Dragon Magazine #106.pdf - AnnArchive

100 Pages·1999·11.01 MB·English

DRAGON 1
8 1
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
45 A plethora of paladins (cid:151) Christopher Wood
1 6
Seven new alignment-oriented NPC classes
Publisher OTHER FEATURES
Mike Cook
Editor-in-Chief 8 The laws of magic (cid:151) Charles Olsen
Kim Mohan Everything you wanted to know about the arcane
Editorial staff 14 Casting spells for cash (cid:151) Fraser Sherman
Patrick Lucien Price Magic-users are good for more than combat
Roger Moore 16 The ecology of the maedar (cid:151) Ed Greenwood
Art, graphics, production All about the medusa (cid:151) and her man!
Roger Raupp 18 Money isn(cid:146)t everything (cid:151) Carl Sargent
Kim Lindau
. . . But a few gold pieces can make a big difference
Subscriptions
22 Open them, if you dare (cid:151) Ed Greenwood
Georgia Moore
Enter an unusual magic item (cid:151) enchanted doors
Advertising
24 The ranger redefined (cid:151) Deborah Christian
Mary Parkinson
More skills to help strengthen the class
Contributing editors
33 More range for rangers (cid:151) James A. Yates
Ed Greenwood
A new system for determining followers
Katharine Kerr
38 The way we really play (cid:151) Tom Armstrong
This issue(cid:146)s contributing artists
Thoughts on the development of a Dungeon Master
Keith Parkinson
Roger Raupp 40 Bad idea, good game? (cid:151) Michael Dobson
Jim Roslof Why some (cid:147)bad(cid:148) games fail and others don(cid:146)t
Bob Walters
62 Intruder (cid:151) Russell Madden
Hank Jankus
Being considered alien is always in the eye of the beholder
Marvel Bullpen
James Holloway THE ARES™ SECTION
David Trampier
Ted Goff
70 Notes from the Underground (cid:151) Ken Rolston
Stephen Hearon
How to be a better traitor in the PARANOIA game
Richard Tomasic
Joseph Pillsbury 76 Stellar Feedback(cid:151) Roger E. Moore
Larry Elmore A look through the science-fiction gaming mail
78 The MARVELfi-Phile (cid:151) Jeff Grubb
Alpha Flight(cid:153) and Omega Flight(cid:153), part I
81 The New Humans (cid:151) David Wainwright
Pure strain humans in the GAMMA WORLDfi game
DEPARTMENTS
3 Letters 60 TSR Profiles 90 Wormy
4 World Gamers Guide 87 Convention calendar 92 Dragonmirth
6 The forum 88 Gamers(cid:146) Guide 94 Snarfquest
58 TSR Previews
COVER
TSR staff artist Keith Parkinson enters the ranks of cover artists for DRAGONfi Mag-
azine with (cid:147)Valshea.(cid:148) According to Keith, the woman who stared back at you when
you first laid eyes on her is Lady Valshea, an elven fighter/magic-user who was cap-
tured in color as she, her familiar, and her trusty steed took a break during their pas-
sage through Blue Rock Vale.
2 FEBRUARY 1986
More for
your money
DRAGONfi Magazine now costs more
than ever before. That(cid:146)s not exactly hot
news to those of you who read this column
a couple of issues ago, when we an-
Missing maps a natural armor class of 7; however, high dexter-
nounced the upcoming price increase. It
ity and magic devices such as rings of protection
shouldn(cid:146)t be bad news to subscribers,
may improve this figure considerably (cid:151) RM
Dear Dragon, since the subscription rate didn(cid:146)t go up,
I am ecstatic about the module in #104, since I and I hope the higher price didn(cid:146)t come as
play the MARVEL SUPER HEROES(cid:153) game One or the other a shock to anyone who bought the maga-
and am always interested in new plots. But there zine at a store.
was one problem: I didn(cid:146)t have any of the maps What we didn(cid:146)t tell you in December,
listed in the adventure, so I couldn(cid:146)t use it. Dear Dragon: but what we can tell you now, is that
Another problem: The article on kender in I have a question regarding the spell-casting
you(cid:146)re going to get more for your money.
#101 contained little signs that indicated kender abilities of the new bard class in the Best of
Beginning with issue #107 (March 1986),
would make great thieves, but when I looked for DRAGON Vol. III. It states that (cid:147)the effective-
the magazine(cid:146)s page count will go up from
bonuses to their abilities all I could find was a ness of a druid spell cast by a bard is the same as
high dexterity. What bonuses do kender get? that of a druid one level lower than the bard.(cid:148) 96 to 104. Because we don(cid:146)t expect our
Final question: A while back Mr. Gygax said Under the new Unearthed Arcana rules, it is now advertising lineage to go up, that means
something about some new character classes like possible for elves to be druids of unlimited levels we(cid:146)ll be able to devote those eight pages to
the savant, the mystic, the mountebank, and the (except for wild elves). Elves can also be bards of more articles.
jester. Are these going to be published and if so, unlimited advancement, according to the article. I won(cid:146)t try to claim that an extra eight
when? My question is this: If an elven druid/bard (of pages is worth an extra 50 cents. As I
Mark Baxter perhaps 5th/5th level) casts a druid spell acquired pointed out two issues ago, the price in-
Orlando, Fla. by his bard class, would the spell be cast at 4th
crease is intended to help us cover our
level efficiency (as in the rules), or would the elf
costs, and the costs of the distributors and
Of the four maps required to play the Sudden cast it at his normal druid level? After all, the
retailers who sell the magazine on our
Dawn adventure, the one for Chapter 1 comes in spell effect is no different for both classes (except
the MARVEL SUPER HEROES boxed game for the special few outlined in the article). behalf. Approximately half of that 50 cents
set, and the one for Chapter 2 is provided in the Richard Hudson will go directly to distributors and store
adventure. Because of space limitations, we were Jackson, Miss. owners; out of the 25 cents that we(cid:146)ll
unable to reproduce the maps for Chapters 3 and receive, we(cid:146)ve decided that we can afford
4, but they are both contained in MHAC6, New What we have here is an excellent example of to pay the cost of producing and printing
York, New York. If you don(cid:146)t want to buy that what happens when you combine official rules more pages and still end up with enough
accessory or can(cid:146)t find it for sale, you can make with unofficial material from a magazine article,
bucks to pay the bills.
your own maps. The Barcley Research Center is and toss in a pinch of personal preference to boot
I don(cid:146)t expect Ralph Nader to give us a
similar to the city map in the boxed set, but with The ingredients don(cid:145)t mix very well. Sometimes
medal for caring about the consumer, but
the addition of a riverfront section. The 35th you can use one or the other (the rules or the
floor of the Empire State Hotel has 4 large suites, article), but not both. I am rather proud of the fact that the
a storage room accessed by a stairwell, and three In the first place, the rules in Unearthed Ar- company I work for has decided to use
elevators, with a central hallway connected to cana were not designed to be compatible with the some of that extra revenue to directly
each of them (cid:151) 10 areas in all, counting the unofficial bard class, which was written and first benefit the people who are giving us the
stairwell. published several years ago. In the second place, money.
Kender have the same bonuses for thieving neither the rules nor the article specifically per- In the next few months, we(cid:146)re going to
skills as halflings do. This was implied in the mits the existence of a multi-classed druid/bard.
be looking into ways to use our page space
article (on p. 13), but should have been more Obviously, problems can (and often do) arise
as effectively as possible (cid:151) also in the
clearly stated. Kender, like all other thieves, also when someone tries to make an (cid:147)illegal(cid:148) multi-
interest of giving you more for your
receive bonuses for high dexterity class combination work with the existing rules.
In issue #103, Gary Gygax mentioned the But if you want to assume that a druid/bard money. We(cid:146)ve already (cid:147)saved(cid:148) one page,
mystic, the savant, and the jester (but not the character is possible, Richard(cid:146)s question does starting with this issue, by combining the
mountebank) as new character classes (subclasses, have an answer. If the spell was (cid:147)acquired by his table of contents page in the ARES(cid:153)
actually) that will be included in the Second bard class,(cid:148) the character would cast it as a druid Section with the contents page for the rest
Edition of the AD&Dfi game rules. To the best of of one level lower(cid:151)just like the article specifies. of the magazine. (That(cid:146)s why the page at
our knowledge, he has no plans at present to The fact that the character is a druid in addition the left looks a lot more crowded than it
preview these classes through articles in the to being a bard should have no effect on the
used to.) As other ideas come to us, or are
magazine. If that situation changes, we(cid:146)ll let you character(cid:146)s ability to cast a druid spell that he
suggested to us, we(cid:146)ll try them out. We
know. (cid:151) KM receives by virtue of being a bard. You have to
want to do whatever we can to encourage
keep the character(cid:146)s (cid:147)dual identities(cid:148) separate,
and moderate his spell-casting as a bard as you to keep thinking that the magazine
Armor class answer though he were only a bard. (cid:151) KM you buy is worth every penny of the price
you pay for it. As always, if you have any
ideas on how we can accomplish this, we(cid:146)ll
Dear Dragon, A question of size be glad to hear about them.
I have a question pertaining to the thendar
(issue #101, Creature Catalog, p. 54). Under
armor class it says (cid:147)see below,(cid:148) but nothing is Dear Dragon,
mentioned in the text about armor class. What is I have a question about the size and population
it supposed to be? of Ansalon in the world of Krynn. In the article
David Korson about the gnomes of Krynn (#103), Roger Moore
Louisville, Ky. said there were about 59,000 gnomes on Sancrist
Isle. How do you make room for all the other and
We neglected to note that because of their more numerous races on Ansalon (which could be
magical and extraplanar nature, thendar have (Concluded on page 4)
DRAGON 3
compared to the size of Arkansas), which has west and about 1,000 miles from north to south. many of our world’s baseball and football stadi-
many barren and uninhabitable areas? This is a lot larger than Arkansas. ums. Arkansas has about 2,000,000 people, and
Wesley Marshall It occurs to me that you might have been it is not considered a densely populated state. In
Cane Hill, Ark. referring to Sancrist Isle alone, not to the whole addition, there are as many people living in Little
of Ansalon, when you were wondering how all Rock as there are gnomes on Sancrist Isle, and
According to the map in DL5, the continent of those gnomes would fit into that space. Consider the gnomes live largely underground. Sure,
Ansalon measures about 1,320 miles from east to that 59,000 people (or gnomes) will not even fill everyone has enough room. — RM
The World Gamers Guide
If you live outside the continental game; GW = GAMMA WORLDfi way for them to contact other game-
United States and Canada, you can be game; SF = STAR FRONTIERSfi players who would be interested in cor-
included in the World Gamers Guide by game; ST= STAR TREKfi: The Role- responding about the activities that they
sending your name and full address, plus Playing Game; MSH = MARVEL enjoy. Unfortunately, we cannot extend
your gaming preferences, to World SUPER HEROES(cid:153) game: TS = TOP this service to persons who live in remote
Gamers Guide, DRAGONfi Magazine, SECRETfi game; T = TRAVELLERfi areas of the U.S. or Canada, or to U.S.
P.O. Box 110, Lake Geneva WI 53147 game; RQ = RUNEQUESTfi game; military personnel with APO or FPO
USA. VV = VILLAINS & VIGILANTES(cid:153). addresses. Each eligible name and ad-
Abbreviations in parentheses after a The World Gamers Guide is intended dress that we receive will be published in
name indicate games in which that per- for the benefit of gamers who live outside three consecutive issues of DRAGONfi
son is especially interested: the continental United States and Can- Magazine; to be listed for more than
AD = AD&Dfi game; DD = D&Dfi ada, in areas where nearby gamers are three issues, you must send in another
game; CC = CALL OF CTHULHUfi small in number or nonexistent, as a postcard or letter.
Daniel Folatelli (DD,AD) Russel Davidoff (AD,TS) Robert Ashwin (AD) Matthew Strickler (AD, TS, SF)
Casilla de Correo 181 110 Greenlands Crescent 16 Hovea St. Impasse de Mon Idee 3
6600 Mercedes Sunningdale Blackwood 5051 1226 Thonex
Provincia Buenos Aires Johannesburg 2192 Adelaide, S.A. Switzerland
Argentina South Africa Australia
Matthew Temple (AD)
Matthew Cults (AD,DD,SF) Eric Cooper (DD,AD) Nachi Ugarte (MSH,AD,GW) 42 Seaview Ave.
49 Grange St. Sq DU Solbosch 28 204 University Dr. Northcote, Auckland 9
Christchurch 2 1050 Brussels New Alabang Vill. New Zealand
New Zealand Belgium Muntinlupa, Metro Manila
Philippines Neil Schunke (CC,T)
William Vernon (AD,CC) Steven McKeown (DD,SF) Diamond Heights Apt. 301
Avenida Sojo 21 Beach Street Shane Huang I 1-108, Ogino
Residencias El Escorial Whakatane P.O. Box 36-158 Itami, Hyogo, Japan T664
Urbanizacion El Rosal New Zealand Taipei, Taiwan
Caracas 1060 Republic of China Peter Kay (DD)
Venezuela David Mar (AD) Hebel str. 65
P.O. Box 65 Daniel Folatelli (DD,AD) 4056 Basel
Guy Girardi (AD,ST,GW) Fairfield 2165 Casilla de Correo 181 Switzerland
Place des mines 46, New South Wales 6600 Mercedes
L-4244 Esch/Alzette Australia Provincia Buenos Aires Cameron Lind (AD,DD,RQ)
Luxembourg Argentina 36 Hawthorne St.
John Maravilla (VV,GW,DD) Woody Point, Queensland,
Masayuki Kitano (AD,DD,GW) 73 Bacolod St. Nigel Cherk (AD,RQ,T) Australia
190-28 Yakuoji Alabang Hills Vill. 8 Bengal Cres.
Tawaramoto-Cho Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Mt. Waverley, Dr Bruce Ross (AD)
Shiki-Gun, 636-03 Nara Philippines Victoria 3149 7 Apollo Place
Japan Australia Rotorna
Frank J. Romeo III (AD) Bay of Plenty
Bryan Bernstein (AD,GW,DD) 63 Oberon Drive Jonathan Cary (AD,DD) New Zealand
Aconcagua 5073 Belmont, Vic. Carrera 11A #113-14
Montevideo, Uruguay Australia 3216 Apt. 501
Bogota, Colombia
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4 FEBRUARY 1986
DRAGON 5
may be different than those between the players,
if the characters are different from their players.
Generally, a group of players are friends who
have known each other for some time. Their
relationships, good or bad, are usually straight-
forward and known. Why should this be so for
the characters? In the campaign I just mentioned,
two of the characters were for all appearances the
best of friends, yet they were plotting against each
other behind each other(cid:146)s back. There were
distrustful relationships, as well as amorous ones,
I(cid:146)d like to comment on two statements in What Mr. Gygax seemed to be saying is that that did not exist in real life. This threw a lot of
DRAGONfi issue #102. role- playing (i.e., assuming a character different spice into the game and made it a lot more fun.
First, I applaud Mr. Gygax on his choice of from yourself and then playing it accurately) has Sometimes playing a character who is not only
words in (cid:147)Realms of role playing.(cid:148) For a long become too much of a priority in role-playing different from the player but different from the
time I(cid:146)ve tried to convince people that (cid:147)role games, that it bogs down the action of the game adventuring type in general can be fun. Ever play
playing(cid:148) is not saying archaic words in a funny and blurs a distinct line between role-playing and a character who was totally averse to adventures
voice or mouthing stereotypical attitudes to let acting, which is for some reason bad. Instead of but was drawn into one by circumstance? That
everyone know from your first breath what class playing a role different from oneself, one should can lead to a very interesting and entertaining
and alignment you are, but is rather using actions play oneself, assuming the role of a fighter, wiz- campaign, as I(cid:146)m sure Bilbo Baggins would
and words to play the character in an internally ard, or whatever. agree. Maybe Mr. Gygax prefers to play adven-
consistent manner. The phrase (cid:147)role assump- Mr. Gygax is wrong, and here(cid:146)s why. turing machines, Herculean characters who know
tion(cid:148) says it all. The rest of the process (cid:151) vary- To begin with, how can a character who has all the tricks, even at 1st level. To my way of
ing language and actions to fit the situation, etc. grown up in a fantasy society (and is perhaps not thinking, that is not a character; that is an auto-
(cid:151) falls into line once the role is assumed. even human) have the same personality as a mated chesspiece. But to each his own (cid:151) that(cid:146)s
Second, I(cid:146)d like to comment on Mr. Sheldon(cid:146)s person who has lived his life in the twentieth what this game is all about. Still, characters who
comment in the Forum. Yes, it is difficult to role century on Earth? Human nature is a constant, are a little different from the player are generally
play with one character and a GM. But it can but the environment has a significant effect on a more realistic and have so much more (cid:147)fun
also be rewarding. The joy of gaming is that person(cid:146)s character. Besides, what if your charac- potential(cid:148) that I don(cid:146)t feel that Mr. Gygax should
game systems are flexible (cid:151) you don(cid:146)t always ter is a nonhuman? Is it possible to play a nonhu- attempt to sway other people(cid:146)s opinions away
have to be part of a large group going to a spe- man character with your own personality? It from them.
cific place to find a specific object and fight seems to me that one cannot take a personality Charles Ryan
masses of creature just to have fun. A good GM out of the Eighties and assign it to a person in a Blacksburg, Va.
can tailor an adventure to fit the number and totally different environment.
level of the available characters. Playing a 1st- Secondly, role playing is not acting. In many * * * *
level character lost in the woods and encountering respects it is similar, but in the most important
minor beasts can be as enjoyable (and dangerous) one, it is not. The main difference is that an actor In issue #99, on page 38, David Godwin brings
as running a party of mid-levels through a jungle plays the role of a pre-invented character. The up a good point about player characters being
full of lions, tigers, and bears. script writer is responsible for the creation and allowed to kill deities. In my opinion, the answer
The adventures available to the single charac- development of the character; the actor(cid:146)s job is to to this isn(cid:146)t to let the gods escape, but to make
ter are many. A robbery attempt by a single thief, convincingly change the character from a written them more powerful. To say that a certain god
wandering through the city, and going to an inn format to a visual format. The closest thing to has 300 hit points and does 7-70 points of damage
to meet a potential employer all offer the chance that in role playing would be to have a player use is to say that he(cid:146)s tough, but also that he can be
for role playing and role assumption that can be an NPC created by the DM, but that would still beaten. If deities are expressed in human terms,
challenging and enjoyable. Single-character have nothing to do with actually getting up and then there is no reason why humans cannot deal
adventures also offer the GM who likes role acting. No, if you must compare role playing to with them, and I see no reason why characters
playing the chance to run multiple NPCs. This any other art form, it should be with writing, in who can beat a god should not be allowed to do
type of adventure can be difficult, but this is which the author creates his character, then so.
balanced by increased player involvement. guides it through a series of events, having it In my campaign, I don(cid:146)t give gods hit points
In fact, some games seem to be made for one- behave as befits its personality. and armor classes; I just let it be known that they
on-one playing. The TOP SECRETfi game is a This, however, is trivial when placed next to cannot be bested by mortals. Because a god can
good example, with a subject suited more to lone Mr. Gygax(cid:146)s assertion that role-playing is difficult bestow spells on the clerics who worship him,
agents than to groups of the same. The super- and is done at the expense of action. This is not then he must automatically be powerful enough
powered hero games also provide single-character necessarily true; in fact, if it is, then someone is to cast all these spells himself, as many times (and
quests as close as your favorite comic book. doing something wrong. Role playing is very as many at a time) as he desires. In order for a
Admittedly, my gaming group (which has been simple, once you define your character. It has being to be called a god, he should be of a power
together for eight years now) tends to go on been my experience that if you really enjoy your unreachable by player characters; if he(cid:146)s not, I
group adventures more often than not, with 4-6 character, playing it will become almost second see no reason why characters should not be
players being the norm. But it is very common nature. Furthermore, role playing actually en- allowed to destroy him.
for one or two of us to get together with our GM hances the action in a game, in that the charac- Adam Griffith
for adventures between or instead of the group(cid:146)s ters tend to take new approaches in handling Seattle, Wash.
meetings. After all, if one assumes the character situations. If I were playing myself as a fighter in
* * * *
properly, there will be things that the character a fantasy world, as Mr. Gygax suggests, then I
wants and needs to do that don(cid:146)t involve the can hardly help but to draw on my years of
other characters. Thus, single-player adventures experience in fantasy RPGs to help me in a In light of the recent discussion of the so-called
can grow logically out of character assumption. difficult situation. However, if I play a character (cid:147)Monty Haul(cid:148) campaign, I suggest that DMs
Bob Kindel different from myself, I find the character takes turn to page 7 of the Dungeon Masters Guide for
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio novel approaches to various situations, almost as a few inspiring words from E. Gary Gygax. Then
if it had a mind of its own. Granted, sometimes start at the top with money and power.
* * * * the character makes mistakes that get it into To deal with the surplus gold pieces acquired
trouble, but then, what fun would the game be if from oversized hoards, try reading the explana-
Gary Gygax(cid:146)s article in issue #102 really both- everything went right all the time? tory notes on page 5 of the Monster Manual.
ered me. I guess that it would be really silly to Furthermore, a campaign can be tailored Under the section on treasure type is a set of rules
contend that Mr. Gygax misses the point of around certain characters. I have run several fun for giving out reasonably sized treasures.
adventure role-playing, as he is in large part games in which the adventures were specifically Power in fantasy role playing lies in religion
responsible for creating the point, but perhaps I designed around the personalities of the charac- and magic. In the Legends & Lore volume, on
can say that fantasy role-playing games have ters involved. These games had more mystique page 8, are guidelines for controlling divine
evolved a long way from the D&Dfi game(cid:146)s early and atmosphere than any others I(cid:146)ve ever seen, beings as a DM. Here it is explained that the
days, that maybe Mr. Gygax is missing the full as well as action that rivaled the best. Also, the deities are jealous gods and won(cid:146)t allow a mere
potential of the point. relationships between the characters in the party (Turn to page 87)
6 FEBRUARY 1986

The laws of magic
How the AD&D universe works, and why
by Charles Olsen
In the physical world, we are bound by some characters the ability to utilize and Some of the ancients who considered the
certain laws. The law of gravity says that manipulate its energy? Why must spell- elements to be air, earth, fire, and water
what goes up will sooner or later come casters have exceptional intelligence or also believed in a fifth element they called
down. The second law of thermodynamics wisdom (cid:151) what is it that gives these charac- akasa. In The Sorcerer(cid:146)s Handbook, by
dictates that in a closed system, the quantity ters the ability to invoke arcane energy? In Wade Baskin, akasa is defined thus: (cid:147)In
of disorder (or entropy) will increase with order to explain these points, we must Pythagorean thought, the fifth element. It is
each spontaneous event. consider some of the findings of present-day a celestial ether or astral light that occupies
In a fantasy world where magic exists, biology and physics. Clearly, characters will all space. In certain Buddhist teachings, it is
there must also be laws governing the use of have no knowledge of this, but players and the cosmic spirit-substance, the vast reser-
that magic. An understanding of those laws DMs can know and understand. voir of being.(cid:148) This fifth element could be
is necessary to develop and use spells. Yet, The human mind is a powerful tool, and taken as the energy field which permeates
in the AD&Dfi game rules, these laws are it is generally accepted that the average the multiverse.
ignored in favor of a (cid:147)black box(cid:148) approach person uses only a fraction of the full poten- The akasa is everywhere (cid:151) it is every-
to magic. tial of his mind. Even so, some people in an thing. Its energy reacts with the electrical
(cid:147)Black box(cid:148) is modern electronics jargon AD&D game world manage to develop and energy in living things, influencing lives
for a device with known performance char- use a fair degree of this power. It typically and events in ways that are not completely
acteristics but unknown means of operation. manifests in one of three ways: magic-user understood. Because of its pervasive nature,
A well-known example is the telephone: spells, cleric spells, and psionics. it forms a bond among all things present in
most people have no idea how or why this The use of any of these abilities obviously the multiverse. Just as air is a medium to
little marvel operates. They have no con- requires some source of energy. The human transmit sound, akasa could be the medium
cept of electrons rushing-along their preor- body (and, presumably, the body of an elf, of all arcane powers (cid:151) spell-casting abilities
dained paths, kicking relays and caressing dwarf, or other being) is in fact full of elec- (magic-user and illusionist, cleric and
transistors, or of the vast computer network trical energy, carried along nerve paths by druid, and the power of the gods) and psio-
involved in connecting two telephones. In neurons, but this energy is not sufficient to nic powers.
truth, the average person has no need for account for these arcane abilities. Also, the DEITIES & DEMIGODS(cid:153)
such knowledge. All he or she needs to To understand these powers, it is neces- Cyclopedia (now titled Legends & Lore)
know is how to lift the receiver and push the sary to have a basic understanding of the notes that (cid:147)The source of a deity(cid:146)s godheads
buttons (or, on older systems, how to turn structure of the multiverse. Long ago, men is in some way connected to his or her
the dial). believed that all matter consisted of four earthly worshipers, though in what manner
This is the same approach used for magic elements: air, earth, fire, and water. This the gods derive this power is a mystery
in the AD&D game. The player whose was the prevailing notion for centuries. totally beyond mortal (or immortal) com-
character is a magic-user selects a spell from Eventually, it was discovered that there are prehension. However, it is true that a god(cid:146)s
a list and casts it, having no idea what a hundred or so natural elements, composed power often increases or decreases as the
words are being spoken to invoke the magi- of tiny particles called atoms. The word number of his worshipers varies. Thus
cal energy. (That is, the player doesn(cid:146)t (cid:147)atom(cid:148) is derived from the Greek atomos, deities, and clerics as their agents, con-
know what words are being spoken; of which means (cid:147)indivisible,(cid:148) and indeed stantly try to increase the quantity and
course, the magic-user character knows, for these particles were thought to be the small- quality of their worshipers.(cid:148)
he or she has spent quite a bit of time mem- est units of matter. When the akasa is taken into account,
orizing the spell.) Each spell has a specific Then atoms were found to consist of still this is no longer a mystery. As the akasa
effect (or range of effects) and will perform smaller particles (cid:151) negatively charged flows through living creatures, it is influ-
exactly as defined. electrons circling a nucleus, that is com- enced slightly by their thoughts, attitudes,
Of course, this system of spell definition posed of protons, positively charged, and and beliefs. On an individual level, this
is necessary to make the game playable. neutrons, which possess no charge at all. influence is too small to be noticeable, but
Players and DMs alike must know exactly Recently, even smaller particles have been the effect is cumulative. As more people
what each spell is going to do, or the entire hypothesized (cid:151) tiny quarks are thought to worship a deity; more akasic energy is fo-
system quickly breaks down. Yet, there make up protons and neutrons. Other cused on that being, and its power increases
must be a set of laws governing this system particles, such as neutrinos, are so small proportionately. [See (cid:147)Deities and their
of magic. Since the rules allow the possibil- and energetic that they freely pass through faithful,(cid:148) DRAGONfi issue #97. (cid:151) Editor]
ity of magical research to discover new solid matter, even substances as dense as
spells, it would be helpful to both Dungeon lead. Collectively, these particles (and oth- Manipulating magic
Masters and players to have these principles ers, some of which may yet be discovered) The akasa can be consciously manipu-
of magic explicity defined. This definition constitute a pervasive energy field which lated, but a person(cid:146)s ability to manipulate it
would give everyone a better idea of what is permeates every part of the multiverse. depends on his mental strength; those with
possible within the game(cid:146)s system of sorcery, A cohesive energy field that flows through strong minds can do much more than peo-
and would indicate the proper approach to every point in the multiverse, penetrating ple who are weak-minded. This is what
achieve a desired effect. all matter, would naturally have an effect on Legends & Lore refers to in the statement
the events transpiring within the multiverse. that deities try to increase the quality of
The source of magic This energy forms a link between all people their worshipers. A hundred strong-
To begin with, what is the source of and things, all events and places. Can this minded, highly dedicated worshipers will
magic? Why does it exist, and what gives principle be used in magical universes? increase a god(cid:146)s power more than a thou-
8 FEBRUARY 1986