Sample file ® January/February 2003 Vol. XVI, No. 6 Issue #96

EDITORIAL 6

LETTERS 8

CRITICAL THREATS: PANDEMONIUM COLD STORAGE 12 IN THE VEINS 30 DUNGEON Staff Frank Brunner This icy chamber will chill your PCs to the bone. A Life as a gladiator is deadly enough inside the arena. So D&D “Critical Threat.” it’s just unfair when something starts killing the prize fighters outside their matches. It’s up to the PCs to go undercover as gladiators themselves and solve the mys- HOLLOW THREATS 14 terious deaths. “Pandemonium in the Veins” can be used Richard L.J. Pett with “Campaign Components: Gladiators” in DRAGON A dragon turtle is headed the PCs’ direction, having ter- Magazine #303 for extensive gladiatorial mayhem, or rorized towns up and down the coast. Is theSample small fish- played file alone. A D&D adventure for 5th-level characters. ing hamlet of Fogly next on its menu? A D&D Side Trek for 1st-level characters. BEYOND THE LIGHT OF REASON 64 PROVINCIAL PRIOR CAUSE 20 Caine Chandler Johnny L. Wilson The town of Rutherton has lived in peace for years Cultists of Gruumsh have subverted one of the Soldiers thanks to the protective flame of the light of reason. of the Sun, and the PCs must track the traitor down. A When the flame is extinguished, the PCs must race D&D adventure for 1st-level characters. against time to re-light it or the town will be destroyed. A D&D adventure for 13th-level characters.

Romeo. Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

Mercutio. No, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door; but ’tis enough, ’twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world.—A plague o’ both your houses! —William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet. Act III, Scene i COVER Marc Sasso shows us Volpone Venazzi, a gladiator from “Pandemonium in the Veins,” standing ready to face any who would challenge his title of arena champion. 6 EDITORIAL OS OWATER TO HORSE A LEAD CAN YOU af u h oei h ae eddsm iueo uhrt ihntecampaign the within authority of figure some needed I same. the is role the but dalf, u n ofso hthsaie u oalc fgmn ie hndsper.It’s disappears. then time, gaming of lack a to straightens due up, arisen shows has emissaries that his confusion of any one out or Chogrin lost, really look to start they all Master. Dungeon the needed I disappear. then chutzpah), much of he’s show that a intimate than characters, the for cards the out lay up, show could who Gan- of thought first actually I head, my in Okay, go. to needed next they where kids ihamgcmgwocam osretefre flgt edentne oappear to need doesn’t He light. of forces the serve to claims who mug magic a with more nothing respect (PCs about talking he’s what knows and are they than tougher the tell to episode each in appearance spot a made who cartoon D&D the from voice week. each them at of threw I sort plots some of given morass be crazy occasionally the could details in they direction the way sure some them, be retain to fed to way I me some information with to the them up provide to was needed it I that, campaign; Failing the memorable. tiny remained in the all plots remember ongoing to players the my of to up details wasn’t It attendance: of lack a to due session be? it should destroy But could wasted! that work this conspiracy All larger connections. the The a world. make of never the they of part And side reality. as other revealed the are on puzzle goals a evil-doers’ to key petty the be discernible the to no out touch of turns item to dropped suddenly “randomly” out value reach session.The week’s villains this month’s in last PCs the of of plans lives The nothing. for drool). all the but about plexity, patient I’m (Ser- and thing, not jaw as the often on as working jaws is players, slack the and of stares one blank nett, with revelation met grand a I’m make twists, I when said but my concerning problem), in the of works most all be actually It might threads. plots (that story head layer intersecting often and I themes game. intertwining previous with the together in happened what them reminding here. hour address to want I conundrum the is which session, regular less sessions.The of and between true focused pass isn’t days stay same fewer to since workings players inner in campaign’s the a difficulties for of some track easier keep it’s to game, leads weekly sessions a our In of continuity. nature campaign sporadic the Anyway, sure I’m it. but with disappearances, their do to pattern a find to yet I’ve reason. idiosyncrasies. my with deal like to DM, willing solid five (like of a juvenile group remarkably with say) in and they settled balance, so player, later, off years slightly two hale, away, finally, loyal, them and of of couple, half group a drove lost promptly more, players, possibili- few six the exploring a with in began gained I me system. join I to new was compadres the launched gaming of Edition my ties 3rd of until few not a but coerce sure, to be able to game, occasional the ran I DM. home. at run I the game existence, Sunday the of— gaming is part my eye, of a devilish joy be my of the to apple But privileged campaign. am I gladiator is, office Decker’s endure—that Jesse to Adventures forced Oriental I’m Sernett’s Arveniar and Matt night game, enjoy Wednesday Perkins’s office to Chris opportunity in the play have to I get campaign, I fella. lucky pretty a I’m okdmreosywell. marvelously worked o oyuda ihlpe npae teto pn edm etrat letter a me Send span? attention player in [email protected] lapses with deal you do How htm lyr o a hgi lgnerr it,fu-ote dwarf foul-mouthed dirty, a Flagonbearer, Chogrin was got players my What ne h ugo atryuko,ta ite adfekwt h creepy the with freak bald little, that know, Master—you Dungeon the Enter com- Shakespearean near of plot a together onioned I’ve Here frustrating! How half first the spend to have I session, new a for down sit players my when Often, some for scarce get players my frequently but weeks, two every roughly play We uber-mighty the jockey, screen the of power the envied long I players, most Like nwlt forfals edr u hr uthv iia aigschedules. gaming similar have must there out readers fearless our of lots know I that elzdsmtigeryo nm apin hnw is a ocne game a cancel to had first we when campaign, my in on early something realized I fe—ypaesaepet hr frmr lyr,o ore.Btwhen But course). of players, mere (for sharp pretty are players often—my n e eko.Icuduetehelp! the use could I know. me let and Editor Sample file I aentigto nothing have detsn ae Director Sales Advertising ytmLcne laevstwww.wizards.com/d20. visit please License, System er oeaotteOe aigLcneadted20 the and License Gaming Open the To permission. about by written more may without learn work form this any of in no reproduced portion contains No product Content. game Game Coast Open the of Wizards this 201-634-7499 NJ Fax: Milford, 201-634-7400. New Tel: 07646. Road, River 730 Company, Circulation ino rdmr ttssol o ecntuda a as construed status. be such not to should challenge status trademark of tion vne oatn T083 23 855-8834. (203) 06853, CT Rowayton Rowayton, Avenue, 137 Associates, Buchmayr Buchmayr, Scott of advertisements. out such of arise or may publication loss that the any wrongdoing for alleged liable from Publishing expense hold advertisers to of ad not agencies any agree and/or reject Advertisers to reason. right any Paizofor the by reserves approval which to LLC, subject Publishing, are ads All ing.com. johnny.wilson@paizopublish- at Wilson, Johnny Director, 1- call or 800-395-7760. [email protected] at Systems Inc. Creative Coast, the of Wizards of trademarks are RPGA R S THE P D C men- without product any of name those the publish of that Use companies products. the by are for owned names liable trademarks product not Most are herein. expressed who its staff, opinions LLC, editorial Publishing, its Paizo or of employees, nec- opinions not the does reflect herein essarily published permission Material written publisher. prior the the of without purposes) review reserved. for rights All Inc. Coast, the of Wizards ©2001 92046. 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Johnny D P Magazine, M by bi-monthly published is 1526-6391) (ISSN# OLYHEDRON EATH ;B ao ilasCagZipse Craig Williams Aaron ;D ru Publisher Group rn rne an Chandler Caine Brunner Frank R ASTER ;L ;E ;A oetHri ihr ..Pett L.J. Richard Harris Robert IRTHRIGHT EALMS ri wklDrkThompson Derek Swekel Arnie ARK a aeikAa Rex Adam Mayerick Val IVING ;M CCOEI MAGICA NCYCLOPEDIA yeHne ar MacDougall Larry Hunter Kyle L rne nteU.S.A. the in Printed r Director Art oe Artist Cover -Q ;P •M ONSTROUS ADIM ;D C C ..Bx490,Ecnio CA Escondido, 469106, Box P.O. LAYER ATTER OAST ITY RAGONLANCE ;M ;C Editor Editor ;L YSTARA ’ ;A ;D S UCLOF OUNCIL IVING O M LIEN UNGEONS PTION ANUAL G ;G C yeS Hunter S. Kyle Thomasson Chris Wilson Johnny onyWilson Johnny Watters Pierce acSasso Marc Miesner Dawnelle Cummins Theresa Dunn John Perkins Christopher Fiorito A. 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Sample file OLYHEDRON ARS ORLD a edn h Ltes eto and section “Letters” the reading was I otn ntemgzn;you magazine; the in content 2 ni tried I until d20 P ...well,Iwasuncertain, OLYHEDRON tods). (two Letters, CONFUSED dtrEi oahsbeen has Mona Erik editor twswog though— wrong, was It . . D UNGEON ae vr one, every hated I . D www.gamma- UNGEON WE’RE www.gamma- os h addi- The does. oeel VA Hopewell, e on II Young Wes www.gamma- elu htyutiko hsise rt to: Write issue. this of think you what us Tell D UNGEON ’ lproba- ll AMMA Magazine P OLY TAR - drse on o’ ewt you with longer. much be isn’t won’t this I soon, if addressed but hoping, and buying period. eryevery nearly use to cover, its by book a judge can’t you that orsetul iareta o a dismiss P can you that disagree respectfully do we But opinion. Calinda’s dismissed never We enptettruhti transition this through have patient who been us of those losing start you before something doing start and criti- cisms our dismissing stop to need you subscribers, primary your as and zine, oefrtecepsas Neither seats: cheap the for once more And healthy. magazine the made the others of none options, other the explored but having increase, price the regret we magazine; flippy the regarding positive nearly overwhelmingly been has response reader Our player. in something is there that and cliché, old the believe strongly We look. a it give know you actually until never you you; to price cover w,bttgte hyhv hnea suc- at chance a have they together but own, GEON DRON DRON hr os orr u oismature rating). its to due Horror” House phyry “Por- discounting adventures, has three #95 only (issue money my for more some- thing expect do I a but expect reduction, don’t price I so). do they requested I until it carried never in had that #95 bookstore purchased a (I it get can store I as many shelves as on magazine the I want because is subscribed never The I both. reason for pay to having resent now ed oset nwi tssomething it’s enjoy. they’ll if know to see to needs on etidt aei u epnei that is response our P in make to The tried spin. we test point a for it taking actually without OLYHEDRON OLYHEDRON 2516hPaeS,Sie110, Suite SE, Place 146th 3245 , re ua a ee read never had Lucas True, ntecmn e otsIl keep I’ll months few coming the In iei rnot, or it Like , aetodfeetadecs n I and audiences, different two have nor u sIsi,tecvri l one all is cover the said, I as but D UNGEON D UNGEON P , ih eywl ewrhthe worth be well very might OLYHEDRON rayhn o htmatter, that for anything or edr ar h maga- the carry readers P OLYHEDRON a on elo its on well doing was o n D&D any for onDaily John i Email Via and P P OLYHE OLYHE D UN - - - cess. PERDIDO ME or James Jacobs. Personally I want to keep As for the number of adventures per issue, I just wanted to voice my support for Erik my escape from reality just that: an escape we’ve been printing fewer in each issue Mona’s plea for an RPG based on Mieville’s from reality. because, due to the demand of our readers, Perdido Street Station, and would like to Joel Rodda we’ve been printing longer adventures. While strongly recommend the book as an inno- Tacoma, WA “Side Treks” and other short adventures vative, fresh, and well-written novel. remain popular, the vast bulk of our readers Gamers might especially be amused by First of all, we knew going in that the sealed cry out for longer, juicier adventures, so we’ve the description of adventurers: section wasn’t for our younger (below 18) audi- obliged them with modules like this month’s “They were immediately and absolutely ence. But our research indicates that the

“Pandemonium in the Veins” and “Beyond the recognizable as adventurers . . . They were number of our readers in that age category is LETTERS Light of Reason.” But the page count of the hardy and dangerous, lawless, stripped of incredibly small. That doesn’tmeanwewant magazine is actually higher than it was with allegiance or morality, living off their wits, to discount those young D&D pioneers. How- issue #6, and we now fit more words per page, stealing and killing, hiring themselves out ever, we do want to present content that appeals so the amount of adventure content has only to whoever and whatever came. They were to the largest portion of our readership possi- grown over the years. inspired by dubious virtues. ble—that’s how you sell magazines. We don’t “A few performed useful services: have more sealed or mature sections on the research, cartography and the like. Most agenda right now; the verdict on the issue has JUICY VILENESS were nothing but tomb raiders. They were by no means been decisive, but we’re still wait- Wow, where do I start? This is my first scum who died violent deaths, hanging ing for more feedback. If you want to chime in, time writing a letter to DUNGEON Maga- on to a certain cachet among the impres- send an email to [email protected]. zine. I’ve been a subscriber for a couple sionable through their undeniable brav- years now and enjoy reading it from ery and their occasionally impressive cover to cover—well I used to enjoy exploits.” VILE IT UP reading it when POLYHEDRON wasn’t I cannot recommend this book any Great job on the latest issue, folks. The attached. But that’s another story. more highly. adventures were interesting and well- I’m writing to you about issue #95. All Stephen Gryphon written with very enjoyable adversaries. I the adventures were quite good and inter- RPGA #290016 especially enjoyed the expandable adven- esting, especially “Porphyry House ture ideas that are included in all the Horror.” Let’s see, we have demon worship, adventures but left to individual groups to prostitution, interspecies relationships, NOT KID develop fully. Keep doing that—it’s a way magic narcotics, evil tattoos, necrophiliacs, FRIENDLY to remind us players you authors aren’t the cannibalistic monks, a masochistic ogre, The sealed section of issue #95 was inter- only ones with creativity out there. and exotic and erotic spells and weapons . . esting, but pleaseSample don’t do it again. file I have I enjoyed the “Critical Threats” once . and I thought you guys were getting soft? two problems with this kind of content: again. Both these adversaries should prove Keep up the good work! First, I like to use DUNGEONS &DRAGONS interesting opponents should our DM use My favorite adventure so far, though, as a tool to get my six-year-old son excited them, and I can hardly wait to foil what- has been “The Harrowing” from issue #84. about learning how to read, doing math, ever foul schemes they might try—nei- I have a question: With the release of and solving problems, and it works like a ther can the rest of the party. City of the Spider Queen will the be charm. So, out of all of the volumes of To the writer of Nodwick: My loving showing up in any future issues? Also, I gaming material I own, and fifteen some wife says to tell you: “Be aware that you really enjoy “Critical Threats.” years of DUNGEON Magazine, issue #95 is have exposed something man was not Dave Howe the only thing I won’t be able to share meant to know. Despite the fact that you Via Email with him. Second, I use DUNGEONS & have done it in the wonderfully hilarious DRAGONS as an escape from grim reality. I manner in which you usually write car- “Spiral of Manzessine” from issue #94 easily really don’t want it to be a mirror of the toons, the deed must still be punished. tied in with City of the Spider Queen, but same things the media bombards me with As you will soon be aware, the elder gods it intentionally didn’t feature drow so DMs every day. I think there’s enough graphic have nothing on us.” I swear, sometimes I and players alike wouldn’t experience dark content in our world already. have no idea what she’s talking about. overload. Now that you mention it, we Please let those people who want to One more thing: I’d like to thank haven’t had a good drow adventure in some play evil, in all it’s glory, go out and buy James Jacobs, Beet, Jonathan Wayshak, time. We’ll need to look into that . . . the .Ibetthey’llbe Lee Ballard, Christopher West, and who- able to come up with their own adven- ever else worked with them on “Por- tures, and I’m sure they’ll be just as phyry House Horror.” Thank you for cre- depraved, if not more, than Monte Cook ating such a disturbing adventure. It is so 9