ISSUE 389 | JUly 2010 A Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game Supplement ® Contents Features 5 Origin StOries 32 Winning Races: MinOtaurs By Steve Townshend By Matt Sernett A compelling origin story can drive your character’s adventures through To minotaurs, clan is everything. Belonging to a clan, however, is as an entire career. much about thought as blood. 11 FictiOn: Blood Oasis 35 character ConcePts: CorruPtiOn By Kevin J. Anderson By Matt Sernett An escaped gladiator and a heartsick preserver battle for life, and for Every virtue has its opposite vice, and some characters embrace that a better world. darker side, or have in the past. 25 PsiOnic Racial TraditiOns, Part 2 38 class Acts: MOnk By Robert J. Schwalb By Peter Schaefer People from the unforgiving wilderness or fantastical realms beyond The itinerant monk Fat Aloisus became legendary for his graceful Fallen the natural world can learn and wield psionic power through Needle style and his generosity. unconventional means. cOLUMNS 41 class Acts: Seeker By Robert J. Schwalb 4 editOrial To some seekers, their bows are more than simple tools. They become By Steve Winter extensions of the seeker’s spirit. Change is in the wind. It’s more like a slight breeze, really. 46 class Acts: Druid By Anthony Harrison with Jeff Morgenroth 54 Ampersand Members of the Coven of the Garden maintain a unique relationship with By Bill Slavicsek the primal spirits. The order has taken root in the heart of civilization. Bill looks ahead to August and Gen Con, but also gives D&D Insiders their first detailed glimpses inside the upcoming D&D Essentials products in a 49 class Acts: Rogue series of five “Ampersand” columns. By Derek Guder The Fraternal Order of the Vault is an organization of rogues who 76 Countdown to Essentials emphasize the making and breaking of locks and traps along with other By Mike Mearls mechanical skills. Find out exactly what the Essentials products are and why we’re going there. 79 ConFessiOns of a Full-tiMe Wizard By Shelley Mazzanoble D&D’s “Player-in-Chief” seizes the reins and takes control of the game table from behind the DM’s screen. On the Cover 83 design & Development: Illustration by Jesper Ejsing demonomicOn By Mike Mearls Mike shines a spotlight into the Abyss and discusses its role in the pantheon of evil. 86 design & Development: Dark Sun By Rich Baker and Rodney Thompson The lead designer and developer of the upcoming Dark Sun Campaign Setting take you on a tour of the core concepts that guided their work. 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For more Dungeons & Dragons articles, adventures, and information, visit www.wizards. com/dnd edito r ia l 389 Dr ag on July 2010 Editor-in-Chief Steve Winter “My God, Senior Art Director Jon Schindehette Web Production Bart Carroll It’s Full of Stars . .” Contributing Authors Richard Baker, Derek Guder, Anthony Harrison, Shelly Mazzanoble, Mike Mearls, Jeff Here we go with my first-ever Dragon editorial. (In Other than that, I can share my vision of what makes Morgenroth, Peter Schaefer, case you haven’t been keeping up with current events, a particular magazine article strong or weak vis-à-vis Robert J. Schwalb, Matthew you’ll want to read last month’s Dragon and Dungeon our beloved game. First, I’m all about story. As much as I love a Sernett, Bill Slavicsek, Rodney editorials.) well-tuned power or feat, it’s the spin on the gears Thompson, Steve Townshend I expect that everyone would like to read about the sweeping changes we’ll be making to the magazines— that really makes things hum. We intend to put a Developers Jeremy Crawford, Stephen out with the old, corrupt regime and in with the new lot of emphasis on story elements that will fire your Schubert voice of the people! imagination and expand your D&D perspectives. I’m here to state that no one is being backed against a Even if a particular article is about a class or race Editor Miranda Horner wall at dawn with a blindfold and a cigarette. Yes, there you seldom play, we’d like you to find it compelling reading because of what it says about the astonishing Cover Artist Jesper Ejsing will be changes, but no, there won’t be any sweeping, flushing, or dumping. worlds where your characters operate. Contributing Artists Empty Room Studios, For the immediate future, things will go on about as Second, I’m all about the fantastical. I love that Eric Belisle, Devon Cady-lee, they have in the immediate past. Dragon Magazine has word—fantastical. It’s so evocative. The merely “fantastic” seems ordinary compared to the fantastical. West Clendinning, Guido Kuip, established a strong format and reputation for providing The word begs for italics. The great attraction and Slawomir Maniak, Jason Rainville, solid Dungeons & Dragons support colored with power of Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying is that it David Rapoza interesting flavor and story, along with entertaining and illuminating columns and the occasional piece of short transports players not just to times and places that Cartographers Jason A. Engle, Sean Macdonald, fiction such as this month’s Dark Sun tale, “Blood Oasis” never existed but to times and places that could not Mike Schley by Kevin Anderson. exist outside the players’ imaginations. The more you At the same time, the magazine follows the game’s stretch the imagination, the closer you come to the Publishing Production Angelika lokotz, Erin Dorries, lead, and the Dungeons & Dragons game and worlds fantastical. That’s what we’re reaching for. Specialists Christopher Tardiff are always in some degree of flux. The big changes As always, we’d like to know what you think. There’s looming on our horizon are the upcoming launch of never enough time in the day to comb the blogs as Web Development Mark A. Jindra Dungeons & Dragons EssentialsTM with the release thoroughly as we’d like or respond to all the forum posts Executive Producer, of the red Box in September. Bill Slavicsek and Mike that provoke our thoughts, but you can send them here directly at [email protected]. D&D Insider Christopher Perkins Mearls have a lot to say about that in their Ampersand and Design & Development columns; you’ll see more Director of RPG R&D Bill Slavicsek than the usual number of words from those two in the next few months. Special Thanks Richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Michele Carter, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell, Jeremy Crawford, Peter lee, Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, Cal Moore, Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Matthew Sernett, Rodney Thompson, James Wyatt Origin Strong characters make strong entrances. Stories Origin stories prime new characters Each origin below begins with a motivating con- to step onto the campaign stage fully flict for a player character and suggests a general drawn, with motivation, purpose, and arc for how the character’s story might develop over By Steve Townshend time. Characters who pursue the goals and conflicts Illustration by Empty Room Studios, Guido Kuip direction. At their most basic, origin inherent in their origin stories reap the mechanical stories provide alternative backgrounds rewards and story benefits for doing so. for player characters. Played to their fullest, they can drive a character’s story, Cooperative bestow themed rewards, and shape the Storytelling superstructure of the campaign. When a player chooses an origin story—be it one of the examples in this article or a written summary of the character’s background—that choice can say a lot about the kind of story the player envisions for the character. For Players Outside the game, you should discuss your character’s origin story with the DM. In game, you should react to player characters, nonplayer characters, and events in any adventure through the filter of your charac- ter’s origin story. This can give you a running start to defining your character as a living, breathing entity. Although your character story might not always be in the spotlight, playing your origin through every scene of the story keeps that story active. This kind of roleplaying 101 not only solidifies your character in the group’s imagination, but it serves as a constant reminder to the DM to further your origin story and dole out its rewards. 5 TM & © 2010 Wizards of the Coast llC. All rights reserved. July 2010 | Dragon 389 Origin Stories For Dungeon Masters Paragon and Epic Origin: The arcs of origin stories might have as much or as Development The Basilisk Society little focus in a campaign as the group desires. In At the paragon tier, the story’s stakes increase and the You fled when you learned the hidden purpose short, think of origin stories as character-oriented hero gains new insights into the nature of his or her behind Basilisk, the secret society to which you side quests that can run parallel to the plot, intersect- problem.