The following article appeared in L’avant garde #70, December 1984. It is the last of nine articles by Phenster during Dave’s “Year of L’avant garde.” It covers the penultimate topic in Phenster’s Pandemonium Society House Rules.
Apart from the categories, here under, I have only a few notes, which follow the article.
Categories
Regarding identification of magic items, Holmes only admonishes players against having “a hireling or non-player character flunkie try out a newly found piece of equipment” (39). Identify Magic Items by Trial goes in category [H] Holmes, as it only puts in words what we might already assume.
Holmes gives wands 100 charges (38) in text similar to that of OD&D (Monsters & Treasure 34). Holmes neglects charges for staffs, to which OD&D gives 200 charges. The Pandemonium Society is less generous. I class Charges for Found Staffs and Wands in [E] Extra.
Also under [E] Extra, I place the following magic items: Bone Sword, Witch Ward, Ring of the Arch-Mage’s Lament, Dungeoneer’s Haversack, and Robe of Enlightenment.
As they are drawn from cultural elements within Hazard’s campaign, I put Wraith Blades, Banelore Staff, and Ritual Masks and Skins of the Caerlon under [C] Campaign. DMs may want to tailor those items to their own campaign.
And my favorite item from the Great Halls, the Rod of ICBMs goes into the category [P] Pandemonium. Let this thing fall into player hands at your own risk. Special thanks out to my old high-school friend Rod Stanley for telling me—must have been sometime around 1984—about this most gonzo of magic items.
Magic Items from the Great Halls
The best part about treasure is the magic items. When we find magic items, Hazard doesn't just tell us what it is. We have to discover its powers by using it. AD&D has a spell that identifies magic items, but Hazard won't allow it. He says no matter how you work that spell, it's either too easy for the players or too much trouble for the DM.
Charges for Found Staffs and Wands
When we find a magic staff or a wand, Hazard rolls on this table to find out how many charges it has. He doesn't tell us what the number is. Unless we recharge an item ourselves, we don't know when it will fizzle out. I usually cast detect magic on our wands and staffs between adventures to make sure they still have at least 1 charge left.
d12 # Charges
--- ---------
1-7 1d20
8-11 1d% / 2
12 1d%
It's rare, but if you roll 100 charges it means the item wasn't tested. You have to roll a d12 when you first use it, and on a 1 the magic fails and the wand is useless.
Magic Items
These are some magic items we've found in the Great Halls.
Bone Sword: Made all out of bone. It's a sword +2 that casts animate dead 1/week.
Wraith Blade: A magic sword +3 until it slays an opponent. Then it turns into a cursed sword -1 and drains 1 level per hit FROM THE WIELDER. At 0 HD, the wielder turns into a blade wraith and has to drop the sword. Then the sword becomes un-cursed +3, until it slays again . . . .
There are 9 of these swords. They were made by a powerful necromancer named Cade Adder. We're pretty sure he's a lich or something even worse. All blade wraiths are in the thrall of Cade Adder.
Banelore Staff: A Staff of Wizardry that can also banish demons and devils. It sends them back to Hell and they can't come back for a year and a day, even if they're summoned. It radiates a protection from evil (10' rad.) spell, which is always on as long as a magic-user carries the staff. It has runes etched all over it. The wielder can read the runes once per day to learn some lore about demons and/or devils. It's not really a spell but it acts like a contact higher plane spell, except you can only ask questions about infernal creatures and Hell.
Banelore wizards of the Sixth Order or more can go on a special quest for the Cabal to receive a Banelore Staff. If any Banelore Staffs are lost, the Cabal will send someone after it.
Witch Ward: A hooded lantern with a continual light spell inside. When the hood is raised it casts light 60' radius, as usual, unless a witch is nearby. If any kind of demon-worshiping magic-user or cleric is within 120', the light turns bright blue and extends out to that range. Inside the blue light, everyone gets +2 on saving throws against any witch spells or powers, and the witches take -2 on their physical attacks.
Ritual Masks and Skins of the Caerlon
The First Peoples revere spirits and gods of nature, like trees and big rocks and rivers and mountain peaks. For them, animals are symbols of the divine presence. They have celebrations on the solstices and equinoxes, where they perform nature rituals, and the druids wear masks and skins of animals during the rituals. The different masks give them different powers depending on the animal and what it means to them.
Wearing just a ritual mask raises an ability score (or 2!) to 18. But if you put on the skin with the mask, you get special powers. The longer you wear the mask and skin, the more powerful the powers. Wearing the skin without the mask doesn't do anything.
Only the druids are allowed to wear the masks and skins. And anyone outside the tribes wearing one of these masks (or even having it in your possession) is taboo. The whole tribe will attack you immediately. Beowulf almost got torn apart because he wouldn't let go of a boar skin. If you're only wearing a mask, they can see you're not one of them by the clothes you wear. But if you've got on the mask and the skin, they can't tell right away, unless they start asking you questions.
The first time you put on a mask and skin together, you have to make a saving throw versus spells or you polymorph into the animal. Then you'd have to get two dispel magic spells cast on you, then remove curse, in order to turn back to yourself. This can happen to a druid too. The First Peoples have lots of stories about young druids that got turned into a bear or a deer. They're either turned back after a lot of spell casting--and all traumatized--or they roam the wilderness for their rest of their lives, protecting the tribe from afar.
After you've worn the mask and the skin for a whole day straight without taking them off, you get a little power. You can use the power whenever you put on the mask/skin without wearing them for another day. After wearing the mask/skin for a full cycle of the moon, you get more powers, and you can polymorph into the animal once per month for up to a day (24 hours). Any longer than that, and you have to save versus spells or you can't turn back. After you've worn them for a year and a day without taking them off, you can change once per day and for as long as you want, and you get even more powers. Some old druids hardly ever change back into their human form. They get to be a little crazy and wild, and when they die, they turn into a spirit beast with even more powerful and mystical powers.
RED DEER
Symbol: virtue, grace, good fortune
Role: protectors of the people
Mask: CHA
Skin: command 3/day // charm person 1/day // charm monster 1/day
BROWN BEAR
Symbol: strength, introspection, healing
Role: guardians of the forest
Mask: STR and WIS
Skin: heal light wounds 3/day // neutralize poison 1/day // heal serious wounds 1/day
WOLF
Symbol: savageness, loyalty
Role: guide to the lost
Mask: INT
Skin: all followers have Loyalty 20 // commune with nature 1/day // summon wolf pack
WILD BOAR
Symbol: courage, ferocity
Role: warrior
Mask: CON
Skin: heals 2d6 after battle // battle fury (+2 to hit and damage, morale 2) // bites for 2d6
AUROCHS
Symbol: power, resilience, primal force
Role: guardians of the land
Mask: STR and CON
Skin: always makes saves vs poison and turn to stone // headbutt (1d10) // regenerates 2 h.p. per round
Ring of the Arch-Mage's Lament: You can cast any spell in your spell book that you don't have memorized. You don't even have to have your spell book with you. It doesn't matter what level it is, and it doesn't take up a memorized spell. But after you use the ring, you can't cast any more spells, and you're fatigued until you get a good night's sleep.
Dungeoneer's Haversack: Reach into this shoulder bag and any standard adventuring equipment you think of comes to hand. You can only get a particular thing or set of things once per day (1 lantern, 6 torches, 12 iron spikes, etc.). You can also carry thrice the normal amount of other gear and treasure in it, up to 600 coins in weight like a large sack, even though it always weighs 200 coins.
Robe of Enlightenment: Gives +3 to magic saves, and if you're a magic-user, you have a 100% Chance to Know Spells, and researching new spells takes half the normal time.
Rod of ICBMs: Shoots Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles. We haven't used it yet, so we debate about if it actually shoots missiles straight out of the rod, or if it calls them down from some kind of satellite in orbit. Either way, the damage is 100s of 1000s of d20s and probably blows the whole dungeon to Kingdom Come.
Notes
Charges for Found Staffs and Wands [E]: Failure of a staff or wand with 100 charges comes from “Dweomercraeft,” wherein the magic-user rolls a d12 to determine the successful creation of the charged item. See also Chance of Failure [E] in the follow-up article “The Study and Use of Magic.”
Banelore Staff: Phenster mentions, in “State of Pandemonium,” (Paradigm Lost #5, October 1985), that Mithrellas “is a wizard of the Seventh Order in the Banelore Cabal” (“Campaign Names”).
Ritual Masks and Skins of the Caerlon: Reference to the First Peoples appears in “MYSTERIORUM LIBRI” and “Monsters in the Deep Dungeons.” Phenster divides the powers of the masks and skins by double slashes (//) according to the length of time one has worn the articles: one day // moon cycle // a year and a day.
Ring of the Arch-Mage's Lament: “…it doesn’t take up a memorized spell. But after you use the ring, you can’t cast any more spells…” I’m not sure of what use any remaining spells would be to a lamenting mage if they can’t cast any more spells anyway. Phenster seems to allow the possibility. I assume that, by “fatigued,” Phenster refers to the effects of not resting after 5 turns of movement. See “Movement, Encumbrance, Carrying Capacities, and Resting.”
Dungeoneer's Haversack: In “Movement and Encumbrance” (May 1984), Phenster previously established that retrieving an item from a haversack takes only one round. The action can be done in combat as long as one is not under attack.
Rod of ICBMs: Phenster does not mention charges for rods in general nor of this rod in particular. The lone rod in Holmes (cancellation) “will function but once” (38). In OD&D, rods appear in Greyhawk, where they have 25 charges (48). One charge, 25, or a thousand—probably doesn’t matter in Kingdom Come.
This is the 38th in a continuing series of articles, which reedits house rules for Holmes Basic D&D from 40-year-old game club newsletters. Mentions of house rules are in bold text and followed by a [bracketed category designator].
For rules category descriptions and more about the newsletters, see “About the Reedition of Phenster’s.” For an index of articles, see Coming Up in “Pandemonium Society House Rules.”
Phenster’s Pandemonium Society House Rules is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, incidents, and newsletters are either products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is pure coincidence.
The 1977 edition of Gygax and Arneson’s DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is also known as “Holmes Basic” after editor Dr. J. Eric Holmes.