2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Nine

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 24 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Today I will look at the Cleric Spells that we added in the early days prior to obtaining the Greyhawk Supplement.

1st Level:

7. Open Lock 

8. Repel Vermin

Open Lock: This spell is used to open locks on doors, chests and other things. At 2nd level the lock will open on a 1-2 on a six-sided die, at 4th level the lock will open on a 1-3 on a six-sided die, at 7th level the lock will open on a 1-4 on a six-sided die and at 10th level the lock will open on a 1-5 on a six-sided die.

As noted the Cleric has a Find Traps spell, so we added an Open Locks spell. 

Repel Vermin: This spell will repel all manner of vermin ranging from ticks, fleas, lice, bed bugs and the like, up to rats and mice. This will keep bedding or an area free of vermin for 12 hours. It will also banish them from all creatures within the area of the spell. Covers an area of 400 square feet.

Yeah, some inns, most inns are not so clean when it comes to bedding. Travel in the Wilderness also tends to make you acquire these smaller creatures too. Many animals and monsters have ticks, fleas and lice, among other things.

2nd Level:

5. Bless Non-edged Weapon

6. Bless Sling Stones 

7. Owl Hearing 

8. Elephant Memory

Bless Non-edged Weapon: When fighting a creature that required a magic weapon to hit, a Cleric may bless their weapon (or the weapon of someone else) and it will function as a +1 to Hit Magic Weapon for a period of 1 Turn.

This was so a Cleric could temporarily upgrade the weapon of a hireling.

Bless Sling Stones: This spell will cause slings stones to function as magical +1 to hit weapons for a period of 2 Turns. Roll 2 six-sided dice +4 for the number of sling stones affected.

Our Cleric wanted to have a magical missile weapon too, as magical arrows did not help him.

Owl Hearing: This spell gives the caster the sharp hearing of an owl for a period of 5 Turns.

Very good for listening at doors and lasts long enough to listen to multiple doors in close proximity.

Elephant Memory: This spell allows the caster to remember an event in great detail and the memory is a permanent memory. The duration for the purpose of an event is two hours.

Note: This required the player in question to take notes and then have the notes vetted (and initialed) by the referee and the other players. 

3rd Level:

5. Cure Moderate Wounds 

6. Hold Monster 

7. Eagle Sight 

8. Bloodhound Smell

Cure Moderate Wounds: This spell is like a Cure Light Wounds spell, but the effects are doubled, so two dice are rolled and one pip is added to each die. Therefore, from 4 to 14 hit points will be healed by this spell.

We added this spell to move the former Cure Serious Wounds down one level. We had a very lethal game during those years. Zero hit points was death.

Hold Monster: This spell is the same as Hold Person but applicable to Monsters.

Just adding in a spell that was obviously missing.

Eagle Sight: This spell gives the caster the distance vision of an eagle for a period of 5 Turns.

Very useful for looking a valley over from a high place before entering it, good for studying a village, town or city or castle before approaching it.

Bloodhound Smell: This allows the caster to track creatures as a bloodhound for 10 Turns.

This was added long before we learned of the ranger and his tracking ability.

4th Level:

2. Cure Serious Wounds(Revised) 

7. Remove Traps 

8. Cure Major Disease

Cure Serious Wounds (Revised): This spell is like a Cure Light Wounds spell, but the effects are tripled, so three dice are rolled and one pip is added to each die. Therefore, from 6 to 21 hit points will be healed by this spell.

As noted we added a Cure Moderate Wounds spell and then beefed the Cure Serious Wounds spell up to a more powerful spell.

Remove Traps: This spell will remove both magical and non-magical traps without setting them off. This is successful on 1-3 on a six-sided die. At 8th Level this increases to success on a 1-4 on a six-sided die. At 10th Level this increases to success on a 1-5 on a six-sided die.

Cleric Detect Traps and also Remove Traps.

Cure Major Disease: This spell functions the same as the Cure Disease spell, except instead of affecting one creature it affects 10-25 creatures per casting. Three six-sided dice +7.

This spell can be used to cure disease affecting a village or hamlet and a group of clerics can use it in towns or cities. It is also especially valued by armies during times of war.

5th Level:

7. Water Walk 

8. Speak Languages

Water Walk: This spell enables a Cleric to walk on water while unencumbered for a period of five Turns.

This can be used to walk across a swift flowing river to tie a rope to a tree which the party will then use to make their crossing more likely to not involve a mishap. And many other things, of course.

Speak Languages: This spell enables a Cleric to speak any one language and understand that language for a period of ten Turns.

This was after players lobbied for a way to speak to any creature whose language was not known. I created this spell as something I saw as a reasonable development.

We also boosted the number of spells that Clerics get per level.

Tomorrow we will finish out Men & Magic Book 1.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Eight

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 23 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Now to take a look at the Spells for Clerics for Levels 4 and 5:

4th Level:

Neutralize Poison: A spell to counter the harmful effects of poison. Note that it will not aid a character killed by poison, however. It will affect only one object. Duration: 1 turn.

Please note that this spell applies to objects and not to creatures. This is used to neutralize poison before it is ingested  or absorbed, etc. Note also that the duration is only 1 turn.  When you look at the way it is written it is not nearly as useful as it appears at first glance. So I rewrote this spell, to be more in line with what I think the intention should be.

Negate Poison: A spell to counter the harmful effects of poison. While it will not aid a character killed by poison, it will negate  poison in liquids or foods, on or in objects and it will negate poison that has been ingested or absorbed, etc. Duration: Permanent.

This IMO makes a lot more sense, neutralizing poison temporarily and for a very short time has virtually no benefit.

Cure Serious Wounds: This spell is like a Light Wound spell, but the effects are double, so two dice are rolled and one pip is added to each die. Therefore, from 4 to 14 hit points will be removed by this spell.

That is like a Cure Light Wounds spell.

Protection from Evil, 10’ radius: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users.

Except it is a 4th Level Spell for Clerics instead of a 3rd Level Spell for Magic-Users.

Turn Sticks to Snakes: Anytime there are sticks nearby a Cleric can turn them into snakes, with a 50% chance that they will be poisonous. From 2–16 snakes can be conjured (roll two eight-sided dice). He can command these conjured snakes to perform as he orders. Duration: 6 turns. Range 12”.

One: the snakes have a 50% chance of being venomous not poisonous. This is a very common error and why having an editor does have its good points. I also added a list of snakes and you would roll on that list for what snakes were conjured. There are about 3500 different snakes in the world and about 600 of them are venomous. (Not that I knew there were anything close to that many back then) I made a list of 12 of each. I will append that list to the bottom of this post.

Speak with Plants: This spell allows the Cleric to speak with all forms of plant life, understanding what they say in reply. Plants so spoken to will obey commands of the Cleric, such as part to allow a passage and so on. This spell does not give the Cleric the power to command trees as Ents do. Duration: 6 turns. Range: 3”.

Plants have their own way of thinking and their own frame of reference so questioning them can be difficult.

Create Water: By means of this spell, the Cleric can create a supply of drinkable water sufficient for a party of a dozen men and horses for one day. The quantity doubles for every level above the 8th the Cleric has attained.

It does what it says and I never worried about nailing down how many gallons that would be.

5th Level:

Dispel Evil: Similar to a Dispel Magic spell, this allows a Cleric to dispel any evil sending or spell within a 3” radius. It functions immediately. Duration: 1 turn.

This is very useful and, as an example, allows the Cleric to block a Finger of Death from an Anti-Cleric for 1 Turn (10 rounds) for anyone within a 3" radius of the casting Cleric. (see below for Anti-Clerics and the Finger of Death)

Raise Dead: The Cleric simply points his finger, utters the incantation, and the dead person is raised. This spell works with men, elves, and dwarves only. For each level the Cleric has progressed beyond the 8th, the time limit for resurrection extends another four days. Thus, an 8th-level Cleric can raise a body dead up to four days, a 9th-level Cleric can raise a body dead up to eight days, and so on. Naturally, if the character’s Constitution was weak, the spell will not bring him back to life. In any event raised characters must spend two game weeks’ time recuperating from the ordeal.

I allowed this spell to work for Hobbits also, I did not have the Gygax aversion to Hobbits.

Commune: A spell which puts the Cleric in touch with the powers “above” and asks for help in the form of answers to three questions. Communing is allowed but once each week maximum (referee’s option as to making less frequent). Veracity and knowledge should be near total. Once per year a special communing should be allowed wherein the Cleric can ask double the number of questions.

I never liked this spell, but I still let the players use it even so.

Quest: This is similar to the Geas, except that the character sent upon a Quest by the Cleric is not killed by failure to carry out the service. However, the Cleric may curse him with whatever he desires for failure, and the referee should decide if such a curse will take effect if the character ignores the Quest, basing the effectiveness of the curse on the phrasing of it and the alignment and actions of the character so cursed.

This one can also be a lot of fun for the referee. 

Insect Plague: By means of this spell, the Cleric calls to him a vast cloud of insects and sends them where he will, within the spell range. They will obscure vision and drive creatures with less than three hit dice off in rout. The dimensions of the Insect Plague are 36 square inches. Duration: 1 game day. Range: 48”. (Note: This spell is effective only above ground.)

Yes, the Cleric can ride and direct the swarm ahead of him for a full day. It is rather amusing when it is directed into a building or a courtyard or something else that you want cleared.

Create Food: A spell with which the Cleric creates sustenance sufficient for a party of a dozen for one game day. The quantity doubles for every level above the 8th the Cleric has attained.

Again it does what it says it does and I never worried about defining a quantity.

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

The Finger of Death: Instead of raising the dead, this spell creates a “death ray” which will kill any creature unless a saving throw is made (where applicable). Range: 12”. (A Cleric-type may use this spell in a life-or-death situation, but misuse will immediately turn him into an Anti-Cleric.)

Anti-Clerics: Evil Acolyte, Evil Adept, Shaman, Evil Priest, Evil Curate, Evil Bishop, Evil Lama, Evil High Priest.

You may ask in regard to a saving throw what does "where applicable" mean? I ruled that less than 4 full HD (i.e. not 3+ HD) does not get a saving throw, it just kills them and 10 HD or more does not need a saving throw because it will not work on something of that size and power. In between those limits a saving throw is given.

Tomorrow I will look at the Cleric Spells that we added prior to obtaining the Greyhawk Supplement.

Oh and here are the tables I promised you.

Table 1 Venomous Snakes
1.    Black Mamba
2.   King Cobra
3.   Fer-de-lance
4.   Bushmaster
5.   Spitting Cobra
6.   Puff Adder
7.   Water Moccasin
8.   Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
9.   Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
10. Copperhead
11. Eastern Coral Snake
12. Cottonmouth

Table 2 Non-Venomous Snakes
1.    Anaconda
2.   Rock Python
3.   Boa Constrictor
4.   Kingsnakes
5.   Black Racer
6.   Blacksnake
7.   Bull Snake
8.   Garter Snake*
9.   Hoop Snake**
10. Reticulated Python
11. Great Plains Rat Snake
12. Twin-Headed Snake**

* Garter Snakes are quite harmless.
** Hoop Snakes and Twin-Headed Snakes are not real, but you can spin quite a story if people do not know better. Hoop Snakes are something I was told about as a child. It will hold its tail in its mouth and roll along very fast until it catches you.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Seven

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 22 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Now to take a look at the Spells for Clerics starting with Level 1, 2 and 3:

The first thing you will notice is that there are not very many spells for Clerics at each level, with only 14 Spells for the first three levels.

1st Level: 

Cure Light Wounds: During the course of one full turn this spell will remove hits from a wounded character (including elves, dwarves, etc.). A die is rolled, one pip added, and the resultant total subtracted from the hit points the character has taken. Thus from 2–7 hit points of damage can be removed.

Did you catch that? This spell was supposed to take a full turn to work, 10 melee rounds. We, from day one, house-ruled that it took one round to work and not one turn.

Purify Food & Water: This spell will make spoiled or poisoned food and water usable. The quantity subject to a single spell is approximately that which would serve a dozen people.

This is very useful if your players tend to hunt and the meat they are carrying around is going bad on them. In my dungeons you will sometimes come across a food-laden table or food-beverages or water. My players learned that it is more often than not wise to be sure it is safe and not just assume.

Detect Magic: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users.

This is the spell that both Magic-Users and Clerics have that really are completely the same, as both are 1st Level Spells and operate the same. 

Detect Evil: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users except that it has a duration of 6 turns and a range of 12”.

The Magic-User spell is 2nd Level, the duration is half and the range is half of that of the Cleric spell.

Protection from Evil: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users except that it lasts for 12 turns.

The Magic-User spell is a 3rd Level Spell and only has a duration of 6 turns.

Light: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users, except that it has a basic duration of 12 turns.

The Magic-User Spell starts with a base duration of 6 turns and goes up by Level of the caster, the Cleric Spell starts at a base duration of 12 turns and goes up by Level of the caster.

2nd Level: 

Find Traps: By means of this spell the Cleric will locate any mechanical or magical traps within a radius of 3”. The spell lasts 2 turns.

Before the thief, the primary trap finder was the Cleric. In the early days, healing spells were not the first priority for a Cleric. As they gained experience at playing the class players learned that healing spells were not the most important thing that a Cleric could do.

Hold Person: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users except that its duration is 9 turns and its range 18”.

Versus being a 3rd Level Spell for Magic-Users. The Magic-User Spell was a Duration of 6 turns + level of the caster. And the Range was 12”. There are two ways you can go with this, either just duration of 9 turns or you can say that they left out the word "basic" and that it should be a Duration of 9 turns + level of the caster and treat it the same as the Light Spell between the two classes. We went with the second interpretation.

Bless: During any turn the prospective recipients of a Bless spell are not in combat the Cleric may give them this benison. A blessing raises morale by +1 and also adds +1 to attack dice. The spell lasts six turns.

This wording of this spell implies that it may take a full turn to cast; however, we ruled that it only takes one melee round to cast. How many of you did not need to look up "benison?"

Speak with Animals: This spell allows the Cleric to speak with any form of animal life, understanding what they say in reply. There is a possibility that the animal(s) spoken with will perform services for the Cleric, and they will never attack the party the Cleric is with. (The manner of handling the probabilities of action by animals is discussed in the next book). Duration: 6 turns. Range: 3”.

The players, in my experience, never cease to find an endless source of amusement in this spell.

3rd Level: 

Remove Curse: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users.

The same as the 4th Level Spell for Magic-Users.

Cure Disease: A spell which cures any form of disease. The spell is the only method to rid a character of a disease from a curse, for example.

Did you catch that? You cast Remove Curse to remove the curse and then you cast Cure Disease to cure the disease caused by the curse. You get bit by a Werewolf and you will need to have both spells cast to put it behind you.

Locate Object: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users, except that the base range is 9”.

The Magic-User Spell is 2nd Level and the Range is 6” + 1“/level of the Magic-User. So for Clerics this spell is higher level, but also has a little greater Range.

Continual Light: This spell is the same as that for Magic-Users, except that the light shed is equal to full daylight.

Only with the Clerical Continual Light Spell is the light said to be equal to full daylight. Once the players figured this out, which did take a while, they stopped using the Magic-User spell to create objects with the spell as light sources. If you are going where there are any creatures that are harmed or hindered by full daylight, then this is the spell of choice.

Tomorrow I will look at the 4th and 5th Level Cleric Spells.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Six

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 21 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Today we will look at more Magic-User spells that we created prior to when I obtained the Greyhawk Supplement. These spells were created by the players.

2nd Level Magic-User Spells:

11. Detect Gold
12. Detect Silver
13. Detect Gems
14. Detect Water

Detect Gold: This spell will detect Gold within 100 feet of the direction the caster is facing in an area the width of the casters body. The spell will give the caster a mental picture of the distance to the Gold. The more intense the feelings the larger the quantity of Gold. Duration 1 Turn.

The players wanted to develop a spell which would aid them in searching for treasure, so five Magic-Users spells months developing these spells, triple the time and expense for developing the a first level spell. I got them to tunnel 95 feet into a mountain and they found a rich vein of Gold. The party was a bit crestfallen when this happened, but the dwarves left the party and staked a claim and kept digging. They bought the rights from the party and recruited some more dwarves and settled down at the site.

Detect Silver: This spell will detect Silver within 100 feet of the direction the caster is facing in an area the width of the casters body. The spell will give the caster a mental picture of the distance to the Silver. The more intense the feelings the larger the quantity of Silver. Duration 1 Turn.

The players also tried this out at the same time they tried out the Detect Gold Spell and got a result showing Silver in the same area as the Gold. So there was a rich vein of Silver mixed into that vein of Gold. They tried these spells a number of times with rather mixed results and limited utility. (with one exception, see below) However, I the referee had a great time with it. Kind of how things work when the party would make a greedy wish (which came later on).

Detect Gems: This spell will detect Gems within 100 feet of the direction the caster is facing in an area the width of the casters body. The spell will give the caster a mental picture of the distance to the Gems. The more intense the feelings the larger the quantity of Gems. Duration 1 Turn.

They had a little better luck with this in locating a huge hoard of Gems, but they were very well defended by several dragons as they were soon to learn. There was also large quantities of Gold and Silver detected. While they are casting the spells and discussing if this the real thing or another mine in the making, several dragons fly up and ask the party what they are doing in the vicinity of their lair. The party is trying to talk their way out of it, but the dragons are not buying it saying they think they are trying to slip in and steal away the young dragons and sell them into slavery, which comes out of left field for the players who start stammering around in confusion. They ended up getting breathed on and chased for miles before the dragons let them go. What can I say, TANSTAAFL.

Detect Water: This spell will detect drinkable Water within a 100 radius of the caster. The spell will give the caster a mental picture of the distance to the drinkable Water. The more intense the feelings the larger the quantity and the greater the purity of the drinkable Water. Duration 1 Turn.

This was the first spell they created after a trip into a desert and almost dying of thirst. This one operated exactly as advertised and they were very happy with it.

So this all of the Magic-User spells they created prior to the introduction of the Greyhawk Supplement. Later when I go through the Greyhawk Supplement and the other Supplements I will conclude each of those sections with other spells that we created.

Tomorrow I will start going through the Cleric Spells.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Five

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 20 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Today we will look at additional Magic-User spells that we created prior to when I obtained the Greyhawk Supplement. These spells were created by the players.

1st Level Magic-User Spells:

  9.  Silence
10. Lesser Wards
11. Lesser Barrier
12. Imaginary Knife
13. Blank Face
14. Gopher Holes

Silence: This spell is used to silence an opposing spell-caster, it will interrupt any spell being cast the same round and will prevent other spells from being cast by the target. Range 12", Duration 2 Turns, And a -4 to the targets saving throw.

 This spell was very popular with our Magic-Users. 

Lesser Wards: This spell is used to guard a campsite or other area from intrusion. It does not block entry, but once set it is active for a period of 12 hours. It will alert any three party members designated by the caster, one for each 4 hour block of the night, to the intrusion of any thing larger than 40 pounds in size. This will supplement each watch of the night. It protects a radius of 120 feet.

This spell was much requested by the party and the Magic-Users rotated who memorized this spell each day. 

Lesser Barrier: This spell is used alongside Lesser Wards in areas that are more hostile and will cause 2 points of damage to any creature larger than 40 pounds that intrudes upon the protected area. It will last for a 12 hour period and it protects a radius of 110 feet.

This spell was also much requested by the party and the Magic-Users rotated who memorized this spell each day. 

Imaginary Knife: This spell creates a magical knife of overall length 15 inches. It can be summoned by a single thought by the caster and has a +1 to Hit and a +1 to Damage. Duration 1 Turn

Our Magic-Users wanted to feel less defenseless if they had to fight lobbied for this spell quite strongly. Even more than for Silence. 

Blank Face: This spell is a strong illusion that hides the face of the caster with totally blank unmarked and featureless flesh. There is no saving throw for the viewer. It also creates a -2 to the Morale of intelligent creatures of less than 4 HD.

Our Magic-Users, backed by the rest of the party, lobbied for something that would make them less of a target by encouraging opponents to shy away from them.

Gopher Holes: This spell creates 4-24 gopher holes around a camp site or other area. Each hole is 1 to 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep located at the outer edge of a 59 to 61 foot radius and located as chosen by the caster. Duration 12 hours, sans gophers.

As you can perhaps guess by now, my players did not like night attacks. Three of the above spells were for helping them with night encounters. The purchase of caltrops was also quite popular.

Tomorrow we will look at new 2nd Level Magic-User Spells.

OD&D Inspirational Author Day 2020

Today, March 15th - the Ides of March, is OD&D Inspirational Author Day and by that I mean authors that have and do inspire my campaign and my thinking on how I run my campaigns.

The author I want to highlight in this year is one of the first authors I read as a boy. My father and his younger brothers had several of the early Tarzan books in hardback written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The books are old enough, it is possible that my grandfather read them too. They had been passed down from brother to brother and then they came to me (the oldest son of the oldest son) from my youngest uncle who is only 7 years older than I am. His genres are adventure novel, fantasy, lost world, sword and planet, planetary romance, soft science fiction, historical, and westerns.

Tarzan is a great inspiration for my OD&D worlds and campaigns. It has been noted that OD&D has an implied setting of a post-apocalyptic world. It is a world of ruins and the dungeons beneath them, lost civilizations and former greatness. A world struggling its way back up from some long ago disaster and fall of civilization. 

What does Tarzan have to offer? Lost cities (Opar and others), lost empires (Opar and others), lost civilizations (Opar and others), unusual creatures (dinosaurs anyone) and many other things. A trip to the center of the earth (a tie-in to the Pellucidar series.

They are rollicking good stories, with a lot of action and a ton of incredible world building. Some people want to be highly critical of ERB and some of those criticisms are just, while others are overblown. I would submit that if you cannot ever put things in the context of when and why they were written, you will lose out on a lot of things that our rich literary history has to offer. First and foremost ERB was writing at a fast pace for the pulps to put food on the table. Second, his characters grew and changed in some ways as the years went by and as the financial urgency in his life gradually ebbed. Third, many of the things that some focus on went completely over the head of a 7 year old in the early 1960s and for quite a few years afterward. The beliefs and attitudes of that 7 year old where influenced much more heavily by his parents and not by the books he read. The distinction between reality and fantasy was clear in my home.

In addition to Tarzan, there was the Barsoom series and John Carter of Mars(sword & planet), the Venus series(sword & planet), the Caspak series, the Moon series(sword & planet), the Mucker series, several standalone science fiction stories, several Jungle adventure novels (two of which involve time travel), several Western novels, two historical novels (The Outlaw of Torn and I Am a Barbarian), a number of other standalone novels.

I have read all of these, some of them over ten times. As a result I have a large bedrock of world building ideas at hand. While ERB is IMO one of the gold standard authors for action and adventure, his world building earns him unrivaled gold status in that arena in my opinion. He has created many earth based worlds, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, Martian moons, fictional islands, and other worlds. All of them have rich and unexpected detail and they can be mined over and over for ideas. The movie Avatar borrowed a enormous amount from ERB for the creatures of that world to the extent that ERB should have been given writing credit for the movie IMO.

Hope to see you next year when I talk about Robert E Howard.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Four

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 19 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Today we will look at the 6th Level Magic-User Spells:

Stone to Flesh: This spell turns stone to flesh, and it is reversible, so as to turn flesh to stone. It is particularly useful in reviving characters who have been “stoned” by some monster. It is permanent unless a reversed spell is used. Range: 12”.

Note the permanent unless reversed, i.e. a very powerful unlimited duration.

Reincarnation: A spell to bring a dead character back to life in some other form. The form in which the character is Reincarnated is dependent upon his former alignment (Law, Neutrality or Chaos). Use a random determination on the Character Alignment table, and whatever the result is, the reincarnated character is that creature and must play as it. If he comes back as a man, determine which class, and roll a six-sided die to determine which level in that class, and similarly check level for reincarnation as an elf or dwarf.

We had so much fun with this! Seeing a character come back as an Ent was a real hoot! Or one of several other things.

Invisible Stalker: The conjuration of an extra-dimensional monster which can be controlled with merely a word from the Magic-User who conjured him. The Invisible Stalker will continue on its mission until it is accomplished, regardless of time or distance. They cannot be dispelled once conjured, except through attack. Details of the Invisible Stalker itself will be found in the next book.

My players loved this spell and would send one in against powerful monsters (such as dragons, gorgons, medusae, vampires, balrogs, etc) to soften them up, before the party fought the monster or to aid them during a battle.

Lower Water: Utterance of this spell causes the water level in a river or similar body of liquid to drop 50% of its depth for ten turns. Range: 24”.

A very powerful spell that could make it possible to ford rivers that otherwise might be impassable. Two Magic-Users working together could reduce the depth another 50%, three Magic-Users working together could reduce the depth another 50% and so on.

Part Water: A spell which will part water up to 10’ deep for a maximum of six turns. Range: 12”.

I specified this was up to 500 feet across the body of water and creates a path 50 feet wide. Two Magic-Users working together could double the effects, three Magic-Users working together could triple the effects and so on.

Projected Image: By means of this spell the Magic-User projects an image of himself up to 24” away, and all spells and the like used thereafter appear to originate from the Projected Image. Duration: 6 turns. Range: 24”.

A great way to foil missile fire. Also a great way to send part of your opponents on a wild goose chase to get that Magic-User.

Anti-Magic Shell: A field which surrounds the Magic-User and makes him totally impervious to all spells. It also prevents any spells from being sent through the shell by the Magic-User who conjured it. Duration: 12 turns.

This is a double-edged sword, essentially the Magic-User becomes useless to the party, and if the party is overcome the Magic-User is taken out by non-magical means. A Magic-User who tries to sit out a battle using this spell makes himself a stench in the nostrils of the rest of the party.

Death Spell: An incantation which kills from 2–16 creatures with fewer than seven hit dice. The creatures must be within an area of 6” × 6” to come under the spell. Range: 24”.

Yes, you read that right, no saving throw. Not for monsters or for the characters of the party

Geas: A spell which forces the recipient to perform some task (as desired by the Magic-User casting the Geas). Any attempt to deviate from the performance of the task will result in weakness, and ignoring the Geas entirely brings death. The referee must carefully adjudicate the casting and subsequent performance of the geased individual when this spell is used. Duration: Until the task is completed. Range: 3”.

I always had a lot of fun as the referee using this spell in a "humorous" manner. By humorous, I mean the task that was given to be completed.

Disintegrate: This spell will cause material of any kind — other than that of a magical nature — to Disintegrate. It will blast a tree, dragon (if it fails to make its saving throw against magic), wall section, or whatever. Range: 6”

At least you get a saving throw against this one.

Move Earth: When above ground the Magic-User may utilize this spell to move prominences such as hills or ridges. The spell takes one turn to go into effect. The terrain affected will move at the rate of 6” per turn. Duration: 6 turns. Range 24”.

This could be used to widen or narrow valleys and many other ways. I have also seen this used as an attack against a fortified position as if can be cast repeatedly. Also very effective against a castle located on top of the hill, if you march it into a lake or other body of water.

Control Weather: The Magic-User can perform any one of the following weather control operations with this spell: Rain, Stop Rain, Cold Wave, Heat Wave, Tornado, Stop Tornado, Deep Clouds, Clear Sky.

There is no saving throw against this and the Magic-User can also control the movement of the weather too. For instance the tornado could be steered in any direction and moved at a speed of 18". The duration is until dispelled.

Tomorrow we will look at additional spells that we created prior to obtaining  the Greyhawk Suppplement.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Three

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 18 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Today we will look at the 5th Level Magic-User Spells:

Teleport: Instantaneous transportation from place to place, regardless of the distance involved, provided the user knows where he is going (the topography of the arrival area). Without certain knowledge of the destination teleportation is 75% uncertain, so a score of less than 75% of the percentile dice results in death. If the user is aware of the general topography of his destination, but has not carefully studied it, there is an uncertainty factor of 10% low and 10% high. A low score (1–10%) means death if solid material is contacted. A high score (91–100%) indicates a fall of from 10 to 100 feet, also possibly resulting in death. If a careful study of the destination has been previously made, then the Magic-User has only a 1% chance of teleporting low and a 4% chance of coming in high (10–40 feet).

The change I made to this spell was on the last option where a careful study had been made, I changed it to 2% chance of coming in low and 2% chance of coming in high. If you are low you are dead if you contact solid material and if high a fall of 10-20 feet.

Hold Monster: Same as Hold Person but applicable to Monsters.

Enough said! 😉

Conjure Elemental: A spell to conjure an Air, Water, Fire or Earth Elemental. Only one of each type can be conjured by a Magic-User during any one day. The Elemental will remain until dispelled, but the Magic-User must concentrate on control or the elemental will turn upon its conjurer and attack him (see CHAINMAIL). Conjured elementals are the strongest, with 16 hit dice as is explained in Book II, MONSTERS & TREASURE. Range: 24”.

This can be a lot of fun for the referee, if the player running the Magic-User forgets and tries to tell anyone else anything while he is controlling an Elemental. Or if the Magic-User is trying to move, then a 40% chance of tripping which will break concentration.

Telekinesis: By means of this spell, objects may be moved by mental force. Weight limits are calculated by multiplying the level of the Magic-User by 200 Gold Pieces weight. Thus, a “Necromancer” is able to move a weight equal to 2,000 Gold Pieces. Duration: 6 turns. Range 12”.

I changed the weights to pounds, and increased it by 50% if Strength & Intelligence were both between 13-18  and reduced it by 50% if Strength and Intelligence were both between 3-8. 

Transmute Rock to Mud: The spell takes effect in one turn, turning earth, sand, and, of course, rock to mud. The area affected is up to 30 square inches. Creatures moving into the mud will become mired, possibly sinking if heavy enough or losing 90% of movement otherwise, unless able to fly or levitate. The spell can only be countered by reversing the incantation (requiring a Transmute Rock to Mud spell) or by normal process of evaporation (3–18 days as determined by rolling three six-sided dice). Range: 12”.

Note that for this spell and the following two spells the Area is in the same scale as the Range. Very useful spell especially because of the range.

Wall of Stone: The creation of a stone wall two feet thick with a maximum length and height equaling 10 square inches. The wall will last until dispelled, broken down or battered through as a usual stone wall. Range: 6”.

This multiple instances of these spells can be cast and combined by multiple Magic-Users working together.

Wall of Iron: Like a Wall of Stone, but the thickness of the wall is three inches and its maximum area 5 square inches. Duration: 12 turns. Range: 6”.

As an example, either of these Walls can be created and combined with natural or constructed features to create a place to make a stand and many other more creative uses. No you cannot create it in the air and drop it on someone or something. You are creating Walls not free-standing Ceilings.

Animate Dead: The creation of animated skeletons or zombies. It in no way brings a creature back to life. For the number of dead animated simply roll one die for every level above the 8th the Magic-User is, thus a “Sorcerer” gets one die or from 1–6 animated dead. Note that the skeletons or dead bodies must be available in order to animate them. The spell lasts until dispelled or the animated dead are done away with.

I have seen players use this to animate fallen party members so they could fight on. Lawful Clerics are not happy about the use of this spell since it is a Chaotic act to use it and have been known to Turn these undead, which can create other problems, such as making it impossible to then cast Raise Dead.

Magic Jar: By means of this device the Magic-User houses his life force in some inanimate object (even a rock) and attempts to possess the body of any other creature within 12” of his Magic Jar. The container for his life force must be within 3” of his body at the time the spell is pronounced. Possession of another body takes place when the creature in question fails to make its saving throw against magic. If the possessed body is destroyed, the spirit of the Magic-User returns to the Magic Jar, and from thence it may attempt another possession or return to the Magic-User’s body. The spirit of the Magic-User can return to the Magic Jar at any time he so desires. Note that if the body of the Magic-User is destroyed the life force must remain in a possessed body or the Magic Jar. If the Magic Jar is destroyed, the Magic-User is totally annihilated.

Use of this spell is Chaotic and Lawful Clerics are not happy about it and may seek to destroy the Magic Jar.

Contact Higher Plane: This spell allows the magical-type to seek advice and gain knowledge from creatures inhabiting higher planes of existence (the referee). Of course, the higher the plane contacted, the greater the number of questions that can be asked, the greater the chance that the information will be known, and the higher the probability that the question will be answered truthfully. Use the table below to determine these factors, as well as the probability of the Magic-User going insane. Only questions which can be answered “yes” or “no” are permitted.

If a Magic-User goes insane, he will remain so for a number of weeks equal to the number of the plane he was attempting to contact, the strain making him totally incapacitated until the time has elapsed. For each level above the 11th, Magic Users should have a 5% better chance of retaining their sanity. The spell is usable only once every game week (referee’s option).

I have seen many over confident Magic-Users spend week waiting for sanity to return. Also IMC if you become insane you permanently lose a point of Intelligence each time it happens.

Passwall: A spell which opens a hole in a solid rock wall, man-sized and up to 10’ in length. Duration: 3 turns. Range: 3”.

Great spell for escaping many a trap and when you are cornered in a dead end. Or if you are chasing something but you cannot figure out how to open the secret door that it went through.

Cloudkill: This spell creates a moving, poisonous cloud of vapor which is deadly to all creatures with less than five hit dice. Movement: 6”/turn according to wind direction, or directly away from the spell caster if there is no wind. Dimensions: 3” diameter. Duration: 6 turns, but the cloud is dispelled by unusually strong winds or trees. Note that the cloud is heavier than air, so it will sink to the lowest possible level. What do you do?" "I cast Cloudkill at them."

Note: 40% chance per turn that the wind direction will change. Many forget about the heavier than air properties even when that is part of the relevant information given. 

Feeblemind: A spell usable only against Magic-Users, it causes the recipient to become feeble-minded until the spell is countered with a Dispel Magic. Because of its specialized nature the Feeblemind spell has a 20% better chance of success, i.e. lowers the Magic-User’s saving throw against magic by 4, so that if normally a 12 or better were required to save against magic, a 16 would be required against a Feeblemind. Range: 24”.

If you remove all evidence that the victim is a Magic-User it is 90% likely that no one will ever think to attempt a Dispell Magic.

Growth of Animals: A spell which will cause from 1–6 normal-sized animals (not merely mammals) to grow to giant-size with proportionate attack capabilities. Duration: 12 turns. Range 12”.

Note: If the animal(s) are not tamed and/or trained, then it is highly suggested that they be charmed first, otherwise they will not be under the Magic-Users control. On the other hand if the animal(s) are already attacking the enemy this will be a lesser consideration.

 Tomorrow we are on to the 6th level spells.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-Two

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 17 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Today we will look at the 4th Level Magic-User Spells:

Polymorph Self: A spell allowing the user to take the shape of anything he desires, but he will not thereby acquire the combat abilities of the thing he has polymorphed himself to resemble. That is, while the user may turn himself into a dragon of some type, he will not gain the ability to fight and breathe, but he will be able to fly. Duration: 6 turns + the level of the Magic-User employing it.

For another example, if you polymorph to a werewolf or vampire you gain the appearance, but you do not transmit lycanthropy or vampirism, drinking blood does nothing for you, you are seen in mirrors or have any other vampire abilities.

Polymorph Others: Unlike the spell to Polymorph Self, this spell lasts until it is dispelled. The spell gives all characteristics of the form of the creature, so a creature polymorphed into a dragon acquires all of the dragon’s ability — not necessarily mentality, however. Likewise, a troll polymorphed into a snail would have innate resistance to being stepped on and crushed by a normal man. Range: 6”.

For example, a creature polymorphed into a dragon can fly, but not breathe as a dragon, but it does get claw, claw, bite and it does gain the tail attack. Also the mass does not increase so it could be a very light dragon which means when flying the wind could have a major effect. A troll polymorphed into a snail would still have the same mass, so its AC would be multipled and it would be very hard to hit or damage. Now if you polymorphed the troll into a fish, it would not be able to breath out of water.

Remove Curse: A spell to remove any one curse or evil sending. Note that using this spell on a “cursed sword,” for example, would make the weapon an ordinary sword, not some form of enchanted blade. Range: Adjacent to the object.

This will also save someone bitten by a werewolf for example. Note that Remove Curse will not work for cursed Artifacts as that is beyond its power level. It does work on all Undead and all Lycanthropes, one at a time. Although not many want try to cast it while standing next to a Vampire or Werewolf. 

Wall of Fire: The spell will create a wall of fire which lasts until the Magic-User no longer concentrates to maintain it. The fire wall is opaque. It prevents creatures with under four hit dice from entering/passing through. Undead will take two dice of damage (2–12) and other creatures one die (1–6) when breaking through the fire. The shape of the wall can be either a plane of up to 6” width and 2” in height, or it can be cast in a circle of 3” diameter and 2” in height. Range: 6”.

This is a great spell in many situations and was a much loved spell by Magic-Users. The Magic-User cannot move himself, but he can be picked up by a couple of brawny Fighting-Men and moved. A cart or wagon is too bumpy for concentration to be maintained and riding an animal breaks concentration.

Wall of Ice: A spell to create a wall of ice six inches thick, in dimensions like that of a Wall of Fire. It negates the effects of creatures employing fire and/or fire spells. It may be broken through by creatures with four or more hit dice, with damage equal to one die (1–6) for non-fire employing creatures and double that for fire-users. Range: 12”

The comments for a Wall of Fire apply to a Wall of Ice also. Two Magic-Users can work together and cast any combination of these two spells and locate them right next to each other.

Confusion: This spell will immediately affect creatures with two or fewer hit-dice. For creatures above two hit dice the following formula is used to determine when the spell takes effect: score of a twelve-sided die roll less the level of the Magic- User casting the spell = delay in effect, i.e. a positive difference means a turn delay, while a zero or negative difference means immediate effect. Creatures with four or more hit dice will have saving throws against magic, and on those turns they make their saving throws they are not confused; but this check must be made each turn the spell lasts, and failure means they are confused. The spell will affect as many creatures as indicated by the score rolled on two six-sided dice with the addition of +1 for each level above the 8th that the Magic-User casting the spell has attained. Confused creatures will attack the Magic-User’s party (dice score 2–5), stand around doing nothing (6–8), or attack each other (9–12). Roll each turn. Duration: 12 turns. Range: 12”.

Note that checks are written to be made per turn not per round. 

Charm Monster: The counterpart of a Charm Person spell which is employable against all creatures. If animals or creatures with three or fewer hit dice are involved determine how many are affected by the spell by rolling three six-sided dice. It is otherwise identical to the Charm Person spell.

My players loved this spell except when it was used against them. This is the spell you use on creatures that are not-humanoid or more than two hit dice including player characters. Note that it does work on animals and undead too as it states all creatures.

Growth of Plants: This spell causes normal brush or woods to become thickly overgrown and entangled with creepers, vines, thorns, briars and so on, so as to make the area virtually impassable. It will affect an area of up to 30 square inches, the dimensions decided by the caster of the spell. Duration: until the spell is negated by a Dispel Magic. Range: 12”.

I have had players who would have their Magic-Users cast this in a circle around their camps at night in the Wilderness. With two or three of these you can protect a very sizable camp quite well. I have also seen this cast and centered on giants and other large creatures to slow them down.

Dimension Door: A limited Teleport spell which allows the object to be instantaneously transported up to 36” in any direction (including up or down). There is no chance of misjudging when using a Dimension Door, so the user always arrives exactly where he calls, i.e. 12” upwards, 32” east, etc. Range: 1”.

A much loved spell by my players. Note you can use it to drop very large boulder onto pretty much whatever you want as just one example. Or you can use it to drop that high level thief behind a powerful monster for that devastating back stab (once thieves were added to the game.)

Wizard Eye: A spell which allows the user to send a visual sensor up to 24” away in order to observe the scene without himself moving. The “eye” is invisible. It moves 12”/turn. Duration: 6 turns.

Movement by the caster is not prohibited though, so this can be very useful for scouting ahead and for locating all opponents before attacking them and many, many other things thought up by creative players.

Massmorph: This spell is used to conceal up to 100 men (or creatures of near man size) as a woods or orchards. The concealed figures may be moved through without being detected as anything other than trees, and it will not affect the spell. It will be negated by a command for the caster or by means of a Dispel Magic spell. Range: 24”.

Yeah, they smell like trees and the only sounds are normal tree sounds, such as wind through the branches and leaves.

Hallucinatory Terrain: By means of this spell, terrain features can either be hidden or created — an illusion which affects a large area. Thus a swamp, hill, ridge, woods, or the like can be concealed or made to appear. The spell is broken when the magicked area is contacted by an opponent. Range: 24”.

This can be used to confuse opponents and it can be used to hide a camp in broad daylight among other things.

Tomorrow we are on to the 5th level spells.

2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Seventy-One

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 16 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.

Today we will look at the 3rd Level Magic-User Spells:

Fly: By means of this spell the user is able to fly at a speed of up to 12”/turn. The spell lasts for the number of turns equal to the level of the Magic-User plus the number of pips on a six-sided die which is secretly determined by the referee.

As the referee I made that die roll an open roll. Some things should be secret, but I do not think this should be one of them. I also put a 10 pound limit on what you could carry and only the caster can fly, although magic items can let anyone fly.

Hold Person: A spell similar to a Charm Person, but which is of both limited duration and greater effect. It will affect from 1–4 persons. If it is cast at only a single person it has the effect of reducing the target’s saving throw against magic by –2. Duration: 6 turns + level of the caster. Range: 12”.

Love this spell, players hate being on the receiving end. But they used it a lot themselves. Very popular spell.  Hold them, tie them up and then the Magic-Users take turns casting Charm Person until one succeeds. 

Dispel Magic: Unless countered, this spell will be effective in dispelling enchantments of most kinds (referee’s option), except those on magical items and the like. This is modified by the following formula. The success of a Dispel Magic spell is a ratio of the dispeller over the original spell caster, so if a 5th-level Magic-User attempts to dispel the spell of a 10th-level Magic-User there is a 50% chance of success. Duration: 1 turn. Range: 12”.

Another great spell with a lot of versatility.

Clairvoyance: Same as ESP spell except the spell user can visualize rather than merely pick up thoughts.

When the monsters use these spells against the players, you see the players take a wider range of spells. When you have 16-18 players and 6-8 Magic-Users you see a wide variety of spells taken as they spread the load around even at lower levels where they do not get many  spells.

Clairaudience: Same as Clairvoyance except it allows hearing rather than visualization. This is one of the few spells which can be cast through a Crystal Ball (see Book II).

As per previous comments.

Fire Ball: A missile which springs from the finger of the Magic-User. It explodes with a burst radius of 2” (slightly larger than specified in CHAINMAIL). In a confined space the Fire Ball will generally conform to the shape of the space (elongate or whatever). The damage caused by the missile will be in proportion to the level of its user. A 6th-level Magic-User throws a 6-die missile, a 7th a 7-die missile, and so on. (Note that Fire Balls from Scrolls (see Book II) and Wand are 6-die missiles and those from Staves are 8-die missiles. Duration: 1 turn. Range: 24”

Most people miss this, a Fire Ball burns for 1 turn (10 Melee rounds) and it deals its damage every one of those melee rounds unless you can get out of the area of the fire ball. Yes, you cast fireball into a room and it deals 6d6 (or more) every round for 10 rounds within that space. Very powerful spell. This spell is a must have when fighting a lot of trolls if you can get it off before they close in melee.

Lightning Bolt: Utterance of this spell generates a lightning bolt 6” long and up to 3/4” wide. If the space is not long enough to allow its full extension, the missile will double back to attain 6”, possibly striking its creator. It is otherwise similar to a Fire Ball, but as stated in CHAINMAIL the head of the missile may never extend beyond the 24” range.

A Lightning Bolt is good for some things, but it only lasts one round and is a one shot weapon, unlike the Fire Ball which lasts for a full turn. So it only does its damage one time, unless you cast it into too small a space when it can do the damage multiple times depending on how many times it has to double back.  

Protection from Evil, 10’ Radius: A Protection from Evil spell which extends to include a circle around the Magic-User and also lasts for 12 rather than 6 turns.

A Fighting-Man can stand in that circle and safely attack any evil creature that comes within reach of his weapons. The Magic-User can use it to crowd an evil creature into a corner or to retreat to a more defensible position. Two strong Fighting-Men can pick up the Magic-User and move him to move the circle and it is their strength moving the circle.

Invisibility, 10’ Radius: An Invisibility spell with an extended projection but otherwise no different from the former spell. 

You still cannot cannot attack and remain invisible, but now it covers more characters. As I noted, I added a Silence Spell and used with Invisibility it is very effective in getting close to an opponent. But also as noted you have to worry about sense of smell and the direction of air flow. Plus monsters do this to the characters too!

Infravision: This spell allows the recipient to see infrared light waves, thus enabling him to see in total darkness. Duration: 1 day. Range of infravision: 40–60’.

My players cast this on the human members of the party so that they could see in the dungeon without carrying a torch all the time. Oh and the whole thing about dwarves, elves and others losing their infravision if they are player characters, we never did that. IMO it makes no sense and is just to make it tough on the party underground. But you still need torches or light stones or other light sources because infravision is only good for seeing warm living creatures. It will not let you see undead or anything that is the same temperature as the environment. And it is not of any use in an ice cave or any other really cold place unless there are warm creatures there. What infravision does is allow you to only use your light sources when you need them and some things can only be done with light. Light stones that I mentioned previously are great, but they can be dispelled.

Slow Spell: A broad-area spell which affects up to 24 creatures in a maximum area of 6” × 12”. Duration: 3 turns. Range: 24”.

Very useful spell, again this is one players love, but hate when it is used against them.

Haste Spell: This is exactly the opposite of a Slow Spell in effect, but otherwise like it. Note that it will counter its opposite and vice-versa.

Also this spell does not have the penalty that appears in later editions. That is we never applied the extreme aging effects from it that later editions did. We assumed that the spell was better designed than that, i.e. we did not want to spend time tracking aging effects. But yes, we knew that a haste spell should age you, that was obvious, but we never fooled with it. (Our Biology major brought it up immediately.)

Protection from Normal Missiles: The recipient of this charm becomes impervious to normal missiles. This implies only those missiles projected by normal (not above normal) men and/or weapons. Duration: 12 turns. Range: 3”.

Limited protection, that giant throwing a boulder at you, yeah, it does not help you with that. But against bow wielding orcs, it is priceless.

Water Breathing: A spell whereby it is possible to breathe underwater without harm or difficulty. Duration: 12 turns. Range 3”.

Great spell, and my players were always trying to find a Ring of Water Breathing.

Tomorrow we are on to the 4th level spells.