DM Option: High-Level Campaigns
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Dungeon Master® Option: High-Level Campaigns by Skip Williams Foreword Utter the words “high-level character” to just about any group of AD&D® game fans and you are certain to get a strong reaction. Veteran players often shake their heads in disgust, but there are a few whose eyes gleam with fond memories. Referees often look pained or confused. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion about high-level play. If you are a fan of high-level campaigns, there is very little I can say about this book. You have probably already thumbed through the pages, lingering over the choicest bits. Perhaps you’ve studied the rules and tables of legendary monsters in Chapter 2 or considered the possibilities that the new character powers from Chapter 7 can bring to your game. Enjoy! If your opinion of high-level play is lukewarm or worse, you might be wondering why I wrote this book at all. I’ll share a secret with you. Before I started this book, I wasn’t any too fond of high-level play either. My mind began to change, however, as I began planning the book and talking to people about what it should contain. Although high-level play can be difficult, I learned that there have been plenty of successful high-level campaigns over the years. Along the way, I began thinking about an old character I once played: Ellis Strongheart. Ellis began life as a 1st-level ranger full of spunk, and he wound up as a the lord of a huge castle. Ellis had a list of powerful enemies as long as your arm and an equally long list of allies, including a time-traveling dragon and a host of servants and retainers. The campaign that gave birth to Ellis is long gone, but Ellis is now firmly ensconced in my own campaign as an NPC. The players in my game are strangely attracted to Ellis (lesser mortals call him Lord Strongheart). Ellis is very much a viable character, with a long history and an enigmatic reputation. To me, Ellis is proof that high-level play can be worthwhile, even if it does get rather wild. This book’s first chapter, The Seven Maxims, discusses what DMs have to do to make sure their campaigns stand up to the rigors of high-level play. All campaigns require work, but high-level games require a special touch, and it is the lack of that knowledge that causes many high-level games to go astray. If you have tried a high-level game and failed, the material in the first two chapters should help you avoid critical mistakes. The rest of the book provides ideas for keeping a game—and its player characters—fresh. There are rules and suggestions for building adventures and whole new worlds, conducting magical duels, and making magical items. Two chapters are worth special note: Chapter 6, True Dweomers, and Chapter 7, High-Level Characters. Both of these chapters introduce new powers into the game. True dweomers are essentially 10th-level spells. I included them not just to satisfy power gamers, but to allow high-level spellcasters to create world-shaking magic. When the rules are used properly, the casting of a single true dweomer can keep a group of PCs busy for a long time. Chapter 7 includes some hard-and-fast rules about what characters can do. In it there is a revised rule for automatic failure of saving throws—something that places a little fear back into high-level character’s lives—and a host of new powers. Don’t be put off by these new abilities; their purpose is twofold: First, they give players something to look forward to. No longer do high-level characters simply accumulate more hit points once they reach 9th or 10th level. Second, they put truly epic abilities into the hands of player characters. These new powers are not going to allow PCs to lay waste to the countryside, but using one indisputably marks a character as a legendary figure. That’s what high-level play is all about. Skip Williams April, 1995 Chapter 1: The Seven Maxims Don’t Depend on the Dice Intelligent Adversaries Consider the Opponent’s Intelligence Review the Creature’s Weaknesses Review the Creature’s Strengths Handling Defeat Minimizing Personal Risks Bad Guys Don’t Fight Fair Control Magic Use Magical Items Magic is Tempting Remove Unwanted Magical Items Spell Memorization and Acquisition Magic’s Limitations Magic Shops Be Aware of Demographics Think on an Epic Scale Heroes are not Anonymous Heroes Deserve Heroic Tasks Far-reaching Impact Plan Ahead Create Villains Who Learn Consequences Fame and Infamy Balancing Act Share Responsibility Garner Interest Goals Allies and Enemies Personality Chapter 2: Adventures Common Mistakes Plots Types of Encounters Linking Adventures Planning Combats World Hopping Types of Worlds Properties of Worlds Chronological Aspect Magical Aspect Technological Aspect Ecological Aspect Quirks Monsters Altering Monsters the Easy Way Ability Scores for Monsters Legendary Monsters Powers Chapter 3: Spells and Magical Items Daily Recovery of Spells Additional Comments on Spells and Magical Items Wizard Spells Priest Spells Magical Items Chapter 4: Creating Magical Items Holy Water Creating Magical Items Requirements Creating the Item Enchanting the Item Item Details Recharging Items Success and Failure Values for Cursed and Nonstandard Items Examples of Magical Item Creation Chapter 5: Magical Duels Creating the Arena Arena Physics Conducting the Duel Determining Advantage Spells in the Arena Spell Movement and Combat Character Movement and Combat Special Notes Magical Items and Preexisting Spells Specialist Wizards The Spoils of Victory The Role of the Mediator Special Dueling Characteristics Mental or Debilitating Attacks Creature-Summoning Spells Reversible Spells Teleportation Individual Spells’ Special Abilities An Example of Magical Dueling Chapter 6: True Dweomers Requirements Knowledge Materials Preparation Approval Creating the Spell Abjuration Alteration Conjuration/Summoning Enchantment/Charm Divination Illusion/Phantasm Evocation/Invocation Necromancy Material Components Special Conditions Preparing the Spell Final Difficulty Casting the Spell An Example of True Dweomer Creation True Dweomers in Play True Dweomers in Magical Duels True Dweomers and Quest Spells Known True Dweomers Chapter 7: High-Level Characters Saving Throws Automatic Saving Throw Failure Saving Throws by Caster Level Saving Throw Penalties by Caster Level Attack Rolls Skills for High-Level Characters Warriors Fighters Beyond 20th Level Rangers Beyond 20th Level Paladins Beyond 20th Level Skills for High-Level Warriors Wizards Wizards beyond 20th Level Skills for High-Level Wizards Priest Priests Beyond 20th Level Skills for High-Level Priests Rogues Thieves Beyond 20th Level Bards Beyond 20th Level Skills for High-Level Rogues Demihumans in High-Level Play Demihuman Advancement Beyond 30th Level Divine Ascension Appendix: Spell Dueling Characteristics Index Tables Table 1: Demographics Table 2: Chronological Ratings Table 3: Magical Ratings Table 4: Technological Ratings Table 5: Ecological Ratings Table 6: Monster Strength Scores Table 7: Monster Dexterity Scores Table 8: Monster Constitution Scores Table 9: Monster Intelligence Scores Table 10: Monster Wisdom Scores Table 11: Monster Charisma Scores Table 12: Legendary Monsters Table 13: Breath Weapons Table 14: Disease Table15: Fear Effects Table16: Crush Attacks Table 17: Wounding Effects Table 18: Enhanced Melee Damage Table 19: Enhanced Movement Table 20: Gaze Weapons Table 21: Magic Resistance Table 22: Regeneration Rates Table 23: Magical Item Creation Table 24: Typical Experience Point Values Table 25: Spell Interactions Table 26: Spell Movement Table 27: Character Power Scores Table 28: True Dweomers Table 29: Areas of Effect Table 30: Animated Objects Table 31: Ranges Table 32: Durations Table 33: Preparation and Casting Times Table 34: Difficulty Adjustments Table 35: True Dweomer Spell Types for Magical Duels Table 36: Saving Throws by Caster Level or Hit Dice Table 37: Device Casting Levels Table 38: Saving Throw Penalties by Caster Level or Hit Dice Table 39: THAC0 Limits Table 40: Skills for High-Level Characters Table 41: Ability Modifiers to Skills Table 42: Warrior Advancement Beyond 20th Level Table 43: Wizard Advancement Beyond 20th Level Table 44: Wizard Spell Progression Table 45: Priest Advancement Beyond 20th Level Table 46: Priest Spell Progression Table 47: Rogue Advancement Beyond 20th Level Table 48: Thieving Skill Base Scores Table 49: Thieving Skill Racial Adjustments Table 50: Dexterity/Aim Adjustments Table 51: Thieving Skill Armor Adjustments Table 52: Bard Spell Progression TSR, Inc. TSR Ltd. 201 Sheridan Springs Road 120 Church End Lake Geneva Cherry Hinton WI 53147 Cambridge CB1 3LB USA United Kingdom Credits Design: Skip Williams Editing: Jim Butler Typography: Angelika Lokotz Graphic Design: Dee Barnett Graphic Coordinator: Paul Jacquays Production: Paul Hanchette Art Coordinator: Peggy Cooper Cover Art: Jeff Easley Interior Art: Eric Hotz, Ken Frank, Stephan Peregrine Proofreading: Leonard McGillis Special Thanks To: Jon Pickens, John Rateliff, Jean Rabe, and Deneen Olsen. ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DARK SUN, DUNGEON MASTER, FORGOTTEN REALMS, MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM, and TSR are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. DM, ENCYCLOPEDIA MAGICA, MONSTROUS MANUAL, PLANESCAPE, PLAYER’S OPTION, RAVENS BLUFF, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Page 117 shows two miniatures engaged in a spell duel. The miniatures are produced by Ral Partha Enterprises, 5938 Carthage Court, Cincinnati, OH 45212. Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in the book trade for English-language products of TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. ©1995 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America.