[World of Greyhawk] Hexographer Map of the Thillonrian Peninsula

The World of Greyhawk continues to hold my interest and inspire my work, and from time to time I like to clear my head with some general cartographic work on Hexographer. So as I did earlier with the Central Flanaess, now I have put together a Hexographer map of the Thillonrian Peninsula -- the home of the Frost, Ice, and Snow Barbarians, as well as the Hold of Stonefist. This is a big, empty land, By the Map, and so were I to set a campaign here, I'd be adding a lot of new and interesting geography. But you got to start with the basic setup...

The Thillonrian Peninsula, or "Rhizia" as the natives call it, is essentially Oerth's Scandinavian Peninsula, complete with Vikings. I always found it odd that the G (Giants) and D (Drow) series of modules were placed much further south and west, in the Hellfurnaces, rather than in the Corusk Mountains, but that just shows that the various events of the south and central regions of Keoland and Greyhawk, both much more obviously directly derived from Gary's own "True Greyhawk," were much closer to his heart and mind. They could both readily be moved to this region; plenty of room for glaciers and volcanoes in the Corusk.

The map is pretty much as exact to the original Darlene map as I could make it with the classic Mystara-style hexes. As per the original, scale on this map is 1 hex = 10 leagues = 30 miles.

As always, email me at jamesmishler@gmail.com if you want the original Hexographer file or a larger PNG file.

[Now Available] Necromancer Class for Labyrinth Lord

Necromancer Class
By James Mishler with Jodi Moran-Mishler
Compatible with Labyrinth Lord

Necromancer Class – Masters of Death and Undeath includes the following new additions to Labyrinth Lord:

• Necromancer Class details;
• Necromancer Spell List, including 23 new spells and modifications for four existing spell groups;
• New necromantic magic items – bone armor, cloak of the necromancer, ghoul ring, ring of undead detection, staff of necromancy, wand of wounding, and the mighty vampire cape!
• Three new lower order demons for necromancers to summon and heroes to slay.

Designed for use with Labyrinth Lord, easily used with any Old School RPG system!

15 page PDF (10 pages of content) – Normally $2.49 – $1.25 for a limited time only!

Buy the Necromancer Class PDF now at DriveThruRPG! 

[Now Available] Expanded Dragons -- Hatchlings to Elder Wyrms

Expanded Dragons -- Hatchlings to Elder Wyrms
By James Mishler with Jodi Moran-Mishler
Compatible with Labyrinth Lord

Expanded Dragons – Hatchlings to Elder Wyrms includes the following new additions to Labyrinth Lord:

• Expanded Age Categories and Abilities – From 1 HD Hatchlings to 21 HD Elder Wyrms!
• Chromatic Dragon Mutations!
• Linnorms and Orms – Inspired by Norse myths and legends!
• Lung Dragons – Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, and Wood dragons Inspired by Chinese myths and legends, plus the villainous Death Dragons!
• Pocket Dragons – Look out for swarms of mouse to cat-sized dragons!
• Dragon Random Encounter Guidelines

Designed for use with Labyrinth Lord, easily used with any Old School RPG system!

17 page PDF (12 pages of content) – Normally $2.99 – $1.49 for a limited time only!

Click here to buy Expanded Dragons on DriveThruRPG

[Found Treasures] Early TSR Correspondence

Proof that the Nerd is strong in this one... 

I am finally going through the pile of boxes that has been sitting in our garage for the last four years, and that were sitting in storage in one place or another for the last, um... eep... 16 years before that?

OK, so I am a pack rat. But sometimes being a pack rat pays off, as when I opened a box I had not opened in... um... 20 years, and amongst other things from my childhood and youth, discovered this letter...

Now, my memory is terrible. I KNOW I started playing D&D when I received the Moldvay Basic Set, which I THOUGHT I had received for Christmas in 1980, though the release date of it was not until January 1981, so... either the release date was early (Mom & Dad did get it from Toys R' Us, so maybe), or I did not get it and start playing until December 1981.

Which means from the dating of my letter of April 5, 1982, that I was bit by the game publishing bug within four months at the earliest (16 months at the latest if that set was available for Christmas 1980).

I have no memory of sending the letter or even of receiving the reply. Shame, that. The next time I would try corresponding with Gary would be when I was in grad school, in 1993. But that's another story...

[New Spells] Trio of Magic-user and Elf Spells of Some Use in Combat

Here is a trio of magic-user and elf spells I worked up after watching a few episodes of the Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon. Enjoy!

Warrior’s Bane
Level: 1
Duration: Instant
Range: 120’

With this spell the magic-user causes a target’s hand-held items – weapons, shield, wand, staff, sandwich, beer stein, whatever is held in hand – to fly away from them, 1d4x5’ each away in a random direction. Optionally, the caster may have the items fly to her, stacked neatly at her feet and/or into her open hands. The spell works against all kinds of classes and creatures, not just warriors or fighters. The target gets a saving throw versus Spells to avoid the effect. If any of the items held are magical, the target gains the highest bonus from the items to their saving throw. If the target’s save is a “Natural 1,” non-magical items held are shattered and destroyed. The caster may target an additional being at 2nd level, a third at 4th level, a fourth at 6th level, and so on.

Knight’s Bane
Level: 2
Duration: Instant
Range: 120’

With this spell the magic-user causes a target’s clothing and armor (suit, not shield) to be destroyed, disappearing into thin air, leaving only such underclothing as the target might be wearing – if any. The spell works against all kinds of classes and creatures, not just knights or fighters. The target gets a saving throw versus Spells to avoid the effect. Magical armor provides its bonus to the target’s saving throw, and if it fails, it simply fades out for one turn per caster level. The caster may target an additional being for every two levels above 3rd – two at 5th, three at 7th, four at 9th, etc.

Wizard’s Bane

Level: 3
Duration: Instant
Range: 120’

With this spell the magic-user causes a target’s magic items – of whatever sort, whether held in hand, in a pouch or pack, or even tied down – and including a magic-user or elf’s spell books – to be pulled out from wherever they are stowed to fly away to the caster, stacked neatly at her feet and/or into her open hands. Items that are in a bag of holding or similar item remain in the bag, though the bag itself might be drawn by the spell. The spell works against all kinds of classes and creatures, not just magic-users. The target gets a saving throw versus Spells to avoid the effect; the effect is all or nothing, not based on individual items. If any of the items held or carried have a magical bonus to hit or to armor class, the target gains the highest bonus from the items to their saving throw. The caster may target an additional being for every two levels above 5th – two at 7th, three at 9th, four at 11th, etc. NOTE: There is a variant of this spell in which the effect appears in the form of flying monkeys that grab the items and take them back to the caster.