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“Something inhuman has come to Tarker’s Mills, January/February 2001 as unseen as the full moon riding the night sky Issue #84 high above. It is the Werewolf....” —Stephen King, Cycle of the Werewolf

Editorial ...... 4

Letters ...... 6 The Dying of the Light ...... 78 by Chris Doyle Sharpen your stakes and shine your mirrors: The hunt begins Maps of Mystery ...... 17 at dawn. A D&D adventure for 10th-level PCs but adaptable for levels 5–15.

The Harrowing ...... 22 Dungeon of the Fire Opal ...... 106 by Monte Cook by Jonathan Tweet One sacrifice could spell the end of Lolth’s supremacy in the Was it destiny or something worse that destroyed the Order Demonweb and the beginning of a whole new order. A D&D of the Opal Fist? A D&D adventure for 3rd-level PCs but adventure for 15th-level PCs but adaptable for levels 10–20. adaptable for levels 1–5.

Demonclaw ...... 66 Armistice ...... 126 by Peter R. Hopkins by Peter Vinogradov A wizard’s hideous transformation spells trouble for the The war in the mountains might be over, but there’s still one kingdom of Nyrond. A D&D adventure for 5th-level PCs more enemy to fight. A D&D adventure for 7th-level PCs but adaptable for levels 2–8. Samplebut file adaptable for levels 3–12.

Cover Spoiled from birth and rotten to the core, Lolth’s daughter plots to seize control of her mother’s dominion. Stephen Daniele shows us the wicked demonspawn Laveth and her vile blade from “The Harrowing.” EDITORIAL Dead... Again! Exploring the Blakeney Factor by Christopher Perkins

In my Wednesday night campaign, we’ve created a new verb. Shawn’s closest competitors for the award are Sean “To blakeney” means to lose characters repeatedly and often. Reynolds and Johnny Wilson, whose characters have each died The verb refers to Shawn Blakeney, one of the players in my twice. (Sean’s dwarf character, Droo, has also been turned to campaign (and a swell guy, to boot). stone twice, but in both cases he lived to tell the tale.) Other Death has claimed three of Shawn’s characters. His first players—like Stan! and Matthew Sernett—have come close to character, Gunthar the , was disintegrated, reconsti- losing characters but have never actually “blakeneyed.” tuted through magic, polymorphed into a grizzly bear, and Losing characters in a long-running campaign can be prob- clubbed to death by a hill giant. His second character, an lematic. For the player who wants his character to develop and aquatic half- named Azurphi, tried to distinguish himself by become more powerful, losing that character means going all backstabbing a gelugon devil with an evil sword. This might the way back to the drawing board. Meanwhile, the DM strug- have worked had Azurphi been a rogue instead of a wizard. gles to find a fresh and logical way to include the new charac- Alone and unable to outpace the villain, he was blasted into ter in the campaign’s carefully entwined storyline. The best oblivion by the gelugon’s cone of cold. Shawn’s third charac- solution, I think, is to let the player determine how his next ter, a half- paladin of Heironeous named Olga, was valiantly character should arise. That takes some of the pressure off the battling monks in Rictavio Kalavan’s Starborn Theater when DM and encourages the player to create a character who not she was torn asunder by a lightning bolt leveled by the party’s only fits into the existing campaign framework but also is gnome nemesis, Erellak Golgof. (If you don’t know Erellak, you immediately useful, providing skills and abilities that the party haven’t been reading Dave Gross’s editorial column in DRAGON currently lacks. Magazine. In short, Erellak is what all good campaign villains Finding new and clever ways to introduce characters into should be—devious, likeable in a detestable sort of way, and a long-running campaign would make an interesting article for most of all, lucky beyond belief.) DRAGON Magazine, as would an article discussing ways to Shawn has been a terrific sport, tolerating mockery from appease players who “blakeney” more often than the Law of the other players in my campaign. Death comes suddenly and Averages would allow. I look forward to hearing about the unexpectedly during the game. As a DM, I never set out to strategies you’ve used in your campaigns. With players like deliberately kill off characters; it just happens, and usually at Shawn, I need all the help I can get! the worst times. Right now, I’m thinking about awarding Shawn a special trophy—Most Deaths Ever—as a consolation prizeSample for file all the ribbing he’s endured in recent months.

Volume XIV, No. 6 Issue #84

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. PRESENTS “Dungeon Magazine #84” AUTHORS Monte Cook Chris Doyle Peter R. Hopkins Jonathan Tweet Peter Vinogradov ARTISTS Theodor Black Stephen Daniele Jason A. Engle Todd Gamble Todd Morasch Alan Pollack Michael Weaver Christopher West Aaron Williams Craig Zipse AND Diesel COVER BY Stephen Daniele ART DIRECTOR Christopher Perkins SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER John Dunn PRODUCTION MANAGER Bobbi Maas CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Pierce Watters ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Bob Henning ADVERTISING/CIRCULATION ASSISTANT Dawnelle Miesner ADVERTISING INTERN Alice Chung PUBLISHER Wendy Noritake GROUP PUBLISHER Johnny Wilson ASSISTANT EDITORS Eric Haddock Matthew Sernett ASSOCIATE EDITOR Chris Thomasson EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Christopher Perkins

Subscription Queries: 1-800-395-7760 [email protected] Advertising Queries: 1-425-204-7262 [email protected] www.wizards.com Submission Queries: 1-425-254-2261 [email protected] Northeast U.S. Advertising Queries: 1-203-855-8834 [email protected]

4 january/february 2001 LETTERS

Letters DUNGEON Magazine (ISSN# 0890-7102) is published bi-monthly for $19.95 per year by Wizards of the Readers with Issues Coast, Inc., 1801 Lind Ave. SW, Renton, WA 98055, United States of America. Periodicals Postage Paid at Renton, WA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Tell us what you think of the adventures in this issue. Write to DUNGEON Magazine, P.O. Box 469106, Escondido, “Letters,” DUNGEON Magazine, 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Renton, CA 92046. ©2000 , Inc. All WA 98055 or email us at [email protected]. rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced (except for review purposes) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Material pub- Surviving Issue #82 opposite the table of contents, and the lished herein does not necessarily reflect the opin- First, we would like to say that we enjoy same picture in the feature adventure. ions of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., its employees, or the new D&D game a lot. We are writ- This is too much of a not-so-good thing. its editorial staff, who are not liable for opinions ing to tell you about our first 3rd-Edition I can’t say the recent covers (#83 in expressed herein. Most product names are trade- campaign. Our DM (Lewis) bought the particular) rate highly, but they are not marks owned by the companies that publish those D&D Adventure Game boxed set and that bad. I do wish to point out that the products. Use of the name of any product without revamped it by doubling the creatures cover for Issue #83 doesn’t reflect the mention of trademark status should not be con- and designing a town for the PCs (who proper ethos, being more of a horror strued as a challenge to such status. now have a great respect for gelatinous picture than fantasy. WIZARDS OF THE COAST; DUNGEONS & DRAGONS; cubes). Then he ran “Evil Unearthed” in In Issue #83, you published two non- D&D; ; ; ; Issue #82 and pumped up the levels of standard adventures (“London Calling” ; BIRTHRIGHT; ; ; DARK the adversaries as recommended for and “Alterations”). I do not demand that SUN; ; AL-QADIM; ; 4th-level PCs. We really enjoyed this every adventure be standard D&D fare, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH; MONSTROUS MANUAL; one! Then he ran “Playing with Fire.” but such variations are useless to me. MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM; ENCYCLOPEDIA MAGICA; That one hurt a little because Lewis Please include no more than one per issue. ALTERNITY; STAR*DRIVE; DARK•MATTER; ALIEN brought back the Fire Lord, but the PCs The sidebars on how to adapt the COMPENDIUM; FIFTH AGE; ; PLAYER’S prevailed. Then he ran “Eye for an Eye.” adventures to different levels represent OPTION; DRAGON; DUNGEON; POLYHEDRON; LIVING CITY; The players were expecting a big, bad an improvement. I am not sure the effort LIVING GREYHAWK;; and RPGA are trade- boss at the end; when they discovered is fully successful, but they triple the util- marks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. that it was only a 3rd-level villager who ity of the adventures, so they’re worth SUBSCRIPTIONS: Please contact Publishers had caused all the havoc, the players’ the effort Sampleand quite possibly file should be Creative Systems at [email protected] or jaws dropped. expanded. call 1-800-395-7760. In the United Kingdom, contact We compliment you on the adventures David Argell [email protected] or call +44-18-58-41-4713. and hope you keep up the good work! via email ADVERTISING: Contact our Advertising Sales Lewis Leech, Shawn Leech, Director, Bob Henning, at (425) 204-7262. All ads David Leech, and J.R. Vaughn David, you raise several points that have are subject to approval by Wizards of the Coast, Colorado Springs, CO been mentioned in other letters as well. I Inc., which reserves the right to reject any ad for think I can address most of them: any reason. Advertisers and/or agencies of A Not-So-Good Thing 1. Like you, we were not pleased with advertisers agree not to hold Wizards of the Coast Some thoughts on Issues #82 and #83: the “smudgy” page treatment in Issue liable for any loss or expense from alleged wrong- I agree with critics of the new art- #82. You’ll notice that we’ve whitened the doing that may arise out of the publication of such work and layout. Adding smudges and pages to make them easier to read. The advertisements. wrinkled lines to the pages is neat, but it black strips at the top and bottom of the Northeastern Advertising Representatives: Sig interferes with the reading. Maybe you adventures call attention to the adventure or Scott Buchmayr, Buchmayr Associates, 137 can make a case for player handouts, but title headers and page numbers and also Rowayton Avenue, Rowayton, CT 06853, (203) for most cases, it just gets in the way. give the magazine a “letterbox” look. 855-8834. Stick to plain white for text. 2. Although we rather like the full-page The black strips at the top and bottom illustrations at the beginning of “feature- Printed in the U.S.A. of the pages (an attempt to make the length” adventures, we will defer to our magazine look like a book) don’t thrill me readers on this matter: If enough readers either, and I would advise saving the ink. protest the inclusion of full-page art, we’ll I am not a fan of pictures at all, really. modify the design to accommodate them. Distribution Nationally and Internationally I would happily replace the full-page art Frankly, we don’t have enough short Curtis Circulation Company at the beginning of each adventure with adventures or Side Treks in inventory to 730 River Road a Side Trek or other short adventure. I fill quite so many gaps, but we certainly New Milford, NJ 07646 note that you have the cover art, a copy won’t turn down a few more ad pages! Tel: 201-634-7400 Fax: 201-634-7499

6 january/february 2001 LETTERS

4. The cover for Issue #83 not only captured the mood of today? In the 2nd-Edition books, a great majority of pronouns Cameron Widen’s horror-based adventure but also seemed were masculine, although common sense dictated that the serv- appropriate for our Halloween issue. Expect the next several ing girl encountered in the tavern be referred to as “she.” Other covers to fit more neatly into the fantasy genre. than that, the D&D game seems to be getting better and better. 5. Our readership is divided on the issue of generic vs. non- Thanks for providing such wonderful adventures. generic adventures. Some want generic D&D adventures only, Russell Nichols and others want a mix of generic D&D adventures and other Raleigh, NC stuff (campaign-specific modules, non-D&D adventures, and so on). From this issue forward, we will publish D&D adventures Glad you enjoyed the issue, Russell! On the subject of pronouns, only. As always, the specific modules that we publish will depend it is our policy to use both masculine and feminine pronouns as on the submissions we receive, but our first goal is to provide a way to represent not only our audience but society in general. adventures that can be adapted to your home campaign setting Although D&D campaign settings include many Medieval ele- with little or no effort. That said, I don’t think our contributors ments, they are in many ways a reflection of the present rather set out to write “useless” adventures. Challenging, maybe. Fun, than the past. Genders are represented equally in our game hopefully. Before dismissing an adventure out of hand, try run- products, and so we have female paladins, pirates, blacksmiths, ning it with your players outside of your home campaign or on spies, clerics, hunters, rulers, and innkeepers. To us, a female a night when not everyone can attend the game. As a change of lumberjack is no more improbable than a male lumberjack or, for pace, it might be worth the time after all. that matter, a half-orc, a wizard, or a fire-breathing dragon. 6. We’ve received a lot of praise for the “Adapting the Adventures” sidebars. We don’t want them to take up too much Too “Funky” space, but we’re glad you find them helpful. I just got Issue #82. Normally I read your magazine shortly after receiving it. In this case, after thumbing through it, I don’t think DON’T THINK OUR CONTRIBUTORS SET OUT I want to read it for two reasons. First, I find it hard to read. In an effort to make the magazine TO WRITE “USELESS” ADVENTURES. attractive, it has lost its readability, especially when dark back- CHALLENGING, MAYBE. FUN, HOPEFULLY. grounds are used. The issue reminds me of those websites that use funky backgrounds, and nothing can be read. I Second, the issue uses the new D&D rules. Having not seen He Said … the new rules, the issue confused me. It would have helped to I would first like to say that I think Issue #82 was great. it con- have a brief description of the way the new rules worked, but I vinced me to spend $20 on the new Player’s Handbook. One suspect that there are too many changes to do that. At the very feature that I like is the “Scaling the Adventure” box found in least, there needs to be a table that explains all of the abbrevia- each adventure. This makes it even easier to prepare for a game tions. If there is one, I have yet to find it. session at a moment’s notice. You will be happy to hear that I bought the new edition of the One thing that I have been seeing more frequently in the Player’s Handbook, so you win on that one. Still, I predict that D&D game is the substitution of “she” for “he” and “her” for your subscriptions will decrease with the drastic changes made “him.” To be honest, this complete feminization of the gameSample kind in this issue.file [Au contraire! Subscriptions are on the rise.—Ed.] of disturbs me—not that I think every generic person in the rule On the plus side, I love the idea of helping make the adven- books ought to be referred to as “him,” either. I think that the tures variable levels, similar to what the RPGA Network does. I use of feminine and masculine pronouns should be at the dis- ran “The Best Laid Plans” (Issue #79) and “A Race Against Time” cretion of the author, which would make the work more realis- (Issue #81). In each case, it was easy to change the levels, and tic and believable. the players had a blast. I give the series a 10! In “Evil Unearthed” (Issue #82), a lumberjack from Log’s Keep up the effort, and thanks for a great magazine. Landing is referred to as “she.” How likely is it that a random Scott Wallace lumberjack from the GREYHAWK campaign setting would be Pendleton, OR female, when a woman lumberjack is a rarity in our society Ω

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation Owner: Wizards of the Coast, Inc., 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Ste D200, Renton, WA 98055

® Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Title of Publication: DUNGEON Adventures Publication Number: ISSN 0890-7102 Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None Date of Filing: 1 October 2000 Frequency of Issue: Bi-monthly Number of Issues Published Annually: 6 Extent and Nature of Circulation (Circulation Data from Sept/Oct 2000) Annual Subscription Rate: $19.95 Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: Average No. Copies No. Copies of Single Wizards of the Coast, Inc., 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Ste D200, Renton, WA 98055 Each Issue During Issue Published Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publication: Preceding 12 Months Nearest To Filing Date Wizards of the Coast, Inc., 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Ste D200, Renton, WA 98055 Total No. of Copies 41,145 40,559 Publisher: Paid/Requested Circulation 6,702 7,231 Wendy Noritake Sales Through Non-USPS Paid Distribution 16,970 16,907 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Ste D200, Renton, WA 98055 Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 23,672 24,138 Editor: Free Distribution by Mail 101 93 Christopher Perkins Total Free Distribution 101 93 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Ste D200, Renton, WA 98055 Total Distribution 23,773 24,231 Managing Editor: Copies Not Distributed 17,372 16,328 Pierce Watters Total 41,145 40,559 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., 1801 Lind Avenue S.W., Ste D200, Renton, WA 98055 Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 99.6% 99.6%

8 january/february 2001 MAPS OF MYSTERY

Sample file by Todd Morasch

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