| | Ref | Ouvrage | Question | | Reponse |
|---|
| 1. | DR079 | Dragon #79 | “Gems Galore” (issue #72) does not say
how some of the gemstones described in
the article may be found. | | DMs may create their own random-roll
tables as extensions of the ones given in
the DMG (p. 26), for gemstones found in
treasure hoards in their campaigns; the
gems described in the article may be
included therein. |
| 2. | DR079 | Dragon #79 | “Thrills and Chills” (issue #68) noted
that there would be assassins operating
during the Ice Age. How is this possible? | | Assassins could be thought of as a form
of commando warrior, used by various
tribes as scouts, spies, or advance assault
fighters who slay from ambush or by surprise.
Assassins could also perform their
usual sorts of tasks (getting rid of undesirable
tribesmen), at the direction of a
chieftain or other “boss.” |
| 3. | DR056 | Dragon #56 | A bard is limited to the use of certain weapons. However, is it
possible for a bard to use a weapon he was previously trained in
(for instance, a bow), perhaps with a penalty involved? | | Again, this is a matter simply resolved by realizing the Players
Handbook means what it says. No, bards cannot use bows,
because that weapon does not appear in the list of weapons
permitted to the class. A character who intends to become a
bard should make a point of gaining proficiency with at least
some of the weapons usable by a bard, in addition to skills with
weapons (such as the bow) which the character might prefer to
employ during his tenure as a fighter. A bard-to-be might wisely
decide to become proficient with bow and arrow, to improve his
chances of surviving during his fighter phase. But the use of
that weapon is prohibited when the character switches to the
thief class, and it can never again be legally employed before or
after the character actually becomes a bard. |
| 4. | DR054 | Dragon #54 | A character with a vorpal sword decapitated an iron golem.
This would negate the golem’s special attack of poisonous gas,
wouldn’t it? Or can the golem still see and use its breath weapon
after it is decapitated? | | Decapitating a golem does not necessarily render the creature
helpless or harmless. In essence, it turns the golem into two
separate monsters. The body is still able to function, and will
continue to attempt to carry out the wishes of its creator.
Whether or not the body can “see” after the head is severed
depends on your interpretation of how a golem “sees” in the first
place. It is possible that the golem is magically empowered to
detect the presence of a threat, and doesn’t really need the
“eyes” in its head to find its way around. It is also reasonable to
treat a headless golem as a creature which has been blinded,
and apply the appropriate penalties on the monster’s “to hit,”
saving throw, and armor class figures.
And what about the head? It, too, remains “alive” and functional,
although it is immobile and the effectiveness of its breath
weapon is drastically reduced. To determine the position and
placement of the fallen head, the DM can roll d4 or d6 for the
direction in which the top of the head points, and d4 again to
determine which surface (face, back, either side) is pointing
down. The breath weapon will continue to function once every 7
rounds, and the cloud of gas will still expand to fill a 1” x 1” x 1”
volume directly in front of the source. But since the head is not
capable of independent movement, it should be a simple matter
to keep away from it when it’s about to discharge.
In a case such as this, DM’s must decide how to apportion hit
points between the two parts. The iron golem’s head must still
be “defeated” to stop the expulsion of the poisonous gas; it will
retain a certain fraction of the golem’s current hit points when it
is severed, and it will still have all the general properties (+3 or
better to hit, etc.) the creature normally has. |
| 5. | DR031 | Dragon #31 | A couple of friends and I are planning on taking
over our DM’s island. So far our plan is working. Unfortunately,
we have encountered some problems. What we want to know
is how to spawn orcs? We need an army at the moment. | | Orcs are mammals and therefore do not spawn. You will
have to find some other way to raise your army. |
| 6. | DR054 | Dragon #54 | A lich is said to use a combination of will power, enchantments,
arcane magic, a phylactery and larva essence to maintain
undead status. What exactly are the processes involved in
becoming a lich and maintaining that status? | | There is no “ultimate recipe” for becoming a lich, just as there
is no universal way of making a chocolate cake. Only those
things which are generally true are stated in the AD&D rules-a
magic-user or cleric gains undead status through “force of will”
(the desire to be a lich, coupled with magical assistance) and
thereafter has to maintain that status by special effort, employing
“conjurations, enchantments and a phylactery” (from the
lich description in the Monster Manual). The essence of larvae,
mentioned as one of the ingredients in the process (in the MM
description of larvae) might be used as a spell component, or
might be an integral part of the phylactery: Exactly what it is, and
what it is used for, is left to be defined by characters and the DM,
if it becomes necessary to have specific rules for making a lich.
Several combinations of spells might trigger or release the
energy needed to transform a magic-user or m-u/cleric into a
lich; exactly which combination of magic is required or preferred
in a certain campaign is entirely up to the participants.
The subject has been addressed in an article in DRAGON magazine
(“Blueprint for a Lich,” by Len Lakofka, in #26), but that
“recipe” was offered only as a suggestion and not as a flat
statement of the way it’s supposed to be done.
No matter what ingredients and procedures are defined in any
“recipe” for a lich, it should be virtually (if not completely)
impossible for a player character to perform the process on
himself — and if the attempt at becoming a lich does succeed,
the character should no longer be allowed to operate as a player
character. A character might have a long and prosperous existence
as a lich, but would not be able to be considered an
adventuring character — in fact, there would be no reason or
incentive for a player-character lich to be an adventurer, because
experience points are meaningless to a character who
can’t rise in levels and gain new abilities. Besides, who knows
how much time it takes to maintain lich status? Maybe a lich
player character would have to spend all his time working to
maintain lich-hood, with no time left to “enjoy” the fruits of his
labor. |
| 7. | DR037 | Dragon #37 | A player in our campaign is a dwarf Fighter
with a Constitution of 7. When she got the Players Handbook,
she discovered that such a thing is illegal. Should the DM
simply treat this as an abnormal character, or is there
another way to solve the problem? | | There are two main alternatives. One is to let her remain
as she is, but instead of saving as a dwarf with the automatic bonuses,
she should save as a human. Or, her Constitution score could be
altered (by raising it to the legal minimum of 12 for dwarves) so that
she would conform to the rules in the Players Handbook. Specific
solutions to problems like this should always be handled by the DM,
since he/she knows the campaign better than anyone else and is best
able to determine which alternatives would fit best into the game. |
| 8. | DR062 | Dragon #62 | A second-level thief is drained one life level. In the next few
days, he accumulates enough gold pieces and experience
points to not only get back to second level, but to pay for a
Restoration spell as well, Could the thief attain third level by
application of his XP’s and then a Restoration (or vice versa)? | | A character who wants to be restored has a fairly long time to
find a cleric to cast the spell. And in the meantime, the character
might very well acquire additional treasure and experience.
Whether or not the character actually “gets credit” for the
experience points, though, should depend on what the character’s
(assuming a player character in this case) intentions were
in the first place.
A second-level thief drained of one energy level becomes a
first-level thief with 625 experience points. As soon as that
character accumulates enough experience points to qualify for
second level, “no further experience points can be gained until
the character actually gains the new level,” according to the
DMG. The training period which the character must undergo to
qualify for the new level in all respects will take at least 1-4
weeks.
Even if the Restoration could still be attempted at this juncture,
it wouldn’t work, because the thief has already “restored”
himself. Restoration, as the name of the spell strongly implies,
only brings back an energy level when that energy level was
previously lost; the spell can’t “restore” a character to a level of
experience the character had never before attained.
Here’s where the character’s intentions come into consideration.
If the thief voices a desire to seek a Restoration after
suffering the energy-level drain, and if the thief actively pursues
that goal during the next 16 (or perhaps more) days of his life, a
kindly DM might defer the recording of experience points for
that character, in effect “holding” the thief at first level so the
Restoration (if it comes to pass) will have its intended effect.
Experience gained in the meantime could then be applied to the
character’s total after he has been restored to second level.
But the same benefit should not accrue to a character who
wasn’t Restoration-minded all along. If the thief only starts to
think about being restored after he happens to run across
enough cash to pay for the spell casting, the experience he has
gained in the meantime should not be deferred for later application
— the points are applied right after they are earned, and if
the thief’s current XP total exceeds the 1,250 upper limit for first
level, he can’t be restored no matter how much he pays. |
| 9. | DR043 | Dragon #43 | According to the Players Handbook (page 27)
thieves can be neutral good, but Sage Advice (TD #35) says
that thieves cannot be good. Which is correct? | | The Players Handbook — but remember, good thieves
should be very rare. |
| 10. | DR056 | Dragon #56 | According to the Players Handbook, a bard is permitted to wear magical chain mail and carry a bastard sword, but a thief cannot use either. Can a bard employ these things while using
thieving abilities without penalty? | | Yes — assuming, of course, that the bard has attained proficiency
with the sword. One of the significant benefits of becoming
a bard is the ability to use armor and weapons not normally
usable by a thief, and still be able to perform the various thieving
abilities. All that’s necessary to properly play a bard with
respect to this is to interpret the Players Handbook literally: A
bard is able to use any of the armor and weapon types listed as
permitted to the class, and a bard is able to function as a thief of
the level which the character attained while pursuing that profession.
Nothing in the description given in the Players Handbook
puts any limitations or restrictions on either of these
characteristics. The bard is an exceptional character class, for
truly exceptional characters who are able to attain and accomplish
things which are beyond the ability of “normal” characters. |
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