faith, courage and sacrifice changed lives. Diocletian's own wife became a Christian as a result. She stood in the breach and gave her life as well. Others followed day after day fightng the long defeat. Except that in the larger Christian world-view, though our own battles will end in defeat, the war belongs to Christ, and He will be victorious.

In 311, Galerius gave up on his quest to purge the Empire of Christianity and issed an edict of toleration. When St. Constantine became the first Christian Emperor in 313 initiating a Christian empire that would last a thousand years, Christianity, through the martyrs like St. George, conquered the known world without lifting a sword. Armed against the slithering darkness with only the words, "I am a Christian," St. George succeeded where the Gauls, the Dacians, the Greeks, the Persians, the Egyptians and countless others failed.

Though we die, we fight the darkness with good cause knowning that our King will come again and grant us citizenship in the New Kingdom where Cthulu, Yog Sothoth and the Elder Gods will be no more.

Thus, I love to play the low level characters who are up against seemingly unconquerable evil and leap into the breach though it may very well be their end. I do it, because in a small way I can emulate St. George knowing that though I suffer this tiny defeat, I make it possible for the next character/generation to have that faith and courage to do the same.

Maze of the Minotaur

Recently (inspired by Dyson at A Character for Every Game), I've been experimenting with geomorphs. I remember seeing them in my hobby store as a kid, but never bought them nor ever used them in all the years that I've played RPGs. Until now, I've never had much use for them. It wasn't until I embraced the model of building dungeons expressed by Moldvay and modeled in B1 In Search of the Unknown that I have grown to have any appreciation for them.

For those who do not fully embrace the Moldvay/B1 style, I do have a wonderfully nasty way to use them as a large encounter area to be dropped into your favorite megadungeon or even as a stand alone adventure. In an homage to the Greek myth, I call it the Maze of the Minotaur.

At its most basic, it uses 10 geomorphs (though one could expand it if one wanted to be really nasty). At the center of the maze, represented by one geomorph, is the actual minotaur lair. Of the remaining geomorphs, eight are arranged around the lair so that a 3x3 grid is created:

Anytime any character sets foot in the area of any part of a new geomorph, one turn later, the maze will shift. In a 3x3 grid, where the center geomorph never moves, there are eight possible ways for the maze to shift. Thus, a simple roll of a d8 can be used to determine the direction of the next shift. This is where the leftover geomorph comes into play. The new tile will shift one column or row of the maze, pushing one geomorph off the map. In the following example, a '1' is rolled to see which direction the maze shifts:



There are two exceptions to this, however. As mentioned above, the Minotaur's lair never shifts, so the center column and row are never moved. In addition, if a column or row is shifted one direction, it cannot be shifted in the opposite direction the very next time the maze shifts (and thus restoring the maze to its previous formation). Using the example above, the next time the maze shifts, any roll of '4' needs to be re-rolled:


There are two additional rules necessary for the maze to function to prevent parties from being trapped forever inside the maze (or until the next group of adventurers shows up to shift the maze):

1. The maze will periodically shift of its own accord. Whenever a wondering monster encounter is indicated, the maze shifts.
2. When the adventurers are on the geomorph that gets pushed off the map there are two possible ways of handling this. The first is to keep them on the ousted geomorph, with all exits off the section blocked by rock/steel/some kind of magic force. The adventurers will have to wait for the maze to move on its own. The other possibility is to teleport them onto the geomorph that just replaced the one pushed off the map.

If anyone happens to use this concept in play, I'd like to hear how it goes.

Lost Colonies Session 15

One of the risks that you run as a Referee when undertaking a sandbox campaign is that the work put into creating dungeons can go for naught if players interests take them elsewhere. Personally, I deflect much of this by copius use of random tables — they severly cut down on prep time and not only offer up an interesting concoction for my players, but challenge me as a Referee which makes things interesting for me.

One of the curiosities of this campaign has been the way my group has largely ignored the tent-pole megadungeon (as James over ar Grognardia likes to call them). Although the campaign started out with several forays into the megadungeon, they have gone out of their way to avoid it ever since they delved too deep and ran into some things beyond their capabilities. This has resulted in making the place even more dangerous (sans an adventuring party to keep the forces of Chaos in check, they have slowly been able to accomplish their goals and grow in power). Instead, this campaign has largely been outdoor exploration with the occasional dungeon delve when lairs are found.

I find myself asking whether or not the megadungeon concept is at fault, that this group (having largely learned the game with 3.5) just isn't used to the idea, or if my version of a megadungeon just doesn't hold together very well.

This session I got burned a little bit. Ever since the party left Xerxes, the NPC Magic User, behind when they travelled to Trisagia, I have been planning a betrayal, a theft, a murder and a fun house dungeon. Upon returning to Headwaters, the party found out that Fr. Taggert had been murdered, the Golden Mask being kept at the Church had been stolen and the Eye of St. Gabriel had been gouged out of Fr. Taggerts' eye socket. The prime suspect is Xerxes, since he hasn't been seen since the murder and thefts.

The party went to his room at the inn to investigate, only to be welcomed by a taunting magic mouth informing them that if they wished to get the Eye back, they would need to follow a map buried under the corner stone of Hamlen's father's barn (which happened to lead to a good 'ol fun house dungeon I've been piecing together for several weeks). However, the party decided to go (yet again) in an unexpected direction.

Earlier, they had encountered what they thought to be a dragon (which had killed one of the PCs). In its possession was a vial of a silvery liquid they needed in order to give Grak an artificial arm. Thus, instead of puzzling through my fun house, the party decided to take on a dragon and forced me to take out a map I'd drawn a couple months ago which at that time was ignored. What ensued was a brilliant use of a Shrinking Potion and a Bag of Holding.

Unbeknownst to the party (and to their great benefit) the said "dragon" isn't a real dragon, only dragon-kin. It has no breath weapon, though it is poisonous and regenerates like a troll. After getting its attention by massacring a number of its goblin minions in an ambush, the dragon killed the party's horses and dogs and then proceeded to roll horribly and get itself "killed" (by the Halfling, no less); however, the regeration meant that the party could not kill the dragon with conventional weapons. Thus, when they had knocked the dragon out, they forced a shrinking potion down its throat, tied him up and threw him inside a bag of holding. I was stunned. I thought the move so brilliantly cool, that I allowed the maneuver. Now the party has a dragon stuck inside a bag of holding with no way out (the potion has since worn off and it can't fit through the small opening of the bag) and it is starving. It will be very interesting to see what the party manages to do with it.

As an aside, I was pleasantly surprised by one of my players (Arkmed the Dwarf) who thanked me for running Labyrinth Lord. He confessed that he liked the system better than 3.5 — it was quicker, freer and allowed the party to accomplish a lot more in a shorter ammount of time. It seems that you don't have to be a grumpy old man who's played since the 70s to appreciate the old ways. Thank God.

Lost Colonies Session 14

Over the weekend, James over at Grognardia wrote a meditation on the Referee as a player. An integral part of this is the use of the random die roll for such things as encounters, treasures, wondering monsters, reactions, etc. because it allows for the Referee to be surprised. As I've recently admitted, the Lost Colonies campaign depends far more on random rolls and ad hoc decisions than it does on any kind of pre-planned plot or narrative. There is an overall background "theme" that evolves over time, especially as it reacts to the actions of the player characters, but it doesn't dominate the campaign, unless the players make choices to allow it to. For example, this session was almost entirely the result of a random die roll.

The players surprised me somewhat this week. After discussing their options, they decided that Headwaters had a larger claim on their interest than the portal they found beneath Trisagia (aka the City). Thus, they equipped themselves for the 10 day journey. I was actually kind of pleased by this turn of events, because the decision is the result of the players putting down roots in the small town. For example, Hamlen has made plans to build a tavern (and has even made his first hire — he offered a better life to the one-armed prostitute he garnered information from when they first arrived in Trisagia).

On they way back, I rolled a random encounter and came up with a werewolf along with some wolves. The party then used their newly purchased war dogs to track down the lycanthrope's lair. I pulled out a map of a "haunted house" that had a nice surreal and creepy ambiance. None of the encounters were necessarily dangerous, but it did allow for the rest of the werewolves to show up as the players were exploring the house in a kind of grand entrance. During their investigations, they found several knicknacks — including some highly explosive "oil" — as well as the main treasure trove hidden inside a bag of holding. The highlight of the evening was an encounter with a mummified head. In an ad hoc decision, I gave the thing the ability to talk. It claimed to have a vast amount of knowledge, but would only divulge such information if a favor was granted. Although the party was greatly tempted, they refused — given the creepy environment.

All of this was virtually made up on the spot, using a combination of my library of maps and adventures, die rolls and my own creativity. This is fairly typical. As such, I rarely place items in order to solve a problem later on in an adventure. Yet, my players often think that I do. As a result, they assumed that the explosive oil was for the purpose of ridding the world of the talking and mummified head. So, they proceeded to have a "Mythbusters" moment and blew the whole house to kingdom come. We all had a lot of fun with it.

I realize that several old-school modules from back in the day placed treasures that help parties later in the module to survive one or more encounters (a silver weapon for lycanthropes, potions of water breathing to deal with an underwater encounter, etc.); however, I wonder how much more evident this practice became in later editions of the game. In other words, is this assumption by my players that I place items to solve situations later in the adventure typical in every era of the game, or is it more prevalent in the narrative "story telling" adventures of later editions?

Lost Colonies Session 13

I should first explain that life has intruded quite a bit in the last month or so, which explains why I have not posted much. Lent, Holy Week and health issues have all been much more challenging than expected. Hopefully, life will settle down in the coming weeks and you will see more posts (for example, I have two more sessions of Lost Colonies to write...).

The beginning of this session involved finishing up the last of the puzzles I pulled out last time. It is one that I am particularly fond of and so I will share. As I mentioned last time, the room was covered in mosaics. On the far wall were three queens holding a chest. On the left wall, the three queens were dressed and ready for battle. On the right, two queens were standing, the third was sitting and all wore black. At the far end of the room were three life sized statues of queens armed with swords floating a couple of inched off the floor. In mosaic on the floor was a 6x6 checker board. The puzzle is solved (thus opening the chest) when the three queens are placed upon the checker board in such a way that every square is attacked according to the rules of chess. If the three queens are placed upon the board (and they are easily moved, gliding across the floor) in such a way that any spaces are not attacked by the queens, not only do the queens return to their original position in the room, but some kind of undead creature appears in each of the spaces not attacked by the queens and immediately go after the party.

Due to a lack of explicit directions, this room resulted in a lot of trial and error by the players and proved to be a bit more combat heavy than I expected, but was entertaining, none-the-less. When every player is pouring over possible solutions and sharing ideas, I figure a puzzle has done its job.

After the players solved each puzzle, the "chest" in the wall was opened revealing a bit of treasure and a rod engraved with writing similar to that on the Golden Masks they have been periodically running into. In addition, each was topped with a different 3D shape (pyramid, sphere and cube). Three significant finds happened to be in the chest protected by the queens: a tunic covered with Istenite iconography, a phylactery and a short sword engraved with the elven word for "hornet."

There was now only one part of the dungeon that the players had not been able to explore, due to setting off a trap that resulted in a lingering, acidic cloud. After solving all the puzzles, they returned to the site of the trap and found out that the cloud had dissipated. Beyond, they found a room occupied by some kind of fleshy construct covered in runes. When the characters considered attacking it, these runes appeared on parts of their bodies. The construct, however, did nothing until the party finally did make an attack (a Hold Person spell which failed to have any effect). What followed was a bit of a surreal combat. As Hamlen again stood in the breach armed with Liberator and boosted by Bless and Cure Light Wound spells, Arkmed the Dwarf was busily trying various key combinations in a dias in the room beyond the construct. As Hamlen found out that he shared any damage he did to the construct, Arkmed found that each key combination transformed the entire room into a portal to various unknown locations: a desert, a snow bound valley, an underwater city, an underground fungal forest, an unlit cavern and a featureless hallway marked only by circular iron door.

When the construct was finally defeated, Hamlen was near death and the party was loathe to risk walking through to any of the unknown locations. Thus, they returned to the surface. The session ended with a report of their success to Bishop Iova. Of note, Bishop Iova informed the party that the tunic they found is a bit of a relic. It was worn by St. Siors and bestows its wearer with an extra hit point per hit die and a bless spell usable once per day.

Christ is Risen!