Wilds Beyond the Witch Light Session #2

 July 27 2024

3pm

Piper's Birthday! Thanks for the cupcakes Kat! And Thanks for the presents Meghan!

At the Big Top Extravaganza, the group meets Raven the witch girl and feels an immediate kinship, wrt the whole magical loss thingy. Some of the group try the talent show, and bomb so hard we lose a mirth point on the tracker. 

Our new friend Raven takes us to  the Dragon Fly rides hosted by the Groot and Rocket we have at home. Therew we see a mysterious winged figure cause some trouble and almost kill a blueb-bearded dwarf. 

Then we go to the roller coaster of references, it's scary. So scary we lose a mirth point on the tracker. Logan buys more tickets for the group, as we were out of ticket punches. 

Then we go to the show at the lake, where Palasha the mermaid sings. Her beaux the mime named Candlefoots was about to propose, but that dastardly winged figure steals his voice and heckles her. We heroicaly intervene. 

The winged figure is a kenku (anthropormophic bird person, that can only mimic speech) named Kettlesteam. She is a warlock pledged to Zybylna, Archfey of Prismir. Said arch fey has gone silent and may have disappeared. 

Kettlesteam has been causing a ruckus at the carnival in order to get an audience with the proprieters, because she believes they have information relevant to finding Zybylna. 

We took the troublemaker backstage to the security desk where Burly the Bug-Bear ushered us into an audience with Mr. Light and Mr. Witch. They direct us through the House of Mirrors and a portal into the Feywild. Once we go through we can find our own missing stuff and also Star the displacer beast cub, and also Zybylna. 

Our magical advice is to remember the Rule of 3; Future/Present/Past, and to find the Alicorn to be Free at Last. [An alicorn is a bunny with a unicorn horn, or a winged unicorn, something like that].

 The charm to enter the portal is "Hither Thither, Here and There, Wonder Yonder, Show Me Where."

We are each awarded 300 xp and rise to character level 2. 

Wilds Beyond the Witchlight Session #1

July 7 2024

 The Witch Light Carnival is back in town after an 8 year Hiatus! 4 lost souls wait in line to enter the carnival, all here to find something lost. Upon entering these 4 encounter a helpful robotic employee to direct them to the lost property tent.

 The tent is staffed by "Dan" the Displacer Beast, who is minding lost children as well as lost items. Not lost memories though, that's different. (Dan's real name is long and hard to pronounce.) One of the lost children runs off, y'all retrieve said child from the candy booth. "Dan" says that Mr. Light and Mr. Witch, proprietors of the carnival, are (1) on edge and (2) able to tell y'all how to retrieve your missing memories from the Feywild.

 "Dan" also trusts Logan's character with a mini disco ball, it was her child's favorite thing before they got lost in the Feywild. The juvenile displacer beast is named "Star". A rumor has it that the "sow-Pig" lured Star into the FeyWild through the Hall of Illusions.

 In order to get an audience with Mr. L and/or Mr. W we must either sneak into the staff area, or become the witchlight monarch, or hope for a chance at the Big Top Extravaganza. To become the Monarch, we must spread cheer and mirth. 

The group visits several attractions at the fair. We each get 8 tix punches before we have to go. 

1. The Hall of Illusions, where we interrupt the 3rd act of a rom-com and meet the sow-Pig. She's nasty.

 2. The snail races, Olivia wins! I forget what charm she received. 

3. Bubble Pop Tea, where cockney rhyming fellas pop us into a giant bubble. 

*. after which most of us land at the food court, and Mandee (with two EEs) landed on top of the carousel. Mandee has a pouch of tea leaves that grant magical protection once. 

4. Cupcake Eating Contest; Megan won with 12 cupcakes. She received a magic cupcake that makes u invisible when you eat it. 

5. The Pixie Kingdom, where everything is smol and the relatively giant hamster named Biscuit is a goober. 

* Olivia won some pixie dust at the hide and seek contest. 

Then the Big Top Extravaganza was about to start. So we ended the session. 

Procedural summary: 

We created 2 or 3 points of happiness. 

We each punched our tickets 5 times. out of 8 total. 

It's halfway through the length of the carnival. 

We received 70 experience points each. 

We're down 12 coppers for candy. 

I've got a note that Kat got a potion of advantage and Megan got a single use wand of dancing lights, but i don't remember the circumstances. 

 Unresolved rumors and gossip include, 

The centaur who runs the full size carousel wasn't born a centaur. But they don't want to talk about it. 

Bolo the Kenku (birdman from tanagra) is a troublemaker. 

Candlefoot the mime (who's really mute) is in love with the Mermaid who staffs the water ride. 

There's a philosophical bugbear staffing the swanboat rides. 

For posterity, here's our Pixie Names 

Kat: Toad Hop 

Megan: Panache 

Logan: Jellybean Starfish 

Amy: Cotton Candy 

James: Dimple

Charms (Single Use Magic Items that Are Not Potions)

Some of these items seem at home in an alchemist's lab (universal solvent), others are more like the surprisingly useful tokens given to heroes in fairy tales (feather tokens, wondrous figurines), and a few are wahoofuntimes (Marvelous Pigments!), and the rest seem to be emergent from exploring and logistics
in an imaginary world (Dust of Dryness) or one-use spell effects that don't grok as potions (salve of slipperiness).

Item (First "Core" Appearance)    Schtick


Bag of Tricks (Greyhawk)          Pokemon, for regular animals
Bead of Force (2E)                    Force grenade/Forcecage
Candle of Invocation(AD&D)    Magic Circle of Protection + Cleric Spellpower + Gate
Candle of Truth(3E)                   Zone of Truth
Dust of Appearance (Greyhawk)    Negate invisibility, blur, displacement, illusions, stealth
Dust of Disappearance(Greyhawk)    Invisibility
Dust of Dryness(2E)                          Dehydrate water
Dust of Illusion(2E)                            Disguise self
Dust of Tracelessness(2E)                  Hide tracks
Elemental Gem(3E)                           Pokemon, for elementals
Elixer of Love (AD&D)        Love Potions
Elixir of Fire Breath(3E?)    Breathe Fire...like a boss   
Elixer of Hiding(3E)        Hide like a thief
Elixer of Sneaking(3E)        Sneak like a thief
Elixer of Swimming(3E)        Swim like a fish
Elixir of Vision(3E)        Search good
Elixir of Truth(3)        Truthtelling compel
Wondrous Figurines (Greyhawk)    Pokemon, for badass beasts
Feather Tokens    (AD&D)        Anchor, Bird(Message), Fan(Wind), Swan Boat, Tree, Dancing Whip
Incense of Meditation(AD&D)    Extra spellpower for casters
Marvelous Pigments(AD&D)    Looney Tunes painting power
Ointment (AD&D)            Cure wounds/heal maladies
Salve of Slipperiness(3E)    "Grease" spell
Silversheen(3E)            Like poison for a weapon, but silver
Soverign Glue(2E)        Alchemical superglue
Stone Salve(3)            Reverse-petrification treatment
Unguent of Timelessness(3E)    Longevity coating
Universal Solvent(2E)        Alchemical anti-glue

THE WIZARD IS UNDETERRED

My next D&D campaign will be this

via Doctor Rotwang

Still with the Magic Items

This week, I have been commenting a lot on Telecanter's one-page magic items quest.
I hope I'm helping.

History of Rods, Staffs, and Wands.

Staffs and wands appear in Volume II: Monsters & Treasure, Rods are introduced in Supplement I: Greyhawk as rarer items that are listed with the wands and staves, but have no real distinction from any other miscellaneous magic item.

Staff/Wand magic generally, but not always, mimics cleric and magic user spells, or spell like effects. I think this is the very first patch for player dissatisfaction with Vancian-magic.

Player: "But its lame I only get to cast (1, 2, 6) spells per session, what if my dude had like a magic wand filled with spells.

GM: "Okay, murder a manticore and pay 10k gold and leave your dude in Town for this week session and next time he's got a wand of fireballs with (roll roll) 45 charges in it.

Player: "Everything is beautiful and will be this way forever."

Rods are more like special effects. One neat distinction, the Rod of Lordly Might can only be used by Fighter-Types but the Rod of Rulership can be used by any character.

Again, Holmes and B/X take the greatest hits, and leave out the highest level stuff like Lordly Might/Resurrection. B/X breaks the Trap/Secret Door detection wand into two separate sticks.

AD&D adds a Rod of Smiting and Staffs of Curing and Magi to supplement the Healing and Wizardry Staffs.

AD&D is also the first appearance of the wand of magic missiles (how many arguments about "low-magic, high-fidelity, "realistic" campaigns did this start), Wand of Illumination (because tracking torches is lame?), and the whimsical Wand of Wonder (Make a saving throw versus banality if you didn't capitalize the words in your head).

The divergent evolution of the Cyclopedia rears again, "Dominion" instead of "Rulership", a handful of weapon-rods, and more variety to spell staffs. And 2nd Edition brings it all back together again.

3rd Edition doesn't appear on this list, because of the way it systematized rod/staff/wand magic items.
In 3rd Edition, any low level (0-4) spell could be placed on a wand, and any character who could possible learn the wanded spell could use the wand.
Staffs, were items that could contain multiple spells that shared a theme, and a primary spell user who was the right level to learn the spell in the staff could
cast the spell from the staff using his own caster level but without having to memorize the spell.

But this mundanifying meant that some of the more "wahoo" wands and spells (Wonder, enemy detection, metal detection, withering) got turned into rods.
A rod was just a miscellaneous magic item, that might also be a magic club weapon, that you had to hold in a hand (instead of a weapon/shield/implement).

Rod	OD&D	Holmes	B/X	AD&D	Cyclopedia	2E
...of Cancellation	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Beguiling	YES			YES		YES
...of Absorption	YES			YES		YES
...of Lordly Might	YES			YES		YES
...of Rulership/Dominion	YES			YES	YES	YES
...of Resurrection	YES			YES		YES
...of Smiting				YES		YES
...of Health					YES
...of Inertia					YES
...of Parrying					YES
...of Victory					YES
...of Weaponry					YES
...of the Wyrm					YES
...of Alertness						YES
...of Flailing						YES
...of Security						YES
...of Splendor						YES
...of Passage						YES
...of Terror						YES
Staff	Staff	Staff	Staff	Staff	Staff	Staff
...of Curing	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Command	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
Snake/Serpent Staff	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Striking	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Withering	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Power	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Wizardry	YES		YES	YES	YES
...of Curing				YES
...of the Magi				YES		YES
...of Dispelling					YES
...of the Druids/WOodlands					YES	YES
...of an Element (Thunder & Lightning)					YES	YES
...of Harming					YES
...of Slinging						YES
Spear Staff						YES
Mace Staff						YES
...of Swarming Insects						YES
Wand	Wand	Wand	Wand	Wand	Wand	Wand
...of Metal & Mineral Detection	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Enemy Detection	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Magic Detection	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Secret Door/Trap Detection	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Illusions	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Fear	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Frost	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Paralyzation	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Fire	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Lightning	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Polymorphing	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Negation	YES		YES	YES	YES	YES
...of Conjuration				YES		YES
...of Magic Missiles				YES		YES
...of Illumination				YES		YES
...of Wonder				YES		YES
...of Earth and Stone						YES
...of Flame Extinguishing						YES
...of Size Alteration						YES

History of Magic Rings in D&D Part II

In the last post, I couldn't figure out how to post the comparison chart, showing magic rings that were added to The Game over the editions. I think I figure out a way to make it fit now.

The column named OD&D includes the three little brown books and the Greyhawk and Blackmoor supplements. The Ring of Freedom was originally for unencumbered underwater movement, part of the aquatic treasures from the original Temple of the Frog.

We see again how Holmes Basic made good choices, including those rings from the 3LBB that took the least words to explain.

The column for B/X is the Moldavay/Cook edition. I did peruse the BECMI Cyclopedia, but it only had a few entries that weren't already covered and they were very outre' (like the Ear Ring, put it up to a door and hear whats on the other side!)

The columns for AD&D, 2E, and 3E are based on that generation's Dungeon Master's Guide.

See that the 1st Edition DMG only added 4 rings that hadn't already appeared in the Original edition; Elemental Control, Feather Falling, Warmth, and Wizardry.

The 2nd Edition added several more, and shows evidence of the bifurcation of approaches during that era. On the one hand: Truth, Clumsiness, and Mind Shielding because it matters who you talk to and who tells the truth, because you can't just smack around any NPC anymore, they exist to order you around, save the world when you're not looking, and be awesome in novels and metaplots that mean you can't actually take part in the (un)making of the world. On the other hand: Shocking Grasp and Sustenance, because at Bot the Lousy DM's table the only thing you can count on is explicit combat plusses on your sheet and tracking rations is lame.

The 3rd Edition added only a few more by name to show off the new skill and counterspell systems (Climbing, Counterspells, Evasion, Force Shield, Meld Into Stone, Friend Shield). The 'share hit points with a friend' idea of the Friend Shield Ring is a really cool concept.

Remember that 3E had item crafting baked in, so really the base game there implied the possible existence of "Rings of plus 1-30 to any number on your character sheet" and "Rings of any magic-user, cleric, or druid spell 3/day".

Ring OD&D Holmes B/X AD&D 2E 3E
Invisibility yes yes yes yes yes yes
Weakness yes yes yes yes yes no
Protection (+1) yes yes yes yes yes yes
Three Wishes yes yes yes yes yes yes
Delusion yes no yes yes yes no
Water Walking yes yes yes yes yes yes
Fire Resistance yes yes yes yes yes yes
Mammal/Animal Control yes yes yes yes yes yes
Plant Control no yes yes no no no
Human Control/Influence yes no yes yes yes no
Protection (+1), 5' r. yes no yes no no no
Regeneration yes yes yes yes yes yes
Jinn Summoning yes no yes yes yes yes
Telekinesis yes no yes yes yes yes
X-Ray Vision yes no yes yes yes yes
Spell Turning yes no yes yes yes yes
Spell Storing yes no yes yes yes yes
Many Wishes (4-24) yes no no yes yes no
Protection +2 to +5 yes no yes yes yes yes

Shooting Stars yes no no yes yes yes
Contrariness yes no no yes yes yes
Freedom/Free Action yes no no yes yes no
Movement (Swimming) yes no no yes yes yes

Elemental Control no no no yes yes yes
Feather Falling no no no yes yes yes
Warmth no no no yes yes no
Wizardry no no no yes yes yes

Sustenance no no no no yes yes
Truth no no no no yes no
Blinking no no no no yes yes
Chameleon Power no no no no yes yes
Jumping no no no no yes yes
Mind Shielding no no no no yes yes
Ram no no no no yes yes
Clumsiness no no no no yes no
Shocking Grasp no no no no yes no

Climbing no no no no no yes
Counterspells no no no no no yes
Evasion no no no no no yes
Force Shield no no no no no yes
Meld Into Stone no no no no no yes
Friend Shield no no no no no yes