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DESIGN: Sean K Reynolds, Duane Maxwell, CARTOGRAPHER: Dennis Kauth Angel Leigh McCoy TYPESETTER: Angelika Lokotz ADDITIONAL DESIGN: Richard Baker, Jason Carl, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, GRAPHIC DESIGN: Dee Barnett and Monte Cook, Bruce Cordell, , Robert Raper Skip Williams, James Wyatt ART DIRECTOR: Robert Raper DEVELOPMENT AND EDITING: Andy Collins BUSINESS MANAGER: Anthony Valterra and Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel PROJECT MANAGER: Justin Ziran ADDITIONAL EDITING: Mike Selinker PRODUCTION MANAGER: Chas DeLong CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Richard Baker PLAYTESTERS: Richard Baker, Jason Carl, COVER ARTIST: Justin Sweet Michele Carter, Mike Donais, INTERIOR ARTISTS: Carlo Arellano, Daniel Kaufman, Tom Kristensen, Ted Beargeon, Carl Critchlow, Duane Maxwell, Sean K Reynolds, Michael Dubisch, Brian SnoddySample file Mike Selinker, James Wyatt

Resources: Sources for this work include the following: Defenders of the Faith by Rich Redman and James Wyatt; Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil by Monte Cook; and by Bruce Cordell and Skip Williams.

Based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® rules created by and and the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.

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DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, DRAGON,, and the Wizards of the Coast logo are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. The d20 System logo is a trademark owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All Wizards characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Distributed to the hobby, toy, and comic trade in the United States and Canada by regional distributors. Distributed in the United States to the book trade by St. Martin’s Press. Distributed in Canada to the book trade by Fenn Ltd. Distributed worldwide by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and regional distributors. 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. ©2001 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Made in the U.S.A.

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Table of Contents

Mage-Killer ...... 32 Chapter 6: Magic Items ...... 136 Contents Master Alchemist...... 34 Self-Identifying Magic Items. . 136 Mystic Wanderer ...... 35 Magic Item Descriptions . . . . . 136 Introduction ...... 3 Spelldancer ...... 37 Armor Special Abilities . . . . 136 Spellfire Channeler...... 38 Specific Magic Armors . . . . 137 Chapter 1: Understanding Magic . . . 4 War Wizard of Cormyr. . . . . 40 Weapon Special Abilities . . . 138 The Beginning...... 4 Specific Magic Weapons . . . 141 Mystryl, Mystra, Chapter 4: Places of Power ...... 42 Potions ...... 145 and Midnight ...... 4 Natural Sites...... 42 Rings ...... 145 Azuth, the First Magister . . . . 5 Mystic Maelstroms ...... 42 Rods ...... 147 Savras, the Imprisoned Deity . 6 Sparks...... 43 Staffs ...... 149 Shar and Her Greatest Secret . 6 Fey Mounds...... 43 Wondrous Items ...... 151 Velsharoon the Ungrateful . . . 7 Boomshroom Patches ...... 43 Artifacts ...... 168 Other Deities of Magic ...... 8 Doom Pits ...... 44 Minor Artifact Descriptions168 Magic Terminology Defined . . . . 8 Magically Enhanced Sites...... 44 Major Artifact Descriptions171 The Art ...... 8 Crossroads and Backroads . . . 44 Spellbooks ...... 172 The Power ...... 8 Mythals ...... 47 Using Spellbooks...... 172 The Weave ...... 9 Nature Venerated ...... 48 Spellbook Construction . . . . 173 What It Is ...... 9 Ranger Guilds ...... 48 Protecting Spellbooks...... 173 Dead Magic ...... 9 Druidic Circles...... 48 Creating Magic Items ...... 174 Wild Magic ...... 10 Places of Prayer ...... 49 Shadow Weave Magic Items174 The Shadow Weave ...... 10 Destinations of Pilgrimage . . 50 Special Materials ...... 174 Mystra’s Refusal...... 10 Monasteries ...... 50 Extraordinary Natural Items . 180 Shrines ...... 51 Chapter 2: Magic Variants ...... 12 Small Chapels ...... 51 Chapter 7: Creatures...... 182 Elemental Magic ...... 12 Rural Churches ...... 52 Beholderkin, Spectator ...... 182 Elven High Magic...... 13 Mid-Sized Churches ...... 53 Crossroads Guardian ...... 183 Gem Magic ...... 13 City Churches ...... 53 Crypt Spawn (template) ...... 184 Attuned Gems ...... 14 Large or Fortified The Magister (template)...... 185 Triggering Gems ...... 14 Cathedrals...... 53 Scalamagdrion ...... 188 The Mageduel...... 14 Bastions of the Arcane ...... 56 Spectral Mage (template). . . . . 189 Qualifications ...... 14 Bardic Colleges ...... 56 Declaring a Mageduel ...... 15 Wizard’sSample Guilds . . . .file ...... 59 Index ...... 190 Preparing a Mageduel ...... 15 Mage Fairs...... 60 Effects of a Mageduel ...... 16 The Magic Item Trade ...... 64 Sidebars Outside Interference ...... 16 The Open Market...... 64 The Famous Spell Inventors . . . 11 Ending a Mageduel ...... 17 Specialty Shops ...... 65 Running a Mageduel Moonfire...... 17 The Black Market...... 65 between PCs...... 16 Rune Magic...... 17 Trade Wizards...... 66 Artificer Prototype Mishaps . . . 25 Spellfire ...... 17 Antimagic Organizations. . . . 67 Bards and Crossroads ...... 46 Absorbing Spell Energy. . . . . 18 The Hunt ...... 48 Using Spellfire ...... 19 Chapter 5: Spells ...... 68 Druidic Convergence ...... 49 Spellpools ...... 19 Assassin Spells ...... 68 Security ...... 50 Bard Spells...... 68 Encounter Ideas: Chapter 3: Practitioners of Magic . 20 Blackguard Spells ...... 69 Destinations of Pilgrimage . . 51 Skills and Feats...... 20 Cleric Spells...... 70 Sailor’s Last Request ...... 52 Skills ...... 20 Druid Spells ...... 71 Encounter Ideas: Hallowed Land54 Feats ...... 21 Harper Scout Spells ...... 72 Encounter Ideas: Prestige Classes ...... 23 Hathran Spells ...... 72 Fortified Cathedrals ...... 55 Gnome Artificer ...... 23 Paladin Spells ...... 73 Encounter Ideas: Guild Wizard of Waterdeep . 26 Ranger Spells ...... 73 Unhallowed Land...... 56 Harper Mage...... 28 Sorcerer and Wizard Spells. . . . . 74 Vipers ...... 131 Harper Priest...... 29 Spells ...... 76 Heavy Weapons ...... 179 Incantatrix...... 31

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agic. Yes, I know you think you know what it is, and how it works. You don’t. You’re an Mignorant fool, just like all the others. You think that magic is a tool, like a hammer, something that you pick up when you need it, swing it around for a while, and put down again when you’re done with it. Not so. Magic is a living thing—part of the Lady of Mysteries, a deity to whom you only pay lip service. You can’t just grab onto her when you need magic, squeeze the power out of her, and discard her when you’re done. That sort of treatment comes back to you. There’s a reason why most old mages are obsessed or insane— Mystra punishes them for their lack of respect. No, you have to study her, learn how she works, learn what she likes, and understand why she does what she does. While a tool has no sentience, magic has a woman’s mind and conscience behind it, a woman who just twelve years ago was a living and breathing person you could run into on the street. I did, once, down in the City, although I had no idea what she was to become. So yes, magic has a conscience. Mystra knows whether your spell is good or evil, and knows what you’re doing with it. She may not approve.Sample When she disapproves, file you’ll know it. She can slam the doors upon your ability to use magic, and not open them again until she has decided you’re worthy. Then there are the other deities of magic—Azuth, Savras, the lich-deity Velsharoon, mysterious Shar, and the deities of magic in far-off lands and of other races. Each of them has a hand in magic as well. I’m sure you consider yourself smarter than most. But that Sharran dagger you carry that dulls your mind every day is a legacy of the dark sister of Mystra’s magic, and its taint can be detected, although with difficulty. And you have no idea why. I suppose you think it’s cursed, and its powers outweigh its costs. So much more to it exists that you do not see. But do not feel too bad. I have seen and spoken with mages all over this world who never bothered to understand the forces they manipulate every day. Thayan evokers like yourself, and mystic wanderers of Beshaba, nomadic spelldancers, and those who count themselves among the ranks of my ex-allies, the Harpers. I’ve met Halruaan alchemists, Aglarondan sorcerers, and even the rare practitioners of spellfire. All these mages could do so much more if they studied the methods of magic rather than just its utility. Hundreds of new spells leap to mind, as do many magic items, all inspired by a deeper knowledge of the Art. But you are too busy, busy mastering fireball, and receiving the gentle admonishments of your Red Wizard masters, and planning for the day when you would break into my home. If only you had learned all this years ago, my little Thayan spellthief, then you wouldn’t be where you are today, bound in my spell that leaves you utterly immobile. You might have known how to bypass a spell engine, or how to recognize a kiira from a common gemstone, or talk your way past a spectator, or spot any of the other wards and traps I have placed around Blackstaff Tower. And I wouldn’t have to slay you for your folly. —by Khelben “Blackstaff” Arunsun

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that Chauntea would be warmed. Shar became enraged and began to snuff out all light and warmth in the universe. Desperate and greatly weakened, Selûne tore the divine essence of magic from her body and hurled it at her sister, tearing through Shar’s form and pulling with it like energy from the dark twin. This energy formed Mystryl, the deity of magic. Composed of light and dark magic but favoring her first mother, Mystryl balanced the battle enough to establish an uneasy truce between the two sisters. Shar, who remained powerful, nursed a bitter loneliness hile a surprisingly large portion of in the darkness and plotted her revenge. Selûne waxed and Wthe creatures of Toril can use magic, waned with the light, but drew strength from her allied few actually bother to understand daughters and sons, and even interloper deities from other its origin, why it works, and how it functions. What follows planes. Their battle continues to this day. is an overview of the history of magic and basic informationSample file about it that any true user of magic should know. Mystryl, Mystra, and Midnight The Beginning The birth of the being then known as Mystryl did more Clerics of Chauntea, Selûne, and Shar tell of the following legend. than just balance the war between the sisters of light and Lord Ao created the universe that now holds the world of darkness. Her very existence changed the reality of the uni- Toril. After this creation, there was a period of timeless noth- verse by creating the Weave, the conduit that allows crea- ingness, a misty realm of shadows that existed before light and tures to use magic. Suddenly, rather than magic being darkness were separate concepts. Eventually, this shadowy restricted to just the deities, any creature with the talent or essence coalesced to form twin beautiful deities, polar oppo- training could draw upon the power of magic through the sites of each other, one dark and one light. The twin deities Weave. When sentient creatures appeared on Toril, some of created the bodies of the heavens and Chauntea, the embodi- them learned to use the Weave while shamans and clerics ment of the world Toril. Toril was lit by the cool radiance of drew their magic directly from deities. Acknowledgement the deity Selûne, and darkened by the welcoming embrace of of her gift led to worship, and Mystryl drew power from the deity Shar, but no heat yet existed in this place. that, becoming one of the more powerful deities. Chauntea begged for warmth that she might nurture life and living creatures upon her form, and this caused the THE MOMENT OF NO MAGIC twin deities to become divided in intent. The two fought, Mystryl’s duty was to tend and repair the Weave, but she and from their divine conflict, the deities of war, disease, herself was so much more than that. Mystryl was the murder, death, and others were created. embodiment of the Weave. It ebbed and flowed with her Selûne reached beyond the universe to a plane of fire, moods, actions, and energy. Something that harmed the using pure flame to ignite one of the heavenly bodies so Weave harmed Mystryl, and vice versa. Her ties to the

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Understanding Magic Illustration by Sam Wood

Karsus destroys Mystra

Weave were so strong that only she could fully understand PHILOSOPHY AND WORSHIPERS and protect it. When Karsus, a powerful arcanist from the As Mystra, Midnight’s philosophy focuses more on the human civilization of Netheril, attempted to drain her good use and purposes of magic rather than Mystra’s posi- power in order to elevate himself to divinity, he found him- tion of keeping the balance of all magical forces. Despite self unqualified for the task, and magic began to unravel all these differences, Midnight wishes to honor her predecessor over Faerûn. The severely crippled Mystryl choseSample to sacri- and file those who served her, and so she adopted the name fice herself to save the Weave. Her death caused magic to Mystra and continues to grant divine spells to her wor- cease functioning across the universe, instantly slaying the shipers who followed the lawful neutral deity. Despite this upstart Karsus. The deity was reborn as Mystra, and she was commitment to acceptance, Midnight’s dedication to good able to repair the Weave so that such powerful magic was can be seen in some of her acts, such as advising Azuth to no longer possible. change the selection method of the Magister, and actively encouraging her clerics and mages to promote the learning THE TIME OF TROUBLES and use of magic. This new deity shared the same close ties with the Weave as Arcane spellcasters of all types revere Mystra, whether her predecessor. This was proven in the Year of Shadows bard, sorcerer, or wizard. She does not discriminate between (1358 DR) when she was slain in Waterdeep in battle with the types of arcane spellcasters, and because of this, worship Myrkul and other powerful beings. When her essence of Mystra shows the greatest diversity in types of spellcasters. merged with the land, magic ran wild in some areas and stopped completely in others. When the mortal wizard Midnight assumed the mantle of divinity and the portfolio Azuth, the First Magister of the fallen Mystra, magic as a whole returned to normal, Azuth was once a mortal mage, and a great one at that. His although many places still raged with chaotic surges and prowess with spells and magical lore attracted the first others seethed with the cold tranquility of a dead magic Mystra’s attention, and after completing several quests to area. While many of these damaged portions of the Weave prove his worth, she named him the Magister, the cham- have been repaired, enough remain to serve as a warning to pion of magic—the first person ever to hold that divine- mortals—or deities—who would attempt to harm the granted title. As the Magister, Azuth taught many people Weave or Mystra. the practice of magic, and was responsible for creating the

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Understanding Magic

prototypes of many powerful magic items. Azuth is said to Savras, have studied with mages from Mulhorand, explored the ruins of Netherese cities, bartered spells with wizards of the Imprisoned Deity Halruaa, learned from elven high mages of Cormanthyr, Savras was once only worshiped in the southern lands, and studied the genie magic of the far-off land of Zakhara. revered by diviners and oracles in the Shining South and in pockets within the Lands of Intrigue. Eventually, he came THE BATTLE WITH SAVRAS into conflict with Azuth, who shared a similar portfolio, and Some time in the first few centuries of the Dalereckoning Savras was defeated and forced into a magic scepter that bore calendar, Azuth came into conflict with a minor southern his name. He spent hundreds of years as a sentient force deity of divinations, Savras the All-Seeing. Both were pow- within the scepter, able to teleport his prison and protect erful spellcasters (Savras was once a Halruaan wizard), and himself from Azuth’s attempts at divining the scepter’s loca- Mystra favored both. The near-divine mortal and the tion. Savras’s worship dwindled after his imprisonment. His minor deity began a battle that lasted several years, using last worshiper was Alaundo the Seer, to whom he revealed agents, magic traps, and personal spell-battles. only visions that would come true. Azuth managed to defeat the young deity and imprison him in a magic scepter. With this victory and the notoriety SAVRAS’S RETURN among spellcasters he gained from it, Azuth soon after The scepter eventually reached the hands of Storm Silver- ascended to godhood and pledged to serve Mystra. Since hand, who ignored the demigod’s pleas for release. She even- those days his power has increased, and he has acted as a tually turned the item over to the Lord of Spells for confidant and ally to the Lady of Mysteries. Though the safekeeping. After the Time of Troubles, Azuth released death of Mystra shook him, he has accepted Midnight as Savras after he swore an oath of fealty, and since then the the new deity of magic and has worked with her closely to two powers have moved toward a friendly relationship. help her understand her duties. Savras now focuses on divination, truthspeakers, and fate, Azuth’s responsibilities include the patronage of wizards, and is the patron deity of many diviners. the selection and guidance of the Magister, and leading the Some sages and followers of Savras believe that he inten- more specialized deities of magic. Savras, now freed from the tionally lost the battle with Azuth, seeing it as a more favor- staff, serves Mystra through him, and the two are cautiously able alternative to some possible event in his future. This is moving toward a working friendship. Velsharoon, the deity debated by followers of Azuth, who point to the more con- of undeath, also reports to Azuth, although only reluctantly. servative nature of Mystra at the time, and they propose that she therefore would have favored a more aggressive and PHILOSOPHY AND WORSHIPERS passionate deity of spellcasters (Azuth) to complement her Unlike his superior, Azuth is not a deity of magic but of own nature. spells and spellcasters. While he is the Patron of Mages,Sample his file personal preference is toward wizardry rather than sorcery, PHILOSOPHY AND WORSHIPERS and his philosophy fits better with the studious life of a Savras’s followers not only seek magical divinations for guid- wizard than the more haphazard practices of a sorcerer. ance, but also adhere strictly to their patron’s devotion to truth Unlike Mystra, he is neither evil nor good, and can appre- and frankness. Savras encourages his followers to pause and ciate the craftsmanship in a spell regardless of how benign take stock of a situation before acting, and warns that others or vile it may be. Azuth acts as a force for the use of magic might have hidden motives in wishing to learn their fates and rather than a protector of its raw power. the future. He sees his role (and the role of his followers) as Azuth’s worshipers are mainly wizards, although sorcer- that of an agent working to prevent future cataclysmic harm ers attempting to master a new spell often invoke his name. to all Faerûn, and urges his followers to warn of such events During his mortal life he was said to be a master of the when they are predicted. They also study prophecies and inter- mageduel, and his name is called upon for good luck when pret dreams. They promote the careful use of divination such a battle is to take place. Azuth expects all true patrons magic, rather than the reckless and exploitive use that some of the Art to sponsor (whether alone or with others) a mage warlords would put it to in hopes of conquering much with fair at some point in their lives and attend such gatherings little work. Most of his arcane spellcasters are bards or wizards, regularly. His clerics are charged with teaching magic to all since few sorcerers develop skills in divination magic. who can learn it and will use it carefully, and his temple libraries are said to hold hundreds of spells apiece. Many Shar and Her young wizards got their start when they received a small spellbook as a gift from a worshiper of Azuth, and such a Greatest Secret practice encourages worship of the High One by those Shar, the dark-tressed deity of darkness and secrets, has people later in life. nursed a grudge against her sister Selûne and their daughter

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