I had subscribed to Dungeon the same time I finally broker down and bought the subscription to Dragon magazine. This was done simply because it seemed expedient and I thought maybe I might start using Dungeon. I had started buying Dungeon once it became publicly available through retail channels. My dedication to buying it was no where near as religions as for Dragon though.
I am not sure why I never took to Dungeon the way I did Dragon magazine. I suspect it was more me than anything about the magazine. I had also slowed down the amount of DM'ing I did before Dungeon became readily accessible. It was also at point in my life where like the song says 'painted wings and giants' rings make way for other toys".
Even now in looking at the contents of the final issue I don't feel the same since of loss. The lackluster look back I complained about for Dragon 359 is perfected in Dungeon 150. The only redeeming item I can find in is is the index of offerings which is impressive but I also found that part of the reason it never took is that it was a 2e, 3.x and 4e product much longer than a 1e one.
Still it deserved a mention of its own. I am not sure I ever used any of the encounters/settings offered through it but it was part of a routine near the end of its run and connected with something much more significant so I owed it this much.
Spell:
Spell Catching
Level: Seventh
Range: None
Duration: Special
Ares of Effect: Caster
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 Round
Saving Throw: None
When this spell is cast the magic user gives themselves the ability to catch spells that are cast at them. This will allow the caster to absorb the magical energy of the spell rather than suffering the effects of the spell. The ability only affects spells where the caster is a target of the spell and not simply caught in the area of effect. The caster may choose to not catch any spell even if catching it is possible.
The spell will remain in effect until the caster has captured all the spells that they can or until they either sleep, lose consciousness or die. The number of spells that the caster can catch and absorb energy from is a function of their intelligence and the level of the spells caught.
The caster can never catch a number of spells greater than one quarter of their intelligence rounded up. The caster is also limited to catching spells that are no higher than sixth level. The final limitation is that the total number of spell levels caught can be no more than their intelligence.
When a spell is captured the caster has to review the spell that they caught will be handled. If the caster has a vacant slot from a previously cast spell of that level and they know the spell they can store the energy for future casting. If they have a vacant slot but do not know the spell they can try and convert the enegy into that of a spell they know to store it to cast. To accomplish this they must make a save versus magic and if successful the spell is converted and stored. If they fail the energy fizzles away.
The last and most amazing one for the caster is if they capture the spell and they do not already know it they can try to learn the spell from the energy it contains. The chance for them to do this is equal to five times their level as a percentage minus five times the level of the spell as a percentage plus their intelligence as a percentage. After all that math is done if successful the caster must make a save versus spells at a minus four to learn it. If they fail the save they suffer two points of damage per spell level. If they learn it the spell must be scribed into their book within one day per level of the spell or the information needed to scribe it is lost and the spell is lost to them.
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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