Heroes Magazine #5 - Avalon Hill, Dodge

I think I have said before how much I love magazines. Not just  gaming magazines but magazines in general. Still gaming magazines  have an exalted place in the realm of magazines. I have tried to  get an example of all the different magazines I run across. I in  many cases have tried to complete runs and in the case of Heroes  this was something that could be done.

Heroes was the house magazine for Avalon Hill. It ran articles on  the four role playing games they had at the time. These were James  Bond, Lords of Creation, Powers & Perils and lastly RuneQuest. I  know there is a reason to have a magazine dedicated to your games  specifically but this limits your audience. I still prefer the  older Dragons & White Dwarf magazines that ran articles on  everything under the sun.

The articles in Heroes are great for the games that they support  though. Since the print run on the magazine was only ten issues i  have been able to go through all of them. Issue number fives  stands out in my mind as being my favorite. I would have used the  word best in place of my favorite but other issues are just as  good. It is just that the content in issue five seems to be more  portable than others.

Issue #5 had a total of ten articles and a special pull out  section in it. It is the pull out section that sold me on the  issue. The pull out portion is the Royal City of Donara. Donara is  set in the Powers & Perils game but as in any city except for stat  blocks they can be easily ported. I won't say this is a fully  detailed city as the section is only nine pages in length. It  would better be described a well sketched out city. It has twenty  six neighborhoods and twenty two places of note described along  with some history, policies, laws and statistics as well as  important people described. It will not beat the Irilian offering  from White Dwarf but it comes in second from what I have found.

The issue also has some other articles that make it worthwhile.  There is an article on Powers & Perils magic items and then a  larger companion piece on magic item creation in the game. There  is also a piece on gambling for RuneQuest that could be ported.  There is also an interesting piece on swordsmen from history and  cinema. Finally there is the entry on the History of the Lunar  Empire which I have a soft spot for fantasy history pieces.

It will not be for everyone and there are other issues that may be  just as good but this one has stayed in my mind throughout the  years. If you have not had a chance to check out Heroes magazine  you might want to give at least one issue a try. You can usually  find it fairly prices on eBay and I have even seen them in places  like Half Price Books on occasion.


Spell:

Dodge

Level: Fifth
Range: Touch
Duration: Special
Ares of Effect: Creature Touched
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 2 Segments
Saving Throw: None

With the casting of this spell the magic user causes the recipient  to become impossible to hit for a period of time. The spell will  grant the recipient a level of agility that will allow them to  dodge any attack unerringly.

The recipient will be able to dodge any number of attacks per  round. They will still be able to attack the standard number of  times in the round as well. The ability to dodge is not due to a  speed increase though that will appear to be the case as a result  of the ability to dodge so many attacks. There is no speed  increase and the movement rate and attack speed stay the same.

The dodge ability will extend to both missile and melee combat. The  recipient is even able to dodge attacks that normally can not be  dodges such as missiles from the Magic Missile spell. The recipient  will even dodge attacks they cna not see such as surprise attacks  from behind.

The spell will remain in effect for a different period of time  depending who it is cast on. If it is cast on the magic user then  it will last one round for every two levels. If it is cast on  anyone else it drops to one round for every three levels.

The material component of this spell will be a mixture of  dragonfly wings and essence from a will-o-the wisp. The mixture  will cost no less than 200 gp to make. The mixture is not used up  in the casting buy will ony remain fresh for a period time. It  will remain viable for 3-6 months before it must be refreshed.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the  write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the  80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other  than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be  slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of  spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :)  Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on  me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please  let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.