JG - Island Book One, Cassandra's Shadowy Hound

This is the Island Book 1 - Campaign Hexagon Sub-System that was put out by Judges Guild back in 1978 give or take a year or so. This was another of those time saving boons to the early DM. This one more so than perhaps the Village Book is still almost as useful. I say that because I know of a number of village generators that can be found online but I do not know of any that generate islands. If one exists perhaps someone can mention it in a comment. Regardless all of the early Judges Guild mapping type products be they the blank map sheets to the Island Book to the full blown Wilderlands offerings were all top shelf accessories. The book has 48 maps of either single islands or chains of islands of varying sizes. Also included are three or four pages of charts for generating such items as terrain, inhabitants, possible volcanic activity, unique things to find and encounter charts. Given the generic nature of the product I think this is still one of the more useful aids that Judges Guild produced and that it has stood the test of time better than other products from that era.

Spell:

Cassandra's Shadowy Hound

Level: Fifth
Range: 6"
Duration: 6 Turns/Level
Ares Effect: None
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 Turn
Saving Throw: None

By means of this spell the magic user creates a temporary gate to the Plane of Shadow. The gate brings forth one Shadowy Hound for every three levels of the caster. These hounds will be friendly to the caster and any that the caster signifies as friends. The caster does not need to maintain concentration to control the hounds.

The hounds may perform very minor tasks but their real purpose is to serve as guardians for the caster and/or a given area. The hounds are not able to attack anything on this plane and any successful magical attack or a casting of Dispel Magic will send them back to the Plane of Shadow. The hounds can appear to be any largish dog and will often be mistaken for Shadow Mastiffs.

Should anyone not in the magic users party or signified as a friend of the caster come within fifty feet of the hound they will begin to issue a low growl that any creature within a fifty foot radius will be able to hear unless other noises make this impossible. If anyone other than a friend comes within 20 feet of the hound or should any of the hounds be attacked then all will start barking and yelping. Those who are within 100 feet that hear the barking and fail a save versus fear will be stopped in their tracks for 1d4 rounds though any attack on them will break this.

The caster as well as any they have signified as a friend will be immune to the yelp effect of the hounds though they can hear it if within range. Even if outside the range if they are asleep there is an 80% chance for anyone other than the caster to be awakened. There is a 100% chance that the caster will be awakened by this. This yelping will alert the magic user and their party thus preventing them from being surprised while asleep or otherwise occupied.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up 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.