TM Contents

FEATURES

5 LEGACY OF ACERERAK By Robert J. Schwalb 18 The legendary demilich left a lasting stain on the world in more ways than one. Learn about his legacy, and his curse.

18 HESTAVAR, THE BRIGHT CITY By Stephen Radney-MacFarland This Astral dominion appears to be a haven of civilization at first glance. But not all is as it appears in this grand city. Sample file 32 32 PLAYING DHAMPYR By Brian R. James These tormented souls have the blood of vampires in their veins. Learn what it means to be one of the tainted dhampyr.

39 ORIGIN STORIES: INCORPORATING RACES By Bruce R. Cordell The have long been identified exclusively with , 39 and the genasi with the Realms, but what would happen if you crossed those streams? 46 COLUMNS

4 EDITORIAL 46 CREATURE INCARNATIONS: ZOMBIES 54 DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT By Daniel Marthaler By RPG R&D Staff With the zombie apocalypse sure to arrive in 2009, The ins and outs of design are discussed in detail in this it’s time to start preparations in your campaign with ongoing series. these new zombie options. 57 CONFESSIONS OF A FULL-TIME WIZARD By Shelly Mazzanoble Shelly ran a game of D&D for her parents over the holidays. See how her next grand experiment went.

62 D&D ALUMNI By Bart Carroll and Steve Winter A look back at the D&D cosmology through past editions.

68 RPGA REPORT Sample file By Chris Tulach The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn more ON THE COVER about how to get involved! Illustration by Raven Mimura 70 AMPERSAND By Bill Slavicsek Bill previews another upcoming release, and discusses more of the changes in store for D&D in 2009.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, , EBERRON, DUNGEON, DRAGON, d20, d20 System, , all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental. Printed in the U.S.A. ©2008 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. For more DUNGEONS & DRAGONS articles, adventures, and information, visit www.wizards. com/dnd TM

EDITORIAL

371 DRAGON January 2009 New Year’s Resolve Editor-in-Chief Chris Youngs

Senior Art Director Jon Schindehette I wanted to write this editorial, fresh into 2009, about Shelly Mazzanoble, Confessions of a Full-Time Web Specialist Chris Sims my New Year’s resolutions. I know this topic has been Wizard Columnist: “Give your columnists more than Web Production Bart Carroll, Steve Winter done to death. Magazine editors across the globe are three days notice that their column is due.” likely writing similar editorials right now. But the idea Graphic Design Bob Jordan, Breanne Miller was suggested by some co-workers, followed immedi- Let it go, Shelly. Let it go. Contributing Authors Richard Baker, Logan Bonner, ately by several suggestions for what my resolutions Shelly Mazzanoble, , should be. Steve Winter, Web Specialist: “Be nicer to your Stephen Radney-MacFarland, co-workers.” Robert J. Schwalb, Chris Sims, I feel like suggesting resolutions for someone else is Bill Slavicsek, Chris Tulach, a lot like making a critical commentary on their life. Uh, what are you trying to say, you big jerk? James Wyatt Okay, it’s not a lot like that. It is exactly that. I started to take offense, then realized that this sort of insight isn’t Steve Schubert, RPG Developer: “Be a better fan- Developers Stephen Radney-MacFarland, easily come by. After all, if you walked up to a friend tasy football drafter.” Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Rodney Thompson on a normal day and said, “Hey, what’s wrong with me? What could I work on?” They’re likely to respond Touché, Shoe. Touché. But last I checked, we both had Editors Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes, with sarcasm (“Everything.”) or platitudes (“You’re the league’s worst record at a glorious 3-11. Pot, meet Miranda Horner fine the way you are!” Thanks, mom.). kettle. Cover Artist Raven Mimura But ask Samplea friend what your New file Year’s resolutions Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Save My Game Col- Contributing Artists Rob Alexander, Dave Allsop, should be, and you’ll get responses. Oh yes, you will. umnist and RPG Developer: “Buy Stephen more Ryan Barger, Eric Belisle, In fact, co-workers nearby will shout them over cube drinks.” Eric Deschamps, Steve Ellis, walls in an effort to get their 2 cents in. Apparently Gonzalo Flores, Adam Gillespie, resolutions are a free-for-all way to offer “constructive” Done! Since sitting next to SRM in meetings is like Jim Nelson, William O’Connor, criticism. Once the suggestions started rolling in, I sitting with the delinquent kids at the back of class, I Chris Seaman, Eric L. William, started to enjoy the experience, and started soliciting imagine the hyjinks that will follow drinks with SRM Web Development Mark A. Jindra more. Here’s a sampling from around the office when could only be entertaining. I started to ask people what they thought my New D&D Creative Manager Christopher Perkins Year’s resolution should be. The Rouse, D&D Senior Brand Manager (and Executive Producer, apparently all-around creepy dude): “Smile more. D&D Insider Ken Troop Sara Girard, D&D Associate Brand Manager: And wear this…” (as he reaches into a desk drawer). Director of RPG R&D Bill Slavicsek “When you DM, stop making up rules on the fly that negatively affect your players.” I didn’t stick around long enough to see what The Rouse was pulling out. I caught a glimpse, and it was Special Thanks Translation: “Stop telling us when we’re breaking the leather and had buckles. Creepy. rules.” Richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Logan Bonner, Michele Carter, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell, Jeremy Crawford, Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Julia Martin, Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, David Noonan, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Chris Sims, Rodney Thompson, Rob Watkins, James Wyatt We entered that accursed tomb with the welcome of its foul attendants, each smiling and offering whispers of encouragement. Into the blackness strode five foolhardy Legacy of Acererak adventurers and yet only I walked out alive. Darkness swal- lowed the first, when eager Rillian stepped boldly into the Devourer’s maw. Khasta sprung a wicked trap and died when a dart fusillade filled her blood with wicked poison. by Robert J. Schwalb Algrum stepped into a glowing portal and I can only presume he died, for the sounds of his screaming echoed all around us. And Phillip, poor Phillip, crumbled to dust illustrations by Eric Belisle, Raven Mimura when he looked into the skull’s faceted eyes. I escaped with my body intact, but I can’t say the same for my mind. The tomb’s horrors haunt me still. Acererak, cursed lich, awaits my death and when I die, he’ll steal my soul as he did those companions I left behind in that evil place. Know this: Seek not the Tomb of Acererak for there are easier ways to die.

any dungeons fill the world, but few come close to the malice found in the Tomb of M Horrors. The reputed resting place of the infamous necromancer, Acererak, the Tomb has tempted many heroes and fools alike into testing Sample file their mettle against the tricks and traps protecting the Tomb’s fabled mithral vault. Nearly all have been found wanting. Regardless of how many descended into its labyrinthine corridors, fell victim to its innu- merable hazards, or emerged, maimed or mad, the dungeon has survived, promising the same death and despair as it always has to the next band to enter its darkened corridors. One might wonder why any dare descend into the Tomb’s nightmarish depths if death is nearly certain. Treasure, of course. One cannot count the legends about the fabulous treasures in the tomb’s bowels. One can seek out glory as well, because few can say they survived the Tomb, and fewer can claim they survived intact. Each new generation produces those who would follow in the steps of the fallen to seek their fates in the Tomb’s unhallowed halls.

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ADVENTURERS AND ✦ Gain a +2 bonus to checks made using one of the Curious Archeologist suggested skills. Dungeons, ruins, and old tombs house the secrets of ✦ ACERERAK Gain fluency in one of the suggested languages. the past, and dedicated scrutiny can reveal much of ✦ Gain the optional background benefit. old civilizations and famous personages. So whenever Acererak casts a long shadow across the world, and an opportunity arises to examine a historical sight, his malign presence touches many people in places Accursed Lineage you’re loath to let it pass you by. While many dun- scattered across creation and beyond. From undead Whispers about your family’s lineage haunted your geons capture your imagination, none of them has spawned by his dread rituals to the descendants of childhood. Claims of being cursed, doomed, or other- quite the same allure as does the . those adventurers who died in the tomb, Acererak wise touched by evil made your early years difficult. Possible Minor Quests: You might explore the and his legend have shaped and altered countless These troubles sourced from tales about your family’s corridors of Acererak’s tomb, retrieve relics from the lives. Whether the infamous undead affects your history because it is believed you are a descendant of deep chambers, or seek lore about who Acererak was character is up to you. the infamous Acererak. in life. Possible Minor Quests: You might seek to clear Suggested Skills: History, Perception, Thievery Backgrounds your family’s name, uncover the truth about your fam- Background Benefit: When engaging in a skill chal- ily’s past, or follow in the steps of your dark ancestor. lenge to disable a trap, your first successful Thievery The easiest way to connect your character to Acere- Suggested Skills: History, Intimidate, Religion check grants you an extra success. rak’s legacy is to establish it in your character’s Background Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to Diplo- background. First presented in Player’s Handbook 2, macy and Intimidate checks when interacting with Lost Kin backgrounds help ground characters in the cam- undead creatures. When you were young, a beloved relative—a parent, paign setting, offering possible origins, reasons for sibling, or another family member—left with an adventuring, and tips for roleplaying these charac- Adventurer’s Scion adventuring company in search of glory, treasure, ters. In addition, a background also provides a slight One or both of your parents were adventurers and and adventure. From time to time, you received let- mechanical edge, such as a bonus to a skill, fluency in you grew upSample listening to stories about file their achieve- ters recounting their successes and near-failures, but an extra language, or an extra skill to your list of class ments, the monsters they defeated, and the fantastic eventually the letters stopped coming. The last letter skills. Some backgrounds grant other benefits, such places they explored. Although each tale was more was brief, saying only they were headed for Skull as the regional benefits described in the FORGOTTEN harrowing than the last, they always came out vic- City somewhere in the Vast Swamp. After years of ® REALMS Player’s Guide. torious in the end, with one exception: the Tomb of no communication, your family believed the relative A player character’s destiny might be guided by Horrors. They never speak of it, except to say it was met an end somewhere in that sinister place, but no the infamous demilich, a brush with undead, kinship an evil place—dark like no other. The only survivors, one knows and the question of what really happened to one of the Tomb of Horrors many victims, or loss or they left many friends in that accursed dungeon and haunts you still. hardship brought about by one of the Acererak’s ser- warned you against following in their steps. Possible Minor Quests: Although searching for vants. If you are interested in establishing a stronger Possible Minor Quests: You might seek out the your lost kin might be the forefront of your concerns, link to this menace, any of the following new back- fabled Tomb of Horrors to succeed where your parent you should be careful of what you seek. In all likeli- grounds should suffice. Many backgrounds include or parents failed. You could search the dungeons or hood, your lost kin might be searching for you, but suggested skills, suggested languages, optional back- what lies beyond to rescue their lost comrades. this person might not be the person you remember. ground benefits, or all of the above. Choose one of the Suggested Skills: Arcana, History, Religion You relative might have been driven mad, might seek following benefits from those listed: Background Benefit: Whenever you make a monster to give you a cursed relic pulled from the dungeons ✦ Add one of the suggested skills to your list of knowledge check, you can reroll the check, but you she explored, or might even return as an undead class skills. must use the second result even if it’s worse than the monster. In any event, putting the memory of your first.

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Possible Minor Quests: You might have escaped, relative to rest, and perhaps the relative herself, might nights with nightmares. Have you sworn to fight but your former captors are not likely to let you serve as a suitable minor quest. undead no matter the cost? Or are they so terrible stay free. You might have to avoid their attempts to Suggested Skills: Any class skill that you cannot bear to face them? reclaim you, so you are always moving and staying Suggested Language: Any language other than Abys- Possible Minor Quests: Finding and destroying one step ahead of them. Or you might go back, intent sal or Supernal the origin of the undead creatures menacing your on freeing your fellows and razing the necromancers’ Background Benefit: You gain a +3 bonus to Nature community might drive you to undertake a life of city. checks made to recall useful information about adventure. You might scour the countryside to find Suggested Skills: Endurance, Religion, Stealth geography. and destroy powerful agents until you find the true Background Benefit: You gain a +2 racial bonus to source of the burgeoning evil. Necromancer’s Chattel saving throws to end conditions and ongoing effects Suggested Skills: Insight, Perception, Religion with the fear keyword. The Bleak Academy keeps a stable of living slaves to Background Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls against creatures with the undead keyword. murder and animate as undead when they come of Restless Dead age. Life in servitude to these necromancers is under- Undead horrors stalk the countryside in your home- Touched by Darkness standably bleak. You, though, escaped your chains land, preying on the living and staining the land with and survived the long flight through the Vast Swamp You might have served a necromancer in your youth, their evil presence. You grew up fighting these mon- to reach civilized lands. Do you want vengeance? Will perhaps as an apprentice or possibly as guard or sters, watching as your friends and kin fell at your you fight to liberate the others held by the necroman- servant. Proximity to your master’s corruption left a side only to rise as zombies or worse. You escaped tic cabal? mark on you. Did your experience alter how you see the nightmare of youth, but the experiences fill your undead? Is necromancy a path you might seek or is HEROIC TIER FEATS Cleansing Challenge Cha 15, paladin, divine challenge class feature Use divine challenge against undead creature and deal 2 radiant damage. Divine Boon Cleric, Channel Divinity: divine fortune +5 radiant damage to undead with divine fortune. Divine Purity Paladin, Channel Divinity: divine mettle Divine mettle grants resist necrotic if saving throw ends a necrotic effect. Greater Turning Cleric, Channel Divinity: turn undead SampleOn filea miss with turn undead, target is pushed Cha squares Purifying Light Cha 15, any divine class +1 on attack rolls with radiant prayers against undead Radiant Touch Paladin, lay on hands class feature Use lay on hands as an attack against undead targets Student of Moil Con 13, Int 13 +1 on damage rolls with cold or necrotic powers

PARAGON TIER FEATS Stunning Rebuke 11th level, cleric, Channel Divinity: turn undead class feature Turn undead can daze instead of immobilize Radiant Hunter 11th level, ranger, multiclass divine class Hunter’s quarry damage is radiant Shadow Born Warlock 11th level, Int 15, warlock, shadow walk class feature Gain resist necrotic with concealment Undead Ward 11th level, cleric, Channel Divinity: turn undead class feature Turn undead creates a zone

HERITAGE FEATS Ghost Touched Con 13, Int 13 +2 Religion; augment at-will powers Radiant Soul Cha 13 +2 Diplomacy; augment at-will powers Raven Queen Devotee Wis 13, Cha 13 +2 Intimidate; augment at-will power Shadow Soul Dex 13, Wis 13 +2 Stealth; augment at-will powers Undead Hunter Con 13, trained in Religion +1 to healing surge value; augment at-will powers. Zombie Veteran Str 15 +2 Athletics to escape grabs; augment at-will power

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