Dragon Magazine 010.pdf

Vol. 2 No. 4

GenCon X is history now, and we around here are still recuperating. Elsewhere in this issue, you can find a more detailed analysis of the

four record-setting days we just had. GenCon X was the biggest wargame convention that has EVER been held, by anyone, anywhere.

This issue contains 36 pages, which is up four from the old size. The extra four this issue were used for the SNITS board.

This issue is different from those preceding it in a couple of rather significant respects. Look on this page at the TOC, and you will see a

new sense and system of organization evidenced by the new listings. This comes partially as a result of the problem we’ve had to deal with in

regard to what is ‘official’ and what isn’t. Variants are now marked as

such. When a designer talks about his game, you’ll find it under DE-

SIGNER’S FORUM. Pieces pertaining to game structure that are not

at variance with existing rules will be found under DESIGN FORUM.

The GOOD NEWS is that this issue came to you by Second Class

mail, as did the last. Our permits have finally been approved, which

should mean that your issues should start arriving in about 1/3 the time

it used to take and around the same time that dealers copies get to the

shelves. Subscription hassles over the next two months should signifi-

cantly decrease, freeing us to utilize our time to much better result. Per-

haps we will be able to stay more current with our mail, which is still

backed up in mountainous heaps.

The inclusion of SNIT SMASHING should not mislead anyone.

This does not mean that TD is going to become a board magazine, nor

does it mean that we will publish games on a regular basis. In fact, after

SNITS we have one more fantasy/satire game that we hope to include

in the next issue. After that, the only similar project we have on hand is

DIRT, which seems playable at the present by only the Editor and

The Dragon Vol. II No. 4

Features

GenCon X Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Snit Smashing —

a weird game . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . 16

The Diplomatic

Stellar Conquest

Player

. . . . . . . . . . 23

Final Exam — Wargame Design 202 —

you think this job is easy, eh? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Fantasy Forge

phigure photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-21

D&D — Variations on the theme

Assoc. Ed.

See you next issue, along with Fafhrd and the Mouser . . .

burning up excess loot . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Random Monsters —

defeating the encyclopedic PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Weights, Measures, Physical Appearance, etc. ..... 19

Gaining a New Experience Level ............... . 20

Design/Designer’s Forum

Editor

Unique Wilderness Encounters ................. . 7

Rational Dungeon Design .................... . 11

Dragonmirth

Westfinster Wargamers . ...................... . 8

Floating in Timeless Space . .................... 15

Wormy . . ............................... . . 28

Finieous Fingers . . ........................ . . 29

Editor Timothy J. Kask

Assoc. Ed. Gary Jaquet

Staff Artists Dave Sutherland

Tom Wham

Dave Trampier

Cover by John Sullivan

If your mailing label says TD 10 — this is your last issue

Publisher’s Statement

THE DRAGON is published by TSR Periodicals, a division of TSR Hobbies, Inc., P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva, WI 53147

It is available at better hobby shops and bookstores, or by subscription. Subscription rate is $9.00 per 6 issues. Single copy and back issue price is $1.50, but availability of back issues is not guaranteed. Sub-

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Table Of Contents

Orgies, Inc. —

October, 1977

Too much loot in your campaign?

D&D OPTION: ORGIES, INC.

by Jon Pickens

2) Philanthropy. Lawfuls only. This includes aid to the downtrod-

den poor or to any non-player character not a hireling of a player char-

acter. A real need must exist and as above, the treasure may not be giv-

en in payment or as a bribe. If no visible need exists, the treasure may

be given to a local Lawful church or temple for distribution. Referee

Option: Reaction roll for favor if substantial aid has been rendered.

3) Research. Magic Users and Alchemists. Up to 250 GP per level

per day may be expended on “general research” each day the MU/Al-

chemist spends in his chambers. Treasure spent for spell research as in

Book I also counts. Expenditures for the production of magical items,

potions, or poisons do not count toward experience. Production and re-

search may not be carried on simultaneously.

4) Clan Hoards. Dwarves and other Clannish Folk (probably Neu-

trals). Experience is given to clan members only for contributions to the

public hoard. Such a hoard is heavily guarded, and under no circum-

stances is a private individual allowed to make a withdrawal (the trea-

sure is, in effect, out of the campaign). A player desiring to contribute

to his clan hoard must journey to the hoard or to its keepers, of course.

5) Orgies. Fighting Men (excluding Rangers and Paladins), Bards,

Thieves, and all Chaotics (excluding Monks). Lusty indulgence in wine,

women, and song. Maximum expenditure is 500 GP per level per night

(250 GP if recuperating and under 50%). A player may orgy con-

tinuously as many days as he has constitution points, but then must rest

for as many days as he orgied. (For effects on Psionic Powers, see Ap-

pendix II.)

Many referees will be able to come up with similar ideas for expen-

ditures. Potential problems with this system are minor. Unearned trea-

sure giving “freebie” levels is not really a factor due to the divisor,

since a Level 10 Lord with eight villages of 400 people each (the maxi-

mum holding) will only pick up 3400 experience points out of 240,000

he needs for the next level; this is provided he only spends his income

for experience.

As a matter of fact, I like to beef up fief income by reducing the

cost of speialists by a factor of 10 for fiefholders (with the exception of

Assassins and Spies). This brings their pay more into line with the

average man-at-arms. I also allow fixed investments along the follow-

ings lines: A water-powered mill costing 500 GP might return 100-600

GP annually per 100 people within a day’s march of the mill. (A list of

similar investments can easily be drawn up.)

Income from gambling should not be a factor either. See Appendix

I for some general guidelines and ideas. However, a factor that may

cause trouble is the increased importance of monster kills. At the high-

est levels, fighters may tend to do better and thieves may tend to do

worse than currently. Some fine adjustments may be needed, but these

are left up to the individual referee.

The advantages of the system are substantial. It not only achieves

rapid and easy elimination of large quantities of treasure from the cam-

(Author’s Note: To avoid confusion later, in this article Lawful equals

Good and Chaotic equals Evil and you can make your own extrapola-

tions from there.)

This article suggests one answer to a vexing problem that appeared

in local play: too much treasure in the scenario. After the players

amassed a few thousand GP equipment costs became irrelevant, though

the players had nowhere near enough money for luxuries like private

towers or galleys. But there was far too much cash for the players to

simply leave in their rooms at the local inn. This couldn’t be right;

Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser never had it so good! And the poor har-

ried ref had to continually devise sneaky ways to divest his players of

their ill-gotten gains.

The best solution would have been a simple method for removing

large quantities of treasure from the game; releasing the referee to

spend more time developing and managing the scenario. The solution is

simple:

“Instead of receiving experience for gaining

treasure, players would receive experience

only as the treasure is spent.”

The expenditure in GP is divided by the level of the character to

determine experience. The divisor is limited to the number of hit dice

allowed for the character class. The divisor is used only for experience

from treasure and has nothing to do with experience for monster kills

or miscellaneous experience awarded by the referee.

Only special expenditures reflecting the characteristics of a charac-

ter class count toward experience (see partial list below). Funds spent

for general maintenance, upkeep, advertisement, hireling salaries, and

equipment yield NO experience. Neither do luxuries (fine accommoda-

tions, castles, etc.) or investments, though income from the latter may

be used to increase experience. Hirelings may use their pay to gain ex-

perience, but such experience is halved for non-player characters.

Among expenditures used to increase experience are the following:

1) Sacrifices. AN Classes. This is treasure offered directly to a god

or demon, or to his representatives. The offering may be made once per

week, and must be made within one week after the treasure has been ac-

quired (though special dispensation for long wilderness journeys should

be granted). The offering may not be a payment for services rendered

or a bribe, though it may have been the object of a Geas or Quest.

Tithes count as sacrifices also. Referee Option: If the sacrifice was at

least 100 GP per level of the giver, the recipient will grant a wish or fav-

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