Dark Tower D20/3.0, Spell Storage I

Almost seven month ago back when I first started posting I wrote  about a little module put out by Judges Guild called Dark Tower.  I will post a picture of another module bearing the same name  today. There have actually been two since the first. This is the  middle offering.

This is the D20 3.0 version of the module with the same name. It  was also released with the Judges Guild brand name in 2001. I  have not had a chance to compare the two but except for the stat  differences it seems that the changes made are few. There was  some clean up to the maps which were needed. There was also  additional material that was written by Paul Jaquays for the  original after it was published that was incorporated.

In the end it is a module with the name Dark Tower. It also bears  the brand name Judges Guild. For nostalgia reasons alone that  makes it worth picking up. It can still be found for very  reasonable prices. For an OSR DM it would be cheaper to pick this  up and retrofit it back to the edition of choice.


Spell:

Spell Storage I

Level: Fourth
Range: None
Duration: Special
Ares of Effect: Special
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 Round
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is cast the magic user is able to then cast  additional spells into special designed foci. These will hold a  spell for later casting. These devices can only be used by the  caster that originally put the spell into the device.

The caster will be able to store one spell per device. The spells  must be third level or less with the use of this particular  spell. The caster may cast a limited number of spells into any  number of foci. The limit on this is that they must have the  spell to cast and they must be cast continuously with no more than  one round of break per spell.

The number of foci that a caster can have is limited by their  level. The caster can have a number of foci equal to one plus  their level at the time the spell was cast into the foci. The  spell will remain in the item for a period of 24 hours. At the end  of that time the spell energy dissipates.

The material components of this spell will be a small foci that  is designed specifically for a particular spell level. The cost  of the foci will be 50gp per level of the spell it is intended to  hold. Each foci may hold one spell. The foci may be reused after  the spell it contains is used or has lost the energy stored  within it. 

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. 

Booty List - Judges Guild, Mass Reincarnation

With Judges Guild items the easiest way to tell the various printings of  items is too look at the Booty List that is printed in the item. Items  appears to be for the most part numbered sequentially as they were released.  This makes it wast to identify when it was released.

Somewhere along the lines I got stack of Booty Lists that were not printed in  an item and are there own free standing product. I suspect these may have come  with the catalogs that were sent out but this is just a guess. Using the same  deductive principle though this would look to have been released in 1977.  There are two items that support this. The last item on the list is Modron  which was released in 1977. This is less conclusive but it also talks about  Dragons #1 - #5 being out of print. Issue #6 was released in 1977.

I have not been able to find any information on the Booty List being  described as an individual product. I am going to go under the assumption  that they were sent with the catalogs but again this is merely an assumption.  Regardless these are a great peek into the way things progressed with Judges  Guild. It would not be out of line to say that D&D, RuneQuest and Traveller  might not be what they are today and what the were if it had not been for the  products provided through Judges Guild for them.

If anyone knows anything about the free standing Booty List please let me  know.



Spell: 

Mass Reincarnation
Level: Eighth
Range: 6"
Duration: Permanent
Ares Effect: Upto 6 Creatures
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 2 Turns
Saving Throw: None

This spell except for ability to affect multiple creatures, the higher spell  level and increased casting times will in all other ways be identicle to the  sixth level Magic User Reincarnation spell. The spell allows the caster to  select up to six creatures that will be affected by the spell. The caster  will not need to specifically touch them but can specify them as desired.

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.

Village Book One - Judges Guild, Cassandra's Waiting Light

In an earlier post I had written about the Island Book which was released by Judges Guild and how it was probably still the most useful of the premade mapping products. I had said it beat out the Village book but perhaps not by much. I still hold with that but the margin may be even closer than I recalled.

The Village book was released in 1978 and then again in 1979 with this same exact cover. The only difference between the two are the Booty List that is in the back of the book. Other than the other products listed in the end they are identical. There is a third printing that has a different cover and marketed as a Universal Fantasy Supplement.

The Village book consists of forty-eight different maps of villages. The villages range in size from a few building to ones that are on the upper end of what might be called a village. In addition to the maps there are nine pages of tables that will help the DM randomly determine the contents of the villages and their makeup. The tables are what I had forgotten about and help inch this closer to being the equal of the Island Book.

In the end this is still a product that is worth having. I was recently made aware that most of the earlier Judges Guild products are available online as PDF files. I prefer a hard copy to an electronic copy so I would look on the secondary market first but that is a matter of taste. Regardless of how you get it I think this is something worth having.

Spell:

Cassandra's Waiting Light

Level: Second
Range: 12"
Duration: 1 Month/Level
Ares Effect: 3" Radius
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 Round
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is cast it creates a specialized Light Spell. The light affect created by this spell will have a trigger effect and phrase.

The use of this phrase will cause the light effect to either come on or go off as is appropriate. The trigger effect is more specific and will only cause the light to either come on or go off.

This spell will remain until such time as it is dispelled or the duration expires. The caster of the spell may also cancel the effect at will.

The material component of this spell is a living firefly or similar such creature. The creature is released when the spell is cast and will vanish until the spell duration expires.

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.

JG - Book of Ruins, Cassandra's Vortex of Doom

The Book of Ruins by Judges Guild was initially released in 1981. The book is 32 pages long and it consists of ten encounters of varying length. These were designed so they could be inserted into existing campaigns or run as stand alone sessions. The book has encounters designed for use with AD&D but they could in most cases be easily adapted for other system.

Each of the installments are short enough that they could be run in anywhere from one to four hours. They would be perfect as filler encounters to make an overland session less predictable and yet keep the encounters from having to be larger dungeon sessions. They could be used for purposes of other than filling space in an overland session but they would require beefing up in some cases.

Most of the encounters are designed for six to eight characters and the majority of them are designed for lower level characters though some are intended for characters much higher than third level. The encounters contain in the accessory are below along with the character levels intended for use with.

Hegrash the Bandit Ogre (1-3)
Screaming Sanctuary (1-3)
The Holding Harvest (1-3)
Adobe of Apes (3-4)
Singing Hall (4-5)
Lair of Maylock (2-3)
Out Post of Hell (8-10)
Final Refuge of Allmark (3-5)
Temple of Tarsham (5-7)
Abominable Family (4-6)

The encounters as said earlier vary in length and also in quality. The largest would have to be the "Lair of Maylock" though I am not sure it is the most original of encounters. This again was made back in 1981 long before thing like the One Page Dungeon contest existed. It filled a niche back when written but today there are myriad other options. It is worth picking up if you can get it cheap but nothing to go out of your way to find.

Spell:

Cassandra's Vortex of Doom

Level: Second
Range: 6"
Duration: 1 Round/Level
Ares Effect: One Creature
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 3 Segments
Saving Throw: Negates

This spell when cast engulfs the intended creature in a swirling vortex of high speed winds. These winds will have the effect of exerting force equal to 6"+ 1"/level of the caster (at third level it exerts 9" of force). If the victim makes their save they are not affected and the vortex vanishes.

This force may be used in two ways and the caster may switch once per round. The first use is to force the victim along the surface they are standing on in any direction the caster desires. The victim will be moved one inch per inch of force. This can be countered and resisted by using their own movement on an inch per inch ratio.

The second use of this spell will enabled the caster to have the victim lifted into the air. The vortex will be able to lift the victim into the air a maximum of one inch for every five inches of force it possesses rounded down. This movement may not be resisted by the victim unless they posses the ability to fly or levitate. The victim will rise ten feet per round until the maximum height is reached. If the maximum height is reach the vortex can hold the victim there motionless if desired. The caster can at any point have the vortex let the victim drop and they would suffer the appropriate amount of damage for such a fall. The vortex can then again surround the victim and begin the process again.

Once this spell has been cast it will not require the concentration of the magic user. The caster simply needs to vocalize the intended movement effect for the round at the beginning of the round. If the vortex is not directed otherwise it will continue using the same movement effect from the previous round.

This spell will have the effect of causing any items in the hands of the victim to be ripped out of their hands if they do not make a Bend Bars roll each round. The items will remain within the vortex for the duration of the spell but will be thrown 1d6 inches in a random direction when the spell expires. Spell casters affected by the vortex will not be able to cast spells while affected.

If this spell is cast on or near a person wearing a Ring of Air Elemental Control it will have a different effect. The vortex is actually a non-intelligent force from the Elemental Plane of Air but the vortex can be controlled by the person wearing the ring. The wearer of the ring can if desired assume control of the vortex for the duration of the spell.

The material components of this spell are the wings of a humming bird and a toy top which the caster spins at the start of the spell. The humming bird wings are destroyed with the casting of the spell but the top is not.

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.

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.

JG - Character Codex, Minor Petrification

I have always been a junkie for Judges Guild products. This is my second favorite character sheet that I ever used. Top honors belong to a home brew character sheet that was made by the gaming group that my first DM belonged too. He was our high school calculus teacher and would sell them too us for $.10 each. I remember buying stacks of them and still have a handful of the unused one left. This comes in second though. The pack came with 112 so that should have been enough for an entire group except for the fact that these each had an illustration, by none other than Paul Jaquays of a specific class and race combination. The ADD in me would not let me use a sheet for any other option. In addition the sheet had a blank shield where the player could create a Coat of Arms for the character. The sheet was one sided but on the back was a list of equipment and costs. Now as a DM I thought what if my equipments costs are different but it was still a nice touch. If you are looking for some old school type character sheets you could do worse than these and might be hard pressed to do better. Anyone care to share what their favorite character sheet was?

Spell:

Minor Petrification

Level: Fourth
Range: 6"
Duration: 1 Turn + 1 Round/Level
Ares Effect: One Creature
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 6 segments
Saving Throw: Negates

When this spell is cast it causes the intended victim to become encased in a layer of porous but exceptionally strong stone like material. The material will form around the victim causing them to freeze in whatever position that they were in when the spell triggered. The material fists very close to the body but will allow for enough expansion of the chest cavity for the victim to breathe. A successful save means that the victim was not affected by the spell.

The material the victim is encased in is sturdy enough that it will take a complete turn to chip an individual out. The one turn estimate is based on a single person doing the chipping. The total time will be divided by the number of people working on getting the individual out but is round up. For each person chipping at the material the encased victim will take one point of damage per round due to the collateral damage of what is being done to the material. If the victim is actually being attacked the damage is increased to two points per attack but that is all that will get through. When trying to remove them the damage can be avoided but will double the amount of time it takes to free the victim.

Should an individual affected by this spell be attacked with damage causing spells all damage will automatically be halved and a successful save versus magic means only one quarter damage is taken. If the spell normally allows a save for half damage then a successful save means no damage is taken. Spells will also have the effect of causing one round of damage per level of the spell to the material encasing the victim.

The material component of this spell is a small chunk of lava rock or sandstone. The stone is crushed and will be consumed (used up not eaten) during the casting of the spell.

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.

Wilderlands Hex Sheets - Judges Guild

This is a pretty simple item so there is not much to say about it. Judges Guild had  perhaps on of the most detailed early campaign settings there was. I go back and forth between it and Harn though. The settings was spread out over a number of different products and any one would have been enough for the whole campaign. Getting back to the item at hand. This map pack included four double sided 17" by 22" map sheets. They said it is designed for use with their Wilderlands product but can be used for any mapping project. Hexes were individually numbers. I very much wish they still made this product today as I think the JG mapping system is perhaps my favorite.

Treasury of Archaic Names - Judges Guild

This is one of those accessories that I would call both essential as well as fun. There is always a need to name people, places and things and this fills that role nicely. It is also fun to just read through and use it to spark ideas. Sometimes the name defines the person, place or thing. Baby name books and even books of mythological or supernatural beings can be used as well but this was created specifically for the stated purpose. There is a newer version that I have as well if memory serves me but this will be the one I pick up and use. 

Tegel Manor - Judges Guild

Tegel Manor was the second module I was ever run in. This is one hard act to follow module wise. I am not sure it was ever matched. This matched the magical pools with its own level of randomness. I ended up running it many time on my own over the years and I still don't think that I have ever fully used all of it there is to use.

Dark Tower - Judges Guild

Judges Guild has many great items. Their campaign setting may have been the best retail product they offered but this is by far their best best module. Had so much fun being run through it first and then using it multiple times with different groups. For old school modules I am not sure it gets better than this.