Gotta love a sale! Rules Cyclopedia on DriveThru

Rules Cyclopedia is on sale at DriveThruRPG. This game was published back in 1991, long after I had abandoned my Basic D&D campaign. This set of rules brought me back to Basic.

Being a player from way back, perhaps 1977 or so, the concept of "edition" was not real clear. I had started with D&D and moved on to AD&D as it seemed like the expected direction. Transitioning from D&D to AD&D seemed expected, but felt unnatural. When second Edition appeared, I had little concept of what it was. It didn't feel like AD&D that I knew, so I did my best to ignore it.

I had difficulties ignoring 2.0 as Unearthed Arcana seemed to be the first indication that a new edition was coming. Back in the 1990s, it was possible to see all of the various sets, in pieces, on a store shelf and it was very unclear as to what was happening.

My campaign had evolved from D&D to AD&D without regard to the change in setting. Our band of adventurers absorbed new materials and tossed others aside. While I said I was playing in Greyhawk, our shared world was a mishmash of Blackmoor, Greyhawk, Mystara and Hollow World, with Mystara taking the lead place.

When I found Cyclopedia on the shelves of my local Waldenbooks, I was entranced. It expanded on classes and levels while adding a few new spells and most importantly, weapon mastery and character skills. It was exactly what I was looking for. Gone was the one paragraph explanation of skills.

I immediately incorporated it into my hodgepodge campaign with only a few tweaks to make it fit the AD&D rule set. All abilities were generated as per the AD&D methods while character classes of race could either be played as described in AD&D or per Cyclopedia's rules.

Technically, that combo of classes and races vs classes should have been very broken, but as players, we made it work. The RC Druid was a subclass of Druid from AD&D, Mystics became a subclass of Monk. The Racial Classes became the "default class" of those races, as if someone didn't pick a specific class to play.

And we loved it.

52 Weeks of Magic - Week 21 - Potion of the Lionhearted

The potion of the Lionhearted appears to be some sort of healing potion. While it can heal humans and demi-humans, this is not how it was designed to be used. If quaffed, it will heal 1d6 points of damage, sustain the drinker for 3 days without food or water and provide a +2 to saves vs. extreme (natural) temperatures. A single flask of the stuff holds 21 doses.

Should someone attempt to imbibe the whole thing, they will find that they cannot do so. The power of this fluid is so much that any creature will avoid taking more than a single sip per day. This should be a clue that this is the wrong usage. Any spell caster will realize this at a single sniff. Paladins and rangers may be able to identify the potion at a glance.

The Potion of the Lionhearted is used in times of desperation. The potion is supposed to be diluted in holy water and sprinkled on food and drink. If used correctly, once dose will be enough to cover enough food and drink for 100 men. If anyone takes a single bite or sip of food so treated, they will recover 2 hit points, be sustained for 24 hours without other food or drink and will feel refreshed. Other names for this potion are "Siegebreaker", "Ironheart" and "Hope". 

The potion can only be created by a Paladin and a Ranger working together. While it contains a number of unusual ingredients, the hardest items to obtain and process are 500 pounds of fruits, herbs and vegetables collected by a Ranger. These materials are reduced over a flame for 21 days. The Paladin must pray over this concoction and the prayer must include the words: "care", "pardon" and "rest". Obviously, these potions are prepared well in advance of the need and are often stored for emergencies. The potion never spoils or loses effectiveness.

This item is extraordinarily dangerous if consumed directly from the bottle. If more than 7 sips are taken over 21 days, the person will become addicted to it and refuse all other forms of sustenance. When the potion runs out, the victim must save vs. magic every day, for 21 days in a row. If they fail a roll, they will lose one point of Strength and Constitution. If either score goes below three, the character will fall into a coma lasting 7 days. If either of imbiber's scores falls to zero, they die. Should the person survive the experience, they will regain 1 point per ability every 7 days until they are fully restored. Drinking the potion again during this recovery period will restart the addiction. If the person consumes food or drink doused with the potion, the recover of ability scores stops until the effect wears off in a day.

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	25b	Device of Defense	26	Shield of Force	27	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. Also on Drivethru is my custom character sheet for AD&D and Unearthed Arcana.

I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

Camp Scouthaven, Freedom, New York

I have such wonderful memories of Camp Scouthaven. As a child, I didn't stay in Scouts long enough to get into camping. Boy, did I want to and really regret it.

In 2014, my son Nathan and I went camping in Freedom, New York. Scouthaven in a massive campground for Scouts. On this day, we were "up on the hill", a test skill to end a scout's time in Webelos before moving on to Boy Scouts. On the last night at Cub Scout Camp, the oldest scouts go up on the hill for a little archery.

This isn't your typical archery range, it's action archery. Some of the targets move. Some of them are everyday things you aren't allow to shoot at under normal circumstances. Others are just plain fun distance shots.

Nathan loved MOST of it. The one that got him was a series of three lines with bells, a giant truck tire and a regular bulls-eye target behind it all. On his first shot there was a "tink-tink-thunk!" as the arrow struck bells, zipped through the tire and landed in the middle of bulls-eye.

Fifteen minutes later, he was crying. The problem? He couldn't hit 3 bells, thread the tire and hit the target with one shot. The range instructor told him "The bells are set up close, medium and far. You aren't supposed to hit three of the them, just one."

Nathan replied, "Why would do that to kids. I've been hitting two bells at a time and couldn't figure out why I couldn't get all three."

The range instructor asked, "Two bells?"

Nathan fired arrow after arrow into two bells, threaded the tire and hit bulls-eyes, flawlessly. Then he switched hands and repeated the trick. The range instructor was flummoxed. The only reason he could hit two bells was because the wind was blowing them into a line. "Okay, Hawkeye. Go to another station..."

Later, there was a bonfire. There is a whole story that goes with this event. I won't ruin it for you. No spoilers, but it is amazing. If you get the chance, you must see this.

That's enough for now. I'll come back and update with more details on the pictures below.

52 Weeks of Magic - Week 20 - Helm of Aware Airs

This weeks magic item is an unusual helm for arcane spell casters. The Helm of Aware Airs is made of tin, copper and iron. It reduces AC by 1, a magical effect. The helm has no opening at all, so the wearer is physically blinded, deafened, cannot smell or taste anything. It's purpose was to prevent the casting of spells by magic users. It will block spells cast by rangers, magic users, witches, sorcerers and illusionists. If the wearer is unrestrained, they can remove the helm easily. It was obviously meant to be used on someone who was restrained.

It does not prevent the casting of spells by clerics, bards, shamans and paladins. Some deities take considerable exception to people who place these items on their temporal proxies. The consequences of such displeasure is up to the DM in charge.

The helm has several useful side effects. First, the helmet will allow the user to see/sense every living creature within a 100 foot radius, though walls and barriers, even if the targets are hidden or invisible. Living creatures appear as glowing, ghost like shapes which become more indistinct over distance and intervening materials. Someone in the helm will sense barriers and walls a fogginess in front of living beings.

The wearer cannot be surprised by living creatures. This useful feature is mitigated by the fact that the user only has a hazy awareness of non-living objects, barriers or walls. They can sense enough to walk, hands out before them, but they have a -4 to strike or perform any task that requires the senses blocked by the helmet.  Without a living creature to orientate on, the wearer cannot sense walls and barriers. The helm does not impact the users ability to defend themselves from living things at melee ranges, the wear still receives an AC bonus for Dexterity. This does not apply when the attack comes from a non-living creature or a missile weapon.

If a potion is brought to the mouth area of the helmet, the wearer will know if the potion is magical, poisonous, or mundane and know if it is safe or unsafe to drink. The wearer will not know the purpose of the item. Alcohols register in a unique fashion due to the nature of the beverage.

The helm renders the wearer invisible to all undead but does not reveal the presence of undead. Intelligent undead can guess the wearer's presence, but have a hard time tracking the wearer if they stay motionless or move quietly.

The history of the helm is lost. The obviously usage is to force a magic user to wear the helm while restrained. The loss of sight and sound while remaining aware of living threats was probably a happy benefit when forcing confessions from witches and the like. Player characters will probably find other uses for it.

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	25b	Device of Defense	26	Shield of Force	27	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. Also on Drivethru is my custom character sheet for AD&D and Unearthed Arcana.

I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

52 Weeks of Magic - Week 19 - Staff of Eyes

The Staff of Eyes grants the user infravision and ultravision when held like a torch. Additionally, the user's eyes will glow like a cat's eyes while using the staff in this fashion. The device emits no light. This effect takes some time to get used to so the wielder will be at a -2 to hit the first 3 times they experience this effect. Since the effect requires no charges, the wielder will probably do this long before going into combat. Once the user becomes used to the device, they will crave this type of vision. To stop using the effect, the wielder must save vs. magic to stop. One attempt per day can be made, usually first thing in the morning.

The wielder is able to cast a light spell at the cost of one charge, however the staff will not allow this spell to target creatures eyes. For two charges, the user can cause a flare-like missile to shoot from the staff into the sky. The effect lasts three rounds and is as bright as daylight.

The flare does no damage if it hits something or if fired inside of building, cave, etc. If fired indoors, the light bounces around in a very nonsensical way and the swaying shadows and light causes all people within the area of effect to suffer a -2 to hit with melee weapons and a -4 for missile weapons. This even affects the wielder.

The staff also has a defensive nature, it will absorb spells targeting the casters eyes, such as blindness, light, dark, power word blind, etc. This consumption of spells restores charges to the staff at a rate of one per level of the spell cast. If the staff absorbs more charges that it normally holds, the orb and the caster's eyes appear to burst into flames for one hour per charge over 50. This is uncomfortable, but not damaging to the holder.

It is not possible for the person holding the staff to recharge it by casting spells at themselves. Any attempt to do so will give the user a bad feeling and if the caster persists, the effect of the spell cast will be permanent until "remove curse" is cast on them.

This staff is rather light weight but can be used as a weapon. It is +1 and will do 1d4 +1 if held one handed and 1d6+1 if swung two handed.

The orb at the top of the staff will take on the color of the holder's eyes. The staff normally holds 50 charges. As the charges are used, the orb and the wielder's eyes become milky white which is only a cosmetic effect, it does not impact the user. The staff remains a +1 weapons without any charges, but all other effects end immediately. Once all of the charges have been used, it cannot be recharged by absorbing magic spells.

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	25b	Device of Defense	26	Shield of Force	27	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. Also on Drivethru is my custom character sheet for AD&D and Unearthed Arcana.

I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments.