There are two issues of Wargamer's Digest that would strike the fancy of a role player. These are issues V1 #7 and the one above V2 #8. Both of these issues have articles in them written by Gary Gygax. I have both of these issues and am not sure why I picked this one first but I will post the other at some point in the future.
This issue has the story "The Magician's Ring" in it. This article tells the story of another adventure in the dungeons of Greyhawk. There have been other blog posts about this so I won't go into the story or copy it. You can find it transcribed here.
These early accounts of the game in a magazine as Wargamer's Digest had to catch some of the readers by surprise. I can only imagine they felt like I do about the April Fools issues that Dragon magazine used to run. Little did they know that they were reading about the start of a whole new genre of gaming. I wonder if the same will happen too us some day or has it already. How many of use might have scoffed at Ultima Online and then perhaps EverQuest?
Spell:
Alignment Flames
Level: Fifth
Range: 6"
Duration: 1 Round/Level
Ares Effect: 6" Radius
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 5 Segments
Saving Throw: Special
When this spell is cast all creatures in the area of effect are outlined in glowing flames. The appearance of these flames will be similar in appearance to that generated by the Faerie Fire spell. Those in the caster's party will not be affected unless so desired by the caster.
The flames will have the same effect as that of Faerie Fire in regards to making the victims easier to hit. Those attacking the creatures outlined will have a +2 added to their To Hit rolls. The spell will have other effects as well though.
The flames outlining the the creatures will vary based on the alignment of the victim in relationship to the caster. The actual colors will be left up to the DM and it can change from caster to caster if desired. The colors will change based on deviation from the caster alignment on both the law/chaos and good/evil access though.
The effect of the fire will increase the further the victim is from the alignment of the caster. The victim will suffer a -1 to all combat and saving throws they are required to make for each step removed. This results in a maximum penalty of -4. For those suffering a -3 or -4 they will also suffer 1 or 2 points of damage per round respectively. This will also have the effect of requiring a save for caster to perform any spell casting due to the disruption in concentration. Those who save are still outlines in flame and have the effect from that. They will though have the other penalties effect halved.
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.
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