Showing posts with label ADnD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ADnD. Show all posts

Monday, May 28, 2012

not spellbooks, books about spells

Dragon #82 (Feb '84) has one of my all-time favorite random charts, located in Bruce Heard's pretty dang cool article on spell research, "Spells Between the Covers: Details for Delving into Magical Research".  The chart that I love is this d100 list of what I tend to think of as "almost spellbooks".  Each entry is an academic treatise written by a famous or not-so-famous wizard.  Each book lists a few spells that are mentioned in the book or that the books might be helpful in developing.  These spells are not simply sitting in these books in complete form, waiting to be copied out by eager PC magic-users.  Rather the books contain clues that can aid in research, to the tune of up to +10% bonus to your research roll.  Dig up the original article for all the details.  Any, here's the chart in full.  Below the chart I'll offer an alternative use for it.  Dig it:

01-02. Idioms & Rare Cryptographs by Elminster (message, write, illusionary script, tongues, audible glamer, magic mouth)
03. Legendry of Phantoms and Ghosts by Evard (phantom armor, phantom steed, phantom wind, Evard's black tentacle, wraithform)
04. Lore of Subtle Communication by Tasha (ventriloquism, message, comprehend languages, legend lore, Tasha.s uncontrollable hideous laughter)
05-06. Ancient Cryptomancy by Phandal (sending, wizard mark, secret page, sepia snake sigil)
07-08. Extreme Powers of Observation by Kwalish (detect magic, detect illusion, identify, detect invisibility, glassee, locate object)
09. Eyes, Vision, and Arcane Sight by Alphon (infravision, clairvoyance, blur, vision, blindness, wizard eye, eyebite, ultravision)
10. Theories on Perception by Kuroth (detect evil, clairaudience, true sight, deafness)
11-12. Manual Powers Beyond the Life by Bigby (burning hands, Bigby's interposing hand, Bigby's forceful hand, Bigby's grasping hand, Bigby's crushing hand, Bigby's clenched fist)
13. The Seven Skies of The Universe by Casimur (gust of wind, whispering wind, rainbow pattern, precipitation, cloudburst, wind wall)
14-15. The Forgotten Arts of Oratory Magnetism by Leomund (fascinate, taunt, irritation, truename, Leomund's lamentable belabourment)
16. Theory of the Invisible Forces by Tenser (push, unseen servant, strength, Tenser's floating disc)
17- 8. Displacements and Modelling the Milieu by Thurl (shatter, enlarge, mending, stone shape, massmorph)
19. Creation and Modification of Matter by Caterpillar (move earth, dig, telekinesis, statue)
20-21. Influence on Solid Corpus by Mentor (fool's gold, transmute rock to mud, stone to flesh, plant growth, animal growth, shape change)
22. Subconscious Repercussions of Pyromancy by Quaal (fire trap, wall of fire, firewater, flaming sphere)
23-24. Dissimulation and Obscuration by Tzunk (blink, invisibility invisibility 10. radius, improved invisibility darkness, continual darkness, vacancy, avoidance, mass invisibility)
25-26. Life of Nature, Its Secrets by Caligarde (feather fall, levitate, spider climb, web, fly, mount, Caligarde's claw, bind)
27. Alterations of Tangibles and Intangibles by Yagrax (melt, transmute water to dust, item, material, fabricate, crystalbrittle)
28. Encyclopaedia of the Non-Substances by Asmiak (erase, non-detection, misdirection, improved phantasmal force)
29-30. Components and Reactions of Phosphorus by Daern (affect normal fires, dancing lights, fire charm, fireball, delayed blast fireball, incendiary cloud)
31. Legendry of Great Arms and Fabulous Heroes by Kas (armor, phantom armor, stoneskin, protection from normal missiles, shield, forcecage)
32. Sulphur, Influence and Actions by Arbane (pyrotechnics, flame arrow, fire charm, fire shield)
33-34. Tome on Influences and Suggestions by Arunsun (charm person, ray of enfeeblement, scare, suggestion, antipathy/sympathy, mass suggestion)
35. The Multiple Applications of Perceptomancy by Laeral (alarm, detect illusion, mislead, dream, dolor, sequester, Laeral's dancing dweomer)
36. Occult Magnetism by Nolzur (friends, hold person, charm monster, hold monster, charm plants, mass charm)
37-38. Arcane Manipulations of the Entourage by Otto (sleep, scare, fumble, geas, Otto's irresistible dance, confusion)
39. The Deep Fears of Humanity by Hallo-ene (shout, spook, scare, fear, chaos)
40-41. Art of Communications and Sigils by Flamsterd (explosive runes, power word stun, power word kill, power word blind, symbol)
42. Echo & Resonance of the Great Void by Whisper (find familiar, monster summoning I - V)
43. The Foundations of Secret Authority by Ill-Oominoty (binding, demand, torment, dismissal)
44-45. Epic Saga of the Great Conjurers by Mordenkainen (Mordenkainen's faithful hound, conjure animals, monster summoning VI, cacodemon)
46. Repertoire of Illustrious Conjurations by Drawmij (conjure elemental, Drawmij's instant summons, monster summoning VII, summon shadow, invisible stalker, guards and wards)
47. Architecture by Leomund & Mordenkainen (Leomund's secure shelter, Leomund's tiny hut, forcecage, Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion)
48-49. Doors and Passages of Parallel Worlds by Lethchauntos (hold portal, knock, jump, wizard lock)
50. Theories on Converging Transitions by Lhegrand (dimension door, passwall, gate)
51. The Unknown Movements of the Universe by Arnd (run, shadow walk, teleport without error, succor, vanish)
52. Thesis on Conditional Ruptures by Archveult (teleport, phase door, shadow door, maze, Archveult's Skybolt)
53. Luminescence and Coloration by Nchaser & Tulrun (light, color spray, continual light, darkness 15' radius, prismatic spray, project image, projected image, chromatic orb, Nchaser's glowing globe, Tulrun's tracer)
54. Spherogenesis of the Multiverses by Otiluke (Otiluke's resilient sphere, Otiluke's telekinetic sphere, Otiluke's freezing sphere, globe of invulnerability, flaming sphere, prismatic sphere)
55. The Powers of the Spiritual Will by Phrandjas (emotion, chaos, feeblemind, confusion)
56. The Transcendental Impenetrabilities by Leomund (Leomund.s tiny hut, minor globe of invulnerability, globe of invulnerability prismatic sphere)
57. Cosmogony of Magnetic Fluids by Mordenkainen (chain lightning, volley, energy drain, Mordenkainen's disjunction)
58-59. Arcane Resistance of Dwarves and Halflings by Serten (dispel magic , remove curse, Serten's spell immunity, anti-magic shell, dispel illusion, dispel exhaustion)
60. Manual of Magnetic and Electric Waves by Gee-Eeh (shocking grasp, lightning bolt, repulsion, reverse gravity)
61. The Dark Sides of the Memory by Mordenkainen (banishment, Mordenkainen's lucubration, ensnarement, contingency)
62-63. Treatise on Cabalistic Protections by Krest (protection from evil, shield, protection from evil 10' radius, protection from normal missiles)
64. The Trance of the Intellect by Aspirin (feign death, contact other plane, limited wish, wish)
65. The Representations of the Sentient Plane by Rialissom (phantasmagoria, weird, mirage arcane, advanced illusion, delude)
66-67. Intelligence and Intuitive Domination by Zagy (ESP, trap the soul, spiritwrack, magic jar)
68-69. Arcane Puissance of the Memory by Rary (Rary's mnemonic enhancer, forget, mind blank, hypnotic pattern)
70. The Origins of the Hour Glass Symbology by Nulathoe (preserve, tempus fugit, Nulathoe's ninemen, haste)
71-72. Variations on the Visual Perception by Mhzentul (hypnotism, hallucinatory terrain, paralyzation, veil)
73. Mental Impressions of the Retina by Johydee (phantasmal force, improved phantasmal force, permanent illusion, programmed illusion)
74. Treatise of Sublimated Oneiromancy by Tasirin (sleep, dream, feign death, Tasirin's haunted sleep)
75-76. Theory of Occult Visual Shock by Ye'Cind (fear, minor creation, phantasmal killer, major creation)
77-78. Libram of the Great Paravisual Emanations by Nystul (Nystul's magic aura, shadow magic, demi-shadow magic, shades, Leomund's trap)
79. The Minds of The Unknown by Lum (feeblemind, mind blank, dismind, forget)
80-81. Repertoire of Subconscious Apparitions by Gaxx (spectral force, shadow monsters, demi-shadow monsters, simulacrum)
82. Thesis on the Planes of Anti-Matter by Leomund (rope trick, distance distortion, astral spell, disintegrate, Leomund's secret chest, duo-dimension, deeppockets)
83-84. Clouds and Fog by Dahlver-Nar (stinking cloud, fog cloud, cloudkill, wall of fog, death fog, solid fog)
85-86. Gazette of the Norse Climates by Otiluke (gust of wind, ice storm, control weather, Otiluke's freezing sphere, cone of cold, wall of ice)
87. Science of Temporal Waves by Leuk-0 (haste, slow, extension I - III, permanency)
88-89. Tome of Studies on the Fourth Dimension by Seik-O (temporal stasis, time stop, imprisonment)
90-91. Occult Observations on Fluids by Koorz (water breathing, airy water, lower water, part-water, sink, grease, Spendelarde's chaser)
92. Evolution of the Arcane Will Power by Tenser (polymorph self polymorph other, polymorph any object, Tenser's transformation)
93-94. Alterations of the Intrinsic Absolutes by Math (change self, alter reality, massmorph, shape change, alter self)
95-96. The Bricks of the Spiritual Fortification by Webster (wind wall, wall of fire, wall of force, wall of iron, wall of stone, prismatic wall, glassteel)
97. Ordinary Necromancy by Vecna (animate dead, death spell, reincarnation, clone)
98. The Weapons of the Ether by Melf & Mordenkainen (whip, Melfs acid arrow, magic missile, enchant an item, enchanted weapon, Mordenkainen's sword)
99. Treatise of Universal Astronomy by Melf (Melf's minute meteor, meteor swarm, fireball)
00. Inexplicable Reflections by Bucknard (mirror image, magic mirror, gaze reflection)

Obviously some of the author names used above are gags.  Eg. Koorz, master of fluid magic, is based upon Coors, a brand of cheap American beer.

Anyway, to get another use out of this chart, set aside the book concept for a moment.  What we have here are a list of wizards, most of whom probably lived centuries ago, and what spells they were into.  Assume wizardry works by wizards passing knowledge to apprentices over the generations, a sort of apostolic succession as opposed to the Hogwart's model of mass magical education.  This means you could roll on this chart for each MU in your campaign.  What the spell list afterwards means would depend on how generous you are with spells in your game.  They could be free spells added to the book, or PCs could get a bonus to researching them since they have been taught the proper theoretical background info.

Plus it would be super-neat to assign each PC and NPC a school of wizardry that mostly exists to color the campaign.  Do the disciples of Ye'Cind constantly seek out that archmage's lost Recorder?  Are the members of the school of Vecna all unrepentant jerks, or do they get a bad rep because their founder went bonkers in his elder years?  Are the Sons of Koorz all beery swine?  Or "Hey, DM, I really want to learn lightning bolt."  "Then seek ye a student of the ancient master, Gee-Eeh."  Instant adventure hook.

If you've got the late AD&D1 tome Greyhawk Adventures by Jim Ward you can use the Bigby, Drawmij, Mordenkainen, Nystul, Otiluke, Otto, Rary and Tenser-branded spells therein as secret teachings for these wizards.  These spells and the teachings attached to them never made it into publication, so only the apprentices of the apprentices of the apprentices of these great bygone masters know them.

And just to keep the PCs on their toes, pick a few of the authors on the list above to be alive and active in the campaign.  The reputations of these living masters could precede them in the form of these treatises, encounters with apprentices and evidence of heavy duty magic in use.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Material Components: Pros & Cons

So I hope everyone got a chance to check out my list of first level components that the local witch would sell if I decided to run my campaign with AD&D first edition.  Not long after the announcement of the new reprints a someone on a thread over on Google+ asked what mechanical weirdness people would cut from the rules if they opted to run AD&D1 again.  My from-the-hip answer was "almost nothing".  If I'm going to run AD&D again I'm going to try to tackle the whole dang mess.  Hence the new weapons chart I did a few days ago and yesterday's material components chart.  Ability score limits by gender are about the only thing I can think of that I would outright jettison.  I'd even try keeping the stupid alignment rules.

Anyway, let's look at some of the issue surrounding material components for spellcasting.

CON: The are a giant headache for the DM.  Obviously this is why no one uses them.  Even with that Dragon article assisting me, that chart yesterday was a giant pain in the ass to make.  And it only covers the first level spell components for sale in one specific shop.  Someone with programming skills could automate the process, but you'd still need a multi-page printout for each magic shop in your campaign world.

PRO: They're a tool for the DM.  You know what's missing from Dremelza's shelf of first level components?  Pearls, owl feathers and live miniature carp.  Those plus wine are the necessary components for Identify.  She doesn't sell them (in fact maybe she buys pearls at a fair price, if asked) because she holds a local monopoly on Identify spells.  A PC entering the region with Identify is suddenly in a new situation.  And what is RPG play if not an exploration of new situations?

CON: Players don't want to mess with this crap.  AD&D1 already has a pretty intense character sheet.  Do you really want to add tracking how much of each of the three things you need to cast Friends?  And what happens if you fall in a pit and half the little jars in your component pouch break?

PRO: Players can use this crap against enemy wizards.  Enterprising thieves can forget backstabbing the necromancer, just swipe his belt pouch instead!

CON: Oh crap, that means I need to generate the component pouch of every NPC spellcaster.  Again, a little computerfication should help here.

PRO: Thinking about where the NPC spellcastes get their components can lead to new adventure situations.  Take the PC who wants to Identify some stuff rather than pay Dremelza through the nose.  Where does she get these components?  She needs a good supply, given that she casts Identify more often than just about any other spell in her spellbook (except maybe Polymorph Other, people on her bad side tend to end up turned into animals).  Perhaps her tiny carp and pearls come from the sea elves who live near the coast.

CON: Gathering components can really bog down a session.  Imagine the party stumbles into a standard bat-filled cavern.  The illusionist immediately starts pestering the DM about how much bat fur can be gathered to fuel his Darkness spell.  How the crap would I know?

PRO: Any activity that further the campaign that isn't just killing things will only make the play experience richer.  In fact, my whole argument probably rests on this assumption.  "I can't cast Comprehend Languages because I'm out of salt" is a bummer for the PC and the party relying on him, but it sure keeps things interesting.  And watching the players squirm as the elf swallows a live spider to cast Spider Climb will never, ever get old.

Obviously this post isn't going to convince everyone to adopt material components.  I'm not even trying to do that.  But let's talk this out.  If you see an objection that I missed or you feel I've glossed over, please say so in the comments.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Dremelza's Front Room

Here's what the local witch in my campaign would sell to first level PCs, if I was running AD&D first edition. The numbers are based upon (but not identical to) those found in "Living in a Material World", Dragon #81 (January 1984).  Jamie Mal has the rundown on that piece here.  (For those of you playing at home, assume Dremelza is an MU7 and that Camelton is a village of a little less than a thousand inhabitants.)

Tomorrow I'd like to talk about material components, but today I just want to hit you with some raw data.


.
SubstanceForm/ContainerUsesCostAvailability
.
Bat fursmall packet1010gp60%
.
Bitumensmall vial2050gp100%
.
Blood, mammalsmall vial510gp70%
.
Brass, powderedsmall vial1050gp100%
.
Brazierindividual item1250gp100%
.
Burrssmall packet1010gp100%
.
Chalkindividual piece110gp100%
.
Charcoalsmall packet110gp100%
.
Coalindividual piece110gp80%
.
Copper wireindividual piece110gp100%
.
Cricket, livesmall jar110gp100%
.
Crucifix, woodenindividual itemunlimited1gp100%
.
Crystal, clearindividual pieceunlimited55gp100%
.
Crystal, yellowindividual piece1100gp70%
.
Dirtsmall packet1010gp100%
.
Dungsmall packet1010gp100%
.
Evergreenindividual sprig110gp80%
.
Fleecesmall packet1010gp80%
.
Flour, whitesmall packet1010gp100%
.
Glass, yellowindividual piece110gp70%
.
Grasshopper legssmall vial41gp100%
.
Herb mixturesmall packet1100gp100%
.
Incenseindividual stick110gp80%
.
Ink, specialtysmall vial1300gp100%
.
Iron & silver, powdered mixturesmall vial1075gp100%
.
Iron, powderedsmall vial1035gp100%
.
Lampblacksmall vial1010gp100%
.
Lodestoneindividual piece125gp70%
.
Mercurytiny vial20250gp90%
.
Mica, yellowindividual piece110gp70%
.
Mirror, small silverindividual itemunlimited100gp70%
.
Mistletoe, borrowedindividual sprig15gp70%
.
Oaken clubsingle weaponunlimited10gp80%
.
Parchment coneindividual piece15gp100%
.
Pease, split driedsmall packet101gp100%
.
Phosphorussmall vial1050gp100%
.
Prism, mineralindividual pieceunlimited50gp100%
.
Rose petalssmall packet1010gp100%
.
Saltsmall vial101gp100%
.
Sand, bluesmall vial1010gp70%
.
Sand, finesmall vial1010gp100%
.
Sand, redsmall vial1010gp70%
.
Sand, yellowsmall vial1010gp70%
.
Shamrockssmall packet1025gp70%
.
Silkindividual square110gp90%
.
Silver, powderedsmall vial10100gp80%
.
Sootsmall vial1010gp100%
.
Spider, livesmall jar11gp100%
.
String wrapped around woodindividual piece11gp100%
.
Talcsmall vial1010gp70%
.
Vermilliontiny jar5100gp100%
.
Watersmall vial2010gp100%
.
Wychwoodindividual piece150gp100%