Good Dragons, considered

In the 1e MM, the metal dragons all have good alignments.  I am skeptical.   Can there really be such a thing as a "good" dragon? 

 

Here is my definition of a "good" dragon: one that is happy to bully and rob you of your treasure, but won't kill you for fun.   They will still attack you, steal your stuff, and beat you down thoroughly, but with a "good" dragon, you are more likely to be left alive.

 

I get the impression dragons look at us the way we look at chickens.  You don't have to be evil to eat chickens.  We simply view them as a lesser form of life, a resource to be exploited to our advantage.   Dragons look at humans that way.  

 

The "evil" ones will kill us and torture us for sport.  The "good" ones will only kill us if we make them, by, for example, failing to turn over all the treasure which they view as theirs.  "Look here, little fellow, I don't want to have to hurt you, just be a good little pet and hand over your treasure..."  

 

Gygax clearly has a similar concept, hedging his bets on their alignment, mentioning their "neutral tendencies".   For some reason, he elevates the Silver, Gold, and Platinum Dragons as full good and noble beasts. 

 

I think dragons are, as a rule, selfish, voracious, narcissistic, and pompous.     They aren't like "big pets", who would respect us or think of us as equals in any way.  They think of us as a lesser lifeform, one which has an odd obsession with acquiring their food source (metals and gems). 

 

In other words, they treat us exactly as we treat bees.  They tolerate our hives because we produce honey for them.  We don't think of the feelings of the bees as we steal their hard-earned honey, nor do dragons consider our feelings as they steal our hard-earned treasure. 

 

This tendency is especially amplified by AZ Adventures being a dawn of civ milieu, with the land being largely untamed.  The Gygaxian world of 1e MM is a human-dominated world, everything else hanging on at the edges, or surviving far underground.  A certain percentage of dragons there have learned to communicate with humans because humans are the dominant life form in that milieu.

 

The world of AZ Adventures is not human-dominated at all, except for a few "points of light".   Thus, dragons go about their lives in their wilderness domains hardly ever encountering humans, certainly having very few opportunities to interact with them.    Thus, in AZ, very few dragons speak our language or have the experience to think of us as equals or superiors. 

No Dump Stats - the Importance of INT and WIS for all classes

Great analysis over at the Jovial Priest (here: http://jovialpriest.blogspot.com/2010/12/no-dump-stats-every-ability-score.html)  about making all stats important, especially regarding INT and WIS, which usually become dump stats for everyone but magic users and clerics.

 

His brilliant concepts:

 

INT score is the only thing which provides an XP bonus, for all classes.  Makes sense to me, as the smart learn faster.  His rule:

 

Only intelligence gives XP bonuses, not prime requisites.

Intelligence

3-5                   (-20% earned experience)

6-8                   (-10% earned experience)

9-12                 (no bonus)

13-15               (+5% earned experience)

16 +                 (+10% earned experience)

 

 

 

WIS score provides savings throw bonuses against all magical attacks, not just those affecting the mind.  This is justified because WIS encompasses intuition and judgement, which would be critical components of overcoming magical attacks, even purely physical ones.  Again, makes perfect sense to me. 

 

The "combat effect" of high WIS is like a character's "spidey sense", providing him with vague foreboding of danger, putting him on the alert, helping him make the right choices in those crucial split seconds when a deadly attack is being launched. 

 

After all, let's say you are being targeted with a death ray...  Your physical speed will not help you here, the ray is too fast.  What matters is, what were you doing BEFORE the ray was launched???  Were you already ducking for cover, pulling your shield up, etc? 

 

That is the bonus effect of high WIS: quantifying the benefit of things you did before the attack was launched, subtle actions which your intuition and judgement lead you to take, as well as the positive effect of your willpower in overcoming the ill effects as you are being effected. 

 

With these slight tweaks, INT and WIS become potentially useful to EVERY class, and character creation becomes a much more interesting and thoughtful event.  

 

Magic Users - a concise treatise

Magic Users are many things to many people.  Here is how I handle them, for what I perceive as highest in-game enjoyment by players, as well as most theoretical consistency within the campaign framework.

 

The world is full of magical power and magical creatures. Humans, however, are considered mundane creatures, not magical by nature. Thus, human magic users are not themselves magical, they simply learn the correct methods of harnessing the magic power of the natural world.  

 

Magic Users are like scientists, who use formulas to tap into the power of that magic world.    These formulaic methods involve especially the use of magical chemistry, harnessing the magical energy in magical creatures and objects.   Another important method involves magical power words, and a third method involves magical symbols.    Through magical ingredients, magical power words, and magical symbols, magic users release and channel magical power.  

 

I reject the mechanism of "memorize, fire, and forget".  Not only does it render our magic users drastically underpowered, it conflicts with our general cultural expectation of how magic works, as defined by such characters as Harry Potter.  The hard part of D&D magic is that there is NO popular culture depictions of magic that function that way.  And frankly, it is a bit lame to any young person who wants to play a magic user, based on their enjoyment of Harry Potter, for example, to discover they can only use one spell a day. 

 

In slightly reformulating the magic user mechanic, we can build on the basic logic of D&D magic.  As Gygax says, the power of the magic does not come from within the magician, he is just a conduit.  However, the act of casting and being a conduit for the energy does take a toll on the wizard's own energy level. 

 

Thus, rather then the spell slot structure, we can postulate that the natural limit to a wizard's spell casting is his constitution score.    Think of it like this: a pipe can pass a powerful jet of water through it, but the pipe itself can only take so much pressure before it breaks.   A thin pipe can only handle so much pressure, while a thicker pipe can handle more.  If the magic user is the pipe conduit, his CON measures the thickness of those pipe walls. 

 

The end result is similar to traditional 1e limitations, in that a magic user has only a certain number of spells he can cast per day, and he must get restful sleep before he can regain more spells.  However, now he has more spells to cast, at least at the lower level, rendering the magic user more useful on an adventure, more able to use magic, and therefore, more fun to play.  A higher level magic user would be punished by the CON limit, but he overcomes this natural limit on spell casting by becoming an expert in channeling the magic through other objects, such as scrolls, potions, wands, staffs, etc. 

  

In game play, for fun and ease of play, a magic user can fire off his spells more or less instantly, needing only as much time as it takes to say the power words, draw the symbols, or employ the material components.  Thus, a magic user is prevented from wearing armor, because he needs easy access to his material components (in the many pockets and folds of his robe, hat, boots, etc) and ability to smoothly and unerringly weave symbols in the air, on his body, or on the ground. 

 

Magic in Other Races

 

Humans are the only race that can become powerful magic users, because the other races are themselves magical creatures.  In other words, elves are not just thin humans with pointed ears who live in forests.  There is a qualitative difference, because Elves are a magical race.  Likewise, Halflings, Dwarves, and Gnomes are not just midget humans, they are magical races of their own, with their own special dweomer.  

 

Magic use by humans is a form of technology, and humans developed the scientific knowledge of magic because they are otherwise non-magical.  Thus, the other races have racial limitations on their advancement as magic users.  The origin and practice of human magic is alien to them, and they can never truly master it's usage.   The case is much like humans and silent movement.  With much training and practice, humans can learn to move silently with more and more skill, but they will never attain the native mastery of the elven race.  

 

The closest thing approaching a "naturally magical human" occurs in the case of psionics.  Psionically endowed people attain powers that are similar to magic, but they are inborn, not dependent upon power words, symbols, or magical ingredients.  Thus, psionic powers appear to be more related to divine power than magical power, and are probably a vestige of the divine lineage of some human families.  

 

 

Cosmology Considerations and the role of Elementals

I think I understand why Gygax and the guys went with the "infinite universe" cosmology of the modern scientifically-informed world. Basically, they wanted to integrate science fiction, as indicated by notes in the 1e DMG on merging Gamma World stats with D&D stats. In this "infinite universe" paradigm, they could easily integrate various science fiction hooks into their adventures.

I get that impulse, it makes sense, but there are some implications that I do not like, and I am going back to the default pre-modern "closed universe" cosmology in my Arizona Adventures campaign. For example, with the "infinite universe" cosmology, heaven is no longer above us, and hell is no longer below us. They are on other "planes".

This is in sharp contrast to the pre-modern view, which saw the place of the afterlife as somewhere down below. The idea that the hells are literally down below us is compelling, and is a never-ending font for adventuring hooks, based on demonic threat.

I think the worst idea of the Gygaxian extra-planar structure is the Elemental Planes. I much prefer the idea that the Elemental powers are embedded in our material world. Our world is pregnant with magical power, full of "spirit" elemental personalities which manifest in surprising and dangerous ways.

Water Elementals

That big lake over there, yeah, that is where the 16HD Water Elemental lives. Every big lake will have some intelligence in it, what we would stat out as a Water Elemental. Smaller lakes would have smaller/lesser-powered Elementals. It would be a very rare natural body of water that was completely mundane, lacking any spiritual power or presence.

Naturally, such elemental powers demand sacrifice. Lacking voluntary sacrifice to keep them appeased, they would be "hungry", and would seek the unwilling sacrifice of any unfortunates who wandered into their domain.

Fire Elementals

Fire Elementals would be less regularly placed, having a permanent location mainly in volcanoes. Terrifyingly, they could also arise spontaneously from any large fire. Fire, is this magically pregnant world, would have a mind of its own, seeking to spread itself and consume everything possible. Perhaps ANY fire, no matter how small, would stand a chance of "going sentient", as the latent Fire Elemental intelligence seeks to manifest itself.

Air Elementals

Air Elementals would be more "airy", less concerned with the details of the earth-bound world. At higher elevations, contact with them would be more regular, providing glimpses of their playful but tempestuous personalities. Any flying creature would come into contact with them regularly.

Earth Elementals

Earth Elementals would be located at specific locations. Places of regular quakes, fissures, grinding and turning of the earth, with the rocks occasionally assembling themselves into giant bipedal forms. Less demanding of sacrifice than Water or Fire Elementals, but more "hungry" than Air Elementals, the Earth Elementals would occasionally, seemingly randomly, seek to consume living creatures.

Psionic Roles in the City

Keeping in mind the rule that 100 psionics will be found in a population of 45,000, the question then arises, where will these psionics be? Given the logic of psionic power, it seems clear that psionics will NOT be randomly distributed through the population. Rather, psionics will become concentrated in powerful and leadership positions, and thus, PCs will be even more likely to encounter them than the "simple percentages" indicate.

Remember, psionics are found only among people with high (16+) INT, WIS, or CHA scores. In other words, these are your natural leaders to begin with. Adding to their natural abilities are their psionic gifts, which they would use to leverage themselves even higher on the social ladder.

Imagine some random person who naturally had the psionic devotion of Invisibility. Do you think that person would stay a field hand their whole life? Of course not! I mean, just imagine the possibilities if you discovered as a young teen that you could go invisible... What sort of adventures you would have, what sort of trouble you would get in...

I am thinking someone with the natural ability of invisibility would gravitate towards espionage, thievery, assassination... Perhaps some would enter the field of law enforcement, and what a detective they would make! Clearly, no one is going to remain an "average citizen" for long with the natural gift of invisibility combined with a high INT/WIS/CHA score.

Just as a thought experiment, what would you do with the natural ability of shrinking size (Reduction)? Or walking on water/feather falling (Body Equilibrium)? Phase shifting (Etherealness)? Levitation? Changing appearance (Shape Alteration)? Teleportation?

Is it just me, or do you get the impression the Thieves and Assassin's Guild would be crawling with these guys???

Or, conversely, they'll be "the Supers", the heroes with superpowers hired by the government to combat these super-powered bad guys. People with Clairaudience or Clairvoyance? Detection of Good/Evil? Object Reading? Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions? These people are tailor made for law enforcement!

And what about Telempathic/Telepathic Projection? Empathy? Precognition? ESP? Hypnosis? Domination? Or even Mass Domination??? These people are born to rule! You are practically guaranteed to find these powers among the ruling elite, either in the rulers themselves (high CHA) or in their "handlers" (high WIS).

A quick glance at the 1e Monster Manual entry on "Men" confirms this logic. Under each subheading, it states repeatedly, "leader types will have the normal potential for psionics." In other words, it is practically axiomatic: psionics will rise to leadership positions.

Natural Line Spacing in Mass Combat Lines

--Natural line spacing: spacing per soldier equal to creatures height, roughly equal to arms distance apart (i.e. one human every six feet).

--Maximum line density: 50% of creature height per soldier (exceptions to be made for especially thick-bodied creatures, such as dwarfs)

--Maximum line stretch: 200% of creature height per soldier (anything greater than that would instantly be broken once combat began)

Natural line density will always be maintained by an untrained unit. Only a professional unit, or a non-professional unit that has undergone extensive training, can maintain cohesion at maximum density or maximum stretching.

An untrained unit that is forced into battle in a condensed or stretched formation will quickly rearrange itself into multiple units at the natural line spacing (drawing together into new lines with large gaps between new lines if originally stretched, or separating into multiple stacked rows if originally condensed).

To the untrained soldier, the condensed formation is simply too dangerous, as each soldier is subject to errant swings and jostling from his neighbors, so he would step backwards into a new row behind the original. The stretched formation is too isolated, and he would naturally draw closer to his neighbor to avoid the sensation of exposure and the danger of being cut off.

Ave. HD modifiers for attacks

The average HD determines the skill of the attack, which means the likelihood of causing damage. This likelihood of causing damage is enhanced with sufficient superior numbers. In game terms this means the average HD is increased by the force multiplier to determine the enhanced average HD attack ability.

Example A: 10 trained human soldiers in a line 30 feet wide (in maximum line density) vs 15 halfling soldiers in a line 30 feet wide. Thus, in a battle line, there would be 10 humans facing 15 halflings, so the halflings would have a force multiplier of 1.5. Let's assume the average HD of the halfling unit is 2. To find their effective attacking HD level, we would multiply their average HD times their force multiplier (2 x 1.5). Thus, they would attack as 3 HD attacker.

Example B: Let us imagine that a unit of 10 human soldiers is at natural line spacing, blocking a 60 foot pass. However, a concentrated force is able to attack them, meaning, using the 3 foot width rule, the attackers can fit 20 soldiers in their line. Their force multiplier is thus x2, so they would double their average HD level during the melee attacks. So, if their average HD was normally 2, they would attack using the HD = 4 row of the attack tables.

Example C: Let us image a unit of six Hill Giants marching into the attack, according to natural spacing rules at 12 feet apart, for a total line distance of 72 feet. A well-trained human army could fit 24 soldiers into that same space (3 feet per soldier at maximum line density), providing a force multiplier of x4. This would mean that if the average HD of that human line was 2, given the x4 force multiplier, the human unit would strike as a HD = 8 attacker versus the Hill Giant unit.

The Potential of Magic Users in Mass Combat

Wizards, for the most part, are going to refuse to enter the field of mass combat. Their lack of armor, their lack of hit points, their high intelligence, all incline them against going anywhere near the battlefield.

They are loath to waste any of their precious magical resources on what they will undoubtedly see as a "petty squabble" (no matter how important the battle seems to others). They are far too busy with their magic research anyway, and they are close to making profound breakthroughs, so their time is extremely limited, not to be wasted in "foolish brawling" and "primitive head-butting".

A magic user may be persuaded to contribute some magical assistance if an extreme amount of treasure, services, and concessions are offered in exchange. His assistance would extend to preparing a few scrolls or wands, or the granting of some other magical item, and perhaps "monitoring the outcome of battle" using his crystal ball or scrying device.

Nothing short the immanent threat of extermination would get him to bodily enter the battlefield. Even then, he would expect to be stationed in the safest zone, as far from physical danger as possible, as part of the kings personal guard, on hand to render expert consultation and, perhaps, assistance (only if the direst of emergencies should require it, of course).

Certainly, there is ZERO chance of getting him to fight embedded in a combat unit. If anyone attempted to constrain his "arcane and esoteric freedom and liberty" by forcing him onto the battlefield, he would do everything in his power to escape, and would thenceforth devote all his considerable time and cunning towards plotting revenge upon whomever dared order the affront to his autonomy.

Tempe goverment and Society - an Overview

Tempe is the largest city in Arizona, and is the preeminent Arya settlement in the region. The city is hierarchical, militarized, and home to His Lordship, the High King. The city was founded over two centuries ago during the Great Migration, when it enjoyed trade with and support from the Great River Kingdoms to the east. That connection to the east was severed a century ago by the rise of the Dark Hordes, and Arya of Arizona have been forced to subsist largely on their own since that time.

The economic base of the city is agriculture and ranching. Irrigation from the Salt River waters Tempe's fields, groves, and herds, which have become the breadbasket of the Arizona region. The main route of trade involves a triangle trade with metals from Prescott, lumber from Flagstaff, and food from Tempe. An overland route to the Colorado River at Blythe is also a significant trade corridor.

Tempe society is two-tiered, with the land-owning, noble families forming the high society, and the landless, agricultural workers forming the low society:

The Landed gentry of Tempe is made of the seven founding clans which own all the land in the town. The basis of their wealth is land ownership and the guarantee of safety they offer those who live on their land. Their young men are removed from their familes at the age of seven and raised in military academies. After eight years of discipline and hardening in common school, most are granted the rank of squire and returned to their families to assist in the clan businesses. The most gifted among the students, however, continue onward into secondary school, where they are trained as scholars and officers, and enter into the direct service of the High King, in the King's College. Membership in the King's College is considered the highest honor in Arya society.


The Landless commoners of Tempe tend to be poor and uneducated, however, they are not slaves or serfs. The Landless are paid wages and are expected to care for their own housing and family upkeep. Many of the Landless take up skilled trades, and the most gifted among them have some upward mobility through the Church, the Applied Spellcasting University, and the Ranger Battalion (see below). The brave and tough among the Landless have also been known to take up careers as henchmen and mercenary soldiers in the hire of the Landed gentry.

Goverment

The majority of decision-making power and authority is vested in the King and His College, who are entrusted with ruling for the good of all noble clans and the city at large. The various members of the College serve as administrators of the King's laws, guardians of his Treasury, and officers of his Army. The King's College chooses a new king from among their own members when the office of High King becomes empty because of the death or abdication of a King.

The House of Lords is a collection of representatives from the seven noble clans. New laws or taxes proposed by the King must be ratified by the House of Lords in order to become laws. The House of Lords is also responsible for supplying a specified number of Cavaliers to serve in the body of the King's Army.

The House of Commons is a collection of the more powerful and wealthy representatives from the Landless of the town. They have little decision-making authority, but can propose laws to the King's College, and are authorized to adjudicate disputes and conflicts among the Landless.


The King's Army

The King's Army is made primarily of the Cavaliers from the noble clans of the city. It is a standing force, with a career officers drawn from the King's College, athough the body of the army rotates through in limited times of service. The duties of the Army are primarily external, patrolling the King's settled agricultural territories and roads for incursions from magical beasts, giants, or humanoid raiders. The King's Army also patrols the city itself, enforcing internal laws.

The Ranger Battalion is an adjunct force to the King's Army, with dual headquarters in Wickenburg and Superior. The Rangers' duty is to patrol the mountain wilderness, keeping check on humanoid or giant incursions, while gathering information and expanding Aryan territory where possible. While Ranger leadership is supplied by the gentry of the King's College, the rank and file membership is largely drawn from the Landless. The Landed gentry prefers the status and money-making opportunities of the town-based Cavalier lifestyle, viewing a Ranger assignment much like a form of banishment. The Landless, however, view Ranger membership as an opportunity for upward mobility, wealth, and freedom.

Occasionally, in times of need, the King's army will be supplemented by mercenary soldiers drawn from the ranks of the Landless.

Relations with Applied Spellcasting University

The wizard towers of A.S.U. predate the Aryan settlement of Tempe. The origins of the wizarding community at A.S.U. are unknown, and the mysterious wizards are less than forthcoming with any information, but it is clearly connected with the study of the Phoenix Aerie to the immediate west. Although they share contiguous territory, A.S.U. is an autonomous power and does not bow to the authority of the High King.

Overall, the wizards prefer to be left completely alone and seem to be totally unconcerned with the politics or troubles of any other humans in the region. A cadre of servants maintains trade relations with the outside world, and they seem to derive great profit from the sale of the magical items they create. They are also known to take in students, training them in the magical arts, for a steep fee, of course.

They Walk Among Us - the hidden Dragon Menace

Citizen's Alert - to be Posted in All Pubic Places

As you know, dragons are terrifying and dangerous magical beasts. We need no reminder of their attacks upon our knights, and their constant depredations of our wealth.

Recent discoveries have revealed dragons to be far more terrifying and dangerous than we imagined. Stated plainly, dragons have been found to be walking among us, disguised in human form. Through some magical means, dragons walk among us in our towns, pretending to be human.

As everyone knows, Dragons are motivated by greed, and power. Disguised as humans, they infiltrate our society, to learn of our treasure, and study our defenses, to better attack us.

All citizens are advised to be on the lookout for dragon-ish behavior in their neighbors. Signs of hidden dragon infiltration include unnatural interest in the location of treasure hoards, selfish hoarding of money, secretive behaviors, anti-social attitudes, and hostility to governmental investigation.

If your neighbors are exhibiting any of the above signs, report them immediately to the nearest King's Guards and Keepers of the Peace. With your help, we can eliminate this hidden dragon menace. Thank you.

Adventuring Hooks

The aging King, paranoid and monomaniacal at the best of times, appears to have gone completely mad out of fear of secret dragons, and his paranoia has spread to the terrified citizenry. King's Guards run amok through the city, rounding up political enemies (and their treasures) on suspicion of secret dragon infiltration. Citizen has turned on citizen in a frenzy of paranoid accusation and revenge seeking.

Mobs form suddenly to put anyone accused of dragon infiltration to the immediate test, such as slicing their bellies open to check for swallowed gems, placing them upon bonfires to test for fire resistance, or dropping them repeatedly from towers to check for flying ability...

Anyone from out of town, or anyone seen carrying bags of treasure, is especially prone to accusation, thus making the environment particularly dangerous for adventurers...

PCs stand a 50% chance (3 in 6) per day of being accused of dragon infiltration by a mob if they appear in full gear or carrying treasure in public, a 17% chance (1 in 6) if appearing in public in disguise, and a 33% chance (2 in 6) per day of receiving a visit from the King's Guards at their home based on a tip from an anonymous neighbor.

Mob Accusation (d100, modify with CHA reaction bonus or penalty)

--01-25 enraged mob attempts immediate dragon trial (d6: 1-2 gutting for gems, 3-4 bonfire, 5-6 drop from tower)

--26-50 enraged mob attempts to strip, beat, and turn over PCs for arrest to King's Guards (loss of all possessions and all but 1-6 HPs, ending up in jail for further interogation)

--51-75 enraged mob attempts to strip and beat PCs (loss of all possessions and all but 1-6 HPs, ending up thrown over town wall)

--76+ agitated mob threatens but does not attack PC

King's Guards actions (d100, modify with CHA reaction bonus or penalty)

--01-25 Guards attempt immediate gutting for swallowed treasure

--26-50 Guards confiscate all PC possessions, scorge PC to the bone (only 1d6 HP remaining) during interrogation, and throw PC in jail

--51-75 Guards confiscate all PC money/jewels, threatening scorging and arrest if PC resists

--76+ Guards question PCs but take no action

Dragon Menace hysteria lasts 3-18 days (3d6).

On any given day, 1 in 6 chance of a real dragon being accused, resulting in a dragon battle in town. If PC assists in the battle against the dragon, they will be hailed as heroes, receive a reward from the king, and be free from any further chance of dragon infiltration accusations.

Creating Psionic NPCs the easy way

From our statistical analysis we know that a city of 45,000 will have 100 psionics in it, and their range of psionic strength with be as follows:

25 with one attack mode (01-25)
25 with two attack modes (26-50)
25 with three attack modes (51-75)
20 with four attack modes (76-95)
5 with all five attack modes (96-00)

25 with two defense modes [all have Mind Blank] (01-25)
50 with three defense modes (26-75)
15 with four defense modes (76-90)
10 with all five defense modes (91-00)

10 with 1 minor & 0 major disciplines (01-10)
15 with 2 minor & 0 major disciplines (11-25)
15 with 3 minor & 0 major disciplines (26-40)
15 with 2 minor & 1 major disciplines (41-55)
15 with 3 minor & 1 major disciplines (56-70)
10 with 4 minor & 1 major disciplines (71-80)
10 with 3 minor & 2 major disciplines (81-90)
5 with 5 minor & 1 major disciplines (91-95)
5 with 4 minor & 2 major disciplines (96-00)

The base psionic strength of any individual is postulated as 1-100 (with bonus for INT, WIS, and CHA), so one roll of the d100 can be used to create your psionic NPC.

Your d100 roll will provide the base strength and be applied to each of the above charts. This ensures that a psionic with lots of attacks, defenses, and disciplines will also have lots of strength points to put them to use. It makes intuitive sense, since a psionic with less overall psionic strength would logically have less attacks, defenses, and disciplines as well.

So, for example, a roll of 50 would produce base 50 psionic strength, 2 attack modes, 3 defense modes, 2 minor and 1 major disciplines.

A roll of 72 would produce base 72 strength pionts, 3 attack modes, 3 defense modes, 4 minor and 1 major disciplines.

To create the bonus points for the psionic strength, roll 3d6 for the NPC's INT, WIS, and CHA. Remember that one of them has to be at least 16, or he wouldn't have psionics in the first place. For each point above 12 in those three categories, add 1 psionic strength point.

If two categories are above 16, double these bonus points, and if all three categories are above 16, quadruple the bonus points. Thus
-- an NPC with 16s in INT, WIS, and CHA would have a bonus of 12 points
-- an NPC with two 17s and a 16 would have a bonus of 28
-- an NPC with three 17s would have a bonus of 60
-- with three 18s, the bonus would be 72.

Wild Psionics of the City: the Brawler

As I detailed in some previous posts (here and here), according to the dice, psionics should be far more common that most people give them credit for. In a city of 45,000 people, the odds indicate the presence of 100 people with psionic powers. In this post, I will detail one of the more intriguing possibilities: the psionic brawler.

The Brawler is a smallish looking fellow, perhaps even a woman. Physically weak, slight of frame, an easy mark, apparently. Perhaps our PCs encounter him as part of a bar bet. Imagine a smooth talking local, baiting our heroes with challenges to their manhood. "Take you guys on? Ha, I bet you can't even toss my old grandpa out of the ring!" as he points to a petite looking fellow at the table next to him. He, in turn, looks our heroes up and down, and snorts, "ha, don't waste my time with a tray full of creampuffs like that" and dismisses them with a wave.

Meanwhile, hearing the challenges and sensing a possible fight, a crowd has begun to gather around. The young trouble maker continues his tirade and insults, "These vagabond yahoos are all the same, they ain't nothing without their candy-ass armor and magic swords. Give 'em an old fashioned fight, man to man, and they cry like little girls!" The gathering crowd begins to laugh and jeer... "I'm not going to waste my time with these patsies... I'll bet you a hundred gold you can't even whip my old grandpa!" The crowd erupts in laughter... The spindly old man pulls himself up on his table and flexes his tiny arms to the crowds delight, toothless old grin leering at our heroes...

Once outside, a ring is quickly drawn in the dirt, a large crowd gathered round, cheering the old man on, as he pulls his overshirt and pants off, stripped down to his girdle. "Now, mind the rules, strangers: no magic, no armor, no weapons, first one out of the ring loses." Your hero nods his assent, as he strips off the last of his outergarments and steps into the ring.

The old man across the ring throws aside his walking stick, and with a crooked smile on his face, straightens up his back to stand to his full height, which, you swear, is bigger than he looked in the tavern. The crowd erupts in a rising roar as he throws his hands up in the air, and continues to grow, up, up, up...

The old man across the ring has grown to the size of a giant, with legs like small trees, and arms as thick as a normal man's waist. The ground shakes before you as he stamps his feet and pounds his chest and lets out a loud scream, which drowns out even the cheers of the crowd...


Psionic Details

The old man is exhibiting his psionic power of Expansion. His sixth level power has transformed him to the size and strength of a large ogre, growing to over 10' high, and adding a +6 damage bonus because his 18(00) strength. Luckily for our hero, this minor discipline uses up 5 psionic strength points per round, enough for, say, 10 rounds of combat. Can our hero stay in the ring that long??? Better brush up on your grappling rules, Mr. DM, cause the fight is on!

Another cool idea for this "hand to hand" fighting scam is versus a brawler who has the minor psionic discipline of Body Weaponry. At the sixth level of mastery his hard skin would equal an armor class of 4, and his fists would strike as a morning star!

A brawler with the major psionic science of Shape Alteration could also be quite fun to play. With that power, the psionic can change forms into anything for 3 strength points, and add 100 pounds of mass to his new form for every strength point expended beyond that. Think: instant transformation from skinny old man to 700 pound sumo wrestler.... Yeah, that is a fun NPC to have around.

Psionic Attacks upon non-psionics: Ego Whip

The Ego Whip is another really cool psionic attack. The ego is our conscious mind, our mental dialog, our sense of self. Attacks on someone's conscious thought process and identity can produce some really excellent effects, including insanity and mental domination.


The basic mechanic of Ego Whip is to overwhelm the other person's mental apparatus. In the best case scenario, you can actually take control of their mind. The shock of the attempted takeover might also cause insanity, or at least knock them out of commission for awhile.


The Ego Whip costs 7 attack points against a psionic, or 27 points versus a non-psionic. Remember, a psionic must have at least 100 strength points to attack a non-psionic. The Ego Whip affects only one creature, and its range is S = 4", M = 8", and L = 12".

Note that mind blank is normally helpful against psionic attacks, but against the Ego Whip, mind blank is actually harmful. According to the DMG psionic combat tables, Ego Whip is twice as effective against Mind Blank as any other psionic defense. Because Ego Whip is basically trying to highjack the victim's thought processes, the Mind Blank actually helps things along. It's like a "lay down" defense against a grappling attack. Yeah, not too smart.




Savings throw table

Effects table

Psionic attacks on non-psionic: Id Insinuation

The Id Insuinuation is another very creative psionic attack. It seeks to loose the uncontrolled and subconsious mind of the victim. Against the psionically-aware, it is an area attack (2" by 2"), and costs 10 points. Against non-psionics, I would treat it as an individual attack, and make it cost 30 points.

The Id is the animalistic/reptilian part of the brain, focused on passion, emotion, and pleasure/pain. The Id Insinuation stimulates that part of the mind, attempting to cause it to overwhelm the super-ego, which provides our sense of right/wrong.

Because of the nature of this attack, the savings thrown table against this attack is modified differently than against other attacks. It is also more even across the board, as the INT+WIS level matters relatively less than one's mental character traits and habits:
--Bonuses are given to those peolple and races who are disciplined in mental control and less likely to give in to their passions (lawful, good, dwarf, halfling, cleric, monk, cavalier/paladin)
--Penalties are given against those who tend to be less disciplined and more likely to give into their lower natures (thief, assassin, chaotic, evil, half-orc, elf, gnome).
--Mind Blank spells are given extra bonus here because Mind Blank is the most effective psionic defence against this attack on the psionic combat tables.
--Being in a highly agitated emotional state, as well as sleeping, also opens one up to this attack.

Id Insinuation has the longest range of any psionic attack: Short - 6", Medium - 12", Long - 18"

Saving throw Table vs Id Insinuation

The effects of a succesful Id Insinuation attack are more dependent upon the victim's alignment than mental capacity, due to the nature of people's subconscious tendencies.

Psionic attacks on non-psionics -- Mind Thrust

This is house rules stuff for those who enjoy playing with psionics. The way I see it, everyone has a mind, an id, an ego, and a psyche, therefore everyone is potentially vulnerable to these psionic attacks (not just Psionic Blast, as defined in the 1e rules). Giving psionics the ability to attack non-psionics is potentially a big "game unbalancer", so I am trying to constrain these powers to logical limits while still keeping them somewhat effective and fun.

The PH1e states that Psionic Blast is costly in terms of attack point expenditure, but is the only attack that can affect non-psionics. I take that as a statement of intended game balance, and I respect the logic of it. I would postulate that any psionic attack used on a non-psionic costs 20 extra strength points. Keep in mind, the psionic must have a current psionic strength of at least 100 to be able to affect a non-psionic. Thus, only a very powerful psionic would have a chance at using their powers on a non-psionic.

Used on a non-psionic, the Mind Thrust would cost 24 points. The attack range of the Mind Thrust is as follows: Short - 3", Medium - 6", Long - 9"

The Mind Thrust is a stabbing attack which seeks to short the synapses of the victim. I think of it like swirling a stick inside someone's skull. You are basically just trying to mess something up. When used on a fellow psionic, the Mind Thrust can wound or permanently damage the victim's psionic abilities. When used on a non-psionic, I figure that worst case scenario, it can cause the loss of INT or WIS points.

Save vs Mind Thrust table

Effects of Mind Thrust table

Psionic attack upon non-psionics: the Psychic Crush

This is house rules stuff for those who enjoy playing with psionics. The way I see it, everyone has a mind, an id, an ego, and a psyche, therefore everyone is potentially vulnerable to these psionic attacks (not just Psionic Blast, as defined in the 1e rules).

The PH1e states that Psionic Blast is costly in terms of attack point expenditure, but is the only attack that can affect non-psionics. I take that as a statement of intended game balance, and I respect the logic of it. I would postulate that any psionic attack used on a non-psionic costs 20 extra strength points. Thus, used on a non-psionic, the Psychic Crush would cost 34 points.

Keep in mind, the psionic must have a current psionic strength of at least 100 to have any chance of effecting a non-psionic. Thus, only a very powerful psionic would have a chance at using this on a non-psionic, and because of its cost, it could only be used once or maybe twice.

The Psychic Crush is a pretty cool attack. It is your basic kill shot, "a massive assault upon all neurons in the brain, attempting to destroy all by a massive overload of signals." It affects but one other creature at a time. Its short range is 5", which is also its max range, as no medium or long range is given.

I figure that a person of average INT and WIS has about a 50% chance of throwing off the Psychic Crush without any effect. The saving table works out as follows:




I am also slightly modifying the effect of Psychic Crush, which is normally save-or-die. I figure there is a range of damage prior to instant death that can result from this "massive assault upon the neurons", so the effects table is as follows:




Again, in terms of game balance, I postulated that a person of average INT and WIS would only suffer instant death 50% of the time. Remember, this is after they already failed their saving throw, meaning that the real chance of killing an average person with a Psychic Crush is only 25%.

On the other hand, someone with max INT+WIS would have a 50% chance of suffering confusion, but only a 5% chance of death (and their saving throw was at 0 to start with anyway).

Giving psionics the ability to attack non-psionics is potentially a big "game unbalancer", so I am trying to constrain these powers to logical limits while still keeping them somewhat effective and fun.

Understanding surprise rules

The surprise mechanics in 1e are a bit counter-intuituve and clunky, which is probably why it underwent some changes in later editions. I think the basic point of confusion comes from the fact that you are NOT rolling to see if you surprise your enemy.

Your surprise roll is better thought of as a "paying attention check" for yourself. Think of it as a saving throw against not paying attention.

You have a base 33% chance of not paying attention. On a d6, if you roll a 1-2, you have failed your paying attention check, so you are vulnerable to surprise. Your "success number" is a 3, because if you roll a 3-6, you passed your attention check, meaning, you were not surprised.

Some monsters surprise on 4 in 6, or better. That means your "success number" is a 5, so on your roll, you have to roll a 5-6 to avoid surprise. A better way of putting it is that they cause a minus 2 in your "attention check" rolls. Your normal "success number" is a 3, but because you are rolling at -2, your "success number" rises to 5.

But what if your surprise roll was already modified, so you are normally only surprised on a 1 in 6? Essentially that means your "attention check" roll is +1. So against the monster that "surprises on 4 in6"/"causes -2 on surprise check rolls", that means you would only be surprised on 3 in 6 by that monster. Your "success number" has risen to 4, because of the -2 and +1.


Segments Lost

The number of segments you lose by being surprised is calculated by how far below your "success number" you actually roll. Normally, your "success number" is a 3. But if you roll a 1, you lose two segments to your opponent (3 minus 1) . If you roll a 2, you lose one segment to your opponent (3 minus 2) .

But if your "attention check" number was 5, because the monster was a "surprise on 4 in 6"/"minus 2 on surprise check rolls" monster, that means you could lose up to 4 segments, if you roll a 1. (5 minus 1)

Your individual DEX score can reduce the number of segments you lose to surprise.
DEX 16 = 1 segment bonus
DEX 17 = 2 segment bonus
DEX 18 = 3 segment bonus

Segments lost to surprise are extra important because while you are surprised, you can be attacked once every segment. Think of it as a complete blindside attack, followed by a bunch of easy follow-up blows as you stumble around trying to get your bearings.

We can see that stealthy monsters are particularly dangerous. If you roll a 1 against a "surprise 4 in 6" monster, that means you are subject to 4 attacks in a row, because 5 (your target success roll) minus 1 (your actual roll) equals 4 (the number of segments you lose). You would be subject to 4 straight attack rolls before you could even roll for initiative to counter attack.

The DMG is a bit vague on the this one fine point: can your DEX bonus remove all suprise segments, effectively eliminating your surprise? The DMG states that a low DEX penalty cannot cause you to be surprised, although it could add to the segments you were vulnerable. Think of the big clumsy guy who is stumbling around for longer, vulnerable to more attacks. Just because he is more clumsy doesn't mean he pays less attention than anyone else. His recovery time is slower, but his odds of being surprised are no worse than anyone else.

But what about on the high-DEX side? DEX is said to reduce the number of segments you are surprised by your DEX bonus. But that would seem to imply that your surprise segments can be cut down to zero, and I think that would defeat the whole reality of the surprise. I would say that your DEX adjustment can reduce your lost segments down to 1 from a higher number, but cannot get rid of the surprised penalty altogether.

To allow the DEX bonus to reduce the surprise segments down to zero would be to confuse categories. High DEX allows you to recover more quickly from surprise, but it doesn't prevent you from being surprised in the first place, and if you are surprised, you are surprised, there is no getting around it.

While your teammates are getting knocked about while they stumble around for multiple segments because they weren't paying attention, your lightning reflexes may allow you to spin off the attack, tumble and roll back to your feet to avoid further attacks... But it doesn't prevent your vulnerability to the initial suprise attack in the first place.

Anyway, that seems reasonable to me!

Psionic attacks on non-psionics - Psionic Blast

In the 1e DMG rules, the only psionic attack that can be used against non-psionics is the Psionic Blast. I find this a bit arbitrary and inconsistent. After all, the attack modes are Mind Thrust, Ego Whip, Id Insinuation, and Psychic Crush. Doesn't everyone have a mind, an ego, an id, and a psyche? Of course they do. Therefore everyone should be vulnerable in some degree to these attacks.

The main limitation on Psionic attacks upon a non-psionic is that the psionic must have at least 100 strength points in order to affect the non-psionic. This makes perfect sense to me, and will apply to any of the attack modes.

The Psionic Blast is described as a wave of brain force, experienced like "stunning news" to the mind. The attack is a cone-shaped waive of force 1/2" diameter at its source and 2" diameter at its terminus 6" distant.



The saving throws for Psionic Blast attacks on non-psionics is as follows:






range for psionic blast:
short = 2"
medium = 4"
long = 6"


The effects table is as follows:

Seeding the city with Wild Psionics

Wild psionics are those people who have inborn psionic power. I postulate these people as separate from those of the [optional] Psionic class, who develop their psionic powers as a science and therefore progress in levels and psionic power. The "wild psionics" of the world just have it as an inborn and never-changing power (perhaps as a vestige of their descent from a god).

As detailed in a previous post, wild psionics are not as rare as most people play them. In a city of 36,000 people, random chance would indicate the presence of 80 people with wild psionic power. In order to get the nice round number of 100 psionics, we would require a city of 45,000 people. The following list is based on the percentage charts in Appendix I of the 1e Players Handbook.

In our protype city of 45,000, those 100 wild psionics would line up as follows

25 with one attack mode (01-25)
25 with two attack modes (26-50)
25 with three attack modes (51-75)
20 with four attack modes (76-95)
5 with all five attack modes (96-00)

25 with two defense modes (01-25)
50 with three defense modes (26-75)
15 with four defense modes (76-90)
10 with all five defense modes (91-00)

10 with 1 minor & 0 major disciplines (01-10)
15 with 2 minor & 0 major disciplines (11-25)
15 with 3 minor & 0 major disciplines (26-40)
15 with 2 minor & 1 major disciplines (41-55)
15 with 3 minor & 1 major disciplines (56-70)
10 with 4 minor & 1 major disciplines (71-80)
10 with 3 minor & 2 major disciplines (81-90)
5 with 5 minor & 1 major disciplines (91-95)
5 with 4 minor & 2 major disciplines (96-00)

The PH1e lets the PCs choose their modes, but for random purposes we can use the d10:
--attack modes
1-2 --> Psionic Blast
3-4 --> Mind Thrust
5-6 --> Ego Whip
7-8 --> Id Insinuation
9-0 --> Psychic Crush
--defense modes, d8 (all have Mind Blank automatically)
3-4 --> Thought Shield
5-6 --> Mental Barrier
7-8 --> Intellect Fortress
9-0 --> Tower of Iron Will

Psionic attacks upon a non-psionic creature can only occur if the attacker has a current psionic strength of 100 or more. Of course, by the book, only a psionic blast can be used upon a non-psionic creature. In my house rules, I would open that rule up a bit. After all, don't all humans have a mind, an ego, an id, and a psyche? Since attacks target those aspects of the mind, it only makes sense that any human would be vulnerable to them. I will detail this house rule in a future post.

Minor Devotions
1 Animal Telepathy
2 Body Equilibrium (walk on water/feather fall)
3 Body Weaponry
4 Cell Adjustment (heal wounds/cure disease)
5 Clairaudience
6 Clairvoyance
7 Detection of Good or Evil
8 Detection of Magic
9 Domination
10 Empathy
11 ESP
12 Expansion
13 Hypnosis
14 Invisibility
15 Levitation
16 Mind Over Body (no need for food/water/sleep)
17 Molecular Agitation (cause heat)
18 Object Reading
19 Precognition
20 Reduction
21 Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions
22 Suspend Animation (death-like sleep)

Major Sciences
1 Astral Projection
2 Aura Alteration
3 Body Control (withstand hostile environment)
4 Dimension Door
5 Dimension Walk (quick long range travel)
6 Energy Control (cancel energy attacks)
7 Etherealness
8 Mass Domination
9 Mind Bar
10 Molecular Manipulation (break hard objects)
11 Molecular Rearrangement (transmute metals)
12 Probability Travel (to parallel worlds and planes)
13 Telekinesis
14 Telempathic Projection (sending emotions)
15 Teleportation
18 Shape Alteration

Initiative, Weapon Speed, Charging, and who strikes first

In 1e, initiative determines who "strikes first". I played a 3.0 or 3.5 game with a friend, and it was all about weapon speed, and guys even got to strike first because they were using their fists. I'm all, WTF??? Something didn't sound right to me about that system.

Weapon reach can be even more important than weapon speed when it comes to determining who hits first. This is seen in the "charge to attack" rule and the "grappling" rules.

One page 66 in the DMG: "Initiative is NOT checked at the end of charge movement. The opponent with the longer weapon/reach attacks first. Charging creatures gain +2 on their 'to hit' dice if they survive any non-charging or charging opponent attacks which occur first [although their AC is one factor worse and they lose DEX bonuses]...."

Weapon length also has an effect in a grappling scenario (pg 73):
"If the opponent of a grappling, pummeling or overbearing attack has a weapon, the opponent will always strike first unless the attacker has surprise. Any weapon hit does NO damage, but it does indicate that the attacker trying to grapple, pummel, or overbear has been fended or driven off, and the attack is unsuccessful. The weapon-wielder then has the opportunity to strike at the weaponless one 'for real', if he or she so chooses. "

Weapon speed only comes into play for tie during initiative:
"When opponents in melee have tied for initiative, blows occur simultaneously, except when both opponents are using weapons. Each weapon has a speed factor, and in the case of otherwise simultaneous blows, the opponent with the weapon which has the lower speed factor will strike first."

Interesting extra factor thrown in here:

"When weapon speed factor is the determinant of which opponent strikes first in a melee round, there is a change that one opponent will be entitled to multiple attacks. " In sum, a speed factor advantage of 1/2 the other weapon, or total value of 5 better than the other weapon = two attacks for the speedier weapon, and a speed factor advantage of 10 provides 2 attacks plus 1 extra simultaneous attack.

Speed factors of common weapons:
Axe, hand -- 4
Club -- 4
Dagger -- 2
Hammer -- 4
Mace, footman's -- 7
Scimitar -- 4
Spear -- 6-8
Sword, bastard -- 6
Sword, long -- 5
Sword, short -- 3
Sword, two-handed -- 10

Population Distribution of Psionics

According to the math of 1e, Psionics are WAAAY more common than you thought. Hell, they're way more common than I thought, and I like psionics. Doing the math is really enlightening.

OK, so first of all, what is the basic probability of psionics? According to the Player's Handbook 1e, if you have an ability score of 16 or higher in INT, WIS, or CHA, you have a base 1% chance of having psionic powers. So the question then becomes, what percentage of people have ability scores that high?

First of all, from the basic odds of rolling dice: The odds of having a score of 16 is 6/216, or 1/36.

So, 1 in 36 people will have a 16 in, say, INT. 1 in 100 of them will have psionic power. Thus, 1 in 3600 people will have 16 INT and a psionic power. Think about what that means:

--In a city of 36,000 people, 10 of them will have 16 INT and a psionic power.

Now given that the base chance of having a 16 WIS or 16 CHA is the same as having a 16 INT, the 1% chance of psionics gives us the same number as well. Thus 1 in 3600 peole will have 16 WIS and a psionic power, and 1 in 3600 people will have a CHA of 16 and a psionic power.

--In a city of 36,000, 10 of them will have a 16 WIS and psionics, and 10 of them will have 16 CHA and psionic power.

Thus, in our city of 36K, we can expect 30 people to have psionic powers because of their single 16 ability score.

So what about people with scores higher than 16? It gets a little more complicated here because the Players Handbook gives different bonuses for high scores in the three different abilities. First, the basic probability of the dice: The odds of having an ability score of 18 is 1/216, and the odds of having an ability score of 17 is 3/216, or 1/72.

INT = 17

The score of 17 INT gives the person a +2.5% chance of having psionic powers. 1/72 has a 17 INT, and 3/100 of them will have psionics. Thus 1 in 2400 will have both. In our city of 36,000, we would expect to have 15 people to have INT 17 and psionic power.

WIS = 17

The score of 17 WIS gives the person a +1.5% chance of having psionic powers. 1/72 has a 17 WIS, and 2/100 of them will have psionics. Thus, 1 in 3600 will have both. In our city of 36,000, we would expect to have 10 people to have WIS 17 and psionic power.

CHA = 17

The score of 17 CHA gives a person a +0.5% chance of having psionic powers, but unfortunately, fractions are rounded down, so it remains the base 1/100 chance. 1/72 has 17 CHA, and 1/100 will have psionics. Thus, 1 in 7200 will ahve both. In our city of 36,000, we would expect to have 5 people to have CHA 17 and psionic power.

Thus, in our city of 36K, we can expect 30 people to have psionic powers because of their single 17 ability score.

INT = 18

The score of 18 INT gives the person a +5% chance of having psionic powers. 1/216 has a 18 INT, and 6/100 of them will have psionics. Thus 1 in 3600 will have both. In our city of 36,000, we would expect to have 10 people to have INT 18 and psionic power.

WIS = 18

The score of 18 WIS gives the person a +3% chance of having psionic powers. 1/216 has a 18 WIS, and 4/100 of them will have psionics. Thus, 1 in 5400 will have both. In our city of 36,000, we would expect to have 6.7 people to have WIS 18 and psionic power.

CHA = 18

The score of 18 CHA gives a person a +1% chance of having psionic powers. 1/216 has a 18 CHA, and 2/100 of them will have psionics. Thus, 1 in 10,800 will ahve both. In our city of 36,000, we would expect to have 3.3 people to have CHA 18 and psionic power.

Thus, in our city of 36K, we can expect 20 people to have psionic powers due to their one ability score of 18.



****In sum, because of single ability scores of 16, 17, or 18, we can expect a city of 36K to have 80 people with psionic powers. ****


Combinations of Ability Scores

Having multiple scores that are in the high range gives you a slightly higher chance of having psionic powers. The problem is, people are far LESS likely to have multiple high ability scores than just one high ability score. Thus, the people who have high scores in 2 or 3 abilities and a psionic power are much more rare.


17 INT (+2.5%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/72 x 1/72, 4% base chance = 1 in 129,600
17 INT (+2.5%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/72 x 1/216, 4% base chance = 1 in 388,800
18 INT (+5%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/216 x 1/72, 6% base chance = 1 in 259,200
18 INT (+5%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/216 x 1/216, 7% base chance = 1 in 666,514

17 INT (+2.5%) + 17 WIS (+1.5%) = 1/72 x 1/72, 5% base chance = 1 in 103,680
17 INT (+2.5%) + 18 WIS (+3%) = 1/72 x 1/216, 6% base chance = 1 in 259,200
18 INT (+5%) + 17 WIS (+1.5%) = 1/216 x 1/72, 7% base chance = 1 in 222,171
18 INT (+5%) + 18 WIS (+3%) = 1/216 x 1/216, 9% base chance = 1 in 518,400

17 WIS (+1.5%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/72 x 1/72, 3% base chance = 1 in 172,800
17 WIS (+1.5%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/72 x 1/216, 3% base chance = 1 in 518,400
18 WIS (+3%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/216 x 1/72, 4% base chance = 1 in 388,800
18 WIS (+3%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/216 x 1/216, 5% base chance = 1 in 933,120


--17 INT (+2.5%) + 17 WIS (+1.5%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/72 x 1/72 x 1/72, 5% base chance = 1 in 7,464,960

--17 INT (+2.5%) + 17 WIS (+1.5%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/72 x 1/72 x 1/216, 6% base chance = 1 in 18,662,400

--17 INT (+2.5%) + 18 WIS (+3%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/72 x 1/216 x 1/72, 7% base chance = 1 in 15,996,342

--17 INT (+2.5%) + 18 WIS (+3%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/72 x 1/216 x 1/216, 7% base chance = 1 in 47,989,029

--18 INT (+5%) + 17 WIS (+1.5%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/216 x 1/72 x 1/72, 8% base chance = 1 in 13,996,800

--18 INT (+5%) + 17 WIS (+1.5%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/216 x 1/72 x 1/72, 8% base chance = 1 in 13,996,800

--18 INT (+5%) + 17 WIS (+1.5%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/216 x 1/72 x 1/216, 8% base chance = 1 in 41,990,400

--18 INT (+5%) + 18 WIS (+3%) + 17 CHA (+0.5%) = 1/216 x 1/216 x 1/72, 9% base chance = 1 in 37,324,800

--18 INT (+5%) + 18 WIS (+3%) + 18 CHA (+1%) = 1/216 x 1/216 x 1/216, 10% base chance = 1 in 100,776,960

The Origins and Role of Magic Weapons

Magic weapons, like all cool magic, should be rare and special. The average person won't even have a sword or other cool weapon (remember, only 1% of humans are adventurers). But what about people that would have weapons as part of their jobs, such as soldiers and policemen?

These fellows are technically fighters by class, but I would not consider them part of the 1%-ers. I consider them to be experts in human-to-human combat, equipped with standard-issue, minimal, for-urban-use, gear. Over the years, they could rise in level, like the MM1e describes larger bands "led by the 3rd level fighter". But, to me, that is just their job.

It's like getting your airplane mechanic's license. Guys can be jet repairman in the Air Force, but that does not help them get their A&P license. Those military guys are considered specialists, while to get your A&P license, you have to be a generalist.

I think of the Fighter class like that. You are not just a guy with skill with a sword, you are not just a "town watch" guy, you are not just a guy with a spear marching in an army. You are an ADVENTURER! You have training in multiple weapons, you have to learn general survival skills, you have to fight terrifying MONSTERS, not just other people, etc.

Only an adventurer would ever have a magic weapon. A town policeman, or palace guard or whatever, would never have one, even if he was the proverbial "7th-level captain of the guard". A great asset in a brawl or scrum he would be, no doubt, but not made of the same mettle as an adventurer. He would never have any occasion to need, or be awarded, a magical weapon. He is purely mundane, non-heroic.

Weapons from Wizards

An adventurer would come into a basic magic weapon most likely as payment from a high level magic user. As I discussed in my post about the magical economy, wizards are always in need of magical ingredients. Magic items take a long time to prepare, so they can't spend all their time outside, nor would they want to face the danger. Since they can command so much money for their finished magical products, they can pay good money for the necessary ingredients, and hire the adventurers to do the dirty work.

Rather than cash, the needy wizard might offer a magic item in payment. Or conversely, the magic user might simply give the magic item to the PC if the PC would absolutely require it to get the job done.

Weapons from Holy Orders

A magic weapon could also come as a reward for assistance to a clerical organization. Clerics would naturally produce these magical weapons as part of their never-ending war against demons, devils, and undead, most of whom cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons. Low level clerics could be given one as part of their initiation ceremony into 2nd or 3rd level or something.

Fighters or other classes might be awarded a magic item by the clerics if they take some oath or pledge to help fight evil, or something, or help the clerics on some particular quest against spiritual darkness.

+1 type weapons would be considered standard and available to low level adventurers. But what about the higher pluses? The DMG gives us a hint how this would work, in its description of +3, +4, and +5 armor, which it says is constructed out of different, rarer, even "otherworldly" material (meteoric iron, adamantium, etc).

More Powerful Magic Weapons

I am thinking that multiple pluses on any magical item have to be earned with some special task or quest.

For example, let's say you somehow come into possession of the magical formula for charging your weapon with "supernatural power". Maybe you find it in a book, maybe an old wizard gives it to you, whatever. The task: to wrap your weapon 7 times around, in the fresh hide of a juvenile dragon, then leave it upon a consecrated alter upon the tallest mountain, under the light of the full moon. Whammo, your +1 sword is now +2!

I am thinking a +3 weapon, a la the DMG suggestion, would require special construction from the start, made out of some special material (like can only be purchased in person from the ancient dwarven smiths deep under the mountains). Then it would have to be enchanted like normal to +1, THEN "charged up" according to some special magical formula, perhaps twice.

Gifts from the Gods

I would postulate that +4 and +5 weapons are solely the domain of the lesser and greater gods, respectively. Only they would be able to forge them from such otherworldly materials, then imbue them with such celestial power, to give them their permanently devastating powers. Of course, the gods would only grant such weapons as part of some greater plan, in return for the completion of some quest or heroic deed.

Monster-specific Weapons

Special-purpose weapons, the ones with special bonuses against particular monsters (like dragons, giants, lycanthropes, etc) could be created from a fairly standard formula: press the weapon for six days in the oozing skins of the monsters, then boil the weapon for 6 days in the blood of the monsters, then, spread the powered dust of the monsters' bones over the weapon, continually for six days.... That would give them the proper taste for the flesh, blood, and bones of that particular monster, I reckon.

Weapons with Personalities

Weapons with personalities of their own? To my mind, those involve SACRIFICE. Using some profound, and possibly gruesome, ritual, the soul of a living being is transferred into the magical weapon. The person was so fanatical about their mission in life, they willingly entered into a weapon, in order to be able to continue to advance that mission, forever! Naturally, they will attempt to domineer anyone holding them into a complete devotion to that task as well...

Or perhaps a greater god created a soul from scratch and put it directly in the weapon. As an infant, the weapon is of course out to prove itself and see the world while fulfilling its divine commission with great zeal, causing who knows what complications to the player character who attempts to weild it to his own purpose!

Claude d'Sarlat the Gourmand

Wonderful character and plot hooks below, taken from the geniuses over at Dungeons & Digressions (here) [I have changed regional names to reflect the AZ Adventures camplaign:



Claude's Controversial Cooking

Claude d'Sarlat is an eccentric and very wealthy gourmand. He regularly employs groups of adventurers to hunt down, kill (or trap), and retrieve for him various creatures - mostly four footed monsters but also exotic flora and fowl. Claude eats it all.

He is a large man: short of stature, but it would be unfair to call him “fat” - obscenely obese would be more accurate, or as Claude prefers, “most long of girth”. He wears an unfashionable mustache, which is typically encrusted with the remains of food, and he is almost constantly eating. Short-tempered and demanding, he’s very unpleasant to be around, and were it not for the fact that he pays extremely well (and can afford it), he would no doubt be quite alone.

His chef, one “Tirel”, himself an eccentric and worldly character, gladly indulges Claude’s culinary desires. Without Claude knowing it, Tirel has even expanded his repertoire to include bipedal beasts such as owlbears (and others) but has not yet dared to surreptitiously introduce Claude to these more acquired tastes.

He’s always surrounded by personal servants and bodyguards, one of whom will have a bucket handy should Claude need to quickly vacate his stomach’s contents to make room for another course.

Employment Opportunities Available

Claude is eager to employ experienced travelers and dungeoneers in his territory to retrieve for him some “free-range” meats from nearby grottos, preferably live or very freshly killed. Some of his servants are busy watching the local taverns for such travelers and will occasionally approach them with offers of employment (not revealing the actual name of their own employer). Acquired “game” should be presented to and will be paid for by Tirel directly.

Several other nobles have heard of Tirel’s exotic meals, and some wish to try them. Others feel the notion of eating monsters is an abomination and that Claude and Tirel are criminals whose actions imply that these creatures’ existence has a purpose and that they should not just be exterminated.

Claude's Origins

A long time ago, Claude was once a dungeoneer himself. Trapped by a cave-in, he sustained himself by living on the partially-eaten carcasses of battling monsters while awaiting rescue from outside. His survival was aided by his family’s greatest treasure, a Ring of Invisibility. Claude trained for a time as a magic user but his last dungeon experience turned him away from it (it also made him a touch mad).

Claude owns a keep and has inherited a small fiefdom - while not exactly encouraging monsters to forage for human and demihuman fare of their own, he does seem to tolerate it - or at least does so according to many of his not so loyal nor admiring subjects. Rumors of his more exotic tastes have recently spread throughout the land, and his appetite is already legendary.

Claude: Magic User 7: HP 28, AC 9 [11], Atk dagger d4, Str 10, Dex 9, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 7, Ring of Invisibility, Spells: Charm Person, Magic Missile, Read Magic, Sleep, Continual Light, Detect Invisibility, Stinking Cloud, Haste, Lightning Bolt, Charm Monster. He will seldom use the ring unless in extreme danger, and will only do so in conjunction with casting Haste upon himself.

Tirel: Fighter 4: HP 21, AC 5 [14], Atk long sword d8, Str 12, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 14.

Bodyguards (d6 at any given time) are 1st level fighters with a 2nd level captain.


The Fairie Trade

Claude de Sarlat is almost universally reviled by the inhabitants of Arizona, as is his practice of eating monsters, but no one can deny the culinary expertise of his head chef Tirel. In fact, it was Tirel who first pioneered and perfected the incredibly delicious and now very popular practice of cooking with fairy flakes.

Popkin fairies, at one time common throughout the Phoenix Valley, were discovered by Tirel to have exceptional flavor enhancing qualities when properly prepared. To those who have tasted the dried and shaved remains of these creatures, it’s hardly necessary to convey the extraordinary effect that they have on the palate. Describing the savory essence that popkins add to nearly any recipe is a task best left by this author to the many bards who have seen fit to take it up in poem and song. Suffice to say that once experienced, one will never be able to leave the valley without a strong sense of recurring nostalgia or outright craving for just one more exquisite taste of the little buggers.

Of course the controversy surrounding their use in cooking is well known. In the Phoenix valley itself, such moralizing and hand-wringing is scoffed at and ridiculed, but further away (and particularly amongst the elves), consumption or possession of fairy flakes is viewed with disgust and usually results in the shunning of the individuals involved. Complicating the situation is the fact that some area residents now keep orcs as slaves for use in tracking popkin fairies. The orkish ability to sniff out the presence of popkins is uncanny and has led to the popkins’ increasing rarity and sky rocketing price.

The Great Druid of Fountain Hills has decreed that anyone determined to be hunting popkin fairies in his gardens will be publicly hanged. Even with this decree, popkin poachers and other ne’er-do-wells have been seen in ever increasing numbers in the White Mountains. Some say that should the popkin ever disappear entirely, the Druid would wreak vengeance upon the inhabitants of the valley without mercy. In the town of Tempe, a syndicate known as the Committee for Popkin Preservation (or CPP) was formed with the aim of protecting the popkin, but through infiltration by outside interests and due to infighting, it’s been ineffective and become somewhat of a laughingstock.

Disturbing rumors have begun to circulate that “dead zones” where magic functions oddly or not at all have been detected. These zones are said to correspond to areas where the popkin have been completely wiped out, but where they were known to previously congregate in large numbers. Many claim these rumors are purely the propaganda of the CPP. In any event, the future of the popkin looks grim if history is any guide - one need only recall the sad decline of the hoar fox.

Making Sense of Coin Exchange Rates in AD&D

The AD&D system at first seems really clunky:

200 cp = 20 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp

At first, I seriously thought about "house-ruling" it, going to a more easily understood decimal system, such as 100 cp = 10 sp = 1 gp = 1/10 pp

But then I realized my mistake. I was thinking of the gold piece as the base monetary unit. Can't really be blamed for that, I suppose, since EVERYTHING is priced in gp as the base unit.

In reality, the silver piece was intended as the unit. Think of it like silver dollars.

The silver piece is like 1 dollar.

The gold piece is like 20 dollars.

The platinum piece is like 100 dollars.

I guess the copper piece is like a dime. I would prefer 100 cp = 1 sp to make them like pennies (house rules calling after all, I guess...).

But anyway it makes more sense to me to think of it like that, since we naturally use dollars, 20's, and 100's as our basic currency.

The whole system is more like the US dollar before WW2, before inflation took hold. Back when most transactions were under a dollar, $20 was a big deal, and $100 was a huge transaction.

AD&D is like that. Most daily transactions take place in copper and silver. Poor people would rarely see gold. The middle class would regularly use gold in their contracted interactions. The upper classes would use gold for jewelry and status displays, and to pay their skilled workers, but they would use platinum for their big transcactions.

Population Type and Distribution of PC Classes

The DMG 1e mentions (pg. 35) that only 1% of humans will have character-type classes (among other races, the ratio is 2%). Much like the typical game has way too much magic, I get the impression that the typical game also has way too many skilled NPCs.

The distribution of classes is listed as follows:
Clerics 20% (Druids 1/6 of those)
Fighters 44% (rangers 1/10, paladins 1/10 of those)
Magic-Users 20% (Illusionists 1/6 of those)
Thieves 15% (Assassins 1/6 of those)
Monks 1%


Thus, in a decent-sized small city of 10,000 people, we can expect a total of only 100 adventuring class NPCs:
17 clerics
3 druids
40 fighters
4 rangers
4 paladins
17 magic users
3 illusionists
13 thieves
2 assassins
1 monk

Pretty low numbers, if you think about it. In a small town of 1,000 people, there would only be 10 people with adventuring classes:
2 clerics
4 fighters
2 magic users
2 thieves

Think about the implications of that. It would take a small town of a couple thousand people just to equip the most basic of adventuring parties. In a village of 100 people, you would expect to find only find 1 person with a character class.

Any human is capable of picking up a sword and swinging it around, but the fact is, such PC equipment is bound to be pretty rare too. I mean, really, why would the average citizen have a sword lying around? They wouldn't have the money to buy it, nor the money and skills to maintain it, and it might be illegal to own in the first place.

In reality, the average citizen is going to have only "peasant's weapons", and no armor to speak of. For self-defense purposes, the average citizen would have a wooden club to bash things with, and a sharpened stick or second-hand spear to poke things with. In a pinch, they might swing an axe or scythe. There is a small chance they would have a small shield lying about, but that is it.

Finding a henchman or a pal to adventure with is going to be difficult. Only about 10% of those with class skills will be interested in adventuring employment at a given time, the rest being satisfied with their current situation. Thus, I think we can see the logic in why most fictional adventures took place solo, or just the hero with one sidekick.

Our idea of a "well-balanced party" is more or less just the product of the power-gaming mentality, wanting to be able to effectively hack-and-slash through any dungeoneering challenge. Adventuring with only one or two PCs makes the game playing much more challenging and high stakes. Thus, even Conan resorts to sneaking around, using his head, and planning good strategies, when it is just him and a couple low-level followers.

Money in the Old School campaign

For humans and demi-humans, money is just a medium of trade. Wealth is measured in money, but money is not the be-all and end-all. Real wealth is magic, armor, land, castle, livestock, servants & slaves. Money is just a means to acquire wealth.

For humanoids and many monsters (such as dragons), money is an end in itself. These monsters don't seek money in order to get something else. They seek money simply for itself. They acquire treasure and hoard it. The idea of trading for what they need does not occur to them. They kill and rob for what they need.

It is the capture of these monster hoards that creates what Gygax calls the "inflationary economy" of AD&D. When strange adventurers come into town, it is assumed they are rich with gold. All tradesmen instantly mark up their prices when they realize they are dealing with an adventurer.

As an old school gamer, the values stated in the DMG 1e form the foundation of the money system.

Basic Wages, monthly (pg. 28-9)
bearer/porter -- 1
carpenter -- 2
leather worker -- 0.3
limner/skilled painter -- 1
torch bearer -- 1
mason -- 3
pack handler -- 0.3
tailor -- 0.3
teamster/wagon driver -- 5
valet/servant -- 0.5

alchemist -- 300
armorer -- 100
blacksmith -- 30
architect -- 100
artillerist -- 150
sapper/miner -- 150
jeweler/gemcutter -- 100
weapon maker -- 100
Sage -- 20K to hire, 2k support per month (pg. 33)
Sage per question: 100 per day for research out of his field, 1K per day for research in one of his minor fields, 500 per day for research in one of his major fields, 200 per day in a special category

Cost of Mercenary Soldiers per month
longbowman -- 4
shortbowman -- 2
artillerist -- 5
crossbowman -- 2
footman, heavy -- 2
footman, light -- 1
footman, pikeman -- 3
horseman, archer -- 6
horseman, crossbowman -- 4
horseman, heavy -- 6
horseman, light -- 3
horseman, medium -- 4
sapper/miner -- 4
slinger -- 3
scribe -- 15
sailor -- 2
oarsmen -- 5
marines -- 3
ship mates -- 30
ship master/captain -- 100 per level
stonghold steward -- 200 per level

Cost of Spells (pg. 103)
astral spell -- 5K,
atonement -- 500,
augury -- 300,
bless -- 5 per person per level,
commune - 1000 + 500 per question,
continual light - 500,
control weather -- 10K,
cure blindness -- 1K,
cure disease -- 1K,
cure light wounds -- 100,
cure serious wounds -- 350,
cure critical wounds -- 600,
detect good/evil -- 100,
detect magic -- 150,
dispel good/evil -- 1K,
dispel magic -- 100 per level,
divination -- 1K,
earthquake -- 10K,
exorcise -- 1k per level,
find the path -- 500 per level,
gate -- 50K,
glyph of warding -- 10 per level,
heal -- 200 per point,
neutralize poison -- 1k,
part water -- 1k per level,
plane shift -- 4k,
prayer -- 50 per level,
protection from evil -- 50 per level,
purify food and drink -- 100,
raise dead -- 1k plus 500 per level,
regenerate -- 15k,
remove curse -- 500 per level,
resist cold -- 50 per level,
resist fire -- 100 per level,
restoration -- 10K,
silence -- 100 per level,
slow poison -- 200 per level,
speak with dead -- 100 per level,
tongues -- 500,
true seeing -- 400 per level.

Holy Water recepticles (pg. 115)
Copper: basin 130-18, font 200
Silver: basin 1900-2400, font 500
Gold: basin 19K - 22K, font 1500
Platinum: basin 110K- 200K, font 2K
Crystal vial: 2-5

Spell research (pg. 115)
with lab and library: 200 + 100-400 per level per week
to establish lab & library: 2K + 1K-4K per level per week

Hiring Henchmen (pg 35)
Posting notices in public -- 50
hiring a crier -- 10
hiring agents to seek prospects -- 300
[availability: 1 in 1000 of population will desire to be henchmen)
maintenance of henchmen -- 100 per level per month

Fortification/Construction costs (pg. 107)
barbican [large fortified gatehouse with 2 towers] -- 4k,
stone gatehouse -- 2k,
Round 30' tower -- 1600,
Square 30' tower -- 1200,
drawbridge -- 400,
earth rampart 100' long 10' high -- 100,
iron door -- 100,
wooden door -- 10,
portcullis -- 500,
stone building -- 500,
wood building -- 200,
moat 100' long -- 250,
drawbridge -- 400,
window with shutters and bars -- 10
maintenance of stronghold -- 1% of total construction cost per month


Seige Devices (pg. 108)
Ballista -- 75
Catapult, heavy - 200
Catapult, light -- 150
Cauldron, suspended -- 50
Gallery, covered -- 350
Hoist -- 150
Mantlet, movable [rolling wall] -- 15
Ram -- 500
Ram catcher -- 20
Siege tower -- 800
Sow [wall pick/screw] -- 500
Trebuchet -- 500

Value of Rare Commodities
beaver: pelt -- 2, trimming - 20, cape/jacket -- 200, coat -- 400
ermine: pelt -- 4, trimming - 120, cape/jacket -- 3600, coat -- 7200
fox: pelt -- 3, trimming - 30, cape/jacket -- 300, coat -- 600
marten: pelt -- 4, trimming - 40, cape/jacket -- 400, coat -- 800
mink: pelt -- 3, trimming - 90, cape/jacket -- 2700, coat -- 5400
muskrat: pelt -- 1, trimming - 10, cape/jacket -- 100, coat -- 200
sable: pelt -- 5, trimming - 150, cape/jacket -- 4500, coat -- 9000
carpet/rug/tapestry -- 1-20 per yard
incense, rare -- 5-30 per stick
ivory -- 3-6 per pound
pepper -- 1 per ounce
perfume, rare -- 1-6 per dram
silk -- 1-3 per yard
unguent, rare -- 10-60 per gill

Magic Potions (pg. 121)
animal control 400
clairaudience 400
clairvoyance 500
climbing 500
delusion 150
diminution 500
dragon control 5k-9k
ESP 850
extra-healing 800
fire resistance 400
flying 750
gaseous form 400
giant control 1k - 6k
giant strength 900-1400
growth 300
healing 300
heroism 500
human control 900
invisibility 500
invulnerability 500
levitation 400
longevity 1k
oil of etherealness 1500
oil of slipperiness 750
philter of love 300
philter of persuasiveness 850
plant control 300
polymorph self 350
speed 450
super heroism 750
sweet water 250
treasure finding 2k
undead control 2500
water breathing 900

General Scrolls: 300 per spell level
Protection Scrolls
from demons 12500
from devils 12500
from elementals 7500
from lycanthropes 5k
from magic 7500
from petrification 10k
from possession 10k
from undead 7500

Magic armor
Chain mail -- 3500/7500/12500
Leather armor -- 2k
Plate mail -- 5k/10.5k/15.5k/20.5k/27.5k
Plate mail of etherealness 30k
Ring mail 2500
Scale mail 3k/67500
Splint mail 4k/8.5k/14.5k/19k
studded leather 2.5k
Shield 2.5k/5k/8k/12k/17.5k

Magic weapons
Sword 2k/4k/7k/10k/15k
Sword, Giant Slayer or Dragon Slayer 4.5k
Sword, vs special creatures (undead, lycanthropes, reptiles, avians, etc) -- 3k, 3.5k/4k/4.5k
Dagger -- 750
Axe -- 1750/3750/7k
Battle Axe -- 2.5k
Bow 3.5k
Crossbow of Speed 7.5k
Flail 4k
Hammer 2.5k/6k/15k
Javelin 5k
Javelin of Lightning 3k
Mace 3k/4.5k/10k/15k
Sling 4k/7k
Spear 3k/6.5k/15k
Arrow of Slaying 2.5k

Rings
Magic ring fabrication, platinum: 5K
Feather falling 5k
Fire resistance 5k
free action 5k
human influence 10k
invisibility 7.5k
mammal control 5k
multiple wishes 25k
protection 10k-20k
regeneration 40k
shooting stars 15k
spell storing 22.5k
spell turning 17.5k
swimming 5k
telekinesis 10k
three wishes 15k
warmth 5k
water walking 5k
wizardry 50k
x-ray vision 35k



Rods/Staffs/Wands
Rod of Absorbtion 40k
Rod of Beguiling 30k
Rod of Cancellation 15k
Rod of Lordly Might 20k
Rod of Resurrection 35k
Rod of Rulership 35k
Rod of Smiting 15k
Staff of Command 25k
Staff of Curing 25k
Staff of the Magi 75k
Staff of Power 60k
Staff of the Serpent 35k
Staff of Striking 15k
Wand of Conjuration 35k
Wand of Enemy Detection 10k
Wand of Fear 15k
Wand of Fire 25k
Wand of Frost 50k
Wand of Illumination 10k
Wand of Illusion 20k
Wand of Lightning 30k
Wand of Magic Detection 25k
Wand of Metal & Mineral Detection 7.5k
Wand of Magic Missiles 35k
Wand of Negation 15k
Wand of Paralyzation 25k
Wand of Polymorphing 25k
Wand of Secret Door & Trap Location 40k
Wand of Wonder 10k

Miscellaneous Magic Items
Ammulet of Hiding (non-detection) 15k
Bag of Holding 25k
Boots of Dancing 5k
Boots of Elvenkind 5k
Boots of Levitation 5k
Boots of Speed 20k
Boots of Striding and Springing 20k
Bracers of Defense 3k/6k/9k/12k/15k
Brooch of Shielding 10k
Broom of Flying 10k
Carpet of Flying 25k
Cime of Opening 20k
Cloak of Displacement 17.5k
Cloak of Elvenkind 6k
Cloak of Manta Ray 12.5k
Cloak of Protection 10k
Crystal Ball 5k
Cube of Force 20k
Instant Fortress 27.5k
Decanter of Endless Water 3k
Drums of Panic 35k
Dust of Disappearance 8k
Eyes of the Eagle 18k
Gauntlets of Dexterity 10k
Gauntlets of Ogre Power 15k
Gauntlets of Swimming & Climbing 10k
Girdle of Giant Strength 2.5k
Helm of Telepathy 35k
Helm of Teleportation 30k
Horn of Blasting 55k
Horn of the Tritons 17.5k
Horseshoes of Speed 10k
Medallion of ESP10k/30k
Pipes of the Sewers 8.5k
Portable Hole 50k
Rope of Climbing 10k
Rope of Entanglement 12k
Trident of fish command 4k
Wings of flying 7.5k

Golem construction
Clay 65k
Flesh 50k
Iron 100K
Stone 80k

Poisons ***
Ingestive type A -- 5
Ingestive type B -- 30
Ingestive type C -- 200
Ingestive type D -- 500
Ingestive type E -- 1K
Insinuative type A -- 10
Insinuative type B -- 75
Insinuative type C -- 600
Insinuative type D -- 1500

***
Ingestive type A: 80% detection, 2-8 rounds, 10/20 damage, +4 save
Ingestive type B: 65% detection, 2-5 rounds, 15/30 damage, +3 save
Ingestive type C: 40% detection, 1-2 rounds, 20/40 damage, +2 save
Ingestive type D: 15% detection, 1 segment, 25/death damage, +1 save
Ingestive type E: 0% detection, 1-4 turns, 30/death damage, no save bones
Insinuative type A: 80% detection, 2-5 rounds, 2-5 rounds, 0/15 damage, +4 save
Insinuative type B: 65% detection, 1-3 round, 0/25 damage, +3 save
Insinuative type C: 40% detection, 1 round, 0/35 damage, +2 save
Insinuative type D: 15% detection, 1 segment, 0/death damage, +1 save


Cost of Animals
Cost of Armor
Cost of Weapons