A Forgotten Classic - The Dark Tower By Milton Bradley Company

As a child, I spent many hours attacking the Dark Tower. Back in 1981, this game was an incredible technological feat. Now, it seems rather simple, but I would kill to get my hands on one.

Game play was simple, up to four players adventured from their home citadel to find 3 keys to unlock the final battle at for the Dark Tower. Keys and three other treasures, The Sword, The Wizard and The Pegasus could be found in the 8 tombs and ruins around the map. At the Bazaar, players could purchase warriors, food, a Scout, a Healer and a Beast.

Warriors fight but could also carry gold for you, up to 6 bags each. If you ended a battle with more gold than you had warriors can carry it, you lose the surplus. Warriors also ate food. Up to 15 warriors ate 1 food per move, 16-30 ate 2 food, 31-45 ate three and so on. Moving without food caused the loss of one Warrior per turn.

On your adventures, you could make a safe move with no event occurring, get lost, encounter a plague, a dragon or engage in battle with Brigands. Battles were the most common event. In combat, if you won a round the Brigands would lose half of their force. If you lose a round, you lost one warrior. Winning or losing a battle could increase your gold, but if you didn't have enough warriors to carry the gold, you lost it. A Beast could carry 50 bags of gold, on top of what your warriors could carry. Getting lost caused you to lose a turn but if you had a scout, you could move again. When struck by a plague, you lost 2 warriors and possibly some gold due to carrying capacity being reduced. If a healer was purchased, you received two warriors instead of losing them. The dragon could wipe out 25% of your warriors and gold in one swoop. Having The Sword drove the dragon off and awarded gold and warriors.

The Wizard curse was a special event controlled by other players. When The Wizard was awarded to player, they could curse one other player. The curse transferred 25% of the other player's Warriors and gold to the cursing player. There was no defense and the effect was immediate. 

The Pegasus allowed a player to advance anywhere within the kingdom they were in. They could not use The Pegasus to leap over the Frontier. Any attempt to do so would result in a lost of the turn AND The Pegasus.

Once the player had all 3 keys, found in the other three kingdoms, they could advance on the Dark Tower but only from their home kingdom. Going to your home citadel with 16 or less Warriors would double your troops. You could repeat this, but only if you went to one of the other special places such a tombs or ruins before returning.

The assault on the Tower required the player to guess the correct order for the keys. The riddle showed a random key and the player would guess if it was correct. If it was, they had to guess the next key until the correct order was input. The game would display a random key, but the order was fixed in the system so that it would not change, making the process less painful than it sounds.

In the final battle, the number of Brigands was based on which of the three levels they players selected at the outset. Level 1 had up to 32 Brigands while 2 and 3 had 64. You could approach with up to 99 Warriors, but there was little point in doing so.

Pre-generated Character Sheets

I've started updating my layout again and loaded some pre-generated characters to the top tab. These are first and second level fighters and dwarves for Basic Dungeons and Dragons. I based them on the format from Ghost of Lion Castle, so there are three per pdf.

As I get around to digitizing some of the background NPC from my various campaigns, I will upload them to the character tab.

13 days to go

Hello campers. It is 13 days until the opening of Darien Lake Six Flags Theme Park. This is the second time that Six Flags has taken ownership of the park and I can't wait for some changes and fear others. Only time will tell.

Whether you are camping, staying at the hotel or just riding the rides, it really is a beautiful place. I cannot wait for May 4th. I believe the water park will open May 18th. I hope to see all of you there. 

52 Weeks of Magic - Week 18 - The 12 Stone Horses

A rumor is spreading about the 12 stone horses. Up the road and around the left hand bend is a meadow full of stone horses. They were not there last week. The statues are strange, each life-sized stone horse is posed as if running. The 12 horses complete a circle in the middle of the meadow, as if the herd was running around the center. What is particularly strange are the hoof-prints. It's as if the statues thundered in on their own.

Yesterday, they found the thief buried in leaves at the edge of the meadow. He is rough shape, he can barely talk. He said his friends had to go, they left him for dead. Scoutie said, "He buried himself to die." There are faint tracks of men and dwarves, and perhaps a halfling at the edge of the forest. But no tracks around where the thief was found. The thief is weak and delirious. He muttered strange things: 

"The fetlock... 'ware their breath."

"Your power is theirs."

"Speed is life. Speed is death."  

He is deeply sleeping, and if the gods are kind, he may recover. But not today. 

The stone horses are magical. Touching the horse's fetlock* will trigger the magic. The stone horse will come alive and breath on the character, then inhale them. As the person is inhaled, the detail of the stone horse will become more lifelike, but it will still have the appearance of stone. There is no means in this dimension or any other to locate the character inhaled. 

The horse will desire to run and will take the person to the destination of their choice, within a range of 12 hours. The horse will move over any terrain at 30 miles per hour for a maximum range of 360 miles. If the player has no destination to go to, the horse will run for 15 rounds and return them to the starting point. In either case, the horse will let out a nicker and exhale the character at the end of the run. 

The stone horses are unnaturally surefooted, they never fall or slip, and can run on any surface such as water or lava. They are effectively weightless. They do not fly or sink while in motion, but will not end their run on an unstable surface. They cannot inflict damage on themselves as a consequence of running. The stone horses can absorb up to 50 points of damage from blunt forces before being destroyed. Sharp weapons do but a single point of damage. Natural forces such as water or fire cannot damage them, but magic will. Magical attacks on these statues must be capable of damaging a stone item. Destruction of the horse disgorges any character inside.

Players within the stone horses are immune to damage, scrying, charm, sleep, etc. as if they were made of stone. People using the horse only has a vague sense of their surroundings and cannot use any of their abilities, natural or magic. 

The stone horse will not fight and will not willing touch anything on their journey. Usually the stone horse is fast enough to avoid most creatures and almost all creatures will avoid them. If someone forces the issue, the victim will take 3d8 points of damage on contact and another 1d6 points of damage from being knocked aside. Leaping onto a running stone horse is possible, but the person doing so will take 1d6 points of damage per round until they die or fall off. This is damage directly to the groin, so they will probably fall off and wish to die, rather than stay on and actually die. 

If hit with a stone to flesh spell, the horse will permanently come to life. If it is carrying a character, that person will appear on the horses back. The horse will behave as a loyal steed for them, for life. If the spell stone to mud is cast on them, the horse will deform but maintain it's shape. It will continue on it's journey at half speed and return to stone as soon as the spell duration expires. The spell passwall is devastating. It will cause the horse to momentarily vanish and the person carried will be disgorged from the space the horse once was, at speed. Worse, the CASTER must save vs. Death. The effect is as if the caster was struck by a heavy boulder dropped from a great height. There will be a splash. Once the spell duration ends the horse will reappear, usually behind the spell caster as if they ran through another dimension. Wish and alter reality can damage the stone horses, but the attacker will find that no equine will allow them to ride afterwards. Using wish or alter reality to benefit the stone horse causes no ill effects. 

The cost of this means of transport is constitution. On arrival at the destination, after the character has been exhaled, they will discover that they have recovered one hit point per hour of running. Additionally, for one round for every hour of running, their constitution has increased by one to a maximum of 18. Unfortunately, this is merely a temporary side effect. 10 rounds after the run, they begin to lose one point of constitution per round for every hour of running, unless they make a saving throw vs. magic. If their constitution falls below zero, they will die. If their constitution falls below their normal ability score, they will recover lose points at a rate of 1 per day. If the character ends up with a score higher than what they started, it will fade away within 24 hours. 

Characters with an enhanced score will gain all of the bonuses a high constitution normally conveys. If a character gains temporary hit points they can only be lost through damage or by the passage of 24 hours. Injuries suffered by the characters from this pool of temporary hit points are free. The damage will be magically transferred to the stone horse and will appear as weathering. This is repaired by the next rider's stamina.  

These horses may be used once per day, however due to the constitution loss most people cannot not do this without magical enhancement or healing. A second rider will be required to wait the 24 hours from the horse's last use. 

*Most people would call a fetlock an ankle, but is more like a knuckle. 

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	25b	Device of Defense	26	Shield of Force	27	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. Also on Drivethru is my custom character sheet for AD&D and Unearthed Arcana.

I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

52 Weeks of Magic - 17 of 52 - Missile Mirror

The Missile Mirror is a handy defensive item for spell casters, although any character can benefit a little from it.

The mirror is about 4" in diameter and has a rune of a satyr in a sun on the back. The front is concave and silvered. Used as is, the reflected image is distorted. It is intended that the user "black" the silvered surface over a candle, place it on a tabletop and fill it with water. This produces a crystal clear reflection. The device reveals some of it's magic by repulsing the candle black on command. The black residue forms a small pellet and can be dumped out. It can be used to make paints, inks, dyes or cosmetics. The pellet will have a value of one copper, so it is not a good source of money but will replace a candle or few.

Possession of the Missile Mirror will improve the owner's AC by 1. Anyone can benefit from this. Holding the Mirror out towards missile fire will improve a spell caster's AC by 3 (total). Additionally, spell casters will have a 40% magic resistance to magical missiles AND if successful at foiling such an attack, it has a 20% chance of reflecting the spell back on the caster.

Foiling magical missile attacks uses one charge. Reflecting magical missile attacks uses two charges. The Missile Mirror has 16 charges. The rays of the sun are a visual indicator of these charges and will pit and dent when a charge is used. If all of the charges are used up, the Missile Mirror will still provide a -1 to AC for simply having it and will still be a useful mirror.

The Missile Mirror can be recharged by a silversmith of great ability. By repairing the pits and dents on the rays, they are restoring a charge. While the mirror can be damaged by abuse, an attempt at recharging it will never damage it. Failure to restore a charge causes the smith's patch to bubble and hiss before being absorbed into the mirror's structure. The materials needed to repair each ray is 20 silver pieces or a like-sized slug, bar or ingot. The makeup of such repair materials doesn't matter, only the size or volume counts. Some people use spoons.

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	26	Coming Soon	27	Coming Soon	28	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

52 Weeks of Magic - 16 of 52 - Defender's Boss

The Defender's Boss is an unusual magic item. When found, it is approximately 4 inches around. It has an image of a lion painted on it and has a loop on the back as if it belongs on a chain or necklace. If worn in this fashion, it will improve the wear's AC by 1. If the wearer is a fighting type (ranger, paladin, cleric, etc.) who can normally use a shield, the Defender's Boss can be willed to grow to a maximum of 4 feet in size and it will act as a +1 shield. This is in addition the previous benefit of 1, for a total of two.

If the boss is used correctly and placed in the center of a shield, it will fuse to it and that shield will now be +3 and always magical. The shield will have the same ability to grow or shirnk as a the boss does.

If the shield is destroyed either by magic or a massive force, the Boss in entitled to it's own saving throw and if it succeeds, it will pop off the destroyed shield and be ready for use again in one day. If a smith or armorer attempts to remove it, it will respond to their desires and come off in their hands. No tools required nor will it lose it's powers.  

If this device is used by an assassin class character, it will not confer the bonus to AC for mere possession nor will it operate as a normal shield. When an assassin attempts to use it as a shield, it will grow to a full five feet in diameter forcing them to hold it with both hands or drop it. If held in this fashion, it will provide cover AND a +2 to AC. While recalcitrant to use by assassins, it will shrink or grow on command. 

If the boss is rammed into an opening smaller than it's diameter when fully deployed, the shield will squirm so that the boss is facing the character. If the shield is destroyed trying to expand, the boss will fall off the holder's hands. It does not want to be lost. Doing this will cause the item to lose it's magic for 7 days. 

If the lion symbol is painted over, any damage to the shield or boss will cause the paint to blow off, reveling the lion. 

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	26	Coming Soon	27	Coming Soon	28	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

The 3 Toadstools and #tenmonstersetting

Shane Ward, over on MeWe suggested a great starter idea for world building. Pick a book then pick 10 monsters to populate your world. On Shane's blog, The 3 Toadstools, he added a 10 categories based on feedback from the MeWe community:

1. semi-intelligent humanoid
2. undead
3. ancient fey race 
4. giant/ogre/troll race
5. great wyrm or lizard
6. aerial
7. Aquatic
8. dimensional  
9. classic mythology
10. chthonic

I grabbed my classic red book and came up with the following list: 

1. Orc, many tribes in the mountains. 
2. Wight, found on the plains. They inhabit burial mounds. 
3. Pixie, live on the edges of forests and will turn over characters to the Sprites within if there is trouble.  
4.  Ogre, a large semi-nomadic tribe. They trade fresh food to the Lizard men. They have a tiny range from north edge of 'Potumus Bay to the Grand Plateau in the mountains. They winter on in the caves at the edge of the Grand Plateau.  
5. Black Dragon, only one and he inhabits a lonely crag. He eats orcs and hippos and avoids men and ogres. 
6. Sprite, typical fey folk who are nicer than Pixies who live just outside their forests and meadows. Slightly more organized than Pixies, they can dish out what approximates for justice according the fey if someone messes with the Pixies or Sprites.   
7. Lizard Man, a single tribe located on, in and around a high tarn. Relatively peaceable, they will trade metals for fruit.  
8. (None in the book) I selected a Djinni. Actually, a family of Djinn. Two boys, three girls and mom and dad. They live below the dragon's crag. They guard a cave which leads to the realm of air, but no one but Djinn can see the gate. 
9. Pegasus. A seemingly, a singular creature. They live far to the north, beyond the mountains and a few get blown off course from time to time. While lost, they will visit the many tarns and lakes in the area. They have no fear of humanoids and can sometimes be found grazing with domesticated horses on the plains.  
10. Giant Ants, a pest of urban settings. They often invade towns in the spring, via sewers. A massive headache to clean out. 

9 out of 10 creatures from one book isn't bad. It totally works for my Peninsula of Plenty campaign. I can't wait to get these ideas into that world. 

World Building with Worldographer

I'm working on a new map for the Peninsula of Plenty campaign using Inkwell Idea's Worldographer. The software is remarkably easy to use and makes the whole experience of world building a wonder rather than a pain. I went whole hog on this purchase and selected the $99.00 bundle plus Hexographer 1E World Style Icon Set. 

Right now I am tinkering with the different icon sets and have a mishmash of icons. I hope to correct this and work entirely with the 1E World Style set for everything. 

One of the nicest parts of the software is that once you have your geography set, where towns, rivers and road go make more sense. I've blogged about the 'Potamus Bay area before, but didn't realize how much was missing from the region. I detailed just a handful of settlements, but I envisioned an area that was both old and wild. That means more, but smaller settlements. The map now displays six settlements around the lake. A navigable river cause most people to refer to the lake as a bay, it actually is a lake next to a bay. 

The southern most ruins is actually a double ruin. There was massive wooden manor house that had been burned to the ground, but a smaller stone folly remains largely intact. It has been settled by kobolds. They call themselves Tribe of Minwan after their king. Thirty-six miles to the west is the largest settlement in the area ruled by a Gerent. The area is nominally controlled by the Empire, but due to the lack of luxury, the local ruler is permitted to rule as he see's fit. Along the western edge of the lake are two manors, one which supports a town and the other which is a fortified house. On the eastern side, the north-most habitation is a small village which has sprung up around a miller and blacksmith family. The tiny house on the southeast of the lake is an ancient fortified house made of stone. It is tiny but well populated. 

All this information basically wrote it's self as I used the software to make improvements to ideas I had kicking around in my head.