IRPS NEWSLETTER July 1, 1996 Issue #7 Table of Contents General Information: IRPS Monthly status Report (Michael Popovich ) Announcement of First IRPS IRC Meeting (David Knisley ) Note from the Editor (Karen Mizeri ) Monthly Columns: Rambling Thoughts Kosala Ubayasekara Newsletter (John A. Tomkins ) Sendra the Orc/Ogre Killer (Dave Mavretic ) DM's Advice (Earl Harrison ) Slight's Miscellanea (Steven Cox ) Three New Types of Magick Users (Michael Gill ) Monthly Classified Ads: Subject: METW IRC League Subject: New AD&D PBEM Starting Subject: The IRPS List of RPG Specialists ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: IRPS Monthly Status Report Author: Michael Popovich ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well our club seems to be progressively growing at a steady rate of about 150 to 200 new members per month. Our club size is currently at 1200 people. With the size of our club at a very large volume, we have decided to hold our first IRC meeting which will take place on Undernet servers in the channel #irps which David goes into more detail below. It's a chance for everyone to get to meet the officers personally. We hope to see you there. If you've never used IRC before, and would like more information about it so that you can stop by the meeting, just email me for more info with a subject line of "[IRPS IRC HELP]" and I will get back with you ASAP on how IRC works and I will give you an IRC client to use. We would like for our members to participate in this exciting event, and will happily help you. Also, I'm not quite sure if I've mentioned the new location of the IRPS homepage which is now at , so be sure to update your links. We have new graphics to place on our page along with new material which I will upload sometime the middle of the month so be sure to stop by and check out the page sometime around the 15th of July. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: Announcement of First IRPS IRC Meeting Author: David Knisley ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ HEAR YE HEAR YE: "ALL IRPS MEMBERS, WE WILL BE HAVING OUR FIRST SOCIETY MEETING ON JULY 8TH, 1996 AT 8:00 PM EST AND JULY 9TH, 1996 AT 9:30 PM EST ON THE #IRPS CHANNEL ON THE UNDERNET, THE KING REQUESTS YOUR PRESENCE." I am the newest addition to the IRPS staff and I handle all of the affairs that have to do with the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel on the Undernet at #IRPS. My name is David Knisley, and I went to College at The University of Michigan, I'm sure most of you have heard of it. I have been role-playing since I was 10, so that would make it almost 16 years. Boy I'm getting old! If you have questions about the IRC channel please feel free to drop me a line at , or you can find me listed in the Officers section of the IRPS homepage: http://www.borg.com/~gdb319/daur/irps. We are still taking requests for channel operators so if you are interested contact me at one of the places listed above. It is possible some of you are saying to yourselves, "What in the hell is he talking about IRC, undernet, channels???" I remember wondering those very same things the first time I heard of IRC, so I will give you a quick synopsis of what IRC is and what makes it so exciting. Basically IRC is a collection of computers in different parts of the world that are linked together, much like the web, to allow people to "talk" to each other in real-time. This means as fast as you can type is as fast as you are able to communicate. It is, for the most part, text based but there are some new innovations close to becoming reality that will allow graphics to be transmitted more freely on IRC. If you are getting this newsletter you should be able to connect to IRC. Here are some addresses you can find easy access at: (MY FAVORITE) and if none of these seem to work for you use the default logs of: Come on in and see us on the channel #IRPS and if you need any help getting started feel free to contact me and I will help get you on your way. We are also working in conjunction with two of our members on channels on the DALnet. The Official channel on the DALnet is again called the #IRPS, and Romano, our main channel op on that channel, is in there frequently. This channel will be getting linked to another channel which is called #warlords. #warlords is a very kewl channel that allows players to role-play characters and fight other player characters. You should definitely check this out at: http://www.inca.de/user/rubin/warlord.htm and tell them that bean6 (my nick) sent you. You need to visit the web page first so you can create a character. That is all the time I have today, but I am looking forward to seeing all at the meetings on July 8, 1996 at 8:00 PM EST and July 9, 1996 at 9:30 PM EST. The game grows David Knisley ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: Note from the Editor Author: Karen Mizeri ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the person who will be handling the construction and editing of the newsletter. Please feel free to send me any your articles and any questions you may have regarding its pub-lication. Also I would like to welcome Jenn Millington to the editing team and thank her for all of her hard work. I am looking for more help if anyone is interested. For all those who submit articles - Keep it up! I have enjoyed reading them. Karen Mizeri ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Column Name: Rambling Thoughts Author: Kosala Ubayasekara ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the business of being a good DM As I am sure many are already aware, playing make-believe characters in a fantasy world is notoriously fun! However, over time the tempting roll of DM beckons and most players at some point or the other will want to try their hand at running a game instead of playing a character roll in one. However great players do not necessarily make great DM's. So let me share a few ideas I have, if you are not meeting your own standards as a DM and are wondering why. A few basic requirements exist that should be met before you try running a group of people through a game. a) A comprehensive understanding of the rules of the game is absolutely vital b) A healthy and diverse imagination c) The ability to spin a good story, on the fly if necessary The above three guidelines are the bare necessities. Fortunately most people meet these requirements fairly well - even the ones that may initially think they don't. If you are unable to fullfil the above requirements it is often possible to learn and develop them over time. I mention these rules only since without them you will surely bore your group to tears. However, even when these basic requirements are met they are not always kept. One problem that I frequently encountered in my early games is that I spent time developing great twists to situations and then neglected to fully incorporate them. For example, the DM may take great care to lay out the plans for an important battle and then in the heat of the moment rush over his plans or drop parts of the plan entirely, to later discover that the combat scene was not nearly as cool as he intended it to be. Try and stick with novel ideas that you have. Where combat is concerned don't let the moment shrivel down to a series of dice rolls and "you hit", "you missed", comments. If you see a picture of the scene in your head then describe it to the players. If an attack hits then describe how and where it hits. A popular reason not to do this is that it all takes too much time and drags out the combat scene. Essentially that is true. However, if you narrate and go about the statistical part of combat (such as dice rolling) simultaneously the time is significantly reduced, and your players will appreciate the extra detail to the scene. Remember it is no use the DM having a great combat scene in his head if he is not able to make his players see it too. All this may take some practice but is well worth the effort. The same concept can readily be adapted to most other situations when running an RPG. Visualization is the key. Since there is no game board and rarely and visual or audible aids, good descriptions are the greatest asset in helping your players visualize the scene. Remember that the players should be able to see, hear and feel everything as if they were standing in their characters place. In order to achieve that you the DM MUST resort to good descriptions. As far as the construction of the game itself is concerned, definitely plan at least a part of it beforehand. The greater your planing the easier it will be to run the game. However, it is essential that you do not get so tied up in you plan that you cannot deviate from it. No matter how good a DM you are you cannot foresee everything your players will do. So be prepared to change you plans if necessary. This is much easier to do if you actually have a plan to start with - because then you have a foundation upon which you can improvise. Be original when planning your games. Don't do things in the same tired, old ways. If the players you play with are playing their characters stereotypically, set the example by playing an NPC uniquely. Find new twists to known ways of doing things, find imaginative uses for mundane items and your players will soon catch on, thus making the game vastly more interesting to both DM and player. If you follow these ideas and incorporate the good ideas I am sure you already have you should be well on the way to carving your name in the annals of great DM's. If in doubt - let your players decide. Kosala Ubayasekara ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: Newsletter Author: John "BJ" Tomkins ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A newsletter is something I thought about for awhile and finally decided to act on. The ability to pass on information to my players without having to tell the same information several times (because a player was not there or could not remember what I said) is valuable. Sometimes I either forgot to pass on the information or somehow told the information wrong. Soon your players think you are going loony, and you have to make a decision on what you said. My idea was simple. Create a newsletter which allowed the players to keep up on the world they play in. It passes on various information to them without anyone missing out, or the GM forgetting what was said. Your players now have something written down, that you wrote, and be warned they will use it against you! A Name: Deciding whether to do a newsletter or not is up to the GM. You need to create a name that fits the time period you play in. When I did mine, I searched for something appropriate to the World of Greyhawk, which is what my world is based on. I searched for something that would express the feeling of the world. Things to consider: There are several factors to consider when deciding what you should do when you create a newsletter. Some considerations are: do you use dates? How often do you publish your newsletter? What types of articles do you include? Do you write as that time period or do you write as the GM telling the players information? How many pages do you include? How accurate is the information included? There are more, but I think you get the picture. I don't use dates for reasons mentioned later. When I started publishing my newsletter, it was sporadic, then it finally went monthly and has stayed there for the past five years. The articles I started with were basic news, sports, and classifieds. About a year ago I went to almost all news, no sports and only a couple of pages of classifieds. Starting with one page, I slowly grew to four then eight. Over the past couple of years, I have maintained eight pages, the information is entertaining with some critical information regarding the current campaign the players are in. Game Information: My main reason for doing this newsletter was to bring information about my campaign to my players without having to actually tell them. Noteworthy people are always mentioned in newsletters. For example, how do you tell your players who have never encountered him that a major NPC dislikes long hair? This could be crucial if one of the players in party has long hair. The NPC may become angry and storm by without passing on information to the players that they needed, simply because of a slight oversight. Wouldn't it be better if the players knew this information and could react within their character? This is a stretch, but I think you get the picture. Maybe there is information about a certain area that the players are travelling to that they know nothing about. They could just tell the GM that they have done the research and hope the GM is prepared. Why not tell them in the newsletter that the local Lord they are traveling to is a suspected lycanthrope and the party may have something he may want - perhaps a cure??? The newsletter also allows me to pass on information the players need to know about something that is happening which impacts their characters. For example, in my world Bards cannot be killed unless ordered by a king. It seems that in my campaign world bards are the historians and very well received. Killing one is a death penalty for the killer. How do you pass this information on to your players without explaining why or how? Make up a story that explains why bards have this favor and they will have a kick reading the information as well as a way to remember it! The last thing these newsletters are good for are history. If you work at it long enough, you can actually build a history the players can look back on and see a world growing around their characters. You are bound to lose a player sooner or later. New players enter the game. They start to receive the newsletters and begin to question some actions you are using. You could always reprint an article that had appeared months or years previous, like the Bard thing mentioned above. Things to Keep in mind: Now that I have explained some of the things that can go into it, maybe I can help out in other matters. When you write your stories, if you write from a first person perspective, you have to keep in mind to not mention saving throws, stat checks and other things which happen in the real world; unless you are playing an RPG set in the real world. If you play in a medieval world, written word was never published. They had no printing presses, no mass distribution. But they did have town criers and postings. Posters were made and put on the posting board in the center of town. Look at the TV show M*A*S*H. They have a bulletin board by the main building in camp to place postings for all to see. The same holds true for these medieval worlds. If you play in the old west or later, they had newspapers. It's up to you to determine what format and how. If you play in a Sci-Fi world, you might have to publish your newsletter electronically! Put information that might pertain to the current campaign the players are on without giving away anything relevant. Write a story about how a person they are to meet soon and how he is traveling to another kingdom for a meeting with someone else the players are to meet. This might make the players think twice about meeting him. If you work hard enough, you can actually build something up to a climax that will startle your players. The main purpose here is to pass on information that might be worth telling if it helps the current campaign. If you are stumped for a month, then make something up! Ever watch Soap Operas? Watch one for a month and keep track of some of the people. When the month is over you should have something that you can add to your newsletter and your players will have something entertaining to read! If you date your newsletter, do you date it in the real world or game world? If you do the real world, you have a way of keeping track of the information coming out and keeping track of newsletters. If you date it from the game world, you run the risk of compromising your game world if things happen before or after they should. Keep in mind that your players may be acting on this information. To keep track of which newsletter follows another, I use the age old method of Volume and Number in the masthead. This helps me keep track of each newsletter and the players can ask information about a particular issue. I mentioned classifieds earlier. These can be funny or serious as you see fit. You can place ads in the classifieds to get your players to find a new adventure or to just make them sit up and take notice about something that you are planning. Use your imagination and see what you come up with. Make up some funny classifieds like, male gnome looking for a good time. Has polished nose and willing to travel! Make sure to keep it clean! Remember that guilds are always looking for members. Fighters and mages are looking for apprentices, castles are up for sale after that last dungeon crawl. You get the point. There are times when you will be challenged to find content to put into your newsletter. After using some of the ideas mentioned above, this is still a problem. You could try drawing cartoons yourself or having someone do it for you, but you might have to pay for it. If you have a scanner, you can try to scan funny cartoons that might be easy to add, but be careful of copyright laws. Do you have a friend that is pretty funny and willing to write a Top Ten list for you? I did until he moved away. For several newsletters he would give me a small listing of things and it would fill nicely. If you have Internet access, there are a variety of sites that contain graphics that you can use. Adding graphics to your newsletter is always a nice filler. Or you can buy some shareware graphics available from numerous sources. Of course, story content, graphics, cartoons, and so on are nice, but what if the type face looks like it came from a computer (if your newsletter is supposed to be medieval)? Again, hop on the Internet and find a place that might have an old feel to it. If you have something set in the future, many things can be done. Just remember to use your imagination. Do You Charge for it?: Now comes the biggest question of them all. Do you charge for your newsletter? This depends on you. I don't normally charge for my newsletter, but I do make sure everyone knows I accept donations. Keep this in mind though, if you print more than a dozen newsletters and can do this for free, this is a good deal. Beyond that you should to supplement your free and willing nature. I now charge because I have gone beyond my dozen copy a month limit. The price I charge is enough to cover my printing charge for the year. This may sound harsh, but those printing charges add up quickly. Paper is expensive, depending on what you use. Plain white paper is cheap. Colored paper can run you some money. If you try to use parchment-like paper, expect to pay twice more than usual. You can also buy your paper and then print your newsletter yourself at work, saving you the cost of a printing service. Conclusion: Whatever your decision, make this endeavor a fun thing. Start slow and see what happens. Your players are the best source of material and feedback. Ask them what they think and see where it takes you. Once you start this newsletter try and stay with your deadline. Even though this is a fun thing, your players will let you know when they think that they are due for another newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: Review on Sendra the Orc/Ogre Killer Author: Dave Mavretic ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Sendra (the Orc/Ogre Killer) by Mauricio L. Sadicoff >Freq: Unique > > Sendra is a magical sword, created specially for a chaotic neutral >elf. But this elf suddenly died in his 2nd level, while attacking a 15th >level mage. The thing is not only that mage could not use a sword, but he >could not stand the swords personality, so he left the sword around. Some >years later, the sword was caught by a Kobold and another elf (a lawful good >fighter). They spent some years together, until the elf fighter just could >not stand Sendra's personality, and dropped her around, in a cave. > Sendra is a chaotic neutral sword, with an ego of 15, ad was created >to be THE Orc/Ogre killer. Actually, she can speak the common language, >elfish, orcish, and ogre. Sendra is a magical sword +2 against Orcs, and +3 >against Ogres. She doesn't need to be wielded by elves, but she'll prefer an >elf. > FOR THE DM: Sendra was designed for low level adventures, and to be, >by itself, an adventure plot. The funniest thing about Sendra is her >Orc/Ogre killer personality. Whenever she gets close to an Orc or Ogre >she'll start by saying "I can smell an Orc" and whenever any member of any of >these races gets close she will start shouting "Orc! Orc! I want an Orc!!!!", >or Ogre, depending on the situation. Also, if she's fighting for some time >against other creatures, she'll start shouting she wants a Orc. She will >always shout that if the wielder is in the middle of a town, just for fun. >Sendra loves to see the strange red color her wielders normally gets on their >faces when she shouts for an Ogre in the middle of a marketplace and everyone >around starts asking who's shouting so loud. The DM can become hoarse by the >end of a 5 hours session, but it's worth it :-) When there's no one around, >or after a Ogre-killing session, Sendra is calm, and wise. > >Enjoy:-) >Mauricio Mauricio has a wonderful item here. I play tested it in one of my games yesterday. The reaction of the group to the sword was one of surprise, which in itself was fantastic! It made for some intense role-playing on their parts, and got that particular part of my game back on track. Role-playing slips a little when a group has been together a long time, simply because DM's and players become accustomed to how the group reacts to various scenarios. Placing Sendra into that game and having them find her was not difficult. Keeping a straight face, and handling the various NPC's as well as the sword's personality became a difficult task. I wanted to laugh so badly, it started to hurt. :) The role playing that party got into to handle the situation was some of the best we've had to date. If you have any unique items that you use in your game, please send them to me at , and I'll play-test them submit them to the first available newsletter after that. Dave davem1@island.microserve.com dmav@frackit.com Odessius Knight The Island Retreat BBS (717) 545-6794 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: DM's Advice Author: Earl Harrison ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Any of you that has access to AOL may have seen it there as AD&D Utilities. I have downloaded over 35 discs full of software for AD&D and still feel that this is the most complete package of utilities out there, until TSR finally releases their software. However, it does need some more work. If after reading the descriptions of the various packages you would like a copy and you own PKZip, send me your e-mail address and I will send a copy to you. However, I do ask two things. Firstly, that you tell me if you find any errors in the program(s). Secondly, if you have any programs, new rules, new sheets or any other odd ball stuff pertaining to AD&D that you pass it to me as I like to see what my fellow AD&D players are doing. If you would like something added to this package please don't hesitate to ask. I will be more than glad to add it, if it is possible for me to do. One other note: The NPC Generator and the Temple Generator are not my creations. They were such good programs and I needed them anyway so I decided to add them to my package. If the authors of these two programs do not want them attached to my package then just e-mail me and tell me and I will take them off. As always anything that is copyrighted or trademarked by TSR still remains their product. The descriptions are as follows: AD&D Forms Printer - I have a collection of over 20 different forms to print out. Many of the sheets are character sheets that our group likes to use. If you would like your sheet here just get it to me via e-mail, tell me what format it is in and I will try to add it here. Artifact Generator - Creates a perfect artifact laid out based on the 1st edition DM's guide. Birthright Domain - Any DM with regents in birthright will want to have this program handy the next time they play. Character Creator - This program creates a character for you of any class, race and level. It tries to be as accurate as possible. Again if you want this program to print to your form just let me know. City Generator - Create your own towns and print them or let the computer create a town for you. Creatures from the Lower Planes - Creates a unique creature from the depths of the earth. This program also comes from the 1st edition DM's Guide. Use this with caution! Encyclopedia Magica - Same as above but has all of the 5000+ Magical Item's from the 4 book set. Magic Items - A complete list of Magical Item's from the 2nd edition DM's Guide. Will generate any type of items that you want. Martial Arts - Generate a martial art form from the Oriental Adventures Handbook or have the computer randomly generate an art form for you. I have over 50 new martial arts to add to this from the net, I just have not had time to do this yet. Monster Tables - If you can't find the random monster table that you need then just create it with this program. Use the created table with the Random Monster Program. Monster Treasure Type - Generate a treasure from the A-Z list in the Monster Manual. NPC Generator - Randomly creates NPC's for you. This program is well written but I need something different, so a revision for this one is on the way Mutant Generator - Our own creation. A password from the character generator is required to enter this program. These characters will disrupt a realm so use with caution. There is a way to get mutants when you want, just ask me for details. Psionic Generator - Same as mage spells but for the psionic characters in your group. Random Monster - Roll up monsters using the tables that I have or create new ones with the Monster Tables Program. Random Room - Creates a room or hallway for you if you run out of ideas. If you have a list of room descriptions that I could use in this program please send it to me or tell me where I can get it. Ship Generator - Generates over 15 different types of sailing vessels. Have the computer generate a ship on the fly for you. Sword Generator - Looking for an intelligent sword. Here is the place to find it. Generates swords based on the charts in the 2nd edition DM's Guide. Temple Generator - Creates a complete temple for you to occupy. See NPC Generator. Tracker - For those DM's that have laptops or computers that they can bring to the AD&D table then this program is a must have. Keeps track of characters and monsters. Weapons Store - All characters need to be outfitted with weapons, armor and equipment. This is the place to do it. Will also buy some weapons and equipment from you. Almost all of the programs will print out something to your printer. Make sure you have your printer on and ready to print when you tell the programs to print. Most output is formatted to look like an official TSR form that they would want you to use. Also there are many passwords throughout the package. If you would like to know where and what the passwords are then send a little note asking for them. I do not give the passwords out unless you ask for them. They help you use the software somewhat, however, some of them also let you cheat. Again any comments good or bad are always welcome. Please let me know your comments both good and bad. If you would like a copy of any of the above programs please e-mail me at the address at the bottom of the article. Earl Harrison harrison@comsys.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: Slight's Miscellanea: Revised Universal School Author: Steven Cox ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Salutations! Recently through the AD&D listserv, a discussion was fired up about the feasibility of an "all" school for mages, as there exists an All sphere for clerics. My participation in the debate started me thinking about this topic as never before. Was the idea of an All school viable, and what should it include if it was? Presented below is the answer to my question. The "Universal", or All, school for mages in it's full glory. But first, a little more information and some additional history on the subject. Most of the ideas reflected below are a result of the All school discussion on AD&D-L, but some additional help arrived just as I was putting the finishing touches on the article. Having newly acquired a copy of the Player's Option: Spells & Magic source book, I was surprised to discover that TSR had (barely) beat me to the punch in introducing their own All school! Shocked, surprised, and actually a little hurt, I was still glad to see the All school make it as an "official" rule. However, I found the proposed Universal school to be nearly as bad as the problems it was designed to fix. What are the initial problems, you ask? Well, as you know, there exists in the core rules of AD&D a school known as the Lesser Divination school. All mages, including every type of specialist mage, have access to this school. The school possesses several minor spells that virtually all mages need to get by, such as 'Read Magic', 'Detect Magic', and 'Identify'. However, it also contains certain spells which have no need to be "universal" - spells such as 'ESP', 'Clairaudience', and 'Clairvoyance' are primer Reaching I (ToM, alteration) Squaring the Circle (ToM, alteration) 4th Dilation I (ToM, alteration) Divination Enhancement (ToM, evocation) Extension I (alteration) Far Reaching II (alteration) Mordenkainen's Celerity (ToM, alteration, invocation) Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer (alteration) 5th Extension II (alteration) Far Reaching III (ToM, alteration) Safeguarding (ToM, abjuration) 6th Augmentation II (ToM, evocation) Contingency (Evocation) Dilation II (ToM, alteration) Enchant an Item (enchantment, invocation) Extension III (alteration) Mordenkainen's Lucubration (alteration) 7th Persistence (Sp&M, invocation/evocation) Semipermanency (DK, alteration) 8th Permanency (alteration) 9th Chain Contingency (ToM, evocation) Mordenkainen's Disjunction (alteration, enchantment) (X) = spell's normal school affiliation ToM = Tome of Magic source book CWHB = Complete Wizard's Handbook Sp&M = Player's Option: Spells & Magic DK = Dragon Kings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Column Name: Three New Types of Magic-Users Author: Michael Gill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have revamped the magic-users class by eliminating the specialty magic-users and reclassifying them by the way in which they channel magical energy. Blue magic-users channel magic through themselves, learning magic by watching others cast spells (they should use the Channeller rules in the Player's Option: Spells and Magic Book if available). Red magic-users channel their spell energy through the bladed weapons that they wield, and gold magic-users focus their spell energy with large crystals. I think that each of these classes is slightly more powerful than the original wizard classes, but not powerful enough to overbalance a campaign. I haven't had a chance to really integrate these new classes with the new Spells and Magic book yet, but please give me any ideas or other input. -Michael Gill BLUE MAGIC-USER Ability Requirements: Intelligence 15 Constitution 13 Prime Requisites: Intelligence Constitution Races Allowed: Human Gnome Blue magic-users are a class of wizards that have learned to acquire spells through experience and observation. Whenever a blue magic-user sees a spell being cast or experiences its effects, there is a chance that they will learn that spell. Blue magic-users may be of any chaotic or neutral alignment, they may not wear armor, and they can only use standard magic-user weapons. Because blue magic-users learn their spells in such a unique way, it gives them time for other pursuits because they do not need to research spells. In fact, most blue magic-users become sages of monsters, using their abilities to determine which monsters have useful spells that they can learn. It is a source of pride among blue magic-users to gather the most unique and dangerous spells. For example, blue magic-users able to cast the 9th level Weird spell are few and far between. Blue magic-users are neither able to use scrolls or transcribe them (because they do not use spellbooks). Note that even though blue magic-users do not have spellbooks, they must still choose which spells will be committed to memory, just as normal wizards. Whenever a spell is cast within view of a blue magic-user, or the blue magic-user sees the effect of a spell (such as a Wall of Fire) they may make an attempt to learn that spell. Note that simply seeing the creatures conjured by a Monster Summoning or similar spell would not be enough, the blue magic-user would actually have to see the spell being cast. In all cases the DM must decide whether or not the blue magic-user has seen enough of a spell to learn it. A blue magic-user may only make one attempt to learn any one spell, and if that attempt fails, the spell may never be learned. A blue magic-user may learn a maximum number of spells for each level according to the Intelligence chart in the Player's Handbook. In addition, a blue magic-user gets a +1 to their saving throw against any spell they already know to reflect their superior knowledge of the spell. The base chance for a blue magic-user to learn a new spell is equal to half their chance to learn a new spell according to their intelligence, rounded up. This is adjusted by the following modifiers: Blue Magic-user Chance to Learn Spell Modifiers Situation Adjustment Blue magic-user a target of spell (or within spell's area of effect) + 5% Target of spell fails save + 5% Experienced spell before but made no attempt to learn it + 5% Cast by a friendly magic-user + 5% Blue magic-user has and uses Spellcraft proficiency successfully + 5% For each + of subtlety spell has + 1 %(If using Spells & Magic) Magic-user did not view spell casting - 10% Spell was seen being cast: But somatic element missed - 3% But verbal element missed - 3% But material component missed - 3% For each level of spell - 2% For example, Sam, a blue magic-user with 16 intelligence, spots an enemy spellcaster casting a Fireball, a 3rd level spell, at his party. Sam decides to make an attempt to learn the spell because he doesn't yet have it. Sam voluntarily gives up his saving throw by jumping into the area of effect in order to increase his chances of learning the spell. Normally Sam would have a 32% base chance of learning the spell, but because of his efforts his chance has increased to 39% (35% base chance + 5% magic-user a target of spell, +5% saving throw failed, -6% 3rd level spell = 39%). Sam's player rolls a 38. If Sam survives the Fireball, he will be able to cast them in the future! RED MAGIC-USER Ability Requirements: Dexterity 12 Intelligence 9 Prime Requisites: Dexterity Intelligence Races Allowed: Human Half-Elf Elf Red magic-users are wizards who have learned to focus their magical energy through the blades of the weapons they wield. Because they have learned to channel their magical energy in this way, the need for somatic components in their spells has been reduced to a simple brandishing of the weapon. Red magic-users have to be expert swordsmen to simply be able to cast their spells. Therefore, they must use weapons from the following list: Knife, dagger, short sword, long sword, scimitar, broad sword, and khopesh. They have the same THAC0 as a thief of the same level, giving them a small advantage in combat. Also, because red magic-users do not have to perform the arm movements other wizards do, they are able to wear either padded or leather armor. Red magic-users may be of any alignment. Red magic-users receive several special abilities because of their combined mastery of swordplay and magecraft. First, a red magic-user may attack with their weapon while channeling a spell through it. Therefore, a red magic-user casting Shocking Grasp can hit an opponent with their weapon while discharging the spell, in this case doing regular weapon damage plus any damage shocking grasp might cause. For a "touch" range spell, a successful hit is necessary to make the spell discharge, but any other spell will discharge even if the attack misses. Secondly, the magical power of a red magic-users' sword may allow them to hit creatures that would otherwise be unaffected by a normal blade. To hit a creature in this manner, a red magic-user must be discharging a spell while hitting the creature. For the purposes of hitting the creature, the magic-users' blade is considered to be a weapon of magical power equal to the level of the spell being cast. For example, Traldor, the red magic-user, is being fought by a wight, which can only be hit by +1 or better magical weapons. Traldor knows his ordinary blade will not harm the creature and does not have any useful spells for the occasion. He decides to channel a magical spell through his blade so that he will be able to hit the creature. Since it doesn't matter what spell he channels (and he has been meaning to read a few of his magical scrolls anyway), he casts a Read Magic spell and hits the wight. His weapon will be considered a +1 magical weapon (for the purposes of being able to hit magical creatures only) until Read Magic expires, allowing him to kill the wight. Furthermore, Traldor will be able to read his magical scrolls after the wight is vanquished. Because red magic-users cast spells in such a unique manner and spend so much of their time learning swordplay, they can not use all the schools of magic other magic-users are able to cast from. Red magic-users are only able to cast spells from the following schools: Invocation/Evocation, Alteration, Minor Divination, Enchantment/Charm, and Conjuration/Summoning. They are also unable to cast spells without a bladed weapon of some sort. GOLD MAGIC-USER Ability Requirements: Intelligence 10 Wisdom 12 Prime Requisites: Intelligence Wisdom Races Allowed: Human Half-Elf Elf Gold magic-users are wizards who have learned to channel their magical energies through precious gems and crystals. Gold magic-users use crystals in two ways, either casting their spells through them, or focusing their magical energy to harm enemies. This second use is called Beaming. Gold Magic-users are never allowed to use any weapons nor wear any armor, and they may be of any alignment. Gold magic-users may cast spells from any school of magic. Because of their unique method of casting magic, however, they can use some schools better than others. Using their gem a gold magic-user can cast all divination and abjuration spells as if they were one level higher. Gold magic-users are never able to use magic without some kind of crystal or gem to focus their power on. Crystals gold magic-users use to cast spells and Beam with must always be facetted and cannot be completely opaque. A gold magic-users second ability is Beaming. They can focus magical power through a gem and shoot it at an enemy as distant as 10 ft per level of the magic-users. The gold magic-user must make a regular attack roll to hit, aided by the saving throw bonuses from wisdom, which become to hit bonuses. The amount of damage the beam will do depends on the power of the gem as determined by its value. The following chart compares gem values to the amounts of beaming damage they produce: Gem Values and Beaming Damage Value Class of Gem Example Damage Dice Used Ornamental Azurite 1 hp Semi-Precious Smoky Quartz 1d4 Fancy Amethyst 1d6 Precious Topaz 1d8 Gems Sapphire 1d10 Jewels Diamond 1d12 Note that unless the gold magic-user possesses one of the various magical gems (which the DM will have to make up rules for), this ray can only affect creatures able to be hit by weapons of under +1 enchantment. This Beaming is considered to be a magical attack, but it is not subject to magical resistance. A gold magic-user can only draw enough force to shoot one beam per round, and spells such as Haste can not improve this. Optional Rule: The DM may wish to decide that colored gems, such as blue sapphires or red rubies may produce special effects when used for Beaming. For example, rubies might produce a heat ray that does extra damage to cold-dwelling creatures. This only affects creatures which are especially susceptible to extremes of either heat or cold according to their description. No crystal of less than Precious level will have this ability, but the DM should decide which gems do have additional magical powers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Classified Ads ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: METW IRC League Author: Wanted: Anybody interested in forming a METW IRC League? All interested parties please Email MacPow@p085.aone.net.au Subject: Local RPG Club Creation Author: Wanted: I am looking for people to start a Role Playing Club in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. All games will be included: from Sci-Fi to Fantasy, and whatever else people are interested including games such as Battletech. We are just looking for people who enjoy RPGs and strategy games. If anyone is interested please contact me at mgibson698@aol.com Subject: New AD&D PBEM starting. Author: Wanted: My name is Kosala and I am thinking of running an AD&D based PBEM campaignfor a six player party. The campaign will be set largely in a game world I created called Serth. Information about Serth can be found at the site http://www.dataphone.se/~kosala/serthindex.html In general this is a traditional AD&D game world with a medieval society and culture. Refer to the above listing of pages for more detail. I will be continuing to update those pages as I have time. If you are interested in playing contact me at I am only accepting six players so it will work on a first-come-first-served basis. Hope to hear from you. Subject: The IRPS List of RPG Specialists Author: Wanted: A new project has just been started to act as an aid to role-players from any genre. The idea is to compile a list of people who are specialists in areas of various role playing games so players having trouble in any particular area can mail the corresponding specialist for help. Right now I am looking for people to add to the list of specialists, so if anyone is interested please visit the IRPS homepage at http://www.borg.com/~gdb319/daur/irps/ A link to the Specialist page has been provided from there. For questions please contact me at