Moldvay Musings XIV, Part B: Item Creation

The second part of this section has to do with making physical magic items. Either reproducing one listed in the books or making a brand-new one. A few guidelines are given but, even more so than with spell research, DM discretion is involved.

Unlike new spells, making a magic item requires a caster of name level. MUs, Elves, and Clerics can all create items, but clerics are somewhat more limited than the others. They can only make items that they themselves could use. Note that this is not the same as cleric-only items. Magic armor would be one example that comes to mind.

It's also worth noting that nothing says the caster has to be the only person involved in the item's creation. Perhaps a jeweler crafts the actual ring or medallion that is to be enchanted to the wizard's specifications.

Another thing to keep in mind is that acquiring the materials required are potential adventures in and of themselves. Minotaur bones, meteoric iron, or a mirror that's held a medusa's reflection are not things one can buy in town.

"These items should be difficult to obtain, and the spell caster will often have to adventure to acquire the items, for there are no magic stores."

-X51 (emphasis mine)

Side Note: I don't know that this line was intended to populate over into all facets of a BX setting, but the idea that a place to buy magic items is by default nonexistent is an interesting one. I know that I have ignored this quite frequently in order to give the players more options when it came to what to spend their money on. I am led to ponder a bit about the scope of the game and what the original intentions were, but that's a much larger topic than the one in front of us. Another time, perhaps.

Back on topic, without getting into the specifics of costs and crafting times it's important to look at them in terms of the investment they represent to the PC spellcaster. This includes money and time.

PCs creating items are going to be out of the normal day to day of the campaign for a while. They aren't going to be dungeon crawling while creating a carpet of flying or a ring of spell storing, but they may need to go on adventures ahead of time to get what they need for the task. Alternately, they may hire lower level PCs (or send apprentices) to get the goods. In fact, that is a great way to run a multi-tiered campaign: where the lower level PCs are in the employ of the higher leveled ones. Or as hooks for low level parties working for a high level NPC.

The investment of money is another factor to consider. Magic items can cost tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of gold pieces to make. The crafting PC would likely need at least one of the following ways to raise the necessary capital:

1. Have saved a lot of cash from earlier adventures.
2. Work for a wealthy patron. Possibly royalty or rich merchants.
3. Plan on selling the item and/or take commissions.

It's also important to note that in both spell research and item creation, there is a 15% chance of failure. This is rolled after the time and money are spent! So the PC's investment is gone either way. An important factor when weighing the costs and benefits.

Finally, it's worth looking at a brief passage on X52:

A spell caster may want to use magic in a way not covered by spells or production: cleansing a defiled temple, opening a gate to another world, setting magical traps, and so on.

This opens up a whole wealth of opportunities within a campaign. Perhaps that party wants to time travel back to when a lich was still a living mortal? Or travel to another plane (not something expressly covered in BX)?  DMs and players alike should see this as a great opportunity to get creative and really give a campaign a distinct flavor beyond "We kill it and take its stuff!"

Moldvay Musings XIV, Part A: Spell Research

One of the comments I hear from time to time from players (and sometimes DMs) about "0E" games like BX is that magic is fairly limited compared to later versions of the game. Though I've written in the past about how I see this more as a feature than a bug, the Expert rules do include a concise yet robust method to give spell-casters more flexibility and freedom. Namely the spell research and magic item creation rules on page X51. I'm going to focus on spells for now, then follow up next time with items. I've talked about both of these when discussing name level mages and their towers, but I wanted to look at the processes themselves here.

The rules for spell research are fairly loose, relying more on DM judgement and context within the game than supplying a hard and fast price list or formula. This is a better choice, in my opinion. Especially for a game like BX which eschews codifying every little detail. To quote Matt Finch, "Rulings, not rules."

The one part that is spelled out (heh, see what I did there?) is a simple cost formula for time and money: 2 weeks and 1000gp per spell level. 

What this section really emphasizes is the idea that the DM and player work together to come out with the spell's level, effects, range, etc. The book describes it as a proposal submitted by the player to the DM, who then A) decides whether such a spell is even possible, then figures out the details. I think a more collaborative approach is perfectly possible however, as long as it's understood that the DM has the final say. 

Oddly, when I talk to fellow BX-ers, it seems that spell research rarely comes up in their games. At least, I haven't seen many examples of it. This is too bad, since it's a great opportunity for player characters to really contribute to the game. Not only does it give their character something potentially unique about them, but it gets the player engaged in the campaign on a different level entirely. 

And that, IMNSHO, is a very good thing. 

Curious Objects: Scarab of Protection

This is a powerful, if limited, item that I have rarely seen in play. It won't keep that sword out of your vitals or that lightning bolt from frying you to a crisp, but it can definitely save your bacon..

Unlike a ring of protection or similar, the scarab doesn't up your armor class. Rather, it absorbs certain evil magics, keeping them from harming the wearer. Specifically, it blocks curses and the "finger of death" spell.

Let's start with the latter. Finger of Death is the reverse of Raise Dead. That's a 5th level clerical spell and only certain clerics (i.e. evil/chaotic) are probably ever going to be casting that version. Despite the fact that this situation may not arise too often, having an item that just nullifies it is pretty amazing. Now, as the scarab has limited charges, I would probably allow the targeted PC their saving throw vs. Death Ray first, then -if they failed- take off the charge from the scarab.

What's slightly more likely to come up is the scarab's ability to absorb curses. The description specifies that the curse can be from "spell, scroll, or other effect." In other words, nearly anything. In a BX world where you have cursed magic items, the curse spell, and even certain creatures with the spell-like ability to curse PCs, being able to shrug such things off is not trivial. While the description doesn't specify, I would rule that it would even protect from things like picking up a cursed magic sword or similar, as such things usually require a remove curse  to get rid of.

The scarab only comes with 2d6 charges, but there's no difference in cost for what it stops. So whether it's the Baleful Bishop casting finger of death at you, or a sprite giving you warts, it still costs one charge to block it. The spent scarab is useless and cannot be recharged.

It's important to note that the text says nothing about existing curses. Thus, it won't remove a curse that's already in place (just as it wouldn't resurrect someone already killed by finger of death). So putting the scarab on an afflicted character won't help.

This is another one of those magic items that could add a lot of flavor to an adventure or an NPC without drastically tipping power level with outrageous combat bonuses or similar. Likewise, a PC that finds one may be a bit underwhelmed initially, but as soon as that shaman's curse "bounces off" him, he'll be feeling differently about that little bit of bling.

Magic Mart: Buying/selling magic items

I am not a fan of how later D&D editions (particularly 3.X) reduced magic items to a simple commodity. I get that some of the rules about crafting costs and times were a bit subjective before, but I fall into the camp that magic should be magical. 

That being said, players will want to find ways to spend their loot and one of the most useful things for an adventurer is better gear. Once the fighter has bought plate mail and silver arrows, his upgrade options in the standard price list are a bit thin on the ground. I sometimes do have the odd item or two for sale in towns. Usually it's things like potions or scrolls and other "limited" magics.

In the current campaign I am running, the PCs have managed to get through two adventures, both times clearing a fair amount of coin; enough that the PCs that have survived since session one are at or near level 3 (except the elf). The nature of the adventures limited the chance to find items, though. I am thinking of giving them a chance to acquire some magical shinies. The question is how to decide what's available in such situations without being utterly arbitrary.

The idea I am currently playing with is based roughly off of the Treasure Type Tables on X43. The larger the town or city, the better the chance of any magical items for sale. Likewise, certain types of items are more often found than others. A first pass at this for a typical BX fantasy setting (not particularly high or low magic) might look something like:

Small Town or Village: 15% Any 1
Medium-sized Town: 25% Any 2 + 1 potion + 1 scroll
Large Town or Small City: 1d4 scrolls, 30% Any 3 + 1 sword, armor, or weapon
Large Metropolis: 1d4 scrolls, 2d4 potions, 35% Any 4

It's up to the individual DM to decide where a given population in his setting falls on this list. As examples, I would say a town like Threshold in Karameikos would be a medium town, whereas Specularum might be a small city. You might also tweak how you roll based on things like how much trade or traffic a location sees or if adventurers are common there.

In my campaign, the party is currently in a town of 3,000-4,000 people; what I would consider medium-sized in my setting.  But, it is also a busy river port that sees a good deal of trade and adventurer types are not uncommon here (a name-level mage has a tower just outside the town walls). Therefore, I have chosen to roll as a large town/small city.

Roll results are as follows:

1d4 Scrolls = 1. The % dice came "00"! Which is a nice treasure map to 5d6 gems and 2 magic items. Buuuut, the party is already following one map and I am trying to generate magical items here. So I re-rolled that and got a Protection from Magic scroll.

% dice for other magic = 30 exactly (!) So 3 items plus 1 arm or armor. I rolled a d3 to see which and got a 3, which is a non-sword weapon.

The percentile rolls for the specific items came up as follows:

• A potion of Giant Control
• +1 Spear
• A Staff of Healing Staff of Striking (18 charges)
• A MU/Elf spell scroll of 3 spells. This came up as one 4th, one 1st, and one 2nd level spell. I rolled randomly (d12s) and got Charm Monster, Ventriloquism, and Detect Evil.

Now this is a pretty impressive haul, and frankly a lot more magic than I like to be just lying around. If I want to let these results stand, I need to make sure these items aren't too easy to get. Namely, they need to be expensive or require the PCs do something to get them.

The protection scroll has a lot of potential utility, but it's one use only, so I will peg that at 1000gp.

I decided to roll randomly for what type of giant the potion can control. There are six kinds of giants and I rolled a 4: Fire Giant. This is pretty neat but of limited usefulness. Commanding 1d4 fire giants even for only an hour could be pretty epic, though! Let's say 1000gp

The +1 spear is nice, but is just a bonus to hit and damage. 1000 gp should cover that.

The healing staff is another matter. I will invoke DM fiat and say this is too powerful to be simply bought in town, ready to go. This item essentially allows a cleric to cast a Cure Light Wounds once per day on each PC and uses no charges! This sort of thing would be snapped up by one of the temples in town and not readily available to wandering murder hobos. As with the map, I re-rolled and the result was a Staff of Striking with 18 charges. This is a nice item, but limited by who can use it (clerics) and of finite charges. I will judge it roughly equivalent to the spear and set its price at 1000 gp as well.

The spell scroll would be pretty expensive. I have previously established house rules about spell books and scrolls, so using those I can pin its price tag at 3,500gp (7 spell levels total at 500 gp per). Since they are all on one scroll, it's an all or nothing price.

Now, this is a pretty generous haul, but the rolls were with them. The odds favored 2-3 scrolls and that's it. I would also argue that it would be a while (a month or two at least) before this particular town might be "restocked." Over the course of a campaign, I would see this as balancing out. I'm not sure it's the perfect system. I still needed to intervene a little to maintain what I see as a correct balance, but isn't that what DMs are supposed to do?

Curious Objects: Medallion of ESP

3 copper pieces if you know where that image is from!

Miscellaneous magic items (MMIs) are always an interesting read, as they cover what I consider the really "magical" part of magic items. Magic weapons or armor are usually just combat boosts, and scrolls or wands are mostly more spell slots. But MMIs? The sky's the limit. They might be boots or bags, musical instruments or jewelry, who knows? And who knows what they'll do? Sometimes their powers are passive, sometimes they have only a few uses. Often their abilities come with a price or a twist.

Case in point is the Medallion of ESP. This is an especially weird entry as there are two versions of it: The 30' range one in Moldvay, and its 90' cousin in Cook. Let's start with Basic, shall we?

The medallion has no charges or limited uses per day. It merely requires a round of concentration and limits what the wearer can do while concentrating (no fight, no spells). One need not be a spell-caster to use it, either. It should be mentioned that its effective range is shorter than the spell's, but its duration is limited solely by concentration.

This item's fun tidbit is that it malfunctions 1 in 6 times, causing the reverse effect and broadcasts the wearer's thoughts to everyone within 30'! I find that very funny and with great plot twist potential. This also ties in neatly with my ideas on magic having a cost.

The Expert rules add a second version of the medallion. This one with a 90' range. It's description is also somewhat different. This one merely mimics the 2nd magic user spell with the slightly farther range (90 vs 60'). This is interesting for two reasons. One, it's not only replicating a spell, it's improving upon it. Secondly, it puts me in mind that the basic version could be seen as a sort of a "flawed prototype" with less power and with some bugs in the system. I don't know why, but that just seems very "BX" to me.

Curious Objects: Staff of Wizardry

Once again, he is undeterred!

The staff of wizardry is arguably one of the most powerful magic items in the game. It's effectively the BX equivalent of AD&D's Staff of the Magi. Basically, it is three separate magic staves in one: in addition to its own distinct powers, it has all the abilities of the Staff of Power, which in turn can be used as a Staff of Striking. Let's start with the most straightforward of the three and move upwards, shall we?

Firstly, the Staff of Striking lets the wielder have a stronger melee attack than your average MU is capable of (2d6 damage, but costs a charge). While this staff is unusual in that clerics can also wield it, I do not think that aspect translates to the Staff of Power or Wizardry. While it isn't expressly stated, this is usually ruled to count as a magic weapon attack for purposes of hitting special monsters like gargoyles.

The Staff of Power gives the wielder some nice attack spells: fireball, lightning bolt, and cone of cold. Each dealing 8d6 damage! Sure it costs charges, but an Elf or MU toting one of those around is going to have something to bring to almost any fight. I particularly like that he has a variety of damage types to choose from. Fighting something immune to fire? Cone of cold it is!

The Staff of Wizardry is the main event, though. In addition to all of the above powers, it can also cast quite the laundry list of super-useful (and powerful) spells:

• Invisibility
• Passwall
• Web
• Conjure Elemental

These are some awfully nice abilities that aren't tying up a spell slot! Something I hadn't previously considered is that the elemental conjuration isn't just for one kind, it's any of the four! We're not done yet, though.

The staff also allows the wizard to create a whirlwind like a djinn. It also doubles as a wand of paralyzation. 

The last trick the staff carries is its "final strike." This release a fireball effect of 8hp damage per remaining charge (not rolled) to anyone within 30'.* This includes the caster or any friendlies, so it's a last-ditch effort, to be sure. It's still mighty impressive.

Staves in BX are found with 3d10 charges, and there is no BtB way to recharge them. So while this is a very powerful item, it is limited. The Elf or MU that found one would probably want to be conservative in its use. With an average of less than 20 charges, it's not going to last forever. In fact, I can imagine an NPC wizard with one who knows it's down to just a couple charges, but does his best to hide the fact in order to appear more dangerous. 

*Cook lists both 20' and 30' as the radius, but the Rules Cyclopedia says 30', so I went with that.

Curious Objects: Helm of Teleportation

I mentioned in my earlier post about communication that the Helm of Teleportation is a bit, well, odd. I thought I would talk a little about that today.

As non-combat oriented items go, it's pretty powerful. It emulates a fifth level spell up to once per round! Albeit with a few caveats.

First off, it's a piece of armor that only magic-users or elves can use. That's not such a big deal. Elves can wear armor, and I usually picture items like this as more decorative than protective. Secondly, the helm is a one-time item when you first find it. To quote the description:

"This item may only be used once by a magic-user or elf. It will have no further effect until a teleport spell is cast on it"

So think about that for a moment. You find this bad boy and it will let you teleport ONE time. Then you need to cast the fifth level spell on it to reset it. After that, you can pop around all you want, UNLESS:

"The user may try to teleport another creature or item; an unwilling victim may avoid the effect by making a saving throw vs. Spells. If used to teleport an unwilling creature the helmet will only work once, and the helm must thereafter be recharged with another teleport spell before again becoming useful."

So if, for instance, your party is fighting some big, bad nasty and you decide the best course of action is to teleport it far away, fine. But then your helmet is out of gas until a new teleport spell is cast on it. Note that its magic is only dissipated if the target is unwilling. If you use it to teleport someone that wants to go, there's no problem.

The whole idea that to make this thing useful requires access to a 9th level arcane caster who already has the spell amuses me. I suppose a scroll would do as well. Remember too that Teleport is a spell fraught with its own risks: There is a not-insignificant chance of instant death when being teleported.

oops!

All this makes me think about how I mentioned using this spell or item as a communication tool in the previous post. I think it might be even rarer given the chance of failure. Keep in mind that the spell as written only teleports the caster or another creature. Not an object. You can't just send the letter, someone has to carry it.

Endgame, part 3: Mages, Magical Studies, and Masonry

Magic-Users vary a bit from the previous classes since they don't necessarily have a role in a larger political or religious institution when it comes to reaching name level and building a tower. I like to think that the local rulers turn a bit of a blind eye to wizards laying claim to some lonely hill and starting construction. In truth, there are a couple decent reasons when I think about it:

1. Wizards aren't (generally) trying to rule over an area. They just want a place to work.
2. I mentioned in an earlier post how magic in a BX setting is somewhat limited in nature, so it doesn't really do to irritate high level MUs unnecessarily.
3. Do you really want them doing magical experiments right in the middle of town?

While the wizard's redoubt is traditionally dubbed a "tower," I'm sticking with the Tarnskeep 175K price tag for simplicity. Also, there are other costs a name level MU incurs that we'll get to in a minute. At 600000 xp to reach 11th level (that's right, 11th, not 9th), The MU should be able to afford the place.

First off, I'm going to quote a chunk of Cook Expert's text about name level MUs from X7 and then break it down a bit:

"Magic-users may add more spells to their spell books through spell research. At 9th level (Wizard) or above, magic-users may also create magical items. Both of these activities are explained under Magical Research (p. X51). Upon reaching 11th level, a magic-user may choose to build a tower, provided that money to pay for the construction is available. A magic-user who constructs a tower will gain 1-6 apprentices of levels 1-3."

Spell Research:

So while any level MU can do research, it can get pricey. Page X51 sets it at 1000gp per spell level with two weeks' research. The other party members might find waiting around for weeks at a time as the MU plows through books a bit dull. Sure they can have a town adventure, but then the MU's player is left out, and that's no fun for him. Better to be in a play mode where people are more settled and have the facilities to do proper research. You can still have adventures. How awesome would it be for the wizard to find out that in order to complete the formula, he has to find the lost scrolls of Kalb-Th'arr? Time to go collect your pals and go raid a lost temple!

Item Creation:

Name level wizards can actually craft magic items. This is a time-consuming and expensive process. Having a "lab" and a place to work seems like an obvious choice. The expense of some items is why I leave the price tag for the tower as high as I do. Since a wizard (probably) isn't commanding armies or raising temples, he is probably adding to his knowledge and his magical skills. Not every mage is going to sell magic items, but they might. They might focus on strengthening their own power, or their tower's defenses. In either case, it can get expensive. I can envision some wizards seeking patrons instead, like powerful fighter or local rulers and going the "Court Magician" route. After all, spell research and item creation gets pricey when, "There is always a 15% chance (at least) that magical research or production will fail. This check is made after the time and money are spent." (X51).

Apprentices:

1d6 apprentices is not a huge following, but keep in mind some of these might be up to 3rd level MUs. The idea is that they are there to study and learn from the wizard, not act as soldiers, They still could certainly bolster the defense of the tower. Nothing prevents a wizard from hiring mercenaries, either! (I have a vague memory that one flavor of D&D or clone allowed for the idea that chaotic wizards might attract monsters into the lower halls of his tower, I couldn't find it. EDIT: It was in the Rules Cyclopedia) Apprentice MUs can act as errand runners, too. Perhaps allowing for a split-level campaign where recovering rare materials for the high-level mage is a task for the lower level (N)PCs.

Curious Objects: Staff of Withering

There are several cursed objects in the BX magic items lists, but only a few seem to bestow curses or curse-like magic for the wielder instead of upon him. The Staff of Withering is one of them.

I've never placed this item or rolled it randomly. Nor do I recall a game where it appeared. It's strange for several reasons, so let's get to it.

First, it is a clerical item. Yet its extremely malicious nature would make it likely to only be used by chaotic types, so it seems like many PC clerics would avoid or destroy it. Sure, I can imagine scenarios where it could be helpful. e.g. A person has been cursed and turned into a baby and needs to be brought back to their correct age (or closer to it); but mostly, it's for stealing away a person's life a chunk at a time. This also lends itself to torture scenarios. A victim could be threatened with shortened lifespan unless they comply. Another decidedly un-Lawful kind of activity. I imagine many clerical types risking severe disfavor with their gods by employing this stick of incremental doom.

Secondly, there are no hard and fast rules about aging in BX. Not that I feel they are missed or needed, but this is one of the only times the issue of a PC's age comes up. There aren't even ghosts in the BX monster lists to unnaturally age a character. It's not hard to make some simple rulings about a 20-something fighter that suddenly find himself on the wrong side of 50, but as it can drastically affect the rest of the character's career (if any), it bears consideration.

One line stand out about this to me: "The effect of old age will be fatal to animals and most character classes," Now, there are two ways I can interpret this. One is the obvious, that old age kills and that the staff can –even with limited charges– age someone enough to put them in the grave. The other is that the effects of suddenly aging so much so quickly is a shock to the system and warrants a "save or die" roll. Personally, I think it's the former.

Another character aging issue is the line about elves and dwarfs ignore the effects for at least the first few hits. Demihuman lifespans vary from game to game and setting to setting, but I find the inclusion of that caveat interesting. The fact it does not affect the undead makes perfect sense, though a zombie turning into a skeleton would be a fun side effect.

Lastly, remember that as a staff it has limited charges. 3d10 in fact. That means it can steal a maximum of 300 years before it is used up. That, plus the fact it must touch the target, makes it even less of an adventuring item and for more specialized purposes.

Curious Objects: Ring of Delusion

I've mentioned this item in the past, but only as an example of a cursed item.

The lovely thing about rings in BX -and most other flavors of D&D- is that they can be just so darned tempting to adventures. Unlike scrolls or potions, they are usually permanent items. Unlike, weapons, often any class can use them. There are exceptions of course,  but most are universal. Rings also contain some of the most powerful items. The Rings of Wishes spring to mind.

So it's small wonder when a player gleefully has his PC slip that golden band around his knuckle and asks "What does it do?"

The fun with a Ring of Delusion comes in two parts:

1. The DM is encouraged to fool the player (as well as the PC) about the ring's effects for as long as possible. So when the PC tries to charm that guard with his "Ring of Human Control" he gets a rude surprise instead.
2. PCs are supposed to be resistant to giving up cursed items in general. The ring is no exception. So it could be argued that the character will persist in believing the item is conferring some great benefit even though it is plainly cursed. It does create a delusional effect, after all.

Now, I wrote a post a while back titled "Magic with a cost", with the idea being that some items may not be entirely beneficial or malign. Imagine a Ring of Delusion that actually does grant a magical benefit -invisibility, for example- but at the same time also makes the wearer believe something delusional about something other than the item's effect. For instance, the ring can let you turn invisible, but you also become convinced that you are the secret son of the king. Perhaps a series of vivid dreams gets confused with reality. Roleplaying fun awaits as the player gets to act this out. Of course, the fact that the ring actually turn him invisible is a red herring. The other players will be unable to pinpoint the cause of their companion's odd behavior. Like the doppelganger scenario, a player willing to RP the situation properly could fuel a whole series of adventures.

Curious Objects: Staff of Command

Welcome to the first in a new category of posts on this blog. I've decided to call it "Curious Objects." In these posts, I will take a look at some of the more obscure and/or interesting items in "Classic" (e.g. Basic/Expert) D&D.

For our first installment, I chose the Staff of Command. I came across this magical item in Cook Expert and was immediately struck at how powerful this thing could be a game.

Brief aside: In Moldvay's Basic, staves held 1d10 charges and were cleric-only (wands were for wizardly types). That was changed in Cook to vary by staff type. Some are clerical, some are "arcane" (MU/Elf), and some are usable by all three spell casting classes. Their charges were boosted to 3d10 as well.

The Staff of Command is usable by any spell caster type and it can emulate the powers of three very powerful rings: Human, Plant, and Animal Control. Of course, a staff has limited charges (rings don't), but even so, this opens up all sorts of possibilities for zaniness.

Human Control is basically a charm person spell. The target can save (albeit at -2), and there are limits to how many people can be controlled as well as what they can or can't do (no spellcasting from the thralls).

Animal Control is limited by the fact that you have to concentrate on the control or it ends. The beasts also have a negative reaction modifier toward the caster.

Plant Control is the one that looks the most fun. The staff allows you to "animate and control all plants and plant-like creatures" in a 10'x 10' area up to 60' away. It too has a concentration requirement, but let's just look at two things:

1) No save. I know, they're plants. BUT -
2) Plant. Like. Creatures.

That means you can take control of a treant, it gets no save, and you it will fight for you as long as you maintain concentration.

(Oddly, if you want to get technical, the Treant is the only plant-like creature in the BX monsters sections. As fungus is not a plant, etc.)

I don't see the staff as a game-breaking item. If nothing else, its limited charges keep it from being too OP. But there is SO much fun to be had with something like this, either in an NPC or PC's hands. Horses throwing riders, merchants becoming charmed, thorn bushes grabbing sentries, and so on. Any wizard would find it well worth his treasure share to get hold of one.

RMA (ish): NPC parties

Cook's Expert Rules typically tries not to step on the toes of its predecessor, Moldvay's Basic. One area where BX does sort of repeat itself is with NPC parties.

Each book provides rules for the DM to use in creating a group of NPCs. Because of the change in PC power levels, things get ramped up a notch in Expert. Moldvay allows for up to 3rd level NPCs, whereas Cook gives rules for up to 12th.

I find both books' sections on this very interesting reading. Not just for encounter design, but also for the steps given for creating the parties. There is a lot of randomness in the process. I find that refreshing, though. Sometimes random results are the most interesting. There's a chaotic fighter and lawful cleric in the group? How does that work? Especially if one is significantly more powerful than the other. This can make for some interesting moments at the gaming table.

Fun fact: NPC spells are supposed to be assigned randomly! I love it when characters (NPC or PC) have some of the more unusual spells.

Another interesting part is the assigning of magic items to the NPCs. In Basic, you roll on a treasure type for the NPCs. In Expert, a % chance is assigned (determined by level) for each NPC to possess a given type of item. The fact these non-PCs are walking around with magic loot (and using up that cool wand's charges) should get the PCs interested.

I think a rival group of adventurers is an awesome encounter, and provides a lot of possible campaign hooks for a group. Even if the PCs don't end up fighting them, having another group of murder-hobos out there after the treasure is a powerful incentive to get off their duffs and DO something!

I have half a mind to assemble an NPC party by these rules and use them as pre-gens for my next adventure. The result could be fun!

Intelligent Swords: A Dumb Idea?

Disclaimer: There are several variations of the intelligent sword rules in different editions. I am basing the mechanics discussed here on the B/X "Cook Expert" rules. 

Turning the WayBack™ machine to 1983 and the salad days of TSR, I remember many a 1st edition game after school, on weekends, vacations, etc. We were kids and we were sometimes shamelessly Monty Haul by our standards today. Multiple artifacts and relics floated through the campaign, millions of gold pieces rattled around in bags of holding, and more than one PC was psionic and/or had an 18/00 strength (along with maybe a belt of storm giant strength). 

One of the more interesting items that crossed the party's path was a +5 Holy Avenger. Rare enough, to be sure, but it was also two-handed and it was sentient.

Leaving aside the odds of all that (if rolled randomly), it had several additional powers beyond the impressive array that the +5 H.A. already boasted. The player was ecstatic, and the sword was his favorite new toy. Over time, I came to see such items as unbelievably munchkin and disliked them on principle. 

Back now, in the present day, I recently re-read the B/X and Labyrinth Lord rules for such items and it got me to thinking; just how good or terrible an idea is such an item in a campaign, really? 

A few things that I noticed looking at the rules as written. First off, I hadn't realized how COMMON an intelligent sword is! 30% of magic swords have an Intelligence score (!) The second thing I noticed about intelligence and swords is that some sentient swords are quite dim (INT 7-8).

What's much rarer is for a sword to have a "Special Purpose" (Deliberately skipping the obvious Steve Martin jokes). Only 1:20. An oddity I hadn't picked up on before is that a special purpose swords are automatically maxed out at INT 12. 

Sword alignment heavily favors Lawful (65%), which chaotic swords comprising only 10% of the mix.

Although they have their superstars.

Fun fact: conflicting alignments between the sword and wielder results in automatic damage to the wielder, at up to 12 points per round! So your lawful PC picking up that chaotic sword might be instantly killed.

The Primary Powers of the swords are an odd lot. 30% of the time it has to do with detecting things like sloping passages or shifting walls (isn't this why we let dwarfs into the party? jk). While you can use most of these abilities over and over, they aren't all terribly powerful.

Every now and then, though, you get an Extraordinary Power. These powers are bit cooler, like ESP and teleportation. Plus, most can be used 3/day!

To me, what's far cooler are the Special Purpose powers, but obviously these are much rarer. For example: A chaotic sword that was forged to slay magic users (and elves) will, upon striking a lawful MU or Elf, force a save vs. spells. Failure means the target is TURNED TO STONE! You can bet this is working its way into a game at some point! (hee!)

Finally, after all the rolls and charts you figure out the weapon's Willpower. Basically this is number that is used when the sword decides it has a chance to take over its wielder's mind! Considering a typical sentient weapon has a Will of around 19 and the PC's rating (STR+WIS) is more like 20-22, this won't be a gimme. But if the PC is badly wounded (at less than 50% hp), things can change quickly, deducting 2d4 pts from his Will score. 

Once the sword is in control, the DM is supposed to have it control the character's actions in certain situations. Some fun suggestions in the book include:

• Making the PC spend all his money on a fancy scabbard, etc.
• Forcing him to surrender to an opponent that the sword thinks would make a better wielder. 
• Discarding other weapons.

So, after looking at all this, the question remains; are intelligent swords a good idea in a game? Looking over the number crunching, the odds of a really POWERFUL one is fairly low, and the ones that are more likely to turn up are a nice way to add some spice to "generic" magic weapons.

I decided to roll one up randomly to see what I'd end up with. I started on the magic sword table and went from there:

% roll on Magic Swords =17: Sword +1

d20 Special Purpose = 5: No special purpose

d20 INT roll = 16*: INT 8 (2 Primary Powers), Communicates via Empathy

d20 Alignment = 8: Lawful

% roll for first Primary Power = 84: Detect Magic

% roll for second Primary Power = 59: See Invisible Objects

d12 for Ego = 9

Will: 18 (9 Ego + 8 Int +1 to hit)

*I did re-roll this to get a result with an INT score. 

So what have we got here? Well, the +1 is no great shakes, but seeing invisible at 20' range 1/round, and detect magic (but limited to 3/day) is SWEET and no mistake! With a lack of special purpose, it's unclear why this sword has a sentience locked inside it. It's not bright enough to talk, so I guess the DM doesn't have to develop some huge backstory. It has a high Ego, so I'm guessing a level of "stubbornness" about it. 

Here is my "stab" (hur hur!), at what the sword's deal is.

"SENTINEL"
A scrying spirit was bound into the sword at its forging for use by royal bodyguards,  who used it to check that no hostile enchantments or invisible foes threatened their charges. The spirit was aware of the pomp and ceremony that surrounded it on a daily basis and, as a result, has a rather high opinion of itself. If it succeeds in seizing control of its wielder, it will force him to take the lead, checking for danger in each room or situation before allowing anyone else to enter. 

I think I'm going to have to try this a bit more often when I randomly roll magic treasure. If it seems to work out, I may add other weapon types into the mix, who knows?

Magic With A Cost

Talking before about cursed magical items, it seems obvious that the trend is to have something that looks like a nice piece of loot, but in reality is trouble. Players will immediately start looking for ways (in character and out) to get rid of the object in question. If you have an in-party cleric capable of Remove Curse, then it's almost a non-issue. 

Now, while I went on for a while about how the cursed items in the books are fun to use (and they are), I think that there are a lot of other ways to introduce a "minus" into the equation while at the same time, making the player feel like there could be reason to hang onto the bauble.

One of the easiest ways to do this is the "double-edged" item: a magic gewgaw that gives you power, but at a price. A "Berserker Sword" is an obvious example of this. The wielder gets nice bonuses in a fight, but goes into a frenzy, possibly even attacking his comrades. 

You can extend this idea to other items. For example:

• Armor that gives bonuses to saving throws as well as AC, but weighs twice as much as the regular version.
• A Ring of Feather Fall that temporarily polymorphs the PC into a duck. 
• A Ring of Regeneration that has a recurring % chance of turning the wearer into a troll (perhaps 1/week, or every 10 hp regenerated).
• Dust of Disappearance that smells delicious to predators.
• A Staff of Healing that deals 1hp damage to the wielder with each use.

The trick here is not to go overboard, but at the same time, if there are ten "normal" versions of the item around for every "interesting" one, the PCs will never touch it. 

Cursed Magic Items

Sometimes the simple "fire & forget" spell mechanics can make magic seem a bit too reliable. Not to mention the simple bonuses and spell-like effects of most items. It's nice to inject a little unpredictability, or even fear, into dealing with magic.

Cursed items address this nicely, and are just too much fun (from a DM's perspective). Some gamers complain that a cursed item is just a "screw you" tactic, but I've come to think of them as a marvelous flavor enhancer (like garlic) for magic in general.

The secret ingredient is Evil!

It calls up images of failed attempts at crafting an enchanted ring or a botched spell scroll. It seems less likely a mage would waste the time and money making a cursed item on purpose, but maybe some trickster god likes swapping them out for the good stuff.

Now, you could make magic more unpredictable with a mess of house rules, but most of those just end up weakening the character or the loot, causing no end of player kvetching. Cursed items are a By-the-Book way to liven things up and even open up some interesting RP and story opportunities.

For nearly every type of item, there is at least one cursed version. Just going by Moldvay, we have:

• Potions 
• Rings 
• Scrolls 
• Miscellaneous Magic 
• Weapons & Armor 
• Wands/Staves/Rods 

Potions: Poison. That's simple enough. "Ooo! A potion! GAK!" Now, most PCs won't just slug back a random potion, but if you are using the B/X rules, you ID a potion by taking a small taste (B48). The poison, of course, is lethal at any amount. Pretty nasty, but hey, you decided to sip from a bottle of some unidentified substance you found in a cave. No one put a crossbow to your head.

Other potentially "cursed" potions might be polymorph or petrification-based. Delusion is a fun one. As is a Love Philter.

Rings: The two that B/X list are Delusion and Weakness. Like the potion, Delusion is a fun one for messing with a character's head. Weakness is straightforward enough, though it's harder to come up with a reason the PC would resist taking it off.

Scrolls: The Cursed Scroll is one of the more fun options on the list. It affects anybody who even looks at the writing (Note: it says "looked at", not "read.") The DM is given some latitude here, like with the spell, but some of the suggestions included are awesome. Re-rolling your Prime Requisite and a magic item disappearing are among the wackier.

Miscellaneous Magic: Bags of Devouring don't get used enough, IMO. And the Helm of Alignment Change is frankly more plot-based RP ammo than a DM should be allowed. To my thinking, a Mirror of Life Trapping is only semi-cursed. As it has some serious power the PCs can put to use through clever play.

Weapons & Armor: Things like a -1 sword or shield are pretty simple. I'm a big fan of things like Shields of Arrow Attraction (not a BX item), etc. I feel it's important –as with all cursed items– for the DM to emphasize that the character thinks the item is awesome, and will resist giving it up. I've found most players will embrace the RP opp.

Wands, Staves, and Rods are the notable exception with no BtB cursed versions (at least in B/X), but it's not hard to think up a few. One of my favorites is a Wand of Magic Missiles that "backfires" on the caster, although that is almost more of a trap.

So when is it a good idea to include a cursed item? Well, "Let the dice fall where they may" isn't a bad method. Sometimes stuff happens. Rationales can be applied later. Maybe the reason the evil warlord isn't carrying that magic shield is that it's CURSED. Of course, instead of throwing it out, he put it in a chest for foolish do-gooders to pick up. While I don't think a PC should be out & out killed by a cursed item (poison notwithstanding, and they get a saving throw for that), the idea that a bit of caution can save a lot of grief is a good lesson for them to learn. The downside is that it encourages paranoid play and players are unlikely to fall for it again. At that point, it's time to step it up a bit and start sprinkling a few cursed items "with a twist" into your game.

Which is what I'll talk about next time...