| | Ref | Ouvrage | Question | | Reponse |
|---|
| 520. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | How thick and strong is a 50’ rope? | | The average adventurer’s rope is probably
9/16” hemp (judging from the encumbrance
rules). Such a rope has a “parting
strength” of 3,450 lbs., if it is in good condition.
Doug Niles, author of the Dungeoneer
’s Survival Guide, notes that when
used to abruptly halt a free fall, a rope’s
effective strength can be as little as 10% of
its maximum. |
| 521. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | What do I do when a PC is tortured?
No player is willing to give
information no matter what happens
to his character. | | Torture is not part of the game for two
reasons. First, it gives nonparticipating
onlookers the wrong idea. Second, spells
like charm person, suggestion, and ESP
are more effective for extracting accurate
information. In the early Renaissance, it
was found that victims of torture were
prone to say what they thought their
tormentors wanted to hear rather than
the truth. If you must include torture in
your game, have the victim make a save
vs. petrification, adjusted for wisdom once
per turn, hour, or day depending on the
intensity of the torture. Failure indicates
that the victim has broken down and will
talk. Do not play out the gory details.
Veracity should be no higher than 80%
(and should probably be much lower). |
| 522. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | How old is the D&D game? Who
were its first players? | | The D&D game was first published in
1974. The earliest group of players came
from a gaming club called the Lake Geneva
Tactical Studies Association. It evolved
out of a set of fantasy supplement rules
for tabletop miniature wargaming, published
as the CHAINMAIL game in the
early 1970s. |
| 523. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | I’ve been trying to locate information
on the swords Durandal and
Excalibur so that I can include them
in my campaign. I haven’t had much
luck. Will you help? | | Assigning game statistics to legendary
weapons is mostly guesswork. A Lake
Geneva campaign gives Durandal the
abilities of a long sword +4, defender
which cannot be broken. The DM’s reasoning
is that Durandal means “inflexible,”
and these abilities seem to fit the name.
As for Excalibur, this sword is listed in
Legends & Lore, page 18, as a lawful-good
sword of sharpness, +5. A brief explanation
of this sword follows under the heading
of King Arthur. For more details on
either weapon, refer to the descriptions of
each provided in Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir
Thomas Malory (for Excalibur) or Le Chanson
de Roland (for Durandal). |
| 524. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | How about some guidelines on
character wills? | | Wills, of course, have to be written
before death; furthermore, the beneficiary
of the will gets only the wealth and magic
that the dead character has actually left
behind at his residence, or that which is
recovered. If the character died in the
remote lair of a huge dragon, for example,
either the dragon or the character’s companions
will have the character’s money
and equipment. The dragon certainly
won’t be willing to give them up and the
characters might not either.
You can put other limits on wills. One
common limitation is that the beneficiary
be a 1st-level character that is rolled up at
the time the will is made. The new character
starts with only his inheritance; he has
no other money or magic. The character
might be higher than 1st level, but he still
has no money of his own. He might even
have to pay an inheritance tax (10-40% is
the common range). |
| 525. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | When a map has a hex grid (hexagons
instead of squares), and the
scale is 24 miles per hex, what does
this really mean? Is the distance
measured from the centers of opposite
sides or from opposite corners? | | In most games, the distance across a hex
is measured from the center of one side to
the center of the opposite side. This is the
case in the D&D and AD&D games. |
| 526. | DR127 | Dragon #127 | BATTLESYSTEM™: What are the battlefield effects of
infravision and ultravision? Which
monsters have these abilities | | Page 59 of the Dungeon Masters Guide
gives the effects of infravision and ultravision
outdoors. Most subterranean monsters
and humanoids are assumed to have
infravision, even if not otherwise noted.
Most demi-humans also have infravision;
see the individual character race descriptions
and monster descriptions. Ultravision
is a rare ability; see the individual monster
descriptions to determine if a creature has
ultravision. Some Lake Geneva campaigns
gift dragons with ultravision, since they
can “see equally well in daylight or darkness
” (Monster Manual, page 29). |
| 527. | DR127 | Dragon #127 | BATTLESYSTEM™: When a unit encounters a wall or
barrier, must it cross the obstacle at
a right angle, or can it cross at any
angle? | | An obstacle can be crossed at any angle.
The unit crossing the obstacle pays the
movement penalty and must go to open
order, no matter what angle is adopted
when crossing the obstacle. |
| 528. | DR127 | Dragon #127 | BATTLESYSTEM™: How do you determine if a unit is
completely in or just at the edge of a
woods? Is the entire unit considered
to be at the edge if just one figure
touches the edge? | | Only the status of individual figures
matters when a unit is in or near a woods.
A figure is at the edge of a woods if any
portion of the figure touches the edge.
Otherwise, the figure is either completely
in or completely out of the woods. Thus, a
unit could be half-in and half-out of a
forest, with some figures on the edge. |
| 529. | DR127 | Dragon #127 | BATTLESYSTEM™: When can enemy archers shoot at
a hero? Can opposing archers
“sharpshoot” at a hero – that is,
shoot at only him when he is with a
unit, or alone and engaged in melee
with a unit? | | If the hero is actually attached to a unit
(in command or fighting with it), archers
cannot pick him out. If the figure is not
attached, he can be a target. A hero in
melee with a unit can’t be fired on because
the unit he is fighting is a much bigger
target than he is – besides, the hero’s foes
might be your own allies. |
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