TEXT: Kobold Quarterly 8    1
  100% Official Content
  www.koboldquarterly.com
  US $7.99 CAN $10.99 EURO 
  6.99
  Better Barroom Brawls / The Frostrift Oracle / 100 Warlord Battle Cries 
  Indestructible New PC Race / Flagellant Prestige Class / Book Reviews
  Medieval
   
  Interview with
   
  Deadly
   
   
  Superior
   
   
  Legends of the
   
   
  Extradimensional
   
  Winter 2008-09 Issue 8         New Spells and Monsters
  Better Barroom Brawls / The Frostrift Oracle / 100 Warlord Battle Cries 
  Indestructible New PC Race / Flagellant Prestige Class / Book Reviews
  Medieval
   Medicine
  Interview with
   R.A. Salvatore
  Deadly
   Glyphs
   
  Superior
   
  Swords
   
  Legends of the
   
  Golem
   
  Extradimensional
   
  Horrors!
  A Magazine of Kobolds & Dragons
  A Magazine of Kobolds & Dragons
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    2
  Open Design and the Kobold logo are trademarks of Open Design LLC.
  order your copy at koboldquarterly.com
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  Guide You
  The KOBOLD Guide to Game Design Vol. II: 
  How to Pitch, Playtest & Publish
  Essays written by Wolfgang Baur & Nicolas Logue:
  T e Art of the Pitch
  Talent Won’t Save You
  How to Run a Playtest with Real Results
  How NOT to Design a Magic Item
  How to Sell Designs and Inf uence Editors
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  Kobold Quarterly 8    3
  
  4     Kobold Quarterly 8
  On the Cover
  Malcolm McClinton brings us 
  “Dragon Rider Crossing the Frontier.” 
  That dragon sure seems like a perfect 
  winter ride for a young woman 
  crossing the mountains. 
  contents
  Reviews 
  Book Reviews 
     54
  by Cynthia Ward and Pierce Watters 
  Cartoons by Stan! 
  Bolt & Quiver 
       43
   Maps of Fantasy
  The Frostrift Oracle   62
  by Paul Leach   
  The Free City 
  Cults of Zobeck    70
  by Wolfgang Baur
   
   
  Editorial 
   6 
  New Voices
   
   
  Letters 
   8 
  From the Mines
   
   
  Remarkable Magic
   12 
  The Ecstacy of Ink 
   
   
  by Joshua Stevens
   
   
  A strange new school of magic, for scribes and scribblers
   
   
  Expand Your Horizons 
   22 
  Horrors from the 5th Dimension
   
   
  by Tim Connors
   
   
  Extradimensional entertainment... And terror.
   
   
  Ecology 
   27 
  Legends of the Golem 
   
   
  by Ross Byers
  	
  	
  The	breath	of	life,	or	an	illusion	of	creation?
   
   
  Kobold Diplomacy 
   34 
  The Brutal Honor of R.A. Salvatore 
   
   
  Words from the master of fast and furious storytelling.
   
   
  Four Humors, Two Aspirin
   38 
  Medieval Medicine
   
   
  by Phillip Larwood
  	
  	
  How	did	medieval	doctors	cure	their	patients?
   
   
  Flashing Blades 
   41 
  Smarter than the Average Sword 
   
   
  by John E. Ling
   45 
  Tossing Kegs and Smashing Chairs 
   
   
  by Steven Robert
   
   
  Dungeon Design
   50 
  Traps of the Mind
   
   
  by Maurice deMare
   
   
  More Flashing Blades 
   48 
  Roachlings: Indestructible New PC Race 
   
   
  by Andrew Hind
   52 
  Warlord Battle Cries 
   
   
  by Mario Podeschi
   58 
  The Flagellant 
   
   
  by Derek Kagemann
   
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    5
  
  6     Kobold Quarterly 8
  New Voices
  Designers come and go from the RPG hobby over time, 
  and I’m happy to see both variety and stability in who we 
  hear from. Not sure I want to list all my favorite game 
  designers here (though it is no secret that kobold diplo-
  mats have interviewed several of them). But I’m curious 
  to hear what names on an adventure make you say “Yeah, 
  it must be mine!” And if you don’t mind sharing your 
  loathing with fellow readers, I’d be happy to hear which 
  designers have made you groan. 
  In any case, in the interests of keeping things lively,  
  this time out we have a few of those new names on the 
  old table of contents. I promise we’ll have a few more 
  next time. Mario Podeschi and Steven Robert are new 
  to these pages, and so is John Ling, though you’ll cer-
  tainly be familiar with his excellent work on the Monday 
  Monsters series on the koboldquarterly.com site. Give 
  their work a read and see how you like it. Better still, give 
  us your feedback with a letter or a forum post.
  And I’ll also note something that isn’t in this issue: the 
  Ecology article is back as a 3rd Edition piece, and may 
  stay that way for a little while. As of this writing, the cur-
  rent number of 4th Edition article submissions is pretty 
  close to zero. 
  As always, direct your protests, goons, goblins, 
  treasure fleets, couriers, courtesans, message spells, sealed 
  letters, explosive runes, songbirds, and email to letters@
  koboldquarterly.com or to Kobold Letters, PO Box 
  2811, Kirkland, WA 98083. 
  Kobold in Chief
  F
  or the second time, I’m judging the RPG 
  Superstar contest with the Paizo folks. It’s a 
  wonderful gig, but it reminds me as well that 
  there’s always room for new talent and for new voices. 
  The RPG Superstar contest is open to anyone who isn’t 
  a previous winner or a published game designer, so all 
  sorts show up, from the wildly creative to the number-
  crunching madmen. The field is open to all comers, and it 
  shows, with the full range of experience, talent, and drive 
  on display. 
  And yet, the material submitted does follow Sturgeon’s 
  Law, which says that 90% of any given field is junk (and 
  that’s why editors have jobs). The Superstar slush pile in 
  Round 1 is so brutal (it inspired me to write “How Not 
  to Design a Magic Item” for the Kobold Guide to Game 
  Design, Volume 2). There’s so many ways to go wrong...
  But that’s why it’s so much fun to watch a new or 
  unknown designer succeed. The judges have no names 
  or information about the contestants when we’re going 
  through the entries, and yet I see that the most talented 
  contestants pack a lot of personality into of 200 words of 
  Wondrous Items. 
  The key word, to me, is Wondrous. Magic weapons 
  and armor are functional, scrolls and potions (and wands 
  and staves) are just containers for existing effects, but 
  the wondrous item category is a great one for showing 
  off both imagination and mechanical skill. The design-
  ers with imagination seem to rise above the rest of the 
  pack. Their items nail something so well that you want 
  to see what else they might do in future rounds. I want a 
  spotlight on those folks. 
  Frankly, I want them to submit queries and articles to 
  KQ, because much as I love printing articles by big-name 
  designers, it’s also exciting to hear from new names. 
  Editorial
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    7
  Open Design and Zobeck are trademarks of Open Design LLC.
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  gods both new and old, plus 
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  8     Kobold Quarterly 8
  From the Mines
  Dispatches and Complaints
  You can write to us at letters@koboldquarterly.com or send paper mail to 
  Kobold Quarterly, PO Box 2811, Kirkland, WA 98083
  Kobold	Letters
  Editor’s Note: We definitely whacked the 
  beehive with a stick with our editorial 
  from Issue 7. Here’s a sampling of the 
  response. 
  Gain One Level of Enjoyment 
  Just got done reading your editorial in 
  the latest edition. You pose an interest-
  ing question at the end when you ask 
  “would sword & sorcery without the 
  world’s most popular set of mechanics 
  still be great?” 
  Until May of this year, I would have 
  answered “rules be damned.” As in the 
  spirit of your editorial, I believe that 
  story and character development are 
  much more important and interest-
  ing than the rules core. As a player, 
  it’s the story that I get the majority of 
  enjoyment from (although I find some 
  enjoyment in optimizing feats, skills, 
  etc. as well). And as a DM, I’ve always 
  viewed the rules more as guidelines.  
  However, with the introduction of 
  4th Edition, I’m finding for the first 
  time in 20 years of gaming that a rules 
  system holds some sway over me. I’ve 
  read the 4.0 rules, played some games, 
  and made an informed decision: I’m 
  just not keen on 4E. The games I’ve 
  played in the system have largely been 
  spoiled by the rules for various reasons.  
  So the rules are important to the play 
  experience. This was a real epiphany to 
  me.
  Will I play 4E if the rest of my group 
  decides to use those rules? Sure. The 
  social interaction with my friends and 
  story that is being told is more impor-
  tant than a rules set. But what I think 
  the situation boils down to isn’t so 
  much enjoyment vs. non-enjoyment, 
  but level of enjoyment. I could be 
  enjoying myself more or less depending 
  on the rules set.  
  ~Adam Bennington
  Gotta Improvise
  I just picked up volume 7 of KQ, and 
  I think you are on to something in 
  your opening editorial. Fun has to be 
  priority one, and that revolves around 
  the mix of people sitting around the 
  table and the ability of the GM to keep 
  things entertaining and engaging. I do 
  not believe that the GM’s knowledge 
  of the rules needs to be the best at the 
  table, but their ability to craft the story 
  around the goals of the players will 
  determine their success. What is critical 
  is the GM’s ability to improvise, and 
  realize when there needs to be a change 
  of plan.
  On game mechanics, my personal be-
  lief is that the mechanics should be as 
  streamlined as possible, and be flexible 
  enough to handle the off-the-wall ideas 
  that players come up with. Common 
  scenarios should be described in the 
  rules to give the GM an idea of how 
  the mechanics work, and offer ideas for 
  how to handle the more complex situ-
  ations. I fully agree that bad mechanics 
  can destroy an otherwise good setting 
  and adventure. It is easy for a game de-
  signer to fall in love with the rules and 
  miss the point of playing the game.  
  Cheers!
  ~Bret Smith
  Roles First, Please
  Are rules the most important element 
  of a game session? I would have to 
  say no. While rules play an important 
  part of a roleplaying game, they are not 
  the most important part.
  Roleplaying games are first and 
  foremost about roles. If the mechan-
  ics were the most important then we 
  would all switch over to an online 
  gaming model. It would be a lot easier 
  to just log on and play. Playing a char-
  acter like a collection of stats meant to 
  ‘win’ a game is missing the point. Role-
  playing isn’t about amassing treasure or 
  magic, it is about developing a shared 
  imaginary world. There are no winners, 
  just participants. You can overcome 
  challenges, but there is no real finish 
  line to the game, unless you want to 
  consider a character’s retirement to 
  NPC status a victory.  
  I approach my games as combina-
  tions of improvisational theater and 
  storytelling. As a DM I am constantly 
  taking the input of my players and 
  incorporating it into the shared story 
  arc. Mechanics are important, and the 
  element of random chance plays a big 
  role in how the game progresses, but 
  it shouldn’t stand in the way of a good 
  story. 
  The story shouldn’t stand in the way 
  of the player’s enjoyment either. Dice 
  rolls help structure the narrative, and 
  you need to respect that. However, as 
  a good storyteller you need to know 
  when to adjust the dice to avoid de-
  stroying the entire game.  
  Hewing to the rules too closely will 
  create a sterile experience where players 
  feel as if they are playing a slow-motion 
  video game. A good DM knows when 
  to improvise and bend the rules. 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    9
  People won’t play if they feel railroad-
  ed, cheated, or restricted by the rules.  
  A game where you continually hear 
  ‘the rules say you can’t do that’ gets old 
  very quickly.
  The DM’s role is to enable his players 
  to have fun and tell and interesting 
  story.  A good DM can do this with a 
  D20 system, a D6 system, a dice pool 
  or flipping quarters. The game’s the 
  thing, not the rules.
  ~Patrick Curtin
  Our Dastardly Agenda
  Reading the editorial to issue 7 got me 
  thinking – this is a sneaky way for you 
  to convince us that KQ should post 
  few if any game mechanics in its fine 
  pages so as to satisfy the demanding 
  and faithful 3.5, Pathfinder, and 4.0 
  crowds alike. I think that would be a 
  shame. While the mechanic-less articles 
  are very fine reads, I enjoy some num-
  bers along with my story.
  To answer your last question, “would 
  sword & sorcery without the world’s 
  most popular set of mechanics still 
  be great?” my personal opinion is no. 
  In 30+ years I have played in and run 
  dozens of game systems, and more 
  than half a dozen for sword & sorcery 
  alone, but I always come back to 
  you-know-what. Every time. To the 
  point that nowadays I play 3.5 (heavily 
  Pathfinder influenced) today as my 
  only fantasy RPG.
  On the other hand, I know where 
  you are coming from. I just put the 
  finishing touches on a game book see-
  ing print soon that’s 400 pages of 
  fantasy gaming material and there isn’t 
  a rule on any page. It’s best when num-
  bers and story work together to show 
  the players and GM a good time, and 
  there’s already so many enjoyable rule 
  systems out there.
  And, while initially annoyed to learn 
  the centaur Ecology article would be 
  4E, I liked it just the same (I don’t buy 
  into 4E’s feel or play style). The stats 
  didn’t bother me either. Don’t tell my 
  players, but I’ve run 4e monsters from 
  their collectable miniature cards in my 
  Pathfinder campaign to fine effect. 
  Keep up the amazing work.
  -Jeff Ibach
  Well, Jeff, you caught us. We do think 
  that sometimes (especially lately) people 
  get so caught up in the mechanics that 
  they lose sight of the sheer entertainment 
  of sword-and-sorcery RPGs. We love the 
  wahoo mayhem of the game, and we 
  love the rules, too. But if I had to choose 
  (and thank goodness, I don’t have to!), I’d 
  rather have the wahoo than the rules.
  With respect to the Centaur article, 
  we’re trying to bring a less tactical feel 
  and play style to 4E content. Hell, we did 
  the same thing with Wrath of the River 
  King, just by offering more social and 
  skill encounters.
  Community Theatre Needs You
  Before I dive into the meat of my 
  email regarding the editorial in KQ7 I 
  would like to tell you how much I am 
  enjoying the magazine. This will be 
  my second issue (having signed up for 
  a sub at GenCon). I normally loathe 
  reading PDFs and have been eagerly 
  awaiting my print copy, but after read-
  ing the cover and the editorial I find 
  I must dive into the rest of my PDF 
  copy without delay! 
  So onto the meat.
  A good friend of mine and I have had 
  a series of ongoing discussions regard-
  ing RPG rules and role-playing. My 
  friend could run games without rules 
  altogether and turn it into a story tell-
  ing event, but I feel if there are no dice 
  rolls involved (and a good rules system 
  to back it) I might as well be reading 
  a book or participating in community 
  improv theatre. Sure it can be fun, 
  but playing without dice is not really 
  playing a game anymore, it becomes 
  co-operative storytelling or play acting. 
  This in itself is not bad, but if I want to 
  sit down to play an RPG I want to see 
  some dice rolling!
  Introducing dice and rules adds an el-
  ement of chance and a sense of danger 
  into the make-believe world. Without 
  that sense of danger I would rather be 
  playing a video game where my avatar 
  can respawn if he dies.
  I almost never fudge die rolls as a 
  DM unless I realize that I have made a 
  poor choice in my encounter selection, 
  but if the players themselves are mak-
  ing bad choices (especially the min-
  maxers) forget it, let the pips reveal 
  their fates! 
  If as a player I am getting so attached 
  to my character that I am afraid for 
  him to die, well the DM is probably 
  doing a pretty good job of running the 
  game, but if the character dies he dies. 
  There are always 100 other character 
  ideas waiting to be born onto paper. 
  So I like to have a good set of rules, 
  but I also need a good story, and 
  a good background. As a DM I try to 
  be part storyteller, part game designer, 
  and part opponent. If I have done my 
  job correctly before the players arrive 
  at the table, then the dice and the 
  rules flow seamlessly with the story 
  and if a PC goes down in battle the 
  player (hopefully) knows it was his bad 
  choices or bad luck that put him there, 
  not the killer DM.
  ~Ray Franklin
  Thanks to everyone who shared their 
  take on it  – I especially like the improv 
  comparison.
  And now we return once more to the 
  topic that pretty much rules the letters 
  column every issue. This time, I blame 
  the centaurs. 
  This Endless War: 4E vs 3E
  I decided to subscribe to KQ once the 
  announcement was made that it was 
  sticking with 3E. I was very disap-
  pointed to see the 4E content on the 
  centaurs creep in.
  I am of the group who believes KQ 
  should remain loyal to 3E content only  
  – let WotC do the 4E stuff.  However, 
  if you must bring in some 4E – at 
  least try to have equivalent 3E content 
  as well. For example for the centaurs 
  article, both 3E and 4E stats for the 
  example centaurs would have been nice 
  if possible.
  If KQ does start going 4E  - I will 
  cancel my subscription. 
  ~Paul Sacker
  Little Neck, NY
  Yep, we expected to lose some subscribers 
  just for talking about 4E topics and run-
  
  10     Kobold Quarterly 8
  ning a page of 4E stats in issue #7. It’s a 
  shame, but it seems foolish to pretend that 
  Pathfinder and 4E don’t exist. The game 
  is always changing, and KQ will support 
  those changes, both 3E-friendly ones like 
  Pathfinder and (to the degree possible) 
  4E as well.
  Thank You 4 the Content
  Just wanted to say thanks for putting 
  4E content in the latest issue of KQ! 
  While I’m still playing 3E, this is 
  because we’re in the process of finishing 
  up a couple of long-running campaigns 
  and will soon be playing 4E almost 
  exclusively. While 3rd Edition articles 
  will still be useful for their fluff content 
  (like the excellent and surprising “Ecol-
  ogy of the Phantom Fungus” in issue 
  #6!), I’ll have little use for rules crunch 
  going forward. I’m glad KQ is able to 
  support both editions.
  ~Richard Green
  Hey, so are we! By relying on fair use and 
  the copyright laws regarding game rules, 
  we can offer some things for 4E fans, 
  but not as much as we might if a proper 
  license were available. We’ll take what we 
  can get, and will strive to make every ar-
  ticle inspiring to players of both editions.
  Sneaking In
  First of all, thanks for a great print 
  mag. I’ve enjoyed my issues so far, and 
  it looks like you’ve done a really nice 
  job with the most recent, and I’m actu-
  ally quite surprised by the amount of 
  material.
  I was quite surprised to find some 4E 
  formatted information this time, and 
  think it would be great if you could use 
  both in the future. I’m one of the rare 
  ones that likely will play a little of both 
  versions in the future. I was extremely 
  skeptical during the run up to 4E, and 
  was really disappointed with the way 
  Wizards handled “their” magazines, 
  and considered myself a very loyal 
  Paizo subscriber, although I do think 
  Wizards is starting to do the mags 
  justice in the last couple issues. 
  I’ve been playing the new edition 
  now for about 4 months and I have to 
  say – it’s a lot of fun. I know quite a 
  few people who were iffy at first, but 
  are now enjoying the game play. Al-
  though the mechanics seem really 
  funky just reading through the books, 
  the play is actually quite engaging. But, 
  I’m sure you’ve heard this before.
  The moral of my email is that I really 
  do hope you can continue to sneak 
  in little bits of 4E, while focusing on 
  generic and 3E material. I’m still sup-
  porting Paizo, but due to limited time 
  I’m likely to play mostly 4E most of 
  the time, so don’t have much need for 
  new 3E material.
  Thanks for listening, and thanks for  
  putting out a great magazine.
  ~Aaron Derrick
  We seem to have snuck another bit of 4E 
  material into this issue, though I think 
  3E paladins and fighters might enjoy it 
  as well. See “Warlord Battle Cries” on 
  page 52.
  Ring Our Bell
  You have asked readers to chime in 
  if they support 4E so here is my bell. 
  I stopped running 3.X years ago and 
  have little interest in it anymore nor 
  do I have much interest in the new 
  spin-offs such as Pathfinder, Fantasy 
  Craft, etc. I may purchase one or two 
  because they have some interesting 
  ideas but have little interest in running 
  them.
  For me and most of my players, 4E 
  is bringing more fun to the table than 
  3E ever did. The action is dynamic and 
  interesting and much easier for me to 
  run with an enhanced sense of team-
  work. Sure there are things we miss 
  (like druids, monks, bards...) but most 
  of these will come in time. 
  The thing that saddens me most is 
  the restrictive license which I hope 
  they fix so the community can be-
  come more involved  – I’d love to see a 
  superhero system made using 4E as the 
  base as Mutants & Masterminds did 
  with 3E.
  To each his own, though.
  ~Robert Stehwien
  You started running 4E years ago? Ok... 
  Damn time travelers ruining gaming for 
  the rest of us.
  Seriously, we’re glad to provide material 
  for all fans of the worlds most popular 
  roleplaying game. But we are still seeing 
  a lot more 3e queries and articles than 4e 
  at the moment.
  Dance Dance Yeah!
  What a great issue!  I love your centaur 
  ecology.
  Thanks for the great reads/escape; 
  especially when my wife is watching 
  Dancing with the Stars (ugh)!
  ~Pete von Bleichert
  Kobolds cut a mean rug when they put 
  their minds to it.
  Class and Character
  I first wish to thank you for the Adopt-
  a-Soldier program. Many of our fellow 
  gamers might be surprised to learn 
  how many military members enjoy 
  pen-and-paper RPGs. Every issue that 
  we can get out here is gratefully passed 
  around several times. Everyone who 
  donates a subscription deserves a major 
  thank-you.
  Second, I wish to applaud the art 
  in your magazine. The combination 
  of old woodcuts and romantic paint-
  ings add a level of class and character 
  to the publication that sets it above 
  the competition. Please include more 
  illustrations like the ones from the 
  Paladin Code and Angel of Redemp-
  tion articles! They work even better in 
  the black-and-white print edition!
  ~SGT William Smith 
  Hooked After Just One Dose
  I’ve only read one issue of your 
  magazine that I chanced upon at 
  our BX, and I’m hooked. You have a 
  great mag going, and the fact that you 
  encourage the sponsorship program 
  is awesome. Us gamers overseas 
  appreciate all the support. I intend to 
  tell all my GI gaming buddies about 
  you!
  ~Christopher Adams, 
  Capt, USAF
  Hey, tell everyone! And thanks for 
  writing.
  <
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    11
  Kobold-in-Chief: Wolfgang Baur
  Circulation Director: Pierce Watters
  Cover Design: Richard Clark
  Consulting Editor: Jeff Grubb
  Assistant Editor: Scott Gable
  Copy Editor: Neal Hebert
  Page Layout: Wolfgang Baur
  Ad Manager: EP Healy
  Contributing Authors: Wolfgang Baur, Tim Connors, Derek 
  Kagemann, Phillip Larwood, Paul Leach, John E. Ling, Joshua 
  Stevens, Cynthia Ward,and Pierce Watters
  Cover Artist: Malcolm McClinton
  Contributing Artists: Elmer Boyd, Darren Calvert, Lucas Haley, 
  Michael Jaecks, Pat Loboyko, Howard Pyle, and Stan!
  Cartographer: Sean Macdonald 
  Court Calligrapher: Shelly Baur
  Kobold Quarterly™ Magazine is published four times a year by open design 
  llC. No part of this magazine may be reproduced (except for review 
  purposes) without the prior written consent of the publisher. Material 
  published herein may not necessarily reflect the opinions of open 
  design, its owner and patrons, or its contributors, who are not liable for 
  opinions expressed herein. Most product names are trademarks owned 
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  Open Game Content: The Open content in this issue is the spells in the 
  “Glyph Magic: the Ecstacy of Ink” and the “Medieval Medicine” article, and 
  the monster statistics in “Legends of the Golem”. All other material is 
  Product Identity. No other portion of this work may be reproduced in any 
  form without permission. 
  Submissions and Design: Each issue of Kobold Quarterly Magazine 
  supports Open Design, an RPG design community. Article queries are 
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  as a patron of the Open Design community.
  Printed in the U.S.A.
  ©2009 Open Design LLC
  Winter 2008-2009 
  Volume 2, Issue 4
  ™
  ™
  
  12     Kobold Quarterly 8
  by Joshua Stevens
  Art by Pat Loboyko
  L
  aboriously copying page 
  after monotonous page of 
  decaying tomes, alchemical 
  notes, and treatises on various esoteric 
  topics often causes a scribe’s mind to 
  wander. In these inattentive moments, 
  it is all too human to take shortcuts, 
  to attempt to improve on the origi-
  nal, and to reinterpret the text. Glyph 
  magic’s roots lie in an obsession with 
  the written word and an infatuation 
  with the errors and alterations that 
  invariably sneak into a written work. 
  And in the Magocracy of Allain, the 
  five personal scribes of Magus Hakren 
  found this out first hand nearly 80 
  years ago.
  Heretical Verses
  Magus Hakren was renowned for 
  summoning devils and demons 
  —both to interrogate them for his 
  own ends and to supply information 
  to interested parties. Tasked by their 
  master, Hakren’s scribes copied various 
  protective wards onto scrolls from 
  several celestial manuscripts. While 
  summoning a particularly powerful 
  devil, Hakren’s impermeable wards 
  failed and the enraged fiend devoured 
  him. Hakren’s wards failed because 
  of minor inaccuracies on the vellum 
  upon which they were copied. In truth, 
  Titivillus, the Arch-Duke of Scribes 
  (see Kobold Quarterly #1), had been 
  retained by Hakren’s demonic assassin 
  to subtly influence his scribes in their 
  efforts to faithfully copy the ancient 
  celestial tomes, thus laying a trap for 
  the despised Magus.
  Those same scribes could hear their 
  master’s screams as he was devoured 
  within his summoning chamber—the 
  summoned fiend crunching each bone 
  in its jaws and hungrily slurping at 
  flesh. Flinging the chamber door open 
  to reveal the horror within, the scribes 
  saw protective wards had warped into 
  writhing black tentacles that held 
  Hakren fast while the fiend deftly 
  picked him apart. The fiend vanished 
  with a howl, leaving the scribes forever 
  stained by what they had seen. With 
  little evidence left in the chamber, Al-
  lain’s Council of Mages dismissed it as 
  an unfortunate accident.
  The scribes could never forget what 
  they saw—the power of the written 
  word lay low the mighty Archmagus 
  Hakren with something as simple as a 
  minor transcription error in protective 
  scroll. Intrigued by the applications 
  of magic hidden within seemingly 
  innocuous ink, the scribes secretly 
  focused their studies toward twisting 
  common spells and harnessing the full 
  power of their glyphs. 
  The names of these scribes have 
  been lost to time. Of course, this was 
  intentional as the scribes methodically 
  sought out all written evidence of their 
  existence and destroyed it. The five 
  formed a powerful cabal of wizards 
  and came to refer to themselves as the 
  Verses. Their services were eventually 
  traded to other magi in Allain to serve 
  as scribes, but the Verses’ obsession 
  with mastering the power of writing 
  only grew stronger. 
  The Verses remained secretly allied 
  with one another and began instilling 
  potent inaccuracies and hidden spells 
  within various scrolls and tomes, and 
  disseminating them among key mem-
  Glyph 
  Magic
  The Ecstasy    
  of Ink
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    13
  bers of the Council of Mages. Over 
  several bloody and terrifying months, 
  half the council members were assas-
  sinated in grisly fashion as the Verses 
  eliminated potential resistance. 
  Fortunately, the Magocracy’s divin-
  ers uncovered the Verses’ schemes and 
  identities before they could mount a 
  successful coup. Branded as heretics, 
  each was immolated in a pyre of magi-
  cal flame. All records of their uncon-
  ventional magics were ordered to burn 
  with them, but several apprentices fled 
  with fragments that survived the pyres. 
  The Nature of Glyph Magic
  Glyph magic, derogatively referred to 
  as ink magic, is well hidden outside 
  of Allain. Even within Allain, it is dis-
  cused only in hushed tones and is not a 
  topic of polite conversation, especially 
  after the turmoil the Verses previously 
  wrought in the country. Practitioners 
  of glyph magic, who call themselves 
  scriveners (but are commonly called 
  ink mages), practice their art with an 
  almost paranoid secrecy, especially 
  when their travels take them close to 
  Allain’s borders. 
  The mages of Allain fear that a single 
  scrivener could destroy the magoc-
  racy’s great libraries or scrollhouses, so 
  the practice of glyph magic has been 
  outlawed in Allain for decades and is a 
  crime punishable by death. Outside the 
  magocracy, scriveners are itinerant lon-
  ers, often covered head to toe in arcane 
  symbols. Members are loosely con-
  nected through a network consisting of 
  secret symbols, encoded messages, and 
  clandestine meeting points. While each 
  individual practitioner is unique to a 
  point, most scriveners are bibliophiles 
  who hunt rare tomes and grimoires 
  with a fervency that shocks even the 
  greediest of treasure hunters, “liberat-
  ing” rare texts from owners who fail to 
  appreciate them. Some evil scriveners 
  pay homage to Titivillus, and some 
  even take ink devils as familiars (see 
  Kobold Quarterly #1). This requires CL 
  9 and the Improved Familiar feat.
  Traditional wizards scorn glyph 
  magic, dismissing it as a hodgepodge of 
  variant spells and an exaltation of the 
  written form of magic over magic itself. 
  Glyph magic remains largely unrecog-
  nized as a separate school of magic in 
  most learned circles of wizardry. The 
  scriveners do not mind this disdain 
  from their peers, for it allows them to 
  develop their art in secrecy and take 
  their prideful enemies by surprise. 
  The school combines conjuration, 
  creation, divination, illusion, and 
  transmutation magics, but it stands 
  apart from each of these individual 
  schools. Glyph magic spells often com-
  plement each other or “stack,” just as 
  varied inks blend seamlessly together.
  Scriveners require writing imple-
  ments, ink, and language to power 
  their spells. Tattoos, paintings, inked 
  scrolls and books, even runes etched in 
  rock function as the spell components 
  for their magic. The Eschew Materials 
  feat does not relieve a scrivener from 
  the need to use inks as spell compo-
  nents, but the feat becomes effective if 
  the scrivener covers his body in tattoos 
  and uses their ink to power his spells. 
  Further, because the scribes who 
  developed ink magic often worked in 
  complete silence, verbal components 
  are foreign to glyph spells. Scriven-
  ers take great delight in the somatic 
  components of their spells, sketching 
  each required glyph with painstaking 
  care. An ink mage is a formidable foe 
  with many weapons at his disposal: 
  shecan use his foe’s scrolls and spell-
  books against him; bring his tattoos 
  or drawings to life; befuddle him with 
  written symbols; encode script that 
  obscures the truth and allows secret 
  communication; and she can use the 
  power of writing to generate dozens of 
  other effects.
  Glyph Spells
  Aegis
  Glyph (Abjuration)
  Level: Sor/Wiz 6
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 10 minutes/spell level 
  countered
  Range: Personal
  Target: Creature or object
  Duration: See text
  Saving Throw: None
  Spell Resistance: No
  By casting this spell, the caster inscribes 
  a sigil on any portable surface that 
  symbolizes any one arcane spell the 
  caster knows, up to 6th level. Anyone or 
  anything with such an aegis is protected 
  and if the selected spell or spell effect is 
  cast on the recipient of the aegis, that 
  spell is instantly countered (as per a 
  ring of counterspells). 
  The spell requires infusing diamond 
  School of 
  Glyph Magic Spells
  The spells listed in the school’s spell 
  list all belong to the glyph school. 
  New spells are marked with an 
  asterisk; all others are found in the 
  SRD. 
  Cantrips—acid splash, arcane mark, 
  ink cloud*, mage hand, read magic
  1st Level—color spray, comprehend 
  languages (written only), erase, 
  grease, harrying glyph*, magic aura, 
  protection from chaos/evil/good/law, 
  silent image, skinbook*, summon 
  monster I
  2nd Level—acid arrow, darkness, 
  hypnotic pattern, glitterdust, glyph 
  aura*, locate object, mind’s eye 
  map*, minor image, mirror image, 
  misdirection, obscure object, rope 
  trick, summon monster II, summon 
  swarm, web
  3rd Level—babel*, explosive runes, 
  dispel magic, glyph of warding, 
  marauding glyph*, illusory script, 
  magic circle against chaos/evil/good/
  law, major image, scrawl bones*, 
  sea of ink*, secret page, sepia snake 
  sigil, summon monster III
  4th Level—black tentacles, 
  confusion, fire trap, fugue script*, 
  hallucinatory terrain, illusory wall, 
  inkblot*, lesser geas, minor creation, 
  mnemonic enhancer, phantasmal 
  killer, rainbow pattern, summon 
  monster IV
  5th Level—major creation, memory 
  echo*, mirage arcane, passwall, 
  persistent image, summon monster 
  V, symbol of pain, symbol of sleep
  6th Level—acid fog, aegis*, circle 
  of death, geas, greater glyph of 
  warding, guards and wards, legend 
  lore, programmed image, summon 
  monster VI, symbol of fear, symbol 
  of persuasion, true seeing 
  7th Level—prismatic spray, summon 
  monster VII, symbol of stunning, 
  symbol of weakness
  8th Level—prismatic wall, 
  scintillating pattern, summon 
  monster VIII, symbol of death, 
  symbol of insanity
  9th Level—prismatic sphere, 
  summon monster IX, teleportation 
  circle, weird
  
  14     Kobold Quarterly 8
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  dust into the ink while inscribing the 
  sigil, costing 100 gp per level of the 
  spell countered. Only spells up to 6th 
  level may be countered. After the spell 
  is countered, the aegis is destroyed. 
  The aegis may be physically de-
  stroyed, and the effect persists only as 
  long as the possessor retains the aegis 
  and the aegis remains undamaged.
  Babel
  Glyph (illusion) [glamer, mind-affecting]
  Level: Sor/Wiz 4
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Touch
  Target: 1 document or 1 creature
  Duration: Permanent
  Saving Throw: Will negates
  Spell Resistance: Yes
  Casting this spell on the text of a scroll, 
  tome, or any single section of written 
  work makes it unintelligible, as the 
  ink runs together, the text disappears, 
  words become nonsensical, and so on. 
  Only a single such written work may 
  be affected per casting (although a 9th 
  level caster, for instance, could affect 
  9 pages of text, all 9 pages must be 
  contained in the same written work to 
  be affected).
  Alternatively, the spell may be cast on 
  a single creature with a successful touch 
  attack as the caster paints a glyph on 
  them. The painted creature, failing 
  a Will save, can speak only gibber-
  ish; tongues and comprehend languages 
  cannot unravel the garbled speech of 
  the target. All modes of communica-
  tion—including spoken, written, and 
  telepathic—are nonsensical to others. 
  Anyone who reads the affected crea-
  ture’s mind finds only nonsense and 
  scattered, broken thoughts. Spellcast-
  ing requiring verbal or somatic compo-
  nents is impossible. 
  Additionally, the painted creature 
  becomes effectively illiterate for the du-
  ration of the spell, as all text becomes 
  completely undecipherable to them. In 
  the case of spellcasters, scrolls cannot 
  be read and daily spells that require 
  reading cannot be prepared. The glyph 
  cannot be removed through mundane 
  means, but it may be dispelled or re-
  moved with break enchantment, limited 
  wish, miracle, remove curse, or wish.
  If arcane mark is used to paint the 
  glyph, the DC for dispelling is in-
  creased by +2.
  Fugue Script
  Glyph (Divination)
  Level: Sor/Wiz 4
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 10 minutes
  Range: Personal
  Duration: Instantaneous
  Saving Throw: None 
  Spell Resistance: No
  The caster’s eyes roll back in his head 
  and he enters a deep trance, becoming 
  fully rigid save for his writing hand, 
  which must be dipped in ink. The 
  caster communes with unknown forces 
  and spirits, gleaning a useful piece of 
  advice in reply to a question concern-
  ing a specific goal, event, or activity 
  that is to occur within one week and 
  recording it with ink-stained finger.
  The advice takes the form of a mys-
  terious phrase, single word, picture, 
  rhyme, etc. recorded in ink. If the 
  cryptic information is not acted upon, 
  conditions may change that render the 
  information useless. 
  The base chance for correct informa-
  tion is 60% +1% per caster level, to a 
  maximum of 80%. If the dice roll fails, 
  the caster does not know whether the 
  information given was false. Multiple 
  trances regarding the same topic pro-
  duce the same result.
  Material Component: Exotic inks 
  costing 25 gp, and either the eye of 
  a blind man or wheat infected with 
  ergot, which must be ingested.
  Glyph Aura
  Glyph (Transmutation)
  Level: Sor/Wiz 2
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: 10 sq. ft./level 
  Target: Personal
  Duration: 30 minutes/level
  Saving Throw: See text
  Spell Resistance: Yes
  One of the signature spells in a scriv-
  ener’s repertoire, glyph aura erects a cir-
  cular field that moves with the caster, 
  allowing him to take full advantage of 
  any ink, script, writing, or hieroglyph 
  in that field. Once cast, the caster may 
  use written materials within the field 
  to fulfill the ink material component of 
  glyph magic spells. 
  Further, the caster may center any 
  glyph spell on the written materials 
  within the field. A caster using glyph 
  aura may even use an enemy’s scrolls, 
  spellbook pages, or even tattoos against 
  him. The caster must be aware of the 
  intended scroll, spellbook, or tattoo (or 
  other appropriate document adorned 
  with ink) and must have line of effect.
  Unattended objects gain no save. 
  Attended objects have a chance to resist 
  by making a Will save. If the target 
  fails the save, the caster may use a 
  single page, scroll, or tattoo to power a 
  glyph spell. The caster must satisfy all 
  other requirements of the glyph spell, 
  and non-ink material components are 
  still required by the glyph spell. Using 
  writing to power a glyph spell in this 
  way utterly destroys the scroll, page, or 
  tattoo. 
  A glyph aura may be countered by 
  a protection from chaos/evil/good/law or 
  magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law 
  spell keyed to the glyph aura caster’s 
  alignment.
  Material Component: Sepia toned 
  ink that the caster uses to trace a 3-ft. 
  circle around himself.
  Harrying Glyph
  Glyph (conjuration) [force]
  Level: Sor/Wiz 1
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
  Effect: One 5 ft./5 ft. glyph
  Duration: 10 minutes/level
  Saving Throw: None
  Spell Resistance: Yes, vs. jolt attack
  The caster sketches a 5 ft. by 5 ft. string 
  of translucent arcane symbols on any 
  surface and brings a tiny construct to 
  life to act as a guard, scout, or trap. 
  The glyph can straighten out and move 
  like a snake, squeezing through open-
  ings that only tiny sized creatures may 
  
  16     Kobold Quarterly 8
  fit. A harrying glyph has the following 
  statistics: 
  N Tiny construct
  Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., 
  low-light vision; Listen +0, Spot +0
  Defense
  AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12
  (+3 Dex, +2 size)
  hp 6 (1d10 + 1hp per caster level)
  Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +0
  Immune construct traits
  Offense
  Spd 20 ft.
  Melee jolt +3 (1d4+1 nonlethal 
  damage)
  Space 2 ½ ft.; Reach 2 ½ ft.
  Special Attacks jolt, trip
  Statistics
  Str 12, Dex 16, Con 0, Int 0, Wis 
  10, Cha 1
  Base Atk +0; Grp -7
  Feats —
  Skills Hide +11, Move Silently +3
  A harrying glyph attacks by delivering 
  a jolt of force during melee that causes 
  nonlethal damage. It may trip a Me-
  dium or smaller sized creature by wrap-
  ping itself around their legs; succeeding 
  with a jolt attack, it can attempt to trip 
  the opponent as a free action without 
  making a touch attack or provoking an 
  attack of opportunity. If the attempt 
  fails, the opponent cannot attempt to 
  trip the harrying glyph. 
  The caster cannot see or hear what 
  the glyph sees, but the glyph can report 
  back to the caster and answer very 
  simple questions (regarding number, 
  distance, etc.) by rearranging its word-
  ing and allowing the caster to read 
  the answer, if the caster instructed the 
  glyph to seek out this information. A 
  harrying glyph perform only one simple 
  task or answer one simple question at 
  a time. (If scouting for enemies, for ex-
  ample, a glyph could report back how 
  many beings it saw, but it could not 
  report their distance from the doorway 
  unless sent to scout a second time.) 
  A harrying glyph moves to the limit 
  of the spell’s range and then waits for 
  its master. Glyphs forced beyond this 
  range wink out of existence. 
  Use of illusory script in conjunction 
  produces an invisible glyph construct. 
  Material Component: Ink to sketch 
  the glyph mixed with the caster’s own 
  fresh blood, which deals 3 hp damage 
  to the caster (This damage cannot be 
  healed as long as the glyph exists.)
  Inkblot
  Glyph (Transmutation)
  Level Sor/Wiz 3
  Components S, M
  Casting Time 1 standard action
  Range Touch
  Target Corporeal creature
  Duration 2 min./level
  Saving Throw None
  Spell Resistance No
  The subject becomes a malleable being 
  of pure ink and takes on the ink sub-
  type. An ink creature’s gear, weapons, 
  and armor turn to ink and are ab-
  sorbed into the creature; however, its 
  size, Dexterity, deflection, and armor 
  bonuses still apply. 
  An ink creature has damage reduc-
  tion 5/magic, is immune to poison 
  and critical hits, and does not need to 
  eat, sleep, or breathe. An ink creature 
  gains a slam attack at their base attack 
  according to the table. An ink creature 
  may cast spells and use supernatural 
  abilities as normal (except those that 
  require material components other 
  than ink or liquid), but it may not 
  physically attack using any means other 
  than its slam attack. 
  Ink creatures moves at their regular 
  base speed, and can pass through small 
  cracks or openings. It may enter water 
  and retain its shape while moving at its 
  regular base speed with the same degree 
  of ease it had on land; however, it must 
  make Swim checks to avoid drown-
  ing as if still in natural form (though 
  it does not suffocate, the effects from 
  drowning are the same). 
  Ink creatures may not manipulate ob-
  Ink Creature 
  Slam Damage
  Size   
  Damage  
   
  Fine  
   
  1
  Diminutive  
  1d2
  Tiny   
  1d3
  Small   
  1d4
  Medium  
  1d6
  Large   
  1d8
  Huge   
  2d6
  Gargantuan  
  2d8
  Colossal  
  4d6
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    17
  jects with fine detail, though they may 
  cling to them and move them along 
  their wave of ink if the subject could 
  have carried the object in its regular 
  form. Ink creatures gain a +10 racial 
  bonus to Hide checks. 
  Finally, ink creatures that assume the 
  form of puddles act as a grease spell 
  exactly as if cast by a caster of the same 
  level (or Hit Dice) to all beings that 
  enter it.
  Material Component a vial of in-
  digo ink, consumed during casting
  Ink Cloud
  Glyph (Conjuration) [Creation]
  Level: Sor/Wiz 0
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: 20 ft.
  Target: One large or smaller humanoid 
  creature with sight organs
  Duration: 1d4 rounds
  Saving Throw: Reflex negates
  Spell Resistance: No
  A ray of viscous black ink sprays forth 
  from outstretched fingertips, blinding 
  your opponent. The targeted creature 
  is allowed a Reflex save to dodge the 
  stream of ink and remain unaffected. 
  This spell may be cast underwater with 
  no penalties.
  Material Component: Squid’s ink or 
  a tattoo on either of caster’s hands.
  Marauding Glyph
  Glyph (Conjuration) [Force]
  Level: Sor/Wizard 3
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
  Effect: One 5 ft./5 ft. glyph 
  Duration: 10 minutes/level
  Saving Throw: None
  Spell Resistance: Yes, vs. jolt attack
  This spell functions as harrying glyph, 
  but with the following statistics: 
  N Small construct
  Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., 
  low-light vision; Listen +3, Spot +3
  Defense
  AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 13
  (+4 Dex, +2 natural,+1 size)
  hp 3d10 + 1 hp per caster level
  Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +1
  Defensive Abilities camouflage; 
  Immune construct traits
  Offense
  Spd 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
  Melee jolt +6 (2d4+3 force damage)
  Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
  Special Attacks jolt, trip
  statistics
  Str 16, Dex 18, Con 0, Int 2, Wis 
  12, Cha 1
  Base Atk +2; Grp +1
  Feats Alertness, Track
  Skills Hide +8(+28), Listen +3, Move 
  Silently +7, Spot +3, Survival +4
  A marauding glyph attacks by deliver-
  ing a jolt of force energy in melee 
  combat that deals lethal damage. A ma-
  rauding glyph may also blend in with 
  its surroundings and camouflage itself 
  by remaining still against a surface for 
  1 round without moving, after which 
  it gains a +20 circumstance bonus to 
  its Hide check. This bonus is lost if the 
  glyph moves onto different looking 
  terrain, requiring another full round to 
  camouflage itself upon the new terrain. 
  A marauding glyph may be given up to 
  3 simple commands at once and can 
  report all that it has seen and heard to 
  the caster (using rudimentary words 
  and phrases).
  Casting summon monster in conjunc-
  tion with a marauding glyph produces 
  a construct that resembles and acts in 
  all ways as the summoned creature, 
  gaining the ink subtype (see the inkblot 
  spell above). Combining this glyph 
  with illusory script makes a marauding 
  glyph construct invisible.
  Material Component: Ink mixed 
  with the caster’s own fresh blood, 
  which deals 6 hp damage to the caster 
  (This damage cannot be healed as long 
  as the glyph exists.)
  Memory Echo
  Glyph (Evocation)
  Level: Sor/Wiz 5
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: As scribing a scroll
  Range: Special
  Target: Creature that reads or touches 
  the memory echo
  Duration: See text
  Saving Throw: See text
  Spell Resistance: Yes
  This signature scrivener spell allows 
  the caster to remove memories from 
  their own mind and capture them in 
  written form. Doing so removes the 
  memory from the caster’s mind until 
  the memory is triggered. This allows 
  the caster to pass on information 
  secretly to someone else, for good or 
  ill. Chosen memories can be contained 
  within a symbol, rune, or keyword. 
  When someone reads the symbol, the 
  information is instantly conferred to 
  them and also returns to the caster. 
  Spells may be conferred in secret in 
  this way as well. Enclosing a spell in a 
  memory echo removes that spell from 
  the caster’s spell list until the spell is 
  triggered. Reading a memory echo en-
  closing a spell triggers that spell unless 
  the reader succeeds on a Will save. A 
  basic memory enclosing only informa-
  tion does not allow for a saving throw. 
  Learning information this way confers 
  familiarity equal to the caster’s.
  The Verses used memory echo in 
  conjunction with other spells to wage 
  their failed coup against Allain’s Mage 
  Council. Concealed with illusory scripts 
  and secret pages or placed within forged 
  documents, harmful spells were hidden 
  within secret missives, official papers, 
  and scrolls. For each such spell used to 
  conceal the memory echo, the DC for 
  the Will save is increased by that spell’s 
  level. Scriveners facing persecution 
  will often use memory echo to remove 
  incriminating information from their 
  minds or to convey important informa-
  tion to fellow scriveners.
  Material Component: Ink and the 
  same gp required to scribe an equiva-
  lent scroll; or 100 gp spent on rare inks 
  if only a memory is scribed, and not a 
  spell (Unlike preparing a scroll, XP is 
  not expended when a memory echo is 
  written.)
  Mind’s Eye Map
  Glyph (Divination) [Mind-affecting]
  Level: Sor/Wiz 2
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: 60 ft.
  Target: 1 creature
  Duration: Concentration, 1 minute/
  level
  Saving Throw: Will negates
  Spell Resistance: Yes
  
  18     Kobold Quarterly 8
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  Kobold Quarterly 8    19
  A mind’s eye map allows a caster to 
  magically craft a map taken directly 
  from the target’s mind, using the caster 
  as a conduit. The caster spills a steady 
  stream of ink upon the chosen surface 
  for the map, which slowly undulates 
  and forms shapes perfectly copying the 
  target’s mental image: 100 sq. ft. of 
  space may be mapped per minute. The 
  map is only as complete as the target 
  knows or can recall , and it includes 
  any illusions, visual tricks, or inaccura-
  cies the target witnessed. 
  If the target is unwilling, the caster 
  may attempt to forcefully extract the 
  mental image, but the caster must 
  succeed on a touch attack and paint 
  a glyph on the creature. An unwilling 
  target is allowed a Will save; success 
  completely negates the spell. Another 
  mind’s eye map reflecting the same 
  mapped area cannot be created from 
  the same unwilling target until the 
  caster advances in level (or until the 
  target becomes willing). 
  If the caster paints the glyph on an 
  unwilling target with arcane mark, the 
  DC for the Will save increases by +2.
  Material Component: Ink and ma-
  terial to record the map.
  Scrawl Bones
  Glyph (transmutation) [language-
  dependent]
  Level: Sor/Wiz 3
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 2 standard actions
  Range: 1 mile/level
  Target: One creature/level
  Duration: 1 hour/level
  Saving Throw: None
  Spell Resistance: No
  The caster temporarily enchants 
  bleached bones or scrimshaw to com-
  municate with other creatures. The 
  caster may trace up to 10 words per 
  round on the piece, and all the other 
  recipients of the spell can read the 
  message on their matching pieces. The 
  recipients can communicate with the 
  caster and each other in the same fash-
  ion. Destruction of a creature’s piece 
  ends the spell for that creature, while 
  destroying the caster’s piece ends the 
  spell in its entirety. 
  Material Component: Ink and 
  enough pieces of scrimshaw or bone 
  for each target.
  Sea of Ink
  Glyph (Conjuration) [Creation]
  Level: Sor/Wiz 3
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
  Area: 5 sq. ft.+ 5 sq. ft./3 levels
  Duration: 1 minute/level
  Saving Throw: See text
  Spell Resistance: Yes
  By spilling a sea of ink on the ground 
  and stirring concentric circles into it, 
  the caster creates an inky morass simi-
  lar to quicksand.
  The caster may choose to make the 
  sinkhole move of its own accord, at a 
  maximum speed of 20 ft. per round, 
  up to the spell’s range. The sinkhole is 
  20 ft. deep, and when the spell ends, 
  the sinkhole disappears. Anything 
  within it appears on the ground’s sur-
  face (no longer beneath it) and covered 
  in ink. 
  Creatures that enter the sinkhole’s 
  area must make a DC 15 Reflex save 
  or begin to sink (treat as pinned). On 
  the second round, a sinking creature 
  may take a move-equivalent action to 
  try to free itself, but it must succeed on 
  a DC 17 Reflex save to do so. Failure 
  indicates the creature is pinned. 
  On the third round, the creature may 
  take another move-equivalent action to 
  escape, but it must succeed on a DC 
  19 Reflex save. Failure indicates the 
  creature begins to drown.
  A drowning creature may try to free 
  itself each round on its turn by taking a 
  move-equivalent action and attempting 
  a DC 20 Reflex saving throw. A failed 
  save indicates the creature sinks 5 feet 
  deeper. (For every 5 feet sunk, the crea-
  ture must make a DC 20 Reflex save 
  to move 5 feet up. Success on a DC 20 
  Reflex save at the top of the sinkhole 
  frees the creature.) 
  Helping the creature by throwing 
  it a rope grant a +2 bonus to its save 
  attempt, plus the total Strength modi-
  fier of the creature(s) pulling it free. A 
  fly spell automatically frees a trapped 
  creature.
  
  20     Kobold Quarterly 8
  them. Skin-recorded scrolls dissipate 
  upon use. Dispel magic destroys a skin-
  recorded scroll but has no effect on a 
  skin-recorded spell.
  Material Component: Black henna 
  or exotic inks to inscribe the spells, 
  same gp cost as writing a scroll or 
  recording a spell in a spell book.
  Variants in Ink
  The scriveners throughout the years 
  have developed many variants to spells 
  commonly studied by their more main-
  stream peers and have wholeheartedly 
  adopted these variant spells into the 
  school of glyph magic. The variant 
  spells described below all require some 
  form of writing or ink as material com-
  ponents in lieu of their regular spell 
  components. Glyph magic spells not 
  listed below remain the same as listed 
  in the SRD.
  Acid arrow, acid fog, acid splash—
  These spells are composed of black 
  ink, which bubbles, boils, and hisses, 
  betraying its acidic nature.
  Black tentacles, web—Thick strands 
  of sticky ink form tendrils, springing 
  from a deep puddle of black ink.
  Color spray, glitterdust—Instead of 
  powders or mica, the spell uses bril-
  liant, vibrant colored inks that explode 
  to produce the same result.
  Comprehend languages—A scrivener 
  may only use this spell as it relates to 
  written languages.
  Darkness—A cloying cloud of dark-
  ness takes the consistency of blackest 
  ink, dripping everywhere and staining 
  everything within it.
  Geas—These spells function as 
  normal, except the scrivener and target 
  sign a contract outlining the terms 
  of the geas. The scrivener keeps the 
  contract, destruction of which ends 
  the spell. If the target is unwilling, 
  the caster must somehow obtain the 
  target’s signature through force or 
  subterfuge. (If the caster elects that the 
  contract be signed in blood, the target’s 
  blood will suffice.)
  Grease—A conjured pool of ink (the 
  color depends on the ink that powers 
  the spell) performs the same function.
  Hypnotic pattern, rainbow pattern, 
  scintillating pattern—As with color spray 
  and glitterdust, a multitude of brilliant, 
  vibrant hued inks produce these effects.
  Illusion and creation spells—The 
  caster draws or paints the desired 
  forms, which become semi-real as il-
  lusions or real as creations. When the 
  spell ends, the forms slowly drip and 
  run into puddles.
  Locate object, magic aura, misdirection, 
  obscure object—The caster must place 
  his arcane mark on the object to be 
  obscured, and thereafter can manipu-
  late its aura. Locate object may only 
  be performed if the object has some 
  form of writing upon it, or if the caster 
  previously placed his arcane mark upon 
  the object.
  Prismatic sphere, prismatic spray, and 
  prismatic wall—As with color spray 
  and glitterdust, a multitude of brilliant, 
  vibrant hued inks produce these effects.
  Rope trick—The caster creates a 
  pocket dimension within books, text, 
  scrolls, paintings, and such, and he can 
  hide within even a single letter of text. 
  No rope is involved.
  Summon monster I-IX—As with il-
  lusions, the caster draws the intended 
  summoned creature. Thereafter, the 
  caster may only summon that creature 
  with that specific spell (or creatures, if 
  a particular spell is used to summon 
  several lesser level creatures). 
  Casters often develop complex rela-
  tionships with these summoned forms, 
  naming the forms when they take on 
  distinct personalities. These creatures 
  take on the ink subtype (see the ink-
  blot spell above) and can make normal 
  attacks. Once summoned, the chosen 
  creature can be changed only by using 
  erase on it, which shifts its form to a 
  new type chosen by the caster. 
  Summon swarm—By flinging hun-
  dreds of droplets of ink, the caster 
  causes each droplet to become vermin. 
  The caster is also able to summon a 
  swarm of silverfish, which does damage 
  as a swarm of spiders (without poison), 
  but only to paper, papyrus, bookbind-
  ings, or similar materials.
  <
  A grease spell used in conjunction 
  increases all DCs by +2. Use of illusory 
  script with sea of ink creates an invisible 
  sinkhole that resembles regular ground 
  (Spot DC 24 to detect).
  Skinbook
  Glyph (Transmutation)
  Level: Sor/Wiz 1
  Components: S, M
  Casting Time: 10 minutes per spell 
  level
  Range: Personal
  Duration: Permanent, but see text
  Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
  Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
  Using a process known only to the 
  scriveners, the caster may inscribe a 
  glyph school spell on his skin, to serve  
  as a scroll or as a recorded spell in a 
  spellbook. A Medium-sized caster may 
  record up to 24 spell levels on his bod-
  ies (by shaving all bodily hair), while 
  Small casters may record up to 12 spell 
  levels on their bodies. (For example, re-
  cording a 9th level spell requires 9 spell 
  levels, leaving the caster with 15 spell 
  levels for recording on their body.) If 
  used together with illusory script, the 
  spell or scroll is invisible to all but the 
  caster.
  If recorded as a spell, the script must 
  be tattooed or scratched into the flesh 
  and made permanent. The caster treats 
  any such recorded spell as if they had 
  the Spell Mastery feat for that spell, 
  and daily preparation of that spell is in-
  stantaneous. Further, any such record-
  ed spell may be instantly swapped for 
  another memorized spell of equivalent 
  level. 
  If recorded as a scroll, black henna is 
  typically used and the cost for scribing 
  the scroll is calculated as normal. Cast-
  ing a scroll recorded on one’s skin in 
  such a manner can be done as a swift 
  action. 
  Damage to one’s skin through cut-
  ting, slashing, or fire prevents use of 
  the skin-recorded spell until that flesh 
  is healed, while skin-recorded scrolls 
  may be destroyed this way. Skin-
  recorded spells are permanent but may 
  be changed by using erase to remove 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    21
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  An OGL compilation 
  of the popular PDF series 
  with bonus material. 
  Magic Missile - Fireball - Acid Arrow - Hold Person - Levitate - Lightning Bolt - Reverse Gravity - Mirror Image - Shocking Grasp - Sleep - True Seeing
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  w w w . T r i c k y O w l b e a r . c o m
  It’s Here.
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  22     Kobold Quarterly 8
  Gypsies found the following letter 
  on the boneless body of a rider. It 
  bore the seal of Sariel of Morgau, 
  retired Master Summoner of the 
  Arcane Collegium:
  “L
  earned sirs of the Colle-
  gium, take heed! Creatures 
  vast and alien look upon 
  us. They watch you read this missive. 
  Their breath and tentacles curl around 
  your neck. 
  Yet you cannot turn to see them any 
  more than a letter on this parchment 
  can peel itself up and look at you. 
  Heed my words well—these creatures, 
  these watchers, their claws are at your 
  face!”
  The Watchers
  If such unseen creatures were but invis-
  ible, our magic could detect them. If 
  they were but traveling the Ethereal 
  Plane, our champions could confront 
  them. Alas, the Watchers lurk beyond 
  both our vision and our reach. They see 
  us, but by the very nature of the world 
  we share, we cannot see them. Indeed, 
  they may be staring into your eyes at 
  this very moment.
   How can this be? How can I know of 
  them if they so elude our senses?
   Sirs, I have been on an incredible 
  journey. By extraordinary circumstanc-
  es, which I shall reveal in due course, I 
  have visited the Watchers’ realm, and 
  from the memories of that vantage 
  point, I now recount to you my unset-
  tling experiences.
   To understand the Watchers, you 
  must first understand where they live. 
  The Watchers are extradimensional 
  beings. To be precise, Watchers live in 
  the fifth dimension. Make no mistake! 
  The fifth dimension is not another 
  reality, wholly separate from our own. 
  It is not another plane of existence 
  like the Ethereal or Astral. The fifth 
  dimension is an integral extension of 
  the four dimensions we experience 
  directly—three of space and one of 
  time. It is neither front nor back, left 
  nor right, up nor down, but a direction 
  altogether perpendicular to these. How 
  can I make you understand? I fear that 
  I must rely on analogy to describe this 
  fantastic realm.
   Five-dimensional creatures are to 
  us what we are to two-dimensional 
  creatures. Consider a space of just two 
  dimensions—a sheet of parchment 
  like the one you are reading. Suppose 
  the sheet is home to two-dimensional 
  creatures like a square and a triangle. 
  For these creatures, the paper is the 
  entire universe. They can rotate and 
  slide upon the sheet, but they cannot 
  lift themselves up off the sheet. Indeed, 
  Horrors from the Fifth Dimension
  By Tim Connors
  Art by Pat Loboyko
  dimensional
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    23
  they have no concept of “off the sheet.” 
  In their world, “up” and “down” are 
  utterly alien concepts. “Above” and 
  “below” are meaningless terms.
   We, of course, know there is more. 
  We look down upon their paper world, 
  and they have no idea that we are 
  watching them from “above.” Indeed, 
  we can drop our faces incredibly close 
  to theirs, and they remain oblivious to 
  our presence. This, learned colleagues, 
  is how five-dimensional creatures see 
  us. Watchers look down upon us from 
  “above” our four-dimensional world, 
  and we remain oblivious to both their 
  gaze and their proximity. 
   Further, consider what two-dimen-
  sional creatures see when they look at 
  each other across the paper. A square 
  looking at a triangle sees only a line—
  the triangle’s skin, its side that faces the 
  square. However, from our three di-
  mensional viewpoint above the paper, 
  we can see both the triangle’s skin and 
  its innards. Now you begin to see how 
  Watchers see us! With a single glance, 
  Watchers dissect us, gazing upon our 
  skin, our organs, and every point 
  within our bodies—even seeing us at 
  different points in time simultaneously.
   Watchers can see inside every closed 
  space in our three-dimensional world 
  and along some stretch of our fourth 
  dimension of time. Just as we can see 
  inside every closet within every room 
  of a castle layout drawn on a parch-
  ment, Watchers can see inside every 
  strongbox, inside every chest, inside 
  every chamber of the Arcane Colle-
  gium; they can simultaneously observe 
  the collegium of yesterday, today, and 
  tomorrow. To the Watchers, our entire 
  universe is akin to that sheet of parch-
  ment sitting on the desk.
  A Watchers’ Eye
  Spellcraft and happenstance brought 
  the Watchers to my attention. Magic 
  allowed me to bind my vision to theirs. 
  My spells could not choose or control 
  an individual Watcher, but gods as my 
  witnesses, I have spent weeks exploring 
  our world through their eyes!
   I have plumbed the depths of ocean 
  trenches, chased gold veins through 
  the Crimson Mountains, peered into 
  the treasure chambers of dragons and 
  kings, and explored the branching 
  paths of the human nervous system. 
  What powers of discovery I held! What 
  levels of understanding I gained! Un-
  like the cataract vision of the Ethereal 
  Plane, I saw all with perfect clarity.
   Only areas shielded by magic escaped 
  my Watcher’s penetrating gaze. More-
  over, these areas drew its attention. On 
  one occasion, my Watcher peered into 
  the curious black blot created by some-
  one’s private sanctum spell. I watched 
  through its eyes as it jabbed a sharp 
  tentacle into that shrouded area of our 
  world. The private sanctum cleared, 
  and I saw a man lying dead. From 
  my extradimensional vantage point, 
  it was clear how he died. As easily as I 
  might take up a needle and poke out 
  the heart of a square drawn on parch-
  ment, my Watcher had reached inside 
  the man’s chest and speared his heart 
  without so much as touching his skin!
  In that instant my mind opened to 
  the terrible potential of these beings.
  Summoning Watchers
  I confess that the idea of controlling 
  a Watcher fascinated me. Through 
  its eyes, I learned. Through its hands, 
  think of what I could do!
   Heaven forgive me, but I resolved to 
  summon and control one. I succeeded 
  only in the former. Forgive me, but 
  for you to appreciate what I saw when 
  the creature appeared, I must again 
  proceed with analogy.
   Imagine that you touch the very tip 
  of your finger to a two-dimensional 
  parchment world. A square living on 
  the parchment sees a dot suddenly ap-
  pear. Now imagine that you pass your 
  finger through the sheet up to the first 
  knuckle. A cross section of your fin-
  ger—a circle with skin on the outside 
  and bone on the inside—is now co-
  planar with the sheet. The square sees 
  the side of a skin-covered circle. To the 
  square, a dot creature teleported in and 
  morphed into a circle creature. Imagine 
  how strange the morph would appear 
  to the square if you slowly passed your 
  whole hand through the sheet. The 
  Extradimensional Subtype
  Creatures with the extradimensional 
  subtype share the following traits.
  Type: When a extradimensional 
  creature intersects the traditionally 
  four-dimensional Material Plane, it 
  gains the extraplanar subtype.
  Dimension Shift (Ex) As a free 
  action, an extradimensional 
  creature (and anything it can drag 
  or carry) can intersect part of its 
  body with the traditional four-
  dimensional Material Plane. The 
  creature may not intersect an area 
  already occupied by a solid body 
  or force effect. Doing so is an 
  extradimensional strike (see below). 
  As a move action, the creature can 
  withdraw one intersecting body part, 
  provoking an attack of opportunity if 
  in a threatened square.
  Dimension Walk (Ex) An 
  extradimensional creature can 
  move in any direction relative 
  to our four-dimensional world 
  (even up and down) at its normal 
  movement speed. If wholly in the 
  fifth dimension, such movement 
  occurs “above” rather than through 
  the intervening four-dimensional 
  space and is invisible to any without 
  extradimensional sight.
  Extradimensional Sight (Ex) Treat 
  the creature’s vision as continuous 
  clairvoyance except that the sensor 
  is nonmagical, moves with the 
  creature, and can penetrate solid 
  objects. The creature can never be 
  surprised and is immune to flanking.
  Extradimensional Strike (Ex) 
  While wholly in the fifth dimension, 
  an extradimensional creature can 
  directly attack a four-dimensional 
  target’s internal organs. Treat this 
  as an incorporeal touch attack 
  with a wounding weapon. Targets 
  surrounded by fields of force such 
  as those granted by mage armor 
  and bracers of armor are immune 
  to this attack. If the attack misses, 
  a part of the extradimensional 
  creature momentarily enters then 
  withdraws from a square adjacent 
  to the defender, which provokes an 
  attack of opportunity.
  Unassailable (Ex) A normal 
  creature cannot target an 
  extradimensional creature that is 
  not penetrating our four-dimensional 
  realm.
  
  24     Kobold Quarterly 8
  Hyper-Predators
  Are you familiar with the anglerfish? 
  This deep ocean horror skates through 
  the blackest depths with a phosphores-
  cent lure that sways from a thin head 
  stalk. When curious prey swim close, 
  the anglerfish’s splayed needle teeth 
  snap at them from the darkness.
   I have seen extradimensional plant 
  creatures use the same tactics. By ad-
  justing the entry angle of their bodies 
  relative to the three-dimensional world 
  they wish to “fish” in, a hyper-angler 
  can alter its appearance. 
  Consider a two-dimensional analogy. 
  Suppose you know that ovals attract 
  paper-world squares. By dipping your 
  finger into the paper at a sharp angle, 
  you can change the shape of the copla-
  nar cross-section of your finger from a 
  circle to an oval. Hyper-anglers do the 
  same thing, only in four dimensions. 
  I have seen them mimic fruit, simple 
  weapons, and precious metals. When 
  prey comes near, they thrust spear-like 
  appendages directly into its internal 
  organs. Some hyper-anglers consume 
  only bone, leaving unframed skin 
  behind.
  The Brothers
  “The Brothers” is a sophisticated 
  extradimensional creature with tactics 
  similar to the hyper-angler. Similar to 
  a hand, this creature dips each of its 
  five “fingers” into our world. To us, 
  the five appear to be separate creatures, 
  but they are simply parts of the same 
  extradimensional creature. The fingers 
  can individually withdraw themselves 
  from the world, but their connec-
  tion to the hand prevents them from 
  traveling very far from each other. All 
  five seem to share the same mind—the 
  hand manipulating them like a pup-
  peteer above a stage. 
   The Brothers’ incredibly complex ex-
  tradimensional surface allows each fin-
  ger to assume nearly any form. I have 
  only witnessed one hunt in our world, 
  and it masqueraded as three human 
  slave girls, an injured orc, and a ship’s 
  chest. The Brothers’ would-be victims 
  managed to slay the orc. The hand, un-
  able to withdraw the muscle-damaged 
  Hyper-Angler        CR 5
  N Large plant (extradimensional)
  Init +0; Senses extradimensional 
  sight*
  Defense
  AC 15, touch 9, flat-footed 15 (-1 
  size, +6 natural)
  hp 30 (4d8+12 HD)
  Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +2
  Special Defenses unassailable*
  Offense
  Speed 5 ft.
  Melee slam +7 (1d6+7)
  Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
  Special Attacks extradimensional 
  strike*
  TacTics
  Once this semi-mobile, extradimen-
  sional plant has attracted a victim 
  within 10 ft. of its lure, it uses its 
  extradimensional strike to spear the 
  victim’s internal organs with a sepa-
  rate, specialized tentacle. It does not 
  withdraw the lure unless the lure is 
  attacked.
  sTaTisTics
  Str 20, Dex 10, Con 16, Int —, Wis 
  13, Cha 9
  Base Atk +3; Grp +12
  SQ dimension shift*, dimension 
  walk*, lure, plant traits
  Special Abilities
  Lure (Ex) By adjusting its entry 
  angle into our world, a hyper-angler 
  can make a four-dimensional cross-
  section of its body resemble any Tiny 
  to Small inanimate object like a fruit, 
  a gem, or a simple weapon. 
  Anyone within 20 ft. notices 
  something amiss in the object’s 
  texture or coloration with a DC 20 
  Spot check. Touching the object 
  offers a second check at +5. The lure 
  wobbles slightly whenever the hyper-
  angler attacks.
  (* See sidebar for details.)
  further through our world, each new 
  four-dimensional cross-section of the 
  beast replaced the previous. The ball of 
  flesh boiled, grew, and collapsed. Bone, 
  hair, claws, and eyes alternately erupted 
  to the surface and sank into the mass. 
   The summoned Watcher quickly 
  disappeared, for my brash and feeble 
  magic could not contain it for long. I 
  made many attempts, and one changed 
  my life forever.
  Parasites
  At first, I thought I had inadvertently 
  summoned two creatures. Along with 
  the Watcher came a spider-like form 
  that rushed me with a maw of needles.
   Later, I realized that my summons 
  had not gone awry. This spider creature 
  was a parasite feeding on the sum-
  moned Watcher. It simply jumped off 
  its host to attack me.
   How long had this four-dimensional 
  spider-alien been riding the Watcher 
  through the fifth dimension before 
  it leapt off into our world? And how 
  many times have other deadly aberra-
  tions thus popped into our country-
  side? These questions, dear sirs, gave 
  me my next idea. Could I grapple a 
  Watcher and take such a ride?
   Yes. I could. And I did!
  Into the Fifth-Dimension
  Ioun stones and magic spells sustained 
  me as I gripped the Watcher and jour-
  neyed through the hyperdimensional 
  worlds stacked above our own. A dead 
  world of bone dust sandblasted me. An 
  ocean of vein-connected organs lashed 
  me to my host. All the while, I turned 
  my head and looked about as I never 
  could when looking through a Watch-
  er’s eyes. Wonders dazzled me in every 
  direction! Life both alien and familiar 
  suffused it all! 
   For the first time, I surveyed the 
  Watchers’ world and understood their 
  frightening place in it. Those Watchers 
  I had summoned, those simple inert 
  flesh balls that hung in the air before 
  me, were all mere plants in the vast 
  menagerie of extradimensional preda-
  tors that stalk the worlds. 
  square would see an incredibly alien, 
  shape-shifting creature before him.
   Likewise, when the extradimen-
  sional beast that I summoned actually 
  touched our world, a four-dimensional 
  cross section of the creature—a ball of 
  flesh—appeared and hovered before 
  me. When the Watcher began to pass 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    25
  finger from the world, dragged it 
  around before severing it permanently. 
  The horrified victims watched as the 
  dead orc’s body morphed, twisted, and 
  dragged across the ground apparently 
  unassisted. Later, one of the victims cut 
  the corpse open and found a hodge-
  podge of muscle, wood, eyes, shell, and 
  hair.
  Homecoming
  I no longer summon Watchers. Ever 
  since I returned from my journey, they 
  come to me unbidden and unwel-
  come. What extradimensional glitter 
  highlights my form I cannot say, but 
  something draws them to me. Watch-
  ers watch me write this missive. I can 
  feel it in my soul. Twice I have paused 
  when hyper-predators appeared, their 
  claws inches from my face.
   I write you, dear colleagues, not 
  to seek aid but to warn you that an 
  extradimensional storm is coming. I 
  sit at its heart as a beacon that calls 
  horrors from beyond our own dimen-
  sion. Deadly creatures we know almost 
  nothing about spill into the country-
  side around me. Sinister hyper-preda-
  tors morph into innocent children and 
  lie in wait. Hyper-spiders rush victims 
  who accidentally set a strand of their 
  worlds-spanning web quivering. 
   Friends, my dabbling has focused a 
  vast hunger on our world, and I do not 
  know how to turn these predators away 
  from such rich hunting grounds. I have 
  presented them a feast. Gods forgive 
  me.
  <
  Extradimensional Space
  The world we live in exists in 
  four dimensions of which we are 
  perceptually aware—three of space 
  and one of time. Many assume that 
  additional dimensions are needed 
  to fully describe our universe, 
  dimensions generally considered 
  beyond human perception. Though 
  often used interchangeably, the 
  terms “plane” and “dimension” 
  should be further disentangled for 
  clarity.
     Planes are realms of existence, 
  supporting different creatures and 
  landscapes and even different 
  physical constants, such gravity—
  each is separate within the whole 
  of the multiverse. Dimensions, 
  however, are inherent to all planes, 
  and all planes exhibit dimension. For 
  necessity, planes are described for 
  our own four-dimensional frame of 
  reference. The Elemental Plane of 
  Fire, for instance, enjoys the same 
  dimensions that we on the Material 
  Plane do—three spatial and one 
  temporal. The fifth dimension—and 
  whatever potentially lies beyond!—is 
  as much a mystery to the average 
  salamander (or hound archon or 
  glabrezu) as it is to the average 
  human. 
     The terms “extradimensional” and 
  “extraplanar” do not mean the same 
  thing. The spaces created by rope 
  trick, mage’s magnificent mansion, 
  and similar spells can be seen and 
  entered by extradimensional beings 
  and affected by extradimensional 
  powers. Likewise, the interior of a 
  bag of holding, handy haversack, 
  and portable hole are considered 
  extradimensional spaces.
     The spell dimensional anchor can 
  block extradimensional travel.
  Knowledge of the fifth dimension and 
  whatever lies beyond is best folded 
  into the Knowledge (arcane) skill 
  with DCs of 20 or more, depending 
  on the rarity of extradimensional 
  creatures in your world.
  The Brothers         CR 10
  CE Gargantuan outsider 
  (extradimensional, native)
  Treat each of the five “fingers” 
  of The Brothers as a chaos 
  beast with the extradimensional 
  subtype and without the corporeal 
  instability attack.
  Grant each the change shape 
  special ability, allowing each to 
  change into any creature or object 
  within one size category of its 
  current form and limited to Tiny, 
  Small, or Medium size. Changing 
  shape is a full-round action 
  and  involves cycling through 
  intermediate, nonsensical forms. 
  A shape may include an exotic-
  looking simple or martial melee 
  weapon, which deals 1d8 damage 
  in any form.
  No two of the five can ever be 
  more than 100 ft. apart.
  All five share a common pool 
  of 220 hp, allowing each to 
  move and attack even though 
  individually mangled with damage. 
  Each “finger” can take 1/5 
  total damage (or 44 hp) before 
  becoming mangled and useless.
  
  26     Kobold Quarterly 8
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  Kobold Quarterly 8    27
  Legends 
   
   
  of the 
  Golem
  Ecology
  A Breath of Life in Clay
  By Ross Byers
   
  A 
  golem is a magical wonder, 
  known by its creators as a 
  marvel of elemental magics 
  and by its foes as an unstoppable jug-
  gernaut. Now golems are legend, and 
  countless mages and holy men have 
  dedicated their lives to the study and 
  creation of these constructs. But the 
  first of them was something special.
  Origins: the First Golem
  Golems are a wholly artificial race, so 
  their origins involve the work of men, 
  not gods.
  It is said that at the dawn of cre-
  ation, the gods molded the first mortal 
  races from the base materials of the 
  world. Dwarves were sculpted from 
  the solidity of stone, their hearts full 
  of forge-sparks. Elves were carved from 
  living wood, their souls filled with 
  the wind and the sky. Lizardfolk were 
  elevated from the simple creatures that 
  already crawled across the surface of 
  the world. The races of men, however, 
  had no single benefactor and—made 
  of humble, shapeless clay—were given 
  spirits consisting of all the elements, 
  allowing both their lives and destiny to 
  be of their own making.
  This legend inspired Father Mar-
  cello Joirus to create the first golem. A 
  master of healing and other life-giving 
  magic, he sought an understanding of 
  the gods and, perhaps, the attainment 
  of a bit of divinity for himself. Joirus 
  believed that creation is the fundamen-
  tal act of divinity. He worked tirelessly 
  for years, researching the nature of 
  life itself and the function of the soul. 
  He conferred with the most righteous 
  priests, the most brilliant sages, and the 
  wisest druids and hermits. He con-
  cluded that every living creature was 
  composed of all elements and that the 
  soul was a reflection of this mixed com-
  position. Therefore, he could construct 
  a soul out of elemental essences. Since 
  the purpose of a soul is to bring vitality 
  to its vessel, Joirus reasoned that he 
  need not craft a full body of flesh if he 
  could keep the soul from departing a 
  vessel.
  In imitation of the making of hu-
  mankind, Joirus brought together a 
  great mass of virgin clay and spoke over 
  it words of great power. He shaped the 
  clay into the form of a man, and as his 
  words infused it with the semblance 
  of life and a soul, he anointed it with 
  sacramental oils and wines to seal the 
  ersatz soul-essence within the vessel. 
  Before long, the clay effigy rose from 
  “They are not men. They are better than men! They are untiring 
  workers, obedient servants, and eternal guardians. They are my 
  legacy.” 
  —Aris the Golemwright
  “You want to go traipsing around in some forsaken crypt, fight-
  ing goblins, seeking treasure, that sort of thing? Lemme give you 
  a piece of advice, kid: never trust statues.” 
  —Drogar, a retired adventurer
  
  28     Kobold Quarterly 8
  where it lay, and Joirus named it after 
  himself, as he would any natural-born 
  son. Joirus was overjoyed. His ‘son’ 
  was stronger than any man, and would 
  perform any task he asked without 
  error or hesitation. While the creature 
  was mute and lacked any intelligence 
  or initiative, so was a newborn baby, so 
  Joirus assumed that in time it would 
  learn and grow in time, like any living 
  being. 
  As time passed, though, Joirus 
  became more and more disappointed 
  in his creation. It never seemed to 
  learn, not even through coaching and 
  repetition of simple tasks. The priest 
  realized that he had created a mindless 
  hulk, little better than zombies that are 
  forced into a semblance of life with the 
  trapping of their once-living souls. 
  It would be necessary to start over. 
  But when Joirus tried to destroy the 
  clay man, he discovered it was immune 
  to both his blows and all the heavenly 
  power he could summon. Eventually, 
  in desperate anger, he ordered the hulk 
  to leave and never return. Obedient 
  as ever, the thing walked off into the 
  distance, never to be seen again.
  Joirus made no secret of his work: the 
  creation of a soul was a great theo-
  logical puzzle and his primary goal. 
  However, those he consulted were far 
  less picky, and it was not long before 
  many others built upon his works to 
  produce their own golems as servants, 
  temple guards, and status symbols. 
  Some of these creations broke free of 
  their masters’ control and rampaged 
  with berserk fury until they destroyed 
  themselves, proving the imperfection 
  of Joirus’ creation.
  Joirus could only shake his head.
  Arcane Imitators
  Once it became known that the golems 
  of clay were not truly divine creations, 
  countless young mages turned their 
  will toward improving on Joiru’s 
  designs. They were soon disappointed 
  to discover that their eldritch magics 
  could not bind a soul-essence within 
  an artificial body. 
  One particularly gifted, if amoral, 
  wizard decided that if an artificial 
  body would not suffice, then perhaps 
  a natural one would. Flesh, after all, 
  is naturally meant to contain a soul. 
  After a few failed experiments, he and 
  his cohorts brought to life an artificial 
  being composed of once-living human 
  remains. 
  Hailed as a marvel, the stitched man 
  became an object of intense study. And 
  while this golem eventually ran amok 
  during a trial, information gleaned 
  from its creation (and destruction) 
  allowed mages to instill soul-essences 
  in more perfect, more durable forms of 
  stone and steel. 
  Physiology
  Golems have wildly varying physiol-
  ogy, since their basic physical makeup 
  is dependent on their maker’s whim. 
  Golems share the same basic design, 
  consisting of a roughly humanoid 
  shape made of a base material and, 
  usually, with no actual moving parts 
  beyond simple joints. But the physical 
  build of golems is not their defining 
  trait. Golems are unified by the nature 
  of their magical construction.
  The motivating spirit of a golem is 
  a synthetic soul forged from elemen-
  tal essences. While it is commonly 
  believed to simply be an earth spirit, 
  this is merely an oldwives’ tale brought 
  on by the solid and earthy nature of a 
  golem’s body. Like most living crea-
  tures, a golem’s soul-essence is made 
  of equal parts of all elements. Unlike 
  a true soul forged by a divine source, 
  however, the different elements are not 
  fully merged with one another as they 
  are in a true soul. It is this incomplete-
  ness that deprives a golem of free will 
  and leaves it completely suggestible to 
  the will of its master.
  Generally speaking, a soul requires 
  a living (or at least undying) vessel to 
  reside in. The natural action of a soul 
  placed in dead matter is to depart, in 
  a similar manner to how a man’s soul 
  deserts the body upon death. Power-
  ful magic is required to bind a golem’s 
  essence within its body as it forms a 
  semi-permeable membrane and creates 
  extradimensional space within the 
  body of the golem.
  These containing magics grant 
  golems their nigh-invulnerability to 
  both physical attacks and magical ef-
  fects of all kinds. The binding magic 
  that holds a golem’s soul together also 
  binds its body, strengthening the mate-
  rial such that ordinary weapons cannot 
  reliably damage it, and the same magics 
  that safeguard the soul-essence within 
  also keep other magical forces out. 
  In practical terms, golems have a 
  skintight antimagic field. Only spells 
  that directly affect its elemental essence 
  can penetrate that field. Of course, 
  certain types of magical energy can also 
  pass through the field and be directly 
  absorbed by the elemental essence. 
  Mundane versions of the same ener-
  gies are not transmuted in this manner. 
  That is, an iron golem may gain energy 
  from being struck by a fireball but will 
  melt in a blacksmith’s forge as easily as 
  any heap of steel.
  The Wakening
  Golems have a reputation for break-
  ing free of external control, becoming 
  uncontrollable berserk monsters. While 
  this reputation is well-deserved, it is 
  not entirely true. A golem is a blank 
  slate and bears no inherent malice 
  toward anything. 
  The elemental forces that make up a 
  golem’s soul-essence can spontaneously 
  fuse, transforming the soul-essence 
  into a proper soul. Usually, this effect 
  is temporary: the golem continues 
  to follow its programmed functions 
  and the soul breaks up again. If this 
  ‘awakening’ occurs in a threatening 
  or strenuous situation, however, the 
  newborn soul can snap to awareness, 
  reacting on a primitive level to destroy 
  the threat. Even once the immediate 
  threat is destroyed, the only thing the 
  waking golem has known in its exceed-
  ingly short life is fear and violence, 
  and it will continue to attack anything 
  and everything nearby. In exercising its 
  newfound free will, the golem cements 
  the existence of its soul.
  Left unmolested, the rampage will 
  eventually run its course. After a few 
  days, a berserk golem will give pause 
  as its primitive mind realizes it has 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    29
  choices other than destruction and vio-
  lence. Over the course of several weeks, 
  the golem gains a mind equal to that of 
  a man, although an ignorant one. An 
  intelligence emerges, and its inherent 
  wisdom and charisma are further devel-
  oped: each of its Intelligence, Wisdom, 
  and Charisma scores becomes equal 
  to 3d6, and it gains feats and skills 
  according to its hit dice. This can result 
  in a reduction of an awakened golem’s 
  wisdom score. The golem’s memories 
  and personality vary wildly from case 
  to case. Some recall nothing before 
  their berserk rampage. Some remember 
  even less. For others, their previous life 
  as an automaton is remembered only 
  in glimmers of previous waking. Some 
  flesh golems even inherit some of the 
  memories and personality traits of their 
  ‘donors’. 
  An awakened golem understands 
  the language of its creator, plus ad-
  ditional languages its creator knew 
  as determined by its new intelligence 
  score. A recently awakened golem may 
  still have trouble learning to speak or 
  articulate itself, and golems crafted 
  without a mouth may never be able 
  to speak at all. A character with the 
  Craft Construct feat can grant a mute 
  golem a mouth with which to speak 
  by spending one day and 50 gp/HD of 
  the golem.
  Psychology and Society
  Golems have no minds to speak of. 
  They merely carry out their most 
  recent order until given a new one. 
  Even an inactive golem is following the 
  order, “Go, and wait over there.” Like-
  wise, they have no society and merely 
  serve whatever purpose their master 
  designates for them.
  Awakened golems have minds, but 
  each is tempered by a unique creation 
  and history. Two men from opposite 
  sides of the world will think more 
  similarly than two awakened golems. 
  However, since almost all awakened 
  golems are born from violence, they do 
  tend to share a distrust of men. Golems 
  recall them only as enemies intent on 
  destroying them and men in turn view 
  golems as dangerous monsters. 
  Awakened golems are exceedingly 
  rare, and as a result, they do not form 
  societies. Usually, they either hide from 
  civilization or integrate themselves 
  within another society in a similar 
  manner to a gray render by bonding 
  with and protecting another creature. 
  Occasionally an awakened golem will 
  seek to wake more of his “brethren”  to 
  build a colony of free-willed constructs. 
  Thus far however, these occurrences 
  have all inevitably failed when one of 
  the golems turns to violence against 
  humanity, resulting in the group’s dis-
  solution or even extermination.
  Creating Golems
  Creating golems is an ancient practice, 
  and by now, countless formulas for 
  creating golems exist as practitioners 
  tinker by improving older recipes or at-
  tempt to fill in the missing pieces. The 
  resulting golems differ in the nature 
  of the binding magic needed for the 
  golem’s soul-essence. 
  In all cases, the body must be crafted 
  from the best materials available, lest 
  the enchantments simply fail for the 
  same reasons a common sword cannot 
  be enchanted.
  Variant Golems
  While the commonly known golems 
  are certainly the most tried and true 
  formulas, these are not the only paths 
  to making a golem. Presented below 
  are variants on the most common 
  golem varieties. Except as described, 
  they are the same as their more ordi-
  nary counterparts.
  Barrier Golem
  Stone golems are frequently designated 
  as the guardians of arcane complexes 
  and other important sites. Barrier 
  golems are built almost exclusively for 
  this task, especially when it is neces-
  sary to keep something in, rather than 
  keeping others out. Where ordinary 
  stone golems can slow their foes down, 
  a barrier golem can stop them entirely.
  Barrier golems lack a stone golem’s 
  slow ability.
  Wall of Force (Sp) Every 1d4+1 
  rounds, a barrier golem may use wall of 
  force as a spell-like ability at CL 5th. 
  CL 16th; Craft Construct, antimagic 
  field, geas/quest, wall of force, symbol of 
  stunning, caster must be at least 16th 
  level; Price 100,000 gp; Cost 55,000 
  gp + 3,800 XP.
  A barrier golem is CR 13.
  Forge Golems
  These iron golems are created by dwarf 
  magesmiths and major artificers’ guilds. 
  Designed to help forge massive metal 
  objects, their hands resemble massive 
  hammers. Instead of breathing poison-
  ous gas, the forge golem can spout fire 
  for heating the metal it is working or 
  
  30     Kobold Quarterly 8
  incinerating its foes. Forge golems are 
  particularly dangerous in groups as 
  their fiery breath can heal each other.
  Forge golems lack an iron golem’s 
  breath weapon.
  Breath Weapon (Su) A forge golem 
  may breathe a 10-ft. cube gout of 
  fire as a free action once every 1d4+1 
  rounds. It deals 10d6 fire damage. 
  Reflex DC 19 negates. The save DC is 
  Constitution-based.
  CL 16; Craft Construct, wall of fire, 
  geas/quest, limited wish; Price 150,000 
  gp; Cost 80,000 gp + 5,600 XP.
  Warden Golems
  Clerics of oppressed religions occa-
  sionally create golems to protect their 
  people from harassment and mob 
  violence. Since a clay golem’s unsubtle 
  ways are not ideal for this situation, 
  warden golems were created that can 
  walk through the marketplace unseen.
  Warden golems lack a clay golem’s 
  haste ability.
  Invisibility (Su) As a full-round 
  action, a warden golem can cloak itself 
  from view as if by invisibility. This lasts 
  as long as the golem maintains concen-
  tration and ends when the golem stops 
  concentrating. The warden golem may 
  only affect itself in this manner.
  Berserk (Ex) A warden golem has an 
  increased chance of going berserk. It 
  has a cumulative 2% chance of going 
  berserk each round of combat. 
  CL 11; Craft Construct, animate 
  objects, invisibility, commune, resurrec-
  tion; Price 40,000 gp; Cost 21,500 gp 
  + 1,540 XP.
  Death Golems
  A favored creation of necromantic 
  golemwrights, a death golem is a flesh 
  golem made from the parts of zombies 
  and other undead, rather than normal 
  corpses.  Death golems lack the muscu-
  lar vitality of fresher golems, but more 
  than make up for it with a life-sapping 
  touch.
  A death golem’s Strength score is 16. 
  (This replaces the flesh golem’s Strength 
  of 21.) Other stats are not affected.
  Energy Drain (Su) Living creatures 
  hit by a death golem’s slam attack gain 
  one negative level. The DC is 9 for the 
  Fortitude save to remove a negative 
  level. The save DC is Charisma-based. 
  For each such negative level bestowed, 
  the golem gains 5 temporary hit 
  points. 
  CL 8; Craft Construct, animate dead, 
  enervation, geas/quest, limited wish; 
  Price 20,000 gp; Cost 10,500 gp + 780 
  XP.
  Other Constructs
  Spellcasters of all stripes practice golem 
  crafting, and a wide variety of golems 
  exist. Druids have even been known 
  to create golems of wood or soil. 
  Additionally, spellcasters have devel-
  oped other constructs as well. Unlike 
  golems, these constructs lack anything 
  resembling a soul although some of 
  them have minds of their own, such as 
  homunculi. Even the fire-hearted brass 
  men lack souls of their own, being 
  powered instead by enslaved efreet.
  Only the mysterious inevitables 
  seem to possess souls and minds of 
  Golem Lore
  Characters with ranks in Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (arcana) can learn 
  more about golems. When a character makes a successful skill check, reveal the 
  following lore, including the information from lower DCs.
  DC    Result 
   
   
   
  10     Golems are powerful constructs animated by elemental forces with bodies 
  constructed of various materials.
  15     A golem’s unique construction shields it from the effects of most magic, and 
  they can sometimes absorb the energies of a magical attack.
  20    A golem’s body is also strengthened by its magical bindings. Only weapons 
  forged of adamantine can reliably pierce their hides.
  25    The elemental spirit that animates a golem is imperfect and incomplete. 
  Golems have been known to break their controlling bindings and go on a berserk 
  rampage of destruction.
  30    Golems that go berserk are actually developing free will. Given time, they 
  can gain a real personality.
  Critical-Hits.com
  ChattyDM.net
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    31
  their own (though some might argue 
  that they are so purpose-driven as to 
  lack free will), but they are not created 
  by mortal hands. Many an aspiring 
  golemwright has sought to dismantle 
  an inevitable to learn its secrets. Some 
  have even  captured one, but thus far, 
  the details of their power remain hid-
  den to mortals.
  History of the Golem
  The term golem comes from a He-
  brew word meaning “unfinished.” In 
  this use, Adam was the first golem, 
  created by God from the dust of the 
  Earth. (Adam ceased to be a golem 
  when God gave him a soul.) In Jewish 
  folklore, holy men gained a portion of 
  God’s power, and the wisest and most 
  powerful rabbis could bring life to the 
  lifeless, using knowledge from the Sefer 
  Yetzira (or the Book of Formation). 
  Some even used this ability to create 
  calves, which they slaughtered and ate. 
  However, unlike God, they could not 
  create a being with a soul: only animals 
  or soulless golems. Animating a golem  
  this way required the use of holy 
  words, frequently the names of God, 
  both as part of the ritual and as part of 
  the golem itself. 
  Creating anything in this way 
  required utmost purity: clean white 
  vestments (discarded afterward); virgin, 
  untilled earth; and clear, fresh rain-
  water. Any impurity and the creation 
  would fail.
  Owning a golem servant was seen as 
  a great honor, because it proved close-
  ness with God. Golems, however, were 
  still viewed as dangerous since they 
  lacked souls, and their intelligence was 
  quite limited and literal.
  Golems were usually visually indis-
  tinct from real humans, only being 
  discerned by their lack of intelligence 
  and inability to speak.
  The Golem of Prague
  The best known of the golem legends 
  is that of the golem of Prague. As the 
  story goes, in 1580, the Holy Roman 
  Emperor Rudolf II issued an edict 
  expelling the Jews from Prague. Rabbi 
  Judah Loew the Maharal received a 
  vision, telling him how to create a 
  golem to protect his people. He carved 
  the golem’s body from the clay bank 
  of the Vltava River. Loew called on 
  his fellow rabbis Isaac Ha-Cohen and 
  Jecob Ha-Levi to assist him: Cohen 
  was born under the sign of fire, while 
  Levi was born under the sign of water. 
  As Loew himself was born under the 
  sign of air, together with the earth of 
  the body, they represented all four 
  necessary elements. Loew and his assis-
  tants performed the ritual, carving the 
  word ‘Emet’, meaning ‘truth’, into the 
  golem’s forehead as the final step. 
  The golem, named Yosele, was 
  tasked with protecting the Jews of the 
  Prague ghetto. This it did, but over 
  time, Yosele became more powerful, 
  and more violent. Its magical powers 
  included invisibility, a burning touch, 
  and the ability to summon the spirits 
  of the dead. Eventually, the Golem 
  began attacking Christians indis-
  criminately (and in some versions, it 
  attacked the Jews or even the Maharal 
  as well). 
  In light of the terror and destruction 
  wrought by the golem, the Emperor 
  begged Rabbi Loew to destroy Yosele 
  Golem, promising that the violence 
  and harassment of the Jews would stop. 
  The Golem having served its purpose, 
  Loew accepted the offer. He went to 
  Yosele and wiped the first letter from 
  its clay forehead, transforming ‘Emet’ 
  into ‘Met’, meaning ‘death’. The golem 
  fell still, and the rabbi hid its body in 
  a coffin in the attic of the Old New 
  Synagogue in Prague and banned any-
  one else from entering the room. 
  According to legend, the body lies 
  there to this day, ready to rise if it is 
  ever again needed. Indeed, some credit 
  the golem with protecting the syna-
  gogue during the Nazi occupation of 
  Prague.
  Other Golems
  Rabbi Elijah of Chelm, a contempo-
  rary of Rabbi Loew, is also said to have 
  created a golem. Elijah’s golem was 
  activated with the name of God and 
  grew larger and more powerful each 
  day. Eventually, the golem grew so 
  
  32     Kobold Quarterly 8
  large that Elijah feared it would be too large for his house 
  and deactivated it. The golem was nearly too tall for Elijah 
  to reach the name on its forehead. The deactivated golem 
  then fell onto Elijah, scarring his face. 
  In other versions of the story, Elijah is killed by the falling 
  golem. Since one of this golem’s duties was to defend Jews 
  from beatings in the marketplace, the Golem of Chelm may 
  have inspired the legend of the Golem of Prague.
  Legends of the golem inspired many, and variations appear 
  in Goethe’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Shelley’s Frankenstein, 
  Meyrink’s The Golem, Capek’s Rossum’s Universal Robots, 
  Pratchett’s Discworld series, and Steven’s “Ecology of the 
  Homunculus” (Kobold Quarterly #5). 
  Marcello the Mendicant
  An awakened clay golem lives as a hermit on the outskirts 
  of a small village. Hiding his form under a great hooded 
  cloak, most of the townsfolk assume he is an outcast ogre or 
  hill giant. They also know he can fix anything and answer 
  impossible questions.
  Marcello spends his time meditating on creation and on 
  the mysteries of life. Known as a scholar, he receives visi-
  tors seeking knowledge or specially crafted items. While 
  he speaks readily about theology and arcana in a booming 
  voice, he guards his privacy carefully, not wanting to become 
  a curiosity himself. Instead, he lets people believe that he is 
  some kind of giant, ogre, or ogre magi. When a visitor earns 
  his trust, he casts off his cloak, revealing his earthy complex-
  ion and great expressive face. To these people, he claims to 
  be the first golem of them all.
   
   
    
   
   
                    <
  Marcello Joirus, CR 15 
  Male-identified awakened clay golem cleric 9  
  NG Large construct
  Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +3, 
  Spot +3 
  Aura aura of good
  DEFENSE
  AC 25 [27], touch 11, flat-footed 25 [27] 
  ([+2 armor], +3 deflection, -1 Dex, +14 natural, -1 size) 
  hp 130 (11d10+9d8+30); [9 Temporary Hit Points] 
  Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +12 
  Defensive Abilities immunity to magic; DR 10/adamantine 
  and bludgeoning; Immune construct traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft.  
  Melee 2 slams +21 [+26] (4d8+7 [4d8 + 10] and cursed wound)  
  Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. 
  Special Attacks cursed wound, turn undead 4/day 
  Spells Prepared (CL 9th): 
  5th—fabricateD, slay living (DC 18) 
  4th—divination, divine power, minor creationD 
  3rd—bestow curse (DC 16), create food and waterD, magic 
  vestment, meld into stone, stone shape 
  2nd—enthrall (DC 15), hold person (DC 15), make whole, 
  shatter (DC 15), wood shapeD, zone of truth (DC 15) 
  1st—animate ropeD, command (DC 14), comprehend 
  languages, doom (DC 14), magic stone (x2) 
  0—create water, detect magic, light, mending (x3)  
  D Domain Spell; Domains Artifice, Creation; conjuration 
  (creation) spells cast +3 CL
  TACTICS
  Before Combat If Marcello expects a fight, he uses magic 
  vestment on his cloak or breeches, and uses divine power 
  to enhance his already formidable physical prowess. These 
  effects are reflected in the bracketed statistics. 
  During Combat Marcello relies on his natural resilience to 
  protect himself while using disabling spells like bestow curse 
  and hold person to end fights with a minimum of mortality. If 
  dropped below half hit points, he “takes the gloves off” and 
  lashes out using slay living and his fists. 
  Morale If Marcello believes he may be destroyed (below 
  quarter hit points), he will flee or surrender.
  STATISTICS
  Str 25 [31], Dex 9, Con —, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 13 
  Base Atk +15 [+17]; Grp +26 [+28] 
  Feats Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft 
  Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, Forge Ring, Improved Natural 
  Attack (slam), Scribe Scroll  
  Skills Craft (sculpture) +8, Knowledge (arcana) +10, 
  Knowledge (religion) +10 
  Languages Common 
  SQ aura of good, haste, spontaneous casting (cure spells) 
  Combat Gear ring of protection +3, ring of free movement, 
  scroll of raise dead; Other Gear 50 ft. of hemp rope, common 
  cloak and breeches, masterwork smith’s tools
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Aura of Good (Ex) Marcello radiates a strong aura of good.
  Cursed Wound (Ex) The wounds left by Marcello’s slam 
  attacks do not heal naturally and resist healing spells. A 
  character attempting to cast a conjuration (healing) spell 
  on a creature damaged the way must succeed on a DC 26 
  caster level check, or the spell has no effect on the injured 
  character. 
  Domains (Ex) The Artifice and Creation domains grant 
  Marcello a +4 bonus on all Craft checks and allow him to cast 
  all conjuration (creation) spells at +3 caster level.
  Haste (Su) After 1 round of combat, Marcello can haste 
  himself once per day as a free action for 3 rounds. 
  Immunity to Magic (Ex) Marcello is immune to any spell 
  or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, 
  certain spells and effects function differently against him. 
  A move earth spell drives him back 120 feet and deals 3d12 
  points of damage. 
  A disintegrate spell slows him (as the slow spell) for 1d6 
  rounds and deals 1d12 points of damage. 
  An earthquake spell cast directly at Marcello stops it from 
  moving on its next turn and deals 5d10 points of damage. He 
  gets no saving throw against any of these effects. 
  Any magical acid damage heals 1 point of damage for every 
  3 hp damage it would otherwise deal. If this healing would 
  lead Marcello to exceed his full normal hit points, he gains 
  any excess as temporary hit points. He gets no saving throw 
  against magical attacks that deal acid damage. 
  Turn or Rebuke Undead (Su) Marcello may attempt to turn 
  undead 4 times per day. He gains a +2 bonus on turning 
  checks because of his ranks in Knowledge (religion). 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    33
  
  34     Kobold Quarterly 8
  The Brutal Honor of 
  R.A. 
  Salvatore
  We get the word from 
  the master of dark elves 
  and the Corona saga
  Interview by Jeremy L. C. Jones
  Book Cover Art © TOR Publishing
  Kobold Diplomacy
  R. 
  A. Salvatore is best known for 
  Drizzt Do’Urden, the iconic 
  dark elf who leaves the Under-
  dark city of Menzoberranzan, forsakes his 
  evil drow heritage, and lives a life of brutal 
  honor among people who despise him. 
  Drizzt is certainly a major part of Sav-
  latore’s canon, appearing in more than 20 
  novels and a handful of short stories, all set 
  in the Forgotten Realms.
  Salvatore is also known for his action 
  scenes. Drawing on his experiences as a 
  hockey player and as a bouncer—“it’s all 
  in your feet; it’s all in your balance”— 
  Salvatore slashes his way through fights 
  scenes with a vivid freshness and breakneck 
  rhythm unmatched by anybody (except 
  maybe fellow former-bouncer, David 
  Gemmell). 
  But what makes Salvatore’s action scenes 
  mermorable as well as exciting is that the 
  violence in his books reveals something 
  about the characters (and often the setting) 
  involved. Each character endures conse-
  quences for taking up the sword, and has to 
  live with those consequences long after the 
  sword is sheathed.
  Lastly, Salvatore is infamous as the guy 
  who was brought in by George Lucas to kill 
  Han Solo’s faithful cohort, Chewbacca, in 
  the first book of The New Jedi Order series, 
  Vector Prime. For that, Salvatore received 
  hostile fan mail and death threats.
  “They made me do it!” Salvatore said at 
  a recent GenCon event. “They didn’t even 
  tell me I had to do it until after I’d signed 
  the contract and put the advance check in 
  the bank.”
  But Lucas knew Salvatore was the man 
  for the job, and the result was that a single 
  character’s death changed the Star Wars 
  Expanded Universe, heightening the sense 
  of danger throughout the universe and 
  offering the core cast of characters a chance 
  to develop further through their grief.
  As the creator of Drizzt and the killer of 
  Chewbacca, Salvatore is not always given 
  full credit for another key element of his 
  writing—world-building.
  “Bob Salvatore has worked the magic 
  that all writers dream of,” said Ed Green-
  wood, the creator of The Forgotten Realms, 
  “creating characters and a subterranean 
  setting that caught on with readers, becom-
  ing wildly popular, beloved, and attracting 
  a devoted ongoing following waiting to see 
  what happens next.   
  “This is the essence of worldbuilding: 
  not just painting in lots of details in a 
  setting, but telling a great story in that 
  setting. Bob has mastered that, making 
  readers care what happens to Drizzt and his 
  companions and the drow city he was born 
  and raised in. I re-read Homeland for sheer 
  personal enjoyment at least once a year, and 
  devour each new Salvatore book, inside the 
  Realms or outside of it, as it appears.”
  On a brief hiatus from writing For-
  gotten Realms novels for TSR in the 
  mid-1990s, Salvatore began building his 
  masterwork, Corona, the setting for nine 
  novels (with two more scheduled to be re-
  leased), an RPG campaign setting, comics, 
  and graphic novels.
  GenCon 2008 was an exciting time to 
  speak with Salvatore. He was finishing up 
  The Dame (the tenth book set in Corona), 
  awaiting the release of The Pirate King 
  (featuring Drizzt Do’Urden), and helping 
  his son, Geno, promote their co-authored 
  young adult novel, The Stowaway.
  Even though The Stowaway focuses on 
  twelve-year-old Maimun, it is, as Salvatore 
  said, “a worthy addition to Drizzt lore,” as 
  the famous dark elf makes “more than a 
  cameo” appearance.
  And, of course, Salvatore was also 
  busy building the world for “a computer 
  game that I can’t talk about.” That game, 
  officially codenamed “Copernicus,” is a 
  MMORPG for Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios.
  “I’m a hardcore gamer,” Salvatore said, 
  “and I think this [game] is going to be big!”
  Salvatore and I spoke in Indianapolis 
  in between events celebrating the 20th 
  anniversary of the creation of Drizzt. I 
  tried to keep the conversation focused on 
  world-building, but as often happens with 
  Salvatore, the conversation often came back 
  to characters and to honor.
  What follows is a combination of inter-
  view and public Q and A.
  It’s been a little over 25 years since your 
  first novel, The Crystal Shard. How have 
  things changed in the genre?
  Salvatore: When I started in fantasy, it 
  was a very black and white genre. You were 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    35
  either good or you were bad. You were Sau-
  ron or you were Gandalf. You were Aragorn 
  or Boromir. You made the right choice or 
  you made the wrong choice. Period. 
  And the women in the books! They were 
  either chicks in chainmail or damsels in 
  distress. 
  But now the genre has grown up. Writers 
  are really exploring the grey areas. If you 
  put a woman in your book, she better be 
  a kick-ass character. I think that makes for 
  much more interesting reading. 
  When I started, science fiction had one 
  bay in the bookstore. They had Asimov, 
  Heinlein, Clarke, and Bova, and they had 
  Tolkien down at the bottom. Then Terry 
  Brooks came on the scene. And Stephen 
  Donaldson and Michael Moorcock. But 
  there was still only one bay, and maybe five 
  or six fantasy books. 
  It exploded in the mid-80s with Drag-
  onlance and David Eddings and The 
  Forgotten Realms and Robert Jordan. Now 
  there is so much more room out there and 
  there are so many different things you can 
  explore within the genre.
  You’ve worked in shared worlds and 
  created your own settings. What are the 
  advantages and disadvantages of each?
  Salvatore: With a shared world, the 
  advantage is that you get to stand on the 
  shoulders of giants like Gary Gygax and Ed 
  Greenwood and Dave Arneson. There’s so 
  much already there, so much richness.
  The Forgotten Realms is the way a 
  shared world ought to be. They let you 
  have your characters and you find your 
  own little corners of the world and do your 
  own thing. It’s led to one of the most suc-
  cessful book lines for over twenty years.
  The disadvantage is that things happen 
  in the world that you have no control over. 
  You’re limited in what you can do. I can’t 
  blow up Waterdeep in the Forgotten 
  Realms. They’re just not going to let me 
  do that.
  So, overall, the biggest limitation is that 
  you can’t reshape the world. But that lets 
  you tell more private stories, stories of 
  personal triumph. You are forced to really 
  make your characters sing.
  What can you say about The Pirate King?
  Salvatore: The Realms are changing. 
  That’s why the series is called Transitions. 
  Some pretty big things happen. I don’t 
  want to give too much away, but suffice it 
  to say that I hope it’s going to hurt. And I’ll 
  leave it at that.
  Drizzt is pretty angry these days.
  Salvatore: Isn’t that great? He’s been 
  called “emo” one too many times. One of 
  the things I am gathering about the new 
  Forgotten Realms is that it’s pockets of 
  civilization surrounded by leagues of chaos 
  and craziness and badness. And if Drizzt is 
  going there, Drizzt is not going to be a nice 
  guy. He’s going to go about his business 
  ruthlessly. You get to a point where you’ve 
  just seen too much. He’s still an honorable 
  hero, but he’s going to be an honorable 
  hero who will take people out in a hurry... 
  He’s going to live another 700 years if I 
  don’t kill him. And I’m not.
  Will Drizzt ever get sick of being Drizzt 
  and just snap?
  Salvatore: From the beginning, my phi-
  losophy has been, “The hero isn’t the guy 
  with the biggest gun. He’s the guy with the 
  biggest heart.” That’s not going to change. 
  Drizzt may get an edge to him, he may 
  have a bitterness to him, he may at times 
  forget who he is but it will be very brief. 
  He’s never not going to be Drizzt.
  I’ve got Jarlaxle for that.
  How did an honorable guy like Drizzt 
  come out of the drow culture?
  Salvatore: He had a pretty honorable 
  father. And I think there is a subculture 
  of the drow that’s honorable. I don’t think 
  Jarlaxle is dishonorable all the time.
  I don’t think the drow are purely evil. Do 
  you know where Menzoberranzan came 
  from?
  We had just finished The Halfling’s Gem 
  and TSR said, “We’re reading the mail and 
  people want to know where this guy came 
  from. We want you to create the Dark 
  Elves in the Forgotten Realms.” I had 
  the Fiend Folio and the old modules. About 
  five different products mentioned them 
  but really didn’t give much. So I said to 
  TSR, “What else do you have?” They said, 
  “Nothing. It’s carte blanche. You’re creating 
  them in the Realms.”
  So I went and read Mario Puzzo’s The 
  Godfather. I’m not kidding. That’s where 
  Menzoberranzan came from. I got the 
  family structure from The Godfather. Gary 
  Gygax, of course, had already turned it into 
  the godmother.
  So I don’t think it works to say they’re 
  purely evil. There are too many shades of 
  grey in there.
  There is an old saying that there is no 
  one more fanatical than a convert. Drizzt 
  understands the need to adhere to a code 
  more than someone who is raised in a soci-
  ety that already had codes of honor.
  Of your creator-owned worlds, Corona is 
  the most extensive.
  Salvatore: My plan with DemonWars 
  Saga was to create the world of Corona 
  through a gigantic seven book series and 
  then tell the more personal stories, like I 
  did in The Highwayman [the eighth book].
  The other thing I wanted to do with Co-
  rona was give it a sense of distance. One of 
  the things people in our world don’t always 
  get about fantasy worlds is that if some-
  thing happens in one part of the world it 
  can be months before the other part of the 
  world knows about it. 
  I started the story of Demon Awakens 
  on the frontier in the town of Dundalis. I 
  wanted that feeling that people can grow 
  up, live their entire lives, and never leave 
  that one small area where they live.
  What was the first step in the world-
  building process?
  Salvatore: Corona was germinating for a 
  long time before I actually started writing 
  it. In fact, my old Crimson Shadow books, 
  I think, are the forerunner of Corona.
  [When I started the DemonWars Saga,] 
  I had left TSR over some creative differ-
  ences back in the mid-90s and the editor 
  at Del Rey called me up. He said, “I’ll give 
  you as long as you need to write the best 
  book you can write.” That’s what I’d been 
  waiting to hear. I’d been on the treadmill 
  for several years, pumping out two or three 
  books a year, every year, and I needed to 
  sit back and develop this world that had 
  been germinating for a long time. I needed 
  to create my world, my Forgotten Realms, 
  my Middle Earth, my Shannara. And that 
  world was Corona.
  The first thing I did was figure out the 
  climate and geography. I grabbed my old 
  National Geographics and started finding 
  land that would fit the story I wanted 
  to tell. If you look carefully, the land of 
  Corona looks like Eastern Canada. I’d 
  promised some people I’d met at a conven-
  tion that I would put Labrador in the book 
  and I think Labrador is one of the coolest 
  places in the world.
  The premise of the world was going to 
  be the gemstone magic. That was going to 
  be the difference in my world. And then 
  came the question: where do you get the 
  gemstones? Am I going to have mines set 
  up in various places, mining all the gem-
  stones that have magical properties? What I 
  settled on was a corona around the planet, 
  a ring like Saturn’s. 
  Every few generations the gemstones 
  would shower down along the equatorial 
  ring. The gemstones had magical proper-
  ties that weren’t permanent, at least not 
  until monks from the church got them. 
  The church was founded by the guy who 
  
  36     Kobold Quarterly 8
  figured out how 
  to make the 
  gemstones’ mag-
  ical properties 
  permanent. This 
  gave great power 
  to the church, 
  and from there 
  the entire Abel-
  lican Church 
  was born in the 
  middle regions. 
  Building Co-
  rona kind of spiraled outward from there. 
  It took about six months.
  What is at the heart of Corona?
  Salvatore: The major struggle of Corona, 
  as I think it is in most fantasy and certainly 
  in our world, is: why are we here? What is 
  the whole point of it all? It manifests itself 
  in Corona within the Abellican Church, 
  which goes through a schism similar to the 
  one the Catholic Church went through in 
  the 11th century.
  In the Abellican Church, it’s over the 
  gemstones. One group says these are gifts 
  from god, we’re the people of god, so we 
  should keep the gemstones. The other sect 
  says, no, no, if we spread this out—and 
  this is where The Demon Awakens starts—if 
  we give these gemstones to people they’re 
  going to have better lives. We should be 
  sharing this magical wealth. 
  But it all comes back to questions like, 
  what’s the point of the religion and what’s 
  the point of the church? 
  That struggle is the most apparent in the 
  fourth book, Mortalis, where you have this 
  monk who questions whether there is life 
  after death. This monk is a poet and the 
  other monks think he’s a great philosopher 
  who’s helping them come to terms with 
  their faith. Is there really meaning? Is there 
  really more to life? But when the poet-
  monk starts sharing these same poems with 
  the people, the monks are afraid it will 
  shake the people’s faith. And the monks 
  need that faith to control the people, so 
  they kill the poet as a heretic.
  Mortalis seems to be the point in your 
  career at which all your writing deepens. 
  In all your books written after Mortalis, 
  for instance, your characters seem to 
  experience loss more profoundly.
  Salvatore: I don’t know that I’ll ever write 
  another book like Mortalis, and I hope I 
  never do. I wrote that book while I was 
  losing my brother to cancer and it was my 
  catharsis. That was where I was letting my 
  emotions, my fears, my hopes—all of it--
  play out on the page. I’ve never gone back 
  and re-read the book. I can’t. That book 
  was as important to me as anything I’ve 
  ever done.
  How has it been to return recently to the 
  early days of Corona with the Saga of the 
  First King series for Tor?
  Salvatore: It’s been a mixed blessing. 
  When I went back, I started going down 
  the wrong road with the character. I was 
  kind of going with what I know best and 
  that would be the Dark Elf model: put this 
  group of amazing heroes together and they 
  go walking through adventures. 
  That’s not what Bransen is all about. 
  There were supposed to be more trials in 
  his life than that. But I put the brakes on 
  and reminded myself of why I’m writing 
  Bransen and what I want to do. And now 
  I’m finishing the third book, The Dame, 
  and I am right back where I want to be 
  with him and his voice is loud and strong 
  again.
  How did you get involved with making a 
  computer game for 38 Studios?
  Salvatore: I was sitting at home a couple 
  of years ago and the phone rings. I pick it 
  up and the guy says, “Can I talk to Bob 
  Salvatore?” I say, “speaking.” And he says, 
  “Oh man, this is so cool! You’re my favorite 
  author. I’ve read all your books twice. This 
  is Curt Schilling.” I’m a big Red Sox fan, 
  obviously. I’m like, “Yeah, right.” And he 
  says, “No, this is really Curt Schilling.” 
  He was starting a video game company 
  and he wanted me to come in and design 
  the world.
  Curt flew me out to Kansas City with my 
  wife. It was Curt and a few of his friends. 
  Couple of them from Sony. Guys he’d 
  played EverQuest with for years. They told 
  me this idea they had for a video game. I 
  saw what they were doing and there was 
  one thing missing. I knew right away what 
  had to be done, but I wouldn’t tell them 
  right away. I made them wait overnight.
  We’ve put together this team that is 
  just unreal. I got together with my group 
  and we created a history of the world, the 
  cultures of the world, and the story of the 
  game. And that’s all I can tell you.
  When will the game come out?
  Salvatore: We won’t release it till it’s ready. 
  If you put a video game out there that’s not 
  ready, not polished, people won’t give you a 
  second chance.
  Any dark elves in the game?
  Salvatore. Drizzt won’t be in it. It’s com-
  pletely new. The world has a bigger history 
  than you can even imagine. My whole phi-
  losophy going into this was “deep threads.” 
  We’re going to have 150 people working 
  on this. We need deep threads. You need 
  a 10,000 year history so that everything 
  makes sense. When everyone sits down to 
  paint on the canvas that we’re creating, they 
  have all this history to draw on for consis-
  tency’s sake and for logic’s sake. That’s why 
  the players are able to go around the world 
  and, even if they’re not paying attention, 
  everything’s going to make sense. Why this 
  race interacts with these people like this 
  and why this is going on over here--it’s 
  going to all make sense.
  We spent six to eight months just build-
  ing those deep threads before we even 
  started on the game.
  You’ve mentioned elsewhere that working 
  with your son Geno on The Stowaway has 
  reminded you of why you write. Why do 
  you write?
  Salvatore: There are a lot of reasons why 
  I write. But primarily it’s to get those letters 
  from teenagers that begin, “I never read a 
  book until…” or “I couldn’t get my son 
  or daughter to read until I gave him your 
  book…”
  I was at a reading once on South Broad 
  Street in Philadelphia many, many years 
  ago and there was this young man who 
  looked like a gang-banger. He had the 
  baggy pants and the hat on backwards. And 
  he kept going to the back of the line when-
  ever more people would come. I’m think-
  ing he’s going to rob me or something. 
  Showing my suburban stupidity, right? 
  So this kid finally gets up to me and he 
  says, “You know, in high school I never 
  read a book but I did play D&D. I wanted 
  to play a dark elf and my DM threw 
  Homeland at me and said, ‘I’ll let you play 
  a dark elf but you’ve got to read that book.’ 
  So I threw it right back at him and said, ‘If 
  it’s any good they’d have made a movie out 
  of it.’ And he says, ‘You have to read this 
  book or I’m not letting you play a dark elf.’ 
  So I went home, started reading the book 
  and I had to stop when it was time to go 
  to school.
  He read right through the night and 
  wanted to tell me that now he was a litera-
  ture major at Tulane University.
  You hear stories like that and you realize 
  that words affect people. That people are 
  actually paying attention to what you’re 
  writing and it scares the hell out of me, but 
  it’s a pretty magical thing as well.
  What are you working on next”
  Salvatore: The Ghost King. It’s going to 
  be a very brutal book… I hope. After that, 
  we’ll have to see what happens.
  <
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    37
  
  38     Kobold Quarterly 8
  “Ah, yes, I see now. Note the dark orange 
  color of your bile? No wonder your rage 
  grows out of control. I’m afraid your 
  condition will only worsen without the 
  proper treatment.”
  “Can anything be done for me, doctor?”
  “Well, certainly my dear man. Just let 
  me get my stomach pump and purging 
  bucket, and we can get right to work.”
   
  —Doctor Winton Callow 
  to a concerned patient
  F
  rom the classical age through 
  to the latter stages of the 
  19th century, medicine was 
  dominated by the study of the four 
  humors—those essential elemental 
  liquids governing all health and well-
  being. In recent years, medical science 
  has consigned the four humors to the 
  trash heap, vilifying their use in the 
  prognosis and treatment of disease and 
  replacing them with modern methods 
  of diagnosis and intervention. Yet while 
  these humors are maligned and forgot-
  ten in modern life, they might play a 
  vital role in any fantasy world where 
  humorism (the study and use of the 
  four humors) can be a legitimate and 
  commonplace medical practice. 
  The Four Humors in History
  The four humors—that is, blood, 
  black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm—
  were first proposed in the writings of 
  classical Greek writers around 400 
  B.C. While Hippocrates was the first 
  to apply them to medicine, Galen 
  popularized the four humors. Widely 
  practiced, the study of the humors 
  dominated medicine and was virtu-
  ally unchallenged for more than 1,000 
  years. 
  Historically, the four humors were 
  linked to the seasons and the elements: 
  blood (or sanguine humor) was associ-
  ated with cheerfulness, air, and spring; 
  yellow bile (or choleric humor) was as-
  sociated with anger and irritability, fire, 
  and summer; black bile (or melancholic 
  humor) was associated with depression 
  and sadness, earth, and fall; and phlegm 
  (or phlegmatic humor) was associated 
  with calmness and apathy, water, and 
  winter. 
  All disease was attributed to a distur-
  bance or imbalance of the humors (also 
  known as dyscrasia) while good health 
  was the result of equilibrium or balance 
  between the humors (also known as 
  crasis). Emotional and mental well-
  being was also associated with the four 
  humors, and any disturbance in one’s 
  behavior or temperament was often 
  linked to an imbalance.  
  In medieval medical practice, the di-
  agnosis of disease consisted of checking 
  the fluids of the body, such as blood or 
  phlegm, for irregularities. Treatments 
  included bloodletting using a lancet 
  or leeches, induced vomiting, enemas, 
  and simply changing one’s diet to “even 
  up” the humors. 
  Eventually, belief in the four humors 
  faded due to the scientific discover-
  ies of Rudolf Virchow and others in 
  the 1800s, and it survives these days 
  only in the discussion of certain blood 
  diseases and various medical parlances 
  and sayings.
  The Four Humors in Fantasy
  Even though the humors and their 
  connection to the elements and seasons 
  are categorically discounted by modern 
  medical science, in a typical fantasy 
  world where magic is a tangible force 
  and the four elements influence the 
  very 
  planes, 
  study of 
  the four humors can change the way 
  sickness is examined and how various 
  symptoms are treated.
  The easiest way to incorporate the 
  four humors into a campaign is with 
  healers and clergy, whose study of the 
  humors forms the foundation for how 
  all ailments are identified and treated. 
  In this type of campaign, all clerics 
  with ranks in Heal understand the four 
  humors and their effects on the uni-
  verse around them. This expands how 
  the Heal skill can be described and 
  lends weight to the strange remedies or 
  practices of medieval healers. Deities 
  may also embody the four humors, 
  especially a deity of healing or disease, 
  and the rituals or histories of the gods 
  may relate to the four humors.  
  In a campaign where humorism ex-
  ists, the elements and the seasons can 
  have a far greater impact on health 
  and add color or flavor to the world. 
  An imbalance of the humors may 
  be the result of an imbalance in the 
  elemental planes or the presence of a 
  greater concentration of one element. 
  A person may feel melancholy near a 
  large group of xorn or more cantanker-
  ous or belligerent near a portal to the 
  Elemental Plane of Fire. The elemental 
  planes reflect the nature of the humors 
  in small but appreciable ways. For 
  instance, the Elemental Plane of Air 
  might be a plane of warm and moist 
  vapors, because these are among the 
  governing qualities of blood.    
  In a fantasy world the seasons might 
  create an imbalance of the humors 
  in creatures or even set their general 
  behavior. Dwarves might be tied to 
  Medieval Medicine
  The Four Humors
  By Phillip Larwood
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    39
  winter and, therefore phlegmatic in 
  nature; elves might be tied to spring 
  and therefore sanguine. The dwarves 
  would be generally unemotional while 
  the elves would be excessively cheer-
  ful, reflecting both the season of their 
  race and the humor that governs their 
  overall personalities. 
  Similarly, an elf in the fall might 
  become overly withdrawn or depressed 
  and a dwarf in summer warlike and 
  generally foul tempered, as their op-
  posing seasons and therefore humors 
  take hold. Their humors affect each 
  race’s  society and culture; that is, trade 
  negotiations with dwarves should 
  ideally occur in winter when they are 
  calmer and more rational, and elven 
  festivals might shift temparaments with 
  the seasons.
  New Uses for the Heal Skill
  The four humors can be presented 
  within a campaign primarily through 
  the Heal skill. In a fantasy world, 
  an imbalance of the humors might 
  produce very real conditions. The DCs 
  given below allow creatures to treat 
  various conditions or injuries more 
  effectively by applying the study of the 
  humors in appreciable ways. 
  All of these uses of the Heal skill 
  require a standard action to perform.
  In a campaign featuring the four 
  humors, healer’s kits typically contain 
  a lancet or jar of leeches, several glass 
  cups, various powders for mixing 
  emetics or enemas, and a small bowl 
  for collecting and examining bodily 
  discharges. Such kits are also known 
  as chirurgeon’s kits or leecher’s kits 
  (by those who suffered at the hands of 
  bogus healers).
  New Domain
  When the four humors are linked to 
  the gods, some clerics gain access to 
  the Medicine domain (also known as 
  the Humorism domain). Unlike the 
  Healing domain, the Medicine domain 
  has a more spells that cure or remove 
  negative conditions rather than simply 
  hit points.
  Medicine Domain  
  Deities gods of healing, medicine, 
  the elements, or seasons (and their rela-
  tionship to the humors), or disease.
  Granted Power +2 bonus on Heal 
  checks and a +2 bonus on saving 
  throws against disease.
  Medicine Domain Spells         
       
  1 remove paralysis
  2 remove disease
  3 chirurgeon’s touch*
  4 black weep*
  5 greater restoration 
  6 heal
  7 regenerate
  8 mask of humors*
  9 mass heal 
  * New spell.
  New Spells
  A variety of new spells are called for in 
  a campaign featuring the four humors. 
  Black Weep
  Necromancy
  Level: Clr 5, Medicine 4 
  Components: V, S
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Touch
  Target: Creature touched 
  Duration: Instantaneous 
  Saving Throw: Fort negates (harmless)
  Spell Resistance: Yes
  After finishing the incantation, the crea-
  ture you touch begins weeping glittering 
  black tears that vanish as quickly as they 
  appear.
  This spell removes the dazed, ex-
  hausted, fatigued, nauseated, sickened, 
  and stunned conditions from the 
  creature touched, as well as the follow-
  ing conditions or spells related to the 
  humor affected:
  Black Bile—Negates the effects of 
  crushing despair and of the frightened, 
  panicked, and shaken conditions.
  Blood—Negates wounding and 
  bleeding effects (such as from stirges 
  and weapons of wounding).   
  Phlegm—Negates the effects of calm 
  emotions and slow and of the fascinated 
  condition. 
  Yellow Bile—Negates the effects of  
  rage and any anger-based effect. 
  One humor must be selected when 
  this spell is cast, and the spell varies 
  depending on the one chosen. The 
  description above is for black bile; an 
  imbalance of phlegm means the crea-
  ture weeps clear, slimy tears while those 
  with excess of blood weep blood and 
  yellow bile weeps yellow, oily tears.
  Chirurgeon’s Touch
  Transmutation
  Level: Clr 4, Medicine 3
  Components: V, S
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Touch
  Target: 1 creature 
  Duration: 1 round/level 
  Saving Throw: No
  Spell Resistance: None
  You complete the spell and the target feels 
  new knowledge flood through her body. 
  This spell grants a +10 competence 
  bonus on Heal checks and the ability 
  to take 10 on Heal checks even while 
  rushed or threatened. As a swift action, 
  Healing Humors Table
  Task  
    
   
   
   
   
  DC
  Check bodily fluids to identify an imbalance in humors 
  15 1
  Remove dazed, fatigued, or sickened condition 
   
  20 2
  Heal a gangrenous or bleeding wound.  
   
   
  25 2
  Remove exhausted, nauseated, or stunned condition  
  25 2
  1 If the healer successfully identifies an imbalance in the patient’s humors, he gains a +5 bonus on 
  all future Heal checks to treat diseases related to the specific imbalance or to perform one of the 
  tasks presented above.
  2 This requires using a method such as bleeding, purging, or cupping (using a burning hot glass 
  or ceramic cup pressed against the skin to draw out bad humors). If the healer fails this check by 
  5 or more the condition worsens by one step (such as going from dazed to stunned). If this is not 
  possible, he deals 2 points of Con damage to the victim.
  
  40     Kobold Quarterly 8
  the recipient can expend the spell to 
  cast cure moderate wounds or lesser 
  restoration with a CL equal to the cleric 
  who cast chirugeon’s touch.
  Mask of Humors
  Conjuration
  Level: Clr 9, Medicine 8  
  Components: V, S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Personal
  Duration: 1 minute/level 
  Saving Throw: None
  Spell Resistance: No
  An invisible mask composed of all four 
  humors swirls around your face, protect-
  ing you from a range of negative and 
  harmful effects.
  This spell creates an invisible mask 
  composed of black bile, blood, phlegm, 
  and yellow bile. The mask prevents 
  you from becoming dazed, exhausted, 
  fatigued, nauseated, sickened, or 
  stunned. It also gives you complete 
  immunity to all mind-affecting abilities 
  and spells which affect your emotions 
  (antipathy, crushing despair, fear, etc.) 
  and to all natural diseases and poisons. 
  Material Component: A vial filled 
  with a solution composed of each of 
  the four humors.
  Touch of Dyscrasia        
  Necromancy
  Level: Clr 4, Sor/Wiz 4  
  Components: V, S, M
  Casting Time: 1 standard action
  Range: Touch
  Target: Creature touched
  Duration: 1 round/level 
  Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
  Spell Resistance: Yes
  You touch the victim and afflict him with 
  a condition of your choosing.  
  You channel the energy of the four 
  humors through your touch, causing a 
  powerful chemical imbalance in your 
  target. You must succeed on a touch 
  attack to strike a target. The subject is 
  immediately dazed, exhausted, fa-
  tigued, nauseated, or sickened for the 
  spell’s duration. The condition ends as 
  soon as the spell’s duration ends.   
  Material Component: A drop of 
  black bile, blood, phlegm or yellow 
  bile.
  New Magic Items
  A campaign featuring the humors 
  needs a few useful magic items.
  Leech Sphere
  Aura faint necromancy; CL 5th
  Slot —; Price 750 gp
  Extremely valuable as both a healing 
  tool and weapon, this object appears as a 
  black cold slimy sphere composed of hun-
  dreds of living, intertwined leeches.
  The leech sphere extracts bad humors 
  from the blood. When a command 
  word is spoken, a swarm of leeches 
  leaves the sphere and attaches itself to 
  the nearest willing, helpless, or bound 
  target. As soon as the leeches grab hold, 
  they begin sucking the blood from the 
  creature. This is a standard action and 
  grants the wielder a +5 competence 
  bonus on Heal checks to cure diseases 
  or conditions related to infected blood 
  (including diseases like filth fever). This 
  never drains enough blood to cause 
  Con damage or other negative side-ef-
  fects. A second command word causes 
  the leeches to rejoin the sphere.         
  In emergencies, the wielder of a leech 
  sphere can use it as a weapon, hurling it 
  at a target while speaking a third com-
  mand word. When used in this way 
  the sphere has a range of 30 ft. and the 
  wielder makes ranged touch attacks. 
  If he hits, the sphere unravels and the 
  swarm of leeches sticks to its victim 
  and drains blood. This attack deals 1d6 
  points of Con damage to the victim 
  and sickens them for 1 minute. 
  A successful DC 14 Fort save stops 
  the creature from becoming sickened 
  but does not prevent the Con dam-
  age. This use destroys the leech sphere, 
  and its leeches become non-magical 
  vermin.
  The sphere has no effect on undead 
  or creatures without blood (such as 
  constructs and elementals).
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, 
  vampiric touch, crafter must have 5 
  ranks in Heal; Cost 375 gp, 30 XP
  Sawbones Scalpel
  Aura faint necromancy; CL 9th
  Slot weapon; Price 18,000 gp
  This long thin blade has a bone or ivory 
  handle and is kept razor sharp by those 
  who use it. While healers use this magical 
  tool to perform surgery on patients with-
  out anesthetic, the scalpel can also be used 
  as a very effective weapon. 
  A sawbones scalpel is treated as a +1 
  keen dagger in combat; however, its true 
  power lies in the ability to anaesthetize 
  wounds. Any creature struck by the 
  scalpel must make a DC 13 Will save 
  or be numbed for 1d4 rounds. This 
  numbing effect prevents the victim 
  from feeling pain and imposes a –2 
  penalty on all attack rolls, damage rolls, 
  and skill checks involving fine manipu-
  lation (Disable Device, Open Locks, 
  Sleight of Hand, etc.). 
  A creature that fails its saving throw 
  against the anaesthetizing ability of the 
  scalpel may not be aware it has been 
  wounded if it was surprised or caught 
  flat-footed. This makes it a valuable 
  tool for those with the sneak attack 
  ability such as assassins and rogues.   
  Requirements Craft Magic Arms 
  and Armor, hold person; Cost 9,000 gp, 
  720 XP
  Staff of Humors
  Aura moderate enchantment; CL 8th
  Slot —; Price 13,875 gp
  This staff is composed of stout wood and 
  topped by a sphere of bilious liquid that 
  constantly changes color from dull black 
  to rich crimson to glistening blue to 
  faintly glowing yellow before starting the 
  whole process over again. 
  Because of the nature of the spells 
  placed in this staff, they are typically 
  constructed by bards. When casting a 
  spell associated with a particular humor 
  the sphere changes color to match the 
  humor in question.      
  This staff has the following spells:
  calm emotions (1 charge; the sphere 
  turns blue when casting this spell) 
  crushing despair (2 charges; the sphere 
  turns black when casting this spell)
  good hope (2 charges; the sphere turns 
  red when casting this spell) 
  rage (1 charge; the spell turns yellow 
  when casting this spell) 
  Requirements Craft Staff, calm emo-
  tions, crushing despair, good hope, rage; 
  Cost 6,937 gp, 555 XP
   <
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    41
  I
  ntelligent items present wondrous 
  opportunities, yet in most games, 
  these items are rare. Presented here 
  are four swords of varying levels of 
  magical intelligence. Each item has its 
  own story with plenty of room for a 
  GM to customize the item to fit within 
  her campaign. 
  In addition, each sword presents a 
  hook for the GM to use to introduce 
  the weapon. While these swords have 
  a value listed, they should not be avail-
  able at Ye Olde Magic Shoppe. Instead, 
  this value is provided so GMs can keep 
  the relative value of items among all 
  the players even.
  Thane’s Honor, 
  The Sword of State
  By dwarven tradition, the eldest son 
  of the clan’s thane assumes the mantle 
  on his father’s death. So it has gone 
  for millennia, and clan Stonebreaker 
  was no exception. However, they faced 
  a difficult proposition 300 years ago. 
  Their long-lived leader, Thane Ragnar, 
  was near death and desperately wanted 
  a son. Though his beard was thinning, 
  his wife was able to conceive a boy and 
  they named him Amund. Ragnar’s spir-
  it still strong, and he set about teaching 
  his young son rulership and statecraft, 
  for Ragnar knew he had little time left 
  under the mountain. 
  The thane’s high priest worried 
  Amund would ascend to lead the clan 
  while ill prepared for the difficult 
  politics of the dwarven world. Secretly 
  he began work with the greatest of 
  the ground. Renewed, she took up the 
  weapon and thrust it into the belly of 
  the surprised dragon, slaying the beast. 
  Annasei became a hero that day, 
  beloved by those who lived in ter-
  ror of the dragon. She was quickly 
  thrown into the position of leader of 
  a small kingdom; though against her 
  wishes, she relented for the common 
  good. Much like Amund, she ruled 
  with a reputation of fairness. Also like 
  Amund, her time as a ruler didn’t last 
  long. An assassin, sent by agents of the 
  God of Vengeance, murdered Annasei 
  in her sleep, and made off with her 
  sword and armor. 
  In the Present
  Thane’s honor has not been seen since. 
  Some speculate the weapon is cursed. 
  Others believe the weapon is not con-
  tent providing aid to only one person. 
  Still others hypothesize that thane’s 
  honor had nothing to do with the 
  deaths of its previous owners and that 
  it would make a fine sword for a good 
  and fair ruler.
  Thane’s Honor
  NG intelligent item; +1 defending 
  greatsword of rulership
  Properties defending, rulership
  Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 13; Ego 6
  Communication empathy; Languages 
  Common, Dwarven; understands but 
  is limited in response due to limita-
  tions of empathy
  Senses hearing, vision 60 ft.
  Skills Diplomacy +16, Listen +0, Sense 
  Smarter than the 
  Average Sword
  By John E. Ling Jr.
  weaponsmiths in the clan to build a 
  gift for Amund. The high priest spent 
  years forging the perfect sword and, in 
  due time, presented the young dwarf 
  with the greatsword Thane’s Honor. The 
  high priest trusted the young lad would 
  grow into the greatsword in due time.
  It was designed to defend the Thane 
  during times of trouble and, most 
  importantly, imbued with the spark of 
  intelligence and the abilities of debate 
  and reason. Young Amund would not 
  fall prey to the brutal world of dwarven 
  politics so easily with it at his side. See-
  ing the blade in his son’s hands, Thane 
  Ragnar died.
  Though Amund was young by dwar-
  ven standards, he had learned much in 
  his time with his father, and aided by 
  thane’s honor, the young leader quickly 
  developed a reputation as a fair ruler. 
  Alas, others were jealous of the young 
  thane. Civil war erupted among the 
  clans, and Amund, while a capable 
  warrior, fell in battle. His sword disap-
  peared that day for 30 long years.
  A Change of State
  Eventually, an elven paladin by the 
  name of Annasei Featherbow sought 
  to slay a dragon, ending a long and 
  bloody reign of terror. She fought 
  gallantly, but the dragon sundered her 
  sword and battered her body during 
  the long and brutal fight. Weaponless 
  and near death, Annasei fell to the 
  ground as the dragon readied its final 
  attack on the paladin. In that instant, 
  Annasei saw thane’s honor, lying on 
  
  42     Kobold Quarterly 8
  Motive +15, Spot +0
  Value 24,725 gp
  Personality Thane’s honor is conser-
  vative in action. It prefers to take a 
  defense posture, often encouraging its 
  owner to negotiate rather than fight. 
  Even if combat breaks out, the blade 
  continues to encourage its owner to 
  proceed carefully through the battle, 
  seeking an opportune moment to 
  negotiate a truce.
  GM Tip Thane’s honor currently has 
  no owner. Or rather, the current owner 
  does not really know what it has. The 
  assassin who killed Annasei suffered an 
  “accident” of his own after leaving the 
  paladin’s home. He failed to detect a 
  pit in the floor of the forest and fell 50 
  ft., where he was beset upon by a ten-
  headed hydra. Injured from the fall, 
  the assassin proved no match for the 
  hydra. The sword lays unclaimed in the 
  hydra’s lair, waiting for a worthy hero 
  to rescue it from the pit where it lies.
  Judge’s Blade, 
  the Sword of Temporal Justice
  The exact history of this finely crafted 
  blade is lost to time, but markings 
  along the blade and the style used to 
  build the quillons and hilt suggest 
  the blade is quite old. Regardless of 
  when it was forged, Judge’s Blade was 
  certainly known to exist around 500 
  years ago. Some scholars believe that is 
  the point at which the sword became 
  sentient; others suspect the blade was 
  always capable of such thought but 
  simply never felt the need to demon-
  strate it prior to those events.
  On that fateful day, a trial was held. 
  The vile necromancer Adallus the Black 
  was brought to trial by the Legion of 
  Light—a militant sect— for his crimes 
  against decency. It is unclear why 
  the subsequent events happened, but 
  scholars agree that demons beset the 
  court that day. The demons freed Adal-
  lus the Black from his bindings and 
  slew Menicus Everbright, the leader of 
  the sect and the wielder of the sword 
  that today is known as Judge’s Blade. 
  A young paladin named Herbert 
  Bonnivar, distraught at seeing his lead-
  er slain, took up Everbright’s sword. It 
  was at that moment the sword spoke 
  for the first time. The blade directed 
  young Herbert through the treacher-
  ous combat. Though the demons were 
  slain, Adallus the Black escaped his 
  judgment and was never seen again. 
  Many paladins perished that day, 
  though Bonnivar himself himself sur-
  vived the fierce battle and his injuries 
  and became a hero to his church. 
  In the Present
  Judge’s Blade has passed through the 
  hands of several individuals, always 
  ending up with those who decide the 
  guilt or innocence of those accused 
  of crimes. Bonnivar passed the sword 
  to another paladin deemed worthy 
  of possessing such a fine blade; that 
  paladin bequeathed the blade to a king. 
  It switched hands several other times 
  before seeming to fade from history.
  Judge’s Blade
  LN intelligent item; +2 axiomatic 
  longsword
  Properties axiomatic
  Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 10; Ego 11
  Communication speech; Languages 
  Common, Draconic, Terran
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., hearing.
  Skills Listen +2, Spot +2
  Spell-Like Abilities At Will—detect 
  magic; 3/day—hold person (DC 15), 
  zone of truth (DC 14)
  Value 53,915 gp
  Personality Judge’s Blade has a quick 
  wit and impressive powers of observa-
  tion. If it determines somebody within 
  its immediate area is guilty, it quickly 
  speaks up, seeking to impart justice 
  against the wrongdoer. Even if a crime 
  seems justified to the perpetrator, to 
  Judge’s Blade, the ends never justify the 
  means.
  GM Tip Adallus the Black sold 
  his soul long ago to ensure demonic 
  protection should he ever fall captive. 
  Adallus barely escaped with his life that 
  day and went into seclusion for many 
  long years. During that time, he under-
  went the transformation to become a 
  lich and took a new name—Machnar 
  the Foul. Intent on revenge, Machnar 
  plotted the destruction of the Legion 
  of Light, tempting a weak-willed 
  paladin into turning and becoming a 
  blackguard. The blackguard’s machina-
  tions destroyed the Legion of Light 
  before Machnar snuffed out his life to 
  keep him quiet. 
  Still not content in his revenge, 
  Machnar sought the blade that saved 
  the young paladin on the day of his 
  trial. The lich destroyed the then 
  owner—a half-orc warrior intent upon 
  ending the orc raids threatening to 
  tear his region apart—and brought the 
  blade back to his sanctum. There the 
  blade now sits, locked away in a chest.
  Pious Hunter, 
  the Sword of Spiritual Justice 
  This weapon resembles Judge’s Blade. 
  It is unclear whether the two swords 
  were created by the same weaponsmith 
  or if Pious Hunter’s style was copied 
  from Judge’s Blade later. Regardless, 
  they share a common point in their 
  background—both were the blades of a 
  paladin from the Legion of Light.
  Pious Hunter’s known history indi-
  cates that the sword was first created 
  as a simple masterwork weapon to be 
  used by a young paladin named Jenna 
  Lightbrow. Like all adepts entering 
  the sect, Lightbrow was provided with 
  a longsword, a shield, and a suit of 
  chainmail armor. 
  Lightbrow dedicated her life to the 
  Legion of Light, specifically to the task 
  of hunting and destroying undead. 
  Through a combination of her well-
  honed skills and sheer luck (though 
  Rulership Weapon
  Weapons imbued with this ability 
  aid the owner in diplomatic matters. 
  The weapon grants the owner a +5 
  circumstance bonus to Diplomacy 
  and Sense Motive. The weapon 
  only bestows these bonuses while 
  sheathed.
  Aura faint transmutation; CL 5th; 
  Price +4,375 gp
  Requirements Craft Magic Arms 
  and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, 
  creator must have 5 ranks in Diplo-
  macy and Sense Motive
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    43
  some would say it was actually divine 
  intervention), Lightbrow traveled the 
  world, seeking any sign of undead. 
  As her skill advanced, Lightbrow paid 
  handsomely to have the wizards of the 
  sect imbue her sword and armor with 
  magical abilities. 
  Late in her career, Lightbrow sought 
  once again to have her blade improved 
  upon by the casters of the Legion of 
  Light. She spoke to a wizened elven 
  wizard by the name of Sephilai Moon-
  flower; he explained to Lightbrow that 
  he could imbue the sword with intel-
  lect—making it a reasoning, thinking 
  being to aid her in her struggles against 
  undead. Sephilai explained the process, 
  and they agreed upon the abilities to 
  bestow upon the sword. 
  Lightbrow lived a long life, fighting 
  undead long into the years in which 
  most enjoy retirement. When she was 
  finally too old to continue the fight 
  with her weapons, she passed her 
  sword on to another member of the 
  Legion of Light, knowing pious hunter 
  would aid her companion as he took 
  up Lightbrow’s cause.
  The Pious Hunter
  LG intelligent item; +2 holy longsword
  Properties holy
  Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 10; Ego 11
  Communication speech; Languages 
  Celestial, Common, Elven
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., hearing
  Skills Knowledge (religion) +12, Listen 
  +2, Spot +2
  Spell-Like Abilities 1/day—consecrate, 
  remove paralysis
  Value: 49,915 gp
  Personality Pious hunter, much like 
  judge’s blade, possesses a strong intel-
  lect, but it also possesses a strong sense 
  of humor, and it often makes jokes—
  even during the darkest moments of 
  combat. The sword also loves to prattle 
  on about religion, demonstrating its 
  deep understanding of the topic to all 
  those who will listen—and to those 
  who won’t.
  GM Tips Lightbrow was on the trail 
  of Machnar the Foul, though she was 
  unaware of whom he really was. She 
  never caught up to the lich, however. 
  Sadly, for both Lightbrow and her un-
  derstudy, Machnar destroyed the order 
  from within. Pious hunter fell into the 
  hands of one of the demons traffick-
  ing with Machnar and his blackguard 
  lackey. Despite the terrible pain the 
  sword inflicted, the demon took it with 
  him back to the Abyss. There it sat for 
  a generation, before the demon grew 
  bored of it and gave it to a minion to 
  sell on the material plane.
  The minion had orders to sell the 
  weapon only to a collector who would 
  not actually use the blade. Finally, after 
  years of searching, the minion located 
  a buyer—a rakshasa sorcerer by the 
  name of Evvellwinj. The rakshasa, to 
  this day, keeps the sword hidden away 
  within its hoard.
  Curtana,
  The Sword of Mercy
  Curtana was not always a sword but 
  used to be a man—specifically Saint 
  Curtana. Jimmof Curtana was an 
  ascetic, his only possession a short 
  sword. Through the grace of the gods, 
  he traveled the lands, seeking to aid 
  those who needed it most. Curtana’s 
  work often pitted him against tyrants, 
  despots, and slave traders. Dangerous 
  work, to be sure, but work Curtana felt 
  was necessary. “After all,” he would say 
  to friends, “if not me, who?”
  Throughout his career, Curtana and 
  his friends brought about the demise 
  of countless overlords and destroyed 
  dozens of slave smuggling operations. 
  It was during the latter that Saint Cur-
  tana ceased being a man. 
  Curtana had gone out on his own, 
  as he often did. This time, he sought a 
  band of pirates known for trafficking in 
  humans and demi-humans. 
  Curtana trailed the miscreants to 
  their hideout, where he slowly inca-
  pacitated them one by one. His luck 
  ran out, however, as a particularly 
  stealthy pirate snuck up behind him 
  while he was freeing prisoners. The 
  pirate knocked Curtana out, and when 
  he came to several days later, he was 
  bound, his head placed on a chopping 
  block. 
  The leader of the pirates wielded 
  Curtana’s short sword. He 
  thought it devilishly ironic to use 
  the saint’s own weapon to behead 
  him. The pirate put on quite a 
  show, verbally abusing Curtana 
  
  44     Kobold Quarterly 8
  detests the abuse of children, and he 
  has made it his life’s work to roam the 
  city seeking those who would bring 
  harm to the youngest of innocents.
  Barnard, however, is in the twilight 
  of his life. He desperately seeks a like-
  minded individual to carry on the tra-
  ditions of Curtana and fight for those 
  unable to fight for themselves. Re-
  cently, Barnard has researched a likely 
  successor and has arranged to meet the 
  person. Should the selected individual 
  meet with Barnard and Curtana’s ap-
  proval, the old rogue simply hands over 
  the blade; a single tear streaks down 
  his cheek before he slumps into a chair 
  and passes away from old age.
  In this scenario, you are arranging to 
  give your player quite a piece of equip-
  ment. Be sure to put her through the 
  paces—Barnard would ask all sorts of 
  questions and, likely, even expect the 
  character to show her chops by resolv-
  ing a mission.
   <
  Coming Next Issue 
  New toys and fertile beginnings... Kobold Quarterly brings 
  you a springtime revel of lusty elves, cruel fey lords, and all the 
  things a fertile imagination can dream up when the sap quickens. 
  Join us for a wild baccanalean ride into the Greenwood!  
  Bow to the Inevitable 
   
  by Tim and Eileen  Connors
  The Law is the truth,and the truth brings inevitable Justice.
  Fey Lords and Ladies 
   
  by Kobold Secret Author #1
  Who are the lords and ladies of the Summer Kingdoms, the masters of the 
  Fey lands, and the ladies who rule the deep woods? An introduction to the 
  Fey ruling class, underclass, and their pawns and powers.
  Ecology of the Maedar  
  by Ross Byers
  Wild and full of power, the maedar are not who you think they are. Drink 
  up, and learn their secrets.
  Plus,  a set of new 4th Edition rituals, some dinosaurs, a bat god you don’t 
  want to miss, and all the rich, meaty, and shockingly inspiring gaming 
  goodness we can find. 
  Not to mention a possible interview with Dave Arneson, the co-inventor 
  of our hobby, plus some surprises for green and woodsy characters.
  for some time before offering him the 
  chance to join forces with the pirates. 
  When Curtana refused, as expected, 
  the pirate swung the short sword in a 
  high arc, bringing it down on Curtana’s 
  exposed neck.
  The blade shattered with a thunder-
  ous boom. The pirate leader fell, slain 
  by the thunderstroke. According to 
  witnesses, Curtana smiled knowingly, 
  then simply vanished in a flash of light, 
  and the shattered blade reformed into a 
  newly sanctified holy weapon.
  Since that time, Curtana’s spirit has 
  occupied the blade he made famous. 
  He guides the weapon’s wielder, always 
  seeking those who would oppress and 
  do harm. 
  Curtana
  NG intelligent item; +4 merciful short 
  sword
  Properties merciful
  Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 10; Ego 25
  Communication speech; Languages 
  Celestial, Common, Infernal, Orc
  Senses blindsense, darkvision 60 ft., 
  hearing
  Skills: Listen +4, Search +14, Spot +4
  Spell-Like Abilities At will—read 
  magic; 3/day—daze monster (DC 16), 
  hold person (DC 17), locate creature
  Special Purpose capture those who 
  harm innocents.
  Special Power wielder gains a +2 luck 
  bonus on attacks, saves, and checks 
  (while fulfilling special purpose)
  Value 190,310 gp
  Personality Much as in life, Curtana 
  revels in all that the world offers. Ever 
  cheerful, he beseeches upon those who 
  possess him to protect the innocent, 
  often imploring, “If not you, then 
  who?”
  GM Tips Curtana has a spectacular 
  history, often accomplishing tasks 
  that should be impossible. Currently, 
  a swordsman named Merle Barnard 
  owns the sword. Barnard and Curtana 
  share a love of song and a joy for life—
  and a loathing for those who would 
  harm the innocent. Barnard especially 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    45
  I
  magine the party wizard careening 
  across the beer-slicked floor with 
  angry peasants launching mugs at 
  her as she slides by, the fighter wildly 
  waving a broken chair while perched 
  precariously on top of a rickety table 
  about to be smashed by the town 
  brute, or the rogue swinging to their 
  rescue dangling from the chandelier. 
  These images are iconic, and having 
  a brawl in a pub is a great way to spice 
  up an evening’s play. You can even set 
  a finale there, where the number of 
  innocent bystanders makes it tougher 
  for good-aligned PCs to break out the 
  area-effect spells. 
  A barroom brawl can fill many roles. 
  It can be the pseudo-friendly, machis-
  mo-filled challenge where everyone 
  awakes hours after with a headache 
  but no serious wounds. It can be the 
  perfectly choreographed diversion 
  needed to cover up other deeds. It can 
  be a deadly earnest fight for the safety 
  of the town. It can start as an innocent 
  misunderstanding only to turn sour 
  in a single palpable drunken moment, 
  going too far and escalating an aggres-
  sion that can end only in regret. These 
  fights are different things to different 
  people, and with a little practice, it 
  is easy to start looking at your local 
  drinking hole with tactical eye. 
  Spice Up Combat
  The chaotic whirlwind of a brawls can 
  be a new arena for PCs raised on more 
  straightforward challenges. Unarmed 
  combat is usually extremely inefficient, 
  which at first glance seems to make it 
  uninteresting, but it opens up tactical 
  opportunities that encourage cinematic 
  and unorthodox play precisely because 
  standard strategies are less useful.
  Improvised weapons: Most fantasy 
  cities are civilized enough that drawing 
  blades will have serious repercussions 
  with the law but not so civilized that 
  clubbing an opponent with a chair 
  leg is out of bounds. For some general 
  advice on using improvised weapons 
  most effectively, see “Eight Ways to Up 
  the Action!” (Kobold Quarterly #3).
  Chairs are obvious choices (treat 
  them as clubs), but they are also fragile 
  and may break on a successful hit (with 
  hardness 0 and 5 hp; they suffer the 
  same amount of damage they inflict). 
  Storage containers, such as smaller 
  ceramic amphorae and casks, are some-
  what sturdier; they deal damage like 
  clubs but have hardness 5 and 1-5 hp. 
  Larger amphorae or kegs could also be 
  available, but only the strongest brawl-
  ers can even lift them (requiring a DC 
  15-25 Strength check), but they deal 
  significantly more damage (2d8 hp).
  Mugs of ale make memorable thrown 
  weapons, shattering upon impact and 
  inflicting damage comparable to a 
  sling. A bowl of piping hot soup or a 
  pan fresh off the fire is even better and 
  add 1d3 fire damage. 
   Finally, sprinkle squares with broken 
  glass or ceramic as windows and trays 
  of mugs are smashed during the com-
  bat. Treat these as caltrops for those 
  without shoes, and even well-shod 
  characters suffer 1d6 points of damage 
  from a fall (or trip) into such a square 
  and another 1d3 points when exiting 
  or standing up (unless they expend a 
  full-round action). 
   Bull rushes: Few players will forget 
  being bull rushed into a wall, window, 
  or fireplace. Each 5-ft. square that a 
  character would be pushed beyond 
  what is sufficient to place him next to 
  a wall inflicts 1d6 points of nonlethal 
  damage (plus Strength or other bo-
  nuses). Also, allow the attacker to make 
  a free Strength check against the wall’s 
  break DC (20 for normal wooden 
  walls) to send the victim crashing 
  through to the other side. With glass 
  windows, the impact is less forceful 
  (causing 1d6 less nonlethal damage), 
  but the glass shards deal 1d6 points 
  of lethal damage. Ending in a large fire-
  place inflicts 2d6 points of fire damage 
  and requires a DC 15 Reflex save to 
  avoid catching fire.
   
  Crank Up the Chaos
  One of the most difficult aspects of 
  a traditional brawl for the DM is the 
  sheer number of participants: the more 
  the merrier but, also, the more difficult 
  to adjudicate. The following system ac-
  counts for the many nameless combat-
  ants in a chaotic brawl.
   1) First, assign a rough area to the 
  mob and assume that every square 
  is either occupied or threatened by 
  a combatant. Moving through these 
  spaces inflicts 1d3 points of non-lethal 
  damage per 10 ft. of movement; a DC 
  15 Reflex save halves this damage. 
  Alternatively, a character can avoid any 
  damage by tumbling (as if to avoid 
  attacks of opportunity) or by moving 
  their speed as a full-round action.
   2) At the end of each character’s turn, 
  determine the number of adjacent 
  squares occupied by these name-
  less brawlers. Roll 1d4 for each such 
  square; the character suffers one attack, 
  which is considered to be flanking, for 
  each 1 rolled. If the mob has reason to 
  dislike a particular character (e.g. the 
  party rogue whose cheating triggered 
  Tossing Kegs and Smashing Chairs
  How to Stage a Great Barroom Brawl
  by Steven Robert
  
  46     Kobold Quarterly 8
  the fracas), increase the odds of target-
  ing that character by also including 
  each 2 rolled.
   3) Assign a total hp to the mob 
  (rather than track individual mem-
  bers). To resolve area spells, estimate 
  the number of affected brawlers and 
  apply the results proportionately. As 
  the mob’s hit points fall, reduce its size; 
  most mobs will disperse when reduced 
  to half their hit points.
   Of course, never use these rules to 
  describe the PC’s principal opponents.
  Emphasize the Terrain
   PCs may not immediately recognize it, 
  but taverns offer countless opportuni-
  ties for innovative use of terrain during 
  combat. The classic examples are tables, 
  slippery floors, and chandeliers.
  Tables: Tables may be meant for 
  eating and card-playing, but they also 
  offer numerous options to enterprising 
  combatants. Standing on one grants 
  higher ground (+1 to attack rolls) but 
  also leaves a character vulnerable to 
  being thrown off (inflicting 1d3 points 
  of nonlethal damage and leaving the 
  character prone unless they succeed on 
  a DC 20 Tumble check) either because 
  of a bull rush or because the table col-
  lapses following a well-placed strike. 
  Typical tables have AC 2, hardness 5, 
  and 10-15 hp (or break DC 18-23). 
  Old or poorly made tables have 
  weak spots to be exploited. A creature 
  next to such a table may notice that 
  it is rickety; as a move action, it can 
  make a Craft (carpentry), Knowledge 
  (Architecture and Engineering), or 
  Disable Device check (at DC 15) to 
  identify the weak point, or a DC 20 
  Spot check. That character then ignores 
  hardness, automatically scores a criti-
  cal hit on any successful strike, and 
  receives a +5 circumstance bonus on 
  break attempts.
  Characters can flip tables over—
  always a dramatic way to start a fight. 
  This requires two free hands and a DC 
  5-8 Strength check (depending on 
  sturdiness) if the table is empty. Raise 
  the DC by 10 for each Medium size 
  creature standing on it (or 5/15 per 
  small/large creature).
  Slippery surfaces: Areas covered in 
  spilled ale or greasy food pose special 
  challenges. Treat them as difficult 
  terrain, requiring a DC 10 Balance 
  check to run or charge or after suffer-
  ing damage, adding 2 to the DC of 
  any other Balance or Tumble check, 
  and rendering creatures without five 
  ranks in Balance flat-footed. More 
  importantly, such terrain can easily be 
  used for cinematic effect in combat. If 
  a creature is bull rushed along such a 
  surface, the pushed distance is doubled 
  and the character must make a Balance 
  check or fall prone (DC = 10 + the dif-
  ference in the bull rush checks).
  Creating these conditions is not dif-
  ficult: small kegs or casks cover a single 
  5-ft. square while larger ones substan-
  tially more. Slicks can be produced 
  during melee, by characters intention-
  ally smashing stacked kegs, or even by 
  ranged attacks that miss their targets 
  but instead puncture a barrel (imagine 
  the burly fighter’s surprise when his 
  own improvised weapon trips him!).
  For a high fantasy setting, a waxed 
  bar also provides a slippery surface: the 
  bar’s narrowness increases the Balance 
  DCs to 15 for running or charging or 
  for taking damage. A fall to the floor 
  inflicts 1d3 points of nonlethal damage 
  (plus another 1d6 if the character falls 
  in a shower of mugs). Climbing onto 
  a bar also grants the higher ground 
  bonus. 
  The key to using the bart effectively is 
  luring the PCs onto it to set up a bull 
  rush, either by tempting them with 
  an opponent already atop it or taking 
  cover behind it (and harrying them 
  with thrown casks of beer). 
  Chandeliers: Prosperous establish-
  ments may have a hanging light fixture, 
  which can be tempting during combat. 
  Swashbuckling rogues may leap to the 
  chandelier and swing to someone’s 
  rescue. 
  Reaching a chandelier requires a 
  standard jump and grabbing it a DC 
  10 Str or Dex check (player’s choice). 
  The chandelier doubles the horizontal 
  distance of the jump, and the PC may  
  also drop to a lower floor (decrease 
  the effective distance fallen by 10 ft. 
  with a DC 15 Jump check). A PC who 
  misses the chandelier can make a DC 
  15 Reflex save to dangle awkwardly 
  before falling (reducing falling damage 
  by 10 ft.).
  And few events will energize a 
  combat more than a well-placed arrow 
  dropping the entire chandelier (see 
  Table 2 for chandelier hp, hardness, 
  and AC). Smaller chandeliers may be 
  held up with a single rope or chain se-
  cured to one side, making them vulner-
  able. Large chandeliers have multiple 
  supports; give them a chance to fall 
  equal to the fraction of support missing 
  at the beginning of each round.
   A large iron chandelier (200 lbs. or 
  more) deals 1d6 points of damage per 
  10 ft. of falling distance to all those 
  below it. A smaller one (100-200 lbs.) 
  deals half that. Characters under the 
  chandelier must make a DC 15 Reflex 
  save or be pinned; escaping a pin 
  Table 1: Improvised Weapons  
  Item  
   
  Damage 
  Hardness    hp 
  Str DC to lift  
     Amphorae, Small 
  1d6 
  1 
  5 
   
  10
   Amphorae, Large 
  2d8 
  3 
  10 
   
  20
  Bench 
   
  1d12 
  2 
  8 
   
  10
  Cask, Small 
   
  1d6 
  2 
  6 
   
  10
  Cask, Large; or keg 
  2d8 
  5 
  15 
   
  20 
    
  Chair 
   
  1d6 
  0 
  5 
   
  —
  Mug  
   
  1d6 
  — shatter on impact —   
  —
  Soup, boiling hot 
  1d6+1d3 fire  
   
   
  —
  Broken glass or mugs 
  1d3 or 1d6 if falling or tripping 
   
  —
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    47
  requires a DC 10 Strength check as 
  a standard action (and leaves the PC 
  prone).
   Use the Entire Menu
  Taverns serve food and drink, and it 
  pays to remind your players of that, 
  even during combat. Characters 
  drenched in alcohol make take a -2 
  circumstance penalty on Hide checks, 
  and bull-rushed PCs may sprawl into a 
  table full of greasy food.
  Tapping Kegs: Kegs of ale can be shak-
  en and tapped (usually with a hammer 
  and a spigot, but a dagger will do in 
  a pinch) as a full-round action. With 
  a ranged touch attack, a keg can then 
  be pointed toward a character within 
  10 ft., who must succeed on a DC 10 
  Concentration check to cast spells and 
  suffers a -2 penalty on attacks and skill 
  checks. Small kegs can spray an op-
  ponent for five rounds. 
  (Heavily carbonated beer—and, thus, 
  pressurized kegs—are a modern inven-
  tion and are not appropriate for worlds 
  hewing closely to historical realism. 
  Anything is possible in fantasy worlds: 
  if an explanation is required, blame it 
  on the gnomes!)
  Brewing vats: Many taverns brew 
  their own beer in large fermenting 
  vats, in a side room or cellar. Such 
  vats occupy a 5-ft. square and are 5-8 
  ft. tall. Small pubs have freestanding 
  vats with makeshift stairs to their tops; 
  larger taverns might have platforms 
  built around a set of them (effectively 
  putting their tops at floor level). The 
  earthenware or wooden vessles are 
  sealed or loosely covered at the top.
   Brewing vats are sturdy, with Break 
  DC 23 (20 at the tops), AC 2 (-1 size, 
  -5 Dex, -2 inanimate), hardness 5, and 
  150 hp: 15 hp damage suffices to cut 
  a hole from which beer will flow into 
  the room, coating two 4-ft. squares per 
  round (and eventually even filling the 
  room with a shallow sea of yeasty ale). 
   Characters can push each other 
  into the vats (or, alternatively, throw 
  grappled characters into them); again, 
  allow a free break check with the bull 
  rush. Characters inside full vats must 
  make a DC 10 Swim check to reach 
  the lip and breathe, plus a DC 10 
  Climb check to pull themselves out—
  especially difficult for those in armor. 
  Final Thoughts
   A chaotic tavern fight offers many tac-
  tical options. Consider the battlefield 
  and select one or two special features 
  to use each round; your players will 
  quickly follow your example and no 
  doubt develop ideas of their own. Use 
  these guidelines to encourage them—
  especially in a non-lethal brawl, most 
  players will be happy to follow your 
  judgment. Then, sit back and watch 
  the mugs fly, the chandeliers crash, and 
  the tables flip.
  <
  Table 2: Chandeliers 
  Swinging On    
  Check Type 
   
   DC 
   
   
  To grab 
    
  Str or Dex  
   
  10
  On a failed grab 
  Reflex save 
   
  15 to avoid fall
   
   
    
  Damage  
  Escape
  Falling 
    
  per 10 ft. 
  Artist DC 
  Str DC  
  Chandelier, Small 
  1d3 
   
  10 
   
  10
  Chandelier, Large 
  1d6 
   
  15 
   
  15
  Removing Supports 
  AC 
  Hardness 
  hp 
  Break DC 
  Rope  
    
  11 
  0 
   
  2 
  23
  Chain support   
  11 
  10 
   
  5 
  26
  A character may untie a secured rope with a DC 15 Use Rope check.
  * Chandeliers and their supports are immune to bludgeoning damage, and ranged 
  weapons do half damage to objects.
  
  48     Kobold Quarterly 8
  A
  lso known as scuttlers, 
  roachlings are an unpleasant 
  humanoid race of insectoid 
  stock that closely resemble cockroach-
  es. Inquisitive and covetous, unclean 
  and ill-mannered, most other races 
  shun them.
  The reclusive roachlings reveal 
  little about their true origins, though 
  scholars agree that they have long 
  existed as a ubiquitous but unwanted 
  part of most large urban areas. Suppos-
  edly, roachlings were once an agrar-
  ian people—with no resemblance to 
  insects at all!—who were uprooted by 
  war and, as refugees with only whatev-
  er meager belongings they could carry 
  on their persons, forced to relocate to a 
  large city. 
  There, without means and hope, 
  they crowded into vermin-infested 
  tenements and huddled in abandoned 
  warehouses. Illness and despair began 
  to sweep through their ranks, culling 
  the weakest at an alarming rate. They 
  prayed to the gods for salvation, but 
  none heard their desperate pleas. Only 
  the intervention of Akyishigal, the 
  demon known as the Skittish One, 
  Lord of Cockroaches, saved them from 
  being consumed by the dark underbel-
  ly of the city. His gift was to transform 
  the few remaining refugees into a new 
  race, remaking them in his image and 
  allowing them to survive and even 
  thrive in the sewers and slums of even 
  the most vile of districts. 
  Since that time, the number of 
  roachlings has swelled, and popula-
  tions have emerged in countless cities, 
  thanks their adaptability and rapid 
  breeding.  
  Appearance
  Roachlings are roughly humanoid in 
  shape, but they blend insectile fea-
  tures that include whip-like antennae 
  protruding from their foreheads just 
  below the hairline, a carapace that cov-
  ers much of the back, and small spines 
  on their legs and arms. They have no 
  visible nose, and some have small man-
  dibles on either side of their mouths. 
  Females are slightly smaller and thinner 
  and almost never have mandibles. Most 
  stand 4-5 ft. tall. 
  Hair is unusual among roachlings, 
  but when present its always oily and 
  dark, pressed flat against the skull. 
  Roachlings have dark skin, ranging 
  from tan to yellow or dark brown or 
  black. Regardless of the color, skin 
  tends to have a shiny, oily appearance 
  though it is in fact dry.    
  Demeanor
  Roachlings are skittish and easily 
  frightened, but they are not cow-
  ards. Rather, they are practical. They 
  understand survival often depends on 
  their ability to remain unseen and out 
  of reach of those who would kill them. 
  As a result, most roachlings prefer to 
  attack only when the chance for victory 
  sits squarely on their side. That said, 
  they also have a well-deserved reputa-
  tion for deviousness and are adept at 
  creating the conditions for victory 
  through skulking, underhanded tactics, 
  and hit-and-run fighting. 
  Because they have a long history of 
  being neglected, abused, and persecut-
  ed throughout their history, roachlings 
  are naturally suspicious and extend 
  their trust only slowly. A deep-rooted 
  paranoia infect their race, leading them 
  to believe everyone wishes them ill 
  until proven otherwise. 
  Despite this, however, roachlings 
  are highly communal and driven by a 
  swarming instinct. When a roachling 
  is made to feel truly welcome and 
  respected, he will adopt that indi-
  vidual or group as part of his swarm. 
  This bond is never broken, and the 
  roachling will even sacrifice his own 
  existence, which he has been condi-
  tioned by society to view as worthless, 
  to ensure the survival of his friends. 
  Roachlings have a darker side, 
  though. If a roachling is abused, 
  betrayed, or abandoned, it becomes 
  extremely vengeful and goes to 
  great lengths to even the score. Evil 
  roachlings will kill or torture offending 
  individuals, though most take a more 
  subtle approach by destroying reputa-
  tions, undermining business opportu-
  nities, and stealing objects of immense 
  sentimental or monetary value. Such 
  a campaign of revenge can consume a 
  roachling’s entire life. 
  Most roachlings are neutral, but 
  they tend toward chaotic with a lack 
  of respect for laws they had no role in 
  drafting. Good roachlings are usually 
  those who have been sheltered from 
  the prejudices of the world and given 
  a nurturing place to develop, most 
  often in a hospice or as a ward of a 
  benevolent individual. Evil roachlings 
  Roachlings
  An indestructible new PC race
  by Andrew Hind
  Art by Michael Jaecks
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    49
  are typically followers of Akyishigal, 
  seeking to placate their demon god 
  with grotesquely elaborate sacrifices.   
  Background
  Roachlings face suspicion and preju-
  dice at best and frequently encounter 
  abuse and outright hatred. Urban 
  dwellers who suffer infestations from 
  hungry giant cockroaches often see 
  little distinction between insects and 
  roachlings, attempting to exterminate 
  both with equal fervor. As a result, 
  most roachlings live in tortured confu-
  sion, fascinated with civilization but 
  unable to play an active part in it. They 
  watch from the shadows, tempted but 
  fearful.
  Roachlings mature quickly, reaching 
  physical and emotional maturity by the 
  age of ten. Unfortunately, this acceler-
  ated aging continues throughout their 
  lives and only a few live past the age of 
  forty. Even reaching that milestone is 
  considered a monumental achievement 
  since most roachlings die much earlier 
  by the twisted knife of a cutthroat, the 
  slavering maw of some subterranean 
  horror, or strung up by fearful humans. 
  Adventurers
  The constant struggle to survive in 
  dank sewers and violent slums defines 
  every roachling as an adventurer, even 
  if most never venture more than a few 
  miles from the hovel or cellar they 
  call home. Always searching for food, 
  avoiding predation, stealing necessi-
  ties, and running from angry mobs or 
  watch patrols, the life of a roachling is 
  never dull. 
  It is little wonder then that many 
  decide to turn their backs on their 
  families and seek out greater opportu-
  nities as an adventurer; the risks are the 
  same but the rewards invariably higher. 
  Many roachlings take up careers as 
  thieves, subterranean scouts, outlaws, 
  and bounty hunters. 
  Humans and elves consider them 
  little better than vermin. Dwarves, on 
  the other hand, respect their adapt-
  ability and tolerate them far more than 
  most races. In fact, many dwarf clan-
  holds employ roachlings to keep sewers 
  and little-used tunnels free of vermin 
  though most roachlings feel these tasks 
  below their proud race. 
  Roachlings of any class appreciate 
  the talents of rogues and are alternately 
  fascinated and frightened by displays 
  of arcane spellcasting. They have little 
  time for clerics, save those of Akyishi-
  gal (see sidebar), since they believe the 
  gods shunned them; only the Skittish 
  One answers their prayers. 
  Fighters, rangers, and most especially 
  barbarians intimidate roachlings, but 
  if the opportunity presents itself, they 
  will often ally themselves with someone 
  of physical prowess  to even the playing 
  field against those who bully them. 
  They are stubborn survivors with little 
  interest in luxuries like pride or honor.
  Roachling Racial Traits
  Str -2, Con +4, Cha -2 (Roachlings are 
  small and slight of frame, but despite 
  their stature are surprising resilient to 
  disease and illness. They are unattract-
  ive on the whole, lacking in manners, 
  and are widely considered little better 
  than vermin.)
  Small: As Small creatures, roachlings 
  gain +1 size bonus to AC and attacks 
  and a +4 bonus on Hide checks, as well 
  as other normal effects of being Small 
  creatures such as using smaller weapons 
  and having carrying limits 3/4 of those 
  of Medium-sized creatures. 
  Base speed is 20 feet.
  +1 natural armor bonus to AC
  +2 racial bonus on Climb and Hide 
  checks
  +2 racial bonus on Fortitude saving 
  throws against poison and disease
  Darkvision 30 feet. 
  Tremorsense 30 feet.
  Light Sensitivity: Roachlings are 
  dazzled in bright sunlight or within the 
  radius of a daylight spell
  Favored Class: rogue 
  ECL +1
  <
  Akyishigal, the Skittish One
  Of all the dreadful demons 
  lurking within the Abyss, 
  perhaps none is as vile and 
  disgusting as Akyishigal, the 
  Cockroach Demon, whose filth-
  slick mandibles clack hungrily 
  and ceaselessly for the flesh 
  and souls of humans. Despite 
  this, he has a surprising number 
  of followers among the urban 
  dispossessed, the slum-dwelling 
  downtrodden, and those who 
  lurk within the lightless depths 
  below cities.   
     Though Akyishigal has sired 
  an entire race in his image, he 
  craves followers among humans 
  and other races as a means 
  of corrupting civilization from 
  within, rotting it at its core like 
  an aging fruit. Shrines are most 
  likely to be located in abandoned 
  buildings, garbage dumps, 
  sewers, ruins, graveyards, and 
  other filthy places. 
     Kidnapped victims find 
  themselves submerged in filth 
  with only their heads showing. 
  Bound, disoriented by darkness 
  and hissed chanting, and 
  paralyzed by fear, the innocent 
  are helpless to act as ravenous 
  roaches feast on their eyes and 
  tongue. 
     A sacrifice who survives is 
  later released back into the 
  populace. There, blind and 
  speechless, his body wracked by 
  disease contracted from the filth 
  in which he was submerged, he 
  despairs as he becomes a drain 
  on family and society. In most 
  cases, the cripple soon finds 
  himself begging in the slums, 
  adding to the seething mass of 
  disenchantment that exists in 
  the shadows of most large cities. 
  These tragic figures become 
  potential new supplicants for 
  Akyishigal, who promises to 
  heal them of their ills but leaves 
  them hollow shells of bitterness 
  and cruelty.    
     Unfortunately, these cults 
  are almost as difficult to stamp 
  out as are real cockroach 
  infestations. Even if driven off 
  repeatedly, followers inevitably 
  resurface among the teeming 
  mobs of beggars, thugs, 
  streetwalkers, and refugees. 
  Alignment: Chaotic Evil
  Domains: Chaos, Destruction, 
  Evil, Trickery
  Preferred Weapon: Sap
  Typical Worshipers:  evil 
  humanoids (kobolds and goblins 
  in particular), roachlings, 
  disenfranchised slum dwellers
  
  50     Kobold Quarterly 8
  A
  n unsung but deadly war of 
  wits has raged across the ages. 
  A war between those who 
  create traps and those who overcome 
  them, or die trying. But the trap-craft-
  ers of traps have a dirty secret—they 
  cheat. Some of their mightiest efforts 
  exist only in the minds of burglars, 
  tomb robbers, and adventurers. These 
  are but figments of the imagination.
  Mind Traps
  Most traps target the body, but a few 
  target the mind: planting seeds of 
  doubt and the suggestion of a certain 
  yet unseen doom. A mind trap pits the 
  intruder against his worst enemy—his 
  own mind. For a mind trap to work, a 
  “proof” must be provided, something 
  that starts the process of inductive rea-
  soning. For example, an empty hallway 
  is just an empty hallway. But a hallway 
  with a corpse on the floor, whose head 
  has been cleanly severed, is something 
  else. 
  Faced with proof of danger, a search 
  reveals nothing. This may serve as even 
  more proof for the existence of an 
  extremely well hidden and deadly trap. 
  The goal of a mind trap is to delay and 
  discourage further intrusion; even if 
  such a trap is defeated, it incurs a cost 
  in spent time and resources.
  XP: Mind traps are by definition not 
  real and pose no threat to the PCs, 
  but in certain situations, a roleplaying 
  award may be warranted.
  Elements of a Mind Trap
  A mind trap consists of two elements: 
  the proposition and the refutation.
  Proposition: The proposition is the 
  scene that serves as the premise for the 
  faulty conclusion that a trap exists.
  Refutation: The refutation is the 
  careful examination of the proposition, 
  and it gives the PC a chance to dismiss 
  the mind trap. The DC for that check 
  should start at 15.
  Sample Mind Traps
  Insert the following mind traps into 
  the campaign to confound the players.
  Beheaded Corpse
  Proposition: There is a corpse, head 
  cleanly severed, lying in an empty 
  corridor.
  Refutation: A DC 20 Heal check 
  reveals that the body has been planted.
  Mysterious Markings
  Proposition: A door lined with minute 
  arcane symbols.
  Refutation: A DC 15 Knowledge 
  (arcana) check reveals that the mark-
  ings amount to gibberish.
  False Lever
  Proposition: A lever mounted on the 
  wall.
  Refutation: A DC 20 Knowl-
  edge (architecture and engineering) 
  check exposes that the lever serves no 
  purpose.
  A Handful of Needles
  Proposition: Many needles dot the 
  floor, and some are stained with blood.
  Refutation: A DC 25 Craft (trap-
  making) check determines that the 
  needles are of inferior quality and are 
  unusable for building traps.
  A Robe, a Ring, and some Dust
  Proposition: An old tattered robe 
  hides a conical shaped pile of dust 
  with a flaming red copper ring sticking 
  partially out of it.
  Refutation: A DC 25 Spellcraft 
  check determines that the pile of dust 
  is not the result of a disintegrate spell.
  Ogre Bones
  Proposition: The massive and yellowed 
  bones of an ogre lie slumped against a 
  wall. Sticking out of the ogre’s slightly 
  ajar mouth is a black, seemingly 
  burned-out piece of glasslike material.
  Refutation: A DC 15 Appraise check 
  reveals that the glasslike material is 
  indeed glass and not the remains of a 
  black onyx gem, the key component of 
  the animate dead spell.
  Blade Marks
  Proposition: The wall of a passage-
  way is marked by several hits from a 
  large blade at the height of man’s neck.
  Refutation: A DC 20 Knowledge 
  (architecture and engineering) check 
  indicates that the markings all slightly 
  vary, as if applied manually.
  Mixing Mind Traps 
  with Traditional Traps
  Mind traps are not generally intended 
  for the efficient dispatch of intruders 
  but for triggering worry, delay, anguish 
  and sheer paranoia, for separating par-
  ties, and for breaking minds. With the 
  creative application of these principles, 
  traditional traps can be made to incor-
  porate the ideals of mind traps, and 
  have an enhanced effectiveness.
  Screaming Poison Trap
  The screaming poison trap serves a 
  dual purpose: it alerts nearby forces 
  and dispatches trespassers. If triggered, 
  the trap targets the intruder with four 
  screaming bolts. Even if the screaming 
  bolts miss, they affect anyone in their 
  continued paths. At the same time, 30 
  ft. behind the intruder, caltrops coated 
  with blue whinnis poison drop from 
  the ceiling. The caltrops cover four 5 
  ft. squares. The trap intends to induce 
  Traps of the Mind
  By Maurice de Mare
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    51
  a panicked state in the intruder(s), 
  forcing a run through the poisoned 
  caltrops.
  Screaming Poison Trap: CR 1; 
  mechanical; location trigger; manual 
  reset; hidden switch bypass (Search DC 
  25); Atk +5 ranged (1d10+2/19-20, 
  four screaming bolts); Atk +0 (1 plus 
  poison, caltrop); poison (blue whinnis 
  poison, DC 14 Fortitude save resists, 
  1 Con/unconsciousness); Search DC 
  24; Disable Device 24. Market price: 
  3,652 gp.
  Catch and Burn Trap
  Used to ward passageways, this trap 
  features two attacks. If triggered, two 
  launching tubes on opposite sides of 
  the target open on the ceiling and tar-
  get the trespasser with their contents. 
  The first tube hurls a tanglefoot bag 
  and the second tube launches a flask of 
  alchemist’s fire. The trap entangles the 
  target to increase the effectiveness of 
  the alchemist’s fire.
  Catch and Burn Trap: CR 3; me-
  chanical; location trigger; manual reset; 
  Atk +5 ranged touch (tanglefoot bag); 
  Atk +5 ranged touch (alchemist’s fire); 
  Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 20. 
  Market price: 3,070 gp.
  A more effective version of the trap 
  increases the number of launching 
  tubes and calibrates the various launch 
  paths of the missiles.
  Catch and Burn Trap (multiple): 
  CR 8; mechanical; location trigger; 
  automatic reset; Atk +15 ranged touch 
  (two tanglefoot bags); Atk +10 ranged 
  touch (two flasks of alchemist’s fire); 
  Search DC 25; Disable Device DC 20. 
  Market price: 49,400 gp.
  Roasting Trap
  Using many different spells and al-
  chemical substances, the roasting trap 
  aims to make an intruder disappear in 
  the blink of an eye. Once triggered, 
  small vents fill the space behind the 
  intruder with smoke, similar to a 
  smokestick; then the intruder is tar-
  geted with a hold monster spell (a DC 
  17 Will save negates this effect); and 
  last, a forceful hand tries to bull rush 
  the target through an illusory wall. The 
  illusory wall obscures a 10 ft. by 10 ft. 
  room. A permanent wall of fire, facing 
  the far wall, stands just inches behind 
  the illusory wall. Anyone passing 
  through the wall of fire takes 2d6+12 
  hp fire damage. The forceful hand will  
  bull rush the target until it ends or is 
  destroyed.
  Roasting Trap: CR 7; magic device 
  and mechanical; visual trigger (true 
  seeing); automatic reset; smokestick; 
  spell effect (hold monster, CL 9, DC 17 
  Will save avoids paralysis); spell effect 
  (forceful hand, CL 12, the hand has 48 
  hp); spell effect (permanent wall of fire, 
  12th-level wizard); spell effect (illusory 
  wall, CL 7); Search DC 31; Disable 
  Device 31. Cost: 58,500 gp, 6,680 XP. 
  Market price: 117,000 gp.
  Drag and Drop Trap
  A complex fusion of magic and 
  mechanical engineering, this trap is 
  executed in two rounds.
  On round one, everyone in the area 
  of effect is paralyzed unless they suc-
  ceed with a DC 23 Will save. Imme-
  diately after this magical effect occurs, 
  the walls launch two-inch thick ropes 
  at the intruders; everyone is targeted by 
  two animated ropes that wrap them-
  selves around their victims. 
  Those paralyzed are automatically 
  tied up. Those who are not paralyzed 
  can save themselves from being tied up 
  by making a DC 14 Reflex save. The 
  trap’s final action in the first round is a 
  mechanical release of the stone anchor 
  points for the ropes: the ropes drop 
  from the wall down a 10 ft. by 10 ft. 
  shaft. This action jerks those tied to 
  the weight 30 feet closer to the newly 
  opened shaft and causes 3d6 subdual 
  damage. 
  Round two gives the paralyzed 
  victims another chance to shake off the 
  effects. Everyone not paralyzed may at-
  tempt to sever their own ropes or those 
  of a companion (4 hp each, AC 12), 
  may burst their bonds with a successful 
  DC 25 Strength check, or may escape 
  the ropes with a DC 25 Escape Artist 
  check. The bumpy and accelerating 
  ride toward the shaft causes another 
  7d6 subdual damage. 
  Those lucky enough to break free of 
  the ropes may attempt a DC 25 Reflex 
  save to avoid falling into the shaft. 
  Anyone who fails the save or is still tied 
  to the weight takes another 10d6 dam-
  age from falling down the shaft at the 
  end of round two.
  Truly cruel DMs might consider 
  placing a monster at the bottom of a 
  drag-and-drop trap. Or in mind trap 
  style, at least the illusion of one!
  Drag and Drop Trap: CR 10; magic 
  device and mechanical; visual trigger 
  (true seeing); repair reset; spell effect 
  (mass hold monster, 20th-level wizard, 
  DC 23 Will save avoids paralysis); Atk 
  +15 ranged touch attack (rope); mul-
  tiple targets (two ropes per target in 
  an area covering twelve 5 ft. squares); 
  spell effect (heightened animate rope, 
  5th-level wizard, DC 14 Reflex save 
  avoids entanglement); pulled towards 
  shaft (3d6 subdual first round, 7d6 
  subdual second round); DC 25 Reflex 
  save avoids; 100 ft. deep shaft (10d6, 
  fall); Search DC 34; Disable Device 
  34. Market price: 156,500 gp.
  <
  
  52     Kobold Quarterly 8
  A 
  rallying cry rose above the din of 
  the battle, inspiring the halfling 
  to fight on long enough for Cap-
  tain Titus to get to his side: “Try harder!” 
  Titus cried.
  “Huh?”  thought the halfling. “That’s it, 
  try harder?”
  Battle cries have long been a staple 
  of fantasy gaming. A good battle cry 
  brings an exciting touch of character 
  into a combat encounter, whether it’s 
  the barbarian’s savage yell or the elven 
  fighter’s solemn oath to slay his foe. 
  With the advent of 4E, inspirational 
  one-liners are even stronger—after all, 
  the warlord class restores hit points and 
  grants saves based on heartening words. 
  Most of us don’t have the improvisa-
  tional skills to invent an inspirational 
  shout every combat round, though, so 
  a list of one-liners, ready for use and 
  stapled to a character sheet, can be 
  invaluable. Bards and marshals from 
  3.5E use very similar powers, and a 
  cutting line can add personality to bold 
  heroes of any class.
  The battle cries below are organized 
  by types. Several are inspired by literary 
  or historical battle cries.
  Call to Arms
  These aggressive battle cries signal 
  either the beginning of a battle or a 
  major shift in a battle’s rhythm. Use 
  them when your warlord PC grants 
  your allies speed and bonuses or to un-
  leash that daily powers that make the 
  difference between victory and defeat.
  • Awake the irons!
  • At them, my brothers-in-arms!
  • Onward, mongrels; do you want to live 
  forever?
  • Into the fray, you dog-hearted cowards.
  • After me! Forward!
  • If we should die, let us die with sword in 
  hand and courage in heart.
  • Clear the way!
  • No step backwards!
  • No retreat, no failure. Only move forward!
  • Faster!  Faster!  Fasterer! [a goblin stand-by]
  • Ka-kaw! [Native American warriors once 
  used animal sounds as battle cries, which the 
  European colonists found quite terrifying]
  • They are nothing to us. They are leaves to 
  our wind!
  • Let valor not fail!
  • When we meet in hell, let us dine together 
  as friends.
  • We will win this fight, and with it, our 
  place in history.
  • Let us fly to glory on wings of steel.
  We Happy Few
  Since many powers target individual 
  characters, you may find it useful to 
  develop personalized encouragements 
  for your allies. Revise these battle cries 
  to match your own party members.
  • Stand up, Shorty.  Otherwise, I’m going to 
  trip over you on my way to the others.
  • Ha! You’re already falling behind.
  • We can’t do this without you.
  • You’re not going to let me have all the fun, 
  are you?
  • Get up. I didn’t give you permission to die.
  • Get up. Either we all go home, or no one 
  goes home.
  • On your feet—I’m not carrying you out.
  • On your feet, or it’s not them you’ll have to 
  worry about.
  • Arise, and let your steel sing.
  • Kai keryth-karlanis. [Elven for “long life to 
  the war-souls”]
  • Labbaik. [a grim dwarven call for defense 
  that means “we are here”]
  • Be strong, comrade.  The day is not lost so 
  long as we stand together!
  • These fools have not yet learned to fear your 
  dance of death. Make them fear you!
  • Worse the weather, longer the march.
  • Don’t give up now!  This will be the greatest 
  part of your legend!
  • Their swords will shatter on your shield.
  • Giving up so soon?
  Warlord’s Challenge
  Sometimes, the best way to encourage 
  your allies is to demoralize your foes.  
  These battle cries taunt the enemy and 
  Inspiring Words: 
  A Warlord’s Field Guide To Battle Cries
  By Mario Podeschi
  blend well with powerful attacks that 
  bring other benefits to your party.
  • Do you so fear my blade that you bother us 
  with these peasants?
  • I have sworn to be slain by better than you.
  • My name is Titus, and this is Death!
  • Which limb shall I rend first?
  • This is the last time I humble you. 
  • Stand down, or be put down.
  • Might I have the pleasure of your name 
  before I run you through?
  • Challenging us?  You’re about as bright as a 
  dying firefly.
  • Two strokes and ten seconds is all you’ve 
  left in this world.
  • Never have you been so doomed as when 
  you provoked my wrath.
  • Hell hungers, and my sword shall feed it.
  • Let your eyes look their last—soon they will 
  be food for the crows.
  • Repent, villain, for this is your final hour.
  • Fight your last, look your last, breathe your last.
  • We will speak more while you twitch upon 
  my blade.
  • I must warn you, knave: only cowards have 
  faced me and lived.
  • There’s nowhere left to run.
  Salute
  These battle cries, many inspired by 
  real-world history, are used to invoke 
  patriotism, religious zeal, or moral 
  conviction. When your party fights for 
  a shared goal, these saltues can add an 
  epic flourish to an encounter. They also 
  work well for clerics and paladins, and 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    53
  for inspiring allies in larger battles.
  • Long live the Queen!
  • Land and freedom!
  • The Empire forever!
  • For honor!
  • Forever Zobeck! [or any city are defending]
  • And when get to Heaven / to Saint Charon 
  will we tell / four more men reporting, sir / 
  we’ve served our time in Hell.
  • Fight well, for the fallen will receive a cho-
  sen place at Khor’s side!
  • After this day, the Red Goddess will know 
  our names.
  • Svarog aid us!
  • Mithras guide our sword-arms; Isis guide 
  our souls.
  • Remember the dead, fight for the living!
  Making Your Own
  You may need to expand this list de-
  pending on how often your characters 
  fight. Though it requires some work, 
  it is incredibly rewarding when you 
  develop a line that is completely your 
  own. Just start with a simple phrase 
  like “kill that guy” and expand it into 
  something epic.
  The terms introduced here are taken 
  from the study of rhetoric—the art of 
  using language to inspire, educate, or 
  persuade. Even if you are not familiar 
  with these terms, they describe con-
  cepts that we instinctively understand.
  Using cool-sounding synonyms is the 
  most common tool. Rather than killing 
  that “guy,” have your comrades kill vil-
  lains, knaves, corpses-in-training, and 
  fly-bitten boarpigs. Similarly, you can 
  slay rather than kill, swear instead of 
  promise, and persevere instead of win.
  Metaphor is another sharp blade for 
  rhetoric. By expressing simple ideas 
  abstractly, you can turn dozens of epic 
  phrases. Powerful animals provide great 
  imagery for this, as your party can 
  “catch this prey in their iron talons” or 
  “strike with a lion’s fury.”  
  Synecdoche is a metaphor that sub-
  stitutes a part for the whole. For an 
  adventuring party, this means referring 
  to your allies as their blades, hands, 
  hearts, staves, and so on. Rather than 
  saying “we will end you”, a hero might 
  say “our blades will end you.”
  You can add more life to a cliché by 
  using metalepsis, where you renew an 
  old phrase by referring to it without 
  repeating it. As your allies get used 
  to battle cries like “let fly to glory on 
  wings of steel,” you can reinvent it with 
  similar cries like “our wings of steel will 
  carry us through!”
  Chiasmus is one of my favorite ways 
  to turn a phrase. It contrasts points 
  with very similar structures. Politi-
  cians love chiasmus, using it in phrases 
  like “ask not what your country can 
  do for you—ask what you can do for 
  your country” and “what counts is not 
  necessarily the size of the dog in the 
  fight—it’s the size of the fight in the 
  dog.” In your own battle cries, reverse  
  sentences to provide a ringing tone.
  Alliteration makes your battle cries 
  more poetic and memorable by repeat-
  ing similar sounds. The warlord’s cry 
  “their swords will shatter on your stal-
  wart shield” sounds more impressive 
  than “their weapons will break on your 
  hard shield.”
  Winston Churchill used anaphora 
  to inspire British soldiers when he 
  proclaimed that “we shall fight them 
  on the beaches, we shall fight on the 
  landing grounds, we shall fight in the 
  fields and in the streets.” By repeating 
  a phrase with different endings, this 
  technique can turn a simple phrase 
  into a memorable speech: “together 
  shall we slay their skeletons, together 
  shall we slay their trolls and their 
  basilisks, together shall we slay their 
  mighty dragons!”
  Conversely, epistrophe repeats sen-
  tence endings with similar effect. It was 
  used in Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, 
  when he called upon a government of 
  the people, by the people, and for the 
  people. With epistrophe, you can insist 
  that your friends live as heroes, speak 
  as heroes, dream as heroes, and, if they 
  must, die as heroes.
  The halflings’ foe dealt a vicious smack 
  of his morning star, catching the halfling 
  under the chin. Fading fast, he knew his 
  enemies would have the advantage soon.
  A rallying cry rose above the din of 
  battle: “Don’t give up!” yelled the war-
  lord.  “This will be the greatest part of 
  your legend!” The halfling smiled at the 
  thought—and fought on. 
   
  <
   
  
  54     Kobold Quarterly 8
  Book Reviews
  All tomes reAd by cAndlelight
  by Cynthia Ward and Pierce Watters
  Lamentation  
  by Ken Scholes
  Tor Books, February 2009
  Hardcover, $24.96
  368 pages
  “…I wish my first novel had been as good. 
  I wish all five volumes of this series were al-
  ready published so I could read them now.” 
  Orson Scott Card
  The greatest  and most glorious city has 
  been destroyed in a horrible and un-
  imaginable way. Gone is the library, the 
  grandest place of learning in the Named 
  Lands. Gone is the seat of the Androfrancine Order. The city 
  of Windwir provided stability and law and order to a world 
  that had already suffered a terrible cataclysm long ago. And 
  now Windwir is truly gone.  In Lamentation, a host of char-
  acters struggle to restructure their world. Some seek to make 
  reclaim part of what was lost, some seek to seize complete 
  control. First-time novelist Ken Scholes has hit the mother 
  lode. Lamentation is a breath of fresh air blowing through 
  the world of fantasy. Make that a gale. Sholes creates a world 
  with steam-powered robots built to cry when they are sad. 
  There is an entire religion devoted to reclaiming the trea-
  sures of knowledge lost when Xhum Y’Zir destroyed the 
  world with the seven spells of Cacophonic Death, creating 
  the Churning Wastes and felling most of the remaining 
  population during the Age of Laughing Madness. Invisible 
  warriors speed through this world as blurs and small sounds, 
  magicked into invisibility by a taste of powder kept in a 
  neck pouch. Birds of different colors fly with many-layered 
  messages. And then there is the fearsome Marsh King and 
  his fetid, stinking army. This book is rich and inventive in 
  so many ways, it constantly astounds. Lamentation is also 
  multi-layered. Read it, experience it, enjoy it. Do not wait 
  for it to hit the shelves in February, reserve your copy at 
  your favorite bookseller now. And be glad there are at least 
  four more books to come.
  “Patience is the heart of art and science alike.” The Whymer 
  Bible
  -P.W.
  Yep. Dungeons and dragons and me, we became really 
  good friends. And then Top Secret. Then Gamma World 
  and Boot Hill. 
  Story had always been my truest home -- I’d learned that 
  from Speed Racer, Time Tunnel, UFO, Land of the Giants 
  and Batman. Then, I’d learned it again when I discovered 
  reading. And when these RPGs showed up on the scene, I 
  found myself utterly immersed in an interactive Story that 
  taught me a good deal of what I use today as a writer. 
  As the player, I learned point of view and how to think 
  around corners and exactly why iron spikes could come in 
  handy as a dungeon crawling tool. As the DM, I learned 
  plot and backstory, world-building and rising stakes. 
  Most importantly, I learned that for the game to be fun, 
  the DM and players had to move together in a kind of 
  Storytelling Waltz. You had to dish out just enough mys-
  tery to keep the player intrigued, you had to misdirect just 
  enough to keep the player surprised, you had to shake up 
  the player just enough to keep them on their toes and you 
  had to make it all seem so real that the stakes no longer 
  seemed like...paper.
  It’s been years now since I’ve cast a twenty-sided die, yet 
  here I am plugging away on volume three of a five book 
  series for Tor. I’m still the Dungeon Master, laying out my 
  campaign and my cast of characters for the players to fall 
  into.
  I hope you’ll pick up Lamentation when it comes out 
  and join the game! 
  Most Of What I Needed to 
  Know About Writing I Learned 
  from RPGs
  By Ken Scholes
  I remember it well. It was Christ-
  mas 1979 and my best pal Bobby 
  Fairbanks had gotten a new game 
  that you played with paper and 
  dice and...your brain. No board. 
  No dial to spin. Lots of thinking 
  and talking, though. It was like 
  nothing I’d ever seen before. 
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    55
  Tender Morsels 
   
  by Margo Lanagan
  Random House, October 2008
  Hardcover, $16.99
  436 pages
   Liga tries not to upset her father. But 
  he gets angry so easily! And he behaves 
  so strangely at night, and — she finally 
  realizes — has impregnated her. When 
  her situation worsens, she tries to kill 
  her baby and herself, but a mysterious 
  supernatural being intervenes, trans-
  porting them to another world. It is 
  Liga’s ideal world, her personal heaven, 
  containing all that is good from her 
  former world, and excluding the bad 
  people and things. Here she raises her 
  children, Branza and Urdda —  two 
  daughters, the second born in her 
  private paradise.
   But the three are not the only ones to 
  enter Liga’s heaven. A dwarfish con art-
  ist, Dought, regularly comes in search 
  of gold. And animals also visit. In 
  Liga’s old village, they are young men 
  who dress in bear skins to perform an 
  ancient ritual. In Liga’s heaven, they are 
  truly bears, and dangerous.
   All this travel between the worlds 
  damages the connection between them.  
  And, if that isn’t bad enough, it attracts 
  the attention of a powerful witch....
   Award-winning author Margo Lana-
  gan made her debut in an unusual way:  
  by releasing three collections of young-
  adult short stories. Now she follows 
  these critically acclaimed compilations 
  with her first full-length work, the YA 
  fantasy novel Tender Morsels. Like her 
  stories, it is idiosyncratic and unpre-
  dictable, with sympathetic, three-di-
  mensional characters and a distinctive 
  prose style that will provoke a “love-or-
  hate” reaction in many readers.
   It is not a perfect novel. Some readers 
  will be annoyed when a couple of late 
  developments come out of left field. 
  Moreover, not all mysteries are re-
  vealed—the identity of the mysterious 
  supernatural being remains a mystery.  
  But, in its wisdom and strengths, 
  Tender Morsels is, like Lanagan’s stories, 
  a powerful work that will gratify both 
  adult and young-adult readers.
   
   
    
  -C.W.
   
   
  The Gods Return 
     
  by David Drake
  Tor Hardcover, November 2008
  $25.95
  400 pages
  The back cover copy on the Advanced 
  Uncorrected Proof of this book 
  proclaims it as book three in the “…
  Crown of the Isles trilogy, and the final 
  chapter in the Lord of the Isles.” That 
  makes The Gods Return book three of 
  three and book nine of nine. It seems 
  this reviewer hopped on the train at 
  the last station. It’s a short ride to the 
  terminal, but is it sweet?
  The Gods Return is rich in characters. 
  These characters have been chang-
  ing and growing over a span of eight 
  books, and now they are at their height 
  in this final chapter. We have Cashel, 
  a shepherd who is also a stout fighter, 
  adept with the long staff; Rasile, a 
  wizard who belongs to a race of cat 
  people called the Coerli; Prince Garric, 
  ruler of the recently changed “Land”; 
  Sharina Garric’s sister and Cashel’s par-
  amour; Tenoctris, old woman-wizard, 
  now restored to youth again after ab-
  sorbing a demon; Liane, wed to Prince 
  Garric; and Ilna, Cashel’s dour sister. 
  These characters have all had time 
  to become quite developed and real. 
  Of them, Ilna, with her odd wizard’s 
  talent of producing spells by weaving 
  yarn between her hands, is the most 
  fascinating.
  In this final book, our characters are 
  in their rightful places, having risen 
  from the farmyard and the country 
  inn to the throne room. Great turmoil 
  swept through the world over the 
  course of the series, and nothing is as 
  it was before. Now, even the old gods 
  have departed, and our heroes must 
  face one last challenge, namely meeting 
  and defeating even older, darker gods 
  who seek to fill the newly created gap 
  in the pantheon of heaven.
  A lover of heroic fantasy will take 
  delight in this series—especially if they 
  do this the right way and start with the 
  first book of the series, Lord of the Isles. 
  The chapters are short and the shifting 
  point of view creates almost endless 
  action and cliff-hangers. 
  Start with The Fortress of Glass, book 
  one in the final trilogy, and read your 
  way through, watching the evolution 
  of the characters, and the Land. An 
  exciting climax!
  -P.W.
  
  56     Kobold Quarterly 8
  Dark Vengeance 
   
  A Novel of Niflheim
  by Ed Greenwood
  Tor Books, August 2008 
  Hardcover, $24.95 
  320 pages
   Once, Orivon was a slave of the dark 
  elves, the Niflghar. Kidnapped as a 
  small child, he was raised in captiv-
  ity beneath the earth and trained as a 
  blacksmith. But he escaped Niflheim, 
  the Niflghar underworld, and regained 
  his freedom. Now, Orivon Firefist 
  forges steel for his fellow humans. 
  But when the dark elves abduct four 
  children, he returns—alone—to the 
  underworld on a nearly impossible 
  rescue mission.
   When other members of his fam-
  ily vanish, the high-born elf Jalandral 
  becomes Lord of Evendoom, one of 
  the Houses of the Niflghar city of 
  Talonnorn. But that’s not enough for 
  Jalandral. He declares himself High 
  Lord of all Talonnorn.
   His move is not popular. The other 
  Houses rise against him. One priest-
  ess of Olone leads an army against his 
  city, while the other priestesses turn 
  their magic against him. The spellrobe 
  Klarandarr of Ouvahlor, the most 
  powerful sorcerer ever to live, bends 
  his magic to the utter destruction of 
  Talonnorn. And some of Jalandral’s 
  missing kin still live, and bear him 
  little love. 
  These powerful figures, and many 
  more—among them the immensely 
  strong and determined ex-slave, Orivon 
  Firefist—are converging on Talonnorn. 
  Rather than saving his battered city, 
  High Lord Jalandral’s usurpation may 
  well have doomed it.
   As these many characters and sub-
  plots may suggest, a great deal hap-
  pens in Forgotten Realms creator 
  Ed Greenwood’s Dark Vengeance, the 
  second book of the Niflheim saga and 
  the sequel to Dark Warrior Rising.  
  Dark Vengeance will appeal to readers 
  seeking action-packed sword-and-
  sorcery adventure. Unlike a lot of fic-
  tion described as having “never a dull 
  moment,” this novel genuinely doesn’t 
  flag. Magic flares and steel rings as at-
  tacks, schemes, and treacheries follow 
  one another at a fierce pace.
   Perhaps ironically, this frenzy of ac-
  tivity will leave some readers confused, 
  especially when combined with the 
  sheer number of characters, some not 
  strictly necessary. There really is a lot 
  going on here. 
  But if you like your sword-and-
  sorcery fast, furious, pulpy, and violent 
  (the body count is exceptionally high), 
  Dark Vengeance delivers the goods.
  -C.W.
  Worlds of their Own 
  edited and with an introduction 
  by Jim Lowder
  Paizo Publishing, August 2008
  Trade Paperback, $16.99
  364 pages
   With Worlds of Their Own, editor 
  James Lowder presents a different sort 
  of theme anthology. Instead of organiz-
  ing the book around a high concept 
  (eco-catastrophe, say, or zombies in 
  space), he assembled 18 fantasy and 
  SF stories written by gaming-fiction 
  authors, but set in universes of the 
  authors’ own creation. Each writer had 
  full creative control of their work, with 
  no need to follow the rules of a shared 
  world or the mandates of a publisher. 
  So the anthology’s theme is:  “Do as 
  thou wilt!”
   And the contributors do, taking 
  their stories in unexpected directions.  
  In “Mother’s Blood,” R.A. Salvatore 
  twice steers his action-filled sword-and-
  sorcery fantasy away from the obvious 
  turns. Paul S. Kemp’s controversial 
  S&S tale, “Confession,” also offers 
  a couple of sharp twists. Michael A. 
  Stackpole’s SF war story, “Keeping 
  Score,” offers a surprising revelation 
  on the nature of its alien foe. Another 
  (quite different) war story, J. Robert 
  King’s hard-SF “The Admiral’s Reckon-
  ing,” surprises both reader and pro-
  tagonist with the true requirements of 
  leadership. 
  Nancy Virginia Varian’s artfully writ-
  ten high fantasy, “The Oaths of Gods,” 
  embodies the doom-laden grimness of 
  German/Scandinavian mythology, so 
  you know it’s going to be dark; yet the 
  author still pulls off the unexpected. 
   As the anthology’s weirdest story 
  (that’s praise), Greg Stafford’s macabre 
  fantasy “Near the End of the World” 
  offers several startlements. And, in the 
  book’s cleverest tale—Lisa Smedman’s 
  excellent “Three Impossible Things”—
  the protagonist fulfills a goblin’s impos-
  sible tasks, even as the author nimbly 
  pulls the rug out from under readers.
   Some stories in Worlds of Their Own 
  are set in freestanding literary universes 
  that exist only in prose, while oth-
  ers are set in gaming-worlds of their 
  authors’ creation. All the stories are 
  reprints, but they’re drawn from such a 
  diversity of sources (ranging from Big 
  Name Publishers to micro-presses and 
  podcasts) that it’s unlikely any reader 
  besides the book’s industrious editor 
  will have seen them all before. 
  For most fans, Worlds of Their Own 
  will function as an all-new antholo-
  gy—and one they will enjoy at that.
  -C.W.
  <
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    57
  As Florin Falconhand and his companions struggle against enemies from   
  outside Cormyr, they discover even deadlier threats from within. Faerûn’s   
  ﬁ rst adventurers ﬁ nally become true heroes in this climactic conclusion to   
  Ed Greenwood’s Knights of Myth Drannor  trilogy.
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  58     Kobold Quarterly 8
  The 
  Flagellant  
  by Derek Kagemann
  T
  hese were the words spoken 
  by Nacae, once called Khor’s 
  White Light, when he lay 
  down his sword and took up the 
  scourge of the flagellant. We baptized 
  him in blood, and he walked at the 
  head of the procession of the Apoca-
  lypse for thirty-three and a half days as 
  we traveled our wayward pilgrimage. 
  As one, we suffered the stroke of the 
  lash and fell down upon the earth to 
  roll in filth and broken glass. It was as 
  we crossed a desolate battlefield, where 
  long ago Nacae had fought, that he had 
  a vision of the coming Apocalypse and 
  had his faith restored to him.
  Description
   Flagellants travel on a ceaseless holy 
  pilgrimage, barefoot and in ragged 
  robes, calling on the faithful to redeem 
  themselves in preparation for the 
  coming Apocalypse. They cleanse their 
  minds and souls of sin by mortify-
  ing their bodies and flogging their 
  flesh with wickedly barbed scourges. 
  To some, they are mere madmen and 
  doomsayers. Others view the flagellant 
  as an embodiment of true faith and 
  repentance.
   It is not uncommon for a failed cleric 
  or paladin to take up the scourge of 
  the flagellant as a means of redemp-
  tion. Other classes may join a proces-
  sion of the Apocalypse to cleanse their 
  hearts of evil (or goodness) and thereby 
  change their alignment. Though most 
  flagellants are human, the order rarely 
  discriminates, turning a blind eye to all 
  but the need for spiritual redemption, 
  and other races often are caught up in 
  the zeal and devotion. In any case, a 
  flagellant’s life is an agonizing jour-
  ney of extreme physical suffering and 
  equally potent spiritual fulfillment. 
  Requirements
  To become a flagellant, a character 
  must fulfill the following criteria.
  Feats: Endurance, Toughness
  Special: To take up the scourge, the 
  character must leave behind all worldly 
  possessions (though he may acquire 
  new ones) and be baptized in the blood 
  of a procession of the Apocalypse. 
  Some processions will require that the 
  character accompany them for a period 
  of thirty-three and a half days.
  Class Features
  Hit Die: d12
  Class Skills: Concentration (Con), 
  Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump 
  (Str), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Sur-
  vival (Wis)
  Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A 
  flagellant gains no proficiency with any 
  weapon or armor.
  Skill Points: 2 + Int bonus per level
  Special Abilities
  Act of Penance (Ex): To use his class 
  abilities, the flagellant must perform 
  acts of penance. Typically, this requires 
  an act of self-flagellation or comparable 
  mortification: a full-round action that 
  deals 1d4 to 3d4 damage to the flagel-
  lant (the player may choose how many 
  dice to roll). Strength bonuses do not 
  apply to this self-inflicted injury, which 
  automatically succeeds and bypasses 
  any damage resistance and magical 
  forms of protection. For every four 
  points of damage suffered from a single 
  act of self-mortification, the flagellant 
  receives one penance. 
  Flagellant Prestige Class    
  Level
  BAB
  Fort
  Ref
  Will
  Special
  1st
  +1
  +2
  +0
  +2
  Penance, Passion, Zeal
  2nd
  +2
  +3
  +0
  +3
  Augury,	Aura	of	Doom,	Ecstatic
  3rd
  +3
  +3
  +1
  +3
  Atonement, Diehard
  4th
  +4
  +4
  +1
  +4
  Damage	reduction	2/–
  5th
  +5
  +4
  +1
  +4
  Fulmination
  6th
  +6
  +5
  +2
  +5
  Atonement
  7th
  +7
  +5
  +2
  +5
  Damage	reduction	4/–
  8th
  +8
  +6
  +2
  +6
  Immolation
  9th
  +9
  +6
  +3
  +6
  Atonement
  10th
  +10
  +7
  +3
  +7
  Damage	reduction	6/–
  “Forgive me, for I have sinned. My god has turned his face from 
  me, and it is a hell far worse than one of barbed chains and blaz-
  ing fire. My warhorse has abandoned me, my prayers go unan-
  swered, and the temple has barred its doors against me. I stand as 
  a pariah at the doorstep of the abyss, and here, I make my stand. 
  Here, with blood and tears, I beg atonement.”
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    59
  Attempts that deal less than four 
  points of damage do not apply toward 
  penance, and multiple attempts at self-
  flagellation do not combine. No other 
  sort of damage applies toward penance. 
  (For example, a flagellant who rolls 3d4 
  and suffers 11 points of damage would 
  receive two penances. A flagellant who 
  rolls 1d4 and suffers 3 points of dam-
  age would not receive a penance.) 
  A flagellant with at least one penance 
  is considered repentant. Expending a 
  penance is a free action. A flagellant 
  who rests or is healed even a single hit 
  point loses all of his penance.
  A failed paladin with at least one 
  flagellant level may expend penance to 
  activate a paladin class ability for one 
  use or one hour with a few exceptions: 
  the paladin may only use his lay on 
  hands and remove disease abilities on 
  others, never on himself, nor may he 
  call upon his special mount under any 
  circumstances. Lastly, activation of 
  divine health will not cure any pre-
  existing conditions from which the 
  paladin suffers.
  Atonement (Su): At 3rd and 6th level, 
  the flagellant may shift his alignment 
  one step toward either good or evil. 
  At 9th level, the flagellant may opt to 
  become lawful, potentially making 
  two shifts if starting from chaotic. (For 
  example, a chaotic evil character would 
  become chaotic neutral at 3rd level, 
  chaotic good at 6th, and lawful good 
  at 9th.) This progress must be toward 
  a consistent goal. The character may 
  not shift toward good and then back 
  toward evil, for example.
  In addition, a failed cleric or paladin 
  who becomes a flagellant may find 
  absolution for any past misdeeds. If 
  the character has shown sufficient 
  repentance in the course of their ad-
  vancement as a flagellant then he may 
  resume his career as a cleric or paladin, 
  at the DM’s option. The character’s 
  levels as a flagellant (either all or none) 
  may be traded for levels appropriate to 
  the class to which the character has just 
  been restored.
  Augury (Su): At 2nd level, the flagel-
  lant may expend a penance to perform 
  an augury (as the augury spell). The 
  flagellant may use this ability once 
  each week, and his chance of success 
  equals 50% +4% per flagellant level, 
  to a maximum of 90%. The result will 
  always include additional portents 
  of gloom and doom, hints of major 
  disaster, or insights into the end of all 
  existence. The flagellant may perform 
  an additional augury each week at 5th 
  and 8th level.
  Aura of Doom (Su): Starting at 
  2nd level, a repentant flagellant ex-
  udes an aura of doom. Any creature 
  within 30 feet, including allies but 
  excluding other flagellants, becomes 
  distraught (-1 penalty on attack rolls, 
  saving throws, skill checks, and ability 
  checks). The flagellant may exempt one 
  creature from this effect for every three 
  flagellant levels. 
  A flagellant with an active aura of 
  doom receives a +2 bonus to In-
  timidation checks, but a -2 penalty to 
  Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Informa-
  tion, Handle Animal, and Ride checks. 
  The range, Intimidation bonus, and 
  penalties are doubled (and any creature 
  with the condition distraught becomes 
  instead shaken) for a procession of 10 
  or more flagellants, all of at least 2nd 
  level.
  Damage Reduction (Ex): At 4th 
  level, the flagellant gains damage 
  reduction 2/–. Increase this amount 
  to 4/– at 7th level and 6/– at 10th level. 
  This does not affect damage from self-
  flagellation.
  Diehard (Ex): A flagellant gains Die-
  hard as a bonus feat at 3rd level.
  Ecstatic (Ex): At 2nd level, the flagel-
  lant may expend a penance to enter 
  an ecstatic state. The flagellant gains 
  the benefits of an endure elements spell, 
  though the effects do not extend to 
  the flagellant’s equipment. In addi-
  tion, the flagellant may ignore up to 
  one point of ability damage for every 
  three flagellant levels while in this state. 
  These benefits remain in effect until the 
  flagellant rests or is healed.
  Fulmination (Su): At 5th level, a 
  repentant flagellant begins to smolder 
  with the intensity of his sacrament. 
  The flagellant suffers an additional 1d6 
  damage from his first act of penance 
  each day and gains fire resistance 10 
  (this damage does not count toward 
  additional penance). This benefit re-
  mains in effect until the flagellant rests 
  or is healed. In addition, by expending 
  a penance, the flagellant may ignite 
  flammable materials with a touch or 
  generate a brimstone cloud, which 
  functions as the obscuring mist spell. 
  Immolation (Su): At 8th level, once 
  each day, a repentant flagellant may 
  choose to literally combust with holy 
  (or unholy) fire. This does not cost any 
  penance to initiate, but the flagellant 
  suffers 1d6 points of damage each 
  round that the ability is active and 
  must perform a penance to end the 
  effect. Anyone within 10 ft. of the 
  flagellant must succeed on a DC 14 
  Fortitude save or take 1d6 points of 
  fire damage per round from the intense 
  heat; the flagellant and his equipment 
  are immune to this effect. The flagel-
  lant’s touch will ignite flammable ma-
  terials, and anyone struck by the flagel-
  lant must succeed on a DC 15 Reflex 
  save or catch on fire. Burning creatures 
  take 1d6 points of fire damage imme-
  diately and must make another Reflex 
  saving throw in subsequent rounds or 
  suffer another 1d6 points of damage 
  that round. Success means that the fire 
  has gone out. The flagellant gains im-
  
  60     Kobold Quarterly 8
  munity to fire and sheds light equiva-
  lent to a light spell.
  Passion (Ex): At 1st level, a repentant 
  flagellant gains a +1 bonus to Strength 
  and Constitution. This increases to +2 
  at 5th level and +3 at 10th level.
  Zeal (Ex): At 1st level, the flagellant 
  may expend a penance to gain im-
  munity to confusion, fear (magical or 
  otherwise), and mind-affecting effects. 
  In addition, the flagellant gains a +2 
  morale bonus to Will saves. These ben-
  efits remain in effect until the flagellant 
  rests or is healed.
  The Flagellant’s Gear
  The flagellant is usually a character 
  of simple tastes, even spartan ones. 
  Most of their goods are plain and 
  unadorned, often plain woolens and 
  simple belted robes. Their garments 
  and scourges for self-mortification are a 
  richly-decorated exception to that rule.
  Cilice The cilice is a holy symbol 
  carried by failed paladins and clerics 
  who have taken up the scourge. It is a 
  length of spiked chain, linked together 
  in a rough approximation of a deity’s 
  symbol and strapped to the flagellant’s 
  body. The metal spikes dig into the 
  flagellant’s flesh and inflict excruciating 
  pain. 
  The wearer of the cilice suffers a -1 
  penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, 
  skill checks, and ability checks. A 
  flagellant who is a failed paladin (of 
  at least 8th level) or cleric and wears a 
  cilice for a full 12 hours, may pray for 
  a single 1st level spell available to their 
  class. 
  Cost: 25 gp 
  Weight: 1 lb.
  Hair-shirt Hair-shirts are rough-cut 
  garments made of animal hair designed 
  to distract the wearer from worldly 
  temptation. They itch and scratch the 
  wearer.
  The wearer of such uncomfortable 
  clothing suffers a -2 penalty to all 
  saving throws, skill checks, and ability 
  checks, as well as a 40% chance of 
  arcane spell failure. The garment may 
  be worn under armor. A flagellant 
  who wears a hair-shirt receives a single 
  penance each day, though this does not 
  qualify him as repentant. 
  Cost: 4 sp 
  Weight: 2 lb.
  Scourge The flagellant’s scourge is a 
  hideous whip with three thongs, each 
  knotted with metal spikes and hooks. 
  It is designed to torture criminals and 
  tear exposed flesh into bloody shreds. 
  When used as a melee weapon, 
  a scourge deals no damage to any 
  creature with an armor bonus of +1 or 
  higher or a natural armor bonus of +3 
  or higher.
  <
  Simple Weapons Cost
  Dmg 
  (S)
  Dmg 
  (M)
  Critical
  Weight Type
  Scourge
  3 gp
  1d3
  1d4
  20 x4
  1 lb.
  Piercing
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    61
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  13.	Termination:	This	License	will	terminate	automatically	
  if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure 
  such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the 
  breach.	All	sublicenses	shall	survive	the	termination	of	
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  14.	Reformation:	If	any	provision	of	this	License	is	held	to	
  be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only 
  to the extent necessary to make it enforceable. 
  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
  Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of 
  the Coast, Inc. 
  System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, 
  Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, 
  Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, 
  David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, based on 
  original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. 
  Kobold Quarterly issue 8, Copyright 2009, Open Design 
  LLC,	www.koboldquarterly.com.	All rights reserved. 
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  62     Kobold Quarterly 8
  The
  Frostrift 
  Oracle
  by Paul Leach
  Art by Elmer Boyd Smith
  Map by Sean Macdonald
  Maps of Fantasy
  A 
  deadly maze of glacial caverns 
  serves as the domain for the 
  frightful Hrolffa, a long-
  deceased frost giant shaman who still 
  shares her prophetic visions in ex-
  change for precious and durable works 
  of gold, silver, and magic. Rumors 
  abound that, while she herself peers 
  into the minds of gods, her incalcu-
  lable hoard of enchanted offerings 
  shimmers from within the icy grips of a 
  frozen waterfall. 
   This snowbound location is a chal-
  lenge and reward for all enterprising 
  heroes. As the DM, you can replace 
  Hrolffa with a preferred creature or 
  special effect, and fill the inhospitable 
  icescape with extraordinary monsters 
  and treasure to complement the frozen 
  hazards presented here. 
  Background
  The Frostrift Oracle is a mystical place, 
  where a fantastically old glacier smoth-
  ers a hot mineral spring located on 
  an ever-frigid mountainside. Hrolffa 
  the Seer, the infamously cruel prophet 
  of the frost giants, holds court in this 
  natural junction of earth, air, water, 
  and fire. 
  According to legend, as her body lay 
  dying so long ago, she bid her followers 
  grant her an eternity by severing her 
  head and devouring her body; tether-
  ing her soul in this way, her followers 
  made her an eternal oracle. 
  Despite the tales of this imperious 
  and fickle seer who deals so harshly 
  with all petitioners who fail to appease 
  her, foolhardy supplicants arrive at her 
  frozen rift almost every year. Hrolffa’s 
  reputation for astounding divinations 
  has outlived all her rivals, and she is 
  growing into a legend among the frost 
  giants (who also come as supplicants, 
  and are treated better than small folk). 
   The Frostrift offers a perfect setting 
  for monsters that inhabit arctic cli-
  mates as well as those that might guard 
  ancient sources of magic. Frost giants, 
  white dragons, and brown mold make 
  obvious choices, but none should un-
  derestimate elementals, fey, and fiends 
  (especially ice devils). Hrolffa might 
  control a remorhaz or a couple of frost 
  worms. Lesser giants and ruthless, 
  white-furred gnolls might serve as her 
  cult or slaves. Somebody or something 
  must clean the tunnels for Hrolffa 
  every now and then. 
  Environmental Conditions
  Ice dominates this glacial locale. Except 
  where noted, the walls and floors are 
  made of ice. Characters must spend 10 
  ft. of movement to enter an icy square, 
  and they must make a successful DC 
  10 Balance check to run or charge. The 
  slippery conditions increase the DC for 
  Balance, Climb, and Tumble checks 
  by 5. 
  The DM determines the weather’s 
  brutality: freezing cold, severe cold, or 
  extreme cold. Freezing cold and severe 
  cold require PCs to make Fortitude 
  checks (DC 15, +1 per previous check) 
  every hour or 10 minutes, respectively. 
  Failure results in 1d6 points of nonle-
  thal damage. Extreme cold causes lethal 
  damage (1d6) per minute in addition 
  to nonlethal damage. Protective cloth-
  ing, magical protection against cold, 
  and the Survival skill may negate the 
  adverse weather or at least improve a 
  character’s chances for survival. 
   A spell that emits extreme heat (such 
  as fireball or wall of fire) vaporizes ice, 
  turning it into a thick fog cloud with 
  an area equal to twice the spell’s area 
  of effect. The mist dissipates in one 
  minute, and it provides concealment 
  (20% miss chance) to characters over 5 
  ft. away. 
   Unless noted otherwise, ceiling 
  height is 30 ft. in the Frostrift.
  On The Glacier
  From a distance:
  Steam billows from a massive hole in 
  the glacier’s surface, shimmering with 
  blue ice and white snow. Just beyond, 
  there stands a cavern mouth flanked by 
  life-sized sculptures of grim frost giant 
  warriors. 
  1. The Pit
  The pit measures over 20 feet across, and 
  its floor rests some 40 feet below. Clouds 
  of warm air billow from a stone opening 
  on the southern side of the pit, obscuring 
  the pit’s depths. But even at the very top, 
  its walls look quite slippery and danger-
  ous despite its cracked stone and many 
  handholds.
   The steamy pit limits vision to 5 ft. and 
  provides concealment to anyone 5 ft. 
  away or more (20% miss chance). De-
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    63
  scending the hole without aid (ropes, 
  magic, etc.) requires a DC 25 Climb 
  check (includes +5 DC due to slippery 
  conditions). A small tunnel (5 ft. high, 
  5 ft. wide) burrows through the glacier 
  to arrive at the steam pools 20 ft. in the 
  steam pools (room 11).
  Monsters Consider placing a steam 
  mephit or two in the pit. They can 
  offer only limited information about 
  the Frostrift, for they are hesitant to 
  explore much beyond their warm 
  sub-glacial comfort zones, but they 
  can make up fanciful stories for the 
  gullible. 
  The mephits charge a toll as “protec-
  tion money” for characters wishing to 
  pass through the dangerous vents and 
  geysers at the pools. 
  2. The Two Sentinels 
  Bluntly shaped from the ancient glacier 
  itself, a greatly bearded sentinel stands on 
  either side of a 20-foot wide cavernous 
  maw. They grasp mighty swords, burying 
  the points in the snow banks gathered 
  around their boots. Their sightless eyes 
  of carved ice look into the depths of all 
  worlds.
  A cavern mouth fully 20 ft. wide and 
  30 ft. tall waits between the frost giant 
  sculptures. Permanent magic mouth 
  spells cause them to speak (in the 
  giantish) whenever anyone approaches 
  within 30 ft. 
  The left giant greets the heroes, say-
  ing, “Welcome to Hrolffa’s Hall! The 
  Seer peers into the mists and knows all 
  dooms.” The right giant quickly adds, 
  “Bring thy honorable gifts and be wary, 
  lest you hasten your doom.”
  3. Hall of the Doomed
  The wind crisscrosses this wide and wind-
  ing hall of unyielding blue-tinged white-
  ness. Thick rectangular blocks of ice form 
  a horrific path through the chamber, each 
  containing a mortal frozen with a scream 
  on its lips. 
   
  The two rows of 8-ft. tall blocks leave 
  10 ft. between them, and they snake 
  through this winding chamber. The 
  DM could reward characters willing to 
  take the time to loot the icebound, but 
  punishment seems a better match for a 
  room that presents such a dire warning. 
  4. Icicle Cavern
  Icy stalagmites and stalactites fill this rug-
  ged cavern. The crystalline columns and 
  shards tinkle and creak as the frigid wind 
  whispers past. 
  Icicle Hazard (CR 4)
  A character safely navigates this deadly 
  maze with a successful DC 20 Survival 
  check or a DC 25 Balance check (al-
  ready includes +5 DC due to slippery 
  conditions). A failed check results in a 
  +15 melee attack, dealing 6d6 hp dam-
  age. Characters make a check each time 
  they enter this room.
  5. Forever Chasm
  The chasm, 10 feet wide and 30 feet 
  long, plunges toward the black depths. 
  The wind shrieks within the darkness, 
  and its chill breath buffets the gnarled, 
  narrow ledge that clings to the eastern 
  wall of ice.  
   Walking the ledge requires a DC 
  17 Balance or Climb check (already 
  includes +5 DC due to slippery condi-
  tions and +2 DC for rough winds). 
  Failing the check by 5 or more results 
  in falling 100 ft. (10d6 damage) to the 
  bottom of the chasm. 
  6. The Great Stairs
  Massive stairs, carved from the glacier’s 
  heart by a frigid titan of legend, offer 
  a hazardous path down a long, sloping 
  shaft. Cold air blankets the ledges.
  Crossing the five ledges without ropes 
  or magic requires DC 25 Climb 
  checks. The ledges are 20 ft. apart. 
  Anyone in the shaft suffers from 
  extreme cold (see Environmental 
  Conditions). 
   7. Hrolffa’s Hall
  Rune-etched ice pillars, twice the height 
  of a man and glowing with white lumi-
  nescence, encircle the terrible and beauti-
  ful head of Hrolffa the Seer in this airy 
  chamber. The frost giant’s head rests on a 
  square dais, also made of ice. Eyes closed, 
  Hrolffa faces the cavern’s eastern portal.
   To the south, the smooth ice warps and 
  twists as it turns into a stilled water-
  fall beginning its grand plunge. Gold 
  and silver objects, encased in its frigid 
  grip, imperceptibly move towards an 
  unknown fate under the translucent 
  surface.
   The DM determines how Hrolffa re-
  acts to intruders and her level of aware-
  ness of the mortal world. Under the 
  best circumstances, DC 25 Diplomacy 
  checks are required for parley attempts, 
  with bonuses for awe-inspiring gifts of 
  magic and precious metals. 
  If Hrolffa accepts an offering, she 
  levitates her head to expose a hole in 
  the ice so the supplicant may deposit a 
  gift there. Once appeased, she may cast 
  a powerful divination spell on behalf of 
  the character (her caster level is 10+), 
  or she may confer a blessing that makes 
  a PC’s divination attempts more likely 
  to succeed.  
   Monsters: Instead of creating Hrolffa 
  from scratch, consider slightly modify-
  ing the standard frost giant. Give her 
  a fly speed and a bite attack that uses 
  a greataxe attack and damage. Assign 
  spellcaster levels and add the lich tem-
  plate. Or give her white dragon’s breath 
  and the undead type.
  Of course, Hrolffa’s legends could 
  simply be a hoax. Other creatures 
  might use the frozen head as a lure 
  to trick desperate souls into bringing 
  wondrous treasures and fresh meat to 
  the Frostrift Oracle.
  8. The Frozen Flow
  An ancient waterfall of ice shimmers 
  with an unknown quantity of gems and 
  precious treasures. The Frozen Flow clings 
  to the rocky face even as its waters ebb 
  below the veneer of swirled crystal, even-
  tually depositing the hoard into the lake 
  below; a frozen and jealous crust shelters 
  the lake’s still waters. The glacier’s moan 
  resonates strongly within the surrounding 
  enormous stone passage.
  
  64     Kobold Quarterly 8
  
  Kobold Quarterly 8    65
   The icefall drops 100 ft. to the frozen surface of the lake. 
  Except for the 20-ft. diameter shaft, the great glacier 
  entirely covers the rest of the lake below. The sheer ice 
  requires a DC 30 Climb check (includes +5 DC due to 
  slippery conditions).
  Falling Ice Hazard (CR 5)
  Chiseling through the icy sheets to reach bits of treasure re-
  quires a DC 25 Survival check. If the check fails, a poorly-
  chosen blow sends great swathes of ice crumbling and fall-
  ing all around the character with the chisel. This falling ice 
  makes a +15 melee attack and causes 6d6 hp damage to the 
  character. A character hit by falling ice must make an im-
  mediate DC 30 Climb check or fall the remaining distance 
  to the floor of the cavern. The noise of the ice collapse may 
  bring attention from any mosters the DM has placed on at 
  top of the icy sheet.
  Chipping a treasure out requires making a DC 20 Bal-
  ance check tohold onto the treasure. Failure means that the 
  treasure drops to the floor below.
  9. Little Waterfall
  The hushed waterfall quietly empties into a pool of blue-black 
  water, a gentle drop of less than five feet. Beyond this frozen 
  chamber to the east lies a larger, ice-floored cavern.
   The current slows in the shallow lake that continues under 
  Hrolffa’s court beyond, requiring DC 10 Swim or Strength 
  checks. The water negates any benefits from cold weather 
  clothing until dried.
  10. Warm Rapids
  A warm torrent rushes past, gaining speed as it flows down 
  the rocky channel. The water gurgles and splashes against the 
  rounded stones and boulders that litter its way.
  Above, venting geysers spew and pop; below, the warm and 
  noisy rapids descend into a silent trickle.
   The rapids descend 40 ft. over its course, spilling over a little 
  waterfall. Too shallow for swimming, DC 15 Balance checks 
  ensure characters do not fall down in the fast-moving stream 
  (already modified for conditions). 
  If a character slips in the water, the character must make 
  a successful DC 15 Strength check to avoid being swept 30 
  ft. downstream and taking 1d6 hp damage from buffeting 
  rocks. 
  Monsters: Water elementals in the rapids make things 
  more difficult for the heroes, increasing their Balance and 
  Strength DCs and harassing them further downstream. 
  11. Steam Pools
  Thick blue water bubbles out of the cracks and pits of the large 
  cavern’s gray stone floor. Steam jets explode with sudden force, 
  spraying scalding droplets and puffing clouds of lingering vapor 
  that roll up an icy tunnel in the north wall.
  The odor of metal and rock tangs the air with the earth’s se-
  crets. The warm waters quickly swirl toward a stony stream that 
  exits the south side of the ice-domed hot springs. 
  Geyser Hazard (CR 5)
  Geysers erupt throughout the cavern each round, but a PC 
  may avoid them with a successful DC 28 Survival check. 
  One PC may be designated as the guide whose success or 
  failure effects all nearby companions. Up to two characters 
  may use Aid Another to improve a guide’s Survival check. A 
  failed check results in 5d6 fire damage (DC 14 Reflex save 
  for half damage).
   Monsters: Steam mephits can make quite a nuisance of 
  themselves in this humid cavern. Even if they hesitate to at-
  tack characters, they increase their Survival check DCs by +2 
  by altering the natural rhythm of the geysers. If so disposed 
  (bribed), they provide a +2 bonus to Survival check rolls to 
  avoid the nasty vapor jets.
                     
    
    
   
                      <
  
  66     Kobold Quarterly 8
  
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  Become a patron at koboldquarterly.com
  One Adventure. Two Directions.  
  Has of the 
  Mountain-King
  Presents
  OGL
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  Open Design
  Your Choice.
  Halls of the Mountain-King is the latest Open Design project by Wolfgang Baur, winner of the  
  Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming.
  Te dwarves of Greater Zobeck are a hard-working group, whose mining of adamantine lured them ever-deeper and 
  whose pursuit of lifgas ore led them likewise into dangerous territory. Te vertical dungeon goes fom the depths of the 
  earth through the great halls and works of a vanished clan, up to a snowy mountaintop spire.
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  4th edition of the world’s most popular RPG for Halls of the Mountain-King.
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  68     Kobold Quarterly 8
  By Wolfgang Baur
  M
  ost citizens of the Free City 
  are hard-working, thrifty, 
  and honest, the foundation 
  of a prosperous polity and the envy of 
  nations of serfs, peasants, and slaves. 
  But there are always exceptions.
  While Zobeckers are mostly honest, 
  they also have their share of bandits 
  and robber barons; trade and com-
  merce are nothing if not cutthroat 
  enterprises. And to gain an edge in that 
  eternal struggle, some merchants and 
  barge captains turn to dark masters, 
  pledging blood and souls. 
  The Red Goddess
  The goddess of the poor and the de-
  bauched has a cult that simply cannot 
  be stamped out, no matter how hard 
  the Watch and the Griffon Riders try. 
  The Red Goddess Marena lusts for 
  flesh and death, and her taste for death 
  and sacrifices is unquenchable. Her fol-
  lowers snatch citizens from the streets; 
  children are warned that the Red Bride 
  will take them away if they do not obey 
  their parents.
  Marena’s shrines are small ones, little 
  more than an altarstone smeared with 
  blood, but she is exceedingly popular 
  with both the very wealthy (who enjoy 
  her debaucheries) and the very poor 
  (who lust for revenge or at least protec-
  tion against her plagues). Her sign, of 
  a small red-stained skull, is a common 
  bit of beadwork or broach, though 
  technically even her symbol if forbid-
  den within the city walls. 
  Her more devout followers uses 
  strangling sashes, and her kobold fol-
  lowers are said to be quite inventive 
  in their sacrifices. Kobolds are quite 
  insanely fond of the Red Goddess, 
  though she seems to offer them little in 
  return. Rumor has it, though, that she 
  is seen as a kobold equivalent to Yarila 
  and Porevit, the dual fertility god, and 
  that Marena blesses all kobold eggs to 
  hatch and grow stealthy.
  Mammon, 
  Arch-Devil of Wealth
  In a city where everyone seems to be 
  growing rich, for some it is never quite 
  enough. The arch-devil Mammon has 
  repeatedly made inroads among the 
  guilds and the merchants of Zobeck, 
  and his shrines are always fine ones, 
  with floors of hammered coins and 
  with idols of gold and silver. As the 
  devil of wealth, his promises are exactly 
  what Zobeckers want to hear. And 
  indeed, anyone who is successful in 
  business soon finds himself hounded 
  by rumors of a pact with Mammon.
  The reality is much less than the 
  rumor, in this case. Mammon does 
  prey on the wealthy merchants of the 
  city, but rarely does he grant wealth. 
  Rather, he plays on the fears of those 
  who are already rich that they might 
  lose their good fortune, and in this 
  way ensnares them into his vile service, 
  coupling with devils and abasing 
  themselves to win the Golden Devil’s 
  favor. Dwarves seem more than usually 
  tempted by Mammon’s offers to make 
  their wealth safe, and to make it breed.
  Pacts with the Scáthesidhe
  Not all cults are those of demons, dev-
  ils and dark gods. The Lords and La-
  dies of the Shadow Kingdoms are also 
  fond of pacts and gifts to foolish men 
  and women. Sometimes the shadow fey 
  take childrenm, leaving changelings in 
  behind to lead stolen lives. More often 
  the Scáthesidhe take grown men or 
  women as lovers, and many of those do 
  not return. 
  Worst of all, the fey often show 
  humans the truth of their own realms, 
  which are so beautiful and so desirable 
  that they make strong men weep and 
  beg to return. In this way, the fey gain 
  devoted followers, keeping paradise 
  forever just out of reach. 
  Kobolds and dwarves seem remark-
  ably resistant to fey blandishments. 
  Gnomes are, if anything, fey lackeys 
  and thralls, serving the Shadow Court 
  as its couriers, toadies, and (sometimes) 
  arcane enforcers.
  Cults of the Yellow Sign
  Little known outside the Arcane Col-
  legium — though perhaps some hint 
  can be found in the records kept at the 
  Blue House and the Spyglass Guild, 
  the cult of the Yellow Sign is one of 
  alien magic and power granted to those 
  who are initiates in a mystery thought 
  to be tied somehow to the wellsprings 
  of Star & Shadow magic. The magis-
  ters of the Collegium say little about 
  it, though they look worried when the 
  subject comes up. 
  What is known is that the Cult of the 
  Yellow Sign is an Eastern cult, tied to 
  the worship of Khors the sun god, and 
  to the imminent return of a messiah or 
  herald of some great power. This herald 
  is sometimes called Hallisar, sometimes 
  simply the Shining One, and he speaks 
  directly to the minds of those who 
  grant him obesiance and worship.
  What Hallisar wants is unclear; a 
  Pure Land and a Great Cleansing are 
  both popular images in the repetitive, 
  mind-numbing chants and screeds 
  that his followers produce. His cultists 
  seem to have some mastery over space 
  and time, appearing and disappearing 
  within the city at will, and no shrine to 
  the Yellow Sign has ever been found. 
  The Clockwork Mages are experi-
  menting to see if they might isolate 
  some clue or fraction of his origins or 
  determine the weaknesses of the cult, 
  so far without success. 
   
  <
  Cults and Heresies of Zobeck
  The Free City
  
  69     Kobold Quarterly 8
  
  70     Kobold Quarterly 8
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/3rd Party/4th Edition/Open Design/Kobold Quarterly 8.pdf