Tuesday, December 13, 2016

[To give you a concrete example of what the "art-inspired" project is:below is the selection of entries for page 38...




[To give you a concrete example of what the "art-inspired" project is: below is the selection of entries for page 38 of the Holmes rules. The "crystal ball" and the wand have not been covered yet. Items that have been covered, can be covered again. Each of the four "items" below is a single entry, so your job (should you choose to accept it) is short and sweet... a couple of game-worthy ideas, inspired by the art and bashed out into sentences, and you're done.]

SAMPLE of what's being sought from the community (illustration from page 38):

Lhankmharrian Distillation
This special tincture is a great boon to Thieves and of special import to Halflings and Dwarves. For those with Thief's Abilities, it improves them all by 20% for a duration of 1d4 turns ("hear noise" is improved by 1). For Halflings and Dwarves who have pursued the Fighting Man class, it grants them Thief's Abilities equivalent to the first level for 1 turn.


Fake-Out Poison
Used by unscrupulous Thieves to run scams, the bottle actually contains ghost pepper-infused vodka. The Thief will have it tested by some stout local individual, who, once having touched it to their tongue, will confirm that it must surely be poisonous. However the Thief has made himself immune to the fiery alcohol and can drink it in gulps and collect all the money bet upon the feat.


Skull Dweller
Move: 30 feet/turn                Alignment: neutral
Hit Dice: 1/2 (1-4 hit points)            Attacks: special
Armor Class: 8                    Damage: none
Treasure Type: N

Small, resilient imps that make their homes inside of skulls, a skull dweller will fight fiercely to protect their claimed homes. They fight by scurrying over the bodies of those disturbing them, and their touch causes numbness in flesh-and-blood creatures and characters. The affect of this numbness is down the referee's interpretation of the circumstances, but could be expressed as a rising penalty to attacks and other actions, all the way up to complete immobility, given enough contact with the skull dweller.


Candle of Recall
This simple-looking candle can open new vistas for magic-users... By placing the candle on a skull and lighting it, it emits a scent related to that the life of the former 'inhabitant' of the skull, a spice of their homeland, the timber of their frequented forests, or the like. Any magic-user sleeping in proximity to this candle and its scent will awaken with new knowledge! They may gain an extra chance at a spell they previously missed out on if the candle rests on a magic-user's skull (e.g., another roll on the % Chance To Know Any Given Spell chart). The sleeper may gain insight into a dungeon or wilderness region they themselves have not explored, if the deceased had visited the site during their life. They may learn how to contact beings of power, demi-gods, or extra-planar allies if the deceased had contact with such creatures. The possibilities are as endless as the knowledge of those passed....
    The magic-user should begin the session of use with a question in mind, based on what they know of the deceased. If the area of knowledge sought turns out to not be within the experience of the deceased no knowledge is gained. Each candle will only work for a 1d6 sessions, and each use subtracts a year from the end of the magic-user's life span (represented, if you like, as a 1% chance of death when using the candle).

5 comments:

  1. That face in the crystal ball looks familiar, too, Tony Rowe: I wonder if the illustration was reused by TSR later, too?

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  2. Allan Grohe, hmmmm... I don't remember it in other publications but "a collection of magic items" is such a common illustration in D&D books.

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  3. Allan Grohe​ it's in the Fiend Folio too, near the back.

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